One Monkey's Dream- A Spring break sister trip! -Updated 10/26

[SulleysMonkey]

Come one, come all to experience One Monkey's Dream! My very first trip report here at the Dis!
Hi! I'm Monkey! Recently turn 25 college student. My favorite character is Sulley, favorite (pixar) movies are Monsters inc and Monster University(no you don't understand I saw Monsters U three times in the weekend in came out before I was cut off). I've dreamt for years of getting to meet Sulley and giving him a hug!
So when I started to hear about the Hollywood studios revamp I panicked. Sulley's leaving!(I know temporarily but no one could give me details of course). We're headed down to Disney in December(graduation trip!) but he would be gone by then. What will I do if I don't get to meet Sulley?!
So I started scheming. So did my sister, fly down for a day and hitch hike to the park meet Sulley and fly home. After a strange series of events, it actually worked out, sorta.
5 days at Disney over my spring break with my sister!
So proper introductions!
Whos the cast on this crazy trip?

Monkey and Penguin!

ME! Monkey! I'm 25(i was 24 then). I go to school for Early Childhood education and intervention specialist. I work at a daycare and everyone knows me as the girl who loves Disney!
Favorites:
Movies: Monsters inc and University, Beauty and the beast, Robin Hood, Up, Inside out,
Character: Sulley, Beast, Baymax, Prince John, King Louie, Rafiki
Park: Animal Kingdom or Magic Kingdom
Superhero: Captain America
Hotel: Allstar Music (ok only one I've ever stayed at)
Dream hotel: Animal kingdom Lodge or Coronado

Penguin! My 26 year old sister and best friend. Loves knowing everything about Disney and enjoys reading(and writing) fanfiction(supernatural and marvel).
Favorites:
Movies: Beauty and the Beast, Lilo and Stitch, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Emperor's New Groove
Character: Stitch, Donald, Eeyore
Park: Epcot
Super Hero: Iron Man
Hotel: Wilderness Lodge
Dream Hotel: All of them!
Now that we have our characters The set!
Disney(obviously!) 4 nights 5 days, March 7-11, 2016.
Staying at All-Star Music.
Includes: Standard dining plan and memory maker.
So strap on in and Join us for One Monkey's dream!(To meet Sulley!)

 

[SulleysMonkey]

Table of Contents
The Journey so far.

 

[SulleysMonkey]

The Game Plan!

So how did it go from joking about flying down and hitch hiking to five whole days in Disney?
That's a report on its own.
When we first heard Sulley was leaving my sister started secretly planning and scheming a way to get me to Disney to meet Sulley. She priced out a flight and one day ticket(no hotel or anything) said I'd have to hitch hike and figure my own way to actually get to Hollywood studios. Then I started talking about it too and asking why I couldn't do it. She had all these reasons as to why it wouldn't be right or responsible.
This was around tax return time and after seeing how much I would be getting back I started thinking about how I could actually go meet Sulley. My sister didn't believe me, she was against it from the beginning she apparently thought I was kidding. I wasn't.

This is a small part of my Sulley love. It's missing several posters and smaller items, along with a water bottle and such. It has also grown since this picture last year. Bottom line I wasn't kidding I wanted to meet Sulley and I was going to find a way to do it.
So after a passionate speech one Sunday night where I almost started crying and she said I need to ask a non-family adult their opinion on the trip. Went something like this:
M-" We're adults why can't we go?!"
P; "fine get someone else's opinion first"
I had planned to go into work the next day and ask every single person who works there their opinion on the matter until I got a yes and/or majority of yes.
But hey! I didn't need to! She thought this whole time I wasn't serious and just joking, the speech apparently really helped.
So it was decided! We would go to Disney! For three days(Tuesday Wednesday Thursday.) Wait wha-?
Well that was the original plan. Then we priced things out more did so looking and thinking and maybe begging on my part(hey I was paying!) and it turned into 5 wonderful days in Disney!

So what would we be doing?
Staying at all star music with 5 day park hopper passes(we thought, more on that later) and the dining plan. We booked a month or so before the trip so we didn't get the biggest ticket meal at BOG but that's okay, there's always next trip.
Monday- Fly down and go to Hollywood Studios with Dinner at 50s Prime time diner
Tuesday- Morning in Animal Kingdom with breakfast at Tuskers house, Evening in Magic Kingdom
Wednesday- Epcot and Lunch at Via Napoli
Thursday- Magic kingdom and breakfast with pooh at Crystal palace
Friday- Back to Hollywood studios to see Sulley before we left.

