Trip Report Expedition Pig Search, Whirlwind Sister Trip - Jan '17



Hey friends! We just got back from our sister trip on Sunday. :cry: I just now got my pictures on the computer, so it might take a few days to get them sorted out.

Figured I'd start the report while I am sitting here watching Hunted on CBS. Is anyone else watching it? A good friend of mine is one of the fugitives, and it's so surreal to see him on TV. But also the intense music they use on this show is making me anxious, so I need to do something while I watch. :joyfull:

Looking forward to sharing about all the fun we had!
 

sheriffwoody

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Since we got to bed so late the night before, I figured we should sleep in a tad on our 3rd (and last) day. I ended up rolling out of bed at about 7:45 and drinking coffee on the balcony. I didn't stay out there long because the kids next to us (not the 2am partiers, the other neighbors) decided to start running in and out of the room and shouting. One of the kids over there had no volume control...he was set to 11 every time he opened his mouth o_O

Aaaaanyway, sorry I'm complaining a lot!

Ok this is going to be a text heavy post, sorry. As I was getting ready, I was looking for my orange sling bag to bring to the park. I looked everywhere in the room and it was just not there. This was when I started feeling crazy. I distinctly remember the evening before deciding NOT to bring it to the park, so it should be there, right? Wrong. As far as I remembered, nothing was in the bag, so surely no one stole it.

When we go downstairs, I figured I may as well check with the desk. The first person I asked just acted like I was out of luck and he couldn't help me. To be fair, I probably wouldn't help me either. I said "Hi, um...I can't find my bag. It was in my room, but now it's not. I really don't remember taking it out of the room, but housekeeping hasn't been in the room since I last had it, so I can't figure out what happened to it."

I asked about a lost and found just in case, and he said he didn't have access to any lost and found :cautious:. I guess since I wasn't making any move to walk away, he consulted with the other lady at the desk. I tried explaining my predicament to her, and she was more understanding. She called "downstairs" whatever that means and asked someone to check for it somewhere. That person called back and said there WAS an orange bag! So she sent someone down to get it. It was my bag! :eek:

I still have NO IDEA how it got there. The only thing I can figure is that I picked it up out of habit on the way to Hollywood Studios and then laid it down when we pin traded at Community Hall. Guys, my little pouch with all my insurance cards, debit card, etc. and $100+ in cash was in that bag, and none of it had been touched. I couldn't believe it. I've left my wallet or purse places before and it's always been plundered when I get it back...but not at Disney!

I'm kicking myself for not taking down the name of the cast member who helped me and didn't treat me like the nutso that I am. Bless her!!

So with all that sorted, I was feeling extremely pixie-dusted (or #blessed). We got to the bus stop, and I didn't even mind the 20 minute wait and jam packed bus ride to Magic Kingdom!

This was a Saturday, so of course it was mobbed.


No worries! We were still in this magical place! What do you think was the first thing sister wanted?
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place your bets now.
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Alright, who guessed pretzel?! :hilarious::hilarious::hilarious: The cast member ended up giving it to her for free, so she was pretty excited. I think it's because she had to wait a little bit for it, but that was very kind of the CM to do that, especially since sister was trying to make her money last!

We sat on a ledge over there for her to eat it. When I heard the Trolley Show starting, I asked if we could go watch. She was still eating, so she just followed me over there.







Y'all, something is wrong with me. I started getting teary-eyed watching the Trolley Show. It's one of my absolute favorite things and it really gets to me! :cry::cry::cry: I was sooooo close to the performers, I was hoping they couldn't see me looking like a total goober with my eyes welled up :joyfull:

After that, we started walking over to Frontierland. I forgot to take notes, so I can't remember where we were heading. I think we wanted to get on Pirates first since we didn't do that during After Hours. We stopped for some pictures first.




As we were walking into Liberty Square, I noticed the Muppet show was about to start. I told sister it was pretty short and cute so she might like it. We stopped to watch. It was the same town crier as last time I was there...I love him! He's so fun.








