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Keith and Della's WDW 2016 Short Trip

KeithS
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Re: Keith and Della's WDW 2016 Short Trip

Postby KeithS » Mon Sep 12, 2016 1:58 pm

Day Seven – 9 September 2016
Today we headed to Disney Hollywood Studios after breakfast. When we arrived there and walked down the main street, we encountered a group of the First Order Stormtroopers being led by Captain Phasma. We kept out of their way because they looked like they were looking for trouble.
 
We were close to the end of our fastpass window for Toy Story Mania already, so we headed straight there and got in with one minute to spare!  We really enjoyed the ride again and being in the cool air was great. We’ve had great weather here – hot and humid but apart from the first two days with occasional storms, we’ve had no rain since.
 
After Toy Story, we headed over to the Tower of Terror which was a walk on, so you can see how quiet it was in the park.  We had a good group with us and I bought a t-shirt after the ride.  Next up we went straight to Rockin’ Roller Coaster (stopping for a photopass opportunity on the way).  It was about a 15 minute wait.  When I entered the lobby, the music poster in the lobby said “Straight From Australia, Keith Performing Tonight” – haha, Magic Bands at work.  The ride was as good as ever – fast and furious and fun.
 
After the ride, we headed to the shops for a little bit before remembering we had a Star Tours fastpass which again we nearly missed.  All good though and we rode the new version of the ride with sequences from The Force Awakens.
 
After that, we went to the ABC Commissary for lunch.  It was really busy but we found a table eventually.
 
We then went over to the Star Wars Launch Bay which was great – we watched a film about the Star Wars legacy and then went into the pavilion to see the props before meeting Chewbacca (awesome) and Kylo Ren (scary…)
 
Back outside and we watched the Star Wars stage show that brings a lot of the characters on stage, including R2D2, C3PO, Chewbacca, Empire and First Order Storm Troopers, Darth Vader, Darth Maul, Kylo Ren.  It was all really cool
 
Afterwards, we headed into the Great Movie Ride which is really good and then we headed down to where the Muppets were – that whole Section of the park is construction walls and was really dead of guests, but will be amazing when it leads to Star Wars land.
 
We next headed to the Frozen sing-a-long attraction in the theatre that once hosted the American Idol Experience. The show was surprisingly a lot of fun and similar to the comedy re-telling of princess stories they do at Fantasy Faire in Disneyland. They also have a giant screen on stage for the musical numbers with a bouncing snowflake against the lyrics.  There are on stage appearances from Anna, Kristof and Elsa too.  We really enjoyed the show which ends with snow in the theatre.
 
It was now dinner time, so we went to check in for our 7:10 reservation at the Hollywood and Vine for the Minnie’s Seasonal Dining Experience. After checking in, we waited a short while outside to be seated. When we made our way to our table, the restaurant manager came up to us to apologise for the delay (we didn’t even notice one). She said that it took them 17 minutes to seat us and therefore she would give us a resort wide fast pass for one attraction (fine by us!).  The restaurant itself was a character dining experience with the fab-five dressed in summer gear for the season.  It was a fun evening as the characters came around to our table. The food was a buffet menu of American classics and we really enjoyed the night.
 
We managed to settle our account with five minutes to spare before the commencement of the Star Wars fireworks. We got outside and moved along the street towards the Chinese Theatre. We got a good spot right in front and the fireworks were brilliant! They really capture the magic of Star Wars and they also have amazing projections on the buildings with scenes from the movies.  There is also a great use of lasers which support the entire spectacle.  We really loved the fireworks and can’t wait to see it again later in the week.
 
Once the fireworks were over, we went to have a look to see if Olaf was doing his meet and greet (it was an extra magic night) but he was closed, so we decided to have an early(ish) night and headed back to the resort.
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: Keith and Della's WDW 2016 Short Trip

Postby KeithS » Mon Sep 12, 2016 2:00 pm

Day Eight – 10 September 2016
Today is an off-property day as we head over to NASA with Brian and Patti.  We had prepared a breakfast in our room of muffins and chocolate milk before heading down to the pick-up spot where Brian and Patti were waiting.  We got in their car and headed onto the freeway heading east toward Cape Canaveral.
 
The road trip took about an hour and we pulled into the car park, passing the new building holding the space shuttle Atlantis.  We got our tickets and headed inside the grounds.  We went straight to the Atlantis building and were some of the very first guests to get to the preshow area.  We went into a theatre to watch a movie about the creation of the space shuttle and then moved to a second room with 360 degree video (including overhead) showing the history of Atlantis.  Then the end wall lifted and you came face to face with the real space shuttle.
 
We were told the vehicle is all original except for the Canada arm (the Canadians wanted it back for their museum), and the ISS docking collar (which was Russian built and they wanted it back to re-use). The engines had also been removed for re-use but the remainder of the vehicle including the cockpit was intact.  It is hung from the ceiling of the hall and it was just incredible.
 
The hall has a lot of other space shuttle project exhibits and we spent about two hours looking all around the building.  We also went for a ride on the Space Shuttle Experience which is a great example of what a shuttle launch probably feels like. There is also a terrific memorial to the two lost shuttles, Challenger and Colombia, including a large panel from Challenger featuring the American flag, and the entire cockpit window section of Colombia – with broken glass and charring intact – a stark reminder of the forces involved in both craft’s loss.
 
After the Atlantis building, we headed to lunch before boarding a bus for a tour of the site.  Last time we did this, we went only as far as the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) but this time, we did a lap of the VAB, then headed all the way out to both Pad 39A and 39B – the locations of all the shuttle launches and the missions to the moon. It was unbelievable being out there at the pads and thinking of the history that occurred there. At present, they are converting the pads for the use of both SpaceX launches, and the new NASA Space Launch System (SLS) which will exceed the power of the Saturn-V moon rockets and allow missions beyond Earth orbit again.
 
We ended the bus tour at the Saturn-V building which houses a mighty Saturn-V rocket that never made it to the moon due to the project cancellation.  There is also a bunch of other artefacts there, including moon rock, the Apollo-14 command module, space suits, an unused lunar lander, and lots more.  It is a fascinating place to visit for fans of the space program.
 
We headed back on the bus to the main visitor centre and hit the NASA shop, buying books, shirts and other stuff before finally saying goodbye for the time being.  We hit the road again and headed south to Port Canaveral as we wanted to see the Fantasy depart.  When we got there, it was already underway and we just managed to catch it as it headed out to sea.  We also saw the Disney Wonder in the cargo dock as it was sailing that night to Spain for dry-docking. Unfortunately we didn’t see it depart, although it was smoking at the dock as it had its engines powered for departure.
 
We headed back towards Orlando and stopped at the 4-Rivers Smokehouse in Kissimmee. It was a new experience for us, where you order your meat and sides and they prepare it on a paper sheet on a tray in front of you. It was quite clever and the food was very tasty.  Della and I only had the kids meal because there was so much food involved.  Once dinner was over, we stopped in at a local shopping strip-mall and visited a store called Hobby Lobby so we could have a look around. It was a crazy big store that was sort of a cross between Roni’s bargain store and Officeworks and many other shops (hard to describe!)  After the trip to the store, we then headed back to our resort – having had a fun day.
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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Re: Keith and Della's WDW 2016 Short Trip

Postby calisota » Mon Sep 12, 2016 2:47 pm

Really jealous about you being that close to a Space Shuttle. I just finished John Young's book "Forever Young" a couple of weeks ago.


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KeithS
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Re: Keith and Della's WDW 2016 Short Trip

Postby KeithS » Tue Sep 13, 2016 7:18 am

I'll have to read that John Young book - that would be interesting.

