"I Wanna See My Castle!" October 2013 TR *COMPLETE* **NEW TR LINK!!** 7/3

[DDuck4Life]

Great photos of Wishes! I have not been brave enough yet to take my family into the middle of that crowd but for our MNSSHPs in October I'm seriously considering it. Whether I'll set up my tripod there will be a different question. And if I do, I'll be like your DH - folding it up as quickly as I can which I have gotten a lot of practice the past few months.

And I love the pictures from the HM! So a question for DDuck4life because I can't remember even though I'm pretty sure we talked shop during that trip: were you using the Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 for the HM photos?

As far as following the EVCs out - genius! I guess that's sort of like following an ambulance through a traffic jam but you also need to keep your distance just in case they come to a sudden stop.

Yep Dave you are correct I was using the 18-35mm for my HM Photos. Pretty much all of my photos from this trip were with that lens. It was the new toy for the trip. I was trying it out as a walk around lens to see how it would do for me with the limited zoom range.

 

[amazingact21]

Love both the Wishes and the HM pictures. Makes me really regret not riding HM at least once when I was there last week. Not to mention, that picture of the fisherman with the starfish on his chest...I have never seen before! I thought I knew HM pretty well by this point. Now, I've got something new to look for. (Discovering something new in Disney is always really exciting. )


I do have to agree with you, though. Nothing can break you out of your Wishes reverie faster than the Main Street mob post-fireworks. It's nuts! Talk about ruining a sentimental moment right there.

 

[khertz]

Your photos are beautiful. Thanks for taking the time to share so many.

Thanks so much for the compliment!! It's so nice to know that everyone enjoys them so much!

Such beautiful pictures. It hurts that I'm not there right now to see them and I was so recently.

Pretty smart way to get out of the park. I might have to keep that in mind. Usually I just weave through crowds because I'm quick enough to do so.

Aughh, I know the feeling!! Especially knowing we will not be back for awhile.

When it was just DH and I, navigating the crowds was a LOT easier! That stroller really puts a damper in our weaving skills.

Love both the Wishes and the HM pictures. Makes me really regret not riding HM at least once when I was there last week. Not to mention, that picture of the fisherman with the starfish on his chest...I have never seen before! I thought I knew HM pretty well by this point. Now, I've got something new to look for. (Discovering something new in Disney is always really exciting. )


I do have to agree with you, though. Nothing can break you out of your Wishes reverie faster than the Main Street mob post-fireworks. It's nuts! Talk about ruining a sentimental moment right there.

I haven't ridden HM in the last two trips because it just seems like a hassle to switch off for it, but I really don't want DS to have a total freak out in there either. It was so much easier when he was little and had not concept of being scared!

RIGHT?! It's like the flip a switch and it goes from the most magical and weepy moment ever to an angry mob.

 

[KelleyK75]

The pictures are wonderful, especially of Wishes!

That's definitely the worst part of the fireworks...being caught in that sea of people trying to either exit or you trying to go the opposite direction. I've also found getting behind a EVC is always your best route. People don't want to be run over by one of those.

 

[khertz]

Day 8: Tuesday October 29th

As I said in the closing of my last post, we had an early morning on our last full day in Disney World! We were headed to breakfast at 'Ohana, and since it was our last full day, we wanted to make sure we had plenty of time to get to the park before or shortly after opening, hence the early ADR time. Originally, we had planned this breakfast as a last hurrah on our departure day since we weren't supposed to have park tickets for that day. But when we decided to upgrade our tickets and add a day, we decided that we'd rather be sure we were at our park for the day well before rope drop to maximize our time. So our 'Ohana breakfast got bumped to Tuesday morning.

Some of you who read my previous TR might remember that none of us were too impressed with our first experience at 'Ohana. From a lot of the replies I got, it seems like we suffered from bad service more than anything else. So we decided to give it another shot and hoped we would enjoy it more than our last meal there.

Anyway, back to that morning. DH and I got up at 6:30 am and quickly got ourselves dressed and ready before getting DS up at 6:45 am. He was NOT happy with us waking him! A week in Disney was starting to catch up with him, and he was tired. I was starting to feel bad for staying in the park so late the night before! But he perked up quickly enough and we were on our way to the Polynesian. We left Bonnet Creek at 7 and arrived inside the resort at 7:20 to check in for our 7:30 ADR.

