[dznygrl]

LOVING the trip report, keep it coming!!!! You're making me miss the Poly. But it's a good, reminiscent feeling.

Thanks for the pics too...they make it all the better.

[missy H]

Love reading your trip report! We need more!

[BuzzLightyear]

Awesome trip report pirates fan !!

[rlander]

Pirates fan,
We were at MGM the same day you were. While there we did Millionaire twice, ate at Sci-Fi for lunch and saw the Stunt show at 3:00pm. Cincy sent me at text message around 2:30 to tell me the SS had been scrubbed. We were just finishing up our second Millionaire visit.
I wonder how many other times we crossed paths?

[PiratesFan]

Originally Posted by rlander

Pirates fan,
We were at MGM the same day you were. While there we did Millionaire twice, ate at Sci-Fi for lunch and saw the Stunt show at 3:00pm. Cincy sent me at text message around 2:30 to tell me the SS had been scrubbed. We were just finishing up our second Millionaire visit.
I wonder how many other times we crossed paths?

Wow, it would have been great to have met up. I have always wanted to meet up with someone from DC in the parks. We always meet some very nice people, but none know about DC. My DW was talking to a woman fom Long Island NY while doing laundry. She was there with her family for 4 weeks, since her DH is a big WDW fanatic. DW mentioned DC to the woman and she did not know anything about the site.

PiratesFan

[rlander]

I have only met one person who was DC related. I met Towncar T's brother last year at fantasmic. But like you, we met great people on the buses and in lines. People seem so much more friendly in WDW.

[PiratesFan]

DAY 5 Thursday, July 14 (The Magic is back in full force!)

Today is the day that the Disney Magic returned for us. We opened the MK up at 9am and had our family photo taken on Main St with the castle in back of us and on the right side of the castle going towards Tomorrowland. We often had to use the left and right ramps of the castle due to the center being closed off for Cinderellabration. From there we went to Dumbo which was virtually a walk-on. Then we went to Peter Pan’s Flight – walk on, then It’s A Small World – walk on. I took a lot of digital pictures in IASW, around 80. Next was Mickey’s Philharmagic which was a walk-on also. I was pleasantly surprised to see Disney use some of the same technology that was used in Stitch’s Great Escape. I won’t say anything else to spoil the fun. After the show we went to ride the Carousel where we were first in line for the next group. We were extremely pleased to have done all of this by 10:30. It was going to be a grand day indeed.

We looked around some of the Fantasyland gift shops and then decided to head towards Tony’s Town Square for lunch. As we passed the entrance to Adventureland from decending the left castle ramp, we notice a woman character standing on the bridge to Adventureland talking to several people passing by. We stopped and got some photos and autographs for my 2 DDs. Her name was Dr. Miranda (I forgot her last name and she only signed my DDs autograph books with an R and a lipstick kiss). I told my DW, now this is a real character. LOL. A picture of her is posted below. Could it be that this is just a character made up for the parks or does she exist in a Disney movie??

When we arrived at Tony’s Town Square, the CM greeter outside said that they were opening in a couple of minutes and we could wait inside. We would be the first people to be seated for the day so we relaxed on the benches in the restaurant lobby. All of a sudden, the Disney Barbershop Quartet appeared in the lobby and started singing, drawing a crowd from the photo services next door. Unknown to me or my DW, but they do this everyday to announce the opening of the restaurant. They announced our name and we were promptly seated. Our server came over and took our drink order while the Quartet sang by our table. It was really quite special and unexpected to experience this, away from the crowds and heat of the day. Lunch was enjoyed by all.

After lunch, we headed towards the hub into Liberty Square to the umbrella cart for my 2 DDs to have a mini umbrella personalized. On our last visit, the cart was located to the left of the Liberty Square entrance. It was moved to the right to make room for a silhouette cut-out stand. We wanted to do this at a later time for our 2 DDs but forgot to.

We then decided to take an afternoon break at the Poly and were able to catch a boat ride back instead of going on the monorail. This was a great change of pace from riding the monorail all the time where it was relaxing and offered a great cool down. We went in the Poly volcano pool for a little while until some lighting started out of nowhere, where we had to clear the pool deck. We rested up in the room for a little while, to eventually head back to the MK to pick up the mini umbrellas.

As we got the umbrellas, we headed into Frontierland to witness square dancing between some CMs and Country Bear characters. We would be too late on the return if we got FPs for SM since we had a PS for diner at 1900 Park Fare at 7pm, so we headed into the Caribbean Plaza. We tried to get photos and autographs with Mr. Smee and Capt. Hook but it started to rain and thunder so they left. Deciding to make our way out of the park, we strolled through the shops on Main St. and do some more penny pressing.

