THE CRAZY DISNEY EXTRAVAGANZA 7-16 August 2011

[Starscream275]

Day 1 Magic Kingdom 8 August 2011:

Walt Disney world what can you say about it? It’s probably the most iconic theme park in history. And as you can imagine with me, being a huge Disney nut have dreamed of one day going to Disney World for years now. Mainly because my parents went there for their honeymoon after they got married that is. And then finally the dream becomes a reality when my family books an 11 day trip to the happiest place on earth last month. Then my kid dreams had come true I was naturally excited to be going I couldn’t believe it. It was my birthday and Christmas present all rolled into one it’s by far my favourite holiday and it’s a trip that I’ll never forget. So stick around for the ride and I’ll tell you everything of how it went….or whatever.

Anyways my story begins with me waking up at 6AM to reach the Gatwick Airport. And let me just tell ya that the flight from Gatwick to Florida was my very first flight because believe it or not I’ve never been on a plane before. I was nervous when I got on the plane because I did not know what to expect from it. I felt uncomfortable when the plane took off but when it reached a higher altitude I was relaxed. Though I could’ve been on a better plane to be honest for my first flight the seats were so plastic-y and very uncomfortable and there was hardly any leg room because it was so cramped. I mean on the flight back when I was trying to get to sleep in them because I live in Britain I need to go sleep because of jet lag but seeing as the seats were so uncomfortable I could not sleep a wink at all. Seriously how the hell is anyone supposed to sleep in those seats when they are so plastic-y?! Not too mention the food on the plane was just rubbish! All I had was some bread, a strawberry yoghurt, Pringles, the chicken meal and some water! Man if most craft services are like that the next time I get on a plane I’m smuggling in some Walkers Crisps (Lays to you yanks), a bottle of 7UP, some salami sandwiches, an orange and a wagon wheel into my bag onto the plane because in flight meals are so crrrraaaaap. The in flight entertainment was good at first but after about 30 mins or so you get bored with it when you’ve done everything that it has to offer you so yeah on flight entertainment is not all that special.

Now that I’ve got my flight experience out the way I get to the good part: The Magic Kingdom itself. So I walked into Main Street USA, calm and casual like it’s all perfectly normal for one minute and then BANG! I’m knocked centerfield into the magic itself! And what I mean is I caught the Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade that was rolling into Main Street USA that afternoon. Long had I dreamed of stepping into the Magic Kingdom for many years in Disney World and this time I wasn’t dreaming I was actually in the park itself it was such a great feeling. I was loving my surroundings and for the first time I felt really happy in a long while now. Since I was in Florida where the weather is so hot that it’s not funny it was just scorching and I don’t mean scorching as in an 11 year old girl going to her friend: “These high heels are scorching, girlfriend!” I mean it was so hot that you’d swear a million buffalo died in a driveway to McDonalds for god sakes! Anyways me along with my family were really feeling the heat and we needed to find some shade so we stopped outside of Sleepy Hollow and I had some chocolate ice cream afterwards we then went on the Liberty Square riverboat which was pretty much a tour around Frontierland which pretty much bored the crap out of me. But some good came out of the land though. Three words: Haunted freaking Mansion! It’s now one of my favourite rides at any Disney park! I am quite peeved that I never got to do this ride when I was at euro-disney because it looked like such a fun ride to go on and after going on it at Disney World I can safely say it is a fun ride. Hell I even sang along with the singing busts to “Grin Grinning Ghosts”! Seriously I love that song and I love this ride period. But then my father insisted that we…(Sigh) go on It’s a small world, a ride in my opinion is so bad that it makes Justin Beiber’s music look awesome when my father brought this idea up he was just like: “We must go on that ride it’s cool.” And I’m like: “No freaking way are we going there, it’s bloody rancid!” But he was very persistent to go on a ride that has creepy *** dolls moving from side to side going: “It’s a small world after all!” Bleh! It makes me wanna puke! And when we got to it I then decided to go: “So long ninnies!” and ditch them so I could be on my own. So I ran off to Adventureland and cool myself down with the totem poles that squirt water, the ones by The Enchanted Room that is. I then went on Pirates of the Caribbean after I did that I pretty much returned to Fantasyland and I was feeling a little adventurous and then went to watch Mickey’s Philharmagic. Normally I would be mixed on CGI animation but here the animation in the show was amazing and I hate the 3D craze over in cinemas and I think that 3D/4D movies should only be at theme parks like Disney World because we are not doing ourselves any favours from having 3D glasses in cinemas but anyways back on topic Mickey’s Philharmagic was a little on the short side in terms of length but it doesn’t matter when you have stunning sequences, music from the likes of The Little Mermaid, Peter Pan and Aladdin to wow you. Bottomline: It’s an awesome show and it’s one of the many things that I will want to do if I ever get a chance to go to the Magic Kingdom again. Then I wandered over to It’s a small world to see if my family would be waiting for me there but to my surprise they weren’t there and then I thought I had lost them and before you know it I was looking everywhere for them I was going back and forth, back and forth between Fantasyland and Adventureland and I literally covered the whole park by foot. In Tomorrowland I decided to take a little break from searching and go on Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. Never was quite good with point and shoot rides I could never get a high score that’s higher than 12,000 oh well I guess it’s just me.

After I did that I went back on the hunt to find my family all this while I was calling out their names just to see if they would come running towards me but I had no luck with that. And unlucky for me because I hadn’t eaten or drunk anything since I had that chocolate ice cream in Liberty Square and at this point the heat was really taking it’s toll on me so when I got to Adventureland for the third time and I had just ran all the way from Tomorrowland to Adventureland I as a result was both exhausted and dehydrated. Fortunately a male cast member walked up to me after I had ran by the Flying carpets of Agrabah and asked me if I was okay. Seeing me in my current state the cast member took pity on me and offered to get me a drink knowing that I cannot refuse that offer at this point I immediately said yes he then took me to the nearest kiosk which was the Sunshine Tree Terrace and got me a drink of water free of charge. I knew it was pointless asking him if he saw my family but I asked him all the same I then thanked him for helping me and then I went on my way via Frontierland.

I had searched every land in the park for my family until I realized there was one land that I had not checked: Main Street USA. I was no longer dehydrated thanks to the drink of water the cast member had given me but I was still exhausted and I was feeling dazed because of the heat but finally I found them. They were by the entrance to one of the shops and like me they were so worried about the prospect that I might be lost they had security search the park for me and even they couldn’t find me. After the reunion we then headed back to Tomorrowland and I had a taco hot dog and some coke from the Lunch Pad to ease my dazed state. It turned out that when I was searching for my family that they never left Fantasyland and that they went to Pinocchio Village Haus for lunch. So all this time while I was searching I could’ve looked for them there?! GOD DAMN IT! Anyways after I was well fed and watered down I went on Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger spin again only this time with my family. I then bought an autograph book and pen with the money I had. I was going to do a character spree while I was in the Magic Kingdom but because I was on that wild goose to find my family I didn’t see many characters. But I did see Peter Pan on my third visit to Adventureland I didn’t interact with him but I can share a moment I had regarding him. Well I did try and find him earlier on when I was scouting around Fantasyland for my family and what I’ve read he now normally meets at the exit of Mickey’s Philharmagic I went to see if he had shown up but he was nowhere to be seen. And when I went back to Adventureland there he was! Right as I was heading towards the entrance! And I’m guessing Peter got bored and decided to walk all the way from his meet and greet spot to Adventureland. Basically he was with a little girl and they saw Ariel and Prince Eric meeting guests and decided to have some fun. They then hid behind a trash can and by the count of three they both jumped out from their hiding places and Peter Pan then let out his trademark crow scaring the living crap of Ariel and Prince Eric. After he had a chat with them he walked the little girl across the bridge into Liberty Square. How do I know all this? Because I was watching them the whole time. (Sigh) I could’ve wished if I had found my family sooner than I might’ve asked him to accompany me in scaring the living delights out of someone in the park. Someone like Alice maybe? But oh well maybe next time baby, next time. But I did manage to meet Buzz Lightyear that day and he pretty much made my afternoon. He was the highlight of the day, I was waiting in line to meet him and the Club 626 Dance Party had just started in the distance and when Buzz heard the music he started SHAKING HIS GROOVY THANG TO THE MUSIC! OH YEAH! He was doing this in between meeting other guests and I could tell he was enjoying himself. Buzz then had a 10 minute break and then when he came back out and surprisingly though he was still dancing! When it was near my turn, a female cast member helped me find a blank page of my autograph book so that Buzz would stamp it I then saw her doing a little dance to the music and I had the urge to do the same thing. Then it was my turn, I went up to Buzz handed him my autograph book and then he stamped it for me and after he did that ME AND BUZZ WERE GETTING OUR FUNK ON! I was literally busting some moves with Buzz Lightyear! I told him to strike a pose and then he did a disco dancing pose in which I said: “Oh yeah that’s what I’m talking about!” and then after we danced we high-fived each other and then posed for a photo and I got a Photopass card for my troubles. And I gotta tell ya the people who were queuing to see him next along with the female cast member were loving every bit of the dancing shenanigans. It was so cool! Absolutely marvellous it was really fun to do!

So despite losing my family and wandering around the blistering heat I had a great day at the Magic Kingdom it was a lot of fun and I enjoyed myself even if I didn’t get to see many characters in the progress.

[kmedina]

I'm in Joseph. Nice to see you are already doing a trip report. It sounds like you had a great first day. The dancing sounds fun.

[Starscream275]

Any more people to comment? Please don't leave me hanging here people!

[kmedina]

It takes some time to build up a following. They will come. Try a more eye popping title (A Childhood of Magic Culminates at WDW) and bump the thread in prime US hours. It is 2:04am on the West Coast and 5:04am on the East coast, so this bump may not help you a lot. You should post a copy in the UK section too. I cannot wait to read more. If you are willing to keep posting for just one follower (until the others come around), I will be happy to read it.

[Starscream275]

Can I edit the thread title though? And do you think it will help me get more people?

[PrincessInOz]

Welcome to the Boards. Kmedina directed me here....

To edit your title....
Go to your original first post and hit the edit button.
When you get into the screen, there is the button that says Go Advanced. Click on that button.
When you click on that, the standard smilies and title window will come up. You will be able to edit your title from there.



Now.....to think of a catchy title....:rolleyes:


princess::upsidedow

Enjoy the planning!

[PrincessInOz]

Any more people to comment? Please don't leave me hanging here people!

Pictures of super buff-looking you (tastefully dressed) will help....



....plus food porn.....


Chocolate chip works best...like this...

http://i816.photobucket.com/albums/zz82/PrincessInOz/2011%20Food/July%2021%20Chocolate%20Chip%20Cookies/2011July21011.jpg




.....and loads of brilliant colour....

http://i816.photobucket.com/albums/zz82/PrincessInOz/2011%20Food/July%2010%20Strawberry%20Shortcake/2011July10076.jpg





(C'mon people.....give the newbie a chance......:thumbsup2 I might even be enticed to hang around and dole out more food porn from time to time.)


princess::upsidedow

[kmedina]

Can I edit the thread title though? And do you think it will help me get more people?

Had to get you some help from a more experienced poster on that one. I think it will. Trip reports are awesome to read. The better the title, the more likely I am to check it out. A plain title will not get many hits. Open a photobucker or flickr account, so you can post some pictures. Post only the ones you are comfortable with (if you are not okay with posting private family pictures like my DH).

Welcome to the Boards. Kmedina directed me here....

To edit your title....
Go to your original first post and hit the edit button.
When you get into the screen, there is the button that says Go Advanced. Click on that button.
When you click on that, the standard smilies and title window will come up. You will be able to edit your title from there.



Now.....to think of a catchy title....:rolleyes:


princess::upsidedow

Enjoy the planning!

You're too fast for me. I should have known you'd beat me back over here. Thanks again for the help.

[kmedina]

Pictures of super buff-looking you (tastefully dressed) will help....



....plus food porn.....


Chocolate chip works best...like this...

http://i816.photobucket.com/albums/zz82/PrincessInOz/2011%20Food/July%2021%20Chocolate%20Chip%20Cookies/2011July21011.jpg




.....and loads of brilliant colour....

http://i816.photobucket.com/albums/zz82/PrincessInOz/2011%20Food/July%2010%20Strawberry%20Shortcake/2011July10076.jpg





(C'mon people.....give the newbie a chance......:thumbsup2 I might even be enticed to hang around and dole out more food porn from time to time.)


princess::upsidedow

You even got all of these up while I was mid-post below you :). Those cookies do look good. Why does it have to be 3:23am? I will wake DH if I go to the kitchen for some snacks!

[kmedina]

Do not forget to bump (or update) the post when most DISers are awake. I do not know what time it is where you are. It is 6:24am EST, so a bump in a few hours will be good.

[Starscream275]

Title's changed now all that's left is for some readers now.

[kmedina]

Good luck. I cannot wait to read some more. Here is your 9:44PST and 12:44EST bump.

[Starscream275]

Woohoo!

[debfen]

Sounds like you had a great first day! Can't wait to read about the rest of your trip. What a great memory of your first day...dancin' with Buzz and watching Peter Pan scare Ariel is a hoot! I would have been laughing out loud. Too bad you didn't have a camera with you!

