Trip Report LIVE - We're Andy's toys and we're going to play!

Hello again.
Well this trip has taken its time to come around. I'm sure you can all relate to that. The endless countdown that doesn't seem to get any smaller and all your friends going off to Disney while you're stuck at home. For those of you still there I feel your pain,

But

My turn has finally come and you get to share it with me, that is if you want to? Albeit in a virtual format.

I debated long and hard on whether to do another live report given all the time it took last year but I have decided I am going to try to give it a go again. I should be updating at the end of every day or in the mornings but everything depends on free WI fi. Fingers crossed.

For those of you who didn't read my last report (where were you?) here's a bit of background

Me Tracey
My husband Chris

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Disney mad, every comment in my life relates back to Disney. I've been travelling to Disney every November since 2000 (I went in Nov 1996 for the first time and then in Nov 1998 then May 1999) and then every year in November since.
Disney is a huge part of my life, I'm addicted and everyone thinks I'm mad (one of a kind, and a wee bit crazy) but I don't care - I love it and always will.
Chris isn't as mad as me (but that would be pretty impossible anyway) and pretends that he does it for me but I have those photos with the glint in his eye so who is he trying to kid?!

So here we are our 19th trip and I still get the excitement and butterflies in my stomach at the though of actually going back again. I will rack up 280 nights spent in POR during this trip and am aiming for 365 - a whole year of my life spent in Disney! That's my ambition and I think it's a pretty good one to have although Chris tells me not to admit that to anyone outside of this forum!

We've never had the same holiday even though we've been going back year after year, somehow each trip is different. I guess everyone on here can kind of relate to that too

So what's the plan?
We travel on Thursday 5th November from Gatwick at 1pm a later flight than we normally take but it was the only Virgin Atlantic flight out on this day. We are staying for 15 nights at our beloved Port Orleans Riverside - POR
We have Disney Dining plan so our meals are taken care of - we normally come home with loads to spare.
We have a 14 day Disney pass so our first day will be at Universal (as we are staying 15 nights and have to go to Magic Kingdom the day we leave)
We have BOG (be our guest for any non Disney abbreviation friends reading - Lianne at work! (not a toilet reference as some of my non Disney friends thought when I told them!) - this is a restaurant themed on Beauty and the Beast, my favourite film) booked for 2 lunches but apart from that these 15 days are all mine to absorb as much Disney as possible to keep me going another year.
And of course there will be ice cream every day (something I have to do while on holiday and will definitely feature A LOT in this report - as it did in the last one too!) and hopefully a few WDW Magic meet ups along the way. There are quite a few of us there so I am sure we will be running into each other.

My brother Mark and his wife Claire were meant to join us on this trip however, Claire was told in July that she had to be at a meeting on 13th Nov and her company said they would pay for travel costs etc to get her there. This would have meant loosing a week of their holiday though in terms of travel time etc. We all looked at travel dates to move but it wasn't possible so they have re booked for 2016 so will be joining us then. I was so looking forward to showing them the full on Disney experience of staying on site etc but it just wasn't meant to be (this time!) I was really disappointed not to have them join us, but it won't spoil our fun. I think they will feel the pain more than us!

And just in case you want to follow along @coachwnh and @prfctlyximprct (for helping me with Disney blues in the past) @LisaBelle thanks for your message earlier this week and hopefully this report will help pass the days until your Feb trip (keep up the training) - @Minnesota disney fan who contacted me direct and we have shared email and Facebook messages since about May this year (looking forward to meeting you in person on 12th Nov in Magic Kingdom) @Zipitidoda so you can enjoy more of my gorillapod shots which you enjoyed from my last trip report @PrincessOfDisneyworld who actually read my last trip report 3 times, (I am still touched you enjoyed it that much) and @Tiggertoo56 who read my report twice and this time last year was in Disney - I hope this helps re live some memories.
And obviously welcome to any previous or new readers - you are all more than welcome

So, I am at home sorting out the last bits and Chris is still in London and we want to leave for the airport in 2 hours for our overnight stay in a hotel before our long 9 1/2 hour ish flight tomorrow to "Our laughing place"
I've pinched myself and it hurt so it's actually happening! Zip a dee do dah
See you on the other side........

