No Rain In Our Forecast--Wishes Farewell Tour--April 2017 Trip Report COMPLETED

[LISAMWDW]

Love love your picture with "Chip"!!

 

[missangelalexis]

So many pretty photos/PP photos! I love that you guys spent time in each country and were able to document it!

That ice cream sounds delicious!

Love the nighttime photos!

 

[MissMaryQC]

Something has gone awry with photobucket; I can't see any of the pictures! Seems like it's a new glitch cause previous posters have seen them. I'll check back soon.

 

[MeghanEmily]

Something has gone awry with photobucket; I can't see any of the pictures! Seems like it's a new glitch cause previous posters have seen them. I'll check back soon.

Sadly, this has been happening to a lot of users, myself included. Photobucket is not allowing sharing to 3rd party websites anymore (like this one) anymore, and when they notice too much 3rd party usage on your photos they lock them unless you pay to upgrade your account. I had to switch sites.

 

[MissMaryQC]

Sadly, this has been happening to a lot of users, myself included. Photobucket is not allowing sharing to 3rd party websites anymore (like this one) anymore, and when they notice too much 3rd party usage on your photos they lock them unless you pay to upgrade your account. I had to switch sites.

What site did you switch to?

 

[MeghanEmily]

What site did you switch to?

I switched to Imgur. There was a learning curve since I was used to Photobucket, but once I figured it out it's worked really well so far *fingers crossed.*

 

[Whit64130]

Jambo Friends!
Sorry guys for the long pause between updates. I just got back from a beach vacation and finally getting things back in order to make an update. I am also planning on working on the old pictures the best I can to re-do them.
I went to Panama City Beach with family for a few days! It is a pretty short drive for us. I usually say it's half way to Disney for us. (I did try to persuade mom to keep on driving and I would buy her tickets, she didn't budge.) We usually can be there in 5 hours. We had a great time with little rain! Here are a few pictures I wanted to share.

Anyways back to the main point! Disney Day 5-Animal Kingdom Day
It started off bright and early to make Rope Drop. We decided while we were headed to the park we wanted to do something out of the ordinary since with usually don't have FP for AK. I really wanted to meet Pocahontas, I hadn't seen her since I was a kid. I mean are we crazy to RD Pocahontas? Probably. But for some reason I always miss her and we had FP+ for the important stuff so we decided to go with it.

We made it to AK without issue and went on through the gate

and past the Oasis to where they were holding everybody for RD. I got to admit it was great not rushing to Everest or Kilimanjaro Safari. We took a couple of pictures to pass the time.

Finally they opened up and started letting people disperse from in front of the Tree of Life. Lucky us we were the first meet for Pocahontas.

Her attendant was less than friendly but she was super sweet and took her time with us. It was a great start and I am glad we decided to do it!
We were heading on to Everest to ride standby but we noticed Russell was already out meeting and there was only one other group in line so we grabbed a spot and waited out turn. I hd actually never met him before so I was pumped about this meet too!

He was a fan of my Parkbound Button I was wearing and showed me all of his badges.
We said our goodbyes and we were off to Everest!
We may or may not have over done it and rode it twice. I'm not even sure we used a FP+ for it.
Just for proof here are the pictures...

It was only about 9:30 by this point and we had about an hour to kill before our breakfast reservation. We headed towards the way of Africa and stopped at the Jungle Trek in hopes to see the tigers out. I've never actually took much time here to look around but the one day I did we got almost all the way to the end and they told us the tigers wouldn't be out for a while. BUMMER. I did enjoy the theming along the path though. I took this cool picture.

We continue our journey on to Africa and stopped to take some photos pictures.

This one turned out a little awkward because I think it was missing some magic. Oh well..

It was finally time to check in for breakfast at Tusker House. We were pretty much right on time after making plenty of stops along the way. There wasn't a ton of people outside waiting so I figured it wouldn't take us too long to get in. Well I was wrong. We ended up waiting a good 45 mins or so to be seated. I was getting a little ill but not enough to make a scene or anything. I was just more hungry than anything and I knew it wouldn't help the situation anyways. There was a lady who was making rude, snide comments out loud. She was actually making me uncomfortable with some of the things she was saying. I felt pretty bad for the CM that were having to deal with her. Finally everyone in our radius was seated. We got seated in a pretty empty room and was assured we had plenty of time to get started.
Being the bad food DISer I am I only have one not so great picture.

