Who Needs Turkey?-Our Thanksgiving Trip to WDW w/lots of pics!~Now complete

[experiment_627]

We decided to go give DisneyQuest a try. We are both video game fans, so we thought it was great! Sadly, I didn’t take any pictures because I was too busy playing. We did the Virtual Jungle Cruise first. It was fun, but we both decided that we might be in trouble if we ever decide to go rafting for real. After that, we did the PoC – Battle for Buccaneer Gold virtual reality game. Stephan had wanted to captain the ship, so I was the only one manning the guns. I ran around like a crazy person the entire time, but it was a blast! It ended up being my favorite thing there.

We were getting hungry, so we grabbed a piece of cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory, and I sent a postcard home to some friends. We played Ride the Comix where Stephan came in first place out of our group. I didn’t think I was doing anything, but I somehow came in second. Next was Invasion! An ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter. We got grouped with a mother and her son, who was chosen to be the pilot. He had no idea what he was doing, so we only ended up saving one person. I don’t like those games because I stink at them, so I wouldn’t have done any better, and he was cute as a button! We played a few arcade games and then did Mighty Ducks Pinball Slam. It was a lot of fun, and my legs got a good workout too! We both created a toy and bought them – suckers!!

Stephan’s – Fuzzinator X

Mine – Wuzzyweirdo

We wanted to do the Animation Academy, but it was full by the time we paid for our toys, and we didn’t have time to wait on another. There were several other things we would have liked to do there, so I’d say we will definitely go back!

We had a 4:30 ADR at Boma, so we hopped a bus to the Animal Kingdom Lodge. As much as we enjoyed all the other resorts, we fell in love with the AKL. We had a little time to kill, so we looked around the lobby.

Then we went out to look at the Savannah.

These are the prettiest ducks I have ever seen!

It was feeding time, and the giraffes kept trying to steal stuff from the truck.

Stephan would have stayed out there all evening if I had let him. He really wants to stay there next time. I think he would have Zen hour (at least) in the mornings then.

We had a fabulous meal at Boma and thought we had just enough time to go back to Pop and drop off our bags before heading over to Fort Wilderness for carriage ride. When we made the reservations, the lady told Stephan that the easiest way would be to take a bus to MK and then ride the ferry over to FW. When we got in like for MK, who should be in front of us but momshark!! It was our first DIS sighting! I think Stephan thought I was completely nuts with the LGMH until we saw Lesley! Here is the picture Stephan shot of us. I wish we had gotten Tynan in it now too!

We chatted the entire way to MK where Stephan and I raced to catch the next ferry as we were running late for our carriage ride. We get to the dock only to discover that there might be something wrong with the boat and they have to check it out before they’ll let anyone on it. We wait and wait and wait…you get the idea. Finally we see another boat coming for us just as they give the all clear for us to get on that one. By the time we get on the boat, it is 7:30, our reservation time for the carriage ride. We get to FW and there is no horse and buggy to be found. Stephan calls the reservation line, we have missed out on our ride, and they are booked up the rest of the evening. He explains the situation and they made a note, so we didn’t get charged for being a no show. We will have to call tomorrow morning and see if there is any availability for the rest of our trip. I was bummed out, but I didn’t want it to ruin our evening.

We decided to go to MK for a little while. We rode Space Mountain, so I felt like I had finally arrived!! By then, we were getting pretty tired, so we made our way back out through the shops on Main St. and bought some fudge. On our honeymoon, we bought a tin of fudge and split a piece every evening back at the hotel, so we thought that sounded like a good idea again. That fudge is the best!!

When we got back to Pop, we found Pooh and our towel friend had confiscated the remote. They must have gotten tired of listening to Stacy too though ‘cause they had the TV off.

Next up: Cinderella’s Royal Table, Typhoon Lagoon, and another crack at the carriage ride

 

[serendipity]

Ahhh I just caught up. Love it. Sounds like you had a great time. We had difficulty getting a good shot of the happy holiday goofy/pluto at DTD also, but because it was dark. I'm starting to think it's impossible! Can't wait to read more.

 

[experiment_627]

Day 4: CRT, Typhoon Lagoon, and another crack at the carriage ride

We had a wake up call at 7 am, and went through our normal routine. After being transferred a million different places, Stephan finally got our carriage ride rescheduled for 8 PM that night. Yay!