 

[nilla]

Ok, you have "Monkey" in the title, so I'm reading. Also, you love Coronado, so that's TWO thumbs-up-worthy things so far.

Can't wait to read more!

 

[SulleysMonkey]

Ok, you have "Monkey" in the title, so I'm reading. Also, you love Coronado, so that's TWO thumbs-up-worthy things so far.

Can't wait to read more!

Aww Thank you! Yes my nickname is Monkey, even my grandma calls me that. I've never gotten to stay at Coronado but it is so pretty! Hopfully one trip soon I'll get to stay there!

 

[nilla]

Aww Thank you! Yes my nickname is Monkey, even my grandma calls me that. I've never gotten to stay at Coronado but it is so pretty! Hopfully one trip soon I'll get to stay there!

Coronado's our favorite resort. We stayed their 5 years in a row, then stayed at Caribbean Beach last year, just to switch things up. We're back at Coronado this year

 

[Victoriasmom98]

I love Monkeys, so here I am!!! Onward!

 

[SulleysMonkey]

Day 1 Monday March 7- Travel and Sulley!

So this was the day we had been waiting for. I kept checking and double checking that we had everything. After a few hours of sleep, I woke up around 4am, penguin woke up around 2 and we packed last minute items, loaded up my car(Haymitch, we nickname everything) and drove the half hour to the air port.

Penguin had found a parking lot we could park in for the week and then take a shuttle to the airport.

We parked the car and waited, and to me a tropical monkey it was FREEZING! We waited what felt like forever, but was really only maybe five minutes for the shuttle to show up and load us and our luggage up for the short ride to the airport. Where we ran into my boss from work. I knew we were going the same week, and it was not planned that way, but didn't know what time they were leaving. Turns out on the flight down we were together.
The flight wasn't to bad, my boss and her family sat near us( her oldest son,5, was right behind me but i couldn't even tell)
The flight actually made me sick and dizzy. I have a lot of inner ear issues and the altitude and pressure made me sick to my stomach. I was drinking my sprite really slowly and at one point right after they gave it to me my hand slipped. So I spilled the drink all over penguins and mines lap. The flight was full and the person sitting next to penguin laughed with us and gave us his napkin. We hit the call button and without saying anything napkins magically appeared. The flight attendant offered to bring another drink with a lid and a straw but I decided not to risk it. He said that the first button call after service is always for napkins because someone spilled something.
After a fairly short flight(less than two hours) wet pants and all we landed at MCO! We said good bye to my boss and hoped on the fakeorail. After getting turned around and taking pictures which I can't seem to find with Mickey statue in the airport we walked down and hopped on the magical express and sat....and sat...and sat...We were the first on the bus basically and had to sit a while before we took off. But the driver was really funny in his speech about everything and would occasionally say stuff about what we were passing.
Stopped at Coronado first which is the first time I saw it and OMG is it amazing! I can't wait to explore it another time but no time on this short trip is what I was told.
More stops that I don't remember and finally pulling into All- star music! And our room was ready! Yay!
We walked back to our room to drop off some of our stuff, penguin had a giant carryon bag. We were so excited! We got the Broadway section!




Beauty and the beast is my favorite and our room was right next to this! So exciting! There was also a speaker right outside our room that played show tunes all day. We stood there for a while and then went off to find adventure in Hollywood!

 

[SulleysMonkey]

Day 1- Actual Sulley!

So after dropping our things off and taking a few pictures outside our room. We walked to the front of the resort and waited for a bus. When we got there a family of 8 or 9 was waiting with their EVC in the line and from what we could tell they had been waiting for a while, around 30+ minutes. They complained and got another ride to the park. Not long after a bus came by and the rest of us loaded up for the ride to Hollywood studios.


Got off the bus and before that photo was actually taken we had done some shopping so I could get my Autograph book and I found some pins and bought some locking backs. So I could wear the ones I wanted to keep.

So we raced off to see Sulley...oh wait..no. Penguin wouldn't let me. She actually had a plan.
But Stitch was out so we met him first. He was impressed with my sister, I think because of her love of him? But I don't remember.

He also signed my book and licked me. I forget why he licked me now but he did.
After that we decided it was time to eat. I hadn't really ate that day and by now it was around noon-oneish. So we went to ABC Commissary and got some food. I know I got the chicken nuggets and i believe my sister got a salad? We were on the meal plan and we both got chocolate mousse.
After this we had something to do before meeting Sulley. It was another reason for this trip. Everytime we've gone to Disney(well I have gone to Disney) I've gotten pictures in Honey, I shrunk the kids. With it also leaving we had to stop for a few pictures.

