Return of the Porg - A June 2018 TR *updated 6/24 Epic DISmeet highlights day 7 COMPLETED!*

[amberdc1987]

Love the dance party!! I love they dino
costumes! She looked like she was having so much fun.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Just caught up on your last few posts, and loved the new pics - especially Pandora in the evening and your great animal shots!

 

[Lesley Wake]

We tried to meet Chip and Dale at their location, but they closed the line right as we got there so they could start their dance party. Boo! But, on the bright side, Chip did give me a hug when they arrived on the "dance floor" and as you can tell, I was quite thrilled about it.

I really want to try and get a photo with these adorable guys! Maybe in May?

 

[kclark9830]

I actually agree about Dinoland! I think it's fun and even a tiny bit charming!

 

[disneyAndi14]

Hey you don’t have to convince me Dinoland is cute and gitchy, love it! It would be atrocious if they changed up my favorite ride Dinosaur. Andi and I have so many wonderful memories related to this ride, I would be heartbroken!
When AK had evening emh Andi and I would ride Dinosaur over and over! We always had so much fun in the evening back then, it was so fun to go into AK in the evening! Never crowded at all, ahh the good old days!

 

[paradesintherain]

What a fun time at Animal Kingdom! I rarely find myself back in Dinoland since I stopped riding Dinosaur. Nothing against the ride, it’s just so jerky and my motion sickness gets bad on it. But the dance party and Chip and Dale in their little costumes is adorable!

I love Satu’li Canteen! I’m in the group that loves the cheeseburger pods but I can’t eat them anymore since I had to go gluten free and really miss them!

It is a very jerky ride! If you don't ride Dinosaur there really isn't much reason to visit that area... except the adorable dance party!

Aw they should do a gluten free version! I bet it'd be really popular.

Also a Satu'li fan and I'll definitely hit it next week. The cheeseburger pods look interesting, but I like the bowls so much, I think I'll stick with them.

Ohh you're probably at Disney right now! Hope you're having a great trip!

Ahhh the chipmunks are so dang cute! Great photos and sounds like a fun night with Sam thus far!

They're so cute I can't even stand it! And I had such a great time with Sam, it's hard to believe we just met on this trip

Love the dance party!! I love they dino
costumes! She looked like she was having so much fun.

Sam had a blast! and I had a blast watching her haha

Just caught up on your last few posts, and loved the new pics - especially Pandora in the evening and your great animal shots!

Thank you! I love trying to get good shots

I really want to try and get a photo with these adorable guys! Maybe in May?

I'd be so down to meet them with you! May is getting so cloooooose!

I actually agree about Dinoland! I think it's fun and even a tiny bit charming!

Maybe it's more popular than I thought!

Hey you don’t have to convince me Dinoland is cute and gitchy, love it! It would be atrocious if they changed up my favorite ride Dinosaur. Andi and I have so many wonderful memories related to this ride, I would be heartbroken!
When AK had evening emh Andi and I would ride Dinosaur over and over! We always had so much fun in the evening back then, it was so fun to go into AK in the evening! Never crowded at all, ahh the good old days!

It would be absolutely atrocious if they changed Dinosaur, especially for a clone of a Disneyland ride. If they announce plans are you down to riot with me?

 

[richmo]

...Ohh you're probably at Disney right now! Hope you're having a great trip!...

I wish...Been there and back already. It was a great trip..weather was spectacular..it was nice living in nothing other than tshirts and shorts for close to a week. Typical spring break crowds, but nothing out of the ordinary. As long as you had FP's lined up and know about getting them beyond #3, it was pretty easy staying fairly busy without lots of waits.

 

[Meghannprincesspie]

We had never seen the Awakenings before and I guess I didn’t know what to expect, but I sure didn’t expect to CRY. Yes, I cried at the Awakenings. But there was Pocahontas music and Lion King music and did I mention that I was exhausted? But I really did find it beautiful and the projections on the tree are so amazing. Honestly enjoyed it more than I enjoyed Rivers of Light.

I bawled at Tree of Life Awakenings! Pocahontas is my favorite movie, and there is rarely anything to do with it in the parks. It caught me off guard and I was such a mess lol

 

[paradesintherain]

bawled at Tree of Life Awakenings! Pocahontas is my favorite movie, and there is rarely anything to do with it in the parks. It caught me off guard and I was such a mess lol

It caught me off guard too! Such a great little show

 

[paradesintherain]

Day 7 - June 27th - A Few More Characters!




