DVDizzy Forum

Just make sure you buy the powder at your resort and not before you get on the plane! The TSA doesn't like substances like that.

You will like the Pop Century resort. It has a good food court and best of all it gets its own bus service. The All Stars share busses, which sucks.

Some of the sit down restaurants are experiences in themselves. If you can afford it, there are a few worth doing.

Also, take your time and enjoy everything. If you rush around too much, you will wear yourself out! If you don't get to see everything, that will give you a good reason to return. It can be a little overwhelming your first time! Use Fastpass as well, to maximize your fun.

Anyway, I hope you have a great time. give us a report when you get back.

I've been meaning to post this for awhile, but here's some advice for Pap:

The buses at Pop are mobbed first thing in the morning and likely will be around closing time at the parks. If you can get their before everyone else, that's great, but I found it much easier to get around outside of "rush hour". Same goes for the food court, since it's the only food option there, but you can order sandwiches and pizza to your room if you like.

Try getting a fridge in your room, you can stuff it with food to help save you time and money over the course of your trip.

If you want to ride Toy Story Midway Mania at DHS get there first thing in the morning to ride or grab a Fastpass, otherwise you'll be stuck with long lines all day.

Even as a non-American I'd recommend Hall of Presidents and The American Adveture. Not only are both good places to sit down in an AC building, both are quality shows and the latter is quite an amazing presentation.

I'd recommend some sit down places, but I'm not sure what you're food budget is, were you planning on some? I actually find it easier to get a table for one as a walk-in.

Stay in the parks even if it rains. There's lots to do and still be dry, plus some guests may leave when it gets wet.

Don't try and cram everything into one trip. You can't and it's an easy way to set yourself up for disapointment. Try making a list of things you really want to do and then you at least know in advance what matters most.

The official site is terrible for this, but others can help you find out what stuff is closed and other important park hours and show times. I'd recommend: allearsnet.com

Day and Nightime shows are a good time to try rides as others are distracted by them, but be advised some areas will be roped off for show purposes (along parade routes for example). Also, if you get into a line even a minute before closing they'll still let you in the queue and on the ride.

Speaking of parades I wouldn't bother with them outside of the Electrical Parade. They're not what they used to be.

I can post more later if you'd like.

Flanger-Hanger wrote:I've been meaning to post this for awhile, but here's some advice for Pap:

The buses at Pop are mobbed first thing in the morning and likely will be around closing time at the parks. If you can get their before everyone else, that's great, but I found it much easier to get around outside of "rush hour". Same goes for the food court, since it's the only food option there, but you can order sandwiches and pizza to your room if you like.

Try getting a fridge in your room, you can stuff it with food to help save you time and money over the course of your trip.

If you want to ride Toy Story Midway Mania at DHS get there first thing in the morning to ride or grab a Fastpass, otherwise you'll be stuck with long lines all day.

Even as a non-American I'd recommend Hall of Presidents and The American Adveture. Not only are both good places to sit down in an AC building, both are quality shows and the latter is quite an amazing presentation.

I'd recommend some sit down places, but I'm not sure what you're food budget is, were you planning on some? I actually find it easier to get a table for one as a walk-in.

Stay in the parks even if it rains. There's lots to do and still be dry, plus some guests may leave when it gets wet.

Don't try and cram everything into one trip. You can't and it's an easy way to set yourself up for disapointment. Try making a list of things you really want to do and then you at least know in advance what matters most.

The official site is terrible for this, but others can help you find out what stuff is closed and other important park hours and show times. I'd recommend: allearsnet.com

Day and Nightime shows are a good time to try rides as others are distracted by them, but be advised some areas will be roped off for show purposes (along parade routes for example). Also, if you get into a line even a minute before closing they'll still let you in the queue and on the ride.

Speaking of parades I wouldn't bother with them outside of the Electrical Parade. They're not what they used to be.

I can post more later if you'd like.

1) I expected that, so I was planning on making sure to be the first one there in the morning anyways. Do you know what is the first hour of the schedule, though?

