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.

We were at DCA last Thursday. If I would have been there by myself or only with other APs I would have just gone to the ride immediately or done single rider but we had a large party including a 3 year old so FP was our best bet. We got in line to enter the park from the Grand Californian at 0720 and were let in the park at about 0750. We raced over to the FP line for RSR and were near Playhouse Disney. We got to the front of the line near 0830. My friend and I got the FP while everyone else enjoyed Cars Land. We waited about 40 minutes for the FastPass. Our return time was 1:30-2:30. One CM I spoke with while in line said the FP have been gone by 0930 and you need to be in line by about 0830 to get one. The ride had been down most of the early entry so it may have been even longer since more people probably wanted a FP for later. We went to use our FP around 5, waited in line for about 25 minutes and were evacuated. We ate dinner at Flo's and watched someone being evacuated from the ride by the medics. We later heard she had a stroke. They did give us a return FP. The ride opened again around 7:30 so we went back. The FP line was well down the main drag of Cars Land. This time it took us about 50 minutes. It was partially because the line was longer (many people with FP that were unable to use earlier in the day) and also because we took my mom's scooter through the line with us this time and the special line they put us in for people needing help was much longer. It was worth it though because my mom could sit in line with it when she needed to and he also could take her time loading. I don't feel sorry for guests that show up at 10 and can't get a FP. A small amount of research tells you that geting to parks at opening is always best and getting a FP for the best rides first thing is also best. When people were checking into the hotel they were telling them to get to DCA very early and get a FP right away, even if you had to wait in line. I remember when Indy opened and the lines were 3 hours the first couple of weeks. This was even before the days of FP and when there were not as many APs. I am grateful for the FP because we would not have been able to ride RSR without it. One thing I did notice was that they were being very accomodating of letting people get out of line for restroom breaks, food, etc. They also had people selling things throughout the queue. It is a lot to ask of people to hold it for 3 hours and I thought this was nice.

I donated before I saw the map thing so I will leave that for someone else. I am going to try and keep on giving since this is such an amazing organization. I read a blog about a little girl that had cancer and did a Make-A-Wish trip involving Give Kids the World. This is a link to the first day that gives a pretty good idea of the actual place and what they do. It is amazing and worth every penny! They even do a weekly Christmas celebration since these kids might not make it that long. http://www.riggsfamilyblog.com/2009/10/day-one-abbys-make-wish-trip.html I have seen other reports about kdis with serious health needs and what they provide them is amazing!

I love this report because of the beautiful pictures and the ride looks awesome! I hate this trip report because it makes me want to go to Europa again so badly!

This is such a great organization and I am so happy to see TPR participating. I am unable to do the actual event but I am donating! Looking forward to seeing all the PTRs from the day!

I have heard nothing but good things about the VIP tour at Universal and this confirms it! Great TR and looking forward to more!

This is all crazy and sad, but in no way deters me from wanting to take another cruise. I'd even go on Carnival again! One thing I noticed is that people went back to their staterooms to change their shoes or something but didn't grab passports or credit cards. I have always thought that if we were in a true emergency I would at least grab my passport and cards and jam them in my pocket. If nothing else, they can easily identify my body!

Great TR! Gardaland was one of my favorite parks on the TPR trip! Loved the Flying Island. Also, cute dress! Glad to see another TPR lady wearing dresses to a park!

I am for it. I like Harry Potter and thought the WWOHP was awesome. I have said this before but it was basically the only reason I went to Universal Orlando again. I would be totally cool with them getting rid of everything on the upper lot and replacing it with Harry and the gang.

I just left behind my Blackberry days and got the iPhone 4S last week and I am in love! Glad to see the info and I am ordering one of those battery cases now . . . . Thanks for all the info in this thread!

That turtle movie was so cute! I had no idea what was going on but I was totally crying! The 4D theater they have is so nice.