"There Can't be a Rainbow Without a Little Rain" A July '17 TR! *Complete*

[SaraSpringsIsHome]

I don't even know how you can call a day where you wake up before an alarm as an easy day. Bless you. I wish I had that kind of mentality about mornings.

I am NOT a morning person!

But put me on vacay and BOOM, I'm ready to go.

Bless you for not actually showing any food pics

There are only a couple food pics-- we had a tendency of waiting too long to eat, and then scarfing down our meals. Oops.

The lack of VoL photos or vids is unnerving and I need assurance lol

I love Voices of Liberty, but alas, it wasn't in the cards for our single day at Epcot Not having park hoppers was tricky! Also, by the time we got into WS after the evening downpour, it appeared there was an event happening in the rotunda; we entered the theater from the exit doors.

I cannot wait to hear about your adventures in the other parks.

Can't wait to share more. Thanks for reading and commenting

 

[FrozenOne16]

Donnie's shirts

My shirts

I absolutely love your shirts!!!! I can't wait to check out Uniqlo on our trip in October!

 

[Frankie Nova]

have fun

 

[Frankie Nova]

I am NOT a morning person!

But put me on vacay and BOOM, I'm ready to go.


There are only a couple food pics-- we had a tendency of waiting too long to eat, and then scarfing down our meals. Oops.


I love Voices of Liberty, but alas, it wasn't in the cards for our single day at Epcot Not having park hoppers was tricky! Also, by the time we got into WS after the evening downpour, it appeared there was an event happening in the rotunda; we entered the theater from the exit doors.


Can't wait to share more. Thanks for reading and commenting

this pic is soooo my wife LOL

 

[SaraSpringsIsHome]

July 18
Animal Kingdom (part 1)​

Another early morning for us! I woke up to the smell of coffee brewing at 6:15 (and the sound of my alarm going off). Today I wanted to make sure we were up and out early, since we were heading to Animal Kingdom and planned on hitting Pandora first thing. The goal was to ride Flight of Passage twice, so super early rope drop was essential! We got ready fairy quickly and headed down to the bus stop at 7:15. We saw the bus just pulling away as we were nearing- such a bummer! The next bus was scheduled to arrive at 7:35, so a 20 minute wait. If I had had the car keys, we would have driven over, but we left them in the room. Big mistake! The minutes kept creeping up on the bus arrival time and I was having a minor panic attack. WE HAD TO GET THERE EARLY! Finally, at 7:49, the AK bus arrived. I was sooo irritated and it took my a little bit to get over it.

In retrospect, we had plenty of time. In that moment, I was a major cranky pants!

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We arrived to Animal Kingdom at 8:00 and were quickly through security, waiting for the tapstiles to open. (Seriously, there was no need for my freak out moment, but alas, waiting 35 minutes for a bus is not a great way to start the morning. Things get much better from here!) At 8:20 they opened the tapstiles; we were let in and herded to the bridge leading to Pandora. So many people! The crowd quickly grew behind us!

At 8:40 they let us in to Pandora and were crossing into the "official" queue at 8:51.

Floating mountains!​

We were among the first people in the line and bypassed some of the queue! So, bummer, didn't see the floating avatar, but you can't be too bummed by not having to wait in line! We were off the ride at 9:21! It seriously is amazing. I know there is a lot of hype around it, but I think it really does live up to said hype. We couldn't wait to ride it again with our FP's and we're SO glad we got to ride it with such little wait.

Yay! Flight of Passage was amazing!!!​

We kept with the plans, and immediately headed over to ride Na'vi River Journey standby. We were in line at 9:26 and exit the ride at 10:05, so about a 30 minute wait. It was... lovely. I do agree there could be a little more in the way of animatronics, but we did enjoy it. That giant Na'vi shaman is very cool! I wouldn't wait 30 minutes for it again, but today the timing was perfect. By the time we got off, the standby was up to over 60 minutes.

We were now in our FoP FP window, so it was back for another ride on a banshee! I swear the second time was even better than the first! We were in a different room, one more centrally located, and the effects were stronger (the banshee breathing, water sprays, smells). Ugh, it was amazing!

