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

[danimaroo]

Originally Posted by dara00

how do you know where to make the silly faces? I am so bad at being prepared for that. on rockin roller coaster it seemed like the picture was right at take off?

Haha, I think it all comes from riding attractions repeatedly and taking note of when the lights for the photo go off! I know on Spaceship Earth, they tell you exactly when they're going to take your photo, Expedition Everest is JUST before you're about to go down the big drop, Splash is basically as you're starting the drop, Space Mountain is right around the corner after you go through the first tube thingie before you launch off... I could go on. Oh and RnRC is literally as you're being launched, which is why everyone's face tends to look completely smushed, or eyes are closed, etc.

I can't find the hidden mickey in the spaceship earth picture!

Look in the numbers, or more specifically the black 3. It's a tough one but it's there. Hard for the eyes to see.

do you find yourself checking your pins often? Mine kept falling off (but they were on my bag, not a lanyard...) and I was obsessively checking them every few steps. My kids each lost one pin too.

I did, yes! During our first trip I feel like they would fall off more often than this time. There was one pin that was heavier that I ended up taking off because it fell. I know they sell locking backs for pins, but I just kept an eye on mine. I didn't wear mine on a daily basis either though, so that might've helped.

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[StitchsGurl]

This TR is super cute all around, from the names of each chapters to the photos~ Keep it up, I love it!

[danimaroo]

Originally Posted by StitchsGurl

This TR is super cute all around, from the names of each chapters to the photos~ Keep it up, I love it!

Thank you so much for the nice comment! I try to make things pretty entertaining and give each moment/part of the day its own fun title. This sometimes isn't easy so I have to get creative, but it usually works itself out.

And photo-wise, I am just glad I had my iPhone to capture most of these moments. It was SO much easier to stop and take a quick photo on that than it was on my dSLR. The quality might've gone down slightly but it did its job.

Thanks again for commenting and I hope to see you around here more.

[dara00]

Originally Posted by danimaroo

Haha, I think it all comes from riding attractions repeatedly and taking note of when the lights for the photo go off! I know on Spaceship Earth, they tell you exactly when they're going to take your photo, Expedition Everest is JUST before you're about to go down the big drop, Splash is basically as you're starting the drop, Space Mountain is right around the corner after you go through the first tube thingie before you launch off... I could go on. Oh and RnRC is literally as you're being launched, which is why everyone's face tends to look completely smushed, or eyes are closed, etc.


Look in the numbers, or more specifically the black 3. It's a tough one but it's there. Hard for the eyes to see.


I did, yes! During our first trip I feel like they would fall off more often than this time. There was one pin that was heavier that I ended up taking off because it fell. I know they sell locking backs for pins, but I just kept an eye on mine. I didn't wear mine on a daily basis either though, so that might've helped.

I see the mickey! that's a good one!

We got locking backs but only put them on the ones we were sure we wouldn't trade!

[jecskc]

I loved your Beverly photos !! Sooo funny !! They were out of the China soda when we were there and DD was bummed because it is her favorite.

Please tell me you stopped in France to get a Grey Goose slushie !!

Oh, and I love your giraffe shirt !!

[danimaroo]

Originally Posted by dara00

I see the mickey! that's a good one!

We got locking backs but only put them on the ones we were sure we wouldn't trade!

Haha yup, it is a really good one! I was proud when I caught that on our first trip.

And that makes sense! Yeah, it's tough on the pins that you want to trade, you also want to make sure you don't lose any, too!

Originally Posted by jecskc

I loved your Beverly photos !! Sooo funny !! They were out of the China soda when we were there and DD was bummed because it is her favorite.

Haha, it was quite and experience and we were laughing really hard at the photos afterwards. There is nothing like Beverly! Yuck!

Yeah, there were a few soda stations out of random things but we just went to a different one that had what we were looking for. Bummer about watermelon being out because it's pretty tasty!

Please tell me you stopped in France to get a Grey Goose slushie !!

Okay, I didn't get one because we were very quickly making our way back to our resort, and I wasn't quite in the mood for one yet. We also had a future evening planned for the World Showcase at night with some adult beverages.

