Trip Report **Completed** Leave for Disney World on Friday The 13th They Said. It'll Be Fun They Said. A July 2018 Trip Report.

Hello Disney Friends. Welcome to my long overdue trip report!

My daughter @TheMARVELousAllieBrown posted a pre-trip report for this trip.

Here's whatcha need to know:
Who: DD Allie @TheMARVELousAllieBrown, Me Lisa @LisaBelle , DH Paul, my sister Tina @TangledTina, my BIL Mark, my nephew Spence and DS Adam

When: Friday, July 13 :eek:-Sunday, July 22, 2018
Where: The Contemporary Resort Garden Wing
Why: Ten Year Anniversary of our last whole family vacation, Allie's high school graduation and Paul & Lisa's 29th anniversary. In the pre-trip we dubbed it our Vacaygraduversary Trip!
How: Road Trip!
I created treat bags for every state that we would drive through. The idea being that as we crossed the state line we would open the bag and enjoy a treat that is representative of that state. For Ohio, naturally I chose Buckeyes candy.

For Kentucky I chose Ale 8 soda. Bourbon would have been the obvious choice, but since not everyone was of legal drinking age I had to go with a soft drink.

For Tennessee it was Goo Goo Clusters

Georgia was Peanut M & Ms

And Florida would be orange juice from the Florida Welcome Center.
Because we were driving, I placed the small bags inside of an insulated cooler bag to keep the chocolate from melting. I made one bag for our car and one bag for Tina's.

Day 1 Friday, July 13, 2018
Tina and her family live about an hour north of us. They planned to leave home around 7, drive toward Cincy and meet us at the Chick-fil-A at our exit around 8. We were hoping to have breakfast and be on the road by 9. We would spend the night in Valdosta, Georgia and arrive at Disney around check in time on Saturday. Sounds like a great plan, right?
Tina has a tendency to run late, so when she hadn't texted by 7:15 to say that they were on the road, I wasn't too concerned. When I still hadn't heard from her by 7:30 I texted to see how things were coming. Instead of a text, I get a call saying, "Maybe you guys should just leave without us." What????!!!!!! And there goes the plan!
Because there was a medical situation they would be taking a short trip to the hospital before they could leave for the trip to Disney. We decided we would wait it out for a bit so when we left they would not be too far behind us. With bellies full of Chick-fil-A, we were finally on the road at about 12 (about 3 hours behind schedule so not too bad). A bumpy start but glad to finally be en route to the happiest place on earth. We crossed the border into Kentucky about 15 minutes later. We opened our first treat and continued on our way. We had just passed Lexington, KY when Tina called to say that they were on their way! We figured that we should be able to meet up somewhere down the road.
We stopped for an early dinner at a Subway in Knoxville, TN. Back in the car to continue our journey, we decided to enjoy our Goo Goo Clusters for dessert. We noticed the car was not getting cooler. We turned the a/c off and back on again. No cool air. We pulled into a parking lot, turned the car off and back on again. Still no cool air. By now the Goo Goo Clusters and M& Ms are starting to melt and it is approaching 5pm on a Friday night. Adam and Allie researched nearby Firestone Auto Repair shops. The closest one said their a/c charger was not charging. We found another one about 15 minutes away. It was July in Tennessee. It was a lovely sunny day and the temperature was well into the nineties! We were melting by the time we arrived at Firestone.

We arrived hopeful and left with our spirits dashed as the problem was not something they could fix and it would have to be repaired at the dealership. On the road again, we were looking forward to nightfall and hopefully cooler temps. We were forced to ride in style with our windows down to avoid heatstroke. This prevented us from hearing the dialogue from our dvd player. To keep up morale Allie had the aux and we jammed out. We were headed further south and although our spirits were high, the temperature was higher. Our unsuccessful Firestone detour allowed Tina's family to close the gap a bit. By now we were only about an hour ahead of them. Fast forward an hour and Tina's a/c also went out as they drove through Knoxville. Lucky for them, their's was an easy fix and Mark was able to re-charge their a/c. Just before sundown we stopped for gas. At this point we decided it was vital to document our misery. Please enjoy this photo at a gas station somewhere between Knoxville and Atlanta.

Paul and Adam smiling through the pain. So proud of our little troopers!
We forged on and eventually were able to meet up with Tina's crew at a truck stop with a Wendy's around 11pm.

We rallied after our Wendy's pit stop (which was the longest wait at Wendy's on record) and finally made it to our hotel in Valdosta at 3am. Let me say that a shower and air conditioning have never felt so good!
Due to our late arrival we decided to sleep in a bit and would check out at 11 and grab lunch before hitting the road.
 
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LisaBelle

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Tina was the only one who'd seen Avatar. We meant to watch it before we left home but never got around to it. Tina gave us a quick synopsis so we'd know what we were looking at. I thought Pandora was beautiful.





Then it was time for FoP! I didn't get a picture, but the standby time was over 2 hours.

All I can say is WOW! FOP is incredible. I have never experienced anything like it. I was grateful for the FP+, but I think it is one attraction I would actually wait over an hour to experience.
We still had some time until our dinner ADR, but we were hungry so after looking around the FOP shop we were ready for a snack. Luckily we exited right by Pongu Pongu! I was super excited to try everything! We bought several things so that everyone could sample all of the treats.
Allie had the first bite of the pretzel and cheese.

Several of us got the Night Blossom. Some alcoholic and some not.

I don't have a picture, but we also got 2 of the Pongu Lumpia pineapple cream cheese spring rolls.
OMG everything we ate was delicious! I loved the Night Blossom. I think the Pongu Lumpia were my favorite. After we got home I found a recipe for them and we gave it a try. The homemade version was almost as good as the ones from the park.


Up Next. More Pandora!
 
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LisaBelle

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We still had some time before our dinner ADR so we decided to check out the Tree of Life and It's Tough to be a Bug.
I am always in awe of the skill and creativity it took to carve all the animals into the Tree of Life.
















I know that It's Tough to be a Bug gets a lot of hate. I HATE bugs, so I can't believe that I like this show, but I do get a kick out of it. Luckily my kids were never terrified of it. We hadn't done this in a few years, so both Adam and Allie had forgotten some of the parts and were surprised by some of the effects.



We look pretty good with bug eyes!





Up next: Dinner at a new to us place!
 

LisaBelle

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We arrived at Tusker House for our character meal. We'd never eaten here before, but were excited to try it. We were doing the ROL dinner package. None of us had seen ROL, but we didn't want to stand in line for a long time in order to get a seat.

We checked in and had to wait for a few minutes. Paul and Adam checked out the bar. I took a picture of the beer selection, but I didn't write down what the boys got and they do not remember. I love Schofferhofer, but I wasn't feeling great with the heat, so I passed.







Cheers!


We were seated and before long Mickey came to visit!







We all met Mickey, but everyone was taking pictures and I didn't end up with pics of everyone with the Main Mouse.

Donald was next.







Up next: More characters!
 

LisaBelle

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Donald was funny, but I have no idea what we said to him.





Next was Goofy. I told Goofy that he was Paul's favorite and he was very happy to hear it!



Best buddies!





Goofy was upset that I was wearing Mickey ears, so he tried to take them off of me!



I told Goofy that I loved him even though I was wearing Mickey ears. We made up!



Friends again!


Then Daisy stopped by.





Up next: A few more character pictures.
 

LisaBelle

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Daisy was sweet!







I didn't take any pictures of the main course, but several of us loved the salmon. Here are some pictures of the food at the buffet area and someone's dessert plate.











Allie couldn't finish her cookies, so she wrapped them up and put them in her bag for later. She remembered my story of @Tuvalu and the purse grapes so she deemed these "purse cookies".

 

LisaBelle

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
After dinner we relaxed for a few minutes before heading toward ROL.



