Mom, my hands smell-A first timer's TR-Completed 4/12

[luckylady]

Hey, rain is just water (unfortunately). We didn't let much get in our way on this trip. We knew we only had 6 days there for many, many years and we had to make the most of them. Merry Christmas to you too! I hope you got what you wanted!



.

Trust me I did. Got a new house!

 

[NotSoEvilStepmother]

Trust me I did. Got a new house!

Wow.

 

[NotSoEvilStepmother]

Happy New Year everyone!

Now, I'd hoped to get an installment up today but I just haven't had the time to get it up. I promise I'll try to get one out before I head back to school on Monday.

 

[NotSoEvilStepmother]

WARNING: So who wants to guess why my memory about this day is so bad? Hmmm? Anyone? Well, I’ll admit, for the last 3 days, we’d been going by the touring plans, but today (and the following day) we would be going around upon our own accord. So, if my details are a little sketchy, I’m sorry. I’m trying to relive it through my pictures. Ok. So enjoy my “uhh”-ing and constant “I thinks”.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

I kept my eyes closed as I was waking up this morning. The birds were chirping, I couldn’t hear any rain, and there was gentle laughter outside of families. What a lovely day! Why, it couldn’t be past seven, seven thirty at the latest. I rolled over and opened my eyes, looking at the clock.

I shot up out of bed.

It was 8:45.

Almost immediately, the inner Disney freak screamed at me to get up and get ready. If you run, it screamed, spitting slightly, you can be there within the first ten minutes of the opening of the Magic Kingdom. Move, move, move!

I had to take a deep breath and calm down. No, I told myself. Today is supposed to be relaxing.

My hands were still clenched.

Grumpy was up, and getting ready. Sleepy was still asleep, but waking up slowly. I got up and got ready while Grumpy ran to Winn-Dixie to pick up some more peanut butter, jelly, and milk. Sleepy and I cleaned up a tad, debated what we wanted to do, and got ready for the day.

We didn’t leave until 10:45. We arrived at the TTC at about 11:10.

I was ready to go already!!

Slowly, we walked to the ferry…

And boarded.

And we were away to the Magic Kingdom once again.

Our plan for today was to take it a little bit easier. Just do the things we really wanted to do. This was something I’d never experienced on a Disney vacation. So we took a nice ferry ride to the front gates and entered the Magic Kingdom without any hassles. The crowds didn’t seem quite as thick as they had this time yesterday, thanks to the no EMH.

So we walked down Main Street, taking it all in.

“Let’s head over to Fronteirland and see what the line is like at Big Thunder,” Grumpy suggested.

We agreed and walked over…calmly…

I will not be impatient, I will not be impatient, I will not be impatient…

As we walked, we stopped in a few stores along the way and just looked around. The line for Big Thunder was ridiculously long, so we grabbed some FASTPASSES. Splash Mountain wasn’t looking much better either, so we decided to wait until later.

We headed back out through Fronteirland. Although, overall, there were fewer people, the Brazilian tour groups decided to take over today. They were absolutely everywhere.

As we passed by Adventureland, we decided to walk through to avoid another run in with…you guessed it, Woody’s Round Up. The line for Pirates of the Caribbean was only 5 minutes, so, no matter how much we didn’t care for it, we decided to ride.

Ok. So it grew on me a little bit this time.

Finally, things started to pick up a little bit when we found ourselves by The Haunted Mansion. The wait was only ten minutes. It was a scorcher today compared to what we’d been dealing with, and Sleepy, even though we’d had over an hour and a half to get ready this morning, hadn’t put any sunblock on. So I helped her with that as we waited.

We had fun watching a tour group leader keeping track of all the kids he was dealing with. The amusement was soon over as we entered the parlor and took a tour of the house of the happy haunts. We did not become the 1,000th happy haunt, you might be surprised to hear. This ride, once again, deserves two thumbs up.

