The Trip Report that was 23 years in the making

This is my first WDW trip report. I wrote one for Disneyland last summer. You can read that here if you like.

Me and my mom visited WDW from 12/2-12/8 2012. I am also writing this for my blog, so I might explain some things most of us already know. Most of the photos were taken with my Sony NEX-5N and a variety of lenses, some with my iPhone 5, my mom's Canon D10, or her phone.

Dramatis personae:
Me – Your humble narrator. I had developed a bad cough a couple days before the trip and got some medicine to help, so hopefully it will go away and I can really enjoy myself.
Moms – My mother, she repeatedly claims to want nothing to do with Disney parks, but once we get there you can’t pull her away.

Before I begin, a little history. Join me in letting your mind wander back to 1989, cell phones were actually about as big as they are now (I’m looking at you Galaxy Note 2), as far as we knew Ewoks and the Holiday Special would be the only blights on the Star Wars franchise, and Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios were still called EPCOT Center & Disney-MGM Studios respectively. As a seven year old, Moms took me to Disney World in the summer, because apparently we enjoyed the heat back then. I only have vague memories of that trip, but those are my earliest memories of the Disney Parks. So here we are going back 23 years later, during a more favorable time of year, as seasoned Disneyland vets. How would Walt’s original park fair in comparison? Would we constantly be lost? Is the internet right and Walt Disney World is a huge crumbling pile of disappointment? We’d have to travel to the other side of the country to find out.

We had a 7 am flight, which meant being at the airport during my sleep time. Luckily no one sat between us Phoenix to Charlotte so we could spread out a little. We only had about 40 minutes between our connecting flight which meant we basically ran across the Charlotte airport. Maybe next time I’ll get to sit in their rocking chairs. Someone sat between us on the final leg of our trip, but the flight was short so it didn’t bother me. Especially because I was probably just as excited to go to Disney World as the little kids in the aisle across from us.
One of the “perks” Disney has for staying on property at Disney World is a service called Disney’s Magical Express (DME). With DME, you get luggage tags to stick on your checked luggage before you leave home and Disney takes it off the plane and delivers it to your room a couple hours after you land. They’ll also take you from the Orlando airport to your hotel. It’s pretty nice skipping baggage claim and getting a free ride to your hotel.
The DME area features a number of lines each going to a different grouping of hotels. We found our line and after about a 10 minute wait, we were boarding our bus and headed on our way.
- we got a Disney Cruise Line bus to take us

- the park entry arches are so cool

Which hotel were we staying at exactly you ask? Well, that would be the Polynesian.

- outside the hotel
- inside the lobby

We checked in and were given a room in the Rarotonga building right next to the Great Ceremonial House (main lobby area). We briefly checked out Capt. Cook’s before heading to our room. Despite reading about Disney’s use of RFID for the locks on the rooms, I completely forgot about that when the time came to actually get in. Luckily there were some other guests in the hallway to help us out. The room was nice, and with the daybed, we had quite a bit of space.
- walking outside and seeing this is the moment I realized Disney World wasn’t playing around
- room details

After scoping the room out for a bit, we were feeling a little hungry and decided to go back to Capt. Cook’s for lunch. We explored a little of the hotel and went down to the Seven Seas Lagoon for a glimpse of Magic Kingdom Park as well as the Grand Floridian & the Contemporary hotels. That area is amazing. The Polynesian does a good job of giving you that tropical feeling when looking out over the water.
- Polynesian Resort grounds
- Seven Seas Lagoon

I had seen something called Pork Nachos at Capt. Cook’s and they were calling my name, so off we went for food. Moms had the pepperoni flatbread and I had the aforementioned nachos. The nachos were very good, but could have used more toppings (like all nachos). Moms thought her flatbread was so-so.
- cupcakes
- pork nachos
- pepperoni flatbread
- tropical Mickey & Minnie with I’m assuming Mickey’s nephews

to be continued with our first park visit

 

[gsrjedi]

