Nov17: Finding a Whole New World Getting Out of My Disney Rut

Joining in! We were there the same time! Your trip got off to a rough start but I'm hoping it's only uphill from there!
 
I am very late, but I am here :wave2:

While my Disney loving friends get it, others give me that look that ranges somewhere between totally clueless and shear disgust, after all why would anyone keep going back to the same place over and over again. I have often wondered if I would ever get to the point that the magic would fade, but with this recent trip I experienced Walt Disney World through a whole new perspective…
I totally get what you mean, people think I am crazy, oh well. And while I always expect the magic to diminish, I mean how long can the pixie dust last??? I always love it more and more every time I go.

Scanning the SW boarding line, I happen to spot someone that I thought could be Ashley and her DH….I think we found each other about the same time and both hesitantly approached each other. We talked for a few minutes before she and her husband boarded and I waited for my time to line up. Boarding the plane, was tired…it had been a long day and I knew it was going to be a short night with my next day plans that I bypassed the aisle seat near the front of the plane next to Ashley @ashw100 for a window seat mid plane…
I so wish you would have sat with us, I think it would have much more enjoyable for both of us who got sat near bad people.

My mood instantly lifted, that was until DISASTER struck (LITERALLY) as I went to depart the plane not once but twice in the next 30 minutes…
Awwm at least you had a momentary mood lift.

This time of night flying into Orlando, I am a pretty patient person when it comes to getting off my flight and tonight was no different (after all it is midnight it’s not like I have to be in rush to do anything), I wish the same could be said about a fellow passenger from several rows behind me who was certainly in a hurry to make her way off the plane in front of everyone else because just as I stepped into the aisle, she and I collided and I fell back into my seat with my lower body and left leg twisting in different directions and pain shot through my leg enough to take my breath away (if you want a better detailed account of what happened, check out my blog linked below…Tuesday’s on the Run: November 28) Had I known she was coming, I would have let her by. It was all I could do to gather myself back together, hold back the tears and make my way to the “monorail”...

This makes me so mad, why are people so rude and I am so sorry that this ended up effecting your trip so much.

and then made my way to the baggage claim, chatted with Ashley and WAITED, and WAITED, and WAITED until the baggage carousel stopped and the door closed.

I'm sorry they lost your luggage especially after such a long and painful day already.

I am glad I did even though each step was painful, the night atmosphere of POP makes me smile…

Glad you were at least able to enjoy that aspect, I think I wouldn't have been able to at that point.

Despite everything that had happened in the last 2 hours this room made up for it (at the moment, anyway). I admit that when pictures first began surfacing of the POP room makeover I was really disappointed and felt like the room was now suddenly sterile and ordinary, but let me reassure you nothing could be further from the reality. The new POP rooms are AMAZING! (For my full review of the Refurbished Rooms at Pop Century check out my blog post: Siesta Sunday-November 26) linked below in my signature. I can't believe that I even had negative feelings for this room and wanted the old POP back!

Yay, I am glad you liked it. I had the same thoughts as you when I first saw it, but I am coming around I think.

(cussing SW airlines because MY PILLOW, yes I am a pillow snob and take my own, was in my missing luggage) and ending the day with a little prayer to St. Anthony (finder of lost things) along with a makeshift ice pack…

I am so sorry you had such a bad travel day, it makes me sad that you had it so rough that night, thankfully I think the trip got much better after that.
 
I'm joining in on your trip report! I hate that your trip got off to such a bad start. The suspense with your lost luggage is killing me!
 
Joining!

So sorry about your rough start with your leg and lost luggage! Sure hope things got back on track for you!

I love the look of the new POP rooms! Lucky you!
 


Saturday’s Bucket List
When I was planning this trip, I decided that I was going to get out of my rut of that I had been in the last few trips of doing the same things. Since I was going alone and there was no one to have to compromise plans with, I challenged myself to a daily bucket list of new experiences & adventures each day…

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What a crummy start!! So sorry for the rudeness you encountered and the lost luggage. Hopefully the room magic (love love it) gave your trip a much needed restart and things are smooth sailing from then on!

