They Should Really Put a Bar in Here - Closing Thoughts - 4/1

Hi! Just joining in! Looks like I'm late for the party..... :rolleyes1 We were down the same week as you and your family! I just started reading the beginning and I am a couple pages in!
:welcome:

I actually just read through your TR also. I remember seeing your name somewhere, maybe another TR, before the trip because I saw it mentioned somewhere that our dates overlapped. I thought I subbed to your PTR, but apparently not.

Anyway, I think it was a great week to be there! Nice weather and not too terribly crowded! :thumbsup2
 

DW and I decided since we had time, we d take our time getting back to them. We made a stop at the outdoor margarita stand in Mexico.

Getting a good start on the evening I see…



we found that they had the same idea we did and had a few drinks from Italy. I don t remember what everyone had, but I m pretty sure it wasn t Beverly.:rolleyes1

Are you sure? They were in the Italian pavilion after all.
I wonder how much alcohol it would take to make stuff enjoyable.



It was almost time for our ADR, so we headed to Via Napoli to check in. I was really nervous, hoping that everyone would love it as much as DW and I did.

That’s always a dilemma.
We know what we like, but since tastes differ so widely, it’s hard to tell if others will really enjoy our recommendations. It’d be tougher if I were in their company at the time as y’all are in this case.

Unless of course it were barbeque that was being recommended…
Can’t go wrong recommending good Que.



Sis asked about a gluten free pizza crust, but she was told that they take pride in the quality of their pizza crust and were unwilling to compromise it by creating a gluten free version of it.

Interesting…
A might obsessive, but interesting.



We were going to have about half a day for park time the next day, and I was planning to hit EPCOT so we didn t really have anything we urgently wanted to do that evening other than watch Illuminations.

The WS is best seen when you don’t have to bee somewhere at a certain time. Glad y’all got to take the slow walk around the world



We then made our way over to Japan to look for something I d read about on the Disney Food Blog. Frozen beer.

Mixing your alcohols already?

I’ve not heard about that particular offering.
Not a big fan of most Japanese lagers, but I’ll keep that in mind if I’m there in the high summer (which is usually the only time I can get down there)



we waited until France for our next drink.

More booze?
Quite the evening y’all are having.



I ve seen all the rave reviews for the concoctions they make there, so I was bound and determined to get one of those French slushes.

You chose wisely



He then told me that he has found his favorite ride in Disney World. Mission: Space.

If you had to pick "one"… That’s a good one.



BiL, in his infinite wisdom, comes up with the best idea ever. :idea: They can all go ride It s a Small Mexico, while he and I go ride Mission: Space Orange after stuffing ourselves silly in Via Napoli and drinking a good chunk of the way around the world.

A sensible well reasoned plan if ever I’ve heard one.
The man may well be a genius.



Neither of us was locked out of our room later that night, so apparently there were no objections to our plan.

:lmao:



We headed over to TT and we talked a little bit more about WDW. BiL was blown away by WS and how you can pretty much just do a pub crawl from one country to the next. He had always thought that Disney World was just for kids, but he was clearly getting it by that point.

Victory! Another convert.
Now you just need to convince him to join the DDC.



We made our way to TT and I was excited to finally get to see the whole queue and experience the design studios.

I remember reading you extended review of the long queue and TT in general on the other board. Sounds like a bit of a mixed bag between upgrade and mere redecoration. But I’m still looking forward to giving it a try. Like most travel opportunities, it will likely return as much as one puts into it.



He made the comment that he d been in line for over half an hour and had been almost an hour since he had a beer. BiL just looked at him and said, They should really put a bar in here! :idea:

I wondered when the title explanation would show itself.
So we’re advocating drinking and driving then?
:rotfl2:



The more we talked about it, the more it made sense. It had been a while since any of us had a beer. We were stuck in that line and apparently, we were still going to be waiting for a while. There is no pre-show going on in that room at all& no displays to look at, no video playing. It really is a letdown to be stuck in there after the awesome experience that the queue had been up to that point.

You win! They really do need to put a bar in there.
They’re missing out on one heck of a marketing opportunity.
:lmao:



We considered heading back to the WS to see if we could sample some beverages from a few more countries. If it had been about 5 years ago, I m sure we would have, but on this night, we decided bed was more important than beer.

You have officially graduated from youth to responsible adult.
Please step this way so we can have the word: “Sucker!” tattooed on your forehead.



