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.
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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. :inlove:

Us with our Chinese take out!
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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!
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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!
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Magical Express load went quick and soon we were HOME!
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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.

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Next up: Disney Springs!
 

MinnieM123

Premium Member
After our jungle trek, we had a fast pass for Everest so we went back there. Then onto the Gorilla Falls Exploration trail. We enjoy these trails a lot, especially when it isn't too hot out and it was hot but not too bad yet.
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This little guy was so ugly he was cute!
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I like how these two looked all snuggled up.
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The meerkats were very active, the one in front reminded me of my dog. She likes to lounge and sometimes has a look like that on her face that is like "yeah, I know I'm cool."
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After seeing the gorillas snack we got a snack, and actually my blood sugar was quite low so we grabbed a Mickey Premium bar. We ate it at the Dawa Bar, we were also tempted by some of the drinks at the bar but we decided to just stick to the ice cream.
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We headed around back to Dinoland and Brad bought me my Mickey Premium Bar ears!
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He was also annoyed with his drawstring backpack and decided to invest in another one for the trip.
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Glad he got this one instead. Drawstring backpacks are kinda useless. This one looks more sturdy and comfortable to wear. Nice choice! :happy:
 

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
Thanks so much for reviewing the Caring for Giants tour! I have been thinking about adding that to our agenda in December. I've always loved elephants, so your review and pictures have convinced me. Is there much walking with it? Just wondering about how long it takes to do the tour and can you sit down for a while?
Also, the California Grill is on my bucket list. This is our second trip this year, and we are celebrating our 50th anniversary. So, I think I will knock that off the bucket list and make an ADR for this. One question? What time did you make your reservation so you could see the fireworks from your table? We are early supper people, but would make an exception for the fireworks. Do the CM's mind if you linger over your meal so you can see the fireworks, or do they hurry you along/???
Sorry for all the questions, but a lot to think about:)

There is not a ton of walking on the tour. Once our guide met us we walked backstage to a tour bus and we were driven to where the elephants are. Then we did walk up a ramp to the elephant viewing area. The viewing area was shady and there was a bench, to sit on in that area. We did take steps back to the bus but the guide asked us if we were okay with steps otherwise we could have used the ramp again. I don't know if the bus could accomodate a scooter, but a quick call could probably answer that when you book. The tour only took an hour and it was an hour well spent.

As for eating at the California Grill, we are early eaters and normally get our reservation at 5-5:30pm. This time our reservation was for 7:15pm. We have never been rushed through any of our meals there. I think if you are seated by the window in a time frame in which the fireworks will be starting soon the server probably expects you to stay in that spot. There are two large viewing platforms for the restaurant too that you can watch from. As long as you have been a customer of the restaurant that day you can return to the restaurant to view the fireworks, this works for brunch as well. Just show your receipt.

And congratulations on your 50th anniversary!
 

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
Love those Minnie ears! so cute!

Thanks! I wish I had the opportunity to wear them at home but I would probably get some strange stares! There are prominently displayed in my living room though.

I'm so glad yall enjoyed the Caring for Giants tour! R and I loved it in March and it's one that we will probably do again in the future.

I would gladly do the tour again too. When we came back I told my sister about it and she was able to fit it in a couple weeks ago and loved it too.

Those Minnie ears crack me up :joyfull: I might have to get some for my daughter since she is a big Mickey Premium Bar fan.

I think your daughter needs them too. Later in the trip I wore the ears, had a premium bar shirt, and had my picture taken eating a premium bar! I guess I'm a Mickey bar nerd!
 

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
Glad he got this one instead. Drawstring backpacks are kinda useless. This one looks more sturdy and comfortable to wear. Nice choice! :happy:

He doesn't carry a lot of stuff but he enjoyed having a bag in March instead of filling his pockets with stuff. He usually just carries his phone charger, a poncho, and sunglasses case. A couple of the security guards joked with him when they inspected the bag, they joked that they need not bother because he had so few things in it.
 

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
With all our touring around at Animal Kingdom it was time to get lunch. For lunch we discussed 2 places Satuli Canteen or Nomad Lounge. We love the atmosphere and food of Nomad Lounge so that was the winner!

I decided on the beer sampler, mostly because I couldn't remember which of these I liked the best. So when in doubt order the sampler I guess. So which did I like best, it was the Hefeweizen, which is strange for me since I don't usually like Hefeweizen that much.
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We decided to start with bread service and it was good, but not as good as Jiko or Sanaa's bread service.
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We got some poutine, it was kind of artsy poutine in that there was a glob of goat cheese instead of the normal cheese curds that are on poutine. This was good, I wish I hadn't had to share!
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We also got the ribs. These are really good too.
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Oh, and I didn't show hubby's drink.....there's a reason, it was a boring rum and Coke.
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After lunch we walked around to check out the new Up! bird show and checked out this little area around the tree.
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The outside of the theater was cool, and at night it is really interestingly lit up.
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I love Doug! (even though I just met him.....:joyfull:)
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MySmallWorldof4

Well-Known Member
With all our touring around at Animal Kingdom it was time to get lunch. For lunch we discussed 2 places Satuli Canteen or Nomad Lounge. We love the atmosphere and food of Nomad Lounge so that was the winner!

I decided on the beer sampler, mostly because I couldn't remember which of these I liked the best. So when in doubt order the sampler I guess. So which did I like best, it was the Hefeweizen, which is strange for me since I don't usually like Hefeweizen that much.
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We decided to start with bread service and it was good, but not as good as Jiko or Sanaa's bread service.
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We got some poutine, it was kind of artsy poutine in that there was a glob of goat cheese instead of the normal cheese curds that are on poutine. This was good, I wish I hadn't had to share!
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We also got the ribs. These are really good too.View attachment 303517

Oh, and I didn't show hubby's drink.....therpe's a reason, it was a boring rum and Coke.
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After lunch we walked around to check out the new Up! bird show and checked out this little area around the tree.
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The outside of the theater was cool, and at night it is really interestingly lit up.
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I love Doug! (even though I just met him.....:joyfull:)
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There was just one glob of cheese on the poutine?
 

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
A few more pictures from the bird show. And review: I am a little torn about this show. I really am not a big bird fan but I enjoyed Flights of Wonder. It seems like the addition of the characters are cute, but it seems that more focus has been put on Russell and Doug and they don't show as many birds as they used to. I'm glad I saw it, but I wouldn't necessarily carve out a spot for it in my touring plan. And if I do watch it again, I'd be okay with that too. Thoughts of others?

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After the bird show we had a fast pass for Flights of Passage. I do like this ride, but I haven't fallen head over heels with it as others have. I never get motion sick on rides but something about this one makes me a little queasy, I think it is the smell it is a nauseatingly sweet smell. So the sick passes quickly as I get away from the attraction rooms. So I think it is fine, fun, but I'd rather ride Expedition Everest.
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After Everest we snagged a fast pass to use immediately for Navi River Journey, it is a fine little river journey. I wish at loading they wouldn't try to pack as many people as they can into the boats. We ended up with another couple in the back of our boat with us, and it was cozy! After Navi it was time for a little rest/nap at the hotel before an evening of fun.
 

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
After our short rest we woke up to some rain, icky. But we didn't plan to spend much time outside, we had been invited to meet up with @Big Hair and his daughter at the Top of the World lounge. B and I had never been to the lounge or Bay Lake Tower before so we were excited to not only have a meet up but experience something new. The lounge and the fireworks were awesome but the most fun was chatting with @Big Hair and his daughter. They were very kind and generous to share the magic with us and so fun to talk to. Brad and I had so much fun with them! Thank you!

So here are some pictures from the lounge and fireworks.
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Great view of the show
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And all of us together!
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I tried this drink, Monorail Yellow, at the lounge. It was good and very orange juicy.
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Eventually we all had to call it a night. All of us were planning on an early morning at the Studios the next day.
 

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
Day 4: July 8, 2018

Anyway back to day 4.....We got up early because there were Extra Magic hours at the Studios starting at 7am! So no Mickey Waffles this morning, as we were at the bus stop before 6am. We got to the Studios and security at about 6:20am and I thought it was odd that no one was lined up outside the tap points then we notice that people were being let onto Hollywood Blvd. Then as we wandered down to where people were gathered on the Blvd an announcement came on that we were being let into Toy Storyland early as a special surprise. Turns out this happens every morning and EMH would actually be starting at 6:30am instead of 7am. We were both glad that we usually super early everywhere because our goal was Slinky Dog and if we had showed up at 7am we would be 30 minutes late!

