Happy 40th to me *Live from the bubble*

Login to post comments
105 posts / 0 new
JMed's picture
Offline
Joined: 02/16/2014
Posts: 3849

Day 6 DHS

Last day already?

Well, here it is, the report of our last park day... sad It was quite the emotional day with loads of ups and downs...

We arrived around 8:30. After hearing SO MANY great things about TSM we wanted to hit that first and with no FP we wanted to be early. Well, so did EVERYONE else. While waiting to get in I checked MDE and the times on our FP and WAIT WHAT???? My Rockin Roller Coaster one was gone?!?!?!?!?!? Turns out it was down and we had an open pass for almost everything BUT TSM of course... We still got there pretty quickly and the wait time was posted as 60 min. We waited about 25 to get on. It was awesome. I laughed the whole time. I beat Joe and reminded him of it all day (Well, until the 2nd time and he beat me) I was a beaver at 146,200 and Joe had 100,300.

After that we just roamed around a bit. We went thru Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground, Wandering Oakens, and all the streets. It was about 11 at this point and we just had a pastry at 6 so off to Starring Rolls. I wanted the Butterfinger Cupcake. We ended up with a mammoth turkey sandwich with mozzarella and pesto that was amazing. We also picked up a red velvet cheesecake cupcake. I was NOT impressed with the Butterfinger one. It was just white icing hiding under the chocolate/BF pieces shell and the cake was dry... Joe said his was good, I was uploading pics from the phone as he devoured his and didn't get a bite.

This brought us to our first FP, well 2nd since RRC was down... ToT. Now, I am terrified of going up things and being dropped. I love coasters but just drops, NO WAY! I promised I would try it. I tried to get out of it and finally Joe said "You don't have to do it." That's all I needed to hear! BUT, I did it anyway. sweaty palms, nausea, pounding heart and all. The line was torture and when we were finally on I almost bolted but we were off. After the elevator moved forward into place I looked up and could see thru the cage to the windows.... I almost pulled his arm off holding on.....But I did it and was all wobbly legs for a while.

We walked right into BATB right after that, got a great seat pretty close and it started as my butt hit the bench. Very short but cute and of course, I cried. I love that story and it always gets me. After we walked thru One Man's Dream and rode TGMR

After we browsed around a bit, kept checking to see if RRC was open and just taking it all in. We rode star tours twice and except for the first quarter, we had the EXACT same scenario.... BOOOOOOO

We had an early dinner at Studio Catering consisting of Buffalo chicken sandwich for me and sloppy joe for Joe. He liked this one better than the resort one. Chocolate pudding and banana pudding. Everything was pretty good, the bread on mine was a little hard but I think it was the type of bread.

We hopped in the "80 min" line for TSM again and only waited 50. We noticed the wait times were WAY off the entire trip (more on this later) Joe won this time and got kitty while I was still Beaver.

Now here is where my emotions take over. We waiting all day holding onto our open FP to see if RRC would ever open. Around 5:30 we went to a FP kiosk to use it on ToT. Well, lo and behold, we accidentally got on ST too early and it used it there.... They did fix it and hooked us up with ToT... Wouldn't you know it as we came off of ToT, RRC was open and the wait was already one hour ugguh. We hopped in line anyway and waited maybe 35 min... see, another botched wait time. It was AMAZING! I loved every single second of it. It was a first for us both and it invigorated us. By the time we got off, the only thing I wanted to do was go see the Osborne Lights. I cried! It was beautiful and the SNOW! It was magical! I could have stayed on that street until they had to haul me out of there! It was the PERFECT way to end our trip!

Yep, I said end... I am so sad but so ready to see Blondie. It's been a whirlwind of fun and memories and lucky me, we are seriously considering DVC, I can't tell you how happy this makes me. We may also bring Blondie to see the lights one weekend as a short trip. she will love it!

It's been fun sharing with you all. I will post final thought, highs, lows, observations and more pics after we get home! Have a magical day!

PreviewAttachmentSize
That's us, front row left!
That's us, front row left!2.44 MB
ahhhhh Christmas
ahhhhh Christmas3.55 MB
__________________

"I do not like the cone of shame."

"I want adventure in the great wide somewhere. I want it more than I can tell."

"It seems to me that we have a lot of story yet to tell."

Jennifer Huotari | Create Your Badge

The Huotari's Disney Adventures | Promote Your Page Too

JanJ's picture
Offline
Joined: 07/14/2013
Posts: 1681

Love the Osborne lights - it is truly amazing to be in the middle of it all and hear the music. I too prefer the Red Velvet cupcake to the Butterfinger - that one I found way too sweet.

So glad you had an amazing birthday trip! mickey

Safe travels home.

Offline
Joined: 06/17/2012
Posts: 373

Thanks for sharing your trip ..i love the Osborne lights... i enjoyed the whole trip Smile clapping

__________________

MrHub's picture
Offline
Joined: 10/29/2009
Posts: 9504

Ha! I love the look on this lady in pink! silly Great report JMed, safe travels home.

PreviewAttachmentSize
photopass_visiting_studios_7089621530.jpg
photopass_visiting_studios_7089621530.jpg2.23 MB
JMed's picture
Offline
Joined: 02/16/2014
Posts: 3849

The first time I looked like that!!

__________________

"I do not like the cone of shame."

"I want adventure in the great wide somewhere. I want it more than I can tell."

"It seems to me that we have a lot of story yet to tell."

Jennifer Huotari | Create Your Badge

The Huotari's Disney Adventures | Promote Your Page Too

JMed's picture
Offline
Joined: 02/16/2014
Posts: 3849

First ride... top middle Joe is telling me to open my eyes and look out and I refuse!

PreviewAttachmentSize
First ToT ride
First ToT ride2.57 MB
__________________

"I do not like the cone of shame."

"I want adventure in the great wide somewhere. I want it more than I can tell."

"It seems to me that we have a lot of story yet to tell."

Jennifer Huotari | Create Your Badge

The Huotari's Disney Adventures | Promote Your Page Too

RobynPrincess's picture
Offline
Joined: 03/14/2010
Posts: 2859

Love love love your tr! So pleased you loved Sanaa, it's a true fav of ours and seriously underrated if you ask me Wink but shhhh don't want it to become hugely busy, we like being able to drop in without and ADR for lunch Wink love the pic of you at the Osbourne lights!! So pretty

__________________

Our Very Merry 24 nighter Nov/Dec 15
Watson's go West May 15
The one with all the birthdays Oct 14 4 Big Birthdays and a Vow Renewal thrown in
The OMG trip June 14 30th Birthday present from the hubs
Girly trip March 14 A last min cheapy week
September 13 our first all DVC stay
TR May 2013 the last min bargain trip offsite
Oct 2012 TR with a cruise!big family trip featuring the beach club, AKL, the dream and a villa offsite
TR on a budget May - June 2011offsite condo
TR Sept - Oct 2010 big family trip in an offsite villa

JMed's picture
Offline
Joined: 02/16/2014
Posts: 3849

So here I am posting from home... sad *insert tears here* *still wearing my magic band*

We did go to the DVC "talk" this morning and I am about 90% sure we are going to do it! We've been discussing it for 2 years now and I guess it is time!

We had an uneventful trip home. We stopped in Jacksonville for lunch at 4 Rivers Smokehouse (there is a couple in Orlando and if you ever get off property, you should try it. They have AWESOME food) where we met up with another friend from Disney Foodies! When we got home we were locked out... We have a VW that has the big key you just push in and neither of us took our real keys eek Luckily mom didn't head back to Georgia today and she had to bring us a key. We were so ready to be home at this point...

anywho......

To begin with, we had a fantastic trip! The weather was great! Except that first night on top of the Contemporary but I dealt with it. We were pleased with the resort. We don't need all the frills but maybe DVC will change that. LOL There were several CMs who were outstanding to me (I will explain each in a bit) Crowds weren't bad at all!

DTD - WHAT A MESS. I took the bus so I didn't deal with parking thank goodness. I was so lost with all the walls up. I DID NOT like the Co-op. It seemed so spread out and random to me. I didn't like all the "sections" I guess. Starbucks got my drink wrong twice but they corrected it with a smile. Other than that, I accomplished everything I needed to do there.

EPCOT - Food and Wine, the reason we went! AMAZING!!! We tried 49 different items from the booths and then some food and drinks from a couple other places. A couple of things were charged to our Magicbands that should not have been. We asked to use the snack credits. The Sake Bar inside Mitsukoshi was wonderful! There was no one but us there. People actually saw what we were doing and came over as we were about to leave. The Grand Marnier Slush was everything I hoped it would be and more. Via Napoli was wonderful but the service was meh... Our server was "earning her ears" but still, we waited a LONG time in between visits.

MK - Other than 7DMT (and A&E Meet and Greet) lines weren't bad at all we rode tons! I still missed out on a couple but we will be back! We found a back less (WAY LESS) traveled path from Barnstormer to Space Mountain that we never knew was there. Shady, empty and quiet and FAST! LOL We used that path a couple times. MK had the freshest popcorn of all the parks, it was constantly popping and always hot when i got it. Not a lot bad to say here!

AK - The walls here threw me off a bit too. Where is the Avatar section going to be? I felt like the entire park was blocked off. I knew there is a lot going on but not that much. We did ask if all the construction was effecting any of the animals and they said they can't have the Okapi out because the noise agitates them. We also saw an Ankole Cattle with a dart in his butt, we never got an answer as to why. As we were leaving, the most amazing cast member Jennifer from Salem College asked if she could sing happy birthday to me. Of course I said yes. She asked English or Italian. Of course I picked Italian. Well, she did, it was beautiful and about made me cry. I gave her the biggest hug! She made my day! There was also a photographer Steve from New Market MD who was great. His line took a little longer but he interacted so well with everyone. I never got to fill anything out giving good reviews on the CMs, can I do that online somewhere?

DHS - CRAZY standby times day... we watched ToT jump from 20-70 minutes in the blink of an eye. We never waited as long as was posted. A friend of mine said she noticed it a lot on her trip also as if they are manipulating the times. Cupcakes at Starring Rolls were a major disappointment.

Since I have SO MANY pics, and I don't know how to link up the Facebook album, feel free to send me a friend request if you would like. I will post a couple more on here too! Most of what I post is coming out sideways... damn Fergus Syndrome... or it tells me no file selected... PS I LOVE LOVE LOVE Memory Maker and pics being hooked up to your band for the rides automatically! AWESOMESAUCE We got 223 pics! https://www.facebook.com/jmed1117

Thanks for following along and thanks again for all the help, advice, ideas and such before hand! I can't wait to be back!!!

crossfingers crossfingers crossfingers DVC crossfingers crossfingers crossfingers

__________________

"I do not like the cone of shame."

"I want adventure in the great wide somewhere. I want it more than I can tell."

"It seems to me that we have a lot of story yet to tell."

Jennifer Huotari | Create Your Badge

The Huotari's Disney Adventures | Promote Your Page Too

RobynPrincess's picture
Offline
Joined: 03/14/2010
Posts: 2859

YAAAAY to DVC Laughing out loud

__________________

Our Very Merry 24 nighter Nov/Dec 15
Watson's go West May 15
The one with all the birthdays Oct 14 4 Big Birthdays and a Vow Renewal thrown in
The OMG trip June 14 30th Birthday present from the hubs
Girly trip March 14 A last min cheapy week
September 13 our first all DVC stay
TR May 2013 the last min bargain trip offsite
Oct 2012 TR with a cruise!big family trip featuring the beach club, AKL, the dream and a villa offsite
TR on a budget May - June 2011offsite condo
TR Sept - Oct 2010 big family trip in an offsite villa

oHIo's picture
Offline
Joined: 10/04/2014
Posts: 844

RobynPrincess wrote:
YAAAAY to DVC Laughing out loud

You won't regret it JMed!! awesome awesome Have you chosen a home resort?

Spook's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/27/2012
Posts: 2786

yay DVC! DVC! DVC! DVC! yay

We just returned from our first DVC trip and it was AWESOME awesome

JMed's picture
Offline
Joined: 02/16/2014
Posts: 3849

oHIo wrote:
RobynPrincess wrote:
YAAAAY to DVC Laughing out loud

You won't regret it JMed!! awesome awesome Have you chosen a home resort?

We are between AKL and GF.

__________________

"I do not like the cone of shame."

"I want adventure in the great wide somewhere. I want it more than I can tell."

"It seems to me that we have a lot of story yet to tell."

Jennifer Huotari | Create Your Badge

The Huotari's Disney Adventures | Promote Your Page Too

oHIo's picture
Offline
Joined: 10/04/2014
Posts: 844

We have stayed at Kidani four times and another two nights are scheduled in Jan 2015. It is a beautiful resort and we love going out on the balcony to watch the animals. The restaurants are simply amazing and the pools are georgeous. The only down part is the distance away from everything but Animal Kingdom. We never have any problem making reservations seven months in advance.

We have two home resorts, Bay Lake and Beach Club. BLT was purchased directly from Disney and BC was purchased from a company in the after market. There are advantages and disadvantages to both ways of purchasing. Do your homework!

Just remember like any other real estate decision, it's location, location, location!!!

GF is on the monorail. It is not quite as easy to get reservations because there are fewer units available, so the advantage goes to those have it as their home resort. We toured it the day before it opened and it is breath takingly beautiful, just ask Robyn! It will probably be more expensive than Kidani/AKL.

Anxious to hear your decision!! Either way I don't think you will regret acquiring DVC. mickey

Offline
Joined: 11/15/2012
Posts: 912

Fantastic report. I can answer the dart in the butt question as it came up at the lunch we had with an Animal Expert (the question not the dart!) It is when they need to get antibiotic or vitamins in to the animal. The dart eventually falls out and they arent really bothered by it.

__________________

h0ney227's picture
Offline
Joined: 07/30/2013
Posts: 547

What a great report! Glad you got to go on the RnRC on your last day! mickey

__________________

The Watchmaker's picture
Offline
Joined: 07/08/2014
Posts: 1802

Great report and awesome photos...The xmas lights look awesome...My next trip in 2016 might have to be in November to see this sight..

JMed's picture
Offline
Joined: 02/16/2014
Posts: 3849

Sally-Ann wrote:
Fantastic report. I can answer the dart in the butt question as it came up at the lunch we had with an Animal Expert (the question not the dart!) It is when they need to get antibiotic or vitamins in to the animal. The dart eventually falls out and they arent really bothered by it.

ahhh ha! Thanks! There was a truck parked nearby but they were just sitting there watching.

The Watchmaker wrote:
Great report and awesome photos...The xmas lights look awesome...My next trip in 2016 might have to be in November to see this sight..

Thanks! They are amazing. And they make it snow, I swear to you it was 10 degrees colder on that street. Love the Disney magic!

__________________

"I do not like the cone of shame."

"I want adventure in the great wide somewhere. I want it more than I can tell."

"It seems to me that we have a lot of story yet to tell."

Jennifer Huotari | Create Your Badge

The Huotari's Disney Adventures | Promote Your Page Too

The Watchmaker's picture
Offline
Joined: 07/08/2014
Posts: 1802

JMed wrote:
Sally-Ann wrote:
Fantastic report. I can answer the dart in the butt question as it came up at the lunch we had with an Animal Expert (the question not the dart!) It is when they need to get antibiotic or vitamins in to the animal. The dart eventually falls out and they arent really bothered by it.

ahhh ha! Thanks! There was a truck parked nearby but they were just sitting there watching.

The Watchmaker wrote:
Great report and awesome photos...The xmas lights look awesome...My next trip in 2016 might have to be in November to see this sight..

Thanks! They are amazing. And they make it snow, I swear to you it was 10 degrees colder on that street. Love the Disney magic!

That's it..You've sold me...November 2016 is now my target... clapping

RobynPrincess's picture
Offline
Joined: 03/14/2010
Posts: 2859

JMed wrote:
oHIo wrote:
RobynPrincess wrote:
YAAAAY to DVC Laughing out loud

You won't regret it JMed!! awesome awesome Have you chosen a home resort?

We are between AKL and GF.

Best places to own if you ask me.... Wink (yes, we own at both hahaha)

__________________

Our Very Merry 24 nighter Nov/Dec 15
Watson's go West May 15
The one with all the birthdays Oct 14 4 Big Birthdays and a Vow Renewal thrown in
The OMG trip June 14 30th Birthday present from the hubs
Girly trip March 14 A last min cheapy week
September 13 our first all DVC stay
TR May 2013 the last min bargain trip offsite
Oct 2012 TR with a cruise!big family trip featuring the beach club, AKL, the dream and a villa offsite
TR on a budget May - June 2011offsite condo
TR Sept - Oct 2010 big family trip in an offsite villa

JMed's picture
Offline
Joined: 02/16/2014
Posts: 3849

So, Food and Wine a brief rundown of my favorites and ehhh not so much!

Top 3 food...

Bacon Hash from Farm Fresh - I could have this all day long
Tuna Poke from Hawaii - Tuna in all of it's pure goodness
Scallop with Spinach Cheddar Gratin- Perfectly seared and oh so tasty

Honorable mention - Crispy Pork Belly and Cheese Bread from Brazil

Top 3 Drinks...

Frozen Margarita with Tequila and Lemoncello from Italy - so refreshing and amazing taste
Frozen Caipirinha from Brazil - Super sweet and tangy, it reminds me of something I still can't quite place
Key Lime Wine from Farm Fresh - I loved it with the Bacon Hash, it balanced out the heat from the jalapenos

Honorable Mention - Meade Honey Wine - I did have this 4 times, you would think it was my favorite

Drinks NOT from booths
Grand Marnier Slush from France
Ume Kanon Plum Sake from the Sake Bar in Japan
Horchata Margarita from La Cava

The ehhhh, not so much

Beef Tenderloin from Africa - Nothing outstanding about this to me
Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup - YUCK! There was not a single thing about this I liked
Kefta Pcoket from Morocco - Kinda bland and boring

I left my pins at home so Joe got me a starter set and a pack I could trade, I ended up with some great ones and also purchased a few!

__________________

"I do not like the cone of shame."