He fell asleep in his seat and fell into the aisle as the bus made a turn. BiL caught him to keep him from falling on the floor and sat him back up. He didn t even wake up.

Nice work…
That was one tuckered young man right there.



He and Sis were going to MK, but the rest of us were planning to sleep in a little longer than normal and go back to EPCOT. I told him they should just load their stuff into the cars in the morning and they could just take a monorail to EPCOT when they get done at MK.

That was the plan I had in mind when I went to bed anyway&

What could possibly go wrong? :rolleyes1
 
Getting a good start on the evening I see…
Of course. :drinking1

Are you sure? They were in the Italian pavilion after all.
I wonder how much alcohol it would take to make stuff enjoyable
It depends on the alcohol you add to it. A little bit of a good rum goes along way.

Now if you're using sambuca, that would probably make it even more disgusting.

That’s always a dilemma.
We know what we like, but since tastes differ so widely, it’s hard to tell if others will really enjoy our recommendations. It’d be tougher if I were in their company at the time as y’all are in this case.

Unless of course it were barbeque that was being recommended…
Can’t go wrong recommending good Que.
Yep... despite the regional disagreements, I'm happy with just about any kind of BBQ. :thumbsup2

Interesting…
A might obsessive, but interesting.
I think he said something about the fact that with pizza dough everywhere, it is hard to contain the wheat flour without cross contamination, also. Either way, they weren't gonna be making any gluten free pizza dough under any circumstance.

The WS is best seen when you don’t have to bee somewhere at a certain time. Glad y’all got to take the slow walk around the world
Not enough time, IMO.

Mixing your alcohols already?
No. I only had one at a time. :thumbsup2 :rotfl:

I’ve not heard about that particular offering.
Not a big fan of most Japanese lagers, but I’ll keep that in mind if I’m there in the high summer (which is usually the only time I can get down there)
I wasn't crazy about the Kirin myself, but it isn't all that bad. I'd compare it to an icy Miller Lite. But I will say that Miller Lite is my least favorite domestic. :rotfl2::rotfl:

More booze?
Quite the evening y’all are having.
Hey, when in Paris... :confused3 :rotfl2:

You chose wisely
::yes::

If you had to pick "one"… That’s a good one.
Not necessarily my pick, but I can't argue with it.

A sensible well reasoned plan if ever I’ve heard one.
The man may well be a genius.
That might be a bit strong, but it certainly was a good plan.

Victory! Another convert.
Now you just need to convince him to join the DDC.
Don't quite see that happening, gotta take it one step at a time.

I remember reading you extended review of the long queue and TT in general on the other board. Sounds like a bit of a mixed bag between upgrade and mere redecoration. But I’m still looking forward to giving it a try. Like most travel opportunities, it will likely return as much as one puts into it.
Yes, there's a lot to get out of it through the design process.

But the ride part... yep, redecoration pretty much sums it up.

I wondered when the title explanation would show itself.
So we’re advocating drinking and driving then?
:rotfl2:
Well if you say it that way, it sounds less appealing... :sad2:

You win! They really do need to put a bar in there.
They’re missing out on one heck of a marketing opportunity.
:lmao:
That was my theory.

You have officially graduated from youth to responsible adult.
Please step this way so we can have the word: “Sucker!” tattooed on your forehead.
:headache:

Nice work…
That was one tuckered young man right there.
::yes::

What could possibly go wrong? :rolleyes1
On vacation???? :rolleyes1
 
I'm glad that everyone enjoyed Via Napoli! I understand the feeling of really wanting everyone to like a place that you've talked up so much. Glad it worked out.

Yay for drinking around the world! If that's what it takes to make people understand that WDW is more than just kid stuff, then I'm glad you stepped up to the challenge. :thumbsup2

I didn't know your design got a score on TT. (Congrats on your awesome one!) That's gonna up the ante for my DH for sure. Goodness knows how many times we'll have to ride. Hopefully he'll have watched plenty of Top Gear before the trip. :lmao:
 
We made a stop at the outdoor margarita stand in Mexico. We enjoyed our beverages as we headed to Italy to meet up with everyone else. When we arrived, we found that they had the same idea we did and had a few drinks from Italy. I don't remember what everyone had, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't Beverly.

After so many drinks, can you really tell anymore?:confused3

Despite the recommendation that they get pizza, Sis2 and BiL each ordered a pasta dish. No I don't remember what it was. It wasn't pizza, they were wrong, and I didn't care.

Agreed. If it ain't broke...