After making a quick stop to the room to unload some bags and the strollers, we were on our way to dinner at 1900 Park Fare. Our table was in the wing near the alternate exit doors, where it was very warm because of the close proximity to the automatic hotel door entrance. We complained a little and the manager came over and said that “the A/C was on high and that they were working on a 6 month plan to take care of the heat. By January it should be a lot cooler”. I was not so sure that I should laugh. Oh well. The food was very good but the selection seemed a bit less than what I remembered from 2 years ago. My favorites are still the prime rib and the mashed potatoes. The character interaction with my 2 DDs was great as usual.

After dinner we stopped by the GF gift shop and did some more penny pressing on the way to the monorail. We got off at the MK but realized too late that we were too hot and tired from dinner so we took the boat back to the Poly where we just made it for the electric water pageant. Then it was back to the room and do a little laundry to call it a night at 1am.

PiratesFan

[Dana]

Your trip report is fabulous. I love the details and excellent pictures. You guys take great photos. I can't wait to read on. In regards to the woman character, I have never seen her before, so I am not sure where she comes from. She looks like she was fun though.

[PiratesFan]

DAY 6 Friday, July 15 (The Magic continues but pixies must rest too)

Today was the day for sleeping a little later and going to breakfast at 1900 Park Fare for breakfast. We were able to see Mary Poppins (outside), Pooh, Eyore, Alice, and the Mad Hatter. We thought that the breakfast was even better than dinner the night before. Next off was DTD. We did a good bit of shopping in the World of Disney, Poohs Corner, and Goofy’s Candy Factory. There was an outdoor “Mickey’s Bargains” for items priced at $10 or less next to Pooh’s Corner. There was some of the usual stuff seen in other stores but they had some marked down merchandise there as well. We got a good deal on the die-cast cars from the attractions at 4 for $10, and on Pooh remote controlled cars reduced down to $10. The kids brought their bathing suits to run around the fountains but apparently they had not been working for a while.

After DTD we went in the Poly quiet pool (no lifeguards). An obnoxious kid was constantly diving from the steps where my DD-5 was sitting. My DW complained to him but he continued. DW told me that his mother, sitting across the pool and seeing that we were annoyed, was actually encouraging him to jump more by giving him the thumbs up after he splashed. So out we left to go back to the MK.

Upon entering the MK, we got photos from King Louie near City Hall. My DD-5 wanted to go on the Jungle Cruise so we headed over to Adventureland. Passing over the bridge, we saw Timba, Raffiki, and King Louie (again – told my DDs that he took a shortcut). After getting autographs and a picture of the three of them together, we went right on the Jungle Cruise. Our boat driver was a Chinese girl with a heavy accent. I couldn’t understand half of what she said, and I know I wasn’t the only one. We were glad to have made it back to what was supposed to be the scariest part of the ride…. civilization.

Splash Mountain had an 80min wait with no FPs available so instead, we got the kids some McDonalds fries across from Pecos Bill’s Café and rounded the bend into Adventureland. We grabbed some lemonade across from the Swiss Family Tree House and then climbed up the tree because the kids had never been on it.

It was nearing the time for Spectro so we hurried to get our wristbands for the EMH at the front of the park. Main St. was packed as usual, with narrow pathways to move at best. I don’t think Disney does enough to allow adequate clearance for people who are entering or exiting the park during parade times. There must be a better way. I had a real big problem with these access issues all week due to the large crowds, 8 out of 10. We took one of the only 2 shortcuts that exist (shhhh, don’t tell anyone) by entering Casey’s Corner and walking through to exit the Emporium by the Firehouse since all of the stores are inter-connected. This only works if a parade hasn’t started because they will not let you cross the street by the Firehouse to exit the park. If a parade is going to start soon, you can only enter or exit the park on the Bakery / Candy Shop / Watchmaker side of Main St.

After getting our wristbands, we boarded the train during Spectro and headed to Mickey’s Toon Town. The kids were tired and fell asleep on the train. They had fun going through Mickey and Minnie’s house and playing in the play area. This turned out to be a great location for viewing Wishes. Wanting to get a bite to eat, we headed to Cosmic Rays hoping to get the rotisserie chicken. When we arrived, I realized that they stop serving it at 10pm and it was not 10:45. I thought that they would have full food service considering that the park was to remain open from 11pm-2am! There was no way we were going to eat chicken strips and fries again so we left in haste even though they had other items there. Got back at the Poly, grabbed a bite there, and then called it a night. It was supposed to be an easygoing day but we ran until empty around 1am.

