A Magical Journey...Bookended by Some Airport Troubles...(Updated 12/03/12!!!!!!!!)

[jesemeca]

I followed you over from my TR. Can't wait to hear more about your trip. We were in Epcot the day it rained. Nothing like being all the way in the back of Epcot in the middle of a downpour. Happened to me the last two trips.

 

[Turkey Lurkey]

Late to the party, but subscribed none the less.



TL

 

[OhMari]

All the CS restaurants in DS, stink.

I lost my sunglasses on Space Mountain, and I made a report with L&F. They sent my sunglasses home, and they got there before I came home. Last year I got this big box from WDW after I got home, and it was from House keeping at PO. I forgot my pillow I brought along.

 

[katoot]

All the CS restaurants in DS, stink.

I lost my sunglasses on Space Mountain, and I made a report with L&F. They sent my sunglasses home, and they got there before I came home. Last year I got this big box from WDW after I got home, and it was from House keeping at PO. I forgot my pillow I brought along.

DW also lost her sunglasses on the trip, but we weren't sure as to where we lost them or how to describe them...fortunately, we found them two weeks ago in her backpack (we don't use the backpacks too often).

 

[katoot]

Late to the party, but subscribed none the less.



TL

It's about time...I was about to send out a search party.

 

[Turkey Lurkey]

It's about time...I was about to send out a search party.

Well, it's kind to get on to the interwebs with no computer.


TL

 

[katoot]

Day 7- January 25th

We started our day slightly later than usual. 7am wake up time (again, no alarms…we didn’t use alarms at all this trip). Today is our first trip to the Magic Kingdom. However, I’ve been watching the Weather Channel almost non-stop. It’s supposed to rain today, quite hard. Hopefully, not while we’re at the MK. I want to leave a little early, but Soon Ae wants to relax. I oblige.

I finally head to the buses around 9:45 or so. A bus quickly picks us up and we are on our way. Before long, we are at the Magic Kingdom. We take a couple pictures in front of the train station before we head in. I’m most excited to see her initial reaction to seeing the castle up close (meaning, not from Cali Grill in the Contemporary Resort). We turn the corner to go on to Main Street and her expression is one of astonishment. I couldn’t be happier.

We take a few more pictures near the castle and head towards Adventureland (we’re planning on going to MK for parts of three days, so we’re in no rush to get to the most popular rides…we have two more days to check them out). The Jungle Cruise has a 10 standby, but we walked right on. It was quite nostalgic for me, and Soon Ae seemed to enjoy it, as well. Next, Pirates of the Caribbean. Again, pretty much a walk on. The slight drop scared Soon Ae a bit (and, admittedly, caught me off guard), but she enjoyed it.

We head towards Frontierland and spot Woody and Jessie doing a Meet and Greet. The line wasn’t too long, so we decide to wait. Right before it was our turn, they take their break. No worries. We are in no rush. The wait wasn’t even 10 minutes and we are getting hugged by the two and get our pictures taken.

Unfortunately, Splash Mountain is closed for refurbishment (which I knew, but, having never been on it, was still disappointed...especially since it was scheduled to reopen on the 29th, the day we leave Disney), so I ask Soon Ae if she’d like to try Big Thunder Mountain. Again, to my surprise, she says yes! Although, afterwards, I don’t think she’ll want to do it again (but I’d be willing to bet that she enjoyed it more than another ride on another day….I’ll get to that in a future update).

We arrive near Liberty Square just in time for the jamboree in front of the Country Bear Attraction and Soon Ae wants to try dancing with one of the characters. (I'd post the video, but my links aren't working...)

After a quick “break” in Liberty Square (maybe they didn’t appreciate her dancing)…

We go to the Haunted Mansion, my favorite attraction. Soon Ae was a little scared, but enjoyed it, nonetheless.

After a quick lunch at Cosmic Ray’s (and, I believe, a viewing of Philharmagic), it was time for my mom’s favorite attraction, It’s a Small World. Soon Ae was especially excited to see the Korean representation on the ride (although, in the room of goodbyes, she thought it was amusing that the Korean goodbye was slightly misspelled).

Knowing the forecast, and seeing that it was starting to get a little cloudier, we decide to leave the park and do some quick shopping/browsing at Downtown Disney. However, before we left the park, we stopped for a quick show of the marching band.