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While DH was walking around taking these pics is, I think, when he ran into Dave, who was eating over at Kona that morning. Eventually he made his way back over to DS and I, who were over waiting on the couches with our buzzer.

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08-003 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

We were seated right around our ADR time, and we were in the back left corner of the restaurant near a window. Being so close to the glass, it was pretty chilly, so I ran down to the car to get mine and DS's jacket from the car. I wanted to hurry so I didn't miss any characters, so I was huffing and puffing by the time I got back to the table, but at least I hadn't missed anything!

First up came the breads and fruit, and while DH didn't get a photo of the whole setup, he did get this one of DS going to town on some.

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I'm not sure if he was too distracted after that or just not hungry, but that was really all he ate for the whole meal. Definitely not going to be worth paying for him to eat at these character meals now that he's 3, so we will probably be cutting down to just one each trip for now!

Soon after that, our platter of hot food came, and it all looked delicious!

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08-004 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

As you can see, DH went right to work making breakfast sandwiches for himself on the biscuits! I ate all of my food the more traditional way, though. Soon enough, our first character was approaching, and it was Lilo! She was not very exciting, but she signed DS's book and posed for pictures.

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I guess they were looking at me for this one!


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Shortly after Lilo, we were visited by Stitch, who promptly licked DS on the head in greeting!

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Love this one!


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This might have been a kiss or possibly a second lick!​

After Stitch came the main mouse himself, Mickey! DS was of course excited to see him!

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Continued in next post...

 

[khertz]

Day 8 Continued: Tuesday October 29th

Our best character interaction was definitely saved for last when Pluto made his appearance at our table! He was so full of energy! DS got another lick in greeting from him, but somehow it's more acceptable when it's a puppy than when it's an alien!

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While Pluto was at our table, our server brought us out a birthday cupcake for DS!

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Pluto got so excited when he saw this, and got DH and I to kick off a rendition of Happy Birthday by stomping his foot to the rhythm and waving his arms like a conductor. I'm pretty sure I was getting video of this, which is why there are no still photos of it, but it was adorable! Maybe I can get the video uploaded later today & post it. I guess I forgot!

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DS enjoying his cupcake and some maraca music​

I know at some point during breakfast they did the parade around the restaurant with the kids and the characters, and try as I might, I couldn't get DS to go participate. He went off like he was going to join in, but then he came running back to the table! Oh well.

I have to say, our experience was much better overall this time than last. Our server made sure our platter was always refreshed and our drink cups never went empty. Plus I think we had more passes from the people with Mickey waffles than last time. It also helped that DH remembered he could ask for more of just certain items, so I think at one point he asked for more biscuits too. The character interaction was just okay, although Pluto was really amazing. And like I said, DS just didn't eat enough to justify paying for this meal out of pocket in the future. Maybe when he's a bit older, we will come back. But for now, this will probably be our last visit to 'Ohana for awhile. I have to say, though, I'm glad we at least gave it another chance because it ended on a high note rather than the bummer that was our first meal there. So we may be more tempted to return in a few years. For now, though, I think we will probably just stick with Crystal Palace on future trips.

When we had finished up our meal and payed, we made our way out of the restaurant and stopped for a couple of photos along the way.

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08-037 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

We left the Polynesian at 8:20, so we still had plenty of time to make our way over to our first of three parks for the day, Epcot! This had not really been our plan for our last full day. I had left the morning open for us to return to whichever park we wanted more time in, thinking that would be DHS or AK. When we didn't accomplish as much as we had wanted to on our previous Epcot time, namely trying out the updated version of Test Track, we had rearranged our plans. So now instead of heading to Epcot for the evening, we went there first thing hoping to swap off on Test Track with minimal wait.

The only hiccup in that plan was that there was morning EMH this day. But we hoped we would be okay with Single Rider. We had to wait at the turnstiles for a bit while they were still letting resort guests in for EMH, but we were let in promptly at 9 am. DH was going to Test Track first, so I headed over to the Imagination Institute with DS for another visit with Figment.

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Man, good thing I am not the main one in charge of the camera on our trip!


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Meanwhile, DH had good luck getting right onto Test Track with Single Rider. Sometimes that SR line can be just as long or at least pretty close to the standby wait!

