My very first TR-aka the one where the trip was way more fun than the title...

Following along! You sure got a lot done on your arrival day! Can't wait to hear about the rest :)
 
I like going to the outlet as well. Its very hit or miss but I've found some cute stuff. I love the HM magic shot.
 


buteraa said:
I like going to the outlet as well. Its very hit or miss but I've found some cute stuff. I love the HM magic shot.
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The last few times we have been it has been kind of a bust for us too! I did however find some awesome Haunted Mansion ornaments of the singing busts that made it worthwhile. I love HM anything
 


Andy We're coming home........

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So, after a short night of sleep we wanted to be up and go and check out TSL at HS. So we showered quickly and grabbed breakfast at the McDonald's next to our hotel. Neither of us were very awake and we were hoping to fortify ourselves with protein and caffeine. But next up Hollywood Studios. It had been since February since our last visit and we were absolutely amazed at all the walls in getting to HS. From where the parking lot ended until the entrance it was nothing but barricaded walls. We have been to HS but I was so confused like I almost needed a map and compass to navigate to the park-and did I mention it was already like 85 plus degrees as we wandered thru the dessert wasteland of what used to be the bus drop offs-until finally we spotted Sorcerer Mickey beckoning to us like a mirage - ok so maybe I am exaggerating but it was a mess!​

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It was a little after 10 by the time we got into the park and our first FP was for HTOT. So, we made our way down and pit stopped at Sweet Spells and I had heard that they closed the bakery portion to add TS merchandise, but I had to see it for myself. The carrot cake cookie is one of my FAVORITE treats in all WDW and being unsure of where I could secure my next one left me feeling a little sad. We perused all the neat things they had to offer and basked in the AC for a minute before continuing down. We walked right into the back of the staging room and then right off and only had to wait for one elevator to fill before it was our turn. It pays to pay attention to the CM and wait for them to ask for "parties of 2" I can't tell you how many times this has saved us from waiting and those poor people probably feel like no one is really paying attention anyway.​

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I CAN SEE SLINKY DOG !!!!​

For the ride we had a newbie behind us and that is always kind of fun to listen to them go into absolute panic mode, also for one of the first times we got the first row and were able to clearly see ourselves in the picture, however once the doors open I was more concerned with pointing out the obvious addition to SDD in TSL to make a good face. Poor Derrick after a greasy breakfast and a bouncy ride he was beginning to feel a little under the weather. So, while he took a minute for himself I was lucky to be able to enjoy a COH show with Juan Scenario and Stone Granite where the "spirits" told them about audience members who ran up and rang the bell. The spirits in question were Gin Bottles filled with clear liquid and as the skit progressed the bawdier they got and the emptier the bottles appeared. They were having a great time and loved playing the parts. I don't know about you but one of my favorite things to do is to make time to watch the great COH. I was so sad when they announce the most recent cutbacks and the removal of the Paige Turner character. She was one of my absolute favorites and I am going to miss her.

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I MISS YOU PAIGE TURNER​

After the show finished up I found Derrick cooling of in one of the adjoining gift shops and we both decided to head off to our next FP and ST. We managed to catch the march of the First Order led by Captain Phasma-even if you aren't a fan of the Star Wars franchise there is something that is so cool about watching all that precision marching. We took a quick detour by the Backlot Café to fill up our water and then went to check in-whelp I turned around for one second only to hear Derrick say he wasn't feeling well and he disappeared on me again. I made my way down to the Gonzo Bathrooms to wait it out. I was pleasantly surprised to see the Ms. Piggy Fountain turned back on, last time we were there it was a planter.​

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So, I found a nice shady spot and watched a photo pass photographer take pictures in front of the working fountain. I must admit with all the heat of the day it was kind of nice, this bench even had a light breeze going for it. I people watched for a bit, played with snapchat filters with my DD and just hung out. After a short while Derrick rejoined me apologizing for his Houdini act. On our way back to ST we were lucky enough to see Chip & Dale return from their break and watch Chip beg the food vendor for some snacks. It was fun watching their interaction and then the two of them take turns encouraging each other to take the big leap of the sidewalk curb. It’s the unscripted moments like this that I truly love Disney for. It's out of love of their jobs that these Characters make each moment they have with guests count. I mean anyone can walk from Point A to Point B but at Disney they always take it up a notch.