[PiratesFan]

DAY 7 Saturday, July 16

Today we planned on going to AK. We arrived at 10am and took the train to Raffiki’s Conservation Watch. The kids got a photo and autograph with Stanley. I liked the look of the different labs they had on display but I know they must have been very impractical to the scientists to work in. The kids got to pet and brush a few of the animals in the petting zoo and found a hidden mickey on one of the sheep (photo attached). This area did not do that much for me. It’s tough to combine real science into an attraction and be entertaining yet not loose purpose. It kind of fell short just like the Living Seas does in EPCOT, unlike The Land, which is well done.

After riding back on the train, we crossed the path above the Tree of Life and headed straight to the Flame Tree Barbecue for ribs, chicken, fries, and iced tea. This was THE best counter service meal that I had during the entire stay on property. Feeling revived from the heat, we headed to Camp Mickey and Minnie to see what characters were there. On the way, we saw Stitch and quickly got photos and autographs. In the camp, my DDs got photos and autographs from Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Chip & Dale, Goofy, Brother Bear & Koda.

We then left the AK at 3:45 to go back to the room for a reprieve from the heat. When we got back, the cleaning CM did really something special for our 2 DDs. On a prior day, they had made a chick out of a washcloth that the kids just loved. My DW left them a note and a few dollars for the CM to make the kids another animal out of a washcloth or something. When we returned that day, they took two of the Poly leis and created a homock for Pooh bear between the beds as well as 3 special washcloth animals. Even though they were asked, they really out did themselves. I took a picture of how it exactly how it looked, attached below.

Next we headed out to the monorail for a 6:40 PS at Chef Mickey’s for a second time during our stay. It was nice this time to just take pictures and not have to worry about getting autographs. After dinner we shopped in the gift shops in the Contemporary as I have always found something different there that I haven’t seen anywhere else. This was no exception as I bought a Pirates of the Caribbean musical snowglobe that played Yo ho. It was their last one too. Nothin’ better than findin’ treasure! Aaargh! My DW and 2 DDs also hauled away some plunder so we headed back to the Poly for watching Wishes from the beach while the kids played in the sand again. All in all, a good day.

PiratesFan

[lovemysons]

Great photos! I especially liked the one of all the mickey bags!

[PiratesFan]

DAY 8 Sunday, July 17

Today was back to the MK by 10am to get FPs for Splash for 10:25. While waiting, my 2 DDs got photos and autographs from Brier Rabbit and Brier Bear. Splash was great. My DW and I hadn’t been on it for a number of years and it was my DDs’ first time on it.

We had a 12:40 for lunch at the Crystal Palace again and were seated fairly quickly. It was great to give my 2 DDs another opportunity to see Pooh and friends. We then got FPs for the Pooh ride, which was a 40 min wait. While waiting, we went to Ariel’s Grotto which had a really long line. It always seems that this line is long. It started to rain so we took the train from Toon Town to Main St. We saw Pluto in front of City Hall and wanted to get pictures and autographs but he went in due to the rain. It poured and we got soaked making a run for the monorail.

After we relaxed at the room, it stopped raining and we walked to the TTC to get on the monorail to EPCOT. We were most fortunate to be able to drive right in the front with the driver, a family first.

When we arrived in EPCOT, we went straight to the Living Seas for Turtle Talk. While we waited on a short line to go in, we watched them demonstrating the diver using the lockout chamber. Turtle Talk with Crush was very entertaining. This is a must-see for anyone visiting the Living Seas. It would be interesting to see it again to see how it changes with a different audience.

After seeing the rest of the Living Seas tanks, and exhibits, I came to the following conclusion. The Nemo theme is too powerful for the place. I often felt like it was put in like a new paintjob, and not part of the original design, however flawed. Maybe
Disney should just go all out with the Nemo stuff and cover over the SeaBase Alpha type stuff. BTW, upon our return, we went to the exit door area where the Hydrolators let you out. The door all the way to the left says CM Only. Well, this door leads you into an area with the same length as the Hydrolators (hint, hint) and then to another door. This second door leads you into the main exhibit area. We just passed on in as we watched everyone get held up going into the Hydrolators to leave. LOL.

After Living Seas, we went towards World Showcase to the McDonalds stand to buy two of the light-up souvenir mugs they wouldn’t let us buy after Illuminations ended. After I paid for two of them, the CM (earning her ears) could only find one even with getting some help. After about 10 min of confusion, they still couldn’t find any. Fuming, I had enough at this point. They still had one on display so I asked if I could just have that one. Still confused, the CM finally returned with the mug. I have two points from all of this. First, I often found many of these vendor stands very disorganized, from not having everything in stock, being out of change, and having cash only (communication problems). Secondly, I found on this trip, more than any other, an awfully large number of CMs that were being trained or were new (“earning their ears”). Not that I have anything at all against a person just starting out on a new job, I truly sympathize with their difficulties, but why in the name of Walt does it have to jeopardize the Disney quality? I think that both of these issues are related and hope that this is not going to become a trend.

