Trip Report Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho, It's Back to the World We Go! *COMPLETED*

Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you prematurely. I am your host ~ your trip report host. Here in the following pages you'll see how the Tuvalu family survived Spring Break 2017. Kindly sit back and relax please, and make room for everyone. There's no turning back now......

Well, that's not exactly true. You are free to FIND YOUR WAY OUT at any time. Although I hope you stick around for the tour. There's bound to be drama.

The deets:
Cast: Moi (Tuvalu), Benevolent Husband (Woody), and the only reason we braved Spring Break madness ~ our Teacher Daughter (Em)
Dates: April 1-8, 2017
Resort: Port Orleans French Quarter

Along the way you'll encounter the slowest cast members ever hired by Disney. Farewell performances of Wishes (were there tears?) The awesome Blue Angels flyover. A Magic meet-up with another mother/daughter pair equally obsessed with WDW as Em and me. And the BEST TRANSPORTATION EVER.

You'll also discover the answers to the following questions: Are Spring Break crowds really that bad? (I'll give you a hint......YES.) What the heck happened to the Trolley? And the flagpole? Is the Red Card really gone? Can you get a same-day ADR for Be Our Guest? What about 'Ohana?

And the most-pressing question of all: Will Woody be doomed to sit on a hard chair in our room chained to his PC and phone all week?

Now as they say, "Look alive" and we'll continue our little tour.

 

[Tiggerish]

Or the original 1965 hit? (Not me, I'm not that old).)

I'm not old enough to remember its release, but I remember it playing on the oldies station!

Em had to get creative with her camera.

Very creatively (and beautifully) done, @TrolleyFollower91!! That's such a tough spot to try to get no one in the frame. I didn't get to make it to the F&G Festival this year, and it's my favorite, so I'm enjoying it vicariously through your wonderful photos.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Oh, how I wanted to love this chicken (sorry, @mlegerto ). I really did. It had a nice crunchy crust and the chicken was fairly moist, but there was absolutely NO flavor. Now there was vinegar to sprinkle on and tartar sauce for dipping, but I am a purist and believe chicken tenders/planks/nuggets should stand on their own. Any sauce should merely accentuate the flavor, not be the flavor. We have a local restaurant that hand-batters fresh chicken tenders when you order and Cookes chicken is not even in the same league. (I'd like to say the chips made up for the chicken, but I can't....)

Oh well ~ it was fun dining al fresco and dinner was cheap by Disney standards, and now we can cross Cookes of Dublin off our bucket list.

I'm tellin' ya, The chicken at the new flying fish is amazing in that regard. I don't know how they get so much flavor into that chicken.

And I don't know why this reminded me of a place I love to eat in Atlanta – I think the name has something to do with a rooster? They have live birds in cages outside, and they have a good number of vegetarian dishes including my favorite vegetarian sloppy Joe anywhere.

lights

Obviously I didn't quote this post correctly, and I have no idea what I was referencing – but I bet it was a million laughs!

 

[Tuvalu]

These guys crack me up.

True confession ~ I have never seen an episode of Phineas and Ferb. I know nothing of their relationship to one another, what they do or what shenanigans they partake in.

All I know is looking at them.....whether in topiary form or character form....brings a smile to my face. And that is enough.

Amazingly there was no line at this Photopass location so we took advantage!

And Em got it from the flip side.

We were on our way to dinner but made one stop for an appetizer. After reviewing the menus for the F&G food booths, there was one item I had to try.

Grilled chicken? Red bell peppers? Micro-cilantro? I'm in!

This dish does not photograph well at all.

It was also much spicier than I expected. (Note to self: Salsa Chile Morita is HOT!!) Woody's palate can handle spicy hot better than mine or Em's, so he ended up eating most of it.
(And @sheriffwoody, I used a reward card so it didn't feel like "vacation me" wasted money. )

 

[Tuvalu]

I'm tellin' ya, The chicken at the new flying fish is amazing in that regard. I don't know how they get so much flavor into that chicken.

Making a mental note of this.

And I don't know why this reminded me of a place I love to eat in Atlanta – I think the name has something to do with a rooster? They have live birds in cages outside, and they have a good number of vegetarian dishes including my favorite vegetarian sloppy Joe anywhere.

Not a clue what restaurant this is.

Obviously I didn't quote this post correctly, and I have no idea what I was referencing – but I bet it was a million laughs!

I laughed!

 

[Tuvalu]

I bet @Doc Disney recognizes where we went for dinner.

This lobby area is not big enough to hold all the sweaty, tired and hungry guests that show up to eat.
(For the record we weren't sweaty or tired, thanks to our showers and rest. But we were hungry.)

We waited about twenty minutes before our name was called. Our table was out on the covered porch and a nice breeze was blowing in through the open windows. Our friendly server promptly brought our drinks and bread to tide us over until our pizza arrived.

We love the pizza at Via Napoli. It's filling without making you feel FULL. (Although we might have been in a full pizza coma had we ordered the Mezzo Metro for the 3 of us, like @Doc Disney, her mom and sister did! )

We ordered the large cheese with RED peppers. Not YELLOW peppers. As you can see in the picture, YELLOW was the dominant color pepper we received. I don't care for yellow peppers (there is a difference) and I was
to have to pick them off.

What remained of my slices was tasty though.

Tonight Via Napoli gets an A for ambiance, A- for service and B for food (yellow peppers )

Em captured a hidden egg without even knowing about the egg hunt.

Sunset at Flower & Garden. So pretty.

 

[Tuvalu]

This vacation was Em's last opportunity to see Wishes and it was now our 5th night ~ no more time to waste! We rode the monorail from Epcot to the TTC and found a bench (shocker!) to sit on while passing the time. Though we could have made it into MK before the show started, Em had no desire to stand among the spring break crowds.

And she knew we'd have a pretty great view from where we were.

First we were treated to the Electrical Water Pageant.

Wishes, Dream a dream......

A firework shell that bursts into the sun??!!!! Cool!!!

Em made it through the show without tears.

Now we had a transportation decision to make. Monorail to MK and transfer to the POFQ bus? Monorail back to Epcot and get the bus from there?

We did neither.

Woody requested an Uber. We were back in our room 15 minutes later. It was the best $7.52 we'd spent all day.

The Cookie Monster had a craving, so I walked over to the food court and picked up three M&M cookies. They were eaten before a picture was taken.

Coming up ~ What would wake me up tomorrow?

 

[sheriffwoody]

(And @sheriffwoody, I used a reward card so it didn't feel like "vacation me" wasted money. )

Haha! I was using one too, which is probably why I didn't bat an eyelash at ordering expensive drinks. It wasn't until I was copying the info with the prices into my report that I was shocked!

 

[Ciara]

View attachment 201754

And got the monorail too! Beautiful photo @TrolleyFollower91

 

[Tuvalu]

Thursday, April 6

Another pre-dawn wake up for me ~ though I am happy to report it was not Em writhing in pain.
Today's culprit?
Thunder!

Big, booming thunderclaps. It felt like the room was shaking. I immediately checked the Weather app and saw there was only a slight chance of rain, dropping to zero percent at 9 am. Yay! We would not need our rain gear.

It was another hour or so until Woody and Em were up. Before retiring last night, I had to modify our plans for the day. I canceled an 8:30 am ADR at Crystal Palace. Woody, our big breakfast eater, had an emergency 9:30 am call (one he could not take inside the park). He said he'd be happy with a Mickey waffle from the food court so we decided to have breakfast there. Besides, I could try the fried French toast again.....this time WITHOUT the spiced peaches.

It was cloudy as we walked to breakfast but no raindrops. There must have been rain earlier (in conjunction with the thunder I'd heard) as the pavement was wet and there were a few puddles here and there. It was early enough that the food court wasn't too busy. Getting Woody's waffle was no problem ~ getting the French toast was another story.

Since the French toast is not prepped in advance, each slice has to be dipped in batter, fried in oil and dusted with sugar. There were two guests ahead of me in line who wanted French toast and their orders had to be made and completed before it was my turn. The CM asked me three different times (as she prepped my toast) if I wanted fruit and three times I said, "No fruit, please."

You know where this is going.

As soon as she dusted my slices with sugar she grabbed the ladle and dropped a large scoop of spiced peaches atop my French toast.

"I asked for no fruit."
Instead of setting the order aside for someone behind me in line who might want the fruit, the CM threw the toast into the trash.

And we had to start the process all over again.

Woody and Em has finished eating by the time I got to the table. To be fair, the French toast was delicious (it was *almost* as good as Pooh's Puffed Toast at Crystal Palace, which is a favorite of mine.) I just wish it hadn't been so difficult to obtain it!

We said goodbye to Woody and went to the bus stop where many folks were waiting. The bus stop CM kept sternly repeating, "Stay back behind the golden line of safety!"

In case you're curious, this is the golden line of safety. (The top line is the curb.)

The closer our bus got to the MK, the darker the sky. As Em and I approached the new security checkpoint (which opened three days earlier) the wind whipped violently and it began to pour! We were soaked in no time ~ curse you, Weather app!!!!!

Moving the security screening away from the turnstiles really opens up the area. We like it!

While we miss the Welcome Show atop the train platform, we could never has taken this picture at 8:50 am before!

 

[Tuvalu]

Lights, screens and a stage had been installed in the flag pole area since our last visit.

We popped into the restroom next to City Hall and as we exited we heard the "park is now open" announcement. It was still sprinkling (so much for that zero percent probability at 9 am!) so we tried to walk under the awnings down Main Street. No need to get any wetter than we already were!

Peter Pan's Flight was our destination and though we walked very quickly, the line snaked outside the attraction and Em was at the end of it ~

Soon we discovered that they hadn't opened the regular queue line yet....once they did, the line moved quickly and we were finally out of the rain!

 

[Tuvalu]

Two exciting things happened when our ride was over:
1. The rain had stopped (for the remainder of the day!)
2. There was an announcement that the Blue Angels would be flying over Cinderella Castle "momentarily."

I had read about the flyover prior to our trip but had forgotten about it. I was instantly glad we weren't having breakfast in Crystal Palace! Em and I moved closer to the castle where a group of guests had gathered. None of us knew which direction to look and Em barely had her camera ready when the jets swept over us. It was an impressive sight ~ and sound!!

The whole thing happened so fast! All of us tried to follow where the jets went and there were murmurings that there would be a second flyover, though no official announcement was made.

Em kept her camera poised and caught a couple of the jets when they returned as part of the Delta break.

Note second jet in top corner.

While we were pleased to have witnessed the flyovers, guests on Main Street got the better view.

Photo courtesy of @wdwmagic

 

[MinnieM123]

Love the photos of the Blue Angels flyover. That was exciting that they flew over WDW! What a treat to see them, and talk about perfect timing when you exited Peter Pan. I think there is a tie-in here somewhere . . . Peter Pan could fly, and the Blue Angels could fly . . .

(P. S.: I've seen the Blue Angels and also the Air Force's Thunderbirds in air shows over the years. Both teams are spectacular.)

 

[Tuvalu]

Love the photos of the Blue Angels flyover. That was exciting that they flew over WDW! What a treat to see them, and talk about perfect timing when you exited Peter Pan. I think there is a tie-in here somewhere . . . Peter Pan could fly, and the Blue Angels could fly . . .

(P. S.: I've seen the Blue Angels and also the Air Force's Thunderbirds in air shows over the years. Both teams are spectacular.)

Funny story.....several years ago we were in Epcot when an announcement was made that the Thunderbirds would be making a flyover. Em was purchasing a pin at a cart in the U.K. and the U.K. cast member loudly asked (in her proper English voice): "What in the hell is a Thunderbird?"

It cracked us up.

(Another case of perfect timing? )

 

[Tuvalu]

After watching the Blue Angels, Em and I had another first ~ riding in the last car of 7DMT.

I do have some motion sensitivity and usually request to sit in front since the cars don't seem to rock back and forth very much. Today I decided to leave it up to fate ~ and fate put us last.

Whew what a difference in speed! This little coaster feels so much faster while seated at the end of the train! I loved it and am happy to report I suffered no ill effects.

 

[Tuvalu]

The excitement continued! First the Blue Angels, then the zippy 7DMT ride, and now?


THE RED IS NOT DEAD, PEOPLE!!!
(The Red Card, that is.)

I *might* have been a little too gleeful when the CM asked if I would carry the wait-timing card.

(And I need to fess up ~ I briefly thought about tucking this card away in my bag. But I remembered the wise words of Jiminy Cricket and handed the card to the CM before boarding our clamshell.)

 

[Tuvalu]

We took the cancer pathway to Tomorrowland. Time to burn another FP.

I didn't even come close to defeating Zurg. (Heck, I didn't even come close to defeating Em!) And @lostpro9het I am camera-challenged at Buzz Lightyear too.

 

[Tuvalu]

Wish you could get a better glimpse of the crowd behind Em.....the show we saw had a full theater!

You know you've seen Carousel of Progress waaayyyy too many times when you notice subtle changes.
First one:

Anyone?
Hint: Something is missing from the table.

Anyone?

If you said Jack o'Lantern, you're right! Eagle-eye Em spotted it here:

Pic is dark, but Jack is atop the fridge.

Ready for another one?

Anyone?
Hint: Look at Grandma.

Anyone?

Grandma's sporting a teal gaming glove. Gone is the boring gray one. She's rockin' the fashion world now!

Last one:

Anyone?
Hint: It's not the son.

Anyone?

I am ready to admit it might just be me, but Father's face looks different. Or it could be his sweater. Or the apron. Something about him is off (hairstyle?) Lots of bonus points to the person who can clear up the mystery for me!

 

[lostpro9het]

We took the cancer pathway to Tomorrowland. Time to burn another FP.

View attachment 201999

View attachment 202000

I didn't even come close to defeating Zurg. (Heck, I didn't even come close to defeating Em!) And @lostpro9het I am camera-challenged at Buzz Lightyear too.

View attachment 201998

Can't help ya there... but @imahistorygeek can, clearly, sympathize ...

 

[MinnieM123]

THE RED IS NOT DEAD, PEOPLE!!!
(The Red Card, that is.)

It's probably the very LAST red card in the entire park--and they were saving it for YOU--for nostalgia reasons!!!

 

[Tuvalu]

The full house at CoP followed us over to TTA Peoplemover.

At least the end of the line wasn't in front of Space Mountain like it was in February!

The escalator to the top was not working. Woody believes it is intentionally turned off on busy days to prevent too many guests from ascending at one time and crowding the platform.

Wasn't able to test his theory this trip since this was our only ride.

This view is no longer cluttered by silly white cabanas!