Canadian Buffoon's Disney With a Teen Vacation - 08/13 - The Wrap

[pkondz]

what a really nice tribute to your friend Nebo! And we must thank him also, for encouraging you to start writing TR's yourself!

He's the main reason I started doing this.
There were others... all on his thread, who encouraged me as well.
But without him.... I doubt I'd be here.

Noooooooooooooo! Run away!!!!!!

That rabbit's got a vicious streak a mile wide!

You are the Grand Marshall of graciousness

Oooh! I get a parade, too!

I'm not gettin' on it...it's the Sum of All Nill's

Said that too.
Maybe not with that emphasis....

Very cool, girly, yet fast!

Show off

You bet! I don't know anyone else, other than racers
or people who've tested race cars that have driven that fast.

No! Not happy!

Sorry about that.
Next time, you pick the restaurant.

Is it just me or did they get kinda chinsy with the pepperoni? She got like 6 on her whole pizza...minus the random hidden Mickey pepparoni

Compared to some pizzas I've had... yes.
But I think, in Italy, that'd be more normal.

Of course not, it was hot! Chocolate melts in that kinda stuff

Yep! And if it'd been freezing cold outside,
we still would've said that.
"Melts in your hand! Eat it!"

Sounds like the Universe is trying to tell you you need to visit small towns outside of Jersey for some reason!

Why? No one's there. They're all in WDW!

Precisely.

Is it obvious??? Let's see.. If I were in Epcot and were wishing to park hop I'd take the boat or walk to HS, take the monorail to MK, so considering you were getting on a bus I'm going to say you went to AK to try and get one last ride on EE in before park closing

3

I'll go with the masses and say churro

I'm thinking you could watch Wishes at MK one last time.......but I'm going to say you leave the park at 9:30

I think it rained on your parade and wishes got washed out

Yes

Noted.

 

[Thumper_Man]

I meant to reply, but this has been one busy month. Holidays, vehicle repairs, Lady H travelling, job interviews. Before I knew it, we're already in 2016. Still no job. Some of the interviews I felt went great, so hopefully one of them pans out soon. If not, may have to go back to my retail roots soon. I'm still getting unemployment benefits, but time to turn job search up a notch now.

Jersey's empty!

So only 3 of you knew the reference about the finger on the hot grill.

I knew this reference as well. I remember that TR well.

I started to follow a few people.
(Most of whom are now gone or seldom post.)

Guilty. Send me to WDW, lock me up and throw away the key. I don't deserve to be a part of this TR anymore.

What? No WDW?! Can't blame a guy for trying.

Then I heard about some guy named "Nebo".

I remember him.

It turned out that Nebo wrote TRs.
And darned good ones too.
Albeit accident prone ones.
But that's (in part) what made his TRs so funny.

I started reading his TRs and we became friends.
And it's because of his TRs and his encouragement that I write mine.

That and you give prizes.

At one point, he and his wife Smidgy were at Teppan Edo
and he decided to "test" the hot plate.
Only Nebo would do that.

Do you remember the time he lit the napkin on fire?

Unfortunately, due to health issues,
Nebo hasn't posted in a year or two.
I miss him on here.

Me to. I need to give the old lug a call one of these days. It's been forever since I talked to him.

So that's the reference.
I was curious to see how many of my readers were familiar with him.
And with that story.
Now I know.
About 14 percent of you. (3 out of 21)

And that surprised me.
I guess I was under the mistaken belief
that most of you had followed me from there.

Well I did follow you from there. Or you followed me. Seeing this is your TR, I guess it would be me that followed you.
Be vewy vewy quiet, I'm stalking Ponzi.

I'm a little shocked... and humbled too,
that so many of you have joined me in
this little adventure.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

You have a heart?

J/K. We're glad that you take the time to do this for us.

Our DUD* info.
*Disney's Un-magical Depress
(Full disclosure: Magical Depress is a Nebo invention.)

Think at one point Nebo also referred to this as the eviction notice.

I did enjoy the pizza and, if memory serves,
(it seldom does) Kay did too.
But.
Was it amazing? No.
You want amazing? Try Chicago.

Chicago pizza is awesome. I hope I don't offend any New Yorkers, but we enjoyed the pizza in Chicago much better than New York. Well at least the places we went. I'm sure its a matter of finding the right places.

Again?!?!?!?!?
I talk to three random strangers,
on three separate days.
And they're all from "A small town in Jersey, just outside Philadelphia"???

What are the odds of that happening? I'll let you do the math, I have a headache at the moment.

1. Obvious one. Which park are we heading out to next?

Obvious he says and yet I bet I don't get the right answer. Since you're taking a bus, my guess is DHS.
Lady H guesses AK.

