Trip Report Hot, wet, sunny, and too much time in Chilis; a June 2013 Trip Report

Hi folks!
This is my first ever full trip report so I hope you all enjoy it.
We’ve had a fabulous 2 weeks in sunny, slightly rainy, but mostly hot Orlando. We’ve had a lot of new experiences during our trip, more probably for hubster, and most for my parents.
If you would like to read my pre trip report, it’s here:

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/its-got-so-bad-theres-even-a-jar-involved-june-2013-ptr.862626/

So we’re not ones to completely focus on Disney on a holiday, but we’ve certainly done more Disney than anything else this trip. I wanted to make sure I got in as much as possible so my planning started at 380 days out, including booking reservations on Christmas and Boxing day, and plenty of scouring the forum for ideas. Sad to say I haven’t been able to fulfill them all (Push you little minx, you alluded me once again!) but have still had plenty of new experiences.

We’ve had a 2 week stay at the Enclave Suites on Carrier Drive which is just off International Drive. Oh boy do I wish we had driven this trip. $12 per person to get to and from the World. No room tax though, but still. And because of all the rain we’ve had, it would have been just swell to have had a dry pair of shoes and clothes waiting in a car on more than one occasion.

I also took 3030 photos on this trip! I said I wanted to take more, but wow, I wasn't expecting to finish with 3030. This isn't including the ones took on James' phone either! Wowza.

Incase you haven’t read my PTR, the cast is as follows:

Me, Clare. 24 years young, dental nurse and Disney nut!

DH, James, 33 years young, dental technician, prefers white knuckle rides to Disney, but is still happy to participate in the goings on in the World.

My Mom, Yvonne, 61 years young, accounts clerk, likes Disney but not so much the heat.
And finally, My Dad, Clive, 63 years young, warehouse man, goes wherever the two women want him to go!



Coming up, Day 0: Longest work day EVER and driving down to London baby!

 

[pumpkin7]

Actually, this trip report is making me think that the next time we go to WDW (2014?) I want to include IoA and/or US. I really hadn't seen much of either park before. Oh, I want to go to Chili's too!

You know, I'd just go for a day. Univ are really stepping up their game, and some of the areas are very well done. The new Potter area is going to be pretty epic, even though I disapprove of it being in both parks. We'll see how it works.
I probably would have been ok if we hadn't have gone, but I'm glad I did just to experience the Hulk in the rain!

 

[pumpkin7]

Day 11: Epcot, HS, and DTD

Today was first of two major super, duper Disney days! Our pickup time was 8.30am, and our collection time was 10.00pm. So, instead of trugging it out in one park all day, we decided to split the day to make it a little more, erm... varied.

Today everyone in our shuttle wanted to go to HS, so that's where we were dropped off. Hurrah!



He was right behind me...



As we were walking up the Boulevard, we passed this lot.



James was like 'quick! They're going to be heading to ToT!' which was exactly where we were heading.
We'd just got to the front of the absolutely insane group, when they STARTED RUNNING... I mean, wth. This really annoyed me throughout the holiday. Usually they'd get in front of you, but their friend would be behind us, so instead of going to join their friend, they got their friend to overtake us. That riles me no end.

Anyway, we decided to start running too, as we did not want to be stuck behind this lot. Plus, the wait time was only 15 minutes and we knew with these guys infront of us, it would pretty much double, if not more. So I took a few 'fleeting' shots as we headed toward ToT.





We ended up in the middle of the group, but as a nice change, most of them went behind us to join the rest of the pack. And thankfully we weren't on a ride car with them either, because their fake screaming really grates on my ears.

ToT was amazeballs as usual.

We decided to have a wonder around one of the shops.



Tigger puppet!



Me by my new motor...









We just had a wonder around for a bit and soaked up the atmosphere. I really enjoyed just taking the time out to take in all the sights and sounds and smells.

 

[pumpkin7]

We wondered over to the GMR, and they were using the real entrance again, yay! So we decided to go on that.









Does anyone know if these are 'real' or are they just casts of original ones somewhere?









Whey! Mr Nimoy





Here we go again, into the world of Movies!

 

[pumpkin7]

Hello everyone!







And then, James spotted it. It was sneakily hidden in the gangster area, but he spotted it... a.... hidden.... Mickey!





We welcome you to Munchkin Land!



I've heard that the Red Brick Road leads to the outside of Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory....

I gave up on the photos indoors in the end. I couldn't get any good shots of the Alien which sucked. Oh well



The Hat of DOOOOOOOOOOOOM

Anyway, Chip n Dale were Meetin' and Greetin' so we got in their queue, for them to be replaced only a minute or two later with Goofy, which was fine! I'd not met Goofy yet.

He was looking at the wrong camera!! Argh. Nevermind.





We never went in here but it looked pretty cool.

Next up, was Star Tours again.









We got the Pod Race again But it's still fun no matter what ride you get. Tell me, have they included the flight into the pit around the edge of the Death Star in any of the movies?
Upon exiting, we had a wonder around the gift shop. I love this T shirt.



And all the Star Wars / Disney characters Vinylmation.

 

[pumpkin7]

WANTED



James pined after the Build your own Droids, but I said they were a waste of money so we didn't get them. Outside they were doing Jedi Training so we stopped to have a watch.

Darth Vader!



Oi, you! Give me back my Premium Mickey Bar!



Hey, dude, I don't have your Mickey Bar, you must have left it on the spinners! Either that, or Goofy had it.



Well, that's not very fair is it? You best get me a Mickey Premium Bar in the next 10 seconds, or I'll set my evil henchman upon you!



Give me a Mickey Bar! Give me a Mickey Bar!



You don't have one either? Well, I'll just go and tell the main Mouse on you guys for stealing Vader's yummy, scrumptious, ice cream treat!



Grrrrr. You're all swines!



You're a nasty man! You aren't having any Mickey Premium Bars ever, and me and my little Jedi buddies will make sure of that!



Hehe, after that fun show, we headed over to RnRC and joined the queue.

 

[pumpkin7]

In the queue, we took some pictures of the newest member of the McHugh household, Mickey Skywalker!



I was sooo impressed with this plush! $18.95 for him, Limited Edition, complete with fully working Light Sabre. Plus, he's a big plush! They had another one, I think he was dressed as Obi Wan, half the size, and a dollar more! I was so stoked.

Although I was scared I was going to lose him on RnRC so he went behind my legs so he was safe. After that, he spent most of the time like this:



We decided we wanted a bit of a sit down for a while, so we went over to the Art of Disney Animation showbuilding. A show was about to start!





WANT



WANT





WANT



I thought it was cool they had an artist in the booth actually working on something. Whether those slides will actually end up as anything I don't know but it was fun to watch her drawing. I also loved her gloves!



And all the stuff in the room with her too.

Hi Figment!



Next, I wanted to meet the Main Mouse again, so we joined the queue.



Now, for the entire queue, we were stood behind a woman with blonde hair and her little boy. All of a sudden, almost at the front, I turned around and this bloke had appeared from nowhere. I was like, erm, ok. You must have super powers or something because he just snuck in between me and this woman. We were looking at each other like, where did he come from? All of a sudden, he was joined by 2 teenagers. I had to say something, because that was just bang out of order. I said, 'Excuse me, but there's a queue.' He said 'I've been here, whole time, been here.' (He was Indian I think). I said 'no you haven't, you've just pushed in.' and then his daughter piped up 'we've been here the whole time' and I said 'no you haven't! I've just watched you come over and join this man.'
I was starting to get quite angry. They were all trying to say they'd been there the entire time, when they hadn't! In the end, just because I didn't want to ruin my Mickey meeting, I bowed down to them sarcastically and said 'oh, I'm sorry, your royal highnesses who don't have to wait in the line.' They all gave me a dirty look but still didn't move.
It really annoys me when people think they're too special to queue like the rest of us. It's not like it was a massive line either, probably about 15 minutes. I didn't bother alerting the CM as I didn't want to cause a scene but boy did it make me angry.



Yay, Mickey!

I even got James in on a picture.



That's his $30 Universal T Shirt. It's a black and white drawing of Optimus Prime that turns blue and red in the sunshine! Pretty neat.



We saw Ralph and Vanelope meeting too. He was fanning her armpits because she was saying she was hot ha!



I didn't want to go and meet them though, as they freaked me out a bit.



There was also Mr Incredible and Frozone but they had a mega queue, it was longer than Mickeys so we skipped them too.

We were getting pretty hungry so we decided to head toward DTD. On the way out of HS though, we stopped for a look around the store that has all the homewares in it.



We met a lovely lady from London on the checkouts. She was talking to us about how she's been there 11 years, and how they're all used to tourists driving in orlando and stuff like that. She was really nice.

We bought a few items too! I was looking for stuff for our new house, see, so we got:

This Mickey and Minnie in a car Salt n Pepper shaker:



(Here's James T Shirt in the sun!)



And some funky placemats, which I was gutted didn't have any corresponding table setting placemats:

 

[pumpkin7]

After a short bus ride, we arrived at DTD! And it wasn't raining hurrah!

We first had a wonder around the art shop.



I really was looking for something Splash Mountain - esque but I didn't find a single thing. Boo.



Next we went into Once Upon A Toy. They had another Droid station in here, so after pleading with me, I agreed to make a droid with James. Well, we're on holiday right?

We spent a good 20 minutes making our droids. Most people just made them then put them back, but no, we paid $20 for ours. *Sigh*

May I introduce to you all, C4-MQ and J5-MQ.



Aaaaaand as we were about to exit.....



MORE RAIN. Man. We were going to head toward Earl of Sandwich, as everyone raves about it, but it looked packed so we passed.

We waited for a few minutes, then donned the ponchos and made a run for the Lego store. I am so gutted I never got any decent pictures of the Lego creations outside. I love the Buzz and Woody one. Does anyone have a picture or could take a picture that I may add to my holiday snaps? And the one of Snow White? Pretty please???

The Lego store was of course, rammed. We wanted to buy ourselves new keyrings as we got some the last time we were in Florida, so I picked up Spiderman, and James got a Snow Trouper to go with his Storm Trouper. (I have pictures later)

With it still raining and us being hungry, we decided to head into the T Rex Cafe. We've been in here before, but we've never eaten here before, so we got ourselves a table.

I had a mooch around and took some pictures of the area.















We were sat right next to the.... darn, I can't remember what it's called. The Kitchen of Fire or something like that.



I ordered the Lasagne, which was absolutely divine.



James had the Gigantasaurus Burger.



Which he couldn't fit in his gob!



Out waitress was so nice, she was very attentive and over to us checking on us all the time, making jokes, we just loved her. We also enjoyed the every 20 minute meteor shower. Once we'd cottoned on to it, it was fun watching the new people who had sat down watch in wonder as to what was going on.

We had a wonder around some of the shops, like the candy apple shop. I really wish I hadn't have just eaten because they all looked so nice. We also went into the Vinylmation shop. That is one crazy fad, I tell ye! I was disappointed I couldn't find the magnet shop, did they close that?
Anyway, it was still raining at DTD, so we headed toward the resort buses.
Everywhere was eerily empty. We got on the bus, and headed toward Epcot!

When we arrived, it wasn't raining hurrah!

Oh, you big, beautiful sphere you!





First up, SSE, which was a walk on, and to our relief, there goes a brazilian tour group heading straight for the exit. Goodbye!

 

[pumpkin7]

Stupid future. Give us back the proper decent.



Next we headed through Innoventions. I'm sorry, I just don't get this area. The only good thing about it is Sum of All Thrills which had a queue of 40 minutes. We did, however, get suckered into doing the Stormforce house thing, which we've done twice now and I don't know why!



After that snore fest, we wanted to do Journey and EO.



Oh, underused pavillion, when shall thy get thy love thy deserves??



I love this pavillions looks! It's contents however, are questionable. Especially now I've watched the original Journey into Imagination video. Why.Did.They.Get.Rid.Of.DREAMFINDER>!>!?>!?>!?>! AND HIS BLIMP?!>"?!>!?>!?>! WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY



Hello Weebo!



Boo to you sensory labs! BOOOOO



I want to watch Flubber now.



ImAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGINATION! IMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGINATION!



Go away Nigel Channing, we want Dreamfinder!



There was no queue at all, unsurprisingly. And even the CMs seemed to have given up, as there was one lad who had a jacket on which must have been about 5 sizes too big for him.



Hi Figment!



Maybe Figment wouldn't be so pesky to the Imagination Institute if they gave him back Dreamfinder?
Anyway, this was the only bit I ever liked about this pavilion and even this is gone now:



Dadadadadaaaa.a..a.a....

This scene is like... 'This is the kind of epicness scale that the original Journey was on, but we've made it super childish and so it hurts your eyes'.



And what teh fudge is this? This isn't Imageworks, this is crap! Build your own dinosaur... oh ok then. I'll just push some coloured squares like a numpty and see what happens.



Sorry. This pavilion makes you feel stupid. Put it back to how it was when it was first opened and you'll have yourself a crowd eater. Nom Nom Nom!

 

[pumpkin7]

When we left the Lack of Imagination Pavilion, we dashed over to EO as it was raining, again.
When we entered, we had to sit in silence for about 10 minutes. It was so weird. One of the CMs came over the tannoy and said 'We're just going to wait until 7pm to start.' I was like, erm, why? I realised after that it closed at 7pm. I couldn't believe it was 7pm already!

EO was pretty epic, though the room was half empty. Lots of people enjoyed it and clapped when it finished.
It was still raining outside so we stopped to have a look at the jumping fountains.



It was very annoying to try and get a decent photo as children kept shoving their heads inbetween the jumping water!

WEEEEE





We were thirsty, so we headed over to club cool.

OMG

Would you guess it?

Would you?

OMG

THEY

HAD

BEVERLY!!!!!!


YAYAYAYAAYAYYAAYAYAYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA



The below picture says it all...



Bleugh! Why do you people like Beverly so much? It was gross! Though still good fun to at least try.

Next we headed over to Mission: Space.



Number 1!



We were with some foreign people who didn't speak English so it was interesting to see that not pressing the buttons at the right time makes..... no difference! Hurrah!



Epcot is pretty at night.

As is Test Track.



We queued in the single rider. I don't get this. The main queue was an hour long, but because people were getting caught up in the create a car bit, they had to fill the cars to get people out, so we all just ended up being seated together anyway, although we didn't bother making a car. So, hurrah!

 

[pumpkin7]

It was also nice to be able to go around the concept car area and be able to take people free photos.



Although I don't really understand what the cars in the booths are? What are their purpose?



Yes, yes it is!



The unused cooling station.



It was getting dark and late, so we headed over toward World Showcase to watch Illuminations, or, well, at least try to. We stood over by the Odyssey building so we didn't really have a great view of the lagoon.





The show was good, although it would have been better had we been closer but nevermind.









I forgot to mention, we rented a locker while we were there just because we didn't want to carry those items we bought at HS around. Cheap, easy to use, and had a good experience with the lockers so we would probably use one again if we needed to.

After the fireworks, it was 9.20 so we went and collected our goods and went to find our shuttle. We returned back to Chilis, where I left James for A DRINK, but I had to go and retrieve him at 11pm as he was as drunk as a skunk. I said, if you ruin my MK day tomorrow, I will kill you!

Next up, Day 12: MK.

 

[pumpkin7]

Bonus Post!

