Trip Report It can only go up from here

Lyear · Dec 23, 2013

ginadee said:
The pin is awesome! I would be very excited. John really liked the museum. I thought it was very interesting as well and I definately learned a few things I didnt know. But I fell asleep in the movie. Couldnt help it. I think I fell asleep every time I got still.

It's amazing how much I learn every time I go through. Have to smile at you falling asleep. Disney can definitely wear you out.

Lyear · Dec 23, 2013

Thinking back on our prior trips, I'm really not sure why we hadn't been to the animation pavilion before. Our days at (then) MGM studios would always be full, and I was under the impression that this whole area was devoted to Disney junior shows, like the playhouse Disney live on stage. I had always seen a swarm of strollers parked here, and figured there was nothing for adults. Through reading the various trip reports on this site, I found out that there is quite a lot to explore.

We walked into the courtyard, and made a right. I was most interested in the drawing class, but the doors to this had just closed as we got there. We were told it would be about 20 minutes, so we explored. This was a very popular character spot. There was Sorcerer Mickey, Mr. Incredible and Frozone, and Wreck it Ralph and Vanillope. Each had a long line, longer than we wished to stand in. We wandered for a bit, and after about 15 minutes came back to the drawing area, which was packed. Apparently this is a very popular attraction. Had we known this, we would have just waited at the entrance. As it was, we were outside the main loading area, in a long line. They opened the doors and announced they were loading those inside the loading area, then would get as many of us line-standers in as they could. I could tell it was going to be close. The cast member kept asking how many, going into the room, and then coming back and saying "go ahead in." He did this about 4 times, then we were next in line. He checked quickly, then let us in, and also the couple behind us. We were right up front, holding our boards on our laps as we drew. It was ok, just happy to be here.

As we were taking our seat, we learned that we were going to be drawing Dopey. I thought the animator did a really good job with going slow enough that people could follow, but also fast enough that they kept it flowing and got you done in a decent time. I was shocked at how easy this actually was. If you had placed a picture of Dopey in front of me and said draw it, I would say no way. But our instructor broke it down into really basic steps. Looking around, it seemed almost everyone was coming to a reasonable impression of Dopey.

My final product

And Sara striking a pose...

This ended up being very enjoyable and very memorable. It was neat to be included in an activity and to actually get to create. I don't think Disney will be hiring me as an animator anytime soon, but I enjoyed getting a sneak peak into how it used to be done before the world of computers. I managed to snap a picture of the room on the way out.

After this, we went into another presentation involving Mushu, from Mulan. It was about the journey a character will go through as their features are finalized for a movie. This one wasn't quite as entertaining as the drawing area, but you learned a little more. The whole thing seemed like something that would be found in the extras of a DVD.

After this, we exited the animation area, and went back to rock and roller coaster. Sure enough, our magic bands got us right in, no problems. We made out way through the pre-show area, and into the queue. RNR is the most thrilling ride in Disney World (my opinion), and I was a bit worried going in. Due to my lack of sleep the night before, I had been feeling a bit iffy all day. Star Tours had gotten to me a bit. So did TOT. So I was worried that this ride might finish me. It did nothing of the kind. It's a very smooth ride, and about halfway through I got myself to stop worrying and just enjoy the ride. It really is a lot of fun.

Sara was wearing a clip in the back of her hair that day, and forgot to take it out. Ouch! That merge is painful when you have something pointy in the back of your head.

Following RNR, it was about 6:00. We had a busy night planned. We had wanted to see Fantasmic, then check out Osborne, and finish with dinner at Mama Melrose at 7:30. They had opened up the seating area for Fantasmic, and we thought it would make sense to go ahead and grab a seat. The seating bowl was over half full when we arrived. Our goal going in was to get a spot near the back so we could make a quick exit, and we were able to accomplish this.

They were going through a pre-show that involved different guests finishing the lines to various songs, with help from the audience. I wasn't paying too much attention as I was updating my trip notes on my phone. It seemed like only a matter of minutes before the show was starting. Once again, no pictures of the show itself.

Oh Fantasmic, how shall I describe you? I'll start by saying that the show does a really good job of sticking to the theme of the park. Sorcerer Mickey plays a big role in Hollywood Studios (as seen in the giant hat icon), so it's only fitting that he stars in the finale. And the special effects of the show (the screens made of water, the fire/explosions, etc) just seem perfect for this park, and are very well done.

Having said that, Fantasmic would be my least favorite of the closing shows at Disney. The reason is that it's really hard to follow the story line. I get the idea that it's in Mickey's dream, but the shift to the villians taking control seems really sudden, and Mickey's final victory sort of leaves me going, "huh? How did that happen again?" I'm sure I'm reading too much into what is supposed to simply be an enjoyable experience, but that's what I found myself thinking as the show ended. I don't dislike Fantasmic, but I don't think it measures up to the phenomenal ending shows at Epcot and Magic Kingdom.

As the show ends, Sara and I jump out of our seats, and head to the exit. A lot of people had the same idea. I guess that's what you're thinking if you sit on the edge of a row, near the exit. We found ourselves in a mob of people, but at least the mob was moving quickly. Everyone seemed to have the same idea, "Get to Osborne." We seemed to be keeping with the crowd through every turn as we made out way to the other side of the park.

Once we arrived, we realized they had made major changes to the crowd flow at Osborne. You can now only enter from what I would call the rear (near Lights, Motors, Action). They have blockades up at the other "entrances." It leads to a good bit of confusion among people who aren't sure where to go, and causes cast members to repeat over and over again where they need to go to get in. Our prior experience, there were no barricades, and you could enter or leave from wherever your heart desired. But it also wasn't nearly as crowded, and my guess is that rising crowd levels here forced Disney's hand on this one.

