Way Out Here, Eh? - A June 2019 TR *PTR Link Posted

[amazingact21]

Evie is just lovely in her Princess dress. I can understand why she insisted on packing it. Riding on the carousel is just perfect. I LOL when reading your potty run. I can see this so vividly. I'm glad Landon had the chance to greet the Small World riders. I always look up to see if there is someone who needs a wave. Congrats to the new pin traders. It really great they got to experience with a really great CM. I know the CMs are really looking forward to making more magic. I hope the next morning brought a better outlook on park touring.

Evie fought me hard on taking that dress, but in the end I'm glad she pushed for it. She was so happy to wear it around the MK. And that'll be a memory I'll hold on to for years to come.
I never paid much attention to the wavers on Small World before Landon. Now, I feel obligated to as sort of a payback for all those kind guests who wave to him!

Seems like a great way to think of Florida!

The kids are really grouchy that they aren't going to the beach this summer. There's several fairly close to us here in the U.K., but when I showed them pictures and they realized it wouldn't be the white sandy beaches of the Gulf they were accustomed to, they said it wouldn't be the same. Plus, it wouldn't be accompanied by the 120% humidity and glaring sunlight.

Yep. Just not the same anymore.

I'm glad I was able to experience EMH before it became what it was in 2019. (Who knows if we'll even see them again in the future.)

Ok, caught up!

I'm terribly behind on everyone's reports! Just hard to find the joy in reading about Disney when nobody can go right now! Maybe once the parks open next month I'll find my TR reading mojo.

That was pretty amazing!

Bob the Server was spectacular!

I know the feeling! Which is how I ended up going from 1 to 20 minnie ears in about a year!

Hahaha, I feel like with Disney merchandise, it's so easy to grow a collection quickly. I swear, Alex went from owning one Disney shirt to about thirty in no time at all.

 

[suse66]

I love pin trading and its ability to get guests talking to other guests and Cast Members. The number of great interactions I've had with others over the years because of pins has been numerous. And Landon is so talkative and chatty that this was a great excuse for him to talk.
I just hope pin trading doesn't end with everything happening. That would be disheartening.

I love pin trading too and really hope it returns eventually. I don't think it will be back for a while though. Like Landon, I am super talkative and pin trading is a great way to connect with people. Hope you guys are doing well!

 

[amazingact21]

I love pin trading too and really hope it returns eventually. I don't think it will be back for a while though. Like Landon, I am super talkative and pin trading is a great way to connect with people. Hope you guys are doing well!

I always felt like pin trading was a great way to connect CM and guests and enhance the vacation experience.

We are doing all right. Unfortunately, we lost our dog last weekend so everyone has been a bit somber. But England is having some glorious weather: warm and sunny! And since our house backs up to a country park, we have been able to take lots of woodland walks and watch the swans in the lake. Keeps the young kids entertained this summer.
Hope things are going well for you, as well. I saw you were able to celebrate your DS's 20th birthday. How exciting!

 

[suse66]

I always felt like pin trading was a great way to connect CM and guests and enhance the vacation experience.

We are doing all right. Unfortunately, we lost our dog last weekend so everyone has been a bit somber. But England is having some glorious weather: warm and sunny! And since our house backs up to a country park, we have been able to take lots of woodland walks and watch the swans in the lake. Keeps the young kids entertained this summer.
Hope things are going well for you, as well. I saw you were able to celebrate your DS's 20th birthday. How exciting!

I was so sad to hear about your dog.... they are such important parts of our families. We are hanging in, Jack and I were supposed to be heading to Disney a week from today to celebrate his 20th but have pushed that back to August '21. This summer will be a lot quieter with no travel but it will be nice to explore some things closer to home. Having the forest right behind you is so nice for the kids!

 

[amazingact21]

June 13th, 2019 Part 1:


This was a special day at Disney for my family. The morning and afternoon started off pretty bad, actually. I woke up tired and in a rotten mood. I couldn’t shake the previous night’s fiasco and was getting sick of our room at Shades. Nine nights sounded good in theory, but it seemed as if vacation had dragged on too long.

Alex ran over to the Polynesian and grabbed us lunch from Captain Cook’s. He made it back just in time, because a massive storm rolled through the area and pounded us with rain. Nobody wanted to go out in that, so the kids spent most of the day watching Disney Junior while I lamented to Alex that I must’ve been broken.

Who gets sick of Disney?!?


Looking back on it now, I can see what the actual problem was.

I was tired.

I had just spent all of March and April preparing for our move, and May was a blur of packers and temporary lodging and saying goodbyes. We didn’t have a home, all our belongings were on a truck, and I’d been “traveling” for close to three weeks by that point. On top of all that, I was dealing with emotions of leaving an amazing community and getting ready to set forth into an entirely new country.

The stress and work had caught up with me.


I couldn’t fully enjoy Disney because I had one foot still with my friends back in Germany and one foot in England’s door. As much as I told myself not to worry about house hunting and school registrations and pet passports, I couldn’t shake the thoughts completely.

I have definitely learned never to plan our travel in between moves ever again. Huge lesson learned there.




What also didn’t help was the fact that there was a Villain’s After Hours Party happening that evening in the Magic Kingdom and I was getting jealous.

I wanted to go.


I can’t tell you the number of times I sat in our Shades room and pulled up the ticket prices on my phone and said, “This looks like so much fun. But I don’t wanna spend that kind of money.”

It was a back and forth, neverending exchange.

“Can I go?”

“No.”

“Maybe?”

“Not a chance.”



The tirade continued after the rain slowed to a drizzle and Alex and I drove to Hollywood Studios for our last ADR reservation. (Well, what we thought was the last one.) Alex was starting to feel bad that I was feeling bummed and homesick, so after taking this Photopass picture:




He made a deal with me.

“How about I go back to the ticket window and double check the After Hours prices. I know the website says we can only get Same Day pricing, but you never know. Maybe they’ll give us the Passholder rate?”

“So?”

“Well, if we can get the passholder rate we’ll save ourselves almost 150 bucks. So I say we do it.”

“I don’t know, that’s still a lot of money.”

“C’mon, it’s Disney, we can splurge a little.”

Finally, I relented. But only because I didn’t think we had a shot of getting the lower rate.



Alex deposited me and the kids in front of some stormtroopers and took off:



And then came back with a huge grin on his face.

“It wasn’t a problem at all.”

“Wait, what?”

“We’re going to the party.”




I was in shock. When it comes to a Walt Disney World trip, I rarely do spontaneous and spur of the moment activities. Really, I can only think of two other times I made a wild plan on the fly. Alex and I grabbed a Chef Mickey’s breakfast reservation at ten the night before, and my mom and I decided to go to a MVMCP event hours before it started. Otherwise, everything’s planned and thought out.

But here we were. Five in the afternoon with the party starting in a mere few hours.

My excitement and spirits began to lift.



Before any MK fun could get underway, though, my family had to eat dinner at an old reliable restaurant: 50’s Prime Time Café.

The kids were starting to feel the long week, too, I think. They were very mellow and subdued at the table:






To be safe, I ordered the chicken pot pie for dinner. It was good and tasted very similar to one I make at home, although I could only eat about half of it.






Both kids went simple and got a hot dog with double order of green beans:





After dinner, the rain wasn’t quite finished with central Florida and spit out one more good shower. It sent us into the shops along the main street where Alex stumbled upon some 25th Anniversary Lion King pins. I stopped collecting and trading pins a long time ago, but I do still get any Animal Kingdom or Lion King pins I spot.

When Alex led me over to where they were with the declaration: “You haven’t bought a single souvenir yet!” I just had to laugh.

“You get what’s happening, right?”

“What’s that?”

“Disney’s not letting me go. It’s going, ‘Oh, you’re sick of me are you? Well I’ll show you! Here’s tickets to a special event. Now here’s Lion King merchandise!’”


Alex and I laughed over this logic, because it seemed very true. Just when I was losing the allure of the parks, things started swinging my way and the night was beginning to shape up into a great evening.

Alex found a 30th Anniversary pin he wanted, and since we were in such good moods we bought the kids another mystery pin pack:








As much as I wanted to end on a high note and head to the MK right then, we had a very important Fastpass to use. And thankfully the rain stopped for good so we could go ride the attraction in question!

Wellllll…

There was one party member who wasn’t overly thrilled with this.



It was time for all of us try Slinky Dog Dash!!



Evie was very timid and shy about riding such a big (for her) coaster. Alex and I didn’t force her to do something she wasn’t comfortable doing, but we did tell her:
“You’re allowed to not like it. But we’d appreciate it if you gave it a chance.”

