13 Days of Disney - Everything We Never Knew We Always Wanted - June 2016 TR Update 1/30

[ariane37]

OMG so much character awesomeness on your last day!!! Those costumes really go a long way with the characters Not only does it show how much your kids love Disney, I think it shows how much the "friends" of characters enjoy seeing your kids dressed up and really feeling the magic!

I struggle with the balance of ride time vs character time, but I am always reminding myself that my days of having character-loving kids are numbered whereas the rides will always be there. This is definitely where a lot of our memories get made!

!

Yes, so true unfortunately Please keep focusing on the character meets as long as you can because I cannot begin to explain how much I wish my kids were still really into them. Yesterday when Chris volunteered to meet Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum with me without my asking him, I almost cried I was so happy! But other then the characters at GG breakfast he had no interest in meeting any and even at breakfast he wasn't totally into it. Keep enjoying it Kelley, it goes away too quick!

 

[Jfsag123]

OMG so much character awesomeness on your last day!!! Those costumes really go a long way with the characters Not only does it show how much your kids love Disney, I think it shows how much the "friends" of characters enjoy seeing your kids dressed up and really feeling the magic!


Yes, so true unfortunately Please keep focusing on the character meets as long as you can because I cannot begin to explain how much I wish my kids were still really into them. Yesterday when Chris volunteered to meet Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum with me without my asking him, I almost cried I was so happy! But other then the characters at GG breakfast he had no interest in meeting any and even at breakfast he wasn't totally into it. Keep enjoying it Kelley, it goes away too quick!

First off, welcome back!!! I know it's always such a downer to return from a WDW trip, and I enjoyed living yours vicariously through facebook. I showed my kids your Tweedle picture and they loved it. What a great meet! I'm so glad Chris was up for it! I plan on savoring it as long as I can, even though it means we end up missing some stuff.

I love how much the characters and other CM's seem to appreciate the costumes - it's great that they can get into the magic even though they are there everyday and working. We actually had one CM cry upon seeing the kids as Mary and Bert last year and that moment pretty much cemented my already strong love for WDW and the people who work there to help make it what it is.

 

[Jfsag123]

Day 12 – June 17: Magic Kingdom, Part 3

On to Be Our Guest! We weren’t given any grief about being late, but we did have to wait for a bit. The kids were pretty much walking on air and were very into their roles by this point, so this is how they entertained themselves during the wait.

We were seated in the main ballroom, which is the only place we’ve ever sat in 3 visits to BoG. It’s fine with me, as I love it in there. I ordered the French onion soup to start out.

So so cheesy.

I got the chicken for my entrée.

Rees had steak (bad picture).

Alex got the Beast casserole (mac and cheese).

And Cora got the kids steak. For some reason, my pic of her meal came out all black.

We enjoyed our meal and the kids got some grey stuff for dessert.

Rees and I skipped dessert, as we had an appointment with many desserts ahead of us later in the evening.

After we finished eating, we lined up to meet Beast, who was on a break at the time. The CM managing the line told us he loved the kids’ costumes and told Alex to hide when “The Master” was coming back so he could jump out and surprise him, as Beast does not meet many Beasts.

Alex did as asked and Beast made much of it as he could considering the restrictions of the character. They bowed to one another.

Beast then asked Cora to dance, which was great as Alex had just gotten to dance with Belle a short time before.

She held her rose in her mouth…

He then offered Alex his seat, which was also a big deal since “the Master never allows anyone to sit in his chair.”

Family pic!

And one last pose for the kids before we headed out.

No more costumes! We changed the kids and went about enjoying our last evening in the MK.

 

[Jfsag123]

Day 12 – June 17: Magic Kingdom, Part 4

Do any of you know what the point of this door is? It’s back by the Gaston bathrooms, which is where we changed. I had never noticed it before.

While we were waiting for dinner I had booked us an additional FP+ reservation for Buzz, so we headed toward Tomorrowland – my favorite place to be in the evening!

Galactic heroes we ain’t.

Next we rode the Peoplemover again, which I can never get enough of, then spent some time at the dance party.

We left Tomorrowland to line up for the Wishes Dessert Party – our over-priced final night tradition. This was our 3rd time doing the party. I know the view isn’t the best, but this has become special for us. Now that they’ve changed it and upped the price (again) I’m not sure that we’ll do it next time. A big draw for me was having reserved viewing for Celebrate the Magic in addition to Wishes. Now that CtM is gone and the projection show is happening some time after Wishes, I don’t know if it’s still for us.

We got a table by the railing and here was our view.

And various dessert shots:

Not the best desserts in the world, but we always enjoy them.

“Star light, star bright…”

After the end of Wishes, we ducked back into Tomorrowland. We do this each trip. Rees and Cora go ride Astro Orbiters, Alex and I go do something else. We chose Buzz…again. What can I say, we love it.

