SOLO NO MORE September PTR - Me, Agent P and a guy named Nick UPDATED 9/3

[ILGoofy]

Welcome all to my very first PTR! And a solo one at that. Three months out seemed like a good time to start, so here we go.

My name is Melissa and I’ve been going to Disney World since I was little. I live in suburban Chicago with my half toy fox terrier, half miniature schnauzer/cocker spaniel/mountain dog/Dalmatian/beagle/yorkie mix. I am not making that up; it’s what the DNA test told me. And I thought he was a lab mix. Who knew? This guy:



I work full-time and go to school for conservation biology. I did two study abroads in untouched rainforest in Costa Rica, where I experienced less rain than I have on my Florida trips. I’m an old soul and have very little interest in anything people like nowadays. The Pandora big band station is my friend. History, especially WWII, is my reading genre of choice. I’m a good person to have on your trivia team.

I am looking for anything to speed up the time between now and September 4th. I listen to Mouse World Radio every morning on the drive to work. I bought a Cricut just so I could cut out Disney shapes. No, seriously. I did. I have done nothing with the Cricut but Disney stuff. We’re talking Mousekeeping envelopes, door decorations, window decorations, and to fully embrace my inner child I made myself a custom autograph book. Yep. Anything to pass the time…

A little more background…
My family always went on vacation the last two weeks in July and most of the time it was to the World. See here’s the thing about July in Florida. It’s like, the worst possible thing you can subject yourself to. I’m pretty sure the Geneva Convention touches on it. So what always happened? I got dehydrated and sick. Every time.

For example, here I am somewhere in Innoventions, I think:



I’m pretty sure they have those same benches, just reupholstered in blue. The red and yellow thing I’m clutching is a Figment puppet. Yep, still have it. Yep, still make it talk. Awesome cat shoes, btw.

And here I am later that day at the Coral Reef:



I threw up on my plate at the Coral Reef. Not my proudest moment. But a theme! I don’t remember many details about my childhood trips to Disney World, but I can totally remember all the places I threw up. Fort Wilderness, I’m looking at you. All over you.

After a long drought, I wanted to go again in 2011, but nobody could go. Fine, solo it is! I ran around like crazy, doing everything, because I didn’t think I’d be back. It was a non-stop no-rest trip.

For 2012, two friends went with me. We ran around like crazy, doing everything, because we didn’t think we’d be back. It was a non-stop no-rest trip.

2013! My friends wanted to wait until Fantasyland was totally done before they went again, so I’m making it a solo trip again. This thing has been booked since like two weeks after I came back in 2011. And I swear, this time I will not run around like crazy. I KNOW I’ll be back. In fact, I’m buying an annual pass this trip, because I’m going back over NYE. And an annual pass really means you can go for “free”, logically, so hello multiple 2014 trips.

So here is my Disney dossier…
Favorite Character: Goofy
Favorite Princess: Cinderella
Favorite Movie: Adventures of Ichabod & Mr. Toad. You totally weren’t expecting that, were you? I love Mr. Toad. Darn you, Winnie the Pooh! You evicted my Toad!
Favorite Attractions: MK-Haunted Mansion; E-Journey Into Imagination (really); HS-TOT; AK-Flights of Wonder (what can I say, I’m a birder)

Trip details:
September 4-14
All Star Movies with free dining
2 MNSSHPs
5 character meals

In my next update, I’ll talk about my day one plans and the crippling fear that characters cause me. Yes, it says “5 character meals” up there and “crippling fear” down here. Interesting.

 

[DuffyLover]

Sounds like it going to be a great trip my next trip is this week and we also got the free dining which was GREAT. And this is a great PTR, I just tried out my first one yesterday, as we leave for wdw on Thursday

 

[CelticHattress]

We'll see you there! My sis and I are attending the same time frame as you are! Hope to catch up with you at the MNSSHP!!