[Starscream275]

Pictures of Peter Pan? No. Pictures of Buzz Lightyear on the other hand? Yes.

[kmedina]

We need pictures!

[Starscream275]

I have the pictures of Buzz Lightyear but they are on my Photopass account. So I'll show you them via the slideshow there's 11 of them so enjoy.
http://www.disneyphotopass.com/slideshowviewer.aspx?ca=professional|Magic%20Kingd om%AE%20Park

[kmedina]

I have the pictures of Buzz Lightyear but they are on my Photopass account. So I'll show you them via the slideshow there's 11 of them so enjoy.
http://www.disneyphotopass.com/slideshowviewer.aspx?ca=professional|Magic%20Kingd om%AE%20Park

The link does not work without the username and password (which you should not post). It's okay.

[Starscream275]

What's okay?

[cp'ersmom]

I like the new title and I was there during the same time.

[kmedina]

What's okay?

It's okay that we cannot see the pictures.

[Starscream275]

Ah who needs the pictures anyway? You don't need pictures to find out I had a great time for my first day. Anyways I'll post the second day of my trip as soon as I can.

[kmedina]

I can tell you had a great first day and am anxiously looking forward to reading about Day two.

[Starscream275]

But I must warn you right now the second day in Epcot is actually the worst day of the entire trip. I won’t spoil you or anything until I post it up but I will say this though the whole “losing my family” thing gets worse from here on in.

[PrincessCharlie]

I feel your pain with plane journey, I hate those seats its impossible to get any sleep at all!

[kmedina]

I'm sorry it was a rough day, but it is nice to know it got better.

[Starscream275]

Day 2: Epcot 9 August 2011

I’m just gonna say this right now: I hated the second day it was probably the worst day of the entire trip I mean the other days while I was at Disney World was great but you gotta have a bad day on your holiday right? It can’t always be sunshine and lollipops all the time in Disney World but oh well. The day started out okay as we went to Epcot we didn’t do much in terms of the first visit there. We went on Spaceship Earth it’s nothing really special it’s just a ride about how we’ve evolved as humans so yeah not much to say about that. Test track on the other hand is another story though. At first I was really anxious by this ride at first I thought it was going to be some kind of rollercoaster after seeing the high speed track near the entrance but once I got onto the ride itself I actually enjoyed it. It was a cool and intense ride and it was nothing like a rollercoaster. A bit of a funny moment when I was on the track I started singing the chorus to Gorillaz 19/2000 because the track itself actually reminded me of the music video for 19/2000. In conclusion Test Track is one of the coolest rides I’ve been on while at Disney world. We then decided to check out the world pavilions after a bit of lunch over in the Mexican Pavilion at Cantina de San Angel and I had the Cantina Nachos which I liked very much. I loved the music inside the restaurant I was topping my feet to the rhythm of the music while I was eating I really do have a thing for Mexico even though I’ve never been there before. After lunch I decided to do some exploring while I was in the Mexican Pavilion it was starting to drizzle and who should I see by his usual meet and greet spot? But Donald Duck himself. But before I could even get a chance to go up to him the cast member that was with him told the other guests that he was going to be meeting in the temple because of the current conditions so after he met one last guest in his spot he then left for the temple I then decided to follow him into the temple by taking the main entrance inside. I then went into the temple and it was nice and warm inside and then went to see where Donald was. But he wasn’t there I guessed he hadn’t come inside yet so I decided to do something while I was waiting for him to show up.

So I then went on The Gran Fiesta boat ride to keep me occupied. I love The Three Caballeros it’s a very under appreciated film. It’s colourful, creative, the songs are catchy and I think Panchito and Jose Carioca are characters that do not get much credit where it’s due. I mean it’s good that Disney hasn’t forgotten all about them. What with them having 2 episodes in the House of Mouse and they have their own attraction in Epcot but I really think that Disney should go a step further and make a cartoon series on the pair of them with Donald. I mean it would be awesome! They would have misadventures all around South America and I’d love it if the cartoon was in 2D animation! In fact Disney why don’t you commission this idea and have me work for you? Plus it would be a lot better than the crap that you’ve got on the Disney Channel and Disney XD. But anyways I’m sidetracking here the ride was very nice and it did capture the goofiness and nature of the movie but I wouldn’t say it’s a favourite and I’m not going to go back to the ride in a hurry but I will say it’s a nice way to let off some steam when your over in the Mexican Pavilion and it’s a fun little ride that’s a lot better than It’s a small world. After I got off the ride I then wandered into the centre of the pavilion and there standing near the fountain was Donald he had arrived. I then whipped out my autograph book and pen and then waited in line to see him. I played around with the drums they had on display just to kill some time. Then my turn came I went up to him and prior to meeting him I had made up this little chant when I was having my Cantina Nachos I was singing this chant to Donald and it went: “Mexico’s awesome! Mexico’s awesome! Mexico’s awesome! Mexico’s awesome!” And immediately after I did that Donald start shaking the air as if he was carrying maracas he signed my book and then when he was finished he tipped his hat to me I then nodded in acknowledgement in his direction and then left the pavilion.

Remember the whole goose chase where I tried to find my family in the Magic Kingdom? Well because of that endeavour, my family had bought two walkie talkies from the local shopping mall outside of Disney World for the next day and they devised a system for me. I was allowed to wander off on my own on the condition that I use the walkie talkie to contact them. Basically it was a walkie talkie for emergency use, any time if they ever wanted me to meet up with them somewhere then I’d go straight to the location where they were at as soon as they contacted me on mine. The walkie talkie while it was useful for letting my family know where I was it did however have one small issue that I would like to address. The issue is that I can’t get a signal if I’m more than 10 miles away from my family’s walkie talkie and I did feel that the walkie talkie it didn’t do much good when I was in Epcot. And you’ll see why once I elaborate on that point in a bit. Anyways my father told me that they were heading for the German Pavilion so I decided to meet them up there and sure enough I found them in the centre of the pavilion while we didn’t really do much in Germany we had look around the shops and then pressed passing both the Italian and American Adventure pavilions until our next stop was at Japan. And this is where the trouble started all because of this damn pavilion. Well we were looking around the shop admiring all the goods they had there I decided to get myself a Sonic the Hedgehog T-shirt which costed roughly $20 - $30 worth. And without any thought of what I was doing I left the shop whilst my mother was buying me the shirt even worse the drizzle had become heavy rain and like anything I ran away from the Japanese pavilion trying to find shelter. Basically I was running around all over the place in Epcot it was a madcap search for a place to protect myself under the rain. I was drenched from head to toe in water and I was so focused on keeping myself dry that I hadn’t noticed that I had left my family behind again. And when I realized I had left them behind, it was already too late for they had already left the shop in the Japanese pavilion. This time around the search for my family was dead serious I tried communicating with them on my walkie talkie but because I was too far away from range I was unable to tell them that I was okay.

Then seeing as I couldn’t stay in the Japanese pavilion any longer I decided to seek back at the Mexican pavilion so I trekked all the way back to the Mexican pavilion I was stuck there for a while. I did the Gran Fiesta boat ride again and sat the fountain and to get dried off but to no avail. When I came out of the pavilion the heavy rain settled down for a bit and then for some reason I went to the Chinese pavilion next and surprisingly I was stuck there as well because the heavy rain had started up again. While I was I looked around at all the different exhibits that China had to offer. I saw some pretty interesting things at the tomb warriors exhibition. I then went out of the exhibition gallery and I exited out I found another character to my very surprise. It was Fa-Mulan! Yes Mulan was there greeting guests inside the temple obviously because of the bad conditions outside. I thought about going up to her but I didn’t. Now it’s not the fact that I don’t like her it’s just the fact that I couldn’t agree with myself if she were a princess or not because from my understanding Disney have made Mulan an official Disney princess into the princess line. Because I know it’s been a long time since I’ve seen the movie but I really don’t recall Mulan ever being married to a prince or had royalty in her blood like the other princesses do and while I’m on the subject of Disney Princesses, Pocahontas does not count as a princess! How does she along with Mulan fit into the princess line exactly? I mean Mulan was a woman who fought in the Chinese army and Shang was never a prince! Also Pocahontas shouldn’t even exist in the line because Native Americans are not known for royalty! How they managed to get the two in the princess line is beyond me. Plus I kind of a thing about meeting the princesses in general. (Sighs) I’m a boy, deal with it! And that is that I can’t see them unless they are accompanied by their lover. But I would be willing to meet Rapunzel on her own considering that Flynn Rider is no longer with her on a regular basis mainly because she’s a lot different from the other princesses same thing with Tiana hell I was thinking of singing The Wanderer by Dion to her anyway. Those two are exceptions but the rest of the princesses I can’t meet them unless they are accompanied by their lover. But anyways getting back on topic, because of the heavy rain I was stuck in the temple for quite some time. A female cast member came up to me and asked me if I was feeling okay and I told her about my predicament of losing my family and how I ended up in the Chinese pavilion. And she did say to me that the pavilion is a beautiful place to hide out from the rain and I have to agree on this pavilion it’s a really stunning place to come to. I really think that Epcot have got China down to a tie and I wouldn’t mind visiting this pavilion again once I return to Disney World that is.

But anyways I knew I couldn’t stay in that pavilion forever so I braved the rain and trekked all the way to the French Pavilion while I was there I decided to do something about finding my family so I went to the nearest cast member that I could find but unforuntaely the female cast member I encountered was a character cast member for Belle and the Beast I told her my situation but the problem was she didn’t know what to do with me once she found about it so she took me into the town of the French Pavilion to some cast members that might be able to help me. Luckily there was a male cast member to help me on my way I told him everything that happened to me. He was helpful and very understanding of my situation he escorted me from the French pavilion to future world. On the way we passed the British pavilion and he asked me what I thought considering I am British myself and what I said to him about the pavilion was: “Errruggggh! I hate old fashioned buildings!” You see before I came over to Florida I was being sceptic that I was gonna hate America because from the things that I seen from Family Guy and The Simpsons that they tend to be snarky and take the piss out of the British and just basically stereotype most brits as posh smobs who drink tea, wear a glass monocle and go: “Spit spot cherry-ho old bean!” or just make us sound like we are off the set of Oliver Twist for god sakes. The cast member who was walking me back happened to be American did tell me that Americans do respect us brits but only a minority of Americans respect my country as inviduvals because the majority of yanks think that a british person is something they’ve seen on TV. But then again I could stereotype their county as dumb, gun totting, cheeseburger eating slumbs who don’t know any better than be ignorant of my nationality just for the sake of being ignorant. No offence to your country America, I love it and I wanna come back to the states but god damn it don’t stereotype my country please. Seriously Britain is no different from your country you know. And I have agree with the cast member when he says his own country is very feckle when it comes to my country, and that’s really saying a lot about the country he lives in.

And there awaiting my return in future world was my family. They weren’t very pleased to see me because of the fact that I had just randomly ditched them again. Okay the reason why they were glad to see me in the Magic Kingdom was understandable because of the weather but this time it was out of line for me. My father was very disappointed in me for doing it a second time he said that if I ditched them again then he would disown me from the family altogether and he literally meant it. And as a result I felt really rotten for doing it and to this day I’m trying to forget what had happened the first time I was in Epcot. This is a very sour note for me because I really wanted to go to Epcot on a better day when it wasn’t raining and the sad thing was it was my first time there. I hope when I go back to Disney World I’ll go to Epcot all sunny and then I would do a lot more of the day when I’m there.

[kmedina]

I'm sorry you lost your family, and that it would not stop raining. It stinks to be cold and wet and is even worse that you did not have any family around to console you while you were feeling so miserable. I like the Three Caballeros ride too. DS is a huge Donald Fan, so we rode it twice last trip as well.

Getting the walkie talkies was a good idea. Sorry it did not pan out. I am sure that your Dad was frustrated that they lost track of you two days in a row, but I doubt he would have disowned you. We love the Chinese Pavillion too, and I think it may even be my favorite. Mulan and Pocahontas are not princesses. You are correct. I always wondered why Disney calls Mulan a princess but was not aware it claimed Pocahontas was one.

I do not watch the Simpsons or the Family Guy. The humor is a little low brow for me. Not all Americans see the british the way they are depicted in the shows you mention (taking your word for it, since I do not watch them) or the cast member you encountered. I do not really know many british people, but I see them as similar to Americans with more proper speech. That is probably where the term, the Queen's English, came from. I have never heard the expression you wrote, (“Spit spot cherry-ho old bean!”) so I am not even sure what it means.

The term yank or yankee never really identified wiith me. It was used just for northeners back in the day, but some people now use it for all Americans. Personally, I have only lived in the South (for 4 years) and the West the rest of my life. It does not offend me at all, but I just do not consider myself a yank/yankee.

I am glad your days picked up and cannot wait to read more.

[Starscream275]

But let's not dwell on that day shall we? Like I said things get better after that "fateful day" anyway. Now for the next one I don't know if I should really call a day because I didn't really spend the day but more or less the evening at one of the places in the resort and I was thinking of maybe making a mini report on that and calling those times when I just spend the night at those places as: Disney Night events. Disney Night events is the tiny little bits from the trip at Disney World where I spend the night at the resort and didn't do a full day there. If you wanna hear about them then it's fine by now.