Hidden Mickey!

Lookin’ (not so) good

Rees and Cora still weren’t done by the time we finished because Buzz had no line and the Astro Orbiters line moves like molasses. We decided on one last ride on a mostly-deserted Peoplemover.

Once we were all re-united we decided to race clear across to the other side of the park to try to catch one final ride before park closing on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. We got the car all the way in the back. It felt like the roughest ride ever and we loved it.

We made our way back to the front of the park just in time to catch part of the late Main Street Electrical Parade. I’m glad we did since it’s gone now. If I’d known this trip would be our last chance to see it I would have made more of an effort.

Alex, a huge Pete’s Dragon fan, shouted “say hi to Nora!” as Pete went by.

As we walked back to BLT for the last time that night I was too tired for the end-of-trip sadness to really hit me, but I knew it was coming. Fortunately, we had one last visit to a park still on our schedule for the next day.

 

[ArielSRL]

Wow, it seems the BOG dinner menu is quite a bit different than lunch. I'm sure I've glanced at it before but lunch worked for us this past time so I just scheduled it again for next trip. I do love me the French Onion soup and plan to make that and the kids' menu grilled cheese my lunch, I think. Oh and along with the strawberry cupcake, one of the best on property in my opinion!

I do love that you meet the Beast! That may make dinner worth it. Great interactions, as always!

I love the traditions! It's definitely nice to have some. We are really still developing hours. I do like the idea of the dessert party but not sure if it's truly worth it with increased pricing. I was watching See Ya Reel Soon today and they did the dessert party in the specific vlog I watched (May 2014). They had a lot of the same desserts that you had but mentioned they had done it about 6 months before and there had been twice the amount of desserts available. I wish I had had a chance to try it then!

The boys were watching part of it with me, while they (Joe & Ashley) were on the People Mover and they were just beside themselves to do it again. I told them at least once each MK day. Now hopefully I can squeeze that in. We are all huge fans so it shouldn't be too difficult, I think. And closing out MK with BTMRR is excellent! I did the same, myself!

 

[Jfsag123]

Wow, it seems the BOG dinner menu is quite a bit different than lunch. I'm sure I've glanced at it before but lunch worked for us this past time so I just scheduled it again for next trip. I do love me the French Onion soup and plan to make that and the kids' menu grilled cheese my lunch, I think. Oh and along with the strawberry cupcake, one of the best on property in my opinion!

I do love that you meet the Beast! That may make dinner worth it. Great interactions, as always!

I love the traditions! It's definitely nice to have some. We are really still developing hours. I do like the idea of the dessert party but not sure if it's truly worth it with increased pricing. I was watching See Ya Reel Soon today and they did the dessert party in the specific vlog I watched (May 2014). They had a lot of the same desserts that you had but mentioned they had done it about 6 months before and there had been twice the amount of desserts available. I wish I had had a chance to try it then!

The boys were watching part of it with me, while they (Joe & Ashley) were on the People Mover and they were just beside themselves to do it again. I told them at least once each MK day. Now hopefully I can squeeze that in. We are all huge fans so it shouldn't be too difficult, I think. And closing out MK with BTMRR is excellent! I did the same, myself!

Yeah, this was the first trip we did BoG for lunch and I was worried having both meals on the same trip might be overkill, but the experiences are so different that it was fine. I would do lunch again (and may double up again next time), but we have to do dinner. It's Cora's major request for each trip now, as she loves both the food and the atmosphere and, of course, because it's the only place to meet Beast.

I do enjoy having our little traditions. After just a few trips our final night has become pretty ritualistic. One of my favorite things about WDW is the ability to revisit the same things that become special while also having so much to do that there is always something new to discover each time. I would say the dessert party probably isn't worth it, as much as it pains me. The first two times we did it it was just like $26 or something, so totally worth it. This time was at the higher price, but we still ended up feeling like it was worth it. Now that it's gone up even more not so much...

Your boys have good taste! I love having kids that are into the Peoplemover. It's so simple, yet so wonderful. I think trying to fit it in every MK day is a great idea. It never has a line, so as long as you can make it to that side of the park it would be completely doable.

 

[ArielSRL]

Your boys have good taste! I love having kids that are into the Peoplemover. It's so simple, yet so wonderful. I think trying to fit it in every MK day is a great idea. It never has a line, so as long as you can make it to that side of the park it would be completely doable.

Yeh, that's the most difficult part, making sure to get over that way. Because if we do get over there, its not just PeopleMover...its Tomorrowland Speedway, too....lol. I'm sure it will work out, though!

