Trip Report My Tower of Terror-ific Birthday Trip

Hi everyone! We have been back from our trip for a week now, and I am definitely ready to relive it by writing this report! Let's get started!

Who: Me (Amy) and my husband Brian


When: Tuesday, Nov. 19 - Saturday, Nov. 23, 2013

Where: Pop Century

Why: To celebrate my 40th birthday and our 15th wedding anniversary

 

[journ116]

You know, I never took the time to actually look at the topiaries at CP…Piglet is comprised of roses! And, don't you just smile looking at your smiling photos? Well, I do!

 

[TheMouseFan]

We decided to start our day in:

We were headed to Jingle Cruise, but decided to stop here first.

A few pics as we walked through.

That was the view I had of Brian quite a few times this trip since he was getting frustrated with my picture taking!


As you can tell, I was more about the views than the attraction. It just doesn't excite me!
Then on to Jingle Cruise.





I wasn't very impressed with the overlay. There really was nothing Christmas except for the corny jokes once you were through the queue and onto the boat. Fortunately, we had a good skipper and he made the corny jokes work. We did have a little excitement as we were entering the boat. We were the last ones to get on, and as Brian was stepping in, he somehow lost his flip flop in the water. As the CM was saying "don't reach into the water!", Brian was sticking his hand between the boat and the dock to retrieve his shoe! I was quite embarrassed! I still can't figure out how he lost a flip flop.

 

[TheMouseFan]

Next up was:



We walked right on. They tried to put us in the front row, but when I asked if people were still getting really wet, they said no and then put us in the third row! I did not notice any water in the bottom of the boat though.
We then continued on to:

It was starting to sprinkle on us at this point. We had FP+ for Splash in the afternoon, so the original plan was to skip it now and come back later, but we decided that since the wait was basically non-existent and we were already getting wet, that we would just ride it then. We walked right on this one too.





I tried to get some pics while on the ride this time. None of my indoor ones turned out very well, so I'll save you the pain and not post them!





Then one on the way out of the queue.

Again, the ride photo just showed up in my PP account. I look angry in the pic because I was upset that the picture I was trying to take at the top of the hill didn't turn out! (and Brian was on my case to get the camera covered!)

 

[TheMouseFan]

After exiting, I asked Brian if he still wanted to keep our FP+ time for Splash since it is his favorite ride. He decided that we didn't need to, so I used my phone and switched to Haunted Mansion while we were waiting in line for:

It was kind of a pain! It wouldn't let me switch the attraction and the time at the same time. First I had to go in and switch the attraction for the same time we had the original FP+, then I had to go through the whole process again to switch the time. Hopefully they will be able to streamline the process!
A few pics while in line:



Brian really liked the name on this sign:

Gotta love all the little details!
One last pic as we exited the ride.

 

[TheMouseFan]

And a view of our next destination:

We found a PP photographer along the way.




We got to Haunted Mansion and it was a walk-on, so I quickly switched our FP+ to Peter Pan. It wasn't as difficult because I only wanted to change the attraction, but leave the time the same. They didn't even make us walk through the interactive part of the queue.

We made it all the way through with no stopping! The hitchhiking ghosts were there, but not working properly that time. They weren't even there for our second ride later that day!

 

[pumpkin7]

This picture magically appeared in our PhotoPass account even though we didn't purchase PP+!

I LOVE that boy in the front row. 'I am at Disney and I am refusing to enjoy myself.' Oh dear.

 

[danpam1024]

Love your TR! BTW- your pictures are beautiful! What kind of camera do you have? Also, I'm guessing you purchased the photopass+- looks like it was well worth it

 

[TheMouseFan]

Love your TR! BTW- your pictures are beautiful! What kind of camera do you have? Also, I'm guessing you purchased the photopass+- looks like it was well worth it

Thank you! I have a Canon PowerShot SX 210. I only prepurchased the regular PP CD. The ride pics just showed up on my account. The only two that didn't were ToT and EE. Of course, those are the two I really would have liked to have.

 

[TheMouseFan]

After HM, we headed to PP to use our FP+. We had to make a stop at the Tangled restroom area!






We then had our one and only issue with FP+ (of course, this was the only one that we changed once we were at WDW!). We tried to use the FP+ and we were told that we were 1 hour and 15 minutes early for our FP+. I explained that I had just changed it and my phone was showing that we were in our time frame. The CM said that this same thing had been happening 2 days prior and she asked me to go to the FP+ kiosk and make them aware that it was happening again. By the time we walked from PP to the FP+ kiosk by Philharmagic, my phone was now displaying the later time for us to redeem the FP+. The CMs at the kiosk were very nice and helped me move our FP+ up as much as possible, but that still left us 45 minutes before we could return. So, we decided to ride this instead:

Then we made our way over to New Fantasyland to ride Under the Sea.



It was a walk on which made it difficult to get pics of the queue. I tried to step to the side so I wasn't blocking others from going around me, but Brian was getting very impatient, so I didn't get as many as I would have liked.



We got stopped right here and was able to get a decent picture (with no flash of course!)

