Terra Nova Guy and the Raiders of the Lost Park - an August 2018 TR *COMPLETE* 4/28

[mustinjourney]

Although I would have happily gone for another rope drop, I knew a lie-in and later start was needed.

rope drop? by my count you haven't made rope drop once.

Maybe I’m just slow to catch on – it wouldn’t be the first time that’s been the case – but I guess I didn’t have this FP thing down as well as I thought.

It does take a couple trips to really get the hang of it. BTW -- you can scan in up to 15 minutes after expiration and it will let you in 99.9% of the time. After that, you can try and when it turns blue -- just say the buses took forever and security sucked and the CMs will almost always push a few buttons and give you a FP and let you in. I've done that a couple times for TSMM and BTMRR. I just show them the picture of the FP on my phone to show that I had it.

Besides me, nobody else was overly excited about LwtL, so we just stayed put.

I've gone on this ride 3 times and only when I'm doing the parkeology all ride challenge. Other than that, it's a hard pass for me...although if my youngest DD is too short for Soarin' on the next trip, I might take her on it while we wait for DW and other DD to ride Soarin. My last trip I opted for eating lunch while DW and DD road Soarin.

Treatment includes riding BTMRR and eating a Dole Whip or something Mickey shaped.

A flask is also a good way to cure the Disney blues. I know it takes the edge off for me.

I found it an awkward meet, not really sure if I should touch him for fear of popping him and sending him flying through Innoventions like a leaky balloon.

I would really be tempted to poke him. Seems like you have to do it.

My darling wife became the expert planner this morning.

Of course...won't help with the planning up front, but during the trip all of the sudden has 100 opinions on what to do.

Am I projecting my own experiences???

While they were at Starbucks, she had the brilliant idea to get on the MDE app and see if those missed FP could be changed for later. It turns out they can and she did get both a Soarin’ and LwtL FP for a couple hours later. Shut the front door! Seriously? Did I miss a memo on this? I always though if you missed your FP, it was gone, done. I had no idea you could rescue them in the app and try to reschedule.

Maybe it was good she stepped in to save the day. hahaha

Yeah -- MDE is pretty great. If you are diligent, you can grab like 20 FPs a day...especially at MK. This past December, I went to MK at 6 pm and rode everything in MK before 11:30 pm...and I had FPs for pretty much every ride. Even when a ride shows that it is out of FPs...if you keep refreshing the app, stuff will eventually turn up.

Thankfully, things were looking up. It was now time for our (originally) third scheduled FP for The Seas with Nemo.

Pretty sure a FP wasn't needed for this one. Feels like walking the empty queue takes longer than the ride.

I certainly prefer that smell to dirt. The Taj Mahal scene bothered me a little, being so obviously CG.

DW and I did a DVC tour last year that went behind the scenes with Soarin and I found out that EVERY single scene has some amount of CG. (polar bears, elephants, plane). Also found out that each location has some sort of tie to a Disney movie.

You probably already know, but the address on the mailbox is 82, the year Epcot opened.

I did not know this.

Next Update Questions for Fun:

1. We watch Happily Ever After, but we did not stand in The Hub. From where do we watch HEA?

2. During HEA, I have a snack that was new at the time (just debuted this year). What snack?

3. Katie does a ride for the first time. Which ride?

1. By 7DMT
2. cheeseburger spring rolls
3. BTMRR or Space

 

[mustinjourney]

I enjoy it and it’s always nice to check that the back side of water still looks similar to the front.

Little known fact -- the back side of water actually has a lower pitch in sound due to the doppler effect from the water moving away from you.

Have you ever driven home and had no recollection of actually driving home? Well, the photos I have and the associated time stamps indicate that we went up to Pete’s Silly Sideshow to meet Goofy and Donald. I can’t tell you why we walked to the opposite side of the park to do this. All I can say is that we meet them and I must have been in a chipper mood because I even have selfies with both of them.

Did someone hit the sauce a little too heavy during the monorail ride and black out for a bit?

Feeling a bit hungry by now, Brianna was in the mood for pasta, so we went over to Pinocchio Village Haus.

I haven't heard anyone have any good things to say about the food here. It was actually edible?

I should mention that we were visiting near the start of the whole “we’re not giving out plastic disposable straws anymore” phase

I HATE THIS NEW CARDBOARD CRAP!

Being on the QS dining plan, we got drinks with our meals and often went with the more interesting option, like slush in this case.

No beer?

