How do we love Disney? Let me count the ways... (updated & completed 5/11)

[faerieprincess]

You're a great sister to stay with her in the room. I hope Jess felt better after your restful time at the hotel.

You're such a great sister!
Your sister seems like a great sport! I just "heart" her!!!

You are such a great sister. Blisters can be the worst, so I am glad Jess got to rest a bit and gear up for the upcoming days.

Whoa whoa whoa, trust me, the decision to stay at the hotel with her was less about altruism and more about being exhausted, too!! Besides, it was her trip after all, i wasn't just going to abandon her (yet........................)

She did feel better after a nice rest - we both did! But it didn't really help her blisters any. In fact this was almost a month ago (the day in question was Sunday February 8th) and her blisters are only now mostly healed!

It sounds like you made a good choice! Your evening sounds nice and relaxed!

Glad you got to ride Soarin twice and took a spin on Test Track!

Love your Tink shirt and Jess' Grumpy hat! Very cute!

Sara

Yes, it was great to just veg out for a bit (can't say i enjoyed the viewing choices on tv though. We watched more "Friends" that week than i've watched in the rest of my life put together, i think).

Jess loves that hat, too. We're both looking forward to spring so we can wear our new hats (oh, did i not mention mine yet? ...... )

 

[faerieprincess]

Something completely unexpected happened on our visit to DHS: we made rope drop!

So did about ten thousand other people!

It was NUTS!

And guess where almost every one of them was heading?

Yeah. You're right. Toy Story.

However, first we got to watch - well, listen to - the preshow. It was funny. Jess and i agreed that she was going to wander slowly towards the hat and wait for me, and i was going to beeline it with the crowd to TSM for our FPs.

When they let us in, we all moved en masse towards Pixar Place. Those who'd been before, and those like me who had a map and a plan, were trying to go sort of to the left to get down beside the Great Movie Ride.... but the CMs shooed us all down under the arch in front of the Little Mermaid. i guess it's a traffic flow thing, but there were a lot of people complaining. When i got into the FP line, the monitors were showing this:

It ticked quickly to this:

And by the time i actually got my FPs...

Yup. In five minutes a whole hour of FPs had gone. So, coveted FPs in hand i went back for Jess and found her standing at a cart selling, among other things, stuffed Eeyores and Poohs. We both posed with them...

And then Jess decided that she was going to buy Eeyore for me. Such a sweet girl. With Eeyore safely tucked into my purse we went to the Starring Rolls Cafe and had some croissants and yogurt and fruit for breakfast.

Then we headed down Sunset Boulevard, heading for ToT and RnRC. It was about 10am and not very crowded (everyone in the park was still waiting to ride TSM standby!). We looked for and found a PPCM and had our picture taken in front of the Tower. i took a few pictures too.

We went down and got in line for

The standby time was about 20 minutes. We waited, taking a couple of pictures. A nice lady from Michigan was behind us and took this for us:

We chatted with her and her husband as we moved slowly through the queue. At one point it stopped and they announced there would be a slight delay. i was happy to wait, since it was still almost an hour before our TSM FPs would be good. Jess decided she had to go to the bathroom and would meet me at the exit of the ride (i had been REALLY surprised when she agreed to ride RnRC, so i wasn't surprised when she decided she'd changed her mind. She made her way out through the line and i stayed with the couple from Michigan who were really really nice. We chatted and soon the line started moving again, and it turned out we were really near the loading area. We all got on the same train and screamed our way through the darkness together. It was awesome! i love roller coasters and this one was just fast and startling and great! i loved it.

When i came out into the unloading part the couple from Michigan found me and asked me if i'd liked it. i looked through the gift shop and got a couple of pressed pennies (wow i just realised i've never mentioned them yet, better say something after!).

i emerged blinking into the blinding sunlight and found Jess talking to an older lady who was waiting for her grandchildren to come off of RnRC. We had about five minutes before our TSM FPs were good and i wanted to wait and get ToT FPs, so we wandered around a little. Jess wanted a tattoo so we both got one:

Then we got our ToT FPs and started back down Sunset Boulevard. Along the way we stopped in a shop and i bought myself a hat - it was really sunny and my sunglasses weren't cutting it. Coming up, would we like TSM better than we liked Buzz Lightyear?