Oh, and I love your giraffe shirt !!

Thank you! I love it, too. I got it from one of my favorite t-shirt places, Threadless. I ahve so many of their t-shrtrs though I stopped buying them. Seriously, it's insane the amount I have... It's a big collection!

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[okw19]

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

Thank you, same goes for you lady. I wouldn't miss commenting on one of your updates!

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

I just love every bit of that story.

And yes, let's plan to meet up for some pretzels, STAT... Haha, okay I have to admit when I read this comment from you I got sad because we can't do that.

I didn't mean to make you sad. I wish we could.

Onto Epcot! I love that you guys not-so subtly reminded Matt's coworkers what they were missing. I might have sent a few texts like that too!

I love the SE ride pics you took! Riley rode with my dad and Anna, and for some reason it picked up Ri's face instead of my dad's. It was SO funny and cute! Wish Anna would've taken a picture of it.

Your Beverly face pics are priceless! You are just the cutest. Love the Anchorman reference. The China Smart Watermelon is my favorite.

Glad you enjoyed the Gran Fiesta Tour for the first time! It is so cute. Back in the day before Donald and friends were added, there were screens showing random outdated Mexican scenes that were hilarious.

Great table at San Angel!! I am drooling over your entree, it looks delicious! You get points for trying that dessert because thinking about flan makes me want to gag. I hate going back outside to the hot sun after spending that much time in Mexico. Blind much?

Maelstrom = . Creepy fishing boy, not so much. It's such a classic WS/Epcot thing you have to love it! Matt's No-Way comment has me dying. It's people like him that killed the idea of having a post-show preshow for more future attractions. We skip it too when we can! I kind of feel bad for the Imagineers that thought putting the pre-show after the ride would be a good idea. I can picture you guys cracking up and people looking at you like you lost your minds on the Maelstrom.

Bye, Epcot!

[marDgreen88]

Okay, no, I really really cannot spot the hidden Mickey in that picture. Are you trying to trick us? Haha

IT'S SO DARN HOT. MILK WAS A BAD CHOICE. Hahahaha Beverley is ALWAYS a bad choice. I will never ever understand what those Italians were thinking when they created that! It should be used to clean toilets.

Mmm, yall's lunch looks good! What is it exactly?

Hahahha! I love title explanations.

Hmmm I bet you said goodbye to Epcot because you had to go back to heaven on earth aka the BEACH CLUB YAY!!!!!!!

[danimaroo]

Originally Posted by okw19

Thank you, same goes for you lady. I wouldn't miss commenting on one of your updates!

AWW YAY THANKS!

I just love every bit of that story.I didn't mean to make you sad. I wish we could.

Hahaha yes... and it's okay, it just would've been fun to go to AK and eat jalapeno pretzels together.

Onto Epcot! I love that you guys not-so subtly reminded Matt's coworkers what they were missing. I might have sent a few texts like that too!

Haha it was actually pretty hilarious. They were definitely jealous! And I was totally a ridiculous Facebook updater and I'm sure I annoyed some people with my constant Disney updates, but I don't really care.

I love the SE ride pics you took! Riley rode with my dad and Anna, and for some reason it picked up Ri's face instead of my dad's. It was SO funny and cute! Wish Anna would've taken a picture of it.

Haha that makes it ten times awesomer. I bet Riley loved seeing herself on the screen!

Your Beverly face pics are priceless! You are just the cutest. Love the Anchorman reference. The China Smart Watermelon is my favorite.

Hahaha, it was so hilarious. We were laughing really hard at them. AND YES for the Anchorman reference. That watermelon soda is delicious!

Glad you enjoyed the Gran Fiesta Tour for the first time! It is so cute. Back in the day before Donald and friends were added, there were screens showing random outdated Mexican scenes that were hilarious.

Haha I kind of wish I'd seen the outdated scenes because that would've made me laugh really hard. It really was a cuter attraction that I imagined it would be!

Great table at San Angel!! I am drooling over your entree, it looks delicious! You get points for trying that dessert because thinking about flan makes me want to gag. I hate going back outside to the hot sun after spending that much time in Mexico. Blind much?

