Disneygurlz do Disney-PTR WDW August 19-25

[disneygurlz2s]

Since getting home late Friday night, I have been exhausted and sick with a cold or sinus or something, so it's taken me a few days to get started on this.

 

Sammi and I spent an awesome 7 days at my (now our) favorite place in the World, Walt Disney World. It's been 5 years since our last visit there, and a lot has changed. New rides and attractions, of course, but also the fact that Samantha is now big enough to ride them all!

 

Our trip started with a great flight on AirTran from Dayton. Dayton, Ohio's airport may be billed as an International airport, but it looks and feels more like a small town bus station. Getting in and around is easy and our flight was on time and very pleasant.

 

When we arrived at MCO, we were quickly directed to the line for Disney's Magical Express bus service to our resort. My first thought when we rounded the corner at the airport was "OMG!!". There must have been 100 people in line to check in. I thought for sure we would be standing an hour or more, but we were on our way in just 10 minutes!! Way to go Disney. The motorcoach ride over to All Star Movies was good, but the onboard DVD system had no DVD to play, so instead we listened to our bus driver give information in at least 3 different languages.

 

Once we reached the resort, we were to hook up with my friend, and fellow Disney fanatic, Sandy, who was meeting us there for a few days. Sandy text messaged me and said she was running late, but offered no details... what a surprise it was for me when she walked in two hours later with her daughter, Jen, a DC attorney, in tow!

 

Our first few hours were spent waiting for our room and Sammi was eager to check out the arcade and gift shop, and start spending her money. Once our room was ready, we decided to go for a swim, while Sandy and Jen went to check out the Disney Vacation Club where Sandy and her husband come every year at least once or twice. While Sam and I were getting ready for the pool, a baggage person showed up with our luggage. I love Disney's Magical Express...it rocks!

 

After a swim, Sam and I wandered around the resort a bit, and were disappointed to see that many of the smaller character statues that she loved so much when we were there in 2001, are now gone. Anyone out there know why?? I am assuming too many people climbing on them, etc... we were disappointed. The All Star Movies is still really nice, especially for people like us who don't plan to spend much time in the room, but there are signs that it needs some refurbishment. Overall, though, I would stay there again in a heartbeat.

 

For dinner we headed to Chef Mickey's for some awesome food, and desserts that were sooo yummy! Of course, the main reason we chose to go there was to get some lovin' from the rodents (eat your heart out, Elissa). Sandy told our waiter it was my birthday (which, technically, this was my birthday trip, but my birthday is actually not for about another 6 weeks) so when it came time for the celebration song, I got a cupcake, and a lovely hat made out of a napkin! LOL

 

We capped off our evening by cruising the monorail (and trying to do the "Please stand clear of the door" spiel in Spanish) and stopping at the Polynesian for the Electrical Water Pageant (the boat dock near the main pool is an excellent spot) and then checking out the Grand Floridian. I had never been inside the GF, and was blown away by how gorgeous it is. They had a small orchestra playing Disney songs from the balcony and it made it such a fun way to end our evening......

 

Next up, Magic Kingdom, but for now, here's some photos of the first day:

We capped off the evening with a little dance to the orchestra!

Orchestra at the Grand Floridian

"Por favor, montenga, alejadro de las puertas" or "Please stand clear of the door"

Awesome minature desserts at Chef Mickey's included little Mickey ears made of chocolate atop an Oreo cookie...yum!

...complete with a party hat?!?!

An early birthday celebration....

Jen gets some rodent love

Time for Chef Mickey's

They have a little water play area in the courtyard

We were in the Herbie the Love Bug section of the resort

All Star Movies pool

Sammi's first stop...the gift shop

Enjoying XM satellite radio aboard our flight

Sammi had a little breakfast while waiting for our plane

[mmousefan]

Wow I wish I can make a trip to WDW in the near future. It really looks that you had a great time.

 

But this just made me laugh so hard: "Por favor, montenga, alejadro de las puertas" or "Please stand clear of the door" Im not making fun of you its just the way you spelled it.