We had gotten in to the FP line at 10:10, and we were heading off at 10:30, so not a bad wait at all! At this point, seeing as we had been up since 6, we decided it was nearly time for lunch! We wandering through Windtraders for a bit (there were many banshees available in all different colors) and then around 10:45 we put it our mobile orders for Satuli Canteen.

All the banshees​

What can I say- yum!!! I had the sustainable fish (mahi mahi) with the red and sweet potato hash and creamy sauce. So delicious! Donnie had the kids meal of a hot dog wrapped in Parker House dough chips, grapes and a water. We also split a blueberry cheesecake mousse thingie. It was all super fresh and delicious! I highly recommend eating here while in Pandora, and using the mobile ordering was awesome and super fast.

Mmm mahi mahi

Hot dog! And blue dessert deliciousness!

Old Amplified Mobility Platform (AMP suit)

Selfie facing AMP suit

Selfie facing... the other direction!​

After snapping aforementioned pics, we decided to head in to Africa- we had safari FP's to use!

To be continued...

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Omg I so relate to being cranky and annoyed when things aren't going your way with your park arrival plans, although you know you'll still be able to do what you want to do in your plans.

I can't believe how crazy the crowds still are in Pandora. I thought they had died down. I guess those FPs for FoP and Na'vi River Journey go a long way. Sad that there aren't any pics of the floating Avatar, but I'm glad both rides pretty much matched or exceeded your expectations.

Mmmmm, I haven't seen too too much in terms of food choices for Pandora and everything looks so good, especially that Mahi Mahi. Oh, I NEED TO GO TO PANDORA NOW

 

[Harters2WDW]

Following along! Fellow Virgina resident. We're in RVA.

 

[TNickell27]

Loving this report! You guys sounds like our kind of people. I'm a huge HP/LoTR/Game of Thrones nerd (husband too.... he's also a videographer ). You guys even seem to tour similarly! Can't wait to read more

 

[dmea10]

Your friends seem like lovely people. Very thoughtful of them. Am I the only person on earth who hasn't ever watched Game of Thrones?

No! I have never watched it either.

 

[SaraSpringsIsHome]

July 17
Animal Kingdom (part 2)​

We had been messaging our friend M and found out what truck she was driving. We went through the FP line very quickly and waited about 12 minutes before her safari truck pulled up. Note: if you are going to ride in a specific truck, be sure to go to the left when the queue splits. We went to the right... and they had to rearrange a whole truck so we could ride in the front of hers. Whoops! We were also in the midst of approximately 150 girls celebrating their quinceanera's from Brazil, so it was kind of nuts. There were a lot of Brazilian tour groups, but this mass of 15 year old girls all in pink was definitely the largest we encountered! She took us on a great safari!

Her husband D was also driving, so we decided to ride again to get on his truck (thanks to a generous cast member and a return paper FP). We waited for a bit (on the left side) and soon his truck pulled up... only it was a woman driving. Apparently he had just gone on break. Womp womp. So we just waited for M's truck to come back around and rode hers a second time! This time, I snapped some pics!

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We chatted with her afterward, since she was also heading on break. We made some plans with them for Thursday and were on our way. Riding two safaris back to back is h-o-t! We were pretty sweaty, and it was nearing the end of our Kali River Rapids FP window, so we made our way to Asia to cool off!

We changed into our flip flops (can't stand squishy sneakers!), stores our stuff in a free locker, and tapped in for Kali. It was killing me that our phones were stashed in a locker, and I couldn't immediately try for another FP! It was a sloooow moving line, but eventually we were rafting and laughing and thankfully only getting a bit wet! We decided the best way to dry off would be to ride Expedition Everest, of course!

After retrieving our things, I quickly scanned MDE to see if we could get a FP for Everest. There was a time in about an hour, so I booked it. On the walk over I kept refreshing and in a couple minutes found one for 10 minutes away... so really on 5 since you can tap on early. Woohoo! We then "leisurely" continued our trek and visited the loo and. Before we knew it, it was time to face the Yeti! I just love this ride. The theming, the ride, the confusion from first timers around you when you begin going backwards... teehee!

