Completed 1/13 - Monoraaaaaaaail! - August 2023 Trip Report

[Araminta18]

Epcot Forever! - Monday, August 14, 2023 (part 10)​

I got fooled by the desserts - Crush's turtle tart had lots of nuts. Which I guess I should have expected cause turtle, but I didn't realize. And I don't love nuts. But the Nemo custard thing was DELICIOUS.

Also, my drink of choice at bars when they don't have root beer- Shirley Temple!

At about 8:30 we were leaving to head out to watch the fireworks.

Goodbye Living Seas salon! It was great.

Meanwhile Trevor was having lots of fun at Hollywood Studios. He rode Star Tours:

There was apparently no line, so he was pretty psyched. He did film a bit of the security robot in the queue:

That robot is hilarious - I hate waiting in lines but if I get stuck by him I'm ok with it. Definitely one of my fovirte queue theming things.

On the ride though, poor Trevor got freaking Naboo again. Has anyone ever ridden Star Tours and *not* gotten Naboo for the final planet? At least he got pod racing for the first planet, so that was cool.

Then he went and got a Ronto Wrap for dinner at Docking Bay 7.

Trevor was a bit surprised that it came on a bed of banana chips, which I think is new too?

But not bad! I liked my dinner a bit better though.

As we headed out to watch the fireworks, I got a small glimpse of the Way of Water - it looked so cool!

I'm excited to actually see it in December when we go back.

It was still pretty hot and humid, but I kind of forgot about the weather for a bit when we got to the fireworks spot, right by the bridge to France.

So pretty!

They had water and coffee and tea out for us-- the water was desperately needed! I grabbed a seat right at the railing and was just chatting with people and waiting for the show to start. The only bad thing was that I was right by one of the lights and there were SO MANY gnats right there. It's the only time I've really ever been bothered by bugs at Disney, which is kind of notable in and of itself.

A few minutes before the show they passed out these glasses that turned lights into Mickey heads!

I tried to take a picture - super neat!

Then, it was time for the fireworks! I was excited to see Epcot Forever, though I'm not what you'd call an Epcot fangirl by any stretch -- I know nothing about old Epcot, beyond liking "One Little Spark" as a song.

I didn't film the whole thing, but I got most of it! It's short, but it's cute. Not gonna lie though - I'm excited for the new Epcot show. I figure as long as they don't have barges permanently in the lagoon I'll love it

 

[Araminta18]

Meeting Rey! - Monday, August 14, 2023 (part 11)​

Once the fireworks show was over, we hopped back on the bus and headed back to the Contemporary. We made it back about 9:45pm. Honestly, that's the way to travel after fireworks - a private bus that whisks you away. Highly recommend.

Meanwhile, Trevor was living his best life in Galaxy's Edge. He ended up not being able to ride Rise at the end of the night because the Falcon took a bit too long, but he had a great ride so I didn't feel too sorry for him.


See, he got hot shot! Too bad the datapad didn't record his score.

That's his excited face.

He didn't want to leave so he was wandering around and enjoying the ambiance.

He even got some magic shots:

I don't think I've ever seen this one with the little droid on your shoulder!

I always like this zoom shot.

Then the real excitement happened!

Apparently despite it being after park close, Rey came out and was wandering around talking to folks and taking pictures with the stragglers. So Trevor said he watched her for a bit and then was able to get a picture with her - pretty neat!

He figured there wasn't really a way to beat that, so he headed out to the front of the park to catch a bus. I couldn't resist pointing out to him that I was already back at the hotel while he was still waiting for a bus, but then he got the bus basically all to himself, so you know that's a nice thing in and of itself!

Trevor is king of the bus!

By 10:30 we were both back in the room, relaxing and catching up about how the day had gone. Overall, it was a great day - we did a bunch together in the Magic Kingdom, and then he got a lot done on his own. And my class was shaping up to be really good -- not to mention the food and the fireworks show! The next day class started at 8:30 (with breakfast available starting at 8 am), and then we had MNSSHP that night. Gonna be a good - if hot - day.

Fun with Metrics:
Steps walked: 17904 steps (7.3 miles) - well, for me. Trevor had more
Ride count: 6 for me, 9 for Trevor (Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan, Carousel, Little Mermaid, Seven Dwarfs, Tron; then Trevor did Tron again, Star Tours, Millennium Falcon)
Savings due to AP discount: $6.74 (10% at Steakhouse 71 and then a small discount on a couple necessities (the baby wipes, etc) we bought at the gift shop in the Contemporary.)

