Trip Report **COMPLETED** We're 3 happy chappies, with snappy serapes. You'll find us beneath our sombreros! Sept 2018

*Record scratch* *Freeze frame*

Yep, that's me. So you're probably wondering how I got myself into this situation.

Long story short... I'm no longer at Disney World Kaitlyn and I returned home last Thursday and have been settling into our new place and finally only got wi-fi yesterday. For those of you who didn't get around to reading my pre-trip report, my friend Kaitlyn and I moved into our first apartment a couple weeks ago, just a few days before we left on our trip to Disney. She moved from Saskatchewan to my hometown of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. We have been to Disney together once before in April 2015 in celebration of our graduation from University (along with 2 other friends). Kaitlyn has been back once since then, and I have been back to the World a few times since, including my family trip in February which my sister @krause wrote about.

Here's a quick review:
Who: Myself (Emily) and my friend, Kaitlyn. Here we are with the Big Cheese himself.

Now, you may be thinking, “she says there’s only two people on the trip, but her title references the 3 caballeros”. Not to worry! We’ll get to that.
What: Pure, unadulterated Disney fun!
When: Thursday, September 13, 2018 to Thursday, September 20, 2018
Where: B Resort and Spa (a Disney Springs Resort Area Hotel with EMH and bus system).
Why: For fun, mainly. It was also a great way to kick off our being roommates!
How: With determination and by emptying our wallets

Our travel day on September 13th started early. After finally falling asleep around midnight, we were up and at 'em at 3:40AM and in the taxi on the way to the airport by 4:10. We were very much looking forward to the change in weather.

Luckily, Winnipeg's airport is both small and near the centre of city so it only took us about 15 minutes to get there (we probably could have been there a minute earlier but had to stop for a skunk that was crossing the road! I really wish I had got a picture of this) and were through security by 4:48, through customs and at our gate by 5:15!

We made it to our layover in Minneapolis by about 8:00. Our flight to Orlando boarded and departed just after 9AM. And, finally, we landed in Orlando shortly after 1PM.

Fonorail selfie!!

Coming up: Our first-ever attempt at Uber… good or bad?

 

[PacNWTigger]

What an awesome idea for costumes! Very cool pics w/ your missing caballero!!

 

[AKemily]

Great costumes!

What an awesome idea for costumes! Very cool pics w/ your missing caballero!!

Thank you!! We had a lot of fun with them!

 

[AKemily]

Okay, sorry guys I've been AWOL again, I'm gonna get back into this I promise

After meeting Donald we stopped at the Trick or Treat station that is usually the line to meet Ariel. I felt that all the T or T lines were super long at our party, at least in comparison to that last time I went to the party when I don't remember that being a problem. We then decided to go to the Halloween Party version of Space Mountain. I thought it was fine but it was a little ruined for me. Can you see why??

That's right! On a ride where the point is for it to be in total darkness, the guy in front of me wore not one, not two but FIVE glow sticks around his neck FIVE. So where things were supposed to be dark, they were aglow. *Sigh*. Ah well. I felt like they could have played funner music as well, but I know lots of people enjoyed it, so maybe that was just me.

After this, I needed a coffee so we decided to head towards Starbucks. Kaitlyn needed to take a pit stop at the bathrooms so I said she could meet me there. I got a little sidetracked by the T or T stop at Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor and was going to jump in line before I got inside and realized how LONG the line was. I backed out and made my way toward Main Street, where the Hocus Pocus show had just begun. I got in line and after waiting a while, I started wondering where Kaitlyn was so I texted her, which spurred probably the most confusing 30 minutes of our trip, for me at least.

Me: Watching the show?
Kaitlyn: Sure?
Me (confused as to why she phrased that as a question): I just figured you were watching it because I'm surprised you're not here. Go ahead and watch it.
K: Ahaha alrighty.

Meanwhile, I was started to get anxious about wasting valuable Party time, where we could be doing things like not standing in line for a drink or trying to find each other in the crowds. Several minutes later I texted Kaitlyn again.
Me: Are you just outside?
K: I'm underneath the Carousel of Progress loop across from the Monsters dance party.
Me, inwardly: What?! Why?? We said we'd meet at Starbucks, why are you not here?!
Me, by text: Oh, why don't you come to Starbucks?
K: Coming.
Me, inwardly: Well, it's about freakin' time.