We then made our way over to Japan to look for something I'd read about on the Disney Food Blog. Frozen beer. Or rather a beer with a frozen head on it to keep it cool.

So it's a basically a cup of beer...with ice.

We continued walking around the WS and since we were still working on the frozen beers in Morocco, we waited until France for our next drink. I've seen all the rave reviews for the concoctions they make there, so I was bound and determined to get one of those French slushes. Again, BiL, Sis2 and I each got an orange slush and DW had the other one--lemon, isn't it? Anyway, I know mine was great, and it was gone by the time we made it through the UK.

Margarita, beer, slushie...you guys were really feeling no pain at this point, were you?

8531984098_8106a6da85.jpg

See what I mean? :rotfl:

BiL, in his infinite wisdom, comes up with the best idea ever. :idea: They can all go ride It's a Small Mexico, while he and I go ride Mission: Space Orange after stuffing ourselves silly in Via Napoli and drinking a good chunk of the way around the world.

Yes, because tremendous consumption of alcohol and spinning is always an excellent idea! :thumbsup2

We rode without the need for any barf bags to be put to use. I consider that a win.

Impressive. :darth:

We headed over to TT and we talked a little bit more about WDW. BiL was blown away by WS and how you can pretty much just do a pub crawl from one country to the next. He had always thought that Disney World was just for kids, but he was clearly getting it by that point.

Nice. You're doing good work there.

After the timer ran out on us, we headed down to the other end of the room and stood next to the exit doors. We waited a minute or 2 before they finally opened. After they opened, we came out into one of those rooms where Disney likes to make you leave a single file line to fill all available space in a huge corral area and then re-form a single file line. You could hear audible groans from people as they realized that there was more waiting after the design studio.

Don't you hate that? Sounds like it's a bit of an issue here.

He made the comment that he'd been in line for over half an hour and had been almost an hour since he had a beer. BiL just looked at him and said, They should really put a bar in here! :idea:

Perfect! Anything Disney can do to promote the idea of drinking alcohol and then climbing into a car for a drive. :thumbsup2:thumbsup2 :rotfl2:

We finally got on the ride, and I have to say that my truck was a pretty good vehicle. I checked my score on the board at the end of the ride, and I scored a 216. The high for the day was 232 and most of the others checking their score when I was there were in the 190-205 range.

Nice! Although I noticed in the other picture you didn't rank too high on your environmental efficiency. :rolleyes1

We considered heading back to the WS to see if we could sample some beverages from a few more countries. If it had been about 5 years ago, I'm sure we would have, but on this night, we decided bed was more important than beer.

Ah, I remember when I hit middle age and turned into a lame-o.

Actually, I don't. I thought I was cool for all these years and then it slowly dawned on me that "cool" had left me behind. I still don't know when it happened.
 
Ah, I remember when I hit middle age and turned into a lame-o.

Actually, I don't. I thought I was cool for all these years and then it slowly dawned on me that "cool" had left me behind. I still don't know when it happened.

Usually right about the time your first young’en starts speaking English.
:lmao:
 
We shared a few park days! I've read through your chapter links and I'm caught up :yay: your kid are cute!! They have great smiles! :)

So kind of a bummer about sharing the resort with the pop Warner kids : / and especially being woken up in the middle of the night. They would have been sorry if they were anywhere near my room - I hope you gave your FIL a high five! ;)

I was very entertained by your ET story. This is so my in laws (heck it's even my DH) I remember walking around the world showcase and something similar happened I think he wanted to go on space mountain but didn't realize it was In an entirely different park....

Ugh- so sorry about SIL and the cross contamination. A friend of ours ran into bread made in a tree but facility at Kouzzina- thankfully no reaction. They only found out because their child liked the bread so much and wanted to get it somewhere. Yep right on the label made in a tree nut facility :( It's upsetting that sometimes allergies aren't taken seriously : /

Your drinks looked tasty!! And I really enjoyed reading your TR!
 


We all enjoyed our meal. I hadnt had the margherita before and it was good. I still liked the pepperoni better, and I think next time I might want to try the quattro formaggi, having seen the rave reviews for it. DS really enjoyed it too. He ate a whole slice of margherita and had part of another one. I guess part of it could be that he didnt want anything for lunch other than goldfish and fries.



