~We Are Flying 1000 Miles to Run 13?!?-NEW TRIP REPORT LINK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[CAStevens218]

On to the trip's first visit to Magic Kingdom!!

We jumped on a bus from Pop Century and we were on our way! Our first mission when we arrived was to get a group picture in front of the train station...

Here we are!

This photographer was a lot of fun and also had us do the hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil pose, which came out really cute. Its only on the photopass though, so I don't have it.

As we were heading into the park, we stopped to organize ourselves and we saw a girl in the most inappropriate outfit I have ever seen at Disney. I took a picture, but I don't post it, I'll just describe it! She was wearing 6 inch leopard print heels, the tighest and shortest skirt I have ever seen, and a tight top that barely covered what a top is meant to cover. I was actually surprised nobody gave her any trouble about it coming in!

Anyway, on to the fun! Our first stop was familiy pictures with Mickey and Minnie! We hadn't seen the new Town Square Theater set up yet, so I was pretty excited! The wait time said 5 minutes, so we headed in.

The themeing in here is fabulous! Here is my brother trying to break into the safe...

Before we knew it, we were next! Of course, the group in front of us had about 10 people in it and wanted every individual and group shot possible, but it was our first full day and the line had been short, so it didn't really bother us!

Finally, it was our turn!

After this came the funny part! I need to tell the back story first...when we went as a family as kids, we went to eat at Chef Mickey's. We have a picture on the wall of our kitchen of my brother with Mickey in his chef outfit. He wanted another individual picture of him with just Mickey. I originally thought about making reservations for Chef Mickey's breakfast, but it is so expensive, so I talked it over with my brother and he agreed that a picture with Mickey in the park would be sufficient.

Now, the problem was that Minnie was here too! I told Dan to just pose with both of them and I would only get him and Mickey in the picture. However, my brother is not afraid to ask for what he wants, so he said, "Can I take a picture with just Mickey? I have one from 15 years ago I want to recreate..."

Minnie pretended to get mad and ran off to the side, and Mickey proudly posed with my brother...

Then, Minnie insisted on posing with him too! She was still upset...

This was a fun visit! Afterward, we headed back out and regrouped. Dad ran to use the bathroom, so I made the boys pose!

I love those toy soldiers!

Finally, we headed up Mainstreet and got our first glimpse of the castle. I was thrilled to see that the Christmas lights were still on!!

There was some knd of dance party going on...Move It, Shake It, Celebrate It maybe?

Our next mission was family pictures in front of the castle! Here is my favorite shot of the whole trip! The lighting was just perfect. Twilight is my absolute favorite time of day in the parks!

The photopass photographer who took that picture was a lot of fun. She did everything completely silently, just making gestures to tell us what to do. She was cute!

Ben took a shot me and my family next, and then Dan took one of Ben and me!

At this point, we regrouped to try to decide what to do next. We had two goals for the night. 1. Ride Big Thunder Mountain before it went down for refurb. 2. See the Main Street Electrical Parade. Dad's knee was hurting and Dan was pretty tired, so they weren't sure if they were going to stay to join us for everything, but we knew we wanted to get a few rides in!

The next pictures show that it got pretty dark from here, so I'm not sure how we got over to Liberty Square, but we did, haha! We may have taken the long way and toured through Tomorrowland and Fantasyland...but I know we didn't ride anything in either of those lands.

When we got over to the Liberty Square/Frontierland area, Dad stopped to get some popcorn at a kiosk, and I made Dan pose yet again...

From here, we headed to the Haunted Mansion!!

We had a really good time checking out all the new interactive features! I thought it was especially fun in the dark!!

Ben was using the flashlight feature on his phone here...it ended up helping with my picture!!

Here we are waiting in line! Excited for the first ride of the night!

Before we knew it, we were in the stretching room...

...and loading into our doom buggys!

I love this ride, so I knew I would enjoy it, but I was really hoping Dad and Dan would love it too! It turned out that they did! They were in the doom buggy behind Ben and me, and I could hear them laughing and having a great time! We all especially loved the hitch hiking ghosts at the end! Ben and I hadn't seen the changes yet, and Dad and Dan had no idea what to expect! Ben and I got the ghost on top of our doom buggy, and Dad and Dan got their heads switched, which was really cool!!!!!!!!

