The Wells Family Disney Adventures - Summer 2018

[Pluto80]

#thewellsfamilydisneyadventures


Day seventeen


Thought we’d try and be up and out nice and early this morning, to make park opening. Ava, however had other ideas and much preferred to keep snoozing. Fortunately Epcot didn’t have extra magic hours (we tend to avoid the early ones), so she was awake in time for us to make the five minute car journey to Epcot for opening. We even managed to get the car parked in the last spot in the row, result!


While we were waiting for the park to open, we went to meet Daisy. When the rope dropped we headed round to Soarin. We only had to wait for a few minutes to board, and fortunately we got section B, so nothing was distorted! We’d had a FP for Living With the Land, but there was no wait, so we switched it to Figment and walked straight through the standby line and onto the boat. The first Halloween party is tonight, and usually Living With The Land has a Halloween display up when that starts, but it’s not there yet. Maybe they’ll wait till it actually near Halloween before doing it!


We really didn’t need a Figment FP, but used it anyway. Afterwards we went up into the DVC lounge for a bit. We also met up with Michelle from the Disney Dream Girls podcast, who happened to be in Epcot too. As we’re all teachers, we’re often thee at the same time, but have never actually met, so it was nice to finally meet her. The snack cart even came round today as well, bonus!


After a good long chat, we all had FP to go to, so we headed round to Frozen, and then wandered around the World Showcase for a while. Ava’s favourite princess is Sleeping Beauty, and we haven’t seen her for years so went to go and find her in France. She always has a huge queue, so we got in line just before she arrived, and met her within a few minutes. She’s definitely one of the more regal princesses, not as fun as some of the others. Not that it mattered, Ava was smitten with her.


We split up briefly after that. The boys went on the intense side of Mission Space and we did Spaceship Earth. After meeting back up, we used our bonus FP from last night to go on Test Track. Ben designed a car in day one that he’s not wanted to change yet, as it always wins, and is always just a few points off the top scoring car of the day.


Then we realised the time, it was almost 3pm. We’d totally skipped lunch (thank goodness for the snack cart in the lounge earlier). I’d had every intention of going to Sunshine Seasons today for my absolute favourite dessert, the key lime pie. We’d told the kids we’d all have something naughty from the bakery, but since it was so late, they both had a kids meal, and Anthony and I shared a wrap. This broke our ‘no overpriced Disney food’ rule, but it didn’t work out too badly. Ava had pasta and meatballs and Ben had salmon. Honestly, the kids meals are a bit of a bargain. With their meals they also got two choices from the ‘kids picks’ section (fruit, yoghurt, cookies etc), and a drink, all for just over $7.


Time to head back to the room after that. We’d seen that the Halloween party tonight was a sell out (hardly surprising as all the media people go on the first night). However, Anthony went round to the front desk to book us tickets for next weeks party, which I’m sure will be a bit quieter.


Ava and I stayed in, but Ben and Anthony went out to do extra magic evening hours at Hollywood Studios. By all accounts it was really busy, but they still had fun.


Not got anything too early booked tomorrow in case Ben wants a bit of a lay in

 

[Pluto80]

#thewellsfamilydisneyadventures


Day eighteen


We were up and out at a reasonable time this morning, off to Animal Kingdom. Slightly bad planning on our part though, as we hadn’t noticed it was early extra magic hours, so the park was already quite busy, which was a pain. We wanted to do the safari first, as the animals are always more active early in the morning. We didn’t have a FP, so waited in standby to get on. It was about a 25minute wait, which is probably the longest we’ve waited for anything since we’ve been here. The animals were great, especially the giraffe, lots of them out and about this morning. Still miss seeing them from the balcony though!


Flight of Passage was next. We were right on the top level today, which means we’ve done every level now this trip. It doesn’t make a difference where you sit, every level is amazing, but the experience is totally different depending on where you are. On our way out, we notices some handprints with the initials JL, JC and JR. We guessed Joe Rhode and James Cameron, but couldn’t figure out the other, so I tweeted Joe Rhode to ask him, and he replied that it was Jon Landau. I was totally starstruck to get a tweet from the genius that is Joe Rhode though. For anyone who doesn’t know, he’s a lead imagineer at Disney, and takes charge of most things at Animal Kingdom. His attention to detail is incredible, and I really do have a lot of respect for him, so getting a tweet from him totally made my day!


The kids had been up late the night before and to be honest, looked totally exhausted, so we asked them if the wanted to go back, which they did. This is definitely a benefit of being here for so long, if people are tired and only want to do a couple of things, we can. So we cancelled our other FP so someone else could make use of them, and headed back.


Anthony was more than happy to chill out with the kids, so I went off to Epcot for the afternoon. I even timed the bus journey, took all of six minutes! I went round to the Seas first, as we’d not done that this trip. I went on the ride (which is a bit dull, but ok),and then spent a fair bit of time wandering round, looking at all the tanks.


Next was Living With The Land. Amazingly, there was an actual queue for this today, but I had a FP, so bypassed it. I walked over to Test Track to do single rider, and was told by the cast member at the door I’d be split up from my group. Erm, I’m not with a group, there’s nobody anywhere near me! There is an area to design your own car in single rider, but I always bypass it. There was a group of about 10 in there, some were designing, some weren’t. So I ended up in the middle of them. One guy was about to ask to go past me to rejoin his group, until he remembered he was in the single rider line. To be fair, the group actually let me go in front of them, which was nice of them. It does annoy me when massive groups go down single rider though, even more so when they get to the cast member at the front and say they want to be in the same car as each other, which happened today. The cast member was having none of it thought and made them go in separate cars.


