An almost-girly trip ~ February 2009 TR!

[jewels1916]

Sad you didn't get to do TSM! We didn't get to do it last time we were there either, and it is the top of my list for when we go in December. That's where we will be going as soon as we get to DHS.

I am like you with Epcot. I'm not sure it's my absolute favorite park, but I can spend hours there shopping, taking pics and of course, eating!

 

[DisKate]

Feels more appropriate to ask you a question on your own trip report...so I came over here instead!


What kind of camera did your brother end up getting?

 

[CanadianWDWfan]

I'm lucky, I always get a bed to myself so I never have your problem. Poor thing, you had to fight for the covers.

I love the Mickey head breakfast plate, I would have eaten the bacon first.

I wish your Dad felt well enough to stay with you, but he probably just needed rest.

Did I notice a VB bag? I've seen alot of them here on the DIS. Fun pic!

I watched the first AI but stopped after that. I couldn't see myself waiting for hours to see them either. I'm sure the AI attraction will be a huge hit, a lot of people watch that show, I'm in the minority who doesn't.

 

[MeMom]

We got breakfast at the food court. I got the child breakfast platter, because I wasn't sure how much I could eat.

According to some threads I've read, those Mickey plates are being used up and they're going to just regular paper plates for kids meals. That could be just in the parks, though, and not the resorts. I don't remember the details, but I did read about people who were receiving kids meals on regular plates. It may be that you got one of the last of another dying Disney 'treasure'. Did you keep it? We have several we use for serving dishes at Disney parties. Brooklynn uses them sometimes, too.

That's a nice Tower of Terror picture.


CanadianWDWfan - add me to your group. I know what American Idol is - a singing/talent contest of some sort - but I have never watched it. I know it is immensely popular, though.

 

[DisKate]

So I just scrolled back up to look at your VB bag and I noticed the LGMH....question....did you just laminate it and tie it to your bag or did you cover up the parts where it says what the official color is? I ended up putting princess/fairy stickers on mine

 

[Megablocks]

Sad you didn't get to do TSM! We didn't get to do it last time we were there either, and it is the top of my list for when we go in December. That's where we will be going as soon as we get to DHS.

I am like you with Epcot. I'm not sure it's my absolute favorite park, but I can spend hours there shopping, taking pics and of course, eating!

It's definitely on the top of my list, too! Whenever we make the plans to go back, I am making a to-do list and actually carrying it around with me. I knew that I had a "to-do" list at the start of this, but I couldn't remember most of it.

My mom and I spent I don't know how long one day just in the back of Morocco, taking pictures of the fountain, the stores, the signs, and the structures. If my dad or Kailyn had been with us, they would have been soooo bored. And the eating...oh my goodness yes. We stopped at the bakery in Norway a few times, because my mom loved the school bread, and I loved the almond pretzel (I heard about it from MeMom -- I probably never would have tried it otherwise. The DIS is wonderful)

Feels more appropriate to ask you a question on your own trip report...so I came over here instead!


What kind of camera did your brother end up getting?

He ended up not getting a camera at the store -- he and Charles were looking at the video cameras, while I was looking at the regular cameras with video functions because I thought that was what he wanted. Charles got a digital video camera from his parents for Christmas, and it takes still pictures as well -- it's a Sanyo Xacti. It's pretty tiny and fits in his pocket, so Michael ordered that, and found a 4 GB memory card on sale as well. They also sell them at the game store he works at, so he could get a discount if he needs another one.

I'm lucky, I always get a bed to myself so I never have your problem. Poor thing, you had to fight for the covers.

I love the Mickey head breakfast plate, I would have eaten the bacon first.

I wish your Dad felt well enough to stay with you, but he probably just needed rest.

Did I notice a VB bag? I've seen alot of them here on the DIS. Fun pic!

I watched the first AI but stopped after that. I couldn't see myself waiting for hours to see them either. I'm sure the AI attraction will be a huge hit, a lot of people watch that show, I'm in the minority who doesn't.

I am so used to having a bed by myself! The covers annoyed me, but it was better than what Kailyn used to be like in her sleep -- she was VERY active in her sleep. I remember we had to share a bed years ago when we were coming home from Ohio and stayed in a single room somewhere in PA overnight -- I kept on waking up to punches in the head, or kicks in the back, and I got hit in the face once. I'm SO glad that she outgrew that!

