15th Anniversary Coming Up About This Page:

[bsblady01]

more please

[Russi01]

Great start to your October trip! Can't wait to hear more.

[klee]

Coming Attractions: Almost There!

8 Days and Counting:
Just one week until my 15th Anniversary trip to Disney World. I can hardly wait. I’m currently reading through the PassPorter’s Guide 2014 edition for the fourth time. This is part of my Disney Dreaming phase and it helps me to pass the days until I am actually there. I thought I would give you some coming attractions so you know what to look for in my trip report. I figure it will also give you an idea if you want to read it or not. Remember I am a type-A planner and this is one of my most planned trips ever. Here goes:

Saturday: ½ day of travelling, check-in at the Animal Kingdom Lodge Club Level, evening at the Magic Kingdom, and dinner at Tony’s Town Square. Fastpasses are for Peter Pan’s Flight, Haunted Mansion, and Splash Mountain. Note that the fastpass for Splash Mountain is from 9:15 pm to 10:15 pm. I have never ridden it at night and my hubby has never ridden it at all. This should be fun!

Sunday: Sunrise Safari Tour with breakfast included at Animal Kingdom, hop over to Hollywood Studios, and dinner at Sci-Fi Dine-In. Fastpasses are for Toy Story Midway Mania, Muppet Vision 3D, and Star Tours.

Monday: Epcot for the day to enjoy the Flower and Garden Festival, dinner at Garden Grill with farmer Mickey and friends (I’m going especially to see Chip and Dale), hop over to Magic Kingdom for the Tomorrowland Terrace Dessert Party. Fastpasses are for Test Track, Seas with Nemo & Friends, and Spaceship Earth. Epcot is a tough choice because they only let you pick one big attraction for the day.

Tuesday: Advertised as a free day to my hubby, but it’s a surprise present for our anniversary. Don’t worry. He doesn’t read these boards, so he won’t see this. The day begins with a leisurely breakfast at the resort and then animal viewing. He is scheduled for the Exotic Driving Experience in the early afternoon. I booked 8 laps in a Ferari. He loves cars and this is one of his favorites. I can’t wait to see his face when he finds out that he will be driving one of these beauties. He also turns 40 this year so it’s kind of a combined anniversary/birthday present. I’m going to buy the video they make of him in the car so we can show it to his friends at his party in the summer. We’re going to head over to Epcot for the evening and enjoy dinner. We might check out the food kiosks for the Flower and Garden Festival. Fastpasses are for Journey into Imagination with Figment, Living With the Land, and Illuminations: Reflections of Earth.

Wednesday: Full day at Downtown Disney to include Disney Quest, dinner at Splitsville, possibly bowling (we’ll see), and Cirque du Soleil. No fastpasses today.

Thursday: Full day at Animal Kingdom to include breakfast at Tusker House with Donald and friends, Backstage Safari tour in the afternoon, and I think we might try Flame Tree Barbeque for dinner. I have seen great reviews for this place and I have never tried it before so it would be a new experience. Fastpasses are for Dinosaur, Finding Nemo: the Musical, and Expedition Everest.

Friday: Morning at Magic Kingdom to include breakfast at the Main Street Bakery and lots of rides, hop over to Epcot for dinner at San Angel Inn, and finish our trip enjoying the Flower and Garden Festival and extra magic hours. Fastpasses are for Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Under the Sea.

It’s a tall order for one vacation, but we’re going to see what we can accomplish. Most of all, this trip is to celebrate 15 years together and still having fun. I’m ready for the trip to commence.

[ksimas]

sounds just wonderful.

[Cam22]

Great plans! Cool surprise for you DH, too!

[lfredsbo]

Great plans!

[Russi01]

Great plans and what an super surprise for your hubby. I am sure he will be super excited. Your trip is almost here!

[Colexis Mom]

Great plans!

[MayraLR]

Great plans!

[klee]

Day 1: Saturday, April 5, 2014
- Our Party: Kristy (female, 37), Bryan, DH (male, 39)
- Our Journey: April 5-12, 2014
- Our Lodging: Animal Kingdom Lodge, Club Level
- Our Special Plans: 15th Anniversary Celebration
Fast Passes: Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, and Peter Pan’s Flight

It is finally time for my vacation. Let’s Go! It’s about a six hour drive from our house to the mouse so I like to get up extra early so we can get there with plenty of time to enjoy the park. The car was packed and ready to go by 7:00 am. We headed to Chick-fil-a for our traditional travel day breakfast. This is our favorite place so we always start here. We were on the road by 7:30 am. It was a nice drive with no major problems. The weather was nice and we only had to stop a few times for bathroom breaks and of course to eat lunch. I packed sandwiches and chips for lunch so we could quickly stop and eat at a Rest Area along the way. This worked really well.

