"You Look Like a Beached Jellyfish." An August 2017 TR! Finished 3/22

[DisneyMandC]

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Magic Kingdom

Exactly how I feel about it!

Totally a cute couple

Thanks for including your picture !!

Thanks!

 

[chs27]

or impressive, but what I do love about it is being near people who have never done it before- ESPECIALLY when you feel the "bug" crawl up under your leg! DH and I always laugh hysterically

That sounds just like me! People crack me up
The only part of Asia I don't like is Kali River Rapids. I honestly thought this ride was laughably bad when we rode it
My son and I rode his when he was 5. He thought it easy awesome, but when we revisited when he was 11, not so impressive.

 

[DisneyMandC]

That sounds just like me! People crack me up
The only part of Asia I don't like is Kali River Rapids. I honestly thought this ride was laughably bad when we rode it
My son and I rode his when he was 5. He thought it easy awesome, but when we revisited when he was 11, not so impressive.

100% AGREE!! I mean seriously, why is that ride soooo bad? I was so completely underwhelmed by it when we rode it in 2015- not to mention I got completely drenched head to toe. There was nothing to it... We aren't far from Busch Gardens and the Roman Rapids ride there is way better. Disney really missed the boat on this one somehow.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Day Two: We Accomplish A Lot!

After a potty break with Rapunzel, we made our way to one of my favorite classic WDW rides- Haunted Mansion! Ugh, guys I just love this ride so much. Like, when I’m sad and missing Disney World, I listen to the audio and the music from the ride on Youtube. I’ve just loved this ride ever since I was little. It’s so fun!

There was literally zero wait for this. We blew through the line and were the first ones at the door waiting to go in and meet our ghost host.



We tried to remember in the stretching room if WDW was the one where the ceiling moved up, or if it was actually the elevator? I know one of them you are actually moving to a different floor, but I couldn’t remember if it was here or DL. Sadly, we did not get to ride Haunted Mansion in DL because they were removing Christmas decorations when we went so it was closed L

Anyways, we had a fantastic ride as usual and were soon out of our doom buggy on our way to the next thing.



Big Thunder Mountain Railroad! We hopped over to Frontierland as this was a very short wait as well, maybe 10 minutes. And we were conveniently placed in the front row!



Guys, we were straight up cruising through rides! 3 rides before 10:00 am! After BTMR, it was officially time for our SDMT Fastpass, so we headed back over to Fantasyland for that. Yes, we’re not the best at planning efficient walking routes, but we were getting some really short lines by hopping around!





I think the standby line was already at about 50 minutes at this point, so I was thankful we made a FP. We breezed in quickly. I enjoy this fun little coaster, but I do have to agree with the reviews that it is really short. That being said, I do love the actual mine portion! How can you get in there and not sing along to Heigh Ho?! I also love seeing Snow White dance with the dwarves at the end. Really cute ride.

Afterwards, we hit a little bit more in Fantasyland.



We both LOVE The Little Mermaid ride. I think it’s vastly underrated. There’s hardly ever a wait and it’s so fun. We rode it several times on our last trip because we enjoyed it so much.

We also took a trip over to see everyone’s favorite villain.



Ok, guys, I have a terrible confession right here. I have NEVER been in Gaston’s Tavern! I KNOW. And if I’m being totally honest, I was standing right here at it and STILL didn’t think to go in and it wasn’t until we got home from the trip that I realized I still hadn’t eaten anything there! So this is now a MUST for the next trip.

We were getting a little hungry at this point, but it was only about 10:45 so we still had a couple more minutes before counter service lunch places opened up. Yes, seriously, it was only 10:45 and we had ridden Peter Pan, Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder Mountain, Seven Dwarves Mine Train, and Little Mermaid! Guys, what happened to this whole “Disney World is so crowded in August?!” When I think back to how I almost actually didn’t book this trip because I was so worried about how crowded it would be, I just laugh.

To kill a little more time, we decided to hop on it’s a small world. Again, maybe 10 minutes in line and we were on our way on the happiest cruise that ever sailed!



The clock struck 11 while we were in line, but I wasn’t an angle to get a good picture of the front of the clock.

After getting off our boat at about 11:10, we were now fully prepared for lunch. We hadn’t been real sure what we wanted for a counter service option, but we decided to go with Columbia Harbor House. The only time we’ve ever eaten here is on the KTTK tour. I wasn’t super impressed then, but basically the only options they gave us were all super fried things, so that may have been why. I read some good reviews online, and that lobster roll looked particularly tasty, so we went with that.