We were dry enough after Everest to spend a bit of time cooling off indoors. I had gotten us a Dinosaur FP to be used basically immediately, so we strolled over to Dinoland to have another adventure! We had a fun time! I always enjoy this ride more than I think I will, if that makes sense. LoL. We were a bit hungry by this point (it was nearing 3:00), so we popped in to Restaurantasaurus for a "quick" snack. Yikes, was it slow! It took forever to order and we had to scarf down our food so we could make it to the 3:00 Finding Nemo show (which... we also had a FP for! We did very little at AK without one. Refresh is your friend!)

I. Love. This. Show. I always get teary at the end when Nemo and Marlin are reunited.

*sigh* I will say, the actors playing Nemo and Crush weren't my favorites, but I still always enjoy it. Something I do not enjoy- the bleacher seating. Yikes! Sooo uncomfortable! Anyway, after drying the tears, we headed out en route to something Donnie had never done- It's Tough To Be A Bug! We both had a good time. It's another attraction that isn't on my "must do" list, but once I see it, I remember that I do really like it.

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Doing Dinosaur, Nemo, and ITTBAB is a great way to dodge the heat in the afternoon at AK! We had gotten FP's for the 5:00 Festival of the Lion King show (the heat dodging continues!), but had some time to kill before the show. We were passing by Creature Comforts and feeling a little sluggish, so we stopped in for a couple of Frappucinos! We never drink them at home, but they sure tasted delicious on a hot afternoon at AK!

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We found a shady spot near FoTLK and slurped down our tasty coffee.

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Feeling refreshed, we eventually tapped in for the show. As became the theme of this trip, I began scoping out on MDE what our next FP would be. I was hoping to get one for a Pandora ride, even though I knew the odds were basically zero. I just kept mindlessly refreshing when suddenly a Na'vi River Journey appeared (for 5:30-6:30). I pounced! We were excited to ride it again and the timing was perfect. A few minutes before the doors opened for FotLK, we started feeling some light raindrops.

The show was fantastic! In November, the cast we show was good. The cast we saw today was awesome! The lead singers were all wonderful! This is another not to be missed AK attraction in my book.

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When the show was over and they opened the exit doors, the slight sprinkle we had encountered before the show had turned on to a torrential downpour/ thunderstorm. The poor cast members were herding people out the exit, and of course no one wanted to leave the theatre! We quickly poncho'd up on the walk from the elephant section to the exit, and began to brave the weather. We quickly sought shelter under at a merchandise location and switched back from our sneakers to our flip flops. We then began the very wet (and surprisingly cool) trek to Pandora.

We journeyed the river once more, and decided to throw in the poncho and head back to the Boardwalk. It was about 6 at this point, and we had done everything we wanted to do at AK, besides Rivers of Light. It was a very full and successful day at AK!

It was a long, wet walk to the front of the park. We waited a few minutes for the bus, and soon we were on our way back home. The bus was freezing! The rains had dropped the temps to the mid 70's, and we couldn't wait to take hot showers and warm up. What a crazy thing to experience at Disney in July!

After warming up, we lounged around for bit. I, of course, started futzing around on MDE again. I wasn't looking for anything in particular- just looking to kill time. And then---

I was in complete shock when a Flight of Passage FP appeared for 8:30-9:30!!! I immediately hit confirm, with hopefulness that the rain would let up enough for us to head out without ponchos. 7:30 rolled around and there was hope of the rain letting up. About 20 minutes later, it was definitely clearing up, so off to Animal Kingdom we headed!

We decided to drive over this time and were heading inside a little after 8. We were greeted with this beautiful sight!

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Our second rainbow of the trip. The first stop after reentering AK was dinner. I had toyed with the idea of having dinner at Satuli, but we ended up at Pizzafari instead. DH really liked it in November, so we went in for a quick bite. We both ordered kids meals- he had the Mickey pasta, steamed broccoli, and grapes and I had mac 'n cheese with steamed broccoli and grapes. It was actually quite tasty and very filling! With tummies full, we headed back into Pandora for our third ride on a Banshee today!

Pandora was pretty neat at night, although we didn't really explore it all that much. We had a great 3rd ride on FoP and decided we wanted to ride one more thing before calling it a night. MDE said Everest only had a 20 minute wait, so we made our way over to the mountain. The line moved very quickly, and we were speeding through the Himalayas with only a 10 minute standby wait. It was really fun to ride EE at night, and something we had never done before. We didn't feel like staying around for the 10:30 showing of Rivers of Light, so we made our way out of the park around 9:30.

