Hot Times in the World: A June 2011 Trip Report!

Ariel484 · Jul 1, 2011

During dinner we could see dark clouds rolling in over the Polynesian…ruh-roh! A storm’s a-coming!

But it was still light at the Magic Kingdom!

Our first stop that evening was to Town Hall to meet the princesses.

I think the line was about 15 minutes long, not too bad. First we met Aurora:

And then Ariel!! My fave!

Contrary to what it looks like below, I don’t think I was being scolded…

You can tell I was pretty pumped to meet her!

Points to Ariel for being completely in character…when she needed a pen from the photopass CM, she asked for a “thingamabob.” Not a pen, a thingamabob. Well done!

Cinderella rounded out the group that evening:

We had fun talking with Ariel, but overall I find meeting princesses to be slightly awkward. I feel like they never know what to say to me (an adult) beyond, “Is this your handsome prince?” (Replace the word “prince” with “sailor,” “beast,” “warrior,” etc.). And yet, we still do it every trip!

Ariel484 · Jul 1, 2011

After meeting the princesses and deciding that we’d meet Magician Mickey another time, things started to go downhill. My throat, which had been feeling dry all day, was now just plain ol’ SORE. Not only that, I had a headache and major ear pain as well. I’m not quite sure what happened, but my guess is that it was a combination of not drinking enough water and constantly switching between the air conditioning and the 90+ degree heat. Whatever the cause, I suddenly felt terrible.

I didn’t want to face the reality that we might have to call it a night much, much earlier than I’d originally hoped, so we made our way toward the castle.

We headed into Tomorrowland to get Space Mountain fastpasses…apparently I thought a high-speed ride through space would cure what was ailing me!!??!

The clouds had found Magic Kingdom by that point…eek! So we quickly made our way into the Laugh Floor for the first time.

We really liked this show! Will even appeared on camera (“Hiding third eye under his hat”), and just like Turtle Talk, we were impressed with how well the animation synched up with the dialogue.

I still felt like crap when the show ended. We exited out into a wet Tomorrowland; rain was falling, not too hard, but it was pretty steady. The rain was the nail in the coffin – I knew we needed to leave, but I still couldn’t bring myself to say the words. Will finally pulled the trigger and we sadly left the Magic Kingdom, giving our Space fastpasses to a young couple near the bus stop. Despite not feeling well, I did have a moment of brilliance at the bus stop. The bus sharing is a bit different at the Magic Kingdom compared to Animal Kingdom. Here, for whatever reason, Yacht and Beach Club get their own bus and Boardwalk/Swan and Dolphin share a separate bus. We had just missed a Boardwalk/Swan and Dolphin bus, but a Yacht/Beach bus was pulling right up, and the line was non-existent. Rather than wait for another Boardwalk bus (really I think we wouldn’t have even made the next one…the line was HUGE), we hopped on the Yacht and Beach bus and got off at the first stop, walking the rest of the way around the boardwalk to get back to our hotel. Woot!

Obviously, leaving early was disappointing and we whined over our bad luck with evenings at the MK, specifically with seeing Wishes. The only evening we spent at the MK during our honeymoon was plagued by insane thunderstorms, so that was a bust. In November 2009 we thought we were being clever watching Wishes from an empty Adventureland, only to find that we didn’t get the full effect because we didn’t see the fireworks straight-on (if that makes any sense) and the music isn’t piped in to the whole park…d’oh! (Have you ever watched Wishes from the side with island beats as the soundtrack? Much less inspiring.) And then this past February I mistakenly thought Wishes would be shown later during MK Evening Extra Magic Hours, only to see the entire show from the monorail…what can I say, we’re still Disney noobs for the most part! But the bottom line is that we had yet to “properly” see Wishes, and now we were going to miss out again.

It was absolutely the right decision to leave, though. We grabbed some cough drops from the Screen Door General Store, which really helped, and I promptly fell asleep when we returned to our room at 9:30, my earliest bedtime of the week by far. I guess there’s a reason why people take time out of their trip to actually relax! What a concept.

HollyBelle · Jul 1, 2011

Oh no! I hope you started feeling better by morning.... sometimes just a good night's sleep will do it.