We made it to Orlando in record time: around 3:30. Unfortunately, my AAA TripTik routed us to the wrong street in Kissimmee. I created one online through their website and didn’t notice that it changed Osceola Parkway in Lake Buena Vista to Parkway Boulevard in Kissimmee. This was okay though because it happened to be down the road from my mom’s timeshare at Orange Lake so we were pretty familiar with the main road and easily got back to the correct exit. We just followed the signs to Disney. Thank you Disney for such excellent signs to get you around the World. A few minutes later and we were at the gate at Animal Kingdom Lodge. I showed my ID to the guard and we were on our way to Valet Parking. Valet is now $20 per day, but it was nice to let them take care of it. One person seemed to be handling everything from the valet ticket to the bell services cart. He told us that our bags would be ready for us once we were checked-in. All we had to do was call down to bell services and they would bring them up for us. I was holding money in my hand to tip him but he moved so fast that he was gone before I had the chance to give it to him. I hoped he would be the one to bring up the bags, but it was someone else. I hate that I missed giving him his tip. He did a great job and really deserved it.

There was a Cast Member standing there with a tablet waiting for us. He welcomed us and led us up to the Club Level Lounge. He was very nice and quickly explained some of the amenities while we were going up in the elevator. He told us about their special drink and offered to get us anything while we checked-in. We both declined the drink but thanked him. He led us to the desk to check-in. Everything went very smoothly. We were given a packet with our itinerary, invitation to the Sunrise Safari, and various schedules and brochures for the resort and parks. He checked our Magic Bands to be sure they were the correct ones linked to our account and verified that we knew our pin to use for purchases. Our room was on the 4th floor and the Lounge was on the 6th floor, but we didn’t have any issues getting to it aside from a very long walk. He gave us excellent directions to our room and called bell services for us to bring up the bags. Within 5 minutes of arriving in our room, there was a knock on the door. It was bell services with our bags. Wow! That’s service! I made sure this person did not get out of there without a tip.

Since our first FastPass wasn’t until 6:15, we unpacked and changed into shorts before heading to the park. We went out to the balcony to see the view. It was beautiful. We were staying on the Kudu Trail. The animals we saw during the week included giraffes, ostrich, zebras, pelicans, and warthogs. That was my favorite part of the resort. I checked the clock to see what time it was and noticed the message light was blinking on the room phone. I checked our messages and it was Mickey and Minnie singing Happy Anniversary to us. Right as we were about to leave there was another knock on the door. We were given a gift from the resort. There was a welcome letter with the Club Level times and food availability, a note rolled up and tied with a ribbon wishing us a happy anniversary, Anniversary buttons with our names and glitter painted on them, and a small box of chocolates with one that had Congratulations and a picture of the resort printed on it. We were off to an excellent start. I couldn’t have asked for a better welcome.

It was time to go to Magic Kingdom, so we hopped on the elevator and pressed 1. Oops. I was so excited when we got there that I wasn’t paying attention to the fact that the lobby is on the 3rd floor, not the 1st. We got a good look at Jiko and Boma and decided to walk around to the Mara to check it out. Then we took the winding staircase back to the lobby and headed toward the busses. What an adventure! By the way, there was construction going on along most of the walkway to the Mara, but it never interfered with anything.

The bus to Magic Kingdom arrived in about 10 minutes and we were off. A quick note about the bus service at Animal Kingdom Lodge: they pick up and drop off at Kidani Village first and then come to Jambo House unless you’re on the Downtown Disney bus which goes the opposite way. This wasn’t much of a problem because Kidani Village didn’t have a massive amount of people so there was usually still plenty of room on the bus and even seats available. The problem usually came from the people on the bus who didn’t pay attention to the stops. Twice we saw people get off at Kidani only to run back on because they meant to go to Jambo. One couple didn’t understand that there were two buildings to the Lodge and just kept asking for the main lodge. I’m not sure they understood English too well either because they didn’t seem to understand the driver’s explanation. The bus driver promised them that if Jambo House wasn’t the right stop, he would bring them back over to Kidani. It was almost comical watching people get so confused by these stops. Another thing about the bus service is the amount of time you wait for some busses especially Magic Kingdom. We waited 35 minutes one morning, but I’ll tell you about that one later. Animal Kingdom Lodge is the furthest resort on property so it takes a bit longer for the busses. You just have to work this into your plans. Most of the time, we only waited about 15 to 20 minutes. It wasn’t too bad and we were never really late for anything.

