I truly thought about skipping it,
or at the very least, paring it down
to just a few words.
Perhaps a sentence or two.
But that's just not me.
You have to go with your gut. That's what people want truth. And maybe some exploding helicopters.
After a seven minute wait for the bus,
(Seven minutes! Seven! What gives, Disney?)
I still think you're spoiled!
But there are rules.
Disney guidelines state
that tripods must fit
inside a standard backpack.
And a standard backpack
may not exceed 24" in length.
Hmmm, I will have to measure my Tripod
I had an ADR coming up at 4:50
and I had a FP that I didn't want to miss
from 4:25 - 5:25.
Dilemmas, dilemmas....
I must admit to feeling some trepidation
when I posted the previous chapter.
I essentially wrote about nothing
except my day spent in airports.
Then I left you all figuratively
standing with me at the bus stop.
Just wait for my next update, you don't even get to WDW!
I truly thought about skipping it,
or at the very least, paring it down
to just a few words.
Perhaps a sentence or two.
But that's just not me.
I get that, which is why I wrote about my Day 0.
I feel that writing about that first day,
the trials and tribulations of merely
getting to Disney World,
sets the tone for the entire TR.
Exactly.
After a seven minute wait for the bus,
(Seven minutes! Seven! What gives, Disney?)
Well I guess for you this is an outrage. I don't keep track because it's note nearly that good.
Normally, I don't worry about bag check.
I'm never bringing in anything that
I'm not supposed to bring.
I never do either, but I certainly end up spending time explaining stuff that doesn't need to be.
As for my backpack,
they only gave it a cursory look.
It almost seemed as if
they started to look... but gave up.
I guess they have given up on the militant searches that I saw back in December. I didn't have any trouble today, but I was very forthcoming with my camera bag, purse and bag on the back of my
scooter.
I could have used it,
but I wanted my tripod for the park,
and it was in the checked bag.
Of course I also needed....
Duh, duh, dun.....
I decided to go to the ADR first,
and see if they could get me in early.
If not, hopefully I could eat quickly
and still make the FP.
Good Call.
Actually... I was...
Wishing I hadn't come.
I sort of understand the feeling....
No. Not because I'd been essentially
awake for Gawd knows how long.
It was shift after shift after shift at work.
It was working until I couldn't work anymore,
and then working some more.
It was working 32 hours out of every 40.
Repeatedly.
I can't even imagine this amount of work. I am so over this.
I really needed this vacation.
I needed....
Disney.
Well, duh!
Here. Look at more pictures.
Well thanks!
Free water!
It was hot, so I may have imbibed.
Of course you would!
The soup was good and not overly spicy,
I love me some Hot and Sour soup! I'm sad that I have no plans to dine here soon.
It did feel a little weird at sucking
up Dr. Slush's balls though.
But I soon got used to it.
"Is the soup, souper?"
Playing along, I told her
it was a little soupy.
Funny thing was,
she actually looked concerned
until she looked at me
and realized I was joking.
Is there any better feeling in the World
then walking by hundreds of
sweating, tired guests
as they stand in an unmoving line?
I don't know. I've never gloated on behalf of others.
Yes, yes.
I know.
Enough idle chit-chat.
Photos please.
As you wish.
OK lets see it.
One should always try
to maintain a certain
sense of style.
Wow! You go all out dude!
By the time I'd gotten dressed,
poured my 'wine'
(In fact, punch from a juice box.
No sense getting thrown out so soon.)
and retrieved my book,
I was already heading up the hill
before the drop.
I just made it.
OK, that's a lot of work for one photo! I'm even more impressed!
I had two separate instances of men
saluting me with their drinks.
I toasted them back in return.
I felt like royalty.
Or upper crust, at the very least.
And you should, at least dressed like that...
I must admit though,
the ride didn't start off too great.
Knowing one of my favourite rides, BTMRR,
was down for refurb was bad enough.
But to see it with scaffolding all over it?
Depressing.
But if they make it like its counterpart in CA, it will be sooooooo much better!
As the train pulled away,
I stuck my tongue out and shouted
"Nyah! Nyah!" at them.
I think they appreciated the gesture.
As a matter of fact, several waved at me
with at least one finger in the air.
Nice people.
How sweet of them!
I pretty much never FP HM.
I will once my original FPs
are used up, if there's one available.
But it's too fast a loading ride
for me to worry about it.
Yes, there can be lines,
but usually, I don't have any issues.
I can see that, plus the queue is so much fun to go through.
Moments later, I was in my doom buggy.
Ahhhhh.... Best. Ride. Ever.
Totally. How did you get that shot?????
Just the best.
And there's this too:
And that.
Ah. Got it.
Bob Dole.
I knew it was one of those.
Anyway, got one of Bob Dole's treats.
Well, I'm glad you got the one you wanted.
We began to see people leaving.
"Sorry folks! Ride's closed!
Mouse outside should've told you."
Bummer. They did the same thing to me on EE last spring.
My tripod has a ball head on it
that connects to a quick release plate
that attaches to the bottom of the camera.
The plate that I, in my haste,
had left in the room.
The plate that, without which,
renders the tripod unusable.
Swell.
Ugh.
Well, maybe I can find some other place.
I did manage to take one shot however.
But I couldn't stay there;
don't remember why not.
Dang people who stake out their spot early!