I’m back! And determined to finish this TR before my next trip on May 1, the big Girls Dis-Meet. (and then I still have a solo trip in August to report on, so far behind!)



After a satisfying snack at Satuli Canteen we spent some time soaking up the ambience in Animal Kingdom, particularly around the Tree of Life trails.

There were some keepers out feeding the birds (I guess?). It’s always neat to see them out.

I really loved this angle I found of an elephant in the roots of the Tree.

At some point I had booked a FP to meet Mickey and Minnie at Adventurers Outpost, so once we were done with the trails that’s where we headed.

Let me tell you, I LOVED this M&G! As far as I know it’s the only place you can meet Mickey and Minnie together (except I think they’re meeting together in Town Hall now for Mickey’s birthday). Their outfits are SO adorable and they’re super sweet interacting with each other. First, we had to get hugs!

I wasn’t excited at all to meet Mickey.

It looks like he’s admiring my hair, but I think he was actually admiring my ears.

Minnie liked them too.

How cute are they? I can’t even stand it! Plus, this M&G is in air conditioning and you really can’t beat that!

After a super cute meet it was time to say goodbyes.

Always thinking ahead, I had booked a FP for Dinosaur in the FP queue for Mickey and Minnie, so back to Dinoland we went!

Anyone remember when this was Countdown to Extinction? I definitely rode it but cannot remember the plot before we were trying to bring a dinosaur back with us!

Sam and I have very different approaches to dinosaurs.

When we exited the ride we ran into some more dinosaurs; albeit much cuter, less threatening dinos. I was in chipmunk heaven!

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Sam had to dance it out a bit more!

And then there was SNOAP! Makes sense, right?

Soooo much snoap!

To kill some time before dark we made our way back to the front of the park to see It’s Tough To Be A Bug.

This show is a hidden masterpiece! Or maybe I just love laughing as people scream and lose their minds during the scary parts. Not to mention the Pollinators song - it always gets stuck in my head! This time the Hopper animatronic was working and I got to admire what a cool AA it actually is. Too bad that it seems a little dysfunctional.​

Up next: Animal Kingdom at night!​

 

[paradesintherain]

Day 7 - June 27th - Last Night in Animal Kingdom​

We had officially run out of things to do to pass the time so we decided to just head back to Pandora and wait. Sam had to see it at night! We did stop for a PP at Tree of Life along the way, and I think it’s pretty adorable!

And I got a solo picture, because why not?

I feel like I rarely use this entrance to Pandora, opting for the African pathway instead. This plant is pretty cool.

Sam and I spent a good amount of time playing with these little water-shooting snail creatures. It’s such an amusing little touch to the land!

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Really can’t explain how much I love this.

I saw some people standing in this area and realized it was a really good photo-op so I made Sam go down there.

We just kind of wandered around and focused on a lot of the details I hadn’t noticed before, like this cool melting plant thing!

The sun was starting to get lower in the sky!

We had decided a little dinner would be good, so naturally Satuli Canteen was our choice! But first, moss wall!

The tofu bowl is so good I had to get it again. I guess I’ll never change my ways! Sam split this with me and we still didn’t finish it all.

At one point I asked a CM when the lights would start glowing and she replied in this drawn out way, like I was a moron, that they would come on “when the sun goes down”. It was a really annoying and unhelpful answer. Maybe it was a stupid question, but I asked a different CM a bit later who said the lights come on in stages as it gets darker, and didn’t make me feel stupid for asking.





Up next: things start to glow! ​

 

[paradesintherain]

Day 7 - June 27th - Last Night in Animal Kingdom, part 2!​

So anyway, after killing some time we discovered the second CM was correct, and things really started to glow around 8:45. It was really fun to watch Pandora slowly light up.

Sam kept oohing and aahing and darting off to new glowing objects. It was really fun to watch someone else discover Pandora for the first time.

Oh man, I took so many photos and I like them all. Sorry guys!

Once it was really and truly dark, and everything was lit up we made our way out of Pandora. The Tree of Life awakenings were going on so we got up close and stopped to watch for a bit. I didn’t take any photos, instead opting to just enjoy. I didn’t realize before that the carved animals were actually waking up! The projections were super neat. We watched a deer carving wake up, live its life and then I’m pretty sure it died in the end and was led to the other side by an eagle; sort of a commentary of the circle of life? Or I was really tired and reading way too much into it! Either way, we headed out of the park after watching.

Sam and I parted ways at the bus stop and I JUST missed a bus to the Contemporary. I was running and flailing my arms like an idiot and when I was 10 feet away the bus driver just left. I’m sure there’s rules and blah blah blah, but I felt pretty angry in that moment. It actually wasn’t a big deal, but it had been a long, tiring day. The next bus came in about 10 minutes, and I refreshed for Magic Kingdom FP the whole way home, thinking that riding Splash Mountain or Space Mountain would be pretty fun. That whole ride I never saw a single e-ticket FP, so I decided it wasn’t my fate to attend Extra Magic Hours.

When I got back to the room the water pageant had just started, and it was extra magical to be able to watch from my hotel balcony.

The little dinosaur float was accompanied by the “Everbody Do the Dinosaur” song, which amused me since I’d had it in my head since the Dino bash.

What a view!

Dad had been at Disney Springs and when he got back we went to the pool and soaked our feet in the hot tub. We only got about 10 minutes of soak time before the pool closed but it definitely helped my tired feet. After our little soak, we went to bed for the last night of our trip.




Up next: Departure Day​

 

[missangelalexis]

Beautiful pics of the Tree of Life!

Adorable pics with Dale! I love those costumes sooo much!

Wow you got some awesome pics of Pandora transitioning into nighttime! Now it is my mission to be there one night when it happens!

Sounds like a nice end to the day! very cool getting to see the water pageant from your balcony!

 

[paradesintherain]

Beautiful pics of the Tree of Life!

Adorable pics with Dale! I love those costumes sooo much!

Wow you got some awesome pics of Pandora transitioning into nighttime! Now it is my mission to be there one night when it happens!

Sounds like a nice end to the day! very cool getting to see the water pageant from your balcony!

Thank you!!!

I agree the Chip and Dale costumes are the cutest.

Dusk is hands down the best time to experience Pandora, hope you get to! On this most recent trip I always discovered there's four vines you can put your hand in and it will make things light up and creatures make noises!

I miss that balcony a lot! It was so neat

 

[MeghanEmily]

I really loved this angle I found of an elephant in the roots of the Tree.

Ooh pretty! I don't think I've ever noticed this before.

When we exited the ride we ran into some more dinosaurs; albeit much cuter, less threatening dinos. I was in chipmunk heaven!

Aww! They're so cute! I'd love to make this meet happen this summer.

Or maybe I just love laughing as people scream and lose their minds during the scary parts.

Hahaha this is me!

I love this PP picture! You both look like you're having so much fun

At one point I asked a CM when the lights would start glowing and she replied in this drawn out way, like I was a moron, that they would come on “when the sun goes down”. It was a really annoying and unhelpful answer. Maybe it was a stupid question, but I asked a different CM a bit later who said the lights come on in stages as it gets darker, and didn’t make me feel stupid for asking.

Dude. How difficult is it to answer a question and be nice about it? Yeah, your second CM was definitely better about this.

So beautiful! You got some nice pictures.

I didn’t realize before that the carved animals were actually waking up! The projections were super neat.

I love the Awakenings! So neat!

When I got back to the room the water pageant had just started, and it was extra magical to be able to watch from my hotel balcony.

Wow, what a cool view! This is definitely one of the perks of the Contemporary, I'm sure! That, and MK proximity.

 

[paradesintherain]

Ooh pretty! I don't think I've ever noticed this before.

That's one of the best things about Animal Kingdom - there's always new details to discover!

Aww! They're so cute! I'd love to make this meet happen this summer.

I hope you get to, they're so cute and I want to read about it!

Hahaha this is me!

Glad I'm not the only semi-evil person!

I love this PP picture! You both look like you're having so much fun

Thank you! It was a really good night!

Dude. How difficult is it to answer a question and be nice about it? Yeah, your second CM was definitely better about this.

I know! I was really put off by that first person. I bet they get that question a lot and it might be tiring, but still.

So beautiful! You got some nice pictures.

Thank you! I just love taking pictures of it, as you can tell

I love the Awakenings! So neat!

They're fantastic, Disney really did an incredible job

Wow, what a cool view! This is definitely one of the perks of the Contemporary, I'm sure! That, and MK proximity.

I'll probably never experience a view like that again! Once in a lifetime thing

 

[paradesintherain]

Day 8 - June 28th - Last Day in the World!




OK, are we ready? We finally made it to the last day of the vacation, but I wasn't too sad yet since we still had some time to spend in the Magic Kingdom! I woke up around 8:30 and Dad and I finished packing up our bags, then checked them with the airline (SUCH a great service!) and stored some at bell services. After that I walked to Magic Kingdom by myself. I think Dad had decided he didn't want to walk in the heat, so he took the long way around on the monorail.

It was another beautiful, but hot, day.

After a long, tiring vacation you know my first stop was Starbucks. It was a madhouse, as usual, but I didn't end up waiting too long. I looked around on the app for FPs, but the app was pretty glitchy on this morning. A few times I found FPs that were good very soon, but the app never let me pick them.

Eventually I gave up on the FP idea and headed to New Fantasyland (are we still calling it that), and got in line to ride Under the Sea (or whatever it's called that I never bothered to learn).

Waved hello to Incredible Land along the way!

Ah, here we are!

While in line I finally found FPs for Space Mountain at 11:40! And then I rode the ride. It stopped a lot so I took a few semi-decent photos.

Dad met me at the exit to the ride and we noticed some details at the little snack stand across the way.

Before heading to our Space Mountain FP I wanted to check out Big Top Souvenirs, because I'm of the opinion that it's maybe the cutest store in Disney World.

Like, the cash registers are inside animal rail cars! Who thinks of this?!

And, it's a bit blurry, but I just love all the trapezes and ladders around the big top ceiling.

Can't leave out the bear tracks in the concrete out front!

We took the little Fantasyland to Tomorrowland walkway that has since been closed for Tron construction. It was so lovely, I'll miss it!

The FP line was out waaaay past the touch points... probably because people don't understand how to use them and/or constantly try to cheat the system by pretending they don't know any better. Once we got inside, though, the line wasn't too bad. We were sent to the left track (is that Alpha or Omega?), which I seem to ride less, so it's always exciting. But that also means I don't know where the photo spot is... hence...

The boy in the front seat was maybe 10 or 11 and he was by himself. He kept nonchalantly asking me questions about the ride. He was pretending to be unafraid, but he was definitely very nervous. At the last second he panicked and asked if he could ride with us, so we told the CM a party of 3 and rode together the best you can on Space. He had a great time and said it wasn't too bad at all. He was a really cute, polite kid; I'm glad he had a good time!


I hadn't ridden PeopleMover yet so that was next on my agenda, obviously. Can't be in Tomorrowland without riding PeopleMover. There was a bit of an extended queue, but it moves quickly. While passing the time I kept trying to pick a Skipper Canteen ADR, but the app wouldn't work correctly. So then I tried to call, but there was a 15 minute wait! It was super frustrating how glitchy the app was.

PeopleMover selfies are also a must.

Wow, just look at those clouds!

Unable to book lunch online, we decided to walk over and try for a walk up after getting off the PeopleMover.





Up next: will we get to have lunch at Skipper Canteen?!​

 

[paradesintherain]

Oh, and a fun little real life update!! I've been missing Disneyland a lot, so last night I booked a trip to Disneyland on November 6th-12th! The onsite hotels are too rich for my blood so I'll be staying at my favorite good neighbor hotel which is just across the street. The rooms were recently refurbished and it's literally right in front of the crosswalk to Disneyland. I also added on the MaxPass to my tickets, really looking forward to seeing how this works!

Since I last visited Disneyland quite a bit has changed. Paradise Pier was changed to Pixar Pier (meh, but I'm sure it's ok), A Bug's Land closed (super sad about that!), Tower of Terror changed to Mission Breakout, MaxPass was introduced, the castle has been refurbished, Fantasmic was updated (again, not thrilled about this as I loved the Peter Pan scene), and, of course, Star Wars Land will be open. There's probably a lot of other little things that have changed too!


On a different note, I also recently got back from the Epic Girls Trip and I think once I finish this TR I'll include some highlights from that trip here! I didn't really take notes so I don't think I can do a whole TR, but there's definitely some things I want to share.

 

[tinkerbell1991]

How have I only just found your TR? Loving it!

 

[cassidy57]

Hello Kara I love your trip reports and I was thinking about a solo trip to Disneyland. Do you mind sharing the name of the hotel you stayed at. I want to be very close to park since I will be walking back and forth alone. Thank you, Cheryl