Trip Report Volunteering by Day, Park Hopping by Night! - January 2018 **COMPLETED**

Hi, forum friends! I have been back home for about a week . Finally got my photos edited, and both @Doc Disney and @prfctlyximprct are ahead of me, so I better get started.

Here's a breakdown of the trip...

Who? Me and my friend L, who was with me on my friends trip two years ago.
Where? All-Star Movies. We spent no time at the resort, so I don't regret this, but...well you'll see.
When? January 19-23
Why? To volunteer at Give Kids the World. We did two shifts in the morning, and headed to the parks early afternoon.

Here we are


Ok, so I'll get us started in the next post. Here we gooooooooo......

 

[riverside]

Your photos are great as always--but those Haunted Mansion ones--WOW!! They are AMAZING!!

 

[Longers]

Your photos are great as always--but those Haunted Mansion ones--WOW!! They are AMAZING!!

I agree those Haunted Mansion ones are wow - just wow

 

[Matt and Kelly]

Love that you guys were able to meet up!

 

[becca_]

Ahh I have a confession!!

When you and @blgauger were getting off the Peoplemover I saw you guys, I was getting on!! It was too late to say hi but I sooo regret it now!! Maybe our paths will cross again someday...

 

[Songbird76]

Ok, so when we left off, L and I were on the monorail...the very slow monorail. It took us the full 20 minutes to get all the way around, so we arrived right at our reservation time, where @Doc Disney and her mom were already waiting. Oops! I can't remember if @blgauger has posted about this yet, but she somehow thought we were going to Chef Mickey's, so she went there first . Thankfully it didn't take long at all for her to make it over to the Grand for our dinner at 1900 Park Fare.



I had hoped @prfctlyximprct and her friend could join us, but we realized early on in the planning that there wasn't time. They really had a whirlwind of a trip and a long character meal didn't fit in.

But me, Megan and Brittany were all able to make it...yay! I got to see them both back in August, and I was super excited to hang out with them again.

We got checked in and I was immediately fearful that this restaurant choice had been a bad idea. There were kids running around hollering all over the place. That little foyer area was a nuthouse. The dining area looked a little nutty too, so I was worried.

Thankfully the hostess led us to a table in the very back corner. Whew...crisis averted.

Prince Charming was already close, so we met him first (before we got food if I remember right). A very nice lady next to us offered to take the photo for us. We used my camera for this one, but the rest are on Megan's camera, so you'll have to read her trip report to see them I'll drop them in here eventually.




Charming was ok...I didn't know what to say to him. He didn't linger too long thankfully. I was hungry! We all went to the buffet, and I didn't take a picture until my last plate. I was too caught up in the excitement!

I tried a little of almost everything and really enjoyed the meal! The cold salads were my favorite. The only one I didn't like was the kale one. I also really enjoyed the Mongolian beef. I was really impressed with the food to be honest. I didn't expect so much variety!



My last plate...the few things I hadn't tried, including the strawberry soup! We thought it was missing, but thankfully Brittany spotted it toward the end of the meal. I put the gummy bears in on Megan's suggestion, and it was yummy! That was my only dessert, if you can believe it.

So I mentioned the lady next to us. She was there on a solo trip. Her husband gifted her the trip for her birthday, because she wanted to experience Disney without being on her son's schedule. She was so joyful and having such a great time. Her enthusiasm really rubbed off on all of us! She said she's a part time travel planner and an active user of another Disney forum, so she definitely loved Disney as much as all of us. Before she headed out, she took a selfie with us and texted it to me. She was so fun! She later told me that she was starting to feel lonely and meeting us perked her up

View attachment 262132

We didn't stay too much longer because we had a park to get to! We did stop for a photo with Cindy's glass slipper.




I am so glad we did this character meal! The stepsisters were definitely the highlight. Anastasia was a HOOT. I would probably do this again in the future with kids. I can't see my husband enjoying it though

Up Next: More WDW Magic fun!