After our ST we were once again impressed by the amount of destruction going on in the gift shop-that place is always jumping however on our trip we just found walls covered in sheets and not much else to look at.

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Trying to Find the Force!!​

Now it was time to shrink down to toy size and explore Andy's backyard. We were so excited to get our first glimpse and boy we were impressed at all the details and colors it was gorgeous!​

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Due to the late date of planning the trips we were only able to secure a FP for TSMM. But first we wanted to check out all the land had to offer. We managed to stop and get a few magic shots and check out the bathrooms of course lol. since we had a little time to kill before our FP we decided to try the Mobile Ordering at Woody's Lunchbox. I had MO one other time at Cosmic Ray's with no problem but this time I don't know what I was doing, literally after like waiting 10 min for a notification telling my food was done I just gave up and decided to go to the window. Thankfully my food was there-we ordered the Grilled Three-Cheese sandwich with the pasta salad for a side and the Totchos.
When Derrick and I aren't going to Disney we like baseball and are slowly visiting every MLB park and to date the best ball park food we have had was in DC at the Navy Yard where they too offer Totchos-these ones were every bit as good and we happily devoured them.

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The sandwich was good too and Derrick raved about the pasta salad. I was getting anxious to see how exactly they had flipped TSMM so that the entrance was on this side of the park and once inside we were able to see it. My only regret was we had fast passed this-there was so much to see and look at in the que that I felt rushed and really wanted to take my time and enjoy it but oh well we had some toys to help.

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The same went for after the ride-it was just so cool what they had done with all the games and toys - I was loving it.

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Infamous Popsicle Wall #wallsofdisney

It was going on 1:30 and we had to still hit up Epcot for our second visit of the trip and rain looked imminent. We started to head out and did pause to enjoy the Star Wars Stage show for a few minutes. Once again, we navigated our way thru the parking lot maze and found a tram. As we rode the tram out to car the skies got darker and darker and we started to get nervous we might not make it to the car in time. We hopped off that tram so quick and immediately tried to find our car-you could hear the sound of the rain closing in on us and the two of us ran like there was a 5min wait time on SDMT-we were like lighting and just barely made it to the car before the rain came down so heavy you couldn’t even see out the windows. We waited it out and it let up a little, and we started to make our way to Epcot. Ok so it is Saturday, Mid-afternoon during Food and Wine-I honestly have no idea what exactly we were thinking by going to Epcot-the line to pay for parking was crazy and so was waiting for a spot. We decided we were just going to go in and scan our bands and leave the park, so we didn't bring anything in with us. And after debating about it we also elected to leave our raincoats and umbrellas in the car, the skies were starting to clear up by now and we didn’t think we would need them. After breezing thru security, we were stopped dead in our tracks by, yep you guessed it more rain. We passed the time hanging out under the entrance breezeway and waited for this storm to pass. Now we were debating our plans and what we really wanted to do-what park did we want to go to? We knew we had to see TSL in the dark and were going to suck it up and wait for SDD and swirling saucers-guess that is one we can't abbreviate lol-but we weren't sure what exactly to do in the meantime. The rain and quit and we decided to go and get our AP magnet and check out the festival center. Everyone else clearly had the same idea and we waited in line for a while to get the magnets. Afterwards we checked out the chocolate displays and some of the merchandise they were selling for the festival. I love the trash can salt and pepper shakers and thought now would be a great time to pick them both up as well as the AP pin they were selling. While I was shopping Derrick was trying to work his magic on FP and we were getting nowhere with it. TT was down for the light rain so everything else was getting grabbed up quickly. We decided to go ahead and walk over there, I had seen the Wreck It Ralph Pancake-Milkshake and wanted to give it a try for myself. The rain was tapering off again, but the humidity was climbing. All the walking around the parks and not getting a ton of sleep was starting to catch up to us and we were starting to lose momentum. We aimlessly wandered around test track until we found the desired snack and shared it. It was ok-didn’t really taste like anything however the strawberries in the shake were fantastic and made up for the lackluster flavor. We debated it we were brave enough to tackle a trip around the world with what we were sure to be several thousand adults drinking their way thru Epcot. I was hungry and just wanted to eat some real food-like go inside an air-conditioned restaurant and order something preferably made from a lot of vegetables. Derrick pulled up the app and we checked out our options. We weren't sure if we wanted to go back to HS or head to DS. By now we were starting to look a little bedraggled and had lost all the pep in our step-so much in fact that a DVC guy came over to check on us and bring Derrick some Stitch tattoos. He had noticed the ones on his calves and complimented him on them and offered us a nice relaxing tour of the DVC to cool off and enjoy some Mickey bars.