We left Pooh on the entertainment center and Fish Out of Water wanted some more towel friends. I don’t think our mousekeeper was very amused though ‘cause he/she didn’t even take the tip that day.

We were at MK for the opening. I got choked up again during Mickey’s welcome. *sigh* Dork. We had 50 minutes before we had to check in for our breakfast at the castle, so we headed straight for Pirates of the Caribbean, Stephan’s favorite MK ride. I love the new additions.

We didn’t want to risk being late for our breakfast, so we slowly walked back to the castle. We checked in and got in line for our photo. Apparently Cinderella was having problems with her tiara because we had a wait forever for her to come down. We finally got to meet her and was called upstairs.

Our picture with Cindy:

When we were there in 2005, Cindy still just came to your table. I can see where it is better to insure you get to see Cinderella and all, but honestly all the hurry up and wait was annoying to us since we were only there for the stuffed French toast. The food rocked as usual though! And we got the same seat we had on our honeymoon, so that was really neat.

We didn’t really have plans for the afternoon, so we decided to give Typhoon Lagoon a try. Neither of us had ever been to a Disney water park, so we wanted to check it out. I didn’t take my camera with us, so I have no pictures.

We got in the wave pool first. I loved it! I used to spend my summers as a kid at Ogle’s water park in Pigeon Forge, TN, so it reminded me of those fun times. On the second or third big wave, the zipper on my swimsuit came all the way down, so I apologize to anyone I may have flashed that day.

We floated around on the lazy river, did a slide a couple times, and went to the shark reef. I think Shark Reef is a neat idea, but our experience wasn’t very enjoyable. First of all, my snorkel didn’t fit quite right, but no one would listen to me and kept telling me how to put it on. I have only been snorkeling in a pool, but I knew that it wasn’t right. Then, what is with the rocks you have to stand on while waiting to push off? I know my feet are sensitive, but we had to wait on some others to get further out before they would let us go, and I finally sat down because I have never been able to handle stepping on rocks. Sure enough, about halfway through my snorkel comes flying out of my mouth and I get a gulp of salt water. Stephan’s mask was leaking, and he stopped to fix it and got yelled at by a lifeguard and told that he would have to get back in line and come back in, so we just got out and left. I enjoyed the short time I actually got to look at anything, but I’m not sure I’ll ever do it again.

A little bit more time in the wave pool and it was time to go back to Pop and get ready for dinner at Wilderness Lodge. Yet another beautiful resort!

My favorite picture:

The ducks also enjoy the pool:

We enjoyed our meal at Whispering Canyon Café and then took the ferry to Fort Wilderness for our carriage ride. Our carriage was awaiting us when we got there. The driver was on wagon ride, so we got to learn a little bit about our horse and get settled in while we waited. Our horse was named Doug, and he was gorgeous. We were also fascinated that 90% of the commands used were voiced instead of using the reigns. The campground was so beautiful and peaceful!

We took the ferry to the Contemporary because I had wanted a picture of the outside tree. As we were riding over Wishes started, and we had a gorgeous view out on the water.

I think it is my favorite tree of all of them for some reason.

We went in the gift shops and wandered around taking some pictures. Stephan isn’t a big fan of CT, but I wouldn’t mind staying there sometime (I pretty much want to stay everywhere, hehe).

Pictures from around CT:

We were both pretty tired and had an early morning with Donald the next day, so we went back to Pop and hit the sack.

Next up: Our first day at Epcot

 

[experiment_627]

For those of you who are reading, I am so sorry it has taken me so long to post an update. The holidays have put me behind on several projects!

Day 5: Our first day at Epcot

We both woke up at 7 am excited to go to Epicot! It is our favorite park, so we planned a couple days there. We arrived just as it opened and headed straight for:

If this link isn't working, I have no idea why - will keep working on it )

Soarin’ wasn’t open yet when we were on our honeymoon, so we were both really looking forward to riding it. We grabbed a FP for later in the day and got in line. In less than 10 minutes we were flying over California. We were hoping for front row but ended up with third. We knew we’d be back so didn’t sweat it too much. All I have to say is WOW. We LOVED it!!! It is probably my favorite ride now. I can close my eyes and almost smell the oranges.

