A Solo Trip: "The Heartbeat of Freedom!" July 2-9, 2018! *COMPLETED 10/14/18*

Day 3: It’s The 4th Of July - “Someone Has Left The Shower Running!”

After spending over 7 hours at the American Adventure Pavilion, I figured it would be time to walk to Japan and have some dinner. So, I would get dinner at Katsura Grill.



I would order the chicken teriyaki dish that comes with a nice-sized chicken, a salad, and white rice. This is one of my favorite quick service dishes in EPCOT and around Walt Disney World property.



After dinner, I would walk all the way to the other side of World Showcase where I would get a spot in the fastpass viewing area for Illuminations. Since I knew a lot of my day would be spent at the American Adventure, I wanted to secure a good spot for Illuminations. So, I pre-planned my tier 1 fastpass to be for Illuminations on this day.

As I was sitting there, I would look to my left and there was this cloud. It didn’t look like any cloud. It looked like a heavy rain cloud heading right towards EPCOT and WDW.





The beginning of it would pass us, but no rain yet. You can see people were starting to take cover with ponchos.





With about 30 minutes until showtime, the skies would open.



I wasn’t leaving from my spot though even if this rain storm was actually on the “worse” side that I have seen in Orlando.

Also, in the words of the Enchanted Tiki Room…”Someone has left the shower running!!!”



All we want is a fireworks show, but at this point, Disney made the announcement that the show was delayed.



About 40 minutes into being delayed, we would get the announcement saying that the show would begin in 15 minutes!



The American Adventure looks beautiful when it is lit in red, white, and blue!





It was almost showtime! :)



More in my next post!
 


Day 3: It’s The 4th Of July - The Heartbeat Of Freedom Fireworks Finale!

It was finally time for Illuminations to begin!!! On the 4th of July, EPCOT still does the entire Illuminations show, but then they add a 5-minute fireworks tag at the end of the Illuminations show. So, eventually the 4th of July fireworks tag called the “The Heartbeat of Freedom” would begin!



Enjoy several pictures that I took of this amazing patriotic finale:









































Eventually we would get to the spot where the American Adventure Pavilion is the center of the show with fireworks shooting off behind it. However, due to the wind direction, the American Adventure was basically a ghost during this fireworks show.







It was then time for the fireworks finale that I have nicknamed, “The fireworks finale of DEATH!” You might understand this if you have seen this finale in person.















It was then time to make my way to the exit of EPCOT along with everyone else that was in this theme park since it was now closed for the night.



The Heartbeat of Freedom is absolutely amazing! I only wish the wind would have cooperated, but it was still a great firework show. It was definitely worth waiting longer due to the storm delay. I will always end up at EPCOT on any major holiday, because I think this park does the special holiday fireworks the best. The 360-degree fireworks finale is amazing at the Magic Kingdom, but nothing is like having fireworks explode right over your head and then have the potential of having the fireworks fall on you after the show. :D

There is a video of this 4th of July fireworks tag right below this post.

More in my next post!
 
VIDEO: The Heartbeat Of Freedom Fireworks Tag After Illuminations!!!

Here is a video of the 4th of July fireworks tag to Illuminations called The Heartbeat of Freedom! This is a spectacular fireworks finale. I have always enjoyed the special holiday fireworks more at EPCOT than at the Magic Kingdom, and this show definitely describes that well. I have nicknamed the finale of this show the “The fireworks finale of death.” You will understand that if you ever see this fireworks finale in person. :D

Make sure you watch the video in HD!

EPCOT - 4th of July - Heartbeat of Freedom Fireworks!


I hope that you enjoyed the video!

More in my next post!
 
Day 3: It's The 4th Of July - Celebrating Independence Day With Some Chocolate!

I would make my way towards the exit of EPCOT where Spaceship Earth was doing special 4th of July messages as we walked out!



I would get to the bus stop, and I got very lucky that a bus for Saratoga Springs was already there.

While I was on the bus, I was trying to think of a great way to extend my celebration of Independence Day. I would settle on walking to Disney Springs after I got back to my room to get some chocolate at Ghirardelli. I would really get spoiled by Ghirardelli being a 5 minute walk for me this entire stay.





I would arrive at Disney Springs and would eventually get to Ghirardelli!