2. Remember we have to be at the lobby for check out at 2:45am.
So... Is the next park our last of the day? Or not?

T_Man: Not.
Lady H: Not.

Number of parks done this last day, 2, 3 or 4?

T_Man: 3
Lady H: 4

3. I experience yet another first time snack.
And it's another fairly common one.
(I had to. I promised I would.) What is it?

T_Man: Mickey Pretzel
Lady H: Mickey Bar

4. Oh, take a wild guess on what time we leave the parks for the night.
And just to make things extra easy for you...
(in order of lateness open)
MK open til 11, DHS open til 9:30, Epcot open til 9, AK open til 5

T_Man: 11pm
Lady H: 11pm

5. We've been lucky with the weather... so far.
So, do you feel we stay lucky?

T_Man: Yes, you stay lucky.
Lady H: Yes, you get lucky.

6. What do you think? We've done one ADR today already.
Do we have a dinner ADR?

T_Man: No.
Lady H: Yes.

 

[pkondz]

Is this at Innoventions?

Yes it is. Innoventions East.

How have I not heard about this ride?!

I don't know!
But that's why you come here.
I learn stuff to peoples.

If your boys like coasters, they'll probably like this.

She's selling herself short. I'm sure she can do more than serve water.

I suspect it's because she's so new.
"Here. Start with just bringing water.
In a while we'll get you serving tables."

The definitely need some help with the definition of a "beverage."

Does it fit through a straw? Done!

I'm kinda glad to hear this. I've always skipped Via Napoli when I'm at Epcot because I can get a decent pie here.

That's the way I feel about it now.

We've gone with things like Biergarten or Marrakesh because we don't have many German buffets or Morrocan restaurants where I live.

Interesting.
I like Biergarten because the food is all familiar.
And I'm scared of Marrakesh for the same reason.
But I will try it someday!

I'll try it someday, it just hasn't been my first priority.

Won't be mine either.
Maybe for pasta or something. But not for pizza.

That's funny! Actually, when I was in college (URI) everyone I met who wasn't from RI was from Jersey. So, yeah. Everyone is from Jersey. Proof.

I KNEW IT!!!!!!!!

Wow! I cleaned up! I may also have a drinking problem but who cares?? 40 points!

1. MK
2. 2
3. Citrus Swirl
4. 9
5. Nope. It rains. It really rains.
6. Nope again.

Noted.

I'm just making stuff up.

 

[pkondz]

Just thought you'd like to know that while you've been sleeping (or whatever it is you do at night in Winnipeg)

Dreaming of a certain Australian Princess, of course.

I've been here...

Nice!
And thanks for sharing!

 

[pkondz]

GAH! Oh my word! I missed an updated! That certainly won't help with my points score.

Nope.
I swear! I waited! I did! I really did!

For the record, I knew the Nebo reference!

That makes 5 now I think.
I really thought that number would've been a lot higher.

I am starting to get very jealous of your VIP Bus Package! I never have that kind of luck.

You really should look into getting one.

Looks like a good start to the last day! Excellent Epcot quality time there!

My guesses for Round 10:
1. Magic Kingdom
2. I think it's your last park.
3. Dole Whip Float
4. You'll stay as long as you can. So at MK closing is my vote.
5. I think you will miss the rain. You've been so lucky so far!
6. Yes I think you do have an ADR!

Noted.

 

[pkondz]

Okay. It's official. I'm burnt out.
I'm having typo issues again,
so I know it's time to call it a day.

But wanted to say "Hi Mike! Hi Heather! "

I've read all the comments, but...
More shout-outs tomorrow.

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

Dreaming of a certain Australian Princess, of course.

Be careful or I might start dreaming of quitting my job, running away and joining a certain Winnipegian's (Winnipegite ?) harem...

Nice!
And thanks for sharing!

It was nice but now I'm extra sad that I won't be at Disney again for 10 and a half months! I could give birth to a human being in that amount of time

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

If you buy me Grey Goose Slush, my liver will thank you.

Well I haven't used all my duty free allowance yet so I could buy you some Grey Goose so you could make yourself one at home...

It's a bi-meaning emoji.

OMG! Are you okay? Did that hurt?!?!?

I'm fine - sometimes Disney pricing just knocks the wind right out of me

This appears to be a wise and just comment.

Seeing as you are the most wise Pkondz how could anyone disagree with you?

Sorry. It's not clear. Are you happy?

Well I was happy but unfortunately unfortunately I'm very fragile and very funny sarcasm makes my happiness disappear...

I'm waiting to see how he responds to the last one.
If it's not satisfactory... then I'll hit him with this one!

I think you should send the second letter to his replacement just to keep both of them on their toes.

Noted.