2) Was already going to do that

3) Was going to do that too since a friend of mine already told me about it. He told me to get to the ride first thing early in the morning and then get a FastPass for it to ride it again later in the day

4) Was going to do it too

5) I think I will have a really good budget for food, but because sit down meals require a six month reservation and I don't know what my schedule is each day, I was not planning on doing a sit down meal. I MAY change my mind, but like I said I am concerned about the reservation. My top choices were Liberty Tavern, Chef Mickey's and 1900 at the Grand Floridian, but those are too crowded this time of year. If you can offer anymore advice on this let me know

6) I was planning on bringing both a poncho and a small umbrella in my backpack, so I have that covered

7) I realize that, hence why I am reading up on show and character schedules and try to make a plan that can be molded into the day's needs. I am mainly focusing on doing the iconic rides and shows and temporary entertainment, like Merida since it isn't know if she will become permanent or not. So basically, I am, like you said, writing down what I REALLY want to do and adding them to the list while keeping everything else open

I already have saved up many planning sites, including Allears.net, and I have friends that have helped me with this

9) Gotcha on that

10) I already know about the disappointing WDW parades, I might still do them since I have never done a Disney parade before, hence why I am working them onto my schedule

If you can find me schedules for the resort buses let me know, and thanks for the tip!

pap64 wrote:5) I think I will have a really good budget for food, but because sit down meals require a six month reservation and I don't know what my schedule is each day, I was not planning on doing a sit down meal. I MAY change my mind, but like I said I am concerned about the reservation. My top choices were Liberty Tavern, Chef Mickey's and 1900 at the Grand Floridian, but those are too crowded this time of year. If you can offer anymore advice on this let me know

Reservations aren't mandatory (with a couple of exceptions) and as I said it's easier doing walk-ins by yourself, but some other recommendations that might be easier to book now include:

- 50s Prime Time Cafe (strange service, but fun if you can get into the humour of it. You can always sit at the bar and order food even if you can't get a table)
- Sci-Fi Dine in Theater (more for dessert than a meal, but you won't find a place like this just anywhere)
- Chefs de France (when you're inside you don't really feel like you're in a theme park)
- Coral Reef (the food gets mixed review, but like the Sci-Fi the setting is very interesting)
- Hollywood Brown Derby (pricey, but nice, plus there's the Fantasmic! dinner package)
- Rose and Crown Pub (nothing fancy, but still good)

I'd stick to picking theme park restaurants since they work as a great mid-day break and there's no direct hotel-to-hotel bus service in WDW. However if you wanted more options an on-Monorail hotel would be a good choice as you'd only have to make one transfer when you get to MK.

Guest Relations at Epcot has a sign with all the reasturants and their availability posted outside which is really good when the park has over a dozen of them and you want to know which one you can get.

pap64 wrote:If you can find me schedules for the resort buses let me know, and thanks for the tip!

I'm not sure where they would be, but I think they start 1 hour before opening and go 2 hours after closing. The best place to confirm this would be the hotel's front desk staff.

I've about all of those, Flanger, and those are some good choices. 50's Prime Time cafe does sound good because the food there sounds good, but it has gotten mixed reviews from my friends. Plus... even I get that it is all an act, I REALLY don't want to be yelled at over silly stuff. Let's just say that my father is the kind of person that watches over everyone else's dish at the dinner table, and tends to either criticize or yell at people for not eating their food right. I have a REEEEEEEAAAALLLLLYYY short temper for that sort of behavior, so I am dropping 50's Prime Time cafe out of it.

The Sci-fi Dine in, however, sounds really nice and I like the atmosphere of it. I might do it if I have the time to do so.

As for the bus schedule, I'll be on the lookout for that when I get there. Once again thanks for the tips!

I JUST came back from Disney World.

Make sure you get pictures with all the characters, and you pretty much as long as your not with your family all the time do everything the park has to offer and then some...well maybe not literally everything but a good amount of things.

The only thing I can say that I did't get to do while I was at Disney World was The American Idol Experience.

Must Do's:

- Phantasm Show - Amazing
- Rockin Roller Coaster
- Tower of Terror
- Soarin'
- Animal Kingdom Safari
- Animal Kingdom Rollercoaster

Where to Eat:
- Earl of Sandwich (just for the expierence and taste)
- The Coral Reef ( MAKE RESERVATIONS!!)

Those are the two that stood out to me the most.

Anyway enjoy your time, don't like your age stop you from doing anything from seeing characters to flying the dumbo rides...it's all the expeirence and you'll have a great time.

Phantasm Show? Never heard of that before at WDW. What is that?

pap64 wrote:Phantasm Show? Never heard of that before at WDW. What is that?

I think he meant Fantasmic show in Hollywood/mgm

Ah. If that's the case, then Fantasmic is definitely on my list of must sees!

BUMP BUMP!

Just came back from Walt Disney World. IT... WAS... PHENOMENAL! My body, feet, back and legs are sore as all heck, but it was ALL worth it. The parks were incredible and more than met my expectations.