Soon Ae’s reaction to leaving Magic Kingdom.

We arrive at Downtown Disney and do a lot of window shopping. I pick up a few Vinylmations and Soon Ae buys some souvenirs for friends back home. While we are in World of Disney for the second time, it starts to rain…hard. We wait it out a bit, and then head to Wolfgang Puck Express for a very good dinner. It starts pouring out while we are there.

Once we finish, we hurry for the bus stop, while rain is blowing every which way. The bus for Pop arrives and, somewhat surprisingly, a Brazilian tour group gets out. Oh, what fun they will have in this weather. We hop on the bus for what we hoped was a relaxing ride back to the resort. However, our bus has a few leaks…in the light fixtures! Fortunately, nothing happened, but it was a little troubling seeing water pour out of the lights.

We get back to the resort and head back to our room for an early turn in. I watch the Weather Channel some more and see that tornadoes had been spotted or touched down within 30 miles of WDW. Fortunately, they never came near the World.

Coming Up Next
Will they visit more than one park a day, considering they have park hoppers?


By the way, for a potentially much better Trip Report, go visit Turkey Lurkey's.

 

[Caretames1]

I see you didn't washed away to much by the storm. I was happy we made it back to the room before it all broke loose.

I know when I heard about the tornados, my girls were scared, but I made up a story that the rooms could take a tornado safely, due to being built for hurricanes.

 

[jelloarms]

Just letting you know I'm reading! That's cool that you teach English in South Korea. Can you speak it fluently as well? I was there in 2007 for a week vacation and would love to go back someday! Love the food there. Kim Chee soup is the best!

 

[katoot]

Sorry for the lack of updates lately, but I've been slightly busy/unmotivated the past few weeks.
I've been without a job since April 18th (my school was dealing with budget cuts, and when it came to renewing my year-long contract, they opted to go with a gyopo, or Korean American, since they're cheaper). I've had a few interviews for a new job over the past couple months, such as at a high school, an iron ore refinery-type factory, and a newspaper gig, but nothing has come of those. I have another interview tomorrow for a private elementary school in the first city I lived in (Incheon), so hopefully I'll get some pixie dust magic to help me out with that.
Some other things that have kept me busy:
We had a few holidays here in Korea over the past week or so- Children's Day, Parent's Day, and Buddha's Birthday. For Children's Day (the 5th), DW and I took her daughter (from a previous marriage) to visit some of DW's sisters and their families. We had a nice picnic with them, but had to cut it a little short, as DW had to work that night. On Friday, I struggled to finish my scrapbook from our trip (did a fairly good job on it, too...considering I finished over 30 pages that night) in order to show it to DW's mom and brothers, who we were going to visit on Parent's Day (the 8th). We left on Saturday afternoon around 3pm. Traffic was HORRIBLE that day, as we didn't get to her mom's house until about 11:30pm (as a frame of reference, when we came back on Monday morning, we left at 4am and arrived at our home at 7am). We had a nice visit with her mom and her older and younger brothers. Tuesday, the 10th, was Buddha's Birthday. We didn't really celebrate it, but spent the day looking for a new apartment in Incheon (because of cheaper apartment prices and to be closer to three of her sisters). We looked at about 5 or 6 apartments, but weren't impressed by any of them except for the last one. It looked like it would fit us perfectly. On Thursday, we signed the papers, and we'll be moving to Incheon on June 21st.
If I happen to get this private elementary job, it would be great, as I would only have to work 8:30-4:30 Mon-Thu every week. I'd also get a summer and winter bonus, as well as 3 weeks off in those times (for a total of 6 weeks vacation). I could maybe start as soon as a couple days after the interview, but that would mean I'd have about an hour and a half commute each way until we move, but I can deal with that. Again, here's hoping I get some Pixie Dust working for me.
To kind of offset my current lack of income, I have been teaching two twentysomethings a conversation class for two hours a week the past month or so...it's not much, but it's something.

Anyways, that's why I haven't had a real update on here for the past week or so. I'm going to try to get one up in the next few days (perhaps even later tonight)...perhaps I need to look through a few more of the other TRs on here and through my scrapbook to get a bit motivated.