I'm not sure if we had a FP+ for Everest, but we realized we had enough time for a ride before we had to be at ROL. Now that I think about it, Everest may have been down during our earlier FP+ time and we were finally able to use it. Anywho, Tina, Allie and Paul were a bit too full from dinner and decided not to ride. They went over to ROL to get seats while Adam, Spence and I rode EE. I was seated in the front row with someone from the single rider line. Front row on EE was a first for me. I hate heights, so when we stopped at the broken tracks we were a bit too close to the edge of the mountain for my liking :eek:. It was fun but I don't feel a need to be in the front again any time soon!



It was getting dark and EE looked especially photogenic in that light.



Then Adam, Spence and I headed over to meet Tina, Paul and Allie for ROL. This was the first time seeing ROL for all of us.
The lights dimmed, the music and narration began.









The boats were floating along and then there was either a near miss or an actual collision (I was looking at a different part of the water from where it happened) and the lights came up and all the boats retreated! An announcement was made about the show experiencing technical difficulties. We sat for about 5 minutes and the show began again!





We enjoyed the show and we were glad that we saw it, but it will not be a must do every trip.
 

LisaBelle

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
After the show we were headed to the front of the park with the masses. It was wall to wall people! No one liked being in the midst of the sea of humanity so we bailed off to the side. We noticed that there was a spot with a great view of the Tree of Life and the Tree of Life Awakening show was playing. We stood for quite some time watching the different versions of the show. The crowd was thinning out so we moved to one or two other vantage points of the TOL on our way out.



Someone noticed this hidden Mickey at some point during the evening.



And with that we headed out of AK for the night.

We dropped the kids at the Contemporary and then Paul and I dropped the van off at the Toyota dealership so that the a/c could be repaired. Tina followed us in her car so we could get back to the hotel. We had to talk to a security guard who escorted us to the after hours drop off area for the service department. With that task accomplished we headed back to the Contemporary.

As you may remember, on arrival day my GPS took us onto Disney property in some strange way that bypassed the beloved Disney sign. On our way back to the resort from the car dealership we finally got to see the sign!



I was happy that Paul, Tina and I got to see it, but felt bad that the rest of the crew missed it.

We arrived back at the Contemporary, filled up our mugs and headed for bed.

Up next: Golf and Epcot
 

LisaBelle

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 5 Tuesday, July 17

Adam and Spence planned to play golf this morning, so Tina and I got up with them to make sure everything went smoothly. I knew from reading other TRs that the boys could get free transportation to the Disney golf courses. Once the boys were dressed we headed down to the front of the Contemporary so the boys could take a taxi to the course.
Our dad LOVED to play golf. He taught both Adam and Spence how to play, so Tina and I couldn't help but think how proud he would be to see them heading off to the golf course together 😢.







Once the boys were off to the Oak Trail golf course, Tina and I headed back to the room to get ready for the day. Originally we planned to sleep in while Adam and Spence played 9 holes and then we would all head to Epcot. The night before Allie, Tina and I decided we wanted to get more park time in so we decided to head to the park as soon as we were ready and then the boys would meet us at Epcot in the afternoon.

Once Allie, Tina and I were ready we headed to the monorail. We took a few pics of the mural on the way.










Security before boarding the monorail.



We took a selfie while we waited for the monorail.


We were super excited for some girls only park time. As we waited on the monorail, Tina asked Allie what someone of her generation would call a group of girls. Allie said that we would be called biddies. We decided to call ourselves the "Tres Biddies". We boarded the monorail and "Tres Biddies Hours" at Epcot began.
 

slipperalwaysfits

Well-Known Member
AAAAAAAAAwwwwwwwww...Biddies Hours! I hope it was great! ;)

I LOOOOOOVVVVVVVVEEEEEE Everest, but the front is freaky with the lift hill climb and stopping at the top of the tracks! I'm glad you guys were able to squeeze in another ride before ROL. We love ROL, too but it's not my favorite show.

Pandora is amazing! PERFECT fastpass!

Sweet you had two WDW meetups in two days!

Hope the boys had fun at Oak Trail....that's a sweet story that the grandfather taught them how to play! What a great legacy!
 

LisaBelle

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
AAAAAAAAAwwwwwwwww...Biddies Hours! I hope it was great! ;)

I LOOOOOOVVVVVVVVEEEEEE Everest, but the front is freaky with the lift hill climb and stopping at the top of the tracks! I'm glad you guys were able to squeeze in another ride before ROL. We love ROL, too but it's not my favorite show.

Pandora is amazing! PERFECT fastpass!

Sweet you had two WDW meetups in two days!

Hope the boys had fun at Oak Trail....that's a sweet story that the grandfather taught them how to play! What a great legacy!
Biddies hour’s was a blast. Hopefully I will have time to get that post up tomorrow.
We LOVED FoP! It was amazing! We enjoyed Pandora!
The magic meet ups are some of my favorite memories from the trip. I couldn’t believe how lucky I was!
The boys did enjoy their golf game. I love that my dad passed on his love of golf. It’s great for the boys to share that connection.
 

Tuvalu

Premium Member
This is the Epcot security area, where you were screened (for the second time!) after getting off the monorail. 😉

348061
 

LisaBelle

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 5 Continued
We arrived at Epcot and decided to commemorate our visit with a few Photopass pictures.





Tink wanted to join us!


We noticed that Daisy was out so we went to visit her.



We didn't really have a plan. Our Fastpasses were scheduled for later so we were mainly hoping to shop and maybe try a few new things.

After our visit with Daisy we ran into these guys. We'd never seen the Muppet Lab, so we enjoyed our first experience with them. Beaker is my husband's favorite Muppet character. I was a little bummed that he missed them, but I sent him a picture.





It was hot and we'd never tried the pop in Club Cool so we headed there next.



Tina was the first to grab a cup. Allie and I watched in astonishment as she reached for the Beverly. We glanced at one another, didn't she know? We were giddy with anticipation but didn't want to give it away. I got my camera ready. Would she like it or hate it?





I think the pictures speak for themselves :hilarious:. I hate to admit it, but I knew those images were trip report gold! Sorry to laugh at your misery @TangledTina !
 

LisaBelle

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 5 Continued
Allie and I couldn't let Tina be miserable alone, so we joined her in sampling Beverly. No photographic evidence, but we didn't like it either! We enjoyed trying all the different flavors. I didn't take notes, but I think I liked Melon Frosty the best.



While we were looking around one of the Cast Members noticed the "I'm Celebrating" button on Allie's backpack. He offered her a free Icee to help her celebrate. It was a great little surprise and another example of Disney magic creating happiness.



I love how the circles on the wall make it look like Allie is wearing mouse ears!

From there we headed to Mouse Gear. Mouse Gear may be my favorite shop in all of Disney. As we entered I remarked that walking into Mouse Gear was like boarding my mother ship!



We spent quite awhile looking around the shop. Tina hadn't bought any ears yet, so she tried these. Cute, but she didn't buy them.


I loved these plush Disney snacks. I was really tempted to buy one, but had to admit that I had no idea what I'd do with it once I got it home. I sadly left them behind.




I did have a use for this mug, so I bought that. I love it!



I also bought these magnetic clips. They are hanging in my classroom right now. They make me so happy when I hang up papers.



We were getting ready to head out of Mouse Gear when we discovered that it was raining. We decided to shop a bit longer to see if the rain would stop. After 10 minutes it had slowed down enough for us to venture out for our next attraction.

Up next: The vegetable boat ride
 

slipperalwaysfits

Well-Known Member
Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh the Beverly....at least you all tried it together! Solidarity Biddies! Mousegear, it really is a great store! I tend to drop more money around World Showcase and I think if I have one store where I've done the most damage over the years, it's either the Japan Pavilion or the Art of Disney!
 

TangledTina

New Member
You got away with one here
No picture taking is allowed in security check area
They made it extremely clear to me when I was trying to get a stitch pic in a bag check area

Max
The main reason we took this one, was because my son loves the show The Office. One of us noticed Fran was from Scranton, where the show takes place, so I took this to show him. No spying going on here!
 

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