We grabbed a quick breakfast at Sunshine Seasons and then watched the Circle of Life which was really cute. On the way out, I told Stephan about the Jr. Chef program there and agreed that if we ever had a child, we have to bring him/her there. It sounds so fun and cute!! We took the cookie personality test. Stephan was the original toll house cookie, and I was some kind of snowball cookie (I can’t remember the name, but I sent the recipe to myself).

I had never been on Living with the Land since the entire pavilion was closed last time I was there, so that was our next stop. I love the greenhouse part, and that made me even more excited for our Behind the Seeds tour later in the week. I love me some Mickey produce! There will be plenty of pictures of those in another installment.

Stephan had not noticed the smells on Soarin’ (I thought I had told him sometime before, but I dropped the ball on that one I guess), so we decided to use our FP and hit it again. We got 2nd row this time, so we were moving on up! It was amazing again.

We went outside The Land planning to do some shopping to kill some time before our lunch ADR, but as we were passing by Cyber Groove came out. We really enjoyed them.

It was time to check in for lunch at the Garden Grill. I have to say I wasn’t expecting much out of this for some reason, but it was awesome! The atmosphere is neat, the character interaction was fun, and the food was great!

After our wonderful meal, we went to check out Nemo & Friends.

Mine, mine, mine!

The line was moving right along, but that is a really long walk to get to the front! I really liked the new ride. The end with the starfish (her name escapes me at the moment) is hilarious.

We watched the manatees for awhile.

Then, it was time to see Crush. I know the lines can get crazy long for this, but honestly, DO NOT miss Crush if you have never seen it. It is one of our favorites!! Of course, we walk around saying, “Dude!” all day after that though.

We watched the dolphin presentation, but I didn’t get any pictures because the camera was being difficult. We walked around and looked at the fishies and then left The Seas.

We rode Figment, and the sound was completely messed up for over half the ride. We told the CM as we got out, but she didn’t seem overly concerned. *shrug* We went to Honey I Shrunk the Audience, and then played around with the Kodak goodies. We sent a postcard to some family/friends. How about our goofy faces??

Next, we decided to go to Club Cool for some soda sampling from around the world. I really enjoyed a few of them, but we both thought the Italian one was completely disgusting. UGH!!

We went over to get a FP for Test Track only to discover they were all gone. Standby had a 60 minute wait posted, and since I can take or leave TT, we decided to try again later. On our way over to Mission Space, some nice lady stopped and asked us if we had FPs for the ride. We didn’t, so she gave us some re-entry passes that were good through 11/30 for Test Track, Honey I Shrunk the Audience, Figment, and a couple others that I can’t remember. We never ended up needing them, but I certainly appreciated her generosity anyway!! We rode the intense version of MS. It is another ride that I enjoy once I am on it, but wouldn’t be terribly disappointment if we had to miss it. It is one of Stephan’s favorites though. I was hoping we would spot Mickey and Goofy in their astronaut garb, but they weren’t out.

Wonders of Life was also closed last time we were there, so I was excited to get to see it. Now I know why it isn’t open all the time, LOL. I enjoyed it because I am into things like that, but it could definitely use some refurbishment. I think it could be really awesome again with some updates, especially for us biology/anatomy geeks. We rode Body Wars, went to Cranium Command, the Making of Me, and played around with some of the interactive stuff.

By then, it was time to start making our way to Morocco for dinner at Restaurant Marrakesh. We took some pics of the gorgeous decorations along the way.

Stephan just *had* to take a picture during our dinner.

Continued....

 

[experiment_627]

We then went to see the Tomb Warriors exhibit in China.

The lighting made it hard for a good picture. They all were either really bright or kinda dark, but here’s the best one of the bunch:

By that time, we were really starting to drag, so we started toward the exit. We stopped and had some PhotoPass pictures taken on our way out.

Since we could hear Test Track still going, we decided to see if we could grab a ride. We were the last one of the day.

I really hate this picture, but I like the empty car!

Then it was back to Pop to get rested for our day at AK.

Next up: A dreamy day at AK

 

[MA pigletfan]

really enjoying your report!! i would love to go to WDW during the holidays to see all those great decorations in person...but your wonderful pictures will have to to do for now !

 

[sskem96]

OK, I've been waiting for an update for a week now!

I leave in 3 weeks, so you have to get your TR done!

 

[experiment_627]

Sorry!!!

I will do my best to get an update done by tomorrow evening.

These people at work need to realize that there are other people that need me!

