Tut, Tut, It Looks Like Rain, A Very Merry Thanksgiving TR Updated 4/28!!

[PrncessA]

Since it wasn’t quite time for our fast pass, and we *gasp* hadn’t done it yet, we popped into Mickey’s Philharmagic.

As did the mobs of people who were trying to escape the rainy weather. Even with a ton of people, of course there was no more of a wait than waiting for the previous show to end. Unfortunately they had the AC blowing hard and we were all damp from the rain, so we froze the entire wait. But we were at our happy place!

Soon we were seated in the very full theater and the curtain was rising.

I love Mickey’s Philharmagic so much! It was a favorite in 2009 and it still is today. It is classic Disney, with all of my favorites from when I was a child and now they are all of my kid’s favorites. Plus it is Donald, and Ethan can’t get enough Donald! Lorelai still reaches for the jewels just like she did when she was 2 years old. It is just magical! I can’t say enough about how much I love it!!

After Donald flew over our heads, and we watched him fall into the wall. We headed back out into the damp evening, but we weren’t going far.

Our FP was for Erik’s favorite ride.

We boarded our boats and sailed out over Neverland. I tried my hardest to get a legal photo of Tiger Lilly. Her doll is CREEPY!

You can kind of see how creepy she is in the photos, she is on the far left. Her eyes freak me out!

I took a lot of photos, but because I don’t break the rules and use flash most are so blurry in this ride that you can’t even make them out!

After Erik’s favorite, it was time for mine. The standby time said 20 minutes, but the time between this photo:

And this photo:

Is 4 minutes… I would say that 20 minutes isn’t very accurate. I know the bad hype with the new FP+ system is that it makes lines longer, but I think that Disney really inflates some of their wait times. Although later in the week I really saw the bad side of FP+ a few times, and what happens when Disney thinks that giving more Fast Passes out because it is a busy day is a good idea… it is NOT!

Now for happier thoughts…

After IASW, we decided that since it was almost 6:30, we need to head over to get in line for Sandy Claws. We stopped and took some photos on our way of course.

I am so glad that we bought the Christmas light necklaces online at a much cheaper price before the trip. No, they weren’t just like the ones Disney sold, but they were close enough AND ¼ of the price! Plus we grew tired of them pretty quickly and never wore them again….

When we arrived at Jack’s meet and greet it was CRAZY packed. LIKE really really packed. But we committed. In the end we waited an hour and 15 minutes? Was it worth it? Probably not to be honest. It would have been worth half that wait, but when you commit you can’t go back.

The reason the line took soooo long is that Jack spends a lot of time with each party. Almost too much time IMO, but with an hour wait, you want some payoff so I understand. Right before our turn Jack took a break and I thought the kids were going to lose it. But it was very quick break and we were next.

I have to say that the interaction with Jack was wonderful. He stayed perfectly in character and the kids had a blast. Between the three of them, they decided that Ethan needed an electric chair for Christmas (to help him get up for school on time) and Lorelai was going to borrow Zero, since she wanted a puppy.

 

[PrncessA]

While we were in line we saw Scrooge and all of the Fab 5 in holiday wear come out, but the line to see them was in the rain, and we weren’t that committed to them. I was really beginning to hate the rain, next time we do a Christmas Party we will buy the tickets the day of, because we missed so much in the rain.

We grabbed some hot chocolate and cookies and since we were there, and the kids love it, the kids and I rode the Barnstormer. After riding once together, we went back around for a second ride. Then Lorelai decided she wanted to ride again, so Ethan went to eat more cookies, and Lorelai and I rode. She rode in the front seat alone…

When we finished there wasn’t anyone in line, so we rode again.

Three or four times in a row.

We headed back out to enjoy more of our hot chocolate and found no Ethan. Apparently he had went back to ride the Barnstormer again.

Yum Hot Chocolate!

We really didn’t have a plan, so we ended up riding the Little Mermaid.

I hate that we spent most of our Christmas Party doing rides, because we can do those anytime, but the kids were not interested at all in standing in lines to see characters. We passed by the Princes and Princesses and although Lorelai hesitated, she didn’t want to stand in line… so on we went.

