Disneywifey's "WAIT lemme take a picture!" Jan 09 TR

[disneywifey]

FULL Disclosure: This is my first TR so, be fully aware that I'll probaly be all over across the board on this thing. :rotfl: I AM a woman and therefore love to talk, especially about random, meaningless stuff sometimes, but not ALL the time, so bear with me!

So, onto me: Disneywifey-AKA Diana. Narrarator, Disney-holic, 25 y/o, married, and COMPLETE child at heart. Kinda OCD and germophobe.

Now, traveler numero dos: DH- AKA Jason. Fellow Disney fan, 26 y/o, also COMPLETE child at heart, sweet as can be to me He is a funny, funny guy!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3328/3241425641_e6fb19b54e.jpg

For referencing purposes: Here is my PTR: Disneywifey's they won't come/first ever PTR! (http://wdwenchanted.com/showthread.php?t=14)

Trip information:
Dates: Jan 17th- 24th
Accomodations: POP
Transportation: Car from Ocean Springs, MS to Orlando, FL! 1st time driving there
Major Goals: Fantasmic, ALL the Epcot WS Attractions, Rope Drops, Parades

NOW, did they happen? :confused3 Well, that's what this whole TR is about! You'll just have to be patient with me and find out.

Here are some things to keep you coming back for more, a teaser if you will:
Magical moments, "you can always tell the drinkers", "SERIOUSLY?!?", crying, smelly things, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride and last but not least, over 2000 photos!!

OOOOHHH and I've got a surprise up my sleeve. Wait until the next post for an extra helping of Disney fun!! :wizard:

[OhMari]

That is a lot of pictures.

[disneywifey]

So, day 1 of our trip began at 2:00 AM on January 17th, 2009. Wake up, load up, and get in the car. We had dropped Sophie, one of the girls (no kids, just a dog and cat!) off at the vet the night before. The other firl, Chloe the kitty can stay at home with in-law supervision throughout the week. Here's Sophie:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3164/2678088664_df1f650100.jpg
The cat is not photogenic, she's not shy by any means but she doesn't like flashy stuff.

ANYWAYS, with no children to take potty or feed, we were in the car and on the road at 2:20 AM. First problem, hunger. Who'd think that hunger would hit you like a ton of bricks at 2:30 AM when you only had dinner 6 or so hours ago? So, luckily, ye olde 24 hour McDonalds was open on the way to the interstate. DH-Mcgriddle I think, Me-#3 with no folded. for all you egg eaters and non-McDonalds regulars, that's a Bacon egg and cheese biscuit with no egg. When you see it on the screen it says "w/no folded" because the eggs on the BCE biscuit are folded. Ok, eggs are gross to me, but when they're FOLDED? now that's just weird! :confused: So, grub and coffee in my hand, I'm set! (Sorry no McDs food porn, go down to the corner McDs and you can find some!)

So, we set out on the open road of Interstate 10. Good thing about traveling at 3:00 on a Saturday morning:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3418/3241421325_184801ca2e.jpg
No one else is!
After about an hour, we were making awesome time because of the non-existent traffic and DH was getting a lil tired (that's what happens when you don't drink coffee) so I took over.
Me Sans-Makeup while driving (not safe kids, don't try this at home!)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3328/3241421785_40da56d992.jpg
DH is secretly narcoleptic and so as soon as I took the wheel, he was out:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3348/3241422197_0204711f17.jpg
We didn't bring a pillow so he used my fluffy blanket as one. Yeah, that's him under there!

Now, I LOVE to drive. I love it even more when there's good tune-age. Well, I found a great radio station right around Pensacola that had sappy 80's and 90's music (which is what I grew up around-no, it's not my favorite music but it brings back memories!) and they were playing all sorts of random stuff! Now here comes the Bruce Hornsby tie-in: They played Mandolin Rain. I swear I haven't heard that song in around 10 years, to say the least! I was loving it! And DH is deaf while in his narcoleptic state so I got to sing along and everything!