A full trip report will be coming soon, I will be resting in the next few days and try to get back to normalcy

I'm so glad that your dream came true, Pedro! It sounds like you had a fantastic time and I think you'll remember it for the rest of your life

Now that I am feeling rested, time for a TRIP REPORT!!!!

Day 1: Disney's Animal Kingdom

I arrived in Orlando at 5:00 AM, and was at Pop Century by 6. Before I dive into anything else, I just want to say how INCREDIBLE the service is at Disney. I have to thank my travel agent since she helped me out with everything, everything went butter smoothly. All I had to do was show my documents and I was set for the rest of the trip. Since I had been awake since 10:00 AM on Saturday, I decided to take a quick nap. I woke up at 10:00 AM feeling rested enough to head over to Animal Kingdom.

This day was FANTASTIC. I was honestly blown away by this time. Maybe it was because I had my expectations so low for it, but I loved how beautiful this park was, especially when it is raining (which I was lucky enough to experience). As I made my way in, I made Disney history by making " It's Tough to be a Bug" my very first attraction at Disney.... ever!

I really loved this attraction. I had not seen the attraction online, so I was able to fully experience all the effects, which were great. Afterwards, I walked by the place where you can meet Russell and Dug, and since the line for it was short, I decided to make them my very first meet and greet at Disney EVER! They were a ton of fun, especially Dug who gave me a lick when I hugged in. On that corner I met a cast member that was talking about lemurs, and she was super cute and super great. However, something funny happened: when she asked me in what movie could you see lemurs, the very first thing my mind said was "Madagascar", but because I didn't want to troll Disney on my first day, I said "Do you remember the old PBS show called Zooboomafoo?", and I dodged a bullet on the spot .

After this, I made my way over to Dinoland USA, which was my favorite place at Animal Kingdom. I rushed over to the theater in the wild to catch a show of the Finding Nemo musical, which I also loved. The effects were beautifully done, and I admit, when they started singing "Big Blue World", I got chills and teary eyed. Long story short, fantastic show to watch at Animal Kingdom.

Once the show was over, I explored Dinoland USA some more. In order to test the Fastpass system, I got one for Dinosaur. While waiting for my time, I found Pluto and Goofy doing meet and greets! They were my very first characters from Mickey and the gang! And they were GREAT! Pluto was super friendly, and Goofy was just hilarious, we did a high five, low five and a fist bump at the end.

My time for Dinosaur was coming up so I rushed over to the attraction, which I LOVED. Yes, it was super scary but oh so much fun. It really did feel like you were experiencing the extinction. The dinosaurs were also great, especially the big one that pops out of the dark.

When the ride was done, I made my way to Camp Mickey Minnie in order to see the Festival of the Lion King. But before I even got here, I stopped by the Winnie the Pooh meet and greet where I met Winnie, Eeyore and Tigger. I finally made my way to the show and it was fantastic. I didn't expect much out of it, but came out greatly surprised by how beautiful it all was. I especially loved the tumble monkeys and the "Be Prepared" segment.

I headed over to Camp Mickey Minnie, and unfortunately, most of the characters were gone. However, Baloo and King Louie were there, and they were easily my favorite meet and greet at Animal Kingdom. Baloo was very funny, I danced with King Louie while Baloo was signing my book. I even told them that they should have been on the Lion King show, which they got a huge kick out of. The short of it... I loved them

I walked then to Africa and caught one of the safaris. I really enjoyed this one, especially how it is a very laid back and relaxed attraction. Unfortunately, they took out the poacher storyline out of it, so I was disappointed by that.

I took the train to Rafiki's Planet Watch which was very nice. I got to meet Rafiki there, and some of the exhibits they had there were very cool.

Now here's where the story gets really, really cool. I had to meet some friends over at Downtown Disney at 6 or so. At 5:30, I had yet to do anything on Asia. I declared myself a crazy challenge: make my way over to Asia and do Kali River Rapids and Expedition Everest and end the day before 6. I was blessed because both rides were walk ons, especially Everest which was a five minute wait.

Kali River Rapids was super fun, and when we got to the bumpy parts, I started singing "Just around the riverbend" to a boat full of strangers... It was awesome!

Everest was also great, but there was one part when riding backwards where the ride turned sour for me. You take such a hard turn left in the dark backwards that I felt it on my stomach, chest and back. I was doing fine, joking, screaming "OH NOES WE ARE DEAD!", but we got to that part and I was like "STOP IT THIS ISN'T FUN ANYMORE!". Regardless, I loved this ride so much that it became the most talked about story of my trip: the infamous Everest story.

In conclusion, Animal Kingdom was wonderful. In retrospect, it is my third favorite of the trip (Magic Kingdom being first, Hollywood Studios second, and EPCOT fourth), but it was so beautifully designed that it was a fantastic way to start my vacation.

Stay tuned for the Hollywood Studios trip report!

I also really wanted to share this picture that has become the image that best represents the trip:

So glad you had a great time! I love trip reports like that, it makes a true fan misty-eyed to read them.

I think that people who haven't been to wdw should avoid all of th eonline videos. It kind of spoils things a bit. Its good to have some idea of what you are getting into but you should wait to experience things for yourself, just my opinion.

Can't wait to read your next part!

Thank you so much!

Here is my report for day 2!

But first...

After I was done with Animal Kingdom on Sunday, I went back to my resort, refreshed myself, and made my way to Downtown Disney. The reason why... I went to meet some friends! The very first one was none only that Kelvin Celdeno aka Disneykid on UD! We had dinner at Earl of Sandwhich (which was DELICIOUS), and while we were having dinner, our friend Brent Dodge popped out of nowhere and surprised us! We hung out, saw the Art of Disney and World of Disney stores and ended the day with a showing of Brave (which I loved)

Now...

Day 2: Disney's Hollywood Studios

On this day, I woke up super early to make sure I a lot of the attractions, especially Toy Story Midway Mania. I met up with Brent at the entrance and made our way to Toy Story Midway Mania and caught the very early short line (which was like 15 minutes or so). I LOVED this attraction. At first, I thought it was going to be super overrated with all the lines forming each day, and especially since it is a shooting game. But I LOVED how well designed it was. I was caught by surprise by how fast the carts move you around the building. The 4D effects were also great. Since Brent was the expert in this, he won, but I had a blast on this.

After this, we made our way over to Tower of Terror, which I also loved. I admit, I was worried about it, but by the end of it I had a huge grin on m face. The detail is fantastic throughout, from the lobby to the intro with Rod Sterling.

Once this attraction was done and over with, we stopped to have a quick snack, and this is where I met Kelvin once again. Since our Fastpasses for Midway Mania weren't due, we killed time by watching the Beauty and the Beast show. I really love this rendition of the story, especially "Be our guest. We then returned to Pixar Studios where I met Buzz and Woody before boarding Midway Mania once again. I can't state enough how much I love meet and greets at Disney. When I told Buzz that he was my favorite of the two, Woody got very jealous. On my second game on Midway Mania, I won!

Then, we HAD to do this attraction: The Great Movie Ride! With me being such a classic movie fanatic, this was a must. Best of all, we got to see the Singin' in the Rain trailer before we boarded our car! I love, love, LOVE Singin' in the Rain, so it was great that we got to see it. I enjoyed the attraction greatly, our host was pretty good, and we got the male gangster!

Once done with this, we went to the Animation Courtyard and saw Art of Animation. I enjoyed this part of Hollywood Studios, especially the drawing session with the animator. Not only did we get to draw Pluto... I won't the animator's drawing by answering his trivia question!!! This made my whole afternoon! I still have my drawings that I hope to frame soon.

Because I was in a meet and greet mood, Kelvin and I stopped by the Incredibles meet and greet where we hung out with Mr. Incredible and Frozone. Once again, this meet and greet was fantastic. While we were waiting in line, Frozone was making fun of Bob since he had a big got while Frozone had a six pack. When it was my turn, I grabbed my belly and said "This is where all my muscles lie!", which sent everyone into hysterics. I took a picture of Bob and I holding our bellies in pride. Afterwards, I said to Frozone to say hi to Honey for me, and he seemed genuinely surprised that I knew that about him. We then did some of the games they had around.

Here's another great story: while we were doing the animation exhibit, a girl stopped us and asked us this...

"Would you guys like Fastpasses for Rock N' Rollercoaster? We can't use ours". And they were valid! We got lucky, lucky, lucky! With our Fastpasses in hand, we made our way over into the attraction, but not before we ran into the citizens of Hollywood as they were doing the funniest citizen skit! They were hilarious, and it's a shame we didn't get to see the whole show.

We then boarded Rock N' Rollercoaster. Now, I am not a big coaster guy, so when I heard that this had a loop de loop, I freaked out a bit, but then everyone assured to me that this ride was super fun and very smooth. By then of it, they were right! I came out with a big grin on my face.

