Trip Report March 2018 Horizons 1 You are now cleared for departure to the Happiest Place on Earth.

We have no Returned from a week at the best Place you could ever go. For this Trip, my Car was knicknamed Horizons 1.Here is my Cobbled Together Trip Report.

Trip was from March 3rd arrival day, until March 10th Departure day. We had Park Hopper and Quick Service Dining Plan

March 2nd 2018 9:00 CST. Horizons 1 has been fueled, baggage stowed, and ready for its Departure from Homeport. This was our first time ever driving, on our First Trip in 2012, we had not moved to Tennessee yet, and flew because of distance etc. The drive was pretty uneventful, other than a random off the highway "highway" for a couple hours. We chose to drive through the night, and i had taken this extra day off from work to sleep as much so i could drive the forcasted 11 hours down to our Destination port of POP Century. Its hard to stay awake through the night, but my wife was a real trooper to help keep me on the road. I did manage to let the excitement get to me a bit early on, as we hadnt even hit the Alabama border, and i was apparently going way too fast, and an officer got me, so this trip started off fun with a small speeding ticket. From then on, i turned off the boosters on Horizons 1, and set her cruize to 70 parsecs for the rest of the trip where applicable and behaved myself. With stops for fuel, and breakfast that next morning, we arrived at our Port of Destination at 10 am or so Local Disney Time.

Upon Check in and proper Docking of Horizons 1 in the check in parking, we were alerted that our room was not ready, but were clear to have all the fun one could have. So we decided even after spending most of the night and day in the car, to hit the parks! We chose Hollywood studios to start with, as this trip was all about doing things we didnt do last time as well as repeat favorites. We jumped a bus, and headed over to Hollywood. Once we got there, as we had never seen it, we went ahead and Checked out the beauty and the Beast Show. This happens to be my Daughters favorite movie, so hey why not right?

We grabbed some lunch at the ABC Commissary, checked out some shops, and wait times and got ourselves settled. Not long into our time at Hollywood, we got the Text from POP, that our room was ready, so we headed back to get our luggage into the room. This trip i had one want. A Refurb room, and close to a smoking section for my wife. We ended up in one of the 90s buidings a bit far away from the buses, but overall a comfy room that kept us well.

At least it was a quiet spot, i never heard anyone at all. Now this could of been the pure exaustion each night talking too, the jury is still out on that. As this was the last full family vacation, as my daughter is 18, and my wife said this was the last one we were taking care of, we may be upgrading in the future for the 2 of us to a moderate.

Once our bags were in the room, and we had surveyed the rennovations, we decided, whats day one without a Castle? To the Magic Kingdom we must go!

Last time we visited, Fantasyland was a mess ad mine train was still wrapped in insulation board, so that whole area was new to us. We did some exploring, and general.. I did manage to get a Ride on Haunted Mansion right off though as we were skipping fireworks, and saving that for the last night of the trip. Man i love this attraction. I could just ride and ride and ride! Mind you we didnt have any fastpasses short of a few we got for my birthday the 7th at EPCOT, as we hate hate hate overplanning. As you will see in here, we did so much on the fly and still got to everything we could ever want to short of 1 or 2 things.

After this, we decided that it was probally for the best that we go back to the room and get some rest, Day 2 Sunday the 3rd was destined to be an Animal Kingdom day, as we had made sit down reservations for YAK and Yeti for a Welcome meal. Even though we had the Quick service, we had planned ahead and bought Disney Gift Cards for months and months ahead to pay for gifts, and for the two out of pocket meals on this trip. This worked out extremely well for us, also I will dive into it more, but Big Thanks to EPCOT flower and garden food selections for getting us back on track and zeroing out our dining plan. I dont remember much from the hotel that night, other than the girls telling me i came in, layed down, and passed out snoring as loud as all get out. I guess that 12 hours in the car must of caught up with me eh?

Next stop?

Day 2 Rope Drop at Animal Kingdom.

 

[Rista1313]

Am I the first to comment? woo hoo! I'm in for this TR!

 

[Mainahman]

Am I the first to comment? woo hoo! I'm in for this TR!

Lots more to come. i didnt take any notes on the trip out of pure excitement to be back. I will cover our Animal Kingdom day 1 tomorrow i think!

 

[Mainahman]

Day 2.

Now let me remind you, were not a huge fan of this whole new Fastpass + overplan your vacation deal, so we had little to no fastpasses whatsoever. We grabbed what we could as we went on our way through the world. We had done extensive research on Flights of Passage, and it was deemed that I was the only one with interest in riding. My daughter and Wife dont do well with that type of motion let alone making it virtual reality. However, this being said they did want to do the River Journey. This is why we were in line and on the Second bus to Animal Kingdom this morning. Once we arrived, we disembarked made it through bag check and security, and headed to pandora. Last time we were in he world ( 2012) Pandora was still in the womb so this was all new experience for us. This trip was meant to be full of new experiences anyways so why not. We had chosen this day, as we had lunch Plans at YAK and Yeti, again our first time there. We got into pandora, slightly chuckled at the very long standby line for Flights of passage, and pretty much walked on the the River Journey. Now i wouldnt wait in a 45 minute line for this, but being able to walk on it was very nice, and we all enjoyed it.