 

[disneyAndi14]

What a nice change to the garden view rooms! Our last stay it was very dingy and our tub was falling apart. We got moved, thank goodness!
I really like the Incredibles theme. I love how big the rooms are!
Sounds like you both had good evenings
We did an Epcot tour about future world years ago and we got to go into the aquarium lounge with the piano, we loved it!

 

[Araminta18]

What a nice change to the garden view rooms! Our last stay it was very dingy and our tub was falling apart. We got moved, thank goodness!
I really like the Incredibles theme. I love how big the rooms are!
Sounds like you both had good evenings
We did an Epcot tour about future world years ago and we got to go into the aquarium lounge with the piano, we loved it!

Oh no! Glad you got moved - we really liked the room. Though the hallways do still feel a bit small and dark, so maybe they didn't do anything there. And yes, I also love how big the room was!

Oh that's so cool that you got to go to that lounge as part of a tour - it is definitely an experience.

 

[Araminta18]

Magic Kingdom Morning! - Tuesday, August 15, 2023 (part 1)
​

Tuesday morning class was starting at 8:30, with breakfast available from 8 to 8:30am. Trevor was planning to sleep in too, but I did set an alarm and got up at 7 to try and get Trevor a Tron boarding group. I was not successful though - I think I'd forgotten to book him a park pass since he had only decided late the night before that he'd wanted to go to MK. Bummer But at least he could try again at 1 pm! He went back to sleep and got ready to head to class and get breakfast. They told us the night before that breakfast would be in the room next to the classroom and we could bring our plate in to class, so that was my plan - show up late, get a plate, and eat it as class was starting.

Heading in to the main building it was a gorgeous day - I took a pic of the Mickey statue so I could remember to take a picture with me/Trevor later.

Spoiler alert, I totally forgot to take a picture of us there.

Breakfast was bacon and eggs and fruit and french toast bites. No Mickey waffles.

Still yummy though! I got this plate at like 8:25 am - just in time to head in to class. Brilliant!

At 9:50 I got a text from Trevor:

Per him, he was "checking [his] fit". Neeeeeeeerd. Also that hat looks much more green in real life.

He went and got breakfast at Contempo Cafe

And then headed into the MK!

Aside from sleeping, I think this next picture is the longest we've ever gone without taking pictures at Disney - 80 minutes between the above picture and this next picture from the Big Thunder Mountain queue:

So that's kind of a fun "we take too many pictures at Disney" anecdote. Apparently it was kind of a saga for Trevor that morning at the MK. He had texted me and said that he went over to Big Top Souvenirs to see if they had the little Mickey light up pumpkin (they had plenty of the big ones, but I wanted the little one!). They did not. I asked him what else he was up to, and Trevor's response? "Making mistakes". LOL Poor guy! So he was going to do the people mover, and then Buzz (we didn't buy Genie+ today) but People Mover went down right before he got there, and he watched a bunch of people leave the People Mover queue and go over to Buzz. So then he went to Big Top Souvenirs, and then was going to ride Pirates over in Adventureland, but Pirates went down right as he got there. And *then* he went over to Big Thunder. This was like the first time he'd gone in the regular queue for Big Thunder in a while, and he texted me that he got into the covered part/internal part of the queue in just a few minutes but then there was more internal queue than he'd remembered. Yea...cause we never do standby! Poor guy. Ended up being about 35 minutes waiting.

But at least big Thunder!

After Big Thunder he was heading over to Adventureland to try Pirates one more time, but he ran into a little bit of the Festival of Fantasy, and had to stop (and I wasn't even there to make him stop! )

Then I was breaking for lunch and noticed that Jungle Cruise was posting a 15 minute wait, so I texted him to let him know - basically saying if he ran for it he may get it with a short wait. And this time it worked for him - he waited maybe 5 minutes! Yay!

Right after he got out it was posting 30 minutes and had TONS of people waiting. So, nice! Glad I could help, though at the particular moment he texted me I was more focused on my lunch:

Tacos! Cornbread muffins and a fun salad too. Delish.

Then for dessert they had pina colada pudding (I think) and churros!

Sadly...these were not good. The churros were a bit stale. Oh well!

Back over to Trevor - Pirates had finally opened back up so he jumped in line and got right on. But I was watching for the 1 pm VQ drop and was texting Trevor but wasn't hearing from him (I guess he was still on Pirates), so I decided to try and see if I could get it for him, just in case, and I could! I got him boarding group #91 - woot!! And yea, Trevor was on Pirates - he didn't make it off in time for the drop but at least I was able to get it for him.

Say hi to Trevor there in that second to last row.

