Pre-trip report 7th July-29th July

Teachr4Disney · Jun 2, 2009

3 weeks in Orlando? I'm SO jealous!!

Love your pre-trip report. Can't wait to hear more.

Are you planning the rest of the trip before you leave or are you just gonna go with the flow once you get there?

Jenna · Jun 3, 2009

We will probably just go with the flow to be honest! Now when I say go with the flow when we get there we'll probably have the next few days planned however the plans will be subject to change depending on how everyone feels on a particular day or if its super nice we'd probably opt for a water park rather than one of the main parks!

Yep 3 weeks...super lucky I know

Makes more sense for us Brits to spend aslong as we can out there at one time...make the flight that little bit more worth while! Not that it isn't already

:wave:

Jenna · Jun 24, 2009

Our 21 day Disney passes have arrived

We have Mickey, Goofy, Minnie, Donald and my kid sister has the teacups

12 days to go

Just wish our airline tickets were in now

Jenna · Aug 5, 2009

7th July
We set off from our house around 1am to make the 2-3hour drive (depending on traffic) to Dublin airport. We arrived around 4am and went straight to the check in desk; we were able to get checked right through to Orlando even though we had to change planes in Gatwick which was great as it meant we didn’t have to see our luggage again for a very long time J
Travelling..Blah blah blah I won’t bore you with the details but eventually we arrived in not so sunny Orlando around 3.30pm. We were held in the airport for an hour before we were allowed to leave as I believe there was a scare that someone on board our flight had swine flu...waiting around didn’t please me, it had been a long day already.
We eventually made it to our villa (we were staying in Lake Davenport-The Palms just off the US 27). It was lovely, really homely and the perfect place to stay for three weeks! After getting unpacked and a quick munch it was off to bed for in the morning it was MAGIC KINGDOM TIME YAAAAAAAY!

8th July
We arrived at MK around 10.30am (extremely early starts aren’t really our thing...infact only when forced will the sisters and I move from bed before 10ish)
We headed straight to the will call windows as even though we already had our tickets (21 day ultimate pass) it was my mum’s birthday so we had to get her birthday gift card and even more importantly her birthday badge!

We were seen by about 10.45 and after that it was straight to the ferryboat, we always travel on the boat to MK on our first day visiting it’s just more magical for us for some reason!
After taking some compulsory shots of the train station we headed through the tunnel and there we were standing in the Magic Kingdom..three years really is too long to be separated from such a place!

Before we caught our first glimpse of Main Street USA and Cinderella castle we headed to the town hall to obtain a Guest Assistance Card as my younger sister has a quite a rare condition which would have prevented her from queuing for long periods of time (anything over 20/30 minutes depending on the time of day is pushing it for her). The cast member looked at the doctors letter my mum had brought along and gave us a GAC which would be valid until the last day of our trip.
I must say I was extremely pleased with Disney’s treatment of those with special needs, they were most courteous and did everything in their power to help us make the most of our holiday J

As we were walking down Main Street USA the residents of Main street were out and about, singing and having a proper giggle! I love those guys!

About 5 minutes later Move it, shake it, celebrate it parade began so we stopped just shy of the castle and watched. I thought this was a nice little parade and what I liked about it was it’s briefness and the fact that people don’t seem to crowd the street to see it unlike the other parades...it’s much more relaxed. My mum was pleased with herself already as several of the performers acknowledged her birthday!

Whilst the show was still going on we made our way to Adventureland and walked through the Swiss Family tree house. This was our first time visiting the tree house and I must say the theming is excellent! I have never watched/read anything about the Swiss Family Robinson but the tree house gave me a real feel for what I imagine it to be like.
After the tree house we headed to Jungle Cruise the wait was 30 minutes so we showed the GAC, the cast member directed us to the Fast Pass queue and we waited literally 2minutes. Our skipper was hilarious, I can’t recall his name but he really brought something to the ride even though the jokes were the same he made them hilarious!
My personal favourite was when he was telling the children on the boat about what would happen to them at Walt Disney World if they got lost...that they would eventually work for Disney as their feet would be glued to the floor in It’s a Small World and they would be taught the song in 37 languages...then one day if they are really good they’ll get promoted to Jungle Cruise skipper!
Pirates next, it said a ten minute wait so we didn’t bother with the GAC but it was actually a walk on by the time you got through the queuing area! I love this ride simply because of how amazing POTC the film is,
We headed into Frontierland (entering just beside Splash Mountain) however my darling sister felt that a ride on Haunted Mansion would be better than doing the attractions that we were closer to?! Anyways we made the journey over to Haunted Mansion and on the way ran into Donald who was all dressed up for the occasion

We found the HM wait was 20 minutes which at the time of day it was was too long for my sister to wait so it was either wait until my sister could use a restroom facility and then queue or see if we could be helped out in anyway! The castmember directed us to a Disabled entrance. I must say it was strange entering the Mansion without going through the graveyard! We waited at the rope for a couple of minutes when an absolutely FANTASTIC cast member came out to meet us and took us inside. He really played his role well, when we walked along the corridor he kept flicking the lights and then banging the door...at one point he banged it off his head the crazy fool! It was great and really brought a smile to our faces!
I must say I absolutely LOVE the new look Haunted Mansion, I think the refurb did wonders for what was already a fantastic ride J
After the HM we headed for lunch in frontierland (in the restaurant on the corner near splash...the name of it has escaped me for now). This was the beginning of three weeks filled with fries and burgers...I can’t even look at them anymore lol!
Just as we were leaving lunch the parade began however it was absolutely POURING with rain which was a bit unfortunate but heck it meant we didn’t have to wait for ages to get a good viewing spot. The Tremain sisters made the parade for me. They were splashing in puddles and kicking water everywhere...it was very amusing to watch! Just after the parade passed the rain stopped!
After lunch we finally headed for Splash...YAY! The queue was 1 hour however we used the GAC and entered via the fastpass queue and waited approx ten minutes! We also managed to be seated at the front of the boat

My stepdad waited outside the ride while us girls rode...he’s not good with any rides that venture on adventurous...our hero haha! The good thing is though that he’s pretty good with the camera and video camera and managed to get us coming down the drop!
Big Thunder Mountain next and I think daddio had a knock to the head as he decided to ride! The wait was 40 minutes but again the GAC helped us out and we waited 5! Seriously Disney are so helpful it’s unbelievable!
Now I think I’m wrong but did BTMRR get a refurb or something within the past three years? Cause it seems a heck of a lot rougher and faster than what I remember!?! Maybe I’m just getting old *cries*
We headed to the Tom Sawyer Island raft next, this is where my mum and stepdad has their dosey moment of the day...whilst we were going across on the raft it started to rain again so out came the ponchos (for everyone except me as mum forgot to pack it but I didn’t mind cause I don’t really like wearing them). When we arrived at the Island and started to get off my mum said ‘Oh it looks like they aren’t letting us onto the Island because of the weather’...neither her or my stepdad had realised we even moved! Bless them!
We’d never visited Tom Sawyers Island before and it was a pleasant surprise. I thought the theming was great. My favourite part was the caves which make you feel like you’re walking at an angle or in layman’s terms-like you’re drunk! I was pretty amazed at how it worked to be honest!
We headed back to the main park and went to Aloha Isle so that my mum could taste her first dole whip! I’d read so much about them on here and had mentioned them to her and she decided she must have one! She loved it!
It was then time to board the Happiest cruise that ever sailed...It’s a Small world. The queue was 30 minutes but it looked much longer and as if the times needed updated. We showed our GAC and were able to enter via the exit...we were on board within 5 minutes!
Peter Pan next and again it was a 5 minute wait for us, I forgot how much I really loved this ride, it’s just so cute <3
Mickey’s Philharmagic was next for us and was the last ride of the day. When we got inside the foyer to the theatre we were stood beside possibly one of the rudest men I have ever met...he positioned himself about an inch behind the door (I so hoped they opened...harsh I know), then when he was asked to move back he did but with this horrified, annoyed look on his face and then proceeded to bang into the people around him without apologising! Some people!
Mickey’s Philharmagic was great as usual...I love watching kids trying to grab the gems! We headed to Tinkerbells Treasures next and then it was hometime for us (around 5pm) as we were heading to TGI Fridays for mum’s birthday dinner!