I heart the Kona Cafe (for all meals) and yet, on our most recent trip in May we had a dinner there that was just so-so. I totally agree with you about how it's hard to get any steak after eating the filet with mac and cheese at Jiko. No other piece of meet compares to that filet... my mouth is watering just thinking about it.

I totally agree with your sentiments on the princesses. They make for some awkward interactions. Give me Chip and Dale any day of the week!

I have the Poly inspired goblets you took a picture of in Bou-tiki. I bought them for us to "toast" with on future anniversaries. I agree, there needs to be more resort specific merchandise on property. We even think some restaurant specific merch would be awesome. Brett would love some tshirts with some of the restaurant logos on them. I think Disney is really missing a market here. But what do I know?! :lol:

TakeMeThere81 · Jul 1, 2011

Oh no!! I'm so sorry you started to feel icky! That is never fun!! Waaaaahhh!!

I totally get your heartbreak on just not "getting it" with MK night time. We haven't seen Wishes/Spectromagic (I know, MSEP is there right now...) since I can't remember when! And it's not because we don't love the shows! For the longest time our youngest was scared of fireworks so we would leave before they started. If he so much as heard the booms in the distance he would cover his ears and start screaming. Poor baby. So we left night time fireworks shows for when he grew out of it(thankfully now he has). But then again like you two, we were here in February sans children and still missed the fireworks. My Saturday was planned as an EPIC MK day...being the idiot that I was in planning, I figured "Save the best for last". No. Never again. Best for first! We saw maybe half of the MK and it was all during daytime hours. Between having to go to WWoS for packet pick-up and since we were tired and sort of grumpy with one another, and because I'd forgotten the camera card...you name it, it happened that day! The crowds were insane and we had gone to Trails End by boat for dinner. We'd planned to come back for the fireworks then go to bed...we were too tired and tired of crowds to make it and after dinner we just went to bed. So once again, we missed MK at night/fireworks. Let alone, I didn't even get to give the MK a proper wave good-bye. *sigh* I get you girl. It is frustrating!!

The closest thing we've come to seeing the fireworks was while we were lined up for dinner at Spirit of Aloha Dinner show. We'd squeezed into the later show so as we were waiting to show them our ticket receipt the fireworks were going off. It teased me to no end...

Your pictures of this day were just amazing!! That new camera you got(or was it new lenses?) is just spectacular! Great job!

I hope you felt better the next morning!

BrittanyRose428 · Jul 2, 2011

I've been lurking but I just got all caught up, I hope you guys felt better the next day! Leaving MK is always the hardest. I went to Kona Cafe last week (for the first time since 2006) and I used to ALWAYS get the prime rib, it was the best meat dish I'd ever had in WDW and anywhere else at home even, and last week I wanted to cry because its not on the menu anymore.

It was nice to see your opinion on the New York Strip, because I contemplated getting that, though the waitress told me the ribeye was more similar to the prime rib so I went for that. Same seasoning, but definitely not the same as the prime rib was.

meganw1985 · Jul 2, 2011

Oh my gosh! I really hope you got to feeling better! Being sick on vaca stinks. I got a horrible sinus infection the May/June we stayed @ the Beach Club in 2008. I, too, think it was because of going in and out of the extreme heat and ac. They keep those buildings SUPER icy!!! Cure=pop several ibuprofen and trek on! I could recover when I got home! haha

Ps: we have fed the ducks at Flame Tree

I will probably be crucified for that, but those things scare me! It's easier to throw them a piece of chicken that be eaten yourself! Now that I say it, it sounds almost cannibalistic. Birds eating chicken??? They ARE evil!!!

Billy6 · Jul 2, 2011

Great Trip Report...I was at the World at the same time as you guys, and some of the days we were at the same parks...So, can I tell you that you weren't the only one who was sick at the MK on Friday the 17th of June!!!!

We got there just about 8pm when it was looking like storms were coming. At about 10:00, after a ride on Space Mountain and HM, I started to feel really dizzy and clammy. We headed over to BTM and that's where I almost passed out. Dizziness, sweating, etc...I was in no shape to stay, so me and my girlfriend made the trek back to our car. I slept there with the air on for about an hour, while waiting for the rest of my family to come out..It really was a buzz-kill leaving because it was EMH til 3am, and I really wanted to stay but couldn't.