 

[disny_luvr]

We did the Wishes dessert party in 2015 on July 3rd. We loved it! That night it had rained heavily and the fireworks had been delayed and we appreciated having a roof to sit under while we waited. We also appreciated having space and not standing like sardines on Main Street. That being said, even though we liked it, we won't do it again. It's too expensive now.

I love being in Tomorrowland at night, too. We end many of our MK days there.

 

[disny_luvr]

I hope you had a very Merry Christmas!

 

[AnnaGiselle]

Once we were all re-united we decided to race clear across to the other side of the park to try to catch one final ride before park closing on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. We got the car all the way in the back. It felt like the roughest ride ever and we loved it.

Yes! The last car (especially the last row) is my favorite spot on BTMR. One time way back in probably 1998, I remember riding it over and over again at night with no line. We and another family kept getting the same seats in the last car. One of my favorite memories. Too bad it always seems like the parks are so much more crowded these days, which makes doing that harder.

 

[Ohminnie]

So what was Naveen's answer to the question?!


Alex approached and immediately asked Naveen the question he had been wanting to ask him the whole time, the reason he’d refused the line, as he needed the answer to his question: “Are you leaving the Magic Kingdom to go back to Maldonia to practice your mushroom mincing skills?”

 

[superme80]

Loved your report!

 

[Jfsag123]

So I fell off the face of the Earth again lol. I have been sick and/or traveling for the past month. Woohoo! Also had been fighting with photobucket, as it wouldn't let me upload my pictures. It's working now! Planning on finishing this thing up today with the final day. For any still around, thanks for bearing with me!

We did the Wishes dessert party in 2015 on July 3rd. We loved it! That night it had rained heavily and the fireworks had been delayed and we appreciated having a roof to sit under while we waited. We also appreciated having space and not standing like sardines on Main Street. That being said, even though we liked it, we won't do it again. It's too expensive now.

I love being in Tomorrowland at night, too. We end many of our MK days there.

I don't think we'll be doing the party again either, but I'll bet we would consider it on a night like July 3rd - I imagine the park is a bit insane at that time with folks wanting to see the special fireworks.

Tomorrowland at night is just the best.

I hope you had a very Merry Christmas!

We did, thank you! I hope you all did as well. Here I am with my Disney loot on Christmas. The water tower is an add for my Disney Christmas village, which is still in its infancy, but growing every year.

Yes! The last car (especially the last row) is my favorite spot on BTMR. One time way back in probably 1998, I remember riding it over and over again at night with no line. We and another family kept getting the same seats in the last car. One of my favorite memories. Too bad it always seems like the parks are so much more crowded these days, which makes doing that harder.

That sounds like an amazing night! Alex said "never again" to the last row, but I think we may try it again next time. His opinion changes a lot between trips.

So what was Naveen's answer to the question?!


Alex approached and immediately asked Naveen the question he had been wanting to ask him the whole time, the reason he’d refused the line, as he needed the answer to his question: “Are you leaving the Magic Kingdom to go back to Maldonia to practice your mushroom mincing skills?”

Ha! I don't know that we actually got an answer. He burst out laughing and said that no one had ever asked him that before, but I don't remember him confirming or denying. The mystery continues

Loved your report!

Thank you!

 

[Jfsag123]

Day 13 – June 18: Epcot/See You Real Soon

Maybe I put writing this installment off for so long because I didn’t want to deal with the end of the trip. I have loved getting to relive it through this trip report and thank all of you who decided to come along on the ride! I don’t know that we’ll ever get to go for as long again, so this trip will always hold a special place in my memory. On to the last day!

We got up around 8:30 and finished the last bit of packing up. It was a beautiful day, so I decided to spend a final few minutes on the balcony enjoying the view.

Here is us leaving.

Cora has obviously been crying and none of us were thrilled. However, I was trying to get the kids pumped because we still had one more park visit to go before hitting the road and it included a ride we had been looking forward to for the entire trip!

I was really happy to be getting one more day to look at this:

We stopped for a photopass shot in front of Spaceship Earth, but the pictures all ended up being completely washed out. Oh well. We headed to our first FP+ reservation.

Soarin’! But not just any Soarin’ ride – new Soarin’! The new version had just opened the previous day. We loved getting to ride both versions in the same trip. We had ridden the old version in B1 and decided we were willing to wait for B1 again for the new version. Several other folks had the same idea, so it was a bit of a wait, but ultimately we thought it was worth it. We all loved the new version, but I know I will miss the old version as well.

After Soarin’ we decided to hike up to World Showcase and grab lunch from the Mexico QS. This also allowed us to grab a peek at the new Frozen stuff, which was scheduled to open 3 days later. I hate that we just missed it, but it’s given us something to look forward to for our upcoming trip.

