TS Andrea Trip

Hi all! So, our most recent trip had us leaving the panhandle of Florida on Friday, May 31st, and coming home the following Friday, June 7th. We are seasonal passholders, so the 7th was the last day before summer blockout dates. I will make a post for each day over the next few days.

Day -1: Friday we left late in the afternoon for a 7 hour drive. With food and bathroom breaks we arrived in Orlando well after 1am local (we are Central time in the western extremes of Florida's panhandle) at my sister's place. Hugs, kisses, and gossip ensued.

Day 1: Boating at Cocoa Beach. Why is this Disney relevant? Because of this:

Unfortunately we were not on this boat. It was fun to see it set out though!

After boating it was off to Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort for some swimming and dinner. Off to bed early enough to make it to DHS for SWWs the next day.

 

[englanddg]

Pics no workey...?

 

[Zipadeelady]

Pics no workey...?

I'm not an LOL person but....LOL LOL LOL . Thanks England!

 

[ChevisMickey]

Gotta keep you guessing! I'll fix it tomorrow. Triple OT wore me out.

 

[ChevisMickey]

Hopefully that worked. Weird, but they came up on the same computer today even though I took them straight from Dropbox without loading them on the computer (work pc). Let me know if this still isn't showing, although it should since I redid it the way I load Pics of the Day photos this time.

 

[ChevisMickey]

Day 2: (Hopefully I get the pictures posted right the first time

In Hollywood Studios just after eight so we missed the show (I blame the trams and not us being slow getting out of the room ). The dark side greeted us.

First stop, hanging out at Toy Story Midway Mania!

Then down Sunset Boulevard to the thrill rides.

With those out of the way we focused on Star Wars Weekends events. An Ewok's Tale: My Short Story starring Warwick Davis was very entertaining. Check it out if/when he appears next year! A quick lunch break followed by Stars of the Saga with Warwick, James Arnold Taylor, Tim "It's a trap!" Rose, and a special appearance by Biff Tannen a.k.a. Thomas F. Wilson. Of course the pre-show was funny and entertaining with TK-Bob and his stormtrooper unit.

After that we missed the other two shows (and didn't even see Ashley Eckstein this trip!) this time. Rode Star Tours:

Took our required drawing class at the Animation Academy:

and met some SW characters:

(The Tusken Raider tried to steal Darth Maul's thunder)

It rained a little postponing the Hyperspace Hoopla for a short while, after which we left with the threat of more rain. Star Wars Weekends are always fun. Go if you can next year!

Up next, Day 3, relaxation day.

 

[ChevisMickey]

Day 3: Relaxation Day.

We woke up after a good night's sleep to head to Sea World's Aquatica water park where we lounged and relaxed on the lazy river. No premium passes for us at Disney, and we had Sea World passes from last year, so we went non-Disney for a few hours.

Lunch at Chick-fil-A, and then back to our resort at Caribbean Beach.

Swimming and poolside games for a while...

Dinner outside the park, and then we headed over to the Polynesian for Dole Whips, the Electrical Water Pageant, and MK fireworks.

After that we went back to the room to get ready for EPCOT on Tuesday!

 

[ChevisMickey]

Day 4: EPCOT

Up early to EPCOT so we could get on Soarin' and Test Track. I noticed on TT 2.0 that the time they alot for designing went quicker, which is good for the queue, but not as good when you are rushing through the options. Because of this my son made us wait while he designed another car at the end of the ride where they have three stations for this.

Between the two rides we were back to Soarin' to use our fastpasses way at the start of our hour return time, so we ate a good 'brunch' at the Seasons. We were the last to be served breakfast for the morning, so we had a decent amount of food heaped on to our plate.

After the two thrill rides our daughter had to go on Nemo, so "Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine."

A quick stop at Club Cool for some refreshments so my daughter could dance to the music, and then off to lunch with some of my family that lives in Orlando. My daughter and great niece had fun at Via Napoli:

Lunch was ok. We are not part of the dining plan, so we split a pizza, which was decent, but I know I would have liked lunch more if we had individual plates. If you go and pay out of pocket expect to spend a decent dollar amount to get what you are wanting, and therefore will not be dissapointed. Next time we'll know better.

