(Updated 5/11) Gonna Have to Buy a New House! - Jan 2025 TR

[Araminta18]

The Only Wait is for the Snacks! - Monday Jan 27th 2025 (part 8)​

Selfie!


For this ride picture, we decided to be pirates - i've got a hook and a sword and Trevor is looking through the spyglass.

And yes, I realize a photo pose you have to explain is maybe not the best pose but what can ya do.

Next up, the plan was Jungle Cruise! But first, a picture of Trevor with the sign to go with his hat.


We were going to ride, but there was still a decent wait (maybe the full 20 minutes that it was posting). So we decided to do something else:

Aladdin! It was like 5 minutes until the event started so we figured by the time we were off the ride, the lines would start to go down and also, snacks!


Aladdin we rode in the same carpet but different rows. And yes, we went right up to the top to get some air and nicer high up views. No spitting camel tonight - I guess it was too cold - well, "cold".

We got off the ride, and the event had officially started! So we grabbed some snacks, but there was a bit of a line:

We ended up waiting about 5 minutes cause people seemed confused about how the snack carts would work. But, popcorn!

There's something nice about free (included ) snacks.

Next up, Jungle Cruise! The line had indeed gone down - we only waited about 5 minutes. Yay! We had a fantastic night cruise, with a great skipper who had several jokes I hadn't actually heard recently, so that was nice. A good "official" start to the event.

As we got off the ride, I noticed some of the suitcases near the exit:

I love all the stickers on them - so cute!

Next up, since Tiana's was closed, and Big Thunder was closed and we'd already ridden Pirates, we figured we'd circle around and ride Haunted Mansion. On our way though, we figured we'd get more snacks.

Sadly, quite the line. This one moved a bit faster - only about 3/4 minutes.

Ice cream and popcorn!

 

[Araminta18]

Fireworks and Galaxy Saving! - Monday Jan 27th 2025 (part 9)​

Off we went to Haunted Mansion - cause the popcorn was in boxes, we were able to take that on, and we just scarfed down the ice cream (thought they did let us take it in the line).

We just didn't have much time to eat it cause only a 13 minute wait.

There was no wait but still a semi-full stretching room. But quickly we were on the ride and enjoying our introduction to the haunts.

Tea party!

The ghost took our heads!! Oops.

We got off the ride a little after 10:45, so we headed to the hub to watch the Enchantment fireworks show. It definitely felt more crowded than the event we did last January:

The front of the castle was all full, so we went back here. Still a great view!

I like Happily Ever After better but Enchantment isn't a bad show. After all, I am the magic!

This is what it looked like after:

Nothing like the hub during the normal fireworks but still more crowded than I would have expected.


Such a pretty lighting package.

Next up? Tomorrowland! We went for Buzz Lightyear, since we saw everyone going for Space and Tron. We needed to save the galaxy!!

Ride one:

Very serious heros! I got 572,900 and Trevor got 506,400. So we had to do another ride.

Ride two:

I got 972,000, while Trevor got 369,400. So close!

We decided to split up for the next ride (ride #3):

Trevor got 266,200. I apparently don't have a photo for me but I GOT GALACTIC HERO! I got 999,999 and then on my other gun I got 350,500. Woohoo!

We decided to ride one more time so Trevor could try and get Galactic Hero - ride #4:

I didn't really play, so I got 280,700 - I was trying to help Trevor, I guess with moral support!

Trevor got:

975800!!! SO CLOSE!!! Poor guy. He decided at that point that was probably about as good as it was going to get so we called that our last ride. Not too bad - we had a lot of fun even if only one of us was a galactic hero.

 

[Araminta18]

Tomorrowland Coasters - Monday Jan 27th 2025 (part 10)​

We finished riding Buzz Lightyear at about 11:45, so with 75 minutes left in the event, and Tron posting 30 minutes, we decided to go ride Tron.

So pretty!

We figured that by doing Tron now, even if it was the full 30 min wait, we'd get off and still have some time left int he event to get snacks and ride Space or Peter Pan. But if we saved Tron for the end of the night, we wouldn't be able to get any snacks to take with us or anything.

Only took about 10 minutes to get into and out of the locker room, and 8 minutes after that, we were getting ready to board!

We got the second row!

