Biscuit's Grand Adventure | An epic tale three decades in the making!

[AshClan]

Great update & pictures, GB. Sorry about your camera lens.

Can't wait to hear about the kids' first walk down Main Street USA!!!!

 

[whogirl'smom]

You're almost there! We thought Pop's buses were much more efficient than All Stars and not as packed .

 

[Kimberly815]

Nice Photo tour of the Pop!

Are you excited everybody? It’s time to go see the castle!

You Betcha!! Bring it on!

 

[burly]

Just read the latest update and all the banter. STill enjoying it. Off to the CASTLE!

 

[Mrs. The King]

Well. GB, it looks like you are breaking in my vacation really well. I bet you were liking it. I'm not bitter. Really, I'm not.

I love that Nana had to check out the bowling balls to see if they were real. That is too stinking cute.
I always thought the playgrounds were just decoration never saw anyone on them before. I wonder if Disney has a fun quotient they have to achieve and they were at 99.9% and needed the empty playgrounds to get to 110%.

I hope you wife's foot stays fully functional throughout your stay. Sorry about your camera lens. 10 interactive Trip Report points if you didn't curse when it dropped.

I missed seeing Goofy in his knickers so much at my resort, I almost stole him from your spalsh park at night.

But All Star Music was fun. Those no name murals painted by THE DEVIL in the food court made me eat less. I didn't miss the sweet, happy bright colors of POP. No I didn't.

 

[PrincessV]

The 28-80 lens popped off and went flying. One of the three mounting posts on the back was already gone, and this fall took out a second.

Oh no! And that's such a great all-around range, too.

I love this shot!

When I came back into the room, I woke Tahli up first, and asked if she was ready to see the castle. She responded with, and I quote “Can I sleep on the way?”

Awww!

He stared at me a moment and said, oh, there was only one.

EEK!! I don't know how you were even able to breathe at that point!

Are you excited everybody? It’s time to go see the castle!

Yay!!!

 

[DiningPlanDevastator]

Well done once again GB. I'm ready for another update

I really enjoy you including the settings of the camera for your pictures.

 

[Sleepingbooty]

Just wanted to say hi! I just discovered your TR a few days ago, and I've had such fun reading it! Can't wait for your next update - we were just at Pop in May, so its fun to see your pics, especially the panoramic shots. Wish I'd taken some of those

 

[mybestieismickey]

Thanks for such a great trip report. It's really helping my pre trip doldrums (DLR this time). I'm at that point where I can't really research anything else and I can't make any more reservations. So I'm living vicariously through other trip reports.

Thanks for sharing the magic!

 

[GreatBiscuit]

YAY, finally the big day is here!

indeed! That deserves a Woo-Hootily-Hoo!

So glad the girls got their nap and are (hopefully) recharged and ready to take on the world! I'm also glad you got to have a couple of hours to yourself just exploring and taking photos- which were really good by the way!

I so loved my re-fillable mug! I'll bet you thanked the fountain gods for it many a time, eh?

The refillable mugs were beyond nifty. I scored anywhere from 2-5 refills every day.

Woo hoo!! An update!! I hope that means work and real life are going well! How did the ID check go? That's too cool that your wife and sister in law still look alike! A lot of twins don't in adulthood!!
Looking forward to your girls reactions to the castle! (Oh and your nephew also!)

It’s all good! What’s funny is that when we went places, people thought my oldest and my Sister in Law’s oldest were sisters, and my youngest and her youngest were sisters.

awsome update! Exploring is half the fun of staying somewhere. Why did you stop right as you were going into the park? Now no one will be able to sleep!

Sorry! I had to wait on photos! I numbered all my rolls of film when I was taking them so that I could have them processed in order, but apparently I numbered wrong and was missing our MK arrival roll.

Beautiful pictures of Pop! It's such a pretty, bright place, isn't it?

Thanks! I LOVE that resort. It was the most unexpected thing of the trip.

And YAY, you are off to MK!!!!!!!! I can't wait to read your adventures!

I was on cloud nine pulling up to the MK!

Oh man! That is awful! Sorry to hear about those little unexpected "budget busters".

It does royally sucketh.

I've made a note...never buy a glow in the dark eyeball!!!!!

Good call!

 

[GreatBiscuit]

Great update & pictures, GB. Sorry about your camera lens.

Thanks! I was temporarily in mourning, but it’s hard be down on Disney day 1.

Can't wait to hear about the kids' first walk down Main Street USA!!!!

It was exciting!

You're almost there! We thought Pop's buses were much more efficient than All Stars and not as packed .

We only had to stand twice, and the only time I waited more than 10 min for a bus was at Epcot.

Nice Photo tour of the Pop!

Thanks! I had fun and it kept me from going stir crazy.

Just read the latest update and all the banter. STill enjoying it. Off to the CASTLE!

Thanks! I think that first bus ride to the MK is longest in the WORLD.

Well. GB, it looks like you are breaking in my vacation really well. I bet you were liking it. I'm not bitter. Really, I'm not.

Whew! Well, as long as there isn’t any bitterness, it’s all good!

I love that Nana had to check out the bowling balls to see if they were real. That is too stinking cute. I always thought the playgrounds were just decoration never saw anyone on them before. I wonder if Disney has a fun quotient they have to achieve and they were at 99.9% and needed the empty playgrounds to get to 110%.

Maybe they get more use in the off season when the parks close early and the heat is not so oppressive.

I hope you wife's foot stays fully functional throughout your stay. Sorry about your camera lens. 10 interactive Trip Report points if you didn't curse when it dropped.

Does “SON OF BISCUIT!” count as cursing?

I missed seeing Goofy in his knickers so much at my resort, I almost stole him from your spalsh park at night.

That sounds like a Disney movie. The Knickered Goofy Caper starring Mrs. The King.

But All Star Music was fun. Those no name murals painted by THE DEVIL in the food court made me eat less. I didn't miss the sweet, happy bright colors of POP. No I didn't.

Well see, there you go. Devil created murals to match the infernal heat of Hades. Silver linings. That’s what I’m talking about.

 

[GreatBiscuit]

Oh no! And that's such a great all-around range, too.

I know! It was very sad!

I love this shot!

Thanks!

EEK!! I don't know how you were even able to breathe at that point!

I was breathing easier than First Lady Biscuit. But I was all pumped up on Disney at that point in time.

Well done once again GB. I'm ready for another update

Thanks! Another update will be coming soon.

I really enjoy you including the settings of the camera for your pictures.

Unfortunately, I got a little less disciplined with recording the settings as time wore on.

Just wanted to say hi! I just discovered your TR a few days ago, and I've had such fun reading it! Can't wait for your next update - we were just at Pop in May, so its fun to see your pics, especially the panoramic shots. Wish I'd taken some of those

Howdy and glad to have you here! I LOVED the Pop Century. At first I saw it as kind of a “Starter” resort, but now I don’t know that I would want to stay anywhere else.

Thanks for such a great trip report. It's really helping my pre trip doldrums (DLR this time). I'm at that point where I can't really research anything else and I can't make any more reservations. So I'm living vicariously through other trip reports.

Thanks for sharing the magic!

Howdy and ! Great to have you reading along! I know all about the vicarious Dis’ing. Have fun on your trip!

 

[topdog]

As I was leaving our table to get Tracy’s dessert, my chair snagged the camera strap on the Nikon and drug it to the ground. The 28-80 lens popped off and went flying. One of the three mounting posts on the back was already gone, and this fall took out a second. (Stinking cheap plastic mounts…but I’m not bitter…I’m moving on.)

ANYHOW, I can still use the lens, but I have to use one hand to hold it tight to the body, otherwise it tends to work its way loose and fall off. SO long story short, this was about the only time the entire trip I used this lens. The rest of the photos I took with this camera were with the 70-300 telezoom. For all of our other pictures, I mostly used our Sony Cybershot digital point & shoot.

Sorry to hear that. Note to myself-bring duct tape for next vacation to fix camera emergency.

It could be worse. You could've forgot to bring your camera bag.

 

[GreatBiscuit]

Sorry to hear that. Note to myself-bring duct tape for next vacation to fix camera emergency.

It could be worse. You could've forgot to bring your camera bag.

Oh yeah, duct tape is DEF going in my suitcase next time! You make a valid point...it could have been much worse. Of the two lenses, this is the one I'd have sacrificed to save the other.