The bus ride to Magic Kingdom took about 25 minutes. We arrived and went straight to the entry to scan our Magic Bands. We both packed shorts with lots of pockets that buttoned or zipped so we could put a few things in them and not have to carry a bag. This was great most of the time because we passed over bag check which was usually pretty crowded. Have you ever heard that commercial jingle “There ain’t no bugs on me”? I changed it to “There ain’t no bags on me” and we would sing this as we entered the park most days. We received several wishes of Congratulations and Happy Anniversary from Cast Members throughout the park. Many noted that they had never seen the glitter on the buttons. We told them that the resort did it when they asked if we had come up with that. We stopped at the photo spot on the right side of the castle for a PhotoPass photo. I purchased Memory Maker for this trip in advance so I saved $50. This was similar to PhotoPass, but you get the pictures as a download instead of on a disk and you don’t get the stock photos anymore which I already got them last October so I didn’t really need them again. I received a Memory Maker card in the mail which I linked to our MyDisneyExperience account a couple of days before we left for Disney. The rules are a little confusing as to the window for your Memory Maker account to activate and expire so I waited until practically the last minute before I linked it to make sure we got the full amount of time. Every time we had a picture taken including ride and character photos I only had to tap my Magic Band and it was stored in my account. This was a nice feature as I didn’t have to carry the PhotoPass around my neck. One less thing. Back to the actual photo: she took four different pictures. They all turned out great.

We then walked over to the Haunted Mansion for our FastPass. The standby line was 35 minutes. We breezed through and waited at the second check-in but there was no cast member there. Finally, one came up behind us and told us to scan our bands. It wasn’t long before we were inside and enjoying the ride. After Haunted Mansion, we walked back down Main Street to Tony’s Town Square for dinner. They were really busy but we were seated in about 10 minutes. There was someone doing trivia questions in the waiting area to keep people entertained. The bathrooms here are a bit cramped and really need to be expanded. There was always a wait and it’s difficult to get to the sinks and paper towels in this little corner room. Of course, we didn’t come here for the bathroom. We came for the food. The food was delicious. DH got the spaghetti and I got the Pasta Cannelloni. Both were huge servings and I thought mine was a lot like lasagna which was great for me. I only ate about half of it. It was huge and the sauce was really thick. It was very good but I just couldn’t eat anymore. I even passed on the dessert even though we had the dining plan. I knew from past experience that it would never get eaten even if I got it to go and put it in the fridge in the room. We get so much food with the Dining Plan: 1 Table Service meal, 1 Counter Service meal, and 1 snack per person per day. That’s a lot of food especially for someone who is used to 1400 calories per day and the portion sizes are big. DH tried the gelato and he liked it but even he couldn’t finish it.

We were both tired already. It was around 9:00 and we had been up since 5 that morning. DH agreed to go back to the room and reschedule our other two FastPasses for later in the week. This actually worked out well with all the changes we ended up making during the week. We hopped a bus back to the resort, took showers, and went to bed earlier than expected, but we needed the rest. It had been a long day and we had to get up early again the next morning.

Total Miles Walked: 3.44
Tomorrow’s Coming Attractions: Sunrise Safari Tour and a day at Hollywood Studios

[MayraLR]

Great first day!

[Cam22]

Great travel day! Nice to squeeze in some time at MK, too!

[klee]

