From Deployments to Disney and Textbooks to Trams here's a Dec 2010 TR. Completed!

[DisneyAsh32]

That's great about Toy Story Mania. Don't you just love pixie dust

 

[amazingact21]

I can't believe I waited so long to update this TR. To be honest, I'm having a hard time writing them. I think I am being overambitious and am trying to shove too much into one update. So I think I am going to try and relax a little and make my life simpler by cutting some of my day's events into shorter chunks.
So, here is a small update to keep this thing going:


Discovering a New Love:

I left off with Alex and I trying to come up with ideas on what to do for the following hour.

Since we are both really indecisive, I spent about ten minutes taking pictures of our surroundings.






Finally, I suggested to DBF that we check out the line for Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, since we were right around the corner. I was figuring everyone would be at Toy Story Mania, and we could manage to ride it and get to the Lights Motor Action show before 10:30.

Turns out, I was right.

The wait time for RnRC was listed as 30 minutes, and it was only 9:25.

To better understand what the ride means to me, I'm including a snippet of what I wrote about it in my PTR:

1)Rock 'n' Roller Coaster: The one and only time I have been on this ride was when I was 12, and my family lied to me about it! My two cousins, aunt, mother, and brother swore up and down to me that the attraction didn't go upside down. I insisted it did, but my cousin was very persuasive and convinced me I'd heard wrong. When we made it to the last leg of the wait area, my cousin dragged me into a car and sat nearest the exit. I now know why. My brother, who was behind me, excaimed, "This ride does go upside down!" And very quickly him and my mother leave. So there I am, sitting in a car that's about to rocket me forward, with my cousin laughing her head off beside me. The whole family had tricked me! Seconds later, the ride began and throughout the entire thing I held my eyes closed and clinged to my cousin's hand for dear life. Once it was done, though, I realized it wasn't so bad after all. I couldn't even remember going upside down. Now, eight years later, I want to go on the ride again fully aware of what is going to happen and see what my unbiased opinion of the attraction is.

Knowing that...I was pretty excited/nervous to go on the ride. RnRC has been the inverted coaster I have ever been on. 8 years had passed since then, and I couldn't remember a thing about it. Not even the sensation of being upside down.
I am not really a coaster person. Give me Pirates and Mad Tea Cups any day. But I was determined to face my fears and give RnRC an official chance.

Alex and I found our first hidden Mickey while we were in line.



The line moved too quickly, in my opinion. I was becoming more and more nervous.
When we reached the part of the line where you can see the cars take off, I was turning pale.

My stomach was in my throat.

WOW! Those cars take off fast!

DBF was trying not to laugh at me.

Two seconds later we were being ushered to a car by a very bored CM. I don't think they realized how intimidated I was by that powder blue limo.

Then again, they probably did, and decided to enjoy my fear by placing me in the front row of the second car.

Practically at the front!

Alex was ecstatic. He loves sitting at the front of rides.

Our car rolled around to the start sign.

Words began appearing on the board.

Don't ask me what they were. I was too busy trying to breathe and squeeze DBF's hand to death.

Why in the @!%#! did I want to do this?

Oh jeez, we moved back a few inches....

Annnnnndddd....we were off!!!!

In case you need a visual to understand how I felt at that moment, here is one:



Alex laughed hysterically when we saw this picture. Clearly, he was having the time of his life.

I looked like I was about to get hit by a bus.

Amusingly enough, this is NOT the worst ride photo I managed to get.


The ride blasted off, and I made myself keep my eyes open the entire time. The ride slowed down, and we pulled up at the exit area.

So, what did I think?


...

....
IT WAS AWESOME!!!!

I can't believe how terrified I was of the attraction. It was an amazing thrill, and the whole thing was so smooth! My only complaint is that it isn't long enough. By far, it is now my favorite ride at Walt Disney World. I will never go to the world again and not hop on RnRC.

I left the ride giggling from nerves and adrenaline.

I was feeling great.

Better than great...ecstatic.

I was on my first thrill ride high, and I couldn't stop smiling like a madman.

Alex and I checked the time and saw it was a little after 10.
Time to head over to LMA.


Up next...DBF enjoys the show while I worry about our ADR.