See I know I've got one terribly wrong already but I'm going to leave my incorrect answer so my future self learns a lesson in not being so stupid

Yes. It's in the same room as the Disney addiction 12 step program.

Well if I'm going to host them I'm definitely going to need a bigger place...

 

[BibbitybobityLu]

As I am so far behind here is a cute puppy.

That is all.

 

[GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes]

Being fans of Bill Watterson’s great works, I thought you might also see these as somewhat bemusing homages…

And no…
They have nothing to do with your TR, but they made me smile, so…




OK, now for the actual TR replies.

Jersey's empty!

Then I heard about some guy named "Nebo".
Might have been in the "You might be a DIS-er if........" thread.

Have not run across that particular thread.
I first encountered Nebo by name reading through one of you other TRs; some excellent repartee there (but like I said, I haven’t gone back and read a whole lot of his previous work as of yet).

i.e. It's his fault!!!

Too bad for us (though I suspect that he’s pretty proud of the fact).

I guess I was under the mistaken belief
that most of you had followed me from there.

You, I ran across via the Caption Contest thread (more funny stuff)
It was the links in your Sig that got me reading your TRs

One last thing before we get this cattle train a-rollin'.

We didn't take too many pictures this day.

It happens…
Not a problem though, as we - your readers - have all been known to supply a few for you in their responses. So we’ll see if we can’t help you out here, you know…
Just to “Plus” the experience (as Walt would say).

Mooooooving on.

Morning came bright and early on August 26th.

7:01am according to the almanac (just so you know).

Isn't it wonderful when the writer starts off
by basically lying to you?

Embellishment…
It not about facts, it’s about presentation.

All story tellers live by that particular code.

For some reason, it had taken me a while
to get to sleep the previous night.

Maybe it was the three or eight mugs of Coke I drank
before going to bed.

That would likely have forced most folk to be getting’ up once or twice during the night.

Hmm.... Something is different.
There's a disturbance in the Force.

Strong with this one, the force is, hummmm…

I popped open the door and...
Yep. There IT was.
Hanging from the door knob like a garrotted condemned criminal.

Oooooo… using some of them there five dollar words.
Now that presents quite the visual.

Our DUD* info.

*Disney's Un-magical Depress
(Full disclosure: Magical Depress is a Nebo invention.)

And a right fine one at that.

Okay.
Step one. Panic.

Step two.
Breathe.

Step three.
Pretend it's not real.

Let's see...
What time do we need to be at the front desk tomorrow?

2:45am.

At 9:30am, Kay woke up.
I was surprised.
9:30am is pretty early for her.
Then again, it may be because I screamed
"WAKE UP!!!!!" at her.

Well, you didn’t whack her on the head with a pillow, so she should consider it a general win.

An hour later,
(interspersed with me running to the food court for drinks)

And the tally now stands at 15 to 7


But it’s better to be busy with something rather than just waiting around for others.

The bus arrived at 10:41am.
One minute.
It was longer than we were used to.

And nonexistent in my world.

Am I not gracious?
Of course I am.
Tell me how gracious I am and get free bonus points.

You are far and away the single most gracious blackmailer I’ve ever had the pleasure to have known.

Minutes later, we were being disgorged onto the pavement at Epcot.

Unfortunately, like I said, it was a long line.
Pretty much exhausted every possibility.

You can try one if you like.
But I guarantee we already said it.

If it could sang a lonesome and haunting bird song that could capture a departing sole…
The Sum of All Whippoorwills

By now, you may have guessed what our first ride was.

Forgot about that one; excellent choice and one of my favs.
We like the jet fighter simulations in particular.

We boarded our... uh... seats? car? device?

Portal to adventure!!!

Feminine... yet bad-a... uh.... mean looking.
Dad approves.

Very “bad-a... uh....”
This random stranger approves as well

I dunno.
We've all driven (or been driven) that fast on the highway.
Yet with the banked track, it seems faster, doesn't it?

Being so low to the ground and in an open vehicle adds a might to it as well.

And yet.
Maybe it's because I've driven more than twice as fast
in Germany on the Autobahn.
It seemed to be not as fast as I remembered it.

Yeah, y’all are just a might spoiled by that experience.
Not a problem that I have…
Not yet at least.

And afterwards, this happened...

Hmmm... Maybe she's trying to tell me something.
Sheesh. Some things never change...

Oh this time there’s a change alright.
The original is a youn’ge having fun “playing grown-up”

The young lady in the updated version, most certainly has one of “those” looks in her eyes…
You know the particular one here: the “you need to get me one of these; now!” look.

Shortly after we boarded, the boat set out for Germany.

"Hey! You said you weren't doing Biergarten again!"

Not to worry…
I know better than that. It’s also the quickest way to Italy.

