Put On Your Sunday Clothes, There's Disney World Out There! - Wilderness Lodge

[pkondz]

HAHA I actually thought about that when I uploaded the photo.. "will people judge me for leaving the light on??" and of course, you were the one to point it out..

You're welcome.

We have a snack problem.

Yes. Yes you do.
You should seek help.

"Hi, I'm Katie and I have a snack problem."


I don't get why they call those things ______ Anonymous (Snackers Anonymous in this case) when the first thing you do is tell everyone who you are.

 

[BippityBrittany]

just caught up! cant wait to read more

that view at WL is AMAZING

 

[TheLittleKatie]

Wow! What fortune! You got a better view and a refund? That's wonderful! Wilderness Lodge is so beautiful. I am so glad to see all of your pictures. In September 2017 we were supposed to finally stay there, but we had to cancel due to the hurricane. We are going back November 2018, but WL had no rooms available. I am so very sad and disappointed. We're staying at AKL, which is a lovely resort, but I'll miss out on staying at WL.

Can't wait to read more.

Ah that's bad luck about your Wilderness Lodge plans! Hopefully you will get to stay there one day. AKL is fantastic though, I hope you have a great time there!

I think WL is my favourite resort (well, favourite of the favourites), love the photos!

Me too! It's one of my favourites I can never choose a favourite

Enjoying your TR. Looking forward to your trips to the parks!

Thank you! I've got a few days written up so I'll start posting asap

We stayed at Boulder Ridge on our last trip(Nov ‘17), on the 4th floor as well. I started videoing as soon as we entered the lobby(it’s always been our fave but 1st time staying there) and all my kids did was whisper that it was too “high class” for us . By the time we got to the room, however, I was full on sobbing. It faced the lagoon, like dead center, in the longer building,with the most lovely balcony(we only booked woods view) So pretty much the video is me crying like a baby

Darn you, Disney feels!!!

"too high class for us" haha bless them!! That sounds incredible, I love the look of Boulder Ridge! Are you a DVC member there? It's such a good resort to own DVC at

That view is incredible! I am excited for the next time we visit - we always do the dining plan and feel like the dessert at the quick service is too much, so I am excited about more snack credits! Especially during an Epcot event!

YES I completely agree about the dessert with the quick service lunch.. Like, a burger AND fries it way too much for me at lunch, but throw in a dessert too?? I think that's the perfect plan, take those extra credits to an Epcot event! Which one are you going to? We had a great time at Festival of the Arts in January, and I would love to do Food and Wine again sometime!

That view is absolutely phenomenal!! Seems like such a peaceful little corner of the world, so removed from all the Disney-ness, but in a good way! I too can not believe you got a refund for essentially an upgrade! Total pixie dust!! And then to be able to see the fireworks, WOW!! You two, really have the best luck. I think WL looks so comfy and inviting, and I may stay there at some point, but I always worry that it is so far out of the action, so I'm really interested to see how your travels plan out. Of course this from someone who love AKL, I better you end up being closer to the park then that is. LOL!

You hit the nail on the head! I like the description - "a peaceful little corner of the world" - that's exactly how it felt! I'm honestly still OBSESSED with that room. I think if they do a room renovation soon and modernise it a bit, the Wilderness Lodge will be getting a lot more of my money!

That's interesting that you worry it would be too far away from the action, I guess aside from Magic Kingdom it is, however we didn't notice it at all When I think back to AKL I can vividly remember the loooong bus waits, but that's not something I associate with the Wilderness Lodge at all! Plus Magic Kingdom is my favourite, so the super easy access to that park is SO GOOD!

Oh, my goodness Katie! What wonderful luck



Hmmmmm Does it rhyme with Flea Flour Fest?

We were SO lucky, I still can't believe that happened, and we got all that money back!

Hahahah LOL at Flea Flour Fest! You know us well!!!!

 

[TheLittleKatie]

It's a little disconcerting that the map you see on the plane has the location of the sinking of the Titanic on it!

Haha I know!! The Virgin Atlantic bosses are like "People might like to remember a terrible tragedy involving hundreds of people going into the sea.. that will help nervous fliers, right?!"

Sounds Like you guys are off to a great start. I can't wait to see the rest of your magical experienced. I can't get over that you were "down-graded" with compensation to that room-view!!!!!

