nursemelis374

What a cool event! Thanks for sharing this report. This sounds amazing! I'm sure the park appreciated your good-natured attitude. Many of us would do anything to spend the night in our favorite theme park!

I love Disneyland so much but I would say Central Florida hands down for the overall theme park experience. Am I the only one that thought Sea World Orlando was super ghetto? The Atlantis ride was cool but the rest of the park was pretty bad.

Totally agree about that castle projection show. We were forced to watch it and it ended up being absolutely delightful!

Excited to see a traditional, old-school TPR style report! I totally agree about the runners! I have walked a ton of 5Ks. I did the Disneyland one this year (not again, not worth the money) and I was dying as people were cheering for us at the end and saying, "You're AMAZING!" and "Don't give up!" Really? Most of America can walk a few miles, even with no training. It was weird and I only noticed it there. Also, I took my medal off as soon as I got it. Looking forward to more!

You had me at log ride backstage tour! Maybe I can take a new profile picture since my current one is from the mine ride tour. I also want to encourage everyone to try the new homemade churros at Knott's. They are SOOOOOO good!

I am glad to hear the news for APs as I will be getting a WDW AP soon for my summer trip. I am more and more liking the idea of being able to reserve FP ahead of time! At first I thought the bands were lame but when I think about it, I don't like to always a bring a purse with me and my DL AP falls out of my pocket or bra all the time.

I kid you not, yesterday as my dad was waking up from anesthesia for a minor procedure, I asked him what he was was thinking and he said, "Never go on a Carnival Cruise again!" We did some years ago and had no problems but I thought the TPR crowd would appreciate it. What is interesting to me is that many people I know have not made the connection that many of the recent problems are Carnival-related. They are just saying that they are staying away from cruises overall. On a happier note, 7 of my girlfriends and I just booked a big birthday celebration for this October on Freedom of the Seas! So excited to get back on that ship again!

I was unable to get T Rex at all for dinner on any of our 5 nights back in October 2011. I tried booking it for our June 2013 trip and could only get dinner at 9 at night or later. I always go on as soon as they open reservations, though I believe it was via phone in 2011. I also tried for Ohana on multiple nights for our 2011 trip and it was always unavailable with not even an option for late night or early dinner. We tried standby 2 nights and they were not taking anybody for standby. I will say that we easily got Via Napoli as well as Primetime Cafe for this summer. It isn't really that upsetting to me as I don't think any of the food is that great. I would LOVE to be able to buy more FastPasses, especially since we are staying offsite this summer.

I do like the idea of being able to pay with the bracelet, not having to carry tickets and Fastpasses around and having things interact with you. I still have so many questions though. I feel so inpatient since I am taking 3 newbies for a week this summer and am obsessively planning!

Thanks for the info on the app! I just downloaded it. I am taking 2 kids next summer for a long trip and this should be helpful. Back on topic: Carthay Circle and Cafe Orleans are pretty much the only places I like to eat at DL. Nothing in DTD is appealing to me. I would trade Earl of Sandwich for the Wolfgang Puck Cafe in a heartbeat! That place is freakin' good.

I have not been super impressed with this place on my visits to WDW and Vegas but I am also glad there is another quick service option in DTD. People that waited in those lines are crazy. There is a Which Wich in Fullerton with no lines or even better, Pieology. The best fast casual pizza ever.

I can't believe this was your first time at the Food and Wine Festival! Great report.

Just catching up on this. Great trip report and thanks for posting! I am taking my nieces to Orlando for the first time next summer to do the parks but I'm thinking Disney cruise may be perfect in 2014!

I think it may have been outshone (is that a word?) by Carsland in general. I think Carsland itself as a whole is what is being talked about. RSR is really good but it did not blow my mind like Indy did when it opened.

I forgot to add: I thought the land was awesome! I was there with total non-Disney people and they felt the same way. I saw the movie Cars because this was coming and loved it. We bought a bunch of Cars stuff and actually waited in line to see Mater, Red and Lightning McQueen. I enjoyed RSR too but the town is what got me. The best part was watching my 3 year-old nephew with Mater. I go to the DLR so much that I had forgotten what it is like to see it through newbies and a child's eyes.