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

[missangelalexis]

Sure does look like a lot of food at Homecomin!

Matching shirts definitely count as costumes!

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

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? 1 hour

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

 

[Terra Nova guy]

Holy smokes!

That breakfast burger was huge! I had been eyeing it on the menu all week and decided our "relaxing" morning was the best time to get it. I hadn't thought how filling it would be. Not the best choice right before a big lunch at Homecomin'. Oh well. Who doesn't over eat on vacation?

oooohhhh... good idea. When I go in May with my DD and she wants to shop, I can just say "Time to go! We have an ADR for 1pm!"
Then after we leave, I can say "Whoops! Did I say 1pm? I meant 6pm. My bad."

I should have tried that with my wife. Of course I may have come back home single....

Wait, you waited the waitress?

Dang! Mistake #1. Stupid typos. And I even type these up in Word before hand and proof read them.
(FYI, should read waited for the waitress)

It's also illegal in Germany. Has to do with copywriting food presentation.

Huh? Really? Never would have guessed that. But I suppose I can see it, at the fancy restaurants.

I wonder if I can come up with something in May... "No, everyone moons the characters."... hmmm... maybe not that. I like being able to stay at Disney.

Well, that would make for an interesting in your Ariel photo series....
It would also be your last.

Ummm... Chicken and waffles? I see donuts. Is that what it was, or?...

Dang! Mistake #2. But not a typo. Brain fart I suppose. It's donuts. I absolutely had chicken & waffles in my head when I was writing (without looking at the picture), then never thought to cross check it after adding the picture. D'oh!

Ah! Thanks for that. Been thinking of doing that for a future trip.

I've used the car care center three times now. No issues at all.
When staying longer, we used to rent a house in Kissimmee off 192 for the first week and used a rental car, then moved to the Disney bubble for the second week or so.

Birthday in late October has been scientifically proven to be the best time of the year to have one.

 

[Terra Nova guy]

I am the one and only ( or close to it) non Homecomin' fan. We ate there once and just didn't really like anything, and had the driest mac & cheese ever ( which I do think was an off batch). Steve won't go back so if I do it'll be on a girls trip or work trip.

I remembered that you didn't enjoy it. I hope you get to go back sometime just to give it another chance.
See below for my mac & cheese comment.

I have heard mostly good things about the Mac and cheese, however some have not liked it all, said it was dry! I’m glad yours was good.

I guess it really depends what kind of mac and cheese you like.
Some are very wet and saucy. Others are dryer. I am OK with either.
The Homecomin' mac and cheese was not wet and saucy. Definitely on the drier side, but had lots of delicious gooey cheese.
Dry without much cheese is terrible. I've had that at places before too.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

But somewhere along the way, there apparently was an urgent need to re-visit the Vineland outlet for more shopping.

That's mind-boggling. We have malls at home!

Apparently DW heard there were some items left on the shelves that we hadn’t already purchased

There was also a cinnamon roll in the mix, because 1. vacation 2. free dining plan.

Story checks out.

Anyway, we left the resort and headed to the Vineland outlet. I only know we did this because it is written in my notes. I honestly have no recollection of it. Or I just blocked the experience from my mind.

Dude. That's the only way to survive.

It even received the prestigious Drooling Homer Award™ so it must be good.

Uh oh. This is where I start to pray I haven't steered you wrong.

I think up to this point they thought all my trip reporting was some kind of elaborate dad joke.

I mean, you can't put it past us.

Tish and Katie both had the chicken and donuts, with Katie substituting mac & cheese for mashed potatoes.

Good call there.

That mac & cheese was awesome. I would have been happy with just that and my rum cocktail. The fried chicken was very crispy, but as I was eating, I noticed how salty it was. Now, I generally don’t mind a bit of salt. But this was like it had been left in brine for a full day (and FYI, I know what that tastes like because I’ve made that mistake before). I got halfway through that piece and wondered if it was all like that. I had a bite of a different piece and it wasn’t as salty. I tried Katie’s too (because – spoiler – she couldn’t eat it all) and hers wasn’t as salty. So I don’t know what happened there. Was it a stray piece of chicken that got left in the buttermilk/brine too long? No idea, but it put a bit of a damper on my lunch.

Huh. That stinks. Sorry you got a dud piece. It encourages me that no one else had that problem.

The other thing about Homecomin’ is that it was too much food. We definitely could have split two entrees between the four of us for lunch. When I got the bill, I wished we had done this. It’s not cheap.

Yeah, we were very glad we split the entrees.

Next, it was time to get on our “costumes”. We had talked about different ideas, like each being our favourite character, or Disney bounding as a group like The Aristocats, but we couldn’t decide and in the end just had matching shirts made. Not very original, but considering the party was in August in sweltering heat, it was the more practical choice.