But I mean who doesn't LOVE Mickey waffles?!?!?
I really enjoyed this buffet and all of the food options. I liked the carved ham especially. There was also some sort of strawberry pound cake type of sweet I really liked. Plus Krispy Kreme donuts!
We finally met all of the character just as we were finishing up. I do have pictures with all of them but for some reason I can't find but two of them.

We also got our ticket for the Rivers of Light showing and a Lotus popcorn bucket! I am a sucker for a Disney popcorn bucket.

We settled out bill and out we went. We had a FP+ for KS to get to. We had a pretty decent guide for the trip and it was probably one of the best safari rides I have done. All of the animals were very active this morning! I think it was about 11:30ish when we rode this.
Since I am sure everyone has taken a safari ride I will share my favorite pictures of the ride.

We even had a real live "Giraffic Jam"

And I have a sweet spot for elephants. Especially baby ones!

We were pretty sleepy at this point from carb overload...We decided to head back to the resort for a nap.
We did stop for a picture in front of the tree. I just love the frames!

We talked about laying out by the pool but by the time we made it back to the resort I was ready to crash. All of my breakfast carbs were kicking in and I was done. I think Chelsy went to the pool for a little bit while I slept. It obviously didn't bother me. I finish up our AK day soon!​

 

[missjackiemcg]

I still haven't ever met Pocahontas!!! When I have FPs for everything else, I would definitely RD characters Russell is one of my favs, but I sure do miss having Dug there with him!

 

[MissMaryQC]

You guys had a busy morning! Two characters, two rides on Everest, the trek, brunch and a safari! Wowza! I'd have needed a nap as well!

 

[ariane37]

(I did try to persuade mom to keep on driving and I would buy her tickets, she didn't budge.)

lol I would have been extremely jealous if you'd have talked her into it!

Her attendant was less than friendly but she was super sweet and took her time with us.

We haven't met her in ages but we did meet her years ago. Once the first time we went to AK back in 2006 and then a few years ago training at the IG. Love the trainings there and she is always sweet!

He was a fan of my Parkbound Button I was wearing and showed me all of his badges.

That's adorable

We ended up waiting a good 45 mins or so to be seated.

Whoa, that's not cool. I don't usually hear about long waits there.........................

We also got our ticket for the Rivers of Light showing and a Lotus popcorn bucket! I am a sucker for a Disney popcorn bucket.

OMG WHY did everyone get the popcorn bucket with their RoL package except us lol? You, @xlsm, @Raeven. It's like they didn't think we eat popcorn????

 

[missangelalexis]

Beach vacations are the best! (Of course second best to Disney though )

What a fun way to start your AK day with some character meets!

Wow thats awful that you had to wait so long to be seated. Glad it was still an enjoyable meal though!

 

[Whit64130]

I still haven't ever met Pocahontas!!! When I have FPs for everything else, I would definitely RD characters Russell is one of my favs, but I sure do miss having Dug there with him!

It actually worked out great. We made it to Everest without too much of a wait! Definitely worth doing.

You guys had a busy morning! Two characters, two rides on Everest, the trek, brunch and a safari! Wowza! I'd have needed a nap as well!

I rarely turn down a good nap

Whoa, that's not cool. I don't usually hear about long waits there.........................

I have never waited that long with just two of us. Us and the rest of the people were seated in an empty room. So I'm guessing they were finishing up that round of people and waiting on everyone to get out before they started seating the next group.

OMG WHY did everyone get the popcorn bucket with their RoL package except us lol? You, @xlsm, @Raeven. It's like they didn't think we eat popcorn????

Hahahaha I didn't realize you didn't get one. It's really cool but I don't see the practicality in taking it back with me. Especially flying. That is valuable suitcase space

Beach vacations are the best! (Of course second best to Disney though

It was very relaxing and much needed!

 

[MeghanEmily]

Your beach vacation pictures are awesome and making me jealous!!

Love your character and photopass pictures! And I love Tusker House! But we've had bad luck getting seated late there, too, so I think it's a recurring problem there...which stinks.

Also, giraffic jams are pretty much my favourite thing.