We quickly walked
(quickly, because our ADR time was fast approaching)
over to Italy and announced ourselves to the host at Via Napoli.

See…
Conosco I miei polli

There! Are you happy?
Most of you guessed we'd eat here.

Well…
Most of us also missed the other Epcot guesses, so it kind’a descended down to: “so what’s left?”

It got to the point where I was a little afraid
to take a sip of water for fear of running her off her feet!

We encountered something similar. It actually surprised me that there was a person specifically designated to just maintaining the water levels. The similar amount of hustle makes me wonder if per chance it’s seen as a test and the only way to work up tom the next level on the staff (and therefor get to stay in the US).

For all you Via Napoli fanatics...
prepare to be disappointed.

Take your best shot.
We think it’s good, but not necessarily awe inspiring.
(mostly Via N. is a decent bargain as table service goes in Da’ World)

You want amazing? Try Chicago.
Well…

That’s more Pie than Pizza; which isn’t a bad thing, just not the same thing.
But then again, I like pie, so…

Or heck, come to Winnipeg.

Really?
OK, give us the tour; what make the pizza up that’a way great.

At one point, the show goes overseas to Italy.
A bunch of school kids are being asked if they know
where pizza was invented.
One little boy, about 10 or 12 I suppose,
pipes up "America!"
Which is swiftly followed by one of the nearby adults
swatting him in the back of the head for his ignorance.

But in truth, the kid wasn’t all that wrong. It’s certainly more of a North American phenomenon then a Southern European one. It may (or may not) have been “first devised” there; it was developed here.

We got our bill (and when I say "we" and "our", I mean "I" and "my")

Most all of us are parents…
No need to translate

Well, we didn't really have an appetite worked up,
but who cares??? It's Karamell Kuche!

Works for me…

So we got to the dock at 2:52pm and had zero wait.

Of course.

Of course…

inevitably the "where you from" question comes up.
"We're from Canada." I said.
I know to just leave it at that.
I've found that if I say "Winnipeg",

I get blank stares.

Try saying: Fort Mill…
The blank stares are of black hole proportions for the one.

If everyone from Jersey is here now.
Who's minding the store back in Jersey????

Well according to most news reports, there’s very little minding of any type going on up that way.

Disney Transportation Wait Time to date
(12 busses, 5 boats, 2 monorails): 35 minutes
Average wait time just over 1 3/4 minutes.

Time to take a different SWAG at this one…
Let’s go with 42 minutes (because the answer is always 42, right?)

Bonus questions, round 10!

1. AK
2. 3
3. Hummmm… not sure about this one. Let’s go with: Mickey Pretzel
4. 10
5. You stay lucky: no rain
6. Yes

 

[afwdwfan]

You just have to know where to look.
Hmmm.... tell you what. I'll lead you to the first one.
After that you're on your own.
You can find a good one here.

Who's got time for that crap?

Hmmm.... I don't feel like researching it,
but it'd be interesting to see if I found you first or vice versa.

I think you came to my TR first. I don't know why...

Oh? It always feels faster than the 60MPH it goes.
Huh.

No, I don't think it seems all that fast. I mean, it is definitely faster than the Tomorrowland Speedway, but I think triple digits would really set it over the top.

Well, look who's taking on an entire State.
This could be interesting.

Meh... it's just Jersey.

Would it help if I told you how many points you did or didn't get?

Probably not.

 

[franandaj]

It was a beautiful sunny day in Hong Kong yesterday - perect park weather. And it seemed like there were lots of people but wait times were never more than 10 minutes all day

Oops. My bad. The picture was a little blurry and I thought it was Sleeping Beauty's Castle.

 

[pkondz]

Well I can't even try with the guessing anymore lol...I am just trying to keep up around here!!

But I'll keep awarding points to deserving posters.
May not win, but can still get a gold start on their homework.

But as always loving the TR.

Thanks!

Oh I feel for you. Hate that notice. Especially when you are from Canada and they make you get to the airport with a kazillion hours to spare before your flight.

I know. We had to be in the lobby at 2:45am,
but I think our flight was two days later.

Always wanted to try this place.

Don't not go on account of my report.
See for yourself.

Besides, I'd go again.

Sorry you didn't love it as much as was so much advertised.

Yeah. I kinda go the impression (probably my fault)
that the pizza was the best I'd ever have.

Not so much.

We have a lot of great pizza in Toronto too so I might feel the same.

I've had some good za in TO.

Funny how it works that way with kids...sigh.

You say tomato, I say tomahto.
You say funny, I say infuriating and sometimes drives me nuts.

Yum...what kind? Did you try the blood orange?

No. I don't remember, but let Kay pick.
She doesn't eat... fruit.

