No Kids, Gnu Year! Ringing in 2018 at WDW! **Complete 8/31**

[Lesley Wake]

I abandoned this thing! But never fear, I WILL be coming back to finish it up!!

Tuesday we leave for San Francisco and northern California, but when I get back I am going to finish up this TR, because I can't leave it alone anymore.

I got busy and didn't log in to Disboards...and every day I didn't log in made it easier to continue to avoid it...and then thinking about finishing the TR felt like a chore. I think a lot of it was b/c I was Disney depressed for real this time because i had no idea when I'd be going back.

But...we are booked for another trip. I know I said we'd never do NYE again, but apparently that was false, b/c that's when we're going back. Staying at the Polynesian...which if you read my October report might surprise you, b/c I had no intention of going back there either! It will be all four of us, and the kids are very excited. We have one goal for the trip - update our castle pictures because both boys are taller than me now

I'm going to go scroll through some posts, try to read some TRs, and then get back to this one after we return from San Francisco late next week!! I've missed everyone!!

I saw on instagram that you were planning another trip! It will be fun with all 4 of you, and at the Poly will help with transportation!

There wasn't a lot of cool things to see along the bypass aside from a GINORMOUS stack of kegs outside from the restaurants in the Mexico pavilion.

That is pretty fitting!

I stopped to gawk a little at Silent Groove (the quiet dance party...only the people wearing the headphones could hear the music)

I saw posts about this and it seemed sort of cool! I guess you can also hire companies for that at in-home parties-a friend's kid had one at her 8th birthday party (though I think they just rented the equipment/headphones, and the dad DJed).

All the tips I'd read for New Year's Eve suggested heading to the park in the early afternoon...I guess everyone else followed that advice. If I was giving tips for how to handle it, I'd say go in the morning and just tough it out all day in the park, OR go to MK or Epcot via monorail or ferry from a resort around 7:30pm. Don't try going at noon via bus, car, uber, or Minnie Van. I know by waiting that late you might risk getting into MK b/c of capacity closures, but people WILL exit after the first 6:30 fireworks.

Yeah, it seems the best way to go is avoid the roads wherever possible.

I really want to see it at New Years Eve now, and I'm thinking maybe the Swan/Dolphin could be the best way? Walk thru Epcot to get to/from MK?

 

[Pluto0809]

I missed the start of this because I was off the DIS for a few months at the beginning of the year. All caught up now and after reading your NYE experience, I'm glad we didn't get their until 1/2!

 

[MeghanEmily]

But...we are booked for another trip. I know I said we'd never do NYE again, but apparently that was false, b/c that's when we're going back. Staying at the Polynesian...which if you read my October report might surprise you, b/c I had no intention of going back there either!

I'm surprised by all of this information!!!

But also very excited for you that you have a trip in the works with your awesome ohana!

I've missed everyone!!

We've missed you!

Welcome home! Take your time. Getting caught up on the Dis, man...it can be exhausting. I'm in the process of doing it this week, and I've only been away-ish for, like, less than two weeks. Uggh.

All things considered, it wasn't a bad spot. We had a light post to kind of lean up against. Only a couple of people almost spilled drinks on us so...hooray?

It's the little things.

...

DH and I were over New Year's Eve at Epcot by this point. Now it was basically just about survival and getting out alive.

I'm exhausted and a little terrified just reading about it.

I stopped to gawk a little at Silent Groove (the quiet dance party...only the people wearing the headphones could hear the music)

This is cool! I hadn't heard of this!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I am surprised Disney doesn't have lanes just for there Disney Buses and now Minnie vans! It would be all that more incentive to stay on site during those super busy times of year!

Glad you guys survived the night!

 

[Tracy161]

Welcome back to the Dis! Hope you're having a great time in SF! Looks like you are

 

[xlsm]

Aw, I knew I missed my Dis Friends but didn't realize how much until I saw everyone back here again!!

We made it home from San Francisco late last night and were greeted by some happy dogs. My very shy chihuahua, Penny, pretty much threw herself at me - she doesn't let many other people touch her so she was love starved I think! My MIL did say she got to hold her for a minute on the couch while we were gone, so she must have really been hard up for attention. She's not really into my MIL, so it was a big deal

Lots of you have already seen my pictures, but we did go to the Walt Disney Family Museum while we were there. Oh my gosh. If you are ever in San Francisco, it's a Disney fan must do. I mostly walked around with my mouth hanging open and in awe of the history in that building. It covers Walt's early life and details about his family, and then there are the artifacts from his career and the films we all know and love. Actual animation cels and sketches, earliest known drawing of Mickey, clay models of characters, and then the models of Disneyland. Amazing.

It's kind of like One Man's Dream on fifty different kinds of steroids.

We also celebrated my youngest's (referred to as L most of the time on TRs and such) 13th birthday while we were gone.

I'll probably do another TR update this afternoon - nothing else is happening today except maybe a quick trip to the grocery store. It's DH's bday and he went back to a lot of craziness at work today. I think he deserves at least a dessert or something

See you a little later today, Friends!

 

[xlsm]

Ok, here we go! Let's get moving and see where we end up next!

Chapter Whatever Part Whatever (eh, I'll look it up and edit it later...maybe)

Still NYE, but we had made an early exit from Nightmare City, aka Epcot.

We hopped off the AKL bus at Jambo with one goal in mind...but first, cute holiday Donald in Zawadi Marketplace:

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We looked around for awhile and I can't remember if we bought stuff or not. I know we did eventually buy things, because I got a hoodie and a couple of other items at some point on this trip.

The lobby of Jambo House was filled with laughter and music and dancing. They had brought in entertainment for the evening and had activities for kids and families, too.

We admired the tree

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and stood to watch for awhile...you can kind of see the performers under the yellow thing

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Only the best photos around here, folks

Enough frivolity and holiday cheer, we had a mission, and that mission was The Mara. We picked up our treats and took the shuttle to Kidani. We made it to our room, turned on the tv to watch some Criminal Minds and celebrated with cheap crappy wine

https://www.flickr.com/photos/89161658@N04/

I picked this wine b/c it had a cute animal on it. I like baby goats, ok?



Anyway, this was terrible and we dumped it down the sink on our last morning b/c we never drank more than the one sip on NYE. I think it might actually have been made FROM goats

But most important of all...we also celebrated with ZEBRA DOMESSSSSSS!!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/89161658@N04/

I kind of hoped DH wouldn't like them so I could have more. It did take him awhile to warm up to them, but he ended up liking them. Darn.

Sooo...yeah. That's it. That is how we ended 2017. Criminal Minds, goat wine, and zebra domes.

Next up as soon as I can get it typed, New Year's Day 2018! (and then I'll try to come back and do quotes)

 

[xlsm]

Chapter Five: A very cold start to the year

After a very intense New Year's Eve experience at Epcot, I was hoping my plan for New Year's Day was a sound one: Get up early while everyone is sleeping off the night before.

We woke up to a cool, foggy morning and headed to the Magic Kingdom.

Not before taking even more pictures of the Kidani tree though. You see a tree, you photograph a tree. (I seem to have this rule about a lot of things. Monorails, ducks, castles...)



I hated how hard it was to get a good picture of this thing. Being right by the window messed up the lighting no matter what time of day I tried.

Anyway, we got right on a bus to MK if I recall correctly, and the atmosphere could not have been more different than the night before. It was quiet and people were moving at a normal pace, no shoving or anything!



These are all the people, and I'm *pretty* sure this is either right before or right after official rope drop. We took our time going in and didn't see the opening show, but I feel like it we were on the cusp of opening time.

I tried to get a picture of the station and Mickey floral with no people, and mostly succeeded with a sharp angle...although you can still see some heads, Minnie ears, and tall hair dos along the bottom edge.



We made our way in and followed the tiny crowd down Main Street



I freaked out a little over this Snow White display



and then we decided to pay a visit to the Main Street Starbucksery. Even though it was cold, I excitedly ordered a green tea frappuccino because they had taken them off the menu at our local one (they're back now) so this was a big deal for me.



We headed for Tomorrowland, and even though the frozen drink made me colder than I already was, I was smiling about it anyway!



Ahh! Look how empty it was! Such a relief after the hectic rush from the night before.

We both look tired and pale and weird in this, but we did stop for a purple wall selfie. You can't see it, but we're still holding that Starbucks. #Basic



We chugged and tossed our drinks after this because we were ready for some very. serious. competition.



We walked on Buzz (one of our favorites!) and...I won! I think. Maybe? I don't know which score is which, honestly.



Eh, actually it looks like I lost. Judging by the angle of the picture and DH's jacket sleeve there to the right. Well, crap. At least I won at TSMM a few days earlier, and we all know that's the one that REALLY counts if we're keeping track of wins/losses...right??

Next up...nearly empty tea cups!



