Wait, we have Annual Passes! We Can Go Back to Disney! A Mother-Daughter Trip Report (Updated 8/12)

I hope as your trip goes on you have no more ride breakdowns. Love mother daughter trips and how relaxed yours is. Getting a kick out of DD poses.
 
Day 3: Thursday 6/1/17
Is this boat gonna get us to MK in time to beat the rope drop crowd to Peter Pan?

A little story before we get to this day of the trip report. As mentioned before, DD and I are rope drop people and the plan this day was no different. What I was unsure about heading into this day was if the boat from Wilderness Lodge to MK would be faster and better for getting to MK for rope drop than just taking a bus. So, on Weds I posted on a DVC facebook page asking the advice of several hundred DVC'ers to see what their advice was. Overwhelmingly, the response was to take the boat from WL to MK. So, I decided we would take the boat and before going to sleep Weds night I did a little research to find out the time that the boat departs, etc.

We woke up and had our usual in room toasted bagel with PB and were ready to head to MK. We walked over to the boat dock and got in line. Here we are at 8:22 waiting for the boat to arrive.
IMG_4260.JPG
Now, I will admit, as we were waiting there I was getting nervous because I had never taken this route to MK before and I didn't know if we would make it in time to get to Peter Pan right at rope drop. Finally, the boat showed up about 8:30 (which is the time I read it would) and we loaded. Here we are at 8:36 on the boat.
IMG_4261.JPG

I will say it seemed to take a long time to load everyone on the boat, but I think a couple reasons for that was 1) they had to load someone with a scooter and 2) they waited a bit at the dock to let as many people on that could fit. Luckily, we were at the front of the line and got seats. What I didn't think about when I picked those seats was we sat at the back of the boat and would be the last ones off! Finally, we were on our way. The boat ride really is a short, but enjoyable ride, but I was nervously checking the clock the entire time. I will say that I LOVE that security is as you come off the boats now. We very quickly got our bag checked and were on our way to the entrance. Once again, we entered the AP line and got through pretty quickly. We started down Main St and I snapped this picture at 8:57a
IMG_4262.JPG
I could hear and see that the welcome show was still going on at the castle, so we quickly made our way to the front of the castle to wait to enter. Right as we met the crowd, the cast members began walking people through the castle. We headed straight to Peter Pan (yea!!!) and entered the line at 9:03a. I just love that classic ride!

We went from the calm flight over London and Neverland, straight to the wildest ride in the wilderness!!!! That's right, my favorite MK attraction, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. It was a walk-on so we did it 2 times in a row!!!!! Took a look next door and saw Splash had a posted wait of 25 min so we hopped in line. We actually were on in 15 minutes.
Splash MK1.jpeg
I don't know how people pose on this ride. Even though I know what's coming and have been on this ride dozens of times before, I always scream as we plunge over the cliff. And as you can see here, while I was holding onto my cap! Now, by this point in the morning, the crowds were building. Even Pirates had a 40 minute wait (no thank you!), so we decided to take a flight on the Magic Carpets. While waiting to get on the Magic Carpets, I did some FP switching and swapped our BTMRR FP (since we had already ridden it twice) to a PotC FP in about 15 minutes.
IMG_4264.JPG
After getting off our Carpet, we decided to check out the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, which I confess, I hadn't done in years. In fact, the last time we did it was when my daughter was 3 (her first visit) and she didn't remember it, so this was like a first time for her. I had forgotten how great this attraction really is. Very detailed and really tells a story. Then it was time to head over to Pirates. Pirates is a favorite of ours and as always we really enjoyed it. We got off of Pirates and decided to head back in the direction of Fantasyland because we had a lunch reservation at BoG. As we were passing through Liberty Square, we decided to get into the HM line which was posted at 35 minutes. We waited about 30 minutes before we got into the building, but I snagged this photo of my cutie while in line!
IMG_4266.JPG
After picking up a hitch-hiking ghost, we headed over to BoG to check-in for our lunch. I forgot to mention, that while we were eating breakfast, we pre-ordered our lunch through the MDE app because on our Sept trip I didn't realize we could do that and we waited in line for such a long time just to order. I wasn't going to do that again! So, we were handed a "rose" and were instructed to stay to the left and enter the restaurant. We happily walked by everyone waiting in line to the pre-order register which only had one family in front of us. When it was our turn, I handed the cashier our rose, she confirmed our order, we paid, and we were off looking for a table. We decided to sit in the rose room (we sat in the ball room last visit) and again were excited to take in the details. Soon, our food was delivered. Anna had the macaroni topped with marinara sauce with fries and I had the Croque Monsieur which is a grilled ham and cheese sandwich. I actually took a picture of it!
IMG_4267.JPG
And as you can see in the picture, we shared the "Master's Cupcake" for dessert which is chocolate cake with the "grey stuff" icing. It was really good! We enjoyed our lunch very much!

