"Norway? More like No Way!" Goobers' Jan 12 TR! Up.x2 4/6: FINAL THOUGHTS!

[danimaroo]

Welcome, my friends, to what may be one of the more amusing TRs you've read in recent times - or at least, I hope it is!

It may or may not involve the following:
Pretty hilarious one-liners (like that gem in the title) from my partner-in-crime for this trip (who you'll meet in just a moment)
Getting stuck on multiple attractions (Did we even have to be evacuated? You'll have to read and find out!)
Ridiculously amazing amounts of pixie dust being chucked at us left and right
Hobo ducks
If you're joining me after following along with my PTR, thanks for being such a loyal reader and friend and joining me here! It means the world to me that you've decided I'm interesting enough to continue on this ride with me... No seriously, I'm glad knowing people are actually reading this! :laughing:

And if you're just joining? Uh, why weren't you following along with my PTR? Yeesh... Just kidding, I know PTRs can be kind of boring since it's just a bunch of planning, so it's all good if you're only here for the good stuff. (Though if you're wanting to read my PTR, you can go here (www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2815210) and sift through my ramblings!)

That being said, I'd like to extend a huge WELCOME to you and I hope you comment just to say you're following along, even if that's your only comment this whole TR (I'm kind of notorious for doing this myself :rolleyes1). Don't feel like you can't just pop in and say hello because you feel like an awkward turtle or something, because I've gotta tell you (and I have a DISer or two who can hopefully back me up on this), I'm a pretty friendly gal who enjoys sharing a serious love for Disney with anyone and everyone who is up for it! So please, comment away, even if you join this TR in the middle or towards the end! :goodvibes

So, with that out of the way, I just want to warn you now... I'm a ridiculously goofy person (and yes, consider myself a goober), I love parentheses, I sometimes ramble, and I took 1500 photos on our trip :scared1:...

I hope you're ready to enjoy the crap out of my TR, which will be full of magic and happiness and smiles, more than anything else... You are in for quite an epic trip with two of the coolest goobers you'll ever meet. Which leads me to...

WHO!

(If you read my PTR, you can skip this, or you can just re-read it and get a little refresher as to who the two dorks featured in this TR are...)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/efeef8a3-1.jpg http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/97c2e762-1.jpg

That's me, Danielle, or Dani for short (my husband calls me this). I'm a huge fan of Disney World, instagram (my name is dmags, you should follow me on there!), photography, the TV show LOST, video games, board games (I'm addicted to Ticket to Ride, no lie), and my dogs. I work in the financial industry, even though I was an English major, buuuut thankfully it's in marketing so it's not so awful. :laughing:

Like I mentioned, I'm a total goober, goofball, and more than anything else, I love laughing and being happy. I have a ridiculous sense of humor and always have (yes, I was voted Class Clown in high school), and really enjoy making other people happy!

My favorites:
Disney movie: Tangled
Pixar movie: Wall-E (Up is a VERY close second)
Disney character: Tie for Eeyore and Pluto
Disney World attraction: Expedition Everest, with Splash Mountain a very close second
Disney World snack: Well, you'll just have to wait and find out in my TR!
Disney World restaurant: Via Napoli
Disney World park: Magic Kingdom

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/31e01a4a-1.jpg http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/0a4a91ff-1.jpg

That guy? That's Matt, and he's my awesomely awesome husband. We met almost 9 years ago when he went to school in Boston, and we've been married for just over a year. Matt works as an analyst for a top 50 web company, and enjoys Disney World a whole lot! He's been there 23 times now, and is the reason I'm super into Disney World as much as I am. He loves video games, board games, reading, movies, playing the banjo (yeah, my husband rules), and loves Christmas as much as I do (perhaps even more fanatical about it than me?!)

Matt is the kindest person I know and has a heart of gold. I feel beyond lucky that we found each other, because he is literally my other half and my best friend in the whole world. Okay, schmoopiness aside, he really is a wonderful person, a bit more introverted than I am, but where we are different, we balance each other very well. :cloud9:

His favorites:
Disney movie: Lilo and Stitch, Tangled, Brother Bear or Hunchback of Notre Dame (He has a lot! :rotfl:)
Pixar movie: Ratatouille
Disney character: Stitch, Pooh, Donald and Chip and Dale
Disney World attraction: Haunted Mansion
Disney World snack: Tied between Churro and School Bread
Disney World restaurant: Raglan Road, with Via Napoli and Whispering Canyon Cafe a close second
Disney World park: Epcot, with Magic Kingdom a very very close second

Okay, intros are done. Phew! I'm hoping for a Chapter One update either this evening or tomorrow, but we'll have to wait and see because I need to begin the organization of my photos!

And on that note...

:yay: LET THE WILD RUMPUS START! :yay:

[danimaroo]

DAY ONE
January 18th, 2012

Chapter One: SNOWMAGEDDON? Get me to Beach Club, now! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43892907&postcount=11)
Chapter Two: Um, do I hear "Man or Muppet" right now? (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43904554&postcount=18)
Chapter Two: Um, do I hear "Man or Muppet" right now? CONTINUED (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43904628&postcount=19)
Chapter Three: Oh that Beach Club smell... "Mickey ears make everything better!" (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43920690&postcount=33)
Chapter Four: Okay, you're allowed to shake your head at me. (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43932060&postcount=42)
Chapter Five: Okay, we really are finally here! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43940619&postcount=55)
Chapter Five: Okay, we really are finally here! CONTINUED (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43940693&postcount=56)
Chapter Six: Dead Men Tell No Tales... and the Infamous (first) Splash Mountain Incident (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43948577&postcount=70)
Chapter Seven: "Wait, are you pointing at ME?!" (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43948629&postcount=71)

DAY TWO
January 19th, 2012

Chapter Eight: Um, is that Mickey Mouse being attacked? (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43958684&postcount=88)
Chapter Eight: Um, is that Mickey Mouse being attacked? CONTINUED (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43958803&postcount=89)
Chapter Nine: "Beverly was a bad choice." (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43968005&postcount=101)
Chapter Nine: "Beverly was a bad choice." CONTINUED (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43968042&postcount=102)
Chapter Ten: Floatin' along in a lazy river and uhh, an explanation of my fear of ToT (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43978660&postcount=117)
Chapter Eleven: Um, did we just step into the Overlook Hotel: My first experience on Tower of Terror. (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43978787&postcount=118)

DAY THREE
January 20th, 2012

Chapter Twelve: Uh oh, we've got a case of the grumps over here... (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43989319&postcount=130)
Chapter Twelve: Uh oh, we've got a case of the grumps over here... CONTINUED (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43989353&postcount=131)
Chapter Thirteen: "I NEVER want to hear Brer Bear get stung by bees ever again!": Getting stuck on Splash Mountain (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43999125&postcount=144)

DAY FOUR
January 21st, 2012

Chapter Fourteen: "Look, it says LOVE! Oh, wait, nevermind." (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44017419&postcount=179)
Chapter Fifteen: And then, it was in that moment, my sandwich sang to me (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44027055&postcount=191)
Chapter Sixteen: A brilliant idea is born... (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44036074&postcount=200)
Chapter Sixteen: A brilliant idea is born... CONTINUED (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44036102&postcount=201)
Chapter Seventeen: No, I'm not going to sing to my wife in front of all of these people (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44046695&postcount=215)

DAY FIVE
January 22nd, 2012

Chapter Eighteen: Let the Disney World Gauntlet BEGIN! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44056358&postcount=234)
Chapter Nineteen: A little hootie hoo, some cookies, and an epic TSMM battle... (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44068760&postcount=262)
Chapter Twenty: "Okay yeah, you need to buy that t-shirt right now." (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44068766&postcount=263)
Chapter Twenty-One: "REALLY? You just made my DAY! Come get a photo with me!" (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44076126&postcount=276)
Chapter Twenty-One: "REALLY? You just made my DAY! Come get a photo with me!" CONTINUED (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44076131&postcount=277)
Chapter Twenty-Two: "OH MY GOD TRUFFLE OIL"... and a DISmeet! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44084617&postcount=285)

DAY SIX
January 23rd, 2012

Chapter Twenty-Three: "YOU ARE LUCKY NUMBER OOOONE!!" (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44093676&postcount=301)
Chapter Twenty-Four: "Ooooh, that was a very good model pose... I like your Blue Steel!" (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44104462&postcount=324)
Chapter Twenty-Five: A Tour of the Woooorld... (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44114374&postcount=345)
Chapter Twenty-Six: "MATT! Why did you sticker me?!" (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44114383&postcount=346)
Chapter Twenty-Seven: Hello Old Key West.. aaaand goodbye Old Key West! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44124078&postcount=360)

DAY SEVEN
January 24th, 2012

Chapter Twenty-Eight: "So help me God.. If one more AK bus comes..." (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44136209&postcount=372)
Chapter Twenty-Eight: "So help me God.. If one more AK bus comes..." CONTINUED (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44136216&postcount=373)
Chapter Twenty-Nine: "Classically.. Trained... THAT'S FUNNY! I LOVE YOUR SHIRT!" (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44204440&postcount=403)
Chapter Thirty: "Mr. Bird, you do not want to eat that. That would be a form of cannibalism!" (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44204454&postcount=404)
Chapter Thirty-One: The attack of the hobo ducks!! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44230826&postcount=421)
Chapter Thirty-Two: "Holy cow, we went on how many attractions?!" (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44240331&postcount=430)
Chapter Thirty-Two: "Holy cow, we went on how many attractions?!" CONTINUED (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44240340&postcount=431)

DAY EIGHT
January 25th, 2012

Chapter Thirty-Three: "OMG WHAT ARE THOSE DUCKS DOING?!" (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44253301&postcount=441)
Chapter Thirty-Four:"That cupcake is AMAHZING!" and "Oh my God why is that photo so horrible?!" (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44273355&postcount=453)
Chapter Thirty-Four:"That cupcake is AMAHZING!" and "Oh my God why is that photo so horrible?!" CONTINUED (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44273365&postcount=454)

DAY NINE
January 26th, 2012

Chapter Thirty-Five: "Help me Star Tours, you're my only hope." (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44299743&postcount=468)
Chapter Thirty-Six: The best bread pudding you will ever eat in your LIFE (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44321269&postcount=489)
Chapter Thirty-Seven: "Okay, I hope I don't get stuck in this cave." (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44341144&postcount=501)
Chapter Thirty-Seven: "Okay, I hope I don't get stuck in this cave." CONTINUED (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44341154&postcount=502)

DAY TEN
January 27th, 2012

Chapter Thirty-Eight: "Um, will you guys be our Disney tour guides?!" (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44376688&postcount=529)
Chapter Thirty-Nine: The BEST/funniest attraction photo of our trip (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44396110&postcount=568)
*****INTERMISSION! PhotoPass photos!***** (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44405940&postcount=588)
Chapter Forty: Beaches and Cream and a little ice cream! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44405957&postcount=589)
Chapter Fourty-One: "ARE YOU DANI?!" (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44431300&postcount=607)
*****AWESOMELY AWESOME NEWS!***** (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44449156&postcount=620)

DAY ELEVEN
January 28th, 2012

Chapter Fourty-Two: The beginning of the end (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44458175&postcount=628)
Chapter Fourty-Three: "GOD BLESS THE USAAAAAAAAAAAA!" (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44483601&postcount=645)
Chapter Fourty-Four: See ya real soon... (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44498773&postcount=653)
Chapter Fourty-Four: See ya real soon... CONTINUED (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44498783&postcount=654)

TRIP WRAP-UP!

Chapter Fourty-Five: Everything must come to an end... (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44507625&postcount=668)
Souvenirs! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44507632&postcount=669)
Final thoughts (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44523782&postcount=683)
Final thoughts CONTINUED (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44523786&postcount=684)

[JaneBanks]

Yay! Great start!

[dara00]

joining! wondering if we overlapped any days. :) and if you got stuck on potc w my inlaws.

I love your balloon and castle shirt!

[jecskc]

Yay!!! You started!!! I followed your PTR and am ready to read about your trip. Two things let me know that we are long lost friends .... for realz. First is that I love Lost, too and I am still beyond depressed that the show is over. Thank goodness for Netflix where I can get my Kate, Jack and Sawyer fix whenever I need it. Second is that my Dad plays the banjo too ( not the same as your DH, but still, there's a connection) and I love bluegrass music. So I just know if you didn't live over 3000 miles away, we would be fast friends. Can't wait to read about your trip !!!

[407-W-DISNEY]

HI Danielle,
Just found your TR and I made it to page 1 - yeah!
Looking forward to hearing about your trip.
I'm mostly a lurker, but i'll try to say hi every now and then - LOL

Are you and your DH from Boston originally?
EDIT - Just started your PTR and I got the answer!
I'm North of Boston...the other side of the planet from you guys South of Boston!

[ash-n-brensmom]

I'm here!! Can't wait to hear all about it!!!

[okw19]

Yay! I'm here!
I cannot wait to read all the details of your week. I love the castle shirt and of course Matt's Ducktales shirt that are in your intro pics. :) I'm still mad they didn't make those shirts he got in women's. :( I am so pumped to read this ridiculously awesome TR!!

[danimaroo]

Yay! Great start!

Yay thanks for hopping on over here to my TR. So excited that I've started it! :goodvibes

joining! wondering if we overlapped any days. :) and if you got stuck on potc w my inlaws.

I love your balloon and castle shirt!

Maybe! We were there from the 18th-29th. :) And we'll have to see what the heck we got stuck on. :laughing:

And thank you! I love that shirt so much. Basically Up + Cinderella Castle + balloons = LOVE. :lovestruc

Yay!!! You started!!! I followed your PTR and am ready to read about your trip. Two things let me know that we are long lost friends .... for realz. First is that I love Lost, too and I am still beyond depressed that the show is over. Thank goodness for Netflix where I can get my Kate, Jack and Sawyer fix whenever I need it. Second is that my Dad plays the banjo too ( not the same as your DH, but still, there's a connection) and I love bluegrass music. So I just know if you didn't live over 3000 miles away, we would be fast friends. Can't wait to read about your trip !!!

I know! I'm excited but also overwhelmed with how MUCH I have to share with everyone! 11 jam-packed days is a lot of reportin'!

YES FOR ANOTHER LOST FAN! I mentioned LOST because it actually comes into play later in my TR (ooooh foreshadowing!), plus I'm just that obsessed with it. I have the complete collection on blu-ray (worth every penny!), and am hoping to re-watch the whole series again at some point.

Second, yay for the banjo! Matt should play it more often, because when he actually sits down and practices, he's pretty good!

I agree; think we would be fast friends. :goodvibes

Thanks again for commenting and following along! :)

HI Danielle,
Just found your TR and I made it to page 1 - yeah!
Looking forward to hearing about your trip.
I'm mostly a lurker, but i'll try to say hi every now and then - LOL

Are you and your DH from Boston originally?
EDIT - Just started your PTR and I got the answer!
I'm North of Boston...the other side of the planet from you guys South of Boston!

YAY! Thank you so much for coming out of lurkdom and commenting! No worries, comment whenever you feel like it. No pressure for me, I'm just glad to know you're reading along. :goodvibes

And North Shore, huh? I'm a South Shore kid at heart. :laughing: My family grew up in Dorchester, so I've got a little Southie pride in me, too!

I'm here!! Can't wait to hear all about it!!!

YAY! I need to catch up on your TR now that I'm home! :goodvibes Thanks for reading along, after I'm done with this update I'll hop on over to yours!

Yay! I'm here!
I cannot wait to read all the details of your week. I love the castle shirt and of course Matt's Ducktales shirt that are in your intro pics. :) I'm still mad they didn't make those shirts he got in women's. :( I am so pumped to read this ridiculously awesome TR!!

YESSS so excited you're here, obviously. :goodvibes I am really happy I got that castle shirt! I almost didn't and Matt insisted I needed it. I'm not sure why I almost didn't, I must've just not been thinking... And oh gosh, wait til you hear the funny stories about Matt's shirt! It is too bad that they didn't carry it in women's, because I know you would've bought it in a heartbeat!

So glad you're here, my BFF around these parts!! :hug:

[kimbo0569]

I'm in! :goodvibes

[danimaroo]

Chapter One: SNOWMAGEDDON? Get me to Beach Club, now!

So, this lovely TR starts on January 16th, 2 days before we were supposed to actually leave for Disney World... Apologies for the serious lack of photos in the beginning of this chapter, but you'll be getting attacked by a ton of them pretty soon, so don't fret too much. :rotfl:

Anyway, Monday the 16th, Matt and I started to get a little freaked out because the news and everyone and their Mom was saying that Wednesday, the 18th, was going to be a complete Snowmageddon event in Seattle, and it was basically going to eat everyone's children and animals, and no one was going to be able to do anything with themselves and the world as we know it was ending in Seattle... You get the picture.

So what did I do? I cried. I cried because I'd planned and planned and counted down the minutes to this vacation, and now it was suddenly in jeopardy. We weren't sure how we'd get to the airport, let alone whether or not our flight would actually even leave at all, but we tried to stay cool thinking that maybe the reports would be wrong.

Monday night, the 16th, the reports were saying it could be up to 15 inches. :scared1: Seattle does not like snow... at all. 15 inches would mean a complete shut down of the city, and then some. Matt and I talked it over in bed, trying to figure out our best options.

I suddenly brought up what we ended up calling a "Hail Mary" pass type of plan. If our friends who were dog/house-sitting for us while we were gone could come over a day early, DVC had an open room for one night ANYWHERE, we could get the okay from both of our bosses for an extra day off, AND we could change our flight reservation, we could potentially leave a day early and avoid the incoming Snowmageddon.

We both agreed that it'd be nice, but it probably won't work out because so many little pieces have to come together.

Tuesday the 17th, first thing Matt did was asked our friend Bruce if they could possibly come over a day early for the dogs. Bruce says this is no problem. I do a little dance, but we still have to get through DVC, dealing with work, and changing our flight. Matt calls DVC and it turns out that we can simply extend our stay to 11 days, and we won't even have to change rooms/resorts. :yay: Talk about pretty awesome luck!

After I hear this, I turned to my manager and asked if it'd be okay to take Wednesday off as well, and she was totally fine with it. Um, pretty sure that at that point I was trying to figure out if this was all really happening. :eek:

Final step... I called Alaska Airlines and made the decision to give up first class (it was completely booked for the new flight) and I booked us on the red-eye flight to Orlando for THAT night! Holy canoli, my poor countdown was a bust at this point.

Not only were we going to make it to Disney World and avoid the child-eating Snowmageddon, but we were going to be there for an extra 11th day, starting an entire day early!

We rushed home after work in a frenzy, realizing that we were going to need to pack up everything we had left for the last second, and also to ensure that we'd be able to snuggle our dogs for a bit before we were to leave.

Okay, it's never easy to leave your little buddies at home. But when you're suddenly leaving a day earlier than expected, it's way more difficult and sad to leave them. :sad1:

We said our goodbyes to our furry friends, and loaded up in our friends' car, and off to Sea-Tac we went!

After saying our goodbyes to our friends, we made our way to the security line, and we were both remarkably giddy that we were finally going to Disney World!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/d8fdb9a2.jpg

Getting through security was a breeze, so we decided to grab some dinner in the big ol' food court area. Neither of us had had Wendy's in like, forever, so we decided to grab some dinner there and relax before our long flight.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/b8977290.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/dd1c82c5.jpg

Obviously, we checked ourselves in at Sea-Tac airport on Facebook, to let our friends know that we would be on our way quite soon!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/3213e47b.jpg

After we finished eating, we made our way to a Hudson News for some magazines for the flight... I got a People, Matt got some video game magazine. Sweet choices, and I'm pretty sure I didn't even end up reading that magazine. Can you blame me? I was too busy being excited! :laughing:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/4c3f7881.jpg

We then had about 2 hours to spare before our flight. Yes, we are those people who get to the airport ridiculously early, just in case we run into long lines or whatever. So what did I do with my time? Took ridiculously dumb photos of course!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/195aca2d.jpg

Okay, this is part of some SUPER creepy mural at the airport and I thought this person just looked like such a weirdo! So obviously I took a photo of it.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/a1ff5bb9.jpg

Yeah, I like making really dumb faces sometimes... And then I'll ask Matt, "Matt, would you have dated me if I looked like this?" It's a fun game, you should try it out sometime.

Anyway, I also did some people-watching, in which I saw the cutest little 2 or 3 year old girl in a full-on Buzz Lightyear outfit. :lovestruc It was seriously amazing. Her and her Mom were obviously making their way to Disney World. I wish I'd gotten a photo of her.

Some guy asked the mom, "Oh, is that her older brother's outfit?" and the Mom replied, "No, it's all her. She really loves Buzz Lightyear!" How cute is that?! It makes me happy when I see little girls who are into things other than the princesses (not that it's a bad thing, I was just more into Mickey and the gang when I was a little kid than I was into Barbie or princess stuff).

I snuck a photo in of Matt on his Macbook and had him take one of me before we boarded our flight.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/ab8ca6e2.jpg

If you couldn't tell, I'm really pumped to be going to Disney World!
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/04d98c4b.jpg

Our flight was relatively uneventful, and I even caught a little sleep on the plane! We also watched the movie Moneyball, which we both LOVED when we saw it in theaters. It's such a good movie and is something I could watch over and over again. Both Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill are absolutely amazing in it.

We arrived in Orlando around 6:47am... and this was it. Our vacation was finally beginning!

Continued in the next update. (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43904554&postcount=18)

[JaneBanks]

LOL I play that "if I looked like this would you still date me" game with my DH too! lol

I'm glad you were able to get out of there a day early! Everything fell in place so you know this trip was meant to be!

[danimaroo]

I'm in! :goodvibes

AWESOME! Glad you've joined in on my TR. I think it'll be a good one. :goodvibes

LOL I play that "if I looked like this would you still date me" game with my DH too! lol

I'm glad you were able to get out of there a day early! Everything fell in place so you know this trip was meant to be!

Haha, Matt and I do it ALL the time to each other. We make these horrifying faces and then ask each other if when we'd first met, would we have dated each other? :rotfl:

I was so happy, too, because as we found out the next day, we more than likely wouldn't have made it to the airport for our flight. Seattle was hit really hard by snow, then ice, then windstorm while we were gone. :scared1: I'll show you what we came home to at the end of my TR, it's not a pretty sight. :sad2:

[poisonapple_PRINCESS]

bahahahah....I play the "would you have dated me if I looked (talked, laughed..etc.) like this game" ALLLLL THE TIME! :rotfl2:

:woohoo: FOR YOU STARTING YOUR TR! I am personally SUPER excited to hear all about your trip!

[okw19]

YESSS so excited you're here, obviously. :goodvibes I am really happy I got that castle shirt! I almost didn't and Matt insisted I needed it. I'm not sure why I almost didn't, I must've just not been thinking... And oh gosh, wait til you hear the funny stories about Matt's shirt! It is too bad that they didn't carry it in women's, because I know you would've bought it in a heartbeat!

So glad you're here, my BFF around these parts!! :hug:
I'm glad Matt decided you needed it because you would've regretted it! I can't wait to hear about Matt's shirt, and yes I would've. :)

:goodvibes :hug: Dis BFFs

I am SO glad you guys we able to escape the snow! I was going to be so sad if you didn't get to go so I was very happy when I logged on and saw that you had gotten the earlier flight.

Wendy's is yummy, good choice.

I'm pretty sure every time I fly I bring magazines that I don't end up reading. It's become a real problem. That picture of the mural is really creepy. Why would they do that?
I love playing the would you have dated me game with Andy!
Little girl in a Buzz outfit?! So cute :goodvibes I loved that Riley was mainly obsessed with Toy Story characters and Chip and Dale while we were down there. We had a really good Belle in her blue dress at HS one day and she loved her too. Oh yeah, and she got that Rapunzel doll... I guess we had a good balance of Princesses vs. Other characters.

I want to see Moneyball!

Okay sorry for all the bad grammar I probably used including run-ons and fragments. That's just how TRs go! :)

[danimaroo]

bahahahah....I play the "would you have dated me if I looked (talked, laughed..etc.) like this game" ALLLLL THE TIME! :rotfl2:

:woohoo: FOR YOU STARTING YOUR TR! I am personally SUPER excited to hear all about your trip!

HAHA YES! I love when I hear that other couples totally play this. I'll either like super mess up my hear, make the ugliest face possible, laugh in the most horrid way, etc. It's one of the funniest games to play!

I am super excited for it to! I just finished my next installment, which had to be broken into 2 posts because of a ridiculous amoutn of photos.. and that's just our Magical Express experience. :rotfl: I took so many photos, but seriously like, the whole process is special and worth talking about, so I couldn't help it!

I'm glad Matt decided you needed it because you would've regretted it! I can't wait to hear about Matt's shirt, and yes I would've. :)

:goodvibes :hug: Dis BFFs

I know, I definitely would've regretted it! So glad I bought it, it's one of my favorite t-shirts ever. :lovestruc And yes, the story with Matt's shirt is pretty hilarious!

Again, so glad we became friends on here! :goodvibes

I am SO glad you guys we able to escape the snow! I was going to be so sad if you didn't get to go so I was very happy when I logged on and saw that you had gotten the earlier flight.

Wendy's is yummy, good choice.

Ugh me too. It was the worst feeling not knowing if you'd even make it for a trip that you've been so excited for. I'm just so happy it all worked out and we made it there!

And yes, Wendy's was good. I hadn't had it in FOREVER but it was pretty darn delicious.

I'm pretty sure every time I fly I bring magazines that I don't end up reading. It's become a real problem. That picture of the mural is really creepy. Why would they do that?

Haha, seriously, I am the worst with it! I always get one and never read it. I think we have it at home now, so maybe I'll read it now! :laughing: AND THANK YOU. I was kind of terrified of that mural, I just don't understand it. Matt said it's been there for like a ton of years, soooo yeah, not sure about it, but it was weird.

I love playing the would you have dated me game with Andy!
Little girl in a Buzz outfit?! So cute :goodvibes I loved that Riley was mainly obsessed with Toy Story characters and Chip and Dale while we were down there. We had a really good Belle in her blue dress at HS one day and she loved her too. Oh yeah, and she got that Rapunzel doll... I guess we had a good balance of Princesses vs. Other characters.

Hahaha, I love that everyone plays that game! It makes me happy. It's pretty much a guaranteed laugh-fest between you and your significant other.

The little girl was so darn cute. I just wanted to be friends with her. I'm glad Riley had a good mix! She is seriously SO cute. I loved how she held onto her Lady stuffed animal! :cutie:

I want to see Moneyball!

Okay sorry for all the bad grammar I probably used including run-ons and fragments. That's just how TRs go! :)
You should see it! It's really amazing. And puhlease, you are good. I always ramble/do run-ons around here because there's like, always a ton to talk about!

[marDgreen88]

HELLO! I thought I'd join in! Yall look like you're gonna be a lot of fun! That is AMAZING that all your plans were able to change so easily. I would have totally panicked in that situation.

And I understand the 'one and done' post on TRs... IF YOU MEAN, one post PER update! :thumbsup2 Hahah yeah, I'm one of those. Anyways, yay. Can't wait to read more!

[danimaroo]

Chapter Two: Um, do I hear "Man or Muppet" right now?
Day 1: January 18th, 2012

So continuing on, we arrived at 6:47, which was a little early, and we were so happy to be off the plane and making our way to Magical Express! Matt was so excited he was nearly running, which caused some photos to be a bit blurry between his rushing and "Come on Dani!!!"

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/7886e4e4.jpg

We made our way to the mini-monorail, and I was SO excited for our ride!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/2e341279.jpg

It always makes me so happy, but obviously not the same since monorail man's voice is NOT featured on said monorail! But anyway, off we went!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/9c281934.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/f5e2c5f9.jpg

The sun was just beginning to rise, so it was still pretty dark outside..

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/2bf57614.jpg

After getting off the monorail, we made the long walk to find Magical Express. I always get lost, but Matt knew exactly where we were headed! Thank goodness because I'm sure I would've wasted precious Disney time trying to find the right place.

Anywho, on our way I HAD to stop and take a photo of the first Disney-related thing I spotted.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/73cfad51.jpg

We then made our way down the escalator, again with Matt nearly running to get there, just in case we had to deal with a huge line or something.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/af77a91d.jpg

I spotted this sign at the bottom of the escalator and I think I nearly peed my pants.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/0d79c327.jpg

We found the Magical Express desk, with zero line, and after the lady checked us in, she told us we could head over to where the buses pick us up..

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/98a4c042.jpg

What's funny about this is THERE WAS NO LINE, so while Matt just went around all of the queues, I ran up to take a photo of the line we WOULD have been in. I'm pretty sure I got a, "DANI!" comment from him, because I was totally holding us up.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/1d73ea47.jpg

Then, as we're approaching the front area... I hear something... familiar. Is that... is that... DO I HEAR "MAN OR MUPPET"?!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/bd1a665c.jpg

Yup, I sure do! Okay, talk about the BEST way to start off your trip, seriously!

Slight tangent alert: Matt and I love the Muppets (Matt's been a long-time fan though, and he really helped my love for them grow infinite amounts throughout our relationship). We saw The Muppets movie the day it came out and absolutely loved every second of it. So to hear/see "Man or Muppet" pretty much made my morning, right then and there.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/d7071392.jpg

Anyway, after staring at the Muppets for probably far too long, we checked in with the guy at the front, who asked us where we were headed. We told him Beach Club, and he told us to have a seat. Guys, it was SO BUSY in there. I couldn't believe the amount of people heading to Disney World that morning...

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/8cdfa095.jpg

:lmao: We sat and made awkward faces (because that's what we do) while we waited for our bus to arrive.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/942cf6b3.jpg

I remember sitting there thinking two things:

#1 Oh my gosh, we are actually HERE (this thought proceeded to pop into my head like 100 more times during our first few days), and

#2, I really hope our bus is an actual Magical Express bus and not the poopy mustard Mears one. Were we in luck?

Continued in next post. (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43904628&postcount=19)

[danimaroo]

Chapter Two: Um, do I hear "Man or Muppet" right now? CONTINUED
Day 1: January 18th, 2012

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/3ed2a7d9.jpg

YUP! And even better? We had the entire bus to ourselves! So you know that this of COURSE meant that we were going to be sitting up front, because I needed to see that beautiful sign on our way to Beach Club!

We loaded on and I was so excited. Our bus driver, whose name was I THINK Rocky, though it may have been Rocko (Rocko's Mod-ern Liiiife - Rocko's MODERN LIFE! Sorry, I had to sing it), was very friendly!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/292f8c46.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/e2353434.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/bfdbfc55.jpg

So off we went, and Rocky started talking to us, asking where we were from, etc. Turns out he used to live quite close to where I grew up, so that was pretty funny! While Rocky chatted, I tried to listen to the little video they play while taking photos and just taking in the experience.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/d522179c.jpg

The sunrise was beautiful, and I couldn't have been happier to be on that bus. Rocky kept talking to us (and giving us totally incorrect information, like when I mentioned we were excited to see fireworks in Hollywood Studios since they rarely do that, he tried to tell me that they do fireworks there nightly), but he was so nice and friendly that I didn't really care that he didn't know what he was talking about. :laughing:

THEN, I SAW IT.

Holy cow I SAW IT IN THE DISTANCE!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/4248852d.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/12ac2c92.jpg

I'm pretty sure I stopped talking at this point and just starting squealing like a 5 year old girl... and then proceeded to get one of my favorite photos ever!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/c591ce35.jpg

YEAH YIPPY WOOHOO! :yay: :yay: :yay: So so excited. We were that much closer, and I made or may not have gotten a little choked up at the sight of that sign.

This sign also made me really happy...

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/11b813bb.jpg

Matt kept chatting with Rocky while I spotted the Tower of Terror... which I'm pretty sure was just taunting and laughing at me.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/50ac573f.jpg

I'd never been on it, I am terrified of old elevators and the Twilight Zone (when I was little I would cover my ears during the theme song because it scared me so much).. So yeah. Not a fan, and I'm pretty sure it laughed at me. We'll see if I actually decide to conquer my fear on this trip and actually go on it for the FIRST TIME EVER. :scared1:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/eccbc41d.jpg

Anyway, we finally made it and I spotted Beach Club. Unfortunately my shots came out blurry, but I got a few that were at least presentable..

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/d4fc6aa5.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/e9d17e0f.jpg

After saying goodbye to Rocky (o?), we made our way into the Beach Club to check in and begin our adventure! :yay:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/00d7e4ff.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/d3912044.jpg

It was only around 7:30am or so... So would we have good luck and get any of our room requests? Would they actually have a room ready for us (because we were definitely going to need a nap)? Well silly duck, you'll have to wait and find out in the next post! :) (Yup, we're going to play that game in this TR, cliffhangers galore, DUN DUN DUN!)

Continued in the next update. (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43920690&postcount=33)

[danimaroo]

HELLO! I thought I'd join in! Yall look like you're gonna be a lot of fun! That is AMAZING that all your plans were able to change so easily. I would have totally panicked in that situation.

And I understand the 'one and done' post on TRs... IF YOU MEAN, one post PER update! :thumbsup2 Hahah yeah, I'm one of those. Anyways, yay. Can't wait to read more!

Okay, true story. I literally caught up on your TR yesterday and went to comment on it and then... FORGOT. Like, what a dork I am. I'm so notorious for reading every last bit of someone's TR, (thinking OMG YES, I NEED TO COMMENT ON THIS!) then proceeding to just not do it.

In my defense, I'm sometimes doing this during a lull at work, and will suddenly get an e-mail or something, but GOSH, I need to get with the program and start commenting! Especially on yours because I totally get what you're saying about the whole crying thing. Hi, I cried a little when I saw the Walt Disney World welcome sign, 'nuff said. :lmao:

Anyway! I think we're a pretty fun duo to follow along, so I hope we live up to that expectation! And yes, talk about being lucky that everything fell into place. It really felt like it was meant to be. :lovestruc

Thanks for commenting, aaaand in about 5 minutes you should expect a response in your TR since I have caught up with it!

[407-W-DISNEY]

That's soo cool having Magical Express to yourself!
I have to admit, I did a big laugh when I saw the pic of ALL the people waiting for ME! LOL :rotfl2:

[marDgreen88]

Please take your time commenting on mine! It's really okay. Don't feel like you have to just because I commented on here! :goodvibes

I'm pretty much obsessed with the new Muppet movie. LOVED IT. I swear, Man or Muppet BETTER win the Oscar for Best Original Song!

Yall were seriously the only people on your ME bus?! THAT is crazy. I mean I know it was early but you never expect to be the only one doing anything in relation to Disney!

That picture of the arches is great! The sun rising really gives it a nice glow.
I'm gonna guess that you DID ride ToT this trip! I hope you did! My sister has a fear of elevators, too, and she loves it.

BEACH CLUB. I can't even tell you how envious I am of yall right now, wow. So lucky!!!

[dara00]

I'm pretty much obsessed with the new Muppet movie. LOVED IT. I swear, Man or Muppet BETTER win the Oscar for Best Original Song!



haha that song is sooo cheesy! I loved the movie too though. and got me a stuffed walter (for my 17 mos old...or for me...)!!

[kimbo0569]

I love the muppets too so I was super excited to see it, as well as take my daughters to see it! They're 10 and 6 1/2 (and one of my oldest daughter's friends came with us, as well as another friend and her son). Well, we all LOVED the movie! My daughters and I loved it so much, we went to see it again with my mom and I downloaded the soundtrack off Itunes. My girls LOVE to listen to it in the car, especially "Man or a Muppet" and "Mahna Mahna" (which I have as my ringback tone on my cell)... So I completely understand your love of the Muppets. Used to watch it all the time as a kid.

[danimaroo]

That's soo cool having Magical Express to yourself!
I have to admit, I did a big laugh when I saw the pic of ALL the people waiting for ME! LOL :rotfl2:

Yeah it was so fun! But not that weird to us because LAST year when we arrived on the same exact flight around the same time, there was only one other couple on our bus with us. :laughing: I can't complain about being the only ones on the bus though, it made for a fun experience with our nice driver!

And yes, SO MANY people to fight through in line.. Ugh. ;)

Please take your time commenting on mine! It's really okay. Don't feel like you have to just because I commented on here! :goodvibes

Haha, I'd already commented at this point, but I seriously did want to comment, that's the thing! I'd just totally forgotten. Definitely no pressure over here. :goodvibes

I'm pretty much obsessed with the new Muppet movie. LOVED IT. I swear, Man or Muppet BETTER win the Oscar for Best Original Song!

I KNOW. I loved it so so much. And I know, that really better win for best original song. It was so brilliant, and they truly brought it to a whole new level in having Jim Parsons be Walter's human counterpart! I LOVE Big Bang Theory and I've always thought Jim Parsons/Sheldon looks like a Muppet. :rotfl:

Yall were seriously the only people on your ME bus?! THAT is crazy. I mean I know it was early but you never expect to be the only one doing anything in relation to Disney!

Yeah, isn't that insane? Last time we only had one other couple on our bus, too, though, so I guess it's not that weird for us now. :laughing: What WILL be weird is the time that we go and have a ton of people on it or even worse, have to wait in line.

That picture of the arches is great! The sun rising really gives it a nice glow.
I'm gonna guess that you DID ride ToT this trip! I hope you did! My sister has a fear of elevators, too, and she loves it.

I know, it really does! I was surprised I got it considering we were driving and some of my other photos came out blurry! I need to go in though and edit out the little black bits from the windshield so it looks prettier, and crop it. Don't be surprised if you come back to that photo and it's fixed (sometimes I'm a perfectionist). :laughing:

BEACH CLUB. I can't even tell you how envious I am of yall right now, wow. So lucky!!!

I felt very fortunate! It was our #1 choice when we called the Disney Vacation Club and when they told us they didn't have the ability to put us there for the full-stay at first, I was bummed. :sad1: But we booked BoardWalk Villas in hopes that maybe our wait list for BCV would come up. One day later, we found out we were staying at Beach club! :yay:

We are totally staying there from here on out though; the ability to walk to Epcot and take a Friendship boat to HS was just amazing. That and the resort itself is just WONDERFUL. I loved everything about it. :lovestruc

Thanks for commenting! :)

haha that song is sooo cheesy! I loved the movie too though. and got me a stuffed walter (for my 17 mos old...or for me...)!!

The song is pretty funny and amazing all at once... I mean that's kind of how the Muppets are, and it was a kind of joke montage to those type of songs/music videos... That's why I loved it so much. AND HI, JIM PARSONS was so perfect for being human-Walter! Plus, don't we all have days where we wonder if we're a man or a Muppet? :laughing:

I would love a stuffed Walter! He fit in so well with the gang; I was nervous he would be a bad addition.. but I loved him. :love:

I love the muppets too so I was super excited to see it, as well as take my daughters to see it! They're 10 and 6 1/2 (and one of my oldest daughter's friends came with us, as well as another friend and her son). Well, we all LOVED the movie! My daughters and I loved it so much, we went to see it again with my mom and I downloaded the soundtrack off Itunes. My girls LOVE to listen to it in the car, especially "Man or a Muppet" and "Mahna Mahna" (which I have as my ringback tone on my cell)... So I completely understand your love of the Muppets. Used to watch it all the time as a kid.

I am so glad you guys all loved it! It's so great for EVERYONE, and that's why the Muppets are so fantastic! The music is absolutely fantastic from it, and I constantly bust out singing "OR AM I A MUPPET (am I a Muppeeeettt?)"...

Watching A Muppet Christmas Carol is also a staple in our household around Christmas. It's gotta be my favorite version of A Christmas Carol to date. ("and Tiny Tim... who did NOT die!")

[jecskc]

You guys are funny with your silly faces. Yay Beach Club !!! I so want to stay there some day. Looking forward to seeing your photos.

[Susan121302]

I love your report so far. So entertaining! I want more already! We are staying at the BCV in September. Can't wait!

[danimaroo]

You guys are funny with your silly faces. Yay Beach Club !!! I so want to stay there some day. Looking forward to seeing your photos.

Haha, we really are true goobers! I wasn't joking with my title. :laughing: We keep each other laughing, it's a secret to our relationship being so wonderful for nearly 9 years. :cloud9:

And yes, you totally should stay there. It is magnificent. I'll get more into the details of our room and other fun stuff in my next update, but it was just wonderful!

I can't wait to share them. It's hard because I am SO excited about this TR but also don't want to blow through it way too fast either. However, I have another update that should be good to go tomorrow morning, so be on the lookout! :yay:

I love your report so far. So entertaining! I want more already! We are staying at the BCV in September. Can't wait!

YAY! Thanks so much for commenting! :) I try to keep it fun, because that's basically my motto in life. :laughing:

Another update will be posted tomorrow morning! I didn't want to bombard people with another one today, since I feel like too many updates can be overwhelming, buuuut I have tomorrow's written and now just need to organize the photos for it. :thumbsup2

Have you stayed at BCV before?! Oh my gosh, I am in LOVE. We stayed at Grand Floridian and Old Key West during our honeymoon last year and while I loved them both, Beach Club REALLY takes the cake. I've been spoiled and then some.

If you've stayed there, then you understand my love for it! If you haven't, you are in for a real treat! :love:

Also, I grew up near Boston! (Moved out to Seattle in August of 2005).. I lived on the South Shore! Just thought I'd comment since I noticed your location. :goodvibes

[dara00]

haha, just wanted to laugh at myself for popping in and commenting on the Muppets and totally missing your update! that's awesome that the Muppets was on when you got to the bus, yay!!! (said in Kermit voice, of course).

[Susan121302]

YAY! Thanks so much for commenting! :) I try to keep it fun, because that's basically my motto in life. :laughing:

Another update will be posted tomorrow morning! I didn't want to bombard people with another one today, since I feel like too many updates can be overwhelming, buuuut I have tomorrow's written and now just need to organize the photos for it. :thumbsup2

Have you stayed at BCV before?! Oh my gosh, I am in LOVE. We stayed at Grand Floridian and Old Key West during our honeymoon last year and while I loved them both, Beach Club REALLY takes the cake. I've been spoiled and then some.

If you've stayed there, then you understand my love for it! If you haven't, you are in for a real treat! :love:

Also, I grew up near Boston! (Moved out to Seattle in August of 2005).. I lived on the South Shore! Just thought I'd comment since I noticed your location. :goodvibes[/COLOR]

I have never stayed at the Beach Club... I have really never stayed on site, to be honest. I am pretty sure my head may explode with excitement when we arrive. I read (in either your PTR or TR, I am not sure since I loved your TR so much I am currently immersed in your PTR) that you grew up in MA. I am north of the city. Could you have moved ANY further away? ;)

Anyway, I look forward to your next installment. I am dying to know if you got the location you wanted. That's one thing I am not sure about in terms of BCV... whether to check in online or not. I really want 5th floor with an Epcot view, if I can see some fireworks. But you make a great point about road noise and the pool view. So I may be in need of your opinion.

Looking forward to reading more today!:banana:

[Mrs. Sojourner]

I'm joining in! I love the title and can't wait to hear more about your trip. 11 days! I am so jealous. (By the way, I am also a huge fan of parenthesis!) And, you stayed at Beach Club-- definitely on my list of resorts to stay at! (Did I mention how jealous I am?!)

[danimaroo]

haha, just wanted to laugh at myself for popping in and commenting on the Muppets and totally missing your update! that's awesome that the Muppets was on when you got to the bus, yay!!! (said in Kermit voice, of course).

That's so funny! Hey, the Muppets can definitely be a distraction. :rotfl: But yes, it really was awesome and made us really happy! I think we also ended up hearing/seeing the video at World of Disney later on in our trip, which was just as awesome.

Also, loving the Kermit voice. :lmao:

I have never stayed at the Beach Club... I have really never stayed on site, to be honest. I am pretty sure my head may explode with excitement when we arrive. I read (in either your PTR or TR, I am not sure since I loved your TR so much I am currently immersed in your PTR) that you grew up in MA. I am north of the city. Could you have moved ANY further away? ;)

Anyway, I look forward to your next installment. I am dying to know if you got the location you wanted. That's one thing I am not sure about in terms of BCV... whether to check in online or not. I really want 5th floor with an Epcot view, if I can see some fireworks. But you make a great point about road noise and the pool view. So I may be in need of your opinion.

Looking forward to reading more today!:banana:

Yeah, I think mine might have. It felt like I was in some awesome dream when we got there. And yes, that was in my PTR! I did grow up in Boston, my Mom's side grew up in Dorchester (Southie pride!), and I have a massive Irish Catholic family on that side. Definitely makes family holidays crazy (my mom is one of 13! :scared1:)

Next installment will be up in about 10 minutes I'm thinking! And you'll definitely find out on the location and all that stuff, if we did online check-in, etc. After staying, I definitely have a preference on where we'll ask to stay next time, so whether or not that's from a bad room experience, well, you'll find out. :laughing:

I'm joining in! I love the title and can't wait to hear more about your trip. 11 days! I am so jealous. (By the way, I am also a huge fan of parenthesis!) And, you stayed at Beach Club-- definitely on my list of resorts to stay at! (Did I mention how jealous I am?!)