~Celtic~

 

[ILGoofy]

Sounds like it going to be a great trip my next trip is this week and we also got the free dining which was GREAT. And this is a great PTR, I just tried out my first one yesterday, as we leave for wdw on Thursday

Fingers crossed. I've been lucky with weather the past two years (hurricane season) and I hope my luck holds. Even though I don't eat a lot, I love free dining! I'll head over to your PTR next.

We'll see you there! My sis and I are attending the same time frame as you are! Hope to catch up with you at the MNSSHP!!

~Celtic~

I am always up for meeting people at MNSSHP. Then I don't feel so weird for prancing around in a costume alone. Not that I really prance... My costumes are already arranged, but I won't tell until I get to those days in my report. But if you look hard, I already spilled the beans somewhere else.

 

[ILGoofy]

First off, I present to you definitive proof that I have experienced Disney World in the upright position. Here I am last year meeting Phineas:



I’m not sure why one leg looks way bigger than the other. That’s a little weird. I assure you I have mostly symmetrical legs. I wore that “Hey, where’s Perry?” shirt at Epcot last year and I was a little disappointed the Agent P game guy didn’t notice. I wore it for you guys!

In our last episode, I was introducing all the characters, which was easy, because this show stars me, with all supporting roles taken by me. I promised to discuss the plan for my first day, which is exactly three months from today. Everybody jump up and down! Done? Okay. You looked weird doing that. But I don’t judge.

I still do not have airfare, which is driving me nuts. I’m one of those people who will buy airfare the second they plan a trip. The flights I want are stuck at $331 (I won’t even mention the cost of airfare for NYE), which may be a good price for some people, but I’m used to paying right around $200ish. I want the 6:30 flight out of O’Hare and the 11:30 out of MCO. Does that airport have a name? Does it matter? It’s MCO. Anyway, technically I could take the earlier flight home, but I really don’t want to be catching a 3:30 Magical Express. Nothing is magical at 3:30am. Normally I take the evening flight home, but I’ve run into a problem this year.

My parents are going to Orlando the day I come home from Orlando, which means my dog, who they’re watching while I’m gone, will be in limbo at their house while we’re all flying around. I need to get an early flight so that he’s not alone for too long in case of delays. My parents are driving my car to the airport and I’ll pick it up. At least that’s the plan. I’m waiting for them to buy their airfare so I can plan around them. I’m hoping they end up buying an afternoon flight and then I have more time in Disney. No, ten full days is not enough. I’m greedy. I want moreeee.

But let’s pretend I have my airfare. My flight leaves O’Hare at 6:30 and I’m scheduled to arrive at 10:25. This won’t happen. It never does. Sometime before the trip, American will change the flight to a later time. In 2011 it was changed to 7:10 and in 2012 to 7:55. But I can still hope it stays at 6:30. This would put my arrival to All Star Movies at somewhere around noon. I’ve never done online check-in, but I’ll be doing it for this trip. I already made my room request with somebody named Heart. That is SO not your real name, Heart.

My first stop will be the food court where I’ll pick up my mug and eat chicken nuggets/fingers/bites, whatever they call them. Chicken pieces. See here’s the thing. I don’t like to eat. Is that weird? I eat to fuel myself. That’s the only reason. There’s no eating disorder here, I just don’t like flavor. I never take pictures of my food because it’s the same food all the time. I can tell you right now that my meals on this trip will consist of chicken nuggets, pulled pork sandwiches, and fish. It’s probably easier to feed a toddler. But that also means my meals are in and out in no time at all.

After my toddler meal, I’ll hopefully drop off my stuff in the room. Otherwise it’ll go to luggage services and then I’ll head to the buses. Here’s my little secret: when I request a room, I ask for the Mighty Ducks building 3 facing Melody Lane. This puts me right by the street that divides All Star Movies and Music. Music’s food court and buses become MY food court and buses. It’s a two minute walk, whereas it’d be ten minutes to Movies’. Shh. Don’t tell.