Our hunger defeated, it was time to visit a park. Since the Polynesian is a Monorail hotel, we hopped on that to take us. Magic Kingdom was closing early for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, so we rode by it and awed at our first up-close glimpses of Cinderella’s Castle. To the Ticket & Transfer Center (TTC) we went to transfer to the Epcot line to make that our first Disney World park in 23 years. The Monorail as a form of transportation is great. Riding to and through Epcot in that manner is amazing.
- the dome

So we hopped off the Monorail and after a visit to Customer Service to get our Premiere annual passes activated for Disney World, we were in. The first ride we would partake in would be the first ride we approached. Spaceship Earth. We both liked it, but Moms loved it, especially seeing us on the screens when you exit the ride.
- Spaceship Earth

I realized long ago that I wouldn’t be able to do everything on this trip, so I really developed an attitude that I was just happy to be going and wouldn’t worry about running around trying to get everything done. It was with this attitude, that we kind of just wandered around taking everything in. Our meandering eventually led us to Club Cool, where I quickly served Moms a cup of the infamous Beverly to try. Club Cool is a Coca-Cola sponsored lounge in which there are stations set up with fountain drinks of unique flavors of sodas from around the world. Beverly is a bitter Italian drink that is not good. Disney World fans who know it’s not good seem to take great pleasure in bringing their loved ones to Club Cool to unknowingly drink the horrible Beverly. So I had to do the same. Moms did not enjoy it. I tried all the sodas and liked China, Mexico, & Costa Rica.
- Club Cool sodas from the World

After refreshing our thirst, we headed for Epcot’s giant Christmas tree and World Showcase. We started our trip around the World clockwise and visited Mexico first. The inside of the Mexico pavilion was really cool with the way it made you feel like you were back outside. It does a good job of transporting you to Mexico. So we hopped on a boat in search of Donald throughout the entire country. Moms spent most of the ride trying to get her camera to cooperate that she missed most of what was happening. Luckily it was dead, so we stayed on and rode again.
- Christmas tree
- Mexico pavilion
- inside the Gran Fiesta Tour ride

After getting in touch with our roots, we continued our worldwide tour with Norway. Moms stepped into Kringla Bakeri og Kafe to get a drink and I went with her because they had something I had heard about and was dying to try. School bread. So yummy, I miss it already. School bread is a soft pastry filled with a custard and covered in toasted coconut shavings, and it bears repeating that it is very good. After our snack, we decided to give Maelstrom a try. From 23 years ago, I remember this ride had a drop and I was kinda scared before it happened. The drop is small, so 7 year old me enjoyed this ride. I think. Older me was not impressed. I normally enjoy slow rides, especially slow boat rides, but I just couldn’t get into this one.
- school bread
- Norway at night

Up next, Illuminations and sleep

 

[gsrjedi]

After our Scandinavian adventure, Moms was looking for a place to sit and maybe watch Illuminations since it was going to start soon. While Moms sat, I went in search of another snack and ended up with a pretzel from Germany and got back to Moms just in time for Illuminations to start. We watched the show from the bridge between China and the Refreshment Outpost and I don’t think we had the best view. We still enjoyed the show, but I don’t think we got the full effect from our vantage point.
- view of the dome from near the Germany pavilion
- Illuminations fireworks

The ending of Illuminations meant Epcot was closed for the night so we started to make our way back to the Poly. The Monorail was closed, which meant we would have to take a bus back. This would lead to some confusion at a later date when trying to leave Epcot.
– China pavilion
- view from across World Showcase lagoon
- the dome as we left
We made it back to our room and stayed awake for a while just off the excitement. We were both thrilled to be in Disney World again.


Day 2 coming soon

 

[littleroo]

Incredible pictures!! Looking forward to the rest!

 

[LizC]

Great trip report so far. I am looking forward to the rest!

 

[gsrjedi]

Work's been pretty busy lately, so this is going slower than I'd like, but I finally got day 2 done.

