A Whole New World, A Whole New Life! -- A Jan-Feb-Mar 2015 TR -- *COMPLETED* 9/29
- Thread starter DisneyFreak98
- Start date
KathyM2
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2011
I love the way you can say "we decided to pass this time...." on things because you knew you would be back...ahhh what a nice feeling that must have been.
I assume that they only have this during F & G...right? Because I've never seen it...
I sooo wanted to try this when we where there during F & W but it was so packed we never got a chance...sigh...next time..
I assume that they only have this during F & G...right? Because I've never seen it...
I sooo wanted to try this when we where there during F & W but it was so packed we never got a chance...sigh...next time..
DisneyFreak98
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2012
Today was Travis and Sam’s birthday! They were born on the same day, exactly six years apart, so they’re birthday buddies. We were starting out the morning at Hollywood Studios, which opened at 9:00, so we were up and out the door around 8:00. We didn’t have to wait too long for either the internal bus or the park bus, so we arrived at the park right around 8:30. After going through bag check, we got a spot in line. It wasn’t long before the gates were open, and we headed inside right to Toy Story Mania.
We only waited about 5 minutes, which was basically just the time it took to walk through the line and get on the ride. I rode with Sam, and we had a lot of fun! I achieved a new high score of 288,000, so I was excited about that. Once we got off the ride we headed over towards the Streets of America to walk around and take some pictures. The boys had a little birthday photo shoot, and we had a lot of fun with that.
We had FastPasses for Star Tours, so we headed over there. The line was only like 10 minutes long, but we used our FP's anyways. We had to use all three of them in order to make more when we got to Magic Kingdom later. We had a great ride sequence, and Travis was even the rebel spy! We’ve been trying to figure out if there’s some sort of pattern for who is the rebel spy, if it’s totally random, or if somehow the cast member chooses, but we still haven’t been able to figure it out!
Once we got off we made our way back around to the front of the park, where we spent some time in some of the shops. Sam got one of the fancy Magic Bands that you have to buy; he got the one with Stitch on it. It took some time and two different cast members to set it up and link it to our account, but eventually they got it all situated and we headed out. We had FastPasses for Tower of Terror, so we headed up there. Travis and I didn’t want to ride, so we waited up in the gift shop for everybody else. It took a little longer than we expected, and when they got off we found out that it was because Sam’s new Magic Band was actually not correctly linked to our account. They were able to show the cast member that he did have a FP on the My Disney Experience app, but we still had to go get it fixed.
We went to a FP+ kiosk to see if they could help us, but they told us to go to guest relations. We headed over there, but to be quite honest they were not much help either. A guy took the Magic Band to the back, and he seemed to be gone with it forever. When he finally emerged he said that it was fixed, but when they tested it out on their little computer there, it still had problems. So, for now they linked his old Magic Band back up. They kept the new one and said they would continue to work on it while we went back into the park, and they would send us a text when we could pick it up. So, we headed over to the Great Movie Ride, which was our final FastPass for this park. We only waited about 5 minutes, and it was a good ride. At this point it was getting close to noon, and we really wanted to make it over to Magic Kingdom, but we still hadn’t gotten a text about Sam’s Magic Band.
The main reason we wanted to get to MK was to try and catch Scoop so we could trade pins with him, so Travis, Sam, and I headed out of the park while Mom and Dad stayed to try and figure out what was going on with the band. They headed back to guest relations and would meet us at MK a little later. We kids headed out to the Magic Kingdom bus stop, where we waited about 10 minutes for a bus. We were a little upset, especially Sam, about the whole situation and how much time we seemed to have wasted on it, but we were on our way to the Magic Kingdom, so it was okay!
We arrived, got through bag check, scanned out tickets, and headed inside the park. We got there as the noon showing of Festival of Fantasy was going by, so we had to wait for that to go by before we could make it to Main Street. It was okay though, because we had to stop at the Town Hall to use the FP+ kiosk to make a FastPass. We got a 2:45 Buzz Lightyear, so that was good. We watched the rest of the parade go by from the steps of Town Hall before venturing onto Main Street to hunt for Scoop.
We walked up and down the street for quite some time, but unfortunately he didn’t seem to be there today. This was right around the time that his hours started to change, so even though we totally thought he would be there he wasn’t. After we had given up on that, we called Mom to find out what they were up to. Apparently the Magic Band was just not going to work, so they were able to get the money back for it and be done. We all felt bad that we had wasted so much time on it, but there was nothing we could do. One of the cast members said that it most likely had a faulty RFID chip in it. They were on their way to the park now, so we decided to hang around and wait for them. We sat up in the train station where we ate the sandwiches we had packed for lunch. The mood was a little sour right now, after the whole Magic Band thing and missing trading with Scoop, but we were still smiling. It was a beautiful day, and we had a nice time sitting outside on top of the train station.
Mom and Dad arrived pretty soon, and decided that we should get a treat. Everyone got ice cream from the Main Street ice cream parlor while I got some iced coffee from Starbucks. We sat up in the Tomorrowland Terrace restaurant with our cool treats. Taking a break and having something to eat definitely improved everyone’s mood, and soon we were ready to move on! It wasn’t quite time for our Buzz Lightyear FP’s yet, so we decided to ride the Peoplemover in the meantime. I rode in a car with Sam and Travis, and we had a lot of fun.
Once we got off it was just about time for our FP, so we headed over to Buzz. We got in line and waited less than five minutes. The ride stopped while we were on it, so I was able to do this:
Everyone else got super high scores too, and we were all laughing about it! Once we got off we headed to the nearest FP+ kiosk to check what was available. We were able to get one for the Winnie the Pooh that started in just 40 minutes, so we started heading in that direction. We decided to ride the Teacups in the meantime, which we waited about 15 minutes for. I rode with Sam and Travis, and we spun as fast as we possibly could!
That was a lot of fun, and by the time we got off we were just a few minutes away from our Pooh FP’s. We hung around outside until our window was open, and once our FP’s were ready we scanned out bands and got in line. We waited about five minutes before boarding our hunny pot, and we all squished inside of one.
We had a great ride, and once we got off it was time to get another FastPass! Mom, Dad, and Sam waited in line at the Fantasyland kiosk, which actually had a decent line. Travis and I walked around Fantasyland a little, then we went up to the balcony of Pinocchio’s Village Haus and hung out there. We had never been up there before, but was really cool vantage point to see Fantasyland from.
The rest of our gang met us up there with news that they got FP’s for the Little Mermaid ride that started at 5:00. It was about 4:30 now, so we took this time to have a little snack and make a stop at the bathroom. We moseyed around through Belle’s village, where we stopped to look around the store until our FP time arrived.
We got over to the ride and scanned out bands before basically walking right onto the ride. I rode with Sam, and we had a marvelous journey under the sea.
Once we got off we went once again to check for available FastPasses. We found a 6:45 Magic Carpets, so we got that one. It was almost 5:30 now, so we discussed where to eat dinner. We all agreed on Pecos Bills, so we made our way over there. It wasn’t too crowded inside, so we were able to order and get our food in good time. I’m pretty sure everybody got hamburgers this time, and we all enjoyed them!
Once we were done eating we still had some time until our Magic Carpets FP’s, so we decided to go ride Haunted Mansion.
We waited about 20-25 minutes for that, and we had a good ride. It was getting close to 6:45 now, so we decided to make our way over to Adventureland. We made it there just as our time started, so we scanned our bands and hopped in line. We waited about 5 minutes, and we had a great ride! I rode with Sam and Travis, and we had fun bouncing up and down like crazy.
Once we got off we went down to the FP+ kiosk next to Jungle Cruise to see if there were any more FP’s left to book. The only thing that really worked was another Magic Carpets for 9:15, so we decided just to book it, even if we didn’t end up using it. Jungle Cruise had a 30 minute wait, and that’s Travis’ favorite ride, so we decided we would ride it while we were already there!
