2 Haunted Mansions, 1 Day: Grand Finale & Link to Pre-Trip Report for Feb. Trip!

[gatrbait]

Hi my name is Micky and I confess I am a Lurkyloo lurker....

I'm glad this just stays here in the Dis and we are all friends here Right????

 

[teruterubouzu]

Great Disneyland photos! They are really amazing photographers and you can tell they have a lot of fun with you two.

 

[lurkyloo]

By the way it's b/c of you I'm planning family portraits with the Roots...boy your wedding pics were absofreakinglootly beautiful & fun!

Oh boy oh boy - you have to post a link when you do the pictures. They take the best shots of kids!!

Oh God, you are a riot! I swear, an actual trip to Disneyland could never be as much fun as one of your reports

But as you'll see in the next installment, sometimes I forget to experience the actual trip cuz I'm so busy blogging the report!

I haven't decided yet if i'm doing a trip report or not. I started a pretrip on tour guide mike and i'm almost done with my dining report over there.
I'll be curious to hear your thoughts on the cruise! I'll tell you what I thought- it was a good one time thing to do for the experience, but I doubt i'd pay to do it again. Honestly we felt the view was the same we could've had if we were standing right above on the bridge with all those other people. /FONT]

Oh cool - You're a TGMer too? Right on! And I completely agree with your assessment of the IllumiNations Cruise - so THANKS for coordinating it so that we could have that one-time experience too!

Hi my name is Micky and I confess I am a Lurkyloo lurker.... I'm glad this just stays here in the Dis and we are all friends here Right????

Great Disneyland photos! They are really amazing photographers and you can tell they have a lot of fun with you two.

And we had so much fun with them! In fact, now that we've had a chance to get to know the Roots, I think I'm going to have to recuse myself from any discussion of their photography business on the weddings board because I can't be objective anymore - they're just too dang cute!

 

[lurkyloo]

Epcot! Cake! IllumiNations Cruise! Oh My!

OK, so I went back to my journal to do a little research for this installment of the trip report and discovered that my husband had helpfully started that night’s entry for me while I was in the shower. And I quote....

Hello, people of the future. Yes, I mean you. You may see me as a primitive Luddite, an empty-headed monkey... but I have seen your future, and I gotta say: ***?

In your time, you enjoy the irritating antics of a dragon named Figment, your food is grown in the air, and the seas are populated by talking fish. How’s that clean coal technology treating you? Enjoying your GM?

Now who’s the caveman? I’ve got an iPhone. You’re still on the cusp of the invention of the “personal computer.”

Your EPCOT history exhibit is cool. Small, but cool. And I love the World Showcase...

At this point it trails off, probably because I was stepping out of the shower (which, in a room that small, means I was simultaneously stepping into bed...)

So let’s see... what isn’t in my own journal entry is my eventual realization that on this day I was still acting like I wasn’t on vacation. It took me almost 2 days to adjust to relaxing and going with the flow instead of rushing from here to there and getting cranky for no reason (which is apparently my normal daily routine). I now know that I did the same thing on our wedding trip – I just thought my mood was due to last-minute pre-wedding craziness. The result is that we’ve tacked three days on the beginning of our anniversary WDW trip, to give us a little more time to adjust to, you know, having fun.

OK, so Sunday in Epcot. My journal says “We got to sleep in til 8pm,” an exhaustion-induced typo, no doubt.... Usually I drag us to rope drop every day so we can knock out the popular attractions and stockpile FastPasses before the crowds arrive. So sleeping in a bit and arriving a WHOLE ENTIRE HOUR after the park opened went against every fiber of my being. But I survived! And we still got a close parking spot!

The future is NOW

We walked right on to Spaceship Earth and afterward spent too long sending ourselves a postcard of our future (according to the snarky lady who wanted our computer despite the existence of 11 other identical computers…)

Our future! …Looks like I will have taken up yoga…

By then it was 10:45 and I’d already taken and uploaded three pix for the live blog. I realized I was spending more time talking about being at Walt Disney World than actually enjoying/experiencing it, so I tried to pace myself more.

