It's gonna be an oven, but WE'RE GOING TO WDW in AUGUST!!! Final thoughts

[kittylady1972]

Oh wow, what a CRAZY first morning but the good news is you are in WALT DISNEY WORLD now!! Have a GREAT time!!

 

[Monykalyn]

Wow - glad you made it through!

 

[MeghanEmily]

Wow! Sounds stressful! I've been enjoying your pictures on Facebook. Hope WDW is treating you well

 

[KathyM2]

I hope no one is judging you for planning pool time and relaxation. There is nothing wrong with that, especially if it makes you happy!

Thanks! I hope not lol. I just feel like some people are so commando and I wish I could do that and get to see and do so much more! But if I get too tired I start to feel sick and I don't want that!

Your spreadsheet is so organized!! Mine just end up being a list in spreadsheet form

Yeah...sometimes I am too organized for my own good and then start to forget my own plans lol right @ariane37 lol?

We are on our way home from PEI now, overnighting in Cornwall. ON. I leave for Disney on the 21st and am beyond excited! So sad to miss you guys by only 2 days though. I hope you have a magical trip!

That's too bad!!! PEI must have been so awesome though, always wanted to go there!

Have a wonderful trip, Kathy!!!! You really deserve this.

Thanks so much! So far so good!

Hopefully we'll make a meet happen at MK on the 18th—I'll be in touch! If we don't hear from you again, have an amazing trip!!

Yes let's hope! I was just telling my DD about you and how cool it is that you are getting married in "Canada" I can't wait to see the pics.

Safe travels! Hopefully meet up by Soarin Sunday morning! It is HOT and we've spent afternoons in the pool. Did laundry yesterday - sweat happens lol!

Yes let's hope!! Tell me about the sweat lol...I feel so slimy after being outside only a short time!

You should be on your way now I guess...have a GREAT trip!!

Thanks!! So far so good!

Were you on the 8:00 flight with Air Canada? That is the flight I am taking on the 21st. I am always there at least three hours in advance because I am so paranoid of the crowds. How were the new security procedures?

Yep that is the one. I thought at that hour of day it wouldn't be too bad. Also we have Nexus so that for sure helps cut down on the security time. But it was that initial check-in that caused the delay because I was randomly selected for a search so couldn't check in online and get boarding passes from home. I think if I could have done that, it would not have been nearly so bad. But if you don't have Nexus and don't want to be stressed out...get there by 5:30am...ugh...sounds crazy but...better than the stress of being so short on time.

Wow! Sounds stressful! I've been enjoying your pictures on Facebook. Hope WDW is treating you well

Thanks!! So far it's great! I love how nice every single person - CM's, other vacationers...everyone is just so friendly (except when you get the rare idiot who isn't lol) but mostly everyone is so awesome!

 

[KathyM2]

OK, we are in the room now taking a break from the heat...so I will continue on with this short and semi live TR...

After almost missed our flight and finally getting on the plane....it was delayed by 45 minutes lol. But finally we were off. There was some minor turbulence on landing and then we arrived at MCO around 11:15am.

Since we had gotten up at an ongodly hour and only had a little snack, we were starving. We took the fake-o-rail over to the main terminal and then thought we'd seek out some food before getting our bags. We went to the food court. I got a market salad from Chick-fil-a and DD got....wait for it...McDonalds lol. We don't have chick-fil-a in Canada so that's a novelty for me. I love their waffle fries...but since I knew we would be doing a lot of junky eating at WDW I tried to keep it a bit cleaner with the salad. I thought it was pretty good actually.

After that, we went over to baggage claim (us Canadians don't have that other luxury of having bags delivered to our hotel..so...) schlepped it over there and since we had taken some time to eat...we saw our lone bags circling the carousel as soon as we got there! Perfect! Grabbed them and took a rather long route to the DME. We waited about 5 minutes and then were on a bus to the most magical place on earth!!

Check in was quick and easy but unfortunately our room was not quite ready. We checked our bags with bell services and went to explore the hotel. We saw the pool and looked in the shops and were considering what to do next when we got a text saying our room was ready!! Pretty good since it was only about 1:30pm! We headed up to our rooms and spent a bit of time unpacking and getting organized. Then we decided to do a little resort hopping on the monorail!!