 

[experiment_627]

Day 6: A dreamy day at AK

We were up by 6 o’clock and headed to AK. I LOVE the tree there.

We had breakfast with Donald. While the food was pretty good, the character interaction seemed very rushed and our waitress was kinda slow. I heard the room next to us having a grand time, so maybe if we had a different server.

Next it was time to tackle the big one. Dum da dum….

I had my reservations about going on Expedition Everest. I love roller coaters, but backwards…not so much. There was no way I wasn’t going to try it at least once though, so we hopped in line. Even though it was EMH at AK that day, and the park had been open for an hour or so, the line was less than 10 minutes. The queue is rather interesting though, so I don’t think I would have minded it taking longer, so I would have more time to look at everything. All I have to say is….SWEET!! It is a blast! The backwards part was so short it didn’t bother me at all. Loved it, loved it.

As we pulled to stop at the end of the ride, I heard some people up front (we were nearer the back) start cheering and clapping. I look over and there stands the dream team!! We got Dream FastPasses!!! I couldn’t believe it!

On the way over to EE, we noticed that the first Nemo show of the day was at 10 AM. It was nearing that time, so we decided to go ahead and see it. We really enjoyed it. I especially loved the seagulls as you exit. I won’t spoil it if you haven’t seen it.

We had gotten FastPasses for EE, so we hit it again before headed over to the Wonders of Flight. I have no idea why, but I love bird shows. This one is no exception. Plus it is a nice place to sit down for a little while.

We thought it was time to brave the rapids, so off to the Kali River we went. I was smart and put on my poncho. Stephan balked at the idea, but changed his mind right before we got on. The line was moving so quickly that he never had time to put it on, so he ended up pretty soaked.

Then we were off to hit the Asia trek. This is probably my favorite part of AK for one reason.

I kitties! Big and small. I want to pet a tiger someday.

After a nice visit with the animals, we headed to Dinoland for a ride on Primevil Whirl, or as I so lovingly refer to it, Primevil Hurl. I hated it! It was way too jerky for my taste. We moved on to Dinosaur, which I also hate for the same reason.

Snowman in Dinoland USA:

We took off to “It’s Tough To Be A Bug”. I am really sqeemish when it comes to bugs, but I love this show. Heck, I love all the Disney 3D shows.

We decided it was time to hit the safari. I can’t remember if we used one of our FP for it or not. We never really needed them, but it still felt good to have them. We had a pretty good driver, and we got some nice shots. The camera batteries died right in the middle, and I missed the hippos lying out of the water though.

Continued....

 

[experiment_627]

After the safari, we walked through the African Jungle Trek. On the way over, we caught this guy lounging around:

The hippos were especially active that day. They were playing around and swimming by the window, but we weren’t able to get many good shots.

The gorilla and his family were really cute.

The baby sat there for a few mintues, threw the branch down, and walked off out of sight. I just imagined her thinking, “Ok, I’m over it.”

It was almost time for the parade, so we grabbed a spot and watched.

Snow!!

After the parade, we did a little shopping and started toward the exit. We stopped and had some PhotoPass pictures taken on the way. I don’t like any of them, but here are a couple.

We made it to Epcot in time for the tree lighting ceremony. I didn’t take any pictures because we were pretty far back, but it was really neat. We made our way around the World Showcase and got in line for the Candlelight Processional. I was really worried we weren’t going to get in because it was really loooooooooooooooong, but we ended up about halfway back in the center. Of course, there isn’t really a bad seat in the place. John O’Hurley was the narrator, and the show was beautiful!! I started out trying to take some pictures, but they weren’t coming out right, so I just decided to put the camera down and enjoy the performance.

Here are the ones we ended up with:

We walked over to Le Cellier for dinner. *sigh* I sure would like some of that pretzel bread right now. We had a really nice, funny waiter. He had on the wrong name tag, so I can’t remember what the right one is, lol.

We had hoped to get out and grab a spot for Illuminations, but it was well after 9 PM by the time our dinner was over, so we decided to head on out since we knew we’d be back another night. As we walked out of the park, the sky was filled with fireworks.

We went back to Pop and went to bed to ready ourselves for a long day at MGM.

Next up: MGM and old friends

 

[Sabrina90744]

What a great trip report! Loved your POP door and window

 

[experiment_627]

What a great trip report! Loved your POP door and window

Thank you!!