Day 2: Sunday, April 6, 2014

FastPasses: Star Tours, Muppet Vision 3D, and Toy Story Midway Mania

We began this day with the Sunrise Safari Tour. This tour is available only to Club Level guests so we had to take advantage of it since this will probably be the only time we stay Club Level for a few years. The tour met in the Kilimanjaro Club Lounge at around 6:45 am. We checked in by scanning our Magic Bands and went to see the food offerings available in the lounge. There was a small selection available at this time. The continental breakfast is set out at 7:00. I got a croissant and some coffee. Breakfast would be provided after the tour so I didn’t want to fill up. DH got a banana and some juice. The fresh fruit was popular and went quickly. We walked down to the lobby to meet our tour guide. There were two guides since we had a large group. A few minutes later, we were on our way to the busses that would take us to Animal Kingdom. We went through our own private bag check on our way to the bus because we would be going in the back way to Animal Kingdom. We were taken by some backstage areas of Animal Kingdom which were interesting but I really came for the animals. We were led to the Kilimanjaro Safaris ride where we were able to ride through before the park opened. This was the best. We were able to leisurely ride through and look for any animals that were out. We saw the elephants heading for their breakfast. There was one animal (I now forget the name of it) that was running back and forth as we were driving away. The guide said that it was very unusual because it was normally a fairly still animal and only walked. Our guide asked some questions along the way and we were able to ask questions too. We were sitting up front so I was able to hear and see everything really well. I even answered some of the questions right. After the ride, it was on to the breakfast buffet at Pizzafari. Our buffet was set up in a closed off room in the back. We were seated and waited for the chef to come out. It was funny that our seating assignments were next to the people we sat with on the Kilimanjaro Safaris vehicle. That was a nice surprise. We all seemed to get along well so it made for a pleasant breakfast. The buffet was a big offering of all kinds of foods. There was traditional American fare as well as some African specialties. I steered away from all the sausage though. It smelled great but I could tell it was really spicy. The guides came around and handed out guide maps to anyone staying in the park. We were hopping to Hollywood Studios so we didn’t get one this time. Our guide came to sit with us toward the end of our meal. He was very nice and we had a chance to talk to him about how much we liked the tour and some of our favorite rides around the park and some of the changes that have taken place over the years.

We left Animal Kingdom just as people were coming in. I knew we were heading in the right direction because we were wading through a constant flood of people. Wow! That was a lot of people. We hopped a bus to Hollywood Studios to enjoy the rest of our day. I had a little trouble using my Magic Band to get in. It kept turning blue instead of green. There was a Cast Member at the entrance with a tablet and she scanned my band and said that I was good to go. They’re still working out the kinks in the system but it was never much trouble. There was always someone to help.

We had a while before our first FastPass so we decided to do a little shopping. I found some great scrapbook supplies including a scrapbook. I also got some bag clips and a kitchen towel. We asked to have these delivered to the resort and filled out the form for it. This is a wonderful perk for resort guests because we don’t have to carry it around and I don’t have to remember to pick it up at the front of the park on my way out either. Next we walked over to the Great Movie Ride. It was only a 20 minute wait so we got in line. Once we got to the room with the big movie screen, they were asking for 2-person groups. I raised my hand and we were led to another line at the front of the room. I guess they were trying out a single rider type line to fill the rows. We only waited about 10 minutes total so this was an awesome idea. I hope they stick with it. The ride was nice, but it is starting to lose some of its excitement for me. I couldn’t help but feel the Cast Members running the ride were phoning in their lines. They didn’t seem to really enjoy what they were doing. I think it would be a great time to change up the story line and maybe put more life back into the ride. It’s still a great way to get off your feet and see some wonderful movie moments. We then went over to One Man’s Dream. I love this one. I never get tired of looking at all the memorabilia and I love the new layout of Fantasyland they have at the end of the exhibit. The film is a stirring look into the start of it all. There are moments where I still get a little emotional when Walt Disney speaks.

It was finally time for Star Tours. We used our FastPasses and walked quickly by all the people in the standby line. I love FastPass when the lines are long. This was our first time riding since they made all the changes. It was awesome! We got the one where Darth Vader was trying to stop the ship because there is a rebel spy on board. The effects were great and it is a much better ride because you don’t know what is going to happen every time. We didn’t get the chance to ride it a second time due to the crowds but I will definitely put it on my FastPass list next trip. Next we decided to have something cold and people-watch for a while. I got a frozen lemonade and DH got a Mickey Bar. We found an available park bench around the corner from the Indiana Jones Stunt show and were cool in the shade for a little while. It’s always nice just to sit and watch the crowd. It was almost time for our FastPass to Muppet Vision 3D so we walka walkad (hee hee) that way. There was no line so we went right in and didn’t need the Fast Passes. We didn’t even get to see the preshow. Muppet Vision is always a blast (hee hee). I could watch this one all day.

