My Third WDW Trip Report-Nov 2015

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Amy
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Re: My Third WDW Trip Report-Nov 2015

Post by Amy » Feb Tue 23, 2016 8:29 am

Wow ~ what a day. That is so neat that you got to meet Marty Sklar!
I'm sad about the Earful Tower too :( I always loved seeing that on the backlot tour ~ and then when they took away Residential Street it was harder and harder to see it. I took a few pictures of it from the Lights, Motors, Action stadium too. I don't miss the Sorcerer's Hat, but I will miss the Earful Tower.
Wish we could have seen Voiceplay ~ sounds like they were really good.
I love the projection shows they do on the castle ~ so pretty and kind of amazing how they can do it.
Sounds to me like you have a thing for "The" Prince ;) :lol: Watch out for Snow White, she might come after you with that poison apple!
So disciplined taking in the show and special things for the Mickey's Christmas Party. Smart thinking too since you are paying more to see the party, but those shorter lines would have been so tempting! Did you get to ride very many rides in addition to all you saw of the special party events?

ImagineerWannabe
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Re: My Third WDW Trip Report-Nov 2015

Post by ImagineerWannabe » Feb Tue 23, 2016 5:35 pm

All the 3D projection stuff amazes me. I've read how it's done but it hasn't ever really sunk in. It's just magic :)
Hehe, if I had to pick Prince Phillip is actually my favourite. I just happened to get an okay photo of The Prince and Snow White's float.
I'm trying to remember what rides we did. I think the Little Mermaid which was walk on, and then Big Thunder a few times. Possibly until the park closed. Love that wildest ride in the wilderness...clack, clack, clack!

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Re: My Third WDW Trip Report-Nov 2015

Post by jlpeaches255 » Feb Sun 28, 2016 12:23 pm

Great trip report and pictures! :D

ImagineerWannabe
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Re: My Third WDW Trip Report-Nov 2015

Post by ImagineerWannabe » Feb Mon 29, 2016 6:20 pm

Thanks for the kind comments. Up next...

Day 4: Magic Kingdom

Last Disney days are always sad. Added to that was the fact we hadn’t left MK that long ago, so getting up was a challenge. There was no need for breakfast at the resort however because I had managed to get reservations at Be Our Guest at 8:20am, before park opening.

The Main Street Christmas decorations were lovely even without the snow.
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The Partners statue was unveiled again now that the centre area is finished. Hi Walt!
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As we hurried through to Fantasyland there was a group of people watching the characters and a guy singing in Spanish on the castle stage. At first I thought it might be the taping of something for the Christmas Parade, but when I watched on Christmas Day I didn’t see anything like it. Earlier in the week we had seen camera crews filming doing what seemed like a commercial in Spanish, so maybe it was related to that.
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We ate breakfast in the West Wing. The Beast wasn’t in a very good mood one night.
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Aww, the rose. So lovely. Apparently a petal fell every time there was a big clap of thunder, but I always missed it.
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Very unhealthy, but this was my tasty breakfast. A croissant donut with caramel sauce and bananas. My friend got the gluten free waffles (underwhelming, they were just like Eggos) but they also brought her some gluten free pastries in addition to the regular pastry plate for the table. I took most of them to go as a snack for later.
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We finished breakfast just after park opening and the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train had over an hour wait. We had fastpasses for later so skipped it and went to ride Space Mountain twice :) The second time the guy in the seat behind me was obviously a first timer. The rest of his family was in the rocket behind and he was hilarious screaming how he was never trusting his wife again. I get the feeling they coaxed him on.