On my 2011 trip, I had planned on going to the Magic Kingdom first but I had enough time that I said whichever bus comes first, I’m on it. Epcot it was. Since then, it’s sort of become a tradition to go to Epcot first. I really don’t know why. Maybe it’s because by the time I get there in the afternoon, everyone is over in World Showcase and the park is mine, all mine. But my first stop is always Epcot now.

Once there, I have to stop first to pick up my handy dandy PhotoPass+ card. I already preordered it, just in case the price went up like the ticket prices. There’s just one flaw in my plan. I’m not a big fan of having my picture taken. I get self-conscious. I went to Europe with my parents last summer but you wouldn’t know it. I’m not in any of the pictures. My logic was that I’m paying $149 for this thing, you darn well better stop and let them take your picture.

Now you’re probably thinking my first stop will be Test Track, Soarin’, or Mission: Space. Nope, hate those. The wind on the outdoor part of Test Track killed my eyes (allergies), Soarin’ makes me queasy, and Mission: Space is just not all that interesting if you don’t want to do the spinning version, which I really don’t. I’ll just get my picture taken in front of Spaceship Earth, go hang with Figment for a couple rides, and then go meet characters.

Characters?! *shivers*

Meeting characters sounded like a great idea in 2011. I could make up for all those times when I was little when I was too scared to meet them. I arrived at Epcot, saw Stitch, went up and got my picture taken, everything was great. Turns out all the other characters are bigger than Stitch. Yeah, sure, I’m 5-8, but Goofy is like 8-5. Terrifying. Chef Mickey’s was the worst experience of my life. The characters walked up to me with murder in their eyes and it was all over. You guys stay on that side of the table, please. I hang my head in shame.

Last year was better because I had friends with me. But it didn’t stop me from OMGing in a panic when Chip or Dale (the memory is a blur, I was traumatized) snuck up on me at Garden Grill. I will redeem myself. I made an awesome autograph book and I really need signatures or my time was wasted.

Character meets are slightly easier when you’re the one doing the approaching. I’ll hit up the Visa meet area—hello Visa AND debit card—and maybe the Character Spot. If there’s time, I’ll try to get the UK and France characters. Or Duffy. Duffy is harmless, right? He just wants to cuddle. Cuddle the life out of me. Oh jeez. Freaking characters.

I am not, under any circumstances, allowed to play the Agent P game on this first day. I’ve scheduled myself plenty of other Agent P time. (I may have an addiction. I know it’s a children’s game. But it’s fun if you watch the show, and I do.)

My first evening, I have a 7:45 reservation at Garden Grill. I like the setup of that restaurant because you’re not really on display to the rest of diners like you are at Chef Mickey’s. To a solo diner, that’s important. I thought this was a good first character meal because I know what to expect. Interacting with Chip, Dale, and Pluto is easy. I’ll just put on a brave face when Mickey comes around. (He’s famous!)

Which reminds me… Pomegranate lemonade. Why would you put pomegranate in my perfectly good lemonade? The food court and Garden Grill only had pomegranate, which did not bode well for the rest of my trip last year. I don’t drink soda.

Back to my story. After Garden Grill, I’ll get my picture taken in front of Spaceship Earth again, since it will be night, upgrade to my ANNUAL PASS!, and I’ll head home. Wait, you say, Illuminations, you say. No. I don’t understand the fascination with Illuminations. I get bored really, really fast during Illuminations. The only reason I watched it on my last trip was so my friends could see. This year, I’m skipping it entirely. While you guys are watching Illuminations, I’ll be doing whatever it is that people do when they’re not watching Illuminations. I should look into that.

Next volume, more Epcot in day two. I can’t help what Touring Plans and Josh recommend. I'll try to get more pictures in the report. I’ll also be venturing to another park in the evening and another character meal. Ooh, which characters will traumatize me this time?