I always seem to meet people from PA...which is basically Jersey right?

Well, apparently there's a small town near there.

(don't flame me from either place lol...what do I know...I'm Canadian..

Don't destroy the myth!
All Americans think we Canadians are brilliant and know all.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

So that's the reference.
I was curious to see how many of my readers were familiar with him.
And with that story.
Now I know.
About 14 percent of you. (3 out of 21)

Hey, that's roughly my success rate on random guesses for this TR.

And that surprised me.
I guess I was under the mistaken belief
that most of you had followed me from there.
I'm a little shocked... and humbled too,
that so many of you have joined me in
this little adventure.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I think I have @afwdwfan to thank for bringing me into the club. Or blame. However you want to see it.

Isn't it wonderful when the writer starts off
by basically lying to you?

No idea what you're talking about.

Our DUD* info.

*Disney's Un-magical Depress
(Full disclosure: Magical Depress is a Nebo invention.)

I'm totally stealing that. The DUD acronym, too.

Did you ever notice that the last day in Disney
is equivalent to holding your fingers in your ears and yelling "la-la-la!"

"You have to go home, now."
I can't hear you!!! La-la-la!!

Oh my goodness, yes! Perfect description.

Then again, it may be because I screamed
"WAKE UP!!!!!" at her.

Does that really work?

One minute.
It was longer than we were used to.
But I am nothing if not understanding.
I let it slide and chose not to berate the driver
for his tardiness.
Am I not gracious?
Of course I am.
Tell me how gracious I am and get free bonus points.

I read this and started thinking of Gladiator. "ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED??"

Oh, right. You're very gracious.

"If the ride was cold, it would be Sum of all Chills."
"If you ate pickles while riding it would be Sum of all Dills."
"If you had a prescription it would be Sum of all Pills."
"If you died on it, it would be Sum of all Wills."
"Put a feather in it. Sum of all Quills."
"It goes really high, but not too high. Sum of all hills."
"Costs money. Sum of all Bills."
"Lots of garbage in it. Sum of all Fills."
"Underwater. Sum of all Gills."
"Makes you sick. Sum of all Ills."
"Worse, you die. Sum of all Kills."
ad infinitum

Well, you should have had your mugs with you so you could have gotten The Sum of All Refills. Or spiked them with whiskey to get The Sum of All Distills.

Designing the course is a bit frustrating for newbies like us.
We had to figure out just what the heck we were supposed to do
before we could even design a course.
And you have a fairly short window of time as it is.
Here's the course we came up with:

Better than I would have done. I doubt I would have graduated beyond a straight line.

We boarded our... uh... seats? car? device?

Futuristic Jet Pack-inator!

Feminine... yet bad-a... uh.... mean looking.
Dad approves.

I'd say it's DIS Dad-approved as well.

We've all driven (or been driven) that fast on the highway.
Yet with the banked track, it seems faster, doesn't it?

The joys of centrifugal forces.

Wow. These flashbacks just catch me by surprise every time. Time waits for no one.

I must admit that the previous day's two 5 minute waits
had shaken my confidence.

Well, I think that would be enough to make anyone feel the ground shift beneath them. Good on you for being resilient.

We quickly walked
(quickly, because our ADR time was fast approaching)
over to Italy and announced ourselves to the host at Via Napoli.

Finally!

There! Are you happy?

Yes! I got one stinking guess right!

It got to the point where I was a little afraid
to take a sip of water for fear of running her off her feet!

I hope you got a FP for the bathroom.

For all you Via Napoli fanatics...
prepare to be disappointed.
I did enjoy the pizza and, if memory serves,
(it seldom does) Kay did too.
But.
Was it amazing? No.

Darn. I really like it there. Of course, I think part of that has to do with the fact that all of the pizza on property is thoroughly un-memorable in comparison.

You want amazing? Try Chicago.

Chicago deep dish is pretty amazing, but you have to be in the right mood, since eating it is like swallowing an anchor.

Or heck, come to Winnipeg.

I may actually get closer to Winnipeg this summer than I first realized.

This was good, don't get me wrong,
but it wasn't as good as I thought it might be.

Sometimes things get over-hyped as well.

But she was happy, so I was happy.
Obviously.
Because when she's not happy, oh boy.
You'll definitely not be happy.

Sounds like a future Mom.

Well, we didn't really have an appetite worked up,
but who cares??? It's Karamell Kuche!

Story checks out.

There's a boat dock right at Germany,
and naturally, as we strolled over to it,
there was a boat that was just starting to load.

Do you need to schedule surgery to remove the horseshoe, or is it there permanently?