I have never really understood the need for the Magic Carpet ride to be where it is, given that Dumbo is already in MK, but at the same time, we generally take a spin on these anyway.

the magic carpets do tilt...so they offer something different.

Yeah -- that's all I got. And I am not a fan of the soundtrack that plays while you're on that ride.

Other than the selfie, I do remember using my phone to grab a set of FP for Pirates in a little while. To pass the time, I suggested something else we had never done, a classic attraction that we had overlooked for too long – The Enchanted Tiki Room. I had actually done this many years ago on an entirely different trip with an entirely different person, back when it was “under new management”. It’s my understanding that that version was a bit of an atrocity and it is fitting that the Iago animatronic is the one that burned in the fire. Anyway, it’s back to the classic and original version now and it was entertaining and a nice little break from the sticky Florida evening.

We've only done it once and it was 2 years ago when my youngest was 18 months old...not an enjoyable experience. It was on the 5th or 6th day of the trip and even though it was the morning...she was DONE. I had to walk out early.

Due to that experience, we just do not have fond memories of the attraction.

No float for me. I like pineapple juice but prefer it mixed with alcohol in a tropical cocktail.

If you remember from my TR -- I poured my own rum into mine.

I have heard that Disney wants to “reboot” the franchise without Johnny Depp (given his recent troubles).

Kind of weird considering Johnny Depp had known issues before they started that franchise. It's not like he was squeaky clean.

This was my first time seeing the new Redhead scene. I can’t say it much better than Mark @Captain_Oblivious did in his TR, but I was fairly neutral about the whole thing. I wasn’t terribly upset it changed, nor was I particularly offended by the old scene.

I'm not irate by any stretch -- but it does bother me that historical realities are whitewashed. They're pirates for crying out loud! Are they going to change the lyrics from drinking rum to green tea in 10 years too?

I'm no historian, but I'm quite certain that chickens weren't auctioned back in the day.

I knew that Fantasyland would be less crowded and I have read that some people like the different perspective.

Great choice!

I also enjoyed seeing the fireworks from there. Obviously you miss the projections so I wouldn’t recommend it for your first time seeing HEA, but if you want a more relaxing experience, I say go for it.

I definitely tell people to check it out. It's so much less crowded...and if you stand by enchanted tales with Belle -- you get the effect of the fireworks exploding above the castle too.

The wait times for the headline rides were still a bit long (at 9:40pm) so we took a spin on the Teacups (yes, this was my second ride of the trip on the puke cups so I must have been in a good mood to agree to it).

I'm a fan of the tea cups. I love making my daughters' eyes start to roll around in their head. hahaha

She’s always been timid with roller coasters on previous trips, and had only managed the Barnstormer and 7DMT up to this trip. Slinky Dog Dash changed that, and she was getting braver. She was a bit nervous about BTMRR but agreed to try it. Hooray! I’m happy to report that she loved it.

My oldest DD rode that thing when she was still 3. Not sure if my youngest DD will ride it --- she's not nearly as adventurous.

1. We watch Happily Ever After, but we did not stand in The Hub. From where do we watch HEA? Fantasyland

2. During HEA, I have a snack that was new at the time (just debuted this year). What snack? Peter Pan Float

3. Katie does a ride for the first time. Which ride? BTMRR

I did pretty good this round. Just didn't get the snack right.

Next Update Questions for Fun:

1. Mission 1: ride Test Track at rope drop since we don’t have any FP all trip. Do we ride TT?

2. Mission 2: Meet Princesses! I made a big song and dance at the beginning of this report about trying to meet all 11 official Princesses, and it’s been ages since we met one. Time to catch up! How many Princesses do we meet this morning in Epcot?

3. Mission 3: get a frozen drink that has been on my “to do” list for a while. What drink do I get?

1. considering you haven't made rope drop one time -- I am going to guess you don't make it for rope drop again. But you WILL ride it.
2. 5
3. slush from France?

 

[mustinjourney]

We had a quick breakfast at the Intermission food court, hopped in our rental car, and made it to Epcot just after rope drop.

so i guess the wife was the one slowing you down every morning? ;-)

I like Test Track, but that was pushing it, and the girls definitely don’t like it enough to wait that long.

Three words. Single. Rider. Line.

Trying to get some advantage from our near-rope drop morning, we headed over to Soarin’ which was only a 15 minute wait. We weren’t as lucky with our seats this time and ended up on the bottom row, far right. Wow, if you’re not dead centre, the Eiffel Tower is a bit of a limp noodle. But other than that, and wishing we could smell oranges instead of dirt, we still enjoyed the ride.