Since we were done there, and theres a handy path into Africa, we made our way over to the Safari, and had a maybe 25 minute wait to get on board. This might of been my favorite ride on the safari, as when we came up on to the male lion, he was making his presence known and roaring at us. it was super breathtaking!

Link to video of this here:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/mOsvYMkv38bdK1BZ2


Here are a few shots i got while on the safari early in the morning.

To Me the safari never disappoints. Being a trip where we were trying new things, We Went on Kali River Rapids, and no one told my wife about the "Drop" that may of been the most entertaining thing of the day. Good news she survived! we also visited its tough to be a bug, and Did a walk through the Jungle Trek on this day.

After this, We checked wait times, and i got a ride on Dinosaur as it was low, and it was on our general way to Asia for our lunch reservation at Yak and Yeti.

Where we didn't have a whole lot of time before lunch, my wife went to the smoking section, and i got in line for what i thought was a short wait for Baloo and king Louie. Spoiler alert, i was 2 photos away from getting this photo, and had to bail to make our lunch reservation. BOO! They are my favorite, but while i was in queue i got a ton of great shots of the Tree of Life, and got to see how animated this particular meet and greet is. They are super into it! Here's one of my favorite shots of the tree, and another shot i just like.

I have no photos of the YAK and Yeti food, but i tell you it was the most delicious thing i ate on the trip, and may of beaten out my Birthday lunch which we will talk about later. I had the spicy fish Tacos, my Daughter had the Tuna Nachos, and my wife had the Chicken LO Mein. I sampled some of my wifes as it was too much for her, and it was all delicious. We had a starter of Pork Egg Rolls as well, and i had a Yak Attack Frozen Cocktail. That was delicious, and i could of had one almost as often as a dole whip! Oddly enough this seems to be the last time i saw my license for a while. I would not realize it for a day or 2 but i apparently left it on the table after taking it out for th waiter in case he carded me. He didnt.. MY wife and daughter got the Fried Wontons for dessert, and i shared a bite here and there. Over all were still new to Sit down dining at Disney, and this place blew us away. We will surely be back!

After being full with food, we needed to walk it off, so we decided to go up to the Planet Watch area, as the next show we could catch for the Festival of the Lion King was at like 4:00 local Disney time, and we had some time to kill.

I love this train ride, and clearly the Cast member working it, must of been filling in, as he announced us going to tomorrow land, and not planet watch. he quickly corrected himself and we were off.

Its always fun to check out the Planet watch area. They were giving one of the sheep a nebulizer treatment so that was fun to watch.

We checked out one of the theaters up there where you put headphones on and listen to different items as well, and decided it was kinda creepy.

We had not done the petting zoo last time, so hey why not.. new experiences right? We got to pet a few things, and meet the pig they have up there. That was very fun for sure!

Next on the docket was the Festival of the Lion King. This was our first time in the new theater as last time Camp Minnie Mickey still existed.

We got in, got a higher than usual seat, and enjoyed the show. Its my daughters favorite movie, and show, so its a must do. My only complaint is would it of killed them to put backs on the seats?

My wife has a friend that Lives in the Orlando area that moved there shortly before we moved to Tennessee from Maine as well, and she had wanted to meet for supper at Disney Springs, so after Festival of the Lion King, We headed back to Pandora, so i could get some good photos, before we jumped a bus back to our resort, and then to the Springs to meet up with them for dinner. The girls were getting tired, so i left them in the near by smoking section and wandered down to take my photos. Here is one of my favorites:

Pandora Is really breathtaking, and i will share some night photos later in this trip report. I got a Photopass shot on my way out, as well as catching the Drummers on the way back to the girls to head back to POP to dump our stuff and head to the Springs.

Let me Preface this with, we had no idea what to expect from the springs, and had not really intended to go, but hey new experiences! We decided that the dinosaur themed restaraunt was where we were to eat, so we got our wait time, and then walked around the Springs getting a "locals" tour.

I had no idea you could walk up to a window and get a cupcake from a vending machine. What is this sorcery, and why cant the Nashville area get it? From here we wandered around, got our free samples of chocolate, looked at the world of disney store, while we tried no to get trampled.

After that we headed to dinner. Food was OK, but we all wished it wasnt so loud in There. Its like the Waiter knew that i was a Fish keeper as well, and sat me right by one of the reef tanks, in which i could point out and name each one to the amazement of our friends haha! Over all we had a good time at the Springs, i'm not a big Mall Person, so we probably wont go back often on trips, but it was cool to experience.

We then Boarded our Disney Bus back to POP and it was time for sleep!

