TR 1/8 to 1/17: Part 1 -Forgot to do a TR last time so I'm doing it this time

[disneysteve]

My wife and I were in WDW in November and I meant to do a TR but just never did, so I'm determined to do it this time.

My wife and I and our daughter (20) left NJ on 1/8 to drive to WDW. We stopped for the night in Savannah. Yesterday, 1/9, we completed the trip, driving straight to the Orange garage at Disney Springs. DS was very crowded, but it was Saturday afternoon of marathon weekend.

Had lunch at Splitsville. The BBQ chicken salad is quite good. I'd definitely recommend it.

After lunch, we went to Guest Services at DisneyQuest to get DD her AP (we got ours in November). We then strolled through most of DS (is it confusing to use DS for Disney Springs since it also gets used for Dear Son?). By then, it was close to 4 so time to check in to our house.

We are staying in a townhouse in Crestwynd Bay which is the development on Old Lake Wilson Road just before Windsor Hills. It's our first time staying here as we usually stay in Windsor Palms but I wanted to try something different and the price was right.

Once we got unpacked and settled, we decided not to bother with a park, which was a good move since it started pouring. We had dinner at Sweet Tomatoes on 192 and did a little shopping at Target before heading back to the house for the night.

Today, 1/10, we headed to MK. Traffic getting to the park was heavy due to the marathon being in progress. We actually got to see the field of runners going across the bridge near the DHS entrance and then running along the road approaching mile 22. That was neat. I'm a runner, too, though nowhere near marathon distance.

MK was pretty quiet. I wasn't sure if such a thing as slow season still existed but this seems to be it. We had an early FP for Space Mountain, which only had a 10-minute standby line when we got there. We then did Buzz Lightyear with a 5-minute standby, and CoP and People Mover with no wait.

Had lunch at Cosmic Ray which was practically dead. I don't think we've ever seen it that quiet, or at least not for many years.

Had a FP for Pooh, which was down when we got there, so we moved on to New Fantasyland. Got on Little Mermaid with virtually no wait. Caught Pooh on the way back before heading toward Adventureland for our Jungle Cruise FP. The Christmas overlay was still there, which was the first time we've seen it. It's subtle but added something a bit different. I am a little annoyed that decorations are still up on the 10th of January but at the same time, glad to have the opportunity to see some of them.

Pirates and BTMRR actually had longer waits so we skipped them, browsed some shops, did Hall of Presidents and arrived just as they opened the doors for the next show. From there, we headed to Main Street and strolled through the Emporium on our way out.

Took a break at the house, and changed into warmer clothes as the temp had dropped to the low 60s and was getting into the 50s. Then we went to Epcot for the evening. Walked onto Spaceship Earth. Headed to The Land and had dinner before walking onto Living with the Land. It literally had a 0 minute wait posted. The boats were lined up waiting for guests. After that, walked onto Imagination.

Got to meet up with a few friends who are recent transplants to Florida so that was nice. After that, we did Test Track as single riders (walked right on, all 3 of us getting on the same batch of cars). Finished up with some shopping at MouseGears at Art of Disney before heading back for the night.

I think the plan is AK tomorrow so more to come....

 

[disneysteve]

Part 2: 1/11/16
Our earlier plan was to do AK today, but then we realized AK had EMH and we always make sure to avoid the EMH park so we headed to DHS instead. We woke up to a chilly morning, about 40 degrees here in Orlando. It was sunny and crystal clear though which helped make it not feel as cold (and I don't mind the cold at all anyway).

We headed straight for Star Tours since I made a FP for that when we decided to come here last night. The new sequence is good and fits right in. We kind of wandered somewhat aimlessly for a bit after that, realizing very quickly that there isn't a whole lot to do in that park at this point. We stopped in Writer's Stop as DW and DD wanted a snack. Then we strolled along Streets of America which was actually pretty neat since the Osborne lights are still up. It was interesting to really look at them during the day and see how intricate the work is that goes into that display.

I was going to go to Launch Bay but there was a 15-minute wait and I wasn't that interested. I would like to see it but I'm not going to stand in line for it, plus DW and DD weren't going to go. Had I been by myself I would have waited. I did take a quick look in the store but just to say I had seen it.

We used our Great Movie Ride FP. We liked the new pre-show, narration, and end film montage though I don't like how the end film reuses the same clips more than once.

When we got out of there, it was getting close to lunch time. There really isn't anywhere in DHS that we enjoy eating. We decided that there really wasn't anything else in the park that we wanted to do so we left. Had lunch at Flipper's on 192 and then came back to the house and crashed for a while.

For dinner, we took a ride over to the Florida Mall. They have a really nice food court with interesting and healthier options, not the usual fast food garbage. We also wanted to check out the ThinkGeek store. We spent a couple of hours there before heading home to relax.