Clearly I was living vicariously through Trevor because the next text we had after the VQ was me telling him that Space Mountain was posting 30 minutes, and being the wise man that he is, he listened to me and hopped in line. He caught up with the line after the first couple of screens showing views of space, and ended up waiting 20 minutes or so. Not too bad!

While he was in line for Buzz is about when they told us in class that our field trip for the day was going in to Magic Kingdom! Yay! Well, yay until they told us we were not there to engage in commerce - no shopping or riding rides. Oh well!

 

[Araminta18]

Magic Kingdom Afternoon! - Tuesday, August 15, 2023 (part 2)​

So they loaded us up onto the bus and we drove across the street. We entered the park through the bypass, and then were set free! Today we were learning a lot about values and how a company/leader can communicate those values to the employees, and so we were on a field trip to talk to CMs about how they'd learned about the 5 keys, their experience working at Disney, etc. I wasn't super excited about randomly talking to CMs, so I was hoping that others in my group would kind of take the lead. And then i could enjoy this gorgeous (HOT) day!

LOL it didn't quite work out that way; I ended up having to do a lot of the talking. But it was super interesting to talk to the CMs and see how they saw the Disney values day to day (or occasionally didn't). Though I was sad that we couldn't stop for a Dole Whip as we walked by Aloha Isle! We did see some of the Country Bears out wandering around, which was neat.


Meanwhile, Trevor was living his best life. He hopped over to Buzz after riding Space, trying to be a galactic hero. He got stuck for am minute, but not in a great place, so his score was only ("only" ) 949100.


Then per his texts his plan was to ride the PeopleMover, but I have no picture proof so really who knows if he actually did. But after that (or after Buzz if he didn't ride Peoplemover ) it was time for his Tron boarding group! He got lucky though and didn't have to wait in line out in the sun - the line was fully under the shade. He only waited like 30 minutes!

Hello!


Aw, he blinked.

Afterwards he got some of the magic shots in front of the sign:



Meanwhile my field trip was done and we headed back to the Contemporary, where they had Mickey rice krispies waiting for us!

Also note my little alien guy - my "you answered a question" prize.

Trevor's plan was also involved snacks, though he hadn't decided if it was snack at MK then back to the hotel, or hotel then snack. My opinion was that he should get a snack at the hotel, cause fewer lines. Trevor is smart, so he agreed. But on his way out he caught the 3 pm Festival of Fantasy Parade.

And by 3:30, he was on the monorail and mobile ordering a burger at Contempo Cafe. When he got back to the room, though, Housekeeping was there. Oops! I forgot to tell Trevor that when I went back to the room at lunch to change shoes I'd removed the "do not disturb" sign, so he had to wait 5 min or so. Poor Trevor! But then he saw their touches:

Mickey ears!

And they'd tucked his toothbrush in:


This was a little after 4, and my class was over at 4:30. The plan tonight? Mickey's Not So Scary!

 

[Araminta18]

How Much Ice Cream Can We Eat? - Tuesday, August 15, 2023 (part 3)​

When I got back to the room after class Trevor was laying down resting. I let him sleep for bit, but I was too excited to nap myself. Thankfully Trevor woke up not too much later, before I started vibrating with excitement and woke him up myself. We got dressed in our costumes for the night: Rapunzel and Flynn! I had gotten the Rapunzel costume on sale at a Disney store earlier in the year, and so we got Trevor a vest (so I guess he was more bounding as Flynn than in a costume) cause that was about all he was willing to wear in the heat). I didn't have the long wig for Rapunzel, just wore my own hair in a low ponytail (again, cause of the heat), and started heading out at about 5:15.

As we walked out of our room, we could see the hallways cross up ahead, and wouldn't you know it we saw another couple dressed as Rapunzel and Flynn crossing from the other hallway. Only they'd gone all out - full wig, and the whole thing. I expected to see other Rapunzels and Flynns and a bunch doing it more accurately than we did, but it was a bit disheartening to have the VERY FIRST PEOPLE we saw be doing our costumes but way better. I gained a lot of weight back during and since the pandemic so I was already feeling a bit self-conscious, and not gonna lie that threw me a bit. Fully a me problem, but it took me a bit to get my balance/whatever back.

Anyways! We walked over to the Magic Kingdom, arriving a little after 5:30, to see these lines:

So there you go - obviously too late for this year, but 5:30 is definitely a sweet spot!

We were definitely dying a bit from the heat, but we got our wristbands and headed through the bypass to get our candy bags and candy. We also had a separate mission - get a picture with the Minnie statue where neither one of us were blocking her. But they didn't have any photopass photographers out in the bypass this year! That was a bummer. But there was a kind person who offered to take our picture.