 

I really apreciate that you try to writte it in spanish but the correct way to do it goes like this "por favor, mantegase alejado de las puertas".

 

Im really looking forward for the next updates!!!!

 

Joel "I so want to go to WDW" Saury

[disneygurlz2s]

^^ Yeah, I knew I spelled that wrong, but that's part of what made it so funny... we were sooo trying to recite it correctly... most of the time we would just yell "Oscar de la Hoya!" It became our catchphrase for the trip!

[SharkTums]

Still waiting for more pictures!!!!

 

Mmmm Rodents!

[Jumboshrmp]

I believe it's "Por favor montenganse alejado de las puertas", but it could be "burrito dorito quesadilla" for all I know.

 

No, I don't speak spanish, I just remember random things like that really well.

 

And that pool looks awesome!

 

"Para sus seguridad, permanecer centados montendan sus manos, brazos, pies, y piernas, dentro del train"

 

I could be way off with that one but I think it's right for the most part.

[mmousefan]

I believe it's "Por favor montenganse alejado de las puertas", but it could be "burrito dorito quesadilla" for all I know.

 

 

"Para sus seguridad, permanecer centados montendan sus manos, brazos, pies, y piernas, dentro del train"

 

 

You spelled it almost rigth. Its like this: "Para su seguridad, permanecer sentados, mantenga sus manos, brazos, pies y pernas dentro del tren".

 

Oh and: burrito dorito quesadilla was soooo funny.

[socalMAN123]

Wow Shari, looks like your first day of Disney was pretty awesome! Glad you liked what Disney Magical Express does, it helped a lot for us. Well, I'm still sad that I can't get my Photo TR pics up because someone deleted them, but I think I'll enjoy yours!

---Brent

[disneygurlz2s]

OK... I have tried twice to add the next part of my trip report, and twice I have lost it just as I get done...wtf???

 

So, our first full park day was at my favorite park, Magic Kingdom. The Castle (aka "Mommy's Castle, as Sam calls it) looked gorgeous with all it's gold adornments. We were at the park a little after 8 am, to take advantage of the early hour being offered during Magic Kingdom's Magical Beginnings promotion. Even though it's being geared to preschoolers, all resort guests could enter beginning at 8.

 

Many of the characters were in Fantasyland riding and playing with the little ones. I wanted to join in on "Duck, duck, goose" but Sammi said that was embarassing. Oh well.

 

We made our way around Fantasyland, hitting most all the attractions except for Pooh. We all love the new Philharmagic, which is hands down the best of the four 3D+ movies at WDW. Sammi HATED Snow White. It scared her every bit as much as it did when she was 3 (the time she yelled out "Go away witch, leave MY HO alone"...get it? My HO, High HO.... it was pretty hillarious then, and still funny today).

 

Speaking of scary, we headed to Haunted Mansion... the best ride ever, but also scary to Miss Samantha, who reluctantly rode three times because she owed her mother for the last time we were there when she would not ride.

 

Our first meal on the free dining plan was at Columbia Harbor House. Our counter service meals were huge and more food than we could ever eat.

 

After lunch we rode the newly revamped Pirates, which is so cool, although Johnny Depp's Captain Jack is a far cry from the original audio animatronics and tends to distract you from the rest of this classic ride.

This was by far the longest line we'd seen in years for Pirates and clearly Disney is marketing the heck out of this franchise with a live Pirates show (Captain Jack was also dead on Johnny Depp...so much so Sam was insistent that it really was HIM) and tons of Pirates merchandise everywhere.

 

A mid-day visit to World of Disney was next, and on our monorail ride back to the car we got the chance to sit in the "cockpit". This was really a treat and the girls (everyone thinks Jen is a teenager, she's really a 26 year old government attorney!!) got their own little souvenir copilots licenses.

 

Our evening hours at MK were pretty crowded thanks to that night's extra magic hours... the line for wristbands was 10 minutes long. We had a delicious dinner (complete with rodents) at Liberty Tree and then saw Stitch's Great Escape. Most people hate this attraction, I know, but I have an 8 year old that thought this was the greatest attraction EVER!