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh....... We're finally off. (Well nearly!)
 

Minnesota disney fan

Well-Known Member
Hello again.
Well this trip has taken its time to come around. I'm sure you can all relate to that. The endless countdown that doesn't seem to get any smaller and all your friends going off to Disney while you're stuck at home. For those of you still there I feel your pain,

But

My turn has finally come and you get to share it with me, that is if you want to? Albeit in a virtual format.

I debated long and hard on whether to do another live report given all the time it took last year but I have decided I am going to try to give it a go again. I should be updating at the end of every day or in the mornings but everything depends on free WI fi. Fingers crossed.

For those of you who didn't read my last report (where were you?) here's a bit of background

Me Tracey
My husband Chris

View attachment 117630

Disney mad, every comment in my life relates back to Disney. I've been travelling to Disney every November since 2000 (I went in Nov 1996 for the first time and then in Nov 1998 then May 1999) and then every year in November since.
Disney is a huge part of my life, I'm addicted and everyone thinks I'm mad (one of a kind, and a wee bit crazy) but I don't care - I love it and always will.
Chris isn't as mad as me (but that would be pretty impossible anyway) and pretends that he does it for me but I have those photos with the glint in his eye so who is he trying to kid?!


Can't wait to see you on the 12th at the MK!!!!!! I know it's gonna be hot, but I'm still wearing black capris and my pink Mickey/Minnie tshirt. see you then:)
So here we are our 19th trip and I still get the excitement and butterflies in my stomach at the though of actually going back again. I will rack up 280 nights spent in POR during this trip and am aiming for 365 - a whole year of my life spent in Disney! That's my ambition and I think it's a pretty good one to have although Chris tells me not to admit that to anyone outside of this forum!

We've never had the same holiday even though we've been going back year after year, somehow each trip is different. I guess everyone on here can kind of relate to that too

So what's the plan?
We travel on Thursday 5th November from Gatwick at 1pm a later flight than we normally take but it was the only Virgin Atlantic flight out on this day. We are staying for 15 nights at our beloved Port Orleans Riverside - POR
We have Disney Dining plan so our meals are taken care of - we normally come home with loads to spare.
We have a 14 day Disney pass so our first day will be at Universal (as we are staying 15 nights and have to go to Magic Kingdom the day we leave)
We have BOG (be our guest for any non Disney abbreviation friends reading - Lianne at work! (not a toilet reference as some of my non Disney friends thought when I told them!) - this is a restaurant themed on Beauty and the Beast, my favourite film) booked for 2 lunches but apart from that these 15 days are all mine to absorb as much Disney as possible to keep me going another year.
And of course there will be ice cream every day (something I have to do while on holiday and will definitely feature A LOT in this report - as it did in the last one too!) and hopefully a few WDW Magic meet ups along the way. There are quite a few of us there so I am sure we will be running into each other.

My brother Mark and his wife Claire were meant to join us on this trip however, Claire was told in July that she had to be at a meeting on 13th Nov and her company said they would pay for travel costs etc to get her there. This would have meant loosing a week of their holiday though in terms of travel time etc. We all looked at travel dates to move but it wasn't possible so they have re booked for 2016 so will be joining us then. I was so looking forward to showing them the full on Disney experience of staying on site etc but it just wasn't meant to be (this time!) I was really disappointed not to have them join us, but it won't spoil our fun. I think they will feel the pain more than us!