Now then, it was cold. COLD. COLD!!! I tell you. Don't believe me, well looky here:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3129/3242256614_d7bef4034d.jpg
That was taken on the Florida Panhandle at I think 5:30 in the morning. It was sooo cold. While we were driving, all of the lakes and puddles had steam rising from them like smoke on the water. It was so eerie!

The rest of the ride was compromised of these few joys:
1. Cell phone mishaps. My Blackberry decided to disconnect from the internet and then function at all for awhile and my phone company said "bring it to your local store". Well, I SEEM to be about 600 miles away at this point, can you fix it from your end or tell me how to fix it on mine? about 20 minutes away from Disney, it finally began functioning properly in order to get satellite directions for my husband.

2. Yes. he took the dreaded "shortcut". At this point, I can't even remember what the "shortcut" was and I was too busy freaking out to write it down in my notes. All i have is "SHORTCUT :/" written down. :lmao: You do NOT take "shortcuts" in foreign lands and expect to arrive un-stressed and on time. It's impossible. I just wanted to GET to Walt Disney World dang it! Yeah, this place, it's on my sweatshirt:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3335/3241424801_076bc614c4.jpg
I know he wanted to save time and gas, but the ensuing mess was SOO not worth it. So, finally we realized where we were and where we needed to go. We were kind of miffed at each other but we brightened up when we saw this:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3103/3241426323_d6bb90a4c8.jpg
Then, DH missed the turn. FULL disclosure, once again: I AM the map. I am the direction giver. If I don't know where I'm at, I stop RIGHT THEN AND THERE and get directions. It's 'cause I'm a girl, I know. However, DH didn't listen and we had to go in a circle to get back to this:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3434/3241426895_92bdfdbb9f.jpg
So now comes the excitement!!! Forget the shortcut, WE'RE HERE!! In DISNEYWORLD!!

So, travel day 1, there it is. Not much Disney stuff yet, but boy is it coming!!

Up next: Day 1 pt. 2- The Poly, a CRANE?!, Philharmagic!!, and a can we see a parade?


Now, from my initial post, what is my surprise, my Disney fun? Well...
















I'm going to DISNEYLAND!!!! EEEKK!!!! :woohoo: I'm so excited but here's the catch, it's NEXT WEEK!!! I just found out about it last week! My mother and sister and I are taking a last minute Mother Daughters trip to LA for our 16th birthdays. Now, if you read my info earlier, you'll note that I'm 25, not 16. However, I never had a 16th bday party and birthdays, well they're a big deal with my family. Well, my sister just turned 16 last month and so it's a makeup for me, and a current one for her! party: So, we're going to Santa Monica next Saturday and my only stipulation was, if we go to LA, we HAVE to go to DLR for my bday! So, they said ok! Oh my gosh!! They love me! :cloud9: So, I'll be sure to bring you the madness that is sure to be,"What can I cram into ONE DAY at DLR?"

[disneywifey]

That is a lot of pictures.

Hi! Thanks for reading! Yeah I've never taken that many before it was worth it! They came out really well and I can make a nice photo album for sure!

[seasideteacher]

Haha,:laughing: i know all about "shortcuts" or what about "I feel like this is the right way" FEEL?! how about KNOW? lol. But at least you got there! Can't wait to see more pics! (although not sure about 2000 lol) How big is you memory card?!:surfweb:

[meloneyb21]

:)

Love your TR so far. We're driving down from PA in May so this just gets me more excited!

[disneywifey]

Haha,:laughing: i know all about "shortcuts" or what about "I feel like this is the right way" FEEL?! how about KNOW? lol. But at least you got there! Can't wait to see more pics! (although not sure about 2000 lol) How big is you memory card?!:surfweb:

Hi :wave2: welcome & thanks for reading! I know, I wanted to drive the whole way, but once the sun came up, he wanted to take the helm again! As for photos, well I had 4 cards, that I had from various cameras in the past that were all cleared off and I bought one while I was there in MK so all in all, over 4 GB! I won't post them all on here for sure! Most of the bulk of them were continuous shots, so theyre like duplicates but each is a few seconds off :)

:)

Love your TR so far. We're driving down from PA in May so this just gets me more excited!

