Poor Unfortunate Souls: So Wet, So Full ~ Updated 12/22: Day 8 - Complete & New TR!

[reelmom]

Sweet treasures from your Grandparents house. I'm glad that you got those things pictured plus the coasters and jewelry box. Glad that Thanksgiving turned out great. The Target meal sounds like a good deal. We don't have any Super Targets by us. Just regular Targets.

 

[jc040404]

So glad Thanksgiving went well for you! I'd probably go the Target meal if left alone to do a turkey, too. I doubt I ever make one.

That Mickey tractor was really neat. Glad you were able to get the things you'd hoped for.

Nifty Mickey displays at the doctor's office, too. Love when a bit of Disney can pop into your day unexpectedly like that.

 

[Dugette]

Sweet treasures from your Grandparents house. I'm glad that you got those things pictured plus the coasters and jewelry box. Glad that Thanksgiving turned out great. The Target meal sounds like a good deal. We don't have any Super Targets by us. Just regular Targets.

Thanks. Bummer on no Super Targets. Ours is pretty new and I'm so happy it's only a few miles away. I do all my grocery shopping there.

So glad Thanksgiving went well for you! I'd probably go the Target meal if left alone to do a turkey, too. I doubt I ever make one.

I'm with you there! If we ever do a non-in-the-bag turkey, it's all Dug's responsibility. He made one once before (before I knew him). And I'm too grossed out by things that still look like they did when they were alive (the reason I can't eat seafood too...I like the little slices of turkey and don't like to even see the whole bird...I'm weird.) After seeing how good this turned out, though, I'm not sure why I would ever want to prepare everything from scratch!

That Mickey tractor was really neat. Glad you were able to get the things you'd hoped for.

Nifty Mickey displays at the doctor's office, too. Love when a bit of Disney can pop into your day unexpectedly like that.

That Mickey tractor is so worn that it took me a minute to figure out that it was Mickey. Super cute, though! And I love the random Disney moments!

 

[Dugette]

After our brief night of sleep following the late EMH at Epcot, we arose early to tackle the early EMH at the Magic Kingdom. Great planning, right? Ah, you do what you gotta do! That early hour in the MK is always golden for us.

We got ready and I think that Dug made the first of many calls to Lost & Found, asking about his camera batteries. I think this may have been when he was stuck on hold for so long that he had to give up. Can’t remember for sure.

We only munched on snacks that we'd brought from home in the room this morning, as our “real” breakfast was planned at the Main Street Bakery, after hitting some rides. As we headed out, we were greeted by the giant hand outside of our room:

We were on the bus about 10 after 7 for the 8am park opening. Not bad. We saw a reminder of our accomplishments the night before:

And, soon, we arrived:

We found a spot off to the right side, where we could watch the opening show, but also get into the park quickly. Took some pics of the Halloween-decorated train station while waiting:

Some hawks came to check out the opening festivities (you can only see one of them here):

Soon, the show began:

For some reason, that guy second from the left really reminds me of Kenneth from 30 Rock.

The train arrived:

Soon, we were released into the park, about 5 minutes before 8am:

We split up, so that I could do a Fast Pass run and we could meet at Dumbo to ride. So, Dug took some pics on his journey:

I got the Peter Pan Fast Passes, which came with “bonus” Philharmagic Fast Passes:

And we met at Dumbo and hopped into the short line.

Up next: Dumbo, a peek at the Fantasyland Expansion, and some more classics!

 

[archdandy]

Great update! Man, I would not have been able to do that late night at Epcot and then that early morning for Magic Kingdom even if it is Disney! You guys are troopers!

 

[Dugette]

Great update! Man, I would not have been able to do that late night at Epcot and then that early morning for Magic Kingdom even if it is Disney! You guys are troopers!

It was tough. The only reason we could handle it was because we knew we had an afternoon nap built into our schedule. Still hard to get up in the morning, though!