So we joined the herd to TSL and we noticed some camera/media stuff set up. Turns out that there as some media event of sorts as people had special lanyards and they all had Slinky Dog ears, and they didn't have to wait in the regular line for the ride.
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An on the go look at the track
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And a pause by the ball as the line got organized.
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On the move again, but a quick (blurry) shot of the soldiers.
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And a look at the herd going into the line.
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I thought this was a cute detail on the back of the wait time sign.
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Now in line and ready to look around the queue.
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Rex at sunrise.
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Ready for my loading instructions.
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ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
Beers not boring? Hrmmph! Your hubby and I could be drinking buddies, we like the same sweet drinks!

Some beers are boring, like Bud light (yuck), Miller light (barely palatable) etc.....but there are many interesting flavored beers as well. I try to go for once with some interesting brews. I do like sweet drinks too on occasion but sometimes it is just too much sugar.
 

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
A few more pictures of queue area. And some super embarrassing pictures but they are fun. While waiting we decided to try the new Play app while in the queue and there are some fun games. As part of the Slinky dog game it sometimes has you take pictures and add things to the pictures to make them funny. This is what we came up with. Don't we look purrty!
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We didn't read the directions on this one and we didn't know what to do with the objects floating past. But you were supposed to put them in the border to complete the frame. It now seems pretty straight forward but my excuse is it was early, I was over stimulated on the new queue/ride, and I hadn't had coffee or Mickey waffles yet. I don't know what excuse B is using.
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Does anyone spy the hidden Mickey in Andy's map of the coaster?
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Cool detail about the dinosaur box...this may come up again in a story.....
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KatieLVT

Well-Known Member
I showed you the view to my left this was another view I had.
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Another view from the table.
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Our entrees came. Brad got some fish thing, I think it was grouper. Again, he liked it I did not try it.
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A few weeks prior I had been in Florida with a friend of mine, we spent 2 nights at Disney and one of those nights I told her (yep I didn't ask) that we were eating here. Then she could see the MK fireworks since we were spending the one day she agreed to go to a park at Epcot. She loved the meal here by the way.... Anyway, I ordered the oak fired fillet with the truffled mash potatoes. That night when I tasted the truffle mash potatoes and the steak with its sauce all together it was heaven! Literally I had goosebumps on my arms. It was so good. So I knew I had to order it again. No goosebumps this time but it was still fantastic.
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It got darker and closer to firework time. I was happy that I didn't have to rush through dessert and we could just take our time and view the fireworks with dessert if need be.
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Yummy french press coffee! I'm strange coffee in the morning helps wake me up and after a nice evening meal it relaxes me.
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The chocolate cake, yummy!
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And time for a show....
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After Happily Ever After we had already settled the bill so we were able to hightail it over to the elevator before the flood of people from the observation deck and to the monorail. We took the bus back to the Music. Because we were in the Might Ducks section of the Movies we were closer to the Music bus stop than the Movies bus stop, it was only 1 1/2-2 minutes walk compared to the 4-5 minute walk to the Movies bus stop. It was a great end to the second day!
That picture of the water with the monorail and boats is awesome! You should frame that one!
 

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
Alright folks get ready to ride!

I love that detail is on the ceiling too!
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First ride! I'm glad we were placed towards the back!
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A bad selfie and off we go!
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I put my camera in sport mode and I didn't look at a single shot until later. I wanted pictures but I didn't want to spend my time looking at the screen so I just moved the camera around and pressed the button. I got some decent shots.
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Good view of Galaxy's Edge.
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ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
And towards the end of the ride....
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I don't think I can say enough about how great Wheezy is at the end, such a great touch!
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We had no idea where the on ride picture was being taken so what you see on our face is our honest reaction to being on the ride. We had so much fun, that by the time we got off the ride at about 6:55 the line was relatively still short so we rode again! Our on ride photo never showed up for that though. Actually, it took some emailing for this one to show up a week later.
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Next was Aliens. Looks like someone is having fun on a spinning ride. :cautious::D
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Then heading to Mania. The wait time said 25 minutes, but it was more like 10.
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And I was the winner. We rode a total of 7 times during the whole vacation and I only lost 2 times. :cool:
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