I believe we then rode the Haunted Mansion, but I have no photos to prove that, but I remember it pretty clearly. We then got stopped by the parade. We made our way over to the Sleepy Hollow food service area, and it was EMPTY with plenty of seats under cover. Even though we had eaten cookies, hot chocolate, and popcorn (we can’t have a night without it), we really wanted something else… or we thought we did.

I got Erik a Diet Coke, which he needed because he was getting GRUMPY in the rain. Lorelai and I split a funnel cake and Ethan SWORE he wanted an ice cream cookie sandwich. Well we didn’t know what that meant at Sleepy Hollow and this was his sandwich:

In comparison:

Let’s just say it didn’t get finished, it was HUGE. All of us ate some of it, but it was just too big to finish.

After our sweets the parade had finished and we made our way to the hub to find a good place to watch the fireworks. We were pretty surprised that it was easy to find a large area to spread out in what normally was a FP area, and the crowds were actually not that bad at all!

Before the fireworks, Lorelai and I ran over to pick up some hot chocolate and cookies, at Casey’s I believe. The kids ran around and played and I sat down on the fake grass and declared that I was not standing for Wishes. There ended up being one couple who stood up right when the fireworks started, right in front of me. But they were fidgety and kept moving away… and back again. It was annoying, but not annoying enough to stand up… for Lorelai either, she sat in my lap.

Erik stood against the railing behind us and took some pretty good photos with his phone. Mine have the outline of the couple who stood up in them. LOL Either way Holiday Wishes was amazing, and it was worth the ticket price to see them at least once!

This one is my POV, see the couple right in front of me?

My thought is you can never have too many photos of the castle… or Wishes… or the castle projection show… or Disney World in general… Do you get my point?

Our final goals for the night were to see the second parade and to ride Splash Mountain. We decided that the easiest way to accomplish both, was to head to Frontierland to see the parade. Right next to Splash. Erik was really finished with walking for a while, so he guarded our spot and I headed onto Splash with the kids.

When we go to the line, we were the only ones there, so we got our own log. The kids were ecstatic!

We got back to the loading area, and there was no one in line… so we rode again.

We actually rode three times… but one photo never showed up on our Memory Maker.

We found Erik, who of course regretted not riding now, so we vowed to head back in to ride again after the parade.

The parade began it was great, not as great as Paint the Night, but of course that is on a whole other level! In the photos it looks like it was snowing… and maybe it was, but I don’t think so. I believe it was actually raining, but not hard enough for anyone to care.

The main cheese:

It wouldn’t be a Christmas parade at Disney without these three anymore:

I LOVE the fact that the floats emit smells like candy and chocolate!!

I was very excited to see Ralph and Vanellope in the parade, as were the kids. I am a bit of a snob when it comes to newer Disney movies and it takes a bit to get me to see ones that just look boring on the preview. Then I end up seeing them and most of the time love them. Wall-E, looked awful on the preview, LOVED it. Who knew a movie with barely any dialogue would be so good! Bolt, did NOT want to see it, really enjoyed it. Zootopia… not interested, was AMAZING. Wreck it Ralph, took me like 2 years before I would watch it, but I really enjoyed it. I am not at all interested in the Good Dinosaur, and I don’t think I would like it. Erik took Lorelai to see it and said it was cute, but not great.

 

[PrncessA]

Anyway sorry for the tangent… here is Ralph and Vanellope.

The famous toy soldiers

And the big jolly guy himself!

Everyone knows the real Santa is at Disney World, if I was Santa that’s where I would want to be!

After the parade, we headed back to Splash for one more round. Where we took a nap…

I want to point out that in every Splash photo, no matter what pose we are doing Lorelai never let go of the lap bar. In some poses it created a very funny pose.

And I would be surprised if we didn’t follow that up with a ride on BTMRR, but there are no photos, so maybe we didn’t.

What I do know is that we headed to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train since the party was almost over!

It was actually fun going through the line, although it moved pretty fast and we didn’t get to spend a lot of time at the interactive areas. We probably waited about 10 minutes to ride, which is pretty good.

Ethan and Erik look like the last place they want to be is on this coaster, but they both really like it.

After our ride, we picked up our last cups of hot chocolate and cookies and headed down Main Street.

We stopped and got our photos taken of course!

