Disney World “Year of a Million Dreams” Trip Report

Again, morning came quickly (for Sarah and me at least, Nick needed to sleep in, so he met up with us at 11:30 a.m.). We got to Epcot at 9:05, and quickly grabbed FastPasses for Soarin’, then got in standby for Soarin’.

I was hoping to get a chance to play the games in the queue, but it apparently was too early, and the standby line was too short. After Soarin’, we decided to head over to Club Cool to get some free caffeine.

We went around a few other pavilions, finally meeting up with Nick and going to Journey into Imagination. We balked when we got to the pavilion door–there was a line! I said that it probably broke down, but that we should see how long the wait will be.

Thankfully, we did this, as the “line” was actually the Dream Squad holding people back, only to award us all Dream Mickey Ears! We were absolutely thrilled, as in two previous trips during the Year(s) of a Million Dreams, we had never won anything (not that we expected to–being there is a fulfillment of our dreams!).

Imagination, itself, was still the same old attraction, but at least Figment is there. Being the “inspiration” for my attachment to Disney, I don’t think that attachment would have survived if Figment were not re-introduced. Even if he is annoying, and only a shadow of his former self, riding the new attraction reminds me of the old and all my experiences associated with that. After riding, I popped in the gift shop to pick up the new Dreamfinder shirt and a Figment bobblehead that happened to be on clearance.

We visited a couple more pavilions, before making our way to Spaceship Earth. Figuring the morning rush had subsided, we were surprised to find that the wait was still 30 minutes. We had some time to kill before lunch, so we decided to go ahead and wait. The first half of the ride was spectacular–everything looked great, and I found the Dench narration to be very good. I think all of those cracks that it’s a dumbed down script are not necessarily correct. I thought there were a few instances of tongue-in-cheek humor that were certainly not unintentional. The descent was a different story, but I think there still is the potential to improve upon that, and it certainly doesn’t sour my opinion of the amazing job done on the first three-fourths of the attraction.

When we arrived at Le Cellier, I discovered I had misread our reservation list, and we were actually forty-five minutes late. Once I found this out, I figured we had no chance of being seated, but we were–in only 10 minutes! With that disaster averted, I was ready to enjoy what is always billed as one of the best restaurants at Walt Disney World.

It definitely lived up to the hype. Our guessed that we were Cast Members when he approached the table (this happened to us on many occasions, I guess three 20-somethings without kids eating together lends to that impression), and gave us complimentary drinks in addition to the milkshakes we ordered with the Dining Plan. I debated between the New York Strip and the Filet Mignon, but ultimately size won over flavor, and I chose the Strip (as did Sarah–Nick went for Filet). I doubt any of us regret the decision, as they all were incredible. Epcot definitely has a disproportionate number of great dining options, but I think we will be returning to Le Cellier sooner rather than later. Definitely great value for a one credit dining option.

After lunch we made our way back to Universe of Energy. I still love the attraction for the semblances of EPCOT, although I’m not entirely convinced a bunch of dinosaurs tie into the Jeopardy energy theme that well (I understand the significance of dinos in energy, but they are not that predominate). When I learned that Nick had never been there in his two plus years as a Cast Member, I knew we had to go see it.

We then ventured back into World Showcase, this time to see the substantive content. We visited all of the pavilions, until we finally arrived at the American Adventure, my personal favorite. I find the attraction highly inspirational, and as a proud American, I always feel invigorated after leaving. Worth noting, for the second time in recent memory, we noticed foreign individuals walking out during the presentation of the American Adventure.

Has anyone else noticed this? I don’t think it’s all that politically charged of a show, but I also understand it’s completely tame. However, I don’t think it should be tame. A show about America in America, even in a place that’s a popular international tourist destination, should be unabashedly proud of its roots. Perhaps I am missing the point, and am just another individual adding to America’s collective ego that makes us so unattractive to other nations.

After leaving American Adventure, we passed by France, where we saw the first Photopass photographer of the day. We try to stop for every PhotoPass opportunity we can, so we stopped. When it was our turn, the photographer commented that she knew us.

Not thinking, I responded that I thought she was mistaken. As she began taking our picture, she commented on various things I have divulged here on WDWMagic’s Picture of the Day thread. It suddenly dawned on me how this person knew us! It turned out I was the one who was mistaken, and this PhotoPass photographer was “Gorjus”.

We then headed to the UK for some chips. We ate them outside while listening to British Invasion, which I found to be a great band. After listening to them for about one half hour, we secured a location for Illuminations. Since the presentation was about forty-five minutes away (we were not making the same mistake as we made for SpectroMagic!), we decided to grab a couple of beers from the UK. I am doubtlessly cheap, so one $7 beer was about all I needed for this trip.