Yeah it was an excellent table! We kept watching people on Gran Fiesta Tour float by. The dessert was good! I'm not sure if it was flan vs. being more of like a thicker pudding I guess? I don't know, but it was tasty! AND HOLY COW I was so blinded by the sun! Had to put my stunnah shades on.

Maelstrom = . Creepy fishing boy, not so much. It's such a classic WS/Epcot thing you have to love it! Matt's No-Way comment has me dying. It's people like him that killed the idea of having a post-show preshow for more future attractions. We skip it too when we can! I kind of feel bad for the Imagineers that thought putting the pre-show after the ride would be a good idea. I can picture you guys cracking up and people looking at you like you lost your minds on the Maelstrom.

I just love Maelstrom. It's fun and I love the little trolls along the way. It seriously was so funny at the time, because he said it and started like fast-walking out of the little theater while I was behind him laughing like a 5 year old. We're terrible, probably just ruined the video for all 4 people who were watching it.

And yeah, I'm not sure what they were thinking in having it at the end! I've watched it before, but I was naaaht doing it again.

Bye, Epcot!

ADIOS! But we'll be back.

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Originally Posted by marDgreen88

Okay, no, I really really cannot spot the hidden Mickey in that picture. Are you trying to trick us? Haha

Haha it's really hard to see but it's in the number 3 on the spaceship! It's hard since it's the white space, but it's definitely one! I forget where I ended up confirming that... some hidden Mickey site I think. But yeah! I always like finding it.

IT'S SO DARN HOT. MILK WAS A BAD CHOICE. Hahahaha Beverley is ALWAYS a bad choice. I will never ever understand what those Italians were thinking when they created that! It should be used to clean toilets.

HAHAHA I just died. I love that movie so much. I kind of want to just watch it right now. And yes, I agree, the Italians are crazy and Beverly is much better as a cleaning agent.

Mmm, yall's lunch looks good! What is it exactly?

It seriously was delicious! It was a grilled sirloin steak, but thin, with black refied beans that had some delicious cheese on top, and then layers of fried corn tortilla, green tomatillo sauce, topped with fresh cheese, onions, sour cream. IT WAS SO GOOD. I miss Disney food.

Hahahha! I love title explanations.

Me too, they always crack me up when they've got a story behind them!

Hmmm I bet you said goodbye to Epcot because you had to go back to heaven on earth aka the BEACH CLUB YAY!!!!!!!

AND I BET YOU ARE SO RIGHT!

Hahaha, thank you for the comment. Your comments always make me smile!

[marDgreen88]

OMG. HOW did you ever spot that? That's crazy. I still can barely see it!

THANK YOU for such a detailed description on your meal! I appreciate it! I'm currently trying to figure out where to make ADRs for next trip so that is very helpful information!

Aww! Well I enjoy commenting so it works out.

[danimaroo]

Originally Posted by marDgreen88

OMG. HOW did you ever spot that? That's crazy. I still can barely see it!

THANK YOU for such a detailed description on your meal! I appreciate it! I'm currently trying to figure out where to make ADRs for next trip so that is very helpful information!

Aww! Well I enjoy commenting so it works out.

I'm honestly not sure. I think I was just looking for it during our honeymoon and noticed that it was odd that the 3 was black while the other numbers weren't. It's way easier to spot in person I think!

And noooo problem, it's a good place for some Mexican food, and I really enjoyed the restaurant itself, being right near the volcano inside of Mexico!

I'm glad you like commenting because if people didn't, I'd be a bit sad that no one seemed to be reading my TR.

[danimaroo]

Chapter Ten: Floatin' along in a lazy river and uhh, an explanation of my fear of ToT
Day 2: January 19th, 2012

Then made our way back to Beach Club for some swimming and relaxation before heading out later. When we got back to our room, Matt called housekeeping to ask for another pillow. He accidentally told them room 457, and had to call back to correct it to 459. Our phone actually said 457 on it, which I'm pretty sure is because our studio is actually part of a two-bedroom villa. Housekeeping was crazy ninja-fast with bringing up the pillow, which was nice!