And just in case you want to follow along @coachwnh and @prfctlyximprct (for helping me with Disney blues in the past) @LisaBelle thanks for your message earlier this week and hopefully this report will help pass the days until your Feb trip (keep up the training) - @Minnesota disney fan who contacted me direct and we have shared email and Facebook messages since about May this year (looking forward to meeting you in person on 12th Nov in Magic Kingdom) @Zipitidoda so you can enjoy more of my gorillapod shots which you enjoyed from my last trip report @PrincessOfDisneyworld who actually read my last trip report 3 times, (I am still touched you enjoyed it that much) and @Tiggertoo56 who read my report twice and this time last year was in Disney - I hope this helps re live some memories.
And obviously welcome to any previous or new readers - you are all more than welcome

So, I am at home sorting out the last bits and Chris is still in London and we want to leave for the airport in 2 hours for our overnight stay in a hotel before our long 9 1/2 hour ish flight tomorrow to "Our laughing place"
I've pinched myself and it hurt so it's actually happening! Zip a dee do dah
See you on the other side........

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh....... We're finally off. (Well nearly!)
 

Longers

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Welcome to the USA (again) and enjoy your day in Universal! Looking forward to "loads of photos and updates!" Have a great day!

I am on it!

I had already decided it will be a few yrs minimum before Im back at Disney but I miss it already (was just there in sept) and reading just the very beginning of your trip makes me want to go back now.

I just can't stop coming back!

You made it!! I'm so jealous that I can't be in the World too!! Looking forward to more pictures!

Plenty to come

I'm on board! Have fun!

Good to have you with us

You made it!!! YAY!

Yes we made it finally, now the fun begins

following along sounds like fun!

Thank you

EEeekk, I'm so excited!!!

Me too!

Awesome, awesome, awesome screen shot of Stacy. Glad you had a safe trip over and hope you enjoy/enjoyed Universal. We'll be arriving on November 14th, so we'll keep a look out for you.

Say hi if you see us! Safe travels

Hey...unbelievable but ran into Marissieviolissie outside POFQ food court this AM , then saw Tinkerbella waiting for MK to open this morning. Want to meet tomorrow evening ?

Can't believe you've bumped into them both already! Myself and @Tinkerbella16 have been here at the same time for at least the last 3 years and haven't met!
We are at MK all day tomorrow, not sure what time we might be back, depends if the heat gets us or the crowds or if we decide to pop over to Epcot mid afternoon. Where you at tomorrow?

@Minnesota disney fan - did your comment go wrong?
See you on 12th......
 

Longers

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Friday 6th November cont.

So the last time I updated we were on our way out for breakfast.
This was how beautiful the morning was.

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And here is our hire car for the next 15 days.
Chris loves driving in the US so I don't get a look in.
He is one happy boy with this upgrade.

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Breakfast was just outside Disney to the Golden Corral.
Yum, and you just gotta love US bacon.
Mind you for a buffet this was all I ate as after being so hungry and having food in front of me I couldn't eat any more.

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Oh yes and took this picture of the thick grass on our way.
There is something about the grass that tells me I'm in Disney - sad I know - no comments on that one - please

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After about 20 mins we were arriving at Universal Orlando, on a beautiful sunny day.

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We were parked in Spider-Man and were on our way into the park.
Universal Orlando was to be first on our list - blue sky!

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The wait times at the front of the park were around 30 mins so we headed to the back of the park and hopped onto Men In Black Alien Attack (an alien themed laser shooting game) - there was something wrong with my laser as I only got something like 21,000 and Chris was over 300,000 (although he did "push the red button" ) for the bonus.
The wait was still low when we came out and as we had a locker with the camera in it we decided to go round again but do single riders (Chris won again)

After that we decided to walk to Diagon Alley - this place is amazing.

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As it was hot there was only 1 thing on my mind - you guessed it - ice cream.

The first of the holiday strawberries and cream with shortbread sprinkles.

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Longers

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We sat eating ice cream with this view into Diagon Alley

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More pictures from Diagon Alley

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Gringotts ride was down so we decided to go for a walk around Universal and come back later.

