Dray's not so orthodox nightly updated TR !!!

I'll be updating this each night when we get back from the parks.


To catch you up to speed, we arrived this past Wednesday, around 3pm. The hotel I had booked, Travelodge by Wet N Wild, tried to slip and extra $30 onto the total PLUS a $50 deposit. Well, this isn't what we budgeted so after a quick call to Motel 6 we changed. Did I mention that the front desk girl had a bad attitude?

Now this is the hotel we said we wouldn't stay at again because they don't have alarm clocks and the rooms are small, but we were in a rush and a bind so we took it since it was only for 3 nights and we'd hardly be there.

BEWARE PIXIE DUST SNORTERS!! THE FOLLOWING TIDBIT IS FILLED WITH UNIVERSAL PRAISE!!



Long story short, we hit Universal on Thursday and Friday. We had an absolute BLAST! On Friday we were picked as the family to open the Studios and that was awesome. The day went well and we were let into the Express Pass section of many rides due to our "Opening the Park" buttons. We are falling in love with Universal and their employees go the extra distance every time we visit. Not to mention how much we love Butterbeer.



So, on to our Disney portion. We just checked in yesterday to French Quarter and all we can say is WOW. There is NO comparison between this and Pop, or any value for that matter. This place is not only gorgeous but the DtD boat, movie by the lawn, and other activities are awesome. Plus the location to the parks is fantastic.

Tonight was our first day in the park and we started it with an 8:10am ressie at Crystal Palace. It was great and we were the 4th car in the lot. We had a blast and the FP changes really didn't affect us.

The things I noticed that were not working:

Blackbeard mist was very fuzzy.
IASW music fading in and out at end of night.
Pop up heads in Haunted Mansion graveyard scene not popping up.
Carousel of Progress John's voice in final scene was low and tv didn't show grandma's game.

The cast members were great and I saw my first cast member with facial hair and the world didn't come to and end, go figure. The September secret is definitely out but we're hoping that since it's going back into the weekdays that they will thin out. Anyhow, I need some sleep and we have to get up early. If anyone else is here at POFQ, we're in room 7227, with the Monster High dolls in the window. I'll update tomorrow night.

/edit I forgot to mention that there WILL be pictures, but I'll be waiting until we get home on Sunday to upload them!

 

[maryszhi]

i love reading your trip reports. i kinda am missing the world tonight

 

[Nemo14]

Sounds like you're having a great trip. Did you stop at the Citrus Tower on your way down?

 

[draybook]

Nope, we skipped the tower. The darn Mapquest directions I grabbed were for a different route AND they took us on the tollway, even though I checked "no toll roads" on the options. We might try to see it on the way out though.

 

[Uncle Lupe]

Epcot was great! Humid as heck and crowded for September, but lines were very manageable and we had a great time. We ate at San Angel Inn and it was delicious. I also made sure to get a table by the water, very cool.

We haven't done the smores yet but we might tomorrow night since AK closes at 5pm. Only 2 more days left in the parks, bummer....

Now I am jealous, that is one ressie we had to give up I still regret.

 

[MouseDreaming]

So glad you are enjoying POFQ. Love that place! Thanks for letting us "come along" on your trip!

 

[Dad 2 M & M]

Now I am jealous, that is one ressie we had to give up I still regret.

You could probably still find a ressie if you wanted....we are considering San Angel for Dec, but really have never had anything other than an average meal there. Its a bummer too, really love that backdrop!

 

[draybook]

Just got back from DtD. Today was AK day and it was awesome. The crowds are still well above average for this time of year but the wait times were pretty low. My wife finally got our son and I to ride Dinosaur and man is it awesome! I think we rode it 12 or 13 times. There's definitely a huge difference between the first row and the third. We had 5:30p ressies at Rainforest Cafe and we ended up seated right in the entrance by the two elephants, really cool. We even finally got some good shots of the lazy male lion out in front at his rock formation.

We took the boat to DtD around 8:30 tonight and it started raining when we went to get on the boat back so we ended up using the bus. It was a mad house to get onto the bus and I almost had to throw an elbow at a guy that was rushing to cutoff my wife and kids to get into the bus. He was literally behind us and we were the 2nd group in so it's not like he wasn't going to get in. Anyhow, I didn't realize how much it stunk sharing a bus with Riverside. We passed our building twice before getting there.

Anyways, gotta hit the sack and get ready for our last day in the parks at MK and the MNSSHP. Good night folks!

 

[Tinkerbella16]

We took the boat to DtD around 8:30 tonight and it started raining when we went to get on the boat back so we ended up using the bus. It was a mad house to get onto the bus and I almost had to throw an elbow at a guy that was rushing to cutoff my wife and kids to get into the bus. He was literally behind us and we were the 2nd group in so it's not like he wasn't going to get in. Anyhow, I didn't realize how much it stunk sharing a bus with Riverside. We passed our building twice before getting there.

Anyways, gotta hit the sack and get ready for our last day in the parks at MK and the MNSSHP. Good night folks!

It never ceases to amaze me that people are still so rude even getting on the buses. No common courtesy at all! Glad you enjoyed the day! So I hear its more crowded than normal.. are wait times really bad for the popular attractions?? I am not expecting Soarin to be a walk-on like it was 2 weeks ago lol but it would be nice not to see 90 minutes all the time!

When the bus shared with POR, wasn't POFQ dropped off first?

 

[Dad 2 M & M]

We took the boat to DtD around 8:30 tonight and it started raining when we went to get on the boat back so we ended up using the bus. It was a mad house to get onto the bus and I almost had to throw an elbow at a guy that was rushing to cutoff my wife and kids to get into the bus. He was literally behind us and we were the 2nd group in so it's not like he wasn't going to get in. Anyhow, I didn't realize how much it stunk sharing a bus with Riverside. We passed our building twice before getting there.

Anyways, gotta hit the sack and get ready for our last day in the parks at MK and the MNSSHP. Good night folks!

Please take a moment report on the entire busing/boating experience...I would love to hear how well in functioned.

Enjoy MNSSHP dude

 

[draybook]

It never ceases to amaze me that people are still so rude even getting on the buses. No common courtesy at all! Glad you enjoyed the day! So I hear its more crowded than normal.. are wait times really bad for the popular attractions?? I am not expecting Soarin to be a walk-on like it was 2 weeks ago lol but it would be nice not to see 90 minutes all the time!

When the bus shared with POR, wasn't POFQ dropped off first?

I think Soarin maxed out at like 70 minutes, but it was only my wife and daughter riding it so I'm not sure. But then again they only used FP's on it until EMH. And the bus went to Riverside first. That was a bummer because they had us crammed in there.

 

[fractal]

I'm thoroughly enjoying the Real Time WDW updates!

 

[Uncle Lupe]

You could probably still find a ressie if you wanted....we are considering San Angel for Dec, but really have never had anything other than an average meal there. Its a bummer too, really love that backdrop!

That was and ADR dropped from our trip last October. Thanks for the encouragement. It's on the list of must do's next time.

 

[Dad 2 M & M]

That was and ADR dropped from our trip last October. Thanks for the encouragement. It's on the list of must do's next time.

I get it now...you should not have a problem getting a ressie for your next trip.

 

[draybook]

So last night was our last park night and our second MNSSHP. Never again will we do the party on a Friday. It was pretty crowded but most of the people were meeting characters and getting candy. We had fun, even with the rain that wouldn't completely stop AFTER the party started. Even some locals we talked to said it rained more this week than usual, that figures.

The only issues I noticed was that in the Progress City scene there are two huge rips in the backdrop on the left side and on the right it looks like it's getting ready to do the same thing AND the FP+ testing is making the HM standby line longer than it needs to be. That being said, does anyone here dress up as the hitchiking ghosts? We saw these folks and their costumes were amazing! They let our kids take a picture with them and everything. The only bummer was that they rode last, which is my tradition...., but I had to bow to the HM masters, as they were awesome!

Well, that's it until we get home late tonight, when I'll be uploading pics and adding anything I might have forgotten. Thanks for reading!

 

[Blueskyze]

We were at the party last night, too - the rain was a bummer, totally threw off the planning I had done. I saw the hitchhiking ghosts, they were AWESOME! Looking forward to seeing your pictures!

 

[draybook]

PICS ARE HERE!!! Please forgive me, as I don't keep up with the order of our rides/dining and all of that. I'm just not organized enough to keep up with it, not to mention I'm lugging around a backpack all day and trying to avoid heat strokes. I'm just going to post my Photobucket link here. Please enjoy and I will gladly accept all photography tips and secrets.

http://photobucket.com/draybookWDW2012

 

[mousefreak]

Great picts, Dray. Looks like you guys had a good time. I remember you asking about driving to check out other resorts. Did you have any issues with parking there even though you didn't have reservations or did you take the bus to see these resorts?

 

[ExtinctJenn]

Yay pics!!

 

[draybook]

We only had time to check out the AoA resort but it was easy.

 

[ratherbeinwdw]

So last night was our last park night and our second MNSSHP. Never again will we do the party on a Friday. It was pretty crowded but most of the people were meeting characters and getting candy. We had fun, even with the rain that wouldn't completely stop AFTER the party started. Even some locals we talked to said it rained more this week than usual, that figures.

The only issues I noticed was that in the Progress City scene there are two huge rips in the backdrop on the left side and on the right it looks like it's getting ready to do the same thing AND the FP+ testing is making the HM standby line longer than it needs to be. That being said, does anyone here dress up as the hitchiking ghosts? We saw these folks and their costumes were amazing! They let our kids take a picture with them and everything. The only bummer was that they rode last, which is my tradition...., but I had to bow to the HM masters, as they were awesome!

Well, that's it until we get home late tonight, when I'll be uploading pics and adding anything I might have forgotten. Thanks for reading!

The rain was really a bummer for us also. We couldn't believe it didn't rain a drop until 7:00. Then except for the short time they were finally able to do the parade, it rained non-stop.
We got a great picture with a female ghost at the end of the ride. I'll upload it soon. She stayed right in character. She had to stay inside right as you come off the ride because of the rain. If the line started to back up or block the exit, they would make people leave. We lucked up and got there pretty much right after she came out. We also got one of the cm's inside to let me take a flash picture. I'll upload that also.
We were looking for you, but with the rain and ponchos, we couldn't find anyone.