Our next stop was the neat Epcot 25th Anniversary Exhibit they’ve hidden behind Club Cool at Innoventions West (seriously – you’d think they didn’t want anyone to see it!).

It has concept art for all the World Showcase pavilions, costumes, maquettes and models, and, best of all, an old-skool music video of people working on building and opening Epcot set to the original theme song, “We’re Getting Ready for You,” whose lyrics consist of a list of things that people did to get the park ready for YOU. (You can make them up as you go along: “We did some things/And other stuff/We put things up/And laid them down/We made some costumes/And jumped around…”)

Click here, but watch out – this song will get stuck in your head!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRAqEezhY28

When the World Showcase opened at 11 I dragged DH from empty country to empty country and made him snap pictures in case any of my buddies on the Weddings & Honeymoons Board needed location shots.

But first I needed to take a picture of me in Canada for Canadian DISer Wazzo so she would know I was there and could be the first to welcome me to her native land:

Greetings, Eh!

Glamour Shot

UK Pavilion Ceremony Location

France Pavilion Ceremony Location... (drunken view)

$800 Plant Wall

Morocco!

Japan Ceremony Location

Japan Dessert Party Location

Italy Pavilion Ceremony Location

China!

In China I needed to buy a fan. I always carry one with me, but I lost mine before our trip. I also found this basket o' rats. It was hard not to buy them all, but I managed to just get one.

Mmm.... dim sum!

Off to Mexico.

Maracas!!!!

We had to stop and “have our picture made” (our new favorite phrase) with Donald because Wazzo’s bird (also named Wazzo) loves pix of Donald… or maybe it’s Wazzo who loves pictures of Donald… well, at any rate, we knew we had to take pictures of/with Donald for some reason! It became a theme on our trip and turned out to be really fun – like looking for hidden Mickeys or stalking princesses for their autographs.

Lunch was our first time using our Disney Dining Plan credits. We went to Sunshine Seasons at the Land b/c they had the most choices, and also because they have the Best Dessert in Epcot: Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake.

Sweet and Sour Chicken, Mongolian Ginger Beef, Udon Noodles & Broccoli with a mini Key Lime Pie

Same thing, plus Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

As you’re going to hear, I ended up hating the Dining Plan, except for one thing: I loved being able to get milk to go with my dessert! I’m usually too cheap to drink anything but tap water….

 

[lurkyloo]

After lunch we had to stop at Journey into the Imagination cuz I’d never been on it and DH had only been on the old one. I’m not a fan of those rides where an annoying character gets loose and something goes horribly wrong (Muppet*Vision 3D, I’m looking at you)….

Next stop, boredom!!!

Then we had to model my new fan…

And we had to buy some souvenirs, like the smelly French soap DH wanted so he could always associate the scent with this trip (never mind that I had specifically purchased a perfume to wear for that purpose!), and a Mexican vase to put our toothbrushes in at the hotel (hope they don’t use lead in that paint!).

On our way back to Coral Reef for dinner, we had to stop in at The Seas With Nemo & Friends to take a picture to send to my dad of what we call the “Hot Rod Fish” cuz he looks like a two-toned hot rod. I think it’s our new tradition.

What’re you lookin’ at?

Dinner at Coral Reef was fun! By the time I called to reserve a diver, they were all booked up (I wanted them to bring down a sign with a greeting for DH from Steve).

Steve!

However, we got the next best thing – we were seated one row from the tank, and one of the girls at the table next to us, directly against the tank, got a LOT of attention from this one diver. At first he was just doing silly stuff, like picking up a shell and pretending to talk to her on the phone or pointing at her food like he wanted to eat it, but he kept coming back to their table to goof off. So DH told her “You should write ‘Marry me’ on a napkin and hold it up!’ which she did, and then he REALLY wouldn’t leave her alone.

First he wrote her a sign that said, “Stay here – back in 10 minutes.” We all thought he was going to get the scuba tour people to swim by and do something funny. Instead, he came back and wrote another sign that said something like “I get off work at 9 – meet me in the gift shop”! Then we were kinda sketched out. She and her friend kept saying, “Should I do it? What if it’s a Year of a Million Dreams thing and I get to stay in the castle?” And DH and I were like… “Uh, that’s not how they award those – this is kinda creepy!” They finally got up to leave and we wished them luck, but I’ll never know how the story ended! Unless she turns out to be a DISer…

OK, so this is what we ate:

Mahi Mahi with Mushroom Risotto

Mahi Mahi with Cheese Grits instead of Risotto

Butterscotch Crème Brulee

Mango Sorbet

Then, on top of all that, we ordered one of the 6-inch celebration cakes they keep at the podium cuz I was cracked on doing a taste test. I figured we could take it with us to our IllumiNations Cruise that night so we wouldn’t waste it.

The deal with the taste test is, I’m a big follower of the Birthday/Anniversary Cake thread on the food board. A few months ago, a bunch of us on the thread got worked up when we found out that Disney had started outsourcing the production of what I call “podium cakes” to Sara Lee and jacked up the price of the cakes from $12 to $21.These are non-special-ordered cakes that you can get just by asking for one when you check in at the podium of any Disney restaurant. They are kept frozen and only available in chocolate and vanilla, but the kids like ‘em.

As it turns out, only the Magic Kingdom’s restaurants serve the Sara Lee cakes – every place else still makes their own podium cakes. So I wanted to do a taste test and see which was better.

This is what we got at Coral Reef - a Disney-made podium cake that looks like it was made in an EasyBake Oven and tastes like a stale Twinkie covered in whipped cream:

If you wanna skip ahead (and if you even care!) the full taste test results can be found here.

Anyway, so we took the cake to go and dashed off to the Yacht Club Marina to meet DISer Momto2inKC (Jamie) and her family, plus another DIS Boards family, for a shared IllumiNations Cruise. One of the things I love about the DIS is the way you learn about and get to try things you might never otherwise do, and that you meet all sorts of other people interested in the same thing.

In case you don’t know what I’m talking about, an IllumiNations Cruise is where a pontoon boat that holds up to 10 people takes you on a cruise around the Epcot resort area and then parks under the International Gateway so you can see IllumiNations. They cost $320 now (it was a little less in September), but by connecting with 8 other people to fill the boat we were able to try one for much less. I had been considering doing an IllumiNations Cruise on the 6-seat runabout the Breathless II for our anniversary, so I am REALLY glad we got to try this out first cuz now I can save myself the $300.

Breathless II

Like Jamie posted above, I felt like it was nice to do it once and be able to say you’ve done it, but the viewing location isn’t that great and the $$$ sure wasn’t worth it just for the soda and “free” Doritos! Our three families met at the Yacht Club Marina at 8pm and, when the ticket window opened for business, each paid our share of the fee, plus 1/3 of the $50 tip. We met our cheery, knowledgeable captain, who fitted the kids with life vests and took charge of the podium cake for serving later during the fireworks. She gave us great tidbits as we cruised from the Marina down the waterway toward Hollywood Studios and back. We started at 8:30, and by 8:50 we were crammed under the International Gateway with, I think, 5 other pontoon boats and Breathless II.


Pontoon Boat!

As soon as we were tethered to one of the other pontoons boats, our captain got out the cake and helped us serve it up. (See “stale Twinkie,” above). I think the kids liked it though! I hope… It was fun to see the fireworks from the relative comfort of a padded seat on a boat, but the view wasn’t that great. As Jamie said, you may just as well stand on the bridge between UK and France for the same effect and save 300 bucks.

One of those heads might be Jamie’s!

As the boat returned to the marina, we had to break the news to the other DIS family that they were going to have to take a taxi back to the All Stars if they didn’t want to spend the rest of the evening on buses to and from Downtown Disney. I hope they made it back in good time! As for us, we drove straight back to Pop and collapsed!

OK, if you thought that was a long installment, wait until you see Day 3, in which we meet DISer Jennifaerie, get into not one but two corporate lounges at Epcot, accidentally watch Fantasmic, and run into two more DISers at Adventurer’s Club, where I get wooed by Hathaway Brown himself!

 

[rottiemom]

Yay! More trip report!

After lunch we had to stop at Journey into the Imagination cuz I’d never been on it and DH had only been on the old one. I’m not a fan of those rides where an annoying character gets loose and something goes horribly wrong (Muppet*Vision 3D, I’m looking at you)….

Oh yes, I did find that reptile annoying, so much so that even my husband was inquiring after a no-pest strip (or a brick).

First he wrote her a sign that said, “Stay here – back in 10 minutes.” We all thought he was going to get the scuba tour people to swim by and do something funny. Instead, he came back and wrote another sign that said something like “I get off work at 9 – meet me in the gift shop”! Then we were kinda sketched out. She and her friend kept saying, “Should I do it? What if it’s a Year of a Million Dreams thing and I get to stay in the castle?” And DH and I were like… “Uh, that’s not how they award those – this is kinda creepy!”

"Kids, did I ever tell you how daddy and I met?"
"Are you sure this is the princess suite in the castle? Why does it have a giant bowling pin in front of it?"
"Do I smell chloroform?"
"Please....put your mask back on"

 

[teruterubouzu]

Great update! I loved that EPCOT Center 25th anniversary exhibit. That "We're getting ready for you" video was wonderfully corny. The exhibit made me a little sad though, because it reminded how they've removed or changed a lot of the things that made EPCOT what it was. They closed down the exhibit at the end of September. I hope they move some of it to One Man's Dream.

 

[29apr00]

Great update!! Your pictures are so clear and bright!! I so need to take photography lessons before our trip next year.

Oh so the illuminations cruise was bad huh? Well i can cross that off the list! Wonder about the grand gathering dessert party? to think about. And that CAKE?!?!?!? Hideous looking!! Way too much fluffy stuff on top! UGH i'd have been angry paying $20 for that thing! Can't wait for the MK review one!

Patiently waiting to hear about meeting Jen!!!

 

[Kimberly815]

Great update!

Interesting review of the Illuminations cruise. I always wondered if they were worth it or not. Sounds like it really isn't!

Keep the updates coming!

 

[Circusgirl]

I'm having tons of fun reading your TR!

When I first went looking for the Epcot history exhibit last December, the CMs in Innoventions didn't know where it was! I missed it that time, and was able to find it on my next trip in January thanks to the DISers who posted about it. I'm sad to hear it is closed as it was really fun to see all the old favorites even in model size.

I have to say that Disney has done Figment wrong. The old ride with Dreamfinder and Figment was great fun, and this new incarnation is extremely disappointing. I'm sad that people don't know that once there was happiness there.

Thanks for the review of the IllumiNations Cruise. I shared a Fireworks Cruise on the Seven Seas Lagoon last year during MouseFest and had a fantastic time, so was thinking of doing the IllumiNations one next. Perhaps not!

Looking forward to the rest of your trip!

 

[Wazzo]

But first I needed to take a picture of me in Canada for Canadian DISer Wazzo so she would know I was there and could be the first to welcome me to her native land:
Greetings, Eh!

This picture made my day!! And now it has made this day too! You're the best!

We had to stop and “have our picture made” (our new favorite phrase) with Donald because Wazzo’s bird (also named Wazzo) loves pix of Donald… or maybe it’s Wazzo who loves pictures of Donald… well, at any rate, we knew we had to take pictures of/with Donald for some reason! It became a theme on our trip and turned out to be really fun – like looking for hidden Mickeys or stalking princesses for their autographs.

Hooray again! I'm excited to have inspired a theme!

But now you've got me thinking... Who would the real Wazzo love to have a picture taken with? He's scared of so many things...

 

[pooh'smate]

Ok all caught up.

 

[Becx N Gav]

We need more - it is the weekend

 

[lurkyloo]

Oh yes, I did find that reptile annoying, so much so that even my husband was inquiring after a no-pest strip (or a brick).

The exhibit made me a little sad though, because it reminded how they've removed or changed a lot of the things that made EPCOT what it was. They closed down the exhibit at the end of September. I hope they move some of it to One Man's Dream.