 

[Dugette]

We just had a short wait for Dumbo. I think we only waited one or two rounds:

Dug took pictures of some of the small details that I never really noticed on Dumbo:

Soon, it was our turn to hop on. We each took our own Dumbo and spent our time trying to capture the views (me with the video camera and Dug with the regular camera). This one’s blurry, but here’s a close-up of Beast’s castle:

And here’s the other shots he got of the construction:

Can’t wait to see all of it when it opens! I know I’ve said this before (and been wrong), but our next trip will probably not be until all of this is up and running. It was funny listening to my video of the Dumbo ride, because it sounds like a construction site, with all the beeping truck-backing-up style noises. I spent the whole time with my Dumbo in the highest position. It functioned more as a viewing platform than as a ride this go round. But, mission accomplished!

Next on our list was Winnie the Pooh. There was no line, so we cruised through the new queue, just randomly activating things as we walked past. No time to play now. Dug enjoyed the honey walls, though. We were quickly on board:

And, thanks to jc040404’s TR, we both yelled, “Hooray!” at the end!

Next on the agenda was one last ride on Snow White. Long wait time:

There was absolutely no organization or direction from the CM loading this ride. He literally did not tell anyone what rows (or even vehicles) to take or anything. It was self-serve. So, we took our own car and sat in front. The large group ahead of us all decided to cram into one car, though (I think there were 7 or 8 of them). The ride was fine. When we came out, there was actually a line. Not through the weaving area that was roped off, but just going straight out of the ride entrance into Fantasyland. Odd. The line was probably due to the inefficient loading. Still said zero minutes.

At this point, we had done everything we’d planned to do before breakfast, but we had a bit of extra time left. We stopped at the sword in the stone, but Dug was unable to remove it (as usual). We decided to hop on the carousel, since it also had no wait:

We had a nice, relaxing ride. It was time to make our way to the bakery afterwards. As we passed this store, I wanted to see what was in the window:

We made our goal of arriving at Main Street Bakery prior to park opening at 9am. There was still a line, but it wasn’t bad. We had planned to use a (free) CS credit to get a croissant sandwich and juice here, plus get a cinnamon roll with cash. While we were in line, though, I remembered that I had heard the cheese danishes here were good also. So, we added one of those with cash too. In retrospect, it was far too much food, but oh well. And Dug got a cappuccino instead of juice and I had water. We grabbed a table and enjoyed our meal:

Everything was very good. But filling. We’ve had croissant sandwiches elsewhere at WDW, but the one here seemed a bit better than the others (which were also good). And the roll and danish were both very good also.

Up next: Off to Adventureland!

 

[SimplyGoofy]

I love all your pictures of Dumbo!

I'm glad you have those things of your grandfather's--the Mickey bank is super cute.

 

[KatGarcia]

LOVE the Dumbo pics, its def not one of those rides i would have stopped and taken pics like that of- great stuff!!!

 

[Nermel9]

Great pics from the Dumbo ride! I really can't wait for the new Fantasyland to be finished, I'm SO sick of all the construction walls at MK!

Weird, I wonder why there was no organization at Snow White!

 

[donnaf516]

Great updates! We're headed back in February and I can't wait to see the FL progress.

 

[IheartDDuck]

Those are really awesome things that you got from your Grandfather's items! So nice to get something with memories for you.

Nothing better than getting a lot accomplished on an EMH morning. I have ridden Dumbo so many times already (well, more than I normally would), just so I can see over the wall into the new expansion area.

Mmmm, I love the Main Street Bakery. I got that croissant myself when I was last there.

 

[jc040404]

Hooray for your "Hooray!" on Pooh's ride!

LOVE all the Dumbo pics! I can't wait until everything is finished.

 

[Dugette]

I love all your pictures of Dumbo!

I'm glad you have those things of your grandfather's--the Mickey bank is super cute.

Thanks!

LOVE the Dumbo pics, its def not one of those rides i would have stopped and taken pics like that of- great stuff!!!

Gotta do something during that time in line!

Great pics from the Dumbo ride! I really can't wait for the new Fantasyland to be finished, I'm SO sick of all the construction walls at MK!

Weird, I wonder why there was no organization at Snow White!

I can't wait for the new Fantasyland too! Hope it's awesome!

Great updates! We're headed back in February and I can't wait to see the FL progress.

I bet it will be pretty neat by then!

Those are really awesome things that you got from your Grandfather's items! So nice to get something with memories for you.

Thanks, it was so nice that they set them aside for us!