I know I still can't believe it either!! I genuinely felt like it was an upgrade, and not even a 'free upgrade', but a 'PAID UPGRADE". Whaaaat??!!! So good!!

Yeah, the family is all splitting up and no one else was interested in Disney! Well, that's not going to stop me!

We are doing 6 nights in Paris, 4 nights in Loire Valley, and then 3 nights in Normandy. We'll also do a drive out to see Mont St Michel one day. So we will be able to see those places but still try to be relatively relaxed! The Airbnb in Amboise is at the base of the castle, so that will be fun! I've actually visited all those places before, but it was such a rushed trip with a school tour group that we couldn't do a whole lot of exploring. But both Normandy and the Loire Valley were my favorite places, so I don't mind going back!

Hahah brilliant, I love that you're going solo! You will still have a fantastic time! The friend I went with last month is already pining to go back! Eek it's so soon, let me know how it was when you get back! Disney and the whole trip! I've done Normandy and Mont St Michel before too, very cool places!

"I'm so conflicted!"
Awwwww!

WHAT'S A GIRL TO DO

What an awesome room. Pixie dust starting on day one and hopefully sprinkled throughout your two weeks there.

It was such a good start to the trip!

That room!!! Hope your luck continued through the rest of your trip!

I still love that room!

Following along and so excited for this!!! We're staying at Wilderness Lodge (well Copper Creek) in November so I love seeing your pictures of the resort.

OMG that is amazing that you're staying at Copper Creek! We actually got to do a tour on this trip and it is so beautiful! Are you a DVC member at the Wilderness Lodge?

I don't often comment on trip reports, but I loved your other reports and was excited to see you had stayed at WL. We will be staying there for the first time in September (split stay between SSR and CCV), and I'm interested in your take.

Yay thanks for commenting! And see the comment just above, I am so jealous that you will be staying at Copper Creek! We did a tour and I loved it. I hope my Wilderness Lodge pictures get you excited!

 

[TheLittleKatie]

Sounds like you had smooth sailing over the pond. Cross-Atlantics are nice in the food dept. I couldn't help but notice the Titanic sinking site marked.

$453 bucks is nothing to sneeze at! Pretty sure I'd have been happy with that too!

Hmmm, salmon on pizza. Dubious, but I'd try it! One of these days I would LOVE to stay at WL, but gonna be a long while before that happens. Looking forward to all your views and reviews.

I know, the Titanic marking is creepy.. Who thought it was a good idea to mark tragedies for anxious fliers to see?! Such an odd decision!

I was thrilled to get all of that money back! It was such a great way to start the trip

Following along! I love WL as well, there is something magical about that resort.

Wonderful luck with the view!

Yay I loved it so much, the theming and the proximity to the Magic Kingdom I would love to stay there again sometime soon!

Following along! My fiance and I are going to Disney World for our honeymoon in less than a month (eeeee!!!) and I had really wanted to stay at Wilderness Lodge. It's my dream resort. We just couldn't justify the cost this time. Oh well, I can live vicariously through you!!

And congratulations on the new house!

Aww how exciting that you're going to Disney for your honeymoon!! I hope you have a fantastic time! And I also hope you get to stay at the Wilderness Lodge sometime

Woohoo! I'm excited to follow along on another one of your trip reports!

Boy did you guys luck out with your room and being given money back to stay in it!! The location looks so awesome!!

I was so so happy, and we hadn't even been to the parks yet!! It's usually a free upgrade that people are excited for, and I'm just here with my paid downgrade like

Sweet!!

Love the pics from Wilderness Lodge! We get to check it out for the first time in September.

It's so beautiful, I'm all about that wilderness theming! Are you staying there in September or visiting for dinner or something? Either way, I'm happy for you that you get to go there

Following as well. Read through some of your old reports and they're so fun to read.

Also - this post caught my eye since I'm IN LOVE with Hello, Dolly! It's pretty much my favorite musical ever.