YAY! Thanks for commenting and joining in! The 11 days was amazing! I'm not sure we'll be able to do it again, but any time in Disney makes me a happy lady. The extra day was a bonus after our crazy last-second switching of flights... but gosh am I happy we had that extra day!

High five on the parentheses love! It's where I like to stuff my little asides/rambling comments. :rotfl:

And yes, you must stay there! So much Beach Club love up in this thread. :lovestruc

[danimaroo]

Chapter Three: Oh that Beach Club smell... "Mickey ears make everything better!"
Day 1: January 18th, 2012

As we left off, we arrived at Beach Club around 7:30am. After I stared at the lobby in amazement and smelled that WONDERFUL Beach Club smell :cloud9: (no, really I wish I could just bottle it and smell it whenever I'm feeling sad and miss Beach Club), Matt and I made our way over to check-in! We didn't do online check-in because we were hoping to get our room requests fulfilled, and also because we still needed to buy our park tickets anyway and put them on our KTTW cards...

As we got to the counter, a nice man, whose name I did not write down, nor do I remember (what a bummer, because he was great!), started our check-in process with a very friendly smile. For some odd reason, our reservation was under my name as the main person, which wasn't a big deal, it was just weird.

Anyway, after giving him some information and my ID, he began checking us in and chatted with us about Seattle and the snow that we were about to be hit with..

He then asked us if we were celebrating our anniversary, and we said yes, so of course he gave us our lovely Anniversary pins! We asked if they had any rooms on a higher floor, to which he said he'd find out, and that he would also see if he could get us a room that was ready for us to check into.

Matt ran off to a bathroom while I hung out and the nice man chatted on the phone with who I'm guessing was the room-assigner. I took this time to sneak in a photo of the lobby because I was so darn excited to be staying here!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/d21beb14.jpg

After about 5 minutes on the phone, he told me that our room was ready and that we'd be on the 4th floor! :yay:

I was pretty excited about this, because we not only did we get our request to be on a higher floor, but our room was actually ready! The guy had me sign something, and told me to sign by the Mickey ears. I told him that Mickey ears make everything better, when suddenly he told us to hold on... He grabbed a sharpie, asked what number anniversary we were celebrating, and then drew a little "1" with Mickey ears on our pins. It was pretty cute and I thought very nice of him.

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After we thanked him, we headed over to Concierge to have our tickets added to our KTTW. They were very friendly over there, so when I asked if we could do 11-day park tickets, they said it wasn't really possible unless we wanted to pay a bit more and then suggested maybe doing APs. Unfortunately we won't be back within the year (since our next vacation next year will probably be the same week as this one, or the week after), so after talking to Matt, we decided to just do the 10-day pass and have one day of our vacation be a total rest and relaxation day. I was totally good with this since we were going to be there for a LONG time, and really didn't mind being "forced" to spend a day hanging by Stormalong Bay, so they loaded our cards with our park tickets and we were good to go!

After swinging by the Marketplace to grab our refillable mugs that came with our dining plan, we walked through to the Beach Club Villas, took the elevator up, then walked a LONG time (and realized we totally could've gone a much short way to our room :lmao:).

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459, we found it. Fingers crossed that it would it be everything we hoped it would be!

We walked in and saw a nice clean room, with a kitchenette, a queen bed, a couch, a table with chairs, and all that good stuff. I've heard horror stories of people walking into rooms that were gross or not cleaned well, but ours was perfect, with a Mickey head on our bed to make things that much better!

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My first order of business though was seeing our view.

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I'd actually requested a pool view, but as soon as we got to our door I knew it was facing the other side. I was initially a little sad until I actually walked out on our balcony.

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We could see the top of Spaceship Earth! :yay: And I was pretty sure we would be able to see the higher Fireworks for Illuminations at night (we'll find out if this actually holds to be true). I was pretty happy about this, and overall REALLY glad we ended up facing that way because we had total privacy if we wanted to go out on our balcony. We could also hear all of the music in England, which was really entertaining! Talk about a fantastic room. :thumbsup2

After we dropped our carry-on bags and sat down for a few moments, of course one of the first things I did was turn on the TV so we could watch STACEY!

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After getting a little dose of Stacey in our lives (we're not the hugest fans but it's kind of a cardinal sin if you don't put her on while staying at a Disney resort), we both agreed: We needed some breakfast (and coffee!) and we needed to go play in a park for a little bit before we took a nap! We were just too excited to sleep at that moment, even though we were both pretty exhausted from the long overnight flight.

We headed back out to the Beach Club Marketplace, and realized our room location was pretty amazingly perfect for another reason: we were seriously just around the corner from the elevator (but not so close that it was loud at all), which is the one CLOSEST to the quiet villas pool! That ended up being really nice after a long day in the parks.

Of course I snapped some photos on our walk over...

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I was really excited to swim in this quiet pool during the evenings or when we just needed some quiet time.

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I LOVED walking through the breezeway every morning and night. It's so relaxing and beautiful.

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Anyway, we got some coffee in our mugs (this is seriously what got me going in the mornings!), then we both got the egg and cheese croissant sandwich. After paying at the register with a cast member who was "earning her ears" (which is always fun to see!), we walked out to go find a nice place to sit and eat breakfast. But not without me taking some photos of course (I'm sure Matt was just wanting to sit down and eat at this point!)

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Talk about a perfect day at such a beautiful resort!

We decided to head over to a bench near the sunken pirate ship slide for Stormalong Bay. COOLEST THING EVER!

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And hello amazing view of the lake and the Boardwalk!

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We munched on our breakfast, which was actually pretty darn tasty. It's the same croissant sandwich they serve at most QS places where you can get breakfast. I enjoy them!

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While we ate, we took in the sun and warmth, which was such a huge change from Seattle weather. I was definitely happy I'd worn my shorts and t-shirt, because even though it was only like 8:30 at this point, it was WARM out! We talked over breakfast about what our first park would be, then made the decision to head on out!

I'm happy to take guesses on what our first park was AND what our first attraction was!

Continued in the next update. (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43932060&postcount=42)

[Mrs. Sojourner]

It sounds like the CM that checked you in was awesome. I absolutley LOVE your shirt; where'd you get that?! Your pictures are really, really selling me on Beach Club...beautiful!!!! I can't wait to hear where you headed first.

[jecskc]

I like the croissant breakfast sandwiches, too. And, if I was staying at Beach Club, my first stop would Epcot. Because it's just a five minute walk. And they have Grey Goose Slushies !!

[Susan121302]

OH.....MY.....GAWD!!!!!!! That's the exact location I want!! I love your room. What a great start! I am guessing you went to Epcot. How could you not after looking at Spaceship earth from your balcony, like it was just calling your name. Yup, that's my guess.:thumbsup2

[danimaroo]

It sounds like the CM that checked you in was awesome. I absolutley LOVE your shirt; where'd you get that?! Your pictures are really, really selling me on Beach Club...beautiful!!!! I can't wait to hear where you headed first.

He was, and I'm kicking myself for not writing down his name, because otherwise I'd have written a nice compliment about him to Disney. :headache:

And thank you! Believe it or not, I got it at Walmart! I rarely shop there but I was there on Black Friday with a friend and saw it and bought it for the trip. Can't beat it for $7.50. It glows in the dark, which was really fun on rides with black lights. :laughing:

And yes, it is amazing! Hopefully I'll get a post done tomorrow so I don't leave everyone hanging for too long. ;)

I like the croissant breakfast sandwiches, too. And, if I was staying at Beach Club, my first stop would Epcot. Because it's just a five minute walk. And they have Grey Goose Slushies !!

Yeah, they're pretty tasty! I think we had them one other time during our stay, though I'd say we ate breakfast in our room about 60% of the time.. I think. I know we did pastries and coffee a few times.

We'll see if your prediction is right! ;)

OH.....MY.....GAWD!!!!!!! That's the exact location I want!! I love your room. What a great start! I am guessing you went to Epcot. How could you not after looking at Spaceship earth from your balcony, like it was just calling your name. Yup, that's my guess.:thumbsup2

It was excellent! I had a feeling when I posted this update you'd think that location was excellent. Well I can tell you it really was. I was slightly concerned about noise from the street but you couldn't hear a thing... I actually forgot the road was right there. And it was way more private than a pool view was! Really loved being able to see Spaceship Earth from our room all lit up at night. :cloud9:

I like your thinking... we'll see if seeing Spaceship Earth convinces us to head to Epcot. :laughing:

[407-W-DISNEY]

Love the view from your room!!! how cool was that to see Spaceship Earth lit up at night~~ :wizard:

[okw19]

Okay I am ready to catch up! I am going to comment as I read so here it goes. :cool1:

That is way to early to be at the airport, but at least you were finally in FL! I like the mini-monorail, but it isn't the same without my favorite voice telling me to stand clear of the doors.

Empty ME and the Muppets?! What a perfect start to your day. :) I absolutely loved that movie and the soundtrack is great! That's probably my favorite song too.

Yay for a real ME bus and it was empty?! You guys were on a lucky streak this morning. Of course when I read Rocko I started singing the song too. :rotfl:

I'm glad you squealed too. So did I, and our arrival was at like 7pm after an all day car ride so no one really enjoyed my mild freakout. What a great shot you got of the welcome sign! It's glowing because angels were obviously rejoicing that you guys were there.

That's just so sad that you have been previously scarred by the Twilight Zone. As long as Matt didn't force you to go on it like this mean dad we rode with did to his crying son I won't have to beat him up :rotfl:

Yay! You're there! Woohoo for 4th floor and already ready for you!

Love the anniversary pins and obviously your shirt because those little aliens are stinkin' awesome.

Love the room, and the view. Looking at SE every morning? Umm, yes please. :goodvibes Also, Riley watched way more Stacey than anyone else. We would just flip it on while getting ready and I'd find her laying on the bed watching it. :laughing:

What an awesome breakfast. You're making me want to stay at the BC.

Can't wait to read more. :)

[GretchenG]

I'm brand new around here and planning my first trip to Disney World since I was a kid, and your TR is making me SO excited about going! I'm anxious to hear what happens next! :)

[danimaroo]

Love the view from your room!!! how cool was that to see Spaceship Earth lit up at night~~ :wizard:

I know, I was SO happy about it. It was really neat to just walk out on the balcony and look over at Spaceship Earth. Funny enough, Matt woke up one night in the middle of the night and randomly decided to look outside to see if it stayed lit up all night... It doesn't. :rotfl:

Okay I am ready to catch up! I am going to comment as I read so here it goes. :cool1:

That is way to early to be at the airport, but at least you were finally in FL! I like the mini-monorail, but it isn't the same without my favorite voice telling me to stand clear of the doors.

YAY glad you are caught up! Happy the DIS was finally working for you... It took me forever to put some up some of my posts because of how slow things were, ugh!

It was extremely early but we were just happy to have an entire day in Disney World, so that definitely made it better. And I agree, mini-monorail is fun but definitely not the same!

Empty ME and the Muppets?! What a perfect start to your day. :) I absolutely loved that movie and the soundtrack is great! That's probably my favorite song too.

Yay for a real ME bus and it was empty?! You guys were on a lucky streak this morning. Of course when I read Rocko I started singing the song too. :rotfl:

I know, right? I was really happy to start it off on that note. And yes, the soundtrack is fantastic. I can't wait to own that movie on blu-ray and watch it over and over again.

Yes, totally empty! I was pretty happy about it because then I didn't have to fend off some child who wanted to sit in the front seat. I was determined to get a nice photo of that sign! Hahaha and I KNEW you would appreciate my Rocko's Modern Life singing! :laughing:

I'm glad you squealed too. So did I, and our arrival was at like 7pm after an all day car ride so no one really enjoyed my mild freakout. What a great shot you got of the welcome sign! It's glowing because angels were obviously rejoicing that you guys were there.

Hahaha, I would've enjoyed it because I would've been screaming along with you! And thank you, it was like it was meant to be, to get a good shot of that sign. And yes, I think it is glowing for that very reason. :lmao:

That's just so sad that you have been previously scarred by the Twilight Zone. As long as Matt didn't force you to go on it like this mean dad we rode with did to his crying son I won't have to beat him up :rotfl:

I know, I hated both the theme song to that and Unsolved Mysteries. Unsolved Mysteries still legitimately scares me if I'm watching it alone... Like I have this odd fear that one of the fugitives from that show is going to be staring in my window while I'm watching. I'm so weird, I know.

And no, he didn't force me on, thank the lord. I have a whole write-up for that entire thing when I get to that chapter, with pictures and all. :laughing:

Yay! You're there! Woohoo for 4th floor and already ready for you!

Love the anniversary pins and obviously your shirt because those little aliens are stinkin' awesome.

Love the room, and the view. Looking at SE every morning? Umm, yes please. :goodvibes Also, Riley watched way more Stacey than anyone else. We would just flip it on while getting ready and I'd find her laying on the bed watching it. :laughing:

So excited, we really lucked out with our room! And thank you, I love that shirt, too. It was fun whenever it glowed in the dark. And I love those pins, you get so much attention from them it's insane!

Yes, the view never ever got old. Loved looking at it every morning and night. And that is so funny about Riley! I can totally picture her just sitting there watching it while the whole family is getting ready. :cutie:

What an awesome breakfast. You're making me want to stay at the BC.

Can't wait to read more. :)

It was a good way to start off the trip. I think you should give it a shot at some point, it's a fabulous resort.

I've got another post all ready to go, so after this I'm going to hopefully get it up on here! Thanks so much for commenting, as always, because it just wouldn't feel right without you here. :goodvibes


I'm brand new around here and planning my first trip to Disney World since I was a kid, and your TR is making me SO excited about going! I'm anxious to hear what happens next! :)

Oh can I just state how excited I am that you've decided to follow along?! I love seeing new DISers! When I first started my PTR, I was very new to these forums and I'm so glad I joined. I've met some fantastic people on here and got so many amazing tips that made our trip that much more amazing.

How exciting for your first trip since you were a kid!! You are going to have an absolute BLAST! I hope my TR keeps up the excitement for you, and I think it might because we truly had the best time ever.

So happy to have you following along, and feel free to ask any questions or comment any time! :goodvibes

[danimaroo]

Chapter Four: Okay, you're allowed to shake your head at me.
Day 1: January 18th, 2012

Hoookay! I got a few guesses on what park we were heading to, so let's get right back to it!

We actually ran back to the room to drop off our mugs before heading out to our first park, leaving right before 9am. We made our way back outside, and down this little path...

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Suddenly we found ourselves walking through this familiar area.

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Yup, if you guessed Epcot you sure were right (and yes, I realize it wasn't very difficult to guess, but it is still fun to play that game). If you followed along with my PTR, this was something we actually stuck to in terms of our first day plans. We realized Epcot was such a short walk, it only made sense to go walk around there a bit until we decided it was time for a nap. Plus, with it being right next to us and around 9am, we'd be walking in just after the park opened. Can't beat that! (Sort of) making rope drop on our first day? You betcha. ;)

We slowly made our way through England, then Canada, and of course stopped to take a few classic photos (with an awkward photo of Matt in there, of course!)

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I'm glad we did this because I remember last year wanting a photo here but it was always swamped with children and people, so we never got a chance. This was yet another benefit to staying at Beach Club; photo ops GALORE in the open areas of World Showcase in the morning because it was totally dead in England and Canada. There was something really wonderful about walking through with very few people, enjoying the sights and taking photos.

After our photo session, we walked over to ride our first attraction, which is actually kind of random and funny when I look back on it.

Let me put it this way, it felt really weird having my first attraction not be in Magic Kingdom. But I was okay with it because we were in Disney and it was a nice and relatively quiet morning in Epcot!

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So what was our first attraction, you ask?

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If you were thinking in your head Soarin', then you were correctomundo! We had looked at my Lines app and saw the wait was only 5 minutes, so we figured it'd be best to knock it out now since it's always crazy busy. Biggest reason I wanted to ride it right then, too? Because I'd never been on it! :scared1:

I know, I know, you can stop shaking your head at me (or don't, because I understand this is kind of pathetic). But you have to understand that I'd heard mixed reviews about it, and every time I thought about doing it during our honeymoon, the waits were way longer than what either of us were willing to do (we have been spoiled by low January wait times, I swear). Anyway! The line was a total walk on, which was a great way to start this trip.

It was also cute because there was an older couple in front of us and the husband had never been on it either, but was afraid of heights. They were seated next to us and I could hear him the whole time oohing and aahing and really enjoying himself. It was pretty darn cute!

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So, I'm sure you're wondering what I thought of it... Well, I'm glad to report that I actually enjoyed it more than I thought I would, as did Matt, though he probably liked it less than me.

However, that being said... there are many other attractions that I like better and so basically while I definitely liked it, it wasn't mind-blowing or anything to me. Matt later called it "Danglin'", because he felt like we were watching an iMax movie while our feet dangled. :rotfl:

Also side note, I find it interesting that they call it just Soarin' in Disney World but not "Soarin' over California" like they do in Disneyland... when it is exactly the same attraction. That confuses me why they made that change. :confused3

Anyway, after we enjoyed Soarin', we headed over to ride something else I'd never been on before...

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Yup, continue shaking your head at me, because I'd never been on Test Track before! Basically the same story as Soarin'; wait times were always long, but this attraction I actually had way more of an initial interest in that Soarin'.

The verdict on this one? I LOVED it. It was way more fun than I initially expected, and the outside part was a total blast. This was something I was looking forward to riding again during our trip.

We enjoyed it enough for us to grab FPs on our way out, just in case we decided to come back to Epcot later in the night. Oh and I experienced another first... My first Fast Pass ever!

Yup, it's true. During our last trip we didn't use a single fast pass because we never really had to. Well, as you'll find out, we made much better use of FPs this trip, as we were a lot more active than we were on our honeymoon.

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After grabbing our fast passes, we headed back to our room to force ourselves to nap. We were in that mode of feeling like we could keep going, but also recognized that if we didn't force ourselves to slow down and nap, we'd be having meltdowns later in the day, which neither of us really wanted...

Because as I mentioned in my PTR, I had a huge meltdown on our honeymoon in our room because I was so exhausted and for some reason, having 2 queen beds instead of one king-size set me into a meltdown.

No, it was not pretty and I recognize it was totally absurd on my part, but it was nothing a 2-hour nap couldn't fix.

After an hour long nap and one of the best showers of my life (I felt so gross after being on the plane and then sweating because of the much warmer weather), Matt and I got ready to get some lunch and head out for the next part of our day!

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We actually headed back to Epcot because I had one place in mind for lunch - Sunshine Seasons! I had been so excited to try this place out after hearing all good reviews, and also had my eye on a very specific dessert, so we headed over to The Land for some good eats.

Matt got the Spicy Cashew Chicken and some lo mein type of side, while I opted for the Turkey and Monterey Jack on Foccacia sandwich with a cold potato salad-type side.

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Matt really enjoyed his lunch, and mine was fabulous as well! I really wanted a cold sandwich and side, as I was really hot and it just sounded good. The sandwich was fresh and huge, , and the side was pretty tasty, too, but I didn't finish my lunch because I wanted to save room for my dessert.

Can you guess what we both got?

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Yup, the Strawberry Shortcake. I'd heard amazing things about it, like it was sent down from Heaven, so I was really excited to try it.

This did NOT disappoint!

It was so good and light and oh man, I would love some of this right now, I tell ya. It reminds me of a trifle I make in the summer, and I'm pretty much in love with it.

I'm not going to lie though, Sunshine Seasons had so many other dessert options that looked good, but this one won my heart!

After our delicious lunch, we headed out and I had mentioned to Matt that one of the first pins I had to purchase this trip was Ellie's grape soda pin. I'm a really big fan of the movie Up (you'll see this pop up quite a bit more in this TR with some of my purchases, and even my trip journal), so I had to find this pin! We made our way to the Pin Trading Station where I was elated that they had the pin I was looking for.

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While talking to the CM, she asked if we traded pins, and we told her yes. She then suggested we pick up a few of this one pin that was on sale for $1.99. It's actually a really nice limited release pin for the F&W festival, that spins, so we grabbed two, one to keep and one to trade, and thanked the CM for pointing out such a good deal for us.

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We headed out of Epcot for our next fun adventure, which would be riding the monorail and visiting some of the monorail resorts... However, this plan didn't actually stick and changed relatively quickly. We'll find out where we ended up in the next update. :)

Continued in next update. (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43940619&postcount=55)

[407-W-DISNEY]

HI!
Oh, that's kind of a bummer Spaceship Earth is not lit all night :confused:
That is funny that your husband checked....that is someone my DH or I would have checked as well...LOL

DANGLIN...thats a good one!

I love the the Epcot resorts...we stayed at the Boardwalk in 2001 and one night at the Dolphin this last trip in 2011...its so cool to be able to WALK to Epcot and back to your hotel without getting on a bus!

[dara00]

ooh, thanks for the info that soarin' is the same as soarin' over california - I've only been on the one in disneyland and wondered about that!

that's awesome about the cheap pin to trade! I spent way too much on pins this trip only to find a set of 4 for $8 at the outlet on our last day! of course we bought those too!

[jecskc]

Love the Grape Soda pin. I love mine. Also, I love Matt's Muppet t- shirt. Animal is just so funny. And I agree about the strawberry shortcake at Sunshine Seasons. Yum. Can't wait to read more!!

[Moodyzblu]

Joining in !

LOVE the view from your room .. SO jealous. Can't wait to read more. :banana:

[Sugarlumples]

I'm in! Great start so far. What a crazy good deal on those pins!

[Fantasyland Mom]

Just subbed! I can't wait to hear more!
I just posted about that yummy strawberry shortcake on my (first ever) TR!

I also love parentheses. :thumbsup2

[Pre]

All caught up :yay:
I am defiantly a one time poster to say hi!
I'm enjoying your TR and I :love: your room.
I'm soooooooo glad you were able to make it to WDW before the crazy snow. We just got dumped on here in CO so the warm weather looks wonderful.

I was :confused3 shaking my head first time soarin AND test track? :confused3 oh well. At least you could sare your first time here.

[Pixie Princess]

I'm a huge fan of Disney World, instagram (my name is dmags, you should follow me on there!), photography, the TV show LOST, video games, board games (I'm addicted to Ticket to Ride, no lie), and my dogs. I work in the financial industry, even though I was an English major, buuuut thankfully it's in marketing so it's not so awful. :laughing:


Well if your lovely one-liner title didn't get me, the fact that you are a LOST fan did! I really miss that show!! Once Upon A Time is doing a respectable job of filling the void though.

Can't wait to read more!

[Pixie Princess]

Yea... you escaped the child eating snowmaggedon! We had a snowmageddon last year. No children were eaten, but it pretty much shut down the city of Atlanta for a week. It was quite the spectacle.

Excited to read more of your thoughts about Beach Club. In June we'll be staying at the Yacht Club. When we booked, I was excited about the location, but to be honest, I never understood all the hubub over Stormalong Bay. I didn't find it to be all that impressive when I visited Beach Club restaurants. Then I read the YC/BC thread on the resorts board, and now even I'm excited about it! (I am not the "spend time at the pool" sort) I had no idea how big it was, or what all was there.

I think I may have to put the strawberry shortcake at Sunshine Seasons on my snack list. It looked yummy!

[GretchenG]

Epcot looks so beautiful early in the morning! How cool to have the World Showcase practically to yourselves!

That strawberry shortcake looks like something I'll need to try too. Yet another thing to add to my impossibly long food list... :rolleyes1

[danimaroo]

HI!
Oh, that's kind of a bummer Spaceship Earth is not lit all night :confused:
That is funny that your husband checked....that is someone my DH or I would have checked as well...LOL

DANGLIN...thats a good one!

I love the the Epcot resorts...we stayed at the Boardwalk in 2001 and one night at the Dolphin this last trip in 2011...its so cool to be able to WALK to Epcot and back to your hotel without getting on a bus!

Haha yeah, it was weird! I was kind of glad I never saw that because for some reason I just assumed they'd leave it lit up whenever it's dark... Buuuut I guess it's okay since they're saving some energy. :rotfl:

I thought it was pretty funny, don't get me wrong, it's a fun attraction, but I didn't feel the need to make an effort to return to it.

And yes, I agree, I'm a huge fan of the Epcot resorts! It really is wonderful being able to stroll over to Epcot in 5 minutes and be standing in England without even having to take a bus. :thumbsup2

ooh, thanks for the info that soarin' is the same as soarin' over california - I've only been on the one in disneyland and wondered about that!

that's awesome about the cheap pin to trade! I spent way too much on pins this trip only to find a set of 4 for $8 at the outlet on our last day! of course we bought those too!

Haha yeah, it's so weird! It's the exact same attraction, but they totally ditched "over California" for whatever reason. I really don't understand why. :confused3

And yeah, I was really happy about the good deal on the pin. What is funny is I never ended up trading the extra one we bought! I just couldn't find anything that was worth it since even though I got it for a good price, it's definitely a very high-quality pin. Guess I'll just save it for next time!

We spent MUCH less this time on pins, only buying ones that were LE or stuff that we just liked. I would go nuts in the outlet on pins though!! Sounds like you got amazing prices on those pins! :goodvibes

Love the Grape Soda pin. I love mine. Also, I love Matt's Muppet t- shirt. Animal is just so funny. And I agree about the strawberry shortcake at Sunshine Seasons. Yum. Can't wait to read more!!

It's seriously my favorite pin. I love it so much. And thanks, I will tell him that you love it. Animal is one of his favorites!

Ohhhh that strawberry shortcake really is so delicious. Glad to see someone else knows what I'm talking about. ;)

Joining in !

LOVE the view from your room .. SO jealous. Can't wait to read more. :banana:

YAY, thanks for commenting! :) The view really was amazing and I feel really lucky that we got it.

I can't wait to share more with everyone, I feel like there's so much more to go through.. Oh wait, because there is. :rotfl:

I'm in! Great start so far. What a crazy good deal on those pins!

Awesome, thank you so much for popping in and saying hi. :) And yes, we really did get an amazing deal on them!

[danimaroo]

Just subbed! I can't wait to hear more!
I just posted about that yummy strawberry shortcake on my (first ever) TR!

I also love parentheses. :thumbsup2

Awesome, welcome and thanks for commenting! That shortcake is a Godsend; I will have to check out your TR then in a bit!

And yes, parentheses are so delightful. Makes throwing in little asides way more acceptable. :rotfl:

All caught up :yay:
I am defiantly a one time poster to say hi!
I'm enjoying your TR and I :love: your room.
I'm soooooooo glad you were able to make it to WDW before the crazy snow. We just got dumped on here in CO so the warm weather looks wonderful.

I was :confused3 shaking my head first time soarin AND test track? :confused3 oh well. At least you could sare your first time here.

Glad to hear you've caught up, and glad to hear you've joined, even if it's a one-time comment. :) We loved our room so much and felt so lucky we got it! And yes, VERY happy we made it before the snow! I would've been devastated if we hadn't made it. I like snow a lot.. just not when it's interfering with my trip to my favorite place! :laughing:

Haha, I know, I know. It was kind of ridiculous. But to be honest, neither attraction really spoke to us last trip and we did a lot more walking around and enjoying the sites during our first trip with much less focus on attractions. We still had a blast, but this trip we got way way more done and experienced so many new things. It was more tiring but we really had the best time!

Well if your lovely one-liner title didn't get me, the fact that you are a LOST fan did! I really miss that show!! Once Upon A Time is doing a respectable job of filling the void though.

Can't wait to read more!

YES! Another LOST fan! Wait til you hear how LOST plays into one of my favorite memories of our trip! I seriously miss LOST though. I've heard JJ Abram's new show Alcatraz is supposed to be very LOST-like, so we'll have to check it out. I've also heard OUAT is good, too!

Yea... you escaped the child eating snowmaggedon! We had a snowmageddon last year. No children were eaten, but it pretty much shut down the city of Atlanta for a week. It was quite the spectacle.

Excited to read more of your thoughts about Beach Club. In June we'll be staying at the Yacht Club. When we booked, I was excited about the location, but to be honest, I never understood all the hubub over Stormalong Bay. I didn't find it to be all that impressive when I visited Beach Club restaurants. Then I read the YC/BC thread on the resorts board, and now even I'm excited about it! (I am not the "spend time at the pool" sort) I had no idea how big it was, or what all was there.

I think I may have to put the strawberry shortcake at Sunshine Seasons on my snack list. It looked yummy!

The child-eating Snowmageddon was escape. Hurrah! It's the worst when it shuts down EVERYTHING, especially in cities that just aren't prepared for it.

I'm sure I'll have more thoughts on Beach Club, but I've gotta say I was spoiled by it and never want to stay anywhere else. Stormalong Bay is a blast. I totally get it, though we had to deal with some construction while we were there which was a little frustrating because in order to get to the other side of pools, you had to go this totally ridiculous way.. that and the smell of shellac and paint was pretty terrible at times. But it really didn't ruin it for us and we loved floating around the lazy river, the sand-bottom pools, the waterfall, the whirlpool, etc. I think you'll really love it.

We spent WAY more time at the pool this year than last year, mainly because it was a LOT warmer. I loved relaxing by SAB, which you'll hear about later in the TR. :)

Epcot looks so beautiful early in the morning! How cool to have the World Showcase practically to yourselves!

That strawberry shortcake looks like something I'll need to try too. Yet another thing to add to my impossibly long food list... :rolleyes1

It really is amazingly beautiful in the morning and probably my favorite place to walk through in the morning, because of how quiet it is in England and Canada. You really do have the entire World Showcase to yourself!

Um yes, you must try the strawberry shortcake! I had a massive list of snacks I wanted to try and well, we'll see what I ended up actually getting to try. :laughing:

[danimaroo]

Before I go on, I just wanted to let you guys know that I totally know this day is ever-lasting, but I think future days might not have as many chapters basically because this day included our arrival, check-in, seeing our room for the first time, and all that fun stuff.

Anyway, sorry if I'm being long-winded in my report, but that's just kind of how I roll and I want people to get the full experience! I think it's helpful to hear about and see photos of food, rooms, etc. I know when I was doing research for our trip, a lot of what made ours so fantastic were other people's detailed TRs. So, that's what you're getting here, and I hope you continue to enjoy it. :)

Anyway, on with the show...

Chapter Five: Okay, we really are finally here!
Day 1: January 18th, 2012

We made our way over to the monorail, with the plan that we were going to do our traditional monorail resort tour. This is something that Matt grew up doing and has always loved, so it'd been in our first day plans that this is what we'd be doing. We waited for a bit, excited for our first trip on the monorail!

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While waiting, Matt mentioned that maybe it'd be better for us to go to Magic Kingdom and do our resort tour later. We'd seen that wait times were very low at MK, and the more we thought about it, the more sense it made to head there and save our monorail tour for another day, perhaps on our off-day from the parks. After making sure he was okay with this, we both agreed and decided to head to Magic Kingdom!

First monorail to show up was yellow, so we excitedly hopped on and heard those sweet, sweet words:

"Por favor mantengese alejadro de las puertas."

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Or for those non-Spanish speaking people, "Please stand clear of the doors." Matt and I both laughed like we were five at the manly man's voice, then enjoyed our trip while listening to manly man talk about the resorts and how everyone should be celebrating something.

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We zipped past the Polynesian, then made our way over to the Grand Floridian, where I snapped a photo of all the work they're doing on the new DVC villas! I'm not going to lie, it's VERY exciting they are building these and very tempting to stay there at some point. We really enjoyed Grand Floridian during our honeymoon, and it's a beautiful place to stay!

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Then, before I knew it, we'd arrived at the Magic Kingdom, and I was making my way down the ramp and to the entrance!

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Matt and I briefly looked at the stones out front for his family's stone that they bought in 1994, but after about 5 minutes we gave up. I'd forgotten how MANY stones there are out there, and without Matt knowing exactly where theirs was located, there was no way we were going to find it. That and um, I really wanted to see Cinderella Castle, STAT!

After getting through bag check and entering with our KTTW cards, we walked past the train station and we were finally here!

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Buuuut more than anything else, I just really wanted to see the castle, so I'm pretty sure I speed-walked to a point where I could finally lay my eyes on that beautiful sight.

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Oh I can't even tell you how excited we were! It really felt like we were home. I love Epcot, I really do, but there is something about seeing Magic Kingdom for the first time on your trip that just REALLY makes you feel like you are here, you're really here. And this was my moment.

Anyway, after we stared at the castle for a bit and I'm sure took a PhotoPass photo, we made our way over to our first attraction. It's something I've been looking forward to since I was a little kid, something I was so beyond disappointed wasn't open during our last visit, and Matt knew we needed to ride first thing.

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If you're guessing Splash Mountain, welp, yes, you're right. I grew up being obsessed with log flume rides. I don't know why, but I just love them. I'd been to Disney World twice when I was little, but honestly there was a lot I missed out on attraction-wise. That being said, Splash Mountain was always at the top of my attraction list, because I just had a feeling I would love it.

And I did. I REALLY did. I'm pretty sure I had a smile on my face the whole time we were on it, and Matt was a trooper because he does not like anything with a massive drop... He'll tolerate it but they're not his favorite.

After having a blast on Splash Mountain, we waved goodbye to my new favorite MK attraction, but knew we'd be back before the night was over. We then made our way over to Matt's favorite attraction...

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He LOVES the Haunted Mansion with a passion. He knows everything there is to know about it, pointing out fun little things to me (though there's one thing that I knew about before he did that will show up later in my TR), so it was definitely exciting to have it be our next place we headed to.

During our walk, however, it started to seriously rain, so we got out our ponchos (which we'd purchased on our last trip), and enjoyed the new queue!

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I love how with these statues, it's a big riddle in trying to figure out who killed who! A CM over at Wilderness Lodge that we spoke with for awhile told us about this, and I thought it was so neat. We didn't know about it when we first went through, so later on in the trip we spent some time figuring our who killed who, with what weapon, etc. It's basically like a game of CLUE (which is my favorite classic board game), so I really thought that was a neat touch!

Anyway, maybe it was because it was pouring out, or maybe people just didn't realize it, but Matt and I were the only ones playing with stuff in the queue. It was kind of weird, since people just didn't seem to think you could touch stuff? I don't know, but I just went right over and started messing with everything, and then Matt did as well.

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The line was actually moving very quickly, so we didn't get a chance to play with everything (but don't worry, we did many more times during our trip)... We headed inside for our first of many rides with our favorite 999 happy haunts and enjoyed ourselves immensely.

We headed out of Liberty Square for Fantasyland, stopping to take a photo of ourselves in our dorky ponchos.

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Continued in next post (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43940693&postcount=56)

[danimaroo]

Chapter Five: Okay, we really are finally here! CONTINUED
Day 1: January 18th, 2012

I insisted we stop so I could try the Sword in the Stone, since no one was near it, but no such luck. ;)

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We left Fantasyland and made our way to one of our favorites, but as Matt has said, I sound like I'm being murdered the entire time we are on it...

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Space Mountain. Okay, you guys have to understand that I LOVE roller coasters, I really do. But Space Mountain scares the crap out of me. I always feel like something is going to hit me in the head, I'm going to fly out of the spaceship and die, oooor that I'm going to break something because of how jerky it can be. It also doesn't help that my eyesight in the dark is really terrible, even moreso when switching from light to dark, so that results in purely horrifying sounds being emitted from me as we whip around Space Mountain. Matt confirmed that yet again, I did indeed sound like someone was murdering me with the blood-curling screams coming from within me. I love Space Mountain but I will say it's probably the scariest roller coaster for me to go on.

I needed some nice peace and quiet more than anything else, so we went on one of our favorite attractions because it's so relaxing... The People Mover!

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Please excuse my hair in the above photo. Number one, I'd just been on Space Mountain so it was out of control. Number two, the Florida humidity was so not nice to my hair this trip, you'll noticed towards the end I gave up and pretty much always had a hat on. Number three, it was raining really hard for awhile, so yeah, those three factors meant my hair was out of control horrible.

Anyway, after a relaxing ride on the People Mover ("Paging Mr. Morrow, Mr. Tom Morrow"), we went to another one of my favorites.. Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin!

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Last trip, I beat Matt pretty consistently, so I allowed him to control the spinning during this ride. It resulted in a CLEAR advantage for him, and he beat me!

My score:
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His score:
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We then decided it was time to head over to the Main Street area, because we had a dining reservation at one of our favorite places! This little guy decided to follow along with us..

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Our first ADR of the trip?

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Now, what's funny is, we actually had an ADR for Crystal Palace for Thursday, but because we arrived a day early, we moved all of our plans for Thursday to Wednesday, and thus canceled our Thursday ADR at Crystal Palace and made it for Wednesday at 5. This is why I love January; you can cancel reservations and make new ones pretty last-second!

Anyway, we were seated promptly, and soon after were visited by some of our favorite friends from Hundred Acre Wood!

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In between the excitement of meeting Pooh and the gang, we managed to eat a pretty delicious meal!

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I'm lame and forgot to take photos of our second plates, which had more traditional dinner-type foods, but in the first photo I had a roll, some chicken nuggets and honey mustard sauce, and a Greek pasta salad to start. Matt had the same thing, but with some shrimp as well. I know we both had some chicken, mashed potatoes, and other yummy foods. Everything was served hot, fresh, and was very good. The buffet was kept well-stocked and the area was very clean. It wasn't too busy when we were there, so maybe that's why we had such a good experience (I've heard a lot of complaints about dinner at CP), but we really enjoyed ourselves.

For dessert, we got some pretty tasty items, including a hazelnut chocolate cannoli, apple crisp, and some banana hazelnut bread pudding. Everything was good, but we were so full at this point!

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Stay tuned for the next update, which includes the tale of (our first) Splash Mountain incident, and one of my favorite moments of our whole trip. :cloud9:

Continued in the next update (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43948577&postcount=70)

[Pixie Princess]

Great tip about the statues in the HM queue! I had no idea. Will put "playing Clue" on the list for the next trip.

I also love the Peoplemover for its delightful relaxingness. It is one of my favorite attractions.

[jecskc]

YES! Another LOST fan! Wait til you hear how LOST plays into one of my favorite memories of our trip! I seriously miss LOST though. I've heard JJ Abram's new show Alcatraz is supposed to be very LOST-like, so we'll have to check it out. I've also heard OUAT is good, too![/B][/COLOR]


She (PixiePrincess) is my BFF from middle/high school, and it is HER fault I got hooked on Disney AND LOST. OUAT is awesome. Definitely a must see.

[Pixie Princess]

She (PixiePrincess) is my BFF from middle/high school, and it is HER fault I got hooked on Disney AND LOST. OUAT is awesome. Definitely a must see.

I didn't know you were following this TR! I was several chapters late in joining so I just followed the links to each chapter, and hadn't read any comments until now!

So, I'm going to blame you for this unfortunate compulsion I now have to write TRs and now even a PTR! The latter was brought from me going in to full-on panic mode about this June trip yesterday. I may be slow at writing them, but dangit, I do enjoy it.

So, Alcatraz- I definitely want to see that! The night it premiered I was in D.C. for a conference and got back to the hotel to catch the last two minutes. Grr! I have liked most everything JJ Abrahms has done, plus it has Jorge Garcia! I'll be catching up on what I missed on-line if I can.

Definitely start watching OUAT, and catch up with the older episdoes online. It is the LOST "formula" applied to fairy tale characters. Plus they throw tons of LOST Easter eggs in the show.

[Belle83]

I just recently found your TR. I'm from Seattle so I wanted to say hi and that I'm looking forward to getting caught up!

[marDgreen88]

OMG can I just say that I almost started CRYING when I saw the picture of the Beach Club and the beautiful blue sky? THAT is how badly I want to stay there. Clearly, I have issues.

Okay so... no Soarin' OR Test Track before this trip?! How? Those rides basically are Future World for me, besides Spaceship Earth! That's alright, we'll let it slide... :rolleyes1

MONORAIL. Omg. I'm seriously obsessed with Disney World transportation.

I LOVE Splash!!!! It's the best. I know what you mean about log rides! They are SO fun, but none of them even come close to comparing to the beauty that is Splash Mountain!

Crystal Palace is my favorite restaurant at Disney (so far) but I've never been for lunch or dinner! Looks good!

[danimaroo]

Great tip about the statues in the HM queue! I had no idea. Will put "playing Clue" on the list for the next trip.

I also love the Peoplemover for its delightful relaxingness. It is one of my favorite attractions.

Yeah, I didn't either until we talked to the CM! Each statue has a "weapon" above a little riddle about how the person did. You then, based off those clues, figure out who killed who. It was really fun!

Peoplemover is seriously the best. I love it when you just need to sit down for awhile but still want to do something. :thumbsup2

She (PixiePrincess) is my BFF from middle/high school, and it is HER fault I got hooked on Disney AND LOST. OUAT is awesome. Definitely a must see.

That is funny! It's fun having a BFF on the boards! And even better, she got you hooked on awesome things like Disney and LOST... She wins for being a good friend. ;)

Maybe we will check it out! We have so many shows that we watch right now, but sometimes we get the itch for something new to add to the bunch.



So, Alcatraz- I definitely want to see that! The night it premiered I was in D.C. for a conference and got back to the hotel to catch the last two minutes. Grr! I have liked most everything JJ Abrahms has done, plus it has Jorge Garcia! I'll be catching up on what I missed on-line if I can.

Definitely start watching OUAT, and catch up with the older episdoes online. It is the LOST "formula" applied to fairy tale characters. Plus they throw tons of LOST Easter eggs in the show..

Oooh LOST Easter eggs? I'm now intrigued! :laughing:

I just recently found your TR. I'm from Seattle so I wanted to say hi and that I'm looking forward to getting caught up!

Hello and thank you for commenting! That is so exciting to run into another Seattleite! Hopefully you enjoy getting caught up, then enjoy my future updates! I know this day has taken forever to get through, but there are always so many exciting things about your first day. :laughing:

OMG can I just say that I almost started CRYING when I saw the picture of the Beach Club and the beautiful blue sky? THAT is how badly I want to stay there. Clearly, I have issues.

Haha, no I totally get it. That is actually one of my favorite photos of the entire trip! It just perfectly captured what a beautiful resort Beach Cluib really is! I seriously hope you get to stay there!

Okay so... no Soarin' OR Test Track before this trip?! How? Those rides basically are Future World for me, besides Spaceship Earth! That's alright, we'll let it slide... :rolleyes1

I know I know! But honestly, in my defense, during our honeymoon we didn't spend a ton of time in Epcot, and when we did, we were in World Showcase. Plus, we definitely were not the rope drop type for that trip, so whenever we had the opportunity to do either Soarin' or Test Track, the waits were just too long for attractions that we weren't necessarily excited for.

That and we are big fans of Spaceship Earth, so I guess that kept us happy while in Epcot? :rotfl: I am definitely glad I finally rode both of them though, just to cross it off my list.

MONORAIL. Omg. I'm seriously obsessed with Disney World transportation.

Me too. I love the monorail so much and could probably sit on it for hours and be happy about it. :lovestruc

I LOVE Splash!!!! It's the best. I know what you mean about log rides! They are SO fun, but none of them even come close to comparing to the beauty that is Splash Mountain!

Yup, lovelovelove it. The attraction is fantastic, even when half of the animatronics are broken. It's just such a happy attraction with happy music!

Crystal Palace is my favorite restaurant at Disney (so far) but I've never been for lunch or dinner! Looks good!

I love CP! Enough that we made a breakfast ADR for later on in the week. So much fun dining with Pooh and the gang, and the food is pretty tasty!

[JaneBanks]

Awesome update!

We'll be there in 3 days (POFQ- staying there for the first time) and your TR is definitely putting me in the Disney mood!

[danimaroo]

Awesome update!

We'll be there in 3 days (POFQ- staying there for the first time) and your TR is definitely putting me in the Disney mood!

Consider me super jealous that you'll be there so soon! I've heard such great things about POFQ, and hello, it's Disney World, so you are going to have a blast. Say hi to Mickey for me and have so much fun on your trip.

I glad my TR is helping to get you in the Disney spirit! :goodvibes

[ash-n-brensmom]

I'm all caught up, and so happy you guys had good luck with your villa! Nothing like being able to move right in and rest and clean up! Looking forward to more!

[okw19]

Gosh, I have to have a long catch up session again! I'm such a bad Dis-friend. Sorry! :hug:

I really want to stay at the BC/YC/BW area now! Those two pics walking into the WS are just amazing. I would love to be able to do that in the morning. :cloud9: Love the Canada pictures of course. That area is so crowded and I hate having all the people in my WS pics! Maybe if I don't get to stay at BC, I could at least park there one morning just to have an empty WS photoshoot? :laughing: Sounds worth it to me.

