Around the 'World in THREE?! days... Completed 9/18

[onelilspark]

Taken from Wikipedia:

An Irish Car Bomb is a beer cocktail which is a variation of the boilermaker. It is made with stout (e.g., Guinness), Irish Cream (e.g., Baileys), and Irish whiskey (e.g., Jameson).
The name refers the drink's Irish ingredients and to the car bombings notoriously used by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) during the Troubles. The Jameson whiskey is floated on top of the Baileys in a shot glass, and the shot glass is then dropped into the stout. Once mixed, the drink must be consumed quickly because it will curdle.

According to most sources, the Irish Car Bomb was created in 1979 by Charles Burke Cronin Oat, current instructor at the Connecticut School of Bartending, and former owner and bartender of Wilson's Saloon, both in Norwich, CT. The drink evolved from several earlier versions dating back to 1977. The Grandfather, the original idea behind a Car Bomb, was a mixed shot of Bailey's and Kahlúa coffee liqueur. Though Guinness was also being consumed at the same time, the Grandfather was not mixed with the Guinness at the time of its creation. Shortly thereafter, Oat was inspired to add Jameson Irish Whiskey to the shot, which made the shot bubble up vigorously like an explosion, causing him to remark that "the IRA just showed up!" Hence, the newly designed shot was known as the IRA (named after the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and their use of explosions during The Troubles). Two years later while drinking IRAs and Guinness, Oat got the idea to drop the shot into his half-finished pint of Guinness, with the words "Bombs away!", and the Irish Car Bomb was born.
The drink later spread beyond the city of Norwich due to increased advertising by Guinness beginning in the late-1980s. While Kahlúa was part of the original recipe, it is often dropped from the drink today. Some refer to that original recipe as a Belfast Car Bomb.

INVENTED IN CT!! LOL

Phew...I'm glad to see I haven't totally lost touch...I'm not that old

 

[that's nice]

Phew...I'm glad to see I haven't totally lost touch...I'm not that old

How old is that old? Because I am older than you...

 

[lauren_elizabeth]

I'm loving your trip report so far!

Walking down Main Street right when the park opens is definitely magical! Can't wait to hear more!

 

[Angies1274]

Loved your MK opening show videos!!! I can't believe I was there watching it, a week ago yesterday!!! Seeing the show and walking down Main Street is always so magical!!!

Can't wait for more.

 

[wdwgirl03]

I loooove all your MK videos, that opening is my favorite. It just makes you feel so warm and fuzzy.

And no, you are definitely not a dork, I love walking down Main Street after opening too with all the CMs wearing their Mickey gloves. How could you not love that?! That picture of the CM is so cute! Awww I want to go back.

 

[onelilspark]

How old is that old? Because I am older than you...

That's what I mean...I'm not old at all! I should know what a car bomb is! I mean, I can't tell you how many times we used to do them at the bar my senior year... Maybe it's more like I'm just not hip anymore In all fairness, my boyfriend and I joke that we act more like a couple in their 50s than one in their 20s...we go out during the week, never on the weekends! Too crowded

I'm loving your trip report so far!

Walking down Main Street right when the park opens is definitely magical! Can't wait to hear more!

It's just one of those moments where you think to yourself, "yep, life is great."

Loved your MK opening show videos!!! I can't believe I was there watching it, a week ago yesterday!!! Seeing the show and walking down Main Street is always so magical!!!

Can't wait for more.

I hate when I come back from a trip and think, "you know, a week ago I was doing..." Makes me depressed

I loooove all your MK videos, that opening is my favorite. It just makes you feel so warm and fuzzy.

And no, you are definitely not a dork, I love walking down Main Street after opening too with all the CMs wearing their Mickey gloves. How could you not love that?! That picture of the CM is so cute! Awww I want to go back.

First time I saw the opening show (*ahem*February*ahem*) I got a little teary-eyed...just don't tell anyone, k?

 

[shordiebecka]

I love the opening of MK..we went and it was DBF's favorite opening! Love your pictures of the Ranchos....but I don't want to be there when we go to CSR!!! They are so far away from everything! Or are they..

 

[teruterubouzu]

I'm a super dork too, because I love the MK welcome show. I didn't get to see much of it on this trip, so I really enjoyed seeing your videos. The photos of your brother are hilarious too!

