Trip Report *COMPLETED* Seriously...How is our Luggage Still Not HERE?! An August Trip Report

Hi everyone!

We have been back to reality for a little over a week now and while I still have yet to download all the photos we took during our recent trip to the World, I wanted to get started on detailing what was really an amazing trip.

Now, I must preface this report by saying that while the title of the report does play into our trip, which I will explain throughout, the trip really played out practically perfect in almost every way.

Ok, here we go...Our trip took place between August 3 through the 13th. Here is the cast from our last trip to Disneyland last August during the 60th Anniversary.

From left to right on your screen: Kelly, Lennon, Ella and me (Matt).

Originally we had booked the trip from the 4-13th in a studio at the Polynesian Villas. Upon booking, maybe a month or two later, we decided to add another day onto the trip and booked our first night at All Star Movies resort before moving the the Poly for the remainder of the trip the day after arriving.

I had detailed the our plan in this pre-trip report should you want to see the itinerary we had set out months in advance of the actual trip.

So let's jump in!

August 3 - Travel Day

After months of build up and anticipation the day had finally arrived. We live way up north in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada so making the trek down to Orlando is not always the easiest and definitely not the quickest so whenever we come the WDW we always make sure to stay long enough to really justify the long travel day.

Kelly and I were up around 4 am (MDT) to get ready, pack the vehicle and get the kids up and on the road by 530 to head out to the airport which is about a 45 minute drive from our house. Thankfully the kids were more than happy to get up early knowing they were heading to Disney World and after eating a small snack in the car we arrived well in advance of our 830 am flight from Edmonton to Houston.

Here we are killing some time in the airport waiting to board our first leg.

After small breakfast and some time spent calling the grand parents to say goodbye we were boarding our flight to head down to Houston. We ended up flying United as the options to get to Orlando from Edmonton are pretty limited. United has never been our air carrier of choice but in the spirit of giving credit where it is due this was the first time we took a trip using United that absolutely nothing went wrong and the service was great.

Lennon seemed pretty happy up in the air even if she was up early. We had no doubt that Ella was going to be very well behaved throughout the entire trip but Lenny is a major wildcard. Her mood changes at the drop of a hat so we didn't know what to expect from her while we were gone. Thankfully we were off to a good start!

After close to a four hour flight we touched down in Houston. We departed the plane to find out we would be getting right back on the same plane to head over to Orlando so that made things much easier plus it made for losing our luggage almost impossible. After about an hour layover and a really, really bad airport sandwich we jumped back on the plane for the second leg of the trip. After a four hour flight to get to Houston, the two hour jaunt to Orlando seemed like a breeze. The flight was pretty smooth and soon enough we were descending into MCO!

We touched down around 6 pm Orlando time and made our way to the airport monorail over tot he main terminal to jump on the Magical Express. We have never taken the Magical Express from the airport to the hotel and I must say it was a very nice treat bypassing the luggage carousel and heading straight to our bus.

After a short 10 minute wait we jumped on our bus and were on our way to All Star Movies!

We ended up sitting behind a young family from the DC area that was heading to Movies to celebrate their daughter's 6th birthday. Ella and the young girl started talking through the chairs and asking each other all sorts of questions during the drive. She was happy to have made a new friend!

After stops at Coronado Springs, All Start Sports and Music we arrived at All Star Movies around 730. We checked in and picked up or Magic Bands before making our way to our room int he Toy Story section. We were in a room on the first floor right outside the courtyard with all the big Toy Story characters. It was actually pretty cool to see these types of displays throughout the grounds. Fun hotel though based on the size of the rooms I am glad we only spent the night before moving into larger accommodations.

After a quick look at the room and some pics in the courtyard we made our way to the food court to grab some dinner. I didn't take any pics of this meal, it wasn't overly exciting, but Kelly enjoyed the homemade macaroni, I had the hot Italian sandwich and the girls, who ate dinner on the bus ride to the hotel shared an ice cream and a bag of cotton candy. They seemed happy with that night cap!

After finishing our meal we decided to walk around the grounds of the hotel and check out some of the other themed areas before killing a little time at the children's playground near the main pool for a little before heading back to our room to pass out.

Our luggage arrived shortly after we returned to the room and after a quick shower we hit the bed to finally get some sleep. No major plans the next day other than switching hotels and we were happy that we didn't have to set an alarm on the first night.

So that was day one, Our very exciting travel day that was thankfully uneventful and really quite smooth. I will have to really get on downloading our pictures to keep this going but will be adding more as the week progresses. Thanks in advance for following along and we look forward to sharing our trip with you!

 

[Matt and Kelly]

August 6 - Animal Kingdom and EPCOT

After a great first day at MK we had plans to hit up Animal Kingdom in the morning and spend the late-afternoon/evening at EPCOT for day two of our WDW park adventure.

It was early EMH at AK but we didn't really feel like getting up as early as we did to hit up MK the morning before so we slept in an extra hour or so before getting up and getting ready to catch the AK bus. As became my morning ritual, I showered and got dressed before heading down to Capt'n Cooks for my morning coffee. I returned to see find the girls pretty much ready to go and eating breakfast before we made our way to the bus stop which was relatively close to our longhouse.

Again, a very sticky morning and I was already getting a good sweat on. UGH! One of the crazy things that happened pretty much all trip was arriving at the bus stop just as the bus we needed to catch was rolling in. We seemed to have very good luck with that though it did make for a mad scramble to remove one of the stroller chairs and fold it up to get on the bus. I was definitely an expert at doing so and didn't mind the slight upper body workout carrying that thing around the buses provided. Lord knows I could use any work I can get on these pipe-cleaner arms of mine.

Relatively empty bus, even after stopping at the Grand, heading to AK. I got lost in thought as we drove by the golf courses that didn't appear to be overly busy either. Really wanted go and play but decided to pass up on scheduling a tee time on this trip. Next time for sure as I really enjoy playing a Disney course when in WDW.

Alas, my visions of birdie putts were replaced by the cranes and new buildings for Avatar land that were evident from our last trip. Looks like they are making really good progress on that area and I am very much looking forward to checking out the new attractions whenever we decide to return next. We arrived and easily made our way through the security line and entrance just after the regular park opening at 9 am. We didn't have any FP+ booked as we saved them for EPCOT later that evening. We did still have those additional FP's that we could utilize if we needed to. First stop was to head towards the Safari...one of my favourite attractions in all of WDW.

Virtually no wait, other than the queue itself, to get on the safari and we were loaded front row onto a waiting vehicle. Guess they didn't want just us to be touring the preserve so we waited around for several minutes to fill the rest of the vehicle with guests who would trickle in. After about 5 minutes we were ready to head out and thankfully the animals were up and at 'em nice and early.

Some really great opportunities to see some amazing animals super close up at times. Even the kids were pretty fired up to see the different animals which was a little different than last trip as I recall Lennon pretty much laying down on my lap and sleeping through the ride.

When we unloaded we came across a gift kiosk selling baby stuffed animals wrapped in a blanket which we couldn't pass without dropping a couple bucks for the girls to get a baby giraffe and a baby zebra. Didn't seem to phase them that we were in Disney and could pretty much get any Disney-themed toy as opposed to something we could easy get at any toy store at home. Apparently they NEEDED these guys for whatever reason. Ok...fine.

We made our way towards Asia after picking up these animals with the intention of riding Kali River to cool off. Another big ride and with a very good chance of us getting soaked and even that didn't scare the kids enough not to at least try it out. Sadly no pictures as we locked up our camera and our phones before jumping on the ride but safe to say we all got wet and, unfortunately for me, I got soaked! Both girls thought that was pretty funny but I wasn't laughing. Good thing it was gorgeous. I dried pretty quickly. It was snack time so we took a quick break from walking to the next stop to enjoy an ice cream bar before heading down towards Everest to try and convince Ella to ride that next.

Before making the trek to the forbidden mountain we ended up stopping by to meet Minnie and Mickey as there was pretty much no line and we wanted to get out of the sun for a few minutes. After a short wait in the queue we were in front of the boss and his best girl. They seemed very impressed with the new stuffies the girls just had to show off!

It was nice to get out of the heat for a bit before continuing on. Back towards Everest we went. I tried to stop and grab a beer on the way over but was rejected as I didn't have proper ID. They wouldn't accept my Canadian drivers license and I didn't have my passport, or a picture of it. While it was nice to look young enough to be ID'd, I was bummed I didn't get my beer. Woulda been so good in the heat! Bah, curse these boyish good looks! Bet if Norma didn't cut out all the grey hair the day before I wouldn't have had an issue.

I thought we had a good shot of getting Ella to ride but when we walked up she bailed pretty quickly. Lennon is still not tall enough for this one so I think that helped make Ella's mind up not to ride. I think maybe the idea of the yeti may have been the last straw but she claims she didn't want to go backwards. Oh well! I knew she would bail on something at some point so I can't really blame her. She's been pretty adventurous to this point. Kelly and I decided not to ride as singles and wait until we came back to AK the next time.

We made our way towards Dinoland after deciding not to wait for the Nemo show. Kelly really wanted to watch but the kids wanted more rides. Only ended up riding the Triceratops Spin before leaving to take in the Tough to be a Bug show. Sucked that Dinosaur was closed while we were there. I quite like that ride, as do Kelly and Ella and I'm sure Lennon would have enjoyed it too but alas, one for next time.

As we walked towards the Tree of Life we noticed that Pocahontas was greeting folks so of course we had to stop for a visit.

Likely the best interaction we'd had to this point. She was great with the girls and took time, not only with them, to really talk to people and have fun with everyone she met. After a shy start at MK, Ella was starting to warm up to the character much like her sister already had. Made for some comical conversations throughout the trip.

Tough to be a bug was the next stop. Busy waiting area with people looking for a reprieve from the heat. Pretty much the entire theatre was filled by the time everyone funneled in and sat down. Lennon is petrified of bugs and we could tell she was definitely a little unsre of what to expect.

They ended up loving the show and I had a huge laugh at how high they both jumped when being stung by the bees and having the beetles walk through the theatre. Plus they both kept reaching out to try and touch the 3D effects during the show. Lennon especially couldn't figure out how something could be so close yet she couldn't quite grab it.

At this point we decided we should probably head back to the hotel for some pool time before visiting EPCOT later in the afternoon. Both Kelly and I were hungry so we picked up a couple of Mickey pretzels and found a quite spot to sit and snack. Not only was I enjoying my pretzel but Kelly had no issue with ordering a beer without being ID'd so I was very happy to savour a safari amber ale along with my food. So good!

Ella showing off her camera skills again...

When we were finished with our "lunch" it was time to find the exit and jump on the bus back to the Poly. Even with the bus sitting at the stop Kelly had to get one last picture as we left the park. Ella the showoff blending in to the surroundings!

We rushed to the bus, hoped on and made our way back to the resort. Again not many folks joining us but as we pulled up to the Poly the mother in the family sitting next to us said "Hey! I know you guys...you're on that blog, right?"

Turns out we had just crossed paths with @JustKeepSwimming and her family! They informed us they had read our pre-trip report and would be keeping an eye out for our trip report when we had the chance to post. Pretty cool running into other members of the forum, even if very unexpectedly. Hope you guys ended up having a great trip!

Now it was time to hit the pool and take it easy for a bit before our EPCOT and dinner at Le Cellier. How cliche for a bunch of Canadians to eat in the Canadian restaurant with so many other options available!

 

[Scoppin]

We were on our way in to be seated for one of our mostly highly anticipated meals of the trip. Kelly wanted to try it out so why not on the first night at the Poly to kick things off right?!

Our host guided us towards the area where the pineapple coconut bread was warming and explained to us that this is customary to serve at the beginning of Polynesian meals before placing one on a plate and leading us towards our table. I must admit it was darn good and even though I knew we were in for a mountain of food I couldn't help going back for more.

We had a really nice table right beside a bay of windows which provided a nice view towards the pool. It was still raining at this point so it wasn't bright and sunny or anything but was still a cool backdrop for the meal. Our server then greeted us and explained what to expect from the meal. I was super tempted to order either the Backscratcher or the Lapu Lapu to drink but ended up being boring and sticking with water. Kelly indulged in a pina colada which was a major surprise to me as she doesn't drink much but she really seemed to enjoy it. I definitely regretted not getting the backscratcher just for the actual backscratcher it came with. Oh well!

We decided to order some kids meals for the girls instead of trying to get them to eat the standard fare and so Lennon had chicken fingers and Ella crushed the macaroni. Both were happy with meals we knew they would both eat as opposed to trying to get them to eat something they may not have liked. From there, the food for Kelly and I started coming and it didn't stop! It's really tough for simply two people to try and eat everything they put in front of you but we gave it our best effort.

Started with the wings and pork dumplings along with the Polynesian salad...AMAZING!

We maybe took on more than we should have at this stage not knowing what else was coming. From there came the steamed veggies and noodles. Both were great though we didn't hit them as hard as the other stuff to the point. Next came the endless supply of steak, chicken and shrimp. There was so much coming so quickly that it was overwhelming. I hunkered in and just kept going so as not to seem rude! That and I am clearly a pig. I'll eat whatever is in front of me!

The steak was fantastic, as was the shrimp. The chicken was good but not as good as the other stuff. At least the girls seemed amused by watching us stuff our faces.

We finally tapped out on gorging on the mountain of food only to have dessert placed before us. Cupcakes for the kids and bread pudding with vanilla ice cream for the bigger kids.

I swear Kelly and I pretty much took one bite of the bread pudding and called it a night but something kept calling to our spoons. We pretty much finished it off before calling for the bill and very gingerly waddling away form what was truly a great meal. I would totally eat here again in the future but would hope to have more than two stomachs trying to house all this food.

It was a little past 630 pm at this point so we decided to make our way downstairs to bell services and check on our luggage. Surely it had to be in the building by now, right?

Kelly went up to ask as I nearly broke on of the couches near the desk. Way too much food. Quickly I realized she was not happy with the answer she received so I made my way over to see what was up only to find out our bags had yet to arrive. Seriously...how is our luggage not here yet? The cast member at the front explained they should be on the way to which Kelly asked if he had actually called over to All Stars to see if that was the case. He had not, which prompted her to ask for the manager. After short disappearance the bellman returned with the manager and we explained what was going on. We were a tad frustrated with the entire day since receiving our room and listed the mishaps, along with our missing luggage, that we had encountered. The manager apologized a number of times and had the bellman call the other resort only to find out our three bags were still sitting in the storage room.

From there the manager asked they be shipped over immediately and again apologized for the inconvenience. He wanted to make it up to us in some way shape or form and his kindness was most appreciated. He ended up giving us three additional no conditions added fastpasses for each of our next three days that we could use as we saw fit and since he knew we wanted to go swimming he allowed us to go into the gift shop and select new swimsuits which they covered the cost to allow us to head to the pool as we had intended to do all day. He was very cordial about the entire process and did a nice job of smoothing over a rocky start to our Poly experience.

Ella, Lennon and I all picked up a new swimsuit but Kelly didn't like any of the styles so she didn't grab one for herself. We were finally off to the pool to enjoy a dip and have some fun. I was very pleased to soak in the hot tub for a bit. Felt good on these old bones. Lennon loved the splash par and Ella must have rode the big water slide about 10 straight times. It was a nice way to end the day.

We decided to head back to the room around 830, hopefully unpack our stuff and get ready for a good nights' rest to get up early for the Magic Kingdom the next day. We were very pleased to find our bags waiting for us when we returned with a note from the bellman saying they were delivered to the room at 8pm. We quickly unpacked and I cracked a beer which was now cold in the fridge that was working again. Then it was off to bed with an early wake up call on the horizon to get us up and ready for 8 am extra magic hour at MK.

Glad you actually asked if they called about your luggage. Some people just brush you off by saying they have when they haven't. Good on you for asking for the manager, showing your frustration but not being overly negative about the whole thing. The manager handled things correctly by not arguing with you and doing everything they could to make you happy. (most good establishments will do their best to correct the matter and then go further to make the customer happy) Nothing like having unhappy costumers to spread negative comments on forums like this one. And I am sure it didn't cost them very much for three swimsuits and the FPs. I am also certain the manager had a conversation with the CM, you were dealing with, regarding the situation and why they didn't follow up on the with the situation as they had told you.

But glad everything worked out for you.

 

[Scoppin]

Finally downloaded all the pictures off the camera and from the Memory Maker this weekend so now I can continue on with our first day in the parks! Seems like we have a lot of photos, may of which I'd love to share so some of these upcoming posts may end up being word-short, picture heavy. Hope you don't mind!

August 5 - Magic Kingdom

Our luggage adventure was finally over, everything was unpacked for the rest of the trip and we were getting up early to make it MK for our first official day in the parks! We had set an early alarm so that Kelly and I could get ready and let the girls sleep a little longer. Again, those two bathrooms in the studio were a massive help. I took over the shower room and Kelly claimed the full bathroom. Was ideal for us all trip.

It doesn't take me long at all to get ready so once I was dressed for the day I slipped out of the room to head to Capt'n Cooks to fill my resort mug with coffee for the morning. The walk from Moorea to the restaurant wasn't an overly short one but I did enjoy getting up as the sun was rising and walking along the path near 7 Seas. Was a pretty picturesque way to start each morning. Plus it was a good kick start for my fitbit step count!

Little blurry but you get the picture. Man, that's such a bad pun.

I got back to the room after my 10 minute hiatus to find the girls were just getting up and they both seemed pretty jacked up to get to the park and hit the rides. We got them dressed, loaded up our park bag and the lunch kit with snacks and made our way towards the resort monorail. Figured that was the best way to kick off the trip though we pretty much stuck to the Ferryboat anytime we visited MK during the rest of the trip.

It was a very sticky morning and by the time we made our way to the monorail area I was sweating like crazy! Seemed to happy like that every morning as my body adjusted to the heat and humidity. Thankfully the AC was blasting on board so I cooled down pretty quickly before arriving at the park. It was EMH from 8-9 that morning and we arrived a few minutes after 8 and just missed the park opening show which we were hoping to catch. Oh well, no worries, the crowds seems pretty light and we were just happy to finally be back on Main Street. Before heading to our first ride we made a very quick trip to City Hall to inquire about a guest assistance pass for Ella. To our surprise we were the only ones in line and a very helpful, friendly Cast Member was more than happy to set us up. Before long we were strolling down Main Street heading toward Fantasyland to ride Peter Pan.

This is the first time I ever recall actually going through the queue to ride Peter Pan and I must say it was pretty cool. Certainly the first time I can ever remember absolutely no line to ride so we pretty much walked right on and were whisked to Neverland. Lenny was my ride partner for our first ride and, as always, we loved Peter Pan. Always seems like the perfect ride to kick off the visit. At least it seems to be whether we visit WDW or DL.

After Pan the girls wanted to swing over to Ariel's Undersea Adventure so we made our way towards that ride after stopping for a couple pictures along the way. We also swung by the Mine Train to grab a return time using Ella's pass to get on in the morning even though we had a FP+ time for just after lunch. While we didn't use Ella's pass obsessively, we did use it to our advantage and it did save us from waiting in too many lines throughout the trip which was a big bonus. We were slated to return anytime after 9 am to ride. Couple that with the three additional FP's we were given for the luggage mix up and the first few days pretty mcuh had no lines for us which was awesome.

Park was pretty much empty still so it was super easy making our way through Fantasyland. Like Peter Pan, Ariel was a walk on and as we exited the ride the line up to meet Ariel in her grotto was non-existent so we grabbed our autograph books and made our way to our first character meet and greet. Ella for whatever reason was very shy but Lennon was a regular chatty Cathy and wouldn't shut up whenever she had the chance to meet a character. It was pretty funny to watch as she'd ask crazy questions or ask them to look at her cool shoes or something like that.

After Ariel it was time to head over towards Lennon's favourite ride, Dumbo. But first we decided to ride Goofy Roller coaster as again there were no lines and I think both gilrs wanted to test out a little more "thrilling" ride, at least to them, to see how daring they could get throughout the trip. Much like the Gadget coaster in DL they loved it and we ended up riding a second time before heading over to the big top to ride Dumbo. No idea why but Lennon loves all things Dumbo. We have seen the movie countless times, she has way too many stuffies on her bed and would probably ride this ride over and over again if she was allowed to.

As you can see, she was pretty excited for her first flight with Dumbo!

After our flight it was time for us to head back towards the Mine Train and really kick things up a notch. The kids were talking tough leading up to the trip saying they'd have no issues with some of the bigger rides but the time for talk was over...it was time to actually do it! Ella seemed ok walking through the fastpass line but Lenny was clearly nervous. Once inside the ride building she grabbed on to me pretty tight and was not really in the mood for riding but being the good parents we are, there was no turning back for her at this point!

Not sure how they felt about their first really fast ride but I'll let you be the judge!

They said they enjoyed it afterwards which was good because we were just getting started with some of the bigger rides! Even though we are only sort of an hour into the fun, we are already having a blast!

Glad to hear everything is having fun shortly into your trip. Your first morning sounds so much like our first MK morning, almost to the tee. Hope we have just as much fun as you had. Can't believe it is less than 2 weeks away.

 

[Scoppin]

After the Mine Train we had our first FP+ booking to make it to so it was off to find the stroller and head off to the opposite end of the park...

Big Thunder was next on the list and since it was closing a few days later for the refurb we were happy to have the chance to ride it before it was shut down. This was Ella's first "big ride" at DL last year so she kinda knew what to expect but Lennon was in for a new experience. Now that she had survived the Mine Train she was acting pretty brave. Walking the FP queue, not needing to be picked up and a big smile on her face.

Very little wait before we were loaded up in the first two rows of the train and we were ready for the Wildest Ride in the Wilderness!

Much like the pictures I posted on from the Mine Train, the look on Lennon's face was pretty much pure terror throughout the ride. Ella was much more laid back having been on the ride before but I don't think Lennon has held my hand so tightly before. She did work up the nerve to put her hands up very briefly at one point which she thought was cool! In the end even though Kelly and I both agreed the ride felt slower than normal everyone came off with smiles on their faces.

We then made the short walk over to Splash to use up one of our additional FP's provided to us. We figured we might as well throw all the tougher rides at the kids and set the tone early since they were taking everything in stride! FP line cruised along as it was still pretty early in the day but it was very hot so Splash provided a good opportunity to cool off a little.

I joked about getting the front row as we made our way through the queue which was not received well byt the rest of the group but low and behold that's exactly where we ended up as we got to the loading area. I was supposed to ride with Ella but she didn't want to get soaked in the front so me and Len piled into the front and were ready to get wet!

I took a cool video of the first drop down the first drop but I don't think I can post videos here so that's too bad. Nonetheless we forged on through the ride and made it all the way to the top of the big drop...

and somehow survived! We did get a little wet but man it felt good. Even Ella didn't seem to mind that she took on more water than she may have expected!

Still my all-time favourite and I am glad I was able to share it together with my girls for the first time.

At this point we had another FP+ booking for Peter Pan but since we already took our flight we changed it up for the Jungle Cruise. We decided to head towards Adventureland and hit up come of the attractions there before our FP window closed. First came Pirates at Ella's insistence which is so funny considering during our last Disney trip she was terrified of the ride but had now somehow become a major fan. For Kelly this ride is take it or leave it, she doesn't much care for it but no Disney trip is complete without at least one voyage on through the Caribbean. After Pirates we hit up the Jungle Cruise for our FP. Park was starting to get busier now that were we beyond mid-morning and the lines were getting longer through the standby entrances. It was a gorgeous day to set sail through the jungle.

Can't recall our skippers name but she was pretty funny. Mostly told jokes we had heard a number of times over but threw in a couple newbies that went over pretty well.

After the Cruise we hopped about Aladdin's Magic Carpets and took a break from the beating sun by ducking into the Enchanted Tiki Room to singalong with the birdies. Always one of my girls favourite attractions and I must admit I find myself singing along as well.

By this time it was after just a tad after noon and we decided to try and check in for our lunch reservation at the Plaza. We arrived about 20 minutes early and had to wait a little bit but at least they had tables set up with big umbrellas to keep us shaded. Felt good to relax for a bit and people watch along Main Street. Nice camera skills, Ella...

Our buzzer started to ring and we were whisked into the glorious air conditioning to a table near the window to enjoy our lunch. I know people have mixed reviews about the Plaza but we have now had lunch there twice and have nothing but good things to say about the food. Was just around this time I received a text from my colleague informing me that our office had been broken into this morning and the intruder ended up taking a bunch of stuff people had throughout their desks. I was fortunate that I had nothing of interest to this person but my colleague had a number of things stolen. Not the best news to receive while on vacation but I was thankful nobody was hurt.

For lunch Kelly ordered a mint chocolate milkshake (delish). The girls enjoyed the peanut butter and jelly sandwich and both Kelly and I ordered the cheese steak sandwich. I had the club house last time and immediately regretted not having the cheese steak upon seeing Kelly's. All the food was fantastic.

Kelly kept receiving compliments from a lot of people throughout the day on the shirt she was wearing so I had to get a good shot of what all the fuss was about

Before we finished our meal one of the CMs approached our table to ask if Ella was a diabetic. She noticed her insulin pump on her arm and wanted to know more about it. She, too, is a diabetic and is on a wired pump so we had a good chat about how Ella's works and how crazy the medical advances have become since the CM was diagnosed decades ago. Turns out we would run into quite a few diabetics during our stay who were happy to speak to us and to Ella about their experiences. Pretty cool.

After lunch we could tell the kids were hitting the wall but we had one more FP+ booking for the Mine Train again that we didn't want to just give up on so we took a trip back to Fantasyland to ride once more before heading back to the Poly for a little rest before returning to MK in the evening.

All this adrenaline was now wearing off as Lennon quickly fell asleep in the stroller as we started walking down Main Street towards the exit. We ended up stopping so that Ella could meet Snow White who was camped out beside City Hall with absolutely no line.

Figured it was wise of us to take the ferryboat back to the TTC and walk down the path to the Poly. I had never been on the Ferryboat until this time but we most certainly took advantage of our close proximity from our longhouse. It's quite the nice relaxing way to get to or from the park.

From there it was time for a cold beer and a little rest as we still had big plans for the evening.

Your MK morning sounds like our scheduled last morning at MK. Looking forward to seeing more similarities.

 

[Scoppin]

August 6 - Animal Kingdom and EPCOT

After a great first day at MK we had plans to hit up Animal Kingdom in the morning and spend the late-afternoon/evening at EPCOT for day two of our WDW park adventure.

It was early EMH at AK but we didn't really feel like getting up as early as we did to hit up MK the morning before so we slept in an extra hour or so before getting up and getting ready to catch the AK bus. As became my morning ritual, I showered and got dressed before heading down to Capt'n Cooks for my morning coffee. I returned to see find the girls pretty much ready to go and eating breakfast before we made our way to the bus stop which was relatively close to our longhouse.

Again, a very sticky morning and I was already getting a good sweat on. UGH! One of the crazy things that happened pretty much all trip was arriving at the bus stop just as the bus we needed to catch was rolling in. We seemed to have very good luck with that though it did make for a mad scramble to remove one of the stroller chairs and fold it up to get on the bus. I was definitely an expert at doing so and didn't mind the slight upper body workout carrying that thing around the buses provided. Lord knows I could use any work I can get on these pipe-cleaner arms of mine.

Relatively empty bus, even after stopping at the Grand, heading to AK. I got lost in thought as we drove by the golf courses that didn't appear to be overly busy either. Really wanted go and play but decided to pass up on scheduling a tee time on this trip. Next time for sure as I really enjoy playing a Disney course when in WDW.

Alas, my visions of birdie putts were replaced by the cranes and new buildings for Avatar land that were evident from our last trip. Looks like they are making really good progress on that area and I am very much looking forward to checking out the new attractions whenever we decide to return next. We arrived and easily made our way through the security line and entrance just after the regular park opening at 9 am. We didn't have any FP+ booked as we saved them for EPCOT later that evening. We did still have those additional FP's that we could utilize if we needed to. First stop was to head towards the Safari...one of my favourite attractions in all of WDW.

Virtually no wait, other than the queue itself, to get on the safari and we were loaded front row onto a waiting vehicle. Guess they didn't want just us to be touring the preserve so we waited around for several minutes to fill the rest of the vehicle with guests who would trickle in. After about 5 minutes we were ready to head out and thankfully the animals were up and at 'em nice and early.

Some really great opportunities to see some amazing animals super close up at times. Even the kids were pretty fired up to see the different animals which was a little different than last trip as I recall Lennon pretty much laying down on my lap and sleeping through the ride.

When we unloaded we came across a gift kiosk selling baby stuffed animals wrapped in a blanket which we couldn't pass without dropping a couple bucks for the girls to get a baby giraffe and a baby zebra. Didn't seem to phase them that we were in Disney and could pretty much get any Disney-themed toy as opposed to something we could easy get at any toy store at home. Apparently they NEEDED these guys for whatever reason. Ok...fine.

We made our way towards Asia after picking up these animals with the intention of riding Kali River to cool off. Another big ride and with a very good chance of us getting soaked and even that didn't scare the kids enough not to at least try it out. Sadly no pictures as we locked up our camera and our phones before jumping on the ride but safe to say we all got wet and, unfortunately for me, I got soaked! Both girls thought that was pretty funny but I wasn't laughing. Good thing it was gorgeous. I dried pretty quickly. It was snack time so we took a quick break from walking to the next stop to enjoy an ice cream bar before heading down towards Everest to try and convince Ella to ride that next.

Before making the trek to the forbidden mountain we ended up stopping by to meet Minnie and Mickey as there was pretty much no line and we wanted to get out of the sun for a few minutes. After a short wait in the queue we were in front of the boss and his best girl. They seemed very impressed with the new stuffies the girls just had to show off!

It was nice to get out of the heat for a bit before continuing on. Back towards Everest we went. I tried to stop and grab a beer on the way over but was rejected as I didn't have proper ID. They wouldn't accept my Canadian drivers license and I didn't have my passport, or a picture of it. While it was nice to look young enough to be ID'd, I was bummed I didn't get my beer. Woulda been so good in the heat! Bah, curse these boyish good looks! Bet if Norma didn't cut out all the grey hair the day before I wouldn't have had an issue.

I thought we had a good shot of getting Ella to ride but when we walked up she bailed pretty quickly. Lennon is still not tall enough for this one so I think that helped make Ella's mind up not to ride. I think maybe the idea of the yeti may have been the last straw but she claims she didn't want to go backwards. Oh well! I knew she would bail on something at some point so I can't really blame her. She's been pretty adventurous to this point. Kelly and I decided not to ride as singles and wait until we came back to AK the next time.

We made our way towards Dinoland after deciding not to wait for the Nemo show. Kelly really wanted to watch but the kids wanted more rides. Only ended up riding the Triceratops Spin before leaving to take in the Tough to be a Bug show. Sucked that Dinosaur was closed while we were there. I quite like that ride, as do Kelly and Ella and I'm sure Lennon would have enjoyed it too but alas, one for next time.

As we walked towards the Tree of Life we noticed that Pocahontas was greeting folks so of course we had to stop for a visit.

Likely the best interaction we'd had to this point. She was great with the girls and took time, not only with them, to really talk to people and have fun with everyone she met. After a shy start at MK, Ella was starting to warm up to the character much like her sister already had. Made for some comical conversations throughout the trip.

Tough to be a bug was the next stop. Busy waiting area with people looking for a reprieve from the heat. Pretty much the entire theatre was filled by the time everyone funneled in and sat down. Lennon is petrified of bugs and we could tell she was definitely a little unsre of what to expect.

They ended up loving the show and I had a huge laugh at how high they both jumped when being stung by the bees and having the beetles walk through the theatre. Plus they both kept reaching out to try and touch the 3D effects during the show. Lennon especially couldn't figure out how something could be so close yet she couldn't quite grab it.

At this point we decided we should probably head back to the hotel for some pool time before visiting EPCOT later in the afternoon. Both Kelly and I were hungry so we picked up a couple of Mickey pretzels and found a quite spot to sit and snack. Not only was I enjoying my pretzel but Kelly had no issue with ordering a beer without being ID'd so I was very happy to savour a safari amber ale along with my food. So good!

Ella showing off her camera skills again...

When we were finished with our "lunch" it was time to find the exit and jump on the bus back to the Poly. Even with the bus sitting at the stop Kelly had to get one last picture as we left the park. Ella the showoff blending in to the surroundings!

We rushed to the bus, hoped on and made our way back to the resort. Again not many folks joining us but as we pulled up to the Poly the mother in the family sitting next to us said "Hey! I know you guys...you're on that blog, right?"

Turns out we had just crossed paths with @JustKeepSwimming and her family! They informed us they had read our pre-trip report and would be keeping an eye out for our trip report when we had the chance to post. Pretty cool running into other members of the forum, even if very unexpectedly. Hope you guys ended up having a great trip!

Now it was time to hit the pool and take it easy for a bit before our EPCOT and dinner at Le Cellier. How cliche for a bunch of Canadians to eat in the Canadian restaurant with so many other options available!

Your AK morning sounding like our AK morning. I am certain DD will be asking for a baby giraffe, as they are her favorite. I am not sure if I should mention the bee stinging portion of 'It's tough to be a Bug' to DD. She has an allergy and get a little freaked out when bees are around.

Enjoying your reports.

 

[Scoppin]

After a few hours of rest, a quick nap for Lennon and some pool, well mostly hot tub, time for Ella and I we were ready to head back to MK for the evening as we had some big plans to round out our first park day. We had no plans for dinner but both Ella and I had haircuts booked at the Harmony Barbershop at 5 pm. Around 430 we jumped on the Ferryboat and made our way back for our cuts.

Was a little gloomy, as you can see above, which ended up being pretty consistent throughout the trip around 3 pm for a couple of hours. It rained a little before we left the Poly but at least the clouds and the rain cooled things off a little bit. As we docked at MK the security lines were pretty much non-existent to enter the park so we decided to take a quick family picture with the PhotoPass photog at the park entrance.

Then it was off to the barbershop for a much needed cut. A haircut on Main Street has become a WDW tradition for me. This will be my third straight trip that has included a cut and each visit here on out will include a visit to Harmony. For Ella, even though she is nearly 6 years old now, she has never had an actual haircut before so this was technically going to be her first haircut! I think she was more nervous for this than she was on any of the rides we've been on so far.

Ella was up first and Kelly was circling like a hawk to make sure everything went as it should! Ella was so freaked out it was actually pretty funny.

She did very well and was super happy with the pixie dust and her Mickey Ears commemorating her first haircut!

I was next and I couldn't wait. I tried to time things leading up to the trip so that my hair wouldn't be crazy long by the time this cut came about but clearly my timing was WAY off! I'm not one for selfies but had to do the old before and after type deal...Please don't make fun of my grey hair!

My barber was Norma and when she asked how I wanted my haircut she seemed a little unsure. Even though I showed her a picture of what I was looking for (I will admit I keep a photo of Tom Brady in my library for this very reason) she still wasn't quite sure what I was wanting. She paused a few times throughout to ask questions which had me very nervous, especially since they keep you back to the mirror, but I have to say Norma pulled through in the end. When she spun me around to take a look at the finished product my heart stopped racing and I was more than pleased with her work. Always a fun experience every trip we take there. oh, and here is the after picture, plus a picture from my first day back at work with the 'do actually done (notice the sweet new Mickey tie).

Well done, Norma!

We started sauntering down Main Street with no real plan in place at this point other than to hit up some of the things we had yet to do in the morning. Many PhotoPass photogs around Main Street so of course we had to stop for a quick shot.

We made our way back to Fantasyland to ride Winnie the Pooh and along the way we used Ella's pass to acquire a return time for the Speedway. I know Mr. Toad is a classic ride but to me Pooh is still a favourite. I know the girls love it too so we used one of our remaining FP's to jump on quick as the line was actually quite long. 40 minutes if I recall correctly. After Pooh we had a minimal wait to ride the teacups though I know both Ella and Lenny would much prefer the Alice ride in DL to just the teacups alone. Oh well, too bad for them!

and yes, Lennon had to get pixie dust in her hair too before we left the barbershop because she didn't want to feel left out. That dang stuff seemed to get stuck in her hair all trip even with all the pool time and showers/baths they took throughout.

After teacups it was over the Speedway. Both girls wanted to drive but that didn't last long at all after Lennon kept banging into the track and hurling us all over the place so I was forced to do the reach over for most of the ride while Len just took it easy. From Speedway we made our way through Fantasyland towards the Haunted Mansion for an FP+ selection we had made that afternoon at the hotel. Before meeting the happy haunts Kelly took the girls on Small World while I made the walk to Big Thunder to secure a return time for one last ride later than night before it closed down for the rest of the trip. I returned and met up with the gang near HM before making our way to the doombuggies. Ella was excited to ride but Lennon was completely freaked out. There was a nice older couple trying to calm her down in the stretching room but it didn't seem to work. She did ride with Kelly but it was clear at times I could hear her almost screaming that she was scared. She was pushed over the edge when the hitchhiking ghost appeared in their car. Ella thought it was great but that would be the last time we rode HM (sadly) because Len was totally freaked out.

Then it was off to Big Thunder. I decided to stay off and grab some popcorn to snack on while the girls enjoyed the ride. I was sad to miss out but they had a blast. All three piled in together, towards the back this time, and couldn't stop talking about how fast it was when they returned.

Finally we made our way towards Tomorrowland for the first time. After HM we were able to secure FP+ for Buzz but before that we jumped on the PeopleMover for a relaxing ride through Tomorrowland.

We walked off the PeopleMover and right onto the Buzz ride. We couldn't wait to defeat Zurg! In truth I suck at Buzz, as does the rest of our group, but it's always fun to ride even if our scores are typically awful. I still have no clue, even with the secrets, how people max out on that ride.

Kelly is intense! Funny to see both girls clearly getting caught up in what's around them as opposed to playing the game!

By this time it was nearing time for the Main Street Electrical Parade which we really wanted to watch before calling it a day. We slowly crept through the hub which was no easy task. It was packed, obviously, with people who had camped out for perfect parade and fireworks viewing spots. Took quite a while to maneuver through the sea of people and head towards Liberty Square to see what spots might be open to watch. We needed up finding a great spot, just outside the Christmas store, to settle in and watch from the front row. I took this picture of the castle but nothing of the parade as we just wanted to watch and enjoy, which we did. Sad to hear it will be leaving WDW soon but happy to know it will be heading back to DL so it's more than likely we will see it again at some point down the road.

After the parade we decided to head back to the room to call it a night. Again very slow moving with folks still waiting to watch the fireworks so we tried to avoid the crowds by walking through the shops. Always a risky proposition as the girls pretty much wanted us to buy whatever they could get their hands on but somehow we made it through the stretch of stores without spending any money. It was back on the Ferryboat just as the fireworks started so we had some very cool views as we made our way across 7 seas.

Wasn't long after that we were back in the room and ready for bed. Pretty good way to start our park visits with a very busy, but extremely productive trip to the Magic Kingdom.

Plan for the morning was to head to Animal Kingdom and spend the afternoon/evening at Epcot.

Sounds like a very productive day filled with a bunch of fun.

Grey hair??? didn't see any. Just wait until I am able to learn how to post pictures on here.

 

[Matt and Kelly]

Sounds like a very productive day filled with a bunch of fun.

Grey hair??? didn't see any. Just wait until I am able to learn how to post pictures on here.

Thanks for reading along and for the replies you are posting. I hope your trip is as much fun as ours was.

I guess my grey isn't as prominent in pictures as it is in person! My wife is always the first to point out that it seems to be getting worse and worse whenever my hair grows out a little longer than I like. I suppose that just makes me look more distinguished!

 

[Matt and Kelly]

Ok continuing on and finishing up our second park day. We spent some time in the pool after heading back from AK before we got ourselves ready to visit Epcot for the first time. For whatever reason there were always some kind of issue at the pool whether it was the main pool being shut down or the kids splash area being shut down. Maybe it's routine for scheduled cleaning but always seemed kinda strange. Nevertheless the kids loves taking a dip and I loved relaxing in the hot tub. Looking out across 7 Seas to see the castle and Space Mountain in the horizon was such a cool backdrop.

After an hour or so by the pool it was back tot he room to get ready and head to Epcot. We had dinner reservations at LeCellier and a FP+ for Frozen Ever After that the kids were very excited about. Not being a huge fan of Maelstrom I was looking forward to seeing what was done with the new Frozen ride though based on the mixed reviews off the site I wasn't too sure what to expect but I'll get to that shortly.

Once we were packed up and ready to go we made the short walk from our room over to the TTC and boarded the Epcot Monorail. Both Kelly and I weren't exactly sure if Epcot was going to be the girls cup of tea but it turned out it was likely their favourite park by the end of the trip so that was a major and pleasant surprise.

We arrived at the park a good hour or so from our reservation and we decided to ride Spaceship Earth as there was basically a 10 minute wait. Kelly has no interest in riding SSE and I admit it's not one of my faves but it was definitely a must do especially since we were basically walking right on. Lennon didn't seem to entralled with being on the ride and basically pouted the whole time which led to one sad looking photo of her being used for the future peice in the descent back to unload. Ella really seemed to like it and I was happy we rode but Kelly still found it to be boring as she's always remembered it! Sadly I wasn't thinking and didn't get a picture of our headshots but that's likely for the better based on Lennon's bitter expression.

The plan once we unloaded from SSE was to head towards Soarin' to use up one of our additional FPs but along the way we ended up stopping in at the Inside Out and Baymax character spots for pictures with Joy and Sadness. We'd been reading that lines for those two have been really long leading up to our trip so when we saw a 20 minute wait time posted we figured we might as well take advantage and then do Soarin' later in the evening.

The line wasn't huge but it was relatively slow moving. At least we could kill time by spying on the Baymax greet across the way. He looked way cool and I was curious to find out what that suit felt like. While nothing too fancy the queue to meet Joy and Sadness was kinda cool with the memory wall recreated throughout. Loved the fact that the bottom row was entirely blue just like the movie.

Kelly won't be happy I posted that picture but I really like it!

After about 20 minutes it was our turn to meet the characters. Ella had no issue with either one but for whatever reason Lennon got a little freaked out by Sadness which is really strange because she loves Sadness. Even has one of her dolls back at home. Even with her not exactly knowing how to act around her at least we got a couple good pics.

After meeting Joy and Sadness we really wanted to meet Baymax, actually I really wanted to meet Baymax, but we were closing in on our reservation time and decided to leave Baymax for another day and head towards the Canadian pavilion.

At this point it was a perfect evening. Not too hot but just cloudy enough that it was super comfortable. That said it did start to spit upon our check in but didn't last long at all. We made the short walk and soon we among our own!

We walked in and immediately I was greeted to "Go Eskimos!". I was wearing my Edmonton Eskimos hat and shirt as my favourite Canadian Football League team was set to play the Ottawa REDBLACKS (sorry, I'm not screaming, this is literally how the Redblacks want their name to be showcased in any forum) and was warmly welcomed by a fellow Edmontonian who was playing the role of hostess at Le Cellier that evening. She was not the only local that we would chat with that evening and it was nice to talk with some folks from back home even if they have been away for a little while working WDW. One such person happened to be the sister of a family friend who was nice enough to stop by our table in between serving others in the restaurant for a brief chat. She told us her husband, whom she meet at the Norwegian (if I recall correctly) pavilion years ago, would be heading back to WDW to work in a few weeks once his work permit was approved. Pretty cool story of them meeting while both working at WDW and now are married and still working at WDW.

We were sat in the Nunavut section of the restaurant and our server was another local Albertan from Calgary, just south of Edmonton. Kelly and I decided to start our meal with the signature poutine, which while different that the poutine we are used to, was delish! I enjoyed a Moosehead lager along with my food instead of going with a Canadian because really, I drink enough of that stuff at home as it is. For our mains the girls shared the kids salmon meal, Kelly ordered the New York strip and I went with the filet mignon.

SO, SO, SO good! My filet was cooked perfectly and pretty much melted in my mouth. Kelly really enjoyed hers as well and I was a tad envious of the size of her meal but once I cleared my plate I was too full to eat whatever leftovers she had on her plate. She did a great job of trying to finish every bite but couldn't quite get there. Even the kids devoured their fish so I think everyone was very happy by the time we finished up.

We settled our bill, said our goodbyes to our fellow country-people and set out to head over to Norway for our FP+ for Frozen!

What little rain there was before we entered Le Cellier was clearly gone and the rest of the evening would turn out to be pretty fantastic weather wise. We strolled through Mexico and entered the Norway pavilion to find only a 15 minute wait to meet Elsa and Anna. Both Lennon and Ella really wanted to stop in and say hi before jumping on the ride so that's what we did. Couple of quick pics in the queue before being whisked in to meet the royal family of Arendelle.

Lennon had her Frozen crocs on and made sure to show them off to both Anna and Elsa!

Fantastic interaction from both characters left the girls on cloud nine and definitely ready for the ride itself!

Very happy to have our FP+ and not have to wait in the standby line for this ride!

It was time to take our boat to Elsa's ice castle but alas I have run out of time to finish up our evening and will have to hold off until tomorrow morning to detail our ride and the rest of the fun we had at Epcot! Thanks for reading along and for all the great comments so many have been posting!

 

[myhappyplace]

Your meals at Le Cellier look delish!

I love the way Elsa put her cape around your daughter.

Can't wait to see if you met Bay max later in your trip, as that's one character my husband would like to meet.

 

[prfctlyximprct]

Mmmmm, your le cellier pics have got me drooling! I feel like I've been hearing about this restaurant for years, and i am finally going to try it! So glad you are eating at all the places I picked, you're totally reassuring my choices! Your girls with Anna and Elsa are just adorable, wish they made frozen crocs in my size! Also, score to wife for not getting IDed, I swear I'll be IDed until the day I die! LOL

 

[Matt and Kelly]

Your meals at Le Cellier look delish!

I love the way Elsa put her cape around your daughter.

Can't wait to see if you met Bay max later in your trip, as that's one character my husband would like to meet.

The meal was really good. We've been to Le Cellier a couple of times now and both times we left very impressed. May have something to do with our Canadian bias though!

We had really great interaction with characters throughout the trip. Love that they always seem to go out of their way to make every guest feel really comfortable when meeting them.

Mmmmm, your le cellier pics have got me drooling! I feel like I've been hearing about this restaurant for years, and i am finally going to try it! So glad you are eating at all the places I picked, you're totally reassuring my choices! Your girls with Anna and Elsa are just adorable, wish they made frozen crocs in my size! Also, score to wife for not getting IDed, I swear I'll be IDed until the day I die! LOL

You'll love Le Cellier. I'd go there every trip if it were up to me.

I don't mind getting ID'd but theres no way I'm gonna carry my passport around all the time. If Kelly has better luck than I do I will continue to have her boot for me. It did help when I rolled up somewhere with the girls in the stroller though. No questions asked!

 

[Matt and Kelly]

Ok let's finish up our night at Epcot, shall we?

So at this point we scanned our magicbands and made our way into the Frozen Ever After queue. With a 120 minute posted wait it was obviously packed! Clearly FP runs the show here though as it didn't seem like the standby line was over that big but because of all the FP holders the standby basically crawled along. I though the queue was pretty cool...so far so good for our first experience.

We maybe waited 10 minutes to work our way through the line before we were loaded on the boat and ready to head to Elsa's ice castle. I had only been on Maelstrom once in the past and have a very hard time remembering the details of the ride so I can't even put a true comparison together but not being the biggest fan of the one ride I did take back in the day I was expecting this to be a better experience.

Tried to take some pics along the way with my phone but they didn't quite focus as well as I was hoping they would...you get the idea though.

My first impression was really positive. The animatronics were unreal, the ride it self was fun and the backward portion and drop after Marshmallow definitely induced some laughs and a few screams from the girls. Apparently Kelly was looking at things a little closer than I was and remarked that they could have done more with the space they had, I was simply paying attention to what was in front of me so I didn't quite get some of the things she was talking about after we unloaded but it did make sense when we rode it a couple of other times throughout the trip.

We were all fans of the ride as it was but both Kelly and I felt like there is room for improvement. Lots of empty space that could be better utilized in some way, shape or form. For the kids who really don't care about that stuff like we do, they absolutely loved the ride and likely would have gone on it time and again if it was possible. Nice addition in my mind even though I know some Maelstrom die-hards would disagree.

Somehow we made our way through the gift shop unscathed and the girls even made a new friend.

We still had another additional FP to use so we decided to give the new Test Track a whirl. Ella wasn't sure about it when we made it to the queue but we told her it is similar to Radiator Springs Racers in DCA just not Cars themed. She loves that ride so that sold her. We have not been on Test Track since they did the most recent refurb so we were both looking forward to seeing what changes were made. I very much liked designing your car in the queue as a way to pass the time and get ready for the ride.

After designing our rides we were loaded on with a couple of single riders and we were off to test out our creations. I enjoyed the new version far more than the old version. Thought the ranking of the cars designed throughout the ride was a cool touch and how can you not like ripping around at 60 miles an hour down that outdoor track?! Lotta fun!

After TT we had our final FP+ of the night approaching for Soarin' so it was time to take a walk through Future Word to get back towards the Land. This allowed us to do something we have never done on any WDW visit to this point, stop in at CLub Cool and finally try the Beverly! We didn't jump right into it though, instead sampled the other flavours before taking on the Beverly. Most of the flavours of soda were quite good. Can't recall the exact name but there was a melon flavoured Fanta, possibly from Brazil?, that was really good. Now it was time to man up and do it...

Both Kelly and I filled a cup and took a big swig. First thought was this isn't so bad until I swallowed and got the aftertaste. I will say it wasn't quite as bad as I was expecting but at the same time it was also better than I was expecting, if that makes any sense at all! I can't see myself drinking a can of this stuff but hey, to each their own!

After our quick pit stop it was over to the Land to ride Soarin' Around the World! The original Soarin' was one of my all time faves at either Disney Park and while I was sad not to see it again, it was time for an upgrade and was looking forward to seeing what they put together. Lennon was kinda nervous about this one after Ella was trying to describe what the ride was all about but like she did all trip she gutted it out when it came time to buckle in.

I was pumped to see that the pre-ride video with Patrick Warburton was still the same. Ended up talking about Seinfeld episodes with someone in line behind us after they ran it. Love that Puddy!

The new version of the ride was really well done. Great scenes, super clear and a lot of fun. One more than one occasion both Ella and Lennon both covered their faces thinking they were going to get hit by something on the screen. I look forward to seeing the DCA version just to see the difference at the end of the ride. Only thing I really missed was the original score. While there were still elements of that music within the new ride, that original score was the best.

We were getting pretty tired by this time and Illuminations was about to start which signaled the closing of the park. We raced over to Nemo to try and ride before they closed up the line but we missed it by minutes. Lennon was disappointed but we promised we'd make it the first ride of the day the next time we came back to Epcot. Since we missed out on a Nemo nightcap we decided to head back home and call it a day.

We ended up running into a PhotoPass photog with nobody around so we had to stop for a couple of pics before exiting.

I took one last shot with my phone and then it was back to the Monorail platform to head home.

We were pretty exhausted by the time we got back to the hotel and we arrived just in time for me to find out that my beloved Eskimos lost 23-20 on a last minute REDBLACKS field goal which put a bit of a damper on an otherwise terrific day. I sent a quick text to my dad who is the equipment manager for the Eskimos and he told me it was a game they should have won so that sucks but was somewhat par for the course with the way our season has started. Bah sorry for getting caught up in this mess...I just don't like when the club loses!

Our itinerary for the next day included Hollywood Studios in the morning, lunch at Beaches and Cream and an evening at Disney Springs. Pretty decent day on tap if you ask me...

 

[kimberlymautz]

My boyfriend actually liked Beverly last time we went to Disney! He grew up in Puerto Rico and said it tasted like a drink he used to have at his grandma's house. I on the other hand think it's super gross. Haha.

 

[Scoppin]

Ok let's finish up our night at Epcot, shall we?

So at this point we scanned our magicbands and made our way into the Frozen Ever After queue. With a 120 minute posted wait it was obviously packed! Clearly FP runs the show here though as it didn't seem like the standby line was over that big but because of all the FP holders the standby basically crawled along. I though the queue was pretty cool...so far so good for our first experience.

We maybe waited 10 minutes to work our way through the line before we were loaded on the boat and ready to head to Elsa's ice castle. I had only been on Maelstrom once in the past and have a very hard time remembering the details of the ride so I can't even put a true comparison together but not being the biggest fan of the one ride I did take back in the day I was expecting this to be a better experience.

Tried to take some pics along the way with my phone but they didn't quite focus as well as I was hoping they would...you get the idea though.

My first impression was really positive. The animatronics were unreal, the ride it self was fun and the backward portion and drop after Marshmallow definitely induced some laughs and a few screams from the girls. Apparently Kelly was looking at things a little closer than I was and remarked that they could have done more with the space they had, I was simply paying attention to what was in front of me so I didn't quite get some of the things she was talking about after we unloaded but it did make sense when we rode it a couple of other times throughout the trip.

We were all fans of the ride as it was but both Kelly and I felt like there is room for improvement. Lots of empty space that could be better utilized in some way, shape or form. For the kids who really don't care about that stuff like we do, they absolutely loved the ride and likely would have gone on it time and again if it was possible. Nice addition in my mind even though I know some Maelstrom die-hards would disagree.

Somehow we made our way through the gift shop unscathed and the girls even made a new friend.

We still had another additional FP to use so we decided to give the new Test Track a whirl. Ella wasn't sure about it when we made it to the queue but we told her it is similar to Radiator Springs Racers in DCA just not Cars themed. She loves that ride so that sold her. We have not been on Test Track since they did the most recent refurb so we were both looking forward to seeing what changes were made. I very much liked designing your car in the queue as a way to pass the time and get ready for the ride.

After designing our rides we were loaded on with a couple of single riders and we were off to test out our creations. I enjoyed the new version far more than the old version. Thought the ranking of the cars designed throughout the ride was a cool touch and how can you not like ripping around at 60 miles an hour down that outdoor track?! Lotta fun!

After TT we had our final FP+ of the night approaching for Soarin' so it was time to take a walk through Future Word to get back towards the Land. This allowed us to do something we have never done on any WDW visit to this point, stop in at CLub Cool and finally try the Beverly! We didn't jump right into it though, instead sampled the other flavours before taking on the Beverly. Most of the flavours of soda were quite good. Can't recall the exact name but there was a melon flavoured Fanta, possibly from Brazil?, that was really good. Now it was time to man up and do it...

Both Kelly and I filled a cup and took a big swig. First thought was this isn't so bad until I swallowed and got the aftertaste. I will say it wasn't quite as bad as I was expecting but at the same time it was also better than I was expecting, if that makes any sense at all! I can't see myself drinking a can of this stuff but hey, to each their own!

After our quick pit stop it was over to the Land to ride Soarin' Around the World! The original Soarin' was one of my all time faves at either Disney Park and while I was sad not to see it again, it was time for an upgrade and was looking forward to seeing what they put together. Lennon was kinda nervous about this one after Ella was trying to describe what the ride was all about but like she did all trip she gutted it out when it came time to buckle in.

I was pumped to see that the pre-ride video with Patrick Warburton was still the same. Ended up talking about Seinfeld episodes with someone in line behind us after they ran it. Love that Puddy!

The new version of the ride was really well done. Great scenes, super clear and a lot of fun. One more than one occasion both Ella and Lennon both covered their faces thinking they were going to get hit by something on the screen. I look forward to seeing the DCA version just to see the difference at the end of the ride. Only thing I really missed was the original score. While there were still elements of that music within the new ride, that original score was the best.

We were getting pretty tired by this time and Illuminations was about to start which signaled the closing of the park. We raced over to Nemo to try and ride before they closed up the line but we missed it by minutes. Lennon was disappointed but we promised we'd make it the first ride of the day the next time we came back to Epcot. Since we missed out on a Nemo nightcap we decided to head back home and call it a day.

We ended up running into a PhotoPass photog with nobody around so we had to stop for a couple of pics before exiting.

I took one last shot with my phone and then it was back to the Monorail platform to head home.

We were pretty exhausted by the time we got back to the hotel and we arrived just in time for me to find out that my beloved Eskimos lost 23-20 on a last minute REDBLACKS field goal which put a bit of a damper on an otherwise terrific day. I sent a quick text to my dad who is the equipment manager for the Eskimos and he told me it was a game they should have won so that sucks but was somewhat par for the course with the way our season has started. Bah sorry for getting caught up in this mess...I just don't like when the club loses!

Our itinerary for the next day included Hollywood Studios in the morning, lunch at Beaches and Cream and an evening at Disney Springs. Pretty decent day on tap if you ask me...

Sounds like a really good day.
Learning lots from this end for our trip later in the month.

 

[Matt and Kelly]

My boyfriend actually liked Beverly last time we went to Disney! He grew up in Puerto Rico and said it tasted like a drink he used to have at his grandma's house. I on the other hand think it's super gross. Haha.

I really thought it was going to be worse than it actually was. I guess if you're used to the taste it wouldn't be so bad but for a first timer I don't see how anyone could enjoy drinking it! HAHA

Sounds like a really good day.
Learning lots from this end for our trip later in the month.

Happy to be helping out in some way as you prep for your trip!

 

[Ciara]

The new version of the ride was really well done. Great scenes, super clear and a lot of fun. One more than one occasion both Ella and Lennon both covered their faces thinking they were going to get hit by something on the screen. I look forward to seeing the DCA version just to see the difference at the end of the ride. Only thing I really missed was the original score. While there were still elements of that music within the new ride, that original score was the best.

You're making me nervous! I also loved the original soarin, especially the score... I hope it does not disappoint!

 

[MeeskaMooska0714]

My husband loves Beverly! I even tried to surprise him one year for Christmas by buying some online, but who would have thought, no can do. Through a bit of research, I found that San Pellegrino makes a beverage called Chinotto, which is pretty much as close as you can get to Beverly. He says it's close, but still not as good as the real thing.

 

[Matt and Kelly]

You're making me nervous! I also loved the original soarin, especially the score... I hope it does not disappoint!

Don't be nervous. The new version is really well done. You'll enjoy it just as you did the original even if that original score is missing.

My husband loves Beverly! I even tried to surprise him one year for Christmas by buying some online, but who would have thought, no can do. Through a bit of research, I found that San Pellegrino makes a beverage called Chinotto, which is pretty much as close as you can get to Beverly. He says it's close, but still not as good as the real thing.

Kudos to him for actually liking that stuff and good on you for trying to surprise him with some!

 

[Matt and Kelly]

August 7 - Hollywood Studios, quickly back to Epcot and an evening at Disney Springs

Even with the Eskies loss I was still able to get a solid sleep and wake up ready for our first taste of Hollywood Studios. Again, my morning started with a walk to get coffee before returning o help get the girls up and ready to roll. It was always convenient for them to be able to eat a somewhat decent breakfast before we made our way to whichever park we were headed to. It's amazing how quickly they can eat when they know the faster they eat the faster they get to enjoy more rides. Why can't they get this excited before school?

Before too long everyone was ready to go and we made our way down to the bus stop to hitch a ride. Again we got lucky that we arrived at the stop and the bus was already pulling in. Outside of our luggage issue everything was really going smoothly for us for the most part. We hoped on and made the trip with a handful of other guests. Before long we were heading through the gates, ready to roll!

First stop was a ride we always enjoy, Toy Story Mania! Even Lennon was excited for this one.

Pretty much no line, less than a 20 minute wait so we made our way through the standby queue. Cool to note some of the changes made with the recent refurb. Sad to see Potato-head was no longer around to entertain, or annoy I suppose, guests as they waited.

why so serious?

After maybe 10 minutes of winding through the queue we were up the stairs and back down again ready to jump into our first game of the trip. This ride became the popular choice at DHS, really there isn't overly too much for our girls to do there, so we had some pretty good competitions throughout.

I rode with Lenny which meant a point free-for-all for me!

Kelly posted a more than respectable score but I remained the undefeated champ within our family. A title I take far, far too seriously!

After Toy Story the girls wanted to ride the Great Movie Ride because Kelly had told them there was a scene from the Wizard of Oz, one of their favourite films. We made the short walk back towards the theatre and walked into the standby line again. Posted wait of 15 minutes but we sure waited longer than that. At least most of the wait was done indoors as it was another hot, sticky morning. Sadly no fun pictures to share but I think it was safe to say both Ella and Lennon were a little freaked out by the ride. Lennon essentially covered her ears the whole time and some of the scenes put a good fright into both of them. I enjoyed the ride, as did Kelly, but even the Wizard of Oz scene wasn't enough to salvage it for the girls.

After GMR it was time for one of our FP+ selections, the often talked about leading up to the trip, the Tower of Terror! I had somehow convinced the girls to ride by offering to by them one thing, whatever they wanted, if they did it just once. I would later to come to regret this but I'll get into that later. Walking down towards the hotel to check in for our stay was not easing their nerves. Lennon had no interest in going and Ella was reluctant but kudos to them, they decided to go through with it.

Once inside the building Lennon was definitely not feeling it and again we had to pretty much carry her through the entire line and somewhat force her to climb aboard the elevator when it was our turn. THe CM was really great about trying his best to calm them down. He easily could have put them over the top with some theatrics or really getting into the creepy mood of the ride but he was pretty cheerful for their sake. And I think it helped that a boy maybe a year older then Ella proclaimed this to be the best ride ever while waiting for the elevator door to open. That said, when we were loaded, I have never had my hand held tighter, especially when the car started to move!

Would you look at that, they survived. Not even looking to distressed. They claimed to have enjoyed it but wouldn't even step near ti throughout the rest of the trip. Still pretty amazing how brave they had been to this point.

After ToT it was back to Toy Story for another spin on the midway thanks to our next FP+ booking. This time I was with Ella and I got kinda nervous that Kelly might be able to overtake me since she was riding with Lennon but alas my fears we unwarranted. Champion again. She came close but ended up about 20,000 shy. Decent showing by Ella though!

From there we walked down towards Voyage of the Little Mermaid and parked the stroller. We watched the Star Wars march proceed by us before ducking in to watch the Ariel Show. First time I have seen this show and it wasn't too shabby. Much shorter than I assumed it was going to be but a really strong singer playing Ariel and some catchy tunes for the kids to sing along with. Was a nice break from the heat.

Our final FP+ was up next, access to the Disney Junior Show which we cut pretty tight thanks to Ariel. Kelly and the kids decided to head in and watched the show but I was off to ride Rockin' Roller Coaster instead.

Line was pretty healthy at this point but being a single rider, I took advantage of that option. Was essentially loaded into the pre-show room immediately and as that ended and we walked down towards the loading queue the single rider line was maybe about half capacity. Was hoping it would move quickly but these lines are always a crap shoot. Had the chance to speak with the family in front of me about the ride. It was their first time and wanted to know what I thought. They seemed pretty excited to ride. Couple of them were in the same limo and the third rode directly after they took off. I ended up being loaded up with another single rider about half down the limo. I totally forgot how fast you take off at the start. What a rush!

Timing turned out great as I finished just as Kelly and the kids were released from the stage show. I met up with them to find them singing songs they had just heard and ready to get pictures and autographs with some f the starts of the show. Lennon was too afraid to meet Jake for whatever reason so Ella went solo. Pluto was next, followed by Sofia the first. Each line wasn't crazy busy but with the heat the characters took frequent breaks so that kinda slowed things down a tad.

After we had met all the characters we made a decision to leave the park and walk down towards the Boardwalk to make it on time for our lunch reservation at Beaches and Cream. We thought about possibly taking the boat but it was cooling off a little thanks to some cloud cover and decided to hoof it knowing we'd likely need to make some room for dessert. We had a lot of fun at DHS, even for only seeing pretty much two sections of the park, but the day was really only just getting started.

The walk itself took only about 30 minutes and definitely added a good amount of steps to my fitbit. I love the Boardwalk area and want to make one of the resorts in and around here our next place to stay whenever we come back.

Look at those ominous clouds. Now all we had to do was find Beaches and Cream before it started pouring on us!

 

[prfctlyximprct]

Oh man, the music from Soarin' used to give me the chills. I hope the new version still does it for me! AHH sooo nervous! @Ciara I am skeptical as well!