A million times YES!!! My favorite Disney food, hands down. :love: And DS sounds infinitely smarter than you give him credit for, he obviously only had goldfish & fries for lunch so that he could save room to stuff himself with Via Napoli pizza! :thumbsup2:thumbsup2 I might have to borrow this tactic from him in October... :rolleyes1

It sounds like the adults still managed to have a fun time in Epcot even with the kiddos around. :drinking1 And I'm really glad you didn't toss your cookies on Mission:Space, or if you did, that you at least didn't share that information with your readers. :thumbsup2:lmao:
 
I'm glad that everyone enjoyed Via Napoli! I understand the feeling of really wanting everyone to like a place that you've talked up so much. Glad it worked out.
Absolutely. The pressure was on.

Yay for drinking around the world! If that's what it takes to make people understand that WDW is more than just kid stuff, then I'm glad you stepped up to the challenge.
I don't know that I'd say I stepped up to the challenge. Far too many countries were bypassed. :sad2:

I didn't know your design got a score on TT. (Congrats on your awesome one!) That's gonna up the ante for my DH for sure. Goodness knows how many times we'll have to ride. Hopefully he'll have watched plenty of Top Gear before the trip. :lmao:
I'm sure he's up to the task. They've got all kinds of interesting accessories you can put on the roof/back/sides too, so I'm sure he can get some really good ideas from some of the stuff they do on Top Gear. :thumbsup2 :rotfl2:

After so many drinks, can you really tell anymore?
No, but it takes a few more than we ever got to on that night. :rotfl:

Agreed. If it ain't broke...
Did an engineer just use that quote??? :faint:

So it's a basically a cup of beer...with ice.
Yes, but it is beer ice.

Margarita, beer, slushie...you guys were really feeling no pain at this point, were you?
Well, there was a lot of tim in between the margarita and the beer. So really it was beer, slushie... I'm getting kind of thirsty.

See what I mean?
I have no idea what that was, and that's why it is there. :rotfl2:

Yes, because tremendous consumption of alcohol and spinning is always an excellent idea!
Is that something that Homer SImpson once said?

Nice. You're doing good work there.
::yes::

Don't you hate that? Sounds like it's a bit of an issue here.
Really, you've got all kinds of stuff going on in the queue up to this point and then... nothing.
They could put a TV in there with a video playing about anything to do with designing a car and it would be a nice improvement.

Perfect! Anything Disney can do to promote the idea of drinking alcohol and then climbing into a car for a drive. :thumbsup2:thumbsup2 :rotfl2:
Well, when you say it like that... :guilty:

Nice! Although I noticed in the other picture you didn't rank too high on your environmental efficiency. :rolleyes1
Blame Disney/GM. I was building a truck. Something that I'd use on the farm. They didn't give me an option for the more efficient/powerful diesel engine. All I could use was some supercharged gas engine or something like that to get enough power.

Ah, I remember when I hit middle age and turned into a lame-o.

Actually, I don't. I thought I was cool for all these years and then it slowly dawned on me that "cool" had left me behind. I still don't know when it happened.
:sad2: I guess being oblivious is bliss.
 
Hey Andy! I'm glad that your family liked Via Napoli. It sounds like it was a great choice even though some were determined to not like it before actually trying it. I have yet to get there!

Your BiL should be an imagineer, with his great ideas for queue-enhancements!
 
Usually right about the time your first young’en starts speaking English.
Sounds about right. :lmao:

We shared a few park days! I've read through your chapter links and I'm caught up :yay: your kid are cute!! They have great smiles!
I noticed the park day thing! Always fun to come home and see some other TR's from the same time frame to compar notes. Thanks!

So kind of a bummer about sharing the resort with the pop Warner kids : / and especially being woken up in the middle of the night. They would have been sorry if they were anywhere near my room - I hope you gave your FIL a high five! ;)
I will avoid Pop Warner resorts at all costs in the future. :headache:

I was very entertained by your ET story. This is so my in laws (heck it's even my DH) I remember walking around the world showcase and something similar happened I think he wanted to go on space mountain but didn't realize it was In an entirely different park....
All you can do is roll your eyes and laugh at them. :lmao:

Ugh- so sorry about SIL and the cross contamination. A friend of ours ran into bread made in a tree but facility at Kouzzina- thankfully no reaction. They only found out because their child liked the bread so much and wanted to get it somewhere. Yep right on the label made in a tree nut facility :( It's upsetting that sometimes allergies aren't taken seriously : /
Yes... and the worst part is that they have a reputation for being so good about allergies that you tend to let your guard down a bit.