And our streak continues - we weren't blocking Minnie this time but the sun was definitely full in our eyes.

After the bypass we didn't really have any plans - everything we wanted to do was later in the evening, so we wandered over to Main Street and got some photos!

The poor CM was definitely feeling the heat! Also, my dress is SO WRINKLY and I have no idea how to fix it - it's been hanging up for literally 6 months, and then I used the wrinkle release spray which clearly did nothing...oh well.

I liked this pose - very Tangled.

Hi Tink!

We were bonkers hot, so we wandered up to Fantasyland to get ice cream treats! I wanted to get the Sleeping Beauty cone, and Trevor got a root beer float.

So pretty! Dole Whip Strawberry and Blue Soft-serve topped with White Chocolate Crisp Pearls in a Sugar Cone. Delicious and cold. I approve.

Trevor's root beer float.

We grabbed a seat on one of the benches by the castle walls back there, though even though it was in the shade, it was soooo hot - no breeze at all. We finished our ice cream and moved on to find some A/C or a breeze or something, and we ran into a line at Cheshire Cat cafe. Since they had one of the treats I wanted, I figured I'd hop in line! Trevor went over into Cosmic Rays to sit down and get some a/c - he wasn't feeling great with the heat.

They only had one person manning the cash register and it was going SLOW. Took 15 minutes to order, and then at that point I realized the treat I wanted wouldn't be sold until 7 pm when the party officially started (LAME), so I got one of their Halloween treats available all day, which I was interested in anyways:

Frozen cherry slushy drizzled with black cherry purée and topped with whipped cream and a crown-shaped chocolate piece. This was good cause it was cold, but the whipped cream on top of an icee was a bit weird.

We stayed there in Cosmic Rays, drinking and enjoying the air conditioning. I can't even express how hot it was and how much it just sucked the energy out of you. Thank you for the good a/c Disney!

We left at about 6:50, and decided to head over to Space Mountain and see if we could hop on with a short line and still get the Halloween overlay. We entered the line at 6:52, and caught up to the line here:

How long would we wait?!

 

[Araminta18]

All the Photo Ops! - Tuesday, August 15, 2023 (part 4)​

The line was moving pretty good, and again - a/c! We got sent to the right side after being in line for 15 minutes.

Not too bad! Especially 'cause this is the side I like best.

I also noticed that the had the windows in this part of the queue too!

I guess this was the first time I'd looked "up" while waiting to board? So there you go - look up while in queues!


Hi Trevor!

He said it was only fair to take a pic of me back.

We did get to have the Halloween overlay, with it all dark. I don't remember if they were playing music or not, but it was super neat to be *completely* in the dark.

100% recommend.

After getting off, for some reason we headed back up into Fantasyland - I can't quite remember why. But we ran into one of the photo ops I wanted - Maleficient!


Trevor's definitely looking in the right spot...I'm a little off. Always exciting with these shots to see if you end up looking in the right spot or not. We got lucky with this photo op - only had to wait about 3/4 minutes. Woot!

It was about 7:40 when we got done, and we wanted to see the Cadaver Dans, so we headed over to Frontierland for their 7:45 pm set. I honestly gave up and just plopped down on the ground across from the balcony where they were going to come out. No shame at Disney...I just sit on the ground whenever seems comfortable.

Cadaver Dans are awesome.

It was a little past 8, and so time for some more photo ops! We headed up to Liberty Square and snagged the two I really wanted to make sure we got:

Scary Headless Horseman!



I like that you get one as if you are a hitchhiking ghost, and then one as if you're scared of them. And this is a good spot for them - I approve.

 

[Araminta18]

Tron during MNSSHP - Tuesday, August 15, 2023 (part 5)​

Pictures done, it was about 8:15, and I'd forgotten to mention that we'd gotten a Tron boarding group at 6! I forgot to screenshot the page - I definitely should have because I have vague memories of them calling it *very* early in the night, and us deciding to take a chance and wait a bit to ride it once it was dark. But we figured it was going to get dark soon so we started meandering over that way.

The sunset was gorgeous and slightly watercolor-y -- look!


Gorgeous!

We wandered over by way of Fantasyland (cause I kind of wanted to see if we could meet Prince Eric and Ariel, if their line was short), and we ran into a photographer on the bridge by Be Our Guest. So of course we decided to wait. There was only like 3 people in front of us but the photographer was taking a long time with each family so it ended up being about 10 minutes.

But the scenery was gorgeous!!

The pictures didn't turn out all that great though, sadly. This was the best one.

