Trip Report **Completed** It's My Birthday (and its a hot one...)!

Hey guys my computer isn't here yet but I really want to start my TR so I'm slowly uploading pictures hoping my computer can handle it :rolleyes: So, it will be a slow start but here we go!!

Who?
Just my Mom and I (Mary and Megan)...as if you don't know us by now :)
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When?
July 4- 14th!

Where?
The Polynesian :)

Why?
I'm off all summer and I always wanted to go to Disney for my Birthday so why not!

T-1 Day
I finished residency the Friday before leaving but this day was insane for me trying to get a bunch of training and applications done before I left. I was also trying to finish ALL our packing...since we are not light packers...:joyfull::joyfull: These are just my two suitcases
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Anyway we were finally all set to go and we were out for a quick walk before bed when my sister called me and told me Max (my nephew) was having trouble walking. :( Long story short she had to take him to the ER but it all turned out OK and it was just swelling in his knee from his recent ear infection. Luckily we knew all was OK by like 10:30 and could still get some rest!

Day 1 - July 4, 2017
We had a later flight (aka not 6 am) so we could sleep in a bit, but we were going to Disney so I still woke up at 6am :) I still didn't drag myself out of bed until 7 am though, don't worry :)
We got ready and took our usual "kidnapping" pictures :)
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Soon enough it was 8 am and we were off to the airport !
Southwest in our airport had a new self check in thing so we tried it out. This gave my flash backs to when I flew out of Canada to Punta Cana and struggled with self check-in but this was much easier and it only took me a few minutes to figure out the luggage tags :) The whole thing, however, made my Mom very nervous so she was glad I was doing it :p
When we brought our luggage to the counter the worker was saying that we MUST be going to Disney World (based off the DME tags and the Minnie Mouse suitcases) and how he and his coworkers go to Disney several times a year too :) We were lucky to have TSA pre-check and the TSA worker was so sweet about our matching shirts and saying she loved them. Anyway, the whole experience was very pleasant and I looked at my phone when we were through and it was 8:27 am. Drove to airport, checked luggage, and went through security all in 27 minutes :)
We were pretty hungry so checked out the Anchor Bar's breakfast menu but we were not feeling it (and we are creatures of habit) so went to get our usual bagel breakfast :)
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Petey was there of course
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We enjoyed our bagels then headed to our gate to wait. It was a VERY slow airport day (probably since its a holiday) so it was kind of nice to relax in the quiet. Soon enough we were on the plane!
When I got up in the morning my Lambie (yes I have one) was on the floor by my carry on. I had no idea how she got there but it was like a sign that I had to bring her so I did :)
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Magic Bands unite!
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We were lucky enough to be seated in row 3 and there was a dog behind us which made it even better :)
Our flight was actually about 20 minutes longer than usual but we entertained ourselves with The Keepers from Netflix (love that you can download stuff to use offline) and we had a fantastic flight crew!
You all know what happens first at the airport (well besides the bathroom...)! The fonorail!!
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Next up: down to DME!
 
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Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 4 July 7, 2017
Woohoo it was Animal Kingdom day! We got up around 7:00 and had a quick croissant breakfast at Capt. Cooks before heading to AK!
We were joking about taking our usual picture with the "Have a Wild Time" sign but when we got off the bus it was gone :jawdrop:. Oh well!
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We got some PP pictures taken but the website is down right now so I can't pull them up :)
We got there before opening so we decided to go to the back and rope drop the safari (while everyone else was in Pandora lines)
I like this fake giraffe in the grass :joyfull:
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We waited for about 20 minutes before the park opened but we were in the shade so we didn't care :)
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We headed into the safari as soon as it opened and we were pretty close to the front so it wasn't very crowded! However, that did not stop us from being squished into a row with other people :banghead: Why do they do this!?
Needless to say I didn't get many pictures but we still enjoyed our safari!
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This is the best picture I could get of the elephants :) (trying to avoid getting our bench mates heads in the pictures :joyfull:)
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Next up: more AK
 
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Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 4 continued
It was finally time for us to see Pandora and we were so excited! We wanted to take it all in first, but I couldn't resist a few pictures!
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I don't think words could truly describe how incredible this area is. Sometimes you take for granted how special Disney is and we haven't seen a full new land (aside from New Fantasyland I guess) in so long I think I forgot how amazing Imagineering really can be. You really do feel like you walked into the movie! This makes me extra excited for Galaxy's Edge!! The whole area isn't huge, but its also not as small as I thought it would be based off people's descriptions :) The water features and the flowers everywhere are amazing. I could go on forever about this so I will stop here :)
We did get a PP picture which I will share when I finally get the website to work.
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It was time for our Flight of Passage FP after this so we headed into the line and took some pictures along the way :)
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I'm going to stop here since I'm out of room on my old computer and waiting for my new computer adapter to come today :)
Next up: Flight of Passage review
 
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amjt660

Well-Known Member
Day 4 continued

I don't think words could truly describe how incredible this area is. Sometimes you take for granted how special Disney is and we haven't seen a full new land (aside from New Fantasyland I guess) in so long I think I forgot how amazing Imagineering really can be. You really do feel like you walked into the movie! This makes me extra excited for Galaxy's Edge!! The whole area isn't huge, but its also not as small as I thought it would be based off people's descriptions :) The water features and the flowers everywhere are amazing. I could go on forever about this so I will stop here :)

BCDD
You have been to DCA and Carsland
I assume you have been to both IOA and USF to the see Potter (?)

Where do you put Pandora in terms of immersive qualities?

I truly felt like I was in Radiator springs and in Hogsmede/Hogwarts/Diagon Alley when I first "turned the corner" and entered these other lands.