 

We caught SpectoMagic and Wishes, and then capped off our EMH with another visit to Philharmagic, a spin on the Tea Party and Sammi's first flight on Space Mountain.

 

A magical 16 hour day!!!

 

Shari

A tea party is the perfect way to cap off a 16 hour day at Magic Kingdom!

Disneyland's castle, shown actual size

Dale says "Elissa who??"

You gotta love "mousekeeping"...they go the extra step to make a magical vacation

We returned to our room to discover that Sammi's stuffies had been watching tv in our absence

Sammi waits for alien spit

Stitch spits on unsuspecting World of Disney customers

view from the cockpit

Monorail copilots, Jen and Sammi

My Princess with Princess Ariel

Jen and Sammi get ready for Philharmagic

Sammi says this is Disney's scariest ride!

While Mickey and Co played "Duck, duck, goose" (shouldn't Donald be playing this??)

The Neverland Gang play "Peter says"

[socalMAN123]

I didn't appreciate the Magic Kingdom as much as I did the other parks (mainly because it is pretty much the same thing as DL), but it was still a very nice park. Nice photos and sounds like you had an awesome first day!

---Brent

[RCTfan]

I get to work Magical Beginnings next week, twice, and I'm really excited. I hear most people really enjoy themselves.

 

Liberty Tree Tavern is one of my favorite places to eat at on property. I find the food just delicious. But don't go too often, then its overindulgence. I learned my lesson, went twice in one week. Haha.

[BeemerBoy]

Nice job, Shari. Liberty Tree Tavern...mmmm You're actually the first person I've heard comment on the castle's gold ornaments. Does anyone else like 'em? Personally, I wish they'd leave it the way it looks in your avatar, but that's just me. Although, anything's better than the cake.

 

 

 

Scott "anxious for more WDW pics" B.

[mcjaco]

I too am awaiting more pics! The official "Matt goes to WDW in October" countdown begins in two days. I can't wait!

[KaliGirl]

I'm really enjoying your TR. I've never been to WDW, and you're giving me great incentive to get out there!

[disneygurlz2s]

Parks, Day 2-Animal Kingdom and MGM

 

One our second day of our 5 day pass we did a little park hopping. Sammi and I headed out bright and early for Animal Kingdom, while Sandy and Jen spent the first part of their final day at Magic Kingdom. I was pretty excited about AK, because I hadn't visited the park yet, and because it was the home of the most talked about new attraction, Expedition Everest.

 

We arrived at the park gates just before the rope drop. Minnie, Goofy and Pluto welcome visitors from an open-aired double decker bus, while Mickey magically appeared at the base of the Tree of Life to start the day. Once the rope dropped we followed everyone's suggestion and headed straight for the Safari.

 

We were quickly onboard our safari vehicle, but went quite a way before we saw any "exciting" animals. I have to say that while I enjoyed the Safari a lot, I was a little let down. I guess I expected to see dozens and dozens of animals, where in reality we saw maybe a dozen or two at the most. Those we did see (that I would call exciting) were very close to our vehicle, or at least appeared to be. The best was the male lion who sat atop his "Pride Rock" making some very funny noises. You could not help but to say "Mufasa"!! Overall this was a neat attraction, but not necessarily as good as all the hype makes it out to be.

 

From the safari we headed to Asia, where the line for EE was already 50 minutes long. We decided to grab some Fastpasses and return after our character breakfast. Enroute to breakfast we spent some time with Chester and Hester in their Dinorama area. This had to be one of Sam's favorite areas in all 4 parks. It's like Jurrasic Park meets your local county fair, with cheesy decor, classic music (like the Beach Boys) and some pretty fun rides and games. Primeval Whirl is the spinning wild mouse coaster, while Triceratop Spin is Dumbo disguised as a dinosaur. Both were good fun and no lines at this early hour. Of course, this area is also the only place in the Disney parks where you can play "midway" style games. We chose our family favorite, the wiffle ball game, and promptly won three stuffed dinosaurs that Sam named Chester, Hester and Nester. I had a bit of a "moment" when I realized that Monday (the 21st) was my brother in law's birthday. He passed away last month and his favorite game at PKI was always the wiffle ball game. He played (and won) for the last time just the week before he died. I told Sammi it was Karma that we won his game that day!!

