Meet me at the Snuggly Duckling! A June 2018 TR. UPDATED 3/8

[tazdev3225]

Glad you felt well enough to do Pandora. I would love to try it but not worth spending the rest of my day queasy. I wanted to see the Pandora at night but changed some plans around and wound up missing it again. At least it gives me a reason to go back. My grandson said I owe him a birthday trip as both his sisters were in Disney for their birthdays. I am seriously tempted to try and take him. He will be 13 and has been doing so well in school this year that it would be a nice reward. He is on the Spectrum and has struggled but something clicked all of a sudden. I doubt my daughter will OK the trip though.

 

[amazingact21]

Glad you were able to use those FOP Fastpasses and that the ride didn't make you feel worse.
I have terrible eyesight and found Pandora at nighttime very difficult to navigate because it was so dark. Glad to see I'm not the only one who had that same thought!

 

[missangelalexis]

Lots of nice PP pictures!

I honestly never thought if there was an accessible entrance to FoP. Now I wonder because last trip we had someone in a wheelchair and pushing them through that queue was the worst hahah

I'm glad you made it on and loved it!!

OoOoh what a pretty rainbow!

Glad you enjoyed the night despite not feeling great!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I wanted to see the Pandora at night but changed some plans around and wound up missing it again. At least it gives me a reason to go back.

That's too bad but yes, there is always next time!

My grandson said I owe him a birthday trip as both his sisters were in Disney for their birthdays. I am seriously tempted to try and take him.

I bet he would love that. Hopefully your daughter agrees!

Glad you were able to use those FOP Fastpasses and that the ride didn't make you feel worse.
I have terrible eyesight and found Pandora at nighttime very difficult to navigate because it was so dark. Glad to see I'm not the only one who had that same thought!

Nope, not just you, I found it to be very dark and the crowds of people didn't help matters.

Now I wonder because last trip we had someone in a wheelchair and pushing them through that queue was the worst hahah

I can imagine! I wouldn't want to push somebody in a wheelchair through that line!

 

[petals]

Glad you managed to use your fastpasses. The Tree of life looks so pretty at night time

 

[Steppesister]

All caught up again, Lessa! What an eventful day! A brand new ride for you that's now a favorite and yuck... a not so fun diversion to the restroom. So sorry you ended up very ill that day. I agree it was probably heat exhaustion that got you. Such an awful experience.

Isn't Pandora lovely? I just adore everything they've done there!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Glad you managed to use your fastpasses. The Tree of life looks so pretty at night time

I would have been so disappointed if I had missed them.

It was fun seeing the Tree lit up at night as we had never been in AK after dark before.

All caught up again, Lessa! What an eventful day! A brand new ride for you that's now a favorite and yuck... a not so fun diversion to the restroom. So sorry you ended up very ill that day. I agree it was probably heat exhaustion that got you. Such an awful experience.

Isn't Pandora lovely? I just adore everything they've done there!

It was an eventful day! I have never been victim to the heat like that before, it sure was an eye opener! Don't know if we will ever go back in the high heat of the summer again.

 

[petals]

I would have been so disappointed if I had missed them.

It was fun seeing the Tree lit up at night as we had never been in AK after dark before.

Last time we were there they didn't light the tree up. I'm looking forward to seeing it.

 

[Terra Nova guy]

Love the pictures of Pandora! I’m sad that my family were always too tired at the end of the day to walk into Pandora at night. It looks really nice.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Love the pictures of Pandora! I’m sad that my family were always too tired at the end of the day to walk into Pandora at night. It looks really nice.

That is sad! One of these days you will get to see it!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

June 16 - Day Off - Disney Springs

This was the halfway point of our trip and it was a much needed "day off". By day off I mean that we did not have any plans to go to a park this day. It was going to be a sleep in go with the flow kind of day. The only concrete plan that we had was dinner at Jiko that evening.

I "slept in" until around 8. I put slept in in quotation marks as that is only considered sleeping in on vacation where I would normally wake up at 6am. In my regular life you are lucky if you see me out of bed at the horrendous hour of 8am so you can imagine the horror I feel when I have to wake up at 530am to go to work when I am working the day shift.

I just let myself wake up naturally this morning because as stated we did not have anywhere we needed to be.

I spent some time that morning enjoying the animals outside and here are some pictures to show you why this is my favourite room. There were so many animals this morning!















One of the little antelopes was running around trying to get his buddies to play with him but none of them seemed up to it as they would just step away from him when he came running around them.