After lunch, we didn't want to go too far away as our FP for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train would be coming up soon, so we went over to It's a Small World which had a 30 min posted wait and we did wait right about at 30 minutes to get on. By the time we got off with that lovely song stuck in our head, it was time for our 7 Dwarfs FP.
Mine Train 2 MK 1.jpeg Mine Train MK 1.jpeg
I really love the part with the Dwarfs in the mine singing Heigh Ho!

After this, wait times for most attractions were in the over 30 minute category (which I refuse to wait that long for) but we still had a Splash FP scheduled for that afternoon, so we decided to take a raft over to Tom Sawyer Island. This is another attraction we hadn't experienced since Anna was 3 and she had mentioned in our planning she really wanted to check it out, so over we went. She had a great time exploring the tunnels and caves and it was the perfect place to just run around without being in a line. We hung out there until time for us to head over to Splash.
Splash 2 MK 1.jpeg
Can you see us all the way in the back behind all those arms?

After getting off Splash, we decided to take a nice train ride back to the front of the park and head back to our hotel for a bit.

Up next: What? They close this ride at 7:00pm???

 
Last edited:
Day 3 (6/1/17) Continued: What? They close this ride at 7:00pm???

So after a nice rest back in our room we decided to head back to the MK. Again, we took the boat from WL to the MK and I must confess, it was a much more relaxing ride, not worrying about trying to get there for rope drop. Before I continue on in our story, I need to tell another planning part of the trip. My kiddos are at an age where they really don't care about autographs and meeting characters much anymore. So on our last two trips (last June and Sept) I don't think we met any characters or got any autographs. BUT, heading into this trip Anna said she did want to meet a few of the characters and get their autographs. I really wanted to find a way to collect autographs that we would actually use instead of them being in an autograph book that sits in a closet, so I came up with the idea to bring a 8x10 canvas and have them sign it. With the idea that we could hang it up in our office/play room since it is Disney themed.

Now, with this in mind, we are currently on day 3 of our trip and had not yet gotten any autographs. Anna had decided she wanted the original fab 5 autographs for the canvas, so on our way back into MK, we stopped by the Town Square Theater to meet Mickey Mouse! I don't remember what the posted wait time was, but I don't think it was more than 30 min, but we definitely waited longer than 30 minutes to meet him. I have to admit, I didn't realize when we got into line that this was THE talking Mickey, so I was quite amused when we finally got into the room with Mickey (if you have never been to meet Mickey at his location here, only a few families are let into the room with Mickey). I must say this interaction with Mickey was great! He did a card trick with my daughter and it was so funny! And we got our 1st autograph on our character canvas! Here's some of the photopass photos from our meeting with Mickey:
Mickey 1 MK 1.jpeg Mickey 2.jpeg Mickey 3.jpeg Mickey 4.jpeg
After visiting with Mickey, we decided to take a spin on the carousel.
IMG_4275.JPG
From there, we wanted to go on a voyage under the sea, so we walked over to The Little Mermaid. Imagine our surprise when the cast member out front told us that it closed at 7p. (It was currently 7:10) What?!? Why would you close this ride at 7:00 in the middle of the summer? We were both perplexed at that, but there was nothing we could do about it so we headed over to take a spin on the Barnstormer. That is a fun, but quick little coaster. Once we got off, it was time for our FP for Space Mountain that I had picked up early in the afternoon, so we headed over there.
Space MK 1.jpeg
While, this is still a fun attraction, the ride has become so rough and bumpy that if my daughter didn't want to ride it, I would probably just skip this one.

Riding through space caused us to work up an appetite so we made our way to Cosmic Ray's to grab some dinner. I had the bacon cheeseburger and Anna had the kids mac and cheese. Anna really enjoyed her food, I thought mine was ok. Just standard fast food burger to me. After we finished dinner, we headed over to Pooh with a FP I got while waiting in line for Space. After that it was almost time for Happily Ever After to begin, so we made our way to the front of the castle and was able to get a great spot to watch the fireworks.
IMG_4277.JPG IMG_4278.JPG
About half way through the show, these 3 college aged girls just came and shoved their way in and one of them stopped right in front of my daughter basically blocking her view of the castle. Well, I went a little momma bear on her and told her she was being rude for coming block my daughter when we had been standing here since before the show. She did move out of my daughter's way.

Let me give my thoughts on the show. I think the projections on the castle are amazing. They really did a great job with that and they incorporate so many Disney characters and I loved the variety of songs from different movies. And I love the new Happily After song. The fireworks are choreographed so perfectly with the music and projections on the castle. And there are so many fireworks. Which brings me to my only complaint, that because there are so many fireworks and the projections are constantly moving/changing, the show is very busy and I didn't know what to look at sometimes. And Tinkerbell didn't fly that night, so I was sad to miss that. But, overall I give the show 4.5 out of 5 stars.