Day 2 - Monday 12/03/12: Shark Food

My cough kept me up part of the night and we woke up later than I would’ve liked. Epcot was the plan today because on our last trip in ’89, we ate at Coral Reef. I was never a big seafood person, but I learned I like shrimp there. For this trip when we were making plans and thinking about making advanced dining reservations (ADR) Coral Reef was one we wanted to eat at for nostalgic reasons mainly. So back on the Monorail we went.
- our building at the Poly
- views from the Monorail
- at the entrance to Epcot
We knew we had our lunch ADR at Coral Reef fairly soon, but hadn’t eaten breakfast so we made our way to The Land for a small snack at Sunshine Seasons, just so we wouldn’t be completely starving until lunch. Soaring already had a 40 minute wait and we ride that pretty regularly at Disneyland so neither of us wanted to wait that long to ride. Living with the Land had a wait of about 25 minutes so we decided to wait on that for now as well.
- outside and inside of the Land pavilion
I knew Epcot was a big park, so I didn’t want to go too far away from the restaurant and have to walk all the way back, so we made our way to The Seas with Nemo & Friends Pavilion. The Nemo ride said it had a 10 minute wait. Which I learned at Disney World just means it will take you 10 minutes to walk through the queue and make your way to the ride. The queue was very neat though, so it wasn’t a total waste. The ride was okay. After we found Nemo we headed over to Coral Reef to check in even though we were about a half hour early. They ended up seating us after about a 10 minute wait and while we weren’t seated right next to the aquarium, we were the second closest tables to it. So we had a good view during our lunch. Not being a seafood eater really, I ordered the New York Strip and Moms ordered the Coral Reef Lobster Orecchiette Pasta, think of it as an adult mac and cheese with lobster. Both of us really liked what we ordered. Mom’s birthday, so after our food they brought at a Chocolate Wave for her. If I remember correctly, it was a chocolate lava cake served with a scoop of raspberry gelato. The combination of the two was fantastic. It was a really great lunch and the action in the aquarium made it even better.
- outside and inside the Coral Reef Restaurant
- my New York strip steak
- Moms Lobster pasta dish
- the Chocolate Wave (everything on the plate was edible)
At this point Moms decided to take a break and go back to the room. I had overheard some talk about Test Track 2.0 being open for a soft opening and wanted to check that out. The night before when we left Epcot, the Monorail was closed and they sent us to the bus stop to take a bus back. Moms being on her own to leave went back to the bus stop because that was the way she knew how to leave, and I told her she could do that rather than explain to her to take the Monorail back to the TTC and then transfer to the resort line. The thing I never really thought about in planning the trip was since we were staying at a Monorail hotel, we couldn’t use the buses to get to and from those parks serviced by the Monorail. Since we used the bus last night, I thought we could. Moms couldn’t. They told her the buses from Epcot only go to Magic Kingdom hotels if the Monorail is down. Eventually she got back to the room, with a little more of an adventure than she planned for. Test Track wasn’t around during our previous trip, so it was one of the rides I was looking forward to. The stand-by wait was 40 minutes, so I got in the single rider line. Test Track has you in a car to go through the various tests they perform on cars. Handling, safety, performance are all tested. In this new version you are given a RFID card when you enter the line and in line there are computers you use to create your own car. I found out later that the single rider/fastpass lines only get to choose a couple of different presets in the design phase. You tap the RFID card to the computer to store it on there and then right before you hop on the ride you tap it again to tie you into that vehicle. As the ride goes through the various tests you see how your car was scored along with the other people in your vehicle. I liked that aspect of the ride, but found most of the testing part, aside from the high-speed run, pretty lackluster. Being sponsored by Chevrolet, when you exit there’s a host of new Chevy vehicles for you to look at and get your picture taken with. I understand Radiator Springs Racers (RSR) in California Adventure uses a similar ride mechanic and vehicle, and I love that. I think the non-thrill ride part of Test Track wasn’t as good as RSR, but it was still fun.
- entrance to Test Track
Upon exiting I thought I’d get my astronaut on. Mission: Space was another ride that wasn’t here on our last trip. I wasn’t sure if I could handle the more thrilling orange side, so I opted for the shorter lined green side. On the ride there are four stations and each person is given a “task” to do to successfully complete the mission. You don’t really have to do anything though. I ended up in a capsule by myself so I was trying to do all the jobs. It was fun. I definitely enjoyed my mission to Mars.
- blasting off to Mars