 

[disneysteve]

Part 3: 1/12/16
We headed to AK today. I booked FPs last night for Primeval Whirl, Finding Nemo, and Kilimanjaro Safari. After Primeval Whirl, we had time to kill so headed to Expedition Everest figuring we'd do single rider line. When we got there, the CM said they had just opened and the standby line was only a few minutes even though the board said 15, so we did that instead. Apparently it has become a thing for teens to throw their hair ties on the sides of the track at the point where it stops before going backwards. There were dozens of them all around. I expect trashy stuff like that at places like Six Flags but not at Disney. It was very disappointing. They need to clean that up.

After Nemo, we had lunch at Restaurantosaurus. Safari was good though a bit light on the animals. I was also surprised to see a couple of spots where there are chain link fences in plain sight. Those definitely didn't use to be there and really spoil the illusion of being out on the savanna.

We took a break back at the house before heading over Poly. Had dinner at Captain Cook's and then went to Trader Sam's. DW and I were there in November but DD had never been there. She is only 20 so couldn't partake in the alcoholic options. She is also allergic to pineapple which ruled out all 3 of the specialty non-alcoholic drinks. Our server had someone come out, binder in hand, to see what they could do to accommodate her. As always, she was super nice and knowledgeable. She was able to have them make one of the drinks with a different fruit juice blend that didn't include pineapple, and DD said it was really good, so that worked out well.

After that, we rode over to the Contemporary. We got to see part of Wishes from the monorail and watched the rest from the stairwell platform. Browsed the shops a bit and then headed back to Poly and back to our house.

 

[disneysteve]

Part 4: 1/13/16
We decided that we wanted to see Wishes tonight so we slept in a bit and got a later start. We parked at TTC and took the monorail to Epcot. We went straight back to World Showcase, getting there right at 11am. We made our way around the countries, visiting the shops in each one, taking the ride in Mexico as I wanted to see the new animatronics, stopping for lunch in America and seeing the show which is my favorite Disney World attraction.

We finished in Canada around 4pm and headed out from there, heading back to TTC and switching to the MK monorail. We had dinner at Cosmic Ray's before seeing PhilharMagic and riding Small World. By then, it was close to 7 and we knew we needed to stake out our viewing spot. We took our place along a railing with a nice view of the castle. The Electrical Parade was at 7, followed by Celebrate the Magic and 7:45 and Wishes at 8. We didn't have the best view of the parade since we were on the Adventureland side of the hub and the parade doesn't pass that way but we knew that. Our main goal was to see Wishes. We did have a nice clear view for Celebrate the Magic, though.

After Wishes, we took a seat out of the way for about 15 minutes to let the crowds disperse a bit before heading down Main Street to the exit. To avoid the mob scene at the monorail and ferry, we decided to walk to the Contemporary and get the monorail there. That worked out perfectly and we were back at our car in no time, concluding another wonderful day.

 

[disneysteve]

Parts 5 and 6: 1/14 and 1/15/16
I apparently forgot to do this yesterday so I'll start with that. We took a day off from the parks. We went over to Theme Park Connection to do some shopping. If you've never been there, it is definitely worth a trip, especially if you collect Disney stuff. They sell everything and anything from pins and snowglobes to resort furnishings to theme park fixtures, signs, and cast member costumes. It isn't 100% Disney but it's probably 90% Disney.

We had lunch at Sweet Tomatoes at Crossroads, which we much prefer to the 192 West location.

From there, we went back to Disney Springs. We hadn't really covered the Marketplace side on our first visit. We spent a couple of hours there before heading back to the house. We weren't sure what to do for dinner but we were all kind of tired so we decided to bring in Chinese food. I actually went to 126 Chinese on 192 at Vista Del Lago but they were out of tofu, so that made it a no-go for us. I then went to China King a little further west in the Publix center (across from Target). We had never eaten from there but I've wanted to try it. It was actually pretty good. We would definitely use them again. They also have a decent size dining room if you want to eat in (126 is really just take out).

On to 1/15. For our last day, we headed to MK. Unfortunately, it was the first rainy day of our trip. And not just a little shower but full blown rain. We were rather soaked by the time we reached the front gate. We just plodded our way through. We did Space Mtn, Laugh Floor, Haunted Mansion, Pirates, and a few other things. Had lunch at Pecos Bill's. This was our 2nd time eating there since the new menu and I still think the chicken fajita platter is the best counter service meal on property.

We left the park early afternoon and took the monorail to the Contemporary to pick up something we had seen there earlier this week and couldn't find anywhere else. We also stopped at the Grand Floridian to see if a friend was working (she wasn't) and just browse the shops before heading back to the TTC. On our way back to the house, we stopped at Wawa for Icees.

For dinner, we headed over to Perkins to have breakfast for dinner. A quick stop at Publix for a couple of things for the trip home, and then back to the house to pack and get ready to head home in the morning.