MillieHubbard's TR

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MillieHubbard's TR

Trip Report attached. I tried to write it in the forum text box but lost it the first time. My resort connection timed out. So I wrote it in Word so I wouldn't lose it again but the site won't let me copy it into the text box. Hopefully you all can open the attachment.

Time to head off for some breakfast. More TR to follow... Day 3, Hollywood Studios and Ohana for dinner.

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Resorts

2017 AKL-Jambo House (May)
2017 Old Key West (Apr)
2016 Port Orleans Riverside (Oct)-Hurricane Matthew!!
2016 Old Key West (Aug)
2016 CBR (Jul)
2016 Art of Animation (May)
2015 Ft. Wilderness Campground (Oct)
2014 Sherwood Forest RV Park (Nov)
2013 Pop Century (Jul)
2012 Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress (Jul)
2011 Radisson Lake Buena Vista (Aug)
2010 Pop Century (Nov)
2009 PO Riverside (Jul)
2008 Pop Century (Apr)
2006-2007 FL residents: Hunters Creek 8 miles from the parks!!
2005 All Star Sports (Jul)
2005 PO Riverside/CBR/CSR (Apr)
mickey

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Brad's picture
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Hey Millie, Sorry the board was giving you trouble. I've pasted the report in here:

Day 1 â" Drive down

WhooHoo!! Weâre finally on our way. Along the way we had to make our required stop at South of the Border so DH could get a photo with our Chihuahua in front of the Pedro Statue.

Our original plan was to drive half way and spend the night in GA somewhere along I-95. The traffic was so light that we ended up driving all the way through. We phoned up our friends in Orlando and asked if we could impose, they were of course thrilled that we had arrived a day early. We still had a couple of hours before weâd arrive at their home so we enjoyed our drive down 417 watching all the fireworks going off for the 4th! It was like our own âspecial welcomeâ to Disney World!!

Day 2 â" Time to Check in

We got up early and spent a few hours visiting with our friends and then it was time to head to the World. Our first stop was to check our furbabies into the TTC Kennels. They were not so happy with us at that moment but Iâm happy to have them here so we can go and check in on them. I managed to keep the resort upgrade a surprise for DH until we had to tell the kennel which resort we were at. Close enough!! He was still pleasantly surprised. We drove up to the entrance gate and received our âWelcome Homeâ wish from the Cast Member at the gate. I LOVE that!!

Our check in when really smoothly, we did Online check in so we walked right up to the Online check-in window, presented our photo ID and reservation number, and received our room packet along with our Happy Anniversary and Happy Birthday buttons. The whole check in process took no more than 5 minutes!! Weâve been wearing the Anniversary buttons everyday and have received congratulations from nearly every Cast Member we encounter. We have some wonderful conversations about how many years (20) and how we did it!!

I had requested a room in Oak Manor but we were given a room in Magnolia Terrace instead. I think I actually like this building better, itâs closer to the bridge to Olâ Man River and a short walk to the lobby/marina/food court. Weâll be requesting this building in the future. We were to have a standard view room but I think we were upgraded to a Garden View room since weâre in a lovely corner room overlooking the courtyard garden.

Once we checked in we phoned our friends and invited them over for a swim. While we waited for them to arrive, we went for a swim in the quite pool next to our building. After a restful dip in the quiet pool it was time to hit the hot tub over at the main pool. Nothing like those jets to soothe sore muscles. Our friends arrived and we got to enjoy watching their 2 year old son have his first swim in a pool. He was a little unsure at first but after watching all the other kids have fun he decided that he was having fun too!! Nothing like the giggles and laughter of a baby having fun! We swam for a couple of hours and then headed off to dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant, Garibaldiâs, over in Kissimmee. DH had his favorite, Carnitas Rachero and I had the Burrioto Rojo, steak with a nice rich blend of seasonings. After dinner we went to DTD to enjoy the atmosphere, do a little preliminary pin-trading and just generally soak in the Magic. We decided to call it an early night since we were going to have a very full day at Studios on Day 3.

More TR to follow, itâs time to go get some breakfastâ¦

bali's picture
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yay Yay!! Millie's TR!!

Sounds wonderful so far. I love that you got to watch the fireworks on the drive down--how cool! Also glad you you're enjoying your Mansions building even though you'd requested a different one; it's always good to be pleasantly surprised. Speaking of, what did DH say when he heard about the resort upgrade???

We're always looking for good off-site restaurants, so I'm glad to have your recommendation of the mexican place! awesome

Looking forward to more!

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sounds like you are having a good time. I can't wait for more (and pictures, but I won't rush those . . lol)

Sarah mickey

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Thanks for the TR so far, Millie! It's great to take the trip along with you.

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admin wrote:
Thanks for the TR so far, Millie! It's great to take the trip along with you.

Yes. Thanks for the report!

dsoup's picture
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Love hearing about the trips! Maybe I'll even get to write one some day in the near future.

milliehubbard's picture
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silly

Hey everyone!!

It's 1am and I'm exhausted...a good exhausted but must get to sleep. Will post more sometime in the next day or two. We're off to Studios and MK tomorrow. MK has EMH until 2 am...God Help Me!!!

We had a riotous good time at dinner tonight at Whispering Canyon Cafe with our friends Barbara and "Cowboy Chris"...he earmed that moniker at a previous Whispering Canyon Cafe dinner!!

Did lots of pin trading today all over the World...at least 6 different resorts and DTD.

More to follow... muchlove

__________________

Resorts

2017 AKL-Jambo House (May)
2017 Old Key West (Apr)
2016 Port Orleans Riverside (Oct)-Hurricane Matthew!!
2016 Old Key West (Aug)
2016 CBR (Jul)
2016 Art of Animation (May)
2015 Ft. Wilderness Campground (Oct)
2014 Sherwood Forest RV Park (Nov)
2013 Pop Century (Jul)
2012 Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress (Jul)
2011 Radisson Lake Buena Vista (Aug)
2010 Pop Century (Nov)
2009 PO Riverside (Jul)
2008 Pop Century (Apr)
2006-2007 FL residents: Hunters Creek 8 miles from the parks!!
2005 All Star Sports (Jul)
2005 PO Riverside/CBR/CSR (Apr)
mickey

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Brad's picture
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milliehubbard wrote:
silly

Hey everyone!!

It's 1am and I'm exhausted...a good exhausted but must get to sleep. Will post more sometime in the next day or two. We're off to Studios and MK tomorrow. MK has EMH until 2 am...God Help Me!!!

We had a riotous good time at dinner tonight at Whispering Canyon Cafe with our friends Barbara and "Cowboy Chris"...he earmed that moniker at a previous Whispering Canyon Cafe dinner!!

Did lots of pin trading today all over the World...at least 6 different resorts and DTD.

More to follow... muchlove

That's fantastic. Sounds like you're going at it pretty heavy. Hopefully you're sleeping in today?

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Sounds like you're having a great time. Thanks so much for taking the time to write up your trip report while you're there! Keep it coming! yay

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I too enjoyed the first bit. Ready for more mickey

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milliehubbard wrote:
silly

MK has EMH until 2 am...God Help Me!!!



laugh I love it! I SO know that feeling! Push yourself, Millie, you can DO IT! mickey

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bali wrote:
milliehubbard wrote:
silly

MK has EMH until 2 am...God Help Me!!!

laugh I love it! I SO know that feeling! Push yourself, Millie, you can DO IT! mickey



I've never gotten to take advantage of EMH. Going to stay at a Disney resort next time, so I can.

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yay Hi Everyone,

Just a quick drop in to say hi and that we are having a fantastic time. We were at MK last night for the EMH and didn't leave the park until 2:45 AM!! WooHoo...it was like having the park to ourselves. I'm not going to post the report yet since the Magic hours are waning...we check out of PO Riverside tomorrow and into a hotel near DTD for two more days. I'll be sure to post a nice loooooooong trip report when we get home. Never did get to do the Wishes Dessert Party but we had a GREAT time anyway. DH and I have been getting lots of Anniversary wishes all week and yester day was his BD so that was loads of fun too!

We're off to Citricos for dinner this evening and then to DTD after that for shopping and more pin trading...we're having a BLAST!!!

yay clapping yay clapping yay mickey mickey mickey mickey mickey muchlove muchlove muchlove

__________________

Resorts

2017 AKL-Jambo House (May)
2017 Old Key West (Apr)
2016 Port Orleans Riverside (Oct)-Hurricane Matthew!!
2016 Old Key West (Aug)
2016 CBR (Jul)
2016 Art of Animation (May)
2015 Ft. Wilderness Campground (Oct)
2014 Sherwood Forest RV Park (Nov)
2013 Pop Century (Jul)
2012 Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress (Jul)
2011 Radisson Lake Buena Vista (Aug)
2010 Pop Century (Nov)
2009 PO Riverside (Jul)
2008 Pop Century (Apr)
2006-2007 FL residents: Hunters Creek 8 miles from the parks!!
2005 All Star Sports (Jul)
2005 PO Riverside/CBR/CSR (Apr)
mickey

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Sounds great, Millie--thanks for stopping in! What did you guys do for the birthday?

Yum--Citricos! Such a relaxing restaurant. Enjoy!

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2010 Beach Club Resort
2005 Port Orleans Riverside
2006 Animal Kingdom Lodge
2007 Wilderness Lodge
2008 Animal Kingdom Lodge
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milliehubbard's picture
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Hey Everyone!!

We're home safe and sound from our FABULOUS WDW vacation! We had as much fun as is humanly possible. We could not have squeezed any more fun or relaxation into one trip! We're already wishing/thinking about when we can go back! muchlove

I promise to post a lengthy and detailed TR but for now I just want to relax a bit after our 11 hr drive home. Why is it that the drive home is always more tiring than the drive there....yep, that's a retorical question! biggrin

More in a day or two...the nice thing is that I'm still on vacation, until the 28th!

clapping clapping clapping clapping clapping clapping clapping clapping clapping clapping clapping clapping clapping

__________________

Resorts

2017 AKL-Jambo House (May)
2017 Old Key West (Apr)
2016 Port Orleans Riverside (Oct)-Hurricane Matthew!!
2016 Old Key West (Aug)
2016 CBR (Jul)
2016 Art of Animation (May)
2015 Ft. Wilderness Campground (Oct)
2014 Sherwood Forest RV Park (Nov)
2013 Pop Century (Jul)
2012 Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress (Jul)
2011 Radisson Lake Buena Vista (Aug)
2010 Pop Century (Nov)
2009 PO Riverside (Jul)
2008 Pop Century (Apr)
2006-2007 FL residents: Hunters Creek 8 miles from the parks!!
2005 All Star Sports (Jul)
2005 PO Riverside/CBR/CSR (Apr)
mickey

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yay Welcome back! I can't wait to hear all about your trip! Details, woman, we want details! biggrin

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SoloFriendly wrote:
yay Welcome back! I can't wait to hear all about your trip! Details, woman, we want details! biggrin


and pictures! laugh

Welcome back! Glad you had such a good time, can't wait to hear about it.

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I'm so glad you're still on vacation! Everyone needs a period of detox after that trip!

Glad to have you back safely and can't wait for your reports. Thanks again for checking in while you were on your trip!

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Agreed. It's a really good strategy to not come back right before you have to go to work the next day. You need some time to adjust to reality. Glad you had a great trip and look forward to hearing about it!

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Can't wait to hear about it.

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Day 3 - Hollywood Studios

We arose early to get to the Studios for park opening. We both wanted to ride Toy Story Mania first...we're huge Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin fans and knew we'd love TSM too. It was weird to enter the park and have the crowd NOT make an immediate right turn to TOT, everyone was headed to TSM. We managed to get in line quickly, we were about 20 back...not too bad. We waited for awhile and then the bad news came...the ride was down with no estimated time of resolution...oh no, was this an omen of the remainder of the trip confused

We both looked at each other, disappointed and uncertain...should we go or should we stay? We waited about 10 minutes and then DH headed off for TOT. Before he could even get out of eyesight the cast members came out to say that most of the rides in the entire park were down, including TOT. Some sort of systems error that they were working to resolve. We had already gotten our fast passes so there was some hope of coming back later. I decided to wait a little longer since I'm not a TOT fan sarcastic .

I tried calling him but with the crowds he didn't hear his cellphone so I just waited and in about 4 minutes they came out to tell us that the ride was back up. Needless to say, I took full advantage of the opportunity to get a sneak preview of the ride biggrin .