First was the nose. The plan is actually to take all the pictures from all the trips and make a Collage of sorts, but I have to find the others first.

Mushrooms!
I'm really sad this is gone but I understand why. I can't wait to see what they do when the Pixar expansion is done.
After this we headed to the Muppets 3D show. My sister loves Kermit and I love the Muppets so of course we had to stop and see it.
Then Finally after me begging and pestering and physically poking her! It. Was. Time!

We walked around confused and lost for a bit and then stumbled on to the meet and greet area. A few groups ahead of us were a group of high school dancers and Sulley was dancing with them and just having a lot of fun. I was so excited and trying not to freak out and cry. It felt like the line took forever. And then it was time.

The hug I flew 2,000 miles for and honestly? It kinda sucked. Penguin says that he used all his awesome up on the group ahead of us with the dancing. He didn't seem to care and was just trying ot get through.
He did make me hug mike.


And I did get my hug, well several. We left after and I cried a little. Not the best Character interaction, not even of the day. But I got my hug and we planned on coming back on Friday to see him once before we left so I was satisfied.
We had fast passes for Midway mania, but still had some time before them. I was glad even the fastpass line was around the corner! We walked up and got some drinks and took a few photo pass pictures(the mike from above). I went through One Man's Dream while Penguin found a place to sit in the shade.
Then it was time for our ride with the Toys we walked the short distance back and thankfully the line had gone down a lot. It wasn't a long wait before we were shooting at targets. I don't have a picture of the score(I honestly wasn't planning on writing this then) but I know Penguin had the higher score but I had the better accuracy.
We then went on the Great Movie ride(my first time!) we had the western one I think.
Then we waited for a little bit, we were early for our ADR. I was so excited for this one. We walked over to the area and watched the streetmosphere for a while til it was time to check in at 50s Prime Time Diner! I've only ate here once and I loved it.
I got the sample platter, I loved the chicken but didn't really like the pot roast and hated the meatloaf(but I am super picky). Lucky we had a cool waitress that didn't tease me for not finishing.
Penguin had... a salad. This will turn into a trend on this trip.
For dessert I had the Pineapple upside down cake and really didn't like it. IT was so...wet. That's the only way to describe it, wet and dense. Penguin had the Dad's famous brownie sundae without caramel. I ate more of that than my own.
By this point we were pooped. it was around 430 now. We had one more fastpass but neither of us were feeling it so we started the walk to the buses. On our way there was just one thing I had to do.

I love balloons. Every few months I go to the Dollar store and get a few just to have around my room. So I had to get one. My aunt is terrified of them so I don't get to have one on our December trip. I loved my Balloon and often we would come back from our day and mouse keeping would have it in the window waiting.
When we got to the resort we picked up our mugs and then went for a rest in our room.
So much done in such a short time it was more than time for a nap. So that's what we did.

 

[SulleysMonkey]

Day 1- That feeling....

So you'll have to forgive me. I wasn't actually planning on writing a trip report so this update has no pictures I would put gifs but I don't know how to use them. Fail.

So after we got my balloon we headed back to the hotel. We weren't that far from the bus stop but after going for so long it felt like forever walking back to the room. We turned the tv on and rested.....well Penguin rested. I was able to stay still for about 20 minutes and then I was ready to go. Penguin was tired and had a headache. At this point I'm bouncing around the room and she told me ot wait until around 7. let her sleep and rest etc. So I did, i did everything I could in the room to wait...and wait and wait and wait. In reality it was probably about an hour but I was in Disney for the first time in almost 10 years. I didn't want to just sit.

So at 7ish I woke her up and she apologized, she still didn't feel good. I wasn't going to let that hold me back. I wanted to go and do something. So I got up and left her. I was in Disney I was gonna do something and I was gonna have fun. I headed to the bus stop at a gawkers pace as I looked at everything but took no pictures. I was to caught up in enjoying the feeling of being there.

I hopped on a bus to Disney Springs. I didn't really have a plan but I just wanted to look around and maybe find a new purse. I had a huge messenger bag that you can see in some pictures but I really didn't want to carry it. There was too much room in it and things kept getting lost.
My first stop was the Art store and looked around at everything I will never be able to afford. I also checked out the ears in the connecting store. When we go in December I'm getting graduation ears(yay).

After this I went to Goofs candy company and got a mickey treat to ear while walking around. Next stop was the pin trading store. I was never really into pin trading but I this trip that all changed. I loved the blind bags that had an assortment of pins. This night I picked up a king louie(hey he's a fellow primate!) and I already had a Sulley pin. I also bought a Tsumtsum blind bag.