A chocolate shake on the 4th of July…Yum! :)



I would then walk back to my room and get some rest after a very long but amazing day at Walt Disney World!



I would have a REALLY LONG day the next day. Day 4 would end up being a crazy day, and I still dread thinking about day 4 of this trip to Walt Disney World.

Stay tuned to see why I dread day 4 of my solo adventure to Walt Disney World!
 


I now see your trip report’s title is a namesake of the spectacular fireworks show! pixiedust: Thanks for the great video. That burst of crackles at the end....wow! Your 4th of July sounds like it was perfect. From Voices of Liberty to delicious dining to spectacular Illuminations and fireworks viewing. I am sure the storm that blew through wasn’t your favorite part, but I am so glad Didney decided “The show must go on,” even if a bit delayed. Oh....and then topping it off with the chocolate shake! Perfection!

I don’t like to think that day 4 was a day of dread for you. :( I hope there is a happy ending somewhere in the midst of it!

Sounds like you are currently enjoying a California Adventure. More great reading ahead!! :yay:
 
:rotfl2:Perfect description!
That storm was not fun, though.
Thank you. I almost named this trip report "The Heartbeat of Death."

Voices of Liberty videos = WOW!!! :love:
Thank you! They are incredible!

I now see your trip report’s title is a namesake of the spectacular fireworks show! pixiedust: Thanks for the great video. That burst of crackles at the end....wow! Your 4th of July sounds like it was perfect. From Voices of Liberty to delicious dining to spectacular Illuminations and fireworks viewing. I am sure the storm that blew through wasn’t your favorite part, but I am so glad Didney decided “The show must go on,” even if a bit delayed. Oh....and then topping it off with the chocolate shake! Perfection!

I don’t like to think that day 4 was a day of dread for you. :( I hope there is a happy ending somewhere in the midst of it!

Sounds like you are currently enjoying a California Adventure. More great reading ahead!! :yay:
- Spending any major holiday at Walt Disney World is incredible. The 4th of July is just one of those special ones since I get to see my favorite fireworks finale, get to hear many awesome performances by my favorite singing group, and enjoy the atmosphere. I always enjoy going to any Disney park on a holiday, because the atmosphere is so much fun. The storm might have hindered the "fun" aspect for a little bit though.

- Well, you will just have to keep reading to see/hear what happened. :D Day 4 is a day that I still talk about to several of my friends.

- I am on a California Adventure currently. So, it is difficult for me to get updates for this trip report up right now, but should continue later this week. I actually enjoy Disneyland a lot more than Walt Disney World since I grew up in CA. So, I just feel like I am "home" right now which is awesome.
 
Day 4: Stepping Into The Movies!!!

Hello everyone and welcome to Day 4 of my trip to Walt Disney World! This would end up being a very strange day and a day that I keep trying to forget. So, keep reading to hear what happened.

Due to the busy day the previous day, I would end up getting a later start than normal. I would leave Saratoga Springs in the late-morning, and I would make my way to Disney’s Hollywood Studios!



It was definitely a beautiful afternoon at Walt Disney World!



My first stop would be Toy Story Land since I had a fastpass for Toy Story Mania!



This would end up backfiring since the attraction was only running on the fastpass queue due to running on a 1/3rd of the capacity. So, it was going to be about a 40 minute wait for fastpass. I would eventually leave the attraction queue and the Cast Members were giving people that wanted to come back later a multiple experience fastpass.

So, I would use this time to experience Woody’s Lunchbox for the first time.



Woody’s Lunchbox is definitely a crowded area with about half the people sitting at tables that don’t even have food. So, for a food area that doesn’t have a lot of seating to begin with, this should not be allowed.



I would order the brisket sandwich with tater tots. I thought this was delicious and one of my favorite quick service meals in Disney’s Hollywood Studios in a long time. As someone who comes from a popular barbecue area, I wasn’t upset by this. I thought this was decent and very tasty. I just wish you got more tater tots with the meal.



I would then leave Toy Story Land and make my way to Rock N’ Rollercoaster to use one of my daily fastpasses.





It was then time for me to rest for a few minutes by seeing the Beauty and the Beast Musical.











It was time for my next fastpass of the day which was for Tower of Terror. Sadly, I would not get my own elevator this time.