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When we were both done, we met somewhere in the middle to trade off. What a pretty day it was for our last full Disney day!

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UP NEXT: More Epcot, and some AK action!

 

[missangelalexis]

I'm glad Ohana left a better impression on you guys. Love your husband's idea of making little sandwiches! Booo last full day in Disney

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

My goodness, you sure did see Dave a lot. That's pretty cool.

I guess with the way Lilo is "designed", she would have a much easier time doing autographs. Yeah, it's weird the things I notice.

And STITCH!!! Gotta love that little Alien.

OMG I make little sandwiches too.

Aw yeah, Pluto rarely disappoints, though it appears he may need some reading glasses. Nice to have a long nose to balance an autograph book though.

 

[saintstickets]

Love the update and your post about Ohana's insures we will try them when we return in October! Looking forward to more on your TR!

 

[courtneybelle]

That pic of the waterfall is so beautiful, but sad because the Poly is now a construction zone

Your DH and my DBF would get along, he loves making breakfast sandwiches!

All the character pics are adorable!

 

[dtr_angel]

Oh poor Paxton I bet he was wiped out at that point. Your breakfast at O'hana looks really good. I don't know why I've never considered it for breakfast, I guess because we're not big Lilo and Stitch fans. I forgot there were other characters as well. I doubt we will do more than 1 character meal once Gavin is over three either. I don't think I could stomach paying that much for him to eat like 3 grapes LOL. Can't wait to hear about the rest of your meal!

 

[afwdwfan]

I'm not sure if he was too distracted after that or just not hungry, but that was really all he ate for the whole meal.

He just likes his bread!

Definitely not going to be worth paying for him to eat at these character meals now that he's 3, so we will probably be cutting down to just one each trip for now!

It really is absurd what they charge for a 3 year old. I know it has always been this way, but 3 - 5 should not be the same cost to take to Disney World as 6 - 9.

We left the Polynesian at 8:20, so we still had plenty of time to make our way over to our first of three parks for the day, Epcot!

3 parks in one day... with a toddler. That is impressive!

 

[KelleyK75]

I'm glad Ohana was better for you this time. The pictures are adorable of Paxton with the characters.

 

[khertz]

I'm glad Ohana left a better impression on you guys. Love your husband's idea of making little sandwiches! Booo last full day in Disney

I'm glad about that too! I was disappointed that I wasn't more impressed with it last time since it seems to be a pretty popular character meal. This time was much better, and that left us thinking we might try it again in the future.

That last full day always seems to come up too quickly. But it was a very busy & fun last day!

My goodness, you sure did see Dave a lot. That's pretty cool.

I guess with the way Lilo is "designed", she would have a much easier time doing autographs. Yeah, it's weird the things I notice.

And STITCH!!! Gotta love that little Alien.

OMG I make little sandwiches too.

Aw yeah, Pluto rarely disappoints, though it appears he may need some reading glasses. Nice to have a long nose to balance an autograph book though.

We did! It was so great having so many plans that overlapped! Having never really attempted DIS meets in the past, it was a lot of fun to meet up with a couple different ones in October!

No, I noticed that too. I wonder why Sofia got such a strong negative reaction when she is basically just like Lilo who has been around for awhile. Definitely love Stitch! He has the worst attraction ever, but he's one of my favorite characters.

I LOVE watching Pluto & Goofy sign autograph books!!

Love the update and your post about Ohana's insures we will try them when we return in October! Looking forward to more on your TR!

The food is really good, and it's nice that you don't have to worry about missing any characters because you are up getting another plate of food. This is vital with a toddler!

That pic of the waterfall is so beautiful, but sad because the Poly is now a construction zone

Your DH and my DBF would get along, he loves making breakfast sandwiches!

All the character pics are adorable!

I know, I can't believe they are getting rid of that gorgeous waterfall!!

He has never done that before that I can remember until we went to a family style restaurant for breakfast in Tennessee. Now he does it all the time!

Thanks!

Oh poor Paxton I bet he was wiped out at that point. Your breakfast at O'hana looks really good. I don't know why I've never considered it for breakfast, I guess because we're not big Lilo and Stitch fans. I forgot there were other characters as well. I doubt we will do more than 1 character meal once Gavin is over three either. I don't think I could stomach paying that much for him to eat like 3 grapes LOL. Can't wait to hear about the rest of your meal!

