Winter Coats and Knit Hats at Disney? Is This the Twilight Zone? A Jan 18 TR Updated 9/11 & 9/13!

[BlvInMagic]

That sounds like a very productive Epcot day And you guys definitely scored some great merch...those little change purse key rings are adorable! I loved seeing the concept art for the gondola's; can't wait for that to be a reality!

 

[cinderaimee]

Fun Epcot day! That tea is so cute, too bad you had to return it. Your pictures with Pluto are super cute!

 

[rteetz]

Looks like a nice Epcot day! It is has been a while since I have been to Via Napoli. I believe I will be back there in January.

Shopping in World Showcase is always fun since you can find so many different things like those cats.

 

[missjackiemcg]

I must have been too busy talking because I didn’t take any line pictures like I usually do. You can probably tell by the photo that Rob was not the biggest fan of TOT but he took one for the team and rode with us.

We were having too much fun chatting!

Yea, poor Rob!! I was proud of him for going on it again--he hadn't tried it since our Honeymoon. My guess he isn't going on it again anytime soon!

She’s much better at those than I am!

Selfies are my thing!! I was forced to get good at it because Rob is terrible even though he has the long arms to do it!!

Thanks for meeting up with us Jackie! I had a really fun time and I hope we can do it again someday.

I'm so glad we got to hang out a bit!! I'd love to be able to do it again!!

And the devil horns are out!!!

 

[Pluto0809]

Sounds like a good evening! Your dinner at Via Napoli looks delicious..I still need to go there!

That's a lot of kittens! So funny that he couldn't decide!

Those change purses are so cute, I've never seen them before.

Yes, you do need to give Via Napoli a try! The pizza there is delicious.

I think that might have been the only trip I saw those little change purses. I think they were gone in February. It's amazing how fast some of the merchandise sells.

That sounds like a very productive Epcot day And you guys definitely scored some great merch...those little change purse key rings are adorable! I loved seeing the concept art for the gondola's; can't wait for that to be a reality!

We did get a lot done at Epcot that day despite it being crowded. I'm excited to try out the Gondolas too. I'm sure they will make staying at POP Century more appealing to me since I usually stay at the values.

Fun Epcot day! That tea is so cute, too bad you had to return it. Your pictures with Pluto are super cute!

I was bummed that we had to return the tea since I thought it would be a great gift for his Mom. We did end up finding her a sweatshirt later in the trip.

Looks like a nice Epcot day! It is has been a while since I have been to Via Napoli. I believe I will be back there in January.

Shopping in World Showcase is always fun since you can find so many different things like those cats.

I saw that there was going to be a huge DIS meet/lunch at Via Napoli. I'm definitely wishing I was coming back again for marathon weekend next year, it was so much fun this year.

My problem is I find too much to buy around WS!

We were having too much fun chatting!
Yea, poor Rob!! I was proud of him for going on it again--he hadn't tried it since our Honeymoon. My guess he isn't going on it again anytime soon!
Selfies are my thing!! I was forced to get good at it because Rob is terrible even though he has the long arms to do it!!
I'm so glad we got to hang out a bit!! I'd love to be able to do it again!!
And the devil horns are out!!!

Yes we were having a lot of fun!

I'm glad Rob rode with us so we could share the ride together. Jim feels that way about RnRC and I doubt I will ever get him on it again. Granted, I don't ride that one much myself since it give me a headache anymore.

I do hope we get a chance to be at WDW at the same time again. With as often as we both go, I'm sure it will happen eventually.

The Devil Horns were kind of scarce this trip for some reason.

 

[Pluto0809]

Is This Whole Ride Just a Line?

We were up really early on Saturday, January 6th because I wanted to get to AK for 7 am EMH. We got to the bus stop at 6:15 am but unfortunately a bus did not show up until 6:40 am.

I wanted to ride Flights of Passage more than once because I had heard it was a great ride. I did have a FP for it later that afternoon so if we didn’t make it during EMH it would be fine. When we finally made it to Pandora, the line was all the way back to the bridge to Africa but I decided to wait any ways. I figured this would be the shortest standby we would see all day plus it would go faster because there wouldn’t be any FP people. I took this first picture at 7:30 am after we had been in line for a little bit.