We had plenty of time before our ressies at Sci-Fi Dine-In so we walked around the Streets of America set and took some pictures. Then we went into the book store next to the restaurant. I found a Susan Lucci book that was autographed and bought it for my mother’s birthday that is coming up in a couple of weeks. She loves Susan Lucci. I like her too but I think she’ll appreciate the autograph more than I will. I miss the Super Soap weekends they used to have. Those were a great time. It was now about time to check-in for our dinner ressie. We never miss the Sci-Fi when we go to Disney World. I love this restaurant. The theming of this place is the best. We love the old Sci-Fi trailers they show. We laugh so much, it’s hard to eat sometimes. They let us choose to use our beverage or dessert on the dining plan for a milkshake. DH got a milkshake for his drink. I decided to get a Diet Coke and I was going to get the milkshake for my dessert, but I changed my mind by then and got the Hot Fudge Sundae instead. It was delicious. We both got hamburgers. I love their hamburgers.

We had a lot of time to kill before our FastPasses for Toy Story Midway Mania thankfully. We were so full, I don’t think we would have been happy campers spinning around on that ride so soon. We walked around some more. I tried to find some chapstick since I forgot to bring mine. We checked several stores but didn’t find any. I finally asked a Cast Member and they pointed me to another store on Hollywood Boulevard. I didn’t see any there either so I asked at the counter. They had blistex behind the counter with the medications and first aid type stuff. If you’re looking for essentials like chapstick, ask for it. They don’t set it out with the other makeup products. I wanted to see Beauty and the Beast but the times never lined up quite right with our schedule. We went over to the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular instead. This is one we haven’t seen in years so it was almost like new to us. There was a great crowd at this show and one of the volunteers was with a group right in front of us which made it even more fun. He jumped up, waved his arms, and danced around to get their attention. This worked really well to get him noticed. If you ever want to get in the show, that’s a great way to do it. It was also fun to watch the show after our time of people watching earlier. From the bench we sat on earlier, we were able to see the scenery move around from the back of the theater. Now we could see what it was moving for. It was a great show and I’m glad we had the time to see it.

We decided to ride the Great Movie Ride one more time. This time we walked right on with no special lines and the Cast Member was awesome. He seemed to really enjoy himself. The funny part came when we were “highjacked” by a mobster. She was trying to keep a New Jersey accent but kept dropping it. I’m pretty sure she was from Jamaica and that accent kept shining through. It was so funny we were trying not to laugh through her whole part of the ride, but it was hard to keep it in. She still did a great job of acting. I also noticed that they have the same moves in the shootout scene before she hops onto our tram. Next time you go, ride this one a couple of times and notice how they move the same up and down the stairs and hiding behind the wall to shoot at the car across the way. We also found this quite comical. We still had time so we walked over to the Legend of Jack Sparrow but they were handing out cards to come back at a different time. That didn’t work with our schedule either so we skipped it. Instead we walked through One Man’s Dream one more time. It was then time for our Toy Story FastPass so we headed that way. I forgot how much fun this ride was. We have only ridden it one other time before because the wait is always really really really long and the FastPasses go very quickly. Now that I can preplan my FastPasses, I made sure to get one. Even then, it was the last time of the day. I got the highest score and it was hard work for that. My arms were really tired from all that firing. I don’t think it spins around as much as before. Maybe I’m remembering it differently. It was a great ride.

We thought about hopping over to Magic Kingdom for extra magic hours but decided to go back to the resort instead. Since we got back early, we were able to enjoy the Kilimanjaro Club Lounge. They were serving desserts and liquors. The desserts were really good. DH loved the chocolate chip cookies. He’s not much for the fancy stuff but I loved them although my favorite was the little brownie cupcake with chocolate icing on top. Yum! They always have milk and sodas available in the fridge on the side. I drank a lot of milk this trip. We’re not really drinkers so we didn’t try the beers that were available. We came back to the room just in time for the turndown service. She was very nice and told us we were welcome to come in while she was working. Every night she left three chocolates for each of us (six total) and she tucked in the TV remote. I thought that was the cutest thing. Even with the early return we still didn’t get to bed until 11:00 pm. It was another glorious day with lots of well wishes of Happy Anniversary.

Total Miles Walked: 7.02
Tomorrow’s Coming Attractions: A Day at Epcot and the Tomorrowland Terrace Dessert Party at Magic Kingdom

I have uploaded my photos to Shutterfly. Feel free to take a look. https://kristysdisneyphotos.shutterfly.com/pictures

[Colexis Mom]

Great start to your trip!!

[Cam22]

Sounds like a very enjoyable DHS day! Great pictures, too.