Jenna · Aug 5, 2009

July 9th
The weather during the day was horrific so we decided on a nice shopping trip instead so we hit up the Florida mall...much money was spent maybe too much!
Anyways after we decided we'd bought enough for the day we headed to Hollywood Studios!
We arrived at around 5pm and were parked close enough to walk to the entrance, as soon as we got into the park we headed to Toy Story Midway Mania...I was desperate to see what all the fuss was about as I imagined it to be no different to Buzz-oh how wrong I was! That ride is AMAZING! I absolutely adore it, everything about it! The theming as you walk through the queue area, the game screens ohhh I miss it already

Again we hit the fastpass queue as the standby queue was approaching two hours! Though I totally would be willing to stand in it because it's just <3

Next was the Great Movie ride, not much of a wait again we pretty much walked on. Our tour guide through the movies was a girl (...I don't want to type her name for fear she'll hunt me down lol), don't get me wrong...I love people who are enthusiastic about their jobs but this actually terrified me. I have never seen anyone so over the top in my life but bless her she was enjoying herself and that's what counts

We had the gangster scene again, we really should have asked about the other option but we didn't! Oh well!

Tower of Terror next we waited about ten minutes and then we were in that doomed lift shaft! :S My sister (she's 9) freaked out the whole time she was in the queue area, panicking that the ghosts were infact real and not so friendly. She has the movie on dvd and has been on the ride before but apparently this year she was terrified! She did ride though and enjoyed the drops however she covered her ears and closed her eyes when the Twilight zone music was on and when the ghosts appeared.

Rock n' roller coaster next...this is where we had our first major tour group encounter. We'd seen them around the parks (well can you really miss all 75million of them in their fluorescent t-shirts? I think not) but this time they wound me up. We were in the loading area queuing to be seated in our rows...when we had moved into the loading area about three of them infront of us and the other 625 were behind us. However one girl (who will probably be the next head of Argentina) who was infront of us decided that really all of them needed to ride together so proceeded to come back and start dragging people up, she managed to move about 4 before I was able to move to block her path and began to complain very loudly to my mum so that the rest would hear me. When she came back for the other 621 kids they wouldn't move ...I think it may have been due to hearing me rant...oh well

In the end sneaky tour girl moved behind us...VICTORY!

Last ride of the day for us was the Muppets 3D. The show was empty enough that we were able to sit wherever we wanted...we stayed on the left handside about three rows back as we knew the big hairy muppet came out there (I have no idea what he's called). The show was just as enjoyable as I remember!

July 11th
We got up around 7am and headed to Typhoon Lagoon around an hour later, we were there for 8.30am. We headed inside and got changed, my youngest sister and parents went to the beach rope drop so as they could get us some loungers whereas me and my eldest sister went to the Crush and Gusher drop! We rode it twice with no wait-we hit Banana and Coconut! It was brilliant as always!
Next we met up with my parents again and we all headed to Gangplank falls. We rode in two rafts and again we walked onto this slide. I definitely appreciate this ride much more when I don’t have to queue for it!
Lazy river for some quiet time next, I definitely prefer the lazy river early in the morning ...I love not constantly banging into people!
We headed back to the beach for a while and alternated between laying out and getting knocked for six by the wave J Soon after we headed to the Leaning Palms for lunch!
We finished our day at TL by spending a bit more time in the wave pool and then we finally went and got changed. It was at this point that I realised I looked like a lobster-I have never been so burnt in all my life...damn my sunscreen not being water resistant!
We headed over to Downtown Disney next, we went to World of Disney, The Basin, The Xmas shop and the shop which sells the super expensive crystals! We bought a few bits and pieces here and there...I got a shot glass to add to my collection.
We finished the afternoon in DTD with a Mickey premium bar YUM!
On our way out of DTD we called back into World of Disney to book my sisters Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique experience

We took a snap of this guy as he’d drawn our caricatures in 2006

HollyBelle · Aug 6, 2009

Wait a second... what happened to the 9th and 10th?!

Great start to your trip report :sohappy:. We were there during the middle of your trip (11th-20th), so I must keep a lookout for myself in your pictures! Or maybe you'll turn up in mine!

Jenna · Aug 6, 2009

HollyBelle said:
Wait a second... what happened to the 9th and 10th?!

Great start to your trip report :sohappy:. We were there during the middle of your trip (11th-20th), so I must keep a lookout for myself in your pictures! Or maybe you'll turn up in mine!