Nothing better than getting a lot accomplished on an EMH morning. I have ridden Dumbo so many times already (well, more than I normally would), just so I can see over the wall into the new expansion area.

Mmmm, I love the Main Street Bakery. I got that croissant myself when I was last there.

Yep, Dumbo is great for the view! Seems strange that Dumbo won't even be in that spot anymore soon!

Hooray for your "Hooray!" on Pooh's ride!

LOVE all the Dumbo pics! I can't wait until everything is finished.

Hooray!

 

[Dugette]

After enjoying our breakfast at the bakery, we were headed to Adventureland. But first, we stopped to admire all the carved pumpkins on the buildings on Main Street. Things like a hot dog carved into a pumpkin atop Casey’s Corner. Fun to check out details.

As we walked, we saw one of the horse-drawn trolleys pass by in front of this:

We saw the Dapper Dans heading offstage down a quiet path to the right just before we passed under this sign:

A couple pics as we passed things in Adventureland:

Soon, we were at our destination: the Jungle Cruise. One of Dug’s favorites. Little did he know that we’d get a different kind of ride on this at the end of our trip (on the Keys to the Kingdom tour). We took some pictures of the cool details in the queue:

It was a pretty short wait and soon we were seeing the classic sights:

(keep those boats in mind for the KTTK ride…if you look closely, you may see something familiar about them…)

Ahhhh, gotta love the backside of water! This guy sure does:

After we got off the ride, Dug put on a little show for my video camera (sorry, I haven’t imported any video yet, so I can’t show you right now). I don’t know if any of you are familiar with Weird Al Yankovic’s song “Skipper Dan”, but it’s about the Jungle Cruise ride, so Dug was singing away!

Up next was Pirates:

Dug noticed that Blackbeard replaced Davy Jones at the “waterfall”. And, during the cannon fire scene, Dug got “hit” by a cannonball! Fun times!

By this time, Tom Sawyer Island had opened for the day. We wanted to try finding a paintbrush again, like we had on a past trip. If you don’t know about this, each morning a CM hides several paintbrushes (I think 5) around Tom Sawyer Island. If you find one and turn it in, you get a reward. It can vary, but I think it’s usually Fast Passes for something. The time we found a paintbrush previously, we’d gotten two sets of FP for BTMRR. We thought those might be helpful this day, so we got in line to wait for the raft to bring us over to the island:

There was a very “interesting” CM helping with this waiting area. I didn’t overhear his whole conversation with some guests, but I’m sure it was unusual. The part I did overhear was him saying that he’s worth millions (from the businesses he owns), but still works at WDW. Seriously, a millionaire manning the TSI rafts?!? Odd.

Anyway, our raft arrived and took us over to the island. Last time, we had been on the first raft of the day and they had announced that there were paintbrushes to be found. This time, we were not on the first raft and there was no mention of it. But we saw plenty of people looking for them, so we joined in. Explored the island. Bounced along the barrel bridge. Cruised through the caves. No paintbrushes to be seen. And, yes, I did check the place where I found one last time, but no luck. We finally decided to cut our losses and head back to the mainland. As we boarded the raft, we asked the CM if all the paintbrushes had been found. He said no, but some other guests chimed in and said that they saw one family carrying around multiple paintbrushes (3 or 4, I think). That explains it. FYI, the rule is only one per family. Oh, well.

We went to Big Thunder anyway, as the wait wasn’t bad (I think 10 minutes posted):

We ended up in the very front car, right behind the runaway engine. It was a good ride.

After that, we had to check out a recent change to the MK:

We enjoyed seeing the more-or-less-original version of the Tiki Room, rather than the New Management one we’d seen before. Catchy tunes—I love the line “The birds sing words and the flowers croon”—that pops into my head at random still.

So, after the show, there was one clear thing that needed to be done:

Mmmmmm, Dole Whip Float from Aloha Isle. Just a tip: make sure to check the length of the lines on both sides of the building. I didn’t do this and picked the longer one. I didn’t realize until afterwards that the other side had almost no line—people walking up on the right, versus waiting in a long-ish line on the left. But, anyway, we had deliciousness to enjoy from this place:

Up next: We finally eat at Columbia Harbour House. And the saga of the missing camera batteries continues!

