"This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things": Aggie Girls Take on the World **UPDATE 07/27**
- Thread starter aggieabby20
- Start date
Newsies
Headlines don't sell papes.
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2013
All caught up!
It looks like you guys had an AMAZING first day. You guys got so much stuff done, especially with it being Thanksgiving week!
All of your pictures are so pretty and I love the way you write this TR! I can tell you're such a fun and positive person!
It looks like you guys had an AMAZING first day. You guys got so much stuff done, especially with it being Thanksgiving week!
All of your pictures are so pretty and I love the way you write this TR! I can tell you're such a fun and positive person!
aggieabby20
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- May 9, 2018
Since we "slept in" the morning before, we had to make up for our lost time and gain back our pride, so our next day was an early morning! We just made rope drop at:
Animal Kingdom!!
DAK is my number one favorite park. I love animals so much, so that's a given. Beyond that, I've always felt like I shared a special connection to DAK because we share the same birth year! DAK was opened in 1998...and so was my life
DAK just turned 20 a couple weeks ago, and I turn 20 in just a few months! DAK is also home to my top three favorite attractions, so what's not to love?
Since we were running on a little less sleep than normal (well--not "normal" for us college kids. We pull all nighters every week...and sometimes just for fun!!
), we decided that coffee was our priority. We did not even make it into the park before loading up on caffeine at Joffrey's!
I also got a donut! I'll admit that it looked a lot better than it tasted. Also, I would like to go ahead and make that statement that I really do not have explanations for a lot of my pictures. This trip was several months ago...and also I kind of bounce all over the place, brain-wise. So, for example, maybe in this moment I had a justified reasoning for a donut photoshoot. But, as I look through my photos...nothing comes to mind. So enjoy these donut pictures that probably had a story behind them, but now just exist to confuse me.
Real time: we are indeed a normal, real family. And we do indeed have normal, real spiffs...even in the most magical place on Earth.
One particular point of conflict for my family is how we pose for pictures. Family pictures just always seem to be awkward for us because no one wants to be on the end and my bother doesn't know where to put his arms and my mo always turns inward and I always get too close and my dad always stands too far and blah blah blah. At this moment, our thoughts on family pictures simultaneously combusted and, so, there is a loooooot of emotion being concealed in this photo, lemme tell ya.
I'm looking through my pictures and trying, once again, to recall a moment of reasoning...to no avail. Anyway, for some unbeknownst reason, we headed straight for it's tough to be a bug. Why we would choose WDW's arguably worst attraction ever to start our day in the best park I do not know.
(Sorry of the strong opinion, but ITTBAB has terrified me my whole life and never won't. In fact, I have never ever sat far enough back in my seat to feel the wasps. I do not like real wasps. Why would I choose to experience fake ones? Sorry but I will just never enjoy this show
On the other hand, the Pollinators song gets stuck in my head for hours, so that's a fun takeaway, if we're trying really hard to find one??)
My dad and I take this picture every year! Obviously, one of us is much more comfortable with his hand up a gorilla's nostril...interesting...(lookin' at you, Dad!!)
We took some pics with the Tree of Life next!
Attempt #3 at the Canon selfie. (They only get worse, people.)
We headed over to Flights of Wonder after this! Soapbox: I'm really upset with the changes that this recently underwent. I love UP with all of my heart, but I liked the fact that this show was bereft of characters and was all about the animals. Plus, I think UP already has enough of a presence in DAK with the Wilderness Explorer stations and such. But, that's just me. I have not watched it in person, yet, so hopefully my mind will be changed once I experience it myself!
We boogied over to Pandora to catch our Na'vi River Journey fast passes! First off: WOW. After so many trips of construction and wonder, Pandora is HERE and oh-so-worth-the-wait. It will never not amaze me what Disney can do to transform the Orlando environment. Well done, Imagineers. WELL. DONE.
After this, we grabbed some lunch (my family at Flame Tree BBQ and the girls at Yak & Yeti Local Foods Cafe) and duck-watched for a bit in the courtyard by Flame Tree. Then, we made our way to Finding Nemo: the Musical!
I'm a big musical buff, so this is one of my favorites. I can quote the entire show line by line without missing a beat. I try my very hardest to stay (almost) silent the whole show, though.
Around this time, it was realllllly starting to heat up, so we were happy to find shade (AND FANS) in the queue.
Olive showing off her button (which she still has on her backpack)!!
In typical Abigail fashion, I put my hadn't right in some bird poop! I don't go looking for these things, I swear.
(to be continued!!)
Animal Kingdom!!
