“Let’s Bring It Back from the Beginning, Start from the Top!” A Nov 2017 TR COMPLETED 7/15/18

[Elizabeth Smith]

Such a fun morning! And now I'm hungry for cinnamon rolls. Glad you got your ears back!

It was fun, but a little frustrating. Sorry about making you hungry for cinnamon rolls. I always get so hungry reading trip reports.

Fun report!
We were there almost the same dates (11/12-20). It was our first time being there in November and we really loved it!

Thanks! Who knows? We may have seen each other.

Ha. this is why we stopped at 2 children. You are out numbered with the 3rd!

Lol, that's a good point!

I feel like the repeat factor is the issue with this attractions. It was super funny for us too but the second time just not so much...

:-/ That's too bad.

I love the ears! Where did you get them?

I made them!

So, where you able to get them back?

I was! But it was super annoying.

 

[Elizabeth Smith]

Day 4 Part 2 -- Dinosaur Disaster​

So after a trip on the Safari, I guess we were all in the mood for more animals and as most of you know, Gorilla Falls is nearby. So we explored the trail!




Fat Froggy
I wish I had a better time on the trail. It was kind of crowded-feeling and it was hard to see the animals and the cast members who were giving information were hard to hear. :/ I kind of rushed through, too. For this reason, I reeaaalllly need to go back to Animal Kingdom and spend more time appreciating the little details and the animals. I could honestly spend all day just walking around Animal Kingdom, taking in the atmosphere, the street bands, etc.
After taking the trail for granted, it was time for another fast pass!
BACK to EVEREST!

I got this picture in the queue. I thought the little yeti drawing was really funny.

Woo hoo!
So, when we finished with Everest, we had a while before our next fast pass, so we went to the next showing of Flights of Wonder.
I couldn't really get any good pictures of the show. I liked the bird tricks and the educational elements a lot. And the conservation talk, too. But I feel like the "story" was kind of unnecessary and cheesy. Now the show is being changed, isn't it?
So, after this, we hoped to go to Dinoland to ride both Dinosaur and Primeval Whirl. Then we could catch the showing of Nemo before Festival of the Lion King, all before our Flight of Passage Fast pass would expire. The best part? It would be totally doable! The line for Dinosaur was only 20 minutes, according to the MDE app!
If only. . . When we got to Dinoland, Dinosaur's wait was less like 20 minutes and more like 40. But we went ahead and got in line, wondering what we would actually be able to do now.
Let me just say, this was the LONGEST wait ever! We waited 40 minutes for 7DMT earlier in the trip, but that was a snap. This 40 minutes was like, the longest of my whole life. The queue is soooo boring.
Anyway, our ride photo was amazing at least.

We really captured the surprised/scared look.
I admit, we were being kind of overly ambitious thinking we could cram all that in, even if the line had only been 20 minutes for Dinosaur. But, how would we plan the rest of our afternoon now?

 

[Elizabeth Smith]

Day 4 Part 3 -- Wish I had a Bigger Head​

We had been going pretty hard all morning and afternoon and by 2:30 we still hadn't had any lunch. So we went to the most anticipated QS location for a delicious, fresh meal. Satul'i Canteen! This was, by far, the best counter service we had on this trip. And really, that's saying a lot because Tangerine Cafe and others were really delicious as well. We were really hungry, but I managed to snap some pictures mid-meal.

DH and I got a bowl to share. We got the chicken, red and sweet potato hash, and creamy herb sauce. 10/10. Amazing.

We also got a cheese burger pod. Also really, really good. I am in love with this place and can add it to the very long list of reasons that I neeeeed to go back to WDW, and soon!
Luckily, Festival of the Lion King is very nearby Pandora, so we headed that way. Along the bridge between then, there was an ice cream cart. We all got Mickey Premium Bars to chomp on the way.

So good. Unfortunately, we couldn't take them into the theater, so we kind of had to scarf them down before we were allowed in and I think I had to throw a little bit of it away! A tragic loss!
We had pretty good seats, despite being some of the last people to enter the show. We were in the warthog section.