Originally we discussed splitting this meal since our Be Our Guest dinner was at 4:00, but we were both super hungry and DH isn’t big on lobster, so individual meals it was.

DH decided on the Land and Sea Trio ($13.99) and I went with the Lobster Roll ($14.99). We both got drinks as well ($3.29 each). As I was standing and waiting for our order, one of the CMs wished me a happy birthday when he saw my birthday pin. I thanked him and turned to say something to DH when I heard a bell ring SUPER loud and about jumped out of my skin! Next thing I knew all the CMs were singing happy birthday to me! It was super sweet, but I was totally caught off guard and embarrassed! The CM was so nice though, and snuck me in an extra little birthday treat.



We both thought our meals were excellent. I didn’t think there was much room for error in DH’s fried meal, but my lobster roll was really good, and I really liked the housemade chips. Very impressed with this quick service and we’ll definitely be back in the future!

After our meal, we didn’t really want to hop on anything turbulent yet, so we decided to go for a nice and easy (albeit bouncy!) ride- Winnie the Pooh!

The standby for this line was about 40 minutes when we got in it, and we probably waited about 30 minutes, but we didn’t really mind. It was a good rest after bouncing around in the morning and lunch. Plus we got to check out the interactive portions of the line, which I must say are phenomenal for kids.



This is such a great idea and something I’m honestly surprised Disney didn’t come up with sooner!

After a trip through the hundred acre wood, we headed towards a part of the park we hadn’t hit yet- Tomorrowland!

​

 

[Reflections of Earth]

Following along! First of all, Russell is adorable.
Glad both of you had a great time in AK, even when the rain came. Also, your review of FOP is perfect. I have ridden it twice as well, and still can't find the words to describe how incredible it is. On the other hand, we waited close to an hour and a half for River Journey and were not impressed. As you said, 20 minutes is a good amount of time to wait for the ride.
Haunted Mansion is my absolute favorite, and I listen to the audio/music from the ride on Youtube more often than I'd like to admit. Happy that your MK day is going so well, can't wait to read more!

 

[DisneyMandC]

Following along! First of all, Russell is adorable.
Glad both of you had a great time in AK, even when the rain came. Also, your review of FOP is perfect. I have ridden it twice as well, and still can't find the words to describe how incredible it is. On the other hand, we waited close to an hour and a half for River Journey and were not impressed. As you said, 20 minutes is a good amount of time to wait for the ride.
Haunted Mansion is my absolute favorite, and I listen to the audio/music from the ride on Youtube more often than I'd like to admit. Happy that your MK day is going so well, can't wait to read more!

Thank you for following along! Yes, Russell is our little cutie pie He's a mess but he's hilarious!

Ugh, FOP... I could ride it over and over! Yeah River Journey was probably a one time thing... I mean, we're going to take our families in 2019 (fingers crossed), but I'm definitely not allowing us to wait for that!

I'm embarrassed by how much Disney music and walk throughs I listen to on Youtube... Haunted Mansion, MK entrance music, Happily Ever After... It's just really nice background music while I'm working and makes me feel like I'm there!

 

[westcoastfldisneygirl]

No wait time for Haunted Mansion??? That is awesome!

That birthday treat was so nice, and looks yummy! (and Happy Belated birthday!)

 

[DisneyMandC]

No wait time for Haunted Mansion??? That is awesome!

That birthday treat was so nice, and looks yummy! (and Happy Belated birthday!)

Thank you! Yes, it was crazy! I was actually a little sad because I couldn't play in the interactive line haha.

 

[suse66]

Loving your report!

This ride surpassed INCREDIBLE. I don't even know how to describe it because words literally do not do it justice. I know that I was just open-mouthed and totally mesmerized throughout the entire ride (which was fairly long to be honest). The ride was just SO immersive, it was amazing. I've seen people compare it to Soarin', and while the format is similar, the setup here is completely different. You really feel like you are a part of this ride. I hesitate to say this (because of how much I love Space Mountain), but guys... I think FOP might be my favorite ride in all of Disney World. It really was that good.

I felt exactly the same way about FoP. I had never cried on a ride, anywhere, nor expected to until FoP. The sheer awe and sense of joy I felt was so overwhelming. You're so right, it's like everything happening is happening to you. So, so amazing!

