Trip Report COMPLETED (finally!)....Did we move to WDW? Nope just a two week trip!

Hello WDW Magic friends and welcome to my trip report. I have done a few trip reports in the past of both WDW and Disneyland. My most recent report was a Spring Break trip to WDW. So if you've read one of my reports before....welcome back friends! If you haven't read one before....welcome new friend!

A little background information

People going: Me (Amy) and my husband (Brad), you'll see enough of our pictures later.

"People" we are leaving behind to go on our trip: Our miniature schnauzer Kapono, she keeps trying to come with us though. She stays with my sister and her family and Kapono has some fur cousins to play with there and is well taken care of which is a relief for me and Brad too I guess.

Our travel days July 4 -July 19. The days actually spent in WDW would be the 5th-19th. We live in Wisconsin but very close to Minneapolis/St. Paul so we fly from there. It wouldn't be a bad drive to the airport in the morning, but I like to stay near the airport the night before departure.

Since we were going to be in WDW for so long we got a lot of comments from friends joking with us that we must be moving in, hence the title of the report here.

Our Resort: All Star Movies. We don't spend much time in the room so all we need is a clean place to sleep, shower, and store our stuff. We really aren't pool people, although we do use the pool, but if we built in a lot of pool time we would stay at the Beach Club again! Side note: The first time we ever tried to stay at the Movies we were upgraded upon check in to the Beach Club! We didn't ask for it, the magic just happened, it was the best deluxe accommodations for All Star prices! So now whenever we stay at the Movies we keep our fingers crossed on check in day!

Okay so let's start shall we....

On July 4th we spent most of the day with my sister and her family and left Kapono at her "vacation home" for the next two weeks. We drove up to the Minneapolis airport area by the Mall of America, and made a quick stop at Sam's Club for one more discount Disney gift card. The Sam's Club was closing, actually it was 10 minutes before their posted close time and the lady at the door didn't want to let us in. We literally had to go over to a stand near the register and get a gift card, she even called her manager who said it was okay to let us in. We departed the store 3 minutes before for the posted close time! Take that lady! Anyway, it was dinner time but neither of us wanted to sit in a restaurant we just wanted to relax in the hotel room for the night. So there was a sub place and a Lee Ann Chin (Minnesota based Chinese take out chain), and Chinese won out. So we got our take out and checked into the hotel for the night and ate our take out, and watched a Capital Fourth on PBS. Which was fantastic this year with John Stamos as the host.

Us with our Chinese take out!

Our flight left early, but we are early birds so despite being 5 minutes away from the terminal we got there early. Plus we were too excited to sleep! Funny thing, we flipped on the tv while we were getting ready and the Steve Harvey show was on and it was one of the Epcot episodes from earlier in the year that he was recording when we were there in March. We don't normally watch that show and we didn't go to the recording but we saw it being on as a good sign that the Disney gods were with us!

We arrived in Orlando after an uneventful flight. We enjoyed some movies and tried to nap but again we were just too excited to sleep!

Magical Express load went quick and soon we were HOME!

And despite doing online check in and requesting early arrival our room wasn't ready. But that was fine, we had to stop at the front desk any way. I had lots of gift cards in my purse that we wanted to put on our account, we wanted to decline Mousekeeping, and make sure our room had a good position for the 2 weeks. Now we did decline Mousekeeping but we did have our room serviced twice while we were there. We are fairly neat, and I'm always tidying up the room anyway even with Mousekeeping so we figured we could survive without having it every day. Plus with the extra money we would be able to enjoy a good meal or some good drinks at Trader Sam's. So with all that squared away we put our carry ons with bell services and headed to the bus stop with a quick gander at the gift shop.

Next up: Disney Springs!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

More of July 16, Day 12

So after exiting Rock n Roller coaster I decided I need a little breakfast and coffee. I wanted something sweet and I was now sad that I couldn't get a whoopie pie from Sweet Spells (closed now for a gift shop) or a cupcake from Starring Rolls (closed for seemingly no good reason). But then I remembered that I could get a a Starring Rolls cupcake from Starbucks, but then I would have to get Starbucks coffee. Well, I decided I could deal with Starbucks even though I'm not usually a fan of their coffee. So off I went to Starbucks...

While on Rock n Roller Coaster we were stopped on the ride for a couple minutes and by the time we were off loaded my picture never showed up so I didn't think it would link to my account since I didn't scan my band. So I did a guitar selfie as proof of doing the ride since I so rarely go on it.

