Aimee and Lauren's Split Year Split Stay- Disney August 2016- Day 5

[xAimeex]

Hi guys! So the award for the worst dibber ever goes to me, or the most slack at least! Again I'm so sorry for the ridiculously long wait for this day! I promise I'm not abandoning this report! I feel like I use the same excuses every time but they are genuine, life has just gotten in the way and then all the excitement of Christmas happened! This day in particular took a little longer as it's almost 9 and a half thousand words long and as I explain a little further down m camera battery died fairly early on in the day so I was relying on my phone. This meant that not only are the pictures rubbish quality but they also uploaded totally out of order to Photobucket so it took me ages to sort through them! Sorry again for the delay bur I hope you still enjoy reading! The good news is I'm working on day 6 as we speak!





Day 5- Thursday 18th August 2016- Epcot and Spirit of Aloha!


I was up early again today around 5, Lauren wasn't far behind at 5:30. We had scheduled a lie in for Mum and Dad today after a few early starts but they were up around 6 and decided to come along to the morning extra magic hour at Epcot!


We all absolutely adore Epcot so we were really excited for our first visit there this trip! I'd bought some Spaceship Earth Minnie Ears and a Figment t-shirt especially!








Lauren was wearing her cute rose gold ears today with her retro Epcot t-shirt!







Once we were all ready we left the room at 6:50 and walked over to the Turtle Pond bus stop.



Mum and Dad were coordinated in blue t-shirts today!



It was quite cool out (by August standards) this morning which made a nice change!


When we got there and looked at the wait time board Epcot didn't have a time listed next to it.


As soon as we saw that we knew we'd be waiting an age!


We stood for 40 minutes watching every other park bus turn up multiple times and yet again the bus for the park with extra magic hours was nowhere to be seen!


I have to admit that my mood at the bus stop that morning can best be described as fuming (I know first world problems right ) so hopefully there were no other dibbers waiting that morning as I was not impressed with Disney at that current point in time! I can be a bit of a drama queen at times but I do think a 40 minute wait for the park with early opening is ridiculous! Especially when you consider what Disney charge for some of their resorts per night!


It eventually turned up at 7:30. By this point the bus stop was full of people waiting for the Epcot bus and by the time we got round to Hospitality House that stop was also rammed so it was a very tight squeeze on the bus that morning.


Thankfully Epcot is the closest park to Old Key West so we still arrived around 7:45.


As grateful as we were to be there before opening at 8, in the past we've always found that Epcot's morning EMH is terribly unorganised at getting everyone into the park.


It's not helped by the bag check here which is the smallest area of all the bag checks in the parks. Because they can only fit a few tables in, there are often very long lines and today was a prime example.





We eventually made it through bag check just before 8 and none of us were selected to go through the scanner so we headed straight for the tapstiles.


They'd already started letting people in so we didn't have long to wait.



Just enough time for a Spaceship Earth photo from outside the park!


Now that they also do a rope drop here again everybody was stuck in the 'holding area' near the Fountain of Nations. Last trip we'd been right up at the front of the crowd but being so late today we were waiting next to Spaceship Earth (which was a little frustrating considering we'd left the room at 6:50!)


At least it was a good opportunity to get some photos I thought hehe until my camera ran out of battery! I realised I'd forgotten to charge it and I'd already used the spare battery and hadn't recharged that either! Whoops!





My last camera photos of the morning, oops!


Luckily I had my phone with me so used that all morning but obviously the quality of the photos will be worse as my 5c is at the end of the road now and the camera isn't what it once was! (Having been dropped so many times).


That photo everyone takes!


Due to tiering we knew pretty much everyone would be heading one of 3 ways! Either to Frozen, Test Track or Soarin'.


Our pick was Test Track as we had a Soarin' fastpass for later in the morning and a couple for Frozen later in the trip!


As Frozen was a brand new ride (well a facelift of an old ride) and Soarin' had recently re-opened as Soarin' around the World we hoped most people would be heading to those first.


After a couple of minutes they started to let everybody in.


Everyone of course surged forward in the 3 expected directions. Thankfully the area surrounding the Fountain of Nations is well spread out so it didn't feel too much like a crush.


We hot footed it towards Test Track. It was listed as a 20 minute wait already but we hoped seeing as they'd only just started letting people in the line that this would be more of a guesstimate.


We actually just followed the line round until we reached the part where they place your party on a number to wait for the activity that really bumps up the wait time of this ride! Design-a-car!


Now don't get me wrong as I know a lot of people will love the excitement of designing the car and I can totally see where they were going with the interactive update to this ride but truthfully it bores me silly . Please don't hate me hehe.


It was fun the first time but I really wish they'd add a walk through option for anyone that doesn't want to design their own car. As I said I know there will be people who absolutely love this part but for me it's just another 10 minutes in line.




Lauren and Dad enjoy it slightly more as they're quite competitive so Lauren likes to try and make the most impressive car hehe. For this reason they were riding together today!


Mum and I don't have a competitive bone between us really so we're more than happy to pick any old things!



Mum and I designed a responsive, fairly powerful and efficient car that wasn’t capable of much hehe


It wasn’t much to look at either haha


{B]Lauren and Dad designed a more all-rounder! [/B]


Lauren matched their car to her rose gold ears!