Still tired, still pale, still weird...still gotta take that tea cup selfie



As I'm posting these pictures, I'm looking at my outfit and I know I have photopass pics from this day...maybe I just didn't move them to flickr. Huh.

Anyway...

I had to document the empty area after our spin on the cups



We stayed in Fantasyland and I insisted we visit It's A Small World, a personal favorite of mine! It usually makes me cry, but I think I got through this ride ok!



We did get stuck for awhile near the end, but it did let me get a different picture than the same ol' same ol' I usually take there



You can kind of see the boat backlog there near the bottom of the shot.

Also, it's my dream to have my name on the farewell screens here, so of course DH ended up being the lucky one. He always is!



When we left, it was starting to rain a little. It was already misty, but this had some actual substance to it. Not bad enough to run for cover, so we kept moving



It was mansion time! Woo!



It says 15 minutes, but there was no real wait. We did have a kid stomp in a puddle right next to us as we walked through the graveyard, though. Not a fan of that kid at all.

Afterward, I made a discovery...



just like, a personal discovery, not any kind of earth shattering thing. I noticed that the dogs and snakes on the bench details had red eyes.

And everyone says...that's it?

Yep.

Bye bye pretty mansion. I love you



More coming soon!!

 

[xlsm]

Is it the same one they have at Christmas? I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would too!

Whoa!!
Well you guys are going back, so it can't be THAT bad, right?

That is hilarious! It's like those people dancing to their headphones in the bus or trains..but en mass!

Crazy, never would have expected that! But yay!

I *think* it's the same one from Christmas. Like 99.9% sure. One CM said the one at midnight would be even bigger, but another said they'd be exactly the same. Always reliable, LOL!

Oh, the NYE experience was enough that we'll do DHS during the day (current plan at least!) with dinner at Citricos and watch fireworks safely from the Poly! I don't think anything would ever get DH back to Epcot again, but he keeps mentioning going to MK for NYE now?? I think he feels a false sense of security since we had a relatively easy time on 12/30 this time around. I was willing to go this week again mainly b/c it was the earliest time that all four of us could go, and I was dying to get back to the parks. I can do anything with the promise of a WDW trip

And they were all dancing so off time to what the main DJ was playing out loud, making it extra funny!

I saw on instagram that you were planning another trip! It will be fun with all 4 of you, and at the Poly will help with transportation!


That is pretty fitting!


I saw posts about this and it seemed sort of cool! I guess you can also hire companies for that at in-home parties-a friend's kid had one at her 8th birthday party (though I think they just rented the equipment/headphones, and the dad DJed).


Yeah, it seems the best way to go is avoid the roads wherever possible.

I really want to see it at New Years Eve now, and I'm thinking maybe the Swan/Dolphin could be the best way? Walk thru Epcot to get to/from MK?

Yes! I'm thrilled to be going back...and I'll be there in May too. Planning to upgrade to another AP on the NYE trip. I don't know if I'll be very involved in MegaTrip2019 (haha!), but I had been hoping to overlap with Raeven anyway, so I'm excited to get another visit in as well (and of course plotting to see if there is a way to cram fall in, too!)

The first time I saw anything like this was on the netflix show Atypical - the main character is on the spectrum and his girlfriend organized a sensory friendly prom/dance thing. It was funny to see in person b/c everyone was so off from the very, very loud music playing in the area...like when you're watching a show/movie that's filming a dance scene and everyone is dancing but there's no music.

Oh my gosh, yes. Avoid anything road related to travel anywhere! Wheels = bad! Swan/Dolphin or anything in that area or MK area is definitely the way to go.

I missed the start of this because I was off the DIS for a few months at the beginning of the year. All caught up now and after reading your NYE experience, I'm glad we didn't get their until 1/2!

I understand the hiatus - I had to have a break too!

I think you got there at a very good time! Since our trip this year has less December and more January, I'm hoping to avoid as much craziness as possible this time around!

I'm surprised by all of this information!!!

But also very excited for you that you have a trip in the works with your awesome ohana!

We've missed you!

Welcome home! Take your time. Getting caught up on the Dis, man...it can be exhausting. I'm in the process of doing it this week, and I've only been away-ish for, like, less than two weeks. Uggh.


It's the little things.

...


I'm exhausted and a little terrified just reading about it.

This is cool! I hadn't heard of this!

LOL, it's like everything I've not liked about trips rolled into ONE trip! NYE and the Poly, what am I thinking??
I feel like it will be a less stressful trip b/c we won't be trying to battle crowds within a park on NYE. My one rule for this visit was we HAD to be in the MK or Boardwalk area. No bus only resorts this time! If it was that crazy with just me and DH this past year, I can't imagine how bad it would have been with the kids in tow.