 

[Whit64130]

So i finally went back and updated my pictures from the Photobucket Crisis. I did loose a few in transition and forgot to resize a few...Oh well I am not loosing sleep over it...Now on to bigger and better things..AKA

AK with a Side of EMH at MK part 1
I woke up before Chelsy. It was pretty early but I knew I couldn't lay there and be quiet with AK calling my name! I tried to get up be and as quiet as I could getting ready. Her alarm went off while I was in the bathroom and she decided to sleep a little longer. I asked if she was ok if I headed on back to AK. She was fine with it. We had also decided to take the bus because we had big plans for EMH at MK and was going to try out Express Transportation. It was a pretty big hike from our room to the bus stop but it wasn't horrible. I didn't mind since we used the car for most of the trip anyways. I was off to the parks in no time. I had a plan to see Lion King Show and meet Baloo and King Louie. By the time i made it to the park i had just missed a showing of Lion King so I decided to head to Baloo and King Louie. I did stop and take a few pictures with the Photopass photographer.

As I was walking around to the M&G I noticed another photographer nestled off of the main path. I actually thought it was a character meet but it was just a photographer with a different view of the Tree of Life. He didn't have anyone in line so I stopped in. He was awesome and done about 7-8 different Magic Shots. here are two of my favorite.

He was very nice and by the time he was finished there were about 4-5 families in line because they had seen how many fun poses he had me doing.
Anyways back on track. It was a pretty good line for Baloo and King Louie but I had quite a bit of time before the next showing of Lion King so I waited. After about 25 mins or so I was next in line, well there was a small child behind me so when It was my turn the characters went for her and skipped me. Which didn't bother me because the kid was super excited and she had no idea. I think what actually bothered me was the fact that I was a solo adult in line and everybody in line watched me get skipped over. The CM working apologized and made sure I didn't get skipped over again.

By this time it was time to head for FoTLK. I was cutting in close because the line for the meet and greet was a little longer than expected. I ended up making it just in time and got a great seat on the second row behind the scooters already in place with their families. It was the best seat I had ever had at the show. Sometimes being late has its perks. The whole time I kept thinking something was slightly off in the show but I couldn't put my finger on it until it was over. They had skipped over the Tumble Monkeys. They are my favorite part so I knew I wasn't crazy. As people were bottlenecking to get out of the theatre I asked a CM to make sure I wasn't loosing it but she said one of the Monkeys had taken a tumble during rehearsals and they couldn't perform their part in the show.

By the time i made my way out Chelsy had text and said she was waiting for me at Dinosaur for our FP+. I booked it over to the other side of the park to meet her.

After our good scare we decided to have some supper. I was really wanting another hot dog since it had been well over 3 days since we ate at Casey's. We decided on Restaurantosaurus. Let me be the one to tell you the bad news. Their version of the Chili Cheese Dog does no comparison to Casey's. Maybe Casey's puts a little crack or some other kind of Pixie Dust in theirs to make it better BUT say NO to AK's chili cheese dogs.
After our meal we were wanting to use our extra FP for the Mickey and Minnie M&G. The line posted 15 mins. It ended up being more like 30ish. which was completely ok because it was ridiculously HOT today. No rain in the forecast but highs in the upper 90's!

By this time our food had settled and we were ready to chase a Yeti!
We did stop for a Photopass picture first.

I love the lighting in AK as the sun starts to head down!

We rode twice on Everest. I can't really remember if we used an extra FP here or if the line was just so short.

At some point you have to get creative with the ride photos. I always said I didn't get it until we literally ride them over and over

After our second spin on Everest we took a little break to call home and fill up our popcorn bucket for the show!
We had great seats with the dining package and only showed up about 20 mins before showtime. Our area was quite empty. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the show.

After the show was over we booked it backed to Africa to catch our ride to MK!


​

 

[Whit64130]

AK with a Side of EMH at MK part 2
We caught our bus along with about 20 other people to head straight to MK. It left at 9:30 on the dot. Chelsy had booked us a FP+ earlier when we had used our last for Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin for 9:30-10:00. We checked in at 9:50.
Our goal for EMH was to get as much little stuff done that we hadn't done yet. I am pretty sure we accomplished our goal!
We started with a Tea Party with a 5 min wait.

Then we headed to Pooh and waited a total of 10 minutes!

We then went to Dumbo and literally walked around the long line and hopped on.

