"You Can't Make Disney Your Permanent Residence." COMPLETE! 10/21 x 2

[dawnmichele]

So now we’re up to Wednesday, the fourth of December. It was our 6th day. We were all aware that for a lot of people that’s about the end of their trip and we were all feeling lucky/spoiled that we weren’t about to head home. I was probably even feeling a little guilty that I still had ten more days.

But! It was still kind of a mess of a day. I don’t know about you guys, but we always have one day around the middle of the trip where we just can’t seem to pull it together. Don’t get me wrong, any day at Disney is better than a day at home - it just wasn’t our best day.

We did manage to sleep in again. Danny offered to take his scooter to the Landscape of Flavors and fetch us breakfast, and Hannah offered to go along and help him carry it home. I stayed in the room to shower up and try to fix some FP+ issues we were having.

It was fun to eat breakfast in the room. The potatoes that morning were not so tasty, but the rest of it was yummy as usual. As we were finishing up we realized we would have to put a move on it to get to World of Disney before our coupons expired at 1pm.

I loved the Mickey made out of bubbles on the housekeeping wagons. We passed them every day, and this day I decided to snap a picture.

We took the long bus ride to DTD and got off by the shops. It was our first time there and we had a fun time taking it all in.

Me and my boyfriend!

We were pleasantly overwhelmed by World of Disney, but even with the coupon we didn’t find too much to buy. Danny got a green polo with a little Mickey he can wear to work. I got a wallet I’d been wanting. Hannah tried to buy a pair of pjs but couldn’t find them in her size.

It was brutally hot so we walked around outside a bit and then we would find a store to cool off in. I had wanted to see the Lego store and their displays for ages, and the fantastic AC in there didn’t bother me a bit.

Once Upon a Toy was full of good stuff and I thought about getting make your own Potato Heads for my baby nieces, but then realized they were still probably too baby to enjoy them.

I should have gotten this shirt:

I had seen it on my last trip, wanted it and talked myself out of buying it. For some silly reason when I found it again, I still didn’t buy it. I swear to Mickey if I see it again, it will become mine.

Outside, Hannah decided she needed an icee snack, and I managed to sneak a bite or two. It worked as a kind of appetizer because we all realized right then we were starving. We thought about eating at Earl of Sandwich but decided on Wolfgang Puck instead.

It was so nice to step inside that lovely, cool restaurant.

I had this delish pizza:

Danny and Hannah both had spaghetti with meatballs:

And after, Hannah and I split the creme brulee. It was fantastic. You can see the knife line where I started to split in in half before I remembered to take a picture.

It was all super yummy. We voted to try it again on a future trip. While we sat there, I called to check on our house and our dogs and then we headed out to walk around some more.

Danny and I found this spot for a Photopass picture. Being from a state that gets serious about winters it was trippy to see Christmas things and listen to Christmas music while we were wearing sunglasses and sweating and seeking shelter from the blazing sun. I could get used to it.

We headed over to the West Side.

We’re not big into shopping, so we mostly walked through that part of DTD until we found the bus stop, which was a little difficult with all the construction.

We weren’t sure which bus to take or how to get there. we asked a bus driver for his advice and ended up going back to AoA and catching a bus to the park there.

Everyone was hot and bored (it was a lot of travel time), but excited to spend the evening at Hollywood Studios!

Up Next: I don't think we're in Kansas anymore.

 

[dreamerchic33]

It's a way to help you get interesting composition in your photos. Imagine your image with two vertical lines and two horizontal lines separating the image into 9 little boxes. Where the lines intersect is where you want to put the subject of your photo. It's probably hard to imagine without seeing it, so here's a great link to tell you more than you probably want to know .

Good luck!

Thank you sooo much for your help!

 

[dreamerchic33]

great update! and again, amazing pictures!
we love wolfgang, too! xo

 

[dawnmichele]

Thank you sooo much for your help!

great update! and again, amazing pictures!
we love wolfgang, too! xo

Anytime!
And thanks again

 

[linbein]

It's Linette from the October group. Love your TR so far!!

 

[dawnmichele]

great update! and again, amazing pictures!
we love wolfgang, too! xo

Thanks so much! I really love showing you all my pictures and I'm so glad you like them.