 

[ChildAtHeart82]

I'm glad you faced your fear and found a new favorite ride! DW is very scared of roller coasters and is terrified of ones that go upside down. We tried to get her to go on Rock N Roller Coaster on our last trip but she refused.

 

[PirateKate]

I love RNRC! That ride picture is hilarious. I always think the initial blast off is the best part.

Glad you were able to give RNRC another try!

 

[amazingact21]

I'm glad you faced your fear and found a new favorite ride! DW is very scared of roller coasters and is terrified of ones that go upside down. We tried to get her to go on Rock N Roller Coaster on our last trip but she refused.

I can understand where she's coming from. If I hadn't been tricked into going that very first time, I would never have tried it.

I love RNRC! That ride picture is hilarious. I always think the initial blast off is the best part.

Glad you were able to give RNRC another try!

Now that I'm not terrified of the ride, I have to agree, the catapult start is definitly the best. Nothing beats going from a stand still straight into a flip!

 

[DisneyAsh32]

I'm glad you liked Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. That is one of my favorite rides! But I must say that no matter how many times I ride it, I'm always nervous about the take off. Especially standing in line watching everyone else take off.

 

[luckylady]

Brave soul you are to ride RnR Not me yup I'm a chicken.

 

[amazingact21]

I'm glad you liked Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. That is one of my favorite rides! But I must say that no matter how many times I ride it, I'm always nervous about the take off. Especially standing in line watching everyone else take off.

I totally agree! I rode it several more times on the trip and each time, while I waiting at the billboard, my heart was jumping every which way!

Brave soul you are to ride RnR Not me yup I'm a chicken.

I don't know how brave I am, it took me close to a decade to try it once and for all! However, that's probably the ONLY thrill ride I'll ever enjoy. You won't catch me on ToT!

 

[amazingact21]

Lights Motor Action:

Alex and I left Rock 'n' Roller Coaster and took an "out of the way" route to the Lights Motor Action Stunt Show. We were curious to see how far the Sci Fi restaurant was to LMA, that way we'd know how long it'd take us to get there after the show.

We walked by the sorcerer's hat and towards Star Tours. I don't know why, but Alex and I never managed to get a photograph of any kind with the hat. Not even the obligatory "stand in front of this and let me capture it real quick."

We pulled the same stunt at Animal Kingdom's Tree of Life two days later.
Oops.

We strutted on by the hat and accidentally took a left and ended up at the closed Star Tours attraction. I was trying to get DBF to veer back to the right, so that way we could walk past Sci Fi. However, Alex saw something at that moment that he fell in love with.

The Jedi Training Academy.

"Alicia, look at this....Did you know they had this for kids?"

"Yeah."

"Why didn't you tell me about it?"

Honestly, I hadn't even thought about it. First of all, we didn't have kids. Second, I am not a die hard Star Wars fan, so it never peaked my interest.

I pointed the child fact out to Alex.

"Yeah, we don't have any NOW, but now that I know about this I am totally bringing our kids here when they get old enough. They HAVE to do that! Do you see them?! They get to be jedis! JEDIS! They fight Darth Vader Alicia, and they play with light sabers, and........"

I just stared at my Alex in mild surprise. This was the first thing at Disney that made him spazz out like a child. Since I'd already had minor freak out attacks from arrival day, it was kind of nice to see him have a moment.
Plus, there's nothing like hearing your boyfriend talk about a)future kids and b) more Disney trips.

I wish we could've stayed there longer and delved further into the whole "future" topic, but 10:30 was looming closer.

We spotted Sci Fi and made our way to the LMA location. Thankfully, they were really close together...not even five minutes apart.




We handed our FPs to a CM and got in line.



We were third in line, which at the time seemed pretty sweet, but after seeing the size of the stadium, it wouldn't have mattered if we'd been in the 100th spot. The seating area is HUGE!!!!
They began to let us in around 10:45; DBF and I demolished a box of animal crackers while we were waiting. For some reason riding TSM and RnRC made me ravished! I become so hungry at WDW, no matter how often I eat. It probably has a lot to do with all the walking.

Anyways, DBF and I sat down to the left of the middle entryway, at about the fifth row. Unfortunately, the seats were wet (not sure why, it hadn't rained that morning) and the seat of our pants got a nice ice bath when we sat down.