Yay ! Thanks so much for reading! Haha I love it too! I seem to have attracted a lot of Hello Dolly fans which is GREAT

I absolutely love the pictures of Wilderness lodge. I’m definitely staying there one day soon! Lol

YES I really hope you get to!! It's one of my favourites for sure

Following! I'm loving all of your gifs!!!

haha thank you!! I'm glad you're enjoying it so far

 

[TheLittleKatie]

Hello Katie! Glad to be following along with another of your trip reports. I "watched" this thread ages ago and then life & work got in the way, but I managed to find my way back.
What a fantastic room at Wilderness Lodge. You've really lucked out with your room views! I would love to stay at WL, it's the kind of atmosphere I enjoy. My wife says it's too "woodsy" though. But my wallet also disputes that I could stay there.
I have good news though! After four long years being away from my happy place (for a bunch of reasons) my family and I are finally going back to the World in August. I managed to get free dining at All Star Music. Not my first choice of resorts, since we became used to moderates, but I couldn't pass up the free dining. I"m just thrilled to be going back.

Hey friend! We have had THE BEST luck with our room views! LOL that your wife says it's "too woodsy" ! This does not compute with me.. I love that woodsy theme!I hope you get to stay there sometime!
AHH YES! I'm so happy you're going back after so long!! And with free dining too!! I hope you have the best time, I bet it will come around so quickly Do you have any plans yet?

Why do you think Canadians apologize all the time???

Hahaha, clearly that deep-seated guilt of the pineapple pizza

Because something is broken!
That is not supposed to happen.

Oh dear.. that makes me nervous..

Yes. Yes you do.
You should seek help.

"Hi, I'm Katie and I have a snack problem."


I don't get why they call those things ______ Anonymous (Snackers Anonymous in this case) when the first thing you do is tell everyone who you are.

Yes that's true. And if I was some crackpot with a Disney snack problem (which I am), I would not trust the other members of the group to keep me anonymous...

just caught up! cant wait to read more

that view at WL is AMAZING

Yay thanks for reading! I KNOW, if I ever stay at the Wilderness Lodge again I will definitely be requesting one of those rooms on the edge overlooking the lake

 

[TheLittleKatie]

Day 2
Sunday 21st January 2018
Part 1 - Magic Kingdom arrival!


GOOD MORNING!

I woke up at 3:30am!
Then I fell back to sleep, but I woke up again at 5:30am!
IT’S AN EXCITING DAY OK.
At 6am I decided to get out of bed.

It was chilly outside but I would be a traitor to myself if I didn’t sit on the balcony to watch the sunrise.
So that’s what I did!

06:49

07:02

Our balcony

07:47
So beautiful!

Now it’s definitely time to get Jamie up!

Here’s my cosy, January outfit of the day!
(Honestly I had no idea what to pack for this trip.)

And my new bag!
I got lots of compliments on this bag, particularly from bag-checkers at security.
Even some of the big, burly male ones

I LOVE THIS VIEW.

At 8am we got breakfast from Roaring Fork!
We had coffee, and shared a bagel with cream cheese.
Now we only have 55 snack credits left people!
SOS.

There are heaters outside for these cold winter months!

Before leaving, Jamie went into the restaurant to rinse his mug in the sink.
I stood just to the side, but a woman came up behind him to wait for the sink.
I guess he thought it was me behind him, because when he turned around and saw a random woman he reacted really weirdly for a fraction of a second, he went all wide-eyed and like, looked her up and down!
It looked so rude!
I had to jump in and say,
“You thought that was me didn’t you?!”
And luckily the woman laughed
People are nice at Disney.
If you gave someone that look on the London underground I dread to think what would have ensued.

We took our mugs back to the room, then at about 8:35 we went to get the boat to the Magic Kingdom!

Goodbye room!
(Fourth floor, second from the right!)

It was Disney rush hour so we didn’t get on the little boat that was already there.

But that’s ok because we took in the scenery and built up our excitement.

Only 10 minutes later a bigger boat arrived to pick us up, YAY.

Welcome aboard!
For your safety, please keep your hands arms feet and legs inside the boat at all times!

Our first glimpse of the castle!

We departed the boat and went straight through the bag check.
There was a huge crowd over at the bus stop bag check, so that’s another point for the Wilderness Lodge

Eeek!
I was loving the lack of seasonal theming already!
Autumn at Disney is great, but as a Brit I’m usually on pumpkin overload.

The purple and yellow flowers are so pretty!

At 9:10am we entered the park!
YAY.
I’M HOME.