PSA -- you can always ask to wait for the next showing so you can sit in B1.

Since my last trip was 4 years ago, this was my first time to be disappointed in person by Jasmine’s new politically correct outfit.

Lame.

A full 20 minutes after her posted start time, Sleeping Beauty finally strolled over to the gazebo.

Not cool.

(pun intended)

I don’t think there was much chit chat and I think at that point everybody just wanted to sign the book, get the picture, and get out of the heat.

This might have called for you to tell Aurora that you hope she has a "magical" day.

My first thought was to see Impressions de France which I have never seen in person

I still have yet to see that show. It's always on my to-do list -- but something pops up. My last trip in October, my Epcot day was scrapped b/c I had a really bad sinus infection and ended up spending 5 hours of the day at the nearby clinic in order to get antibiotics. Also missed out on HEA that day too.

Luckily I had another trip in 5 weeks.

the Grey Goose Citron Slush which was fantastic and just what I needed (I was debating between this lemon one and the orange, I’m sure either are good, so the orange will have to wait for another time).

booyah! Got this one right!

Snow White has always been very sweet at our meets and this was no exception.

She doesn't look like snow white to me.

We needed to back track to Germany to meet our fifth and final princess of the day.

Booyah! Got this one right too!!!

Walking past Mexico, we suspected we might not get back this way again, so we quickly stopped to ride Gran Fiesta Tour since Touring Plans had it at only a 5 minute wait. It was a walk on, and I got to see the Three Caballeros animatronics that were added. Nothing astonishing, but it was enjoyable and it got us out of the heat again for a while.

I thought you were going to say you stopped and got the sangria with tequila topper at the QS restaurant.

That drink is awesome! You totally should have used one of your QS credits for the taco trio and the sangria.

1. Mission 1: ride Test Track at rope drop since we don’t have any FP all trip. Do we ride TT? No
2. Mission 2: Meet Princesses! I made a big song and dance at the beginning of this report about trying to meet all 11 official Princesses, and it’s been ages since we met one. Time to catch up! How many Princesses do we meet this morning in Epcot? Five (Mulan, Jasmine, Belle, Aurora, Snow White)
3. Mission 3: get a frozen drink that has been on my “to do” list for a while. What drink do I get? Grey Goose Citron Slush

Almost went 3 for 3! I figured you wouldn't make rope drop, but I thought the wait wouldn't be too bad -- or you might use single rider!!!

1. Tonight is finally time to use our Slinky Dog Dash FP. Unfortunately rain closes the ride. But, is this before or after we try to ride?

2. Have you been paying attention? We’ve now met 9 of the 11 official Disney Princesses. Which two are left to meet? (And if you have the time and determination to go back through the 17 pages of this TR, bravo! You’ve earned this answer!)

3. We have an ADR later tonight. We leave Hollywood Studios to go to this place, so it’s somewhat close by. Which restaurant?

1. Closes after
2. Merida and pocahontas?
3. Beaches and Cream

 

[mustinjourney]

What I got was my worst meal of the trip. It was just a wad of deli-sliced pork dripping in too-sweet BBQ sauce on a hot dog bun. Even the house made chips were way too salty.

I'm noticing a pattern of you liking pork.

But I agree -- that looks and sounds terrible.

Of course, since we had our matching shirts, we had to take a Photopass opportunity on the way to TSL.

Yours and Tish's are pretty well done I must say.

A few rain drops began to fall. We also noticed that no other cars were running on the track behind us. What luck – we were in the last train before the ride shut for rain! Sadly, we did not get our ride pictures.

Score!!! Isn't that a great feeling knowing that you got the last ride in?

We donned our ponchos, but didn’t walk very far since we figured we might as well get inside and do Midway Mania again, especially since the wait was a reasonable 30 minutes. That ride never gets old for me. Thankfully the rain had let up a bit while we were inside TSMM.

That is really good...especially considering the weather.

My only regret is never having our schedule work out to see it lit up at night.

That area is amazing at night. Not pandora amazing -- but totally different feel.

