UPDATE 1/20!! Bickering, Barfing, and Bug Bites
- Thread starter Simba22
- Start date
Simba22
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 17, 2006
It was only non-magical when I had to clean up puke or blood. Aside from that, it was fine
Okay, I have to ask how much better! How much better?!
Lots better!
Your Epcot day sounded great until that girl had her accident
Sounded like something that would have happened to me.......btw DH and I are 99% sure we are changeing to Oct 23 to 30 next year, the weather does not seem all that much warmer than in November and crowds seem to be not bad either.
Loving your TR
The whole month of October used to be pretty quiet but now it seems that the secret is out! I will still go because it's my favorite time to visit and it's still not as bad as the summer time!
Losing the camera was so nerve wracking! It's one of those times when you just keep thinking "this can't be happening!"
It WAS gross!
Lots more to come! Hopefully I can post another update tonight!
Let me just say 'ewwwww' for the drunk story. That would have made me throw up. And whoever saw me would've thrown up. We're talking chain reaction here!
How did you like San Angel Inn? I used to love it there until I went last year. We had terrible service and the food was meh. I'm wondering if they improved at all since then.
Nice hats!
How did you like San Angel Inn? I used to love it there until I went last year. We had terrible service and the food was meh. I'm wondering if they improved at all since then.
Nice hats!
Simba22
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 17, 2006
Let me just say 'ewwwww' for the drunk story. That would have made me throw up. And whoever saw me would've thrown up. We're talking chain reaction here!
How did you like San Angel Inn? I used to love it there until I went last year. We had terrible service and the food was meh. I'm wondering if they improved at all since then.
Nice hats!
I'm surprised it didn't cause a chain reaction because I have a bit of a weak stomache, but I think I was just so surprised by the whole thing I didn't have time to be disgusted.
We've actually been going to San Angel since 1997 and have never had a bad experience.
Thanks lol
- Joined
- Aug 13, 2009
That is disgusting!!!! But I can definitely see it happening. I am suprised I didn't see anyone sick while we were there. I have to admit my stomach feels sour just thinking about drinking and riding rides. Eeewww.
Your shots of illuminations are awesome, thanks for sharing them.
We have never eaten at SanAngel Inn, have considered it many times. There are just so many choices, we have our list and we slowly eliminate them until we get it down to 3. I could spend an entire week eating at Epcot and never get bored for sure.
Excited to hear your next day's report.
Your shots of illuminations are awesome, thanks for sharing them.
We have never eaten at SanAngel Inn, have considered it many times. There are just so many choices, we have our list and we slowly eliminate them until we get it down to 3. I could spend an entire week eating at Epcot and never get bored for sure.
Excited to hear your next day's report.
HeatherBelle614
Always wishing on a star!
- Joined
- Aug 7, 2008
I still LOL'd at your vomit story.
AND, I still love, love, love your first photopass pic!! I think it's perfect!
Looking at your pictures realllly makes me miss you guys.
AND, I still love, love, love your first photopass pic!! I think it's perfect!
Looking at your pictures realllly makes me miss you guys.
Simba22
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 17, 2006
Thank you! I love taking pics of fireworks but I wish I could get more good ones!
You and me, both! And especially during food & wine! So many things to choose from!
I still LOL'd at your vomit story.
AND, I still love, love, love your first photopass pic!! I think it's perfect!
Looking at your pictures realllly makes me miss you guys.
That poor girl...I was SO mad at first, and then totally grossed out, and then I felt really bad.
LOL I was literally crying like 2 hours before we took that! It's funny in retrospect but at the time I was so NOT in the mood to take that pic.
We miss you guys, too!
norybell
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2009
What great Illuminations pics!
I must admit, once I threw up from drinking while at WDW. However, it was (a) many years ago; (b) directly after learning my little sister was engaged, while my BF (now DH) and I were having issues; and (c) in the toilet of my hotel room, so it didn't inconvenience anyone other than myself. Still, I'm not proud. Disney World is not a place for such things!
I must admit, once I threw up from drinking while at WDW. However, it was (a) many years ago; (b) directly after learning my little sister was engaged, while my BF (now DH) and I were having issues; and (c) in the toilet of my hotel room, so it didn't inconvenience anyone other than myself. Still, I'm not proud. Disney World is not a place for such things!
