Hijinks & Shenanigans but not much Mayhem@The Dark Side+Disney:Link to DL/Hawaii TR

[natebenma]

Hooray! You guys finally got to see Wishes!

And congrats on successful firework pictures. It's tough doing two things at once, and enjoy the show. I bet the photo while recording video helped.

Missy told me you were happy about that! I know, it just wasn't right that it took us so long to see the show. But in our defense, I think if Wishes started at 6 or 7 am, we would have watched it much sooner.



I can live with those fireworks photos. I think you are right- taking them while recording the video probably contributed to the quality.

Dessert party looks great and I love the photos. The one of you and Mark is gorgeous and the smoky castle one is very cool -I think in one of them it looks like a fireworks heart which is perfect for your anniversary . Looks like it was the perfect ending for your day

That is my favorite non-photopass picture of the two of us from the trip.

I went back to look at the pictures and saw the fireworks heart, plus I found a hidden Mickey in the smoke of another one!

I'm kind of worried about the name of your next update!

So many yummy desserts!

So many pretty fireworks! Cool little camera that videotapes AND takes pictures. Nice! Pretty view!

It's you last night??? BOOO! But yay for a late night flight. That definitely has its pros and cons. More pros if you ask me!

I started writing the next chapter- I really want to finish up before we go away.

I am curious about what people will think when I describe the "incident"

Thanks! I was very excited when I read about that feature on the camera.

Late flight is ok, as long as it takes off in a timely manner. In 2011, our return flight from Orlando was at 6:30, and there were thunderstorms so the flight was delayed 3 hours. We didn't get home until after 1 am on that trip.

 

[natebenma]

Definitely really good problems to have. You will have an amazing trip. I can't wait to return there. Most likely 2016 for our 30th. Now that we have DVC I can see throwing in a few days in CA at Disneyland too. Hopefully we won't have any medical issues or Hurricanes/power outages to deal with.

Can't wait to compare notes after my trip. And to hear about your plans. You do need a do-over after all of the stress leading up to your previous trip.

 

[jenseib]

YUM! Those desserts look so good. I would want to take the whole tray of chocolate covered strawberries too. I am such a pig when it comes to desserts!

 

[hill6]

Can't wait to compare notes after my trip. And to hear about your plans. You do need a do-over after all of the stress leading up to your previous trip.

Looking forward to it. Feel free to email any other questions that you have. Your trip is coming up quick.

We are kind of stuck at the gate right now for the Dark Side as no park hours are posted. Have it narrowed down to two days. Will most likely be the later one (our last day there) as I just realized that we will be doing MVMCP the night before the other day.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

i'm so glad you finally saw wishes and everyone enjoyed it. My boys don't mind staying for wishes if we do the dessert party. We're thinking of doing it again in July.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[natebenma]

YUM! Those desserts look so good. I would want to take the whole tray of chocolate covered strawberries too. I am such a pig when it comes to desserts!

I think the chocolate covered strawberries are everyone's favorites. I am not a huge fan of chocolate and fruit together- those gooey chocolate covered cherries gross me out- but I do enjoy choc covered strawberries and these were excellent.

Looking forward to it. Feel free to email any other questions that you have. Your trip is coming up quick.

We are kind of stuck at the gate right now for the Dark Side as no park hours are posted. Have it narrowed down to two days. Will most likely be the later one (our last day there) as I just realized that we will be doing MVMCP the night before the other day.

Kids finally got out of school yesterday, I am headed to work this morning and I will be picking up my trip documents on the way.



I can't remember if you told me if you are staying on site for the Dark Side or driving over.

Sounds like a spectacular trip!

i'm so glad you finally saw wishes and everyone enjoyed it. My boys don't mind staying for wishes if we do the dessert party. We're thinking of doing it again in July.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

Are there still slots available for the dessert party during your trip?

 

[ddluvsdisney]

I don't know if there is even availability. It would be nice though. We'll see I have a whole month and doesn't really matter on the day. Lots of flexibility makes things easier. Same w FP+. I was really worried at the beginning of this whole FP+ thing but getting FP+ hasn't been to bad, even last minute.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[ddluvsdisney]

OFF TOPIC: Dee just wanted to let you know I got a new teaching position. I was laid off again!! Last year and did a long term sub. Position since January. It paid off bc my principal and vp made some awesome recommendations for me.
I'll be teaching 2nd grade in the fall.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[KatMark]

Dee, I know I Read this update and I could have sworn I posted after...but my mind is playing tricks on me again.

The desserts look yummy. I tried to get a reservation to surprise Mark in September and had no luck at all.

The castle show pictures and Wishes pictures are beautiful...you did a great job.

Last days...I hate those.

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

OFF TOPIC: Dee just wanted to let you know I got a new teaching position. I was laid off again!! Last year and did a long term sub. Position since January. It paid off bc my principal and vp made some awesome recommendations for me.
I'll be teaching 2nd grade in the fall.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

Congratulations on the new job

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Congratulations on the new job

Thank you!!! And I leave for Florida tomorrow!!

 

[HockeyMomR]

Dee - Yummy Desserts! And I think Ben did a nice job on your Anniversary picture!

We actually loved the castle light show in April. Our last evening on the April trip, Chuck and I did all of the night time events at MK (which had not happened in years). We watched the parade, castle light show and fireworks. It was actually a lot of fun. Still takes a second to my beloved Illuminations, but we really enjoyed it.

Rebecca

 

[natebenma]

I don't know if there is even availability. It would be nice though. We'll see I have a whole month and doesn't really matter on the day. Lots of flexibility makes things easier. Same w FP+. I was really worried at the beginning of this whole FP+ thing but getting FP+ hasn't been to bad, even last minute.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

I'll be interested to hear about if you do the dessert party. Yes, having a month helps to keep things pretty flexible.

We booked FP+ for more than 120 people for the 8th grade class trip just 2 weeks before the trip and found pretty decent availability. Not so much at MK, but were able to book what we wanted for the kids during the day at AK and HS and at night at EP.

OFF TOPIC: Dee just wanted to let you know I got a new teaching position. I was laid off again!! Last year and did a long term sub. Position since January. It paid off bc my principal and vp made some awesome recommendations for me.
I'll be teaching 2nd grade in the fall.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

So happy for you!!!

A long term sub position is ok, but your own classroom is even better!

Thank you!!! And I leave for Florida tomorrow!!

Somehow I missed that you were returning to Florida so soon! But it makes sense. I imagine you will still be checking in when you can...

Dee, I know I Read this update and I could have sworn I posted after...but my mind is playing tricks on me again.

The desserts look yummy. I tried to get a reservation to surprise Mark in September and had no luck at all.

The castle show pictures and Wishes pictures are beautiful...you did a great job.

Last days...I hate those.

I know how that gets when you read an update, but can't find your response. I have a couple of reports (including yours) where I have read the last update but not commented yet.

Sorry you didn't get a reservation. The desserts were yummy, but it was definitely a sweetness overkill.

Thanks- it is probably the best set of fireworks pictures I have.

Usually our last days are just preparing for a trip to the airport, so the upcoming day was not too bad- I think we had to catch the Tragical Depress at 4:30 pm.

Dee - Yummy Desserts! And I think Ben did a nice job on your Anniversary picture!

We actually loved the castle light show in April. Our last evening on the April trip, Chuck and I did all of the night time events at MK (which had not happened in years). We watched the parade, castle light show and fireworks. It was actually a lot of fun. Still takes a second to my beloved Illuminations, but we really enjoyed it.

Rebecca

Ben is my go-to photographer since Nate usually can't really be bothered about capturing family memories. He barely tolerates having his picture taken, but he is getting better.

Ben is very proud of himself when he takes a decent picture- rightly so.



The castle projection show is amazing! We have never really watched any complete parade and have only seen parts of the night time parades, but the floats are incredible.

Illuminations is my traditional nighttime show. Although we have only seen Wishes once, I have seen Illuminations at least a dozen times.

 

[natebenma]

Today was Early Extra Magic Hours at Hollywood Studios.

YAY!!!



It was also our departure day.

BOO!




We went down to RAC (Resort Airline Checkin) to check our suitcases in for our flight.












Bye Bye Bags!


We went back up to the lounge for breakfast, then down to the dock to catch one of Friendship Boats to Hollywood Studios.

We didn’t quite make it for rope drop, but we arrived pretty close to 8 am.

Like any self-respecting Disney freak in the days prior to FP+, we made our way to Pixar Place.









Just in case you have forgotten, this trip was in July 2013, and yes, the one year anniversary of the trip is rapidly approaching! Most of you know that summer trips = BTG, the dreaded Brazilian Tour Groups. Up to this point, I haven’t mentioned them, mainly because they didn’t have any impact on our trip so far.