 

[experiment_627]

Off topic news: Not that I have been too swift on getting these updates done, but I may be even slower for the next couple weeks because we are in the process of buying and moving into our first house. Our closing is on Feb. 8th. Of course, it might mean that we don't get to go WDW this year, but I suppose I'll survive until 2008 if that is the case.

Now on with the show....

Day 7: MGM and old friends

I have to include this picture because it is my favorite of the two of us taken on the entire trip, but I can’t remember when we had it taken, so I’m just going to stick it in here.

We didn’t have any plans for breakfast, so we were at MGM at rope drop. It is my least favorite of all of them, so I just browsed some of the gift shops (we could still hear everything) while we waited.

Once the park was officially open, we hit the streets and headed straight for Tower of Terror and Rock ‘n’ Roller coaster. We grabbed Fastpasses for ToT and got in like for RnR. I love the beginning! Weeeeeeeeeee! I kept meaning to take redneck ride photos, but I never did. There were usually so many people crowded around the screens when we came out, I was just ready to move on.

ToT is hands down my favorite thrill ride ever! I LOVE it. The line was still really short, so we held on to our Fastpasses for later. When we came out, we got right back in line and rode again. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it. I know some people hate that stomach drop feeling, but that is my favorite part!! We had some fun in the gift shop on our way out.

We grabbed a danish for breakfast and then went to the Magic of Disney Animation. Mushu is a cutie! We met Mr. Incredible when we came out, and Stephan challenged him to an arm wrestling contest.

I love looking in the Disney art stores. I took pictures of our favorite painting because that’s as close as we will ever get to having them.

There was a class starting in the animation studio, so we decided to try our hand at some drawing. We LOVED it. I think next to the Adventurer’s Club, it was one of the most unexpected joys of the trip (if that makes any sense).

We went to Voyage of the Little Mermaid next. I don’t know why we didn’t hit this on our honeymoon because we are both fans of the movie (it is one of my all time animated favorites). At any rate, we really enjoyed it. I love Ursula! She is definitely my favorite villain. I just can’t hear “Unfortunate Souls” or it sticks in my head for the rest of the day!

We wandered through One Man’s Dream, but didn’t have time to stay for the movie ‘cause it was time for our reservations at Sci-Fi. I did snap a few shots in there, and the quality isn’t great, but I love this:

We grabbed a Fastpass for Star Tours on our way to lunch, so we were able to use that as soon as we were done. This is another of Stephan’s favorite ‘cause he is a huge Star Wars fan. On our way out of the ride along came:

We were thrilled because they had closed off the line earlier in the day.

We went to see the Muppets, and of course, we had to look for the key. Stephan excitedly and jokingly told a CM nearby that we found the key, and she got all snarky, “It was on the Travel Channel. Someone finds the key every 10 seconds.” At any rate, I still think it is a really cute touch.

We caught some of the parade.

We got in line for the Narnia walkthrough, but it was taking forever, and had to leave if wanted to get in to see the final stunt show of the day. We hurried over and were let in only to be stopped just before the seating entrances. I don’t know how long we all stood there, but we were jammed together and fumes started wafting in from somewhere. Stephan and I both thought we were going to be sick if we didn’t get moving soon! When they finally let us in, the entire crowd started cheering.

We got to our seat and apparently my bag tapped the man’s back in front of me. I said that I was sorry or excuse me or something, but he turned around and gave me one of the biggest go to @#$% looks I have ever seen. I turned to Stephan and said, “It just tapped him.” This guy proceeds to turn all the way around and practically yelled, “Relax. Don’t worry about it” to me in a very disgusted tone. Um, I don’t think I was the one that needed to relax.

The weather had turned pretty ikcy by that point:

I didn’t take any pictures of the stunt show, and I could care less if I ever go back, but I think there were other factors besides just the show that ruined my experience with it. Stephan really enjoyed it, so I think it was just me. It was neat to see how some of the scenes from movies and stuff are done.

A month or so before we left for vacation, I received an email from a high school friend who I hadn’t seen since we graduated. I discovered that she lives in the Orlando area and has annual passes (lucky dog), so we had made plans to meet up for dinner that evening. She planned to watch the 7 o’clock Fantasmic! and then have dinner at Brown Derby. We had some time to kill before meeting her, so we headed back to our favorite place that day.