 

[Lady Lallie]

I'm with Jess, no Rock N' Roller Coaster for me thank you very much. I'm glad that you enjoyed it though. Love your Eeyore tattoo! So very cute!

 

[princess~yo]

Love the tats - that Eeyore one is probably the one I'd pick for myself!
Sounds like you both enjoyed the nice relaxing evening in the hotel...I think after all that walking you were probably ready for a little break!

I hate that Jess had a sore throat. from experience I know that it's NO FUN AT ALL.

 

[LaurenMic]

Great update Sare! The Eeyore that Jess got you is adorable, and so are the tattoos! Can't wait for more. I loved TSM, way more than Buzz, so I'm eager to see what you thought!

 

[vdarrell]

It was so sweet of Jesse to buy you the Eeyore. I love seeing the two of you together in the pictures you can just see how much fun you both were having.

Hennas and tattoos......these are things I'd never even thought of doing and I think they are so cute...Next time.

 

[MadiMouse]

Great update! Glad you're both having a great time!!! More please!

 

[faerieprincess]

I'm with Jess, no Rock N' Roller Coaster for me thank you very much. I'm glad that you enjoyed it though. Love your Eeyore tattoo! So very cute!

but it was so fun! Really! You should try it!

Funny i didn't have to say which of us had gotten Eeyore, eh? i loved him too, now his remains are still on my arm looking like a bruise. i never seem to notice it when i'm in the shower.

Love the tats - that Eeyore one is probably the one I'd pick for myself!
Sounds like you both enjoyed the nice relaxing evening in the hotel...I think after all that walking you were probably ready for a little break!

I hate that Jess had a sore throat. from experience I know that it's NO FUN AT ALL.

Yeah he was so cute! Yes, definitely needed the rest. And it was worth it to feel rested the next morning and ready to take on DHS, which ended up being a LOT of walking (for me, anyway).

Luckily Jess' sore throat wasn't too much of an issue, but i did feel bad for her. We were both really more concerned about her feet with those blisters!

Great update Sare! The Eeyore that Jess got you is adorable, and so are the tattoos! Can't wait for more. I loved TSM, way more than Buzz, so I'm eager to see what you thought!

Yes, my Eeyore is adorable he lives on the shelf in front of my desk beside the miniature teddy bear my BF gave me for my birthday when we first got together

It was so sweet of Jesse to buy you the Eeyore. I love seeing the two of you together in the pictures you can just see how much fun you both were having.

Hennas and tattoos......these are things I'd never even thought of doing and I think they are so cute...Next time.

Yes, she's a sweet girl Yeah we really were having a good time! i'm still debating on the Photopass CD but if i get it, i will post some of the better shots for y'all to see.

The henna tattoos were something i'd planned from the beginning, although i had expected we'd go again and choose our own, but we never did. The little paper ones from DHS were a spur-of-the-moment thing (but mine lasted much longer than the henna did, as it happens!)

Great update! Glad you're both having a great time!!! More please!

Thank you! We so were!

Ask and ye shall receive....

 

[faerieprincess]

Enjoying the sun now that my head was safely covered, we headed down into Pixar Place.

We stopped to adjust some of the bandages on Jess' feet, then turned over our TSM FPs and went in.

We picked up our glasses and took some especially geeky-looking pictures (well, i look geeky, she looks cute):

Then we hopped on. We LOVED it. It was so much fun! Jess was beating me for 90% of the ride, and just at the end i got lucky and ended up edging past her, she was really disappointed but pretty pleased with herself. i'm sure they're not amazing scores but we were really proud (notice her accuracy is higher! The blind kid shoots better than me! ):

When we got off we immediately went to get more FPs (silly, naive me) but of course they were all gone it was 11:15am! The standby wait was 140 minutes. i'm sorry, i don't care how awesome a ride is, it is not worth two and a half hours of queuing.

We met Prince Caspian, who was sweet:

Then we did the Narnia exhibit...show...thing. Dunno what to call it. It wasn't really memorable, i have to say, seems like they just shoved it in there for promotional purposes.