It then started to rain. Since we had Fastpasses for Voyage of the Little Mermaid, we saw the One Man's Dream exhibit, which was worth it to see the rare stuff like the multiplane camera and the new Fantasyland expansion model.

Then we saw the Little Mermaid show. It was good to see it just for the special effects, but I think the Beauty and the Beast show did a better job at condensing the whole movie into 25 minutes. Plus, the mermaid show relied too much on film clips. Still it was great seeing it!

Afterwards, we rushed over to Muppetvision 3D. It was a great show, but I think it is in dire need of refurbishment since the penguin orchestra didn't seem to animate that well, and one of the screens with the fireworks was broken, so it displayed fireworks even if it wasn't the finale.

We then rode Star Tours, which was a blast. I actually rode this two times, the first one was really good, but the second one was the absolute best. Not only were we seated in places where we felt the motion better, the segments we got then were more intense and flat out hilarious!

When the ride was over, Kelvin and I decided to chill and have dinner at Pizza Planet. The best part was that Kelvin got the green tray which netted him a free Pizza Planet mug! Then, we just explored around the studios since the other shows (such as Indiana Jones, the car stunt show, and studio tour) were done by this time. This was worth it because I got to sit in the same car Bob Hoskins did when he was filming the Benny the cab scenes!

At 10:00, we walked to the second showing of Fantasmic... which was PACKED. We were stunned that the second showing had so many people in it. But we got lucky once again as Brent knew how to walk his way through the thick crowds. We even cut in front of a lady who yelled at us. "YOU GUYS ARE RUNNING, THERE'S NO NEED TO RUN!!" she said, and we could care less. This helped us get the best seats in the place!!

Fantasmic was BEAUTIFUL. It was exciting seeing all of it play live, but I was honestly moved by the finale, and was in tears by the time Mickey said "Some imagination, huh?". When it was over, we explored the shops a bit, and called it a day.

Overall, Hollywood Studios was an amazing park, my second favorite park at Disney. I just love how it manages to include thrill rides for the adults and stuff for the kids to do, yet have everything have a Disney magic to it all. I also love the theme of classic Hollywood.

Now for the biggest trip report of all... Magic Kingdom on my birthday!

Love your trip reports so far, pap! I'm so happy to hear that you had a wonderful time. I'm really looking to reading your report on my favorite park at the resort!

Now... it's time for the biggest trip report of all...

MY BIRTHDAY AT THE MAGIC KINGDOM!

On this day, I got up at 7:00 AM, I ate a small breakfast in my room and made it to the Magic Kingdom by 8:30, where I met Disneykid. After we saw the opening of the park show, we made it through the entrance where I met for the first time Reuben, aka KramNeuber on UD, after he got out of work! It was a great meeting, but what happened after was epic...

The guys agreed that the reveal of the castle would be more epic if we took one of the Main Street vehicles. The horse drawn trolley was not around, but the car was. I heard that it was supposedly one of the rare vehicles you can used on Main Street, so we decided to take it. Now, the guys set it up like this, at the right time I would look into the distance and see the castle for the first time in my life. I looked up... and there it was, Cinderella's castle!

I was honestly floored by the size of it. I had read and seen online just how big the castle is, but nothing prepares you to how huge it is when you see it in person. I was honestly moved to the point of extreme tears. It truly was a dream come true for me seeing the castle, something that I've had in my heart ever since I was a kid.

When we arrived at the castle, we got lucky that you could go through it as usually they close off the entrance to Fantasyland in order to prepare for the Dream Along with Mickey show. We go through the castle and enter Fantasyland for the first time. Since I wanted to meet Merida, we rushed over to her meet and greet because we knew that it would get insanely crowded later in the day. But before we got to the meet and greet, we spotted the Tremaine Family behind the castle! . We didn't do the greet there because they were going to take a break. Then we did the Merida meet and greet. She... was... AWESOME. First, she didn't do a regular entrance like the other characters did. Instead what she did is that she came bolting out of the entrance and started asking everyone if they had seen her brothers the baby bears. We finally got to her, and what I did was vow to her (I vowed to all Disney royalty ). Her reaction afterwards was great. Because she isn't into the whole royalty thing, she did her curtsey in an awkward manner, like, "People don't remind me I am a princess!". I then told her to not worry, that I wasn't a suitor looking for her hand in marriage, and that we share the same passion for adventures. Merida soon changed her tune and became very friendly, always calling me the birthday boy .

