What are we celebrating? Everthing! A January 2018 Trip Report - THE END - New TR link added

I am so behind on this thread but happy to be back catching up. I just finished reading your Homecoming experience. We’ve never managed to make time for Disney Springs but this restaurant looks like a good reason to head there one day. That pecan pie photo is too tempting! I love a good, rich, pecan pie. And the Shine Cake description actually made my jaw drop. Not sure if I would like it either but I’d at least try a bite. I’d probably prefer a rum soaked butter cake but maybe this would surprise me.

Love the purse you chose, too!!! Hope you’re enjoying it.
 
Happy February everyone! And happy Friday! I hope that everyone is doing well and staying warm!!! Let's keep moving along with this trip report. Because we have officially arrived at our first park day!

MAGIC KINGDOM!!!

Every trip that I have any memory of always started off at the Magic Kingdom. That park above all others have such special memories for me. You walk in and you immediately go from a professional mature adult to squealing with delight like a five year old with all of the magical-ness of it all. Yes, that's why it's called the Magic Kingdom. I know. So in the planning of this trip, I insisted that Magic Kingdom be our first park day. Tony really didn't care, so day one was MK. I had tinkered with our FP+ so that our first ride was around 10/10:30. Knowing that we needed to plan plenty of travel time, so we left the room by 8:30. A quick stop at the food court to refill our mugs, and we were waiting for our bus.


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Yes friends, another cold day. Poor Tony was all layered up with a long sleeved shirt, an Under Armour sweatshirt and his Carhart jacket. And the toboggan and gloves from yesterday! You might also notice that he was wearing a "happy birthday" button. Technically it was not his birthday, but since we were celebrating everything, we threw that in also. My button was more all encompassing!

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We waited maybe five minutes before a bus arrived. We got loaded up first and then the rest of the passengers were loaded. This is normal procedure when traveling in an ECV or wheelchair. You get loaded to the bus first and unloaded last. That way there is no chance of running over the toes of the other passengers. And before we knew it, we had arrived at the bus stop for Magic Kingdom. I could tell immediately that the crowds were going to be insane. There were extra magic hours that night and this was race weekend, so things were jammed packed. This made for challenges when there are two people in your party in ECV's. When you ride side-by-side, it takes up quite a bit of room. When Tony is behind me, I cannot see him or talk to him, so that increases the chances of us getting separated. We tried very hard to not bump into people or be in the way, but there were numerous situations where people must have thought we were invisible. Folks would dart in front of us or literally charge into us. I know it was crowded, but just taking 5 seconds to see where you're going can make all the difference in the world. Sorry - rant over. Since I had a bag, we had to go thru that security line. I appreciate that they take the time to look thru bags to ensure safety. They also checked the ECV, including the battery bag on the back. And then I saw this sign and knew I had found my happy place.

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We went through the tunnel and there we were - in the heart of Main Street USA. The holiday decorations were still up and Christmas music was playing (which I could have done without - I wanted regular Main Street USA music). I was soaking everything in, so I sent Tony over to grab a map. He came back and I opened it and found that it was in Japanese (no picture - sorry). I started laughing hysterically and showed the map to Tony and then showed him the front that clearly said it was in Japanese. Since neither one of us have ever been to Japan, we tried again and got an English speaking map. Oh honey, you're so precious.

Our next step was to head down Main Street. If you have read my PTR, you know that our trip that was scheduled with my mom a couple of years ago ended up getting cancelled and in November, 2016, she passed away. Disney was her happy place and although I was determined to not get sad during this trip, she loved rounding the corner and getting that first glimpse of the castle. And I knew that when I first saw it, it would be a difficult moment. And it was. I sat by the entrance to the Emporium and took a minute to remember how much this place meant to her and how much I missed her. It was my only sad moment that day, but not the last one for the trip. After I gathered myself together, I spied my first photo pass photographer!


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We got Memory Maker for this trip. We stopped for tons of pictures, but there were quite a few of them that were just "meh". When we go again, I will probably not do it again. I do like the option of cropping and adding borders. You'll see more of that later. But now that we're here and we've zig-zagged thru the crowd, it was officially time for our first FP+ - Peter Pan's Flight. I just adore this ride. It's such a classic story. The stand by line was around 100 minutes. Seriously people - who waits 100 minutes for a five minute ride? Not me. Our magic bands were scanned and it took about 15 minutes to get up to the ride. I had asked the cast member if the moving walkway could be slowed down. Tony's balance is not the best and I was very worried he would stumble. They were not able to slow it down, but the nice cast member did hold onto both of us as we stepped on to the walkway and into our pirate ship. Once we were in we received our pixie dust and began to fly! No pictures of the ride, but it was as fabulous as I had remembered. When we got off the ride, another cast member offered assistance when we exited. I cannot begin to talk about how nice everyone was during this trip. After the ride, we absolutely had to see the most beautiful bathroom in the world - can we all say "Tangled"?

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Yeah, they are so nice. Tell me again why these are bathrooms and not a ride or show? After this pit stop, I heard music coming from the hub area. I had no clue what it was, but we had nothing but time that day, so we checked it out. It ended up being the end of "Move it/Shake it" parade up to the castle.View attachment 299847

We stayed around for a few minutes watching the show. It was cute, but we were pretty far away and the crowds were deep to try to get closer. I did want to get another castle picture so, we went to one of the picture spots. There was a group there trying to take a picture, so I offered to snap a few for them if they would do the same. It turned out pretty well.

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Up next - Frontierland!

This post made me cry! Oh my. The love you have for your mom is so evident. I’m so sorry she has passed. I bet she was watching over you on this trip, thrilled that you were in her favorite place.

Tangled bathrooms are the BEST. I wish I could have a Disney Imagineer design a Tangled themed house for me!

The Japanese map incident was funny.
 
All caught up and looking forward to more installments.

Carlos at CHH sounds like just the sort of CM Walt would have loved. Glad he got a shout out from you.
 


When we last left off, Tony finally admitted that he was freezing and he was thinking about going back to the resort for the rest of the evening. I was having none of that. We had the rest of the day to enjoy. So we headed back to Main Street USA and to the Emporium. Remember those 500 people who were eating lunch at CHH? They followed us. I think it's just because we're so fabulous. Anyway, we got to the store and began the tedious task of finding some kind of sweatshirt and/or jacket. They actually had a fairly decent selection of merchandise put out but because it was so crowded, it was just a challenge. However, after some time we were able to find a sweatshirt material hoodie jacket. It was the right size and actually fairly cute. Since we've been home, Tony has worn it numerous times. We also grabbed a fleece blanket. I was going to be prepared for when the sun went down. It was a good call.

After making our purchases, we were about an hour away from the Festival of Fantasy parade. I wanted to find a good spot for us to watch the parade. Tony did not want to sit around for an hour waiting. So I went and found a place and he went browsing in the other stores on Main Street. I really didn't mind to sit and wait. I enjoy people watching and since the sun was still shining, I was not cold. Before the parade started, we got a couple of "pre-parade" things to watch. Up first was the family of the day riding in their fancy car and waving to the crowd. Then a few minutes later was a high school marching band. I should have paid more attention to who they were and where they were from. Maybe Ohio? I'm just not sure. I am a band geek thru and thru. I was in band from middle school to when I graduated college and even now I help a friend with marching band stuff. If you are a band geek, this kind of stuff just gets in your soul and it never leaves. So when this cute little band came by, I hooped and yelled as if it was my own kid marching. Only because I know how much hard work they have put into being there. Hours of practicing. Fundraisers on top of fundraisers. And then more practicing. I'm sure the people around me thought I knew the band, but I just knew their hearts.

After the band went by, the area I was waiting in had gotten really crowded. I was turned kind of sideways so that when Tony got back to me, he would have somewhere to park his scooter. I called him and he was on his way, but had a hard time getting to me. After several "excuse me's" and "my wife is saving our spot" he finally got settled near me. There were kiddos sitting in front of us (their parents asked, which I appreciated) and I had a clear line of sight to see the parade. Until some lady decided that standing practically in front of Tony and I (and the sitting children) was where she needed to be. I didn't want to be rude and ask her to move, but I did make some not so quiet comments to Tony asking if he could see okay. She didn't get it. So with some slight obstacles, I give you the Festival of Fantasy parade. Which I absolutely loved. And hummed the song for several hours after it was over.


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See the lady in the gray hat - that is the one who was in my way!

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I just loved every minute of it. The details on each float are just amazing. I was so glad that I was finally able to see it. We waited for a few minutes for the crowd to thin out. Our next FP+ was literally just across the street - it was time to meet Talking Mickey.
 
