We make a quick stop in the gift shop before heading to the buses, because we'd realized upon unpacking some of our toiletries that we'd forgotten to bring a toothbrush,
I wish I could say that is the only thing we had to buy because of bad planning whilst packing.
I got selected to go through additional screening, but to be honest, I kinda walked myself into it. I thought they were screening everyone at that point so I angled a bit toward the metal detector, and by the time I realized it was still at random, the security guard spotted me and directed me that way. Well done, self.
Okay, it would have been better without the screen, but it'll do. Besides, it wasn't as bad as... well, you'll see soon enough
Upon entering, we had of course redeemed our lanyards and cards for the After Hours event, so we had to take a selfie to show off a little.
Amber said it made her feel like a VIP. Not gonna lie, I did spend most of the pre-event time screening the crowds to see how many people were wearing them, hoping there wouldn't be a lot.
Erm... what is that?
Can you hear angels singing? Cause I can.
There were actually already people sitting along the curb on Main Street, waiting for the fireworks, which at that point were still two hours away or so. Pretty crazy for late January.
We decided to wait it out a bit, and it took maybe five minutes before the line started moving again, so not too bad.
I feel like I'd get a much better score if I were able to move the gun around.
As usual, Amber did well and I did terribly.
Yep, dessert party!
We saw the new castle projection show for the first time then, and I have to say...
And so, we sat back on the hub grass, huddled a bit closer together because it was pretty chilly, and watched, for what would turn out to be the last time, Wishes.
But fireworks that are suited for Hollywood Studios are not suited for the Magic Kingdom. I expect more, and I hope they'll deliver.
We then proceeded to spend a good part of the following half hour rushing around the various stores, trying to find... a sweatshirt.
Great usage of time, no?
This was one hundred percent my fault, no point in denying that. We had looked up the weather forecast prior to leaving. We could see it would be chilly. But I figured, I have sweaters. I'm gonna be wearing long sleeves. That's gonna be plenty enough!
It wasn't enough at all.
I actually go Amber on the teacups!
Which will be the first and only time this will happen. She did not appreciate at all.
We were actually by ourselves in the room with the princesses. Which, I'm not a great conversationalist, so it was a tad bit awkward to have all the attention to oneself, but of course, the princesses are always so lovely to meet.
Gorgeous as usual, though I can't remember what we talked about.
We were in and out pretty quickly, and at that point it'd still just been us in the room - which explains why, as we exited, we spotted Tiana over in a corner, phone in hand. We were both pretty amused as we left the room.
We haven't really watched her show, but it doesn't really matter upon meeting her, and she's really fun to meet, so don't let that hold you back for sure.
The Cast Members looked at us a little weird as we did, too. Like, you spent that money to meet princesses all night? Alright, whatever.
But we did feel a little relieved to be led into a different room. Less people weirded out by our returning so soon.
We decided that our next stop should be a ride that you can typically never standby.
I'm not gonna lie, it's neither of our favorites. But I'd really been wanting to see the new queue, and since it was open, we decided we might as well head in!
And then of course, the nursery, with the childrens' beds.
Which, of course, was the Haunted Mansion.
We basically walked right into the stretching room.
Chocolate covered banana.
I'm really glad I've never paid for it before. It was not great.
Amber went a safer route and picked up a Mickey ice cream sandwich.
Which, strangely, she actually didn't like that much either. She usually loves those Mickey ice cream sandwiches, but she thought it tasted really weird.
It almost tasted like the ice cream had turned to me.
We actually could have stayed on to ride again if we'd wanted - they were telling people to just stay seated if they wanted to ride again.
However, by the time we finished our first ride, there were people waiting to get into our seats, and we felt bad not moving, so we just got out.
We waited probably five or ten minutes before the current showing was over and we were let in, and then sat wherever we wanted because there had to be less than a dozen people in with us.
Next up was what is probably the biggest draw of these events for a lot of people.
Ultimately, it's a nice experience, too. Not a bad ride at all. It just won't ever be a favorite of ours
Yep. Winnie the Pooh again.
Which was my suggestion.
We happily allowed Dame Judi Dench to teach us the history of the world (I will be so upset when they decide to re-do it again and change the narrator.
We passed the Tomorrowland Speedway.
Of course, I had to try and capture Amber's favorite trees in the Magic Kingdom.
As you can see, it was crowded.
I was so mad guys, Like, how ridiculous is this. We should be getting on the ride in a second. They should really have been operating both sides. I was more than ready to go and make a complaint, and request a refund.
But I took a deep breath, took a nap and felt much better after the ride was over.
Yeah, I can't even sell it.
We maybe could have squeezed another ride on say, Buzz, but we were actually really, really tired. I was especially tired. Keep in mind, we'd gotten up at 2 that morning. I didn't sleep on the plane, and I got maybe a thirty minutes nap during our small resort break. And at that point, it was nearing midnight.