We ended up going through 3 more times before she called and said she was on her way in the park. We met up with her at the hat and went to grab a seat for the show. It was sprinkling, but not too bad. We did some catching up while waiting on the show, and the rain kept getting harder and harder. We had ponchos, but they weren’t helping much by that point. Finally, they cancelled the show. It is my favorite of the night time shows at all of the parks, and even I was overjoyed when they called it off. We were super early for our reservations at Brown Derby, but they were able to seat us pretty quickly. We spent the rest of the evening just chatting and catching up with each other. I can’t believe I didn’t have Stephan take a picture of us, but I forgot.

Rachel drove us back to Pop and we said our goodbyes. We had hoped to get together again later in the week, but it didn’t work out the way we had planned. Oh well, there is always next time.

We found Pooh up and waiting on us when we got back.

We needed to do some laundry, so we went for a swim while we waited on it to finish. My apologies if you were in the laundry room that night. I never could seem to get dried off enough before I came in there, and I flooded the floor several times.

It was about midnight before we made it back to our room and into bed for the night.

Up Next: Behind the Seeds and the World Showcase

 

[experiment_627]

Day 8: Behind the Seeds & the World Showcase

Day 8: Behind the Seeds and the World Showcase

We started off the day with a cheese danish from Everything Pop. I think they are the softest, yummiest cheese danishes I have ever had.

We arrived at Epcot in time to ride Soarin’ before checking in for the Behind the Seeds tour. While we were in line, I had already started talking about having to go home and was getting sad about the day approaching. Stephan told me to hush ‘cause we had 3 full days left, and he was totally right. Why do we do that??

There are many tours that we are interested in taking, so we started with the cheaper one. It is only $12 per person, and if you garden or are interested in that kind of thing at all, I highly recommend the tour. We aren’t into it much yet, but we hope to start our own little hydroponic herb garden sometime soon.

Our tour guide’s name was Jonathan, and he was great:

If the above picture isn't working, I don't know why (again).

I wish I could remember details about the pictures I took, but sadly I cannot, so I am just going to post some of the neater things to look at along the way.

Nine pound fruit!

Baby alligators that were soon to be sold for meat/leather.

Once our tour was over, it was time to head to Rose and Crown for lunch. This was another of my nice surprises. Yum!

After lunch we went back toward Canada and caught Off Kilter:

I don’t recall exploring much of the Canadian pavilion on our honeymoon, but it is really gorgeous:

When we were in England, we found one of my absolute favorite characters….Tigger!!! On my first trip to WDW, he bounced with me twice, and I have loved him ever since.

Check out my cheesy smile:

As we were coming out of the shop, we caught a bit of British Invasion:

We continued to make our way around the World Showcase shopping and seeing some shows along the way. Once we made it to the American Adventure, we decided we were ready for some more rides, so we caught the ferry back to Future World.

We grabbed Fastpasses for Test Track and hit Mission Space. We hadn’t been on Spaceship Earth yet, so we went back out front for a ride. We got stopped around the top for awhile, and if it hadn’t been for that annoying loop about staying seated, etc. I could have had a nice little nap. Stephan was very glad to see that they are doing something at the exit of SE ‘cause that used to really be a favorite of his. Unfortunately, I never got to see it.

We went back to use our TT passes:

We had just enough time to ride Soarin’ one more time before heading to Germany for dinner. We were seating with a really nice couple, Dave and Molly. We got their phone number and had hoped to meet up with them in PI later in the trip, but we missed each other. It really made the dinner enjoyable though. If you ever read this, Dave and Molly!!

Entertainment during dinner:

After dinner, we found some unoccupied tables near the African Pavillion and took our seats to wait for Illuminations. It was wonderful, as usual. It is Stephan’s favorite of the evening festivities. Last time, we were further back, and I enjoyed it much more next to the water.

Once the show was over we slowly made our way out of Epcot and caught the bus back to Pop. I don’t recall doing much else that evening. I think I was starting to drag a little bit by that point.

Up Next: Our first full day at MK and MVMCP

 

[sskem96]

Sounds like you had a great trip. Can't wait to hear about MVMCP! We're hoping to do that this year.

Also looking forward to those cheese danishes at Pop. I don't think I had one last time. Only 5 more days!

 

[experiment_627]

Sounds like you had a great trip. Can't wait to hear about MVMCP! We're hoping to do that this year.

Also looking forward to those cheese danishes at Pop. I don't think I had one last time. Only 5 more days!