We're going back soon and I would really love to try a breakfast pizza there!

 

[dawnmichele]

It's Linette from the October group. Love your TR so far!!

Hello Linette!
Thank you! And I'm so glad you came over

 

[dawnmichele]

When we go through back check, someone goes with Danny to take the backpack off the back of his scooter and open it for the guards. When we got to HS, Hannah handed me her wristlet to take through. I unzipped it for the guard of course, and when we met back up with her on the other side I handed it to her still unzipped. She didn’t realize it and walked away with it still open.

We rushing to Star Tours because we were about to miss our FP+ time when a kid came up to her with a piece of paper that had fallen out. Yikes. She was super freaked out about it, and when we got to a place in line that she could step to the side, she sat down and checked it all out. Nothing was missing, but it took her a while to stop being freaked out. Sometimes she freaks out way too easily (but if you tell her I said that she’ll get really mad at me).

So we took a Star Tour and our ship was taken over by Darth Vader. We escaped him and then almost got eaten by some crazy underwater creature! Eventually we were safe and all proud that we had helped fight the empire.

While Danny was finding and climbing into his scooter, I realized the lens cap had come off my Nikon when I stored it under my seat. I did not freak out and told a helpful CM what had happened. She asked us to just wait there in the hallway until the next trip to outerspace had returned and then she’d check for me. Sure enough there it was and my lens and its capped were happily reunited. Thank you friendly CM!

We checked out the dump shop and I looked at this Chewy hat I had thought about buying the year before.

Next we were off to take a trip back through the movies on the Great Movie Ride. For a lot of years we all skipped this ride, but in the last couple trips we’ve come to enjoy it again.

Busby Berkeley reminded me of the 2 years I spent in film school.

Hey, did you know Gene Kelly was sick in this scene?
So does everyone who ever rode this ride.

Did you also know he produced the movie Xanadu?
Did you know the movie Xanadu even existed?
Nevermind.

“When you’re with a sweep you’re in glad company.”

We had the gangster scene this time and it wasn’t nearly as good as the cowboy scene.

At that point we were all getting super hungry but every place we tried to eat was closed! Argh. I checked restaurant hours on my phone and we decided to try Pizza Planet, even though we had really bad memories from going there when Hannah was like 4. They were bad memories because all she wanted to do was play games and we a. didn’t want to give her money and 2. wanted out of that crazy place.

It went a lot more smoothly when the girl was 21, but it was the second time I had pizza in the same day. Wolfgang Puck’s was the easy winner.

Up Next: Sparkly lights!


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[dawnmichele]

After our food it was time for the Festival of the Osborne Lights!

Ready to see some pictures?

I had read so much about the cream cheese pretzels at Disney World. I like pretzels and I like cream cheese so I figured it would be perfect. So I got one from a cart there and… not so much. I didn’t really like it at all. I let Hannah try it and she liked it a lot so she finished it for me.

Look at the snoap!!

Here’s a big, wide panoramic from the middle of the street.

And you can click here for a video of the lights dancing to Barbra Streisand singing Jingle Bells.


Up Next: Like After A Dementor Attack

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[dawnmichele]

That morning I had heard that our beloved Sam Champion was leaving Good Morning America! How sad for us. Hannah and I had watched GMA before school every day for many years, and often called Sam “Gilderoy Lockheart” because that’s who he reminded me of when he started. And then as we exited the lights, we saw this billboard.

Way to rub it in, Disney.

I really was looking for a yummy treat. I thought the pretzel would be it, but I was wrong. Since we were right there, we checked out Writer’s Spot. We’ve had some tasty things from there before but that night nothing looked good.

Nothing looked good to eat I mean. Hannah started looking at the “Art of…” books about her favorite Disney movies. Since she’s a future animator (in school now) she was fascinated and wanted to look way longer than I did. I think Danny may have gotten something to drink there.
We headed toward Tower of Terror. My brother called and I was talking to him as we pushed through a big crowd at the intersection. H thought Danny got lost as we struggled our way through the crowd at the intersection of Hollywood and Sunset, and had a kind of freak out. Um, Danny’s a grown man, we all knew we were headed to Tower of Terror, and we all have cell phones. ?? She was just feeling all overwhelmed and ober tired (you know this happens to people of all ages), so I declared that what she needed was to sit down and eat some chocolate with me - just like after a dementor attack.