DAK is my number one favorite park. I love animals so much, so that's a given. Beyond that, I've always felt like I shared a special connection to DAK because we share the same birth year! DAK was opened in 1998...and so was my life
DAK just turned 20 a couple weeks ago, and I turn 20 in just a few months! DAK is also home to my top three favorite attractions, so what's not to love?Since we were running on a little less sleep than normal (well--not "normal" for us college kids. We pull all nighters every week...and sometimes just for fun!!
), we decided that coffee was our priority. We did not even make it into the park before loading up on caffeine at Joffrey's!I also got a donut! I'll admit that it looked a lot better than it tasted. Also, I would like to go ahead and make that statement that I really do not have explanations for a lot of my pictures. This trip was several months ago...and also I kind of bounce all over the place, brain-wise. So, for example, maybe in this moment I had a justified reasoning for a donut photoshoot. But, as I look through my photos...nothing comes to mind. So enjoy these donut pictures that probably had a story behind them, but now just exist to confuse me.
Real time: we are indeed a normal, real family. And we do indeed have normal, real spiffs...even in the most magical place on Earth.
One particular point of conflict for my family is how we pose for pictures. Family pictures just always seem to be awkward for us because no one wants to be on the end and my bother doesn't know where to put his arms and my mo always turns inward and I always get too close and my dad always stands too far and blah blah blah. At this moment, our thoughts on family pictures simultaneously combusted and, so, there is a loooooot of emotion being concealed in this photo, lemme tell ya. I'm looking through my pictures and trying, once again, to recall a moment of reasoning...to no avail. Anyway, for some unbeknownst reason, we headed straight for it's tough to be a bug. Why we would choose WDW's arguably worst attraction ever to start our day in the best park I do not know.
(Sorry of the strong opinion, but ITTBAB has terrified me my whole life and never won't. In fact, I have never ever sat far enough back in my seat to feel the wasps. I do not like real wasps. Why would I choose to experience fake ones? Sorry but I will just never enjoy this show
On the other hand, the Pollinators song gets stuck in my head for hours, so that's a fun takeaway, if we're trying really hard to find one??)My dad and I take this picture every year! Obviously, one of us is much more comfortable with his hand up a gorilla's nostril...interesting...(lookin' at you, Dad!!)
We took some pics with the Tree of Life next!
Attempt #3 at the Canon selfie. (They only get worse, people.)
We headed over to Flights of Wonder after this! Soapbox: I'm really upset with the changes that this recently underwent. I love UP with all of my heart, but I liked the fact that this show was bereft of characters and was all about the animals. Plus, I think UP already has enough of a presence in DAK with the Wilderness Explorer stations and such. But, that's just me. I have not watched it in person, yet, so hopefully my mind will be changed once I experience it myself!
We boogied over to Pandora to catch our Na'vi River Journey fast passes! First off: WOW. After so many trips of construction and wonder, Pandora is HERE and oh-so-worth-the-wait. It will never not amaze me what Disney can do to transform the Orlando environment. Well done, Imagineers. WELL. DONE.
After this, we grabbed some lunch (my family at Flame Tree BBQ and the girls at Yak & Yeti Local Foods Cafe) and duck-watched for a bit in the courtyard by Flame Tree. Then, we made our way to Finding Nemo: the Musical!
I'm a big musical buff, so this is one of my favorites. I can quote the entire show line by line without missing a beat. I try my very hardest to stay (almost) silent the whole show, though.
Around this time, it was realllllly starting to heat up, so we were happy to find shade (AND FANS) in the queue.
Olive showing off her button (which she still has on her backpack)!!
In typical Abigail fashion, I put my hadn't right in some bird poop! I don't go looking for these things, I swear.
(to be continued!!)
aggieabby20
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- May 9, 2018
Looks like such a fund adventure is in store. Looking forward to reading along. And when your brother gets to college, 3 years isn't a big deal. Maybe Olive will be your SIL one day
Thank you!! And you're right, I'm keeping my fingers crossed
We had so so much fun on this trip, that's for sure!
Newsies
Headlines don't sell papes.
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2013
IDK why, but I always really dig photos with Joffey's coffee and those giant donuts. They always come out so beautiful and colorful and fun, and yours are no exception!
All of your ITTBAB photos are so funny omg I love the gorilla pic
Totally agree with your Soapbox, FoW was a classic.
I'm so glad you liked Pandora!
I LOVE FINDING NEMO!!! It's my favorite show in Disney World and I'm so glad you can recite it line by line!!! Go with the flow = TRULY the king of BOPS
All of your ITTBAB photos are so funny omg I love the gorilla pic
Totally agree with your Soapbox, FoW was a classic.
I'm so glad you liked Pandora!
I LOVE FINDING NEMO!!! It's my favorite show in Disney World and I'm so glad you can recite it line by line!!! Go with the flow = TRULY the king of BOPS
aggieabby20
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- May 9, 2018
Next, we hopped over to our fastpass for EVEREST!! I love Everest, but I am terrified of heights, so the first little trek up the mountain makes me want to die every time (if you have not figured out by no...I'm a thrill ride wimp. I end up loving them when I make myself get on, but it takes some convincing to make me try things!)
Stef and Olive had never ridden Expedition Everest, so this was a really fun experience! I did not tell them about the whole backwards part or the lack of tracks
Here is where part of our trip title comes in! The new Taylor Swift album had dropped right before our trip, so we listened to it the whole flight up and blasted it on the golf cart every night and morning! Our favorite song is This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, and we would quote it every in every possible moment.
"Let's run, guys!!!! We only have five minutes to get to our fastpass!"
"This is why we can't have nice things!"
"The wait for Space Mountain is two hours!"
"This is why we can't have nice things!"
So, when we got to the pace the Yeti has ripped the tracks, Olive looked at me in fear and said, "IS IT ALWAYS LIKE THIS???" So, of course, I replied with:
"This is why we can't have nice things!"
Next up was Dinosaur!! As I mentioned in my intro, since the first time I rode this ride and got scared straight, I have never again opened my eyes at the ending.
One of these days!!
We went and rode Kilimanjaro Safaris after this! This is my number one favorite attraction AND my dream job. I'll be applying for the Disney College Program within the next year, and crossing my fingers to be accepted into Attractions. If I somehow got Kilimanjaro, I would probably die. So stay tuned and say some prayers for that little dream to (somehow) come true.
We did some shopping around Africa after this and joined in the African dance party.
I went to Kenya this past summer and absolutely fell in love with the country and entire continent of Africa!!
We had a pretty early reservation set for Cape May Cafe,s o we headed on out of DAK to catch the bus to the Beach Club!
I love love love all of the Christmas decorations in the resorts! This carousel was completely made out of chocolate and gingerbread!!!!!
As we shopped around the gift shop, we found a bag of bagels. Random story on this: our freshmen year of college, Olive, Stef, and I went on a mission rip. W stayed up way too late goofing around and keeping everyone else awake so our leaders finally forced us to go to the bunk room!! When I finally went to sleep, I had a dream about bagels, and in the dream, everyone was cheering, "B-A-G-L-E-S!!! Bagles!! Bagles!! Go bagles go!" So, I shared this story with the other girls and we started to cheer it for WEEKS...until one day, we realized we had been spelling bagels wrong all along. So, thus, our connection to bagels (or bagles) was born.
Honestly, I don't know. College gets weird.
We made our way to Cape May and beat our crab record! We've hit up CMC our past four or five trips and every time we think we have reached our ultimate food wall...yet we somehow end up pushing it even farther.
We rolled (literally) out of Cape May and walked down the dock toward the boat. The Boardwalk is so dang pretty at night, I love it.
Another great attempt at a selfie!!!
We hopped the boat to Hollywood Studios and then hopped a bus back to FW!!
Once we got back to our cabin, we decided to go watch the fireworks from the beach at our resort. Blake, Stef, Olive, and I hopped on the golf cart (Taylor Swift blasting, of course!!) and boogied down to the beach to catch Happily Ever After! It's not Wishes....but it's still pretty incredible.
Stef and Olive had never ridden Expedition Everest, so this was a really fun experience! I did not tell them about the whole backwards part or the lack of tracks
Here is where part of our trip title comes in! The new Taylor Swift album had dropped right before our trip, so we listened to it the whole flight up and blasted it on the golf cart every night and morning! Our favorite song is This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, and we would quote it every in every possible moment.
"Let's run, guys!!!! We only have five minutes to get to our fastpass!"
"This is why we can't have nice things!"
"The wait for Space Mountain is two hours!"
"This is why we can't have nice things!"
So, when we got to the pace the Yeti has ripped the tracks, Olive looked at me in fear and said, "IS IT ALWAYS LIKE THIS???" So, of course, I replied with:
"This is why we can't have nice things!"
Next up was Dinosaur!! As I mentioned in my intro, since the first time I rode this ride and got scared straight, I have never again opened my eyes at the ending.
One of these days!!We went and rode Kilimanjaro Safaris after this! This is my number one favorite attraction AND my dream job. I'll be applying for the Disney College Program within the next year, and crossing my fingers to be accepted into Attractions. If I somehow got Kilimanjaro, I would probably die. So stay tuned and say some prayers for that little dream to (somehow) come true.
We did some shopping around Africa after this and joined in the African dance party.
I went to Kenya this past summer and absolutely fell in love with the country and entire continent of Africa!!
We had a pretty early reservation set for Cape May Cafe,s o we headed on out of DAK to catch the bus to the Beach Club!
