"Follow the bouncing ears!" - Oct 2010 solo/Dismeet TR; UPDATE 11/26

[PrincessInOz]

Great updates and your pictures are fantastic; for a camera that was jamming up earlier in the week.


I was sitting here reading about how you waited till you were on your own to go get in line for the Fairies and thinking...oh, I would have got in line with you.

Then I read that you waited 90 minutes. Nope, I would NOT have got in line with you!


Glad you got a picture with the dwarfs.... (and no, I'm NOT talking about Mom2Allison01 and DisneyMouseFan - no offence ladies!). Can't wait to see the PP picture.

[DisneyFirefly]

Originally Posted by PrincessInOz

Great updates and your pictures are fantastic; for a camera that was jamming up earlier in the week.


I was sitting here reading about how you waited till you were on your own to go get in line for the Fairies and thinking...oh, I would have got in line with you.

Then I read that you waited 90 minutes. Nope, I would NOT have got in line with you!


Glad you got a picture with the dwarfs.... (and no, I'm NOT talking about Mom2Allison01 and DisneyMouseFan - no offence ladies!). Can't wait to see the PP picture.

Yeah, I'm glad that it started working again. I'm still going to get a new camera before my DLR trip, though. I think I'll stick with Panasonic Lumix, since that camera has been through so much and it's still ticking, even if the shutter sticks a little and the dial's missing. I have more pics from Pop and some of them look really good I'm debating if I should put up my departure day tonight or not

That's exactly why I didn't ask If the line had been short, I would have, but there was no way I was making you give up an hour and a half of your 3 days to get pictures with characters I don't even like I really don't like Tinkerbell. I just got the pictures for my niece.

I'm glad, too! My mom's really excited to see them, since my dad's totally Grumpy and I stood right by Grumpy in the pics I should have the disc in a couple days, so once I do, I'll PM you and get your address so I can send you your copy

[IheartDDuck]

The last day in the park is always sad for me too! I do he same thing that you do, I think about the next time that I am going to be in the World again.

[Simba22]

I'm slowly but surely catching up!

Originally Posted by DisneyFirefly

I never got to try any of these! How was the BBQ one?


And I like Illuminations better, which I'm sure I told you about 263 times during our trip!

[Simba22]

Originally Posted by DisneyFirefly

Fair warning, my photos on this day stopped fairly early for some reason. I really don't know why, since I know I had batteries and space on the card.

This happens to me too! I hardly ever have any pics from DHS and I don't know why!

Once they lowered the rope and let us all through, we headed in a general "that way" direction, but I'm sure you know where we (and everyone else) were headed.



Yup...we waited 80 minutes because we missed rope drop!

I seriously love the theming of Pixar Place.

me too, they did a really good job with this area, I think


I seriously love this queue. Our house has a "sunroom" that my dad now uses as his (massively cluttered) study, and it was our play room when we were kids. We had so many toys and games in there that it basically looked like the queue

We had all of those things, too!

I was taking this pic for my boss, since I thought he'd get a kick out of it, but the other guest got in the way

Don't you just hate photo-bombers?

[Simba22]

I agree with you a little about Peter Pan...I mean, there is a syndrome named after him for all the other creepers who refuse to grow up!

You got some good characters! I wish we did more of that instead of bickering about it! I did get some good ones, though!

Originally Posted by DisneyFirefly

And somehow back to Main Street? Apparently, I was going in circles. I did know there were characters there, though, so that's probably why.





If I'd had the money, I so would have bought those. The only time I like Precious Moments is when it's Disney.

Walking in circles around MK is WAY better than what we were doing this day!

I LOVED those Precious Moments figures! I really like PM in general, but the Disney ones are just adorable! I thought briefly about just getting The Lion King one, but it was $50 which is more than I was willing to spend on it at the time. Of course...I spent $50 on bamboo windchimes....

[Simba22]

Originally Posted by DisneyFirefly

After the TTA, I walked BACK to Main Street for some reason. I don't know what I was thinking.

You're on VACATION!!! No thinking involved! One year, we just got on the WDRR and rode it all the way around the park like 3 times in a row. It's nice to not RUSH everywhere!

Originally Posted by DisneyFirefly

Ok there are more of those figures than I thought! I never saw this display the whole time we were there!

Originally Posted by DisneyFirefly

I sat upstairs and, as always, it was empty.

Ummmm.....on our departure day, I went here for lunch and it was PACKED! There were literally TWO tables that were empty when we got there...one was shoved in a dark corner and the other was shoved in a corner near a window. It was mobbed!

[Simba22]

Originally Posted by DisneyFirefly

We went to Pirates and just by chance took the left queue. This is important. As we were coming down to the load point, I glanced into the little cutout window down to the load and said "Oh my god, there's Mr Smee!" because there he was! When we got down to the last turn, they were coming around with their character attendants and we asked to get a picture. It was the most impromptu character greeting ever, but it was pretty cool!



It was really cool! You still need to email me that pic, BTW! This was such a fun night!

We had our own boat. There was also no one in front of us or behind us.



I don't normally take flash pictures on dark rides, but I did to show the empty boats.

Yeah, yeah! A likely story! I LOVE going on Pirates when there is no one on it!

After Pirates, we headed over to Aladdin and went on that.



"Or as Genie likes to say...." Oooh and look! The guy on the sidewalk has that "Are We Done?" pose going on! HAHAHA!!!

We wandered up to Main Street and caught the first parade. While Ali and Lumar were watching it, I went to Casey's to use up my extra CS credit (I had two left and only needed one), so I got corn dog nuggets, fries, and a drink. I didn't get a picture, since I spilled the cheese sauce on my hand and burned the heck out of it.

EVIL CHEESE SAUCE!

After the parade, we found seats in the hub to watch the fireworks from. Because we were there early, we got good seats, right in the middle near the Partners statue!

Also, I can't believe I forgot to mention it, but while we were waiting for the fireworks, we spent some time looking at other people's costumes. We saw one guy who was dressed as Buzz Lightyear and had MADE his costume. The top half of the space suit was a BUCKET! It was awesome! We also saw a woman who'd made a lightsuit from Tron with glowsticks!

That guys costume was AWESOME! People are so creative!

I think we went on Space Mountain at some point (I remember because I stumbled on the moving walkway while bouncing on it and Ali laughed at me ), but I don't remember when.

Yes, we DID go on Space Mountain...remember we were making fun of our ride picture when we got off? horrible! LOL We looked so ridiculous! I think it was around 10 or 10:30 when we left cuz we were going "home" to start packing too I HATE leaving! BUT....only 327 days until we go back!

[DisneyFirefly]

Originally Posted by IheartDDuck

The last day in the park is always sad for me too! I do he same thing that you do, I think about the next time that I am going to be in the World again.

Yeah. The last time before this that I left was the worst, since I'd been living in Orlando and had no idea whatsoever when I was going to be back, which really sucked.

Originally Posted by Simba22

I'm slowly but surely catching up!

I never got to try any of these! How was the BBQ one?

And I like Illuminations better, which I'm sure I told you about 263 times during our trip!

You know, I didn't try the BBQ one? Sharon had it, so I'm sure she'll pop in and answer I think she liked it.

I know you do!

Originally Posted by Simba22

Don't you just hate photo-bombers?

Eh, could be worse At least I got most of the thing!

Originally Posted by Simba22

I agree with you a little about Peter Pan...I mean, there is a syndrome named after him for all the other creepers who refuse to grow up!

You got some good characters! I wish we did more of that instead of bickering about it! I did get some good ones, though!

Walking in circles around MK is WAY better than what we were doing this day!

I LOVED those Precious Moments figures! I really like PM in general, but the Disney ones are just adorable! I thought briefly about just getting The Lion King one, but it was $50 which is more than I was willing to spend on it at the time. Of course...I spent $50 on bamboo windchimes....

I may say I don't wanna grow up, but I know I have to Big difference between that and what the people with that syndrome do.

I had a good time tracking down the characters, even if the lines were long. My niece is excited to get the autograph book in the mail and can't wait for the reunion to go see Cinderella

Hey, it could have been a lot worse!

I only like the PM figures when they're Disney. I'm just not into it otherwise, I dunno why.

Originally Posted by Simba22

You're on VACATION!!! No thinking involved! One year, we just got on the WDRR and rode it all the way around the park like 3 times in a row. It's nice to not RUSH everywhere!

Ok there are more of those figures than I thought! I never saw this display the whole time we were there!

Ummmm.....on our departure day, I went here for lunch and it was PACKED! There were literally TWO tables that were empty when we got there...one was shoved in a dark corner and the other was shoved in a corner near a window. It was mobbed!

Apparently so! I was tempted to just ride the train around again and again, but I got bored of that and got off

There are a lot of those figures! Most of them are on disneystore.com, I think.

That's odd I rarely ever saw the upstairs packed.

Originally Posted by Simba22

Yes, we DID go on Space Mountain...remember we were making fun of our ride picture when we got off? horrible! LOL We looked so ridiculous! I think it was around 10 or 10:30 when we left cuz we were going "home" to start packing too I HATE leaving! BUT....only 327 days until we go back!

Oh yeah! I thought we did, but I wasn't sure See why I need to take better notes next trip? I hate leaving, too! We really all need to do a big Dis trip sometime

[DisneyFirefly]

Friday, October 29, 2010 - Pop, Airport, Chicago

I woke up somewhere around 9am, I think. I called my brother to wish him a happy birthday, then called housekeeping to inquire about a late checkout and was given one for 12:30. I got up, washed my face, combed my hair, threw it in a ponytail, and then stepped out of the room into the coolest morning of the trip. It was actually somewhat chilly, since I was wearing my bathing suit! Still, I went down to the Hippy Dippy pool and went in the water. I think I lasted about five minutes before I got cold and got back out.

I went back to the room, got showered and dressed in Chicago weather-appropriate clothes (jeans and a t-shirt, hoodie draped over my luggage), and gathered my camera and an extra pair of batteries to go around the rest of the resort and take pictures of the icons and stairwells. Not much commentary here, since this is all self-explanatory.





































After taking pictures, I went back to the room to throw my last few things into my carryon. I'd packed a backpack to use as a carryon on the way back, since I knew I'd be buying stuff, so I used my peace bag as a second piece of checked baggage (yay Southwest) and my backpack for carry-on. I sat down to watch some TV, just killing time until I felt like checking out. There wasn't really anything on, so I wound up watching Maury and Steve Wilkos. Bleh.



My view, once again.



My room number.

After leaving the room with my things, I went to Classic Hall to check out and make sure I hadn't had any accidental charges to the room (I accidentally broke something in the room and they didn't charge me for it, thankfully) and I did indeed have one last CS credit to use. So I went into Everything Pop, found a table and dropped my stuff there, then went to the food court to pick out something to eat.



My last meal credit - yes, another cheeseburger, so sue me. Nothing else sounded good.

After eating, I went into the lobby to sit and wait for the DME bus to come get me. I couldn't check my bags at the Resort Check In, since I was doing the Customer of Size ticket and they require you to check in at the airport. That worked out fine, though.

Finally, the bus came and we all got on and loaded our stuff.



I wasn't particularly happy about leaving Orlando, but such is life, right? You have to do what you have to do, and right now, I have to live in Chicago.

When we got to the airport, the Southwest line was fairly short, so I checked in very quickly. The clerk at this desk was apparently very proficient and checked me in with no difficulty, even with the double seat. So I'm not sure what was so difficult at Midway, since the woman's badge said she'd been working there for a long time. But oh well, it happens. After checking in, I headed for the bathroom and then through security. Security took forever, but it always does. I got through with no problems, boarded the mini monorail, and went to my gate. I think we boarded through the same gate I'd arrived from the week before.

On the way down the concourse, though, I passed this gate display.







I thought it was neat.

While waiting, I decided to check on my iPod and see if there was a WiFi network available. There was, so I popped online and checked my email and a few posts on the Dis. Finally, they started boarding. Once again, I preboarded due to the ticket type I had, and sat down with a book. I'd read V For Vendetta (my favorite graphic novel ever) on the flight to Orlando, so I read Watchmen on the way back. I'd also brought The Losers with me, but didn't get around to it. The flight to Fort Lauderdale was uneventful and even though I was issued a boarding pass for a connection, it turned out that we were on the same plane, so I didn't have to leave to make my connection.

That flight had a minor issue before departing. There was a woman traveling alone who had some sort of mental instability (I think she may have had early onset Alzheimer's or something), but the flight attendants refused to board her since they didn't think she'd be okay on her own, which caused a scene. Aside from that, the flight was all right. The guy sitting behind me was a jerk and kept talking about how welfare is bad and how health care reform is bad and how everything he didn't agree with or services he didn't use were bad. I wanted to punch him in the face, but I didn't.

We eventually landed in Chicago about twenty minutes late due to weather (I think?) and I got off the plane and headed to baggage claim to meet whoever was picking me up. It was supposed to be my mom, but it turned out that my dad was down at my brother's house anyway, so he came to get me, since Josh's house is closer to Midway than ours is, which is where my mom was. So we talked about the trip while we waited for my bags, which took a little bit to come out. Finally, the conveyor belt started to get filled with bags and then mine popped out. We headed out to the parking garage, paid for his parking, and discovered that the baggage handlers had bent the telescopic handle on my big suitcase, which is annoying, but what can you do. It still works, you just have to pull hard.

On the way home, we stopped at White Castle to pick up dinner, since I hadn't eaten since that cheeseburger at Pop. Yes, we stopped for cheeseburgers. It was my dad's idea, not mine. Once we got home, I gave him the mugs and my mom the lantern and votive holders, but she knew that I'd really bought them for myself. I told them about the trip and how much fun I'd had, and then went upstairs to throw my laundry in my basket and call my best friend while I unpacked.

After a couple hours, I crashed into bed. I finally completely emptied my suitcase last night and put it away in my closet. I also finally finished doing my laundry from the trip today before I left for work (at least, the last load was in the washer... maybe my mom switched it).

In 201 days, I'll be going to Disneyland to meet up with franandaj and her DP, and I also have my trip with my best friend and her husband planned in 10/11. I also now have a THIRD trip planned for 2011, in the first week of December with two friends and one friend's son. So, this TR may be over, but I'll be posting links for my two new TRs soon! I'm doing a DLR PTR and a double WDW PTR, so those links will be coming once I get them started!




PS: I do still have my Photopass pics coming once I get the CD, so those will be posted once they get here! Stay tuned for those!

[DisneyFirefly]

And while I wait for my Photopass CD to come, I want to link you guys to my new PTRs!

Turning 27 at DLR! 5/31-6/4/11

I must be insane! A DOUBLE PTR! 10/11 and 12/11!

And yes, the double PTR is going to be organized. I have it color coded so far. The trip with Jacquie and Ian (10/11) is purple, and the trip with my other two friends (12/11) is red.

[PrincessInOz]

Insane! Two PTRs??? I so hate you right now!


Sound like you had a great trip. I guess as an ex-CM, it must have been bitter sweet to have been back there and not have the backdoor accesses. Still, you weren't working, cleaning up ... well, you know .... and could enjoy the park as you wanted.

Looking forward to catching up on your new PTRs! And the Photopasses!

LAST!

[PrincessInOz]

Originally Posted by DisneyFirefly

You know, I didn't try the BBQ one? Sharon had it, so I'm sure she'll pop in and answer I think she liked it.

I came home and looked at the picture I have of this beef and thought - I don't remember eating you! So, it must have been okay; but not memorable.

[DisneyFirefly]

Originally Posted by PrincessInOz

Insane! Two PTRs??? I so hate you right now!

Sound like you had a great trip. I guess as an ex-CM, it must have been bitter sweet to have been back there and not have the backdoor accesses. Still, you weren't working, cleaning up ... well, you know .... and could enjoy the park as you wanted.

Looking forward to catching up on your new PTRs! And the Photopasses!

LAST!

It's two PTRs for three trips, actually The WDW one is a double PTR

I had a wonderful trip It was great getting to meet you and hang out with you in the parks But yeah, it was pretty bittersweet to not be able to do certain things, but it was nice to see it from a proper guest's perspective as well.

I can't wait to get the Photopass disc, either! I want to show the pictures to my mom, and I need to get a photo album, but I think I may wind up getting a scrapbook kit!

Originally Posted by PrincessInOz

I came home and looked at the picture I have of this beef and thought - I don't remember eating you! So, it must have been okay; but not memorable.

That made me crack up

[IheartDDuck]

Two PTR's already? You sound like me.