At this point i wanted to do One Man's Dream, but Jess was thirsty. We found a cart and she decided she wanted ice cream (thirsty? hungry? which is it? ). At this point the next Mermaid show was ages away and i decided to use my ToT FP. (Jess had decided she didn't want to ride. What?! She's the one who wanted to go on it! i was only going because she wanted to!) i decided i wasn't going to chicken out and we headed back down Sunset Boulevard. Jess found a nice spot in the shade and i made my trembling way through the queue. While waiting in the FP line i sent a text message to my BF and gellybean about my upcoming first time on ToT. i hadn't received any text messages since gelly had sent one at about 7am, and i was a little concerned (and, admittedly, annoyed) that none of my earlier messages had been answered.

After texting (yes, that's how i amused myself whenever we were in line), i took some pictures of the ToT area. It's so pretty!

Anyway, i was terrified (fittingly) as i stepped onto ToT and was assigned a row. The woman who sat beside me noticed i was shaking (i was seriously so scared!) and asked if it was my first time. i admitted it was, and apologised in advance for the screaming i'd be doing. She said don't worry i've ridden this a dozen times and i still scream every time! ... and she sure did!

She screamed way more than i did, but i was definitely screaming. It was great! i liked it but not enough to do it again. It was fun though and i'm glad i didn't chicken out. The pressed penny machine in the gift shop was out of order

i found Jess and we headed back to the hat. On the way there we stopped at the same cart as earlier and i bought Jess a stuffed Pooh. There was still no PPCM around. We saw that the standby for the Great Movie Ride was short, so we headed that way. i took some pictures of the hand- and foot-prints on our way in.

As we got to the doors, a family was ahead of us with a mom, a dad, and two little girls. The CM at the door nicely asked the little girl to take one of the wait-time lanyards and give it to the very last CM of the ride. The little girl took the lanyard and we all stepped through and into the first holding area, which we were to walk all the way through as they were still filling the main holding area. As we're walking, the mother is freaking out about the CM asking her kid to CARRY something and GIVE IT to someone else and WHY WEREN'T they doing their OWN JOBS and on and on and on. She was really pissy and rude. Finally when we'd gotten into the holding area with the big screen, since i was getting tired of listening to her, i finally plucked up the courage and said "That's just so that they know how long the wait time is. They know what time you passed through the door, now they'll know how long it took you to get onto the ride. It's so the wait times are accurate."

She didn't even answer me! She just looked at me like i was speaking Danish with a Chinese accent or something and then turned around and ignored me! However at least she did shut up, finally.

All i could think was, If that's how rude you are at Disney World, what are you like in your every day life?

GMR was so-so. i wish i'd known it was yet another fricken' boat! i think the part i liked best was the handprints outside

After we came off of GMR we went down the other side of the hat. We went into

since it was a non-existent wait and were in the holding area about two minutes before being admitted to the theatre. We liked the show. Nothing i said would stop Jess ducking and shrieking as things were seeming to fly towards us

After Muppet Vision, we found something that would have Jess almost as obsessed as Soarin'...

 

[Lady Lallie]

You BOTH look cute in your 3D glasses! Isn't Toy Story Mania just wonderful??

Good for you riding Tower of Terror? How awful was it? I'm scared to go on it but am trying to conquer my fears.

That lady in the Great Movie Ride line sounds UNBELIEVABLE. I often wonder that about people in Disney who are rude and how they are in their everday life. Sometimes it's a scary thought!

 

[jenjolt]

Great updates Sare!! Bravo for you going on TOT!! Don't worry I get the shakes and feel like I'm going to die everything I get on that ride too LOL Although I still keep getting on, not sure what that means for me LOL!!!

Well loved the updates can't wait to hear more!

 

[mom2mek]

Woo-hoo! Isn't TSMM the best? I just loved it to pieces! Sorry you didn't get to get on it twice, but I agree....there is no way I would wait 140 minutes for ANYTHING!

You guys look adorable in your glasses!

That's kind of funny about that Mom...I mean, really...how dense can you be? The fact that you had to tell her that probably shut her up because she realized how stupid she sounded!

Can't wait to hear about the next obsession....

Sara

 

[faerieprincess]

You BOTH look cute in your 3D glasses! Isn't Toy Story Mania just wonderful??

Good for you riding Tower of Terror? How awful was it? I'm scared to go on it but am trying to conquer my fears.

That lady in the Great Movie Ride line sounds UNBELIEVABLE. I often wonder that about people in Disney who are rude and how they are in their everday life. Sometimes it's a scary thought!

Yes, i LOVED TSM. It was so fun and we had such a great time. If i had it to do over, i'd have dragged her along with me on the initial run to get the FPs and gotten in line standby at that time, too. Oh well, next time!

Tower of Terror.. hmm. i was really expecting it to be much worse than it was. There's a ride at Canada's Wonderland in Toronto called Drop Zone, and it pulls you up, drops you once, you bounce a little and it's over, and that ride is HORRIBLE, i've been on it 3 or 4 times and hated every last instant of it, so i was really expecting ToT to be ghastly too. However, ToT was a pleasant surprise in that it was really... well, fun! It was more bouncy than droppy, if that makes any sense - there was no point where i really felt afraid once it had started going. i enjoyed it and would do it again on a future trip

Yup i was pretty shocked at that woman's behaviour. Enough that all i wrote on my notes was "mother in GMR" and i was able to remember the whole story from that!

Great updates Sare!! Bravo for you going on TOT!! Don't worry I get the shakes and feel like I'm going to die everything I get on that ride too LOL Although I still keep getting on, not sure what that means for me LOL!!!

Well loved the updates can't wait to hear more!

Hi Jen, thanks i'm not usually scared of rides, i mean roller coasters and things i just get excited, but this one really had me scared. i was so scared i almost didn't do it, but now i'm glad i did!

Woo-hoo! Isn't TSMM the best? I just loved it to pieces! Sorry you didn't get to get on it twice, but I agree....there is no way I would wait 140 minutes for ANYTHING!

You guys look adorable in your glasses!

That's kind of funny about that Mom...I mean, really...how dense can you be? The fact that you had to tell her that probably shut her up because she realized how stupid she sounded!

Can't wait to hear about the next obsession....

Sara

It's nice to think that when someone shuts up like that it's because they realise how badly they're behaving, but it's hard to say. i hope you're right.

Yesssssss i loved TSM but not enough for 140 minutes. i wouldn't even wait 140 minutes for SOARIN'!







Well.









Unless i had nothing else to do.










Maybe

 

[MadiMouse]

Great update! We waited for TSM at Disneyland for an hour and 30 mins (Sept 08). lol. And we had DD (1.5yr at time) to carry through the queue.
But she loved the ride and so did we!!!

 

[faerieprincess]

Great update! We waited for TSM at Disneyland for an hour and 30 mins (Sept 08). lol. And we had DD (1.5yr at time) to carry through the queue.
But she loved the ride and so did we!!!

Wow, that's a long time to wait, too. i don't think i'd get into a line knowing the wait was that long, but if i was in line and it ended up being that long, i wouldn't get out of the queue. That's neat that you could bring the baby on the ride? i wouldn't have thought you'd be able to.

 

[faerieprincess]

After Muppet Vision we walked over to Star Tours. The standby wait was 40 mins, and the FPs would be good in 30 We got the FPs and sat down to wait. It was really sunny and i was sort of concerned that we'd get sunburnt, but Jess just wasn't going to walk anywhere. We sat in the sun and played with Pooh and Eeyore.

At this point i started what would be a running joke for the rest of our trip. Jess was holding Pooh against her side and i said "pssst Jess, you've got Pooh on your shirt". Later gems included "please don't throw Pooh at me", "Ewww there's Pooh on your bed", "you just dropped Pooh on the floor!" etc.

We used our FPs for Star Tours and Jess LOVED IT. i mean she really loved it. When we got off we picked up more FPs for later.

The Block Party was just finishing as we came out, so we wached the tail end of it and took some pictures around the lagoon, then we walked around to the Hat again and tried to find a PPCM. There were none to be found!! We took a couple of pictures ourselves:

Finally, we found the same PPCM who had taken our photo in front of ToT and had him take one in front of the hat. He got a couple of shots in and then got bombarded by other people. i seriously think he was the only PPCM in the park that day

Then we decided to see if we could check in early for dinner.