After the fireworks, DD was getting tired so we decided to brave the mass exodus from the parks and head back to our hotel. I will say that being at WL is definitely a plus after fireworks. We didn't have to wait long for a boat to arrive and in fact it was the boat from Fort Wilderness (I think) that arrived at the dock first and told everyone to load because they would stop at both resorts and WL was the first stop! We got off the boat and headed back to our room for the night.

Up next: A day at Disney's Construction....I mean.... Hollywood Studios

 
Day 4 (6/2/17): A day at Disney's Construction....I mean.... Hollywood Studios

Before I get started on this part of the trip report, I must confess, I didn't take ANY pictures this day. I can't believe it, but none! So, I have a couple from photopass I will share, but this report will be mostly words.

So, today's park is a trip to a construction zone....I mean....to the movies! As usual, Anna and I got up and had our normal breakfast and headed over to the bus stop to catch a bus to Hollywood. We arrived and made it through bag check and the AP entrance without much of a wait and were held up at the normal rope drop point on Hollywood Blvd. Once they let us go at 8:55a, we headed straight for Toy Story Midway Mania. We didn't wait more than 10 minutes I think before we were on the ride. Of course, I beat Anna as usual (Mom bragging rights!!!). After this we headed straight to the Tower of Terror which had a posted wait of 20 minutes. Now, I DO NOT ride Tower of Terror. I have ridden it before (once at WDW and once at DL) and I do not do well on this ride, so I told my daughter I would ask if I could wait in line with her then exit. I asked the cast member at the entrance and they said no problem, just let the cast member know when we got to the front of the line. So, we got in line and met a nice lady who was alone who we chatted with while in line. Once we were in the boiler room, the one of the cast members was asking for any single riders. I waited a moment and no one else answered, so I raised my hand and said my daughter was riding alone and I was taking the chicken exit. He took her over to her elevator and told me to wait in the middle of the platform. Soon, the doors opened and a cast member accompanied me onto my own calm elevator ride down, which led me to wait in the area right when you come off the ride before you enter the gift shop. I waited there and soon enough my daughter was exiting with a big smile on her face.
TOT 2.jpeg
See her in the left, front, corner? She said the 3 girls next to her were freaking out the entire ride and she was just laughing at them!

I thought after this we watched the Beauty in the Beast show, which I don't have in my notes, but I know we saw it that morning. Then to the Little Mermaid show. The Little Mermaid is my absolute favorite Disney movie and I love all the live action parts of this show, but they really need to either update the video footage they show or just get rid of those parts. You can really see how bad/old the quality of that video is. Next, we headed over to Rock'n Roller Coaster to use our FP.
TOT.jpeg
This is another ride that even though I know what's coming, I still scream!

After that, it was time for our reservation at Sci-Fi. We had eaten there last June and Anna really enjoyed it, so this was a request from her that we eat there again. I think she had a burger and fries and I had the caprese sandwich and we both had milkshakes (of course!) We both really enjoyed our lunch and the air conditioning.

After lunch we headed over for our FP for Star Tours, then to see the Muppets 3D, then to use our Frozen show FP. While we were waiting to enter the Frozen theater, I was able to get a Great Movie Ride FP which we headed to after the Frozen show. I feel like I must mention that the Frozen show is HILARIOUS!! Don't pass up this show because you think it's just a boring sing along for little kids. The two town "historians" are great. The humor is at the level where adults will get it and some of it will go right over the heads of your little ones. And yes, you will hear all the songs from the movie that I'm sure your kids have sung a thousand times, but it really is a fun show.

After riding The Great Movie Ride, there really wasn't anything else we really wanted to do, so we decided to call it a day and head back to the hotel. I think this is the afternoon we tried to swim, but as soon as we got to the pool, they were closing it for lightning in the area. For dinner that evening, Anna wanted to eat at Sunshine Seasons in Epcot (remember earlier in this trip I told you this is one of her favorite places to eat in DW?), so we headed back to Epcot that evening. I didn't keep notes for this evening so the details are sketchy, but I think we did grab a FP to ride Soarin', rode Nemo, Figment, and Spaceship Earth.

I will say that this is the 3rd consecutive trip that we head to Epcot in the evening (after 5) and can do Figment, Nemo, the Land, and Spaceship Earth as basically walk-ons. I guess that since most of these attractions close by 7, most people do them in the morning/early afternoon and then head over to the World Showcase in the evening. And we had no problem this trip getting FP for Soarin or Test Track the same evening.

I wanted to stay and watch Illuminations, but Anna was tired and ready to call it a night, so we headed back to the bus stop.

Up next: Another Animal Kingdom bus?!?
 


Following and all caught up! What a fun trip for you and your daughter! WL is on my bucket list of resorts to stay at someday :)

I'm glad you said something to those girls that stood in front of you at HEA. Some people are so rude!
 