 

[Dugette]

After enjoying our Dole Whip Float, we walked around a bit in Liberty Square. A band came by and entertained the crowd. We popped into the shop next to Hall of Presidents to check stuff out. Dug tried on a giant Nightmare Before Christmas hat.

Then we found the rocking chairs outside the shop. What a great place to sit back and relax. It was quiet and somewhat secluded. Very enjoyable:

There were flowers and even a busy bee to watch:

After relaxing for a bit, we headed into the Hall of Presidents. We hadn’t seen the show for awhile and enjoyed it.

And then it was lunchtime. We were visiting a new CS place for us: Columbia Harbour House! As we entered, there was a CM with a bell standing by the door and he broke into an anniversary song for us. Since I didn’t have my camera ready, he did it a second time, once I got it recording. Pretty nice! Once I upload video, I’ll have to get some of this stuff posted!

Dug decided to order the new Lobster Roll and a clam chowder. I got the Anchors Aweigh (tuna salad) sandwich. We both got the Apple Crisp for our dessert and we got some drinks. We used our CS credits for everything except the clam chowder, which was OOP. Here’s the food:

Everything was pretty good. That tuna sandwich was HUGE! We were quite full after this meal.

We found a seat upstairs in this area:

The best part was the view for people-watching:

We spent a lot of time “Imagineering” people’s stories. I liked narrating what they were likely thinking/saying. You really do see everything at WDW. And it’s very easy to tell apart the commandos and newbies. You see such a variety of people: kids passed out in strollers, elderly people smiling, lost people checking their maps, people who need breaks and are melting down, young people in love, families in matching shirts on a mission, etc.

After a slow-paced relaxing lunch, we headed out to do a couple more things before our break. First, we used our Fast Passes for Peter Pan. Glad we had them, as there was a long line. I think the sign said 40 minutes. Just before we were able to get out of our pirate ship at the end, the ride stopped. We were stranded briefly, but managed to escape shortly.

Next, we went to Mickey’s Philharmagic, using the “bonus” Fast Passes that we’d received with the Peter Pan ones that morning. Love that show! Good way to wrap up our relaxing morning at the MK.

As we headed towards Main Street, we walked past Casey’s Corner. There was a hula hooping session going on. Lots of kids playing with them and one CM that was quite the pro at spinning it around her ankle and jumping over it. It made me think of Dug’s mom, who has amazing hula hooping skills. She used to hula hoop for exercise and could (and still can) go a really long time. If she ever comes to WDW with us, we’ll have to find one of these areas, so she can amaze everyone!

There was also a piano player out, cranking out some tunes for the crowd:

As we walked through the Town Square area, we enjoyed the pumpkin carvings some more. Dug pointed out that the fire station had a pumpkin with a fire hydrant carved into it. I noticed that there was also a “restroom” pumpkin, with the little M/F stick figures carved into it. And, really, who doesn’t love a good restroom pumpkin?

We made our way to guest services to inquire about our lost batteries. Just outside, there was an unmanned button station:

I think there was supposed to be a CM there, but at that moment, it was help yourself. Just think, we could have been celebrating anything! We were already wearing our anniversary buttons, though, so we were good. Anyway, a CM checked, and no camera batteries had been found yet. Also, at some point in the day, Dug had called both the Poly and the Lost & Found line and neither had found them. Luckily, with all the trips we’d taken in 2010, Dug didn’t feel the need to snap away quite so much with the camera, so we were able to get plenty of pictures just using the one battery and re-charging it during breaks and overnight.

We headed out to the bus stop and caught another standing up bus ride back to Pop Century. We really had not had any luck getting seats on the bus so far this trip! Oh, well, we were going back to rest, so it would be okay.

When we got back to the room, Dug settled in to nap, but I still had some energy. So, I took our mugs and went to Everything Pop to refill them. I got a Sprite/Lemonade mix for me and a Fanta/Sprite mix for Dug. Then, since I was there, I wandered into the arcade to see what we could get for the 100 free arcade points that came with our package. It came out to $2.00 worth of game play, which would be (for example) a Star Wars game, a pinball game, and a skee-ball game. Then, since I was there and never take the time to do this, I went and checked out the display cases in the lobby. All of the nostalgic items. Some of which I remembered owning, like the Sweet Valley Twins book, a My Little Pony, and a Wheel of Fortune board game that I’d totally forgotten about. Made me feel a little old to have owned things in the display cases.