Trying to get caught up and then I left for vacation, getting more behind, LOL!! Eventually I'll be back in the know around here!

I am surprised Disney doesn't have lanes just for there Disney Buses and now Minnie vans! It would be all that more incentive to stay on site during those super busy times of year!

Glad you guys survived the night!

Right?!?!? That could have solved a lot of problems. Now, in certain parts of the roadway they did have some lanes that were supposed to be bus only, but people weren't obeying it, and it was only in sections. If one lane was reserved for Disney transport only it would have solved a lot of the problem I think. It was just lane after lane of bumper to bumper traffic.

As I read back over what I wrote/am writing I'm trying to decide if I was being over dramatic, but then I see those pictures and it all comes back to me, LOL! It really was about survival in those crowds. I don't know how groups were staying together in the World Showcase.

Welcome back to the Dis! Hope you're having a great time in SF! Looks like you are

I'm back, I'm back!! SF was awesome!

 

[chunkymonkey]

Oh, the NYE experience was enough that we'll do DHS during the day (current plan at least!) with dinner at Citricos and watch fireworks safely from the Poly! I don't think anything would ever get DH back to Epcot again, but he keeps mentioning going to MK for NYE now?? I think he feels a false sense of security since we had a relatively easy time on 12/30 this time around. I was willing to go this week again mainly b/c it was the earliest time that all four of us could go, and I was dying to get back to the parks. I can do anything with the promise of a WDW trip

That is good to know! @Lesley Wake and I were talking about doing NYE next year so that we can also do Galaxy's Edge.

I know you've been on vacation so welcome back!
Are you in for our May girls trip? Would love to have you join us! We have the whole PTR going so lemme know if you want to be part of it (I do have you included but not yet part of our intro with individual pictures). Unfortunately Raeven bowed out from the group events because she's there with Josh but I think we'll be meeting her separately at other times.

 

[Lesley Wake]

That is good to know! @Lesley Wake and I were talking about doing NYE next year so that we can also do Galaxy's Edge.

I know you've been on vacation so welcome back!
Are you in for our May girls trip? Would love to have you join us! We have the whole PTR going so lemme know if you want to be part of it (I do have you included but not yet part of our intro with individual pictures). Unfortunately Raeven bowed out from the group events because she's there with Josh but I think we'll be meeting her separately at other times.

Yup, I still am in! Finally told my mom and she's like - don't you want to see other places on NYE? Well, maybe eventually mom, but now I want to see WDW's spectacle!

 

[xlsm]

That is good to know! @Lesley Wake and I were talking about doing NYE next year so that we can also do Galaxy's Edge.

I know you've been on vacation so welcome back!
Are you in for our May girls trip? Would love to have you join us! We have the whole PTR going so lemme know if you want to be part of it (I do have you included but not yet part of our intro with individual pictures). Unfortunately Raeven bowed out from the group events because she's there with Josh but I think we'll be meeting her separately at other times.

Galaxy's Edge combined with NYE? You and Lesley are true women warriors, LOL!!

As for May, I'm probably going to be there during those dates, but I have nothing set in stone yet, so I don't want to get all caught up in the planning and then have to back out of anything. I'm going to stay in the Fbook group and stuff to see what the plans are and watch from afar I'd like to see you again and meet some of the others if I can though, so Dismeets when I can would be awesome, but I will probably skip the big events since so much of my trip is still up in the air (like 90% of it, aside from knowing for sure I want to be there the first week of May ). It's fun to think about so many Dis Friends being in one place at one time throughout that week!

I have the PTR open in a tab but haven't gone in yet to read...I've been pretty lazy today after getting back from the long trip!!

Yup, I still am in! Finally told my mom and she's like - don't you want to see other places on NYE? Well, maybe eventually mom, but now I want to see WDW's spectacle!