It was almost time for my Soarin FP, but I was a bit early, so might have treat myself to a key lime pie in Sunshine Seasons again ;-) I was in the new theatre for Soarin, and got through the line quicker than I ever have, no waiting at all, and the pre show video was running as soon as I got there, result!


It was time for a wander round the World Showcase next. I went to see the O Canada film first, which I always love, and then stopped for a Labatts. You have to ask for this now, as it’s not on the menu, and I managed to get the last one. I just sat and watched the world go by for a while, which was lovely. I really just used my time mooching around, wandering in and out of places.


I did go and see the American Adventure show. I don’t know why I keep going in there, as I do find it a bit dull, and every time I say I won’t bother again, but I do! Just a little tip if you even go in there. When you go in the building, turn left and go to the painting at the end, the one of the plane. Stand on one side of the painting and look at the nose of the plane. Then go to the other side of the painting and look at the nose of the plane again. I’ll just leave that with you. It was something I found out on the World Showcase tour and I go and look at it every time I go past.


It was really lovely just having a wander around on my own at Epcot, I always try to do it at least once every trip. As much as the kids like Epcot, it’s not quite the same for them wandering round the World Showcase. After a journey through Spaceship Earth I headed back to the bus stop and back to the hotel. Anthony had cooked lasagne for tea (amazing what lovely meals you can do in that microwave), and the kids had a bit of an earlier night, as we had plans for Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios tomorrow in the evening.

 

[Clio]

I really enjoy reading about your trip. As much as I love my family, it's nice to go off by myself and wander around doing thing at my own pace.
The crayon experience sounds like fun but my kids are all grown up but hey would have loved it.
Liz

 

[Pluto80]

#thewellsfamilydisneyadventures


Day 19


Last night Anthony had said he was going to early extra magic hours at Hollywood Studios today. It’s been opening at 7am, yes, you heard that right, 7am, every day since we’ve been. He wanted to go on Slinky Dog Dash again, since we didn’t have any more FP for it this trip. He said anyone who was awake and wanted to go was most welcome, but he was expecting to be going alone. Just as he was walking out the door, Ben popped up and said ‘wait, I’m coming!’ They managed to get a fair few things done in the space of a couple of hours, while Ava was still snoring her head off!


We had plans with our lovely friend Bee this morning. Today we were having our one and only on site table service meal, Olivia’s, which is at Old Key West. We’ve been there before and it’s lovely. They’ve changed the menu a bit, so it’s now brunch rather than breakfast and lunch separately, which is a great idea. Ben had Mickey waffles and eggs, with some bacon. It looked lovely, but I find Mickey waffles a bit stodgy, so I don’t tend to have them. Ava definitely did well though! She saw on the adults menu there was a side dish that was fruit and pastries. We asked what the pastries were and were told two small danishes and a small croissant. That appealed to her, as well as the fruit, so she ordered that. When the plate came, it was massive! Even though it was a side dish it could have fed a small army. The pastries weren’t small at all, they were full sized, and there was so much fruit. Total bargain at $7. A certain someone had also arranged for a pot of tea to be ready and waiting for me too, so that was a nice touch. The kids had milkshakes, which to be honest could have been a full meal, they were massive!


After that we all chilled by the pool for a while and had a good catch up. We were only intending on being there an hour or so, but it turned into a bit more than that


We didn’t have plans in the park until later that evening. The forecast wasn’t great, but that’s never bothered us before, so off we went with our brollies. We did Toy Story Mania first.....although I’m not sure why it’s no longer called Midway Mania. Ben had signed him and Ava up for Jedi training when they were there this morning, so we went round to that next. Ava didn’t really want to do it, so it ended up just being Ben. Just as they were about to go on stage, it was cancelled, due to the black clouds of doom that were rolling in. However, all the kids taking part got to have a meet and greet with Darth Vader. This is something you can’t usually do, so was a real treat. Unfortunately they really rushed the kids though, but Ben seemed pleased so that’s the main thing. We were also walked straight onto Star Tours as well, so the Jedi training being cancelled had its perks. I can’t stand Star Tours, and ever since Ava was the rebel spy (someone who gets their face on the screen at the end of the ride), she didn’t want to go on again. So we were given an anytime FP to ride something else.


Once the boys were finished, there was a FP for Rock and Rollercoaster (still didn’t want to do that though), and they used the bonus one for Tower Of Terror too. By this point it was raining pretty hard, but nothing our brollies couldn’t handle. It wasn’t the sort of rain that was bouncing up from the floors, but it was still pretty heavy, and the lightening was spectacular! We had a FP for Fantasmic, but decided not to use it. I don’t know if it was cancelled or not, and we’ve seen it go in when it’s been raining before, but it would have been miserable in that theatre, soaking wet seats, and probably a cut down show. So we just decided to not bother and head back.


Glad we did actually as the lightening was incredible, amazing to watch. We’d not had a particularly busy day, but it was still a lot of fun! Last day at OKW tomorrow. We’ve got MK in the morning, and afternoon will be spent doing the washing, packing up, and being around the pool and community room I’d imagine .l

 

[Pluto80]

#thewellsfamilydisneyadventures


Day twenty


Today was a Magic Kingdom day, and we were up and out in time for opening. Unfortunately the bus decided it didn’t want to play ball this morning. We never drive to MK because it’s a real pain to park, get the tram to the ticket and transportation centre, then get a boat or a monorail over to the actual park. Whereas, the bus drops you off right at the park. We got to the bus stop about five minutes before the next bus was due. Then the estimated arrival time kept creeping up and up. Our stop is the last stop on the route and it was getting pretty busy. Then the bus went past us, already full. Darn it! So that meant another 20 minute wait for the next one. There was a guy helping with the transport and he radioed for another bus to come, which it did, at the same time as the regular one. Ah well.