I'm so glad you enjoyed this meal! How weird there were kids running around...we were right in front of the buffet and didn't experience that at ALL! It was our first ADR of our trip and I had booked it for our arrival night so we didn't have to use park tickets on a less than full day. It was one of our favorites and the stepsisters were hilarious. My dd had one of those shirts with the exposed shoulder, and one of she sisters said it looked like the mice had been chewing on her shirt, and she blamed Cinderella for feeding them, and she hinted to my son that she was single and asked if he was married. He was a bit confused because he was only 8 and didn't realize it was a joke, but we all had such a blast. I hadn't heard the tip of putting gummy bears in the strawberry soup...next time, I guess.
And how sweet that the lady next to you was so happy to spend time with you all. This is why I don't think I could do solo trips...I need someone to share the experiences with so I'm not lonely.

 

[blreinsel]

Looking at your dinner photos makes me so happy yet so sad! I wish I could of joined you but I couldn’t convince my friend to do two characters meals in a day! What kind of world does she want me to live in?!

Maybe we can photoshop me in LOL

Lovely meet up, y’all look so beautiful and HAPPY!!!

Wish you could have joined us, but that just leaves something for next time. We could totally photoshop you into these ones in the meantime...

I love this @prfctlyximprct

I think it was about 30 minutes? @blgauger, does that sound right?

Yes ma'am. Even though it was posted at 15.

Loveeeeee this picture.

When you and @blgauger were getting off the Peoplemover I saw you guys, I was getting on!! It was too late to say hi but I sooo regret it now!! Maybe our paths will cross again someday...

Noooooooo! We were so close! Next time for sure.

 

[Doc Disney]

I hadn't heard the tip of putting gummy bears in the strawberry soup...next time, I guess.

Probably because I'm likely the only weirdo to think of doing it

 

[Doc Disney]

P.S. hopefully this week I will get the dinner pictures up

 

[sheriffwoody]

WOW, we are just catching up on your trip report, great photos.

Thanks so much! Glad you're following along

I sure do look like I loved Happily Ever After! Ha!

Our meet up was too short but I have faith the Disney Gods will bring us all together again in one way or another Wdwmagic trip I’m plotting

Loved your orange bird photo bomb on pirates! You must know exactly where that camera is!

AND THOSE LANTERN PICS! I’m so sad I forgot about this photo op this really is such a cool photopass picture! Maybe next trip I’ll remember

Lastly, I’m glad your haunted mansion ride was delayed, your pictures make me feel like I’m there in my doom buggy.

We really do need to meet-up again! I love getting together with fellow obsessed Disney people
I've passed up that lantern picture SO MANY TIMES because I knew my husband wouldn't wait with me, so I had to take advantage this time. L is way more up for those things!

I was happy to get the opportunity to shoot more on Haunted Mansion! It's hard to get anything useable when it's moving.

Your photos are great as always--but those Haunted Mansion ones--WOW!! They are AMAZING!!

Thank you! It's normally impossible to get those

I agree those Haunted Mansion ones are wow - just wow

Thank you!

Ahh I have a confession!!

When you and @blgauger were getting off the Peoplemover I saw you guys, I was getting on!! It was too late to say hi but I sooo regret it now!! Maybe our paths will cross again someday...

NO way!!!! I wish you'd hollered at us! (also I'm realizing I say "holler" a lot ). We totally would have waited for you to get off the ride.

 

[sheriffwoody]

Day 2 of volunteering at Give Kids the World started (thankfully) later than day 1. We didn't have to be there until 8:30, so we got to sleep a little more. I stopped by the All-Star Movies gift shop as we were leaving so I could get some quarters. I got more at the village (we made friends with the guy working the gift shop), but we needed some for the trip there.

Our first shift was working Ms. Merry's Enchanted Tea Party.


Ms. Merry is Mayor Clayton's wife, and they are kind of the "mascots" of the village. Mayor Clayton is basically the village's Mickey Mouse...except no one knows who he is until they get there. But everyone loves him once they meet him! We sadly didn't meet him this trip.

Families came in for tea and little snacks, then some Give Kids the World pricesses came in to give a tea party etiquette lesson. When Ms. Merry comes in, they try to teach her the etiquette and she does some silly things...it's cute. Kind of lame for older kids, but the littles like it. The tea set-up is SUPER cute.

