I'm Going Away... FOREVER! Oh, Great! Could You Get Me a Sandwich?? - updated 6/16!

[baseballmickey]

Our journey to Tomorrowland took us through the Hub and gave us some more photo ops with the castle. I took a bunch of pics as we were walking. This one was my favorite:



As we entered the future, we had two items on our agenda: Food, and defeating the Evil Emporer Zurg.



We grabbed FastPasses for Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, and the headed over to Cosmic Rays for dinner. We grabbed seats outside, and I got everyone's order and went in to get our food. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of the food. OOPS! It's been almost an entire year, but I think a safe bet is that I had a cheeseburger, Lisa had a chicken sandwich, Bella and Jackson both had chicken fingers/nuggets. I could be wrong, but in the end I don't think it matters much. Cosmic Rays doesn't have anything that will blow you away. What is really good about it is that they have a wide selection of food, so you can get just about anything.

Jackson seemed to enjoy his meal



We still had time to kill after eating, so we browsed around in Mickey's Star Traders. Bella liked this hat, but we didn't buy it.



When our window opened, we boarded our spaceships and helped Buzz defeat Zurg. It was girls vs. boys as I took Jackson and Bella rode with Lisa, behind us. I spun us around to videotape Lisa and Bella on the ride. I wasn't concerned with scoring, but wouldn't you know that I scored 200,000 points just by shooting Lisa!

Lisa and Bella in action:



Me and Jackson:



It was very easy to get our ride pictures added to our PhotoPass+ card.

After our galactic battle was finished, we suffered a disaster of cosmic proportions. I won't go into detail, but we ended back over at Cosmic Rays and Mickey's Star Traders.

Jackson was chillin' in the stroller while it all went down.



And you may notice from this picture that somebody got a whole new outfit, which we had to purchase...



Bella then apparently had a secret to share with her little brother...



Situation rectified, but with both Lisa and I feeling frustrated at what we felt could have been avoided, we made our way back through the hub toward Main Street as the sun was setting and the lights were coming on.





There was one more thing on our to do list for the evening. Back in the spring of 2010, we discovered the Wishes Dessert Party at the Tomorrowland Terrace. We loved it so much that we decided to do it again on our first night of our holiday trip at the end of 2010. Alas, the storm that wreaked havoc on our plans prevented us from being there and we lost out on our reservation.

So it was time to set things right. We made our way over to the seating area and got checked in. The check-in had moved to the other side from where it was 3 years prior. It also seemed to be a slightly larger setup than that first experience.

They had a PhotoPass photographer there and we got a nice night-time family shot with the castle.



As you can see, I'm still wearing my lei. Had it on since breakfast.

Just like we remembered, the dessert buffet had plenty of great choices. This was my plate:



and this was Lisa's:



Bella enjoying her dessert:



As we ate dessert, we could see the Main Street Electrical Parade moving up Main Street and through the Hub from our seats. At one point we got up to move to the railing to get a better view. It's not the greatest parade viewing spot, but I suppose that's why they call it the "Wishes" dessert party, and not the "MSEP" party.

After the parade, it was time for the new Castle projection show. We had seen this from our balcony the night before, and I was looking forward to having a closer view and being able to actually see the pictures projected on the castle. Well, I was disappointed. Even from the Terrace, I couldn't make out any of the family photos they included in the show. The animations were amazing and the images that they used that took up a large portion of the castle were visible. But when they put up the park photos from the day, they were way too small to see, and usually several at once in different spots on the castle for only a few seconds. I really didn't see how anyone could pick out themselves on the castle during the show.

I took to calling it the "Magic, Memories, and WHO?" show after that.


and finally, it was time for Wishes. It's hard to say which was the better viewing experience. Our balcony view was incredible, but the music was low from the park, and being piped out to the balcony from the tv in the room. And the fireworks were appearing over Space Mountain and Tomorrowland. But it had a more personal, private feel to it.

From the Terrace, inside the park, the music is so much louder and being with the crowd and their reactions really makes it a more immersive experience. The downside is dealing with the crowd, and possibly someone blocking your view, and having to walk all the way out of the park afterwards.

I'm glad we got to do both.

I have no pictures of any of this, so I apologize. I took video, and I'll grab some frames from them to post to illustrate the viewing angle we had.

So, with Wishes ending, we gathered our small children by the hand, and made our way toward the exit. I put Bella on my shoulders, and Jackson in the stroller. We knew we'd be back later in the trip, so we didn't bother with the Emporium like we normally would have.

Instead, we made a beeline to the exit, and once we got there, we didn't have to deal with boarding the monorail or the ferry. We enjoyed the convenience of WALKING back to our hotel. Bella was on my shoulders the whole way.

Once back in the room, we got ready for bed and for our next full day at WDW. We even caught some of the Electric Water Pageant from our balcony before calling it a night.

So that's it for day 2. (aside from the promised dessert party images to come)

Next up, we spend a day at EPCOT!!

[TheMaxRebo]

Originally Posted by baseballmickey

Our journey to Tomorrowland took us through the Hub and gave us some more photo ops with the castle. I took a bunch of pics as we were walking. This one was my favorite:

Love that photo!

Happy Father's Day!

[wiigirl]

Awesome update!

[dhorner233]

[Chicago Mo]

What a great update!!! Do you recommend the Dessert party?!?

Besides working more then you deserve how was Father's day?!?
I just love reading your reports!!!
Such a great family!

[afwdwfan]

Originally Posted by baseballmickey

I just wrote an update while here at work, and the damn browser "stopped unexpectedly" and I lost the whole thing just as I was finishing it up. UGH!!!

I hate it when that happens.

That's why I always write my updates in Word and then copy/paste.

Originally Posted by baseballmickey

The problem tonight was that my relief couldn't make it in, and now I'm stuck until 5am.

Brutal. That's a long day.

It definitely does look like you have busy summer coming up, but a lot of family time and some fun in store for you as well. Enjoy!

Originally Posted by baseballmickey

I wasn't concerned with scoring, but wouldn't you know that I scored 200,000 points just by shooting Lisa!

Hmmmm... interesting... Might just have to try this one out sometime.

Originally Posted by baseballmickey

And you may notice from this picture that somebody got a whole new outfit, which we had to purchase...

Well whatever happened certainly couldn't have been anything good at all.

Originally Posted by baseballmickey

Just like we remembered, the dessert buffet had plenty of great choices. This was my plate:

Ok, I'm sold. Now I want to do a dessert party.

Originally Posted by baseballmickey

I took to calling it the "Magic, Memories, and WHO?" show after that.

I like it!

I really didn't care much for that part of the show anyway. I guess if your kid's picture is up there, it would have been special, but otherwise... well, it is just some random kid. I really had a hard time making out the pictures on the castle from Main Street anyway. You had to be standing pretty close to see the detail. I think the new projection show, which doesn't include that part, is actually a much better show.

Originally Posted by baseballmickey

Instead, we made a beeline to the exit, and once we got there, we didn't have to deal with boarding the monorail or the ferry. We enjoyed the convenience of WALKING back to our hotel. Bella was on my shoulders the whole way.

I would love having that ability!