With our first ride of the night under our belts, we headed out for more adventure!

Up next...a fabulous dinner and more rides!!! And later...Main Street Electrical Parade and Wishes from a place we have never watched from before!

 

[jc040404]

OOohhh.. The Haunted Mansion stuff looks extra creepy in the dark. Love it! I'll have to see if I can talk Andrew into it though.

So where is that safe at the Mickey M&G and why have I never noticed it?? That is too awesome! Nifty pic!

Poor Minnie.. That was just adorable.

Yay for a new Wishes spot. Can't wait to see!!

 

[MelMel11]

Count me in!! That is awesome you and your dad were able to do the half marathon together.

 

[CAStevens218]

OOohhh.. The Haunted Mansion stuff looks extra creepy in the dark. Love it! I'll have to see if I can talk Andrew into it though.

So where is that safe at the Mickey M&G and why have I never noticed it?? That is too awesome! Nifty pic!

Poor Minnie.. That was just adorable.

Yay for a new Wishes spot. Can't wait to see!!

The Haunted Mansion was definitely cool in the dark! Maybe it will be easier for Andrew since he has seen it in the daylight?

The safe is along the wall before you enter the room with Mickey and Minnie...if I'm not mistaken!

Haha, I told Dan he was going to hurt Minnie's feelings but he was determined!

This will be the first of multiple Wishes viewings on this trip! But it was nice to watch from somewhere non-traditional (not Mainstreet).

Count me in!! That is awesome you and your dad were able to do the half marathon together.

Hoorayy, thanks for joining in!!!!! Running the half marathon with my dad was really special, I'm so thankful that we were able to do it!!!

 

[CAStevens218]

When we finished with the Haunted Mansion we decided it was time for dinner. I had planned on trying Columbia Harbor House, but it was already closed when we got there!?

At that point, I got nervous that all the quick service places would be closed, since Pinochhio Village Haus has also been closed when we went by earlier. However, we were happy to see Pecos Bill's open when we arrived! We jumped in line and we all quickly decided on our meals. Dad, Dan and I had taco salad and Ben had a burger. Let me tell you...I STILL think about that taco salad!! I'm not sure how much it has to do with the fact that I had ran 13.1 miles earlier that day and was absolutely starving, but it was so so sooo good!!!!!!! I added tons of cheese and veggies and salsa at the toppings bar...yumm!!!!!!!!!!

We grabbed a table outside and relaxed and enjoyed our meals. When we finished, we had time for a few more rides before the Main Street Electrical Parade. We made our way over to Pirates of the Caribbean next!

Getting down into the boat sure was tough! I was really starting to stiffen up from the race!

No time to dwell on it though....Big Thunder Mountain was waiting for us!!!!

Dad was pretty unsure about roller coasters, but we assured him that this one was pretty tame and the perfect starting point for him!

We had fastpasses, and we walked right onto our train!

Here we are, ready to ride!!!

This was our first time riding at night, and it was a lot of fun!!!!!! I got some really cool photos!

We were able to check out the dance party in the window that you can only see in the dark. I read about it in my hidden secrets book and was excited to finally see it!

Everyone enjoyed the ride, including Dad!!

At this point, it was time to grab a spot for the parade! Dad and Dan were pretty beat, so they decided to head back to the hotel while Ben and I stayed for the parade and fireworks.

We wanted to ride Splash Mountain after the parade and before the fireworks, so we decided to watch from the area near Splash Mountain. We started right at the very end of the bridge in front of Splash Mountain, right behind the rope, with Splash Mountain to our backs. However, a family with four little boys running around playing with toy guns and swords soon joined us. These kid were absolutely adorable and having a fabulous time and I had a blast watching them. BUT, we decided that a calmer area would suit us better to watch the parade, so we moved across the street.

We ended up directly across from the bridge that is in front of Splash Mountain, with our backs to the path to Adventureland and facing Splash Mountain. It is the very end of the parade route, so we had to wait for a bit, but it was very uncrowded and the perfect spot to get right on Splash after.

Our wait wasn't long, and before we knew it we were watching this:

This is my favorite float of the whole parade!!! I love Dopey and I think the gems are sooo pretty!