Just as I was coming out of the ride, DH was walking up to the entrance after discovering that TOT was down too. While I was waiting for him to return, I struck up a conversation with the CM at the FP entrance, telling him how much I'd enjoyed the ride and sorry that DH had missed the 1st ride with me. When DH walked up, the CM "Dreamed" us and let us in the FP edntrance and called ahead to ask the CM inside to move us to the head of the line (via disability line). We LOVED the ride and when we exited we immediately entered the FP line!! Exiting the 2nd time the CMs were having hysterics at us....we ran over and got another FP for later so we could get our 3rd ride in and decide the "Best 2 of 3" winner.

Did I mention that we are super competitive when it comes to rides like TSM and Buzz Lightyear?! We have a "trophy" pin for Buzz that the "Best 2 out of 3" winner gets to wear on their lanyard until the next competition (trip). Well we now have a TSM "trophy pin" too. Sadly on this trip I didn't win either "trophy". I had great hopes for TSM but no such luck this time!

After TSM we headed over to Animation Courtyard to do Animation Academy. Neither of could believe that as many times as we had been to WDW we had never heard about Animation Academy (thanks to WDW for Grownups!!). We waited for a little while for the next seating. When our turn came we discovered that we'd be drawing Sorcerer Mickey. It was lots of fun and we both did very well. The best part...Mickey was out in the gallery for photo ops and we were able to get him to sign our sketches. We'll be framing those for our livingroom.

While we were waiting in the gallery I spotted what I think is an unintentional Hidden Mickey. It's in one of the "original artwork" prints in the foyer. In one of the Peter Pan posters the bodice of one of the girls dresses has a very distinct shape. Round puffy sleeves and a roundish shape to the bodice. I don't find it in any of the Hidden Mickey books but it sure looked like one.

After we finished up in Animation Courtyard we did some pin trading....actually we pin trade all day long but this time we made a specific point of visiting the pin store and chatting with the Cast Members...just in time for one of the HOURLY performances of High School Musical 3...time to exit Stage Right. One of the cast members looked like she was ready to scream...I couldn't imagine hearing that every hour on the hour!!

From there we headed over to Studio Catering for lunch. We like to try and hit the restaurants a little ahead of "prime time" to beat the crowds and have a little more relaxing meal. We both enjoyed our Grilled Chicken, rice and beans very much. I had the Chocolate Fudge Cake and DH had the cheesecake for dessert. He also enjoyed his dessert...amazing since he's a born and bred New Yorker!! We relaxed for a little while at the restaurant, killing a little time until Lights, Motors, Action.

We both had never seen Lights, Motors Action...amazing since we've been to Studios so many times. We enjoyed the show but agreed that it wouldn't rank as a "must do" for us. Same with most of the other stunt shows we've seen over the years. Fun to watch once but not high on our list.

After exiting LMA it was time to head over to American Idol Experience. I was really looking forward to this attraction since I am a huge Idol fan. I have to say the Imagineers did a fantastic job with this attraction. It really did feel like we were in the audience at a competition. The 3 guests who were competing were all very talented. It was fun to encourage them on and vote for our favorite. We ended up leaving the park before closing so we never learned who won the competition for the day.

It was getting close to time for us to head back to our resort since we had dinner reservations at Ohana. DH had a TOT FP so I waited for him on the benchs near Min and Bill's Dockside and enjoyed a frozen lemonade to cool off a bit. July in Orlando is delightful yuck . That said a hot rainy day on vacation at WDW is still better than a day at home!

Part II - Dinner at Ohana to follow...

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Resorts

2017 AKL-Jambo House (May)
2017 Old Key West (Apr)
2016 Port Orleans Riverside (Oct)-Hurricane Matthew!!
2016 Old Key West (Aug)
2016 CBR (Jul)
2016 Art of Animation (May)
2015 Ft. Wilderness Campground (Oct)
2014 Sherwood Forest RV Park (Nov)
2013 Pop Century (Jul)
2012 Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress (Jul)
2011 Radisson Lake Buena Vista (Aug)
2010 Pop Century (Nov)
2009 PO Riverside (Jul)
2008 Pop Century (Apr)
2006-2007 FL residents: Hunters Creek 8 miles from the parks!!
2005 All Star Sports (Jul)
2005 PO Riverside/CBR/CSR (Apr)
mickey

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LifeIsForLiving's picture
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Excellent TR. It's almost as if I was just there myself. I CAN NOT WAIT until my turn yay

dsoup's picture
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Did you manage to ride TSM enough times to do best of 3 or is the contest ongoing?