Here is the next entry:
Day Nine – 11 September 2016
This will be a short update today as we didn’t stay long at the parks.  We headed off early this morning to the Magic Kingdom as we had breakfast arranged with Brian and Patti at the Be Our Guest restaurant.  When we arrived, Brian and Patti met us at the gate and signed us in to the park as cast member guests so that we didn’t have to use a day of our 10 day pass.  It is September 11 here and the flag was at half mast for the 15th anniversary of the 911 attacks.
 
We head up Main Street and walk through the castle and track straight to the Be Our Guest restaurant. When we got there, we checked in, was handed a table rose, we ordered our meals on a self service kiosk screen and took our seats at a table.  Not long after, the waiter came with our food – he locates our table by the magic rose we received at check in – it is very slick.  The food was great too – I had bacon, chicken sausage, scrambled eggs, and more. They also give the table a plate of pastries, croissants, etc.
 
After breakfast, we took some photos before heading to the shops for a bit. Brian and Patti headed home to prepare for us coming over in the afternoon/evening. We stayed in the park a short while before taking our shopping back to the resort.
 
When we got back, our room was just being cleaned so we dumped our stuff, grabbed our mugs, and headed to the food court for half hour to plan our week ahead.  When we returned our room was ready so we got changed to go swimming in our pool. It was very hot outside but the pool was nice and refreshing and certainly not cold!  We swam there until 2:30 when we decided to get ready to be picked and taken to our friend’s house.
 
They came right on 3:30pm and we headed over to Hunters Creek – the suburb of Orlando where they live.  We did a tour of their house then sat and talked, shared photos, had dinner (yum by the way!) and spent the evening planning our trip to Shanghai and Tokyo next year.  They also gave us some great gifts to share with the club.  They gave us a lift back to the resort around 10pm – it was a terrific night and we can’t wait to return the favour when they come and visit us some day.
 
Back in the resort – we typed up the journal and went to bed. Tomorrow is a shopping day at Disney Springs.
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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Re: Keith and Della's WDW 2016 Short Trip

Postby Rebecca » Tue Sep 13, 2016 5:31 pm

Disney Springs sounds really good so I can't wait to hear what you think.
Trip history:
Disneyland: NYE 2008, 2015, 2018 January and September
Disneyland Paris: 2010

KeithS
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Re: Keith and Della's WDW 2016 Short Trip

Postby KeithS » Wed Sep 14, 2016 12:16 pm

Day Ten – 12 September 2016
Today we decided to do our big shopping day.  Since we arrived, I’ve been making notes of things in my telephone of what we’ve wanted to buy and today was our chance to go out and get them.  Beforehand though, we booked transport to Universal Studios for tomorrow as we are heading over there to see Harry Potter.
 
After breakfast – we caught the bus over to Disney Springs and immediately headed to the shops we didn’t see on our first day when the rain storm came over the area.  The new Star Wars shop, and a new Superheroes shop was the first on the agenda.  Della bought some little gifts for her Mum at the silver store before we headed back over to World of Disney and Once Upon a Toy.  We picked up some more Tsum Tsums, shirts, presents, a handbag, and other bits and pieces.
 
We had lunch at the Earl of Sandwich and Ghirardelli again before tackling Uniqlo and the rest of the shops we’d come to see.  Finally, we headed to the bus, but this time we caught one to Pop Century so we could look at the store there and walk across the bridge back to the Art of Animation resort.
 
Once back at the resort, we got ready for dinner tonight which we had booked at Be Our Guest restaurant. It was a quick turn around and soon we were on the bus and heading to the Magic Kingdom.  When we got there, we noticed that it was really busy – it was a Extra Magic Hours night and people were pouring into the park.  I went and got a locker, while Della hit the collectibles store on Main Street as there were a few figurines she wanted.  While I waited for Della to make her purchases, Brian and Patti contacted us to tell us they were on the tram heading to the park too.  As soon as Della bought her pieces, I took them to the locker then met her again in Town Square.
 
