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WDW, Disney Cruise, Disneyland Trip 2013

KeithS
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Re: WDW, Disney Cruise, Disneyland Trip 2013

Postby KeithS » Mon Apr 01, 2013 12:26 pm

30 March 2013 – Port Orleans Riverside
A slow start to today as we were still tired after moving from the cruise ship to Riverside yesterday. We had breakfast in the food court and were surprised to see this resort only had plastic cutlery and paper plates – when Art of Animation had proper metal cutlery and crockery. We also noted a lack of cereal choices and you have to ask for tea bags from the checkout. But those are only small points as the resort itself looks magnificent.

After breakfast, we headed to Epcot to once again check out the Flower and Garden festival. We couldn’t believe how much it had grown since we were last there a couple of weeks ago. There was much more colour as the plants and topiaries become more established. We had a Mickey ice cream as we walked along – not needing lunch as we were meeting Brian and Patty later for dinner. We did a complete lap of World Showcase, and got a photopass photo in front of the Torii gate in Japan.

We then hit the shops and also visited the camera shop to check out our photopass photos. We also got a photopass photo in front of the main entry topiary with Spaceship Earth in the background. It was about 2pm when we left the park and headed back to the resort. We quickly got changed and then headed to the lobby where Brian came to pick us up as Patty was waiting in their car. We all piled in and we drove over to the Grand Floridian Hotel for a look around. In the lobby they had made a spectacular display of chocolate Easter eggs that depicted Disney scenes, so I photographed every one. We then went outside and looked at the gardens and around the hotel and shops before catching the monorail to the Contemporary Hotel. There we looked all around the hotel and took photos with the Mickey sculpture outside that allows you to sit in his ears – great fun.

Inside, we had dinner at the Contempo Café and Brian and Patty presented us with a number of cast member exclusive pins and a wonderful cast member presentation coin for the opening of Tokyo Disneysea which is beautiful. We are so lucky to have made such wonderful friends – we really hope they can make it to Australia at some point or that we can cruise together again in the future.

After dinner, we all caught the monorail over to the Polynesian Resort. We’ve never visited before and didn’t realise how nice this place was going to be. It is beautiful inside and we took a look at the volcano and pool area which was great. We went back inside and bought Dole Whips and ate them outside. It was another cloudless evening and spoke chatted for a couple of hours before realising it was time to get the monorail back to the Grand Floridian. Of course, Della had to check out the shops and she found a Easter Mickey which she bought.

We eventually caught the monorail back to the Grand Floridian and Patty drove us back to Riverside. We hugged goodbye and were sad to see them drive away as we had made wonderful friends and it is such a shame they are on the other side of the world from us! But we’ll keep in contact and I see us catching up a lot in the future.

We headed back to our room, picked up our mugs and got a couple of hot chocolates from our food court, before returning to the room and calling it a night. Tomorrow, we will spend the morning packing for our flight to LAX, before spending the afternoon and evening in Magic Kingdom.
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

Mel
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Re: WDW, Disney Cruise, Disneyland Trip 2013

Postby Mel » Tue Apr 02, 2013 9:27 am

Your cruise sounds so, so good. I can't wait to go on one :)

How wonderful that you made such great friends too. They sound like they'd fit in really well at DUD -/
The Big Trip: DL, WDW and Disney cruise 2016

KeithS
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Re: WDW, Disney Cruise, Disneyland Trip 2013

Postby KeithS » Wed Apr 03, 2013 1:55 am

1 April 2013 – Magic Kingdom
This is our last park day in Florida so we decided that it was appropriate to go to the Magic Kingdom one last time. After breakfast though, we did another pack to make sure we were good for the flight to LA tomorrow and to see how much room we had for future purchases (not much!)

We got to the park before midday and it was packed! Although there is no public holiday in the US for Easter Monday, there is school holidays in Europe and it is still spring break in some US school districts; it all added up to insane, but fun crowds!

After getting a photopass photo in front of the Mickey flowers, we headed down Main Street, getting more photopass shots as we went. We then grabbed ice creams at the end of Main Street and walked over to Tomorrowland to eat them as there was no room in the hub. We realised there was not much chance doing a lot of rides today so we headed into New Fantasyland to check out shops in the Dumbo area as they are so nicely themed. We then walked towards Big Thunder to get a fast pass and the area was crowded as the parade was just finishing. Big Thunder had a 75 minute wait but the fast pass return was 6pm, so that was fine by us.

After grabbing the fast pass, we headed over to the rafts to Tom Sawyer’s island and started exploring there – I really like the Magic Kingdom’s TS island – we grabbed a couple of rocking chairs overlooking the Liberty Belle’s dock and sat there for an hour discussing our trip so far. It was another beautiful day (in fact, except for a few wet evenings, the weather has pretty much been fine and sunny since we arrived). We eventually gave up our rocking chairs and did a final lap of the island before heading back to the main land.

We checked out the Frontierland and Adventureland shops before heading up to Big Thunder for the our fast pass. The standby queue was now 120 minutes! Thank you fast pass! I think the WDW Big Thunder is the best (although I haven’t been on the Paris version as it was closed when I was there.) It is a lot longer than Disneyland’s version and has some cool track effects.