My dad made it out a couple of days later -- I know that he came out and met my mom, Kailyn, and I on Friday, which was our second full day. After that, he was well enough to get out, go on rides, and even don the glasses for the picture.

Yup, that's my VB bag -- I asked for it for Christmas and I <3 it! I'm not a fan of large bags, and I prefer not to carry a bag at all sometimes, but I've realized that I need one. It was perfect because I could fit my autograph book, a bottle of ibuprofen, my wallet, and even squeeze my mug in there.

I like the show, but I don't make it a point to watch it. There are women that I work with who watch it religiously, and were always shocked when I said that I didn't watch it. Not everyone is a fan. I did start watching the actual performances once in a while and really really liked David Cook, but I'm not going to make it a point to visit the attraction -- I just have no interest. When I woke up the next morning, I realized that my mom had fallen asleep with the news on, and they showed some former AI contestant with a news anchor, and they showed DHS during the parade. It was MADNESS.

According to some threads I've read, those Mickey plates are being used up and they're going to just regular paper plates for kids meals. That could be just in the parks, though, and not the resorts. I don't remember the details, but I did read about people who were receiving kids meals on regular plates. It may be that you got one of the last of another dying Disney 'treasure'. Did you keep it? We have several we use for serving dishes at Disney parties. Brooklynn uses them sometimes, too.

That's a nice Tower of Terror picture.


CanadianWDWfan - add me to your group. I know what American Idol is - a singing/talent contest of some sort - but I have never watched it. I know it is immensely popular, though.

I think that my mom did end up keeping the plate. And I noticed that at Pop, not all the kids meals were served on the Mickey plates, but I figured that was due to the fact that it was mostly the Mickey head waffle kids meals and maybe it was easier to put them on a regular plate. That was the only kids meal I got during the trip. I really like those plates, I hope they don't stop using them.

Thanks! I was so glad that I could stop and get pictures without worrying about anyone behind me. I love that entire queue.

So I just scrolled back up to look at your VB bag and I noticed the LGMH....question....did you just laminate it and tie it to your bag or did you cover up the parts where it says what the official color is? I ended up putting princess/fairy stickers on mine

Yup, I just laminated it and then tied it on. Didn't hide the color thing or anything. I wish I had thought to put stickers on it. I laminated it with some clear contact paper my mom had, and it worked really well, even after my getting DRENCHED on Splash Mountain. It dried a little funny, but it didn't fall off or anything!

 

[DisKate]

I ended up using packing tape because I was unable to find any contact paper

 

[Megablocks]

I ended up using packing tape because I was unable to find any contact paper

Whatever does the job -- I was close to hunting down some tape when I wasn't sure if my mom would be able to find the contact paper. I'm sure that the packing tape will do a much better job.

*********************

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Day 2, part 2 -- Thursday, February 12. DHS continued, and Mommy and Meg time at Epcot.

After Kailyn and I rode ToT and met up with Mom, we all headed over to Rockin' Rollercoaster. This is definitely a family favorite. My mom loves it because it has Aerosmith, and because it's so fast and smooth that you barely register the upside-down parts. I can't remember how long the wait was for this, but it wasn't long -- maybe 20 minutes.

The cool door that everyone (myself included) MUST touch:

Getting close...

We had JUST been shown to our spots to wait behind those in front of us when all the lights inside came on, and an announcement came on telling us that they were experiencing technical difficulties. What?! I didn't get to ride this last year, I NEED to ride it! We waited for about 10-15 minutes, and I was getting increasingly paranoid that we wouldn't be able to ride, or that there would be technical difficulties when we were ON the ride. I had thoughts of the ride stopping at the upside down part and really started to freak myself out. Get those thoughts OUT, I am going on, and I AM GOING TO ENJOY IT, BECAUSE WE ARE IN THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH.

After those 10-15 minutes of waiting, the lights went back down, and everyone cheered. Not so fast, the lights went on AGAIN. This time, it was very brief. We finally got on.

It didn't come out well -- we look faceless. We did end up buying the picture, though, and once the trip part is done, I plan on doing a souvie post and will include that picture. I just need to take a picture of it.

Since we are females, we had to do some shopping there, and on our way out. At the RnR gift shop, I got a gray t-shirt that says "duck duck goose world champion." Both my parents said, "that is sooo you."

The Villains in Vogue store is a favorite of ours, so we had to stop in there. I continued to feed my shirt obsession by buying a sleeveless black Jack Skellington shirt (on sale for $12!), and a dark gray Jack Skellington t-shirt. Yes, I have a problem. Kailyn got a wicked cute Jack Skellington tote bag, and all three of us purchased a Vinylmation.

I'm not going to lie, those Vinylmations are dangerous. What they are are little Mickey figurines that are painted all different ways. The catch is, you don't know which one you're getting until you open the box and manage to get through the ridiculous silver wrapping. I realized after struggling (read: trying to rip, bite, and pop my way through the wrapping), that there's a little card inside that shows the picture of your Vinylmation. They're non-returnable and non-refundable. Most of them are really cute. I unfortunately didn't upload any pictures of them yet, but I will.

After Kailyn watched me struggling with opening the thing all the way out of the park, and all the way to the bus stop (where I proceeded to sit down and STILL struggle with it and ask HOW do they expect us to open these stupid things?!), she took HERS out and asked, "do you have a pen? That might work."



I can't tell if she just liked watching me struggle, or if she really didn't think of a pen until after she took hers out. I think she just liked watching me have problems with it.

All of ours were quite cute. Kailyn and I both got a Figment, and Mom got a Kermit. They had pictures of all the possible ones you could get on the back of the box, and everyone decided that they wanted the yeti Vinylmation. It was quite cute in a very bizarre kind of way.

I also snapped a picture on the way out to show what it looked like before the AI parade. A CM laughed at me when I stopped and stepped to the side, saying that I wanted to get a picture of all the crazy people lining up for the parade.

After a little rest and relaxation at Pop, Kailyn decided that she was going to stay at the room with Dad and get some more rest (she still wasn't feeling great from her cold), and Mom and I decided to go to Epcot.

We headed back here:

to use our FP's from earlier in the day. I was not about to let that go to waste!

After that, we decided that, since we were right there, we would go on Living with the Land. I really really like this ride and we hadn't been on it for a long time.

(Scroll quickly, MeMom)

We did Test Track as well, and made a pit stop before heading to the World Showcase.

The fountains were closed. I have a picture of my mom in front of the sign, looking grumpy, but I didn't upload it.

Continued in next post...

 

[Megablocks]

Day 2, part 2 continued.

These replaced the YOAMD signs. Pretty cute!

We went through Canada first, and caught the end of an Off Kilter show. I love bagpipes and they are really good.

We just kind of meandered along. We were both getting really tired and knew that this was our first full day and that we had plenty of time to come back and do anything we missed.

We LOVE the big store in Japan, and my mom really wanted to see the candy lady. We got there about 10 minutes before she was supposed to start.

She is so cute and so talented. That was the only good picture I got of her, since it was getting dark and the lighting there was weird. She was making a scorpion in that picture, and she also made a raccoon, a giraffe, a dragon, a panda, and I think some kind of a bird.

After that, we headed in to the shop. I could spend hours there just looking at all the different things they have there. We ended up in the back, with the candy. Mom got some pocky for her and Kailyn, and I got some apple gummies. I also got a little sake cup for Charles, and had his name written on it in Japanese.

After that, we were both pretty tired and just powered through the rest of WS. We did, however, make a stop at the bakery in Norway. My mom wanted to try school bread, and I wanted to try the sweet almond pretzel that I had read about in MeMom's report.

I apologize for the missing piece; I took that back at the room and I had been sneaking out little pieces of the pretzel to eat when we were walking through the rest of WS. It was REALLY good. I'm not a huge almond person, but this was yummy.

My mom loved the school bread -- she said it was almost like a doughnut, but lighter. I didn't try any, because I hate coconut. I sometimes don't mind the flavor. I will drink a pina colada, but I will not eat anything with coconut on or in it. I know, I'm a walking contradiction.

I think that we rode SSE, because we both love it.

On the way out, we passed the vendors selling pretty light-up things. I wanted to buy my mom and I a light-up Tink, but he only had one left. Mom said to get that one for myself, and I promised her one once we found another.

Sorry it's sideways...I thought I rotated it when I uploaded it.

Just a piece of advice for anyone who might want to buy one of these -- I would use the pin part, and not the chain part. It stayed on my zipper for a day or two, but I caught it falling off once, and a couple of days after that, I didn't catch it falling off. I ended up buying another and pinned it on my bag, which worked much better.

I am going to start doing smaller installments -- it's easier and I want to drag this out for as long as I can.

Up next...opening MK!

 

[Lady Lallie]

Sounds like you had a good first full day. I love the light up tink and thank you for clearing up those Vinylmation things! I have been seeing them advertised and had no idea what they are. Thank you!! It's been driving me nuts.

 

[DisKate]

I think we are back to being on the same brain wave-length again....I dislike coconut but I like pina colada's

They sell Pocky at Wegman's up here and I once ate an entire box of the chocolate kind so as a result I can't stand it anymore

I'm really hoping to open the MK this trip, so I'm going to show Patrick the pics in an attempt to convince him that, yes, he really does want to get up at the crack of dawn to go with me

 

[Megablocks]

Sounds like you had a good first full day. I love the light up tink and thank you for clearing up those Vinylmation things! I have been seeing them advertised and had no idea what they are. Thank you!! It's been driving me nuts.

Thanks -- I love the Tink! She was like ten bucks but I figured it was well-worth it, because I like having things to stick on my bag when I'm in Disney, and if they light up, even better!

Haha, I had no idea that they existed before we left! I don't even think I was sure what I was buying until my mom explained it to me. They sell big ones, too, but those ones are just plain white. All the cards that come with them have a picture of the Vinylmation along with the artist's name, so maybe the big white ones are in case you want to create one and see if they pick it to manufacture? I never figured it out. All I know is, I ended up coming home with four of them, and they are displayed right on the top part of my desk.

I think we are back to being on the same brain wave-length again....I dislike coconut but I like pina colada's

They sell Pocky at Wegman's up here and I once ate an entire box of the chocolate kind so as a result I can't stand it anymore

I'm really hoping to open the MK this trip, so I'm going to show Patrick the pics in an attempt to convince him that, yes, he really does want to get up at the crack of dawn to go with me

That is too funny! Now I feel like less of a walking contradiction, knowing that someone else shares that. I remember when I visited my friend at college a couple of years ago, two of the girls on her floor wanted to make a cake, and they picked to make a German chocolate cake, which has coconut. I ate some because I wanted to be polite but I was like I barely even chewed it...I took reallllly tiny bites and just swallowed it with the least amount of chewing possible.

I hope you get to open MK!! When we went, the park opened at 9, so we didn't have to be up TOO early. We missed the opening show because we got there just a couple of minutes after 9. Here are a couple of pictures inside:

There will definitely be more! I uploaded as many as I could.

 

[Charleston Princess]

Okay, as I was reading about the technical difficulties on RnRC, I totally thought, "What if it stops when they are going upside down???" Then, I read that you were thinking the same thing.

Vinylmation figures sound neat -- I didn't notice those before -- how much are they?

I love, love, love the Tink -- I want one! Adding that to my souvenir list for sure!

Drag it out, drag it out -- it's a long time until June for me.

 

[MeMom]

I scrolled quickly.
I hope I don't have nightmares tonight of being trapped in there with those poor fishies!

I am a huge any kind of nut person, and I loved the almond pretzel!
I'm glad you got to try one.

I will have to try the pocky. Do you think that is something my students would like for me to bring back to them? Is it expensive? Are there ten in one box, as the picture shows?

 

[tinkerbell87512]

I love the shop in Japan! I could spend hours in there too. There is just so much to look at.

Great update and pictures. ohh and I always have to touch that door at RnR too!

 

[DisKate]

So I just realized that I probably won't get to see the opening
The one morning that we will be up for sure and at the MK is the day that we take the KTTK tour...we have to be there at 8:15 (hoping we can make it from POP! in time) and the park doesn't open until 9...but we will get pics (hopefully) of an empty Main St!

 

[CanadianWDWfan]

I love Disney tees! I can't wait to see your souvie pics.

Did you go to the new "Design your own tee" store at DTD?

Never heard of Vinylmations before, you'll have to show us.

What does Pocky taste like?

I'd love to have one of those almond pretzels. yummy!

 

[Megablocks]

Okay, as I was reading about the technical difficulties on RnRC, I totally thought, "What if it stops when they are going upside down???" Then, I read that you were thinking the same thing.

Vinylmation figures sound neat -- I didn't notice those before -- how much are they?

I love, love, love the Tink -- I want one! Adding that to my souvenir list for sure!

Drag it out, drag it out -- it's a long time until June for me.

I was so paranoid about that! I don't like the feeling of being restrained unless we're actually moving, and I've had way too many of those falling dreams.

I think that the Vinylmations must be new, because we didn't see any on our April trip, but they were all over the place! They are $10/each -- I think like $10.60 with tax. In the Villains in Vogue store, we saw one woman buying four of them at once. We all came home with four each, but we got them on four separate occasions -- it felt cheaper that way.

I scrolled quickly.
I hope I don't have nightmares tonight of being trapped in there with those poor fishies!

I am a huge any kind of nut person, and I loved the almond pretzel!
I'm glad you got to try one.

I will have to try the pocky. Do you think that is something my students would like for me to bring back to them? Is it expensive? Are there ten in one box, as the picture shows?

I know you don't like that part so I had to put in a warning!

I think your students would like it. There's all different kinds, but I think that the chocolate-dipped kind would be safe for 3rd graders. If you get the regular box (1.72 oz box -- there's an unopened pack in my room ), there are 4 packs of five sticks.

I love the shop in Japan! I could spend hours in there too. There is just so much to look at.

Great update and pictures. ohh and I always have to touch that door at RnR too!

There are SO many things to look at in that store. There was one keychain that I kinda wanted to get for my BF -- it made popping noises like bubble wrap. I always manage to walk out with at least one thing from there, and some candy.

Whenever I go by that door, I can never, ever resist the temptation to touch it, and I always think how awesome it would be if I could have one like that for my room!

So I just realized that I probably won't get to see the opening
The one morning that we will be up for sure and at the MK is the day that we take the KTTK tour...we have to be there at 8:15 (hoping we can make it from POP! in time) and the park doesn't open until 9...but we will get pics (hopefully) of an empty Main St!

I guess that just means you'll have to go back, right? I'm sorry you probably won't get to do it this trip, though. At least you will get to see anempty Main St!

If you're concerned about time, there are sometimes taxis outside of Pop -- otherwise, you might be able to have someone at the front desk call one for you. We were going to do that for the segway tour, because we weren't sure about making it time.

I love Disney tees! I can't wait to see your souvie pics.

Did you go to the new "Design your own tee" store at DTD?

Never heard of Vinylmations before, you'll have to show us.

What does Pocky taste like?

I'd love to have one of those almond pretzels. yummy!

I came home with five shirts! One of which is a nightshirt, but still. I have a t-shirt obsession. We didn't make it to the design-your-own at DTD -- I didn't even remember about it. I guess that's just as well, but it'll be on my to-do list for next time.

Pocky pretty much tastes like whatever it's dipped in. They're sticks of biscuits, dipped in strawberry, chocolate, etc. I had NO idea before going to the Japan shop that there were so many varieties, like the dessert kind or the giant kind. There's a store near-ish me that sells all sorts of Japanese things, like the candy, and that's where I first heard of pocky -- my friend introduced me to it. I can credit her and that store with being able to immediately recognize the pocky, the ramune (drink), and the apple gummies.

The pretzel was really, really, really good, and I honestly probably wouldn't have tried it if I hadn't read about it from MeMom. There was another sweet pretzel that was drizzled with chocolate and I think vanilla -- I tried that but didn't like it as much as the almond one.

 

[koolcatshelby]

great updates. We were at HS that day also. Fast passed ToyStory right away. That was a blast!! Got to do it twice on our trip and both times it stopped, and they let you target shoot (without adding points to your score). Both times my husband and I had sore arms from pulling the trigger thingy (yeah, the vocab is rolling this AM ). Tons more fun than Buzz. ToT and RR were walk ons that AM. My little one loved ToT two yrs ago, but was, In his own words "too freaked out" by the lightning part to do it twice in a row . Didn't realize the parade was that day, but it was a good thing, as everyone must have been waiting and no one on the rides . Keep the updates rolling. Also sad we didn't meet up. Maybe next time.

 

[jewels1916]

Great update! Clearly I missed two updates... but I am all caught up now....that almond pretzel looks pretty good, although I am not typically a nutty person. (heh, yes, I did that on purpose )