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Derrick's 1st Tattoo.

I thought that was so thoughtful, however I am already on the verge of joining DVC and do not need any further encouragement, so a tour would probably be the nudge I needed to join so we thanked him and explained we were just looking to make some dinner plans on the app and everything was okay.
Mission accomplished we settled on heading back to HS and trying out the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theatre Restaurant-it had been on my foodie bucket list but 9/10 we always picked 50's Prime Time Café. We made our way out of the park and back to the park just in time for our 5:45 ADR. We walked in, gave them our names and promptly escorted to our car. For anyone who has never eaten here the atmosphere is everything they say it is. Every little detail was thought of and you truly fell like you have taken a giant leap back in time. After trying to read the menu by the soft glow of the dashboard lights I found a Buffalo Chicken Salad that sounded great while Derrick decided to go with a daily special Burger. I believe it was called a Southern Burger and featured Pimento cheese and fried green tomatoes and a seasonal shake-a tropical inspired one tasting of mostly Pineapple. We sat and enjoyed the clips they played on screen and enjoyed looking around at the restaurant. As we were watching everyone else we noticed no one in the restaurant was talking to each other-almost every car was filled with people on their phones. I don't know if it's because they split up groups into twos and then make it dark but maybe not the best restaurant to engage your friends and family in a conversation. However, the family of three behind us were the cutest they had a son who was about 9yo and he kept talking about how he was driving them and kept thanking his mom and dad for such a great day. it was so refreshing to hear such a grateful happy child. In fact, at the end of the meal the waiter brought out a cupcake to celebrate his birthday and encouraged everyone to sing along to him. Let me tell you he was adorable and kept thanking everyone-he was such a sweetie. Back to the story, the food was incredible and didn't disappoint. I was thrilled with my salad and Derrick was happy he went with the special as well. We headed out two happy campers with very happy bellies.

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I think this might be our Monster faces....NOT SURE !!

Now it was time for our return to TSL and time to wait in line for SDD. When we got to the coaster it had a posted wait time of 60min so we hopped in line. I had downloaded the Play App on my phone and other than checking out some songs and badge achievement we really hadn't done much with it. In the que they had advertisements for it, so I pulled out my phone and loaded up the app. Sixty minutes has never gone by so quickly. We played round after round of the SDD game and I am sure people in line near us were probably wondering just what in the world we were doing. I would recommend this to anyone and everyone planning on waiting in line. There was a nice variety of games that was so much more enjoyable than standing in line not engaging with your group.

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Before we knew it (about 55 Min later) it was our turn. I had very purposefully not watched any videos or spoilers of the ride and wanted to be surprised. We both weighed the merits of the age old front vs the back of the rollercoaster argument and were pleasantly surprised when it was our turn to be seated that we got the very last row! From when the car left the platform until we returned we just laughed. It was such a joyful experience with just enough dares that we knew we were both in love with the ride. Worth every second of the wait.

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Next, we decided to meander over to Alien Saucers where the wait time was posted for 35 min. Personally, I don't think this que is intended for longer wait times, not as many fans, not as much to do, no Disney Play App games lol. but we waited anyway and soon 35 min turned into 45 minutes and we realized that the ride was down. We were starting to get tired again and were starting to think about heading back to the hotel.

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We jumped out of line with the promise of returning in a few months and started to leave the park. However, since I knew this was the only day we were coming to HS I wanted to get my Carrot Cake Cookie and according to the blogs online The Trolley café was supposed to sell this little beauty, so we made our way over. After making our way inside I discovered that they didn't have this-not sure if they had just sold out for the day or what happened but there was no cookie for me. So we slowly made our way out of the maze and slowly waited for the tram and then slowly walked to our spot. It has been a fantastic day and TSL didn't disappoint however we had a 7:30 ADR for the next morning and our second party of the trip the next day so we needed to get some sleep>>>

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Next up-
We are here strictly for the pictures please…
 
It sounds like the two of you are the perfect match. I am enjoying being a hitchhiker and following along on your trip.
 