After Big Thunder, we headed to the Casey’s Corner for our traditional last day hot dog, before walking through all the Main Street shops one last time. Della got a new ear hat at the Town Square hat shop, and she decided to wear it right away, so I put her other hat in the locker. We then did the other side of Main Street and Della bought some more items before we moved to a spot in the Hub to watch the Main Street Electrical Parade.

At this point, Della said she was cold, so with 30 minutes to go before the parade began, she made me run the length of Main Street to get all our gear out of the locker (arrgghhh!). It was a nightmare getting down there with the massive crowd and the ropes, but I made it – and more amazingly, I made it back with all our stuff and time to spare – I must have trampled people pushing through the crowd back to where Della was located!

We had a great spot too – a really good crowd around us who we chatted to and a perfect view of the Castle for Celebrate the Magic illumination show and Wishes fireworks. After Wishes, we just stood where we were as thousands of people left the park. Then we watched Celebrate the Magic again with no one around us! We got a few night time photo pass pictures and looked to see if the crowd at the Tomorrowland Speedway was any shorter (it wasn’t much!) so we decided to head home, but then the second showing of the Electrical Parade was commencing and we had a front row seat on Main Street which was brilliant!

Eventually it was time to leave the park and catch the bus back to the resort. We arrived right at midnight so we ran to our room to get our mugs then ran to the food court. We got in, but the hot drinks were closed, so we grabbed some soft drinks and went back to the room and straight to bed. Tomorrow, we fly to Los Angeles and Anaheim!
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

KeithS
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Re: WDW, Disney Cruise, Disneyland Trip 2013

Postby KeithS » Wed Apr 03, 2013 2:00 am

We are sitting in Port Orleans Riverside, having checked into our flight within the resort (wow, that was efficient!). It is midday but our Magical Express pick up isn't until 2pm, so we'll grab lunch here before heading out to the airport.

I'm not sure what the status is for wifi in the Carousel, so I might not post until I return home (but if it available, we'll get back to posting tomorrow!)

Disneyland, here we come!
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

ColinA
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Re: WDW, Disney Cruise, Disneyland Trip 2013

Postby ColinA » Wed Apr 03, 2013 6:58 am

We are sitting in Port Orleans Riverside, having checked into our flight within the resort (wow, that was efficient!). It is midday but our Magical Express pick up isn't until 2pm, so we'll grab lunch here before heading out to the airport.
DME and checking in at the resort is brilliant, why would you stay off site!

churros
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Re: WDW, Disney Cruise, Disneyland Trip 2013

Postby churros » Wed Apr 03, 2013 8:32 pm

Phew!

sandie
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Re: WDW, Disney Cruise, Disneyland Trip 2013

Postby sandie » Thu Apr 04, 2013 10:06 am

wow - due to some family dramas I've been off line for a couple of weeks - but what a grat time to come back! I'm uber excited for my trip next year now!
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KeithS
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Re: WDW, Disney Cruise, Disneyland Trip 2013

Postby KeithS » Mon Apr 08, 2013 12:48 pm

Hi everyone! We are still alive. Sitting in the Qantas Club at LAX awaiting our flight home.

We had a fantastic time in Anaheim and I will post the journals when I get home.
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

ColinA
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Re: WDW, Disney Cruise, Disneyland Trip 2013

Postby ColinA » Mon Apr 08, 2013 1:43 pm

Hi everyone! We are still alive. Sitting in the Qantas Club at LAX awaiting our flight home.

We had a fantastic time in Anaheim and I will post the journals when I get home.

Not good, but at least you have Qantas Club. I will not say enjoy the flight because I do not know how you can after leaving WDW and DL.

Thanks for the trip report and I will not say where are the photos, maybe you can post later!

ajp
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Re: WDW, Disney Cruise, Disneyland Trip 2013

Postby ajp » Tue Apr 09, 2013 10:46 am

Welcome home Keith & Della.
2023 Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Lines - Disney Wish. Going to be awesome to be back!

KeithS
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Re: WDW, Disney Cruise, Disneyland Trip 2013

Postby KeithS » Tue Apr 09, 2013 11:29 am

Welcome home Keith & Della.
Thanks Anthony!

Yes, we are back safe and sound! What a trip that was. I'll post the Disneyland sections of our journal tomorrow - it is on the laptop over at Della's place at the moment.

I'm about to download all the photos off the camera this afternoon, so I'll begin to post a few in the coming days - just keep an eye out around here :D
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

ColinA
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Re: WDW, Disney Cruise, Disneyland Trip 2013

Postby ColinA » Tue Apr 09, 2013 11:32 am

Welcome home!

When is the next trip.

Mel
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Re: WDW, Disney Cruise, Disneyland Trip 2013

Postby Mel » Tue Apr 09, 2013 2:18 pm

Wow that last week went fast :( Welcome home -/ -/ -/ -/
The Big Trip: DL, WDW and Disney cruise 2016

churros
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Re: WDW, Disney Cruise, Disneyland Trip 2013

Postby churros » Tue Apr 09, 2013 7:52 pm

and so begins the Disney Depression :(

KeithS
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Re: WDW, Disney Cruise, Disneyland Trip 2013

Postby KeithS » Thu Apr 11, 2013 7:52 am

Hi everyone. Sorry for the delay but I'm still getting over another cold! I'll see if I can finalise the journal in the next day or two so you can read the Disneyland portion and then I'll get the photos happening.
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015


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