We moved down Main Street to the jewellery store and Brian and Patti met us there.  We then walked together to the teacups where Della, Patti and I rode the a while Brian watched from the sideline.  We then headed to the carousel and had a ride on that too.  From there, we had a look in the shop at Belle’s cottage before riding the Little Mermaid attraction.  Afterward we decided to go and visit with Ariel herself in her grotto – she was very chatty too.
 
It was now time for our dinner reservation so we headed back to the Be Our Guest restaurant and checked in.  They were running 15 minutes late and it was now 9:00pm so we stood on the bridge at the restaurant entrance and had an amazing experience of watching the Wishes fireworks from there.  It was a brilliant location for them as they were bursting almost over us – loud and fun.
 
After Wishes, we headed into the restaurant and took our table for dinner.  I had an amazing pork meal and Della and salmon – the food was all great and we followed that up with dessert, yum.  Once dinner was over, we all got to meet with the Beast before heading back out into the park around 11:10pm.  We strolled slowly to the exit (as the park was closed) and said goodbye to Brian and Patti.  We collected our locker stuff and returned to the resort on the bus.
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: Keith and Della's WDW 2016 Short Trip

Postby KeithS » Wed Sep 14, 2016 1:12 pm

Day Eleven – 13 September 2016
Early start today as we were heading to Universal Studios. After breakfast, we went to the pick up spot at the resort where our Mears town car was waiting.  It was a quick drive over to Universal Studios and after we bought our tickets, we entered the park.  First things first, we looked through the main store to see what merchandise was available – just a quick walk through as we would buy stuff later on.
 
We then moved through the Simpsons area which was under construction when we were here in 2013, so it was good to see it all finished and open.  We didn’t do the ride as we were on a mission to go to the new Harry Potter area.
 
When we arrived in the London area, we just couldn’t believe how well it had been completed. Della immediately went to the Knight bus to get a photograph.  Then we walked in to Diagon Alley…WOW! This area is amazing – so amazing, Della cried as she saw the view – it was that good. There was so much to take in from the little details such as bill posters on the walls and the details in the shop windows.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more amazing and perfectly themed area in a park before.
 
We headed up to Gringott’s Bank and it was only a 10 minute wait! We put our bags in lockers (1st hour is free) and headed into the queue.  What a queue it was! Walking through the bank to see the gnome bankers was brilliant. Eventually we walked through the bank to the preshow area where you get in an elevator to go 9 miles underground to the vaults where you then get on a ‘cart’ for a rider through the bank.  The ride is essentially a roller coaster crossed with an Indiana Jones attraction vehicle and a video screen ride, but the mash up of these elements somehow actually works.
 
We liked the ride so much that we jumped straight back on the queue and did it again – the only time Della has ever done that was on Journey to the Centre of the Earth at Tokyo Disneysea.
 
After our second ride through, we decided to head over to Islands of Adventure on the Hogwarts Express. Again this has been done seamlessly, with the brilliant inclusion of the train between the two parks.  When you first see the train, you’d swear it was a real British steam train.  Even when you get in the carriage, it looks like the real deal.  They shut the doors and the train begins to move off with the windows displaying a view of you leaving London. Meanwhile, the corridor side of the compartment you see shadows of Harry, Hermione and Ron walking past, or sometimes it is the Dementors etc. It is all done so well.  Eventually you arrive in Hogsmeade and you disembark.  This is a practical ride turned into a clever attraction and I loved it.
 
After we arrived, we did Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey which is still a great ride too.  Afterwards, we grabbed lunch at the Three Broomsticks (frozen Butterbeer – yum) and then decided to do a walk around the whole park.  We were going to go on the newly opened Skull Island attraction but it was too long as it hasn’t been opened long.  We did a bit of shopping as we made our way around the park, but in the end, we just decided to get back on Hogwarts Express and take the trip back to the other park.
 
Once there, we hit Men In Black and followed that with Transformers which we’d never been on before.  Transformers was just like Spiderman with different video scenes – it is a long ride but it felt like we’d done it all before.  I still liked it a lot though.
 
