Things Don't Always Go As You Planned TR 12/11 - 12/18/11 - Page 6 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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I agree with you, AK + rain = no fun! Usually we just get our ponchos on and keep touring through the rain, but that is one park that I refuse to do that in. Even though you had a change of plans, sounds like a great day so far!
It may not have been what you planned, but it worked out well.
Yes, sometimes change can be a good thing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Sounds like you had a great morning resort hopping, and then a great time at MK! The food looks delish!
Thank you, it was a lot of fun hopping, someday I would like to visit them all. MK and LTT were great.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lazanya
Sorry about the rain. Glad you were able to switch your plans around and still have fun!
Thank you, it turn out to be a fun morning.
Quote:
Originally Posted by taylan1
Just catching up on your whole TR. Sorry that the surprise was not what you expected, but glad it worked out and was not to bad. I have seen others just get mad, lol that is just crazy too me. Strange about the issues with the Jet blue escort, you should write a letter and at least ask if it is SOP at the Orlando Airport for them. Glad you made it to your MM ADR without too much trouble, love that place and love the desserts . So sorry that Fantasmic got you totally soaked, we have yet to see it but it would be our luck as well that it would rain. Too bad it rained the next morning but happy you got to tour the resorts, they are always so pretty at the holidays. Your lunch at LTT looked really good, we will have to try it for lunch one time. We only did dinner and it was just okay. Can't wait to read more.
Thank you, if there's one thing that you can't control and that is the weather. Despite the rain we are managing to get a lot done.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KMB733
Sorry about the rain! Love the pictures from the resorts!!
Thank you!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
Great redo of your plans to compensate for the rain! Well done!
Thank you!
Quote:
Originally Posted by JKnott17
I agree with you, AK + rain = no fun! Usually we just get our ponchos on and keep touring through the rain, but that is one park that I refuse to do that in. Even though you had a change of plans, sounds like a great day so far!
Thanks, of course for the rest of the week I carried our ponchos to every park and we never needed them.
After lunch we decided to work our way back towards Tomorrow Land because our FP for SPM were overdue, wouldn't be able to do that now . Along the way we hit HOP, another attraction that makes me sleepy, and then HM. Along the way we stopped by the Liberty Bell for some silly pictures.
The wait time for HM was about 20 minutes but it took about 35. We didn’t do the new queue because I thought it would take longer but it probably didn’t, so I will definitely check it out on our next trip.
As we walked through Fantasy Land we noticed that Mickey’s PhilharMagic was starting, so we walked right into enjoy the show. My boys love the ending with Donald crashing into the wall, makes them laugh every time, yeah I admit it, me too .
We finally reached TM where SPM awaited us. My Mom decided to sit this one out and looking back I wish I would of too . It has been many many years since I have been on SPM but after watching many videos on youtube the boys were excited and ready to go. Since Chris is only 7 I couldn’t let him go on alone with the older two, so we all worked our way towards the launch pad. After about a 25 minute wait we were in our spaceships ready to go. For some reason I thought the seating was side by side and that Chris could sit next to me and I could hold onto him, with dear life. But as it turns out I was wrong and Chris had to sit by himself. If you look at my Chris is a skinny little thing and I was very concerned that the lap bar didn’t come all the way down to his lap and there seemed, to me anyway, there was a lot of wiggle room and I thought during the whole ride that he was gonna seriously fall out. I spent the almost the entire ride with my right arm stretched behind me holding on to his leg, like that would really help, so needless to say it was a very stressful bumpy ride. As you can see from the pictures that Chris is the only one who is smiling and doesn't have a look of terror on his face.
When our ride was finally done the boys were ready to take another ride but I put the brakes on that and said NOOOOOO! I think I am pretty much done with SPM. When we came out we found my Mom with her crazy hat
So we decided to tackle something a little slower and head over to BLYRS.
The line was just about a walk on, so we were able to take two spins in a row. I tried to take pictures of our scores but they just weren’t coming out, so let’s just say I won .
After our double spin it was just about time for our Wishes Dessert Party, so we made our way to Tomorrowland Terrace for some yummy desserts.
