Your trip sounds like an overall success.
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Remy Hide & Squeak is a game of sorts during the Food & Wine festival. There are statues of Remy hid around the different World Showcase countries and when the kids find the statue they place the corresponding sticker on map. When the map is complete, they hand it in and receive a pin.
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The hope was that the boys would take a little nap after running the race. That didnât happen, they did relax in the room a little and then wanted to go to the pool. After a little pool time it was time to head to DHS for our lunch reservation at Mama Melrose. Well, here is the first big snag of the trip. As we got there we noticed a crowd of people outside, more than would be expected. There was a mechanical issue and it would not be opening today. The cast member was very nice about the situation and they were offering some replacements instead. As he began to list off the choices and said Hollywood Brown Derby, I jumped at it. I then asked if we would be getting it for our same 1 Table Service Credit, otherwise it would throw off our remaining dinners. He said it would, and we would still keep our Fantasmic Dining Package. So to recap, Brown Derby Fantasmic Package for 1 credit. Even the mistakes were working out on this trip. The bad news was that this was my wifeâs pick of restaurant for the trip, basically for the cannoli, which she now was not going to be able to get. But she had it at F&W, so she was good. And so was the Brown Derby. It is definitely worth the Signature dining designation in my opinion. I wouldnât normally pay for it, but I was happy to get the chance to go.
After a great lunch we had plenty of time to get everything done that we wanted to do in DHS, since we were there the other night and did more than expected. So today we rode Toy Story Mania, Star Tours, Watched Beauty & the Beast, and DS7 even decided to ride Tower of Terror, which surprised all of us, but I happily joined him. He did well, got pretty nervous, but made it through without any issues. Maybe the highlight of the day though was the new Doctor Strange Experience. I had seen on Twitter earlier that today was the first day they were doing it, so the boys were excited to get the new experience. We made it for the last show of the day and both of the boys were identified as having potential and joined into the performance. It was really fun, the actor was doing great, but you could tell it was still a new thing that they were working some kinks out of. It was great for the kids, but I donât know if I would search it out if I were only with adults.
Having done all of the remaining rides and attractions that we wanted to do in DHS, we hung for a bit and then made our way to Fantasmic seating. We got pretty good at getting some quick service and taking to our waiting place for the nighttime shows during this trip. We got food at the QS locations down on Sunset Blvd. and took the tray in with us to Fantasmic. We got our seats down pretty low in the second section of seating for the dining package and waited for my favorite show in WDW. When it was over, we knew how crazy the buses were the other night and headed straight for the exits.
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Another great day!
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Loving your reportsâŚsounds like a great time!!
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Did you like Fantasmic?
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Loving your trip report!
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Ok when I re-read I see you call it your favorite show so, point taken!
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In the original plan, this was to be the last day in the parks of our trip. We were supposed to fly home on Sunday, but flights were so expensive that it was actually cheaper to stay the night on Sunday at AS sports and fly out on Monday. I tell you this because it would have been our normal park hopping finale day where we run around to take in favorites one last time. Instead we devoted it to another Magic Kingdom day. There was still plenty to do that we hadnât already done and we wanted to try some things we had never done.
We wanted to be there early for sure, but didnât have the need to be there for the welcome show. so we rolled up just as it was finishing and went right into the park. It was the first time in since they had changed over to Christmas decorations so we took in the sights on a slightly more leisurely rope drop experience. Enchanted Tales with Belle was first on the list of our never dones. I of course got picked as a suit of armor. DS7 got picked to play the Beast, and DS10 was Maurice behind bars. It was a fun time, and someday DS7 will realize how lucky he was to have danced with Belle. Anastasia and Drizella were just getting out to meet guests as we got done with Belle, so we stopped for that quick M&G before heading into Philharmagic. We have done this several times before, every trip actually, but hadnât been yet this trip. Next was Mine Train to use the Golden Fastpass that DS7 had earned earlier in the week when a CM wanted to thank him for being nice to a little girl who wanted to pin trade but didnât have any pins. DS7 gave up one of his pins that we had bought on ebay for trading. I guess that paid off, and I knew we would be using it on Mine Train so we could enjoy another ride on that. From there it was over to the Jingle Cruise overlay. Plenty of fun, the holiday themed jokes were just as good/bad as the normal routine. After that it was time for dole whips and a citrus swirl. Why argue about which is better, when you can just have both?
From there it was off to the hub area to catch some of the Fantasy Faire stage show and then the Move it! Shake it! parade. The show was fine, not my thing, but the other 3 seemed to enjoy it and the parade was a good time. Its fun to let loose with some characters and not worry about posing for photo ops or autographs. Tomorrowland next as we needed to take a lap on the speedway and then ride another never done in Astro Orbiter, Spinners donât usually bother us, but something about that ride made all of our stomachs feel a little off. Nothing another ride on the People move wouldnât fix. Then some lunch at the lunching pad before we headed back to AKL for a break.