"I want adventure in the great wide somewhere. I want it more than I can tell."

"It seems to me that we have a lot of story yet to tell."

Jennifer Huotari | Create Your Badge

The Huotari's Disney Adventures | Promote Your Page Too

Offline
Joined: 11/15/2012
Posts: 912

I wonder why they stick an extra "e" on mead? It is tha most amazing stuff to drink because you can get such a massive range of it from the ultra sweet syrupy stuff to the light crisp ones. We like mead a lot in our house and had it at our wedding. you should be able to find it, I have just had a quick look online, you could try amazon.

I agree about the cheese soup yuck way too salty for me. Loved the Brazilian frozen drink and the key lime wine it went soo well with the bacon hash which was amazing.

__________________

JMed's picture
Offline
Joined: 02/16/2014
Posts: 3849

as soon as I could smell the honey I was hooked before I even tried it!!! I don't think I have ever had anything like it before!

The bacon hash recipe was posted on line, I will be making it soon!

__________________

"I do not like the cone of shame."

"I want adventure in the great wide somewhere. I want it more than I can tell."

"It seems to me that we have a lot of story yet to tell."

Jennifer Huotari | Create Your Badge

The Huotari's Disney Adventures | Promote Your Page Too

Offline
Joined: 09/12/2010
Posts: 4704

Wow, what a great series of reports and pics!! Thanks so much for sharing. You 2 look like you had so much fun.

That picture of the bobsled car from Space Mountain reminded me how horrified I was when I rode it last and was in that front seat! Egads!

JMed's picture
Offline
Joined: 02/16/2014
Posts: 3849

JeffC wrote:
Wow, what a great series of reports and pics!! Thanks so much for sharing. You 2 look like you had so much fun.

That picture of the bobsled car from Space Mountain reminded me how horrified I was when I rode it last and was in that front seat! Egads!

Thanks so much!!! We had a blast. But everything we did we thought about how much fun Blondie would have and I think that is part of what really got us to seriously consider DVC this trip. The call is being made in the morning!

It is my least favorite ride... It always makes me queasy and I regret it every single time... LOL But I did it and got it over with early in the day and didn't look back!

__________________

"I do not like the cone of shame."

"I want adventure in the great wide somewhere. I want it more than I can tell."

"It seems to me that we have a lot of story yet to tell."

Jennifer Huotari | Create Your Badge

The Huotari's Disney Adventures | Promote Your Page Too

Disneylover21's picture
Offline
Joined: 05/02/2013
Posts: 325

If you ever do Disneyland Space Mountain is better there, two seats together and smoother, wdw gives major whiplash compared to Disneyland.

amy1989's picture
Offline
Joined: 12/30/2013
Posts: 1404

yay yay great report JMed thanks for taking us along with you!!! we didn't try as many things as we would have liked praying the menus stay the same next year!!!

The Watchmaker's picture
Offline
Joined: 07/08/2014
Posts: 1802

Glad you enjoyed the scallops..oops scallop..We tried it and gave it a 5/10...But everyone to their own tastes..Just like my good lady hating the taste of tomatoe juice, just after I ordered 2 bloody Mary's..LOL..The things you find out about each other after 27 years...

93boomer's picture
Offline
Joined: 11/16/2013
Posts: 902

We enjoyed your TR so much!!! awesome Thank you!!! Glad you guys had a great time!! clapping I could hardly wait each day to read what you did and ate! You have certainly got us excited!! Only 15 days to go for us!!!!!!

Allie's picture
Offline
Joined: 06/26/2012
Posts: 5477

AWESOME trip report! I loved all the pictures! And congrats on DVC!

Kristen K.'s picture
Offline
Joined: 09/01/2011
Posts: 23803

Fantastic trip report!! yay

Thanks so much for sharing everything with us while you were traveling, it was awesome.

Hoorah for DVC! Do it do it do it! DVC is the best thing that we have ever bought.

JMed wrote:
We are between AKL and GF.

I've typed this next part several times and rewritten it to make sense. Hopefully this does.

Cost of DVC points only goes up, and each new resort that is built has historically had higher points per night cost for your stay. So when you choose your resort, be sure that you buy enough points that you could stay for your estimated time every year at the newest resort (right now GF). That will help you combat future point inflation.

For instance... (using arbitrary round numbers to help avoid confusion)
If you plan on staying at Disney for one week every year, and it costs 100 points to stay at AKL, it may cost 150 points for that same week/ same room at GF. If it is financially viable for you, be sure to purchase enough points (no matter where you buy those points) that you have the 150 points for the week. That way, if you want to try and stay at resorts that aren't your home resort, you will have enough points to spend without having to bank and borrow.