That was about to change.

Our typical strategy for Toy Story Mania is for Mark to get Fast Passes while Nate, Ben and I get in line. Mark joins us in line after he has completed his mission. Usually the line stretches outside far beyond where the queue corrals start and we never enter the part with the railings if he is not with us.

This time, as the 3 of us attempted to find the end of the line, we encountered a sea of yellow, matching jerseys. 30, 40 girls in the stand-by line. We were going to be behind them.

Then, I noticed there was a 1 person gap between where the last “civilian” guest was in line and where the BTG line started. Instead of passing the sea of yellow jerseys, I tacked myself behind the civilian, as if that was the end of the line. I discretely motioned to the boys to join me in line. Cutting Co-Conspirators, as it were.

Mark found us. I’m not sure at what point I confessed to him what I had done. He may have made a comment that it was lucky we didn’t end up behind all those girls!

I think we waited in line about 15-20 minutes. I pretty much spent the time avoiding eye contact with the girls behind us.

And taking pictures, of course!




I always have to take a picture of the Peter Pan viewmaster disk in honor of the play my boys were in together. Nate was Curley, a lost boy and Ben was the Crocodile.







The line was moving along- no time to pose in front of Mr. Potato Head





BTW- about the woman who was in front of us in the line. It was obvious that she was waiting for someone, too. She kept looking around frantically as the line continued to move forward. She did not wait up as we entered the corrals. I knew that the person who was supposed to join her would encounter big problems trying to cut his or her way through the line to join up. She spent some time on the phone, probably trying to describe where she was. Her friend never did make it.


I have never had much luck taking pictures of the ride cars in TSM- they are always blurry- but I don’t hate these!







And some pictures after the ride:










Continued in Next Post: Karma is a B*tch

 

[natebenma]

After Toy Story, we decided to try RockNRollerCoaster. This would be Ben’s first time on the ride. We had recently pulled our FPs for Toy Story, so it was too early to get another one.





When we arrived in the RNR plaza, and we encountered the yellow jerseys again. But they were all gathering to take a photo in front of the guitar.

PHEW!





Estimated ride time was 20 minutes, so we got in line.

I’ll put in a little rant here- until you get into the building, the RNR queue up the ramps, is one of the worst in Disney. There are a few fans, but man is it hot! And uninspired. Couldn’t they spring for something to look at?

We did have a nice view of ToT from where we were, though.













That was a good thing, because we.didn’t.move. About 15 minutes went by and an announcement started playing over the loud speakers “We are experiencing unexpected traffic in front of the Forum. We apologize for the wait, blah blah blah.”

Eventually we noticed the girls from the BTG were walking through the FP queue. I think we had already invested about 25 minutes in the line so far, and we decided to stick it out. Ben was getting a bit whiny and antsy at this point- most likely a combination of the heat, exhaustion at the end of a busy trip and anxiety about the ride.

Karma is a B*tch!

I think it was close to 50 minutes before we got onto the ride. Ben did fine- I think he liked it- but the wait had really dampened our spirits and messed with our touring plan!

Here’s a really bad redneck ride photo. I snapped another one right away that came out pretty good, but the screen had already scrolled to the next group. So, random people, I have a nice picture of your ride!





We didn’t have time to go on Tower of Terror before using our TSM FP, but it had taken us so long to get through RNR that we were able to pull a FP for ToT early afternoon.

We decided a quick snack break was in order. Some water and sugar really hit the spot!









Where to?


Here?






Here?



Nope!


Here!




It was time for Toys Story Mania again


See what I mean about the Peter Pan obsession?













Continued in Next Post: Not-So-Great Movie Ride

 

[natebenma]

Continued from Previous Post




We were in the mood for a laid-back ride through the movies.



















Everything was going along smoothly until we got to Alien scene. The trams all stopped. Our tour guide was terrible with the impromptu delay. She started talking about how she had no money, her parents were going to kick her out of the house and that she was going to send around a hat to collect money so she could get an apartment. She kept repeating this story again and again during the lengthy delay. It was painfully uncomfortable. I don’t know if she was “in character” or if she was actually trying to extort money, but it was really BAD!

I certainly don’t think the main mouse would appreciate the spiel she was spewing.

It was probably a 5-10 minute delay and we were all relieved when the trams finally started moving again!