Some more of James' Mobile uploads from AK day to Epcot, HS, and DTD Super Day!:

Everest



The TREEEEE of Life



A Rhino!



Multiple Rhinos



An AK Lizard



A bigger, AK lizard



Some rather large bats



GIANT PADS



Dinosaur



Moi



Blurry moi



Our ride picture



Wet DTD



Ponchos at the ready!

 

[pumpkin7]

Iron Patriot!



Herbie



Me and David Copperfields blade that did or did not chop him in half



Waynes World guitar



I have no idea what this is...



Our Planet Hollywood Burgers!



Me in Jurassic Park Visitor Centre



His T shirt.



Giant Wild Jack's beer



Erm...



The remnants of the giant steak



James' t shirt in colour



Me and Mickey!

 

[pumpkin7]

Win



Y'har me hearties!



Beautiful



I forgot we went into the World of Disney! I bought some arial toppers ( I have photos later)

GRRR HULK MAD!!



I thought he was epic!





James wanted this Lego Death Star. Unfortunately we could not fit it in the case!



In T Rex Cafe



Another giant beer...


RAWR



Thanks for the yolks, folks... more coming soon to a computer screen near you!

I am soo enjoying writing this trip report!

 

[jkl2000]

The giant beers of Orlando. I need a giant beer...

 

[pumpkin7]

They are super giant. They're bigger than my head!

 

[Disney80]

*chants* More! More! More!

 

[Englebabies]

 

[DisSplash]

Wow you guys sure did hit a lot of rain, but it does not appear that it stopped you at all. That is what I am preparing my kids for later this month! So, what happened at the Chilis? Did they call you to come and get him or did he? And BOO to those people cutting the line!! They should have been ejected from the park. That is seriously one of my pet peeves .... I can totally sympathize with you on that one.
Great trip report as always! I am going to miss it when it's over ...

 

[pumpkin7]

Wow you guys sure did hit a lot of rain, but it does not appear that it stopped you at all. That is what I am preparing my kids for later this month! So, what happened at the Chilis? Did they call you to come and get him or did he? And BOO to those people cutting the line!! They should have been ejected from the park. That is seriously one of my pet peeves .... I can totally sympathize with you on that one.
Great trip report as always! I am going to miss it when it's over ...

We had a load of rain, definitely more than our fair share but you can't let it ruin your holiday. We enjoyed the cooler weather because you didn't feel like you had to be darting for the air con every 10 seconds.
All that happened at Chilis was that I left James behind for ONE drink. Instead, he had about 8, plus Desperados and tequilas, so by 11.30 I was getting quite worried so I went to see what had happened to him. He'd been drinking with my Dad who had turned up a bit later, and he was completely slozzelled so I had to drag him back to the hotel room. I told him if he didn't get up for Disney the next day I would be very, very mad!

 

[pumpkin7]

Day 12: Magic Kingdom

To be honest, I would have loved to have spent more days in the MK as it's my favourite park. We seemed to spend more time at Epcot than anywhere, but it's probably because we got dropped off there every day. Today we'd paid extra to get dropped off earlier (though I couldn't convince anyone to get there for rope drop) and extra to stay later.
So we were dropped off over by the TTC. After bag check and tickets, we were welcomed by the singing trolley!



I had to get my picture with Roy and Minnie.



As did my Mom



I took some general pictures of the area.



Ahh, my future home!



Caseys Corner, which I never went in. What is it?



Yay another cloudy castle shot!



And a family shot



I just love the castle.



Cinderella's a lucky girl!

And onto the topiaries



First off we wanted to get FPs for Space Mountain, so we headed into Tomorrowland.





CAn I have one of these in my garden?



The queue for SM was only 30 minutes so we left Mom outside and joined the queue!



My Dad said that it was very painful, but I just find it so funny that you end up being shoved in all different directions and you can't see where you're going! I just couldn't stop laughing. But it can be painful if you're not braced for the drops. But I don't care, I love it.

Next up was a first for Ma and Pa, Buzz Lightyear.



So happy...