I had always been nervous about this coaster, and in fact our previous 2014 trip was the first time I rode. I like roller coasters when I can see the track – and I know there are no big drops. I don’t like drops. I never have. Brianna loves roller coasters so last trip I reluctantly agreed to go on RnRC. I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t as bad as I feared. But that was 4 years ago. I’m an old man. My mind isn’t as sharp as it used to be. I barely remember what I had for breakfast, much less every curve and nuance of a ride I went on 4 years ago. But, I had promised to go on it, so I timidly crawled confidently marched into the FP queue. I’m always impressed with the poses many of you do in ride photos. I was hoping to do something cool. I did quite the opposite. My mind gets the better of me, so it’s more of a “Son of Jor-El what in the sweet name of Krypton are you about to do?!” kind of look.

I tricked my dad to go on it with me when I went in October. He saw the entry area with the car upside down and asked if the coaster went upside down and I was like "nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo." even though he said he didn't like loop d loops, I could tell he liked it. The back row is pretty sweet.

I know many of you like ToT. Many of you must also be nuts. Not happening for me. ToT is the only ride in WDW I haven’t done, and never will do. I can’t handle that drop.

This deserves a gif.

In the meantime, Katie and I did our usual “wait for mom and sis on ToT” ritual – get ice cream from Hollywood Scoops and sit on the corner across from ToT. Except we didn’t want ice cream tonight (you’ll understand why very soon)

Last time I had to wait for DW and DD to get off this ride, I ended up buying all of the pressed pennies.

Katie just wanted an ice water and I noticed a rum cocktail on the menu.

You had me at rum.

It also gave me time to take a picture of ToT with a cool looking sky.

That is pretty cool looking.

One of our favourite places from our previous trip was Beaches & Cream, so we wanted a return visit. I had been hoping for a mid-afternoon ADR, but we were never able to get one, so an 8:40pm ADR was the best we could do.

Booyah! Got another one!

I suppose we could have taken a boat, which seems more cultured, but we instead hiked back through Traffic Cone Forest to our rental car and drove to the Beach Club.

Walking would have probably been faster.

DW and I both got the No Way Jose (peanut butter and hot fudge), which I had skipped for something else on our previous visit. Brianna and Katie both had a Fudge Mudslide (brownie and hot fudge). We had debated getting a kitchen Sink, but really felt it would just turn into a soupy mess and would be wasted.

You each got your own??? That is a lot of ice cream!

Considering the jacked up prices and time it took us to get there, we decided that although we’re glad we did Beaches & Cream twice now, we wouldn’t bother with it again.

1. Tonight is finally time to use our Slinky Dog Dash FP. Unfortunately rain closes the ride. But, is this before or after we try to ride? It closed for rain right after our ride.
2. Have you been paying attention? We’ve now met 9 of the 11 official Disney Princesses. Which two are left to meet? (And if you have the time and determination to go back through the XX pages of this TR, bravo! You’ve earned this answer!) Pocahontas and Merida
3. We have an ADR later tonight. We leave Hollywood Studios to go to this place, so it’s somewhat close by. Which restaurant? Beaches and Cream

damn I'm good -- 3 for 3 on this and I didn't even go back and look at the princesses! Perhaps that is not something I should brag about.

Next Update Questions for Fun:

1. We have a lunch ADR in Disney Springs. It’s a place we have never been, and it opened since 2014. Which restaurant?

2. It’s MNSSHP night! I may have mentioned it somewhere before, but is this our 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th Halloween party (ever)?

3. Do we wear normal clothes to the party, or do we have costumes (yes, matching shirts count as costumes)?

1. Chicken Guy
2. 3rd
3. costumes

 

[Terra Nova guy]

rope drop? by my count you haven't made rope drop once.

I suppose I should have said "rope drop attempt". No, at that point we hadn't made a single rope drop, despite trying a couple times.

Of course...won't help with the planning up front, but during the trip all of the sudden has 100 opinions on what to do.

Am I projecting my own experiences???

Yeah -- MDE is pretty great. If you are diligent, you can grab like 20 FPs a day...especially at MK. This past December, I went to MK at 6 pm and rode everything in MK before 11:30 pm...and I had FPs for pretty much every ride. Even when a ride shows that it is out of FPs...if you keep refreshing the app, stuff will eventually turn up.

I really should use MDE more than I do. Like you say, you can really get good use of FP, especially in MK.

Pretty sure a FP wasn't needed for this one. Feels like walking the empty queue takes longer than the ride.

No we really didn't need FP for Nemo. It's more of a side effect of the Epcot tiers. Outside of the headliners, there's nothing really worth a FP.

Little known fact -- the back side of water actually has a lower pitch in sound due to the doppler effect from the water moving away from you.