Next up Magic Kingdom Day 1 What in the world is wrong with the Mountains? Stay tuned!

 

[Mainahman]

Day 3 would find us as a split park day.

The girls wanted to sleep later, and Animal Kingdom had a early Morning Magic hour, so i took advantage, and went over to ride Everest. I had intended to get coffee, wait for the bus and sip it on the bus, however as i made it from the room to the bus corral, a bus was pulling up, so i gave up on caffeine and survived on the Everest Wakeup call!

Once i arrived, and got over to Asia, The Cast member walked us over to Everest, and made a quite funny but also quite true joke, of "ride a few times everyone is in pandora" The same amount of us just kept riding and riding. I got in about 5 rides before i was too cold, and had a slight headache that i decided 5 in a row is a good number. Mind you the temp at 7 am Disney time was maybe 54 degrees. That first drop was quite breathtaking in multiple ways!

After the ride, I then took a few early morning shots of my favorite Mountain. Heres a couple to share:

After this, I wandered around And took a few more photos, then headed back to the Hotel to get the girls and head to Magic Kingdom.

Once we all were reuinited, we headed over to Magic Kingdom, this trip was all about things we had not done before, so my wife wanted to check out tom sawyers island.

So we boarded our raft and away we went!

This is a very relaxing part of the Magic Kingdom, Sadly the fort was down for refurbishment, but it is a nice place to check out, and i could see us using it as a bit of a break from crowds. I even caught the girls playing a bit of a rousing game of checkers for old time sake!

The views from over here are just really breathtaking of both Splash and Big Thunder, which are 2 of my favorites in the Park, but both things i had done before alone, but my daughter and wife had not.

I snagged a few fastpasses while we were over there exploring. One for Space Ranger Spin, one for My daughter and I for Splash and one for Peter Pans Flight.
When we departed from Tom sawyer, it was about time for us to head to our early fastpass for Space Ranger Spin. On the way it was worth a trip through adventure land to get a Dole Whip, and have the girls have thier first ever! This ride is pretty much tradition, and we all get competitive about it, and see who can get the best score. I thought i was doing great, but my daughter beat all of us pretty bad. Her favorite ride is the Peoplemover, so we did that while we kind of planned lunch and things of that nature.

We ended up eating at Friars Nook for a quick easy lunch before Splash


The entire day we were there, Splash, Big Thunder, and Space, were all having issues. not quite sure what that deal is all about, but they should probably look into that, but we had our fingers crossed.

Next up for attractions was supposed to be Splash Mountain for my daughter and I but like the rest of the day, it was Down once again, and they had no idea if it would open. Eventually our fast pass had opened to almost any attraction, but we chose to wait to see if Splash would come back so she could experience it! Since that Fastpass opened the way it did, i grabbed another as it let me for The Little Mermaid.

Now that there was some time before our fast pass for The little mermaid, which was still under construction while we were there last, so we had some time to kill. We got my Daughters Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom game going for this trip, and checked wait times.

Jungle Cruise was at 45, and its again one of our family favorites, so we braved the line to see the backside of water.

The wait was well worth it, and we had filled our popcorn bucket before so we had hot popcorn to make the wait go by better. We had probably one of the best skippers ever. She was hilarious! I cant remember her name, but clearly she loves her job.

On the way to Our next fastpass for Little Mermaid, i had enough time to Jump on big Thunder since Splash was out of the question, and my daughter decided not to use her, as she doesnt do coasters, but knows i love Big Thunder.

We grabbed the train and took it up to Fantasy Land, to get ready for Mermaid.

For a first time rider, i liked it, i know it could probaly be better, but we enjoyed it, and would do it again.

After this It was time to eat again, see a trend yet? ha! We ended up eating at Pinocchio Village Haus,. Wasnt bad at all. We started to plan for the next day as well, and decided to start an early day at Hollywood Studios, and then start my favorite park EPCOT! I started looking at fastpasses just for kicks and giggles, and there it was!

Frozen ever after was available!! My daughter wanted it so bad, that we were going to have to rope drop it, but i grabbed it feeling all proud of myself!

Now that that plan was together, Rope Drop for Toy Story Mania, Then a boat ( for our first time taking a boat over) To Epcot, we continued on our tour of the Magic Kingdom.

We had a Fast Pass i had gotten the night before, for Peter Pans Flight, so we headed over there. This is my Wifes favorite, so it was a MUST DO!

Fireworks were just starting, and since Daughter had asked to do that our last night, we grabbed some rides after Pan.

I had talked them into doing Mansion with me, so we started out of fantasyland that way.

On our way, Its a small world was littereally Walk on, so we Grabbed that for old time sake. As annoying as the song is, its like having a piece of Walt with you for a few

We then Headed to Mansion, while it was still walk on. Mansion is one of my favorites. It never gets old. I could move into the stretching room anytime! They liked it, and were not scared at all. It was a good family experience.

