Last Post...

I started this blog a few years ago because I wanted to share my love, some people would call obsession, of Walt Disney World. During this time I have shared with you my readers, the few of you that are there in cyber-world, my reviews, thoughts, and tips on how to truly enjoy any trip to Walt Disney World. I have also shared some of my photos along the way. I am sad but sort of excited to say that Confessions of a Disney Addict is going where all old blogs go, the vast unknown. I say this because I am not really sure where they go.

I am doing this not because I am tired of writing about my home away from home, but because I am writing (it is in the planning stages) another blog. The blog is undefined and I am sure it will be WDW centered, because that is what I like to write about and a wise sage told me a long time ago to write about what you know and have an interest in. I know Disney, I have an interest in Disney so I will write about Disney. So why not just continue with the old blog? I feel that my perspective has changed. My wife and I are planning our first "ONLY US TWO" trip to WDW this summer to celebrate our 25th anniversary (which is in October but the sentiment is still the same). Part of me feels guilty, but more of me feels excited about this next trip which is almost 180 days out and if you have learned anything from me you know that 180 days is important. It is the time in which you can start making ADRs, which on this trip will explore new dining experiences.

For now this is "goodbye" but I promise I will "See You Real Soon!"

Disney in November...

We arrived on November 5, 2016 and proceeded to check on our resort room but it was not quite ready so we headed to Disney's Hollywood Studios (DHS) and became enthralled by the recent changes to the park. DHS is a park in transition between the glamour of the pretend Hollywood of the 1940's to the celebration of PIXAR and Star Wars. From my observation they are concentrating their early efforts on the Star Wars part with the promise of more PIXAR in the future. I have told you in previous posts that I prefer DHS above Animal Kingdom (AK), but on this trip AK won out. I reserve my judgement on which park is better to a later visit. I did have a blast at DHS and experienced Fantasmic for the first time so all was good. We retired to the Cabins at Fort Wilderness for the night.

I backtrack a bit to tell you that the weather was AWESOME. There was a few raindrips (no not a typo) on an EPCOT day but I am still not sure if it was because we were near a fountain or not. The temps ranged in the 70s to low 80s and for photographers there was a good blend between clouds and sun. One other thing I must say is that WDW has taken safety of their guests very seriously. There are signs near the waterways and beaches about the threat of alligators and snakes and even netting put around some of the waterway areas. Plus metal detectors are placed at the entry of each park near the bag checks. You might be "randomly selected" to go through or not. I was "randomly selected" three of the six times I entered a WDW park.

Day two put us in Magic Kingdom (MK) and we became immersed into a Christmas wonderland. For those people who know me, know that I was in "heaven!" For those who don't know me just below my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and my family WDW and Christmas ranks near the top in things that make me smile. So when you put those two together on a special trip with my family I am euphoric. With Christmas music piped in (some were about Jesus as well as Santa) and the huge tree decorated MK was very special this year as it is every year. I said earlier that I would hold off judgement on the DHS over AK argument until the dust of construction subsided, but there is NEVER an argument that MK was, is, and always will be, my favorite WDW theme park. Splash Mountain, Carousel of Progress, Small World (even with that annoying song) Goofy's Barnstormer, Haunted Mansion, and many of the other great attractions that in my mind (remember it is ONLY an OPINION) define WDW are here. I'd be amiss to say that there is a new attraction that makes it even better. In Liberty Square there is now an attraction that doesn't need a Fast Pass. It is just next door to the Hall of Presidents (which will be going through renovations starting in January?) and is presented by the Muppets headlined by Sam the Eagle. It is Great Moments in History. The crew tells a story (or shall I say tries) about American history. It is done in true Muppet fashion.

We probably had the best view of Wishes (MKs nightly firework show) that we ever had. We usually try to grab a spot near the train depot so we can skedaddle out as soon as the show is over but this year we planted ourselves just left of the Partner Statue in front of the castle. The castle was lit up to resemble ice that Elsa created (yes there was some Frozen influence) which was different than from earlier visits. I must say that at this time the one thing that bugged me this trip happened. We had as I said planted ourselves in this really good viewing area at about 9:00 pm (fireworks began at 10:00). There were people in front of us and we were all sitting having a great time and when the show began, now understand this is a firework show with the fireworks in the air, the mass of people in front of us began to stand pull out their smart phones, and iPads and begin to record the show. I have no problem with people wanting to record the show but WHY stand up? Why be inconsiderate of those behind you? I did think it funny though that one lady who held up her phone for a good ten minutes  straight out in front of her almost dropped her phone because her arm gave out. I regress and will get back to a happier time and say we all had a wonderful time as a family at MK.

EPCOT was our next destination the following morning. We love this park not for the attractions per say except I do like Spaceship Earth, and Soarin' (the new Soarin' is even better than the first one IMO). I also like to walk around the World Showcase and immerse myself in the culture of the eleven countries represented (including the USA) There are Canada, UK, France, Morocco, Italy, USA, Germany, Japan, China, Norway, and Mexico. We ate at the Beach Club Resort at Cape May's and had a wonderful seafood buffet.

Our next trip was to Animal Kingdom (AK) and a big first for me and my oldest son, Nick, we rode Expedition Everest. It was/is intense! Animal Kingdom actually provided some of the better photo opportunities this year due to a delay. We went on the Kilimanjaro Safari and usually the ride is too bumpy to get really good shots but this trip we witnessed two antelopes locking horns and stalling the jeep we were in because they were in the middle of our path. During the delay we were visited by some ostriches and zebras on one side and a couple of rhinos on the other. With the jeep stopped I was able to get good photos.

Day five took us back to EPCOT and a visit to Disney's Boardwalk. This was also the day after the elections and we made a point to visit the American Experience and listen to some patriotic tunes from the Sounds of Liberty singing troupe. After a full day we were ready to head back to the cabin and get ready for an early day at MK on our last day in the park.

We had an early reservation at Be Our Guest for our day in the MK. If you want a good Quick Service breakfast BOG is hard to beat. I went in just hoping to get in early and grab some photos before the mass of people entered but ended up with more. The breakfast was really good. The MK was beginning to film the annual Disney Christmas special/parade around the castle which was kind of neat. They were also filming something for the new Descendant movie. We spent the day at the park and then caught a ferry over to the Wilderness Lodge for our reservation at Whispering Canyon for dinner. All I am going to say is that the ketchup was tasty, make sure you ask for it if you go. Then it was time to retire to the cabin for one last night.

Veteran's Day was our check-out day. We did enjoy a character breakfast at 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian Resort. After visits from Tigger, Pooh, Mary Poppins, and the Mad Hatter we headed to Downtown oops I meant Disney Springs. After some retail therapy to get over our depression of heading back home we drove home to North Carolina. Below are a few of the photo memories from this trip. As the old adage goes one of the easiest ways to get out of your post-Disney depression is to plan your next trip which will be a celebration of  our silver anniversary...

Real Close

If you are so close to something that you can taste it? Then I am tasting turkey legs, Dole Whips, hot dogs from Casey's Corner and all of the delicious treats that WDW has to offer. We (my family and I) are a week away from "being home!" We are a week away from entering Main Street USA and spying the castle!

Walt Disney World in November will be a new experience for us. This will be the first time we actually take the kiddos out of school for a few days (it is a four day week with Veterans Day on Friday November 11). I also had to prepare for being off work for four days. When we planned this trip the election was not on our minds BUT, I am happy that we will be at WDW to offset the obvious disappointment no matter which candidate wins. 

Things I am looking forward to: 

1. New Muppet attraction at Liberty Square

2. the classics (Small World, Carousel of Progress, Haunted Mansion etc...)

3. The Christmas decorations

4. videoing (with my daughter) around EPCOT 

5. The new Soarin'

6. Star Wars stuff at DHS

7. the FOOD

We have our plan and we have our Magic Bands all we have to do is pack and wait just a little bit more... I will be writing about our trip and hopefully linking some YouTube videos of our trip until then have many magical days...

Weather...

As I type this Hurricane Matthew is making its way towards Florida and it is predicted to be a bad one. This got me to thinking about weather at WDW. To be more specific I was thinking about those days in the parks when the skies drop tons of water and scatters tourists towards shelter. One of the drawbacks to Central Florida is the rain. It used to be that the only two things that were certain were death and taxes. Add rain at Disney World to the list. It is not that it rains EVERYDAY but it does rain a lot.
As with everything there are exceptions and there are drier times at WDW than others. The four driest months are as follows (in order) April, December, January, and November. The rainiest 4 months are June, July, August and September. By the way, the four rainiest months are also the hottest months and probably (I don't have the stats in front of me) the four busiest months at Walt Disney World. These are the months when many people take their vacations and kids are out of school, especially June-August. So how do you deal with a hot, wet, theme park?
I wrote in an earlier post about the heat and without rereading it I am pretty sure I mentioned rain/precipitation. However, with today's events I am going to key in on what to do in case of rain.
One thing you should know is that Disney does not shut down for rain, neither do most of the rides and attractions. Lightning is a different thing though and some do shut down if there is "close" lightning. (I am not sure what they consider close, so do not ask).
The parks have been known to shut down due to very severe weather (yes Virginia a hurricane is considered very severe). Not all hurricanes do they shut down for however, in 1994 we drove down to WDW when Hurricane Allison was making its way through the Gulf of Mexico and causing havoc in western Florida but they didn't shut down the Magic Kingdom which we visited that night. With the threat of some thunderstorms the only question was whether or not the nightly parade would go on, it did. We had come out of the Hall of Presidents show just as Michael Eisner was walking the parade route contemplating his decision Ironically as I type this I have been informed that they have closed the parks this afternoon in anticipation of the storm. The cast members have been busy battening down the hatches.
So what to do in case of rain? There are many opinions and as I have always said it is JUST an opinion. My opinion is to ride it out and splash your way through the parks if the rain is not too hard. Many people will duck for cover and lighten the lines of the rides. The other option is to duck into a store or indoor show/attraction. If you are in the Magic Kingdom one of the great beat the rain and heat options is the Carousel of Progress. In my opinion the Magic Kingdom is a good park to be in when it rains. You are never too far from a duck in spot. One thing about the rain in Florida is that it doesn't usually rain all day and if you can hold off for a half-hour or so then the rain will pass and the crowds may have also left.
In closing I have been in WDW during the rainiest months and the driest month and I like it better when the rain is NOT falling but I have learned to not let a little rain ruin anything I just roll up my pant legs and splash about. One other advantage to a little rain is for photos.
One thing I believe make some photos of say the castle, Spaceship Earth, and/or the Tree of Life better than others are the clouds. A cloudless sky is boring to me. Another advantage is in the reflections created by the puddles left behind after an afternoon shower.

I'd be amiss if I didn't tell you to make sure you pack a poncho to slip on and off while at WDW. This is one thing I say to have on hand even though you can buy them at the parks. Go to your local dollar store or Wal-Mart and buy them for a little bit or when you get caught in the downpour walking down Main Street USA you will be paying a LOT.

Make sure to bring a poncho to the parks...

The clouds help make the shot...

Fast Pass

In eleven  weeks I will be at my second home, Walt Disney World, the old homestead will have gone through a lot of changes since myself and my family last were there during Easter of 2015. This means I have to be thinking about which Fast Passes I, and my family, want to secure for our days in the parks. Wait, you do not know about Fast Pass+? I realize that this is not one of those things I have written about in detail over the years I have came out of the closet as a Disney Addict. Fast Pass+ is the WDW way for people to avoid the long lines, or ques as they call them of some of the most popular attractions. Basically there are two lines to most attractions the Fast Pass line and the Stand By line.

The Fast Pass line is reserved for people who reserved their spot on the attraction ahead of time. You do this and you are guaranteed a spot in line in a time slot (one hour) say I want to ride Toy Story Midway Mania in the afternoon (which btw has a 30 minute wait for people in the Stand By Line right now) I get my Fast Pass for 1:30 and I have up to 2:30 to get in the Fast Pass Line by scanning my Magic Band and I would wait maybe ten minutes tops. Sounds great!

For people with a Walt Disney Resort reservation you can reserve your Fast Passes up to sixty days in advance of your stay. You can reserve three per day using your My Disney Experience app on your phone, tablet, and/or PC (or Macs for you Apple users). If you are using a travel agent they can take care of this for you. When you are finished with your Fast Passes for the day you can even sign up for more at any of the kiosks at the park you are at. You can only make Fast Pass selections at one park per day which means you cannot make selections for say Toy Story Mania and Soarin' on the same day because TSM is in DHS and Soarin' is in EPCOT. This only comes up with the Park Hopper option.

If you have the Park Hopper Option I would, now this is an OPINION, make selections for the park you plan to be in for the afternoon, because that is when lines are usually at their longest.

Some things I consider when choosing Fast Passes:
1. The actual queue. There are some really cool queue lines at WDW which are interactive whic the Fast Pass line by-passes, The Haunted Mansion for instance is a neat queue line which if you had a Fast Pass for you would miss (cool photo ops). Use your My Disney Experience app to keep track of wait times to decide when to go and experience the Stand By. (It is a thirty minute wait as I type according to my app)

might miss this with a Fast Pass

2. This goes about the Park Hopper opinion I gave you earlier, no when you'd like to ride and plan accordingly. I would like to ride Kali River Rapids in the afternoon while I would like to experience the Safari in the morning hours when the park is less crowded and the animals are more awake so I would definitely be more inclined to Fast Pass Kali River Rapids (which right now is a 70 minute wait.) compared to Kilimanjaro Safari.

3. Fast Pass new attractions compared to ones that most people have already been at. Frozen Ever After at EPCOT is the new flavor at the Norway Pavilion and every little princess and their family will want to flock to it (90 minute wait as I type) Compare that to It's a Small World where you have only a 25 minute wait.

4. Fast Pass your must do attractions, you know best. If Space Mountain is a must Fast Pass it. Same goes to any ride and or attraction that is important to you or your family. Toy Story Mania is important to us so we make sure we won't have to wait long by getting a Fast Pass to it.

5. Now this one is a tricky one...I say this, know where you want to be for the fireworks at night and you can use a Fast Pass for preferential seating during the fireworks (at least for Wishes, MK and Illuminations, EPCOT) and the Festival of Fantasy parade at the MK.  I usually do not have a problem finding a good spot but that is me. The Fast Pass viewing area are in the newly renovated hub area between the castle and Main Street USA (in front of Crystal Palace Restaurant and the Plaza Restaurant). This may be worth it however I know that it still gets crowded and for me it would be hard to set up my tri-pod for photos. As for the parade the spot is right in front of the flag pole on Main Street USA. I like to go up higher if I can get up on the Train Depot platform which with  a little planning is doable.

Good View

Good View... But there are better...

Got this from the platform for the train depot... walked up there a half-hour before parade time...

So should you use the Fast Passes on fireworks and parades? My opinion is YES on fireworks NO on parade, Remember it is an OPINION. 

How to Deal With the I'm not at WDW Blues...

Hello, I am an addict. If you have been reading this blog for any amount of time you already know that, it is in the title. I have covered a ton of information about my second "home" and now I am going to attempt to bring us down from the ledge because we are not there. I assume you are not there because if you were why would you be reading a stupid blog when you could be heading to rope drop.

This post may continue into a series because I have so many thoughts running through my head that if I wrote them all down in one entry you could become like Dug and yell "squirrell" and miss something.

First of all there are multiple stages of what I am going to call Disney Depression or DD for short. The first is post trip blues, where you go home and wonder why your magic band won't unlock your door and are amazed at how short the que lines at Wal-Mart are. During this time if you are like me you are busy editing photos and penciling in the details of your next trip. After the shock of not being able to get to work on the monorail wears off you begin to come back to reality and are able to function in "normal" society.

The next stage is the jealousy stage. It happens every time one of your Facebook friends posts their countdowns or pics from the airport with their Mickey ears on or pics of them at Cinderella's castle or in front of Spaceship Earth (you get the idea). Before I go much further I apologize to anyone that I have made jealous in the past by the aforementioned actions. This is about the time I TRY to avoid Disney things which lasts about a day or two, except that a good portion of my wardrobe and drinking vessels remind me daily about my second "home." This is when I begin in earnest planning our next trip.

As I am planning I will begin to seek out WDW pacifiers as I like to call them. You Tube is good for this because I can either search videos that are general Disney or specific to where we plan on staying. For instance I searched resorts, individual parks, rides and/or attractions in the past. These not only calm me down they also give me ideas. Other pacifiers are visiting the Disney Store, which is about an hour and a half away from our home so I cannot go everyday which is beneficial to my travel fund.

The final stage I will write about today is the plans are made and all there is to do is wait stage. This one is pretty self explanatory. Waiting for a Disney trip is like waiting for Christmas which is at the time of this post is 197 days away which means my next WDW trip is 147 days away. Have a magical day even if you are not in the most magical place on Earth.

Dining

I have written on this subject before but as I was making my ADRs (Advanced Dining Reservations)  this past Monday for our trip in November (180 days out) I wanted to update the information. The Disney Dining Plan costs $63.70 per night for an adult (10+) this includes one table service meal, a quick service meal, a snack, and the refillable mug. A cost analysis can be made fairly easily. I checked out the menu at Cape May Cafe where we are planning to eat for the first time this trip for dinner and an adult meal (buffet) ranges from $40-$60 (seasonal variations) and that is just for one meal add to that a snack and a quick service meal somewhere else and you definitley saved money on that $63.70 you paid.

Now that I got that out of the way let us look at where to eat. I have had the priviledge dining at a few of the neatest eateries at WDW. I have had pasteries in France, fish and chips plus bangers and mash in the UK, lamb in Morrocco, pizza in Italy, schnitzel in Germany, and Mexican food in, wait for it... Mexico. All of those experiences occurred in EPCOT. Dining elsewhere in WDW has included Ohana's, Tusker House, Flame Tree BBQ, as well as dining with characters across the parks and/or resorts along with eating inside Cinderella's castle. My family and I have eaten on a boat (Fulton's Crabhouse) at Downtown Disney oops I mean Disney Springs. We have experinced the Hoop-de-doo Revuew and gnawed on turkey legs, I have tried Tonga Toast, Dole whips and the aforementioned turkey legs I have even tried the "grey stuff" and yes it was delicious. Casey's Corner and Gaston's Pub has fed us also. What I am trying to hint at is I have a bit of knowledge when it comes to places to eat at WDW and yet I have not ate it all, by any stretch of the imagination.

My family and I as I have stated before are going back home in November and there are some places we have never ate at among our ADRs. Cape May Cafe at the Beach Club Resort along with Whispering Canyon at Fort Wilderness Lodge and 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian are three of our choices that come highly recommended by our travel agent and others. I am going to end this post with my top ten eateries at WDW. Remember it is just an opinion...

10.  Liberty Tree Inn (Magic Kingdom)
9.    Ohana's (Polynesian Resort)
8.    Yak and Yetti (Animal Kingdom)
7.    Crystal Palace (Magic Kingdom) * more for the characters
6,    50s Prime Time Diner (DHS)
5.    Earl of Sandwich (Disney Springs)
4.    Chef Mickey's (Contemporary) (see #7)
3.    Hoop-de-Doo Review (Fort Wilderness)
2.    Biergarten (Germany World Showcase)
1.    Fulton's Crabhouse (Disney Springs)

Well that is it and now I am hungry so I have to make like a banana and split... The rankings as I said were an opinion and when I was done I felt I didn't do my list justice. I left out Boma's, Sci-Fi- Drive Inn along with Raglan Road along with other fine dining experiences me and my family have had over the years.

Thwn again after November my list might change...