The sky was beginning to look very threatening and we decided to finish our shopping which was when Della discovered that the Captain America fluffy she saw this morning had been sold, so we had to head back to Islands of Adventure via the Hogwarts Express.  Once there, we found the fluffy she was after and bought it.  With the sky now very black, we headed up to Universal Citywalk hoping to get something to eat, but as we left the gates of the park, the downfall began and we ducked under some cover near Margarittaville. The rain progressively got worse and thunder, heavy rain and wind hit us – it was amazing to see (we later discovered we were hit by Tropical Storm Julia – it was almost a hurricane!).
 
We got a short rain break and with time against us (we had a car pickup at 8pm) we headed to the Royal Pines Hotel without getting any food.  The car came right on 8pm and we headed back to The Art of Animation resort.  When we got back, we had dinner in the food court here before retiring for the night.
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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Re: Keith and Della's WDW 2016 Short Trip

Postby ElissaB » Thu Sep 15, 2016 12:41 am

Wow Keith! I've just caught up on all your daily adventures and they sound amazing! Mum is very impressed by Della's Pandora effort and is looking forward to seeing all of her new purchases :D I hope there's a Captain America fluffy left for me to buy next month when we get there!! Looking forward to photos and show & tell when you get home.

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Re: Keith and Della's WDW 2016 Short Trip

Postby DisneyKaren » Thu Sep 15, 2016 1:32 pm

The Harry Potter sections of Universal are amazing, I just loved them last year when I went, you and Della are so right about what a fantastic job they've done making it look so real.  I can't do the roller coasters, however both the Gringotts and Hogwarts rides allows non-riders to walk through the main attractions and leave just prior to the ride.  So great they've allowed for us.


So loving reading about your trip.  Hopefully next year I'll be as dedicated as you and report from Disneyland (only 4 days in Anaheim though + the WD Family Museum in SFO - my second visit to it)
1996: Disneyland & Epcot | 2001: EuroDisney | 2014: DLR & DLRP | 2015: WDW | 2017: DLR, Aulani, TDR | 2018: DLR | 2020: SDR & HKDL | 2023: WDW

KeithS
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Re: Keith and Della's WDW 2016 Short Trip

Postby KeithS » Thu Sep 15, 2016 11:38 pm

Hi Elissa - you can tell your Mum that Della bought another five Pandora pieces yesterday haha.  She'll have them all at the next meeting.

Karen - it is a shame you couldn't do the coasters as they are amazing too - the level of detail on these rides is great.

Anyway - here is yesterday's update as we get ready to head out this morning to the EPCOT Food and Wine Festival :)

Day Twelve – 14 September 2016
We are getting close to the end of our short trip now so we will be park hopping today to get everything done that we want.  So after breakfast, we caught the bus to Animal Kingdom. It was hot and humid again with predictions of storms from 2pm. As soon as we got there, we went up a few animal trails before getting a photo in front of the Tree of Life.  We then headed into the store as there were a lot of items we needed to get today.
 
Once the shopping was over, we went to the Flametree Barbeque restaurant for lunch again which was very nice.  We then headed over the Dinoland and got some photos with Goofy and Pluto.  This morning was mainly a shopping morning, and with all our purchases complete, we left the park and caught the bus straight to Magic Kingdom. While waiting, we got a great view of the Pandora construction for the new section of the park. The floating mountains look amazing and the show building is huge!   Today they were building the berm around the outside of the land and I assume they’ll plant trees to hide the show build and mountains from view of the bus stop.  It looks like they are putting the final touches on everything before it opens next year.
 
On arrival at Magic Kingdom, we bought a locker to put all our stuff in before heading to Main Street to do some jewellery shopping – more Pandora (I’m not sure there are any that Della doesn’t own now…). After the shopping, Della wanted to watch the 3pm parade, so we found a spot of Main Street to wait for 45 minutes – boy was it hot!  But it is a great new daytime parade, so it is worth the wait.
 
