Trip Report Meet the Floridians

Hello humans!

Most of you know me by now, but for those of you who haven't followed my past TR's (particularly my most recent), I'll do some brief introductions. Feel free to check out my past reports (in my signature) if you'd like!

Who: I'm Brittany! I'm 25 and completely Disney obsessed. My better half is Dylan, also 25 and not quite as Disney obsessed. Prior to meeting me, he had never been to WDW! It was obviously top priority to remedy that.

This is our baby, Tink. She also loves Disney.

We got engaged in Magic Kingdom in June.. my dream come true! Though our wedding won't take place in Disney, it will be Disney themed.

While we were enjoying our time in the World, I accepted a 1st grade teaching position in Osceola County, Florida. Fast forward a month, and we packed up a U-Haul to relocate from Pennsylvania to the Sunshine State!

We currently live 20 minutes from Disney property, and one of our first purchases should come as no surprise. This report will be a collection of our adventures as annual passholders, and I'll update it with a Table of Contents as we go. Now, without further ado...

To all who come to this happy place, welcome!

 

[Bullseye1967]

Saturday, November 4 cont.

Time for some pictures! The sun was super bright so we're pretty squinty.
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At your hands...
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At me...
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At each other...
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And if those aren't awkward enough for you...
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A little sass now.
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I don't understand some of these poses... they'd be cute for kids but for adults?

We sweet talked one of the photographers into turning around and taking one with the tree in the background so we didn't have to wait in the obnoxious line for it.
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What time was the parade at?

 

[Songbird76]

Saturday, November 4 cont.

After Space, we hopped on the People Mover for a break and a few minutes to properly digest our food.
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Our car stopped here for a few minutes and the lights came on. It didn't take long before we were moving again.
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We caught COP following our relaxing ride.. I've grown to appreciate and enjoy this show a lot more lately. We started heading back toward Main Street to get some pictures and do some shopping before claiming a spot for the parade.

The Dapper Dans were making their way down the street, so we got to listen to them while we waited. I love their festive outfits!
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GIVE. ME. ALL. OF. IT. If this isn't love, then I don't know what is.
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I've waited so long to see these guys in person.
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As we sat and waited, we experienced a very sad Disney moment. A mom kept sending her daughter (probably 7 or 8) out into the street and telling her to pose certain ways.. that part is normal. However, posing her and then saying "smile for the picture so mommy can post it on Facebook!" is not normal. Nor is telling your child that you'll buy her a toy if she stands and gets her picture taken.. especially when said child didn't argue about the picture at all. The most disturbing part of it all? There was a son (3 or 4) who was trying DESPERATELY to get mom to include him in the pictures. She refused. We watched them throughout the parade and little boy received no attention whatsoever. At one point, he was standing back against the store with people passing between him and mom to the extent of her not being able to see him. That would assume that she was trying to see him, but I digress. It was sad.. really sad. Dad did give him some attention when he rejoined them, but mom acted like she couldn't care less about the poor thing.

Okay, enough sadness. Let's move on to some happiness... the wondrous and wonderful Disney's Festival of Fantasy Parade!
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Lots more pictures coming right up!

How sad!! I'd LIKE to give the mom the benefit of the doubt about the pictures...I have some friends who are foster parents and I know there are restrictions on posting pictures of foster children on social media sites...but ignoring him completely doesn't make it sound like that is the case. How sad!!

 

[Songbird76]

Saturday, November 4 cont.

Time for some pictures! The sun was super bright so we're pretty squinty.
View attachment 246051

View attachment 246054

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At your hands...
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At me...
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At each other...
View attachment 246057

And if those aren't awkward enough for you...
View attachment 246052

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A little sass now.
View attachment 246058

I don't understand some of these poses... they'd be cute for kids but for adults?

We sweet talked one of the photographers into turning around and taking one with the tree in the background so we didn't have to wait in the obnoxious line for it.
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I love both your outfit and your friend's! So cute!! But shorts in November?? Is it really still that warm in Florida?? Meanwhile I'm slogging through pouring rain for 30 minutes on my bike to pick up my son from school. I'm so jealous!!

 

[blreinsel]

What time was the parade at?

It's at 2pm now. It starts in Frontierland so they make it to Main Street around 2:20pm.

How sad!! I'd LIKE to give the mom the benefit of the doubt about the pictures...I have some friends who are foster parents and I know there are restrictions on posting pictures of foster children on social media sites...but ignoring him completely doesn't make it sound like that is the case. How sad!!

I know. It definitely didn't appear that way. I don't remember her looking at him even once as we sat there and observed them.

I love both your outfit and your friend's! So cute!! But shorts in November?? Is it really still that warm in Florida?? Meanwhile I'm slogging through pouring rain for 30 minutes on my bike to pick up my son from school. I'm so jealous!!