I don't know who asked first, but inevitably the
"where you from" question comes up.
"We're from Canada." I said.
I know to just leave it at that.
I've found that if I say "Winnipeg",
I get blank stares.
If I say "Manitoba" the province that has
Winnipeg as its capitol... I get blank stares.
So I usually go with the safe "Canada"
and expound if asked for more details.

I weep for my country.

"A small town in Jersey, just outside Philadelphia."

Of course.

If everyone from Jersey is here now.
Who's minding the store back in Jersey????

Does anyone really need to mind the store? I mean, it's not like anyone is rushing to fill the void.

Feel free to change your guesses if you wish.
Last update was supposed to be your last chance,
but you may do so up to (but not including) the next update.
(Since I forgot.)
So get your guesses or changes in before the next post,
otherwise... you're stuck with 'em!

Oh, all right. Looks like my number is still way too high. So, I'll change to 42.319745 minutes.

1. Obvious one. Which park are we heading out to next?

Magic Kingdom. So you can end your trip there.

2. Remember we have to be at the lobby for check out at 2:45am.
So... Is the next park our last of the day? Or not?
Number of parks done this last day, 2, 3 or 4?

Yep, this is it. That'll be 2 parks.

3. I experience yet another first time snack.
And it's another fairly common one.
(I had to. I promised I would.) What is it?

A churro for the first-time snack. And maybe another Dole Whip Float, because it's there.

4. Oh, take a wild guess on what time we leave the parks for the night.
And just to make things extra easy for you...
(in order of lateness open)
MK open til 11, DHS open til 9:30, Epcot open til 9, AK open til 5

I'll go with 11. Max out the day at MK.

5. We've been lucky with the weather... so far.
So, do you feel we stay lucky?

Do you feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk? Sure, that horseshoe is working overtime for you.

6. What do you think? We've done one ADR today already.
Do we have a dinner ADR?

Yes. Am I supposed to say where? Uh...Kona Cafe?

Being fans of Bill Watterson’s great works, I thought you might also see these as somewhat bemusing homages…

And no…
They have nothing to do with your TR, but they made me smile, so…

These are awesome!

 

[pkondz]

Most gracious you are, oh great Ponzi.

Why thank you! So kind of you to say that.

I had suggested Sum of All Thrills to my kids, but the wait was longer than they were willing to wait. Maybe 45 minutes? (It *was* Spring Break). But all things considered, it sounds like maybe I should've made them do it, anyhow, lol.

Well, 45 minutes is a while to stand in line.
But... yeah. Worth it.

(Speaking of Spring Break... next time you start a PTR/TR could you PM me?)

This is why we didn't go to Via Napoli. I'm biased. I'll eat pizza other places, but not when I'm looking for something exotic I can't get at home!

I was expecting something I couldn't get at home.
And in a sense I got that.
But unique (to me) does not necessarily mean "better".

Here's a funny - you would think that California Pizza Kitchen would make their pizza the same all over, since it's a chain, right?

No. Because I've never heard of it!

I first took my daughter to one in Boston, and she was very disappointed, because the crust was very thin and crunchy. In retrospect, I realized that they had given us the East Coast version of California pizza! So, now I'm wondering how different the pizza is at the California Pizza Kitchen in California vs Illinois!

I'd bet different again.
I'm sure even a chain is going to modify something
if the locals won't buy it.

Geek cred...

Tough ones, but here goes:
1. MK
2. Last park - 2 total for the day
3. I can't remember all the snacks you've tried! But, I'll go for the Mickey rice krispy treat.
4. Leave at 10:30 after Wishes plus one more bonus ride
5. Yes. It came with the transportation package.
6. No

Noted.

(I haven't been ignoring you - but I needed to get to a computer to respond!)

I find that's better than shouting.

 

[pkondz]

Skipping around a few comments here for a sec...

Ugh! In all this rain? Is it busy out there?

This is not the castle you think you're looking at.

It was a beautiful sunny day in Hong Kong yesterday - perect park weather. And it seemed like there were lots of people but wait times were never more than 10 minutes all day

10 minutes!!!!
I've been going to the wrong Disney!

Glad to hear your weather's been nice!

Don't lump all of NY together! Buffalo has AWESOME pizza! (yes I've had pizza in Chicago, but not Detroit yet!)

Uh, oh! It's on!

 

[pkondz]

All acceptable excuses.. I guess...

And yet completely failing as a TR writer.

You're two hours late!

I blame the child.

Too bad the garrot didnt kill it. They you would just have to stay at Disney forever.

And that would have been so, so tragic.

Sleep is overrated everyday at Disney.. minus the day you have to leave

Oh so gracious, you are

Thanking you, I am.

I haven't gotten the chance to experience this yet, the line is always monsterous. it would be really great if they would make a FP+ line for this!