We went into Sweet Spells because that was the closest thing. I bought a cupcake that didn’t look so great, and Hannah decided on her tried and true Hershey bar. We sat on a bench along Sunset Blvd and watched Disney happen.

This family really loves Toy Story.

I took a park bench video. Want to see?
I knew you would - so I put it right here!

After a bit of a rest, we got back on the road to my favorite ride.

One of the CMs on our ride was Elizabeth, and she was so excellently creepy that later that night we had to stop in to Guest Services and compliment her. The CM who we talked to told us he knew her personally and she had dreamed of working there since she was a kid. So she applied to the DCP and got it has worked there since. Go Elizabeth.

My notes say I have fun ride photos, but I can’t find them. Maybe they’ll show up later or I’ll find them where they don’t belong. If I do I’ll show you, otherwise just imagine super fun Tower of Terror photo here.

On the way out of the park, we wandered through some stores.

You know I made us stop for a Photopass on the way out.

Our freezing cold bus showed up quickly, and we were home and in bed at a decent hour.

Next Up: Friendship Day Brunch


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[sue_88]

I love the mom intervention of chocolate and refocus! I believe that is an important and useful tactic for many situations and was used well here!!
You hadn't been to down town Disney? Looks like you enjoyed it! Please note that the lego serpent/dragon that you photographed is named "Brickley".
You took some wonderful photos! Fireworks and also the dancing lights are beautiful. I have only stayed late enough to see the lights once but I'm glad I experienced it in all its splendor.
I'm quite glad that you have ten days left to go of this report! I really do enjoy your writing and Disney love.
Is this one David Tennant?

 

[dawnmichele]

I love the mom intervention of chocolate and refocus! I believe that is an important and useful tactic for many situations and was used well here!!

Thank you! It seems to be a perfect solution to so many problems not just for all but for most humans.

You hadn't been to down town Disney? Looks like you enjoyed it! Please note that the lego serpent/dragon that you photographed is named "Brickley".

Nope. I have a problem where if I'm near a park, I have to be in it! It's hard for me to stay out of them long enough to check out resorts or mini golf or even Downtown Disney. But we liked it so much, and I have been enough now that I'm can drag myself away from the parks sometime so we will definitely be back on our next trip. In fact we're staying at Port Orleans Riverside where we can take a boat to DTD so that's something we're looking forward to.

And I am glad to know Brickley's name! I had seen him so many times, it was so fun to see him myself!

You took some wonderful photos! Fireworks and also the dancing lights are beautiful. I have only stayed late enough to see the lights once but I'm glad I experienced it in all its splendor.

I'm quite glad that you have ten days left to go of this report! I really do enjoy your writing and Disney love.[/COLOR][/SIZE]

Thanks again so much. There are so many more stories and photos!

Is this one David Tennant? [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

If it's not, it should be!!

 

[dawnmichele]

This is in my notes.
I have no idea what it is about:

Only on the Texans please vixen now only the Texans please
Allie on the vixen all

It’s possible I tried to use the Google voice recognition thing and it failed, but either way.
Weird!

This was Thursday, Day 7, December 5th, 2013.

We woke up early, and I left while Danny and Hannah were still getting ready because it was the day I had to officially “check out” of my room and then check back in. (There was some weird thing where we could not get one reservation for our whole stay, but could the right days if we split the reservation? Whatever.) That took kind of forever and when I was finished we were all more than ready to head out for the Magic Kingdom because we had big breakfast plans.

I didn’t keep track but it seemed like we had a pretty long wait. Hannah was hungry and distressed.

Oh, looks like it was a combination of staying up early and getting seated just a little late.

Lucky for us, they were celebrating friendship day when we were there.

My first plate was some of Pooh’s french toast and a little fruit. Definitely loved the french toast. Yum!

Eeyore came by and visited with Danny a bit. I think Eeyore is Danny’s favorite.

I got a nice big Pooh hug.

I think this was my second plate; breakfast pizza, potatoes, biscuit and gravy, and scrambled eggs.

Disney Parks napkin! Remember when that was the huge controversy on the disboards?

Piglet, me and Danny

Tigger is always so fun and loveable. It’s just who he is.