We had a little bit of a break after the two tea parties, so we went to see our friend from the gift shop. I took some new headshots of him. I just messaged him a couple days ago to make sure he got them, only to find out he's moving . Hopefully he got a few weeks use out of the headshot! He is a big fundraiser for the village, so he might still be able to use the picture for stuff, who knows. I also found out from his instagram that he was a performer at Disney! He never brought that up even though we talked about how we were crazy Disney people. He was one of the ruffians on the Tangled float in FoF. I think he did some other things, but that was the main one I saw.

Our next shift was working as castle attendants. This was by far the most difficult and most rewarding shift.

I am not even going to try to describe the process for these stars, but each wish kid gets a star and they come into the castle during their trip to get it put on the ceiling. There's a fairy involved...it's a whole thing. We definitely didn't do the computer part right to log the stars, but hopefully we didn't mess anything up.


Some of the start. There are like 150,000 of them in there!

Walking into the most recent addition, the Star Tower.

Looking up in the Star Tower. This is where my boss's son's star is. I looked so hard with the binoculars, but couldn't spot it. It was hurting my eyes!

They are really adamant that we are not affectionate with the kids. It's just too risky to hug and love on kids that may have ports or something you could interfere with. But that doesn't stop the kids being affectionate! These two sweet little girls were playing in the castle and took a liking to me. One of them decided she wanted to braid my hair, so I ended up with this stylish do.


Father time. He plays music at the castle opening and closing.


Another character in the castle.


This guy holds the castle up. He's a little creepy


The wishing well. It makes sounds when you toss coins in (coins are provided, of course)


This is where you do the stars.


This is Buttons' tree. He's a white squirrel and he makes pillows for the wish kids and their siblings. So for this we interact with Buttons, and one of us picks the pillows to send down the shoot for the kids (but shhhh, don't tell...Buttons definitely made the pillows , they didn't come from a closet). I liked this little interaction A LOT. I would love to do more of these. The stars are stressful to me, but the pillows were super fun.

This was our latest day at the village, and of course it was the day that our replacement was 15 minutes late getting there. So we got a late start getting back to Disney property. I didn't mind too much, I was still pretty confident we would make out Fast Pass.

Also I was EXHAUSTED at this point. Must power through!

Up next: Animal Kingdom!

 

[sheriffwoody]

We went straight to AK from the village. I don't think we stopped anywhere, and our parking spot was pretty far back. Oh well, we took the tram in!

I've seriously already forgotten all the details. I need to start writing these reports on the plane, then just fill in pictures later.

We arrived and saw this beauty!




Saw these cute little lanyards.

Our first FP was for Flight of Passage, but we had a bit of time, so we walked around, got some photos.




Ok I have a funny story here. If L reads this, I'm sure it'll embarrass her, but I'm going to tell it because it's something I'm sure has happened to a lot of people.

So of course when two friends who see each other a handful of times a year get together to spend 24 hours a day together for 4 days...there's going to be tension. It's just natural! People get on my nerves, I get on people's nerves...it's life. So when L was buying a water bottle, I reminded her we were going to eat where she could get a free cup of water. She took this as me judging her for buying a water bottle, and texted her mom about it...except she actually texted it to me. She told me what she did before I even saw the text, so I gave her my phone and let her delete it. I don't know how bad it actually was, but I don't really care. I am one of the most irritable people on the planet (almost every person annoys me if I'm with them for too long), so I get it. She was SO EMBARRASSED. I was trying to act like it was no big deal so she wouldn't feel bad. I think eventually when we got to Pandora, she was feeling better.

We were both hungry since we didn't really eat anything at the Village, so we got some Satu'li Canteen. We were in line and there was a family in front of us trying to use a discount they didn't have authorization for (cast member or something), and it was not looking like it was going to get resolved soon. I asked the cast member if we could go to another line, so L did. I just placed my order on the app real quick and stood off to the side while I waited. I got my food a few minutes before L did and grabbed us a table.


Beef, sweet potato hash, chimichurri. So. Good. And an ale because *drama*

We still have about 10 minutes before we could get in line. We looked around the shop and then just stood around. I took some random pictures.





We finally hopped in line



It was just as fun as always! The FP line took a while...at least 30 minutes. But I felt like I was gasping more than usual during the ride. It's so realistic! I did look around me a few times, and it was WEIRD. I don't guess I realized that multiple rooms of people were seeing the same screen. I thought it was just the 10 or 12 in the room with you...but no it's like Soarin, where they're all together.

After FoP, we decided to just leave Pandora and head to our next FP.




One of my absolute favorite views in Animal Kingdom!



We loved Everest! I would have ridden again, but L was a one-and-done on that one.

I feel like we did something else, but I can't remember. I thought we might stay for Rivers of Light, but both of use were feeling Epcot for the last few hours of the night. We thought about running over to Pandora to see it at night, but decided against it. L will be back in a year or two, so she can see it then.

So out we went!

Up next: Hopping

 

[sheriffwoody]

When we got to Epcot, we were able to park super close and walk in. Didn't take too long and we were here!




So majestic



I had NO IDEA what to expect with Festival of the Arts. I didn't look into it because I knew we didn't have much time there, and I just preferred to be ignorant. We stopped in the art store first and somehow got separated in that tiny store.



Took a picture of this book because I want it.



Got this from Pop Eats.

• Almond Frangipane Cake layered with Raspberry Jam and Chocolate (V) – $4.25

It was good but VERY rich. I only got it because I watch the Great British Baking Show and I wanted to try frangipane

Stopped at the new margarita stand next for this beautiful cucumber lime marg



It was fine, nothing special. L was occupied on her phone, so I just found a spot to balance my drink and cake. I ended up giving L the last bit of my cake because it was too rich to finish.




I stopped in Germany for my favorite caramel popcorn (duh!) and I think L continued on to look at more of the art? I can't remember for sure.




Took advantage of a couple of photo pass opportunities.




I guess we met back up here. L looked the wrong way for the Mona Lisa

We stopped at the stage to watch the Broadway series. We're both big musical fans, but since L is in a city with a theater, she goes a lot more than me, and she's a big Newsies fan, which is why she wanted to stop and watch Kara Lindsay. She was performing with her husband Kevin Massey. They were great! I haven't seen Newsies or Tarzan, but of course I know the Tarzan songs. Now if Ben Platt from Dear Evan Hansen was there...I'd have been sitting in the front row. Or Daveed Diggs from Hamilton They're both incredible!



After the show, L decided to head back to Norway and ride Frozen. I wanted to find something savory to eat and enjoy Illuminations, so we parted ways.



I love this Donald painting!



I was all the way to UK and hadn't found anything at a booth that I wanted.

Thankfully I came across the Deconstructed Dish

• Deconstructed BLT with Crispy Pork Belly, Tomato Jam and Soft Poached Egg – $6.75

The picture is super unappetizing, but it was delicious! It was a very unique dish. I don't love pork belly, but it worked for me this night...maybe I was just really hungry.



L only waited about 30 minutes for Frozen since it was right at the time of Illuminations. Not bad!

I had to pee SO BAD right when Illuminations was starting, so I ducked in the bathroom by the Refreshment Port. I always wondered why that bathroom always has a long line, and I found out...there's only 2 stalls!!! What?! Since there was only a couple people in front of me, I waited, and when I walked out I just stood behind a cluster of people between food or art booths.




I love Illuminations! After the show, L and I met back up in MouseGear then walked out.



I'm glad we ended here! I enjoyed seeing some of the F.Arts stuff.

I expected traffic when we left, but we had no trouble getting out and back to All Star Movies. Epcot-resort was super convenient, and it was nice being able to park steps away from our room.

Also we had some chocolates waiting for us in the room with a personalized card. So nice! We saved them for breakfast

It didn't take long at all to fall asleep after our long day.

Up next: More at Give Kids the World!

 

[krisri18]

We went straight to AK from the village. I don't think we stopped anywhere, and our parking spot was pretty far back. Oh well, we took the tram in!

