ABCs of Trip Reporting, Pt. 2-Life Can Be Crappy and Then You Move On (3/7)

[FauntleroyFAN07]

Oh wow, this is like the old times...

the old times, mave would have at least one update in a two week period.

We have been going to MGM since it opened. I remember the old backlot tour would take you by soundstages. We never saw anything being filmed, but we did see the set of a children;s show - don't remember now if it was the Mickey Mouse Club or if it was something else they were doing. We were also there once when there were signs up that they were doing filming of the Cuba Gooding Jr & Anthony Hopkins film, but once again, we missed seeing anything. I think the shooting wound up being delayed until the next day or something.

i remember being there when they did film a few new shows, i remember home improvment filming a few shows there, but you had to be there so early to get tickets and i think it was no kids under a certain age, so we were not allowed to try for them.

but i thought i remember a few filmings of lets make a deal in the area that now houses TSM....i rememeber watching them film it while we were on the walking part of the backlot tour...or maybe it was another game show.

and a few times we were there when they were filming on the old streets that are the fronts for some of the tv shows, they wouldnt let the tour cars go down them because they were full of equipment.

I wanted to add - in the "old" days, when the backlot tour was longer. They used to do a couple green screen things. They had one where they would have a couple kids lay on a giant mechanical bee and they would place them in the Honey I Shrunk the Kids Movie. My kids were too little then and never got picked. But later they put in a bicycle and would film a man on the bike getting drug down the steps at a park...from the 101 Dalmations live movie. Danny did get picked for that once. Somewhere in our closet I should have a picture or maybe 2 of that. Of course if it happened now, in the digital age, I would have 100 pictures and some video clips!

me and my sister were part of the bee ride, i was on the bottom and she was trying to lift me up...to get back on the bee.

i think they should try to find a way to expand to the south of the park and add in some more stuff like that again...but with almost everything being done in CA, i can see how they dont want to "waste" the money to do film stuff there again.

 

[Flossbolna]

Dan and Tanya, I love hearing your stories from the old times! I often get the impression that WDW was a different place in the 80s and 90s than what it is now, but I have only ever seen it after 2004... But I know DLP in the 90s and it was a nicer place then.

Liesa, your criticism about the concept is spot on. I love DHS because I adore the old Hollywood architecture, some of the rides and the Streetmosphere, but DHS definitely suffers from lack of concept. They planned it as a park with a working studio. They gave up on that without ever trying to make it work really (hence Tanya's experience with the empty backlot) and destroyed it finally when Eisner decided to discontinue hand drawn animation. They produced some serious animation in Florida, I think Mulan was produced there, but also scenes from other films. Since then the park has had no cohesive master plan.

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

Dan and Tanya, I love hearing your stories from the old times! I often get the impression that WDW was a different place in the 80s and 90s than what it is now, but I have only ever seen it after 2004... But I know DLP in the 90s and it was a nicer place then.

so you dont even know a disney with AK...back in the day, there used to be a place called discovery island, (which is the little island in the water by Fort wilderness)

you would take a boat out to it, and walk around the "jungle"area and go down paths and wood bridges and such and see all the animals and birds and turtles, it was alot of fun and had some neat shows, they tried to introduce new animals like lions and tigers but they ate all the other animals, so they had to open AK to have a seperate place for them.


true story.

well everything but the last part.


looks like you might have missed the great water park that was rivre country as well.

i dont remember the exact year it closed but pretty sure it was well before 2004

it wasnt that well attended, and was sort of a private water park for the campground guests...that not many people took advantage of.

i won a canon ball contest tehre once, on the cliff diving competition...

i would like to say that it was because i jumped out and at the judges and drenched them, but it might have something to do with the fact that my mom was one of the judges as she was with my sister when i was picked to enter the contest while walking around with my dad.

so they didnt think we knew each other...but ill go with my judge drenching jump.

 

[glennbo123]

Ah yes, I remember being on the DIS the evening you got stuck on IASW. The newsflash was posted on your thread and all of your DIS-friends expressed great concern for your well-being.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I agree, Small World is much prettier at DLR!

Can't believe you lived the nightmare of being stuck in Small World.

 

[pinkxray]

It's a Small World looks so much pretty at DLR. Are most attractions in DL different than WDW? I have never looked into DL much b/c I know we won't be able to go for at least a few years, but I would love to make it there one day.

Being stuck on that ride would drive me crazy.
Love the picture of the CM pushing the boats along with a stick.

 

[All7OfUs]

We have been going to MGM since it opened. I remember the old backlot tour would take you by soundstages. We never saw anything being filmed, but we did see the set of a children;s show - don't remember now if it was the Mickey Mouse Club or if it was something else they were doing. We were also there once when there were signs up that they were doing filming of the Cuba Gooding Jr & Anthony Hopkins film, but once again, we missed seeing anything. I think the shooting wound up being delayed until the next day or something.

I definitely agree about getting lost there. My first visit there this trip I was going to head straight to TSMM (of course) but wound up going waaaay out of my way. I turned left at the Movie Ride and wound up winding my way back by the entrance to the car show and back up the Streets...and, well, I'm not sure exactly how I found it - but I did get there. I finally figured out that you have to go to the right of the Movie Ride through the Animation area then hang a left at the Mermaid. At least the Tower is easy to get to and that is the most important thing!


I wanted to add - in the "old" days, when the backlot tour was longer. They used to do a couple green screen things. They had one where they would have a couple kids lay on a giant mechanical bee and they would place them in the Honey I Shrunk the Kids Movie. My kids were too little then and never got picked. But later they put in a bicycle and would film a man on the bike getting drug down the steps at a park...from the 101 Dalmations live movie. Danny did get picked for that once. Somewhere in our closet I should have a picture or maybe 2 of that. Of course if it happened now, in the digital age, I would have 100 pictures and some video clips!

That's why I love hosting a thread! So much cool information passed between us all!! THANKS, Tanya!!

the old times, mave would have at least one update in a two week period.



i remember being there when they did film a few new shows, i remember home improvment filming a few shows there, but you had to be there so early to get tickets and i think it was no kids under a certain age, so we were not allowed to try for them.

but i thought i remember a few filmings of lets make a deal in the area that now houses TSM....i rememeber watching them film it while we were on the walking part of the backlot tour...or maybe it was another game show.

and a few times we were there when they were filming on the old streets that are the fronts for some of the tv shows, they wouldnt let the tour cars go down them because they were full of equipment.


me and my sister were part of the bee ride, i was on the bottom and she was trying to lift me up...to get back on the bee.

i think they should try to find a way to expand to the south of the park and add in some more stuff like that again...but with almost everything being done in CA, i can see how they dont want to "waste" the money to do film stuff there again.

That's such neat "old time" trivia, Dan! I love hearing everyone's experiences from a while back. Something I KNOW I would have loved was the River Country!! We had camped at FW in Jan, 2000, and didn't even know about it them; but then again, it was FREEZING too.

Dan and Tanya, I love hearing your stories from the old times! I often get the impression that WDW was a different place in the 80s and 90s than what it is now, but I have only ever seen it after 2004... But I know DLP in the 90s and it was a nicer place then.

Liesa, your criticism about the concept is spot on. I love DHS because I adore the old Hollywood architecture, some of the rides and the Streetmosphere, but DHS definitely suffers from lack of concept. They planned it as a park with a working studio. They gave up on that without ever trying to make it work really (hence Tanya's experience with the empty backlot) and destroyed it finally when Eisner decided to discontinue hand drawn animation. They produced some serious animation in Florida, I think Mulan was produced there, but also scenes from other films. Since then the park has had no cohesive master plan.

The architecture IS amazing there!! I REALLY, really love the art deco/40s feel to it! But, without the original view that hasn't been followed through, it just sort of has become obsolete because all that is there now fails utterly to support what is in place as a basis. Anyway, that's at least my two cents. Sad.

so you dont even know a disney with AK...back in the day, there used to be a place called discovery island, (which is the little island in the water by Fort wilderness)

you would take a boat out to it, and walk around the "jungle"area and go down paths and wood bridges and such and see all the animals and birds and turtles, it was alot of fun and had some neat shows, they tried to introduce new animals like lions and tigers but they ate all the other animals, so they had to open AK to have a seperate place for them.


true story.

well everything but the last part.


looks like you might have missed the great water park that was rivre country as well.

i dont remember the exact year it closed but pretty sure it was well before 2004

it wasnt that well attended, and was sort of a private water park for the campground guests...that not many people took advantage of.

i won a canon ball contest tehre once, on the cliff diving competition...

i would like to say that it was because i jumped out and at the judges and drenched them, but it might have something to do with the fact that my mom was one of the judges as she was with my sister when i was picked to enter the contest while walking around with my dad.

so they didnt think we knew each other...but ill go with my judge drenching jump.

Discovery Island would have been so cool, although I was busting up at Rob's description of it on his PTR; he deemed it a "stinkin' mud hole" if I go the right gyst of it.

Ah yes, I remember being on the DIS the evening you got stuck on IASW. The newsflash was posted on your thread and all of your DIS-friends expressed great concern for your well-being.

I knew I was in mortal danger, however immediately recognized the incredible TR opportunity I was being afforded. While cursing the gods, I was also pretty stoked at my "good fortune".

I agree, Small World is much prettier at DLR!

Can't believe you lived the nightmare of being stuck in Small World.

I lived to tell about it. I may be a bit nuttier for it, but I am here to retell my tale.

 

[All7OfUs]

It's a Small World looks so much pretty at DLR. Are most attractions in DL different than WDW? I have never looked into DL much b/c I know we won't be able to go for at least a few years, but I would love to make it there one day.

Being stuck on that ride would drive me crazy.
Love the picture of the CM pushing the boats along with a stick.

There are some striking differences between the parks, but enough the same that it's still VERY Disney. One of the biggest is the layout especially over in the Frontierland BTMRR areas. Totally different! Also, there is no Liberty Square at DLR, and no New Orleans Square at WDW. Subtler differences are like indoor(covered) teacups at WDW as opposed to uncovered at WDW.

I posted a link on the previous page to Jack Spences blog that really gives a lot of differences between the parks that you might be interested in.

It was crazy- I'm so glad we only had to go around ONE more time.

 

[ladylyons]

Stil here, still reading. Crazy life is getting in the way of my Dising. Planning birthday parties and getting my two little ones ready for their first experience with school is tiring both emotionally and physically.

Thanks for the fun update. My 2 year old DD was sitting with me earlier when I was reading it and she started singing the song!! Then she had to tell me who everyone was in the pictures. I think I'm doing a pretty good job at the brainwashing!!

I may not be posting much in the next week due to needing to finish cleaning, laundry, getting things ready for my DD's 3rd and DS's 1st birthday party next weekend and the joys of having an additional 5 people come stay in my ity-bity two bedroom condo for 5 days!! Can't wait to read more and please have happy thoughts for me that my sanity stays in tact after my mom, sister, 2 nieces and 1 nephew leave on Sept 5!! I'm going to need it!!

 

[MEK]

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry as you described your IASW plight.

I agree - the outside of the building looks pretty cool. And the inside pictures do look different from the WDW version. But twice through with that song playing. OMG! I seriously don't understand why they can't just stop the music when the ride is down.

We got stuck on it once at WDW. We had this plan to ride it (quickly) then run over to Splash to ride that right before it closed. Then we got stuck - OMG. I think we broke a record running and dodging people to get on Splash right as it went down for the night.

 

[teedee]

My disboards time has been greatly reduced, I had knee replacement surgery in June and went back to work this week, but I'm all caught up now. While I love IASW and was heartbroken it was down for rehab the one time I was at Disneyland, I think I would have jumped overboard and swam for it if I had to go through it twice in a row!

Terri

 

[englishrose47]

Judy went on IASW for the first time last week !!Kyle enjoyed fishing coins out of the water I think he got 22c , the girls rolled their eyes and Judy saaid NEVER agin !!

 

[All7OfUs]

Stil here, still reading. Crazy life is getting in the way of my Dising. Planning birthday parties and getting my two little ones ready for their first experience with school is tiring both emotionally and physically.

Thanks for the fun update. My 2 year old DD was sitting with me earlier when I was reading it and she started singing the song!! Then she had to tell me who everyone was in the pictures. I think I'm doing a pretty good job at the brainwashing!!

I may not be posting much in the next week due to needing to finish cleaning, laundry, getting things ready for my DD's 3rd and DS's 1st birthday party next weekend and the joys of having an additional 5 people come stay in my ity-bity two bedroom condo for 5 days!! Can't wait to read more and please have happy thoughts for me that my sanity stays in tact after my mom, sister, 2 nieces and 1 nephew leave on Sept 5!! I'm going to need it!!

I do know how emotional sending kids off to school for the first time is; I"m in the middle of it myself. I know they'll do find, Sandra! They have a mommy who cares... cares enough to do such a thorough job at indoctrinating her children on all things Disney.

Good luck on getting those parties put together and hosting your company! That takes an enormous amount of work! remember to take deep breaths and have a glass of wine.

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry as you described your IASW plight.

I agree - the outside of the building looks pretty cool. And the inside pictures do look different from the WDW version. But twice through with that song playing. OMG! I seriously don't understand why they can't just stop the music when the ride is down.

We got stuck on it once at WDW. We had this plan to ride it (quickly) then run over to Splash to ride that right before it closed. Then we got stuck - OMG. I think we broke a record running and dodging people to get on Splash right as it went down for the night.

There were a few differences... one being that there were no hidden Mickeys on the jungle vines. Sad.

And you're right! Why couldnt' they just stop the music?? Brilliant idea; you shoudl have been an imagineer!!

Glad you could counteract the trauma with a ride on Splash- quite a night to remember that would have been!!! EEEK!! Wouldn't it have been ironically funny if you had gotten stuck on that one too??

 

[All7OfUs]

My disboards time has been greatly reduced, I had knee replacement surgery in June and went back to work this week, but I'm all caught up now. While I love IASW and was heartbroken it was down for rehab the one time I was at Disneyland, I think I would have jumped overboard and swam for it if I had to go through it twice in a row!

Terri

OH dear! That's NOT a fun surgery to go through! I hope at this point it's better than it was BEFORE the replacement! It took my mom MONTHS to be better from that!

So what kind of job do you have?? Do you enjoy it?

yeah, jumping overboard definitely crossed my mind. But I think the punishment for that is strapping you to a boat and sending you around again.

Judy went on IASW for the first time last week !!Kyle enjoyed fishing coins out of the water I think he got 22c , the girls rolled their eyes and Judy saaid NEVER agin !!

Really? They didn't like it at all?? I like it the first time around- just part of that "gotta do it to make the Disney trip complet"e things.

 

[teedee]

OH dear! That's NOT a fun surgery to go through! I hope at this point it's better than it was BEFORE the replacement! It took my mom MONTHS to be better from that!

So what kind of job do you have?? Do you enjoy it?

yeah, jumping overboard definitely crossed my mind. But I think the punishment for that is strapping you to a boat and sending you around again.

I've just recently reached the point where I'm better than I was presurgery and am glad I had it done. I'm able to walk without a cane, or any help, so that's definitely an improvement. I am a school secretary and I love it. I worked in a high stress, high paying job for 30 years, walked in one day and was told my job was being eliminated effective immediately. After the shock wore off, I decided to find something that I would enjoy doing instead of being stressed and miserable and ended up in an elementary school. I absolutely LOVE it. The money isn't very good, but the benefits are great and I am much happier than I ever was before. this job gives me plenty of time to spend with my family, especially my grandson, who picture is my avatar.

Terri

 

[englishrose47]

I've just recently reached the point where I'm better than I was presurgery and am glad I had it done. I'm able to walk without a cane, or any help, so that's definitely an improvement. I am a school secretary and I love it. I worked in a high stress, high paying job for 30 years, walked in one day and was told my job was being eliminated effective immediately. After the shock wore off, I decided to find something that I would enjoy doing instead of being stressed and miserable and ended up in an elementary school. I absolutely LOVE it. The money isn't very good, but the benefits are great and I am much happier than I ever was before. this job gives me plenty of time to spend with my family, especially my grandson, who picture is my avatar.

Terri

There is a LOT to be said for LOVING your job !!!I love mine and infact work in the same field for 2 different agencies

 

[ladylyons]

I do know how emotional sending kids off to school for the first time is; I"m in the middle of it myself. I know they'll do find, Sandra! They have a mommy who cares... cares enough to do such a thorough job at indoctrinating her children on all things Disney.

I'm just glad I'll still have the baby at home with me after I drop the older two off so it'll hopefully make the transition easier on all of us. Yeah my kids do know a lot about Disney. Now to teach my son all about Walt and why Disneyland was created. But I do have to say he is pretty smart with out anyone telling him anything he's started telling us that Walt is Mickey's Dad. Kind of cute if you ask me.

Good luck on getting those parties put together and hosting your company! That takes an enormous amount of work! remember to take deep breaths and have a glass of wine.

You mean 1 bottle, right? I know everything will go fine it's just the stress of no one bothering to call to say if they are going to make it or not. It get's very frustrating.

 

[All7OfUs]

Touring through DHS is one thing; completely owning it is quite another, and Liesa, Mary, and LeeAnn had just finished doing that. So I suggested we try some other places to find some fun. I had some grand ideas in mind, so I led the way. As far as I could tell, the best way to travel from Point A to Point B was by boat, so I contacted our private Skipper for a lift over to the Beach Club for some eats. While we were waiting, I grabbed the best seat on the dock, and luckily I didn’t have to play the hero and rescue any swimmers. Oh wait, they don’t let people swim in Disney water anymore if it doesn’t’ have chlorine or duck poo.

Pretty soon, our launch came, and we began our leisurely tour from Echo to Crescent Lakes. I was fascinated by the white cranes and other various large water birds that we never get to see here in Oregon (aside from herons) , and I quite enjoyed the fresh breeze on my face as it was hot enough to bake even a tater like myself. The skipper asked if I’d like to try my hand at piloting our craft, and being a rather confident tater, I gave it my best shot. By the end of our journey, I was an expert at navigating the waterways and should you ever have need of a skilled spud you know who to call.

I had overheard Liesa and maroo talking about this place for months, and was pretty excited to see what all of the rumpus was. I successfully docked our boat (very unlike the new woman skipper later in our trip who took a full 10 minutes to dock out boat at POR) at the rather posh looking Beach Club. Our first glimpses were amazing! I have to admit, I could easily see myself having a midnight tryst in the pool at this place- swanky deal, that one is!!

But we did not have the magical room key, which I hear is akin to a ticket to Nirvana, so we headed for our intended destination. When Liesa is not busy greeting others in her unusual manner, she likes to find the Main Mouse hiding around. This one she found is pretty commonly spied, but don’t tell her that- she still thinks she’s pretty clever at that silly game:

Frankly, I was more impressed with the high class act of this resort. Even the flowers must cost around $200 a shot! And that my friends, is a dinner for 4 at California Grill!

After a bit of weaving around (no, none of us had had anything to drink yet today), and some guessing, we found our way to the rock-around-the-clock hang out called Beaches and Cream. My first impression was, WOW! This place is teensy weensy! No wonder during busy times the line hangs out the door. But, my friends, it was decidedly NOT busy during our trip, and in fact, when we were escorted in with that classy Beach Club sort of panache

there were only a couple of other parties eating there! It was not the frenetic scene I had anticipated, but rather turned out to be a pleasant, quiet-ish sort of lunch with good friends.

Amazingly, the water came and Liesa did not nearly spill it on anyone’s lap.

They all had decided what they were going to get long before we’d ever bought plane tickets to Orlando, but I thought I’d take a peek at the fare just to be sure:

and was horrified that they were serving up large portions of my kinfolk!! Hacked to a horrible death, then deep fried, I wasn’t sure I could deal with this sort of macabre massacre of my kind. I was quickly told by The Keeper of the Bag, that if I didn’t pipe down, she’d start pulling off my body parts. I retorted that it’s pretty hard to take off what isn’t there- SOMEONE had lost my nose earlier in the trip. At least I couldn’t smell the frying potato flesh.

Pretty soon, the burgers came (along with the fries); LeeAnn and Liesa split one, for there were other artery-clogging items slated for later in the day….

See that sweet lady up above?? Her name is Maria, and I think I’m in love! She has the grace of a swan, and has worked at B&C for 22 years!!! Can you imagine loving your job THAT much?! Her smile never faded in the hour we spent there, and she gave us just the right amount of attention.

As the ladies were finishing up their meals, Maria noticed LeeAnn’s button, and brought out a little “welcome to WDW gift” for her. She asked her to guess a number from 1-10, and coincidentally (or not?) she was exactly right. So, in addition to no wait and superb service, we got to play with bubbles during our lunch!

Oh! What’s this?? What could possibly take the attention of 4 servers?? Let’s see what all of the hullabaloo is:

Some people pack the kitchen sink when they go to Disney World, others just order it and Beaches and Cream:

We however did not. We chose to find our hefty caloric intake somewhere else, put a call into our cardiologists to put them on high alert, and made our way to other places to indulge.

I’ll leave you with that nifty little image of splurge, and wish you each a very magical day!

 

[Poolrat]

Now I am confused. I saw the RnR picture but now this comes up.

I just posted the same pictures!

- SOMEONE had lost my nose earlier in the trip. At least I couldn’t smell the frying potato flesh.

I noticed his nose was missing.

See that sweet lady up above?? Her name is Maria, and I think I’m in love! She has the grace of a swan, and has worked at B&C for 22 years!!! Can you imagine loving your job THAT much?! Her smile never faded in the hour we spent there, and she gave us just the right amount of attention.

I love when you find people like that.

Hooray for bubbles.

 

[tinacaplan]

First of all, getting trapped on IASW IS one of my worst Dis-nightmares! It almost happened on our anniversary trip and it has become one of the funniest stories to come out of that trip.

As for the Beach Club.....ah....yes, the beautiful, beautiful Beach Club. Fantastic experience overall. And Beaches and Cream was pretty great, too! Glad you all enjoyed it so much! And is it just me, or are the CMs at the BC amazing or what?