While D & H were still finishing up, I had to get some pictures of the characters made out of flowers. I LOVED this.

The skylight was pretty good too.

Here’s our brunch aftermath.

Breakfast was delicious, and D & H both said they liked it better than Tusker House. The service was fine and the characters were fantastic. An all around win for all of us.

Up Next: The Wildest Ride in the Wilderness!

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[dreamerchic33]

great updates!! I think we will most def add in crystal palace to our trip! looks delish!!

 

[dawnmichele]

great updates!! I think we will most def add in crystal palace to our trip! looks delish!!

Thanks!
It's that Pooh french toast!
Plus I think the restaurant is so pretty.

 

[dawnmichele]

We had a FP+ for Big Thunder, the wildest ride in the wilderness. It was fantastic as always and this time, I took a bunch of pictures (because I love this ride so much)!

Here’s what the mine train was looking like at the beginning of December:

We all headed to Space Mountain. The line was long but Hannah still wanted to ride. Danny and I decided to skip it and thought we’d try out the teacups instead.

We found the White Rabbit hanging around the ride when we were done and I went up to say hi.

After that we headed to our meet up spot to wait for Hannah, and then we headed out to our third park in one day!

Up Next: Our 3rd park in one day!


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[dawnmichele]

Where were we headed? The Animal Kingdom.

We stopped just after we got inside. I think Hannah was a little tired.

We were in need of a Mickey Bar to share.

I enjoyed the theming as I headed toward the back of Africa.

20 minute standby for the Safari? Ok.

It was hot in line.

As we were in line we saw (and heard) our first Brazilian Tour Group. Wow, that’s a lot of people.

This is where we leave the scooter.

These guys are checking us out.

What happened to everything after the Giraffes? I have no idea. It's a giant mystery.

Our driver was pretty lame, but the safari was still pretty good. I really noticed on this trip how the quality of your guide on things like this and The Great Movie Ride can really made a difference!

Up Next: More animals actually.

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[Kizment]

I agree about the scooter, I was able to move around easily, even if wheelchair bound for our last trip. The CMs were very helpful and understanding.

 

[dawnmichele]

I agree about the scooter, I was able to move around easily, even if wheelchair bound for our last trip. The CMs were very helpful and understanding.

You know the thing is, if you have mobility issues, a huge percentage of vacation options are automatically out. It's so great that Disney makes vacationing there such a great option for people who are limited in that way.

I know a lot of people like to complain about scooters there, and I'm sure there is scooter abuse that goes on, but the freedom they give people who need them such an incredible treat (and very fun to watch).

I'm glad you had a good time!

 

[dawnmichele]

As we left the Safari we decided to walk right over to the Pangani Forest trail, but we decided to make it short and skip through a bunch of it.

We did stop to see the hippo underwater because that’s just always cool.

And then we found the gorillas. Usually I have a hard time looking at gorillas in captivity, because they just seem way too smart to belong there. But they seem so well taken care of at Disney I enjoy getting a look at them not seeming miserable at all.

There must have been bugs or some kind of treat inside of this big stick. This guy was seriously devoted to it.

This guy was carrying around their empty food "dish" for a while. I don't know if he wanted more food or if he was just being goofy.

This one was starting to seemed annoyed by me, and since D & H were way past ready to leave, we headed out of the trail.

We were all thinking about food about that time. In fact, we were super hungry. Pizzafari was the closest thing so Danny and I decided to go there, but H hates Disney pizza so she went to Flame Tree and we decided to meet her there.

There was the tail end of a crazy loud tour group taking up most of the restaurant. Man, they were loud, and apparently had very different ideals of social norms. Which is fine and what makes the world go around, but I was wishing we had stumbled into a crowd of people whose social norm was to be very, very quiet and reserved instead. I do have to say though it wasn’t nearly as bad as angry dads yelling at their kids or some ugly meltdowns I have seen though.

We finished up and headed out to meet our kid - and walked right into the parade! We ran into parades so often on this trip! We waited for it to pass and then followed it in the crushing crowd over to Flame Tree.

I wanted to check for Dug before we left. He was out and we got in line, but he left for some kind of squirrel chasing break, so we decided to just head on out for our 3rd park of the day.

Up Next: Wrapping it up at Epcot