But then I think it would become more well known,
more popular and.... lines would be insanely long.
And I could see it now.
Epcot Tier 1. Pick from one of the following:
Soarin, Test Track, Sum of all Thrills, The Land.
Tier 2. Pick from all the other stuff that no one cares about.

I was wrong, but still a good choice!

Even though I wasn't thrilled with the pizza,
we still had a good time, a good meal
and I'm glad we went.

Idk how you feel about prosciutto but their Prosciutto e Melone pizza is AH-mazing! I thought it was way better than the pepperoni.

Hmmm.... That combination sounded odd to me.
But okay. Next time (if I remember. there's always that)
I'll try it.

Agreed

Lemon trumps almost anything.

They knew you were coming, and made sure they were ready and waiting when you got there.

Of course they were. It's part of the VIP package.
I would've been very angry if they weren't.

If I didnt know when you had went I'd assume you went during "Jersey Week" lol

Never thought of that.

FOUR MINUTES?! What is this crap?!

Just shows you how bemused I was about the whole "Jersey" thing.

There is it.

Got to it eventually.

1. Obvious one. Which park are we heading out to next? DHS

2. Remember we have to be at the lobby for check out at 2:45am.
So... Is the next park our last of the day? Or not? Nope, you go back to MK for one last Wishes viewing.
Number of parks done this last day, 2, 3 or 4? 3

3. I experience yet another first time snack.
And it's another fairly common one.
(I had to. I promised I would.) What is it? Churro?

4. Oh, take a wild guess on what time we leave the parks for the night.
And just to make things extra easy for you...
(in order of lateness open)
MK open til 11, DHS open til 9:30, Epcot open til 9, AK open til 5
I'll guess 10:15pm

5. We've been lucky with the weather... so far.
So, do you feel we stay lucky?
Yes!

6. What do you think? We've done one ADR today already.
Do we have a dinner ADR?
No ADR. I think dinner is going to be a quick service meal.

Noted.

 

[pkondz]

Magic Kingdom

2

Another Dole Whip!

I think you close MK - you can always sleep in Canada! I think you sashay through the shops after closing, so I'm going to say 11:30.

You've been lucky with everything, so Yes!

No, I think you need as much park time as possible tonight.

Noted.

So much suspense!

Dun, dun, dunnnnnnn!!!!

 

[pkondz]

I get it, it's tempting to touch it!

It certainly is.
Wait. Are we still talking about the griddle at Teppan Edo?

He sounds like a great guy, sorry he's not doing well.

Yeah, he's had a rough go of it for a bit now.

I found your solo trip report in August.

I remember!

I was reading some other one and couldn't make it past page 3 or 4 because of some things I found annoying (call them reasons x, y, z). My sister said she had been reading a trip report but also quit because she was annoyed for different reasons (a, b, c). I asked her for the link since reasons a b and c aren't annoying to me so I figured I could read it.... She sends the link and it's the SAME trip report.

No way!

After that I see "Canadian Buffoon" on the list. I think, "he's Canadian so he must be cool and doesn't seem to take himself too seriously".

Wow. You really know what you're talking about.
Yes. Yes I'm cool.

I clicked on it and ended up reading for hours! I loved it, so funny!!!

And this was an absolute first for me, I didn't find ANYTHING annoying. Not one thing!!!

Well, give me some time.
I'm sure I'll annoy you pretty soon.

For most people that's normal but for me it's really rare. You were the opposite of annoying Yours was the first trip report I ever made it to the end of. I even read the Toronto part.

And you didn't feel ill afterwards?

That's what makes it fun.

You like a liar, huh?
Did I mention that I'm 6'2'' with the body of a Greek god
and a face to match your wildest desires?

at least it wasn't "the three or eight lines of coke I did"

This TR would be very differ.....

Oh, who am I kidding.
It'd probably be exactly the same.
Maybe a few more typose.

we really appreciate it!

You're welcome!

That is the absolute worst sight!! I hate those tags. HATE THEM.

I even hate seeing them on others doors!

That should work.

You'd think. And yet.... here I am.
Not in Disney.

That pretty much works in all areas of life.

Of course it does.
It's how I live, baby!

WHY???? that's just torture. Was that the only flight available?

The only one that a. matched my schedule and b. matched my pocketbook.
I think because I booked it a bit later,
all the good flights were at least twice as expensive.
Plus DME takes you (well people going outside the U.S.) three hours early.

Of course, your last day can't be wasted sleeping.

Even sleeping in a little bit was... hard.

That was so nice of you!!! You just took it out on some unsuspecting person later.

And that person was from New Jersey.

You are the MOST gracious person I have EVER met..... (online).

Thanks!


Wait....

Those were great!! Wear your Alice dress and it's Sum of all Frills.