I only really got one picture of the show, but I really, really enjoyed it. Especially the singing. I think the vocalists were amazing. I can't believe how many shows they put on in a day.
Now it was about time for our final fast pass, the big finish to our Animal Kingdom day! I'm sure you can guess where we were heading, as we made our way back into Pandora.


I love this shot of the boys waiting on their numbers. So futuristic!
Anyway, my review of the ride: amazing and immersive, if not for the ill-fitting glasses. I was distracted the whole time worried that I would lose my glasses. They were really loose on my head and I feel like you must have a pretty big noggin for those to fit well. I think the glasses kind of slipping made the image blurry, which made it feel faker. But I really liked it and can only imagine how much better it would be if the glasses fit me. The parts where the banshees dive felt super real, as well as the parts where we were in caves and such, since the blurriness wasn't noticeable during those parts. I regret (sort of) not going through the stand by line since we missed a lot of the ambiance and the animatronic, but alas, it was just not in the schedule.
On the way out, I made sure to grab the much-instragrammed Night Blossum.

Love this picture of Pongu Pongu!

This drink tasted just like candy. It was really sweet and I like that!
So, because we were needing to hurry along to MK and because the line at Dinosaur had been so randomly long, we left the park having not accomplished everything we wanted to do. We didn't go to all the trails, we didn't ride Primeval Whirl, and we didn't watch Finding Nemo the musical. But, Jacob and I would have a chance to do those things later.
Now we had a trip to the Magic Kingdom to make!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I made them!

Wow! They look great! Glad you got them back!

We also got a cheese burger pod. Also really, really good. I am in love with this place and can add it to the very long list of reasons that I neeeeed to go back to WDW, and soon!

I wanted to try this on our trip, but I got out voted. And do you need a reason to go back? That is what I tell my DH, at least.

We had pretty good seats, despite being some of the last people to enter the show. We were in the warthog section.

I feel like there really isn't any bad seats in that building. Which is nice.

I can't believe how many shows they put on in a day.

I know! Right! I always think that. And the same with the Nemo Show!

We didn't go to all the trails, we didn't ride Primeval Whirl, and we didn't watch Finding Nemo the musical.

I feel like we always end up only getting to do one of the trails and only one of the shows. Never both. timing just never works out.

 

[Elizabeth Smith]

Wow! They look great! Glad you got them back!

Thank you so much!

I wanted to try this on our trip, but I got out voted.

I'm sorry you missed out! But there's always next time, right?

I feel like we always end up only getting to do one of the trails and only one of the shows. Never both. timing just never works out.

Again, always next time! Someday I'll see those other trails. . .

 

[Elizabeth Smith]

Day 4 Part 4 -- The BEST of the BEST​

After leaving Animal Kingdom, we made our way back to the Magic Kingdom for a wet and wild ride. My favorite ride at WDW, to be truthful. And on the way I was able to snag a fastpass for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.
This was the first day that Splash Mountain was open again after a fairly long refurbishment. And I was shocked to see that the line was only 20 minutes. We made on the ride at about 5:35 and it is a long ride, isn't it?

I can't recall when exactly our fastpass window for Big Thunder Mountain closed, but I know that we checked in for it a little late.
I know it's a lot of people's favorite, but for me, it's kind of. . .lacking. I'm a major roller coaster enthusiast. Big Thunder is not really the best roller coaster and I don't think too much about the themeing. My favorite part is going under the Dinosaur rib-cage looking thing at the end.
So anyway, we then made our way out of the park and paused to get some pictures in front of the Train Station to commemorate Kyle's last night in the park. This was a little sad for sure.

I love this edit because Jacob kind of got the Mike Wazowski treatment.
We then made our way on the bus to Disney Springs for dinner. Our dinner reservation was somewhat late, at about 8 o'clock, so we had a little bit of time to shop around. I wanted to get a souvenir for my mom and decided to get some Mickey Mouse soap from Basin for her to put out for Christmas. We went to Uniqlo and I got a little origami Christmas tree instruction sheet. And somewhere along the way, we watched a Bruno Mars cover band.