That's about as far as I'd be willing to go with "costumes" anyway.

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

I think you might have mentioned this story in the DDC. Moana?

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?

> 2 hours. Which you'll never get back.

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

In front of a bathroom somewhere?

 

[pkondz]

That breakfast burger was huge! I had been eyeing it on the menu all week and decided our "relaxing" morning was the best time to get it. I hadn't thought how filling it would be. Not the best choice right before a big lunch at Homecomin'. Oh well. Who doesn't over eat on vacation?

Maybe not the best choice... but like you said. It's vacation! Let the gluttony begin!

I should have tried that with my wife.

Hey now! Family board!

Of course I may have come back home single....

Oh! That.

Anyway. Yeah, maybe not the best move.

Dang! Mistake #1. Stupid typos. And I even type these up in Word before hand and proof read them.
(FYI, should read waited for the waitress)

Just poking fun atcha.
Feel free to do the same to me.

Huh? Really? Never would have guessed that. But I suppose I can see it, at the fancy restaurants.

Well, that would make for an interesting in your Ariel photo series....
It would also be your last.

Yup. Besides, now that we're engaged, that just won't do.

Dang! Mistake #2. But not a typo. Brain fart I suppose. It's donuts.

Ah. Wasn't sure if yours was different of if the waffles were out of sight below the chicken.

I absolutely had chicken & waffles in my head when I was writing (without looking at the picture), then never thought to cross check it after adding the picture. D'oh!

I can see that. We talk about chicken and waffles often enough either on the Dads thread or on TRs.

I've used the car care center three times now. No issues at all.

Good to know!

When staying longer, we used to rent a house in Kissimmee off 192 for the first week and used a rental car, then moved to the Disney bubble for the second week or so.

Hmmm... would you do that again? Or are you now fully assimilated into the Disney bubble?

 

[Terra Nova guy]

Hmmm... would you do that again? Or are you now fully assimilated into the Disney bubble?

Definitely I would do it again.
The reason I didn't this last trip was cost. We cut out Universal and shortened the trip to 10 days.
Previous trips have been 16-18 days, with 6-8 days off site to do Universal, two times SeaWorld, Cocoa Beach, and general relaxing at our private pool.We really missed it this last trip. So much that I may actually consider just renting a house while doing Disney. That would be a big change, but to be honest I am finding less benefit to staying onsite. EMH have been cut back and we hardly take advantage anymore. The 30 day FP window would be tough. But I'm mulling it over.
Having said all that, I also love being in the Disney bubble.

 

[GrantDB]

Fantastic review so far, I'm hooked.

Me and my partner are attending WDW this year at the exact dates you went, and I just booked MNSSHP yesterday so I can't wait to see how it was for you guys!

Everything you are talking about is really helpful and giving me ideas, so thank you!

 

[suse66]

Apparently DW heard there were some items left on the shelves that we hadn’t already purchased

People who live on Islands tend to shop a lot when they leave their Island, it's definitely a thing......

I think up to this point they thought all my trip reporting was some kind of elaborate dad joke.

Haha, my boys thought the same until they saw other people doing the same!

The other thing about Homecomin’ is that it was too much food. We definitely could have split two entrees between the four of us for lunch. When I got the bill, I wished we had done this. It’s not cheap. So, overall the girls enjoyed their food, and I loved the mac & cheese and the not-so-salty chicken. I would go back to Homecomin’ partly to see if my salty chicken was just a one off thing, but I would also order less food.

That is a crazy amount of food. I have been showing DH food pics to see the portion sizes and convince him we will be fine splitting a lot of meal/snacks this summer!

Not very original, but considering the party was in August in sweltering heat, it was the more practical choice. And I’m still calling that a costume.

They look great!

So, before this trip we hadn’t planned on MNSSHP, partly because of our last experience and partly because I had to watch spending. The more we thought about it, the more we felt like we needed a do-over. So that’s how we ended up at our 3rd MNSSHP. But will it be magical or tragical?

I am hoping it was magical for you but I did hear how crowded the parties were this summer.......

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. Lotso
2. 1 hour
3. Town Square by Tony's ~ best spot ever!

 

[docsoliday1]

Sorry to hear that. I really have liked what I've gotten there in the past.

Considering how much you like ice cream, that is not at all shocking.

 

[docsoliday1]

I would love decent BBQ.
I've had Texas BBQ before. Isn't there some East vs West, or maybe North vs South type of BBQ? I don't know it as well as I would like.


Steal away. We can never have too many teenage boy jokes around here.


I know. The only way we got the first rides was waiting in fairly long lines (40-60 minutes each). We thought it was worth it, but I certainly wouldn't do it for just any ride.


Nice to hear there's someone else out there who feels like me.

There are many debates over who does barbeque the best. As far as sauces, there are three main types...
1 spicy
2 sweet
3 Carolina style - heavy vinegar

I personally don't care for heavy vinegar and prefer the sweet.

 

[pkondz]

Definitely I would do it again.
The reason I didn't this last trip was cost. We cut out Universal and shortened the trip to 10 days.
Previous trips have been 16-18 days, with 6-8 days off site to do Universal, two times SeaWorld, Cocoa Beach, and general relaxing at our private pool.We really missed it this last trip. So much that I may actually consider just renting a house while doing Disney. That would be a big change, but to be honest I am finding less benefit to staying onsite. EMH have been cut back and we hardly take advantage anymore. The 30 day FP window would be tough. But I'm mulling it over.
Having said all that, I also love being in the Disney bubble.

Hmmm... Interesting. I don't know if I could bring myself to doing that... providing I'm at Disney. And believe it or not, I am considering a trip to Florida with either no or minimal Disney time.

Considering how much you like ice cream, that is not at all shocking.

Who me?
No idea what you could be referring to.

 

[amazingact21]

Incredibly late to the party, but I just read through your trip report and loved it. Surviving Disney in August take a lot of fortitude, and I especially applaud you for waiting in lines to meet the princesses in the WS. That had to be a long morning for you three.

Matching shirts most certainly qualify as a "costume." Can't wait to read about your latest MNSSHP experience. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it was more 2010-esq and not a 2014 repeat. (By the way, a triple run on BTMRR at night sounds incredible!)

 

[Terra Nova guy]

Fantastic review so far, I'm hooked.

Me and my partner are attending WDW this year at the exact dates you went, and I just booked MNSSHP yesterday so I can't wait to see how it was for you guys!

Everything you are talking about is really helpful and giving me ideas,

Great to have you here! Thanks for the praise, I'm glad you enjoyed the report so far and you found it helpful. I still have a couple more trip days to update so stay tuned! If you ever have any specific questions, just let me know, I'm happy to help with advice.

People who live on Islands tend to shop a lot when they leave their Island, it's definitely a thing......

True
It really has to do with stores that we just don't have locally where we live. We've had a lot of popular chains come in over the last 10 years, but there's still a few we don't have. And that's what DW goes for in Florida.

That is a crazy amount of food. I have been showing DH food pics to see the portion sizes and convince him we will be fine splitting a lot of meal/snacks this summer!

The portions were huge. Even the side dish of mac & cheese was enough for lunch, let alone the chicken. Generally we each get our own meal at restaurants and it's OK, but it was a mistake at Homecomin'

Incredibly late to the party, but I just read through your trip report and loved it. Surviving Disney in August take a lot of fortitude, and I especially applaud you for waiting in lines to meet the princesses in the WS. That had to be a long morning for you three.

Matching shirts most certainly qualify as a "costume." Can't wait to read about your latest MNSSHP experience. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it was more 2010-esq and not a 2014 repeat. (By the way, a triple run on BTMRR at night sounds incredible!)

I'm glad you stopped by. It's never too late to join the party! The princess meet at WS was tiring and hot, but it made the girls happy, so I was fine doing it. I really enjoyed that Grey Goose slush break in France.
I have the MNSSHP post written, I'm hoping to update over the weekend!

 

[khertz]

Homecomin' is one of the places in Disney Springs I am REALLY wanting to try!! I'm hoping we can maybe have dinner there on our pre-cruise night since we plan to visit the World of Disney store in DS. The food you got all looks really delicious, but it's a shame about that too-salty piece of chicken bringing the meal down. We will definitely keep in mind to share some entrees if we end up going there!

I really hope the party ends up being better than your previous one!! We had similar experiences with the party, as our very first one was AMAZING...perfect weather, low crowds, no long waits for ANYTHING, and then the next year was sold out and kind of a mess.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

That mac & cheese was awesome.

I have heard great things about the mac and cheese at homecomin'. So much food though, maybe I will go and just order the mac and cheese.

 

[Terra Nova guy]

August 24th – Day 7 – Part 2 – More Tragical than Magical

I left off with us arriving at MK for MNSSHP. We were a tad later than I wanted but still respectable, getting through the gates at 4:30. I had made some pre-party FP, the first for 7DMT that ended at 4:55. All the party guests were being funnelled in the back alley between Tony’s and the hat shop, and there were plenty of photo ops here. Not wanting to miss our FP, we rushed through here and went into the mine, which is always fun. Well, maybe not as much fun as the dude in the red shirt is having. But still fun.



We had separate FPs up next – Space Mountain for Brianna and I, and Mad Tea Party for Tish and Katie. I had read there were special Halloween ‘extras’ for both these attractions. Unfortunately, we found out the overlay wouldn’t start until 6:00. Bummer. Oh well, Space Mountain is fun either way. 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. Once again, I have a boring ride picture. Also, don't you hate it when there's only two of you but your ride photo is split in two? #firstworldDISproblems





I can only assume the tea cups were as nauseating as usual. They were much faster, so Tish and Katie had been sitting outside Cosmic Rays for a while, where we met up with them again.

We wanted to get back down to the treat trail where we entered the party. The CMs wouldn’t let us go against the flow by The Plaza, so we had to walk down Main Street and then up the back walkway again. But we got a few photo ops, which was the whole point, so it was fine.





Below is the one and only Magicshot we managed to get the whole night.



It was around 6:00 now and I knew the characters would be starting their meets. For me, I would be OK not meeting any characters. I know there are some rare ones, and they have their Halloween costumes, but it’s just not high on my priority list. The girls, however, had one character they really wanted to meet – Moana. They started talking about it even before we left home. I warned them the wait times are at least an hour, and Moana was rare, so she would be a long wait. But they were undeterred and committed to it. She is an unofficial Disney Princess after all, so they weren’t about to miss her. We made our way to Adventureland and found her queue outside the Enchanted Tiki Room. At this point the line filled the whole Tiki Room queue plus about 10 people outside, including us. I asked the CM outside next to the Moana sign roughly how long the wait is and she said 75 minutes from the sign . I figured we were looking at 90 minutes. We all had a chat again. 90 minutes would put us close to the fireworks start, but I would hopefully still have time to do a ride with one of the Halloween “extras” like Pirates or HM. The girls were determined and OK with the wait. The truth is, although I had mentioned the Halloween overlays on some rides, and Madam Carlotta outside HM, and the Cadaver Dans, they really don’t pay much attention to that stuff and likely forgot it right after I mentioned it. It’s the curse of being a DISer I suppose. You’re probably wondering why – once again – I didn’t go off on my own and do some things I wanted to do. I have wondered that myself on more than one occasion since doing this report. I guess I just feel like it’s our family vacation and we should stay together for the most part. Splitting up for a quick ride here and there is fine, but I knew they would be stuck in this queue for at least an hour and half, with no way for me to join them if I left (I don’t feel right cutting through a queue, even if my family is up ahead). So, we all hunkered down, getting Mickey bars to help pass the time because A. I hadn’t had one yet (blasphemy!) and B. anything Mickey shaped makes things better.



CONTINUED NEXT POST...

 

[Terra Nova guy]

August 24th – Day 7 – Part 2 – More Tragical than Magical...CONTINUED...

The line was moving rather slowly and we couldn’t see the actual meet area, which was tucked away at the doors to the Tiki Room, so it was hard to figure out if the 75 minutes was an accurate wait time. A photopass photographer was trying to keep everyone occupied by doing Hei Hei magicshots.





I won’t bore you with any more details on the waiting – it was bad enough going through it the first time. Eventually, we did meet Moana and she was pleasant although somewhat forgettable. She mentioned something to the girls about “you brought your whole village” which I guess meant the whole family? I dunno. Anyway, pictures or it didn’t happen…





And the total wait time for those pictures? Two hours and twenty minutes – nearly double the estimate. That CM in front of the Enchanted Tiki Room is a lying son of a Beverly.

And with that sentiment, I think this is quite enough for you to read for one update, so I shall have to regale you with the continuing saga of our Halloween party another time.

 

[Jenny Sanders]

You are too funny!!!! I love your tees. You all look great. I give you A LOT of credit. I NEVER would have waited that long for a character meet, rare or not. Good for you. #bestdadever

 

[ariane37]

All I can say is Holy Crap, my 75 minute wait for the safari with Ricky out of sympathy after his ACL injury does not seem bad AT ALL now. Because what you say your wait was is crazy talk!
Interesting about your Space wait even with FP because we experienced the same thing earlier this week! Had a FP, line was ridiculous and SB was passing us. FP line took 30 minutes . Better than the 185 posted SB time but no idea why we were at a standstill for almost 20 while SB moved. Plus I feel like that queue is claustrophobic for some reason.

 

[SweetSerenity]

I like your matching shirts.

Wow! That was an insane wait for a character. You're a good sport, though, about keeping your family together. I would have told my husband to go enjoy himself otherwise since it was a special event. He probably would have stayed like you did, though.

I've never had a Mickey bar. Is that blasphemy, too?