I didn't know they'd closed it - and I know what you mean about the sad part. I get even more sad when I look at the concept art for Walt's EPCOT (a.k.a. Progess City) and think about how cool it would have been. Or at least what a cool/creepy relic of a city it would be by now...

Oh so the illuminations cruise was bad huh? Well i can cross that off the list! Wonder about the grand gathering dessert party? to think about. And that CAKE?!?!?!? Hideous looking!! Way too much fluffy stuff on top!

Yeah, maybe I came down too hard on the cruise. It wasn't terrible or a waste of time, just TOTALLY not worth $300+. So I guess I'd say, if you can split a cruise with a bunch of other DISers, yes. But I'd never pay to have the whole boat to myself, that's for sure!

Great update!

Interesting review of the Illuminations cruise. I always wondered if they were worth it or not. Sounds like it really isn't!

Yeah... if you can split the cost 10 ways, it's $30 per person plus part of the tip. That might be worth it for some people.

I have to say that Disney has done Figment wrong. The old ride with Dreamfinder and Figment was great fun, and this new incarnation is extremely disappointing. I'm sad that people don't know that once there was happiness there.

DH said the end of the new version is the only part they saved from the original, and of course it's the best part. My general philosophy on Disney rides is "More animatronics, less film!"

Thanks for the review of the IllumiNations Cruise. I shared a Fireworks Cruise on the Seven Seas Lagoon last year during MouseFest and had a fantastic time, so was thinking of doing the IllumiNations one next. Perhaps not!

Shoot, I hope I haven't talked you out of a great experience! Maybe if you like the Wishes cruise you'd like this one... but then, on a Wishes cruise I think you get a really cool vantage point on the fireworks, whereas my chief disappointment with our cruise was that the view seemed to be no better - and possibly worse - than one you could get for free....

Who would the real Wazzo love to have a picture taken with? He's scared of so many things...

Maybe Jack Sparrow...? Nobody can resist Cap'n Jack!

Ok all caught up.

Whew! Are your eyeballs singed?

We need more - it is the weekend

Hey now, missy - I spent 3 hours and stayed up til 1 am writing that last one - I needs a break! ...Well, OK, it is the weekend... I'll give it a crack tomorrow

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

Notes to self...do not order a cake at a Disney Podium! Never do the Illuminations cruise! Sorry to hear both are a waste of money. Just think of how many slices of peanut butter pie you could get for $21!

The Epcot exhibit is wonderful and I agree...it's hidden away too well. I could spend a couple of hours just looking at all that old stuff. The kids were rush rush though. When we go back in December I plan to spend a lot more time in there!

Great update ~ looking forward to more!

 

[Circusgirl]

DH said the end of the new version is the only part they saved from the original, and of course it's the best part. My general philosophy on Disney rides is "More animatronics, less film!"

I wish there was a Museum of Retired Rides. Many of the older versions of rides and attractions at Epcot would be among my favorites if they were still in existence. A little Horizons or Kitchen Kabaret anyone?

Shoot, I hope I haven't talked you out of a great experience! Maybe if you like the Wishes cruise you'd like this one... but then, on a Wishes cruise I think you get a really cool vantage point on the fireworks, whereas my chief disappointment with our cruise was that the view seemed to be no better - and possibly worse - than one you could get for free....

Don't worry! It just puts some other experiences higher on the wish list. The cruises are also fun for the factoids that they give you, and our Wishes Fireworks skipper was a fantastic tour guide, but it seems like a super cool vantage point for the fireworks is a major part of what the experience is about. I'm sure there will be a perfect time for this one too.

 

[DisBride2007]

WOO-HOO!!!! So glad I stumbled upon this one!

 

[lurkyloo]

Just think of how many slices of peanut butter pie you could get for $21!

OMG - how did you know peanut butter pie is one of my FAVORITE desserts!

I wish there was a Museum of Retired Rides. Many of the older versions of rides and attractions at Epcot would be among my favorites if they were still in existence. A little Horizons or Kitchen Kabaret anyone?

That is a really good idea! You know about Yesterland, right? That's about as close as we can get...

WOO-HOO!!!! So glad I stumbled upon this one!

Hi hi hi! Good to see you over here!

 

[lurkyloo]

OK, Day 2 was really a really long couple of posts and not nearly as much happened as on Day 3, so I'm splitting it up....

This day kinda snowballed. When it started, I was still not in vacation mode but had transitioned from tense and snappish to disconnected and out-of-it. But after about 8 hours of letting the vacation wash over me, I finally started to get in the swing of things, and that’s when those things really took off!

So I may have been spaced-out, but I still knew enough to get us to Hollywood Studios for rope-drop.

The plan was to knock out the big rides – Midway Mania, Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster, and Tower of Terror – before going back to Epcot around noon to meet up with Jennifaerie and Rob...ifaerie? We did the patented Disney Speedwalk to Toy Story Midway Mania (wait – is that what it’s called in Florida?), grabbed FastPasses and walked right on. Florida’s queue has WAY better theming than ours in California Adventure (which is also almost entirely outdoors – boo!), so DH took lots of pictures:

I still really like Midway Mania, but I am coming to realize I will never top the score I got the first time I ever rode it – when I actually beat DH!

Next we ran to Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster, followed by Tower of Terror. This is another ride that has WAY better queue theming in Florida than in California. Where Walt Disney World’s has actual cracked walls exposing lathe and plaster, California Adventure’s just has painted-on cracks, lathe and plaster.

Coming out of TOT we had to stop and take our now obligatory shot of DHS’ Carthay Circle Theater so we can picture it in our minds every time we walk by the hideous office complex that now sits on the site of the real theater.

After our second ride on Toy Story Mania (I think that’s the correct name for the DHS version) I was starting to get hungry and cranky, so we decided to eat there instead of waiting til we got to Epcot. DHS is a bad place to be when you’re a table-service snob trying to figure out how to use free counter service credits…. Fortunately, right before we left for our trip, I ordered the newest version of Kevin Yee’s Walt Disney World Menu Book so that at least I’d know my counter-service options should we have an unscheduled meal. Unfortunately, the counter service section on DHS reads like the menu at a middle school cafeteria: pizza, cheeseburger, pizza, chicken fingers, pizza, pizza salad, pizza burger, etc.

We ended up at the ABC Commissary.

Talk about uninspired theming – this is a prime example of what we dislike about DHS – it’s all half-a**ed Imagineering, like “We don’t have to theme this giant concrete box ‘cuz it’s supposed to be a soundstage” and “We’ll put in a low-grade food court and say it’s the commissary!” Plus, who wants to be sitting there in Disney, surrounded by unique entertainment options and imaginative diversions but frittering away their lunch watching a string of promos for ABC on TV?

Now when I say our lunch was the worst meal we had on our whole trip, it’s not because anything was cooked wrong or spoiled or whatever – it was just so aggressively mediocre:

Cuban Sandwich with “plantain” chips, Fish & Chips, Fruit Cup, and Chocolate Mousse

After lunch I felt a bit perkier (and I have to admit I had enjoyed the closed-circuit TV's featurette on Michael Giacchino, our fave Disney composer). DH dragged me to the Art of Animation show, which wasn’t as boring as I’d expected (kind of interesting how prominent a role Chris Sanders played in the interactive bits, considering Disney booted him from “Bolt,” [nee, “American Dog”]). We did the Wall*E photo op and that’s about it.

We went back to TOT to use our FastPasses and then got stuck in the Boiler Room for 30 minutes due to technical problems.

.


Finally we got to leave and go to EPCOT to meet Jennifaerie and (just) Rob! Yaaaaaaaaaaaay!

 

[Lorelei528]

Loving your report so far!!!


I didn't know about the 25th anny EPCOT thing!!! dammit. I totally would have checked it out!! I hope they still have it when we return for wedding/disneymoon!

You guys take excellent photos!!! I can't wait to read more!!! Keep it coming!!!



Lori