There's a reason I needed my coffee. I was fairly upset about this little miscommunication. But tried to enjoy the view on Main Street while I anxiously waited for Kaitlyn to show up.

Someone in Starbucks had this pretty awesome Pacha costume:

Eventually Kaitlyn and I decided to meet at Pirates as that would be simpler. We wanted to try the Halloween version of this as well.

Here's the guy who was telling us to keep an eye out for Gunpowder Pete. I accidentally had my flash on so definitely blinded him haha I felt so bad.

And here's a blurry picture of Pete himself:

I have to say, I was quite disappointed with this. I thought the story would be a little more engaging but the whole thing ended up just being awkward and uncomfortable.

I think we were hoping to get on Splash after that but it wasn't running for the party. I'm not sure if that was just on our night or on every night, but we were sad about. We were so hot in our costumes that we were looking forward to getting a little wet. We stopped at the T or T station beside Splash and then headed toward Haunted Mansion. As we neared it, we decided we better go find a place to watch the Fireworks instead. While we waited it started to rain a little and it was announced that the show would be delayed. The rain picked up a bit and people started heading toward the exit. Kaitlyn and I decided to abandon our spots too, but we headed to the T or T station in Liberty Square. The rain had stopped and we headed back to Main Street. It wasn't long before the show started. I didn't take many pictures, I just wanted to enjoy the show.

I LOVE HalloWishes. It is SO good.

 

[AKemily]

After HalloWishes we moved to Liberty Square to find a spot for Boo to You. We noticed some people nearby remove the chairs from one of the porches in Liberty Square and bring them right up to the rope to watch. I thought this was a little unnecessary as the chairs already give you a good view, there's no need to take up rope space for others. I hoped they'd put them back where they found them later. Meanwhile, we sat back and enjoyed the show. I took a lot of pictures but none of them are very good

I think the hyenas are hilarious

This parade was great again and I still have the song stuck in my head I sure hope they bring back a regular nighttime parade to Magic Kingdom in the near future.

 

[AKemily]

After the parade we headed to Haunted Mansion.

Such high quality photography

You will see that at some point, we changed out of our costumes. We couldn't take the heat anymore

We then headed to see the 12:00 Hocus Pocus show. Kaitlyn had me watch the movie a week or two before our trip. I hadn't seen it before but enjoyed it. This show also ended up being delayed by rain and ended up starting around 12:20. I think by this time I was a little too tired to fully appreciate it. I was ready to hit the sack.

It was an enjoyable show and I feel like the actors do a really good job.

 

[AKemily]

After Hocus Pocus, the party was over and we started making our way out of the Park (with everybody else).

We left around the Park and got right on a monorail around 12:40. After sitting on the monorail for about 15 minutes without it moving an announcement came over the speaking saying that we would probably have better luck taking the ferry. I was tired of sitting there so we decided to take their advice. Many others didn't. I think we ended up waiting for a couple ferries but ended up getting on one around 1:05. The monorail hadn't moved by this point so at least we knew we made the right choice. We were getting a little nervous about making it to the last bus of the night which would leave at 1:30, however luckily we made it to the stop and onto the bus about 10 minutes before that point.

We got back to the hotel and I hopped in the shower, where I had my third unthinkable thought of the trip (it's impressive that I had any thoughts at all considering the time of night). When I got out I decided to pitch my idea to Kaitlyn.

Me: So... what would you think about rearranging our morning fastpasses tomorrow to the afternoon and sleeping in?
Kaitlyn (muffled underneath her covers): ... you can DO that?!
Me: Yeah, well we couldn't move our Frozen fastpass but that one is late morning so we can just leave it.
Kaitlyn: Wow... okay!

So, ladies and gentleman, we slept in at Disney Does this mean we're getting old?