After this meet and greet, we made our way back to the Tremaine family. They were also great. Anastasia in particular took a liking to me and Reuben (he is a baker after all ), and I told them how I was excited to have met them.

We then made our way to Dumbo the Flying Elephant in honor to the fact that my very first Disney movie ever was Dumbo. The new area was beautiful and really into the spirit of the film. This was also on the New Fantasyland area, which I got to see a lot of. I think the Storybook Circus area isn't finished because some of the tents weren't finished.

Afterwards, we went back to the main Fantasyland area where we watched Philharmagic, a beautiful show which had me in tears by the end. Reuben, unfortunately, was very tired from working all night, so we parted ways. Disneykid and I then did all of the attractions at Fantasyland, ending with the Mad Tea Party.

Now, this is where the day gets REALLY interesting. Once we were done with it's a small world, it started to rain. We took some shelter on the Village Haus (which was pakced with people trying to escape the rain). Because we had a Fastpass for Winnie the Pooh, we braved the rain. I used my umbrella while Disneykid used my poncho.

With the Mad Tea Party done, we went to Tomorrowland, where most of the attractions were over 40 minutes long. We agreed to do Tomorrowland at night because that's when it really comes to life, and after Wishes it is pretty much the best place to be at. However, we did do Carrousel of Progress. The attraction was fun and hilarious, both in its intentional and unintentional humor, like the way John Progress animated weirdly on some cases.

With this show over, it was A DOWNPOUR. The Magic Kingdom was flooded with water, a lot of the streets being flooded with water. At this point, the early shows for Dream Along, Celebrate a Dream Come True and Move It were canceled, we made our way over to the Theater to meet the princesses since it was a 35 minute wait in comparison to the hour wait for Mickey.

This is why I believe that every cloud has a silver lining and that everything happens for a reason. Had it not been for the rain, I would have missed the meet and greet, which turned out to be one of the best of the day. My very first Disney Princess was none other than Cinderella! She was super lovely, which sent my heart a flutter in the wildest way possible.

Then we met Belle. I was surprised at how super friendly she was. She noticed that I was wearing a blue shirt, which reminded her of the outfit Beast wears when they go dancing. Then, I told her my favorite book was Don Quijote. I explained to her what it was about, and she said that she might have to check Beast's library to see if he has it.

Finally, we met Rapunzel. Now, in the past this is where you meet Aurora. But because we is so popular right now, they decided to put Aurora right next to Guest Relations, and have Rapunzel in her spot, that way guests can pick up a Fastpass for the princesses and secure a place to meet Rapunzel, even if the line for her is super long. Rapunzel was great, very curious and excited to meet us.

When we got out of the theater, we picked a Fastpass for Mickey and Minnie, and decided to wait what they were going to do for the parade, Due to the rain, the parade was canceled. HOWEVER, we did get the rainy day parade which I heard is super rare at Disney, happening like 2 to 3 times A YEAR. Plus, I LOVED this parade. There were a ton of rare characters out, and they were singing "Singin' in the Rain", which made my whole day.

Once this was done and over with, we headed over to Guest Relations to see if Aurora was going to do her meet and greet. I began to worry, but once the parade was over, she came out. She was also super friendly and very lovely. We talked about how it was my first time on the kingdom, and how hard it is to sleep when there is so much going on.

Disneykid and I then headed over to the train station where we stopped at Frontierland and see how Splash Mountain was doing. The line for it was super long so we picked a Fastpass, and spent the rest of the day at Adventureland. We did Pirates of the Caribbean, The Enchanted Tiki Room and Magic Carpets. We wanted to do Jungle Cruise, but the wait for it was 40 minutes, and we couldn't pick a Fastpass yet. So we decided to just chill and have a Citrus Swirl courtesy of the Orange Bird!

While at Adventureland, we caught a bit of the hoedown going on at Frontierland. This was worth doing because you see a ton of rare characters out, like the Country Bears, the Song of the South characters, Horace Horsecollar and Clarabelle Cow. I even danced with them!

Having done with Adventureland, we finally made our way to Frontieland where we did the Country Bears before we did Splash Mountain. The show was cute, but I prefer Tiki Room over the bears, even if I love the character design and appreciate that it still exists at Disney. Splash Mountain was easily my favorite ride at Frontierland, maybe even all the Magic Kingdom. I just love how it is a dark ride, a Disney movie based ride and a thrill ride all in one.