Just curious of your take and comparison

Max
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
BCDD
You have been to DCA and Carsland
I assume you have been to both IOA and USF to the see Potter (?)

Where do you put Pandora in terms of immersive qualities?

I truly felt like I was in Radiator springs and in Hogsmede/Hogwarts/Diagon Alley when I first "turned the corner" and entered these other lands.

Just curious of your take and comparison

Max

I have actually never been to Universal (the horror I know) but I felt like it was more immersive than Cars Land only because in Cars Land you could partially see other lands whereas in Pandora you feel like you are isolated in a whole new world! In terms of theming I thought they were pretty equal because I thought Cars Land was pretty darn awesome too :)
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Just like the lady in front of you I always go to Disney in July wearing a long sleeve shirt and pearls. :rolleyes:

I actually took a picture of her ridiculous outfit while we in line because she was also wearing heels :joyfull: I refrained from posting just so I wasn't too mean :) Her outfit was super cute but not at all appropriate for a theme park! I actually saw her and her husband later at the California Grill and she looked miserable. Wonder why :p
 

Zipadeelady

Well-Known Member
I actually took a picture of her ridiculous outfit while we in line because she was also wearing heels :joyfull: I refrained from posting just so I wasn't too mean :) Her outfit was super cute but not at all appropriate for a theme park! I actually saw her and her husband later at the California Grill and she looked miserable. Wonder why :p
:hilarious: NO Way!! I was actually gong to say "I bet she was wearing heels" but I thought I shouldn't be too mean!! :joyfull: Why would anyone do that in July. I can understand getting dolled up for a nice dinner but not mid day in July.
 

amjt660

Well-Known Member
I have actually never been to Universal (the horror I know) but I felt like it was more immersive than Cars Land only because in Cars Land you could partially see other lands whereas in Pandora you feel like you are isolated in a whole new world! In terms of theming I thought they were pretty equal because I thought Cars Land was pretty darn awesome too :)
I agree with you on the being able to see other lands at DCA
I realize your travel plans are based on a Disney AP but I still think you should try to spend a couple of days in IOA/USF to check out Potter.

Max
 

Shane7694

Well-Known Member
Day 4 continued
It was finally time for us to see Pandora and we were so excited! We wanted to take it all in first, but I couldn't resist a few pictures!
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I don't think words could truly describe how incredible this area is. Sometimes you take for granted how special Disney is and we haven't seen a full new land (aside from New Fantasyland I guess) in so long I think I forgot how amazing Imagineering really can be. You really do feel like you walked into the movie! This makes me extra excited for Galaxy's Edge!! The whole area isn't huge, but its also not as small as I thought it would be based off people's descriptions :) The water features and the flowers everywhere are amazing. I could go on forever about this so I will stop here :)
We did get a PP picture which I will share when I finally get the website to work.
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It was time for our Flight of Passage FP after this so we headed into the line and took some pictures along the way :)
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I'm going to stop here since I'm out of room on my old computer and waiting for my new computer adapter to come today :)
Next up: Flight of Passage review

Agreed... I think they did a fantastic job on Pandora.. I'm not really sure why people are complaining about it..
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
:hilarious: NO Way!! I was actually gong to say "I bet she was wearing heels" but I thought I shouldn't be too mean!! :joyfull: Why would anyone do that in July. I can understand getting dolled up for a nice dinner but not mid day in July.

I mean I wore heels in Disney once and it was to Victoria and Alberts :) I can't imagine having to walk around a park like that!!!
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I agree with you on the being able to see other lands at DCA
I realize your travel plans are based on a Disney AP but I still think you should try to spend a couple of days in IOA/USF to check out Potter.

Max

I know, I know. I really need to break out of the Disney bubble I just can't bring myself to waste my precious Disney days...
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 4 continued
Woohoo photo pass is working again and I got the part I needed for my computer so I can get back to writing ! (just a short post though because the download thing is driving me nuts right now haha)
Here are some of the PP pictures you missed out on earlier
Usually my hair does well in heat...but not this trip :joyfull:
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The Pandora pictures literally look fake. When I posted them on Instagram I made sure to note that it was a real background (just not a real banshee :joyfull:)
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Ok anyway back to where I was. One last line picture! I can't wait to eventually wait in stand-by for this attraction so we can see the que. But, for now, I was happy to skip the 250 minute wait :)
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We actually had a quick FP line because we were a party of two and we could skip ahead! The whole pre-show I thought was cool! The ride vehicles were interesting but not as uncomfortable as I thought. The ride itself was incredible. It is for sure my new favorite ride in all of Disney World! I don't want to spoil it for people so I won't go into too much detail but I think my friends here at home are sick of me talking about it :p I assure you all I am not a cryer (even though it seems I cry all the time at Disney), but I cried during the ride I was just so amazed by it - thats how incredible I thought it was :joyfull:. All I'm going to say is that its a must-do!
After the ride we explored the gift shop and the land a little bit more. I really wanted to buy a banshee but really didn't need one and my Mom kept telling me it was a waste of money since I am not a small child :rolleyes:
We did check out the Pongu Pongu because I wanted to see the drinks but we didn't get any at that time and decided to get them when we came back in the evening later in the week.
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Eventually we had to say goodbye to Pandora and head to our next FP - Everest!
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We had some pretty annoying people in line for Everest with us which was annoying because we were in what I like to call a slow pass line (i.e. when the line takes forever). Specifically there was a small boy behind us who was practically leaning up against my Mom. :eek: Its 100 degrees outside ! Personal space is essential!!! For some reason, even though she has been on it a million times, my Mom held my hand going down the hill :joyfull:
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After Everest we had our final FP coming up but had like 20 minutes to wait (with me moving it up). Here is a direct example of our faces when dealing with the heat :):p
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Next up: something new for us!
 

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