Marching Along We're Adventurers ... FINAL UPDATE - Jan 20 Posts #108, 109, 110 [Archive] - The DIS Discussion Forums

Cdn Friends of Pooh

11-04-2007, 03:43 PM

Our travel day started at 4:00 am…an hour when the only people up should be shift workers, alcoholics, and angry loners…

The alarm goes off and after a few mumbled blasphemies we’re up and getting ready to head to the airport. We get the car loaded up and after saying goodbye to three very confused dogs we’re off.

First we make a quick pit stop at Tim Horton’s to grab our coffee & bagels to munch on during the drive. Each year we’re amazed that we still have to wait in line at that early hour of the morning on the Saturday of a long weekend. This year was the first time we didn’t have to wait, though there was a line-up behind us shortly after we get there. Those of you who read our last trip report may recall we promised to bring Timbits to one of the CMs at the Canadian Pavilion at Epcot. We had discussed how to do this and keep them fresh since our first trip to Epcot wouldn’t be until Monday. We had been batting ideas around for quite a while then the day before we left we decided it wasn’t likely they’d be in very good shape by Monday so we reluctantly decided we couldn’t keep our promise. :guilty:

As we got to the airport, we quickly discovered that the first-class check-in counter was being used for a tour group of teenage girls. After having to listen to them for about 20 minutes before the NWA counters opened up we felt quite relieved we weren’t flying in coach where we’d have had to listen to them for the next 3 hours. :headache: We usually fly coach but we splurged for our October trip and flew first class. As we mentioned in our trip report, it’s not about being snooty or enjoying the extra perks as much as it’s about the extra room for me since Lee is not a small man by any means!!

We get through customs quickly and head through security. The first several times we flew to the US after 9/11 Lee was always selected at random for extra screening. This was a rather constant source of amusement for Bonny. This year it was her turn and she got selected for additional screening including a pat down. They were really nice about it and it only delayed us a couple minutes (and we were quite early to begin with).

After about a 40 minute wait we were on our way to Minneapolis. The breakfast served on the plane wasn’t too bad at all and after several more cups of black coffee we started to wake up and the excitement set in. :yay:

We got to the airport at MSP, which by the way is one of our favourites. We were about to go for a stroll to see which new shops had opened up in the mall section of the airport but we remembered we had to call Emeril’s to confirm our lunch reservation for the following day. We stopped to do that and when Bonny turned on her cell phone (Lee always leaves his at home when we go on vacation) we discovered there was a message waiting.

It turned out to be a call from our hotel earlier in the morning telling us that our reservation would be cancelled unless we called them by noon Orlando time. :eek: By the time we received the message that deadline had passed but Bonny called right away and discovered that they cancelled our reservation because there was a problem with our Visa card. We had booked these reservations back in February then in July we had switched to a new reward program which required Visa to issue new cards. As you’ve probably guessed by now, we forgot to change the card on the reservation. We’ve stayed at this hotel a number of times before, and to be honest we really didn’t appreciate how they handled the situation. Yes it was our mistake but we didn’t really see why they couldn’t have just told us there was a problem with the card and to call them asap while holding the reservation for an extra couple hours, especially since it’s off-season and they were far from full. After quite a bit of hassle from the hotel we finally got our reservations reinstated. We were both pretty ticked off at how rude they were when we called them to try and get it straightened out and were debating calling Disney to try to get into POP then cancelling the Comfort Suites reservation. We finally decided to just keep the reservation we had because we got a really good rate but agreed we would just not stay there again. :mad:

Once we got our hotel mishap straightened out, it was almost time to hop on our plane to MCO so we headed to the gate and shortly after we got there we were boarded. We took off and a few hours later had arrived at Orlando. Along the way we snapped a few pictures from the plane.

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To try and save a bit of time, we decided that Bonny would go down to the Alamo kiosk while Lee waited at the baggage claim carousel. Every time we had gone to Orlando in the past, it took a long time to get our bags and we weren’t expecting this time to be any different. That Alamo kiosk is fantastic…we’ve used it twice and both times had our rental car paperwork in hand very quickly. Every time there’s a thread on the Dis about the Alamo self-serve kiosks someone mentions that they can’t use them because they don’t have a US driver’s license. Well neither do we and we’ve never had any problems whatsoever. This time Bonny had our rental car paperwork in hand and made her way back up to the baggage claim carousel before it had even started up. We were both very pleasantly surprised when our bags were amongst the first ones out of the chute. Before we left, we snapped this pic of the ad for MNSSHP that was right across from the carousel.

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We headed out to the parkade and were about to load our bags into a Kia when one of the Alamo staffers pulled up in a Saturn Aura and told us to take it since the a/c was already running and it was cooled off. We thanked her and hopped in and were on our way. In case we don’t get to mention it later, we have to tell anyone who may think about buying one of these cars to be prepared to spend a fortune in gas. At home we drive a 2004 Toyota Rav4 SUV and a 2006 Mustang GT. Both of these are considered to be guzzlers but neither of them is anywhere near as thirsty as this Saturn we had. Our hotel was less than 10 mins from Disney and less than 15 from Universal. We only took one day trip to St. Augustine but otherwise stayed close to the hotel and we still ended up going through 6 tanks of gas in the 2 weeks we were there.

We got to the hotel and were curious to see if our reservations had actually been restored. Sure enough they were and we got checked in with no problems. To be perfectly honest we were both a bit disappointed as we had gotten a bit excited about going back to POP instead. We had booked these reservations before our first stay at POP so we really didn’t know any better. Plus over the 2 weeks we thought we’d get a lot more use out of the fridge, microwave, and extra room we had at Comfort Suites. Anyhoooo we got up to our room and promptly discovered our room keys didn’t work. So Lee had to run back downstairs to the lobby to get the keys reprogrammed. Finally we get into our room and snap a few pics before we unpacked.

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After a short rest, we get changed into fresh clothes and headed off to Downtown Disney. We take the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator which results in us exiting out the side of the hotel instead of through the lobby which is usually closer to where the car is parked. When we popped out the side next to the garbage dumpster we saw these glowing eyes peeking at us. Just for fun we snapped a quick pic of the racoon.

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We got to DTD around 8:00 pm and of course it’s almost impossible to find a parking spot (duh – what did we expect on a Saturday night). After driving around for about 20 minutes we finally found a spot and headed to Earl of Sandwich for a bite. After we ate, we did a bit of browsing and were amazed at how much busier it was than on our last trip in May. After an hour or so of browsing we start feeling the long day and headed back to the hotel. We set the alarm for the next morning and quickly dozed off.

Lifelong_Dreamer

11-04-2007, 04:02 PM

You can't start a trip without the Tim Hortons stop! It is too bad that you couldn't get the Timbits, I am sure the CM would understand though, it was a nice thought anyways and you tried to follow through on it and that is what counts.:goodvibes

I would have been really freaked out getting that message from the hotel. I agree that they handled it very badly at least it all got fixed in the end.

The room looks nice and comfortable and it was in a nice central location. You two have AP's I believe?

DisneyFreak06

11-04-2007, 05:00 PM

Glad you got the hotel straightened out, but I love Pop too, I would have called Pop! :lmao: It looks like a nice hotel, hopefully everything keeps going well for you!

Hope Bonny's still doing well with the eyes! I hate wearing glasses, but I think I'd feel weird if I stopped. ;)

Cdn Friends of Pooh

11-04-2007, 05:01 PM

You two have AP's I believe?

Yep...have APs for both WDW and Universal. We did the math and with more than one trip a year it just made sense to buy them.

Star Tours Fan

11-04-2007, 05:28 PM

Wow!! Didn't have any trouble with the hotel when I got there the week after. They were great to me and I got there at 11pm. At least it got straightened out.

CriminyCrafft

11-05-2007, 07:47 AM

Whoohoo your first installment! I'm so excited to hear about everything. Sorry the hotel peeps were so rude - that seems like a totally unreasonable policy.

Need! More! Now!

Cdn Friends of Pooh

11-08-2007, 10:46 PM

Good day and welcome to Day 2…

Our day started when the alarm clock went off at 8:00 am. The beds weren’t the most comfortable the last time we had stayed there but they had been replaced over the last year and they were fantastic! About an hour later we had gotten ourselves ready and eaten breakfast at the hotel. We typically enjoy the free continental breakfast buffet they have at the hotel but this trip we found we didn’t take advantage of it, only eating there three times over the whole trip.

It was partly cloudy to start the day but we decided to leave our rain gear at the hotel. We headed off to Universal and got there a little before 9:30. We took a few pics on the way and got quite excited when we saw the park entrance decorated for HHN.

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Lee had a bit of trouble getting through the turnstiles with his AP but then he remembered when he first used it in May he used his left index finger instead of his right…sure enough once he used the left it worked like a charm.

Our first stop was Shrek 4D. We only had to wait about 15 minutes to get in so we were happy about that. One thing we discovered by accident was that by sitting in the first few rows the picture was a lot clearer than when we were sitting towards the rear. As much as we love the 3D movie it was frustrating to watch it when it was blurry. This time when we were one of the last ones into the theatre and had to sit in the second row we saw it clearer than we ever have. We left and went to the photo op with Shrek, Donkey, and Fiona. Unfortunately it started to sprinkle just before we got our turn and Fiona can’t be out in the rain (apparently she's a witch) so she had to leave.

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We then headed over to Twister which we had skipped in May. There is one part at the beginning of Twister that gets us every time. It’s when you first see the tornado as a projection on a screen. We know it’s a projection, we know it’s not real, but we still get an uneasy feeling when we see it.

After Twister we decide to just go for a walk around the park and snap a few pictures.

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We checked the time and decided to make our way back to CityWalk for our lunch reservations at Emeril’s. On the way out we ran into Woody Woodpecker and Zorro

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We left the park and headed to Emeril’s. We got there about 10 minutes early but they were still able to seat us. We’ve eaten at a lot of good restaurants over the past few years but this was one of the best, if not the best, dining experiences we’ve had. We tried a few of their breads and were very impressed. Our favourite was the scallion and pepperjack cheese bread. For our appetizers we ordered the New Orleans BBQ Shrimp and the Creole Marinated Calamari. Both were phenomenal but the BBQ sauce with the shrimp was the best either of us had ever had. For our main course Bonny had the Lobster Bisque while Lee had the Mahi-Mahi which was on the Table D’Hote Menu. We didn’t take any pictures of it…we see a lot of people posting pictures of food but we just don’t see our meals as photo-ops.