Trevor always likes trying to a blurry selfie as we head to the launch, and it always just makes me SO nervous, like he's gonna lose his phone. So far so good though.

Tron was fantastic as always! I'm glad I did the bike - it wasn't as tight a fit as it has been other times though I think that's less about me and more about the individual bike that I get. Also (and this may be TMI, but we're good friends now I feel ) it's always only my right leg that really feels squished. I guess that calf must be bigger than my left leg. *shrugs*

Post ride blurry pic!



We ended up off the ride at 12:11 - only 20 minutes total! Not too bad at all.

Next up, Space!

Love that 5 minute posted wait.


I think I'm driving and Trevor is like "oh gosh we're gonna die!" No idea.

Space is so fun - I almost wish that on these events they'd run it with the lights on, just for the novelty of it!

By the time we got off, it was 12:30 - 30 minutes left! We figured we'd end the night in Fantasyland, but we got some ice cream to fortify us for the long walk over there.

 

[Araminta18]

Good Night - Monday Jan 27th 2025 (part 11)​

In Fantasyland, we first came upon Winnie the Pooh:

posting 5 minutes but a walk on. Woohoo! I have a soft spot for this ride - it's just so cute.

We grabbed another ice cream after - I wanted to get some boxes of popcorn but the stand there was out of both water and the only popcorn was the regular open face boxes (not the boxes with the closed top) so we just got some ice cream.

At this point it was 12:40, so we went for Peter Pan!

We ended up waiting exactly 7 minutes:

We got off at 12:52, and so we ran down to the snack cart by Haunted Mansion to try and get popcorn with the lids (also notice my galactic hero sticker!). They only had the open face popcorn again

This is what I meant - just the open boxes, vs the earlier boxes with the lid. I think they were also out of water, so we got some sprite instead.

This was the first time at an After Hours event where I remember them being out of items at the snack carts. It's kind of disappointing - I get that it's hard to calibrate but for the money we pay, it's disappointing to have them be out of anything. Oh well!

After getting the popcorn, we ran back up to Fantasyland to hop on the Carousel to close out our night:

We had to leave our popcorn in the line (the CM was gracious about letting us leave them there so we didn't have to throw them out).

Hi!

We got one extra ride - some people got in line about a minute before the park closed, and the CM let us stay on while they got their last ride. Bonus ride for us!

With the event officially closed, we started heading out of the park.

Pretty castle!

And a fun view of Main Street all lit up!

Good night castle!

We were planning to get some photos on Main Street with the photopass photographers, but none of them were out! Last time we did the event there were still photographers out on Main Street after the official close of the event, so I assumed it would still be like that. It was definitely disappointing to have that change - obviously makes sense that they want to close right at 1 am, but I wish they'd communicate it so we could make plans for it. Oh well!

Selfie instead.

We did stop by City Hall on the way out to leave some feedback about the crowds, running out of snacks (there were other carts I didn't mention that we stopped by that were out of some or most things), and then the photographers not being out anymore. I assume nothing will happen but at least I said it. *shrugs* Honestly, this may be the last time we do After Hours at Magic Kingdom unless we hear reports that it goes back to how we'd experienced it before. This was still a super fun night, but if it got any more crowded, it wouldn't be worth it, and considering how it progressively gets *slightly* worse, I'm not sure I'm willing to do it again. *sigh* I get why Disney increases capacity and such, but it is disappointing.

Anyways, despite that, we definitely did have a great time! Until we hit the bus stop. Oh Disney buses, please change. We must have just missed a bus, because the bay for Beach/Yacht Club was completely empty. Trevor said he thought he saw one pulling out as we were walking over there but we were super far away - we wouldn't have made it. We waited 10 minutes and saw no bus, though Boardwalk had one next door at their bay when we got there and another pulled up in that 10 minutes.

A bus finally pulled up after 15 minutes, and then it took a bit to get everyone loaded, so we left at 1:50 am - 20 minutes after we arrived at the bus stop. Which doesn't sound like a lot right now but man it felt like a forever. We made it back to the hotel at 2:10. Looooong night - we're so old. Good thing we didn't have anything early planned for the next day - sleeping in was the only thing on the agenda!