Nice pictures of the parade. We don't really watch them in full anymore because of the people that push and shove their way in at the last minute, so I feel your pain about that rude lady. We just watch from afar.
 
Oh that's annoying about that lady standing in front, didn't she see the scooters? You managed to get some good photos of the parade :thumbsup2
 


Country bear jamboree is great to rest your feet and have a bit of a laugh. The Christmas show used to be good.

I have never seen the Christmas show. I guess that has been discontinued?

I still enjoy the Country Bear Jamboree, too. I like the corny jokes and songs. It's a feel-good attraction. Plus, I like that it has been around since Walt's time.

It is a classic attraction. I wish more people would give it the love it deserves.

Enjoying the updates! And they are coming pretty quickly too. That can't be easy when you work full time.

Thanks for reading along. I don't want too much time to by in between updates. I don't want to lose my readers!

Enjoying your report!

Thanks! Glad you're enjoying my babbling.

For future reference, the last I knew, you can substitute the dessert at a counter service for a yogurt or applesauce.

I didn't know that. Thanks for the information!

All caught up on your TR! The cold temps do put a damper on things! We were there mid January to get DS set up for his CP. We encountered a couple of record low days for Florida! And while their record lows are heavenly for us Buffalo, NYers, a high of low 50's and lows below freezing are not what we long for in a Florida vacation!!

Glad you liked ASMU. We stay at the values when we want to save $$ and I agree, they are clean and comfortable and the extra $$ is better spent on dinner or shopping!

I just kept thinking that a cold day in Florida was better than any day at work. But I still don't know why mother nature hates us. She continued her rage thru the trip. And the resort was perfectly fine. I would stay there again.

Loving your TR so far!

Thank you so much!!!

I am so behind on this thread but happy to be back catching up. I just finished reading your Homecoming experience. We’ve never managed to make time for Disney Springs but this restaurant looks like a good reason to head there one day. That pecan pie photo is too tempting! I love a good, rich, pecan pie. And the Shine Cake description actually made my jaw drop. Not sure if I would like it either but I’d at least try a bite. I’d probably prefer a rum soaked butter cake but maybe this would surprise me.

Love the purse you chose, too!!! Hope you’re enjoying it.

It was a really good meal. And I would say if we ate dessert there and had the ice cream, it would have made both desserts even better (although I just didn't care for the shine cake). And yes, I love the purse. I carry it every day!

This post made me cry! Oh my. The love you have for your mom is so evident. I’m so sorry she has passed. I bet she was watching over you on this trip, thrilled that you were in her favorite place.

Tangled bathrooms are the BEST. I wish I could have a Disney Imagineer design a Tangled themed house for me!

The Japanese map incident was funny.

I really felt her presence on more than one occasion. Just seeing the castle for the first time was just a lot. She was a pretty awesome woman.

If you get the Disney imaginer to decorate your house, let me know. Cause then you can send them my way!!!


All caught up and looking forward to more installments.

Carlos at CHH sounds like just the sort of CM Walt would have loved. Glad he got a shout out from you.

Another installment is up and ready.
 
However, after some time we were able to find a sweatshirt material hoodie jacket. It was the right size and actually fairly cute. Since we've been home, Tony has worn it numerous times.
You know, the same thing happened for my dad. Probably around 20 years ago we were at Disneyland and it got cold, so he bought a hoodie. He still uses it to this day!
 
When we last left off, Tony and I were waiting for the crowd to clear out a bit before we crossed the street and headed to our first character meet - Talking Mickey. I had never met Talking Mickey before, so I was fairly excited about this. We went into the building and scanned our magic bands and got into line. It took about 30 minutes to get to where Mickey was. Now I understand that with meets like this, each encounter takes a while, but it just seemed lengthy to me. And when we got close to our turn, Mickey "took a break" so that added to the time. But then it was finally our turn and, to be honest, it was a little weird. Because what do you talk about with Mr. Mouse? After the initial "hi" and "thanks for being here" there really wasn't too much to say. So we just smiled!

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I actually like the second picture better. In the first one, Mickey's eyes aren't completely open. Maybe he had a little nap during his break? Or a margarita? Who knows?