After this, We decided to call it a night, beat the mass rush to the busses, and headed back for the night to POP. Got come Hot Cocoa, and went to bed.

Next up! Old and new experiences at the studios, and our first start to Flower and Garden fest goodies! Stay tuned!



Finally talked them into riding Mansion with me, so We headed thta way.

 

[Mainahman]

Alright Time for day 4. For anyone following our escapades i apologize for the delay! Here we go!

Day four would put our park hoppers to good use once again. We have a family tradition, that we must get at east one ride on Toy Story Midway Mania. Its just a fun ride we can do as a family, and well, were slightly competitive. Now without doing any fastpasses, we knew ahead of time, that we were going to have to rope drop this, and we didnt have to be to EPCOT till well after lunch time for our Fastpass for Frozen ever after.

I am still 100 percent proud of myself for scoring that one! Probably made my daughters trip!

We got up super early, used an extra dining credit to have a good breakfast at Everything POP!, and then grabbed a bus to the Studios.

Once We arrived, i had forgotten that it was down to one track, and we had a 45 minute wait, ROPE DROP EVEN! We had time, so we chilled in line. it as still slightly chilly, but we had luckily grabbed our warm clothes before we left this time.

Hey at least i got some cool photos while we waited!

These animatronics always get the techy part of my brain going wanting to know how they work!

We always have a good time on this one. Im by far no master, but i did beat my wife in the games pretty bad, and beat my daughter by 900 points. Not to shabby!

After this we checked wait times, and had some time before we had to grab a boat to EPCOT ( decided to once again do something new!)

I had never done Tower Of Terror, so hey why not! GULP!

I split up, the girls did some shopping, and i grabbed the 45 minute line for TOT.

I got some cool shots and angles on it while i waited heres one of my favs!

I now have a new addiction to this ride. I am an avid Haunted Mansion ride, so this one also gets me right in the feel goods, even though i was terrified! See below photo! I am the dude scared to death in the middle row to the right holding on for deer life against the wall...

Would i do this again? Surely now that i know what to expect, just to experience the queue and such, but the cast members much like Haunted Mansion, got this stuff down!

After this, the girls met me at the giftshop, handed me a iced coffee, i was still shaking in fear, and we decided we would head to EPCOT, s there was nothing left at DHS we wanted to do this trip.

On the way out, we tried to get a good family photo, and just couldnt with the sun and wind, so i wont bore you with that.

We have never taken a friendship boat, so we boarded one, and headed to EPCOT.

I do have to say, i really liked this. Once i'm nosy, and like to see new things, and had never been that close to Swan and Dolphin, Beach Club, and Boardwalk.

We had planned in this time so we could have the new experience. IT definitely beat being sardined into a bus and sitting in traffic!

While in EPCOT i went nuts getting photo of the Topiaries. I could probably do a whole post of the Topiaries of EPCOT, and since the next day post will be my Birthday at EPCOT, ill save a few for that post, but here is a tease

we mostly focused on World Showcase, and Eating around the world as we made our way to Norway for our expedition on the Norwegian Seas with That there Snowman.

We had never been to WDW during a festival, and while i dont feel the need to be there for Food and Wine ( And i love to eat! ) I was really impressed with Flower and Garden.

The booths that Stick out to me were:

Canada: Those scallops became a thing we ate multiple times over the next day and a half

America: the Smokehouse was Delicious! We had some of it all.

China: We had the pot stickers and spring rolls. Very tasty.

Im sure there were others, but we ate so many things, its hard to catalog them all.

Once we ate for a bit, it was time to head to our Frozen Ever After Journey.

Now let me say, i was a huge fan of Maelstrom. I got really really mad and threatened to boycott this attraction when it was announced.

However im a technology guy. I think they did a great job with it, and id ride it again if i had a fastpass, plus it meant alot to my daughter, so theres a connection there too.

Once we left here, we had a few hours before we decided we would head back before Illuminations as we would be back for my birthday from Rope drop to End of the Night.

In True form, we focused on exploring world showcase shops, snacking more at the pavilions, and preparing for what fastpasses we did have for the next day. Boring right? HA! i feel like thats my favorite thing in EPCOT, short of my Figment, is to explore slowly and snack and just take it all in.

We had Reservations the next day at Napoli for my birthday, so we found our way there, did some shopping, grabbed some photos, and shortly before fireworks, made our way to our Bus and to POP for a nightcap.

Next up will be my birthday day at EPCOT! My most favorite park, the first one i ever visited as a Child, and lots of New family firsts, that will become slowly traditions i do believe.

Stay tuned!

 

[Fankle]

Enjoying following along!

 

[fractal]

Love Tom Sawyer's Island!

 

[Mainahman]

Enjoying following along!

Thanks! Im still quite amazed how much we got done considering we had not done any fastpasses ahead of time!

Love Tom Sawyer's Island!

Im not sure why we didnt do it the trip before. its soo relaxing!

Ill try to get day 5 my birthday up tonight.