Currently reading: Double Cross: the True Story of the D-Day Spies by Ben MacIntyre
(I decided to throw this into my PTR because I read fast and I’m always looking for book recommendations.)

 

[happybelle]

the leg line made me laugh. It is just the way you are standing, you look perfectly symmetrical. Joining in.

 

[monkey30]

What a great start to your PTR! I love it. I will follow along, Dh &I Will be there for some of your trip, maybe we will run into you somewhere along the way!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Hello there!

I just stumbled upon your PTR! I remember discussing your character fears in the past. I'm glad to hear that you're looking to overcome them this time! And 5 character meals! You're going at it full force!

The second half of your trip overlaps with the beginning of ours so maybe we'll run into each other! I logically deduced that we will not be at the same MNSSHP (because we're going on the 17th and you are leaving on the 14th....I know I'm highly intelligent for putting that together) but it would've been awesome if we were!

 

[ILGoofy]

the leg line made me laugh. It is just the way you are standing, you look perfectly symmetrical. Joining in.

I checked in the mirror. I'm symmetrical.

What a great start to your PTR! I love it. I will follow along, Dh &I Will be there for some of your trip, maybe we will run into you somewhere along the way!

Hello there!

I just stumbled upon your PTR! I remember discussing your character fears in the past. I'm glad to hear that you're looking to overcome them this time! And 5 character meals! You're going at it full force!

The second half of your trip overlaps with the beginning of ours so maybe we'll run into each other! I logically deduced that we will not be at the same MNSSHP (because we're going on the 17th and you are leaving on the 14th....I know I'm highly intelligent for putting that together) but it would've been awesome if we were!

What good would a college degree be if you couldn't do Disney math?

 

[ILGoofy]

Sorry about my slacking. Sometimes work expects me to do work things instead of looking at the Disboards all day. Jerks. I’m actually on my work computer now so I can’t get to any of my pictures, so I apologize for the text heavy post.

Eighty-six days to go!

Disney news! I booked my airfare. It was $285, which isn’t great, but I was worried it was going to be stuck at $331 forever. It was that darn return flight, which oddly enough, is booked now. But I did get the flight out of O’Hare that I wanted, and, shocker!, they changed the time to 7:40am. Oh American, I know you so well. My return flight is 11:55am-1:45pm, which means my dog will be alone for less than he is on a work day. Good. Now I avoid looking at airfare prices just in case it goes down and I make myself mad. NYE browsing only.

My plan for day two is Epcot again in the morning. I’ll be all stealth and take the Music bus. Yeah, it’s not really a secret. I don’t know that I’ve ever done a rope drop at Epcot. Is there a show or anything? I’ll have a show in my head if not.

The good thing about going for ten days is that I don’t need to rush around. If I don’t get on an ride/attraction, I have a lot more days to go back. Except for Animal Kingdom. Sorry Animal Kingdom. As much as I enjoy nature and animals, I can only do a day at this park. It’s just so hot. I enjoy Expedition Everest as much as the next person, but I can’t keep going back to it.

Epcot. I’m sure I’ll be wandering around looking for the annual pass line, since this will be the first time I’ll use it. I think I may do the Character Spot first while everyone else is rushing to Soarin’, Test Track, and Mission: Space. At eleven, I’m heading straight for Belle and then I’ll probably wander around and play the Agent P game. If you’ve never played the game, you should. It’s really cute and it’s only a half hour or so. I love the show, so I can appreciate the game more, but it really has some cool effects on your surroundings. If you’re drinking around the world, do both at the same time. The game will pace your drinking and it’s much more fascinating if you’re drinking.

Speaking of drinking around the world, my friends and I did this last year. Well, two of us did. The third doesn’t drink, so he went over to Hollywood Studios for the day. We started in the UK, took the Canada direction, and ended in the UK singing very loudly with the Rose & Crown Hat Lady. We then proceeded over to EMH at Hollywood Studios were we immediately jumped on ToT. Looking back, what were we thinking? We drank all day and then got on a ride that makes your stomach do all sorts of strange things? Eek. Apparently, there is all sorts of Disney magic, and we were fine. We did it over and over again, actually.