It was kind of funny, because they are playing all these kind of "adult" songs, but the mosh pit mostly consisted of little kids, which I think you can kind of see in the picture.
We made our way at this point to go check in for our Homecomin' reservation. I made my origami Christmas tree while we waited for these to come:

The best deviled eggs I have ever had in my life, I'm not kidding.
And then the main event:

The best fried chicken. And excellent mashed potatoes too. Our streak of delicious mashed potatoes continued.
I could hardly eat my Hummingbird Cake by the time I was done with dinner!
We spent a bit more time shopping around. We spent a LOT of time in the World of Disney store and Jacob found his grandmother a bell at Arribas Brothers.
I wish so much that we had spent more time at Disney Springs. I feel like we didn't even see 75% of the place, even though we walked around forever trying to figure out which boat would get us back to POFQ. We rode the water on back to our hotel after we finally figured it out.
And we said our goodbyes to Kyle that night since we would not see him the next morning before he had to get on the tragical express.

 

[unwritten01]

Following along - ya'll always look so happy!

 

[Elizabeth Smith]

Day 5 Part 1 -- Birthday Boy (and Girl)​

Jacob and I were ready to begin our vacation alone. Though, I certainly missed my brother and his excellent sense of direction and efficiency. We woke up and went directly to the bus station to make our way to Hollywood Studios for rope drop. It was Mickey Mouse's birthday, so we got commemorative buttons on the way into the park. This was the first time we REALLY made it in time to be walked by cast members into the area of the park we wanted to visit. And our lovely hosts led us in a rousing chorus of the Mickey Mouse club songs.

We decided to do Rock n Rollercoaster first thing in the morning!


I LOVE our ride photo on this one. I feel like our facial expressions really say it all. And my hair looks awesome. I somewhat recently cut just about all of my hair off, including my pink hair, and this photo makes me miss it. . .
We were off of the ride before the park technically even opened. Seems like park opening time is kind of a loose concept.
Then we decided to ride the best ride in Hollywood studios: Tower of Terror!


We stopped to get some photos after a frightening visit to the Twilight Zone.


We had already done two popular rides and had time before our first fast pass was set to expire. So we made our way to meet the birthday boy and got some more cute pictures on the way.

Please pardon the cheesiness:

Nearby Mickey and Minnie's Meet and Greet, we had a serendipitous encounter with a short line to meet my favorite Chipmunks.

They were quite interested in our trading pins. I had a Dale Tsum Tsum pin on my jacket to show them.


The chipmunks were disappointed that Jacob didn't have any pins of them on his lanyard so they hooked him up:

This meet and greet was amazing. I wound up getting a magnet made of one of the pictures we took with them. I love the chipmunks' personalities and how mischievous they are. They really own that. And they tend to spend plenty of time with each guest.
So we waited in a reasonable line to meet the main mice.


We were informed by his "handlers" that he would be enjoying a birthday cheesecake later on.

This was an incredibly fun morning, which was really only just getting started!

 

[Elizabeth Smith]

Following along - ya'll always look so happy!

Thanks so much for following along! We certainly were VERY happy. They don't say it's the happiest place on earth for nothing!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Great start to your day! Doing Rock'n Rollercoaster and then Tower of Terror def seems to be the best things to do first thing in the morning!

 

[Elizabeth Smith]

Day 5 Part 2 -- You might be a redneck if. . .​

So after an eventful start to the morning, the fun continued! At this point, we really began missing Kyle's sense of direction and ability to read a map. We had a bit of trouble locating Pixar Place, but we made it to our fastpass for Toy Story Midway Mania.

I wasn't expecting much out of this ride, but, nevertheless I quite enjoyed it and like it a lot better that the other shooty Toy Story ride that is Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin. The 3D makes it a lot of fun. There's not much to it, just screens, but I still like it a lot. I suddenly understood why it is so difficult to get a fastpass for!

Our scores. . . Not great, but at least I did beat DH by a little bit!
Then it was time to head BACK to ToT for our fastpass! (So, for those keeping track, we got to ride it twice!)

I really like this bird book in the queue.