Fun with Metrics:
Steps walked: 30753 steps (11.6 miles)
Ride count: 18 (Tiana's Bayou Adventure, Small World, Seven Dwarfs, Dumbo, Pirates, Aladdin's Carpets, Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, Buzz Lightyear x4, Tron, Space, Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, Carousel x2)
Annual Pass Savings: $50.60

 

[Dotluvsdisney]

for all the good things!

 

[KEK1]

Loving your TR, as usual. Agree you guys are the cutest. Trevors outfit is great! So fun he gets into everything too.
I finally tried Tron at Shanghai DL at the end of last year and absolutely loved it! It was pretty rainey so we did it multiple times.
Disappointing AH is getting worse, especially as its so expensive

 

[buzzrelly]

Hello there! I was lurking on your trip report and thought I should stop and say hi! You guys are super cute and seem to have so much fun together!

We were at the Beach Club around the same time as you and visited F-Arts for the first time and loved it! It's so nice being so close to EPCOT and being able to walk back and forth. Your AH at MK looks fun! You got a LOT done! I'm hesitant to book those because I am definitely not a night owl but maybe someday I'll try!

Looking forward to reading more

 

[Araminta18]

for all the good things!

thank you!!!

 

[Araminta18]

Loving your TR, as usual. Agree you guys are the cutest. Trevors outfit is great! So fun he gets into everything too.
I finally tried Tron at Shanghai DL at the end of last year and absolutely loved it! It was pretty rainey so we did it multiple times.
Disappointing AH is getting worse, especially as its so expensive

aw thank you!! I'm so glad folks enjoy it (beyond just me lol)

Oooh Tron at Shanghai? how cool! and to ride it multiple times? neat! Is it covered as well so even in the rain you don't really get wet? I feel like I'd be too worried about getting wet to ride it in the rain lol

Yea...folks who have never done AH may disagree with me, but having done it a couple times it does seem to be going downhill. But it's still lots of fun - I just wish it were a bit cheaper.

 

[Araminta18]

Hello there! I was lurking on your trip report and thought I should stop and say hi! You guys are super cute and seem to have so much fun together!

We were at the Beach Club around the same time as you and visited F-Arts for the first time and loved it! It's so nice being so close to EPCOT and being able to walk back and forth. Your AH at MK looks fun! You got a LOT done! I'm hesitant to book those because I am definitely not a night owl but maybe someday I'll try!

Looking forward to reading more

Hi!! Thanks for reading - and for saying hi and the kind words!!

Oh how fun! I'm glad you had a great time- we obviously did. You're 100% right - being so close to Epcot is just awesome. Makes it so easy to just pop in and out. What was your favorite part of the Festival?

Yea you definitely need to be a night owl to do AH, in my opinion. I have seen some vlogs online of folks who only stay for an hour or an hour and a half, but for the price that just seems crazy expensive. Disney used to have a thing called Early Morning Magic at Magic Kingdom where they let you in to Fantasyland an hour (or 30 min? I can't remember) early and you could ride Peter Pan, Seven Dwarfs, or Winnie the Pooh as much as you wanted in that hour, and then there was breakfast. Too bad they don't bring that back - it's probably a bit better for early birds! (assuming you like Seven Dwarfs - I think the time we did it we got 10 rides on Seven Dwarfs - never gonna happen again! )

 

[buzzrelly]

Disney used to have a thing called Early Morning Magic at Magic Kingdom where they let you in to Fantasyland an hour (or 30 min? I can't remember) early and you could ride Peter Pan, Seven Dwarfs, or Winnie the Pooh as much as you wanted in that hour, and then there was breakfast. Too bad they don't bring that back - it's probably a bit better for early birds! (assuming you like Seven Dwarfs - I think the time we did it we got 10 rides on Seven Dwarfs - never gonna happen again! )

Yes! We did that a couple of times and also did the Toy Story Early Morning Magic a couple times and absolutely LOVED it!! I really wish they would bring those back!

 

[KEK1]

aw thank you!! I'm so glad folks enjoy it (beyond just me lol)

Oooh Tron at Shanghai? how cool! and to ride it multiple times? neat! Is it covered as well so even in the rain you don't really get wet? I feel like I'd be too worried about getting wet to ride it in the rain lol

Yea...folks who have never done AH may disagree with me, but having done it a couple times it does seem to be going downhill. But it's still lots of fun - I just wish it were a bit cheaper.