I am hoping to post an update this week-I apologize but we had some major heath issues with one of our furbabies this week and it has been an emotional roller coaster for us both. Good news is they were able to pinpoint the underlying cause and it looks like with a new food regime and some medicine we will be able to keep it under control so I do apologize for the lapse but we will be back shortly-I can't wait to share our second party shenanigans and my Halloween costume with you all!!!:banana:
 
We are Here strictly for the pictures please….

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Talking to our financial advisor...​


OK Day 3-but it was starting to feel like Day 23-we had chosen this morning to squeeze in an ADR at our favorite breakfast spot Trail's End. I love The Campsites at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort and this resort has a very special place in my heart. As I had mentioned earlier my first return trip as an adult was with my Mom, Dad, Grandma, Sister, BIL, nephew and of course Colby-well one of the ways we were able to afford such trip was to take my parents Class C Motor home down to Florida and all crash there. We lovingly referred to it as a bunkhouse and even though we had ample beds we didn't quite have that much space inside-but it was such a good time. Going down we didn’t realize how big the campground was and my parents only brought two bikes with them, well anyone who has been there knows how massive it really is and needless to say we ended up renting a Golf Cart to get around. Well with a party of 6 adults and 2 kids we didn’t all fit in the golf cart so most trips my dad and I would either walk to the boat launch or bike ride and we still managed to beat the rest of our group most mornings. My dad passed away very unexpectedly last April and he left me a lifetime of wonderful memories but something about being at FWR makes me feel that much closer to him, so needless to say we try and squeeze in at least one trip preferably very early in the morning so I can have so quiet time on the boat launch to reflect and remember-but enough sad stuff onto the fun part!

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One of my Happy Places​

We do really enjoy the food at Trails End and with the AP discount it makes it one of the cheaper buffets on property. My personal favorite is the Bread pudding with the Pecan Praline Sauce, I could just eat that and be more than happy. Derrick on the other hand loves their ready for this? Brown Sugar Glazed Apple Wood Bacon-try saying that three times fast. They have a chef that carves it for you on the spot and it really is delicious. We enjoyed the various offerings as well as several glasses of the Moonshine-aka the standard buffet juice. We wrapped up shortly after 8:30 and took a walk over to the Tri-Circle-D Ranch as the keepers were working on getting the horses fed too. Then we hopped a bus bound back to the parking lot and we were ready to start the next part of our day. We really wanted a chance to see Donald's Dino Land Bash and despite getting horrible FP for AK we were headed there next.

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Time to live it up Dino Style-this Party was thousands of years in the making after all...

We just wanted to meet Scrooge and Launchpad McQuack. We got to AK shortly after opening and as soon as we walked in everyone headed to the left towards Pandora while we went to the right towards Dino Land. We did have an FP at 9:30 for Dinosaur-and after checking out the character spots and talking to a CM we determined that pics wouldn’t start until 10. So, we headed to Dinosaur, it was a walk on so that is what we did, then returned immediately and used up our FP-we love this ride and our record is 8 times in a row, but we didn’t have time for that today-we wanted to be first in line to meet Launchpad.

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Derrick being judged by the lady next to me and found lacking I think

We headed back down to his spot and I was disappointed to see another person in line waiting-but crazy enough when we got closer I realized it was my sister's best friend -I knew they were down visiting from Maine but with such a short trip we didn't make plans to meet up-it's funny how Disney Magic works. As we waited for 10am we discussed the layout of Dino Land and where we thought all the characters were stationed.

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Literally my face every time I meet a character-my inner 4yo comes out!!!​

They too wanted to get pictures with all the special characters, meanwhile the temps were rapidly rising while we waited. All too soon it was time and we saw them parade out and go to their spots-Launchpad was adorable and we had great interactions with him.

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Discussing landing techniques with an experienced pilot

Next up was Scrooge McDuck and unfortunately because of the sun his pics turned out pretty dark but he was so much fun and we asked him all about his lucky dime. Next up the Man of the Hour himself-Donald Duck, this was the first spot that had a line and we were about 10 families deep. But the Blueberries in this line were great! So, engaging and peppy, I couldn’t wait to send an email telling Disney what a great job they were doing they made the wait time enjoyable and how often do you say that about 20min in AK blistering sun. Not sure if anyone out there reading this is a Hamilton fan but the shirt I wore this day is a reference to it and all the blueberries were loving it and getting excited talking about it, it made the best conversation starter.