As we walked down Main Street the Trolley Show music started up!
We spotted the empty trolley and wondered where the performers were, but THEY JUST APPEARED AS IF FROM NOWHERE from all directions.
It was like magic

(This show inspired the name of this trip report!)

I LOVE THE TROLLEY SHOW.
Now I’ve seen the summer, autumn and winter editions!
I think I just have spring and Christmas to go!

Click for next post!​

 

[TheLittleKatie]

Day 2
Sunday 21st January 2018
Part 2 - Magic Kingdom (1)


Here is me in front of my house.

We headed around to Adventureland first.

Jamie looks excited!

First we headed over to Pirates.
There wasn’t a wait time posted so we took the risk, and ended up walking straight on!

RIP auction scene!
As part of the redhead minority, you made me feel wanted.

Jamie thinks I look like the pirate on the right in the dog/key scene with the giant cheeks.

We totally missed the memo that there was now a camera on Pirates, and we ended up with this gem!

Now that we’re done with Pirates, I have to tell you the most tragic thing that has ever happened in the history of Disney.

SPLASH MOUNTAIN WAS CLOSED.
FOR OUR ENTIRE TRIP.
EXCEPT OUR LAST TWO DAYS!

If you’ve read my previous trip reports you might know that Splash Mountain is my absolute favourite!
It had been closed from the end of August to mid-November 2017, so when I booked this trip I was hopeful that it wouldn’t go down for its usual January refurbishment.
But ALAS.
I soon learned that it would in fact be closed.
I was sad but at least it gave me something to look forward to at the end of our trip.

ANYWAY.
We wandered past Pecos Bill and the menu intrigued Jamie.
We loooove Mexican food so Jamie asked why we had never eaten there before…
Errrm because you make us go to Be Our Guest for those basic turkey sandwiches every single time!

We decided we would make time to eat at Pecos Bill this trip!

After using the Tangled bathrooms we went to ride The Little Mermaid!

Jamie sometimes makes the exact same face as the fish below and it was really making me laugh.
You can find the fish multiple times throughout the ride and I was just cracking up every time we spotted him.

This is the closest picture I have of him doing it:

He tried to act upset, but then I reminded him that he said I looked like the chubby-cheeked pirate earlier, so we both decided to embrace it.

The pirate and the fish, a true love story.

Still spotting similarities, Jamie thought that Ariel outside of the ride looked like our favourite peanut butter baby.

OK enough silliness

At 10:10am we used our fastpass at Big Thunder Mountain!
This was closed for our entire 2016 trip so we were excited to ride it for the first time since 2015!

We sat on the back row, and we looked out back the whole time which made for a very wild ride.

Then we walked across to Tomorrowland!

Our first realisation that this was going to be a busier trip than usual was when we went over to ride the PeopleMover.
AND WE JOINED THE LINE HERE.

Thankfully the line went down fairly quickly, and we set off on our grand circle tour of Tomorrowland.

We got off the PeopleMover at 11:20am and we had a fastpass for Space Mountain at 11:30!
So we just walked around Tomorrowland and had a look in the Space Mountain shop.

At 11:30 we joined the fastpass line outside of Space Mountain, however about 15 out of (not exaggerating) 60 Brazilian tour groupers cut in front of us, and now we were just in the middle of them all and it was kinda Hell.
I felt like we were in the middle of this:

So we left and went back in the shop for a while, then rejoined the queue.

I was glad we had a fastpass because the standby line was 85 minutes!
This was a Sunday, but I don’t recall ever seeing lines like this in September, even on a weekend.
As we walked past everyone I heard a little boy in the standby line ask “how long is left?”
And his dad said “40”
And the kid asked “seconds??”

His dad said “no, minutes” and the kid was like “whaaaaaaat”

Click for next post!

​

 

[TheLittleKatie]

Day 2
Sunday 21st January 2018
Part 3 - Magic Kingdom (2)


After Space Mountain we had a 12pm lunch reservation at Be Our Guest!
This is Jamie’s favourite, before a trip he always asks if we can go every time we’re at Magic Kingdom
And since he’s such a great Disney buddy and an all-round good egg, that is pretty much what we do

We sat at the edge of the ballroom today.

We both ordered the turkey sandwich, and shared the fries and green beans.

We were surprised to be given our lunch on foam plates rather than real plates…
This was very odd because it looked so cheap in such a beautiful restaurant.