The line for Eric and Ariel was longer than we wanted to wait, so we kept going to Tron! We were going to cut through the backpath from Storybook Circus but they had it blocked as being one way (exit from Tron only). I don't mind them having it blocked but I do wish they'd have signs or CMs there at the front saying "hey it's one way" so you don't get halfway down the path and then get turned around.

Anyways, we went around to the front way and got let in at Tron! I think we were definitely late, but they let us in. Yay!


Basically no line at all outside - that was awesome. It was about 5 minutes to get let into the lockers, and then another 10 minutes or so to board. Not bad at all!

When we got down there to board, I realized I'd made a horrible mistake. We'd gone right for one of the bikes since I fit the day before, but 1. this was the end of the night, not the beginning of the day and 2. I was wearing a crazy bonkers long dress! It didn't seem like I'd fit on it - between the dress and my calves being large I was ready to just give up and wait for the last row 'cause I didn't want to make everyone wait for me to try and fit, but the CM was awesome and was like "don't even worry about it" and tried to help me fit and was willing to push me in and I made it! It hurt my calves a bit but that's ok.

Trevor was SNEAKY with the camera when he wasn't supposed to be!

Super fun. And when we got off we got to see the canopy turn orange!

Like everyone else I wish the ride was longer but still fun.

 

[Araminta18]

Parade, Fireworks, and Would We Ever Meet Ariel and Prince Eric? - Tuesday, August 15, 2023 (part 6)​

After the ride, it was about 8:55 pm. We decided to go through the bypass there and end up in Storybook Circus and see if maybe there was a short-ish wait for the 7 Dwarfs. That bypass is good stuff-- we got like 3 treat stops! Highly recommend. However there was NOT a short wait for the dwarfs - the CM said about 100 minutes, and with no way to gauge what we saw against what the CM said, we just decided to trust her and not do it.

Exiting Storybook Circus though we saw another photo op!

We did some fun "scared" shots with this one but they were blurry and the re-shots were off center. But it's a fun photo op! We're not bonkers sweaty at all.

We decided with this to head over to Frontierland and see if we could get a spot for the parade. Obviously, rolling up at 9:13 for the 9:15 parade (even though we were up by Liberty Square) meant we didn't really get a front row spot, but we were able to get a seat on the planters there by the Liberty Square Market.

And seats are important. There were plenty of people in front of us, so we couldn't stay seated if we wanted to see anything, but still I'll take it.

This was the view, essentially. Hi Daisy!

Still not horrible for rolling up right on time. We actually just missed the Headless Horseman when we rolled up. Some clips:

Trevor filmed everything except for the country part, which he finds irritating.

I filmed the Haunted Mansion section:

I love the bride so much in this section!

After the parade we went over to Haunted Mansion to see if Broome and Carlotta were out and about, cause we wanted to watch them.

Mansion was lit up all gorgeous, but no Broome or Carlotta. And the line was posted 40 minutes (and looked it) so we didn't want to wait and miss the fireworks. But as we turned to leave, we saw a photo op with a relatively short line that we absolutely couldn't miss.

The Tangled photo op! Had to take this picture while in our costumes.

We got done at about 9:45, and so decided to head over to the hub and get ready for the fireworks. But first we stopped at first aid - I think (I know, bad notes...) Trevor had a headache and we both needed some water. But they gave us Powerades for free! That's like $10 at Disney right there!

This was about 10 pm, so only 15 min to the fireworks. We ended up getting a pretty good spot -

And it stayed pretty nice! No kids on shoulders, nothing. I definitely plopped down on the ground to wait til the show started. I really like this show, but my favorite part is the dancing ghosts with all the songs in a minor key - so cool!

After the fireworks, it was about 10:35, and so we headed back to Fantasyland to see if we could meet Prince Eric and Ariel, and decided to just bite the bullet and wait in the line. We ended up waiting 15 minutes, which wasn't too bad!

Trevor filmed the interaction too -

They were great! We're awkward, but they were great.

At this point, it was 11 pm and we had one more hour of the party - what to do?

 

[Araminta18]

Trick or Treating! - Tuesday, August 15, 2023 (part 7)​

It was time for trick or treating! We always do our trick or treating mostly during the last hour of the party, cause the lines are usually super short and at DisneyWorld they keep stocking right up until park close. So off we went! I honestly don't remember the order in which we hit the treat trails... I think we headed through Fantasyland over towards the Frontierland side of the park, hitting the trails on the way, because the next thing on our cameras is a video of us in Fantasyland, meeting the stepsisters!

They're always fun.