We cut back towards Mexico, stopping in all the shops and trying some of the sweets and treats like the caramel apple in Germany. Norway, and Maelstrom are a must, and I always stop to lament the sinking of the viking ship

Back around again to cover all of the World Showcase looking at all the fun things to buy from each country. We bought a few Doctor Who items in the United Kingdom, and then it was already after 7. We had late fastpasses to Test Track again, and went through a moderate line for it while storms were brewing outside. Unfortunately we missed the ride by just a few parties before they stopped it due to the weather. And we waited. And waited. Before we realized it, it was already after nine, so we left the line (EMH that night, so they might have still been able to run if the weather cleared up enough). We caught some of Illuminations from near the fountain, and then hit SE to wait to see if the weather was going to get better, or worse. When we were done it was still coming down. We were near the entrance. We were not prepared with any rain gear. We left.

Next day was Animal Kingdom and Downtown Disney.

 

[ChevisMickey]

Day 5: Animal Kingdom and Downtown Disney:

Wednesday was another slow day of strolling through DAK and DD. We stopped at the Wilderness Explorer station for a book and basic instructions. My DD now had something fun to do to fill the time (and we had fun also!). Our first clues led us to Dinoland and the Boneyard. Short line on Dinosaur started our rides for the day.

We posed for our shot on the ride:

Then a Spin and a Whirl before heading over to EE for our fastpasses.

Several stops were made for the Wilderness Explorer in the group...

...who happily explored the wilderness.

A couple of trails, and then we had a truck waitinf to take us to Kilimanjaro. The male lion did his best Simba:

(No, that's not a part of the rock on the top of the middle perch)

We squeezed in lunch while it rained on us at Yak & Yeti (counter service). Drip, drip, drip...

Back to EE and then over to KRR before the skies really opened up on us. We decided to leave, but at that point so had everyone else pretty much. We headed back to the room to dry off, and then we still went to DD for some grub and shopping. The crazy Florida weather gave us respite from the rain while we wandering the shops. Little did we know that TS Andrea was setting us up for a good day at MK the next day with the rain!

 

[Pooh'sBuddy]

That looks SO familiar.

 

[ChevisMickey]

That looks SO familiar.

There are only a few covered areas, lol. If you've been caught in the rain at DAK you may be looking at a very familiar view.

 

[ChevisMickey]

Day 6: TS Andrea's Magic Kingdom

By Wednesday evening we knew that TSA would be blowing through on Thursday. We live in Pensacola, so we've experienced many tropical weather systems. My first year in Florida gave me Hurricane Frederic with downed trees, camping in the living room by candlelight, and NO SCHOOL! That was in '79. Hurricane Opal and Hurricane Ivan were also memorable in the panhandle. Everything else, be safe and be ready. I would have advised anyone NOT from Florida to stay indoors and off the roads this day, however since we were on property we left it to Disney to establish dangerous conditions while in the park (I know, probably risky to rely wholly on them. They have been good with ride and park closures that I've seen, though, so...). I have to say the day was memorable in every good way. One of the best MK days ever.

It was already wet and did not look to let up when we arrived. Check your flip-flops folks, since the smooth bottomed ones will have many opportunities in the parks to slip and slide! In MK we go where we feel at the time, and then mold our day around what happens after we start out. We felt like maximizing the mountains, so we headed for Adventureland. With the rain it looked like most people were waiting to see how things would progress because for several hours there were no waits on anything we went on. BTMRR we went on twice, and Splash once before we decided to move on and take advantage of the low crowds.

JofLM was a walk-on, and we only waited a few minutes for our DD to see Ariel in her grotto.