Amber did want to stop in the photobooth that's located in the Space Mountain gift shop, as it does work with Memory Maker.
It comes from the fact that, when she used to work at the Walmart Photo Studio, they trained her to use this particular pose as a sister pose.
But if memory serves, they were something like, 40$, so that was a hard no.
I have to say, I think it was totally worth it for the cost. We did most everything we'd wanted to do that day, and it was awesome to breeze through every single queue. We could for sure have done more, if we hadn't been so tired - as the night went on, we were definitely getting a bit more sluggish, which for sure affected our speed. But all in all, I was definitely glad to have given it a try, and if we were ever to return to Disney while this was ongoing, we would get tickets again.
By the time we got back to our room, it was about 12:50 AM.
We had planned on rope dropping Epcot the next day. Spoiler alert - we did not.
We pretty much walked in, collapsed on the bed, and went promptly to sleep with a glorious wake up call of 9 AM.
(That's sleeping in at Disney).
At this point though, we've made the decision that Disney is something we just can't pass up. It's a second home, and as long as we're able to spring it (and finance it without feeling crushed under ridiculous amounts of debt), we will return on a yearly basis.
As such, we now belong to the crowds who glory in afternoon resort breaks. And on occasion, sleeping in.
Amber had to take a picture of her layering technique to try and deal with the cold weather.
She also ended up buying a windbreaker coat later on.
She still got cold.
the Shop Disney Parks App is not available on our phones, as our location is Canadian and it only works in the US. At least, that's my reasoning for it. I used to think it was because we each had an iPhone 4, and most newer apps don't work on those, but now I've got an iPhone 5 and it's still not there, so, I'm thinking it's location related.
As it turned out, they were not able to bring it up on their own system when entering the code for it,
But because she's the best wife in the whole wide world, she's the one who went off to get them while I checked with the gift shop CMs about the sought after sweatshirt's whereabouts.
This is how she felt about it.
And of course, just as Amber was arriving near the bus section, the bus pulled away.
She was even less impressed then.
We got to try out the Passholder entrance.
And let me tell you - a FastPass for Spaceship Earth in this particular instance was not a throw away FastPass.
The standby line was a whooping 45 minutes.
Can you imagine Spaceship Earth narrated by The Rock
I didn't take pictures as we went past Canada and the UK, so you'll have to take my word for it, we were there.
I can't stop myself from taking pictures of Morocco though. It's just so pretty.
If a tad blurry. Sorry about that.
Yep. Even with planning a trip five days out, and spending less than 72 hours in Disney World, we could not not get a reservation for Teppan Edo.
The lady manning it was definitely checking to see if people had APs, too, before letting them in, which apparently not everybody does. I guess when it's not busy though it wouldn't matter.
The standby line was a whooping 45 minutes.
Sorry you couldn't find the sweatshirt you really wanted but when you're really cold anything will do. I hope you found one you liked.
Once we were in Disney for Thanksgiving and the temps were in the 20's. The newscasters were all going on and on about how this never happens in Florida. Well, to say we weren't prepared is an understatement. We all had jeans and sweatshirts but not winter coats. That was miserable!!
EPCOT is my favorite park. I hope you had an amazing day there.
Bummer about the sweatershirts! But glad you found something else that you liked!!
Yay for Japan!!!
Enjoying reading your trip report. I also read your Nov 2015 report as we were at Disney World then too. What is it about finding a sweatshirt you like and not having your size? DD found a sweatshirt she liked as well when we when this past March but they didn't make it in her size. It was a 2017 sweatshirt but it was the toddler sized on that only went up to sz small. She needs a medium now. Fortunately we didn't need it as we had brought our coats from home and the weather was just perfect 15*C on arrival day to 25* C most days with no humidity. We are from Canada too, about as west as you can go in our country. We don't do early mornings, DH & DD aren't morning people. If I was solo, I'd be at rope drop each morning. I haven't don a afternoon break but with DD8 we just leave about 9-9:30, eat breakfast in the room and stay until she gets tired, usually about 8-9pm.
This is how *I* felt when they replaced Walter Cronkite (as the Spaceship Earth narrator)! But I eventually came to terms with Dame Judi as the replacement... (I don't think I ever heard the Jeremy Irons version...)
This actually answers a conversational question we had had this past week. We only used the AP entrance a couple of times since crowds were pretty low (to us) but we had been wondering if they would check or not at peak hours, since they didn't check us when we went through (admittedly at like 6-7 at night) and we were wondering about how it'd work. Good to know!
I wish I could recreate my face when I read that in emoji form. Just know the sound that went with it was a resounding "yeesh!"
That's how they get you.
You forgot your toothbrush? No problem.
And then... you come out... $400 poorer... and realize you forgot to buy the toothbrush.
It does make you feel like a VIP, though, doesn't it?
"All right you nobodies. Get out!"
Two hours???? for fireworks???