I felt weird being at AK instead of MK on our first morning, so I totally get what you're saying. EE turned out to be a great first ride though! Soarin' sounds like a good pic. I rode it for the first time this trip too! I didn't have high expectations, but I enjoyed it more than I was expecting to, too!
:rotfl: Danglin' is a great name for it!

First time on TT and first FP?! You guys were killing it this morning. I liked TT more than I used to on this trip. Glad you liked it. :) A nap?! Aw man, do we have to?? Kidding, I totally get it! When I'm overtired I will cry over anything. I get really dumb.

Mmm Sunshine Seasons! We went there for lunch one day and Anna got that same sandwich, but she didn't like the potato salad. She seemed to keep forgetting over the course of the week that you can get anything a'la carte and save a few bucks for leaving off the side! The portion sizes at SS were huge though. I got a kids Caesar salad and I could hardly finish it, but I was trying to save room for my strawberry shortcake too. :) I liked it a lot, but some of the berries in mine weren't very good. Anna got the chocolate mousse cake and it was delicious too! Sorry for the SS rant!

LOVE that pin! Glad the CM pointed out such a good deal to you guys! I know you don't stick to that plan, can't wait to hear what you do.

[okw19]

Chapter 5
You know I'm loving this detailed TR, so please continue to make every post long, ok thanks. :)
Just realized your Mickey has a mustache. Win.
"Please stand clear of the doors, por favor mantengase alejado de las puertas" is music to my ears. The key to my heart, really. :lovestruc I know, I'm a complete goob. I really miss the old monorail narration from my childhood. The current one is okay, but the old one was the "Please stand clear" guy for the whole thing. Now all he gets is the doors line and another takes over. Not cool. I'm sure Matt will back me up on how awesome 90s monorail narration was.

Walking down Main St. is what makes it real. There's always a huge breath of Disney air, and that comforting feeling that you're finally home as you take in the Main St. atmosphere and look at the castle. :cloud9: (Maybe a few discrete tears too)

Splash will always have my heart. They could make it just a boat ride with no big drop and I'd still love it dearly. I wanted to ride it so badly one year, but I was too short so they gave me one of those "Skip the line when you're tall enough" certificates and I treasured it for probably 2 years until I was tall enough. Then I took it back and fell in love with the ride.

I love HM too. We never did the interactive queue though. There was always a tour group full of slow moving people in it. :( LOVE the poncho pic. Wish they still had the yellow ones.

I've given up hope on the sword now that I'm old. Maybe Riley will get lucky one day. They seem to like cute little kids. :)

Think I already told you this, but when we rode Space the first time this trip I had the front which is 100 times scarier. I screamed like a little girl. A hairband is a necessity for SM which I learned that night. :laughing: Love the Peoplemover. So relaxing.

My whole family loves Buzz, especially my dad. It's an ongoing competition the whole week. I always clobber Anna, but my dad is my favorite ride partner. I almost beat him once this trip with 347,400.

Everything at CP looks so yummy! I've never done a buffet at dinner but after your review of this and Cape May I think I'll be trying it! I love Pooh and the gang so much. Eeyore is just so precious in the parks. Riley checked for his tail every time we met him. :cutie:

[danimaroo]

I'm all caught up, and so happy you guys had good luck with your villa! Nothing like being able to move right in and rest and clean up! Looking forward to more!

:yay: Glad you've caught up! I've kind of been on an updating rampage as of late, so just when people think they've caught up... there's more to read! Mwahaha. :rotfl:

And thank you, we did have some good luck! It was really nice to be able to have a place to put our stuff and just relax.

Don't worry, I have plenty more coming along! ;)

[danimaroo]

Gosh, I have to have a long catch up session again! I'm such a bad Dis-friend. Sorry! :hug:

Ummm, it's so okay. I have been updating almost daily, and I know it's a lot, so don't even sweat it! I'm just trying to get my TR out there because it's been fun to write but also because a lot of things are still fresh in my mind. I have my trip journal and photos to help, but I feel like if I start slacking on updates, that's when things will go downhill from there and I'll never finish it, since I have 11 days to write about. :laughing:

I really want to stay at the BC/YC/BW area now! Those two pics walking into the WS are just amazing. I would love to be able to do that in the morning. :cloud9: Love the Canada pictures of course. That area is so crowded and I hate having all the people in my WS pics! Maybe if I don't get to stay at BC, I could at least park there one morning just to have an empty WS photoshoot? :laughing: Sounds worth it to me.

You so shouuuuuld! And yes, just strolling into WS was so so nice. I loved it. And thank you for understanding the crowding issues! During our honeymoon people were so rude about cutting and taking photos or literally just walking into your photo, so we kind of gave up on waiting. This time, we had the whole country to ourselvessss! :laughing:

I felt weird being at AK instead of MK on our first morning, so I totally get what you're saying. EE turned out to be a great first ride though! Soarin' sounds like a good pic. I rode it for the first time this trip too! I didn't have high expectations, but I enjoyed it more than I was expecting to, too!
:rotfl: Danglin' is a great name for it!

Yeah, isn't it weird being somewhere other than Magic Kingdom first?! And I could totally see EE being an amazing first ride, considering it IS my favorite attraction! So glad I'm not the only one who rode Soarin' for the first time; and it was definitely fun, though not my favorite. "DAAAANGLIN'!" (said in Stacey-fashion)..

First time on TT and first FP?! You guys were killing it this morning. I liked TT more than I used to on this trip. Glad you liked it. :) A nap?! Aw man, do we have to?? Kidding, I totally get it! When I'm overtired I will cry over anything. I get really dumb.

I know, this trip had so many firsts for me that when I look back, there was so much I hadn't done before or on our honeymoon. It kind of makes me look back and think, "What the heck did we do on our honeymoon?" But it's okay because we tried so many new things and it's kind of fun writing about your first time on these attractions!

And yes, a nap was necessary. I was not going to have a meltdown! :laughing:

Mmm Sunshine Seasons! We went there for lunch one day and Anna got that same sandwich, but she didn't like the potato salad. She seemed to keep forgetting over the course of the week that you can get anything a'la carte and save a few bucks for leaving off the side! The portion sizes at SS were huge though. I got a kids Caesar salad and I could hardly finish it, but I was trying to save room for my strawberry shortcake too. :) I liked it a lot, but some of the berries in mine weren't very good. Anna got the chocolate mousse cake and it was delicious too! Sorry for the SS rant!

Ahh I love it. Yeah, I could see the potato salad not being liked. It had like a vinaigrette on it or something. It was kind of nice to have a light side though instead of french fries. Portion sizes were huuuuge.

That stinks about your shortcake. Bad fruits can ruin a good dessert! I feel like all of their desserts looked amazing. :cloud9:

LOVE that pin! Glad the CM pointed out such a good deal to you guys! I know you don't stick to that plan, can't wait to hear what you do.

I know, it's quite cute and makes me happy. And I was very thankful that the CM pointed it out to us! :)


.

Chapter 5
You know I'm loving this detailed TR, so please continue to make every post long, ok thanks. :)

This makes me feel better because I was a weebit concerned people were like, "Okay no, Danielle, I do not want to hear about your room or what you ate." Buuuut if people don't like that, then they're reading the wrong trip report! :laughing:

Just realized your Mickey has a mustache. Win.
"Please stand clear of the doors, por favor mantengase alejado de las puertas" is music to my ears. The key to my heart, really. :lovestruc I know, I'm a complete goob. I really miss the old monorail narration from my childhood. The current one is okay, but the old one was the "Please stand clear" guy for the whole thing. Now all he gets is the doors line and another takes over. Not cool. I'm sure Matt will back me up on how awesome 90s monorail narration was.

Yes I love that Mickey shirt, it's one of my favs! And yes, music to the ears for sure. I bet Matt totally understands your love for the 90s narration. He always brings up certain things that were better in their older format and how he wishes they didn't change certain things.

Walking down Main St. is what makes it real. There's always a huge breath of Disney air, and that comforting feeling that you're finally home as you take in the Main St. atmosphere and look at the castle. :cloud9: (Maybe a few discrete tears too)

Yes it so does make it real. And yes, I'm pretty sure tears are shed.. I mean, how can you not though? It's just so so nice to see it again when you've missed it for so long. :lovestruc

Splash will always have my heart. They could make it just a boat ride with no big drop and I'd still love it dearly. I wanted to ride it so badly one year, but I was too short so they gave me one of those "Skip the line when you're tall enough" certificates and I treasured it for probably 2 years until I was tall enough. Then I took it back and fell in love with the ride.

I totally agree, it's just such a good attraction and so much fun to sing along to! That is the cutest story ever, and I think that is so fun that they give those certificates. I love that you treasured it and brought it back when you were tall enough. :goodvibes

I love HM too. We never did the interactive queue though. There was always a tour group full of slow moving people in it. :( LOVE the poncho pic. Wish they still had the yellow ones.

Oh sad face! We hit that a few times which was annoying, but usually we were able to play in the queue for awhile which was great. AND I MISS THOSE YELLOW ONES! I totally remember getting one when I was 6 and it was raining really hard and how much I loved my yellow Mickey poncho.

I've given up hope on the sword now that I'm old. Maybe Riley will get lucky one day. They seem to like cute little kids. :)

I know, this is part of the reason I want children: So I can live vicariously through them if they actually pull out the sword. Riley pulling the sword out would be amazing, I bet it'd make her so happy. :goodvibes

Think I already told you this, but when we rode Space the first time this trip I had the front which is 100 times scarier. I screamed like a little girl. A hairband is a necessity for SM which I learned that night. :laughing: Love the Peoplemover. So relaxing.

Ohhh my Gosh, later in my TR we rode it a few more times, and I was in the front. It was so so terrifying. :sad2: I screamed so loud, Matt could hear me from way back in the spaceship. And yes, I just wish I'd had a brush or something because my hair was just done. Soooo done.

My whole family loves Buzz, especially my dad. It's an ongoing competition the whole week. I always clobber Anna, but my dad is my favorite ride partner. I almost beat him once this trip with 347,400.

I lovelovelove that attraction. It's so much fun! I'm super competitive though, so that explains that. :lmao: Usually I destroyed Matt, but we got some pretty epic scores later in the trip, though not sure we topped yours!

Everything at CP looks so yummy! I've never done a buffet at dinner but after your review of this and Cape May I think I'll be trying it! I love Pooh and the gang so much. Eeyore is just so precious in the parks. Riley checked for his tail every time we met him. :cutie:

It was really good! I'd say Cape May has better food, but both are a fun experience. That is the CUTEST story about Riley checking Eeyore's tail. Seriously don't think she could get any cuter. :cutie:

[danimaroo]

Chapter Six: Dead Men Tell No Tales... and the Infamous (first) Splash Mountain Incident
Day 1: January 18th, 2012

We headed out of Crystal Palace with full stomachs, and made our way back to Adventureland, but not before capturing a photo of what we called "Bridge ducks".

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During this trip, you'll noticed many types of different ducks that we ran into along the way. We gave them various names, and always took a moment to say hello to them. We enjoy ducks.

We headed for one of our favorite classics, Pirates of the Caribbean!

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Matt looks very nervous in this photo, and I have no clue why...

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MAYBE because we were about to see some PIRATES!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/4867e759.jpg

We enjoyed our ride, and really liked the new changes with the new movie. It was weird not going through the Davy Jones waterfall, though!

After enjoying ourselves in the gift shop, we headed back for another trip down my new favorite...

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Now this... This is when the FIRST (because yes, there is more than one) infamous Splash Mountain incident occurred.

We hopped into line, which was a total walk-on, and as we approached, the CM asked us where we'd like to sit. I, in a total moment of excitement and just not listening, exclaimed, "FRONT!" Matt said, "Noooo, let's do the back." and at that point I just flat-out ignored him and said, "Nope, front!"

We sat down and I turned to Matt who was NOT happy. He asked me why I did that, mentioning that we were going to get absolutely soaked, our phones and his watch would get soaked, that he hates the front (and I know this), especially in rides with a big drop, and um, yeah. I didn't think about any of this before we got in our log, and I was now regretting it. We were planning to hang out at MK for awhile, and I realized that when you put heavier people in the front of the log, you tend to get WAY more soaked.

I felt AWFUL. We began scrambling, as I insisted he give me his cell phone and watch to put into our backpack (which thank God is a North Face bag that is completely waterproof). Matt still wasn't happy that we were going to get soaked, so I wedged my hand into the bag and somehow pulled a houdini, grabbing the ponchos out for us, as we rode along with our friends Brer Bear and Brer Rabbit.

We got prepared for the big drop with our ponchos, and it resulted in this photo:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/63be389b.jpg

Matt was right, the drop is a bit more terrifying in the front when you're not sure how wet you're about to get. We got pretty soaked.

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Matt wasn't a super happy camper, though looking back he attributes this to me basically not listening to him and also being really exhausted, running on 40 minutes of sleep. I apologized profusely (I really did feel bad), and promised him we'd go get him a churro to make him feel better.

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Churros make everything better, right?

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After Matt ate his churro, I promised him we'd go do something he enjoyed, which of course would be the Haunted Mansion at night!

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Continued in next update (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43948629&postcount=71)

[danimaroo]

Chapter Seven: "Wait, are you pointing at ME?!"
Day 1: January 18th, 2012

After another fun ride on Matt's favorite, I took a look at my Lines app and noticed something odd. Weeks before, we'd read that the Main Street Electrical Parade was not going to be running on Wednesday night, and its final showing was scheduled for Thursday night. I was a little sad about this, because we didn't think we'd catch it Thursday night, and even though we were there a day early, we still wouldn't see it since it wasn't showing Wednesday night. But now my Lines app was saying that there WAS going to be a showing tonight. Matt and I decided that we'd walk to Main Street to see if this was actually true, or if maybe my app was just glitching.

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Suddenly a man announces over a loudspeaker that there indeed is going to be a special showing of the MSEP tonight at 7! We got really excited, as it was around 6:40, and hoped we could find a standing spot to watch the parade from. By the time we got to Main street, it was 6:45 and there were oddly a TON of spots on the sidewalks. Shocked, we grabbed a spot right across from the ugly tarp covering the Main Street Bakery, put our ponchos down, and waited for the parade to begin. I still can't believe we got a front-row spot only 15 minutes before the parade began, but I was very excited since it was my first time seeing it!

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The parade did not disappoint, and ended up providing me with a memory that I'll never forget.

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I know it's hard to see, but Mickey is on the float in the pictures above, right? So I'm enjoying the parade, waving at Minnie, when I see Mickey and I smiled and wave. I notice he is pointing in my general direction, pointing at his chest, and giving a thumbs up. I figure he's not looking at me, but he keeps doing it. I finally had a moment of, "Wait, are you pointing at ME?" and gestured at myself and mouthed to Mickey, "ME?!" He started nodding big, pointed at his chest, meaning my anniversary pin, and then gave a big thumbs up.

I think the 6 year old in me just about died. I turned to Matt, who was apparently oblivious to this entire scene happening, and told him about it with tears in my eyes. He smiled and told me he was glad I'd had that moment, and we continued to enjoy the rest of the parade with big smiles on our faces.

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We did encounter a non-English speaking family behind us who thought that it was socially acceptable to literally stand so close to us, that they touch us. I was not too happy about it, as this one girl kept leaning over me and literally had her hair touching me/my face. I was annoyed by this because there was literally no reason for them to be leaning over us to see what floats were coming. Once the floats were in front of us, they could see everything. Matt and I were annoyed and I swear they were doing it almost to try to take our seats or something, but we were not budging.

Rudeness aside, the parade was excellent and I was so happy we got to see it before it went dark for the remainder of our trip. I will say we found it hilarious how a lot of older parade/attraction always seems to end with an homage to the United States! MSEP, the Electrical Water Pageant, the Hall of Presidents, etc... As Matt put it, it's all very bi-centennial. We didn't have a problem with this, but we just thought it was funny, and you'll see this pop up later in the TR because Matt is a little jokester.

We headed out of Magic Kingdom, as it began to get really crowded on Main Street and we were both exhausted after a wonderful first day but with very little sleep. We headed back to the bus stop and did not wait very long for our bus. In fact, I would say 95% of the time during our trip we didn't really wait for ANY transportation. It was some seriously amazing luck.

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Our bus stopped at the Yacht Club, then Beach Club, so we decided to get off at the Yacht Club and walk over, so we could see the Yacht Club's lobby and also the Boardwalk lit up at night.

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We got back to our room and watched a bit of Illuminations from our room. Yup, we could see it, and in fact, I could actually watch it from bed! It was pretty awesome (photos to come later, as we just wanted to enjoy it for the first time without having to take photos). We got changed and decided to do some night swimming in the Villas' quiet pool.

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After a fun dip in the pool and hot tub, we went back to our room and called it a night. We were both exhausted and also wanted to get to bed early so we could be fresh and good to go for the next day! We said good night to Spaceship Earth, and went to bed after an amazing first day in Disney World.

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Continued in next update (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43958684&postcount=88)

[Susan121302]

OMG, I get UNUSUALLY thrilled when you post a new update. This is my favorite TR! You and your hubby are just adorable.

[marDgreen88]

So I hate to say it, but before my trip in Dec, I had only ridden Pirates once. So the only change I noticed was replacing Davy Jones with Blackbeard. Was anything else different?

Aww, haha I'm sure Matt has gotten over being soaked on Splash by now... right? ;)

I love MSEP! That is SO cute that Mickey acknowledged your anniversary. What a guy! I have to ask though, why weren't they showing it for most of your trip? That's sad. :(

Omg... IllumiNations from BED? Beach Club is heaven on earth... goodness.

[okw19]

Yeah, isn't it weird being somewhere other than Magic Kingdom first?! And I could totally see EE being an amazing first ride, considering it IS my favorite attraction! So glad I'm not the only one who rode Soarin' for the first time; and it was definitely fun, though not my favorite. "DAAAANGLIN'!" (said in Stacey-fashion)..
Haha, that is perfect and I can completely imagine her yelling, "DAAANGLIN' BABY!!".
This makes me feel better because I was a weebit concerned people were like, "Okay no, Danielle, I do not want to hear about your room or what you ate." Buuuut if people don't like that, then they're reading the wrong trip report!
No, I want to hear everything! I won't be offended if you give bathroom cleanliness reviews or some other crazy weird details. I live for details, and I can try forcing your other readers to as well. :)
Yes I love that Mickey shirt, it's one of my favs! And yes, music to the ears for sure. I bet Matt totally understands your love for the 90s narration. He always brings up certain things that were better in their older format and how he wishes they didn't change certain things.
:rotfl: It's true though! Did you get to experience the original Imagination when you went as a kid? One of the many things they should have left untouched.

I totally agree, it's just such a good attraction and so much fun to sing along to! That is the cutest story ever, and I think that is so fun that they give those certificates. I love that you treasured it and brought it back when you were tall enough.:goodvibes I love that they do it to! It's a nice consolation prize.

I know, this is part of the reason I want children: So I can live vicariously through them if they actually pull out the sword. Riley pulling the sword out would be amazing, I bet it'd make her so happy.

It was really good! I'd say Cape May has better food, but both are a fun experience. That is the CUTEST story about Riley checking Eeyore's tail. Seriously don't think she could get any cuter.
It would make her happy, and me happier! :) I'm glad you think my Riley stories are cute. Since I'm not doing a TR I have no Disney lovers to share them with but you. She would walk behind him and say, "Yep, he's got he's tail today". She also walks around with her plush Eeyore I bought her and says, "Oh bother. I lost my tail again!".

[okw19]

Sorry for all the double posts, but it makes reading/replying much easier for me!

My granddad and Riley were duck obsessed this trip. Riley would always throw a piece of popcorn at them when she thought no one was looking, and I know my granddaddy taught her this. :) I know you're not supposed to feed them, but it was so darn sweet.

Love Pirates and your pirate impression!
I'm going to have to side with Matt on this one. The front is a no-go for me too! I just don't like walking around wet. I rode it with a hoodie on and ducked down on the way down the drop. You could hardly even see me in the pic! The ponchos were a good idea though, and that picture is PRICELESS. You should have bought that and cropped it so you can see just you two. :laughing:

Churros DO make everything better, contrary to popular belief.

Haunted Mansion at night is the bomb. Yes, I just said bomb. I am a true 90's child.

You guys really lucked out with the parade! Great seats, and the Mickey story is awesome. :goodvibes: So glad you got pixie dust on your first night.
I would've been freaking out with a stranger's hair touching my face though. I've noticed the patriotic thing too, and I love it. So nostalgic. It's like WDW is a tribute to all nations, but mostly America. ;)

I really envy you guys being able to see Illuminations from bed. That just isn't fair! We could hear them at OKW so that counts for something, right?

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Hey! I didn't say you could start your trip report before I got back!!!! :lmao:

I'm off to catch up! :thumbsup2

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Yay! I'm all caught up! I'm loving everything and cannot wait to hear more! I was so excited to see that you had a view of the fireworks, you'll see in my TR that we did as well (just a little farther away at Pop!) AND I took pics with our door open, sitting on the bed! :thumbsup2

[GretchenG]

Pirates and Splash are two of my favorite things too. I actually enjoy riding in the front. Getting soaked is part of the fun. I guess I'm weird that way. :confused3 I still haven't done Haunted Mansion. :eek: I was always such a chicken about haunted houses, even though I heard it really wasn't scary. I'm going to be brave and go this time because my hubby loves it. The interactive queue sounds like a lot of fun!

Seeing illuminations from your bed must've been amazing! I'm just loving that lit up Spaceship Earth view, and those gorgeous Electrical Parade pictures!

I also agree that the long, detailed posts are the way to go. I love hearing every detail, because it almost makes me feel like I'm there. :) I can hardly wait to be there!

[amyrella]

COming out of lurkdom to say hi:wave::wave: I'm reading along I just don't say a lot! Your pics are great and when I started reading I really couldn't help but get excited fOr a future trip ( if that ever haPpens!). Can't wait to read more!

Ps I like the long winded tr! :)

[Pixie Princess]

Loved that first Splash story! Your poor DH! I would have felt horrible as well. Sometimes that inner child just gets out and goes crazy doesn't it? I felt terrible after coaxing my DD on Tower of Terror a couple of years ago. I figured if she could handle RnRC, she could handle ToT. Yeah, not so much. She'll ride it now, but it took some time to warm back up to it.

What luck that you got to see MSEP! I teared up a little at Mickey singling you out from his perch. How wonderful!!

[dara00]

are you sure Mickey wasn't pointing at you because you were wearing a Mickey shirt? In any case - cool! I think they added the MSEP that night because of Obama's visit the next day. A lot of things changed around...we weren't there that day, but I heard about it! I saw the MSEP on Monday night. :)

And yes about the non English speaking people getting in your personal space. Some girl tried to sit practically on top of my son and on the feet of the people standing next to us while we were waiting for the DHS parade. Luckily the CM nearby spoke her language and got her to move.

[danimaroo]

OMG, I get UNUSUALLY thrilled when you post a new update. This is my favorite TR! You and your hubby are just adorable.

Aww, this is seriously such a nice compliment! I always wanted to write a TR that people actually got excited about reading, haha, I swear! This is my first one ever so I was a little nervous I wouldn't do so well with it but I'm having an absolute blast writing it so far and really enjoy going back and looking over our trip. It's a really fun way to keep the Disney spirit alive... until we start planning our next trip. :goodvibes

So I hate to say it, but before my trip in Dec, I had only ridden Pirates once. So the only change I noticed was replacing Davy Jones with Blackbeard. Was anything else different?

Hey, you are talking to the girl who hadn't ridden two of the biggest attractions at Epcot prior to this trip, sooooo, it's a judge-free zone up in here. :laughing: Funny enough though, is before our honeymoon, the last time I'd been on was when I was 12, soooo obviously Jack Sparrow is a total different story nowadays! Not sure of any other updates unfortunately, but I'm sure if I asked Matt he'd be able to tell me every single thing that has changed since he's been there 23 times. :eek:

Aww, haha I'm sure Matt has gotten over being soaked on Splash by now... right? ;)

Haha oh he totally got over it. We actually decided to buy that photo that night (and I'm a total dunce and forgot to mention that in the update, soooo I'll have to mention that before my next update :rolleyes1), because he realized it would be one of those moments we'd look back on and laugh at.. which we did. :laughing: More than anything else I think he was really tired and that combined with his fear of massive drops/being in the front for them... He wasn't a happy camper. But it wasn't anything a churro and HM couldn't fix it up! :thumbsup2

I love MSEP! That is SO cute that Mickey acknowledged your anniversary. What a guy! I have to ask though, why weren't they showing it for most of your trip? That's sad. :(

It seriously made my whole trip and I turned into such a little kid at that moment. :cloud9: They were re-paving Frontierland, so they decided to shut down MSEP from like the 20th-early February. Total bummer, but I'm just glad we got to see it with an excellent viewing spot!

Omg... IllumiNations from BED? Beach Club is heaven on earth... goodness.

It seriously was so amazing, especially after a long day where I could not move my body out of bed in an effort to go outside to watch them. So I opted for watching them from the comfort of my bed. :rotfl:

[danimaroo]

Haha, that is perfect and I can completely imagine her yelling, "DAAANGLIN' BABY!!".

HAHA YES! I knew you would totally get it! This is why I love having you as my DIS BFF.. You totally get me! :goodvibes

No, I want to hear everything! I won't be offended if you give bathroom cleanliness reviews or some other crazy weird details. I live for details, and I can try forcing your other readers to as well. :)

Okay, good! It sounds like a few others are okay with my reportin' so far, so I'll keep up the crazy amounts of details. Fortunately, I don't think there were any comments about bathrooms. :rotfl:

:rotfl: It's true though! Did you get to experience the original Imagination when you went as a kid? One of the many things they should have left untouched.
:goodvibes I love that they do it to! It's a nice consolation prize.

I don't think I did, but after experiencing the new one, I can't imagine it would be worse. Matt was SO SAD about the new version because of his love for the original. I would be bummed, too, because the new one is kind of atrocious. He said he misses a lot about the old Epcot, I swear you two could just talk about old school Disney for hours. :lmao:

It would make her happy, and me happier! :) I'm glad you think my Riley stories are cute. Since I'm not doing a TR I have no Disney lovers to share them with but you. She would walk behind him and say, "Yep, he's got he's tail today". She also walks around with her plush Eeyore I bought her and says, "Oh bother. I lost my tail again!".

OH MY GOD I swear you post something new every time about Riley that literally makes me go "AWWW!" out loud, louder than ever before! WHY is she so darn cute?! And I love that she has her Eeyore and walks around with it and says that. She is the definition of precious!

.
Sorry for all the double posts, but it makes reading/replying much easier for me!

I have no problem with it at all, so no worries from me! I do something pretty similar when I have a TR I like commenting on, so there you go!

My granddad and Riley were duck obsessed this trip. Riley would always throw a piece of popcorn at them when she thought no one was looking, and I know my granddaddy taught her this. :) I know you're not supposed to feed them, but it was so darn sweet.

Hahaha oh my Gosh then we would've all gotten along because we were obsessed with ducks and would stop to talk to them and maybe on occasion slip them a little somethin' somethin. :rotfl: That is so cute that Riley got that from your granddad! :cutie:

Love Pirates and your pirate impression!
I'm going to have to side with Matt on this one. The front is a no-go for me too! I just don't like walking around wet. I rode it with a hoodie on and ducked down on the way down the drop. You could hardly even see me in the pic! The ponchos were a good idea though, and that picture is PRICELESS. You should have bought that and cropped it so you can see just you two. :laughing:

Haha thank you, I was so spot on for a pirate.

Welp, if we ever go at the same time again, I vote we go on Splash and you and Matt can sit together behind me in the front. :rotfl: No but I seriously understood why he was upset. I think my face in that photo expresses the terror that night. We actually did buy that photo, and it's now in a Splash Mountain frame in our bedroom! I totally had a brain fart that we bought it with the frame, so I will post a photo of it in my next update!!

Churros DO make everything better, contrary to popular belief.

Haunted Mansion at night is the bomb. Yes, I just said bomb. I am a true 90's child.

I'm pretty sure the churro plus Haunted Mansion made Matt feel better. And um hi, you are talking to the girl who calls things "bombdotcom" ALL THE TIME. We are just too legit... (to quit).. I'm on a roll here. :laughing:

You guys really lucked out with the parade! Great seats, and the Mickey story is awesome. :goodvibes: So glad you got pixie dust on your first night.
I would've been freaking out with a stranger's hair touching my face though. I've noticed the patriotic thing too, and I love it. So nostalgic. It's like WDW is a tribute to all nations, but mostly America. ;)

We soooo lucked out the parade, outside of creepy girl and her hair all up in my personal space. :headache: It was annoying but we dealt with it. And yes, it's so nostalgic! It cracks me up just because there's so much love for the US of A!

I really envy you guys being able to see Illuminations from bed. That just isn't fair! We could hear them at OKW so that counts for something, right?

Haha yeaaaah we lucked out with that room, no joke. And YES that 100% counts!

[danimaroo]

Hey! I didn't say you could start your trip report before I got back!!!! :lmao:

I'm off to catch up! :thumbsup2

:rotfl: Gosh I am so sorry I started it before you were back! But I couldn't help it because I was so sad and missing Disney, I figured what better way to continue feeling the Disney spirit then to get crackin' on this TR?!

Yay! I'm all caught up! I'm loving everything and cannot wait to hear more! I was so excited to see that you had a view of the fireworks, you'll see in my TR that we did as well (just a little farther away at Pop!) AND I took pics with our door open, sitting on the bed! :thumbsup2

YAY glad you are caught up and enjoying yourself! We really had a wonderful view, and that is so exciting you guys had a view, too! I can't wait to see your photos in your TR! Thanks for stopping by and can't wait to read more of your TR! :goodvibes

Pirates and Splash are two of my favorite things too. I actually enjoy riding in the front. Getting soaked is part of the fun. I guess I'm weird that way. :confused3 I still haven't done Haunted Mansion. :eek: I was always such a chicken about haunted houses, even though I heard it really wasn't scary. I'm going to be brave and go this time because my hubby loves it. The interactive queue sounds like a lot of fun!

Haha you aren't weird. Later in the trip, we ride Splash MANY more times and there were a few days where it was really hot out and I actually thoroughly enjoyed getting soaked. :lmao:

Okay, so true story that might make you feel better. Prior to our honeymoon last January, I'd only done HM ONCE when I was 6 and kept my eyes closed the entire time until the end when the ghosts are in the doombuggy. :rotfl: I have always been terrified of haunted houses and won't do them. That being said, I'd heard HM wasn't that scary and went on it with Matt, and I really loved it! The only "scary" part, honestly, is in the cemetary towards the end when there are some heads that pop up. Outside of that, it's not scary and is truly a great attraction that you don't want to miss. I'm glad you are being brave and are doing it because I think you'll really love it. The interactive queue is awesome, and I can't wait to share more photos of our experience with it!

Seeing illuminations from your bed must've been amazing! I'm just loving that lit up Spaceship Earth view, and those gorgeous Electrical Parade pictures!

It really was amazing! And I loved seeing SE at night. We often said goodnight to it, just because it was right there... and MSEP was a blast, so glad I got to see it for the first time during our trip!

I also agree that the long, detailed posts are the way to go. I love hearing every detail, because it almost makes me feel like I'm there. :) I can hardly wait to be there!

YAY I'm glad you are liking it.. because those are my favorite TRs! You feel like you really know the people in the TR and are really alongside for the whole trip. So glad you totally get this! And you are going to have so so much fun!


COming out of lurkdom to say hi:wave::wave: I'm reading along I just don't say a lot! Your pics are great and when I started reading I really couldn't help but get excited fOr a future trip ( if that ever haPpens!). Can't wait to read more!

Ps I like the long winded tr! :)

Thanks for coming out of the wonderful land of Lurkdom and popping in to say hi. I really appreciate when people just stop by to say hi, even if it's the only comment in my TR. :goodvibes

Thank you for the compliments on the photos. I was constantly taking them and I'm glad I did for this TR! I hope a future trip happens because Disney really is the best place on earth. :cloud9:

AND HOORAY! Glad you like the long-windedness. Makes me feel not so crazy for having so many updates just for one day. :rotfl:

Loved that first Splash story! Your poor DH! I would have felt horrible as well. Sometimes that inner child just gets out and goes crazy doesn't it? I felt terrible after coaxing my DD on Tower of Terror a couple of years ago. I figured if she could handle RnRC, she could handle ToT. Yeah, not so much. She'll ride it now, but it took some time to warm back up to it.

I seriously felt so bad because he was clearly panicking a little bit when we initially got on... but he was a good sport and got over it pretty quickly... Plus, we got a hilarious picture out of the whole thing, and a pretty funny story! My inner child totally took over in that moment and I felt so bad that I didn't listen to him. :laughing: Poor DD, I understand the fear of ToT! :scared1: Glad she's warmed back up to it though. :thumbsup2

What luck that you got to see MSEP! I teared up a little at Mickey singling you out from his perch. How wonderful!!

It was one of the most magical moments of the trip, seriously. I could not have been happier at that very moment... Mickey has always been my favorite since the first time I met him when I was 6 years old.. So any time I interact with him I pretty much turn into a 6 year old all over again! It was a moment I'll never forget though. :cloud9:



are you sure Mickey wasn't pointing at you because you were wearing a Mickey shirt? In any case - cool! I think they added the MSEP that night because of Obama's visit the next day. A lot of things changed around...we weren't there that day, but I heard about it! I saw the MSEP on Monday night. :)

Haha, I didn't think of that! It's quite possible he was pointing at my Mickey Mousestache shirt! Either way, it was a pretty wonderful moment and it made me extremely happy!

Yes, I'm pretty sure they did add that night due to Obama, along with an additional showing Friday the 20th. Glad they did it though because otherwise we would not have caught MSEP during our trip!

I'll definitely get into what we ended up doing that day, since things were a bit wonky and there was a LOT going on at all of the parks!

And yes about the non English speaking people getting in your personal space. Some girl tried to sit practically on top of my son and on the feet of the people standing next to us while we were waiting for the DHS parade. Luckily the CM nearby spoke her language and got her to move.

Ugh they just were NOT getting the hint when I would turn and give them a bit of a look, or would turn to Matt and just say, "REALLY?! :headache:" I just don't get why people don't understand the whole issue of personal space. Also, I could've probably understood if they couldn't see but the floats came RIGHT IN FRONT OF US and they could see them with no issue as they went by. But they kept leaning over us to see what was coming next, and that was what bothered me.

That's good that a CM caught the girl with your son! I was wishing a CM would come by and tell them to back off. :rotfl:

[okw19]

So many things in your reply make me glad. I'm glad we are Dis BFFs and we totally get each other. I'm glad Matt misses Imagination as much as I do. I'm glad you like babygirl stories. I'm glad that someone else loved Disney ducks like we do. I am SO glad you bought that picture and one of those awesome frames! I have one from the first time I rode it. :goodvibes: I'm glad we can say silly things like the bomb. I'm glad that when I get on tomorrow morning there will be another update (right? ;) )

[danimaroo]

So many things in your reply make me glad. I'm glad we are Dis BFFs and we totally get each other. I'm glad Matt misses Imagination as much as I do. I'm glad you like babygirl stories. I'm glad that someone else loved Disney ducks like we do. I am SO glad you bought that picture and one of those awesome frames! I have one from the first time I rode it. :goodvibes: I'm glad we can say silly things like the bomb. I'm glad that when I get on tomorrow morning there will be another update (right? ;) )

Ya know, this is one of the happiest replies I think I've gotten! Why are we so awesome? :laughing:

And I'm hoping to have an update posted quite soon! I wrote a bit last night and now just need to format it and all that fun stuff and I'll have a new happy post up before you know it! :yay:

[okw19]

We are awesome! :) I'm actually on the computer at work so maybe I'll catch your update later. It's a slow day today.

[danimaroo]

Okay, before I go any further, I am totally kicking myself for forgetting a pretty vital detail to my previous chapter. :headache: After our Splash Mountain incident, Matt and I could not stop laughing at our photo, so we decided that it had to be our photo of the trip. We think it's a fun tradition to pick one attraction photo that has a funny memory attached to it, get it printed and choose a frame for it to display at home.

This was it, and when we got back to our room that night, I totally put it on display (I ended up cropping it more when we got home since Matt's face was kind of hiding due to the frame). We love it and it's now on display in our bedroom. :goodvibes

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/83f4e03f.jpg

Okay, onto Day 2!

Chapter Eight: Um, is that Mickey Mouse being attacked?
Day 2: January 19th, 2012

We woke up at a wake-up call, and I remember picking up the phone and being completely confused by what was on the other line. It sounded like someone was attacking Mickey, and had this evil laugh. I was so exhausted and half-asleep, I wasn't sure what I'd just heard.

Well I figured out what it was later on in our trip, when we'd gotten the same wake-up call but I was way less out of it... It was Stitch, and he was stirring up some trouble! It cracked me up because when I'd picked it up this particular morning, I was actually somewhat disturbed that Mickey was being attacked over the phone.

Anyway, we got ready for a fun day at Animal Kingdom, looking spiffy as always.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/952bcb92.jpg

We ate breakfast bars in our room, then got coffee in our handy dandy refillable mugs at the Market Place.

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We made our way to the bus stop, and I have it noted in my Trip Journal that the bus showed up right away. I'm telling you guys, we had pretty amazing luck with Disney transportation this trip!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/ffb5375c.jpg

We enjoyed our coffee on the bus, which really woke us up and was pretty much a Godsend to us this morning as we were extra tired from the not getting much sleep in previous days.

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We got to Animal Kingdom and realized it was going to be a very beautiful day.

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Of course I made us stop when we walked in for a little photo op of myself, and I'm pretty sure a PhotoPass picture as well.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/affea34c.jpg

We then headed over to Asia, because there was a yeti calling my name.

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We literally walked right on to Expedition Everest, stopping to look at some of (in my opinion) the best theming created for a Disney attraction. Seriously, they did such a good job with the museum, there's so much to look at in the queue!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/ee4c1b4f.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/90408869.jpg

After our first trip with our yeti friend, we decided to take another trip and walked on again, this time opting to wait for the front.

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Matt knows how much I love riding in the front, so he was a total trooper and I believe even suggested we wait so I could get my front row-fix on my absolute favorite attraction of all.

We had a total blast, though both agreed it was more terrifying going backwards in the front because you can see lights below and it just makes that part kind of scary.. I did get some excellent photos in front (all while the child in me was screaming that we were WAY too close to the edge of the mountain), and I was feeling pretty darn happy that we'd already been on it twice.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/4aac25cd.jpg

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Just to back up here for a moment, during our honeymoon our record for this attraction was 10 rides, so we wanted to break that record and hit at least 11. We'll see if we actually reach the goal during our trip!

We then decided to grab FPs for later, and made our way out of Asia...

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/fc95ba95.jpg

but not without a big thumbs up from me in front of my favorite attraction!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/763746d4.jpg

Continued in next post (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43958803&postcount=89)

[danimaroo]

Chapter Eight: Um, is that Mickey Mouse being attacked? CONTINUED
Day 2: January 19th, 2012

On our way to Kilimanjaro Safari, we stopped to take photos of the Tree of Life, and spotted a squirrel just chillin' on a stump. He looked pretty happy to be there!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/bc015a82.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/f71a6593.jpg

We continued on our way, when I spotted something I'd been dying to see, and I'm glad we came across one of the more beautiful sights in Animal Kingdom... Devine!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/5fe8331c.jpg

She seriously is so so cool to watch! I was really excited to get a photo of her/with her since she can be hard to find sometimes.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/f071abed.jpg

Anyway, we finally got to Kilimanjaro and it said it was a 10 minute wait, but really the "wait" was just the walk through the queue. ;)

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We hopped into our safari vehicle, taking note to make sure that neither of us danced or jumped out of the vehicle.. :rotfl:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/1e8abecb.jpg

And Matt found it to be pretty funny.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/edfe27f5.jpg

We had a pretty active safari, getting to see giraffes and rhinos and all sorts of lovely safari friends!

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After a lovely safari ride, we were in need of some food. Our breakfast was super light, and our stomachs were yelling at us for some food. We took this as a cue to go hunt down one of our favorite snacks... Jalapeno cream cheese pretzels!

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Yyyyup, they were delicious, as always. Great use of a snack credit because the pretzels are huge and so tasty. After we ate up all of our pretzels, we headed back to Expedition Everest to use our fast passes from earlier and get in one final ride before we left the park.

Well wouldn't you know it, we actually fell asleep on it.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/1a45356a.jpg

:laughing: I know, we are mega dorks, but it is way too fun to make stupid faces on attractions. You will see this happen many more times in this TR, so be on the look out for crazy amounts of awkward faces.

We headed out of Animal Kingdom, enjoying the sun and taking it easy.

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I seem to remember us heading out just as lots of crowds were coming in, so it was good timing on our part! We couldn't leave though until we tried on an awesome Dale hat first.

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We made our way over to the Epcot bus stop at around 11am, and again waited for less than 5 minutes before a bus showed up. Score!

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Off we went on our next adventure... to Epcot!

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Continued in next update. (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43968005&postcount=101)

[marDgreen88]

:laughing: I love that Splash frame!

Everest is the BEST! I love it so much, everything about it. I've always wanted to ride in the front!!!

I know a lot of people love Devine, but for some reason I find her so creepy! Haha I dunno. :confused3

Oooh, yay for Epcot coming up!

[ash-n-brensmom]

We love to make funny faces in those pics, we have the kids in on it too!! Looks like a beautiful morning at AK...wish I was there right now!:cloud9:

[Moodyzblu]

Loving your report !!! What a gorgeous day with that amazing blue sky. I just love FL weather. :love:

[Fantasyland Mom]

You people are cracking.me.up! I'm not sure if I've told you that. In fact, I'm not even sure that I've told you I'm following along:rolleyes1.

I'm loving it...almost as much as I love those jalapeno cheese pretzels. Almost.

[407-W-DISNEY]

What a fantastic day! you guys did sooo much....and you took the red eye in! I don't think I would have made it past lunch...

I showed my DH the view of Spaceship Earth from your room...his mouth just about fell open!

You not long-winded at all! Love reading all the details....great TR!:thumbsup2

[danimaroo]

:laughing: I love that Splash frame!

Me too! Totally worth every penny because it now holds onto quite a special memory. :rotfl:

Everest is the BEST! I love it so much, everything about it. I've always wanted to ride in the front!!!

AHH YES! I am a bit obsessed with it. Everything about it is amazing. Even though he's broken, the yeti scares the poop out of me EVERY time we go under him. I think it's because the strobe light makes me not see him until he is so close to me that I scream every time. I'm a goob. :laughing:

I know a lot of people love Devine, but for some reason I find her so creepy! Haha I dunno. :confused3

Hahaha, that IS funny! I can kind of see how she'd be creepy since you can barely tell there is a lazy hanging out amongst all of the greens, and that she doesn't speak... But I don't know, I just find her kind of fascinating! But I definitely can see how you'd think she was creepy, too. :lmao:

Oooh, yay for Epcot coming up!

I totally have it written, but don't really want to overwhelm people with like another 4 chapters in one day! That and I don't have a ton of time to dedicate to formatting it and all that, so it'll have to wait til tomorrow. I've found sitting down and just writing about the day in one long huge chapter, then going through and breaking it up into little chapters has been a good way to get a lot done.

It also makes me realize how many photos I took and how MUCH we did in Disney World! Oh I miss it so much, I can't wait to return.


We love to make funny faces in those pics, we have the kids in on it too!! Looks like a beautiful morning at AK...wish I was there right now!:cloud9:

Haha yes, another funny face-maker! I saw that you guys did on Spaceship Earth! That is our favorite attraction to make ridiculous faces on.

The whole 11 days we were there was unreal in terms of weather, except for our first day and then one other random day.. but I didn't mind a little rain to help clear out the crowds! :goodvibes

Can we just go back there now? :cloud9:

Loving your report !!! What a gorgeous day with that amazing blue sky. I just love FL weather. :love:

Yay thank you!! It was so so beautiful out, I would love to be there right now.. Though I guess I can't complain because it's sunny and nearing 60 here in Seattle. :laughing:

You people are cracking.me.up! I'm not sure if I've told you that. In fact, I'm not even sure that I've told you I'm following along:rolleyes1.

I'm loving it...almost as much as I love those jalapeno cheese pretzels. Almost.

Okay, this comment just made my day because I am glad I am making people laugh with this TR! It's okay, I totally forget what I comment on and then I just pop in and say something without any introduction. :rotfl: I'm sure some people have just though I was some random lady! So don't even worry about it.

And can I just say I'd sell my left arm right now for a jalapeno cheese pretzel? I'm actually flattered your love for my TR is almost at the level of such a delicious treat. :rotfl:

[danimaroo]

What a fantastic day! you guys did sooo much....and you took the red eye in! I don't think I would have made it past lunch...

I showed my DH the view of Spaceship Earth from your room...his mouth just about fell open!

You not long-winded at all! Love reading all the details....great TR!:thumbsup2

I know, it was seriously intense and we were really tired. We had a pretty early night that first night and I think got around 10 hours of sleep, which isn't too shabby! But just wait til you see the day we have planned for Sunday, Day 5. Day 1 is nothing in comparison to that day, but I'll eventually get to that point. :scared1:

And that's so funny about your DH's response because I'm pretty sure that was mine, too! It was so so neat and it was totally a big part of the crazy amounts of pixie dust we had thrown at us throughout the trip. pixiedust:

Glad you're enjoying all of the details, responses like this make it totally worth it to spend the time typing up a trip report and going through all of our photos. So really, thank you! :cloud9:

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Ha! I love the photo! Perfect. I had a wake up call on our first morning and we were all up and I hit speaker and my family was confused for a bit. I think Stitch makes it kind of confusing as to what's going on, although I didn't think he was being attacked. ;)

[danimaroo]

Ha! I love the photo! Perfect. I had a wake up call on our first morning and we were all up and I hit speaker and my family was confused for a bit. I think Stitch makes it kind of confusing as to what's going on, although I didn't think he was being attacked. ;)

Haha thank you, I thought it was pretty hilarious.. It's turned what was a not-so-fun incident into something pretty memorable. :rotfl:

That is funny about the speaker thing! I think had it been any other morning I would've totally figured out what was going on in that wake-up call, but this morning we were still catching up on sleep and I was SO out of it, I initially thought Mickey was being attacked by like, the Evil Queen or something.

That and it was so loud in my ear I could barely understand anything. When I finally did figure it out, I laughed so hard at myself. I'm such a dork! :lmao:

[okw19]

So yesterday at work I started reading and typing a reply for this update when I had to get up and do some things. When I came back 20 minutes later my laptop had done updates and rebooted so I lost it all. :( I was not a happy camper!

I am so glad you got that adorable frame! I still have one from my first ride on Splash. :)

The Mickey being attacked thing made me laugh out loud yesterday and this morning! That is so funny. I don't know what it sounds like since we never got to use a wake up call. (Didn't want to wake babygirl up) Your description is great though.

You guys seriously have the best t-shirts! Love them this morning as always and I'm still drooling over your iphone case.

We had GREAT luck with the buses too! Only had to wait a semi-long time 3 times over the course of the week and that was always leaving a park. Never had to wait at OKW which was awesome!

Love your pics of AK. I have a confession though. I never went through the regular queue at EE. I didn't get to see all the excellent theming everyone always raves about. We used the single rider line every time because no one was using it! We never waited more than a minute to ride! The pics you took from the front are so pretty. :)

Devine, woot woot!
I love the "no dancing" signs! They are the best. Glad you guys had a good safari, we did too!
Those pretzels look amazing. I need to try one ASAP so I'll just meet you in AK tomorrow, okay?

I AM SO GLAD YOU DO DORKY RIDE PICS! I made Anna do a million of these over the week and she thought I was crazy at first, but thankfully then realized that I was of course right in saying they are hilarious!

That Dale hat is so cute!
To Epcot! :cool1:

[danimaroo]

So yesterday at work I started reading and typing a reply for this update when I had to get up and do some things. When I came back 20 minutes later my laptop had done updates and rebooted so I lost it all. :( I was not a happy camper!

I HATE when computers do that and just think it's okay to restart and do updates without you saying okay. It infuriates me! Such a bummer, but thanks for re-commenting because I'm sure that was a bit of a pain. You're such a good DIS friend. :goodvibes

I am so glad you got that adorable frame! I still have one from my first ride on Splash. :)

Haha yes, it's really cute! I'm glad we got it, too.

The Mickey being attacked thing made me laugh out loud yesterday and this morning! That is so funny. I don't know what it sounds like since we never got to use a wake up call. (Didn't want to wake babygirl up) Your description is great though.

Okay you totally get my sense of humor, because I felt like anyone else reading that probably thought I was insane. I can't even tell you how hard I was laughing when I realized what it ACTUALLY was later in the trip. Like why did I think Mickey was being attacked and that was their wake-up call?! :rotfl:

You guys seriously have the best t-shirts! Love them this morning as always and I'm still drooling over your iphone case.

Haha thanks! My t-shirt collection is kind of this prized possession of mine. I just wish I could wear them more often instead of my stupid business casual clothing every day. :headache: And I love that case! It's so different than what anyone else has, and that's why I love it. :cloud9: You should get it, too! Then we could be the like coolest 2 people on the east coast and west coast.

We had GREAT luck with the buses too! Only had to wait a semi-long time 3 times over the course of the week and that was always leaving a park. Never had to wait at OKW which was awesome!

Yeah, I LOVED the transportation this time around! We just had such good luck I'd say like.. 97% of the time. There were only like maybe 2 times where we had to wait (one of which made me nervous), but otherwise it was awesome! I love Disney buses.

Love your pics of AK. I have a confession though. I never went through the regular queue at EE. I didn't get to see all the excellent theming everyone always raves about. We used the single rider line every time because no one was using it! We never waited more than a minute to ride! The pics you took from the front are so pretty. :)

EE was the only ride where we wanted to wait because we enjoy going on it together. But TT, RnRC, those we were totally fine doing single rider. That and actually, I know a few mornings we were there, the single rider line wasn't even open because it was so unnecessary. :rotfl: I love sitting in the front!!

Devine, woot woot!
I love the "no dancing" signs! They are the best. Glad you guys had a good safari, we did too!
Those pretzels look amazing. I need to try one ASAP so I'll just meet you in AK tomorrow, okay?

Love her, she's so pretty. And me too, they really are hilarious. We had great safaris this time! It's a nice break from the craziness in the parks. And yes, let's plan to meet up for some pretzels, STAT... Haha, okay I have to admit when I read this comment from you I got sad because we can't do that. :(

I AM SO GLAD YOU DO DORKY RIDE PICS! I made Anna do a million of these over the week and she thought I was crazy at first, but thankfully then realized that I was of course right in saying they are hilarious!

That Dale hat is so cute!
To Epcot! :cool1:

Dorky ride pics make EVERYTHING ten times better. I know we're the only people on the ride who even think it's funny, but I don't care! And that's so funny that Anna finally got it... It's just really amusing to see them!

I loved that hat and almost bought it for my little sister since she loves Chip and Dale, but then opted for a stuffed Sully, who's her favorite.

TO EPCOT! Which I'm posting here in like 5 minutes. :yay:


.

[danimaroo]

Chapter Nine: "Beverly was a bad choice."
Day 2: January 19th, 2012

After a relatively quick bus ride to Epcot, we arrived and Matt decided he needed to take a photo in front of Spaceship Earth to send to his co-workers.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/8860a396.jpg

I'm pretty sure their response were some choice words, as they were having to deal with the snow and ice storm that was hitting Seattle. We felt kind of bad... not really.

Anyway, we made our way to Spaceship Earth, one of our favorites, as we really needed to ride it!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/ad28ba59.jpg

Can you spot the hidden Mickey?

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/9cd2b17f.jpg

Remember how I told you we would make stupid faces during this trip? This is one of our favorite attractions to make dumb faces on. It never gets old.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/e7384ec9.jpg

After a fun time on Spaceship Earth, we headed over to Club Cool for some soda tastin'.

The following photo sequence (with commentary of course) shows you how much I LOVE Beverly!

Hey look at that, everything is great. Life's good, I'm about to drink soda... This is the life.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/2f13bd82.jpg

Ohhh time for a sip of Beverly... Maybe this won't be that bad.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/5c743aea.jpg

Thinking about it.. It's kind of sweet! What the heck, I thought this was supposed to taste awful.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/05620d8b.jpg

Oh, oh no.. Oh no... Beverly was a bad choice. (Said in the voice of Ron Burgundy)
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/712ac93f.jpg

Yep, we're done here.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/b1c77ce4.jpg

Aaaand never again.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/526b6920.jpg

I made myself feel human again by having some soda from China, which is watermelon-flavored.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/5f209bd8.jpg

Matt did not partake in the Beverly tasting, as it literally makes him gag, but he had other delicious sodas.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/1083f90f.jpg

It was a sunny day, so it was definitely time for the sunglasses!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/fac61bb6.jpg

We headed to Mexico, though I swear I'm always temporarily blinded by the darkness.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/6a6bcb40.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/f4a9dbca.jpg

We then hopped on Gran Fiesta Tour, something I'd never been on before, to waste some time before our ADR. It was a pretty cute ride!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/106a3982.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/2180efaf.jpg

Continued in next post (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43968042&postcount=102)

[danimaroo]

Chapter Nine: "Beverly was a bad choice." CONTINUED
Day 2: January 19th, 2012

After a fun adventure with Donald, we headed to San Angel Inn to check in early for our ADR (I think we were around an hour early), and we were seated immediately. This was a total last-minute ADR, as we had added an extra day to our dining plan upon extending our stay, so we needed to find something for this day after we'd switched Crystal Palace to the day before. We'd never been here so we thought we'd give it a shot!

We had a great seat over by the volcano, which you can kind of see behind Matt here in the dark.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/6b986fe5.jpg

Our waiter was friendly, commenting on how slow it was, and promptly brought out chips and salsa for us. The salsa had a chipotle flavor and it was delicious, but definitely had a bit of a kick!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/a304a999.jpg

Matt and I both ended up ordering the same thing, Sirloin con Chilaquiles. It was DELICIOUS.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/672e4cf8.jpg

We were really big fans of our lunch, and it wasn't too much of an overwhelming amount of food, which was nice. We then ended up both ordering the same dessert, the Moras con cajita (I think this is what it was?).. It was this delicious thick caramel flan type dessert with berries on top. So good but so rich, I couldn't finish all of mine.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/498e51ef.jpg

We headed outside after a delicious lunch (so yes, we were very glad we gave San Angel Inn a shot!), and caught part of a mariachi band performing.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/6fabb50b.jpg

After stopping for a few, we made our way to Norway and can I just say how cool the stave church is? Really a neat touch for them to build in Norway!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/0416c4f2.jpg

Of course we couldn't leave Norway without a trip on Maelstrom!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/a2baf618.jpg

And yet again, we needed to make sure we were not going to dance on our boat.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/bc6abd1b.jpg

I love the little troll here.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/27bf5a57.jpg

Another hidden Mickey, yay!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/9d9c690b.jpg

Okay, this kind of disturbed me... WHY is this little boy SO excited to be gutting this fish?!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/e4a46bd1.jpg

I think this guy might be one of my favorite parts of the ride, though.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/e233aee0.jpg

After we got off of our boat, the CM of course told us about the 5 minutes video about Norway... This is the moment that this TR's title was born, as Matt responded under his breath to me, "Norway? More like No Way!" and then proceeded to walk right on past the video and out the door. It was hysterical and I literally had to make him stop outside because I couldn't breathe from laughing. What a goober!

We then took some epic photos, we are such cool Vikings, no?

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/ab15277d.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/a2165fff.jpg

After a fun stay in Norway, we continued walking around World Showcase, stopping in France for a moment to watch the show going on outside.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/9144cdfc.jpg

We stopped to take in the beautiful sight near the International Gateway..

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/084703d9.jpg

And waved goodbye to Epcot for now...

Continued in next update. (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43978660&postcount=117)

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Hey, did you notice the music inside the stave church in Norway? I SWEAR it was Lord of the Rings music! My family kept telling me I was crazy, but I could hum the whole thing, I know it was LOTR! :laughing:

We watched the movie! Rey wanted to. :rolleyes:

[dara00]

how do you know where to make the silly faces? I am so bad at being prepared for that. on rockin roller coaster it seemed like the picture was right at take off?

I can't find the hidden mickey in the spaceship earth picture!

do you find yourself checking your pins often? Mine kept falling off (but they were on my bag, not a lanyard...) and I was obsessively checking them every few steps. My kids each lost one pin too.

[danimaroo]

Hey, did you notice the music inside the stave church in Norway? I SWEAR it was Lord of the Rings music! My family kept telling me I was crazy, but I could hum the whole thing, I know it was LOTR! :laughing:

We watched the movie! Rey wanted to. :rolleyes:

I didn't! Though you made me HAVE to look it up, and I found it on Youtube, but then it turns out that it's the old music! Now I really want to hear it and see what it sounds like. :rotfl:

I've never stopped to watch it.. No wait, I lied. We stopped for a few minutes during our honeymoon then strolled right on out. But Matt's comment as we were darting past the screen literally had me laughing so hard I couldn't breathe. :laughing:

[danimaroo]

how do you know where to make the silly faces? I am so bad at being prepared for that. on rockin roller coaster it seemed like the picture was right at take off?

Haha, I think it all comes from riding attractions repeatedly and taking note of when the lights for the photo go off! I know on Spaceship Earth, they tell you exactly when they're going to take your photo, Expedition Everest is JUST before you're about to go down the big drop, Splash is basically as you're starting the drop, Space Mountain is right around the corner after you go through the first tube thingie before you launch off... I could go on. Oh and RnRC is literally as you're being launched, which is why everyone's face tends to look completely smushed, or eyes are closed, etc.

I can't find the hidden mickey in the spaceship earth picture!

Look in the numbers, or more specifically the black 3. It's a tough one but it's there. Hard for the eyes to see. :laughing:

do you find yourself checking your pins often? Mine kept falling off (but they were on my bag, not a lanyard...) and I was obsessively checking them every few steps. My kids each lost one pin too.

I did, yes! During our first trip I feel like they would fall off more often than this time. There was one pin that was heavier that I ended up taking off because it fell. I know they sell locking backs for pins, but I just kept an eye on mine. I didn't wear mine on a daily basis either though, so that might've helped.


.

[StitchsGurl]

This TR is super cute all around, from the names of each chapters to the photos~ Keep it up, I love it!

[danimaroo]

This TR is super cute all around, from the names of each chapters to the photos~ Keep it up, I love it!

Thank you so much for the nice comment! :goodvibes I try to make things pretty entertaining and give each moment/part of the day its own fun title. This sometimes isn't easy so I have to get creative, but it usually works itself out.

And photo-wise, I am just glad I had my iPhone to capture most of these moments. It was SO much easier to stop and take a quick photo on that than it was on my dSLR. The quality might've gone down slightly but it did its job. :thumbsup2

Thanks again for commenting and I hope to see you around here more. :goodvibes

[dara00]

Haha, I think it all comes from riding attractions repeatedly and taking note of when the lights for the photo go off! I know on Spaceship Earth, they tell you exactly when they're going to take your photo, Expedition Everest is JUST before you're about to go down the big drop, Splash is basically as you're starting the drop, Space Mountain is right around the corner after you go through the first tube thingie before you launch off... I could go on. Oh and RnRC is literally as you're being launched, which is why everyone's face tends to look completely smushed, or eyes are closed, etc.


Look in the numbers, or more specifically the black 3. It's a tough one but it's there. Hard for the eyes to see.


I did, yes! During our first trip I feel like they would fall off more often than this time. There was one pin that was heavier that I ended up taking off because it fell. I know they sell locking backs for pins, but I just kept an eye on mine. I didn't wear mine on a daily basis either though, so that might've helped.

I see the mickey! that's a good one!

We got locking backs but only put them on the ones we were sure we wouldn't trade!

[jecskc]

I loved your Beverly photos !! Sooo funny !! They were out of the China soda when we were there and DD was bummed because it is her favorite.

Please tell me you stopped in France to get a Grey Goose slushie !!

Oh, and I love your giraffe shirt !!

[danimaroo]

I see the mickey! that's a good one!

We got locking backs but only put them on the ones we were sure we wouldn't trade!

Haha yup, it is a really good one! I was proud when I caught that on our first trip.

And that makes sense! Yeah, it's tough on the pins that you want to trade, you also want to make sure you don't lose any, too!

I loved your Beverly photos !! Sooo funny !! They were out of the China soda when we were there and DD was bummed because it is her favorite.

Haha, it was quite and experience and we were laughing really hard at the photos afterwards. There is nothing like Beverly! Yuck!

Yeah, there were a few soda stations out of random things but we just went to a different one that had what we were looking for. Bummer about watermelon being out because it's pretty tasty!

Please tell me you stopped in France to get a Grey Goose slushie !!

Okay, I didn't get one because we were very quickly making our way back to our resort, and I wasn't quite in the mood for one yet. We also had a future evening planned for the World Showcase at night with some adult beverages. :thumbsup2

Oh, and I love your giraffe shirt !!

Thank you! I love it, too. I got it from one of my favorite t-shirt places, Threadless. I ahve so many of their t-shrtrs though I stopped buying them. Seriously, it's insane the amount I have... It's a big collection! :laughing:


.

[okw19]

I HATE when computers do that and just think it's okay to restart and do updates without you saying okay. It infuriates me! Such a bummer, but thanks for re-commenting because I'm sure that was a bit of a pain. You're such a good DIS friend. Thank you, same goes for you lady. ;):hug: I wouldn't miss commenting on one of your updates!
Okay you totally get my sense of humor, because I felt like anyone else reading that probably thought I was insane. I can't even tell you how hard I was laughing when I realized what it ACTUALLY was later in the trip. Like why did I think Mickey was being attacked and that was their wake-up call?!
:rotfl: I just love every bit of that story.And yes, let's plan to meet up for some pretzels, STAT... Haha, okay I have to admit when I read this comment from you I got sad because we can't do that. I didn't mean to make you sad. :( I wish we could.

Onto Epcot! I love that you guys not-so subtly reminded Matt's coworkers what they were missing. I might have sent a few texts like that too!

I love the SE ride pics you took! Riley rode with my dad and Anna, and for some reason it picked up Ri's face instead of my dad's. It was SO funny and cute! Wish Anna would've taken a picture of it.

Your Beverly face pics are priceless! You are just the cutest. Love the Anchorman reference. The China Smart Watermelon is my favorite. :lovestruc

Glad you enjoyed the Gran Fiesta Tour for the first time! It is so cute. Back in the day before Donald and friends were added, there were screens showing random outdated Mexican scenes that were hilarious.

Great table at San Angel!! I am drooling over your entree, it looks delicious! You get points for trying that dessert because thinking about flan makes me want to gag. I hate going back outside to the hot sun after spending that much time in Mexico. Blind much?

Maelstrom = :love:. Creepy fishing boy, not so much. It's such a classic WS/Epcot thing you have to love it! Matt's No-Way comment has me dying. It's people like him that killed the idea of having a post-show preshow for more future attractions. :rotfl: :lmao: We skip it too when we can! I kind of feel bad for the Imagineers that thought putting the pre-show after the ride would be a good idea. I can picture you guys cracking up and people looking at you like you lost your minds on the Maelstrom.

Bye, Epcot!

[marDgreen88]

Okay, no, I really really cannot spot the hidden Mickey in that picture. Are you trying to trick us? Haha

IT'S SO DARN HOT. MILK WAS A BAD CHOICE. Hahahaha Beverley is ALWAYS a bad choice. I will never ever understand what those Italians were thinking when they created that! It should be used to clean toilets.

Mmm, yall's lunch looks good! What is it exactly?

Hahahha! I love title explanations.

Hmmm I bet you said goodbye to Epcot because you had to go back to heaven on earth aka the BEACH CLUB YAY!!!!!!!

[danimaroo]

Thank you, same goes for you lady. ;):hug: I wouldn't miss commenting on one of your updates!

AWW YAY THANKS! :goodvibes

:rotfl: I just love every bit of that story.I didn't mean to make you sad. :( I wish we could.

Hahaha yes... and it's okay, it just would've been fun to go to AK and eat jalapeno pretzels together. :hug:

Onto Epcot! I love that you guys not-so subtly reminded Matt's coworkers what they were missing. I might have sent a few texts like that too!

Haha it was actually pretty hilarious. They were definitely jealous! And I was totally a ridiculous Facebook updater and I'm sure I annoyed some people with my constant Disney updates, but I don't really care. :laughing:

I love the SE ride pics you took! Riley rode with my dad and Anna, and for some reason it picked up Ri's face instead of my dad's. It was SO funny and cute! Wish Anna would've taken a picture of it.

Haha that makes it ten times awesomer. I bet Riley loved seeing herself on the screen!

Your Beverly face pics are priceless! You are just the cutest. Love the Anchorman reference. The China Smart Watermelon is my favorite. :lovestruc

Hahaha, it was so hilarious. We were laughing really hard at them. AND YES for the Anchorman reference. That watermelon soda is delicious! :thumbsup2

Glad you enjoyed the Gran Fiesta Tour for the first time! It is so cute. Back in the day before Donald and friends were added, there were screens showing random outdated Mexican scenes that were hilarious.

Haha I kind of wish I'd seen the outdated scenes because that would've made me laugh really hard. It really was a cuter attraction that I imagined it would be! :cutie:

Great table at San Angel!! I am drooling over your entree, it looks delicious! You get points for trying that dessert because thinking about flan makes me want to gag. I hate going back outside to the hot sun after spending that much time in Mexico. Blind much?

Yeah it was an excellent table! We kept watching people on Gran Fiesta Tour float by. :rotfl: The dessert was good! I'm not sure if it was flan vs. being more of like a thicker pudding I guess? I don't know, but it was tasty! AND HOLY COW I was so blinded by the sun! Had to put my stunnah shades on. :cool2:

Maelstrom = :love:. Creepy fishing boy, not so much. It's such a classic WS/Epcot thing you have to love it! Matt's No-Way comment has me dying. It's people like him that killed the idea of having a post-show preshow for more future attractions. :rotfl: :lmao: We skip it too when we can! I kind of feel bad for the Imagineers that thought putting the pre-show after the ride would be a good idea. I can picture you guys cracking up and people looking at you like you lost your minds on the Maelstrom.

I just love Maelstrom. It's fun and I love the little trolls along the way. It seriously was so funny at the time, because he said it and started like fast-walking out of the little theater while I was behind him laughing like a 5 year old. We're terrible, probably just ruined the video for all 4 people who were watching it.

And yeah, I'm not sure what they were thinking in having it at the end! I've watched it before, but I was naaaht doing it again.

Bye, Epcot!

ADIOS! But we'll be back. :goodvibes

.

Okay, no, I really really cannot spot the hidden Mickey in that picture. Are you trying to trick us? Haha

Haha it's really hard to see but it's in the number 3 on the spaceship! It's hard since it's the white space, but it's definitely one! I forget where I ended up confirming that... some hidden Mickey site I think. But yeah! I always like finding it.

IT'S SO DARN HOT. MILK WAS A BAD CHOICE. Hahahaha Beverley is ALWAYS a bad choice. I will never ever understand what those Italians were thinking when they created that! It should be used to clean toilets.

HAHAHA I just died. I love that movie so much. I kind of want to just watch it right now. And yes, I agree, the Italians are crazy and Beverly is much better as a cleaning agent.

Mmm, yall's lunch looks good! What is it exactly?

It seriously was delicious! It was a grilled sirloin steak, but thin, with black refied beans that had some delicious cheese on top, and then layers of fried corn tortilla, green tomatillo sauce, topped with fresh cheese, onions, sour cream. IT WAS SO GOOD. I miss Disney food.

Hahahha! I love title explanations.

Me too, they always crack me up when they've got a story behind them!

Hmmm I bet you said goodbye to Epcot because you had to go back to heaven on earth aka the BEACH CLUB YAY!!!!!!!

AND I BET YOU ARE SO RIGHT! :yay: :yay: :yay:

Hahaha, thank you for the comment. Your comments always make me smile!

[marDgreen88]

OMG. HOW did you ever spot that? That's crazy. I still can barely see it!

THANK YOU for such a detailed description on your meal! I appreciate it! I'm currently trying to figure out where to make ADRs for next trip so that is very helpful information!

Aww! Well I enjoy commenting so it works out. :goodvibes

[danimaroo]

OMG. HOW did you ever spot that? That's crazy. I still can barely see it!

THANK YOU for such a detailed description on your meal! I appreciate it! I'm currently trying to figure out where to make ADRs for next trip so that is very helpful information!

Aww! Well I enjoy commenting so it works out. :goodvibes

I'm honestly not sure. I think I was just looking for it during our honeymoon and noticed that it was odd that the 3 was black while the other numbers weren't. It's way easier to spot in person I think!

And noooo problem, it's a good place for some Mexican food, and I really enjoyed the restaurant itself, being right near the volcano inside of Mexico!

I'm glad you like commenting because if people didn't, I'd be a bit sad that no one seemed to be reading my TR. :rotfl:

[danimaroo]

Chapter Ten: Floatin' along in a lazy river and uhh, an explanation of my fear of ToT
Day 2: January 19th, 2012

Then made our way back to Beach Club for some swimming and relaxation before heading out later. When we got back to our room, Matt called housekeeping to ask for another pillow. He accidentally told them room 457, and had to call back to correct it to 459. Our phone actually said 457 on it, which I'm pretty sure is because our studio is actually part of a two-bedroom villa. Housekeeping was crazy ninja-fast with bringing up the pillow, which was nice!

I caught up with my trip journal, then we changed and decided to head down to Stormalong Bay, which we were both dying to swim in!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/107a1f38.jpg

For anyone who cares, yes, they check for your room cards, even in January when it's slower. We went to SAB quite a few times and they always checked our cards then gave us wristbands to wear. So no, you can't pool-hop to SAB, even when it's a slower time of year. I'm not sure what would have happened if I didn't have my card and we only had Matt's, but I know they checked both of ours and not just one, and very thoroughly. Just throwing that out there if anyone was curious, because I've definitely seen people ask about pool-hopping to SAB. I am glad they don't allow it because otherwise it'd definitely be the most popular pool!

Anyway, it was actually pretty quiet down there, and we were kind of disappointed to see that they were doing construction on some of the bridges and the Beach Club itself, which essentially split the pool in half because of the huge wall they put up. It was a little annoying as getting from pool to pool was a trip in itself, but we didn't really let it phase us because Stormalong Bay was so cool! We hopped into the super deep lazy river and floated around it a few times. So much fun and soooo relaxing! I could've spent an entire day just floating around that river, seriously!

We then hopped over to the pool with a sand-bottom and totally played like little kids in the whirlpool. That thing whipped us around and around and I didn't want to get out of it! It was way too much fun. I definitely understand why SAB is considered to be the best resort pool!

After some fun in the sun and the pool, we headed back to our room and showered and changed, then headed out for Hollywood Studios at around 5pm.

Just to back up for a moment, this was the day that Obama was in Magic Kingdom, so Disney decided to have EMH in both HS AND Epcot, along with a fireworks show in Hollywood Studios called "Rock the Night". Our original pre-Snowmageddon plans had us in MK this day, but between moving our Day one plans up a day and also Obama being in MK, we made sure to avoid it at all cost (this will come into play in Day 3) and played in other parks that day.

Anyway, I was definitely interested in this Rock the Night fireworks show, since HS rarely has fireworks, and this was the only park we hadn't been to yet! We just missed a Friendship boat, but we didn't mind waiting since it was so pretty outside.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/7f49e5c4.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/5aba4e09.jpg

A boat soon showed up to bring us on down to Hollywood Studios, and we enjoyed a nice trip while sitting outside and enjoying the breeze.

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Can I just say, that I loved the ride on the boat to HS? It was such a nice break from things and a wonderful way to get from HS to Beach Club or HS to Epcot. It is such a beautiful trip as you go past the other Epcot resorts, and it was one of my favorite quiet times we had during our trip.

Soon enough, we'd arrived at Hollywood Studios and made our way in.

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It was a little crowded but not too terrible..

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So we decided to head back to Tower of Terror to see what the wait time was.

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Yup, we were actually thinking about riding ToT! However, when we saw that the wait time was 40 minutes, and that the line was indeed that long, we were a little bummed out and started to turn away.

A CM standing by the entrance asked us if we were staying at a resort, to which we replied yes, then asked if we were staying for EMH, which we again replied yes. He told us to come back at just after 7, and that we would walk onto the ride without a problem. We smiled and thanked him and told him we'd be back, and strolled away satisfied that we indeed would attempt to conquer our fears, or well, I would be as it was going to be my first time ever on ToT.

By the way, in case you were wondering why I have such a fear of elevators, it's because of the terrible movie Ghost Dad (with Bill Cosby).. PLEASE tell me somebody remembers this movie and the scene where the elevator he is on, the cables are snapping as they go higher and higher on the elevator? And he just escapes before the elevator crashes? Uh yeah, traumatized me as a little girl. So this ToT thing was like.. a huge deal for me.

I think both of us were kind of glad we could put off our ride on Tower of Terror, and we decided to grab dinner over at Sunset Ranch Market. We both got the burgers with french fries, and I got the carrot cake while Matt got the chocolate cake.

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I actually like this burger. It's kind of massive and I never finish it, but it's pretty tasty! I also like sitting in this area because it's fun to people watch and there's always an abundance of places to sit, which is really nice.

After we ate and people-watched for awhile, we headed back to the main hub area and did some window shopping, making notes of things that we'd maybe purchase later in the trip. I remember regretting not bringing a hoodie with me that night, as it was starting to get slightly chilly, but I didn't make any purchases yet on a sweatshirt.

Matt really wanted to ride Star Tours, as he hadn't ridden it since the refurbishment and I'd never been on it.

I know, ANOTHER first for me. But this time I have a valid excuse - Star Tours was down for refurbishment during our honeymoon! So even though I really wanted to ride it, I couldn't.

Anyway, we headed for Star Tours and stood in a relatively short line, which I didn't mind since I wanted to take photos of everything in the queue..

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We are huge Star Wars fan, Matt more so than me, so we were both really excited to ride this.

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Um, can I just state how much I LOVED this attraction?! It totally blew my expectations away and I found myself smiling throughout our entire trip! I loved the rebel spy thing, I loved that C3PO was our pilot, and I loved zooming around all the different scenes. Matt loved it as well and thought it was an excellent update to the old attraction.

After an exciting adventure, we made our way back towards Tower of Terror, as it was closer to 7pm and we wanted to catch at least part of the fireworks for the Rock the Night show.

I'm just going to interject here and be honest about something. I am not a fan of this new stage that they built in front of the Sorcerer's Hat, and I found some of the music to be really just... well, it wasn't my cup of tea. Mainly because it was so loud and the guys were making really obnoxious noises. I actually would've been fine with the stage if the volume was just turned down a few notches.

I literally couldn't hear anything Matt was saying because it was so incredibly loud. That and I don't like that it blocks a pretty view of the hat. Okay, ending my rant there, but I just had to say it because it blasted my ears off when we stopped to watch the fireworks show. Outside of the music, the show was pretty cool.

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Anyway, we made our way over to ToT, fighting through masses of people exiting the park... but we didn't mind too much since we knew we'd have a good chance of getting lots of attractions in as we watched people leave the park.

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Okay, it was looking way creepier at night, and I was starting to get nervous...

Continued in next update. (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43978787&postcount=118)

[danimaroo]

Chapter Eleven: Um, did we just step into the Overlook Hotel: My first experience on Tower of Terror.
Day 2: January 19th, 2012

We walked up, and sure enough, the wait time said 5 minutes. That CM was a genius! We walked up and into the hotel, and I'm not going to lie, I was creeped out because I immediately thought of the Overlook Hotel from The Shining. The old time-y music plus super old hotel = me freaking out... but I had to admit that theming was absolutely genius!

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I was not so sure how I felt about conquering this fear all of a sudden...

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And neither was Matt..

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As we got into the loading area, we saw the CM from earlier who'd told us to come back. When he saw us, he said, "SEE?!" with a smile, and we responded with, "YES! Awesome, thanks!" He reminded me a bit of Neville Longbottom, so that made me happy.

Okay, so before I tell you about our experience, Matt had told me about his previous ones. When he was younger, they were still doing the whole one massive drop thing, which Matt hated. Later on when he was a teenager, his friends convinced him to try it out again and he said he enjoyed it a lot more because it was a serious of way smaller drops, and not a ton of going up and then immediately dropping. This in itself convinced me that maybe I could do this and I could ride it.

As we loaded, and I stared at the little seat map on the wall, I realized in horror that we were in the front row. Um, not what I necessarily wanted considering I've heard the front row is scarier. :scared1:

At that point we just dealt with it and got into our seats, buckling our seatbelts. Next thing I know, we are dropping and we're not stopping. I think I nearly pooped my pants because of how insane this was (okay not really but I was screaming like a little girl).

We were being lifted and then immediately dropped with no stop in between, and these were not little drops. AND on top of that, my belt was WAY too loose, as I evidently hadn't tightened it, so I was flying out of my seat with every drop. Holy. Terrifying. Experience.

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It was way way more intense than I'd expected, enough that the people sitting behind us, who'd clearly been on it many times before, even commented saying that that drop sequence was the most intense they've seen in a long time.

Now, all that being said... I actually enjoyed it! This is one of the few rides that I hate but love... and I actually enjoyed being scared, if that makes sense.. which if you know me, is definitely not the norm for me. I hate haunted mansions and scary stuff, but this? This I actually liked, even though I wasn't sure we'd go on again, because Matt wasn't too keen on it. He loves the theming, and thinks it's got some of the best theming of any attraction in Disney World, but those drops were way worse than he remembered.

BUT I DID IT! And I was proud and happy I'd survived, and actually kind of wanted to go on again, but Matt asked if we could do it a different day because he just wasn't up to it. I was okay with this, because when I stopped and thought about it, I wasn't sure I could handle that again.. at least for tonight.

We then made our way over to the Rockin' Roller Coaster, which we both love.

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The wait was very minimal, so we were on in no time.

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When we got into the sound studio, I started laughing because I remembered that Ken Marino (who is in Wet Hot American Summer, Veronica Mars, Party Down, and other random stuff) plays the sound guy, who always gets left behind!

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The CM actually asked the room if anyone had never been on, and when no one responded he just opened the doors without us finishing the studio sequence. :laughing: I wasn't complaining, as it does get kind of old after you've seen it many times, so we headed in to get ready to ride!

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After one crazy ride, we decided to go on it again since it was still a walk-on. This time I decided to make such a dumb face, considering I do not ever do this and I look like a turd.

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Upon walking out of RnRC, we realized it was SO dead in the park! And we were loving it! I think because Epcot and HS has EMH this night, people kind of split in half about where they spent their evening, leaving HS pretty deserted. We headed back over to ride Star Tours again, and this was what we walked into:

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Yeah, no lines at all. We rode Star Tours twice, getting even more newer scenes, then looked around the shop before heading out.

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As we left the park, I got an ice water from a little QS place, which was really nice because I was so thirsty! We talked about going to Epcot for EMH and to squeeze in a ride on Test Track, but soon decided that no, we were too exhausted and sore and would rather head back to our resort to relax.

While waiting in line for a boat, we saw some friends..

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BOAT HOBO DUCKS! They were also kind of begging for food, so this is where we coined the term "hobo ducks". These are the ducks that beg for food, and more often than not, get said food from guests. So yes, these guys were boat hobo ducks. Quite a cute bunch!

We caught a Friendship boat, and watched the fireworks go off in the distance.

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Guess this was for Illuminations, so that means we probably got back to our room around 9:30.

I was glad we ended up going back, because when I took off my socks I realized I had some super gnarly blisters, as did Matt, and we basically took care of them. I'd come with moleskin and other things to help blisters, but they were pretty much going to happen, whether I liked it or not. In fact, I got blisters through the moleskin later on in the trip!

Anyway, I was laying in bed but realized I needed my phone (which was charging on the table) to look at photos so I could update my trip journal. When I got up, my body was extremely stiff and so I started walking very rigidly.

Matt, the king of one-liners, nonchalantly looked at me and said, "You're walking like Barbie in Toy Story."

I turned and looked at him and started laughing so hard I could barely breathe. Like, where the HECK does he get these little one-liners from?! But what was even better about it was he was so right in how I was walking! I was Barbie in Toy Story because of how sore I was.

We ended up getting some hot chocolate in our mugs (oh yes, try my recipe. 2/3 hot chocolate, add 3 pumps of hazelnut, and a little creamer to cool it down/make it creamy, it's SO good and made the hot chocolate way better) and relaxed in our room for the rest of the night.

A great second day was had, but we were tired and I'm pretty sure fell asleep relatively early.

Continued in next update. (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43989319&postcount=130)

[Susan121302]

OMG, yay HS! Love this update. Ok, so ToT scares the bajeezus out of me too. I tried to conquer the fear back in 07 and went on with my nieces. Nope, NADA, fear is still present and in full force. So as I am going through Park Maps with DS about our upcoming trip he claims he may want to try out ToT. Um, WHAT?!?!? :eek: Shocking because he's such a little chicken. So, I told him weakly, "ok, we can try that one too." meanwhile I am already shakin in my boots about going on it. Waaaah.

[dara00]

when I was in Disney in 07, we stayed at the Dolphin. (my only time staying "on site"!) We didn't know we couldn't use the pool at the Beach Club and walked over there. They told us we weren't supposed to be able to go in, but let us in anyway. Guess we got lucky!

This trip, I didn't realize the stage in front of the hat is not always there - good thing so I wasn't disappointed!

[ash-n-brensmom]

Oh yes, that silly face on RnRC is SO not like you!:lmao: Good for you and conquering your fear!! YAY!!:cool1:
:yay:(That's you going up and down on TOT);)

[Fantasyland Mom]

I just finished writing about my Epcot day in my TR yesterday, so it's fresh in my mind. You day (or part of the day) there was so similar to ours:thumbsup2...except, ya know, we had three kids to schlep along with us...

I so want to swim in Stormalong Bay! When you were on the lazy river, did you think, "Look at all those laaaazy people on the laaaaazy river?" Cause that's what popped into my mind when I read that. Love some old school Stacey, and I didn't even go to WDW when the old school show was on. That's dedication.

I, too, have a love/hate relationship with ToT (YES!! GHOST DAD!!). After the first time I rode it, I swore NEVER AGAIN. But I just had to do it this last trip, and I wasn't nearly as freaked out this time. Yes, I still screamed like a baby, but I loved it. Promise.

I think I must have a soundtrack that just plays all the time in my head, because now I have "Barbie Girl" repeating inside there over and over. Thanks for that!

[danimaroo]

OMG, yay HS! Love this update. Ok, so ToT scares the bajeezus out of me too. I tried to conquer the fear back in 07 and went on with my nieces. Nope, NADA, fear is still present and in full force. So as I am going through Park Maps with DS about our upcoming trip he claims he may want to try out ToT. Um, WHAT?!?!? :eek: Shocking because he's such a little chicken. So, I told him weakly, "ok, we can try that one too." meanwhile I am already shakin in my boots about going on it. Waaaah.

Okay so, you are talking to the girl who is terrified of elevator breaking while on them AND grew up terrified of the Twilight Zone theme song.. If I can do it, YOU CAN, TOO! :rotfl:

I swear, it's a ride you love to hate. And I'll give you a little secret that I learned on our TR, and I'll bring up later on when I realized it but... They MUST make the drop sequences ten times worse at night than they do during the morning. Just remember this; if you decide to go on, for your first time, go in the morning. It's a LOT tamer than at night, so definitely shoot for that if you end up going for it! :thumbsup2

when I was in Disney in 07, we stayed at the Dolphin. (my only time staying "on site"!) We didn't know we couldn't use the pool at the Beach Club and walked over there. They told us we weren't supposed to be able to go in, but let us in anyway. Guess we got lucky!

This trip, I didn't realize the stage in front of the hat is not always there - good thing so I wasn't disappointed!

From what I've gathered, they've become a LOT tighter now about making sure people are BC guests, and I can definitely say they nearly studied our cards every time we went in. Security around that pool is intense! :lmao:

Ugh, I wish the stage would just goooo away. Not a fan! :headache:

Oh yes, that silly face on RnRC is SO not like you!:lmao: Good for you and conquering your fear!! YAY!!:cool1:
:yay:(That's you going up and down on TOT);)

:rotfl: I had a feeling you would totally point out that the face is SO me. I just don't know why I made THAT face when it's so dorky. Guess I just felt like shaking things up a bit. :laughing:

And thank you! It was definitely a big feat for me to actually go on it, even though it was beyond terrifying and I thought I was going to fly out of my seat. :lmao:

I just finished writing about my Epcot day in my TR yesterday, so it's fresh in my mind. You day (or part of the day) there was so similar to ours:thumbsup2...except, ya know, we had three kids to schlep along with us...

Okay, I TOTALLY missed that you have a TR! I must go visit it after this, because I feel like I will enjoy it immensely! That is funny that we had such similar days. I like when I find other people who tour similarly to us. :thumbsup2

I so want to swim in Stormalong Bay! When you were on the lazy river, did you think, "Look at all those laaaazy people on the laaaaazy river?" Cause that's what popped into my mind when I read that. Love some old school Stacey, and I didn't even go to WDW when the old school show was on. That's dedication.

It's SO awesome. And no, I didn't, but now I wish I did! Seriously, it pushes you along so you can be super lazy and just.. float and enjoy life. :laughing:

Stacey is just fabulous. And yes, that is dedication right there when you missed the old school stuff!

I, too, have a love/hate relationship with ToT (YES!! GHOST DAD!!). After the first time I rode it, I swore NEVER AGAIN. But I just had to do it this last trip, and I wasn't nearly as freaked out this time. Yes, I still screamed like a baby, but I loved it. Promise.

Is it weird that I could hug you for actually knowing what I'm talking about with Ghost Dad?! Every person I've ever told about it (Matt included) has looked at me like I'm a weirdo for having ever seen that movie, nevermind the scene I'm even talking about! SO THANK YOU for totally knowing what I'm sayin' here!

But yeah, I was scared but had a blast on it! I think I enjoyed it more than Matt did, for sure.

I think I must have a soundtrack that just plays all the time in my head, because now I have "Barbie Girl" repeating inside there over and over. Thanks for that!

:rotfl: That is so funny that that song popped into your head. I always have a soundtrack in my head. This morning I couldn't stop singing, "Everybody's got a laughing place, dootdootdoot..." It's been stuck in my head since last night because I was working on my TR (I like to be ahead of things and have my posts ready to roll for a few days) and talking about our next Splash Mountain incident. ANYWAY, it's seriously been stuck in my head nonstop now! :laughing:

[Twoboysnmygirl]

OMG, I 'm so super jealous!!! First off, bestest update ever! Secondly, I think you guys got the low crowds and left the crowds to us a week later! :p Thirdly, you rode TWO things that I didn't get to ride at DHS and then had a nearly empty park! (Star Tours and ToT) That rocks! But, your update did not give me more courage about ToT, it scared me even more. This is three times I have chickened out, this time b/c no one would go with me...I'm not sure I'll ever get up the courage, I really hate the feeling of falling. :eek:

oh oh oh...and FOURTHLY...fireworks at DHS?!?! How freaking cool is that?!?!

[Moodyzblu]

Awesome update ! :thumbsup2
I'm sitting here laughing out loud at my iPad and my kids are giving me weird looks ! :lmao:
Oh well ... I'm having fun ! :banana:

Looking forward to the next update !

[danimaroo]

OMG, I 'm so super jealous!!! First off, bestest update ever!

Hahaha, thank you!

Secondly, I think you guys got the low crowds and left the crowds to us a week later! :p

Evidently! We had only one incident with crowds that left us feeling overwhelmed. Weekends were definitely busier, though usually just Saturdays were kind of yucky. So weird that you guys got hit by crowds because I always thought the first week of February is also supposed to be really slow, too! :confused3

Thirdly, you rode TWO things that I didn't get to ride at DHS and then had a nearly empty park! (Star Tours and ToT) That rocks! But, your update did not give me more courage about ToT, it scared me even more. This is three times I have chickened out, this time b/c no one would go with me...I'm not sure I'll ever get up the courage, I really hate the feeling of falling. :eek:

Oh no, why no Star Tours?! Yes, this particular night was by far the slowest we saw DHS, except for perhaps one other time during a morning. It seemed like this park was otherwise ALWAYS full of tour groups. It was kind of weird. Anyway, I'm sorry I might've scared you with my experience. BUT don't be scared away! I have some tips about ToT in one of my future updates for people who are a bit intimidated by it. :laughing: Though if you really don't like the feeling of falling, it might be just something that you avoid because when the ride throws you up and then straight down with no stop, THAT is when your stomach totally flips and flops!

oh oh oh...and FOURTHLY...fireworks at DHS?!?! How freaking cool is that?!?!

I agree, it was really cool to be there for something that I'm not sure they've ever done. I wouldn't say it was my favorite show (because it was really a fireworks show with the band playing), but it was DEFINITELY really neat to see fireworks in DHS! :thumbsup2


Awesome update ! :thumbsup2
I'm sitting here laughing out loud at my iPad and my kids are giving me weird looks ! :lmao:
Oh well ... I'm having fun ! :banana:

Looking forward to the next update !

Thank you! And that is so funny that my update made you laugh. That's kind of my intention because we had some seriously funny moments on our trip! Plus, I totally will bust out laughing at something I'm reading on the DIS and Matt will give me this weird look of like, "What on EARTH are you looking at over there on your iPad?!" :rotfl: Hey, if it makes you smile and laugh, it's a judge-free zone over here!

I'll have another update tomorrow morning, and while things start off rough, they DEFINITELY get interesting later on in the day. :rolleyes1

[Pixie Princess]

What a great first ToT story! I absolutely loved that ride the first time I went on it. DD hated it, and was mad at me for making her ride it. The second time we rode it, we had a friend of hers with us on the trip so she consented to ride. I have to say that second ride was far more "terrifying" than the first simply because I knew exactly what was going to happen. My heart was racing before we even locked in to place for the first drop. It was still tons of fun, but I was literally shaking after the ride was done. I could barely walk. It was hilarious. DD's friend was shaking too, and we had a good laugh over it as we waited to "stabilize" in the gift shop.

I love when catching air in the seat on that ride. Phun with physics!

I'm Star Wars geek also, and LOVE the re-boot on Star Tours! I really want to be the rebel spy so I can justify spending the $$ on the "I'm the rebel spy" shirt!

[okw19]

Love the stunna shades comment, and you would've loved the random scenes in the old boat ride.
Shame on you guys for ruining 4 people's viewing of the Norway film!

SAB sounds amazing! I'm not one to spend time in pools on vacation, but if I ever stay there I will definitely be going swimming! We loved the boats this trip too! We took them to DTD and from West Side to the marketplace. They are soooo relaxing.

I'm so glad you guys went to HS! Love that park so much. :) 40 minutes for ToT?! No way. I feel like I vaguely remember that scene from Ghost Dad, but I haven't seen it in ages.

Those burgers look yummy, do I spy onion rings on them?

I LOVE Star Wars! I actually watched A New Hope last night. I kind of only love the original 3 though. I especially didn't like Ep II & III. Anyways, yay for Start Tours!!! You guys must of had a better ride sequence than we did, because I was a wee bit disappointed in the new version. That might just be because I loved the old one so much.

I hate the stage too.

ToT looks awesome at night and it's way more fun to see everything lit up. :) Sidenote: I love the Shining. Are we the same person? Awesome CM!
I used to miss the one big drop thing. When they first switched over to "random" sequence it was kind of a puny ride compared to the original. Since then they've obviously amped it up. I actually think every time we rode it this trip it was great! I agree with Matt that it's hands down the BEST overall ride experience as far as theming and the attraction as a whole from walking up through the gardens to exiting at the lobby and gift shop! It's just Disney Imagineering at it's finest.

Love Aerosmith and RnRC. :lovestruc I can quote the whole pre-show so I'm always thankful when the doors open early. :laughing: Your ride pics just keep getting better and better!

You guys got so lucky for an empty HS EMH night! Ours wasn't as good, but my mom and I did hop in the queue for the last TSM run of the night! It was only a 15 min wait a few minutes after closing even though the sign said 40.

More Star Tours. :lovestruc More ducks. :lovestruc More boats. :lovestruc More awesome Matt one-liners. :lovestruc

I'm sitting here trying to picture you walking like Barbie and I almost choked on my coffee! That's the best.

[danimaroo]

What a great first ToT story! I absolutely loved that ride the first time I went on it. DD hated it, and was mad at me for making her ride it. The second time we rode it, we had a friend of hers with us on the trip so she consented to ride. I have to say that second ride was far more "terrifying" than the first simply because I knew exactly what was going to happen. My heart was racing before we even locked in to place for the first drop. It was still tons of fun, but I was literally shaking after the ride was done. I could barely walk. It was hilarious. DD's friend was shaking too, and we had a good laugh over it as we waited to "stabilize" in the gift shop.

Haha, I can totally see why DD hated it! I would've HATED it when I was little, especially when the Twilight Zone part happens.. I was shaking after we got off our first time on there! It was seriously intense and I felt like I needed a moment to regather myself. :rotfl:

I love when catching air in the seat on that ride. Phun with physics!

See it's fun but also scary that first time it happens and you weren't expecting it! I was like, "OhmygoshI'mgoingtodie!"

I'm Star Wars geek also, and LOVE the re-boot on Star Tours! I really want to be the rebel spy so I can justify spending the $$ on the "I'm the rebel spy" shirt!

Heck yes, LOVE Star Wars, and the reboot was seriously awesome. I totally get the want for being the rebel spy! That shirt is really awesome. :laughing: I have a funny Star Tours story actually in one of my future updates!!


Love the stunna shades comment, and you would've loved the random scenes in the old boat ride.
Shame on you guys for ruining 4 people's viewing of the Norway film!

Haha, what can I say? Stunna shades were a necessity! And I bet I would've loved the random scenes... and yes, I felt guilty for ruining such a beautiful film for so many people. :rolleyes1

SAB sounds amazing! I'm not one to spend time in pools on vacation, but if I ever stay there I will definitely be going swimming! We loved the boats this trip too! We took them to DTD and from West Side to the marketplace. They are soooo relaxing.

I hear you! This trip we spent WAY more time in the pools than I think we thought we would, but between the heat and sometimes just needing downtime, we went in a lot. It also felt good on my legs/feet that were SO SORE. :laughing:

And I agree! We took the boat from OKW to DTD one evening and I just love it! :love:

I'm so glad you guys went to HS! Love that park so much. :) 40 minutes for ToT?! No way. I feel like I vaguely remember that scene from Ghost Dad, but I haven't seen it in ages.

Those burgers look yummy, do I spy onion rings on them?

Yeah, 40 minutes was not happening. I think people were trying to get on before the fireworks show started. And yes, that scene, it's like stuck in my brain forever... I've slowly gotten over the fear, which is good since I work on the 33rd floor of my building! :scared1:

Oh and yes, onion rings on the burger, making them even more delicious! :cloud9:

I LOVE Star Wars! I actually watched A New Hope last night. I kind of only love the original 3 though. I especially didn't like Ep II & III. Anyways, yay for Start Tours!!! You guys must of had a better ride sequence than we did, because I was a wee bit disappointed in the new version. That might just be because I loved the old one so much.

ME TOOOO! We're going to probably get the complete set on blu-ray at some point. And yes, fully agree, original were WAY better. I told Matt I'd be fine skipping the first three when we re-watch them all. :rotfl: That's too bad about your disappointment! I have nothing to compare it to, so of course I was in love. We got a LOT of different sequences which was nice!

I hate the stage too.

It needs to just go away... now.

ToT looks awesome at night and it's way more fun to see everything lit up. :) Sidenote: I love the Shining. Are we the same person? Awesome CM!
I used to miss the one big drop thing. When they first switched over to "random" sequence it was kind of a puny ride compared to the original. Since then they've obviously amped it up. I actually think every time we rode it this trip it was great! I agree with Matt that it's hands down the BEST overall ride experience as far as theming and the attraction as a whole from walking up through the gardens to exiting at the lobby and gift shop! It's just Disney Imagineering at it's finest.

I know, it's WAY creepier at night. And yes, I think we are the same person! I just re-read the book again around Halloween. Have you ever read it? It's so good and scary and way different than the Stanley Kubrick movie. But I also love the movie, too!

That CM was awesome. And you are way more brave than me because one huge drop would probably make me throw up. :rotfl: It is definitely more intense than when Matt rode it, which I'm guessing was during the puny times. :laughing: The theming really is amazing though for that attraction.

Love Aerosmith and RnRC. :lovestruc I can quote the whole pre-show so I'm always thankful when the doors open early. :laughing: Your ride pics just keep getting better and better!

Haha yes, totally agree. I like the pre-show okay but it just kind of gets old when you just went to get through. They should have a line like HM that allows people to just skip the pre-show, kind of like how you can do the interactive queue or not... But my guess is a lot of people would skip it. And I'm glad you appreciate my ridiculous faces. :lmao:

You guys got so lucky for an empty HS EMH night! Ours wasn't as good, but my mom and I did hop in the queue for the last TSM run of the night! It was only a 15 min wait a few minutes after closing even though the sign said 40.

It was SO DEAD! I couldn't believe it. But it sounds like you guys had some like with TSMM, which is REALLY nice since it's always mobbed!

More Star Tours. :lovestruc More ducks. :lovestruc More boats. :lovestruc More awesome Matt one-liners. :lovestruc

Haha, this TR IS FULL OF THEM. Glad you thoroughly enjoy it all!

I'm sitting here trying to picture you walking like Barbie and I almost choked on my coffee! That's the best.

Oh my gosh it was so bad. At first I tried to protest his observation, but then realized.. No, I was definitely walking like Barbie, so I just totally lost it because of how accurate it was! :rotfl:


Thank for commenting, I love your comments. :cloud9:

[danimaroo]

Chapter Twelve: Uh oh, we've got a case of the grumps over here...
Day 3: January 20th, 2012

We woke up at around 8:30, to I believe a wake up call, though it very well could have been from this sun shining through our window..

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We got ourselves going, grabbed some coffee and muffins at the Market Place, and headed outside to of course, yet another beautiful day.

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I got a blueberry muffin

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while Matt got a chocolate chip muffin

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and both were deeeelicious! I was a big fan of all of the pastries they had available at the Market Place. Anyway, while we ate, we noticed some little birdies hanging out near the bush, and had a feeling that they were hobo birds. Matt put a crumb from his muffin out to see if that's what they were interested in...

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And they found it delicious! After hanging out with our new bird friends, we caught a bus over to Magic Kingdom, as we planned on spending our morning/early afternoon there. After we arrived to some bigger crowds, we made our way into the hat shop to pick out our Mickey ears!

We began the tradition last year, but it's a rule that every year we go, we pick out a new set of ears, get our names embroidered, and wear them on occasion (though especially on our final day!). Anyway, we tried on various hats..

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Matt was torn between Donald and Goofy. I knew I wanted Pluto, as he has always held a special place in my heart. After some debate, Matt chose Donald and we dropped off our hats to get them embroidered.

We hung around for a few minutes, trying on more hats..

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But then decided we would just come back for our hats, and instead do something I'd really been wanting to do... Go see Mickey!

The posted wait said 10 minutes (though I think in reality it was more like 15ish), so we kept ourselves amused in line and looking at the fun posters..

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When we finally got into the room, I about nearly lost it when I saw Mickey and Minnie...

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Unfortunately, I don't have our PhotoPass photos back yet, so once I get them I will definitely post the photos from this experience. Mickey gave me a kiss on the cheek, as did Minnie, now that I think about it.. Anyway, we joked around with them for a bit, they pointed at our Anniversary pins, and the CM made a joke about not saying anything to Minnie about when Mickey planned on proposing. It was very cute, and I remember the CM commenting on my Goonies shirt, saying how much she loved that movie.

Anyway, after spending some lovely time with my favorite mouse, we headed back to get our hats!

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We decided to make our way down Main Street, and we knew it was going to be an interesting day. The crowds were WAY bigger than what we'd seen the past few days, but we thought maybe the attractions wouldn't be terrible in terms of their lines. Yeah, not so much... EVERYTHING was busy.

We went to Splash Mountain, buuuut it was closed, which was a bummer. I'd spotted a Splash Mountain towel on our first day, so we decided to go into the shop to pick it up. Because Splash was closed, there was no one in the store, so when we walked in the CMs literally started clapping and cheering and wishing us Happy Anniversary. It was really cute and pretty funny because of their excessive excitement that we were coming into the store. We picked up the towel I wanted and thanked the CMs for their cheerfulness, then headed out..

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Anyhoot, attraction after attraction had ridiculous lines. Like we're talking 50 minutes plus.. Half hour for Haunted Mansion, etc. We knew this was NOT normal, but unfortunately the crowds and lines put both of us on edge. Frustrated, we finally gave up and decided to go get lunch at the Columbia Harbor House, and try to figure out what we wanted to do.

We both ordered the fish and chicken with french fries, and when I went to order the apple crisp that I'd been wanting to try, the lady told me that they were out of it. UGH. I know it's really stupid, but I was already frustrated as it was, so this just made my mood even worse. I was really not in the mood for the chocolate cake in the cup, but got it and figured I'd just take it back to the room for later.

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By the time we both sat down to eat lunch, well, neither of us were in fantastic moods. It probably looked kind of ridiculous to see us both sitting there in our Mickey hats, but with total grump faces on. We were both just frustrated with the huge crowds when Friday was supposed to be a GOOD day for MK...

We started talking about it and realized, uh, dur, of course it's insane here today. EVERYONE thought Obama had closed down all of MK the day before (we heard this from countless people, which was not true. They just closed down Main Street and let guests in a different area, where you could get to any attraction you wanted), so everyone skipped MK and evidently moved their MK day to Friday. This resulted in THE worst crowds we saw for our entire trip. We talked things over, apologized to one another for getting snappy, especially when it's nothing we had control over, and decided that it would be best for us to head back to our room for some downtime.

Yes, even adults need a break and some downtime. I'm just glad we got out before one of us had a meltdown...

On our way out of Magic Kingdom, we decided to pop into the Watch store so Matt could look at some watches. While he looked, we realized they also have Pandora (well, knock-offs) charms! I love my Pandora bracelet, so after looking for a bit, I decided to get a cute Mickey Mouse to add on. Every single charm on my bracelet has significance to me for one reason or another.. So it only made sense to get one from Disney!

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Continued in the next post (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43989353&postcount=131)

[danimaroo]

Chapter Twelve: Uh oh, we've got a case of the grumps over here... CONTINUED
Day 3: January 20th, 2012

Once back, we got off at the Yacht Club and took advantage of the beautiful weather as we strolled back to our room, both feeling a lot calmer once we had escaped the chaos that was Magic Kingdom (and yes, if you couldn't tell, I will not go during a busy time of year, it's really not my cup of tea and I have a hard time not getting stressed out in crowds, so I'm glad Matt and I both have that in common)..

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We hung out in our room, where I hopped into bed with a cold beverage from the Market Place and did some DISing!

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Matt was reading his Kindle, and I was done reading the DIS, when I got the itch to go down to the quiet pool for some sun and relaxation. Matt wanted to keep reading and needed quiet time, so I headed down without him.

Growing up, I was a total water baby and LOVE to go swimming, even if it's chilly out, and while Matt likes swimming, he doesn't love it quite as much as I do. Anyway, I headed down with my new Splash Mountain towel and enjoyed the HECK out of the quiet pool..

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It was seriously perfect for going swimming and just floating around and soaking up the sun. It was very quiet, with only one other person in the pool while I was, and this was exactly what I needed. I remember very distinctly sitting in the pool and thinking, "Okay, NOW I feel like I'm truly on vacation. I'm sitting in a pool, it's 80 degrees out and not a cloud in the sky. Yup, this is perfect." I hung out by the pool for about an hour, then went back upstairs to our room. I cannot tell you how nice it was to have our room so close to the elevator by the pool. It made us go night-swimming way more often than we probably would have otherwise.

We farted (yes, I said farted, but just meant we hung out :rotfl:) around the room for a bit since we had an ADR at Cape May for that evening, and I took a shower and got changed. We were totally starving by 4:30, and the dork I am thought that was fine since our ADR was for like 5:30... Then I checked it again and realized, yeah no, try 6:25. Wompwomp. We decided to try our luck and headed down to check in early at 5:30.

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We were given our handy dandy buzzer, and sat and waited to be called..

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After a 10 minute wait, we were seated and greeted by a very friendly waitress. She took our drink orders, chatted with us for a bit, then told us about the buffet.

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This was my plate. I got a little caesar salad, some type of baked white fish, macaroni and cheese, some pasta, and of course, crab legs.

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Matt's plate... He got crab legs, salad, some sort of rice, and some ribs

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This was my second plate.. I got a seafood pasta dish, roasted red potatoes, roast beef, corn bread, a garlic butter roll, and some fried shrimp.

Oh my gosh, the dinner was DELICIOUS. Everything was fresh and hot and we just really really liked it. We seriously stuffed ourselves, and those garlic butter rolls are dangerous, as is the corn bread! I can't say how much we enjoyed our dinner!

Of course, we left room for dessert..

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My plate... Top is the Oreo bon bon (that Cape May is known for), a peanut butter bar, and a cupcake.

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Matt's desserts... Oreo bon bon, peanut butter bar, key line mini pie, and a sugar cookie.

I LOVED the Oreo bon bon. I wanted to marry it. It had delicious Oreo cream, with an Oreo cookie on the bottom. IT WAS SO GOOD. Matt enjoyed them but said it wasn't his favorite. The peanut butter bars were also very good!

Anyway, as we were enjoying our desserts, our waitress came out and announced that we were celebrating our anniversary, and had Matt give me a big kiss. Matt is NOT the type who likes to be in the spotlight at all, but he was a good sport and kissed me while people cheered. Our waitress then placed a really pretty chocolate mousse type dessert in front of us..

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Matt had me blow out the candle..

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And I don't know how we did it, but we ate the dessert.. which was also really good!

Overall, we loved this dinner. The buffet was excellent, the desserts were great, and our waitress was wonderful as well. Keep this in mind, as we make a return to Cape May again in our trip, but the next time isn't as magical as this dinner was...

After we stuffed ourselves silly, we decided to give Magic Kingdom a second shot. I'm guessing this was in part due to me looking at my Lines app and seeing the lines had gone down a bit, otherwise I know we wouldn't have risked going back and being overwhelmed again. After catching a bus, we walked into my favorite park at night...

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Seriously, how can you not just fall in love with this EVERY time?!

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I asked Matt what he wanted to do first, and we went to his favorite of course! Haunted Mansion!

As we walked on, I was given one of those red card passes as we strolled in. Am I the only one who feels all cool and important when I'm handed one of these?!

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I told Matt that I really wanted to find the bride's ring. We had read online about all the new changes they made, like the new queue, the new end sequence with the Hitchhiking Ghosts... and had also heard that they'd put in a little nod to the old legend that you could find the bride's wedding ring outside of the mansion (which in reality was just an old ring stuck in the ground from a metal post that they'd removed)..

On our way in, I looked around but didn't see anything, and when I went to ask the CM at the door about it, she told me she had to shut the door and ended up ignoring me/my question after we walked in. I wasn't really upset since she WAS trying to control a massive amount of people, and figured I'd just ask another CM later.

So after our first ride on it, as we went to go on again (because the line was super short), I asked the CM by the front if he could give me a little hint as to where I could find the ring! He told me it was near the Captain's tomb in the interactive queue, off in a corner, but said it'd be hard to find in the dark. I thanked him and we went through the interactive queue, where I looked and used the light from my iPhone to find it!

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MAJOR kudos to Disney for doing this. I always thought it was fun how the legend about her ring was originally created by CMs and guests, but for Disney to actually recognize that and play along by putting in an actual ring? THIS is why I love Disney... Their attention to detail is amazing!

Oh, and funny side note, this was ride number FOUR for us on Haunted Mansion, and can you imagine that we actually got the same exact Hitchhiking Ghost ALL 4 TIMES?! By ride #4, we were laughing at the fact that we just could NOT get a different ghost! We kept getting our heads blasted off... Evidently that ghost really liked us!

Now guys, I have to interject here because I'm going to leave you with a big ol' cliffhanger. But I can promise you one thing... You do NOT want to miss my next update, because it's pretty hilarious and ridiculous and you'll get a little taste of what it's like to be stuck on Splash Mountain in the most horrible spot you can think of. (Yes, this means there is a video involved!)

So definitely stay tuned for what I think is probably the most entertaining update I've written for this TR!

Continued in the next update (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43999125&postcount=144)

[Twoboysnmygirl]

OMG, I cannot WAIT to hear all about it...and video too?!?!?

Well, maybe Friday's have just gone to pot for MK b/c our Friday (2/3) was worse than our Sunday there! They actually extended park hours b/c there were so many people! :eek:

I had no idea the ring was there at HM! I thought it had been taken out! Wish I had found it and taken a pic. How cool!

I'm also glad (for me, not you) to see that I'm not the only person to get grumpy with crowds! I actually felt really guilty for it, I felt almost spoiled by our previous trips, but I just get easily aggravated with them. Luckily Disney is the best place for this as it goes away about as quickly as it arrived!

How cool that they made such a big deal in the Splash gift shop! Looks like you got lots of Anniversary pixiedust on your trip! :lovestruc I cannot WAIT to go on a trip with just Rey, no idea when that will be though.

[marDgreen88]

Haha for some reason I was wondering why I had already heard that wrong room number story. I was like uhh... didn't this already happen? But I realized you told me on MY tr... not this one. Hahaha. Duh.

OMG Stormalong Bay. Okay, so I know that you know by now how obsessed I am with the Beach Club but I am going to say it again anyway. COOLEST POOL I'VE EVER NOT SWAM IN. OMG yall are so lucky. It looks like the most fun pool ever!!! That does stink about the construction though!

I know some people don't enjoy the boats to Epcot/DHS but I love them! I think they're a lot of fun and definitely nice and relaxing.

I feel the exact same way about Star Tours! IT IS SO FUN. There's a good story coming up in my TR (in about 500 years) about it too! But anyways YES. STAR TOURS.

YAY for you doing ToT!

CUTE tradition!!! Come to think of it... I think I've done the same thing! Not embroidered, but I've gotten a new set of ears (Mickey OR Minnie) every trip! AKA... I have 3 now haha. Score.

Wahhh why was Splash closed??? That's so funny about the CMs though. And I LOVE the towel!

ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL BEACH CLUB PHOTO. I THANK YOU.

Hahaha NO, you are not the only one who feels cool and important when given that red card thing. On my first trip I was given one when we were going into Mickey's PhilarMagic, and I thought it was some big deal thing, and that the CM had given it to me because she saw my first visit pin. Yeah... nothing happened after that hahaha.

HAHAH yay for the next update!

[ash-n-brensmom]

Oooo....I'm all on the edge of my seat now!!! :hyper: Tell me, tell me, tell me!!! I HATE cliffhangers...well, unless I'm the one that leaves you on one..;)

Awesome update!! Love just hanging out in the pool and floating....:cloud9:

I have to say that now that I've seen your report, I think we may have to try Cape May...I'm not a seafood person but DH is and I was afraid that I wouldn't like what was there, but your plate (minus the crab legs) looked delish!

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Oh and I forgot to tell you that I LOVE that shadow pic! :lovestruc

[danimaroo]

OMG, I cannot WAIT to hear all about it...and video too?!?!?

YES! You have no idea how hard it was for me NOT to post the next chapter! Buuuut I didn't want to overwhelm people with more than what I posted today, since it was a longer chapter. BUT YES! I can't wait, and the video just enhances it. :rotfl:

Well, maybe Friday's have just gone to pot for MK b/c our Friday (2/3) was worse than our Sunday there! They actually extended park hours b/c there were so many people! :eek:

You know what's funny though? The following Friday, theeee 27th? was so not bad! I'll get to that when I do, but it definitely was 10 times better than what we experience on the 20th! I am pretty sure the 20th was solely due to Obama messing things up.

I had no idea the ring was there at HM! I thought it had been taken out! Wish I had found it and taken a pic. How cool!

Yeah, how neat is that?! They took out the old one, which really was not a ring at all, as it seriously was WAY larger than a ring that you'd put on someone's finger, but because of that legend, Imagineering decided to keep the fun going and put an actual ring there! SO COOL!

I'm also glad (for me, not you) to see that I'm not the only person to get grumpy with crowds! I actually felt really guilty for it, I felt almost spoiled by our previous trips, but I just get easily aggravated with them. Luckily Disney is the best place for this as it goes away about as quickly as it arrived!

Haha, I had a hard time writing this chapter because I was a little concerned people would be like, "STOP BEING A GRUMP YOU ARE IN DISNEY WORLD!" But the day was just not what we were expecting, and in turn we just both were agitated with people. But that's why I love Disney World; you can turn that mood around pretty quickly! :goodvibes

How cool that they made such a big deal in the Splash gift shop! Looks like you got lots of Anniversary pixiedust on your trip! :lovestruc I cannot WAIT to go on a trip with just Rey, no idea when that will be though.

Haha yeah, it was awfully cute at how excited they were. We got SO much anniversary pixie dust. I have completely left out how literally every 2 seconds we would hear "HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!" no matter where we were! You'll notice a few days where we don't have our pins on, sometimes because we forgot, and sometimes just because we wanted to not necessarily be noticed. :laughing: No, but it just made it easier on days we were trying to get a lot done, so we didn't have to stop and talk to every person who said it to us and we could keep moving.


Haha for some reason I was wondering why I had already heard that wrong room number story. I was like uhh... didn't this already happen? But I realized you told me on MY tr... not this one. Hahaha. Duh.

Haha I've so done that before and then been like.. oh yeah, whoops, forgot that was mentioned here! I had to share it early with you because it made me think of this! :laughing:

OMG Stormalong Bay. Okay, so I know that you know by now how obsessed I am with the Beach Club but I am going to say it again anyway. COOLEST POOL I'VE EVER NOT SWAM IN. OMG yall are so lucky. It looks like the most fun pool ever!!! That does stink about the construction though!

It seriously is the best pool EVERRRRR. The construction was a bummer (because when you got a whiff of the shellac while you were trying to lay in the sun, it was SO BAD), but we rolled with it because we were in SAB and it was so much fun!

I know some people don't enjoy the boats to Epcot/DHS but I love them! I think they're a lot of fun and definitely nice and relaxing.

Oh I just adore them! They might take a little bit of time since you have to make a few stops but I really enjoyed them every single time we found ourselves on one!

I feel the exact same way about Star Tours! IT IS SO FUN. There's a good story coming up in my TR (in about 500 years) about it too! But anyways YES. STAR TOURS.

YES! I can't wait to hear your story, and I'm wondering if we'll end up telling a similar story... It is QUITE a possibility!

YAY for you doing ToT!

I'm still proud I did it, because ugh, I was definitely shaking a little afterwards!

CUTE tradition!!! Come to think of it... I think I've done the same thing! Not embroidered, but I've gotten a new set of ears (Mickey OR Minnie) every trip! AKA... I have 3 now haha. Score.

It's such a fun tradition and then when you get home you have a nice little memory you can display! All of ours are on display, I'll post a picture at the end of my TR!

Wahhh why was Splash closed??? That's so funny about the CMs though. And I LOVE the towel!

Okay, Splash would break down A LOT during our vacation. Seriously. I remember countless times being excited to go on and looking at my Lines app and realizing nope, it's temporarily closed. It was kind of frustrating, but at the same time, I was just glad it was open at all since it's normally closed in January (they kept it open since BTMRR was closed, which was sad!)

ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL BEACH CLUB PHOTO. I THANK YOU.

You are so welcome! :laughing:

Hahaha NO, you are not the only one who feels cool and important when given that red card thing. On my first trip I was given one when we were going into Mickey's PhilarMagic, and I thought it was some big deal thing, and that the CM had given it to me because she saw my first visit pin. Yeah... nothing happened after that hahaha.

Haha I laughed out loud at this comment! That is so funny, because I'm pretty sure the first time I got one I thought it was some special thing! Buuut no, it was not.

HAHAH yay for the next update!

Haha it should be pretty funny!


Oooo....I'm all on the edge of my seat now!!! :hyper: Tell me, tell me, tell me!!! I HATE cliffhangers...well, unless I'm the one that leaves you on one..;)

Awesome update!! Love just hanging out in the pool and floating....:cloud9:

I have to say that now that I've seen your report, I think we may have to try Cape May...I'm not a seafood person but DH is and I was afraid that I wouldn't like what was there, but your plate (minus the crab legs) looked delish!

I KNOW! It's actually killing me to not post it already! It's not that fun to leave people hanging (okay it is a little bit) but this one I just want to share!

And thanks, it was so relaxing and definitely what we needed to help cure the grumps!

You should totally go to Cape May! They have plenty of food other than seafood, enough that DH could enjoy the seafood but you could enjoy everything else! The food is great there, service well, we'll get into that a little later in my TR.. BUT our waitress the first night was great!!

Oh and I forgot to tell you that I LOVE that shadow pic! :lovestruc

AWW THANK YOU! I love it, too. We were walking along by Stormalong Bay towards the Beach Club and I noticed our shadows and it made me very happy. :cloud9: Just proof of how quickly Disney makes you turn that frown right upside down! :laughing:

[407-W-DISNEY]

:thumbsup2
Great updates!

good for you for going on ToT....I never have and probably never will! (well maybe, LOL)

Love the shadow picture! so cool. You should get a large print of that, frame it and hang it in your house...it is really neat.

Sorry you guys were grumpy....that's no fun on vacation :mad:
But your time at the pool seemed very nice and relazing and so did your dinner...the cup cakes look really YUMMY!
Can I ask you how the temperature of the pool water was that time of year? do they really warm it up?? or does it have a bit of chill to it??

The colors on the castle are beautiful~

add me to the list - I also feel really cool and important when I get that red card :rotfl2:
Cant wait for your next update...don't keep us waiting too long!

[danimaroo]

:thumbsup2
Great updates!

good for you for going on ToT....I never have and probably never will! (well maybe, LOL)

Thank you! :) I'm definitely glad I did it. I felt like a goober being terrified while these little kids were totally just strolling on like it was no big deal! :rotfl: I feel your pain, but if I can do it, you definitely can!

Love the shadow picture! so cool. You should get a large print of that, frame it and hang it in your house...it is really neat.

This is such a good idea and I think I am going to do this. Thank you for that suggestion!

Sorry you guys were grumpy....that's no fun on vacation :mad:
But your time at the pool seemed very nice and relazing and so did your dinner...the cup cakes look really YUMMY!

The grumpiness was gone once we figured out what to do and came up with a plan. Plus, you're in Disney, you can't be grumpy for long! Our dinner WAS fabulous, and I'm telling you, I'd love to have an Oreo Bon Bon right now! YUM!

Can I ask you how the temperature of the pool water was that time of year? do they really warm it up?? or does it have a bit of chill to it??

For the mostpart it was definitely warm, but I thought it was colder than last year. BUT I think it might've been because it was SO WARM out during the day, so with the sun out the water was absolutely perfect. At night it was definitely chillier but still very nice to swim in! But the water at night was always warmer than it was outside!

The colors on the castle are beautiful~

It's a big part of the reason I LOVE MK at night. :love:

add me to the list - I also feel really cool and important when I get that red card :rotfl2:
Cant wait for your next update...don't keep us waiting too long!

I'm glad I am not the only one! :laughing: And don't worry, it won't be too long. I'm sure I'll post it tomorrow morning/early afternoon. I can't leave everyone hanging for too long! :goodvibes


Thanks for commenting. :)

[cecily318]

I am so late to this party, but I just read through your whole report to date and am loving it! You had me when you said Ticket to Ride. :rotfl:

Can't wait to see what happens next!

[Pixie Princess]

I LOVE that Mickey charm. I MUST get one for my bracelet! Thanks you so much for sharing the picture. I would never have even thought about it otherwise.

[Oliquig]

Hi! I loved your title, so I decided to pop in, I have read all your updates and really enjoyed them, can't wait for the next chapter!

[Marssiful]

Loving the TR so far! Can't wait to read more!

[danimaroo]

I am so late to this party, but I just read through your whole report to date and am loving it! You had me when you said Ticket to Ride. :rotfl:

Can't wait to see what happens next!

It's never too late to join my party... Plus, I'm only on Day 3 here, so don't worry about it because we're not even CLOSE to being halfway done! :rotfl:

Also, YAY for another person who likes Ticket to Ride! I am a bit obsessed with it, in fact Matt got me 2 more versions of it for Valentine's Day, so I now own every single version of the game that exists... Yyyyeah. :rolleyes1

Glad you've decided to follow along, because the next chapter is pretty hi-larious!

I LOVE that Mickey charm. I MUST get one for my bracelet! Thanks you so much for sharing the picture. I would never have even thought about it otherwise.

No problem, and yes you should get one! It's super cute. I was torn between Mickey and Eeyore, but felt like Mickey encompassed our Disney trips, so I went with him. :goodvibes

Hi! I loved your title, so I decided to pop in, I have read all your updates and really enjoyed them, can't wait for the next chapter!

AWESOME! Thanks so much for catching up and commenting, I LOVE when I get new readers, it's exciting. :yay: Hope you continue to enjoy my TR, especially the next chapter! :laughing:

Loving the TR so far! Can't wait to read more!

Thanks for joining and popping in to say hi. I am really excited to share more with you and everyone else. Hope you continue to enjoy it! :thumbsup2

[danimaroo]

Chapter Thirteen: "I NEVER want to hear Brer Bear get stung by bees ever again!": Getting stuck on Splash Mountain
Day 3: January 20th, 2012

After Haunted Mansion, we headed over to my favorite in the park, Splash Mountain. I had to go to the bathroom, but figured I'd just stop by the restroom that's right outside of Splash on our way out (yes, this is foreshadowing, dun dun dun)... This, my friends, is where the SECOND Splash Mountain incident occurred, only this was ten times worse than our first one.

You see, it all started off as an innocent ride, where I took a beautiful photo of the castle as we went around the first corner outside in our log, even catching Pete's Dragon in MSEP!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/3529fd71.jpg

We moved along, as we were sitting in the back of the log, and got to the room where Brer Bear is being stung repeatedly by the buzzing bees, and the song "Everybody's Got a Laughing Place" was playing.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/db524336.jpg

Ya know, THAT scene. We were backed up behind some other logs when we stopped, but figured it was no big deal and we'd be on our way in no time.

A few minutes passed, and we started tweeting and Facebooking how we were stuck on Splash Mountain and how funny it was... and I also started texting fellow DISer okw19 (Rachel, who'd just arrived with her family this day) how we were stuck on Splash, and we chatted back and forth to pass some time... Then we decided to take a photo of our unhappiness at being stuck..

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/69ab4101.jpg

10 minutes pass... The music is still going, Brer Bear is still being stung, and we keep hearing that Brer Bear and Brer Rabbit have been causing issues, with an occasional CM coming over the intercom reminding people to stay seated while clearly trying to restart the ride by spouting off random things (which you can hear in the video).

Okay so, to show off how terrible this actually was and that no, we're not exaggerating at how loud or obnoxious this was, Matt interviewed me while sitting there in our log, so you can actually hear how loud this was. You HAVE to watch this video to understand our torture, with the volume turned up!

Click here so you can get a taste of the torture. (http://youtu.be/15C_JdnvcVw)

Now you understand why this was no longer fun.

Matt was starting to get nervous and anxious, both of our legs/feet were starting to fall asleep...

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/6202e9b4.jpg

and yes, here's a photo of the lights turned on...

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/4593d47a.jpg

Another 15 minutes pass, and EVERYONE is going crazy from the music and buzzing bees and Brer Bear yelping extremely loudly while getting stung. We were all on the brink of insanity, hoping that we'd get moving soon, or they'd at least turn off the music.

Finally, after a half hour of listening to Brer Bear being tortured, which in turn was torture to everyone in this area, they turned off the music/noise. I think every person in our log cheered... But it was kind of creepy because all of the animatronics kept moving. BUT I WAS NOT GOING TO COMPLAIN; the terrible noises were over!

At this point, Matt became delusional and decided to attack me because we were bored (not seriously attack me, just us being silly), but then I brought out my little pinchers and had my revenge...

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/127e9813.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/93b1f702.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/2684a59c.jpg

Then we fell asleep because we were tired and figured we would just be stuck here for the rest of the night..

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/cc47dcef.jpg

Suddenly, we were awakened by the sight of a CM, who was letting everyone know that we would be evacuated soon, but she needed another CM to help her evacuate us. Wompwomp, way to get our hopes up only to crap on them two seconds later. :rotfl:

We understood, but the people in front of us were super angry because it was their only day at the park and it was going to close soon so a free Fast Pass meant nothing to them. I understood they were frustrated but I felt bad for the CM who had to take the brunt of it. She was just doing her job, and it's not her fault that the ride stopped and people kept standing up!

FINALLY another CM showed up, and we were let out of our log first, after 50 total, as the new CM used this pole contraption to release our lap bar. We were then instructed to just stand back while they let everyone else out...

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/ef55ae0e.jpg

We started a conversation with the CM who'd just shown up, and she mentioned that the attraction had stopped, but then people wouldn't stay seated so every time they'd try to restart the ride, someone would stand and it would make the entire process have to start over again. Basically, if people JUST STAYED SEATED LIKE INSTRUCTED, we probably could've been on our way. :rolleyes:

The CM also said she actually came back to work to help, as her shift was actually over, but she stayed late to help evacuate people. We thanked her and she was really nice, but we definitely felt bad for her!

At this point, once all of the logs in our section were evacuated, the CM in the front of the line told everyone to put away their cameras, and follow through the exit. Oooohh, we were going backstage!

This was SUCH a weird experience! I've never been evacuated from a ride, but it was definitely bizarre to just walk through a door and suddenly be INSIDE of Splash Mountain, in some random hallway. Next thing I knew, we were outside behind the mountain in a parking area, then brought through some doors, where we were given these, and headed back into the normal exit of the ride. Oh and yes, technically Matt and I were THE LAST guests to be evacuated from the attraction, as we realized that everyone else who was stuck on a different area of Splash was long gone...

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/5c0deff5.jpg

These were FPs to any attraction in MK that were good anytime during our stay, and definitely helped make up for the 50 minutes of torture, buuut I'm pretty sure at this point I RAN for the bathroom, because uh, remember how I said I'd wait earlier? What a mistake. :laughing: Thankfully, no, I didn't pee my pants, but I vowed that I would always make sure to go to the bathroom BEFORE getting on Splash Mountain for the rest of our trip! On my way out, I was so happy I could dance. WE WERE FREEEEEEEE!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/0f7b02ea.jpg

So yes, that was our experience with being stuck on Splash Mountain for 50 minutes and eventually being evacuated. I would've rather been stuck on the incline than being stuck where we were... But it is definitely something I will never forget, and even though it wasn't really much fun, I still love Splash Mountain with all of my heart. :lovestruc

Unfortunately we didn't think we were, you know, going to be stuck on Splash Mountain for 50 minutes, so this threw a slight wrench in our plans to be out of Magic Kingdom and in Epcot by 8 or so. We quickly exited MK, looked to our right and saw MOBS of people waiting for the monorail. We decided it would be faster for us to just take a bus back to Beach Club, walk through the International Gateway, and pray that Kringla Bakery would still be open, because we had one thing on our minds for our snack that day... SCHOOL BREAD!

After arriving at Beach Club, we seriously walked as fast as our blistered feet could go, making our way quickly past Mexico..

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/fead4c11.jpg

Then to Norway, where we were relieved to see that yes, they were still open! We decided that because it was our first time trying School Bread, that we would split that and an Almond Pretzel, just in case we didn't like the School Bread. Treats in hand (and then into my backpack, where they got kind of squished), we had a second goal in mind..

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/49455eb3.jpg

Test Track, BABY! (Yup, I just went there, STACEY VOICE AND ALL!) No but seriously, I'd been wanting to ride TT at night, so we headed there, but to a 30 minute wait, so we opted to ride it single rider.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/285db41d.jpg

I ended up in a car with an entire family, and sat next to a little boy who had to be no older than 3 or 4. He was SO excited to ride TT, and I asked him if it was his favorite attraction and if he liked the hot room.. He told me that no, he did not enjoy that room. :cutie: Thankfully the man behind me reminded me that I had a hat on, and I was so thankful he said something because I totally forgot and definitely would've lost it in the outside part of TT!

Anyway, after having a blast on Test Track (and yes, riding it at night time is really cool!), Matt and I met up outside and decided to call it a night. We were pretty pooped, we'd done everything we wanted to, so we took a nice stroll back to our room through World Showcase...

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/b6f0d097.jpg

When we got back, we got settled in and decided to break into our snacks we'd gotten at World Showcase.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/c0cf3b3e.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/7734c8f4.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/1a15bc76.jpg

The verdict? WE LOVED SCHOOL BREAD. It was so so good, I think I wanted to marry it (yup, when I like something a lot I say I want to marry it)..

The custard, the coconut, but the texture was just.. delicious! I actually enjoyed it more than the pretzel, though that was good, too! Matt also loved the School Bread, so we both definitely were happy with our choices!

We called it a night shortly after that.. Rough start to the day, but we ended up having a blast in the end, even with our crazy experience on Splash Mountain... Tomorrow? Tomorrow is something we were actually looking forward to.. This was going to be our park-less day (because as you remember, we only had a 10-day ticket), though we still ended up having a total blast, and you'll see why in my next update! :)

Continued in next update (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44017419&postcount=179)

[GretchenG]

I got a little behind, but I'm caught up now. It is always so much fun reading your TR! I'm about to start drooling over the yummy food pictures.

I also remember that scene in Ghost Dad! I don't do well with scary movies, but occasionally I watch them anyway and get freaked out for the next few months. :laughing: That one got me, although not as much as The Ring. I may be a baby, but I was literally scared for about 6 months after watching that movie, especially any time I was alone. :eek: Anyway...

I have so much to look forward to with both AK and HS, as I've never been to both. I'm not a huge Star Wars fan (don't tell my obsessed sister) but I am excited about that ride! If I decided to do ToT, my hubby has already informed me that I'll be going alone. It's nice to know that I'm not the only chicken in the family. :)

Oh! I meant to mention this a long time ago, but I think it's so cool that Matt plays the banjo. I do too, although not well at all. It's rare to meet someone who has that in common with me. :thumbsup2

All right, now I NEED to know what happened on Splash Mountain and I see that you've posted that while I've been typing this.

[amyrella]

Yay to riding ToT!!! I love that ride! My daughter who may have only been 40" with shoes on at the time :rolleyes1, (Oops mom Of the year here :wave:)went on it and claims she loved it but her eyes at the ;)end told a different story...
She says the next time we go she wants to go on it 10 times!!! We will see how true that really is!! Lol, maybe you have the same feelings as that now after conquering that fear???
Please hurry up and update I truly enjoy your trip report. Can I go with yOu guys next time???

[danimaroo]

I got a little behind, but I'm caught up now. It is always so much fun reading your TR! I'm about to start drooling over the yummy food pictures.

I've kind of been on an updating roll over here, though I'm thinking it might start to slow down to not every day, since I've actually caught up with my writing and now need to write more, but we'll see! I miss the food so much, ahhh.

I also remember that scene in Ghost Dad! I don't do well with scary movies, but occasionally I watch them anyway and get freaked out for the next few months. :laughing: That one got me, although not as much as The Ring. I may be a baby, but I was literally scared for about 6 months after watching that movie, especially any time I was alone. :eek: Anyway...

YES THANK YOU! It's like the only scene I remember... Well that and when his body is half through the floor, oh and the scene with the crazy cab driver. That movie is scary for a little kid!

THE RING SCARRED ME FOR LIFE! Seriously, I saw it in theaters with my friends in high school and it was horribly terrifying. Any time I got a phone call on my phone I was paranoid I'd pick it up and hear, "7 daayysss." :scared1:

I have so much to look forward to with both AK and HS, as I've never been to both. I'm not a huge Star Wars fan (don't tell my obsessed sister) but I am excited about that ride! If I decided to do ToT, my hubby has already informed me that I'll be going alone. It's nice to know that I'm not the only chicken in the family. :)

You will love both! And I think you will enjoy the Star Wars ride, it's definitely a blast. I think Matt might make me go by myself if I want to go more than once next trip... He wasn't much of a fan. :laughing:

Oh! I meant to mention this a long time ago, but I think it's so cool that Matt plays the banjo. I do too, although not well at all. It's rare to meet someone who has that in common with me. :thumbsup2

He is going to be so excited to hear that someone else plays the banjo! He needs to practice more, but it's a really cool instrument. I don't know if you listen to or have heard of Mumford and Sons (my absolute FAVORITE), but the banjo player is unbelievable. I told Matt he should learn some of their songs.

All right, now I NEED to know what happened on Splash Mountain and I see that you've posted that while I've been typing this.

Haha I hope you enjoy it!! :goodvibes

Yay to riding ToT!!! I love that ride! My daughter who may have only been 40" with shoes on at the time :rolleyes1, (Oops mom Of the year here :wave:)went on it and claims she loved it but her eyes at the ;)end told a different story...
She says the next time we go she wants to go on it 10 times!!! We will see how true that really is!! Lol, maybe you have the same feelings as that now after conquering that fear???
Please hurry up and update I truly enjoy your trip report. Can I go with yOu guys next time???

Haha I don't know how little kids can handle it if I'm a grown woman screaming on it! Kudos to your daughter for braving it, and that is so cute that she wants to go on 10 times. :rotfl: I definitely want to go on it a bit more next trip, but when you get an intense bit of drops you definitely need a break inbetween trips!

I updated just now, so hopefully you get to see the Splash Mountain chapter. I'm dying to know what people think of it all. :laughing: Also, I'm flattered we seem like fun people to go to Disney World with! :goodvibes

[GretchenG]

Yikes! What an awful Splash Mountain experience. That's ridiculous that people can't follow directions and have to ruin things for everyone. :sad2: I'm glad that they gave you something to make it up to you. The picture you took at the beginning is absolutely beautiful!

Mmm... More yummy food to drool over! I think I'll be about 50 pounds heavier after we go, because I want to try everything! :laughing:

[Twoboysnmygirl]

OH.MY.GAWD! That is insane! I think I might have died. We had a similar experience in 2008 when we got stuck in the TARZAN room on the movie ride...he kept swinging and doing his Aaaahhhh-eeee-ahhhh noise and we were only stuck for about 10 minutes! I cannot imagine 50!...and having to pee! :eek:

I'm jealous of your nighttime ride on TT, Savannah was in tears our last Epcot night b/c we missed out on riding it at night. Next time! :thumbsup2

[amyrella]

Oops you posted right before I Submitted... You were reading my mind On getting that update up... :). I'm sorry about splash mountain... It's better than IASW right?? I didn't watch the video yet as I'm at the salon amd I don't want people staring at me funny... I'll watch as soon as I leave...

Can't wait to read more!!

[marDgreen88]

OMG NOTE TO SELF: always go to the bathroom BEFORE THE RIDES!!!

Oh ok. Yeah that doesn't sound fun. Ewww. :(

Wait did you really fall asleep?? HAHAHA.

UGH people! Why would you stand up if the ride could start at any moment? Hello. If you're standing you could fall to your death... OH PEOPLE.

OMG I just said "TEST TRACK BABY!" in my head before I read that you wrote it! Hahaha.

OMG (I have said OMG a lot in this comment... my apologies) what if you got stuck in the hot or cold rooms on Test Track?? OH MY GOSH IMAGINE THE TORTURE.

I've never had school bread but everyone seems to be obsessed with it! BUT I don't like coconut! So I'm sad. Question though... if that a NEW pin next to the almond pretzel? I have this new obsession with Disney pins haha.

[mouseketeer70]

Ok I have been loving this report quietly but that last update has brought me out of lurkdom. 50 minutes?!?!?! :scared1:
Let me just also say that ToT is downright scary! Especially to someone who was actually in a real plummeting elevator. Yep, suffice it to say that anytime there is a thunderstorm I take the stairs. Still, my son conned me into riding for his birthday using "mommy guilt" and the result was not only the most hilarious picture (for everyone including the CMs, except me) but certain deafness for the woman next to me.
Now, back to this very entertaining report popcorn::

[My_Pal_Pluto]

So I have to admit that I JUST NOW found your TR after taking a long hiatus from the boards. I'm so sad I missed your play-by-play, but before I immerse my evening in catching up on your tale ... I had to let you know I am SO in ... can't wait to read through your TR and get to know both of you!!

I got to the bottom of post # 1 and, well ... seeing that tall cool Biergarten glass in your husband's hand ... and your quote "Let the Wild Rumpus Begin" ... that alone was enough to push me over the edge. So I've read nothing more ... but will catch up in maniacal fashion and look forward to every twist and turn!!:surfweb:popcorn::

[Belle83]

Great updates!

I do not think I'll be able to do Tower of Terror. I feel so bad because my SO really wants me to try it, but stories like yours freak me out. I know you said it was fun (but scary)...but..:scared1:

[My_Pal_Pluto]

That video of the debacle on Splash made me cringe ... wow ... who knew that the bowels of hell existed within such an amazing ride (and yes, like you, it would still be among my faves). Interestingly, I was just reading in the past week about all of the issues they've been having on Splash Mtn ... animatronics are breaking down, the ride mechanics keep stopping, etc etc ... I'm waiting (any day now) to read of a long shutdown for the ride so they can resolve it.

When we were last at Disney, we experienced about a 7 minute stop on SM ... while waiting, we were actually near the beginning and I could still talk to one of the CM's. In our case, he told me the stoppage was because yet "another" person had gotten out of their log. Apparently, this can happen up to a dozen or more times a day. When it occurs, it naturally becomes a HUGE deal ... and causes everyone misery because it breaks apart their experience. FOR WALT'S SAKE PEOPLE ... STAY IN YOUR LOOOOOOGGGG!!!!

OK ... on another note ... I confess I have NEVER tried school bread ... but with the pics you've captured of that custard ooozing from the delicious pastry - it has quickly become snack priority numero uno on our Oct trip ... THANK YOU!!!!:stir:

[My_Pal_Pluto]

[FONT="Arial Narrow"]Chapter Twelve: Uh oh, we've got a case of the grumps over here... CONTINUED
Day 3: January 20th, 2012

Once back, we got off at the Yacht Club and took advantage of the beautiful weather as we strolled back to our room, both feeling a lot calmer once we had escaped the chaos that was Magic Kingdom (and yes, if you couldn't tell, I will not go during a busy time of year, it's really not my cup of tea and I have a hard time not getting stressed out in crowds, so I'm glad Matt and I both have that in common)..

[B]I love love LOVE that you and Matt hold the same mentality as my family ... there are (often) those times when we hit a park only to discover it is SO FULL that enjoyment is sacrificed ... so we head back to our resort, bed down (or pool down), and LOVE the reality that, "Holy CRAP ... we're on vacation in Disney World and it's BEAUTIFUL"!! I know, for some of the "commandos" on the boards, this mentality is unforgivable, but I say BRING IT ON ... my time by the pool trumps your time in line ANY day!!
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/bc9607c2.jpg

OK, I LOOOOVVVEEE this pic!!!!!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/e6d2d96c.jpg

This was my plate. I got a little caesar salad, some type of baked white fish, macaroni and cheese, some pasta, and of course, crab legs.

It is my family's tradition to make the Cape May Buffet our "first night" dinner when we arrrive at WDW. We have NEVER been disappointed and, looking at your pics, I can't wait to repeat this wonderful tradition!!!

Of course, we left room for dessert..

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/b8e3bbb0.jpg

My plate... Top is the Oreo bon bon (that Cape May is known for), a peanut butter bar, and a cupcake.

Question: Last time we were there, they had a separate dessert station where a chef was preparing made-to-order Lava cakes with whipped cream ... any chance this is still happening?

Overall, we loved this dinner. The buffet was excellent, the desserts were great, and our waitress was wonderful as well. Keep this in mind, as we make a return to Cape May again in our trip, but the next time isn't as magical as this dinner was...

"Ruh Roh RAGGY!!!"

I'm guessing this was in part due to me looking at my Lines app and seeing the lines had gone down a bit

So was it worth it having the Lines app??

As we walked on, I was given one of those red card passes as we strolled in. Am I the only one who feels all cool and important when I'm handed one of these?!

Nope, I feel like a total Dis VIP when I get one ... I even narcissistically convince myself it MUST have been something about the glean in my eye that made them choose ME to assure them their line timing was accurate

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/7a818e88.jpg

[kimbo0569]

Oh no! I cannot even imagine getting stuck in Splash Mtn for that long! But what a great way to end the evening! The school bread and the almond pretzel looked really yummy, I will definately have to try that on our next trip.

[Fantasyland Mom]

Cape May is yummy! We went there once and had a waiter who looked at our kids like they were crazy any time they spoke, though. I mean, I look at them like that quite often, but nobody else is allowed to:rolleyes1! Still, the food was good. Now I'm reminded that I need to go back.

Wow, that really is an annoying spot you were stuck in! And so loud! Glad you made it to the bathroom in time! My family always makes fun of me for my constant restroom stops, but it is totally worth it. It's all fun and games until somebody pees their pants, folks.

Test Track, BABY! ZOOOOOOOMM!! I don't think you've gotten to that part of my TR yet, but there's a video on there of a very excited Brynn doing her Stacey impression:thumbsup2. Stacey addicts unite!!

[jecskc]

Just getting caught up. I love your shadow photo with you two and your ears on. Also, I have been thinking about getting one the Pandora bracelets just for the sole purpose of loading it with Disney charms. We loved Cape May as well and we really enjoyed our time there. I too, want or marry the Oreo bon bons. So yummy. I would have never made it on Splash mountain that long. I have to pee too often. I know, TMI, but you mentioned farting so I figure I'm safe ... lol. Looking forward to reading more !!!

[dara00]

when you said you were stuck in the worst possible spot I was thinking it would be on the drop! we are so lucky we didn't get stuck on anything! although I was walked off of snow white at disneyland, not sure why, we weren't even stuck all that long!

that is so cute about the little boy on test track. I am thinking my son might like it, can't wait till I get to take him on!

[Marssiful]

I once got stuck on Pirate's at Disneyland for close to 45 minutes! I feel your pain!!!! We could not be walked off so we had to just sit and wait it out. I had the theme song stuck in my head for days. I was terrified they would turn the lights on but thankfully that didn't happen.

[ash-n-brensmom]

We got stuck on Test Track in Oct when we rode single rider. It was HORRIBLE!! My car got stuck just as we were getting the "thermal" pic taken and DH was in the car behind us...he said they had to go around the fast part of the track so slowly and that the car was on it's side and it was VERY uncomfortable. We sat there for soooo long...I didn't time it, but I started to panic and had to talk myself down in my head because I was with a bunch of strangers and most of them spoke Spanish. Not fun. So I feel your pain! Glad you got something out of it...we had to ask to be able ride again...I sometimes feel like the Test Track CM's are lacking in the customer service area..but then they have to deal with a lot of problems because that ride seems to ALWAYS be going down.
Glad you survived the Splash Mountain Incident part two!

[Pixie Princess]

That was a crazy video! My DD heard me watch in and thought I was watching someone being tortured. Which of course, I was. Good grief! You know, you think they'd come over the intercom and tell folks "if you choose to stand up, we have to start our process all over and everyone is kept in place longer. Please do not stand up."

[Luvmepluto]

Joining in! I feel your pain getting stuck on splash mountain......it happened to us last year!!!:scared1: Luckily, we were outside and not inside where most of the music was........we also got FP's because of it, my sis....who lives in Fl and was visiting us receive a free ticket to come back to MK.

Also....is the electric parade not running anymore? I have not heard anything about it.

[danimaroo]

Yikes! What an awful Splash Mountain experience. That's ridiculous that people can't follow directions and have to ruin things for everyone. :sad2: I'm glad that they gave you something to make it up to you. The picture you took at the beginning is absolutely beautiful!

Mmm... More yummy food to drool over! I think I'll be about 50 pounds heavier after we go, because I want to try everything! :laughing:

Yeah, it was prettttty not fun at the time, but it provided a funny memory for us to look back on! We made the best of it, even though our legs were cramped, I nearly peed my pants, and we were being tortured by the music/Brer Bear noises.

The FPs were definitely a nice. For that amount of time I would hope they'd give everyone something because it really did take away from our plans in getting to Epcot by a certain time.

I love that photo! It was really neat to see the castle with MSEP moving through at the same time.

The food was so good. Believe it or not, with all of the walking we did every day, I didn't end up gaining anything! And trust me, I ate a LOT of bad food. Thanks for commenting and feeling my pain! :goodvibes

OH.MY.GAWD! That is insane! I think I might have died. We had a similar experience in 2008 when we got stuck in the TARZAN room on the movie ride...he kept swinging and doing his Aaaahhhh-eeee-ahhhh noise and we were only stuck for about 10 minutes! I cannot imagine 50!...and having to pee! :eek:

I'm jealous of your nighttime ride on TT, Savannah was in tears our last Epcot night b/c we missed out on riding it at night. Next time! :thumbsup2

It really was crazy and not fun at the time! That doesn't sound fun to be stuck with Tarzan.. but I'll take 10 minutes over 50 minutes, when 30 of it is spent hearing those awful Ooh ouch ahhs. :rotfl: And yeah, the having to pee was NOT an added bonus.

Night time on TT is pretty awesome, I have to say. That's a bummer about missing out on it, but it just gives you ANOTHER reason to go back. :goodvibes

Oops you posted right before I Submitted... You were reading my mind On getting that update up... :). I'm sorry about splash mountain... It's better than IASW right?? I didn't watch the video yet as I'm at the salon amd I don't want people staring at me funny... I'll watch as soon as I leave...

Can't wait to read more!!

Haha I kind of figured! I'm quite the mind-reader. :laughing: It's okay, we survived and I still love it. I'm not sure if in that instance it was better than IASW, especially with the bees buzzing, the music, and Brer Bear's noises. I'd rather hear IASW probably, just because it's not as loud! Like we were stuck in an area where the volume was REALLY high for Brer Bear. If you watch the video you'll understand why I say this.

OMG NOTE TO SELF: always go to the bathroom BEFORE THE RIDES!!!

Oh ok. Yeah that doesn't sound fun. Ewww. :(

Ugh yeah, never again, especially on Splash Mountain. That just was not an ideal situation! I'd never been happier to see a bathroom!

Wait did you really fall asleep?? HAHAHA.

HAHAHA not really but that would've been amazing. Can you imagine if we'd fallen asleep when the CMs came to release us?!

UGH people! Why would you stand up if the ride could start at any moment? Hello. If you're standing you could fall to your death... OH PEOPLE.

Ugh it was really frustrating to hear that basically because people are ridiculous and can't stay in their log, we had to experience that. They kept telling people to remain seated but there were girls a few logs in front of us who kept standing. THIS IS WHY THEY HAD TO PUT IN THE LAP BARS ON SPLASH. Because people aren't smart.

OMG I just said "TEST TRACK BABY!" in my head before I read that you wrote it! Hahaha.

I love that you definitely thought the same thing... as soon as I wrote Test Track I knew I had to say it!

OMG (I have said OMG a lot in this comment... my apologies) what if you got stuck in the hot or cold rooms on Test Track?? OH MY GOSH IMAGINE THE TORTURE.

This is kind of an OMG-worthy update, I think, because of its absurdity! I HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT THIS SO MANY TIMES THOUGH! I could deal with the cold room since it's not that bad, but that hot room? If I ever got stuck in there I would cry.

I've never had school bread but everyone seems to be obsessed with it! BUT I don't like coconut! So I'm sad. Question though... if that a NEW pin next to the almond pretzel? I have this new obsession with Disney pins haha.

OMG (yup I did it), that is sad... You wouldn't like it due to the coconut, but it's too bad because it's so good. I miss school bread an awful lot now. BUT that is so funny you brought up the pin in the background. I didn't even notice it!

So I realized my one downfall during this trip was not always taking photos of the things we bought. I don't know WHY I didn't do this, but I think I just figured I'd wait until we got home? I don't know, but I'm mad at myself for it. I will have photos of everything we purchased at the end of my TR, including all of the pins I traded for and new ones we bought.

Anyway, that pin specifically was one I thought about trading but ended up keeping because it was a cute MK one of Mickey in front of the castle. I got it for super cheap, took it off its card, but ended up keeping it. I'll show it off later. Pin trading is a dangerous addiction but so much fun! It's a great way to talk to CMs and other people and I highly suggest it! :goodvibes


Ok I have been loving this report quietly but that last update has brought me out of lurkdom. 50 minutes?!?!?! :scared1:
Let me just also say that ToT is downright scary! Especially to someone who was actually in a real plummeting elevator. Yep, suffice it to say that anytime there is a thunderstorm I take the stairs. Still, my son conned me into riding for his birthday using "mommy guilt" and the result was not only the most hilarious picture (for everyone including the CMs, except me) but certain deafness for the woman next to me.
Now, back to this very entertaining report popcorn::

Okay, first, THANKS for coming out of lurkdom and saying hi! Even if it's the only post in my TR, I'm glad you came out and commented at least once.

But yes, 50 minutes. :eek: We couldn't believe it! And thank you for agreeing on ToT, though it sounds WAY more terrifying for you! I have had an experience like that, from 53 floors up.. For whatever reason the elevator was going WAY faster than normal, and ended up taking us below the lobby. I think we got on just as a building employee switched the key over, so I'm guessing it wasn't supposed to travel that fast and they didn't know people were in it. Needless to say, plunging elevators are NOT fun.

That is hilarious though about the photo. I love funny attraction photos! I'm with you on deafening those around me though, so don't feel too bad.

Thanks again for commenting, I really appreciate it. :goodvibes

So I have to admit that I JUST NOW found your TR after taking a long hiatus from the boards. I'm so sad I missed your play-by-play, but before I immerse my evening in catching up on your tale ... I had to let you know I am SO in ... can't wait to read through your TR and get to know both of you!!

:yay: I am so glad you found my TR though! I feel special. :goodvibes It's okay, you can totally catch up and be up to speed, I'm not even halfway through our trip, so you're not really far behind, I promise. :thumbsup2 But I'm glad you are so in and I hope you enjoy it!

I got to the bottom of post # 1 and, well ... seeing that tall cool Biergarten glass in your husband's hand ... and your quote "Let the Wild Rumpus Begin" ... that alone was enough to push me over the edge. So I've read nothing more ... but will catch up in maniacal fashion and look forward to every twist and turn!!:surfweb:popcorn::

Haha, see, I love when people get me! And you're the first person to notice my Where the Wild Things Are reference! Matt and I are huge fans of the book (and the movie)... Hopefully you don't mind me going off on a little side note but.. We loved it enough that my MIL made custom-Chucks (she is super talented) for us to wear on our wedding day that were absolutely beautiful (we were already planning on wearing Chucks, as did the rest of our wedding party):

http://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/61217_284974089943_512794943_1031938_7847074_n.jpg

http://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/59460_284976969943_512794943_1031994_3093120_n.jpg

That's just part of them, but you get the picture. ANYWAY, glad you liked my little WTWA nod. :goodvibes

Great updates!

I do not think I'll be able to do Tower of Terror. I feel so bad because my SO really wants me to try it, but stories like yours freak me out. I know you said it was fun (but scary)...but..:scared1:

Yay thank you! Okay I promise though if I can do it anyone can. My number one tip? GO IN THE MORNING. (I talk about this later in my TR), but trust me, if you decide to finally go, do it then. I will say the theming is SO cool, so at least go in and check that out, then if you want you can always take the chicken exit. I did feel better when I went on it that other really little kids were riding it and seemed to have a blast. Made me feel a little more confident that I could do it. :rotfl:

[danimaroo]

That video of the debacle on Splash made me cringe ... wow ... who knew that the bowels of hell existed within such an amazing ride (and yes, like you, it would still be among my faves). Interestingly, I was just reading in the past week about all of the issues they've been having on Splash Mtn ... animatronics are breaking down, the ride mechanics keep stopping, etc etc ... I'm waiting (any day now) to read of a long shutdown for the ride so they can resolve it.

Yup, I'm pretty sure that we were close to it. WHO KNEW, Splash Mountain, who knew?! But yes, it's still my favorite, regardless of that experience. We still managed to go on it many more times.

There were a LOT of things breaking, than working, then breaking again, or something new being broken. One frog kept working then breaking. At one point none of the boat's lights turned on at the end scene, one of the hens was "sleeping" (she was not shakin' that tambourine!).. What makes me sad is that I'm pretty sure it'll be closed next January when we're thinking about going back. :sad1:

When we were last at Disney, we experienced about a 7 minute stop on SM ... while waiting, we were actually near the beginning and I could still talk to one of the CM's. In our case, he told me the stoppage was because yet "another" person had gotten out of their log. Apparently, this can happen up to a dozen or more times a day. When it occurs, it naturally becomes a HUGE deal ... and causes everyone misery because it breaks apart their experience. FOR WALT'S SAKE PEOPLE ... STAY IN YOUR LOOOOOOGGGG!!!!

It drives me insane when people don't stay seated! Like how difficult is it, really? Then people die and the park gets sued because the person thought it was a good idea to stand up. :headache: I love that you said "For Walt's sake" by the way. :rotfl:

OK ... on another note ... I confess I have NEVER tried school bread ... but with the pics you've captured of that custard ooozing from the delicious pastry - it has quickly become snack priority numero uno on our Oct trip ... THANK YOU!!!!:stir:

You MUST try it. It's so good! If you like custard and coconut, you will enjoy school bread. I will say this though; don't go into expecting it to be like a donut, as the bread really is more like an actual bread and it's not super sweet. The sweetness comes from the custard and the coconut. I personally love this because it's not overly sweet. Ohhh how I miss it.

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I love love LOVE that you and Matt hold the same mentality as my family ... there are (often) those times when we hit a park only to discover it is SO FULL that enjoyment is sacrificed ... so we head back to our resort, bed down (or pool down), and LOVE the reality that, "Holy CRAP ... we're on vacation in Disney World and it's BEAUTIFUL"!! I know, for some of the "commandos" on the boards, this mentality is unforgivable, but I say BRING IT ON ... my time by the pool trumps your time in line ANY day!!

Absolutely! Sometimes you walk into a park and when the crowds are that absurd, you just need to figure out what you are/are not okay with, and make a decision to stay or head out... and sometimes, IT IS OKAY TO HEAD OUT. I'd rather be back at the resort relaxing and not being snappy at Matt than trying to brave crowds for something I know I'll be returning to within the next few days. And I think sometimes people forget... YOU ARE ON VACATION! Sit back and relax every once in awhile. I don't like running around stressing out about things. We're trying to find the balance between getting a lot done but also enjoying our vacation, too. Next time I think we might have more laid back mornings, but we felt like this trip we had a pretty good balance of staying happy. Glad you understand it, too. :goodvibes

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/bc9607c2.jpg

OK, I LOOOOVVVEEE this pic!!!!!

Me too. I think I will take the advice of another DISer and print it off and frame it. It makes me really happy. :cloud9:

It is my family's tradition to make the Cape May Buffet our "first night" dinner when we arrrive at WDW. We have NEVER been disappointed and, looking at your pics, I can't wait to repeat this wonderful tradition!!!

I love traditions like that! Our tradition tends to be eating at Crystal Palace, either for breakfast or dinner, just because... But Cape May was SO good, especially that first night!

Question: Last time we were there, they had a separate dessert station where a chef was preparing made-to-order Lava cakes with whipped cream ... any chance this is still happening?

Maybe, but not when we are there either of the nights we had dinner. They just had all of the desserts out in the dessert area.. But that lava cake sounds AMAZING.

"Ruh Roh RAGGY!!!"

Ruh roh indeedie. I'll get into that whenever the heck I finally get to that day. :rotfl:

So was it worth it having the Lines app??

Yes and no. :laughing: I think we'd have been fine if we'd just used a different app. I had 3 on my phone and sometimes found Lines to be WAY off (and no in a good way). I remember the day we went to ToT and it was 40 minutes (definitely a TRUE 40 mins. according to the CM), my Lines app said something waaay shorter. I just noticed it would be off at times, while another app would actually be more accurate. BUT I will say without Lines, I never would've known about the sudden new showing of MSEP on our first night and we more than likely would've missed it, as we were not planning on staying for that long in MK... So who knows, I'll probably keep it for our next trip since it has valuable information about things other than attractions!

Nope, I feel like a total Dis VIP when I get one ... I even narcissistically convince myself it MUST have been something about the glean in my eye that made them choose ME to assure them their line timing was accurate

Haha I am glad I am not alone in this sentiment. I'm like, yes, I am going to be the one that changes that wait time sign outside because of my valiant effort to return this card when I get to the front. :laughing:


Oh no! I cannot even imagine getting stuck in Splash Mtn for that long! But what a great way to end the evening! The school bread and the almond pretzel looked really yummy, I will definately have to try that on our next trip.

I know, it was just not fun, but we got over it pretty quickly, especially with the FPs and also me making it to the bathroom. :rotfl: Both items were delicious and you should give them a shot! If you're unsure of the school bread, you can always buy it and split it with someone, so you don't use up 2 snack credits in case someone doesn't like it. :thumbsup2

Cape May is yummy! We went there once and had a waiter who looked at our kids like they were crazy any time they spoke, though. I mean, I look at them like that quite often, but nobody else is allowed to:rolleyes1! Still, the food was good. Now I'm reminded that I need to go back.

It really is! Okay, I'm kind of wondering if wait staff is hit or miss there, and you'll see why when I get to that part in my TR. But I agree, the food is really tasty!

Wow, that really is an annoying spot you were stuck in! And so loud! Glad you made it to the bathroom in time! My family always makes fun of me for my constant restroom stops, but it is totally worth it. It's all fun and games until somebody pees their pants, folks.

That was my biggest issue was how LOUD it was. Brer Bear's volume was way turned up, so it just made it painful to hear over and over. I'm definitely glad I made it there, because I was thinking I was going to pee in the log and that just would've been bad for both me AND Matt. :rotfl: Alsoooo I definitely laughed really hard at your last line when I first read it yesterday, "It's all fun and game until somebody pees their pants, folks." And I'm laughing again as I type this. :lmao:

Test Track, BABY! ZOOOOOOOMM!! I don't think you've gotten to that part of my TR yet, but there's a video on there of a very excited Brynn doing her Stacey impression:thumbsup2. Stacey addicts unite!!

Ohhh Stacey, why you gotta be so fly, girl? I am STILL working on catching up on your TR, I swear. Yesterday after I posted my update, I was not on the DIS aside from reading responses, as we had a way busier Saturday than I expected. But now I am really excited to read it because I love videos of kids doing amazing things LIKE Stacey impressions! :rotfl:

Just getting caught up. I love your shadow photo with you two and your ears on. Also, I have been thinking about getting one the Pandora bracelets just for the sole purpose of loading it with Disney charms. We loved Cape May as well and we really enjoyed our time there. I too, want or marry the Oreo bon bons. So yummy. I would have never made it on Splash mountain that long. I have to pee too often. I know, TMI, but you mentioned farting so I figure I'm safe ... lol. Looking forward to reading more !!!

Thank you, I love that photo, too. :cutie: There were a lot of beautiful Disney charms to choose from! I was worried about the quality of Mickey, but he's held up pretty well with the rest of my Pandora charms, so it's not bad for a knock-off at all!

Oh those Bon Bons are so so good. I want to go to Cape May right now! :laughing:

I don't know how I did it. I think by keeping my brain off of it, I did not pee my pants. And yes, this TR is a safe place for the more TMI moments. :rotfl:

Can't wait to post another update, though I'm out of pre-written ones, so I've got some writing to do today! :scared1:

[danimaroo]

when you said you were stuck in the worst possible spot I was thinking it would be on the drop! we are so lucky we didn't get stuck on anything! although I was walked off of snow white at disneyland, not sure why, we weren't even stuck all that long!

that is so cute about the little boy on test track. I am thinking my son might like it, can't wait till I get to take him on!

I would have rather been stuck on the drop than being stuck next to Brer Bear screeching for that long, no joke. I'd rather take the physical pain of being stuck on an incline than the mental torture that we dealt with due to Brer Bear and the bees. :laughing: That's weird about evacuating from Snow White if it wasn't a long time sitting there! :confused3

It was so cute and I really enjoyed riding next to him. It made me excited for having children and bringing them to Disney in the future. :goodvibes

I once got stuck on Pirate's at Disneyland for close to 45 minutes! I feel your pain!!!! We could not be walked off so we had to just sit and wait it out. I had the theme song stuck in my head for days. I was terrified they would turn the lights on but thankfully that didn't happen.

UGH so you know how it feels! That stinks about having to wait it out. We got stuck during our honeymoon next to Jack talking at the end for around 10 minutes, but that wasn't too awful.. And yes, when they turn the lights on it is a little weird... even weirder walking through the attraction itself.

I'd never want the lights to be turn on in Haunted Mansion; I feel like that would really ruin things for me. That and Space Mountain. :laughing: For some reason when I've seen photos of SM with the lights turned on it REALLY creeps me out!

We got stuck on Test Track in Oct when we rode single rider. It was HORRIBLE!! My car got stuck just as we were getting the "thermal" pic taken and DH was in the car behind us...he said they had to go around the fast part of the track so slowly and that the car was on it's side and it was VERY uncomfortable. We sat there for soooo long...I didn't time it, but I started to panic and had to talk myself down in my head because I was with a bunch of strangers and most of them spoke Spanish. Not fun. So I feel your pain! Glad you got something out of it...we had to ask to be able ride again...I sometimes feel like the Test Track CM's are lacking in the customer service area..but then they have to deal with a lot of problems because that ride seems to ALWAYS be going down.
Glad you survived the Splash Mountain Incident part two!

That does NOT sound fun at all to be stuck like that on TT! There is a point where you're still hearing nothing and you start to panic a little bit. It's not fun, and probably ten times worse if you're on as a single rider! I was just happy I had my phone to text and Facebook with, plus have Matt next to me.

That is so weird that they didn't offer some sort of compensation for your time lost, nevermind having to ASK to ride again! :headache: I definitely would've been upset in your situation. We didn't experience any closures with TT, but Splash was something that kept breaking down during our entire trip, which was kind of sad. :sad2:

That was a crazy video! My DD heard me watch in and thought I was watching someone being tortured. Which of course, I was. Good grief! You know, you think they'd come over the intercom and tell folks "if you choose to stand up, we have to start our process all over and everyone is kept in place longer. Please do not stand up."

:rotfl: I'm glad people are actually watching it because I want people to know that I'm not exaggerating with this.. IT WAS SO LOUD! That is hilarious that your DD walked in and thought it was someone being tortured.. Though it kind of was; both us and Brer Bear!

They actually did come over the intercom numerous time telling people to stay seated, but people were just not listening and it was very frustrating. These little girls in front of us kept standing and saying they needed to get off because their mom was waiting for them out front. The CM kept telling them that it'd be fine, their mom would still be there, but that they needed to stay seated... and the girls kept REFUSING. It was seriously annoying and I felt bad for the CMs trying to restart while dealing with people standing up. :headache:

Also, not to be a jerk but there were a lot of non-English speaking people who were also standing up so I'm not sure any announcements would've gotten through to them, as they were definitely part of the group causing issues.

Joining in! I feel your pain getting stuck on splash mountain......it happened to us last year!!!:scared1: Luckily, we were outside and not inside where most of the music was........we also got FP's because of it, my sis....who lives in Fl and was visiting us receive a free ticket to come back to MK.

Also....is the electric parade not running anymore? I have not heard anything about it.

Yay thanks for joining in! Glad you understand the pain, though also not glad because it's not much fun! Not too bad being stuck outside though which is better than inside. I'm happy the CMs took care of both you and your family. It sounds like your sister got a good deal out of it, as well!

MSEP is still running, but during our vacation from around the 20th-early February it's been closed due to them repaving Frontierland. Sooo we were fortunate to catch one of the final performances before it went dark for a few weeks!

[danimaroo]

Hey guys! Glad so many people enjoyed the last update; it was quite a doozy! :lmao:

Just thought I'd give a quick update that my last update was the last bit of a ton of writing I'd done last week, soooo now I basically need to start writing a LOT more material for updates, which as we know, takes a bit of time. I like to write out my entire day, then go back and split it up into chapters. It makes it flow a bit better...

That being said, I'm hoping to get something up for tomorrow, but after that I'm not sure if my updates will be as frequent as they have been. Work has gotten a little busier, with some other outside stuff going on (hopefully I can tell you guys about it in a few weeks!) Anyway, this might be a good thing so I don't overwhelm people with a new update every day. I never know if doing daily updates are a good thing or a bad thing. :rotfl:

Any feedback on this would be good though, because if you guys like it I'll try keep updates going, buuuut if you'd rather it be every other day or few days, I can do that, too!

Just thought I'd let people know in case you don't see updates as much as I have been recently. Life's just getting a little busier for the next bit, and I'm also thinking it might be a good thing to not overwhelm people with long updates so frequently! :goodvibes

[nessz79]

I'm on board! Love your review!

[407-W-DISNEY]

Hi~
YIKES! I can't believe you got THAT stuck! I figured you would talk about being on there for a few minutes, etc.....the fact that you had to be evacuated! WOW!
and that you had to pee...while being stuck on a WATER ride - that must not have been good...:scared1
Hey, at least you got a fast pass out of it...what we dis'ers wont do for a fastpass :rotfl2:

That poor CM...i can understand those people being upset since it was only park day, but the CM did not make the ride stop..

I so appreciate the work your putting into this report...I can't imagine the time it takes!
so please, do what works for you...if your busy for everyday that's ok....every couple days is ok as well....
just don't forget about us, please! :confused:

[danimaroo]

I'm on board! Love your review!

:yay: Thank you for joining! Hope you continue to enjoy my TR. :goodvibes

Hi~
YIKES! I can't believe you got THAT stuck! I figured you would talk about being on there for a few minutes, etc.....the fact that you had to be evacuated! WOW!
and that you had to pee...while being stuck on a WATER ride - that must not have been good...:scared1
Hey, at least you got a fast pass out of it...what we dis'ers wont do for a fastpass :rotfl2:

Ugh I know, I never thought we'd get that stuck on an attraction! It was not a good situation, so I'm just glad I made it to the bathroom. :rotfl: And yes, the FP was very nice to have. We'll see what we end up using it on. ;)

That poor CM...i can understand those people being upset since it was only park day, but the CM did not make the ride stop..

I know, I just felt bad for her because the people weren't very nice. She didn't stop the attraction, and in fact, it was people standing up who made things worse! :headache:

I so appreciate the work your putting into this report...I can't imagine the time it takes!
so please, do what works for you...if your busy for everyday that's ok....every couple days is ok as well....
just don't forget about us, please! :confused:

Thank you! It is a surprising amount of work but also REALLY fun to write. I love writing as it is, so writing about my trip to Disney World? It's way more enjoyable than writing about other stuff! That being said, it is pretty time-consuming, but when I have lazy Sundays like today or quieter work days, I'm able to get a lot of writing done!

I think I'll be able to keep up the pace, as I just finished writing about Day 4, and Day 5 is on the horizon... Though Day 5 will be VERY long (you'll see why), so who knows how long it'll take me to write. But don't fret, I'm sure I'll have an update posted tomorrow for everyone to enjoy. :goodvibes

I definitely am not going to forget about you or this TR! I am dedicated to seeing it to the end, because I totally get bummed when I'm enjoying someone's TR and they just seem to drop off the face of the Earth. It's like leaving everyone hanging on this epic ride you're taking them on! So don't worry, I'm here for the long haul. :)

[marDgreen88]

Girl, update at your own pace! No rush, us readers will still be here. :)

[danimaroo]

Girl, update at your own pace! No rush, us readers will still be here. :)

Haha I know, it's actually really fun to write my updates in my free time, gets my mind off of work stress and onto happier things! But as you know, it definitely takes some time to do updates. I just don't want to forget about my TR and not finish it, especially since the memories are still pretty fresh.

That being said, after I posted that I ended up writing all of Day 4, while Matt was playing a video game. :laughing:

But it's nice to hear kind words if things do come up/get crazy (which they might around here soon, but we'll see), that you guys will still be here. I just don't want people to think I've disappeared if I don't update as frequently as I have been. :goodvibes

[ZehnJahren]

Wow! I found your TR on someone's TR who was reading MY TR - and so far, I think we may somehow be related! My first full day this year was YOUR first full day, and we say a lot of the same things about similar rides. In fact, a couple of your pictures I have almost the twin of in my own TR - for example, I was at MK on 1/18, but for EMH, and took a very similar photo of the horseless carriage in front of HR.

I've only read through a few of your chapters, but I'm IN! Enjoying for sure! I've only read the chapters and none of the chatting, but I'll finish it all soon!

Edited to add: I'm at chapter 10 and it's starting to get even creepier - Ghost Dad? I remember that as a kid! Never equated it to ToT but now I might! Still seeing parts of my vacation in your TR, and thought I saw myself in one of your pictures but the woman is wearing a long-sleeved gray shirt instead of my short-sleeved one. I can't believe how similar our trips are so far into my readings of your TR! I feel similar about ToT - I love it but I hate it. I enjoy it, but it scares me.

I still have never ever ridden Star Tours; I meant to do it on this trip, but I was always so darn BUSY.

As you're leaving HS on Thursday, I'm hanging out at Epcot, watching Illuminations (which you have pictures of!!). Definitely very cool!

[Mrs. Sojourner]

I can't believe you'd never been on Soarin' (my absolute favorite!) or Test Track (my girls favorite, which they finally dragged me onto on our last trip and I now love!). We're wondering what TT will look like after the refurb.

I'm glad you loved Cape May. I really enjoyed your review (and your pictures) because that is a new one for us that we are hoping to try on our next trip. I'm wondering what your next experience was like there, though...(waiting on the edge of my seat to find out.)

The one liners are cracking me up! You two have a great sense of humor.

[ash-n-brensmom]

We will all be patiently awaiting your next installment....:grouphug:...it's worth the wait!

[Twoboysnmygirl]

I'll be here no matter how long it takes for the next update! I'm torn between slowing down to savor it but worrying that I will forget so wanting to get it done! ;)

[danimaroo]

Wow! I found your TR on someone's TR who was reading MY TR - and so far, I think we may somehow be related! My first full day this year was YOUR first full day, and we say a lot of the same things about similar rides. In fact, a couple of your pictures I have almost the twin of in my own TR - for example, I was at MK on 1/18, but for EMH, and took a very similar photo of the horseless carriage in front of HR.

So funny story. When I saw your name I was like, huh, I recognize that... and then realized I'd started to read your TR the other day but then forgot to come back to it! :rotfl: I realized we were there at the same time and wanted to see how your trip went! Thanks for commenting and finding me though, I read through your entire TR last night before bed and plan on commenting there after I get stuff done over here. :goodvibes

ANYWAY, totally hilarious how we had twin days! I was laughing at the photo you had of HM! I will laugh so hard if we find each other in one of our photos!

I've only read through a few of your chapters, but I'm IN! Enjoying for sure! I've only read the chapters and none of the chatting, but I'll finish it all soon!

Awesome, glad you're enjoying it!

Edited to add: I'm at chapter 10 and it's starting to get even creepier - Ghost Dad? I remember that as a kid! Never equated it to ToT but now I might! Still seeing parts of my vacation in your TR, and thought I saw myself in one of your pictures but the woman is wearing a long-sleeved gray shirt instead of my short-sleeved one. I can't believe how similar our trips are so far into my readings of your TR! I feel similar about ToT - I love it but I hate it. I enjoy it, but it scares me.

Haha I am so glad you remember that movie! That stupid elevator scene just always made me terrified of elevators... That would've been awesome if you were in the background of one of my photos. I've been keeping an eye out for myself in yours! :rotfl: So weird how we are having similar experiences though!

I still have never ever ridden Star Tours; I meant to do it on this trip, but I was always so darn BUSY.

Ooooh you will have to do it next trip! It's so much fun! And I really like that you get new scenes, so it's always a different experience.

As you're leaving HS on Thursday, I'm hanging out at Epcot, watching Illuminations (which you have pictures of!!). Definitely very cool!

How weird is that to think like, oh hey, I just passed near you on a boat?! It's such a small world!


I can't believe you'd never been on Soarin' (my absolute favorite!) or Test Track (my girls favorite, which they finally dragged me onto on our last trip and I now love!). We're wondering what TT will look like after the refurb.

I KNOW, it was kind of crazy! But I really did love TT. I am wondering what the new experience will be. It sounds REALLY cool, in testing a car you built, etc., so I'm hoping it's worth all the time they will be spending on refurbing it!

I'm glad you loved Cape May. I really enjoyed your review (and your pictures) because that is a new one for us that we are hoping to try on our next trip. I'm wondering what your next experience was like there, though...(waiting on the edge of my seat to find out.)

That dinner was wonderful! Don't worry, I think that day is coming up.. Okay wait no, not til Wednesday, so you have to wait a bit longer. :laughing: The food is SO GOOD there though, so you never have to worry about that.

The one liners are cracking me up! You two have a great sense of humor.

Haha I'm glad someone else is laughing at these. I keep laughing when I write some of this stuff. We keep each other laughing a LOT, which is why I'm glad I married him. :cloud9:


We will all be patiently awaiting your next installment....:grouphug:...it's worth the wait!

Glad to hear it! I actually will have an update for today! I wrote all of Day 4 yesterday and have an update for nearly every day this week. :rotfl: I'm addicted to writing this TR, it's way too much fun remembering all of our moments from the trip. :goodvibes

At the same time, because I update a lot, it's hard to keep up with I'm sure. If you fall behind a day or two, you've got a lot of reading to do! :rotfl:

Either way, thanks for the support, glad to know people do care! :hug:


I'll be here no matter how long it takes for the next update! I'm torn between slowing down to savor it but worrying that I will forget so wanting to get it done! ;)

YAY! Glad to hear it. Speaking of updates, I need to get my butt over to your TR because I have some catching up to do. I spent so much time typing up day 4 that I haven't caught up with all the other TRs I've been following, including yours.

It's true though, deciding whether or savor it or get it done so you don't forget all the wonderful memories! It's hard. Anyway, glad you're sticking with me. :)

[danimaroo]

Chapter Fourteen: "Look, it says LOVE! Oh, wait, nevermind."
Day 4: January 21st, 2012

Like I mentioned in my last update, today was our day off from the parks due to having a 10-day park ticket. When we initially did the 10-day, I was a little sad that we were going to be away from the parks for a whole day.

But guys, I have to be honest, by the time we got to this day I was SO excited for a more laid back day, full of swimming and other fun stuff. It was nice to not have to worry about being somewhere by a certain time, outside of our ADR, and to not really have any plans for the day outside of, well, relaxing! Oh, and this is also the day that our brilliant idea for Day 5 was born... but more on that later.

Anyway, we woke up to Stitch telling us NO SLEEPIES! I think I might've had Matt pick up the phone this morning (even though I slept right next to it), so that definitely made him quite happy. Evidently we had our alarm set for 8:30, so we got dressed, but not in a rush, and made our way over to the Boardwalk Bakery for some breakfast.

Of course, we forgot something in the room, so Matt ran upstairs to grab it (no, I can't remember what it was), so I stopped to take a few photos with my nicer camera right outside the Villas entrance..

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/6b15334b.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/16f9bbdd.jpg

Anyway, we were finally on our way after our minor hiccup. Going to the Boardwalk Bakery was something Matt had really wanted to do, as did I, so we figured what better morning than to take a stroll over to the Boardwalk for the first time and kind of check things out.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/b705e0ad.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/4dd4fdc3.jpg

Side tangent about Boardwalk and DVC: This was something I talked about in my PTR, but I'll catch everyone up to speed... When we booked our room through DVC, this was a decision made in September, so around 4 months before the dates of our trip.

For those who don't know how DVC works, you can book your room up to 11 months in advance when booking at your "home" resort, and up to 7 months in advance at any other DVC resort. Even then, we were only booking 4 months in advance, so we had discussed our top 3 choices for resorts, in order, so if our #1 choice wasn't available, we had back ups.

When Matt called, and said we were looking to stay at Beach Club, we were told that it was available all but one night, but it was in the middle of our stay. We decided we really didn't want to have to pack up and leave in the middle of our vacation, only to then go back to BC, as it'd leave us feeling unsettled, so we opted to go with our second choice, Boardwalk Villas instead, which WAS available.

We asked to be wait-listed for Beach Club... and a day later we got our #1 choice. ANYWAY, point is, I was excited to see the Boardwalk just because we were pretty close to actually staying there (though that clown pool was something I was NOT looking forward to)... SIDE TANGENT OVER.

We headed inside to the bakery and were delighted by the many different options they had... except... when it came to breakfast, most of them were items we could get in the Beach Club Market Place! That was slightly disappointing, but also good to know for the future!

However, the bakery also had what I was looking forward to trying out, something to eat later in the day... those huge, delicious-looking.. CUPCAKES!

The line wasn't very long, so we both ordered the cheese and egg croissants again, along with an Oreo cupcake (for Matt) and S'more cupcake (for me).

As Matt was dealing with paying, I headed outside to get us a table on the Boardwalk.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/c16f02c5.jpg

I sat and watched the scary man-eating seagulls, when Matt came over with our food.

Of course, I had to get photos:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/08a42df8.jpg

My S'more cupcake (better photos to come later)

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/5299ea0c.jpg

Matt's Oreo cupcake..

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/642a2b80.jpg

Breakfast sandwich!

We ate our sandwiches and drank our coffee, which we'd grabbed on our walk over, while enjoying the beautiful view...

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/945a88c7.jpg

After some people-watching, we decided to head back and get changed into our swimsuits for a morning hanging around Stormalong Bay!

Now, when you stay through DVC, housekeeping is different. They come on the 4th day, vs. every day, and if you're staying past 8 days, they will come again to do a minor towel/trash change. This is one of a few ways that DVC is definitely more like staying at a condo or home... Anyway, this was our 4th day, so we knew they would be coming into our room for a full-cleaning.

When we arrived, we were lucky that they had JUST finished with our room, and we smiled at the housekeeper as we went inside... and this is what we walked into:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/1e7c6f69.jpg

How fabulous, right?!

After marveling at our new friends laid out on our bed, we got changed and headed downstairs, swinging by the Market Place to grab refills in our mugs. We arrived at Stormalong Bay at around 10, showed our cards, and found a nice spot in the sun by the sand-bottom pool.

We couldn't have picked a better day to enjoy the sun and the pool!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/680f6a4d.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/811a760c.jpg

After getting warm in the sun, we went for a swim and tried to find the jet in the sand-bottom pool that literally makes the sand act like quicksand. We found one that was actually working (no other ones, which Matt said was kind of sad since last time he'd been there, there were TONS of these fun jets), and it was such a weird feeling!

After I pretended to be Princess Buttercup as I sank into the sand, asking Matt (aka Wesley) to come save me, we floated around for a bit longer, then hopped out to get some sun and relax!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/5385a3aa.jpg

I was one happy gal! Of course I made Matt take a photo with my sunglasses on...

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/1c76f8fc.jpg

What a totally radical dude.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure Matt read a book on his Kindle while I played with my iPad (yay for free poolside wifi!)... Then I spotted this in the sky!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/3910ff51.jpg

Okay so, I thought this was totally neat, a skywriter! Until he continued and it went into something like "GOD LOVES U!" and then something about Jesus... and well, okay so I'm not a super religious person and have no problem (for the most part) with people who enjoy God.

However, I don't need that to be shoved down my throat when I look up into the sky in the middle of Disney World. All I'm saying is that I think it would've been way better if it said "MICKEY LOVES YOU!" But I did enjoy the initial sight of just LOVE. It made me happy, even if only for a few minutes.

We hung around the pool for awhile longer, then decided to head back to our room at around 12 so we could change and head to our next destination for some lunch and shopping at a place we'd been dying to return to...

Continued in next update. (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44027055&postcount=191)

[amyrella]

I'm all for daily updates... Or whatever you can manage! I look forward to your updates!

Those cupcakes look yummy! I think my next trip will involve renting DVC points and staying at The Boardwalk... I'd love to wake up and go have a cup of coffee on the boardwalk and people watch!

[marDgreen88]

ARIEL!!!! I want to visit her!

Omg (here I go again) the whole Epcot resort area is just so perfect and ideal. I'm in love I'm in love and I don't care who knows it! (name that movie!)

WOAH HELLO CUPCAKES. Nice to meet you.

Are those breakfast croissants good? My dad is just really big into breakfast so that is important to know haha.

STORMALONG BAY. That's all.

[dara00]

apparently the skywriter is there EVERY day! I saw it on my dhs day and my picture says Love God. I'm with you though on the religion thing! (actually I am kinda religious, but Jewish, so yeah).

[okw19]

Hello friend! I'm typing this on my iPhone from bed. I got back for
The doctor about an hour ago and she said I don't need to be around anyone or anyone's things. :( sooo I can't get my laptop out of the family room because it's buried under Riley's stuff and my mom has ri, Andy's at work so no one can get it for me. First wOrld problems. Wahh. Anywho I've been really gross nasty sick since Friday so I just caught up on all your updates but can't really comment like usual on my phone. I loved the re-telling of the splash incident. And that you mentioned me, yay!!
I'll try to leave some more detailed replies like usual if I start feeling better. Just wanted to let you know Im still here!
Sorry for any weird spelling errors or any nonsense in this post. Autocorrect doesn't do well with long paragraphs haha. It takes it too long to catch up.

[Oliquig]

Yum cupcakes. Next time I go, my ambition is to walk along the Boardwalk. You look like you guys had a great down-day!

[ash-n-brensmom]

Ohhh..an update..yay!! So relieved that you survived the Fire Swamp!! LOVE THAT MOVIE!!!!!

[407-W-DISNEY]

Hi!
What a beautiful morning to sit on the boardwalk and have breakfast...my morning time with coffee is my favorite time of day.....especially on those days I am lucky enough to be in Disney!

DVC question if I may....so do you get fresh towels on the days that housekeeping doesn't come?

[GatorMommy2007]

One of my favorite TR's! Keep updating! :)

[Fantasyland Mom]

You know I have adored you since I read the first word of your TR.
And now you just went and made a Princess Bride reference:love:. That seals it. We're long-lost sisters.

I've only ever requested a wake-up call once, and it was on our first trip on our first day. I handed the phone to Julia, and she put it to her ear and then quickly threw it down (she was 3). She refused to ever listen to it again:rolleyes:, so I have yet to hear the Stitch and Mickey bit. I know, I know. Feel sorry for me.

I'm with ya on the sky-writing bit. "Love" is nice. Did you see the smiley face, though? I just can't handle it. In reality, the reason I don't like it is because it makes me a little motion sick to think about all the directions they have to fly just to form all those words (and smilies). I don't want to take a Dramamine just for an overactive imagination.

[danimaroo]

I'm all for daily updates... Or whatever you can manage! I look forward to your updates!

Those cupcakes look yummy! I think my next trip will involve renting DVC points and staying at The Boardwalk... I'd love to wake up and go have a cup of coffee on the boardwalk and people watch!

Okay good to know! I will probably do them at LEAST every other day, so I won't leave people hangin'. :laughing: The cupcakes were very good, and it was not the last cupcake either of us ate on this trip... but we'll get into that later.

Renting DVC points is an EXCELLENT way to stay at a deluxe resort but for a much lower price. If we didn't have the points we would definitely rent, no question about it! You should totally do it, because having your coffee by the Boardwalk is a great thing. :goodvibes

ARIEL!!!! I want to visit her!

Okay, so, I was excited for her but her face is kind of weird in this statue! I think it's because it's all in bronze. Her teeth and eyes kind creeped me out a little but.. BUT you should still totally give her a little vis!

Omg (here I go again) the whole Epcot resort area is just so perfect and ideal. I'm in love I'm in love and I don't care who knows it! (name that movie!)

Hahaha, they really are perfect! Ugh when the Grand Floridian Villas open we kind of want to stay there, but it will be hard not staying at BC! Probably won't be for awhile though since I'm sure GF is going to be booked for awhile! Anywayyyy, one word for you... ELF! (Only one of the best Christmas movies ever!!!)

You sit on a throne of lies.

WOAH HELLO CUPCAKES. Nice to meet you.

Are those breakfast croissants good? My dad is just really big into breakfast so that is important to know haha.

STORMALONG BAY. That's all.

Cupcakes are love.

The breakfast croissants are actually pretty good! I think they're very filling. The BEST breakfast croissants are at the Gasparilla Grill at the Grand Floridian though! I missed the ones that came with bacon. :lovestruc

SAB. The best. The end.


apparently the skywriter is there EVERY day! I saw it on my dhs day and my picture says Love God. I'm with you though on the religion thing! (actually I am kinda religious, but Jewish, so yeah).

I know, I saw it many more times on our trip, though I think only on the weekends. Again, totally cool with God, just don't really need to be told it in such a forceful way, that's all! :confused3

Hello friend! I'm typing this on my iPhone from bed. I got back for
The doctor about an hour ago and she said I don't need to be around anyone or anyone's things. :( sooo I can't get my laptop out of the family room because it's buried under Riley's stuff and my mom has ri, Andy's at work so no one can get it for me. First wOrld problems. Wahh. Anywho I've been really gross nasty sick since Friday so I just caught up on all your updates but can't really comment like usual on my phone. I loved the re-telling of the splash incident. And that you mentioned me, yay!!
I'll try to leave some more detailed replies like usual if I start feeling better. Just wanted to let you know Im still here!
Sorry for any weird spelling errors or any nonsense in this post. Autocorrect doesn't do well with long paragraphs haha. It takes it too long to catch up.

Wellll we chatted through e-mail, soooo you are a total champ for even commenting here, even though you sound like you're on your death bed over there. True friend right there, I tell ya. :goodvibes I seriously hope you feel better soon though!

And of course I mentioned you, and it will NOT be the first time in this TR! :hug:

Glad you're still with me, and don't worry about the autocorrect. I've definitely had my fair share of ridiculous autocorrects and misspellings on my iPhone and iPad. :rotfl:

Yum cupcakes. Next time I go, my ambition is to walk along the Boardwalk. You look like you guys had a great down-day!

They were pretty delicious! You should totally do it, I have an update that includes us going at night, so I'll talk about that a bit.. We had a wonderful down day, and this was only the beginning! :thumbsup2

[danimaroo]

Ohhh..an update..yay!! So relieved that you survived the Fire Swamp!! LOVE THAT MOVIE!!!!!

Haha yes! There will be plenty of updates this week, I've got 'em all ready to go for each day... Starting to think about writing Day 5.. which is going to probably be my most intense series of updates, and you'll see why. ;)

THANK YOU for mentioning/getting my Princess Bride reference!! I love the movie AND the book so so much. I couldn't help but pretend I was Princess Buttercup. :rotfl:

Hi!
What a beautiful morning to sit on the boardwalk and have breakfast...my morning time with coffee is my favorite time of day.....especially on those days I am lucky enough to be in Disney!

Hello! :goodvibes It was a PERFECT morning to be hanging out by the Boardwalk enjoying our breakfast.. outside of the crazy seagulls eyeing our food! :rotfl:

DVC question if I may....so do you get fresh towels on the days that housekeeping doesn't come?

Totally feel free to ask any DVC questions! So, no fresh towels on a daily basis, but they give you a ton anyway.. I don't think we even used them all before they came in on the 4th day. We were pretty good about hanging them up to dry after showers and just re-using them. I'd imagine though that if we had more people we'd have probably needed more and would have request them from housekeeping.

Housekeeping was great when we needed another pillow, so I wouldn't hesitate to call them again if we needed anything. :thumbsup2


One of my favorite TR's! Keep updating! :)

Aww thank you so much, that is such a nice compliment! Definitely keeps me going and wanting to continue with the updates... Love sharing our trip with everyone! :)

You know I have adored you since I read the first word of your TR.
And now you just went and made a Princess Bride reference:love:. That seals it. We're long-lost sisters.

I knew that if anyone was going to read that and see the reference, you would get that! :laughing: Love love love Princess Bride so much! I think we are long-lost sisters!

I've only ever requested a wake-up call once, and it was on our first trip on our first day. I handed the phone to Julia, and she put it to her ear and then quickly threw it down (she was 3). She refused to ever listen to it again:rolleyes:, so I have yet to hear the Stitch and Mickey bit. I know, I know. Feel sorry for me.

Ohhh man, it was way easier for us to do the wake-up calls since our cell phones were way too far away, and if we used those as an alarm, it'd probably take us at least 10 minutes to hobble over and turn it off. :lmao: At first it was a lot of Mickey and Stitch, but eventually the calls turned into commercials and music. It became boring... You are totally missing out on the Stitch and Mickey bit though.. I can totally see why Julia wouldn't like it; it actually started me that first morning! :laughing:

I'm with ya on the sky-writing bit. "Love" is nice. Did you see the smiley face, though? I just can't handle it. In reality, the reason I don't like it is because it makes me a little motion sick to think about all the directions they have to fly just to form all those words (and smilies). I don't want to take a Dramamine just for an overactive imagination.

Yeah, a simple "LOVE" would've been a-okay with me. And yes, I forgot about the smiley face! That is such a good point about the turning and such with forming the letters. :rotfl: It wasn't that huge of a deal, but I was kind of disappointed it wasn't just a LOVE. I'd love to have seen Mickey ears though!

[danimaroo]

Before I get into today's update, I just wanted to wish everyone a HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! I hope everyone has a wonderful day today. :goodvibes

We kind of did our celebrating this past weekend, having dinner at a wonderful restaurant here in Seattle and exchanged our bigger gifts Friday night. I can now say that I own every single version of Ticket to Ride. I told you I was obsessed. :rotfl: This morning Matt also surprised me with yellow mini-roses, some candy, and a really cute hedgehog Valentine balloon. What a swell husband I have. :)

Anyway, second thing I wanted to mention.. Obviously my updates are continuing on a daily/every other day kind of basis, so hopefully you guys will enjoy. :) Life isn't too crazy YET!

Okay, back to the good stuff, my TR!

Chapter Fifteen: And then, it was in that moment, my sandwich sang to me
Day 4: January 21st, 2012

On our walk back to our room, I noticed the carpeting in the hallways. Gotta love those Mickey ears!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/ddfeb3f7.jpg

We got ourselves showered and changed and caught a bus, which only stopped at Boardwalk, before heading out to DTD. I'd heard about horror stories at the Epcot resorts in terms of dealing with getting to/from anywhere by bus, because of all these extra stops.

The ONLY time we had to stop somewhere before moving onto our destination was on our way to DTD, but even then it was one fast stop. I have no idea why people complain about the bus transportation because we experienced nothing but very quick service every time!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/5b8043f3.jpg

We drove along, and soon approached DTD!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/d94f474a.jpg

Now, another thing that was under construction during this trip was the Market Place bus stop, and so it was closed. This was something I was not aware of before our trip until we got on the bus and they announced it.

This was a bit annoying to us as we really wanted to start down by the Market Place, especially because we were starving and our lunch destination was near that entrance. Buuuut we dealt with it, and hopped off, making our way into DTD down a different path.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/c1722824.jpg

I WAS excited to see Raglan Road, because it's one of my favorite restaurants and I was very much looking forward to eating there later on in our trip.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/cbb8c8bd.jpg

We quickly made our way over to the Market Place area, weaving in and out of crowds because it was pretty busy in DTD. I think the really nice weather brought out a lot of locals that day, but it wasn't anything that we couldn't deal with.

We then made it to our number one destination... Something I'd been dying to try, have heard nothing but amazing things about...

EARL OF SANDWICH.

When we walked in, there was a ginormous line. But we didn't care. We were prepared for an epic line, and it gave us time to figure out what exactly we wanted. After minor debate, and talking to an employee at EoS, I decided to go with the Cannonballs (meatball sandwich), while Matt went with The Earl's Club (turkey club sandwich).

We decided to skip dessert in favor of sides (another reason EoS is awesome, they let you substitute a side for a dessert on the DDP), so I got potato salad and Matt got macaroni salad. I grabbed a classic Coke and Matt opted for a water.

I waited while Matt hunted us down a seat. He couldn't find anything when I found him with our food, but then I spotted an open table, just as this other man tried to snipe it from me...

I wasn't moving, asked the people nearby if it was being used, and sat down. I'm sure I got a look from the guy but I had clearly been there first, so I didn't feel bad at all.

Anyway, once seated, we opened our sandwich wrappers and I'm fairly certain I heard trumpets and a choir singing when I saw my sandwich.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/2922b0ac.jpg

Matt's sandwich looked REALLY good as well...

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/300cd7a9.jpg

We both took bites and ooooh my gosh, I NOW understood what everyone was talking about. This was SO GOOD. That bread is just, amazing. The sandwich was perfect. Matt felt similar to me, stating that it was indeed delicious.

Our sides were pretty good, too!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/7333e405.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/15c79f6b.jpg

Sometimes a classic Coke is just what you need, and this was a perfect accompaniment to my meal..

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/d0a20e1c.jpg

After enjoying the best lunch EVER, we headed back outside to do some shopping.

We went to Art of Disney, knowing we had one purchase we just HAD to make. Matt and I had fallen in love with the attraction posters that you see on the walls near the Train Station at Magic Kingdom during our honeymoon, and vowed that we just HAD to find a way to get them.

After doing some research on the DIS, I found out that you could sometimes find the posters at Art of Disney, and even order them through a computer if they didn't have them in the store.

So, that in mind, we walked in and headed over to the computers where you can look through the selections. We found the one Matt had wanted, Haunted Mansion, and then looked for Splash Mountain... which they didn't have.

I was pretty bummed, but thought maybe we could find it over in a different area. I asked one CM who was yapping away to another CM, and he wasn't sure so he told me to go ask another CM.

Annoyed, I went to another CM who was pretty sure they had nothing and showed me some really expensive painting that was nothing like what I was looking for. I gave up and decided to look at other options on the computer, and decided that I would be happy to have the poster for Pirates of the Caribbean.

We then realized they had these posters in store, asking the same CM what size they all were since the posters were displayed in a manner to make it look like some were larger than others. He seemed annoyed with us and told us they were all the same size.

We grabbed the 2 posters (which were stored in large tubes), then continued to look around the store at other items. Matt found a really awesome matted print that an artists did of the Haunted Mansion at night, and I found a cute print that had Expedition Everest in the background, with Donald pulling Mickey and Minnie along in a little cart.

After we decided on our purchases, we went to check out with said CM from before. As he checked us out, and gave us our total, Matt said, "Okay, could we have this sent back to our resort?" The CM got annoyed and replied, "Okay, yeah, I'll have to re-do everything."

...

Um, okay dude, MOST CMs ask if we want stuff sent back to the resort, but you made NO mention of it, so when we brought it up you're now mad that we're asking to have it sent back? I'm not going to lie, I was so irritated by this point with the way the CMs treated us in that store I wanted to say some choice words to this guy.

Matt quickly filled out the paperwork and we walked out of the store, hoping our stuff would make it back to our resort, because with the way they acted, I wasn't sure it'd make it. It's just frustrating when you're spending a lot of money on merchandise and you're treated like a nuisance more than anything else.

Ugh anyway, onto better things... I didn't take photos at the time, but figured you guys might want to know what the pieces look like, so these are actually photos of the posters and artwork hanging in our house now!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/a65e7876.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/9d15babc.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/c4a9428e.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/78be33a4.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/6a507a63.jpg

Anyhoot, we decided we could no longer wait. We had one thing on our mind... But you'll have to wait til tomorrow to find out where we were headed to next. :)

Continued in the next update (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44036074&postcount=200)

[ZehnJahren]

Very nice. I have only had EOS one time (at the urging of many on this board) and it was AWFUL. I mean, really bad. DBF liked his "ok" but mine was barely edible. I only took a few bites, and then gave it up and ate all the chips that came with the sandwich instead. I was so disappointed, especially since it appears that everyone is getting delicious EOS sandwiches but me. There was absolutely no taste, it was gummy, and the bread was way too hard and chewy. I hope it was a fluke!

I would have been getting irritated with that guy at the art store too. I mean come on, you think people want to walk around with big tubes in their hands, with a picture in it that they probably don't want anything to happen to? I'd almost ASSUME someone buying something in that store would be sending it back to their resort, if they could.

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Those are so cool!!! I'm glad I didn't go in that store, I might have spent all my money at once! ...and, since DTD was where I had my disney-meltdown, I might not have done so well with unhelpful CM's either! ;)

[Moodyzblu]

I've yet to try EOS .. but I really want to !

I love your posters .. we have a Toy Story room in my house and I'm going to see if they have something cute for our wall !

[My_Pal_Pluto]

Another GREAT string continuing the TR ... LOVE that you and MAtt took the extra day to just enjoy the "non-park" Disney stuff. We do this on every trip, and by the time it rolls around, a lot like you, I SOOOO look forward to it!!

Earl of Sanny is so delish ... looking at those open wrappers with that Manna from Heaven inside made me pine and salivate!! Speaking of "heaven" ... from the standpoint of someone who is a person of faith, I agree with you. I believe kindness trumps all - and a loud proclamation spread across the public sky is a bit too coercive and "unkind" (in my opinion).

My parents own a really unique Kinkade painting of Pinnochio looking over the village. I love it in all it's brilliane and color. I know they paid a lot for it but they rarely (in all their years of doing Disney) have EVER "splurged" for anything. That being said, my Dad said he didn't like the fact that the CM's in the store could sort of care less for them ... UNTIL they realized they were genuinely interested in purchasing this item and having it shipped home. Suddenly, their demeanor became akin to vultures. So yea, great awesome souvenirs/collectibles, but it sounds like you have to put-up with some of Disney's crappiest CM's to get them!!

Last but not least, GREAT pics with your camera!!!

[marDgreen88]

Yeah, ya know, I feel like people are either very impatient or like to exaggerate. Now, not that I'm any expert on Epcot resort bus transportation, but people say the same things in terms of the All Star Resorts... and having stayed at all of them, I know that there is no problem! OH! AND I HAVE been on a bus to Downtown Disney from the Beach Club (after eating at Beaches and Cream) and we only stopped at the Boardwalk too! Soooo yeah!

Hahah you reminded me of Joey Tribbiani and his love for meatball sandwiches. I've never been to EOS though... I've heard both good and bad things about it so I'm hesitant!

UGH. That guy CLEARLY should not be a CM. Dumb butt. On a happy note those posters are amazing! That's such a good idea!

[407-W-DISNEY]

I have to wait until TOMORROW!! I don't know if I can!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :eek:

Love the posters!

[danimaroo]

Very nice. I have only had EOS one time (at the urging of many on this board) and it was AWFUL. I mean, really bad. DBF liked his "ok" but mine was barely edible. I only took a few bites, and then gave it up and ate all the chips that came with the sandwich instead. I was so disappointed, especially since it appears that everyone is getting delicious EOS sandwiches but me. There was absolutely no taste, it was gummy, and the bread was way too hard and chewy. I hope it was a fluke!

You win an award... for being the FIRST PERSON I've ever heard on the DIS actually dislike their EoS food! :rotfl:

No seriously, that is SUCH a bummer! Especially when you've heard amazing things about it, and then it's a let down. What kind of sandwich did you get?

I wonder if you guys just had bad people making sandwiches that day? Sounds like a not-so-fun experience! Hopefully, if you guys do go back again, it'll be a MUCH better experience.

I would have been getting irritated with that guy at the art store too. I mean come on, you think people want to walk around with big tubes in their hands, with a picture in it that they probably don't want anything to happen to? I'd almost ASSUME someone buying something in that store would be sending it back to their resort, if they could.

Ugh thank you, it was really frustrating and didn't seem like he wanted to be working at all. I've noticed sometimes you're hit with less friendlier people in DtD then you are in the parks. I guess I was surprised because we were spending money and like you said, did it really look like we wanted to lug the posters around? He never once mentioned us having it sent back (which EVERY CM had done, even when I bought pins!), so for him to be agitated that we asked was just really the icing on the cake for me wanting to explode on someone. :rotfl:

Those are so cool!!! I'm glad I didn't go in that store, I might have spent all my money at once! ...and, since DTD was where I had my disney-meltdown, I might not have done so well with unhelpful CM's either! ;)

Thank you, I thought they were very neat! They look perfect on our upstairs landing area. It's kind of our Disney area of the house in terms of photos, posters, and other art... Art of Disney is quite dangerous! We ended up buy a few more things there as well, but at the one in Epcot. Can't wait to show off our "big" purchase we made at the end of the trip!

Ugh, yeah, I was close to melting down on this guy because he'd been such a buttface the whole time. I hope your meltdown isn't too bad, it's never fun having that happen. :(

I've yet to try EOS .. but I really want to !

I love your posters .. we have a Toy Story room in my house and I'm going to see if they have something cute for our wall !

You should, it's SO good. I'm kind of glad they don't have one here in Seattle because I'd probably eat there way more often than I ever should. :rotfl:

Thank you! I am SURE you could find something really perfect for your Toy Story wall. They have so many amazing pieces of art! If you don't see one in one Art of Disney, make sure to stop by a different one!

Another GREAT string continuing the TR ... LOVE that you and MAtt took the extra day to just enjoy the "non-park" Disney stuff. We do this on every trip, and by the time it rolls around, a lot like you, I SOOOO look forward to it!!

Thank you, I'm on a roll here! Non-park Disney days are great and I'm happy we did it, even though we still ended up getting a LOT in that day... It was nice to be at a slower pace! I think people just get caught up in the craziness, sometimes it's nice to slow down a bit. :thumbsup2

Earl of Sanny is so delish ... looking at those open wrappers with that Manna from Heaven inside made me pine and salivate!! Speaking of "heaven" ... from the standpoint of someone who is a person of faith, I agree with you. I believe kindness trumps all - and a loud proclamation spread across the public sky is a bit too coercive and "unkind" (in my opinion).

It's true, every time I look at those photos I cry a little because I can't have it until next time we visit. So sad. And thank you for agreeing from that standpoint! Again, I have no problem with God, and people loving God, but I just don't need it being thrown in my face when I'm in Disney World. There's just something weird about it, ya know?

My parents own a really unique Kinkade painting of Pinnochio looking over the village. I love it in all it's brilliane and color. I know they paid a lot for it but they rarely (in all their years of doing Disney) have EVER "splurged" for anything. That being said, my Dad said he didn't like the fact that the CM's in the store could sort of care less for them ... UNTIL they realized they were genuinely interested in purchasing this item and having it shipped home. Suddenly, their demeanor became akin to vultures. So yea, great awesome souvenirs/collectibles, but it sounds like you have to put-up with some of Disney's crappiest CM's to get them!!

I LOVE the art in there. Maybe it's because the store is in DTD and not in a park, but it's just weird to me that they were not nearly as nice as the CMs at the Art of Disney in Epcot. It was just frustrating, because even when we WERE buying something, they still weren't nice. :confused3

Last but not least, GREAT pics with your camera!!!

Thank you! My iPhone did a pretty great job serving as my primary camera, and it made taking photos ten times easier than it was having to pull out my dSLR and all that fun stuff.

[danimaroo]

Yeah, ya know, I feel like people are either very impatient or like to exaggerate. Now, not that I'm any expert on Epcot resort bus transportation, but people say the same things in terms of the All Star Resorts... and having stayed at all of them, I know that there is no problem! OH! AND I HAVE been on a bus to Downtown Disney from the Beach Club (after eating at Beaches and Cream) and we only stopped at the Boardwalk too! Soooo yeah!

TRUE story. I think that's something I have run into on the DIS though in general... Like having to remember that people's opinions are just that.. their opinions. And a lot of it is about perspective. Maybe I'm just in vacation mode and so happy I don't have to drive or take crappy Seattle public transportation, but I experienced pretty much amazing transportation in Disney!

Hahah you reminded me of Joey Tribbiani and his love for meatball sandwiches. I've never been to EOS though... I've heard both good and bad things about it so I'm hesitant!

HAHA I died at the Joey comment. Love it. Totally forgot about his meatball sandwich love. BUT YES, my sandwich was amazing. I think you should try EoS at least once! I hadn't heard anything bad until now, but I can say that we really enjoyed it and it was a nice break from the usual CS options.

UGH. That guy CLEARLY should not be a CM. Dumb butt. On a happy note those posters are amazing! That's such a good idea!

Agreed, he was just in such a poopy mood, and I was trying to be happy about our purchases but he wasn't feeling it! And thank you, we love them! I'm hoping I can find the Splash one at some point, too! I love those old school posters.


I have to wait until TOMORROW!! I don't know if I can!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :eek:

Love the posters!

Haha today's update was kind of shorter, buuuut I'll make up for that with a double update tomorrow! :goodvibes So that is something exciting to look forward to!!

And thanks, we love them, too! Such a nice reminder of our trip. :goodvibes

[danimaroo]

Chapter Sixteen: A brilliant idea is born...
Day 4: January 21st, 2012

Yes, we had a serious need for some ice cream, so we headed over to Ghirardelli! Once there, we looked over the menu, and I decided to get the Cookie Bottom sundae with caramel instead of hot fudge, while Matt got the Dark Chocolate Espresso sundae. We took our number and finally got a seat (it was pretty busy in there!), and waited awhile for our ice cream.

But it was so worth it, once these were placed in front of us. :eek:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/1e4f2b79.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/24e2fe2d.jpg

Guys, if there's one thing you must do, okay make it two, in DTD, you really need to eat at Earl of Sandwich and get a sundae at Ghirardelli. Oh my heavens these sundaes were amazing!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/e9e218d1.jpg

They were definitely huge, so I'm glad we waited a bit before eating them. While eating our ice cream, Matt said something that caught my interest...

"What if tomorrow... we tried to do all 4 parks in one day? Kind of like, I dunno, like a Disney World Gauntlet? It might be kind of fun to say we did it."

I stared at him for a moment, wondering if this was indeed MY HUSBAND suggesting this. :rotfl: Matt is the one who likes to take it easy and not be all GOGOGO, and that's not to say I'm the opposite of him, but it has been agreed upon that I'm usually more apt to want to get stuff done. So yes, I was kind of speechless that he suggested attempting such a thing.

We talked it over, discussing the Disney World Gauntlet, what qualified as a park visit, if it was something we'd be up for doing, etc. We decided that in order to complete our Gauntlet, we had to ride something at LEAST two times. Now, this could mean a single attraction twice, or 2 attractions, etc. I know, it's not crazy standards to complete said Gauntlet, but it's still a lot of traveling and running around (because yes, we still had an ADR to get to) and was NOT for the lighthearted... So we both agreed:

WE WERE IN FOR MATT AND DANI'S EPIC DISNEY WORLD GAUNTLET!

After finishing up our ice creams (or what we could) and talking about this Gauntlet we were going to attempt the following day, we headed out of Ghirardelli and hopped on over to World of Disney.

We looked around for awhile, when I spotted the hoodie that was calling my name. I tried it on and it seemed to fit me well, and Matt agreed, so we put that in our basket and continued looking around...

We headed into the stuffed toy area where I spotted something that I ABSOLUTELY had to have, the moment I spotted it, and also something I remember wishing I'd bought last year...

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/53a2feb6.jpg

DUG!!! :yay: We paid for my sweatshirt and Dug, and thought about having it sent back to our resort, but I couldn't part ways with Dug and I was sure I'd end up using my hoodie later on in the day... so we took both with us.

When we got outside, I decided Dug would be much happier seeing the world as we walked along, so we put him in my backpack:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/8d1c85e7.jpg

This is a little preview of my hoodie, I promise you'll get to see it on me later!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/cf02703c.jpg

Matt didn't buy anything for himself quite yet, but I reassured him he'd find some things for himself. We waved goodbye to Downtown Disney and headed back to the bus stop near West side, so we could catch a bus to the resort where we'd be having dinner at!

Continued in next post (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44036102&postcount=201)

[danimaroo]

Chapter Sixteen: A brilliant idea is born... CONTINUED
Day 4: January 21st, 2012

Yup, if you guessed Wilderness Lodge, you were correct! A bus was actually sitting at the stop, so we hopped on at around 3:30 and made our way over the Wilderness Lodge, a resort that we both LOVE visiting.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/ee846447.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/c63b6368.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/c4138a79.jpg

Okay so, another side tangent alert: We love the Wilderness Lodge because it reminds us of home here in the Pacific Northwest. However, this is also the reason we'll probably never stay here. I LOVE the PNW, but when I'm on vacation in Disney World, I kind of want to feel like I'm far away, you know?

What I love about the inside of the Lodge is how much it reminds me of one of our favorite local getaways here in Washington, the Paradise Inn up on Mount Rainier. In fact, I read somewhere that when Disney was designing the WL, the Paradise Inn definitely influenced some of the design elements.

Here's a photo of the inside of the Paradise Inn:

http://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/307713_380576349943_512794943_1406139_650876672_n. jpg

Anyway, we do love visiting Wilderness Lodge as it's got one of my favorite lobbies of any Disney resort.

We headed outside to look at the pool and just walk around, since we had a lot of time to kill before dinner.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/d1ce482e.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/2b1c9481.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/dde25652.jpg

We spotted the Fire Rock geyser, which was being worked on during our honeymoon so this was our first time seeing it... and realized since it goes off every hour, it would be erupting here pretty soon. A small crowd gathered, and soon enough the Fire Rock geyser shot out tons of water into the air.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/ee043556.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/78a28056.jpg

After hanging outside for a few more minutes, we headed back in to look at the gift shop and hang around the lobby. On our way in, I spotted a few CMs near the pin stand with pins on their lanyards and decided that since we had some extra time, it might be kind of fun to do some pin trading...

Believe it or not, this was my first pin trade during this trip! I traded with the first CM as we began chatting, as I'd spotted a Stitch pin on her lanyard that we did not have yet. We have a pretty extensive collection of Stitch pins, so I had to have it!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/f4ae35e9.jpg

The other CM, an older man, started talking to us and he was SUCH a character! We spoke with them about our previous day in MK, about our Splash Mountain incident, and we also talked about Haunted Mansion..

This is where the female CM told us about how in the interactive queue (yes, you'll remember this from earlier in my TR), the first set of statues is like a game of CLUE, and how you have to solve who killed who based on the weapons and riddles on each of the headstones.

The older man told us about something I'd known about, the key under the mat over at Muppet Vision 3D. I pretended I didn't know about it just because it was fun listening to him tell me all about it.

This duo of CMs were awesome and so much fun to talk to, and I think they enjoyed chatting with us. Eventually, I decided to pick up these two pins from the older gentleman's lanyard, because, hello, Star Wars + Muppets = LOVE.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/4b41b786.jpg

We said goodbye to the very friendly CMs, then headed over to the gift shop to kill even more time. I made Matt try on a fun hat, and thought he looked quite cute in it..

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/86edeb05.jpg

Random, but my lips were super chapped, so I looked around for some chapstick, and came across this:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/321ffc1b.jpg

UHH BEAVER BUTT CHAPSTICK?! Yes please! Matt told me I HAD to buy it, so we paid for my new beaver butt chapstick (and no, it does not taste like beaver butt), and found a seat in the lobby before our ADR at Whispering Canyon Cafe (I'm guessing you all figured this was where we were eating by now)..

Dug was happy to be hanging out with us in such a pretty lobby:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/3adca020.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/fe5dc896.jpg

Next, we'll see how many shades of red Matt turns in 5 seconds, with a look of horror on my face...

Continued in the next update (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44046695&postcount=215)

[Susan121302]

Great update. :thumbsup2 The Beaver Butt chapstick is quite disturbing though! :rotfl2:

[marDgreen88]

YUM! Those sundaes look really good... especially the one with chocolate in it.

DUG!!! Oh I love Dug. He's so precious and look at that HONKER of a nose! Hahaha love it.

Hahah um... I didn't guess Wilderness Lodge. I guessed Polynesian! BUT THAT'S OKAY.

Wilderness is certainly beautiful in it's own rustic way! Very nice. :thumbsup: That geyser is pretty awesome!

THOSE KERMIT LUKE AND GONZO DARTH PINS. Hahahaha those are perfect!

[IheartDDuck]

Okay, I'm a little late, but I'm here. I mean, who doesn't love funny one-liners!

The gauntlet challenge....I love that. My brother and I have done something like that before. It's fun to try to do, but it is definitely possible, but only when it's not super busy for sure. I can't wait to hear how it went!

[jecskc]

Matt looks like he was BORN to wear that hat.

Beaver butt chap stick ??? For realz ?? Talk about random ...... I wonder what the story is behind that ...

[danimaroo]

Great update. :thumbsup2 The Beaver Butt chapstick is quite disturbing though! :rotfl2:

Thanks! It was pretty hysterical when I found it. I REALLY needed chapstick! :rotfl:

YUM! Those sundaes look really good... especially the one with chocolate in it.

Oh em gee they were so so good. Like, amazing. Matt loves anything with espresso/dark chocolate so he was pretty darn happy with his sundae!

DUG!!! Oh I love Dug. He's so precious and look at that HONKER of a nose! Hahaha love it.

Dug is the best. He says the best things, too. "My name is Dug, and I looooove you!" He really does have a honker of a nose! I laughed out loud when you said honker, hahahaha.

Hahah um... I didn't guess Wilderness Lodge. I guessed Polynesian! BUT THAT'S OKAY.

OOOOH! Okay, so, I don't even know why I'd expect people to magically know where we were going. :rotfl: I think when I wrote it I'd had more hints there or something, I don't know. BUT ANYWAY, the Poly is such a good guess, that's where I would've guessed we were going, too. We have yet to have a dinner there, but we're thinking about Kona or Ohana during a future trip!

Wilderness is certainly beautiful in it's own rustic way! Very nice. :thumbsup: That geyser is pretty awesome!

I just like that it's different than other resorts and of course reminds me of home. A nice touch of the Pacific Northwest, definitely. And yes, the geyser was pretty awesome!

THOSE KERMIT LUKE AND GONZO DARTH PINS. Hahahaha those are perfect!

I KNOW! HAHAHA, what is funny is I think I was only supposed to trade one pin with the CM but we definitely traded 2. BUT HELLO, it only made sense that they had to go together! I'm glad I got them!


Okay, I'm a little late, but I'm here. I mean, who doesn't love funny one-liners!

OH YAY! I'm excited you are here! It's okay if you're late, I'm not even halfway through this bad Larry, so come on in and join the party! Also, I am glad that you enjoy the one-liners. Matt seemed to be full of them this trip. :laughing:

The gauntlet challenge....I love that. My brother and I have done something like that before. It's fun to try to do, but it is definitely possible, but only when it's not super busy for sure. I can't wait to hear how it went!

Yes, glad someone else thought that this was a fun idea! We'll see if we actually complete it, I'm pretty excited to get to Day 5 and our shenanigans. And yes, you can only do it when it's a slower time of year. I can't imagine doing it with massive crowds! Can't wait to share it with you and everyone else! :) Thanks again for commenting and joining in!

Matt looks like he was BORN to wear that hat.

Beaver butt chap stick ??? For realz ?? Talk about random ...... I wonder what the story is behind that ...

Haha he seriously was born to wear it! I thought he was looking pretty dapper in it.

And yes, Beaver Butt chapstick really was bizarre. But, we eventually figured out that it's part of a product line out of Canada, as we were in Canada at World Showcase and the store there had even more ridiculous products.. Like Bear's Breath, and some other absurd soap products. But they smelled really good and made us laugh! :rotfl:

[mouseketeer70]

Great "off" day so far! There's so much to see and do and enjoy outside the parks. That's just another thing I love about WDW.
Can't wait to hear about your Gauntlet Challenge! We just did what we like to call the "quadfecta" when we were down for my DS 18th birthday. It was soooooooo much fun:yay: Our rules were: We had to be at rope drop of one park, had to stay til closing of one park, at least two of the major attractions in each park, at least 1 ice cream in each park, no ice cream could be repeated (keep in mind these rules were made by a teenage boy), all forms of Disney transportation must be utilized, and at least 1 restroom must be visited in each park (yep, that one is mine). We did it all and then some and while we couldn't do this every day, it was certainly one of our best days ever at WDW!

[projectGemini]

I just caught up on this TR, andI have to say iadvt is a whole lot of fun to read! Can't wait to hear about your adventures trying to complete the Gauntlet! The GF and I might even give that a whirl when We go down in August!

[danimaroo]

Great "off" day so far! There's so much to see and do and enjoy outside the parks. That's just another thing I love about WDW.

I know, it was such a fun day even though we didn't go to any parks! That's why I love Disney World; there is tons to do outside of the parks, and we didn't even hit a lot of it!

Can't wait to hear about your Gauntlet Challenge! We just did what we like to call the "quadfecta" when we were down for my DS 18th birthday. It was soooooooo much fun:yay: Our rules were: We had to be at rope drop of one park, had to stay til closing of one park, at least two of the major attractions in each park, at least 1 ice cream in each park, no ice cream could be repeated (keep in mind these rules were made by a teenage boy), all forms of Disney transportation must be utilized, and at least 1 restroom must be visited in each park (yep, that one is mine). We did it all and then some and while we couldn't do this every day, it was certainly one of our best days ever at WDW!

Okay, that is the most intense challenge ever! I am seriously impressed out guys pulled that off! Our challenge was wimpy compared to that! :rotfl: but that is so much fun, seriously. Seems like it is going to be a memory you guys cherish forever. :goodvibes

[danimaroo]

I just caught up on this TR, andI have to say iadvt is a whole lot of fun to read! Can't wait to hear about your adventures trying to complete the Gauntlet! The GF and I might even give that a whirl when We go down in August!

Awesome, I am so happy you caught up and decided to comment! :goodvibes also doubly happy that my TR is lots of fun to read; it has been a BLAST to write! It is really funny when you look back at how much you did in one day, every day! :laughing:

Day 5 is epic and I'm excited to share it! And we also had a lot of awesome things happen to us along the way. :goodvibes

You should give it a whirl! I won't say much yet, but, yeah. ;) Thanks again for commenting and I hope to see you stick around. :goodvibes

[ash-n-brensmom]

I think I know where this is going....Ferb and I were at WCC on our first vacay with my Dcuz and her family and they asked who was celebrating an anniversary. My Dcuz pointed to Ferb and I...I won't give anything away...but I am interested to see if they did the same thing to you.;)

[Twoboysnmygirl]

I cannot wait to hear about your epic day! I had never even considered it, but it sounds like fun and I think we may have to try this on our next trip! I'm still rolling about the beaverbutt chapstick!!!!!! OMG! :lmao:

[amyrella]

Yay 2 updates!!! I want to stay at the WL someday, although I've never even seen it in person... Looks beautiful there!! I guess I want to stay at all the resorts... Hmm. Maybe I will....

Can't wait to hear about your gauntlet day!!

[danimaroo]

I think I know where this is going....Ferb and I were at WCC on our first vacay with my Dcuz and her family and they asked who was celebrating an anniversary. My Dcuz pointed to Ferb and I...I won't give anything away...but I am interested to see if they did the same thing to you.;)

Haha, I have a feeling you know as well! Please let me know if it was the same thing, it was such an awkward moment for us. :rotfl:

I cannot wait to hear about your epic day! I had never even considered it, but it sounds like fun and I think we may have to try this on our next trip! I'm still rolling about the beaverbutt chapstick!!!!!! OMG! :lmao:

Ohhh I am soooo excited to post those chapters. It was quite a day with some extra pixie dust tossed in, which was a total added bonus! And yes, the Beaver Butt chapstick.. I still use it now! :laughing: It was too good not to buy... Totally made Matt and me giggle like 5 year olds.

Yay 2 updates!!! I want to stay at the WL someday, although I've never even seen it in person... Looks beautiful there!! I guess I want to stay at all the resorts... Hmm. Maybe I will....

Can't wait to hear about your gauntlet day!!

Haha glad someone else was excited about the 2 updates! :laughing: WL is beautiful, though it's just a place to visit for me whenever we go to WCC. Too much like home for us! ;) I think it'd be fun to try to stay every where! Though it's hard to want to stay anywhere else but Beach Club, I have to be honest!

I can't wait to start up the Gaunlet day tomorrow! :yay:

[danimaroo]

Chapter Seventeen: No, I'm not going to sing to my wife in front of all of these people
Day 4: January 21st, 2012

Soon enough, we checked in for our 5 o'clock ADR and were seated promptly as some of the first guests in the restaurant.

Our server was very friendly, asking if we'd ever eaten at WCC, to which we replied that we had, and explained the menu to us.

Neither of us were feeling up to the skillet (it's good, but an absurd amount of food), so I ordered the Grilled New York Strip Steak, with Canyon Steak Fries and Garden fresh vegetables, while Matt ordered the Chipotle Espresso-marinated Loin, Chorizo-Tillamook grits and seasonal vegetables.

Our server said that Matt's was her favorite dish, then brought us out come cornbread to eat with our drinks.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/9d117be5.jpg

We enjoy WCC for the food and experience, though this night we were more there for the food. It was still fun seeing them bring 20 bottles of ketchup over to the table next to us when they asked for ketchup, and really fun to see the little girl get excited to help bring ketchup to the next unsuspecting person.

This is an EXCELLENT restaurant to take your kids, and I know one day when we have kids, it will probably be a family favorite.

Anywho, our food eventually came out...

My steak with potatoes and veggies:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/5c67a5a8.jpg

Matt's dish:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/e06972b4.jpg

Unfortunately mine was a little disappointing. Part of it was that I was still a bit full from our sundaes from earlier, and part of it was that the steak was too charred for me. Matt tasted his and INSISTED that I try his.

Oh. My. Gosh.

Right then and there I wanted to steal his plate, run out of the restaurant and find a corner of the Wilderness Lodge to sit and eat all of his dinner.

Yup, it was that good... The grits were out of this world amazing, as was the pork. I now understood why the waitress said it was her favorite.

I was so beyond jealous of Matt's dish that I ate a few more bites of mine and decided to take the rest back to our room for later. My dish could not even compare... and I was pretty full.

We were both pretty full so we decided to split a slice of the Apple pie dessert, which is always tasty:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/d9a33c3f.jpg

Theeen our waitress decided to bring out champagne and announce to everyone we were celebrating our anniversary. Yyyyeah, I forgot I put that on some of our reservations, whoops.

Usually not a big deal, until our waitress yelled,

"AND NOW, MATT HERE IS GOING TO SING 'YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE' TO DANIELLE!"

I think I nearly died. I didn't even want to look in Matt's direction because I was fairly certain he was going to be staring at me with a look of, "WHYYYY DANI, WHY?"

Remember how I said Matt doesn't like being the center of attention? Yeah well, he's now being told he has to SING in front of a packed restaurant of people for me. I felt so bad.

Matt stuck with his guns and politely said no, and that he has a terrible singing voice (which he doesn't). I'll give the waitress credit for trying one more time, but Matt said no again, and I think at that point I suggested he just give me a kiss.

She finally let him get away with a kiss, and everyone gave a little cheer. I told Matt I was sorry and he was okay with it (though the red on his face from embarrassment said otherwise :laughing:), and we toasted with our pretty champagne.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/827f7c75.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/1edd5170.jpg

Right after we drank our champagne, the little girl (with the ketchup earlier) from the table next to us came over, and her Dad told us that she had something she wanted to say to us...

She said "I just wanted to say happy anniversary!" It was SO CUTE and we thanked her. I just thought it was really kind and thoughtful for a little kid to do something like that. I love when that stuff happens. :)

We settled our bill and headed out of WCC, which we definitely plan on returning to next year so we can BOTH eat that amazing dish!!

We decided to take a boat from Wilderness Lodge to Magic Kingdom. We'd never been on that boat, and we figured it'd be a perfect time to do it, especially with the sun going down.

We sat outside on the boat, and of course photo-taking ensued.. OH! And yes, you get a photo of my new hoodie I bought, too!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/d44d5e84.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/a36a95f6.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/d8843a73.jpg

As we made our way over, I snapped a ton of photos on my nice camera because it was SO beautiful out.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/6e30fa3c.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/9f48a52e.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/82a07a23.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/16db0302.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/e0361218.jpg

We finally arrived at MK, and waved a hello and a goodbye (yes, this was a weird feeling) as we headed over to the bus stops to catch a bus back to Beach Club.

After a relatively quick trip back, we got to our room and grabbed our laundry bag so we could get some laundry done! Even though it was only our 4th day in Disney, between changing a lot and using lots of fresh socks (I think I went through 2 pairs a day because I can't stand even slightly dirty socks), we already needed to do some laundry.

We'd asked the front desk earlier in the morning where the Villas' laundry room was (FYI, it's on the 4th floor near room 409), since we couldn't find it before that point, and walked down the hallway to hunt for it.

While we definitely missed having our own washer/dryer in our room from our honeymoon, I was happy that we still had access to free laundry, just down the hall.

We threw a load of laundry in, then decided to go down to the quiet pool for a little bit. I think this is one of the few nights where the temperature dropped fairly quickly, so we didn't last in the pool too long before we hopped into the hot tub.

I have to say, there is nothing better than spending time in the hot tub to relax your aching body when in Disney World... Wait no, ASIDE from the huge jacuzzi tubs in the 1 and 2-bedroom DVC units, there is nothing better. While we definitely missed having that tub in our room, the hot tub by the quiet pool was a very nice substitute!

Anyway, we headed back upstairs, switched the laundry over, and hung around the room, watching TV and relaxing. I ended up eating my leftovers, which weren't too bad (I just think the steak was a little too charred and under-seasoned for me), and we grabbed our laundry once it was done from the laundry room.

At 9, we went outside and watch Illuminations from our patio. It's hard to get photos of the lower fireworks because as you can see, there's a tree blocking it. However for us, we could see the fireworks through the tree, so it wasn't that big of a deal...

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/d3048c83.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/c619e92f.jpg

After the fireworks, we decided to eat our cupcakes from earlier this morning! I KNOW I had a photo of Matt's cupcake, but I seemed to either have forgotten to upload it OR accidentally deleted it. Oh well, here's mine though:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/3cb56ec4.jpg

So basically, our cupcakes were massive but delicious. Matt liked his but said the frosting was a little intense, especially because they put an Oreo cream filling INSIDE of the cupcake as well.

I ate my S'more cupcake which had a chocolate ganache inside of it. Again, very good, but also massive. We put sizable dents into our cupcakes, but I know it left me with a stomach ache.

Not as good at the ones from Trophy Cupcakes here in Seattle, but DEFINITELY a good use of snack credit. We'll see if this reigned as my favorite cupcake of the trip...

We called it a night shortly after, as we needed to get a good night's rest for what would quite possibly be the most EPIC day we've ever had in Disney World.

Continued in the next update (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44056358&postcount=234)

[Moodyzblu]

Great updates !! LOVE your Dug. :love: (and your hoodie !)

We're eating at WCC in April and am looking forward to it .. not sure what to order though .. but what Matt ordered looks and sounds pretty tasty ! :thumbsup2

Can't wait to hear about your EPIC day ! :banana:

[kimbo0569]

Loving your TR so far and cannot wait to hear about your EPIC feat!

[projectGemini]

I went to WCC in 2008 and Loved it! I had a similar experience as it was my Parent's anniversary and they made them kiss for the entirety of a song (I don't recall what song it was) My parents are very non-PDA, so this was hilarious for my sister and I.

[407-W-DISNEY]

hopefully this isn't a double post....I don't know what happened to my 1st post... :confused3

anyway...seems like you had a wonderful day....love the hoodie! and your Dug...he's just the right size to snuggle with!

I am sooo hungry now after seeing the Sundaes and cupcakes....now I will spend the next hour opening the fridge 12 times in hopes something as yummy magically appears - LOL


Can't wait to hear about your Epic day!
p.s. free laundry - thats great! :laundy:

[Susan121302]

aargh! your cliff hangers kill me!

[kymmyk13]

Just found your trip report and read the whole thing. You guys are great. Looking forward to more.

[ash-n-brensmom]

:lmao::rotfl:...nope, not the same thing!! We were dragged up in front of the whole restaurant and joined other couples celebrating in a KISSING CONTEST!!! :hug: Yeah, it was pretty funny...especially since my Dcuz put us up to it! But, yours is HILARIOUS!! Mostly because Matt kept saying no..it might have been easier just to sing it and get it over with. When we were there for my B-day in '09, our server brought me a glass of champagne and then announced to the restaurant that it was my B-day and her being the best ;) singer their she was going to sing Happy Birthday to me. :scared1: She sucked sooooo bad....it was sooooooo funny!!!!:lmao:

Awesome pics from the boat, you have a great camera, it got such pretty colors! I'm hungry now from that pic of the cupcake..thanks.

[danimaroo]

Great updates !! LOVE your Dug. :love: (and your hoodie !)

We're eating at WCC in April and am looking forward to it .. not sure what to order though .. but what Matt ordered looks and sounds pretty tasty ! :thumbsup2

Can't wait to hear about your EPIC day ! :banana:

Haha thank you! Dug is pretty fantastic, and I LOVE wearing that hoodie.

WCC is awesome and you and your kids will LOVE it! I promise if you're not doing the skillet, you will love that dish that Matt got! The Chipotle/Espresso combo isn't very in your face and the grits are out of this world! I can't even think about it right now, it sounds so good. :laughing:

Can't wait to share the first chapter of our epic adventure tomorrow! :yay:

Loving your TR so far and cannot wait to hear about your EPIC feat!

Thank you! And I know, I have been itching to write and post about that day. It should be a goodie. :goodvibes

I went to WCC in 2008 and Loved it! I had a similar experience as it was my Parent's anniversary and they made them kiss for the entirety of a song (I don't recall what song it was) My parents are very non-PDA, so this was hilarious for my sister and I.

Isn't it fabulous?! We loved it on our honeymoon, and we will definitely be returning on our next trip! That is so funny about your parents. I would have died if they made us do anything more than just a quick kiss and toast! :rotfl:

Are you guys planning on going there again on your next trip?!

hopefully this isn't a double post....I don't know what happened to my 1st post... :confused3

Haha you are in the clear, no double post that I can see! The DIS can be weird sometimes and just eat a post for no reason. :confused3

anyway...seems like you had a wonderful day....love the hoodie! and your Dug...he's just the right size to snuggle with!

We had a great day! It was relaxing but also really fun. And thank you, Dug really is the perfect snuggle buddy and pal. I'm glad I found him. :goodvibes

I am sooo hungry now after seeing the Sundaes and cupcakes....now I will spend the next hour opening the fridge 12 times in hopes something as yummy magically appears - LOL

Ugh I'm telling you... Writing this TR is KILLING me because of all the food pictures! I want to eat it ALL! And it's hard because we're back to healthier eating. Thank God for cheat meals on Saturdays, otherwise I would not survive writing this TR! :rotfl:

Maybe when I get home there will be some school bread waiting on the counter for me! :lmao:


Can't wait to hear about your Epic day!
p.s. free laundry - thats great! :laundy:

YES I am so excited to share it! And free laundry is wonderful. Gotta love DVC! :goodvibes

[danimaroo]

aargh! your cliff hangers kill me!

:lmao: Am I cruel or WHAT?! At least I don't leave you hanging for too many days! Gosh, what would you do if my next post wasn't for another week or something?! :laughing: Don't worry, I'll have part one of our epic day posted tomorrow morning!

Just found your trip report and read the whole thing. You guys are great. Looking forward to more.

YAY WELCOME! Totally excited to have new readers along for this funny ride! Glad you're all caught up and I hope you stick around for more. I can't wait to share the rest of our trip... and we're not even halfway through it! :scared1: Thanks for popping in and commenting, I really appreciate it!

:lmao::rotfl:...nope, not the same thing!! We were dragged up in front of the whole restaurant and joined other couples celebrating in a KISSING CONTEST!!! :hug: Yeah, it was pretty funny...especially since my Dcuz put us up to it! But, yours is HILARIOUS!! Mostly because Matt kept saying no..it might have been easier just to sing it and get it over with. When we were there for my B-day in '09, our server brought me a glass of champagne and then announced to the restaurant that it was my B-day and her being the best ;) singer their she was going to sing Happy Birthday to me. :scared1: She sucked sooooo bad....it was sooooooo funny!!!!:lmao:

Awesome pics from the boat, you have a great camera, it got such pretty colors! I'm hungry now from that pic of the cupcake..thanks.

Okay, you totally win for the WORST experience. Matt would have HATED that, he would have had no part in a kissing contest in front of everyone. :rotfl:

There was no way that boy was going to sing in front of everyone! She let him off pretty easy with the kiss though. :laughing:

I love the free champagne! They did that for us on our honeymoon (but no singing)... I'm sure her singing was just beautiful. ;)

Thank you! I actually pulled out my dSLR for those photos just because it was so pretty out! Ugh and I know, I'm starving and would love a cupcake... So at least I feel your pain. :lmao:

[marDgreen88]

Aw, I'm sorry your meal wasn't awesome. :( That's sad.

OMG! I think I would have died in Matt's situation. I tend to not get very embarrassed... ever... but I. DO. NOT. SING. FOR. ANYONE.

Haha... even Matt's HAND looks red from embarrassment! Or maybe that's just because of the table. HAHAHA.

HOW CUTE of that little girl! And I LOVE your sweatshirt! I think I saw a t-shirt with that pattern in Mickey's Star Traders! And the Y is made out of the castle AND the monorail? Two of my favorite things about Disney!

OMG your photos are amazing!!! I especially am diggin the ones of Bay Lake Tower... ;)

I'm gonna say there was another cupcake that won the prize... but that's just a guess! :thumbsup2

[Oliquig]

OMG poor Matt! WCC was on our short list, and I think will be a must do for the pork alone!

[ZehnJahren]

Wow, that food looks great! Both yours and Matt's! DBF is all about the char; I think he'd have been in heaven.

I have heard so much about that restaurant, but i've never been. I actually really don't understand what happens at that place - what's all this about lots of ketchup, for instance - but it seems pretty darn popular, and all the food I see on any TR looks delicious. Another one to add to my list I guess!

And how tough was it to just stop by MK just to catch a bus without going in! I probably would have had to just walk in and go down Main Street!

[Joyciemc]

Hello! I can't believe I've never stumbled upon you here before! But you TR title made me laugh, and I had to know more!

Just read your whole TR, and I love it! You two remind me of DH and I, except reversed; my DH is the super extroverted outgoing one, and I am a shy wack-o. We are both 100% goober goofballs, though.

Can't wait for the next update!

[IheartDDuck]

I hate that when your dining partner's meal is that much better than yours, and you just want to snatch it and scarf it down when they're not looking. I've experienced that before. It's depressing. :laughing:

How adorable was that they the little one wished you a happy anniversary! That's just awesome. Gotta love little kiddos.

[danimaroo]

Aw, I'm sorry your meal wasn't awesome. :( That's sad.

It was sad, especially in comparison to Matt's! However, it was the most disappointing thing I ate on our trip, so I can't complain because it wasn't the worst thing ever. Just not what I was hoping for!

OMG! I think I would have died in Matt's situation. I tend to not get very embarrassed... ever... but I. DO. NOT. SING. FOR. ANYONE.

Haha... even Matt's HAND looks red from embarrassment! Or maybe that's just because of the table. HAHAHA.

Ugh yes it was incredibly awkward but he totally stuck with his guns and said nope, hahaha. I kind of wonder if the waitress was upset. And yes, he was super red for awhile. Poor guy. I will not put that on our WCC reservation next time! :rotfl:

HOW CUTE of that little girl! And I LOVE your sweatshirt! I think I saw a t-shirt with that pattern in Mickey's Star Traders! And the Y is made out of the castle AND the monorail? Two of my favorite things about Disney!

It was so cute! And thank you! You definitely saw that on a t-shirt, because I debated on buying the t-shirt instead. But I am very happy I got the hoodie. And yes, it's like so many awesome things in one sweatshirt! :cloud9:

OMG your photos are amazing!!! I especially am diggin the ones of Bay Lake Tower... ;)

Thank you! Hahaha so, when I originally read this I was like, wait, why is she so interested in BLT?! Then I read your update and it made way more sense. I don't even know why I didn't put 2 and 2 together before I read your update though! Hahaha, I'm so excited for you though!

I'm gonna say there was another cupcake that won the prize... but that's just a guess! :thumbsup2

I think you might be right! :thumbsup2


OMG poor Matt! WCC was on our short list, and I think will be a must do for the pork alone!

Haha, he survived, but it was definitely not is favorite moment of the trip! You should definitely do it and order Matt's dish. Ahhh it was so good. I normally don't like grits but these were out of this world.

Wow, that food looks great! Both yours and Matt's! DBF is all about the char; I think he'd have been in heaven.

It was terrific! I think he would love the steak then! It wasn't my favorite but still totally edible and I did enjoy it later on that night.

I have heard so much about that restaurant, but i've never been. I actually really don't understand what happens at that place - what's all this about lots of ketchup, for instance - but it seems pretty darn popular, and all the food I see on any TR looks delicious. Another one to add to my list I guess!

It's just kind of a hootin' hollerin' place. If someone asks their waitress for ketchup, they bring you every bottle of ketchup in the place... And if another tabs e asks for it later, they'll have people help by bringing bottle over to the new table. Oh and with refills, they'll give you a massive jar to drink out of if you keep asking for them. And they have people do things like the hokey pokey, etc. It's pretty funny and families have a blast. You should give it a shot, it's fun and tasty. :)

And how tough was it to just stop by MK just to catch a bus without going in! I probably would have had to just walk in and go down Main Street!

It was definitely hard! I was tempted but then that would've wasted a day of our park tickets, and since this was our non-park day, I had to resist.. It was not easy! :laughing:

Hello! I can't believe I've never stumbled upon you here before! But you TR title made me laugh, and I had to know more!

Just read your whole TR, and I love it! You two remind me of DH and I, except reversed; my DH is the super extroverted outgoing one, and I am a shy wack-o. We are both 100% goober goofballs, though.

Can't wait for the next update!

Hi, thanks for joining in and reading! I'm glad you decided to give my TR a shot and have enjoyed reading it. I love that you and your DH are like us... I think it keeps things balanced, that's for sure... And makes things interesting.

I can't wait to post my next update tomorrow! Thanks again for popping in to say hi. :goodvibes

I hate that when your dining partner's meal is that much better than yours, and you just want to snatch it and scarf it down when they're not looking. I've experienced that before. It's depressing. :laughing:

How adorable was that they the little one wished you a happy anniversary! That's just awesome. Gotta love little kiddos.

Yeah it was totally killer, I wanted to steal his entire plate! He'd never notice... :rolleyes1

It was super cute and she was so polite about it! It was a pleasant surprise from such a young kid... But definitely a nice surprise. :goodvibes

[marDgreen88]

Hahaha so, when I originally read this I was like, wait, why is she so interested in BLT?! Then I read your update and it made way more sense. I don't even know why I didn't put 2 and 2 together before I read your update though! Hahaha, I'm so excited for you though!

:rotfl: Hahaha it's okay that you didn't put two and two together! I don't think I would have either. I mean any hints that I have dropped have been VERY subtle... like putting the monorail picture in my ticker! That's almost not even a hint, it's just a... CLUE, I guess! BUT YEAH. Thanks!!! But really, I loved those pictures! So pretty! :goodvibes

[NMAmy]

I'm enjoying your trip report! Thank you for keeping me occupied during a slow-ish day at work. ;) Your pictures of the Beach Club and the Friendships made me homesick for the Epcot resorts. We had to move our March trip to May so I'm getting my vicarious Disney fix through trip reports.

Can't wait to hear more!

[danimaroo]

:rotfl: Hahaha it's okay that you didn't put two and two together! I don't think I would have either. I mean any hints that I have dropped have been VERY subtle... like putting the monorail picture in my ticker! That's almost not even a hint, it's just a... CLUE, I guess! BUT YEAH. Thanks!!! But really, I loved those pictures! So pretty! :goodvibes

I know but I'm still laughing at myself for it. Like you even gave a clue in your ticker! Ooooh man. At least I wasn't the only one fooled by it! :rotfl:

I'm enjoying your trip report! Thank you for keeping me occupied during a slow-ish day at work. ;) Your pictures of the Beach Club and the Friendships made me homesick for the Epcot resorts. We had to move our March trip to May so I'm getting my vicarious Disney fix through trip reports.

Can't wait to hear more!

Welcome to my TR and thank you! I'm glad I kept you occupied on a slow day at work... because that's why I love the DIS! When I have a slow day, I love just reading people's TRs and totally living vicariously through them. :laughing:

I LOVE the Epcot resorts. It is really going to be difficult to not stay there at some point. Where are you staying in May?! That is very exciting! I can't wait to start planning our next trip!

You're in luck because I keep this updated nearly daily, so be on the lookout for a new update here in a bit. :goodvibes Thanks again for commenting!!

[danimaroo]

Chapter Eighteen: Let the Disney World Gauntlet BEGIN!
Day 5: January 22nd, 2012

4 parks. 2 goobers. 1 day. CAN THEY DO IT?

CUE "FINAL COUNTDOWN" -
Duhduh duh duhhhh
Duh duh duh duh duhhh
Duhduh duh duhhhh
Duhduhduhduhduhduhduh... It's the DIS-NEY GAUNT-LEEEEET!

Okay sorry, I had to do something kind of big there considering this was about to be the most EPIC day we'd ever seen in Disney World!

Hoookay, so! We woke up to a wake-up call at 7:30am, and decided to eat breakfast in our room since it would be much faster. We both had some oatmeal and of course watched Stacey while we ate. We got ready pretty darn quickly, as I have it noted that we were out the door by 8!

Of course, we were in dire need of coffee if we wanted to make it though this day, so we grabbed some in our mugs and headed off to catch a Friendship boat to our first stop... Hollywood Studios! We waited for a few with some other people, enjoying our coffee and starting to really wake ourselves up...

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/be4120c3.jpg

We hopped on the boat and were pretty excited to be on our way!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/40a7a3f5.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/1f508040.jpg

We arrived at Hollywood Studios at around 8:45, and as I suspected, the park was letting people in before the 9am opening. I'd heard they were no longer doing Rope Drop and had been letting people in at 8:30 without really announcing it, so I was actually excited that we would get a 15 minute head start on our day!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/b2dd3b79.jpg

Our first priority was to make our way over to TSMM. Okay so, don't attack me but... We think this attraction is fun but not amazing. LOVE the Toy Story movies, but neither of us truly understands the hype over this attraction, at least enough to garner the lines it does.

BUT, I told Matt I wanted to ride it once, and this was our best chance of getting on without waiting. The wait time said 20 minutes (already!), but we figured it'd be way smarter to get FPs and come back later... Especially with such early return times:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/c8746ffb.jpg

To give you an idea of how EXCELLENT this new opening procedure was, this was what Pixar Place looked like as we left TSMM..

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/451e4214.jpg

We decided our next stop would be Tower of Terror. I somehow convinced Matt to ride it with me again, though not sure how, and he actually agreed to it.

We strolled through the main area, and decided we should take our first photo of the day. Our plan was to take a photo of us with our hats on in each of the parks, and then update Facebook throughout the day. We also did this with our PhotoPass, which I don't have yet, so you'll have to deal with my iPhone photos. We saw an official-looking CM standing nearby and asked if she'd take our photo for us (and she did a good job, I love this photo!)...

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/c4e9dd65.jpg

She asked us how our day was going, so we told her about our plans for the day and she was impressed, then asked what our favorite HS attraction was. We told her that we really loved Star Tours and the new reboot of it (she was shocked we didn't say TSMM). It was then that we had even MORE pixie dust thrown at us, because the CM said, "Well then, you guys would probably make VERY good use of these, to really help you get through your day!" and handed us 2 FPs for Star Tours!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/0e19fed1.jpg

We thanked her repeatedly and said goodbye, heading off to Tower of Terror! Oh and um, that section of the park? It was essentially dead. Guess everyone was over at TSMM!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/6e4f68d3.jpg

As we walked up, it was around 8:55 and there was a small line outside... but the wait time said nothing on it. Soon I figured out that they must have been holding off on opening other attractions aside from TSMM until 9. Sooo we waited a few minutes before the line began to move, and we found ourselves back inside the creepiest hotel around..

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/bc9d6579.jpg

Of course, the CM asks us, "How many?" and as soon as I said 2, I knew he was about to put us here... again...

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/a5ab3dcc.jpg

Yes, front row.

We clicked ourselves in and I could not believe it... It was SO SO much tamer than our first ride! Like, tiny drops, and only once do I think we were thrown up in the air with no stop before being dropped. It was a completely different ride!! Matt and I both agreed that it was way less scary than the first time.

I thought about it for a moment and mentioned that they must make the ride sequences a lot scarier for EMH/night time, and much less intense for the morning crowds... which makes sense since most younger kids are going to want to ride is earlier in the day.

So to anyone who is scared and wants to give it a shot... DON'T do what I did and ride it at night as your first time. Ride it in the morning! It was a LOT easier to deal with and did not leave me shaking like our first ride on it did.

Anyway, after a not-so-terrifying ride on ToT, we strolled over to Rockin' Roller Coaster for a quick ride. Standby said 20 minutes, but we were on a time crunch here so we opted to ride it single rider. We walked straight on, of course. This and TT are two attractions I have no problem riding single rider.

RnRC you can't even really talk to the person next to you, and TT is something we both enjoy but don't like waiting for, so it just makes sense to do single rider! We don't do that on EE, because it's my favorite and we love riding it together. Otherwise, I think more people should seriously take advantage of doing single rider!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a336/miloface/e30faf4b.jpg

Welp, go us, we'd already hit our 2-rides quota for Hollywood Studios! But, it was still REALLY early, we had 2 sets of FPs to use, so of course we weren't done yet!

Continued in next update (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44068760&postcount=262)

[My_Pal_Pluto]

Hee Heeeeeeee ... LOVE the tale of Matt's time at WCC ... love that restaurant ... kudos to him for sneaking around the song and still getting in a kiss!!

Your photos are GORGEOUS!! What camera were you using? I think some of them should seriously be framed ... the sunsets over GF and the shimmering lights of the MK entrance reflected on the water are WOW!!!!

Looking forward to the next EPIC tale!!

[danimaroo]

Hee Heeeeeeee ... LOVE the tale of Matt's time at WCC ... love that restaurant ... kudos to him for sneaking around the song and still getting in a kiss!!

Your photos are GORGEOUS!! What camera were you using? I think some of them should seriously be framed ... the sunsets over GF and the shimmering lights of the MK entrance reflected on the water are WOW!!!!

Looking forward to the next EPIC tale!!

Haha, he was such a good sport about everything but I definitely felt bad! He handled it very well though, and well, I'll take the kiss over a song! :goodvibes

Thank you on the photos! It's funny because I was looking at them again and thinking.. Ya know, I should frame a few of these! So I think I might have to do that! Camera-wise, I just using my good ol' Nikon D40, which is probably the "original" intro-to-dSLRs camera. It's an older dSLR model (they don't make them anymore) but has really been an excellent camera for me! Eventually I'll get a new camera body but this one does the trick! :thumbsup2

Well, the next update was posted RIGHT as you posted this reply, so hopefully you get to see it!! :goodvibes

[okw19]

I am alive! :yay::woohoo: Get ready for a novel of a reply because I am backtracking and catching up!

I know, it's WAY creepier at night. And yes, I think we are the same person! I just re-read the book again around Halloween. Have you ever read it? It's so good and scary and way different than the Stanley Kubrick movie. But I also love the movie, too!
Yes, I like the book too! In high school we had to write a paper in Senior English doing a book vs. movie comparison and a bunch of detailed stuff between the two. Anyways I picked The Shining, and got the highest score in the class on the project. :goodvibes

Day 3: Jan. 20th
Hobo birds love delicious Market Place pastries and I'm sure I would too! Matt's shirt is complete awesomeness today!

I'm glad Matt chose Donald, those are so cute! I loved seeing the Pluto ones while we were down there too. So cute to see Pluto get excited when people were wearing them. :) LOVE the Goonies, and you probably should've bought that pirate do-rag thing. :laughing:Unfortunately, I don't have our PhotoPass photos back yet, so once I get them I will definitely post the photos from this experience.Eek! I'm sorry! I am waiting for the 27th so we can order the CD. :rolleyes1

Your hat is so precious! :cutie: That towel is awesome! Anything with the Brer critters on it is a winner in my book. Such sweet CMs too. :goodvibes

CHH nom nom nom. We had it for the first time this trip and loved it! Especially my momma. She asked to go back on our last day to get more fish and shrimp! :lmao: Wise choice to go back to the room and take care of the grumps! Perfect Mickey charm too!

Shadow pic walking back to BC = adorable. That alone pool time sounds divine! We say farted around too so no worries. ;)

Mmm, dinner time! Or not...early check-in time! Love the hoodie. "Waaaallll-eeeee" said in adorable Ri voice.

OMG your plates look like seafood heaven. I really want to go to this buffet now. Matt just seems to be an attention magnet who doesn't want any of it, kind of like Riley. :laughing:

I am so glad you posted the wait time card thing! I got one on our first park night for the Princess meet and greet. I uploaded this pic to Instagram saying "Yay! Makes me feel important!"http://distilleryimage10.s3.amazonaws.com/f0fcb240449811e19e4a12313813ffc0_7.jpg

I agree with you on the ring thing. The fact that Disney put a real one in the new queue is just great. Details, details.

Getting stuck on Splash Mountain. :sad2: I remember getting the text from you saying you guys were stuck. That video is kind of priceless. It is SO loud, and you guys get major props for not killing anyone. At least they finally turned the noises off and you guys took very entertaining pictures for me to enjoy. Basically, if people JUST STAYED SEATED LIKE INSTRUCTED, we probably could've been on our way.
Basically, if people were respectful and nice, you could have been on your way. It must have been cool to see some backstage areas, to get the fastpasses and to pee after holding it for eternity!

WOO TEST TRACK, BABY!!! SCHOOL BREAD AND ALMOND PRETZELS BABBYYYY!!!! You marry that schoolbread, baby!!

Sorry I am a little crazy today. :rotfl:

[Twoboysnmygirl]

HA! I told Rey all about the singing and we discussed how HE would react if that happened! I think really similar to Matt, but he says he would stand up and recite it as poetry instead of singing it...but that's total BS! :laughing:

GORGEOUS sunset shots! Love them! I cannot wait to hear about your epic day! :woohoo:

[jecskc]

Yay for the Gauntlet !! Looks like you got a good start. I have been wanting to try TOT, so I'm gonna go with your theory that it is tamer in the AM and ride it in April. I hope you are right. I've been super chicken to ride it.

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Shew! All caught up now! What an amazing start to your epic day! And hello?!?! Pixie dust! You are so brave to ride ToT again, I'm going to take you up on that tip when Hope drags me kicking and screaming onto ToT next February! I'll let her drag me in the morning so it's not so bad! :laughing:

[okw19]

Novel, Part II
Jan 21st

What a pretty walk over to the Boardwalk. :lovestruc Those sandwiches and cupcakes look great!

What fabulous towel swans/lovebirds! It also looks like you guys picked a great day to relax! More awesome 80s movie references, please. ;) I like the skywriting picture as is. Glad you were able to capture just the one word. I've always wondered who is behind the religious skywriting and how much money have they wasted?!

The Marketplace bus stop refurb was HORRIBLE. I will wander down to the rest of DTD, but my family NEVER does so it was a big pain for us. End complaining.

EARL OF SANDWICH HECK YES. :cool1: It is just so delicious. Sounds like the Art of Disney needs to check on their CMs. :rolleyes1 I did notice that several times I had to ask if I could have my purchases sent back. Actually almost every time I bought something that I wanted sent back I had to ask. They used to ask you every time, but I must have had bad luck this trip.

I love the posters and prints. :)

You guys would get along well with my dad. I think he managed to get 3 sundaes from there over the week.

The Gauntlet! Woohoooo! DUG! He is so cute, and I love seeing him peeking out of your backpack.

I adore Wilderness Lodge. We actually stayed and the Villas the previous time we visited WDW, and I love it. It's no OKW or BCV, but it was nice and I enjoyed being able to walk right into the lobby of WL. Honestly sometimes I forget to mention it when I'm talking about DVC villas.

The geyser pictures are just too cute! I'm glad you're good at math and remembered that Star Wars + Muppets = love. Because it does.
I definitely had one of those coonskin caps from Frontierland as a child. I thought I was awesome because hello, my hat has a raccoon tail. Beaver Butt?! :rotfl:

Whispering Canyon is just a fun place and I still remember a waiter using my ponytail as horse reigns once. Both of your entrees look delicious, but Matt's is making my mouth water!! :rotfl: I'm dying over the story with the waitress. Even though I don't know Matt very well, I can totally picture this happening!

What a sweet little girl!! :lovestruc I hope Riley gets over her shyness and will do adorable things like that one day.

Your hoodie is adorable and I highly considered buying it, but convinced myself I didn't need anymore hoodies. :laughing: The photos of the sun kissed sky over the lake are amazing!! Wow!

What a relaxing end to a relaxing day in Disney. I hate dirty socks too.
Can't wait to read about the gauntlet!

[okw19]

It's here! I love the little song redo, I actually kind of sang it. :rotfl:

Hollywood studios is so fun at opening. I just love that park and the atmosphere so much. TSMM fastpasses, good idea.

Woohoo for pixie dust already! I feel bad every time you mention Photpass.

ToT sounds kind of lame this morning. :laughing: I'm sure the tamer ride was appreciated so early though. RnRC is one of my favorites! Let's use the FPs!!

[kittylady1972]

:) Just joined yesterday and can't wait to read more. LOVE your plans to hit all four parks in one day and can't wait to hear how that goes. Sounds like you are off to a great start...and I might have to try that myself in two weeks! ;)

[407-W-DISNEY]

Great start to day! Keep the updates coming - if you can!

Thanks for the tip re: ToT....if I ever get the courage to try it, I will try in in the AM!

[marDgreen88]

Yay for the Gauntlet! :woohoo:

Ya know, I personally love Toy Story Mania. I think it's SO much fun. BUT I think the main reason it's so popular is that it's pretty much the only RIDE at Hollywood Studios that any kid can enjoy.

Aw that's a cute picture. And good idea about taking a picture at each park. PROOF that you achieved gauntlet status (or something like that)! WHAT A NICE CM!

Yeah I feel like RNRC is so loud that it doesn't even matter who you're riding with!

[danimaroo]

I am alive! :yay::woohoo: Get ready for a novel of a reply because I am backtracking and catching up!

YAY I AM SO GLAD YOU ARE BACK! I missed your epic comments in my TR. Just hasn't been the same without you around here!

Yes, I like the book too! In high school we had to write a paper in Senior English doing a book vs. movie comparison and a bunch of detailed stuff between the two. Anyways I picked The Shining, and got the highest score in the class on the project. :goodvibes

That is awesome. That would be the coolest project to be able to do that. You chose a good one! I totally had nightmares the first time I read the book!

Day 3: Jan. 20th
Hobo birds love delicious Market Place pastries and I'm sure I would too! Matt's shirt is complete awesomeness today!

Hobo birds are awesome... and yes, I love that shirt!!

I'm glad Matt chose Donald, those are so cute! I loved seeing the Pluto ones while we were down there too. So cute to see Pluto get excited when people were wearing them. :) LOVE the Goonies, and you probably should've bought that pirate do-rag thing. :laughing:Eek! I'm sorry! I am waiting for the 27th so we can order the CD. :rolleyes1

At first he was disappointed because he wanted the Haunted Mansion one and they don't have it anymore.. but then we saw these and that made up for it. I love that they made these ones so cute!

Don't even worry about the PP thing! It's awesome in itself that you're doing it for all of us, no rush at all! I just didn't want to wait to start my TR before I got them. I figure I'll post the best photos later on once I have the CD! :goodvibes

Your hat is so precious! :cutie: That towel is awesome! Anything with the Brer critters on it is a winner in my book. Such sweet CMs too. :goodvibes

Yes, I love both items! I like using my Splash Towel now because it makes me happy. And the CMs were so funny!

CHH nom nom nom. We had it for the first time this trip and loved it! Especially my momma. She asked to go back on our last day to get more fish and shrimp! :lmao: Wise choice to go back to the room and take care of the grumps! Perfect Mickey charm too!

I really loved it, too! Our first meal wasn't great since we were in poop moods, but our second meal there was a lot better!

Shadow pic walking back to BC = adorable. That alone pool time sounds divine! We say farted around too so no worries. ;)

Hahaha I knew you would totally get my fartin' around, but then worried others would be like ummm what? So I felt an explanation might be necessary! :rotfl:

Mmm, dinner time! Or not...early check-in time! Love the hoodie. "Waaaallll-eeeee" said in adorable Ri voice.

Hahaha I can picture her saying it and it's making me smile!

OMG your plates look like seafood heaven. I really want to go to this buffet now. Matt just seems to be an attention magnet who doesn't want any of it, kind of like Riley. :laughing:

Yup you definitely need to go, it's so tasty! And yes he really was. I felt so bad for him. Definitely noting this all for our next trip! :lmao:

I am so glad you posted the wait time card thing! I got one on our first park night for the Princess meet and greet. I uploaded this pic to Instagram saying "Yay! Makes me feel important!"http://distilleryimage10.s3.amazonaws.com/f0fcb240449811e19e4a12313813ffc0_7.jpg

Hahahaha I love that photo. You know what is hilarious? Before I read what you wrote, I saw the carpet and knew you were either in line for Mickey or the Princesses!!

I agree with you on the ring thing. The fact that Disney put a real one in the new queue is just great. Details, details.

Yup, it seriously made me so happy. I love the little things!

Getting stuck on Splash Mountain. :sad2: I remember getting the text from you saying you guys were stuck. That video is kind of priceless. It is SO loud, and you guys get major props for not killing anyone. At least they finally turned the noises off and you guys took very entertaining pictures for me to enjoy.
Basically, if people were respectful and nice, you could have been on your way. It must have been cool to see some backstage areas, to get the fastpasses and to pee after holding it for eternity!

Haha it was so bad but now it's kind of hilarious! I don't know how we didn't kill anyone, seriously. Glad you enjoyed my video and photos though! :laughing: And yes, people should've just not been turds. The backstage area was weird to see but also like.. not what I expected. It was a hallway with stairs then we were outside in a parking lot. The end. Wompwomp.

WOO TEST TRACK, BABY!!! SCHOOL BREAD AND ALMOND PRETZELS BABBYYYY!!!! You marry that schoolbread, baby!!

Sorry I am a little crazy today. :rotfl:

HAHAHAHA OMG you just made me laugh so hard with all of this insane Stacey talk. AMAZING!! I am so glad you're back!


HA! I told Rey all about the singing and we discussed how HE would react if that happened! I think really similar to Matt, but he says he would stand up and recite it as poetry instead of singing it...but that's total BS! :laughing:

GORGEOUS sunset shots! Love them! I cannot wait to hear about your epic day! :woohoo:

Hahaha that is so funny you told Rey! There is no way he would do that! :rotfl: I am laughing that you called it BS!!

Thanks! Just on my Nikon D40 (old school!!), but they came out pretty! :goodvibes

Yay for the Gauntlet !! Looks like you got a good start. I have been wanting to try TOT, so I'm gonna go with your theory that it is tamer in the AM and ride it in April. I hope you are right. I've been super chicken to ride it.

Yay indeed! We got a very good start! I'm now a little nervous that my theory is totally wrong and you're going to go on it and come back and yell at me for suggesting it. :rotfl: No I really do think it's way less intense in the morning! I hope I'm right, too!

Shew! All caught up now! What an amazing start to your epic day! And hello?!?! Pixie dust! You are so brave to ride ToT again, I'm going to take you up on that tip when Hope drags me kicking and screaming onto ToT next February! I'll let her drag me in the morning so it's not so bad! :laughing:

It was an awesome start to our day, and that CM was AWESOME for the FPs! Definitely my hero. YOU CAN DO IT! It'll leave you shaking when you get off of it, but you'll be happy you conquered a fear! :rotfl:

[danimaroo]

Novel, Part II
Jan 21st

What a pretty walk over to the Boardwalk. :lovestruc Those sandwiches and cupcakes look great!

I love the Boardwalk so much. It's so pretty at all times of the day! And the food was great.

What fabulous towel swans/lovebirds! It also looks like you guys picked a great day to relax! More awesome 80s movie references, please. ;) I like the skywriting picture as is. Glad you were able to capture just the one word. I've always wondered who is behind the religious skywriting and how much money have they wasted?!

Yeah this was such a nice day to chill out. Hahaha love that you enjoyed the reference! And ugh yes, I just don't get who wants to waste their money on it!?

The Marketplace bus stop refurb was HORRIBLE. I will wander down to the rest of DTD, but my family NEVER does so it was a big pain for us. End complaining.

Ugh no kidding, what a PAIN that was. I just wanted EoS and to have to walk was making me sad. But the walk ended up being worth it!

EARL OF SANDWICH HECK YES. :cool1: It is just so delicious. Sounds like the Art of Disney needs to check on their CMs. :rolleyes1 I did notice that several times I had to ask if I could have my purchases sent back. Actually almost every time I bought something that I wanted sent back I had to ask. They used to ask you every time, but I must have had bad luck this trip.

It's weird because I'd say like 90% of CMs would offer to send it back, even my pins! But this guy just had a crap attitude and I wanted to slap him and tell him to stop being a turd.

I love the posters and prints. :)

Me too. They make me happy whenever I look at them. :)

You guys would get along well with my dad. I think he managed to get 3 sundaes from there over the week.

Haha THEY ARE SO GOOD!

The Gauntlet! Woohoooo! DUG! He is so cute, and I love seeing him peeking out of your backpack.

He was quite happy hanging out in my backpack that day!

I adore Wilderness Lodge. We actually stayed and the Villas the previous time we visited WDW, and I love it. It's no OKW or BCV, but it was nice and I enjoyed being able to walk right into the lobby of WL. Honestly sometimes I forget to mention it when I'm talking about DVC villas.

I ALWAYS forget about the villas there! I'm glad to hear they're nice! Not sure we'll ever stay there but who knows?! I do love the lobby so much!

The geyser pictures are just too cute! I'm glad you're good at math and remembered that Star Wars + Muppets = love. Because it does.
I definitely had one of those coonskin caps from Frontierland as a child. I thought I was awesome because hello, my hat has a raccoon tail. Beaver Butt?! :rotfl:

Hahaha, yessss, I love that you had that hat. I bet you thought you were the coolest kid in town. My little brother definitely had one!

Whispering Canyon is just a fun place and I still remember a waiter using my ponytail as horse reigns once. Both of your entrees look delicious, but Matt's is making my mouth water!! :rotfl: I'm dying over the story with the waitress. Even though I don't know Matt very well, I can totally picture this happening!

Haha it really is fun! Matt's WAS SO GOOD. Ugh I want it now. You met him though and you totally get it! He was nooooot having it. :rotfl:

What a sweet little girl!! :lovestruc I hope Riley gets over her shyness and will do adorable things like that one day.

It was so stinkin' cute. Kids can be awesome! Matt was super shy when he was a kid (surprise!) and never would've done something like that, haha.

Your hoodie is adorable and I highly considered buying it, but convinced myself I didn't need anymore hoodies. :laughing: The photos of the sun kissed sky over the lake are amazing!! Wow!

Haha I have so many too but I HAD to have it! And thank you!

What a relaxing end to a relaxing day in Disney. I hate dirty socks too.
Can't wait to read about the gauntlet!

It was pleasant! Dirty socks are the worst. I brought so many pairs with me this time! :rotfl:


It's here! I love the little song redo, I actually kind of sang it. :rotfl:

Hahaha, glad someone appreciates me and my totally gooberness.

Hollywood studios is so fun at opening. I just love that park and the atmosphere so much. TSMM fastpasses, good idea.

It totally is! So much quieter, too! And yes, FPs were a VERY wise choice!

Woohoo for pixie dust already! I feel bad every time you mention Photpass.

We had so much luck and pixie dust this trip, it was great! And stop, I'm the one who was kind of holding it up! I'm not worried about it at all anyway! :goodvibes

ToT sounds kind of lame this morning. :laughing: I'm sure the tamer ride was appreciated so early though. RnRC is one of my favorites! Let's use the FPs!!

HAHA you would've thought it was SO lame that time! But it was definitely nice for me that morning!! I love RnRC, so much fun!


:) Just joined yesterday and can't wait to read more. LOVE your plans to hit all four parks in one day and can't wait to hear how that goes. Sounds like you are off to a great start...and I might have to try that myself in two weeks! ;)

YAY I'm so glad that not only you joined, but you also decided to comment! :) It was QUITE a plan, and a doozy, and I can't wait to keep sharing more of it with you! You should totally give it a shot!! :thumbsup2

Great start to day! Keep the updates coming - if you can!

Thanks for the tip re: ToT....if I ever get the courage to try it, I will try in in the AM!

I ALMOST did a double update but then I didn't. SOOO tomorrow morning/afternoon there will be one! Haha.

Yes, definitely do morning! It's so much better and not bad at all! I'm glad I did it both times, even though the first time was insane! :rotfl:

Yay for the Gauntlet! :woohoo:

Ya know, I personally love Toy Story Mania. I think it's SO much fun. BUT I think the main reason it's so popular is that it's pretty much the only RIDE at Hollywood Studios that any kid can enjoy.

I do like it a lot! And if it wasn't always so busy I would probably go on it way more often. I think the line just isn't always worth it, but I think I kind of feel that way about most attractions except Splash, EE and HM. And I agree, I think it's the one ride that a little kid can enjoy as can grandma! PLUS IT'S TOY STORY! <3333

Aw that's a cute picture. And good idea about taking a picture at each park. PROOF that you achieved gauntlet status (or something like that)! WHAT A NICE CM!

Thank you! And exactly, we wanted proof that yes, we made it to every park. It was a fun idea and all of our FB friends loved following along with our day! And yes, that CM made our morning that much better!! :goodvibes

Yeah I feel like RNRC is so loud that it doesn't even matter who you're riding with!

EXACTLY! Plus you're too busy with your head like stuck back to even talk to the person next to you. :goodvibes That and I always smush my ears on that ride!

[Sam33]

Just read the entire thing! So fun
I feel your pain getting stuck in Splash at the worst possible spot. We got stuck on Test Track in the heat room and they do NOT shut it off for you. It was miserable!

Looking forward to the gauntlet! Ha

[danimaroo]

Just read the entire thing! So fun
I feel your pain getting stuck in Splash at the worst possible spot. We got stuck on Test Track in the heat room and they do NOT shut it off for you. It was miserable!

Looking forward to the gauntlet! Ha

OH MY GOSH. You actually got stuck in the heating room?! This is something I have discussed repeatedly with Matt about how horrible it would be to get stuck in that room! How long were you there?! I would have melted! :rotfl:

Okay sorry, just had to say that before I also say.. WELCOME! And that I'm super glad you've joined and are all caught up! But maaaan, that is so bad being stuck in that room! I can't believe they didn't turn it off. :scared1:

[Sam33]

OH MY GOSH. You actually got stuck in the heating room?! This is something I have discussed repeatedly with Matt about how horrible it would be to get stuck in that room! How long were you there?! I would have melted! :rotfl:

Okay sorry, just had to say that before I also say.. WELCOME! And that I'm super glad you've joined and are all caught up! But maaaan, that is so bad being stuck in that room! I can't believe they didn't turn it off. :scared1:

It was only about 10 or so minutes, thankfully. But it still majorly sucked! And we got moving again and then spent another 10 minutes stuck in the cold room! (they're different rooms right? Having trouble recalling whether they change or whether there's two rooms. If it's one room we got stuck again in the corrosion room that smells bad)