Monster big FIRST TRIP trip report! WOOT!

Soarin' Over Pgh · May 17, 2013

Day Two
Magic Kingdom, day two. Just as magical as day one. We walked Main Street and ended up on the horse-drawn trolley. The Dapper Dans joined us. I squealed like a pig. It was great!
Today we finally toured Tomorrowland and I'm glad we saved it for day two- we spent our morning here and got to ride everything without waiting more than 10 minutes.

Quick thoughts:

Peoplemover- I LOVE THIS and I want one that goes around my city. In pink, please.

Stitch's whatever whatever, who cares, no thanks. :\

Didn't ride Space Mountain- I didn't want to have to leave Mom outside by herself for however long it'd take me to go alone. She has some ride restrictions and this was definitely out for her. I don't mind missing it.

Buzz Lightyears Astro Blast is so cute- I didn't know what to expect from this but it was a blast! We rode it three times since it was a walk on.

Carousel of Progress was awesome. I didn't think I'd like this, but Mom wanted to see it... turns out, I loved it! I still have that song stuck in my head.... can I get a soundtrack?
After our Tomorrowland tour, we paused on the bridge to admire the giant tadpoles. Seriously, I've never seen tadpoles this big before, lol

We ran into the MISICI parade- this is really, really cute. It certainly pepped us up, and everyone else too. Soundtrack, yes?
We decided it was getting a bit warm, so we headed to the train for a ride around the park. Beautiful, these trains. Nice views of the park as well. Worth it.

Lunchtime at BoG!! What a... cool experience, but nightmare as well. After arriving at the check-in booth (outside, on the left) the CM got our rose.. badges? Gps? block? Whatever you want to call that red thing.... and we were escorted past the gigantic line of miserable looking people to the entrance of the restaraunt. We then merged into line with the miserable looking people- kids who were hungry, impatient and at whits end, parents who were hot, tired, and just wanted to sit down, and older people who, quite frankly, should have been sitting down out of the heat already. From this merge point up to the ever-confusing 'order' lines, it was a good 25 minutes. When we went to the CM and handed him our rose- that should have had our reservations with everything ordered already in place- he scanned it, and THEN had to take our orders again. Something went wrong at this point, and he had to do it again. We ended up with two roses- a yellow and a red- and it seems that half of our order ended up on one 'rose' and the rest on the other. FINALLY, we entered the actual... cafeteria? Eating establishment? Food hall? What do we call this?? Anyhow- it was beautifully detailed but VERY loud. The main dining hall- the Library- was packed and very loud- it seems the sound echoes and bounces all over. The west wing was so dark, I don't know how anyone sitting there was able to see what they were doing. We settled for the third room... the... gallery? And was surprised to see it was almost empty. Considering the huge line outside, this entire 'wing' was almost empty.

The drinks were self-serve, which I was not aware of. The CM standing by the machines literally just stood there the entire time we had lunch. No one bothered to check our reciepts to make sure we paid for beverages. So... ok. Fine, no biggie. Really. Our food arrived- or rather, MY food arrived. The CM couldn't 'find' my Mom's lunch, and had to circle back to the kitchen for a replacement. Ten minutes later, my Mom was served, and our cupcakes arrived as well. My quinoa salad was delicious- I really enjoyed it. Mom loved the carved turkey sandwich, but the fries were just... french fries, nothing special. They didn't get eaten. The cupcakes? I could live the rest of my life eating the chocolate one. Really. They were tasty!

When we were done, and billions of photos later (lol) we were back outside. I asked at the check in booth about the self-service beverage system and the lack of checking reciepts- I mean, this is Disney, why would they give you free drinks? - and was told by the CM that they run on the 'honor system' here. I wonder how long that'll last.

We managed to catch the Castle show as we were beelining for Main Street and the exit (wanted to hit the resorts pool, and then take a nap!) and that was pretty neat. Although I'm not fond of the 'new' look for Aurora, I'll get over myself. The blinking Donald freaks me out. Does his beak move too?