I saw these cool kids before going into Starbucks.

Inside Starbucks, never been in here before. I grabbed what was labeled a chocolate peanut butter cupcake. It didn't look like the chocolate peanut butter one I remembered from Starring Rolls, it looked like the butterfinger one. But I though maybe it changed. I also got a non-fancy plain medium roast coffee. I decided to head over to the Echo Lake area with my breakfast because there are always lots of places to sit over there. And there were.

So I found a table and enjoyed my cupcake which did end up to be the Butterfinger one, which really didn't bother me because I like that one too. The coffee was too hot still so I just ate the cupcake.

It may not be pretty but this is the cupcake "broken" into. It sure was tasty.

The view from my table.

By the time I finished my cupcake my coffee was finally getting cool enough to drink. I decided not to sit at the table anymore but I wanted to stay in the area. There was a shady bench nearby so I moved over to that. On that shady bench I had the most relaxing 20 minutes of my entire trip. I spent the next 20 minutes on the bench enjoying my coffee (which actually tasted good despite being Starbucks), enjoying the view, music, and watching people go past. This pathway wasn't super busy but had a decent amount of people going past and most of the people were happy but there were a few in "discussions"!

The time eventually came when my coffee was gone and it was time to move on. But I as I walked away I took a picture of my friend the bench. Hopefully next visit I will enjoy it again.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Day 12 July 16

After leaving my bench I headed over to Star Tours, I had some time to kill before the first showing of Beauty and the Beast and that seemed like the logical choice. Well there was no wait at all for Star Tours and I literally walked right on.

Since Star Tours went quicker than I had planned I had to figure out something to do while I waited for the first show of Beauty and the Beast. What to do, what to do? Oh I know! Despite just having had my breakfast I decided it was Beer O'clock! Baseline Taphouse time!

Cheers! I drank about half and then decided to head over to the Beauty and the Beast to get a good spot to sit.

As I walked into the Beauty and the Beast area so did a big SA tour group. So I decided to check out the celebrity handprints in the area before finding my seat. This would also give the tour group time to find their seat and then I could safely find one away from them.

I did find a good spot and enjoyed the rest of my beer and the show.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

More of July 16, Day 12

After Beauty and the Beast I decided to head back to the resort for lunch and a nap. Brad was headed back to the resort too from his golf. I also had a taste for pizza and I didn't want to walk over to PizzaRizzo from the Beauty and the Beast theater so I figured the resort food court would be just fine, plus I could use my Tables in Wonderland discount at the resort food court.

I waited about 10 minutes at the bus stop, so I amused myself with some random pictures of the area.

And then the bus came...

I should have taken the picture the other way, but I got shirley status. A bus to myself!

And pizza from the the Music's Food Court. I had texted Brad to see if he had eaten lunch yet and if he wanted to meet me at the food court but he said he had eaten with his Belgian friends so it was a solo lunch for me.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Continuing....July 16 Day 12

After our afternoon naps Brad and I headed out together for the day. We headed to the Magic Kingdom because Brad had an appointment at the barber shop. He wanted to get his hair cut on Main Street. I think part of him hoped that the Dapper Dans would come in and sing to him while he got his hair cut. That did not happen but he got a good hair cut and enjoyed the experience. I just sat inside and waited, it was a lot smaller in the barber shop than I expected but it was a cute little place.

Before:

After

Inside the shop

After he was done getting his haircut, the Festival of Fantasy parade was moments away. It had started 15 minutes early because of weather coming into the area. We decided to watch the parade in front of the Barber shop and it turned out to be a decent spot. Plus it was in the shade!

It was strange to see the parade without the dragon, I hope it returns someday soon. It really is the star of the parade.

 

[Zipadeelady]

That is one nice looking Flynn Ryder!

Glad your back!!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

July 16 Day 12

After the parade we decided to get a snack and found a bench near the train station and near the popcorn stand. I sat on the bench while Brad went just steps away to get the snack. I was getting a little shaky with some low blood sugar so I stayed on the bench. Here is the view from the bench.