Thanks! It was HOT that day! It has cooled down a bit since and been in the mid to low 70s most days. Winter weather in Florida is perfect! Lol

 

[blreinsel]

Sunday, November 5

Our second park day was to be spent at AK! Traffic getting into the parking lot was horrendous.. hoping this wasn't foreshadowing crowds for the day.

We had a bit of a wait to get through security and the scanners, but we were finally in! I always stop to say hi to these two.

We also said hello to this guy who was out and walking about this morning!

Hello beautiful!

We decided to head to Dinoland first as there were low wait times.

Time for some good old fashioned carnival fun!

We wanted to catch Festival of the Lion King which was starting soon, so we headed toward Africa. We stopped to watch these guys on the way.

He was putting on quite the show for his fans.

Soon we were here!

It had been awhile since I'd watched the show so I was anxious to get inside! I knew Dana would love it, too.

 

[blreinsel]

Sunday, November 5 cont.

The show was wonderful, as it always is, but unfortunately the few pictures I took didn't turn out. These are the best I could get.

We decided to take a walk on the Gorilla Falls trail following the show. The animals were all out and active, so we were happy with our decision!

These guys were cracking me up.. there was a large bird flying overhead and they would not take their eyes off of him. I think I would have ducked for cover rather than staying out in the open to watch him.

This guy appeared and made himself comfy.

 

[blreinsel]

Sunday, November 5 cont.

We spent a lot of time watching the gorillas and enjoyed listening to the CM's wealth of information. The one on the right is mom and the one on the left is her daughter. I believe she said the daughter is around 7 years old.

Lower right corner is dad, next is one of the babies (he's around 4), mom #2, and baby #2 (he's around 3). I thought that the babies were twins but the CM said that they're only half brothers. One belongs to each mother, only sharing a dad.

He was very playful and started rolling around with the ball. He briefly considered throwing it at his sleeping father, but then thought otherwise. The CM said that both babies have been pushing dad's buttons and have started doing things to irritate him and see how far they can push before he reacts.

\

Just look at those sweet faces!

I didn't react fast enough to get a picture, but he started poking dad and crawling on top of him. Dad woke up and rolled over with the best stink eye ever. He stayed like this for quite some time, seemingly telling him to knock it off. The baby just sat there like "what? I didn't do anything."

Then he realized that he had an audience and started hamming it up.

Meanwhile, the other baby cuddled up to his mommy for an afternoon nap. It was so sweet.. I could have stood there and watched them all day. Not long after, they all settled in for a nap so we decided to move along.

This is my favorite view in all of AK.

 

[blreinsel]

Sunday, November 5 cont.

We had about 20 minutes before our FP+ window opened, so we hopped on Triceratops Spin. This was a first for me!

We started walking toward Dinosaur and I noticed Donald with only one family in line. There was no question about where we were going next.

He's the cutest!

We bid Donald farewell and continued on to our destination.

We saw this shirt while we waited and thought it was awesome. The guy's shirt had some sort of Mickey shaped food on the front, too. Very subtle outfit coordination!

For some reason I don't have the ride picture from this.. I think it might have been broken if I remember correctly? Just picture a terrified 25 year old in Minnie ears and you'll get the same effect.

He's making a list, checking it twice!

 

[blreinsel]

Sunday, November 5 cont.

We were ready for lunch after our dinosaur quest, so we decided to try Pizzafari. This restaurant is stunning inside!

We shared an order of garlic knots (amazing!) and each had a pepperoni flatbread. It was okay.. the crust was a little off for me.

We had a FP+ for Kilimanjaro next so off we went! Our guide was pretty crappy.. she had no enthusiasm whatsoever and was honestly kind of grumpy. She barely gave any information and rarely stopped for long enough to get pictures.

I didn't take any other pictures this time.. the lions weren't out and I guess nothing else struck me as picture worthy. I do remember that Stella was out but I couldn't see her until she was behind me so a picture wasn't happening. The guide didn't say a word about her, which I thought was odd.

 

[blreinsel]

Sunday, November 5 cont.

We decided to venture to Pandora and wait standby for FOP. I really wanted Dana to experience it and Dylan and I had talked it up enough that she was willing to wait.

The wait time was posted at 180 minutes, but we were on and off in 2 hours.. I think that's how long we waited. I know that it was quite a bit less than what was posted. Dana loved it, I loved it, it was worth it. They actually changed the preshow since the last time Dylan and I rode. It's not a huge change and the "um guy" hasn't gotten any better at talking, but there have been some changes/additions. Several of the bikes were out of order.. definitely not helping with the wait times.

We took the calm walk via the bridge that connects to Africa. This is the first time I'd went that way and definitely prefer it over the other option.

We had a FP+ for Everest so we were off to Asia. I love this picture!

We had a successful disco with the Yeti, but now we were hungry for a snack!

Or maybe two snacks.

We sat and enjoyed our treats while making a plan for our last little bit of time in the park.