:wave2: Hi to you also! Thanks for reading! We played "what do you want do do first?!" and "Either/Or" for example "Either Haunted Mansion or Space Mountain?". We also played watch for the lowest gas prices, which is always entertaining! :laughing:

[patches07]

Love your TR so far. DH and I we're driving down from IL in September.

[ProudMommyof2]

on board!

[redlight]

Looking forward to your report. Sophie is soooooo cute. I bet she's a heartbreaker.

[OhMari]

What time was that sun on the horizon picture, that is really pretty.

My family wants to go to California to see the Red Wood Trees, I told them I would only go if we could do 2 days at DisneyLand. They all shook their heads at me.
So, make this a double TR, I want to hear all about DisneyLand. I am to lazy to go over to the DisneyLand Thread.

[KSDisneyDad]

Great start to the trip report!! I wish we had started going to WDW before kids like the two of you. The start of your report reminds me of our one and only driving trip to WDW, except that I can't drive at night without falling asleep. I do remember trying to find that "short-cut" between Orlando and the Panhandle on the way back. Fortunately it was on the way back and not going!! Two-lane roads in Florida aren't that much fun!

We can relate to lots of pictures. On our extended vacation last summer we took over 5,000 pictures. Granted, we were gone for 20 days -- we went to Legoland, San Diego, Disneyland for 3 days and then 15 nights on the Disney cruise line. There were two days that we took over 1,000 photos each (Going through the Panama Canal and our day in Cartagena, Columbia). I'd love to do a trip report, but am not that creative. I enjoy reading others.

[Kimmy]

You lucky girl...you were just in Disney World & now you get to go to Disneyland! Great TR so far, can't wait to hear more!

[Kimmy]

:)

Love your TR so far. We're driving down from PA in May so this just gets me more excited!

Sorry to go off topic...we're going in May too! Driving down from PA on
May 1st! :cool1: We are an hour north from you.

[JJBEAN]

Loving your TR so far! Can't wait for more!:wizard:

[meloneyb21]

Sorry to go off topic...we're going in May too! Driving down from PA on
May 1st! :cool1: We are an hour north from you.

Yay for us Mayers! lol....We're leaving on the 22nd. I'm soo excited. :goodvibes

[disneywifey]

Love your TR so far. DH and I we're driving down from IL in September.

Hi! Thanks! I hope you guys have a great time! As I said before, I like driving, so I had a good time on the drive. Hopefully you'll have a safe and fun trip!
on board!

Hi and thanks for reading along!!

Looking forward to your report. Sophie is soooooo cute. I bet she's a heartbreaker.

Hey! Thanks! We really enjoyed it and yes, Sophie is a heartbreaker! She's spoiled since she's the only dog but she's got a heart of gold and she and Chloe get along really well. They even "clean" each other by licking their ears and stuff! They're so adorable sometimes and other times, not so much! :laughing:

What time was that sun on the horizon picture, that is really pretty.

My family wants to go to California to see the Red Wood Trees, I told them I would only go if we could do 2 days at DisneyLand. They all shook their heads at me.
So, make this a double TR, I want to hear all about DisneyLand. I am to lazy to go over to the DisneyLand Thread.

Thanks for the photo compliment! It was taken at 6:01 in the morning, we were just a little west of Tallahassee, FL on interstate 10.

I would recommend a CA trip to anyone! I've been to San Diego, San jose, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, all with my family. It is really a beautiful place. We got to go to Muir woods and it was really neat! Those trees are huge! I really want to go to wine country with my husband sometime in the future, but I think skiing is on the horizon before that. I'll definitely so an off-topic TR for DL. It'll be pretty short since it'll only be one day! :lmao:

Great start to the trip report!! I wish we had started going to WDW before kids like the two of you. The start of your report reminds me of our one and only driving trip to WDW, except that I can't drive at night without falling asleep. I do remember trying to find that "short-cut" between Orlando and the Panhandle on the way back. Fortunately it was on the way back and not going!! Two-lane roads in Florida aren't that much fun!