Yes, covered as well. The weather kept the crowds away, was great although very wet.
Definitely enjoy your TRs

 

[Araminta18]

Yes! We did that a couple of times and also did the Toy Story Early Morning Magic a couple times and absolutely LOVED it!! I really wish they would bring those back!

Ooooh I forgot they did it in Toy Story Land too! How fun! I'm jealous lol They definitely should bring those back!

 

[Araminta18]

Yes, covered as well. The weather kept the crowds away, was great although very wet.
Definitely enjoy your TRs

always the one benefit of bad weather - you get lower crowds! Just depends on how much you hate being soaked lol. We did one night at Animal Kingdom where it was just horrible weather and it was dead - we got to ride Flight of Passage back to back (they put us right back in the preshow room!) and ride Everest in the rain which was...an experience

aw thanks!! thank you for reading!

 

[Araminta18]

Shopping! - Tuesday Jan 28th 2025 (part 1)​

We definitely slept in this morning! There's nothing better than waking up at Disney with a lovely view of Crescent Lake. Breakfast was more cake!

Funfetti this morning. I liked this one a lot - keeping them in ziploc bags seemed to be working, as the cake wasn't dry. It wasn't super moist or anything, but it wasn't dry. The frosting was also really light - I liked it better than the other frosting (the regular frosting on the other cakes), but that was probably cause it had a bit more sugar and if nothing else, I have a sweet tooth.

We didn't really have a set plan for the morning - there was an artist I wanted to meet and he started signing at 11 am, but nothing before that. There were two pieces of merch though that I was interested in - the shoulder angels from Emperor's New Groove, and then the Tower of Terror spirit jersey. So with nothing much to do, we decided to go after those! No rush though.

After getting ready we stopped by the front desk to ask about the water park ticket: on our check-in day, it was cold so the water parks were closed, and I realized that we got a water park ticket automatically applied to our account that was good until the 28th. We'd been wanting to take advantage of this benefit, cause we'd never been to the water park, and our initial plan was to go on the 29th, but it was supposed to be warmer on the 31st and it would be slightly more convenient to go on the 31st, despite it being our check out day. So I figured might as well as them if they could extend the ticket to the 31st - worst they could do is say no! Which they did. Oh well!

We also ducked into the gift shop there at Beach Club to see if they could call over to the All Star Sports gift shop and ask about the Emperor's New Groove shoulder angels, before we ran over there in vain. The CM was super helpful and called over but no one answered the phone. Oh well! So we headed over to Hollywood Studios - our first skyliner ride of the trip!

Hello! We got a wrapped skyliner - rookie mistake! Should have waited for an unwrapped one - the view is so much better.

At Hollywood Studios, I got tagged going through security - womp womp. I love the new security, which makes it just that much worse when I get stopped for a manual bag search. LOL Never did figure out what it was that was setting off the sensor.

Once inside, off we went to the Tower of Terror - not to ride, but to shop!

So pretty!

And then, they had the spirit jersey!! Yay!! Yes, I may have too many spirit jerseys, but I don't have a Tower of Terror one. Well, til now. Yay! Also, look at these cool prints they have now:

I love these types of "in-universe" things. I wish they had postcard or smaller sizes, cause I would have bought them. As is, they were pretty big and I'd already bought a LOT of big art this trip...maybe next time.

With that, our quick detour into Hollywood Studios was over, so we stopped at guest services, to try one more time to call over to All Star Sports. Again, the CM was super helpful but no answer from All Star Sports. So with that, nothing left but to run over and see (and I promise I'm not normally this crazy - these were for a friend who really loves Emperor's New Groove). But in yet another example of Trevor being awesome, he volunteered to head over by himself, and send me back to Epcot to get my art signed. He's too nice! I really appreciated him doing that - so kind.

Anyways, he went off to the buses, and I went to grab the boat. Coincidentally, a boat pulled up right as I got there!

I got a seat in the back - I know it's a bit loud but it's my favorite spot on the boats, with the breeze and all.

It was so nice right as we left - cloudy and slightly cool. And then all of a sudden out of nowhere, the clouds burned off. Darn.

I was looking around at wait times just for fun and noticed something I'd never seen before:

0 minutes for Rise! Too bad we'd just left - I can only imagine the rush over there with that wait time posted.