Obligatory monorail selfie!!

First we headed over to the Poly!! We looked around the shops, DD did a little pin trading, and then...we HAD to get our first ever Dolewhips! DD went for the classic plain and I got the float with Dolewhip twist. I can see why these things have a legendary following...it was the PERFECT mid afternoon treat on a hot day. We sat outside at the Poly enjoying our treats. Then we walked around the Poly a bit and dreamed about how nice it would be to win the lottery and stay in those DVC bungalows over the water...

Then...off to the next stop the GF. We looked in the shops there and picked up some scented bath salts. We figured we might enjoy soaking our feet in them after many long days of walking in the heat! We went with the jasmine scented one. After that we watched a little Cinderella and Prince Charming parade and waltz in the lobby accompanied by an orchestra. It was all very civilized!

Next we decided it was time to head back to the CR. That took a bit of time...the monorail was...a little slow moving to say the least. Oh well. At least the AC was working and we had seats. We got back to the CR and DD wanted to chill in the room, and yes, I'm crazy...but I decided to hit the gym because as some of you know..I am signed up for a half marathon in November and I'm so scared of falling off the fitness bandwagon before then and not being able to do it so...I figured if I squeezed in a workout yesterday I'd be off the hook for a day or two lol. So I hit the dreadmill in the gym...along with a few other unfortunate souls down there, and got in about 4.5K before calling it a day.

Went back up to the room, got on our swimsuits and headed down to the pool. The pool was nice but...almost felt like a hot tub. Not that refreshing lol. It did feel cooler after a little soak in the actual hot tub!! I guess there isn't much they can do about that when it's so hot out...maybe throw some ice in there once in a while lol. ANYWAY...I'm going to post this so I don't lose it...

 

[KathyM2]

After our swim and a bit of lounging, we headed back to the room to shower and get ready for dinner. I was so excited to be going to the California Grill. This is the first time I've been able to get an ADR there for anytime near the fireworks shows.

Let me just say...this is the BEST food I've had at Disney so far. Maybe that is because I haven't tried that many of the TS restaurants, but I thought it was fabulous, well and with an absolutely beautiful view. It was just MAGICAL!! The sunset and the orange glow in the whole room was so pretty. AND THE FOOD was divine!



I had the lobster roll with the heirloom tomato salad. DD had a steak which she thought was delicious but I won't bore you with a steak pic lol. And then the dessert! You would think the fruit roll up sushi would be for DD but you would be wrong lol. I had that and she had the Valrohna chocolate cake with vanilla bean ice cream (which I of course tasted) YUM.

After dinner, we still had some time to kill before the HEA show was due to start. We decided to try the walk to MK just to see how long it actually was. I've heard some people say it was 5 minutes and some people say it was more like 15, so we wanted to check for ourselves. We walked over at a brisk but manageable pace, and it took about 10 minutes I'd say. We didn't want to use a park ticket for that day, so after we got to the entrance we just took a look and turned around and walked back to the CR. DD was NOT happy that we were not actually going IN right then!! But I keep telling her to be patient and that we will get lots of MK time on this trip.

We got back to the CR and headed back up to the CR to watch the show. We got a great spot on the patio and had just a couple of minutes before it was time to start. I have to say this is the BEST place to watch fireworks. So cool. You can't see the projections on the castle all that well but you can hear the music and see most of the show and NO CROWDS! I don't know if we will be at MK and get a better view than that because we just don't have the patience to stake out a prime spot hours in advance lol so I am so glad we did it this way.

When the show was over we headed back up to the room. I actually stopped in the market shop to grab some vitamin C. I don't know if I was dehydrated from the flight but I had that scratchy throat feeling and I am NOT getting a cold on this trip. I usually pound back the vitamin c when I feel like that and I feel like I'm usually able to fight it off. So far today I don't have the feeling anymore so I think it's working.

We got to bed by around 10pm. Although around 10:30 pm I heard music playing. I think it may have been the water parade outside but I was too tired to get up and see if we could actually see it from our room!