The water wouldn't have been bad if it wasn't so brutally cold. December 19th was most certainly the coldest day during our trip.

The show began on time at 11 (I think) and was scheduled to end at 11:30.

Perfect. That gave DBF and me 20 minutes to get to our 11:50 ADR.



I took pictures like crazy. Mostly because I didn't want Alex to worry about it, due to the fact that he was DYING to see the show. You see, DBF is a motorhead. His car is his baby and he watches over his motorcycle almost more than he watches his dog.
So anything that has cars and bikes spinning and flying and whatever is going to make him ridiculously giddy.

The other reason I took so many pics was because I wasn't that interested in car chases, etc, so it gave me something to do.






I was relaxed, DBF was enjoying the show, everything was going great.

Until...

"I'm sorry, folks, one of our test drivers is having some technical difficulties, please bear with us. After all, the safety of our drivers is our first priority."

Okay, this won't set us back too far.

Five minutes passed...

Ten minutes....

It was during the wait that I realized something. I hadn't accounted for the crowds.

The stadium was PACKED. And we hadn't sat anywhere near the exits. Not even on the edge of our row.

Hmmmm


Finally, they had something else happen. Something that involved bikes. By that point I wasn't paying the least amount of attention.




I can easily be overcome with stress, and that was precisely what was happening to me during this show. I was constantly checking my phone to see what the time was, and I kept looking for the quickest and easiest escape route.





By the time the big finale came around, it was nearing 11:40. We had ten minutes to spare.

I packed away the camera, not even caring about capturing the end, and told DBF to be ready to book it.

Tires squealed, fire went up, and we were out of our seats like a rocket.

We managed to fly down the stadium stairs and weave in and out of people exiting from the right side.

11:42.

We hit a wall of people near the area where everyone lines up to wait.

We are never going to make it. There has to be thousands of people blocking us in.

Thankfully, DBF got us to the far right hand side of the mob and we were able to do some squeezing near the fence.

We were speeding up.

We rushed past the massive entrance sign.

Almost to the homestretch.

11:45.

DBF tried to pick up the speed, but he ended up stepping on this poor Japanese woman's shoe and caused it to fly off. He had to pick it up and return it to the very confused woman. I apologized profusely for DBF's inconsideration. I don't believe they spoke any English, though, so I can only take their smiles and giggles to mean they weren't too angry at DBF.

The shoe cost us another minute.

For the 2nd time before noon I was running across DHS.

11:47....


11:48....

We booked it into the Sci Fi lobby out of breathe.

I wheezed, "We have...11:50...appoitment....under the name.....Ali...cia ____"

I thought I wouldn't ever be able to breathe again. The CM in charge of the front desk was really nice, though. He gladly overlooked our panting; he even joked about it.

"Oh, I see, trying to getting a seat a minute early...hmmm that's Strike 1, you two."

Oh, please, sir, don't make me laugh. I'm dying over here.

"Ahh, and you're not on the dining plan, that's Strike 2."

The CM was so friendly. This was my first ever table service restaurant inside WDW. (Well...I ate in Italy once, but that was six years ago, and my mother did all the work that time. So that doesn't count.) I couldn't believe how nice and interactive all the CMs were.

Their attitude put me in a really good mood, and I was excited to sit down and eat.



Up next...I eat/drink one of the yummiest milkshakes I've had in a very long time.

 

[ChildAtHeart82]

It's nice that DBF found something to get excited about at Disney. I can understand how stressful that must have been as your ADR got closer. They were having difficulties and a few delays when we went to LMA on 20 December. I wonder if the cold was giving them trouble or they just had a rough couple of days.

Looking forward to hearing about Sci Fi!

 

[amazingact21]

It's nice that DBF found something to get excited about at Disney. I can understand how stressful that must have been as your ADR got closer. They were having difficulties and a few delays when we went to LMA on 20 December. I wonder if the cold was giving them trouble or they just had a rough couple of days.

Looking forward to hearing about Sci Fi!

Yeah, I remember reading in your TR that they were having trouble during your show as well. I'm not sure what was going on those two days, but hopefully they get it all squared away.