I hope you have a wonderful time. I am jealous!

 

[experiment_627]

Day 9: Full day at MK plus MVMCP

I am SO sorry it has taken me so long to post an update. We are moved into our new house, and we are slooooowly getting unpacked, but it is finally time to get my DIS fix!

We had an ADR at Kona Café for breakfast, but we just could not get ourselves out of bed for a 7 am reservation that morning, so we had another yummy Pop cheese danish and headed out for our first full day at MK. I can’t believe we had been there so long and hadn’t spent more than an hour or two there!

We arrived just after opening and ran into Pinocchio and Geppetto just inside the gate.

Since we were right there, we decided to go have our CRT picture added to our photopass as we intended to buy a CD before we left. Almost an hour later, we still didn’t have our pictures on our card. Two people there didn’t even know what we were talking about. It was seriously annoyed that we wasted so much time and didn’t even get what we wanted. But I wasn't going to let it ruin my day, so off we went.

As we were making our way to Jungle Cruise, we ran into Timon and Rafiki.

We also decided to stop and try an infamous Dole Whip! I got vanilla/pineapple swirl and Stephan got the float. I think the float would be a little too pineapple for me. They were quite refreshing!

We got a JC fastpass and rode the magic carpets and ventured into the Tiki Room while we were waiting. We did a little bit of shopping and then returned to Jungle Cruise. Our drive was JD, and he did a pretty good job delivering the jokes. I can’t help but laugh at some of them still.

We took a trip over to Tom Sawyer Island, but alas, we did not find a paintbrush. Stephan made his way across the barrel bridge, but I was not quite as adventurous. I am SO not coordinated.

I went to get fastpasses for Splash Mountain while Stephan stood in line for some Pecos Bill burgers. Next, we hit both mountains! Thunder was first followed by Splash. I had totally forgotten how cute that ride is.

We hadn’t planned on watching the afternoon parade, but decided to stop and watch once people started gathering. I am glad we did because I love Mickey’s YOAMD outfit!

My favorite villain:

We went to the Hall of Presidents next. I remember begging not to go there when I was little because it was so boring. Now I love it! It is amazing how lifelike they are. Ok, I’m a nerd. I admit it once again.

We did a bit of shopping in the Christmas Shoppe and then went to get our wristbands for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. Somewhere along the way, we purchased our Santa hats which should be in the rest of the pictures from that evening.

We had an ADR at Liberty Tree Tavern. We had to wait awhile for our table, and Stephan was not happy because he was ready to get to the party festivities. It seemed like we had to wait awhile on our food too, but the character interaction was pretty good.

After dinner, we got cookies and hot cocoa for dessert and headed for the Haunted Mansion. After we had boarded, I thought I felt someone staring at me. I turned around and there was a CM standing on the side of our buggy and leaning in right beside me. It scared me to death, but it was really funny.

About halfway through the ride, Stephan realized that he didn’t have his key to the world. I had signed the bill, but I could have sworn I handed it back to him. He was busy digging for it most of the ride, so he didn’t enjoy it all that much I am afraid. A CM at the end offered to stop the ride for us if anything of value was lost, but the only thing we dropped along the way was some souvenir pennies.

Thankfully, we went back to LTT and our waiter had our card. Hooray! Apparently I hadn’t given it back to him and had just left it on the table.

Continued....

 

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We were headed to Fantasyland next when Stephan remembered that we hadn’t been to see the Country Bears yet. I think it is cute and all, but he really likes it. It was us and one other family, so the CM told us to take as many pictures as we liked.

We went to Fantasyland next and met Scrooge McDuck. Just after we finished getting our picture taken, Donald walked up. Scrooge ran over to Donald and made him read Stephan’s shirt. He started jumping up and down laughing, and he let us have our picture taken with him too without having to get back in the ever growing line.

We hopped on the teacups, and Stephan terriorized me for a bit. I do not do spinning rides at night too well, but I think the Disney magic must have kept me from turning three shades of green because I managed quite well.

On our honeymoon, we took close up pictures of each other on the carosel, and I had wanted to do the same this trip, but decided that I’d continue the tradition and pick a different ride each time. This one was the teacups. Silly, I know, but we like little things like that.

We walked around and Stephan had wanted to check out Cosmic Ray’s and see the alien (whose name escapes me), so we got some more cookies, and I got apple juice this time. Those were some really good cookies, btw!