Agreed. I did much better in DL.
So, the opposite of what happens with you guys on TSMM.
And? Did you feel it was worth it?
Whoops. They must make a killing on those things when it gets cool.
I kinda feel the same. Except with Ariel. 'Cause, you know... she loves me and all.
But the rest of the princesses?
Yeah... awkward.
No! Oooohhh... I'm thinking if she'd been caught by management.....
I have no idea who she is.
I'm not gonna lie, it's one of my favourites.
Did you pause to play with the shadow butterflies?
Meh. I'll take HM and BTMRR any day.
You must reallllly love her.
Which is about the best thing you can do with it.
Okay, that's a loooooong day.
Been there. I feel your pain.
And a cute pic, too!
You sure you guys were that tired? You look pretty happy still.
But you know, I'd pose like that with DW. I like it.
For a towel????? Was it spun from Yeti fur?
What? No Snowgoose parka?
I can't even imagine the look you must have gotten.
I never knew there was such a thing! Do all the parks have one?
Let's start a petition.
Disney should make Morocco be less blurry.
Did you guys notice the guy standing behind Marie in the Everest queue who suddenly realizes he's on camera? I love his sudden wide eyes as he slowly slides behind her - I don't know why but it made me laugh.
Also, cute! I wanted to vlog my trip last week but my lens died. I enjoyed this a lot!
Well, we've usually got a bit more self control in the resort gift shops, because we figure, we'll be spending so much money at the Emporium, we shouldn't go crazy before having ever set a foot in the Magic Kingdom
It is a very nice feeling Although, I wouldn't mind someday experiencing the actual VIP treatment. It's on the 'things we will do if we win the lottery' list
Yep! TSMM is my ride, Buzz is Amber's. Although there was one memorable day I came close to beating her. I still don't know what the heck I did.
We enjoy the fireworks dessert parties. They're a bit steep, like anything at Disney, but it comes down to the value of time, and knowing we don't have to worry about getting on Main Street ages early to get a decent spot. The SW fireworks dessert party it the best, though. And I would not do it for IllumiNations, because there are so many good spots to be had in the World Showcase, whereas MK and DHS are a bit trickier in that instance.
Ariel is pretty fun to talk to at times, even when the feelings are purely platonic
I think some princesses are easier to converse with, when they're a bit more outgoing themselves. Like... much easier to meet and talk with Rapunzel than Cinderella or Snow White.
She'd have been headed right back to the bayou me thinks...
Elena of Avalor is one of the newest Disney Channel shows. She is also the first latina princess, which was very exciting.
I appreciate Peter Pan's Flight well enough. I think it just comes from the fact that we don't have much of an attachment to the movie itself. Amber is adamant in her dislike of Peter Pan.
I really do! Which is why we always have so many Winnie the Pooh FastPasses made. I'd rather FastPass Buzz or BTM several times, but somehow, I always end up slipping Winnie the Pooh in there.
I am sorry to say though, that it will not be coming tonight, because I've been feeling a bit under the weather (and I'm a lazy bum) so although I had planned on doing an update today, it will have to wait.
There's still 31 days left until our next trip (*cue squealing*)
So, we got ourselves a stabilizer and went for it in January!
And after we got back, well, we got a GoPro Hero, cause we're great with timing. So, you know, stay tuned also for May/June fun times!
Yay vlog! Excellent music selection for your arrival flight. I love Brother Bear. <3
I also had to chuckle at the Canadian-ism of apologizing for taking a video with your own camera when someone seemed to have asked you if you'd like them to take your picture toward the beginning of the video. I apologize for other people bumping into me all the time, so this felt too real.
Apparently you are no fun, @MarieLightning. I didn't realize I had to eat Yak and Yeti to be fun, but thank goodness I now know and can correct this!! (I'm not fun, either.)
Thanks for the look into your lives!! Maybe it's just me, but I think it's such a weird experience to see people you've never met interact in real time and hear their voices. I was waiting to see how much (if any) of a QC french accent you had, @MarieLightning! Our Acadian French is totally different (worse?? I won't comment on that...) and I had teachers in my French Immersion classes from both NB and QC before who sounded completely different.
Great job with the vlog - I especially like all the little disclaimer notes that you would put up (like apologizing for when it was a bit blurry)
And you are right about being able to hear how people sounds - definitely makes people feel more 'real" to a reader ... and we can read your TR with your voices in our heads
Following along. Glad to see someone from here, I totally get the comparison between Primeval whirl and Bobsleigh here in Montreal
You two are adorable!!! Great vlog.
Good point. I have a feeling you're in the minority, though.
I hear those things are hella expensive.
I wonder what she would've said if you had.
Hmm... I didn't know they had a SW dessert party. Huh.
Learn something new every day.
Too many memories for it not to have an effect on me.
You guys are going all out!
Doubt I'll be subscribing, though... I can hardly keep up as it is!