After that was over with, it was time to use our Big Thunder FASTPASSES so we once again trekked through Brazilian teenage country and to Big Thunder. Before hopping in line, we grabbed FASTPASSES for Splash Mountain and they were only 45 minutes out. Whoo-hoo!

We got through the line fairly quickly today now that we were official FASTPASS holders. The line wasn’t quite as long as it had been the day before, but it was twice as hot. We boarded the train in no time. It was hilarious. As we waited to take off on our adventure, a CM walked past and tapped Sleepy (who was sitting next to me) on the shoulder and kept walking—probably to wake her up. She jumped in her usual fashion then turned and looked with accusing eyes at Grumpy. It took her a minute to realize that he was in the next cart back and obviously too far away to tap her.

By this time, the CM and I were busting our guts. He struck up a short conversation with us (mostly having to do with our First Time Visit buttons) and then we went careening through the mountain, screaming and laughing at the same time. So maybe this day wasn’t half bad after all.

It was about 12:30 as we exited the ride and we walked over to the FASTPASS entrance to Splash Mountain. We only had to wait about five minutes and then the guy let us in five minutes early. Score!

We had a god time going through the briar patch. Unfortunately, after the final plunge, we got stuck. We sat there for about ten minutes, just outside the final showroom, listening to “Zip a dee do dah” over and over. I now have a different view of the song. So, what do we do when we’re stuck on a ride? You guessed it! We take pictures.

Calm, cool, and collected.

Three hours later…

At last the logs started moving on and we got to hear the delightful reprise of “Zip a dee do dah” once again.

Up Next: Where the trip report got its title

 

[luckylady]

Once again a great read only to short

 

[NotSoEvilStepmother]

Once again a great read only to short

Wow. You're speedy. I just checked my e-mail and I had the subscription update in the 5 seconds between getting off the DIS and signing in. I was afraid I was going to go over the limit on pictures, guess I had worries for nothing. The next one will be up within a few days so don't worry. In the meantime, Happy New Year!

 

[LaurenMic]

Haha getting stuck on SM and getting sick of that song is all too familiar to me...yet it is still my favorite ride. Maybe I'm crazy! Love the self-pics you and your parents took in the meantime!!

 

[pixiefairy]

Loving your report! You have a wonderful way with words...it's a joy to read.

We were lucky enough to not see a single tour group the whole time we were there in June.....sounds like they were a blast to deal with.

I'm hoping my son will be as enthusiastic when we go back next November...he's 13 now and we didn't have too many "teen" moments. He'll be 15. I'm hoping our Disney influence will make him happy to go with the flow...lol. And not ALL teenagers are bad. I hate it when people look at a teen like it's a disease. People...we were all that age once, you know? Can't wait to hear more!

 

[jordanyosh]

Okay.....I gotta sub

 

[NotSoEvilStepmother]

Haha getting stuck on SM and getting sick of that song is all too familiar to me...yet it is still my favorite ride. Maybe I'm crazy! Love the self-pics you and your parents took in the meantime!!

We have a knack for getting stuck on this ride. But mostly in Disneyland. 3 times in 2 days once. Oh. And Small World too. We're so lucky. We like to have fun taking pictures on vacations. We took about, oh, 1400 pictures total in a week, not including dozens on our phones (but a lot were lost ).

Loving your report! You have a wonderful way with words...it's a joy to read.

We were lucky enough to not see a single tour group the whole time we were there in June.....sounds like they were a blast to deal with.

I'm hoping my son will be as enthusiastic when we go back next November...he's 13 now and we didn't have too many "teen" moments. He'll be 15. I'm hoping our Disney influence will make him happy to go with the flow...lol. And not ALL teenagers are bad. I hate it when people look at a teen like it's a disease. People...we were all that age once, you know? Can't wait to hear more!

Thanks for the compliments.
Oh we just LOVE tour groups now. Especially when they go around, singing in a language you only partially understand by the end of the week. I'm sure your son will have a lot of fun in November. A lot of times Disney just has this...influence on teens that makes them a lot more like little kids (that would be me).
UGH!!! I hate, hate, HATE when adults look at us teens like we're a piece of poo on the public toilet of humanity. It really hurts, especially when they talk down to us. And a lot of teachers tend to do that too. It's simply because the news only reports on teens who get caught doing drugs, kill themselves, text too much (I text once or twice a day, to my best friend and my parents), or beat up other kids on the bus (that happened in my district and EVERYONE in the junior highs had to go to an assembly from the bus drivers where we got chewed for nothing). It stinks. ANYWHOM...

Okay.....I gotta sub

Welcome!

 

[distherapy]

Great report!

As a former drama geek (although I'm not sure one is ever truly "former"), I couldn't help but laugh at the line "there's too much DRAMA in drama".

In college I took a Costume Patterning & Construction class and had to sew lederhosen for a play. My husband thinks it's the funniest thing - I know our Biergarten trip is going to be full of jokes about it. Let's just say they were the last things I ever sewed...

 

[NotSoEvilStepmother]

Great report!

As a former drama geek (although I'm not sure one is ever truly "former"), I couldn't help but laugh at the line "there's too much DRAMA in drama".

In college I took a Costume Patterning & Construction class and had to sew lederhosen for a play. My husband thinks it's the funniest thing - I know our Biergarten trip is going to be full of jokes about it. Let's just say they were the last things I ever sewed...

about the laderhosen. I was in "Hansel and Gretel" (as Gretel a year ago (wow, that's a long time) and we had to make a couple pairs of those lovely little dandies. I've maken many a costume over the last 4 years and I think the last one I made will be the last one I ever make.

 

[NotSoEvilStepmother]

I know that I said I'd post some Christmas pictures on here so I guess this is a great time to do so.

I was up early Christmas morning (as most kids are) and came downstairs to see this.

Our lovely new mantle.

Our tree all pretty.

Our nativity set.

No one was up yet so I snuck back upstairs and watched "Good Morning, America Christmas Special" and waited for everyone to get up. At about 8:45, when Grumpy was awake and Sleepy had had her coffee, we started opening presents and our stockings while watching the "Walt Disney World Christmas Parade" for the first time ever.

I got a lovely pair of these.

And I also got quite the character.

My brother and his DGF came over for breakfast and they brought their adorable little dog with them.

Compared to their other dogs, he's teeeeny tiny.

My other brother, his wife, and my two baby nephews came over a little while later and had some fun with them. It was my youngest nephew's first Christmas and all he was interested in was the bows and ribbon. I would've posted pictures, but I didn't feel their parents would be very happy with that.

All over, we had a great day. It was nice and relaxing and just a lot of fun. Oh, and I know that I promised to post pictures of the scrapbook that I made for Sleepy, but I've decided to wait until after the TR is over so I can do it all at one time.

But her reaction?

You can come up with your own idea.

 

[kimmylaj]

so i joined a little late but i am really enjoying your trip report. peter pan is wonderful isnt it. and did you say you make costumes for your plays, you should head over to the disboutiquer thread. we are a group of people who make custom clothes for our kids to wear to disney. it is such fun. i am a self proclaimed disney fanatic. as for the hotel on our first trip when i was 13 we stayed in a very horrible hotel called the regency, my mom made my dad get in the car and drive around to try to find another because she couldnt fathom sleeping there, so i get it about your hotel

 

[luckylady]

Awww by looking at your moms reaction to the scrapbook I'm guessing she loved it. HAppy new year. I hope you have a great 2nd semester and a magical year.