I also walked through TrenDs and the market co-op before going to the World of Disney. I think at this point I just stood there and turned in circles and then walked in circles. I saw a purse that I fell in love with but it didn't work for my purpose. I wanted a hipster purse that I could display my pins, It also needed to hold my small autograph book and pens. Then I found the last Minnie purse,( which I don't have a picture of but should take one) I loved it and it worked. I got it and more pins(an obsession was beginning).

It was getting late at this point so I started slowly walking to the buses. On this night there was a dance party go on and some other performers. I was trying to soak it all in and enjoy. For the first time standing there I remember that I was in Disney, alone. I was the Adult and I was going to have a wonderful time. That feeling caused chills to run over my body and the entire time I couldn't stop smiling the entire time I was at Disney springs that night.

When I got back "home" penguin was asleep and I had to try really hard not to wake her even though I really wanted to. I took a shower and set my alarm. The morning held some fun Animal Adventures. Around 11 I finally went to sleep. All in all a very good first day in Disney.

 

[SulleysMonkey]

We last left off with me going to bed decently late(around 11pm) since I had been up sooooo early that morning. Will this be a horrible choice?(I already don't sleep so who knows maybe Disney will be the same).

We had a pre-park opening breakfast this morning and the alarm went off soooooooo early. Like really really reallllllllly, early especially since I stayed up soooo late. Morning person monkey is not today. I feel like the alarm went off around 730 and penguin basically had to pull me out of bed while i threw things at her head cursing the sun. Which is a change for us because I'm known as the early bird sunshine girl that wakes with the sun, and she is a vampire that claims the sun burns and hides from it by sleeping all day.

So we got up and ready and dragged our bodies to the bus stop, and i do mean dragged. And we waited, and waited and waited, it felt like forever for the bus, probably made worse by the fact that we had a reservation and were dead tired. The bus finally showed up and thankfully we got to sit and drive and drive and drive. Again felt like forever til we finally saw the park. By this point it was around 850. Our ADR was for 855.

We got through the bag check and everything fine and started walking and then I saw a HUGE MASS OF PEOPLE in our way. I didn't know the park wasn't opened yet and they had stopped everyone in one place. By this time it's 900 and I'm panicking because we're late and its sooooo far, really really far. Everything was so far. Really far from the buses, really far from the gate everything really really far. like reallyafr. By this point we're Monkey/Penguin running. Which means I was sorta half jogging and Penguin was shuffling along. All the while I was cursing her for this ADR. Pretty sure I threatened bodily harm at some point during this walk. We finally made it around 915-920, I was so panicked and freaked out. But everything was fine and they let us pass and we checked in. And waited. SOoooooo much waiting on this morning. We probably waited 20-30 mins before we got seated. We were to the left in the back at a little table.

We had a little bit of time before the characters came so we went and got food, which was pretty good. I have no pictures of it though. And then! The characters!
First up penguins favorite DONALD DUCK!



He kinda, well he just wasn't the best. Penguin had on a shirt with him and he just didn't pay attention or anything. He was probably the worst interaction of the trip, but we also had some REALLY amazing ones.
Up next was his girlfriend Daisy Duck.
She loved penguins shirt and they got into an argument because Penguin said she was going to steal Donald away.


I asked Daisy if we could switch hats and she wouldn't switch with me, she said I looked good in my own hat.
Then the big Cheese Mickey! We got him to saya hi to my best friends son.

That made his day, but he was mad at me because I was at Mickeys house.


Other than the sign it wasn't really a big deal. Penguin didn't even get an individual picture, but he did comment on her Donald shirt, but I don't actually remember what.
Then it was time for the parade before goofy got to us. Penguin took the time to go to the restroom and I took the time to give my GusGus some POG juice.

He traveled with us throughout the parks the whole week, but we didn't take to many pictures of him.
Then Goofy came along, he's our aunts favorite character so we also got him to say hi, but I lost the picture.
Penguin wasn't back yet so it was just me.


I don't know where his attendant was but he wasn't there so some nice person at another table took the picture for me. He kept hugging me and squeezing me tight. I think he felt bad I was alone, though I told penguin it was because he though I was cute .
Once he left I sat alone for a few minutes but penguin was taking forever and I felt bad keeping a table when we already had paid and were good to go. So I texted penguin and out the back door I went.

I wandered around the area pin trading with the cast members and enjoying the music while I wait. Eventually penguin came out and we set off for more fun.