While Brad was gone I checked my blood sugar and it was low, but I knew I was going to be having some high sugar with my snack so I took a little of my insulin to cover. A moment later Brad appeared without snacks. He was mad! Just as it was his turn to order the popcorn cart closed, the cast member said she couldn't take his order because of lightning in the area. She told him her register shut off automatically. He was mostly mad because he knew my blood sugar was low and he was paying cash so in his mind she could keep the small amount of change to put in the register later and still given him the ice cream & popcorn. And he had been told her his order and then all of a sudden he couldn't be their customer. I acknowledged his irritation but he was still irritated. I had candy in my purse so I knew I could resolve my blood sugar issue but he said no, he promised me a snack and he would get me a snack. So we stormed off to the confectionery and left me on the bench. This time he did return with snacks, prepackaged cookies, he said he would have gotten something "better" but there were too many people in the line for the good candy. I told him the cookies would be fine and thanked him. He was still a little iritated with the popcorn stand closing.

In the time he had been gone the wind had kicked up and I had heard thunder in the area so I suggested sitting up at the train station in case it started to rain. I knew he needed to cool off but I figured getting rained on wasn't going to do it. So anyway, in the end we sat up at the train station and enjoyed our snack and the view for awhile. We had also wanted to wait in the area because an upcoming performance of the Dapper Dans but because of the weather they never came out. Eventually Brad calmed down and realized he had over-reacted to the closing of the popcorn stand and said he felt silly but he was concerned because of my blood sugar. Anyway, while we were up at the train station we had checked the wait times on the app and saw most of the attractions were down (except for inside ones), and rain was still threatening the area so we were comfortable and even though we had ponchos we didn't want to wander around if it did rain.

While we were up there I played around with my camera and it was fun trying different things. So here are a few of those pictures.

Close up of the crowd on Main Street.

It never rained and eventually we wandered out. We wandered through the shops and decided to check out Philharmagic, but when we got there the line was super long so we wandered off.....

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

That is one nice looking Flynn Ryder!

Glad your back!!

Yeah, I though it was a good Flynn too!

Thanks!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

I know I had moved past the parade but I just saw these Festival of Fantasy pictures I wanted to post.

Anyway, as we wondered past Philharmagic we wandered past the castle. Really we had no plan and we were just circling around.

Finally we landed in the Tiki room.

Brad had really wanted to see the Dapper Dans since he was wearing his Dapper Dan shirt so we headed back to Main Street for the flag retreat. We had never watched the full flag retreat before so that was cool to see.

I positioned us in a spot in which the Dapper Dans would at least walk past us and as they did I put the camera on continuous shot in order to get each Dan walking behind Brad. We had one lucky shot with a Dan looking towards us in a shot. So even though B couldn't get his picture with all the Dans at once he did get a picture with them in his special shirt!

 

[riverside]

Starring Rolls (closed for seemingly no good reason).

I know.....I'm still depressed over it....

It was strange to see the parade without the dragon, I hope it returns someday soon. It really is the star of the parade.

I totally agree!! I assumed that they would have a back-up one but I guess not....

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

More of Day 12, July 16

After the flag retreat we decided to ride the train around to Fantasyland Station. Once we were up in the station Brad got a call from a church member. It wasn't a church member that would normally call him, so he figured it was an emergency and returned the call. I entertained myself by checking out the details in the train station.

Luckily the phone call from the church member was not an emergency. So soon we were on the train!

We decided to walk the "secret" path over to Buzz for our fast pass. It was a pleasant pathway and not one that we had actually walked before.

And B's score on Buzz.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

I know.....I'm still depressed over it....

I totally agree!! I assumed that they would have a back-up one but I guess not....

I think it would probably be too expensive to have a back up dragon though.

 

[riverside]

I think it would probably be too expensive to have a back up dragon though.

I thought the same thing.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

July 16

After Buzz we headed to Cosmic Ray's for dinner. Mobile ordering was down but it wasn't very busy at Cosmic Rays and it was in the prime dinner time hours. There were many empty table so I didn't feel bad sitting at one with our condiments while Brad got our food. We got a good table in front of Sonny and while I was sitting there I noticed it was very quiet in the restaurant. Sonny was moving but he wasn't singing! Yikes! That is part of the reason to eat here. Well, no need to worry. I have the audio for the show on my phone. So when Brad brought back our food I turned on the show.