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We stumbled across these guys while walking around. They were doing skipping whilst doing handstands and loads of other things, and they certainly gathered a crowd. (Sorry this was in Islands so it's a bit out of sync but oh well)

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Longers

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We wandered around some more and couldn't resist our first gorillapod shot! (a tripod we use with our camera on a timer to take random shots)

This is meant to be Jaws trying to eat me with Chris trying to save me, isn't he a hero!
There were a few people watching who did find it all rather amusing!

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Random shot!

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We left Universal and started to take the short walk to Universal Islands of adventure
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Once inside the park, I saw this and couldn't resist

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Well that's my exercise done for the day!
Even though the wheels didn't go round - but don't tell anyone.

And I can't make any excuses for this one

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Next it was the thing I have to get when I go to Universal - lemon ice!
As it was hot out we found a nice shady spot me people watched while we ate it (and I did share with Chris as I am kind like that)

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After our refreshment it was off to the high in the sky Suess Trolley train ride.
In all the years of coming to Orlando we have never done this but as it was only a 10 min wait we thought why not!

We saw this mirror so decided to take a picture of us both on the way past.

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JIMINYCR

Well-Known Member
Don't know about you but I'm having a heck of a time with the wifi connection here. Very spotty, sometimes connects and other time it doesn't. BUT I'm starting to like the FP+ ... That's working out well for me. Rode 7DMT today for first time thanks to FP +
 

Longers

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
From here we headed to Hogwarts

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And onto Harry Potter and the forbidden journey - the wait time was showing 30 mins so we decided to go single rider.
We waited a while and would you believe it were put onto the same ride next to each other - yay.

We walked around some more and then headed onto Spider-Man before stopping to get Chris his "must do" whilst in America a Cinnabon

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We headed back to Hogwarts to get the Hogwarts express back to London Kings Cross -

(for those who haven't been to Universal there are 2 parks and the London part is in 1 park and Hogwarts is in another and you can get the Hogwarts express between each one.)

Gringotts (a ride) was now open and posted a wait time of 30 mins - as we joined the queue this changed to 45 mins but we decided to stick it out as we've been on this ride before and it is really good and worth the wait.

During our time queuing, they had further difficulties and we finally got on the ride an hour after we started queuing.

Anyhow after that we were done!
We decided to head out and to stop at Wallmart on the way for supplies.

Supplies on board I was back to PORS and dinner from the snack plan in the Riverside Mill food court.
And of course to finish off the day I had ice cream - sorry no photo as I didn't take the camera out with me so you will just have to trust me :)

Tomorrow Magic Kingdom.
 

Longers

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Don't know about you but I'm having a heck of a time with the wifi connection here. Very spotty, sometimes connects and other time it doesn't. BUT I'm starting to like the FP+ ... That's working out well for me. Rode 7DMT today for first time thanks to FP +
Just spent the past 1.5 hours updating this report and it's been fine but took some time to load photos. Only doing from the room though not the parks?
Hope to see you around. Will message you if we are back at resort tomorrow just to see where your at!
 

LisaBelle

Well-Known Member
Great first day at the parks! I haven't been to Diagon Alley yet. Seeing your pictures makes me super excited to see it in person. I can't wait! Glad you were able to eat your first ice cream of the holiday. It looked delicious!
 

Minnesota disney fan

Well-Known Member
I am on it!



I just can't stop coming back!



Plenty to come



Good to have you with us



Yes we made it finally, now the fun begins



Thank you



Me too!



Say hi if you see us! Safe travels



Can't believe you've bumped into them both already! Myself and @Tinkerbella16 have been here at the same time for at least the last 3 years and haven't met!
We are at MK all day tomorrow, not sure what time we might be back, depends if the heat gets us or the crowds or if we decide to pop over to Epcot mid afternoon. Where you at tomorrow?