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Wow, I've never heard of all the rides in a park being down before. I'm surprised it didn't spark a revolt! laugh

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dsoup wrote:
Did you manage to ride TSM enough times to do best of 3 or is the contest ongoing?


We did complete the "Best 2 out of 3" and sadly I didn't win the "trophy"! No Mr. Potatohead pin for me sad

Counting my "preview" ride, I got to ride TSM 4 times that day!

On the rides being down....it wasn't for very long and I think it was rides controlled on a certain network. The CM did say "all the rides" probably meaning all the "popular" rides.

I did notice that there were more than the usual number of safety tests on the Monorail system...we arrived the day after the accident. Some guests were a little "testy" about the slightly longer waits...I felt like saying 'let's have a little patience folks'...the Monorail team had just lost one of their own.

__________________

Resorts

2017 AKL-Jambo House (May)
2017 Old Key West (Apr)
2016 Port Orleans Riverside (Oct)-Hurricane Matthew!!
2016 Old Key West (Aug)
2016 CBR (Jul)
2016 Art of Animation (May)
2015 Ft. Wilderness Campground (Oct)
2014 Sherwood Forest RV Park (Nov)
2013 Pop Century (Jul)
2012 Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress (Jul)
2011 Radisson Lake Buena Vista (Aug)
2010 Pop Century (Nov)
2009 PO Riverside (Jul)
2008 Pop Century (Apr)
2006-2007 FL residents: Hunters Creek 8 miles from the parks!!
2005 All Star Sports (Jul)
2005 PO Riverside/CBR/CSR (Apr)
mickey

magicalkingdoms.com Ticker Free Disney Tickers

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milliehubbard wrote:
dsoup wrote:
Did you manage to ride TSM enough times to do best of 3 or is the contest ongoing?

We did complete the "Best 2 out of 3" and sadly I didn't win the "trophy"! No Mr. Potatohead pin for me sad

Counting my "preview" ride, I got to ride TSM 4 times that day!

On the rides being down....it wasn't for very long and I think it was rides controlled on a certain network. The CM did say "all the rides" probably meaning all the "popular" rides.

I did notice that there were more than the usual number of safety tests on the Monorail system...we arrived the day after the accident. Some guests were a little "testy" about the slightly longer waits...I felt like saying 'let's have a little patience folks'...the Monorail team had just lost one of their own.

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milliehubbard wrote:
dsoup wrote:
Did you manage to ride TSM enough times to do best of 3 or is the contest ongoing?

We did complete the "Best 2 out of 3" and sadly I didn't win the "trophy"! No Mr. Potatohead pin for me sad

Counting my "preview" ride, I got to ride TSM 4 times that day!

On the rides being down....it wasn't for very long and I think it was rides controlled on a certain network. The CM did say "all the rides" probably meaning all the "popular" rides.

I did notice that there were more than the usual number of safety tests on the Monorail system...we arrived the day after the accident. Some guests were a little "testy" about the slightly longer waits...I felt like saying 'let's have a little patience folks'...the Monorail team had just lost one of their own.

Sounds like you had a lot of fun. When I was there last summer, TSM had just opened and we were only able to ride it once because they lines were outrageously long, but we had a great time.

Sarah mickey

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milliehubbard wrote:

I did notice that there were more than the usual number of safety tests on the Monorail system...we arrived the day after the accident. Some guests were a little "testy" about the slightly longer waits...I felt like saying 'let's have a little patience folks'...the Monorail team had just lost one of their own.

A loss of perspective is a common affliction to hit visitors to WDW. Especially those who haven't been before. It's probably easier for us since most of us have been at least a few times.

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milliehubbard wrote:
We both had never seen Lights, Motors Action...amazing since we've been to Studios so many times. We enjoyed the show but agreed that it wouldn't rank as a "must do" for us. Same with most of the other stunt shows we've seen over the years. Fun to watch once but not high on our list.


Awesome report so far! I like the idea of having the trophy pins; we're pretty competitive about those rides, too!

Also agreed that LMA isn't an every-trip thing. It's one of those (like Indiana Jones) that once you've seen it, you've seen it. Doesn't really change much... mickey

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I too like the trophy pin idea. May have to impliment that...once we have some pins mickey