I felt a little weird about playing music in the restaurant but it was the music that should have been playing. So if anyone around us would have complained I would have pointed that out. But actually I think the people around us appreciated it because the tables next to us actually got a little quieter. A cast member that was cleaning up stopped started walking past our table then looked confused. She looked at Sonny and then at us and asked if I was playing the music on my phone. I said yes and she laughed and said that was really cool. She said there had been a flicker of electricity earlier (probably that storm that never really came) and Sonny went down and when he came back on he was moving but they couldn't get the audio. I will say that I didn't play the music very loud I tried to keep it so really we could hear it and if someone had complained about it, I would have pointed out that it was the music that should be playing and then I probably would have turned it off. But no one complained and we enjoyed our burgers and the "show".

We both got the Incredibles super stretchy burger. It was good but needed more of the garlic mayo.

After dinner we wandered aimlessly again and ended up watching the Muppets. The show was entertaining as usual. But now I must complain. It is about something that bothered me and made me confused about people in the Disney parks these last days and couple trips. It is people and their pull behind coolers and sometimes even them pulling carry on suitcases in the parks. This person was even using their hard sided pull behind cooler as a seat! I just don't see why Disney allows these in the parks.

To me this is a safely hazard and something more concerning than strollers and ECV's. At least the strollers and the scooters had a really purpose and they are actually something that is expected to be seen. Strollers are pushed in the front and can be seen easily but these pull behind coolers and wheelie bags trail behind people and are often low and easily hidden by people in crowds. I didn't personally trip over any but I did see people who did. I think these are a safety hazard to the parks and I don't see the need for them in the parks. If people need things refrigerated for medical purposes the Baby Care center or First Aid will do that. People can carry soft side coolers in their back packs or get a locker. They can even leave their coolers in their cars if they brought a large lunch/snacks/drinks with them and can't carry it in a backpack. I did email Disney about this. I didn't hear back from them, nor did I really expect to but it bothers me. Does it bother anyone else?

Anyway, rant over....and now it was time to ride Big Thunder Mt. We made it through right before a large SA tour group, the guide was actually scanning their passes at the fast pass point, he had 100 of them! Luckily we also made it to and through the Haunted Mansion next before them too, as that was their next destination as well!

After Haunted we wandered through Fantasyland and decided to find a spot for Happily Ever After. It was about 35 minutes or so before the show. As we crossed the bridge by Cosmic Rays/Cheshire Cafe towards the castle we saw some seating on a concrete bench that over looked the castle. We decided that while it might not give us a great view of projections we would still be able to see the fireworks just fine. We also knew by this point the hub would be super packed and we didn't want to fight crowds. So we sat here and waited. Brad did go get us a snack, our popcorn and ice cream we had been denied before. While I was holding the spot a guy wanted to sit in the spot I had reserved for Brad. I had my purse ( a Vera Bradley hipster, so not super big) in the spot. I told him I was saving the spot for mu husband and he looked at me and said "Does he need all that space?" Really? My purse is about the size of a notebook! Did he really think two grown men could sit in that spot! So I said yes and moved my purse further over. The lady at the end of the bench just laughed at the guy. He huffed off.

Anyway, it was nice to sit and relax and enjoy sunset on the castle.

While we were waiting we should have noticed something. Something that would really impact our viewing of the show. What is always around in the background at Disney parks.....yep music. Thinking back now, we didn't hear any music. That is because in that area there are NO speakers! So once the show started we could only vaguely hear the music. We thought about moving but decided to stay. I though about putting on my recording but didn't. We know the show and the music enough that we could hear enough to enjoy it. The projections were obscured but still visible. If we had stood up and watched closer to the other side we could have seen more but we enjoying just sitting for the show. The fireworks view was unique though. If it was our first time seeing the show it would have been disappointing but we still liked it. We figured we saw it from a different spot and now we know never to see it there again.

Brad enjoying the show.

One thing about the location though was the excellent access to Fantasyland/Tomorrowland when the show was done. We didn't have to fight the crowds in any direction and we were quickly headed off to our fast pass for Buzz (again). We also had quick access to the bathrooms by the Cheshire Cafe too!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

A few more pictures from our "bad" spot for Happily Ever AFter. Then when we did get to Buzz the Fast pass line was really long, we actually just beat two people getting on that went in the stand by line when we went into the fast pass line. They ended up 2 people behind us in the loading area. How does that work!?

And this was behind us on the bench we sat for the show.

Anyway while waiting we had a fun wall behind us and posed pretty!

After Buzz B wanted to check out the Incredibles merch at Star Traders. He didn't buy anything but noticed a Star Wars name tag on one of the cast members. Turns out it was a new AP tag for sale at the shop by Space Mountain. It was one he didn't have yet so we went over there so he could get it. It didn't take long to get his name engraved in Star Wars language and soon we were headed out of the park for the night and day 12 was in the books.