He was, but I think we all were! Lack of sleep during a week in Disney can definitely do that to you. I have a major soft spot for Lilo & Stitch, so that and the fact that the food is served family style are what really drew me in for breakfast. It's kind of obnoxious that the price for a 3 year old and a 9 year old at a buffet are the same. I'm sure there are some 3 year olds who can put away some food, but I doubt that's the norm! Especially when there are so many characters coming by and distracting them.

He just likes his bread!

He really REALLY does, and I can't totally fault him for that because he gets it from me!!

It really is absurd what they charge for a 3 year old. I know it has always been this way, but 3 - 5 should not be the same cost to take to Disney World as 6 - 9.

I totally agree!! Especially when it comes to buffets. It was a punch in the gut buying that third park ticket for our May trip too.

3 parks in one day... with a toddler. That is impressive!

Gotta keep it interesting, ya know!

I'm glad Ohana was better for you this time. The pictures are adorable of Paxton with the characters.

Thanks so much! I'm definitely glad we tried it again!

 

[khertz]

Day 8 Continued: Tuesday October 29th

Once DH and I had met up and traded DS, I went ahead on my first ride on the updated Test Track via the Single Rider line. I will say honestly that I did not have high hopes for the attraction after the changes. It seemed pretty pointless to me without the TESTing that goes into TEST Track. Or, you know, whatever. But I still wanted to give it a try, so here I was.

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I did go through the car design area, but I wasn't really interested in doing so, so I kind of skipped through it and got on the ride quicker. I ended up at the loading point and they directed me to a car where I'd be riding with a family. It seemed to be a mom, her two kids, and her dad. The mom & kids were in the front row while I was standing behind the guy getting ready for the back row. She was discussing with her dad that he should sit in the seat all the way to the right so it would get all of their faces well in the photo. So the man turned to me and asked if I minded getting in first so he could sit on the right side and I said it was no problem. The woman kind of wrinkled her nose and said, "But you aren't riding with us, right? You're on the next one?" I smiled, but it was probably pretty tight, and told her I was riding with them because I was a single rider. She didn't say anything else, but it seemed to annoy her that I ruined her "family only" ride photo!

So what did I think about the ride? It totally lived up to my extremely low expectations. Of course the outside part is still as great as always, but otherwise, can someone please explain the point of the rest of the ride? I didn't miss anything, did I? I was really just riding around through dark, black lit rooms and seeing stats on the cars created by the other folks in the car with me that have no bearing whatsoever on the ride? Because that's pretty much all I got out of it, and I was thoroughly unimpressed.

Meanwhile, DH had taken DS on the Nemo ride again, so they had this view.

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When I came off of Test Track, I went over to check on the spot where Chip & Dale usually meet, and saw they didn't have a very long line. This was one of the meets we hadn't gotten yet, so I jumped in line and called DH so he and DS could come meet me. And called. And called. And called. I just kept getting his voicemail, and I was moving up in the line so I got out and started walking towards The Seas (and I was pretty annoyed too). I finally found them and it seems that DH didn't have cell reception inside the building, so he wasn't getting my calls. We hustled back over to the meeting area and the line had built considerably. But we joined in anyway. When we had moved up and had a few families in front of us, the handler said they were going in for a quick snack and only Dale would be coming back out. Well, that was useless! So we decided to leave. It was about 10 am when we got in the car and headed to our second park of the day.

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We really weren't there to ride anything, we had some characters to meet! We made our way straight to Camp Minnie-Mickey. I can't believe that this area is gone now! We love going there to rack up on character meets.

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Our primary goal in going there was to see Baloo & King Louie, but we were up for meeting some others as well. DS ran right up to Baloo for hugs!

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After hugs, we brought out the autograph book for Baloo to sign. The picture I used in the book is one of him with the grass skirt on like he has during the "I Wanna Be Like You" scene. I told DS to ask Baloo where his grass skirt was, and Baloo immediately crossed his arms over his front to cover himself like he was embarrassed to be caught without it. Hilarious!!!

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This was the ONLY shot PhotoPass took of him with these guys. Good thing DH took so many!​

Continued in next post...

 

[khertz]

Day 8 Continued: Tuesday October 29th

Luckily for us, right around the front of the greeting trails, we saw Chip & Dale! So now I wouldn't have to be super annoyed about missing out on that meet too. DS ran right up for hugs, he just loves those guys!

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DS took a second to understand the concept of "pounding it"​

They were pretty funny with the autograph book too, because they seemed annoyed that their page was on the same layout as Donald's. They kept pointing at his picture and shaking their heads!

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We hadn't planned on meeting her, but Pocahontas was also right there with no wait. None of us had ever met her before, so we figured, why not?

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We had really racked up on characters in a short amount of time!! But one of the other reasons I had wanted to come was to see Dug & Russell, who we had missed on our first visit to AK because we had been ready to leave the park for our break and the line was too long. I was a little nervous because now it was later in the morning and I didn't know how DS would tolerate it if there was a long wait. We decided to go over and check though, and I kept my fingers crossed that we wouldn't encounter a long line!

UP NEXT: Finishing up at Animal Kingdom

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Yep, that's when I saw your DH! When he was taking pictures of the lobby fountain that will cease to exist here shortly.

Happy to hear that you had an improved experience at O'hana this time.

Having been in single rider lines quite frequently I can relate to your experience with that family which has happened a couple of times to me. Somehow they can't comprehend the idea that the CMs are trying to pack every empty seat to lessen the wait times.

Great character meets and greets!

 

[courtneybelle]

Sighh at the woman in your Test Track car. You should have made a ridiculous face just to spite her

Nope, you basically got Test Track right. I miss the old one a lot.

Great meet with Baloo and King Louie! Chip and Dale are always hilarious too.

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Oh my GOD people can be so rude. Yes lady, Disney has a car set aside just for you. And while we're at it, you can ride as many times as you like, because you're special.

Nope, comparatively, the "new" TT is pretty pointless as far as storytelling is concerned. Visually, it's grown on me a bit, but it is still pretty pointless.

I miss Minnie-Mickey too, particularly the character trails. And you got some great character meets to. So cool to have Poca with no wait.

 

[khertz]

Yep, that's when I saw your DH! When he was taking pictures of the lobby fountain that will cease to exist here shortly.

Happy to hear that you had an improved experience at O'hana this time.

Having been in single rider lines quite frequently I can relate to your experience with that family which has happened a couple of times to me. Somehow they can't comprehend the idea that the CMs are trying to pack every empty seat to lessen the wait times.

Great character meets and greets!

I am really stunned that they are getting rid of that water feature in the lobby. It's like THE focal point of that common space!

Yeah, I'm glad we gave it another try, even just to see that our first meal there was outside of the norm.

I think it's kind of crazy to have no knowledge of the single rider system, or at least to think your family is so special that you would have two unused seats in your car rather than being seated with the unwashed masses of single riders.

Sighh at the woman in your Test Track car. You should have made a ridiculous face just to spite her

Nope, you basically got Test Track right. I miss the old one a lot.

Great meet with Baloo and King Louie! Chip and Dale are always hilarious too.

I probably should have, that was a great idea!

Yeah, I was pretty sure I wasn't missing anything, sadly. The new version is so so so pointless, it just makes me insane to think about it. The old version, no matter how cheesy it could be, at least made sense!

Thanks! DS just loves Baloo for some reason, and has always seemed to have really adorable meets with Chip & Dale.

Oh my GOD people can be so rude. Yes lady, Disney has a car set aside just for you. And while we're at it, you can ride as many times as you like, because you're special.

Nope, comparatively, the "new" TT is pretty pointless as far as storytelling is concerned. Visually, it's grown on me a bit, but it is still pretty pointless.

I miss Minnie-Mickey too, particularly the character trails. And you got some great character meets to. So cool to have Poca with no wait.

RIGHT?!? She acted like I had just put myself there to annoy her and ruin her photo.

Pointless! I was never like a HUGE fan of Test Track, so I wasn't disappointed or anything when they said it was getting an overhaul. But what they produced is just a waste of space with the fun 60 mph part tacked on at the end.

I'm glad the FotLK theater is relocating, because it would have been tragic for them to get rid of that show in place of Avatar. But I'm really going to miss all the character meets in that area. You could meet a dozen in hardly any time! And I'm wondering what they will do with all those characters trees they put up back there at Christmas time. I sure hope they are not getting rid of them completely.