Thoughts on the day? We had a lot of fun despite it being deathly hot outside. I am still glad we took the time off in the middle of the day to go back to the hotel and get ready for the party. The party was really fun. I would definitely do it again, just maybe not in the next few years - I'd rather spend my money trying new Disney things. We didn't get a ton of candy because the lines seemed so long which was too bad. It is crazy how time flies when you're at the party. You think you have so much time to get stuff done but all of sudden the evening is almost over. I remember that being the case for previous parties I went to and Kaitlyn commented on it this trip as well. Oh? And those people who moved the chairs for Boo to You, definitely did NOT put them back. I gave them a very pointed look as they left those chairs behind. I feel like I complained a lot about this day, but we had a blast as always

Coming up? Epcot, finally!

 

[Swissmiss]

Sleeping in does not mean you are getting old, it means you are just getting wiser

 

[riverside]

I LOVE HalloWishes. It is SO good.

Agreed!!

I still have the song stuck in my head

You & me both!!

 

[AKemily]

Sleeping in does not mean you are getting old, it means you are just getting wiser

Hahaha phew! Thanks for the reassurance @Swissmiss

You & me both!!

It's unbelievably catchy!

 

[AKemily]

Day 5: EPCOT!!

After a little bit of sleeping in we got up for our Epcot day in time to catch the 10:00 bus. This morning we had BY FAR the longest security line of the trip. Not sure if it was the time of day or if we were just unlucky. Kaitlyn actually got in a different line than I did and my line took a lot longer than hers. I had the misfortune to get in the line with the slowest security guard of all time. Finally when I was about 3 people from the front (I expected this would probably take another 10 minutes), the line next to me opened up and I got through super quickly.

We scanned our bands at 10:42AM. Our first fastpass, which was for Frozen was at 11:15 so we had a bit of time. We made a quick stop at Starbucks and then headed in the direction of the World Showcase.

I had complimented Kaitlyn that morning on her "Coco" dress. She informed that it, in fact, was not a Coco dress, it just had a Mexican design. That didn't stop me from making her stop for a photo in front of the Coco sign in her "Coco dress". I told her that if she didn't want people thinking she had a Coco dress, she probably shouldn't have worn it on our Epcot day.

And, after exploring the Mexico pavilion for a bit, she found that they carry pretty much the identical dress. You can see on her face how she felt about that.

We enjoyed looking at the different things in the Pavilion and reading the interpretive material for a while.

This might be my favourite pavilion. I like that it is indoors but is rarely crowded. It makes for a very nice atmosphere.

 

[AKemily]

Next we had to hop on the Gran Fiesta Tour. And we got to see our friends!

I love this ride. I can't believe that so many people don't ride it. I love Coco but would be sad if they did an overlay on this ride. The Caballeros are just too cute.

 

[AKemily]

Next, we headed to Norway for our first fastpass.

When getting off FEA, I noticed I had a text from @krause.

The love between sisters continues to go unmatched.

We then looked at our fastpasses and decided to move our Nemo fastpass up to 5 minutes from the current time so we could move to that area of the Park next. On the way, we participated in a first for me - Club Cool! I had always wanted to do this but kind of always forgot about it once we were in the Park.

Bibo was my favourite. And Beverley was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be considering the reviews. I probably wouldn't choose to drink it, but I didn't hate it.

Then we continued to Nemo.

My favourite part of this ride is at the end where Nemo and friends appear to be in the fish tank. But it's impossible to get pictures of

I thought this would be a funny shirt for some men.

 

[AKemily]

We then explored the Seas for a little while, and saw my favourite, the manatees

Kaitlyn grabbed a fruit & cheese plate from The Land Cart and we sat near the Imagination pavilion while she enjoyed it.

I wasn't very hungry but decided I'd try my first F&W dish as well. I got the Mac & Cheese from the Active Eats booth. It was good but pretty spicy. If it wasn't a hundred degrees outside I probably would have enjoyed it more. I would probably give it another shot in the future.

Then we headed to Soarin'.

It was a good ride as always. The line was about 30 minutes long but we played the line game on our phones and it flew by pretty quickly. When we got off we wanted to ride Living with the Land but I think the line was about 25 minutes long and we figured we could find a shorter line later.

