Trip Report An attempt to live in the moment

Beastly74 · Jan 7, 2024

I wanted to see the new Finding Nemo show but it was going to be another hour so we decided to walk around a bit and visit the Jungle Trek.

We got decent seats for the show and enjoyed it but I miss the big pelican puppet.

On our way back to EE for another ride we noticed Russell taking a boat ride around the lake. Dug must have been too scared of the water.

Our picture of the 2nd EE ride did not come through.

We were getting hungry so we decided to head to Satu'li Canteen.

I love the food there but Brian just thinks it is okay. Shrimp bowl with noodles for me and Brian got beef and hash.

I really wanted to ride FOP but the wait time at 6:30 was still quite high (I think it was over an hour) and if it was true then the plans I had for the rest of our night would be ruined so we opted to cut our losses and leave.

We didn't accomplish much on our short visit to AK but we were hoping to make it back another day.

Beastly74 · Jan 8, 2024

My crazy plan was to head back to HS so that we could see Fantasmic and it actually turned out to be a great idea. We got there before 7:30pm and had time to do a little shopping and 3 rides in an hour. I think the weather helped because it was a light drizzle most of the night. We were able to ride TOT, MMRR and TSMM before the show

.

We enjoyed Fantasmic but really missed the dragon at the end

. Not sure if the dragon is gone for good but hoping it will come back.

It was a fantastic first day and I felt like we got a lot done. So was I able to live in the moment on day 1? Once we rode the 1st 4 rides at the beginning of the day I was able to focus more on just enjoying the moment but I had to continuously redirect my thoughts. Brian also told me I wasn't allowed to talk about the plans for the next day until the night before lol. I have no idea how he can handle not knowing what we are going to do every second of the day. He just follows me and trusts that I will know what I am doing...silly man

.

Tiki Traveler · Jan 9, 2024

I’m a little late but following! Your photos are great! Also, the dragon is back at Fantasmic!

Beastly74 · Jan 9, 2024

Tiki Traveler said:
I’m a little late but following! Your photos are great! Also, the dragon is back at Fantasmic!

Thanks for following and glad you like the photos. I was worried because normally we bring a camera but we opted to leave it home and bring less stuff with us to the parks. Very happy to hear the dragon is back. We love that part of Fantasmic.

Beastly74 · Jan 9, 2024

Tuesday, Nov 14th - Magic Kingdom/Hollywood Studios

We had an early wake up time because MK was opening at 7:30am for resort guests. I think we got up at 6

and left the room at 6:40. We were pleasantly surprised how many buses arrived to take guests to MK from Pop and we managed to get there fairly quickly. Before we left Pop we snapped a quick photo of the Christmas tree that appeared overnight in the lobby.

I was so excited to finally step foot in MK again after 4 years.

Not often we get to see it this empty.

We found everyone

. In no time we were let loose and we headed in the same direction as about 75% of the crowd.

Not sure what Brian is doing in this picture

.
We only had a 15 minute wait but by the time we were done the wait was up to 45 minutes.

Beastly74 · Jan 10, 2024

Our next ride was Peter Pan and it was less than a 20 minute wait.

Next up was supposed to be BTMRR but it was down so we decided on Jungle Cruise.

Look how empty!

After our festive cruise BTMRR was up and running again and it was only a short 15 minute wait

.

Then we followed this fellow to our next destination.

Beastly74 · Jan 11, 2024

Haunted Mansion was a short 20 minute wait. I had mistakenly thought that the Hatbox ghost was going to be there but he only showed up at the end of November. I was hesitant to post our ride picture because it is awful (although it did make me laugh) but I decided to share it so enjoy lol.

Of course I had to drag Brian on IASW-a must do once each trip.

Then we went Under the Sea.

We got a lot accomplished in the morning and I am sure it had to do with the fact it was a party night. We backtracked to CHH for an early lunch.

I got the lobster roll and Brian got the fish platter I think. My meal was good but I remember it being better the last time.

After lunch our Tron virtual queue number was called and our ILL became available at the same time (I forget to mention that I booked a ILL that morning as well as a virtual queue). So we got to ride Tron twice in a row but we only got one picture.

We loved it but well you know the usual complaint.

Since we were in the area we decided to take a relaxing ride on the People Mover.

Beastly74 · Jan 12, 2024

It was a little after 1pm (I think) and we were planning on leaving MK to go to HS but we stopped to watch a show at the castle.