We unfortunately didn't have a lot of time to explore this area, with our dining reservations fast approaching. We walked down the street, taking it in. At one point, a line dance broke out to "Feliz Navidad." We deftly swerved right to stay out of the way. We're really not line dancing folk, after all.

We snapped a few pictures, and we were on our way to dinner.

From the outside, barricade was set up to the left

Another shot over the barricade

We did a photo swap with another group, and their picture of us came complete with photobomber

This one is blurry, but I love the face

ginadee · Dec 25, 2013

Animation Pavilion? I guess maybe I thought the same as you. Hate I missed that. It looks very cool and something Id love to do. Will definitely make it next trip.

Lyear · Dec 28, 2013

ginadee said:
Animation Pavilion? I guess maybe I thought the same as you. Hate I missed that. It looks very cool and something Id love to do. Will definitely make it next trip.

Definitely one to add to your plans next time. It's not a showcase attraction, but it's one of my best memories of this trip.

Lyear · Dec 28, 2013

Getting out of the Osborne lights area was no easy feat. Everyone seemed to have had the same idea as we did about going to it after Fantasmic, so there were people everywhere. It was difficult to make your way around. And it wasn't clear where you exit. It seemed every logical place you turned, there were barricades. I wasn't sure if the barricades were meant only to keep people from entering, or if they were meant to keep you from exiting as well. Our dinner reservations were at hand, so we didn't have time to try to figure it out. We made our way through a tunnel of lights, towards a barricaded area. Here of course there were cast members repeatedly trying to explain to guests how to enter the Osborne area. Much love to these cm's. It's got to be one of the more difficult jobs in WDW. :banghead:

As the cm's were distracted, we did our best "we know where we're going" face, went through the barricade, and kept walking. Maybe we weren't supposed to do this, but I didn't hear anyone yelling after us, so I think we were good.

As we exited, we were very close to Mama Melrose. Ahead of us were a few families taking photos with Lightning and Mater. The line wasn't long. If we hadn't had those dinner reservations, I would have enjoyed taking advantage of it. We walked into Mama Melrose at 7:31, just one minute after our reservation time. It was pretty clear we would be closing the place that night. Only two other families were waiting at the time. We were given a pager and grabbed a seat. Within 3 minutes we were paged.

My view of a typical Italian restaurant (right or wrong) always comes back to Olive Garden. It's the first "Italian" restaurant I had gone to, so it has that place in my mind. It exudes quaint Italian countryside when you eat there. Mama Melrose is nothing like this. It's a much more urban feel, especially with the beautiful exposed brick wall we were seated against. There are photos and other decorations all over, and it appeared many had written on the brick walls, though it was really too dark to read. The whole place reminds me more of a Chicago pizza place, or at least what I imagine it would look like having never actually been to one. I thought they did a nice job interspersing Christmas lights through the wooden frames of the ceiling above. I'm not sure if this is an everyday thing, or only there for Christmas, but it gave it a nice effect.

This was our second visit to Mama Melrose. The first had been during our first trip in 2005, and we were not that impressed. I think there were two reasons for that. The first is that it was just not the type of Italian restaurant we were looking for. The second, we weren't used to the Disney Dining plan, and had eaten lunch just 4 hours earlier. We walked into the restaurant stuffed, so its no wonder we didn't enjoy ourselves.

As we were planning this trip, the question of where to eat on our Hollywood day came up. This is one area where our vegetarianism, and Sara's pickiness, made it difficult. There are numerous really good sounding restaurants in the park. 50's prime time, Hollywood and Vine, the Brown Derby (though this was quickly ruled out due to the two credit price). We had eaten at sci fi last time in 2007, and while it was a fun experience, weren't ready to run back to do it again. We had given thought to doing one of the restaurants in the Beach Club/Boardwalk area this night, but again none sounded good to Sara. So in the end, we decided to give Mama Melrose a second try, hoping it was simply us, and not the restaurant's fault the last time.

Our server was nice enough, I can't remember her name, but it seemed as if she was at the end of a long day, and it was showing. She was much more matter of fact than friendly. I don't want to make it sound like she was bad, because that's not the case at all, but it seemed she had had a really long day. We took some time to look over the menu, and I declined to get any coffee

. We both ended up choosing their flatbreads. Sara got the margherita, and I got the wild mushroom. Our server mentioned that the mushroom flatbread was her favorite. I was filled with great anticipation. As we were waiting, they brought Italian bread with olive oil to our table, which was really, really good.

It seemed like a short wait, and the food had arrived. Sara's plate

And mine...

I had a small bite of Sara's and it tasted like a top notch Margherita pizza. The first bite of mine hit me hard. This was really good. I love mushrooms when they are done well, and these were cooked perfectly. The problem that arose was the same one as the last time, I became full well before I was done. Maybe it was too much bread beforehand, or the amount of carbs contained in the dough. Sara managed to finish hers, but I only got halfway. They had no problem providing a box for me. For dessert, Sara can't remember what she got, other than to say it was something chocolate. I really didn't feel like dessert, but since it's included on the dining plan, I decided to go with some vanilla gelato. There's always room for ice cream. I figured if I couldn't finish it, no big deal.

Sara glared at me, lovingly saying I could get ice cream anywhere, so why am I ordering it in one of Disney's table service restaurants? Her point was valid. Here I am with my option of top culinary dishes, and I choose what I can get in a typical grocery store. I explained it was gelato, not ice cream. She rolled her eyes. As much as I agreed with her, there was no way I was getting anything other than ice cream into my stomach.

The gelato came, and it really was just vanilla ice cream. Tasted good though. I love ice cream.

Altogether, Mama Melrose was certainly more enjoyable this time around than last time. I thought the atmosphere was top notch, our server was ok but not great, and the food was really good. I could definitely see us doing it again, but it doesn't go in the same class as our previous meals at Mexico, Boma, and Rose & Crown.

Upon exiting the restaurant, we saw that the park was closed. This wasn't a surprise, as we knew it closed at 8 tonight. Most of the guests had already left, making it a great time to take some pictures.

This guy was really fun. He was there to keep people from going back towards TOT, and when he saw us taking a photo, he did a little dance for us.

As we exited, Sara decided that she wanted to go back to Downtown Disney. Apparently our trip is not complete if we don't walk through every store there.

I would have loved to go back to our room and crashed, but this was something that was important to her. I was feeling ok tonight (surprisingly so), and decided I was game. Looking at our schedule, I really didn't think we'd have that much time any other night. But, if we were doing DTD, we were going to do it right. No busing over there. In a spur of the moment decision, we decided we were heading to Port Orleans French Quarter, and were taking the boat to DTD. Luckily, a bus to French Quarter was waiting.

Ah POFQ, our first love. How we have missed you this trip. Coronado has been great, but there's just something about this resort that is so magical to us. We took a few photos (very few, since we have plenty from before), and even chatted with one of the cast members behind the registration desk about how much we love it. She understood completely when we said that all the rooms available under the free dining were already taken when we booked. Apparently, both Port Orleans resorts go immediately when the special is offered.

I really enjoy the boat ride to DTD. It's one of those special extras that Disney offers. You won't hear about it in any brochure (at least not one I've seen), but it's one of the things I remember most fondly about this resort. It's such a better trip than taking a bus. While you're not personally the one fighting traffic around WDW, it's still much more relaxing than driving there. And it offers you great views of the tree house villas of Saratoga Springs, as well as Saratoga Springs itself. If you ever get a chance to take this boat ride, I would strongly suggest it. I tried taking photos of the west side of DTD from the boat, but they didn't turn out.

Not too much to report from DTD itself. We went through a few shops, but as you remember, shopping really isn't my thing. We skipped World of Disney, which in itself was a bonus. We went through T-Rex, which was new to us. The restaurant looked very well themed, with the use of lots of different colors. Maybe something we'll need to do on our next trip.

We made our way towards Raglan Road, and our treat for the evening was a guitar player just outside the restaurant. He had a very aggressive style on the guitar, using a lot of hand mutes, etc. This wasn't your typical acoustic coffee house performer. It was fun to take 5 minutes to listen to him. We would have stayed longer, but he was wrapping up his set.

As we continued, we hit a full-on construction zone. I was interested in continuing on and checking out the new Splitsville restaurant, but Sara pointed out that there are no bus stops over there. It would have been a long walk over, followed by a long walk back. We decided against it.

We made our way to the bus stop, waited about 10 minutes, and had an uneventful trip back to Coronado. Our 4th day had come to a close. And for those interested, I actually slept well this night.

As a closing, I'm including some photos of Osborne that for some reason had not made it to our photobucket account previously. It seems I'm having all kinds of problems with this website.

Sara so happy to be here...

Lyear · Dec 29, 2013

The morning of day 5. We were now at the halfway point of our trip. There is always a sense of dread that seems to grow as you near the end of your trip. For me it usually starts about halfway through. You can begin to see the end of your trip coming closer. That feeling of hope, of leaving the real world behind, that was so evident on your first day, has dimmed a bit as you realize you'll be going back to the real world much sooner than you would want. For me, this sense is usually followed by a desire to do as much as we can in the short time we have left. We've got to cram as much fun as we can into the precious few moments we have left.

Unfortunately, this is never a good strategy. In the words of Calvin from "Calvin and Hobbes," "When you're serious about having fun, it's not much fun at all." My efforts to squeeze as much in as possible had always lead to me not enjoying my trip as much during the last few days. I would get upset at waiting 5 minutes for a bus, or scoff at a ride wait time of more than 20 minutes. Don't these people know I'm leaving in just a few days???

I had alluded to this before, but this time I was determined to not have this be the case. I wanted to enjoy my trip, and not get upset at delays. I also had a mission to enjoy the last half of the vacation as much as the first half. I didn't really have a great plan to accomplish this. It was done a little by denial that the end of the trip was coming, and also by the realization that going home meant seeing Luke. This was certainly some incentive I hadn't had on prior trips.

Today was a Magic Kingdom kind of day. We wanted to get there early to take in the opening show. I can't believe we had never done that before. We woke up early enough, but just to be sure there were no delays, we skipped getting refills at El Centro today, and made our way straight to bus stop #3. Sure enough, a bus came in a short time, and we were on our way.

We arrived at Magic Kingdom about 20 minutes before the park opening. There was already a good number of people there, though to say it was crowded would be a stretch, and not the Haunted Mansion kind.

Unlike Epcot, MK lets you go through the entrance gates before opening. They appeared to have a rope up across the entrance tunnels to either side. There was a definite split in the crowd, with many lining up in front of the rope, waiting to get in, not caring about the welcome show, and others trying to get in the very middle to get the best viewing location. We ended up slightly to the left side, still with a good viewing spot.

Before long the music started. Again, it wasn't too crowded. Soon the mayor came out to kick us off...

And before long he was joined by many others... You can see the smartphone/camera phenomenon in full effect here. Of course I was adding to it myself.

Overall, the welcome show was about what I expected. I think it speaks to what the park is about that they do it everyday. Most parks have a rope drop type event, but it's simply, "ok, go to your rides." Here, they make it clear that this is a magical place you're entering. This is not simply a place to find the biggest or best thrill ride, this is a place to enjoy, a place to make memories with your loved ones. I felt bad for the people who were on either side waiting for the rope drop. Were they missing out on all that the Magic Kingdom could be?

The low crowds meant there wasn't much of a cattle rush getting in. Sara decided she needed to use the bathroom, so I took some time to check out the fire hall and barber shop. I can't believe they have an actual working barber shop on Main Street. Talk about small town feel.

We started our walk down main street. As we walked, we saw the main street vehicles going against the current, trying to get towards the front of the park. I made myself laugh wondering if the vehicles were just running late, and would normally already be in their garage. Now they have to fight the crowds to get where they're going. I imagined the drivers saying "I hate when we don't leave on time."

As we reached the end of main street, we knew our plan was to go to new Fantasyland. What do you know, we're going through the castle again. More times this trip than I had ever done it previously.

We found ourselves in front of Be Our Guest. As we were taking a few pics, a cast member came to us and asked if we would like to see the inside, since they weren't currently open for business. "Of Course," we replied. There's no way we would turn down an invite like that.

My first experience of this area was "Wow." Once again, Disney hit a home run. So well themed. We didn't end up eating here, but I'm glad they let us in to get the pictures we did. It was nice to see the area minus all the people that would surely be here in just a few hours.

One sad note, it was while inside BOG that Sara used up all the storage available on her 16GB Iphone. Too many pictures I guess. She was seriously bumming that she wouldn't be able to take more photos (deleting photos was out of the question, and I almost got punched for suggesting it). Needless to say, my phone was not safe the rest of our vacation.

smk · Dec 29, 2013

This report has made me miss WDW! How were the crowds? I noticed the picture you drew of Dopey was dated 11-14-13, my grandson's first birthday! We were all thinking of going to the World for his second birthday and am I anxious to hear how the crowds were?

Lyear · Dec 30, 2013

smk said:
This report has made me miss WDW! How were the crowds? I noticed the picture you drew of Dopey was dated 11-14-13, my grandson's first birthday! We were all thinking of going to the World for his second birthday and am I anxious to hear how the crowds were?

Sounds like that would be a lovely birthday experience. In my opinion, November is a great time to go to WDW. The crowds we had were overall very light, and the weather was beautiful, other than a little rain. The only really crowded experiences we had were our day at Animal Kingdom (which I think was due to the park being open later than normal that day), and our last day at Magic Kingdom (Saturday at MK, and I think there were a lot of people getting there for Thanksgiving week). But I don't think these would compare to the Summer or Christmas crowds. I hope you have a great time if you go!

Tiggerish · Dec 30, 2013

Loved your nighttime MK photos, and the DHS ones as well. And how lucky were you to get that citizen button? That was a great surprise. Luck seemed to stay with you, too, with your invite for a private visit to BoG!

"not a Haunted Mansion stretch"--good one! LOL

smk · Dec 30, 2013

Lyear said:
Sounds like that would be a lovely birthday experience. In my opinion, November is a great time to go to WDW. The crowds we had were overall very light, and the weather was beautiful, other than a little rain. The only really crowded experiences we had were our day at Animal Kingdom (which I think was due to the park being open later than normal that day), and our last day at Magic Kingdom (Saturday at MK, and I think there were a lot of people getting there for Thanksgiving week). But I don't think these would compare to the Summer or Christmas crowds. I hope you have a great time if you go!

It is not a matter of "if" we go, we will go, just a matter of when and for which birthday. The moment he was born I KNEW his birthday was going to be a good time of year to go to WDW, silly but that is exactly one of my first thoughts! He was born healthy, but a month early, so we had been planning a December birthday again (his mom's bday is the 9th and his aunts is the 6th) however, he was kind enough to pick a date that does not co-inside with the parade taping! We can go early and attend the MNSSHP and stay long enough to see the Christmas decor go up, OR, we can go later and attend the Christmas party and still see the decor!

Lyear · Dec 30, 2013

Tiggerish said:
Loved your nighttime MK photos, and the DHS ones as well. And how lucky were you to get that citizen button? That was a great surprise. Luck seemed to stay with you, too, with your invite for a private visit to BoG!

"not a Haunted Mansion stretch"--good one! LOL

Yes, the citizen button was definitely a highlight of my trip. We continued to have luck even through our last day.

smk said:
It is not a matter of "if" we go, we will go, just a matter of when and for which birthday. The moment he was born I KNEW his birthday was going to be a good time of year to go to WDW, silly but that is exactly one of my first thoughts! He was born healthy, but a month early, so we had been planning a December birthday again (his mom's bday is the 9th and his aunts is the 6th) however, he was kind enough to pick a date that does not co-inside with the parade taping! We can go early and attend the MNSSHP and stay long enough to see the Christmas decor go up, OR, we can go later and attend the Christmas party and still see the decor!

I like that...It's not if we go, it's when.

Lyear · Dec 30, 2013

After spending a good bit of time at BOG, and consoling Sara on the loss of the camera function on her phone, we continued our way through New Fantasyland. Gaston's area was nearly empty. Not a whole lot for vegetarians here

We made our way over to the little mermaid ride. I'm sounding like a broken record, but again great job with the detail, especially in the queue.

Sara had stolen my phone at this point, so she took the above two photos (and did a good job with them). The queue for Little Mermaid was confusing. Sara and I, as well as the two families behind us, somehow got turned completely around and were going back towards the entrance at one point. We eventually found our way to the loading area. The ride itself was good. Not the most thrilling or memorable attraction, but good in keeping with the genre of Fantasyland dark rides. I think they accomplished what they wanted to. I thought this scene of Ursula at the end was funny. I can't remember if this is actually in the movie, but the juxtaposition of seeing Eric and Ariel so happy, with this in the backdrop, struck me as humorous.

We had a little time to kill before our 10am reservations at Crystal Palace, and we soon found ourselves in the circus area of New Fantasyland. Well what do you know, there's Dumbo with no line. Never had been on Dumbo, and that was soon remedied. Sara wanted to get proof that I had actually ridden Dumbo, again with my phone

We then walked past the Barnstormer and there was a train waiting for us at New Fantasyland station. Sadly this would be the only train ride we would take this trip. I really enjoyed riding it for a full loop on previous visits.

Back on main street, we decided to walk through the merchandise stores on the left side. We made it the whole way through without having to exit back to main street. We then checked in at Crystal Palace, just as it was starting to rain.

This was our first time at Crystal Palace. We had previously eaten at Chef Mickey's and loved it, but it was full by the time we were ready to make our reservation for this trip. Thankfully Crystal Palace was happy to take us. I was told it would be a lovely dining experience by the reservation call center representative I spoke to.

We had about a 20 minute wait from the time we put our names in until we were called, but they sat us near the food. I guess that made up for it. Excellent food. I took one trip through the buffet, then went back to get a veggie omelet, made to perfection.

Sara's not a big omelet fan, so she filled up on their breakfast lasagna.

Of course Crystal Palace is home to the characters from the 100 acre wood. It's weird being adults in the restaurant as the characters are coming around. I'm sure any adult couple who has experienced this can agree. Everywhere there are families with young kids. It makes you feel out of place, and that you're stealing character time from children. But each cast member accompanying characters did a good job of asking us if we wanted to meet them. I guess they weren't going to make us get a photo if we only wanted the food. We wanted some pictures as well. The cm's were more than willing to take our photos.

I think Sara was caught in mid blink here

Tigger was none too happy to learn that Piglet had photobombed our picture. He gave the universal sign for Piglet is crazy. Piglet was none to happy to see that. I thought we might have a character fight on our hands. Thankfully, the cm's separated them into their corners.

Shortly after this, I got a birthday dessert and card, signed by each of the characters. A nice touch.

Overall, I thought crystal palace was very good, not quite great. The food was superb, and I really liked the omelet bar. I've never been a big fan of Pooh (I know...blasphemy to some in these parts), and for that reason I did enjoy Chef Mickey's (and the fab 5) in the Contemporary a little more. It was nice to be able to eat inside the park though, which you obviously can't do at Chef Mickey's. They also did a little dance/follow the leader game every half hour or so, which all the kids seemed to enjoy. I really, really wanted to get up and join in, but Sara kept telling me no.

Altogether, a very good time, and a very full stomach as we left. I would certainly return for breakfast in the future.

We were some of the last guests there, so Sara took a few photos as we left. Very nice display they had in the center of the restaurant.

Lyear · Jan 1, 2014

I was still going strong with the facebook pic of the day challenge. Here was the challenge from today. Answer below for anyone who doesn't know.

After Crystal Palace, it was time for our Peter Pan fastpasses. We didn't select Peter Pan because it's an attraction we necessarily love, but because it always seems like standby wait times for this ride are always 40 minutes or more. Even on non-crowded days. Something about never growing up must resonate with both kids and adults, and everyone in between. For me, the ride is ok, not spectacular. It stays in line with the other dark rides, but at least on this one you get to fly. Peter Pan remains very difficult to photograph without using flash, and I wasn't going to ruin someone else's experience by doing this.

After our quick flight, we went across the way to It's a Small World, which was essentially a walk-on. We usually make time for this once a trip. We thankfully didn't have too much trouble with the song being stuck in our head.

After this, another quick trip across the way to Philharmagic. This is my favorite of all the 3D shows in Disney World. They do such a good job of seamlessly blending the music from so many different movies, and the 3D effects are good, not overwhelming. This one, for me, is always worth a visit.

We then continued on our way towards Tomorrowland, stopping briefly for a ride on the tea cups. Sara got mad at me for spinning our cup too quickly, but in all honesty, she's the one who started it.

As we entered tomorrowland, we were both feeling pretty tired, and decided that today would be a good day to take a nap break. But not just yet, we wanted to hit tomorrowland.

We started at Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters, probably one of, if not my favorite ride. This too was a walk on. Really low crowds overall today. They either changed the scoring of this ride, or we were very out of practice, because we couldn't max out the score. We rode twice, both times with scores around the 600k range, though the second time I broke 700k. Completely forgot to take score photos. I won each time

. Sara was somewhat disappointed at this. We're both very competitive. Neither likes to lose. I tried to be good and not gloat too much...

We each have a specific target that we aim for on this ride. Hers came early on, so she would jump out to a commanding lead and think she had won. But when my target came, I would more than make up the deficit. Her spirits lifted when I reminded her that she had won on Toy Story Mania.

Hey, there's the man himself. Too long a line to get a photo with him though.

After we made sure the galaxy was safe, we took a trip on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority. I think it's neat how you get to see into some of the rides, like Buzz. But while you're on those rides, you never think to look for the TTA people. At least I don't...

We then decided to do Carousel of Progress. This is another one we have to do at least once a trip. Once you understand its history, a WDW trip wouldn't feel complete without it. There were a few too many others in the audience to feel comfortable singing out loud.

Finally, it was time for our space mountain fastpasses. We had no issues entering, and honestly this one was nearly a walk-on for the standby line. One quick iphone photo of the load area before we were onboard.

Space Mountain isn't the newest coaster, but I was impressed by how well it has stood it's ground. It's still a must-do at Magic Kingdom. Yes there are more thrilling coasters out there, some in the dark, but there's just something about Space Mountain that makes it memorable. I was also pleasantly surprised by how long the ride was. Having not been on it in so long, I expected to reach the end long before we actually did. Awesome!

We decided it was time to head back to Coronado for a nap. Our original plan had been to go back to redo some of the rides during the day we had previously done at night, but we were both tired enough that we would not have truly enjoyed it. We did have one very important thing to do in Adventureland before we left...

The feeling of eating a Dole Whip after not having one in so long cannot be described

On our way out, we went through the other side of the Main Street shops, and ended up in the confectionary. I ordered a chocolate peanut butter cookie, since we had plenty of snack credits to use. The plan was to eat it later, and later ended up being while we were waiting for the bus back to the resort.

We would be back at Magic Kingdom for a night cap.

And the soldiers from the pic of the day can be found on It's a Small World, but you already knew that, didn't you?

Lyear · Jan 5, 2014

We awoke from our slumber, and left the hotel probably around 6:00pm. It was already dark out. We made our way to bus stop 3, and I took a picture. I figured we spent so much time here, I might as well remember what it looked like.

A very short wait for a bus, and we had made our way back to the Magic Kingdom. We had dinner reservations for Tony's at 8:10, but because the Electrical Parade was happening tonight, we knew we needed to get there earlier than that. Otherwise there'd be no way we'd make it down Main Street.

We decided to do two classic attractions. First was Enchanted Tiki Room. Believe it or not, this was my first time not experiencing the "Under New Management" show. I wasn't even aware they had changed it until we made it through the first song and Iago hadn't popped out. I enjoyed getting to see it in the original form.

As we left Tiki Room, it was about 7:20. Getting close to the time we needed to make our way down to Tony's, but we wanted to do Country Bear Jamboree yet. I knew it was going to be close on time, and thought that if it was a long wait, we'd probably have to skip this one. Thankfully luck was on our side. The show was just starting as we arrived. It was a pretty light crowd in there. The show seemed shorter than I remembered, but I actually enjoyed it a good bit. I don't remember liking it that much before.

As we exited, you could tell it was almost parade time. Frontierland had tape on each side, as well as some ropes, with people already pressed about as tight as they could be. Nothing like a parade to get you to love your neighbor. Fortunately, we had a wide open path to get to Tony's. We just followed the parade route. I don't know why I enjoyed this as much as I did. I think I thoroughly embarrassed Sara. I was waving to people and having a good time. We made our way up main street, over to the left, through a small crowd, and into Tony's.

We had originally made a reservation at Tony's for 7:50pm, but we found out the week before we left (as we were coordinating the my Disney experience website) that this reservation was somehow deleted. This had happened with our Via Napoli reservation later in the week as well. I'm really glad I called and checked. They couldn't get us in at 7:50 anymore, but they did get us an 8:10 reservation. The good news is that this was really the only problem we had with the whole "My Disney Experience" experience, and it wasn't even a problem with that program. Just a problem with a reservation getting lost. Thankfully we found out before we left, instead of getting there and learning they didn't have our names. Truthfully, we can thank MDE for making it apparent to us that something was wrong before we found out the hard way.

Our original plan was to try to get patio seating at Tony's and experience the electrical parade from there. We realized that was probably a shot in the dark, especially since our reservation time had been moved back. I imagine whoever was lucky enough to be in those seats probably wouldn't be giving them up as the parade was about to start.

We checked in at the front desk around 7:45, and asked for patio seating if available. They said they would see what they could do. It only took about 5 minutes until we heard our name called. I took this as a good sign, maybe a patio seat opened up and they would seat us there. No such luck. Our hostess took us towards the very back of the restaurant. Normally this is my favorite room in Tony's, but tonight I was hoping for the patio. I was a little disappointed, but quickly reminded myself it was a longshot to be out there from the beginning.

Lady and the Tramp were ready for Christmas.

And back at our table...

I really enjoy the décor of this room in Tony's. The fountain sets the tone really well. The black and white tile on the floor (not pictured) is really nice as well.

Our waiter informed us that the seasonal ravioli on the menu was a Pumpkin Ravioli tonight. That made my selection easy. Sara ordered a fairly basic spaghetti dish. Sara said she enjoyed hers. Mine was excellent. It would rival the best meals I ate that week. The chef did a really good job with it. As we were eating, if I leaned back from the table and looked to the left, I could just get a glimpse of the parade going by. Better than nothing I suppose.

For dessert, Sara ordered some type of chocolate cake, and I ordered a pumpkin cheesecake. I was all about pumpkin I guess.

And here was mine. Very intricate on the chocolate. A very nice touch.

Both desserts were fabulous. And I even got a birthday song, card, and second dessert.

Ice cream. I love ice cream.

Overall we were very impressed with Tony's. We have always eaten at Tony's at least once during our trips, and have always had an enjoyable experience. As we walked outside, the castle projection show was just starting. We didn't originally plan to watch this tonight, but found it too hard to leave when it was going. We tried to find a good spot.

Lyear · Jan 6, 2014

The hard part of finding a good spot at this time was that there were none. Everyone had done the smart thing and gotten their spots before the show had started. We got in as best we could onto the hub with the flagpole. I made certain that we weren't getting in anyone else's view. We ended up getting a view of about half the castle down Main Street, and caught about 5 minutes of the "Celebrate the Magic" show. What I saw was ok. It would have been loads better with a better view.

After this show ended, to my amazement a good number of the people around us left. Really??? Didn't they know that Wishes was coming up? I'm not sure if these people honestly didn't know what was coming, or made the decision to skip it. Oh well, better view for us. We were able to scoot about 5 feet to our left, and I had this view for Wishes. Thankfully the view itself wasn't as blurry as this shot.

Wishes is so much more magical when you can hear the soundtrack. The fireworks by themselves are amazing, but the way Disney choreographs them to music is astounding. What I really enjoy about Wishes is how you can really feel the emotion. You hear the music from a favorite movie, and you are transported to that world.

I can imagine parents watching this show and all of a sudden remembering for the first time in years what it's like to be a kid again, remembering what it's like to wish again. I imagine children watching and believing anything is possible. This show always inspires me to hope for the best, and believe that good things can come. It makes the world seem just a little brighter.

Wishes sadly came to an end much too soon, and I suddenly was jolted back to the reality that I'm standing near the middle of the flagpole hub, and there's a mass of humanity flooding towards us. Sara and I decide to make our way up to the railroad station, and wait out the crowd there. I've looked at this photo so many times, but I still can't believe the amount of people walking down Main Street.

We waited on the top of the Railroad station for about 20 minutes. We obliged several couples by taking photos of them in front of the castle, but oddly I realize we never got a photo of ourselves in this spot. Finally, the majority of people had made their way out. My sweet tooth was calling, and we decided to hit the Confectionary.

The confectionary became one of my favorite snack spots this visit. I suppose that's because I have a thing for sweets, and some of their offerings were included in the dining plan. While I waited in line, Sara took some photos of the chocolatiers hard at work.

And a photo of the best window display in the World

I decided to get some peanut butter-chocolate fudge. We would end up not eating until we had returned home however.

One pic of City Hall before we left.

We took the bus back to Coronado, where we had to go to the gift shop to pick up the ornament we ordered several nights before. While in the lobby, I took a few more photos of the near empty El Centro area.

Sara really liked the lights in this hallway.

And one somewhat ok nighttime photo of the outside.

Coronado Springs is a resort and convention center. I had heard horror stories, mostly on this website, about convention goers practically taking over the resort. I had a legitimate concern about this as the idea of people walking through the lobby in suits as you're on you're way to a park had the possibility of cutting away a little bit of the magic. Thankfully, this was not the reality here. I rarely saw convention goers while we were there. Usually if I did, they were by themselves or in a group of two...except for tonight. Tonight there was some type of social event on the back patio area of the hotel, and there were probably hundreds of people out there. Music was loud, and people seemed to be having a good time. It was a weird connecting of worlds seeing people in Disney, and having fun, but not in the traditional vacation sense.

We made our way through the crowd with no problems, and made the quick walk back to our room. An exhausting but fulfilling day 5 was in the books.

Lyear · Jan 6, 2014

Day 6 was our earliest start of our trip. We were up and leaving our room by 6:45am. Why the early start? Well, today doing something brand new. For the first time on any of our trips, we were going to be spending a day away from WDW. You see, "There once was a boy named Harry..." Sara had been a big fan of Harry Potter for several years. She had collected all the books, and when I was taking off work following the birth of Luke, I managed to read through book 4, and finished them all within a year. This was our first time in Florida that visiting the "Wizarding World" was possible, and we decided to take advantage of it.

First, it was off to the Pepper Market, Coronado's quick service restaurant, for breakfast. Again, I had heard horror stories about this place. It was described as a quick service restaurant, but you still had waiters you had to tip, even though you went to get you own food. Apparently no one could figure out how this place operated, as it was cloaked in a cloud of confusion.

I was happy to learn that they had adjusted Pepper Market to be a typical food court. When you entered, you got a card and were told what you could get on the dining plan. You then made your way to the kitchen, and made your order at the station of your choosing. Sara got a humongous stack of French Toast. I still don't know how she ate the whole thing. I ordered a veggie omelet. Pepper Market was practically empty (we had arrived just as they opened at 7). It made ordering our food and getting drinks a breeze. The restaurant itself has a very southwestern feel.

I thought the different colored chairs were very fitting.

I was very impressed by the Pepper Market, and we had a really good breakfast there. We refilled our mugs before we left, and were on our way back to the lobby. Sara saw this little light display and insisted I take a photo.

We had about a half hour before our 8:15 Mears shuttle pick up to go to Universal. Sara wanted to use the restroom before the bus ride. As I was waiting, I saw that no one was at the Disney Vacation Club stand, so I decided to go over and flip through their display binder. Big mistake.

As I walked over, I failed to notice the surveillance camera above me begin to track my steps. I was unaware that my image was quickly brought up on the security screens at the DVC headquarters, buried 200 feet below Cinderella's castle. I failed to realize that as I touched the binder, the officer in front of the security screen footage was already calling into his mic, "Coronado, we have one at Coronado. Go! Go! Go!" Behind me and to my left, the officer's words were fed into the earpiece of a DVC representative, and before I had flipped one page, she had already made her way over to me. I was trapped.

Seriously, I can't stand sales pitches. And I knew I was in for one. I quickly lamented my decision to walk over to this stand. I try to be courteous, but I can't hide the fact that I just want to get away. The representative was going on and on about how I would get a gift card and special prize if I would attend a 90 minute presentation on the DVC. I remember Sara coming out of the restroom, catching my glance, giving me a crooked smile, and walking the other way. I eventually got away with a card with a number to call if I wanted to attend their presentation. Over 1 month later, I'm still getting calls about this.