 

[LeighM]

Following along

 

[Mainahman]

Alrighty here we go! Day 5 Who doesnt love a birthday at the Best Place ever! let alone your favorite park!


Lets first go back to the year 2001 when i was a mere lad, Went to a family wedding in Lakeland, and did a day trip with my grandparents and uncle to EPCOT. My life was changed! Spaceship Earth! The Seas! World Showcase! This would start an epic obsession with EPCOT.

We had a few fastpasses for the day, 1 for Spaceship Earth, one for Figment, and one for Soarin. Soarin. All 3 were new to the girls, and soarin new to all of us.

This was also the day i finally called lo and found, and they had my license after all! Now i wasn't about to spend my birthday over there, so that is for another day!

We got to Epcot with just the few fastpasses, and Lunch at Napoli for my birthday on the agenda. Oh and More Scallops. See a trend here? We really liked the Scallops!

I took a few shots as we waited in the Fastpass line for Spaceship Earth heres one of my favorites:

"Like a grand and miraculous spaceship, our planet has sailed through the universe of time; and for a brief moment we have been among it’s passengers. But where are we going? And what kind of future will we discover there? "

This just never gets old to me. The memories i have of Spaceship earth will always be with me, and may be one of my favorites of all time. The girls liked it as well, especially the little video you create on the decent back to reality.

Once we were off the ride, we continued and emailed that video to a bunch of people back home as a surprise and the girls played one of the interactive games.

Upon leaving here, we tried for some family shots by spaceship earth, but it was fairly windy, and well the sun wasn't playing nice either.

After leaving Space ship earth, we had some time before our lunch, which was the next on the list so we checked out the art of Disney stoe, found a print of Walt we really liked, made a mental note to get it on the way out, and then proceeded on.

Next stop was Club Cool for my daughter, did some shopping at Mousegear as well. I picked up a 35th anniversary Figment pin to add to my collection, and the girls got some presents for different people back home. When we came out we stopped a the pin shop there by the fountain of nations, and i picked up more 35th anniversary pins, and a mystery EPCOT 35th anniversary pin pack. Since we were over here, we checked out the festival butterfly walk through, and there was a Photopass guy that we tried, and got a halfway decent shot finally!

I really was hoping the one with Figment at this time of day would or worked out, but Alas it did not.

After this, we decided to get some snacks before lunch and spend some time checking out the festival shop.

We picked up a Figment Hummingbird feeder the day before, but we decided to continue to look around.

Since EPCOT is a tiered fastpass park, i kept looking for Test Track for the following day, as i had soarin for this day. I found it and booked it for safety sake.

I took a ton of photos on the way to lunch of all of the different topiaries. Here is a couple of my favorites:

Next up before our Soarin Fastpass was Napoli!

Man oh man what an experience. No photos, but the girls got the Risotto balls, and i got the fried calamari to start.

They were both delicious! id totally get them again. For the main meal we all shared a large pizza, which was more than enough for the 3 of us as we had snacked and used up some extra dining credits earlier that morning.

The pizza was crispy, cheesy and delicious. We got a hot sausage one, and we all enjoyed.

The staff there is very attentive, and id go back again. They sang to me, and brought me a tasty little dessert that i really enjoyed.

After this we started twords the land pavilion, as our final 2 fastpasses for the day were over in that direction.

We looked at Wait times, and decided to go check out and visit with Figment early to kill time, so i cancelled that later fastpass, and grabbed one for The seas with Nemo just in case so we could enjoy that as its a family favorite.

Figment is by far my favorite character ever. I just love that dragon! The girls liked the ride too, but i think in the back of my wifes head, she was scared for Soarin.

https://imgflip.com/memegenerator

https://imgflip.com/memegenerator

I took a quick look in the Figment Gift shop, and we headed over to get on Soarin, as we were in our window.

Mind you none of us had ever done it, so it was a new experience! What a ride oh my! My wife was scared for the first little bit, then settled in. We got lucky and got bottom row for her first ride. I dare to bet that is a new family favorite. however we all were scared when that bird came flying at us the first time!

After this we had a few minutes so my wife had a cigarette break at the near by smoking section and we got ready for the Seas.

I got this photo of the monorail while i waited tho!

Come to find out the seas was having an issue, so we ended up getting an unlocked fast pass out of it. We used this to experience something new, and chose to go on Living with the Land.

We really enjoyed this, however it was also having issues so we had to wait longer than normal while they rebooted the ride. It was really interesting to see all of this.


At this point, the Seas was back up and was walk on, so we went over there, and did the ride, and then enjoyed the Aquariums.

Were fish keepers ourselves, so seeing these reefs were really cool.

Heres a good shot i got thats my favorite.:

It was really cool to walk around and say hey! We have one of those, or wow that turtle is really cool, and be able to name some of the fish they have over there.

The intention was to stay until the end of the night, because Illuminations Reflections of earth is my favorite, and well its my birthday!