This was my first glimpse of Pandora and seeing it as the sun was rising was just beautiful. The floating mountains are just awe inspiring. Disney really knocked this one out of the ball park.

I passed the time in line taking pictures while listening to Jim complain about the long line.













Eventually we made it to the actual outdoor part of the line.













Then we started through the indoor rooms. It was during this time that Jim was convinced walking though the line was all the ride was. I knew better of course but just let him rant a bit and continued to take pictures.







This blue cave was very pretty.





We made it to the final room which is the Lab.



The Avatar was extremely impressive. It’s hard to tell from the pictures but it is massive, at least twice as tall as the average human.





I spent a long time looking for hidden Mickey’s but never did have any luck. I’m not sure if there even are any in Pandora.





We made it into the first pre-show area 55 minutes after getting in line. The first room is where they “decontaminate” you and match you with your own Avatar.







After that, I put my camera away and just enjoyed the experience. We were in this first room for a really long time, they kept having to “recalibrate” the equipment. This hasn’t happened to me again so I think something must have been up with the ride and they had to hold us in that room longer than expected.

Finally we entered a second pre-show room where we got a bit of a history of the Banshee project and also instructions on how to board the ride vehicle.

Then we entered the actual ride chamber and got on our vehicles. They are somewhat like motorcycles and you board them from the rear. Then a back restraint and leg restraints come up. You hold onto handles in front of you. You also wear glasses which I had some trouble with. They kept wanting to fall off so I had to hold them the whole time. I’ve read though that they’ve recently changed them so they fit better now.

The premise of the ride is that you are riding a banshee through Pandora. All of got to say about the ride is WOW!! It was amazing and I loved every minute of it. Jim also loved it and declared it his new favorite ride ever. He said it was the closest thing he’s seen to a Star Trek Holodeck (yes we are sci fi nerds). He even admitted that waiting 55 minutes for the ride was worthwhile. I was really glad we decided to wait so that we could get two rides in. I will say that the ride made me a tiny be nauseous but I figured out right away which part of the movie got to me and in subsequent rides I’ve been able to focus on one area of the screen during that time and combat the motion sickness.

Jim wanted to explore the dump shop a bit but I told him we would come back later. We walked over to Na’vi River Journey but the wait time was already over an hour. I knew that Jim would not tolerate another long line plus I was pretty sure the ride wasn’t worth that long of a wait. So instead, we got some PP pictures then headed out of Pandora for the time being.





You will notice there I have on a heavier coat than the previous days. It wasn’t really colder that day but I was just tired of being cold so I added another layer to the mix. I was really glad I did, this was the first day I wasn’t uncomfortably cold for the whole day.

Up Next: Traveling Through Time

 

[missangelalexis]

Great Pandora pics! I'm glad you both enjoyed your first time on FoP- well worth an hour wait!

 

[dizneefan13]

Your Pandora pics are beautiful! Looking forward to your next chapter. Your AK day sounds great so far!

 

[PointerPower]

Great summary! Looking forward to seeing it next year!

 

[rteetz]

Great recap of Pandora! Pandora first thing in the morning is just awesome. The sun rise hitting those mountains makes for fabulous pictures. I rope drop once a trip now.

 

[Tracy161]

It was during this time that Jim was convinced walking though the line was all the ride was.

Even if it was, the line is really impressive, right?

It’s hard to tell from the pictures but it is massive

Right?! I was shocked when I saw this for the first time. I hadn't expected it!

He even admitted that waiting 55 minutes for the ride was worthwhile.

I'm so glad to hear that! It really is worth every minute of waiting

 

[sheri18]

Hi just joined in...great report..congrats on the 5k. We are going January 2019... I hope we don't get the cold like you had...we are from Boston so use to cold...but not on vacation.

 

[SweetSerenity]

Hi, I just found your report!

Her bags are awesome! She is a fantastic seamstress!

