Dig A Little Deeper: Dopey 2019

[ThePin Princess]

Joining in and loving the TR! I did the Enchanted 10K in Feb 2015 and there was a major cold front that weekend, I was so under dressed pre-race luckily they had some heaters around. Can’t wait to hear about the rest of your trip and races!

 

[lhermiston]

Love the report. I love running around World Showcase but haven’t done it when it’s dark out. That’s awesome about the song. I’d made my playlist for the marathon and hadn’t seen Princess and the Frog. My daughter made me watch it and I had to put that song in there.

It’s a great tune and an underrated soundtrack, IMO.

Joining in and loving the TR! I did the Enchanted 10K in Feb 2015 and there was a major cold front that weekend, I was so under dressed pre-race luckily they had some heaters around. Can’t wait to hear about the rest of your trip and races!

Welcome!

 

[lhermiston]

Day 3: Magic Kingdom, Trails End and the best fireworks spot ever

I got back from the 5K, got the family cleaned up and moving and we were in Magic Kingdom shortly after rope drop.

First up, the latest in our continuing series of failed family pictures:

PhotoPass_Visiting_MK_415206124307 by Lee Hermiston, on Flickr

From there, we hit up a few rides. I think we did Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin, followed by a FastPass for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. It was our first time ever doing 7DMT and I thought it was a really solid ride, though maybe not worth the standby wait. (Peter Pan was closed, which probably didn't help)



After the mine train, Maya was hungry, so we went up to Gaston's Tavern. We grabbed a giant cinnamon roll and Josie and I both had a chocolate croissant. This was when I was beginning to realize that there was no way we were going to use up all of our meal plan snack credits.



After breakfast, we took a quick ride on the carousel. It was around this point in the trip that I began to realize touring plans were largely useless with a 4-year-old in tow. I learned to more or less roll with it for the rest of the trip, though.



After the carousel, I think we ran over to Splash Mountain (my favorite!) for a quick ride, then Haunted Mansion (Maya was scared and didn't like it) and it's a small world (Josie still hates it from last time).

After that, we had lunch at my favorite spot in Magic Kingdom, Columbia Harbour House. I got shrimp, chicken nuggets and fish; Robyn got chili, Maya got chicken nuggets and Josie got some kind of sandwich. Hannah got the salmon and she didn't like it at all. I told her that ordering what amounts to fast food salmon probably isn't the best idea and offered to go grab her something else, but she pretty much picked off everyone else's plates and was fine.

We did more rides after lunch, including tea cups (that might have been in the morning, who knows?), Dumbo, Fantastmic (another favorite of mine) and the PeopleMover. Hannah, Maya and I rode the PeopleMover for the first time during our last trip and I've grown to love this simple attraction. It's really best at sunset, IMO, but pretty much any time of day it's such a chill ride. I think we also did the Barnstormer on that afternoon, which was hilarious because one of the rides actually meant for kids Maya's age was a total letdown for her. Ms. "I wanna go on Tower of Terror with Sisters" thought it was too short.

DSC_3113 by Lee Hermiston, on Flickr

At some point during the day, we did some meet-and-greets, too:

PhotoPass_Visiting_MK_415207528139 by Lee Hermiston, on Flickr

PhotoPass_Visiting_MK_415207866584 by Lee Hermiston, on Flickr

I should have told Tiana about my "Dig A Little Deeper" theme, but I was too busy taking my own photos.

Later in the afternoon, the girls did a little shopping. Josie picked out a pair of tennis shoes with Mickeys (or Minnies) on them. They were pretty slick, but I don't have a photo. While they did some shopping, I asked one of the Disney photographers about when I could grab a good spot to take photos for Happily Ever After. With the show starting at 8, she recommended sometime around 7 or 7:15.

Around 4, we got on a boat for the Fort Wilderness Campground, where we had a reservation at Trails End at 5. The ride over was very scenic and peaceful.

DSC_3132 by Lee Hermiston, on Flickr

DSC_3135 by Lee Hermiston, on Flickr

DSC_3147 by Lee Hermiston, on Flickr

We got to Trails End a little early and it wasn't open yet, but we ended up being seated pretty quickly.