Illuminations was spectacular as always, and inducing of a similar level of inspiration as The American Adventure. Once Illuminations finished, we began our quick whirlwind tour of the park to grab some night shots. The “tour” would have to be quick, given that we wanted to make it to Magic Kingdom as soon as possible to enjoy its Extra Magic Hours offerings. In about forty minutes, we managed to photograph many World Showcase pavilions, as well as UoE, M:S, JII, and SSE.

When we arrived at MK, we went straight to my favorite restaurant: Cosmic Ray’s. Prior to our trip I had laid a (loosely followed) ban on burgers for myself so I would be strongly craving Cosmic Ray’s when we arrived. Well, it worked. That first toppings-laden burger was an absolute delight, and eating it while watching and hearing the soothing music of Sonny Eclipse might amount to the ultimate sensory experience. We finished our meal just as Sonny completed his show, then we headed off to TTA.

Tomorrowland is my favorite land in MK, and TTA might be my favorite attraction within that land. While some criticize it for its lack of offerings, and while I agree with this to an extent (let’s get that Timekeeper AA that’s just sitting backstage up there!), I think the vantage of Tomorrowland and the rest of the park really makes up for that. We probably rode five times this trip.

We hit some more of our favorites, exiting Big Thunder Mountain Railroad just after 2 a.m. Then, as usual, it was picture time. We got plenty of pictures, with this time, no one shooing us away from the BTMRR area. My camera battery again died by the time we reached Main Street. The sad thing for us about this was that I had an extra battery at home, but I just didn’t think to bring it. We arrived home around 3 a.m., and quickly fell asleep.

(Look, we’re ghosts!)

The next morning would not come so early, as it was water park day. I slept in until about 8:30 a.m., at which time I woke up to go take pictures of the resort. When I returned, I woke Sarah and we left for Blizzard Beach shortly thereafter. It was a drizzly morning, so the park wasn’t too busy, but Sarah and I made the mistake of getting in line for Downhill Double Dipper, which had an inordinately long wait time, especially given its short duration. Upon leaving Downhill Double Dipper, we made our way to the lazy river, which is always a personal favorite of mine, then had lunch. After lunch, we went to more “family” style attractions, and never waited more than ten minutes (and most of that time was walking up the mountain).

One of these times, while getting ready to get in the Runoff Rapids queue, we saw the Dream Squad walking the other direction. Sarah asked if we should follow them, and I said, “No, we have no idea what they’re doing, and I’m sure the system is set up better than to allow people to just follow them around and win that way.” Sure enough, when we landed in the Runoff Rapids pool, we were handed Dream Mouse Ears! Interestingly enough, many people discarded their ears–I guess a water park isn’t the ideal location to wear Mouse Ears. We left Blizzard Beach around 3:15 p.m., after stopping near the entrance several times to make sure we’d have enough pictures for a two-page photobook layout for Blizzard Beach.

When we got back to Saratoga, we relaxed briefly, then began getting ready for our dinner at Flying Fish Café. We always plan one meal per trip where we dress nicely and experience one of the signature restaurants Walt Disney World has to offer. It presented an opportunity for me to wear me Mickey Mouse tie Sarah got me for my birthday, which, while having a subtle design, still isn’t quite professional enough for me to wear to work. I got ready fairly quickly, giving me plenty of time to play around with the camera while Sarah finished getting ready.

Dinner was phenomenal. I am a huge seafood fan, and while Flying Fish didn’t quite compare to Shaw’s or The Oceanaire, it offered great ambience and delicious fare–plus, it was in the middle of Disney’s Boardwalk, which is the ultimate trump card over other seafood restaurants. As with most Signature restaurants at WDW, I’d recommend going as late as possible, as that is when the lighting offers the best ambience, and more importantly, that is when you will find the fewest children in the restaurant (of course, I’m one who is of the belief that small children don’t belong in nice restaurants, regardless of location–but I realize there are divergent opinions on this topic). We all decided to start with crab quesadillas, which were quite good. For the main course, Nick and I chose Tuna and Red Snapper, respectively, while Sarah opted for the New York Strip.

Originally, we had planned on going to Jellyrolls after dinner. However, the great time we had at Adventurer’s Club the first night, and given its impending doom, we decided to go back. So we headed back to our resort, changed, and made our way to Please Island. Being a Saturday evening, Adventurer’s Club was packed. We again saw Gorjus, and chatted with her briefly. Chatting was about the only thing we did that evening, because Adventurer’s Club was so packed that we didn’t have a chance to see a single show. We ended up leaving relatively early at 12:15 a.m., as we were due in the Magic Kingdom the next morning by 9 a.m., so we needed our rest. Even though we didn’t see a single show, we do not regret going, as the Adventurer’s Club atmosphere is great, and I know we would’ve regretted not getting to see it one last time. (Now we have another problem, as we are considering a weekend getaway, which is probably ill-advised as I currently am not working).

The next morning we got up slightly earlier than normal, this time wanting to ensure that we would arrive at the Magic Kingdom by 9 a.m. for opening festivities. Rather than being there for a rope drop as I previously remember, there was a ceremony with a family and several characters at the train station. It was really cool, and definitely justified getting there early.

Nick had opted to sleep in again, so we decided to take the opportunity to go around and get some PhotoPass picture taken. After doing that for a bit, we meandered on over to Splash Mountain and rode it. Nick finally met up with us, and we made our way to Toontown for its opening, and quickly got our pictures taken with some characters. We made an effort to get pictures with as many characters as possible that day, and thanks to the added characters in lieu of SpectroMagic, this plan worked well.

For the first time in recent memory, we had lunch at Pecos Bills instead of Cosmic Ray’s. The burger and toppings bar were exactly the same, but the absence of Sonny Eclipse made the experience less enjoyable than Cosmic Ray’s. Sonny Eclipse definitely can’t be beat!

We spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening taking in the atmosphere and attractions, including a sunset trip on TTA, which was especially enjoyable (if you want some great pictures, give it a try!) until it was time for Wishes! I had scouted out locations earlier in the day, and I figured our second best spot was Tomorrowland Terrace (assuming we couldn’t get the Train Station, which always fills up quickly). We got a decent spot there, or so I thought. It turned out the lights weren’t turned off in Tomorrowland Terrace during Wishes!, which we found really distracting. Definitely will opt for no photographs and a better viewing location next time.

After Wishes!, we were beat. We decided to head over to Carousel of Progress to rest a little (not sleep, but get off our feet). I ended up nodding off for a bit, with Sarah sleeping through most of the show (the show, oddly, got extended, as there was an error that resulted in us viewing the second scene twice). It was looking as if our plan to be in the Magic Kingdom from 9 a.m. until 3 a.m. would be a mistake. However, we “persevered”. Probably not something we’ll do again since it made us so tired, but it was definitely fun.

The night finally ended as we exited Space Mountain at 3:05 a.m., and we tried to head over to Fantasyland to begin our pictures. Much to my dismay, there was already a Cast Member clearing the area, and not letting anyone back into Fantasyland. I was a little concerned, as we hadn’t gotten any night pictures of Fantasyland yet. I told Sarah that I had a plan, and led her over to the castle, where we went through to Fantasyland without incident.

To our benefit, it looked like the park clearing plan hadn’t been executed perfectly. As we were already exhausted, and had night pictures of every other land besides Adventureland, and we doubted we could make it over there, we decided to take some pictures on Main Street, then head home. When we left the park at 4:03 a.m., we overheard the Cast Member directing late night busing say “they are the last ones”.

We had done it–the last guests out of the park! (Although I can’t say I was too surprised, since when we left, I didn’t see anyone else around). Oddly, when we got the Saratoga bus stop, there was another family there! Usually, even when we’re not the last ones out of the park, we’re the only ones on the bus.

The next morning came very quickly, with us getting less than three hours of sleep before having to get up for our 8 a.m. Chef Mickey’s ADR. I don’t know what got us through the morning: excitement, adrenaline, pixie dust, or some combination of the three–but something did. Breakfast was wonderful.

After we leaving the Contemporary, we went back to Saratoga to pack and leave our bags with Bell Services. Sarah and I then headed to the Wedding Pavilion, as we had further considered having our wedding at Walt Disney World due to the trip. Everything we saw was beautiful, except the prices, but those are quite understandable, given the location.

Downtown Disney was our next stop, where we picked up some assorted souvenirs, Sandwich of Earl, and met up with Nick to say goodbye. We then returned to Saratoga, played around in the gift shop, and then waited for our DME bus.

Having accomplished so much, but having left so much still undone, we reluctantly boarded Disney’s Magical Express and said goodbye to our favorite place in the world. With visions of our next vacation already in mind, the goodbye wasn’t so bad, but it’s still one we never enjoy. Thanks for reading–see ya real soon!