Anyone Game? 2 Castles and a Road Trip TR! Last Day and TR Wrap Up! #2796; 10/01

PrincessInOz

Thanks for my avatar, Mary Jo!
Joined
Feb 8, 2010
Anyone Game? Two Castles and a Road Trip TR!




Anyone Game? G’day.
And welcome to my Two Castles and a Road Trip TR.




And yes, you read it right. TWO Castles (and a road trip in between).
I don’t mean any combination of the 3 castles that seems to exist in Magic Kingdom right now….I mean the Sleeping Beauty castle at Disneyland.....






.....and the Cinderella castle at Magic Kingdom.







This TR will cover the 27 days that I was on vacay for and it will probably be picture heavy.




If a picture paints a thousand words. Just like in the song, I started this vacay when my love for life was running dry. It had been a pretty hard year at work and with real life; so I was in need of a battery recharge real bad. I found my love for life in spades......







.......sunrises.....






......and sunsets during the road trip.







If a picture paints a thousand words; and if you can find a dozen words to describe something, I’ll be the one managing to do it in a hundred. Or more. Feel free to count up and let me know the final tally at the end.







If a picture paints a thousand words and I use about 100 words to describe each picture, then we’re all gonna be here for a TR bigger than Tolstoy’s War and Peace. By my current rough count, I’ve come home with somewhere between 9,000 and 10,000 pictures. You can do the maths.






If you’ve made it this far and still plan to stick with me, I thank you for coming along on the ride. I really appreciate your feedback and hope that you'll end up posting; rather than just lurking along.







Should you feel the burning desire, my itinerary for this trip and the PTR can be found here. But before you click on the link, you should know that the PTR is more of a blog and there are over a year of posts there.





Which means we’ve come to the DISClaimers section that I tend to stick up in any of my TRs.

DISclaimers.
  • I hereby absolve all responsibility for any therapy that you might want to claim as a result of reading through this TR. Just remember….we are in an open forum and it is your choice to read along......right? And who knows? We might end up being 2D friends in a box along the journey.
  • I openly acknowledge that this TR will cover more than the standard WDW content on this section of the boards. If any mod feels like it doesn’t strictly meet the guidelines of DisContent, well….please PM me. But it just doesn’t seem to make sense to me to break this report up into at least four sections (Disneyland, California and beyond, where-the-heck-do-I-stick-the-roadtrip-component-because-I-sure-ain’t-posting-it-on-the-Community-Board-section, WDW and Universal Orlando). I would hope that the mods will just turn a blind eye until about Day 16 or 17; when I finally get to WDW.
  • Despite the road trip through Arizona, the itinerary did not include hitting the “games” board in Vegas. Anything that did not happen in Vegas, does not stay in Vegas.
  • Despite the road trip, I sadly did not literally take the left fork at Alburquerque. I did try hard to include it in; but it just didn’t fit. Happily, I will guarantee that I will figuratively take the left fork at most possible turns during this TR.
  • Food porn is usually a feature in my posts. Anyone who feels strongly about food should be eaten and not photographed…please be aware that no correspondence will be entered into on this matter.
  • As always, deviations and deviants off-topic are usually another feature. Don’t worry…it’s not you, it’s me (although if you stick around, you could discover that it is you too….we just don’t know for sure yet).
  • Above all else….lurk if you must…but I would appreciate you posting and providing input and feedback into ‘our’ blog! Afterall…How else is this going to be am I going to get deviations and deviants? NOTE: I really do mean FUN!! FUN!! I mean FUN!!





princess::upsidedow
 
Quick Links for easy Navigation





Introductions
Start of TR
Who am I?



Melbourne

Departure Day 13 September 2013, Australian Time



Southern California

Groundhog Day 13 September 2013, USA Time



Around San Diego 14 September 2013, USA Time



Disneyland Resort 15 September 2013, USA Time



Disneyland Resort 16 September 2013, USA Time



Four Corners Road Trip

Road to Sedona 17 September 2013



Sedona 18 September 2013



Jerome 19 September 2013



Road to Grand Canyon 20 September 2013



Grand Canyon, South Rim 21 September 2013



Road to Page 22 September 2013



Page 23 September 2013



Road to Monument Valley 24 September 2013



Road to Pagosa Springs 25 September 2013



Pagosa Springs 26 September 2013



Pagosa Springs 27 September 2013



Pagosa Springs 28 September 2013



Orlando

Road to WDW 29 September 2013



Walt Disney World - Magic Kingdom 30 September 2013

Wake Up! Wake Up! Let's Go!
Knowing I'm on the (Main) Street, Where you Live
A 4-Karat-er Crystal Kind of Breakfast Parts 1, 2
Knowing I'm on the (Main) Street, Where HE lives
Strolling through my Neighbourhood - Castles in the Air
Come Sea! I've gatecrashed another Party (The Little Mermaid)
NOT Butterbeer (Gaston's Tavern)
Is it More for Less or Less for More (the One about FastPass Plus)?
Time for an Enchanted Experience? Only if it's a 5 minute Wait! (Enchanted Tales with Belle)
The Mountain Train that Could (Big Thunder Railroad Mountain)
The Sweet Stale Smell of Sweat means I’m in the Wood Chuck (Splash Mountain)
After the Splash, it’s time for the Spin Dry Cycle (Mad Tea Party)
I got Lost in the Infinity and Beyond Playing a Game (Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin)
Heading Out At the Front of the Park
Heading Home to the Marketplace
DisMeet #6: TeenaS
Our Refillable Pixie Dust Karma
Let’s NOT Move It, Shake It, Celebrate It Parts 1, 2
Oh! What a Tangled web we Weave
DisMeet # 7: Where in the World
Main Street Electric Parade by the Numbers Parts 1, 2, 3
"The display of an image on an arbitrarily complex surface" (Celebrate the Magic Castle Projection Show)
Wishes Fireworks! But still no Cinderella Castle
Be Very Afraid....We're Singing in the Valley of the Dolls (It's a Small World)
If you were Afraid Before.....It's Hauntingly Scary Time Now (Haunted Mansion)
I'm Afraid....Now It's Time to Say Goodbye




Walt Disney World - Epcot 01 October 2013

Wake Up! Wake Up! Anyone??
Meeting up with Everyone at Epcot
LANDin' in California
Round the Track....Again and Again and Again
Time to Kill and Bogged down in Future World
Och! It’s Blissful Bites Brunch Time
Vignettes of the World
A Trip down Memory Lane B.C. aka Fun Storming the Viking Castle
Blissful Bites - F&W Lunch
Temple of Heaven Bites
The Smell of Sugar in Germany
DisMeet # 8: Pure Insanity! Travelling over 9000 miles for an ANZAC DisMeet
Another SAB afternoon....without pictures
Around the World with a Photopass
Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming. What do we do? We swim, swim.
Turtle Talk with Crush
Just a Figment of your Imagination
Still stuck in the 80’s (Captain Eo)
GASP! We’re NOT having F&W for Dinner?!?!
A Most Illuminating Time
A Late Night Stroll around World Showcase




Walt Disney World - Park Hopping 02 October 2013



Walt Disney World - Hollywood Studios 03 October 2013



Walt Disney World - No Park Plan Day 04 October 2013

I'll Wake Up! You Sleep In! (Let's enjoy the Beach Club)
Let's Get Started. No Park Plans means Cramming as much in as Possible
Breakfast with the Earl
Another little known Fact about WDW - You Can't Buy a Greeting Card at All!
The 5th Park Where Entry is Free and You Pay as You Go
My Favourite Kind of Kitchen
Enjoying the Ride in the 5th Park
More Rides in the 5th Park
In Quest Of.....Magic Band Entry Required
Driving the Taxi Driver to the Beach Club
So Much for No Park Day - Epcot
Hopping for a Claw before heading Back Home
I'm Late! I'm Late! For an Important Date!
DisMeet #12: The Important Date - California Grill Dinner
Warning! Don't forget to Eat before reading this next Post - California Grill Food Porn
DisMeet No#13: Yo Ho Ho and Away we Go!
Photobabble Wishing with a Moving Camera
The End of Another Day




Walt Disney World - Animal Kingdom 05 October 2013



Walt Disney World - Epcot and Magic Kingdom 06 October 2013

A Not So Early Morning Wake Up: Around the Boardwalk in the Morning
Enjoying the Beach Club and SAB One Last Time
Food and Wine (and Epcot) Food Porn Parts 1, 2
Our Last Park Icon Pictures – Epcot Ball
Getting to Magic Kingdom
The Flaw in the not-so Magic Band
Re-capturing the Party Feeling
It's a Yo Ho Ho Wide sort of Ride
Bella Notte Dinner
DisMeet #15: There's a Party Going On Right Here
Dis-sers Rolling in the Fast Lane
Meeting the Ghostly Inhabitants on MNSSHP night
The Forgotten Ride - Splash Mountain
It's not good, it's not bad. We just don’t know the Full Story yet
MNSSHP - The First Parade Parts 1, 2, 3
Projecting the Same Mistake at Night
Everybody Scream - Happy HalloWishes: A Grim Grinning Ghosts Spooktacular in the Sky time
DS has One Must-Do for the Night
DisMeet Evidence
DS' View of the Second Parade Parts 1, 2
What Everyone Did Next
My Choice of Ride Parts 1, 2
SunDial's Choice of Ride
In Search of an Empty Park
Last Gamers out of MK




Universal Orlando - Universal Studios 07 October 2013



Universal Orlando - Islands of Adventure 08 October 2013



Road to Los Angeles 09 October 2013



Los Angeles 10 October 2013



Thanks for Reading!




princess::upsidedow
 
Who am I?




In any TR, one of the done things to do is to introduce oneself so that one does not seem to be so much of a stranger to the readers. I guess I had better do that.


This is me......

0401GlennDLDay1030.jpg





.......and I have been lurking on the boards since 2004 and a member since 2010. You'll find me hanging out with the Games, Photographers and the Aussie section of the Boards and lurking about on the CB. Contrary to popular belief, I'm really the shy and retiring kind.

My fingers, on the other hand.....well......on both hands......my fingers; they're the really sociable and chatty type. My post count has taken a complete hit during my time away as I try hard to go near a screen of any description when on holiday. Afterall, I spend enough time in front of one when working that when it comes to holiday time, I really feel the need to disconnect as much as possible.





And it also seems to be the done thing to introduce my travel companions and other cast members that may feature along the way. Pictures of my travel companions and cast members will be posted along the way; and I may come back and update this section at a later date.



My travel companions include my DS. He is 13 and he shows every sign of being a Disnophile, providing rollercoaster thrill rides are included. Currently, he's playing the new Pokemon game and is intent on re-naming all his Pokemon captures based on a Disney character. Yes, my job as a mom is done.



I'm also travelling with my DH. He is not 13 and he understands my love of Disney and happy to let me plan Disney vacays providing we pepper it with other activities. Having said that, I suspect that our next vacation destination will need to be somewhere where he can chill-ax a lot more than I allowed him to do on this one. He definitely isn't 13 anymore.




Other Cast Members include a whole bunch of Dis-sers. Afterall, this trip was planned based around a week long DisMeet with a couple of Gamers from that section of the board. The DisMeets turned out to be a heap of fun and it was great cementing the 2D friends in a box relationships in 3D.

The Dis-sers include:
  • franandaj. Her TR of the meets can be found here.
  • twofeathers
  • mvf-m11, His TR can be found here. If you're interested in our DLR meets, start on page 207.
  • BringingUpDisney
  • 5ofUs
  • meriweather
  • dhorner
  • goopysolelady
  • Bobbiwoz
  • SunDial
  • TiffanyD
  • luvchefmic. Her references for the DisMeets can be found here, here and here.
  • leshaface
  • Jade+3
  • WanderlustNZ. Her TR can be found here.
  • GrazingGoat1966


To the best of my knowledge, no one wore cement boots to any of the meets.



I guess that's the intro's done. Here's to the TR posts.....and pictures loading up quick!




princess::upsidedow
 
Hey, ....glad you got recharged

A correction for you though ;)
Sleeping Beauty caste is DL and Cinderella's is MK ;)

Reading now....I will try to keep up :)
 


Hi Princess, I'm in. Just found your link over on the photography board. Hope our country shutting down didn't effect any of your plans.

Can't wait to read more!
 


Wonderful to hear that you were able to reconnect with life on your trip :goodvibes Looking forward to hearing all about it!

Love that photo of you at HKDL too :thumbsup2
 
Glad you made it home safely! I'm glad to have you back on the boards and looking forward to seeing your photos from this trip!! :yay:
 
Can't wait to hear all about your adventures!!popcorn::









T.T.F.N.:wave:
&
Cheers
 
No lurking here, ready to read, so time to start posting one of the thousands of photos!
 
I am in. It is off to a great start. The Vegas section made me laugh. Had you stopped in Vegas, I would've loved to have dropped by for a meet. Maybe, another time. Looks like you met a LOT of DISers anyway. Excited to read all about your trip.
 
Dang! I missed the first page! :headache:


I knowwho you are but I'll have to come back to read it. All this teaveling etc has wore me out!
 
cant wait to read all about your trip:) I love food pics, so bring them on....:cheer2:
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!











facebook twitter
Top