 

[SulleysMonkey]

After breakfast we walked around and looked at the shops in the area, I was trying to find gifts for a few friends back home and while I was doing that Penguin looked up show times. FOTLK was getting ready to start their next show so we hopped in line. By the time we got started in the line they opened the doors and we wound up going through a back entrance.

This was my first time watching the show so I didn't take any pictures, We were sitting in the Giraffe section and it was so much fun. I asked Penguin if we could do the show again and was told maybe later. I couldn't help but dance and sing along. I loved making the noise whenever they asked us too! I can't wait to see it again, I've seen the touring Broadway production a few times and this is so on par with it that. I LOVED LOVED LOVED the tumble monkeys and the bird duet. It was just so amazing, something everyone should see. I would love to sit in the warthog section next time.

After this we had some character hunting to do. I love meeting characters and we had one in mind we just had to meet. And he has a tail. So we started walking down the path. Now I'm sure that this is a very lovely path and a wonderful walk. However, I am terrified of snakes, absolutely positively terrified. It was bad, Penguin had to hold my hand and guide me. (When I say terrified, I mean I can see a picture of a snake and get parinoid there is one in my house. The zoo came to work with a harmless one and I did everything I could to try and climb over the half wall and get out of the room without loosing my job.)

We got to the train and even though I took some pictures of it I have none to show, whomp whomp.
The next picture we have is this:

My grandmother wanted more pictures of my sister. Thy call the cardinal the kiki bird(one of her nicknames). So when I saw this I snapped a picture and sent it to my grandma saying here she is.
So we started looking for my monkey friend and ran into some chipmunks instead. Now this is probably top 5 best interactions of this entire trip.
We waited in a short line and then walked up to meet Chip and Dale. In line we talked about what we would talk to them about. It was perfect!

SO I told CHip and Dale that we had been arguing over what they were. Hamsters or Gerbils. They looked at each other and back at us and shook there heads. So I said I told you they're squirrels! That of course got a not and them starting to hang there heads and all sorta of things like in the picture. "Oh so that means your monkeys right?"-Seriously best thing ever that's around when the picture was snapped. At this point Chip has control of my autograph book and starts signing when the Photo pass and character handler get in on the fun and call them lemmings. So Chip started writing furiously in my autograph book and wrote out in capital letters chipmunks and under lined it a lot. I really should take a picture of that page I haven't yet. He also made sure to show the photo pass and handler people so they knew.
So once all of that was done they finally noticed penguins shirt(Donald) and they got so mad! She told them that donald is number 1 and the best. So Dale calmly walked over took her hand and lead her to the exit where acted like he was pushing her out! I told Chip not to worry he was my number on and made Dale sad, so I told him he was number two.


We had lots of photos from this meat but I can't seem to find them right now on my photobucket.

When we were done it was starting to get hot so we stopped for some drinks and sat and listen to someone talk about different animals. We just relaxed in the shade for a bit and then it was time for the reason we were in the area. We headed into the conservation station were none other than Rafiki was waiting just for us!(ok not really but there was no line for him so we were able to walk right up)

I told him I was also a monkey and he started looking for my tail. We interacted a bit and got some fun pictures.



Penguin didn't care about getting her photo with him(you'll see that happened a lot). So after a wonderful meeting with Rafiki we left and headed back to the train to leave conservation station.

 

[SulleysMonkey]

We walked around and started heading towards EE. But first some pictures!


I have to say I am so happy we got memory maker for this trip. Penguin hates getting her picture taken and I love having them for memories so I know if it was just up to us we wouldn't have very many at all. She was agreeable so often to taking pictures and I love the magic shots even though we didn't get a ton.
It was around noon now and getting really warm out for us. So penguin started to stop every few minutes in the shade and sit. I however did not (dun dun dun).

As she said, she's a penguin they like the cold, not the Florida heat(Although disney is worth it). I however being a monkey love the tropical weather and heat so I would flit around and look at things as she took a rest. I never really sit down.
So we went on like this towards EE, however we had to make a stop! We saw king louie! He was with Baloo but I didn't really care about meeting him. The line didn't seem that long, however not 2 minutes after we got in line they started walking away. We understood this, we were told that they just needed a drink and would be back. So we waited for about five minutes and Its baloo the bear! but...no king louie. We ask a CM when louie would be out and got no real answer. Disappointed we got out of line and headed to EE.