Even with the bus being later than expected, we were still at the park just after opening. We headed round for our first FP, which was Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. It wasn’t too busy in there yet, so we asked to sit at the back. We often ask this, and they’ve never said no. You often have to wait for the next train, which is fine. This was as much fun as always, but I definitely prefer it in the dark.


Last night we’d done the FP trick of booking FP when we knew rides were down, in the last hour of park opening. This meant we had three FP that converted into anytime ones for today. Perfect! We used one of them for Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. Anthony managed a really good score today. Can’t say I’m especially good at it, but it was fun! The boys went on Space Mountain with one of their bonus FP while Ava and I went round the Peoplemover. It wasn’t busy, so we asked to stay in and go round again, which they were happy to let us do.


Pirates of the Caribbean was next. You definitely get wetter on this than you used to. It’s that bit after the drop, where there’s the cannons, I’m sure they splash a lot more now! I’ve heard that during the Halloween party they have live actors in here, so that’ll be fun to see on Friday.


On our way to the Haunted Mansion we stopped for a bit of cheesy fun in the Country Bears. I just love how politically incorrect those songs are. It’s so much fun! After Haunted Mansion we used another bonus FP for Splash Mountain. Barely even got damp on there today. Sometimes you get a total drenching, but not so much today. Our last stop was Big Thunder Mountain. Ben was so funny. He was trying to arrange us so that the ride photo would come our really well. We left him to it before telling him there isn’t a photo on that! You’d think he’d have known that by now!


We then headed back to the room to pick the car up. We’d decided to go out for some lunch today, and there was a few bits of shopping we wanted to do also. Chick-fil-a was today’s choice, and it was lovely. We went to the one in Kissimmee today, and it was a bit nicer than the one we went to last week. Just a bit newer I think.


After that we went to Walmart. Now, I had a list. We got a few extra things. Of course. One of the benefits of having done very little spending over the last few weeks is that we can get little things we fancy when we do go out. I’d wanted to try and find some new sheets and duvet covers, but it would appear they don’t exist in quite the way I wanted. They don’t seem to have duvet covers at at all and all the sheets came in sets. I didn’t want a set. Shame, as there were some lovely ones, at much better prices in the UK. Ben needs a few more things for starting secondary school in September. We’d planned on getting them when we got home, but since Walmart sells everything, we managed to find them here. So he ended up with his football boots, shin pads, trainers and school bag. All at significantly less than we’d have spent at home. It’s not always the case that things are cheaper here, but we did pretty well today. We also got a few bits for school (I’m terrible in here, I always end up buying bits for my classroom). Didn’t go over the top, but we had fun I’m not usually a Walmart fan, but we all enjoyed ourselves today! It’s made such a difference the kids being in charge of their own spending money. They knew what they had left, and budgeted accordingly. Stops all the whining for things.


Headed back to the hotel and I went to start the mountain of laundry that I had. While I did that, Anthony started doing some packing up. The Landry near us only has two machines and both were in use, so I had to wait around a bit. Once I got one, it was mine! One day we’ll have enough DVC points to have a one bedroom unit, which has a washer and drier in it! To be honest though, spending a couple of hours washing isn’t the end of the world though. While I was there, Anthony decided to rent another owners locker. This means we can leave a lot more here. For example, the clothes I wear here, I don’t wear at home, so there’s no point in taking them backwards and forwards, I may as well just leave them. Going to get some toiletries etc as well to leave in there also, so we don’t have to bring them. Also, the less bags we need to check in, the cheaper we can make our flights, and if we continue going to travel down to the airport on the train, it’ll just make things easier. We’re in DVC for the long haul, so playing around with these different options is something we need to try.


So, we settled down for our last night in our DVC home of OKW, all looking forward to moving on to the Polynesian Resort tomorrow

 

[sandym718]

Loving your trip report! The Polynesian is our “home” so can’t wait to the next part.

Thanks for sharing the tip about booking a late FP for a ride that will close if it’s raining. Those anytime FPs are great. I’ll definitely be trying this!

 

[Pluto80]

#thewellsfamilydisneyadventures


Day twenty


Had a pretty decent lie in this morning. It’s check out day and we weren’t in a rush. I was half expecting housekeeping to come knocking and ask when we were leaving, but they didn’t. We took our time to get everything sorted. There’s not quite enough room in the car to transport the luggage ourselves, so we sent the main cases with bell services to transfer, and we took the owners locker and the flight bags with us.


I’ve thoroughly enjoyed OKW. It’s so completely different from Kidani. Kidani feels like more of an experience, whereas OKW really does feel like a home away from home. I like both, but for very different reasons. Interestingly, we’ve hardly used the community hall and recreation activities at OKW. The team there was a lot bigger, and whereas the kids got very close with the team at Kidani, it just hasn’t happened this year at OKW. That’s not to say we haven’t enjoyed it, but I think for hotel activities, Kidani is far better.


We were round at Epcot at around 11am and went round to the Seas. I have never seen a wait time of more than 10 minutes for the Nemo ride, today is was 30 minutes. That can’t be good! So we skipped the ride and just went round to the main area instead. Every year we’ve been, Ben loves to watch the dive show. For the last two years, he’s been chosen as the volunteer, to help fill the tank, so the signals to the diver, etc. When he saw a show as starting, he was straight over there, and got chosen again! He had a great time. We were going to see Turtle Talk, which you can usually walk straight into, but again, the wait was 30 minutes, so we decided against it.


We had a FP for Figment, which I’m pleased about, as the wait for that was also 30 minutes! Unheard of! It didn’t feel busy though. It’d have been rude not to go up into the DVC lounge, so off we went.


We had FP for Living With The Land and Soarin, but after that it was time for me to leave the rest of the family to it. Anthony had booked me on a wine tasting event at Wine Bar George at Disney Springs. So I walked round to the Beach Club via the international gateway and got on the bus from there.


I had a bit of time to kill before the event so just had a bit of a wander round Disney Springs. I checked into the wine bar a few minutes before it started and was really impressed with the place. It’s only just opened but has a really lovely atmosphere. There were about 15 of us there. The wines were all set out for us, which was the only thing I didn’t like, as I like my wine cold. In the middle of the table was a massive charcuterie board, which we snacked on throughout. There was a lady on my table who’d been to all of these events (there’s been on a week for the last 8 weeks or so). She said that it’s usually George, the owner, that does these seminars, but today, it was his second in command. He was good, but clearly reading off a script, rather than telling stories like George apparently does. The wines were all lovely, apart from one, which was awful! Interestingly, the wine I usually like was the one I still preferred. It was a lovely event, but the guy that did it did rush it a bit, so it’s a shame we didn’t have George. It was still really good fun though.


Had a bit more of a wander around Disney Springs. I bought s necklace that I’ve had my eye on for the last few weeks, and with the DVC discount, it came out very reasonably. I haven’t dared go in the Pandora shop yet, but I’m sure I will!


Anthony and the kids had gone to get the shopping for the week after Epcot, as the car is going back tomorrow. They were just leaving, so I headed for the bus too. The sky had also gone very dark, so I wanted to get undercover!


We’re all really excited to stay at the Polynesian. Although all of the DVC resorts are classed as deluxe, this is the one that’s just another step up. It’s right across from Magic Kingdom and the boat and monorails are the main modes of transport. We’ve booked mainly Epcot and Magic Kingdom days this week for that reason.


Anthony got there just before we so he checked in, and we went round to our room. Wow, is the word for it! It’s absolutely massive! It also has two bathrooms which is perfect for us. Also there’s a pull down bed and a sofa bed, so the kids don’t have to share. However, the best bit is the view. We’ve been so fortunate. We’re right at the end of the corridor which means our balcony overlooks the Magic Kingdom. We were not expecting that at all! You usually have to pay a lot more for that view, but by pure luck, we got it! After the unpacking it was time for the fireworks, which was just amazing to watch from our balcony. I’ve watched the fireworks from so many different places, but being that little bit further back means you can really appreciate them. Just incredible!


I think we’re going to like it here!

 

[CML's mom]

Enjoying your report!

 

[Keli]

I've been reading your trip report and I've made note of a couple of tips to try on our upcoming trip, thanks so much for such an informative trip report!

 

[TNGirlwCamera]

When you go in the building, turn left and go to the painting at the end, the one of the plane. Stand on one side of the painting and look at the nose of the plane. Then go to the other side of the painting and look at the nose of the plane again. I’ll just leave that with you. It was something I found out on the World Showcase tour and I go and look at it every time I go past.

I'm doing this!

 

[Pluto80]

#thewellsfamilydisneyadventures


Day twenty two (seems I’d written day twenty twice, so this is day twenty two!) Sorry I didn’t get this done yesterday, we were really busy.


Well, we don’t need an alarm staying at the Poly. The boat from the TTC (ticket and transportation centre) does a rather good job of it. Fortunately it doesn’t start too early though. Shows just how close we are though! Anthony left early this morning as he had a DVC members tour of Epcot. We decided to walk to the TTC and get the Epcot monorail from there. This seemed like a good idea, and it would have been, if the kids didn’t take their pin bags. There was a security check at the TTC, which we were expecting, but we then had to go through it again at Epcot, which we were not expecting. We assumed there’d be a different way for those who’d already had a bag check to go through, but no. The lines were absolutely massive, so it took ages. They could really do with sorting it out.


Anthony had enjoyed his tour though. We only just made it in time for our Test Track FP. After the ride we spent a bit of time playing the games, and looking at all the nice shiny cars. I decided which one I’d like....which was highly impractical for UK roads and car parking spaces as it was massive! They don’t really seem to do small cars here! Well, they do, but they’re few and far between.


Over to the Seas next and we went in the Nemo ride, which is a bit dull, but I love the bit at the end where the characters magically appear in the real tanks. Ben spotted that the diving display was about to start. He been a helper in this the last couple of years, and he managed to do it again. Basically you get to fill the tank up, and learn about the hand signals divers use. He always enjoys doing it!


Spent a bit of time in the DVC lounge after that. The cast members are starting to recognise us now, shows we’ve been up there a fair few times! There’s one particular cast member the children enjoy talking to, as he always has a good selection of pins to trade. Couldn’t leave without taking a spin around the Figment ride. We seem o have done this ride an awful lot more than we usually do, wonder why!


We thought it was today that the car went back, but it turns out that it’s tomorrow, so we drove back to the Poly and had some lunch in the room.


We were really looking forward to this afternoon. We’re big fans of the Resort Loop podcast, and have been on it several times. Today they were having a meet up at the Contemporary, so we hopped on the resort loop monorail to go join in. We had a lovely time catching up with Bob and Tim and even recorded a show with them. We finished off by all getting on the resort loop monorail and having a ride together. We even got some vouchers for some Joffreys drinks (they sponsor the show), so we’ll look forward to using them.


When we got back, it looked like it was going to rain. We noticed Lilo’s playhouse had an ‘open house’ sign outside. Lilo’s playhouse used to be the paid for evening kids club, which shut at the end of July. We went in and asked why it was open. Apparently if the pool is closed they use it as a community hall. This is a great idea as the Polynesian is the only DVC resort without a community hall. It was wonderful in there, loads of games, crafts, colouring etc. Everything you’d expect to see in a community hall. I really hope they make this a more permanent thing, rather than just something to use when the pool is shut.


After tea, Anthony and the kids went down to the pool and I spent some time in the amazing shower! If our en suite at home was big enough, I’d be having one of those showers! It was extra magic hours at the Magic Kingdom, so Anthony decided to go over there. Took him a while though, the monorail was down, so the boat lines were huge. He managed it eventually though. Before bed I let the kids watch the fireworks from our balcony. There’s something quite especially about watching them from there, wearing your PJs!


It was another lovely day, and it was fantastic to see Tim and Bob

 

[Twilight Sparkle]

I'm so glad I saw this trip report. It took a little while, but I'm all caught up. It sounds like you all are having a wonderful trip. You've inspired me to start planning a mostly resort only trip to AKL. I think we'd do a day or two at AK and the rest of the week just hang out at the resort. We've never stayed at Kidani but adore Jambo. We always leave wishing we had spent more time at the resort, so I am going to propose we do exactly that. You make it sound perfect!

 

[Pluto80]

It really was! We liked it so much that we’re going to do the same thing next year.

 

[Pluto80]

#thewellsfamilydisneyadventures


Day twenty three


Not liking this now, it’s getting far too close to us going home. This does not make me happy. As much as I love my job, and I really do, I’d much rather stay here!


Anyway, today was the day the car was really going back, not like yesterday when we thought it was going back! So we were on a bit of a time constraint. Animal Kingdom was our destination today and it seemed like such a long way from the Poly. Makes me realise again just how good a location Old Key West is.


We ended up in the same parking lot row as we always seem to! Seriously, I don’t know how that happens every single time! Nowhere else, just at Animal Kingdom! We had a FP for the Navi River Journey first. We got there at about 9.15am, and we were amazed at how long the standby line was for Flight Of Passage. It’s always long, but this was insane! It stretched right out of Pandora, as far as Starbucks! We’d seen it like that a few time last year when the land was new, but never like that this year. We found out later that Expedition Everest was shut, so that may have had something to do with it. The ride was beautiful. I actually like that there’s no story to it. It doesn’t need one. It’s all about the land and looking around, not about telling a story. The animatronic at the end is just out of this world. I’d still rather use my tier one FP on Flight of Passage, but I’m pleased we did it once this trip.


We went round to Dinoland USA next. They’ve changed it to be hosting Donald’s Dino Bash. It’s a brilliant addition to the area, and we went to see all the characters we could, including some rare ones. Anthony and Ben like Duck Tales so they went to see Launchpad McQuack and Scrooge McDuck. We also went to see Daisy and Donald. The story is that Donald is having a party and inviting his friends, and that Daisy has designed all the costumes. However, Chip and Dale had not been invited so went and bought their own onesies, with every intention of crashing the party. We had so much fun with them, as we always do with Chip and Dale. They’re the best for a character meet!


We went round to Everest next, which was unfortunately still closed, so our FP had converted into an anytime FP. Our next FP was for Kali River Rapids. Totally didn’t need a FP for this today, as the FP line was longer than standby. That was a real shock as the standby line for this, especially in the summer, is huge. Not today though. Well, I got totally soaked. Can’t say I minded, it was so refreshing!


It was getting close to the time the car needed to be back, so Anthony and Ben decided to go for a quick spin on Everest (which was now open), while Ava and I did the safari (which is a much longer ride). The boys actually ended up on dinosaur as the Everest line was so long - probably due to it being closed for the first few hours of the day.


Before the safari we went on the Tiger trail as we were hoping to see the cubs, even though they just celebrated their first birthday, we knew they’d still be cute! Unfortunately they weren’t out, but we got a real close up of their dad, who was right next to the partition. A really stunning animal! The safari was a lot of fun too, the temperature had dropped quite a bit so a lot of the animals were out and about.


We stopped by the Yak and Yeti shop on the way out. Last year Ava got a beautiful dress there, which she’s now grown out of. We found her another one, which is just as gorgeous, so I bought it for her.


Back at the hotel, Anthony said he wouldn’t bother dropping the car at the car care centre again, and that he’d go back to using the Dolphin. Just because they had to wait a fair while to get someone to take them back to the hotel, whereas at the Dolphin you can just get straight on the bus.


After lunch everyone fancied a swim. That’s not really my cup of tea, so I went over to the Magic Kingdom for a bit instead. Since it’s so close, it’d be rude not to! I had every intention of only staying a couple of hours.....that wasn’t quite how it worked in the end!


It was one of those visits where everything just went perfectly! I booked FP for things I wanted as soon as I was waiting in line for something else. Then, when I saw a storm coming, I booked FP for rides I knew would close. That left me with three anytime FP! The storm never happened, so I could use them on pretty much whatever I wanted. I did a lot of crisis crossing of the park, but since I was on my own, I really didn’t mind. The only thing I rode where I had to wait was the Peoplemover! Anything else, I had either a booked or any anytime FP for. Also, I never mind doing the really kiddie rides like Pooh and Small World on my own. Small World is a particular favourite. Since I always get a row to myself, I can spend more time really looking at the details. In total, I was there for about four hours, and in that time I did The Haunted Mansion (twice), Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (twice), It’s A Small World, Pooh, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin (where I was able to spin it in my own, to my hearts content), the Peoplemover and Pirates of the Caribbean. I also did plenty of wandering around shops. I’m honestly amazed with how much I actually did. I guess it’s got to that stage where I know the parks, and the tricks so well, it’s easy to have an evening like that. Thoroughly enjoyed it


Bonus was that when I got back to the room, tea was ready, as was a nice cold Bud Light. Perfect end to a lovely day! Our anniversary, and the Halloween party tomorrow!

 

[Pluto80]

#thewellsfamilydisneyadventures


Day twenty four


Today was a special one, as it was our 17th wedding anniversary. The kids had been stockpiling little cards and crafts for us which they’ve been making in the community room, which was really sweet of them. Anthony had paid for me to go to the wine tasting the other day but he also got me a lovely Epcot pin. Ive also booked for us to go on a carriage ride at Fort Wilderness tomorrow, so that should be a lot of fun.


We had a really lazy morning as we were going to the Halloween party tonight. We did go to Disney Springs for a while though. This was meant to only be for a couple of hours but we ended up staying ages! When we returned to the hotel, we had something to eat, and then we encouraged the kids to have a nap, which fortunately they managed to do.....even with the ferry horns blaring!


We headed off to the Halloween party at about 6.30 or so. They’ve changed the set up of this this year. It used to be that the party started at 7, which was the same time as the park closed. This meant there were still a lot of day guests in ride lines when the party started. With the official closing now at 6, and the party starting at 7, this was no longer the case, which was great. DVC members can get in from 2 and everyone else can actually get in from 4 with a party ticket. This is great if you don’t have a multi day pass. We did see a lot of people being turned away from the gates though, for not having a ticket. It’s understandable as Magic Kingdom doesn’t usually close until at least 10, so if you didn’t know about the party, you’d assume it was still open. The cast members were great about looking for wristbands, and were guiding people out that didn’t have one.


Now, I have to admit, for the first hour and a half or so, we were pretty disappointed with the party this year. The crowds were absolutely huge! We’ve been to this party many times now, and have never seen it so crowded. The waits for the rides, characters and photos were massive. So much so we just sort of ambled around during that time. Then, at about 8.30 it all changed. That’s when people started getting a spot for the first parade. We’ve seen this many times, and weren’t too fussed about seeing it tonight, considering how busy it was. So we took the opportunity to do some rides, and some of the special photo opportunities. After the first parade, people were getting a spot for the fireworks, and after that, loads of people left, so the crowds dropped. There was also another parade at 11.15, so we did the same again.


We did Pirates of the Carribean, which was absolutely brilliant! For the party they’ve added actors into the queue and the ride. This totally enhanced a ride that we know so well. I hope this is something they continue to do. Anthony and Ben also did Space Mountain, which had a different soundtrack and lighting to normal. They weren’t quite as impressed with this, but it was nice to have something a bit different.


We did do a few rides, but we decided to mainly do things you couldn’t do in a ‘normal’ day. We had our photos taken with the grave diggers, who were fantastic. Although they didn’t speak their characterisation was wonderful! When we had our photos, the sun was just going down, so the sky looked amazing. We had some magic shots done too, but they’ve not come through on our account yet, so I don’t know how they turned out.


Haunted Mansion was a must since it was the Halloween Party. Although the actual ride was no different, the cast make a real effort to make themselves up, and there’s additional lighting and smoke around the entrance, which looks amazing!


Towards the end of the night, everything was a walk on, even Peter Pan! Can’t say I’ve ever seen that! So much so that Ava spent ages just playing with the interactive elements in the queue (something we don’t usually get to see as we FP it).


We did watch the fireworks, but not from Main Street. There’s a spot near Storybook Circus, next to the 7 Dwarfs track, that’s perfect! We often go there. There’s never anybody there at all. You don’t get the effect of the fireworks behind the castle, but that really doesn’t matter, it’s better than being crushed up against a billion other people. Also, it’s still a great place to watch the special fireworks that go off right at the end of the show, the ones that go 360 round the park - spectacular!


As usual, we got masses of sweets! We didn’t collect any until any until about 10 though, so we didn’t have to carry them round with us all night. Also, they get more generous as the night goes on, so waiting until later in is. Always a good idea!


So apart from the first hour or so, we had a wonderful time! Also, due to the earlier rain, the weather was perfect! After the earlier nap, the kids were wide awake, so it couldn’t really have been much better Guessing everyone might want a lay in in the morning!

 

[Ravishing_Leah_Rude]

Really enjoying your trip!

 

[Pluto80]

#thewellsfamilydisneyadventures


Day twenty five


After the late night of the Halloween party last night we fully expected the kids to want a lay in, which they did. Anthony, not so much. He hopped over to Magic Kingdom for opening and went on a few rides. He particularly wanted to do the train as it’s going to be shut most of next year (to allow for construction of the new Tron coaster). Also, since it’s almost home time, were wanting to get every spare minute of park time possible.


Once the kids were properly awake they wanted to go down to the pool. We decided to go down to the larger of the two pools. It did strike me that this pool does seem quite small in comparison to some of the other feature pools. Not that it mattered, the kids love it, especially the slide. One thing that did bother me was the amount of ‘reserved’ sunbeds, that clearly didn’t have people with them. Now I know this is a problem whenever I’ve been to the Mediterranean, but I’ve never seen it happen here. It really was very annoying though, as practically every single one was taken, but there was only people actually sitting on about 20% of them. Hmmm, very irritating.


Anthony returned from the Magic Kingdom and I scooted off on a monorail shop crawl. There’s some really lovely shops, especially at the Grand Floridian, so spent a bit of time checking them out. Bought a little something I can’t discuss on here though, due to who reads these haha!


After lunch we headed to Epcot. We were only spending a short time here as we had our carriage ride booked for this evening. Unfortunately for most people, the weather took a rather wet turn. Didn’t bother us though. We’d actually not brought our brollies today, and the rain really wasn’t that bad but it cleared an awful lot of people out. It also took the temperature and humidity right down, which was wonderful!


We visited a few of the World Showcase pavilions today and had a final drink in the DVC lounge. We also stopped in Sunshine Seasons to pick up some pudding for after tea. Key Lime Pie for me of course!


Back to the room, and we had a quick tea (having to save the pudding for later) and headed over to Fort Wilderness. We got on the boat over to Magic Kingdom and then another boat to Wilderness Lodge. Fortunately we were there early enough that we had just enough time for a glass of wine before our carriage ride. The ride itself was wonderful. We’ve done the one at Port Orleans before, and this one was just as lovely. I love how everyone waves to you as you go past. We went round some of the loops where the RVs park up. Oh my goodness, some of them are incredible! We decided we’d have to do this when we come next Christmas as well, so we can see everything decorated. The people who have campsites and RVs here always do wonderful decorations. We saw some of the Halloween ones a couple of years ago, and they go all out!


We were chatting to the driver for a while after the ride. The horse who’d taken us out was quite new to the carriage rides, which was why they had two drivers.....just in case! He posed wonderfully for photos though, I think he knew the camera was out! We had a tip all ready, but they weren’t actually allowed to take it! Perhaps the only place in America that refuses them!


Going back, we decided to take whichever boat came first, as either would get us back. The one to the Contemporary Resort happened to be first, just as the fireworks started! So we ended up getting a freebie fireworks cruise! It was so beautiful watching them from the lake. Honestly, we’ve seen the fireworks from so many places this year! None of them from Main Street though, which is where everyone else watches them.


Back at the resort, we had our pudding then we were off to bed. We got the children to get everything ready for the morning before they went to sleep, as we head early FP to get up for. Hmmmm, not sure how successful that’ll be though, it’s a late one for Ava, and that girl does like her sleep!

 

[Pluto80]

#thewellsfamilydisneyadventures


Day twenty six


We had early fast passes today, so after a quick breakfast we were off pretty sharpish to Animal Kingdom. The park opened at 9am, but we arrived at about 8.40am. We were let straight in though, so we headed round to Pandora. Amazingly there was only a 10 minute wait for Navi River Journey so we walked in. Even more amazingly there wasn’t a 10 minute wait at all, we walked straight on! This definitely seems to be the right time to go on this, it seemed as though the entire world was lining up for Flight Of Passage. After we’d been on the River Journey, we had a FP for Flight Of Passage so went straight on. There was a family next to me who hadn’t ridden it before and was asking me what I thought of it. It’s such a hard ride to describe, but I caught up with them afterwards to see if they enjoyed it. They all said they loved it, which was great to hear.


We were going to do the new Up bird show next, but had miscalculated the times, so Anthony and the kids when on Tough To Be A Bug (which I can’t stand as it’s 4D). When they were done with that it was time for the bird show. It was ok. Very similar to the previous one, but with the addition of some of the Up characters. Fortunately they still have my favourite bird there, Groucho. He sings a variety of nursery rhymes, totally off key. He’s absolutely hilarious. There was a lot of talking, could have done with more attention to the birds really, but it was a nice way to spend twenty minutes.


After that we went to the Safari. This time we had perhaps the most uninspiring guide we’ve ever had. She just sounded bored the whole way round. It wasn’t really the best time to be on really as it was starting to get really hot, so the animals weren’t that active. Apart from the giraffe, who always seem keen to show off. I thought one of them was going to come in the truck at one point!


We had a little wander in the shops next and I found a really pretty wrap skirt from the same shop I got Ava’s dress from the other day. I really like that shop as it’s very unique and has lots of traditional Indian style things in it.

Ava was absolutely exhausted so asked if she could go for a nap. I took he back and she slept for a good two hours, so she must have been really tired. We did have a pretty late night the night before though so I can’t say I’m particularly surprised.


She’d asked if we could go to Epcot later (knowing the boys wanted to go to Hollywood Studios, so I said if she had a good sleep, we could). While she was asleep I managed to book us FP for Test Track, which was surprising, as they’re usually pretty hard to get. After she’d had her massive nap we headed round there. Ava and I designed our car together, and it was pretty bonkers! It also didn’t score very well around the track. Ah well, it was still fun.


I managed to book a Soarin FP for as soon as we came off Test Track. You can tell there was hardly anyone there with me being able to do that. Since this was going to be our last ride this trip, we asked if we could go in row B1, which they were happy to let us do. We find going in this row has the least distortion, so ask for it if we get the chance.


A quick spin around Living With The Land was next, followed by the Pixar Shorts. I really love these, especially on the big screen. I don’t even mind the 4D as they don’t do awful jokes with it, it just enhances the film. Ava wanted a last visit to the DVC lounge, and since it was right next door we went up. They were closing soon, so just had time for a drink or two. The snack cart came round as well, which was great!


When we’d finished we spent ages playing in the jumping water fountains. It’s so much fun there, and they’re so clever. Our kids have a ways enjoyed it, and it’s always so quiet up there. Fortunately there’d been some rain while we’d been in the DVC lounge, so it had really cooled off. While we were playing, I managed to get a FP for the Frozen ride. Getting the other two had shocked me, but this one surprised me more than anything else. We had a good amble around the World Showcase for one last time, stopping in shops, taking photos, and just having a lovely time. It really was dead though. There were no crowds at all, it was wonderful!


We managed to get the front row on the Frozen ride too, which was lovely. We had a leisurely stroll back to the monorail and said goodbye it Epcot for the last time this trip. When we returned Ava wanted to play on the beach but it was pretty wet, so decided against it. The boys had left for Hollywood Studios by this time so we made ourselves some tea and then turned in for the night. How Ava managed to get to sleep with the fireworks, the electric water pageant and the ferry noise I’ll never know haha!

 

[Pluto80]

#thewellsfamilydisneyadventures


Day twenty seven


Well, you can definitely tell we’re nearing the end of our trip. We’re wanting to get in as much park time as humanly possible so we’re up and in the park for opening. We had a few FP booked. The main one was for seven dwarfs. Unfortunately it had some technical problems, but we decided to stay in the line, and it opened up again a few minutes later. We asked for the back, and thoroughly enjoyed it, definitely shown by the on ride photo. By the way, in case anyone was wondering, I’ve totally given up with my hair now. My hair is normally poker straight but the humidity has made it go rather fluffy to say the least. I have bought some American straighteners, but it’s pointless. Easier just to leave it fluffy! When it was long, I just tied it back, but it’s too short for that now. Ah well, fluffy it is!


We spent a few hours in the park, mainly in Fantasyland. We did do something we’ve very rarely done this trip though! We bought theme park food! They have tater tots (or potato barrels as they have to call them - guessing tater tots are a brand name) dish, and there’s a variety of toppings. I really wanted to try the Greek one, but it seems they discontinued it a few weeks ago, typical! So we had the pub tots instead, which was melted cheese, bacon and spring onion. Oh my goodness, it was so good! Only $9 and there was plenty to share between us all. We also went to Gaston’s Tavern and had one of their gigantic cinnamon rolls, and a Lefou’s Brew. All of those lovely snacking things did us well for lunch.


We didn’t stay too much longer, as there was a storm rolling in, and we really had to get started on the packing. I’d not done any washing this week, so that all needed doing as well. Unfortunately, all the washers had only just started as I arrived, which was a pain, but I stayed and waited and got it all done in the end. I’ve noticed in the resorts where you have to pay for the washers, there’s loads, but in the DVC ones, where they’re free there’s very few. Strange that ;-) While I was waiting in there I remembered that there was a letter on our bed as we arrived, with an email address, asking us to let them know of anything they could help with. So I emailed them and said the lack of washers at the resort was a bit of an issue, as was there being no community hall.


Back at the room, we got the majority of the packing done. It’s been a bit different this year, as we’re leaving about half of it here in the owners lockers. I was so worried about how empty the cases looked, and how easy they were to pack, I’m not used to it! Thought I’d forgotten something, but I know we haven’t. While we were having tea, we got a phone call from the manager of the resort, responding to me email. She was absolutely lovely, and said the lack of washers is something they get emails about regularly, as is the lack of a community room. I said that changing the now redundant Lilo’s Playhose into a community room we’d be perfect, and she said they were looking into doing that. She said that she looked into our reservation and saw we usually stay at OKW. Then something happened that really shocked me, she offered me a points refund on the difference between a week at OKW and a week at the Polynesian! That’s 54 points! I was really blown away. I said it was unnecessary, but we were very grateful for the gesture. That means an extra few nights next year! The Poly has just gone up in my estimation ;-) The manager even came up to the room and gave us her card, in case we ever needed anything else! Very impressed!


Ben and I decided to go to MK for a few hours. I managed to get a Big Thunder Mountain FP for us, and after we’d used that, I got a fair few others for us too. I even got a Speedway one, whilst walking past it. The normal wait was 70 minutes and we just walked straight on! We watched the fireworks from the Tomorrowland bridge. It was pretty good there, as Tinkerbelle flew straight over us. We could see some of the projections as well, which was good. After the fireworks, we went on the best Jungle Cruise ever! I a,wash enjoy the cheesy jokes, but the skipper was hilarious. He clearly had his own script to add to the regular one, and it was wonderful! I sought out a supervisor afterwards and said how wonderful he was. If you ever go on that stride with Skipper Dallas, you’re in for a treat!


It was time to head out, and we got to the boat just before the hoards left, and we’re back in our room within a few minutes. Location to MK is a definite advantage of the Polynesian! Anthony had finished off the last bits of packing while we were out, and then it was time to turn in for our last nights sleep in Florida :-(

 

[Clio]

Sorry your trip is almost over but you're probably looking forward to being home. You did so much on this trip and seemed to enjoy it. It was really nice of the resort manager to call you up in response to your e-mail and to refund some of your points.