We're Changing The Plan Again?? You mean there's a Plan? New TR Posted/Link Posted

[TinksThree]

Don't you just love it when you are on a ride with somebody who is super excited to ride or they are scared? It's makes the ride so much more fun. We were once on Dinosaur with two guys who were scared to death too and they were screaming high pitched squeals and we were laughing our butts off.

Very cool pictures of the rest of your Animal Kingdom day. You are one brave woman for taking pictures while on Expedition Everest. I'm usually tucking my head down 'cause I'm scared of the heights.

It is so hilarious whether you know the people or not! These two guys were lucky they were "tied" in!!

I am terrified of heigths as well and the pictures overlooking the World are actually my way of seeing what is out there!! I keep eyes focused straight ahead at all times!!

The store in Dinoland looks so cute! I love the big Dino holding Mr. Potato Head. We kind of dash in and out of that part of the park. One of these days, we will have to spend a little more time and explore the shops.

Too bad the wait was too long at Kali. We have had that problem before too.

I love the queue at EE too. One of these days, my kids will all want to ride with DH. I will walk through with them taking pictures and then use the "chicken exit".

Great Photopass shots!

I thought poor Mr. Potato Head when I saw the dinosaur holding him!

We never get lucky with Kali FPs...the machine is never operating so for us to ride it is almost always a long wait!

I wanted my mom to go through the queue and use the chicken exit like she did at ToT. For some reason there was something else she was wanting to do but I can't recall the reason at all!

 

[saintstickets]

We never get lucky with Kali FPs...the machine is never operating so for us to ride it is almost always a long wait!

I hate that you didn't get to ride Kali. It is one of my favorite rides in all of WDW. I just wish it was longer. I am told that the equivalent ride in Disneyland is much longer than KRR at WDW. Loving your TR. Keep it coming.

(Did you make it to the game Saturday vs UCF? Holy cow! Between that game and the Saints game, it was not a good weekend for black and gold fans that have weak hearts but a GREAT weekend for the results! USM = #20 in BCS polls! )

 

[TinksThree]

I hate that you didn't get to ride Kali. It is one of my favorite rides in all of WDW. I just wish it was longer. I am told that the equivalent ride in Disneyland is much longer than KRR at WDW. Loving your TR. Keep it coming.

(Did you make it to the game Saturday vs UCF? Holy cow! Between that game and the Saints game, it was not a good weekend for black and gold fans that have weak hearts but a GREAT weekend for the results! USM = #20 in BCS polls! )

We love Kali too! It was a little disappointing missing it this trip! I would love to try the one at DL!!

I was unfortunatley sick and had to miss the UCF game! My family went and Madison called me during the pre-game so I could hear what wasn't on the tv--and thankfully we get CBSSports! Between those two games I think Keith and I both need blood pressure medicine now! But at least they came out "our" way!!

 

[TinksThree]

We had eaten a big breakfast and we have BIG plans for supper so we decide we do not want any lunch per se but a snack would be great!!

We find an ice cream cart and get some yummy ice cream bars and a frozen banana. Now we had discussed the frozen banana earlier in the day and some in our group thought it was a gross idea. I love bananas and thought I would give it a try. After all it is “free” (DDP is free and we are using snack credits). I will just say that I thought it was very good and the nay-sayers tried some also and had to agree!

We found what appeared to be an old boat dock area with tables. We head down to relax and enjoy our treats. Maybe someone can help me out but I speculated that this must be where the boat rides from the very early days of AK used to board? I do believe we have seen Pooh, Tigger and Eyeore doing a Meet and Greet here before. The area is really pretty….

We finish our ice cream and make our way to Kilimanjaro Safaris to use our Fast Passes. We enter into even more crowds!!

The signs point the way!!!

So now you get to see more pictures of the safari …..

Again my favorites!!

And Maddie's faves!!

A stop for animals crossing!!

Continued in the next post...

 

[TinksThree]

We head out of Animal Kingdom at 3:21pm which is slightly later than I had hoped. My plan was to leave at 2:30 so we are almost an hour behind schedule. I still think we will be “okay” as long as we do not dally at the resort while we freshen up. We have big plans! Plans I have been so excited about!

First a stop for the Photopass!