Nearly two weeks later, I'm not sure what to make of Trails End. The food was pretty decent - I had some ribs, fried chicken, prime rib and some really, really good mac and cheese. But, there was something about the ambiance - or lack thereof. It felt like I was having dinner at a KOA campground. And the clientele was unlike anything I've seen in any Disney restaurants - no apparel, no Mickey ears, etc. It literally could have been any buffet in the Midwest on a Tuesday evening. And, maybe that's the point. For all I know, the restaurant is meant to serve the RV crowd that settles down at Disney for a little while, but doesn't want to be fully immersed in Disney. It was probably the most un-Disney Disney experience I've ever had. Not bad, but not what I'm looking for on vacation so I doubt we'll be back.

The boat ride back was great, though!

DSC_3193 by Lee Hermiston, on Flickr

We got back around 6:30 and the park looked so freaking beautiful I could hardly stand it. I love Main Street USA and the castle with the lights still up.

DSC_3196 by Lee Hermiston, on Flickr

I didn't feel like doing any more rides, so I lined up a FastPass for Dumbo for Hannah and the girls. I decided to stake out a spot for photos instead. In the past, I've had kind of poor luck shooting from the front of the castle. I'll stake out a spot, only for a bunch of people to crowd in around me at the last minute, hold up their phones the whole time and just kind of spoil my shots. This time, however, I grabbed a spot right at one of the garden fences in the hub so that no one could stand directly in front of me. I used the stroller to hold a spot for Hannah and the girls.

It was a long wait and I did have some people crowd around me a bit and get too close to my tripod for my liking (I want everyone to be able to see, but when my tripod gets kicked, it ruins a shot), but ultimately, my long wait paid off. It was my first time shooting Once Upon a Time and Happily Ever After and I got some of my best shots ever.

DSC_3230 by Lee Hermiston, on Flickr

DSC_3242 by Lee Hermiston, on Flickr

(I'll post more pics in the next post)

It was truly an awesome day at Magic Kingdom.

Next up: 10K!

 

[lhermiston]

More fireworks pics for anyone who cares:

DSC_3235 by Lee Hermiston, on Flickr

DSC_3240 by Lee Hermiston, on Flickr

DSC_3247 by Lee Hermiston, on Flickr

DSC_3264 by Lee Hermiston, on Flickr

DSC_3285 by Lee Hermiston, on Flickr

DSC_3291 by Lee Hermiston, on Flickr

 

[rteetz]

Great day at MK!

I get what you're saying at Trails End. I did breakfast there after the 10K. It was pretty good and I would do it again. Ft. Wilderness is a totally different place. Its old vintage Walt Disney World before everything was planned and scheduled. My mom stayed at Ft. Wilderness every year when she was a kid. People will come and spend weeks at that resort at a time. People go nuts in terms of decorations for their camp sites for holidays and even decorate their golf carts. Ft. Wilderness is a blast from the that I hope we never lose.

Awesome fireworks pictures as always!

 

[lhermiston]

Great day at MK!

I get what you're saying at Trails End. I did breakfast there after the 10K. It was pretty good and I would do it again. Ft. Wilderness is a totally different place. Its old vintage Walt Disney World before everything was planned and scheduled. My mom stayed at Ft. Wilderness every year when she was a kid. People will come and spend weeks at that resort at a time. People go nuts in terms of decorations for their camp sites for holidays and even decorate their golf carts. Ft. Wilderness is a blast from the that I hope we never lose.

Awesome fireworks pictures as always!

Well said, re: Fort Wilderness. I definitely got a "the land time forgot" vibe, which I'm sure is why people like it and why it was mostly old white couples there. Probably not my cup of tea, but not a bad place by any means.

And thanks! I had great luck with fireworks locations this trip.

 

[garneska]

I feel like I should respond. Lee, i don’t want to discount your opinion at all, after all when It comes to food everyone has their own opinion. We were at ft Wilderness for two weeks in our RV. We ate at Trails End 4 times, 2 dinner and 2 breakfast. We love it, but maybe because it is comfort food, and when you are at Disney for two weeks it might be nice to not be all Mickey Mouse all the time. The Fort has a different vibe, honestly one of the things I love are my morning runs, I see animals and it is so peaceful.

Again different strokes for different folks. I will admit we do eat there more than usual out of convenience as well.

 

[Chaitali]

Wow, those are some beautiful nighttime shots of the castle and fireworks! We splurged for the dessert party this time so had a really nice viewing spot of the fireworks. I love the night time shows they currently have in the Magic Kingdom.

 

[lhermiston]

I feel like I should respond. Lee, i don’t want to discount your opinion at all, after all when It comes to food everyone has their own opinion. We were at ft Wilderness for two weeks in our RV. We ate at Trails End 4 times, 2 dinner and 2 breakfast. We love it, but maybe because it is comfort food, and when you are at Disney for two weeks it might be nice to not be all Mickey Mouse all the time. The Fort has a different vibe, honestly one of the things I love are my morning runs, I see animals and it is so peaceful.

Again different strokes for different folks. I will admit we do eat there more than usual out of convenience as well.

I could definitely see the appeal of Trails End for lengthier stays so you aren't bombarded with all things Disney. Like I said, it wasn't bad, just a very different experience. And the mac and cheese was great!

 

[lhermiston]

Wow, those are some beautiful nighttime shots of the castle and fireworks! We splurged for the dessert party this time so had a really nice viewing spot of the fireworks. I love the night time shows they currently have in the Magic Kingdom.

Thanks! I am a die hard Celebrate the Magic/Wishes fan, but I really enjoy the new shows, too.

 

[Smilelea]

I'm with you on the snack credits! This was our second trip on the DDP so we didn't "save" any like we did the first time. When anyone wanted a snack we got one. But it still wasn't often enough. We even used some at meals to get YDS food since he is still "free". We were so full with all of the meals (and therefore didn't snack very often) that we still had to use up some credits at the confectionary on our last day.

The firework pictures are awesome!!

 

[lhermiston]

I'm with you on the snack credits! This was our second trip on the DDP so we didn't "save" any like we did the first time. When anyone wanted a snack we got one. But it still wasn't often enough. We even used some at meals to get YDS food since he is still "free". We were so full with all of the meals (and therefore didn't snack very often) that we still had to use up some credits at the confectionary on our last day.

The firework pictures are awesome!!

We made a concerted effort to use as many snack credits as possible, but two per person per day is so many. I planned to spend more on breakfast items, but that didn’t happen. Not to mention, things like the cinnamon roll could easily feed 2-3 people. Ultimately, we had to raid the gift shop our last night and lots of friends/coworkers got received prepackaged Disney treats when we got back.

 

[ZellyB]

Wow! Those fireworks shots are incredible. I'm so glad you were able to get a great spot for it. Loving all the pictures of your family too. You had some great ones!!

 

[lhermiston]

Wow! Those fireworks shots are incredible. I'm so glad you were able to get a great spot for it. Loving all the pictures of your family too. You had some great ones!!

Thanks! I was really happy with some of the photos, though I took a lot less this year and let photopass do some of the heavy lifting.

 

[garneska]

I do agree you have some fabulous pictures. It’s fun following along. How is the weather. I have been down with sickness the only good thing is the weather is crap so I don’t feel bad about not running. My next race is in 3 weeks though.

 

[xjillianpaige]

I usually don't care for people's fireworks photos because, let's face it, they're hard to photograph well. With that said, yours look INCREDIBLE! Great spot. Great colors.

 

[lhermiston]

I do agree you have some fabulous pictures. It’s fun following along. How is the weather. I have been down with sickness the only good thing is the weather is crap so I don’t feel bad about not running. My next race is in 3 weeks though.

We got about 6 inches of snow Friday into Saturday. Temps have been teens to the single digits. Not ideal. Hard to believe I was worried about the heat 10 days ago.

What’s your next race? I’m trying to decide if I want to do a full at the end of April. I feel good, but have never done a full this quickly after another one.

I usually don't care for people's fireworks photos because, let's face it, they're hard to photograph well. With that said, yours look INCREDIBLE! Great spot. Great colors.

Thanks! Fireworks are one of my favorite things to shoot. On the flip side, it generally means lugging around a camera bag and tripod all day.

 

[PrincessMickey]

Great photos!!!!

 

[a-mad]

I'm enjoying reading your trip report, Lee, and how your trip compared to ours. Looking at your pics makes me miss the parks, and I've only been back for a few days!

Great fireworks pics. It sounds like we had a similar view of the fireworks, and I was completely blown away by "Happily Ever After." It's one of the best projection/fireworks shows I've seen Disney do.

 

[lhermiston]

Great photos!!!!

Thanks!

I'm enjoying reading your trip report, Lee, and how your trip compared to ours. Looking at your pics makes me miss the parks, and I've only been back for a few days!

Great fireworks pics. It sounds like we had a similar view of the fireworks, and I was completely blown away by "Happily Ever After." It's one of the best projection/fireworks shows I've seen Disney do.

Thank you! The new show is pretty awesome. I just don’t think it has the same emotional resonance as Wishes.