Back to the point… I always say I’m going to try some kind of new food at Epcot, but I always end up at Sommerfest with a brat. I just love my brats. I took German in HS and I could totally order my meal in German. It’s super easy. I practice it in my head, and I’m totally ready, and then I get up to the register and all that comes out is, “Bratwurst, please.” I suck. Maybe this year is the year.

At about four, I’m going to hop on the monorail to Magic Kingdom and then switch to the resort monorail for the Grand Floridian. I’m headed to 1900 Park Fare for more character traumatizing. I’ve read so many funny stories about the Stepsisters that I want to see them in person. Hopefully they’re not mean because I really might cry. I have the PhotoPass+ so we’ll see what kind of picture I get there.

After I’m fully traumatized, I’m headed back on the monorail to the Magic Kingdom where I’ll finish my night with a little Main Street Electrical Parade and Wishes. MSEP was the parade when I was a kid so I love that it’s back. My parents have the CD, so of course I made myself an MP3 copy. Hello Mr. Snail! Hello Ladybug!

I think I’ll have to kill some serious time in the Main Street shops or just sitting on a bench somewhere. I’m full of patience at Disney, but the only thing that bothers me is the bus lines back to the resorts at park closing. A psychologist could do a great study watching people in the lines. Everybody is tired and cranky and some little kid always throws up. (For the record, I never threw up in the bus lines. I did have an incident in the line at it’s a small world though…)

I’m considering looking at Vinylmations. I’ve always thought they were silly, but I’m going to look closer at them on this trip. Maybe I’ll find one I like. Time killing seems like a good excuse for Vinylmations.
I promise my next update will be better. And since it’s Animal Kingdom, I’ll probably go on bird tangents. Be warned.

Currently reading: finishing up The Plantagenets by Dan Jones

 

[wiigirl]

In for your PTR.

 

[ILGoofy]

In for your PTR.

 

[ILGoofy]

Day Three
Friday, September 6​

I’m going to try a bit of formatting now. It’s all practice for my eventual spiffy looking trip report. A big thank you to all my readers and lurkers, except the ones from Boston. I’m practicing my trash talking for the Stanley Cup Final. Is it working?

Flashback alert: does anybody remember Kitchen Kabaret? Was anybody else obsessed with Kitchen Kabaret? Does anyone else have Veggie Fruit Fruit on their iPod and do the “cha cha cha” with them?

Onto Day Three! Every morning here at home, I have a glass of Carnation Instant Breakfast and a bowl of cereal for breakfast. When I’m in Disney, I usually just grab a piece of banana bread from the food court bakery, or, if there’s more time, I go all out and get the Bounty Platter. I may not like to eat, but I like breakfast food. I had planned on bringing Carnation with me, just so I have some extra hydration in me, but today that won’t be necessary, because I have an 8:10 ADR at Tusker House.

Because I’m paranoid, I’ll probably be on the first bus of the day and I’ll end up waiting at Animal Kingdom forever. But I don’t care. Whenever they let me in, I plan on getting some PhotoPass pictures on my walk to the restaurant. Then I’ll get my free PhotoPass+ picture with Donald before I gorge myself on French toast until I rip a hole in my stomach.

Freshly exploded, I’ll try to make one of the first treks of the day on Kilimanjaro Safari, and maybe FastPass it for later, too.

I know you forgot what’s on the Safari, so let’s take a look at some pictures.






How you doin’?







Story time! I took the Backstage Safari tour in 2011 and it was right after the baby elephant had been born. We walked up to the elephant enclosure and the baby came running up to us super excited. We were not allowed to take pictures, as we were backstage, so go Google baby elephant.

I’d like to be in Camp Minnie-Mickey as soon as it opens to knock those characters out of the way.