I checked wait times, and Test Track was at 45 minutes, the lowest we had seen it all day, so hey we had time, and it would save us a day at EPCOT wrapping it up tonight, and allowing us to spend th next day at MK to play Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom for my daughter .

My wife had no idea what she was getting her self into. I had shown her a video of it on youtube on the boat the day before, and she was OK with it from that. Since we were in line, i cancelled that fast pass, and we waited for it.

I had not ridden this since the refurb, as it was down for refurb in 2012 when we were there, so i could only go off the old GM version. We liked this version, and we let our daughter design the car.

We came in pretty well at the end, so she must of did something right. My wife ended on the left side of the back of the car, and got the worst banking, but she says she enjoyed it, and would do it again, however the look on her face when we went outside was priceless!


We then did some more shopping, stopped by the smoking area, and decided to head back over to eat around the world for dinner. We finally were able to get a decent family shot that now hangs at home with figment! I was ecstatic!

The sun had started to go down, so we had better luck!

We then ate, i took some more photos of The topiaries, ate more, had some French Pastries, and then ate some more! We stopped by mexico, grabbed some more gifts for people back home, and ate some more! God i really liked that festival! Heres one of the topiaries i got before we got sweets and ate them all!

After this, we kind of took it easy, walked world showcase, sampled, and then found a spot to kind of relax not far from canada for more Scallops and to catch Illuminations. Also this gave us some time to then relax, and plan the next day.

Illuminations never gets old for me! Ill miss it when its gone, i just love this show! It was my first Disney Show, and ill always remember it.

Once that was done, we knew we were in for a bus battle, so we took a slow walk back to hit the Art of Disney store to pick up the print we wanted , and take some nighttime shots of Spaceship earth.

( Here it is now hung in the house)

Heres some of the night shots i got on our way to the bus:

https://imgflip.com/memegenerator


https://imgflip.com/memegenerator

EPCOT will forever no matter what be my most favorite park to be in i can tell you that. We had had some stuff shipped back to the hotel the day before, and apparently the girls had gotten me some stuff for my birthday and had it shipped back so we had to stop at Everything POP! when we got back. Sneaky Sneaky Girls! See what happens when you leave them alone to ride something? ha!

We boarded our bus, and headed back with our goodies, and more to go get.

Come to find out my daughter and Wife picked me up some star wars stuff the day before as im also addicted to star wars! THey got me my own wookie, a hoodie, and a couple other items. I was happy as a clam with the day!

We did so much in one day its kind of crazy, and this is merely a bullet point list, so much food and so much good times. I could not of asked for a better way to turn 31! I took so many photos and had such a great time! Im sure i missed something, but what a day it was!

Heres a few other topiary photos i took over the last couple days at EPCOT:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/VM6zR5UGLdrp2W8q1


Since the next day was "free",We decided we would get up, have a good breakfast, head to MK, take a monorail to go to lost and found ( new experience!) then play some Sorcerers, and then do Animal Kingdom at night, as we needed to get my neice something for her birthday, and we wanted to see Rivers of light.


Next up will be our "operation get licence back and Rivers of light adventures! Stay tuned!

 

[Captain Barbossa]

I'm just curious, but what did you get in the 35th anniversary mystery pin pack? Btw, Happy belated Birthday!

 

[Mainahman]

I'm just curious, but what did you get in the 35th anniversary mystery pin pack? Btw, Happy belated Birthday!

These two! Thanks! It was such an amazing day and trip!

 

[Mainahman]

Alright! Heres Day 6 Project get the License back, Play some Sorcerers, and Catch Rivers of Light! Seems like an adventurous day eh? Well here we go.

We got up early that morning, Grabbed a Good Breakfast at Everything POP to help fuel our adventure. The girls got Mickey Waffles, and i got the Breakfast Pizza. IT was pretty darn tasty i do say!

After this we grabbed ourselves a bus to Magic Kingdom. This time however, we were not going to the park quite yet. We grabbed a Monorail ( our first ride actually on it) over to the TTC, via a stop at the Contemporary.

This was pretty cool! ( No doors popped open, and no part fell off so thats a win right? )

Obviously it was not crowded on our way to the TTC, and we asked directions once we got there how to find the Lost and found building.
As a side note, it was really cool to ride right through the Contemporary!

We found the lost and found building pretty easily, they were super helpful, bu the building appears it might of been updated, well never... ha!

They got me my license, and we were on our way. Since we had to go out of security to get to tlost and found, we had to go through the Bag check there which was CRAZY!!

We then had 2 choices. Take a ferry to the MK, or fight the monorail line.

Well since this was all about new experiences, We decided to take one of the ferries.

This was a really cool experience! It was just a matter of moments, and we were at the tap styles entering the MK for the day.

First stop was the firehouse to get my Daughter more cards for the game, and a reminder of what portal she had left off at.