[Starscream275]

Anymore commenters? No? Then I'll post up my first Disney Night event then:

Disney Night Event 1 - Downtown Disney
Well after my fiasco at Epcot I didn't do much on the next day and pretty much lazed about the appartment. The good thing about the appartment was that it was 2 hours away from Disney World itself and it also had a pool there so that was cool as well. Anyways my father thought it would be a good idea if he took me and my younger sister to Downtown Disney for the night whilst my mother relaxed at the appartment. Of course I said yes because I wanted to know what Downtown Disney was like and my sister also agreed to come so my father drove the rental car that we hired from The Alamo we headed straight for Downtown Disney.

My intial thoughts to Downtown Disney is this: It's pretty the Disney Village of Disney World but a whole lot bigger and like Disney Village they have many things that the latter place has especially with the West side I really had a sense of deja vu while I was there I just kept on thinking of Disney Village and I know it wasn't there but I was half expecting Cafe Mickey to show up around the corner I really did think that at first. We didn't do much while we were there we just kept flitting in and out of the various shops we did come across an exhibition for two NASCAR like cars which I'm assuming are from the ESPN wide world sports complex center. I'm not really a sports fan myself but I have heard of NASCAR is very dull. Seriously 20 or 30ish cars going around a curved circuit? Boring! And for the record I haven't been to the ESPN wide world sports complex center and I wouldn't recommend it the only thing I know about that center is that they had Phineas and Ferb doing Meet and Greets there before they had their offical meet and greet spot over at Disney Hollywood Studios. And that's my prime knowledge of the ESPN wide world sports centre just the fact that Phineas and Ferb used to meet there and that's it.

Anyways going back on topic, we then headed towards DisneyQuest and as you know I'm a video game junkie which means I'm a huge sucker for arcades so we decided to stay there for awhile. Once I was inside I then spotted that they had the Donkey Kong arcade machine I had heard so much about it that being me a Super Mario fan and that it's Mario's first ever game before he became famous. I wasn't very good at it but I had a stab at it anyway. And the funny thing was that it a lot of coins inside of it so I could retry again and again.

I decided to do some exploring around the place so I went up all the way to the fourth floor now am I the only one that will say this but I really hate virtual reality gaming. I mean it's bad enough that Microsoft and Sony are copying Nintendo's ideas in the gaming industry but why in the name of Thor is Virtual reality still existing in video games? What the hell is wrong with playing video games with just a basic controller huh? What's wrong with that? I just really hate the notion that you have to wear a stupid looking helmet and wear gloves to play games. It's a stupid concept! Anyways mini-rant over I reached the fourth floor and found something that I really liked: Invasion! An ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter. Now that was something I could get my head around because I was shooting aliens. I had tons of fun while doing this but can somebody remind what that ride that Stitch's great escape replaced was? I know it's a ride that people enjoyed but I don't understand what it's about. Anyways I went on the ride alone and the cast member who was there set the driving controls to auto pilot and like I said I had a lot of fun with it.

Now unlike with Epcot, the walkie talkie actually proved useful here both inside and outside and yes I had it with me again. I then went downstairs to meet my father and sister who where on the third floor we then did the
Bowl-o-rama and I was actually pretty good at it I managed to beat both my father and sister playing it.

For the rest of the evening we didn't do much besides browsing through a sunglasses shop where my father needed to check if he could some new lenses for the ones he already had. Other that not much to say about this sorry this one was short but there really wasn't anything that memorable to report but it's tons better than the first visit to Epcot and I really am gonna be harping on and on about it throughout this trip report so bear with me on that one.

[kmedina]

Relaxing at the hotel can be a lot of fun on a Disney trip too, so your morning sounded nice to me. We love Downtown Disney as well. I am not a gamer and my kids are young (4 and 3mos), so we have not been to Disney Quest yet. Based on what I've read, all the games are included with admission. That may be the reason you did not need any coins (or assumed they were left behind) for Donkey Kong.

I am not a huge sports fan either and also find NASCAR boring, so we have never been to WWoS either.

I do love Phineas and Ferb. We just saw their live stage show last night, and it was really good. DS4 was so impressed.

I am glad the walkie talkies worked better for you at DD, and that you had a better day.

[Starscream275]

Day 3 Typhoon Lagoon and Disney Hollywood Studios

All I gotta say is: god damn has this holiday made some development for me. This time was a park day for me and this time it was an improvement over Epcot. A massive improvement there. And I really felt like I was enjoying today and you know I think the magic might’ve come back overnight because the weather was sunny again where we were going. The park we went to this time was one of the water parks: Typhoon Lagoon. And man I now love water parks because of that place. So things were looking up and I was having so much fun there. Apart from being splashed and tipped upside down by those upstart floats at the Castaway Creek! What’s the matter with you floats?! Don’t you know who I am?! Not the legs! (Sobs) Anyways I did the Keelhaul and Gangplank Falls and I even caught got in the wave at the centre beach I went on Crush N’ gusher with my father let’s just say me and him have different opinions on that particular slide if you know what I mean. It’s a bit a of shame really cuz I really could’ve done more if my visit wasn’t cut short over the fact that my sister wasn’t feeling too good and had to leave so soon. You see my sister was once 13 (she’s turned 14 recently on September 30th as I write this) was coming to that age where she starts having her period and unfortunately it had happened while we were there and from what I was told her swimming suit was bleeding from the inside and she had spend the rest of the visit to Typhoon Lagoon confided to a chair near the surf pool. My father hadn’t got the necessary things to help her get better because my mother wasn’t with us when this happened. Luckily she recovered and she was fine to go to the next park for the afternoon: Disney Hollywood Studios or as I like to call it The Park formerly named Disney MGM studios. Why call it this, because my father kept calling Disney Hollywood Studios, Disney MGM studios well giving that he hadn’t been to Disney World in a long while it would make sense for him to call the park by it’s former name. The last time he went was when he went there for his honeymoon with my mother back in 1991 the year Beauty and the Beast came out and the odd thing was that I was born 2 years after their trip. Yeah who knew right?

Our entrance there was a bit sloppy because my father had forgotten to get the park tickets and they were still in the rental car so he along with my sister had to go back on the tram to get them luckily for me and my mother he had mine and her ticket with him so we were able to get into the park before them. They eventually got into the park only for my sister to dart off into the shops I swear she was like a magpie with those shops she did this all the time while I was in Disney world. Every time she saw a shop in any park she would then look around it for a brief moment and then come back out again it was very annoying it was just like stop looking in every bloody shop in the park, damn it! While me and my mother were waiting for my father to get my sister out of the shops she was browsing she and along with me watched a bit of streetmosphere with the citizens of Hollywood. Once my sister and my father were out of the shop we decided to go on Star Tours! I love Star Tours and like the Haunted Mansion it’s one of my favourite rides and it’s a classic for many a guest at any Disney park. Now before the trip I had learned that all versions of Star Tours were going to be refurbished into a new version where you travel to new planets which is Endor and for some reason Tatoonie. And speaking as someone who’s been on the original ride at Euro Disney, I would have to say that this new version is actually great. It’s just as good as the original and I defiantly think giving the ride an update was a wise choice there. Next we went to see the Indiana Jones stunt show which was pretty much the motors cars stunt show from Euro Disney only without the cars and motorcycles and Herbie. Instead of the generic action sequence that Lights, motors action extreme stunt show had to offer it had 3 iconic scenes from the first Indy film.

I’ll be honest I didn’t like the above mentioned show because I found it to be rather bland and generic for my tastes mainly because it wasn’t really focusing on a specific scene from any movie in particular. Now don’t get me wrong, I love hardcore action sequences I’m all for violence in films but to be frank the scene in Lights, Motors, Action extreme stunt show was pretty much made for the show and didn’t do anything spectacular with it. While the Indiana Jones show on the other hand was working with not one but three classic scenes from like I said the first Indiana Jones movie. Now that was something I could get my head around on and I actually liked it over Lights, Motors, Action extreme stunt show in Euro Disney. With that said the Indiana Jones show was pretty cool but one little gripe I have with it. The female host. Okay, she would’ve been okay if it weren’t for the fact that she had a really, really, really, really high pitched voice and she sounded like she was on helium and to me she sounded like a female version of the Squeaky voiced teen from the Simpsons. Whoa did I just reference The Simpsons twice in this whole trip report? Anyways moving on we also went on the Tram tour which was pretty much the same as it was in the Walt Disney Studios park in Euro Disney so nothing to report there.

After we went on the Tram tour my father and sister wanted to go on Tower of terror and of course my mother was squirmish with things that could be scary to her and knowing Tower of Terror’s reputation as a ride, that is quite the understatement coming from me. So I volunteered to look after her while they went on it. It was the least I could do on short notice and considering what I put her through in the past few days and I decided to keep her company and make her smile at least. She wanted to go to Journey into Narnia: Prince Caspian at first she thought it was gonna be interesting but it was a big letdown when we found out it was more than just a summary of what happened in the second movie and an exhibition of the costumes and props that were used in the movie. You know what wouldn’t be disappointing? Seeing Buzz and Woody! Why the hell didn’t I get in line to see them? I mean there meet and greet spot was not too far from the Journey into Narnia thing in Pixar place we kept going past it so why not go over there and see them? Man I had missed a good opportunity there god I would’ve played around with them and it wouldn’t be a big letdown! But oh well me and my mother then wandered over to Sunset Boulevard we bought some water and I got myself some Cheetohs. Why is it with things like Lucky Charms, Cheetohs and Count Chocoula they are discontinued in the UK yet they still sell them over in the US? I really don’t get that. Anyways my father and sister had finished riding Tower of Terror and we all decided to stick around for Fantasmic.

So we wondered over to the arena and surprisingly though we got the best seats in the left far end a little bit of a fun moment before the show started the people in the first row were doing the Mexican wave and then it spread to the second and then sooner or later we all start doing the Mexican wave I don’t know what that was about but it was a good way to kill some time I guess. Now onto the actual show itself: Fantasmic. What did I think of it? Well after seeing it I love it. I love Fantasmic. Before I went Disney World I have heard a lot about Fantasmic and that it was an awesome show and probably the best that Disney world to offer and now I can fully agree with them on that statement itself. It’s such a brilliant show, the special effects were amazing from the water fountains splashing upwards when Mickey first appears to Maleficent’s epic transformation into her dragon form. It was mind blowing from start to finish. It’s defiantly worth it in the evening to see the show and it’s no doubt about it my favourite moment of my trip to Disney World hands down. Just awesome, no other words to describe it just no questions asked. It is that good of a show and I love it to bits. Thank you so much Disney, for providing me a wonderful night spectacle for me watch just thank you so much I really owe you one big time.

[kmedina]

That is cool that your parents honeymooned at WDW. My husband and I honeymooned there too, and we had a blast. The only thing that is nicer is watching our kids enjoy themselves. Your parents must have loved seeing you and your sister at the place they opened their marrriage with.

Sorry your Typhoon Lagoon trip was cut short, but I am glad your sister was feeling better for HS. That is my favorite park. I cannot sit through the Indy show anymore as I find it too boring. I love the ToT. We love watching Fantasmic at WDW even though it is not as good as Dl, because it has better seating.

I love Lucky Charms and DS4 loves cheetos. They are staples in our house, so I would be bummed if they discontinued them here.

[Starscream275]

You and your husband went to WDW on your honeymoon?! Damn, what are the chances of that eh? I guess it is true disney does bring in couples. It's good to know that my parents went for their honeymoon before I was born and yeah you could say that they were happy that I was enjoying myself whilst I was there they don't like to admit it but I reckon they enjoyed themselves the first time they were there.

Man before I went to WDW I wanted to try some Lucky Charms but when I got to America I never got a chance to eat some while I was there. (sighs)

Oh one little thing that I forgot to mention while I was about to leave Typhoon Lagoon I saw Lilo and Stitch greeting guests by the surfboards on the way to the centre beach but unforunately like Woody and Buzz I didn't meet them. And I'm guessing they were only there for photos so whatever.

I'm actually glad that I went to see Fantasmic because now I know that there isn't gonna be another night time show that could match Fantasmic. It was definatly the highlight of the whole trip and I was really drawn into it besides the special effects, I loved the soundtrack for it. I have never seen anything like this show it's so marvelous and I was literally lost for words after I saw it just nothing more to say it's just incredible.

[kmedina]

My husband and I did enjoy our trip without our kids, but I enjoy the trips with our kids more.

World of Color at DCA in the DLR is my favorite night time show. Fantasmic is a close second.

[Starscream275]

Well I wouldn't know what World of Colour is like because I've never been to Disneyland in Califorina. But I'll take your word on it whatever it's about anyways.

[kmedina]

You'll love it. It's not the same as watching it live, but I hope you enjoy it anyway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o0Icz6ExiM

[Starscream275]

I've just watched it and it's beautiful I reckon it comes a close second behind Fantasmic. I didn't enjoy it as much as Fantasmic but it's still a wonderful show. I doubt I'm gonna see it live but it's the closest I'll get to seeing it anyway.

[Starscream275]

Right update time. The next day is another lazy day so that means it's another Disney Night event but only this time at Epcot....Again I could've done so much more with this park if it haven't have rained and I ran off like that. Ya know the first thing I'm gonna do when I return to Disney World? I'm gonna take that monorail and go to Epcot because I feel I need to make my redemption there. I really do it's like being unloved but no matter that time will come. That time will come.

[kmedina]

I love Epcot and am confident it'll find redemption. Lazy days are nice.

[Starscream275]

Disney Night Events 2: Epcot

Yes Day 4 was another lazy day in the apartment didn’t do much besides take a swim in the pool and by the way it was just gorgeous and buying a few new games for my PSP. Lego Batman and MediEvil Resurrection were the games I got for it at first I thought American games don’t work on a British PSP because most consoles are regional sensitive and I know the big consoles won’t play games from the US so I thought the same would apply to portable consoles but when I put the games into my PSP just fine. Guess that throws the regional crap out the window then. Mind you, we nearly got locked out of our apartment because my father had broken the key in the lock and we had to wait a bit before the locksmith arrived. And we were about to have supper when this happened and we had to have pizza at a pizzeria instead of what we were gonna have that night. Luckily we were able to get back into the apartment thanks to the locksmith. We then prepared for the night out at Epcot although my mother did she wanted to say the Main Street Electrical parade over in the Magic Kingdom but my father said my sister didn’t get to do the things in Epcot first time around so we decided to leave the Main Street Electrical parade for the next night.

First thing on the agenda was Mission: Space. Hoo boy I’ve got a lot to say about this one. You remember the first Disney Night event when me, my father and my sister went to Downtown Disney? Well we went to the NASA space centre during that day and we there for the whole day. I hated NASA before even going there ever since a boy at my college (who will remain anonymous) went on and on and on about it. Why the bloody hell do we have such a boring space force such as NASA?! Nobody cares about it! Nobody gives two monkey snots about who was the first man on the moon! So why we do even the NASA space centre?! IT’S STUPID! …..the only cool astronaut in my books is Buzz Lightyear and he’s a freaking toy for god sakes! Yeah I’ll have Buzz Lightyear over any astronaut any day! And those stupid ninnies that I call my father and sister bought T-shirts from that centre! And because I loved the centre soooooo much they decided to go on Mission: Space. Swell. You know how some people find the Tea cup ride in the Magic Kingdom very sickening and dizzy after being on it? Well I had a dose of dizziness after I got off it I was literally walking into the walls from side to side and I was nearly ready to throw up. Gee, thanks a lot dad, sis. Thanks for making me so much better about Epcot I really appreciated. (Sighs) Anyways we then walked all the way to the Norwegian Pavilion and went Maelstrom. Vikings are my favourite historian warriors besides pirates so I did get a kick out of Maelstrom but other that there’s really nothing to do in Norway. The only thing you could do while your in Norway is go and have a character meal over at Akershus and that’s a Princess Character Meal! My sister then wanted to go to the Chinese pavilion because that’s what she wanted to come to Epcot for. So our next course was the pavilion that had me trapped in the temple. I have to admit the gardens like magnificent at night. I mean I was overlooking the pond gardens before we went inside the temple and it’s a gorgeous sight. Man if only I had taken pictures of the surroundings in the Chinese pavilion.

Once inside the temple my family settled themselves down on the benches. While I had a little walkabout the temple and I was still wondering if I should’ve went up to Mulan or not. I still think I should’ve done that because I would’ve had something to do when I was trapped in the temple from the rain. But oh well I’ll meet her again when I make my redemption in Epcot when I return to Disney World. We then did Reflections of China. I really love how they made it all split screened so is to look like your in china. It’s really quite good I might actually visit China one day it might not happen but looking at it in all it’s glory is quite stunning. And you know? The Chinese pavilion may actually be my favourite in Epcot and really it’s a pavilion I really want to come back to. It’s such a sight to behold with the temple and the pond gardens it’s just lovely to visit. The reason why we came to Epcot was to basically see the fireworks there: IllumiNations: Reflections of the Earth. We did get a good spot to see them but to be honest with you IllumiNations wasn’t all that spectacular I mean it was good but it just didn’t have any flair to it and it was quite predictable. I think Wishes is a better fireworks display than what Epcot has at the moment but maybe that’s just me.

My sister was sulking once the fireworks were over because she wanted to spend her American money on a Chinese straw hat but my father wouldn’t let her because he just wanted to leave the park for the night. But who could blame him? He was tired out from all the walking about and I was feeling the same way as well. She just kept on saying: “I want to spend my money! I want to spend my money!” All throughout the trip and she kept on missing her chance to get something from the parks.

So my evening at Epcot was okay but it still it doesn’t make up for the fact that I had a terrible experience on my first day there. I will not lose hope for my redemption I really want to go back and have a sunny day there. It really was the unloved park of Disney World for me it really was.

[kmedina]

I rode Mission Space very shortly after it first opened in 2003. Never again!! I hear they created a tamer version since then, but I have not/will not try it. It was almost an hour after I exited the ride before I was no longer dizzy and nauseous. The teacups are fun to me, so there is something different about Mission Space.

I would find a day at NASA boring too. DH posed the following conundrum he found online to me and some others: if you won a prize, would you rather travel to the moon for one day or to Europe for three days? Everyone picked the moon but me. Granted, I picked neither. That's a lot of travel time for such a short trip, so I would rather stay home. I am not a fan of traveling but will put up with it for a nice vacation if it is spaced out (like over a week at WDW). My DS loves Buzz too. That is who he was for Halloween last year. This year, he wants to be Handy Manny.

[Starscream275]

I agree with you all the way when you say you've never been on that ride since it first opened and I think the same's gonna happen with me cuz I'm never gonna go on that ride again. I felt like I was being shot out of a cannon by an angry Welshmen. I had to sit down for a bit before I could do anything else after doing Mission: Space so yeah I agree with you on that one. I hadn't been on the tea cups but from what I hear some people do get nauseous on that ride but I don't know maybe it's just me or it's just people who don't do rides that spin around wildly I'll have to see if I ever go on the tea cups.

Trust me I would rather have a 3 day trip around europe then go to the freaking moon! I mean seriously who wants to go to the moon?! It's a desolate wasteland of a planet that has nothing to offer whatsoever! I think Futurama summed it up best when Fry, Leela, Bender and Amy want to the moon's theme park and Fry not liking it wanted to show Leela what the moon was really like. Basically the moon's only there to make dates more romantic I guess.

And your husband wants to go as Handy Mandy?! What the hell possessed him to make him come as Handy Mandy?! And I'm guessing it's for the halloween party over in the Magic Kingdom right? Well if I was going there I would've come as either The Terminator or Travis Touchdown from No More Heroes.

[Starscream275]

Day 5: Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom

Well here we are: Day 5 of my trip to the Happiest place on earth. You will surprised to hear what I’ve gotta say for this next day cuz this one’s a dozy and it has a surprise twist to it. What do I mean by a surprise twist? Well let’s get stuck with this day shall we? We had pretty much done most of the parks for Disney world and I had really haven’t done much character meeting and our next venture into the Animal Kingdom can basically summed up as a character-fest. But I’ll try to go in depth with this one anyways we went to the Animal Kingdom as our next park we did get a little lost on the way to the car park though we ended up at the entrance to one of the resorts but the cast member who was at the ticket barrier put on us the right path to the car park of the Animal Kingdom. I haven’t said this at all about the trams in my trip report but they are very useful when getting to and from the parks it really does beat a bus system from the hotel any day plus I don’t know why but I love the male announcer’s voice when I’m on the tram and monorail it’s very soothing for some reason. Maybe it’s just me but anyways we reached the park and after a bit of stall browsing we then went through the entrance. And just as we made it to the centre of the park Mickey’s Jamming parade had already started.

Now Mickey’s Jamming parade was just marvellous. I loved the floats and the music to that parade and it really set the mood for Animal Kingdom. But nothing will be any more marvellous than the Main Street Electrical parade later that day which I’ll get to soon. Once the parade was over my mother wanted to do the safari so we went over to Africa. But unfortunately the parade much beat us to it but it didn’t bother me we were at Africa anyway. On the safari I saw lots and lots of animals from Elephants, antelopes, rhinos an ostrich and even a lion and the safari I have to admit was quite interesting. Then my family had a snack and a drink after the safari I decided I wanted to go on my character spree so I told my family that I wanted to go the park alone so they let me be and as soon as they were out of sight I started running towards the nearest spot for character meet and greets and my next destination was at Camp Minnie-Mickey. And before you could say Jack Nicholson I was having my character spree! I had literally met four characters while I was there! Four characters! And they were all in the same place at the same time. I met Goofy, Minnie, the big, big cheese of Disney: Mickey Mouse himself. I shook hands with him and then had a photopass picture after he had signed my book and then afterwards we then high fived each other I almost forgot to take my empty water bottle which the cast member held onto while I was meeting Mickey which I did throw out after I met him. I think the best moment I had while I was there had to be when I met Terk from Tarzan.

Before I had my autograph from her I saw her sitting on a park bench with some guests and then she found a water bottle that was just lying near the plants and not being used at all she then picked up the bottle, took off the cap and then emptied all the contents out of it onto the floor and then she proceeded to throw the empty water bottle into the bin. The female cast member then informed Terk that I had been waiting patiently for her to sign my book and Terk showed me her fingernails as if to say: “My handwriting’s a little sloppy but I’ll manage.” She then signed my book and then she wanted to have a photo with me afterwards and I told her that I didn’t have a camera on me and then she put her hands on her hips as if to say sarcastically: “Well thanks a lot!” and I responded with: “Well I’m sorry!” in a sort of sarky like tone so instead we had a hug and while we were doing that she kissed me on the cheek.
That was the highlight of the Animal Kingdom but it was overshadowed by my “encounters” in the Magic Kingdom later that evening. My parents had told me to meet them by the entrance of the park at 6:00PM sharp so I decided to spend my American cash on some prezzies for myself. So I went inside the nearest shop and I got myself a CD of Disney Villain songs and a DVD/Blu-ray copy of Beauty and the Beast. The shop keeper who sold the CD and the copy of Beauty and the Beast noticed that I was quite breathless mainly because I had been running from Camp Minnie Mickey to the entrance and I was in such a mad rush to meet up with my family and he thought I had been on the rides screaming my head off. I then met up with my family and then returned to the apartment for some dinner.

After we were fed we then returned to the Magic Kingdom. Before we saw the Main Street Electrical parade we had a little cruise around the whole park on the Main Street train even got to see a bit of the construction work for Fantasyland’s expansion we then made just in time for the parade to start. And I gotta say once I heard that electronic voice announcing the start of the Main Street Electrical parade I thought of Soundwave from Transformers but anyways my thoughts on the actual parade. It’s the best Disney parade I’ve ever seen in my whole entire life! No I’m dead serious! It was art for my eyes but in the dark! The floats were very amazing to look at and the soundtrack so gorgeous and I felt like I was in a electronic symphony of awesomeness! It was my second favourite moment of my trip and I loved every moment of it. After the parade my mother decided to stay behind at the town square and just relax so it left only me, my sister and my father to trek through the park. We walked through Main Street USA until I stopped at Adventureland and told my sister and father to go on without me and what happened next was an essence of sweetness and an extract of giddiness ensued after they left me. And by “sweetness and giddiness” I mean the encounter I had while I was in Adventureland. …….I met Tinker Bell and Rosetta……But before I go into detail of how I met them let me say this first and please do not laugh at this whatever you do because what I’m gonna tell you right now is gonna really, really, really surprise you so here goes: I’m a fan of the Disney fairies series…I adore the movies and I think it’s a great series. And before you ask I’m 18 years old and I’m a boy. Yes you heard right I’m a male fan of the Disney fairies series. How weird can you get? I am an equivalent to what bronies are to My Little Pony Friendship is Magic except without the millions of male fans. And like most boys when something like this happens you get a mid-life crisis about it and you feel bad that you did this, your losing your manly side, your a disgrace to humanity and blah, blah, blah, blah you get the idea and quite frankly I’m getting sick of mentioning my mid-life crisis regarding this series and if I keep talking about it I’m just gonna end up as a Daft Punk song and not in a good way either so it’s best that I do not discuss it with you. As you know Tinker Bell and her friends currently meet and greet right over in Adventureland.

Seeing as it was dark I naturally thought: “Hey it’s the evening surely I won’t be able to see them now right?” Wrong! It turns out that few of the characters that meet indoors can still continue meeting guests until the park closes so in my case the Disney Fairies meet and greet spot was still open. Me being a male fan of the series and not wanting to let my family know anything about my encounter was very feeling reluctant to go and meet them at first but my curiosity and stubbornness won over me and I then got in the line to see them. I was feeling nervous and at the same felt little bit scared. My knees were shaking, I was fidgeting with my fingers and I wasn’t thinking straight at all. I kept saying things like: “What am I doing here? I’m losing my manhood!” under my breath and I kept thinking to myself: “Must think manly thoughts! Must think manly thoughts!” But nothing was coming to mind all I was thinking about in my mind was the fact that I was about to meet Tinker Bell herself. I thought as I was going through the line that I was gonna see Vidia alongside Tink because I saw footage of Vidia and Tink meeting guests and thought it was just them but it turns out Rosetta was there. I peeked around the wall before going into the room that’s how I knew she was there. She and Tinker Bell are two of my favourite characters in the Disney Fairies series the other two being Fawn and Silvermist.

So you would imagine what kind of reaction had when I saw the both of them I was both tongue-tied and star struck! For the first time in my life I didn’t know what to do once I was in that room and yet deep down I felt good about meeting them. When it was my turn to see Rosetta I approached her nervously but in a calm manner but she didn’t seem to mind that I was feeling nervous because she was very nice and polite to me. She asked me who I was and if it was my first time seeing her. She also asked me where I came from and I replied Britain and she then asked how I got here by either using pixie dust or with fairy wings and me being the ninny said fairy wings when I should’ve said pixie dust! It’s not fair I shouldn’t be able to stumble over my words like that! I’m a boy not a fairy! I might as well go hide in some bushes now…get away from me fairies! I didn’t deserve to be in your clan! I’m joking, I actually like fairies in general and I haven’t gone insane I still like things like: Batman, Ozzy Osbourne, No More Heroes, Spiderman, Transformers, Indiana Jones, Brutal Legend, Super Mario, Father Ted and so many other man-ish things that I like anyways back to me and Rosetta now I was wearing a green t-shirt with a smiley face on it that night and as you know Tinker Bell and all the other Tinker fairies all wear green and of course Rosetta noticed my shirt and said to me that I’m a fully fledged Tinker fairy or sparrowman as I am like I said male. I then posed with her for a photo and then moved on to Tinker Bell herself. And man I gotta say what a hottie! I can’t believe I just said that….I kind of have a crush on her so yeah….

This time around I couldn’t say a word to her I mean at least with Rosetta I did talk to her bit and I wasn’t able to confess my feelings for Tink! Not when I was in a nervous state! Well whatever at least I had the great pleasure in meeting her though which was pretty sweet I guess. So no harm done eh? Like Rosetta, Tinker Bell also noticed my green T-shirt and also said I’m a tinker fairy like her. She told me that pixie dust was very important for travelling. After she signed my book she thanked me for seeing her and I gotta say she pretty much made my night at least. What is wrong with me? I’m liking a girly series. I then went back outside and then met up with my sister and father who were by the Crystal palace restaurant and surprisingly Wishes had started while I was meeting Tinker Bell and Rosetta they were watching the end of it when I arrived. They told me that they went to Frontierland and went on Big Thunder Mountain I knew couldn’t say what I did so I just said nothing and didn’t say a word about it.

We then decided to go back to Adventureland I needed something to take my mind off things so I went on Pirates of the Caribbean again and this time I got soaked big time. Next we then did the Magic Carpets of Agrabah which were a lot of fun and the spitting camels were a nice touch though. We then decided to go over to Splash Mountain just for one last ride in the park but the waiting time for it was 65 mins too long so we had to skip it so we decided to call a day. We then walked back to Main Street USA to meet up with my mother who was waiting for us by the benches and that was it really.

[kmedina]

My husband actually dislikes Handy Manny and makes fun of him much to my son's dismay. It is my son who was Buzz last year and will be Handy Manny this year. DH never dresses up although he is thinking about going (trick or treating with my boys) as a vampire this year. He bought vampire contacts and will at least wear those. We were at WDW one year during the time of the halloween parties but never attended. Our next trip is this December, so we will not be there to go to the MNSSHP this year. In two years, we are planning a trip and will not miss out on the party this time.

AK is our favorite park for character greets. It has a lot of the ones DS likes all close together with short wait times. We have never sat through the parade at AK but I am thinking about doing it on our upcoming trip. I am glad you enjoyed it. The electrical parade at MK is very nice (except for the one time where bad time management and not being able to move through the parade route caused us to miss our dinner reservation time). At least we got to watch the parade, and they still took us when we showed up late for dinner.

There is nothing wrong with liking the fairies. You do not need to feel any shame. Just consider the fact that you are a young man who was waiting to meet some hot ladies, and that should erase the stigma. The franchise started within the past few years, so it was not around when I was growing up. DS has not expressed any interest yet, so I have never seen any of the shows. I do know Tinkerbell though, since she is from Peter Pan.

I am glad you had another great day.

[Starscream275]

So your husband did that just to make fun of him? Huh guess that makes sense. Because I was gonna say in the next post does he like it or something? But whatever. I guess if I had shown up at MNSSHP then I would've made quite an impression on the characters. Besides Halloween is my second fave holiday after Xmas. Why won't people acknowledge it as a proper holiday? It's not just something for the kiddies damn it, it's for teens as well! And half the time they don't even make a big deal out of it and they have to go straight to the christmas decorations in the middle of freaking October! Seriously I hate it when they do that I really do!

Also I was aware of the series even before I was a fan and that was pretty much foreshadowing my future. And not too mention because of the disney fairies series I've developed a huge crush on Mae Whitman for reasons only known to me. And oddly enough I saw the first Tinker Bell movie just after seeing Scott Pilgrim at the cinema last summer. It really is a series I keep coming back to. And seeing as I'm a sucker for that series I bought both the photopass pictures for both Tinker Bell and Rosetta right next to the ones I had with Mickey Mouse and Buzz Lightyear. And of course my parents do not know I like the series but they did find out that I did meet Tink thanks to the photopass picture of me standing right next to her and I felt bad and depressed about it but they didn't laugh at me because of that they told to not worry about it so fine it's alright I guess.

It would've been fine if it weren't for the fact that I hid behind my own mother when Tink's float passed by during the Main Street Electrical parade. Let me repeat that: I hid behind my own mother from Tinker Bell while watching the Main Street Electrical parade...I really wish I was making this up. I think that's the only thing that needs to be erased from my head. Meeting Rosetta and Tink? I'm fine with. Hiding from Tink during the Main Street Electrical parade? Not fine with. It's a very very embarrassing moment and good thing my family didn't see me doing this though. They were too engrossed with the parade to even notice me acting weird anyway.

And your right I don't need to be ashamed about liking the Disney Fairies series. And if it makes me smile then who really cares what people think right?

[kmedina]

DH is pretty relentless in making fun of Handy Manny. Instead of singing we can fix it right, he always says we can fix it wrong. My son is only four, so he does not get sarcasm yet. He thinks my husband just cannot remember the proper words and tries to correct him. I think Hany Manny is okay, but it does not matter what DH and I think. As long as DS enjoys him, that is all that matters.

I admit that I have not dressed up for Halloween since I was 14. However, I will dress up in two years for MNSSHP. It would be nice to go as one of the Princesses, so I just have to choose which one. DH agrees with you that they should not put Christmas decorations out until after Halloween or even Thanksgiving. It really bothers him, and he must constantly complain when he sees them out this early.

Christmas is my favorite holiday followed by Halloween as well. Mostly because I enjoy watching my son enjoy Christmas first and then Halloween.

One should always do whatever makes him/her happy. I never put too much credence into what other people think. Always take opinions whether positive or negative with a grain of salt, and make your own decisions. You are the one who has to live with your decisions, so if they make you smile, you've probably made the right one. As long as your decision is not illegal or harmful to someone else, do whatever you want. When you look at things that way, you will feel less shameful and more happy with doing what you want to do.

[Starscream275]

I guess there will always be cynics out there that will think that your getting too soft or your just being plain weird. But that won't matter to me because I'm not like them they can say what they what cuz I ain't changing. I like being me. All I need out of life is confidence and that thought that says: "Yeah I can do it! I can do anything!" I just need to not judge myself too seriously I guess. I just need a little bit of faith and trust is all. That's what will make me whole as a person and that's all I need.

[kmedina]

You are very wise at 18 and have already learned things that I did not fully learn until my mid to late twenties. Be who you are is the most important advise I could give anyone.

[Starscream275]

Day 6 Blizzard Beach and Disney Hollywood studios

I must say Disney world has been a real rollercoaster of a trip. I’ve enjoyed it so much that I’m already planning on my return trip there next year just for myself that is. It was that good I tell you anyways on with the next day and this time we headed for the second water park in the whole of Disney World: Blizzard Beach. I gotta say it’s the weaker of the two water parks while it’s a good water park I felt I didn’t enjoy myself as much as I did with Typhoon Lagoon and I have to agree with my father on this one. Well for one thing it was a very small park and it doesn’t have much to offer in terms of attractions and there wasn’t a lot to do while we where there. Of course my mother relaxed in the chairs whilst me, my sister and father went and did the park by ourselves. For the most part I was still trying to stay on those stupid floats but I kept falling off them! I swear they hate my guts! Anyways I went on Toboggan racers and it’s the most awesome idea that I’ve ever come across from Disney. Tobogganing down water slides while racing against other park guests, it’s an ingenious concept! I had a lot of fun with this one I had ridden on it 5 times while I was Blizzard Beach. It was only on my second go that a friendly black American woman challenged me to a race and I came second beating her when she was a near third. She congratulated me on beating her and I went on it again. Seriously I kept coming back to this ride it was so much fun. The weather unlike with Typhoon Lagoon was meh at best one minute it was sunny, the next there was a freak storm brewing and as a result the park ended up getting closed because of it and then it rained heavily….again and then it was sunny again. We had to wait a good 15-20 mins until the storm had passed we decided to have a look around the shops while we were waiting. As usual my sister was checking out everything in the shop and she still haven’t decided on what to get I browsed a bit and I tried on a tusk necklace it was too small for me but you have to admit I looked pretty damn cool wearing that Tusk necklace. God I wish I had pictures to show you that.

When the storm cleared the park reopened it’s doors to the public again. I did go on another ride before the storm came though the team boat springs and unlucky for me because I couldn’t go on it because I was all on my own and I ended up riding with another family. And you know I wasn’t sure at first if I wanted to go on Toboggan racers because I was originally going to try out Downhill Double Dipper but had a really long *** line for it so I had to skip it. And when the storm passed when I tried to go for Toboggan racers again for a fifth time it had a long line as well so I went for Snow Stoppers not as good as Toboggan racers but it was cool nonetheless. Oh and here’s a pro-tip for anyone who’s going to Disney World and they are planning on going to either Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach don’t go around the parks bare foot when the floor’s all hot because it’ll scold your feet if you do that. And I learnt that the hard way I even had to walk on my tippy-toes at one point because the floor was so damn hot! My advice always keep your sandals or flip-flops on whenever you walk about the water parks. Trust me you’ll save yourself the trouble of taking them on and off whenever you are near hot walking surfaces.

I wish I could say more about this park but really there isn’t much to say other than what I’ve already said about it. It’s defiantly by far the weaker one of the water parks at Disney World. Typhoon Lagoon’s a park that I would more likely return to more because it has more to offer as a park plus it’s a lot bigger than Blizzard Beach as a whole. So point goes to Typhoon Lagoon on the water parks. We decided that we had enough of Blizzard Beach and decided to have lunch back at the apartment we had to wait a bit until my sister had come off a ride because she was held up in a queue for it. I like how you Americans have things like cheese sauce for Nachos, Taco Bell’s and have way bigger shopping malls yet we don’t seem to have it over in where I’m from. It’s not fair I should be having some that American stuff in Britain! You can say I’m tad bit jealous of this but it’s just a minor nitpick anyway. After we digested some lunch we went back to Disney Hollywood studios and I picked up my photopass pictures yes even the ones with Tinker Bell and Rosetta. And like I told you before, my parents only know that I saw Tinker Bell that night all because of that one photopass picture of me standing next to Tink but they don’t know I’m a fan of the Disney Fairies series. So I don’t need to worry at all. We then went on the Great Movie Ride and seeing as I’m a movie fanatic I did get something from it and I guess it’s a nice little tribute to the movies from the last decades or so but nothing really special about it. After that I then asked my family that I wanted to go on my own through the park and they told me to meet up by the hat. So I had a little walk around Streets of America and I found the Phineas and Ferb meet and greet spot but not much good going there because it was already 6:30PM too late to meet them and you will be interested that I’ve recently got into the show and I’m finding most of the stuff for that show hilarious. DR DOOFENSMIRTZ AND PERRY THE PLAYTPUS FOR THE WIN! I saw Lighting McQueen and Mater’s meet and greet spot but I decided to skip them because the line was too long for my tastes. So I walked back past the Hollywood backdrop and decided to ride Star Tours again. My father then contacted me on my walkie talkie that they at the hat enjoying the live band for the night.

As usual my mother wanted to take it easy so she sat on a bench outside of The Magic of Disney Animation naturally I ventured inside via the shop cuz I had learnt that there was a character meet and greet in the building besides the current characters that meet there Mickey, Mr Incredible, Elastigirl, Frozone and now Winnie the Pooh whose recently replaced Lotso but like all new movies he’s not gonna be meeting there for long. I heard that some of the rare characters like to linger around The Magic of Disney Animation rare characters like: Jafar, Captain Hook, Queen of Hearts and Max all show up in that building but when I got there wasn’t a character in sight it’s only after the trip I figured that the rare characters come out during the late evenings I’m referring to the Fantasmic meet. While they appear regularly it’s not always a guarantee that they’ll show up. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t but it’s every other day that they make appearances so I guess the next time I visit I better hope I get lucky and see them in the building because it really is a golden opportunity to see rare characters at this time anyway. While I was there I decided to play about for a bit on the machines I did You’re a character and picked the Aladdin scene I pretty much knew the scene of by heart cuz I had seen Aladdin so many times now and did I not mention that I want to become a voice actor in the future? It’s always been my passion to entertain people so I figure voice acting is where it’s at for me and there have been so many influences that have made me want to go into voice acting so yeah that’s who I wanna be in the future.

I was about to leave The Magic of Disney animation when my father and sister came in and also went on the machines for a bit and that was it for the night. Oh god I’ve just realized something Animal Kingdom is the place where I met lot of characters at but it’s also the park where I did less there and same thing with Epcot there was less done all because of the terrible events that happened there. Though Animal Kingdom I don’t think it’s a park I would like to come back in a hurry to for but Epcot is another story I again want to make amends for my past transactions and have a more pleasant experience there so fingers crossed for the better.

[ronnmel]

Ok, found the correct TR. I haven't finished reading all your updates, will have to come back later.

[Starscream275]

No problem Rommel, take your time reading it and enjoy I guess.

[ronnmel]

Blizzard Beach has more and longer slides, but Typhoon Lagoon definitely has the best wave pool!

The random characters in the Animation building come out between 5pm and 7pm, but not everyday.

Great TR!

[Starscream275]

Nah I really do prefer Typhoon Lagoon and besides I had more fun while I was there anyways. But it is agreed that Typhoon Lagoon has an awesome wave pool that's something I wanna do again when I go back.

Ah thanks on the random character meet and greet in the Animation building I guess I must've done either two things: 1 They were there but I was just too late to see them or 2 I came when it was a day when they were showing Fantasmic early. The only problem now is which days the random character meet and greets usually happen at DHS. I know it's not every day and the time but it's just the days I'll need to know though.

And oh one last thing Rommel, have you checked out the other parts to my trip report?

[ronnmel]

Nah I really do prefer Typhoon Lagoon and besides I had more fun while I was there anyways. But it is agreed that Typhoon Lagoon has an awesome wave pool that's something I wanna do again when I go back.

Ah thanks on the random character meet and greet in the Animation building I guess I must've done either two things: 1 They were there but I was just too late to see them or 2 I came when it was a day when they were showing Fantasmic early. The only problem now is which days the random character meet and greets usually happen at DHS. I know it's not every day and the time but it's just the days I'll need to know though.

And oh one last thing Rommel, have you checked out the other parts to my trip report?

I've heard that the characters are there every night that Fantasmic doesn't show early, but I couldn't confirm it.

I've read everything, but quickly as I've been suffering from pregnancy nausea pretty bad. Whoever called it morning sickness was lucky to only get it in the morning...

[Starscream275]

Oooh sorry to hear your having morning sickness I hope you get better. It isn't a permanent illness is it? Do you have any treatments for it?

[kmedina]

I'm glad you had fun on the Toboggan Racer even if the rest of the park did not appeal much to you.

I love Phineas and Ferb too. That is actually what DS is watching now. The humor is not just for kids, so it is my favorite Disney cartoon tv show. We are all looking forward to the new meet and greet there. Thanks for the tip that we should get there earlier in the day.

I am a movie buff too, but I find the great movie ride a little boring. Taco Bell is awesome and so is cheese sauce for things like nachos and soft pretzels.

We had a lot of laid back fun in the Magic of Disney Animation section last trip too.

[kmedina]

I've read everything, but quickly as I've been suffering from pregnancy nausea pretty bad. Whoever called it morning sickness was lucky to only get it in the morning...

I had "morning sickness" all day with both of my pregnancies. It lasted until I was 3.5 months pregnant with my first and 4.5 months pregnant with my second. Hopefully, yours will go away soon. Congratulations on your pregnancy.

[ronnmel]

Oooh sorry to hear your having morning sickness I hope you get better. It isn't a permanent illness is it? Do you have any treatments for it?

It's not permanent, but it's common to last the first 3-4 months of any pregnancy. Hopefully the doctor might have a pill to help with it when I see her later this week.


I had "morning sickness" all day with both of my pregnancies. It lasted until I was 3.5 months pregnant with my first and 4.5 months pregnant with my second. Hopefully, yours will go away soon. Congratulations on your pregnancy.

Thanks! I do hope it goes away soon.

[Starscream275]

I'm thinking of posting all of the pictures that I have from my trip including the ones that happen to be the photopass pictures. Trouble is the photopass photos are already printed out and I haven't got them on my laptop so the best I can do with them is take pictures of them with my crappy camera. As for the rest of the photos I'll have to ask my father if he can email them to me because he has most of them on his laptop so they won't be much of a problem if he's willing to do that for me that is but whatever. Expect the photos to be posted in the next week or so.

[ronnmel]

Yay! Love photos. :)

[Starscream275]

I'll post the Photopass pictures first just to get them out the way. I'm afraid I didn't have many photopass pictures while I was on my trip and I only got four as a result and there all with the characters but I imagine you'll enjoy them all the same anyway.

[kmedina]

Sorry. I was out of it for a few days with strep. The pics will be awesome. I want to see the one with Tink.

[Starscream275]

I'll be able to post the first two photopass pictures tommorrow. So expect them soon.

[Starscream275]

God damn it's been a long time since I've updated on this trip report but whatever I'm back with some news. I'm thinking about talking about the next day but it'll be strictly outside of Disney and of course I'm refering to Universal Citywalk. There isn't a lot to talk about for that day but if you want to hear about it tell me what you think. And regarding the photopass photos I have right now and the fact that I haven't admitted that I'm an amateur when comes to uploading photos onto my laptop meaning I have no clue how to do it. I'm afraid I have to say that I can't show you the pictures because of that fact as cool as it would be to give you some pictures to go with the trip report, it's not gonna happen I'm afraid I'm sorry.

But keep me posted if you want to hear about the sixth day in my trip. Let me hear what you think.

[ronnmel]

I would be interested to hear about Universal CityWalk. :)

As for how to upload pictures, can't you ask someone to help you with this? It shouldn't be too complicated really, since they are already on CD.

[ronnmel]

I would be interested to hear about Universal CityWalk. :)

As for how to upload pictures, can't you ask someone to help you with this? It shouldn't be too complicated really, since they are already on CD.

[Starscream275]

Actually I never got the photopass CD because all the photopass pictures are all printed out and I've had to take pictures of them with my crappy camera and the fact that they aren't on my laptop also proves a problem so yeah. Anyways about Universal Citywalk I'll post the day later so that you don't go empty handed.

[PrincessInOz]

Catching up. Sounds like you're having relatively full days at the World.

And yes...please post Universal CityWalk.

Did you Mickey-cheat with Harry?

[Carlyluvsdisney]

I'm enjoying your TR so far. I'd like to hear about citywalk as I've never been there but plan on going to Universal on one of my future trips. :)

[kmedina]

I've never been to Citywalk in Orlando. I would love to read about it as well. I am leaving for WDW myself in 3 days, so I will read anything you update when I return. It's okay that you have no pictures. I've enjoyed your trip report anyway. I just learned how to post pictures to this forum myself.

[Starscream275]

Oops my mistake it's actually Islands of Adventure that I went to not Citywalk. Sorry.

[Starscream275]

And now the moment you've all been waiting for the last day before returning to the UK! Ladies and gents, I present you my trip report on Universal Islands of Adventure, enjoy.

Day 7 Universal Islands of Adventure

Let’s just get one thing clear here: I don’t like Universal Islands of Adventure. Now before you all go: “Oh my god you hate Universal?! I KILL YOU NOW!” hear me on this. Most of the rides at Islands of Adventure consist mostly of roller coasters you people are feel free to like roller coasters and that’s fine with me but what’s not fine with me is the fact that besides flume rides there isn’t any other rides that branch us out to people who really hate roller coasters with a passion. And I’m one of those people who hate roller coasters in general.

Back before we went to Disney World and we were still in the planning stages of the trip, my mother went on and on and on about how we must go to Universal for the Harry Potter land they had recently built but I kept telling her again and again that I didn’t want to go and neither did my father I couldn’t for the life of me get myself to even like it, I tried liking it but I still thought at the end of the day that it was lacking the charm that Disney World had and to this day I still don’t see why Universal is such a great park at least in my opinion and there were some things that needed improving and it was clearly shown at the entrance to Universal Islands of Adventure and when I got to the ticket counter I was just thinking: “Alright I’m here at Islands of Adventure, do your worst, park.” So we go straight to the Harry Potter land my mother and sister are very excited as hell, ready to enjoy themselves, we then reach the land and to our surprise it’s so freaking small and there’s nothing to do it! And here’s my biggest problem with the Harry Potter land now for the record I’m a former fan of the series and I haven’t seen the seventh film (Part 2 doesn’t count because it’s continuing from the last film so I consider both Part 1 and Part 2 the same film) and naturally I don’t have anything against the series itself but what I don’t understand is the fact that Universal put up commercials advertising that land making it out that it was supposed to be the “main attraction of the entire park” I mean you watch the commercial and you go: “Wow it looks awesome I wanna go there!” but when you do actually get to the actual land the majority of things to do in that land are shops and restaurants and there are only three rides and two of them happen to be roller coasters so in actual fact there’s nothing to do in that entire land! WHY IN THE NAME OF SCOTT PILGRIM’S LAZY *** UNIVERSAL DID YOU OVERHYPE A FREAKING LAND IN COMMERICALS WHEN IT’S NOT THAT BIG OF A DEAL?! I mean I know it’s a popular franchise but come on there is no point to that land! Pro-tip Universal, don’t overhype a land when it has nothing to offer and the fact that they made a Harry Potter land in Islands of Adventure still boggles my mind I mean they don’t even own that franchise if they really wanted to replace Merlin’s woods I think that’s what it’s called then why the hell didn’t they use their own franchises instead of just borrowing from Warner Bros? (Sighs) In my opinion the Harry Potter land should’ve been it’s own theme park over in the UK probably appearing somewhere in Britain or in Scotland that would make sense whilst here well…it just seems so out of place and the only reason it’s there just to attract Harry Potter fans.

But enough moaning about it let’s get to the actual land itself. Well for the most part it’s got the look and feel to the movies it’s very well designed and they do have things from the series like Honeydukes, Hogshead, Zonko’s joke shop but like I said there’s nothing to do while you’ll there and you will be going into the shops most of the time while your there. Also the entertainment there…ohhh boy I really have a lot to say about this one…this is gonna be painful…
To put it simple the entertainment is really earth shattering crap we have The Frog Chorus with The Beaubaxtons and Durmstrang students as an “after flavour” as it were. (Sighs) Alright I’ll start off with The Frog Chorus and then I’ll have The Beaubaxtons and Durmstrang students for afters. God that last sentence made me sound like Killer Croc for some reason, huh. Anyways The Frog Chorus and like it’s namesake basically it’s a choir with frogs just like in the third film but here’s where the crap-fest starts basically they are like the Dapper Dans on Main Street USA whilst I’ve heard the Dapper Dans are good with making renditions to various Disney songs the Frog Chorus on the other are completely different story. They pretty much take the songs that made the Harry Potter films great and just toss them out of the window it’s like if Lady Gaga meets Heavy Metal music. Now I haven’t seen the Frog Chorus up close while I was there but I have seen one of the performances on YouTube I have to say it’s very, very abysmal and cringe-worthy I mean it would’ve helped if the choir was on a stage or something but they are just awkwardly positioned at the centre plaza and that’s it. And they treat Double, double toil and trouble as if it were a freaking pop song when you think about it’s just so horrible from what I can assume just standing there and watching a group of teenagers butcher the Hedwig theme. It’s just the stuff that makes people want to vomit whenever they start singing it’s just…urggghhh…words just cannot describe how bad it is…now to be fair Universal aren’t known for their entertainment value but god damn it at least try to make the entertainment somewhat entertaining. There’s not much to say about The Beaubaxton and Durmstrang students other than it consists of The Beaubaxton students dancing with those flag-things that are used for ballet and The Durmstrang students just basically jumping about the plaza with poles in their hands and yeah that’s all they do and they don’t do anything spectacular considering the fourth film had them pull off more amazing feats than that. There was one good thing about the land while I was there and it was The Forbidden Journey. I have to say for a simulator ride it was glorious it really made you feel like you were there with Harry and his friends. Oh and the bit with the Dementors and Spiders? Very effective and probably the best part of the whole ride no questions asked. I think they spend more time making this ride look good than on the rest of the land they only bad thing I can talk about that ride was the queue line. God the waiting time for this one makes Splash Mountain and Buzz Lightyear’s laser blasters waiting times look normal compared to this.

This is the actual waiting time for the ride and I’m not making this one up. The waiting time was 1 HOUR AND 20 MINUTES! 1 HOUR AND 20 MINUTES FOR JUST THAT ONE RIDE IT’S BLOODY RIDICULOUS! It doesn’t help the fact that the queue line is so ridiculously long and that it’s such a popular ride! Hell it broke down when I was there and the queue stopped moving and then we had to wait for ages until they had fixed the damn thing. I would love to go on The Forbidden Journey again but I don’t wanna risk having another incident like that again so I’m not taking any chances. Overall the ride was superb but one ride isn’t enough to save the land. Bottomline? The Harry Potter land sucked, it wasn’t worth the hype and it wasn’t really that big of a deal I’m sorry but it just didn’t cut it for me so yeah.

Next we went to the Jurassic Park land I haven’t seen the movie but god damn it I wanna see it now I mean it’s like one of the best movies Steven Spielberg ever made for god sakes! And then we went on what was possibly my favourite ride while I was there: Jurassic Park river adventure! Hell yeah I really loved that ride I mean I know the park consists of roller coasters and log flume rides but god damn it, it’s bloody Jurassic Park! What more do you want? I would have more to say about the ride but again I haven’t seen the movie hopefully I can get it on DVD this Christmas. Surprisingly considering the long drop at the end of the ride was 85 feet tall and you’d think that I would've screamed from that height but I actually enjoyed that bit. Damn I must be braver than I thought. 85 feet drops? Nah, they mean nothing to me! We then went to the Jurassic Park discovery centre and I’ll be honest with you it’s nothing but a blatant rip-off to Rafiki’s Planet Watch in the Animal Kingdom. In fact while I was going through Islands of Adventure I really didn’t feel like I was in a completely different park altogether I felt like I was going through Disney World again, a cheap imitation to Disney World and it’s various parks to be precise. There’s hardly any rides in the entire park to interest me and it just can’t decide what it’s demographic audience is meant to be. What are you Islands of Adventure? Are you a theme park for kids, or are you a theme park for teenagers? Make your bloody mind up! I could go on with this but I’d pretty much be repeating myself here so moving on I had some lunch at the Thunder Falls Terrance while I was there I had the Chicken Tortilla wrap but I really couldn't get myself to finish it because I found it to be rather tacky and tasteless I had to eat some of my mother’s chocolate cake for lunch.

After lunch we went to Toon Lagoon and I can pretty much sum up the whole experience like this: Gift shop, gift shop, gift shop, gift shop. That’s pretty much what I did there because honestly I have absolutely nothing to say whatsoever on this land because from my understanding this land is meant to based on the works of King Features Syndicate and Jay Ward and I really see this land to be very forgettable. Why? Because they have the hugest collection of generic and bland characters in history! I mean apart from four characters that I know of which being: Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Spiderman and to a lesser extent Flash Gordon apart from those four I don’t know any of the characters from both King Features Syndicate or Jay Ward! I can remember Betty Boop because she was in Who Framed Roger Rabbit for a cameo appearance along with maybe Popeye but even they were vague and seriously lacking in character depth! Most of the characters are either mundane families or one shot cartoon wonders from the 1930s! This is the problem when you try to base a land on a freaking line of characters that no one is gonna remember! AND WHAT 9 YEAR OLD KID IS GONNA REMEMBER FELIX THE BLOODY CAT?! Sorry I just had to get it out of my system but that’s the whole land I’m talking about! A land based on boring characters from either comics or cartoons! There’s so much stupid leaking from Islands of Adventure there really is!

The last land we went to was Marvel Superhero Island or whatever the hell it was called. I really find this land hilarious because Marvel are now owned by Disney and Universal being one of their biggest rivals when it comes to the theme park business happen to have their franchise! It’s just mind boggling when you think about it! Didn’t do any rides while I was there again it was nothing but gift shops I mainly stayed by my mother's side while my father and sister went on a few rides while we were there. But then again I did miss my chance at riding that Spiderman ride heard it’s supposed to be pretty good anyway but I doubt I ever will ride it seeing as my opinion stands that I hate Islands of Adventure in general. In fact most of the time while I was there it was just gift shops and there were hardly any rides that I thoroughly enjoyed. I don’t go to a theme park just for it’s shops I wanna try everything that a park has to offer and Islands of Adventure clearly didn’t anything to please me.

Out of all the parks that I’ve been to whilst in Florida, Universal Islands of Adventure is the one park I downright hated on the trip people keep going on and on about how Islands of Adventure is one of the best parks in Florida but I’m sorry I just don’t see anything “great” about it. It tries to be something that it’s clearly not and most of the time it doesn’t know what to do with it’s audience and it doesn’t branch out to anyone who isn’t a roller coaster enthusiast. And that’s why I’m never going back to Islands of Adventure I hear the studios are supposed to be better for me but there’s only 3 rides that really spark my interest and I’m not going there just for those rides and before you ask the rides include: The ET, Men in Black and Simpsons rides. To sum up I hate Universal in general, there cheap, there tacky and they just don’t live up to my expectations.

Overall I had a great trip when I was over in Disney World and Florida I thought it was one of the best holidays I’ve ever been to. However the same can’t be said to my family but that’s their opinion and their entitled to it. Disney world was everything I wanted it to be and I really enjoyed myself. I’ve shared some great experiences over there in America, the fun I had, the drama, the thrills and the excitement of my inner childhood. Thank you America for giving me a wonderful experience, you are awesome to visit. I mean yeah your crazy at times but really you Americans have the best intentions for us brits. I’ve enjoyed myself over at the happiest place on earth and I hope to return there again in the near future.

[ronnmel]

Sorry you had such a bad day for the last day of your vacation. I love roller coasters (though not as much as when I was a teenager and could handle them much better), as well as log flume rides, so I'd probably enjoy Universal. I especially want to try that Harry Potter ride, but I'm not willing to wait that long for it!

[kmedina]

I am sorry you did not enjoy the park. There is a Jurassic Park ride at the Universal in Hollywood. It is a good one, in my opionion too. We are Harry Potter fans, so we would love to see the land one day (even if it is small). Our kids are too small now, and I've heard from people who've been there, it is not a great park for small kids. Even though I have never been, I agree that Disney (is probably) better. I am glad you had a good overall trip. We really enjoyed our recent trip. Except for the night we went to MVMCP (when it was cold and rained), the weather was beautiful. Happy Christmas!!

[Starscream275]

Trust me I can think of better things I could've done instead of going to Islands of Adventure. I mean I could've gone back to the Animal Kingdom to try out some of the rides they have there because when I was there I didn't get a chance to do that or hell GO BACK TO EPCOT! Yeah that could've been the day to redeem myself there! I mean it was sunny enough and the weather didn't change during the day so why the hell couldn't I just of easily gone back there?! Although to be fair, I don't think my family would've been interested in going back to Animal Kingdom and god knows they wouldn't have done Epcot again.

[kmedina]

Sorry this response is so late. I've had a lot going on the past couple of months and have not logged in much. I just want to say that someday I know you will get your Epcot redemption. I hope it comes sonner rather than later.

[Starscream275]

I hope so because I sure as hell do not want to end up with another rainy day there I want my redemption to become a reality no questions asked.

[ronnmel]

Ok, started re-reading, as I promised.

I'm sorry you didn't like your first plane experience. Unfortunately, I can tell you it's pretty much standard for planes to 1. having no leg room and being cramped, and 2. have not so good food. At least count yourself lucky that coming from the UK you actually get a meal, instead of just a drink for us. I remember the goold ol' days when travelling with my brother to visit my grandparents in Florida over 20 years ago. We had a full hot meal, and a nice chocolate heart (it was close to Valentine's day).

Magic Kingdom really is the best place to immerse yourself in the magic.

I'm sorry, but I'm with your dad. Gotta go on It's a Small World. It's a classic! Awww, memories of my childhood.

I'm sorry you got separated from your family. When doing such a thing, it's very important to set up a meeting time and place. Heck, even in the local mall it's always good to know when and where to meet up again, let alone in a big and unknown place such as WDW. Take it as a life lesson. ;) At least you got to go on some fun rides.

[Starscream275]

Ok, started re-reading, as I promised.

I'm sorry you didn't like your first plane experience. Unfortunately, I can tell you it's pretty much standard for planes to 1. having no leg room and being cramped, and 2. have not so good food. At least count yourself lucky that coming from the UK you actually get a meal, instead of just a drink for us. I remember the goold ol' days when travelling with my brother to visit my grandparents in Florida over 20 years ago. We had a full hot meal, and a nice chocolate heart (it was close to Valentine's day).

Magic Kingdom really is the best place to immerse yourself in the magic.

I'm sorry, but I'm with your dad. Gotta go on It's a Small World. It's a classic! Awww, memories of my childhood.

I'm sorry you got separated from your family. When doing such a thing, it's very important to set up a meeting time and place. Heck, even in the local mall it's always good to know when and where to meet up again, let alone in a big and unknown place such as WDW. Take it as a life lesson. ;) At least you got to go on some fun rides.
Well to be fair it was my first flight ever so the feeling's netural here. And the fact that I'm on a travel and tourism course at my college does kinda help with that experience anyway.

Grrrr! Why must the women love It's a small world?! There will be nothing happy about it once I go on it! It'll be the death of me!

Okay you got me on that one I'll confess. See, the only reason my dad came to WDW was because he was only doing it for me and my sister. He was practically miserable while I was there with him. He just didn't want to be there most the time! I mean yeah he smiled on a few occasions with things like Pirates of the Carribbean, Fantasmic and Star Tours but those moments when he did smile was rare and far Inbetween. I just felt uncomfortable with him around. Ok Disney world I get it he doesn't want to there. But don't you think you would want to keep your opinions to yourself?! I mean he didn't try to mask his true feelings about it and just flat out stated that he didn't like it. He never planned anything out thoroughly and that's why I ended up losing my family twice in a row.
I enjoyed WDW but I just wish that I didn't have to put up with any negative thoughts on it for most of the trip anyway.

[ronnmel]

Well to be fair it was my first flight ever so the feeling's netural here. And the fact that I'm on a travel and tourism course at my college does kinda help with that experience anyway.

Grrrr! Why must the women love It's a small world?! There will be nothing happy about it once I go on it! It'll be the death of me!

Okay you got me on that one I'll confess. See, the only reason my dad came to WDW was because he was only doing it for me and my sister. He was practically miserable while I was there with him. He just didn't want to be there most the time! I mean yeah he smiled on a few occasions with things like Pirates of the Carribbean, Fantasmic and Star Tours but those moments when he did smile was rare and far Inbetween. I just felt uncomfortable with him around. Ok Disney world I get it he doesn't want to there. But don't you think you would want to keep your opinions to yourself?! I mean he didn't try to mask his true feelings about it and just flat out stated that he didn't like it. He never planned anything out thoroughly and that's why I ended up losing my family twice in a row.
I enjoyed WDW but I just wish that I didn't have to put up with any negative thoughts on it for most of the trip anyway.

That sucks that your dad had a bad attitude for much of your trip. I can understand, as my dad is like that most of the time. When I was younger he barely ever went anywhere with us, and if he did come he would complain. Even on the plane on the way to Cuba for my wedding all he did was complain. Thankfully, he was much more subdued the rest of the week, or I would have regretted inviting him!

Just read Day 2. As you may have noticed from my TR, I LOVE Spaceship Earth. I know the ride itself isn't much, but I just enjoy how relaxing it is, especially the part with the Earth and all the stars. And I always find the little video at the end hilarious. Even more so if we make funny faces when they take our picture. :rotfl2:

I was apprehensive too before I rode test track for the first time. For some reason I thought it would give me motion sickness? :confused3 Fortunately, it didn't and I enjoyed the ride.

Your apartment was 2 hours away from WDW???? That seems like such a long drive to have to do twice a day, and even 4 times the day you went back to Downtown Disney!

We enjoy the Alien game at Disneyquest as well.

[Starscream275]

That sucks that your dad had a bad attitude for much of your trip. I can understand, as my dad is like that most of the time. When I was younger he barely ever went anywhere with us, and if he did come he would complain. Even on the plane on the way to Cuba for my wedding all he did was complain. Thankfully, he was much more subdued the rest of the week, or I would have regretted inviting him!

Just read Day 2. As you may have noticed from my TR, I LOVE Spaceship Earth. I know the ride itself isn't much, but I just enjoy how relaxing it is, especially the part with the Earth and all the stars. And I always find the little video at the end hilarious. Even more so if we make funny faces when they take our picture. :rotfl2:

I was apprehensive too before I rode test track for the first time. For some reason I thought it would give me motion sickness? :confused3 Fortunately, it didn't and I enjoyed the ride.

Your apartment was 2 hours away from WDW???? That seems like such a long drive to have to do twice a day, and even 4 times the day you went back to Downtown Disney!

We enjoy the Alien game at Disneyquest as well.


Don't worry Mel, it wasn't that bad of a car journey I was actually staying in an apartment that was near WDW so no worries there.

And I still feel terrible about day 2 because it was by far the worst I had on my WDW trip. Just pouring rain, me running around trying to find my family, getting trapped in the Mexican and Chinese pavilions. Just a horrible, horrible day. And I hated it so much and it was not the best way for my first experience in Epcot either so yeah...

Oh god I'm glad you brought up Downtown Disney because there was one area of it that I never got to see while I was there and it was the Lego imagination centre! I mean I know I'm 19 now but damn it I still love Lego! And I have seen pictures of the Lego models of Woody and Buzz Lightyear along with the one of Prince Phillip and Dragon Maleficent and they are stunning. Absolutely stunning. I could've wished to explore and experience more from Downtown Disney besides Disney Quest but it was still pretty cool I guess.

And you asked me in your TR about Donald being in the temple of the Mexican pavilion well they actually did the same thing with Mulan (Still gutted that I didn't go up to her by the way) and I also heard that Belle and the Beast were inside the French Pavilion by the cinema from what I could gather anyway.

[ronnmel]

Don't worry Mel, it wasn't that bad of a car journey I was actually staying in an apartment that was near WDW so no worries there.

And I still feel terrible about day 2 because it was by far the worst I had on my WDW trip. Just pouring rain, me running around trying to find my family, getting trapped in the Mexican and Chinese pavilions. Just a horrible, horrible day. And I hated it so much and it was not the best way for my first experience in Epcot either so yeah...

Oh god I'm glad you brought up Downtown Disney because there was one area of it that I never got to see while I was there and it was the Lego imagination centre! I mean I know I'm 19 now but damn it I still love Lego! And I have seen pictures of the Lego models of Woody and Buzz Lightyear along with the one of Prince Phillip and Dragon Maleficent and they are stunning. Absolutely stunning. I could've wished to explore and experience more from Downtown Disney besides Disney Quest but it was still pretty cool I guess.

And you asked me in your TR about Donald being in the temple of the Mexican pavilion well they actually did the same thing with Mulan (Still gutted that I didn't go up to her by the way) and I also heard that Belle and the Beast were inside the French Pavilion by the cinema from what I could gather anyway.

The Lego store is pretty cool, so hope you get a chance to visit it next time you are in Disney World. Speaking of which, what happened to the trip you were planning?

On to day 3. I LOVE Typhoon Lagoon! Even though the slides are short, they are lots of fun. Crush N Gusher is so different than any water slides and is awesome. But nothing beats the mega wave pool! It's my FAVORITE thing by far! I just love love love playing in the gigantic waves. Glad you ahd a great time there.

In Hollywood Studios I tried the Star Tours, but though I had fun it left me feeling way too queasy, so I let my husband do it alone after. Damn motion sickness. I like both the car stunts show and the Indiana Jones show, but not enough to watch them every trip. That was very nice of you to keep your mom company, but man you missed my favorite attraction in all of WDW!!! I just love all the details in the queue, the spookyness in the first time, then the drops over and over again. So cool!

You said on my trip report that you don't think Illuminations is all that great. Well for my husband and I, we find Fantasmic to be just okay. It's a nice show, but it is nowhere near worth the 1-2 hour wait to get good seats. We'll only watch it if we can come into the theatre shortly before it starts. To each their own.

[earthfaries]

Hi. I just came across your trip report and I've started to read it. Just wanted to say "hi" :)

[Starscream275]

Hi. I just came across your trip report and I've started to read it. Just wanted to say "hi" :)

Hi there and welcome to the TR! Hope you enjoy it!

[Starscream275]

The Lego store is pretty cool, so hope you get a chance to visit it next time you are in Disney World. Speaking of which, what happened to the trip you were planning?

On to day 3. I LOVE Typhoon Lagoon! Even though the slides are short, they are lots of fun. Crush N Gusher is so different than any water slides and is awesome. But nothing beats the mega wave pool! It's my FAVORITE thing by far! I just love love love playing in the gigantic waves. Glad you ahd a great time there.

In Hollywood Studios I tried the Star Tours, but though I had fun it left me feeling way too queasy, so I let my husband do it alone after. Damn motion sickness. I like both the car stunts show and the Indiana Jones show, but not enough to watch them every trip. That was very nice of you to keep your mom company, but man you missed my favorite attraction in all of WDW!!! I just love all the details in the queue, the spookyness in the first time, then the drops over and over again. So cool!

You said on my trip report that you don't think Illuminations is all that great. Well for my husband and I, we find Fantasmic to be just okay. It's a nice show, but it is nowhere near worth the 1-2 hour wait to get good seats. We'll only watch it if we can come into the theatre shortly before it starts. To each their own.

I'm still planning the trip it's just I've been busy with other things and by the way I want to sort out the budget for the trip.

Apart from my sister having her period and the trip to Typhoon Lagoon was pretty short it was still worth going there though. It's definatly the water park I'll be returning to again in the future.

God I didn't get to go and see the Beauty and the Beast show along with The Muppets show and hell I actually went past it actually the same spot where Phineas and Ferb usually meet. God I need to write down all the things that I missed in Disney World and see if I can do the things that I missed cuz there's so much I've missed while on my first trip anyway.

I take it you were never a show kind of girl and more of a ride and attractions sort of girl with Fantasmic I'm guessing right?

[ronnmel]

Nevermind about posting, I found it on my my own.

I just read day 4. I canNOT do Mission Space, as it makes me way too queasy. Now when Ron wants to do it, I just hang out in Mousegear or something.

I think the China pavilion is very pretty. I saw all three movies in Epcot last time (China, France, and Canada) and I loved all three of them. Very beautiful!

Though I agree that Wishes is way better than Illuminations, I still very much love Illuminations. I think it's because of all the extras (globe, laser, fire) besides the fireworks. However I have to say, we are pretty lucky in Montreal in terms of fireworks. Every summer our local amusement park holds an international fireworks competition. Since the amusement park is situated on an island in the middle of the river, they close up the bridge and thousands of people just walk up there and watch the fireworks for free. Every week is a new country and each one lasts 30 minutes, all perfectly set to music. It's amazing!

[Starscream275]

I just read day 4. I canNOT do Mission Space, as it makes me way too queasy. Now when Ron wants to do it, I just hang out in Mousegear or something.

I think the China pavilion is very pretty. I saw all three movies in Epcot last time (China, France, and Canada) and I loved all three of them. Very beautiful!

Though I agree that Wishes is way better than Illuminations, I still very much love Illuminations. I think it's because of all the extras (globe, laser, fire) besides the fireworks. However I have to say, we are pretty lucky in Montreal in terms of fireworks. Every summer our local amusement park holds an international fireworks competition. Since the amusement park is situated on an island in the middle of the river, they close up the bridge and thousands of people just walk up there and watch the fireworks for free. Every week is a new country and each one lasts 30 minutes, all perfectly set to music. It's amazing! Well you can probably blame my father….again…he was the one who wanted to go on it. Whilst with me, I didn’t know what to expect with this one. Do ya know what it felt like to me? It felt like being shot out of a cannon for the most part anyway. My mother chickened out at the last minute and then waited at the end of the ride, I mean I didn’t like Mission Space but at least I was brave enough to ride it anyway. Yeah it’s not a ride I’ll be returning to anytime soon so your not alone on that one.

China was if not one of the best pavilions in Epcot. I mean the temple, the Lilly ponds the overall look of it, just beautiful. I still regret not going up and meeting Mulan though I mean yeah you can blame me being unsure if she was a princess or not but looking back that was really no excuse to not do that. She was right there once I had finished looking at the Warriors exhibit just by the benches when you wait for the movie that plays in China and I could’ve easily done that to begin with instead of thinking to myself: “I should go see Mulan! Should I go see Mulan?” Oh well I know what to do now for next time. God I really need to stop saying that! God damn it! (Chuckles)

Though to be fair it was my first time seeing Illuminations and again like Mission Space I didn’t know what to expect from it. It just looked too slow and the fireworks weren’t all that spectacular but that was just me and I was being a bit too nitpicky with it. But I am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt just to watch Illuminations again and see if the second time will be prove a success unlike the first viewing. We’ll see, we’ll see. As for Wishes, I’ve only seen footage of the Euro Disney version but it’s been a long time since I’ve seen the video of Wishes I didn’t see Wishes when I was at WDW but you’ll see why once you read the next part of the trip…and hoo boy is it a doozy or what?

[kmedina]

I've missed some new activity. I am back. I've already read and enjoyed the whole report, so I will go to the comments.

Grrrr! Why must the women love It's a small world?! There will be nothing happy about it once I go on it! It'll be the death of me!

Not all women love Small World. You are lucky to get me on that ride once a trip. Xander wanted to ride it twice on our last trip. I needed to nurse Connor anyway, so I made DH take him while I stayed off. :thumbsup2

I just read day 4. I canNOT do Mission Space, as it makes me way too queasy.

Have you tried the tame version Mel? I was very shocked that I was fine with it on the last trip. Never thought I would be saying that now. Xander did not like it though and would not do the rider swap with DH.

China was if not one of the best pavilions in Epcot.

China is my favorite one too, Joseph.

[ronnmel]

I just read Day 5. I'm glad you had such a great time meeting all the characters. Your encounter with Terk was pretty funny. And I think it's totally okay for a guy to like girl stuff. Girls are allowed to like boy things, why not the opposite?

I think we really just have different tastes when it comes to parades and fireworks. For me the MSEP is the most boring parade of them all. The floats are just okay, and the music I find very annoying. I wish they would bring Spectro back. But to each their own.

Have you tried the tame version Mel? I was very shocked that I was fine with it on the last trip. Never thought I would be saying that now. Xander did not like it though and would not do the rider swap with DH.


Yes I have tried the green version. I found it pretty boring, and it still made me feel slightly queasy. It's okay, I can get my shopping done while Ron goes on MS.

[Starscream275]

I just read Day 5. I'm glad you had such a great time meeting all the characters. Your encounter with Terk was pretty funny. And I think it's totally okay for a guy to like girl stuff. Girls are allowed to like boy things, why not the opposite?

I think we really just have different tastes when it comes to parades and fireworks. For me the MSEP is the most boring parade of them all. The floats are just okay, and the music I find very annoying. I wish they would bring Spectro back. But to each their own.

Yeah Terk was actually one of the highlights of the day along with the MSEP
but everyone's in titled to their opinion I guess. I did try to see Chip N Dale while I was in the AK but seeing as the line for Mickey took forever I missed them. Spectro magic I can't really say anything about it cuz I've never seen it but from the look of the pictures I can't see any difference from MSEP and Spectro anyway.

As for the whole "me liking Disney fairies thing" I've pretty much now accepted the fact that I'm now a fan of the series nowdays after hearing that the bronies tend to be a lot violent in comparsion I actually have nothing to worry about anymore. I mean I can tolerate the bronies for the most part but I still don't understand how a show about magic ponies is acceptable to males yet me liking the Disney fairies series is a big no-no. But that's fanbases for ya.

I think I'll actually upload the things I got at the AK from my IPod touch cuz that way I won't have complaints about you not seeing the picys but whatever.

[Starscream275]

To make up for last time here's two pictures of the stuff that I got at the Animal Kingdom hope you enjoy them, Mel.

One of my favourites in the Disney movie line:http://https://twitter.com/#!/Starscream759/status/199179970948509696/photo/1

Disney Villains simply sinster songs: https://twitter.com/#!/Starscream759/status/199180262100312065/photo/1

My thoughts:

Beauty and the Beast (Diamond Edition) - Beauty and the Beast is one of my favourite disney movies and of course it being a classic I just had to get it. It's got beautiful visuals, memorable songs, good characters and great stoytelling. The only flaw I have with this movie is the fact that they decided to include a new musical number in the form of: Human Again for this special edition of this movie. It wouldn't be so bad if it was just a bonus feature or something like that but no what Disney have done is that they've shoe-horned in a dreadful song that doesn't even serve any purpose to the story and just comes completely out of nowhere. It's pretty much on the same level of the Morning Report for The Lion King even though it was a song for the broadway show it's still included into The Lion King for no good reason. Other than that it's still a brilliant movie.

Disney Villains Simply Sinster songs - This one was actually pretty good it's got a nice variety of Disney Villain songs and it's actually worth buying. Though one song in particular I'm left scratching my head at is Every Little Piece. I mean I know it's just me and it comes from Pete's Dragon but how the hell is anyone supposed to remember that film? I mean I love the MSEP and everything but when I saw the float in the parade I was just scratching my head and thinking: "What's that? I don't remember a dragon and a british boy from any Disney movie I've watched." I mean outside of Mary Poppins I doubt anybody is gonna know what Pete's Dragon is.

While the choice of songs is good I don't know why The Pink Elephants, Si and Mi are listed as Disney Villains. They have some of the most famous ones like Be Prepared, Friends on the Other Side, Gaston, Poor Unforunate Souls, I wan'na be like you and Cruella De Vil. They've even got Oogie Boogie's song from The Nightmare Before Christmas which is pretty cool considering I love that movie and Snuff Out the Light that was cut from The Emperor's New Groove which was pretty neat. There wasn't really a song I didn't for this CD well apart from the Yodelling song from Home on the range which I have no idea why it's on there. Pretty good CD, worth a listen.

[ronnmel]

Yay, a picture!

We got Beauty and the Beast on Blu-Ray a couple of months ago. It's a great movie, especially the Be Our Guest song.

Be Prepared is my favorite villain song. So good!!

[ronnmel]

I had already commented on the last few updates of your trip, but here are some more comments.

Day 6
I prefer Typhoon Lagoon to Blizzard Beach, but Blizzard Beach is much bigger and has a lot more slides than Typhoon Lagoon. However, most of those slides often have long lines, so it could explain why you felt there wasn’t much to do. You’re lucky you only got rained on for 15-20 minutes before the park reopened. I had to wait so much longer than that!

Great Movie Ride is my least favorite attraction of all Disney World. I almost fell asleep on it! I’m really not a fan of “classic” movies though...

Day 7
Not a lot to say about this that I haven’t already said, since I’ve never visited Universal. I kinda want to visit it, but I think I would have appreciated it more when I was a teenager. And as much as I would love to try the Forbidden Journey attraction, I’m a bit worried that it’ll give me motion sickness.

How is the new trip planning going?