Speaking of lenses, this week my brother in law brought his Nikon DL40 digital SLR. (I think that's the model # but I am writing this on my phone and can't pop open a new window to see.). When we went to Sea World, I brought along the 70-300mm lens and tried it out on the digital body. It both fit and worked which made me happy. Only drawback is you have to leave it on manual focus. BUT I always do that anyway. The N60 takes about 3-5 seconds to focus that lens and it is so heavy, it sucks the battery dry in no time flat. Faster just to leave the focus set around 20' on the lens when its idle, then adjust manually when framing each shot. SO...long story short when I someday eventually upgrade, I can at least use the same telephoto lens.


Moving on to other things, First Lady Biscuit and I just finished our Anniversary dinner. (Tomorrow makes 12 years). We are now doing a bit of shopping...well actually I'm sitting on a bench typing a post on my phone, but you get the idea. Long story short, with family in town, a trip to San Antonio, two days at Sea World, and an Anniversary weekend, update two was simply not possible this week. So until Monday, have a great weekend and I will see everyone soon!

 

[brookelizabeth]

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!!!!!!!!


​

 

[HicksWDW]

Oh yeah, duct tape is DEF going in my suitcase next time! You make a valid point...it could have been much worse. Of the two lenses, this is the one I'd have sacrificed to save the other.

Speaking of lenses, this week my brother in law brought his Nikon DL40 digital SLR. (I think that's the model # but I am writing this on my phone and can't pop open a new window to see.). When we went to Sea World, I brought along the 70-300mm lens and tried it out on the digital body. It both fit and worked which made me happy. Only drawback is you have to leave it on manual focus. BUT I always do that anyway. The N60 takes about 3-5 seconds to focus that lens and it is so heavy, it sucks the battery dry in no time flat. Faster just to leave the focus set around 20' on the lens when its idle, then adjust manually when framing each shot. SO...long story short when I someday eventually upgrade, I can at least use the same telephoto lens.


Moving on to other things, First Lady Biscuit and I just finished our Anniversary dinner. (Tomorrow makes 12 years). We are now doing a bit of shopping...well actually I'm sitting on a bench typing a post on my phone, but you get the idea. Long story short, with family in town, a trip to San Antonio, two days at Sea World, and an Anniversary weekend, update two was simply not possible this week. So until Monday, have a great weekend and I will see everyone soon!

I just found your trip report and LOVE IT! I can't stop reading! We want more.

Happy Anniversary too!

 

[GreatBiscuit]

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!!!!!!!!


​

THANKS!

I just found your trip report and LOVE IT! I can't stop reading! We want more.

Happy Anniversary too!

Glad to have you aboard! Thanks for the well wishes!

I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend. I'll have an update for you later this evening.

 

[GreatBiscuit]

Episode 52 - I'm Back Baby!

Previously on Biscuit’s Grand Adventure, pools were photographed, bowling balls were inspected, and painters pondered their task.

Naps were completed, the resort had been toured, and suitcases had been partially delivered, it was TIME. The Biscuit clan was heading to the parks! As we had a dinner reservation at Chef Mickey’s, we were heading over to the Magic Kingdom. The wait for a bus was fairly short and within a few minutes, we were on our way. We knew Aunt Janna would be arriving soon and she was going to be meeting us just inside the turnstiles.

As we approached the Magic Kingdom, I kept a close watch out of the bus window so I could point out the castle to the girls. After what seemed like an eternity, we finally pulled into the MK resort bus stop. We disembarked and I started booking it up the hill, but was quickly advised by First Lady Biscuit to slow down. Her foot was not any better and she was having a hard time keeping up. I felt really bad for her and hoped and prayed it would be something she could just “walk off”.

We made it through bag check with no worries and it was then time to break out the Keys to the Kingdom cards. The whole bio-scan thing was new since the last time I was there. I wasn’t sure if it would slow things down, but it really didn’t seem to. Unfortunately on the way through, the turnstile spun back around and bumped Hailee in the head. From that point forward, she crawled under whenever we came upon one. Fortunately the Cast Members were all accommodating. We met up with Aunt Janna just inside the courtyard, and as we were heading to the tunnels, we ran into these characters.



Character interaction now completed, it was time. The moment I had been dreaming about for years had finally arrived. I recorded the time for posterity sake and we headed to our left to enter the park.




I went through the tunnel first, camera in hand to record the girls first entrance into the Magic Kingdom. All of the worrying, budgeting, dreaming and scheming had finally paid off. Biscuit has come home.