We walked in the direction of Spaceship Earth which we had a fastpass coming up for and ended up wandering around the Art of Disney store for a while. They have a lot of cute stuff in there which I wish I could both afford and figure out a way to get home in my carry-on.

 

[AKemily]

We then carried on to SSE. We were still too early for our fastpass but the line was short so we got in anyway. We ended up adjusting our FP+ to one for Illuminations so we were happy with that

We decided we would do MS:Green then. Kaitlyn hadn't done the new mission and I don't mind this ride.

I'm not sure why I took this picture or made this face, but I must have taken it for you guys, so here you go :

We enjoyed our spin around the world and afterwards wandered around the Festival Centre for a bit, and then Mouse Gear. I noticed at this time that the Universe of Energy was completely gutted.

We then headed back to the World Showcase to try a F&W booth or two. Our first stop was Hawaii. Kaitlyn wanted to try the Passion Fruit Cheesecake and we were going to share the Mai Tai. This is where I met a woman who gave the rude guy at Hollywood Studios a run for his money. While that guy was obstinate, this woman was just mean. So we got into the line and I believe there were four cash registers at this booth. As we neared the front of the line, it was quite bottlenecked and crowded. One of the CMs called the next person in line. No one went and no one was directly in front of me so I went ahead. I started to give the man my order and that's when I heard, "HEY, LADY. YOU TOOK MY SPOT IN LINE." I heard it once or twice more and it took me a little while to realize that I was "Lady" and when I took a look around to find the source of the voice I noticed it was the woman at the fourth cash register (I was at the first). Shocked, I said, "Oh, I'm sorry, I had no idea."
Woman: "Yeah, well you did. You took my spot." (She was speaking rather loudly as she was mad and was speaking across at least two other registers.)
At this point, I really wasn't quite sure what to do. I had apologized, and hey, we were both at the front of the line, what did she want me to do, switch cash registers with her?! The CMs were obviously confused at this point too, and mine asked me what she was going on about. I said to him, "I guess I took her spot in line."
Woman: "YES. YOU DID TAKE MY SPOT."
My CM, quietly: "I... do not like that." (referring to this woman's behaviour)
This woman made all cast members and all guests in the near vicinity feel extremely uncomfortable in a matter of seconds, all because I made a small misstep. To be honest, my interaction with her really did put a damper on my day. It made me very upset that anyone could be that angry in Disney World and it still makes me upset thinking about it.

To top it off, my Cast Member informed me that my Canadian driver's license wasn't an adequate form of ID and I would have to provide my passport if I wanted to purchase a drink. Well I hadn't brought my passport with me that day and neither did Kaitlyn so that kind of put a damper on the F&W Festival for us.

The cheesecake was good though.

It didn't do much to raise my spirits, however, so I decided something else would be required. We made a quick detour out of Epcot to experience another first.

 

[AKemily]

Have you guessed where we were going?

If you guessed Ample Hills, you were correct! I needed some serious ice cream therapy.

The walk to the Boardwalk was HOT but totally worth it. We decided to share a flight and each picked our top 3.

Here's what the different kinds were, going clockwise in the picture below, starting with the orange one (I also put our initials beside for who picked them): Sally Sells Seashells (K), Nonna D's Oatmeal Lace (E), PB Wins the Cup (E), Ooey Gooey Butter Cake (E), Malty Salty Pretzel Punch (K), Baked/Unbaked (K)

They were all good but I think my favourites were the Oatmeal Lace and the PB Wins the Cup. SO good. We enjoyed the scenery while trying not to get completely covered in melted ice cream.

We noticed they were getting ready for a wedding at this pavilion thing:

After our delicious detour, we headed back to the World Showcase. The walk back felt much shorter with our satisfied bellies.

While I was super full, I knew I had to get the cheese bread from the Brazil booth. It's sooooo yummy.

I was even able to get us a seated table near the booth. I could have lingered there a long time but knew that tables are hard to come by at the F&W (this apparently didn't occur to the girl stretched across the entire length of a bench nearby).

 

[Songbird76]

Day 5: EPCOT!!