We continued up Main Street when I suddenly remembered there was a souvenir I wanted so we stopped again. It took a while because we had to eat the contents before bringing it back to the resort

.

I keep the bowl by my kitchen sink now.

We had to get a picture in front of the Christmas tree because there was a short line.

Tried to leave again but then Brian reminded me that I wanted to meet Mickey and there was a short wait. The pictures we got are definitely not frame worthy lol.

No idea what I am looking at in this picture.

What is Brian looking at?

And why am I giving a thumbs up?

The parade was going by when we were finally on our way out but we decided to come back on Thursday to watch it.

Beastly74 · Jan 13, 2024

We got our picture taken in front of the 100th sign and then hopped on the monorail to transfer to Epcot.

The plan was to cut through Epcot to take the skyliner back to the resort. Not sure why I chose to do this as it was a long process but we did manage to visit 3 parks in 1 day and we decided to stop and get a picture and ride Spaceship Earth before leaving.

We went back to our room so I could grab a warmer jacket. The days were nice but it cooled down quite a bit at night and there was a constant drizzle again. When we finally made it to HS we did a little shopping and then jumped in the single rider line for Millennium Falcon. After we wandered around and just enjoyed the area.

We continued on to MMRR and then Slinky was up next.

The wait for Slinky was only supposed to be 40 minutes but I find this is one ride that always seems to take longer (at least in our experience). I was planning on finishing off the night with ROTR and we should have had 20 minutes to make it there but the ride photo was taken at 8:54. Do you think we made it back to Rise with only 5 minutes to spare?

Beastly74 · Jan 14, 2024

Lucky for us crowds were at a minimum and by fast walking/jogging we were able to make it to ROTR with 1 minute to spare. There were a few other last minute folks that joined us in the queue and in no time we were enjoying the experience.

After we made our way slowly out of HS. This is definitely my favourite park for Christmas decorations.

I was able to keep myself from always focusing on the next ride/next experience for the majority of the day. Wait times were lower in MK so that made it easier. The only time my anxiety flared up was when we were trying to get to the first ride of the day and when the wait time for Slinky was a lot longer. However the excitement of making it to the first and last ride was also high so it balanced out I think

.

Beastly74 · Jan 15, 2024

Wednesday, Nov 15-Epcot/Magic Kingdom

We left our room around 7:20 and took the skyliner to Epcot. Once again the line was long but it went fast. We made it for early opening and joined the masses to wait for Remy's Ratatouille,

A cute fun ride but in all honestly I was okay with only riding it once this short trip.

After we asked a cast member if it would be faster to walk through World showcase or to backtrack to Canada and go into Mexico to get to Frozen. He said Frozen is down so that solved the problem. We decided to head towards Soarin' and it was a short wait.

Once we left the Land pavilion Frozen was up and running.

This is the only picture I have of the ride queue

.

We were hungry so we got something to eat in Norway for breakfast but I can't remember what.

Then we wandered around Norway and did a little exploring and shopping.

The old me would have been running from ride to ride and always looking for and thinking about the next experience but I was trying my best to break that habit.

Beastly74 · Jan 16, 2024

We went back to Mexico to look around and rode Gran Fiesta Tour.

Dang I love this pavilion. I still remember being in awe when I first saw inside the Mexico pavilion back in 2011. Heck I was in awe of everything lol. I never would have believed that we would make it back to Disney World 5 more times since that trip.

Then we left World Showcase to ride Test Track but we stopped to get a picture of the Christmas tree on the way there.

The wait for the ride was 45 minutes so we cheated and did single rider line again.

If anyone is wondering why I am wearing sunglasses on such an overcast day it is because my allergies were bothering me for the first few days of the trip. It makes my eyes red and itchy and looking like I was smoking something that is legal in my country lol.

Minnie1986 · Jan 16, 2024

Beastly74 said:
Hello everyone!
Our last trip was in December 2019 before the World shut down. Since then both my husband and I have changed jobs to completely different careers and have never been happier. I was super nervous about this trip because of all the changes that happened at Disney World and also because I kept hearing about issues with flights. My anxiety was on high alert while trying to plan the trip and navigate through all of the new information. The one thing I promised myself and my husband was that I was going to try my best to live in the moment and not focus on what we were going to do next. But would my anxiety let me?