After the meet, we went to use our next FP+ at Mickey's Philharmonic. The crowds had only gotten worse, so everyone was packed in tightly. We stayed in our ECV's and took a spot in the back. No pictures, because it would be impossible, but the show is cute. And as a band geek, I really enjoyed it. And it was warm in there. Because the sun was beginning to go down and it was a clear night and it was getting cold. Our dinner that night was in Liberty Square, so we began to head back in that direction. I had hoped to be able to see the Muppets show, but did not catch it, so we headed over to the Hall of Presidents. Now I have political views. But this forum is not the place to discuss politics. I had heard about the changes to HOP, but much like other attractions of the day, this one also had strong memories for me (this was really the theme for the day). My dad - who passed away 20 years ago - loved HOP. He was a history buff and read everything he could get his hands on about American History. This attraction was a MUST DO back in the day. And as soon as we walked in, I felt all warm and fuzzy with nostalgia. And warm - because the heat was on!!! After a short wait, we were ushered into the auditorium and watched the show. There were several changes - including a new narrator. I've checked Google with no luck finding out who it is. Does anyone know? I really enjoyed the newer aspects of the show. I was very happy that nobody in the audience was inappropriate when the presidents were being shown at the end.

Our next destination was dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern.


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This was not my picture. Because if it were my picture it would be dark and crowded. We parked our ECV's outside and as soon as we entered the front door, there was just swarms and swarms of people. Everywhere. One poor cast member was attempting to have people form a line to the front counter to check in. This was a nearly impossible task. We were slightly early. It took at least 15 minutes of waiting in line to check in and then another 30 waiting to be seated. This was the longest restaurant wait we had during the entire trip. There was nowhere to sit or stand or lean inside the restaurant, so Tony and I bundled up and sat outside. This is where the fleece blanket came in handy, because we were all wrapped up while waiting. We were finally called and shown to our table. We had a little two top by the window at the far end of the restaurant. It was fine, but I felt like I was a kid in time out in a corner. The waiter came over and got our drink orders and showed us a menu.

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The meal is served family style and it is all you can eat. The salad and bread were brought out almost immediately. Again, no pictures (sorry friends) but the salad was - a salad. The dressing was slightly sweet, but nothing that would make your lips pucker. The main course was then brought to the table.

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The only difference in our dinner was the vegetables were green beans. Everything was so good. And hot! We got some extra veggies (they were super yummy) and extra stuffing. And just when we thought there was no more room in our tummies for one more thing. They brought dessert.

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This would be the ooey gooey toffee cake topped with vanilla ice cream. Folks this stuff was so sweet. But oh so good. However, after all the yumminess we had already eaten, we barely made a dent. It was about this time that I saw fireworks going off from our dinner window. Yeah, we missed the fireworks. After we settled the bill, Tony and I waddled our way out of the restaurant. It had gotten even colder out, and even though there were extra magic hours that night, we made the decision to head back to the resort. Tony was done and if I was going to be honest, I was too. We had another Magic Kingdom day planned, so there was no reason to freeze to death to see more attractions. So we followed the masses out and headed toward the busses. After a short wait, we boarded up and headed back to All-Star Movies. We did stop at the food court to refill our mugs and get some drinks for the next morning (using up those snack credits). I would say we were asleep before our heads hit the pillow.

Up next - Hollywood Studios! I will finally ride Toy Story Mania. Or will I not??
 
You know, the same thing happened for my dad. Probably around 20 years ago we were at Disneyland and it got cold, so he bought a hoodie. He still uses it to this day!

That is some good quality clothes that can last 20 years!

Hi Ruthie. Yes the Christmas show at Country Bear show was discontinued quite a while ago.:sad1:

That's unfortunate. A little variation on a classic show would be great.

Band geek? Yup, me too. Playing a bass drum, I marched down Main Street USA in high school. It was my first trip to WDW, and it left a lasting impression!

Clarinet for me - we never marched at WDW, but I cannot imagine how cool it would have been.

Yeah, total band geek. If I had more musical talents I would have been a music teacher rather than a social worker.
 
Love this report so far! You are hilarious! The Mickey and margarita comment literally had me :rotfl2:

We are going to Disney in January next year, so I am very interested in seeing how your trip goes. :goodvibes
 
LTT looks very yummy. Glad to hear the veggies are tasty since that's what my daughter and I will be eating if we ever go. DH would be in heaven with all that meat.

Love your Mickey pics!
 
That food at Liberty Tree looks wonderful! We haven't been in years- will have to put it on the list for a future trip! Loved meeting Talking Mickey! The group before us was from another country and Mickey talked to them in their language- I think Spanish. I was so impressed!
 