We were tucked in with a glass of wine by 10:30, and another amazing Disney day was in the books!

 

[SaraSpringsIsHome]

I can't believe how crazy the crowds still are in Pandora. I thought they had died down.

Yeah, it was pretty crazy! I'm grateful we didn't arrive any later than we did!

I NEED TO GO TO PANDORA NOW

It's pretty neat! Nowhere near the awesomeness of WWoHP (how can anything top that?!), but a great addition to Animal Kingdom.

Following along! Fellow Virgina resident. We're in RVA.

Welcome, fellow Virginia!

Loving this report! You guys sounds like our kind of people. I'm a huge HP/LoTR/Game of Thrones nerd (husband too.... he's also a videographer ). You guys even seem to tour similarly! Can't wait to read more

Thanks, and welcome!

 

[Nicholmom3]

Great trip report! I can't believe how many fast passes you were able to get. I must remember this for our next trip!

 

[SaraSpringsIsHome]

Great trip report! I can't believe how many fast passes you were able to get. I must remember this for our next trip!

We had such a fun time with FP's- it became a game to see just how many we could get and use! I remembered to take a picture of our MDE at the end of our Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom days

Thanks for reading!

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Wow, what productive day you had in DAK!! I can't believe how lucky you got with all those FPs. That refresh button truly is a godsend. And that's so awesome you got to have a friend guide you on their safari, very fun. Lastly, always a for a quality FotLK (not that it isn't always quality).

 

[SaraSpringsIsHome]

I can't believe how lucky you got with all those FPs.

I was a FP magician. It was awesome.

Lastly, always a for a quality FotLK

I always enjoy it, but sometimes their are truly standout vocalists that *make* the show!

(Also- I just started following you on IG!)

 

[rdkeim]

Just stopping by to say I'm enjoying your TR! My DH and I will be there early Dec. Anxious to try out the MDE app and hopefully maximize our FP's. I need to give it more thought before our FP booking day!

 

[SaraSpringsIsHome]

Just stopping by to say I'm enjoying your TR! My DH and I will be there early Dec. Anxious to try out the MDE app and hopefully maximize our FP's. I need to give it more thought before our FP booking day!

Thanks for reading!

We used the app some, but mostly logged on to MDE using the safari browser on my phone; we seemed to have better luck with finding more times and choices that way (ymmv).

I love Disney at Christmas! Have a great trip

 

[rdkeim]

Thanks for the tip on using the website! That makes sense that you might get more choices than on the app. There are many schools of thought on FP strategy. Getting them early in the day so you can start booking more earlier in the day. Or, getting to the parks at rope drop and schedule FP's for later in the day when the crowds are building. Disney planning is getting harder all the time - but still fun.

 

[SaraSpringsIsHome]

There are many schools of thought on FP strategy. Getting them early in the day so you can start booking more earlier in the day. Or, getting to the parks at rope drop and schedule FP's for later in the day when the crowds are building. Disney planning is getting harder all the time - but still fun.

It's true. We have always had park hoppers until this trip, so in the past we made our FP's for the second park we would be hitting, with the assumption it would be busier then and at least we'd get to ride 3 attractions with a shortened wait.

Without park hoppers, it definitely changed our touring and FastPass style. Sometimes they were useful early in the day (especially at Animal Kingdom/ Pandora/ Flight of Passage); other times it was a means to get to our third FP so we could start hunting for more.

Planning really is half the fun of taking a Disney trip!

 

[SaraSpringsIsHome]

July 19
Hollywood Studios (part 1)​

We are headed to DH’s favorite park today, Hollywood Studios! The morning started off like usual: we woke up to the alarm clock and coffee brewing around 7, which gave us plenty of time to get ready. We planned on leaving around 8:20, and actually managed to get out around 8:22-- not too shabby! We strolled over to the Studios (have I mentioned a thousand times already how much we LOVE the Boardwalk?), and we were through security and the tapstiles by 8:40.

Hooray for Hollywood Studios Day!!!

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It felt a bit crowded waiting this morning, but soon we were off! Our first stop was Rock ‘n Roller Coaster, since we didn’t have a FP for it. What a way to start the day! I like roller coasters, but the older I get, the less they agree with me. Luckily, I remembered to take some Bonine this morning, so I should be all clear! We had a great time and were heading over to Tower of Terror at 9:30.

Love this "hidden Mickey" ​

We did have a FP for ToT, so we quickly tapped in and moved past a 15 minute line (we didn’t really need the FP for it this early, but whatever) and were immediately loaded in to the pre-show room. Again, I love this ride, but I always get soooo anxious right before the first drop!

After two stomach wrenching rides before 10 a.m., we decided ride something a little more tame. Since our Toy Story FP didn’t activate until 10:15, it was the perfect time to ride The Great Movie Ride! This is DH’s favorite ride in all the World, and we are both SO sad they are getting rid of it. We were just glad our trip fell early enough that we got to say goodbye. Why not update it? WHY MUST THEY DESTROY THIS?!?!

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Sorry... Umm... where was I? Oh, yes, we rode TGMR with about a 10 minute standby wait. Our guide was very hard to understand and our Gangster Lady was okay, but we were just glad to be riding it. Upon exiting our trip through the movies, we headed over to Pixar Place to use our 2nd FP of the day!

I can’t help it, I just love TSMM! We were taken through the awkward side hallway to ride on the “new” 3rd track. We had a slight delay, as it seemed they were cleaning up a protein spill at the exit before we could ride. Soon, we were spinning our way to fun, however! Oh, and I won (also had best in the ride vehicle).

Player 1: Donnie
Player 2: Ali

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It was time for our 3rd FP of the day (at 11:15), but we made a few detours on our way over to Star Tours!

It's Cruz Ramirez!​

We’re both super excited for Star Wars Land!

Hiya, Goofy!

Donnie Skywalker

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Detours complete, we finally arrived at Star Tours! (After tapping in for FP #3, it was that time again: what will our next FP be?! I got another TSMM FP for 12:30-1:30, so we can ride it right after lunch!)

The ride room for Star Tours seemed very stuffy and hot, and we both felt a bit queasy afterward. We were excited we were only steps away from our next destination: lunch at Sci Fi!

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We were about 5 minutes early for our 11:45 lunch ressie, and were seated right on time. Donnie had never eaten here, and it’d probably been 15 years since I had, so we were excited to try something “new” for lunch.

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Our carhop was Corey, and she was just great! Very attentive and very in character, which is always fun in a place like Sci Fi.

Dancing hotdog and bun!

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It’s super dark in here, so I didn’t bother with taking food pics, even though I actually thought about it this time. I had the Southern Burger, and Donnie had the BBQ Burger. They were both quite delicious! We just had waters to drink, and it was at this time that the beans were spilled for Donnie’s special surprise.

I had kept the secret for a couple of months, which is really good for me! As we were looking at the Sci Fi menu, he was interested in the milkshakes, since we always get PB&J shake at Prime Time when we eat there. I let slip that we probably shouldn’t, since his special treat was tonight, erm, I mean surprise. He had already deduced that the surprise would be happening on our Studios day, but still wasn’t sure until this moment. He guessed “Are we doing a dessert party tonight?” and I confirmed with him it was happening. He was SO excited, which made me excited and really glad I booked it!

We're going to the SWaGS dessert party tonight. Yaaay!
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After our fun and filling lunch at Sci Fi, we headed back around for our second ride on TSMM. It’s kind of pain getting there with everything walled off, and we criss crossed the park a LOT to ride everything, but HS is rather small, so it’s not like it was that far.

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There was crazy line when we arrived, and we soon found out that it was FastPass only (no one was allowed to even get in the standby line), and only the 3rd track was running. No thanks! Our TSMM FP turned in to an anytime FP, so we decided to use it to ride... The Great Movie Ride again! The standby was about 45 minutes, so it actually worked out perfectly.

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By this time it was 1:30, so we decided to head back to the resort for an afternoon break. We decided to walk back, and we were in our room relaxing by about 1:50. The a/c felt amazing. We decided since we were heading to Blizzard Beach on Thursday to forgo a swim and that naps were in order. Before nap time, however, I got us another FP for our return to the studios later-- TSMM (4:00-5:00). We will get to ride it twice, hooray!

To be continued...