I really love this parade, but after seeing it on our last two trips, I'm ready for Spectromagic to come back!!! I'm hoping they make the change by our next trip!

I enjoyed the convenience and personal space that came with watching the parade from where we did...but there is just nothing like seeing it from Main Street with the castle as a back drop! I was okay with it because we had seen MSEP from Main Street on our last trip...but if/when Spectro comes back we will need to suffer through the crowds on Main Street to see it from there! I guess it is a give and take!

We were absolutely exhausted at this point, and I was feeling VERY sore! I was having a lot of trouble with every movement. However...I was in Disney World...and there was more fun to be had before we could call it a night!!!!!!

Up Next: Our final ride of the night and fireworks!!!!!

 

[jc040404]

BTMRR at night is one of my favorites! (Or used to be anyway!) I'm going to have to look up this secret window..?

I'm loving all of your pictures! I'm totally with you on that parade though. Bring back Spectro!!

Too bad CHH was closed!

 

[CAStevens218]

BTMRR at night is one of my favorites! (Or used to be anyway!) I'm going to have to look up this secret window..?

I'm loving all of your pictures! I'm totally with you on that parade though. Bring back Spectro!!

Too bad CHH was closed!

I'm sure you have probably seen the window! It was very easy to spot...I just knew about it from the book since I had never ridden at night before!

Don't worry, we will get to CHH before the trip is over!

 

[jc040404]

I'm sure you have probably seen the window! It was very easy to spot...I just knew about it from the book since I had never ridden at night before!

Don't worry, we will get to CHH before the trip is over!

Maybe I have.. but I still have no clue what window you're talking about! It's been soo long since Andrew and I used to ride this again and again at night. It kinda fell out of our routine the second year.

Glad you'll get to CHH! I hope you liked it. I feel like I've really built the place up sometimes.

 

[CAStevens218]

Maybe I have.. but I still have no clue what window you're talking about! It's been soo long since Andrew and I used to ride this again and again at night. It kinda fell out of our routine the second year.

Glad you'll get to CHH! I hope you liked it. I feel like I've really built the place up sometimes.

Its up on the left (?) towards the end...there are shadows of people dancing! Very cute!

We LOVED CHH!! Your build up was completely accurate!

 

[CAStevens218]

Alright, so in my last update, we had spent the evening at Magic Kingdom riding a few rides and having dinner. Dad and Dan went back to the hotel, and Ben and I stayed for the MSEP!

After the parade, we decided we had time for a quick ride before Wishes. I was itching to ride Splash Mountain, and quickly convinced Ben since it was a nice warm night, the wait was nonexistent, and we were standing right next to it!!

We crossed the bridge and headed through the empty line. Going up those stairs was tough with my sore hip and my blister! But, we made it, and soon we were climbing into our log!

We ended up riding with a terrible group of teenagers. They were loud and screamed and caused a scene the entire ride. I am all about having a good time, but this was over the top! In hindsight, we had heard them behind us the whole time we were walking through the line, and we should have pulled over and let them go, waiting enough to time to ensure that they would be on a log and gone by the time we got to the loading area. Oh well, we would ride again later in the trip!

I couldn't let it getto me too much, since soon we were visiting our friends from the Briar Patch!

I LOVE this ride! I love the whole story, and I love the fake drops, and I love that it is actually a pretty long ride! It was our first time riding at night, and the view from the top of the drop was spectacular!

We were sitting in the front, so we got pretty wet! Even though it wasn't a cold night by any means, it was chilly enough to make us a bit incomfortable!

I really wanted to stay for the fireworks though! My exhaustion was really starting to hit me...I had been up since 3:30AM and run 13 miles! We decided not to fight the crowds on Main Street and found a spot on the bridge in front of Splash Mountain where we could see the castle.

It was actually really nice to lean against the bridge and watch the fireworks without the crowd for once! It certainly isn't the ideal view, but it was nice for that moment! I knew we would get to watch from Main Street later in the trip anyway.

After the fireworks, we started to slowly make our way to the front of the park. We walked through Adventureland, and soon we could see this beautiful sight:

We finally made our way to the exit and got a bus back to Pop Century. When we got to the room, we found out that Dad and Dan hadn't moved fast enough, and had actually gotten trapped by the parade on their way out, so they got to see it anyway! We all relaxed and watched some tv...but I was asleep before I knew it!