I was just about to post and say we didn't go to WDW on those days we shopped and we went to Universal but I've just looked at my little diary and seen we went to MGM after going shopping oopsy! Shall add that in

HollyBelle · Aug 6, 2009

*MAD4NADZ* said:
I was just about to post and say we didn't go to WDW on those days we shopped and we went to Universal but I've just looked at my little diary and seen we went to MGM after going shopping oopsy! Shall add that in

I thought that might be the case. And I figured you must have journaled during your trip; otherwise, how would one remember so much detail!!

Jenna · Aug 6, 2009

July 12th
This was an Epcot day. We got there at around 11.30am and keeping with tradition our first ride here had to be Spaceship earth. Again I absolutely love what the refurb has done for this ride, I personally find it a lot more informative and interesting than before and I love that you choose your future J Lots of fun!

After this we headed to Ellen’s Universe of Energy, I’d never experienced this attraction before and I must say that when we were first seated I was wary and thought oh great a 40 minute film...yawn! I was pleasantly surprised when we moved off through the dinosaur period and I found the jeopardy contest between Ellen and Jamie Lee Curtis amusing J Saying that it wouldn’t be at the top of my list of ‘must ride’ attractions.
Test track next and this was our first time on this attraction! The standby by wait was 110 minutes which once I’d been on the ride I decided it was a crazy wait! Yes it’s good but 110 minutes? One thing I really liked about this ride is that you can add your ride picture to your photopass.

We headed for lunch next at the Electric Umbrella...and as usual the 20 minute battle for a table began!
We headed for Soarin next, oh how I <3 this ride. It’s just such a nice ride, I’m aware there are far better words than nice but that’s what it is!
Living with the Land next and again this was a walk on. This was my first time on this since the tour guides have been removed and to be honest I didn’t notice much difference except at times you couldn’t hear the audio because of the fans.
The rain started when we came off Living with the Land so we made a quick dash round to see Figment J Again I love this ride it’s too cute! This was a walk on as well...to be honest I don’t think I’ve ever encountered a wait for this ride.
When we got off we played about on the little computers and I took this GORGEOUS picture of myself

Then it was off on our travels around the World Showcase starting at Canada.
In France I picked up the nicest cocktail I have ever tasted...I think it was called something along the lines of a Grand Marnier orange but my oh my yummy!
When we hit the USA we watched 52nd street a tribute to Billy Joel, those guys were good! At this point my sisters also decided they would like to do the Kidcot stops which again lead to more encounters with tour groups. I can’t speak for all the groups that tour WDW but my oh my are some of those kids rude! They pushed and shoved their way to the front of the lines and demanded their tag from the cast members refusing to move until they got what they wanted. I think Disney need to have the Kidcot stops roped off so that there is an obvious queuing area so as people can’t jump the line.
In Japan we ran into the storyteller, my sister was absolutely engrossed in it! It was a nice little story and you could see all the kids thoroughly enjoyed listening.

In Norway we walked on to the ride but skipped the movie and as soon as we came out we grabbed our spot for Illuminations and I decided it was time for another cocktail though this one wasn’t so nice-it had rum, mango and ginger in it and it left a burning in my throat!

Illuminations was great as always! Here’s a little snap of our viewing spot

Jenna · Aug 6, 2009

On the 13th we went to Seaworld.

July 14th
On our last trip to Downtown Disney we booked a Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique appointment for my sister so on the 14th we headed back to DTD to get her made up as the lovely Tinkerbell!
Her appointment was at 11 so we arrived around ten minutes beforehand. While she had her appointment my other sister and I headed over to the Xmas store to buy some nice decorations. I got a Mickey shaped bobble which has Santa’s outfit on it and some nice red and gold bobbles with the likes of Donald, Mickey, Minnie and Goofy on them.
We then had our picture taken with some famous friends –Pooh, Tigger and Piglet!

By the time we made it back to World of Disney my sister was just finishing up so we went to get her pictures taken and had a few family shots taken aswell.
We headed to McDonalds for lunch before heading to Magic Kingdom, we decided to sit outside however as the area around our table resembled a farmyard (there was a squirrel, duck and loooads of birds) we moved inside because I was terrified they were going to attack me!
We got to MK around 1.30ish, we took the monorail over and when we got into the park we went straight to the train and headed to Toontown. When we stopped at Frontierland I was watching people board the train and I saw my friend from work in the queue to get on the train-I travel from Northern Ireland to Florida and see one of my friends-weird!

