Trip Report A Very Merry Sweet 16!!

And we are off…

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Figment Forever

Premium Member
Original Poster
As we got closer to the American pavilion, we noticed the line had already started for that night's storyteller. We headed into the American pavilion. I was hoping to see the voices of liberty, but they weren’t performing at the time. Instead, we went into the theater to relax and watch the show.

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After the show, Ross got the turkey meal from the food booth and Julia and I split one of the snickerdoodle cookies. This was my least favorite cookie out of all of them.

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Figment Forever

Premium Member
Original Poster
We had a really good time walking around the world showcase. I noticed that the older Hop gets, the more enjoyment we get out of walking around the park and enjoying different things, especially in world showcase.

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The sun was going down by the time we made it to the UK. We watched the band play for a little bit. Funny story, my mom‘s best friend’s oldest son used to perform in the Beatles group here. He was the Paul McCartney of the group. And the same best friend’s younger son used to be a monorail driver.

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By the time we made it to Canada, I was ready to bust – I was so full! But Hope and Ross had room for the beef dish. And Julia and I couldn’t turn down the peppermint cookie. This was actually one of my favorites. I had watched a bunch of videos where a lot of people said they did not like this one. That it was too strong of peppermint taste almost like toothpaste, but Julia and I both love peppermint, which is probably why we enjoyed it so much!

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Figment Forever

Premium Member
Original Poster
We headed into the non-world showcase part of Epcot. I can’t figure out anything else to call except it future world. We went to Communicore Hall to check out the stuff there. I was so excited to get the cookie bin that they had for the festival. Unfortunately, I was told that it sold out within the first two weeks of the festival, and there were no more coming in!

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We watched the countdown and waited to see the gingerbread show. It was very nice. I enjoyed it. I still think that this new space could be so much more, but I guess they’re working on it.

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We went to visit Figment. And I have to say, they had a ton of his sweaters available for purchase, but it just wasn’t my style, so I didn’t buy one.

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Figment Forever

Premium Member
Original Poster
We went into the disability viewing section. It’s nice because we could just sit right in the back up against the storefront and not worried about being smashed between people. We had more about an hour to go before the show. Ross and Hope were happy just to chill out. Julia and I wanted a beverage so the two of us had it out to get something.

Julia got a peppermint shake. It wasn’t something advertised, they had the peppermint sundae, but she asked if they could do it in a shake and they said yes!

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I was craving one of the empanadas from Mexico, so I walked over that way and picked one up along with another holiday Margarita. I was hooked!

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We rejoined Ross and Hope and soon it was time for the show.

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It was OK. It’s growing on me a little bit.
 

Figment Forever

Premium Member
Original Poster
When it was over, we made our way out via international Gateway. But we weren’t heading back to POP yet. We had more gingerbread to see!

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We walked over to the Beach Club to see the carousel. It was amazing! I think I could’ve stood there for an hour and just taking in all the different details of it.


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The treat shop was already closed, so we couldn’t buy any treats there. We did walk over into their gift shop area. I had never been there and it was weird how it was a combination of a gift shop and their quick service. We walked around a bit before making our way back to the Skyliner and back to Pop.

Time for bed and to re-energize!
 

RememberWhen

Well-Known Member
We headed into the non-world showcase part of Epcot. I can’t figure out anything else to call except it future world. We went to Communicore Hall to check out the stuff there. I was so excited to get the cookie bin that they had for the festival. Unfortunately, I was told that it sold out within the first two weeks of the festival, and there were no more coming in!

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We watched the countdown and waited to see the gingerbread show. It was very nice. I enjoyed it. I still think that this new space could be so much more, but I guess they’re working on it.

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We went to visit Figment. And I have to say, they had a ton of his sweaters available for purchase, but it just wasn’t my style, so I didn’t buy one.


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I so had hoped for a figment sweater. Not because I love the design, but it’s such a nice subtle Disney shirt (no giant Mickey Mouse). Alas, by the end of December they only had sizes that wouldn’t fit me.

And now they have the new Passholder shirts with figment on the back and my pass expires in a week! Just not my luck.

Love hearing about your Epcot adventures. We caught a couple of the storytellers. I really liked the Norway Barn Santa. That was cute.

Can’t wait to hear more!
 

Tuvalu

Premium Member
After that, we made our way to Soarin…. We were so excited to get the middle section row 1!

The new scene changes are interesting. But I swear, things still look bendy to me.
Only the Paris scene and World Celebration (aka Future World 😉) have changed, so other things will still look bendy.

I think it’s ridiculous that times for the Holiday Storytellers aren’t posted in the app. For future reference, pick up a Times Guide (by the park maps) which lists the entertainment schedule.
 