Of course, after stuffing our faces, it was time for dessert. I was full to bursting, but I would persevere in the name of dessert! I chose the fried wontons ($8.99) which I also had last time we ate here. DH chose the pineapple upside down cake ($8.99). I didn’t try any of DH’s cake, but he said it was really good. I would have really liked to try the chocolate pudding cake, but it came with raspberry sauce and I have a raspberry allergy. It’s not bad, but I didn’t feel like itching the rest of the night, so I passed.

Those fried wontons are one of the best Disney desserts ever! It doesn't matter how full I am, if I am at Yak and Yeti, I have to have them.

Both of us were sopping wet, including our shoes being filled with water. I had pulled my arms inside my poncho in order to hold on to our bookbag, and was having some trouble wriggling my way out. I managed to get partially out, but my arms and head were still trapped inside with the clear poncho pulled up over my head, dripping water all over me. That’s when DH looked at me and said, yup, you guess it…

“You look like a beached jellyfish.”

That's hilarious! I was caught in a crazy thunderstorm at MK on Aug 26th and felt exactly the same way! I was in water well over my ankles...ugh! One thing that really helped was stuffing the inside of my shoes with facecloths...they were dry by the next morning.

Now, River Journey was a pretty ride… but not exactly stellar. I mean, yes the Na’vi at the end is cool. It’s all decorated very well. But it’s a slow boat ride. There really isn’t much to it. DH and I both agreed that we would have been very disappointed if we waited more than about twenty minutes for it. But that’s just us. We were glad we got to ride it, but very glad we didn’t wait any longer for it than we had.

I felt the same way. It was pretty and I liked the music but would not do it without a FP or super short wait time.

I finally settled on a fairly large cheese pastry

Those danishes are quite simply the best thing in the world!

There was literally zero wait for this. We blew through the line and were the first ones at the door waiting to go in and meet our ghost host.

I love Haunted Mansion so much. I think I rode it eight times during my August trip.

We both thought our meals were excellent. I didn’t think there was much room for error in DH’s fried meal, but my lobster roll was really good, and I really liked the housemade chips. Very impressed with this quick service and we’ll definitely be back in the future!

I love CHH, have never had a bad meal there even if they did take my favourite Lighthouse sandwich off the menu.

Looking forward to reading more!

 

[DisneyMandC]

Loving your report!

Thank you! Do you have a TR for your recent trip? I see AKL in your signature! Loved our stay there in 2015, just an absolutely beautiful resort.

I felt exactly the same way about FoP. I had never cried on a ride, anywhere, nor expected to until FoP. The sheer awe and sense of joy I felt was so overwhelming. You're so right, it's like everything happening is happening to you. So, so amazing!

YES! I really did not comprehend on the first ride that this was a giant theater-type screen. Like I really thought I was sitting there looking into my own personal screen for this ride. They've just done the entire ride perfectly!

That's hilarious! I was caught in a crazy thunderstorm at MK on Aug 26th and felt exactly the same way! I was in water well over my ankles...ugh! One thing that really helped was stuffing the inside of my shoes with facecloths...they were dry by the next morning.

Good to know! Fortunately I had a very comfortable pair of flip flops with me. My tennis shoes has memory foam soles and they really held onto that water.

 

[Lesley Wake]

We tried to remember in the stretching room if WDW was the one where the ceiling moved up, or if it was actually the elevator? I know one of them you are actually moving to a different floor, but I couldn’t remember if it was here or DL.

I don't know about WDW's version, but I know DLR is an elevator that goes to a basement level where the actual ride is. At the end of the ride, you go up a moving ramp to get back up to ground level.

 

[DisneyMandC]

I don't know about WDW's version, but I know DLR is an elevator that goes to a basement level where the actual ride is. At the end of the ride, you go up a moving ramp to get back up to ground level.

Thank you! WDW the ceiling must actually move up then

I hesitate to ask for fear of the response, but I see you have four days until your first WDW trip... is that still going forward with Irma headed our way?

 

[suse66]

Thank you! Do you have a TR for your recent trip?

I do, it's called Giraffes, zebras and flamingos....Oh my! The link should be in my signature but I was having issues with it earlier. I'd love to have you join in. I loved AKL too, so lovely!

 

[DisneyMandC]

I do, it's called Giraffes, zebras and flamingos....Oh my! The link should be in my signature but I was having issues with it earlier. I'd love to have you join in. I loved AKL too, so lovely!