Now I'm not a huge roller coaster fan, and I have a lot of inner ear issues. But I really wanted to try this ride and penguin had never been on it. We had FP+ for later that night at MK and the wait was 45 minutes I think. So we decided to hope in the single rider line. It didn't take long before we got to the front and I was put in a car with a family celebrating a birthday. Penguin was on another cart all together but that wasn't a big deal to us.
I was sitting next to the birthday person and we honestly just talked the whole time. When we got to the dead end and went backwards I started to not feel good. By the time we got off I felt down right awful.


I got off the ride and scanned my band for the picture. I was really dizzy and just feeling horrible so I found a solid wall to stand against. Thought I wasn't sure if it was keeping me up or i it. People passed by as I waited for penguin mostly keeping my head down and eyes closed. If you didn't know me you wouldn't really have been able to tell something was wrong. However, penguin knows me and knew as soon as she saw me that I wasn't ok. We took our time heading out of the dump shop and then she found a bench for me and went off to get some water. I just sat there watching people for a while waiting for her to get back.

Up next! What will happen, will our only day at AK be ruined by the yetti!? OR will we recover and continue on our wonderful day!

 

[GlowingEye]

As it has been... 5 months ( ) since Monkey last updated, and out next Disney trip is in 53 days ( ) we agreed I should take over the trip report from here. So Hi! I'm Penguin! Luckily, there weren't really any more solo adventures, so I should be able to provide good info for the rest of our trip.

 

[GlowingEye]

We last left off at Expedition Everest. As I got off the train and walked into the dump shop, I saw Monkey there, holding up a wall. Uh-oh. I know that look. Monkey's not feeling well. We wander around a little bit, and find a long stone bench near the restrooms and the ice cream kiosk/truck. I set her down with strict instructions to stay put, and went to grab some free ice water. I took it back to her and we sat for maybe half an hour, just people watching, cooling off, and drinking our waters (mine liberally sweetened with splenda, I hate plain water).

I checked the time, and it was just about time for Baloo and King Louie's next set, so off we went. We got to Upcountry River Landing and got in line with about 15-20 other people to wait. Eventually, we saw an attendant and Baloo come out, but... No King Louie. Which is who we were there to see. We asked one of the cast members when Louie would be out, but they didn't have an answer for us. Monkey was very sad, but feeling badly enough that she was okay (ish) with not meeting him. So we got out of line and moved on.

Next on the list was a visit with our favorite Wilderness Explorers, Dug and Russell! Monkey had bought a special shirt just for this meet and greet. We got in line, about 12 people in front of us. Just as we got in line, Dug and Russell took a break. Thankfully, there were fans and the area is under a shelter, so we didn't mind waiting. There were a few families behind us with young kids who kept playing with the "dog speech" machine, which was fine at first, but did get on my nerves a little. Probably 15 minutes passed, and Dug and Russell came back out. Soon enough it was our turn!

Both of them loved Monkey's shirt. She had a great time talking to them, asking if Dug had seen any squirrel's lately. Of course, he pointed right behind her, then took her over and showed her the squeaky squirrel toy. *squeak squeak squeak squeak* She also asked Russell is she could take Dug home. Russell wasn't so happy with that, but Dug was all for it. Until he learned we have three cats. Then he was done with Monkey completely and 'pushed' her towards the exit! Even Russell laughed himself silly at that.

Eventually, he forgave her, though.

He did try to eat her marker when she asked him to sign her book. Maybe he hadn't completely forgiven her?

After we finished with them, we moseyed towards the front of the park. Monkey wanted to buy something for her best friend, so I took a seat while she went into one of the gift shops (the one that's like 4 shops in one? I could pick it out on a map, but can't remember the name).

 

[GlowingEye]

So, I'm sitting outside as Monkey goes shopping. And it's hot. Soooo hot. I am a delicate, air conditioning loving penguin and do NOT do well in heat. So I decide to move to the little alcove by the door. I go to text MOnkey that I moved so she won't freak out, but my phone's dead. Oops. And Monkey has the bag, so she has the portable chargers. Oh well, she'll find me. Right?

Well, time goes on and I start to get bored (and maybe a few weird looks from other guests, if you saw the sweaty fat girl sitting on the ground in the door alcove, hi!). I decide that the store is at least air conditioned, so I got up and moseyed in. Monkey happened to be in the section right as I walked in, so we met up and wandered around a little. I know she bought some stuff, a pin or two, maybe something else. She also showed off some of the other stuff she'd seen that she really liked. She checked out, and donated some money to the conservation fund so she got a button or card or something to give to her friend back home.