 

[blreinsel]

Sunday, November 5 cont.

We weren't done with the Yeti yet. We finished off our day at AK in only the best way... 4 rides on Everest in a row with no wait.

The kids behind us were plotting to do a thumbs up pose for their picture.. we decided to join in on the fun. I wish we would have been in the same ride car so they would have seen us.

We were mocking the guy in front of us.. he took a phone call for half of the ride and hung up right before the picture.

And with that, the park was closed so we made our way toward the exit. We stopped to watch the Tree of Life Awakenings before heading home.

We had another amazing day doing Disney together! The crowds were again very manageable and the weather was beautiful. We accomplished everything that we wanted to and didn't feel rushed at all. Dana mentioned wanting to plan a trip with her husband on the way home and started asking questions about staying on property. Just the other day, she told me that we should have my bachelorette party at Disney. I'm certainly not going to argue with that. I think it's safe to say that she enjoyed our Disney days and there will be more in the future!

 

[12in12]

I loved how much fun you had with your best friend. Clearly you have given her the Disney bug and soon she will be as crazy as the rest of us.

 

[Matt and Kelly]

What a great couple of days with your friend! And you got so much accomplished. Love that you got to eat at BOG with walking up. You never know unless you try!

 

[blreinsel]

I loved how much fun you had with your best friend. Clearly you have given her the Disney bug and soon she will be as crazy as the rest of us.

That was the plan. Mission accomplished!

What a great couple of days with your friend! And you got so much accomplished. Love that you got to eat at BOG with walking up. You never know unless you try!

We had a blast! I just scored a dinner reservation at Cali Grill for Sunday so you're exactly right! Tables pop up at the last minute all the time!

 

[Matt and Kelly]

That was the plan. Mission accomplished!



We had a blast! I just scored a dinner reservation at Cali Grill for Sunday so you're exactly right! Tables pop up at the last minute all the time!

I'm hoping! We made the mistake of booking O'hana the day we are going to the Christmas party. Which now we want to change cause we we want to be in the park early to get in line for the characters. We have been checking everyday, but no luck so far.

 

[blreinsel]

I'm hoping! We made the mistake of booking O'hana the day we are going to the Christmas party. Which now we want to change cause we we want to be in the park early to get in line for the characters. We have been checking everyday, but no luck so far.

Have you tried using the reservation finder on Touring Plans?

 

[Zipadeelady]

Great posts with your friend! You had me laughing out loud with the "awkward" photos and camel spitting in your eye.

 

[blreinsel]

Great posts with your friend! You had me laughing out loud with the "awkward" photos and camel spitting in your eye.

all part of the Disney experience I suppose.

 

[blreinsel]

The next two posts are short so I'm just going to combine them.

Tuesday, November 7

I had taken a half day at school so that I could take Dana to the airport. One of the girls that I teach with texted me that afternoon and asked if I wanted to meet up at Disney Springs for dinner.. of course I said yes!

I arrived before she did so entertained myself with browsing in the Christmas store.

These ornaments are hilarious!

I received a text saying that she had arrived so I walked next door to meet her. We had decided on Earl of Sandwich, a new one for both of us! Everybody here loves it so I figured it must be good. It was!

No pictures, but we both ordered the Chipotle Chicken Avocado Sandwich. I also had a side of mac and cheese. The whole meal was delicious! They have an AP discount, which is just an added bonus. We sat outside chatting and enjoying the music and our meals. Disney loving friends are the best friends.


Thursday, November 9

We had Friday off of school in observance of Veterans Day, so I had plans with two of the girls I teach with to hit up F&W for one last time after school! It was a beautiful evening for friends and food.

There were a few things that I hadn't had a chance to try yet that I wanted to check off my list tonight! We started at the Active Eats booth. The mac and cheese was amazing! Everything I dreamed it would be.

Loaded Mac ‘n’ Cheese with Nueske’s® Pepper Bacon, Cheddar Cheese, Peppers and Green Onions - $4.75

Next was probably my favorite thing of the entire festival... Combining two of my favorite foods (cheese and bread), this dish had an amazing flavor and was a surprisingly large portion!

Pão de Queijo: Brazilian Cheese Bread - $4.00

My last dish for the night was just okay. Maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I wasn't feeling full already, but it just wasn't exactly what I was expecting. I liked the breading more than the filling.

Zesty Cheeseburger and Cheddar Cheese Macaroni Handwich - $5.50

I wish that I would have been hungrier so I could have tried a few other things, but I did get to try quite a few dishes throughout the festival! There's always next year. We had a fun night full of friendship and laughter and I'm so grateful for amazing teacher friends (who also love Disney).

 

[Matt and Kelly]

Have you tried using the reservation finder on Touring Plans?

I've heard of it but never looked to much in to it. Do you have to pay for the yearly subscription in order to use the reservation finder?