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

[lurkyloo]

Woo hoo, professional Food Porn... very HIGH class! Why it's downright R rated. In fact, it's making my amateur food porn pics feel slutty.

Yeah, when you see what the Roots did with those hot dogs and fries, it'll make the rest of my food pix look like an American Apparel ad!

ooh.. i never thought about it, but maybe I can get the roots to do a photo sesh when I am there next sept?? I'm almost positive I can not afford this, but crap.. I love their style! Can't wait to see your pics!

That's a really good idea! They would get the cutest pix of your kids...

I love it!

How could we not...?

Wow yummy food at WCC! I don't think i've seen anything except the skillet!!

I know, right? Who knew they offered anything else?

Loved your Wishes pictures as well. Hearing your talked Remember Dreams Come True makes me sad that we will see Believe in Holiday Magic instead in December. I soooo wanted to hear Julie Andrews & see those fireworks, but a December trip means holiday fireworks. Will I be disappointed? I doubt it.

No - you'll like it! I mean, there's SNOW at the end... what could be bad? And they play a sappy version of White Christmas that gets me every time...

Yay! More Donald! Thank you!!

Seeing Donald in the future just isn't going to be the same without Patrick right beside him!!

Yeah, after a couple more trips we'll have pix of Patrick beside every single thing there is to see at WDW - and then where will you be? Just wait til the next installment. It's all Patrick, all the time.

Now you're just making me feel guilty... a few years ago, during our first stay at VWL, I told DS (then just 7) that there were alligators who lived in that muck and thrived on whiny kids. Guess that line won't work on him now that he's a teenager, huh?

Sure it will! The alligators have been growing all these years too - now the only thing that will satisfy their appetite is whiny teenagers!

Hi,
I've thoroughly enjoyed your trip report ... I'm 29, going to Disney in January with my parents and sister... I'll be throwing a coin into the first wishing well hoping to meet someone who appreciates the same things I do! (Although I cannot proclaim myself a Disney vet, as I haven't been in 15 years... just waiting for my parents to take me again, I suppose, LOL). However, the wish worked for you, so I'm now a believer in wishes. ...

Aw... thanks! I know your wish will come true - if there's anything I've learned from these boards, it's that there are tons of fabulous people out there who love Disney just as much as we do!

I appreciate your writing style so much. If you and DH wrote a Disney guide I would be the first in line to buy it. Really! Are you an attorney? (I am, so it's not an insult LOL), or are you in publishing, or what. You have me stumped... you are lively and interseting... yet an exquisite writer... I cannot figure what you must do for a living. Advertising? Teaching? hmmm. I know your DH is a puppeteer. I'm serious about the Disney book thing... find an angle and work it! Take care. Tell DH I said hello, and thank him for his very amusing poses in photographs!

Oh my goodness! I'm going to have to save this post for the next time I am down in the dumps!

I am a writer and a copy editor (which means I take other people's writing and spiff it up). Oh dear - now that you know, I'm not allowed to have any more typos in my posts, am I? It's funny because when DH and I meet people as a couple, they always assume I must be a puppeteer too - maybe because only someone similarly afflicted would marry one?

 

[2BoysMom]

Hi,
If you and DH wrote a Disney guide I would be the first in line to buy it. Really!

OK. I'm second in line. When can we expect the publication date?

 

[lov2b@disney]

Carrie- I'm a little late to the party, but didnt stop reading until I was all caught up!! Awesome as usual, you are so very entertaining! Cant wait to read more!!

 

[29apr00]

yeah, let's get going again!!

 

[Disneygrl36]

lurkyloo where are you???????????

 

[lurkyloo]

OK. I'm second in line. When can we expect the publication date?

I'll keep you posted!

Carrie- I'm a little late to the party, but didnt stop reading until I was all caught up!! Awesome as usual, you are so very entertaining! Cant wait to read more!!

Hi Sandy! Good to see you here!

yeah, let's get going again!!

lurkyloo where are you???????????

I'm sorry! I have this second job that I do in the evenings and weekends, and dang if it doesn't cut into valuable trip-report-writing time! I will try to get the next installment going this weekend - DH suggested I break the day into parts since it takes so long to write a whole day - whaddya think?

 

[Circusgirl]

I'm sorry! I have this second job that I do in the evenings and weekends, and dang if it doesn't cut into valuable trip-report-writing time! I will try to get the next installment going this weekend - DH suggested I break the day into parts since it takes so long to write a whole day - whaddya think?

Parts would be great!