Thanks, I'm going to check it out! I might have only seen your PTRs in your signature earlier.

 

[amalone1013]

I've been super busy but I'm here still! What a great day you've had so far! We had a morning like that... but it was January... and sprinkling on the way to the bus stop (though it stopped by the time we got to MK)

I really tried to get DF to stand in line while I played in the garden for Pooh, but I couldn't talk him into it. He kept telling me I was too old or something

 

[DisneyMandC]

I've been super busy but I'm here still! What a great day you've had so far! We had a morning like that... but it was January... and sprinkling on the way to the bus stop (though it stopped by the time we got to MK)

I really tried to get DF to stand in line while I played in the garden for Pooh, but I couldn't talk him into it. He kept telling me I was too old or something

Boooo! I vote you insist getting to play in the line on your Disneymoon...

That being said, I try to convince DH to do the Wilderness Explorers thing at AK every time we go there

 

[DisneyMandC]

Day Two: Tomorrowland

Sorry for the delay in updating! I was out of town from midday Thursday to Sunday with no computer, so I had minimal access to the Dis! Anyways, on to the update… This is a short one but I’m hoping to write another before I go out of town AGAIN this weekend!

Once we were done with our ride through the Hundred Acre Wood, we headed to what is honestly my favorite part of MK- Tomorrowland! I don’t know what it is about Tomorrowland, but it always reminds me of being a little kid and coming to Disney. I don’t know if we particularly spent a lot of time there or if something about this part of the park just sticks out from when I was little, but Tomorrowland brings back all the nostalgia for me!

We still had a while yet before our 1:45 Space Mountain FP, so we decided to hit up a couple other rides first.

Up first- the PeopleMover! Ok, so this shockingly had a little bit of a line. I mean, not more than like five minutes, but there was actually a CM standing there holding an “end of line” sign. We still jumped in though since I always enjoy sitting down on this ride for a few and zooming around. Before long we were in our own PeopleMover and going for a ride.



It was nice to sit down again for a few and look around.



The crowds really didn’t look too bad in Tomorrowland, and we were pretty happy with how we were able to move around. You can also tell from this picture how overcast it was that day, making for VERY nice weather. Seriously, I’m not sure if I broke a sweat all day. Yup, you read that right. On August 2 in Disney World.

We also cruised over the Speedway, which I am VERY excited is going to become a Tron lightcycle ride! I LOVE Tron and the news about this came out shortly before our trip. DH and I definitely have plans to be at WDW in 2021 for 50 years, so we will be timing our visit to ensure this ride will be open!



Once we were done with our ride, we decided to do something that we had (shockingly) never done before- Monster’s Inc. Laugh Floor!



I don’t know why we’ve never done this before. I don’t know if I thought it was more kid-geared or what I was thinking. I was also initially not a huge fan of Monsters, Inc. for some reason. I’ve since changed and now love that movie and Monsters University, but I never had a huge draw to this attraction. I kept seeing reviews of it saying it was really funny, but even getting into the line we were both like “meh, we’ll just see what it’s about since we still have time before our FP.”

GUYS. This was so funny!! We thought it was hilarious! I love the audience interaction and how well-done this attraction is. I can’t remember anything particularly funny about ours, other than a guy being there with his girlfriend and being asked if he wanted to propose right now, but it was a really great experience. We will definitely be doing it again in the future!

By the time we were done with Monsters, Inc., we were approaching our Fastpass for Space Mountain. We ducked into a couple stores in Tomorrowland to shop and kill some time, but didn’t buy anything. I think I traded a couple pins, but unfortunately I did not keep up with my pin trades throughout the trip.

We then headed to Space Mountain, where they were doing some construction on an antenna.



I can’t remember how long the standby line was when we arrived- I think about an hour. It didn’t seem that backed up inside the long hallways, but the lines were wrapped around pretty tightly in the standby area. I was hoping we would get sent to the Omega side since I always think that’s a little bit faster, but we were sent to Alpha. I wasn’t too disappointed though since we got to the front of the line REALLY quickly. A CM needed two people and apparently everyone in front of us was in big groups, so we got pulled from waaaay back in the line and put on the coaster pretty quickly.

As usual, I loved this ride! Space Mountain was always my favorite growing up. I got to ride Hyperspace Mountain in DL last year too, which was also great. It was nice getting to see a lot of the Star Wars takeover stuff while we were there!