Back our our resort. Quiet pool, nap in the room, a quick shower, a PB&J cupcake at Captn' Cook's, then back to the MK for the night time fireworks. We had time before the MSEP started, so wandered over to Frontierland in hopes we could catch a ride at Splash Mountain without waiting for a hundred years. It was closed. The CM said "technical issues" and I sulked. I "settled" for Big Thunder Mountain- worried that my Mom wouldn't be able to handle it, but she really wanted to try it, so we did. It was a 5 minute wait. Needless to say, this was our favorite ride. We rode it 6 times. It didn't bother her or set off any complications with her illness. Fantastic. LOVED it. Right before setting out to get a spot for MSEP, Splash came back online and we were literally the fourth log of folks to go through. It looked GREAT. The colors were brilliant and the details were meticulous... and it didn't smell.

However the drop did cause Mom a few aches... we called it a night for the rides after that. We found a good spot (re: by trash can) to watch the MSEP and we loved that as well. I got awesome photos, Pinnochio blew a kiss to Mom. It seemed that one girls dress in the Cinderella promenade was malfunctioning- it was blinking when she went past us and shortly afterwards, her and her prince were walking behind everyone watching the parade. Her dress wasn't lit at all.

Back at the resort, back to the pool, another late night snack at Captn' Cook's.... and another night in the books.

Soarin' Over Pgh · May 17, 2013

Day Three

WHEW, this is long. Kudos if you're still reading.
Breakfast at Kona Cafe. The Tonga Toast was to die for and literally fed me for breakfast twice (I got a doggie bag and ate the other half the next day, cold, right outta the fridge. I have no shame.) and Mom had the macademia pineapple pancakes which she ate for two days too, lol.

The coffee was good, the atmosphere was comfortable and cozy, considering its an open space. I could have drank that strawberry syrup. Pretty sure I might have. No shame.
EPCOT TIME!!

We were both looking forward to Epcot so much- I had gone out of my way to avoid ALL photos of the Flower and Garden Festival- and Mom left all the details to me. Which in hindsight... wasn't such a great idea. Upon arrival, I had an issue with my fingerprint not matching up and had to rescan it like, 10 times before it finally OK'd me to enter. I don't know what was up with that, maybe it was the machine itself? It was the new, touch to enter Mickey head ones. Meh, moving along... the graveyard in front of SSE was..erm. I had to explain it to Mom and I don't think I did a good job, probably because she asked me "So what is the point of it" and I squealed "OH LOOK THERES GOOFY" and ran. So, yeah. That.

The F&G Festival was pretty. I'm a fan of flowers and topiaries, and have a membership to our local Conservatory (Phipps Conservatory; if you're ever in the Pittsburgh area, drop me a line. I'd love to take you there!) so I rather enjoyed it. However we found 'futureworld' a bit confusing and disorienting... I guess if you're not familiar with it, it's easy to get turned around? We decided ahead of time that we were tour half of World Showcase today, and the rest tomorrow, that way we don't feel rushed and... can get back to hotel for a swim before our dinner ressies at Ohana.

I'm Aquarius, I'm a water baby. I can't help it. I love swimming.

We went for the left side of WS, hitting up the Mexican pavillion. The boat ride was super cute, I really liked the blend of animation with real sets. Good job on that. It was a few minutes wait, too. Bonus points. The pavillion itself was nicely lit, and we liked walking around and checking everything out. My Mom has been to Cozumel, the Bahamas, Hawaii... basically, pick a place with a nice beach, she's been there. Anyhow, the birds, fish sculptures that were painted and for sale... neither of us could decide which ones we wanted. I ended up with a painted round box, she got a fish, a bird, and two bird magnets. We both bought candy.

The next one, Norway was neat. The shops smelled good, and we decided to try out Maelstrom. And here's where my day started to severely suck. The wait time was posted as 10 minutes, and I think this was the only ride during our entire vacation that we actually waited a solid 10 minutes for. We got on the boat- the last row- and as soon as the boat started up the lifthill, I started smelling something odd. Then wheezing. And sneezing. My allergies were going CRAZY. It was bad. The ride is in terrible shape- the lighting is off-kilter... honestly, I'd like to go on about this, but I was in misery and couldn't wait to get off the ride. At the end, while waiting for a wheelchair to load two boats ahead of us, I very much considered getting out of the boat, walking on the show scene, and going through the emergency exit. It was that miserable.

Back outside, I felt like I couldn't breathe and had to sit (where? There isn't good seating in the shade. Where's the shade?) for a while and hit my Mom's asthema inhaler which I've never done before. It kinda helped. A handful of benedryl helped more. After a while, we proceeded on to the next pavillion, but I still wasn't feeling well at all and now the heat was getting to me too.

China. Yeah... Im sorry. I totally didn't bother. I was MISERABLE and my face was melting off. My throat was on fire. I literally skipped China entirely. My Mom was aching to see Germany and promised after that, we could go back to the hotel. We went for Germany.

I browsed briefly through the stores, snapping photos, hoping for some relief with AC (it didnt happen, the shops were warm too) and ended up parking outside on the fountain, wheezing and getting heat sick at the same time. Mom saved the day with a giant pretzel (extremely good, just thinking of it, I want one right now) and found a place to refill my water bottle and got ice. Where, I don't know... I wasn't really paying attention. The whole afternoon from this point is a bit of a blur, really. I remember seeing the Lion King topiaries, and snapping a bunch of pics of them, then I remember being at the hotel munching nachos and more Benedryl. I don't remember Point A to Point B.

Somewhere between eating nachos (Im guessing at Captn Cooks) and dinner (hours later) we came across a baby bunny. I vaguely remember it... luckily I have photos of it. So there's that. Cute baby bunny.

Ohana. Oh, ohana. I really wish I would have been feeling normal by 8:30, when we had reservations here. I didn't realize the sheer amount of food they serve you. I wish I had. Seriously. As good as everything was (well, what I ate) I ended up feeling absolutely HORRIBLE by the amount of WASTE coming off of our table. I knew they served 'family style' but had no idea that, for two people, enough food for SIX would be served. We enjoyed it, the atmosphere was great, but the looming guilt of all the wasted food was a real turn off. We won't go here again unless our spouses travel with us, because they can clean house. Is it possible to ask "Can you bring enough for just two people" or is that rude? I can't express how badly we felt about this. And we ate like crazy, we practically rolled ourselves out of this place and to our rooms afterwards- unable to even drink anything for hours- but still, too much food was served to us. Nothing against the restaraunt, but... still. :\

I'm pretty sure we laid around the hotel room for a while, my Mom watching something or other on TV (I don't have cable at home, so I'm not accustomed to watching tv at this point) and I was checking this board

and Facebook, loading some photos to my iPad and then decided on another late night swim.

After the Maelstrom nightmare, Mom and I decided that it might be better to go later in the afternoon, instead of first thing in the morning. I was finally feeling better but it was HOT on...

Soarin' Over Pgh · May 17, 2013

Day Four

So we spent the morning lazing about the resort, sleeping in (for the first time the entire trip) and having leftover, cold from the fridge, Kona Cafe pancakes and Tonga Toast. Again, no shame. It was delicious. I might have licked the box clean. No shame.