Since we have never done the dessert party before, we weren’t really sure where to go or what to do. We eventually found the check in and were seated right away. Our table was a little further back than I had hoped and had an awesome view of the castle but I was a little concerned if we would be able to stay seated and watch wishes. Within in minutes of being seated we headed up to the dessert buffet and I immediately started drooling over all the yummy stuff, I don’t recall what each of us had but I know it was a little bit of everything. Chris enjoying his sweets and Frankie too .
Wishes soon started and although we could see OK, we got up and stood by the railing to get a better view anyway. Wishes is one of my favorite shows at WDW and the effects they display on the castle are truly beautiful and amazing, it brings a tear to my eye every time.
After our bellies were full from all the desserts, we decided to walk down Main Street and do a little shopping. I had my eye on a certain Donney and Bourke bag and found some in one of the stores, although they were all beautiful I restrained myself from buying one that night. In fact I did not buy anything that night, however my wonderful DH did and got this for me for Christmas.
It was getting close to closing time so we decided to work our way of out MK and head back to the Poly.
Frankie and Justin wanted to go swimming, so they got their suits on and headed to the pool. Frank and Christopher stayed in the room, while Mom and I went to fill our mugs and then to chill out and watch the boys by the pool.
Since we had eaten a late lunch and basically had cake and cookies for dinner, we started to get a little hungry but since it was after 11pm the kitchen was closed at Captain Cooks and the self serve items didn’t appeal to anyone, we decided to try this pizza delivery place that slipped a flyer under our door.
So we ordered 2 large pies, thinking that should be more than enough for six people because that’s what we always get back home. Well let me just say that this place was a total rip off, their idea of a large pie is about the size of a small Pizza Hut pie, which was not going to be enough for all of us. I called the boys in from the pool and we all had what was about equal to half a normal slice. So lesson learn, never again will I order from any pizza place that slips flyers under hotel doors.
After our not so satisfying late night meal, we settled in for the night.
Great night at MK! We are planning to do the Dessert Party for the first time in November, I am really excited about it after seeing your pics! Sorry about the pizza place, what a rip off!
I have to agree that Animal Kingdom is not my favorite park in the rain. Glad that the rain let up so you could enjoy the afternoon. Your lunch looked very yummy at LTT, we are doing lunch there on our July trip for the first time. We have not been there since the characters left but the lunch menu always looks pretty good to me so we are going to try it.
All caught up I've never done the Wishes Dessert Party, my hubby is a sucker for anything sweet so would love it. Maybe one day. Sorry about the pizza, that sucks
Sounds like a great day. Sorry about the rip-off pizza place.
Thank you, I love staying on the monorail loop, it makes getting to places easier when the weather isn't good.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Glad you had a great time at MK! I too held onto Colin on SM thinking he was going to fall out! The dessert party looked yummy! Sorry about the pizza!
It was a very stressful ride, I like the rides so much better where he can sit right next to me and I can hold him tight. The dessert party was well worth the price not to have to deal with the crowds. I am trying to fit it in again for our trip this year but not having much luck.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JKnott17
Great night at MK! We are planning to do the Dessert Party for the first time in November, I am really excited about it after seeing your pics! Sorry about the pizza place, what a rip off!
I hope you get to do it, if you love wishes and dessert, like me, it's well worth it. I am trying to book it again for this year.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcc0313
I have to agree that Animal Kingdom is not my favorite park in the rain. Glad that the rain let up so you could enjoy the afternoon. Your lunch looked very yummy at LTT, we are doing lunch there on our July trip for the first time. We have not been there since the characters left but the lunch menu always looks pretty good to me so we are going to try it.
Desserts for dinner....is there any better way
This was the first time we had LTT since the characters and really enjoyed it. I know I could have dessert for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KMB733
Glad you got to enjoy the dessert party while watching Wishes!!! Sorry about the pizza!!
Thanks, it was really nice and I know not to order pizza anymore.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
We have done the Wishes Party several times now and have always enjoyed it. Glad you all did, too!
Thank you, it was a nice and relaxing way to see wishes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Annabel
All caught up I've never done the Wishes Dessert Party, my hubby is a sucker for anything sweet so would love it. Maybe one day. Sorry about the pizza, that sucks
Definitely do the dessert party some day, you will love it.
Original Plans: Our third day was suppose to be spent at Epcot. I had planned to finally tour WS, grab lunch at Beaches & Cream and then top off the night with dinner at Garden Grill followed by Illuminations.
What we actually did: DHS and Fantasmic take 2.
Today was a day that plans needed to be changed, since the rain ruined are Fantasmic experience on Sunday night. So as soon as we got back to the room that night, I began to find a way to fit it in again. After going over the schedules it was determined that the only other night we could possibly fit it in would be Tuesday, our first Epcot day. Since we were headed to Epcot again on Friday it wouldn't be too big of a deal to give it up on Tuesday, except for our Garden Grill ADR. The boys were really looking forward to GG and it took me many tries to get our ADR there but after a compromise and a guarantee that we would hit it next time the change was made.
Next step was to cancel GG and find a place to eat at DHS that would work around Fantasmic. The compromise I had made with the boys was to let them pick where to eat, so they decided that they wanted to go back to Sci-Fi. OK, not a bad choice, the last time we were there was 2007, so Sci-Fi it was. I immediately I hopped and hoped for the best. Yes, the magic and dust were among us and I was able to score a 5:30 ADR for Sci-Fi. Things couldn't of worked out any better, we would have plenty of time to eat and make it to Fantasmic by 8pm.
OK finally on to our day. So the day started with most of us, and when I say most of us I mean everyone but me, in till about 8:30. Which I am OK with and learning to adapt this laid back approach into our future WDW trips because the boys tend to do better later on when they get to sleep a little longer.
We were in no rush to head over to DHS, it was a beautiful day, yay no rain, and the boys wanted to do a little swimming. While the boys headed to the pool, I stopped into CC to use some snack credits for breakfast. Everyone got bagels with cream cheese, except for Chris who had to have his Mickey Waffle everyday, and a Danish to share.
We ate our breakfast at the pool, so the boys could continue to swim.
At one point Chris got called out by the lifeguard for running and I reminded him of the rules. I thought that he might be running up the stairs to the slide, so I tried to catch him with the video camera.
I was surprised to see that he actually listened to the lifeguard and was walking. I love the expression his face, like he knew I would be there.
After a few hours of swimming, the boys worked up an appetite again, so I headed back to CC to grab some lunch. Using snack credits again, we had 2 PBJ crustables, apple slices, salad and poly chips, it was just enough to hold us over till dinner.
Around 1:30 we decided it was time to head over to DHS. We didn’t have to wait long for a bus and we arrived at the gates at about 2:30.
We noticed that they were setting up for the Pixar Parade, so we decided to scoped out a spot and watch. We found a place right at the end of the route just before they go behind the fence. It was a great spot, we sat on the curb and there was no one in front of us to block our view.
Unfortunately I did not get any pictures of the parade due miscommunication between Frankie and I. I decided to record the parade on the camcorder, so I handed the digital camera to my son and told him to take pictures. After the parade was over I asked him for the camera so I could look at the pictures and that’s when he tells me “I didn’t take any pictures, I video it”. REALLY, did you not see me with the camcorder, so sadly no pictures of our Pixar friends but double video.
We always take a picture in front of this car.
It was now time for some rides, so we headed over to two of my favorites RNRC and TOT. The wait for RNRC was about 30 minutes, my Mom, Justin and Chris sat this one out, so the Franks and I got in line to catch the limo to the show. Out of the three of us I was the only one who had been on it before and while we were waiting on line Frankie kept asking if it goes upside down? Well I kinda avoided the question because if I told him the truth he would go running in the opposite direction. The wait only turned out to be 20 minutes by the time we reached the limo. So as we were waiting in our seats and about to take off at 60mph, I shouted to Frankie “by the way it kinda goes upside down”. Well all I heard was “why Mom………..” and that was it. In the end despite my withholding the truth until the last second they LOVED it. Although we didn’t get to go on again that trip, they both said they would definitely do it again next time.
Next up was the TOT, that they have all been on before but to my surprise none of them wanted to ride, they can be such babies sometimes. I wasn’t about to miss out on one of favorites, so I rode solo. After two trips in a row down the elevator I came out to find them all sitting looking bored on a curb. I told them they missed out on tons of fun, oh well their loss!
We decided to start heading towards Sci-Fi and along the way AI and M3D lured us in, both are fun shows but in my opinion M3D is a little outdated. We arrived at Sci-Fi a little early but were able to check in. It was very crowed or at least there seemed to be a lot of people waiting in front to get in. We waited 30 minutes, which was only a little passed our ADR time and we were seated. This is one of our favorite restaurants but the darkness is a problem for me. I have a difficult time reading the menu in there, it really does a number on my eyes.
Our server Ryan came right over as soon as we were seated and was very nice and friendly. He took our drink orders, of course I had to have a yummy shake chocolate shake and Frankie had the peanut butter one. We ordered a round of onion rings as an app and then we all ordered cheeseburgers, except for Chris who had to have his other favorite pizza. Basically Christopher’s menu for the week was Mickey waffles and pizza. Sorry I forgot to take pictures. As always the food and shakes were all good and we had a great time at the drive-in.
We were amazed at how perfect this ketchup Mickey was and have tried numerous times to recreated to no avail.
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The food looks delish! 
. So sorry that Fantasmic got you totally soaked, we have yet to see it but it would be our luck as well that it would rain. 
Too bad it rained the next morning but happy you got to tour the resorts, they are always so pretty at the holidays. Your lunch at LTT looked really good, we will have to try it for lunch one time. We only did dinner and it was just okay. Can't wait to read more. 
. Along the way we hit HOP, another attraction that makes me sleepy
, and then HM. Along the way we stopped by the Liberty Bell for some silly pictures. 
. It has been many many years since I have been on SPM but after watching many videos on youtube the boys were excited and ready to go. Since Chris is only 7 I couldn’t let him go on alone with the older two, so we all worked our way towards the launch pad. After about a 25 minute wait we were in our spaceships ready to go. For some reason I thought the seating was side by side and that Chris could sit next to me and I could hold onto him, with dear life. But as it turns out I was wrong and Chris had to sit by himself. 
If you look at my Chris is a skinny little thing and I was very 
concerned that the lap bar didn’t come all the way down to his lap and there seemed, to me anyway, there was a lot of wiggle room and I thought during the whole ride that he was gonna seriously 
fall out. I spent the almost the entire ride with my right arm stretched behind me holding on to his leg, like that would really help, so needless to say it was a very stressful bumpy ride. As you can see from the pictures that Chris is the only one who is smiling and doesn't have a look of terror on his face. 
I tried to take pictures of our scores but they just weren’t coming out, so let’s just say I won 
but I was a little concerned if we would be able to stay seated and watch wishes. Within in minutes of being seated we headed up to the dessert buffet and I immediately started drooling 
Chris enjoying his sweets 
and Frankie too 
.
PassPorter Guide Author
So as soon as we got back to the room that night, I began to find a way to fit it in again. 
After going over the schedules 
it was determined that the only other night we could possibly fit it in would be Tuesday, our first Epcot day. Since we were headed to Epcot again on Friday it wouldn't 
be too big of a deal to give it up on Tuesday, except for our Garden Grill ADR. The boys were really looking forward to GG and it took me many tries to get our ADR there but after a compromise and a guarantee that we would hit it next time the change was made. 
at DHS that would work around Fantasmic. The compromise I had made with the boys was to let them pick where to eat, so they decided that they wanted to go back to Sci-Fi. OK, not a bad choice, the last time we were there was 2007, so Sci-Fi it was. 
I immediately I hopped 
and hoped for the best. Yes, the magic and 
dust were among us and I was able to score a 5:30 ADR for Sci-Fi. Things couldn't of worked out any better, we would have plenty of time to eat and make it to Fantasmic by 8pm. 
We always take a picture in front of this car.
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