And a video



I don’t have one photo after that though. With the rain, we were pooped! It is amazing how something as small as a little rain can really tire you out. We have done days that were a lot longer with much more in them and not felt as tired. I really hate that it rained on our party night, but let’s be honest, we were in Disney, who cares about a little rain!

I knew when we got into bed that night, there would be no way we would make it to AK the next morning for EMH. I was very glad that I had thought ahead many months ago and planned for a late ADR breakfast AND had made FP’s for the Safari since I didn’t think that we would be up for EMH. I was right!

A little afterthought, I just read today that Disney now is going to start a new “Disney After Hours” for $150 for 3 hours and I am sooo upset. The Christmas party at $70 +/- is pushing it in my opinion. $150 for what is essentially EMH!! That is way out of line IMO. If they do away with the EMH at night in the MK, it would really cause us to second guess if it is worth it to stay onsite now. So sad!

 

[BlvInMagic]

Glad you guys were able to still have a fun night, even though it rained on your party. The PP pics came out adorable -- especially the ones in the front of the park

I'm in total agreement with you regarding the announced charges $ for EMH -- it's taking away the primary perk a guest has when booking a room on property. This accompanied with ticket price increases is just really a shame and over the top.

 

[Chicago Mo]

I just ADORE your daughters skirt!!! LOVE LOVE IT! So sorry it rained like that for you too. Remember my Sept trip? all it did was RAIN! I am glad you still got to seethe fireworks and the parade!! regardless of the rain you have some great pictures!!

 

[coloredimage]

Following along! Adorable pictures!

 

[MissMaryQC]

How cute are they?

I love the sweaters!

love them, they ended up being on our Christmas cards that I got printed, and then got too busy to send out.

Story of my life! But the photo is super cute!

Seeing the WDW flag retreat ceremony with a veteran was on my bucket list and it did not disappoint, even in the pourin

Love that you got to see it.

I might be tearing up a bit right now to be honest.

I may have welled up reading about it...

We did see a bit of the wet weather parade.

Is this really a thing?!?

Awe!

we popped into Mickey’s Philharmagic.

Love that show, especially in the rain.

As did the mobs of people who were trying to escape the rainy weather.

Guess we aren't the only ones!

with all of my favorites from when I was a child and now they are all of my kid’s favorites

Exactly!!

I took a lot of photos, but because I don’t break the rules and use flash most are so blurry in this ride that you can’t even make them out!

Yes! No flash please!

think that Disney really inflates some of their wait times

I totally agree; under promise, over deliver. Tell a guest the wait is 90 minutes so when it's 45 they're psyched!

what happens when Disney thinks that giving more Fast Passes out because it is a busy day is a good idea…

Ut-oh, sounds like some bad foreshadowing!

Cute!

I have to say that the interaction with Jack was wonderful. He stayed perfectly in character and the kids had a blast. Between the three of them, they decided that Ethan needed an electric chair for Christmas (to help him get up for school on time) and Lorelai was going to borrow Zero, since she wanted a puppy.

Lol! Love the gift ideas! I'm glad he was a good meet, you guys were troopers in that wait.

While we were in line we saw Scrooge and all of the Fab 5 in holiday wear come out, but the line to see them was in the r

I hate that we spent most of our Christmas Party doing rides, because we can do those anytime, but the kids were not interested at all in standing in lines to see characters. We passed by the Princes and Princesses and although Lorelai hesitated, she didn’t want to stand in line… so on we went.

We felt that way too. The waits were kinda nutty at MNSSHP, we didn't meet a single character.

Even though we had eaten cookies, hot chocolate, and popcorn (we can’t have a night without it), we really wanted something else… or we thought we did.

More sweets!! Yes!!

the crowds were actually not that bad at all!

Nice!

There ended up being one couple who stood up right when the fireworks started, right in front of me. But they were fidgety and kept moving away… a

Of course they did. There's always the one.

We got back to the loading area, and there was no one in line… so we rode again.

Heehee.

I LOVE the fact that the floats emit smells like candy and chocolate!!

WHAT!? That's awesome!

Wreck it Ralph, took me like 2 years before I would watch it, but I really enjoyed it.

Me too! I never wanted to see it, didn't look appealing. Then I forgot to decline it from the movie club and my husband opened it. It's one of my favorites!