The wait time was pretty accurate; it took us about 25-30 minutes, which compared to how long we had waited the other day seemed like nothing. We had a really nice ride with a good skipper, and Travis was very glad that he got to ride his favorite ride on his birthday. Once we got off, we checked some wait times and discussed what to do next. Splash Mountain also had a 30 minute wait, and everyone loves that, so we headed over to Frontierland. We got in line and waited about 30-35 minutes before boarding our log and heading down to the briar patch. We had a great ride, and thankfully nobody got drenched this time.
It was close to 9:00 by the time we got off the ride, so we decided that we would head back through Adventureland, use our Magic Carpets FP, then head over through the hub into the Tomorrowland/Fantasyland area. So, we made our way back to the carpets, where we waited another 5 or so minutes to ride. I made the boys pose for another picture while we were waiting.
I rode with Sam and Travis once again, and we had a great time bouncing around and getting hit with water from the camel. Once we got off we headed over the bridge and to the castle hub. The Main Street Electrical Parade happened to be going on at this time, so we had a little trouble maneuvering through the crowd and then waiting for a break in the parade so that we could cross the street. We were able to make it through though, and we headed into Fantasyland. Because MSEP was going on and everybody was getting their spot for Wishes, the wait times were all down significantly. The boys decided that they cared more about riding rides and stuff more than they wanted to see the fireworks, so that’s what we did.
The 7 Dwarves Mine Train was only a 30 minute wait, so of course we had to jump on that! It was great to be able to ride at night, and we were this close to getting to see Wishes while riding, but we just missed it. Once we got off we headed deeper into Fantasyland towards the circus. We decided to stop and get something to eat at this point. We went inside the Big Top store where everyone except me got a treat. After we checked out at the store, we headed in the direction of the teacups, and I got something to eat from the Cheshire Café. They have these cake cups there that are super yummy. They are so, so sweet, though, so beware!
We all sat down at a table outside the café and enjoyed our snacks. Once we were done, we decided to go on the Speedway, which had about a 15 minute wait. We had a super fun time racing around Tomorrowland! It was Extra Magic Hours tonight, so most of the rides had pretty minimal wait times. We decided to go ride Space Mountain, which only had a 20 minute wait. The wait time was pretty accurate, and pretty soon we were blasting off into space!
It was already past 11:00 by the time we got off of Space, and the park was open until midnight. We decided to make Buzz Lightyear our final ride of the night, so we headed over there. The wait was practically a walk-on, and we had a really great ride! We didn’t get stuck this time, so unfortunately our scores were significantly lower than earlier that day.
Once we got off we started making our way towards the park exit. We decided that we would stop at the theater on our way out where you can meet Mickey Mouse. We couldn’t think of a better way to end the day! We waited about 10-15 minutes before seeing the main mouse himself. We hadn’t met Mickey in the Magic Kingdom in quite some time, so it came as a surprise when Mickey Mouse opened his mouth and started talking to us! We had no idea that he could do that, and we were all a little shocked! He talked to us, asked us questions, and responded to us. It was pretty incredible, but also a little freaky at the same time. We had a nice chat with Mickey about where we were from and how our trip was going, and got some pictures.
It was just before midnight now, so it was time to head out of the park. We made it to the boat dock where we waited about 5 minutes for a boat to arrive, and soon we were headed home. We got back to the Fort and made the walk back to the RV where we all got ready for bed. Even though the day had started out a little rocky with the whole Magic Band situation, the day really ended up being super incredible. The boys had an amazing birthday, and everyone went to bed exhausted but happy. Tomorrow we planned on spending the day at Animal Kingdom!
We only waited about 5 minutes, which was basically just the time it took to walk through the line and get on the ride. I rode with Sam, and we had a lot of fun! I achieved a new high score of 288,000, so I was excited about that. Once we got off the ride we headed over towards the Streets of America to walk around and take some pictures. The boys had a little birthday photo shoot, and we had a lot of fun with that.
We had FastPasses for Star Tours, so we headed over there. The line was only like 10 minutes long, but we used our FP's anyways. We had to use all three of them in order to make more when we got to Magic Kingdom later. We had a great ride sequence, and Travis was even the rebel spy! We’ve been trying to figure out if there’s some sort of pattern for who is the rebel spy, if it’s totally random, or if somehow the cast member chooses, but we still haven’t been able to figure it out!
Once we got off we made our way back around to the front of the park, where we spent some time in some of the shops. Sam got one of the fancy Magic Bands that you have to buy; he got the one with Stitch on it. It took some time and two different cast members to set it up and link it to our account, but eventually they got it all situated and we headed out. We had FastPasses for Tower of Terror, so we headed up there. Travis and I didn’t want to ride, so we waited up in the gift shop for everybody else. It took a little longer than we expected, and when they got off we found out that it was because Sam’s new Magic Band was actually not correctly linked to our account. They were able to show the cast member that he did have a FP on the My Disney Experience app, but we still had to go get it fixed.
We went to a FP+ kiosk to see if they could help us, but they told us to go to guest relations. We headed over there, but to be quite honest they were not much help either. A guy took the Magic Band to the back, and he seemed to be gone with it forever. When he finally emerged he said that it was fixed, but when they tested it out on their little computer there, it still had problems. So, for now they linked his old Magic Band back up. They kept the new one and said they would continue to work on it while we went back into the park, and they would send us a text when we could pick it up. So, we headed over to the Great Movie Ride, which was our final FastPass for this park. We only waited about 5 minutes, and it was a good ride. At this point it was getting close to noon, and we really wanted to make it over to Magic Kingdom, but we still hadn’t gotten a text about Sam’s Magic Band.
The main reason we wanted to get to MK was to try and catch Scoop so we could trade pins with him, so Travis, Sam, and I headed out of the park while Mom and Dad stayed to try and figure out what was going on with the band. They headed back to guest relations and would meet us at MK a little later. We kids headed out to the Magic Kingdom bus stop, where we waited about 10 minutes for a bus. We were a little upset, especially Sam, about the whole situation and how much time we seemed to have wasted on it, but we were on our way to the Magic Kingdom, so it was okay!
We arrived, got through bag check, scanned out tickets, and headed inside the park. We got there as the noon showing of Festival of Fantasy was going by, so we had to wait for that to go by before we could make it to Main Street. It was okay though, because we had to stop at the Town Hall to use the FP+ kiosk to make a FastPass. We got a 2:45 Buzz Lightyear, so that was good. We watched the rest of the parade go by from the steps of Town Hall before venturing onto Main Street to hunt for Scoop.
We walked up and down the street for quite some time, but unfortunately he didn’t seem to be there today. This was right around the time that his hours started to change, so even though we totally thought he would be there he wasn’t. After we had given up on that, we called Mom to find out what they were up to. Apparently the Magic Band was just not going to work, so they were able to get the money back for it and be done. We all felt bad that we had wasted so much time on it, but there was nothing we could do. One of the cast members said that it most likely had a faulty RFID chip in it. They were on their way to the park now, so we decided to hang around and wait for them. We sat up in the train station where we ate the sandwiches we had packed for lunch. The mood was a little sour right now, after the whole Magic Band thing and missing trading with Scoop, but we were still smiling. It was a beautiful day, and we had a nice time sitting outside on top of the train station.
Mom and Dad arrived pretty soon, and decided that we should get a treat. Everyone got ice cream from the Main Street ice cream parlor while I got some iced coffee from Starbucks. We sat up in the Tomorrowland Terrace restaurant with our cool treats. Taking a break and having something to eat definitely improved everyone’s mood, and soon we were ready to move on! It wasn’t quite time for our Buzz Lightyear FP’s yet, so we decided to ride the Peoplemover in the meantime. I rode in a car with Sam and Travis, and we had a lot of fun.
Once we got off it was just about time for our FP, so we headed over to Buzz. We got in line and waited less than five minutes. The ride stopped while we were on it, so I was able to do this:
Everyone else got super high scores too, and we were all laughing about it! Once we got off we headed to the nearest FP+ kiosk to check what was available. We were able to get one for the Winnie the Pooh that started in just 40 minutes, so we started heading in that direction. We decided to ride the Teacups in the meantime, which we waited about 15 minutes for. I rode with Sam and Travis, and we spun as fast as we possibly could!
That was a lot of fun, and by the time we got off we were just a few minutes away from our Pooh FP’s. We hung around outside until our window was open, and once our FP’s were ready we scanned out bands and got in line. We waited about five minutes before boarding our hunny pot, and we all squished inside of one.
We had a great ride, and once we got off it was time to get another FastPass! Mom, Dad, and Sam waited in line at the Fantasyland kiosk, which actually had a decent line. Travis and I walked around Fantasyland a little, then we went up to the balcony of Pinocchio’s Village Haus and hung out there. We had never been up there before, but was really cool vantage point to see Fantasyland from.
The rest of our gang met us up there with news that they got FP’s for the Little Mermaid ride that started at 5:00. It was about 4:30 now, so we took this time to have a little snack and make a stop at the bathroom. We moseyed around through Belle’s village, where we stopped to look around the store until our FP time arrived.
We got over to the ride and scanned out bands before basically walking right onto the ride. I rode with Sam, and we had a marvelous journey under the sea.
Once we got off we went once again to check for available FastPasses. We found a 6:45 Magic Carpets, so we got that one. It was almost 5:30 now, so we discussed where to eat dinner. We all agreed on Pecos Bills, so we made our way over there. It wasn’t too crowded inside, so we were able to order and get our food in good time. I’m pretty sure everybody got hamburgers this time, and we all enjoyed them!
Once we were done eating we still had some time until our Magic Carpets FP’s, so we decided to go ride Haunted Mansion.
We waited about 20-25 minutes for that, and we had a good ride. It was getting close to 6:45 now, so we decided to make our way over to Adventureland. We made it there just as our time started, so we scanned our bands and hopped in line. We waited about 5 minutes, and we had a great ride! I rode with Sam and Travis, and we had fun bouncing up and down like crazy.
Once we got off we went down to the FP+ kiosk next to Jungle Cruise to see if there were any more FP’s left to book. The only thing that really worked was another Magic Carpets for 9:15, so we decided just to book it, even if we didn’t end up using it. Jungle Cruise had a 30 minute wait, and that’s Travis’ favorite ride, so we decided we would ride it while we were already there!
The wait time was pretty accurate; it took us about 25-30 minutes, which compared to how long we had waited the other day seemed like nothing. We had a really nice ride with a good skipper, and Travis was very glad that he got to ride his favorite ride on his birthday. Once we got off, we checked some wait times and discussed what to do next. Splash Mountain also had a 30 minute wait, and everyone loves that, so we headed over to Frontierland. We got in line and waited about 30-35 minutes before boarding our log and heading down to the briar patch. We had a great ride, and thankfully nobody got drenched this time.
It was close to 9:00 by the time we got off the ride, so we decided that we would head back through Adventureland, use our Magic Carpets FP, then head over through the hub into the Tomorrowland/Fantasyland area. So, we made our way back to the carpets, where we waited another 5 or so minutes to ride. I made the boys pose for another picture while we were waiting.
I rode with Sam and Travis once again, and we had a great time bouncing around and getting hit with water from the camel. Once we got off we headed over the bridge and to the castle hub. The Main Street Electrical Parade happened to be going on at this time, so we had a little trouble maneuvering through the crowd and then waiting for a break in the parade so that we could cross the street. We were able to make it through though, and we headed into Fantasyland. Because MSEP was going on and everybody was getting their spot for Wishes, the wait times were all down significantly. The boys decided that they cared more about riding rides and stuff more than they wanted to see the fireworks, so that’s what we did.
The 7 Dwarves Mine Train was only a 30 minute wait, so of course we had to jump on that! It was great to be able to ride at night, and we were this close to getting to see Wishes while riding, but we just missed it. Once we got off we headed deeper into Fantasyland towards the circus. We decided to stop and get something to eat at this point. We went inside the Big Top store where everyone except me got a treat. After we checked out at the store, we headed in the direction of the teacups, and I got something to eat from the Cheshire Café. They have these cake cups there that are super yummy. They are so, so sweet, though, so beware!
We all sat down at a table outside the café and enjoyed our snacks. Once we were done, we decided to go on the Speedway, which had about a 15 minute wait. We had a super fun time racing around Tomorrowland! It was Extra Magic Hours tonight, so most of the rides had pretty minimal wait times. We decided to go ride Space Mountain, which only had a 20 minute wait. The wait time was pretty accurate, and pretty soon we were blasting off into space!
It was already past 11:00 by the time we got off of Space, and the park was open until midnight. We decided to make Buzz Lightyear our final ride of the night, so we headed over there. The wait was practically a walk-on, and we had a really great ride! We didn’t get stuck this time, so unfortunately our scores were significantly lower than earlier that day.
Once we got off we started making our way towards the park exit. We decided that we would stop at the theater on our way out where you can meet Mickey Mouse. We couldn’t think of a better way to end the day! We waited about 10-15 minutes before seeing the main mouse himself. We hadn’t met Mickey in the Magic Kingdom in quite some time, so it came as a surprise when Mickey Mouse opened his mouth and started talking to us! We had no idea that he could do that, and we were all a little shocked! He talked to us, asked us questions, and responded to us. It was pretty incredible, but also a little freaky at the same time. We had a nice chat with Mickey about where we were from and how our trip was going, and got some pictures.
It was just before midnight now, so it was time to head out of the park. We made it to the boat dock where we waited about 5 minutes for a boat to arrive, and soon we were headed home. We got back to the Fort and made the walk back to the RV where we all got ready for bed. Even though the day had started out a little rocky with the whole Magic Band situation, the day really ended up being super incredible. The boys had an amazing birthday, and everyone went to bed exhausted but happy. Tomorrow we planned on spending the day at Animal Kingdom!
DisneyFreak98
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2012
Thank you so much!
Yes, they do only have the butterfly house set up for Flower and Garden.
Right now I think it is scheduled to open on July 1st, but I'm not positive!
jandlinz
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2010
Hi Shannon,
I have a question and since your family were annual pass holders I thought you could answer. My parents are annual pass holders. They just came back at the beginning of March. Even though I told them that photo pass was included in their annual passes they only had ride photos taken. They downloaded them and sent them to family. We are traveling with them in November and I have added them to our My Disney Experience. We have yet to make hotel arrangements (we're waiting for our 7 month window to open because we are DVC owners). My question is do we have to buy memory maker or can they include us? I read somewhere about the photo pass only being good 30 days after you download. I thought I would ask you, since your family went back in October. Did you have to buy another memory maker? Thanks so much.
I have a question and since your family were annual pass holders I thought you could answer. My parents are annual pass holders. They just came back at the beginning of March. Even though I told them that photo pass was included in their annual passes they only had ride photos taken. They downloaded them and sent them to family. We are traveling with them in November and I have added them to our My Disney Experience. We have yet to make hotel arrangements (we're waiting for our 7 month window to open because we are DVC owners). My question is do we have to buy memory maker or can they include us? I read somewhere about the photo pass only being good 30 days after you download. I thought I would ask you, since your family went back in October. Did you have to buy another memory maker? Thanks so much.
DisneyFreak98
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2012
Hi! I'm actually not one hundred percent sure. Because of when we bought our Annual Passes, PhotoPass was not included with ours. I don't know if it works differently now, but when we bought the Memory Maker separately, whoever was on our official Disney account as friends and family had access to it. As for the 30 days thing, it's the photos that start expiring. If you don't download or purchase your PhotoPass pictures within 30 days after they are taken, they will start to disappear. At least that's how it was when we had it. Hope that helped!
DisneyFreak98
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2012
Today we were going to Animal Kingdom! The park opened at 9:00, so we were up and ready to go by 8:00. We packed out lunch, grabbed all of our stuff, and we headed out the door. Two bus rides later, and we were arriving at the park! After going through bag check we found a spot in line, where we waited about 20 minutes for the park to open. Once the gates were open we headed inside the park!
We headed straight to Everest first, where we basically walked on the ride. Everybody rode, including Dad, and we all had a good time. After that we decided to head over to Dinoland and ride some stuff there.