Afterwards, you guessed it, more last minute shopping in the Main Street Emporium. This was followed by us heading towards the castle for the daytime castle show – we hadn’t seen this new show before now and it was really good.  New songs and it featured the Fab Five along with Tiana and her friends, Rapunzel, Flynn and the Snuggly Duckling crew, and finally Olaf, Anna and Elsa.  We really enjoyed it and wished we’d seen it more than once.
 
After the show, we moved into Adnventureland to get some Dole Whip and were planning on riding the train around the park, but the station behind Splash Mountain was packed so we headed on over to the Mark Twain and went for a ride around the rivers of America.  It was getting later in the evening now and as Magic Kingdom was the only late opening park, lots of people were beginning to come in.  So we decided to get dinner at 6pm before it got too crowded. Even then we had to wait for ages at the Village Haus as it was so busy.
 
After dinner we went for a walk through Tomorrowland and was going to do some other shopping in Main Street when we noticed that the spot we had picked earlier to watch the fireworks from was already almost filled with over 2 hours still to go, so we just decided to camp there for the next couple of hours to guarantee a good viewing of all the night shows.  It was a long wait, but in the end we got to see Celebrate the Magic projection show, the Wishes Fireworks, Celebrate the Magic second viewing, and the Electrical Parade all from one location with an excellent view, so we finished the day happy.  Also – the rain never really came – just a few sprinkles here and there. After all the shows, we filed down Main Street, picked up our locker stuff, and headed back to the hotel.
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: Keith and Della's WDW 2016 Short Trip

Postby KeithS » Fri Sep 16, 2016 2:13 pm

Day Thirteen – 15 September 2016
Today is our final Epcot day as we head over there to sample the food and wine festival.  So after breakfast here at the resort, we get in the bus and travel to Epcot. When we get there, I get picked by security again to go through the metal detectors (same thing happened every time yesterday while Della missed out so I was getting used to it).  Once through the gate, we noticed first the Epcot Food and Wine Festival display in the garden.  We took some photos and moved on.
 
Our first port of call was to pick up the food guides and maps, before moving to the festival centre where all the merchandise was located and the amazing Ghirardelli chocolate dioramas. We hit the merchandise pretty hard, the highlight being the festival Mickey fluffy that is pretty cool.  It was still early so I took the loot to a locker at the front of the park while Della looked in the Disney Art store.
 
After spending some time in the festival centre, we headed out for a circuit of the entire park – checking out all the food sites and talk to cast members.  Along the way we stopped into shops to cool off.  When we got to the Epcot exit between UK and France, we decided to head out of the park to check out the Boardwalk.  We went along to the ice cream parlour and bought ice creams which we ate on the Boardwalk.  We also had a look at the resort shop before catching the ferry back to Epcot.
 
We had to go back through security (I got pulled out again) and then we bumped into Rapunzel just inside the gate – so we jumped on her line and got a photo.  We then walked into France and bumped into Aurora and got a photo with her too.
 
We kept walking through the World Showcase and ducked into shops every now and then to stay cool.  When we got to Germany, Della bought a bratwurst, and in South Korea, I got BBQ beef which was amazing.  We kept going around the world until we got back to the start and we went and had a check of the Mouse Gear store. 
 
It was still hot so we stopped for some strawberry slushies before taking a ride on Spaceship Earth. Afterwards, we picked up the loot and headed back to the resort for a swim. After the pool, we headed back to Disney Springs for dinner and ate at the food trucks there that were tasty.  Of course, being at the Springs at night time still meant lots of shopping, so we hit Uniqlo, Ghirardelli, World of Disney and Once Upon a Toy, before heading back to the bus and back to the resort for the night.
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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Re: Keith and Della's WDW 2016 Short Trip

Postby calisota » Fri Sep 16, 2016 3:20 pm

I notice that you keep putting your shopping into a locker. Don't they deliver things to your room if you are staying on-site anymore...or did they ever do that?