Oh speaking of our room, I didn't tell you guys! I had booked and paid for a garden wing room...but we got a tower room!!! I have not stayed in the tower since about 1989!! When booking those rooms were way more expensive so I didn't do it...but we got one anyway!! We are on the 7th floor not far from the elevators and it is just perfect!!

 

[KathyM2]

After a good night's sleep, beds are super comfy!! we were up about 7am to get on with our first full day at WDW! So far I love our room. My only complaint is that the toilet flushing sounds like a 747 taking off. I am worried it will wake DD if I have to flush after she is in bed. But other than that the room is great so far. Also our groceries arrived from Garden Grocer right on time and we had cereal and milk and fruit for breakfast in our room. One small problem...we have no spoons! Must remember to steal some from the QS place downstairs or something later.

After a quick breakfast, we headed down to catch the bus to AK. I thought that the busses started an hour before park opening, but the first bus didn't get to us at the CR until around 8:15am. We got on and made our way to AK. They let us in and walk all the way to the entrance to Africa where they had "the rope" and they also had another rope of course at the entrance to Pandora, but we weren't heading that way with the hoardes. We went straight to the Safaris for our first ride of the day and of the trip. After a short wait we were off.

I think we did pretty well in terms of animals and I got a few decent pics. I don't know if it's the wifi here at the hotel or what but I'm having trouble posting pics again...at least I got a couple in ...you will have to suffer through my drivel instead with minimal pics for now! I will try to upload more when I'm home!

Anyway..we saw the standard elephants and some rhinos and hippos. A family of giraffes was making its way across the road in front of us which was pretty cool and we had to stop for a few minutes to let them pass. (this would be foreshadowing for our later FP+ to do this ride again...) We also saw some wild dogs which were really beautiful. I love anything dog related so I was happy to have seen those guys. We also got a glimpse of a lion yawning which was pretty neat.

After our safari, we headed with the masses over to Pandora. We took some pics of the floating mountains and scenery. Really cool though I can't wait to see it at night because I think it will be even more spectacular. We had FP+ for Navi River. And good thing too because by 9:30am the SB line was already 60 minutes (though that's nothing compared to the SB line for FOP which was at 220 minutes...yikes!!) I know that FOP got stellar reviews but I just don't want to risk feeling sick and ruining a day with my DD...she didn't care anyway...she was happy to go on Navi. I loved it..really beautiful! Though I have to say...if I waited 60 minutes for it I don't think I would be that pleased...though I don't think really much of anything is worth waiting 60 minutes for...but maybe that is just me!!

After Navi, we walked around Pandora a bit more, oh and I had to try the Night Blossom drink. This was delicious...in a very sweet...cold...dessert like way. I liked it though and would definitely recommend it on a hot day. DD liked the boba balls but the drink not so much. After that, we did the Maharaj Jungle Trek, and then decided to watch It's tough to be a bug. My DD remembered that from last time and we always find it good for a laugh...and a cool break from the heat. After that it was just after 11am, and though it was early, we decided it might be wise to try to beat the crowds for lunch. We had glanced at the menu at the Satuli canteen and it looked good, but we weren't sure if we wanted to walk back there. We were not far from Yak n Yeti so on a whim (gah spontenaity!!) we decided to just walk in and see how long the wait was! I've always wanted to try this place but didn't want to make too many ADR's in case we didn't feel like a big meal...but we were in luck..we walked in and at that hour got a table no problem!

It was SO NICE to be in that cool, darkish AC. Such a relief. We ordered 3 small plates to share. The pork potstickers, the garlic noodles, and the chicken fried rice. All three of these were so GOOD! I could have drank that sauce that came with the potstickers. Also, they had this mango iced tea which I could have drank a gallon of. I think I did actually.

After lunch, we had a FP+ for the Nemo show so we headed over there just in time. I love this show. I think it's so neat the way they do it with puppets and Nemo is such a cute story. Also...cool and dark...are you seeing a theme here? We may be spending more time on shows than usual on this trip!

When Nemo was over, we had our last FP+ of the day planned to do the Safaris again. We had thought that by doing it a second time later in the day, we might see different animals. We walked to the FP line and...there were way more people in it than you usually see in an FP line...so we were a bit concerned, but we got in line (or on line @chunkymonkey lol) We waited. And waited. And no movement at all. Finally they came on and announced that animals were blocking the road and there would be a delay. I guess this happens a lot? Or do they just say that so people don't get mad that the ride is down for some other reason?? Who knows...but we waited a few more minutes and then decided since we'd already done the safari once today, and would be back at AK again in a few days, to jump ship and head back to our hotel for a break. On the way we stopped in one of the shops and I got a safari t-shirt which I love. I like the shirts that don't SCREAM Disney but are a bit more subtle...like if someone who knows Disney sees it they will know...but to others it isn't that obvious.

We headed out of the park and within just a few minutes we were on a bus. Then...the coolest thing happened....I will leave you hanging for a minute...

 

[KathyM2]

So we got on a bus that went to the CR and to the WL. Dd and I got seats near the back and were just chillin' when I look up and I see someone that looks familiar!! It threw me for a minute because I was like "how do I know this person?" and then I realized..OMG it's @ariane37 !! So I mustered up all my nerve and said "are you Arianne??, I'm Kathy!!" So random!! And so cool!



We got the photo to prove it!! We only had a few minutes to chat because by the time we actually "met" we were almost at the CR. But we talked about our trips so far, and hope to catch up again tomorrow either at MK or DHS!!

Now we are just hanging out in the room for a bit (which is why I'm on the DIS lol) before heading to MK and dinner at BOG!!

 

[Raeven]

So we got on a bus that went to the CR and to the WL. Dd and I got seats near the back and were just chillin' when I look up and I see someone that looks familiar!! It threw me for a minute because I was like "how do I know this person?" and then I realized..OMG it's @ariane37 !! So I mustered up all my nerve and said "are you Arianne??, I'm Kathy!!" So random!! And so cool!

View attachment 260391

We got the photo to prove it!! We only had a few minutes to chat because by the time we actually "met" we were almost at the CR. But we talked about our trips so far, and hope to catch up again tomorrow either at MK or DHS!!

Now we are just hanging out in the room for a bit (which is why I'm on the DIS lol) before heading to MK and dinner at BOG!!

So awesome that you ran into each other and got to meet!

 

[Tracy161]

Wow!!! Besides the rocky start at the airport, it sounds like you're having a FABULOUS time so far and OMG on the serendipitous meet-up with @ariane37 - how awesome!!!!!!!!

Loving the live-ish updates - it's so neat knowing you're there as you're reporting back

Hope you keep having a wonderful time!!!!!

 

[Monykalyn]

Sounds like a good start to the day! Pandora at night is beautiful. You'll enjoy it. When my son and I did it Tuesday night we waited 20 min for Navi- then decided to be crazy and suck it up and wait 90 min for FoP during EMH. the ride is less jerky than Star tours and uses a screen kinda like soarin.

We tried the night blossom drink too- couldn't finish it because of sweetness but we did get the glow seed- was at night so the glowing drink was cool.
Love Nemo too but my favorite is Lion King.
Yay for a meetup!

 

[quandrea]

Sounds like you are having a great trip. I just got back Monday from my mother-daughter trip. We had a great time, as I'm sure you will too.

BTW, I did drink that pot sticker sauce!

 

[KathyM2]

So awesome that you ran into each other and got to meet!

I know!! How cool!! I will share more deets soon, we ended up seeing them again today!

Loving the live-ish updates - it's so neat knowing you're there as you're reporting back

Thanks! It's so much fun sharing our adventures almost as they happen!

Pandora at night is beautiful. You'll enjoy it.

Can't wait to see it!!

When my son and I did it Tuesday night we waited 20 min for Navi- then decided to be crazy and suck it up and wait 90 min for FoP during EMH.

Wow...90 mins in line...that's crazy but at least I bet the queue was interesting!

BTW, I did drink that pot sticker sauce!

Hilarious!!

 

[KathyM2]

We are taking an afternoon break in the room because...man it's hot!! so time for the next instalment of our semi-live TR!

I left off right after our crazy by chance meeting on the bus from AK to the CR with @ariane37 . After that, we spent some time hanging out in our room and cooling off. We thought about going to the pool...but weird thing, we looked outside and there was no one at the pool and it looked closed? Do they take an afternoon break at the pool too? We had a look later and it looked open at night...so I am wondering if they close it for a few hours in the afternoon? That would be strange though because that is when we'd like to go!!? Will have to look into that...

Anyway...we hung out in the room for a while and I had a shower because I just felt grimy. We then got ready to head out to MK. On the way, we swung by the Contempo Cafe to just see what it was like, and also I wanted to pick up a couple of spoons because we didn't have any for our cereal that we had hoped to eat in the room the next morning!! Spoons in hand, we started on the walk over to MK. I was SO happy to not have to wait for a bus or battle any crowds to get over there!!

We got to MK, and we had managed to book a fourth FP+ for HM so we headed there and visited our fave spirits!! We both LOVE this ride and I find it so much fun to try to notice new details every time I ride it. After that, we went in the dump shop and DD wanted one of those creepy holographic portraits they do. I think at $20 it's a pretty cool souvenier and a pretty good deal compared to a lot of other junk that you can get for that amount of money. So DD got that done and then we headed to our ADR at BOG for dinner. We were both excited about this because we had had lunch there before but never dinner. It did not disappoint! DD had the kids' steak and I had the salmon. It was really good. For dessert, of course I had to try the grey stuff (I won't say it ...but it was..you know) and DD had the triple chocolate cupcake. Also delicious.

After dinner it was still pretty busy in the parks so we thought we would try to bang out some of the less popular rides when we had a chance. They weren't giving out any more FP+ for the day at MK so we had to try our luck with SB rides. We managed to do quite a bit actually. We rode Under the sea, Dumbo, IASW, JC, WTP and lastly, the People mover because, the perfect ride to end the day.

With a productive day behind us, we began the stroll back to the CR. Did I mention how much I love being able to do that???

I was going to share some pics with you but...surprise...as usual having more pic issues...and don't want to stress about that now...so...those will have to wait....but I do have another update from today for you coming right up!!

 

[KathyM2]

Back at the CR we were getting ready for bed, when we heard music outside our window! It was the little water parade! So cute and such a great end to the day! We crashed as soon as it was over (lightweights I know lol)

But we had an early day today...up at 6:30am to eat a quick room breakfast of cereal, milk and bananas (thank you Garden Grocer) we headed out for our walk over to morning EMH at MK. I thought we'd really be ahead of the curve getting out the door by 7:30 am...but...notsomuch lol. There were already a LOT of people in the park. Now I get what everyone is saying about the new process. Before 8am (from I don't know what time) people were already all over Main Street and there were no deserted castle shots to be had. Everyone bee-lined over the the bridges into TL to race for 7DMT. We joined them...but we didn't go to 7DMT, instead we deeked left as soon as we could and booked it over to PP where it was pretty much a walk on. Love that ride. I wanted to go for a second round right after but DD wasn't interested.

After that, we headed over to Princess Fairytale Hall. We met Rapunzel and Tiana there on one side, and then went around the other side to meet Alayna? (I don't even know if that's how you spell it...as I have never even heard of her?) and also met Cinderella there. I'm intrigued...what is this Disney princess I know nothing about?? Was there a movie that I didn't even know existed? My DD had heard of her but couldn't tell me anything about the story or movie? Anyone?

Once we were done there, we decided to go on Under the Sea. My DD loves anything to do with this because she was just in her camp play of the Little Mermaid and she played Scuttle. Right after the ride, we walked to go meet Ariel...but as we were walking in, I looked at my DD and realized...she wasn't holding her phone. This of course was one of those "I told you so" moments because she never puts it in a pocket or bag, just carries it and puts it down on rides etc. I kept telling her not to do this but you know...kids these days. So crap, her phone was gone. We RAN back to the under the sea ride and the CM saw our look of hysteria and asked if we lost something? Yes, white iphone. Thankfully they had found it and retrieved it for us. Phone stayed in my bag the rest of the day. ANYWAY...after that little delay we went back to go meet Ariel. My DD told her about how she was Scuttle in the play and they had a good little conversation with my DD reciting some of Scuttle's lines from her play. It was really cute.

When that was done, we headed over to see how the line was for Buzz. Got on that with no problem and I kicked butt (yeah right lol) with a whopping 19K points lol. I suck at that game but so fun. Then we headed back to Fantasyland because I was getting thirsty so we snagged a Le Fou's Brew. Yum! I wanted a cinnamon roll too but DD wasn't interested and I wasn't about to try to eat that behemoth by myself since I'd seen how big they are. I would have liked to try it though. Some other time I hope! Too many foods to try....not enough time...or stomach space lol.

After that, @ariane37 and I had been texting to see if we'd be in the same place around the same time. They were just coming out of their BOG breakfast and it worked out perfectly! We met up with them and chatted for a bit, and walked with them back to Tomorrowland where they had a FP for Buzz. We decided to go on the PM again because...why not! After that we decided to go on COP. Lo and behold...who do we run into on the ramp into COP? @ariane37 and her family again lol! Like it was meant to be!! We chatted as much as we could before (and during lol) the ride like we had known each other for years lol. After that, we said our goodbyes and hope to possibly see them again at DHS tonight if we are all still awake after dinner!! What fun!!

We said goodbye and then it was almost lunchtime. I really liked how well our strategy of an early lunch worked yesterday so we decided to try it again. We went over to CHH because I love the food there and that there is more than just burgers and fries. My DD who eats chicken nuggets all the TIME...looks at the menu and says "they don't have cheeseburgers, that's what I want" And I was all "seriously??? This place has the best chicken nuggets and that is why we walked all the way over here" lol. Sometimes kids just don't get the plans man. I WANTED THE TUNA SANDWICH lol! Anyway....I convinced her that she could get a cheeseburger some other time and I really did not want to go out in search of other food and miss the "before noon" window of less crowds at a restaurant. So she caved and got the nuggets and I got the tuna sandwich and we found a nice table upstairs to enjoy our food. We decided to head out of the park for a break after that.

We did a little shopping on Main Street, I got a cool phone case, and some other trinkets for people back home, DD got a Chip mug which is so cute. We headed back on the long trek (not really) but felt long in the heat...back to the CR...and here we are! Taking a break and then tonight heading over to DHS for some evening fun!

 

[quandrea]

I'm reliving my trip through you. Sounds like your days have a similar rhythm to ours. So much fun! We zipped over to the CR one night when the Monorail was down to grab a cab back to the Polynesian. Can't beat the location of CR!

 

[AliceNDinah]

Awwwww

So we got on a bus that went to the CR and to the WL. Dd and I got seats near the back and were just chillin' when I look up and I see someone that looks familiar!! It threw me for a minute because I was like "how do I know this person?" and then I realized..OMG it's @ariane37 !! So I mustered up all my nerve and said "are you Arianne??, I'm Kathy!!" So random!! And so cool!

View attachment 260391

We got the photo to prove it!! We only had a few minutes to chat because by the time we actually "met" we were almost at the CR. But we talked about our trips so far, and hope to catch up again tomorrow either at MK or DHS!!

Now we are just hanging out in the room for a bit (which is why I'm on the DIS lol) before heading to MK and dinner at BOG!![/Q

So we got on a bus that went to the CR and to the WL. Dd and I got seats near the back and were just chillin' when I look up and I see someone that looks familiar!! It threw me for a minute because I was like "how do I know this person?" and then I realized..OMG it's @ariane37 !! So I mustered up all my nerve and said "are you Arianne??, I'm Kathy!!" So random!! And so cool!

View attachment 260391

We got the photo to prove it!! We only had a few minutes to chat because by the time we actually "met" we were almost at the CR. But we talked about our trips so far, and hope to catch up again tomorrow either at MK or DHS!!

Now we are just hanging out in the room for a bit (which is why I'm on the DIS lol) before heading to MK and dinner at BOG!!

Awwwww...you two are beautiful. Glad you are having fun!!

 

[AliceNDinah]

Awwwww, you two are beautiful! Have lots more fun

 

[KathyM2]

Awwwww, you two are beautiful! Have lots more fun

You are so sweet!!! On our way out shortly!

 

[suse66]

Love the pic of the two of you! Your DD is so much like you . It sounds like your first two days are going really well. Hope you have fun at DHS tonight!