 

[Caretames1]

Well, here's some for ya! Good Luck!

Life happens to get in the way of our enjoyment of Disney. Doesn't it know any better

 

[afwdwfan]

Hey there, just found your TR. Enjoying it so far and looking forward to more!

 

[katoot]

Hey there, just found your TR. Enjoying it so far and looking forward to more!

Welcome and thank you! As I mentioned on the DISdad rant thread...I'm having some difficulties with the forum regarding customizing (color, links, photos, and smilies are inaccessible right now)...once I get some time to look at some source codes, I'll update again. In the meantime, I had a job interview yesterday and another one tomorrow, as well as another possible one on either Thursday or Friday, so I'll be a little busy this week, but I'll do my best to get the next day up.

 

[katoot]

Ok. So, obviously, I haven't updated the actual trip yet, but I thought I would take a moment to give another quick personal update. On the plus side, I don't have the problem customizing posts anymore. However, considering I don't have a job yet, I've been fairly busy and kind of unmotivated.

On the job front, I was able to get a contract for an after school academy (wasn't the job I was hoping for, but after being unemployed for about a month and a half, I'll take anything)...actually, it'll be the same place as my first year here in Korea. I start on the first of June, but we don't move to our new apartment until the 22nd. This means I'll have to commute about an hour or so each way by bus and train everyday. But only for three weeks. Once we move, I believe it will only be about a 20 minute bus ride. What I'm most worried about is the day we move, the 22nd, which is a Wednesday. Which means I work from 2pm-10pm. And DW would work that day, too, I believe...which would be about 6pm-4am Thursday morning. I'll not only have to take the bus home for the first time, but it's also at night. I just hope I don't get lost.

I've also taken it upon myself (with some very strong nudges from DW) to try to finish my TESOL Course (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) before I start my new job. This was decided last Monday. Which would have given me just over a week to do a 100-hour course. It's now late Saturday night, and I'm about halfway done (quite exhausted mentally, however). The good thing about this course is it's online and I can go at my own pace. The bad thing is it's online and I'm easily distracted...
So I'm going to do my best to gung-ho through it over the next three or so days.

In other words, the next time I may have a chance to put a new update on here would be maybe next weekend at the earliest.

 

[katoot]

Day 8- January 26th

I don’t wake up until around 9ish. Soon Ae’s still sound asleep, so I leave her be and decide to do the prerequisite pictures of our resort. I spend a good half hour to hour wandering and taking pictures of all of the giant pop culture statues, some of the shadowboxes in the lobby, and a few shots of the gift shop and cafeteria. By the time I get back to the room, Soon Ae is starting to wake up.

We decide that since we didn’t get many pictures at Epcot, and it was dark by the time we got to Japan, let’s start our day there. We get there around 11:30, which is perfect for us, since we mostly want to get pictures from the World Showcase. Our journey begins at Canada this time, and relatively uneventful, considering we’re only taking pictures and not going on any rides. That is, until we get to the American Pavilion for lunch. We decide to sit outside to eat and DW thought it would be a good idea to give a fry to one of the birds hanging out near us. Soon, we were swamped by it and its friends. Oops.

After we made it back to Italy, we feel we took enough pictures and decide to head towards the exit in Future World. I believe we went on Spaceship Earth at this time. Soon Ae thought it was alright…just a bit boring.

Just before 2pm, we go on the monorail, but not before I get a pretty awesome shot of Spaceship Earth.

We get off the monorail at the Magic Kingdom, just to make sure we use the Park Hopper at least once on the trip. We have a little bit of time before the parade starts, so we scope out a decent area to watch it just of the hub in Frontierland. Just like the parade at Hollywood Studios, she takes video of the parade with her iPhone and I take pictures with my camera. She thought the parade was wonderful….except for these annoying two late high school/early college age girls standing next to us who thought it would be fun to say to every character that walked by, “Oh, I love you (insert character’s name)! Your movie is my favorite!” Even better, we were able to capture their wonderful commentary on video, so we can cherish it forever! <-not a thumb

After the parade, I take a look at the timetable for the next performance of the show in front of the castle, as well as to find the closest restroom after our smoke break across from Casey’s Corner. I see that the next show is fairly soon, and the closest restroom is at the front of the park, so we just wander around Main Street until the show starts. Although I don’t think she understood much of it, DW seemed to enjoy the show. Again, she took video while I took pics.