I am an extremely stressful person, especially when it comes to being on time, so I was definitely worrying up a storm during LMA. I always have this fear that I'm going to be late, no matter how early I leave. This trip, though, changed me on that, though. It's amazing how quickly you can catcha bus or a show when you're determined.

 

[PirateKate]

LMA is one of my least favorites at WDW. Luckily for me, Jeremy doesn't like it much either. We watched it in 2007 and they kept doing all these cool tricks and then explaining how they did it. Once they told the secret, it just didn't seem that cool anymore.

I'm eager to hear about your lunch at Sci-Fi. That place has the best atmosphere.

 

[amazingact21]

LMA is one of my least favorites at WDW. Luckily for me, Jeremy doesn't like it much either. We watched it in 2007 and they kept doing all these cool tricks and then explaining how they did it. Once they told the secret, it just didn't seem that cool anymore.

I'm eager to hear about your lunch at Sci-Fi. That place has the best atmosphere.

I have to agree with you there, I would've liked it better if all the vehicles just did their tricks and not of shown us how they "tweaked" it to fit into a movie. Takes some of the magic away from the movies.
However, DBF loved it so I forsee us watching it again during future trips...

 

[amazingact21]

Sci Fi and Sleep:

I found a picture with the really great CM who worked the front desk of Sci Fi.


I wish I could remember his name so I could send a comment to Disney. Oh well....

Right after we checked in, DBF announced that he was about to pop and needed to use the restroom. Another super friendly CM offered to show him the way, and before I knew it I was left alone in the lobby area.

I amused myself by listening to fellow WDW guests coming and asking if they could have a seat. My new favorite CM had to keep turning family after family down, informing them that all the tables were reserved for people who booked ahead. I felt bad for all those disappointed families. That could easily have been me if I hadn't been fortunate enough to stumble on the DIS boards. Before joining the forums, I had no clue that ADRs were a must.

I almost wanted to go up to these people and hand them a slip of paper with the DIS URL address on it. I mean, the amount of people who asked were A LOT. I think that surprised me the most. I'd say five different families were turned down in a matter of two minutes.

Sitting contently, people watching, I heard a CM call my name.

Our table was ready.

Fantastic.

Except DBF hadn't found his way back to me yet.

Embarrassed, I had to ask the CM if I could wait until my other group member returned. She was nice enough about it and agreed.

I called DBF on his phone. "Hurry up! Our table is ready!"

DBF came walking back to me a few seconds later and saw my agitated face.
"I was only gone a couple seconds!"

I don't know why, but I was just a little flustered at having to tell a CM that we needed to wait. Especially after rushing in like a whirlwind, spouting out our time and reasurring everyone nearby that we were not, under any circumstances, late. However, the CMs were really understanding and didn't mind at all. They sat us as soon as DBF was present and accounted for.

I know they're two parts to the restaurant, and we sat on the left side. (The one without the bathrooms.)

 

[amazingact21]

Aaah! I double clicked....something and my update just randomly posted. Since I'm really OCD I'm just going to create a whole new post. Sorry about that!!!


Sci Fi and Sleep Cont.d

We were seated in the very backseat of a car. The family in front of us didn't seem to keen on having us along for their ride. The father kept looking back at us like, "What are you doing in my car?"

They asked for their check shortly after we arrived, and for the rest of our meal, we had the car to ourselves. (A family arrived just as we finished eating.)

Our car was to the right of the screen, near the back. It was farther away from everything, but I sort of liked having the distance, because we got a nice view of the starry wall decor. I'm a lover of star gazing, and being in that same atmosphere was really amusing.



Our waitress, Gretchen, was wonderful. Incredibly friendly and attentive. She came by and asked what we'd like to drink.

DBF ordered the chocolate milkshake:



I ordered vanilla:



Holy cow!!!

That was a milkshake!!!!!

It was so thick, I could barely get it up through my straw. And it was huge! It lasted until I'd finished my meal, which meant about forty minutes.

DBF and I both ordered the burger and fries, and the food appeared unbelievably fast. So fast that we were worried about the quality of it. However, it turned out pretty good.
I am not a very good food reviewer, because honestly, I am not picky at all. If it's cooked and has a little bit of flavoring, I'm content. I am happy with just about anything.

