We did the unthinkable!We Left the teenagers home: DH & I do Disney solo:update 1/15

OK - I noticed that my posts say 4:30 in the am. It's actually a little later than that right now. I did get up early this morning because I have to work. I got up earlier than usual, but decided to get up and do some stuff - like unload the dishwasher and put some clothes in the dryer. Now I have time for a few minutes of Dis'ing.

So when I left off, DH and I had lined up outside the Candlelight Processional. OK - I really like this. I love the Christmas story in detail. I think it is so inspiring, and no matter what your religion, you have to respect the Christmas story because that is the real reason we celebrate this sometimes excessive holiday. I find the christmas story particularly compelling when it is told by a professional narrator. Last time we saw this presentation we heard John O'Hurley. Tonight it was Monique Coleman. I am embarrased to say I'm not really sure who she is. In fact, I have been meaning to google her, because I'm sure I know then. Anyway, she has a beautiful speaking voice and told the story with much passion.

Here is a list of this year's narrators (photo actually taken during the daytime)
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I particularly enjoy the orchestra that accompanies the singing. They are superb musicians and I am a band qeek at heart. I played the flute all through high school, but quit when I went into college. This is a decision I regret, but I am still thankful that I layed down the pathways as a teenager, because now I can play the flute in an acceptable manor for the average ear. However, I would love to be good enough to play even in a community orchestra. I am not! I do play in a marching band, but that does not compare. Without getting too far off topic, I will mention that our volunteer fire company marching band has been invited to march in the Inagural parade in just a few short weeks. I guess that's because Joe Biden is from delaware and we will be marching with various firefighters from across the state. So, if you are watching the inaugural parade and you notice a piccolo player out of step (God forbid):scared1: , it will definately be me since I am the most inexperienced marcher in the woodwind section. :rotfl: I'm actually getting better, but there is one clarinet player in the band who loves to point out each and every one of my mistakes. :headache: It's now become my own personal joke to see how often she says, "Mary Ellen - you dropping behind or Mary Ellen - watch your line - follow the head in front of you" Ugggghhhh!

OK - back to the CP. Here are some pictures of the singers and the stage.

This is actually the stage during the daytime

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Here we are at night

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And a video clip



The whole presentation is about 45 minutes long and it was over in a flash. Since we had walked about 1.7 miles to get there (thanks Podsnel), and stood 45 minutes, when the show was over my feet were really hurting. I told DH that I did not think I was capable of walking back. My legs were OK, but my feet were on fire!

I also realized that I had pretty much hit the wall. So we decided to leave to see if we could get the boat back. I know if we had waited for Illuminations, there would have been a huge line to leave.

So we hopped on board this very boat and set sail for HS

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Once we got inside the boat, it was quite stuffy. That's when I realized I had "hit the wall" again. I started feeling very claustrophic and almost regretted my decision not to walk. So I buried my head into my cell phone game Zuma and tried not to look up at all the people surrounding me. I just needed to get home and get in bed.

When we made it to DS there were still people going in for the late EMH. Then, to my surprise, we saw the fireworks from Illuminations off in the distance.

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I have to tell you that, as lovely as the fireworks were, I had nothing left. I could not get to the car fast enough. I am glad that DH stopped to take pictures, but at the time I remember hurrying him along. "Please, let's go", I pleaded. I went straight to the car (which was in that stupid AAA lot), ran in front of buses, and hopped to barrier to get there faster. Never mind that I could have been hit :eek: , I just wanted to get to bed via the fastest route!

Wow - what a great, big, long day - running at POFQ, MK, CP for breakfast, check'in in at SSR, hot tub, AI tour, Brown Derby dinner, Osbourne lights and the Candlelight Processional. Three parks in one day. Time for some :cloud9:

Next up - The Adventure continues.... Epcot by day and California Grill by night

p.s. I noticed some of this photos are blurry (that's DH again), so I'll replace them with better ones tonight. Have to get ready for work now.
 


When you hit the wall at Disney, there is no going back. You have to get to where you want to be as soon as possible. :lmao:

You had a very lovely, full day! You were able to accomplish a lot! :worship:
 
.....except for maybe DH's forgetfulness.

OK. I am at work shhhhh! I know I am going to get interrupted anytime re: a patient that we are taking to surgery today. Don't worry - I am not neglecting him. Just waiting for calls to get him scheduled!

I woke at my usual 6:30am time on Tuesday. But, I could not bring myself to get out of bed because I was stiff everywhere - but mostly my feet! :rotfl: Boy, they were still aching! The only thing that managed to get me going was the need to make coffee. I am a real caffiene addict :surfweb: and I will get a seriously bad headache if I go more than 24 hours without drinking coffee. I only drink one cup a day, but I MUST HAVE IT!

One of the things I like about having a balcony is being able to sit on it and drink coffee. However, I did not want to drink coffee on this balcony because it faced the bus stop and I knew the "bus people" would be lining up soon. I asked my DH if he wanted to sit outside and watch the "bus people", but he declined. Please don't think I am making fun of the bus. I like the bus. I take the bus a lot, but I know that when people are waiting for a bus and they want to get somewhere fast, they have to look at anything that will entertain them. Doing this takes their mind off how many minutes they have been waiting for the dang bus to arrive. Unfortunately, the thought that I was about to be someone's entertainment, in my running clothes, drinking my coffee, just did not appeal to me. Nah - I just couldn't do it! I can't be someone's "I'm bored and I can't wait to get to the park" entertainment. So I stayed inside.

I gulped my coffee and announced, "I'm going for a run. Want to come?" DH declined, more because he is old and would rather run on a treadmill then because he wore his only pair of running shorts to the pool yesterday and they still weren't dry. (Insert gnome picture here)

Now thanks to my friends here on the DIS boards, I happened to know that there is a path through the golf course that connects SSR to OKW. I have never been on this pathway and I was very curious to see if I could find it. I DID! :woohoo: So that was my run - from the paddock to the registration area of SSR past the Tree House Villas to OKW. I only ran about 1 1/4 miles to get to the entrance of OKW. It was a really nice run and the first time I had seen OKW up close. Well, I actually didn't see too much of OKW. But one thing I noticed was that the first floor porches on OKW are about a foot off the ground. I liked this. I would like to stay at OKW on one of my future trips!

The other thing I noticed about OKW was that some of the roof shingles and porch awnings looked faded. Granted, it was a bit overcast outside and everything looks better in the sun. But, just like the fading umbrellas at the Congress Park pool, I couldn't help but notice this!

I did pass the tree house villas, but the entrance is behind a locked fence, so there was no opportunity for up close viewing. I didn't really see too much going on back there and I really wonder what this section will look like when its done. I didn't have my camera, so I have no pics to share. I was hoping to get back there before I left, but I never did.

When I returned to my room I showered and quickly got dressed because today we were going to Epcot. I really wanted to go to DS to ride TSM, but I knew if I waited to go to Epcot on 12/16, there was an am EMH. I generally avoid am EMH's because I don't like getting to the park at 8am. I rather relax with my morning coffee and go for a run. That is impossible to do and get to a park by 8am. So, I figured today would be the best Epcot day.

Unlike the AAA parking at HS, I love the AAA parking at Epcot. It will always be worth buying tickets at AAA just to get the parking pass (plus I can use my AAA Visa rebates to buy tickets)! Just like with our MK arrival, we timed our Epcot arrival to just seconds after opening. Perfect - we didn't get too jammed up with people and we were able to walk directly to Soarin without tripping over too many stroller wheels.

Our FP return time for Soarin was 9:45. I guess a lot of people must have gone directly to the ride, but we opted to hop a boat and go live with the land. I love this ride. But what I liked most about it this time was watching this little girl in the row ahead of us. This was clearly her first time and she was enjoying every minute of this new discovery. She especially liked the Mickey pumpkin. It was so cute and I was really feeling the magic through her eyes! :wizard:

After the land, I tried to talk DH into signing up for a Behind the Seeds tour. I thought DH would want to do this because he is really into gardening. Nah - he wasn't interested. That surprised me. I broached the subject one more time as we were exiting Soarin, but he still wasn't feelin' it! Whatev! as my DS's would say.

After the land, we bided our time by watching the Circle of Life film. It was freezing cold in the theatre, but it definately passed the time in a cute way. When the film was done, it was time to hop on Soarin.

Soarin was fun as usual, except that I kept being distracted by the black spots on the film. At first, I thought they were birds (so did DH). Then I realized they were in every scene. OK, so they were Not birds! I kept forcing myself NOT to look at the black spots, but I couldn't help it. They were so darn distracting. They finally disappeared when we got to the night time scenes - imagine that!

When we left Soarin, I grabbed two more FP's, silently hoping that the black spots would not be visible when we went back and got seated on a different glider. Was I right????? Well, you are just going to have to keep reading to find out!
 
Great update! I didn't know there was special parking for AAA members. Good tip!! :thumbsup2

I also noticed some spots in the Soarin film and same thing... couldn't look away!
 


Oh No! Spots on Soarin'!?! :scared1: They need to fix that, ASAP. I also really need to make sure I request the front row next time to get the full Soarin' effect.

I don't blame you at all for not wanting to be the bus waiters entertainment! :laughing:
 
When you hit the wall at Disney, there is no going back. You have to get to where you want to be as soon as possible. :lmao:

You had a very lovely, full day! You were able to accomplish a lot! :worship:

No truer words were ever spoken! When that wall hits, it comes at you FAST!
 
Great update! I didn't know there was special parking for AAA members. Good tip!! :thumbsup2

I also noticed some spots in the Soarin film and same thing... couldn't look away!

The AAA parking is really good at AK and Epcot. Not so good at HS! I never drive to MK, so I'm not sure what that's like! Definately worth using AAA when you drive.
 
Oh No! Spots on Soarin'!?! :scared1: They need to fix that, ASAP. I also really need to make sure I request the front row next time to get the full Soarin' effect.

I don't blame you at all for not wanting to be the bus waiters entertainment! :laughing:

Let me just say that I would combine these posts, but I am working on a work computer and it might self destruct (or, at the very least, freeze up) if I open too many windows.

LL - I hate to spoil the update, but we had the front and center row the next time and I thought the black spots were worse! :scared1: They probably weren't worse, but in this seat I could also so the thin grainy lines of the film. Both things were giving me a headache. Maybe I should have tried a pair of these :3dglasses :rotfl:
 
You truly are dedicated! Waking up stiff and then going for a jog. Eeek!

I really do like running, so I force myself to go. I feel better once I'm on the road. If I stop for any length of time, at my age I will never start again.
 
Let me just say that I would combine these posts, but I am working on a work computer and it might self destruct (or, at the very least, freeze up) if I open too many windows.

LL - I hate to spoil the update, but we had the front and center row the next time and I thought the black spots were worse! :scared1: They probably weren't worse, but in this seat I could also so the thin grainy lines of the film. Both things were giving me a headache. Maybe I should have tried a pair of these :3dglasses :rotfl:

Oh, that is too bad! Hmmm...I am trying to remember if I saw any spots or grainy lines when we went on it but I don't remember. I'm going to try to forget I ever read this so I won't be distracted by them next time. Deny, Deny, Deny! :rotfl:
 
I guess I really should post some more tonight. I have a lot of nice pics of the world showcase, but I didn't take too many in future world. We hung out in future world until lunch time. After our first flight on Soarin we walked over and took a ride to Mars. I hate how many warnings they give about claustrophobia. I already told you I got claustrophic on the friendship boat. What will happen to me on MS? Well - Pretty much - Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I actually don't think I'm claustrophobic, rather I don't like areas where the air is "stuffy". In MS they blow air on you constantly. Problem solved - no claustrophobia. Plus, if you immerse yourself in the video on the screen, there is no way the "tight space" can bother you.

After MS we took a few fountain pics....

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After MS we decided to hop on Nemo. I actually wanted DH to see the Cursh show. He has never seen this and I thought he might enjoy it. The line to get on Nemo was actually the longest I've ever seen, but we still got on really quickly. Last time I was on this ride was in June. I spent the whole ride trying to send/receive text messages from DS15. There is no reception in there, but I was trying to find out where he was. I thought he was still in the park at 10pm at night, but he was already back at the High Springs pool at SSR entertaining the "ladies".

So with no text messages to send, I sat back and enjoyed Nemo. Then DH and I went over to see Crush. We played some computer games while we were waiting. Collectively we couldn't score better than a 4 out of 5 on the cute questions they asked.

I think DH liked Crush. I know I did. I love watching the little kids sit up front and ask silly questions. I still can't quite figure out how Crush answers those questions so quickly or who the voice is behind Crush. That's probably why I like it so much. I refuse to think too much about the technology behind it and just work with the magic!

By the time we got out of Crush it was about 1130am. I was hungry and I wanted to get some FP's for Test Track. I also wanted to spend some time looking around the Aquarium, but you can't do everything.

Here a few pics from our visit to the Sea:

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After we left the sea we walked back to TT to get FP's for later that afternoon. DH will not do the single rider line. In fact, he doesn't even like TT that much, so the only way to get him to ride is to have FP's.

DH and I walked over to the world showcase. We were hungry, but undecided as to where we wanted to eat. I thought we should walk up to the San Angel Inn to see if we could get seated. The world showcase was still pretty empty because it wasn't quite noon. DH suggested we eat at the cantina instead. I looked at the menu and decided I didn't want to eat there. I then suggested we go to Norway and get sandwiches from the Kingra La bakery (is that the right name?). We went inside, but the sandwiches just looked ho-hum, so we moved on.

Next up, china. We decided that this would work. DH got a sweet and sour chicken dish and I had a sesame chicken salad. My salad was a cold salad, but it was actually perfect for my tastebuds. We also got a few egg rolls, which were quite good. To top it off, DH got a mango slushie and I had a strawberry slushie. They were awesome - top notch, very flavorable, perfect consistency.

That slushie lasted for quite awhile
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Still going strong by the time we reached Germany....
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I think I managed to nurse the slushie straight through to France! :rotfl: But I made a mistake. I did not know they sold slushies with ALCOHOL right outside of China. They had some wonderfully interesting concoctions likes slushies with plum wine. Each one sounded so marvelous, yet I was too full from lunch and from my non alcoholic slushie. I still didn't want another slushie when I got to France, so I never did try the Grey Goose Slushie - NEXT TIME!

Here are some more pics of the countries

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It was a perfect afternoon for a walk around the world, and we took our time despite the fact that we had two FP's burning a whole in our pocket.

Next up.... More world showcase, breaking down on TT, and off in search of a forgotten bathing suit.
 
I'd love to continue my trek around the world showcase with you, but I can't post pics right now and this is mostly a pictorial tour.

It was such a fabulous day for taking pics. The world showcase was fairly empty and the weather was perfect. It was the greatest day to be outside! :goodvibes

The last time I circled the world showcase was in June. It was pretty hot and crowded that day, so we did all the inside movies and shows. Today, I only wanted to be outside. We took our time digging through the little shops and edging around those forgotten corners. I felt like I could have stayed there until night time.

I will post my pics later. I have a few of Morroco, France, and England. We stopped to shop in England and that is when I realized that ALL T-shirts were 40% off. I saw this in some of the gifts shops, but I didn't realize it applied to EVERY SHOP! I have never seen this before! I found this really cool Manchester United T-shirt in England. As you know, my sons love soccer and I knew the older one would love the graphics on this shirt. Normally I will not pay $24 for a cotton T-Shirt, cool graphics or not, but at 40% off I can, and will, depart with my hard earned cash!

I was right - my DS15 loved this shirt! :love: He said it was his favorite Christmas present. I suspect his was exaggerating, since he also got a new Ipod and some Xbox games, but I knew he was sincere in really lovin' this shirt! :thumbsup2

For DS14, I purchased an England backpack. It was one of the small ones with the tie strings that everyone likes so much. I know these backpacks have a name, I just can't think of what it is. It had a few extra pockets and looked well made. A few years ago I got each of the kids one from Mexico. They did not last very long and were obviously not well made. Or, at least they weren't designed to handle the abuse that teenagers can dole out! Anyway, DS 14 liked his backpack. He didn't love it, but he liked it! He did really like the Mickey T-shirt I bought him.. See, DS 14 is not too old or cool to still wear Mickey! ;)

When we left the world showcase we went to ride Soarin again. This is where I learned that the black dots on the screen are still visible even when you sit front and center. Sorry LL! That's OK, I still enjoyed my second ride on Soarin!

From Soarin we headed over to Test Track. The FP lined moved quickly. We got seated with a single rider who was in line with her family. She was a cute teenager who obviously had second thoughts about being a single rider when it actually came time to load the car, but she got in. It's funny, but everytime I get on Test Track I always wonder what it would be like to get stuck in the "freezer" or the "heater". I always thought - Gee, Do they shut that stuff down if you are stuck in there?

Well - I got my chance to find out!!!!!! :eek: Yup, we got stuck in the freezing chamber. I know I've mentioned that I can get claustrophobic. So, naturally, I do not like to get stuck on rides. It's creepy. What I hate most about being stuck on rides is how the sound track continues to play while you are stuck. I wouldn't mind it quite so much if I was stuck in silence. But listening to the continous sound effects of TT, while sitting in a freezer, is not my idea of fun.

Anyway - it was pretty cold when we entered the freezer. I had my sweatshirt with me, so I put it on. Fortunately, and not to anyone's surprise, the DO turn off the freezer. :woohoo: Even though the thermometer was stuck at 35 degrees below zero, it was clearly not that cold in the freezer! :rotfl: We were stuck for a good 10 minutes, which seems like an eternity when you are actually stuck! I decided to use the time to play Zuma and I sent my DS15 a text that said, "Stuck on Test Track". I knew he would be in H period and his phone would be on (although its not supposed to be). He texted back "Ha Ha". :mad: Seriously, that's about what I thought his response would be! The teenage girl next to me also started texting up a storm!

The ride started unexpectedly, and we both had to quickly put away our phones to prevent them from flying!

By the time we got off test track it was almost 3pm. Even though I really wanted to stay at Epcot, I knew we had our big dinner planned at the California grill tonight. I didn't want to be rushed and I thought we should get in some down time before dinner.

On the way out of the park, I asked DH if he wanted to see if there were still tickets for the 12/16 christmas party. You might think I am crazy for not getting tickets earlier, but I just wasn't sure whether I wanted to go to the party or not. So, I left it in the hands of member services. I knew I could get discounted tickets up to the day before the event. Up to 5pm the day before the event. It was 3pm now! I figured if the event wasn't sold out, then it was meant to be.

So, that's where I'll leave you. Was I able to get Christmas party tickets????? :scared: and how was that special dinner at the Cali Grill????????? :love:
 

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