I apologize that this installment is sort of a "repeat" and short. But coming next is my most amazing night!! And I have a lot of pictures to share my new found love!! and

 

[shan23877]

Can't wait to hear what you guys did that night!

 

[TinksThree]

Can't wait to hear what you guys did that night!

I hope that I do not delay your suspense too terribly long!

 

[TinksThree]

First I am so excited because tonight I get a Disney night!! Disney on Ice is in town so I get to spend the evening with Mickey and Minnie!!

Now on to our BIG night!!! For a lot of people this may not seem huge since it has been around for a long, long time. But, for me this was my first time and I was so excited. I have only heard great things and this was my big splurge for our trip since I chose to not use our DDP!





It is the Hoop-de-Doo Musical Revue!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


My initial planning had us going from the resort to Magic Kingdom, ride the boat to Ft Wilderness and so on. Well on the very first day we pass Ft Wilderness on the bus ride to MK. I realize this is only about 5-10 minutes from POFQ. We have a car so at that point I made the decision we would drive rather than do a 1 ½ hour trek on Disney transportation! Boy am I glad this decision had been made! Although, I probably would have cut some things out at AK if we were still planning on doing the Disney transportation option!

We exit AK at 3:21 and head for the bus stops and we wait and wait and wait. I am beginning to panic but only slightly. Our dinner reservations are for the 5pm show. We are cutting things close! We finally board the bus to POFQ and head off. We get to our resort at 4pm and we make a dash inside to change clothes and freshen up very quickly! We then head down to the van and make our way to Ft Wilderness.

We arrive at Ft Wilderness at 4:35pm. This is really cutting it close! I keep hearing all of the warnings in my head about losing money because you are late and I have paid a lot of money for this dinner!

We park and go to the bus stop. Now here is another huge lesson I learned! The internal buses at Ft Wilderness can add even more travel time. To make a long (and stressful) story short, we make it to the location right at 5pm. Whew!!

Thankfully there is a long line to get in and we go line up.

We are one of the last in line but there are a few behind us even! Whew again! No one is any the wiser that we were not there 15 minutes prior! So my advice here: plan at least 2 hours for your 1st time just to travel—that is if you are using Disney Transportation!!

I think I did very well in not being too vocal on my stress level while we were in route. I tried to mention it only a time or two and keep it to myself. This was our first time to go to HDDMR and I did not want my stress to over shadow what I hoped would be a wonderful experience.

This reservation was one of the first I booked. I was online booking the second I could do so! I knew we were not using any dining credits and it was OOP. I also wanted Level 1 since it was our first time. I really hoped this was worth the time and the money!

We get to the reservation desk just inside the door, I give them my name and they take us to our table. We walk and walk and walk. Our table was at the front. As in the very front. As in if we were any closer to the front we would have been on the stage! I had the piano right behind me! I guess that is what happens when you are quick on the trigger when reserving Level 1!

This location was almost too close but we were so close to the action! And the action was awesome!!!!! Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue did not disappoint me! Everything I had imagined was dead on! There was music, there was laughter, there were tears (thanks to the laughter) and the food was pretty good too!

WARNING: LOTS OF PICTURES HERE (sorry....blame on the newbie experience! )

First comes the bread and salad:

And soon we are chowin' down. Breakfast was a very long time ago!

See the piano behind me?

Around us pics:

And this is the stage from my seat.....

And the party begins!!

The best picture I have of the food...I was too busy eating!

Continued....

 

[TinksThree]

Dessert Time!!!

Some Musical Washboard Action!

A Final Bow:

A shot of the next dinner show's crowd!

We exit the hall fuller, happier and very satisfied! We were also very exhausted! Our night pretty much ends like this: 1) we walk to the bus stop, 2) we load the bus with an extremely cranky bus driver (I must ask if you are driving a bus at WALT DISNEY WORLD should a requirement not be that you like children at least a little bit and even if you do not, shouldn’t you NOT be mean spirited towards the children on your bus? This guy was mean to the kids and had no reason to be…they weren’t crying, weren’t screaming, weren’t running up and down the aisles…I think he just didn’t like children!), 3) get to the parking lot and load into the van; 4) make the 10 minute drive back to POFQ, 5) go to change and rest before meeting in the Scat Cat’s Club to listen to Elliott Dyson, 6) we discover how exhausted we really are and nix the #5 plans opting instead to go to sleep….at 8:30pm…on our next to last night….at WDW!