 

[gsrjedi]

I walked around a bit taking photos and then left (via the Monorail) to join Moms at the hotel.
- a general shot of how much space there is
- one of the many flower beds
- Ellen’s Universe of Energy
- fountain in Future World
- Christmas tree and dome
- World Showcase panorama
- countries of the World Showcase
-small Christmas tree
- the dome close-ups
- Stitch topiary
- Magic Kingdom from the TTC
- design on one of the buildings at the Poly

 

[gsrjedi]

After a couple hours break, we went down to the boat dock to catch a boat to Magic Kingdom. I thought the Monorail to Epcot was great, but the boats from the MK area hotels to the park is even better. We were both pretty hungry so the first order of business was finding food.
- the entrance
- some shots of Main Street
- Cinderella’s Castle from a variety of viewpoints
That castle though. Such a beautiful sight, we were distracted slightly from our mission. As a Disneyland regular, Sleeping Beauty’s Castle is great, but I definitely have castle envy now. Eventually we broke ourselves of the spell the castle put us under and made our way to Columbia Harbour House for dinner. Moms and I both had the fish and chicken nuggets plate. The food was okay and did it’s job of satiating our appetites.
- outside and inside of Columbia Harbour House
- chicken and fish plate
After dinner we were right next to the Haunted Mansion, so we got in the interactive queue line and rode that. The ride itself has some added scenes compared to Disneyland and I enjoyed it a lot. Moms proclaimed it the “best Haunted Mansion ride ever”. Haunted Mansion is near Fantasyland so we headed to Moms’ favorite ride, Peter Pan’s Flight. I didn’t notice any big changes, but Moms said she liked the Disneyland version better. When we got off Wishes, their nighttime fireworks show, had started. It was kind of surreal to be behind the castle during the fireworks with them going off all around you. You don’t get the best view of the show, but it was a great spot to watch from. I don’t know why I didn’t set up my tripod unfortunately.

Mickey’s Philharmagic was next, mainly because it’s something we don’t have on the left coast and I’ve heard good things about the show. We both really liked it a lot.
- in the gift shop upon exiting Philharmagic
I took some more castle photos and then we made our way to New Fantasyland to ride Ariel’s Undersea Adventure. This is one we both like at California Adventure and the queue in Disney World is amazing. This was another ride with a 10 minute wait, that really meant it will take you 10 minutes to get to the front.
- sword in the stonel, castle in the background
- Prince Charming Regal Carousel
- exterior of Ariel’s Undersea Adventure

 

[gsrjedi]

After our second undersea adventure of the day, Moms had enough and decided to leave. Today was the only day during our trip Magic Kingdom would be open past 7, plus there were Extra Magic Hours until 2 if I remember correctly. I took some more photos of the castle before making my way to Tomorrowland.

- Cinderella fountain

Disneyland’s Tomorrowland is an area I feel needs a huge refurbishment of the entire land. Disney World’s Tomorrowland gets huge points for not having a wasted Peoplemover track running through the middle of it, plus it feels more cohesive to me. Space Mountain was my first stop. Not having the Space Mountain dome on top of another building makes it seem so much more impressive in size. It was pretty interesting to see the video games you could play while waiting in line. I knew the ride vehicles were single-file compared to Disneyland’s side-by-side vehicles, but it felt more cramped to me. Maybe it was because my foot got caught by my backpack when I sat down and I was in a semi-uncomfortable position the whole time. I prefer the Disneyland version. This one reminded me of Goofy’s Sky School at California Adventure, plus the lack of a soundtrack during the ride makes it less exciting to me.
- Space Mountain dome
- video games in Space Mountain queue
- scenes as you exit the ride
To whom it may concern at Disneyland,
Bring back the Peoplemover!
Thanks,
Michael
The Tomorrowland Transit Authority, aka Peoplemover, was next on my list. It’s great. It’s neat that you can catch a glimpse into a couple of rides and see them from a different perspective, but it’s also a nice relaxing place to sit and get off your feet.

- Peoplemover vehicle
- view of the castle from the Peoplemover
- another castle shot, this time with the funky metal trees in Tomorrowland
I was starting to get tired, but figured I had enough energy to hit some rides in Adventureland before I left. Of course I took more photos of the castle on my way. Castle envy is serious and I have an appointment with a doctor next week for treatment.

- me with my Disneyland Glow-with-the-Show ears on
I enjoy the Jungle Cruise when you have a good skipper. The corny jokes are right up my alley. This ride had a very good skipper. There’s some added scenes compared to the Disneyland version, and I liked it a lot as well. I thought I would constantly be lost and feel that nothing was where it was supposed to be in Magic Kingdom before we left. That didn’t end up happening, except when trying to make my way to Frontierland to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (BTMRR). I got a little lost trying to get out of the Agrabah themed Adventureland. Eventually I found my way and was able to ride BTMRR with only a 10 minute wait. Despite hating this ride in ’89, it’s become my favorite ride at Disneyland. This version was very good as well. I especially enjoyed the view of the castle during some of the lifts.
- Big Thunder Mountain
After riding a runaway mine cart I started to make my way to the exit. I was passing by Pirates of the Caribbean and since there was no wait, I went in. This is another ride at Disney World with a fantastic exterior and queue. The ride itself is shorter than the Disneyland version, because it doesn’t have the opening scene and drop, but the rest is pretty similar. You also exit before the final lift and take a moving escalator up and directly into the gift shop.
- exterior of Pirates
- entrance of Pirates
- some of the queue
By the time I got off, it was past midnight. Though my day in the park was still going on, it’s technically the end of day 2, so I must end for now. Tomorrow, a pattern starts to emerge, plus I make a mistake that puts us behind again in the morning.

 

[gsrjedi]

I hope to get day 3 done in a few days

 

[gsrjedi]

Day 3 - Tuesday 12/04/12: Turn Up the Lights

Day 3 begin as day 2 ended, with me getting off the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. I was starting to get tired, so I pulled my tripod out and took some photos as I made my way to the exit for some much needed sleep.
- probably my favorite shot of the castle from the trip
- Main Street train station
- nutcracker
- Magic Kingdom entrance
After another night’s sleep interrupted by coughing, we awoke the next morning ready to head to Magic Kingdom. Only one slight snafu. Moms travels with one of those small luggage locks and being a male I was done and ready much sooner than she was. For some reason I was playing around with the lock and unknowingly accidentally reset the combination. Then I stuck it on the luggage and couldn’t get it open. Moms called the front desk for help, while I searched online for a locksmith. Luckily the maintenance guy came in a few minutes and was able to break it open easily. Now I had to go find a new lock and fortunately, the Poly’s gift shop had some. Crisis averted, we finally made our way to the Poly’s boat launch.
- Polynesian from the boat
- Contemporary Hotel from the boat
- first sighting of the Avengers Monorail (Avengorail)
- Main Street Theater
- Castle from Main Street
As we were making our way down Main Street a parade was just starting out. We saw that for a bit and Moms interacted with some of the streetmosphere characters that were around. Then we made our way to Casey’s Corner during a break in the parade. The menu item of choice was their BBQ Slaw Dog for both of us. Very good and very messy.
- parade
- Moms with the Fire Chief
- BBQ Slaw dog
Adventureland was to be our next port of call. Moms wanted to ride Pirates. She’s not big into drops so she liked that this version only had one drop.
- Castle from near Casey’s
- the hub area

- Adventureland detail
- the spitting camel almost got us
- Pirates queue in the daytime

 

[gsrjedi]

After a quick browse through the gift shop, I wanted to check out Disney World’s version of Splash Mountain. When I got there, it was down, so I hopped on Big Thunder Mountain which had a short wait.
- BTMRR
After another thrilling ride, there was a small line forming for Splash so I got in that line and a few minutes later, they reopened the ride. It’s very weird to me to sit next to someone while riding Splash. This version of the ride has more of a coherent story than the Disneyland one. I know Disney World fans on the internet use Splash as their main point of why Disney World is falling apart, but I didn’t notice any major problems. Sure we were stopped just before and after the drop, but all the animatronics seemed to be working to me and the music and sound effects all seemed in working order. After reading the internets doom & gloom I was expecting Brer Rabbit’s eyes to be falling out, or even just a bunch of static figures standing there. To me it was all good. I enjoyed my trip to the laughing place.

After Splash we hopped on the train and rode to the New Fantasyland station. We didn’t ride anything, just spent some time shopping and getting snacks before going to Tomorrowland with one goal in mind. The Peoplemover.
- ornaments in New Fantasyland store
- New Fantasyland cast members hanging out
The Peoplemover was down though. Since it was right next door, we got on Carousel of Progress. Moms loved it and I liked it a lot as well. Stitch was walking by after we exited and was just starting a line. I like characters that have no wait, so I stopped for a quick picture.
- Space Mountain
- Tomorrowland’s metal trees
- It’s a great big beautiful tomorrow
- chillin with Stitch
The Peoplemover was back up and running so Moms got her first taste of that ride since it closed at Disneyland. This ended up being her favorite ride in Disney World.
- Peoplemover vehicles
- on the tracks
- views from the Peoplemover

 

[gsrjedi]

After Mom’s best ride ever, we started to make our way out for a break. Moms stopped in the Emporium briefly and I visited the Fire Station for a pack of Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom cards. The Celebrate a Dream Come True parade started and ended up separating us on each side of the street until it was over.
- similar shots from the Rose Garden
- Tomorrowland entrance
- more castle shots
- parade floats
Moms was tired and wanted to go back to the room for a rest, I on the other hand was still good to go and opted to get off the boat at the Grand Floridian to check out the giant gingerbread house. The Grand Floridian seems way too fancy a place for me, but the gingerbread house and their Christmas tree in the lobby were both very impressive. When I was done looking at all that sweetness I walked back to the Poly and stopped into Capt. Cook’s for a quick snack. After seeing that gingerbread house, I just had to stop and get a gingerbread cupcake. It was okay, the cake wasn’t moist enough for my liking.
- Grand Floridian from the boat
- view of the Contemporary from the Grand Floridian boat dock
- me looking pensive at the Grand Floridian
- grounds of the Grand Floridian
- 16 foot tall gingerbread house
- detail on the gingerbread house
- giant Christmas tree in the lobby
- view of the Poly from the walkway
- gingerbread cupcake

 

[gsrjedi]

Our bodies slightly rested, we headed to the bust stop to catch a bus to Hollywood Studios. With the tentative itinerary I had in my head based off of where our ADRs were at, I figured tonight was our only chance to see the Osborne lights. I don’t know if it’s because we have the most pictures from our previous trip here and at Epcot’s World Showcase, but those are the two areas I remember most from that trip.
- I like these Coke machine inserts
- DHS’ Christmas tree
- as a Disneyland/California Adventure regular, this looks familiar
We were hungry so food was the main thing on our minds at this point. Tomorrow we had an ADR for 50′s PrimeTime, so we figured we’d see if Hollywood & Vine had some seating. They did. The food was your standard cafeteria buffet. Nothing earth-shattering, but it hit the spot.
– the first things you see when you enter Hollywood Studios
- Moms loved this window display

- our restaurant for the evening
- that’s my restaurant alias
- my 1st plate and Moms’ plate

 

[gsrjedi]

Knowing we’d be back the next day, we weren’t too concerned about seeing things. Our goal was the Osborne Spectacle of Dancing Lights so we made our way there. Spectacle is absolutely the correct word for it. One of the highlights of the trip for me and possibly Moms favorite part. Rather than me continuing to gush about how great it was, I’m just going to post a bunch of photos and let them speak for themselves.

 

[gsrjedi]

The park closed at 8 that night, but we stayed around until at least 8:30 just in awe of the whole thing. I absolutely loved it. I had pulled my tripod out as the crowds started to thin, and I kept it out as we made our way to the exit with me stopping to take photos along the way.
- the infamous Sorcerer’s Hat

- Hotel of Terror
- one of the many old cars on display
- view from the entrance
We bussed back to the Poly, tired, and with me hoping to get a full night’s sleep.

 

[fractal]

Michael,

Great report and awesome pictures! What camera are you using?

I think it is interesting to see WDW from the eyes of someone used to DLR. Last summer I went to Disneyland for the first time and found it fascinating to compare the two.
So far it seems that WDW compares favorably to DLR for you. Thanks for the time and effort in making the report and I'm looking forward to more.

PS - I think it's great that you took you Mother along and she seems to be a perfect WDW partner. She hangs until tired then goes back on her own with any guilt trips.

 

[gsrjedi]

Michael,

Great report and awesome pictures! What camera are you using?

I think it is interesting to see WDW from the eyes of someone used to DLR. Last summer I went to Disneyland for the first time and found it fascinating to compare the two.
So far it seems that WDW compares favorably to DLR for you. Thanks for the time and effort in making the report and I'm looking forward to more.

PS - I think it's great that you took you Mother along and she seems to be a perfect WDW partner. She hangs until tired then goes back on her own with any guilt trips.

Thanks. I'm using the NEX-5N. I really like it a lot

 

[gsrjedi]

Day 4 - Wednesday 12/05/12: A Trip to the 50's
My cough woke me up again this morning, but right before sunset. That meant I was going to go take some photos this morning.
– early morning at the Polynesian Resort
- Poly’s lobby Christmas tree
After shooting, I popped into Capt. Cook’s to try a Tonga Toast. It was very sweet, but yummy. So far this day has gotten off to a pretty good start.

- Tonga Toast
We continued our “tradition” of visiting the park we had gone to the previous evening. Today we had an ADR for 50′S Prime Time Cafe, so back to DHS we went. We got to the park right as they were opening and headed for Toy Story Midway Mania. The wait was already at 40 minutes, so we got fastpasses instead.

 

[gsrjedi]

Then we went clear across the park so I could experience the awesome Star Tours building. I’m so jealous of that area in comparison to what we have for Star Tours in Disneyland. Moms doesn’t ride Star Tours, so I rode it, still yet to be the Rebel Spy. When I entered the store after the ride, I went straight for the Droid Factory area. I have a good sized Star Wars collection, and have been wanting to make my own droids since we started planning this trip. Moms found me in line as the kids in front were finishing up. I was planning on making three droids – a 2-pack and a single, but Moms thought they were so cute she got in and made one of her own.
- Ewok village
- AT-AT footprint
- Droid Factory setup
- riding dirty like my favorite troopers
- AT-AT lurking
- the entrance
The Muppetvision 3D show was the next place we decided to go. I’ve seen it before in California Adventure and think it’s okay, but Moms really liked it. After the Muppets zany antics, we went on The Great Movie Ride. I liked it, I thought it was neat with the cast members interaction preventing it from being just static scenes; Moms loved it.
- Great Movie Ride

We headed to 50′s Prime Time for our ADR. I wanted to eat there because it looked like a fun place when I was planning, Moms didn’t care too much back then. She loves stuff from the 50′s, so when we walked in and she saw the atmosphere she was ecstatic. We hadn’t even eaten yet, but she already declared it a winner. I had the sampler plate with fried chicken, pot roast, & meatloaf, while Moms just had the meatloaf. We both enjoyed our food, between that and the atmosphere I could see us eating here again if we make it back to Disney World.
- 50′s Prime Time
- 50′s atmosphere
- my sampler plate
- Moms meatloaf
- me & Moms enjoying our food