@Minnesota disney fan - did your comment go wrong?
See you on 12th......

yes something went wrong with the post. Just wanted to say Hi, glad you made it, and see you on the 12th:)
 

marissieviolissie

Well-Known Member
It's almost 3:30 now and too excited for the 5k this morning so I'm up..... Still need coffee though @JIMINYCR lol. I walked by your window last night, can't miss that one ;)

I was planning on MK today too, somewhere in the afternoon/ early evening. Haven't been there yet this trip ( same on me !) and feel like running out of time to see the decoratief and stuff and also see the Osborne Lights! Barely 3 days left for me to do so, but depending on how I feel after the race. They did issue a high risk alert for runners today so I hope I won't be affected and can still do my MK later on.
 

Longers

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Great first day at the parks! I haven't been to Diagon Alley yet. Seeing your pictures makes me super excited to see it in person. I can't wait! Glad you were able to eat your first ice cream of the holiday. It looked delicious!

I remember you saying last year you were excited to go there - you won't be disappointed

yes something went wrong with the post. Just wanted to say Hi, glad you made it, and see you on the 12th:)

Can't wait to meet you will see you at the Mickey and Walt statue at 10.30

It's almost 3:30 now and too excited for the 5k this morning so I'm up..... Still need coffee though @JIMINYCR lol. I walked by your window last night, can't miss that one ;)

I was planning on MK today too, somewhere in the afternoon/ early evening. Haven't been there yet this trip ( same on me !) and feel like running out of time to see the decoratief and stuff and also see the Osborne Lights! Barely 3 days left for me to do so, but depending on how I feel after the race. They did issue a high risk alert for runners today so I hope I won't be affected and can still do my MK later on.

Good luck this morning - we have done the 5k before and had great fun but the tickets went to fast this year for us to get one. Might see you in MK later - you know what we look like so say hi if you see us.
 

Longers

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Quick update re 2 messages that were on our voicemail when we got back to our room last night.
We had a message from the operational manager and the general manager of PORS to say how delighted they were that we were staying here again and celebrating 284 nights with them.
Now Disney don't seem to have any of this data stored anywhere which in this digital age I find quite strange as even when we picked up our hire car the lady asked if I wanted to drive as I had last year, she even told us what car we had!
But Disney don't have that information.

So they had obviously been told by the nice staff who checked us in!
They had asked if we had stayed before and we said we had, they asked how many times, and this conversation then escalated into how many days, how we loved the US and all the American people, how this was our 2nd home, how we just loved Disney, how we old love to work and live here and so many other things. :)

That's what I love about being here, everyone loves the same subject so you can talk about it to your hearts content. At home I talk and when people have had enough they just change the subject or tell me to shut up or they know I would talk about it all day!

So the best bit of these calls was I was absolutely touched that these 2 senior staff in PORS had taken the time to ring us.
The operations manager said he would lov the opportunity to meet us so maybe at some point we will see if we can meet him

The general manager said if there as anything she could do to make our stay more enjoyable then we should ask - do you think she will be able to get me a night in Cinderella castle or am I pushing my luck? If not maybe I could be a grand Marshall at the Magic Kingdom for the 3pm parade or maybe I could even get a part in the parade?

To be honest what I would love is for her to make it a great stay next year when my brother comes with us so he falls in love it's this place and can see why I love it so much.

I might go and find her at some point during this holiday too if only to get a photo of us all - that would be rather special.
 

Longers

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Saturday 7th November

Good morning, good morning
Sunbeams will soon shine through
Good morning, good morning to you, and you and you and you

(Now I know that you were singing that if you've been to Disney before)
Don't pretend you weren't!

Happy Saturday :D - for me it's going to be truly magical, I can't wait.

I think there will be Some tears - I feel rather emotional at the thought of actually going to the Magic Kingdom - I've waited over a year for this day to come

Now normally there are tears before now, but so far I have done quite well and held it all together (I don't cry at home but Disney just hits me!)

So apart from having loads of fun we will be having lunch at BOG in the castle at 11am (rather early but we're still trying to adjust our body clocks to US time)
And we have guaranteed meetings with the Pirates, Big thunder mountain (BTMRR) and seven dwarfs mine train (7DMT) during the day.
And we have a parade to watch too!

Can't wait - bring it on
Thanks for following along - more later
 

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