Sorry, but here's another Trip Report!

We have APs, so I could practice anyday.

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Gotcha! I’m just a regular ‘ol first timer learning all I can :slight_smile:

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If you have tickets that were not part of a package, the system has no way of knowing when you are going to use them so you can always book FPs 30 days out (though do remember to cancel them if you’re not actually going in 30 days!). If you have a package including tickets, you can’t practice because they are tied to a specific date.

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Sunday

Plan for today is for almost a full day at the Studios, leaving in time to go somewhere to watch the holiday Wishes fireworks from outside MK (either the TTC or the Poly).

But, we got some rope-dropping to do first.
Last time we were here it was just before Toy Story land opened, and TS Mania was even closed for that transition.
We have a FP for Slinky Dog already.

For those that want to know actual times/process for this rope drop, for a 9am opening with 8am EMH.
Here’s how ours went…
7:27 in line at bag check, it’s busy and our guy is slooow (wait, I mean thorough)
7:40 thru the tapstiles and IN
7:45 entering TSL
7:47 get in TS Mania stand-by line, enjoying the queue as we quickly walk thru
8:01 exiting the ride
Dad (me) got high score!

Toy Story Mania was a BIG hit for all of us, mini competition included.
So much so, that we head right back to get in line again. Woody and Jesse are there now, so photos ensue. (one of them will make the family xmas card this year)



Done with 2nd TSM ride at 8:40, not bad at all.
High score you ask? this guy again, duh!

We have an hour to kill before Slinky, so we roam around soaking in all the sights.
Green army men, sneak a selfie with Buzz.

Slinky Dog was a great ride also. It gives a great view over the wall to Galaxy’s Edge also.
TSL is well-themed, we really enjoyed it. Looking forward to seeing it at night (our next day’s plan).

We head to Launch Bay next for some meet/greets. Last time we had some great interactions with the Star Wars characters, so we look forward to that again.
The stormtroopers are great again, ducking their heads and covering their faces when we try to get selfies with them.



Catch march of the First Order after that. When they are done and march down the street to exit, we get right in behind them and follow. Pretty cool.

Off to Sunset Blvd for Tower and RR.

Worked up a thirst on those rides, so it’s time for a stop at the Margarita stand!
It’s almost noon, don’t judge!

My cousin’s daughter arrives again to hang out for the day.
Our oldest daughter asked her take some nice photos while we were here, to be part of her senior photo collection.
Our own personal Photopass photographer.

We all catch the Beauty and the Beast show, before the 3 girls head off to take care of the photo shoot.

The wife and I take off for the Tune In Lounge. Stopped and watch the “glee club” street performers on the way, fun to watch.

The Lounge was crowded with people waiting for 50’s prime time.
Ordered drinks and start to hover for a seat at the bar. A couple stools open up and I semi-aggressively stake our claim on them. Nothing violent, just got there first.

Had a nice time relaxing there with a few drinks. The bartenders were very friendly and attentive, despite being very busy.
Got a little pixie dust magic when we got our tab. We had 4-5 drinks between us, but only charged for 2. Don’t know if it was on purpose or just missed in the busy-ness of the bar?
Left a hefty tip for them either way.

The girls are done with photos and we are all hungry, so we head to Backlot Express. Not because it’s regarded as that good, but it would be quick and easy. And, it was exactly all of that.
Here’s a sample from the photo shoot…

We decide that it’s worth the wait to ride TSM again, all 5 of us this time.
Longest wait for any ride during this trip at around 40 minutes. Guess who is still the score champ? this guy again

Catch the end of the Star Wars stage show and I am taking some video/photos of the characters leaving backstage. Nice up-close view. One of the stormtroopers sees me with my phone up as he’s getting close, and reaches out his elbow as he passes and gives me a whack on my arm in mock protest of my filming.
That’s gotta be a fun job.

At some point today while shopping, I find someone’s lost cell phone in a case with credit cards sitting at a checkout area.
I hand it in to the CM.
Another person got lucky. Starting to wonder if this is a sign?
The next credit card I find is gonna take a beating - Aulani here we come!!!
Not really, relax.

Our plans for the night are to go to the TTC/Poly for the MVMCP fireworks.
We stop back at our resort for a quick dip in the pool and then head that way.

Got to the Poly early enough to walk around a bit, and then we grab a table right at the rail of Trader Sam’s deck. Adults order drinks and food there, and the kids get food at Capt Cook’s and bring it out.

Live ukelele player there was singing tropical christmas songs. Could’ve sat there for hours.
Our waiter is nice as usual, joking around here and there.
As always, I ask about an AP discount. He kind of smirks and says sorry no discounts here, we are VERY popular at the Poly.

We could’ve watched the fireworks from the patio, but we send the girls down to the beach to check how the crowd is. Turns out it was not crowded at all.
We sit in the sand and watch the fireworks. It’s a great view over the water. Never seen them from here, so the plan worked out nicely.


Tired after a long fun day, but we get to sleep-in the next morning.
Tomorrow is resort-switch day, and my crew still does not know of the next resort upgrade surprise.

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Love your trip report!!!

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Thank you

I love the selfie with Buzz!

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Thanks, I was hoping that Buzz would’ve noticed us doing it and come in behind us and pose.

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Monday

Today is our less-busy mid-trip slow day.
Plan is - Lunch at Sanaa (never been there before), roam around AKL, check-in at new resort, go to Studios for the night.

We are changing resorts from POFQ to Yacht Club. The wife and kids think we are going to Pop, so I’m looking forward to their surprise.