We can relate to lots of pictures. On our extended vacation last summer we took over 5,000 pictures. Granted, we were gone for 20 days -- we went to Legoland, San Diego, Disneyland for 3 days and then 15 nights on the Disney cruise line. There were two days that we took over 1,000 photos each (Going through the Panama Canal and our day in Cartagena, Columbia). I'd love to do a trip report, but am not that creative. I enjoy reading others.

:eek: That is a lot of pictures and a lot of days! Thanks for reading along so far! I love California and I bet you got a lot of good shots in that 5,000! Yeah, we figured that Disneyworld before kids would be fun while we can still do it :) It's really nice to not have to think about planning DW for kids yet!
You lucky girl...you were just in Disney World & now you get to go to Disneyland! Great TR so far, can't wait to hear more!

Thanks! Ironically I did the same thing in 2001! I went to WDW (I was basically my first time to go to WDW< went when I was 2, can't remember it) on Senior trip and then 3 weeks later we went to LA and went to DL and DCA (had never been) for 2 days, both parks within a month! I don't remember a WHOLE lot about DLR but I remember that I liked how quaint DLR seemed compared to WDW. I'm so excited! :woohoo:
Sorry to go off topic...we're going in May too! Driving down from PA on
May 1st! :cool1: We are an hour north from you.

Aww neat!
Loving your TR so far! Can't wait for more!:wizard:

Hi there! Thanks for the compiment and for reading along!

Yay for us Mayers! lol....We're leaving on the 22nd. I'm soo excited. :goodvibes

Yay more Mayers!! I'm a May bday too, the 21st, the day before you leave! have fun!! I'm not going to lie though, when I saw "Yay for us Mayers", I thought you meant John Mayer for a second there! I've been a John Mayer fan since 2001, when I met and saw him in a bar with about 30 other people in Jackson, MS. Now he's dating Jennifer Anniston. Who'd have thunk it? :rotfl:

[MiaBella05]

popcorn:: tuning in popcorn::

[disneywifey]

popcorn:: tuning in popcorn::

Thanks for reading along! Here comes more!:goodvibes

[disneywifey]

So, when I left off, we had just arrived. :thumbsup2 However, since we arrived at 12:00 we figured we would be unable to check into our room just yet. So, we checked in, but kept our bags in the car until after our rooms were assigned. We hopped back in the car, Anniversary buttons in hand, along with our tickets/key thingys and went on our merry way to the Polynesian! Why, you ask? Since we’re actually staying at Pop? Well, we had dinner reservations at Kona Café and we figured we’d save the hassle of buses, monorails and lines. So, while I changed from my driving/pj pants into jeans, DH drove in a circle at the MK cause he didn’t get to the far right like I told him! I think the gate guard was thinking, um, didn’t I JUST see you 2 minutes ago? “Yes, you did.” :rolleyes:

So, once we got to the Poly, we were officially on our way to our first park of the trip! We took this happy snappy picture fresh out of the car and on the way into the Poly.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3345/3242261026_6e6b625d22.jpg
That place is nice! I liked it. We took some shots:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3077/3241428885_92f304506d.jpg
Lady that offered to take the photo took it kinda far away:rolleyes:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3346/3241429693_33a7eca955.jpg
Dh by the empty waterfall, no water inside or out b/c of the chilly weather
Then we got on our first Disney ride of the trip: The monorail! :woohoo:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3255/3241430185_4a8ba8e92d.jpg
(Here's looking out and onto the Poly platform)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3379/3242264240_b08e0ae2d0.jpg
(it was the blue one see the blurry photo).

SO! Out and into MK folks! :cool1:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3096/3242265026_6d2738db29.jpg
Yep, normally, MK would not be our first stop, much less at 1:00 on a Saturday! HOWEVER, Philharmagic was set to go down the next day for a refurb for the rest of our trip, so MK it was. We love this attraction and it had to be done that day. No ifs, ands, or buts!
So, in we go!
Stop at the Photopass guys: (Actual Photopass photos will come in a later installment)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3128/3241433167_daea6405c7.jpg
Got to see the Main St Band, that was neat (we got to see more of them later in the trip too)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3125/3242267392_b8df83b7f7.jpg

And then, I see this:













http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3502/3242270170_fae86d88dc.jpg
A crane!?! :sad2: On the Castle?! Where's the magic in that? I really wasn't upset, I actually thought it was neat, cause I got to see it and take a picture of it! I just hoped it wouldn't stay there long!