We rode Dinosaur first, which we waited about 5-10 minutes for, and then we did Primeval Whirl, which was another short wait. We also spent some time looking around in the gift shop. Once we were done in Dinoland we decided to head back around and ride Everest again. The line was a little longer now, but it was still only about 20 minutes. Dad didn’t ride this time, so he got some pictures.
Once we escaped the clutches of the Yeti, we continued on into Asia. We took a walk along the Maharajah Jungle Trek, where we saw the tigers and some beautiful birds.
It was about quarter past 10:00 now, and there was a Flights of Wonder show at 10:45, so we decided to stick around and see that. The little pre-show started at 10:30, so we watched that. Today they featured a toucan and an owl, and both birds were totally fascinating.
Pretty soon we were able to enter the theater, where we found good seats on the left side towards the front. The show was super incredible, and I’m always amazed by how intellectual those birds are!
The show ended at 11:15,and we made our way out of the theater. We had fastpasses for the 1:00 showing of the Festival of the Lion King so we still had a little time to kill. We decided to head over to Africa and take a walk through the Pangani forest. We saw the gorillas, zebras, and some birds.
It still wasn’t quite time for our FPs, so we decided now would be a good time to eat the sandwiches we packed. There really isn’t a good place to sit and eat around Africa, so we just sat on a bench near the FOLK theater. By the time we were done it was time to head over to the theater and get in line with our Fastpasses, so we made our way over. We scanned our bands and got in line with all of the other people with Fastpasses, and pretty soon we were all let into the theater. We got pretty good seats, but I think that the purpose of the FOLK FP is more so you don’t have to get in line an hour before the show and not so much about getting a better seat in a FP+ section.
The show was incredibly stunning, and I was able to actually get some decent photos this time around.
After the show it was almost time for our 1:45 FP for the safari, so after a quick stop at the bathroom we headed over there. We waited in line about 10 minutes, and soon we were loaded into our safari jeep and on our way! It wasn’t the best safari we’ve ever had; we basically just saw all of the “regulars” like the elephants, giraffes, crocodiles, and rhinos. We still had a great time though!
Once we got off we checked out the little gorilla viewing area they have near the ride exit, but there wasn’t much to see. The gorillas must have been hanging out somewhere else. It was about 2:15 now, and we had done everything that was on the agenda for the day, so we decided to head home. Mom was planning on making dinner, Travis and I wanted to go swimming, plus Mom and Dad were going to have to run out to pick some stuff up from the store. So, we started making our way out of the park. By the time we made our way out and got to the bus stop, it was about 2:30. We waited about 10 minutes for a bus to come, and by the time we got back to the Fort and caught our internal bus home it was a little after 3:00.
Pretty soon after we got home Mom and Dad headed out to the store. We thought that we had bought enough supplies to last us through the final leg of our trip, but we realized that we were probably going to run out of some things, so they just had to pick a few things up. We kids stayed at home and just hung out. Travis and Sam went to play basketball, and I rode my bike around for a while. Spring break season was definitely in full swing, and the whole campground was noticeably more crowded. It wasn’t so terrible having more people around, but we definitely enjoyed it more when things were quieter.
Pretty soon Mom and Dad were back, and we all helped unload the groceries. Once everything was all put away we all decided to go for a walk together. It was a beautiful day, and we really enjoyed just being outside and enjoying the atmosphere. We strolled through some loops we hadn’t been in before, and it was really neat to check out some other people’s RV’s and the different campsite decorations everyone had. We got back a little before 5:00, and we grilled hamburgers for dinner. We ate around 5:30, and it was so nice to be able to eat outdoors. After dinner we all just hung out at the RV for a while, and around 6:30 Travis and I decided to go swimming. There were quite a few people at the pool, but we still had fun swimming around. We spent around an hour swimming and sitting in the hot tub before heading back home. We both showered off and got changed, and it was around 8:00 now. The campfire movie was Sleeping Beauty tonight, but we decided to just stay in tonight. We watched some TV and just hung out before heading to bed around 9:30. Tomorrow we planned on spending some time at Blizzard Beach in the morning then heading to Hollywood Studios in the evening!
We headed straight to Everest first, where we basically walked on the ride. Everybody rode, including Dad, and we all had a good time. After that we decided to head over to Dinoland and ride some stuff there.
We rode Dinosaur first, which we waited about 5-10 minutes for, and then we did Primeval Whirl, which was another short wait. We also spent some time looking around in the gift shop. Once we were done in Dinoland we decided to head back around and ride Everest again. The line was a little longer now, but it was still only about 20 minutes. Dad didn’t ride this time, so he got some pictures.
Once we escaped the clutches of the Yeti, we continued on into Asia. We took a walk along the Maharajah Jungle Trek, where we saw the tigers and some beautiful birds.
It was about quarter past 10:00 now, and there was a Flights of Wonder show at 10:45, so we decided to stick around and see that. The little pre-show started at 10:30, so we watched that. Today they featured a toucan and an owl, and both birds were totally fascinating.
Pretty soon we were able to enter the theater, where we found good seats on the left side towards the front. The show was super incredible, and I’m always amazed by how intellectual those birds are!
The show ended at 11:15,and we made our way out of the theater. We had fastpasses for the 1:00 showing of the Festival of the Lion King so we still had a little time to kill. We decided to head over to Africa and take a walk through the Pangani forest. We saw the gorillas, zebras, and some birds.
It still wasn’t quite time for our FPs, so we decided now would be a good time to eat the sandwiches we packed. There really isn’t a good place to sit and eat around Africa, so we just sat on a bench near the FOLK theater. By the time we were done it was time to head over to the theater and get in line with our Fastpasses, so we made our way over. We scanned our bands and got in line with all of the other people with Fastpasses, and pretty soon we were all let into the theater. We got pretty good seats, but I think that the purpose of the FOLK FP is more so you don’t have to get in line an hour before the show and not so much about getting a better seat in a FP+ section.
The show was incredibly stunning, and I was able to actually get some decent photos this time around.
After the show it was almost time for our 1:45 FP for the safari, so after a quick stop at the bathroom we headed over there. We waited in line about 10 minutes, and soon we were loaded into our safari jeep and on our way! It wasn’t the best safari we’ve ever had; we basically just saw all of the “regulars” like the elephants, giraffes, crocodiles, and rhinos. We still had a great time though!
Once we got off we checked out the little gorilla viewing area they have near the ride exit, but there wasn’t much to see. The gorillas must have been hanging out somewhere else. It was about 2:15 now, and we had done everything that was on the agenda for the day, so we decided to head home. Mom was planning on making dinner, Travis and I wanted to go swimming, plus Mom and Dad were going to have to run out to pick some stuff up from the store. So, we started making our way out of the park. By the time we made our way out and got to the bus stop, it was about 2:30. We waited about 10 minutes for a bus to come, and by the time we got back to the Fort and caught our internal bus home it was a little after 3:00.
Pretty soon after we got home Mom and Dad headed out to the store. We thought that we had bought enough supplies to last us through the final leg of our trip, but we realized that we were probably going to run out of some things, so they just had to pick a few things up. We kids stayed at home and just hung out. Travis and Sam went to play basketball, and I rode my bike around for a while. Spring break season was definitely in full swing, and the whole campground was noticeably more crowded. It wasn’t so terrible having more people around, but we definitely enjoyed it more when things were quieter.
Pretty soon Mom and Dad were back, and we all helped unload the groceries. Once everything was all put away we all decided to go for a walk together. It was a beautiful day, and we really enjoyed just being outside and enjoying the atmosphere. We strolled through some loops we hadn’t been in before, and it was really neat to check out some other people’s RV’s and the different campsite decorations everyone had. We got back a little before 5:00, and we grilled hamburgers for dinner. We ate around 5:30, and it was so nice to be able to eat outdoors. After dinner we all just hung out at the RV for a while, and around 6:30 Travis and I decided to go swimming. There were quite a few people at the pool, but we still had fun swimming around. We spent around an hour swimming and sitting in the hot tub before heading back home. We both showered off and got changed, and it was around 8:00 now. The campfire movie was Sleeping Beauty tonight, but we decided to just stay in tonight. We watched some TV and just hung out before heading to bed around 9:30. Tomorrow we planned on spending some time at Blizzard Beach in the morning then heading to Hollywood Studios in the evening!
dvc at last !