Jacob did a great job making a face this time. Me, not so much. I daresay I look rather perturbed.
BTW, why is it that people talk loudly during the whole time on this ride? I mean I understand screaming during the part where you're actually falling, but during the narration and little ride along the track beforehand? The first ride in the morning was full of a bunch of teenagers who decided to cuss a lot since their parents weren't around. It seemed like they had just learned a bunch of new words and were itching to try them out. That was really annoying. I don't like to hear those kinds of words at Disney, to be honest. Our second ride was full of a bunch of rednecks who were just shouting stupid nonsense the whole time. Ugh.
So, we had pretty good timing. We were able to walk up to the next Beauty and the Beast showing, a little late, but at least during the first scene. And we got to hear when Belle sings her condescending song in front of all the villagers.


If I were to go back to DHS, I don't think I would make this show a priority, but it was still REALLY good and the actors were talented.
We got lunch at this point at the Backlot Express, a little early. It was not yet noon, but I think we skipped breakfast. I know we ate a cream cheese pretzel at some point, so maybe we had had some of that already, but I don't remember now. Anyway, Backlot was good, but nothing special. This was the most "theme park" food we had all week for sure. I got a chili dog.

Next, we sat and waited for the Star Wars, a Galaxy Far Far Away stage show. Before the show, they had Star Wars voting polls up on the screens with questions like, "Which of the original Saga movies is the best." You were then supposed to text in your responses, but there was no limit to how many times you could vote. So I was spamming it to make my choices win.


This stage show is basically just a Star Wars role call. It's boring. The whole point seems to be that you get to look at your favorite characters, but that doesn't really do much for me. But I'm glad we watched it because Hubby loves Star Wars and I wouldn't want to deprive him.
We kept the Star Wars theme alive and headed to our final fastpass for the day--Star Tours. This ride on Star Tours featured the new scene and ending. I still enjoyed it, but again, not as much as the show we had gotten a few nights before.

I think I'll leave this part here. Next time we pick up, it'll be MORE Star Wars (like seriously, there is A LOT of Star Wars stuff in Hollywood Studios and they're going to add a whole LAND devoted to it to? )

 

[Elizabeth Smith]

Great start to your day! Doing Rock'n Rollercoaster and then Tower of Terror def seems to be the best things to do first thing in the morning!

It was a lot of fun! Crowds were low, even for a Saturday, so the park felt easy to get around.

 

[chunkymonkey]

I am all caught up! I didn't realize you had gotten so far in your trip report!
I am really enjoying it. It's so nice to see WDW from "fresh" eyes. It's nice to have that first time feeling again. I'm glad your husband is onboard with Disney, that is always important!
It looks like you guys are enjoying yourselves and you have done lots of great rides and fantastic meals and snacks! I agree I really love Satuli Canteen as well.
Looking forward to more!

 

[Elizabeth Smith]

I am really enjoying it. It's so nice to see WDW from "fresh" eyes.

Thanks for following along and catching up!

I'm glad your husband is onboard with Disney, that is always important!

Yeah, hubby used to not enjoy amusement/theme parks. Partially because he was scared of bigger/faster/flippy roller coasters. Amusement parks are like my favorite vacation spots so I had to convince him over time. By the time it came to Disney he was fully on board and loves amusement parks as much as I do now. Even the big roller coasters. And he likes Disney movies and Star Wars, etc. already so it was not hard at all to get him to agree. I'm lucky that I don't feel like I have to drag him along. . .

 

[Elizabeth Smith]

Day 5 Part 3 -- My Eye Fell Out ​

After our last fastpass of the day, we decided to catch another show!

The best part of the Little Mermaid show was the laser lights and mist that create the illusion of being under water. Otherwise, I would not really care to see the show again. It was a one-and-done experience for me, but it was NOT bad.
We also saw the Frozen sing along show, which was much better than I was expecting. It was really funny. Jacob is not a Frozen fan, but he endured it for me. To be honest, we got no pictures of this and I cannot remember which show we saw first, but we saw it nonetheless.
Next we went to hang out at Walt Disney Presents.

I loved this place. I enjoy strolling down Disney memory lane and reading about parks history.

BTW, Dumbo is my favorite. I love how cute he is, totally classic movie AND ride!
So, unfortunately, my contact had been falling out all day and hurting. But we had a certain Star Lord to meet.