(I think this was just a test though because we returned later in the trip and the real plates were back )

We also shared a master’s cupcake!

Jamie got a chocolate milk and I got a fountain drink.
They still had Christmas cups!
I’m a Christmas elf so I enjoyed this very much.

Aside from the foam plates, we really enjoyed this, as always!
We were super hungry so it really hit the spot.

At 12:50 we had a fastpass for Peter Pan!
Pics or it didn’t happen.

Tinker Bell, watch out!!!

Jamie was feeling very full after his lunch and asked if we could go somewhere to sit down for a few minutes.
So where better than the newly updated Hall of Presidents!

Sometimes when we’re being silly Jamie and I make up fake “fun facts” and try to convince each other that they’re true, so when I told him that this seal is one of only two in the world, the other being at the White House, Jamie absolutely did not believe me.

That was until two teenage boys came up, and one told the other the same thing
Jamie then looked at me and said, “Ooh, did you know that..?!”

He will do anything to save face.

We walked past the security guards and took our seats.

This was interesting
If you can take seriously an attraction with a hand-gesturing Donald Trump animatronic, it’s actually very enjoyable.
I love the history of the USA and all of it’s progress and freedoms.

America, you are crazy, but I love you.
Even though you wont let us Brits live in you.

PLEASE HIRE ME AND SPONSOR MY WORK VISA I HAVE LOTS OF GREAT SKILLS.

We exited the Hall of Presidents and came across a brand new Muppets show!
“Great moments in history, but just the American parts!”

They lay into the British a fair bit!
But at the end Kermit says “you’re still one of our best friends”, so I guess I'm not upset.
And Kermit's opinion is the only one that matters

Then we headed across the hub and into Tomorrowland!

I love the pretty January colours!

I finally got Jamie agree to visit the Monsters Inc Laugh Floor again!
I think he is terrified of being picked as the guy who dances, or something similar!
And maybe that was justified because this time the chosen guy was sat literally right next to us!!

After this sweet and fun show it was about 2:30pm, so we went back to Main Street, walked up through the Emporium, and exited the park.

We got on the boat at 2:45 and were back in our room by 3pm!

We had TWO cute surprises when we returned to our room!

The first was a voicemail from the front desk, just saying “we hope you’re having a wonderful time at the Wilderness Lodge, please let us know if there’s anything you need!”
We’ve never had anything like that before!
It was a very nice little gesture.

The second surprise was an envelope containing three postcards, and an invitation to tour the Copper Creek DVC rooms!
As a Disney Resorts fangirl I was very keen to do this!
Plus, the 60-90 minute tour comes with three anytime fastpasses, AND $100 gift card!
Errrrm YES PLEASE.

It was only our first full day, and Disney had given us $453 for our room, $100 to tour DVC, PLUS the $200 Disney gift card we got as part of our booking!

So I headed downstairs to fill our mugs, and book our Copper Creek tour for tomorrow afternoon!

The DVC lady said that they don’t offer the tour to everyone, and Disney had probably seen that we’ve been here a few times!
She also gave me an extra postcard:

We were booked in for tomorrow afternoon, yay!


Click for next post!

​

 

[TheLittleKatie]

Day 2
Sunday 21st January 2018
Part 4 - First time watching Happily Ever After!


I sat on the balcony with my diet coke for a while and did some internetting.

At about 6pm I woke Jamie from his nap and we went to get the boat back to Magic Kingdom!

We arrived at 7pm!

We planned on getting food but weren’t really hungry, so instead we used a fastpass for the Jungle Cruise that we found on the app earlier in the day!
Photo proof

The Jungle Cruise is always better at night

We exited the ride and went to get a spot for the fireworks!
They were on at 8pm during this trip.
Magic Kingdom closed early for the whole trip for some reason.
But IT’S FINE.

This was our first time seeing Happily Ever After!
I’d been listening to the main song by Jordan Fisher for a while and I really liked it, I was so excited to hear it in the show!

OH MY LANTA.
This was absolutely incredible!!
It made me tear up!

I know most of us have very strong nostalgic feelings towards Wishes.
But in my opinion, Happily Ever After is objectively better.
(Can an opinion be objective? I don’t know.)

It is so so fantastic!
I couldn’t wait to see it again later in the trip!

Magic Kingdom closed after the fireworks so we headed out and got a big boat back to the Wilderness Lodge.

On the way back Jamie was trying to show off his Disney knowledge, claiming he knew all of the monorail stops.
But he couldn’t get the Polynesian for ages, even when I told him he’d used this stop many times (we stayed there in 2015).
He got it eventually and I asked him to tell me the stops in order…
While he was looking RIGHT at the Magic Kingdom he said…

“Contemporary, Grand Floridian -“
“No”​

“Grand Floridian, Contemporary –“
“No”
“Polynesian, Grand Floridian… Contemporary –“
“Still no”


I kept trying to hint by looking behind me at the Magic Kingdom but he just couldn’t get it

When we were back at the Lodge we went to Geyser Point to get some food.
On the way over Jamie said “I’m going to feed you to the snakes!”
And at the same time he jabbed my sides which REALLY tickles me, and I loudly shrieked,
“NOOOO!”
And then we absolutely cracked up because the people nearby who weren’t looking at us probably thought my super dramatic “NOOO!” was a reaction to being fed to the snakes

​

We got some food from the to-go counter at Geyser Point, but were told we couldn’t eat it in the bar area

So we took it up to Roaring Fork and sat outside at the same table we had breakfast at.

We got the bison cheeseburger and grilled chicken sandwich and had half and half each.
Both came with waffle fries
And Jamie got a beer and I got a water.

Yum!

Afterwards we went into Roaring Fork and I got a Magical Cookie Bar!
I love these things.

We took it back to the room, got our mugs, and went back to Roaring Fork again to get hot drinks!
I got tea and Jamie got hot cocoa!

I caught the tail-end of Jamie doing a silly walk on video...
This was a recurring theme this trip.
There were many silly walks down the corridors
And this is where it all started.

We relaxed for the rest of the night, until about 9:30pm when the SUPER LOUD Electric Water Pageant came by

We went to sleep at around 10pm!

Goodnight!

Click for next post!​

 

[pkondz]

Oh dear.. that makes me nervous..

You don't have to be nervous now! You're off the plane!

And if I was some crackpot with a Disney snack problem (which I am),

I would not trust the other members of the group to keep me anonymous...

Come to think of it....


"Hi, my name is..."
<everyone. interrupting> "Ohmagosh! You're TheLittleKatie!"

Will come back to read the update when I'm slightly more awake.

 

[Raeven]

I know most of us have very strong nostalgic feelings towards Wishes.
But in my opinion, Happily Ever After is objectively better.
(Can an opinion be objective? I don’t know.)

I've only seen Wishes once so I guess I never had really strong feelings towards it, but I agree! I've seen HEA a couple times since it debuted and I always try to see it. The show itself is better, and even emotionally I feel more of a connection and I love the song We were there the night it debuted and I loved it right away.

 

[Dentam]

The sunrise pics from your balcony are great! And you could see the electric water pageant too - wow, what an awesome room location! I'm envious!

Your pic on Pirates is hilarious!!

I still haven't seen Happily Ever After but will when I go this coming Labor Day week! Can't wait!

My family is also going back in January. I'm a bit worried about the crowds. Also, were there a lot of those tour groups everywhere? Ugh...

Loving your trip report as usual!!

 

[RLGNC]

Hello! I just found your trip report and read it from start to here! You had me at the first post - I just love all of the cute cartoon snippets and videos you put in. You guys really lucked out with your room and view at WL. Thanks for sharing your trip. I got chills watching your video of the trolley show. I am so ready for our trip in July! Looking forward to more of your report...

 

[SweetSerenity]

Love your updates! Gosh, your sunrise pictures are so lovely!
I'm glad you liked Happily Ever After. I'm looking forward to seeing it this fall.

 

[pkondz]

I woke up at 3:30am!

Stupid time zones.
Everyone should be on the same time. Who cares if it's dark where you live.

Gorgeous.

Our balcony

Nope. Too tiny to host all your DISfriends.

Cause that's what you were planning on doing, right?

Here’s my cosy, January outfit of the day!

I'm so used to seeing you dressed for scorchingly hot weather, so that took me by surprise a little.

I got lots of compliments on this bag, particularly from bag-checkers at security.
Even some of the big, burly male ones

So.... big, burly men can't be sensitive? Is that what you're saying?