DVC Member 2006!
- Joined
- May 27, 2006
You and your family are living the life ! Many of us wish we could do the same, but can not just move and look for a job.
How did your family decide this ? Was it a long dream ?
Your days in the park are wonderful memories !
How did your family decide this ? Was it a long dream ?
Your days in the park are wonderful memories !
KathyM2
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2011
Mmmm I loved that...but you are right...so sweet! But the icing was delish!! You had yet another great couple of park days...sigh...sad that your trip was coming to an end but it was sure a nice long one!
esmee1sttip
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2013
Beautiful pictures (as always)! Looking forward to your next post about your trip to blizzard beach 
chicagoshannon
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 9, 2008
I need to get caught up. I think I missed a ton of your report. I just got notification today that there was an update. I've read your newest post and it looks like you had fun. Now to go back a few pages and see what I've missed.
DisneyFreak98
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2012
We sure were! My Dad had been dreaming the concept up for quite a while, but it reality everything happened very quickly. We made the decision to sell our house in February, and it was less than a year before our trip started in January! It is definitely something we will remember for the rest of our lives.
Definitely! We were sad too, but we were enjoying all of the time we were getting to spend in the parks.
Thank you so much!Beautiful pictures (as always)! Looking forward to your next post about your trip to blizzard beach
Thanks for reading! I'm glad you're enjoying itI need to get caught up. I think I missed a ton of your report. I just got notification today that there was an update. I've read your newest post and it looks like you had fun. Now to go back a few pages and see what I've missed.
Thank you so much!Wow-some beautiful photos
DisneyFreak98
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2012
This morning we were heading over to play at Blizzard Beach! The park didn’t open until 10:00, so we didn’t have to get up too early. We got up, got ready, packed our lunch, and we were on our way. We didn’t want to have to wait for an internal bus today, so we decided to just drive down to the bus stop. Once we got there we waited about 10 minutes for our bus to come, and we were on our way to the park. We got there about 20 minutes before opening, so we lined up with the few other people who were already waiting.
We decided to purchase one of the park’s refillable mugs today, so we did that while we were waiting. It’s a pretty good deal because you get to refill it as many times as you want throughout the day, and if you buy the mug once then you can bring it back another day to get a reduced price for the day. Once the gates opened and they let us inside, we went to find a spot to set all of our stuff. We went to the left and found a nice area with a lot of covers for shade. We got all of our gear situated and then it was off to have some water park fun! We started with the Downhill Double Dipper slide, the Snow Stormer, and the Toboggan Racers first. There was no line this early in the day, so we did each of those a few times before moving on to another area. We headed over to ride Teamboat Springs, which is our family’s favorite ride out of both Disney water parks. We took the chairlift up to the top and got in the short line. All five of us fit in one tube, so we all climbed in and grabbed on. We had so much fun careening down the slopes, twisting and turning and laughing and screaming the whole way. Once we made it down to the bottom, we decided to ride once more, so we headed back up. The ski lift had a little line by now, so we decided to just take the stairs. It’s a bit of a hike, but it’s not too bad. We waited about 5-10 minutes before it was our turn, and we had another super ride all the way down. Summit Plummit is in that same area, but none of us were brave enough to conquer it today.
Dad and Travis did want to ride Slush Gusher (similar to Summit Plummit, just less intense) though, so they went up to do that while Mom, Sam, and I waited for them at the bottom. There wasn’t much of a line, so it wasn’t long before they came down. They had lots of fun! It was around 11:30 now, so we decided to head back to where we had set up camp to have something to eat. We hopped in the lazy river and floated around the park until we reached our little area. We all dried off and sat down for some lunch. We weren’t far from the food court area, so it was easy to run and fill up our cup which was nice. We ate the sandwiches we packed and relaxed a little bit before heading back out there.
The last slides we had yet to do were the Runoff Rapids, so we made our way over there. At the Runoff Rapids you grab a tube and head up the stairs, and once you get to the top there are three different slides to choose from. They are all pretty similar, but one of them is enclosed while the other two are open. We like to think of the enclosed one as a water Space Mountain because it’s so dark so you can’t see which way you are going to turn or if you’re about to drop. It’s so much fun! We made the journey up the stairs three times so that we all had the chance to ride each slide, and I honestly don’t know if we could have made it up those stairs carrying those tubes another time! Water parks are hard work! Once we were done there we headed back to our stuff to grab some drinks. They have a wave pool at Blizzard Beach, but it’s not like the one at Typhoon Lagoon. It’s more like a bobbing pool, with little waves going in all directions. After we had something to drink we decided to go hang out in the pool for a while, which was right near where we were situated. They have a bunch of tubes floating around in there, and it was really nice to just chill out and let the waves rock you around. We spent quite a bit of time in there, just hanging out.
Once we got out and headed back to our stuff it was around 1:30. We decided to go ride Teamboat Springs one more time before getting ready to head home. We hopped in the lazy river and floated over, where we climbed the stairs to the top. There was a little more of a one now, but we still only waited around 10-15 minutes. We had another incredible ride with lots of laughs. We decided to get back in the river and float all the way around back to where our stuff was. We went and got changed, then we packed up all of our stuff. Before we left though, we decided to get some ice cream. Throughout the day we had seen people with these green sand pails filled with ice cream, so of course we had to try that! We found out where they serve those and got in line to order. We kids found a place to sit while Mom and Dad ordered. We had never really had ice cream like this before, served in a sand pail for multiple people to share, so we decided to order two. That was a mistake! We were not expecting there to be SO MUCH ice cream! Not only that, but there were waffle cone pieces, sprinkles, hot fudge, whipped cream, and Oreo pieces in there! It was crazy. I mean, of course we finished them both, and I’m not saying we didn’t enjoy it, but we definitely would have been fine ordering just one.
Once we finished conquering our sand pails-full of ice cream, it was time to head out. It was a little after 2:30 now, and we had had a great time at Blizzard Beach! We made it to the bus stop where we waited about 10 minutes for our bus to come, and we were on our way back to the Fort. Once we got there we walked across to the parking lot and drove back up to our site. We all either showered or got changed, and then we spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out around the RV. Water parks can take a lot out of you, so we spent some time just resting, especially because we were planning on heading to Hollywood Studios after dinner. Mom made dinner around 5:30, and we ate outside around the picnic table. Once we got the dishes cleaned up and got our stuff together, we headed out for the bus stop! We were mainly going to HS just to ride Toy Story Mania a few times, so Mom decided to stay home and just relax. Travis was really tired as well, so he stayed back too. So it was just Dad, Sam and I, which was fine! By the time we waited for both buses and made the ride over to the park, it was around 6:15. We headed inside the park, where we headed straight for Toy Story Mania!
We didn’t have FastPasses or anything, so we just waited stand-by. The line ended up taking almost an hour and a half, which was a little longer than we expected, and slightly uncomfortable because someone threw up in the line. It was really okay though because we were just here to play! I rode with Sam the first time and got 225,300 which was a good start. Once we got off we headed right back around to ride a second time, and there was a little less of a wait now, probably about an hour. I rode with Dad this time, and we both did pretty well! I got 259,800. We went around a third time, and by now the wait was only 30 minutes, probably because people were getting ready for Fantasmic. By now the ride operators were recognizing us, which was funny. I rode by myself the third time around, and I got pretty good score, but not as good as before. It’s definitely harder to do better by yourself. It was pretty late now, around 9:30, and we were tired, so we packed it in and headed home. We all had a lot of fun, and we were glad that we came! We made it to the bus stop and waited around 10-15 minutes for a bus. We made it back to the Fort and to the RV, where everyone headed to bed. It had been a long day, but an incredible one! Tomorrow we planned on spending the day in Magic Kingdom!
We decided to purchase one of the park’s refillable mugs today, so we did that while we were waiting. It’s a pretty good deal because you get to refill it as many times as you want throughout the day, and if you buy the mug once then you can bring it back another day to get a reduced price for the day. Once the gates opened and they let us inside, we went to find a spot to set all of our stuff. We went to the left and found a nice area with a lot of covers for shade. We got all of our gear situated and then it was off to have some water park fun! We started with the Downhill Double Dipper slide, the Snow Stormer, and the Toboggan Racers first. There was no line this early in the day, so we did each of those a few times before moving on to another area. We headed over to ride Teamboat Springs, which is our family’s favorite ride out of both Disney water parks. We took the chairlift up to the top and got in the short line. All five of us fit in one tube, so we all climbed in and grabbed on. We had so much fun careening down the slopes, twisting and turning and laughing and screaming the whole way. Once we made it down to the bottom, we decided to ride once more, so we headed back up. The ski lift had a little line by now, so we decided to just take the stairs. It’s a bit of a hike, but it’s not too bad. We waited about 5-10 minutes before it was our turn, and we had another super ride all the way down. Summit Plummit is in that same area, but none of us were brave enough to conquer it today.
Dad and Travis did want to ride Slush Gusher (similar to Summit Plummit, just less intense) though, so they went up to do that while Mom, Sam, and I waited for them at the bottom. There wasn’t much of a line, so it wasn’t long before they came down. They had lots of fun! It was around 11:30 now, so we decided to head back to where we had set up camp to have something to eat. We hopped in the lazy river and floated around the park until we reached our little area. We all dried off and sat down for some lunch. We weren’t far from the food court area, so it was easy to run and fill up our cup which was nice. We ate the sandwiches we packed and relaxed a little bit before heading back out there.
The last slides we had yet to do were the Runoff Rapids, so we made our way over there. At the Runoff Rapids you grab a tube and head up the stairs, and once you get to the top there are three different slides to choose from. They are all pretty similar, but one of them is enclosed while the other two are open. We like to think of the enclosed one as a water Space Mountain because it’s so dark so you can’t see which way you are going to turn or if you’re about to drop. It’s so much fun! We made the journey up the stairs three times so that we all had the chance to ride each slide, and I honestly don’t know if we could have made it up those stairs carrying those tubes another time! Water parks are hard work! Once we were done there we headed back to our stuff to grab some drinks. They have a wave pool at Blizzard Beach, but it’s not like the one at Typhoon Lagoon. It’s more like a bobbing pool, with little waves going in all directions. After we had something to drink we decided to go hang out in the pool for a while, which was right near where we were situated. They have a bunch of tubes floating around in there, and it was really nice to just chill out and let the waves rock you around. We spent quite a bit of time in there, just hanging out.
Once we got out and headed back to our stuff it was around 1:30. We decided to go ride Teamboat Springs one more time before getting ready to head home. We hopped in the lazy river and floated over, where we climbed the stairs to the top. There was a little more of a one now, but we still only waited around 10-15 minutes. We had another incredible ride with lots of laughs. We decided to get back in the river and float all the way around back to where our stuff was. We went and got changed, then we packed up all of our stuff. Before we left though, we decided to get some ice cream. Throughout the day we had seen people with these green sand pails filled with ice cream, so of course we had to try that! We found out where they serve those and got in line to order. We kids found a place to sit while Mom and Dad ordered. We had never really had ice cream like this before, served in a sand pail for multiple people to share, so we decided to order two. That was a mistake! We were not expecting there to be SO MUCH ice cream! Not only that, but there were waffle cone pieces, sprinkles, hot fudge, whipped cream, and Oreo pieces in there! It was crazy. I mean, of course we finished them both, and I’m not saying we didn’t enjoy it, but we definitely would have been fine ordering just one.
Once we finished conquering our sand pails-full of ice cream, it was time to head out. It was a little after 2:30 now, and we had had a great time at Blizzard Beach! We made it to the bus stop where we waited about 10 minutes for our bus to come, and we were on our way back to the Fort. Once we got there we walked across to the parking lot and drove back up to our site. We all either showered or got changed, and then we spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out around the RV. Water parks can take a lot out of you, so we spent some time just resting, especially because we were planning on heading to Hollywood Studios after dinner. Mom made dinner around 5:30, and we ate outside around the picnic table. Once we got the dishes cleaned up and got our stuff together, we headed out for the bus stop! We were mainly going to HS just to ride Toy Story Mania a few times, so Mom decided to stay home and just relax. Travis was really tired as well, so he stayed back too. So it was just Dad, Sam and I, which was fine! By the time we waited for both buses and made the ride over to the park, it was around 6:15. We headed inside the park, where we headed straight for Toy Story Mania!
We didn’t have FastPasses or anything, so we just waited stand-by. The line ended up taking almost an hour and a half, which was a little longer than we expected, and slightly uncomfortable because someone threw up in the line. It was really okay though because we were just here to play! I rode with Sam the first time and got 225,300 which was a good start. Once we got off we headed right back around to ride a second time, and there was a little less of a wait now, probably about an hour. I rode with Dad this time, and we both did pretty well! I got 259,800. We went around a third time, and by now the wait was only 30 minutes, probably because people were getting ready for Fantasmic. By now the ride operators were recognizing us, which was funny. I rode by myself the third time around, and I got pretty good score, but not as good as before. It’s definitely harder to do better by yourself. It was pretty late now, around 9:30, and we were tired, so we packed it in and headed home. We all had a lot of fun, and we were glad that we came! We made it to the bus stop and waited around 10-15 minutes for a bus. We made it back to the Fort and to the RV, where everyone headed to bed. It had been a long day, but an incredible one! Tomorrow we planned on spending the day in Magic Kingdom!
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KathyM2
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2011
I love this...so awesome that you could go and JUST do TSMM! Once is never enough for this ride..and there is always such a long wait....glad you got 3 rides in though!!
DisneyFreak98
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2012
Yes, it was definitely nice! We were trying to make the most of every minute before we had to leave.
scooterca42
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Sep 6, 2013
Loving this whole tale - question, what camera/phone/tablet are you using for your pictures? Especially the firework ones - they're just amazing!
DisneyFreak98
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2012
Thank you! All of the pictures were taken with a Canon Rebel t3i
DisneyFreak98
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2012
We were up bright and early this morning because the Magic Kingdom was opening for 7:00am Early Magic Hours! We were up around 5:30 to get ready and pack our bags for the day. We left the RV and headed for the boat dock a little after 6:00, and once we got there it was just a few minutes before a Contemporary bus was there. We had a very nice ride over, and we made the short walk over to the park entrance. It was actually still dark outside, which was a new experience. It was very odd watching the opening show in the dark!
Once we counted down and opened the Kingdom for the day, we headed inside. It was literally so dark that if you didn’t know any better you would think it was night time. The castle was all lit up like it is at night and everything! We followed the crowd in the direction of Fantasyland so we could ride the Mine Train! It was a little more crowded than we thought it would be for 7:00 in the morning, but we still made it to the ride and only had to wait like 5 minutes. We had a great ride, and once we got off we headed across the way to ride Peter Pan next. It was still dark out, but you could tell the sun was starting to make its way up.
We had another minimal wait at Peter Pan, and it was great to get those popular attractions done with barely any waits. Once we were off the sun rise was happening, and it was a beautiful sight over Fantasyland.
Once we counted down and opened the Kingdom for the day, we headed inside. It was literally so dark that if you didn’t know any better you would think it was night time. The castle was all lit up like it is at night and everything! We followed the crowd in the direction of Fantasyland so we could ride the Mine Train! It was a little more crowded than we thought it would be for 7:00 in the morning, but we still made it to the ride and only had to wait like 5 minutes. We had a great ride, and once we got off we headed across the way to ride Peter Pan next. It was still dark out, but you could tell the sun was starting to make its way up.
We had another minimal wait at Peter Pan, and it was great to get those popular attractions done with barely any waits. Once we were off the sun rise was happening, and it was a beautiful sight over Fantasyland.
Our next stop was It’s a Small World, which was practically a walk-on, and after that we did the carousel and Little Mermaid, also with minimal waits. We were getting a ton done, so at this point we stopped to take a little break and have something to eat. Then our next stop was the circus, where we rode Dumbo and the Barnstormer, both with 5-10 minute waits. Once we were done at the circus it was around 9:00, so we decided we would go ride the teacups before heading back over to Main Street.
Today the Blue Angles would be flying over the castle, and we didn’t want to miss that! Today was also my first chance to see the spring trolley show, and I wanted to catch the Move It, Shake It parade/dance party thing too. So, we waited about 5 minutes for the teacups, had a great time, then headed on over to Main Street. We found a nice spot with a good view of the castle to watch the fly-over, which happened a little after 9:30. It was really incredible to watch, and something that we will definitely never forget.
Once that was over we headed a little further down main Street to catch the end of MiSi, which was really cute. We’ve heard the music playing and seen it going by before, but we had never stopped to watch it.
The trolley show didn’t start until 10:30, so we hung out in the hub grass and went inside the Emporium until it got closer. Around 10:15 we found a place to stand and watch the first part. My family was kind enough to wait for me to watch them dance all the way down Main Street, which they stop to do four times. While we were waiting for it to start, I noticed that one of the guys I usually see in the show was there to support his friends. He’s one of my favorite dancers, so of course I had to tell him so and say hi! His name is Thomas, and he was very nice. He was very flattered that I recognized him!
Soon the trolley rolled up and the show started, and it was incredible! I didn’t fall in love with it the same way I fell for the winter trolley, but I did think the spring outfits were prettier. It was an incredible show, and I was so glad I got to see it!
It was close to 11:00 when the show was over, and we decided to head over into Adventureland next. We decided to ride Jungle Cruise first, which we waited about 20-25 minutes for. We had a pretty funny skipper and a very good ride. After that we decided to go to the Tiki Room, and we waited about 10-15 minutes for the next show to start. After that we waited about 15 minutes for the Magic Carpets, which was lots of fun, and then we had to decide where to go from there.
Some people wanted to go home to take a little break and rest for a while before coming back a little later in the day. I, however, wanted to stay in order to meet a couple of characters because I had promised my friends back home that I would bring them back autographs from their favorite characters. So, Dad said he would stay and hang out with me while Mom, Sam, and Travis headed home to have lunch and rest for a while. Dad and I grabbed the backpack with our food in it and headed over to wait for Peter Pan first! Peter’s next meeting time wasn’t for an hour, but we were second in line to see him which was nice. We were able to sit in the shade and eat the sandwiches we packed for lunch, and we chatted a little bit with the other people waiting in line.
At 1:30 Peter made his appearance, and in just a minute it was our turn to meet him! He was very thrilled to sign a picture of himself, and he asked me if I had ever seen him up on stage in front of the castle. I told him that I had, and he said that next time I watch I should wave to him and he would wave back! We had a very nice meet, and I was glad I was able to get his signature for my friend.
The next character we went to see was Stitch, who was over in Tomorrowland. We only had to wait about 15 minutes to see him, which was nice because we had to wait out in the sun. Stitch was very sweet, and he was also very excited to sign a photo of himself!
Those were the only two characters I needed to meet today, so once we said goodbye to him we began to make our way out of the park to meet the rest of our family at home. We made it out and didn’t have to wait too long for the boat to arrive. It was a beautiful day, and we had a very nice ride back to the Fort. Once we got back we walked home to the RV, where everyone was just hanging out and resting. We joined them, and we just had a nice relaxing afternoon hanging out together.
Around 3:45 we started getting ready to head back to the park. We were going to get dinner tonight, so we didn’t have to carry as much stuff which was nice. Once we got all ready, we were back out the door around 4:00. We walked up to the boat dock, where we waited about 10 minutes for a boat to arrive. We had a nice ride back over to the Kingdom, and once we arrived we headed through bag check and straight into the park.
Our first stop was Tomorrowland, where we waited about 20 minutes to ride Buzz Lightyear. It was around 5:15 now, so we decided to go get dinner somewhere. The Tomorrowland Terrace restaurant was open, so we decided to go there. It was slightly crowded, so it took about 20 minutes to order and get our food, which really isn’t bad. We were able to find a place to sit, and we had a nice time sitting and eating together. I got the chicken alfredo, which honestly wasn’t that good. The sauce was very salty, and the huge pieces of chicken were tough and hard to eat.
We hadn’t gotten food here before, and nobody was too impressed with what they ordered. We still miss the Tomorrowland Noodle Station, which is the restaurant that used to be up there.
Once we were finished eating we decided to head over to Frontierland since we hadn’t been over there yet today. We went through Liberty Square to get there, and we decided to stop and ride Haunted Mansion while we were there. The wait was about 20 minutes, and we had a good spooky ride. Once we got off we went over and spent some time in the Haunted Mansion gist shop, Memento Mori. They have a ton of great merchandise in there, and all of the cast members really seemed to be into the “spooky” role. After we were done in there we made a quick stop at the Tangled bathrooms before continuing on.
We now continued on our way to Frontierland. We wanted to do Big Thunder and Splash Mountain, both of which had 30 minute waits. We decided to do Big Thunder first, and the wait time was pretty much accurate. We had a very nice ride on the back of the train, and once we got off we headed over to Splash. We waited around 25 minutes for this one, and we had another great ride - and we didn’t get drenched, which we were grateful for! While we were in Frontierland we decided to watch the Country Bear Jamboree. There was about 10 minutes until the next show started, so we sat inside until the doors opened. We had a lot of fun stomping our feet and clapping along with those silly bears. For some reason it didn’t seem to matter how many times we watched this show on this trip, but it never really got old.
It was a little after 8:30 now, and we were planning on seeing the 9:00 running of the Main Street Electrical Parade, so we decided to find a spot right there in Frontierland along the route. It really wasn’t crowded at all, so we had no trouble finding a spot. We had some time to kill, so we decided to run and get something to eat. We ended up getting a couple of Nutella waffle sandwiches from Sleepy Hollow to share. They were so, so good, but unfortunately they’re no longer sold there. So sad!
The parade was starting down at Main Street, so it didn’t end up getting to us until 15 or 20 minutes after 9:00, but we didn’t mind waiting. The parade was really great, and I love the soundtrack that goes along with it. The whole thing is so fun!
Once the parade was over we decided that we wanted to go over to Tomorrowland to ride Buzz and maybe the Peoplemover one more time before heading home. As we started making our way over there it started drizzling a little bit, but it was nothing too serious. By the time we got over to Tomorrowland it was raining a bit harder, but it still wasn’t that bad. We waited about 5-10 minutes for Buzz, which had such a short line because most people were getting ready for Wishes which was starting at 10:00 tonight. We had a great ride on Buzz, but when we got off we noticed that the gift shop was wicked crowded. As we made our way through the crowd towards the exit, we found out why - the light rain had turned into an all-out down pour!
It had rained several times since we had been in Florida, but even the Downtown Disney downpour back near the beginning of our trip didn’t compare to this. We tried hanging out in the gift shop to wait it out, but as more people kept getting off the ride it just kept getting more and more crowded. Eventually we just had to go, so we decided to run over to the Peoplemover. It had rained so much in such a short amount of time that the water must not have been able to drain properly, because Tomorrowland had practically turned into a lake! The water was ankle-deep in some places, and even the short walk from Buzz to the Peoplemover got us totally soaked! It was completely hilarious, and to this day we still sometimes bring up Lake Tomorrowland whenever it’s raining.
We were able to make it onto the Peoplemover, and it was great to just be able to sit and watch the rain as we rode around. They seemed to be having some trouble tonight though, because I swear the ride must have stopped every 3 minutes or so, usually for at least 5 minutes at a time. We really didn’t mind at all though, because we were having such a good time. We even got to see Wishes while we were on the ride! It was a completely memorable, magical night.
(You can sort of tell how bad the rain was in this one.)
Once we got off the rain had died down, but it was still going, plus everything was soaked. That included us, so we decided now would be a great time to head home. We started making our way out of the park in our soggy shoes and socks, and we were glad to make it to the boat dock. We waited about 10 minutes or our boat to come, and we had a slightly uncomfortable ride back to the Fort. Once we got there and made the short walk back to the RV, we were all glad to get changed into nice dry clothes. It was getting close to 11:00 now, so we all decided to head to bed. It had been a fantastic day, and tomorrow we would be heading to Epcot in the morning, then travelling to Hollywood Studios later in the day.
Once that was over we headed a little further down main Street to catch the end of MiSi, which was really cute. We’ve heard the music playing and seen it going by before, but we had never stopped to watch it.
The trolley show didn’t start until 10:30, so we hung out in the hub grass and went inside the Emporium until it got closer. Around 10:15 we found a place to stand and watch the first part. My family was kind enough to wait for me to watch them dance all the way down Main Street, which they stop to do four times. While we were waiting for it to start, I noticed that one of the guys I usually see in the show was there to support his friends. He’s one of my favorite dancers, so of course I had to tell him so and say hi! His name is Thomas, and he was very nice. He was very flattered that I recognized him!
Soon the trolley rolled up and the show started, and it was incredible! I didn’t fall in love with it the same way I fell for the winter trolley, but I did think the spring outfits were prettier. It was an incredible show, and I was so glad I got to see it!
It was close to 11:00 when the show was over, and we decided to head over into Adventureland next. We decided to ride Jungle Cruise first, which we waited about 20-25 minutes for. We had a pretty funny skipper and a very good ride. After that we decided to go to the Tiki Room, and we waited about 10-15 minutes for the next show to start. After that we waited about 15 minutes for the Magic Carpets, which was lots of fun, and then we had to decide where to go from there.
Some people wanted to go home to take a little break and rest for a while before coming back a little later in the day. I, however, wanted to stay in order to meet a couple of characters because I had promised my friends back home that I would bring them back autographs from their favorite characters. So, Dad said he would stay and hang out with me while Mom, Sam, and Travis headed home to have lunch and rest for a while. Dad and I grabbed the backpack with our food in it and headed over to wait for Peter Pan first! Peter’s next meeting time wasn’t for an hour, but we were second in line to see him which was nice. We were able to sit in the shade and eat the sandwiches we packed for lunch, and we chatted a little bit with the other people waiting in line.
At 1:30 Peter made his appearance, and in just a minute it was our turn to meet him! He was very thrilled to sign a picture of himself, and he asked me if I had ever seen him up on stage in front of the castle. I told him that I had, and he said that next time I watch I should wave to him and he would wave back! We had a very nice meet, and I was glad I was able to get his signature for my friend.
The next character we went to see was Stitch, who was over in Tomorrowland. We only had to wait about 15 minutes to see him, which was nice because we had to wait out in the sun. Stitch was very sweet, and he was also very excited to sign a photo of himself!
Those were the only two characters I needed to meet today, so once we said goodbye to him we began to make our way out of the park to meet the rest of our family at home. We made it out and didn’t have to wait too long for the boat to arrive. It was a beautiful day, and we had a very nice ride back to the Fort. Once we got back we walked home to the RV, where everyone was just hanging out and resting. We joined them, and we just had a nice relaxing afternoon hanging out together.
Around 3:45 we started getting ready to head back to the park. We were going to get dinner tonight, so we didn’t have to carry as much stuff which was nice. Once we got all ready, we were back out the door around 4:00. We walked up to the boat dock, where we waited about 10 minutes for a boat to arrive. We had a nice ride back over to the Kingdom, and once we arrived we headed through bag check and straight into the park.
Our first stop was Tomorrowland, where we waited about 20 minutes to ride Buzz Lightyear. It was around 5:15 now, so we decided to go get dinner somewhere. The Tomorrowland Terrace restaurant was open, so we decided to go there. It was slightly crowded, so it took about 20 minutes to order and get our food, which really isn’t bad. We were able to find a place to sit, and we had a nice time sitting and eating together. I got the chicken alfredo, which honestly wasn’t that good. The sauce was very salty, and the huge pieces of chicken were tough and hard to eat.
We hadn’t gotten food here before, and nobody was too impressed with what they ordered. We still miss the Tomorrowland Noodle Station, which is the restaurant that used to be up there.
Once we were finished eating we decided to head over to Frontierland since we hadn’t been over there yet today. We went through Liberty Square to get there, and we decided to stop and ride Haunted Mansion while we were there. The wait was about 20 minutes, and we had a good spooky ride. Once we got off we went over and spent some time in the Haunted Mansion gist shop, Memento Mori. They have a ton of great merchandise in there, and all of the cast members really seemed to be into the “spooky” role. After we were done in there we made a quick stop at the Tangled bathrooms before continuing on.
We now continued on our way to Frontierland. We wanted to do Big Thunder and Splash Mountain, both of which had 30 minute waits. We decided to do Big Thunder first, and the wait time was pretty much accurate. We had a very nice ride on the back of the train, and once we got off we headed over to Splash. We waited around 25 minutes for this one, and we had another great ride - and we didn’t get drenched, which we were grateful for! While we were in Frontierland we decided to watch the Country Bear Jamboree. There was about 10 minutes until the next show started, so we sat inside until the doors opened. We had a lot of fun stomping our feet and clapping along with those silly bears. For some reason it didn’t seem to matter how many times we watched this show on this trip, but it never really got old.
It was a little after 8:30 now, and we were planning on seeing the 9:00 running of the Main Street Electrical Parade, so we decided to find a spot right there in Frontierland along the route. It really wasn’t crowded at all, so we had no trouble finding a spot. We had some time to kill, so we decided to run and get something to eat. We ended up getting a couple of Nutella waffle sandwiches from Sleepy Hollow to share. They were so, so good, but unfortunately they’re no longer sold there. So sad!
The parade was starting down at Main Street, so it didn’t end up getting to us until 15 or 20 minutes after 9:00, but we didn’t mind waiting. The parade was really great, and I love the soundtrack that goes along with it. The whole thing is so fun!
Once the parade was over we decided that we wanted to go over to Tomorrowland to ride Buzz and maybe the Peoplemover one more time before heading home. As we started making our way over there it started drizzling a little bit, but it was nothing too serious. By the time we got over to Tomorrowland it was raining a bit harder, but it still wasn’t that bad. We waited about 5-10 minutes for Buzz, which had such a short line because most people were getting ready for Wishes which was starting at 10:00 tonight. We had a great ride on Buzz, but when we got off we noticed that the gift shop was wicked crowded. As we made our way through the crowd towards the exit, we found out why - the light rain had turned into an all-out down pour!
It had rained several times since we had been in Florida, but even the Downtown Disney downpour back near the beginning of our trip didn’t compare to this. We tried hanging out in the gift shop to wait it out, but as more people kept getting off the ride it just kept getting more and more crowded. Eventually we just had to go, so we decided to run over to the Peoplemover. It had rained so much in such a short amount of time that the water must not have been able to drain properly, because Tomorrowland had practically turned into a lake! The water was ankle-deep in some places, and even the short walk from Buzz to the Peoplemover got us totally soaked! It was completely hilarious, and to this day we still sometimes bring up Lake Tomorrowland whenever it’s raining.
We were able to make it onto the Peoplemover, and it was great to just be able to sit and watch the rain as we rode around. They seemed to be having some trouble tonight though, because I swear the ride must have stopped every 3 minutes or so, usually for at least 5 minutes at a time. We really didn’t mind at all though, because we were having such a good time. We even got to see Wishes while we were on the ride! It was a completely memorable, magical night.
(You can sort of tell how bad the rain was in this one.)
Once we got off the rain had died down, but it was still going, plus everything was soaked. That included us, so we decided now would be a great time to head home. We started making our way out of the park in our soggy shoes and socks, and we were glad to make it to the boat dock. We waited about 10 minutes or our boat to come, and we had a slightly uncomfortable ride back to the Fort. Once we got there and made the short walk back to the RV, we were all glad to get changed into nice dry clothes. It was getting close to 11:00 now, so we all decided to head to bed. It had been a fantastic day, and tomorrow we would be heading to Epcot in the morning, then travelling to Hollywood Studios later in the day.
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Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.
Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!