After the parade, we headed back to Splash for one more round. Where we took a nap…

I knew when we got into bed that night, there would be no way we would make it to AK the next morning for EMH. I was very glad that I had thought ahead many months ago and planned for a late ADR breakfast AND had made FP’s for the Safari since I didn’t think that we would be up for EMH. I was right!

Good thinking mom!

A little afterthought, I just read today that Disney now is going to start a new “Disney After Hours” for $150 for 3 hours and I am sooo upset. The Christmas party at $70 +/- is pushing it in my opinion. $150 for what is essentially EMH!! That is way out of line IMO. If they do away with the EMH at night in the MK, it would really cause us to second guess if it is worth it to stay onsite now. So sad!

Yeah... Not liking that at all...

 

[marypoppinswannabe]

A little afterthought, I just read today that Disney now is going to start a new “Disney After Hours” for $150 for 3 hours and I am sooo upset. The Christmas party at $70 +/- is pushing it in my opinion. $150 for what is essentially EMH!! That is way out of line IMO. If they do away with the EMH at night in the MK, it would really cause us to second guess if it is worth it to stay onsite now. So sad!

I am supposed to go in December, but am re-thinking whether or not I stay on-site. If I am going to be charged for this either way, then I may as well stay in a rental property off-site where I can save on food and have my own pool.

 

[MissMaryQC]

So as I was checking my email this morning I saw this in my DIS update and totally thought of your Ethan:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/news-stories...disney-updates+(Disney+Updates+-+wdwinfo.com)

Hope you all are doing well!

 

[PrncessA]

Glad you guys were able to still have a fun night, even though it rained on your party. The PP pics came out adorable -- especially the ones in the front of the park

Thanks! A rainy day at Disney is still better than a sunny one at home right?

I'm in total agreement with you regarding the announced charges $ for EMH -- it's taking away the primary perk a guest has when booking a room on property. This accompanied with ticket price increases is just really a shame and over the top.

I know that they are saying it is in addition to EMH, but I see resort EMH going away pretty soon. So upsetting!!!

I just ADORE your daughters skirt!!! LOVE LOVE IT! So sorry it rained like that for you too. Remember my Sept trip? all it did was RAIN! I am glad you still got to seethe fireworks and the parade!! regardless of the rain you have some great pictures!!

You were at this party as well! I bet after all the rain of Sept. it didn't feel like that much to you that night. I love Photopass!

Following along! Adorable pictures!

Thanks!

I love the sweaters!

They were adorable!

Story of my life! But the photo is super cute!

I even spent the time to get them printed, put them in the envelopes and stamp them, then I never took them to the post office. LOL

Love that you got to see it.

It was really special! A bucketlist item for sure!

Is this really a thing?!?

It is and it is adorable! I couldn't get close enough to take great shots, but all the CM's are in rainboots and raincoats and they splash and dance around.

Love that show, especially in the rain.

Yes! No flash please!

Just wait for the story of Spaceship earth! I thought Ethan was going to flip out on some people.

I totally agree; under promise, over deliver. Tell a guest the wait is 90 minutes so when it's 45 they're psyched!

Exactly

Ut-oh, sounds like some bad foreshadowing!

You got that right!

Cute!

Thanks, I love that photo.

Lol! Love the gift ideas! I'm glad he was a good meet, you guys were troopers in that wait.

I don't know if we would ever do it again, but once was nice.

We felt that way too. The waits were kinda nutty at MNSSHP, we didn't meet a single character.

Yep!

I am supposed to go in December, but am re-thinking whether or not I stay on-site. If I am going to be charged for this either way, then I may as well stay in a rental property off-site where I can save on food and have my own pool.

I would say that until they announce that they are doing away with EMH, or it becomes obvious that they are seriously reducing them, then staying onsite is still best. But I don't think it will be that way for much longer.

So as I was checking my email this morning I saw this in my DIS update and totally thought of your Ethan:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/news-stories...disney-updates+(Disney+Updates+-+wdwinfo.com)

Hope you all are doing well!

This is great!!!!!!


*******************************************

I do have an update ready, I just am really overwhelmed with school this semester. My Capstone class is taking a crazy amount of work and time, and I think it is now obvious that I will never be an accountant. Add that to the fact that it is spring break and the kids are off the walls at my work.... I hope to get it up today. We shall see...

Thank you for sticking with me!

 

[ariane37]

I am so glad that we bought the Christmas light necklaces online at a much cheaper price before the trip. No, they weren’t just like the ones Disney sold, but they were close enough AND ¼ of the price! Plus we grew tired of them pretty quickly and never wore them again….

Ugh, we ended up buying one for younger DS on our trip I even offered to buy him a shirt instead lol, but he wanted the bulb necklace! It looks cute in pictures but I figured after the trip it would get put somewhere and never be seen again. So it's hanging on the side of his dresser mirror now. I do catch him every once in awhile wearing it while he's sitting at his computer And since we're going back this Thanksgiving I'll pack it and maybe he'll wear it on Black Friday. Or maybe I will, just to get my $$'s worth!

I have to say that the interaction with Jack was wonderful

Glad you guys had a good meet with him! We met Jack & Sally at MNSSHP in 2014. Like you said, he (they) DO spend a lot of time with each guest, so the line moves slow. Luckily we were only on line for a little over an hour - which for a "rare" character at a party isn't too bad. Just something you do for your kids at Disney!

 

[amberdc1987]

Just found your report and I love it. I love all of the skirts your daughter wears! Where did you find the Ariel one she wore in Epcot, the one with the clam shells? I can't wait to read more. Keep it coming.

 

[PrncessA]

Just found your report and I love it. I love all of the skirts your daughter wears! Where did you find the Ariel one she wore in Epcot, the one with the clam shells? I can't wait to read more. Keep it coming.

Thank you!! The Ariel skirt (and the matching shirt) is by a company called TuTu Couture. I found it online at Zulily, but before I could buy it they sold out. I then heard that it was available at Sam's Club, so I ordered it online. They had a ton of them on Zulily, but I was only able to get Ariel (thankfully) and Minnie Mouse before they sold out. I really wanted Belle as well, but not luck!

 

[amberdc1987]

Thank you!! The Ariel skirt (and the matching shirt) is by a company called TuTu Couture. I found it online at Zulily, but before I could buy it they sold out. I then heard that it was available at Sam's Club, so I ordered it online. They had a ton of them on Zulily, but I was only able to get Ariel (thankfully) and Minnie Mouse before they sold out. I really wanted Belle as well, but not luck!

Awesome. I just looked them up and they have some really cut things! I don't know if they have them at our Sam's but I will definitely look.

 

[PrncessA]

After our rainy Christmas party, we were pooped! The next morning our schedule said that Animal Kingdom had morning EMH, and everyone knows that is the best time to get things done with no wait at the Animal Kingdom. I also knew that we were TIRED from our wet night and needed a bit of sleep. I of course woke up bright and early and but I seriously needed coffee, so I ran to El Centro. No photos, but I am positive it happened.

Surprisingly the kids were up and got ready without a fuss and we were at the bus stop by 8:49.

Yes we missed the entire EMH, but we were up much sooner than I had expected. We gave the kids their cereal in a baggie to snack on since our breakfast was late this morning. Ethan prefers to eat his cereal this way, drives me crazy!

No photos on the bus, but if I remember correctly it wasn’t very crowded… good sign right?

We arrived at Animal Kingdom and it was a beautiful sunny day!

Apparently too sunny to take these photos, without squinty kiddos.

Bag check was CRAZY busy. I don’t know if it was because we got there right at 9am with the park opening or if people were just slow, but it was taking forever. I sent the kids and Erik through without bags to get into the line for Christmas tree photos, because it seemed to be just as long as the bag check!

It’s no secret that AK is not our favorite park, that said we have begun to enjoy it a bit more each time we visit. There is still a ton we haven’t done or saw in AK, and with Avatarland opening one day and the Rivers of Light opening next month, we are actually looking forward to going back next time.

By the time I had made it through bag check, Erik was at the front of the line for photos and we had some taken.

Not my favorite of the trip. Lorelai looks like she is in pain for some reason. We took our photos and headed into the park.

We had plenty of time before our ADR so we stopped again for some more photos.

[/URL
]



And a selfie.





Then we moved closer and took more photopass photos… why not right?











We headed into Harambe.





We took our time and before we checked in for breakfast, we checked these guys out.





Video:

[URL=http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b581/2014disneyphotos/Disney%20World%202015/Day%204/DSCF9446_zpsmyrvhcaw.mp4]

And guess who was brought up to dance?

If it had been my kids or husband there would be 1000 photos and an embarrassing video, but because it was my husband behind the camera I have maybe 5 photos of an interaction that lasted about 10 minutes. LOL

[/URL]http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums...5/Day 4/AK_BRDGTOP_7524527926_zpsvj8x0qb6.mp4http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums...5/Day 4/AK_BRDGTOP_7524527926_zpsvj8x0qb6.mp4

 

[PrncessA]

After working up a sweat showing off my rhythm, we headed over to check into Tusker House, which is an absolute favorite of ours. The food is always good, for buffet food it is excellent, and we get to see Daisy, which is a highlight for Lorelai. Plus the juice is TO DIE FOR. I drink a gallon of it easily every time we are there. YUMMMMMMM

I took a few photos of the food before filling my plate.

E’s plate:

These were the only Disney eggs that Ethan ate more than a bite of, and these he only ate because he was hungry. He made the decision on this trip that Disney eggs are disgusting, and he is a scrambled egg lover. I tend to agree. I didn’t tell him that most likely all the eggs he consumed were powdered, that would completely gross him out.

Lorelai kept it simple:

The characters were pretty good this morning. Not as great as we have seen them before, but not bad. After our interaction in Disneyland at Goofy’s Kitchen, no character interaction will ever be better than that.

[/IMG]

Ethan’s attempt at taking a photo of me and Mickey:

Lorelai loves her some Daisy!

Before we knew it breakfast is over. On our next trip we are forgoing most buffets, but Tusker House will stay on our list. It is the one buffet that we enjoy for the food and not just the characters. We might skip it for a year and go back to Cape May, which we loved last time, but we will be back.

It is an unwritten rule that when you are in AK that you take photos playing on these drums!

We had some time before our safari FP+, so we decided just to wander around and we found ourselves here:

I really disliked this attraction the first time we saw it in 2009, but now I know when to shield my eyes from the spiders, sit away from the chair back so I don’t get poked, and hold my breath when the stink bug explodes. I don’t personally think that a show should take that much work from the audience, but later on this trip I ride Stitch for the first time and ITTBAB isn’t the only one at Disney!

 

[PrncessA]

After scurrying out of the theater with the buggies, we headed over to view some slightly larger animals on the safari.

We still had a bit of a wait with the FP+

FYI

I felt horrible for our safari driver. She had to stop our car about 6 times to tell people to stay seated. She was so polite, but by the 4th time you could hear the frustration in her voice. We sat in the first row, so I am not sure who kept ignoring her, we didn’t look back, but I am pretty sure it was the row of teenage girls in the very back.

Ethan was really upset that people kept standing up, he hates it when people break rules!

And now for some obligatory Safari photos.

Our first time seeing the lion!

We decided that we would actually look around one of the trails after the safari, but it was sooo hot that we almost immediately regretted that decision. But we powered through.

We definitely needed a cold treat after the trail, so Lorelai and I each got a strawberry bar. I believe Erik just got a diet coke and Ethan got an ice cream bar. But the receipt is missing so I am guessing for them. I do know that we got some free ice water, because it was HOT!!

I love the detail of AK, even if it isn’t my favorite park.

After our snack we headed to our next FP+, Expedition Everest to battle the Yeti!

The kids had wanted to ride it a second time through the Single Rider line, but since Lorelai had clutched my hand with a death grip, I didn’t think that was a good idea. LOL

 

[PrncessA]

As we were leaving the drop shop the kids found some kid binoculars and they both decided that they HAD to have them and they both made their first purchase with their gift cards.

We headed toward Dinoland, as the kids and I had a date with a certain whirling rollercoaster, and Erik did not.

He instead found a shaded bench and sat down. The standby line was nearly non-existent and we were on the ride pretty quickly. I attempted to take a video and photos of our jerky ride, but it is sooo jerky I thought I was going to lose my phone!

We picked up Erik and headed into the Dinosaur Institute with our FP+. Thank goodness because it was a pretty long wait without one! We were a bit early for our FP, but they let us in.