Soon after the show, we head towards Tomorrowland. What luck! The Buzz Lightyear ride only had a 5 or 10 minute wait! Soon Ae loved Toy Story Mania, so she agrees to try it out. We both decided that, while fun, it’s not as good as TSM, especially since you can’t see where you’re shooting. After Buzz, I try my luck and ask DW if she wants to try Space Mountain. To my surprise, she said yes…although I can guarantee that she regretted it as soon as it started. It might have been a little better if we would have been able to sit next to each other, but since it’s just a single seater, that was not the case. I sat in the front seat and she was right behind me. I reached back to hold her hand as the ride started. Big mistake! She held on as hard as she could and never let go, especially on the sharp turns and dips in the track. By the end of the ride, I’m pretty sure I lost feeling in that arm. Needless to say, it wasn’t her favorite ride.

We take another smoke break to help her calm her nerves. I look at the schedule again and see that the Move It! Shake It! Parade will be starting soon, so we head back towards the castle. She doesn’t take a video, as she’s still recovering from Space Mountain, but I get a few pictures in. The parade seemed to liven her up a bit, cause as we were heading to the back of the castle, she started dancing…apparently to other guests’ chagrin.

It’s now about 6pm. We want to see Wishes up close, so we head to Toontown, the only land we haven’t been yet. We take our time wandering around and I suggest we go meet Mickey and Minnie.

Afterwards, we take the train back to the front of the park to wander Main Street again and do a little shopping.

It’s now about 7:30, just 30 minutes before Wishes is supposed to start. We find some places to sit at Casey’s Corner. We’re both pretty hungry, but nothing on Casey’s menu seems to interest Soon Ae. She wants a burger. I tell her to wait there while I go get our dinner. The first restaurant I try is already closed for Wishes…the second one, doesn’t have burgers! Grr! I finally get to Cosmic Ray’s, but wait in line for about 10 minutes. By the time I get our food, I hear the Magic Memories and You show starting, so I book it back to Casey’s.

Soon Ae’s not where I left her! The first thing that comes to my mind is I’m going to miss Wishes just like I missed Illuminations, searching for something I lost. After about five minutes later (and before Wishes actually starts), I luckily find her. We are able to enjoy the show together. Yet again, she takes the video while I take the pics. Except the first couple pics I try to take don’t turn out so well. So I decide to also take a video, to try out the feature on my new camera. Unfortunately, my camera’s battery died with about a minute or two left in the show. But that’s alright, since she got it on her’s. We both thoroughly enjoyed the show.

We have only last smoke break at the park, so that we can let the majority of the crowd leave before us. Meanwhile, DW is getting cold, so I give her my jacket. On our way back to the front of the park, I got so many comments from random guests saying how I was a better man then them since I was only in a T-shirt on the way to the exit (it was maybe in the lower 50’s/upper 40’s at this time). I just laughed and said I’m from Wisconsin.

We head back to Pop and call it a night.

Coming up next:

Out of all the parks in all the World, they had to come to this one…

 

[katoot]

Day 9- January 27th

We get up a little earlier today with plans to go to Animal Kingdom for most of the day, then, if we felt like dealing with the crowds, Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic! We get on the bus for AK around the time for rope drop, and got to the park soon after.

We take our time walking towards the Tree of Life, but don't see to many animals on the way there. Once we arrived at the ToL, we see a Photo Pass guy with a couple currently taking pictures, but other than that, no line. It is soon our turn. We have a lot of fun with the photographer, who tells us to make many different poses, such as making and angry face, or posing as if we are holding "something" in our arms.

After we finish there, I decide to go counter-clockwise, hitting up Dinoland first. I ask the obligatory question to DW about riding Dinosaur. She says no, but will accompany me in the line and take the "chicken exit." It's a good thing she did. While I enjoyed it a good deal, I believe she would have had the same reaction as the lady in front of me on the ride. As soon as we stop and start deboarding, she says "never again!"

We mosey around the state fair portion of Dinoland and are mostly unimpressed. Definitely not Disney-esque. No CMs or guests anywhere to be seen. Every little kiosk and what not are all closed. The only thing we liked was the giant Brontosaurus statue near the exit of that land.