Upon my escape, I met up with Sara, and we waited in the pick up/drop off area.

The shuttle was running a little behind, and it was about 8:30 until we were picked up. The Mears shuttle is $18 round trip per person, and runs every hour. We decided it was the most convenient option, with the others being paying for a taxi, or renting a car. I thought the driver was very polite and the bus was completely full. One quick stop at Sea World, and we were on our way to Universal.

Lyear · Jan 7, 2014

So I've debated how much detail to get into for our Universal experience in this report. This after all is a website devoted to Disney World, and Universal is a chief rival. I've considered skipping it all together, or doing a brief synopsis of our day. However, this didn't seem quite right. Universal was an integral part of our trip, and I want to share that here. So for those who are adverse to all things Universal (you know who you are

), feel free to skip along to the next Disney entry.

We were dropped off in the bus lot, and given instructions on how to call to schedule our return trip. Buses departed every hour, and you had to call about an hour and a half to two hours before to schedule your spot. From the bus lot we went up an escalator, and into a long walkway which took us over a major roadway. This dropped us off in City walk, which is a Universal version of Downtown Disney.

It was a beautiful morning. I was pleasantly surprised by how well themed Universal was. Outside of Disney, I had been to several theme parks in the Pennsylvania/mid-Atlantic area. Most of these have a functional gate for entrance, signs at the entrances to rides, and a very basic queue. The main attraction is the rides themselves, and the queue area seems to almost be an afterthought. Disney by comparison, with their highly immersive details, blows these theme parks away. I was expecting Univerval to be more like the former, but the amount of detail they went into (I would say) would rival even Disney. I'm not saying it's better than Disney (I can't imagine anything better than Disney), but it is near or equal.

Our tickets were to the Islands of Adventure Park, since that is where the Wizarding World of Harry Potter is located. Here is just inside the entrance.

Upon entering, we made a right, and came upon the Dr. Seuss land.

Both the entrance and this area were well themed and fully immersive.

We knew where we wanted to go, so we walked through the Dr. Seuss land, and then through the Atlantis area that followed. Here's what we were looking for.

I felt the Harry Potter area was even better themed than the rest of the park. Everything here was just as you might imagine it out of the books and movies. As you would walk down the main street of Hogsmeade, we noticed the window displays were not stationary. For example, there was one store that was "selling" a quidditch set, and the balls appeared to be trying to break free of their chains. Each store seemed to have something similar. It was a nice touch, and in keeping with the world that was displayed in the Harry Potter movies.

Upon entering, we made a right towards the Dueling Dragons coaster. We had to store our bags in Universal's lockers. These were free up to a certain amount of time (depending on how long the wait time was) and were secured using your fingerprint. We thought it would be a pain to use these, but by the end we felt it was pretty convenient.

Some more pictures from the queue area. We were letting others go around us as the ride was a walk-on. First picture of the "castle."

The back of Hagrid's hut...

and the Weasley car.

After this, it was a looooong walk to get to the point where you board. I imagine on busy days it gets pretty full, but today it seemed like we would never reach the loading area. Only the blue dragon coaster was operational today (the red one was being renovated). We waited one ride for a front row seat. The coaster was very good. A top notch coaster in the thrill ride genre. As we exited, we made a quick turn around and rode it again. Definitely a great start to our Islands of Adventure experience. Then it was a march towards the castle.

We got in line going into the castle, and had to stow our bags in another locker. This one was another very long queue. The theming, as you might expect, was very good. It was very dark though. I never thought of Hogwarts being quite as dark as it was presented here. It was very difficult to get pictures. This is just inside the castle, with the daylight still visible.

Dumbledore welcoming us to the Hogwarts

And the sorting hat.

When we had entered this queue, Sara thought we were getting in line for "Flight of the Hippogriff," a small children's coaster that takes you in front of Hagrid's hut. We were actually in line for "Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey." Quite a difference. You could say "night and day," and you wouldn't be far off given how dark this queue was. Forbidden Journey was a dark ride, where 4 riders were strapped into a small box, all facing one direction. The story is that you are visiting Hogwarts, but instead of getting a lesson in the history of magic, Harry, Hermoine, and Ron are taking us on an adventure. There are several 3D screens throughout the ride, as well as other lifelike effects (such as spiders, dementors, etc). The ride takes you up, down, left, right, upside down, right side up, over and over as it takes you between these screens and effects. If you ever want to experience what a grain of salt feels like in a salt shaker, then go on Forbidden Journey. In the beginning I was enjoying the ride, but the constant movement eventually made me glad when the end had come. Unfortunately for the rest of the day, Sara and I were unable to shake the "not quite right" feeling this ride gave us.

After a brief sit down on a bench, we made our way to the actual "Flight of the Hippogriff," and found it to be just like a children's coaster. Then we took some time going in and out of the shops in Hogsmeade.

The three broomsticks

On the other side of the street, we found the Monster book of Monsters, which was actually moving around in its cage.

At this point we had spent about one and a half hours in Potter's world, and we wanted to see the rest of the park. We exited the same way we came to see what else was waiting.

docdebbi · Jan 7, 2014

have been enjoying the report. great pics.

TaraWdopeyfan · Jan 8, 2014

Great trip report, very jealous you got to draw Dopey, he's my favorite!

Lyear · Jan 11, 2014

docdebbi said:
have been enjoying the report. great pics.

Thank you. I'm enjoying yours as well

TaraWdopeyfan said:
Great trip report, very jealous you got to draw Dopey, he's my favorite!

Thanks for following along. We walked in during the voting process so we didn't experience the whole thing, but Dopey appeared to be a run-away winner.

Trip Report It can only go up from here

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