"See the Line Where the Guests Meet the Mouse? It Calls Me..." March 2017 *New Post 7/4*

[Disco_Punk]

Following along! The window decorating idea is something I've never thought of. May have to surprise my wife with some decorations to hang up. We'll be staying at Pop in October.

 

[AlliGirl]

I've only been to Homecoming, but it was SO good and we are going back in Sept! It's also very splittable! Definitely recommend it!

I love fried green tomatoes, so I really want to go and try those!

We'll be dining here for the first time in May and can't wait to try this! Sounds like you made the most of your first day!

You're going to love it! The great thing about getting a sampler like the bread is that there's something for everybody, regardless of your taste preferences.

Subbing! Looks like fun so far!

Following along! The window decorating idea is something I've never thought of. May have to surprise my wife with some decorations to hang up. We'll be staying at Pop in October.

We typically get ours from the party supply store and then modify them from there. Just remember to bring a roll of scotch tape or some tack to hang them with. However, I know that there are lots of fun options on Etsy where you could have them customized. Window clings are also really easy and don't require anything additional, they usually have seasonal designs at the Target dollar spot. On our trip, there were people with a huge pyramid of tsum tsums in their window! I didn't count them, but it was a ton, 20+! I think it's fun to see as you walk around and return home each day.

 

[amazingact21]

Great update! I've heard Disney Springs has really come together now that all the construction is complete, but it was nice to see that the area can be enjoyed even when not shopping. I always felt a little bored at DTD when I wasn't looking for a specific souvenir.
I can't believe a guest came up to you in the Coke store and harangued you for ordering a soda flight. You encounter the oddest people at Disney...

I think it's adorable that you are including all these special moments between the two of you from the beginning of your relationship. Makes me think back to my first Disney vacation with my husband. Disney makes those moments even more special, I think.

Love your window display!

 

[longlostprincess]

tuning in! sounds like you had a great trip and you guys took such nice pictures! also i love that you met working in disney, that is honestly adorable

 

[Hannahinwonderland]

Following along! I was also a skipper on a CP (in 2015) and I loved your last trip report

 

[TwoLittlePrincesses]

Loving your report! We ate at Boathouse this past February and really liked it! It is pricey, but the have some not to pricey options, too. We're planning on Homecomin' this August so I'll report back!

 

[AlliGirl]

I am working on our next update right now! It may even be up before the end of the night!

Great update! I've heard Disney Springs has really come together now that all the construction is complete, but it was nice to see that the area can be enjoyed even when not shopping. I always felt a little bored at DTD when I wasn't looking for a specific souvenir.
I can't believe a guest came up to you in the Coke store and harangued you for ordering a soda flight. You encounter the oddest people at Disney...

I think it's adorable that you are including all these special moments between the two of you from the beginning of your relationship. Makes me think back to my first Disney vacation with my husband. Disney makes those moments even more special, I think.

Love your window display!

It still may be a little tough to entertain small children at Disney Springs all day, but there's definitely a lot more to see and enjoy! Thanks for your sweet words!

tuning in! sounds like you had a great trip and you guys took such nice pictures! also i love that you met working in disney, that is honestly adorable

Thank you!!! Scott will be so happy that you like the pictures!

Following along! I was also a skipper on a CP (in 2015) and I loved your last trip report

Yusss! Thanks, skip!

Loving your report! We ate at Boathouse this past February and really liked it! It is pricey, but the have some not to pricey options, too. We're planning on Homecomin' this August so I'll report back!

Boathouse is just so gorgeous, I think I'd be willing to pay a lot! Then I'd be able to buy some Boathouse specific merchandise from their gift shop without feeling like a fraud, haha!

 

[Tracy161]

Amazing update! Sounds like your first day was a great success. I, too, haven't been to Disney Springs since May 2015 so I'm quite anxious to spend a little time there on my upcoming trip. Of course Earl of Sandwich will be high on my list Thanks for the tip about the Coca-Cola store and the "stairs" - will definitely hit those up!

Your dinner at Sanaa looked amazing. I think I could actually live on naan bread. I did the AoA loop a couple trips ago when I was also at Pop - it's super cute, right?!

 

[AlliGirl]

Sunday, March 12th: A Magic Kingdom Park Day, Part One
​

Yes! Our first park day of the trip, it was finally here! We were able to get to bed at a reasonable hour the night before, so we popped right up around 6am and were on a bus at 7:15am. We go to the park at 7:30.


Our plans for the day:

You may have noticed from our plans that the Magic Kingdom didn’t open until 9am, so why did we arrive so early? Well 1) because we all know that the morning is the most valuable part of the day and 2) we wanted to be sure we saw what the new park opening procedure at the MK was like.


In case you haven’t read online about the changes to the morning schedule at the Magic Kingdom, or haven’t visited since the changes, I’ll tell you about our experience. However, the security process at the MK has changed just in the past few days, so just stay flexible and check the boards if you have early morning plans!

​

Scott: Contrary to what the picture may show. It was actually a beautiful day. We just arrived BEFORE THE SUN CAME UP.

So when we arrived at 7:30, we went through bag check and the metal detectors. Guests with breakfast reservations were over to the far left, going through the tapstiles there. Guests without reservations were dispersed among the rest of the tapstiles. We walked about as far as you could go to the right and ended up being the second group in our line. Right at 8am, we were allowed to go ahead through the tapstiles and on to Main Street.

#tapstile

GUYS CHECK ME OUT ON AN EMPTY MAIN STREET

In my opinion, this procedure is much better than everyone waiting in front of the train station. I loved the train station welcome show, but crowding everyone into the area between the tapstiles and the tunnels was uncomfortable, and it was difficult to get a good view of the show and stay towards the front of the crowd.


I loved that we got to walk down a Main Street with very few guests, and even better, we didn’t feel the pressure to get to a destination. My first walk down Main Street on every trip is truly the most magical moment, and this time, I could actually savor that moment without feeling like taking an extra few minutes to look around and take it all in was going to turn my wait for my first attraction from 5 minutes to 45 minutes.


We strolled around, taking pictures, and enjoying seeing the gardens and castle hub without construction walls for the first time, beautiful!

​

On this trip, we used our usual Canon Rebel T3i, but I bought Scott a new lens prior to the trip: a 50mm. If you’re familiar with this lens, you know that adjusting to it can be kind of awkward. Basically, instead of being able to zoom the lens in or out, it stays at one distance. Scott took some really nice pictures of me with the castle, but I struggled to do the same for him! Oy!

Scott: Yea she was having a real hard time with the autofocus. But she figured it out after taking 16 or 17 pictures of me.

​

Scott: Also, I can't figure out why, but for some reason my pictures occasionally post sideways. I can't figure out how to fix it, but they're oriented correctly when I look at the post on my phone. *shrug* Anybody else have this problem?

One disappointment was that Casey’s has already stopped serving breakfast, bummer! I really wanted to try the donuts and the breakfast hot dog. The breakfast offerings from the Plaza Ice Cream shop aren’t really our jam (sorry, but that donut sundae is just not our calling in life) so we decided to wait and get something else later.


We made our way to the rope just to the left of the castle, as our first destination was Peter Pan’s Flight.

Scott: This one was actually taken on my iPhone. Cell phone cameras have seriously come soooo far.​

We ended up standing there for quite awhile, but lucky for us, we had a lot of entertainment in the form of Disney wildlife. In fact, we had so much fun watching random animals on this trip! There was a British family right behind us and hearing the children commenting on the bunny and squirrels that ran through the garden was just delightful.

Scott: Occasionally, I'll see something amazing happen, and I want Alli to see it, too. So I'll throw out a little "Hey.. Alli... Look at that amazing thing happening." Alli rarely looks and often misses these amazing occurrences. In order to make sure she was taking me seriously this time, I practically yelled, "ALLI YOU NEED TO LOOK OVER HERE RIGHT NOW." Because this was happening...

​

Maybe a bunny eating a flower isn't that amazing, but I was fascinated.

When it came time for the welcome show on the stage, which ran about five minutes, we had the kids come up to the rope. However, Scott was annoyed because one of the cast members who were guarding the rope basically stood in everyone’s view the whole show. I am all about being understanding that I don’t know everything, and not assuming that I know more than a cast member does about a specific situation. I encountered that situation so often while working in the parks. However, this cast member was bouncing around and reenacting the entire show, for the whole length of it. So, you know, that was kind of frustrating because everyone there at the rope was watching this show for the first time. Love that you love it girlfriend, but you made it hard to see the show!

​

Scott: Her head was literally in every picture I took of the welcome show. All of them.

Anyway, as soon as the show was over, the cast members rolled up the rope, and then we walked behind them into Fantasyland. We headed right to Peter Pan’s Flight and hopped in line.

We love the interactive queue here! It’s tough, because I don’t want to wait an hour or more for this ride, but I do want to see everything in the nursery room in the queue! We were able to see Tink work her magic, and this time the pixie dust worked perfectly! I made sure to take a nice long pixie dust shower before heading onwards. Peter Pan’s Flight was perfect as always!

Scott: This was my first chance to try out our new lens on a dark ride. The experiment was... unsuccessful. However, PPF is a very, very dark ride, and ride photos here are hard to obtain. Oh well.

Afterwards we decided to hit another Fantasyland classic that we have to do, but don’t enjoy waiting for: The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.

While we were in line, we were preoccupied looking at this picture of Christopher Robin holding a balloon. We tried to imitate how he was holding the string with little success.

​

Scott: Where is his ring finger?? And why is he holding the balloon so delicately between his thumb and index finger?? You're gonna lose that balloon if you don't get a firm grip, Christopher.

​

After Winnie the Pooh, we moseyed through Fantasyland towards a breakfast destination: Sleepy Hollow Inn.

We got the breakfast waffle sandwich, which we have had before and really enjoy. This is pretty big, so we split it and were satisfied. We do think that this needs some kind of sauce on it though. Maybe it’s because we live in Texas but a little salsa or pico de gallo would be good!

We decided to stay in Liberty Square and we headed over towards Haunted Mansion, one of our favorites. Though, I think if you’re a Disboards member it’s obligatory that you obsess over Haunted Mansion in all its glory!

We see you back there, lil Mr. Toad. ​

We walked through Fantasyland on our way to our next stop, and used the beautiful Tangled restrooms. We wanted to take pictures of one of our favorite details in WDW: Maximus’ apples! You can find this bag of apples up on a crate along with the cores of several apples that Maximus has already enjoyed in the walkway.

You can be sure that this scene has been left behind by Maximus, because the horseshoe prints in the walkway are emblazoned with his name!

​

Scott: I also love the hidden Pascals all along the babbling brook. There are a ton of them hidden around this area. See how many you can find. Hint: They aren't all on the ground. You may have to crane your neck to spot a couple of them.

CONTINUED BELOW.....​

 

[AlliGirl]

It was finally time to use our first Fastpass reservation of the trip, which was Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at 10:15am. So from 9-10ish, we rode three attractions and ate breakfast. We weren’t in any rush either. I think that mid-morning Fastpass reservations are the best choice for maximizing your Fastpass usage. Once you have set your fastpasses, if you go back and adjust your times (and you’re far enough out that there are lots of FPs left still) then it’s really easy to get your three FPs back to back, which also helps you maximize how many FPs you can get. Plus, being a party of two really seemed to help, so hey, if you’re in a bigger group, see if breaking up into smaller groups on the app and then choosing windows that overlap helps. But, being a party of two at Disney is pretty sweet haha.

Scott: Photopass is really expensive, ok?! We didn't buy any of our ride photos, so just a heads up. They're all gonna have the Photopass watermark across them.


I think this was only our third time to ride 7DMT! It’s always highly enjoyable, even if it’s not a huge thrill coaster. I don’t know why, but on this trip I could really feel the swinging of the mine cars a lot more than on our last trip.



When we left 7DMT, we wanted to walk around New Fantasyland for a bit, and we ended up deciding to hop in line for Under the Sea. We actually had to wait around twenty minutes for this. Usually even if there’s a posted wait, we walk right on. I love this ride (even with all the FISH STATUES). This is an attraction that I definitely prefer at WDW instead of DL. The queue is just so beautiful! At DCA this attraction is just a bit less…ceremonial?

Scott: Ok so I was super pumped about this next find. So for those of you that don't know, I'm oddly obsessed with 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. I don't know why. I've never ridden it. I've never read the book. I've never seen any sort of movie adaptation. I just really like it!! I think the Nautilus subs are the coolest things, and I knew there was one hidden in the rock work somewhere in this queue. Well... I FOUND IT!!!

See if you can find it. It's off to the left just before you enter the caves. A solid tribute to a once beloved attraction.

*Lamp*​

This is a ride that I really disliked at first, but it grew on me over time. Gotta love Ariel's "I think I'm gonna sneeze" face.


Another fun hidden feature: There is an EXTREMELY WELL hidden Steamboat Willie at the exit of this ride. Just as you walk outside, check out the rock work to the right...

​

His left shoe and button are on the front rock, his right shoe/button on the rock behind that. His face is actually on top of the rocks, and his hat/left ear are on the far rock. The steamboat's steering wheel is even off to the left. It's very hard to spot and you may need to move around to find the right perspective, but he's there!!!




After that, we headed to our next FP reservation, Space Mountain at 11:15. I think I know where the camera is on this ride a little too well…hahaha.

Scott: I caught another humorous situation involving Disney wildlife. Stitch looks like he's about to have a little snack.. Probably not the best place to land, lil birdie....

As a former Jungle Cruise skipper, I had to eat at the Skipper Canteen!

We went up and checked in a bit early for our 12:05 reservation. I asked if we could be seated in the S.E.A. room and told them we were okay with waiting and they were happy to take the request. While we waited, we got to sit out on a terrace in two armchairs and it was a perfect little slice of heaven.

I used to walk by this terrace all the time, before the restaurant was there. It’s right across from the entrance to the Swiss Family Treehouse. I could’ve sat out there for hours!



There are three rooms in the Skipper Canteen, and in my opinion the S.E.A. room was the coolest location to have a meal in. It’s a bit more fancy than the other areas. You walk through the opened secret bookcase hallway and our seater told us a joke with the most adorable delivery. I loved her. It’s also cool to sit in this room because of the story of S.E.A., which is the “Society of Explorers and Adventurers,” which originated at the Tokyo Disney parks, but the story extends through the Mystic Manor area in Hong Kong and now it has come to the Magic Kingdom, including Big Thunder Mountain. If you’re interested, you should definitely look up the full explanation! It’s a very detailed backstory, which is the thing that truly makes the Disney difference, I think!



I ordered the Schweitzer Slush, because I wanted the amazing souvenir mug. In fact, this was the only souvenir I took home from the trip, except for pins I traded for!

The drink itself was…meh. It was probably the most disappointing food item I ordered on this trip. I love popping bobas, those are always fun. The slush itself just had little to no flavor. I don’t regret getting the mug though!


Scott: Agreed. Not a very tasty drink.



We got the complimentary bread service, which was good. I liked the honey dip.

This restaurant is extremely gluten free friendly by the way! Only a handful of things on the menu aren’t gluten free. I got the Nile Nellie’s Noodle Bowl with duck and Scott got the Char Siu Pork.

My bowl was a ton of food. The broth was yummy, and I love onions and cilantro, so I enjoyed it thoroughly. Our waiter, who was awesome, brought me some sriracha. Adding it to my bowl was a great bit of spice. We enjoyed this meal, and I love that it’s in the Magic Kingdom. Also, I’m pretty sure there were people walking up and waiting less than thirty minutes for a sit down restaurant.


Scott: My pork was flavorful and tasty, and the rice was very enjoyable. Very good rice texture if that makes sense. The greens were...... Well I'm not even entirely sure what they were, but I didn't care for them. I give my food a 7/10. Not bad by any means, just not too special. The restaurant was brilliant, though. When we worked in Adventureland, the Jungle Cruise was incredibly underrepresented in the parks. It's nice to see that the ole' JC is popping up all over the place. And the theming was off the charts. We stood by the secret doorway/bookshelf for a while after our meal reading the titles of the books.There were a LOT of puns and jokes hidden in the titles. Also, they somehow got an old painting of me exploring the JC temple with my crew...

Honestly, its pretty uncanny how much Albert Falls looks like me. And you know I loved these light fixtures in the Falls Family Parlor section of the restaurant...

Ok so that was our early morning until lunch at the Magic Kingdom! I love that we can visit the parks now and actually relax. When we were in line for Peter Pan’s Flight, there was a girl behind us with her dad and I could feel stress just radiating off of her. You could tell that she was struggling to even enjoy the magic of the nursery room (which is hard to beat) because she was worried about the number of attractions they were going to get done post rope drop. That used to be me. I understand the reasoning behind feeling that way, but if this is actually your one and only trip to Walt Disney World, it’s so important to relax your mind and open your heart to the happiness that’s surrounding you!



I hope that our pictures and words brought you some Disney magic, wherever you are reading from! Thanks for joining us!


Click here for Magic Kingdom Day - Pt. 2

 

[longlostprincess]

First of all, i love this new system with opening Main Street early! I was a bit iffy as I enjoyed the morning train show but nothing beats an near-empty Main Street. Secondly, I love your dress! Where did you get it?? And finally, what was the array of food like at Skipper Canteen? I love the jungle cruise so I'd love to eat there but there is a gluten allergy in my family so I was wondering what types of food they had

 

[AlliGirl]

Amazing update! Sounds like your first day was a great success. I, too, haven't been to Disney Springs since May 2015 so I'm quite anxious to spend a little time there on my upcoming trip. Of course Earl of Sandwich will be high on my list Thanks for the tip about the Coca-Cola store and the "stairs" - will definitely hit those up!

Your dinner at Sanaa looked amazing. I think I could actually live on naan bread. I did the AoA loop a couple trips ago when I was also at Pop - it's super cute, right?!

You're going to have so much fun seeing everything new at Disney Springs! You're going to have a couple "uhh, where am I?" moments, at least we did! That made it exciting though, it felt like something completely new.

First of all, i love this new system with opening Main Street early! I was a bit iffy as I enjoyed the morning train show but nothing beats an near-empty Main Street. Secondly, I love your dress! Where did you get it?? And finally, what was the array of food like at Skipper Canteen? I love the jungle cruise so I'd love to eat there but there is a gluten allergy in my family so I was wondering what types of food they had

Yes, I much prefer getting to spread out across all of Main Street rather than stay cramped up out front! Hmm, I'm thinking next time I want to bring breakfast with us and eat it on the Hub Grass while we wait for the lands to open, sounds like a good way to really soak it all in.

My dress is from Target!

The food at Skipper Canteen ranged from adventurous to traditional. Personally, I didn't think the items that either of us ordered were anything crazy as they weren't spicy and had traditional flavors (both were gluten free as well, the noodle bowl had rice noodles) and we both liked our food and ate a ton. There were some dishes like head on shrimp or a whole fried fish that would be more on the daring side. I think there were only two entrees that wouldn't be gluten free, and they were the baked pasta and fried chicken (maybe the fried fish too, not sure what the breading was). That's not a big loss in my opinion because those entrees don't really go with the Jungle Cruise/Adventureland theme as much. Is it weird that I wanted to eat something that fit the theming of the restaurant? haha! We didn't get an appetizer but I know they had some gluten free options there and one gluten free dessert. I was really impressed with the allergy friendly options, maybe that has to do with the fact that it's a newer restaurant?

 

[Bailey22]

Yay, an update! I love reading your trip reports. I'm glad you guys had a good morning at Magic Kingdom and thanks for sharing your thoughts on the new park opening procedure! I'll be there next week and getting in early to walk around Main Street is one of the things I'm most looking forward to. (Other than a few last viewings of Wishes, of course!) But hopefully I'll be standing behind a different cast member during the welcome show than the one you two were, haha.

Can't wait to hear more about your trip! Thanks for sharing!

 

[FreddyMercury]

(Other than a few last viewings of Wishes, of course!) But hopefully I'll be standing behind a different cast member during the welcome show than the one you two were, haha.

The fact that Wishes is leaving is really bittersweet. I really grew to love it during our time working there. We had our fair share of watching the show as guests, but there were literally times when I would be standing outside of Pirates, greeting guests as they came into the ride while watching the fireworks and singing along to the Wishes soundtrack, thinking "Wow.. It's pretty freaking cool that I work here."

Meanwhile Alli is over at the Jungle Cruise screaming "I COULDN'T GET MY JEEP TO START. IT LOOKS LIKE THEY GOT IT TO TURN OVERRR!!!!!" as loud as she can into the microphone, struggling to be heard over firework explosions. She may feel differently about the show than I do, come to think of it.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that Wishes will surely be missed, but hopefully Happily Ever After will blow us away.

And yea that cast member was... unfortunate.

 

[amazingact21]

I have mixed feelings about the new opening process at MK. On one hand, I 100% agree Disney needed to spread out the guests. That train station was a madhouse pre-opening. On the other hand, one of my favorite parts of my Disney vacation was walking onto a completely empty Main Street for a pre-park opening breakfast at CP. However, I'm not one to knock something before I try it, so I'm still holding out judgement until I experience the new opening for myself.

That bunny eating a flower was pretty cute.

I had no clue about the Maximus touches at the Tangled restrooms! Oh my goodness, that's so exciting. He's one of my favorite Disney animals; finding that spot is now a must do on my next MK visit.

Glad you spotted the nautilus in the Ariel queue. I think a lot of people think the subs look really cool despite not knowing much about 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. I'm not a huge steampunk fan, but the Tomorrowland section in DL Paris is amazing. Their nautilus walk through is really entertaining.

Sorry to hear your slush wasn't very tasty, but at least you got a nifty souvenir out of it!

 

[Tracy161]

LOVED your morning at MK - you guys certainly have the right attitude regarding pace - I'm trying to be better about that myself. I'm curious about Skipper Canteen, too. Happy to get your review!

 

[roxysmum123]

Very enjoyable read! Love your photos too....if I missed it I apologize but what camera are you using? Also, I have a thing for photographing Disney light fixtures too....they're just to unique! Plus its better than the collection of garbage can photos I once had (also very unique!)

 

[FreddyMercury]

Love your photos too....if I missed it I apologize but what camera are you using?

The camera is a Canon Rebel t3i, and we got a Canon "nifty fifty" 50 mm prime lens right before the trip. For only $100, I love this lens. There's no zooming in or out and it makes taking food pictures difficult, but the pictures are sooooo crisp.

 

[amy1115]

I loved that we got to walk down a Main Street with very few guests, and even better, we didn’t feel the pressure to get to a destination. My first walk down Main Street on every trip is truly the most magical moment, and this time, I could actually savor that moment without feeling like taking an extra few minutes to look around and take it all in was going to turn my wait for my first attraction from 5 minutes to 45 minutes.

This right here. It may seem strange, but I think this is what I'm looking forward to most on this next trip, so I'm so happy to hear you describe it this way!

 

[nco91590]

You guys are cute!

We were there the exact same time as you (along with a billion other people). Seeing as though I lived in S. Texas for a while, I am interested to see how you coped with the weather and the crowds.

We went to Homecoming and it was fab! We had a sitter for the kids, or else we would've explored Disney Springs more. I'm pretty sure I could have stayed for 6 hours there too! Can't wait to hear your experience that week