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Of course we had to meet Mr #1 Himself
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After Donald we found the fabulous Daisy and all of her Dino designs and then finally we found the most adorable Chip & Dale that I have seen ever in their little Dino sleepers-in case you haven't figured it out we are huge character fans and love finding new ones in different outfits.

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Daisy the Diva​

Next up was the Goofster himself, we had decided to forgo meeting Pluto as he was A. somewhere in the Boneyard and B. he didn't really have a specialty costume and the temperature was rising we wanted to wrap up our day at AK and head back to the hotel for a nap before the second party! They had set Goofy up like a sideshow over by PW complete with his own test your strength meter-the attention to detail for the whole DinoBash was amazing-for just a "temporary" install, Disney definitely went all out for it.

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You can see how hot it is by the t-shirt designs​

As we walked up we were told that Goofy would be breaking soon as he needed to call home and check in on his son Max-I never understand the folks that get upset over this. I mean those poor people have got to be cooking alive in those suits and to begrudge them a break just, so you don't have to wait another 5 minutes is ridiculous. Once again we happily talked to the blueberry about all the characters-and she of course loved my shirt too and before you knew it Goofy was back and happy to pose for more pics with us. That concluded our visit to DinoLand next up was FP for Everest. We stopped again on the bridge to Asia and got even more pictures taken. Considering what giant sweat balls we were turning into I am not sure what we were thinking but it was fun and afterwards we realized she had thrown in some magic and made it snow in our pics, that was a new one for us.

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Finally some cooler weather!

Everest was a refreshing ride I love the breeze on that one and when you are in the cave with the Yeti it always seems to feel noticeably cooler in there. After Everest we had a little time until our next FP for can you guess? That’s right meet and greet with Mickey and Minnie! We decided to take a detour over to Pandora to get Night Blossom to try and cool off with and see if they had added anything new to that land since we had been there last. After detouring for a few more PhotoPass pics we arrived. I was happy to see the Pineapple Lumpia was still on the menu as I had read online that they might be removing it. And what better than fried creamy goodness on a 95-degree day? probably anything but I enjoyed it anyway and we shared the Night Blossom as we meandered back to Mickey and Minnie. Even though we had a FP there as almost no wait, so we breezed in shared a few words and got some more pictures taken.

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Random view from the bridge to Pandora-the clouds made it really pretty

And that completed our day at Animal Kingdom, it was the least I have ever done in one park and probably the most pictures we had taken in such a short time span, it wasn't even noon when we headed out but that was ok-we had gotten to go to the DinoBash and meet some rare characters. Now it was time for a nap and to get ready for THE PARTY!!! I was beyond excited to put my costume on and go have a fun time. After working on all the details I was excited to see people's reactions to it and to be a little silly.
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But first I needed my third trip to Epcot-by now Derrick was starting to ponder if my endeavor was even really worth it, but I was DETERMINED to make that cutting board mine so off we went. We made it thru security relatively easily and to be completely honest with you I have no idea what we did that visit, I mean I think we rode Soarin and I am pretty sure we didn't eat anything but that is even fuzzy- so good news is I got my visit-bad news that is literally the only proof I even have that we were there☹
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As I mentioned earlier life got a little rough this week and Betty gave us quite the scare-thanks in part to the most amazing Vet Tech and great Vet practice they were able to successfully diagnose her with EPI which basically means that she is on the DDP for life. Thanks again for being patient. Good news was today was FP day we managed to score everything we wanted!!! We were only able to get SDD so to make up for it we booked the Extra Magic Hours at TSL and I am so excited! We did the one in Fantasyland last year and had the best time-we rode SDMT 11 times before we had enough and checked out other offerings, but we get to see TSL all decked out for the holidays and not jammed to the max. Hopefully I can share that trip with you too!
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Next up…



I'm a piranha-They live in the amazon…
 
dnllmz said:
That little boy in SciFi sounds adorable.
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He was the cutest! He made our dinner so much better just by being so sweet. The waiter gave him a "driver's license" and you would have thought he handed him a hundred dollar bill based on his reaction :)
 
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