After the mug fiasco, we went in search of the all-elusive gold Mickey eared antenna toppers for the Celebration. I previously scoured several shops in the MK, DTD, MGM, and some in AK for them to all be sold out. We finally found them in Mousegears and quickly bought two. For a while, I was hating the idea that I might have to resort to eBay to get one if the parks couldn’t deliver. They are definitely a hot item. I won’t actually use them, I just really wanted one to put in my DW’s china closet full of Disney stuff. If you are going to be in WDW, grab one if you can. They make a great addition to any trip memorabilia that you may have.

After leaving EPCOT, we took the express monorail to the MK around 8:15. Our main reason for going was to get us all embroidered gold ear Mickey hats. When it was our turn, the CM, Ladonna, asked my DD-7 to come behind the counter and help her cut the string to her embroidered hat. Ladonna was a real pro at sewing. I overheard her mention to someone else that she trains other CMs on how to embroider the names.

We were going to leave and say goodbye to the MK since we were leaving in the morning, but my DD-7 wanted to go on the Pooh ride once more. We had to plow through a lot of people to get to Fantasyland via the Starlight Café route since they were lining up for Spectro. On our way, my DW was bumped by someone and lost my DW-5s’s mylar Mickey/Minnie balloon. I was able to backtrack and get another one for her. Pooh was a short line and my DDs were happy they got to ride it again.

After Pooh, we wanted to leave the MK. Here’s where we made the worst strategy mistake of the trip. We thought we would get around the Spectro crowds by taking the train from Toontown, which is relatively close to the Pooh ride, to the Main St Train station. When we got there, however, the train already left for its berth for the night since the MK was closing at 10pm. So we had to go back towards the hub and Main St., to exit through the crowds. Now, mind you, Spectro was going on at 9pm from the Firehouse area and usually lasts until about 9:25-9:30 around the hub. It was now about 9:25 and the hub was absolutely packed with several people deep, and all ways to get out were blocked. When Spectro did finally completely pass the area, everyone in the crowd was still standing there for several moments. It was like they were hypnotized, just staring up at the castle. Now it dawned on me that they were waiting for Wishes to start. But it was only 9:30, not 10:00!! Finally the crowd started to slowly inch forward, but it was kind of scary. Several people were complaining about the gridlock. My DW and I were having a tough time pushing our DDs through with their matching umbrella strollers. I was in the lead with my DW closely behind. A woman in back of me to my right, but out of my sight, started to tell their teenage kid to just push their way in. They were pushing a rented blue stroller into my right ankle, trying to separate my DW and I. I held my ground but they did manage to push my DW out. DW complained a great deal and some of the people around her were getting annoyed at this woman’s behavior also. It took a long long time to get down Main St. Our shortcut through the stores was not even that productive because so many people were shopping, it was difficult to navigate with a stroller.

When we did make it to the train station, we bought our last 2 buckets of popcorn and said our farewells. With the crow levels so high, we were actually happy and relieved to leave. This is not the norm for us, who are always teary-eyed. We love WDW, but I don’t think we would go back in July anymore. Too hot, too crowded, too many South American tour groups (however polite). It’s weird, because, either 9 days is not enough to see what you want, or it’s too much dealing with the heat and the crowds. I would love to stay longer so we have the extra time to get completely away from the crowds and still have more time to see things we missed.

In my next installment, I will highlight DAY 10 – Departure, and our Breakfast at Ohanas.

PiratesFan

[Janice419]

Originally Posted by PiratesFan

After dinner we stopped by the GF gift shop and did some more penny pressing on the way to the monorail.

PiratesFan

My sons and I love penny pressing. My husband tolerates it. I think he thinks we're crazy for searching for new pennies instead of just enjoying whatever place we're visiting.

Are there any special pennies for the celebration??

[Dana]

*clapping* what a great trip report. Your attention to the details made me want to read it again (and I did) and your pictures were so awesome! Thank you for taking the time to do all that. It was like I was right there with you getting angry at the woman at your pool and her obnoxious kid and getting even more angry with the lady and her battling ram. I am glad that you all managed to have a magical time despite some of these bumps in the road and despite the heat and crowds. Thanks again for such a great report. *clapping again*

[BuzzLightyear]

Again, awesome trip report. Love all the details.
I surley know what you mean about not going in July anymore. We had the same expierences with out first WDW visits, didn't think we'd ever go back again.