We could and we did! While standing there i noticed a mistake on this sign:

Can you spot it?

We went in, had a really nice server and really enjoyed the buffet. The family at a big table next to ours were really nice and chatted with us a bit. We got our Fantasmic ticket thing and headed out into the still-blinding sunlight.

Can you guess where we headed?

We used our FPs and then i asked her what she wanted to do next.

Can you guess what she chose?

Star Tours. Again. This makes 3 times and i had to admit i wasn't feelin' this one. It was all Jess at this point, but i was so glad she was enjoying it that i kept getting on it with her. We did it standby this time since it was only 20 minutes.

Finally i said i'd had enough of it, and we headed back across the park. We decided to stop and see how long the TSM line was (too long), and then we headed through Pixar place, looking for the place where the Incredibles were. We found Frozone:

And Rhino from Bolt, who was very funny and tried to eat my pen!

Leaving Pixar Place, we headed back down Sunset Boulevard yet again, heading for Fantasmic. We got a seat quite near to the roped-off aisle and sat down, trying to ignore all the squabbling and fighting people were doing over this seat and that seat and on and on. i had pretty much had it with the general public at this point and was ignoring them. i STILL hadn't received any text messages, it had now been about 11 hours since the last one i'd gotten, and i had switched to being concerned about my phone. i tried signing into mobile MSN and it wouldn't sign in! i was annoyed and worried that i would suddenly be out of contact for the rest of the trip. i knew if all else failed i could buy a phone card but i was really annoyed.

Anyway we settled in and the four of us (Jess, me, Eeyore and Pooh of course) enjoyed Fantasmic.

Fantasmic was cool, and certainly it was amazing to see the water used as screens, and it's a big production and i'm glad we saw it, but it was nowhere near as good as Wishes, in my opinion!

After Fantasmic we followed the crowds to the exit. Luckily it was an EMH night and the buses were not ridiculously busy (also this is the one park where the PoP buses aren't 5 miles from the exit! :thumbsup: We were really glad to be back at PoP. i walked over and filled our mugs, and tried again to sign into mobile MSN. Finally it worked! (i'd tried all the way on the bus back as well as multiple times once in the room).

When it finally worked i was really relieved. my BF said he'd received all the texts i'd sent him and had answered them, so i knew it was my phone being weird. He had been really worried because i hadn't texted at all after ToT (thinking maybe my outbound texts weren't working, either, i hadn't sent any more). Since i'd been so dizzy the week before we left and have a history of problems with my head anyway, he was really worried! i signed out of MSN and he phoned me for a while, during which time i texted gellybean so she wouldn't worry, too.

i talked on the phone to my BF for a while and then went to bed.

Memories of our Fifth Day:
The weather today was... hot and sunny. Just perfect!
The best thing today was... conquering my fear and riding ToT!
The worst thing today was... so many rude people. It's getting so annoying.
The funniest thing today was... the whole "Pooh" thing consistently makes me laugh.
Today we tried... having me go ahead and get FPs
And the result was... Jess had less soreness and tiredness, and i feel fine! It worked great.
The most magical moment today was... Jess' exhilarated shrieks on Star Tours. It was great to have her demand to "go again!" (even if i didn't particularly enjoy the ride).

 

[mom2mek]

Great update as usual Sare! That's great that Jess loved Star Tours. I rode it for the first time in October - it's cute, but 3 times would have been PLENTY!!!! LOL!

I haven't been able to get to Fantasmic in a couple of years but I love it too! The effects are really fabulous. Nothing tops Wishes or Spectro for me though.

That stinks about the lack of photopass people...glad you got some of eachother though!

The Pooh jokes just never get old, do they? How glad am I that my kids haven't "caught" on to that yet? The worst is the ones related to eating at the Crystal Palace..."did you eat with Pooh"? Or about the ride..."have you ridden Pooh?"

Too funny about the PROSECUTION spelling error - you would think somebody proofreads things before they get posted, but apparently not. And apparently they don't have spell check either!

Sara

 

[faerieprincess]

Great update as usual Sare! That's great that Jess loved Star Tours. I rode it for the first time in October - it's cute, but 3 times would have been PLENTY!!!! LOL!