At least I assume Wishes started.
I heard music.
I heard booming, fireworks-like sounds...
But I sure didn't see anything!
Stupid CM!
Why didn't he say:
"No! Seriously! You won't see it!"
Wow! I had no idea that they did that.
So, what I'm saying is...
No Wishes photos, sorry.
But then again,
how many of those have you seen?
2? 3?.... thousand?
Learn to live with disappointment.
Oh believe me. I've learned to live with disappointment.
Normally I skip the parades and do rides.
The crowds for the rides are smaller
since most everyone's watching the parade.
I know! That was always my MO! Until just recently!
I took a shot of my location to pass the time.
You know it reminds me of a Southwest Airlines radio commercial that they play in the US, "I wanna get away, I wanna get away-ay-ay, I wanna get away, I wanna fly-awayeyayay, ya-ya-ya..."
I made up for my lack of Wishes photos
by taking an embarrassing amount
of MSEP pictures.
Which means now you have to suffer
through them.
Sucks. But it's my TR.
So there you go.
How did you get such great pictures, a filter, what kind of settings? How did you get rid of the darkness that I am always facing?
Is it just me?
Or does Goofy's eye creep you out?
I didn't even notice it.
And were you so focused on that,
that you failed to see Minnie?
Or Mickey?
Bonus points if you tell me.
Nope. Since I didn't notice Goofy, I just looked at Mickey and Minnie like I always did watching the parade.
Not at the time, because I didn't realize
what had happened,
but when I was editing the shots...
That was hilarious!
Ha! They spelled "Honour" wrong!
Yup, just like we spell favorite, and other words I can't remember right now.
After the ride, I was a little sad.
I think that might be my last time.
It's just too rough on my back.
I had that same revelation in 2010. Houwever, if you were to come to DL in California, you will find a smooth and enjouyable version of the ride that you can go on ouver and ouver again.
How'd I get old?
Just yesterday I was a kid!
Still am at heart,
but the body? Not so much.
I'm filling out a formal complaint.
I know what you mean. I wasn't ould a little while ago, but now I am.
Well, time marches on for bodies
and parks alike.
I don't know how it happened,
but it was midnight now.
And while I was perhaps a tad tired,
I was also pleased that I'd made
the most out of my abbreviated MK day.
It's that whole, how you make it through those 32 hour days, I couldn't do it!
"Don't you talk to yo gramma like that.
You gotta fetch it to ketch it!"
I have no idea. I don't get it.
I had never heard that expression before!
But it was brilliant!
My only regret was that my DDs
are too old for me to start using it on them.
Must be a Dad thing. No idea.
I arrived at the stop at 12:22am
and the bus arrived fashionably late
at 12:26am. Four minutes.
It took a while to load,
since there were two people in
ECVs
who had to be loaded first.
Eventually the bus started to load,
and yes, those two families
were able to board.
But I wasn't.
See you were being generous.
And really, it wasn't that long.
The next bus showed up at 12:38am.
So my total wait time was 16 minutes.
But if I'd really wanted to,
it would've been 4 minutes.
So I won't hold it against Disney this time.
Well thats good!
A cat? I don't think I've ever seen
a cat at Disney.
I turned to look.
No. Not a cat.
An armadillo.
First one I've ever seen.
I can't believe it was really an armadillo! I saw one once in 1997 on our trip, I was partly being snarky and party I had a psychic vision.
Huh. There's one from Disney
saying I could ride 7DMT
anytime I wanted... yesterday.
I had the same thing when EE went down on my April trip. But I don't think it ever came back up.
queenbetsey - 52 points
bankr63 - 46 points
GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes - 45 points
Steppesister - 45 points
cinderkelly - 43 points
orangecats2 - 43 points
jandlinz - 37 points
franandaj - 36 points
Well, I'm movin' on up.....from the East side, to a DE-luxe apartment in the sky-aye.....
1. Well, I may have been awake
a fair bit recently. Do I sleep in?
No, because you are there for a limited time.
2. What time do I wake up?
7:00AM
3. Which park am I first off to today?
4. It's a multi park day!
How many times do I visit the nice folks
at bag check? (Yes, I had a bag to check.)
3 times
5. How many times am I asked for directions?
I'll make it easy on you.
0, 1, 2, 3, or 4 times?
3
6. What time do I get to my room
at the end of the day this time?
11:47PM
7. I use a new method of getting
from one park to another. What is it?
(I've used bus, boat and monorail in the past.)
walking
8. As a matter of fact I do have an ADR.
Two as a matter of fact.
Guess the one that’s not in any park or in Springs.
Beaches and Cream
9. What wild animal do I see today?
(On the way to that ADR.)
Duck
Bonus: Did you see it?
Be specifically vague.
I think I said it earlier, "i wanna get away, I wanna get away-ay-ay-ay, yeah-ah-ah..."
She does that!?!?!?
At least I'm not the only one screwing up that way. 
Ok, so looking at the "Our Story" tab, they were originally for "all kinds of alpine adventures." Which could include rafting - our trip was actually on the Snake River by Jackson, which is where the company started. Although I first heard of them when rafting in Pennsylvania, many years ago. (Don't go thinking I'm some sort of expert - those were the only 2 trips I've done! The first was with very experienced friends, and the second was with a guide.)
. 
Gotta love the first monorail sighting