Then I’ll head to the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail where this dude usually hangs out.




Checking out his manicure.


Backside of water? How about the backside of a gorilla?

Now let’s talk about birds. You knew this was coming. My first field study in Costa Rica was Species Diversity of Birds in the Primary Versus Secondary Rainforest. Both of the trails have bird enclosures and yeah, I spend some time in there. It’s hard to take pictures of birds because of the whole hey, I’m going to fly away, thing.


This is an African Green Pigeon. Even pigeons are cooler in Africa.


Taveta Golden Weaver


African Jacana. I saw a lot of Northern Jacanas in Costa Rica. Look how huge their feet are.


A Great Blue Turaco that didn’t want to look at me.


A cute little Blue-breasted Kingfisher. A lot of kingfishers have cool mohawks. This one, sadly, does not.

That’ll do it for the birds on the Pangani trail.

But then we have these guys!







And onto the Maharajah Jungle Trek! I won’t post pictures of the bats, because apparently bats freak people out, but really, bats are awesome. If you want me to write a paper on the awesomeness of bats, I will do it.

But whatever. Here’s a tiger.





You’re in luck. None of my pictures of the birds on the Maharajah trail turned out that well, so you’re safe. But I will mention that you should really see Flights of Wonder. They show you some really cool birds doing really cool things and it’s a nice moment when they bring out the bald eagle. Go. I insist.

I’ll also be riding Expedition Everest, Dinosaur, and seeing the Festival of the Lion King, but you’ve already heard a lot about those in other peoples TRs, so I’m not going into detail. I will, however, discuss the Nemo show. Why is it so long? I really feel they could have wrapped it up a lot faster. I got super bored. Doesn’t a kid get bored? And doesn’t Dory’s voice get annoying after a while? I can’t go back.

Oh, go eat at Flame Tree Barbecue. Walk all the way down as far as you can go in the seating area. There’s a great view of Expedition Everest and I feel like people don’t know there is seating down there.

That concludes my day at Animal Kingdom. Next stop, Animal Kingdom Lodge, where I will look around for a bit before hoping a bus to Downtown Disney.

Does anyone remember when Downtown Disney was the Village? We’d go there every night, get a Mickey Mouse ice cream bar, and sit under the twinkling lights they had strung up in the trees. It was always quiet because I don’t think many people realized it was an option. Now it’s usually a madhouse. World of Disney is the scariest store on the planet. You could lose someone in there and never find them. Ever. It’s also scary because they take all my money. For reals. I was all, I don’t need an oven mitt, but I bought an oven mitt, and now I’m all, I really need another oven mitt, because I have two hands. I’m not even THERE and they’re planning ways to get my money. This year, I just might splurge and by something in the art store. I always wanted a Mr. Toad sketch from the artist they have sitting there but the only one I’ve ever found is Toad when he was in court with the wig. I want regular Toad.

There’s not really much more I can say about Downtown Disney. Epcot has EMH this night, and depending how I’m feeling, I just may go. Any excuse to hang out in World Showcase. I really want to drink around the world, but I’m alone. So maybe I will just have a drink here and there around the world? That still counts, right? I’m very tempted to bring a tripod on this trip. I can never get a good nighttime picture because my I concentrate so hard on keeping my hands still that it makes them shake more and I end up with a blur of lights. EMH would be a good time to get some nighttime tripod shots. Hmm.

Day Four will be… Epcot again. Yeah, sorry. I really like Epcot. I threw in some Hollywood Studios, too. And I’m ADR free, so my plans can always change if I’m Epcot-ed out.

Currently reading: The Vatican Diaries by John Thavis

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Yay for booking flights! And glad the times worked out so your doggy won't be spending too long alone!

I don't think there's a rope drop show at Epcot. Although when we were there in January, people were having so much trouble getting through the turnstile, it had some show elements in it.

I want to try to do Agent P in Epcot this time so I'm glad to hear you enjoy it!