Spectacle is the perfect word for NYE, LOL!! If you embrace the party atmosphere you'd probably have more fun than we did. Not to say we didn't have fun, we definitely did, it was just so crowded and the two hour bus ride to go such a short distance really started things off on a stressful note for me. I would have done things differently if I had it to do over again (which I guess I do, but I mean specifically if I had last year to re-do with what I know now)

 

[Lesley Wake]

Spectacle is the perfect word for NYE, LOL!! If you embrace the party atmosphere you'd probably have more fun than we did. Not to say we didn't have fun, we definitely did, it was just so crowded and the two hour bus ride to go such a short distance really started things off on a stressful note for me. I would have done things differently if I had it to do over again (which I guess I do, but I mean specifically if I had last year to re-do with what I know now)

Yeah I definitely took notes on everyone’s NYE from last year! I’m planning on staying somewhere along Crescent Lake-probably Swolphin, so I can reduce bus transport (and avoid entirely NYE)! Probably do all FPs for SWGE! A dessert party for MK on the 30th-trying to figure out if California Grill’s observation deck is open for the midnight ones too! At Epcot, I’m also trying to figure out if Rose and Crown or Tokyo Dining has reservations late so I have a reserved spot for midnight! But, hey, I have almost 1.5 yrs to go!!!

 

[missangelalexis]

I don't blame you for wanting a quiet, relaxing evening after the Epcot chaos! I'm sorry the wine was so bad though!

Wow, sounds like a quiet morning at MK! Your plan worked!

 

[Raeven]

Sooo...yeah. That's it. That is how we ended 2017. Criminal Minds, goat wine, and zebra domes.

I ended 2017 with an OC marathon and a livestream of Disney's fireworks

Not before taking even more pictures of the Kidani tree though. You see a tree, you photograph a tree. (I seem to have this rule about a lot of things. Monorails, ducks, castles...)

I also take pictures of every tree I see!

I noticed that the dogs and snakes on the bench details had red eyes.

Omg cool!

 

[xlsm]

I don't blame you for wanting a quiet, relaxing evening after the Epcot chaos! I'm sorry the wine was so bad though!

Wow, sounds like a quiet morning at MK! Your plan worked!

I've decided maybe the wine just didn't mix with zebra domes, LOL!! My wine palate is NOT sophisticated.

I ended 2017 with an OC marathon and a livestream of Disney's fireworks



I also take pictures of every tree I see!



Omg cool!

That is a winning NYE in my book!

How can you not? They're so pretty! We were in an uber in SF last week and drove by a house that had a Christmas tree up in the front bay window. Matt just looked over and said, "No." He never tells me no so he must really be serious.

Thank you! This is why we are friends! I was very excited about this discovery, LOL!!

 

[MeghanEmily]

So great to see you back to updating around here! Also, I laugh at all the mentions of how pale you look in your selfies, because I'm seriously like Snow White's less adorable little sister, and I'm the QUEEN of pale, especially since up here we only get, like, 4 good hot sunny days a year! Think, like, the drugstore's lightest shade of ivory, and then lighten it one more shade. So you guys looks pretty average to me! And I think you look cute, and basking in that Disney glow.

 

[xlsm]

Chapter Five Part Two

I knew I had photopass pictures from this morning, and I found them, so let's start with those before I keep the day moving...

xlsm2012

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when I left off, we had bravely explored a haunted mansion. They said a ghost would follow us home, so we decided to stay busy and maybe lose him, because dogs supposedly bark at ghosts and I just don't want to deal with extra barking!

We always try to do new things on each WDW trip, and one of those new things was about to happen. But we had to kill a few minutes first, so we just sort of hovered around Liberty Square

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Soon it was time to board the Liberty Belle. Yep, in all our visits, we'd never taken a ride! Time to change that.

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Here we gooooooo!

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A nice view of the mansion we'd just left behind:

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I got better pictures of the HM when we were on Tom Sawyer's Island, but this was nice to see too!

It was raining and the outside portions of the boat were wet so we started out sitting under cover. It was also COLD.

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Eventually I couldn't stand it anymore and I braved the rain to take some pictures. I couldn't resist all the new angles of BTMRR, seeing Splash from afar, and getting a little glimpse of the castle. Not to mention seeing a few new friends along the way.

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Our boat didn't have very many other passengers on board, so we could see everything and didn't have to fight for views. We liked the boat, and it was a good way to kill some time. It's not something we'll try to fit into every trip, but I'd do it again if I needed a break.

Back on land we saw the next group lined up and waiting:

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Even birds wait in line at the Magic Kingdom!

I took one last shot across the water

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before we started moving toward Adventureland. We had a lunch scheduled over there, and we had something we wanted to do first.

We needed to get in the mood for that lunch...can you guess where we were headed??

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Honestly can't remember if we had a FP here or not. I feel like (based on the pictures coming up) we must have gone through the standby line since it was posted at 15 minutes or so.

Continued in the next post as fast as i can type it!

 

[xlsm]

Chapter Five Part Three

It was time for a trip down the rivers of the world aboard the famous Jingle Cruise!! Christmas puns, woo!!