Right as I was about to get off the boat at Epcot, I got a text from Trevor:

Success! They had them! Yay! A much more productive shopping trip than our outlet trip yesterday lol.

Anyways, I made it back to France and got to meet Ryan Riller and have him sign some pieces, while Trevor was on his was to join me. Ryan was super nice! He's so friendly and sweet, and I love his paper art style - it's so interesting.


And then I had my own moment - @honeymo78 stopped me and said hi! It was so neat to meet her - so glad she said hi! That's one of the cool things about the dis - helps us all connect over our shared love of Disney, mostly online but occasionally in person!

Anyways, Trevor was on his way - I knew 'cause he sent me this:

EPCOT sign!

 

[Araminta18]

Lunch at Le Cellier - Tuesday Jan 28th 2025 (part 2)​

Trevor was making his way back to World Showcase, taking the Friendship boat, so I made my way over to Japan and the Star Wars art booth to look around a bit and wait for him. I didn't realize Trevor was having all the fun!


The Friendship boats are convenient but he head to wait a bit - which actually worked out cause we had fun waving at each other from across the lagoon. I couldn't see him under the shade of the dock, but he could see me! Juuuuuuuuust barely.

Also he wants me to show you his Bluey hat. We are Bluey fans - if you haven't watched it, you should.

Once he made it over, we had another artist to meet!

John Nadeau! He does these really fun pieces that don't look Disney unless you're looking for it. It's hard to see in this picture, but the one he's holding is of Notre Dame and the Seine, and only if you look close do you notice the Festival of Fools going on in the foreground, but very tiny. And the one Trevor is holding is a boat going up a river - it's the Jungle Cruise! So neat.

This was at 12 noon, and we had a lunch reservation at 12:15, just enough time to make our way over to...

Le Cellier! After the dining package meal we had last year, it's become one of our favorites! I don't know that I can call it a sleeper cause I feel like everyone in the world knew it but us, but it really does live up to the hype. Funnily enough, we got seated at the same table as we were last May.

It's right by the restrooms which I don't love, but the bright side is that we don't have anyone on one side. So...pros and cons.

Anyways! We got our drinks and bread. I got the non-alcoholic version of their Victorian Raspberry (lime juice, raspberry puree, and soda water):

This is so good - I think it's my favorite drink at Disney.

Trevor got the non-alcoholic version of the Ottawa Apple: maple, apple infusion, cranberry juice, and soda. But he prefers it with light maple...basically just cranberry juice, apple infusion and soda.

Yum.

Then the bread!

The CM who brought the drinks and bread was earning her ears, and shared several fun facts about the bread. Apparently the largest Oktoberfest outside of Munich is in Canada (I can't remember where now!), so that's why there's the pretzel bread. And then there's a sourdough festival in Canada - something about a festival to bring back the sun because in the winter they only have a couple hours of sunlight. I don't remember all the details, but it was super interesting. And the salter butter is just yum.

Then entrees! I got the filet with mashed potatoes and truffle butter sauce.

I usually avoid filets because I find that the meat while super tender it is a bit bland. But the filet here is super flavorful and just so amazing. Highly recommend. The mashed potatoes were also super creamy with a good flavor. And the truffle butter is light but also an interesting complementary flavor. It's a shame though - good sauce but the meat itself is so flavorful it doesn't need a sauce.

(And picture limit!)

 

[Araminta18]

Good Food, Good Art, and Good Fun! - Tuesday Jan 28th 2025 (part 3)​

Ok, more lunch!

Trevor got the bison:

With the macaroni and cheese. He said this was delicious too - the bite I had of the bison was really good, but I think the filet is better. And I'm not a macaroni and cheese fan so really I shouldn't speak on that.

We also got the sauce flight, which I think is relatively new:

So from left to right: green sauce, bearnaise, cracked peppercorn, red wine sauce, and then chardonnay truffle butter. The green sauce was not my favorite - it was fine, and interesting, but didn't really seem to go with the meat. The bearnaise was bearnaise - very rich. The cracked peppercorn Trevor didn't think was very strong - weirdly woodsy somehow. It wasn't the best on it's own but I thought it paired the nicest with the meat: it was very complementary and because it wasn't very strong, I could still taste the flavor of the meat. Then the red wine - I think I just don't really like the flavor of red wine, especially when it's reduced, cause reduction just heightens that flavor. And then the chardonnay truffle butter - it's light, but a good flavor. I think my favorite on it's own. We probably wouldn't get the sauce flight again, but it was really fun to try.

