My First Solo Walt Disney World Trip : Day 7

By Nick

Thursday, January 7th, 2016

Up early and packed, I headed for the Magic Kingdom and grabbed a quick breakfast at Main Street Bakery/Starbucks, before heading back down Main Street towards the front of the park in a sort of happy to be going home but sad to be leaving daze to take a ride on the Walt Disney World Railroad. This is a great way to get some fantastic shots of what is becoming one of my favorite rides in WDW, due to the fact I can apparently ride it over and over and not get motion sick, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

It remained cloudy through the entire morning, which matched my disposition perfectly, and I aimlessly wandered into shops and onto rides, pausing for a Dole Whip along the way.

I used my FastPass for Pirates before heading to Pecos Bills for lunch followed by another ride around the park on the train. I took a ride on the People Mover and made an executive decision.
I would go into Stitch's Great Escape. I know, insanity, but at least I was alone, so nobody else was getting hurt.

Look, it isn't that bad, up until the chili dog burp. If you have subjected yourself to this experience, you know what I mean. If you haven't been on this...I beg you, don't do it.  It's a smell that sticks to you ALL DAY. As I type this, the smell is coming back to me and I'm wreching a bit. I love Stitch, and as a matter of fact, I was wearing a Stitch tee shirt that day, but that smell ruins what would be an otherwise innocuous experience! GAH!

 The one bright spot to going into that attraction was the sun was shining when I emerged.

I took one last ride on Seven Dwarfs Mine Train before heading back to the Polynesian and on to the airport.

Final analysis of my first solo trip: It was fun, but odd. It was fine being able to go where I wanted when I wanted, but I was lonely often. At least I met a lot of wonderful new friends and spent time with old ones.

Would I do it again? Yes. In fact I'll be back down in a few weeks during the Princess Half Marathon Weekend with my Disney Exchange Podcast co-hosts Lisa and Dave, and as an extra bonus, my wife's cousin Jill and her husband Zach will be down at the same time, so I won't really be alone. If you are there at the same time and see me, please say hello!

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6

Wordless Wednesday: Unforgettable

 

For the story behind these photos: http://disneymusings.blogspot.com/2013/07/disney-character-surprise-story-behind.html

Trip Report: October 11th-October 17th 2014 - Part 5

by Nick

Wednesday, October 15th

I woke up with a sore throat and felt run down, but was otherwise fine. But I know, when I get that twinge in the back of my throat, a cold or worse isn't far behind.

This was our at sea day and we had nothing planned. We decided to have breakfast at the Royal Palace, which started at 8am.
While we waited for it to open, we took a walk around the Dream taking photos of Halloween decorations as well as the beautiful morning, which would turn gray and rainy later in the day.

One of the reasons I'd wanted to have breakfast at the Royal Palace was I wanted to take photos, which I hadn't done on our previous visit the evening before.

There are many nice touches, honoring the Disney Princesses.

Even the backs of the chairs featured icons paying homage to the princesses.

Breakfast was standard fair. I had the Disney Cruise Line Breakfast trio which consisted of a Waffle, Pancake, and piece of French Toast as well as bacon. I also asked for a side of sausage. Barbie had the Peanut Butter and Jelly Pancake, and a hashbrown. Savory and Sweet for both of us.

We then returned to our stateroom to pack. We both agree, in the future, a 4 day cruise is not long enough. It felt like we had just gotten settled in, and it was time to pack and get off the ship.

We decided to check out the Animation, Creating a Character program at D Lounge. It was a lot of fun. A Cast Member showed clips of Disney Animated movies, as well as Walt Disney.

In between clips, we were shown how to draw Stitch...

...and Olaf.

After this class, we grabbed a snack in Cabanas. Barbie headed back to the stateroom to nap, while I signed up for a Mixology course located in the Skyline Lounge, in the adults only section of the Dream, known as The District.
It was really a great bit of fun, and, as another participant pointed out, at $15, the cheapest way to get drunk enjoy alcoholic beverages on the cruise.
We made 5 different mixed drinks, and I'll write a full review of this highly recommended experience, as well as the Skyline in a future post.

 

I returned to our stateroom and showered. This was Formal evening, and we both decided, as we had packed already, that we would skip dinner at Animator's Palate, as we had breakfast scheduled there the next morning.