 

[Pluto0809]

Great Pandora pics! I'm glad you both enjoyed your first time on FoP- well worth an hour wait!

Thanks! That ride is definitely worth the long wait.

Your Pandora pics are beautiful! Looking forward to your next chapter. Your AK day sounds great so far!

Thanks, it's a really fun area to photograph.

Great summary! Looking forward to seeing it next year!

Pandora is definitely worth a visit! I was skeptical since it's not really a "Disney-like" movie but they really did knock this one out of the park.

Great recap of Pandora! Pandora first thing in the morning is just awesome. The sun rise hitting those mountains makes for fabulous pictures. I rope drop once a trip now.

I'm hoping to rope drop it next week but of course Disney had to move the opening time from 8 am to 7 am the morning I'm going. Got to keep telling myself there's no sleeping at Disney!

Even if it was, the line is really impressive, right?
Right?! I was shocked when I saw this for the first time. I hadn't expected it!
I'm so glad to hear that! It really is worth every minute of waiting

Yes, the line is pretty awesome in itself! I'm really glad we took the time to walk through it as I'll probably just FP this one for a while now.

Pictures just don't do that Avatar justice. I should have known since they are so big in the movie but pictures just made it look smaller.

Hi just joined in...great report..congrats on the 5k. We are going January 2019... I hope we don't get the cold like you had...we are from Boston so use to cold...but not on vacation.

And it's weird how the cold in FL feels so much colder than "up north" cold. I've got friends from Minnesota who have confirmed that to me. I think it has something to do with the humidity in FL. January really is a crap shoot when it comes to weather. This trip was freezing but I've been there in January when it was in the 80s.

Hi, I just found your report!

Her bags are awesome! She is a fantastic seamstress!

Welcome! Glad you are following along. And yes, D~ is an amazing seamstress. I have one bag that has probably made the trip to Disney 5 or 6 times and it still looks great.

 

[Pluto0809]

Traveling Through Time

We didn’t have a FP for Dinosaur and since we both love the ride, we headed there next. The rest of the park was pretty much empty so Dinosaur was a walk on.

I swear Jim loves this ride despite looking more scared than the kids in front of us. Me, I was ready to rock out with the Dinosaurs.





After Dinosaur I was still feeling slightly nauseous and we had a few minutes before the next time traveling activity I had planned. Eating almost always helps so I stopped and got a Mickey pretzel.



Then we went to visit a blast from the past, Pocahontas. Once again, we got in line about 10 minutes before her first set and we were third in line at that time.





Jim insisted on a solo picture with all the princesses.



By the time we exited her meet and greet the line looked to be about 45 minutes. It definitely pays to get in line early!

Not sure how this next thing happened but we somehow stumbled into the next showing of It’s Tough to be a Bug. We probably just wanted to get out of the cold for a few minutes. Not really my favorite show but I end up seeing it every few trips because it’s a good time filler.





When we exited the show along with the masses of traumatized kids, we noticed that there was no line at all for Russell. I’m still bummed that Dug no longer meets but Jim wanted an autograph so we stopped.





Next meet and greet was Timon. He was new to Jim, and who are we kidding, if the character line is short, Jim is going to get in it. He loves meet and greets! Timon loved my Lion King bag.





We continued on into Africa and I spotted a photographer at an unusual spot so we stopped.







The time stamp on those photos is 10:45 am and my next pictures are of our Tusker House Rivers of Light Package lunch which was at 11:30 am. I have no idea what we did for the next 30 minutes or so before we checked in. I’m going to guess we looked in the stores right there.

Any ways, we did end up at Tusker House and were seated right away. I was absolutely thrilled when I went up to the buffet and discovered that they still had some breakfast foods out. Nothing like surprise Mickey waffles!!



I also got a second plate with some of the lunch items (mostly from the kids area of course).



And here’s Jim’s first plate. Definitely a lot more adventurous than mine.



The food was really good, I love the mac and cheese here. It’s a bit different than some of the other Disney restaurants but it’s still yummy. The characters all made their rounds.



Whoops, Jim wasn’t quite up to snuff using my camera.