I caught up with my trip journal, then we changed and decided to head down to Stormalong Bay, which we were both dying to swim in!



For anyone who cares, yes, they check for your room cards, even in January when it's slower. We went to SAB quite a few times and they always checked our cards then gave us wristbands to wear. So no, you can't pool-hop to SAB, even when it's a slower time of year. I'm not sure what would have happened if I didn't have my card and we only had Matt's, but I know they checked both of ours and not just one, and very thoroughly. Just throwing that out there if anyone was curious, because I've definitely seen people ask about pool-hopping to SAB. I am glad they don't allow it because otherwise it'd definitely be the most popular pool!

Anyway, it was actually pretty quiet down there, and we were kind of disappointed to see that they were doing construction on some of the bridges and the Beach Club itself, which essentially split the pool in half because of the huge wall they put up. It was a little annoying as getting from pool to pool was a trip in itself, but we didn't really let it phase us because Stormalong Bay was so cool! We hopped into the super deep lazy river and floated around it a few times. So much fun and soooo relaxing! I could've spent an entire day just floating around that river, seriously!

We then hopped over to the pool with a sand-bottom and totally played like little kids in the whirlpool. That thing whipped us around and around and I didn't want to get out of it! It was way too much fun. I definitely understand why SAB is considered to be the best resort pool!

After some fun in the sun and the pool, we headed back to our room and showered and changed, then headed out for Hollywood Studios at around 5pm.

Just to back up for a moment, this was the day that Obama was in Magic Kingdom, so Disney decided to have EMH in both HS AND Epcot, along with a fireworks show in Hollywood Studios called "Rock the Night". Our original pre-Snowmageddon plans had us in MK this day, but between moving our Day one plans up a day and also Obama being in MK, we made sure to avoid it at all cost (this will come into play in Day 3) and played in other parks that day.

Anyway, I was definitely interested in this Rock the Night fireworks show, since HS rarely has fireworks, and this was the only park we hadn't been to yet! We just missed a Friendship boat, but we didn't mind waiting since it was so pretty outside.





A boat soon showed up to bring us on down to Hollywood Studios, and we enjoyed a nice trip while sitting outside and enjoying the breeze.





Can I just say, that I loved the ride on the boat to HS? It was such a nice break from things and a wonderful way to get from HS to Beach Club or HS to Epcot. It is such a beautiful trip as you go past the other Epcot resorts, and it was one of my favorite quiet times we had during our trip.

Soon enough, we'd arrived at Hollywood Studios and made our way in.



It was a little crowded but not too terrible..



So we decided to head back to Tower of Terror to see what the wait time was.





Yup, we were actually thinking about riding ToT! However, when we saw that the wait time was 40 minutes, and that the line was indeed that long, we were a little bummed out and started to turn away.

A CM standing by the entrance asked us if we were staying at a resort, to which we replied yes, then asked if we were staying for EMH, which we again replied yes. He told us to come back at just after 7, and that we would walk onto the ride without a problem. We smiled and thanked him and told him we'd be back, and strolled away satisfied that we indeed would attempt to conquer our fears, or well, I would be as it was going to be my first time ever on ToT.

By the way, in case you were wondering why I have such a fear of elevators, it's because of the terrible movie Ghost Dad (with Bill Cosby).. PLEASE tell me somebody remembers this movie and the scene where the elevator he is on, the cables are snapping as they go higher and higher on the elevator? And he just escapes before the elevator crashes? Uh yeah, traumatized me as a little girl. So this ToT thing was like.. a huge deal for me.

I think both of us were kind of glad we could put off our ride on Tower of Terror, and we decided to grab dinner over at Sunset Ranch Market. We both got the burgers with french fries, and I got the carrot cake while Matt got the chocolate cake.





I actually like this burger. It's kind of massive and I never finish it, but it's pretty tasty! I also like sitting in this area because it's fun to people watch and there's always an abundance of places to sit, which is really nice.

After we ate and people-watched for awhile, we headed back to the main hub area and did some window shopping, making notes of things that we'd maybe purchase later in the trip. I remember regretting not bringing a hoodie with me that night, as it was starting to get slightly chilly, but I didn't make any purchases yet on a sweatshirt.