In order to dry up, we rushed over to Big Thunder Mountain. The line said 60 minutes, but it moved super, super fast, so by 7:20 PM we were in. While in line, I got a call from the one and only Disney Villain! When we were done with Big Thunder we made our way to Liberty Square we I met Mike! Then we rode on Haunted Mansion. The attraction was wonderful, and there were so many details I am sure I missed some.

Once done with this, I said my good byes to Disney Villain and hung out at Liberty Square, and caught a showing of the Hall of Presidents, which I liked. By the time it was over, it was 9:00, so Disneykid and I just stuck around and watched the Main Street Electrical Parade! Done with this, we went back to the Castle to see Magic, Memories and You and Wishes, both of which were great and had me in extreme tears by the end.

At 10:00 PM, guests were leaving the park, so we went back to Tomorrowland as planned. Here we met up with Brent and did Buzz Lightyear, Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, and ended the day with Space Mountain. Tomorrowland was easily was my second land at the Magic Kingdom. I love the atmosphere of it, especially at night.

But we didn't end it right then and there. We went back to Fantasyland where we met our friend Alex, the Canadian Cast Member! After our meet, we went back to Main Street where we had the All American sundae. It was DELICIOUS. Unfortunately, this was Disneykid's last day at Disney, so I said my good byes to him, letting him know that it was great to have him with me on my birthday.

In short, I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend my birthday. Were there any inconveniences? Of course there were! Did we do EVERY show and attraction? No we didn't! But did I care? HECK NO! I had dreamed of this day for over 30 years, I wasn't gonna let rain and inconveniences ruin it for me or Disneykid. So much had happened on this day that the best outweighted the bad, and made a ton of memories.

Having been to both DL & WDW more times than I can count I confess to having become somewhat "old hat" with the whole experience; that's why I'm getting such a rush experiencing the parks again through your "virgin" eyes. Love the reports, pap!

Wow pap wow pap, wow pap! Sounds like you had an amazing, in-credible time, and for your birthday of all times!!!!!!!!!

So it really was a dream come true. lol

I am so, so, so glad you had that much of a good time and that much fun on your trip, after 30 years of wanting to go. It sounds like your inconveniences really weren't inconveniences at all. They didn't deter the wonderfulness at all! And you really made it magical with the way you saw, viewed, and felt everything.

I have a question though, it sounds like you met someone named Bob? Did I miss who that was or you didn't meet someone like that and I just...I dunno?

And I didn't know Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor was in Tomorrowland. That doesn't make enough sense. That should be Hollywood Studios instead I think.

Thanks for the kind words you guys! It makes me happy to know that the reports have been very entertaining.

Duster, the Bob I am talking about is Bob Parr, aka Mr. Incredible.

I've been delaying this report for far to long, so here we go!

Day 4: EPCOT

Now, this was the day I decided to take is slow and relax. I had spent three epic days at the parks going on rides, walking around like a mad man, going on rollercoasters (including the infamous emotional rollercoasters ) and packing in as much fun in 12 hours or more each day. I HAD to rest and sleep for my sake. So what I did is that I woke up at 10:00 AM, went down to Everything Pop at Pop Century, had a big breakfast, and by 1:00 PM I was out the door.

EPCOT was unfortunately the park I got to do the least things at. By the time I arrived, the Fastpasses for Soarin' were gone, Test Track was still under refurbishment, and there just didn't seem to do that much stuff. However, I decided to take it slow so I just took in the atmosphere of World Showcase, which was easily my favorite part of the park.

Since I really wanted to meet Belle and the Beast I made my way over to France. On the way, I signed up to play a quick game of Agent P's World Showcase Adventure! I figured that since I was going to be exploring France anyway, I might as well use this as an excuse to play at least one park game. The game was quite fun, but it was worth it just to see Perry the Platypus zip line across France!

While playing the game, I met up with Marie from The Aristocats. Once the game was over I made my way down to see Belle and the Beast. BEAST. WAS. AWESOME! It was my dream to meet my favorite Disney characters, Beast being one of them. He was super happy that I told him that he was my favorite. He hugged me, he gave me a high five, and Belle enjoyed every minute of it.

With this meet and greet done, I went over to Morocco to meet Aladdin and Jasmine, another one of my favorites. Since they weren't out yet, I explored Morocco a bit, which turned out to be one of my favorite places at EPCOT. I just love how you enter this place and get lost in the tunnels and shops. For a minute you forget that you are in a park in Florida. At 4:20, Aladdin and Jasmine finally came out. Both of them were very awesome. Aladdin was happy to know that he was one of my favorite heroes alongside the Beast, I asked them if Agrabah was as hot as Florida, and when I told them I was from Puerto Rico, Aladdin asked if I had taken a big giant carpet ride to EPCOT.