Now we only have 55 snack credits left people!
SOS.

Oh no! Can you get more?!?!?!?

There are heaters outside for these cold winter months!

Nice. Did they make a big difference.

I guess he thought it was me behind him, because when he turned around and saw a random woman he reacted really weirdly for a fraction of a second, he went all wide-eyed and like, looked her up and down!

I wonder what that woman thought!

If you gave someone that look on the London underground I dread to think what would have ensued.

And ain't no one wants that!

(Fourth floor, second from the right!)

Not sure which one it is. Next time leave a light on or something.

For your safety, please keep your hands arms feet and legs inside the boat at all times!

Well, there goes my waterskiing plans.

Poop.

We departed the boat and went straight through the bag check.
There was a huge crowd over at the bus stop bag check, so that’s another point for the Wilderness Lodge

Nice! Didn't realize that.

YAY.
I’M HOME.

Here is me in front of my house.

Kinda love how you call it "your" house.

Jamie looks excited!

And why shouldn't he???

RIP auction scene!
As part of the redhead minority, you made me feel wanted.

Awww...
And.... yeah...

Ah well.

Jamie thinks I look like the pirate on the right in the dog/key scene with the giant cheeks.

Whaaa???

How???

Derp and duh. High action poses.

Jamie: "Are you frozen?"
Katie: "......"

We wandered past Pecos Bill and the menu intrigued Jamie.
We loooove Mexican food so Jamie asked why we had never eaten there before…
Errrm because you make us go to Be Our Guest for those basic turkey sandwiches every single time!

Valid point.

I'm still bummed about the menu changing. Best burgers at MK. (because of the fixins bar)

Jamie sometimes makes the exact same face as the fish below and it was really making me laugh.
You can find the fish multiple times throughout the ride and I was just cracking up every time we spotted him.

Yup. Same. Totally.

Still spotting similarities, Jamie thought that Ariel outside of the ride looked like our favourite peanut butter baby.

Holy crap! That's spot on!

At 10:10am we used our fastpass at Big Thunder Mountain!
This was closed for our entire 2016 trip so we were excited to ride it for the first time since 2015!

Every time I go... I ride it once.
Then when I get back home, usually one of my regrets is not having ridden it like... 10 times.

the PeopleMover.
AND WE JOINED THE LINE HERE.

A line? What? Are you sure?

A new take on the foot shot! I like it!

At 11:30 we joined the fastpass line outside of Space Mountain, however about 15 out of (not exaggerating) 60 Brazilian tour groupers cut in front of us, and now we were just in the middle of them all and it was kinda Hell.

Ugh. Nope.

So we left and went back in the shop for a while, then rejoined the queue.

You is smart. I probably would've just stayed in line and suffered the entire time.

As we walked past everyone I heard a little boy in the standby line ask “how long is left?”
And his dad said “40”
And the kid asked “seconds??”

His dad said “no, minutes” and the kid was like “whaaaaaaat”

Awww... that jet lag still hittin' ya.

After Space Mountain we had a 12pm lunch reservation at Be Our Guest!
This is Jamie’s favourite, before a trip he always asks if we can go every time we’re at Magic Kingdom
And since he’s such a great Disney buddy and an all-round good egg, that is pretty much what we do

Apparently. No Pecos Bill for you.

We were surprised to be given our lunch on foam plates rather than real plates…

What? That's... odd.

Tinker Bell, watch out!!!

"Tinker Bell involved in fatal mid-air collision."

Sometimes when we’re being silly Jamie and I make up fake “fun facts” and try to convince each other that they’re true, so when I told him that this seal is one of only two in the world, the other being at the White House, Jamie absolutely did not believe me.

That was until two teenage boys came up, and one told the other the same thing
Jamie then looked at me and said, “Ooh, did you know that..?!”

Now you have the advantage. He's going to second guess..... everything.

PLEASE HIRE ME AND SPONSOR MY WORK VISA I HAVE LOTS OF GREAT SKILLS.

We exited the Hall of Presidents and came across a brand new Muppets show!

I've heard of it... but didn't know about it or it hadn't started yet when I was last there.

The first was a voicemail from the front desk, just saying “we hope you’re having a wonderful time at the Wilderness Lodge, please let us know if there’s anything you need!”
We’ve never had anything like that before!
It was a very nice little gesture.