I love love love all of the Christmas decorations in the resorts! This carousel was completely made out of chocolate and gingerbread!!!!!
As we shopped around the gift shop, we found a bag of bagels. Random story on this: our freshmen year of college, Olive, Stef, and I went on a mission rip. W stayed up way too late goofing around and keeping everyone else awake so our leaders finally forced us to go to the bunk room!! When I finally went to sleep, I had a dream about bagels, and in the dream, everyone was cheering, "B-A-G-L-E-S!!! Bagles!! Bagles!! Go bagles go!" So, I shared this story with the other girls and we started to cheer it for WEEKS...until one day, we realized we had been spelling bagels wrong all along. So, thus, our connection to bagels (or bagles) was born.
Honestly, I don't know. College gets weird.We made our way to Cape May and beat our crab record! We've hit up CMC our past four or five trips and every time we think we have reached our ultimate food wall...yet we somehow end up pushing it even farther.
We rolled (literally) out of Cape May and walked down the dock toward the boat. The Boardwalk is so dang pretty at night, I love it.
Another great attempt at a selfie!!!
We hopped the boat to Hollywood Studios and then hopped a bus back to FW!!
Once we got back to our cabin, we decided to go watch the fireworks from the beach at our resort. Blake, Stef, Olive, and I hopped on the golf cart (Taylor Swift blasting, of course!!) and boogied down to the beach to catch Happily Ever After! It's not Wishes....but it's still pretty incredible.
aggieabby20
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- May 9, 2018
I'm excited to get to see the new FoW to see how diluted it is from the original, but from what I hear, it's still fairly "birds" focused, which is good!
The day Finding Nemo is replaced will be a very sad day for me, lemme tell ya!! It's just so well-done and brings alllll the happy and colorful vibes.
Greg Lembrich
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Feb 26, 2018
I'm on board! Sounds and looks like a great trip so far. I look forward to hearing about the rest of the fun.
Lifelong_Dreamer
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2007
Animal kingdom is also my favourite! The park is just so beautiful, has some great attractions and shows and I love the animal trails.
aggieabby20
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- May 9, 2018
We hit the bus pretty early the next morning to head to:
Hollywood Studios!!
Or MGM...denial is real, people.
Hollywood Studios!!
Or MGM...denial is real, people.
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I wanted to take a quick second to talk a little about our resort here before I get going on the events of this day. I'll honest, this trip was very much go-go-go, so we did not get to spend near as much time around Fort Wilderness as we would have liked to. But it was so fun riding around the property on the golf cart every morning and night! I love the atmosphere here. Everyone is always outside with their dogs and families, walking around and biking, and no one seems to be in a hurry. It's so countering to the parks (and most of the resorts in my experience), where everyone seemed to be pushing and shoving to get to where they are going.
I think a big difference is that a lot of camping families at FW spend just as many days at the resort as they do at the parks. They have the liberty and freedom to take bike rides and horseback rides because they're not at the parks all day, every day! I honestly do not know what I would do with myself with so much free time at Disney...but I think it's a really neat way to do Disney and I admire those who can relax and still have a great time at WDW!!
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Today was a special day because it was THANKSGIVING!!!
All magic bands: check!
Our first mission of the day was RnRC, of course.
No matter how hard I try, I can never open my eyes at the beginning.
After this, the rest of the crew headed over to Tower of Terror. As mentioned in the intro...I have never ridden ToT
Every trip, my family thinks they can convince me...but nothing can change my stubbornness on this, I promise you. One of these days...I WILL do it. But, I am in no rush.I found a comfy spot on the curb and listened to the swing-style Christmas music playing in the area, as I *held everyone else's bags and* waited.
The thrills worked up our appetite so we headed over to our favorite little snack shop is DHS, Sweet Spells! We all got chocolate-covered strawberries, of course!
Then, it was off to the Frozen Sing-A-Long. I am one of the few true Disney fans who still truly loves Frozen. I know it has been over-commercialized and stretched so dang far...but I still love it. Anna is my soul sister and I will never not love her and the entire movie/soundtrack! Last time we were at Disney, I had diverted from the group to catch up with some friends and missed this show, so this was actually my first time to ever see it! SO CUTE! Plus, I'm a super for cheesy effects, so the fake snow did me in.
A lady sitting in front of us actually turned around after the show and said it sounded like we were having more fun than her toddler daughter. Oops
Next on our list was Toy Story Mania!!! As I mentioned in the intros, Blake is a beast at this. I don't know how he does it, but he is so dang good. I give it my all and get super competitive when it comes to games, but I just never quite match up when compared to Blake in TSM. Someday!!!
Catch Blake throwing up the "gig 'em!!!" I'm a proud Aggie sister.