After making it through the large toaster oven, almost being eaten by a large Carnotaurus, we safely made it back to 2016 with an Iguanodon in tow to boot!

I don’t know what it is about AK, but it makes us tired early! It was only 2:00pm when we left Dinosaur, and we were ready to head out. BUT… Erik and I were determined to see Festival of the Lion King, which we had never gotten around to seeing yet. The next show was at 3:00, great timing. We stopped along the way to pick up some ice water and a snack. Not sure what we got, probably popcorn, maybe a pretzel, all of my receipts for this day are missing.

The kids entertained themselves in line…

The show of course was amazing.

 

[PrncessA]

We stopped for some photos on our way out…

Bye Bye AK

We were very excited that we got to ride on one of the busses that had the AntMan overlay, but alas I was too slow with the camera and we never got a photo of it. We hadn’t seen the movie at the time, in fact we thought it looked awful on the previews

The kids were pooped!

Our plan for the evening was to eat at the Pepper Market then head over to POR to see YeeHaBob, but we were all exhausted after the rain at the Christmas party then the heat of AK, that we no longer thought that was a good idea.

We rode the bus around and got off at El Centro instead of our normal stop because we were all pretty hungry and we didn’t want to walk to El Centro just to walk back to our room.

Our first time figuring out the food stations at the Pepper Market was a bit overwhelming, but we finally made it back to the table with food.

Nachos for me, and Pasta for the kids to spilt.

Erik got what I think was a Italian beef sandwich and an extra side of fries.

The kids didn’t care for the pasta, but that isn’t strange, since they are very picky about their sauce and really only like the one I make at home. But the sandwich and nachos were really good!

After filling up our tummies, we headed back to the room and changed to go to the pool. The one that felt like a half a mile away…

I enjoyed sitting in a lounge chair, there was no way I was getting in the water.

It was chilly now that the sun had went down. The kids and Erik did get in however, although they spent most of their time in the hot tub.

Erik did go and pick up some drinks for us, I told him I would try whatever they had on special or a margarita if they didn’t have a special. He took that as, “Get me a special margarita.” And he brought this:

A Blood Orange Margarita, $12.50!!! And it was disgusting, but I drank it, because I don’t like to complain, and it was $12.50! Erik had a Cancun Colada, and he said it was okay.

I went to the bar with him to get the next round and found they did have a special drink, not sure what it was but it was blue and only $8.75.

It was actually pretty good, which is a plus! Lorelai had gotten to know the CM working the snack counter pretty well since she kept running to get Ethan and her mug filled. By the end of the night the CM knew what drink went in which mug!

We missed the bonfire while the kids were swimming, but we decided that we would stay for the movie, Aladdin, so we moved over to grab some chairs. The person in front of us had some fries which smelled divine, so I grabbed some of those to munch on. The kids watched the movie while playing on the playground.

We didn’t end up staying for the whole movie, we were pretty tired, but it was a lot of fun to just relax at the resort and not worry about anything! The last photo I took was at 7:19 and I am pretty sure we headed out pretty quickly after that since we had a pre-park opening ADR at Crystal Palace, and were all really excited for it!

Next up a MK morning!

 

[Chicago Mo]

It’s no secret that AK is not our favorite park, that said we have begun to enjoy it a bit more each time we visit. There is still a ton we haven’t done or saw in AK, and with Avatarland opening one day and the Rivers of Light opening next month, we are actually looking forward to going back next time.

I agree here 100%!!! we are the same way!

Not my favorite of the trip. Lorelai looks like she is in pain for some reason. We took our photos and headed into the park.

Stop pinching the poor girl..

And guess who was brought up to dance?

I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!! Good for you!!!

Plus the juice is TO DIE FOR. I drink a gallon of it easily every time we are there. YUMMMMMMM

another thing we agree with!!! oh that juice! between coffee and the juice? i have to potty every 5 minutes afterwards.

It is an unwritten rule that when you are in AK that you take photos playing on these drums!

YES YES it is!!!

but later on this trip I ride Stitch for the first time

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO no you didn't! I apologize now...

A Blood Orange Margarita, $12.50!!! And it was disgusting,

Oh no! I's sorry you didn't like it.. or the price! WOWZA! I would have drank it too...

Glad you had a relaxing night. Always need a day off from the party. or walking the parks as much as we all do!