We are one exciting crew!!! So if you ever want to meet up with a cool group of people to party the night away…I suggest you call someone other than my family!

And next…it is our final day at WDW! What to do? Epcot of course!!

 

[ksl5f123]

Great updates!!

Somehow the concept of a frozen banana seems a little odd, but I agree that they are actually pretty good - especially in Florida in the summer.

Excellent giraffe pictures again. Very "fluffy" ostriches.

OOOOH! I love your HDDR review. Wow, your seats were close! I SO want to go there. I assume they can do something for the vegetarian DH. It looks like so much fun. Wonderful pictures!

 

[heaven2dc]

Loved the HDDMR pics! Looks like you had a blast - I about died laughing at your last comment (would definitely call you to party on our next trip to WDW - or NOT! Just Kidding!) You all are such a fun bunch to travel with - don't be surprised if you find an extra piece of luggage stowed away on your next trip (a very LARGE piece as I haven't quite lost the 30lbs I'd hoped to yet )

Hard to believe the trip is almost over.

 

[mickeystoontown]

I'm so happy to hear that you all enjoyed the Hoop Dee Doo Review. I can tell you had a good time from the smiles in all of your pictures. We've seen the show three or four times and plan on going back again.

I had read that the Fort Wilderness buses weren't all that great so we have avoided them and taken the boat from the Magic Kingdom over. I wonder what was up with the bus driver though. Like you said, at least he could have pretended to like the kids.

 

[mickeystoontown]

I forgot to ask.....did you decide when ya'll are going to leave for Tennessee? I remember there was a question on what time you'd get to leave.

Even though my boss has absolutely no appointments set for next week nor any court, he still hasn't said anything about closing early on Wednesday. I so wish he would so that we can get on the road a little earlier. John has to work until 2:30 p.m. (if he doesn't have to work late like they have all this week) and it would be nice if I could be home about the same time.

 

[shan23877]

So glad that you guys liked the HDDMR! We thought it was lots of fun, DH even got chosen to be the Indian in the show.

Those internal buses are rough, but I can't believe the driver was so mean!

You guys deserved to take a night off from being party animals, Disney is tiring!

 

[donnaf516]

The HDDR is a BLAST! Our family really looks forward to it. We keep saying that we'll skip in on the next trip since it's 2 credits or $$$ but as soon as we plan a trip the kids ask what night we're going!

It's so much fun...but I do miss the HDD song that had to be changed because of some legal issues.

Looks like you guys had a great trip! Looking forward to reading more

 

[TinksThree]

Sorry for being MIA! I know everyone is probably swamped this time of year and can totally empathize! Thursday night we went to Mickey and Minnie's Magical Journey and had a wonderful time! Then over the weekend we had our family over for Thanksgiving since we are about to hit the road! And now I have (well from right now) 1 full work day left and lots to get cleaned up before I head out!

I doubt I will get a new update going before we leave for Tennessee but I will try my hardest to get back on track as soon as I can next week! Christmas season will only make it busier!! But this is my favorite time of year so I am not complaining one little bit!

Great updates!!

Somehow the concept of a frozen banana seems a little odd, but I agree that they are actually pretty good - especially in Florida in the summer.

Excellent giraffe pictures again. Very "fluffy" ostriches.

OOOOH! I love your HDDR review. Wow, your seats were close! I SO want to go there. I assume they can do something for the vegetarian DH. It looks like so much fun. Wonderful pictures!

The frozen banana really is pretty good. I don't know that I would have ever thought that up myself!

HDDR was so much fun! Surely they do a vegetarian menu for non-meat eaters! I think your family would really like it!

Loved the HDDMR pics! Looks like you had a blast - I about died laughing at your last comment (would definitely call you to party on our next trip to WDW - or NOT! Just Kidding!) You all are such a fun bunch to travel with - don't be surprised if you find an extra piece of luggage stowed away on your next trip (a very LARGE piece as I haven't quite lost the 30lbs I'd hoped to yet )

Hard to believe the trip is almost over.

Thank you! I couldn't stp snapping away!

Stow away!! We try our hardest to have a good time! Normally we are going strong at least until midnight but this night we were just too tired to move on!