Yeah, I definitely think we did the short standby line so I could take pictures of the decorations. Here they are:

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I love the Santa hat on the tarantula

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So clever, these jungle skippers!

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It was almost time to board our vessel and I was loving the skipper's hut across the river

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Our ride for the day would be...

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We had a fun skipper, which always makes things better.

I. Love. This. Ride.

I don't get tired of it, I always take pictures, and I'm always surprised when we go inside the cave. How do I manage to forget about it every time? I've been on this thing a million times, and I always forget about the cave!

Anyway, my fragile memory aside, we watched these guys trashin' the camp:

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And I was happy to see the rhino back in action. In October it was just the hyenas.

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Up next...the backside of water!

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I ACTUALLY managed a decent shot of Trader Sam-ta:

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and finally, upon exiting the boat, my TR title inspiration:

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I've mentioned that we're going back again for NYE (this time as a family), and I'm excited we'll have a third trip with the Jingle Cruise. I'm also hoping to make a trip in the spring, so I can get a regular Jungle Cruise fix, too! It's hard to not be in awe of all of the extra effort they go to to put the overlay on this ride. Details! I can't handle it!! It's awesome.

We had a little more time to kill, so what better way to fill it than with some pirates??

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Wait times still low throughout the park, as you can see. Our ADR was for 11:30 I think, so this was probably taken around 11-ish, so around two hours into park opening.

We sailed the Caribbean, then decided to go sit and wait for our lunch reservation. We were cold and damp and wanted to sit down. We walked back to Skipper's Canteen and found a cozy spot in the waiting area.

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We checked in early and I think we were the first people seated for the day. We had been in the library on a previous visit(i think it's the library? whatever the room is called through the doorway in the picture I'm about to post), but this time we were in the main dining room (the mess hall)

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I think the main room is really pretty

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Food and theme/design are one of the reasons this is a favorite restaurant of mine.

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It's beautiful and special, and just a winner all around in my opinion.

It was cold and yucky out, so DH started with the Hot and Sour Soup - I don't currently see this on the menu, which is horrifying, because this soup is INCREDIBLE. We ended up sharing b/c I loved it.

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I ordered two apps here as my whole meal, but we shared the S.E.A. Shu Mai dumplings since I took some of the soup

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My favorite thing on the menu was my main meal...the Orinoco Ida's Cachapas: House-made Corn Pancakes, Mojo-braised Pork, Black Bean Salad, and Avocado Cream. One of my favorite foods on property.

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For his entree, DH picked the noodles...I looked at the current menu for the name and the description doesn't sound right, so I don't want to put the wrong description on here. They tasted a lot like the hot and sour soup, so even though this is not a dish I would typically order, b/c I loved the soup, it's something I'd get in the future (if it's still on there exactly like this)

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We love Skipper's Canteen!! I'm having such a hard time not booking it for our next trip. We want to try new things, but this is a favorite. We'll see what ends up happening. Right now we have a dinner booked at Be Our Guest to try the new menu, but it's later than I'd prefer, so if nothing earlier comes up, I might switch to this.

After lunch we were cold and damp and ready to go back to the resort for awhile. We headed down Main Street to do some shopping...we wouldn't be back here again on this trip

Goodbye castle!

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Goodbye balloons, stuffed up under the overhang of the Main Street shops!

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On the way out we did catch part of the Rainy Day Cavalcade, which was fun, and a nice send off for us...I needed a boost of cheer, because I was beginning to get very, very sad.

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We exited the Magic Kingdom for the final time on this trip and I cried. Like, I CRIED. People stared. I am always sad when I leave MK for the final time of a trip, but this time I didn't know when I'd be back, and it hit me all at once. I'd just had an amazing year with an annual pass. I saw TWO Christmas holiday seasons at WDW! I'd had a solo trip during Flower and Garden. I FINALLY went to a Halloween party and made it to Food and Wine.

I was just thoroughly, 100% sad.

Would I perk up before our special dinner tonight??

In the next update...find out what would be our BEST MEAL EVER!!

See you later, Friends! That's all for today!

 

[wdwnut61]

I’m glad you survived the in Epcot
Yea to empty parks early the next day
Love the selfies and your ears
Very cool detail you spotted with the read eyes
Very cute PP pics
One of these days we need to ride the Liberty Belle just for the gorgeous views
Yes Jungle Cruise/ Jingle Cruise is the best!
Glad you enjoyed Skippers Canteen I read mixed reviews