At some point I wandered down to the gift shop as I had purchased some mugs at the Magic Kingdom two days prior and shipped them to the resort to minimize the chances of my dropping and breaking them in the park. I had purchased two of the Retro Disney afternoon mugs, one Rescue Rangers and one Duck Tales to give my brothers as gifts at Christmas time. I felt bad for them as they love those shows, we grew up on them, but all the wearable merchandise in the shops was designed for girls so I figured I could at least get them mugs!

Well, the gift shop did not have my package! It had been sent to the wrong resort apparently or maybe it was still sitting at the Magic Kingdom and had not been sent at all? The cast member that was helping me seemed pretty frustrated and told me that this unfortunately had been happening a lot lately. We double checked my copy of the form to confirm I had checked off the correct information and I had so they told me to check back in the afternoon and they would track it down for me.


Back up at the room Mom and I got ready to head out to Disney Springs. We had only seen part of it on our arrival day so we were going to spend a few hours exploring.

We started out on the West End and made our way towards the Marketplace. Our first stop was the new Disney Style store.

This place was really neat and had some unique merchandise. I probably would never buy most of it as I can't think when I would use it but I suppose for those who cosplay there would be some good finds here such as the Cinderella Coach purse!





There were a ton of fun t-shirts and I wish I had bought this one.



I did end up getting my brothers t-shirts, more Christmas presents!

Mom and I wandered in and out of the stores on the West End but I was not seeing anything that struck my fancy until we went into the Candy Cauldron and saw the Chocolate Peanut Butter cookie! Yum! Mom opted to get a Snickerdoodle.



Once we got into the new section of Disney Springs I started to be more interested in the stores.

We stopped in the Ganachery were I got a chocolate, chocolate peanut butter of course!



If it had not been so hot I would have bought more to take back to the hotel but I knew that realistically they would melt while we were walking around so it would have been a waste of money. That chocolate was so good though!

I also enjoyed the Savannah Bee Company shop where I purchased several lip balms which I love.



Look at all that honey!







We stopped in Chapel Hats where I tried on a fascinator in memory of a dear patient of mine that passed away in January. I had taken care of this lady for 8 years as she was my very first patient on my first clinical rotation in nursing school and then I had the pleasure of caring for her in the summers of nursing school when I worked as a summer student in the hospital and then as a nurse when I finished school. Her trademark was a fascinator, she loved to wear one every day.





We were now back in the familiar territory of the Marketplace.

It was pretty dead over here for lunch hour on a Saturday.



The Lego statues have seen better days and are in desperate need of a refresh as they have faded so much.











World of Disney was packed and it was a little scary in there. I am looking forward to seeing how it looks now that it has all been renovated. Hopefully better crowd flow.



Mom and I stopped at the DVC stand and inquired about a tour as we had an "invitation" in our room offering $100 gift card and three fastpasses if we did a tour. DVC is something we would be interested in (if our dollar ever made it back to par or close to par) so we decided to take a tour and check out the model rooms. They were able to accommodate us in about an hours time so we wandered over to Earl of Sandwich for lunch before going back to the DVC stand to catch our ride to Saratoga Springs.

Mom got the Thai Wrap and I got the Broccoli Cheese Soup and chugged some water.





The meal was delicious as aways although I was still feeling kind of funky from the day before so I did not enjoy it as much as i normally would.

 

[Steppesister]

It was an eventful day! I have never been victim to the heat like that before, it sure was an eye opener! Don't know if we will ever go back in the high heat of the summer again.

I've avoided it as much as possible and would always opt for Fall every time. Cooler, and lower crowd levels.

you can imagine the horror I feel when I have to wake up at 530am to go to work when I am working the day shift.

There are some days my shift starts at 6:30, so I'm up at 4:30. I hate it every time.

Well, the gift shop did not have my package! It had been sent to the wrong resort apparently or maybe it was still sitting at the Magic Kingdom and had not been sent at all? The cast member that was helping me seemed pretty frustrated and told me that this unfortunately had been happening a lot lately. We double checked my copy of the form to confirm I had checked off the correct information and I had so they told me to check back in the afternoon and they would track it down for me.

I always wondered if that happened and how they'd resolve it.

We stopped in Chapel Hats where I tried on a fascinator in memory of a dear patient of mine that passed away in January. I had taken care of this lady for 8 years as she was my very first patient on my first clinical rotation in nursing school and then I had the pleasure of caring for her in the summers of nursing school when I worked as a summer student in the hospital and then as a nurse when I finished school. Her trademark was a fascinator, she loved to wear one every day.

Awwww, I love this story! Some patients are extra special!

Mom and I stopped at the DVC stand and inquired about a tour as we had an "invitation" in our room offering $100 gift card and three fastpasses if we did a tour. DVC is something we would be interested in (if our dollar ever made it back to par or close to par) so we decided to take a tour and check out the model rooms. They were able to accommodate us in about an hours time so we wandered over to Earl of Sandwich for lunch before going back to the DVC stand to catch our ride to Saratoga Springs.

This is on my list to do- maybe even on my next trip!

 

[suse66]

I "slept in" until around 8. I put slept in in quotation marks as that is only considered sleeping in on vacation where I would normally wake up at 6am. In my regular life you are lucky if you see me out of bed at the horrendous hour of 8am so you can imagine the horror I feel when I have to wake up at 530am to go to work when I am working the day shift.

I just let myself wake up naturally this morning because as stated we did not have anywhere we needed to be.

I spent some time that morning enjoying the animals outside and here are some pictures to show you why this is my favourite room. There were so many animals this morning!

Oh, I just love AKL!!

We started out on the West End and made our way towards the Marketplace. Our first stop was the new Disney Style store.

This place was really neat and had some unique merchandise. I probably would never buy most of it as I can't think when I would use it but I suppose for those who cosplay there would be some good finds here such as the Cinderella Coach purse!

I enjoyed the DisneyStyle store too but find the prices so high with our low dollar.

We stopped in the Ganachery were I got a chocolate, chocolate peanut butter of course!

Yummo!

I also enjoyed the Savannah Bee Company shop where I purchased several lip balms which I love.

I need to check out that store!

Mom and I stopped at the DVC stand and inquired about a tour as we had an "invitation" in our room offering $100 gift card and three fastpasses if we did a tour. DVC is something we would be interested in (if our dollar ever made it back to par or close to par) so we decided to take a tour and check out the model rooms. They were able to accommodate us in about an hours time so we wandered over to Earl of Sandwich for lunch before going back to the DVC stand to catch our ride to Saratoga Springs.

I did a tour as well in August. I'd love to buy DVC one day but will wait until our dollar is a little stronger. I'd probably start with a resale contact though.

 

[amazingact21]

Disney Springs has so many shops now that it makes perfect sense to go there on a "down day." That cookie you got looked delicious!

Sorry you were still feeling kind of off, but fortunately you had the day to rest and continue to recuperate.

 

[petals]

Wow the lego statues look awful. You'd think when they were adding new shops and redoing world of disney they'd have redone them as well

 

[missangelalexis]

Sounds like a nice time at Disney Springs!!

 

[Terra Nova guy]

Well, the gift shop did not have my package! It had been sent to the wrong resort apparently or maybe it was still sitting at the Magic Kingdom and had not been sent at all?

That's disappointing. I've used that service a lot and never had any issues. I hope you got it sorted out in the end.

 

[Cloe Colton]

Looks like a great rest day! I always feel the need to build one of these into a long trip. Otherwise I get too burnt out!

I agree about the Lego statues. Its almost embarassing that Disney hasn't freshened these up or painted them or replaced them altogether!

 

[Lesley Wake]

At some point I wandered down to the gift shop as I had purchased some mugs at the Magic Kingdom two days prior and shipped them to the resort to minimize the chances of my dropping and breaking them in the park. I had purchased two of the Retro Disney afternoon mugs, one Rescue Rangers and one Duck Tales to give my brothers as gifts at Christmas time. I felt bad for them as they love those shows, we grew up on them, but all the wearable merchandise in the shops was designed for girls so I figured I could at least get them mugs!

I love those shows too! Unfortunately the shirts were all one size too small (damn not making plus sizes in that lineup)!

If it had not been so hot I would have bought more to take back to the hotel but I knew that realistically they would melt while we were walking around so it would have been a waste of money. That chocolate was so good though!

Oh, its too late now, but the Ganachery has complimentary ice packs for the chocolates! Mine survived walking around Disney Springs and a whole evening at Magic Kingdom when it was pretty warm. And if you buy enough they even have a little mini fabric cooler you can get (I think it comes with any purchase over $50).

I also enjoyed the Savannah Bee Company shop where I purchased several lip balms which I love.

Mmmm, I like those flavors! I need to stop there in December

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I've avoided it as much as possible and would always opt for Fall every time. Cooler, and lower crowd levels.

Our next trip we plan to go in October for those exact reasons although we will be risking the tail end of hurricane season.

There are some days my shift starts at 6:30, so I'm up at 4:30. I hate it every time.

Yuck!

Awwww, I love this story! Some patients are extra special!

She was one of my favourites. I love where I work but it is hard as many of our patients stay with us for years before they pass and it is impossible to not become attached no matter what they teach you in nursing school. She was one of those patients and we were all very sad when she passed. I have great memories though.