After mostly finishing off Tomorrowland we rode the Peoplemover. As we approached Space Mountain I realized it wasn’t as dark as normal. Then it hit me, the lights were on! We grabbed cameras and did our best to take good pictures (easier said than done). I got one of the start and one nearer the end that are mostly sharp. I remember when you could see more from the Peoplemover, including looking down over the people in line. Now there’s a wall. Oh well. I still want to ride this with the lights on but I doubt it will ever happen.
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Back in Fantasyland we rode the Mine Train and headed back to Be Our Guest for a late lunch in the library. As we were leaving they were setting up the dinner service which including a very impressive dessert cart.
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Even the ballroom was decorated for Christmas.
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As was the Jungle/Jingle Cruise! Those skippers went all out on the cabin and the sandman is short and cute.
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We escaped an afternoon rain shower in Pirates of the Caribbean the continued with Adventureland. I don’t remember the last time I had been in the Swiss Family treehouse, but had heard you can see Tomorrowland from the top. Indeed you can!
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The Frozen Holiday Wish (i.e.: evening lighting of the castle) happened at Mickey’s Christmas Party but since it was a nightly event we had saved it for tonight. Lots of hand waving from Elsa turned the castle from this
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into this.
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While waiting for the Electrical Parade in front of the Hall of President’s I went hidden Mickey hunting inside. I had read about a picture with George Washington that had a hidden Mickey on his sword. I had looked at the American Adventure but there wasn’t an appropriate painting. Turns out I had the location mixed up because I found it here!
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Mickey and Minnie looking in my general direction with all the lights on the big drum lit…lucky shot :)
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I had two snacks left on the dining plan. I used one at Gaston’s Tavern for a cinnamon roll to go and the last for an All American sundae at the Ice Cream Parlour (at almost $6 again, a good use of a credit). This sundae was amazing! Chocolate and vanilla ice cream, chocolate and peanut butter sauce and chips, whipped cream, and a cherry. Such a horrible thing to be eating at 9pm at night, but that’s what vacations are for right ;)
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My friend finished off her credits at the Confectionary and I fielded questions about where I had gotten the cinnamon roll I was holding.

As much as a I wanted to finish off the trip with another ride on Big Thunder the thought of walking all the way out there was not appealing and even the sugar wasn’t keeping me awake. We said goodbye to the parks and went back to the hotel to pack since we were leaving the next morning.

Another great Disney vacation concluded. However, stay tuned should you wish to hear about one extra day of non-Disney out of this world fun!
Last edited by ImagineerWannabe on Feb Mon 29, 2016 10:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Amy
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Re: My Third WDW Trip Report-Nov 2015

Post by Amy » Feb Mon 29, 2016 8:16 pm

Was Mickey on the Partners statue two-toned before the hub refurbishment? I remember the statue as being all dark bronze. I'll have to go back and look at some older pictures.
That breakfast does look tasty, but a bit on the sweet side for fueling you for walking around the parks. I wish they would throw an egg in with all the sweet options. That is neat that you got to take the pastries with you for later though. Breakfast seems so pricey there ~ did you think you got a good value? I had a lot of fun wandering and taking pictures when we had our lunch there, but I wouldn't be eager to go back and eat there. Not my kind of food. Figment really enjoyed it though. What did you end up having at BoG for lunch?
Awesome pictures of Space Mountain ~ what a stroke of luck that you were on the Peoplemover! Well done as it isn't easy to take pictures while it is moving.
I didn't notice the sandbag snowman on the Jingle Cruise ~ cute! I ran up and around the Swiss Family Treehouse on the last trip as well. There were quite a few people in the attraction actually so there wasn't much time to slow down and take pictures. I just took them on the fly ~ hopefully a few of them came out. The guy behind me was talking through the whole thing too, just chitter chattering at me. It wasn't a peaceful visit.
I saw the Hidden Mickey in the Hall of Presidents on this last trip too ~ but only because a group of teenaged school children came in and pointed and took their picture with it. They were on some sort of scavenger hunt for their assignment. Wish I had been able to do fun things like that in middle school!
Nice shot of the MSEP float with Mickey and Minnie. I don't know that I got a very good picture of that float this time around. It always seemed like when the characters were looking, the lights on the float were off, or vice versa.
Yummy looking snack there ~ isn't it weird how you justify eating things like that on vacation ;) I hear you on not wanting to walk back across the park after being there for several days. The excitement of doing "one more thing" doesn't hold up to how tired you and your feet are :shock: :lol:
Looking forward to see what the bonus day will bring! :D

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Re: My Third WDW Trip Report-Nov 2015

Post by ImagineerWannabe » Mar Tue 01, 2016 5:41 pm

It might just be the light in the picture on the statue. I honestly don't remember noticing the colour in person :/
I agree breakfast at Be Our Guest was pricey. There was juice as part of the unlimited drinks which was nice but it doesn't really justify the overall cost. I purposely didn't have the quiche for breakfast, which would have added eggs, because that was the only veggie option for lunch and I knew we were going back. For lunch I had the quiche, potato and leek soup, and the master's cupcake, with the grey stuff ;)
The treehouse was pretty empty when we were climbing which was nice.
A Disney scavenger hunt does sound awesome!

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Re: My Third WDW Trip Report-Nov 2015

Post by ImagineerWannabe » Mar Fri 04, 2016 10:18 pm

Final trip report vacation day.

Day 5:

We checked out of the hotel and made our way back to the airport where we picked up a rental car and drove out to Kennedy Space Centre (KSC)! Other school friends I hadn’t seen in years were flying in that day from California and meeting us there. After absorbing all the awesome space stuff we continued on together for the wedding that brought us all to Florida in the first place.

I didn’t take a picture of the logo on the way in, but we closed the place out and I took a moment as we were leaving.
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In what I’m going to call the “near future spacecraft building”, there was a presentation that sounded like a recruiting video, and this model of the new vehicle “Orion”.
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In the Mars exploration area there was a mock up of an idea for a new rover.
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It was only my second trip to KSC with about a decade between, but I remember the best part being the bus trip around all the buildings. This is the massive Vehicle Assembly Building where the shuttle, external tank, and solid rocket boosters were mated. It takes 45 mins to fully open the doors and there were staggering statistics about how big the stars on the American flag actually were (alas, I don’t remember anymore).
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This is the Mobile Launch Platform. Everything is built on here and then the crawler takes it out to the launch pad.
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The Launch Control Room.
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One of the launch pads. The water tower is for the sound suppression system. Just before the engine ignition on a space shuttle launch the water would start to pour in underneath to prevent damage to the vehicle from the reflected acoustic energy. There’s also the dome that stored the liquid hydrogen for the liquid rockets. On the opposite site of the launch pad was a similar dome for the oxygen. As far apart as possible for obvious reasons :)
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One of the stops on the tour is the Apollo/Saturn V building. I’m partial to the moon missions so this is one of my favourite places to explore. I love the recreation of the Apollo 8 launch from the KSC control room which is the first thing you do on building entry. Then you’re let into the main exhibit hall and meet this.
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The Saturn V rocket! Still the largest operational rocket ever! This isn’t a mock up either. They had rockets built when the final Apollo missions were scrapped. Unfortunate, but it meant it ended up here :)

Remember the Mobile Launch Platform I mentioned earlier that’s moved by the crawler? This is one single cleat on the crawler tread. The crawler moves at the lightning fast speed of 1 mile/hr, making the trip from the assembly building to the launch pad in about 5 hours, and consuming 125 gallons of fuel per mile. Talk about gas guzzler. The path the crawler travels on is made of special non-sparking, low friction stone from Alabama and Tennessee river rock.
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The lunar landing module…a bit ugly and yet so cool all at the same time :)
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This is the Kitty Hawk, the command module from Apollo 14. Commanded by Alan Shepard on his second and final spaceflight after being one of the original 7 astronauts and the first American in space.
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In the Rocket Garden there are a series of mock ups with a gantry leading to the white room and an Apollo command module. You can walk the same path as the astronauts did just before launch, only a lot closer to the ground.
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The latest addition is an entire building dedicated to Atlantis, the final shuttle to fly. You can’t miss the external tank and solid rocket boosters outside.
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KSC has taken a lesson from Disney on how guests enter the building. There’s a winding ramp up to pre show theatre #1. That presentation talks about how the space shuttle idea came to be. Then you enter a second room for pre show #2. Here you experience a launch projected all around you followed by swelling music and videos from on orbit.
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The reveal of the space shuttle rivals Disney is execution. I couldn’t stop smiling at how well it was done as suddenly you are nose to nose with Atlantis!
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The all important tool that allowed the ISS to be built, Hubble to be fixed, shuttles to be inspected post Columbia and so many other necessary tasks!
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Speaking of Hubble, these were the release and subsequent servicing missions. The result? Some stunning pictures of space!
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Thank you for coming along on this journey as I re-lived my vacation. I hope it was an enjoyable read!

Amy
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Re: My Third WDW Trip Report-Nov 2015

Post by Amy » Mar Sat 05, 2016 9:34 am

Wow ~ thanks for the bonus on the KSC ~ we went when I was probably 6 so I don't really remember any of it ~ and I'm sure it has changed quite a bit in that time. Looks like the displays are amazing ~ and I have to agree, the presentation seems really well done! I've been lucky enough to see quite a few space exhibits at the Chicago Science and Industry Museum (link here if interested ~ http://www.msichicago.org/explore/whats ... ce-center/ ) but I would love to get back to see the real deal there on the Florida coastline!
I always found the crawler to be an interesting method of moving the shuttles/rockets out for launch. Never realized how much fuel it used to move though :shock: very interesting! And I don't know that I remembered, or maybe even knew, about the water used for sound suppression and the oxygen and hydrogen tanks ~ cool!
Loved your TR and all your pictures ~ thanks so much for sharing them!! :D

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