Simba22
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 17, 2006
What great Illuminations pics!
I must admit, once I threw up from drinking while at WDW. However, it was (a) many years ago; (b) directly after learning my little sister was engaged, while my BF (now DH) and I were having issues; and (c) in the toilet of my hotel room, so it didn't inconvenience anyone other than myself. Still, I'm not proud. Disney World is not a place for such things!
No need to justify it! It happens!
Simba22
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 17, 2006
So on our 2nd official day at WDW, we woke up at 8am and prepared to for our day at Hollywood Studios! I actually had been slightly awake almost all night and when I finally fully consciousness, I found out why....
Between my feet and my legs, I had 6 mosquito bites! Three of them were on the very side of my right heel...like right where the foot meets the floor. I don't understand how I got bit there ONCE, nevermind THREE TIMES. But I could not stop scratching!!
Before we left, I cleaned up the room a little bit so that Mousekeeping could come in, and then we headed down to the Pepper Market around 9:30am. I had wanted to leave the room by 8:30 so we could get to DHS around 9:30 and head straight for FPs for TSMM....clearly that didn't go as planned. So even though I was a little bummed, I decided "you know what, this is vacation and I'm going to relax!" So we split our French Toast breakfast then headed to the bus stop.
We waited pretty much exactly 20 minutes for a bus (which was freaking me out internally since we were already "behind schedule), and we were finally on our way at 10:27am. I apologize in advance, but for some reason I hardly take any pics in DHS! I don't know why it works out that way but it happens on every trip!
Needless to say, by the time we got to DHS, all of the FPs for TSMM were gone for the day and the stand-by wait was 70 minutes. We decided we would just make sure we got here early when we came back to DHS later in the trip. Instead we made our way to Sunset Blvd for RnRC and ToT:
We got FPs for RnRC with a return time of 1:25pm and then waited in the stand-by line for about half an hour for ToT.
After our 13 story plummet, we headed to the Animation Studio for some drawing!
The character du jour was Stitch and I did save our drawings but I'm pretty sure they are still in my backpack....
By the time we got out of there, it was about 1pm so we decided to head to Pizza Planet for lunch. It was PACKED. I ordered 2 Pepperoni Pizza "Combo Meals." I was surprised to find that the "combo" does not include a drink.... It does, however, include a salad. In the past, it's always been a pretty yummy garden salad, and they had several types of dressing available. We were actually really looking forward to this whole meal, and it was kind of disappointing to find that the garden salad has been replaced by a Caesar salad. I HATE Caesar dressing and I wasn't sure what Lumar was going to think of it, so I got us chocolate chip cookies too.
Of course, we couldn't leave without playing some PoTC Pinball!
Lumar stopped at the cart outside so Lumar could buy this:
::Meltdown Alert::
After eating lunch, we began the trek back towards RnRC to use our FPs. I mentioned to Lumar that I had to use the restroom. He mentioned something about there being one near the Sorcerer's Hat or something and I have no idea why...maybe it was the heat...who knows...but I just kind of grumbled that I didn't care I needed to pee. I guess he didn't hear me so he asked "what?" and me, just thinking it wasn't important, said "nothing." He took that to mean that I said something negative towards him. I told him I was going to the bathroom and I turned to go in and he was mad about what he thought he I said so he just kept walking! I got out of the bathroom and he was no where around. He called me a few minutes later and told me he was at the restroom by ToT. I was so mad that he left me and kept going without me that I hung up on him. He finally finds me, we sit down on a bench and I burst into tears. I'm bawling because he "left me in a bathroom the middle of Disney World and that's not supposed to happen on vacation." So after about 15 minutes of this, with various elderly couples sitting down next to us only to get up awkwardly a few minutes later..., we finally collect ourselves and continue on with our vacation! Thankfully, this is the last all-out temper tantrum for this trip! Whew!
So it was 3:30pm by the time we finally headed over to RnRC to use our FPs. We still waited about 20 minutes to get on but it was way better than the 80 minute stand-by!
We stopped randomly for some Pin Trading at the Sorcerer's Hat before heading over to our favorite hidey-hole, The Writer's Stop. After hearing so much about it on The DIS, we needed to try a Carrot Cake Cookie:
It was AMAZING! And it's enormous! We were actually able to split it into 4 pieces and save 2 for later! Oh, and Lumar's crazy self got coffee! It was like 90° and he's drinking coffee! We actually hung out there flipping through books (and writing TR notes) until about 6:15pm, then headed over to Mama Melrose's for our 6:30pm ADR!
We actually checked in at 20 after and we were seated right away. I seriously LOVE this restaurant!
I kept taking random pics of Lumar while he was talking but I promised I wouldn't post them. But this is the Angry Face he gave me for taking them:
He tried to get back at me but it didn't work out so well:
For dinner, Lumar ordered the Oak Grilled Porkchop and I had the Carne d'Italia Flatbread:
After our fantastic dinner, we thought that maybe since everyone was going into the 7:30 Fantasmic show, that maybe the line for TSMM may have diminished a bit.
On our way there, we passed a CM who had drawn a Hopscotch board on the sidewalk. He told us if we could complete the board, we would win a sticker and a cookie. We know Lumar can't pass up an offer like that!
We finally make it to TSMM, to find that the wait is still 90 minutes. Defeated, we stop at the restrooms and relax at a table near the HISTK playground so I could make some notes. The plan was to get in line for the 9pm showing of Fantasmic around 8:15pm. Of course, when we got there the line was unbelievable. The street was reduced to one "lane" because the crowd took up the other...and it extended all the way down Sunset. So obviously, we weren't watching Fantasmic tonight!
We decided to head out but first, Lumar got a Pineapple bar and I stopped at Hollywood Scoops for a mint chocolate chip cone:
I took these before heading out:
Up next: The Best Day Ever!
Between my feet and my legs, I had 6 mosquito bites! Three of them were on the very side of my right heel...like right where the foot meets the floor. I don't understand how I got bit there ONCE, nevermind THREE TIMES. But I could not stop scratching!!
Before we left, I cleaned up the room a little bit so that Mousekeeping could come in, and then we headed down to the Pepper Market around 9:30am. I had wanted to leave the room by 8:30 so we could get to DHS around 9:30 and head straight for FPs for TSMM....clearly that didn't go as planned. So even though I was a little bummed, I decided "you know what, this is vacation and I'm going to relax!" So we split our French Toast breakfast then headed to the bus stop.
We waited pretty much exactly 20 minutes for a bus (which was freaking me out internally since we were already "behind schedule), and we were finally on our way at 10:27am. I apologize in advance, but for some reason I hardly take any pics in DHS! I don't know why it works out that way but it happens on every trip!
Needless to say, by the time we got to DHS, all of the FPs for TSMM were gone for the day and the stand-by wait was 70 minutes. We decided we would just make sure we got here early when we came back to DHS later in the trip. Instead we made our way to Sunset Blvd for RnRC and ToT:
We got FPs for RnRC with a return time of 1:25pm and then waited in the stand-by line for about half an hour for ToT.
After our 13 story plummet, we headed to the Animation Studio for some drawing!
The character du jour was Stitch and I did save our drawings but I'm pretty sure they are still in my backpack....
By the time we got out of there, it was about 1pm so we decided to head to Pizza Planet for lunch. It was PACKED. I ordered 2 Pepperoni Pizza "Combo Meals." I was surprised to find that the "combo" does not include a drink.... It does, however, include a salad. In the past, it's always been a pretty yummy garden salad, and they had several types of dressing available. We were actually really looking forward to this whole meal, and it was kind of disappointing to find that the garden salad has been replaced by a Caesar salad. I HATE Caesar dressing and I wasn't sure what Lumar was going to think of it, so I got us chocolate chip cookies too.
Of course, we couldn't leave without playing some PoTC Pinball!
Lumar stopped at the cart outside so Lumar could buy this:
::Meltdown Alert::
After eating lunch, we began the trek back towards RnRC to use our FPs. I mentioned to Lumar that I had to use the restroom. He mentioned something about there being one near the Sorcerer's Hat or something and I have no idea why...maybe it was the heat...who knows...but I just kind of grumbled that I didn't care I needed to pee. I guess he didn't hear me so he asked "what?" and me, just thinking it wasn't important, said "nothing." He took that to mean that I said something negative towards him. I told him I was going to the bathroom and I turned to go in and he was mad about what he thought he I said so he just kept walking! I got out of the bathroom and he was no where around. He called me a few minutes later and told me he was at the restroom by ToT. I was so mad that he left me and kept going without me that I hung up on him. He finally finds me, we sit down on a bench and I burst into tears. I'm bawling because he "left me in a bathroom the middle of Disney World and that's not supposed to happen on vacation." So after about 15 minutes of this, with various elderly couples sitting down next to us only to get up awkwardly a few minutes later...
, we finally collect ourselves and continue on with our vacation! Thankfully, this is the last all-out temper tantrum for this trip! Whew! So it was 3:30pm by the time we finally headed over to RnRC to use our FPs. We still waited about 20 minutes to get on but it was way better than the 80 minute stand-by!
We stopped randomly for some Pin Trading at the Sorcerer's Hat before heading over to our favorite hidey-hole, The Writer's Stop. After hearing so much about it on The DIS, we needed to try a Carrot Cake Cookie:
It was AMAZING! And it's enormous! We were actually able to split it into 4 pieces and save 2 for later! Oh, and Lumar's crazy self got coffee! It was like 90° and he's drinking coffee! We actually hung out there flipping through books (and writing TR notes) until about 6:15pm, then headed over to Mama Melrose's for our 6:30pm ADR!
We actually checked in at 20 after and we were seated right away. I seriously LOVE this restaurant!
I kept taking random pics of Lumar while he was talking but I promised I wouldn't post them. But this is the Angry Face he gave me for taking them:
He tried to get back at me but it didn't work out so well:
For dinner, Lumar ordered the Oak Grilled Porkchop and I had the Carne d'Italia Flatbread:
After our fantastic dinner, we thought that maybe since everyone was going into the 7:30 Fantasmic show, that maybe the line for TSMM may have diminished a bit.
On our way there, we passed a CM who had drawn a Hopscotch board on the sidewalk. He told us if we could complete the board, we would win a sticker and a cookie. We know Lumar can't pass up an offer like that!
We finally make it to TSMM, to find that the wait is still 90 minutes. Defeated, we stop at the restrooms and relax at a table near the HISTK playground so I could make some notes. The plan was to get in line for the 9pm showing of Fantasmic around 8:15pm. Of course, when we got there the line was unbelievable. The street was reduced to one "lane" because the crowd took up the other...and it extended all the way down Sunset. So obviously, we weren't watching Fantasmic tonight!
We decided to head out but first, Lumar got a Pineapple bar and I stopped at Hollywood Scoops for a mint chocolate chip cone:
I took these before heading out:
Up next: The Best Day Ever!
DisneyFirefly
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2009
Aside from the meltdown, it sounds like you guys had a pretty good day! 
And I wanna hear what made the next day the best day ever!! Can you PM me and tell me?
And I wanna hear what made the next day the best day ever!! Can you PM me and tell me? 
PrincessInOz
Thanks for my avatar, Mary Jo!
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2010
No more TSM fast passes before noon??? That's crazy!
YAY for last Meltdown!
Nice pics of the two of you - scary face and all.
Waiting for best day ever....
YAY for last Meltdown!
Nice pics of the two of you - scary face and all.
Waiting for best day ever....
norybell
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2009
Sorry to hear about the bug bites and the breakdown! When I got home from my trip, I realized I had eleven itchy bites on my left leg...of course I freaked out that it was bedbugs (thankfully it wasn't). They must've had some hardcore mosquitoes flying around that week!
It was super-busy at DHS the day I was there, too. RnR was down, and it's crazy how much that screws up the traffic patterns -- TSM fastpasses were gone by 10:15 in the morning! On a slow, non-Fantasmic day in October!
It was super-busy at DHS the day I was there, too. RnR was down, and it's crazy how much that screws up the traffic patterns -- TSM fastpasses were gone by 10:15 in the morning! On a slow, non-Fantasmic day in October!
Is that a picture of Dean Martin on the wall of Mama Melrose? Love him!
They need to open up a new ride at DHS so TSM stops running out of FPs so early!
Can't wait to hear about the best day ever! Is it really the best day ever or are you being sarcastic?
They need to open up a new ride at DHS so TSM stops running out of FPs so early!
Can't wait to hear about the best day ever! Is it really the best day ever or are you being sarcastic?
Simba22
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 17, 2006
Aside from the meltdown, it sounds like you guys had a pretty good day!
NO!!! LOL But I'm posting the update tonight when I get home...I just have to finish putting my pics into Photobucket so you don't have to wait long. Although I think you already know about it anyway!
No more TSM fast passes before noon??? That's crazy!
YAY for last Meltdown!
Nice pics of the two of you - scary face and all.
Waiting for best day ever....
I'm pretty sure they were gone by 10:30! I had heard on other TRs that people were getting there at 10am and getting FPs with return times of 6:30pm. I knew we had to get there early and I just failed to get up on time.
Yes, I'm glad that I got the meltdowns out of the way at the beginning of the trip so that we had to time to get over them and move on, instead of having a great trip and ruining it with temper tantrums!
I think the mosquito problem is at Epcot! Other people, DisneyFirefly included, also got some wicked mosquito bites after being at Epcot.
I'm so glad that nothing at DHS was down while we were there! You are right, it messes up everything! I think that because there is such a lack of things to do there, as opposed to something like MK, or AK where things are much more spread out, that it just really throws off the whole flow of things when a major attraction is down. And is it just me, or does RnRC seem to go down A LOT??
DisneyFirefly
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2009
I don't know if I know! But I'll check as soon as you've posted whatever made it the greatest day ever 
Simba22
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 17, 2006
We got up around 8am and began preparing for our first day at Animal Kingdom.
As I was getting dressed, Lumar was standing at the sink preparing to shave when I hear him go "Oh no!" in a really depressing fashion. Apparently, when he told me to pack the pieces he needed for his electric shaver, I forgot the beard trimmer attachment. So he had the main unit, but no attachment. From what I understand, he had a painful start to his day because of this. Here I thought I was better off packing weeks early...maybe I should stick to last-minute, night-before packing from now on.
We got breakfast at Pepper Market - our usual, French Toast, but today we added in a cheese danish because it looked delicious. And believe me, it was!
We arrived at AK around 11am.
We decided to go and get FPs for the Safari first. On our way there, we find Meeko and get in line to meet him!
There was this guy in front of us in line who had a huge camera with him. When I tell you that the lens on this camera was like 2 feet long, I am not even slightly kidding you. It had to weigh a ton! I almost took a picture of it, but I haven't mastered Stalker Photography and I felt weird just being blatant about it.
After we said goodbye to Meeko, we continued to Africa for our FPs. They came with a return time of 12:30 so we headed into Asia to check out the wait for Everest. IT was only 30 minutes so we decided to wait. We hardly ever wait in the actual queue for this ride so it was cool to check out some of the stuff in the glass cases.
When our ride was over, we were able to get new FPs so we could come back later. It was about quarter to 1 at this point and we decided to go and eat lunch and save our Safari FPs for around 4:45 or so, as a lot of people have said that if you go on the late safaris the animals are more active than at mid-day.
Since we had a dinner ADR at Yak & Yeti for later that evening, we decided against the Y & Y CS and headed to Pizzafari for lunch.
Lumar had a Pepperoni Pizza:
And I ordered the hot Italian sandwich:
The sandwich was actually really good so I'm glad I got it!
After we finished, we decided to go check out Dinoland. At the entrance where you can meet the Pooh characters, we saw two CMs who were wearing lanyards so we approached them to trade. This was our conversation:
Me: "Hello! Can I take a look at your pins, please?"
CM: "Sure, but you have to answer a question for me first!"
Me: "OK....." (I'm thinking she's going to ask me some AK trivia question or something and I'm thinking to myself 'try and stump me, lady! Just try!
)
CM: "Are you guys going to be here around 3:30pm today?"
Lumar and I look at each other, then we turn back to her and say we will.
CM: "Great! How would you like to be in Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade as a Family of the Day?"
My jaw just about hit the floor! We've always wondered how you get picked to be in the parade and this parade just happens to be my favorite! We were so excited, after we gave them all of our info and got the details, we kept walking towards Dinoland but had to keep asking ourselves if that really just happened. It was something we always wanted to do but we totally weren't expecting to actually ever do it!
We didn't have to meet back up with them until 3:15 and it was only 1:30 so we knew we had some time. Lumar needed to use the restroom so while he went there, I stopped at Dino-Bites for an ice cream. The CM there was operating the register AND making the cones so I waited about 10 minutes. It was worth it though! Chocolate Chip Waffle Cone = YUM
After I finished my rapidly melting ice cream (I think it was 88° this day), we decided to go back to Asia to use our FPs for Everest. We got put into the 3rd row. There was a family of 4 that was broken up into rows 1 and 2. Dad and son were in row 1. Dad turns to us and (looking terrified) asks if we will switch with him because he does NOT want to be in the front row. SCORE!! We couldn't believe our luck! We've NEVER gotten front row on EE before! It was WAY more intense during this ride and I kept grabbing for my earrings, thinking they were being blown out of my ear lobes!
It was just about 3pm when we got off of Everest so we began the trek back to Africa to meet up with the CMs for the parade. When we got to the entrance to the Safari, there were 2 other families waiting there already. One of the CMs came out and said we were waiting for a few more people. When they arrived, he put us in all in a line in a specific order but we had no idea what the order meant.
He told us we would go backstage one group at a time to get costumes and then we would get loaded onto our floats/cars around 4. He then explains that for being part of the parade, we would all get a special Photopass that would allow us free digital downloads of the PP pics that were taken of us during the parade! He handed out a postcard with the instructions for the PP pics on it, and at the top, it said which float we would be on. Up until this point, we hadn't really thought about. Imagine our surprise when we see "Mickey" written at the top of our card!
We were going to be on MICKEY'S PARADE FLOAT!!
We got excited all over again and finally it was our turn to go backstage to pick out costumes. They have an array of vests and hats for you to wear so Lumar picked ours out then another CM brought us down the line to our float. We weren't allowed to take pics backstage, but I snuck one anyway:
You can SOOO tell we're backstage, huh?
So as we're walking down to our float, we see Rafiki headed back inside a building. I made a joke about him needing a last minute potty-break. We get loaded into the float and we're waiting...and waiting....and waiting. Finally, another CM comes over the walkie-talkie of our driver and says they are just waiting for Rafiki to finish up in the restroom!
They remind you constantly to keep smiling and keep waving. I remember thinking "this is gonna be so cool!" Finally, we were on our way!
These are a few of the PP pics:
Let me tell you, smiling and waving for 35 minutes is HARD WORK. My face hurt by the time we arrived backstage again!
I was a little bummed about the pics because there are bars on the vehicles that block your face most of the time, and the photographer didn't get any pics of the WHOLE float so we have no pics with Mickey in them!
Speaking of which, let me just say that if you ever want to know how it feels to be a second class citizen, ride in a parade float with Mickey Mouse. The whole crowd is smiling and waving at you...then they see Mickey and suddenly you just don't matter anymore!
It was a really fun time and we are still so happy that we got that opportunity!
Cont'd in next post!
As I was getting dressed, Lumar was standing at the sink preparing to shave when I hear him go "Oh no!" in a really depressing fashion. Apparently, when he told me to pack the pieces he needed for his electric shaver, I forgot the beard trimmer attachment. So he had the main unit, but no attachment. From what I understand, he had a painful start to his day because of this. Here I thought I was better off packing weeks early...maybe I should stick to last-minute, night-before packing from now on.
We got breakfast at Pepper Market - our usual, French Toast, but today we added in a cheese danish because it looked delicious. And believe me, it was!
We arrived at AK around 11am.
We decided to go and get FPs for the Safari first. On our way there, we find Meeko and get in line to meet him!
There was this guy in front of us in line who had a huge camera with him. When I tell you that the lens on this camera was like 2 feet long, I am not even slightly kidding you. It had to weigh a ton! I almost took a picture of it, but I haven't mastered Stalker Photography and I felt weird just being blatant about it.
After we said goodbye to Meeko, we continued to Africa for our FPs. They came with a return time of 12:30 so we headed into Asia to check out the wait for Everest. IT was only 30 minutes so we decided to wait. We hardly ever wait in the actual queue for this ride so it was cool to check out some of the stuff in the glass cases.
When our ride was over, we were able to get new FPs so we could come back later. It was about quarter to 1 at this point and we decided to go and eat lunch and save our Safari FPs for around 4:45 or so, as a lot of people have said that if you go on the late safaris the animals are more active than at mid-day.
Since we had a dinner ADR at Yak & Yeti for later that evening, we decided against the Y & Y CS and headed to Pizzafari for lunch.
Lumar had a Pepperoni Pizza:
And I ordered the hot Italian sandwich:
The sandwich was actually really good so I'm glad I got it!
After we finished, we decided to go check out Dinoland. At the entrance where you can meet the Pooh characters, we saw two CMs who were wearing lanyards so we approached them to trade. This was our conversation:
Me: "Hello! Can I take a look at your pins, please?"
CM: "Sure, but you have to answer a question for me first!"
Me: "OK....." (I'm thinking she's going to ask me some AK trivia question or something and I'm thinking to myself 'try and stump me, lady! Just try!
)CM: "Are you guys going to be here around 3:30pm today?"
Lumar and I look at each other, then we turn back to her and say we will.
CM: "Great! How would you like to be in Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade as a Family of the Day?"
My jaw just about hit the floor! We've always wondered how you get picked to be in the parade and this parade just happens to be my favorite! We were so excited, after we gave them all of our info and got the details, we kept walking towards Dinoland but had to keep asking ourselves if that really just happened. It was something we always wanted to do but we totally weren't expecting to actually ever do it!
We didn't have to meet back up with them until 3:15 and it was only 1:30 so we knew we had some time. Lumar needed to use the restroom so while he went there, I stopped at Dino-Bites for an ice cream. The CM there was operating the register AND making the cones so I waited about 10 minutes. It was worth it though! Chocolate Chip Waffle Cone = YUM
After I finished my rapidly melting ice cream (I think it was 88° this day), we decided to go back to Asia to use our FPs for Everest. We got put into the 3rd row. There was a family of 4 that was broken up into rows 1 and 2. Dad and son were in row 1. Dad turns to us and (looking terrified) asks if we will switch with him because he does NOT want to be in the front row. SCORE!! We couldn't believe our luck! We've NEVER gotten front row on EE before! It was WAY more intense during this ride and I kept grabbing for my earrings, thinking they were being blown out of my ear lobes!
It was just about 3pm when we got off of Everest so we began the trek back to Africa to meet up with the CMs for the parade. When we got to the entrance to the Safari, there were 2 other families waiting there already. One of the CMs came out and said we were waiting for a few more people. When they arrived, he put us in all in a line in a specific order but we had no idea what the order meant.
He told us we would go backstage one group at a time to get costumes and then we would get loaded onto our floats/cars around 4. He then explains that for being part of the parade, we would all get a special Photopass that would allow us free digital downloads of the PP pics that were taken of us during the parade! He handed out a postcard with the instructions for the PP pics on it, and at the top, it said which float we would be on. Up until this point, we hadn't really thought about. Imagine our surprise when we see "Mickey" written at the top of our card!
We were going to be on MICKEY'S PARADE FLOAT!!
We got excited all over again and finally it was our turn to go backstage to pick out costumes. They have an array of vests and hats for you to wear so Lumar picked ours out then another CM brought us down the line to our float. We weren't allowed to take pics backstage, but I snuck one anyway:
You can SOOO tell we're backstage, huh?
So as we're walking down to our float, we see Rafiki headed back inside a building. I made a joke about him needing a last minute potty-break. We get loaded into the float and we're waiting...and waiting....and waiting. Finally, another CM comes over the walkie-talkie of our driver and says they are just waiting for Rafiki to finish up in the restroom!
They remind you constantly to keep smiling and keep waving. I remember thinking "this is gonna be so cool!" Finally, we were on our way!
These are a few of the PP pics:
Let me tell you, smiling and waving for 35 minutes is HARD WORK. My face hurt by the time we arrived backstage again!
I was a little bummed about the pics because there are bars on the vehicles that block your face most of the time, and the photographer didn't get any pics of the WHOLE float so we have no pics with Mickey in them!
Speaking of which, let me just say that if you ever want to know how it feels to be a second class citizen, ride in a parade float with Mickey Mouse. The whole crowd is smiling and waving at you...then they see Mickey and suddenly you just don't matter anymore!
It was a really fun time and we are still so happy that we got that opportunity!
Cont'd in next post!
DisneyFirefly
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2009
I did know about that, I just forgot! 
That sounds like a lot of fun, though! And at least you weren't waiting for a certain character to finish her cigarette. I can't tell you how often I saw this one character (PM me if you wanna know who) smoking behind Mrs Potts.Those pics are pretty cool, though! I've never ridden in the front of Everest, but I'll have to try next time
Simba22
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 17, 2006
OK, so after we gave back our costumes, we decided to get on the Safari with our FPs since it was about 4:30. There were hardly any animals out! It was disappointing after hearing so many people talk about how the animals were more active...but even though it was late in the day, it was still really hot so I can't say I blame them for hiding out.
Usually, I'm the one taking random pics of Lumar not paying attention. He tagged me back while we were waiting to board our truck:
This pic is a little blurry but I had to post it because I've never seen a hippo out of the water before!
And for only the 2nd time in 9 trips, we actually got proof that the cheetahs exist:
The elephants were actually pretty active so we got a few good ones of them:
And one of my favorite pics ever:
It was just about time for dinner so we headed back to Asia and checked in for our ADR. For the first time ever, we got seated upstairs! It was really nice!
Lumar ordered the Short Ribs with a Safari Amber (Although I didn't take a pic of his beer, sorry!)
And I ordered the Sweet & Sour Chicken (and an Everest Avalanche but I didn't take a pic of that, either!):
We were debating on dessert when our server came over and told us that the family next to us was on the DDP and they were entitled to two desserts but they didn't want them, so they wanted to know if we wanted them.
Lumar and I were stunned! How many totally awesome things can you even fit into one day!? We thanked them profusely and ordered the Sorbet:
And the fried wontons:
Free dessert! How cool is that!?
I happened to have two gift cards for Landry's restaurants, one for $50 and one for $25. I decided to use the $25 card here and save the $50 one for T-Rex later in the week. I gave the server the gift card and the credit card for the balance but when she brought back the receipt, it said the gift card that she ran through had $50 on it. I thought I must have mixed them up and given her the wrong one. Oh well, no biggie! But keep this mind later in for later in the week....
Since there were PM EMH this night until 8, after dinner, we headed back to Dinoland to ride Dinosaur (which I do have the pic of but it's not scanned), and then went on EE again (which was a walk on). Riding at night is a WAY different experience! We didn't get the front again, but it was still extremely cool!
We got a PP pic taken:
And I took some pics on the way out, but they didn't come out as good as I hoped. I must have had my camera on the wrong setting
There was only 5 people waiting for the bus to CSR, including ourselves! We had such a fantastic day I still can't believe all of the pixie dust we got! Maybe that was a lucky cheese danish we had for breakfast!
Usually, I'm the one taking random pics of Lumar not paying attention. He tagged me back while we were waiting to board our truck:
This pic is a little blurry but I had to post it because I've never seen a hippo out of the water before!
And for only the 2nd time in 9 trips, we actually got proof that the cheetahs exist:
The elephants were actually pretty active so we got a few good ones of them:
And one of my favorite pics ever:
It was just about time for dinner so we headed back to Asia and checked in for our ADR. For the first time ever, we got seated upstairs! It was really nice!
Lumar ordered the Short Ribs with a Safari Amber (Although I didn't take a pic of his beer, sorry!)
And I ordered the Sweet & Sour Chicken (and an Everest Avalanche but I didn't take a pic of that, either!):
We were debating on dessert when our server came over and told us that the family next to us was on the DDP and they were entitled to two desserts but they didn't want them, so they wanted to know if we wanted them.
Lumar and I were stunned! How many totally awesome things can you even fit into one day!? We thanked them profusely and ordered the Sorbet:
And the fried wontons:
Free dessert! How cool is that!?
I happened to have two gift cards for Landry's restaurants, one for $50 and one for $25. I decided to use the $25 card here and save the $50 one for T-Rex later in the week. I gave the server the gift card and the credit card for the balance but when she brought back the receipt, it said the gift card that she ran through had $50 on it. I thought I must have mixed them up and given her the wrong one. Oh well, no biggie! But keep this mind later in for later in the week....
Since there were PM EMH this night until 8, after dinner, we headed back to Dinoland to ride Dinosaur (which I do have the pic of but it's not scanned), and then went on EE again (which was a walk on). Riding at night is a WAY different experience! We didn't get the front again, but it was still extremely cool!
We got a PP pic taken:
And I took some pics on the way out, but they didn't come out as good as I hoped. I must have had my camera on the wrong setting
There was only 5 people waiting for the bus to CSR, including ourselves! We had such a fantastic day I still can't believe all of the pixie dust we got! Maybe that was a lucky cheese danish we had for breakfast!
DisneyFirefly
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2009
I love that last pic of the tree!
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