While we were eating, I got us a boarding group for Guardians - 81! Which I figured wasn't bad considering they were boarding 61 through 70 at the time.

Ok, then desserts! I got the creme brulee:

I don't actually like creme brulee, but this has cream that cuts the richness, and it's an interesting maple flavor too. I like it.

Then Trevor got the Boutique Collection: chocolates, macarons, pate de fruit, and maple cookies.

The truffle was good but I didn't like the texture of the pate de fruit thing. The cookies were good too.

Overall, a fantastic lunch. It was expensive, cause we were doing the dining package again (yay reserved seats for the Broadway concert series!) but it was worth it. Though when the bill came it was all messed up (we were overcharged for the dining package, at least based on what the price was supposed to be online, and then we were charged for things we shouldn't have been and not charged for things we should have been), so they fixed it (mostly - they still overcharged us for the package), and then we were ready to go. We did get another drink apiece, to go.

Yum! It was also really nice to be outside in the warmth - it was so cold in Le Cellier!!

We wandered around a bit in Future World - we had to do the mural:

They gave us white paint which is less exciting, especially when Trevor dropped his brush on his pants...oops! It did come off when he washed it off in the restroom though.

I also was ribbing him about taking a picture with the 3d chalk art without me, so we had to do that together

I love this concept but I think it's not as exciting in execution, since we're so far back it's almost hard to see. STill super cute.

Then, back to World Showcase for another artist meet and greet! Ysenia Moses:

1. I love her outfit and 2. I love her art: she did an Up piece, a Kingdom Hearts piece, and a Hercules piece - all fandoms after my own heart! So fun to meet her.

She had a little bit of a line though, so I hopped in line while Trevor went over to Joey Chou's line to wait, but they were doing a virtual queue (he's super popular!) so he joined the queue for me. After we met Ysenia, it was still saying a bit of a wait for Joey Chou, so Trevor went back to the room to rest, while I hung out. Back at the room, look what Trevor found:

Towel boat (and propped up ears )


And a crab Such a fun little touch!

 

[buzzrelly]

it was cold so the water parks were closed, and I realized that we got a water park ticket automatically applied to our account that was good until the 28th. We'd been wanting to take advantage of this benefit, cause we'd never been to the water park, and our initial plan was to go on the 29th, but it was supposed to be warmer on the 31st and it would be slightly more convenient to go on the 31st, despite it being our check out day. So I figured might as well as them if they could extend the ticket to the 31st - worst they could do is say no! Which they did. Oh well!

Oh, bummer! And that's not at all what I thought you were going to say...I thought for sure you were going to let you change it!

And then, they had the spirit jersey!! Yay!! Yes, I may have too many spirit jerseys, but I don't have a Tower of Terror one.

Yay!

But in yet another example of Trevor being awesome, he volunteered to head over by himself, and send me back to Epcot to get my art signed. He's too nice! I really appreciated him doing that - so kind.

Oh my gosh, that was so nice...I guess he's a keeper

Success! They had them! Yay! A much more productive shopping trip than our outlet trip yesterday lol.

Yay!!

That's one of the cool things about the dis - helps us all connect over our shared love of Disney,

Also, I had to look back at my pics because I was forgetting my dates, but we were there painting that mural the day after you were there! Too funny!

 

[flowergirl45]

Hi! I just love your trip report so much! You have such a great writing style, and you two have such a great time together. You are so in-sync and enjoy each other’s company - I truly love that! Just so much fun to read! Thank you for taking the time to write.

 

[Araminta18]

Oh, bummer! And that's not at all what I thought you were going to say...I thought for sure you were going to let you change it!

Not gonna lie, I also thought they'd let us change it! But no dice. It's ok - it still worked out really well.

Oh my gosh, that was so nice...I guess he's a keeper

right? so sweet

Also, I had to look back at my pics because I was forgetting my dates, but we were there painting that mural the day after you were there! Too funny!

Oh dang! Just missed you! Too funny indeed