I did not know that.

I haven't heard anyone have any good things to say about the food here. It was actually edible?

The girls seems to like Pinocchio's well enough, but I really didn't care for it, it's just OK. I think there's lots of better choices in MK for QS, and if I was there on my own I wouldn't consider Pinocchio's.

No beer?

I'm actually not much of a beer drinker. If somebody offers me one, I'll have it, but I never took a liking to it. I rarely have any in my house. My liquor cabinet consists of multiple types of rum and a couple bottles of whisky. Spiced rum and cola is my Friday night drink of choice.

Due to that experience, we just do not have fond memories of the attraction.

I can understand that. Tiki Rom is definitely not a must-do every trip, but if I have the time, I wouldn't mind seeing it.

so i guess the wife was the one slowing you down every morning? ;-)

I will not confirm that for fear she may one day read this.

PSA -- you can always ask to wait for the next showing so you can sit in B1.

Yes, I have never asked, but I knew you could. I wouldn't mind waiting, but DW and DDs wouldn't have the patience. A straight Eiffel Tower is not worth the wait for them.

She doesn't look like snow white to me.

Agreed. She was probably the least believable face character we met. It's a roll of the dice on who you get. We've had some good, some bad. But generally speaking, even though Snow White has always been a good meet for us in terms of interaction, she's consistently never "looked like herself".

You each got your own??? That is a lot of ice cream!

Yes and Yes. But ice cream is something we have never had a problem tucking away. We could probably manage the kitchen sink fairly well to be honest.

 

[mustinjourney]

I had the Breakfast Burger - Angus burger, American cheese, bacon and egg on a plain bagel with tater tots which had intrigued me all week.

that looks pretty good.

but this thing was HUGE.

It proved to be underwhelming

That mac & cheese was awesome.

looks good -- but my DDs wouldn't eat that kind -- if it's been baked they are out!

Answers to last questions:

1. We have a lunch ADR in Disney Springs. It’s a place we have never been, and it opened since 2014. Which restaurant? Homecomin’
2. It’s MNSSHP night! I may have mentioned it somewhere before, but is this our 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th Halloween party (ever)? 3rd
3. Do we wear normal clothes to the party, or do we have costumes? Matching shirts “costumes”

think I got 2 of 3 on this one.

Next Update Questions for Fun:

1. We meet a character at MNSSHP. Which one?

2. Spoiler – there is a wait for that character. How long do we wait – 1 hour, 1.5 hours, 2 hours, more than 2 hours?

3. We watch the 2nd parade. From where do we watch it?

1. Jack
2. 2 hours
3. frontierland

 

[mustinjourney]

I'm actually not much of a beer drinker. If somebody offers me one, I'll have it, but I never took a liking to it. I rarely have any in my house. My liquor cabinet consists of multiple types of rum and a couple bottles of whisky. Spiced rum and cola is my Friday night drink of choice.

Sounds like me. I have beers in my garage fridge that are over a year old. People bring beer over during poker nights and I don't touch them. I'm a fan of rum and Crown Royal (not mixed together). A nice single malt is always nice as well.

 

[mustinjourney]

The FP queue wasn’t being fun though. I don’t know what was going on, but we were not moving at all in what seemed to be a big line, and the SB queue was walking past us. I started to wonder if we had the wrong line. Once we got to the loading area, the SB queue did twist around more, so maybe it was even in the end. It just seemed strange.

Perhaps they opened up some of the switchbacks in the standby queue -- that would allow for the SB line to look like it's moving when it really is just filling in the empty space.

Once again, I have a boring ride picture.

those ride photos are always horrible. They ought to just remove them.

The girls, however, had one character they really wanted to meet – Moana.

Didn't see that one coming.

You’re probably wondering why – once again – I didn’t go off on my own and do some things I wanted to do.

B. anything Mickey shaped makes things better.

A photopass photographer was trying to keep everyone occupied by doing Hei Hei magicshots.

And the total wait time for those pictures? Two hours and twenty minutes – nearly double the estimate.

Whoa! That is NOT a good use of park time.

 

[mustinjourney]

I have never done a Christmas party and I would happily do one if given the chance. The key word being “one”. For the cost of a family of four, the party tickets just don’t give me enough enjoyment to justify multiple visits.

yeah -- the cost multiplied by 4 is why I haven't done any parties or dessert parties either. Can't stomach dropping $400 for a party when I already have APs...and the dessert parties, no way my daughters can eat or drink anything close to $10 each -- so spending $40+ for each of them aint happening.