Who: My husband and I

When: November 12-20
Where: Pop Century/Cabana Bay Universal
Why: My 49th Birthday

Some sad news first. I had planned on starting this trip report a few weeks ago but our beautiful boy cat, Loki, passed away. It was completely unexpected and we were devastated. We rushed him to the vet thinking he had a urinary tract infection but the test results showed stage 4 renal failure. He did not show signs until a few days before other than sleeping more and eating a bit less but he was also almost 16 years old. We miss him so much .

So incredibly sorry to hear about Loki's passing. Losing a pet is a different kind of pain.

Beastly74 · Jan 16, 2024

Minnie1986 said:
So incredibly sorry to hear about Loki's passing. Losing a pet is a different kind of pain.

Thank you ♥.

Beastly74 · Jan 17, 2024

We were getting hungry again so we stopped for some snacks near Test Track (it was the end of the Food and Wine Festival). We got the fry flight, pickle fries, banana smoothie and I tried the impossible slider. Everything was delicious

.

Brian brain freeze!

Next up was Living with the Land.

And then we finally went on a ride that we had never been on before.

Brian actually liked Figment but I wasn't quite sure what to think, although I do love a purple dragon

.

Finally our ILL was called for GOTG.

WOW! New favourite ride. Song played was "I Ran".

Zipadeelady · Jan 18, 2024

Beastly74 said:
WOW! New favourite ride. Song played was "I Ran".

Wheel Of Time Best Thing Ever GIF by BarkerSocialMarketing

Beastly74 · Jan 18, 2024

I am not sure what time we left Epcot but I know we took the skyliner back to Pop to take a short break and I got something warmer to wear. It was after 6 when we arrived at Magic Kingdom. According to my notes we went on Buzz but no picture and then I wanted a cheshire cat tail. It was not as good as I was hoping but maybe it was because it was later in the day.

7DMT was only a 45 minute wait so we jumped in line,

Photoblocked by my own husband

.

Winnie the Pooh was next followed by BTMRR(no pic) and Pirates.

The wait times were fantastic all night and MK was open until 11pm. We decided to stop for a Pineapple upside down cake with dole whip. We enjoyed it but I will probably stick with the regular dole whip.

We did a little shopping and stopped to visit the Haunted Mansion.

We got stuck for a few minutes at the above scene.

And we nailed another HM photo

.

Beastly74 · Jan 19, 2024

It was 10:20pm when we left HM and I wanted to end the night with one more ride on 7DMT.

The people in front of us were super friendly and made the ride even more enjoyable.

We started to make our way very slowly out of MK. .

So happy ♥

Brian finally dragged me out at 11:45pm.

I had a much more difficult time at MK not running from ride to ride just because the wait times were amazing. I really miss the really late nights at MK. I remember one year only getting back to our resort after 2am. Although I am not sure if I could make it that late now

. Nighttime at the parks is a completely different vibe. We can't afford the Deluxe hotels especially not with the exchange rate. Out of all the changes Disney world made that is the one that ticks me off the most. Sorry just my opinion.

fractal · Jan 20, 2024

Beastly74 said:
It was 10:20pm when we left HM and I wanted to end the night with one more ride on 7DMT.

The people in front of us were super friendly and made the ride even more enjoyable.

We started to make our way very slowly out of MK. .

So happy ♥

Brian finally dragged me out at 11:45pm.

I had a much more difficult time at MK not running from ride to ride just because the wait times were amazing. I really miss the really late nights at MK. I remember one year only getting back to our resort after 2am. Although I am not sure if I could make it that late now . Nighttime at the parks is a completely different vibe. We can't afford the Deluxe hotels especially not with the exchange rate. Out of all the changes Disney world made that is the one that ticks me off the most. Sorry just my opinion.

Couldn't agree more regarding late nights at MK.

Minnie1986 · Jan 20, 2024

Beastly74 said:
It was 10:20pm when we left HM and I wanted to end the night with one more ride on 7DMT.

The people in front of us were super friendly and made the ride even more enjoyable.

We started to make our way very slowly out of MK. .

So happy ♥

Brian finally dragged me out at 11:45pm.

I had a much more difficult time at MK not running from ride to ride just because the wait times were amazing. I really miss the really late nights at MK. I remember one year only getting back to our resort after 2am. Although I am not sure if I could make it that late now . Nighttime at the parks is a completely different vibe. We can't afford the Deluxe hotels especially not with the exchange rate. Out of all the changes Disney world made that is the one that ticks me off the most. Sorry just my opinion.

Trust me, a lot of people agree with your opinion.