By the time we'd waited on the numbers for the design-a-car studio to open, designed the car, exited out into the free for all queue where it's likely you'll be overtaken in the line by people sneaking around the sides hehe and then made it through to the queuing area where you can actually see the cars it probably did take 15 minutes! Can you tell I'm not a fan of the line for Test Track hehe.


We were finally on though! Mine and Mum's car came first in 2 of the tests and Lauren and Dad's came first in the other 2 so it was level pegging today.


For me this ride lost something when it had its refurb in 2012. We still enjoy it and the race around the track at the end is brilliant (and never gets old) but it's just a bit techy inside for me now.



We looked at the fancy cars after!


It was 8:30 when we finished and, what some will probably consider to be a waste of EMH time, we went to get breakfast hehe.


We knew there was no chance of getting on Frozen or Soarin' now and we had fastpasses for a lot of the smaller rides throughout the rest of the trip so didn't need to be rushing of to any of those.


Extra magic hours can be great for getting on a couple/few (depending on the park) rides while it's a little less busy but for us sometimes one of the best perks is the opportunity to soak up the atmosphere while it's quiet enough to really be able to take it all in!


I digress our breakfast of choice today was Starbucks!



Not long before our trip, Sunshine Seasons (our usual Epcot breakfast go to) had stopped serving hot breakfast items (bakery items/pastries/drinks are still available). I was gutted about this as it meant the demise of my very favourite breakfast item, the croissant berry pudding! I can't recall reading that it's been moved anywhere else which is a shame, if anyone knows of anywhere else that serves it do let me know!



So long croissant berry pudding



Lauren also loved the kids French toast meal they served here so we were both a bit gutted to see that change.


Instead we decided to give Starbucks a go instead! We love their drinks but had never tried the yummy breakfast sandwiches there before!


With tummy's rumbling we headed over to the Fountain View!







On the way Lauren and I stopped to get some 'arty' shots of Spaceship Earth with my ears over it! It was actually quite hard to get the angle right and people walking past must have thought we'd lost the plot as I stood holding my ears while Lauren was stood with her arms over my shoulders and the camera in my face trying to take the picture hehe. The things we do for a photo haha.





Lauren and I wanted to get a couple of photopass pictures taken in front of Spaceship Earth so wandered back through towards the entrance but when we got there there was no photographers which was a shame. I know it was EMH but I'm sure they always used to have photopass available at this time before. I wandered if it was a way to cut costs a little perhaps as there had been plenty out at Magic Kingdom the other day.


We snapped a couple more pictures of Spaceship Earth and headed over to Starbucks to meet Mum and Dad who had gone on ahead.


They were browsing the menu when we arrived and had decided to go for a cappuccino and a sausage,egg and cheddar breakfast sandwich to share!





The latter sounded amazing so Lauren and I decided to share the same! We also had a venti Strawberries and cream frappe!



It was yummier than it looks!



Strawberries and cream frappe!



I love the design on the Disney Starbucks cups!


Now look away those of you who like to get the best value for your dining plan credits but we used 2 Counter service credits for this, oh the shame hehe. It would have cost $20.62 out of pocket.


Normally we wouldn't use credits for such a cheap meal either (especially breakfast where you don't get the dessert included).


When planning though we'd added in all of our favourite counter service restaurants and still had a couple of credits leftover (having only used 2 the first night). As you'll come to see over the course of the report we pretty much had no other opportunity to fit in another lunch or dinner (with the exception of the frozen pizza we had in the villa the night before) so we decided we might as well use them on breakfast somewhere! We still ended up with a couple of CS credits spare that we could convert into 3 snacks too!


Do you know what though, while it wasn't the most expensive, it was a darn good breakfast! The sandwiches were so yummy! I regret nothing hehe (apart from the half stone in weight I brought back with me maybe! It's a good job they only charge for excess baggage in your suitcase that's all I can say!


As we were waiting on our order one of the CM's gave us a free strawberry acai refresher as he'd already made it up (for training maybe?)





We gladly accepted of course hehe it was nice to get a little bit of pixie dust this early in the morning! We all loved it and this became Mum and Dad's favourite snack credit use of the trip after today!


Only problem we had was the pronunciation of acai. Apparently it's pronounced ah-sy-ee and not ack-eye as we'd been saying hehe. Who knows! Answers on a postcard if you do!


With 2 sandwiches and 3 drinks we headed out to find somewhere to sit and eat.


We settled on the benches in between the 2 character spot buildings as we were heading to one of these when they opened at 9 anyway. This area is really shady so nice and cool for a leisurely breakfast and occasionally you get a blast of air con when the character spot doors open!


Fountain View has a couple of tables outside but no indoor seating although we did discover later in the trip that if you go through the double doors next to Club Cool they've set up tables and chairs inside the building behind Starbucks! It's probably sign posted somewhere as a seating area but we never noticed.


As I said we all really enjoyed the sandwiches and actually wished we'd had one each! Lauren and I were already going through the plan to find an opportunity to have it again out of pocket hehe.



Always happiest when we’ve just been fed!


Mum and Dad enjoyed their caffeine fix while Lauren and I loved the strawberries and cream frappe (we're non coffee drinkers).


We were just nicely full after! Our next plan was to meet Baymax and see what the line was like for Joy and Sadness after.


As I mentioned above these meets don't open during EMH so we couldn't get in before 9.


By the time we'd finished our drinks it was nearly 9:10 so we hoped the lines hadn't built up too much already.


We headed to Baymax first as we'd been desperate to see him ever since his meet and greet was announced! We love Big Hero 6!


The line wasn't too long thankfully and took around 5-10 minutes.



The wait for Baymax




Theming in the line for Baymax!


We came across another grumpy character handler today, again an older lady. She told me to put my notebook away as Baymax doesn't sign autograph books (which as a 27 year old I'd managed to figure out for myself seeing as he has big balloon hands hehe ). I explained that actually it was just a notebook that I was writing in myself (as I added a note about what a grump she was hehe).


I don't think we put our bags in the right place either but we found it varied so much between all the meets that we never really knew where to leave them.


We were soon at the front of the line though! This was one of our absolute favourite character meets!


Baymax was amazing and spent loads of time with Mum, Lauren and I (Dad wasn't really interested in character meets understandably). We all got hugs, he really is the best character to cuddle because he's so squishy!


He was fascinated by our Minnie ears too and was checking Lauren for any medical concerns hehe she told him she was satisfied with her care (which is a line from the film if you haven't seen it).


The photopass photographer was brilliant here too! He took loads of interaction shots and had us standing in different poses! He insisted we have a photo with all 3 of us in too! He didn't treat us any differently to a family with children which was nice as occasionally we came across photographers that were taking loads of photos of families with little ones and then a quick snap of us and that was it. It was no big issue, more of an observation of some of the photographers. Think some of them needed reminding that Disney is for the young and the young at heart!








Continued below…

[xAimeex]

...Continued









I love this photo!











It really was a great meet and we came away with big smiles on our faces! Our aunt messaged after seeing the pictures as she thought Mr Blobby was looking a bit pale haha.


We had a quick look at the wait for Joy and Sadness but it was up to 45 minutes already so we gave it a miss today. These 2 always seemed to have a longer queue than Baymax which is worth noting if you're planning to do both these meets at once.


After we finished here we headed back to the front of the park as we had Spaceship Earth fastpasses at 9:30.





This was probably a bit of a wasted fastpass at this time as the standby line was only 10 minutes I think. With tiering and the rest of our plans this morning it had just worked out that way though. We also try to plan our fastpasses so we're not zig-zagging back and forth too much!


We walked on in the fastpass lane! I sat with Lauren and Mum and Dad sat behind!


We all absolutely adore Spaceship Earth! The soothing narrative from Judi Dench, seeing how far things have come over the years, seeing planet Earth and the stars at end, selecting your future! We love it all!



The only semi decent photo I managed to get on my phone!


Unfortunately after we'd answered all the questions on how we'd like our future to be the characters that came up on screen had animated faces rather than the pictures we'd had taken at the start of the ride.






This was the same for all the ride vehicles and seemed to be an on-going problem as every time we went on it this trip the same thing happened which was disappointing. Not sure what the reason for it was.


In the future (see what I did there ) I'd love it if you could get the video of your 'future' added to memory maker! Seeing as Tower of Terror and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train offer both without having to scan your band I'm sure the technology could be added to this.


We finished here at 9:50 and discussed what to do next. We still had a little while till our next fastpass and Lauren and I were keen to go on Ellen's Energy Adventure as we love it and had heard rumours of a possible change coming to that pavilion in the future so definitely didn't want to miss it this trip!


Mum and Dad didn't fancy it today though as it does take 45 minutes and I know not everyone finds it as interesting/funny as Lauren and I do hehe.


Mum and Dad decided they'd rather head back to Starbucks to use a snack credit on another strawberry acai refresher! They had a venti sized one (the large cups- I think ) which would have cost $5.23 out of pocket.


Lauren and I headed over towards Ellen's EA. When we arrived there was a 7 minute wait for the pre show to start but they were already letting people in so we used it as a nice opportunity to sit down in the air con! It was really quiet in there so we also managed to get a seat on the benches at the back!



We passed the old Wonders of Life building on our way! Our favourite pavilion as children!











The pre-show soon started! It always makes me laugh and I love how retro it feels now (it makes me sad that the 90's already feel retro!)


After the pre-show they let everybody (all 30 of us, poor Ellen ) in through the double doors that lead to the giant ride vehicles.


We decided to sit in the middle of the 3 today as we couldn't remember which one goes first when they separate and travel one at a time. It turned out the left one moves first. If you're sitting in the right ride vehicle you have to wait for the other 2 to move first and they're quite slow moving (although they all join up again eventually and finish at the same time so it doesn't really make a huge amount of difference hehe).


Say what you want about this ride but Lauren and I think it's hotly cool hehe (in ride joke there for anyone who hasn't been on it).







I'd love it if it stayed as it is or was updated with Ellen filming new scenes along the same theme as she's still very current and the topic of energy is especially current these days with global warming! I can understand why some people think it's a bit outdated though and why the rumours about it changing are around.


At least when there are rumours of a ride closing in its current form you can go on it with the expectation that it's going to be your last ride ever. I hate when Disney just announce that things are changing. Without sounding sad I always think- I never got a chance to say goodbye hehe.


So today we really tried to take in all the videos etc on the ride just in case it's gone/changed when we next go back.


We finished here at 11 and headed off to find Mum and Dad. We passed the Jammitors on the way!





They were browsing in Mousegear. While they'd been looking round someone had asked Mum where her things were? Which sounds a little wrong until you remember she was wearing her 'Mother of all things' top from The Cat In The Hat (a Universal top at Disney! I know, she's a rebel hehe).






Lauren and I had a look round too. We were really excited to spot the calendar we'd been looking for earlier in the trip! It was for the family I've mentioned on the previous 2 days of my reports. This was one of the most important things so we were really glad we managed to get it for them!


I took some pictures of bits of merchandise I liked hehe.


I loved this bag so much but I’d already saved up to buy a Dooney and Bourke on the cruise later in the trip so I didn’t buy it


Again I really wish I’d bought these!


How cute is this suitcase!


I adored this tea set!



Not sure I’ve ever seen a hooded backpack before!


I managed to get a Cogsworth clock from the UK Disney store site as I was worried I wouldn’t be able to get one out there but they were absolutely everywhere in the parks and Disney Springs!


How cute are these baby Mickey socks!


I ended up buying the bottoms of these pj’s/tracksuit and I have no idea why I didn’t buy the top to go with it as it’s so cute!


While we were here I also decided to purchase a pin collector carry case as I have quite a few pins now.


They had a small version that was like a zip bag or a larger version that was more like a book.


The small bag was cheaper so I decided to get that one although in hindsight I wish now I'd bought the big one as by the time we got home and I added in all my new pins plus ones from previous trips I'd nearly filled it up already!




This cost $29.87.


While we were looking around this section we met a CM called Katie who follows us on Instagram so we got chatting for a bit. She was really sweet and said that she loved working in Mouse Gear as it was one of her favourite stores in Disney World!


It was 11:20 by the time we'd finished chatting and then paid for our stuff.


We had a fastpass for Journey into Imagination at 11:30 so we headed over there next.









Although this can sometimes be a waste of a fastpass as Figment doesn't always draw big crowds today it was definitely worthwhile!


The standby line was 30 minutes for a start and then as we walked through there was towels on the floor in the standby line where a child had recently been sick.


Lauren is emetophobic (phobia of sick/throwing up) so this was her worst nightmare. Thankfully we were called straight forward as a party of 4 which was very lucky as even the rest of us didn't much fancy standing around near it so we felt for the people who were standing right near where it had happened. If Lauren had been there when it had happened we'd have probably had to leave the line with her as she's so phobic of it.


The ride was cute as always! I love Figment!





Does Eric Idle in the moon give anyone else the creeps?!


When we finished Lauren thought it was best if we all went and washed our hands just in case we'd touched any of the same surfaces as the child who'd been sick just in case it had been down to a bug. We'd all used hand gel before getting on the ride too but Lauren says that won't get rid of sickness bugs properly and hot water and soap is the way to go.


Luckily there are some nice quiet toilets just next door to the Imaginaton pavilion so we went there.


It was approaching 11:45 now which was getting quite late for lunch for us as we like to avoid the lunchtime rush as much as possible.


Today we were having lunch in Sunshine Seasons over in the Land pavilion! Although we've eaten breakfast here many times, lunch would be a first for us so we were really looking forward to trying it!




Continued below...

[xAimeex]

...Continued



We got there at 11:50 and as expected it was pretty busy but thankfully the seating area is large here although it was already filling up fast.


















We headed to the food stations to order our food. It was tough to choose here as Lauren and I liked the sound of the Mongolian beef and the sweet and sour chicken so she picked the former and I the latter so that we could try a bit of each other's.



Sweet and sour chicken


Mongolian beef


Mum also went for the sweet and sour chicken while Dad had the shrimp stir fry.


Shrimp stir fry


We also picked up 4 fountain drinks and 4 desserts. They have an amazing bakery section here so I was spoilt for choice!


I'd read about the Mickey Oreo cheesecake and it did look amazing but I thought I might fancy something a bit lighter instead so I picked the key lime pie!










Mum and Dad both picked creme brűlée while Lauren went for the chocolate mousse cake! Amazing choices for counter service desserts and definitely somewhere we'll miss them now that the dining plan has changed to no counter service desserts!






If the sugar was a little more caramelised at the bottom this could almost be a hidden mickey!



With 2 over flowing trays we headed over to the registers to pay. It would have cost $83.48 out of pocket but we used 4 counter service credits!


Mum went to find a table while Lauren grabbed the cutlery and Dad and I took the trays. We sat in the summer section today!



Summer table!


We were so glad we decided to try lunch here this trip as the food was absolutely delicious!


The sweet and sour chicken was so yummy and had loads of meat in it. Lauren and I decided that we actually preferred it over the Mongolian beef!


Mum also enjoyed hers and Dad said his was delicious but quite spicy especially the shrimps.


Everybody loved their desserts too! Mine was lovely and light and the meringue on top was delicious and added a nice sweet kick to the sharp lime filling!


Lauren's cake was really good, she especially liked the mousse!


Mum and Dad also enjoyed their creme brűlée and were really impressed that it was a counter service dessert!


After we finished lunch it was finally time to experience the new Soarin' around the World!







We were so excited and full of anticipation!


We were massive fans of the original film and I was a little gutted when they announced that it would be going as I really loved it, the music and the smell of the orange groves especially!


This meant that the new video had a lot to live up to and I'm pleased to say that it did! Although it's very different from the old one we still absolutely loved it!

If you haven't already been on it and, like me, don't want to find out any details about new attractions etc before you experience them for yourself then scroll right down to avoid any spoilers!










*****Spoiler Alert*******















We headed to the fastpass line at 12:25 and scanned our magic bands.


95 minute standby wait





We walked through to where they send you down the different concourses.


Using a fastpass means that you miss the new interactive videos on the wall that have replaced the old ones in the standby line but it was worth it not to wait.


Since the addition of the 3rd ride system they now have a concourse C that leads you straight ahead rather than left or right like concourses A and B.



Concourse C


We kind of wanted to walk down C just because it was new hehe but we were sent to A today.


We waited a few minutes in the line that leads down to the loading area. Seeing as this was our first time experiencing the new video we really wanted to get the best view possible so when we reached the front we asked the CM if we could wait for row 1 as this means there are no legs dangling above you!


We only had to wait another minute or so and lucked out as we were sent to row 1 in the middle section which gives a nice central view and no legs!


As we waited on our arrows we watched the screen at the front! It has a line travelling through all the places that are featured on the ride! The Taj Mahal in India, the Great Wall of China, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, The savannah in Africa, Monument Valley to name a few.


We were a bit disappointed to see that the UK didn't have a stop . I was surprised that with all the iconic landmarks in London, or even those further out like Stone Henge etc, that it had been overlooked but I guess they couldn't add in every country with a famous landmark.


I'd have loved to have seen it fly past Big Ben or over Tower Bridge though!


It wasn't long before our favourite captain was appearing on the screen! We were very glad to see that Patrick was still being used for the safety video!



They can never get rid of Patrick!


Soon enough we were heading in and taking our seats! We were so excited that I didn't want to blink in case I missed anything!


As I said it didn't disappoint! It is absolutely amazing and the music, while not the same follows the same tune for the most part but with a different score. It is adapted to suit some of the scenes/countries culture.


Perhaps my only criticism, in fact I wouldn't even say that's the right word. One thing I felt was that it was very CGI heavy, far far more than the old one. Mum was very impressed that they'd managed to get that real life Polar Bear to stand up just as the camera was passing over it hehe.


CGI aside my biggest (and only) disappointment was that they hadn't bought back the orange smell! This was my absolute favourite part of the old ride so I was gutted that it was gone.


There are all kind of brilliant new scenes and smells though! One of my favourite parts was flying past the Neuschwanstein Castle which was apparently used as inspiration for Cinderella Castle! When you see it you can tell why! With all its turrets it really does look like a princess castle!


We also loved the part with the elephants in Africa playing in the grass! Of course the smell of freshly cut grass was amazing! Again amazing that they managed to get those elephants to cooperate so well with the camera hehe.


We also loved that they'd added the smell of the tropical beaches while flying over the Islands in Hawaii! It reminded us a little of a Bath and Body Works scent!


Of course there are also a couple of new hidden Mickeys to spot! We loved the hot air balloon hidden Mickey.


Definitely our favourite hidden Mickey was the one at the end as you fly into Epcot and stop at Spaceship Earth! The fireworks going off above it create the perfect hidden Mickey ears for it!


Although it seems like an obvious place to go with it I hadn't expected it to fly into Epcot and we just thought it was the most perfect ending for it! Apparently all the different versions of Soarin' in the other parks also end with the icon of the park they're in too!


Although I've added in a few positives and a couple of negatives we all had the biggest smiles on our faces the entire time and I had tears in my eyes at the end as it arrived in Epcot!















******Spoilers over*********











We finished here at 12:50. I loved the cute merchandise in the mini shop after!



Cute luggage tag!






As it was still quite early we decided to have a look on the MDE app to see if we could book a 4th fastpass. We'd never done this before as you used to have to go to a kiosk to do it so had never bothered. The addition of being able to book on your phone via the app was fantastic and made it so much easier to make use of extra fastpasses.


We were pleasantly surprised to find that there was still the option to book Soarin' at 6:10, Test Track at 4:50 and preferred viewing for Illuminations that night. With the exception of Frozen Ever After, everything else was available throughout the afternoon too! Unfortunately we weren't going to a park tonight so couldn't make use of any of the later tier 1 fastpasses but we decided to get in one more ride before leaving.


We booked the Finding Nemo ride which, while not the best use of a fastpass, was only round the corner (and the closest ride to the exit after Spaceship Earth). Plus the fastpasses opened in 10 minutes!


By the time we'd walked over it was 5 minutes before the fastpass window opened so we were able to use them straightaway!


The standby line was listed as 10 minutes (although as always with this ride it was more like 5) but we walked straight on.







Finding Nemo is probably our favourite Disney Pixar film (along with Finding Dory now too) so we always enjoy this!


After the ride we had a quick look in the gift shop as Mum loves the mine mine mine Seagulls! We also spotted the perfect t-shirt for Dad after his ride photo on the Mine Train earlier in the trip hehe. He re-enacted the face perfectly!












We headed out after this stopping in the Art of Disney shop on the way.





We always love looking in here! There are so many gorgeous pictures and figurines!


Lauren and I had a look through the artist character sketches! We both wanted a Peter Pan sketch this trip and were pleased to spot 2 that we really liked!


I added this to my other sketches of Ariel and Alice at home and it looks so cute! I'm already thinking that I'd like that add Rapunzel to the collection next time!


These had gone up in price since I last bought one. They used to be about $37 dollars if I remember right but were around $45 before tax today I believe.





We paid together and it came to $95.85 after tax for the sketches.


The CM serving us was great and wrapped the pictures up really well individually so we could pack them separately!


We left at 1:35 in the end. As we walked out we saw that even at this time there was only 1 photopass photographer out and obviously a long wait as this is such a popular photo opportunity.


The downside to staying at Old Key West was that at Epcot its bus stop is an absolute trek to get to. It's in the second section of onsite bus stops along with the values and SSR I believe.


Doing this walk in the midday heat was tough as there's little shade along the way.


We made it though and hoped that it wouldn't be a long wait as we were all really hot now. Thankfully an Old Key West bus pulled in 5 minutes later hooray!


We were on the bus at 1:50 and back to OKW at 2! I made sure to put my camera on to charge so I'd have it ready for tonight!


We all had a really decent sleep today from about half 2 till 4 for me and half 4 for the others! It was nice after another early start!


Once we were all up we started getting ready as tonight we were heading to the Polynesian for the Spirit of Aloha dinner show!


Mum had an unfortunate experience while cleaning her teeth when she mistook the e45 cream for our toothpaste! Luckily she didn't put it in her mouth but it was on her toothbrush!


We were really looking forward to the show but we were keeping our expectations medium as it gets mixed reviews! We love a visit to the Poly though and have always enjoyed the kind of food served at Ohana so hoped it would be of a similar style.


We'd booked for the second show which is at 8:15. There is an earlier show at 5:15 I believe. We'd booked tier 2 seating. The dinner shows normally have to be paid for in advance (similar to Cinderella's Royal Table) but if you're on the dining plan and it is linked properly it will give you the option to pay using credits. The shows also require 2 table service credits per person but the gratuity is included here which helps.


After the e45/toothpaste debacle we were soon all ready to go! Lauren and I were wearing the exact same outfits we'd worn to Ohana the year before hehe (we have other clothes I swear ). Lauren had picked a flower headband for her hair while I'd gone for a Lilo and Stitch themed hair bow.



My hairbow! We didn’t have enough time for outfit photos


I was also taking this super cute bag!


We left the room at 6:35 and were granted some bus luck as a MK bus pulled in literally just after we got to the stop!


We also had a great bus driver! He was really enthusiastic and when we'd been round the rest of the bus stops he said hello and good evening everyone! He was much nicer than some of the other rude bus drivers we've had the misfortune to meet in the past!


We arrived at Magic Kingdom at 7 so we were plenty ahead of schedule which was nice as it meant we'd have plenty of time to explore the Poly!


We headed over towards MK but carried on walking straight past (which always feels a little weird) to the monorail station.


Luckily one was just pulling in so we were on our way at 7:05. Unfortunately there was a strong smell of wee in the monorail carriage which made for an awkward journey around the Seven Seas Lagoon hehe but thankfully at 7:15 we were getting out at the Poly!










We took a couple of photos and then decided to split up as Mum and Dad wanted to have a look in the shops while Lauren and I wanted to take some more photos!









Continued below...

[xAimeex]

...Continued
















Lauren and I had a nice walk down to the beach! I just love the white sand here! The sand at Wilderness Lodge hadn't been as nice, as the only time we'd been down to see it last year there had been a storm recently.













Footprints in the sand






After taking a few more photos we headed in for a look at the shops too and eventually met up with Mum and Dad at 7:50.


Mum had bought a wide headband to wear at Castaway Cay on the cruise later in the trip as her scalp often gets sunburnt.


We weren't entirely sure where to check in for Spirit of Aloha having only eaten at Ohana before.


We asked a CM who pointed us in the right direction, it's down in the main lobby just opposite the DVC desk.


We checked in at 8 and were given a confirmation of our booking and told to follow the signs down to Luau Cove!





This was only a short walk and easy enough to find!












We were all given leis when we arrived and sent to a short line to have our picture taken by a photopass photographer.


This is optional but as we had memory maker anyway we decided to wait (all the tables are pre-assigned so no real benefit to not waiting but obviously without memory maker these pictures can be pricey!)


We were really glad we decided to have this photo taken as it was one of our absolute favourites from the trip! We rarely have a family picture taken that all of us like!





After that we were sent to wait in line to be seated.


The theatre is outside with the seating area undercover, therefore it can be affected by the weather. Not sure whether they cancel the show in rain or move it inside somewhere else but either way we were very glad it wasn't stormy out!


It was pretty warm sitting out as you'd expect but thankfully the humidity levels weren't too bad tonight and they also have overhead fans in the seating area.





We were eventually shown to our table. Having booked tier 2 it was slightly off to the side but having booked the same tier at Hoop De Doo and ended up about a metre from the stage (we're not ones for audience participation hehe) we didn't mind too much!


We were one table back from the front with a 2 top table next to us (and I mean right next to us hehe all the tables are pushed very close together here). We were just behind a thin post which blocked the view of some of the show a little from the side Mum and Lauren were sitting on which was a shame but all in all it was a nice table.



Our view




Sorry not the best menu picture!




The chairs are extremely heavy here (I guess in case of strong winds) but the seats swivel so you can twist to watch the show without having to move your chair.


Our server came over to take our drinks order. We had all decided to go for one of the specialty cocktails in the cute souvenir glasses!


Obviously these cost extra as alcohol is not included on the dining plan. Our server asked Lauren and I for ID as we'd expected, he accepted our driving licences no problem (it seems to be a mixed bag of sometimes needing to show a print out of your passport along with your license in Disney).


Lauren and I both went for frozen strawberry daiquiris, Mum picked the tiki mai tai (which sounds a bit like a bath and body works fragrance hehe) and Dad had the Island Breeze.


Strawberry daiquiri


Island Breeze



Tiki Mai Tai


They cost $11.75 each which we didn't think was too bad considering you get to keep the cup! These were plastic too so nice and easy to get home!


We all really enjoyed them! Frozen strawberry daiquiris are mine and Lauren's absolute favourite cocktail so we were happy!








As it's included in the cost of the meal we also all had a soft drink each.


Our server was really lovely but was slightly older and he really struggled to hear what we were saying. Possibly it was our accents although they aren't particularly strong. He was a little bit forgetful too, we had to ask a couple of times for our soft drinks and at the end of the meal when we were trying to ask for the drinks bill he seemed to completely disappear while getting it, they do have quite a few tables to serve though I think.


He wasn't a bad server it just got a little awkward at times having to repeat what we were saying. It was very noisy in there though (especially with the tables so close together) which didn't help.


Like Hoop De Doo the food is served family style here which means it is brought out on sharing platters to your table and you help yourself. You can ask your server if you'd like more of anything!


To start our server brought over the same pineapple bread that is served at Ohana but in roll form rather than a loaf. Mum, Dad and I all love this and happily ate all 4 rolls between the 3 of us as Lauren isn't a fan.





We also had a platter with a cold noodle dish, pineapple chunks and salad.







I loved the plates!


I wasn't crazy about this selection to be honest. I knew the noodles wouldn't be the same as the delicious Ohana ones but these weren't even warm (and I don't think they were meant to come out warm either). We all ate them but cold noodles aren't particularly appetising.


The others all really enjoyed the salad, especially Lauren! She loved the dressing on it! I am not a salad eater so I happily munched on the bread instead.


Mum and Dad had some of the pineapple too but again Lauren and I aren't fans.


The platters were all raised above the table which did make it a little awkward to serve yourself as we found we had to stand up to reach properly which was fine until the show started as I didn't want to block anyone's view. This may have been down to the fact I'm not very tall hehe.


I feel like I've been a bit of a Debbie Downer the last few paragraphs and you're probably all thinking we had a terrible time! We really didn't! This was actually one of our favourite nights! As you can probably tell the food was a bit hit and miss and as you'll see I can't say we felt any different about the food by the time we left but the show was absolutely brilliant!


Shortly after they cleared away the salad/noodle platter the lights went down and the cast came on stage!


[B[Continued below...[/B]

[xAimeex]

...Continued


The show is set around a character called Leilani. She's going off to the mainland or something like that if I remember right so all her friends are throwing her a goodbye party. There's a love interest thrown in as well and a couple of her friends who are in a will they/won't they relationship too I seem to recall! One review we read of the show described it as being very high school musical and reading the storylines above you can probably see why that was said.


Yes it was a little cheesy in parts but come on this is Disney! If they can't get away with being a bit cheesy, who can?!


The first song they danced to was Hawaiian Rollercoaster Ride from Lilo and Stitch! Lauren and I absolutely love this song so it was already off to a great start!








A few minutes into the show the servers all started to bring out the next platter of food. We'd expected it to be like Hoop De Doo where they wait until the breaks in the show to bring out the next course so we were a bit surprised to have more food already.


This was probably my only criticism of the show (other than rejigging the menu to be a little more like Ohana), there was no lighting on in the seating area so it was way too dark to be able to see the food so we had no idea what we were eating.


As I mentioned above the high platters made it hard to reach but with the show still on I didn't want to stand up and block the view of those behind me so I ended up having to reach across the table while trying not to knock my 2 drinks over hehe. Mum had a similar problem as she's short too.


Despite the slightly awkward timing of this course it was by far the best platter!


It consisted of ribs, pulled pork, chicken, ginger rice and vegetables.







Wet wipe for after!


All 3 of the meats were really good! Surprisingly my favourite was the ribs! I haven't been a big fan of these in the past but these were really good! Probably my favourite thing I ate all night!


Lauren especially enjoyed the pulled pork as she isn't a fan of ribs and wasn't too keen on the chicken either.


Mum and Dad enjoyed it all!


The rice was yummy and the ginger flavour wasn't overpowering. I mixed mine up with the barbecue sauce from the ribs to give it a bit of extra flavour!


I didn't eat the vegetables but the others did. They said they were fine but a little tasteless.


A few minutes after the food was served the show took a short break so we were all able to tuck in properly now the lights were on again!


Our server came to ask if there was anything we'd like more of. We decided to get more of the pulled pork as we all really liked it. I'd have liked to have ordered more ribs too but I was quite full from the bread I'd eaten and I wanted to save room for dessert (although if I'd have known what an epic disaster that would be I'd have just ordered the ribs hehe).


Mum and Dad both decided to have a sangria as this (along with beer and wine) is included in the cost of the meal (even on the dining plan)! They decided it would be rude not to!


The dancers came over and walked round the tables to say hello to everyone which was nice! They were trying to get people to come up and dance during the next part in the show but Lauren and I happily declined hehe we were more than happy to watch from the table!


They were teaching those who'd got up how to hula dance!


After that they invited anyone who was celebrating a birthday to go up while the cast sang a Hawaiian birthday song to them!


Next up they wanted couples to get up. Lauren and I made Mum and Dad go up to make up for us skipping out on the hula dancing lesson hehe. They pretended they didn't want to but you only have to look at the pictures to see how happy they were! They're so cute!





Aww


That was it for the audience participation! There was a little more of Leilani's story before the show took another break so they could serve dessert.


Bye Leilani


It was a pineapple coconut guava sponge cake with chocolate crunch. If only they'd served this one up in the dark!


Yes you read that right! Disney achieved the impossible, they baked a cake that even I couldn't eat!


If you've read any of my previous reports you'll know that I pride myself on my sweet tooth and happily live the cake life (like the thug life only the weapons are obviously all butter knives with a cake fork nearby for optimum cake consumption hehe).


I'm not entirely sure how best to describe it. It had 2 thin overly moist sponges (I'm so sorry, everything about that sentence sounds wrong. It was either moist or damp, I had to pick one! ) which sort of tasted as though it had been drizzled with artificial pineapple juice. It had a layer of what I imagine was pineapple jam in the middle.


Then a cream layer on top which was overly sweet (a sentence I literally thought would never leave my mouth ). With the pineapple sponge though it was just too much.


They'd then sprinkled chocolate crumbs over it which for me really topped off (literally) this taste abomination. It just clashed with the other flavours.





Yuk!


I had one mouthful and that was it. I wondered if it was too late to ask for more ribs hehe.


Don't take my word for it though as Mum and Dad thought it was ok and managed a small slice each but let's put it this way they weren't asking our server to box up the rest of it for later hehe.


Ok now I promise that's the last of the negativity from this meal. Cake aside (literally across the other side of the table for me and Lauren hehe) the show started again for its final part!


This for us was where it really came into its own! It was focused a lot more on traditional Hawaiian dancing. The grass skirts were out and it featured lots of hula, poi and fire dancing.


The dancers are all really talented.







There was one part where they had 3 male dancers basically just wearing loin clothes (I'm sure that is 100% not the traditional name for their outfits ).


When I looked around I noticed that nearly every woman at the surrounding tables including Mum, Lauren and I had our phones or cameras out recording it! Utterly shameless the lot of us hehe.


The fire dancing was particularly amazing! It was completely mesmerising to watch! Similar to the fire act in Festival of the Lion King but this was on a much bigger scale! It really was incredible.


At the end everybody sang goodbye to Leilani and it was all a bit emotional (and cheesy as previously stated hehe).


When the cast left the stage the lights came on again and everyone started to leave.


We still needed to pay for our cocktails so kept an eye out for our server. When we eventually spotted him and asked for the bill it was an age before he came back again.


The total for the 4 cocktails came to $57.90 including tax and gratuity at 18% (which is automatically added).


While we sorted the bill our sever kindly offered to rinse our souvenir cups so that we weren't having to carry round sticky glasses.


Luckily this time he came straight back with our cups in a bag which was really helpful!


We left just after 10 and walked out into the beach nearby to watch Wishes as it had just started!


This was an absolutely lovely end to the night! As far as I can recall the music isn't piped in this far along the beach but it was still brilliant!


We watched until the end and I just managed to get a picture of the finale!









We headed back to the lobby and out to bell services as we had decided to get a taxi home rather than fuss with getting 2 buses or a monorail and a bus back to OKW.


We were in the taxi by 10:25 and the driver dropped us off outside our building at 10:35.


With a tip the taxi cost $20 so not cheap but it saved us so much hassle and this was the only time we took a cab instead of the buses. Plus between 4 of us it was only a fiver each so not too bad.


We all had showers when we got in. Despite sitting outside near water all night it seemed none of us had been bitten luckily! We had all gone a bit crazy with the bug spray though hehe.


We watched a bit of TV before going to bed around 11:15.


Thanks for reading x

[H_C-2017]

Looks like a lovely day!

I think I have the same skirt but in red and black :P
Just wondering what size you get in your redbubble t-shirts for the round neck and v-neck ones - i've been looking but don't want to order the wrong size.
Your meal looked lovely - I love a good strawberry daiquiri.

Thanks for writing - you put so much detail in your reports.

[Guest]

What a great day, thanks for posting. I didn't even know Ohana did a dinner show, so it was lovely to read all about that. I'd have loved to do the new soarin, but the wait time was too long. Next time though.

[Wismgari]

I was chuckling along with the handwashing bit - I am emetophobic too and I would have also insisted everyone went and scrubbed their hands immediately after that!

Another great day - the dinner show looked good fun and I love Wishes from the beach!

[Phil_habcdisney]

Wonderful report thank you for sharing :-)

[mobeckwith]

wow, fab day, pity about the strange food choices at the luau,i would have just ordered a ton more sangria mo x