Howard412's Very Delayed Trip Report

[Howard412]

I was posting my Trip report from January/Feb '07 on the forums over at Sorcerer Radio when I remembered all the great trippies I had read here at the Dis that had put a big smile on my face and given me some great ideas when I was planning my trip. I thought it would be sad not to repay in kind, however late I am posting this! These are copy/pastes from my original report at the SR forums;

(Warning, this post contains alot of reading)

Well it's about time that I started my trip report! I'm hoping that by at least making a start today it will give me a kick up the backside to give it some more thought and get it finished soon!

Reading other peoples trip reports gave me some good ideas, and really put a smile on my face reading them. I hope that this does the same for you reading at home. The plus point for me is I get to re-live my holiday!

I'll use this first post to introduce myself to everyone reading this so the lurkers among you reading this don't need any explanation of who I am, my Disney history etc. I'll also use it to index future posts in this thread so people who just want to read the trip report and skip the hundreds and hundreds of encouraging posts from my adoring fans ( :rotfl: ) can do so.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a101/Eve_GdN/howard_Small.jpg
(Chocolate pudding always puts a smile on my face)
I am Howard (currently) aged 23 and I live in leafy Warwickshire with my father. I have had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalitis/Post Viral Fatigue Syndrome (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myalgic_encephalitis) (depending on which name the "experts" are using this week) for the past 6 years 4 months (give or take a few days!). I don't work full-time because of this.

I went on this trip with my brother, 25 who pilots a desk in wide world web of IT. The smart money was on him to say "uncle" before I did while walking around the parks. ;) :mickeyjum

This was our 4th trip to The World - the other three had been in 1991 (I-Drive), 1994 & 1995 (C. Beach) with responsible adults. That's right; this was our first trip for TWELVE years!

The idea for the trip came about in June '06 after finding a bit of spare change down the back of the sofa. What would be the best way to burn a few weeks of horrible British winter? (http://www.staffordshirefire.gov.uk/ccm/cms-service/stream/image/?image_id=1721004). Two wonderful weeks in sunny Florida of course. A few cold ciders on a summers evening at a friends wedding was all the convincing my brother needed.

Having stayed at the Caribbean Beach on two previous visits, there was little discussion over which resort to go back to! Staying off-site never even crossed our minds. Having not looked at a brochure, or consulting a travel agent,we set ourselves a budget of £1,500 to include.. well, to include everything. My first stop - the book shop! Or, Amazon really. I bought the Unofficial Guide 2006 (read it cover to cover in just over a day) and Birnbaums Official Guide (looked at the pictures). The next stop was the Virgin website (http://www.virginholidays.co.uk/disney) to check availability and the important thing of cost. UG2006 said the last week of January/first week of February were quiet times to go, and that suited us just fine. We finally booked with JetSave (Virgin Flights, Virgin Transfers) for alittle over £872 for 14 nights (24th Jan - 7th Feb) at the Caribbean Beach. We scored a great deal for our 14 day ultimate tickets by booking with JetSave and not taking the Virgin Package - £199 each.

The next 8 months were going to pass very, very slowly....

:mickeyjum Next time - Tuesday 23rd Jan - Travel Day #1, The Gatwick Hilton & It's A Small World After all...

[Howard412]

Not much to say about today, apart from it was super super boring :bored:

Finished up my packing in the only style I know (bung it all in, shut the lid), a light lunch then off to the station to catch my National Express coach down to Gatwick to meet my brother at the Hilton (that's right, I willingly gave money to Paris Hilton's heritance :eek: :rolleyes ).

On the way down on the coach I got talking to a family from Coventry that were flying off to Hong Kong for 8 days. Once I mentioned my destination, they asked me if i was going to Disney - "yes, of course". Are you going to MGM "yes, of course" - Ahh, well when you get there, our uncle works in Keystone Clothiers, go and say Hi! Then I found the words "Well, it is a Small world after all..." slipping out of my mouth. They all laughed, but I didn't get my own joke :rolleyes2
It turns out that they go every year, invite all their extended family and stay with their uncle for 2 weeks who acts as their own personal tour guide.

Eventually circumnavigated the M25 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M25_motorway) and the coach got to Gatwick South Terminal. Checked into the Hilton where my brother was waiting for me.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a101/Eve_GdN/hilton_re.jpg
Our room at the Gatwick Hilton, shortly before we wrecked it :confused3

As good little boy scouts, we had taken a sandwiches down so sat with a cup of tea eating those and took a quick jaunt over to the airport for a recce. Found the Virgin check-in desks but wanted to find somewhere to have breakfast tomorrow (the Hilton wanted £19.99 a person for a full english!), but the best place we could find was a Cafe Nero. Scratch that idea, I can't fly on an empty belly!

Returned back to the hotel (alittle too excited for some of the "suits" sat in the lobby!) to play with my new digital camera;
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a101/Eve_GdN/hilton_silly_re.jpg
(aren't we a couple of good looking chaps!)
and eventually tried to get some sleep after watching a bit of television and forcing my brother to read his copy of UG2007.

Next time - 24th January, Travel Day #2 and Shall We Build A Snowman?

[Howard412]

Woke up at The Hilton Gatwick about 8 o clock and flicked the TV onto Sky News to find disastrous news; SNOW! This country grinds to an absolute halt in any weather that is slightly out of the ordinary, so it was panic time. Either that, or we'll build snowmen in the car park.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a101/Eve_GdN/hitlon_snow_re.jpg

Had an amazing breakfast of Belgian Buns and a cup of tea before showering and checking out at about 9.25. Quickly over to the airport expecting to find chaos at check-in from delayed flights etc, but all was eerily quite!