So we start to head to the exit again. And she stops and asks me how much I love her. Oh, dear. That means she wants a favor. Turns out it's time for King Louie's NEXT set. Ugh. I was not up for walking back to the photo spot. But she was free to go! So she left me with a charger and took off. I spent most of my time people watching and just soaking up the ambiance. And moving to slightly more shady spots. At one point a cast member came over and asked me to do a survey, so I did that.

Finally, Monkey returns. But no smiles. Turns out Louie wasn't there AGAIN, and AGAIN, she'd gotten no real answer as to when he'd show up (she was told he was 'looking for bananas' but they wouldn't get more specific than that), so she gave up and came back. At that point, even I was peeved at the lack of Louie. We both understand that they need breaks, or even that sometimes they need to switch out or not be there, but if someone asks, give an answer. If they had said "He's getting bananas, it normally takes 20 minutes" she'd have happily stayed and gotten her picture and all would be well. Or if they said he had to "go back to the jungle" for the day, she'd have been upset but understanding. The uncertainty of it all was the problem.

For the third time, we head towards the exit. We make it to the Oasis, and I spy a photopass photographer with a Spring Break prop, so I point it out and ask if Monkey would like a picture. We waited while the photographer finished with a couple before us, then take a few.

She's so delicate with that prop, I've no idea why.

We had one stop to make before leaving. We went to guest services to complain about the lack of information regarding King Louie meets. Now, neither Monkey nor I are particularly confrontational, and both of us suffer from social anxiety, so to actually go to complain about it to someone means we were REALLY upset about it. Monkey was nice about it (it's not really anyone's FAULT, just something they might need to change). They took our complaint and wrote a note for... whoever, and we were on our way out of the park

We finally make it to the exit of the park and I decided to buy a water at the gift shop right by the entrance/exit. Disney is pretty much the only place in the world where I'll voluntarily drink plain water.

We made the long trek to the bus stop and were right near the front of the line. We waited. And waited. I ended up sitting on the ground (this is a theme for our vacations, me on the ground as Monkey stands). Finally, a bus came. It seemed to be shift change, because the driver got out, did a check of the bus and a new driver came over. The new driver got in the bus and did... something. All I remember is that the bus "didn't work", so we watched as multiple drivers came over and messed with the bus. Eventually, it started working properly, and we were on our way back to the hotel.

At the hotel, I'm pretty sure we ate in the food court. I got a taco salad, it was awesome (and I was very sad when that was the only day it was available). I feel like Monkey got the make your own pasta, but I could be wrong. I do remember complaining (light-heartedly, it wasn't a real complaint) that when I'd gotten my mug the day before there hadn't been any purple, so I'd wound up with red. The cast member making my salad was very nice about it and even called over the manager to ask if it would be okay for me to bring up my red mug to exchange for a purple one. The manager said that wasn't a problem, to just ask for a manager and explain when I did it (I never did, we were so far from the food court it never seemed worth it to make the trip). We had our meals, and trekked back to our room.

Like Monkey said, if it weren't for the distance, the room would have been perfect. We're huge musical fans, so being in the Broadway section with the music playing was awesome. There was a speaker right outside the door, so we could always hear it if we wanted. But, ugh, that walk. We had plans to go to the Magic Kingdom a little later, so we rested our feet and cooled off in the room.

 

[GlowingEye]

Okay, so apparently, I missed some of the bus drama. Monkey is no longer writing this report, but she's still apparently in charge. lol

She said the first bus that came was standing room only, and we are terribly lazy, and even if it makes no sense, would rather be later to the room if it means sitting on the bus, so we decided to wait. But then the bus broke. And another bus came up to it. They were going to unload the bus and load onto the new one, but then the broken bus was fixed (something about the driver forgetting a step? :shrug: ) So the standing room bus left, we got on the new one and got to sit, and off we went.

 

[SulleysMonkey]

She may write it but I still run the show, Buhaha.

The bus situation, we were in line and a bus showed up, when we got to the front it was standing room only. We were told another was 5 mins away so we decided to wait. They then couldn't get it to go back up? The other bus showed up and they were going to unload the first one onto it and get the broken one out of the way, but they got it to work and we got to sit. So all was good.

 

[GlowingEye]

Another no picture update, along with the WORST part of our trip.

So, after relaxing for a while, we headed back out to go to Magic Kingdom. I had structured it so that we had two days to explore the park, going clockwise once, and counter clockwise the other time. I don't remember any drama with the buses, so there must not have been any. We got through bag check and to the touch stiles. Finger scan and... no green Mickey. Odd. Try again. Still no go. So the gentleman at the touch stile directs us to the guest services window. We wait in a short line, then get to the window and ask what's going on. Well... turns out, I screwed up.