 

[NotSoEvilStepmother]

so i joined a little late but i am really enjoying your trip report. peter pan is wonderful isnt it. and did you say you make costumes for your plays, you should head over to the disboutiquer thread. we are a group of people who make custom clothes for our kids to wear to disney. it is such fun. i am a self proclaimed disney fanatic. as for the hotel on our first trip when i was 13 we stayed in a very horrible hotel called the regency, my mom made my dad get in the car and drive around to try to find another because she couldnt fathom sleeping there, so i get it about your hotel

You're welcome here any time. And Peter Pan is AMAZING. I'm doing a bit of creative writing about it right now (about 180 pages and growing of creative writing ) and I've come to know more about the play, movies, book, author, and entire period it takes place in more than I thought I ever would. I actually am a lurker on the DISboutiquers threads sent over by Heather and Teressa (gosh I hope thats the right spelling for her name) and it's some pretty amazing stuff, I must admit. I don't think I have that much talent to really do that, though.
about the hotel. At some point in our trip, I volunteered to sleep in the car instead of the hotel. I wish I'd taken pictures. It was horrible. We ALMOST, and I literally mean almost, drove straight to WDW to find a hotel on property at 2 AM when we arrived.

Awww by looking at your moms reaction to the scrapbook I'm guessing she loved it. HAppy new year. I hope you have a great 2nd semester and a magical year.

She told me that that was the second gift that she had ever cried at getting. It was pretty cool. You have a magical year as well! 2009 is going to be a great year, I just know it!

 

[grandpaof3]

Hi again.

I've been away from the computer for a few days and just found your updates.

We also seem to be a magnet for breakdowns in the World and have had unplanned, behind the scene, tours on a few rides that we had to exit half way through including SM.

Love your pictures and looking forward to the Namesake report.

I had a very good Christmas. Not a lot of presents but then I can't think of too much that I need or don't already have. I'm hard to buy for so the family usually resorts to gag items or Fruit Cake. I'm one of the last people on the planet that loves Fruit Cake I guess.

See you down the page.

 

[NotSoEvilStepmother]

Magic Kingdom, Day 2, Part 2
So we got off Splash Mountain (at last) and decided to dry off on the train. Before we got to the station, we saw this in the sky.

Uh-oh.
It took us about ten minutes to find out where the station was. We, being native to Disneyland, are used to stations that are right in front of your face.

“Where’s the train station?” Sleepy eventually asked a CM just standing around. He smiled, as if hearing this before.

“Right up this staircase. Enjoy your ride.”

Oooooooh. The sign had only been right in front of our faces for the last 10 minutes. We were only in the station for about 5 minutes before a train rolled in. Good-bye Fronteirland!

On the train:

I can’t tell if I was blatantly ignoring the camera, or if I was truly interested in something.

(I HAD to wear my sweater here. Even though it was in the middle of July, I was still cold )

Sleepy and Grumpy

(I think Grumpy said something about the Rafiki Planet Watch Train right after this.)

We decided to get off at Main Street U.S.A. Once again, we had to refrain from singing “Right Down the Middle of Main Street U.S.A. as we made our way, quite relaxed, down the street. I could get very used to this whole relaxation thing.

We met up with some of our good friends along the way.

Reunited:

Minnie had to make a call—I graciously lent her my phone.

Grumpy decided not to have his picture taken with our good friends. At about this point, it was sometime past one, probably near two. We stopped on one of the little side streets off the main path (right across from the glass blowing store) and had our delectable PB&J sandwiches. We went inside the store when we had finished and Sleepy had to drag me away from the store eventually. Pretty!

Our next stop was the hat cart near the hub. You all know the one I’m talking about. Where you take pictures like this:

Or this:

And when you’re really silly, pictures like this one:

We couldn’t weasel that crown onto Grumpy unfortunately.

Suddenly, Sleepy spotted a Photopass photographer and was chasing after him before I could tell her that there was one right next to us. So, with her photographer, we got this.

Then we decided it was time to head over to Tomorrowland. We chose to skip Sleepy’s favorite ride—Stitch’s Great Escape—and go for EVERYONE’S favorite attraction: Carousel of Progress!

We got in there and settled down. Right after we got to the 40’s, some lady decided that she didn’t like this ride so she decided to leave. An announcement went out, interrupting the show, saying “Do NOT exit the attraction, PLEASE!” Then they started singing “It’s a great, big beautiful tomorrow!” and we were supposed to be moving, but we weren’t.