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Re: Keith and Della's WDW 2016 Short Trip

Postby KeithS » Fri Sep 16, 2016 10:53 pm

Yes they still do the send package to your resort, but it is a pain to fill out the forms and then pick up your stuff at the resort because you have to wait until the next day (the resort store closes at midnight and we are never back until after then).
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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Posts: 6082
Joined: Sun May 29, 2005 10:28 am
Location: Peakhurst Heights, NSW

Re: Keith and Della's WDW 2016 Short Trip

Postby KeithS » Sat Sep 17, 2016 1:47 pm

Day Fourteen – 16 September 2016
It is our last full day in Walt Disney World – boo!  That means it is our pack up morning, so we headed to breakfast and followed that by our last minute purchases at the resort store.  It is very hot again today, so I grabbed a new white shirt as the dark one I had was too hot.  We then headed back to our room which had already been cleaned.  That allowed us some time to start a preliminary pack and put things like the fluffies in suitcases.  It also gave us a good idea of how much room we still had available to do more last-day shopping!
 
It took a couple of hours to put everything away and get out clothes we’d need for the flight home tomorrow.  Once we were done, we headed on over to Hollywood Studios for the day.  Della was keen to meet with Olaf so we went to his meet and greet which was fun as he was staged in a summer scene.
 
Straight after that, we went to the Mickey and Minnie meet and greet, which featured Minnie in her Hollywood gown and then Mickey in his Sorcerer’s outfit which was great.
 
After we left the meet and greet, we headed towards the Tower of Terror to grab an ice cream at the ice cream shop (choc mint for me, cookies and cream for Della – and both were amazing!).  We did a little bit of shopping before heading over to Star Tours to use the free fast pass we were given at dinner the other night, however when we gave the fast pass over, the cast member just let us keep it and said to use it on a ride with a longer queue and let us in anyway!
 
After the ride, it was pouring rain, so we put out ponchos on and headed to Toy Story Mania where we used the fast pass again.  That worked great too – it was a 50 minute standby and we were on the ride with no wait at all.  I really like this ride – it grows on me with every play.
 
When we came off the ride, there was a full scale thunderstorm overhead, so we ducked into One Man’s Dream for some time (along with half the park it seemed!).  While we were there, our friends Brian and Patti texted us saying they were leaving work over at Animal Kingdom to head over to see us.
 
The rain stopped and we hit the shops again. While we were there, our friends joined us – we had a 7:25pm booking for The Brown Derby restaurant, but it was 6:30pm and we checked with them to see if we could get in early as we wanted to watch the Star Wars fireworks at 8:45pm.   They said they could get us in, so we were very happy.  We had an amazing dinner – I had the filet with truffle and carrot, Della the lamb cutlets, Brian the salmon and Patti the chicken – four different meals that were all amazing.  I highly recommend this place to eat.  We followed up the mains with desserts that were equally as good.  We finished up there around 8:30pm – just in time to head outside to find a spot for the Star Wars fireworks.
 
We got a location right in front centre of the Chinese Theatre and had a brilliant viewing over the spectacular.  This was a much better viewing than the first time and it looked, sounded, and felt epic!  I rate this now as the best firework and projection show in Disney – it is that good.
 
After the show, we went to the Star Wars Launch Bay as Brian wanted the same Rogue One shirt I had earlier bought.  After that, we headed to the car park where Brian and Patti gave us a lift back to our resort.  Once here, we sat and talked for a while before finally saying goodbye to them – thanking them for their hospitality and friendship, and looking forward to catching up with them again next year in Shanghai.
 
Once they had left, we spent a short time packing today’s purchases, before retiring.
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
User avatar
Annual Pass
Annual Pass
Posts: 6082
Joined: Sun May 29, 2005 10:28 am
Location: Peakhurst Heights, NSW

Re: Keith and Della's WDW 2016 Short Trip

Postby KeithS » Sun Sep 18, 2016 11:54 am

Just sitting in Dallas airport waiting for our flight home. It has been a terrific fortnight! If only we could have done a cruise too to top it off LOL. I'll post final day and some pictures when we return.

Thanks for following along!
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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