We try to teach the kids to try something before forming an opinion, and fortunately for us Evie said she’d go on it.


I rode next to her and got to hear her gem of a comment right after the ride began.

“I’M TRYING THIS BUT I DON’T LIKE ITTTTTT!!!”


Evie was NOT a fan, but everyone else in the family loved it. It was so much fun! For me, it was the perfect amount of thrill for a family coaster, and I wish I could have gone on it again!


Right as our Slinky was coming in to the loading platform the ride stopped and we were held on the track. Poor Alex was in an awkward spot where a mist was shooting right at his legs, but other than that we settled back and waited for the ride to get going again.

Evie’s face in this selfie shows what she thought of all those turns and dips:





Several minutes passed while we listened to an inebriated-looking Weezy sing out his tunes:




After ten minutes people in the other seats started to get antsy and angry. There was one family who began yelling for Cast Members to let them out, they had a dinner to get to. Another couple yelled, “This isn’t fair!”


It was a wee bit ridiculous. Everyone was getting so grouchy, whereas Alex and I were thinking, “Hey, we got to go on the ride. That counts for something.” At least we weren’t stuck at the beginning or waiting to board. We’d gotten our ride experience, and we were happy about that.





Continued in Next Post:

 

[amazingact21]

June 13th Part 2:


Fifteen minutes of this view:



And finally the ride kicked back on, and we were moving again. Once we got to the exit, guests began rushing out of the ride vehicles and flying past the Cast Members standing on the platform. They were so disgruntled that they didn’t stop to listen to what the Cast Member’s were saying.

Had they not been so grouchy they would have realized the CMs were giving everyone two Anytime Fastpasses.

Oh well, that’s what you get for overreacting…



Fortunately, Alex and I weren’t rushing and gladly grabbed our passes. When we walked through the exit queue and logged on to our MDE accounts, we saw the two passes and couldn’t help but get excited.





“Hey Landon? Wanna ride Toy Story Mania?”

Landon broke into a huge grin and cheered.


Looked like we were going to get to ride every Toy Story Land attraction that evening!






Landon was getting better at the game:





My family went directly from SDD to TSMM and then on to Alien Swirling Saucers:



“Man, Disney is trying really hard to keep you under their spell.”

“You’re telling me!”

“Just when you thought you were free, they pull you back in!”




Before the kids could say Woody and Bo Peep Forever, we were walking off the saucers and finishing up our time in Toy Story Land.

About an hour in the land, and we had done everything!


And as a farewell, that part of Hollywood Studios was bidding us a gorgeous farewell:








It was time to head out and prepare ourselves for our very first After Hours event!






Up Next…Like the Days of Old

 

[Isabelle12345]

What a great night at HS! After such a bad day, it must have been awesome to have such a wonderful time!
It really is Disney Magic at its best!!

 

[smilie]

I love this update. Not because of how tired of vacation you were but the magic that brought you back!

 

[cindianne320]

What a great way to end your time at Disney! So happy that you were able to get your passes for VAH, and all that fun in Toy Story Land.
I am so sorry about the loss of your dog.
I didn't realize that your family had moved out of MN- I hope they do move back and we can meet up again when all this craziness is over!

 

[rdkeim]

Loved this chapter of your TR. I can understand your feelings after a not so fun night. Totally get how tired you must have been - physically as well as mentally. Maybe what you all needed at that point was a quiet rainy day at the resort. Love how your evening plans worked out! Can't wait to read about the villains event. I think you got your mojo back!

 

[suse66]

“Man, Disney is trying really hard to keep you under their spell.”

“You’re telling me!”

“Just when you thought you were free, they pull you back in!”

You certainly had the most magical experiences after being so tired out and overwhelmed. Disney definitely was doing it's best to keep you.

Evie's line "I'm trying it but I don't like it!" Best ever!!

 

[Lesley Wake]

And then came back with a huge grin on his face.

“It wasn’t a problem at all.”

“Wait, what?”

“We’re going to the party.”

Nice! It's always great to do something spontaneous!

There was one party member who wasn’t overly thrilled with this.

It was time for all of us try Slinky Dog Dash!!

Oh poor Evie!

I rode next to her and got to hear her gem of a comment right after the ride began.

“I’M TRYING THIS BUT I DON’T LIKE ITTTTTT!!!”

LOL! But I'm proud she tried!