I confess that a solo trip is absolutely a dream of mine. My kids would be so sad if I left them home that I feel guilty even entertaining the idea!

I will certainly be doing more solo trips in the future...I used to feel guilty when I started going on my girls runDisney trips...but as my kids have gotten older and into their own things, it is so much easier...although #monsterchild is a little jealous so I am trying to figure how how to bring him along next trip for part of it anyway. Mr. Grumpy, he likes Disney but is not a rider and hates crowds...plus he does his man trips enough!

Oh man, I'm so sorry about that horrible end to the travel day! I never understand people who decide to push other guests out of the way!

I hope you got more Disney magic on your trip!

It was a tough start and I don't understand the entitlement of people anymore...I am just happy to be able to get away, that is enough make for me!

I haven't seen any pics yet of the refurbished rooms at Pop Century but do love the changes! Glad to see a little magic at the end of your rough day!

New rooms look great!

I am so in love with these rooms that I might have to do value more often...I hear from rumor that All Stars is about to get refurb and I hope they go with a room similar to this!

Joining in! We were there the same time! Your trip got off to a rough start but I'm hoping it's only uphill from there!

Thanks for coming along!

I so wish you would have sat with us, I think it would have much more enjoyable for both of us who got sat near bad people.

Glad you were at least able to enjoy that aspect, I think I wouldn't have been able to at that point.

I wish I would have too...but I wanted you and DH to have time alone together...I know how precious that is when you have little ones. Plus, I really had planned to sleep!

I'm joining in on your trip report! I hate that your trip got off to such a bad start. The suspense with your lost luggage is killing me!

It was killing me too then...when they said they could not find it in the system I totally freaked out and had nightmare visions.

Joining!

So sorry about your rough start with your leg and lost luggage! Sure hope things got back on track for you!

I love the look of the new POP rooms! Lucky you!


So glad you are here...can't wait to see how your run went. So jealous of your trip to see Harry!
 
Saturday, November 4
Doing the Na'Vi Shuffle with the Best Laid Plans...


I swear that I had not been asleep but a few hours, oh wait I was only asleep a few hours because it’s EMH at Animal Kingdom and this girl had a plan of attack for Pandora…there would be NO sleeping in! That was the plan until I moved my leg to climb out of that very tall bed.

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Nope resting did not make it any better, in fact probably worse thanks to the stiffness that had set in. Taking a few hobbling steps to the bathroom and holding back tears, I did what I do best …Put on my big girl panties and deal with it. Actually there was not much to do to get around. I knew there was no way I was washing my hair thanks to no descent brush to attempt to blow dry my hair.

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So I took a real quick shower. That shower, I could have stayed under there forever! STICK TO THE PLAN, FOCUS. I used about everything in that crazy SW piece of luggage and lucky for me (okay others who had to look at me) I had my makeup bag in my carry on. Then I put on my clothing from yesterday and headed out the door, still a little damp from my attempt to wash them.

This time I took the short cut across the parking lot to the bus stop as each step with my left leg my knee felt like buckling but moving was certainly helping the stiffness. I just prayed I could make it through the morning and then come back to rest in the afternoon.


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As you can tell it is very dark, so that means it is really early. I had read from stalking TR that buses normally ran for Animal Kingdom 1 ½-2 hours prior to EMH opening. So guess who was at the bus stop at 6 am? This girl and a few other well informed guests and despite what the board said the first bus to AK pulled up at 6:22 am and by 6:50 am I was in line about 15 people deep for the ticket stalls! Yay me! As I waited I pulled up my notes on what do once you were through the gates and went over my plan mentally as I needed an edge since I would not be doing the Na’vi shuffle very fast thanks to my knee, that at any moment I felt would give out completely for underneath me.I did not have to wait long because at 7:15 am the Magic Scanners were ready and they were letting us enter, that’s right 45 minutes before the official EMH opening of 8:15 am.

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Turn 1, Turn 2…so far so good I am staying with the crowd and not to many people are getting in front of me because of my leg.

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Turn 3 …wham there is the wall of people and we are stopped, well they are. I continue to weave my way forward as much as possible (one of the perks of being solo), again positioning myself for my next turn to that I don’t get trapped in the crowd. At 7:35 am the wall began to move and thankfully not at a fast pace so that I could maintain my position. For the next 20 minutes I never stopped (other than to take pictures) as I made my way through the queue of Flight of Passage. Score another for doing your research...although in a way it is sad because i really did not get to enjoy as much as I wanted to!

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I walked on to Flight of Passage before EMH even began at 7:55 am, or let’s just say I was in the chamber watching not 1 but BOTH pre-shows (although I am not sure why they were doing both chamber shows, from what I read it is not standard practice and the next time I rode I did not see the second show).

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What did I think of Flight of Passage? For my full review you will have to read my blog (linked below in my signature, it will be up on Thursday), but let’s just say that Walt Disney World has finally caught up to Universal in ride technology, and it only took them 6 years. Although, I would say that Universal still has the edge as the story telling on both Gringotts and Forbidden Journey is far better than Flight of Passage. The only thing I REALLY hated about FOP was the glasses and if I was a child they would be useless as they kept slipping off which totally distracted me from enjoying the ride fully.

As I exited FOP, I looked at the time 8:20 am and then checked the wait time which now over 2 hours long. As I like to say it is better to wait BEFORE the park opens then to waste your time WHILE the park is open and you could be enjoying all the attractions rather than stand in line for 3-4 hours and made my way to that other attraction in Pandora…
 


Your bucket list for Animal Kingdom looks awesome! I hope you got to do everything. Even considering your leg situation, it seems like you got off to a good start getting on FOP so quickly. I agree with you totally about those ride glasses. You would have to have the fattest head in the world for those to fit correctly, or maybe I just have a little pea head, but I totally was distracted, worrying that they may slip off my face!
 
Following along. It is a secret dream of mine to take a solo trip. However, my wonderful husband loves Disney as much as I do, so we will do it together as long as we can.
In the meantime, I love to hear of other's solo trips.
Like the others on here, I can't believe someone would plow you down and you ended up with a twisted leg. Gr.....
Actually, I can. Today at Menards, my husband and I were entering the automatic door (room for 2 side by side), and a huge man pushed past startling me. He was 6'5' and at least 300 lb's, honestly built like a linebacker. Oh well, he got 50 feet ahead of us, so all is good.........Not.
 
Sorry you had a rough start, hope your trip got better!

We got a refurbished room also back in September and that room is everything! the beds are super comfy and i never wanted to leave the shower.
 
Saturday, November 4
Part 2: Going on a River Journey with the Na’Vi



My phone (LOL don’t you love how no one knows the time now that we all have phones) now said 8:10 am and looking back I wish that I would have spent a little time in the gift shop after exiting FOP, but remember I had a plan for Pandora that I had to stick to…so it was off to the other ride in Pandora, Na’vi River Journey which when I got there about 8:20 am was reading 30 minute wait, but I knew I had to ride now or I would not be able to when the park officially opened.

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The line itself is very underwhelming but did spot a Hidden Mickey, yay me, and thankfully was only 20 minutes not 30 minutes.

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I was not expecting how fast the boat would go and most of my pictures ended up really blurry. While the river journey was beautiful, it once again lacked the storyline to draw you in and I found myself underwhelmed as I left and a tad on the disappointed side!

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Looking back at my phone, it was now 8:50 am and Animal Kingdom has still not officially opened for the day. I had accomplished my goal, both attractions in Pandora WITHOUT a fastpass. However the true test would be if I could hobble over to Kilimanjaro Safari fast enough to beat the wave of people trying to get into Pandora when Animal Kingdom opened in 10 minutes…
 
Your bucket list for Animal Kingdom looks awesome! I hope you got to do everything. Even considering your leg situation, it seems like you got off to a good start getting on FOP so quickly. I agree with you totally about those ride glasses. You would have to have the fattest head in the world for those to fit correctly, or maybe I just have a little pea head, but I totally was distracted, worrying that they may slip off my face!

I think I saw a tip on how to keep them on your head with a hair tie...I wish I would have known that before.

Following along. It is a secret dream of mine to take a solo trip. However, my wonderful husband loves Disney as much as I do, so we will do it together as long as we can.
In the meantime, I love to hear of other's solo trips.
Like the others on here, I can't believe someone would plow you down and you ended up with a twisted leg. Gr.....
Actually, I can. Today at Menards, my husband and I were entering the automatic door (room for 2 side by side), and a huge man pushed past startling me. He was 6'5' and at least 300 lb's, honestly built like a linebacker. Oh well, he got 50 feet ahead of us, so all is good.........Not.

I am so jealous that you have a DH that loves Disney, mine would rather go fishing. LOL I hope some day he will go with me...I did have him coming for 1 day at the end of the trip and he actually agreed to a cruise afterwards but sadly we had to cancel the last day and the cruise.

Sorry you had a rough start, hope your trip got better!

We got a refurbished room also back in September and that room is everything! the beds are super comfy and i never wanted to leave the shower.

The bed was awesome...and I need that shower head...although I must admit I am spoiled with 2 shower heads.
 
Yeah I like NRJ but felt it could have been better. Love the AA but it was just so short.
 
Saturday, November 4
Out of Pandora, Into Africa & Back


I made it out of Pandora and into Africa with the crowd nipping at my heels but thankfully when I got to Kilimanjaro Safari this is what I found...

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As I waited for the next safari vehicle to pull up I checked the wait time for FOP at park opening…

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I patted myself on the back quite hard at that moment. Little did I know that when this safari was over I could pat myself even harder because I scored a mid-row bench to myself and had one of the best drivers ever on the VERY BEST SAFARI (in terms of animals) that I have ever been on!

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Notice what my safari guide referenced as the largest rear view in all of Walt Disney World. When exited…

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this guy was putting on a show and then I checked the wait time for FOP now 35 minutes past opening…
 
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I explored Harambe for a little while, something that I had never really spent a lot of time doing…

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Before attempting to make my way back into Pandora. I know call me crazy because I really did feel like a fish swimming upstream, although in theory we were all going the same location but I was not having to wait for a line to move this time. I was free to make my way back to Flight of Passage, this time through the FastPass line thanks to another PTR I was stalking that told me to continuously check back for FP as FOP tends to be released between 30-15 days. I was able to slow way down and take a lot of pictures in the FP line as it did not bother me in the least for people to go around me here.

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The second ride was just as fun as the first time and yes those darn glasses gave me fits once again…so it was not my fault like I had thought the first time that they kept slipping off!

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As I slowly made my way through the exit, I pulled up the MyDisneyExperience App to cross of another item from my bucket list, try out mobile ordering…

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Yeah the glasses seem to be a issue for a lot of people. I have yet to try mobile ordering at Disney.
 
Little did I know that when this safari was over I could pat myself even harder because I scored a mid-row bench to myself and had one of the best drivers ever on the VERY BEST SAFARI (in terms of animals) that I have ever been on!

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Notice what my safari guide referenced as the largest rear view in all of Walt Disney World. When exited…


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Wow-so many active animals! Those photos are awesome!
 
Caught back up!
The line itself is very underwhelming but did spot a Hidden Mickey, yay me, and thankfully was only 20 minutes not 30 minutes.
Don't you love it when that happens?

I made it out of Pandora and into Africa with the crowd nipping at my heels but thankfully when I got to Kilimanjaro Safari this is what I found...

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What an awesome view that I'm sure very few will ever get to see.
Notice what my safari guide referenced as the largest rear view in all of Walt Disney World. When exited…

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this guy was putting on a show
Your safari pictures are amazing and this one of the Gorilla definitely takes the cake. Sounds like you had an awesome morning.
And Satuli Canteen is a great place to eat. Certainly a welcomed change of pace from your normal park food, even at Disney.
 

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