Trip Report One way or Another..........

It has been quite a few years since I've been to Disney for a full week. I've been there for a day here, two days there but I really missed a full week at Disney. When your first born says lets go to Disney, you make it happen. We just returned, and the best way for me to process getting back to regular life is to do a trip report, so here we go.

Me and Em
October 19-25th

Our flight was leaving at 7:00 am, and it made for a very early morning since we had a two hour drive to the airport. We got on the road at 3:30 and we landed at MCO around 9:30 am. We got an Uber, and Oster was great. He even slowed down so I could get this most coveted picture.

I let Em pick a lot of the details for this trip, one being the mistake of picking our resort. I was willing to pay for a moderate, but she really wanted to stay at POP. sigh~, what can I do..... She loves it

We requested the 60's or 70's building and got a room in the 70's. Our room was ready when we arrived around 10:30 am. Our room was on the first floor and faced an inner courtyard. Mostly quiet, except we could hear the room above us when they were getting ready in the morning or returning at night. They weren't rude or being overly loud. It's what you pay for I guess.

We unpacked and decided we'd rather hop on the skyliner and find lunch rather than go to Typhoon Lagoon. We got off at the Caribbean resort. Their Cuban sandwich wasn't too bad. I'd get it again. We then stopped at Riviera to see the murals in person and eat the "best" cookie at Disney.

I have to say, I didn't think the Riviera Signature cookie was the best cookie on property. I would give it a C.

Em has a fear of birds. This gets mentioned in all of my reports since there are birds everywhere at Disney. Luckily for her, this bird was quite a distance from us, but she made sure to point it out and comment about what it was doing. Then, to our horror, it snatched a little lizard for lunch.

Our early morning was catching up with us so we decided to go back to the room and take a break before heading to Disney Spring for the evening.

 

[cgersic]

Ooohh I saw the tie dye one. I may have to do that on our next trip!

I hope you'll make a report about your adventures!

I said the same thing about the tie dye - it was too late when I saw it. I don't take very many pictures, and it was many miles of wandering solo, so I really don't have much to report

 

[Zipadeelady]

I said the same thing about the tie dye - it was too late when I saw it. I don't take very many pictures, and it was many miles of wandering solo, so I really don't have much to report

I often think about going solo. It would be a totally different experience for me. I think I would do more wandering and sitting to people watch and listen to the atmosphere. Sounds dreamy

 

[Zipadeelady]

Thursday! Magic Kingdom and Epcot Day!

We were up and at the bus stop right around 7:30 am. Our goal was to rope drop 7 dwarfs. This was my choice. We have never tried and I wasn't sure how it would go. We passed the gates at 7:42 and started to pass by the Contemporary. There were many police cars and sirens passing the bus. We later learned there was another occurrence at the resort.

Today, our Disney bounding was Peter Pan and Smee! Em's earrings are dangly gold stars! We made it to Main Street at 8:00. I did do a horrible "crop cleanup" on my photo. Em taught me this Apple feature while we were there.

I actually saw two other people dressed up as Smee on different days. They both had on red stocking caps. They were more hardcore than me. No way am I wearing a stocking cap in Florida, even in October.

8:02

After scanning in at the bridge and walking to 7 dwarfs, the line seemed pretty long. We chatted with people around us and waited... I took a potty break over in the Circus restrooms. While in line, there was a family behind us, Mom, Dad, two younger kids, maybe preteen and 7ish. The mom went somewhere, and the dad was saying how this was going to be a good day and the girls needed to keep their patience with them and just have fun because mom wasn't using a scooter or walker today. It was sweet; he wasn't being douchy or rude. Just setting the scene. Mom came back and they were talking about how long the wait would be, and the next thing you know a CM walks by, then backs up and asks how many are in their party. Confused, Dad says four. She said come with me. He was hesitant, and CM says, "do you trust me". Everyone in line is yelling for them to go and whoo hooing for them. This is the family on the first ride of the day on a train to themselves.

The line moved very fast and it took about 7 minutes for us to load after the line started moving.

This pic is actually so funny to me. Do you know how many times I tried to push play on my phone, thinking I had taken a video? That shiny triangle glare had me so confused.

After our ride we could have hopped on another ride before early entry was over but we were on a mission to try something new, new to us. On the way we ran into the Dapper Dans.

 

[Zipadeelady]

I got ahead of myself...after consulting with my pictures I see that after we got off of 7 Dwarfs we walked behind the castle, made a wish in the Well then saw the Dans as we were walking down Main Street.

After videoing the Dans we headed to the front of the park. We learned that there is still an embroidery shop, and they will embroider anything that is cloth. We had brought our sweatshirts that we purchased at World of Disney yesterday and wanted to get our embroidery order in early since they were closing at 6 pm and we knew we wouldn't be back to MK this trip. We each ended up paying around $20. We chose special colors and special fonts that were an upcharge. We love them. I'll make sure and take a photo of mine and post it.

Looks like we had a LL for Pooh

We checked the app and Tron was at 35 minutes! We hustled over there, and the line really didn't look bad, so I was hopeful.

After about 20 minutes in line I looked to see what the wait time jumped to. We were lucky and waited 30 minutes.

When we got off we saw Chip and Dale. It was so cute. They had a little boy with them, and they were waving to the cars going around the Speedway. I did crop the boy out.

 

[Back!Elbow!Shoulders!]

I often think about going solo. It would be a totally different experience for me. I think I would do more wandering and sitting to people watch and listen to the atmosphere. Sounds dreamy

 

[Zipadeelady]

 

[Zipadeelady]

We had a LL at Haunted Mansion. On the walk over, around 11 am, the front of the Castle was crowd free. There were only a few people to be "cleaned up"

Em said "what are you doing" I had to laugh and say I've never seen this picture in a report!

Time for lunch, we took the long way to Casey's, but look who we ran into.

Emily and I have come to really like the mini dogs. We started eating, and then Em was gone.

 

[Zipadeelady]

We headed to Adventure Land to ride Jungle Cruise with our LL. The wait was short, the Skipper was on his toes, and we even saw a "bearded horse". But I swear there was a rhino at that pole, not hyenas.

Another round of Pirates.

Then Em finally got to try the Pineapple Upside Down Swirl thingy.

We wandered over to Mickey's Philharmagic. This show will never get old to me. Em got to see the new Coco addition and really liked it. Coco is one of her favorite movies.

 

[Zipadeelady]

Just like Disney, my ride photo got lost and took me a few minutes to find.

Also lost was our hunt for Pascal. We didn't stay long to look, but did find a couple.

I was getting tired and I hadn't had the chance to ride one of my favorites yet, so we walked to Tomorrowland and had a nice, relaxing ride on the Peoplemover. Then, as Tuvalu knows an excruciating ride on Space Mountain. It was bad... Not Primevil Whirl fun bad, but painful and not fun bad. Does that make sense? I may have to skip out on my next SM ride.

It was time, it was around 2:30, and I needed a break. So we started to head out. The afternoon parade was going on so we stopped to watch in the middle of it.

I then suggested walking ahead to get closer to the exit.. AND WHO DID I SEE ROUNDING THE CIRCLE IN FRONT OF THE TRAIN STATION!!

I walked/ran towards the fire station and was waving wildly. Pan saw us first and motioned that I stink and then pointed to Em, then to himself. Then Captain Hook saw me and saluted me!! It was so fun to see them. The picture is horrible after I got rid of all the kids I was standing behind. Then the best thing ever... I didn't realize Smee was on the other side. I waved, but he was working the crowd on the other side. I turned to look at Em the she pointed back and I saw Smee had seen me. He did the whole.

I was so excited!

A short time before that, I had been texting @riverside as they were going to be arriving soon, after the parade, I tried again. They were so close, but we thought we might be able to meet at Epcot on Friday, but again, plans constantly change when you are at Disney. Hoping we will meet up in the future, maybe at Baseline.

 

[fractal]

Nice story with the family of four - so glad you got Smeed in your outfit!

 

[cgersic]

I often think about going solo. It would be a totally different experience for me. I think I would do more wandering and sitting to people watch and listen to the atmosphere. Sounds dreamy

It is all that and more When I leave, I miss walking around to constant music. My sister came and enjoyed resort time for a couple of days at the end, so that's always a great time too. Your picture with Goofy and the surfboard was my last pic of the trip It's so fun seeing you and your daughter smiling and having such a good time together, can't wait to see more!

 

[Zipadeelady]

Thursday Cont. - Epcot

We hopped on the Skyliner and arrived shortly before 5:00. First off was some food. Em had quite a few requests and I had a few things I wanted to try. First was the Brazilian cheese bread. It was good but not where I'd want to go back and get more.

I had seen a video of a lounge in Morocco where you can take a break and relax with soft drinks, tea, sit in the air conditioning, and do a craft. All you had to do was go online to Florida Blue and register. Then, when you get there, you just show them an email confirmation. We didn't really want to sit down since we just got to Epcot but I wanted to go in to see what it was all about. When we got there it was very empty and they were done with the crafts for the day but still serving drinks.

We then took a look around Morocco.

Lobster Roll in America. Em said it was good but a one and done.

 

[Zipadeelady]

Next up, it was my turn. Back to India for another round of Samosas and some Chicken Marsala. I got my nights a little mixed up earlier in the report, and this is the first night for the Chicken Marsala, but not the Samosas's. I could eat this every night.

We headed to Soarin and had a wonderful flight then to our SLL for Guardians. We got row 10 and I was hoping for a new song but we got One Way or Another which didn't upset me. The lights around Epcot were beautiful.

Before coming to Disney we talked about a few items we were looking forward to at Food and Wine. My choice of the Pumpkin Ravioli made Em and Joe gag. It was actually very good and I made Em try a bite. She still didn't like it.

We had an LL for Remy's and headed back around World Showcase.

 

[Zipadeelady]

It's 8:30 and we had a LL for Frozen. LL's for Frozen make me a bit sad. I miss my favorite part of the ride. I snapped this as we were walking by.

Another snack we both wanted to try but never had is the School Bread. Holy Mary Mother of Joseph!. Ok, I'm being dramatic but it is so good. Em doesn't even like donuts and liked this.... So Good!

We headed toward International Gateway and found a few statues to use our Disney Band+ on.

Em wanted to wait until 9:00 to get on the Skyliner so that we could watch the fireworks during our ride. We waited on the bench right underneath the launch.

Today was a great day.

 

[Zipadeelady]

What a sad day for me! I've got some serious Disney blues and am trying to scheme a way to get back sooner than my past usual visits. I may be able to make the one or two day trip happen, though. Have you seen those crazy people who fly to Disney in the morning, then fly back out the same night (looking at you @MickeyPretzelEnthusiast). Yeah, that may be me for a solo day in the hopefully near future.

Friday, October 24 - Last Park Day

We're going to Hollywood! The plan was to rope drop Hollywood Studios, but when I got up, I looked at our LL's and our Single Pass for Rise, and I didn't feel it was necessary to rush. Em is a go go go girl and likes to have a plan and be actively moving. I was able to stall her for just a little and we were out the door and heading to the Skyliner around 8:15 ish.

Our Disney Bounding for today is Donald Duck and Forky!

We headed to Mickey Runaway Railway for our first ride. As we were walking up, it was close to 8:50, and the line looked long until we realized that they were holding non early entry guests off to the side in a long line and had an separate entrance for resort guests. We felt very special and very cocky. But don't worry, we are quiet cocky, not rude cocky. We made sure nobody saw us laughing and pointing. This is Em's first time riding MRR, and she loved it, which didn't surprise me at all since she loves Remy so much.

Next was our SLL for Rise. When we got there, there was talk of it shutting down. We waited in line for about 10 minutes. People in front of us started to say it's shut down, then they started yelling it's up.... we were on within a few minutes. This is also Em's first time on Rise. I didn't tell her too much about the ride other than it's interactive. All functions seemed to be working, even the red saber that cuts through the floor. She seemed to really like it and the drop. Afterwards she never really mentioned it again. I don't think she would pay extra to ride it again but I'm sure she'd wait a reasonable amount of time.

We decided to wait standby for the Hans Solo space ship ride. (I'm not a Star Wars fan, and I'm having a moment and can't think of the name). We were Engineers, and our pilots did a horrible job. It was two teenage boys flying and it was fun heckling them. Our CM wasn't too happy when we were done. A drink from someone in their group tipped over and spilt everywhere.

 

[cgersic]

Hoping we get to see your Donald Duck bounding attire?

 

[Zipadeelady]

Hoping we get to see your Donald Duck bounding attire?

There seems to be the least amount of photos of me on this day. I'll post what I can. Em did take a video of me dancing around at Epcot when I didn't realize. I won't be posting that.

 

[Zipadeelady]

After our time in Star Wars, I asked a man CM where the land of Toys was, I always get mixed up in Star Wars Land. He looked at me like I was an idiot (Last time I was there, I got turned around and asked how to get to Toy Story Land, and the woman CM looked so "confused" and said, "Oh, do you mean the Land where there are giant toys?". She made it fun.)

Anyway.... We went to Toy Story Land for our LL on Slinky. But first, I was so hungry and we stopped by Woody's Lunch box for breakfast at 10:20 am. My stomach was bothering me a little and I needed food. The breakfast sounded so good. I knew they would be switching to lunch in a few minutes and the line was a little long to place your order. It was finally my turn, and this little sweet innocent boy jumped in front of me and started dancing around. Em said one look at me and she could see the Hangry coming out and thought there would be a scene. Don't worry. The little boy had no idea I was about to take him out. The Breakfast Bowl was delicious and Em said the Adult Lemonade was fantastic!

We relaxed for a few as my inner mean girl slowly dissipated. In the meantime, I'll show you my Loungefly backpack, my other daughter got for me. I'm not an avid pin trader but when the kids were small, they loved it, and as they got older two of the three (Em still is) weren't interested in pins anymore, I acquired a few of theirs. I always take a few and trade for ones that I think are cute in the moment, then the next time I go I'll trade them for something different. For some reason the pins that you see on the front pocket are the ones I don't trade. I must like them enough...

Slinky was a little bit of a wait with our LL. Here you go @cgersic

LL for Mania. I was beating Em right until the last scene then Bam!

Why Forky you may ask. Em saw Forky earrings and fell in love. Hard to see but so cute! One CM looked at her and said hey, Trash Toy.

 

[Zipadeelady]

Here it was around 11:30, and we had yet to discuss what we would be doing this evening. I had a hunch we might be back to Epcot, it is Em's favorite park. As we were walking to one of Em's favorite shows she said "you know what would make this a perfect day?"... Oh no... here we go..... "if we finished here, didn't take a midday break, went to Animal Kingdom for early dinner at Satuli, then headed to Epcot for the rest of our Food & Wine list.

Well let me tell you, I whipped out my phone and told her if we're going to Animal Kingdom for Satuli then I'm riding FOP one more time. Luckily, there was a midday FOP single pass available! Now that a plan was set, it was time to watch a show. Indiana Jones had to have a modified show. The wind came out of nowhere, but those trees in the background were really blowing.

Ok, it doesn't look like it in the pictures, but I really remember it blowing pretty hard.

After Indy Em needed some food so we stopped by Backlot Express and she ordered the Teriyaki Chicken Bowl. I thought it was gross but she seemed to like it. She liked the Edamame in it.

LL for Tower was next. Normally, we ride this multiple times, but with our three parks this day, it was one and done. I love Tower, but I feel this particular sequence wasn't that thrilling, a few short drops were all. Still fun, but it seems I've had better.

Our last stop was the Villans Show. Em didn't seem to excited about it, but knew I wanted to see it, so she made sure to make sure we saw it before we left. I had heard that Maleficent wins most of the time, so we had to see. Em ended up really liking the show, and Captain Hook was the most misunderstood villain. Honestly, there is no way Cruella will win. I mean yes, she just likes fashion, but no one will vote for a villain that makes fashion out of puppies!

And with the end of the show, it was time to make our way out of Hollywood at 2:15pm and off to the bus stop to Animal Kingdom we go!

 

[Tiggerish]

I love that Loungefly! I'm not even into them, or into pin trading, but I do have some pins l like on my park bag. You can tell that I’m equally fond of buttons as pins.

I also have a cork picture frame that I picked up in the parks many years ago that I'm very fond of and have put to good use...

P.S., the teriyaki chicken bowl looks really good!