“Hey Landon? Wanna ride Toy Story Mania?”

Landon broke into a huge grin and cheered.

Nice! And I think you made good use of those FPs!

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Disney Magic at it’s best right there! Love it and looking forward to hear what you think of the after hours event

 

[disneyAndi14]

What a great evening. The Disney magic happens!
How fun to get all the TSL rides in in a short amount of time.
We did 10 nights in January and it went by so fast. I did like the leisurely pace we adopted for the trip. The resort evenings at Destino Tower were very nice.
Excited to hear about your Villians After hours. Sounds like fine! We were suppose to do one in March.

 

[SimplyGoofy]

Considering everything that had been going on around your trip, no wonder you were tired!

I'm so happy that everything turned around for the better that afternoon. What wonderful good luck to get two anytime Fastpasses (and my goodness, Landon is getting REALLY good at TSMM!) and I can't wait to hear about Villians After Hours!

 

[missangelalexis]

You were dealing with a lot of stress, so it makes sense you were worn out!

I'm glad Alex took the initiative to buy the After hours tickets!!

Getting stuck at the end of SDD definitely sounds worth it for 2 extra FPs!!

It turned out to be a great day for you all- just what you needed!

 

[dolewhipdreams]

I have definitely learned never to plan our travel in between moves ever again. Huge lesson learned there.

Dang girl you handled it like a champ, though! I can't imagine going through all of that at one time.

“We’re going to the party.”

Yippee!!

“Disney’s not letting me go. It’s going, ‘Oh, you’re sick of me are you? Well I’ll show you! Here’s tickets to a special event. Now here’s Lion King merchandise!’”

Man, it's like it KNOWS, ya know??

It was a wee bit ridiculous. Everyone was getting so grouchy, whereas Alex and I were thinking, “Hey, we got to go on the ride. That counts for something.” At least we weren’t stuck at the beginning or waiting to board. We’d gotten our ride experience, and we were happy about that.

HA take THAT grumpy people!!

Had they not been so grouchy they would have realized the CMs were giving everyone two Anytime Fastpasses.

Oh well, that’s what you get for overreacting…

15 minutes of boredom for 2 rides with no wait?? What a deal.

 

[Steppesister]

The kids are really grouchy that they aren't going to the beach this summer. There's several fairly close to us here in the U.K., but when I showed them pictures and they realized it wouldn't be the white sandy beaches of the Gulf they were accustomed to, they said it wouldn't be the same. Plus, it wouldn't be accompanied by the 120% humidity and glaring sunlight.

Such a shame that our summer is toast. But glad you are all healthy and well.

I'm glad I was able to experience EMH before it became what it was in 2019. (Who knows if we'll even see them again in the future.)

I don't think so; not for a long, long time.

All caught up now. I'm having to keep comments brief, but rest assured I AM reading and loving your report still. I've never ordered the pot pie at Prime, but it looks great!!!

You always have such a cheery outlook. I might have been tempted to get mad on a stallled out ride too, but you took it in stride and made the best of it.

 

[vamassey1]

What a wonderful way to end you time in TSL! I'm sorry Evie only liked 2 out of the 3. Maybe SDD will grow on her.

Can't wait to read about you Villains Party. Danielle went to one while there for her very short DCP and really liked it.

 

[amazingact21]

What a great night at HS! After such a bad day, it must have been awesome to have such a wonderful time!
It really is Disney Magic at its best!!

It was pretty amazing how special this evening at Disney was!

I love this update. Not because of how tired of vacation you were but the magic that brought you back!

I was a little surprised at how lucky we were that night. What're the odds so many good things would happen over the span of a few hours?

What a great way to end your time at Disney! So happy that you were able to get your passes for VAH, and all that fun in Toy Story Land.
I am so sorry about the loss of your dog.
I didn't realize that your family had moved out of MN- I hope they do move back and we can meet up again when all this craziness is over!

Thank you. He declined pretty quickly, and we weren't expecting him to be as sick as he was. (He had a large tumor on his heart.) But I think it's gotten easier on the kids, so that's good.
My brother in-law commissioned in the Air Force, so they will be moving around for 2 years. They plan on moving back to MN once he's done, though. (And amusingly enough, the first year they will right next my mom and the second year they will live in the same city as my brother. So whenever we visit them we'll get to see other family, too. Can't ask for anything more convenient. )