Your drinks looked tasty!! And I really enjoyed reading your TR!
The drinks were great. Could have used a few more hours and a few more drinks in EPCOT that afternoon. :rolleyes1

A million times YES!!! My favorite Disney food, hands down. :love: And DS sounds infinitely smarter than you give him credit for, he obviously only had goldfish & fries for lunch so that he could save room to stuff himself with Via Napoli pizza! :thumbsup2:thumbsup2 I might have to borrow this tactic from him in October... :rolleyes1
That one has definitely been on my radar based on some very positive reviews... I think mostly from you. :lmao: It was between that and the margherita for our second one, and my vote was already for pepperoni, so I think mom made the choice on the second one.

I think you give DS too much credit. If we had asked him if he wanted pizza and he said yes, and then we put it in front of him 5 hours later, I guarantee he'd want a hot dog. :rotfl2:

It sounds like the adults still managed to have a fun time in Epcot even with the kiddos around. :drinking1 And I'm really glad you didn't toss your cookies on Mission:Space, or if you did, that you at least didn't share that information with your readers. :thumbsup2:lmao:
We had a lot of fun. And I don't sugar coat things in my TR. If it had happened, you'd know. :rotfl2::lmao:

That sounds about right!

Looks like we had a lot of similar comments on this chapter. Great minds...
Yeah, great minds... :rolleyes1

Hey Andy! I'm glad that your family liked Via Napoli. It sounds like it was a great choice even though some were determined to not like it before actually trying it. I have yet to get there!
It was a great choice, and I'm glad they all came around. You really need to give it a try!

Your BiL should be an imagineer, with his great ideas for queue-enhancements!
::yes::

Via Napoli has many great sights :) and food :)
Just remember, there are some nice sights for guys to enjoy there too. :lmao::rotfl2::rotfl:
 
I'm sorry it's been a while since my last update, but I have a few excuses.

First of all, I'm down to my last day, and I'm really not in a hurry to finish this thing up. :rotfl2:

Secondly, I've been busy at work lately, and I'll be out of the office the next couple of days. I've got to get a few things done today, but I've almost got the update ready to post, so if I get some time this afternoon I'll try to get it. If not, hopefully I'll have it ready Thursday.

And third... Well, something else has come up that is taking priority over both work and my TR. We still haven't made firm plans about vacation this year, but DW keeps mentioning going to Disney World the same week as her sister's family. That would be great, but it is already within 180 days so I'm going to be doing some ADR stalking and then we'll look at availability and prices and decide if we're actually going to do it or not. That said, I'm probably going to have my hands full today. I'll get to the TR when I can. :rotfl2::lmao::rotfl:
 
I'm sorry it's been a while since my last update, but I have a few excuses.

First of all, I'm down to my last day, and I'm really not in a hurry to finish this thing up. :rotfl2:

Secondly, I've been busy at work lately, and I'll be out of the office the next couple of days. I've got to get a few things done today, but I've almost got the update ready to post, so if I get some time this afternoon I'll try to get it. If not, hopefully I'll have it ready Thursday.

And third... Well, something else has come up that is taking priority over both work and my TR. We still haven't made firm plans about vacation this year, but DW keeps mentioning going to Disney World the same week as her sister's family. That would be great, but it is already within 180 days so I'm going to be doing some ADR stalking and then we'll look at availability and prices and decide if we're actually going to do it or not. That said, I'm probably going to have my hands full today. I'll get to the TR when I can. :rotfl2::lmao::rotfl:

I'm in no rush either to finish my TR. I usually am only in a hurry to finish a TR when I have concrete plans for another trip, but don't have any dates nailed down as of yet. Sooo, i'll be making this TR last for as long as I can :rolleyes1

So we'll see you, when we see you :thumbsup2
 
One Last (First) Monorail Ride

Saturday, December 8


We woke up a little bit later than normal this morning. Our plan was to go to EPCOT, but we really weren’t too worried about being there for Rope Drop. I got up at around 8 and headed to El Centro to fill our mugs.

We got up and as we were getting ready, Sis2 stopped by our room. She said that she and Mom were going to go to DTD and were trying to figure out how to work out the transportation. DW said she wanted to go to DTD too.

In case you didn’t catch it in the PTR, DW asked me if we had to go to DTD. As in she had no desire to go to DTD. Now on the last day of our trip, she wants to go. :faint:

Sis and BiL had already left for the MK, and Dad didn’t want to go to DTD and wasn’t in a rush to get to the parks so he decided to go to Pepper Market and grab some breakfast and take his time at the resort. Since it would be a little more logistically complicated for them to take a bus to DTD and then try to get to the park from there, I told them that I’d just go to DTD with DW, we could drive the vehicles there and then Dad could take a bus and meet us at the park.

With that decision made and the vehicles packed up, we finally headed out to DTD at around 10 am. As we were driving, DW asked what park we were going to go to. I said EPCOT. She told me she really didn’t want to go back there. I was a little disappointed to hear that. It is usually a park that we like to spend quite a bit of time just walking around, but she really didn’t want to do that. During our walk around the world the night before, we really just went from country to country talking and enjoying drinks. We didn’t take hardly any time at all to explore the details of the individual countries, and this was one of the things I always enjoy doing.

Instead, we decided that we’d do something else, so that DS would be able to ride a few more rides on our last park day. Translation: we were going to the MK. On a day that Touring Plans had listed as a 9 after we’ve seen a week of 2 - 4’s. We were doing what I swore we wouldn’t… going to the MK on the first Saturday after the official grand opening of the new Fantasyland. This has great idea written all over it. :rolleyes1 :scared:

When we got to DTD, DW told Mom about the change and they were on board with it. I think they preferred to go to MK over EPCOT anyway. Mom called Dad to let him know we’d be going to MK instead so he was going to head that way and meet up with Sis and BiL.

We got there and the first stop was World of Disney. It was a worthwhile trip. We spent about an hour and a half in there and bought nothing. I walked outside and looked around at the Lego store while DW was shopping. DS had run off with Sis2.

8568852505_598518d88d.jpg


I think it was at DTD anyway. It came from Mom’s camera.
8568847173_5da5965d31.jpg


Since it was lunch time when DW was ready to leave, and we had never tried any of the QS places in DTD that everyone speaks so highly of, I thought it would be a good opportunity to grab some lunch. We found Mom and Sis2, who were still shopping, and told them we were heading over to Wolfgang Puck Express to grab some lunch. They said they’d finish and meet us over there.

We went and ordered our food and then found a table outside. It was a nice morning, so we thought we might as well enjoy it as long as we could since we’d be returning to colder temperatures. I don’t remember what DW had, but I had spaghetti, and DS had some macaroni and cheese. It was all very good, and well worth a QS credit to eat there. I don’t know that I’d go out of my way and make a special trip to DTD just for the meal, but if we ever have plans to go to DTD around meal time, I definitely wouldn’t hesitate to go back.

Mom and Sis2 actually made it over to WPE and sat down at our table as we were still eating. We fed DD while they finished and then we all headed out to the parking lot. We loaded up and headed over to MK. What could be worse than going to MK on a crowded Saturday? Arriving after noon on a crowded Saturday, of course. I hate to sound whiny about it, but the whole time we were making our way to the MK I just kept thinking about how this went against every OCD Disney planner instinct I had. Main Street didn’t look quite as bad as I’d expected though and gave me some hope.

8568851417_38b909b8b5.jpg


When we got in the park, Mom and Sis2 headed off to find everyone else. DW and I headed back to Storybook Circus with the kids. By the time we got back there, DD was asleep. We grabbed some FP for Barnstormer, and tried to decide what to do next. It was pretty crowded around FL, and everything was lined up. Tea Cups even had a 15 min wait.

I didn’t really want to try to fight the crowd with the stroller, and I hadn’t seen Hall of Presidents yet. I told DW that we could park the stroller and I’d just carry DD with me and go see HoP while she and DS did a few rides in FL. I think they managed to ride Tea Cups and IASW in the time I was in HoP. That might be some of the best planning I’ve ever done.

As I headed over to Liberty Square, I snapped a picture of the crowd.

8568850375_3b15305501.jpg


As someone who had only gone in July/August until a couple of years ago, I realize that it isn’t exactly uncommon for the park to be this crowded, but I was being spoiled by some of the less busy days that we’d been experiencing all week.

I got into the preshow area of HoP right after they let a group in for a show. I was the first one in for the next show, so I found a bench to sit down so I could find a comfortable way to hold DD so that she’d stay asleep. When they opened up the theater, I headed in and even though it wasn’t going to be a full stretch by any means, I went clear to the far end of the theater so that I could get out if DD decided to wake up in a grumpy mood. It turned out that she slept through the show anyway, so it didn’t matter.