Once we were done with Space Mountain, we decided to shop a little bit more until our Buzz FP. We were kind of shopped out though, so we decided to just sit down for a few minutes at the back part of Stitch until we were within our FP zone. As we were sitting though, the traditional FL thunderstorm began.



It wasn’t anything like last night’s storm, thankfully, and only lasted about ten minutes. Since we were already undercover sitting where we were, we just stayed there and hung out. I thought about making a dash towards Buzz, but the FP line was kind of hanging out from under the overhang, and I didn’t really feel like getting wet.

Before long, we were on our way though.



We both really like this shooting-type rides, so DH had specifically asked me to get a Buzz FP for the day. Unfortunately, we ended up having a bit of a letdown with our ride experience. The ride stopped for probably a solid minute in the very first room. What we should have done is quit shooting and wait for it to start back up, but instead our competitiveness took over and kept shooting the whole time. Which resulted in us maxing out our scores to 999,999 before the ride started moving again…

Seriously, we have never done that before, but it made for a really lame ride since we couldn’t accrue anymore points after that! So once the ride started back up, we were just kind of aimlessly shooting at things without knowing if we hit them. So that was a little bit of a bummer, but I told DH was could try to ride it again later and actually get to play.

Once we came out, it was raining a little bit again outside, so we sort of stood around in the exit gift shop until it slowed down.

Once we made it out, we headed back towards Fantasyland since we were already approaching our (early) ADR for Be Our Guest! Even though it really hadn’t been that long since we had eaten lunch, we were actually both getting kind of hungry. We still had a little bit of time to kill so we stopped off at the Beauty and the Beast gift shop. I actually did make a purchase here- one of the rose cups!



I actually didn’t buy this for me, but for my niece. We saw the new Beauty and the Beast together in theaters and both absolutely loved it! She also finished up her last year of middle school with some killer grades and is headed off to a special high school academic program, so I wanted to get her a little treat

After our little bit of shopping, it was time for the meal we had been looking forward to the most…





​

 

[Dentam]

I got a bit behind here, sorry!

Nice that you were able to get so much done this morning! I think I've heard that the summer crowds haven't been very high at WDW this year - maybe because a lot of people are waiting for the new Star Wars and Toy Story lands to open up before visiting again. Your crowd levels sound a lot like ours were over Labor Day week!

I tried Columbia Harbor House for the first time this trip and also got the lobster roll - I thought it was really good! I also liked that you could add flavored syrups to your drink. I added blackberry I think it was to my diet coke. Tasty!

I love the People Mover!! Such a nice and relaxing break that allows you to rest your feet while enjoying many different views of Tomorrowland.

Looking forward to reading more about your trip!

 

[DisneyMandC]

I got a bit behind here, sorry!

Nice that you were able to get so much done this morning! I think I've heard that the summer crowds haven't been very high at WDW this year - maybe because a lot of people are waiting for the new Star Wars and Toy Story lands to open up before visiting again. Your crowd levels sound a lot like ours were over Labor Day week!

I tried Columbia Harbor House for the first time this trip and also got the lobster roll - I thought it was really good! I also liked that you could add flavored syrups to your drink. I added blackberry I think it was to my diet coke. Tasty!

I love the People Mover!! Such a nice and relaxing break that allows you to rest your feet while enjoying many different views of Tomorrowland.

Looking forward to reading more about your trip!

Yes, we were very surprised at the crowds! We thought the parks were only slightly more crowded than our April 2015 trip. I can understand waiting for Star Wars and Toy Story land to open up though- that was what we originally planned to do. Now that we've gotten our mini-trip in, we'll likely wait for those to open up before we come back.

I wish I'd known about the flavored syrups at Columbia Harbor House! Totally missed that and would've taken advantage of it!

Hopefully I'll have another installment up tomorrow night!

 

[Lesley Wake]

I hesitate to ask for fear of the response, but I see you have four days until your first WDW trip... is that still going forward with Irma headed our way?

Sorry, I hadn't seen you replied to my comment and asked a question until just now! So, yes, we did still go ahead with our plans! We actually pushed it forward to arrive 2 days before our original arrival day, which was good because if not our flight would have been cancelled. And, I'm saying this with full recognition of the impact it had in Florida and the Caribbean, but it actually made our trip pretty great. Crowds for the 2 days before and days after were nonexistent. Like, almost every ride was a walk-on! And Disney did a great job during the hurricane keeping access to hot food as long as it was safe to leave the rooms. Made for an awesome 11-day trip!