Nice!

Plus, the 60-90 minute tour comes with three anytime fastpasses, AND $100 gift card!
Errrrm YES PLEASE.

Hello! Score.

The DVC lady said that they don’t offer the tour to everyone, and Disney had probably seen that we’ve been here a few times!
She also gave me an extra postcard:

You are cleaning up!

Sure tell it's winter. 6 o'clock and pitch dark already.

The Jungle Cruise is always better at night

I know most of us have very strong nostalgic feelings towards Wishes.
But in my opinion, Happily Ever After is objectively better.

Interesting. I think you are the first person I've heard who prefers it.

On the way back Jamie was trying to show off his Disney knowledge, claiming he knew all of the monorail stops.
But he couldn’t get the Polynesian for ages, even when I told him he’d used this stop many times (we stayed there in 2015).
He got it eventually and I asked him to tell me the stops in order…
While he was looking RIGHT at the Magic Kingdom he said…

“Contemporary, Grand Floridian -“
“No”​

“Grand Floridian, Contemporary –“
“No”
“Polynesian, Grand Floridian… Contemporary –“
“Still no”

Did he ever figure it out?

And then we absolutely cracked up because the people nearby who weren’t looking at us probably thought my super dramatic “NOOO!” was a reaction to being fed to the snakes

Well... that would be an appropriate reaction.

Afterwards we went into Roaring Fork and I got a Magical Cookie Bar!
I love these things.

Ugh. Just looking at all that coconut makes me feel queasy.

We relaxed for the rest of the night, until about 9:30pm when the SUPER LOUD Electric Water Pageant came by

Holy smokes that's loud! I hope there are no kids trying to sleep.
Nah.... why would there be kids at Disney?

 

[bigbabyblues]

Following along

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I just found your TR. Following along!

Our trips over lapped by a couple days... We got to Disney on January 30th!

But oh wow, it was BUSY.
We’ve been spoilt with maximum 20-minute lines in previous Septembers so this was a very different situation.
But I think we made it work.

It was VERY busy! more than usual, for sure!

Cute Shoes!

I enjoyed it although I’m not sure salmon belongs on a pizza.
But I like both of those things so… I think I liked it…

I was thinking the same thing but love both so prob would have been temped to try it as well.

It’s never too early for free champagne!

Those are nice and big glasses of champagne too!

Akward..

The menu for today’s flight:

I love that they give you afternoon tea!

Afternoon tea!

How nice!

A MEARS BUS.

We had a mears bus this last time too and I felt the same way.

I only had my phone on me to take photos at this time, but look how beautiful!!!

WL lobby is so amazing! It sets the tone right away.

It was the furthest room away from the lobby, but when we walked in we instantly LOVED it!

We had the same room on our first trip but the other side. And with a stroller at the time, it was a long walk! But it is a GREAT location!!!

We could see the lagoon, the boat dock, and the boats going back and forth between the Magic Kingdom, The Contemporary, and Fort Wilderness.

Seriously, an awsome view! You can't beat that!

We departed the boat and went straight through the bag check.
There was a huge crowd over at the bus stop bag check, so that’s another point for the Wilderness Lodge

As someone who just stayed at a bus hotel, it is a HUGE point! The bag check for the busses was no joke.

too funny!

SPLASH MOUNTAIN WAS CLOSED.
FOR OUR ENTIRE TRIP.
EXCEPT OUR LAST TWO DAYS!

Boo. I know! I was just glad that it opened up before we left. Glad it opened up for you as well.

So we left and went back in the shop for a while, then rejoined the queue.

Prob a good call.

But at the end Kermit says “you’re still one of our best friends”, so I guess we won’t have to ban the Muppets in the UK

Well, at least you have Kermit..

We got some food from the to-go counter at Geyser Point, but were told we couldn’t eat it in the bar area

That is strange, were there alot of people already in the bar area?

We relaxed for the rest of the night, until about 9:30pm when the SUPER LOUD Electric Water Pageant came by

I love the EWP, but it is loud! So is that Geyseur!

 

[Nohal]

Looking forward to the rest of your trip report. We were there the same time as you and boy was it cold for 1/2 of our trip. We usually go in September so we were also surprised at how crowded it was, especially seeing that it was after the holidays.

 

[dianachaney77]

Following along!