I promise the next update will be much more exciting!!

Up next: I drag my family on my favorite ride...over and over and over again!!!!

 

[jc040404]

I can't believe you lasted this late! I know I wouldn't make it!

I've been in your Splash line situation soo many times and rarely step aside to let the noisy bunch ahead. Glad you still had a fun ride with all the noise! My first Splash ride was at night, but I don't think I kept my eyes open long enough to enjoy the view. That ride is sooo cute. I wish it had a drop-free version.

Lovin the pretty castle pics! Kinda wishin it was Christmas now, too.

Sounds like a fun ending to your loonnnggg day!

 

[CAStevens218]

I can't believe you lasted this late! I know I wouldn't make it!

I've been in your Splash line situation soo many times and rarely step aside to let the noisy bunch ahead. Glad you still had a fun ride with all the noise! My first Splash ride was at night, but I don't think I kept my eyes open long enough to enjoy the view. That ride is sooo cute. I wish it had a drop-free version.

Lovin the pretty castle pics! Kinda wishin it was Christmas now, too.

Sounds like a fun ending to your loonnnggg day!

I think I was just so excited to finally be there that adrenaline was keeping me alert!

Splash is so much fun! That group was pretty annoying, but I think it helped me to know I would have time to ride again later in the trip. If that was my only shot I would have been more annoyed! They even asked us to not put our arms up for the drop because they were going to buy the picture, and then we saw them at the end taking a picture with their phones and leaving!!!

I LOVE the castle at Christmas! The lights are spectacular!

I feel like I've been writing about this day for sooo long! I'm excited to get on to the next one!

 

[CAStevens218]

Finally, we are on to day three!! This was our full day at Hollywood Studios!

We were up fairly early because I wanted to be there for rope drop, but we were still getting used to how long it would take for four of us to get ready in one room, so we didn't leave as early as I hoped. When we got there, we found out it didn't matter because they had opened around 830AM anyway and we never would have made it! Oh well...

Today would be a bit of a challenge because it was Marathon day and there were a lot of road blocks set up to accommodate the runners. It was a lot of fun to see them running through the parks and cheer them on! We found out that they were around mile 20 or so at Hollywood Studios...almost there!

We stopped to watch and cheer for the runners for a minute or two outside the main gate, and then made our way inside.

Our first stop was Toy Story fastpasses, and trying to get there was our first experience with crossing through the race course. I must say, it was very well managed. They had two different paths for the runners, and they would open one at a time. When they closed one, they would let people cross to the middle of the two paths, then close the other one and let people finish crossing. It was all very quick and efficient!

We grabbed our Toy Story fastpasses and headed over to....

OF COURSE!

I didn't even give dad and Dan a minute to think about whether they wanted to do it or not, I just headed right up that path!!

I love when they have the wait time listed as 13 minutes!

There was quite literally nobody else in line. We were through the video and into our elevator before we knew it! For a minute it looked like we would get to ride alone, but then we were joined by a couple at the last second.

We had a fabulous time on our first ride...check it out! Can you even spot the girl from the couple that rode with us?!!? I don't think she liked it very much....

As you probably guessed if you have read anything I have written about my love for Tower of Terror in the past, I pulled my family right back up the path again!!!!

There was still almost no wait, and soon, we were doing this:

Aaaaaaaaand then we did it again....

As you can tell, I would have been happy to go around and around some more, but everyone else wanted to go try Rockin' Roller Coaster!! They are lucky that there is a ride almost equally as amazing as Tower of Terror right across the way, or it would be nearly impossible to pull me away!

Of course, I had to look back and snap this:

Pretty soon we were inside, and my dad and brother were getting their first glimpse of the launch of the coaster! They couldn't believe their eyes!!!! They weren't quite as green as Ben was the first time he saw it, but they had a little bit of a tinge going on!

We were quickly boarding our limo....and here we are speeding to the concert!

Everyone had an AMAZING time!! I KNEW they would love it! I told Dad that he was good to go for all Disney rides now...all that was really left to conquer was Everest, and if he could do Rockin' Roller Coaster he could do Everest!!

We would have gone again, but the wait times were climbing a bit, so we grabbed fastpasses and headed out of my favorite part of the park. As a side note, I'm fairly certain we had Tower of Terror fastpasses in hand at this point as well...I don't think I would leave the area without them!!!

Up next.....I kick you-know-what on Toy Story Mania!!

 

[jc040404]

Crazy woman!! I can't believe how happy and excited all of you look in these pictures. And you're not trying to hold onto anything?? I looked terrified trying not to fly off of the seat! I kinda hope Blake never wants to ride it, so I never have to do it again. I can't believe you did this three times in a row! How funny about the girl in that couple anyway. There's someone I can understand.

Glad everyone was having a great time! It sounds like things were running really well for the runners, which I wouldn't have expected. Can't wait to read about the rest of this day!

 

[dara00]

so the 1/2 isn't on the same day as the full marathon? I did not know that!

so if I loved rockin roller coaster I would like everest, huh? I have not been on that one yet!

 

[CAStevens218]

Crazy woman!! I can't believe how happy and excited all of you look in these pictures. And you're not trying to hold onto anything?? I looked terrified trying not to fly off of the seat! I kinda hope Blake never wants to ride it, so I never have to do it again. I can't believe you did this three times in a row! How funny about the girl in that couple anyway. There's someone I can understand.

Glad everyone was having a great time! It sounds like things were running really well for the runners, which I wouldn't have expected. Can't wait to read about the rest of this day!

We had a great time that morning! We have great memories of riding Tower of Terror when my brother and I were kids, so we were excited to ride it together again!! I think Blake seems like the kind of kid who will want to give Tower of Terror a shot eventually...better prepare yourself!!

Once I experienced how smoothly the half marathon went, I knew we wouldn't have a problem with the marathon. Disney definitely knows how to get it done right! The only thing that was tough was finding the way to cross sometimes, since there were dedicated spots. However, there were plenty of CMs around so you could always tell them where you were trying to go and they would point you in the right direction.

so the 1/2 isn't on the same day as the full marathon? I did not know that!

so if I loved rockin roller coaster I would like everest, huh? I have not been on that one yet!

The half marathon is on Saturday and the full marathon is on Sunday. I believe there is also a marathon relay on Sunday! Also, on Friday they have a 5K and a 1 mile fun run!

I definitely think you would love Everest if you loved Rockin' Roller coaster! Everest is a GREAT ride!!! One of my favorites! Go for it!!!!

 

[CAStevens218]

When I left off, my family had managed to drag me away from the Tower of Terror and we were headed toward Toy Story Mania! I knew everyone would really love playing this game, so I was excited!

We stopped and enjoyed the scenery along the way...

I think I may have mentioned this in the past, but Toy Story has a special place in my family's memories! My brother was a HUGE Toy Story fan, and my mom painted murals of all the characters on his bedroom walls. He had everyone from Buzz and Woody to Hamm and Slinky Dog. It was really very impressive!

Anyway, we all enjoy the scenery around Toy Story!

We had fastpasses, so we were moving through the line very quickly! I still have it on my "to-do" list to go through the stand-by line because we have never done it. I want to see Mr. Potato head and take my time to enjoy everything. I just can't figure out when to do it. I can't bring myself to use time when I could be riding Tower of Terror early in the morning, and I always say I'm going to do it at park closing some time, but we are always too tired by then. Oh well, maybe next time!

I won!!!

I'm not sure when I took this next picture...we either rode Tower of Terror again or we went to get more fastpasses....

Next, it was time for Star Tours! I don't love this ride because it makes me , but we hadn't been on since the refurb and Ben loves Star Wars, so we all got in line.

I wish I could tell you what story we got...but I don't have a clue. Not a big Star Wars fan here...sorry!

Up next....Mupper]t Vision!!!! I love this show and I think it is adorable, but I have to admit.....I may have dozed off for a moment in the middle! I was in a comfy seat, it was dark and it was tired!!!!!

My dad admitted to dozing off as well! Whoops!

After our nap, we headed over to Indiana Jones!

I was getting hungry, and a certain snack was calling my name. I left my family at the entrance to Indiana Jones and went over to the Writer's Stop for a carrot cake cookie!! I can't believe I didn't take a picture...this thing was HUGE!!! It definitely had some weight to it!

The Writer's Stop is so cute! I didn't get to spend much time looking around because I needed to run over to catch the show, but I will definitely be back next time!

