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7/13-7/15 Quick Trip TR


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I have not done a TR in a long time, so here is a quick little TR for our short trip.

I decided to buy AP's again this year as we have a week at Thanksgiving reserved and a week at Spring Break and we probably will sneak in another summer trip next year. We have not taken a vacation this summer other than a few day trips to the Smokies. My wife just started a new job was unsure that she could take a Friday off, but luck was on her side and she got the day. So I loaded up the new truck on Thursday morning, picked her up at 4pm, and we were southbound at 4:05. It was a pretty uneventful trip south. We made 1 food stop and 1 bathroom break. We rolled into her parent's house in Hamlin Cove (just off 429) 8.5 hours after we left. We crashed into bed with plans on rope dropping AK the next morning.

The next morning came early, but the sky was blue and we were officially on vacation at Disney. We headed to AK, parked right up front using our little blue wheelchair hangtag, and rolled right into the guest services line to pick up our AP's. There was a huge line which took forever. So rope drop happened while we were waiting. So no FoP for us that day. We finally made it in and decided to hit the safari. We basically walked right on without a FP. The animals were out in force this morning. We probably saw more than any other time. The highlight was an ostrich that was basically chasing our truck. It would run around it, duck into the bushes, then pop back out for another go. The kids thought it was hilarious.

After our safari we headed over to Everest. Bode had a "too short FP" from last year. He was tall enough now, so we cashed it in. We were on in minutes. The wife sat this out since her back is jacked up now. Unfortunately, Bode didn't like Everest. I think he was unprepared for how fast it is. That was his last ride on it for the trip. After Everest we headed to the boneyard. We let him run around for a while and build an appetite. We then cruised around for a bit then ate at Flametree as soon as they opened. It was really good too. We then decided to head back to the house to rest a bit and sit out the midday heat.

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1 hour ago, h2odivers...Ray said:

I’m in.  

i wish we lived closer to be able to take a quick weekend trip.  

Too short FP?

never heard of it.  But it’s a pretty cool idea.   

did you happen to catch the wait times for FoP when you got in?

have you ridden it before?

If a kid is too short they hand out a card that gets you and your family in the FP line when they finally meet the mark.

FoP was already 120+ when we were in. We have ridden it several times, but Bode hadn't.

1 hour ago, twiceblessed....nacole said:

Here.  Still impressed, that y'all make these weekend trips.   You mentioned house... didn't you store your rig down there or am I confusing you with another Fiend?

I did store it when we had 3 consecutive trips in 2017. My inlaws live a few miles north of MK now. It is about a 5-10 minute drive. They live in the new Hamlin development just north of Summerlake.

15 minutes ago, CoachClough said:

Im in.  

 

Is the new truck dreamy?  So jealous you're able to make these short trips.  Look forward to hearing more...

The new truck is quite fine. More to come...

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17 hours ago, slices said:

I'm in. Wish I could do weekend trips, it's not the distance that's an issue but the time taken setting up tents, for me.

 

1 hour ago, kadancer said:

A weekend trip once a month is my DS's greatest wish.  We would need to be ALOT closer for that to happen....Great start!

Its a lot of driving, but it seems worth it when we finally arrive.

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Moving on...

We chilled at the house for a while to let the kids rest plus my wife needed some time to rest her back. Later that evening we loaded up and headed back to AK. I had a ADR for Rain Forest. We arrived about 15 minutes before our ADR, but we were seated quickly. Dinner was typical Rain Forest. I always get the pastalaya, which is pretty dang good considering. My wife had a big appetizer platter. The only thing that annoyed me was being charged $17 for 1 margarita. I had to buy a collector cup. They didn't mention this when I ordered nor would they take it off of the bill. Also the AP discount is not so good here. It only applies to entrees. So my $100 bill had a $5 discount....fail.

After dinner we hit some rides. The girls and I rode EE again. Bode sat it out. We got some drinks and let the kids play in the boneyard for a while. The girls rode Primeval Whirl while Bode and I rode the little dumbo type ride. He wasn't tall enough to whirl. I also bought some tickets so he could play some of the midway type games. That was a lot of fun for him.

As darkness closed in we headed to Pandora. This was our first time there at night. I really liked it. The visuals and sounds are really well done. We had a FP for the boat ride. I like that ride, but it is a little short. We had intentions of jumping on FoP right at park closing at 10pm. But the line at 945 the line was still way back there, so we decided to wait until later. We left the parking lot about 10pm. We really enjoyed AK at night. That was the first time we had been in the park at night. We also caught a bit of the tree projection show. It was a pretty good day at AK.

Next up HS at rope drop and the evening at MK

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4 hours ago, DaveInTN said:

Arriving late at night is fine, but hitting rope drop the next morning takes your insanity to the next level. 

We are rope dropping fools

2 hours ago, Tony said:

In! off to a great start thanks for sharing!

Thanks

1 hour ago, Grumpy and Grandma said:

Who said FIENDs were sane?....🙄

None that I've met are....