By 10:15, we are all packed up. It’s a little pain to pack, but not near as bad as packing for home.
The family heads to the lobby for one more look around the gift shop.
I wait at the room for Bell services alone, so no chance to ruin the surprise about our luggage destination.
Get that done, then one more selfie in the lobby.

Lunch at Sanaa! Bread Service!
We get a good table by the window, nice view of the little savannah. Until the rain at least.


The bread service and butter chicken live up to the hype, very delicious.

We were going to walk to Jambo House to take a look around, but it is still raining so we take the shuttle.
The AKL lobby is impressive as always, more so with the big tree.

We stayed here twice before, but it was 13 and 15 years ago when we only had the first daughter so far.

Everything is as I remember, great ambience, great view of the animals.
Really just killing time until we get close to check-in time over at Yacht.


The girls are always taking a look at CM pins to trade, so we stop in at the gift shop to see their pin board/book.
One of the CMs named Wayne tells us of a special pin-trading opportunity that is happening today in the lobby. A notorious pin trader allows guests to approach him on his royal red carpet to look at his impressive pin collection.
They call him the “King Pin” and he is there on certain weekday afternoons. Good timing for us.

We figure why not wait for this, sounds pretty cool. We go take a break on rocking chairs on the overlook patio to wait until the time.

I head back in the lobby a little early expecting to find a massive crowd gathered around this “king pin”. No signs of him yet. Maybe he’s not coming in today?
I even stop in the gift shop again to see if I can ask Wayne if he knows. He’s not around at the momment.

We wait a little longer and come back in and see some people in the corner of the lobby by the main entrance. It’s the King Pin and he is interacting with a couple guests. As we get closer and can see his face, we know we’ve been HAD!

It’s Wayne - all dressed up in an African outfit with a bunch of pins everywhere. Wayne is the King Pin.
He’s great interacting with the girls, trading pins and giving them each some special ones. They had a great time.
Just one of those special Disney moments that we will all remember. Freakin’ Wayne!

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Monday part 2??

All done at AKL and we catch a Lyft to our next resort.
Reminder… the family thinks we are going to POP, but we are going to Yacht Club as a surprise.

The drivers don’t always do this, but this one mentions our destination of Yacht Club.
It was very quick and said with his thick accent from another land.
I give him a quick nod in his mirror to confirm.
The females don’t notice.

Turning in to Yacht Club by the sign and the girls say “what are we doing here?” - I say we’re here to check out the xmas decorations at these resorts.
Pull up to the guard shack, the CM asks “checking in?” - I try to downplay it but say yes and give our name when asked. They notice a bit.

We roam around and check out the train set, then over to the gingerbread carousel at Beach Club,


I wanted to time it so that our room would be ready and I could somehow get them down that hall and unlock the door, but I hadn’t received the notification yet. It was after 3:00 so I sneak off to the front desk, and all of a sudden when I inquire - wow our room is ready.

In an effort to make this long story short (too late I know) - I tell my wife first, then we tell the kids that this is home for the last 3 nights. They immediately react that they knew something was up and that they knew.
As I said before, they can be perceptive when they chose to be.

Our room view is fantastic from our balcony, right out over the water!
I used the Touring Plans room finder to figure out where to request a room, and it worked out just fine.
Side note - Touring Plans sent me a message asking for pics from our room for their database. I sent a few in later and they are now shown on their site for room 3055, pretty cool.

Stormalong Bay pool is impressive. The girls quickly change and go down for a swim while we hang out on the balcony and wait for bell services to bring our stuff up.
Rain rolls in for a little bit.

We eventually take a boat ride over to the Studios for the night. Plan is to do TSL again at night, eat at Woody’s lunchbox, then some of the fireworks or maybe Fantasmic.


At the Studios now and walking towards TSL, we see a sad sad sight on the ground.
A lonely, slightly broken but nearly intact Mickey ice cream bar. I assume it was an accidental drop by it’s owner, but then left there to die a slow melting death.
Depressing.
We stopped and had a brief moment of silence.

First part of our plan goes smooth. Slinky then Mania then mobile order at Woody’s (love the mobile ordering to cut the lines).

Just as we get our food, a crazy downpour starts. Got lucky with a table with an umbrella for a bit of cover, but we are still getting blasted by rain. People are running around for cover, it’s chaos for awhile.
We do manage to sit and eat (all poncho’d up) and have a good time with it.

The rain dies down enough that we can start to walk out of TSL, but it does scrap our fireworks plan.

We head out the front gates, along with a half million other people.
The line at the boat dock is at least 3-4 boat-fulls worth of people, so I say we’re walking.
That decision was not agreed upon with the females for some reason, maybe the squishy shoes?

But, I lead our way through the masses towards our walkway to the resorts.
It’s a bit of a cluster getting past all the bus lines that are overflowing with those “bus people”.

Get back to our room, change to dry clothes and have a seat on our balcony to relax.
Another surprise for all of us. Illuminations starts and we have a awesome vantage point!
I knew we’d have some type of view, but it was much better than I expected. Directly over the lighthouse at the end of the pier with all the reflections off the water and wet boardwalk - awesome sight!


Love having a balcony!!!

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Wow!!

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:sob:

Beautiful view at YC

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Amazing view of the fireworks!

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Yes, it was a nice surprise.

Ok I have to ask who is Wayne?

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I love your Trip Report!

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There’s always a clue!

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What did he name Wayne?:wink:

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:rofl::rofl:

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Sorry I’m clueless that is why I’m asking.