I would then make my way back to Toy Story Land to finally use my fastpass for Toy Story Mania. The attraction was fully operating at this point so the fastpass queue was definitely quicker. The only negative to the fastpass queue is you can’t see Mr. Potato Head, but you can hear him.



I would get the best in vehicle score on Toy Story Mania! :)





I was getting very hot and sweaty at this point in the day, and I decided to do something that I haven’t done at Walt Disney World in a long time. That decision was head back to my resort to relax for a little bit.

So, I would make my way out of Disney’s Hollywood Studios and to the bus stop where I would make my way back to Saratoga Springs.

More in my next post!
 
Day 4: I Have “Seen It All!”

It is time for the update that all of you have been anxiously to read about what happened. So, get ready to buckle up and enjoy several rants and crazy stories in one post! :D

I would make my way back to Saratoga Springs where I decided to stop and get a non-alcoholic beverage at one of the pool bars. It’s basically a virgin strawberry daiquiri.



Story Time #1!

A little backstory:

...

I had been noticing a couple times on this trip that my guest room door wouldn’t shut all the way when I would leave my room for the day.



I would then arrive at my guest room where I noticed my key card wasn’t working when I placed my Magicband on the “opener” to open the door. It took me about 30 seconds to notice that my door was actually not fully closed which scared me A LOT.

I would quickly open the door and make sure that I hadn’t lost anything in my room like electronics and merchandise. With my luck, everything seemed to be ok, and I had all of my personal belongings still in the room.

I would then notice that housekeeping had been in the room to take out the trash so I immediately pinpointed the issue to them. So, onto the phone I went.

I would call the housekeeping manager and they assured to me that this issue wouldn’t happen again, and they were very sorry for the inconvenience. They also said they would have a maintenance person come up to the room to check the door.

So, instead of going swimming, I was waiting for maintenance to come to the room.

About 30 minutes would go by before maintenance would come by. The Cast Member started testing out the door and then told me to help him close the door with him outside.

I would actually not have any MagicBand on to reopen the door, but I figured he would be able to open the door.

So, as I shut the door, I decided to step outside as well to explain how far open the door was. Of course, the door would cooperate in front of the maintenance guy.

Now, this is where things got real interesting…

The Cast Member would go up to the point where he would try to open the door with his key. This is when the key reader decided to stop working. So, I was stuck outside my guest room with Terry the Maintenance Guy in the hot, humid Florida heat. So, I really got to know Terry for about 15 minutes while we waited for a Cast Member from the front desk to make there way to my guest room with a master key to let me back in. We would talk sports and Disney while we waited which made the time go by quicker.

So, now I had a door issue and a key reader issue.

The front desk Cast Member would eventually arrive, and I was able to get back in the air conditioning. Terry the Maintenance Guy would then fix the key reader, and then he told me he would be back later to work on the door.

So, that was a slight inconvenience to my day, but rather humorous now that I think about it.

End of story #1! :)

Since I would spend a lot longer in the resort room than planned, I didn’t have enough time to go swimming before my next plans for the evening. So, I decided to go straight to the bus stop and head to my favorite of the 4 Walt Disney World Theme Parks which is Disney’s Animal Kingdom!



I decided to have dinner at Nomad Lounge which is one of my favorite places to rest and eat on Disney property.







I would get my favorite non-alcoholic drink on Disney property which is the Hibiscus Henna.



I would get the ribs as my small plate entree which was delicious.



I would then get the churros for dessert which are also very good. I prefer the white dipping sauce which I think is vanilla than the red dipping sauce, but both are very good.



Story Time #2!

While I was eating at Nomad Lounge, this was probably the worst experience I have ever had at this place. That was mostly due to the waiter that I had.

The waiter would come up to me and basically say “What do you want?” No formal greeting. I would order. He would come back and say, “Is everything ok.” He would bring the food and not say anything. He would come by again and ask if everything was fine. Then he would bring the check.

During this entire time, I saw how he interacted with other guests and he had a lot longer conversations with them. I don’t know if it was because I was alone or what, but he was not giving me the time of day.

Lets just say that this is the first time EVER that I have considered not even tipping, but I still did tip the guy since he was probably having a rough day or something.

So, hopefully I will have a better experience at Nomad Lounge on another trip.

End of story #2! :)

After Nomad Lounge, I didn’t have any plans in Pandora, but I decided to walk into the land anyways.

I would get a great picture of the floating mountains with the sunset.