Then over in Frontierland we got to see the Headless Horseman, which yay! cause we missed him for the first parade.

Also two things - you can *kind* of see my Rapunzel tiara hair clip and see the crowds there for the second parade!? That's why I don't buy all the guides that are like "go to the second parade it's less crowded!". No it's not - at least not appreciably, and if you wait for the second parade you don't have another chance if something happens (like weather) to cancel the parade. And you miss out on the short lines for the trick or treat trails! So we always go for the first parade.

Haunted Mansion continued to be gorgeous all lit up.

We ended up grabbing some chicken tenders and fries at Golden Oak Outpost because we were hungry! We had to wait a little bit while they cooked/fried them (maybe 5 minutes or so?) but it worked out - we got to see the second parade a bit. It was actually really neat - we were sitting there in the little seating area next to Golden Oak and that was right where the parade floats would turn on their lights and music, so it would go from nothing to all of a sudden we'd hear a float soundtrack and see some lights through the trees. Super neat.

Then it was time for more trick or treating. Full confession - I kind of made us eat and walk at the same time because it was getting late and I wanted candy.

And then we ran into the Pirate Band!

They were fun - good music and epic Dad jokes. We stayed for a few minutes and then started meandering our way out of the park and to the front. We ran into a photographer with no line in one of the grassy areas by the hub, so of course we stopped. There was still one magic shot I wanted to get!


These weren't the ones I was looking for, but still neat!

Then as we made our way down Main Street, we were playing the odds - stopping at every photographer without a huge line to try and get a decent shot with the magic shot we wanted.

Huey Dewey and Louie! This was the shot I wanted - though I was a bit sad after the fact to see the castle is basically in the "dark" part of its lighting package and is kind of hiding. Oh well.

I like this one. We also did the back to back pose reminisicent of Flynn and Rapunzel but that one didn't really turn out. Oh well!

There are some great Halloween shots.

Down near the hub itself, I noticed this fun detail on City Hall -

The clock is neon green! Very spooky.

There was a pretty decent line for the picture at the front, but it moved pretty quickly. And they had a pumpkin Mickey prop!


Very nice.

And I had a fun experience in line - my feet were hurting so I was leaning against the fence near the front and a group of teen girls ran up to me and were all "Rapunzel! Rapunzel!" And when I turned around they ran up to me and gave me this cute little friendship bracelet! It was super sweet - gotta love these fun little magical moments.

(pic from later, back in the room. )

 

[Araminta18]

MNSSHP Wrap Up - Tuesday, August 15, 2023 (part 8)​

Ok last post for today I promise! After getting our picture taken at the front with the pumpkin, we headed out of the park. It was so pretty out in front of the train station too -


Though this lighting package almost looks kind of Christmass-y in the photo, right?

Earlier in the night (like 5:45ish) we'd gotten the MNSSHP spirit jersey and then rented a locker here at the front so we didn't have to carry it around all night, and luckily I remembered to stop and pick it back up - Trevor had *totally* forgotten. But all good!

We thought about walking back but 1. we were tired and 2. it was still hot! So we took our first monorail ride together and GUYS. The monorail ride from MK to Contemporary is amazing. First off, since it was the resort monorail we only had to wait like 2 minutes (since most folks were waiting for the express) and then 2 min later we were at the Contemporary! Honestly - aweeeeeeeeeeesome. LOVE it. SO much.
And I got to see the 5 legged goat!


But guys honestly - we were back in the room 15 minutes after we entered the line for the resort monorail. BEST THING EVER.


Requisite candy photo, with hand for scale. We didn't have any luck trick or treating, I don't know what you mean.

So overall, definitely a hotter, more exhausting day than we expected, but we still had a good time. The parade was great, the fireworks were great, we got to meet Eric and Ariel, got tons of candy...not bad at all.

Fun with Metrics:
Steps walked: 22820 steps (9.9 miles) - well, for me. Trevor had more
Ride count: 2 for me, 7 for Trevor (Trevor did Big Thunder, Jungle Cruise, Pirates, Space, Buzz, Peoplemover [maybe peoplemover...he doesn't remember for sure and there are no pictures!], Tron, then together we did Space and Tron)
Savings due to AP discount: $17.00 (20% off the MNSSHP spirit jersey at the Emporium)

 

[disneyAndi14]

Awesome party pictures. We have always had luck with the later parade but I agree lately it is quite busy!
We love standing in Frontier Land for the parade.
I love your Rapunzel costumes!
We didn’t even think about doing Tron during the party! Good idea and a nice low wait!

 

[smilie]

Love the costumes!!! I think you made the perfect Rapunzel.