Did I mention I LOVE Dumbo at night??? It is soon pretty with all of the colors and water!
We then headed to Barnstormer which I have not done in 6 years..We walked right on it also.

Our next order of business was to try to get the special photopass picture with the lantern in front of the Tangled Bathrooms. This was a must do benighted huge Tangled fan I am and the wait was a little longer than we wanted to wait on Sunday. We were also hungry then so food came before pictures.
We took a detour behind Mine Train and passed by Gaston's where I snapped this cool picture.

Finally we made it to the line and it wasn't horribly long and we decided that we would rather take the time this night than another night. We both took bathroom breaks while the other held our spot. I snapped the picture of the tower all lit up at night.

and this of the lanterns..

Finally it was our turn and it wasn't too bad of a wait.

They didn't turn out as good as I had hoped. Especially the ones of us together. But oh well. Maybe next time they will be better.

We still had quite a bit of time before midnight so we decided to head to Princess Fairytale hall to meet Cinderella and Elena. The girls had been asking if I had met Elena yet so I figured this would be a perfect time without a wait.

We had time to get in line for something else before closing so of course we decided on 7DMT. I think the wait was posted 45 mins or so but it was more like 20.

We took a stroll through the castle on our way to the front. We snapped a few pictures too.

It was one of the nights where we wasn't in too big of a hurry to leave so we took our time and went through the Emporium to shop a little. We eventually made our way back to the room and got ready for bed.
Up next No plans really..​

 

[missangelalexis]

Cute PP pictures!

I'm sorry you got skipped at the M&G line! At least the CM noticed and made sure it didn't happen again. Your picture with them is adorable!

Love your ROL pictures, so pretty!

You guys got a lot done with your time at EMH! SOunds like a great night!

 

[MeghanEmily]

As I was walking around to the M&G I noticed another photographer nestled off of the main path. I actually thought it was a character meet but it was just a photographer with a different view of the Tree of Life. He didn't have anyone in line so I stopped in. He was awesome and done about 7-8 different Magic Shots. here are two of my favorite.

Awesome!! PP photographers can be so hit or miss, but when you get a good one it's so exciting!

By this time it was time to head for FoTLK. I was cutting in close because the line for the meet and greet was a little longer than expected. I ended up making it just in time and got a great seat on the second row behind the scooters already in place with their families. It was the best seat I had ever had at the show. Sometimes being late has its perks.

The best seat I ever had was walking up pretty last-minute, too. Maybe there's a secret here...

As people were bottlenecking to get out of the theatre I asked a CM to make sure I wasn't loosing it but she said one of the Monkeys had taken a tumble during rehearsals and they couldn't perform their part in the show.

Oh no! Hope they were okay!! Though I chuckled a little at tumble monkeys taking a "tumble"

After our second spin on Everest we took a little break to call home and fill up our popcorn bucket for the show!
We had great seats with the dining package and only showed up about 20 mins before showtime. Our area was quite empty. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the show.

Your pictures are great! Hope you enjoyed the show.

Did I mention I LOVE Dumbo at night??? It is soon pretty with all of the colors and water!

Agree!!

They didn't turn out as good as I had hoped. Especially the ones of us together. But oh well. Maybe next time they will be better.

That's too bad The one you posted is nice. But some people have gotten awesome pictures here, so hopefully if you do it again you'll be happier with them. I want to do this on our trip!

 

[MissMaryQC]

Wowza, you girls get a ton done! Way to maximize those EMH!

 

[Whit64130]

You guys got a lot done with your time at EMH! SOunds like a great night!

We did! I am not usually one for EMH but late nights at MK are the best!

The best seat I ever had was walking up pretty last-minute, too. Maybe there's a secret here...

Thats what I am thinking!

Your pictures are great! Hope you enjoyed the show.

It was nice and I'm glad we seen it but it just isn't one of my favorites...

Wowza, you girls get a ton done! Way to maximize those EMH!

Yes girl! We loves those EMH at MK!

 

[Whit64130]

Never Say Never...
Day 6 started out a lot slower than the rest! We got up around 11ish and took our time getting ready and finally made our way to MK around 1sh. We were hungry and didn't have plans for lunch. We decided to go back to Peco's Bills to have the nachos again since they were so good before. We made our way into MK and took a few photos shots for the day.