After that, I headed back to our room (3403), dropped off the mugs, and headed out again. I wanted to check out the view on the other side of our floor (4th floor). I walked around the whole building and was impressed by the view. At different points, I saw Spaceship Earth, the Tower of Terror, and the top of the Swan/Dolphin.

As we had ridden the bus into Pop from the MK, we had seen the in-progress Animation Suites through the trees. From the balcony, though, I was able to see it a lot more clearly, over the lake. After Dug woke up from his nap, I took him around to see it too, so he grabbed some pictures of the views:

It will be neat to see how this all turns out!

I also took Dug into the lobby to check out the displays. And he noticed a sign that demonstrated how to do the “Hustle”. Even though there was not a demonstration going on, he taught himself how to do it, just from the sign. This would come in handy soon…

We made our way out to the bus stop for Epcot. While we were waiting in line, guess what song came on? The Hustle, of course! Dug took the opportunity to put his new skills into action and danced the entire song. He was the only one dancing, by the way. I took video, so eventually maybe I’ll get it posted. He did a good job, but it was really funny to watch people passing by behind the bus stops. A lot of staring, some confused looks, but mostly amused smiles. Only in WDW can you break out into dance at a bus stop. But, even there, it will get you some attention. A bit after Dug’s pre-Epcot workout, the bus showed up. This was the first trip that I remember seeing the buses telling us to have a nice day. The sign kept changing between “Epcot” and “Have a nice day!” Shouldn’t it say “magical”? Maybe that doesn’t fit on the display. Anyway, I think we may have finally gotten a seat on the bus for the first time this trip. And, soon, we arrived at Epcot!

Up next: Lots of Food and Wine!

 

[TheThomsLuvDisney]

I'm caught up! I've been away from the boards for awhile, life easily gets in the way!

Your crowds seem to be a lot better in the World than we had at the Land. I will not go back for Halloween but will definitely do WDW again.

Yummy cinnamon role and we also have never eaten at the Harbor House. Would you go back?

 

[jc040404]

Aaaahhh! I forgot about that Dole Whip.. again! I have a feeling that I'll never remember to try one of those things. Glad you enjoyed it!

Loved your “Imagineering” from upstairs at CHH. It's too fun to watch everyone rush by up there.

The restroom pumpkin sounds too funny!

I definitely wanna see Dug's hustle! How perfect that it was playing outside!

 

[Dugette]

I'm caught up! I've been away from the boards for awhile, life easily gets in the way!

I know what you mean!

Your crowds seem to be a lot better in the World than we had at the Land. I will not go back for Halloween but will definitely do WDW again.

Bummer that you had major crowds on your trip! Was it worthwhile to do DL once at Halloween?

Yummy cinnamon role and we also have never eaten at the Harbor House. Would you go back?

Yes, CHH was very good. We actually have it again later in the trip!

Aaaahhh! I forgot about that Dole Whip.. again! I have a feeling that I'll never remember to try one of those things. Glad you enjoyed it!

Someday you'll have a Dole Whip!

Loved your “Imagineering” from upstairs at CHH. It's too fun to watch everyone rush by up there.

It really is a fun way to relax over lunch!

The restroom pumpkin sounds too funny!

Love that they did that! I wish I'd stopped to look at more of the pumpkins.

I definitely wanna see Dug's hustle! How perfect that it was playing outside!

Someday I'll upload video! It did work out well that they played it so soon after he learned it!

 

[Dugette]

As we walked into Epcot, we stopped to check out the Food & Wine displays at the entrance:

And, of course, the regular sights were there as well:

Our first stop was:

All of the machines were missing the China watermelon drink:

We asked and found out that there was a shortage and they had been out for about a month! We enjoyed the others, though (the good ones, of course, like Costa Rican Fanta, not the Beverly!).

On our way out, we saw the cranberry bog again:

Our first food booth stop this day was a new addition: Hawaii. We got the pork slider and the Seven Tiki Mai Tai:

We grabbed a standing table next to the water to try our goodies. We really enjoyed these. The pork slider was sweet and tangy. The mai tai had a fresh citrus taste.

As we walked along, we passed a Food and Wine gift shop. As I saw the chef Duffy, I realized something I’d never noticed before. Maybe I just don’t pay enough attention to Duffy (very likely that I don’t!), but did you know that he has a Hidden Mickey face? Here is a view:

I knew he had a Hidden Mickey on his bottom, but I never had noticed that the light part of his facial fur is Mickey-shaped.

After that stop, we were off to Greece to obtain the Griddled Greek Cheese:

I have seen mixed reviews on this on the Dis, but we loved it!!! It seems like the negative reviews got cold ones, but ours was not. Dug described it as, “nice and warm, sweet with a nutty crunch in the middle.” Loved it!

Next up was Canada. We got several things: the cheese soup, the polenta, and the salmon (for Dug).

Dug thought the salmon was a bit dry (but ok), but liked the barley:

The sausage with the polenta was quite spicy and the polenta was good:

The cheddar cheese soup was spicier than we remembered, but still tasty:

By that point, it was time to find a spot to watch Off Kilter. We had really enjoyed them on a past trip and made it a point to see them again. The benches were already full, but we were able to grab a seat on the rock wall at the back right of the area. We actually enjoyed our Canadian treats while waiting for the show to start.

As usual, it was a great show. I liked that they did “Wild Night”, as it’s one of my favorite songs. However, I’ve got to say that I like the John Mellencamp version way better. But it was nice to have something I could sing along to, since I know the words. They also did the Mickey Mouse Club theme song on bagpipes, which was cool!

Next stop was the France booth. We got the escargot, coq au vin, cosmo slush, and pomegranate kir. We found a nice bench in France to enjoy them on.

The escargot was for Dug:

He thought they were great, especially when separate from the brioches.

The coq au vin was another one of the ones that I’ve seen mixed reviews for on the Dis. Some people love it, but some people got lukewarm versions. Unfortunately, we got one of the lukewarm ones:

It was just okay. Maybe we should have gone back later to try our luck at getting a better one. Oh, well.

Our drinks, as we remembered from last year, were delicious:

The cosmo slush (left) was sweet and the pomegranate kir (right) was dry. Both good!

Here’s the view from our dining spot:

Next up was Portugal. We liked our spot so much that we brought the food back to France again:

The calamari salad was for Dug:

He found it fairly tasteless.

This sausage was super spicy:

The glass of port was great to wash it down with, though.

We both loved the pastel del nata:

We were both surprised that it was very sweet and dessert-like. Yum!

It was getting close to Illuminations by the time we finished. We decided to try to find a decent spot to view it from. The good places were pretty crowded by this point. We wandered around for awhile with no luck. We passed through Morocco:

I noticed a roped-off area next to the water (probably a private party). I knew that was off-limits, but there was a small area right behind the rope that was wide open (between buildings). I walked up towards the rope to check out the view from behind the rope and a CM immediately snapped at us that we couldn’t watch from there. Oh, okay, so we can’t watch from behind a rope? She then clarified that behind the rope was fine. Apparently she thought we were going to jump the rope and crash the private party. Yeah, I don’t think so. Anyway, this was the spot:

We decided to watch from there, by the cart. The view was partially obstructed:

Not too bad, though. The beginning of the show was partially behind the building, but the majority of it was fully visible. The best part is that it was a totally private viewing area—nobody at all even visible to us. That was neat!

After Illuminations finished up, we wandered around World Showcase to leave. Partway there, Dug wanted to take a break and sit down for a few minutes. We went over to the UK, thinking we could find a quiet bench in there. Instead, we found a couple in an all-out screaming argument with each other. I insisted we leave, so we went out and found a bench along the main path. Watched people go by. Lots of people in suits/nice attire were being directed back to a gate off the main path. Not sure what was going on, though. After our little sitting-break, when things had cleared out a little, we headed into Future World. Enjoyed the fountain and the fiber-optic lights in the ground. Made the long trek to the Pop Century bus stop and eventually made it on a bus and back to our room.

Up next: Breakfast at the Poly, meeting Mickey & Minnie, and the rain begins!