I think the heat and maybe not hydrating myself enough had caught up to me for the week. It was my last day planned at the parks for the week. All in all, this was the only negitive to a great week of fun and sun....

PartOfYourWorld · Jul 2, 2011

Ariel484 said:
I found myself explaining quite a bit of the plot to Will after the movie was over. I saw it with him and 2 friends (who also don't read they books) and the friends enjoyed it much more than I did. Oh well.

And wasn't the 7th book amazing?? Well, I thought it was...I couldn't put it down the first time I read it.

Have fun seeing the movie on IMAX, I'm sure it will be awesome!

of course thats usually the case with people who haven't read the books...like you said oh well

And the 7th is amazing! That night it came out I think I stayed up until 4 o clock in the morning just reading and reading and couldn't put it down. Even still when I read it (I think I've read it 4 or 5 times now) I still can't put it down. I think the HP series is the first book series I've read waaaay too many times to count and it never gets old.

And thank you!

And I hope you felt better on the next morning of your trip! It's no fun being sick at Disney..been there done that

Disneygal1 · Jul 3, 2011

I absolutely love your tr! Your pictures are awesome! I love how you and your husband took pictures with the princesses, very cute. It stinks that you weren't feeling good at mk, but I think you made the most of it! I had horrible feet pain on my previous trip due to crappy shoes. I had to constantly take a break and sit down at the parks. Oh the things I do for Disney:lol:

Ariel484 · Jul 3, 2011

HollyBelle said:
Oh no! I hope you started feeling better by morning.... sometimes just a good night's sleep will do it.

This was the first time I ever got sick on a Disney trip...it was bound to happen at some point.

HollyBelle said:
heart the Kona Cafe (for all meals) and yet, on our most recent trip in May we had a dinner there that was just so-so. I totally agree with you about how it's hard to get any steak after eating the filet with mac and cheese at Jiko. No other piece of meet compares to that filet... my mouth is watering just thinking about it.

We'd definitely go there for lunch again...we had a breakfast ADR there for this trip that we ended up canceling, so I'm hoping to get that in soon. And you're right, the filet at Jiko is THE BEST...yum.

HollyBelle said:
I totally agree with your sentiments on the princesses. They make for some awkward interactions. Give me Chip and Dale any day of the week!

I agree, it's much more fun to meet the characters when they can't talk to you! :lol:

HollyBelle said:
I have the Poly inspired goblets you took a picture of in Bou-tiki. I bought them for us to "toast" with on future anniversaries. I agree, there needs to be more resort specific merchandise on property. We even think some restaurant specific merch would be awesome. Brett would love some tshirts with some of the restaurant logos on them. I think Disney is really missing a market here. But what do I know?! :lol:

I just think it's strange how some resorts have tons of stuff (the Poly, Animal Kingdom Lodge), where others (from what I saw, all of the Epcot resorts) have nothing. Your restaurant-specific merch idea is interesting! I'd certainly be interested in some Jiko stuff.

TakeMeThere81 said:
Oh no!! I'm so sorry you started to feel icky! That is never fun!! Waaaaahhh!!

I totally get your heartbreak on just not "getting it" with MK night time. We haven't seen Wishes/Spectromagic (I know, MSEP is there right now...) since I can't remember when! And it's not because we don't love the shows! For the longest time our youngest was scared of fireworks so we would leave before they started. If he so much as heard the booms in the distance he would cover his ears and start screaming. Poor baby. So we left night time fireworks shows for when he grew out of it(thankfully now he has). But then again like you two, we were here in February sans children and still missed the fireworks. My Saturday was planned as an EPIC MK day...being the idiot that I was in planning, I figured "Save the best for last". No. Never again. Best for first! We saw maybe half of the MK and it was all during daytime hours. Between having to go to WWoS for packet pick-up and since we were tired and sort of grumpy with one another, and because I'd forgotten the camera card...you name it, it happened that day! The crowds were insane and we had gone to Trails End by boat for dinner. We'd planned to come back for the fireworks then go to bed...we were too tired and tired of crowds to make it and after dinner we just went to bed. So once again, we missed MK at night/fireworks. Let alone, I didn't even get to give the MK a proper wave good-bye. *sigh* I get you girl. It is frustrating!!

The closest thing we've come to seeing the fireworks was while we were lined up for dinner at Spirit of Aloha Dinner show. We'd squeezed into the later show so as we were waiting to show them our ticket receipt the fireworks were going off. It teased me to no end...[/QUOTE]

Ugh, sounds like anything that could have gone wrong, did during your Princess Half trip! I definitely thought the same as you did when we were on our honeymoon - save the MK for last, and well, I already talked about how that worked out. I'm glad your kids can enjoy the fireworks now!

TakeMeThere81 said:
Your pictures of this day were just amazing!! That new camera you got(or was it new lenses?) is just spectacular! Great job!

I hope you felt better the next morning!

Thank you!

I definitely understood the camera a bit better on this trip than in the past, and I did get a new lens (a Canon 50mm/f1.8). I still feel like a total noob though.

Basketcase463 said:
I've been lurking but I just got all caught up, I hope you guys felt better the next day! Leaving MK is always the hardest. I went to Kona Cafe last week (for the first time since 2006) and I used to ALWAYS get the prime rib, it was the best meat dish I'd ever had in WDW and anywhere else at home even, and last week I wanted to cry because its not on the menu anymore. It was nice to see your opinion on the New York Strip, because I contemplated getting that, though the waitress told me the ribeye was more similar to the prime rib so I went for that. Same seasoning, but definitely not the same as the prime rib was.

I was bummed to leave the MK, but I was so out of it that it sort of numbed me to the pain :lol:

Mmm...prime rib sounds delicious! I can relate to your heartbreak in seeing a dish you love disappear off the menu...that's how I felt when I saw the Jiko mac and cheese wasn't there anymore (though I got lucky that they still have it on the kids menu). I've seen other people give the Kona strip great reviews, so it just might not be to my personal tastes. :shrug:

meganw1985 said:
Oh my gosh! I really hope you got to feeling better! Being sick on vaca stinks. I got a horrible sinus infection the May/June we stayed @ the Beach Club in 2008. I, too, think it was because of going in and out of the extreme heat and ac. They keep those buildings SUPER icy!!! Cure=pop several ibuprofen and trek on! I could recover when I got home! haha

Wow, I was feeling under the weather, but a sinus infection?! Yikes. Those are the worst. Both Will and I had sinus infections early this spring...I can't imagine having one of those at Disney.

meganw1985 said:
Ps: we have fed the ducks at Flame Tree I will probably be crucified for that, but those things scare me! It's easier to throw them a piece of chicken that be eaten yourself! Now that I say it, it sounds almost cannibalistic. Birds eating chicken??? They ARE evil!!!

*Gasp!* How dare you?? Just kidding. I have definitely shared my frieds with the ducks in the past.

Billy6 said:
Great Trip Report...I was at the World at the same time as you guys, and some of the days we were at the same parks...So, can I tell you that you weren't the only one who was sick at the MK on Friday the 17th of June!!!!

We got there just about 8pm when it was looking like storms were coming. At about 10:00, after a ride on Space Mountain and HM, I started to feel really dizzy and clammy. We headed over to BTM and that's where I almost passed out. Dizziness, sweating, etc...I was in no shape to stay, so me and my girlfriend made the trek back to our car. I slept there with the air on for about an hour, while waiting for the rest of my family to come out..It really was a buzz-kill leaving because it was EMH til 3am, and I really wanted to stay but couldn't.

I think the heat and maybe not hydrating myself enough had caught up to me for the week. It was my last day planned at the parks for the week. All in all, this was the only negitive to a great week of fun and sun....

Yikes, sounds like the beginning stages of heat stroke to me! Hopefully you recovered quickly after the long AC break and a good night of sleep.

PartOfYourWorld said:
of course thats usually the case with people who haven't read the books...like you said oh well

And the 7th is amazing! That night it came out I think I stayed up until 4 o clock in the morning just reading and reading and couldn't put it down. Even still when I read it (I think I've read it 4 or 5 times now) I still can't put it down. I think the HP series is the first book series I've read waaaay too many times to count and it never gets old.

And thank you!

And I hope you felt better on the next morning of your trip! It's no fun being sick at Disney..been there done that

I totally agree with you...non-stop action in book 7! It was a great ending to a great series.

Disneygal1 said:
I absolutely love your tr! Your pictures are awesome! I love how you and your husband took pictures with the princesses, very cute. It stinks that you weren't feeling good at mk, but I think you made the most of it! I had horrible feet pain on my previous trip due to crappy shoes. I had to constantly take a break and sit down at the parks. Oh the things I do for Disney:lol:

Thank you! Yes, we have no shame when it comes to meeting with the characters.

Ugh, foot pain at Disney is no good! I started our trip wearing sneakers that were definitely past their prime and ended up throwing them out at some point because I was getting shin pain. So I can relate!

Ariel484 · Jul 3, 2011

Day 6: Saturday, June 18.

After sleeping like I was dead, I woke up feeling much better on Saturday but still not 100%. In fact, the sore throat stuck with me for the rest of the trip and didn’t go away until after we’d been home for a few days. But I was recovered enough that Tylenol and cough drops could get me through. Good thing, because we had a breakfast reservation to get to!

We hopped on a bus headed for the MK a little later than I would have liked and entered the park at about 7:50. I was slightly disappointed that we didn’t get there earlier…I’d been looking forward to getting some empty Main Street USA pictures.

Not-so-empty Main Street USA:

And here we are at our destination:

I think I mostly booked this ADR for the photo opps in the park beforehand (which didn’t really happen), but I was excited for the meal itself – not only was it our first-ever breakfast ADR, it was also our first-ever character meal! Oh, and another first…our first table service meal in the Magic Kingdom. Big morning! :lol:

We checked in on the crowded porch and were given a pager.

We were probably the 4th or 5th group led into the restaurant, and wouldn’t you know it, they were celebrating Friendship Day!

Since we were in ahead of most of the other families, we quickly made a beeline for the buffet. Not much variety on my plate here, but the MVPs for me were definitely Pooh’s Puffy French Toast and the chocolate Mickey waffles. :slurp: And if you squint hard, you can make our some Mickey confetti on our table courtesy of the Crystal Palace Cast Members!

Ariel484 · Jul 3, 2011

After a few bites, it was time to meet some friends!

Will thinks he looks super weird in our Pooh shot…”It’s like I’m melting into his head!”

Eeyore was up next…Will was going for a gloomy look, but it came out looking more like he’s completely hammered.

Somewhere in here we went up to the buffet for a second plate before meeting Piglet (first time for us!).

Tigger had quite a ways to go before getting to our table, and we’ve met him before. We were anxious to get out into the Kingdom, so we settled our bill and made our way outside.

Sorry we missed you, buddy!

I love Crystal Palace building…it’s so light and airy, almost like you’re dining in an atrium.

I think I liked this meal a bit more than Will did. We’re not really buffet people and absolutely did not eat our money’s worth, but it was still a fun experience.

Ariel484 · Jul 3, 2011

After breakfast, we popped into Tomorrowland for Space Mountain fastpasses and headed back out to Main Street in time to catch the Trolley Show!

First thing on the agenda was to meet the big cheese again, this time in Town Square. I really like what they’ve done in the queue here…they have portraits of Magician Mickey in the middle of his acts, and a couple of them are even animated! It was really neat. What was not neat were the 2 families we were in between in the queue…longest 15 minutes of my life.

Inside the magician’s dressing room:

We were surprised and pleased to see that Minnie would be meeting and greeting as well. As soon as we walked up to the Mice, they saw our anniversary buttons and we were witnesses to a small tiff between the two. Come on Mickey, man up and just give her a ring already! The way it played out was really funny…Minnie begged us for sympathy, and we scolded him as he walked away toward his wardrobe to hide. Of course, none of this interaction was captured on MY camera, but you can bet that the photopass CM was snapping away.

Eventually we got them to make nice and pose for a photo.

Ariel484 · Jul 3, 2011

After meeting the mice, it was time to journey into Space, so we headed back to Tomorrowland. Plans were derailed when I spotted 2 intergalactic chipmunks in front of the Tomorrowland stage!

And wouldn’t you know it, the CM took some candid shots for me!

Don’t worry, we’re old pals:

Love this one:

This is one of my favorites from the trip…yay!

After the fun with the ‘munks, we cashed in our Space Mountain fastpasses. LOVE this ride.

Buzz Lightyear only had a 5-minute wait, which was about as long as either of us would have wanted to wait for that ride. It’s fun, but SO hard to see where your laser is actually shooting.

We were somewhat obsessed with the Little Green Men on this trip (especially after the Lego store victory) and were quoting them quite a bit, especially after we found a talking/dancing Little Green Man plush in World of Disney. (But why didn’t we buy it??? ARRG!)

“Ooooooh!”

“The claw is our master! The claw chooses who will go and who will stay!”

But now was not the time to be distracted by our Little Green Friends…our mission was clear. DEFEAT ZURG!

After getting my you-know-what handed to me by my love on TSMM earlier in the trip, I wasn’t expecting much here. So I was shocked to not only beat Will this time, but have a score 4 times as much as his!

Maybe we need to start going on Buzz more often!

Ariel484 · Jul 3, 2011

After my great triumph, we found ourselves in Fantasyland meeting more friends!

On our way to Philharmagic, we stopped to check out the Beast’s Castle. With all the walls and everything I don’t think we got the full effect of the forced perspective, so I’ll be excited to see everything properly once the expansion is finished.

We LOVE Philharmagic. So fun!

Fantasyland was really hoppin’ at that point and we were itching to get on Haunted Mansion. Before visiting the 999 Happy Haunts, we grabbed a quick bite to eat at Columbia Harbor House. I didn’t get any photos, but I know I got some sort of chicken tender meal and Will got the BLT Salad. It hit the spot.

The wait for Haunted Mansion was only 5 minutes. We took the “Scenic Route” to get there, of course, and we loved the new queue.

I think I would have been TERRIFIED of this ride as a kid, but we both think it’s super fun! The new Hitchhiking Ghost portion was pretty cool – when we came in February it was being refurbished, so we got the weird “flying ghosts on a curtain” scene and had no clue what was going on. We really like the changes!

With our spin through the Mansion complete, we hit up Aloha Isle for some tasty treats (vanilla soft serve for me, pineapple for Will), and left the Magic Kingdom.

TakeMeThere81 · Jul 3, 2011

Ariel484 said:

You two are so cute!! I LOVE your shirt!

HollyBelle · Jul 3, 2011

Ooh... I love your shirt, too, Shannon!

I totally get your frustration with CMs who don't snap away with the camera during meet and greets. I mean, with digital cameras, it doesn't make sense not to. This is why for quite some time now, one of us always walks up to the characters first, while the other person still has control over the camera to snap away. After whatever fun interaction ensues, we pass it off to the CM and ask for a quick picture of the two of us. Works like a charm!

That "hammered" shot of Will had me laughing aloud!

diddy_mouse · Jul 3, 2011

Aww your FOTLK pictures make me miss that show...I was surprised how much I enjoyed it.

I'm glad you ended up feeling better! Going in and out of A/C and crazy-hot temperatures is never easy to handle. My mom would takes us down in July and I swear I felt like I was moving in slow-motion from the heat. On one trip I will say that I had a mini stroke of genius when my best friend and I bought parasols in the China pavilion. They actually helped keep us cool. We got a lot of positive comments on them and I'm sure we helped make a few sales that day. :lol:

So....after spying that chocolate Mickey waffle in the background of your Crystal Palace pics, I booked an ADR to try them myself! We haven't experienced a character breakfast before and what better place than Crystal Palace, right?

I know you mentioned watching Wishes from Adventureland and it not "lining up correctly." We had the same thing happen in Frontierland when we saw Hallowishes. I have found the Tomorrowland side of Main Street is a great viewing place.

And count me in with loving your cute Mickey balloon shirt!

smk · Jul 3, 2011

Love it all, the pictures, the comments, really fun to read! Looking forward to more!

HouCuseChickie · Jul 3, 2011

LOVING your TR!!!

Your meal at Jiko has inspired me to find a way to get there at some point in the future. Not in August- but at some point! Great to see that you can request the mac & cheese!

Also phenomenal view from your room and lots of great anniversary treats!!!

Your dog is sooooo cute. When I saw the pics I was thinking beagle-cavalier... funny that it's what the puppy is!

Can't wait to read more!!! :wave:

Hot Times in the World: A June 2011 Trip Report!

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