Loved all the updates!! You and Anna sound alot like me and my Victoria when she was that age. She has always been my little ride buddy and it will be weird this time around without her. My mom will just be joining me for Epcot.
 


Following and all caught up! What a fun trip for you and your daughter! WL is on my bucket list of resorts to stay at someday :)

I'm glad you said something to those girls that stood in front of you at HEA. Some people are so rude!
I have to confess, we picked WL because my daughter wanted to sleep in the pull out beds they now have in the studios. And she loved sleeping on it. It was just her size :) And I was so angry at those girls! It's one thing to try to come in and stand next to someone, but to get right in front of a 10 year old girl, just rude. Though, her friends looked horrified when I said something.

Following along!

We stayed at WL (BRV) in March and loved it. The boat ride to MK was always so nice.
Welcome!! We really did enjoy the boat ride. It was a great way to see the new bungalows they were building for Copper Creek.

Loved all the updates!! You and Anna sound alot like me and my Victoria when she was that age. She has always been my little ride buddy and it will be weird this time around without her. My mom will just be joining me for Epcot.
Anna is my Disney loving kid! My oldest daughter, who just turned 15 this summer just isn't into Disney anymore. She did enjoy our trip last summer and would head to the parks with us in the morning but would head back to the room after lunchtime and usually just stay there all evening while the youngest daughter and I and usually my hubby would head to a different park.

And how cool you get you hang out with your mom on your next trip!
 
Day 5: 6/3/17 (Saturday)
Another Animal Kingdom Bus?!?

Today was our morning for Epcot, which we did consider changing the night before since we had hopped there 2 evenings already this trip, but we wanted to ride Frozen, which we had a FP for, and we still needed to get autographs of Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, and Donald for our canvas, so we decided to stick to the original plan and try to find some of those characters instead of focusing on just rides.

So, we got up and had breakfast in our room as usual and headed to the bus stop. This is where we encountered our longest bus wait of our entire trip. When we arrived at the bus stop the time posted for the next Epcot bus was about 20 minutes away. I figured we had just missed a bus. Now, I am one of the people that are very grateful for the Disney buses because I rather take Disney transportation than drive myself, park, take a tram to the entrance, etc, so I'm not one to complain much about buses. I know that Disney's official line is buses usually depart every 20 minutes or so, and with that we just started to wait for our bus. Now, during this time we probably saw 5 AK buses pull up, (and each time my daughter would say "Another Animal Kingdom Bus!") and most of them pulled away without picking anyone up because another bus had just stopped and picked people up less than 5 minutes ago. Not to mention the time for the Epcot bus kept getting pushed further back! After we had been there about 15 minutes, one of the cast members who monitor the bus stops in the morning (the ones who stand with their ipads), came up to us and asked where we were headed and how long had we been waiting. So, I told him and told him we had seen lots of AK buses and buses for every other park and Disney Springs. He was looking at his ipad and putting stuff in it so I hope he reported our wait. Finally an Epcot bus pulls and we get on.

Because of our longer than usual bus wait (we got to the bus stop the same time we had every other morning) we made it to Epcot after it already opened. We decided to stick to our normal rope drop plan, which was Test Track. We headed on over there and oh man, was the line already long. It was backed up to half way down the walkway leading up the the beginning of the queue. The posted wait time was 45 minutes. Now, normally, I won't wait in lines longer than 30 minutes, but my daughter said she didn't mind waiting that long because that is her favorite ride in Epcot, so we stayed in line. We really did wait about 45 minutes, but since most of that line is air conditioned and it is broken up in the middle by going into the design lab, it wasn't too bad. After TT, we headed over to Living with the Land while we waited for our FP time for Spaceship Earth. Now, I did notice on the MDE app that SE was still listed as closed that morning so I guess they were having problems getting it running. It was still down when it was our time to ride, so we were given the "anywhere" FP and decided to head over to Character Spot to get Goofy' and Minnie's autograph for our canvas.
EP 1.JPG
We said hello to Mickey again (he wasn't as fun as the talking Mickey!)

EP 3.JPG
Goofy is my favorite, so I was really happy to see him!!!

EP 4.JPG EP 5.JPG

While waiting in line to see the characters, I grabbed a FP for Imagination with Figment (standby was 30 min). After our time with Figment we decided to head over to the World Showcase.
IMG_4287.JPG

Anna decided she wanted to play Agent P, which you can now do on your smartphone, so we figured out how to do that and headed to Mexico to accept our 1st mission. She really enjoyed doing the mission and while we were there we hopped on The Gran Fiesta Tour. Once we got off, it was time for our FP to see Elsa and Anna, so on to Norway.
IMG_4288.JPG

I know a lot of people are upset by this ride being in Norway, but I was never really attached to Maelstrom and I really like what they did with this ride. The audio animatronics are awesome and I love when Elsa pushes you back down the mountain from her ice castle. I confess, I am a fan of this addition!