Now, on to Main st!!!
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3459/3242268174_f735f1abae.jpg
I love looking at all the windows, Disney’s so detailed like that! 99 percent of the quests don’t even know that they’re real people!
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3376/3242268904_37168baf08.jpg
For those that are interested, here's an up close shot of the crane guys:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3503/3242269420_0d1168ef72.jpg
Then, straight on to: Philharmagic!! We like our opry glasses. :rotfl:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3335/3241437159_b9a15bf937.jpg
(I think that is my favorite picture of the both of us from the whole trip :love: )
It was too cute, as always! We went in the store to visit Donald for a second.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3358/3242271482_2dc0058056.jpg
Since the lines weren't bad at Philharmagic, we had enough time to get a good spot for the parade! But, would we go stake out a spot and wait for and hour? :confused3 Tune in next time for:

Day 1 pt 3: Bears, parades and tomorrowland, Oh MY!

[ckmommy]

I'm in--keep writing!!popcorn::

[Kimmy]

Great update! Cute picture with your opry glasses! You both look like you were having a great time.

[Dixielady908]

Enjoying your trip report so far.....popcorn::


:goodvibes

[disneywifey]

I'm in--keep writing!!popcorn::

Hi there! Thanks for reading! I'm about to write some more for ya! :thumbsup2

Great update! Cute picture with your opry glasses! You both look like you were having a great time.

Thanks, we like 'em too! I love that the most of the 3-D shows. :lovestruc Although I hold fond memories of my then 8 year old sister running screaming from A Bug's Life in DL cause the spiders scared her so much. Poor thing, we all laugh about it now though! :rotfl2:

Enjoying your trip report so far.....popcorn::


:goodvibes

Thanks for reading along! Welcome! :yay:

[disneywifey]

So, fresh out of Philharmagic, we decided to stake a spot for the parade. I've NEVER seen a Disney parade. Well, other than the ones of TV at Christmastime. :) So it was a must do for this trip. So since we got done with Philharmagic so quickly, we decided to catch the Disney Dreams Come True Parade. So, I've never really run into parade-wait crowds, I'm always riding the rides they're NOT so I can save on wait times. It's weird to me, unnatural if you will, to spend time while at Disney waiting for a parade.

So, we had about 45 or 30 minutes until the parade started and we were staking out a spot right across the street from Liberty Tree Tavern when, I got an idea. We were really close to Country Bear Jamboree which was having a show in like 4 minutes. This was another "Never done it-let's try it" listers for this trip. Why not run down there real quick? DH said go see if it's got a line (yeah right but DH didn't want to go and have to wait and miss the parade) so I went to check her out and of course there wasn't one. I told DH to get up off his bottom and hustle and meet me!

Well, as I've said, DH is not directional. He's definitely directionally challenged and amidst the growing parade-waiters crowd he couldn't find it or me. After some cell phone directions and "can you see me?" and "I'm waving to you!" and "your other left" he found me with 5 seconds left to spare.

In we went to see one of the supposed last rides Walt worked on before the died. Well, if Walt thought it was funny, then so should I! I thought it was cute but I don't feel the need to go back for awhile if you know what I mean! Dh wanted to sleep. :lmao: I must say, for the weather not being hot, there sure were a lot of stinky people in that theater too! :laughing:
Here's a shot from the "Jamboree":
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3327/3241438489_844f117bb6.jpg

So, we got out and they were really getting the parade crowd crunch. It was really crowded and roped off. It was kinda crazy to me! However, I had to see one of these "parades" :rolleyes: So, since we didn't want to cross the sea of people, we stood right by the shooting arcade I think. We just found an empty spot on a raised walkway to see over other people's heads. It ended up being a good spot (by my parade newbie standards :laughing: )
Here's us waiting:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3536/3242273436_79abf7d313.jpg

So, it began! Here they come!
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3316/3242274618_dfc51d58f2.jpg

I took a LOT of photos since it was my first ever parade and I LOVE my new camera that I got for Christmas so I got REALLY snap happy :cutie: So, here are my favorite shots from the parade:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3445/3241444473_574fcc5d7b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3114/3241447529_4c47f0bdc0.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3390/3241450941_8eb68d58e2.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3629/3332628911_a8a99240a8.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3555/3332635883_498504b8b6.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3370/3332647963_f8b4cfd4b3.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3620/3333486498_147f637d82.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3348/3333487358_78e5b3e7a6.jpg

And saved the best for last: I love this one of Mickey!
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3617/3333488748_61888ca95e.jpg

So, I really liked it! I must say, I can now understand the fascination with parades but I also like the shorter wait times they provide too :rotfl:

So, having knocked off 3 must do's within the first 2 hours being at the park, we decided to head over to pirates of the caribbean. I LOVE :love: the movies and the ride as well so this is one of my favorites.

Some Caribbean photos:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3592/3332652739_8a89ac331e.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3606/3333489304_a63e876e21.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3165/3332654501_96084cfd63.jpg

With that, we decided to head over to tomorrowland for Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor. We liked this show a lot last year. It's really lighthearted and fun and I like to see the crowd interaction; it really never is the same show twice even if it's the same gags. However, there was about a 20 min wait so we got fps and decided to go on our beloved Carousel of Progress. Yes. We are those people. We LIKE, nay, LOVE the COP. Yep. Hate us if you will, whatever, we like it! Walt did too!
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3630/3333492238_352c31c4fe.jpg

DH by his favorite ride :
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3373/3333494408_a35720afbe.jpg

While we were nearby, we decided to check the line for Space Mountain, it was CRAZY!!! The line was outside it was so bad! Oh my gosh it was like Senior trip all over again! Eww! So, we decided to hop on the funnest little blue cars east of the castle. Come on, you know you love 'em!

Up next, Day 1 pt 4: TTA, Spectro and dinner with lapu-lapus!

[mrskckitty]

I love Carousel of Progress too! It's in my top 3 along with Haunted Mansion and Pirates. I'm really enjoying your report and photos. Can't wait for your next update!

[disneywifey]

Ok! I'm back from LA and done catching up at work!

So after COP, we saw the huge line for Sp MT and decided to ride the other mini highway in the sky: the TTA.
Leaving the station:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3369/3333496500_61fe5a1349.jpg
Feet propped up:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3583/3332661967_4a7e1e2a2e.jpg
Another view of the castle with the crane:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3539/3333498114_355df8e50e.jpg
So, once off the TTA, we went to Monster INC!
Gotta love Roz:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3307/3333498958_87a7d4fba0.jpg
Laugh System Diagram:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3316/3332665041_fa4aec08dc.jpg
Fresh out of laughs, we went to one of my favorites just because I always beat my DH, Buzz Lightyear! He's never once beat me! Yes!:biggrin:
See:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3566/3333500522_b9734d1c1c.jpg
And here I go beatin Zurg: Grrr! Take that Evil Emperor Zurg!
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3639/3332666577_e6d543cd2a.jpg

So, it was beginning to get chilly and we were going to stake out a good spot for Spectro so I wanted to go to the car and change into my tennis shoes and socks since my crocs were getting to be less than warm.
Riding the mono back to the Poly:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3556/3332667081_577c38f3f8_b.jpg

So, we went back to MK and got a spot right at the beginning by the fire station and I setup my tripod on a trashcan. It was a good spot! Thus begins my first NIGHT parade! Yay!
Again, These are my favorite shots:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3574/3332667865_bdd990ee7e_b.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3406/3333506094_dccebef4bd.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3624/3333507844_b0c572fb12.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3390/3333516494_1c444b3e8f.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3346/3333519454_0f14cabf90.jpg

So, I loved this parade too! It was pretty chilly but we had a good spot, right by the entrance/exit and it was fun to watch! BUT we were hungry and we had reservations at Kona Cafe! So, we went back to the monorail and went to Kona. We were 30 minutes early for our ADR but they said it'd only be a few minutes so we went to the bar and got lapu lapus!
num num!
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Before we could share it to drink it all, they buzzed us. It was so yummy!

So, we sat down and oh my gosh. I had heard about the butter but WHOA it was SOOOOO good! I felt bad taking flash photos, but I soon got over it later on in the trip! Here’s the scrumdidlyupmtious macadamia nut butter and bread! Num num!!!
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We got the sticky wings and they were really good!
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I got the Mahi Mahi:
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Jason got the Beef Teriyaki (note steak is always his #1 choice). Sorry this picture is the worst of all my food porn!:
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For dessert: I think I got the Kilauea Torte and Jason: the Apple Stack
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All in all it was great, but my fish was not to my liking and I was too tired to bring it to their attention. I was getting tired having been up ALL day, so I just let it go.

We left and went back on the monorail onto the MK. Yep, we decided to go back and ride HM at night. On our way in:
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And a reflection one:
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It was really fun, HM at night is just the best!
Here’s us by the Liberty Square bridge with a tripod held photo shot haha!
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Here’s DH asleep in the monorail to get to the car and go to bed!!
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So that is it from day 1! It was jam packed and we were pooped out! However, there's much more to come!! Days 2-8! Up next, Toy Story Mania, will it live up to all of the hype?

[saratogadreamin09]

Great trippie:)cant wait for more


i hope you really enjoyed your california trip

[MushuGirl06]

your back yay!

i love reading your TR!
cant wait for more!

[Disneymom3304]

Just subscribed to your TR and I love it!! Great pictures of the rides and FOOD!!! We love COP too, glad we arent the only ones!:lovestruc Can't wait to read more!:goodvibes

[ohsoblessed]

Hi I just subscribed to your TR also. Love your pictures and TR details, please keep them coming.

We are very close to you from Mobile, AL and have just returned from the greatest place on earth March 21st. We all had a great time, hated to come back home to work:mad: but have to make more money to go again:dance3:

[disneywifey]

I love Carousel of Progress too! It's in my top 3 along with Haunted Mansion and Pirates. I'm really enjoying your report and photos. Can't wait for your next update!

Thanks! Yay for COP lovers! Some people just don't know what they're missing! :goodvibes Sorry the last update took so long! :rolleyes1

Great trippie:)cant wait for more


i hope you really enjoyed your california trip

Thanks and we did! I'm going to do a DLR miniTR in a little bit!

your back yay!

i love reading your TR!
cant wait for more!

Thank you thank you! More coming soon!

Just subscribed to your TR and I love it!! Great pictures of the rides and FOOD!!! We love COP too, glad we arent the only ones!:lovestruc Can't wait to read more!:goodvibes

Yay COPers!!! It's the best! Thanks for reading and welcome! The food porn gets better, I promise! :rotfl:

Hi I just subscribed to your TR also. Love your pictures and TR details, please keep them coming.

We are very close to you from Mobile, AL and have just returned from the greatest place on earth March 21st. We all had a great time, hated to come back home to work:mad: but have to make more money to go again:dance3:

Welcome! Thanks for reading along! I'm really close to ya'll! (Yeah I'm southern, so we say that!) I just drove through there last weekend, we went to Pensacola to eat lunch at McGuire's Irish pub (BEST EV-ER!!!) and then turned around and drove back home :laughing: It was totally worth the 3 1/2 hours worth of driving just to eat there!

NOTE!! If ANYONE ever drives through Pensacola or Destin to go to ANYWHERE, Disney, whatever, you MUST stop and eat at a McGuires!! They have fried mashed potato balls and they make their own root beer. Enough said!! :cool1: They have a menu full of other amazing stuff too but those 2 are pretty much at the top of my list!

[MagicShell]

I just found your report. It sound like it is going to be a fun one to read. I can't wait to hear about DL, had you ever been before?

[disneywifey]

I just found your report. It sound like it is going to be a fun one to read. I can't wait to hear about DL, had you ever been before?

Thanks! I went in 2001 for 2 days I think. It was fun but it's kind of hard to remember since I had jsut graduated highschool then.

[disneywifey]

A quick aside: sorry this one took so long but I've been wanting to find my notes for this day (the only note that wasn't digital) before I started this but I've just plain lost it :lol: so I'm just following the photos on this one, sorry!

Ok, I’ve lost my notes from this day :whistle:, but I can pretty much remember details from the pictures! We started off at rope drop. First time ever!! :yes: There wasn’t a big line just yet. :thumbs: Here’s us outside the gates:
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So, we got to see the show, never seen that, I thought it was really cute!
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I’m a ham myself so I can relate! So I started explaining the plan to my DH and it happened. The first Disney argument. :mad: My DH HATES to “rush”. So, he did not want to rush everywhere or run to get FPs. I mean, I was just trying to save the line waiting since I knew it'd be crazy but he didn't care. it's vacation and he wants to go slow. So, we “walked” to get FPS but he was in a “funk” for a lil bit ESPECIALLY after I sent him to get the FPs!
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Oh my gosh, it was CRAZY over there! Strollers and people and lines and all of that, crazy! We made it in and decided to ride and get FPS. The wait was maybe 20-30 mins max. the décor was SOOO cute!
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I grew up playing with all of that stuff so I loved it, esp. Candy Land! My favorite!
Of course, saw Mr. Potato head, didn’t talk to me, but he was still really funny!
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About to ride: (sorry I'm a red-eye-r)
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He beat me!! :confused:
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He loved the fact that he beat me since I always beat him at Buzz lightyear!I really liked this ride. It was pretty jerky on some parts since my shoulder was hurting, but I liked it. My DH and I definitely have a healthy competition gene so it’s fun to compete!

So, then we went over to tower of terror.
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I got a ghostly presence in this photo:
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Who’d want to ride on that?! :scratch:
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Oh yeah, us!! We love this ride and it ws great as normal. Since I lost my notes, I can’t remember whether we went up or down first but it was still great!

Woohoo fast passes! :biggrin:
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We decided to go ride TSMM again since we loved it so much and we weren’t sure if we were going to come back later in the week and be able to ride it. We DEFINITELY had to come back for Fantasmic, but the line would be long in the evening so re-ride with a FP!
Dang it! Beat me AGAIN! :confused:
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At this point, we were hungry. It was like 10:30 and most places were still doing breakfast or not open at all yet. So, we waited. Saw a ton of bricks:
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We went to Backlot express and got the turkey sandwiches. They were good. Here's mine:
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And his:
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DH took his red peppers and lettuce off of course. I don’t remember what dessert that was, but it looked gross but he said it was good. I got the marble cheesecake. It was fine, ya know, just ok?

Up next, Muppets in 3D! It was cute as always but it was almost completely empty. Why doesn't everyone else want to see this cute show? I dunno?!
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Up next: Disney Day 2 Part 2: Will I finally get to see LMA and what is up for din-din? Hmmm...:scratch:

[Disneychix]

Just joining your TR now! You 2 make such a cute couple!!

I got the turkey sandwhich and custard at DHS too. Ya know, that custard was one of the best desserts all vacation! It was really good for being low sugar. And I LOVE chocolate normally :)

[tanyabanana]

great tr!
Glad I found it.
Can't wait to read the rest :)

[crgfsu1]

Great TR so far!! Glad I found it!

Few things:
- was the crane at the castle taking down the Christmas lights?
- my opinion of Country Bear Jamboree & yours are the same. I cant figure out why everyone thinks its great?????
- I really like COP too; no one was interested in it on our last trip so I didnt get to it
- finally, Kona!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yummm. We loved it. Sorry you didnt care for the fish. I, like your DH, had the steak.

Cant wait for more!
Cathy

[friskykitten]

Waiting impatiently for more of your TR. Love all the pictures!

[heaven2dc]

Absolutely LOVE your writing style! You are having me in stitches :lmao:

Muppets is one of my all time favs too! It's so fun just to take in all the stuff while you are in line but the line usually goes too fast to take it all in! I was solo for 4 days in December before my DD & GS arrived and had a blast taking everything in at my own pace (but most of the time my pace was hurried since I was trying to get FS's as soon as I entered the parks.) Isn't TSM fun?!! Loved all those memories of games :hippie: