jjpenguin
<font color=red>A penguin with mouse ears & wooden
- Joined
- Sep 26, 1999
- Messages
- 3,308
sorry it's taken so long, will get the rest up this week!!
Cast:
DH (37) - likes Disney, loves Star Wars
Me (42) - loves Disney, likes Star Wars Weekends
JJ Penguin - loves deserts, disney, deserts and did I mention deserts?
Today was going to be an interesting day, and that was putting it mildly; today my neice (DN) was going to be joining us for the day.
To set the scene let me quote my previous post on the subject:
So, last christmas we had a family get together. It turns out that my niece (27) is doing an Internship and is in Tampa for a year. So we're talking and she tells us she has an annual passport and we tell her we're often in Orlando. Her internship ends in the summer but she will still be there when we go next in May, so we make tentative plans to meet up.
Mails are sent as to which day etc. We want to keep it casual so we arrange that she'll drive down and meet us at the Boardwalk and we'll take it from there.
The next thing you here is a great big thump as I fall of my chair at her response:"Sounds good, what do you want to do, maybe we can go to a theme park? I still want to see Cinderella Castle"
This can't be my family!! An AP for WDW and it turns out she has only spent 1 day at Epcot an 1 at MGM.....
We had called and agreed to meet between 10.00 and 10.30 at our hotel. DN said she could find it and that although she would be out celebrating her birthday it would not be a problem to be there so early... You can all see where this one is going, can't you...
So we got up at about 8.30 and went for a swim in lovely empty pool. Of course I had to be the first down the slide when it opened which made DH laugh. So well on time I go and get changed and get all our stuff and sit down to wait for DN. There's a bench right in front of the Boardwalk entrance so I can't miss anyone coming in... and I wait... and I wait... and DH joins me at 10.30 and we wait some more. I'm getting impatient, there's parks to go to and things to see... I call DN's mobile, no connection... we wait... we wait... you get the picture. I go and get breakfast burrito's at the Boardwalk Bakery... we wait, call and wait some more. I find 2 hidden Mickey's on the caroussel in the lobby.. we wait some more.
I'm getting really antsy and DH is not a happy camper
. So at 12.00 we decide to give up, we're going to the parks and should DN ever turn up we'll see what we do. We decide to go to AK, as we're waiting for a bus we keep a look out for DN walking up from the parking lot, and we see someone who looks like her, but as she's wearing heels we give DN the credit of the doubt and decide she's too smart to wear heels for a day at WDW... 
Animal Kingdom wasn't that crowded, our first priority was of course a Fastpass for Everest, and to see it live for the first time.
It looked really great, and the theming of the whole area was of course excellent, we got our FP and spent some time watching, DH didn't like the look of the big drop
We then headed over to Dinosaur as that only had a 10 minutes wait. The ride was great as always and as per usual DH said he prefers Dinosaur and I said that I liked Indiana Jones in Disneyland better. I checked my phone for the umpteenth time and lo and behold, I had a voicemail: DN was at the Boardwalk!! I called her and said we would get back to the hotel. That was a very short visit to AK!! On our way out I tried to give my FP's to someone but to my surprise there weren't that many takers.. so much for making pixie dust moments
So back to the BW, where we found DN relaxing in a rocking chair on the porch ... wearing heels!! yes, it was her that we saw
. We sat and chatted for a while and she explained why she was so late: some car trouble apparently.
Well, as it's so late, let's go to the parks... Magic Kingdom next stop. Just a quick check, everybody ok? Bathroom stop: no, Tickets?? erm... DN says :"I think I have it, let me check"..... she doesn't have her AP with her!!! I quickly say something about tickets in the room and dash off as I would otherwise display some very un-disneylike behaviour ie. a major strop!! I had brought all our old tickets along and we have one with 3 days left, so I get that one out of the safe, count to 10, count to 10 again, go into the bathroom and screaam, go out, count to 10 again, take a deep breath and go back downstairs. I am NOT looking forward to the rest of the day...
We get to the MK at parade time, DN has not seen the parade before and thinks it's fab. I leave her and DH watching while I just go to City Hall, there I collect a birthday button for DN and I cancel my ADR for 16.00 at Liberty Tree Tavern. (at least that's what I think I said.. watch this space for more..). I give DH her button and she is very surprised. We carry on along the sidewalk of Main Street but I notice DN is so distracted by the parade that it is very difficult to keep track of her, so I say to DH that he should stay with DN and watch the parade, I'll go and grab a FP for Splash and check out the tip board to see what we can still do as MK on a Sunday is pretty busy.
When I get back the parade has just finished and I meet up DH and DN near the tip board, we head towards Adventureland. DN is straight away distracted by the Treehouse and wants to see it. Fine with me as I haven't been in it for a long time. It's quite fun and I remember how impressed I was by it on my first visit in 1974!! You also get a great view from up there :
Next is Jungle Cruise, the wait is about 20 min's but it goes very quickly, DN is chatting away on her cellphone (which she did all day....) , everyone is calling to congratulate her, and we have to talk to the family members also... We have a great skipper, I think he was called Arthur, he sang a birthday song to DN and had a lot of good jokes. After this it is time for an Ice cream, it is really hot!! DH gets a Minnie Bar and I try a bite.. it is Yummy!! with huge lumps of frozen strawberry, next time I'm getting one of those.
We pass by Pirates, which is closed for refurb, Cap'n Hook and Smee are out there for Autographs and the CM with them says Happy Birthday to DN, and continue on to Frontierland. DN is very impressed with Splash and wants to go on it straight away, by now I have found out that she isn't bothered that much with theming it's more the faster the better . I explain about Fast Pass and point out that the wait it 70 minutes! We can only drag her away from watching the drop with a ride on Big Thunder Mountain, which is pronounced tame but fun.
We still have some time before our FP so I suggest trekking over to the Haunted Mansion if DN can manage the walk there & back in her heels, she's game, so we have a quick visit with the hitchhiking ghosts which goes down very well. Finally it's time for Splash, DN doesn't believe it's that long a line until we go past where we can see how it snakes around, then she's seriously impressed with FP. As soon as we get in the log she's impatient for the big drop... I think she expects that you get in the log, go up the hill and come down: boy, is she going to be disappointed! At every drop she hopes it's it and not till we go inside by the frogs & stuff does she relax enough to look around and enjoy all the theming. She loves the big drop and we both get very wet!!
I took the precaution of getting another ADR so now it's off to the Poly for dinner at the Kona Café. DN loves the boat ride and is seriously impressed with the Poly, she is also impressed that I know about it. When I check in at the desk they can't find my ADR.. .hmmm that's strange... I only cancelled the one at Liberty Tree Tavern. I make a note to check the other ADR I have just in case. Luckily they fit us in very quickly and make a note of DN's birthday. Dinner is good: the food is great, service is a little rushed.. I hate it when you get your main course when you've only just started your appetizer. Luckily we all just take it easy and enjoy our dinner and chatting. For desert DN gets a plate with a Koko Puff decorated with Mickey Sprinkles and Happy Birthday in Chocolate, our server tells us that this is the only way you get Koko Puff's now, they are not on the menu any more.
Stuffed and rested we go back to the MK, waiting for one Monorail so that we can sit up front. As we've done the left hand side of the MK we decide to concentrate on the right hand side and bravely make our way to Fantasyland. DN would love to do Peter Pan but the wait is very long and there are no FP's left, so I persuade DH that we might as well do Small World as there is no wait, I really want to see it after the refurb and it does look absolutely stunning!! DN loves it and wants to straight on again fine with us, we'll just wait here So instead we go straight in to Philharmagic which is another big hit with DN. Pan is a bit quieter by now, so we go there, this is a disappointment to both DN and me, as I have the DLP one in my mind with all the stars. We then head off round to Tomorrowland. Luckily as DN does not realise that there are rides unless she can actually see them we can easily bypass Pooh. Tomorrowland has fairly long waits but we can just manage to fit in Buzz Lightyear, which is also a bit hit, especially as I spin the car as much as possible.
Finally we stake out our spot on Main Street for the Fireworks; the castle is absolutely lovely in the twilight.
Wishes is a great end to the day:
Like a lot of newbies DN thought it was over when there is a pause and is extremely impressed when there is even more. I think when it was over it was the quietest I had seen her all day as she was so captivated!
From there it was follow the crowds back to the buses and then to the Boardwalk where we said goodbye.
So all in all today turned out better than expected, it was fun seeing how impressed DN was with the attractions even though she didn't notice a lot of the theming that makes it such fun. I can easily imagine how it is when she and her friends visit and just don't have as much fun as they could have because they don't prepare and just rush from one "thrill" ride to the next. Hopefully we have "disneyfied' her slightly!
Cast:
DH (37) - likes Disney, loves Star Wars
Me (42) - loves Disney, likes Star Wars Weekends
JJ Penguin - loves deserts, disney, deserts and did I mention deserts?
Today was going to be an interesting day, and that was putting it mildly; today my neice (DN) was going to be joining us for the day.
To set the scene let me quote my previous post on the subject:
So, last christmas we had a family get together. It turns out that my niece (27) is doing an Internship and is in Tampa for a year. So we're talking and she tells us she has an annual passport and we tell her we're often in Orlando. Her internship ends in the summer but she will still be there when we go next in May, so we make tentative plans to meet up.
Mails are sent as to which day etc. We want to keep it casual so we arrange that she'll drive down and meet us at the Boardwalk and we'll take it from there.
The next thing you here is a great big thump as I fall of my chair at her response:"Sounds good, what do you want to do, maybe we can go to a theme park? I still want to see Cinderella Castle"
This can't be my family!! An AP for WDW and it turns out she has only spent 1 day at Epcot an 1 at MGM.....
We had called and agreed to meet between 10.00 and 10.30 at our hotel. DN said she could find it and that although she would be out celebrating her birthday it would not be a problem to be there so early... You can all see where this one is going, can't you...
So we got up at about 8.30 and went for a swim in lovely empty pool. Of course I had to be the first down the slide when it opened which made DH laugh. So well on time I go and get changed and get all our stuff and sit down to wait for DN. There's a bench right in front of the Boardwalk entrance so I can't miss anyone coming in... and I wait... and I wait... and DH joins me at 10.30 and we wait some more. I'm getting impatient, there's parks to go to and things to see... I call DN's mobile, no connection... we wait... we wait... you get the picture. I go and get breakfast burrito's at the Boardwalk Bakery... we wait, call and wait some more. I find 2 hidden Mickey's on the caroussel in the lobby.. we wait some more.
I'm getting really antsy and DH is not a happy camper
. So at 12.00 we decide to give up, we're going to the parks and should DN ever turn up we'll see what we do. We decide to go to AK, as we're waiting for a bus we keep a look out for DN walking up from the parking lot, and we see someone who looks like her, but as she's wearing heels we give DN the credit of the doubt and decide she's too smart to wear heels for a day at WDW... Animal Kingdom wasn't that crowded, our first priority was of course a Fastpass for Everest, and to see it live for the first time.
It looked really great, and the theming of the whole area was of course excellent, we got our FP and spent some time watching, DH didn't like the look of the big drop
We then headed over to Dinosaur as that only had a 10 minutes wait. The ride was great as always and as per usual DH said he prefers Dinosaur and I said that I liked Indiana Jones in Disneyland better. I checked my phone for the umpteenth time and lo and behold, I had a voicemail: DN was at the Boardwalk!! I called her and said we would get back to the hotel. That was a very short visit to AK!! On our way out I tried to give my FP's to someone but to my surprise there weren't that many takers.. so much for making pixie dust moments So back to the BW, where we found DN relaxing in a rocking chair on the porch ... wearing heels!! yes, it was her that we saw
. We sat and chatted for a while and she explained why she was so late: some car trouble apparently. Well, as it's so late, let's go to the parks... Magic Kingdom next stop. Just a quick check, everybody ok? Bathroom stop: no, Tickets?? erm... DN says :"I think I have it, let me check"..... she doesn't have her AP with her!!! I quickly say something about tickets in the room and dash off as I would otherwise display some very un-disneylike behaviour ie. a major strop!! I had brought all our old tickets along and we have one with 3 days left, so I get that one out of the safe, count to 10, count to 10 again, go into the bathroom and screaam, go out, count to 10 again, take a deep breath and go back downstairs. I am NOT looking forward to the rest of the day...
We get to the MK at parade time, DN has not seen the parade before and thinks it's fab. I leave her and DH watching while I just go to City Hall, there I collect a birthday button for DN and I cancel my ADR for 16.00 at Liberty Tree Tavern. (at least that's what I think I said.. watch this space for more..). I give DH her button and she is very surprised. We carry on along the sidewalk of Main Street but I notice DN is so distracted by the parade that it is very difficult to keep track of her, so I say to DH that he should stay with DN and watch the parade, I'll go and grab a FP for Splash and check out the tip board to see what we can still do as MK on a Sunday is pretty busy.
When I get back the parade has just finished and I meet up DH and DN near the tip board, we head towards Adventureland. DN is straight away distracted by the Treehouse and wants to see it. Fine with me as I haven't been in it for a long time. It's quite fun and I remember how impressed I was by it on my first visit in 1974!! You also get a great view from up there :
Next is Jungle Cruise, the wait is about 20 min's but it goes very quickly, DN is chatting away on her cellphone (which she did all day....) , everyone is calling to congratulate her, and we have to talk to the family members also... We have a great skipper, I think he was called Arthur, he sang a birthday song to DN and had a lot of good jokes. After this it is time for an Ice cream, it is really hot!! DH gets a Minnie Bar and I try a bite.. it is Yummy!! with huge lumps of frozen strawberry, next time I'm getting one of those.
We pass by Pirates, which is closed for refurb, Cap'n Hook and Smee are out there for Autographs and the CM with them says Happy Birthday to DN, and continue on to Frontierland. DN is very impressed with Splash and wants to go on it straight away, by now I have found out that she isn't bothered that much with theming it's more the faster the better . I explain about Fast Pass and point out that the wait it 70 minutes! We can only drag her away from watching the drop with a ride on Big Thunder Mountain, which is pronounced tame but fun.
We still have some time before our FP so I suggest trekking over to the Haunted Mansion if DN can manage the walk there & back in her heels, she's game, so we have a quick visit with the hitchhiking ghosts which goes down very well. Finally it's time for Splash, DN doesn't believe it's that long a line until we go past where we can see how it snakes around, then she's seriously impressed with FP. As soon as we get in the log she's impatient for the big drop... I think she expects that you get in the log, go up the hill and come down: boy, is she going to be disappointed! At every drop she hopes it's it and not till we go inside by the frogs & stuff does she relax enough to look around and enjoy all the theming. She loves the big drop and we both get very wet!!
I took the precaution of getting another ADR so now it's off to the Poly for dinner at the Kona Café. DN loves the boat ride and is seriously impressed with the Poly, she is also impressed that I know about it. When I check in at the desk they can't find my ADR.. .hmmm that's strange... I only cancelled the one at Liberty Tree Tavern. I make a note to check the other ADR I have just in case. Luckily they fit us in very quickly and make a note of DN's birthday. Dinner is good: the food is great, service is a little rushed.. I hate it when you get your main course when you've only just started your appetizer. Luckily we all just take it easy and enjoy our dinner and chatting. For desert DN gets a plate with a Koko Puff decorated with Mickey Sprinkles and Happy Birthday in Chocolate, our server tells us that this is the only way you get Koko Puff's now, they are not on the menu any more.
Stuffed and rested we go back to the MK, waiting for one Monorail so that we can sit up front. As we've done the left hand side of the MK we decide to concentrate on the right hand side and bravely make our way to Fantasyland. DN would love to do Peter Pan but the wait is very long and there are no FP's left, so I persuade DH that we might as well do Small World as there is no wait, I really want to see it after the refurb and it does look absolutely stunning!! DN loves it and wants to straight on again
fine with us, we'll just wait here So instead we go straight in to Philharmagic which is another big hit with DN. Pan is a bit quieter by now, so we go there, this is a disappointment to both DN and me, as I have the DLP one in my mind with all the stars. We then head off round to Tomorrowland. Luckily as DN does not realise that there are rides unless she can actually see them we can easily bypass Pooh. Tomorrowland has fairly long waits but we can just manage to fit in Buzz Lightyear, which is also a bit hit, especially as I spin the car as much as possible.Finally we stake out our spot on Main Street for the Fireworks; the castle is absolutely lovely in the twilight.
Wishes is a great end to the day:
Like a lot of newbies DN thought it was over when there is a pause and is extremely impressed when there is even more. I think when it was over it was the quietest I had seen her all day as she was so captivated!
From there it was follow the crowds back to the buses and then to the Boardwalk where we said goodbye.
So all in all today turned out better than expected, it was fun seeing how impressed DN was with the attractions even though she didn't notice a lot of the theming that makes it such fun. I can easily imagine how it is when she and her friends visit and just don't have as much fun as they could have because they don't prepare and just rush from one "thrill" ride to the next. Hopefully we have "disneyfied' her slightly!