We got a seat for Wishes around the side of the castle. We had some really good views of the fireworks, but we couldn’t hear the music all that well.

After Wishes, we got in line for Mickey’s ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas which I thought was super cute. I loved seeing Mickey and Minnie in their PJs!

We skipped the first parade hoping to avoid some crowds and managed to get a seat very close to main street for the show. Unfortunately our camera does not take very good pictures at night, so I don’t have any after the teacups. That is something I plan to remedy before we return!

Somewhere along the way though we had this photopass picture taken which we used for our Christmas cards.

Once the parade was over, we made our way out of the park and back to Pop.

Up next: Back to AK, MGM, and DTD

 

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Day 10: Back to AK, MGM, and DTD

We spent the final two days of our stay park hopping. We started out Friday morning at AK. We grabbed fastpasses for the safari and started out to meet some characters. We are soooooo excited to find Lilo and Stitch out. Some nice couple ahead of us agreed to take our picture with them, so we could be in it together. It is my desktop at home now and one of my favorites of the trip.

Next, we went to Camp Minnie-Mickey to get some more character photos.

I really wanted to meet Santa Goofy, but he took a break before we could get to him and by the time we waited for the others and were ready to leave, he still wasn’t back.

We hit the safari again, and I can’t believe it, but my camera batteries died just as we were passing the hippos AGAIN. That and the time before with the hippos are the only times on the entire trip that I had to change the batteries in the camera. *sigh* We had a good driver that would slow enough for some good picture taking though, so that was great! Still no lions out though.

The upside down tree:

We decided to grab some Flametree BBQ before heading over to MGM for the afternoon. We were invaded by ducks, and I know people hate us, but we enjoy feeding them. For some reason we both really like ducks. It was pretty empty all around us, so hopefully we weren’t bothering anyone.

We had some photopass photos taken on our way out:

We went over to MGM and did quite a bit of our Christmas shopping. We rode ToT and enjoyed some ice cream and frozen lemonade. We also went back to the animation studio a few times. We couldn’t get enough of that place this time around! We went through the Narnia exhibit, and I have to say that was probably the biggest disappointment of the entire trip for me. We had to stand in line for WAY too long to see what little there was. I won’t be doing that again.

We had some photopass pictures taken along the way and before we knew it, it was time to head to DTD for dinner at Raglan Road.

After dinner, we had planned on meeting up with Dave and Molly, the couple we met at Beirgarten, at the Adventurers Club. We got to the club, and you literally could not move in there. I could barely hear anyone we were so far back, so we called Dave and told him that we were going to go back to the hotel. I’m sorry we missed our outing with them, but that would not have been enjoyable to me at all. Especially after the fun we had there on Thanksgiving night.

We hopped a bus back to Pop and rested up for our last day.

 

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Day 11: Shopping and Goodbye for now

We woke up on Saturday a little bummed because it was the last day of our vacation that we had been planning and looking forward to for so long. I tried my best not to think about it and just concentrate on soaking up all I could.

We started out the day in DTD doing more Christmas shopping. We decided that everyone was going to have a Disney Christmas this year. : Since we were leaving the next day, we couldn’t have everything sent back to Pop like we had been, and boy was it heavy! Goofy’s Candy Company was my favorite! What yummy creations they have in there!

Sorry about the glare in these, but I never could get a shot that totally satisfied me.

We grabbed lunch at Wolfgang’s, dropped our goodies back at Pop, and headed to MK for the rest of our final day.

I don’t have many pictures from that day, but we hit Space and Splash Mountains again. We wanted to ride Pirates, but didn’t want to wait 50 minutes, so we skipped it. I know I was getting pretty tired as we had been going non stop for 11 days, and I got grumpy with Stephan a couple times for wanting to stand in long lines when we couldn’t get a FP. Sorry hunny. It wasn’t very Disney like behavior on my part.

We also rode Winnie the Pooh and Peter Pan’s Flight. Neither of us had ever been on them for some strange reason, but I loved them! I love the Tigger part of Pooh. Flying over London was great too. I will definitely try to hit them every time now!

We still hadn’t been on Buzz, so that was our last stop. Wishes was going on while we were walking over there. I love Buzz even though I totally stink. Stephan always score a gazillion points.

Sadly, after that, we made our way back to Pop and started packing up to get ready for our long drive home the next day.