Around 4, maybe 5? we headed back to Epcot, figuring we'll catch the rest of WS, what we missed in Futureworld (again, there's ride restrictions for Mom, so Test Track was definitely out already) and just have a good evening, maybe grab dinner somewhere there and a drink. It was slammin'. I haven't seen any place up to this point nearly this busy, but I'm guessing Epcot/MK is the place to be on the weekends. Lesson learned, next trip, no weekends. Gotcha. After having MORE issues getting in with my touch-to-enter fingerprint card scan thing, we got in and took a slow walk around Futureworld... in search of a bathroom. Then food, as my Mom's hunger levels go from 1 to 10 within minutes (Crohn's disease will do that to ya) and we ended up at the Electric Umbrella... more out of convenience than anything. Not impressed. The inside looks so... I don't even know... dreary? Bleak? Unwelcoming? That dark purple is doing no one any favors. The food was ok. Nothing to really write home about at all. I helped myself to several refills of ice for my water bottle. After this we headed out to WS.

Starting on the right side this time, we went through Canada without much thought... we go to Canada often, as it's about 4 hours away from home, so we didn't linger here much. Or watch the film... again, we're close to the real deal.

The UK was pretty neat, though. We caught the band playing Rolling Stones and enjoyed looking around the shops, but nothing was quite our 'tastes' so we kept wandering.

I had to pee... again... and actually had to exit the park at the International Gateway (which I didnt know what the hell that was until we got home from our trip and I looked it up more) to use the nearest bathroom which happened to be on the other side of the gate. No issues getting back in with the turnstiles here, my fingerprint/card worked fine. Moving on, it started to rain and everyone ducked for cover. I didn't. I'm from Pittsburgh. It rains like, 150 days of the year, with snow for 200 days and 15 of sunshine. The France pavilion was nice, I liked the BatB topiaries located here. At this point, it was crowded, and most adults were drinking and getting rather rowdy. The children seemed to be bored and aggravated. Babies screaming in strollers (and OMG, the strollers. That's a rant for later) and I even saw one little girl with a fan (that sprays water, I guess?) tangled in her hair. Poor thing. There wasn't anything in this pavillion that I would like to own, as the perfumes were giving me a headache from 400 feet away, so we moved on with the herd of people.

Morrocco is beautiful. But again, nothing I want to buy. There's Morroccan stores where I shop in Squirrel Hill every weekend... with the same stuff. No thanks. Photos, lots of them, moved on to Japan. Totally forgot about the pearl thing that I really wanted to do, because it was hard navigating the crowd of drunks and strollers. Aggravation set in at this point. The American pavilion was a blur, as was Italy.

I quipped to Mom that it should be "World Marketplace", not World Showcase. She agreed. Sorry, it's just not for me. I don't see the opportunity to buy stuff as a basis for a theme park. Nor alcohol. Again, I live in Pittsburgh. This place is a drinking city with a football problem. :\

Overall, we enjoyed The Land, and The Living Seas. The LS gift shop is the only one that really appealed to me, as I found the pet ID tags I was looking all over the MK for. So now my dog and cat have Mickey head ID tags. We could take or leave the rest, really. We didn't go on Universe of Energy or Test Track or Mission Space. Soarin' was ok... and despite my screenname, it's not after that ride

The picture seemed kinda.. fuzzy? Meh. It was OK.

The seagulls outside of The Living Seas are too cute. I want them. In pink. MINE.

Back at our resort, we ate somewhere, something, I don't really remember so it wasn't that memorable.... and went for a swim. That evening, we settled on the beach of the Poly for the fireworks and totally forgot about the water parade. That was cute! It didn't make much sense... a dragon, turtle, fish, octopus... king Tritan.. ok. But the dragon? It was cute, regardless.

The fireworks were FANTASTIC from the beach. My feet dug in the sand, a cold drink (ok, bottle of water) and a fully charged camera battery. It was heaven. I got some seriously killer shots, and we stayed there for a good half hour after the show was over, just soaking it in. Life at its finest.