See, we ALWAYS get Park Hopper tickets. We don't always use them, but we like the option and flexibility, so it works for us. But this time, when I was booking the package, I apparently didn't add the option. And I had looked at an EARLIER trip's confirmation with the PH stuff. So no MK.

After taking my tongue lashing from Monkey (who was really looking forward to MK), we stood to the side for a few minutes, trying to figure out what to do. Should we go back to the room? Go swimming? Downtown Disney? Eventually, I convinced her to take the boat ride to the Poly. I don't think she'd ever been, and I hadn't been in forever. We wait for the boat, but not too long, and eventually get off at the Poly. We soaked in the ambiance outside for a little and talked about how much we'd love to stay there (Poly and Wilderness Lodge flip flop as my favorite hotel). We looked around in the gift shops, I discovered that some of the corridors are too narrow for my liking (I guess I just like wide hallways), and then Monkey told me she wasn't feeling good.

I suggested we get a snack or a drink, but she's not into the idea. So we just sit in the lobby for a while, again just soaking it all in. After she's feeling a bit better, we decided to go to Downtown Disney. We head out to the Poly bus stop and I got extremely jealous. Benches? Just one stop? So darn close to EVERYTHING? I'm in!

Unfortunately, the bus takes FOREVER to get there. When we first got out there, I think there were maybe four other people waiting. More people came to wait, and one couple was so fed up with the wait, they used the bus stop phone to complain to ... whoever's on the other end of the phone. Monkey and me, though... Well, I guess we figured our evening plans had already been ruined, so who cares?

We laughed a little at the family on the next bench. They were debating whether and how to split up. Boy teen wanted to go to Disney Quest, Dad was planning to go with him, Mom and Girl Teen weren't interested and thought there wouldn't be enough time to be worth it, Mom was wanting family together time... They went back and forth and back and forth... Eventually, Dad and Boy Teen made the decision to go and Mom and Girl Teen left. However, Dad and Boy Teen get fed up with the wait and decide to try monorailing to another resort and trying to catch a bus from there.

Finally, a bus shows up. It was probably half an hour. We pile on, and off we go! To Grand Floridian. :doh: We knew the Deluxe hotels often share so it wasn't actually a surprise or a problem. But guess who we saw get on the bus at the GF? Boy Teen and Dad! Heh.

It was about that time ( I think, I'm sure she'll remind me) that Monkey realized something. We could have added PH onto our tickets at the guest relations window! Why didn't we think of that? Why didn't the CAST MEMBER mention that? We'd have done it. Oh, well. We'd already spent so much time doing OTHER stuff, we decided to just roll with it.

Next up! Will our night in Downtown Disney turn out fun? Or will our disappointment cast a shadow on the whole thing.

 

[GlowingEye]

I'll be honest, this night in Disney Springs (it will ALWAYS be Downtown Disney to me lol) is the part I least remember.

We got off the bus and wandered into the Christmas shop, I think. We looked around for a while, then went to the store across from there. Monkey was looking at mouse ears, since she wants to get graduation ears on our next trip. We also looked at art at some point. We wandered around a bit more then stopped in at the Pin shop. We scoured high and low (again for Monkey, she wants a Rafiki pin) and found a few to buy (but no Rafiki). I bought a Mystery box and Monkey bought a few pins, although I can't remember which ones. We also did a little trading. I'm pretty sure I got a Camilla (the chicken from the Muppets) then.

After that, we walked towards the performance stage. I stopped to get a drink and some popcorn. We sat on a ledge and people watched for a while. I offered to share my popcorn and drink. Monkey doesn't like Coke, but took a few sips anyways. She ate a few pieces of popcorn, but then started throwing it "at" people, so I had to cut her off. She was in a mood. :shrug:

Once we were done, we went into World of Disney. We spent a good amount of time in there, just looking around and window shopping. She had seen a purse on her solo night that she wanted to buy but hadn't. She asked me my opinion on whether to get it or not. I said yes. She had the money and the opportunity, and who knew if we'd get back to DS? (Spoiler alert: we didn't) So, she spent about 10 minutes looking for the right one. It was a semi-collage design, and she looked at each one to find the purse with the best placement of her favorite character (Figaro the cat). I know she bought something else, but for the life of me, I can't remember what (a mug?). I bought a small round Eeyore plush.

I know we spent a little more time there, but I can't remember anything else we did that was interesting. We went back to the hotel, and I think we ate dinner there. After that, we called it a night.