And on the way to the Space Mountain store we saw this lady with her carry on suit case! Did she think she was going to actually travel to space and needed to bring her outfits with? I just don't get it. Why do people need rolling bags!?! ( I did look to see if was for an oxygen tank or something and it was not.)

Coming up.....Celebrating Disneyland's birthday in Walt Disney World!

 

[susan lees]

Continuing....July 16 Day 12

After our afternoon naps Brad and I headed out together for the day. We headed to the Magic Kingdom because Brad had an appointment at the barber shop. He wanted to get his hair cut on Main Street. I think part of him hoped that the Dapper Dans would come in and sing to him while he got his hair cut. That did not happen but he got a good hair cut and enjoyed the experience. I just sat inside and waited, it was a lot smaller in the barber shop than I expected but it was a cute little place.

Before:
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After
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Inside the shop

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After he was done getting his haircut, the Festival of Fantasy parade was moments away. It had started 15 minutes early because of weather coming into the area. We decided to watch the parade in front of the Barber shop and it turned out to be a decent spot. Plus it was in the shade!
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It was strange to see the parade without the dragon, I hope it returns someday soon. It really is the star of the parade.
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dapper indeed

 

[MinnieM123]

I decided to hit up Hollywood Studios and got there a little before 6:30. The crowd was a little more pushy today walking to Slinky Dog. I was walking at a nice even pace and this guy kept trying to push past me and eventually stepped on the back of my foot/ankle taking off part of my shoe which shows how close he got. He wasn't sorry at all and told me that is what I should expect in crowds. Ummm, no there is no reason to expect that you should be pushing at me and stepping on my foot.

He was a JERK. Any decent person would have apologized to you for that. I find his attitude disturbing.

Loving your updates and photos! So much to comment on, and I'll have to catch up tomorrow. But I did want to mention Brad and the popcorn. He was trying to get you a snack, and was disappointed when the register shut down--even for cash, apparently. Probably under different circumstances, he would have easily just shrugged it off. It was because he cared about you, that he focused on it. I can relate. If I can't get something for myself, I usually can find something else, but if I'm trying to get something specific for someone else and it fails, then I feel like I let the person down.

 

[joejccva71]

Great trip report!

Question....during the Movie Magic at Hollywood Studios, did they play the theme from the Black Hole? They did in May when I was there and I think I was the only one in the crowd who immediately recognized it. I even said outloud, "OMG THE BLACK HOLE" and my friend who was with me looked at me strangely...so did alot of other people.

Way to go ol' Bob!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

dapper indeed

He says thank you!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

He was a JERK. Any decent person would have apologized to you for that. I find his attitude disturbing.

Loving your updates and photos! So much to comment on, and I'll have to catch up tomorrow. But I did want to mention Brad and the popcorn. He was trying to get you a snack, and was disappointed when the register shut down--even for cash, apparently. Probably under different circumstances, he would have easily just shrugged it off. It was because he cared about you, that he focused on it. I can relate. If I can't get something for myself, I usually can find something else, but if I'm trying to get something specific for someone else and it fails, then I feel like I let the person down.

Yeah I kind of figured that guy was a jerk for stepping on my foot, I could have said something to him but I didn't. He did get a look though.

And you are right with Brad and the popcorn. I knew he was only mad because he was concerned, he was just trying to take care of me which I appreciated. He was just so upset about it and I knew I'd be okay and just wanted him to calm down. And later when he did he said he mostly regretted what a jerk he had been to the cast member when he knew she wasn't to blame either. In a way it was just so strange to see him so upset, he is usually so easy going. But I know he worries about my blood sugar dropping too low and me passing out or worse, it hasn't happened but it is his fear. I'm just a lucky girl that he cares so much.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Great trip report!

Question....during the Movie Magic at Hollywood Studios, did they play the theme from the Black Hole? They did in May when I was there and I think I was the only one in the crowd who immediately recognized it. I even said outloud, "OMG THE BLACK HOLE" and my friend who was with me looked at me strangely...so did alot of other people.

Way to go ol' Bob!

I don't outright recognize it but it could very well be in there a little bit. I'll have to listen the Movie Magic again. I can imagine your happiness at hearing the Black Hole is how I get when Zorro comes on the screen/theater!