If I was going solo, or even as an adult couple, I would re-think it and perhaps plan the night differently. But for now, I won’t do another Halloween party.

I've been solo in October last two years and still haven't done a halloween party...the reports of the large crowds has really turned me off.

Next Update Questions for Fun:

1. 
   
   
   • We visit AK. I have 4 FP for Flight of Passage. Do all four FP get used?
   • I get a frozen beverage from a kiosk/food truck. What is it?
   • We meet one character at AK. Which character?

1. I'd hope so...if someone chickens out, then I would still use the FP by stealing their magic band.
2. Is the pandora drink station a kiosk? If so, then you got the alcohol version there. Only food truck I can think of is the mac&cheese place -- don't have a clue what frozen beverages they sell.
3. Pocahontas -- gotta get her and Merida still.

 

[mustinjourney]

I was hoping to be able to sneak a 2nd ride by borrowing Katie’s band, but that wasn’t going to work out. Oh well, off to Pandora.

better than nothing! But now you can't share magic bands to reride!!!

Brianna and I had done a Photopass in front of Everest on the way there. Some of you may know that the shape of the shrine matches the peaks of Everest. Little details like this amuse me.

I've NEVER seen this thing.

so I had planned on doing both and swapping bands.

Anyway, the girls wanted to do one character meet but on the way to it we noticed Finding Nemo The Musical was about to start. I think the show is fine, but didn’t care much either way if we saw it. Katie decided she wanted to, so we all figured why not.

We watched it during our first with the girls (2016) and enjoyed it -- but I'm not a big enough nemo fan to burn through 45 minutes of the day for this one (between the show and waiting for it to start).

1. We visit AK. Each of us has FP for Flight of Passage. Do all FP get used? No, only 2 of the 4
2. I get a frozen beverage from a kiosk/food truck. What is it? Frozen Chai Latte
3. We meet one character at AK. Which character? Pocahontas

Big swing and a miss for me on these...at least I got the last one right.

1. We have a supper reservation. BUT it is not for a table service restaurant. Where are we eating? (there’s only one possible answer folks, google if you have to)

2. We return to AK today for one other thing at night that we haven’t done. What is it?

3. Do any of us ride any attraction tonight? (just yes or no, but bonus points if you want to guess an attraction)

1. Pizzafari
2. have you walked through pandora at night yet? If not -- that would be my guess.
3. yes. Dinosaur?

 

[mustinjourney]

BUT if I had paid OOP at $20 bucks a head, I think I would have been PO’d by the amount of wasted food. It was just too much.

Four people at $20 a piece is likely more than you end up spending at Via Napoli. ouch!

Rivers of Light was.....there. It wasn’t bad. It wasn’t particularly good.

That's a ringing endorsement.

Aside from never hearing anything positive about it, with 2 young kids -- we just haven't been in the mood to stay around DAK late at night. My youngest loses her mind on the bus rides back from the parks (especially DAK) -- so this is definitely not high on my priority list.

It’s a kind of like the boring bit in Illuminations with the globe spinning around, but it goes on for 20 minutes. I am happy to have done ROL. I would do it again if there was minimal waiting and my schedule allowed. But I certainly wouldn’t go out of my way for it.

Wow -- I already am not a fan of Illuminations and ROL is even worse than the most boring part. Definitely going to be skipping this.

I can’t say Dinosaur is my favourite ride, but I always ride it once a trip and it’s a bit of fun.

When I first rode it in 1999, I thought it was the greatest ride of all time. While I still enjoy it, I feel like it is too dark now. Not sure if it was always this dark or maybe I don't see as well -- but the ride loses some of its fun since you can't see half the things around you.

Next Update Questions for Fun:

1. We attempt rope drop at Epcot. Did we arrive at Epcot before rope drop this time?

2. I get a coveted paper Anytime FastPass. For which Epcot attraction do we use it?

3. We return to Disney Springs. By what mode of transport do we arrive there – car, bus, boat?

1. hahaha No chance
2. Test Track
3. boat

 

[mustinjourney]

I'M ALL CAUGHT UP!!!

Now hurry up and finish, will ya?!?

The boat ride was a nice, relaxing way to arrive in Disney Springs.

I've done the boat ride to/from POR/DS and it is a nice hidden gem. I like the part near the treehouse villas a lot...it feels so secluded.