The day we didn't have any real plans for, or any real rides planned, as we had grabbed a fast pass for the Rivers of light at Animal Kingdom, so really the day was to be primarily used, well the morning anyways to play the game, eat some tasty MK treats, and do some shopping. We did however get a few rides in on my daughters favorite People Mover. I find its often a fun way to get a break, and make a plan for the next adventure in your day!

When we play the game, we often like to use transport thoughout the park, and will use the Railroad a lot! I cant say enough for it. Theres just something Magical to me to ride the WDW Railroad.

We let our daughter do her thing, until it was time for lunch, and my wife had picked somewhere we had not caught last time!

Caseys!

My wife was the only smart one in the party, and got just the standard dog covered in Mac and Cheese. My daughter got the foot long chili dog, and i got the foot long mac and cheese dog. We quickly realized this was a ton of food, and we better get to work!

The only complaint was the lack of finding a seat, but other than that it was really tasty, and we will be back again for sure!

Thoughout the day at MK Socerers seemed to be havinga few issues, not reading cards etc, so we had a few of these things that we needed to juggle, and work around, we would just take a break do some shopping, get a snack and return later.

I did get a few of my favorite photos to get while we were wandering around to the portals. Its not a trip to me without this photo:

As we were heading back to Mainstreet on this fine day to do some shopping, and catch a portal, we got caught in a parade!

This was not just any parade, it was Steve Harvey!!

He was at the MK that day with some kiddos and there was a parade for all of them. It was kinda cool.

After we wrapped up Main Street in Sorcerers, we decided it was getting later in the day, lets head over to Animal Kingdom.

I had wanted to get some Night Shots of Pandora, We needed to pick up my Nieces birthday gift we had seen earlier in the trip, and we had a fast pass for our first viewing of Rivers of light.

This was a pretty low key plan for the night as well, so it was kinda fun in its own respect.

We realized there was a Bus that ran from MK to AK and we could hop directly, so we waited for that. This bus was quite empty, and was a nice change of pace to ride over there like that.

Once we got over there, we did some shopping, picked up what we needed and explored a bit waiting for the sun to start to go down.

We did try once again to get a good family shot, and i think we succeeded. This one is now framed in the Disney Frame we got at Flower and Garden fest, and also my background on my phone.

My daughter had not planned well for the day, and fogot her hoodie, and it was getting cold, so we now own a Rivers of light blanket, as we bought one so she could stay warm the rest of the night! Not a bad little thing to bring home either! We decided Flame Tree BBQ would be for supper, and we grabbed some food, before grabbing some Pandora Shots and then heading over to get in the FP line for Rivers of light!

Flame Tree BBQ is something i had wanted to get last time, and we never did, so again New place to eat! ( i think we only repeated one place on the entire trip! )

My wife and i got the platter, and i believe my daughter got some nachos, i really cant remember what she got.

We were all hungry, and it was delicious.

After that, as the lights went down, and the park lit up, i got some good shots of the tree of life, and Pandora!

Heres a few of my favorites!:

As we started to leave, we all caught the Drum show, and this is really really cool! I loved it!

There is just something stunning about Pandora. Day or night, it is just absolutely gorgeous!

We then headed over to Asia to get ready for our seating FP for Rivers of light. I had not youtubed it, or anything, so this was a completely new experience for all of us.

We had no idea what to expect.

I didnt take all that many photos, as it was my first time, and i was well in Awe.

I have not been touched by a disney show this way since 2001 when i first say Illuminations Reflections of Earth. The projections, the Water, the fire! ( now the fire could of been closer, our seating was like 4 rows from the river, so we got a bit of spray back and it was only in the 50s if that)

I really really really enjoyed this show. it will be a must see as long as its around for sure for us.

here are a few shots that i did take of the show.

https://imgflip.com/memegenerator

https://imgflip.com/memegenerator

https://imgflip.com/memegenerator

After this, we took a slow walk back to the bus, as 1 we knew we would have to wait anyways, and by day 6 in the parks, our feet hurt a bit haha!

It Really a cool experience to walk Animal Kingdom after dark. Tree lit up with projections, and Music. To us this is now a full day park!

Once we got back to the hotel, we grabbed some hot cocoa, and crashed to prepare for our last day at the parks

The final day would be an all day affair at Magic Kingdom, concluding with our first viewing of Happily Ever After!

In preperation, i had gotten a few fastpasses to cross off a few last minute rides off the list for us.

I had a single fastpass for Space Mountain ( my first time!)

2 fastpasses for the girls, to Pooh,

2 Fastpasses for my daughter and I to ride Splash Mountain

a Family Fast pass for Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger spin ( a family Tradition) one more time before we headed home the day after ( saturday)

Stay tuned to see if the mountains behaved long enough, Where new did we decide to eat, and much much more in day 7!

 

[Mainahman]

Alright. Here we go! No one likes knowing its their last day at Disney

We got up with no real plan other than head to MK to play Sorcerers, grab some tasty treats, do a few rides, and watch fireworks.