Yep. Did that one too.
Maybe not in reference to my dressing habits...

Obviously, it's the best one. Looks like you designed a great course.

We did? I have no idea!

Were you freaked out when they said "here's the emergency stop switch in case you need it"?

OMG! You know what? I totally forgot about that!
I was so busy having fun that I didn't even think about it!

It really is! I always mean to ride this and then never seem to fit it in.

It's easy to forget about it.
You think "What rides do I ride in Epcot?"
And you look at the tiering and completely forget
it's there.

Probably because it's open. I wish they would just cut out the first part of the ride and just let you go around the track twice instead.

I'd like a figure eight.
That way you could have a couple of straights and different banking.

Plus if they launch two cars at once,
you could see how close to crashing into the other car you could come.

We lucked out twice last trip and rode during illuminations so we saw fireworks as we circled the track.

nice!

She's telling you that her favourite colour is red. Cute comparison pictures!

Nope. Her favourite colour by far is black.
(Matches her soul she likes to kid... I hope.)

And thanks! That's one of my faves.

Yes finally I'm happy but you should have eaten there on your first day so I could have been right three attempts ago.

Sorry about that.
I'll try to do better next time.

They're sort of insane inside the bubble too.

True.
But there you can't walk away and say
"I'm going down the street to the other theme park"

Well.... I guess you can.

I get it. The first time I ate there I had a cold and couldn't taste anything. My whole family was underwhelmed. I insisted we go back so I could actually taste it and it was just ok. I had the prosciutto and melone. Nobody was thrilled the second time either. The desserts were good though.

Why didn't you tell me?!?!?

Ummmmm actually try Italy! I've never found pizza as good anywhere else.

I did try Italy!
When we were in Venice and I couldn't move,
the kids went out and got me "Japanese pizza"
(They called it that because it was cut into 1" squares
and had toothpicks in them for easy, mess-free eating.)
And it was delicious!

It must be something about the ingredients they use or the climate. I don't know why.

Possibly both.
Vacation food is sooooo good.

The crust is so thin it's practically like eating toppings right off the pan. It might just be like that in the north, I've never visited the south.

Interesting. The "Japanese pizza" had a thick crust.
I much prefer thick to thin crust.

What about hazelnut gelato?

Nope. Not a big fan.
Lemon all the way.

and a bunch of stuffed animals

Actually, I don't think she got any stuffed animals.

I love Kay! I'm thinking she's my long lost twin.

Uh... wait.
Remind me to never make you angry.

Don't feel bad, I've said Toronto and gotten those same blank stares.

I'm not surprised... but a little.
Usually, when you say Canada,
people only know Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver.

Anytime I hear Winnipeg I think of this.... It still makes me laugh.

Love that! I've never seen that before!!

Ok NOW that's really weird. I thought it was just a coincidence before.

I seriously was wondering if I was part of some elaborate prank.

It was taken over by zombies. The humans all escaped to Disney.

Well, that explains it all right.

Are you sure you didn't step into a time warp and end up there in the middle of jersey week?

Tori just said that!

Still LOVE this!!!!!

I thought you might.
Not annoyed, are you?

Animal Kingdom

not the last park, 3 for the day

churro

10:30 you're just going to pull and all nighter.

no

yes (if you paid cash for your ice cream at beaches and cream, no if you used a table service credit for it).

Noted.

 

[irene_dsc]

(Speaking of Spring Break... next time you start a PTR/TR could you PM me?)

Thanks! I'll try to remember, but no idea if/when I'll start another one. Dh keeps talking about a trip this summer (NoCal/Yosemite), but I don't know if we are going to be able to swing it or not. So I guess if I do one, it would be on that other forum about CA - I'll probably have to drag people over there by force, because it is a pretty quiet board!

Fwiw, I think I found you by seeing you comment on other people's TRs. Your solo TR was going on at the time, so I jumped in a little near the end. (I found the DIS for our first trip in my siggie, and then left for a very long time after my TR friends stopped posting and we didn't have any plans to come back. Plus, the recession hit us pretty hard, so it was too depressing to read about vacations at that point.)

I have toyed with the idea of a solo trip, after reading about all these other solo trips. I even put together a wish list, of all the stuff no one else wants to do or that we've just missed on our other trips. But I doubt it will ever happen, since we have so many other places we want to go.

No. Because I've never heard of it!

Hm. They don't seem to have any in Canada. They did apparently start in CA - Beverly Hills, in fact, according to the corporate website. Their claim to fame is that they put unusual toppings on their pizzas. But, I first encountered strange toppings on pizza on a high school trip to France, where they put things like eggs on top! So, the "exotic" pizza toppings at CPK seemed relatively tame after that!