Next Update Questions for Fun:

1. This is our last chance to complete our official Princess meets. Do we meet our 11th Princess?

2. Have you been keeping tabs? Who is the last Princess we need to meet?

1. yes!
2. merida

 

[mustinjourney]

I did not know that.

Might be b/c I completely made it up.

 

[Terra Nova guy]

I'M ALL CAUGHT UP!!!

Thanks for coming back and catching up. It was fun reading your comments for my older posts!

 

[Terra Nova guy]

The Drawings

After mentioning in my last post that we had purchased drawings for the girls, my fans readers demanded to see them (well, OK it was just @docsoliday1 but he’s an important guy).

So here is Brianna’s Elsa drawing we got in Disney Springs



And this is Katie’s Lilo & Stitch drawing we picked up at Epcot.

 

[Terra Nova guy]

August 26th – Day 9, Part 2 – Challenge Accepted

All four of us left for Magic Kingdom early afternoon, which was earlier than we had been getting into the parks all trip. We wanted to maximize our last day, so our plan was to have lunch in MK and perhaps catch the Festival of Fantasy parade, which we hadn’t seen this trip.

We arrived just before parade start time (at 2:00) and were already melting. There was a reason we hadn’t ventured out at this time of day all trip. We sat in the shade of a tree near Town Square Theater. We thought we might move out closer to the street later, but it was so hot, we just stayed back and let the crowd fill in around us. The view was still OK and we enjoyed the parade.















Since we were already next to Town Square Theater, we figured it was a good time for the girls to meet Tinkerbell. The wait was only about 10 minutes, which surprised me since the parade had just finished up.



We needed some lunch now and decided to hit Casey’s Corner. I had wanted to get both the mac & cheese hot dog and some corn dog nuggets at some point on the trip, so it was now or never. Of course it was poor timing since the parade had just finished and it seemed that everybody else in MK was also going to Casey’s. But to be honest, I don’t ever remember seeing Casey’s without a crowd. I had a mac & cheese hot dog meal, as did Brianna. Katie had the corn dog nugget meal (and I may have stolen a couple). Tish just had a simple hot dog. Trip report fail – I have no picture of the food, but it was probably due to my mood at the time. The service was very slow (yes, it was busy, but even once I had ordered it took longer to get our food than previous guests). The first tray of food they brought out was wrong. There were 2 plain hot dogs and the corn dog nuggets – only one mac & cheese hot dog, not 2. Now, had I ordered incorrectly, or even if the person taking my order had misunderstood, I can forgive a mix-up. But I had the slip and all meals were correct on the slip. After waiting a long time for the food, only to have it wrong, I have to admit I was a little irritated and made that known to the server. To their credit, they quickly fixed the issue, and we also kept the extra plain hot dog. Not that we needed it. The hot dogs themselves were fine. The corn dog nuggets were soggy and cold. I also tried their mint julep lemonade slushie. I didn’t really care for it. The mint and lemonade just didn’t work for me.

Anyway, we go on. The Fantasy Faire show was happening at the Castle. We watched the Tangled and Frozen part, but it was just too hot to stand in the Hub for the whole show. More heat means no pictures apparently. Sorry, this update is getting text heavy.

We had something very important to take care of next. There was a certain red head we had to meet. My favourite red head actually (sorry @pkondz it’s not Ariel). Merida was the 11th and final Princess we had to meet to see them all. She’s my favourite because I actually lived in Scotland for a year so I feel a sort of connection to her. She’s also the only princess I ever get a picture with by myself J

Official Princess Countdown: Merida – 11 of 11 ✔



Official Disney Princess Meet Challenge Complete!

Way back at the beginning of this TR, I had asked if you thought we could meet them all. Nobody thought we would. Ha! Not only did we meet all of them this trip, we have met every official Princess on our previous trips. It’s just something the girls like doing, and I am happy to go along with it. I know one day the girls won’t be travelling with me and the trips will be very different then. I was proud we were able to accomplish it this time though because it’s the first time we’ve done it without having a Princess meal booked (like CRT or Akershus).

If you want a couple tips on doing this, obviously having more park days is a help. We have always had between 8 and 10 park days to do it on our trips. Booking CRT or Akershus will also knock off 5 Princesses in a short time. If that doesn’t work for you, Epcot is the other key. Dedicate a morning/afternoon to it and you can meet 5 of them.

With that, my friends, I think I will break before updating our last evening at MK.