You and I have the same philosophy. I'd rather be really early and wait then run late!

Your plans sound great so far! Now can it just be September?

 

[ILGoofy]

Now can it just be September?

I'd work on time travel, but I'm too busy planning Disney trips.

 

[ILGoofy]

79 days! Yay!

I live a relatively stress free life. I have a place to live, I have a job, my bills are paid, I have minimal debt, and I go on Disney vacations. So when I do have a stressful dream, it’s Disney related and it’s always the same. I find a secret stash of characters nobody knows about and I don’t have my autograph book or my camera or a PhotoPass or something. I had one of those last night. I found all of the Peter Pan characters together and I had nothing. Oh, brain. So I have to make sure I have both my cameras, that they’re charged, bring multiple memory cards, the PhotoPass+ voucher, and make sure I have both my customized autograph book and the regular one for repeat meets. AND SHARPIES! I forgot I dream I don’t have a Sharpie and that I don’t like the color of the character’s Sharpie. I’m picky even in dreams. Jeez.

Day Four
Saturday, September 7​

Did you ever notice in Disney World that you have no idea what day of the week it is? Just when you get used to which show is on Ion TV when you get back to your room at night, Saturday comes along and the lineup is different. Disney is how I got hooked on Criminal Minds, btw. It was always on when I got back to my room and it was either that or CNN. Spencer Reid grew on me. Thanks, Disney!

I wake up at 4:30 or 5 every morning (I may push it to six or even seven on weekends!), so getting up early in Disney is no problem. However, at home I go to bed by nine (yes, I’m like an old person) so I’m not used to staying up late. An evening EMH is rough. There is the chance I did Epcot EMH last night, so I may or may not be up early this day.

But let’s say I am. I’m headed to Epcot and my first stop will be The Seas. Really? Yeah. Why? It’s International Manatee Day! I’m secretly hoping they get a cake or something. And it’s not like I’m going to Soarin’ or Test Track anyway. Manatees all the way.

You’ll notice this is my third time to Epcot in four days. Apparently I have huge Agent P plans. Have you seen this?



You know I am getting both the Doofenslurper and the Power Pack. The cookie looks gross and hard. The Doofenslurper also sounds gross, so I’m thinking I’ll just buy the Erlenmeyer flask that it comes in. Yeah, I’ll pay $9.50 for a plastic cup. Unless I can rent a child to drink the drink and then immediately snatch the cup. Empty cup sounds better.

I’m going to consider myself an expert on the Agent P game. It’s in seven of the eleven countries (what’s up, Canada? You too good for Agent P?) There are several locations to pick up your F.O.N.E. All you need to do is show them your Key to the World card or park ticket and then pick whichever country you want to start in. Once you finish that country, the F.O.N.E. gives you the option to quit or pick a new country. So really, you could have the phone all day as long as you stay reasonably active in the game. It times out at a point. When you’re done, the F.O.N.E. instructs you were to return it. There are little dropoff barrels around the countries.

I’ll give you some highlights of each country. Keep in mind that I played these one day and then came back and did them while drinking around the world. I think you’d much rather have my opinions from the drinking day.

UK: We started in the UK where we both had Strongbow. Highlights here are that it takes you in places you don’t usually end up with just a casual visit. You also get a free teabag but you may feel silly in the process of getting it.

Canada: They have no game. There’s really only so much within Canada so that’s probably why. But really, I want eleven games. My friend did not drink. I got a terrible Moosehead. We wanted to see the Canada movie, but I couldn’t bring my beer in and I wasn’t about to chug it, so we moved on to Mexico.

Mexico: yeah, missed this one. We were busy shopping and riding the ride and my friend got a margarita, so we skipped it. We also stopped for nachos so I could nurse my terrible Moosehead. But that means I get to do something new this trip.