I don't have a picture of lunch because by this point I was hangry and ate pretty much as soon as I got it. I had the kids portion of the nachos which was perfect size for me. We had big dinner plans so I didn't want to fill up to much before then!
We talked a little about what we wanted to do over lunch but couldn't really decide on anything in MK since it was pretty crowded. We decided to use the express transportation to head to DHS to use our extra FP of the day. We had to wait 30 mins for the bus because one had just left. This was the first day we really had to bare the 90+ heat. We took some shade in the Buzz Lightyear dump shop. We played around with the create your own Magic Band computers. I didn't realize there were so many options but it was pretty cool and I may eventually buy one. It was almost time for our bus so we made our way around the corner and hopped on the bus with one other person. It was a quick bus ride and let us right out at our destination. RNRC. We used our extra FP to ride together first.

Then we rode single rider line.

The family I rode with was pretty fun. It was the little one's first ride. I think he ended up enjoying it for the most part.
Next up we decided to use our other FP for TSMM. By this time I had been texting with my friend from home who we had met up with several times already. She said they were in DHS and wanted to know if we wanted to ride TOT with her. They had a Paper FP for TOT since it had went down earlier in the day when they had tried to ride. Now if you have read any of my other reports you will know I have said I will NEVER get back on TOT. I rode it once when I was 11 and was terrified. I've wanted to get back on it but never could work up the courage. So I told Megan we probably wouldn't ride buttttttttt we would meet up with them after TSMM.
We were on and off TSMM in no time. I was texting Megan back and they were heading into Frozen Sing a long. We decided there wasn't much else we wanted to do so we would just head back to MK for our dinner reservation. We made our way back to the express transportation pick up and we missed the bus by a few minutes again. We had a whole 30 mins to wait again. I found a shade and called Nick. After talking with him I decided to FaceTime the girls. As I was talking to them I noticed the crowd getting excited and then I realized I was in the middle of Characterpalooza. The girls got excited when I told them what was going on and they wanted to FaceTime with the characters. Since it wasn't busy I let the FaceTime with the characters. They LOVED it!

After I had met 2 of the characters Chelsy came to find me to tell me the bus was there but I wanted to let the girls meet the rest since they were loving it so much. I am glad I did because they still talk about it when we talk about Disney. My mother in law keeps them during the day since their parents work. She also keeps 2 other little girls and they got to talk to the characters too! Their mom told me that all the 4 year old could talk about was getting to "Time Face" with the princesses because Aunt Whit was in Disney! It was too sweet! Chelsy ended up going on back to MK and I planned on waiting on the other bus. As I was leaving I heard a familiar voice. I turned around and seen a girl that used to do my hair from home. I knew they were down there this week but had no idea what parks, what days or anything so it was crazy to randomly run into her. We chatted for a bit when Megan called me. They were headed to TOT. I decided since I was close I would meet up with them. We started talking about riding TOT and she was pretty nervous. For some crazy reason I let her talk me into riding it with her. After all these years I can't believe I was going to get on that crazy contraption again. We made our way through the FP line. For some reason they were only honoring FP and no standby at this time. We were both soon nervous we could puke. We talked about anything and everything to avoid thinking about the ride. We even made friends in the line who were trying to ease our minds. Nothing was helping. They even offered to sit with us and hold our hands . Literally when we went to the pre-show area my stomach was turning flips. Ahhh finally we got seated in the back row with our new friends. Megan was on the edge and I sat next to the new friends. Megan held on to the bar on the edge and then we held hands while holding on to the bar in between us. I didn't take our new friends up on their hand offer so I settled for the bar in between us. EEEEEEKKKKKKKKK

We survived!!!! You can't really see us or the fear in our eyes buttttttttt we were there. hahahahaha
I actually enjoyed it way more than I thought! Megan not so much! So obviously after the big accomplishment we did the next logical thing and got our picture made in front of the TOT.

We met back up with Megan's husband and he decided after hearing about it he had no desire to ride it since he was afraid of heights. We talked for a little while longer before I realized it was getting late and I had a very important dinner I needed to get to! I headed back towards my bus and while I waited I had to share my excitement with @ariane37 because she had given me grief about being a chicken and not riding it. I seriously felt like I needed some new toy or at least a sticker of some sort to mark me being a "Big Girl"

Next up Wishes and a yummy dinner!!!​