 

On to breakfast at Restaurantosaurus, and the only "negative" experience we had with our dining plan/ADRs. When I checked in at the podium, I was told they were running up to 30 minutes behind, and word on the street was that some people had been waiting over an hour. It was getting pretty hot and we were getting hungry, but we waited patiently to be seated. Once inside this large restaurant, we were greeted promptly by our waitress who explained the buffet layout and said the characters would be back to our side of the restaurant soon. It was nearly 1/2 hour before we saw a duck or dog, and when we finally did, they rushed our table posing quickly for photos.

 

Since we planned several character meals over the week, I wasn't all that upset about it, but had this been our only character meal I would have been ticked. Clearly they were rushing to get people out (the sit down breakfast ends at 10:30 and at 11:30 they open as a McDonalds counter service stop), but this limited the character interaction.

 

With our bellies full what else do you do but ride Everest..... We were able to get two rides in that day, and all I can say is wow!! Smooth, fast, creative and fun..... and the Yeti is the best animatronic I have ever seen. Sam loved the ride, but covered her eyes at the Yeti! I, of course, could not help but do my best John Ratzenberger "Welcome to the Himalayas" every time Yeti was mentioned. (Has anyone else noticed, however, that while all the merchandise features a fluffy white Yeti, that the actual Yeti on the ride is reddish-brown?? WTF?).

 

We also had time to visit characters in Camp Minnie-Mickey, see "It's Tough to be a Bug" and the "Festival of the Lion King" (where Sammi was chosen to join in the show) before heading back to our resort to meet Sandy and Jen for an evening at MGM.

 

MGM had EMH that night, with the park staying open until 11:30. When we arrived we saw "Muppets" followed by "Voyage of the Little Mermaid" and The Great Movie Ride. Now, I have to be honest here... Great Movie Ride was hands down my favorite attraction back 16 years ago when I first visited MGM. Now, however, it seems to be in need of a makeover. For starters, with the exception of the Wizard of Oz and Mary Poppins, most kids have NO CLUE what those movies are, or who the actors are. Some scenes were not fully operational, and the gangster scene was performed without the fire. I think that it would be great if they kept the concept, but maybe updated it to feature movies and stars of today. Surely Disney could come up with a history of their own live action films (think "Splash" and "Armaggedon") that they could feature?

 

It was getting close to "Fantasmic" time, so we parted ways with Jen and Sandy, who had to get up at 3:30 in the am to catch their flights back home. Sam and I headed up Sunset Blvd to the Fantasmic stadium, grabbing some pizza along the way. Once inside the ampitheater, they announced that the theater was standing room only... But my Sammi headed straight down to the front and center rows, and we actually found available space on the bench in the third row!!

 

Our last attraction of the night was the one we had been talking about for months...Rock n Roller Coaster. A 40 minute standby line went quickly and before long I was embarassing my child by singing "Walk this Way" loudly through the queue. A little boy behind us told me I was weird. I thanked him, while Samantha just cracked up!! Another awesomely smooth and fun ride... and another great day at Disney!

 

When we got back to the room, Sammi laid down to watch tv and enjoy a snack of Cheetos.... but as the pictures show, she was just a little too tired.....

Once I stopped laughing (and taking pictures) I had to pry the Cheeto from her mouth!!

At Disney you get so tired you can't finish your bedtime snack....

A future Disney Star performs in a guest role at Festival of the Lion King!

First encounter with the alien...a very exciting moment indeed!

It's Tough to be Bug-Eyed!

For thos of you who wondered if this TR would ever have any coasters....here's a good one!

...and the Duck!

Nothing beats breakfast with the Mouse....