I would also take a photopass photo inside Pandora:



After walking around the land, I would make my way to Africa where I would experience one of the best parties ever. That is because Burudika were performing and they definitely know how to throw a party in Africa!



A storm was definitely on its way!



So, I would get in the stand-by queue for Kilimanjaro Safari. It was over an hour wait, but I had no idea what to do. So, i figured a sunset/evening safari would be fun since I hadn’t done one of those in a while.

While I was waiting in line, I decided to go on a hunt for fastpasses for the safari since the stand-by queue wasn’t moving. As I was refreshing the My Disney Experience App about 10 times, I hit the jackpot. I was able to receive a Flight of Passage fastpass for 30 minutes from that point!

So, that was an easy pick-up, and I left the Safari queue where I would enjoy Burudika again until my fastpass became available.

Next thing I know, it was time to make my way back to Pandora to ride Flight of Passage!





As I exited Flight of Passage, it looked like a waterfall. That is because the storm finally decided to hit. So, I would get my poncho on and head to my next destination.

As I was in line for Flight of Passage, I was able to pick-up an evening fastpass for the Safari.

Story time #3!

As I was in the fastpass queue for the Kilimanjaro Safari, I was really enjoying the African music that they play. That is until I started to hear rap music from a distance.

As the fastpass queue kept moving, I eventually figured out what I was hearing. It was a someone in a group from a foreign country holding a portable speaker absolutely blaring rap music with about 1,000 cuss words around families with little kids and people like me that don’t want to hear rap music when I should be listening to African music.

Now, I was able to start hearing this persons speaker from about 25 yards away and I was able to hear it for a good distance after I passed them.

This is absolutely RUDE behavior and definitely a person that “doesn’t care about other people around them.”

Lets just say that I would finally get up to the stroller Cast Members and complain. At this point, one of them said that they would go talk to them. So, it sounds like I wasn’t the only one that complained.

What I don’t understand is how did anyone in the persons party think that this was ok behavior? Definitely rude, and I was really starting to think that this wasn’t my type of day at Disney.

End of story #3. :)

So, I would finally arrive to the Safari.



Evening safaris are definitely dark, but it is an unique experience.









My safari vehicle would also get treated to the hearing the lions roar while on our safari. This was really cool, because they were active by playing with each other as well. This would be the 2nd time I have ever heard the lions roar while on the safari. I have audio posted below if you would like to listen.

After the safari, I would make my way on the backside of the Tree of Life where I noticed that they are now showing projections on this side of the tree which is really cool.



It was time to experience my favorite ride at Walt Disney World at night which is Expedition Everest!





I would actually ride this attraction while it was raining. It was definitely a fun experience, but as I was riding, it was really hard to wonder “why” I was actually riding a rollercoaster in the rain.



Story Time #4!

This is the story that just tops it all.

After riding Expedition Everest, I would exit the ride and wait for our pictures to pop up.

As I was waiting about 15 seconds for our train pictures to post, another guest yelled to his friend, “Hey (so-and-so)! Look at this picture!” Of course, when someone yells it and points at the picture, everyone looks at it.

It turns out a Cast Member forgot to censor a photo.

The photo featured 2 women flashing the camera. I can now say that I have officially “seen it all” at Walt Disney World.

So, you can imagine how I was feeling at this point in the day.

I would grab a manager and let them know of the situation and that this photo was now out there in the world. The manager was really sorry and also surprised that this even happened. So, I was ready for this day to be over at this point.

End of story #4. :)

The 2nd showing of Rivers of Light was coming up, and I decided to watch the show. Rivers of Light was not crowded at all due to the rain.









Eventually the show would begin. :)



Rivers of Light was definitely a great show, but due to the rain, they didn’t have the performers on the boats. So, basically it was just watching water screens and a bunch of things floating in the water.

The rain would finally start to stop as I was leaving the park so I would take a moment and watch one of the Tree of Life Awakenings.



I would then make my way to the exit where I was really needing some positivity. So, I would take the bus back to my resort.

However, instead of going to my room, I would make my way to Ghirardelli at Disney Springs and get some chocolate. I was really needing a boost to my day.



This was definitely an amusing day at Walt Disney World, and I was ready for some rest.



So, I would make my way to my room where I was ready to get some rest.