As we are walking towards Asia, I'm a little more persistent about getting DW to ride Expedition Everest. To no avail. But she still joins me in the line, again taking the "chicken exit." I LOVED the ride! In my mind, I'm planning on going again later in the day.

Our plan is to head towards Africa and ride the Kilimanjaro Safari next. However, some CMs get our attention and tell us that Flights of Wonder is about to start. We go in and enjoy the show.

We finally arrive in Africa, but DW wants to go in Mombasa Market first. She finds a really cute straw leopard-print cowboy hat and a neat wooden spoon and fork set. We purchase them and she immediately puts on the hat while the CM wraps up the spoon and fork, which get put in her backpack.

When we get to KS, there's only about a 10 or 15 minute wait, so we get in line. DW had a blast. We both took a ton of pictures. After that, we got some Fast Passes, just in case we wanted to ride it again, and wander back towards Asia. We hit up the Maharajah Jungle Trek, which was alright. We were starting to get hungry, so we head back towards Africa and eat at Pizzafari. The food there was decent.

We have a smoke break afterwards (AK REALLY needs more than two smoking sections in the park) and I check the time table for the next Festival of the Lion King. 15 minutes till showtime, perfect. It was another show we both really enjoyed.

At this time, we have about an hour before the parade starts, so I suggest using the FPs and going on KS again. She just wants to relax in the sun, but says I can go by myself. While on the ride, I try to get pics that I may have missed before. Afterwards, I meet back up with DW who tells me she made friends with on of the African performers. We're both pretty thirsty now, so I get a couple beers. While we're drinking them, I get the idea to go get some EE Fast Passes.

I head back to Asia, getting close to EE, when I hear "Hey stranger!" It's Turkey Lurkey's wife! I had completely forgotten that they were going to be in the same park that day. She tells me that EE is out of Fast Passes, but TL is nearby. So I go and say hi to him and Little Turkey, who was very shy and crabby at the moment. I invite them to watch the parade with us and they oblige.

I get back to DW first and tell her I met some friends. She's very surprised and happy to see the Turkey Family a day before we were planning to meet. We watch the parade together and then go our separate ways for the day. Oh, DW said the AK parade wasn't nearly as good as the MK or HS ones. In fact, she thought it was rather boring. I kind of agree.

Yet again, we head towards Asia, with DW wanting a smoke break and I wanting to ride EE again. What luck! A 5 minute wait! Even better luck! It's walk on! I end up going on the ride 3 times in a row before I start getting a slight headache. Which is alright, since my final ride picture is the best one.

It's now about 4:20, just in time for the final Finding Nemo- The Musical performance of the day, which we both enjoyed. Afterwards, we head towards the exit. Even though we didn't do much at AK, we were exhausted from all the walking. We decide against goint to Fanstasmic and fighting the crowd, so we call it an early night.

Coming up next

Will Little Turkey be more friendly at the Magic Kingdom?

 

[afwdwfan]

Looks like a good trip so far! It looks like you're a lucky guy that DW is at least understanding enough to let you go off on your own so you can still enjoy the rides she's not interested in.

 

[katoot]

Looks like a good trip so far! It looks like you're a lucky guy that DW is at least understanding enough to let you go off on your own so you can still enjoy the rides she's not interested in.

Indeed, I am very lucky!

Speaking of DW, I just remembered (thanks to browsing a random PTR) we spotted DeVine. Scared the peanut butter out of her.

 

[Caretames1]

I think us WI people can take temps up to freezing without complain! We didn't really care for Dino Land either. We mainly just met some characters there and that was it.
We missed Flights of Wonder, but maybe next time.

EE is awesome, but 3 times in a row.......

 

[katoot]

I think us WI people can take temps up to freezing without complain! We didn't really care for Dino Land either. We mainly just met some characters there and that was it.
We missed Flights of Wonder, but maybe next time.

EE is awesome, but 3 times in a row.......

I'm inclined to agree. I love the cold!

We didn't see a single soul in Dino Land other than our selves.

Yeah, it was the first time I've done a roller coaster more than twice...and possibly the last time

Btw, I edited my last TR entry with the ride photo from EE. I'm the one who is "scared out of his mind."