 

[Araminta18]

Universal Morning - Wednesday, August 16, 2023 (part 1)​

Day 3 of class! Trevor decided today he was going to Universal all day, so I didn't have to wake up at 7 to try and get a boarding group or anything. I slept in a bit and then made it down for breakfast at about 8:20 (breakfast went to 8:30, with class starting at 8:30).

Breakfast! They had cheddar scones - so delicious. The rest was standard breakfast food, but still good.

Trevor slept in a bit, but by 9:15 he was on his way to the lobby to catch an uber. The ride ended up being about 30 minutes, and about $30. Not too bad!


He had to stop at the guest services desk to activate his annual pass (we got him the second tier up, since with our Disney APs and multiple trips he wanted to hit Universal for a day or so each trip), but by 10:00 (per the text time stamp) he was in!

He saw that one guy from Despicable Me out -

but his plan was to head to Men In Black, since that was one of the rides we'd missed back in January. But he got sidetracked...

Crepes! Trevor loves crepes. I do too, but Trevor *really* loves them. So his day was definitely off to a good start!

As he kept heading back to Men in Black, he saw some of the Horror Nights theming:

I'm too much of a scaredy cat to ever want to do Horror Nights but Trevor may end up there one of these days!

Anyways, he finally made it back to Men in Black and the line must not have been too bad because the time stamp difference between the picture above and the picture below (of his score) is 10 minutes.

No idea if that's a good score? He said he had fun. But it's not like he's competitive or anything.

Next up, Fast and Furious! Though from the few pictures he took he had fun wandering around and looking at the theming and just becoming familiar with the park.

I liked this picture he took in the queue for Fast and Furious - all the keys! Apparently though he did the single rider line and waited less than 10 minutes. Woot!

From there, he headed over to Diagon Alley, and ended up catching the tale of Beedle the Bard.

They have such good shows in Diagon Alley! He took advantage of the quiet to recharge with a powerade too.

Meanwhile, lunch time for me!

Chicken and veggies, which was fine but nothing exciting. But then, pao de queijo - brazilian cheesy bread! Yum!! These were a bit..not my favorite ones I've had on property (I like the ones at Jungle Cruise better), but still delicious. Yum.

 

[Araminta18]

Awesome party pictures. We have always had luck with the later parade but I agree lately it is quite busy!
We love standing in Frontier Land for the parade.
I love your Rapunzel costumes!
We didn’t even think about doing Tron during the party! Good idea and a nice low wait!

I don't think I've ever seen the second parade less crowded, though we've only done maybe 4 parties total, in my life? I feel like some of these "tips" get out and get popular and then the tips no longer really work.
Thank you!
re: Tron I was so worried the wait time would be long but no, it was great-- highly recommend!

Love the costumes!!! I think you made the perfect Rapunzel.

Aw, thank you! You're so sweet

 

[Araminta18]

So we're doing our first holiday trip to Disney in mid-December, and we're of course going to Mickey's very merry christmas party! But I'll admit I'm a bit overwhelmed with trying to plan it, esp now that reports of the parties are coming out. My priorities are meeting the princesses with their princes, Belle in her holiday dress, and the parade and fireworks, and the rides with the holiday overlays. My tentative plan is below...welcome feedback!

• 6:30 get in line for princesses, best case finish at 7:45?
• Meet Belle in her Christmas dress
• Head over to Liberty Square/Frontierland for the parade at 8:30
• Then swing over to Tomorrowland/fantasyland for whatever rides we can get
• find a spot in the Hub at 9:45ish - watch fireworks til 10:20
• then book it back over to Tomorrowland/Fantasyland for more rides?

Anyways, back to your regularly scheduled trip report.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Universal Afternoon! - Wednesday August 16, 2023 (part 2)​

While I was finishing up lunch, Trevor was heading over to ride Gringotts. But after Gringotts he decided to head up to the front of the park for some of the rides up there.

He met a shark on the way!

And a party bus.

He did Race through New York, but then saw that the new VillainCon ride/attraction was posting a short wait so he hopped in line. He only had to wait about 15 minutes, which wasn't bad. He took several pictures of the fun theming in the queue, but also:

One of his biggest complaints about Universal was the stairs! Why are there stairs everywhere!

They really themed the queue like you're at a con, at least from the pictures I saw.

"Leave your weapons here" - hilarious.


Map!

He said it was fun, but he's glad he didn't wait longer. Basically think Buzz Lightyear, except you're standinga nd there's no laser dot to show where you're aiming.

No idea is that's a good score or not.

After VillainCon, he got a snack:

Always fun when your food looks back at you.