Matt really wanted to ride Star Tours, as he hadn't ridden it since the refurbishment and I'd never been on it.

I know, ANOTHER first for me. But this time I have a valid excuse - Star Tours was down for refurbishment during our honeymoon! So even though I really wanted to ride it, I couldn't.

Anyway, we headed for Star Tours and stood in a relatively short line, which I didn't mind since I wanted to take photos of everything in the queue..







We are huge Star Wars fan, Matt more so than me, so we were both really excited to ride this.





Um, can I just state how much I LOVED this attraction?! It totally blew my expectations away and I found myself smiling throughout our entire trip! I loved the rebel spy thing, I loved that C3PO was our pilot, and I loved zooming around all the different scenes. Matt loved it as well and thought it was an excellent update to the old attraction.

After an exciting adventure, we made our way back towards Tower of Terror, as it was closer to 7pm and we wanted to catch at least part of the fireworks for the Rock the Night show.

I'm just going to interject here and be honest about something. I am not a fan of this new stage that they built in front of the Sorcerer's Hat, and I found some of the music to be really just... well, it wasn't my cup of tea. Mainly because it was so loud and the guys were making really obnoxious noises. I actually would've been fine with the stage if the volume was just turned down a few notches.

I literally couldn't hear anything Matt was saying because it was so incredibly loud. That and I don't like that it blocks a pretty view of the hat. Okay, ending my rant there, but I just had to say it because it blasted my ears off when we stopped to watch the fireworks show. Outside of the music, the show was pretty cool.







Anyway, we made our way over to ToT, fighting through masses of people exiting the park... but we didn't mind too much since we knew we'd have a good chance of getting lots of attractions in as we watched people leave the park.



Okay, it was looking way creepier at night, and I was starting to get nervous...

Continued in next update.

[danimaroo]

Chapter Eleven: Um, did we just step into the Overlook Hotel: My first experience on Tower of Terror.
Day 2: January 19th, 2012

We walked up, and sure enough, the wait time said 5 minutes. That CM was a genius! We walked up and into the hotel, and I'm not going to lie, I was creeped out because I immediately thought of the Overlook Hotel from The Shining. The old time-y music plus super old hotel = me freaking out... but I had to admit that theming was absolutely genius!





I was not so sure how I felt about conquering this fear all of a sudden...



And neither was Matt..



As we got into the loading area, we saw the CM from earlier who'd told us to come back. When he saw us, he said, "SEE?!" with a smile, and we responded with, "YES! Awesome, thanks!" He reminded me a bit of Neville Longbottom, so that made me happy.

Okay, so before I tell you about our experience, Matt had told me about his previous ones. When he was younger, they were still doing the whole one massive drop thing, which Matt hated. Later on when he was a teenager, his friends convinced him to try it out again and he said he enjoyed it a lot more because it was a serious of way smaller drops, and not a ton of going up and then immediately dropping. This in itself convinced me that maybe I could do this and I could ride it.

As we loaded, and I stared at the little seat map on the wall, I realized in horror that we were in the front row. Um, not what I necessarily wanted considering I've heard the front row is scarier.

At that point we just dealt with it and got into our seats, buckling our seatbelts. Next thing I know, we are dropping and we're not stopping. I think I nearly pooped my pants because of how insane this was (okay not really but I was screaming like a little girl).

We were being lifted and then immediately dropped with no stop in between, and these were not little drops. AND on top of that, my belt was WAY too loose, as I evidently hadn't tightened it, so I was flying out of my seat with every drop. Holy. Terrifying. Experience.



It was way way more intense than I'd expected, enough that the people sitting behind us, who'd clearly been on it many times before, even commented saying that that drop sequence was the most intense they've seen in a long time.

Now, all that being said... I actually enjoyed it! This is one of the few rides that I hate but love... and I actually enjoyed being scared, if that makes sense.. which if you know me, is definitely not the norm for me. I hate haunted mansions and scary stuff, but this? This I actually liked, even though I wasn't sure we'd go on again, because Matt wasn't too keen on it. He loves the theming, and thinks it's got some of the best theming of any attraction in Disney World, but those drops were way worse than he remembered.

BUT I DID IT! And I was proud and happy I'd survived, and actually kind of wanted to go on again, but Matt asked if we could do it a different day because he just wasn't up to it. I was okay with this, because when I stopped and thought about it, I wasn't sure I could handle that again.. at least for tonight.

We then made our way over to the Rockin' Roller Coaster, which we both love.



The wait was very minimal, so we were on in no time.



When we got into the sound studio, I started laughing because I remembered that Ken Marino (who is in Wet Hot American Summer, Veronica Mars, Party Down, and other random stuff) plays the sound guy, who always gets left behind!



The CM actually asked the room if anyone had never been on, and when no one responded he just opened the doors without us finishing the studio sequence. I wasn't complaining, as it does get kind of old after you've seen it many times, so we headed in to get ready to ride!



After one crazy ride, we decided to go on it again since it was still a walk-on. This time I decided to make such a dumb face, considering I do not ever do this and I look like a turd.



Upon walking out of RnRC, we realized it was SO dead in the park! And we were loving it! I think because Epcot and HS has EMH this night, people kind of split in half about where they spent their evening, leaving HS pretty deserted. We headed back over to ride Star Tours again, and this was what we walked into:



Yeah, no lines at all. We rode Star Tours twice, getting even more newer scenes, then looked around the shop before heading out.





As we left the park, I got an ice water from a little QS place, which was really nice because I was so thirsty! We talked about going to Epcot for EMH and to squeeze in a ride on Test Track, but soon decided that no, we were too exhausted and sore and would rather head back to our resort to relax.

While waiting in line for a boat, we saw some friends..



BOAT HOBO DUCKS! They were also kind of begging for food, so this is where we coined the term "hobo ducks". These are the ducks that beg for food, and more often than not, get said food from guests. So yes, these guys were boat hobo ducks. Quite a cute bunch!

We caught a Friendship boat, and watched the fireworks go off in the distance.



Guess this was for Illuminations, so that means we probably got back to our room around 9:30.

I was glad we ended up going back, because when I took off my socks I realized I had some super gnarly blisters, as did Matt, and we basically took care of them. I'd come with moleskin and other things to help blisters, but they were pretty much going to happen, whether I liked it or not. In fact, I got blisters through the moleskin later on in the trip!

Anyway, I was laying in bed but realized I needed my phone (which was charging on the table) to look at photos so I could update my trip journal. When I got up, my body was extremely stiff and so I started walking very rigidly.

Matt, the king of one-liners, nonchalantly looked at me and said, "You're walking like Barbie in Toy Story."

I turned and looked at him and started laughing so hard I could barely breathe. Like, where the HECK does he get these little one-liners from?! But what was even better about it was he was so right in how I was walking! I was Barbie in Toy Story because of how sore I was.

We ended up getting some hot chocolate in our mugs (oh yes, try my recipe. 2/3 hot chocolate, add 3 pumps of hazelnut, and a little creamer to cool it down/make it creamy, it's SO good and made the hot chocolate way better) and relaxed in our room for the rest of the night.

A great second day was had, but we were tired and I'm pretty sure fell asleep relatively early.

Continued in next update.

[Susan121302]

OMG, yay HS! Love this update. Ok, so ToT scares the bajeezus out of me too. I tried to conquer the fear back in 07 and went on with my nieces. Nope, NADA, fear is still present and in full force. So as I am going through Park Maps with DS about our upcoming trip he claims he may want to try out ToT. Um, WHAT?!?!? Shocking because he's such a little chicken. So, I told him weakly, "ok, we can try that one too." meanwhile I am already shakin in my boots about going on it. Waaaah.

[dara00]

when I was in Disney in 07, we stayed at the Dolphin. (my only time staying "on site"!) We didn't know we couldn't use the pool at the Beach Club and walked over there. They told us we weren't supposed to be able to go in, but let us in anyway. Guess we got lucky!

This trip, I didn't realize the stage in front of the hat is not always there - good thing so I wasn't disappointed!