I told him about my contact lens peril and he was kind of sympathetic. But we had such a fun time talking about Awesome Mix Vol. 1.



I'm sorry for all the picture spam of us and Star Lord, but we look like super cute friends and I surprisingly enjoyed this meet and greet.
Though I enjoyed the meet and greet, my eye was on fire. We learned there may be some eye drops up at the front kiosk shop. On the way to buy some expensive relief, we finally got to see something little Jacob had been super looking forward to!!

I got my eye drops, and messed with my contact lens until I was able to manage! Hooray!

 

[Elizabeth Smith]

Day 5 Part 4 -- Star Wars Nerd Heaven​

We started the last part with a marginally good show, so we'll start this one with a good show!

I really enjoyed the Indiana Jones stunt show, but all my pictures sucked!

At this point in the day, we LITERALLY finished doing everything we had planned to do. (HS is really not much of a park right now). Then we made our way to Star Wars Launch Bay. . . And though we had not planned to go originally, we took a ton of pictures since Jacob is such a nerd.




We decided to meet some characters! And we got some really good photos.



Even though we had time to kill, I did not want to wait to meet Kylo Ren because he is not a nice guy.
More Launch Bay stuff:


Look at my happy hubby in Star Wars nerd heaven.

 

[Elizabeth Smith]

Day 5 Part 5 -- When can we EAT?​

At this point, the only thing we could have done that we had not already would be to do the Disney Jr. shows. . . But we didn't do that as tempting as that may have been. We still had a little while until our dining reservation, so we got a churro.

We gave it some thought about what we might like to do while we waited. How about some more Star Wars? Like we had not gotten enough of that. . .
Back to Star Tours again!


Finally!! After another go on Star Tours, it was at last time for dinner.
We went to 50's Prime Time Diner.

I did not get any pictures of the food, so I'm sorry.
We got the fried cheese appetizer and it was soooooo GOOD. I remembered how good it was from when I had been with my family 10 years ago so I knew I wanted to order it. Jacob got a pork chop thing and I got the sampler of meat loaf, pot roast, and fried chicken. And surprise, mashed potatoes again. This would be my 4th meal at WDW served with mashed potatoes if you all have a tally going. It was really good, but if I had it to do over, I would just get the pot roast since it was by far the best of the 3 meats. I got the apple crisp desert. I wish I had gotten the brownie sundae though. We ate so fast, by the way, because it was so good.
There was a birthday at the table next to us and the shtick of this restaurant is that you're all family there. So our waitress brought out a card and made all of us sitting in the area sign it and sing happy birthday. It was sooo fun!
We had a little bit of time before Fantasmic! I believe we went to get an ice cream sandwich at Hollywood Scoops at this point (or may that was earlier in the day, whatever). Their magic band scanner was not working for us to use a snack credit so they gave it to us for free.
We were able to get a fastpass for the show again.



All in all, we had a great day at Hollywood Studios and I really truly feel like we did it all! We ate a great dinner and fabulous snacks. The worst part was my eye issue, which I had to keep returning to the bathroom to try to fix. We also got great souvenirs and pins from trading with DVC sales people, specifically, a really amazing glow-in-the-dark Madame Leota pin! I will be interested to see how the park evolves over the next several years because it was not really a full-day park for sure.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

At this point in the day, we LITERALLY finished doing everything we had planned to do. (HS is really not much of a park right now).

There really is so little in that park right now. But at least Toy Story will be opening soon.

Look at my happy hubby in Star Wars nerd heaven.

Yours and my husband alike!

There was a birthday at the table next to us and the shtick of this restaurant is that you're all family there. So our waitress brought out a card and made all of us sitting in the area sign it and sing happy birthday. It was sooo fun!

That is hilarious! How did you sign the card? Dear Stranger, I guess it's your birthday... so... happy birthday. Love Stranger

 

[Elizabeth Smith]

That is hilarious! How did you sign the card? Dear Stranger, I guess it's your birthday... so... happy birthday. Love Stranger

I actually signed it "Your Cousin from Cincinnati." LOL.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I actually signed it "Your Cousin from Cincinnati." LOL.

PERFECT!!!!!!