We didn’t have any room left for dessert so we left and were headed back to the park. We had noticed it start and stop raining a few times while we were in the restaurant but the sky didn’t look too bad. As we were heading back to the park we decided to stop at the washrooms next to the Nascar Café. We were only there about 2 minutes but when we were finished up the skies just opened. Fortunately it’s sheltered there so we were able to stay dry while we waited for it to blow over. We ended up staying put for over an hour watching people scrambling to buy ponchos. There were the regular clear Universal ones that a lot of people had but there were other groups of people who had there white ponchos with pointed hoods. After seeing several of these groups passing by we couldn’t help but wonder if we had somehow ended up at a klan rally. :scared1:

Eventually the rain stopped and we decided that with us going to the HHN RIP Tour that evening it would be safest if we went back to the hotel to get our rain gear and leave the camera at the hotel where it wouldn’t get wet. We were really hoping to take some good pics that night but we just didn’t want to risk damaging the camera. So for the rest of this day there will be no more pics. Sorry! :guilty:

Sure enough on the way back to the hotel the sun came out and everything dried out. We still grabbed the rain gear and left the camera. We got back to Universal and left the rain gear in the car where we could go back to get it if necessary. We decided to just take a stroll around the park as it was getting late and we’d be heading to a Stay & Scream area soon. As we were heading towards the big fibreglass shark near Jaws we noticed a single dark cloud heading our way as we were passing some tables with umbrellas. We had a seat at one of them and within a few minutes the sky opened up again. It only lasted about 15 minutes then we were on our way again. We stopped by Finnegans to meet a few of the folks from the CSW Forums including macraven, who we would be taking the RIP Tour with later on. :thumbsup2

We left and made our way over to the Monsters Café where we grabbed a drink then headed over to the Stay & Scream area while the park emptied. This year the area was by the sound stages between Jimmy Neutron and Twister. Shortly before they opened the gates to let us back into the park they opened up the Nightmare on Elm Street house.

We’ll end this instalment here and post the HHN stuff in the next instalment…stay tuned...

ATAfamily

11-09-2007, 06:17 AM

Aw Man! :confused: Nothing like leaving us hanging and wanting more :badpc:

CriminyCrafft

11-09-2007, 08:57 AM

I cannot WAIT to see your HHN pics! :banana: :banana: :banana:

Cdn Friends of Pooh

11-11-2007, 12:18 AM

Only 2 replies…we didn’t think we were that boring… :confused3

Since our RIP Tour wasn’t until 8:00 we decided to go through Bonny’s most anticipated house, Nightmare On Elm Street: Dreamwalkers http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/lblambert/DisBoard/freddy.gif. A pet peeve of ours at HHN is that Universal wants us to move through the houses very quickly but at the same time they try and disorient us so we can’t. There’s nothing more annoying to us that having strobe lights flashed in our eyes in one room then expecting us to walk from there into a dark room and make our way through it very quickly. That’s how NOES started out. The storyline was that flashing the strobe lights in our eyes was supposed to be us falling asleep to enter Freddy’s world. After the strobe lights it appeared as if everyone in Freddy’s world was dressed as big blue dots. The set design in the house was absolutely immaculate and the scareactors were great but unfortunately Universal seemed to think it was a good idea to blind us so we couldn’t appreciate it. We were finally able to get a good look at the house during the daytime tour we took a few days later and yes we took lots of pics!

After we got out of the house the gates had opened so we were free to wander throughout the rest of the park again. We debated trying to go through another house or two but decided against it since we’d be going through them all soon with the RIP Tour and we’d be visiting them each several more times over the next few weeks. We’re also members of the HHN Vault forum and had ordered t-shirts from them which we had arranged to be left for us at the lost & found. We headed over and picked them up. While we were there we decided to just stick around the area since our Tour group was to be meeting in the next little while.

We hooked up with our tour guide Chris (who is one of our friends from the Vault) and the rest of our group and headed for the first house. To be perfectly honest, at this point it’s been over a month since we took the RIP Tour and we really don’t remember exactly what order we did the houses in. We remember the houses well but just not the order. We’ll just present them in the order you would encounter them walking through the park. Keep in mind these are just our opinions and there are a lot of other reviews out there that disagree with ours. Some of you may have gone to HHN and liked what we didn’t or vise versa. We’re not trying to start any debates, just share our experiences.

We’ve already addressed the NOES house so we’ll cover the other two sound-stage houses first. What we will add is that the NOES house isn’t as bad on the eyes when it’s already dark outside before you go in. It’s still very difficult to see anything but you’re not blind for most of the house.

The next we’ll review is the Dead Silence: The Curse of Mary Shaw house. Several months before our trip, when they first announced the HHN houses, we picked up Dead Silence and watched it with the understanding it was going to be a house this year. We both thoroughly enjoyed the movie and thought it would make an excellent house. We were not at all disappointed. The house walked guests through a number of scenes from the movie starting in the cemetery. Next we moved to the mortuary (those who attended HHN 16 may recognize the Mary Shaw in the overturned coffin as a masked Cindy from Screamhouse: Revisited). Then we entered the Guignol Theatre.

Just in case anyone has wondered about the name, Le Theatre du Grand Guignol was a real theatre in Paris that was founded in 1897 by Oscar Metenier as an extension of the naturalist movement, which had been popularized by André Antoine's Theatre Libre. A typical evening at the Grand Guignol Theatre might consist of five or six short plays, ranging from suspenseful crime dramas to bawdy sex farces but the staple of the Grand Guignol repertoire was the horror play, which inevitably featured eye-gouging, throat-slashing, acid-throwing, or some other equally grisly climax. Over the years, and under the direction of several different managers, the Grand Guignol theatre flourished, becoming one of the most popular tourist attractions in Paris. By the early 1960’s, however, the Grand Guignol’s formula no longer had the same impact with audiences, and in 1962, it closed its doors. (those who are interested can visit www.grandguignol.com for more information)

Now back to the house. While the bridge to the entrance of the theatre would have been a nice addition, it just would have been logistically impossible to do in the space they had. Those who have seen the movie may recall the rickety catwalk high above the stage in the theatre. The HHN folks recreated this with what we think was one of the best visual effects at this year’s event. To create the illusion, guests were led along a walkway that moved slightly under guests’ feet. Next to this walkway the ground was covered with mirrors and the ceiling had the stage scene mounted on it. The net effect was the illusion that you were about 30’ above the stage while in actuality you were less than 6” off the ground. When we did the Secrets of the Sideshow Tour we got to take a lot of pics of this house and we’ll be posting them later when we get to the day we took the tour.

We’ll move on to the next soundstage house which was Psychoscareapy: Home for the Holidays. The story behind this house is that the inmates of the Shadybrook Asylum (as seen in HHN 13 and 16) were let out carolling on Christmas Eve but their van crashed into a retirement home and the inmates have taken over. This house was geared less towards scares and more towards those with a very dark sense of humour. Fortunately that describes us to a ‘T’ so we thoroughly enjoyed this house. :rotfl2:

One detail about this house to note is the fact there are a lot of clocks located throughout the house with several in each room. These were taken from the Back to the Future ride when it closed up earlier in the year. We got a lot of pics here on the daytime tour and will be posting them when we get to that day.

Passing the soundstages and through New York we eventually come to Vampyr: Blood Bath. Castle Vampyr was a very popular house at HHN 14 but the storyline was this castle only existed once every 13 years which made it impossible to bring it back before 2017. To get around this, the A&D team came up with a storyline that the younger vampires were hosting raves to attract new victims that would be either converted as new recruits or killed as food. The older vampires disapproved of this and showed up at one of these raves to fight with the younger vampires. Don’t look at us like that…this is their storyline…not ours. We’d just like to know where Count Chocula fits into this whole scheme. :lmao:

We didn’t mind this house but felt it didn’t live up to its potential. Instead of scares, you were left with scenes of vampires feeding on one another. Lee will be the first to say there is nothing wrong with half-naked vampire chicks, especially when they’re dancing, but there really should have been more to the house in our opinion. The one nice touch was the advertisement sign for “Lugosi’s est. 1931”, which of course refers to Bela Lugosi who played Dracula in the 1931 Universal production of Dracula. http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/lblambert/DisBoard/008.gif

Just a little trivia tidbit…Universal Studios was in very bad financial shape and teetering on the edge of bankruptcy after the 1929 stock market crash. Studio head Carl Laemmle had all but given up on saving the studio when he finally agreed to son Carl Jr.’s idea of producing and releasing a horror film. In his eyes, he simply had nothing left to lose. Carl Jr. produced Dracula which was released in 1931 and became a blockbuster. The studio followed up the success of Dracula with the equally successful Frankenstein. Largely based on the success of these two films, Universal not only recovered but prospered and evolved into what it is today.

Now back to HHN. After Vampyr the next house you come to is Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Flesh Wounds. We would feel fairly comfortable in suggesting that those who are huge fans of the original film would not likely like this house which was based on the 2003 remake and the subsequent 2006 sequel/prequel. We think they did an excellent job of recreating a number of scenes from the movie. A few memorable scenes included a young lady frantically trying to start a van while Leatherface is on top of the van sawing through the roof, Leatherface rushing directly towards you up a hallway, and finally Leatherface coming towards you through sheets hung on a clothesline. This final scene was the first time since we’ve been going to HHN that Lee actually felt genuine fear for a second. http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/lblambert/DisBoard/lthrfaceani.gif

Next to TCM you come to the Rocky Horror Picture Show Tribute which was performed on the same stage they use for Beetlejuice’s Graveyard Revue during the day. The cast was absolutely phenomenal but it was one of those shows where you would love it if and only if you are a RHPS fan. We are not. To be blunt we found sitting through this show to be an absolutely painful experience. :headache: The verdict on this one was unanimous amongst our tour group and judging from the number of people we saw walking out during the show a lot of other people felt this way.

After RHPS you come to the Lee’s most anticipated house…Friday the 13th: Camp Blood. http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/lblambert/DisBoard/char138.gifThe story behind this one was that the guest is a new counsellor at Camp Crystal Lake and the house starts with fellow counsellors trying to scare you with cheesy “Boo” scares but before too long Jason shows up and the scares are real. As far as execution goes we thought this house really delivered the atmosphere and overall was really well done. We were very impressed with Jason’s look as well…Lee was quite concerned that they wouldn’t costume the scareactors properly or cast people who didn’t have the right physique or something that would spoil the effect. Those who have watched the movies know Jason’s look changes dramatically from one movie to the next but they made an excellent decision going with the Freddy vs. Jason look.

Our next stop takes us to the most excellent show, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Halloween Adventure. To describe the show briefly, it’s an annual show that parodies the previous year’s pop culture events. The show is definitely not for the kiddies as a lot of the humor is risqué in nature. ;) One advantage of the RIP Tour is you get reserved seating up front and don’t have to get there too early. We enjoyed this year’s show more than most but in our opinion it still didn’t beat their 2005 show.

Next stop is Jack’s Funhouse in Clown-o-vision. :3dglasses For some reason Universal seems determined to keep trying 3D houses despite the fact that they are consistently viewed by most as the worst house of each year they try it. There are only so many things that can be done with a 3D house and none of them are scary. After the RIP Tour we attended HHN several times afterwards and this is the one house we never went through again. The less said about this house the better so we’ll move along.

Finally the last house we come to is The Thing: Assimilation. This house was excellent in every sense. The set design was great and the house was unique in that it used animatronics in addition to the scareactors which really added to the experience. One thing we had heard was that the Stage Manager for this house had passed away a few weeks earlier and the scareactors had made a vow to make it the scariest house at HHN. Their efforts were really noticeable and I give them credit for the job they did in keeping that vow. :thumbsup2

By the time we finished up the RIP Tour it was close to midnight. We were going to grab a bite with macraven who we really enjoyed meeting but the restaurants were closing up and the park was soon to close as well. :mad:

We ended up following the mob out and left Universal for the night. We were quite hungry as we hadn’t had a bite to eat since lunchtime so we ended up stopping at the McDonalds across the street from our hotel on the way back. popcorn:: Overall we had a good group for our RIP tour and are looking forward to doing it again next year.

Anyways that’s our basic HHN summary from our tour. Again, we’re sorry we don’t have any pics posted but with the weather the way it was after lunch we decided to keep the camera safe. We will be posting lots of HHN pics but we just didn’t take any that night.

Next instalment…Epcot!

DisneyFreak06

11-11-2007, 08:10 AM

Thanks for the very descriptive update. I would want to protect my cameras too, so I can understand not wanting to take yours with you. I think I'll buy some disposable waterproof cameras for my next trip! :lmao:

I've never been to Universal, though I'd really love to go, so I'm enjoying when you tell me about Universal too, thanks! :thumbsup2

macraven

11-11-2007, 06:40 PM

really enjoyed the installment.

i haven't put up my hhn pics yet that i took during the day tour on friday.
since we love the same things, i bet your pics on the tour would be the same or similar to mine.

waiting for the next episode

Cdn Friends of Pooh

11-11-2007, 06:54 PM

waiting for the next episode

It's already written...we just forgot to add a couple pics...we should have it up later this evening :thumbsup2

macraven

11-11-2007, 07:21 PM

hip hip hooray...........:cheer2:

Cdn Friends of Pooh

11-11-2007, 07:40 PM

After the busy night at HHN, we decided to skip breakfast and sleep in on Monday morning. We got up around 9:30 and noticed the skies were partly cloudy but everything was dry. We decided to leave our rain gear in the hotel and we put batteries into Pal Mickey then left for Epcot.

Sure enough, as soon as we pulled out of the hotel parking lot, it started to rain. As we pulled out onto 192 we noticed the skies were darker over WDW so we turned around and went to get our rain gear. After a quick pit stop back at the hotel we were back on our way. These two pics will show you what the weather was like…the first is a bright sky and raining with the ground completely wet and the second is a darker overcast sky with the ground completely dry. These pics were taken less than a minute apart.

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As we got to Epcot everything was still dry and the sun was starting to come out. With both Pal Mickey and the camera we decided to bring the rain gear and we could keep these items under our coats if necessary. Since we had decided to bring the rain gear with us you can guess what happened…within a few minutes the clouds were almost completely gone and we didn’t see another drop of rain for the rest of the day (and since we kept it in the car from that point onwards we didn’t see any more rain until the day before we left)!

We turned on PM before we got to the gate and instead of starting up normally he started stuttering “he-ha…he-ha…he-ha…he-ha…” As it turned out the batteries we had charged before we left had lost their charge so we just shut him off.

We liked how they incorporated Ratatouille into the F&W Festival signage. We decided not to take pictures at the time as it was a bit of a mob scene and past experience has shown it’s easier to get good pictures later on after the morning entry crowd has tapered off.

The second thing we noticed was the closed Spaceship Earth. We had known for quite some time that it would be closed for this trip and we usually only ride it once each trip (usually near the end of the day when our feet are tired and we need the rest) but we were still a bit bummed at seeing it closed.

We stopped in at the Art of Disney store to browse and noticed that one of the artists whose work we had previously seen and liked was there signing prints. Bonny bought a set of prints and had them signed and personalized.

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We then headed towards World Showcase as it would be opening soon and we had lunch reservations in Mexico at the San Angel Inn. We got there a few minutes before our reservation and sat inside the Mexico Pavilion and watched the crowd for a bit. Those of you who read our May TR will remember we got stuck inside the Mexico Pavilion during a cloudburst but were lucky enough to have a bench. This time we were able to get the same bench to sit and people-watch.

One of our WDW pet peeves are the people who think that hats for sale are there to be used as props for their photo ops. We were sitting not too far from where they have the sombreros on sale and watched as 7 sweaty people put on the same sombrero for photos in less than 10 minutes (yes we kept track since we had nothing better to do while we waited). Consider that over the length of the day and you’ll know why we don’t buy hats at WDW.

After about 15 minutes our pager went off and we were seated for lunch. Lee had a Margarita San Angel and the Carne Asada Tampiquena while Bonny had a coke with the Pollo A Las Rajas. The food was good but not great. The service was also good but not great. Bottom line is we would eat there again if we were passing by while we were hungry and there were openings but it’s not a place we would go out of our way to make an ADR for.

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After lunch we decided to make our way through World Showcase. Our next stop was China. We enjoyed browsing through the shops and took a few pics of the gardens. While we didn’t eat there this trip, their CS restaurant (the Lotus Blossom Café) has really good food and we highly recommend it.

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After we left China we headed over to watch the African carvers. Every time we go we’re absolutely amazed at their skill.

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Next stop for us was Germany. We decided to finally take a picture of the Arribas Bros castle they they’re selling for $37,500. We can’t help but wonder if anyone has ever bought one.

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We also always take a picture of this statue of St. George slaying the dragon. Most German villages have a St. George statue for protection. At least that’s what we read in the Imagineers Guide…neither of us have ever been to German so we really don’t know for sure.

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The next stop was Italy where we took a few more pics.

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We next headed over to the American Pavilion. We’ve never gone inside to watch the American Adventure and decided to skip it again this time. Instead we took pictures of the hedge pears.

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We also decided to take a pic of the Canadian Pavilion from across the lagoon.

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We were both feeling pretty sore and we knew we’d be going back to Epcot several times before we left so we decided to head back towards the exit. Lee had a blister from his crocs the day before and Bonny had pulled something in her ankle so we decided why aggravate these little things so early in the trip.

We did stop at the Canadian Pavilion on our way by to wish our fellow Canucks a Happy Thanksgiving. We noticed the CM we had promised the Timbits to wasn’t even there so we didn’t feel so bad.

On the way out we stopped to take these pics:

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We did some shopping after we left Epcot and picked up a brace for Bonny’s ankle. We lazed around the hotel and just took it easy for the rest of the afternoon. With us skipping the trip to the Keys this year and spending the full two weeks in Orlando, we had a lot more time for everything so we never felt rushed at all. That evening we headed over to Old Town to take a little stroll and browse the shops for a little while before calling it an early night.

Up next…our day trip to St Augustine.

Lifelong_Dreamer

11-11-2007, 09:00 PM

The weather sure did clear up and turn into a beautiful day! Those pear topiaries were so cute!

CriminyCrafft

11-11-2007, 10:10 PM

Great installments - I love all your pictures. I went to St. Augustine in 2001 and loved it. I can't wait to see what you thought. I did a ghost tour which was unintentionally hilarious. ;)

Can't wait for more!

DisneyFreak06

11-12-2007, 06:26 AM

What beatiful colors in your WS pics, especially of the African carvers! I'm totally enjoying all your pictures, thanks for sharing them. Wow, 2 weeks in Orlando, I'm so jealous.

Cdn Friends of Pooh

11-15-2007, 07:46 PM

As much as we wanted to go to MK and see the refurbed Haunted Mansion, we also wanted to take a day trip to St Augustine and this was the only day we had free to take a day trip.

We started off by sleeping in and skipping breakfast again, getting up around 9:30. We got ourselves ready, gassed up the rental car, and headed east on I4 to Daytona Beach then north on I95 to St. Augustine. The trip took us about 2 hrs. It might have been a bit longer…we really weren’t paying attention since we were on vacation.

Our first stop was the beach. We’re quite used to Daytona Beach and Cocoa Beach where it’s almost impossible to find parking anywhere and what you can find costs a small fortune. Needless to say we were quite pleasantly surprised to find tons of free parking adjacent to the beach. The one thing we found odd was there was something in the air that really made our throats scratchy so we were both coughing non-stop while we were there.

We spent about ½ hr strolling along the beach and snapped a few photos:

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After leaving the beach we decided to head to the historic downtown and check out some of the shops. We found the parkade, parked the car, then headed out on foot towards the shops. After a few minutes we realized we were going the wrong way and turned around. We did a bit of browsing and took a few more photos:

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We were getting hungry since we had skipped breakfast so we stopped off at the Florida Cracker Café (http://www.floridacrackercafe.com/)for a bite. We had a few appetizers (Bonny had the crab balls and Lee the conch fritters) and burgers for the main course. Both the food and service were good and the price was quite reasonable:

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After lunch we continued up St. George Street which is a street full of little shops and restaurants that’s open only for pedestrian traffic. We found the atmosphere in St. Augustine to be very reminiscent of Key West.

After we finished up our stroll and our shopping, we headed back to the parkade and picked up the car. One thing we noticed was that the cost of parking all afternoon in St. Augustine was less than parking in Key West for an hour. We next headed to the Fountain of Youth. Unfortunately it was getting late and the park was closing in about 10 minutes so we didn’t go in. We did shoot a few pictures outside the park.

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Our next stop was the Castillo de San Marcos. Again, by the time we got there the fort was closing to the public in about 15 minutes so we didn’t bother paying to get in. We did shoot a few photos from the outside and will go earlier next time to see the inside:

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After taking these pics, we left St. Augustine and headed south to Cocoa Beach. We went to the big Ron Jon Surf Shop for a while then decided to head back. As we were heading back to I95 we noticed the car was almost on fumes so we filled up again and headed back to the hotel. By the time we got back at about 10:30 we had been sitting in the car for quite a while so we decided to go for a walk around Old Town. We hear a lot of people claiming Old Town seems run down and unsafe to walk around at night. Frankly we don’t see this problem. It is supposed to look older as its intention is to recreate the boardwalk atmosphere of Atlantic City or Coney Island. As for it being unsafe, we’ve never seen anything to give that impression as it’s full of families with children even at night.

After about an hour at Old Town we headed back to the hotel where we watched a bit of TV before heading to bed for the night.

Next day…AK, HHN Daytime Tour, and a quick trip to MK…

Lifelong_Dreamer

11-15-2007, 08:53 PM

Lovely photos. I visited St Augustine many years ago, it is a beautiful city.

CriminyCrafft

11-15-2007, 10:17 PM

Great photos! Looks like a fun day. Are you familiar with the American tv show Ghost Hunters? It's one of my favorites and they had an episode where they investigated a haunted prison (which I went to when I was there) and a haunted lighthouse in St. Augustine. They got some REALLY scary stuff in the lighthouse. I guess my point is, St. Augustine is a great place for folks who like scary stuff to visit!

Can't wait to see your daytime HHN pics!

Cdn Friends of Pooh

11-15-2007, 10:36 PM

Yeah we noticed there were several ghost tours but we didn't want to stick around for an extra three hours until one started. We did one in Key West a few years ago and it was good for a few chuckles. It was a perfect example of the power of suggestion. We were told to take pictures throughout the tour and our guide would examine them at the end. The tour guide got very excited when these two elderly ladies captured a "stream of ectoplasm" in one of their photos which got them all excited and soon almost the entire group was seeing this supernatural phenomena in this photo. When it got to us we were quite easily able to see the "stream of ectoplasm" was a leafy branch in the foreground that was illuminated by the camera's flash. It wasn't blurry or anything that would cause confusion...it was very clearly a branch with leaves. People wanted to see a ghost so they saw a ghost instead of what was blatantly obvious and staring them in the face. A few others saw it was obviously a branch and were left shaking their heads as well.

The HHN photos will be coming up...because we're only allowed 25 images per post we'll have to spread them out over several posts...we should be able to get the photos of each of the three houses and the museum in one post each.

CriminyCrafft

11-16-2007, 08:22 AM

Cdn Friends of Pooh

11-18-2007, 02:42 PM

Six months before your trip, early breakfast ADRs seem like a good idea. When the time comes and your alarm rings and you realize it’s still dark outside, you begin to question why you would do such a thing. :laughing:

After grumbling we got ourselves ready, and were finally out the door on our way to our breakfast date with Donald and friends at Animal Kingdom. Arriving at the AK gates at about 7:35 am, we get in line behind a pylon. We knew they wouldn’t be open yet, but had to feel sorry for the family from the UK next to us who had arrived in a taxi and obviously had no idea they didn’t open until 7:45 am. You could just see the look of panic in their eyes when they asked the gate attendant if they could be let through and were told “the gates don’t open until 7:45”.

We park our car, get on the tram (yes we got on the tram – it was too darn early!) and arrive at the park gate. From reading the Dis, we knew there would be a special line for those going to the Breakfastosaurus. What we didn’t realize is how long that line would actually be. All these people couldn’t be going to breakfast could they?? :confused3

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We get in line and wait. Within a few minutes the line starts moving and we start our trek over to the restaurant. Yep all these people were going for breakfast! :eek:

We check in and take a seat waiting to hear our name called. If any of you have been to the Breakfastosaurus, you know what a zoo it can be – people mingling all over, talking excitedly and the poor CMs seating guests trying to be heard over the roar of the crowd. At last we hear our name called and are escorted to our table. It sure did smell good.

The buffet had a variety of items from pancakes, bacon, sausages, scrambled eggs to french toast. There was also a cold buffet table with fruit, yogurt, cereal and pasteries. We filled our plates and returned to our table. Shortly after our first “guest” arrived …

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Then Donald and Goofy stopped by to say hello …

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We could see we had a bit of time before our next guest arrived, so we headed back to the buffet to refill our plates. As we were finishing up, the big cheese himself stopped by … yes even at Donald’s breakfast Mickey has to be the star. ;)

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With our tummies full, we decided we had a bit of time before we had to head over to Universal for our Secrets of the Sideshow tour, so took our time and snapped a few pictures before leaving the park …

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... Up next, stay tuned for our behind the scenes pics of HHN

macraven

11-18-2007, 05:18 PM

i'm hanging in there for it...

WDW Poly Princess

11-18-2007, 05:30 PM

You had me at the title! ;)

thunderbird1

11-18-2007, 10:22 PM

Woo-hoo! Almost there! My dd has been bugging me daily about the HHN photos ("are they there yet?"). :rolleyes: But I loved the St. Augustine pics. We may just have to do a day trip there sometime. LOL about the Key West "haunted house" tour. Those kinds of things are so iffy--they can either be really, really good or really, really bad--sounds like you had the latter. Thanks again for the TR!

Cdn Friends of Pooh

11-19-2007, 11:31 PM

We did a bit of shopping then made our way to Universal, arriving about half an hour before our Secrets of the Sideshow Tour was to start.

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We got checked in and had a chat with one of the VIP Tour Team Leaders about another plan we’re discussing – renewing our vows at HHN for our 10th anniversary. After getting some good advice and info about how we can do it, it was time for our tour to start. :thumbsup2

The first stop was the HHN Museum they had set up. This year it was set up in the hat-shaped building along Hollywood Boulevard. We really enjoyed the museum last year as it had bits and pieces from previous years to give the fans a retrospective look at the event. This year it was set up to contain events from this year’s event only. The centrepiece was the tarot card reading table and chair from the TV commercial. The museum also displayed the Freddy, Jason, and Leatherface costumes from the commercial.

We could go on about what else they had but we’re sure you’d just as soon look at the pics and see for yourself (if anyone’s even still reading the text :rolleyes: )

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We were shown a brief video presentation which we weren't allowed to film. What we will say is it included a lot of clips from the Art of the Scare DVD they released in 2003 (with footage from the 2002 event).

After the video presentation we were off to our first house...

(to be continued...) popcorn::

CriminyCrafft

11-20-2007, 11:41 AM

Great photos! I cannot wait to see more! Also, vow renewal at HHN is an AMAZING idea! I really hope it happens for you!

Cdn Friends of Pooh

11-21-2007, 09:56 PM

We were off to the first house which was Nightmare on Elm Street: Dreamwalkers. By the time we got to this tour we had been through this house a few times. While we liked it, we knew we were missing a lot of it because of the lighting effects. Only now were we about to realize just how much we were missing.

The story behind this house is that you’re attending a demo for a sleep aid named Sleep Well. The entrance is where the product is on display and at night is fogged:

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Following the storyline, the next room is where you are drifting off to sleep. In reality this is where you are having strobe lights being flashed at your eyes:

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After having fallen asleep (gone blind :cool2: ) you enter Freddy’s world and are greeted with the façade of the NOES house. At night you really don’t get the appreciation for how well done this is:

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Once you enter, you find yourself in the entrance hallway of the house just as it appeared in the movie. Even the staircase is in the right place:

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After passing through the entrance hallway, you enter the replica of Johnny Depp’s room from the first NOES film. The room is a typical ‘80s teen’s bedroom except for one thing…it’s built on its side so the floor of the room is a wall and you exit through the hole in the bed:

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After leaving you’re in a hospital facility where patients have overdosed on the dream suppressant Hypnocil (from Freddy vs Jason). Yes in one room you’ve jumped 7 movies. At night the sheets are backlit and a scareactor dressed as Freddy runs around behind them, casting a shadow along the sheets. There is another Freddy scareactor who pops out to scare the guests. The same scareactor also controls a foot pedal by one of the beds that, when pressed, makes the dummies all sit up. A little tidbit is the name on each patient’s vital stat screen is the same – M. Aiello. This is a tribute to Mike Aiello, one of the designers of the house.

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Leaving the hospital you find yourself in the mirror maze. Keep left!!

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The next scenes involve a montage of some of Freddy’s most memorable kills. The sad thing is these are all so well done but you barely see them. After being through this house several times in the dark, we had no idea a few of these scenes were even there. There’s the girl with the tv set from part 3 (“welcome to prime time”), the prisoner in the cell hanging from part 1, the guy whose tendons are ripped out and used like marionette strings from part 3, and the final scene was intended to be Jason in reference to the FvJ movie but the contract with New Line prevented it. To replace it the dropped in another Freddy scareactor so YOU are Freddy’s next kill. We thought it was a good substitution:

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The final scene is Freddy’s boiler room which at night is lit with red lights just like in the movies. The scene would look great if it was lit just a bit more but as it is you miss so much (unfortunately a common problem in this house). :headache:

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That was the end of NOES...after we left this one we were off to Psychoscareapy: Home for the Holidays...

CriminyCrafft

11-21-2007, 10:15 PM

Amazing! Best HHN pics I've seen! Drooling on keyboard for more!

Cdn Friends of Pooh

11-25-2007, 05:23 PM

Just in case anyone’s still reading this, our next house was Psychoscareapy: Home for the Holidays. We had enjoyed the previous two Psychoscareapy houses in 2003 and 2006 and had our hopes up for this one. Having gone through it a few times we were not disappointed and would rank it amongst the best houses of the event.

The storyline behind this one was that the inmates of Shadybrook asylum had been out carolling on Christmas Eve when their van crashed into a home. Following the crash the inmates escaped and took over the neighbourhood.

As you look through the pics, notice all the clocks. They were all taken from the Back to the Future queue when the ride closed.

The house started with the crash scene:

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The next scene is the living room of the home. There would be a scareactor on the couch fondling the van driver's head. Note the leg lamp…their tribute to “A Christmas Story” which absolutely cracked us up:

http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/lblambert/Oct%202007/IMG_0273.jpg

The next scene was the kitchen. One thing we really like about HHN is how they try to affect all your senses, including smell. In the kitchen scene they had the scent of burning cookies. In the last pic with the limbs in the garbage disposal, you’ll see a piece of black screen covering a part of the sink. This is where water squirts at the guests.

http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/lblambert/Oct%202007/IMG_0274.jpg

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After the kitchen you head into the dining room. We got a chuckle out of the animatronic Christmas Turkey sitting at the head of the table. You can see the cables in this pic but at night you can’t see them.

http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/lblambert/Oct%202007/IMG_0278.jpg

After walking through the dining room you head outside and along the side of the house. There’s a scareactor waiting behind the “Wilson fence”:

http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/lblambert/Oct%202007/IMG_0281.jpg

When you get to the back of the house you get squirted again from this wood chipper a scareactor is feeding a body into.

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This snowman was one of our favourites…this pic is going on our Christmas cards this year:

http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/lblambert/Oct%202007/IMG_0285.jpg

You next make your way into the garage. There is a scareactor with a horn on a platform above the door that got Lee every time we went through.

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After going through the garage you head into the second house:

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After briefly passing through this house you head into the yard where a barbecue awaits you.

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The next building you enter is the garage/workshop of the third house.

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The final scene is a living room in the third house. One of these pics was a runner-up for our Christmas card. We may do some of each.

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We lagged to the back of the tour group to get these pics with no-one else around. We were taking these pics when we heard the door close and realized we had been left behind. We quickly left and caught the group just as they were heading into the next house. :eek:

Note to any VIP tour guides who may be reading this…count your group in between houses! :mad:

Cdn Friends of Pooh

11-25-2007, 07:23 PM

One thing we absolutely loved about Dead Silence: The Curse of Mary Shaw was the temperature in the house. All the locals complained about it being too cold but it was very nice for us. We had seen the movie earlier in the summer, after it had been announced as a house for HHN. We enjoyed the movie but found as we watched it we were watching for things we thought would be good additions to a HHN house. We were quite pleased that most of the things we had thought would be good at HHN were actually included in this house.

The house started in the Raven’s Fair Cemetery. The statue in the second pic is often used at HHN, last seen outside Screamhouse: Resurrected in 2006.

http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/lblambert/Oct%202007/IMG_0304.jpg

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The next scene was the Walker Funeral Home. Those who attended HHN last year might remember Cindy, the girl in the coffin that was standing up in the parlour of Screamhouse: Resurrected. The Mary Shaw in the spilled coffin is actually Cindy in a mask.

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After leaving the funeral home, your next stop is the Guignol Theatre. This was where they had that excellent catwalk effect. With the lights on we were able to take a picture of the scene mounted on the ceiling.

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The next scene was Mary’s apartment above the theatre. The scareactor who sat in the wheelchair was excellent. He was so good at remaining absolutely still that a lot of people were unsure if he was a scareactor or a prop. All the items in the apartment are antiques that Universal scrounged from all over the country. We included a close-up pic of the “perfect ventriloquist dummy” schematics that was mounted on the wall. These were impossible to see at night and we missed them even with the lights on, only noticing them when we blew up the pic after we got home.

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After leaving the apartment, you go down a hallway lined with portraits. Most of these are morphing portraits except for two that HHN vets will recognize. The Storyteller from 2005 and Cindy’s portrait from the Screamhouse houses in 2002, 2003, and 2006.

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The end of this house has one of our favourite effects: the false hallway with the mirror. It’s a very short space with a mirror at the end, which creates the illusion of a long hallway. There’s a scareactor who appears to be at the end of that hallway when in reality he is right behind you.

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After we wrapped up this house we headed back to the museum for a Q&A sessions with several members of the A&D team.

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It was good for us to get some insight as to what goes into designing any particular house and they really seemed to enjoy the opportunity to get feedback from the guests. It was supposed to be a brief thing but it ended up lasting over 2 hours. Lee got along very well with a few of them as they had so much in common. At one point Bonny even commented “Gawd they remind me of you!!”

After we were done our Secrets of the Sideshow Tour, we decided that we couldn’t wait any longer and we decided to head to MK to check out the refurbed Haunted Mansion.

thunderbird1

11-27-2007, 09:10 PM

IF we're still reading--puh-lease. My dd has been asking me daily if the pictures were up yet. Excellent photos--you got a "gross!" out of her, along with one of these: :crazy2:. So, is it even possible to be impressed by the HM, even the new and improved version, after attending HHN? Thanks again for the detailed TR!

Cdn Friends of Pooh

11-27-2007, 09:48 PM

IF we're still reading--puh-lease.

Over the past few days we've been seriously thinking of cancelling the rest of the TR due to lack of interest and asking the mods to remove the thread. We only had one reply to several updates over the past week and figured no one was interested. :sad1:

ATAfamily

11-28-2007, 11:32 AM

Over the past few days we've been seriously thinking of cancelling the rest of the TR due to lack of interest and asking the mods to remove the thread. We only had one reply to several updates over the past week and figured no one was interested. :sad1:

OMG! :eek: Are you kidding? Every updated installment :surfweb: leaves me begging for more:badpc:

Sorry to make you feel unappreciated :hug:

macraven

11-28-2007, 11:43 AM

Over the past few days we've been seriously thinking of cancelling the rest of the TR due to lack of interest and asking the mods to remove the thread. We only had one reply to several updates over the past week and figured no one was interested. :sad1:

hey, what am i chopped liver?
you know i am reading them........and i love it all, lee and bonny.

are you seriously thinking of having your thread pulled......:eek:
well, if you do that i will just have to go to canada and hunt you down like a rapid dog (jk)....then stay with you for a week to get the end of the report..

:worship: :worship: :worship:
begging that you will continue :hug:

macraven

11-28-2007, 11:48 AM

me 5 ...........:eek:

hope bonny is doing fine after her surgery

really enjoyed the installment.

i haven't put up my hhn pics yet that i took during the day tour on friday.
since we love the same things, i bet your pics on the tour would be the same or similar to mine.

waiting for the next episode

hip hip hooray...........:cheer2:

i'm hanging in there for it...

and i am still hanging in there to read the rest of the trippie.

you both are great at them!

Star Tours Fan

11-28-2007, 10:43 PM

Hey I lurk so I'm still reading. :guilty:

Ya know I am. When is the other installment up? Wanna read more.:coffee:

CriminyCrafft

11-30-2007, 07:47 AM

I really hope you finish the TR. But I understand your frustration - I feel like no one has been reading my Halloween TR. I think I have like 1600 views, while some other TRs have 40,000! It's a lot of work to put in when you feel like no one's reading. BUT you do have some devoted followers, including me, so sincerely hope you continue on! I LOVE your TR!

macraven

12-06-2007, 05:18 PM

bonny and lee...............the homies here are still waiting for you......!

TnkrBoo

12-06-2007, 08:13 PM

Hey guys! I just found your trip report today ( a little late I know). I loved your last trip report and think your pictures are just amazing. :thumbsup2 Those Spaceship Earth ones are unbelievable. Have you guys ever been to Knott’s Berry Farms Halloween Haunt out in California? I go almost every year but after seeing US HHN I think I may start going to the US out here instead. The detail and storylines seem so cool, that’s something you don’t get at Knott’s Halloween Haunt.

Cdn Friends of Pooh

12-07-2007, 09:51 PM

OK everyone ... a new installment will be up this weekend some time, so stay tuned

macraven

12-07-2007, 10:12 PM

OK everyone ... a new installment will be up this weekend some time, so stay tuned

woo hoo, the canadians are back in business here !!!!

http://bestsmileys.com/signs13/3.gif

LoveDopey

12-10-2007, 01:21 PM

They're back -- loved your last trip report:banana: :banana: :banana:

I would love to use the picture of santa in the fireplace for my christmas cards. Too bad I already mailed a Hallmark version...

macraven

12-10-2007, 07:58 PM

OK everyone ... a new installment will be up this weekend some time, so stay tuned

still sitting at my keyboard..............
homie, the weekend passed.

or were you talking about this coming weekend?
:rolleyes1

Cdn Friends of Pooh

12-10-2007, 11:31 PM

When we wrapped our last instalment we had finished up our Secrets of the Sideshow Tour at Universal and decided to head over to MK to check out the HM refurbs. Since we didn’t take any pics at the MK we’ll just wrap it up briefly. If you haven’t seen the changes to the HM and don’t want the surprise ruined, skip the rest of this post.

We knew you couldn’t resist reading on…we got to the MK at about 7:00 pm and made our way over to the HM. We deliberately hadn’t read any of the reviews of the changes so we wouldn’t find out what the changes were until we rode it ourselves. We were a little bit nervous about seeing what they did to our favourite ride. We could only imagine the caretaker being replaced with Eddie Murphy or Gilbert Gottfried's voice as the new Ghost Host.

We didn’t have to wait at all and just made it in before the CM closed the doors. We didn’t think the stretching room looked bad before but it looks so much better after it’s been cleaned up and refreshed. Once we got on the ride itself we liked the addition of the portraits in the hallway like they apparently have at DL. The cleaning job was apparent throughout. It was really noticeable when looking at the floating candelabra effect at the end of the hallway. Over the past few years it had gotten to the point where it was hardly noticeable unless you were really watching for it but now it really stood out and was noticeable.

The next real change we noticed was the Escher-type staircases with the ghostly footprints appearing and disappearing on the way up to the attic (replacing the fluorescent spiders & webs). The attic itself was vastly different and we both agree the change was for the better. The bride has been replaced with a new bride whose face is a projection (similar to Little Leota at the end of the ride). It is revealed that the bride is a black widow who had murdered several husbands (can a guest host spot on The View be far behind for this blood-stained bride?).

After the attic we got to the one part of the refurbishment we viewed as heresy…levitating Madam Leota’s ball. Our own opinion is next to the hitchhiking ghosts, Leota is the most recognizable icon of the HM and should not have been tampered with. It could have been much worse though…they could have replaced Eleanor Audley’s voice with Jennifer Tilley’s movie version.

We liked the one change they made to the Ballroom scene, being the addition of a hearse crashed through the wall and ghosts coming out of it. The cemetery looked great. We’re not sure if they replaced the scrims or just cleaned everything really well but whatever they did was excellent.

We had hoped the audio would be repaired as before there would occasionally be dead zones where one of the audio tracks didn’t work in a particular section. Unfortunately we didn’t have the voice track when we exited the cemetery so they obviously didn’t get it all fixed. Overall though we were quite impressed with the changes to the HM…after all there was only the one thing we didn’t like compared to everything else that really impressed us.
After riding it a few more times and doing a bit of shopping we decided to make our way over to Cosmic Ray’s for a bite. As we were approaching it we noticed the crowds were really starting to fill up on Main Street and Wishes would be starting soon. Having fought the crowds leaving MK after Wishes on other occasions, we decided to skip Cosmic Ray’s and make for the exit.

We ended up seeing Wishes from the ferry to the TTC which was already filling up with others who were trying to beat the Wishes mob.

Up next…MGM Studios

macraven

12-12-2007, 06:18 AM

i love the hm also.
if you stayed behind once everyone left the "stretch room" you would hear the voices of the statues talking and laughing.
you have to be the last one out of the room to catch it.

had computer glitches, couldn't get on the disboards and was so aggravated knowing another installment was waiting to be read here.

glad you're back bonny and lee!

LoveDopey

12-17-2007, 08:27 AM

Hello, I'm waiting for the rest of your trip report??? I only come to the WDW boards to read that -- I've kind of moved to the DL boards to coincide with our trip in February to DL.

thunderbird1

12-17-2007, 10:38 AM

It is revealed that the bride is a black widow who had murdered several husbands (can a guest host spot on The View be far behind for this blood-stained bride?).

:rotfl2: Glad to hear you liked most of the HM changes, too. Though I must confess I liked the kicked up a notch Madam Leota, I was also relieved they really didn't incorporate much, if any, of the HM movie. Much like POTC--a little nod to the movie is fine, but don't mess with a classic attraction.

Keep it coming--I'm overdosing on Christmas and I count on your TR for a little Halloween to balance it out! Though looking at your photo of Santa in the chimney is a nice little blend of both.

macraven

12-17-2007, 12:17 PM

bonny and lee........

it's wake up time.
we need more installments!!!!

Cdn Friends of Pooh

12-18-2007, 11:46 PM

After a few days of technical difficulties we’re able to resume our TR. Lee’s laptop is going to have to go in for repairs after the silly season is over and you can get near Best Buy without needing combat training.

The next morning we slept in again then started our day at MGM Studios.

Naturally the first place we headed for was the Character greeting at the Big Hat. We had all the ones that were out that day but we decided we’d go get a pic with Donald and Daisy since we hadn’t seen them out together before:

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While we were there we decided to take a few pics of the hat:

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Next we headed over to the Animation building. When we were at WDW in May it was just before Ratatouille came out so we didn’t get to see those characters. We were hoping we’d get pics with Remy and Emile this time.

Unfortunately there was no Emile this day but we did get a pic with Remy:

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We knew we’d be going back to MGM again so we weren’t really too wound up about missing Emile that day. As a bonus, Frozone was there in the Incredibles room and he was the one we missed in May:

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On the way out we decided to take this pic of the Mickey & Walt statue:

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Since we had slept in and skipped breakfast, we were getting a bit hungry so we headed over to the Sci-Fi Dine In Theatre for lunch. We didn’t have an ADR but we were still seated within a couple minutes:

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After we ate we decided to check out the wait time for Muppetvision 3D. We have to admit that over the years this attraction has gone from a ‘must see’ to a ‘only if the wait isn’t too long’ to a ‘only if there’s no wait’. This time there was a wait of about 30 mins so we decided to pass on it. We did take a few pics of the fountain while we were there:

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Since we had never had a pic taken with Woody, we decided to head over to Al’s Toy Barn. We timed it to arrive just as Woody was leaving so we had to wait about 20 minutes for him to get back. While we were waiting we were talking with one of the CM’s about the characters and she mentioned that Bullseye and Jessie don’t come out for pics anymore except for the Halloween and Christmas parties. We made a mental note to try and get these characters when we went to MNSSHP. While we were waiting we took a couple pics:

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Woody finally came back and we got our pic:

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We knew we were going to be having a late night at HHN so we decided to do a little browsing in the shops then go back to the hotel and rest our feet for a few hours. We snapped this pic on our way out:

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Up next...another night at HHN

TRIVIA: This relates more to our last update but in which Christmas Special do we hear the Ghost Host from the WDW Haunted Mansion as the voice of Santa Claus? :idea:

macraven

12-18-2007, 11:49 PM

you guys take the best pictures.
the ones inside the sci fi resturant is of magazine quality.

that means it is really good.

do like the fountain outside the muppets attraction.

yes, can't wait for the next hhn installment......

CriminyCrafft

12-19-2007, 12:20 PM

Great update and photos! I've given up on my own TR for now but I love reading yours!

Cdn Friends of Pooh

12-19-2007, 07:10 PM

Thanks to all for hanging in. We're uploading HHN pics to Photobucket as we speak so the next update will be comng very soon. Hopefully it will be up tonight...if not tomorrow for sure. :thumbsup2

Cdn Friends of Pooh

12-20-2007, 10:28 PM

None of you took a shot at our trivia question? Will leave it one more time and if nobody wants to take a guess we’ll give the answer in the next installment.

We decided we wanted to get to Universal in time to get to the Stay & Scream area and not have to wait for the park to reopen. As it turned out, we made it just in time to catch the last Horror Make-Up Show of the day. Bonny’s not too big on this one but Lee never gets tired of it. It’s just one of those guy things...like the Skipper hitting Gilligan with his hat.

After the show we make our way over to the Stay & Scream area where we are herded like cattle. Inside this area are a slough of midway carnival games, souvenier stands, and of course a couple of the ubiquitous HHN booze carts. The only thing missing is a place to sit down for the next hour while you’re penned in.

With nothing else to do, we go get ourselves in the line-up for the NOES house. We had Express Passes for the night but we typically don’t use them early in the evening. We’ve learned we can usually get through several houses with little to no wait then go through them again with the EP’s later on in the evening when the line ups are long.

The NOES house opened up around ½ hr before the rest of the park so by the time we got through they were just opening the gates of the Stay & Scream area. Finally we were free!! Still blind...but free. So now what?

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We decided to head over to TCM but it was still closed. We headed over to F13 where we were able to walk right in. The scareactors were missing from the first half of the house but the second half was fantastic. After we finished up there we headed back to TCM which was just about to open so we got in line. After a trip through it we decided to take some pics:

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At that point we decided to make our way over to see the Bill & Ted show again. With the EP’s there was early entry for the first show only so we made our way over as the main gates opened and the barbarian hordes were invading. We got there and were able to get front row centre seats (second row actually as the first row was reserved for several members of the cast for the intro).

After we got out of B&T we headed over to play with the camera shutter settings taking pictures of the ferris wheel:

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We also decided to take a few lagoon pictures:

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We skipped Jack’s Funhouse and went through The Thing house with our EP’s. After we finished up there we decided to take a few pics in the Freakshow street area (we refuse to call it a scarezone):

http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/lblambert/Oct%202007/IMG_0581.jpg

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After this we took our EP’s and went through all 3 sound stage houses (NOES, Dead Silence, Psychoscareapy). We took this pic of the bikers they had this year to go along with the carnival theme:

http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/lblambert/Oct%202007/IMG_0626.jpg

We headed back up towards the Jaws ride and decided to hit F13 again with our EP’s. Unfortunately the location of the house prevented them from having a separate entrance for the EP holders so we had to wait in the main line for about 20 mins until we got to where the Express line branched off.

After F13 we headed to Vampyr. While in line we were watching an individual in the other line that had been a tad “overserved” doing everything he could to get his backside kicked by the police and event security. This was the one time the Express line actually moved quickly and we ended up funneled into the house just as it was getting interesting.

After Vampyr we headed back to do TCM with our EP’s. It took about 45 mins to get into the house but it was still a blast.

We always go to HHN the same 2 weeks in October and in all our previous years with EP’s we’ve never had to wait more than 5 minutes to get into a house. This year, we never waited less than 15 minutes with the average wait being about ½ hr. I guess Universal figured they could make a few more bucks by selling more EP’s this year.

We did take more pics but since we’re at our limit for this post we’ll save them for another installment.

Stay tuned...

Cdn Friends of Pooh

12-25-2007, 11:31 PM

Merry Christmas to all. Hopefully you all had a good time and Santa was good to you.

Well nobody took a guess at our trivia question. Just in case anyone cares, the answer was that Paul Frees, the voice of the Ghost Host, also provided the voice of Santa Claus in Frosty the Snowman.

We got up fairly early the next morning and made our way down to the hotel lobby for our breakfast. After a quick bite to eat, we headed for the Magic Kingdom. You can tell from the cloudless sky that we brought our rain gear with us.

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We first checked out the characters around the entrance to see if there were any out that we were missing. As it turned out Chicken Little was posing for photos and we were able to get a photo with him. We also got another cute pic of him blowing a kiss...

http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/lblambert/Oct%202007/day7-06.jpg

We took a few more pics around Main Street.

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A few trips back, we had a really hard time trying to find the Lady & the Tramp pawprints out front of Tony’s Town Square Restaurant. We were so proud of ourselves when we finally did find them that we have to take a picture of them every time we go back:

http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/lblambert/Oct%202007/day7-05.jpg

Our next stop was Adventureland. Every time we’ve passed this way before we’re either just arriving and wanting to get to our favourite rides or heading for the exit after we’ve had enough and are just wanting to leave. As a result, we’ve never been in the position where we’ve wanted to stop for a Dole Whip. This time we were determined to stop and try one since everyone raves about them. Bonny had the plain Dole Whip while Lee had the Dole Whip Float. Both were fantastic and we could see why people are so enthusiastic about them.

While we were there, we got a pic with Timon & Rafiki.

http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/lblambert/Oct%202007/day7-08.jpg

We also snapped a quick pic of one of our favourite Adventueland attractions - the Enchanted Tiki Room. Personally we feel it’s a little less enchanted since they revamped the show a few years back but it’s still good when you want to take a short break and sit a few minutes.

http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/lblambert/Oct%202007/day7-09.jpg

Our first ride was POTC. As much as we enjoy this attraction, it’s gotten to be a real pain with the constant flash photography occurring throughout the ride. We had a chance to chat with one of the CM’s at POTC once and we asked about the ‘no flash photography’ rule since the refurb and he was telling us the rule is still in place but they’ve basically given up on trying to enforce it. While we didn’t take any throughout the ride itself, we did take these in the queue:

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After POTC, we headed for the HM. We rode it twice and snapped a pic as we were approaching then another two of the ceiling in the stretching room...one under normal lighting and another when the lightning is flashing and you can see through the cloth ceiling:

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After the HM, we headed for Tomorrowland for another couple personal favourites. As corny and dated as it is, we both love the Carousel of Progress and aren’t sure why Stacey doesn’t screech about it on her Top 7 list.

Another we enjoy is the TTA. It’s just a relaxing ride that’s great after several hours of walking and there’s a lot of opportunity to take some good pics along the ride:

http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/lblambert/Oct%202007/day7-16.jpg

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We decided at that point to make our way back to Main Street to do a little browsing through the shops before we left. Along the way we decided to take another castle pic. We have dozens by now but we just can’t resist taking more of them each trip.

http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/lblambert/Oct%202007/day7-22.jpg

After doing some shopping, we headed for the exit and snapped a few pics on our way out.

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macraven

12-26-2007, 12:50 PM

got home night time yesterday and had to come directly here to see what bonny and lee put up while i was gone.

their pictures always puts a smile on my face.

Cdn Friends of Pooh

12-27-2007, 05:36 PM

Thanks for the compliment Raven. Glad you like the pics!

Hope all went well with your trip.

CriminyCrafft

12-28-2007, 07:17 AM

Great update! I hope you all had a great Xmas and best wishes for a Happy New Year!

Cdn Friends of Pooh

12-28-2007, 11:58 AM

Great update! I hope you all had a great Xmas and best wishes for a Happy New Year!

Thanks. We hope your Christmas was good and wish you the best for 2008!

Cdn Friends of Pooh

12-29-2007, 09:30 PM

After we left the Magic Kingdom we headed back to the hotel to get changed and rest for a couple hours until it was time to head to Boma for our Anniversary Dinner. :goodvibes

We got to AKL a bit early so went for a walk around to check out more of the hotel since we got there after dark when we went for our dinner last year. We thought it was quite nice but we would still never want to stay there.

We went and checked ourselves in and were seated within a few minutes of our reservation. This was quite the change from last year, when we were seated almost 50 minutes after our reservation time.

After stuffing ourselves on Prime Rib and Zebra Domes (not to mention the Cous Cous Marrakech) they brought out a cookie platter with “Happy 8 Anniversary” drizzled in milk chocolate. Of course it was at the moment they brought out the platter we realized we had forgotten the camera. :headache:

After we finished up at Boma we headed back to the hotel to let our supper go down. Later in the evening we headed over to Old Town to walk around and listen to people trying to convince their kids they were really at WDW. :laughing:

Cdn Friends of Pooh

12-29-2007, 11:49 PM

The next morning we headed out to Epcot.

We had learned from a CM last year that Epcot is a lot busier than normal on the weekends during the Food & Wine Festival because that’s when all the locals come. We did want to go to Epcot though and had other things planned for the next few days so we decided we would go but just pass on World Showcase.

Sure enough it was pretty packed when we got there but that was ok. We managed to get a decent pic of the F&WF Topiary at the entrance:

http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/lblambert/Oct%202007/IMG_0446.jpg

We also had to take the obligatory "big-ball" pic:

http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/lblambert/Oct%202007/IMG_0438.jpg

We took a stroll over to Soarin to see the fastpass return time and it was already into the late afternoon so we decided to skip it and head to Mission Space to pick up a fastpass there instead. We were glad we did because there was quite the lengthy line for stand-by.

After we picked up the fastpasses we decided to head over to another thrill a minute attraction that had a surprisingly low wait time...Ellen’s Energy Adventure! We usually save this one for those times when we need to sit for a while but it was suitable as a time filler. What is brain power, Alex? ;)

We had a bit of time left to kill so we wandered through Mouse Gear until it was time to go back to Mission Space. When we got there we were surprised to find he earlier crowds were completely gone and it was a walk-on. It was so empty we were able to take a few pics:

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After finishing up M:S we headed over to the Seas to check it out and found where the people that should have been at M:S were. It was so packed we couldn’t even get into the building.

As it was getting more and more crowded we decided it was time to get outta Dodge and made for the exit, stopping to take a few SE pics on the way out:

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We decided to be lazy and take the tram back to the car. This doesn’t happen too often...we were just about the only ones on board:

http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/lblambert/Oct%202007/IMG_0447.jpg

We headed back to the hotel for a couple hours then decided to head over to DTD. We had dinner ressies for Raglan Road at 7:00 but remembered the chaos trying to find a parking spot a week earlier so decided to get there early as it was a Saturday. We got there around 4:00 and had no problem finding a parking spot unlike the previous Saturday when we got there around 7:00 and had to drive around in circles for ½ hr trying to follow people to their cars until we finally got lucky.

We browsed around and people-watched for a few hours then made our way to Raglan Road for our dinner reservation. We were seated within a few minutes and a few minutes later Lee had a pint of his beloved Guiness in front of him. We had the Scallop forest for an appetizer which was really good! For our main courses Lee had the Bangers & Mash and Bonny had It’s Not Bleedin’ Chowder. Both were absolutely fantastic and we’re really looking forward to going back in a few short weeks. :yay:

We spent a few more hours strolling around DTD, browsing in the shops and people-watching. By the time we finally left it was close to 10:00 and we went back to the hotel and just watched a bit of tv before bed.

Cdn Friends of Pooh

12-31-2007, 03:13 PM

Since email notifications don't seem to be working ... http://bestsmileys.com/bumping/3.gif

Cdn Friends of Pooh

01-01-2008, 08:49 PM

We started the next day with breakfast at the hotel. Our friend Pat had flown in the night before so she joined us for the day at Universal Studios. She had never been so we spent the day essentially repeating our favourites, starting with Shrek 4D.

We ended up spending the day doing most of the rides in the park, with the exception of ROTM. We had tried it a few years back and didn’t care for it and Pat had tried it at Universal Hollywood back in May and wasn’t that thrilled with it either.

We stopped for lunch at Monsters Café. Bonny’s ankle was giving her a lot of problems and her runners were back in the car so after a quick bite Lee was taking the hike back to the car to fetch them.

After lunch we decided to go do some shopping and picture taking. We have posted a lot of Universal pictures over our past few Trip Reports so this installment we’re going to post pics of something that was new this trip...the Simpsons!!

When we went in May, this is what the walls around the new Simpsons ride looked like:

http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/lblambert/May%202007/May17-13.jpg

As you can see, they’ve done quite a bit with the wall in 4 months:

http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/lblambert/Oct%202007/IMG_0456.jpg

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Perhaps the biggest difference was the souvenier shop. When we were there in May it still had the Back to the Future theming and merchandise. This is what it looked like 4 months later:

http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/lblambert/Oct%202007/IMG_0471.jpg

Of course, all the merchandise inside was now Simpsons themed and we couldn’t help but get a chuckle out of the signs inside:

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After we had shot our pictures we decided to head to the Universal Store. We were all walking along when suddenly Lee bolted like a 5 year old seeing Santa Claus. It quickly became apparent what he saw and as it turned out, that analogy wasn’t too far off:

http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/lblambert/Oct%202007/IMG_0492.jpg

After we got our picture with Homer & Marge the TM with the characters told the other people in line that Bart & Lisa would be coming out in 5 minutes as replacements. We just went to the back of the line then when Bart & Lisa came out, we were first in line:

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After we did some shopping Lee headed back to the car to drop the bags off while the ladies sat in Monsters Café and had a cool drink. When Lee got back we all just sat and rested for a bit until it was time for us to leave and head over to the Stay & Scream area for HHN.

Until our next installment...

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CriminyCrafft

01-02-2008, 09:11 AM

Great update - love the Simpsons pics! Cannot WAIT to hear about Stay and Scream! Is it wrong to be dying for October to get here already (pun intended)?

LoveDopey

01-02-2008, 09:30 AM

Loved your updates, as usual. The pictures are wonderful. Did I read right that you are going again this month? Do you need help carrying your luggage?

Cdn Friends of Pooh

01-02-2008, 06:41 PM

Loved your updates, as usual. The pictures are wonderful. Did I read right that you are going again this month? Do you need help carrying your luggage?

Thanks for the compliments...yes you read right we are heading back on the 21st. Less than 3 weeks...yay!! :yay: It'll be a much shorter trip with us flying back on the 29th. We're really looking forward to staying at POP again.

Sure we can always use a sherpa to lug our bags around! :lmao:

Cdn Friends of Pooh

01-02-2008, 06:46 PM

Great update - love the Simpsons pics! Cannot WAIT to hear about Stay and Scream! Is it wrong to be dying for October to get here already (pun intended)?

Glad you liked the update!

At this point in the TR we've already done the Stay & Scream twice...nothing really different about it this time. :confused3

October will come before you know it...we're already looking at flights :thumbsup2

Csaks

01-02-2008, 09:42 PM

Great report, been back a few weeks and I am really missing those Scallops from Raglan.
Amazing pictures, can I fly west and get you to teach me how to use my damn camera?

Your fellow Canuck,
Chris.

Goofydiane

01-02-2008, 10:06 PM

just found your trip report tonight and I'm really enjoying it! I like seeing the pictures from all the haunted houses.

LoveDopey

01-03-2008, 08:38 AM

Wouldn't I surprise you if I showed up at the airport...

Cdn Friends of Pooh

01-03-2008, 06:24 PM

Thanks for joining our TR Chris! Glad you're enjoying it so far.

Lee used to work in Oshawa...small world :thumbsup2

Great report, been back a few weeks and I am really missing those Scallops from Raglan.
Amazing pictures, can I fly west and get you to teach me how to use my damn camera?

Your fellow Canuck,
Chris.

Cdn Friends of Pooh

01-03-2008, 06:26 PM

Glad you found us and are enjoying it...welcome aboard!!

just found your trip report tonight and I'm really enjoying it! I like seeing the pictures from all the haunted houses.

Cdn Friends of Pooh

01-03-2008, 06:28 PM

Yes you definitely would surprise us...and perhaps creep us out a bit :lmao:

Wouldn't I surprise you if I showed up at the airport...

Star Tours Fan

01-03-2008, 11:34 PM

As always I love those reports. :thumbsup2 I still remember Lee's reaction with Homer and Marge. I think Bonny and I had to run to keep up with him. :dance3: Looking forward to this trip coming up. Oh and I wish it could be October too as I'm so looking forward to another HHN. This was my first one and I enjoyed it very much. Bonny and Lee were great hosts.:cool2:

Star Tours Fan

01-03-2008, 11:48 PM

Bonny & Lee don't be surprise if you see me at the airport. pirate:

LoveDopey

01-04-2008, 08:14 AM

Bonny & Lee don't be surprise if you see me at the airport. pirate:

Just doing my daily check-in. See I'm not the only one who wants to go with you!!!!:banana:

Cdn Friends of Pooh

01-04-2008, 07:23 PM

We eventually were herded into the Stay& Scream area where the long wait began. It wouldn’t have been so bad had there been benches or some shade. Finally the time came for us to get in line for the NOES house. We got through it pretty quickly and enjoyed it, despite being blind for most of it! After it got dark, we snapped this pic of the animatronic musician that was on the edge of the midway section of the Stay & Scream pen:

http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/lblambert/Oct%202007/IMG_0622.jpg

As on the previous occasions, by the time we got through NOES the streets had been opened up and we made our way down to Friday the 13th. We took a quick zip through it and absolutely loved it. We then headed back to TCM and did that one.

We headed over for the first showing of the Bill & Ted show. They don’t allow any photography during the show but we did get this one afterwards:

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We didn’t have express passes that night but did for the upcoming Thursday so we didn’t really focus on the houses after that, but rather just walked around and enjoyed the atmosphere.

We took a few more pics around the park:

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We also took in the Carnival of Carnage show. We staked out our spots over ½ hr before the show so we were able to get a good spot for pics:

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After wandering around for a little while longer we decided to head out and took a few more pics as we left the park and headed to City Walk:

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Coming up next...Animal Kingdom...

macraven

01-04-2008, 09:41 PM

been mia, family illness but back again now.

i just love, absolutely love that second to last picture in the post above me.
looking across the water with the buildings all lite up...

one question.

on page 5 when you are posing with frozone, why does bonny only have one black sock on one foot and not any on the other foot?

i have gone back thru all the pics and only see it there...

love the hhn pics.

please go during columbus day weekend next year.
that's my plans for 08.
would love to see you again.

Cdn Friends of Pooh

01-04-2008, 10:25 PM

been mia, family illness but back again now.
Sorry to hear about the illness - hope everything is OK now :hug:

one question.

on page 5 when you are posing with frozone, why does bonny only have one black sock on one foot and not any on the other foot?

i have gone back thru all the pics and only see it there...
Bonny wore her crocs the whole day and evening our first day in Orlando (over 12 hours) which we think did something to her ankle as it was very tender and sore for almost the entire 2 weeks we were there. We tried not to let it put a damper on our vacation and did a number of things to minimize the pain, including the ankle brace you see in that picture.

please go during columbus day weekend next year.
that's my plans for 08.
would love to see you again.

Next year we aren't planning on being in Orlando for the full two weeks, but as of right are planning to be there over the Columbus day weekend. We'd love to get together with you again as well.

macraven

01-04-2008, 11:57 PM

Sorry to hear abut the illness - hope everything is OK now :hug:

Bonny wore her crocs the whole day and evening our first day in Orlando (over 12 hours) which we think did something to her ankle as it was very tender and sore for almost the entire 2 weeks we were there. We tried not to let it put a damper on our vacation and did a number of things to minimize the pain, including the ankle brace you see in that picture.

Next year we aren't planning on being in Orlando for the full two weeks, but as of right are planning to be there over the Columbus day weekend. We'd love to get together with you again as well.

how is bonny's ankle now?

and a big woo hoo and hoping we can connect there in october!

sweet sleep all.
time for bed for me

Cdn Friends of Pooh

01-05-2008, 12:22 AM

how is bonny's ankle now?
Seems to be OK now Raven ... the test will be in 16 days when we return :goodvibes

and a big woo hoo and hoping we can connect there in october!
Looking forward to it already!

Star Tours Fan

01-05-2008, 01:26 AM

Cdn Friends of Pooh

01-05-2008, 01:38 AM

I must appoligize to Bonny and Lee for always being in the camera way when they take pictures. I seem to be making cameos on some. :laughing:

We didn't use most of the street ones with you in them because they came out blurry...now you have us doing a "Where's Waldo" type hunt :lmao:

LoveDopey

01-05-2008, 03:15 PM

Oh I'm going back to Orlando at the same time as Bonny & Lee, LoveDopey. Since we live about a 15 minutes drive from each other I will probably see them at the airport. My flight leave 2 hours before theirs.

I must appoligize to Bonny and Lee for always being in the camera way when they take pictures. I seem to be making cameos on some. :laughing:

Oh, I get it now -- Star Tours Fan is Bonny and Lee's friend. Well, I don't live far from you guys either so don't be surprised if I'm at the airport either. I'll be the one wearing the Lime Green Crocs with the Tinkerbell jibbitz.:thumbsup2 :banana: I'm off to check the NWA website:rotfl2: :rotfl2:

Star Tours Fan

01-05-2008, 10:53 PM

We didn't use most of the street ones with you in them because they came out blurry...now you have us doing a "Where's Waldo" type hunt :lmao:

And I've got one of Lee in the electric chair at Universal and Bonny strolls into camera shot while filming at MK. It's blury as I was playing with the settings but it is her. :rolleyes1

Cdn Friends of Pooh

01-12-2008, 09:00 PM

The next morning started early...very early...

We had 7:30 breakfast reservations for Kona Café. Lee had his Tonga Toast while Bonny had the Eggs Your Way. Lee also ordered the kona coffee in the press pot but the waitress brought him the house blend. He was less than pleased but was nice about it and eventually got his press pot. If you’re thinking of trying it, Lee highly recommends it!!

(The camera was too tired to focus)
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After breakfast we headed over to the Animal Kingdom. We just strolled around and enjoyed the park this time. No rush to do anything specific. We took a few pics along the way:

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We eventually made our way to Africa. We grabbed fastpasses for the Kilimanjaro Safari then took a stroll through the Pangani Trail while we were waiting but we didn’t take many pictures...just enjoyed ourselves.

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As we exited the Trail we watched this CM playing his xylophone and interacting with the kids. It was very apparent he was having a ball as were the families standing around watching. In every trip there is one moment that just perfectly captures everything we feel Disney is about. This was it...

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Next, our return time for the safari beckoned. We headed back and within a few minutes our truck was arriving:

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We always have problems getting good photos on the safari with all the bumping and jostling but we did manage to get these pictures:

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We did like the changes they made to the storyline to make it a little less hokey. Every time they asked everyone if they wanted to go afer the poachers Lee always had to bite his tongue to keep from blurting out "We’ll use our cheaply made souveniers as clubs!" :lmao:

After the Safari we watched the musicians and dancers for a bit. There was one little girl who was about 2 that was absolutely fascinated with them. She’d keep leaving her family and walking right up to them and would just stare open-mouthed at them. When they picked guests to join them in dancing of course she was one. They tried to get Lee to be another but he wouldn’t due to the fact there were no defibrillators in sight. :laughing:

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Afterwards we headed over to catch the train to Rafiki’s Planet Watch...

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We always enjoy this train ride where you get to see some behind the scenes things such as the night-time enclosures for the animals. We finally arrive at our destination and the giant fibreglass monkey tells us we’re at the right place!

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We didn’t spend a lot of time here. Just took a stroll around and took a quick peek at everything. Of course we had to return to the scene of Lee’s mugging in May (see our May TR for further details if you’re a newcomer to our misadventures). Lee had to make a quick pitstop before we hopped the train back. While she was waiting, Bonny noticed this hidden Mickey in a mural:

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After we got back to the park, we decided to head for the exit and call it a day. We made our way back to the hotel and decided to take a quick nap. The quick nap ended up lasting all afternoon and when we got up we really didn’t feel like going anywhere else so we just ordered a pizza from the hotel bar and spent the rest of the evening relaxing at the hotel.

Next up...Magic Kingdom & MNSSHP

macraven

01-14-2008, 07:50 PM

hidden mickey in the mural :eek:

i'm blonde, tell me where it is, i don't see it.........

Cdn Friends of Pooh

01-14-2008, 07:57 PM

hidden mickey in the mural :eek:
i'm blonde, tell me where it is, i don't see it.........

Mac - look at the bird's eye in the middle of the picture

macraven

01-14-2008, 08:25 PM

train back. While she was waiting, Bonny noticed this hidden Mickey in a mural:

http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/lblambert/Oct%202007/IMG_0814.jpg

[/B][/QUOTE]

wow, that is kewl.
i didn't see that before.

and for all the other blondes out there, it is in the pupil of the eye!

Cdn Friends of Pooh

01-20-2008, 01:34 PM

Well gang ... with 19 hours to go before our departure for our January trip, this will be the last installment of our October trip report.

This installment will be a preview of the format we will likely be using for our upcoming January 2008 trip report. After doing a few trip reports, we find we are often at a loss for words so in future we are quite happy to let the pictures tell the story. Certainly if anything exciting happens, we will be sure to share. As well, if anyone has any questions about the pictures, be sure to ask and we will definitely respond. This will allow us to get our trip report completed more quickly and updated more frequently :thumbsup2

On with the show ...

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Interestingly – we could only find 2 of these statues … not sure what happened to the third musketeer ??

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Next up – the Jungle Cruise

Cdn Friends of Pooh

01-20-2008, 01:46 PM

Jungle Cruise

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Next up – Captain Jack’s Pirate Tutorial and Dinner at Crystal Palace

Cdn Friends of Pooh

01-20-2008, 03:31 PM

Captain Jack’s Pirate Tutorial & Dinner at Crystal Palace

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Up Next – Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party

Cdn Friends of Pooh

01-20-2008, 05:33 PM

Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party

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While we were waiting for pictures with Minnie, we were able to capture some of the fireworks while standing in line in Minnie's back yard …

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We had previously heard that during MNSSHP you could get a picture with Snow White and all 7 Dwarfs. While chatting with another guest while in line for the Walrus, she shared the location and next time they would be out for pictures. We made our way back to the location eventhough we were 40 minutes early ... which was a good thing as shortly after we had gotten in line, many more people started lining up and it looked to us like the line would have to be cut off even before Ms. White and the Dwarfs came out for their pictures. Finally they arrived and much to the panic of everyone in line, they decided to do a "tour" by walking around a few rides before arriving at our location. As they were taking their tour, those of us who had been in line for a while were concerned we were in the wrong spot.

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An end to a great day …

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Up Next – Final thoughts and some random pictures