We left and I texted DW to find out where they were. She said they had just gotten on a boat in IASW. I thought sure they’d be waiting for us, but then again, we hadn’t seen lines all week and this day was a little bit different. I waited around for a little while and finally saw them walking out the exit. It was actually pushing us close to the end of our FP window for Barnstormer, so we headed straight over there. DD woke up as we were heading that way and DW took her while DS and I took the first ride. When we got back, DW said she was going to take DD to change her diaper. The FP window was only a couple of minutes away from ending, so she told me to take the other FP and take DS for another ride. I can’t argue with that logic.:thumbsup2

After our ride, we headed into the Circus Tent gift shop to use a couple of snack credits. We got some cotton candy and a Goofy Glacier. It was actually a warm afternoon, so that glacier was a very nice treat.

It was only about 3:30, but we still had a QS meal credit to use and we knew we’d have to get on the road soon. We considered our options and decided to head over and check Tortuga Tavern. We’d seen it open earlier in the week and had never eaten there, so we thought it would be good to try. We made our way over to that side of the park, only to find that it was closed.

Oh well… we weren’t in the mood to fight our way back through the crowds, and since we were basically making our way toward the exit, we decided we’d just eat at Casey’s again. We got our food and couldn’t find anywhere to sit. This is the part I hate the most about Casey’s.

We headed outside and I actually closed the canopy on top of the stroller and we were trying to use it as a makeshift table. Thankfully, it wasn’t long before one of the tall tables opened up so we could use it. I was pretty sure DD was going to end up wearing a chili dog if we didn’t get a real table somewhere.

As we were eating, I texted Mom to tell her we were just eating and we’d be ready to leave as soon as we were done. I got a text back saying they were in line for Pirates and still needed to eat. Sis was very adamant that she wanted to be on the road by mid-afternoon, but then they were the hold up. Oh well.

They finished their ride at about the time we finished our meal. They came over to meet us and we went to Main Street for a few group PP pics in front of the castle. All week long, Sis had been telling BiL that she was going to get him a First Visit button. He kept making threats telling her not to. Well, guess what was on his shirt when we came walking over to us.

After we did that, they went to Casey’s to grab some food and DW headed into the shops. I took the stroller with both kids and walked around the Town Square area.

8569946726_b4d64b3576.jpg


There’s that crowd I expected on Main Street

8569933864_b4406ec620.jpg


DS was getting impatient, so I found a spot out of the way in front of the hat shop and we parked the stroller and played on the sidewalk for a little bit. As we were playing they started the Flag Retreat. I had never seen this before, so I was really excited to basically have just been in the right place at the right time to catch it. You can’t really see it in the picture, but that is what I was trying to get a picture of.

8569928444_24623f82e5.jpg


After the flag ceremony, DW brought a bag with her purchases in it and headed back to the ice cream shop to use our last snack credit. Shortly after she left, the rest of the family came and found us. We headed over to the restrooms and when DW came back, we were ready to head out. Well, all of us except for DS.

8568842723_a01546ab77.jpg


And a few parting shots Mom had taken on the way out…

8568845995_5a50ceccdc.jpg


8568843709_aba97d5cd7.jpg


8568844779_7a3343047e.jpg


8569938642_fa51d224d4.jpg


All week long, with all the issues they’d had with the monorail, BiL had never been on one. Sis kept trying to make it work out, but it just never had. Luck was on our side this evening, and the monorail was operating when we left the park. Anytime I’m on the monorail, it always makes me think of all the times we came to Disney World when I was a little kid. Riding that monorail through the Contemporary was always that moment that said “We’re here!”

We started this Disney vacation with a monorail resort tour, and we were ending our vacation with a monorail ride. And even though it was the last ride we’d get to take on this trip, BiL was finally going to get to experience it himself.

8569937646_b22c70c207.jpg


8568839901_54bb9b7877.jpg


It is obvious that Mom didn’t want to leave, because I swear she took more pictures on the way out of the park than she took all week. Here is the last one taken…

8568837817_0aec5a2534.jpg


Thank you all for following along, hopefully I wasn’t too boring. I’ll probably write up some kind of a summary at some point in the next couple of weeks.

Right now, I have no idea if we’ll go back to Disney World this year or not. It certainly wasn’t in our plans around the first of the year, but right now we are looking at the possibility of a trip about 3 months away, or maybe around the first week of December for the third year in a row!!! That’s a streak I’m willing to continue as long as I have DW’s blessing. We’re kind of torn between one of those 2 or a beach trip this summer. Right now I’m doing research and running numbers, so we’ll see what works out. I spent today getting ADR’s for June though, just in case.