After one last swim in the biggest pool on property it was back to MK for Dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern. We always have great food there, but again, usually end up waiting longer than expected. We had time for a ride on Pirates before heading off to catch our last two fastpasses. Meeting Mickey in the MK is a must for every trip so we went to do that before went back toward Fantasyland for our Fastpass for Mine Train. Twice in one day was cool, and this time it was at night, so we were excited to see how it would be different. It was just as great, maybe better. Off to claim our spot for Wishes and the new Once Upon a Time projection show. It had just opened the night before and I was pretty excited to see it. Surprisingly they were only showing it at 10:45, after wishes. Before wishes was always better for us to see Celebrate the Magic, but this would have to do. We snagged a pretty good spot for Wishes, even though we werenât real punctual. After Wishes was over, we found an upgrade for the next show. But in the process DS7 was hitting the wall, and the rest of us werenât far behind. So, at about 10:35 we made the call to just head out. I am sure I will see Once Upon a Time the next time we come. But we knew we were going to need a seat on the bus for the ride back, and it was time to go. We were greated back to the room on our last night in AKL by 4 giraffes just outside the window. We had room 3230 there which was a standard room but had a great view and we almost always had animals out there. Be sure to check the room finder views and you will get a great picture of what we saw.
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Sounds like you had an amazing trip!! And what a sweet thing for your DSâŚand the CM to do!! A little Disney magic! Thank you for sharing!
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Last day of the reporting for me. I will happily pop back in to answer any questions anyone may have. The Monday when we flew out really was uneventful, just airline check in, tragical express, and then fly out. All of that went as planned, so on to the last day of touring for us. A Sunday Fun-day of four parks in one day.
This was the last morning waking up in AKL, so we had to have all of our bags ready for Bell Services to take over to AS Sports. This is the first time we have done a split stay, so I wasnât sure how it would go, but it was a breeze. Called the desk, they sent someone right to the room, and we saw our stuff when we checked in to AS Sports later. It was good that this was as easy as it was, because we had to get to Hollywood Studios for rope drop so the boys could get signed up for Jedi Training. Well, that was the plan anyway. We go there before 8, and they were just opening the tapstiles as we walked up, Being an Extra Magic Hour, I knew there would still be a line, but I didnât think it would be too bad at this point. I was wrong. The line to get signed up was still very long and after making our way into the line, the boys decided they werenât interested in doing it enough to wait. So, off to meet Buzz & Woody. We hadnât met them yet this trip and DS7 had a big foam woody hat that he wanted signed, so it was the perfect time to do that. I was hoping to also be able to do Toy Story Mania one more time, but by the time we came out of the M&G it was already a 50 min wait. So, we walked through One Manâs Dream and watched the new Moana preview before making our way out of the park just as the tapstiles were opening up for regular guests. We caught a boat over to Epcot. We were there a little earlier than expected so we took our time and went into Figment and the Pixar Short Film Festival. That was a fun show, and good for a slow down if needed. Then we started to hit a couple more booths of the F&W festival that we wanted to revisit. A few booths in, DS7 realized he didnât have the Woody hat that he just got signed. So we backtracked to the film festival, and sure enough, they had it there for him. Then it was back to our last walk around the World Showcase, including another stop at the Chase lounge and another ride on Gran Fiesta Tour. After that we decided to head over to All Star Sports and see if our room was ready before heading to Animal Kingdom. We had also packed swim suits in the park bag today so that the boys could swim if we got there before our bags did. That proved to be a smart move. We hung out for a few and then got some dinner before getting on the bus to Animal Kingdom.
Once at DAK, the boys realized they hadnât been to the Boneyard at all and wanted to go there for a few. We had a little bit of tie to kill, so we did. Then we crossed the park to get to our night time safari fastpass. The nightime safari was definitely a different experience. Parts of it were much slower and there werenât any animals out at all. The savanna though was alive in a whole different way. It was fun to see. After we got off the safari, it had gotten a little later than I was anticipating and there was only about 20 minutes until park closing. We went straight to the Tree of Life to see some of the awakenings. That was really cool, we watched two of the 4 cycles. Then we left to catch the bus to Magic Kingdom.
We really didnât have much to do here, we were comfortable with what we had already done. The boys wanted their Sorcererâs cards, and we had realized that my wife hadnât been on Dumbo yet this trip. So, we got the cards and then went up to the train station. A train ride to the back of the park was a perfect idea instead of adding steps through the crowds. We got off in Fantasyland and then hit Under the Sea one more time before coming back to Dumbo. Then that was all there was to be done. We hit the Main Street Confectionary to use up our remaining snack credits on candy and then we were out. Said âsee ya real soonâ to MK on the way out and went back to AS Sports to get some sleep before we left in the morning.
Thanks for reading along everybody. It was a great trip and the help of liners during the planning of it helped for sure. I like to think that I know a lot about touring the parks, but the beauty of this group is that there are always other ways to get something done that you may not have thought of. Sometimes they work for you, and sometimes they may not fit your plan or your style, but keep your eyes open for the ones that do. They will come in handy for sure. Have a good one everybody, see you in the forums.
-Brian
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Loved reading your reportâŚglad you decided to write it after allâŚyour family is really adventurous in your touringâŚI get tired just reading parts of itâŚ
Sounds like a great trip.
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Very nice reporting!
What a wonderful thing DS7 did for that little girl. A small gesture from one child to another, but with big reward. Iâm sure he will remember that forever. Well done!
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