 

[DisneyFaeriePrincess]

You are not a dork! I love the MK opening! It's just such a happy feeling! Definitely my favorite opening show!

 

[BippityBoo]

Hello!! I just found your TR and Dining Report...

I am SO happy that you did a review on the QS dining! We are going for a short 4 day vacay in January and are going to try it! I was so amazed at what was available to eat..like you said, not all bugers and fries! Click on my PTR and look at my dining choices...let me know what you think! Can't wait to follow your future trips

 

[onelilspark]

I love the opening of MK..we went and it was DBF's favorite opening! Love your pictures of the Ranchos....but I don't want to be there when we go to CSR!!! They are so far away from everything! Or are they..

I found the Ranchos to be pretty far out. Maybe not so much if it weren't so hot, but with how hot it was?? It got bad sometimes.

I'm a super dork too, because I love the MK welcome show. I didn't get to see much of it on this trip, so I really enjoyed seeing your videos. The photos of your brother are hilarious too!

He has always done that in photos. There were a couple that I told him to smile for Mom. Our Mom gets frustrated with us because we'll take terrible photos at holidays

You are not a dork! I love the MK opening! It's just such a happy feeling! Definitely my favorite opening show!

It is a happy feeling. I mean, if you could bottle up Disney magic and sell it, you'd start with the MK opening, I'm convinced.

Hello!! I just found your TR and Dining Report...

I am SO happy that you did a review on the QS dining! We are going for a short 4 day vacay in January and are going to try it! I was so amazed at what was available to eat..like you said, not all bugers and fries! Click on my PTR and look at my dining choices...let me know what you think! Can't wait to follow your future trips

Welcome!! And I'm so glad that my review is helpful for people!!! I had a terrible time finding any information on the QSDP, so I had to put something up there. I'll jump over to your PTR now

 

[onelilspark]

After a little debate, we headed into Tomorrowland. A good decision. Not a lot of people were heading over that way since Space Mountain and TTA were closed. We picked up Fastpasses for Buzz and hopped on for a ride. My brother beat me and we headed over to Monster's Inc.

I have to say, I don't recommend doing Monster's Inc first thing in the morning. There were only about 20 people in the "show." Nice, because if you want to be in it, you had a great chance, but not so great because it was just empty. We got the "Eiffel Tower" routine. I was chosen and did you know Rochester is home to 20 Eiffel Towers?? It was easily the funniest Monster's Inc I've ever been to though...not on purpose. Buddy Boyle came out, the psychotic monster, to read minds. He chose a woman who didn't speak English. Except, instead of moving on like the woman kept motioning for him to do, he kept talking with her. It finally ended with "uh Roz, a little help here?" and he went through the Trap Door. It was a what the...? moment. My brother and I couldn't stop laughing. The poor kids though didn't know what was going on. Oh! And I gave my brother a joke to text in: "Why is Cinderella so bad at soccer?....because she always runs away from the Ball!" and it got read. (Another answer: because she has a pumpkin for a coach!) We were excited It doesn't take much.

We came out of Monster's and we could use our FP. We didn't need to though, we just walked right on. I beat him this time!

Next on the list was Pooh. I tried to persuade my brother to do the Tea Cups, but he wasn't having it. So we did Pooh, and sang along, much to the enjoyment of the little kids behind us...I think the mother thought we were weird, but whatever... After we got out of Pooh it was a little after 10, so we headed over towards Toontown. I was teasing my brother that he would like the fairies since they're scantily clad, but he just glared at me...Mickey it was!

We headed back towards the judge's tent to wait for Mickey. It wasn't too bad of a wait, plus we got to watch old cartoons!! (Side story: we were out driving this weekend and at a red light I noticed the people in front of us were watching older Disney cartoons and I let out with, "Look! Pluto!" ...my friends just rolled their eyes...)

I wish you could see my shirt better in the photo. It's a DISign (I forget from who, sorry!) and it's the castle and it says "Life is good." I got a number of compliments on it.

I got my brother to take a nice photo for once. When you book a package with Disney, you get a free 5 x 7 photo. I thought it would be nice to give it to my Mom. We wound up getting another photo and gave her that one, but she really appreciated it. (Free and it makes Mom happy...we get brownie points for nothing!)