After lunch we used our second FP+ at Mission: Space. I decided to be a complete buzzkill and refused to ride the Orange side. It had given me a headache the last time I rode it and I knew I was going to have a long drive later in the day and didn’t want to deal with it. After much hand-wringing and pressing me to be sure I was not going to budge about riding Orange, Alex decided to go Green with me. I told him I would go alone, but he said it was more important for us to ride things with family than to ride exactly what we wanted, so he would stay with me. He can be really sweet sometimes. Other times, not so much. So Rees and Cora went Orange and Alex and I went Green.

We met back up and all took our final ride on Spaceship Earth. Before leaving the park we had to do one more thing or the trip would have been incomplete – have Mickey bars!

After we finished our treats we trudged to the car and said goodbye for real.

The end!

The drive home was uneventful. We stopped in Mobile, AL, then made our way back to Texas the following day. We have talked about some aspect of the trip at least every few days since. Though it didn’t end up looking anything like I originally thought it would, it was amazing and we had a wonderful time. It taught us a lot about how we like to tour and the things that are most important to us. I’m now in the process of putting those lessons into my planning of our next trip.

See you real soon!

 

[mariemorgan]

Look forward to reading your review IT looks like a great trip.

 

[ArielSRL]

Cora has obviously been crying and none of us were thrilled.

I thought she looked like she had been crying. Fortunately my boys didn't really understand the leaving part, I don't think, plus, like me, they knew we would be back and I really played that up. This year, it might be a different story. Who am I kidding...I'll probably be the one crying!

We had ridden the old version in B1 and decided we were willing to wait for B1 again for the new version.

I didn't really know about this trick last year but I am definitely going to be waiting for B1 this year. I'll have to give DH clear instructions because we have to do Rider Swap so he won't be riding with me.

This also allowed us to grab a peek at the new Frozen stuff, which was scheduled to open 3 days later.

I don't know why I thought you caught this last year.

I told him I would go alone, but he said it was more important for us to ride things with family than to ride exactly what we wanted, so he would stay with me. He can be really sweet sometimes.

Awwwww! That is sweet. Me, I don't do any side so I am not even putting it on our schedule. DH would be the only potential rider and he may not even want to so I'm just leaving it out...lol.

Before leaving the park we had to do one more thing or the trip would have been incomplete – have Mickey bars!

Great ending!

After we finished our treats we trudged to the car and said goodbye for real.

Boo hoo!

I’m now in the process of putting those lessons into my planning of our next trip.

See you real soon!

Ok, I'll be the annoying one that asks.....so when are we getting the PTR?

 

[Jfsag123]

Look forward to reading your review IT looks like a great trip.

Thanks for reading!

I thought she looked like she had been crying. Fortunately my boys didn't really understand the leaving part, I don't think, plus, like me, they knew we would be back and I really played that up. This year, it might be a different story. Who am I kidding...I'll probably be the one crying!

I always cry when we leave even though I know we'll be back. It's pitiful. In 2015 our last ride was on it's a small world and I had to wear sunglasses throughout the ride.

I didn't really know about this trick last year but I am definitely going to be waiting for B1 this year. I'll have to give DH clear instructions because we have to do Rider Swap so he won't be riding with me.

I knew about it, but had never bothered to try for it. Then we got to be first on Soarin' after our GG breakfast and they put us in B1 because we were pretty much the only ones on the ride. We were instantly spoiled.

Awwwww! That is sweet. Me, I don't do any side so I am not even putting it on our schedule. DH would be the only potential rider and he may not even want to so I'm just leaving it out...lol.

Good for you! Unfortunately my crew loves it, so I have to plan two rides on it. I am only doing orange once though, and will be getting a drink immediately after.

Ok, I'll be the annoying one that asks.....so when are we getting the PTR?

Ha! I wasn't planning on doing a PTR since our plans have been so up and down. I'll just hijack yours from time to time. j/k!

 

[ArielSRL]

Ha! I wasn't planning on doing a PTR

I was afraid you were going to say that....boo hoo!

 

[ariane37]

What a sweet ending to a great trip I don't look forward to posting about our last day in my reports but alas, it must be done. At least you're only about FOUR months away from your return trip
I second the "Boo" to no PTR!
Um, try not to step on any needles between now & June, k

 

[Jfsag123]

What a sweet ending to a great trip I don't look forward to posting about our last day in my reports but alas, it must be done. At least you're only about FOUR months away from your return trip
I second the "Boo" to no PTR!
Um, try not to step on any needles between now & June, k

Thanks! And yes, just 4 months from Friday! My ticker is a couple of days off since we moved up our start date. Woohoo!

And yeah, I don't think I would have enough to say for a PTR, but I think I will do an actual trip report again once it's over. It turned out to be a nice way to cement the trip in my memory.

I wear house shoes religiously now. No more needles!!