Looks like he figured it out in time for Donald.







In between the characters we both got more food and Jim also got a few of the desserts. The only thing on the dessert buffet that I like is the chocolate chip cookies. I was either too full or just didn’t bother to photograph them.







While I enjoy Tusker House and don’t mind eating there every so often, Jim declared it his second favorite restaurant after Biergarten so I guess I may have to go when he comes with me. He loved the African flavors.

I’ve also come to the conclusion over the last few trips that I’m not the biggest fan of Character meals, especially the ones that are buffets. I find it stressful to worry about trying to eat and make sure not to miss the characters. I’d much rather relax and enjoy my food during a sit down meal. Of course, I’ll probably keep booking them because it’s a really good way to get multiple character greets in. And as a matter of fact, I have one booked for next week!

After lunch, we had some time to kill before our first FP for the Safari at 2:15 so we went to see my favorite Monkeys in the 1 pm Lion King show. We got there kind of last minute so we were seated in the upper rows of the Elephant section.



Our view was fine but not good at all for photos so I put my camera away and just enjoyed.

We still had some time after the show so I dragged Jim down the Gorilla Falls trail. He is not a fan of looking at animals. We moved through pretty quickly but I was able to get a couple of awesome animal butt pictures.

Hippo Butt.



Gorilla Butt.



Yep, that was the only two pictures I took on the whole trail. Great photography and reporting there, huh?

Up Next: Torturing Jim With More Animal Viewing

 

[missangelalexis]

You got in a bunch of great character meets! I completely forgot that Pocahontas meets in that area still.

Cute pics from lunch! I've always enjoyed my meals at Tusker House, but I know what you mean about character meals feeling stressful!

 

[dizneefan13]

I like all your character photos. We don't do a lot of meets but I like seeing other people pictures.
Jim's face on Dinosaur is so funny. Combination of fright and surprise. LOL
I agree about character meals. I would rather just have table service and take my time enjoying the food. Most of the time it ain't cheap!
I'm actually OK with a lot of QS meals and like to eat just a little at a time so I have room for extra treats during the day.

 

[ljcrochet]

And it's weird how the cold in FL feels so much colder than "up north" cold. I've got friends from Minnesota who have confirmed that to me. I think it has something to do with the humidity in FL. January really is a crap shoot when it comes to weather. This trip was freezing but I've been there in January when it was in the 80s.

Florida weather can be so crazy. I remember one trip when my girls were little. It was March and it was record cold and record high during the 3 or 4 days we were there

I’ve also come to the conclusion over the last few trips that I’m not the biggest fan of Character meals, especially the ones that are buffets. I find it stressful to worry about trying to eat and make sure not to miss the characters. I’d much rather relax and enjoy my food during a sit down meal. Of course, I’ll probably keep booking them because it’s a really good way to get multiple character greets in. And as a matter of fact, I have one booked for next week!

I love Ohana breakfast and Garden Grill for that reason. Get Characters but they bring the food to you. I'm trying to convince my BIL we should do Garden Grill but he only wants to do Magic Kingdom and Hollywood studios. Thinks other 2 parks won't be good for his 2 1/2 year old twins and his 4 1/2 year old.
My DH keeps on reminding me that we are moving under 4 hours from WDW so we can go more often.

 

[Pluto0809]

You got in a bunch of great character meets! I completely forgot that Pocahontas meets in that area still.

Cute pics from lunch! I've always enjoyed my meals at Tusker House, but I know what you mean about character meals feeling stressful!

Pocahontas is kind of hidden down that path across from Flame Tree so it's easy to miss her. I'm surprised how long her line had gotten after we were done.

Yeah, I have a love/hate relationship with the buffet style Character meals. Hopefully my Garden Grill one in a few days won't be so bad since it's family style.

I like all your character photos. We don't do a lot of meets but I like seeing other people pictures.
Jim's face on Dinosaur is so funny. Combination of fright and surprise. LOL
I agree about character meals. I would rather just have table service and take my time enjoying the food. Most of the time it ain't cheap!
I'm actually OK with a lot of QS meals and like to eat just a little at a time so I have room for extra treats during the day.