Obviously we were too shifty to use the self check-in machines as it kept rejecting my passport :rolleyes1 but there was noone queuing at the check-in desks so everything passed without a hitch. Again, we looked far too odd to get a free bump up to first class and neither of us fancied stumping up extra cash for the extra leg room so we settled for an aisle and a middle seat. We were reassured that the snow was not causing any delays.

Straight through the security checks - well I was. The shiftyness struck again as my brothers bag was completely emptied and he was given a thorough pat down.

We wandered upstairs and got a table in the restaurant whose name escapes me that's next to Garfunkels for a couple of cooked breakfasts. Into a few shops to buy the traveling necessity's - chocolate biscuits, books, water and Top Trumps! We settled down on a few seats for the wait.

Eventually the all-knowing tv screens displayed our gate number which as ever when I fly, is the furthest walk away.

More boring sitting around and boarding was uneventful so I'll skip straight past that.

Watched The Departed until lunch was served. Was a bit miffed though; they announced lunch would be a choice of beef, chicken & pasta or sausage & mash, but by the time they had reached us sat almost right in the middle of the plane, they only had chicken & pasta left. Oh well - into the Disney spirit watching POTC2 after lunch and caught the end of the very funny Talladega Nights. More food as tea was served. Announced was a choice of chicken salad sandwiches or cream cheese. Now I hate cheese, it is the work of the Devil, but they only had cheese left when they reached us. They even missed out our entire row which made us all look at ourselves to make sure we didn't have "TREAT POORLY" written on our foreheads. Staff weren't even that apologetic about the lack of food or missing us out. Later in the flight I wasn't feeling fantastic so pressed the call button to get some water - I waited 15mins to be told "I'm busy, get it yourself". Hmph.

The Tv's in the back of the seat infront of you are fantastic (first time I have used these), but I found the map of your progress very depressing! It displays how long you have been flying, current altitude, ground speed, and most importantly, stimated time until you land, which I promise you was going backwards just to annoy me. After thinking "wow I'm bored, we must almost be there by now!" and checking the map, I found we had only been flying for 5 hours. Another 4 to go. :mad:

Nothing could break my spirit though, even needing 3 attempts at filling in my green card correctly :thumbsup2

We landed ahead of schedule to find that the glorious Florida weather I had seen on the internet the week before our trip had been told of our arrival and had let the rain come back.

Straight through Immigration. I think the fact my brother had been reading his UG2007 on the plane and was carrying it as we approached the desk helped. The officer simply asked "Off to Disney huh?", stamped our cards and we were in!

Collected our luggage, then gave it back to security... and then collected our luggage again. :rolleyes2

We met our rep - or rather she met us. She spotted the JetSave tags on our bags and came up and greeted us by name! I was alittle shocked until she mentioned we were the only JetSave'rs on the flight. Cushty job if you can get it obviously! We were given directions to the Mears desk so off we trotted down the "elevator" (must start speaking the lingo now I'm in a foreign country). We found the Mears desk, and the long queue that was associated with it, with only one very stressed looking lady manning it. We spotted the Magical Express desk next to it with no queue, 7-8 helpful friendly looking people with Mickey Mouse :mickey: gloves on and I wished I had made ME Reservations. After 15mins of moving about 4 steps forwards, and being awake far too long I was getting alittle ratty, so when the Stressed Lady announced "40min wait for the next shuttle", I wasn't very impressed. A guy behind me shouted back "Does that include the wait in line??".

My brother thought I was mad when I just picked my suitcase up and walked over to the desk to see if we could catch a Magical Express bus instead of waiting, but the smile soon returned to his face when the girl I asked said "Of course!" - A few fights with the computer to find our reservation at The CBR and we were on the next coach out. Quietly cursing Mears under my breath, I noticed that Magical Express is operated by... Mears.

By this time it was all dark;
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a101/Eve_GdN/brother_mebus_re.jpg
so we didn't get to see a lot - only the spot lights at MGM roaming the sky and "The Golf Ball" all lit up. The bus made 2 stops before ours, The Yacht & Beach Club and The Grand Floridian so we didn't mind!

Over to The CBR, we were the only ones left on the bus. Checked in but we weren't given our requested room in Aruba (for reasons to become clear later!), but a 2nd floor room in Martinique means a shorter walk to the food hall so no complaints from us.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a101/Eve_GdN/cbr_room1_re.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a101/Eve_GdN/cbr_room2_re.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a101/Eve_GdN/cbr_bunny_re.jpg

Over to Old Port Royale at 9.30 after a sit down to get our souvenir mugs and our first lemonades (that Minute Maid lemonade is obviously made from crushed angel wings, it's THAT good!) of the trip before falling into bed after being awake for far far too long.

Lemonade Count; 1

Next time - 25th January, The Addiction To Buzz Lightyear Begins.

[jockey]

Great report, looking forward to more!

[natalielongstaff]

Great reports :) my gate is always the furthest away as well :rotfl2: and i have to agree that that little plane on the screens definatly flies backwards !!

[Lizzy Lemon]

Come on, you can't leave it there, where's the next instalment?

[KayleeUK]

Loving these Howard - thanks for sharing them with us :)

[tashasmum]

great report and a good result with the ME :banana:
Keep the reports coming :thumbsup2

[irongirlof12]

wow, I'm impressed that you are doing disney with ME :thumbsup2 - brilliant reports so far...keep going!

[zippyhannah]

great report cant wait to read more :-D

[Minniespal]

Great reports Howard ~ Looking forward to reading more:thumbsup2

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

Howard,
Where in Warwickshire do you live?