Answers to last questions:

1. This is our last chance to complete our official Princess meets. Do we meet our 11th Princess? Yes
2. Have you been keeping tabs? Who is the last Princess we need to meet? Merida


Next Update Questions for Fun:

1. What is the last ride we do on this trip?

2. I get a frozen treat this night. What is it? (Hint: I have not had this treat yet on the trip. It is not a Dole Whip).

 

[pkondz]

After mentioning in my last post that we had purchased drawings for the girls, my fans readers demanded to see them

(well, OK it was just @docsoliday1 but he’s an important guy).

Wow. One guy reluctantly says "Fine. If you're going to whine about it, then show us the stupid pictures." (may have paraphrased there just a bit)
and now he's "and important guy".

Wow.


Brown noser.

So here is Brianna’s Elsa drawing we got in Disney Springs

Nice!

And this is Katie’s Lilo & Stitch drawing we picked up at Epcot.

And yet I like this one better.

 

[GrantDB]

I'm so glad the girls got to meet all the Princesses, you guys did so well!

 

[pkondz]

perhaps catch the Festival of Fantasy parade, which we hadn’t seen this trip.

I'm not a parade guy... but even I think this parade is worth seeing at least once.

We arrived just before parade start time (at 2:00)

Please tell me you asked at least one CM what time the 3pm parade was!

There was a reason we hadn’t ventured out at this time of day all trip.

Laziness? Procrastination? Poor planning?

Like the shots with the Halloween decorations in the foreground.

we figured it was a good time for the girls to meet Tinkerbell. The wait was only about 10 minutes, which surprised me since the parade had just finished up.

Unless you beat the crowd in?

Of course it was poor timing since the parade had just finished and it seemed that everybody else in MK was also going to Casey’s.

Yeah... that and at the end of the night... busy!

But to be honest, I don’t ever remember seeing Casey’s without a crowd.

True dat.

I had a mac & cheese hot dog meal,

So... how was that?
I've had hot dogs at Casey's and... well... I found it disappointing. Was intrigued by the mac n cheese but... thought it wouldn't work. So?

Trip report fail – I have no picture of the food, but it was probably due to my mood at the time.

Uh, oh...

The service was very slow (yes, it was busy, but even once I had ordered it took longer to get our food than previous guests).

Um... dude?
It's supposed to take you longer to get your food than the previous guests. That's how it works. It took the following guests longer than you to get their food.

After waiting a long time for the food, only to have it wrong, I have to admit I was a little irritated and made that known to the server.

Oh, dear.

And yet... I typically don't get angry if an order is wrong. It's what it done about it that matters. BUT! If you're already annoyed... then yeah, that's going to make it worse.

The corn dog nuggets were soggy and cold.

Too bad. I know that Liesa swears by those things.

I also tried their mint julep lemonade slushie. I didn’t really care for it. The mint and lemonade just didn’t work for me.

Huh. I'll probably still try it (if I ever see the place with no big line.)

More heat means no pictures apparently. Sorry, this update is getting text heavy.

Sometimes it's good to just relax and enjoy your vacation. TR writing takes work.

My favourite red head actually (sorry @pkondz it’s not Ariel).

The man's gone blind, folks.

She’s my favourite because I actually lived in Scotland for a year so I feel a sort of connection to her.

Ah. Okay, you're (slightly) forgiven.

Actually .... redhead = hot
It's a rule.

Official Princess Countdown: Merida – 11 of 11 ✔

<applause>

Way back at the beginning of this TR, I had asked if you thought we could meet them all. Nobody thought we would. Ha!

I did! I said you wouldn't because I knew you would, but didn't want you to think that I thought you did so that you'd feel better about it when you did it.



Yeah.
That's it.
Sure.

I know one day the girls won’t be travelling with me and the trips will be very different then.

1. What is the last ride we do on this trip?

BTMRR

2. I get a frozen treat this night. What is it? (Hint: I have not had this treat yet on the trip. It is not a Dole Whip).

Hei-Hei cone.

 

[ariane37]

corn dog nuggets

We don't hit Casey's that often but I do love the nugggets! So sorry yours weren't good and you had a rough experience there; I don't think I've ever seen Casey's NOT a big crowded nightmare.

Merida was the 11th and final Princess we had to meet to see them all. She’s my favourite

Good for you! I'd love to do this one day if only I had at least one other person in my family who was interested. I also really like Merida; the one time I forced the boys to eat at CRT we were lucky because she was there filling in for Aurora