 

[Disneygrl36]

Parts would work...................

 

[lurkyloo]

OK, here ya go! Day Six in parts... live "blogged" as I write them today

Thursday!

Today was supposed to be our one day at Animal Kingdom. I don’t know why I only ever schedule one day there – once we’re in the park, we always wish we had more time. As it worked out, we spent the day park-hopping like crazy, so we really didn’t even get one day at AK!

It started with Everything Pop breakfast...

We arrived in time for rope drop (outta the way, cast members holding small animals – you can’t distract us from our Quest for Everest!).

We did the usual FastPass grab before walking right on to Expedition Everest not once, not twice, but THREE times in a row thanks to one of the cast members.

So much free money, so little time...

The first two times we sat in the very front row, and both times we were chatting with the CM at the podium. In those short meetings, we discovered he was a HUGE Imagineering fan, just like we are, and we were breathlessly comparing notes before the ride started. When we asked if the Yeti was in A Mode or B Mode that day (i.e. swinging his arms or just standing there with a strobe light on him), the CM told us he was actually in B+ Mode, where the strobe is on but he swings one arm.

So when we got back into the station the second time, our CM buddy ran up to us and said, “I wanna show you something!” And then he led us into the ride control booth! What a treat! We figured we shouldn’t take pix, so all I have is the door, left tantalizingly open....

Inside, we saw the video monitors they use to watch what’s going on inside the ride, along with the big computer that controls the show effects. He showed us just how many of the original effects are no longer turned on – it’s pretty sad. There’s a bird that flies up at one point as you pass – off.... There are steam/mist effects swirling around the mountain – off.... and of course the full A Mode of the Yeti is only ever turned on when designer Joe Rhode visits the park. Our new pal also told us about the original plans for the ride, which would have had more mountains behind Everest and a longer track. But of course the budget was cut, and since people seem so happy with the ride in abbreviated form, you can bet they’ll never expand it.

When we were done, our friend walked us straight on Everest for a third ride, but he had us sit in the very back this time. It was a lot different! You can see way more of the Yeti from the back of the train.

This is not a picture of what you can see from the back of the train. It's just for atmosphere

After Everest, we went straight to the Safari and had a great ride. I should mention that the weather that day was perfect – I couldn’t believe it was September. It was cooler than any other day we were there, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.

A picture of Wazzo for Wazzo!

 

[JustMickey]

Wow what a cool opportunity! It's a shame that EE will probably never live up to its true potential though!

 

[travelmel]

Backstage Pass.. how very Rockstar!

http://www.myspaceanimations.com/images/Slash.gif

 

[lurkyloo]

Wow what a cool opportunity! It's a shame that EE will probably never live up to its true potential though!

I know! I hate hearing things like that....

Backstage Pass.. how very Rockstar!

Niiiiiice.....! But do you have one of Kip Winger?

 

[MEK]

Hi!

Just checking in. I love the picture of the castle at the top of your post on page 5. Amazing. And 3 back to back rides on Everest - 2 in the front seat. I am so jealous! Still lovin' your report!

 

[lurkyloo]

Now I had heard that they do a preview of the Food & Wine Festival the day before it starts, so we left AK after the safari and dashed over to Epcot for 11am when the World Showcase opened so we could have lunch.

On our way in, DH suddenly had a complete mental breakdown and dashed into a store to buy a starter set and begin a life-long addiction to pin trading.

And so it begins...

The reason he started trading is that he had discovered a new series of WDW cast member-only Muppet pins featuring lower profile characters and wanted to get them all. Like most addicts, he claimed that it would be “just this once” and that he could “stop at any time.”

Pin pusher

When we got to the World Showcase, we discovered that the food booths weren’t scheduled to be open for business until 1pm – right when we had a hot date at AK with ... Pocahontas and Her Forest Friends!!! (We wanted to see the show for the first and last time, since it was to be cancelled at the end of Disney’s fiscal year).

Instead, we wandered dejectedly around the Pearville Farm area, sponsored by the National Pear Council or whoever... Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

Then DH had a great idea. Instead of going back to AK for lunch, we should eat at Morocco’s counter service. I didn’t know this was a great idea at the time, cuz the thing I’d had there on our honeymoon was no great shakes. But this day, it was perfect! We split a combination plate to save DDP credits, and it was plenty of food, and really fresh and tasty.

Let the gratuitous shots of Morocco begin!

Shwarma Platter: Chicken & Lamb Combo with hummus, tabouleh and tangerine cous cous salad, plus pita, plus tasty baklava!