I've seriously already forgotten all the details. I need to start writing these reports on the plane, then just fill in pictures later.

We arrived and saw this beauty!




Saw these cute little lanyards.

Our first FP was for Flight of Passage, but we had a bit of time, so we walked around, got some photos.




Ok I have a funny story here. If L reads this, I'm sure it'll embarrass her, but I'm going to tell it because it's something I'm sure has happened to a lot of people.

So of course when two friends who see each other a handful of times a year get together to spend 24 hours a day together for 4 days...there's going to be tension. It's just natural! People get on my nerves, I get on people's nerves...it's life. So when L was buying a water bottle, I reminded her we were going to eat where she could get a free cup of water. She took this as me judging her for buying a water bottle, and texted her mom about it...except she actually texted it to me. She told me what she did before I even saw the text, so I gave her my phone and let her delete it. I don't know how bad it actually was, but I don't really care. I am one of the most irritable people on the planet (almost every person annoys me if I'm with them for too long), so I get it. She was SO EMBARRASSED. I was trying to act like it was no big deal so she wouldn't feel bad. I think eventually when we got to Pandora, she was feeling better.

We were both hungry since we didn't really eat anything at the Village, so we got some Satu'li Canteen. We were in line and there was a family in front of us trying to use a discount they didn't have authorization for (cast member or something), and it was not looking like it was going to get resolved soon. I asked the cast member if we could go to another line, so L did. I just placed my order on the app real quick and stood off to the side while I waited. I got my food a few minutes before L did and grabbed us a table.


Beef, sweet potato hash, chimichurri. So. Good. And an ale because *drama*

We still have about 10 minutes before we could get in line. We looked around the shop and then just stood around. I took some random pictures.





We finally hopped in line



It was just as fun as always! The FP line took a while...at least 30 minutes. But I felt like I was gasping more than usual during the ride. It's so realistic! I did look around me a few times, and it was WEIRD. I don't guess I realized that multiple rooms of people were seeing the same screen. I thought it was just the 10 or 12 in the room with you...but no it's like Soarin, where they're all together.

After FoP, we decided to just leave Pandora and head to our next FP.




One of my absolute favorite views in Animal Kingdom!



We loved Everest! I would have ridden again, but L was a one-and-done on that one.

I feel like we did something else, but I can't remember. I thought we might stay for Rivers of Light, but both of use were feeling Epcot for the last few hours of the night. We thought about running over to Pandora to see it at night, but decided against it. L will be back in a year or two, so she can see it then.

So out we went!

Up next: Hopping

Your Donald sweatshirt is so cute!

 

[krisri18]

When we got to Epcot, we were able to park super close and walk in. Didn't take too long and we were here!




So majestic



I had NO IDEA what to expect with Festival of the Arts. I didn't look into it because I knew we didn't have much time there, and I just preferred to be ignorant. We stopped in the art store first and somehow got separated in that tiny store.



Took a picture of this book because I want it.



Got this from Pop Eats.

• Almond Frangipane Cake layered with Raspberry Jam and Chocolate (V) – $4.25

It was good but VERY rich. I only got it because I watch the Great British Baking Show and I wanted to try frangipane

Stopped at the new margarita stand next for this beautiful cucumber lime marg



It was fine, nothing special. L was occupied on her phone, so I just found a spot to balance my drink and cake. I ended up giving L the last bit of my cake because it was too rich to finish.




I stopped in Germany for my favorite caramel popcorn (duh!) and I think L continued on to look at more of the art? I can't remember for sure.




Took advantage of a couple of photo pass opportunities.




I guess we met back up here. L looked the wrong way for the Mona Lisa

We stopped at the stage to watch the Broadway series. We're both big musical fans, but since L is in a city with a theater, she goes a lot more than me, and she's a big Newsies fan, which is why she wanted to stop and watch Kara Lindsay. She was performing with her husband Kevin Massey. They were great! I haven't seen Newsies or Tarzan, but of course I know the Tarzan songs. Now if Ben Platt from Dear Evan Hansen was there...I'd have been sitting in the front row. Or Daveed Diggs from Hamilton They're both incredible!



After the show, L decided to head back to Norway and ride Frozen. I wanted to find something savory to eat and enjoy Illuminations, so we parted ways.



I love this Donald painting!



I was all the way to UK and hadn't found anything at a booth that I wanted.

Thankfully I came across the Deconstructed Dish

• Deconstructed BLT with Crispy Pork Belly, Tomato Jam and Soft Poached Egg – $6.75

The picture is super unappetizing, but it was delicious! It was a very unique dish. I don't love pork belly, but it worked for me this night...maybe I was just really hungry.



L only waited about 30 minutes for Frozen since it was right at the time of Illuminations. Not bad!

I had to pee SO BAD right when Illuminations was starting, so I ducked in the bathroom by the Refreshment Port. I always wondered why that bathroom always has a long line, and I found out...there's only 2 stalls!!! What?! Since there was only a couple people in front of me, I waited, and when I walked out I just stood behind a cluster of people between food or art booths.




I love Illuminations! After the show, L and I met back up in MouseGear then walked out.



I'm glad we ended here! I enjoyed seeing some of the F.Arts stuff.

I expected traffic when we left, but we had no trouble getting out and back to All Star Movies. Epcot-resort was super convenient, and it was nice being able to park steps away from our room.

Also we had some chocolates waiting for us in the room with a personalized card. So nice! We saved them for breakfast

It didn't take long at all to fall asleep after our long day.

Up next: More at Give Kids the World!

Love the Great British Baking Show! My youngest son has one of the cookbooks because he's seen every episode at least 5 times! I think his goal in life is to be Paul Hollywood or Bobby Flay. Lol

 

[sheriffwoody]

Love the Great British Baking Show! My youngest son has one of the cookbooks because he's seen every episode at least 5 times! I think his goal in life is to be Paul Hollywood or Bobby Flay. Lol

Oh my gosh, I'm in love with that show! My husband doesn't get it, but it's just so pure I'm not a big baker myself...I make pumpkin cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning, but that's about it. But this show totally inspires me.

 

[krisri18]

Oh my gosh, I'm in love with that show! My husband doesn't get it, but it's just so pure I'm not a big baker myself...I make pumpkin cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning, but that's about it. But this show totally inspires me.

We started making macarons because everyone on the show seems to be able to whip them out no problem, it's totally doable! Going to attempt a Swiss roll for Easter

 

[Songbird76]

Up next: Hopping

I'm so sorry...but these pictures are cracking me up because you are standing the same way in every picture and my eyes are just drawn to L's shirt and where it's pointing...This way to the magic.

 

[MinnieM123]

Oh my gosh, I'm in love with that show! My husband doesn't get it, but it's just so pure I'm not a big baker myself...I make pumpkin cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning, but that's about it. But this show totally inspires me.

Another vote here for that show. I also don't cook much, but enjoy watching the creations by the chefs. And one thing I really like is how the judging chefs are gracious and give construction criticism--no snark. It's a really pleasant show.

On another topic--I like the Donald shirt you were wearing!! The colors also went nicely with your mouse ears--kinda like an "ensemble"!

 

[sheriffwoody]

We started making macarons because everyone on the show seems to be able to whip them out no problem, it's totally doable! Going to attempt a Swiss roll for Easter

I have only attempted them once and it was a disaster! Maybe I should try again. A friend of mine makes them all the time, so she could be my instructor

 

[sheriffwoody]

I'm so sorry...but these pictures are cracking me up because you are standing the same way in every picture and my eyes are just drawn to L's shirt and where it's pointing...This way to the magic.

haha that was intentional!

Another vote here for that show. I also don't cook much, but enjoy watching the creations by the chefs. And one thing I really like is how the judging chefs are gracious and give construction criticism--no snark. It's a really pleasant show.

On another topic--I like the Donald shirt you were wearing!! The colors also went nicely with your mouse ears--kinda like an "ensemble"!

Yes the lack of snark is what I love! They are sarcastic sometimes and the criticize, but they are never just outright mean. Plus the contestants always form a camaraderie that I love.

Thank you! Yes I love finding stuff to wear with my Donald ears They're my fav!