We had a first order of business, namely procuring the build your own Mickey Ears hats. Somewhere in all my planning, I thought it would be a good idea to get these first so the girls would have them for their first day in the park. For reasons unknown, I knew that the Chapeau was the store we needed, but had never bothered looking up the location of the Chapeau on the map. I inexplicably thought it was about midway down Main Street on the left. (I could have sworn it used to be there.) Thus, some backtracking was necessary to reach the shop, which is actually located in the corner of Town Square by Tony’s.

Preston was done fairly quickly. After surveying the Mickey Ears, he sent in a pinch hitter and went for a pirate hat. The girls were a little more difficult to please. Hailee wanted a specific hat, but it was the one that has the little crown & veil on top, which she did not want. It took a good 20 minutes to drill into her head that you can’t remove the snaps from the hat. Tahli was a bit easier to please and was done fairly quickly. Yet as long as the girls took in choosing the hats, it seemed to take even longer to pay for them. (I’m fairly certain no Register Journals were involved, but there was definitely something going on a couple of patrons ahead of us. Finally, we got everything squared away and left the hats to be embroidered.

Now it was time to get down to business. In our planning, I had let each girl pick out what their first attraction was going to be. Hailee wanted to ride “The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh” and Tahli wanted “It’s a Small World”. Preston didn’t really seem to care. We headed through the castle (with Biscuit being sure to distract the girls as we sauntered past Bippity Boppity Boutique,) and headed towards the Honeypots.

The posted wait time was 40 min and the Fast Pass return was at the same time as our dining reservation. I knew going in that it would be a bit of a wait at this time of day, but I had promised Hailee this would be our first ride. The line didn’t LOOK like it was 40 min so I was met with a quandary. While I was staring at the fast pass return times and doing Disney Queue math, Nana and Aunt Janna procured some refreshing beverages. We went ahead and jumped in line, and it actually turned out to be about 25 min from the time we lined up until the time we actually boarded our Honeypots. The girls both loved the ride and were laughing hysterically when we bounced with Tigger.

Next, we headed across Fantasyland twards It’s A Small World.





The girls were really excited about this one as well. The line was in constant motion and started near the top of the ramp.




It was maybe 10 minutes total before we were sailing through animatronic purgatory. As we sailed along, there was a ton of pointing and lots questions about which country we were in, how cool the dolls were, what animals we were seeing, and the constant question “Are they real or pretend?” That is until Tracy made me be quiet so the girls could enjoy the ride. Joykill!

Everyone loved this ride and I have to say, I found it far less annoying than the last time I was on it. I don’t know if it’s because I’m getting softer in my old age, or if having girls has just desensitized me. Either way, I’m pretty sure we would have gone on a second ride, had we not had a date with Mickey.

Having never done a character meal, and with limited experience in the way of table service meals, I was anxious to get moving. Of course on the way out, we passed Cinderella’s Golden Carousel and of course the girls wanted to ride, and of course they begged “PLEEEEEASE DADDY”, and of course after careful consideration of the time, our average walking speed, distance to the monorail platform, average travel speed of the monorail train, barometric pressure, and relative humidity, I calculated that a ride on the carousel would be permissible, so long has there was not a lengthy wait. Which there was not. In fact we walked right up and got on.








After a few rounds with the wooden horses, we bid Fantasyland a fond “Later Dude” and headed to the front gates. I was worried the kids would protest leaving, but they were hungry and anxious to go meet Mickey Mouse. Would it be worth it? Would the wondrous and mysterious tales of juicy Prime Rib and succulent Parmesean Mashed Potatoes turn out to be accurate? We’ll find out next time on Biscuit’s Grand Adventure.

Coming up on Episode 53 - Dining with Rodents.

 

[brookelizabeth]

It's the kids that soften you to actually tolerate (or dare I say, even enjoy) It's A Small World. Watching their eyes light up and smile--nothing beats it!

As usual, you had me laughing out loud AND in tears in the same post. Love, love, love the pic of Tracy with the girls entering MK. And "Wishes" was playing on DISradio as I was reading your post-so appropriate. Ahhhhh...I'm a total sap!

Your pictures are beautiful, GB.

 

[bedillamouse]

I LOVED the pictures! Can't wait to show my girls the pictures so they can remember their trip. I'm kicking myself for not doing the hats! I'm excited to hear how they turned out for you guys! The kids are all smiling...awesome!!

Great off the cuff entry!