It is very rare to have a negative experience at Walt Disney World, but I just found it
appalling that I would have 4 negative experiences in one day. So, I was really hoping that Day 5 would be a much better day for me.

More in my next post!
 
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VIDEOS: Burudika At Animal Kingdom!

Here are videos of the awesome band at Disney’s Animal Kingdom called Burudika! They definitely know how to throw on a party in Africa!

Make sure you watch my videos in HD.

Burudika Song #1!


Burudika Song #2!


Burudika Song #3!


I hope that you enjoyed the videos!

More in my next post!
 
VIDEO: Lions Roaring On The Safari (Audio)!

Here is a video of the lions roaring while on an evening safari at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Please note that this video is mostly only audio due to the focus not working on my phone, as well as, it being to dark outside.

Lions Roaring At Disney’s Animal Kingdom!


I hope that you enjoyed the video!

Stay tuned to see what happened next on my solo adventure to Walt Disney World and to see if Day 5 was better for me!
 
We were getting closer and closer to showtime and we were definitely building up with excitement! The crowd was also getting larger and larger.
Do they ever reach capacity in the building, so no one else can come in?

The special thing is called their “Echo sets.”
You mean Ghost Singers?

Eventually we would get to the spot where the American Adventure Pavilion is the center of the show with fireworks shooting off behind it. However, due to the wind direction, the American Adventure was basically a ghost during this fireworks show.

I had a similar thing happen at DLP - it was raining during the fireworks, so the wind and atmosphere changed and the smoke just hung around lower to the ground around the castle. There was a portion when I could tell they were trying to do a projection on the castle, but in my area we couldn't see it at all!
 
Do they ever reach capacity in the building, so no one else can come in?


You mean Ghost Singers?


I had a similar thing happen at DLP - it was raining during the fireworks, so the wind and atmosphere changed and the smoke just hung around lower to the ground around the castle. There was a portion when I could tell they were trying to do a projection on the castle, but in my area we couldn't see it at all!
- I have never heard of that happening.

- If that is what you want to call it, then sure. :D

- It was like it was a ghost building! :D At least I was still able to see the fireworks above the smoke.
 
Wow! Now I see what you meant about this dreaded 4th day.

A series of unfortunate events....

I know mechanical malfunctions and delays happen here and there, not fun, and definitely frustrating, but....

The blaring music? Who thinks to bring a portable speaker into such a public venue...and to play vulgar music in a family environment? Bizarre and yes, rude.

And the ladies flashing. Really? What is wrong with people? Cannot even imagine!

You deserved that chocolate shake!!!

I look forward to listening to/ watching your videos later when I have a chance. So cool you heard the lions!! And congrats on the FoP fastpass find, too.
 
Wow! Now I see what you meant about this dreaded 4th day.

A series of unfortunate events....

I know mechanical malfunctions and delays happen here and there, not fun, and definitely frustrating, but....

The blaring music? Who thinks to bring a portable speaker into such a public venue...and to play vulgar music in a family environment? Bizarre and yes, rude.

And the ladies flashing. Really? What is wrong with people? Cannot even imagine!

You deserved that chocolate shake!!!

I look forward to listening to/ watching your videos later when I have a chance. So cool you heard the lions!! And congrats on the FoP fastpass find, too.
It was just a very strange day filled with a lot of unfortunate events and rude people. I hope I don't have another day at any Disney Theme Park like the one I had on this day.

I'm not done with "stories" from this trip so stay tuned.
 
This is the story that just tops it all.

After riding Expedition Everest, I would exit the ride and wait for our pictures to pop up.

As I was waiting about 15 seconds for our train pictures to post, another guest yelled to his friend, “Hey (so-and-so)! Look at this picture!” Of course, when someone yells it and points at the picture, everyone looks at it.

It turns out a Cast Member forgot to censor a photo.

The photo featured 2 women flashing the camera. I can now say that I have officially “seen it all” at Walt Disney World.

So, you can imagine how I was feeling at this point in the day.

I would grab a manager and let them know of the situation and that this photo was now out there in the world. The manager was really sorry and also surprised that this even happened. So, I was ready for this day to be over at this point.

Interesting, usually they are on top of the ride photo stuff. I myself witnessed this on Space Mountain a few years back.

You say you've seen it all at WDW but I am sure something else will surprise you on a future trip ;)
 

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