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

[lisalonglash]

Are you still accepting applications for membership in this wickedly fun TR or do I have to sit on the waiting list? Believe it or not, I read your current TR in it's entirety (thanks to your handy-dandy links) and am now caught up Yes, your TR is THAT good Can't wait for more!

 

[GreatBiscuit]

I'm so glad you got your meal that you have been waiting forever for. I was on the edge of my seat for a minute there waiting to see what was going to happen.

Me too! What's funny, was that at the time we were running into the place, I kept thinking "I'll never live this down on the DIS!"

HI GB

Howdy Burly!

1. Get ADR
2. get the time you want
3. make it there on time
4. pretzel bread
5. beer cheese soup
6. filet
7. moose mousse

its a goal.........
one day..........

great update!

An most excellent and worthy goal!

Are you still accepting applications for membership in this wickedly fun TR or do I have to sit on the waiting list?

Howdy and ! We have open enrollment and it's never too late to join!

Believe it or not, I read your current TR in it's entirety (thanks to your handy-dandy links) and am now caught up

WOW! I'm impressed! That is no small undertaking! So glad to have you here and thanks for the kind words. I don't usually go an entire month with no update so I'm hoping that was just a fluke.

 

[All7OfUs]

LOL! Sorry to confuse. SME - Subject Matter Expert / IHD - Internal Help Desk. In a call center, the SME (pronounced Smee) answers questions other reps have about their calls. Why don't the supervisors do that? In every call center I've been in, the supervisors in tech support don't really know that much about tech issues. They are there to handle schedules, approve leave and oversee productivity. I used to laugh when a cust came on the line and immediately demanded a supv because from a support standpoint, they are actually making themselves wait LONGER since the sup will have to re transfer the call back to a tech to troubleshoot. You can be a generalized SME to cover whatever questions come up in your dept or a specialized SME supporing a specific system for the entire company. In my current job our team serves a general SME's, and I mostly answer questions via IM, and on complex issues, go to reps desks to assist. We also represent the dept on ticket escalations and bridge calls with development and engineering / track chronic issues/develop tech support guidelines.

Hopefully that helps...but I am half asleep and cannot guarantee the logic of this posting...plus I'm typing on my phone so who knows what typos lurk herein.

So more entitlement??!! Bigger job should= Seriously Monumental Enumeration!

Thanks for the clear-up!

 

[GreatBiscuit]

So more entitlement??!! Bigger job should= Seriously Monumental Enumeration!

Thanks for the clear-up!

True...but at this point in life, I'm just happy to be employed!

 

[jordanyosh]

True...but at this point in life, I'm just happy to be employed!

me too.

 

[praisehisname]

I'm so glad you were still able to be seated!!! Your meal sounds devine!

There was a certain Disboard tradition involving the Canada pavilion that just had to be honored.

I miss ZZUB!

Denise

 

[Connie96]

GB - Several days ago you mentioned Pandora and your "John Williams" station. I had Pandora on my iPhone but I hadn't done much with it. I now have a John Williams station and I have just finished building a station with as many Disney composers as I could come up with starting with Richard M Sherman and Robert B Sherman. Lots of fun! Thanks for getting me started!

 

[AshClan]

Another great update GB! Sorry I'm late to the party. It's been a tough couple of weeks, with, believe it or not, a quick 4 day trip to the World thrown in. The overriding theme of this last trip was HOT SWEATY HUMID HOT HOT HOT, so I was right there with ya on the stressed-filled sweaty trip to Le Cell then The Land then Le Cell again. Ugh. Sorry about the bus delays and the ADR time mistake. But I'm happy they still let you in Love me some pretzel bread, cheddar cheese soup, and filet. Yum. Isn't it amazing that we still go for the soup when we're dying from the heat outside?!?! It's just impossible to pass up, though.

And, yes, Le Cell is dark dark, no matter the time of day. You did well with the photos. I've never been able to get in a good shot in that "dungeon" atmosphere.

 

[bedillamouse]

Great update...I'll make sure to avoid the slime trail when next at the world. You know it's hot when it turns to slime. Glad to hear that you still have a job eventhough it's different. I laughed about the caller asking for the supervisor....it's so true they just have to put them on hold and find the SME to answer the questions.

Looking forward to more!

 

[All7OfUs]

I guess we are all happy to be employed. It's probably a good reason our term over here won't be up for another 2 years- perhaps by then the job market will look a little less bleak.

 

[GreatBiscuit]

me too.

I'm so glad you were still able to be seated!!! Your meal sounds devine!

It was Awesome!

I miss ZZUB!

Me too!

GB - Several days ago you mentioned Pandora and your "John Williams" station. I had Pandora on my iPhone but I hadn't done much with it. I now have a John Williams station and I have just finished building a station with as many Disney composers as I could come up with starting with Richard M Sherman and Robert B Sherman. Lots of fun! Thanks for getting me started!

Happy to be an enabler! Another station I created was James Horner radio. Picks up a lot of nifty tracks that John Williams misses.

Another great update GB! Sorry I'm late to the party. It's been a tough couple of weeks, with, believe it or not, a quick 4 day trip to the World thrown in. The overriding theme of this last trip was HOT SWEATY HUMID HOT HOT HOT, so I was right there with ya on the stressed-filled sweaty trip to Le Cell then The Land then Le Cell again.

Hey AC! Can’t wait to read all about your trip!

Ugh. Sorry about the bus delays and the ADR time mistake. But I'm happy they still let you in Love me some pretzel bread, cheddar cheese soup, and filet. Yum. Isn't it amazing that we still go for the soup when we're dying from the heat outside?!?! It's just impossible to pass up, though.

And, yes, Le Cell is dark dark, no matter the time of day. You did well with the photos. I've never been able to get in a good shot in that "dungeon" atmosphere.

It all worked out in the end and we enjoyed a great meal.

Great update...I'll make sure to avoid the slime trail when next at the world. You know it's hot when it turns to slime. Glad to hear that you still have a job eventhough it's different. I laughed about the caller asking for the supervisor....it's so true they just have to put them on hold and find the SME to answer the questions.

Looking forward to more!

Yeah, it was some nasty heat. I’m still getting used to my new digs, but I’m slowly ramping up to speed.

I guess we are all happy to be employed. It's probably a good reason our term over here won't be up for another 2 years- perhaps by then the job market will look a little less bleak.

Never fear. I know the Lord will work out all the details.

 

[jordanyosh]

BISCUIT!!!!!!!!

 

[GreatBiscuit]

BISCUIT!!!!!!!!

JORDAN!!!!!!!!



I feel better now.

 

[jordanyosh]

JORDAN!!!!!!!!



I feel better now.

I'm glad to help a brother out.

 

[GreatBiscuit]

I'm glad to help a brother out.

And now, to update....

 

[jordanyosh]

And now, to update....

I should shout BISCUIT more often..

 

[GreatBiscuit]

Coming up on Episode 66 Turtles, Skunks and Stockings

Previously on Biscuit's Grand Adventure, transportation got ugly, tragedy was turned to victory, and a whole mess of goodness was consumed. After lunch, we decided to check out O'Canada. As you may or may not recall from the series premier, my first ever WDW attraction was American Journeys in Circle Vision 360. For some reason, there was something nostalgic and appealing about seeing another Circle Vision presentation. I had never really been in any of the World Showcase Pavilions other than Norway so I wasn't exactly sure how to get to the place. However, I knew pretty much exactly where the theater was from having stared at an untold number of maps and at Google Earth images.

When we exited the restaurant, we cut left and followed the trail past the waterfalls.

Sure enough, in a few minutes, we walked right up to the place. (Which again goes back to that whole dumb luck & SOUNDING like you know more than actually do quip.) The waiting area was air conditioned and bore a striking resemblance to a mine. In fact, I thought this would have been a good holding queue for a Snow White themed show. But they didn't ask me. So it really doesnt matter WHAT I think. Where was I? OH the show. Right.



We had about a 10 minute wait for the next show to begin. We grabbed some bench and enjoyed the nice cool wonder of the Canadian Snow White lobby. After a bit, our Canadian hostess welcomed us to the show and advised us to avoid the perils of outward-swinging automatic doors. (Why do they seem to have every stinking door on property swing outward anyway? It seems counter intuitive. The only thing I could think of was for fire issues, so they could be pushed open from the inside. But I mean seriously, if there was a fire would you really want to push open a door to try to flee impending death through a completely filled queue?)

Anyway, the film soon began and we were flying along with Martin Short over the land of our northern neighbors. I actually liked it, but the girls were lukewarm on the concept. Tahli asked me halfway through "Why are we watching a movie at Disney World?" And Hailee wanted to know where we were going. My only thing was that it would have been perfect if it were about 5 min shorter. But, it was still enjoyable. At least it was for me anyway. It could be nostalgia. Or it could be that I like nature films. And the travel channel. Maybe they needed Samantha Brown. And a random action sequence. I seem to be babbling. I think it was the Martin Short reference that did me in. Moving right along

After our bird's eye glimpse of the vast and wondrous land that is O'Canada, we exited the attraction and discovered a KidCot station. If there is one thing the girls both love, it is art; especially when it involves cutting or taping. In our home office, they have their own little art center complete with easel, work table, and 4 drawers filled with construction paper, markers, crayons, colored pencils, stickers, blank paper, tape, glue, and all sorts of little odds and ends. They can both spend hours in there. Unfortunately this particular KidCot station was setup outside and it was WAAAAAAY too hot to deal with. Since the girls didn't notice it, we were able to quickly bypass the festivities with minimal effort.

We had bigger fish to fry as it were. One thing the Biscuit clan gets happy over is the ocean. We love us some sea life. We have season passes to Sea World San Antonio where the girls are always mesmerized by the giant Coral Reef aquariums. They had both been looking forward seeing The Seas with Nemo and Friends so our next step was to head back over to Future World. I passed over the bridge for the fifth time that day, only this time, I actually took a moment to look around and breathe it in.

Our pace was much more civilized at this point. It was still hot. Make no mistake, sweating was still occurring.
However, as there was no carrying of young-uns or DIS Boards Hustle involved, it was a much easier walk. ]



Rehabs are a funny thing sometimes. There is the excitement of a fresh look, new ideas and all that jazz. But there is also the loss of something familiar; something that connects us to fond memories and past experiences. I don't remember much of the old pavilion. I was only in it twice. But I did wonder just what changes had taken place. I didn't have much time to inspect the queue as there was virtually no line.

We were soon at the omnimover and headed to whatever it is they are calling Sea Base Alpha these days. The kids all rode together in a clam shell and thought it was quite cool that they got to ride by themselves. As for this portion of the ride, the projected characters weren't my favorite. It was hard to enjoy the real fish with the distraction of the animated variety and vice versa. Upon disembarking, the place really didn't seem all that different to me. In that respect I guess I wound up with a bit of both worlds, namely the new and the familiar.

We headed up to the observation level to check out the tanks. Our dolphin friend from the honeymoon was not in a playful mood that day and decided it would be a good time to ignore the humans. There were plenty of other nautical beasts though and the kids spent quite a bit of time ooing and ahhing over the various occupants of the tank. I did not remember the portion of the tank where you have the round viewing room. It may have been there all along, and I just forgot. Anyway, this spot was a HUGE hit.

After we were finally done watching the sea critters, we discovered another KidCot station. As this one was blissfully air conditioned, we allowed the kids to commence to decorating.



Preston was done fairly quickly and went off with Nana and Papa to explore some more.

The girls however were just getting warmed up. I knew they would be a while. After a few minutes exploring, Preston declared that he was done with Epcot and wanted to go back to the Pop and go swimming. Nana and Papa were fine with that and the three of them headed back to resort while Tracy and I stayed behind with the girls.

They spent another 15 minutes or so working on their projects before we headed into the lab area they have setup on the top level. The girls loved that they got to see the real versions of the Nemo stars. We did some trivia games, checked out some different displays and wandered around a bit.

Heading back downstairs, I looked for the one attraction I KNEW they would love. (Well, knew as in I theorized they would love it, as I had never actually seen the thing.) Namely Turtle Talk with Crush. We found our way over the queue area and spent some time watching the rays trying to escape their habitat. That was fun. There were not many people there when we first arrived so by the time the doors opened, we were near the front.

I knew pretty much what to expect from reading the boards, but the girls had no clue what they were going to see. The show started and we all were blown away. It is such a cool concept. Unfortunately the girls didnt get called on, but they still had a good time. (Which in Hailees case is actually a good thing as she is super shy, and would have scowled and given a look of death to anyone trying to talk to her.) We had a great group and the interaction was hilarious.

After Turtle Talk ended, we took a few photos with the sharks.



Before bidding farewell to Nemo and Friends, we stopped by the Manatee exhibit for a moment before checking out the facilities. From there we experienced a brief delay in the gift shop before emerging back into Future World. The girls wanted to keep exploring so we headed over to Journey Into Imagination.

This was another attraction I had not seen since it was rehabbed and I wanted to see what they had done to the place. (Nothing good I'm afraid.) There was only about a 5-6 min wait time to get on and when the girls asked what it was, I had to admit that I had absolutely NO idea. Soon it began and I could tell from Hailees giggling that she was enjoying it. In fact, she LOVED it. Figment (as the ride was thereafter called by her) was her favorite Epcot attraction. My personal view of it was that it was just okay. Had I not ridden the original, I might have enjoyed it more but I'm going with the majority opinion in saying I'm not crazy about the updates.

I did like the optical bird cage effect and the upside down house. The skunk I could have done without. Okay, sidebar. What is it with Disney and their olfactory assaults? You have Stitch's chili dogs, Figment's skunk, & Flick's stink bug. I have to ask is that really necessary? Can we not get something a bit more pleasant? MUST we assail the noses of those assembled? Soarin oranges? Wonderful! Philharmagic pastries? Divine! Stank-o-rama...not so much. I'm just saying.

Both girls LOVED the sensory exhibits in Image Works. We spent quite a bit of time here. They especially enjoyed playing on the instrument carpet.


We eventually meandered out through the gift shop and Hailee admired several Figment plush dolls. (Which we did not purchase...yeah I know cruel parents.) I called my mom to see what they were up to and arranged a meeting place and time. They were just getting out of the pool so we arranged to meet up at DHS in around 90 min-ish.

The girls had wanted to stop and see the fountain on the way in, but we were in such a rush, we weren't able to. We made our way back over there and let them watch for a few minutes.

Next it was time to take a spin on Spaceship Earth.

We headed to the front of the metallic orb and got in line. Actually line is a bit of a misnomer as there was virtually no wait. The line didnt begin until you were actually in the loading area and within moments we were boarding.

This was yet another rehab ride that I was looking forward to. I didn't remember much of this attraction at all from the last time I rode as a teenager. This was another one of those attractions where I didn't really explain it in advance, but we all enjoyed it.

Having seen this particular photo in multiple Trip Reports, I knew I had to take one to add here as well.

My one complaint? The screens fritzed out at the end and we never got to see our futures.

We stopped for a final facilities break on the way out and I sent a quick update to my live TR. As we were walking out, the girls wanted to take some more pictures so I had them pose in the entrance courtyard.



It had been a great day in Epcot, not only for me, but for all of the clan as well. Initially Tracy wasn't that excited about this particular park. Her sole experience here was from the day of inconvenience on our honeymoon and it was known as home of our first fight. I knew that once we were there though that she would love it. As we were leaving and heading back to the bus stop to transfer to DHS, Tracy told me she had a good time and was starting to see the place in a new light. And that my friends, just made my day.

NOTE - Nana can't remember and she wrote the next installment. I haven't been over there yet to try to help her reset it so for now, use this link for Episode 66/12 and then come back here or go to page one for the link to Episode 67.

Coming up Next on
Episode 66 1/2 - Hittin' the Hippy Dippy
Episode 67 - Hunger, Heat, and Herds.

 

[jordanyosh]

I love aquariums as well.....I love the Shedd (sp?) Aquarium in Chicago and the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

The rotunda viewing area has been there forever....FYI.

I miss Dreamfinder and the Original Journey......

O, Canada, the original, though outdated was better....but the AC is heaven.

 

[GreatBiscuit]

I should shout BISCUIT more often..

Definitely!

I love aquariums as well.....I love the Shedd (sp?) Aquarium in Chicago and the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

The rotunda viewing area has been there forever....FYI.

I miss Dreamfinder and the Original Journey......

O, Canada, the original, though outdated was better....but the AC is heaven.

Good to know about the rotunda. I miss Dreamfinder as well. I'm with you on the AC. I'm for any attraction that cools a fellow off a bit.

 

[jordanyosh]

Don't you love Epcot? MGM used to be favorite until they changed the ambience of the park. I feel like it's lost it's identity. Hopefully, TSM and Pixar Place and the resurgence of the Muppets can reinvigorate the park. AK is now my fave, but something about Epcot....you mention nostalgia...for me I think that's it. Attractions like Spaceship Earth, The Seas, Journey, Universe of Energy still have the essence of the original attraction, but just updated. Sometimes it works out better, sometimes not, but the intangible of nostalgia....