I never used to do a lot of meets because I'm an introvert and talking to the characters stressed me out. But I've learned that they always have something to talk about and I just follow along with their lead.

Jim always cracks me up with his ride photos. He's been on Dinosaur many times yet still looks so scared. We've even seen the ride with the lights on because we got evac'ed one time when the ride broke down.

I enjoy the sit down meals for a break. I especially like them when I'm solo because finding a seat at the QS can be dicey when I'm by myself.

Florida weather can be so crazy. I remember one trip when my girls were little. It was March and it was record cold and record high during the 3 or 4 days we were there
I love Ohana breakfast and Garden Grill for that reason. Get Characters but they bring the food to you. I'm trying to convince my BIL we should do Garden Grill but he only wants to do Magic Kingdom and Hollywood studios. Thinks other 2 parks won't be good for his 2 1/2 year old twins and his 4 1/2 year old.
My DH keeps on reminding me that we are moving under 4 hours from WDW so we can go more often.

Yeah, Florida weather can be crazy. I was hoping for some kind of crazy cool weather this week but no luck, I'm getting the usual hot, humid, afternoon thunderstorms August weather.

Yes, I definitely like O'hana and Garden Grill better than buffet style ones. I'm doing Garden Grill on Friday.

So jealous that you will be that close to WDW! I plan on retiring down there and maybe getting a part time job as a CM but that's a long way off yet.

 

[Pluto0809]

Torturing Jim with More Animal Viewings

After we finished up the Gorilla Falls trail, it was time for our Safari FP. I will say Jim does enjoy this a fraction more than the trails mainly because there is not a lot of stopping to watch the animals. I don’t have anything other than “Safari” written in my notes so obviously nothing out of the ordinary happened. My memory doesn’t quite stretch back six months so I’ll just let the photos do the talking.





I do know that this was before the baby hippo was born so I wasn’t on the lookout for him that day.



















Stella! (Did anyone else read that in Elaine’s (Seinfeld) voice?)





Man I was rocking the animal butt pictures this trip.











After the Safari, it was time to head back to Pandora for our FOP FP. We were early so we stopped for a few PP pictures.







I also took a few more pictures of my own.







Despite the cold, we stopped at Pongu Pongu because I wanted to try out the Mo’ara Margarita (Sauza Conmemorativo Añejo Tequila with Strawberry and Blood Orange flavors topped with Strawberry Boba Balls).



I ended up not liking this as much as I thought I would. I prefer sweet drinks and for me, the Blood Orange was a bit overpowering and made it a little too tart. I drank it of course but probably won’t get it again.

We then used our FPs for FOP and I made it through without any nausea that time. We enjoyed the ride even more the second time. The first time was a bit overwhelming so knowing what to expect helped with the enjoyment of the ride. I always like to see how things work so I also took a second to look to the left and right to see the other riders in our theater.

We made our way back out of Pandora and over to the other side of the park for our Expedition Everest FP which was definitely needed.



It’s funny, despite the huge standby lines for a lot of the rides on this day, the park itself didn’t feel very crowded.

We faced the Yeti and survived. Our ride picture cracks me up. Compared to the people in front of us, Jim and I just appear to be phoning in our excitement.



There was only one more thing I wanted to do before Rivers of Light at 6:30 and that involved further Jim torturing! I wanted to see if the baby tigers were out so we headed to the Maharajah jungle trail.



For the most part, we moved quickly through the trail to appease Jim but I did make him stop for a minute at these monkeys (apes?). They were new on the trail and I hadn’t seen them before. I didn’t take a picture of the sign so at this point I have no idea what they were.





We moved on to the tiger enclosure and the babies were out! They were curled up in a corner sleeping.



Mom was nearby keeping watch.



After a bit, they did wake up and we got to see their cute faces.





I could have stood there all day and watched them but Jim was soon over it so we moved on. I didn’t take any more pictures so I’m guessing he dragged me out of there.

Up Next: Pin Hunting and Rivers of Light