(There were people, but we all just walked on through the queue to the ride)

I took my DS over to Space Mountain for some fastpasses, just in case, while the DW and DD rode Dumbo. A few more rides in that area and it was time for lunch (SM passes were a few hours out and the rain bands were further apart bringing in more people). We ate at BOG for dinner last November, and we wanted to try the lunch service, so we waited in the line. It went fast getting up to the restaurant, but slower once we were inside to order. There was space for many and more, so the hold-up seemed to be in just getting orders placed. No one felt rushed. The food came out at a decent pace and we were all dry enough with the CMs handing out merchandise bags at the door for all of the ponchos and umbrellas. We actually liked lunch better than the dinner we had in November, but they were still testing things out back then (and they have changed the menu since then).

My DD and I went to visit Belle while the DW and DS went on Space Mountain before we met up with them for our round. Man, the left side (as you walk in) tracks are brutal!

Space Ranger Spin, TTA, and the Laugh Floor before catching the parade.

You can see how cloudy, and rainy, the day was from these two pictures.

From the parade to Adventureland. Dole Whip time! Carpets, PotC, JC, and working through two Pirate's Adventure treks. Fun and quick game like Phineas & Ferb in EPCOT.

MORE TO COME LATER!

 

[Pooh'sBuddy]

Funny! We had lunch at Pinocchio's on Thursday. So close!

 

[ChevisMickey]

Day 6 continued:

From Adventureland we ventured over to Frontierland to TSI. The day was cloudy still, but the rain had stopped, and the temp was still Florida, but not bad with the wind from the storm. Walking around, and playing around, TSI was fun in the caves and the fort. Usually we avoid the island since it is often too hot, and we are too tired, for extra walking.

View from outside the fort toward BTMRR.

We wandered past the HM along the new walkway to (Classic) Fantasyland for PPF, IaSW, and the Carousel. It was nearing dark, so it was time for the HM, which we like to go on at night. In the doors, through the stretching room, and into the ride queue, and it stops. We wait a few minutes, as the Doombuggies tend to stop occasionally for various reasons, and still nothing. Finally after 10 minutes or so, a CM behind us at the exit told everyone at the back of the ride that the ride was experiencing difficulties, and they were asking folks to leave, and giving out a return fastpass. Almost immediately after he said this the ride started moving again. Many people turned back to the line, but it soon became apparent that they were not loading folks, and the CM at the exit re-emphasized that the ride was having difficulties. Turns out the fastpass was an 'anything' fastpass good through that Saturday. Bad news was that when we left MK that night we were not returning to the WDW parks this trip.

We had dining reservations at The Plaza. Good food at the same rate as the counter service joints, but a table service place (make a reservation!). Great desserts! The ELP passed by while we were dining. It is not a good view, but still a view of it. We were catching it later anyways, so that was not a big deal. When we finished it was time for Celebrate and Wishes, so we planted ourselves in front of the castle as close as we could go. Great shows, as always.

Instead of bugging out, we went to ride a few more rides in the last 40 minutes, and use that anything fastpass. We still needed to get our HM fix. It was back up and working, with no line, so we walked on for a scary good time. We were down to 10 minutes, we had an anything fastpass, and we had to use it! Just to be sure, we opted for BTMRR again. We did not really need to use the fastpass, as it was walk-on for either side, but we already had.

Alas, our day was done. We made our was out savoring every sight and sound, which included the last ELP run.

Our final half-day in Orlando we spent at DD, again, and Sea World. A short brief to finish our trip report tomorrow.

 

[ChevisMickey]

Day 7: The end... Until next time!

Our last day was spent visiting with family. My dad and brother (and his family) live right out the back gate with a view of MK fireworks from their place, so DD is always a convenient place to meet when we visit. Shopping, another Earl lunch, Wii U traveling circus, and then it was time for Sea World before hitting the road.

We only had a few hours for Sea World, but we did do a lot while there. The new Penguin pen was open, and we had front-of-the-line passes, so we tried it out:

The ride did not fit the exhibit, and it was freezing (PENGUINS!) in the pen area, so we were underwhelmed overall. We were able to ride the major coasters, but failed to see any shows, and then we had to get on the road.

Despite a busy half-day, the drive home felt short and quick. We stopped in G'ville for some Boston Market and had a great experience there. Now, time to continue planning for our October or early November trip!