Trip Report Did someone say adventure? MNSSHP & Free Dining trip report (8/29-9/7)

DisneyGigi · Sep 13, 2014

Heavy on the Maleficent photos I know, but this was my favorite part. I have always loved her and was very skeptical about the movie until I saw it. I know a lot of people hated it, and to each, his own. I usually, am against change. I like my Disney movies mostly to be left alone, but when I went to see the movie I loved what they did with it. Not ever been an Angelina Jolie fan either, but what she did with the role was awesome. I loved the massiveness of this float and I loved that I could feel the heat coming off of it as soon as it neared. It made it even more awesome to me. Prince Phillip also, looks much better in the parade than the old costumes still used. I am not saying that I want everything to change to the new Maleficent/Sleeping Beauty from the movie but I am saying it is great to incorporate it into the parks. JMO.

Parade ending coming up!

DisneyGigi · Sep 13, 2014

Don't, let's be silly... A quote that I live by..

DisneyGigi · Sep 13, 2014

My days are running together, we did so much, but this was the day, according to my pictures, and memory says that this was the day of the monsoon! It rained, and I mean the sky opened up. We rode PotC and when we got off the ride it was horrid. We waited under the covered area there until we saw it wasn't going to let up and went and set under Tortuga Tavern at a table that wasn't pouring down water. It slacked up, a bit so we decided to go ahead and brave it. It got worse! if you are this wet, what's the point right? we kept walking and heading out. We have never been people who stayed at the resort and rested at all, but this was the kicker! No dining plans for that evening so we kicked back, got food from Pepper Market Grill, very good!!! Did Laundry and just rested and wandered around the resort. It actually felt good. Who knew Stitch was such a Disney Channel fan?

I love Mousekeeping, they do such cute stuff to make it more magical.

Mom@disney · Sep 14, 2014

Oh, so sorry to hear your day got rained out. It sucks to walk around in wet clothes and shoes, so it's better just to hang out at the resort. My youngest loves your Stitch stuffy...we watched Lilo & Stitch last night for, I think, the 15th time.

DisneyGigi · Sep 14, 2014

Mom@disney said:
Oh, so sorry to hear your day got rained out. It sucks to walk around in wet clothes and shoes, so it's better just to hang out at the resort. My youngest loves your Stitch stuffy...we watched Lilo & Stitch last night for, I think, the 15th time.

We still had a really good time and it was nice to actually rest a little too since we had been going nonstop. My kids still love Stitch. My DD had to have him as soon as she spotted him.

Back to a few pictures that I meant to post yesterday from the Confectionary. I love this place! Then onto September 4th- day 7. Illuminations and dinner at Chefs de France. (and wherever it was we went that morning lol, think DHS)

View attachment 65803

DisneyGigi · Sep 14, 2014

The crowds really picked back up on this day and stayed higher than any trip we have taken on the same dates. This was our 4th trip during this time for the same ten day period. Here is the funny part though- The parks themselves, as in navigating through the crowds, felt November packed. The ride times however were not that bad, even good, considering the amount of people in the parks. Something that are doing with fp+ is working as far as wait times go. I got so horribly frustrated at the crowds at DHS & MK, that I was in serious danger of losing my pixie dust. Why do people feel the need to stop right in the middle of a crazy crowd and spread out in an area that a stampede of people are walking through? Is it that hard to walk off to the side if you want to stop and talk in a flow of traffic? Brains, people.. use them. Anyway, point being, it seemed to me that people are aimlessly wandering around, waiting on their next FP+ not waiting in line to ride something else and maybe trying to bring up the MDE, which was so slow. (more on that thought later) It was much better to be in a very short line for a ride than to walk from point a-b in the parks at this point. I have been many times and I know the wait times for rides when the park feels this crowded, they were nothing like any other time. I loved that, did not love the hot, ill people walking around confused and yelling at their kids. Anywho, like I said more on all that later. Back to this day, I think we did MK and DHS before hopping to Epcot for dinner at Chefs de France. We had never eaten here and the food was really good. I was disappointed that I couldn't get a Grand Marnier but realized when the dessert menu came it was on there. I made up for it by grabbing another supersize at the stand when we left.