He then did Mummy, and then over to the Hogwarts Express!

 

[Araminta18]

Rain Rain Go Away - Wednesday, August 16, 2023 (part 3)​

I know you probably don't need more pictures of the Hogwarts Express, but then again, maybe you do.

Yea, you can't have too many pics of it. Trevor actually managed to avoid the rain by being in the indoor queue for the Hogwarts express, so it worked out!

In the meantime, in class we had just gotten back from our field trip, and there were snacks!

Peppers and naan and hummus. They definitely kept us well-fed in class. And the field trip was super interesting - we went to the FLO - Fourth Laundry Operation. Now I'm sure they only take us to places that are functioning well, but it was really interesting to see the values/vision that we'd been learning about in class in action in this place. They have 3 other laundries, and then when they were going to build the fourth one, they did a bunch of surveys and focus groups to get feedback from the CMs who would be working there, and used that feedback in building it. For example, they heard from the CMs that it was important that they be able to take their breaks/lunches as a group, and so rather than a break room with one microwave, they have a large breakroom with a ton of microwaves. Or on each of the laundry folding machines (which are SUPER COOL to look at by the way) they have a screen on top with the stats (# folded, a couple of various percentages) and they were going to take those out, but the CMs they surveyed all said they liked having that screen, so they left the screens in. We also had the manager of FLO come and talk to us and she was talking about how repetitive motion injuries are a big concern, so they got an athletic trainer to come in and work with the CMs (show them stretches, etc), but it's on the clock, because if safety really is a core value, they need to show that by having it be paid time. Or with the heat wave, they closed the vents to the upper catwalks where we (and other tour groups go) in favor of having all the a/c be directed down to the floor and onto the CMs.

Again, I'm sure they show us this because it's one of the places that works well. But it was still neat to see and hear, and also industrial laundry machines are crazy awesome. Fun stat: something along the lines of it would take you 62 years to do the amount of laundry they do in ONE DAY at this one facility. Anyways, it was a really interesting field trip.

Back at Universal, the rain shut down the outdoor rides so Forbidden Journey which had been 15 minute wait all day jumped to 60 minutes. I asked Trevor if there was single rider, so he decided to head that way and check it out anyways. On the way, he sent me a picture with the caption: "I found us from last night " (the Halloween party

Ha, Trevor thinks he's so funny.

He also passed the Jurassic Park jeep and had to take a picture, since he wasn't going to ride Velocicoaster without me.

Look out for the raptor!


At Forbidden Journey there was a single rider line, so yay! Unfortunately the rain was still going after he got off. There were a bunch of people waiting around hoping that the rain would stop and Hagrid's would open back up:

Trevor was sitting on a bench near by, figuring if it opened up great, if not he'd ride Spiderman. This was about 4:30, and my class was getting out, so I was heading to hop in an uber and meet him over there for dinner at Citywalk. Almost walked out with my name tag...oops!

The rain was definitely picking up over by me at Disney -

Ominous clouds.

It wasn't getting any better at Universal either:

Trevor decided to head to Spiderman and ride that one. But mistakes were made - the rain started DUMPING right as he passed King Kong and by the time he'd worked his way to Spiderman running from cover to cover, the line was 60 min, and no single rider. He was thinking he definitely should have just stayed and done King Kong. Oh well!

By that point, I'd made it to Citywalk, just for the tail end of the rain. I got dumped on running from the uber to the covering. And look at the water pouring down here!

Bonkers. I pulled out my handy dandy poncho but luckily it really calmed down as I headed into CityWalk proper. Trevor was making his way to meet me so I ducked into the Universal Legacy store to wait for him and look around. They had this cool wax machine of Back to the Future!

I didn't buy one, but still kind of cool.

Next up - dinner! Any guesses?

 

[Ellester]

They used to have those wax machines all over Florida when I was growing up in the 70’s! At the zoo, SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, the Turnpike rest stops, etc! I had so many of them, that hot wax smell is one of my core childhood memories!

I vote CowFish for dinner!

Loving your report, you and Trevor make a super cute couple!

 

[Araminta18]

They used to have those wax machines all over Florida when I was growing up in the 70’s! At the zoo, SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, the Turnpike rest stops, etc! I had so many of them, that hot wax smell is one of my core childhood memories!

I vote CowFish for dinner!

Loving your report, you and Trevor make a super cute couple!

Oh wow really? I’d never seen one in person before, just on some vlogs!

Ooh good guess but no…we almost went to Cowfish back in January but the menu didn’t appeal then. Is it good?

As thank you! That’s so sweet to say.