Norway: We did a Viking shot. It sounded like a good idea. It really probably wasn’t. There’s a random camera that takes your picture and it shows up on the F.O.N.E. If you’re drinking, this is amazing, and you’ll end up taking multiple pictures. A-mazing.

China: We each got some drink. It tasted like fruit? I’ll be honest. China is a little hazy. The game may have had something to do with a bird cage? I bought a necklace and a glow in the dark dragon. Why did I buy a glow in the dark dragon? Granted I didn’t know it was glow in the dark at the time, but why did I need a dragon? We sat and watched the acrobats for a bit, which was a good choice.

Germany: ZOMBIES! Really, there are zombies in the game. We drank wine and I ate a brat. There was a group at the table next to us who were drinking around the world, too. They even had T-shirts, which made us feel a little inferior, but we had drinking passports. Win. This is where our F.O.N.E. timed out. I took too long with my brat. This was probably a good thing.

Italy: No game. We each took a wine flight in a restaurant that had a lot of wood. Are you getting the sense that it’s been a long day?

U.S.: No game, didn’t even go instead. No need for a Sam Adams.

Japan: I had played this and France a different day. Japan has all sorts of effects with the elements. I like fire. We also skipped drinking here because I had a drink here an earlier day.

Morocco: No game, we had wine.

France: We had wine. This game apparently has a really awesome feature that we missed because this was the first game we played, we had no idea what we were doing, and we faced the wrong way. So something really cool happened behind us. I’ll let you know what it is once I find out. But yeah, you get a free pressed penny.

I suppose my day will consist of playing the Agent P game, taking pictures, and character hunting. And the Visa meet again. This will be my last time in Epcot until the day I do four parks, one day. Poor foreshadowing?

I plan on taking the boat and catching Fantasmic! over at Hollywood Studios this night. I anticipate sitting for a long time so I will most likely bring my Kindle. Hopefully I’m sitting next to a nice person who will hold my seat in case I have to go to the bathroom. On my last solo trip, I was surrounded by non-English speakers. No breaks for me. This may be a tripod night. Fantasmic! is so hard to photograph. Plus I want to get decent night shots of ToT.

Thank you again for reading. It's much easier spouting off here than to people in real life. They tend to think you're nutty.

Next entry, Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom.

Currently reading: still reading The Vatican Diaries and then onto the new Dan Brown book, whatever it’s called.

 

[lvcourtneyy]

I'd work on time travel, but I'm too busy planning Disney trips.

love it

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Thanks for the details about the Agent P game (and the drinking around the world )!

I've been trying to decide if we should play when we go to Epcot because we don't watch the show but I think we might try a mission just to see!

 

[blabbermouth]

Hello! I'm reading along now. One nice thing about a solo trip is your PTR plans can be EXACTLY what you do. You don't have to compromise with anyone else. That's why my PTR will be so general.

I'm not quite sure when we'll be in Epcot yet, but we are definitely considering drinking around the world. At least "sharing drinks around the world", haha.

 

[ILGoofy]

Thanks for the details about the Agent P game (and the drinking around the world )!

I've been trying to decide if we should play when we go to Epcot because we don't watch the show but I think we might try a mission just to see!

Definitely do it. Even if you don't watch the show, there's still a bit of Disney magic in the game and it's worth the half hour.

Hello! I'm reading along now. One nice thing about a solo trip is your PTR plans can be EXACTLY what you do. You don't have to compromise with anyone else. That's why my PTR will be so general.

I'm not quite sure when we'll be in Epcot yet, but we are definitely considering drinking around the world. At least "sharing drinks around the world", haha.

Yeah, I'm starting to feel bad for doing a PTR because I have no set plans. It's like, today I'm going to be in this park, and I'm going to do stuff, but I can't tell you what stuff, because I'm going to decide when I get there.

You could always "drink around part of the world". Like, drink around the Americas for Canada, US, and Mexico. Or drink around Asia. Or if you're into history, drink around the Allied or Axis countries! Hmm. I've just given myself an idea...