We went immediately into the toontown tent to meet Tinkerbell, the queue for the fairies was an hour however my mum showed the GAC and we only had a 10-15 minute wait instead. The fairies were lovely and all played up to their roles very well particularly Tink herself. She was very pleased to see my sister in her Tink costume and she made my mum pose with her in her ‘huffy’ pose!
We then went on Goofys Barnstormer, The Speedway, Buzz Lightyear and the Carousel of Progress!
After that it was time to try the Monsters inc laugh floor...this attraction was far better than I had expected, it was very funny and I love ‘that guy’ haha!
My sister then decided we must ride Stitch-I really am not a fan of that ‘attraction’ but I endured it.
Then it was time for the monorail back home!

DznyGrlSD · Aug 6, 2009

:sohappy::sohappy: Great report!

Jenna · Aug 8, 2009

16th July-Animal Kingdom
We arrived at AK around 11.30am and oh my it was HOT! That’s why Kali River Rapids had to be our first ride. I must admit the last time I rode this ride I wasn’t overly impressed-an hour queue for a minute ride? Not my idea of fun however this time we used the fastpass queue and I enjoyed the attraction much more plus I think it helped that we were on the side of the raft that got absolutely soaked! I still hadn’t dried out completely by the time we got home!
Next up we did the Marajah (sp?!) jungle trek and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it, it was nice to dander round and see the animals particularly the tigers though I was terrified of the bats! The fact there was no glass in the windows had me a little scared!
Everest was next on our to do list, we waited about three minutes to get onto the ride and witnessed cast members stressing over the tour groups who swamp the loading bay. We managed to ride upfront which was great! I love riding in the front simply because you can really see the rest of the park when you go up to the part where the track breaks.

After trekking up and down Everest we headed into Dinoland, my sisters and stepdad went on primeval whirl whilst my mum and I relaxed (mainly because we hate any ride that resembles a waltzer...apart from the teacups cause you don’t have to spin!).
We went to restrauntosaurus (sp?!) for lunch and that place is always packed to the rafters but after about ten minutes we managed to get a table. After lunch it was Dinosaur! I’m not even kidding this ride terrifies me, I don’t know why cause when I think about it logically I am perfectly aware that the dinosaurs will not eat me being that they aren’t real...when I’m on the ride I forget that and my eyes find a way of shutting! None the less I still love it!
After Dinosaur we decided we’d make our first trip ever to the 3.15 show of Finding Nemo The musical! Now I’ve never watched Finding Nemo but after that performance I’m pretty sure I’ll watch it at somepoint! The show is absolutely fantastic! I love the way its done with the large puppets and just wow! That’s all I can say but for anyone that hasn’t seen it you must!
We decided it was time to head back over to Asia and give Everest another go and then it was time for some Mickey Premium bars-oh how I love them!
We headed over to Africa and found the Kilimanjaro Safaris was a walk on so off we went! Our tour guide was great, she was really informative (more so than our previous guides) and it really added to the experience. It was also great as because there was no wait time in the loading bay it meant we had a bit more time to stop and take pictures during the safari!
Our final ride of the day (at AK)was going to be it’s Tough to be a bug, on the way we got a few photopass shots taken by a really nice photographer, I believe his name was Bob! He was about 65 and was telling us how one morning he rode Everest 8 times in a row which I thought was great!
Anyways nothing really to report about Ittbab it was the same as always to be honest, I love hearing the screams when people realise what the stinkbugs going to do haha!
We decided we’d head over to Hollywood studios to catch the 9pm showing of Fantasmic but not without a trip to Toy Story first!
I beat my previous score...I got 95800 this time woop! Oh I actually miss this ride too much!
After Toy Story we headed straight to the Hollywood hills theatre and just managed to be seated inside the Scar section however by 8pm there was only standing room left-crazy!
Fantasmic was fantastic as usual! I just love this show...good vs evil..good triumphs, it’s pure Disney magic!

Next up another day at Hollywood Studios! Will also have a flick through my pictures and see if there are any to include for july 16th!

corey154 · Aug 10, 2009

great trip report,thanks for sharing!!!

blackthidot · Aug 14, 2009

:wave:

:sohappy:

Jenna · Aug 21, 2009

I will get back to this soon! Super busy at the moment!

Jenna · Aug 25, 2009

The days that are missing were spent at Busch Gardens, IOA, Aquatica, Universal and a lazy day

21st July-Back to the studios today!
When we walked in and were approaching the hat my sisters little heart skipped a beat as she seen her favourite character..not Mickey, not Minnie but Honey Darling! I mean she LOVES her! They had a nice little chat about all things Disney and not least Hannah Montana...Honey told my sister to tell Hannah that she forgives her for stealing her favourite outfit! lol! Tootsie du jour was also there!
After that we headed straight for the 1pm showing of American Idol, we walked right in and managed to be seated at the very front-result! I thought the show was great...very realistic imo! I voted for a guy called Gerald Allison and sure enough he got into the finale so we decided we’d have to come back later on!
We headed straight over to Indiana Jones and had about a two minute wait before we were let in and managed to get seated at the very front again! The show was great as always...I love when people are shocked by the person being an actor rather than a tourist! After Indy we headed to the Backlot for lunch! We browsed some shops and bought a few souvenirs (I got a Kermit shot glass)
The lights motor action show was coming up so we headed round towards the stadium, we got there around 4.05 and the place was PACKED! However....you guessed it....we ended up at the front again! Haha! I like the show but I have to admit it’s not one of my favourites...I like girly things!
We were planning on heading to the Backlot tour after this but the wait was too long for my sister so we headed to the FP line of TSMM instead! We waited about 5 minutes (and thankfully got into the queue with seconds to spare before the whole of Brazil piled into it), this was our final ride on TSMM L But on a plus I got my highest score, 116 thousand and something! WAHEY!
By the time we got off TSMM it was 6 so we went over to the American Idol building again and waited to get into the finale show! The wait passed pretty quickly and we managed to be sat right in the centre of the second row! The show was great and wow some of the contestants voices were unbelievable! Again I showed my Simon Cowell esque abilities and chose the winner-a guy called Evan who was FANTASTIC!
We were out around 7.40 and were starting to get tired so decided one last ride on Tower of Terror and Rock n’ Rollercoaster! Then it was time for home...well we stopped for dinner on the way at Girodannos-YUMMY!!!

I don't have the time at the moment to search through pictures but I will try and get back to it! Next up Typhoon Lagoon!

corey154 · Aug 25, 2009

yeah! you're back, looking forward to reading the rest :animwink:

Jenna · Jan 23, 2010

Well I abandoned this yonks ago but I’ve decided I should finish it! Going to upload pictures at a later date as I can’t find the memory card right now.
July 22nd we went to IOA .
On the 23rd we went to Epcot, we decided to park at the Magic Kingdom and get the monorail over (as we were planning to come back to MK to see the nightime shows...in the end we didn’t watch wishes which still breaks my heart lol).
I actually really enjoyed the trip to Epcot on the monorail simply because we’d never done it before and we got to see the park from an another perspective! Plus spending a few minutes in the nicely air conditioned monorail is lovely J
We got to Epcot around 12ish and headed straight to Spaceship Earth, as I’ve mentioned already we had a guest assistance card so rather than waiting the 40 minute wait we only had to wait 5! Disney are unbelievably accommodating J Again we had lunch at the electric umbrella, I don’t know why we always eat here, I think its maybe due to the time we arrive at the park and the fact that its the first food place that we come across!
We decided that after visiting Epcot on numerous occasions it was time to try mission space but we’re all wimps (and I HATE simulators cause they make me feel sick) that we would opt for the green mission! The ride was ok, not as good as I expected to be honest but still enjoyable!
We headed for Mousegear to do some souvenir shopping for both us and our family and friends at home J I love that shop! I also bought my sister (the one who requires the GAC) some Minnie Ears as I’d promised her for months that because she had been so brave and had so many operations that I would get her some...but only if she wore them all day J There’s always a catch!
We headed to Mexico as we hadn’t made it that far round the WS on our last trip, we did the ride and looked around the stalls. When we came out we got on the boat for Germany, we managed to snag the seats at the back of the boat which was nice! When we got off we continued around the world showcase towards Canada and my sisters collected more of the kidcot stamps! Thankfully on this occasion there were no tour groups!
After we’d finished at WS we headed towards the exit and took advantage of the photopass photographers! Heck if you’re going to buy the CD you need to have as many pictures as possible! We then hopped on the monorail and headed back to MK! When we got to MK my sister and stepdad decided they would head to the car to leave our shopping bags in it while my mum, other sister and I went into MK to grab a spot for the parade! We got there around 7.30ish and staked our claim on the corner of main street USA, just outside Mickey’s emporium. The parade was amazing as usual, there’s just nothing like the magic of all those floats, the music, the lights and being in MK=BLISS! We were all pretty tired and my mums bloodsugar was starting to drop so we missed out on Wishes and headed back to the car! We said bye to the MK but as always we would be spending our last day there so it wasn’t too heartbreaking J

The 24th was spent at Typhoon Lagoon (well some of it anyways) we took this day to relax! We got to TL around 10.30 yet still managed to get chairs beside the big clock which was great considering the tour groups and since its the first set of chairs that people usually come across! The wave pool seemed to be broken for around an hour when we were there which was a bit disappointing but to be honest I was just happy to be there soaking up the rays J We floated around the lazy river for a while, it was pretty busy which I guess was maybe due to the wave pool being down. We had a bite of lunch at the leaning palms and then headed off to do some shopping at the Premium Outlets.
On the 25th we went to Discovery Cove and the 26th we spent packing to go home, the weather was too bad to go anywhere that day-crazy crazy storms!
The 27th was sadly our final day in Disney! I love and hate the final day, I hate it because obviously you know you’re leaving but I love it simply because it makes you really appreciate everything you experience that day!
We arrived early as we wanted to see the opening show (we’d never seen it before). We got there around 8am and waited! I really like the little touches of leaving hoola hoops out to keep the kids entertained and the Mickey Mouse head made out of Mickey Mouse heads! The opening was great but it was a lot shorter than I expected (when I say that I don’t know what I ACTUALLY expected). When we got inside we went to check how much the photopass CD would be and then we met Pinocchio, my stepdad decided to try to ‘pick’ Pinocchio’s nose which gave us all a little giggle and Pinoc didn’t seem to mind! As we walked up main street the trolley arrived, we stood and watched the performers (something I always enjoy) who were great as usual. They always create a great atmosphere! We then headed over to Splash, we only waited 5minutes and managed to get a log to ourselves J. We hit thunder mountain next and again waited five minutes then it was time for the Haunted mansion, the wait time read as 10 minutes but in reality it was a walk on! HM is definitely one of my favourite rides and the new touches are great!
We had the same luck with It’s a small world, it said a 10 minute wait but you could clearly see that it would be a walk on, when we got to snow white the wait was around 30minutes so with the help of the GAC we managed to get on within 3 minutes! When we came off Snow white we found the main street philharmonic playing some classic tunes! They were super, I don’t recall ever seeing them perform before this occasion but I hope to see them again! We then had a quick spin on Winnie the pooh, the teacups and the indy speedway, we also had the pleasure of meeting the white rabbit!
We had some lunch at cosmic rays, I love that place and my sister LOVES Sonny Eclipse! We headed into tomorrowland afterwards and went on Buzz and the Laugh Floor. We headed over to the castle in the hope of seeing the 3pm show however the sky was overcast so we didn’t know if the weather would hold out..it didn’t, the heavens opened and the show was cancelled so to console ourselves we went and got some ice cream. I can honestly say the cookies and cream ice cream that I had is the best I have ever tasted in my entire life, it actually makes me sad that I can’t get it in Northern Ireland! We sat and watched the world go by and then made the slow walk back down main street USA. We went and bought our photo pass CD, while my mum and stepdad were buying it a nice cast member began to play a trivia quiz with my sisters and I! It was great to see my sisters trying to beat each other but it showed us that our Disney knowledge could be greatly improved upon.
We then made the sad exit out of the park, instead of walking out the exit right beside the photo pass place (I clearly can’t remember the name) we walked to the other side simply so we could have one last glance at the castle and then it was all over L Until next time WDW (which looks to be veeeery far away).

Pre-trip report 7th July-29th July

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Pre-trip report *7th July-29th July*

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Pre-trip report 7th July-29th July