Go ahead and ask me who jumped in the ride vehicle with who on this one
Our trusty leader (as if he actually needs that map by this point, hahaha)!!
It was about time for our lunch reservations so we headed over to Hollywood and Vine!! Reservations for Thanksgiving were fairly tough to get, even by waking up at the break of dawn on the 180 day mark. Our top picks were Liberty Tree or Garden Grill, but no dice for those. Hollywood and Vine had a holiday special going on, though called Holiday & Dine, and so we decided to try it out. We were promised turkey which was our main priority!!
We had yet to meet any characters this trip, too, and Olive had never met Mickey, so we decided this would be a great opportunity to do that, as well!
All the girls!!!
Donald was cracking us up!! He kept sitting by mom and messing with her.
bellarinah
Always a tone of surprise!
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2015
Found your TR today. Following along!!!
I'm planning a Thanksgiving trip this year myself. Were all the Christmas decorations up at the parks and resorts during the week you visited? I've heard that only the decorations at MK were up before Thanksgiving. The rest, at other parks and resorts, is up after. But looking at your pictures, the tree at AK was already up. And the carousel at Beach Club was also up.
If anyone else who has visited during Thanksgiving week would chime in, I'd really appreciate it!!,
I'm planning a Thanksgiving trip this year myself. Were all the Christmas decorations up at the parks and resorts during the week you visited? I've heard that only the decorations at MK were up before Thanksgiving. The rest, at other parks and resorts, is up after. But looking at your pictures, the tree at AK was already up. And the carousel at Beach Club was also up.
If anyone else who has visited during Thanksgiving week would chime in, I'd really appreciate it!!,
aggieabby20
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- May 9, 2018
Exactly! I could do a full day just doing the Oasis and jungle treks, honestly!!
I'm so happy you're following along! We had a fun trip, that's for sure!!
They were! We arrived on the Monday of Thanksgiving break and everything was decorated! I want to say they do most of the decorating the weekend before? But that could be incorrect!
Thank you for joining!
bellarinah
Always a tone of surprise!
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2015
Thanks for the feedback!! Now I'm super excited to see all the Christmas offerings during the Thanksgiving week!!
jchurch0409
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jul 26, 2014
Joining in! I can't wait to read more!
aggieabby20
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- May 9, 2018
Have a great trip!!
Enjoying your report! You three girls all look alike to me!
We definitely got the "are y'all sisters?" question throughout our trip! And we get it pretty often at school, too, haha!
Thanks for joining in!!
aggieabby20
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- May 9, 2018
One of the best parts about this meal was the Santa Goofy meet-and-greet! Goofy is so tall and huggable and I just love him so much. Slap some Christmas on him, and WOW. What more could you want?
Then, Goofy accidentally smacked poor Stefanie across the head.
I can laugh now, but it was actually a pretty hefty hit. I heard his hand make contact with her skull and it was enough to cringe. But she's doing alright and she probably only lost a few brain cells during the interaction!!
Goofy was super apologetic, of course!
Review on lunch: it was ehhh. I really really wanted to love this, but I just did not. I think a lot of it had to do with our expectations being so high. This was THANKSGIVING--the holiday of food (and thankfulness and friendship, of course)!!!!!!!!! I honestly spent most of my meal eating mashed potatoes and corn dog nuggets. I'm a major corn dog nugget fan, so this wasn't the worst thing ever...but I want to have those the OTHER 364 days of the year. Not Thanksgiving.
The characters were really fun, though, and I'm happy we did it for that alone!! I love characters, but it's hard to carve time out specifically to meet them, especially now that Blake and I are older and ONE OF US is "too old" for that. I'll give you a hint...it's not the girl writing this trip report and emphasizing how much she loves characters
To contrast that little spiel, though, we actually headed over to meet Olaf next!! We had never met him before and he's a character that Blake actually likes.
We got cute little stickers on our way in!
Blake's review of Olaf is that he was "creepy and large." Well...we tried. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him enjoy Disney as much as everyone else...or something like that, right?
Had to get a picture with the OG Olaf.
Then, it was time for STAR TOURS! I'll admit, I'm not a major Star Wars fan, but I want to be!! I've only seen episodes 4, 5, and 6 and I remember liking them! But, I was on a fourteen hour plane flight at the time, so my sleep deprivation has wrecked any specific memories I had from them. My goal is to see all of them before the new Star Wars section opens at DHS!
Blake was the rebel spy...of course.
We sat on a curb for a bit after this just to relax and enjoy the Christmas music. Stef, Olive, and I sang along obnoxiously and danced around. This was one of those moments where everything is just happy! Enjoying the sunshine in the streets of Disney, jamming along to Christmas music with your family and besties. The life.
We headed over to Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. The rest of my family is not the biggest fan ever of this, but I love it. Raiders of the Lost Ark is actually one of my favorite movies and I watched it at least five times this school year alone. Anytime I hear of someone who has not seen it, I invite them over and change that immediately.
I have to agree with my family and mourn for the loss of Lights, Motors, Action. I'm not sure if I would rank it above Indiana Jones, personally, but that's more just for nostalgia sake. But LMA was so well done and I really loved it!! That's a sad loss for my family at DHS.
That being said, we found ourselves kind of running out of things to do at DHS around this time. Backlot Tour, Great Movie Ride, and LMA are gone. And the hardest goodbye for my family, specifically, is the Osbourne Family Spectacle of Lights.
Now, don't get me wrong. I am VERY excited to see what they are going to do with all of the expansions. But, it's still heartbreaking to see Streets of America go! I have so many memories of walking down those streets around the holidays, all bundled up and being amazed at the "dancing lights." I remember one year, specifically, we were there right after Christmas and there were record low temperatures for Florida! There were actually flurries on Daytona Beach the night we walked through the Lights and I can remember barely being able to move and just laughing with my family at how ridiculously cold it was. The fake snow felt SO REAL. We loaded up on hot chocolate and my grandpa bought ridiculous amounts of gloves and scarves and hats for my whole family.
It's sad to think about that all being gone. But I understand that change is a necessary way for Disney to grow. It just stings a bit sometimes!
But, anyway, RANT OVER. That was a lot, sorry!!
All of that was to say that our semi-boredom led us to enter the attraction that my mother will normally REFUSE to go into.
MUPPETS.
If you have little kids or are a big muppets fan, I'm sure you love this. And so I am very sorry for my strong opinions, but I just have never enjoyed this show, as much as I want to! In fact, I'm going to share a self-incriminating photo of me so you can see exactly what my feelings on this attraction are...
Oops!
We watched a street show after this! This is my favorite part about DHS! I love all of the street shows so much. They're just so authentically funny. I love improv. This particular one was 12 Days of Christmas themed. They had volunteers make up the gifts for the different days of Christmas. The whole skit was hilarious, but we could not get past one of the volunteers. She was about15 or 16 and she was so excited to be picked as a volunteer. You could see her mind turning as the other people made up their gifts. She tried so hard to come up with something creative and funny. But when it came to her turn, she flopped. She freaked out and ended up saying "three stuffed animals" and her voice cracked in the middle. The poor thing was super embarrassed, so I should really feel bad about the fact that we sang "three stuffed animals" all day (and for the rest of the trip) in the same style as the poor volunteer.
I do not remember if this was just a "we have time, why not!" decision or if someone requested it, but we headed to go meet Anakin next.
Okay, actually, is that even Anakin? I'm so sorry, but I literally know nothing
Also, check out that incredible photo pass picture!!! Talent!!!!!! (Just kidding, I'm sure the cast member was just distracted.)
We had reserved seats for Fantasmic because our lunch was a package, but we still had a couple of hours until showtime and we were literally just out of big things to do! We thought about re-riding ToT or RnRC, but we were honestly all kind of tired (we had full days everyday until this!) and Stefanie remembered she had some online homework due at midnight (what professor assigns homework on Thanksgiving?? An evil one. Thanks, Texas A&M.). So, we decided to call it day and head back to the cabin!!
We grabbed some Starbucks on our way out! Stefanie bought the You Are Here mug for each park, so we made a point to go into a Starbucks use about every day, but no one is complaining...believe me! Biiiiiig coffee fans over here.
When we got our coffee, Olive turned to me and compared it to the library Starbucks at A&M. That sent us girls into a tizzy thinking about school and all of the assignments we were neglecting and tests we reeeeeally needed to study for. So, we grabbed our coffees and bolted to the exit, eager to get to our studies. Bet that's not something you hear from college kids at Disney every day!!
Once we got to the cabin, I lost morale and ended up just editing videos I had taken during the day (I have trip video I'll post at the end!) and distracting the other girls. But, they persisted and studied for several hours, even after the rest of us went to bed (what the heck, not okay, we're in Disney).
We finished the night by carting over to the quick-service at FW, P&J's Southern Takeout, and got some fried chicken to go! They even threw in some cranberry sauce in celebration of Thanksgiving!
Overall, it was such a fun way to experience Thanksgiving and he ad a great day! The transition of Hollywood Studios makes it a one-day park, in our opinion, but there are still so many things to do at DHS. The classic theming of it is enough to keep me happy!
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**also, I forgot to mention that we also saw Beauty and the Beast Live!! That is one of my mom's favorites, so we did that early in the morning. I'm not sure why I left that out in my earlier post**
Then, Goofy accidentally smacked poor Stefanie across the head.
I can laugh now, but it was actually a pretty hefty hit. I heard his hand make contact with her skull and it was enough to cringe. But she's doing alright and she probably only lost a few brain cells during the interaction!!Goofy was super apologetic, of course!
Review on lunch: it was ehhh. I really really wanted to love this, but I just did not. I think a lot of it had to do with our expectations being so high. This was THANKSGIVING--the holiday of food (and thankfulness and friendship, of course
)!!!!!!!!! I honestly spent most of my meal eating mashed potatoes and corn dog nuggets. I'm a major corn dog nugget fan, so this wasn't the worst thing ever...but I want to have those the OTHER 364 days of the year. Not Thanksgiving.The characters were really fun, though, and I'm happy we did it for that alone!! I love characters, but it's hard to carve time out specifically to meet them, especially now that Blake and I are older and ONE OF US is "too old" for that. I'll give you a hint...it's not the girl writing this trip report and emphasizing how much she loves characters
To contrast that little spiel, though, we actually headed over to meet Olaf next!! We had never met him before and he's a character that Blake actually likes.
We got cute little stickers on our way in!
Blake's review of Olaf is that he was "creepy and large." Well...we tried. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him enjoy Disney as much as everyone else...or something like that, right?
Had to get a picture with the OG Olaf.
Then, it was time for STAR TOURS! I'll admit, I'm not a major Star Wars fan, but I want to be!! I've only seen episodes 4, 5, and 6 and I remember liking them! But, I was on a fourteen hour plane flight at the time, so my sleep deprivation has wrecked any specific memories I had from them. My goal is to see all of them before the new Star Wars section opens at DHS!
Blake was the rebel spy...of course.
We sat on a curb for a bit after this just to relax and enjoy the Christmas music. Stef, Olive, and I sang along obnoxiously and danced around. This was one of those moments where everything is just happy! Enjoying the sunshine in the streets of Disney, jamming along to Christmas music with your family and besties. The life.
We headed over to Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. The rest of my family is not the biggest fan ever of this, but I love it. Raiders of the Lost Ark is actually one of my favorite movies and I watched it at least five times this school year alone. Anytime I hear of someone who has not seen it, I invite them over and change that immediately.
I have to agree with my family and mourn for the loss of Lights, Motors, Action. I'm not sure if I would rank it above Indiana Jones, personally, but that's more just for nostalgia sake. But LMA was so well done and I really loved it!! That's a sad loss for my family at DHS.
That being said, we found ourselves kind of running out of things to do at DHS around this time. Backlot Tour, Great Movie Ride, and LMA are gone. And the hardest goodbye for my family, specifically, is the Osbourne Family Spectacle of Lights.
Now, don't get me wrong. I am VERY excited to see what they are going to do with all of the expansions. But, it's still heartbreaking to see Streets of America go! I have so many memories of walking down those streets around the holidays, all bundled up and being amazed at the "dancing lights." I remember one year, specifically, we were there right after Christmas and there were record low temperatures for Florida! There were actually flurries on Daytona Beach the night we walked through the Lights and I can remember barely being able to move and just laughing with my family at how ridiculously cold it was. The fake snow felt SO REAL. We loaded up on hot chocolate and my grandpa bought ridiculous amounts of gloves and scarves and hats for my whole family.
It's sad to think about that all being gone. But I understand that change is a necessary way for Disney to grow. It just stings a bit sometimes!
But, anyway, RANT OVER. That was a lot, sorry!!
All of that was to say that our semi-boredom led us to enter the attraction that my mother will normally REFUSE to go into.
MUPPETS.
If you have little kids or are a big muppets fan, I'm sure you love this. And so I am very sorry for my strong opinions, but I just have never enjoyed this show, as much as I want to! In fact, I'm going to share a self-incriminating photo of me so you can see exactly what my feelings on this attraction are...
Oops!
We watched a street show after this! This is my favorite part about DHS! I love all of the street shows so much. They're just so authentically funny. I love improv. This particular one was 12 Days of Christmas themed. They had volunteers make up the gifts for the different days of Christmas. The whole skit was hilarious, but we could not get past one of the volunteers. She was about15 or 16 and she was so excited to be picked as a volunteer. You could see her mind turning as the other people made up their gifts. She tried so hard to come up with something creative and funny. But when it came to her turn, she flopped. She freaked out and ended up saying "three stuffed animals" and her voice cracked in the middle. The poor thing was super embarrassed, so I should really feel bad about the fact that we sang "three stuffed animals" all day (and for the rest of the trip) in the same style as the poor volunteer.
I do not remember if this was just a "we have time, why not!" decision or if someone requested it, but we headed to go meet Anakin next.
Okay, actually, is that even Anakin? I'm so sorry, but I literally know nothing
Also, check out that incredible photo pass picture!!! Talent!!!!!! (Just kidding, I'm sure the cast member was just distracted.)
We had reserved seats for Fantasmic because our lunch was a package, but we still had a couple of hours until showtime and we were literally just out of big things to do! We thought about re-riding ToT or RnRC, but we were honestly all kind of tired (we had full days everyday until this!) and Stefanie remembered she had some online homework due at midnight (what professor assigns homework on Thanksgiving?? An evil one. Thanks, Texas A&M.). So, we decided to call it day and head back to the cabin!!
We grabbed some Starbucks on our way out! Stefanie bought the You Are Here mug for each park, so we made a point to go into a Starbucks use about every day, but no one is complaining...believe me! Biiiiiig coffee fans over here.
When we got our coffee, Olive turned to me and compared it to the library Starbucks at A&M. That sent us girls into a tizzy thinking about school and all of the assignments we were neglecting and tests we reeeeeally needed to study for. So, we grabbed our coffees and bolted to the exit, eager to get to our studies. Bet that's not something you hear from college kids at Disney every day!!
Once we got to the cabin, I lost morale and ended up just editing videos I had taken during the day (I have trip video I'll post at the end!) and distracting the other girls. But, they persisted and studied for several hours, even after the rest of us went to bed (what the heck, not okay, we're in Disney).
We finished the night by carting over to the quick-service at FW, P&J's Southern Takeout, and got some fried chicken to go! They even threw in some cranberry sauce in celebration of Thanksgiving!
Overall, it was such a fun way to experience Thanksgiving and he ad a great day! The transition of Hollywood Studios makes it a one-day park, in our opinion, but there are still so many things to do at DHS. The classic theming of it is enough to keep me happy!
----------------------
**also, I forgot to mention that we also saw Beauty and the Beast Live!! That is one of my mom's favorites, so we did that early in the morning. I'm not sure why I left that out in my earlier post**
StarWarsMomofGirls!
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 16, 2015
Hello! I am following along!
I am going to read about your next day next!
I haven't done this yet, not because i'm afraid, but because my girls refuse to ride.
My girls will be on track for that by the time they get to college, I think.
ha!
Good to know! I am working on my girls currently!
Oye! And I worry about the girls school classes (they are in 4th & 2nd grade)Having no idea which tests and classes we were going to be missing
We love Wilderness Lodge and LOVE the boat ride over to Magic Kingdom.
Love it!Blake and I take this picture every year.
Poor kid! HaHere she is with the poor kid we scarred forever.
I love this.
Ha! Great photo! All the photos of you ladies are all great. You can tell that you are having a great time.I'm pretty sure this is right after Olive said, "Do they take the castle down every night?"
Sounded like a great day!
For our first day, we accomplished quite a bit. More importantly, it exceeded Olive's expectations! I do not really recall every having been as tired in Disney as we were that night, but it was all worth it. S
I am going to read about your next day next!
StarWarsMomofGirls!
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 16, 2015
All caught up!
He is from the new movies...
My girlfriend from college did the college program. She started in sanitation picking up trash in Magic Kingdom. But she ended up driving the safari trucks! I am not sure if she was moved up while she was on the program that first time or if it was the second time. She did the program twice. So, if you don't the first time, there is hope for a second time!
I love the bag you are using! Do you mind me asking where you got it.
I love this story... This IS every college story, sounded funnier when it was happening. But that is what bonds you to your college friends!As we shopped around the gift shop, we found a bag of bagels. Random story on this: our freshmen year of college, Olive, Stef, and I went on a mission rip. W stayed up way too late goofing around and keeping everyone else awake so our leaders finally forced us to go to the bunk room!! When I finally went to sleep, I had a dream about bagels, and in the dream, everyone was cheering, "B-A-G-L-E-S!!! Bagles!! Bagles!! Go bagles go!" So, I shared this story with the other girls and we started to cheer it for WEEKS...until one day, we realized we had been spelling bagels wrong all along. So, thus, our connection to bagels (or bagles) was born.
Awsome way to end the day!Once we got back to our cabin, we decided to go watch the fireworks from the beach at our resort. Blake, Stef, Olive, and I hopped on the golf cart (Taylor Swift blasting, of course!!) and boogied down to the beach to catch Happily Ever After! It's not Wishes....but it's still pretty incredible.
Too funny! Great picture of your mom.Donald was cracking us up!! He kept sitting by mom and messing with her.
Def NOT Anakin... Kylo Ren...
Okay, actually, is that even Anakin? I'm so sorry, but I literally know nothing
He is from the new movies...Share this page
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