After lunch, we dashed back to AK for the Pocahontas show. All that trouble, and it turned out not to even be the show! For some reason, the only thing on the times guide was actually the “how we train the animals” show. The real show didn’t happen for another 45 minutes, or something. So we sat in the blazing sun (seriously – couldn’t they get a real canopy and not this flimsy gauze?) and watched a raccoon walk across a log a few times.

So long, folks – it’s ride op. for me from now on...

Oh, and there was a porcupine too...

Now I love animals, so I was hoping it’d be a real cute behind-the-scenes look at how they’re trained, but it was just “enter stage left, get treat, exit stage right, repeat”.... And to add insult to injury, we hadda come back in 45 minutes to do it all over again, but this time with music and hammy acting! Oh and a wisp of a storyline about looking for an animal who can save the forest.

In the meantime...

Apparently I didn’t get the memo about our pose...

Fresh!!!

Then it was back to Pocahontas & Her Forest Friends – and you can imagine how THAT went! (Spoiler alert: The moral of the story is, humans are the only animal that can save the forest. I think Smokey the Bear should sue.)

After the show we had a couple of hours to bum around AK til our dinner reservation at Boma. I love poking around the Tree of Life during It’s Tough to Be a Bug cuz there’s no one around...

We discovered a little info station behind the show exit where a cast member had two cool giant spiders on display and answered our questions. There was also this photo op...

 

[lurkyloo]

Hi!

Just checking in. I love the picture of the castle at the top of your post on page 5. Amazing. And 3 back to back rides on Everest - 2 in the front seat. I am so jealous! Still lovin' your report!

Aw, thanks! DH does pretty well with our creaky old Canon PowerShot S200, doesn't he?

Thanks for hanging in there during the long gaps between posts! It's this dang Photobucket - the pages take FOREVER to load so I can copy the code into my report!

If anyone has any alternative photo-sharing sites, let me know....

 

[travelmel]

Pretty Morocco shots

 

[Wazzo]

A picture of Wazzo for Wazzo!

Oooh, a genuine birdie!!

Here's a conure for YOU (not Wazzo - courtesy of Google) striking a similar pose:

Wow, I didn't know all that about EE... I'm sad that there is so much missing!

Oh, and keep it comin'!! And thanks for the extra Donald pics!

 

[lurkyloo]

Eventually we decided to give Dinosaur! another try. It’s my friend Lisa’s favorite ride, and I felt bad that we hated it so much the first time. This time we didn’t hate it AS much, but we still think it needs music!

Meh...

Let’s see... what to do next....

...Ah – how about a soaking ride on Kali River Rapids?

Um, sorry there are no pix of the actual ride.... I’d never been on it before, so I had DH snapping shots of the queue right and left!

And then we saw...

...and then....

...Mr. Sleepy Tiger...

...some pots...

...painting guys...

...Lurkyloo live blogging...

Around this time, we realized we needed to be heading over to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for our coveted reservation at Boma. But when we tried to leave....

BAM!

We got jambo-ed by Mickey’s [Traffic] Jammin’ Jungle Parade! Everywhere we turned, there was a crowd or part of the parade!

“I’ll NEVER let you leave my park!!!

I still don’t get this. At Disneyland we have parade stops where they open the rope and let you cross through a gap in the parade. At WDW, if you get stuck behind a parade, you better pray you don’t have a 5:10 ADR at Boma... or a flight to catch (that’s foreshadowing!)....

Finally, mercifully, the parade ended and we were caught up in the wave of people pouring out of the park. Fortunately, AKL is right nearby, so we burned rubber for, like, 500 feet, and made it to Boma on time!

 

[lurkyloo]

I was completely stuffed after one plate but refused to accept it. How could I have squandered my appetite on just one trip when there was all this bounty?

Random food shots – another thing I hate about buffets. How am I s’posed to tell y’all what in the heck this is?

Yes, those are Zebra Domes. No, I still don't like them

After dinner we rolled out the door between Boma and Jiko to get this shot of my Favorite Place at AKL:

Then we hopped in the car again and made tracks for Epcot, the first night of Food & Wine, and IllumiNations!

(more to come.... tomorrow?)

 

[lurkyloo]

Pretty Morocco shots

Hooray! Validation!!! I'll keep snapping away...

Oooh, a genuine birdie!!

Here's a conure for YOU (not Wazzo - courtesy of Google) striking a similar pose:

Oooh! Faux Wazzo!