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Moving on to Saturday...we had FP's for MK that evening. So we headed over to HS for rope drop (rope drop for non Disney guests). I figured since extra magic hours were that morning that we would not have much luck riding Slinky Dog, but we were going to give it a shot. We got in line about 730 and were not too far back. They did not have an AP line open. They started letting people in at 8, and we probably scanned through about 810. We walked briskly all of the way back to Slinky Dog and went right into the covered portion of the queue. We probably waited 20 minutes total. Everyone of us liked it. I think they did a good job with the level of thrill for all ages. Bode really liked it. I liked the tight corners the best, and everyone else liked the humps after the 2nd launch.

After Slinky Dog we walked over to TSM. The sign said 15 minutes, but we were on in about 10. I had the high score with 198,000. They never beat me :) After TSM the kids went to ride the saucers while we had a pastry at the lunchbox. The kids decided to bail on the saucers when they got a good look at them. Their consensus was "it looks boring and not worth the 30 minutes wait". I had to agree. So we exited the land and headed for Star Tours. We walked right on without stopping. After Star Tours we headed to R&RRC. Bode isn't tall enough so he sat it out with my wife. The wait was showing 30 min, but we did the single rider line. We were all on the same limo in 8 minutes. After that we headed over to the Frozen show, but not without some shopping, storm trooper interaction, and a margarita for me. Watching Frozen with a good margarita is the way to do it. :)

After Frozen we had lunch and then headed for the gate. It was after 12 by then and we were wanting a break. So we headed for the house.

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Moving on to Saturday evening. We headed to MK. We entered about 6 pm and again the crowds were not terrible. We headed straight to PoTC. This was our first trip since the refurb. I noticed that the first beach scene was changed. No more mermaid skeleton or mermaids in the water. Also the initial projection in the fog curtain wasn't playing. Does anyone know if it is permanently gone or what?

After PoTC we took a break at Pecos Bill's for some dinner. I used the mobile ordering again and skipped a decent sized line. I'm liking the mobile ordering. I had the fajita platter. It was decent...better than taco bell by a large margin. 

After stuffing ourselves we headed back across the park to ride Space Mtn. Bode wasn't up for another fast coaster so he went with mom and pawpaw to the Laugh Floor. We both finished up about the same time. 

I should have planned our FP's better,  because we tracked back across to ride Big Thunder. Bode absolutely loves it. Truthfully, we all do. It ranks up there in our top 5 of any park. After Big Thunder we cruised around a bit then we left the kids with the grandparents. The wife and I headed over to Territory Lounge for a few drinks and some quiet time. It was a good end to our last full day. 

Our view on the boat leaving MK. I will never tire of this view.

 

Collage 2018-07-29 17_09_40.jpg

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Ok I am going to wrap this one up.

Sunday was a travel home day, but we wanted to get in a little more fun before heading home. We wanted to get in a FoP ride. So we rope dropped AK. The park was opening at 9 this morning. We rolled through the gate at 745. We went through security fairly quickly and got a spot in line. We were probably 20' back from the scanners. About 830 they started letting people through. We walked and pushed the chair as quickly as traffic would allow toward Pandora. The had a rope pulled at the bridge. We were right past the Nomad Lounge entrance when we came to a stop. We stayed there for about 20 minutes. A little before 9 they pulled the rope. We made our way to FoP with a horde of people. The going was slow, but we never stopped moving until we went down the ramp to enter the preshow rooms. We were standing on our assigned dots a few minutes after 9. I was really surprised how many people that ride can take. We were out by 920. The wait time was showing well over an hour by then. It pays to be there early.

So this was Bode's first ride, and he absolutely loved it. It is really well done. After FoP we hightailed it out of there and headed to Epcot. I had some FP's for Soarin'. We got to Epcot, and it took forever to get through security. That's the first time we waited so long. It was probably a good 15 to 20 minutes. Once in Epcot we made our way to The Land. Soarin' is great, but it loses a little something right after riding FoP lol. But we all still enjoyed it. After that the girls were jonesing hard for some Starbucks. So we waited another 10 minutes or so for coffee. We walked around for a bit then decided to head to WL for lunch.

We arrived at WL and took advantage of the free valet parking with a handicap placard. That sure makes things easier. I had been wanting a Wilderness Salad from RF all weekend long. The food was good, and I hung out in the lobby for a bit while the girls shopped. Sadly, this was our last stop on property. We headed back to Hamlin Cove, packed up, and were on the road by 2 pm. The drive home was pretty uneventful except for some bad storms around the ATL. We pulled into the driveway at 10. I was tired,  but it was good little trip. Much better than sitting at home.

So the TL/DR version is 2.5 days in the parks, hit all 4 parks, saw TSL and rode SD, first time on FoP for Bode, and hit most of our favorite attractions.

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  • 3 months later...
On 7/31/2018 at 4:31 PM, ImDownWithDisney said:

Ok I am going to wrap this one up.

We arrived at WL and took advantage of the free valet parking with a handicap placard. That sure makes things easier.

Interesting. I know years ago, there was free valet with handicap, but for some reason I thought they discontinued the free handicapped valet.

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