Sister laughed at the silly parts, so I think she liked it. I absolutely adore it! I love these little gems throughout the park. I hope they keep doing this show!
 

FlaggNL

Well-Known Member
It's been a while since I was here! Way too long :) And now it is time to gear up and check all the reports I missed and off course finish my own TR. This was the first I read in a long time! And what a TR!! WoW! Great pics, great report. Absolutely following along! Thanks for sharing, brings back our feelings of the October '16 trip!
 

amjt660

Well-Known Member
Since we got to bed so late the night before, I figured we should sleep in a tad on our 3rd (and last) day. I ended up rolling out of bed at about 7:45 and drinking coffee on the balcony. I didn't stay out there long because the kids next to us (not the 2am partiers, the other neighbors) decided to start running in and out of the room and shouting. One of the kids over there had no volume control...he was set to 11 every time he opened his mouth o_O

OMG! - a reference to Spinal Tap!!
upload_2017-2-8_9-1-21.png
 

bee

Well-Known Member
I still have NO IDEA how it got there. The only thing I can figure is that I picked it up out of habit on the way to Hollywood Studios and then laid it down when we pin traded at Community Hall. Guys, my little pouch with all my insurance cards, debit card, etc. and $100+ in cash was in that bag, and none of it had been touched. I couldn't believe it. I've left my wallet or purse places before and it's always been plundered when I get it back...but not at Disney!
OMG this whole story made me so nervous for you. I can't believe everything was intact inside!!

I was sooooo close to the performers, I was hoping they couldn't see me looking like a total goober with my eyes welled up :joyfull:
Performers love when we make people cry! I hope they did see you! :D

Also, I was quite sceptical about the After Hours event at MK but your account makes it look totally worth it. If we get APs again and there's a discount in the future...we might just have to make that happen.
 

sheriffwoody

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
It's been a while since I was here! Way too long :) And now it is time to gear up and check all the reports I missed and off course finish my own TR. This was the first I read in a long time! And what a TR!! WoW! Great pics, great report. Absolutely following along! Thanks for sharing, brings back our feelings of the October '16 trip!
Thanks for following!

OMG! - a reference to Spinal Tap!!
View attachment 188562
YES! I love that movie. That scene is relevant so often in life :joyfull:

OMG this whole story made me so nervous for you. I can't believe everything was intact inside!!
I still can't believe it either. I may not have even realized all that was gone for a while...clearly I am setting a good example for my sister about responsibility! haha. We are cut from the same cloth in that regard.

I'm still catching up, but I WANT this photo framed and hanging in my living room! LOVE it!

You can totally print it if you want! I think if you open it, you can download the full-sized one? If not message me your email and I can send it to you :D
 

sheriffwoody

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I mentioned earlier that we were headed to Pirates, but I was wrong. I knew sister wanted to ride Splash Mountain, and the line wasn't terrible so we headed there first.




The posted wait was 20 minutes I believe. We ended up waiting longer because the ride stopped for a little bit. I think it was stopped for about 10 minutes, so not too bad. We in that last long stretch of the line before you round the corner and see the loading area. So close, yet so far.


Before


During. I told sister the hat would be fine, but I was wrong. Luckily her ponytail kept it on. I'm glad because that's my hat!!


After. We got quite soaked! The guys behind us were entertaining both in line and on the ride.





Splash Mountain is moving up on my ride rankings (not that I actually have rankings, but if I did, Splash would be moving up...). It's just so charming! I don't particularly like getting wet on rides, but I can tolerate it.

Next we were a little hungry, so we stopped in at Pecos Bill. I loaded us up with food!


I LOVE the nachos there. The toppings bar is so awesome.

After we ate, we used our first FP of the day.




We thought about riding either Big Thunder or Splash again, but they were both up to at least 40 minutes, and we didn't feel like waiting. Magic Kingdom was pretty busy, but we figured we could find stuff to do.

So on the way back through Frontierland we stopped to look at a cast member's pins. Sister had been looking to complete this one set, and apparently the last one she needed is really hard to find. It's a pig in a family of like 5 people and 5 pets. Anyway, she had all the other ones, so she was just looking for the pig. I kept telling her not to get her hopes up so she wouldn't be disappointed. I told the cast member that and he said "well, if anyone can help you find it, it's Chris over at Frontier Trading" or whatever it's called. He said he saw Chris over there that morning so he should still be there. I figured what the heck...might as well try.

So we found Chris and waited for him to finish at the register. I told him our predicament, and he said he may know a guy who knows a guy, then he went out the back of the store for a few minutes. Sure enough, when he came back, he had the pig! I couldn't believe it! Sister was so happy! I guess I just didn't have the Disney hope and magic in my heart like I should have :joyfull:. We talked to Chris for a few more minutes and thanked him 100 times. I emailed Guest Services when we got home to tell them how much we appreciated Chris, so hopefully that made it back to him.

Here's the pin:


I hope I see Chris again on my next trip. I may try to make something fun for him or write him a card or something.
 

sheriffwoody

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We were heading back through the hub to somewhere...I can't remember where, but Mickey's Royal Friendship Faire had just started. I had to stop and watch since I missed it last trip! I don't think sister cared at all about the shows, so I was being a little selfish...oops.

Fun fact: I JUST watched The Princess and the Frog for the first time like a week ago. What is wrong with me?! It is so good...I feel so dumb for just now watching it. I cried like a little baby child several times.






The little girl in front of me was waving at Olaf...so adorable.




I loved it!!! Toward the end, I was losing interest, and I could tell sister was restless, so we started walking toward our next FP. We didn't get our fill the night before!


She's holding the hat on :joyfull:. I think she regretted wearing it.



Next I decided to check out Big Top Souvenirs. I don't go in there much, so I couldn't remember if they had much. It's a cute store, but I didn't get anything. Sister ended up getting a caramel apple.




She didn't end up finishing it. We probably could have shared it, but I was still full from lunch.


A selfie while sister was eating. I love these ears!
 

sheriffwoody

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We headed back over toward Frontierland next. I think on the way we stopped to do PhilharMagic. Sister thought it was cute, but I could tell she liked rides a lot better. I think if she goes back the shows will grow on her.

We found an out-of-the-way spot around Liberty Square to watch the parade. It was a terrible view, but we could see a decent amount. I didn't want to wait forever for parades and stuff knowing she probably wouldn't care that much. Here are some faraway pictures:









I cried during this too...:facepalm:. Something wrong with me, y'all.

Next we finally headed to Pirates! I had switched one of our FPs to this since we still hadn't done it, and I wanted her to see it.






I always take the same pictures...I don't know why. But that last one is the prisoners to the right of the ones everyone looks at. They are the forgotten ones, so I wanted to make them feel special :hilarious:

At this point we had two more hours until dinner, but we really wanted to just leave and go back to Animal Kingdom. It was so crowded that everything had a long wait and we were so tired.


See? We look exhausted.

It was too late to cancel dinner at Tony's Town Square, so I figured I would just show up and see if we could move it up. It was only 4, so I assumed they wouldn't be super busy. I told the girl at check-in that we had a later reservation but wondered if we could eat now. I had tried to change it on the app several times that afternoon and couldn't get it to work. Luckily she said that was fine and said it would be a 20 minute wait. It was actually only about 5.




We were seated outside overlooking Town Square. I liked it out there, but several people asked to be moved inside when they were led out there. I guess I just like dining al fresco whenever possible...I thought everyone was like that.

So I've always heard mixed reviews about Tony's. I have never been drawn to it, but I knew sister could at least get some spaghetti. We got bread at the table first. It was pretty good.



Our view


I got zucchini fries first. Sister was having no part of that :hilarious: But I liked them! The sauce was good.


I got this pizza thing. It was good, but it wasn't any better than the MUCH cheaper flatbread at Pinocchio's on the other side of the park.

Sister got the chicken parm but with white sauce. I think she liked it ok! She didn't finish it of course, but she ate a good amount and said it was good. Overall, the meal was fine, but I probably wouldn't eat there again. It's quick service quality at table service prices...at least that was my experience. Maybe we just didn't get the right items.
 

LisaBelle

Well-Known Member


I didn't take any pictures on the Jungle Cruise, but it was good. Sister laughed, thankfully. She thought it was silly. I took the above picture on the way back over to Big Thunder. I love seeing the castle from all over the park.



We rode two or three more times! I think we were right at a half hour left in the park at this point, maybe a smidgen more. We decided to close out the night riding 7 Dwarves. We grabbed some free popcorn and bottled water and enjoyed those on our walk.

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A shaky iPhone shot of the one other person in Frontierland.:joyfull: This was one of the moments where it almost felt eerie how empty it was. It's hard to describe, but the quiet is kind of unsettling. That's not a complaint though. I hope they keep it that way! I will definitely be doing this again!

We rode 7 Dwarves 4 more times. After the 4th time, it was 2 minutes until midnight, so we had just enough time to grab two more ice creams for the road home.










I love this shot of the train station through the castle. I have tried to get this several times, but there's never a break with no people walking through. Thank you special event! It was worth the wait :inlove:


*sigh* goodnight, beautiful.



We stopped for a little photo shoot in front of the partner statue. I never want to wait for that during the day, so now seemed like the perfect time. There were these ladies having their own little photo shoot right in front of where the photographer was shooting. All of us standing there just kind of stopped and stared at them until they went away. o_Oo_Oo_O I don't think they even cared :rolleyes: The photopass photographer was like "That one's for Instagram, that one's for Snapchat...oh gotta get another one for Facebook. And that one for MySpace. They're bringing that back, you know." It was funny :hilarious:

Most everyone was filing out at this point, but even then Main Street wasn't very crowded.



I would absolutely do this event again. In a heartbeat. Now, I did get the AP discount, and there are only two of us. If I was buying this at full price for a family of four, I might balk. It was really awesome, but is it $500 awesome? Maybe not. Magic Kingdom on a regular day is still pretty darn fun! This was just a great way for me to get sister on almost every ride in a short amount of time. Perfect for a short trip!

If you have any questions at all about the event, please ask! I don't mind at all, and I'll do my best to answer.

We waited probably 15 minutes for a bus, then we got back to the room at about 1. Sister crashed and I showered and crawled into bed. Guess what happened at 2am AGAIN. Our *CUSSCUSSCUSS* neighbors woke me up! Two nights in a row. How are they not tired?!

I was tired enough that I went back to sleep pretty quickly though.
The special event looks like so much fun!!! A practically deserted MK, um yes please!!! Your photos are always great, but the shots of the castle and especially the view of the train station from the castle were spectacular!!!
 

Tiggerish

Resident Redhead
Premium Member
Catching up!

That was some story about your bag! Glad you got everything back, and good thing you were persistent! Thankfully the second CM was so much more helpful.

Your photos from MK After Hours are gorgeous. I happened to be one of the DVC members who got to go to one of the first events, and I agree, as cool as it is to be able to go on ride after ride, when there's so very few people around (like your Frontierland photo) it is kinda spooky.

Love your mint-green sunglasses!

It doesn't matter what items you order at Tony's. ;) I'm with you on the al fresco dining--some people just aren't into it. I love to eat outside when the weather permits, but my hubby is not a fan of outdoor dining.
 

Jim Buck

Active Member
I have a 13 year old daughter so I feel your pain! Yes it is just like taking cash and putting into a wood chipper each day, and the mood shifts faster than the Florida skies. Glad you did it though, she will one day tell you it was an awesome experience.
 

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