After a little bit of sleeping in we got up for our Epcot day in time to catch the 10:00 bus. This morning we had BY FAR the longest security line of the trip. Not sure if it was the time of day or if we were just unlucky. Kaitlyn actually got in a different line than I did and my line took a lot longer than hers. I had the misfortune to get in the line with the slowest security guard of all time. Finally when I was about 3 people from the front (I expected this would probably take another 10 minutes), the line next to me opened up and I got through super quickly.
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We scanned our bands at 10:42AM. Our first fastpass, which was for Frozen was at 11:15 so we had a bit of time. We made a quick stop at Starbucks and then headed in the direction of the World Showcase.

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I had complimented Kaitlyn that morning on her "Coco" dress. She informed that it, in fact, was not a Coco dress, it just had a Mexican design. That didn't stop me from making her stop for a photo in front of the Coco sign in her "Coco dress". I told her that if she didn't want people thinking she had a Coco dress, she probably shouldn't have worn it on our Epcot day.
View attachment 325956

And, after exploring the Mexico pavilion for a bit, she found that they carry pretty much the identical dress. You can see on her face how she felt about that.
View attachment 325957

We enjoyed looking at the different things in the Pavilion and reading the interpretive material for a while.
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This might be my favourite pavilion. I like that it is indoors but is rarely crowded. It makes for a very nice atmosphere.

So, basically, she was wearing a Coco dress...she just didn't know it was a Coco dress until you told her?

 

[Songbird76]

We then carried on to SSE. We were still too early for our fastpass but the line was short so we got in anyway. We ended up adjusting our FP+ to one for Illuminations so we were happy with that
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We decided we would do MS:Green then. Kaitlyn hadn't done the new mission and I don't mind this ride.
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I'm not sure why I took this picture or made this face, but I must have taken it for you guys, so here you go :
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We enjoyed our spin around the world and afterwards wandered around the Festival Centre for a bit, and then Mouse Gear. I noticed at this time that the Universe of Energy was completely gutted.
View attachment 326005

We then headed back to the World Showcase to try a F&W booth or two. Our first stop was Hawaii. Kaitlyn wanted to try the Passion Fruit Cheesecake and we were going to share the Mai Tai. This is where I met a woman who gave the rude guy at Hollywood Studios a run for his money. While that guy was obstinate, this woman was just mean. So we got into the line and I believe there were four cash registers at this booth. As we neared the front of the line, it was quite bottlenecked and crowded. One of the CMs called the next person in line. No one went and no one was directly in front of me so I went ahead. I started to give the man my order and that's when I heard, "HEY, LADY. YOU TOOK MY SPOT IN LINE." I heard it once or twice more and it took me a little while to realize that I was "Lady" and when I took a look around to find the source of the voice I noticed it was the woman at the fourth cash register (I was at the first). Shocked, I said, "Oh, I'm sorry, I had no idea."
Woman: "Yeah, well you did. You took my spot." (She was speaking rather loudly as she was mad and was speaking across at least two other registers.)
At this point, I really wasn't quite sure what to do. I had apologized, and hey, we were both at the front of the line, what did she want me to do, switch cash registers with her?! The CMs were obviously confused at this point too, and mine asked me what she was going on about. I said to him, "I guess I took her spot in line."
Woman: "YES. YOU DID TAKE MY SPOT."
My CM, quietly: "I... do not like that." (referring to this woman's behaviour)
This woman made all cast members and all guests in the near vicinity feel extremely uncomfortable in a matter of seconds, all because I made a small misstep. To be honest, my interaction with her really did put a damper on my day. It made me very upset that anyone could be that angry in Disney World and it still makes me upset thinking about it.

To top it off, my Cast Member informed me that my Canadian driver's license wasn't an adequate form of ID and I would have to provide my passport if I wanted to purchase a drink. Well I hadn't brought my passport with me that day and neither did Kaitlyn so that kind of put a damper on the F&W Festival for us.

The cheesecake was good though.
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It didn't do much to raise my spirits, however, so I decided something else would be required. We made a quick detour out of Epcot to experience another first.