Regarding the awful service and food choices on the flight, please complain to Virgin atlantic, as they need to be told to get their act together!
The more people tell them, the better chance of getting it sorted :goodvibes

[Girlsontour]

Great start - hurry and post some more. We stayed at CBR 2 years ago in Martinique..really handy for the Food Court, buses and the main pool.:thumbsup2

[mark&sue]

Great report


susan

[Howard412]

wow, I'm impressed that you are doing disney with ME :thumbsup2 - brilliant reports so far...keep going!

It was just something I had to try out. I started walking in the gym 4-5 months before the trip to get myself ready. It also gave me something to concentrate on and a goal to work towards. In the end, the break from day-to-day life at home, the daily exercise and the sunshine (the limited amounts of it we saw!) did me the world of good.

Howard,
Where in Warwickshire do you live?

Regarding the awful service and food choices on the flight, please complain to Virgin atlantic, as they need to be told to get their act together!
The more people tell them, the better chance of getting it sorted :goodvibes

I'm just outside Warwick.
I wrote to Virgin. Wasn't shocked at all when I received no response!

Great start - hurry and post some more. We stayed at CBR 2 years ago in Martinique..really handy for the Food Court, buses and the main pool.:thumbsup2

I'd recommend Martinique to anyone going to the CBR. I was a bit miffed at not getting our first choice in Aruba, but if I was to go back next year ( :thumbsup2 ), I'd request Martinique.
Girlsontour, I have to say a big thanks for writing your trip report; it's one of those that sticks in my mind, and is a reason I wrote mine!

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

Hi Howard,
I live pretty close by then, I am just outside Leamington!

Regarding Virgin, if it was Virgin Atlantic, I would write to Richard bransons office and also add the complaint about not having any response to your first letter.

[Howard412]

Finally, onto the good stuff. No more planes and coaches.

I would have thought that after our long day yesterday that we would have slept through earthquakes and woken at a more "ordinary" time, but alas; 3.30am and I was wide awake and wondering why a park doesn't open about this time for all of us UK travellers on our first day ;) My brother was still fast asleep, so I eventually drifted back off to sleep at about 5am. The plan was that we'd both be awake stupidly early and would make it to Magic Kingdom in time for park opening at 8am...

The next thing I know, my eyes open and I'm up with a jolt as the clock tells me it's 7.45am. Lesson learnt - alarms required! I woke my brother up gently (screaming, WE'RE GOING TO BE LATE, GET UP, GET UP!!), and then we stumbled across a problem - the showers at the CBR are just TOO powerful, and TOO hot for someone who is in a hurry to go somewhere! Off to Old Port Royale/Centertown (depending on which entrance you use :confused: ) to pick up breakfast - mmmmmm french toast and maple syrup

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a101/Eve_GdN/breakfast_re.jpg
Far to delicious to leave a scrap;
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a101/Eve_GdN/breakfast2_re.jpg

We were eventually on the bus to MK abut 8.30am. Rope drop will have to wait for another day.

As it was pouring with rain, we stopped at the shop just on the left after the security checks and bought ponchos. No pictures of us looking ridiculous in those, sorry.

We walked down Main Street and walked into a media storm infront of the castle. Hundreds of video cameras were setup with people talking into them. Thousands of people were packed into designated areas, all wearing ponchos, waving newspapers. Signs nearby just informed us that being in this area granted the news corporations and disney to use our image in anyway they saw fit. Not wanting to appear on CrimeWatch/Americas Most Wanted, we steered clear and found ourselves in Tomorrowland. (We never did find out what all the kerfuffle was about, I'd be very interested to find out if anyone knows).

My brother had gotten quite animated talking about Buzz Lightyear, so that was our first stop and we walked straight on. He cheated and beat me by a clear 100,000 points. He wanted a repeat to show it was a fluke, but I was not amused, and convinced him that Carousel of Progress was next up. There was a small queue outside, but we realised it was to meet Buzz Lightyear, and not for COP. He didn't really get into this, but I thought it was fantastic! was singing "There's a great big beautiful tomorrowwww..." all day long. Onto Space Mountain next, which we both left grinning from ear to ear. As the Indy Speedway was going to be closed at some point during our stay, I wanted to get it done.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a101/Eve_GdN/speedway_re.jpg

It wasn't until we were almost in the cars that we started feeling a touch silly - everyone else around us looked like they hadn't even been born when we were last here!

It wasn't quite the thrill ride we remembered it to be.

Eventually I was convinced to go back to Buzz and while I improved on last times score getting an extra 50k points, so did my brother. 2-0 to him.

It had stopped raining at this point so it off with the ponchos and a walk into Fantasyland for a journey on The Happiest Cruise to Ever Set Sail. Needless to say, after we got off this, I wasn't singing There's a great big beautiful tomorrow.... Peter Pan next which we were both glad to say hadn't changed in the 12 years since our last flight to Neverland. We didn't hang around in Fantasyland; The Haunted Mansion was our next stop. I'm ashamed to say this was our only attempt to become the 1000th Happy Haunt!

We walked along the waterfront through the rest of Liberty Square and spotted;

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a101/Eve_GdN/dry_splash_re.jpg

It looked almost serene and peaceful!

We rode Big Thunder and then skipped into Frontierland the back way and found "The Jack Sparrow Show" starting just outside PoTC. We stood and watched and my naughty brother took various photos of me in silly poses getting into the show that he's keeping for blackmail purposes. Quite a crowd gathered, and the show was very entertaining, especially when they got the littluns up for sword fighting practice. We left just before the end as we quickly realised that everyone here would be descending on PoTC next. The new PoTC wasn't what I expected, but it was still good fun. I thought it was a shame that they only inserted the new Cpt Jack animatronics, and didn't replace them all with the new technology that makes Jack so life-like.

By this time it was about 12:30, and while my mind was set on foooood, my brother only wanted to give me another thrashing at Buzz so we headed back into Tomorrowland and caught lunch at Cosmic Rays - Bacon Double Cheeseburgers and Chocolate Milk x2.

Back to Buzz. 3-0 to my brother. 'Nuff said.

We spotted a cart selling Balzac Balls (http://www.morleyathletic.com/physical-education/balls/balzac-balls.htm) - I bought one on my last visit, and they are great fun in the swimming pool. So we bought one.

I wanted to ride the TTA for a nice sit down tour of Tomorrowland.

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http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a101/Eve_GdN/castle_re.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a101/Eve_GdN/monsters_inc_re.jpg

Inside Space Mountain, I discovered the power of my cameras flash;

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a101/Eve_GdN/eek_re.jpg

We were both a bit weary by 2pm, so decided to head back to the hotel for more lemonade. It started raining again so we stuck it out in our room having a "who can be the more stupid" contest.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a101/Eve_GdN/under_the_bed_re.jpg

Quite obviously, I was the winner.

The rain stopped and we headed down to the pool with our Balzac. No pictures of us in swimming shorts :thumbsup2 , sorry ladies ;)

Before we knew it, it was dinner time, and the weather had cleared up a treat. It was still a bit windy, but the skies had cleared and it had become and lovely evening. We took these shots on our way over to dinner.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a101/Eve_GdN/sunset_re_1.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a101/Eve_GdN/sunset_re_2.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a101/Eve_GdN/sunset_re_3.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a101/Eve_GdN/sunset_re_4.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a101/Eve_GdN/sunset_re_5.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a101/Eve_GdN/sunset_re_6.jpg

We ordered a 16" supreme pizza between the two of us

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a101/Eve_GdN/pizza_re.jpg

We were starving hungry after being in the pool, but while we waited for it to be cooked, we both started to feel a bit queasy. Next time we'll stick to drinking lemonade instead of the pool water. We managed about 3 slices between us, then fell into bed at 8pm.

Weather - rainy and yuck in the morning, cleared by 5pm. Chilly.
Lemonade Count - 4 each.


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:mickeyjum Next up; 26th January - Year of A Million Dreams!

[Minniespal]

Excellent ~ Thanx for posting:thumbsup2

[irongirlof12]

Can you just pass me a slice of pizza please? Love the clip of TTA, brings it all back. Photo's are great. hope there is more to come.:woohoo:

[wils]

Great report so far - just what I needed on a rainy day in Coventry!

Look forward to reading more :thumbsup2

[Beth__WDW23/6/02]

Mmm Pizza!
Looks like a fab time so far,cant wait to see more :thumbsup2

[Howard412]

(Happy Rainy Bank Holiday All! Hope this will cheer everyone up! :cool1: )

I woke up at 6am today, but being the nice friendly chap I am, let my brother keep on snoring all the way to 7.45

Showered and on over to the Food Court for The Breakfast of Kings © - more French Toast!

We were on the bus to Epcot by 8.50 so we arrived just after opening.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a101/Eve_GdN/epcot_re.jpg

After reading all about Soarin', I dragged my brother over to it first. There was a 20min wait time posted (why they don't display this information/have fast passes outside the land flummoxes me), but that was just the walk to the "departure gate"! We walked straight on. Completely blown away by the ride, what a fantastic addition to Epcot.

My brother wanted to do Mission Space next.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a101/Eve_GdN/ms_re.jpg

I've got to admit I was quite apprehensive about this after reading about the people made ill (or worse) on this, but we dove right in at the deep end and got tickets for the Orange team. The CM at the entrance told us "Go on Orange, come out green!" - just what I needed to settle my nerves! Another walk on. Seeing the airplane style sickbags made me feel so much better. Not. (The 1990's called just after I wrote that, they wanted their joke back).

Was a touch jittery throughout the ride not knowing what to expect, but we were both fine getting off until we were halfway down the exit when a familiar smell hit our nostrils...
The fresh air perked us both back up so it was onto Test Track next. Now I really don't like the way Disney is putting pre-shows on almost every new ride, but this one is done really well and sets the scene fantastically. Especially when Bill McKim and his assistant Sherry pick a "surprise" test and the video shows a car crashing into a wall. Kids scream and adults laugh.
It was the longest wait of the day at massive 10mins, however I'm really unsure if I'd wait through the long queues in the summer to experience it.

We realised we hadn't gotten a map or ridden SSE yet which was a lot clunkier than I remembered it to be.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a101/Eve_GdN/epcot2_re.jpg

Silly I know, but the sleeping monk always makes me giggle like a small girl. :lmao:

It was just after 11am now and we were both getting hungry so we took a slow stroll through the middle of Innoventions, through Canada and the UK;

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a101/Eve_GdN/uk_re.jpg

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Into my favourite place in the whole of Epcot

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a101/Eve_GdN/english_channel_re.jpg

No not France; - The Boulangerie Patisserie!

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a101/Eve_GdN/yumm_re.jpg

Following our snack break, we talk a walk around the rest of World Showcase, just looking and wandering, stopping in Norway to ride Maelstrom (another walk on) - didn't stop for the post-ride video though!

We realised we hadn't done Figment yet, so enjoyed the sunshine as we walked that way. What a great time to go do Figment - as we walked in through the doors, we were greeted by a whole team of smiling Cast Members (was only a little freaky!) and told we were Year of A Million Dreams winners! We had won;

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a101/Eve_GdN/hats_re.jpg

Hats!

(I'd like to take a moment here to say IN YOUR FACE! to everyone who has been and won diddly squat :rotfl: :lmao: :banana: )

Not a fan of the new (since I was last there anyway) Figment ride compared to the old, but it was enjoyable all the same.

Honey I Shrunk... next, which was ruined by a tour of about 120 Argentinian teens making fun of the CM's and shouting all the way throughout the show. As we exited, we followed them until they all pealed off into The Land. We both wanted to do Soarin' again, but the thought of queuing up and riding with all of them was too much, so we walked on down to The Seas with Nemo & Friends. Not much I can say about this, as it obviously isn't aimed at my age group and I have a confession - I've never seen Finding Nemo. But it was fun to do it just the once none-the-less.

Found ourselves with empty tummies once again, so found ourselves in The Electric Umbrella with a tray full of Chicken Strips and yet more Chocolate Milk.

After milling around in the CBR shop last night and being horrified to find they no longer sell Jelly Bellys, it was a huge relief to find them in MouseGear. Bought a HUGE bag full. Popped into Club Cool to find out exactly how disgusting Beverly (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beverly_%28drink%29) really is. The answer? Very. I tried to convince my brother that it was infact so good it could only have been made from crushed angel wings, telling him the look on my face was because I wasn't expecting it to be fizzy, but he wasn't having any of it. Wuss.

Walking out we found two new Hidden Mickeys on the pavement;

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a101/Eve_GdN/hidden_mickey_re.jpg

Jumped on the next coach back "home" to the CBR. We were in the pool by 3pm. A quick 8" pizza each about 5.30ish and back to Epcot for ROE!

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a101/Eve_GdN/epcot_night1_re.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a101/Eve_GdN/epcot_night2_re.jpg

I wanted to ride The Land, but as we got there at 7.05pm it had closed just a few minutes previously. Jumped on Soarin' then took a walk around WS to find the best place to watch ROE. We ended up grabbing some railing right infront of Debi's spiritual home - the Margarita stall in Mexico!

The show was fantastic, as I'm sure you'll all agree, so I'll let the pictures and videos do the talking. I'm so pleased these came out well.

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http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a101/Eve_GdN/fireworks2_re.jpg

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We powerwalked through all the crowds and got to the bus stop so early, the first CBR bus was just us on it... We thought it was quite odd the driver didn't sit there for 5/10mins to let the crowds descend, but as we exited, another 4 CBR buses were pulling up. Super organised!

We were back in our room by 9.20 with more lemonades and ESPN to swat up on American "Football".

Weather - As you can see from the pictures and video, clear skies, but windy.
Lemonade Count - 4 each.

:mickeyjum Next time - 27th January, OMGwhoinvitedallthesepeopletoMGM

[Donaldduck66]

Great report. Can't wait for the next installment. :goodvibes

[MorningGlory]

Walking out we found two new Hidden Mickeys on the pavement;

:rotfl:

Great report and pics, really enjoying these :thumbsup2

[irongirlof12]

youe firework photos are brilliant. :woohoo:

[SusanEllen]

Well done. Excellent writing and good choices of photos to illustrate your report. I'm not finding the link to the video you mentioned. Is it somewhere other than in the current report? Looking forward to reading about the rest of your adventures. Congratulations on receiving your Dream Ears.

[cazzie]

Enjoying reading your reports, your photos & video clips are great. :thumbsup2

[MorningGlory]

SusanEllen,
The videos are youtube videos, embedded in to the post.. At the start of the illuminations pics :thumbsup2

Just click the play button on the 'pic' and the video will play.

[fizz13]

Awesome report, awesome photos, laughing a lot, please keep it coming:thumbsup2

[SusanEllen]

Thank you, Morning Glory. The mystery is solved. I was reading this trip report at school where the server blocks YouTube. The photos with the YouTube link just didn't appear. I'm home now and see them, so going to watch right now. I might not have thought to look at the thread here at home had you not written a reply that the DIS forwarded. Thank you very much.

[Shane]

Great report so far (Liking the video idea) :goodvibes

Keep it coming

[GemmaPixie]

subscribing....v good so far!!

[Howard412]

it's time to add another (quite short) day to my trip report.

After yesterdays long day, it wasn't the greatest start to be woken at 7am by our alarm clock, but we had made plans to get to MGM (I REFUSE to call it "Disney Studios"!) for the Early Magic Hours. After the usual breakfast and shower, we got to the park for just after 8am; Another rope drop missed!

The buses dropping off at the park were very full, but as we walked into the park, it seemed pretty quiet;

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a101/Eve_GdN/mgm_hollywood_bou_re.jpg

We soon found out where everyone had gone!

Started with ToT with only a very minimal wait;

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a101/Eve_GdN/tot_re.jpg

;- Just as great as we remember it to be. The view out over the rest of the park is great, just as you start looking at something, WOOSH! you drop. Such a great rush.

As we were down there, we decided to check out RnR next; about a 20minute wait. I was a little disappointed with the length of the ride for our first time on it (or at least that's what I've written down! I was a bit of a grumpy guts today. Wasn't feeling great with my illness after yesterday & woken up far to early by the alarm!)

We wanted to ride ToT again before leaving that side of the park, but the time posted outside was already up to 45mins. We thought about Fast Passes, but if we were the other side of the park, it would be a bit of a trek just to go and ride it. We fought our way up Sunset Blvd feeling a bit like a salmon swimming against the tide.

Star Tours was a minimal wait;

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a101/Eve_GdN/star_tours_re.jpg

We had a very enthusiastic CM, and our trip to Endor was eventful as ever.

A stroll in the sunshine and we ended up at The Muppet show;

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I really do enjoy this show! It was great fun as ever, and it was nice to escape the increasingly busy crowds.

On to the Backlot Tour. Apparently it was too cold today to give someone a good soaking :confused3

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Lights Motors Action up next. We only just got there in time, so had to sit right at the back.

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Videos!

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This vid tips the scales at about 99MB for about 4mins. Don't be put off though!

We had a wander through the quietest part of the park, Streets of America, followed by an early lunch of Hot Dogs and... you guessed it, Chocolate Milk at the Backlot Express.

The crowds were growing all the time, and it wasn't much fun having to battle through groups of strollers that were wandering around aimlessly not watching where they were going. We were back at the hotel by 12:30.

We enjoyed the rest of the afternoon in or by the pool catching some Rays until dinner at about 6ish. We elected to have the "Grilled Chicken Sandwich", or in laymans terms - chicken breast in a bun. Went back to the room to read and watch some TV (more ESPN). Fell asleep by 9.

Weather; Sunny and warm! Woohoo!
Lemondes; 4 each (again.)

Next up - We learn to use chopsticks!

[ariel75]

really enjoying your trip report as we were there at the same time (jan 20th-feb 3rd) looking forward to reading more

[Chilly]

keep them coming!

[Shane]

Great Day! :goodvibes

Was that stunt driver suppose to fall off, I have seen it before but dont remember if that was part of it? ;)

[Howard412]

We woke up at 7am today, very tempted to get up and go straight out, but we couldn't decide what to do. We considered taking it pretty easy; take some boats out on the lake in the morning before over to Epcot for lunch. Finally rolled out of bed a 9am; showered and dressed and over to an unusually busy food court. Where did all these teenage girls come from? Why are they all in uniforms?

Cheerleader Invasion! :laughing: It was like a scene out of Bring It On (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0204946/). We found out that this was the reason we didn't get our room in Aruba - the cheerleaders/dance teams had taken over Jamaica, Barbados and Aruba buildings.

We escaped out of the madness with our Breakfast of Kings. The weather was overcast and windy so cancelled our Speedboat plans.

We got on the bus to Epcot about 10 o clock loaded with jumpers and coats. Straight over to Test Track to pick up Fast Passes for the 1 hour queue. We waited 5mins for Orange Team Mission Space, then over to Universe of Energy.

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As you can see by now, the sun has come out and it was warming up nicely.

UoE was really good fun, Ellen DeGeneres was very good and the whole show is a) quite educational b) a long sit down in an air conditioned area!

Sighed quietly to myself as we passed Wonders of Life;

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a101/Eve_GdN/wonders_re.jpg

and grabbed a cold drink and sat in the sunshine for 15mins to wait for our FP time on Test Track. When we got there of course there was no queue at all. In fact, the FP queue was longer than the standby line, but we realised the FP queue takes you through a different part of the displays and as we were in no real rush, we took the FP line anyway.

A slow walk around the lagoon starting in Canada and we arrived in Japan for our Teppanyaki ADR just before 1pm. We waited for the rest of our table to arrive which gave us time to have a wander around and take some photos.

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The rest other two families arrived and we were taken into the dining room and met our chef, Kenbo, all the way from... Orlando Florida! The whole meal was thoroughly entertaining - so much so that we both forgot to take photos :confused3 Next time I go, i PROMISE i'll get some video!

My brother and I both had "Tomosama", steak and chicken, with a fruit juice mix to drink. We even braved the chopsticks, which we both got on with surprisingly well! The other families at the table didn't bother to try to use them - I thought it was a bit odd. We sat next to the Browns from Rhode Island (Hi if you're reading this!). They were big Boston Red Socks fans (booo...) and have never seen them lose at Fenway. The other family at the table were celebrating a birthday and were given a chefs white hat with japanese writing wishing them a happy birthday. They were visiting The World until Feb 2nd, and were giving Groundhog plushes out to their waitresses at all their ADR's. A nice personal touch instead of a tip I thought. For the two of us, the bill including tip was about $50.

We decided to go back to the hotel to dump our unworn jackets and put on some sun-tan lotion, and stopped for dessert on the way out;

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Hopped on the first bus that came to the bus stop to avoid any arguments! So it was off to MK.

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to feed the Buzz Addiction. I finally beat my brother 430k - 233k, and boy, I didn't let him forget it! The ride got stuck in the first room, and I think I hit the 100,000 point target a few times.

Feeling rather childish and full of myself I dragged my brother on The Many Adventures of Whinnie the Pooh, followed by Snow White and Mickeys Philarmagic, which we both were amazed by! By about 4.30, the sun was setting and the wind was picking up so decided to hop back to the hotel for dinner. Quickly checked to see if Splash Mountain had reopened on time (it had), then out to the bus stop

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Chicken Strips for dinner amongst all the cheerleaders.

Tried to take some photos of the hotel and sunset walking back to the room, but due to the low light/long exposure situation, they all came out like this;

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ESPN. Hot Chocolate. Bed.

Weather - Cloudy and Windy until we got to Epcot. Clear and warm until we got to Magic Kingdom.

Lemonades - 4 each

Next Up - Howard Meets The Yeti

[irongirlof12]

great day, keep them coming!:)

[GemmaPixie]

Yayyy I love this TR. Glad to read another day

[Howard412]

Thanks for all the kind replies! :cool1:

[Howard412]

The alarm went off again at 7am in another vain attempt to have us at Animal Kingdom for the 8am EMH, but surprise surprise, that didn't work out. After the boring morning ritual of showers and french toast, we were on the bus at 8.30.

This was our first ever visit to Animal Kingdom. Any of you AK enthusiasts may wish to skip todays report :confused3

We were both very underwhelmed on arrival. The Tree of Life doesn't quite have the mental imagery of The Castle, "Golf Ball" or The Sorcerers Hat.

We walked up through Asia to ride EE first up -

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a101/Eve_GdN/ee.jpg

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The theming around this ride is really Disney at it's best, but why people want to throw money at the "shrine" is a little beyond me. Almost ruins the effect for me.

As for the ride; pictures tell a thousand words. Videos tell so much more.

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If you were listening carefully, you'd have heard the thousand words. They were all;

WOAHHHH!!



The wait was only 10mins, but posted a 40min wait on the way out so we grabbed a FastPass to come back later.

We wandered into Africa for Kilimanjaro Safaris. Despite the bright sunshine, it was cold and windy, so I don't blame the animals for hiding.

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The front row seat was nice though.

We wanted to do Dinosaur today, and stopped off at It's Tough To Be A Bug on the way. Great show! Very clever and well thought out.

Dinosaur. What can I say... loud, jerky, sponsored very overtly by McDonalds... It's probably one of my least favourite rides on Disney property.

Our FastPass window had now opened, so it was back to EE. So much better and more enjoyable the second time round. FastPass was a god send even on a moderate day like today as the standby queue was now 80mins!

Couldn't resist trying on the Yeti hats on the way out;

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Still being cold and windy, it was a walk on to Kali River Rapids. When we got on the raft, there were some very wet looking folk. Wet clever looking folk. In ponchos. They seemed to laugh at two English guys getting on with just (non-waterproof) light jackets to protect them. Not out loud, but oh yes, they were laughing at us.

Lucky us, the raft spun just as it reached the slide to send us down backwards. The water shot up and over my shoulder and utterly drenched us. The water was freezing! The wet clever folk really were laughing now.

Luckily the bridge by the exit was bathed in beautiful sunshine and was sheltered from the wind, so we stood for 20mins trying to get dry and warm.

We moved off to lunch at Flame Tree Barbeque - both had Smoked Beef sandwiches. All the seating is in the shade, which I'm sure is fantastic in the heat of the summer. Not so much when you are soaking wet. My ankles were attacked by ducks! It appears as if small puddles of water had collected around my feet from my trousers, and the ducks were obviously parched...

While the sandwiches were tasty, they weren't overly filling, so I grabbed a pretzel and some drinks, and stood in the sun on the bridge to Asia in the sunshine.

We eventually decided that wet boxer shorts weren't very conducive to touring theme parks, so it was back to the hotel for just after 1pm. We changed and got straight out to the Marina which was closed due to "Inclement Weather", despite the sun now being out in full force. It was getting a little warmer now.

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We took a walk around the hotel, wildlife spotting (see yesterdays invasion report) and took some photos to prove that we had indeed seen the sun.

Found the table tennis table and I killed some time letting my brother utterly humiliate me until we noticed some boats out on the lake.

We took Sea Raycers out for 30mins to relive our previous visits (Poor Dad had to stump up the $$$ every afternoon!)

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It was a nice way to get a tan, but now not worth the $50.

Back for more punishment on the Table Tennis Table, and a lie by the pool then back to the room for dinner.

At which point I seemed to have stopped making notes so I'll take a stab in the dark at what happens next.

Grilled Chicken Sandwiches. Lemonade. ESPN. Lemonade. Sleep.

Weather - AM; Cold and Windy. PM; Warm and Windy
Lemonades - 4 each

Tomorrow - Fantasmic!

[wils]

Thanks for the video of EE. I'm not a thrill ride gal so it's as close as I'll ever get to riding it! Looks very cool though

[Howard412]

Many apologies for the lack of updates to this, Real Life seems to have caught up with me recently! Here is a double-dose to make up for it...

Got up at a positively lazy 9am after a good nights sleep. Showered and breakfasted again, uh... lazily, so we arrived at MGM at about 10.30.

First a wander down Sunset to check the waits for RnR and Tot. Tot was at 20mins and there was no visible queue for RNR, so we rode that first. Ended up being a walk on. Went back to TOT, still posting it's 20min wait, but that ended up being a walk on too! Back to RNR to check the wait and get a FP if needed, but with no queue again, we rode it.

I wanted to do The Great Movie ride, so we waited the posted 40mins (including a break down :confused3 )

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Hijacked by gangsters, who'da thunk it!

Thank goodness for Kerry, saving the day.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a101/Eve_GdN/gangster_re.jpg

It's been said many a time before, but they really SHOULD update that ride with a few more modern films.

We got out just in time for for 12:45 Indiana Stunt Show

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After the show, straight into Backlot Express for lunch.
A quick trip to Endor and it was back to the hotel by about 1.30.

Pool-side shenanigans ensued until about 4.30, when we showered off and over to the food court for an early dinner.

We were on the bus back to MGM at about 6ish.

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Off to Fantasmic straight away as we didn't know what the crowds were going to be like. Pretty glad we did as even with the cold, it was about 95% full once the show began.

(Not too many photos from tonights show, most of the blurred. I didn't take any video. My brother did, but they're all sideways :confused3 )

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We were back at the hotel by 8.30 to fill up on lemonade. To bed early, in preparation for tomorrows early start!

Weather - Chilly, but not windy like yesterday. Clear skies until later.
Lemonade Count - 5.

:cool1: Tomorrow - SEGWAY!!

[Howard412]

While planning for this trip, I read a little about the Segway Tours. When the Birnbaum book came with a 10% voucher in the back, I asked my brother if he'd like to go on it. He thought it was too expensive and didn't want to pay for it. It left me a touch deflated as I REALLY wanted to do it! I spoke to my dad and he generously said he would buy us the Tour for our birthday presents :thumbsup2

Woke up in a panic at 7:17am, as on the ONLY morning we had to get up and get out, noone had set an alarm! Quickly, we showered and breakfasted - the normal french toast!

We were onto the first available Epcot bus at 8:20.

When I booked, I was advised to report to the Guest Relations outside of the park at 8:45, so that everything could be ready for a prompt 9am tour start. Being a good little boy, I did what I was told and approached the Guest Relations outside the park at about 8:45. We were told to queue up with "everyone else", and enter the park at 9am. Despite explaining that our tour is due to begin at 9am, and I was expressly told to be there before, the CM seemed totally uninterested, and repeated his request for us to join the back of the queue and to wait for the park to open then report to Guest Relations on the left of SSE. Seeing the length of the queues at the gates, there was no way we'd be inside the park before 9:15...

Someone upstairs must have been smiling on us though, as just as we were about to join the back of one of the queues, my eagle-eyed brother spotted a CM opening up another gate, so we RAN, and claimed our position at the front of the quickly forming line. We explained that we had to be inside the park about... well nowish, but the CM said there was nothing she could do. We waited the remaining 5mins, and eventually we were one of the first into Epcot that day! We high-tailed it over to Guest Relations where we were a little surprised to see the other members of our tour sat there already... We checked in and were given name badges. We introduced ourselves to the others - A "more mature" local couple with Annual Passes, that stay at the World for a few days at a time a couple of times a month, and a middle aged scottish lady and her father. They had done the tour already in the week! They had a short experience at the stand in Innoventions, and decided to take the tour. It was their last day before flying home, so decided to treat themselves to the tour again. They told us that all tours at Epcot can get immediate entry to the park at the Princess Buffet entrance gate - everyones names are kept there. I have no idea why we weren't informed of this, but I'll know for next time :thumbsup2

In sped Jason on a Segway. We were waiting for another 4 to join us to make the tour up to 10. While waiting, he gave us a quick demonstration of the machine, facts and figures etc. At 9:10, the others had not yet arrived. We set off to the Segway stand at Innoventions. The missing 4 were bumped over to the next tour at 9:30.

We saw a short promotional/Health & Safety video and were equipped with ridiculous looking helmets. Then we met our machines, and Kimmy, our Tour Guide. Kimmy was from Texas, and... well, Beautiful :rotfl: Jason and Kimmy taught us how to mount and dismount the Segways safely, before moving onto rotating on the spot between two cones, then moving forwards and backwards. We split into two groups of three, one group with Jason practicing going up and down a ramp, and one group with Kimmy practicing a slalom course of cones. We were shown Emergency Stops and how to overcome obstacles. Then we were taught the most important move of all on a Segway - Moving and Waving! :cool1:

It was adjudged that we all had enough competence on the Segways to be let loose outside, so we all formed up like Baby Ducklings following Kimmy, and it was time for the outside portion of the tour to begin! We left Innoventions, over to Journey into Imagination for a brief restroom break. It was then onto World Showcase, moving clockwise around the countries. It was really great to see WS completely empty apart from the CM's preparing for the days visitors, hosing the pavements and opening the stalls. Everyone waved, said hello and cheered as we passed them. The first stop was in China for a talk about the "Fu Dogs" and an obstacle course test on the narrow pathways. Onto Germany for a Hidden Mickey hunt and a trip down the Romantic Road to Italy, where we slalomed in and out of the pillars. We stopped for a 15mins of "Free Ride" time in front of Italy, which is a great spot to stop and take photos.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a101/Eve_GdN/rh_segway_re.jpg

As I approach my brother, you'll see a smirk run across my face. At that exact moment, I was considering running him over.
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On with the tour! Onto America, and into Japan for fun over the bridges. We also had stops in Morocco and another Hidden Mickey Hunt in France. Unfortunately it was then time to head back to Segway Central. We move through the light crowds just being let into WS. When we stopped to let people in front of us, everyone got cameras out to take photos and came and asked how we got to ride them. Back at Segway Central, we were awarded Special Edition Segway pins. We said goodbye to everyone; Jason the Segway Guy, Kimmy the beautiful tour guide, and the other 4 on our tour and we departed. Throughout the tour, Kimmy was full of information on the countries as we rode through of passed by them. We learnt about the scrapped Ancient Rome exhibit in Italy, why MGM's Tower of Terror is pink, the architecture in Germany etc etc. I'd advise EVERYONE to look into taking this tour, it really was great fun. It has "repeatability", as just riding the Segways is a great way to pass the morning!

Our legs were a bit stiff and painful after 2 hours standing up, so we stopped for a drink in the sunshine before walking onto MS - it was just us two on the mission, so I took the opportunity to video it :thumbsup2

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This proved to be quite physically demanding, my arm was aching A LOT with all the G-Forces!

We took a slow tour of WS to have a closer look at the things we had seen in the morning - it was more exciting on the Segways!

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We left the park at 12:45 and once back at the hotel, changed into shorts and T-shirts for the first time in the holiday! We played table tennis, and had a couple of cookies from the Grab N Go Market with some lemonade for lunch outside. We enjoyed the sun (and cheerleaders) in the pool until about 4, then relaxed until dinner.

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ESPN, lemonades... and another day was done.
Lemonades - a holiday high of 7 (SEVEN!) each today
Weather - Cloudless all day, windy in the AM (glad we took jackets for the Segway), got nice and warm in the afternoon.

Next Up - MGM and Sci Fi Diner!

[SusanEllen]

. . . and finally, two more entertaining installments of your Disney adventures.

I just realized that I must be a bit ADD and have been distracted by the large crowd at the Indiana Jones show. Your video allowed me to focus on the actual stunts, some of which I swear I've not noticed in the half dozen shows I've watched in person.

Thanks especially for the detailed report of the Segway tour. Please, carry on with your trips and reports--and videos.

[irongirlof12]

excellent, glad to see you haven't forgotten us after all. :thumbsup2

[wils]

The segway tour sounds great

[arieljasmine]

Just recently started reading your trip reports and I am really enjoying them. We did the Segway tour last year and agree that it was a lot of fun.

Laur's princess:

[T16GEM]

Just recently started reading your trip reports and I am really enjoying them.

Laur's princess:

Me too! I am loving reading everyone's trippies as it is giving me lots of ideas for our trip!