Trip Report 10/6/2017-10/14/2017

I decided to put this on my blog so I could find it easier in the future if I wanted to re-read. We stayed at AS Movies, with dining plan, 7 day park hopper (we ended up not using the hopper like we usually do). It was myself (34), DH (34), DS (8) and DD (2.5) - her first trip.

They’re listed in reverse chronological order so look at the list on the side to start with Day 1.

I hope you guys enjoy reading as much as I’ve enjoyed reading yours!

5 Likes

Great report and pics!

1 Like

Enjoyed reading your report, but I can’t believe you guys didn’t like Fantasmic! :slight_smile:

I know! Everyone seems to love it, which is why I thought surely I was wrong before. I guess it’s just not our thing.

I loved your report!

1 Like

Awesome trip report and I loved your your matching outfits everyday…which I could have read what you had on your shorts though. Did you do those yourself?

1 Like

oops…wish I could have read not which I could have read :slight_smile:

Thank you! I did them myself. My husband and kids got me a Silhouette Cameo for Mother’s Day so I put it to good use :slight_smile:

Saturday (Epcot) - I am a HUGE Alabama football fan and since we were at Disney, we did Bama shirts.
DH & DS - Roll Tide (with Mickey heads as the O’s)
DD & I - This girl loves Disney and her Crimson Tide (with castle)

Sunday (Animal Kingdom) - we all had red shirts.
DH & Mine - “Hakuna Matata.” with Timone, Pumba, Simba
DS - “I’m Surrounded by Idiots” with Scar
DD - “Working on my Roar” - Simba

Monday (Magic Kingdom) - we all had yellow shirts with Mickey/Minnie heads. They said Daddy, Mommy, Dakota and Sarah.

Tuesday (HS) - we all had grey SW shirts.
DH -“I am their father.”
Mine - “The force is strong with this MOM.”
DS had a picture of Darth Vadar with his name on it (his pick).
DD - “Too Cute I am.” (Yoda)

Wednesday (Epcot - plans were for MK that night) - Peter Pan/Tinkerbell green shirts -
DH - “Never Grow Up.”
DS - “I’m so fly I Neverland.”
Mine - “A girl never outgrows Tinkerbell”
DD - “All you need is faith, trust and a little Pixie Dust.”

Thursday (MK) - Beauty and the Beast day.
DH - “I use antler’s in all of my decorating”
DS - “Hey Gaston! Check out these biceps!”
Mine - “I want adventure in the great wide somewhere”
DD - Bonjour. Good day! How is your family?

Friday (Epcot - last day) - we had Daddy Mouse, Mommy Mouse, Bubba Mouse, Mini Mouse. The o’s in mouse was Mickey/Minnie heads. The backs of the shirts had our personalized top 10’s of what we’d wanted to do for that week. We had the most comments on these shirts!

1 Like

Loved your report! The picture of your daughter with the beast is absolutely priceless! I want to go there for dinner now!

Oh and I wanted to ask about picking your pearls. Is that at a gift shop in Japan?

My mom was amazed by the pictures. Sarah was so scared of some of the characters but not of the beast! :slight_smile:

Yes! It’s in the big gift shop towards the back of Japan. We walked in and I found someone to ask - they pointed me in the right direction. You pay for how many you want to pick ($18 each) and they give you a number. They told me about a 25min wait, which was probably pretty accurate. When your number’s called, you go up and pick out which oysters you want. They do a little ceremony where you count down in Japanese, they open the oyster, show you the pearl, clean and measure it. Then, they have a jewelry counter where you buy a charm/set for it. It was really fun! :smile:

Great report - you all seemed to have such a great time. It is nice to go with little ones who still get the Disney Magic. I would love to see your checklist! Your kids look so cute in their photos, especially your daughter with Belle - so precious.

I agree with you about Dinosaur - not my favourite either (not scary just not that good) but my 17 year old loved it. Each to their own!

1 Like

Fantasmic I could see being very scary for younger kids

We’ve done the pearl thing in Japan Epcot. It’s great fun. The guys who open the pearls are very entertaining. If you want you can pay to have the pearl put into jewellery whilst you wait as well. And it’s relatively inexpensive.

The selection and opening of the pearls is like a mini show in its own right and I’ve stood and watched for 15 mins plus as it’s great to see people’s reactions when they get their pearl.

So it’s something you can experience without spending any money and you will really enjoy it.

I’ve never seen anyone have to wait for any length of time to select a pearl so you must have visited on a busy day. Unless someone was on a lunch break?

I’ve watched them doing it on several occasions now.

This was our first time doing pick a pearl, so I didn’t really have a reference to the wait, but it was Wednesday afternoon. It was crowded, but not horrible at Epcot that day. There were several people waiting to pick a pearl though and one group in front of us picked 6.

I wish I had a picture of all of the backs!

I did find a picture of my son’s. His Top 10 was:

  1. Star Tours
  2. Jedi Training
  3. Rock 'N Roller Coaster
  4. Kali River Rapids
  5. Expedition Everest
  6. Meet the Beast
  7. Mission Space
  8. Space Mountain
  9. Test Track
  10. Soarin’

The only thing he didn’t get to do was Kali River Rapids - it was horribly hot on AK day and the line was very long. We were originally going to get a fast pass but was able to get FOP instead - I don’t think he was terribly disappointed.

My daughter had a couple (Meet Anna and Elsa and the Frozen ride) she didn’t get to do. We had a FPP for Frozen, but missed it due to the ride shutting down.

I don’t remember all of mine, but I believe mine was similar to Dakota’s without the Star Wars parts. I may have had Festival of the Lion King on mine.

My husband was being stubborn when I tried to get him to make a list so his said:

  1. Rock 'N Roller Coaster
  2. Eat
  3. Rock 'N Roller Coaster
  4. Eat
    …and so on.
1 Like

Thanks for that! Your son’s sounds pretty much the same as ours. Pity about Kali River - I know it was VERY welcome the hot day we went. There was hardly any wait but we were there the week before - I guess it was a bit quieter.
Actually hearing people at home tell me about friends who have waited in huge lines at Disneyworld, I am very grateful to this forum for teaching me about FP and how to use it,and also about the magic shots on photopass. I found very few photographers offered it and without TP forum I wouldn’t have known to ask!

I’m grateful for Touring Plans as well! I don’t think we waited in a single line over 30 minutes, unless it was for the bus. I learned a lot about how to get around and how to best plan my day to avoid those lines. I was really impressed with now much we got down in the first two hours at Magic Kingdom when they opened at 8! That’s part of the reason I couldn’t bear to stand in line for so long at Kali and to meet Anna and Elsa. We’d be spoiled, I guess.

1 Like