Soarin' Over Pgh · May 17, 2013

Day Five

We had to be back at the hotel by 12:00 to catch the DME back to the airport; our flight was at 3:20 pm. Knowing that, it was a mad dash through the Magic Kingdom, grabbing last minute souveniors, pressed pennies, and seeing the Hall of Presidents (Mom was aching to, I went along with it but glad I did) and hitting a few last minute rides and food stalls. The last stop was the Confectionary where I somehow managed to spend $30 on baked goods and a candy apple. I regret nothing. Running to the Monorail at 11:50, snapping photos as we go, and got to the resort at 11:58. Perfect. Claimed our carry-ons that were being held for us, and waited for the DME back to the stupid airport, the airplane back to my stupid city... where it was 40 degrees and raining when we arrived.

I cried. Like a baby. And now, I'm planning my next trip.

The good:

MK is sparkling. Even the things that repeat visitors notice, someone who is a first timer doesn't. Or, in my case, notices it, but it's not glaringly obvious or a huge deal.
The character interactions throughout the parade routes were a nice touch. The castle show was fab. I really liked all the details that go into the changing of the lands. The handrails, the pavement, the greenery... everything was well done. They really nailed the Magic Kingdom.

Disney has managed to keep mosquitos, palmetto bugs, cockaroaches, etc. either out of property, or very well hidden. I was surprised at the lack of bugs (except the love bugs in MK, and black flies) that were in Florida. I didn't realize it wasn't the same if I were off property. Learned that when I got back home, lol

They did a good job of keeping most bugs at bay.

Out of 1338 photos taken (yeah, no joke) 1208 turned out decent.

The bad:

Maelstrom. Read above. Nothing more to be said about it. I got a Disney Epcot survey in my inbox and made sure to reference what happened there. I hope someone actually reads it.
Epcot. I'm sorry. I know a lot, if not most of yall are big fans, but I just don't get it. Maybe a little tender loving care would go a long way with this sad park. It's a glorified shopping district with a few rides. IMHO, of course. Please don't flame me. :\

The school groups of kids at Epcot. Seriously? One adult, thirty children? No one else in the park was being so loud, rude and downright annoying as the school groups. I understand it's an educational thing, sure. But these kids weren't spouting education from their mouths. No where else on property- or the airports- did I witness this.

Almost all of my Haunted Mansion photos are crap. I've tried four different settings on my camera and still, most are black.

Lovebugs. Gross.

Black flies. Only noticed these really the last day I was at the MK. They were all over the Pinnochio Village House (yep, went back there for an early lunch before taking off for the airport!) and outside the surrounding area. I noticed a few earlier in the trip, but nothing like this on the last day. They were everywhere!

The ugly:

Maelstrom. I can't stress it enough. It made me ill.

The strollers. OHMYGOD. The strollers. EVERYWHERE. And 6 year olds in strollers? Really? Double wide strollers with no kids in them, but bookbags and store bags? Really? C'mon folks. The rows upon rows of stroller parking is out of hand.

ECVs. At one point, I turned to Mom and said "if one more ECV runs me down I swear I'm going to the Magical Jail because someones getting decked" which ... is very un-magic like, but very true. They were everywhere as well. I'm not sure which I disliked more- the strollers or the ECVs. The people riding them were brutal- trying to weave around and in between people, and acted like they have the run of the place to themselves. It was rude. I noticed a lot of them had rental signs from outside companies on them. I guess it's good business.
　

We didn't hit Animal Kingdom nor Hollywood Studios. Mom wasn't interested in either and she's limited on rides. It was in our best interest not to bother. Next visit though, I/we will. Hopefully the nets will be down from the Tree of Life as I'd like to see it in all its glory.
　
If you managed to get through this, much kudos to you. And cookies. And now, I really should get some work done.
　

Sneezy62 · May 17, 2013

Thanks for going into a little detail on the BOG fastpass+ thing. I understand better now your impressions of Epcot. I think you'll like AK a lot. Be forewarned though that it was designed to let you wander around aimlessly discovering things even more than Epcot. It's really too bad you didn't get to catch Illuminations. It makes everything in Epcot seem better.

WLBound · May 17, 2013

Good recap of your trip. I'm sorry that you had such a blah experience at Epcot though. If you ever make it over to my side of PA you have to check out Longwood Gardens. It's just gorgeous. Since you're already used to the drinking city with a football problem you'll fit in just fine in Philly

.

Tiggerish · May 17, 2013

WLBound said:
Good recap of your trip. I'm sorry that you had such a blah experience at Epcot though. If you ever make it over to my side of PA you have to check out Longwood Gardens. It's just gorgeous. Since you're already used to the drinking city with a football problem you'll fit in just fine in Philly.

@WLBound, I promise I'm not stalking you through trip reports. Just had to note that, despite being from NY, I've been to Longwood Gardens! It is gorgeous, and I enjoyed both trips there (one in February, one for July 4).

Soarin' Over Pgh · May 17, 2013

WLBound said:
Good recap of your trip. I'm sorry that you had such a blah experience at Epcot though. If you ever make it over to my side of PA you have to check out Longwood Gardens. It's just gorgeous. Since you're already used to the drinking city with a football problem you'll fit in just fine in Philly.

I'd love to check it out! If you're ever my way, drop me a line. There's kennywood, sandcastle and lots of history stuff.

WLBound · May 17, 2013

Tiggerish said:
@WLBound, I promise I'm not stalking you through trip reports. Just had to note that, despite being from NY, I've been to Longwood Gardens! It is gorgeous, and I enjoyed both trips there (one in February, one for July 4).

It's okay, I don't mind. It's nice having a Forum Friend. If you ever get a chance, check out Longwood at Christmastime. It's absolutely gorgeous inside the Conservatory.

WLBound · May 17, 2013

Soarin' Over Pgh said:
I'd love to check it out! If you're ever my way, drop me a line. There's kennywood, sandcastle and lots of history stuff.

Same here. We've got Hersheypark (you gain about 10 pounds just walking in the gate) and Gettysburg (150 year anniversary this year - hot weather, large crowds, not to be missed). And bonus, you can stop in Harrisburg and tell the elected folks everything they're doing wrong. PennDot alone would take all day.

farrellbarrel · May 18, 2013

Very nice, sorry about BOG hassle :/

PolynesianPrincess · May 18, 2013

Nice recap of your trip!!

I agree with you on the ECV and strollers. They really ARE everywhere. We (my mom and I) almost got taken out by 2 scooters rolling side by side going a buck 90 across the bridge from Tomorrowland to the hub at MK. The guy was beeping his horn to get people to move out of his way. And smoking a cigar. In a non-smoking area. Then he rammed into the front of a stroller because this woman tried to cross in front of him and didn't see him til he beeped and hit her. It's really getting out of control there.

Soarin' Over Pgh · May 19, 2013

Agreed... The Ecv folks are ruthless!

Soarin' Over Pgh · May 19, 2013

I'm still trying to get photos uploaded...and failing miserably at it

mrerk · May 26, 2013

Nice recap. Crowds seemed light. When were you there?

Soarin' Over Pgh · May 28, 2013

May 8-12

It was rather light. I'm still working on getting my photos all uploaded to photobucket... but will post them hopefully when I get home from work.

Tinkerbell 8 · May 28, 2013

Nice trip report! Sorry you didn't enjoy Epcot, it use to be my least favorite park, but over the years I have come to really enjoy it and now I actually spend more time there than in the Magic Kingdom (shocking I know). Interesting about the BOG lunch fastpass type thing, I'll be on the lookout for that in November, we are staying at the boardwalk, tried to make ADR for BOG for dinner and had no luck, but I'll keep trying, if not we will def. be there for lunch one day. You should check out AK and HS on your next trip, even if your mom can't do a lot of the rides, the themeing is just amazing and you can just stroll around soaking up the atmosphere, especially in AK. Can't wait to see your pictures!!

Monster big FIRST TRIP trip report! WOOT!

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