The good thing about the extra-long movie ride is that it was time to use our ToT Fast Passes. Unfortunately, when we got there, Ben decided he didn’t want to ride. We ended up giving our Fast Passes to a family who was heading to the ride entrance.

We were all getting really hungry, we didn’t want to eat anywhere at HS and we knew we wouldn’t make it to another dining destination without a meltdown, so it was funnel cake to the rescue!





Some new friends decided to join us (we didn’t share)











The fried dough was a good choice to hold us for a few minutes, but it was important that lunch was the next thing on the agenda. But where?

Not in Hollywood Studios!

We headed to the exit. The boys all went for a bio break and I found the opportunity to do some bonding with Bo.





First I tried a selfie with my camera.





Then a man walking by saw what I was doing and asked if I would like him to take my picture.

Why yes!





That’s one of the things I love about Disney. No questions about why I wanted my picture taken with this smiling, Coke-holding figure. He just offered.

The boys joined up with me, none the wiser to my private photo session, and we queued up for the Friendship boat which would take us to our lunch destination.





Next up: The Perfect Solution for Lunch

 

[jenseib]

You are so sneaky...and I love it. I would've done the same thing if I could get away with it too.
I was going to say Ben looked darn hot in the wait for RnR, so I can see why he might have been a little whiney.
Lovin the snack photos too.

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Oh Lord... That Cartoon from Toy Story!!!

Ooh good news/bad news. EMH... good... Departure Day... BAD!!!!!

Hmmmm, would it be strange if one made an early morning DHS beeline to Sounds Dangerous? How could they close that? It was so popular!!!

Dee, ordinarily I would not condone line cutting. But given the situation, I just can't blame you.

Holy, I can see just a glimpse of the sea of Yellow at RnR. YIKES!!!!

OK Mark has a Dunder Mifflin shirt on which makes us instant friends.

Oh my the poor Movie ride CM. #awkward

That really is one of the special things about the Disney experience. Other guests offering to take a photo for you, no questions asked.

 

[natebenma]

You are so sneaky...and I love it. I would've done the same thing if I could get away with it too.
I was going to say Ben looked darn hot in the wait for RnR, so I can see why he might have been a little whiney.
Lovin the snack photos too.

It was a unique opportunity and I only had a split second to contemplate and execute the move.

It was SO hot in that RNR line. Seriously, may be my least favorite queue at Disney (although Peter Pan is not that great either)

I like the snack photos, too. The sugar definitely helped.

Oh Lord... That Cartoon from Toy Story!!!

Ooh good news/bad news. EMH... good... Departure Day... BAD!!!!!

Hmmmm, would it be strange if one made an early morning DHS beeline to Sounds Dangerous? How could they close that? It was so popular!!!

Dee, ordinarily I would not condone line cutting. But given the situation, I just can't blame you.

Holy, I can see just a glimpse of the sea of Yellow at RnR. YIKES!!!!

OK Mark has a Dunder Mifflin shirt on which makes us instant friends.

Oh my the poor Movie ride CM. #awkward

That really is one of the special things about the Disney experience. Other guests offering to take a photo for you, no questions asked.

Mark Parisi from Off the Mark is my favorite cartoonist. I think he is fairly local to me so I am never sure how wide-spread he is published.

I know, so disappointing that we couldn't go to Sounds Dangerous- that was our must-do. Once.

I would never, ever cut line. Except for that time.

It was a LOT of girls. That's why I had to do what I did earlier.

An Office fan, eh? The shirt was from Kohl's. Fashionable and frugal.

I did not even begin to adequately describe how awkward it was. Maybe the weirdest CM experience I have ever had at Disney.

It was so nice for that guy to offer to take my picture. I can imagine you doing the very same in that situation. #helpfuldisneyguest

 

[ProudMommyof2]

Dee-
Sorry your trip is coming to an end. I have never had to deal with the BTG, but I endorse your work around

I hope you are planning a TR form this summer's adventure. We are planning a similar trip next summer. I have a conference that will be at the Grand Californian at the end of June (have to love that the boss will be paying for the room and my airfare and that the conference ends at noon each day )
After 4 days at Disneyland, we are planning to take the kids to Hawaii for 1 week to celebrate our 20th anniversary. I am excited to actually be there for our anniversary. I am trying to decide if we split the week between Oahu and Maui or just stay on Oahu. I am leaning toward the split.
Pam