There was a marathon crossing right in front of the Writer's Stop, and when I was leaving, I saw the very last marathon runner go by. She was definitely struggling, and the pacing car was just feet behind her. I still think about her...I hope she was able to finish!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I met back up with my family and we headed inside to find seats. Soon, the show was starting...

We really like this show, but it is definitely the best the first time you see it when you don't know about the stunt guy! The first time Ben and I saw it I laughed until I cried! Dad and Dan definitely got a kick out of it this time!

After Indiana Jones, Dad and Dan suggested some pool time at Pop. It was definitely a beautiful day, but Ben and I had never taken pool breaks before, so we were a bit skeptical. On the other hand, we had never had a trip with such nice warm weather, so we decided to give it a shot! We weren't sure if we would like being out of the parks, but we figured we would give it a try!

Up next: Find out if we loved or hated taking an afternoon break! Also, back to Hollywood Studios for a fun evening!!

 

[jc040404]

I've gotta try one of those cookies!

Isn't it adorable around TSM? You've gotta wander through standby sometime. It is cute in there, and the Potato Head is awesome.

How was Star Tours for you now? DH wants to try it, but I've decided it's probably still too wild for his stomach. I can't believe you're okay with Tower of Terror, but Star Tours made you sick!

Hope the pool break is a good thing!

 

[CAStevens218]

I've gotta try one of those cookies!

Isn't it adorable around TSM? You've gotta wander through standby sometime. It is cute in there, and the Potato Head is awesome.

How was Star Tours for you now? DH wants to try it, but I've decided it's probably still too wild for his stomach. I can't believe you're okay with Tower of Terror, but Star Tours made you sick!

Hope the pool break is a good thing!

Definitely try the cookie! It is soo good and sooo big! It was more than enough for all four of us to share!

Star Tours still make me sick....its something about the screens and movement that get me. Also, it was way too warm in there...they needed some air flow! Anyway, with the way you have described John, I wouldn't recommend it. I can handle it once, with a lot of deep breathing, but I definitely felt icky after.

 

[CAStevens218]

When I left off we were leaving Hollywood Studios to take an afternoon pool break at the request of my dad and brother. Ben and I had never done this before, so were skeptical about giving up park time!

We made it back to Pop Century and found the Hippy Dippy pool closed! The life guard told us the pump was broken, and it could be days before it was fixed!!!!! We were a little disappointed because this pool was very close to our room, but we got over it, changed, and made the walk over to the computer pool! This was the farthest away, but they had moved all the music and pool games to the bowling pin pool, and we figured if we weren't going to be close to the room, we at least wanted quiet!

We found a sunny spot and four lounge chairs...and as soon as I sat down all my doubts about afternoon breaks disappeared! This was amazing! I got comfortable and soaked in the glorious sunshine!

We spent about two hours that afternoon sunbathing and taking quick dips into the pool. It was a little chilly for swimming, but it was nice to get wet and then lay back in the sun! We chatted and laughed and napped and had a great time! I will never vacation without afternoon pool breaks again!

We stayed until the area was in the shade, and then packed up and started to make our way back to the room.

We took the long way and snapped some pictures as we walked.

We found the potato heads!

We loved this Big Wheel! Wouldn't it be cool if you could sit on it and take pictures?!!?

I love my brother sliding off the ball in the background of this one! 19 years old and acts like a 5 year old!!!!

We played around in this area for a while!

We finally made our way back to the Hippy Dippy pool area, and toward our room...

We all changed and got ready to go back to Hollywood Studios. I can't figure out what we did for dinner that night, but I know we didn't eat at Hollywood Studios, so we much have eaten in the food court.

We made our way to the bus stop and waited for a Hollywood Studios bus.

While we were at the bus top, my brother was wandering around and had one of those awkward, "Should we dance?" moments with a man and woman. I heard him say "Oh, excuse me sir!" very politely, and a few minutes later, I overheard the couple saying how polite he was and how they didn't expect it from the looks of him! I was so proud of my baby brother in that moment! He is a pain in my butt but he is a good guy!!

Anyway, we hung out at the bus stop for a while, and before we knew it we were on our way back to the park!

Up next...a fabulous evening at Hollywood Studios!!