And if I’m following your TR, I’ll try to get caught up soon. I’ll be out of the office the next couple of days, but I should at least be able to get the reading caught up on my phone and possibly even attempt some comments with it.
 
I kept looking to see if I was in any of your pictures since we were at the MK that day, but I didn't see me. :rotfl2::rotfl2::rotfl2:

It was crowded that day...I remember we didn't get a whole lot done. Smart call on letting DW and DS do rides while you took a sleeping baby to the Hall of Presidents.

Besides not liking the food at Casey's, I often wondered why they didn't have more seating...maybe get rid of the bleachers and add a few more tables? :confused3

You'll have to let me know your possible dates in June to see if they are when I'm there or in December...as we are going back that first week of December and hopefully this time we can work it out to meet.

I thoroughly enjoyed your TR, and your children are beautiful.
 
Great end to a great TR! And fun to see you did eventually end up at MK for departure day! Even though it was crowded. But it tends to work out because by the time you get to MK on your last day, in most cases you've done all the essential attractions so everything you do this becomes a bonus! At least that's what I tell myself and I can take it easy ;)

Hope you make it back in 3 months!
 

In case you didn’t catch it in the PTR, DW asked me if we had to go to DTD. As in she had no desire to go to DTD. Now on the last day of our trip, she wants to go. :faint:

That’s that there “prerogative” thing that is written into a sub-clause of all wedding vows.
Not a thing you can do to change that desire for change of mind.
:lmao:



During our walk around the world the night before, we really just went from country to country talking and enjoying drinks. We didn’t take hardly any time at all to explore the details of the individual countries, and this was one of the things I always enjoy doing.

You’ll just have to go back and correct that minor oversight.
What a shame that will be…



We were doing what I swore we wouldn’t… going to the MK on the first Saturday after the official grand opening of the new Fantasyland. This has great idea written all over it. :rolleyes1 :scared:

tumblr_lxnot7fYUf1qmrqrso1_500.jpg




What could be worse than going to MK on a crowded Saturday? Arriving after noon on a crowded Saturday, of course. I hate to sound whiny about it, but the whole time we were making our way to the MK I just kept thinking about how this went against every OCD Disney planner instinct I had.

We have always had to do our Disney traveling during peek crowd times so I’m use to it, but…
this still sounds like a bad idea to me.

Hopefully we’re both wrong.




It could happen!



I think they managed to ride Tea Cups and IASW in the time I was in HoP. That might be some of the best planning I’ve ever done.

::yes::
And you missed IASM :thumbsup2
not so bad after all.
At least not yet.




The FP window was only a couple of minutes away from ending, so she told me to take the other FP and take DS for another ride. I can’t argue with that logic.:thumbsup2

Disney changed the rules, and she gave you permission…
can’t argue with good fortune



We considered our options and decided to head over and check Tortuga Tavern. We’d seen it open earlier in the week and had never eaten there, so we thought it would be good to try. We made our way over to that side of the park, only to find that it was closed.

"Oh! Skunked again."



We got our food and couldn’t find anywhere to sit. This is the part I hate the most about Casey’s.

Yep. That’s a major drawback at Casey’s



As we were playing they started the Flag Retreat. I had never seen this before, so I was really excited to basically have just been in the right place at the right time to catch it.

That’s a really cool little bit of Main Street tradition to catch.
I love how they try to find a veteran visiting that day to be part of the ceremony.
You did good to catch it.



we were ready to head out. Well, all of us except for DS.

8568842723_a01546ab77.jpg



That’s exactly how I feel when it time to leave.
:rolleyes:



We started this Disney vacation with a monorail resort tour, and we were ending our vacation with a monorail ride. And even though it was the last ride we’d get to take on this trip, BiL was finally going to get to experience it himself.

8568839901_54bb9b7877.jpg



Smiles like that are usually reserved for kids…
Very cool! (First visit button and all)



Thank you all for following along, hopefully I wasn’t too boring.

Thanks for taking us along… and of course not.
Enjoyed the entire trip

Hopefully y’all will find the right plan for a return to The World sometime in the near.
 
Your DS clinging to the pole I love it... That's me like DON'T MAKE ME LEAVE!
 
































GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE


Our Dreams Unlimited Travel Agents will assist you in booking the perfect Disney getaway, all at no extra cost to you. Get the most out of your vacation by letting us assist you with dining and park reservations, provide expert advice, answer any questions, and continuously search for discounts to ensure you get the best deal possible.

CLICK HERE


facebook twitter
Top