We grabbed a good breakfast, and got our credits straightened out, that we had enough for some quick pastries or bagels for the drive out in the morning, and the rest of the day.

We headed in, got new cards for the day and got to work.

First stop Adventureland! YES!? is 10:00 am too early for a Dolewhip? If anyone ever questions that, tell them to shut up! you dont need that negativity in your life.

SO i grabbed the first dolewhip of the day and we continued on our way, doing some shopping and just soaking it all in.

The only fast passes we had were for POOH, for the girls, Space Mountain for me, Buzz one last time for all of us, and Splash Mountain for My daughter and myself.

Pooh was the earliest, so we headed over to fantasyland from nearby Frontierland via the train, and the girls got a ride on POOH.

They always love that ride, and i didnt mind setting back, waiting and enjoying a nice view of mine train:

This is the only ride i really wanted to do, that i couldnt get in this trip.
OH well another reason to go back right?

After this, it was time for some lunch before it was time for me to go to space mountain.

We decided wed get something different for lunch once again, and went to Sleepy Hollow, and got the Spicy Chicken Sandwiches with homemade chips. This was super tasty! We will definitely go back there again!

After this, we made it over to Tomorrow Land so we could chill out on the peoplemover before it was time for my fastpass for Space Mountain.

The girls grabbed a drink, headed to the shaded smoking section behind Space mountain, and i took my seat aboard a rocket!

This was my first time on Space, and i loved it. I ended up with a back seat of the back rocket, and got on sooner than i was supposed to even with Fastpass, by being a single rider.

I will definitely be back for this again! Its simple, nostalgic, a bit rough, but i get it!

Once i got off, we did some shopping in tomorrow land, and grabbed some frozen coffees from the stand, and made our plans.

We had some time before Buzz, so we decided we would play some more game. We ended up back in adventureland again... Im beginning to think this is on purpose to fuel my habit...

What does one do when in adventureland?

well this!

The next fastpass we had was for Buzz Lightyear. This is a family tradition, and this time i got smoked. I cant remember the final score, but i had my tail between my legs for that one all day!

OUr next appointment was for Splash Mountain, followed by dinner in Frontierland at the only repeat place all week.

My daughter was a first timer on Splash Mountain, my wife decided not to go, so she took some photos of us as we were on the ride:

I love Splash so much! She was a bit scared by a few of the sudden small drops, but overall i think shed go again.

After this we decided we needed to eat, so we went to PECOS BILLS!! Its not a trip without this tasty food!

Yes the Lettuce was present, but darn Guac! I had the Fajita plate, and the girls got the Nachos, and we took full advantage of the Fixins bar.

We grabbed a seat, relaxed enjoyed our food, and planned the rest of the night. We would grab a few things we still wanted or needed as we played a bit more game, before it was time to stalk a spot for the fireworks.

I picked up some Haunted Mansion Pins i had been oogling all week, and a few other things. We also had bought the popcorn bucket so we filled this up one last time, and oddly saved it for the drive home the next day.

As the night came to a close, My wife went with my daughter to get a spot for Happily Ever After, and i went for churros. We had 3 snack credits to use up so we used em up on a tasty delicious fresh baked churro ( we had saved 2 qs credits t cover breakfast the next morning. 2 snack items per person for the drive back to normalcy)

Once we had our churros we were watching people to see where we might go to watch the show after we finished our treats.

By this time we had noticed they were taping off mainstreet, and at the front of one of those lines.

Last time we were here, it was Wishes. We really liked Happily Ever After, and i loved the technology they are putting into the shows.

However, tinkerbell seemed to be having some trouble flying this particular night, an appeared to be hauling herself along, so i had to chuckle.

Once the show was over, We took a short stroll back to the busses, tired, probally slightly cranky after a weeks worth of park hopping and eating, but very satisfied with our accomplishments.

We spent a week in the world, with a lot of on the fly fastpassing, only stood in like 3 actual lines, and got nearly everything we wanted to done.

Once we were sardined onto a bus, and brought back to POP! We grabbed some more cocoa, and started to get the car packed.

This is always a sad moment, when you know the next time you wake up, your not going to a park, your going home...

We learned alot on this trip, We learned it might be time to upgrade hotels, might be time, now tat were as close as we are, to stop being such park nomads. We also learned we really preferred the colder weather of march over August. Over all a successful trip that we really really needed as a family.

We had a side trip planned to visit a fish store in Pensacola, which i will report on next, but we did what we could so we could sleep a bit, grab our last Disney snacks and get on the road.

the goal was 7 am on the road.. Would we hit that time? Only the next post will reveal!

 

[Gurt]

Sounds like a great trip nice and laid back.

 

[Mainahman]

Sounds like a great trip nice and laid back.

We tend to be pretty much park nomads and try to squeeze as much magic out of each day, but i think we did a good job of doing what we wanted to and having a ton of fun. Ill tell you my feet were not against coming home ha!