Again, many empty tables, especially for free dining. I would definitely do this one again next trip. Wish Remy was still there though. Speaking of Remy, why would they not have him in France, as a M & G? Met him in 2008, I think, at DHS and loved, loved loved him and Emile. Great movie, great characters, makes me sad that you can't see them anymore.
World Showcasin' it..

Somebody may have lost most of the beard but he didn't he lose his Cap'n Jack Swagger. Love this kid and yes, he maybe 6'5 + but he is still my kid/boy.

How she held a Mickey bar after eating I do not know.. but she did and was cute doing it.

Now, a horrible thing to admit, as a die hard Disney fan but I had never seen all of Illuminations. In all of our trips when the kids were young, they did not care that much for Epcot. If we did stay, we ended up heading out to beat the crowds beforehand. It was amazing! Staying and not feeling rushed to leave. I tried to get photos but honestly I was so busy watching and enjoying it they are probably not that great. Also from the rain, we were all sporting some major blisters on our feet so we opted for a bench, a bit back and not to stand right up front. It didn't matter though, maybe for pictures but not for just enjoying it.

DisneyGigi · Sep 14, 2014

Moving on to day 8, September 5th. We had two table services on this day in order to take in Fantasmic. My first plan was to FP+ it but when I realized it was still just the regular seats, wanted to do the dining package. I tried to change our Tusker House but it interfered with other plans so we decided to just still do both. We arrived at AK early and rode EE 3 times I think, met Donald, Daisy, took in Dinosaur twice then headed to Tusker House, a first for us. We usually do Boma but I wanted to try this and it has characters, yes I know I am 40 but I love character meals... so it was a go!

It was not crowded at all, we got there just as they were switching from breakfast and it was DEAD! That made it great for characters, just in itself, but this is where, that one Cast Member that you always know you will remember, for going totally out of their way. A huge, big, gigantic shout out to our server Lee at Tusker House. He was so amazing from start to finish. Having older kids, may be a little different with characters at first. He went out of his way to talk to us, make for some very fun character experiences with the kids and just went, so above and beyond. He reminded me a lot of Elton, who, many may not know, but if you have ever had the pleasure of talking to, you know exactly what I mean. One of the best Cast Member experiences I have ever had. These are the people that make Disney, Disney.

Daisy was assuring Donald that he had not put a ring on it, after Lee, our server told Daisy that DD was hitting on Donald. He told the same thing to Donald about DS, hitting on Daisy. (Again, he was amazing, thankful for the humor and interaction he put into this character meal, it was amazing)

Then, there was Goofy, when asked by Lee, if he had a girlfriend.. because DD wanted to know, assured he did not and they might text... lol after a few selfies. Great experience.

DisneyGigi · Sep 14, 2014

View attachment 65837 More coming up...

DisneyGigi · Sep 14, 2014

Goofy was being bad for his selfie.. picked his nose and then ate it lol

Best service and interaction that we had. Best character meal ever and we have had a lot.

DisneyGigi · Sep 15, 2014

We rode Kali River Rapids after we ate.. DS would not ride because we always get soaked. I don't think we have ever ridden that we were not in the wet seat. Granted, everyone gets wet but we always get it full on. DD loves it though so off we went. Line was 5 minutes, so we rode and yep, you guessed it got drenched. DD wanted to do it again, so being the good mom and dad that we are and are already drenched, ride it again we did. Funny that we, (DH & I) got the most of it both times. The little stinker, DD, was not that wet at all. Quick stop by the resort to get dry clothes and it was off to DHS...where guess what?? It started raining! We made it onto the tram before we got really drenched and the funniest thing happened...called Florida. The other side of the parking lot and entrance and the park was dry as a bone. We rode ToT and RnRC both walk on then the clouds were looking really angry so we headed to Muppets 3D to at least be near where we had to eat. I love that show, it never gets old to me, but then again, I love the Muppets!! Especially Beaker, he just makes me grin looking at him.

After that it was off to eat... AGAIN. We did the Fantasmic package so it also came with the appetizer. I got the Calamari, which was great but huge!!! It was an entrée size portion to me.

I can't remember if DD got calamari too, but I guess so since I didn't get a picture. 3 of us had the steak and she went with the pizza. Food was much better here than our last trip but we were just full. There was no way, even if it was free dining that I was going to have them bring out the dessert platter when we were that full. Would have been a waste so we skipped it.
Few ToT & other shots. And, then the rain came again.

This picture was taken before the rain and needs some explaining... I am a rabbit nut. Always have been. I actually have 2 indoor rabbits that are litter boxed trained and completely precious. This trip was the first time that I had ever left them for this long (with a caretaker of course) and I missed them horribly. We were randomly walking around the lake at Coronado Springs and there sat a tiny baby bunny, then the very next day, sitting near Indy under a bench with people walking everywhere was this guy. He even posed. Maybe I just never noticed them before and I can get the one by the lake but in the middle of the park??? Anyway, he made my heart smile and, of course, I named him Thumper.

DisneyGigi · Sep 15, 2014

The rain set in for a steady rain, no storms or wind just a steady rain. We rode a few things and shopped a little then made sure that we checked in with the people out front about Fantasmic. The first time I saw it in 2000,it rained and it still went on. To be on the safe side, we asked, and was told. "As long as there is no winds or lightning the show will still continue." So, we went in and waited. The new seats with the dining package I have to say, so much better than the old reserved area and they are a lot more careful about not letting people pile in that do not have the seats. That was great... Sitting there for an hour in a steady rain that almost completely stopped by 8:30 and show time for them to cancel it... not so great. I don't get why they waited and sold all the merchandise that they did, drinks, wands and etc. to cancel it when they did. I understand that they wait until the last minute to try to continue but they should give the appropriate information to guests that take the time to ask. The rain had almost completely stopped in those last 10 minutes before the show. I didn't care that I had sat in the rain, would have been happy to do so, and to be fair there were announcements that it may be canceled due to weather but why wait until the rain is over to tell that to everyone?

They were really good seats though!

The last day and a 1/2 left coming up and a ton of photos that I haven't worked into the report.

DisneyGigi · Sep 15, 2014

On our last full day at the parks, we chose to sleep in a little bit. It was the only day that we did. Still up and ready to go about 9:15 am but I wish we would have gotten up and been there by park opening or before like we usually are. I hate the morning rush of people that are coming in at that 10:00 am time frame. We went to MK and did Monster's Inc. CoP, rode the... WAIT FOR IT.... People Mover! So glad they added that back to the name. Hit BTMRR, Buzz, Splash and Pirates I think then headed to Epcot.

Grabbed some nachos

Then made a quick run to AK to say goodbye and hit EE one more time.

Then it was about time to head to our last Table service meal of the trip, back to Ohana. We wanted to end our vacation just how we started it and we LOVE the place. It was raining again, just like it was that first night and MK closed early for the Night of Joy so after we were finished we actually drove to DHS, where we had to circle forever trying to find a parking space. It was crazy crowded. We finally gave up seeing as how there wasn't even that much time left of the park being open and just headed back to get ready for our last day which had to be an MK trip for me. It is always, no matter what, my first and last park.

SharonD · Sep 15, 2014

Wow - what a busy, and great trip you had!!!! Love your report.

DisneyGigi · Sep 15, 2014

photos that were left out that I wanted to add before moving on to final thoughts and our last day.

Because Life is too short... to not be silly.

Our costumes getting ready to be loaded the night we left.

Sunrise Arrival

DisneyGigi · Sep 15, 2014

(my last posted before I was finished)
Coronado Springs - Thank you, a big thank you, for the upgrade. For whatever reason that we got it. Anniversary, or whatever. We didn't ask, would never do that. Expected to get what we paid for, a standard view, so this was amazing. Thanks for the Pixie Dust.

DisneyGigi · Sep 15, 2014

SharonD said:
Wow - what a busy, and great trip you had!!!! Love your report.

Thank you! We go like crazy but slowed down a tiny bit this trip. I have to say.. I didn't get up the day after we came home til 11:00 am though. :/

DisneyGigi · Sep 15, 2014

Day 10- September 7,

We had most everything loaded and had much discussion about what we wanted to do. We had thought we might take in DHS too, but in reality, we had a long, long drive ahead of us so we stuck to a simple MK plan.
I snapped pics along the way. I had missed the horses every day but day 1 and this day. I love horses, used to have a few. The beauty and size of Draft horse takes my breath away, especially when they Mickey blinders on.

First and last, my beloved Splash Mountain.. See you real soon.

DisneyGigi · Sep 15, 2014

1780 days it was, since we got to be in in our Laughin' Place, a lot changes, kids, as much as you want them to stay young, do not, they get older. As a parent, you want them to stay little and time passes by way faster than you want it to. A great man, once said, you don't have to grow up.. and he was right, and I thank him for making a place where I feel like a kid again and my kids do too. Kid's get older, as much, as it breaks our heart that they do, but that doesn't mean they have to grow up....
Once a Disney Kid, always a Disney Kid. What better place to make memories than Walt Disney World?

346 days til we do it again!

Dizdutch · Sep 15, 2014

DisneyShe said:
Thanks everyone for the comments on the costumes. After our lunch we rode Big Thunder Mountain standby wait at that point was still pretty low for a Friday and we took in Haunted Mansion on the way to see the new Fantasyland which I was very excited to see. It felt so crazy to still in mind see things the way that they used to be as we made our way around. I really have to say that I loved the Tangled restroom area. I know that it is just bathrooms and it was sad to see that old Skyway was completely gone now, but the area is really pretty. I think that they did a great job with the details. View attachment 65278 View attachment 65279 View attachment 65280 View attachment 65281

We headed to ride the Seven Dwarf's Mine Train and took in all the sights including Beast's Castle, which for some reason was a whole lot smaller than I had imagined it would be from pictures but it is still beautiful. View attachment 65285 View attachment 65286

The wait time was at 50 minutes and this was the first ride that we used Fastpass+ on. I was shocked at how fast that we were able to make it through to ride, much different than the old fastpass system. I didn't even really get to take many pictures because it did move so quickly. I loved that part about FP+ but there are also a few things I did not care for... (more on that later) Back to 7DMT... I loved it!!!! I know a lot of people thought that it should be more thrilling but I just thought it was so cute and everything very well done for a ride that you can take little ones on. A bit on the short side but great. Some people had been wandering about the size of the cars for tall people and I do have to say it is a very tight squeeze for my DS who is almost 6'6 and has really long legs. His knees looked pitiful but then again he has the same problem with most rides at MK now.

We hit Space Mountain and of CoP after this and then went to meet Talking Mickey.. which I was probably way too excited for for an adult. lol I don't know why the thought of Mickey being able to talk got me so excited, guess the 4 year old in me! I enjoyed it very much and the wait was nothing, which surprised me. 10 minutes, I think it was. His voice was a little low and a bit hard to hear at first. Here is DD with him, loved his card tricks View attachment 65279 View attachment 65291

Okay, I don't have any idea how the random Poly from the ferry got on here but I don't know which one it is to remove it lol

What is the talking Mickey attraction?

Mom@disney · Sep 15, 2014

What a great trip report. I really love your recreation photo...very cute.

Trip Report Did someone say adventure? MNSSHP & Free Dining trip report (8/29-9/7)

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