This pic isn't the greatest, but the song is my favorite one of the movie.

 

[Lyear]

If my calculation is correct, we were in MK (and eating at crystal palace) the same day, Wednesday the 20th. I keep looking for us in the background of your pictures, but nothing so far. I was feeling the same as Brian on our last trip in 2007 as my wife was constantly stopping to photograph every conceivable angle. Now we look back and laugh about it, and have some really good photos. On our trip a few weeks ago, I was actually taking the bulk of the pictures. BTW, I think your photos are excellent.

 

[TheMouseFan]

If my calculation is correct, we were in MK (and eating at crystal palace) the same day, Wednesday the 20th. I keep looking for us in the background of your pictures, but nothing so far. I was feeling the same as Brian on our last trip in 2007 as my wife was constantly stopping to photograph every conceivable angle. Now we look back and laugh about it, and have some really good photos. On our trip a few weeks ago, I was actually taking the bulk of the pictures. BTW, I think your photos are excellent.

Thank you so much! I still have plenty of pics left from this day, so you may see yourselves yet!!

 

[TheMouseFan]

We still had a little time before our PP FP+, so we decided to get a LeFou's Brew to hold us over until lunch.




I'm not sure what look Brian was going for here!




I forgot to take a pic of the drink before we started it! Oops!! We both thought it was okay. Not great, but would definitely have another one. We both enjoyed the passion fruit-mango foam better than the frozen apple juice part.
Then we made our way over to Peter Pan's Flight.



Then we took the long way around to get to our lunch at BOG.

 

[TheMouseFan]

We checked in for our FP and make the quick trek across the bridge.


We reached the second check point for FP and they didn't have our pre-order in the computer, so we had to wait in line to order and pay instead of getting to go directly to a table. Minor inconvenience, but I hope they get the kinks worked out soon.

We found a seat in the main ballroom.

Our food soon found us through our Magicbands. We ordered a turkey sandwich and a roast beef sandwich and each ate half of each sandwich. We both agreed that the turkey sandwich was the better of the two. Brian had the lemon meringue cupcake and I had the chocolate cream puff for dessert. Both were delicious!




We had to visit the other rooms after eating.





Then a few more pics on the way out.



I cannot wait to eat here again in June. We just have to decide if we want to try dinner, or stick with lunch.

 

[TheMouseFan]

After lunch, we decided to head to Tomorrowland.

We started with:





I really stink at Buzz!! Brian loves riding it with me because I never even come close to his score!
Then we decided to hit:

They loaded us into the elevator, and as the doors were starting to close, the CM cackled and said "welcome to Tower of Terror!" It was hilarious!!
A few pics from the ride. There aren't too many because it goes a lot faster than I was expecting and I had trouble getting any good pics.



Then we headed to:





After a nice relaxing ride, it was off and over to Space Mountain for our FP+.



Brian doesn't really like SM and I gave him the option of skipping it this trip, but he was brave and rode it with me!

 

[TheMouseFan]

For some unknown reason, I love these palm trees:

We rode Carousel of Progress next. Somehow I managed to forget to take a pic of the sign, but I got this:

Then we just wandered for a little bit. It started sprinkling again, so we headed into Haunted Mansion for a second ride. When we came out, it was raining a little bit harder and the Liberty Belle was set to take off in just a few minutes, so we jumped on for a trip around the Rivers of America.

 

[TheMouseFan]

Then we made our way over to MSUSA for some retail therapy.



Brian was on my case to find a watch so I would quit asking him what time it was!! I was determined to find one that I actually wanted to purchase, and not get one just because he thought I needed one! I finally found this one:

As soon as we sat down later to call the kids, he insisted that I get it out of the bag and he set the time for me and practically placed it on my wrist himself!!

 

[TheMouseFan]

Then we made our way back over to the Tangled restrooms where we sat down to call the kids and decide what we were going to have for dinner.







This was our nutritious dinner:


It was delicious and I can't wait to have another nutella and fruit waffle! It likely will be for breakfast or a snack next time, as we'll have the kids with us and I like to TRY to set a good example!

 

[TheMouseFan]

So, after our dessert dinner, we had a little time to kill before our FP+ for Big Thunder. We went into the Hall of Presidents. I forgot how long it is!! But Brian enjoyed it, as he is a history buff. We then headed toward the castle for the lighting ceremony.


We were trying to get the castle in the background, but our big heads got in the way!




I don't remember so much of the castle not being lit! I guess I have never paid that much attention to anything other than the front of the castle!
We continued making our way around the castle and eventually made it to our BTM FP+.




Mostly unlit backside of the castle:


After BTM (which is incredible at night!), we went to find a spot for Wishes. We were early enough to see the parade, but not early enough to get a good spot, so we didn't really look too hard!

 

[TheMouseFan]

We ended up on the walkway that cuts between MSUSA and Tomorrowland. We actually had a decent view of most of the parade floats, and an awesome view for Celebrate the Magic and Wishes.
Here is our view of the castle:





Our limited view of the parade:







Then we had a few moments before Celebrate the Magic started.

 

[TheMouseFan]

Celebrate the Magic: