Terra Nova Guy and the Raiders of the Lost Park - an August 2018 TR *COMPLETE* 4/28

Terra Nova guy

DIS Dad #811 Newfoundland, Canada
Joined
Nov 11, 2014
Welcome everyone to my first trip report! I’ve been reading many reports here since my last trip in 2014 and I’m excited to finally be able to report on a trip of my own. I’ve “met” some great people interacting through these reports and I’m happy to be able to share my experiences this time.

INTRODUCTION

First off, the 5 W’s.


Who:

There’s me, Jeff (44), the husband and Dad (and yes, DISDad #811). (Hint: I’m on the right in the picture)


MK_SBCSIDESHOWGOOFINICHAR_20180822_413049076332.jpg

I’ve enjoyed everything Disney as long as I can remember. I grew up with Disney movies and TV shows. My first trip to Walt Disney World (just Magic Kingdom and a 1 year old Epcot back then!) was in 1983 when I was 9 years old. I was hooked from the start and after many years I was happy to start bringing my family to WDW, starting in 2008.

I live in Newfoundland, Canada. Some of you may have heard of this place, others may be not. It’s in Eastern Canada, about as far east as you can go in fact until you run out of land and head across the Atlantic.


Along on this journey is my wife, Tish. She enjoys Disney and our trips (as long as there is a day or two of shopping in there), although is not quite as obsessed as me.

MK_PARTRIGHT_20180818_412981167311.jpg

We have two girls. My step-daughter Brianna is 18, just finished high school and off to start university. She is a Disney princess at heart, and in fact in her spare time performs as a princess at kid’s birthday parties. She’s mainly a “friend” of Elsa, but has also been a friend of Ariel, Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Aurora.

STUDIO_CELEBRITYBCHAR_20180820_413014768680.jpg

IMG_7930.JPG

My daughter Katie just turned 11 right before this trip. She’s all about the princesses too, and has a soft spot for Stitch. We may have bent the truth just a little and pretended she was celebrating her birthday during our trip, even though it was a week earlier.

MK_CARPRGS1_20180819_413007872979.jpg

The last member of our family is our cat, Shelby, who we adopted from the city humane services this past January. She’s 9 months old now and stayed at home with my parents during our trip. It was out first time being away from her since we got her, so the girls were a bit sad about that. Me on the other hand, it didn't bother me to leave her, cause I'm a guy, and we don't care about furry little things that meow and have pretty little eyes and a pink wittle nose and a fuzzy wuzzy tail and cute little teeny itty bitty paws and...wait...what was I saying...Oh right. Cat. Left it. Didn't care.

IMG_8406.JPG


What:

Our fifth family trip to Walt Disney World


When:

August 17-27, 2018


Where:

All-Star Music resort (with free QS dining)



Why:

Because we like Disney…..

Well, that’s obvious. But here’s where I should give you some more details about why this trip came about, and why I have titled it “Raiders of the Lost Park”. So, if you notice in my signature, we had become used to WDW trips about every 12-18 months. October of 2014 was our last trip for some time. Our beloved Walt Disney World had become lost to us. There were a few reasons for it. There was uncertainty around my job, financial worries, some medical issues, a bunch of “life stuff” that meant the time just wasn’t right for a trip in the last four years. Through the jigs and the reels, things were finally looking brighter this year. When free dining was announced, I started looking at pricing, thought it was doable, as long as we made some changes from our previous trips. The biggest would be to save money where we could, which meant going with a value resort as opposed to moderate. The only thing available with free dining by the time I was ready to book was All-Star Music, but it seemed fine to us. So there it was, a couple ADRs and some FP later, we were ready to go.

How about a preview of what’s coming up? (It’s free, no charge)

- This is princess central. If you enjoy seeing princess pictures, you’ve come to the right place. My girls enjoy meeting them, and every trip we’ve given ourselves the challenge to meet and get the autograph of every official Disney princess, plus the Fab Five, and a bunch of others as well. Yeah, we do character meets. So, were we successful in meeting every princess? You’ll have to find out…

- This is our first time with a QS dining plan. How did we find it? Would I do it again?

- Although I won’t call it a dining review, food will be a feature in this report. (At least when I remembered to take pictures)

- We also go to MNSSHP. It’s our third one (2010, 2014, 2018). How did we find this year? Would I do it again?

- We visit Toy Story Land! That’s new to a lot of people. But there’s a bunch of other stuff we see for the first time, like Pandora, Frozen Ever After, Star Wars fireworks, Happily Ever After, Rivers of Light, Disney Springs, even the gardens around the Hub are new to us! IT’S BEEN FOUR YEARS PEOPLE!

Hey, since this is my trip report, why don’t I have a little fun? I won’t call it a contest, but I’ll ask a couple questions every update. Or maybe not. You can answer. Or not. I’ll probably give the answers eventually. Who knows? I’m new at this. I don’t know what I’m doing.

Questions for fun (and no copying :P):

1. My trip report title is a play on a movie title. Which one?

2. Do we meet and get the autograph of every official Disney princess this trip? (OK, you will have to wait a while for that answer)

3. In what building is our room located at All-Star Music?



Alright folks, that’s what I got for an intro. I’ll be around again to actually get this thing started.

NEXT TIME: Early rise on travel day, a delay at the airport changes our plans, and finally…check in.
 
Last edited:
Table of Contents

Introduction ^^ up there

August 17 - Travel Day "a.k.a. the boring post before we get to the good stuff" - travel & All-Star Music check in

August 18 - Day 1, Part 1 "Main Street is Dusty Today" - Magic Kingdom morning
August 18 - Day 1, Part 2 "The Hollywood Boulevard Dash" - Hollywood Studios evening

August 19 - Day 2, Part 1 "This Cooling Towel is Broken" - Animal Kingdom morning
August 19 - Day 2, Part 2 "Getting Buzzed in the Rain" - The Plaza review, Magic Kingdom evening, Happily Ever After

August 20 - Day 3, Part 1 "3 Minutes Should be Enough Extra Magic for Anyone" - Hollywood Studios morning
August 20 - Day 3, Part 2 "Popcorn Shouldn’t Be This Hard" - Via Napoli review & Epcot evening

August 21 - Day 4 "The Day That Must Not Be Named" - Hollywood Studios morning & offsite shopping

August 22 - Day 5 - Part 1 "It Was the Worst of Times, It Was the Best of Times" - Epcot morning
August 22 - Day 5 - Part 2 "The Agony of De Feet" - Magic Kingdom evening

August 23 - Day 6 - Part 1 " Aurora Gets Her Beauty Sleep" - Epcot princess meet & greet
August 23 - Day 6 - Part 2 "Attack of the Giant Slice!" - Hollywood Studios and Beaches & Cream review

August 24 - Day 7 - Part 1 "Homecomin’: Take It With a Grain of Salt" - Homecomin' Review
August 24 - Day 7 - Part 2 "More Tragical Than Magical" - MNSSHP
August 24 - Day 7 - Part 3 " More Tragical Than Magical" Continued - MNSSHP

August 25 - Day 8 - Part 1 "We Finally Take Flight" - Animal Kingdom
August 25 - Day 8 - Part 2 "One More Cannoli and I'll Pop" - Pizzafari Family Style Dining review, Rivers of Light


August 26 - Day 9 - Part 1 "They Still Make Paper FastPass?" - Epcot & Disney Springs morning
August 26 - Day 9 - Part 2 - "Challenge Accepted" - Magic Kingdom afternoon
August 26 - Day 9 - Part 3 - "This Citrus Swirled All Over Me" - Magic Kingdom Evening

August 27 - Day 10 - "We Have HOW MANY Meal Credits?!" - leaving All-Star Music resort

Final Thoughts
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the Bat Signal ... joining in!

There’s me, Jeff (44), the husband and Dad (and yes, DISDad #811). (Hint: I’m on the right in the picture)


mk_sbcsideshowgoofinichar_20180822_413049076332-jpg.348807

um, my right or your right?


Your older daughter totally looks like a "friend" of a princess - not surprised there!

Didn't care about leaving our cats either, not one bit ... even the cute wittle kitten we recently got, nope not one bit!

For the questions:
- Raiders of the Lost Ark
- Yes you do (thinking optimistically!)
- Um, building 8?
 
I’m in! Man, you’re fast. I haven’t even started mine yet!

Looking forward to reading along. Thanks for the heads up!
 


A fellow Canadian and August traveler following along!
 
Here I was thinking I was fast and 3 people beat me already. Joining in to see what the Terra Nova gang did.
 
I’m in for this!! Thanks for the heads up.

Your girls are so beautiful! I look forward to seeing them enjoy all the princess-y things on your trip.

Omg your cat intro had me :rotfl:

And I’m going to tag dh @DDuck4Life hes a lurker but He will enjoy following along.
 


Welcome everyone to my first trip report! I’ve been reading many reports here since my last trip in 2014 and I’m excited to finally be able to report on a trip of my own. I’ve “met” some great people interacting through these reports and I’m happy to be able to share my experiences this time.
Glad you are. You read mine, so you know how one SHOULDN'T be done. ;)

- This is our first time with a QS dining plan. How did we find it? Would I do it again?

I'm going out on a limb here and saying you found it online.
I think yes...since you were on a princess meet mission, the QS was right up your alley.

- We also go to MNSSHP. It’s our third one (2010, 2014, 2018). How did we find this year? Would I do it again?
Again, I'm gonna say online.
I imagine your 11 year old had a blast if nobody else did. If she says Daddy, can we do it again? You're a goner!


1. My trip report title is a play on a movie title. Which one?
PM'ed you so people couldn't steal my answer. I'm sure nobody else figured it out.


2. Do we meet and get the autograph of every official Disney princess this trip? (OK, you will have to wait a while for that answer)
I'm going to say no. There are a lot of princesses and I think it would be extraordinarily difficult to get them ALL.


3. In what building is our room located at All-Star Music?

The building that has rooms and music themed decorations?


NEXT TIME: Early rise on travel day, a delay at the airport changes our plans, and finally…check in.
:woohoo: checkin!!
 
Hi, Jeff! Looking forward to hearing about your trip—though I feel like I got a very tiny sneak peak of it with our unplanned Dismeet :) I'm also a big princess fan, so I'm all in for the princess pictures!

1. My trip report title is a play on a movie title. Which one?

kkow2xa.jpg


Obviously.

2. Do we meet and get the autograph of every official Disney princess this trip? (OK, you will have to wait a while for that answer)

I'm going to guess yes.

3. In what building is our room located at All-Star Music?

Hmmm...guessing a number here...4.
 
What I meant to say, because I replied to the bat signal like a doofus.... I’m here.

No really.... I am here.

:)
 
Made the first page :thumbsup2 Glad you've started this and I'm looking forward to reading along!
 
Thanks for the Bat Signal ... joining in!
:welcome: to my first reader! I'm glad someone showed up :rotfl:
Great to have you along for the ride, Phil. Good to see there's another guy who doesn't care about kittens
:rolleyes1

I’m in! Man, you’re fast. I haven’t even started mine yet!

Looking forward to reading along. Thanks for the heads up!
:welcome: happy to have you here, Mark. The fact that speed impresses you bodes well for me. At least that's what I tell my wife.
.
.
See, only on page 1 and already starting with the innuendos.
But seriously, I've been reading trip reports for years here, I couldn't wait to get one of my own up!


A fellow Canadian and August traveler following along!
:welcome: I'll have to check out your trip report too. Interested to see you August experience. It was my first time in Florida in the summer heat...wow, we almost melted!

Here I was thinking I was fast and 3 people beat me already. Joining in to see what the Terra Nova gang did.
:welcome: and great to have you along Doc. Maybe I did learn how not to do a trip report from you :rotfl2:

I’m in for this!! Thanks for the heads up.
:welcome: I'm glad you joined in. The princess parade will be slow but steady throughout this report! Maybe I'll have to do some kind of countdown as I reveal who we met :p

Omg your cat intro had me :rotfl:
Well, my work here is done. At least I made one person smile :)

And I’m going to tag dh @DDuck4Life hes a lurker but He will enjoy following along.
Awesome. I confess to being a lurker on a few TRs here an there, nothing wrong with that. It's great to have a fellow DISDad along for the ride.

Hi, Jeff! Looking forward to hearing about your trip—though I feel like I got a very tiny sneak peak of it with our unplanned Dismeet :) I'm also a big princess fan, so I'm all in for the princess pictures!
:welcome: Meghan, I'm glad you are able to join in! You might be the subject of one of my little questions eventually :)
I hope you enjoyed the rest of your trip.


What I meant to say, because I replied to the bat signal like a doofus.... I’m here.

No really.... I am here.

:)
:welcome:so glad you are here! I'm excited to share my adventure with you!

Fellow Disney loving Newfoundlander following along!
:welcome: how exciting! Another Newfoundlander. I've been hoping to come across someone on these boards for years but never have until now!

Made the first page :thumbsup2 Glad you've started this and I'm looking forward to reading along!
:welcome:Ariane, happy you made it! I hope you enjoy reading along. It's my first time, so be gentle with me :P

Here! Back to read later. :)
:welcome: good sir. Thanks for stopping by. I know your TR slate is pretty full, so I'm glad you stopped by!
 
OK, introduction finally read :surfweb:

I live in Newfoundland, Canada. Some of you may have heard of this place, others may be not. It’s in Eastern Canada, about as far east as you can go in fact until you run out of land and head across the Atlantic.
I've heard of it! My grandfather died in a plane crash off the coast of Newfoundland in 1946. So even before I was of an age where I should know geography I'd heard of it. Let me see if I can bring down the tone here a little more lol..........

She’s mainly a “friend” of Elsa, but has also been a friend of Ariel, Cinderella, and Aurora.
Right before I scrolled to the picture of her as Elsa I thought, "she totally looks like an Elsa!"

We may have bent the truth just a little and pretended she was celebrating her birthday during our trip, even though it was a week earlier.
Um, people go in June and say they're celebrating their birthday - that's in Dec. :laughing:

It was out first time being away from her since we got her, so the girls were a bit sad about that. Me on the other hand, it didn't bother me to leave her, cause I'm a guy, and we don't care about furry little things that meow and have pretty little eyes and a pink wittle nose and a fuzzy wuzzy tail and cute little teeny itty bitty paws and...wait...what was I saying...Oh right. Cat. Left it. Didn't care.
OMG she's adorable! Calicos are my favorite, I've had 2. We lost Jazz, my 2nd one, back in Feb. And sure, you're right on target with how guys feel about cats :sad2: That's why whenever I brought a stray home growing up, mom said yes, dad made me cry for hours because he said no and would storm out of the room saying the cat "has to go" in the morning..................and 3 hours later be asleep on the couch with said cat on his chest. We had LOTS of cats growing up and dad said no to them all :rotfl2:

We also go to MNSSHP. It’s our third one (2010, 2014, 2018). How did we find this year? Would I do it again?
We were there in 2010 and 2014! I'm curious to see how different it is this year for us and what your thoughts are. Even in 2014 we had such LOW crowds at ours, and so far it seems only 1 party has had what people deem reasonable crowds.
 
There’s me, Jeff (44), the husband and Dad (and yes, DISDad #811). (Hint: I’m on the right in the picture)

Thanks for clarifying. I wasn't sure.

I live in Newfoundland, Canada. Some of you may have heard of this place, others may be not. It’s in Eastern Canada, about as far east as you can go in fact until you run out of land and head across the Atlantic.

Go north, turn right. Got it.

We have two girls. My step-daughter Brianna is 18, just finished high school and off to start university. She is a Disney princess at heart, and in fact in her spare time performs as a princess at kid’s birthday parties. She’s mainly a “friend” of Elsa, but has also been a friend of Ariel, Cinderella, and Aurora.

I can see the resemblance!

We may have bent the truth just a little and pretended she was celebrating her birthday during our trip, even though it was a week earlier.

Oh, man. This is going to tie in perfectly with a certain part of my upcoming Disney TR. You don't even know. Just remember this when I finally get to it in about 8 months.

Me on the other hand, it didn't bother me to leave her, cause I'm a guy, and we don't care about furry little things that meow and have pretty little eyes and a pink wittle nose and a fuzzy wuzzy tail and cute little teeny itty bitty paws and...wait...what was I saying...Oh right. Cat. Left it. Didn't care.

Way to man up there. I bet you gave in when you discovered that she likes football and whiskey.

The only thing available with free dining by the time I was ready to book was All-Star Music, but it seemed fine to us. So there it was, a couple ADRs and some FP later, we were ready to go.

How much time are you going to spend in your room, anyway?

How about a preview of what’s coming up? (It’s free, no charge)

Well, ok. Since it's free.

- This is princess central. If you enjoy seeing princess pictures, you’ve come to the right place. My girls enjoy meeting them, and every trip we’ve given ourselves the challenge to meet and get the autograph of every official Disney princess, plus the Fab Five, and a bunch of others as well. Yeah, we do character meets.

Hmm. On second thought, I need to go get something out of my car...

(drives off) :car:

- Although I won’t call it a dining review, food will be a feature in this report. (At least when I remembered to take pictures)

Hey! I like food!

- We visit Toy Story Land! That’s new to a lot of people. But there’s a bunch of other stuff we see for the first time, like Pandora, Frozen Ever After, Star Wars fireworks, Happily Ever After, Rivers of Light, Disney Springs, even the gardens around the Hub are new to us! IT’S BEEN FOUR YEARS PEOPLE!

This sounds familiar somehow...:rolleyes1

1. My trip report title is a play on a movie title. Which one?

That's a toughie. It's only the GREATEST MOVIE OF ALL TIME. (seriously, it's my favorite)

2. Do we meet and get the autograph of every official Disney princess this trip? (OK, you will have to wait a while for that answer)

Probably not all of them, but I bet it felt like it.

3. In what building is our room located at All-Star Music?

Which one is furthest from the bus stop?

Looks like 6. Let's go with that.
 
Hi Jeff! Glad you and your family were able to make a return to WDW! I look forward to hearing about your trip :)

And I love a good game:

1. My trip report title is a play on a movie title. Which one?
Indiana Jones! Raiders of the Lost Ark


2. Do we meet and get the autograph of every official Disney princess this trip? (OK, you will have to wait a while for that answer)
No, I think you will somehow be 1 short!


3. In what building is our room located at All-Star Music?
I'm thinking the Country section so I'll say building 6
 
Following along. I haven't been on a proper Disney trip since 2008 so I am loving all the recent reports to get me prepped for my anniversary trip next year.
 
I've heard of it! My grandfather died in a plane crash off the coast of Newfoundland in 1946. So even before I was of an age where I should know geography I'd heard of it. Let me see if I can bring down the tone here a little more lol..........
Well I'm happy that you've heard of this place, but sorry it's not for a better reason.

Curious...how do you pronounce it? FYI, our way is to pronounce the 'land' so it rhymes with understand and Disneyland. Many pronounce it with a 'lind' at the end.

Um, people go in June and say they're celebrating their birthday - that's in Dec. :laughing:
Yeah, the CM we got the button from said she's had people get birthday buttons months away from it.
I was lucky enough to have actually been in MK on my birthday, during MNSSHP in fact - see below

We were there in 2010 and 2014! I'm curious to see how different it is this year for us and what your thoughts are. Even in 2014 we had such LOW crowds at ours, and so far it seems only 1 party has had what people deem reasonable crowds.
Our experience in 2010 was incredible, very low crowds, and it was near the end of October (on my actual birthday in fact) It was a pretty good night.
 
Oh, man. This is going to tie in perfectly with a certain part of my upcoming Disney TR. You don't even know. Just remember this when I finally get to it in about 8 months.
I will have to hope my memory lasts long enough for it!

Way to man up there. I bet you gave in when you discovered that she likes football and whiskey.
That was certainly a selling point. :p She knew how to get on my good side that night.

Hey! I like food!
Oh good, glad I brought you back with something!
Of course you already know what I had at Homecomin'

This sounds familiar somehow...:rolleyes1
Yeah, I know it was quite a while for you too. I'm interested to see what you thought of all the new stuff.

That's a toughie. It's only the GREATEST MOVIE OF ALL TIME. (seriously, it's my favorite)
I enjoy that movie very much. I have a hard time picking favourites.

Which one is furthest from the bus stop?
Well, I didn't buy the patented @pkondz transportation pass, I can tell you that
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Latest posts


Top