Wait! What? Where did all these people come from???

[jusero]

Did the General Store still have the 25 cent Pepsi?

Not sure about the 25 cent pepsi (yuck, pepsi...coke all the way!), but there was a general store. Most of the place was closed, but there was this go cart place that looks amazing. We might just have to go back and try them out one day.

But I really do need a SOG/Disney fix! Your pictures and narrative are going to have to hold me.

Glad to see you here. I will do my best to feed your need. My next trip is a "girl's trip." I am introducing a Disney virgin to the World for the very first time.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Not sure about the 25 cent pepsi (yuck, pepsi...coke all the way!), but there was a general store. Most of the place was closed, but there was this go cart place that looks amazing. We might just have to go back and try them out one day.

I'm a coke kind of girl too but couldn't pass up the 25 cent Pepsi. I think that a lot of Old Town has limited hours so, yeah, definitely make a trip back.

 

[jusero]

Where in the World?

 

[robin19871]

Where in the World?

Dumbo.... 36 more days til we arrive at Shades...

 

[NMAmy]

You won't be disappointed. Shades is such a beautiful and peaceful resort and the staff are great. I will try to post the video I made of the room this trip.

I love the video--thank you so much for posting it. We've been going to WDW once a year since 2000 but we're very excited about trying SoG for the first time. DD and SIL are stationed in England and we're flying them over so it's going to be particularly fun. Haven't seen them since they got married in July and we're all very excited for some warm weather and family time.

 

[famouschinesec]

Love reading you TR's. AND!!! You'll be back in less than a month! Lucky!
I don't know when we'll get back On the bright side we are going to be trying Hale Koa in a couple months
But I really do need a SOG/Disney fix! Your pictures and narrative are going to have to hold me.

Been to Hale Koa a few times. PM me if you need any info.

 

[pigninnie]

joining in on this TRlove the one you wrote for 2012

 

[jusero]

joining in on this TRlove the one you wrote for 2012

Welcome!!!! I hope to have the next chapter up tomorrow.

 

[PrincePluto]

Subbing! I read your first couple of chapters, and remembered that I, also, back in 1992, stayed at the Days Suites by Old Town and visited then, but once was enough for me... I remember there was a Magic & Jokes shop there then, and I bought some kind of colloidal powder, that would absorb several times its weight in water, as a practical joke.

 

[jusero]

Chapter Three

I’m soooooo excited! Magic Kingdom today!

Up and out at the crack of dawn. OK, maybe not the crack of dawn. But early anyway.
Can’t wait! Can’t wait! Can’t wait! Gotta wait … for the bus. But we decided to walk down to the Poly and catch the monorail.

It was so humid out that our cameras … and Leo’s glasses … were completely fogged up. They were not kidding about the humidity in summer time Florida. I haven’t felt this high of a humidity since being stationed in Panama.

Across the street, through the Poly grounds and up to the monorail, On our way!

As soon as we got there, we made our way through the bag check line and on over to get our tickets activated at the guest services windows. Leo got Goofy (I mean his ticket had Goofy’s picture on it. He didn’t actually get any goofier than usual.) and I got Minnie. Boooo. I wanted Mickey, but didn’t notice until she had already scanned the tickets.

On our way through the turnstyles, we saw the new system was in effect.

Touch the card on the golden ball thingie, place your finger on the finger thingie, the ball thingie turns green and you go right on through. Very easy, quick and cool. And would you believe we were there for tw weeks and never took a picture of the golden ball thingies?

Anyway…we are in and waiting for the opening ceremony to begin. Can’t wait! Can’t wait! Can’t wait! Gotta wait.

After a few minutes, the MC came out and started the ball rolling. Good morning, good morning, good morning to you and you and you and you.



And then … toot, tooooooot … here comes Mickey! The inner goof ball in me wanted to break out into song and dance. Oh, what the heck…



As soon as the show finished, we headed in and our first stop was city hall. I wanted to find out if I could have some of the streamers from the show. But no one seemed to know what they do with them after the show. One guy said they reuse them. Really?