I'm so happy to hear that you all enjoyed the Hoop Dee Doo Review. I can tell you had a good time from the smiles in all of your pictures. We've seen the show three or four times and plan on going back again.

I had read that the Fort Wilderness buses weren't all that great so we have avoided them and taken the boat from the Magic Kingdom over. I wonder what was up with the bus driver though. Like you said, at least he could have pretended to like the kids.

I actually used your TR last summer to plan a lot on this particular night and had considered using your transportation route. The inside buses were a real pain! Everyone was in shock over how he kept yelling back to be quiet and other demands. I have been on other buses with kids that needed to be told to behave and no one ever bothered! These kids did not fall into that category at all!

I forgot to ask.....did you decide when ya'll are going to leave for Tennessee? I remember there was a question on what time you'd get to leave.

Even though my boss has absolutely no appointments set for next week nor any court, he still hasn't said anything about closing early on Wednesday. I so wish he would so that we can get on the road a little earlier. John has to work until 2:30 p.m. (if he doesn't have to work late like they have all this week) and it would be nice if I could be home about the same time.

We decided to leave bright and early Wednesday morning. We wanted to leave Tuesday but Keith's compnay is changing some things (which is driving him crazy) so we had to nix the Tuesday afternoon plan. As long as I am headed out, I am good!

It is so quiet around here but I love it like this when the students are gone and I can get some "real" work done! You know, those things that keep gettign pushed back and should have been doen 2 months ago! I will cross my fingers you get to leave early! It looks ike it will be pretty cool with highs only in the 50's so Chris is hoping for snow in the upper elevations!

So glad that you guys liked the HDDMR! We thought it was lots of fun, DH even got chosen to be the Indian in the show.

Those internal buses are rough, but I can't believe the driver was so mean!

You guys deserved to take a night off from being party animals, Disney is tiring!

What fun to get chosen! Now that I have seen what happens, I could definitely go with being chosen! That looked like lots of fun!

That bus driver was definitely trying to make the family lose some of their Disney magic!

We really had been going full steam ahead! And I really wanted to be well rested to enjoy our last day!

The HDDR is a BLAST! Our family really looks forward to it. We keep saying that we'll skip in on the next trip since it's 2 credits or $$$ but as soon as we plan a trip the kids ask what night we're going!

It's so much fun...but I do miss the HDD song that had to be changed because of some legal issues.

Looks like you guys had a great trip! Looking forward to reading more

The cost was pretty $$$$ and I definitely didn't want to use my dining credits but HDDMR is so much fun that I have not had one regret on paying the money! It will definitely be done again!

 

[mickeystoontown]

If I don't get to talk with you before we both leave for Tennessee, have a safe and fun trip. We haven't decided if or when we will be in Gatlinburg. We are considering taking the trolley over to see the Christmas lights and possibly go to the aquarium. Be sure to stop us if you see us and I'll do the same.

I've been watching the weather and saw that we will have some cool weather which will be a big change from here at home. Today's high was in the 80s.

 

[TinksThree]

If I don't get to talk with you before we both leave for Tennessee, have a safe and fun trip. We haven't decided if or when we will be in Gatlinburg. We are considering taking the trolley over to see the Christmas lights and possibly go to the aquarium. Be sure to stop us if you see us and I'll do the same.

I've been watching the weather and saw that we will have some cool weather which will be a big change from here at home. Today's high was in the 80s.

Thanks and I hope you guys have a safe trip too!

The aquarium is so nice I don't think you will regret it at all. I love how festive everything is with the lights too! Also, the Sky Lift (not Ober Gatlinburg) is a nice little trip up the side of the mountain. It is somewhat reasonable (we use military discounts so I am unsure of the regular costs). We almost always do that but it is a short walk from the aquarium and the kids always enjoy it. I have terrified of heigths and I have adjusted....going up isn't bad. I don't think I have ever mentioned it. It isn't fancy and nothing really at the top but it is fun, especially at night (just keep your eyes closed!! ).

I will keep my eyes out for you guys! We wander the streets every night (that sounds so bad!!) I am excited for the cooler weather. it looks like some rough stuff possibly tomorrow...glad it is tomorrow and not Wednesday when we are trying to drive!