We were starting to get hungry at this point, even though it was only 10:30...that's what we get for skipping breakfast I suppose. So we were trying to decide what to do next. We could get a snack and have a normal lunch, or we could kill a half hour and then just get an early lunch. Early lunch won out because of the heat, so we decided to follow an awful touring plan and walked over to Pirates! I took some pictures on our way...

Pirates had a short wait, so we were still a little early for lunch. We decided on Columbia Harbor House, so we hit Haunted Mansion prior to lunch.

Haunted Mansion is still my favorite ride...I just love it!! By this time, we were starving. It was a little after 11 and we were right there at CHH. I was excited to try it & it didn't disappoint! We ate upstairs by a window, which was a great break from the day. Even as noon approached, the upstairs didn't get busy at all. I think we only saw a handful of people up there, it's a great spot!!

We decided to check out the wait on Splash Mountain and see if it was something we wanted to do before we headed out. It was pretty long (I think maybe 40 minutes, so not terrible) and we decided not to wait. We hopped on the train since we were right there to take us around to the front of the park.

Taken from the Train Platform in Frontierland:

We made it to Main Street and headed over to the monorail, but not before I grabbed one last picture:

It was just about noon now and the express monorail wasn't taking people from the MK to the TTC. We had to take the resort monorail around. Just something to think about in case anyone has a lunch ressie to catch at Epcot and wanted to take the monorail! Allow a little extra time.

We had great timing. Right as we were getting in the car, it started raining a bit. By the time we got back to Coronado Springs it had stopped! We headed up to the room to put on our swim suits...it was time to take advantage of the resort!

 

[Angies1274]

Great picture with Mickey and Minnie!! I have a DISign shirt very similar to yours except it's a pair of Minnie ears and it says "Life is Good". I remember seeing the castle disign--very cute!!

Love the pictures of the castle!! It looks like it was a beautiful day!!

We love CHH!! The upstairs seating is the best-very quiet!!

 

[that's nice]

That is cool that you were able to get your joke read! DD is on a Knock Knock joke kick right now. Her jokes are so funny because they make absolutely no sense!!!!

You guys were on a roll hitting all those rides before 11! Great job!!!!!

 

[wdwgirl03]

That is really funny about the Monsters show and the lady who got picked! We had a really funny experience with that part of the show too. It was great!

The one castle pic (after the topiaries) is beautiful!

 

[MouseKTeer]

Thanks so much for your video of the opening--it gave me goosebumps and made me want to be back there right now!

Looking forward to more...

 

[DisneyFaeriePrincess]

I love the pictures! Woohoo a smiling picture of your brother!!

 

[SarahSoftballchick]

Three days?!

 

[shordiebecka]

SO happy you updated! What a great update. I love your first picture of the castle, right after the Mickey one. What kind of camera do you have? Mine sucks so much..I need a new one so bad!

 

[onelilspark]

Great picture with Mickey and Minnie!! I have a DISign shirt very similar to yours except it's a pair of Minnie ears and it says "Life is Good". I remember seeing the castle disign--very cute!!

Love the pictures of the castle!! It looks like it was a beautiful day!!

We love CHH!! The upstairs seating is the best-very quiet!!

It was gorgeous until about 12:30 Worked for us!!

That is cool that you were able to get your joke read! DD is on a Knock Knock joke kick right now. Her jokes are so funny because they make absolutely no sense!!!!

You guys were on a roll hitting all those rides before 11! Great job!!!!!

I have some great jokes... "What's brown and sticky? A stick." "What's red and not there? No tomatoes!"

That is really funny about the Monsters show and the lady who got picked! We had a really funny experience with that part of the show too. It was great!

The one castle pic (after the topiaries) is beautiful!

Thanks!!

Thanks so much for your video of the opening--it gave me goosebumps and made me want to be back there right now!

Looking forward to more...

I'm glad you enjoyed! It makes me want to be there too

I love the pictures! Woohoo a smiling picture of your brother!!

I know, it's like proof he actually was enjoying himself

Three days?!

Hey...when you need a fix...you need a fix

SO happy you updated! What a great update. I love your first picture of the castle, right after the Mickey one. What kind of camera do you have? Mine sucks so much..I need a new one so bad!

Thanks! And my camera is a Kodak m1033. http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=12416&pq-locale=en_US

Nothing fancy, it's a Kodak because I live in Rochester, NY But just a point and shoot. I love the colors I get from it though, on many I don't do any touch-up.