Figment Forever

Premium Member
Original Poster
Only the Paris scene and World Celebration (aka Future World 😉) have changed, so other things will still look bendy.

I think it’s ridiculous that times for the Holiday Storytellers aren’t posted in the app. For future reference, pick up a Times Guide (by the park maps) which lists the entertainment schedule.

Ahhhh that explains it!

I kept thinking about the time guide… but never remembered when we were near them! But yes, I would think they would be posted in the app!
 

Figment Forever

Premium Member
Original Poster
I so had hoped for a figment sweater. Not because I love the design, but it’s such a nice subtle Disney shirt (no giant Mickey Mouse). Alas, by the end of December they only had sizes that wouldn’t fit me.

And now they have the new Passholder shirts with figment on the back and my pass expires in a week! Just not my luck.

Love hearing about your Epcot adventures. We caught a couple of the storytellers. I really liked the Norway Barn Santa. That was cute.

Can’t wait to hear more!

Oh bummer! That's a shame! It seemed like they sold out of a bunch of items. When I was there, they had also sold out of all the passholder pins! I was so hoping that I would like the sweater, but I knew I would never wear it! I don't think I've seen the new Figment shirt?? Do you think you will renew your passes?
 

Figment Forever

Premium Member
Original Poster
Day 3 - December 11

My morning started similar to the previous morning, with my alarm set for 6:30, 6:45, 6:55, and 6:59. However, I was on my own this morning. Ross was fast asleep. Nonetheless I managed boarding group 35 for even a bigger prize than yesterday‘s ride on guardians. For my girls, even more important than a trip to Xandar was a trip down the Bayou with Tiana. Although Hope had the chance to ride it in September, she was just as excited to ride it with Julia as Julia's first time. Aside from Tinker Bell, Tiana is Julia‘s favorite. Plus, Julia‘s animator part of her was very curious to see all the screens and new advancements from Splash Mountain.

I had considered buying the multi-day pass for having a guarantee ride on Tiana. However, I just couldn’t do it. It would’ve been $35 per person plus tax for the four of us. Seven days before our trip, I logged on with full intentions of buying it. Fueling me was the knowing that it would give us a guaranteed ride and I would not have to worry about missing out on The 7 o’clock virtual queue drop. However, as I went to buy it, I started to think about the fact that come that day, we may only be getting those three rides that I picked originally. It was a busier time of year and from what the Youtubers were saying, there wasn’t a lot of choices left the day that you were actually using the pass. The thought of only having to choose between MILF or Dumbo, wasn’t setting well with me mostly because I know Ross would be pricing every single ride from that original price of the multi-pass, so I did not go forward with the purchase.

I was very happy with my success and with a secured virtual queue, I closed my eyes for about 30 minutes more.

We left our room a little after 9:30 for a 10 o’clock ADR at Steakhouse 71. This would be another first for Julia. Steakhouse 71 has become a favorite for me, Ross and Hope. And Julia was very excited to experience it.

More impressive doors from our neighbors. This one particular neighbor was actually giving out pixie dust. A postcard, a candy cane, and another trinket in each bag. I thought that was so impressive!

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There was a huge crowd for Magic Kingdom, but three buses pulled up with the fourth one following!

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Once we got to Magic Kingdom, we walked on over to The Contemporary.

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Figment Forever

Premium Member
Original Poster
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We were seated almost immediately and had the same waitress that we had on a previous trip.

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Hope started off with a fruit plate and then had a kid's scrambled egg meal. She scoffed it all down!

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I had Walt’s prime rib hash with a side of their seasonal pancake, which was a sugar cookie. I had been hoping they would have the same flavor, gingerbread, as they had in the previous year, but no such luck.

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Chili got buttermilk pancakes with bacon and Ross got an omelet.

It was all excellent! I keep saying that I want to try this place for lunch or dinner, but when I make our plans, I just can never find the time to work it in. It’s so much easier to figure in breakfast plans.
 

Figment Forever

Premium Member
Original Poster
I was stuffed after breakfast, but it was so delicious! We went upstairs to the fourth floor to check out the gingerbread display.

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It was absolutely stunning! I liked it even better than the previous year. We took a few pictures before Hope talked me into going into the gift shop.

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She remembered they sold Lorcana cards there and she had earned a few packs from the day before. They didn’t have the most recent series so I told her to pick out two packs and wait until Disney Springs to get the rest. She was happy that she got a legendary card as well!


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We used the restroom downstairs before heading out to Magic Kingdom. I was thankful to have the walkway because I needed to walk off some serious calories!
 

Figment Forever

Premium Member
Original Poster
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Our boarding group for Tiana had been called, but luckily enough they paused it. I suppose the ride must’ve gone down. Which worked in our favor because I knew we would’ve missed it by over an hour and I did not know how they were about letting in late returns these days.

There was no question as to which action would be our first.

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Ross and Hope were in fall Mike Wazowski attire!

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As we were waiting for the show to start, Ross‘s image popped up on the screen, apparently having the urge to get up and dance. Unfortunately, he was a party pooper and did not get up.

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Figment Forever

Premium Member
Original Poster
After Monsters, we rode Buzz.

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It stopped for a bit and I was able to get this close!

When we went to walk out of the ride, it was pouring outside! We donned our ponchos and made our way over to the bathroom by Space Mountain. We took cover for a bit outside the bathroom because the downpour was so fierce. When it calmed down a little bit, we hightailed it over to Carousel of Progress. It was a full show!

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When the show was over, the rain had calmed down quite a bit and we walked over to Space Mountain.

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Figment Forever

Premium Member
Original Poster
Then it was time for another first for Julia. She had not yet seen the new version of the Country Bears.

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Like the rest of us, she enjoyed it very much, but still missed the older version… especially Big Al’s song. Although I have to admit, if they had to give them any song, I think they chose the right one. But why did they have to take away Trixie‘s wine glass??


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We decided to head on over to BTMR. Hope wanted to go visit Tom Sawyer Island one more time before it closed. She hadn’t been there since she was a very little. And doesn’t have very many memories of it. I love Tom Sawyer Island, but it’s one of those things that we never take the time to do since Julia was little. So I was completely on board. I told Hope we would go visit after Big Thunder.

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Figment Forever

Premium Member
Original Poster
While we were online, I got a notification that Tiana was back up and running. So we decided we would go there as soon as we were done with the wildest ride in the wilderness.

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Now, I have to say, it was a very chilly day. I had become paranoid that we would get soaking wet on Tiana and not have any dry clothes to change into. I really didn’t want anyone catching a chill. I was the wimp and put on my poncho for the ride. I tried to convince Julia and Hope to put their ponchos on too, but they decided along with Ross not to wimp out and refused. So at 5:01pm we boarded our log completely dry.

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We were fortunate and did not get heavy splashes for the first few drops. And then I held my breath as we approached the hill for the main drop. We started to make our way up and I was just praying that no one would get soaked. It was so chilly outside!

I held my breath as we neared the top and prepared to be the next log to drop. Suddenly our log paused. The pause went from a few moments to minutes to several minutes. It became very apparent that there was a problem. Soon the animatronics stilled, and the music went off.


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I knew what was happening… and Hope knew it too because she was exclaiming , “We are going to get evacuated!” While every other human we were surrounded by was rumbling and upset, Hope was most ecstatic! Yes, my child, the same child who couldn’t even deal with an omni mover ride pausing for a brief moment, now was excited to be evacuated off every ride.

The lights came on and soon the announcement was made. “Full power down!” and every cast member was instructed to return to the tower - whatever that meant.

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We sat there and waited. And finally, two cast members came gave us the speech of all cameras and phones away. They instructed as what was to be done and how they were going to release us from our log. They got us out and we made the descent down. Hope needed a little extra care as she was very excited and we did not want her to jump into the scenes of the ride. She did great though. She was actually handling it much better than several adults that surrounded us.

The woman in front of us was taking pictures of her camera the whole time. Even as the cast members were announcing to put everything away. I snapped one picture and Ross was quick to scold me. We exited backstage.

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Julia and I reminisced about the time we were also evacuated from Splash Mountain. Although I have to admit, this was a little more dramatic being the next log to drop. We were pretty high up and in a rather uncomfortable position to sit for so long. Once we were outside and backstage, cast members met us and scanned our magic bands for a lightning lane to return at a later time. Unfortunately, it never did reopen that day.

Julia was sad and Hope was even more sad for her. Even the excitement of being evacuated could not take away the unhappiness that Julia did not get to experience the end of the ride!

And the salt into the wound?… it was 6:10 when we got to the boats for Tom Sawyer Island only to see that the last boat left at 6 PM!
 

Figment Forever

Premium Member
Original Poster
We figured it was a good time to go get something to eat so we headed on over to Columbia Harbor House. I got the kids salmon, Hope had chicken tenders. Julia had a shrimp platter and Ross got the lobster roll. Everything was really good. I have to say, the kids portion of the salmon was more than enough to fill me and I was really happy with it.

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Before walking over to the castle to watch happily ever after, we took a ride to Neverland.

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