Posing with all her winnings!

Playing and winning at the Wiffle Ball toss!!

Prehistoric Dumbo!

Up close and personal with Mr. Long Neck

Not an audio animatronic!

Our first visit to Animal Kingdom

[disneygurlz2s]

WDW Parks, Day 3:

 

We didn't have a real "plan" for this day, except to start at EPCOT for EMH and then head to the Poly for breakfast at Ohana, with Samantha's two favorite characters, Pluto and Stitch.

 

We were off and running, arriving at EPCOT at 8, but security took forever. Unlike MK, AK and MGM, EPCOT didn't seem to have as many bag checkers or turnstiles open. Once we got inside, we headed straight for Test Track. After Test Track, we discussed the whether or not to take a chance on the mother of all Disney Death Machines, Mission Space. We decided not to ride-no orange line, no green line-we just decided to skip it altogether. Good thing, because with limited attractions open, the standby line for Soarin was over 40 minutes. We actually got on much more quickly than that, and wow! what a cool attraction. It really is a sensory experience not to be missed!

 

The Living Seas was not yet open, so we passed on Turtle Talk and headed back to the main gate, riding Spaceship Earth along the way. By the time we had done SE, Sammi was ready to bust. There was breakfast with her alien waiting and we needed to go NOW. On the monorail between the TTC and the Poly we were able to copilot again, which was awesome!

 

At the Poly we "cousins" were seated at an awesome table overlooking the volcano with my castle in the distance. Our waitress was a sweet girl named Melissa, who, while really nice, didn't move too fast. In fact, while she offered me a Smoothie (included on the DDP) she never brought the fresh fruit or sweet breads that other tables had. I couldn't figure out if we didn't get those because of being on the DDP, or if she just forgot, but really it wasn't that big a deal as we had plenty to eat. Mickey waffles, eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes. Yum-O! There was plenty of character time, with Pluto trying to help himself to our breakfast and Sam joining in the character parade around the restaurant.

 

We decided to head to Magic Kingdom for the afternoon, and we played there until around 5, when we headed back to EPCOT. At this point, we were both exhausted. We had put in an 18 hour, a 16 hour and a 14 hour day up to this point and it was starting to take it's toll, especially in the heat. I rented Sam a stroller and we headed to Journey into Imagination where we saw "Honey I Shrunk the Audience" and the Figment ride. It was nearly 7:30 when we hit World Showcase and the area was packed. Sam was hungry, so, with all the countries to choose from she picked-MCDONALDS. (Elissa, you can travel with us anytime!). I wanted to have something more interesting but each line was longer than the other, and frankly I was worn out. We attempted to meet TPR's resident German dude, Soren, but he was so busy, we could not get his attention. He was working in the German sweet shop, and an hour before Illuminations the place was hopping! (Soren, we were the tired looking mom and daughter who stood staring at you for about 10 minutes, sorry that we couldn't visit with you!!!)

 

We watched Illuminations from the Mexico side of the lagoon. It was alright, but not my favorite presentation. I liked it better when they played the music from each of the countries like they did many years ago. The mad rush for the gates when the show ended was crazy, but we managed to get a bus quickly, and I ended up eating in the food court, while Sammi napped in the chair.

 

We ended our 3rd park day with a few arcade games and then crashed for the night...this time without the Cheetos......

Even at EPCOT Sammi finds a Elissa friendly meal!

The revamped Disney Dreams parade

A picture postcard beautiful day at Magic Kingdom!

Sammi dances to "Hawaiian Rollercoaster Ride"

Ok, I admit, I love him too!

"I'm angry cartoon dog...give me bacon"

It also means lots of yummy food!

Ohana means family!

Sammi says Test Track rocks!

EPCOT... still not sure I like this Mickey arm thingy......

Ready for breakfast with Stitch!

[rosscoe]

Its been 10 years since i have been to Disney world.

Thanks for the great trip report, now must call travel agent and start checking fares.

 

Damn this living in Australia..