We went to the 6:15 show of Disney's Believe in the Walt Disney Theater. This was by far the best show we'd seen on this or our previous Disney Cruise.
The story of a daughter who believes in magic, and her skeptical scientifically minded father, who is helped to see the error of his ways by the Genie and many beloved Disney characters, it has many a touching and memorable moments, and this is the only show we've seen that I honestly would say is not to be missed.

Right after the show was pin trading with members of the crew, and we got a few great pins from different Disney cruises around the world.

Immediately following this we watched The Pumpkin Tree come alive in the Lobby Atrium, the culmination of the Halloween on the High Seas events. Please stop back Friday for a more in depth look at the Halloween on the High Seas events that we attended.

When we returned to our stateroom for the evening, I called guest services to find out what time we should board Magical Express in the morning. I was told no later than 8:50am.
Our second seating breakfast at Animators Palate was at 8am. As I didn't really think it was actually feasible to eat, disembark, and find our luggage in 50 minutes, I asked if we could please change to the earlier 6:45 seating. I was told no. So, we decided we'd skip that meal as well, and just have breakfast in Cabanas, which we were told would only be a continental breakfast, which, I admit, made me a little perturbed. So we never did get to Animators Palate this trip.

Not the best ending to a cruise, but at least I would be happier about the selection at Cabanas the next morning, as it was more extensive than I'd thought it would be.

Other parts of the trip report:
Part One
Part Two
Part Three 
Part Four

Friends in Warm Places

by Gaylin

Since most of my vacations involve a Disney theme park, I have never been to Hawaii. Luckily for me, I have friends who went this winter. While they couldn't afford to stay at Aulani, they did go there to visit the resort and enjoy lunch and an afternoon surrounded by all things Disney.

Also lucky for me, they brought back presents! If I never go to see Aulani, I have a bit of Hawaii on my pin blanket.

Disney Character Surprise! : Story Behind the Photo (From 7/26/13)

Left to right: Kandi, John, Barbie, and Nick

By: Nick

In January of 2011, Barbie and I were with our friends Kandi and John at Disney's Hollywood Studios. We were just leaving the park for the afternoon, when Barbie asked a Cast Member to see her pins. Barbie spotted a Stitch pin and asked to trade. As the Cast Member was handing her the pin, she asked if she liked Stitch. Barbie said he was her favorite, to which the CM responded "Follow me."
We all followed her to a little cul-de-sac by Guest Services, where she asked us to wait a moment.
A couple of minutes later, Stitch peeked out from behind a corner!
But the surprise didn't end there. As Stitch walked out, he was followed by Donald Duck, then Daisy Duck, Piglet, and Minnie Mouse!
We had our own private meet and greet!
I wish we'd gotten the wonderful Cast Member's name, as this was really a highlight of that trip.

Stitch as Dracula Halloween 2013 Vinylmation

I picked this Halloween 2013 Stitch Vinylmation up on our recent trip to Walt Disney World.

He can be found at several locations.

This was bought at the Art of Animation Resort, where we stayed.

We have another Stitch as Dracula, a WDCC piece, which I'll feature in a future post.

More Funko Disney/Pixar Mystery Mini Figures!

For my birthday, my wife picked me up a few Funko Disney/Pixar Mystery Mini Figures.  
I loved the ones I got, and went on a search on eBay for more. Some of the more rare figures go for appropriately higher prices, but I managed to get a couple at a more reasonable cost. I've included the ratio chart at the bottom for reference.
 
The first figure I got was this Winnie the Pooh.
I love his facial expression. His distribution in the set is 1/18. 

I got him for $5.59, including shipping.

I got the next three from the same seller.
This is the only Tinker Bell I like from the series, as I feel her eyes are too large in the other 2 figures. 

Not that her head isn't too big! It is also the rarest Tink, at 1 in 144. But I got her for an extremely reasonable $3.25.

Next, we have Mickey Mouse. He's 1 in 18, and I got him for $2.25!

Last, but not least, we have Stitch.
This is the rarest Stitch figure, 1 in 72, and his price-tag reflected this, $8.09.

I really am surprised at how reasonably priced these are in comparison to Vinylmation. I think they are much more expressive, if not nearly as plentiful.