“My God!” I said. “We’re stuck in the 40’s. Quick, get a churro before they ration sugar!”

We were still busting our guts when we finally moved into “the future”.

We finally made it through time, and saw all the progress before we decided to head over to the Tomorrowland Transit Authority.

We relaxed on that a while.

I was not pleased.

But Grumpy was.

We got off and tried hitting up Buzz Lightyear, but the Stand-By line was about 30 minutes. So we grabbed a FASTPASS for 25 minutes from then. Haha. And, score! We got surprise FASTPASSes. For… Carousel of Progress.
Oh…

We ran over to CoP and tried to use them, but there was only 2 other people in the Stand-By line so it was pretty pointless so we pocketed them. We didn’t get stuck in the 40’s this time, fortunately. And by the time we were through, we could use our Buzz Lightyear passes. But first, Sleepy took one of her favorite pictures of the whole trip.

A few last looks around the Magic Kingdom before the downpour.

And now, this is the part that I’m sure everyone has been waiting for. Yes, that’s right. Where the title of the report comes into play. I bet the suspense is killing you right about now. So here we go.

We headed to the FASTPASS entrance and here comes this perky looking CM. All of a sudden, he takes my hands and starts shaking them faster than the Mad Hatter would. And he sang.

“Welcome to Walt Disney World! Welcome to Walt Disney World! Welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome, WELCOME!”

I could do nothing but stare, shocked, confused, and slightly scared of him.

“Take these, Princess.” And he handed me two of those red passes.
We got into the FASTPASS wait line and I went to scratch my cheek when all of a sudden, I smell something absolutely horrible.

“Mom,” I said. “My hands smell.”

She sniffed them and indeed they did smell quite rotten. But, luckily, we had hand sanitizer and it wiped the smell away.

And there you have it folks, that’s why my hands smelled.

We were helping Buzz fight his mortal enemy in no time.

Proof of our adventure:

“You know,” I said as we exited the shop. “I think I’m done for rides.”

We agreed unanimously and decided to get something to drink before heading out for a while.

On the way, Grumpy met an old buddy:

(Sorry its sideways)

And, because I was in Alice in Wonderland, we HAD to take a picture of the hedge.

We got some drinks (my first food/ beverage item at Disney World) then walked slowly to the front gate. Sleepy wanted some pictures of the rose garden.

Along the way out, we met with two different Photopass photographers and got these lovely dandies. Again they are sideways unfortunately. Don’t strain yourselves.

And then, we departed the theme park. But we will be back.

Up Next: We encounter some sort of Marketplace

 

[wishing4PA]

Thanks for your TR. I've been enjoying it. Gave it 5 stars.
And I even told your accommodations story to DH. I told him we may be staying in the worst resort at Disney (some bad recent reviews), but it could be worse!

 

[grandpaof3]

That's a long update!!

The train station near SM is rather well hidden but it gives one a better feeling of accomplishment when you do find it. . Nice profile on the train buy the way . Grumpy looks a bit more like Happy & Sleepy looks like she's glad to get off her feet for a while.

Roy Disney had his picture taken with me too once he found out that we share the same first name. We just couldn't keep Minnie from jumping into the picture.

Your Princess pose is adorable. I don't think Grumpy would look as good as you do with that crown on but that would have been a priceless picture.

The "Mystery of The Smelly Hands" revealed at last!!!!! I must say it was somewhat of a let down however. I was hoping for a much more dramatic story, preferably at night with a full moon, a chill wind out of the North and a harrowing howl that seemed too close for comfort. At least I now know to stay away from CMs in Tomorrow Land.

Alice is one of my favorites too. She's one of the too few Disney Heroines that's not a Princess.

I really hate the "departed the park" ending but we all have to get back to the real world or the Magic wouldn't be the same the next time.

Bye for now.