[ebl]

Very nice series of TRs, Shari! I'll be at WDW October 11-17 for my second visit and am looking forward to it.

 

Eric

[mcjaco]

Crikes, how many TPRers are going to be there that week??? I'm there the 7th through the 15th.

[disneygurlz2s]

WDW Parks Day 4

 

By our fourth day I came to the conclusion that park hopping works a lot better when the parks are less crowded, so we talked about it and decided to spend the whole day at MGM. Truth is, next to Magic Kingdom, Disney Studios is my favorite park for it's atmosphere, decor, characters and other things like the Streetmosphere performers. And while I was disappointed not to get back to Animal Kingdom for their extra magic hours, in the end, due to the weather, it all worked out for the best.

 

Our day started late, with Sammi having a tough time getting up. I was freaking out about it because according to the info I had gotten off the internet before we left, this was supposed to be an EMH morning at MGM. Turns out, when we got to the gates at 8:40, it wasn't. We were right on time. This was important to me for two reasons...One, was that we really wanted to get on RnRC and ToT before the lines got too long, and two, we were there to see "The DoodleBops".

 

For those who don't know, the Doodles are a trio with a show on Playhouse Disney (Disney Channel's preschool hours). Even though she's 8, Sammi loves them, and Wednesday was their last scheduled appearances at MGM. We had heard tickets were being distributed at park opening and that they went fast. As our luck seemed to be all week, though, we were in the right place at the right time and secured a pass for the 1:15 show.

 

Once we had done that we headed for the thrills. RnRC was up first, another awesome ride. At the end of the ride, Sammi bought a commerative guitar pick as a souvenir. This would later prove to be the source of her own Disney meltdown. We headed to ToT next, even though she was not too sure she wanted to do it. Honestly, after riding, I wasn't sure I wanted to do it again either. The random drop sequencing left me feeling like a human yo-yo with lots of short, bouncing drops instead of the long free-falls. I didn't love it like I did on my previous visits. I was a little bummed. Sam, btw, did not love it either. That was our first and last ride on it for this trip.

 

From there we made our way around the "back" of the park to the Narnia exhibit (another disappointment), character greetings, and to the new Lights, Motors, Action stunt show. This is a really awesome show and goes back to what Disney MGM always did best, which is a clever demostration of how things are done in the movies. My only criticism is that the show seemed to move at a really slow pace, but I guess when they are doing the stunts they do, there is set up between sequences. I still really enjoyed it. From there we made our way back towards the front of the park, as we were supposed to be at the ABC theater by 12:45 for the Doodlebops show.

 

Ok, now for those of you out there old enough to remember..... one of the greatest tragedies in rock and roll history occurred right here in my hometown of Cincinnati back in 1979. The Who played an arena show here and when the doors opened their was such a crush of people that 11 people died. I nearly thought the same thing was going to happen for the freakin DoodleBops. The minute those automatic doors opened, people began crushing their way through the doors. Samantha was nearly knocked over and I pretty much got into a pissing match with some fat woman who seemed to think her entire family was entitled to the second row. Needless to say, I don't take that crap, and Sammi and I ended up with seats in the dead center, second row , while the lady stood there complaining to a cast member that she didn't have enough seats for her family. Back of the theater, baby!

 

The DoodleBops were fun, I guess. I prefer the Wiggles (glad we aren't there for that. There's probably going to be bloodshed). When they were over, we headed to our 2:00 ressies at 50's Prime Time. We had an awesome waiter "Uncle Tom" who kept Sammi cracking up through lunch. She already said that she wants to eat there again next trip.

 

After lunch we did more character greeting, a few of the smaller attractions and then the Stars and Motor Cars parade. Just near the end of the parade, the skies opened up and it stormed. This was why I was glad we hadn't headed to AK. With lightning in the area, there would have been no Kali River or Everest for us!

 

We capped off our evening with Beauty and the Beast and another viewing of "Fantasmic" which was Sam's favorite fireworks show. Here's some photos from this day.....

This rainbow appeared over Mickey's mountain, right before Fantasmic

Build your own sundae and then attack it!

Uncle Tom, our waiter at 50's Prime Time Cafe

The DoodleBops perform for a packed house

With the main Mouse!

Lights...Motors....Action!

I can't remember who...but I know someone on this forum has the hots for Kim.......

Jo Jo and Goliath from Playhouse Disney

Sammi did a little magic with "Jack Diamond"

[disneygurlz2s]

WDW Parks Day 5

 

This was our last parks day, so we decided to make it Magic Kingdom start to finish. As luck would have it, the crowds we saw at the beginning of the week were thinning out, and we were able to do it all and more on this day.

 

We started off in Fantasyland, but not until after I stopped to get a new Photopass. I had discovered the night before that I had lost ours sometime in the afternoon at MGM. Even though I had thought to put my name and number on it, I hadn't written down the card number for myself. Duh In the course of looking for the card the night before, I accidently threw away the bag that had Sam's souvenir guitar pick in it, and when I told her this, she became hysterical. So, a few phone calls later we made plans to head back to MGM the next morning to pick up an new one. I give Disney Cast Members this....they are ALWAYS helpful. I don't care what anyone says, I have yet to meet a rude or unhelpful cast member. They may not always been "perky" or whatever, but they are always helpful. Kudos to all of you on this board for what you do!

 

Ok, so we resumed having fun, with rides on all the FL attractions, except the dreaded Snow White. We even took two continuous trips on the carousel. (What happened to the brass ring??? Didn't there used to be one?) From there we went to ToonTown Fair for some Princess time, and while there, Ernesto (the cast member, not the hurricane) helped me retrieve my photopass account at the Kodak photo desk. Yeah!! After Goofy's Barnstormer, we headed to Tomorrowland for Buzz, Stitch, Space and even the Carousel of Progress! Still love that attraction!!

 

It started to rain/storm a little, so we crossed towards Adventureland, where we discovered the "outdoor" attractions were all closed due to weather. However, we found some more characters to meet and greet, and got the ultimate photo with Aladdin, Jasmine and Genie. We hit the Tiki Room (first time since adding Iago and Zazu...it was cute!) and Pirates, Mansion and Hall of Presidents before heading to the train station and looping the park again to hit some more Tomorrowland attractions. Just before dinner, with the rain let up, we saw "Cinderellabration" in the Castle forecourt, and then had our character dinner with the guys from the 100 acre wood.

 

Although I didn't think the food at Crystal Palace compared to Chef Mickeys, it was a fun meal and we had some laughs with Piglet when I told him I was glad he came back out from the kitchen being that there was PORK on the menu tonight... it was cute and Sammi loved it.

 

After dinner, we made it on Jungle Cruise before it closed for the night, and had an awesome captain, Steven. He stated before we even pulled from the station that I would probably be the only passenger who laughed at his jokes... and he was nearly right. He was very funny, too... and my favorite line was with the hippos when he said they were Hungry, Hungry Hippos and to not act like a white marble or something like that. I am easily amused and thought that was hillarious.

 

From there we headed to Frontierland, where we rode Splash with only a 20 minute wait and watched SpectoMagic before heading towards the front of the castle for Wishes. We also rode Aladdin's carpets on our way as there was no line.

 

Wishes is spectacular, and it was a great closing to 5 fun Disney Park days.... we had just a few more moments of Disney Magic to go on Friday..... and I was feeling sad that it was ending....

[/b][/u]

A really magical vacation for us both!

"Be careful, Piglet, there's pork on the menu tonight!"

Crystal Palace Character dinner

The Princesses are the new "Pooh"...remember how a few years ago, everything was Pooh?? Now it's the Princesses everywhere.

Fairy Godmother opens Cinderellabration

Favorite character greeting photo of the whole trip!

...but Buzz saves the day!

Zurg has captured Sammi.....

Princess time!

[Erik Johnson]

A very nice set of photo: TRs you have there. Thanks for spending all the time it took posting these. Now we just have to hide that photo of Kim Possible from Guy.