Next we traveled to China as my Secret Agent had accepted another mission! We really had fun looking for all the clues in the different windows. At this point we were starting to get hungry. My travel buddy isn't a very adventurous eater and after looking at the menu at the quick service restaurant in China, she quickly decided she didn't want to eat there, so we headed to the American pavilion to have lunch there. After lunch we headed to see the American Adventure show.

In my multiple trips to Disney, I had managed to never see this show. I think I've seen the movies in all the other countries, but somehow have missed this one every time and in my planning I made it a point to tell my daughter that this was a must-do on our trip (along with the Universe of Energy- more on that soon). When we walked in the Voices of Liberty were performing and WOW!!! they were the highlight of our day. They were incredible and you will leave there feeling very patriotic. After the show, we were walked up to the theater, which was very nice and comfy. I did enjoy the show, but it ranks at the same place the Hall of Presidents does for me. I don't think I will rush back to see it again.

After our cool down in the AC, we continued around the World Showcase Lagoon. We made our next stop in Japan, as my Secret Agent had accepted another mission. That one may have been my favorite of the 3 we did. Now, at this point we were going to head over to Universe of Energy (this is something else I had never done before and wanted to make sure I did it this trip) and head back to the hotel. As we were headed back to Future World, there was a backstage area open and there were multiple characters set up that were meeting people. Well, not thinking anything of it, we saw Donald and jumped in line cause we still needed his autograph for our canvas.
IMG_4291.JPG
Soon after that the gates were closed and it was just a few people in the area. That's when I realized we must have been part of one of the special characterpaloozas I had read about online. We had great interaction with Donald as he saw the Mickey Mouse on Anna's hat and he was telling us he was #1. After our fun time with Donald, we got in line to see Chip and Dale and decided they could be on our canvas too. We soon found out, we were the last family that could meet Chip and Dale as it was time for all the characters to head out. Since we were last, Chip and Dale really spent a lot of time with us, acting silly and dancing with Anna. It really stands out in my memory as one of the best character interactions we ever had at Disney! Since, the characters were leaving, we didn't get to meet anyone else but the other characters in that area were Mickey Mouse, Captain Hook, Smee, King Louie, and Gideon from Pinocchio.
IMG_4299.JPG

We were let out of a hidden door in the wall by a cast member and continued to talk about how amazing that we just stumbled across that. Just another reason why I love Disney!!! You just never know when you will get those special moments. We made it to Universe of Energy and the pre-show was in the last couple minutes, so we missed the explanation of what was going on but it didn't hinder us from understanding the rest of the story. My daughter and I really enjoyed it! I know a lot of people pick on this attraction, and yes, it is dated, but we loved how the "theater" moved and turned into a ride and we really loved the ride through the prehistoric time. I'm glad we finally saw it since it is going away soon.

After this we headed for the bus and back to our hotel. We rested in our room for a while, then headed to the pool for a swim. We got to swim for about 30 minutes when lightning was detected and we had to leave the pool. We headed back to our room and changed and decided we just needed a night to stay in the room, so we went to the WL gift shop (which has a little grocery area in the back) and picked out things for dinner. I got a pre-made sandwich and a bag of chips and Anna got a kid's frozen meal with chicken nuggets and mac and cheese that we cooked in the microwave. We had a nice evening in our room just eating and watching TV and just chatting while I packed up most of our stuff (we were switching hotels the next day). Soon enough we were sound asleep and ready for our last day at WL and in the parks.

Up next: Will we get our bags back?
 
Day 6: 6/4/17
Will we get our bags back?

You may remember from my first post that originally this day, June 4, was supposed to be the day we departed, but because of the cheap flights I was able to score for the 6th, we had 2 more days. But, this meant we had to change resorts so our last two days were at Bay Lake Tower.

I got up a little earlier this morning to finish packing our things in preparation for our move and after breakfast, Anna and I said goodbye to our room at BRV and headed to the bell services and asked if they would transfer our bags to BLT. They put a special tag on our stuff and told us they may not be available until after 3p and to call bell services at our new hotel when we arrived and that they would deliver our stuff. I must confess, I was nervous about this because all we kept with us was a backpack with sunscreen, ponchos, a few snacks, and water bottles so if our bags got lost, we wouldn't have much. But, I didn't have time to think about this because we were headed back to the MK today. Once again we decided to take the boat from WL to MK since it worked out for us earlier in our trip.

The boat arrived a few minutes before 8:30 and we boarded quickly and soon were on our way. Again, we made it quickly through bag check and entered the AP line.
IMG_4301.JPG
Here we are in front of the train station at 8:45.
IMG_4302.JPG
And here we are on Main St at 8:47.

We were making good time this morning and headed to the front of the castle to watch the welcome show. It was the first time we saw the new show and it is cute but seems short and rushed. I prefer the old show in front of the train station but really like getting into the park early. After the show, we headed straight to Peter Pan. Now remember we did this exact thing just a few days previously and basically walked onto Peter Pan, well this morning we waited in line 25 minutes. Not sure what the difference was that morning, but I'm not complaining. I rather wait 25 min than how long that line gets normally. After PP we headed over to the Jungle Cruise since we didn't do that one on our 1st MK day. We had a 25 min wait there, then went to Pirates. After Pirates we headed across to Tomorrowland to use our Space Mountain FP.

After blasting through space we headed to Carousel of Progress. Anna and I really love this show and always sing the song! From there we took a relaxing ride on the Peoplemover. After that, over to the Seven Dwarfs to use our FP. (I would link my photopass pictures, but for some reason, none of the pictures from this day are showing up on my account! Could it have something to do with the fact that our AP expired this day? Anyone know?)

Now, we were getting hungry so it was time for lunch. We decided to try out Columbia Harbor House since this is a place we had never tried. Anna got mac and cheese and I tried the Shrimp Mac and cheese. Anna enjoyed her lunch and I must confess, I did not enjoy mine. I love shrimp and I love mac and cheese, but something about them together just didn't work for me. After lunch it was almost time for the Muppet show so we had a seat and waited for that to begin. Both Anna and I really enjoyed this show. It's very funny in that silly muppet way. After the show we headed to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad for our FP. While in line, I was able to get a FP for the Tomorrowland Speedway, so we headed there after we took the wildest ride in the wilderness.
IMG_4303.JPG IMG_4304.JPG

Next we rode the teacups and it seems each time we ride this I do worse on it. I guess I'm getting to an age where spinning doesn't agree with my insides!

Now, Anna still needed to get autographs of Daisy and Pluto for her autograph canvas, so we headed over to Storybook Circus.
IMG_4310.JPG IMG_4317.JPG
We got to meet Daisy and get her autograph and even though we met Minnie at Epcot, we couldn't pass up seeing her again in this awesome outfit! We stopped and got some yummy treats on our way out. I got a caramel apple and Anna got some chocolate covered marshmallows.

While we were in line to meet the ladies of Disney, I got a FP to the Little Mermaid ride (since we didn't get to ride it the first day-still can't believe that ride closed at 7p). By this time we were getting tired and I had received the text our room was ready so after getting off our clam shell we headed to the Monorail station to head to our new hotel. We arrived in our room and was happy to see we had a theme park view even though it was supposed to be a lake view (we were on the edge of the lake)
IMG_4319.JPG IMG_4320.JPG
I called bell services and they said our luggage had arrived and would be up to deliver it shortly. So I worried for nothing! All our bags were reunited with us.

I took some time to unpack and we just relaxed in our new room. We both agreed we liked the room and was happy to get a bigger bathroom than what we had at WL. (There is only a little space to stand in front of the toilet at WL, which is sandwiched closely in between the bathtub and wall). After some down time Anna wanted to check out the pool so we changed and headed down to swim for a bit. Anna enjoyed the slide and after swimming a bit we hit the hot tub for a few minutes. After hanging at the pool for about an hour we were getting hungry so after a quick change in our room, we headed over to the Contemporary via the walkway and got dinner at the Contempo Cafe. Anna got the kids pepperoni flatbread and I got the meat lovers flatbread. We both enjoyed our dinner and while eating Anna was asking me about Chef Mickey's which is right next to the Contempo Cafe. She said she kinda remembered eating there from her very first trip and asked if we could eat there again. I told her that reservations there usually were hard to get but I would look and see if anything was available. I was shocked when I was able to grab a brunch reservation for 12:25 the next day. After dinner, we did some browsing in the gift shops and returned to our room and waited for Happily Ever After to begin on our balcony.
IMG_4325.JPG
We had an amazing view of the fireworks and while we couldn't really see the projections on the castle, we could see color changes. And I got a much better appreciation of just how great the fireworks are in the show since I was focused on them.

Up next: What do you when your AP is expired and you are still in Disney World?
 
What a fabulous trip report! Love that you guys were able to do so much! Can't wait to hear about Chef Mickey's...what a great score on that one!
 
Day 7: 6/5/17
What do you when your AP is expired and you are still in Disney World?

Since our AP's had expired (and I'm not planning another trip in a year, so I wasn't renewing) we didn't have a park to rope drop to this morning and we both slept in until after 9:00. I decided to go get some laundry done so I headed to the DVC laundry room. Imagine my surprise that I couldn't get in. My Magicband wouldn't open the door. Some nice cast member saw me and let me in so I was able to get the laundry in the washing machine, but knew I wouldn't be able to get them out if I was locked out so I headed downstairs to the lobby. The nice cast member took my band and fixed the problem very quickly. I also reported that our toilet was making a loud noise like a boat horn after it was flushed and asked if someone could come fix that. We had noticed the noise not long after we checked in but if you would flush the toilet again it would stop for a while so at first I would just go flush it when it started, but after it waking me up in the middle of the night, I decided it needed to be fixed.

The cast member said they would contact maintenance and someone would come by to look at it. And within 30 minutes there was a knock on the door. I explained to the nice guy what was going on and he tried something to fix it but that didn't work so he said he would have to change out the entire mechanism in the tank and he would be back with the part he needed. Sure enough, he returned in about 15 minutes and fixed our toilet. We were glad not to hear the loud sound anymore.

After finishing up the laundry and just hanging around our room, we headed over to the Contemporary for our brunch reservation at Chef Mickey's at 12:25. We checked in at the podium and was given a buzzer and told we could take a photo with the Mickey statue and to wait. So after our photo we waited about 20 minutes until our buzzer went off. We were seated and our server quickly took our drink order and told us how things worked and that we had plenty of time to eat before the characters would make it to our section. I enjoyed the mix of breakfast and lunch foods very much as did Anna because she had mac and cheese and waffles! We were about finished eating when the characters started coming by. Chef Mickeys 1.jpg Chef Mickeys 2.jpg Chef Mickeys 3.jpg Chef Mickeys 4.jpg
I had to get a picture with Goofy again! I just LOVE him!

Chef Mickeys 5.jpg Chef Mickeys 6.jpg

And with the additional autograph from Pluto, we had finished our autograph canvas!
Chef Mickeys 7.jpg

After lunch, we decided to do what any girls in Disney would do who couldn't go to the parks, SHOPPING!!! So we hopped on a bus to Disney Springs! This was our second time since it had been transformed and while I think the new areas looks beautiful, we weren't interested in shopping at any of those new shops except Uniqlo. We enjoy the shops in the old Marketplace and that's where we spent most of our time. After spending an afternoon of shopping, Anna was getting a little hungry so we stopped at Earl of Sandwich. She ordered a kids grilled cheese and I ordered just a cup of broccoli cheddar soup (I was still pretty stuffed from our BIG lunch). I didn't care for my soup at all and Anna said her grilled cheese wasn't great either. We both agreed that that was our worst meal in all of Disney that week. After dinner, we headed back to the bus stop where we got into a LONG line. Contemporary and WL share a bus stop at the springs and by the time we got on the bus, it was standing room only. This was the only bus the entire trip that we had to stand and did get a seat after the drop off at WL. Once we got back to our room, we decided we would check out the Top of the World Lounge since we hadn't been there yet.

Up next: We really like it up here!
 
Day 7: 6/5/17 continued
We Really Like it up Here!!!

After our afternoon full of shopping, we decided to check out the Top of the World Lounge. We checked in at the podium in the lobby of BLT and they walked us to the special elevator that is reserved just for DVC members heading to the lounge. We got off the elevator and walked right over to the lounge. We had a seat at a table right by the windows and I took these shots.
IMG_4348.JPG IMG_4350.JPG IMG_4351.JPG IMG_4354.JPG

We had a really great waiter and I ordered a glass of red wine and I was getting hungry since I really didn't have dinner and Anna was ready for a snack so we looked over the menu. It is a really limited menu and it isn't really stuff meant for a meal but we decided to try the cheese tray. Now, I don't remember what kind of cheeses were on the tray when we got it, but it was "fancy" stuff.
IMG_4356.JPG
Anna was adventurous and tried all 3 cheeses and ate the strawberry. I finished off most of the rest while sipping on my wine. When it was almost time for the fireworks to begin our server brought a reserved sign and put on our table so we could watch from outside.
IMG_4357.JPG
Here is one of the few pictures I snapped before the show began. Once the show started I was enjoying it too much to take pictures.

We really enjoyed watching the fireworks from up here since it is a great view and they pipe in the actual music. I think I may have enjoyed watching them from here more than in the MK. We could see images on the castle, though not well to make out all the details but enough to follow the story.

Anna and I both LOVED being up here and will make it a tradition to visit on each Disney trip now, no matter what resort we are staying at.

IMG_4363.JPG
After the fireworks we headed over to the Contemporary to the gift shop to buy a shirt for Anna that she had seen a couple of nights before that she really wanted. On our walk back to our room I grabbed this selfie
IMG_4365.JPG
We headed back to our room and I started packing our bags since tomorrow was our departure day.

Up next: See ya real soon :(
 
Day 8: 6/6/17 Departure Day
See ya real soon :(

Sadly, it is our departure day and while this day is kinda depressing, we still had one more thing to do before we headed back to the airport. We had reservations at O'hana for breakfast! I finished packing up and we called bell services to pick up our bags to hold since our Magical Express pick-up time was 12:20. We said goodbye to our room and waved at the Magic Kingdom from our balcony and headed over to the Contemporary to catch the resort monorail to the Poly. We arrived at the Poly and checked in at 9:15 (our reservation time was 9:45) and was seated at 9:45. We had a nice table by a window. It was the first time we had eaten here and we really loved it. Our server, Cousin Des, took great care of us constantly topping off my coffee and making sure Anna had all the waffles she could eat! I did enjoy the family dining style, not having to get up to go to the buffet and having it all right at your fingertips. Both Anna and I loved the potatoes and had seconds of that! Soon enough the characters started coming around and since we weren't going to get anymore autographs, we just got pictures.
Ohana 1.jpg Ohana 2.jpg Ohana 3.jpg Ohana 4.jpg

After breakfast, we had some time before we needed to head back to BLT, so we wandered around the Poly to check it out.
Ohana 5.jpg

After checking out the shops, we went check out the pool and the area where the DVC rooms are. I'm sure we will stay here on an upcoming trip since one of our DVC goals is to stay in all the DVC resorts. (We already have stayed in 4 in just over one year of being members!)

It was getting closer to time to catch the bus so we headed back to the monorail station. Unfortunately, I had received an email from our airline that our flight departure time had been delayed from 3:14 to 4:28. But since it was past check-out time and we were at the mercy of the Magical Express pick-up time, we knew we would just have a long time to wait at the airport. We took our time walking back from the contemporary over to BLT and stopped along the way to take this selfie.
IMG_4381.JPG
We then retrieved our bags from bell services and waited for our bus. It was about 10 minutes late, but again, since I already knew our flight was delayed, I wasn't worried. We had an uneventful ride to the airport (unlike our September trip where our bus broke down, but that's another story!). We headed over to check our one piece of luggage and hit a really long line. I soon realized that many flights had been canceled or delayed that morning due to some bad weather in some parts of the country. This was apparently the reason our flight was delayed as well. So, the line had both people trying to check in bags and people trying to find new flights out. We finally checked our bag and took our time to security. We looked around some of the shops in the airport before we got in the really long line. Once we got in line, a TSA agent was directing people to the "other side." This is when I realized that there were two security lines (never realized this before cause we always get into the one closest to when you come from checking in luggage. The line on the other side was shorter and soon enough we made our way through security. Once we got to our gate, we found a seat and got comfy.
IMG_4384.JPG
We have a tradition that we always take a picture of our sad-to-be-leaving-Disney faces.

Unfortunately, I kept getting emails further delaying our flight next to 4:41, then to 4:58. We finally we on the plane at 5:00.
IMG_4385.JPG
Here we are just happy to finally be on the plane!!!!

After a long time to taxi to the runway we finally took off at 5:40p. We did have an uneventful flight once in the air and made it back to Houston safely. We retrieved our bag and made it back to our parked car and made the 2.5 hour journey home! We were happy to be home and reunited with the rest of our family and our doggies after such a long travel day!
 
What a great trip and it looks like you did a lot in a short time! We're hoping to do annual passes next year and I'm looking forward to hopping down for a weekend here or there when flights are cheap. :thumbsup2
 
And with the additional autograph from Pluto, we had finished our autograph canvas!
How cool! It's looks great!

Anna and I both LOVED being up here and will make it a tradition to visit on each Disney trip now, no matter what resort we are staying at.
I MUST make this a priority whenever our next trip may be. What a wonderful tradition!!!

After checking out the shops, we went check out the pool and the area where the DVC rooms are. I'm sure we will stay here on an upcoming trip since one of our DVC goals is to stay in all the DVC resorts. (We already have stayed in 4 in just over one year of being members!)
The best goal! Gosh, I just love DVC!

I have loved your TR!!!
 
It loved reading through your report of your mother/daughter trip! My hubby and I were at WDW overlapping your dates and stayed at BLT part of our trip as well. Sounds like you made some great memories, had a great view from your BLT room, got a lot of signatures for your canvas (what a great idea!) and a last night watching Happily Ever After from the Top of the World lounge. Thanks for sharing your trip with us!
 
What a great ending to your trip (well except for the flight delay). We really enjoyed Chef Mickey's and it's been a while since we've done O'Hana but it was a favorite of ours for years as well. You definitely make me want to return to the Top of the World lounge again soon as well. It's been a few years since we've been there, despite a few stays at Bay Lake Tower (which is one of our favorites).

Good luck getting more DVC stays in soon. We absolutely LOVED our stay at the Polynesian Villas a few years ago. I would love to return there. I think with our upcoming trip we will have stayed in nearly all of the WDW DVC resorts with the exception of the newest ones (Boulder Ridge) and of course we have not done the Bungalows at Polynesian because I can't see parting with so many points. However once we stay at VGF next week and Animal Kingdom Jambo Club Level we will have done: Old Key West, Polynesian Villas, Bay Lake Tower, Villas at Wilderness Lodge, Animal Kingdom (Kidani) and Saratoga Springs in a 2BR, 3BR and the Treehouse Villas. We've loved all of them.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!










Top