Afterwards, I rushed all the way to China to meet Mulan. Now, this was a very lucky day for me for many reasons. When I arrived it started to rain, so Mulan lead a parade inside the building where she continued her meet and greet. Turns out that once I got in the line, it was closed and no one else could get in. I also met up with Brent once again. Turns out that he is good friends with Mulan. Her meet and greet was awesome. When I handed in my autograph book, I had her signed right next to Merida's page. She then said that it was great that I got to meet Merida, and that the two of them were always hanging out and she was giving archery lessons to her.

I then told Mulan that Merida was once asked on YouTube who would win in a fight, Mulan or her. That shocked Mulan, however, I told her that Merida has answered that she wouldn't fight her, that they would support each other and have each other's back. Mulan then said that "us warrior princesses gotta stick together and prove that we don't need princes to be saved!". Later after the meet and greet I learned from Brent that this was this Mulan's very last meet and greet at Disney ever, so I got lucky that I was one of the last guests to experience her. I told Brent than if he ever talked to "Mulan" again, to tell her that she did a fantastic job that day.

Done with Mulan, Brent and I headed down to Journey into Imagination, because it was about to close. On the way there, we discovered something funny and random: Duffy the Disney Bear walking away from his meet and greet area with an umbrella being escorted by his character host. I thought that was hilarious and adorable. I just love these sort of random moments at Disney where you could be walking down the street and BOOM, random character encounter, musical number or a Cast Member being awesome.

We finally rode Journey into Imagination. Now because Soarin' didn't have a Fastpass, and the wait for it was 80 minutes long, and Test Track was under refurbishment, Journey into Imagination wins the favorite attraction at EPCOT award. I loved Figment and seeing Eric Idle in the attraction. I also loved the song that played throughout.

After Figment, we saw Captain EO. The movie was great, and so were the new 3D and theater effects they installed for this new version of the movie. It reminded me a lot of the movie Moonwalker. In fact, you could put Captain EO into the movie and it would fit. It was also super cheesy and super 80s. I loved that.

Finally, Brent and I headed down to the Universe of Energy. Because the attraction was 45 minutes long, Brent had to leave to attend some business. I love Ellen so it was great to see her. My favorite part was the dinosaur world, if only because I got to see animatronic Ellen XD.

With Universe of Energy done, I made my way over to The Seas with Nemo and Friends, but not before having a Mickey Ice Cream bar! The attraction was very cute, and I loved how they integrated the character animation with the real life fish in the tank. Then, I headed over to see Turtle Talk with Crush, which was also very cute.

I made my way over to The Land pavillion. Again, Soarin' was super long, so I went on the agricultural boat ride instead. Since it was almost 9, I made my way to the Canada pavillion to see Illuminations. I really liked the show. I liked how it integrated all the pavillions and especially the music. But I didn't like the middle at all, when all it is is the globe floating around showing images. It drags the whole show for me, especially since it has a great beginning and an amazing finale.

With the show over, I decided to just walk around World Showcase at night, which was beautiful to say the least. I saw a bit of Via Napoli, Japan and such, and because I hadn't done so during my trip, I rode the Monorail.

Now, the Monorail was super fun, but also inspired one of the most interesting stories of the trip. When I was riding, I thought it was going to do a stop on the Magic Kingdom, then come back to EPCOT. It turns out that this Monorail stopped at the Magic Kingdom and ended the day there, so we all had to step out. I got very lost at the Magic Kingdom's parking lot, and three different Cast Members told me three different things. I was tired and beginning to get frustrated. Then someone FINALLY tells me what to do, and they told me to board a Monorail to the Magic Kingdom where I could catch a bus to my resort there.

This ride was very much worth it because I got to see Wishes play from afar, we drove by the Contemporary resort and Chef Mickey's, I saw the Magic, the Memories and You from afar, and I saw a bit of the Electric Water Pageant!

I didn't have anything to worry about after all, my bus was there and it quickly took me to my resort.

EPCOT day was great, even though I did very little in terms of shows and attraction. But I did meet my favorite characters ever, I saw a great fireworks show (middle act be damned), World Showcase was stunning and I went on a Monorail adventure afterwards. The thing I love about Disney is that it truly is YOUR vacation and how you spend it. A lot of planning sites pretty much demand you to be planning nazis and map out every single show, attraction and character, but this EPCOT trip proved that I can miss out on some shows and attractions and still have the time of my life there.