Whatever. I was wasting time. Onward!

We headed down Main Street and instead of taking our normal left into Adventureland and straight to Pirates, we headed straight to the castle and through to Fantasyland.

Now, this shouldn’t have taken much time at all. But with Leo in charge of the video camera this trip, it took a while. He had to video everything. And I do mean everything. From the pumpkins on the street lamps to the store windows to the ladybug crawling on the fence.





We saw the cranes around the castle and, as we got closer, we realized they were putting up the Christmas lights.





Thirty minutes later, we finally made it through the castle and into the new Fantasyland. It looked very regal.
We made our ay around to the new Arial ride and hopped into the line and wound our way around checking out all the details. We have only seen the Little Mermaid once many years ago so we probably missed out on a lot of the details.





I thought the ride was cute and fun. Leo loved it. It is one we will have to do again and again. More charming and “old style.”











From there, we headed down to the new circus area and checked out the new/old Dumbo ride. The new waiting area is pretty cool. It is a play area instead of a long line in the hot sun. You get a buzzer thingie (yes, I like the word ‘thingie’) like you get at restaurants and the kids can go play until the buzzer goes off. No more 90-minute waits standing in a boring line with nothing to do but sweat.



We rode Dumbo (my first time ever) and then headed to the Barnstormer. But, once again, I couldn’t convince Leo to ride it.

After trying to get him on Barnstormer, we checked out the rest of the circus area and then headed towards Pooh.

While in line at Pooh, I started to play with some of the stuff sine there were no kids in line at the moment. But then people started coming into the line with kids, so I stepped aside to let them play.

However, one of the women behind me was not so gracious. She literally pushed a kid aside so she could play with the ball popper machine. And then she pushed her way through the honey walls. Really?



At about 10:30, we stopped at Gaston’s Tavern for water and snacks before moving on to check out the rest of the new area.

We nearly walked right by Storytime with Belle, thinking it was just for little kids. But, since the line was just 20 minutes we figured, what the hay.









I am so glad we did. It was really fun. And the mirror that turns into a door was pretty spectacular. Even if you don’t have little ones, it is worth seeing. Well, if the wait isn’t longer than 20 minutes. But if you have little ones, especially girls, you just have to do this.

The new part of the park done, we headed back to the old section of Fantsayland and straight to Philharmagic.

Once we took our seats, I had to take the video camera away from Leo so he would stop taping. I didn’t want Goofy to come out and take it away from him. The derned thing is glued to his eye.
One of my fave things about Philharmagic these days is watching the newbies, especially the kids. They get so excited and start grabbing for the stuff.



From there we headed to the Haunted Mansion. Now, this is usually the second ride we hit when we get to MK, so it was kind of strange getting there so late in the day. We made one pit stop in the Tangled area for a potty break. Rapunzel must be so proud. Other princesses get castles and new rides. She gets toilets.







Once we got to the Mansion, we noticed that the line was just a bit different. If you had FP+ or the Magic Bands, you were able to use the right side and go straight to the doors. The rest of us “lower class” people were forced to go to the left and through the hands-on portion of the que. Even so, it was still pretty much a walk-up … even with the heavier crowds.

After HM we headed through Liberty Square and cut through by the shooting gallery and were at Pirates in no time. There too was a new que … sort of. You can no longer choose between the right and left lines. Us low classers are forced to the left. But, regardless, it was still a walk-up.

Now, our normal route is to go from Pirates to HM and then back to the Jungle Cruise. But, since the Jungle Cruise was closed this trip (boooooo), we hopped in line for the flying carpets.

Now, so far the crowd level seemed pretty high. Well, higher than May and higher than I was expecting, but the lines were still just 10-20 minutes.

Continued in next post.

 

[jusero]

Since we had tickets to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party tonight, we wanted to head back to Shades at about 4 p.m. to rest and recharge for the night ahead. We headed out to the TTC to catch the bus home, but missed it by seconds. It was rounding the corner when we walked up. So, our choices were to wait another 30 minutes for the next bus or walk. It is supposed to be a short walk. And it would have been if I had not had Leo in tow.

It took us about 30 minutes to make it back to Shades and, as we were on our way up the hill to the resort the bus passed us by. Guess we should have waited. But! If we had waited, we would have missed out on the very scenic route we ended up taking through the Poly property (translation: we got lost) and I would not have witnessed Leo’s very own “OMG! There’s a snake!” dance. Pretty cute, I must admit.

As we were walking along, this little snake came slithering out from under a bush, crossed the sidewalk and disappeared under another bush. Leo seemed to have jumped straight into the air, did a cartoon like run-in-midair maneuver and just seemed to land five feet away with out missing a beat. I nearly busted a gut laughing. He seemed a bit less amused than me.

Finally back to the room, Leo went down for a nap while I went out to the balcony to call Mom. Now, this isn’t as simple as it sounds. My cheap *** phone doesn’t get any reception anywhere in the resort other than on the very top deck of the parking garage and in one tiny little spot on the balcony. But if I move even the tiniest bit, I lose reception. You know how hard it is to stay absolutely still for an hour? And that is a short conversation for my Mom.

As I was sitting there, I noticed the sun was starting to set and I saw this in the clouds:



After about two hours, we were up and out once again and on our way to our very first MNSSHP. And we decided to drive so we would not have to worry about catching that last bus or monorail.

Can’t wait! Can’t wait! Can’t wait! Gotta wait.

As we pulled into the parking lot we, once again, ended up parking of the very far end of the row. On our way to catch the train, I stopped to take a shot of the name of our row. In the process I heard a few others saying things like “that’s a great idea” and “I never thought of that.” I thought that these people are not only rookies, but have not yet found their ways to the disBoards.

By the time we made it to the park entrance, it was close to 7 p.m. We made it through bag check and tagged out way through the golden ball thingies and headed into the park.

It was even more packed than it was earlier. But the entire park took on an entirely different look and feel. Everything had an eerie haze and a bit of a spooky (but not scary) feel. Even Stitch was in the Halloween mood.





Now, even though it was just after 7 p.m., people were already lining up for the first of two parades.
With wrist bands on and trick-or-treat bags in hand, we headed out to find our first candy station. The first one had so many people in line, we moved on to the next. I was afraid they would all have long lines and that we would not be able to trick-or-treat. Not so. None of the other spots had lines at all. Even with the major crowds.

By 7:30 I wanted to start looking for a spot for the parade. But nooooooo. The candy was much more important, So, by the time we went to find a spot, there were none left. We ended up in the very back row in front of the Horse Shoe peering over the crowds. So much for setting up for photos.

Oh well. No biggie. There is a second parade at 10. Maybe the crowds will be less at the second parade.
More trick-or-treating.

By about 8:45 we headed to Main Street for the fireworks. It was packed as expected. But Leo had a great idea. Stand right behind one of the carts selling those light-up toys. And, with the CM being kind of short, it was perfect for me to set up my tripod and camera right behind her.

Great thinking dear hubby of mine! I guess I will forgive him for the parade.













The fireworks were absolutely spectacular. Worth the price of the tickets by themselves. If you ever have the chance to see them , do so. They are sooooo worth it.

More trick-or-treating. This time in Tomorrowland.

By 9:30 I told Leo I was going to go look for a spot for the second parade while he continued to wander and gather candy.

I found a great little spot near the Hall of Presidents where there was just enough room for me and Leo to squeeze in between the rope and a wall. Nice! No one in front of us and no one behind. I am going to try for this spot all the time.



I was hoping to be able to get some good shots of the Headless Horseman, but he went through so suddenly and so quickly, I wasn’t able to get a very good shot. But, at least I got something.

While sitting and waiting for the parade, I did some people watching. And, oh the people I saw. There were very cute costumes like the toddler in the full Donald costume and all kinds of princesses and faries. There were the impressive costumes like Mary Poppins and a couple grown princesses that were so good they could have been CMs. There were funny ones, strange ones, boring ones and silly ones. Then there were the totally inappropriate ones I can’t understand how they got through the gates. There was a very skanky ladybug with her butt and hoohoos hanging out and a couple more than Pooh-sized women in very tight and revealing costumes. And finally there was a guy in a full Wooky costume … head and all. Now it was about 90 degrees and very humid. He must have been melting.









Once the parade was finished, we headed out to hit up more candy top and to check out the dance spots.
We were having so much fun just checking everything out, trick-or-treating, looking at all the special effects and people watching that we didn’t do even one ride all night. Oh yah, and the shopping for party only items.

When the party was coming to a close, we hit up a few more candy stops and boy did they pile the candy in. They just need to give out bigger bags. I think next year when we bring the grands, we will bring our own bags.













Anyway, we meandered and stalled as long as we possibly could before heading out. We stood at the castle taking pictures and hanging around. But we couldn’t wait any longer. Besides, there were about five CMs behind us gently pushing us down Main Street towards the gate.







After being ever so gently pushed out the gates, we still hung out out front. There was spooky lighting and fog machines on the train station, cool images lit up on the ground and spooky music playing. We just didn’t want to leave.



But, alas, we put it off long enough and headed to the parking lot trolley.

Good thing we did to because we caught the very last one. And, even though there were only about six more people there, two final people came running up and stood right next to us. Really?? There are 100+ seats on these trolleys and you just have to sit right next to us?

Oh well. Homeward bound.

And when we got to our section of the parking lot, we were the last car there. It was strangly silent as we crossed the empty lot.



We were home and in bed y 1 a.m. Well, I was in bed by 1 a.m. Leo stayed up to play with the video camera. Tomorrow: Animal Kingdom!

 

[jusero]

I forgot to post this earlier. I just wanted to let everyone know I did not bring my big camera this trip. All the photos in this TR were taken with my new little pocket camera, the Canon Powershot. Good little camera, but no Pentax, that's for sure. But I have to say it was quite liberating not having to haul that big boy and all its accessories around.

 

[pigninnie]

The rest of us “lower class” people were forced to go to the left and through the hands-on portion of the que.

so its safe to say you like the old FP system i hope it will be better buy jan 2014 when we go

I forgot to post this earlier. I just wanted to let everyone know I did not bring my big camera this trip. All the photos in this TR were taken with my new little pocket camera, the Canon Powershot. Good little camera, but no Pentax, that's for sure. But I have to say it was quite liberating not having to haul that big boy and all its accessories around.

its great to enjoy other things once in a while. i love my nikon and want to take it with us but worry about spending to much trime behind the lens and not enough time enjoying it. i might just take my dd's trusty point and shoot it did perfect the last time we went

 

[jusero]

so its safe to say you like the old FP system i hope it will be better buy jan 2014 when we go

its great to enjoy other things once in a while. i love my nikon and want to take it with us but worry about spending to much trime behind the lens and not enough time enjoying it. i might just take my dd's trusty point and shoot it did perfect the last time we went

When I go next week, it will be my first time without any options for fast passes. I hope the crowds are low because it will really be a bummer to not have any options other than to just wait in long lines. I don't know why they decided to change the system. It seemed to be working just fine the way it was. So far, not a fan of the changes.

As for the camera situation, I agree. Sometimes I do tend to spend too much time trying to get just the perfect angle or catch the light just right or just stand around wasting time waiting for "the shot." Or even getting upset at someone for walking into my shot. It's Disney for crying out loud. This trip was my first leaving the big boy behind. Thought I would miss it. Didn't. In the future, I will take it, but leave it in the room on all but one day.

 

[jusero]

Where in the World?