I haven't been able to get to Fantasmic in a couple of years but I love it too! The effects are really fabulous. Nothing tops Wishes or Spectro for me though.

That stinks about the lack of photopass people...glad you got some of eachother though!

The Pooh jokes just never get old, do they? How glad am I that my kids haven't "caught" on to that yet? The worst is the ones related to eating at the Crystal Palace..."did you eat with Pooh"? Or about the ride..."have you ridden Pooh?"

Too funny about the PROSECUTION spelling error - you would think somebody proofreads things before they get posted, but apparently not. And apparently they don't have spell check either!

Sara

This is weird - i'm sure i replied to you!!! i'm sure i even remember some of what i said!

No, the Pooh jokes NEVER get old. i try to get one in every couple of days. i wish i'd thought of it while we were at the Crystal Palace though... those are good ones!

3 times certainly was plenty, and then some. Once was enough for some of us Wonder how many times i could've gotten on RnRC in that time...

Fantasmic was enjoyable but, silly as it sounds, i wish it hadn't come at the end of the day. It was a long day for us and i was tired and grumpy. i think if we hadn't had such a long day before we went, i would have enjoyed the show more. That said the effects WERE impressive and i loved the water screens!

As to the sign, at least they didn't make a different mistake on the same word - i've seen "persecution" in place of prosecution and it makes me giggle every time.... Shoplifters will be persecuted.... and i just picture a ring of people pointing and laughing... i'm easily amused.

 

[faerieprincess]

We got up early this day and had breakfast at PoP. We took the bus to

and got there at about five past nine. i was snapping photos as we were walking in, and this bird posed for me:

We had some PhotoPass pictures taken, and the PPCM was kind enough to take one with my camera:

We made our way towards the Tree, had a couple more pictures taken, then were kind of looking at the Times Guide and trying to plan our day when some CMs started calling out that the first Festival of the Lion King show was about to start and we could just make it if we hurried. So Jess and i hopped to (well, i hopped to, Jess limped to) and headed across to the theatre. While waiting for her to catch up with me i took some pictures:

We watched the 9:30 show and we LOVED it! The singers were fantastic, the animatronics were impressive, it was just SO well done. We both love The Lion King, so this was definitely our kind of show and we really, really enjoyed it. i took a couple of fuzzy pictures of the elephant, but no other ones - i was just enjoying the experience. It was great!!!!!

Things i love about Disney #6: The amazing effort they put into their shows. Everything from the costumes to the acting to the animatronics to the singing - it was truly spectacular.

Coming out of FOTLK we headed to the left into Africa, bypassing Camp Minnie-Mickey. Along the way we stopped and i stuck my hand into a log, to the amusement of the CMs and to Jess' utter disbelief. i think it was a turtle shell

We walked over the bridge and went straight to the Kilimanjaro Safari FP machines and picked up some FPs. We decided we had enough time for...

We went through the exhibits and met up with some interesting characters...

Pocahontas was very pretty and very nice but when i look at those pics i can't help but wonder why she holds her arms like a barbie

Jiminy Cricket was quite the gentleman.

We took a look in the petting zoo but didn't touch any of the animals (we washed our hands after, just in case though):

Then we took the train back to Africa. We headed for

and got into the FP line. When we'd gotten almost to the loading area, a woman in front of me noticed the LGMH tag on my camera strap and asked me if i was from the DIS. i admitted my addiction and she asked my user name and once i'd told her, said she never remembers people's names. She told me hers and then turned around and ignored me for the rest of the time til we all got on the ride (she was in a different Jeep). Since coming back i've looked her up and am just as glad it was such a brief conversation

Finally it was our turn - i think we waited about 15 minutes, which seemed long for a FP, but it was ok. We sat in the front row of the Jeep, and i was the first one in so i was right behind the driver. She was funny and the few times i made comments under my breath she did laugh. (i was trying to restrain myself). Mostly i was just relieved that we were in a Jeep and not another boat!! We had an enjoyable tour of the Safari, there were lots of animals out. Unfortunately i did not take a single photo!!!! Mostly this was because i knew my battery didn't have much left to give......

 

[MadiMouse]

Great update! Wow, a weird Diser? lol