After a peaceful nights rest, we woke up the next morning to bright blue skies with the sun shining.

And it was still cold. At this point, I was out of long pants. Probably because I had only brought a couple of pairs of long pants with me. Yeah, I'm that person. Fortunately I still had some sweaters with me that were not in need of some laundry detergent. This was our Hollywood Studios day. I had purposely planned our first FP+ to be around noonish so that we could sleep in and not be rushed to get to the park. And guess what??? This plan worked!!! At around 9:30 we left the room and decided that our first stop would be breakfast. We had not yet eaten a meal at the resort food court and I was yearning for a Mickey waffle. So we went to the World Premier Food Court. This is not my picture (of course) but it was actually this bright and shiny!


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There were a few stations open serving breakfast. After reviewing the options, Tony and I both decided on the "Bounty Platter" - scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, breakfast potatoes, and small Mickey-shaped waffle. We also got some fresh fruit which I thought would use up a snack credit, but since this was a counter service meal, it was considered dessert.

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Again not my picture, but it is a good representation. But we didn't have a biscuit. By the time we found a table, got our drinks, got utensils and condiments the food was no longer hot. It wasn't cold, but it was just "meh". There was a microwave available, but warmed up eggs are just yucky. So we ate some of our food and headed out to the busses.

Ugh, I am really hating the cold weather.

We got to Hollywood Studios and I got the map this time. I wanted to ensure there was no Japanese mistakes today. Our first FP+ was for Toy Story Mania. I was very excited to have gotten this FP+ as I have never ridden this ride before. We had quite a bit of time so we took a stroll down the main street.


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I think he needs premium unleaded fuel.

We also stopped for some Photo Pass pictures. And a magic shot!


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And the Academy Award for weirdest cold face goes to TONY!!! Of course I look more scared than cold. We are a special kind of special sometimes!

We finally made our way over to Toy Story Mania. Let me tell you that even with the map, I again struggled. Needless to say we may have gone in circles for a few minutes before we found the right spot. I was ready to get this party started. Only to see a cast member say that the ride was down. With no expected time for it to come back up. In other words, it was down for the day.

Yup. Seriously?

I felt bad for the cast member who had the worst job that day to tell folks the bad news. Yes, we would get an extra fast pass. No there was no anticipated time for it to come back up. Yes, they were sorry. I was seriously bummed about this since it was our only Hollywood Studios day. So then we had to decide what to do next. I put on my best sad pouty face and asked Tony if we could get in line for Buzz and Woody. Of course he said yes (sad pouty face always works) so we found our way into the line. Another cast member came up to us and let us know we could not bring the ECV's into the line, but if we followed her it would be easier for us. This was a little magic for us, as we parked by a super secret door and were brought in to meet Buzz and Woody without waiting in any line. Pixie dust!


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Yes, my husband is a gangster. Good grief.

Up next - I think we should see a show. Or two!
 
The meal looked great. It's been some years since we have been to LTT, so glad to hear it was delicious.

Although that was not my picture, the food looked just like that. It was very, very good.

Love this report so far! You are hilarious! The Mickey and margarita comment literally had me :rotfl2:

We are going to Disney in January next year, so I am very interested in seeing how your trip goes. :goodvibes

Aww, thanks for the compliment. My sense of humor is a little odd sometimes. I'm glad it is reading well.

We had a fabulous trip with the exception of the weather. Be prepared for everything.


LTT looks very yummy. Glad to hear the veggies are tasty since that's what my daughter and I will be eating if we ever go. DH would be in heaven with all that meat.

Love your Mickey pics!

There was a bit of a meat coma going on.

That food at Liberty Tree looks wonderful! We haven't been in years- will have to put it on the list for a future trip! Loved meeting Talking Mickey! The group before us was from another country and Mickey talked to them in their language- I think Spanish. I was so impressed!

That is very cool that he spoke to them in Spanish. Did you see that Talking Mickey is being discontinued? I'm glad we got the experience even though it was a bit weird.
 
LOVE that Olaf magic shot! Looks like us the last few weeks here in Buffalo! We were in Orlando during the cold spell in January too- I feel your pain! I'm excited that we're getting a redo this weekend when we go to visit DS who's in the college program. Forecast is high 80's!

Tony looks cool in his "shades"!
 

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