Oh, one more thing! (sorry I keep adding stuff!!) The Convention Center on the main drag has the arts festival going on right now. It is free to get in and there are all kinds of arts and craft demonstrations and things for sale. And sometimes there is food to sample!

 

[TinksThree]

So sorry for the long delay! Life happens sometimes and gets in the way of Disney! and I have had some huge things going on that has kept me away....but here is an update!!

Also, I think I forgot to end Day 5 with a breakdown of how our plans went! Basically I had no plans for this day so in the end we accomplished everything we had set out to do. The only “change” in the plan (if you can call it that) was: 1) Keith did not go to breakfast with us, 2) we did not get to ride Kali River, 3) we did not get to see Flights of Wonder, 4) we left the park much later than I had planned thus causing stress in getting to HHDMR but we made it! And 5) we hit the hay early and missed out on Elliot Dyson. So basically I deem this day a success!! And now on to Day 6!!

Wednesday, June 1, 2011—Our Final Day

I am up bright and early because I do not want to waste a single moment of our final day. Epcot is always saved for the last day since it is my favorite!! We had already had one very successful day at Epcot and that made this one very laid back!

Now from the very beginning I have said that Keith was slowly letting me know what he did and did not like (sometimes a little after the fact) and one thing was an early supper. Our dinner reservations were for my restaurant of choice: Les Chefs de France. I have wanted to try this restaurant out for so long. When I made our ADRs way back 180 days ago Keith was not in the picture so the dinner reservations were made for 5pm…this is too early in Keith’s opinion. I realize this as I am getting dressed so I make the decision to change the plan. It is now my turn to miss out on something I really wanted to do! I head down to the Consceriege desk and I quickly explain needing to make the changes. Of course Les Chefs is not available and I had figured this much. My choices for World Showcase? Biergarten and Marrakesh….You will have to keep reading to see where I chose to go!!

After making the changes I meet everyone for breakfast in the food court.

French Toast

Western Omelet

And some shots around the food court.

Now I am going to venture slightly off topic…sorta kinda anyway!

In August every year there is a festival in the real French Quarter that honors Louis Armstrong. This festival is called the Satchmo Festival and we have made it a tradition! So, on Friday, August 5, we headed south to New Orleans for the weekend. As we were walking around I was still having Post-Disney Withdrawal Syndrome. Who am I kidding? I am still having the withdrawal issues! The conditions are slightly better now (5 1/2 months later) but I still have relapses quiet often. So as we wandered the streets of New Orleans (and in a severe thunderstorm no less—tell me why you do not see rain for 6 weeks but you go on a trip and it storms???) I began noting the similarities of New Orleans and POFQ. Some of the details are pretty amazing! I have been holding on to this little side story until this particular day since I had spent some time that morning roaming the grounds of POFQ and I am going to give a comparison on some the details that make POFQ very much like a clean version of NOLA!!

I am going to do this like a mini-TR but throw in the similarities along the way. I hope no one minds!! So as I said we arrived in NOLA during a severe thunderstorm:

Approaching clouds

The rain begins---the lightening was a spectacle but no pics of it! This also reminds me of a day at Disney…..

I am going to interject our hotel: Comfort Inn on Bierdman St. Not the Ritz but a good location and clean and for the money it is a great deal!

The view:

A little different from the one at POFQ:

Palm Trees~ So reminiscent of Florida!!

 

[TinksThree]

And I have seen this before!

Right here! At POFQ!!

Café Du Monde~where REAL beingets come from!! Only we did not make it there this trip due to the obnoxiously long lines. Chris was very, very disappointed!!

Street Signs

That resemble signs found here….

Plus these guys look familiar:

at POFQ:

French Quarter getting drenched:

For good measure….this is what Bourbon St looks like after a good downpour!

And later that night….

And the New Orleans cuisine is AWESOME!! Not a real comparison but we love Deannie’s in both Bucktown and the French Quarter so it is a must!

Potatoes! So yummy!

Calamari! Madison did not partake so she ate more potatoes!

And the dish that keeps us coming back! The Giant Seafood Platter!

I tried to tell Keith to go with the small since we ate so much before-hand but he insisted…so we had a good bit left to take home!

Some night shots and I took WDW with me...see?!

And our nighttime view from our room: