You Guys Are Looking At Me Like I'm Your Executioner! FINISHED-2/9!!

[PanIsMine]

Hello Humans! Welcome to the laugh floor! I am your monster of ceremony today in this wild ride of the wilderness. Stop jumpin' around, you'll run out of breath!Why don't you sit back and calm yourself? You can hurry on now if you must.
Yes, I found it absolutely necessary to quote a ride from each land in the MK. You're welcome for getting Splash Mountain stuck in your head.

Should I continue? It's a small world after all. It's a small world after all. It's a small world after all. It's a small, small world. Really, don't mention it.

Welcome! Disney Fanatics, to my first trip report! I am your host,entertainer, story teller, fastpass runner, and if you don't laugh at my jokes, your swimming instructor.

Our report begins here, in this introduction. Here where you see pictures of some of our crazies, as they appeared in their crazy, insane state. Kindly step all the way in please, and make room for everyone. There's no turning back now.

Just a little faith, trust, pixie dust, and off we go.

You should always start at the beginning and when you get to the end, stop. That's logic. (Read in Alice's accent!)

Introductions are always a great place to start.
Why, hello there. I'm Emily. I'm going into my junior year of high school and I absolutely love Disney. I've been going since I was in my mom's uterus. Nothing makes me happier than driving through that magical arch that signals your arrival to the holy world. I am known by my friends as the "Disney Freak" and I'm proud of my title. I am most like Peter Pan. I never want to grow up and sometimes I just want to drop everything and fly to Never Land or Disney works fine, too. He's my favorite Disney character and I had the honor of meeting the fine lost boy this trip.

Amy is my little sister. She will be turning 14 and is going into her freshman year. She falls more and more in love with Disney every trip. Her favorite thing in Disney is the drawing class at DHS. Oh, and she dragged me on Everest this trip. She loved it. Me, not so much, but hey, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

Some pics of Amy and I.

The parental units:

My Mom is a DIS Veteran (Disney<333.) She will be doing a few updates on this TR. In Disney World, she is a nut who thinks an 11:00 PM closing is for amateurs. In the real world, she is an art teacher, who insists I be home by 9:30 the absolute latest.

My Dad is my best friend. He works for a publishing company in India. He loves Disney, but this trip he moved the fastest when it was time to go home. I was quite the opposite. He loves his family, Jerry Garcia, and the Orioles. Hopefully, in that order.

This trip took place August 3-8 and we called the Swan home. We our the proud owners of FL Resident APs.

We went absolutely crazy this trip. Extra magic hours were our best friends. We are also rope drop people and I am like a drill sergeant in the morning in order to make that happen.

Now as they say "Look alive" and we'll continue our little TR later.

 

[PanIsMine]

Saved for links!

 

[disney<333]

I'm here! Great intro! Can't wait to read about my trip!

 

[Aussiesalad]

Can't wait to hear about your trip!

 

[Bell<3Disney]

Sounds like fun!

 

[MickeyisBeast]

Joining in, I love reading TRs in the POV of teens I knew I recognized you from your mom's trip reports! Can't wait to hear about your trip

 

[PanIsMine]

August 3, 2012
Today was my very favorite kind of day. Can anybody guess what day it was? Did you say “A Disney Day!”? Congrats you’re correct. You win one stench. Just kidding! I wouldn’t do that to ya.
I woke up an hour and a half before my alarm and had a donut for breakfast. Yes, sir, the vacation diet had already begun.
I wasted no time getting ready! I have a tradition in which I always take an excited picture in my room before we leave for a Disney trip. Here’s the one for this trip:

I would be lying if I said this was my first trip. Or second. Or fifth. This was my 10th Disney Vacation after moving from Orlando 10 years ago. I’m a regular to the Mouse House.

Amy came in my room and asked to borrow another Vera Bradley tech case for her iPod. She’s come a long way, that girl, from asking why I buy Vera when there are Ziploc and Walmart bags.
My Dad said we would leave at 9 and for some crazy reason, I actually thought that might happen this time. Hahaha! My mom was up before me and I thought that was a good sign. Amy and my dad were up a little bit later. And I thought we’re going to make it out on time. We’re going to make the News. This is huge.
Well, 9:00 AM came and went.

As did 9:30

Then 10:00

10:15 It starts raining.

10:30: “I’m going to go put gas in the car and then I’ll come back and load up!”

10:55: “I need to stop before we get on highway and mail this! It’s very important.

11:00 we’re on the road! I take out my camera to take a picture and it’s not turning on. Turns out, I don’t have the battery! I make my dad turn around (We just pulled out of the development) and I run into the house to see where it could be. I look in the only two possible places it could be and it’s not there. I started freaking out! I am very big on my pictures. Turns out, I had left it in the charger and the charger was in my suitcase! Phew! Crisis averted.

Amy made herself comfortable with her jacket. And mine.

At one point, our view looked like this.

My Dad could not see one inch in front of him. It was scary. Luckily, it only lasted a few minutes.

I brought along my AP Lang summer reading book, The Scarlett Letter with the thought that I would read it in the car. Yea, right. Like that happened.

The last 45 minutes of the trip or so, you are so close it’s just obnoxious. We were all super excited and sung ’99 bottles of beer on the wall’ all the way from 99 to 1. We did get a little wild and took 2 bottles or even dared to take three off the wall at once. Yea, I know. We’re crazy.

While, we didn’t leave on time, we did make history. We made the three hour car ride without stopping! How about a round of applause for that one?! Thank you! Thank you! You are all just too kind.

Maybe it helped that all of the rest stops we passed by were under construction and my family thinks they’re too good to take care of their business in a port-o-potty.
Magical arch:

We found our way to the Swan without any issues. My parents went to go check in and waited in the super long line without realizing they had a separate line for SPG Gold Members, which is what we are.

I could not wait any longer and had to reunite myself with Disney merchandise.

Ahh!

Thumbs up for Disney Shopping, Ya’ll.

A regular room was ready for us, but we had the option of being upgraded to an alcove but it wasn’t ready yet. We decided to wait for the bigger room because we’re big on our personal space. Amy and I went to go explore the resort.

15 minutes in Disney can give you such a crick in the neck.

Maybe rock climbing can fix things.

My parents called to reunite with us for some food. We ran over our options. We all thought pizza sounded good and there’s a place in the resort to buy an 18 inch pizza. An 18 inch pizza sounds good to me, but not to the vultures, er I mean my family. Oh, no. They need unlimited pizza. They need pizza out to wah zoo.
My parents remembered there being a Cici’s really close by and we called to get the directions. My dad called one that was 15 minutes away and the CM (Sorry, but everyone is a CM in my book.) gave him directions to a closer one. We start driving and we can’t find it. I plug the address into my iPhone and nothing is coming up. Turns out the Cici’s does not exist. Ugh!! We were annoyed that we left the promised land for no reason and just decided to go to the Mickey D’s in the Crossroad real quick. While there, we got the phone call that our room was ready. We went to the room, unpacked and rested for a little while. We had plans to party until 2 AM, so we were in no rush to head out.

Some pics of our room!

We had a roll away brought up to our room, which is where I slept! It was super comfy!
View from the balcony:

I’ll take my photography award now. LOL! I promise the pics do get better! These were all taken on my iPhone because my camera battery was in my bag. They didn't look half bad on my phone except for the lovely picture with my finger. Then you blow it up and BOOM! Blurry-ness!

We also had to port-hole like windows. This is un-zoomed!

In the distance, you could see Expedition Everest and the Tree of Life!

We were very happy with our room and things were off to a great start minus the fact that it was raining.
Will the rain stop so we can go party at the MK until 2 in the morning?

 

[PanIsMine]

I'm here! Great intro! Can't wait to read about my trip!

Thanks, Mom!

Can't wait to hear about your trip!

Welcome! Just posted an update!

Sounds like fun!

We had a ton of fun! Thanks for joining in!!

Joining in, I love reading TRs in the POV of teens I knew I recognized you from your mom's trip reports! Can't wait to hear about your trip

Thanks, Sarah! Me too! I relate to them way more than people with kids for obvious reasons. I finally decided to join the DIS and I'm so glad I did. I just don't know how I'm going to get my work on the computer done now. LOL
I just posted an update!

 

[sbprincess]

Hello, I'm here!

Great start! The view from your room is amazing. Lucky girl - living only 3 hours away!

Can't wait to read more!

 

[teedee]

Joining in, Great start, can't wait to hear more!

Terri

 

[MeMom]

Being in Disney World, food (even if it's not Disney food), staying in the park until 2 a.m., and a somewhat view of Animal Kingdom - sounds like a good start!

I have been in those horrible Florida rains trying to drive. It is stressful. You want to pull over and find a dry place to wait until it dies down a little, but you want to push on ahead toward WDW, too.

 

[vicceja]

Great start! Can't wait for more...

 

[PanIsMine]

Hello, I'm here!

Great start! The view from your room is amazing. Lucky girl - living only 3 hours away!

Can't wait to read more!

Welcome! Thanks! It's never close enough for me. My parents only like driving up when we can stay for a few days. I guess if we went too often, it wouldn't be so magical anymore. We go usually twice a year.

Joining in, Great start, can't wait to hear more!

Terri

Thanks, Terri!

Being in Disney World, food (even if it's not Disney food), staying in the park until 2 a.m., and a somewhat view of Animal Kingdom - sounds like a good start!

I have been in those horrible Florida rains trying to drive. It is stressful. You want to pull over and find a dry place to wait until it dies down a little, but you want to push on ahead toward WDW, too.

We were off to a great start!
Luckily, I've never driven in any horrible rain yet. We would of pulled over, but we were on the highway and couldn't.

Great start! Can't wait for more...

Thank you! More coming tonight.
**************************
Hi, guys!
I have the pics on PhotoBucket ready to go. I just need time later tonight to write the actual update. Right now, I'm supposed to be writing a summary on "Shipshape at the Wharf in Trondheim", but yet I'm doing replies here because this is much more interesting. It's really not a contest at all! In a little while, I'm going to my school to get my textbooks and schedule, see some friends for lunch, and then I'm volunteering with the precious little two-year-olds. I haven't seen them since I've been back from Disney. I week ago from this second, I was trying out for the American Idol Experience.

Coming up next: Come on, Darth Vader! Get your rebel spy correct!

 

[PanIsMine]

We unpacked and got ourselves situated to our new home for the next 5 days.

One thing that needed unpacking was the food bagS. Yes, I said "bags". Most people bring a box of Pop Tarts or two. Not us. No sir.

My mom bought three boxes of Chewy bars, 2 bags of chips, PB, J, and not Butter, but bread (Boy, do I miss that show!), 2 boxes of loaf cake (In her defense they were BOGO at Publix) , 4 packs of muffins, oreos, grapes, and banana. We're vultures. The idea was that we would snack on this sometimes in the parks to reduce the cost of food. That so did not happen.

"Honey, do you want a Chewy bar or a red velvet cheesecake cupcake?"
Ya see? It's no contest. We did eat the snacks during our afternoon break most days.

At about 6:15 we started getting moving to go party after lying in bed for a little while. We usually high tail it to a park when we arrive, but this time we relaxed for a little while since we were doing EMH.

Oh, this is very important. I don't know about you, but when I walk into my room, I do 3 things in this order- check out the view, turn on Stacy, take pics of room. So, I did 2 out of the 3, but I still needed to say hello to Stacy. I turned the TV on and flipped through all the channels and couldn't find her. I thought something was wrong the first time, so I checked again. And again. No Stacy. They had a few channels about the hotel, and a channel that had a pic that said "Special events in WDW', but it stayed like that the whole trip. I even asked the Bellhop, but he didn't know anything about it. They had her at the Dolphin 7 months ago and this trip they had her at the best stop, so I did get to say hello. I also tend to watch her on YouTube once a week.

My parents fully intended to stay for the entirety of the MK EMH and thought they would have a better shot if they went to the park later, so they had dinner at Shula's and hung out on the BW. Amy and I couldn't wait any longer and went off to one my fav parks- DHS!

The weather wasn't looking very promising, but we put on ponchos and keep dancing.
Our ride:

We pretty much had the whole boat to ourselves.

View along the way:

Wouldn't you know, the very second we got off the boat, it started drizzling.

We wanted to go see the finale for American Idol, so we needed to hustle it on over there. We made it with three minutes to spare and they were letting people in after it started. I just love how quick the boat ride is- only 7 minutes!!

I love the guy they have before the host. He instructed us to shout:
"I love you, Howie."
"I'll give you $100, Howie."
"Get out of here, Howie."
Howie taught us how to vote and we had a practice vote. The question was "What happens at the end of every American Idol finale"
A. It rains confetti.
B. There are sparks. (Not Jordan Sparks!)
C. It rains lamb chops on the audience.
C was the winner and my answer, as well. A is correct.
I know, I know. I could not believe I wasn't right. Maybe the answer key is wrong.
Here's the real deal host. See the resemblance to Ryan?

It was down to four guys and they were all really good. I couldn't make up my mind, so I didn't vote at all.

This guy ended up winning.

We planned on getting FPS for Star Tours, but the line was really short.

I've been on it since the refurbishment, but Amy hasn't so I wanted her to see it. We only rode it once before they re-did it and we didn't see what the big deal is. Back then, it had no line and people were riding like 15 times without getting off and we couldn't understand why.

I've seen pics with this, but I can't bring myself to do it. I felt too guilty to do it. I have no problem with me being the REBEL SPY, but this I just can't do. I thought it was too early in the trip to be thrown in Mickey Jail.

Amy knows absolutely nada about Star Wars. I know that the white people are Storm Troopers, the black guy is Darth Vader, and I've figured out that he's the bad guy. He is the bad guy, right? I know that Yoda speaks English very well and that "Luke, I am your father" is one of the best movie quotes ever. Not too shabby for somebody who's never seen the movie.

I also know that I am the REBEL SPY. Yep, I just announced that on the Internet.

A cute little boy talked to Amy about pins. He looked to about 7 and he was so precious.

These shades are so awesome, but rebel spies don't take from others.

We soon boarded our whatever and flew to wherever. Darth Vader was in search of the rebel spy and I started to break a sweat. Fortunately, he chose the boy right next to me. HAHAHA, sucker! So close, yet so far. When we got off the ride and started walking to the exit, which by the way is a gift shop- surprise, surprise, I announced my identity of me being the REBEL SPY to my sister as I figured it was time and when I said "I am the REBEL SPY!" 5 people turned around and looked at me as if they were at risk.
I'm not quite sure what look I was trying for here.

I made my first pin trade. I just adore Fozzy Bear.

I had no problem taking a pic with this because there was a PP Photographer. The PPP wouldn't be there if it was illegal, would he? Or maybe he works for Darth Vader or something like that. I really need to watch the movies. Or someone can teach me.

Amy and I then got into out first fight of the trip. That didn't take long, did it? AEI and ST were both picked by me and she wanted a say. I had suggested we do those two things and she agreed and now she's saying "I'm dictating her." On the boat, we came up with what we wanted to do, and I arranged them into a plan of what made sense so we weren't hopping around like maniacs. Amy agreed. I have no problem with being a Crazy, but a maniac? No.
Amy was a bit grumpy going into Muppet Vision, but I told her we would do whatever she wanted after and she felt better.
The queue has so many neat little details.

Amy then got mad at me for taking pictures and threatened to take away my camera. She said "Aren't memories in your head good enough. I don't like to remember my trip of stopping every second for pics."
A. They're not good enough and B. I don't stop, I walk and snap.

 

[jessily]

Great trip report! I'll be reading along I'm with you on the Star Wars stuff... what you listed is about all I know. I actually worked in the Star Tours gift shop for a few months and still haven't even seen the movies. Fun ride though!

 

[aras4007]

Joining in! Can't wait to hear about the trip!
It looks like you guyd went to the Garden Grove..can't wait to hear about that...we have reservations next month!

 

[LookinUp]

Loving your intro and pics so far. Well done, BTW, avoiding Mickey jail on Day One. I take every shot my family will allow. Like Amy, they don't tolerate many stop-n-clicks for merch or views, and very few face shots unless previously negotiated. Still months away from my next dose of Disney, so I'm happily lapping up your fun. Where to next?

 

[PanIsMine]

Great trip report! I'll be reading along I'm with you on the Star Wars stuff... what you listed is about all I know. I actually worked in the Star Tours gift shop for a few months and still haven't even seen the movies. Fun ride though!

Welcome! Thanks for joining in! I'm glad I don't stand alone. That kind of stuff never has interested me- Harry Potter, Star Wars, etc- don't care for it. The Hunger Games, however, is a completely different story. I'll watch the movies someday, but for now I still enjoy the ride.

Joining in! Can't wait to hear about the trip!
It looks like you guyd went to the Garden Grove..can't wait to hear about that...we have reservations next month!

Welcome! Thanks for joining in! Yes, I ate there on Southern BBQ night with my Dad and then we had a few issues, so we got to go to the breakfast buffet for free. Beware, it's not on the DDP, but if you have an AAA card, you get 20% of your bill. Your trip is coming up soon! How exciting! Thanksgiving can't get here soon enough for me to go back. Which Epcot resort are you staying at? I've stayed at them all besides the Yacht Club and I'm a huge fan of them.

Loving your intro and pics so far. Well done, BTW, avoiding Mickey jail on Day One. I take every shot my family will allow. Like Amy, they don't tolerate many stop-n-clicks for merch or views, and very few face shots unless previously negotiated. Still months away from my next dose of Disney, so I'm happily lapping up your fun. Where to next?

Welcome! Thanks for joining in! Amy is always requesting me to take her picture, she just doesn't like me taking pics of objects, but I still have 1200 pictures from this trip. We have some more DHS coming up and then some late night MK fun.

 

[PanIsMine]

Fozzy's goods had come in.

When apologizing Amy is always saying "sorry" about a 100 times and asking if I forgive her 10 more times. It never fails. Whether the argument be big or small. Oh, I just love that kid. I knew she was not going to last until 2 in the morning. We had made up in time for this picture.

"Ah, Waldorf? What are we going to be seeing here?" "One of those 3D movies. Put your glasses on!"

We invited distinguished scientists from all over the world. Unfortunately, none of them showed up, so I proudly present to you Dr. Watson Honey Dew and his assistant, Beaker.

I just love that frog. Maybe one day he'll kiss me and I'll turn into a princess. Heck, I'm already a princess.

We got out and the first thing we noticed was that these guys were all alone, so we had to go say hello.
Hello, Mater, your latest movie was, hold on, let me put on my flame proof outfit, o.k, I'm ready, it was terrible.

The mother in front of us could not understand why they could not sign her children's autograph book. With what hands would you like them to sign with? Their eyeballs? The world would be so much better if everyone just used their noodle before they spoke.

We then got a phone call from my mom. They were on their way to Hollywood and wanted us all to go see Fantasmic at 9. It was 8:30 and we planned on doing the GMR and Amy's drawing class and then seeing the 10:30. We knew we'd be back to DHS plenty, so we went with Fantasmic.

We got our first disney snack of the trip, popcorn! Ahh! How I love thee! Popcorn counts as dinner, right? We were never hungry enough for a full meal and we were just too busy. With twenty minutes 'till showtime, the center was mostly full, the CMs weren't seating guests in stage left at all, and stage right was currently seated. The show didn't completely fill up and we got seats in the stage right-centerish in the 15th row 15 minutes before the show started. There weren't any waves going on on this night, just Disney Trivia.

I think this might be my favorite thing in the whole world. I'm listening to the soundtrack right now.

Remember, it all started with a mouse!

OMG! The finale! When Mickey stands up on the top of the mountain and the music gets really loud- just wow. That needs its own TR. My jaw drops every time. And in 22 months, I'll be able to see Fantasmic whenever I want. Ahh! College! We got up to leave as the boat of magic came out. I had my camera in my bag and was carrying the popcorn, as well as two drinks and I absolutely needed Amy to take a picture of the boat and Mickey on my phone. I mean I think I would have to see the 10:30 show, too, if I didn't get it. This is what I got:

We went to the gift shop to try to return Amy's mickey ears. I bought us each a pair before the trip on the Disney Store website because I had a DS only store credit and they were having a sale. I got the regular mickey ears in the adult size and Amy chose the Red Mickey Pants ears. Hers did not say a size and we figured it was a one size fits all. It wasn't and didn't fit her. We figured since they sell them in the parks returning it shouldn't be an issue. The gift shop we tried wouldn't let us because their manager wasn't on duty and they needed to have her permission. We tried a different store later on in the trip and were able to exchange them.

We then took the boat back to the resort. On the boat, we played Disney Trivia.

A little fact for the wise, Cinderella Castle is exactly 198 feet from top to bottom. If it was 200, it would of needed a red light on top for planes and that wasn't going to happen.

We then took a bus to the Magic Kingdom because the night was still young in our books.

 

[MickeyisBeast]

that is too funny about the mom wanting Mater and Lightning McQueen to sign her kid's autograph books!
Great update