Wait.....so she was already at the front of her line and was mad that you went ahead when no one moved? How was that "her spot"? At least the CM didn't give in to her ranting. When we were in DLP last year, a woman was standing in line in front of us, then handed us the printed menu and got OUT of line...like...left. Then came back and demanded her spot back, BUT, the stupid thing is that we let her back in and there was one guy in front of us who had been there the whole time, but she calls a CM over to complain that he cut in front of her. The guy was flabbergasted because he even said it wasn't that big of a deal to him...he didn't believe he cut, but if she wanted to get in front, she could...and she kept complaining that the guy, who was offering "her spot" back, even though it wasn't her spot, until the CM took her order manually and handed it in, so she got served before all the other people who were in front of her. Then another lady complained that some people, who were escorted by a CM and had a handicapped person in their group, were brought to the handicapped line, which happened to share a register with the queue this lady was in. They were the only people in the handicapped line, so they got to order right away, and this made her mad, because she had been standing in the line. I told her, they were brought in by the CM to this register, because it is the one equipped for handicapped guests....wide enough for wheelchairs, and also had special services for blind/deaf people....it was marked with a sign. She still complained, and even though she was several people in back of us, the CM took her order, and she got her food before we even got to the counter to order. It made me want ask her if she realized that she just effectively did to us exactly what she was complaining those other people were doing. She was asking to jump ahead of other people in the line. I swear some people are just on their worst behavior on vacation. They forget everyone else paid a lot of money for a vacation, too.

 

[AKemily]

So, basically, she was wearing a Coco dress...she just didn't know it was a Coco dress until you told her?

Haha pretty much!

Wait.....so she was already at the front of her line and was mad that you went ahead when no one moved? How was that "her spot"? At least the CM didn't give in to her ranting. When we were in DLP last year, a woman was standing in line in front of us, then handed us the printed menu and got OUT of line...like...left. Then came back and demanded her spot back, BUT, the stupid thing is that we let her back in and there was one guy in front of us who had been there the whole time, but she calls a CM over to complain that he cut in front of her. The guy was flabbergasted because he even said it wasn't that big of a deal to him...he didn't believe he cut, but if she wanted to get in front, she could...and she kept complaining that the guy, who was offering "her spot" back, even though it wasn't her spot, until the CM took her order manually and handed it in, so she got served before all the other people who were in front of her. Then another lady complained that some people, who were escorted by a CM and had a handicapped person in their group, were brought to the handicapped line, which happened to share a register with the queue this lady was in. They were the only people in the handicapped line, so they got to order right away, and this made her mad, because she had been standing in the line. I told her, they were brought in by the CM to this register, because it is the one equipped for handicapped guests....wide enough for wheelchairs, and also had special services for blind/deaf people....it was marked with a sign. She still complained, and even though she was several people in back of us, the CM took her order, and she got her food before we even got to the counter to order. It made me want ask her if she realized that she just effectively did to us exactly what she was complaining those other people were doing. She was asking to jump ahead of other people in the line. I swear some people are just on their worst behavior on vacation. They forget everyone else paid a lot of money for a vacation, too.

Yes, she was at the front of the line, yelling at me from across all the cash registers between us If she got to the front of the line more than 10 seconds after I did, I would be very surprised. She was not held up at all. In fact, she was long gone by the time we were out of there (thank goodness, I did not want to see her again!). While I definitely didn't deserve to be on the opposite end of her bad day, I mostly felt bad for her. I'm sad that something in her day or life made her think it was okay to talk to me that way. It was also sad that she didn't just put a damper on my day, but potentially on other's days as well.
It's disappointing to hear that you have seen very similar situations. I don't get why people get so obsessed with being "cut" in line, especially by only one or two people. Their complaining about it takes longer than if they were to just wait for those people to make their order. At least it is the exception, not the rule.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Oatmeal lace ice cream is the best at Ample Hills! (Great now I'm hungry....)

 

[AKemily]

Oatmeal lace ice cream is the best at Ample Hills! (Great now I'm hungry....)

Haha your trip reports were the reason I needed to go there and try it! And you were not wrong- it is so good!!!