I didn't realize how hungry I was until my burger had disappeared. Apparently, my animal crackers had long worn off.

I remember DBF looked over at my plate in shock.

My normal "burger eating routine" when I order one at a restaurant is to cut it in half. Eat one of the halves, and take the other one home to heat up later.
It's pretty pathetic, but I can never finish my burgers.

This time, though, not only had I ate the whole thing, (on top of a milkshake, I might add) I was already working on my fries when DBF was just finishing his burger.

So, whether the food tasted top notch or not.....it was just fine for me.

That was the fastest I'd EVER ate a meal before.

Now I know for the future to plan big meals on days that I go thrill-riding. I seem to work up a ravenous appetite.

Despite finishing our entrees in record time, we slowed down a bit to drink the last few sips of our milkshakes. I was more than a little sad to hear the doomed sucking sound in my straw, letting me know that all my shake was gone.

I will most certainly being going back to Sci Fi in the future, if only for those wonderful milkshakes.


As we waited for our check, the waitress was very willing and enthusiastic to take some pics of us. As soon as we held up our camera, she went: "Not a problem, but make sure the flash is on....Now, sir, is she your sister or sweetheart?"

What?

"Uh, sweeheart..."

"Great. Well, then I'm going to take two different pictures. On the second one you're gonna lean over a give her a big ol' kiss."

I'll say it again, that waitress was great. She kept taking photos until she thought they turned out just right, and then she waited to make sure we liked them.






Sadly, the bill was paid, the milkshakes were gone, and it was time to let another family enjoy the magic of Sci Fi.
DBF and I waddled out of the restaurant and somehow made our way back at the Star Tours area.

Sneaky DBF.

He wanted to watch the show some more, and who was I to say no? It wasn't as if we could go ride anything at that moment (I was way too full).

The fact that DBF took a picture of it told me just how much he enjoyed the concept:



Unfortunately, after about five minutes I had to pull DBF away. I had just realized that if we wanted to go back to the resort for an afternoon nap (as originally planned) we'd have to rush back to the bus area. It was about 12:50 and the SoG bus left at 1:00.

Therefore, for the THIRD time that day, we ran to catch up with something.

I was pretty sick of running.

We made it to the bus and not two minutes later it left HS.

While we waited for our return to the resort, I breathed and heaved and panted.
Running from Star Tours to the bus area on a full stomach is NOT something I'd recommend. My legs were jello and I was not appreciating that last extra sip of my shake.

Soon, though, we spotted the Magic Kingdom sign:


And I knew I'd be able to rest my aching feet for awhile.

 

[PirateKate]

Sci Fi sounds like a lot of fun! I want to try one of those milkshakes someday. I don't want to try running to catch a bus after drinking a milkshake, though.

 

[robin19871]

Enjoying your Trip Report. We have stayed at SOG the past 2 years and will be there again in April..Your coffee problems cracked me up..Did you know that SOG has a Starbucks?

 

[amazingact21]

Sci Fi sounds like a lot of fun! I want to try one of those milkshakes someday. I don't want to try running to catch a bus after drinking a milkshake, though.

You should definitely try Sci Fi one day. I think if you wait a few more years, your sons will enjoy it. There were a bunch of elemnetary-aged children there when we went, and they were all enthralled with movie and the twinkling lights on the wall.

Enjoying your Trip Report. We have stayed at SOG the past 2 years and will be there again in April..Your coffee problems cracked me up..Did you know that SOG has a Starbucks?

SOG was wonderful, and I plan on staying there again on future trips. Have you stayed poolside before? I'd be curious to know if that is better/worse/same as staying on the golf course side.

I discovered Starbucks on my last morning there. It was the ONLY morning I managed to get a good cup of coffee.

 

[amazingact21]

A Short Nap and a Long Trip Back to HS:

When I first began planning my Disney trip, I read numerous tips on how to schedule a typical park day. In almost every single one, I came across the same piece of advice.

Take a break in the afternoon.

Now, after going on the trip and doing days where we stayed all day and days where we took an afternoon break, I have to say....

I agree with that advice.


Alex and I settled down for a nice long nap around 1:45pm. I was very excited.
I was about to get some much needed rest after performing three different workouts earlier in the morning.

My belly was full of vanilla milkshake.

Best yet...my shoes were off!
(Living by a FL beach means I rarely wear closed-toed shoes, so having to wear them continously for 12+ hours was killing my feet.)


Ahhhhh..... my eyes began to close. I allowed myself to drift off to the memories of Rock 'n' Roller Coaster and Toy Story Mania. For awhile (especially on the bus ride back) I was fighting the break. In my head, I kept thinking, You only have 4 days at Disney World. Are you really about to waste a whole afternoon sleeping?!


I thought I'd be too distracted thinking about all the attractions and shows we were missing to sleep, but I was wrong. Five minutes after my head hit my pillow, I was dozing.






2:00 arrived
I was still asleep.


2:15 arrived
I was still asleep


2:30 arrived
I was still asleep


3:00 arrived
I was sti-

What is that noise?!?!?!

You know how there are different levels of sleep, where the deepest and the most restful is REM? Well, I had just reached that stage, when out of nowhere a loud commotion began in the hallway. I woke up groggily and checked the clock. Letting out a huge sigh, I saw we still had half an hour before our alarm was set to go off.

The noise outside had settled down; I figured it was just a family checking into their room.
Closing my eyes again, I figured I could at least catch ten or fifteen more minutes of sleep.

(Amusingly enough, DBF remained asleep during the whol ordeal.)

Just as I was falling back asleep, children started screaming and running outside my door. I waited for their parents to quiet them down, but unfortunately, they only got louder. I have no idea what they were doing. At one point, they were continuously opening and closing their room door very loudly.





The more I tried to tune them out and try to sleep, the angrier I became. I was starting to lose my patience, so I figured the easiest solution was to just wake up for good. Even though the rambunctious kids spoiled my nap, I still felt refreshed. My feet weren't as sore, and I felt rejuvenated enough to take on Hollywood Studios at night.

I woke Alex up at 3:30 and we caught a 4:00 bus back to the park.
By the time we returned at 4:30, the place had gotten way more crowded than when we left it. I guessed that since there was extra magic hours that night and MK was closed for MVMCP everyone had congregated at HS.


So....a few posts back I mentioned that DBF and I never took any photos of the sorceror's hat nor got our photo taken in front of it.
Well....my memory seems to have failed me. I was editing photographs the other night, and I found these:





I can tell they are from when we first came back to HS, but I honestly cannot remember taking them. Which is really surprising, because with every other picture, I can remember what the person who took it for us looked like.

I suppose I was still zonked out from my nap to pay any attention to the hat.

Plus, I was anxious to get to the Osbourne Lights.
That was the Number 1 show/holiday event I wanted to see. I'd been imagining all those lights and songs for months.
I had told DBF eariler on the bus that we were going straight to the street where the light show was held, because I did not want to miss seeing the lights being turned on.


As antsy as I was to get there,though, I knew we still had a good hour before dusk would arrive and the show would begin. So, we took our time strolling around, snapping pictures and pointing out interesting decorations.



Walking through HS at such a slow pace was kinda nice. There were a few times we just stopped, sighed, and thought, "We really are on vacation at Disney World."

The evening was such a complete 180 degree difference to our morning. It was all rush, rush, rush, get this done, get that done, during the first part of the day. And now we were walking at an ant's pace, absorbing up every little detail of Hollywood Studios.

I loved having the difference in paces. I was charged and ready to go first thing in the morning, and we got so much of what we wanted to do done. Having accomplished that, we were able to slow it down a couple notches.


While we were walking, I passed by a billboard for the show, Castle.


I was amused by it, because it's a show I love to watch, and because it was above the Writer's Stop store. (The main character is an author.)

I pointed it out to Alex, who also watched the show, and asked him: "Do you think we would have noticed that if we were rushing?"

He shook his head, and we both wondered what things we'd missed while over by TSM and RnRC. Vowing to return to both areas later, we finished our casual walk to the Osbourne Light Show and laid claim to a nice piece of sidewalk.



Up next...The Osbourne Lights

 

[DisneyAsh32]

So glad you guys were able to relax and take in the details! I can't wait the hear about the Osbourne Festival of Lights.