Canadian Buffoon's Semi-EPIC Vacation - 10/29 - Link to new TR!

[pkondz]

Oh, thats why I had so many bruises when I was a kid, I jest I jest,

Reminds me from A Fish Called Wanda
"Dad used to beat him up."
"Good."

I do agree though, can't just let your kids always win at everything!

They want it, they gotta earn it!

I knew they would be high but wow that's crazy.

Welcome to May the fourth.

Mmmm...I'm drooling on my keyboard.

I'm gonna get it again.
Soooo good.

You seem to have mastered the art of FP's

Well, not anymore.
Now that they took them
out of DHS.

I have always wanted to check this show out!

Haven't seen it?
It's dated... but still fun.
Especially for a first time.

It looked delicious but now I want to also marry it.

Find your own dish to marry!

I never thought about this before but it would make sense, Disney's attention to detail is fantastic.

You know, for all the hate I see Frozen get, I love it.

The movie?
Or the show in DHS?
I presume the latter.

It is a good show!
I mean... it gets so much
hate because Disney
super over-saturated
the parks with it, but...

mmmmm Ice Cream mmmmm

 

[pkondz]

I loved Universal when I was a kid, but they got rid of my favorite coaster dueling dragons, or whatever they renamed it for Potter.

I never saw Dueling Dragons (or whatever)
so I don't miss it.
But it did sound like fun...
until someone got hurt and they
stopped the "dueling" part.

The hotel looks gorgeous and the view is awesome!

It was really nice!
And there's another reason
why I picked it...

 

[docsoliday1]

well -- they did buy into DVC earlier this year (Boardwalk)...and then add-on-itis struck and they bought more points at the new Riviera resort...and now their talking about buying more points at Saratoga Springs.

Does your dad want to adopt another son?
I'll even ride IASW with him as long as I can take headphones.

 

[lvcourtneyy]

What? They did? When?

I'm not sure- I think I read it on the MNSSHP.

Nope.
You just... watch it.

Exactly.

What do they do to that
popcorn to make it so amazing???

They call it "pixie dust" I hear.

"I couldn't rescue the drowning
victim because I was too dizzy."

 

[lvcourtneyy]

For some reason, our driver
couldn't seem to find the lobby.

Yes, finding the main building of a resort can be challenging some times

When we arrived, we asked him
to wait and we were told that
because we were making another
stop, we'd have to put in for
another ride and it may or may
not be him who got it.

I can almost see his point except that he easily could pick up your ride once you put it in especially since he was ALREADY THERE.

And within just a few minutes,
we found ourselves backstage
at Epcot trying to explain to
a not very happy security guard
that we were trying to go
to Universal.

Oh my.

Wow!! That is gorgeous and huge!

Oo very pretty.

Once we were settled in, I told Elle
that I was going to go down to
Guest Services to upgrade my
two-day pass to an Annual Pass,
and then we'd go for a swim.

Wow you're all kinds of fancy!

About $30.

Same thing.

And...
Did you see it in this chapter?

He looks lovely as a frog

 

[JAMIESMITH]

We will be arriving at RPR in 44 days for our first ever trip to the dark side. Keep those updates coming!

 

[vamassey1]

For some reason, our driver
couldn't seem to find the lobby.
We walked down the road a bit
and we eventually met up.

Not a good sign.

And within just a few minutes,
we found ourselves backstage
at Epcot trying to explain to
a not very happy security guard
that we were trying to go
to Universal.

Oh no! It keeps getting worse.

Check in was painless and we got
a room that was fairly close to the
elevator which in turn was fairly
close to the lobby.

Nice Room.

You can see Islands of Adventure
in the background.
Gives you an idea of how close we were.

Wonderful view.

My Disney AP, upgrading from
a 5-day park hopper was over $500.
My Uni AP, upgrading from
a 2-day, 2-park ticket?

About $30.

Much better deal.


Beautiful resort and you pictures really show it off.

And...
Did you see it in this chapter?

Yes I did. He's being really sneaky.

Oh, boy.
You picked a really bad time
to say that about puppies.

I just finished watching
The Art of Racing in the Rain.

Dog movie.
Talk about being allergic!!!!

But did you like it?

 

[Tracy161]

Clean living...


and dirty thoughts.

I'll keep those tips in mind

Um... is that a good thing?

And... you're leaving tomorrow!!!
Have a great trip!!!

Thanks! Guess I saw this a little late... It was a great trip! Almost no rain... and most importantly... no vertigo!

However... this isn't Epcot, folks.
We were through bag check
in no time.

Ain't that the truth

Contrast our expressions
with the two young ladies
in front of us.
Oh how I hope they got
their PP photo!

I reallllly hope they did, too!

The show was cute but
definitely a one and done.
Except this was more of
a two and phew for us,
but she didn't remember it
since it had been ten years.

It's been about that long since my last visit to BatB. I'd wanted to try to catch it this past trip, but it just didn't happen. And I'm not that sorry even

I did this for Elle of course.
She loves TOT.
I was just along for the ride.

Clearly!

After all, being Canadian,
I of course have a much
better grasp of the
directions in and around
Orlando.

Lady, I've been white-knuckling a pen
for the past five minutes.

Sorry for the incredible level of frustration that occurred during and after that conversation, but thank you for that one-liner

 

[Steppesister]

Hay, you do what you gotta do.

It's getting done; mostly chaff, but getting done.

Lesson learned.
And really... it's a lesson
that shouldn't have to be learned.

Well yeah, but whatcha gonna do other than navigate yourself.

You very well may have.

 

[franandaj]

OK, Since no one has made any updates to their TRs since last night, yours is the last one that I have to catch up on. See I saved the best for last!

Actually it just worked out that way. I tackle them in date order, oldest first and I was working on Liesa's before she posted her 8/22 update (where she P'd), so technically I should have moved to your TR before finishing hers, but I know that her updates are short and sweet, while yours are.....longer. So I had to go back nearly 15 pages to figure out where I left off. I had read the road trip update, but didn't remember having read it until I got to the race part. I'm that frazzled. I know I read about your meet up with Su-Lynn, but I'm going to reread that and start commenting from there.

OK.....so I'm off.

 

[Steppesister]

Actually it just worked out that way. I tackle them in date order, oldest first and I was working on Liesa's before she posted her 8/22 update (where she P'd),

And another one goes up... shortly.

but I know that her updates are short and sweet

Unfortunately for you, and everyone else, the PTR part from here until I go, is going to be pretty rapid-fire so I can get everything done I want to. But you are right.... short and sweet. Badly written, but easily managable.

 

[franandaj]

By now it was past time for some
refreshments.
Elle was kind enough to stand
in a suddenly long line while
Karilynn and I continued to chat.

They don't have mobile ordering at that Dole Whip stand?

Su-Lynn (@chunkymonkey ) and her DH, Steve
showed up a few minutes later.
Su-Lynn, as many of you already know,
is super-sweet, and Steve is really nice.

And I'm gonna be hanging out with them in just about two weeks!

Here's Su-Lynn and I taking
advantage of every opportunity
to eat all the things in Disney.

I don't remember who you ended say ing had the bigger cone, but yours is closer to the camera, making it *appear* larger. Hard to tell if it really was.

Like any good DISer, I had done
a bit of research on how to
maximize points.

Yeah, but even though I know which targets to try and hit, there is still the silly business of actually hitting them!

Our official DISmeet lasted much
less time than our un-official ones!

Funny how that sometimes works out!

And I guess that's supposed
to be a hidden Mickey, but...
It just looks... vaguely terrifying.

Actually when I saw the picture and before I read your comment, I thriught, "They did a great job putting Jack Skellington on there!"

I had a bowl of French onion soup
(Of course! It's sooooo good!)

Yes it is!

and decided to try the
Croque Monsieur, which was
disappointing, unfortunately.

The pictures I have seen have convinced me that it would be disappointing.

I'm so pleased that they don't
just let any ol' riff raff in there!

You can't leave the castle
without a photo of the
Pantsless Prince.

I I see that every day, there is one hanging in my bathroom. Then again it is substantially smaller.

If you haven't done the magic mirror
or seen The Wardrobe or Lumiere...
You're missing out.
It's 100% geared to kids, but
the effects are very well done.

We have done it once, it's cool, but that was enough for us.

And...
Did you see it in this chapter?

Yes I did, but I already mentioned that.

 

[franandaj]

Actually, my second visit to WDW
was with my (at the time) best friend.
We drove non-stop.
He drove during the day,
and I drove during the night.

He just passed away a few days ago.

I'm sorry to hear this.

Is this the friend with the nasty KFC story?

"You almost stepped right
on a squirrel. A squirrel ran
out into the middle of the
walkway, right under your foot
and you just about squished it."

So like an actual squirrel running through MK? They usually hide until after hours.

Within seconds, PR and Elle were
chatting away and completely
ignoring the two old dudes
who were paying for everything.

Perfect. As it should be.

And if you look a little closer,
you'll note that I wore some
headgear myself.
It says, "Proud Parent".
And you can juuuust make
it out at is flies off my head.

Oh no!

We glanced back as they
walked away and noticed
the little boy holding
his dad's hand in his hook.

Worth it.

Totally awesome!

Another close escape, thwarted.

I will say this about the Tiki Birds.
It's definitely air conditioned.

It's not your worst choice....

I suggested a spin on the
WEDway People Mover
and Elle enthusiastically agreed.

I definitely need to take another spin on this one!

It must be done.
If you ride it, a foot photo
is an absolute requirement.


That's me on the left.

Nice shave job. My legs look more like Elle's as I learned not to shave when I was on swim team. We were only allowed to do it for special races, so now I dont bother since Fran doesn't care if I do or not.

Back in the day i had a boyfriend who told me it was gross that i didn't want to shave my legs, and i knew he was on his way out.

Elle ordered the veggie bangers
plate...

Now i get that they were veggie bangers, but you still need mash to eat them with. It's not like potatoes are not vegetarian. Plus there is way too much green stuff on that plate.

...while I had wanted to try
the meatloaf.

Now that looks like a much more balanced plate, regardless of how tasty it was.

I'd heard good things about
the meatloaf but...
Well, I found it pretty bland
and nondescript.
I make a much better one.

Elle, on the other hand, proclaimed
her veggie sausages to be the
third best meal of the trip!

I usually don't find other people's meatloaf as good as my own either. Nice she liked her sausages!

I asked if she still had her
engagement gift and she
immediately whipped out
her Dinglehopper that I'd
given her in California.

I leaned in for a kiss and...
well... I guess the reality
of the situation was a bit
much for Elle and she
screamed "NO!!!" and pushed
us apart.

Nice she had your dinglehopper!

When we posed for the above
photo, I was leaning in and Elle
had her hand on my chest.
Elle at one point suddenly relaxed
the tension in her hand briefly,
which caused me to abruptly move
a fraction towards Ariel before
I caught myself.
The poor thing jerked in the
opposite direction. I think she
thought I was actually moving
in for a kiss!

Must admit I felt badly for her.
I'm thinking she probably has
to put up with some pretty
rude behaviour from ill-mannered
guests on a regular basis.

I bet she gets a LOT of creepers coming after her....

(Just keep swimming, Ariel.
I'll be back, soon.)

Wrong moviephor....

We had a bit of time still, so we
popped into COP for a spin through
the decades.

I hear its finally getting a make over...

The CM who accompanied us
showed us all the dessert tables
and began to show us to a table
in the middle of the floor.
No, no, no. That won't do.
I asked if we could sit at a closer
table and he brought us to one
of the ones we'd picked earlier.

Nice.

I remembered the duck that
had flown into the planter
and I leaned over to take a look.
This is what I saw:

OMG. How cool!

As you can see, due to the angle,
the fireworks are offset from
what you'd see if you were
standing in the hub.

Nevertheless, I did enjoy the
novelty (and stress-free) of not
having to line up ahead of time
and being able to sit during the
entire performance.

I totally get that. Fran doesn't value the fireworks enough to pay for something like that. Plus doesn't think we'd eat our worth.

And...
Did you see it in this chapter?

Yes I did, he really had to go!

Did they mistake vegetarian for vegan? I was thinking mashed potatoes would be something nice to have added... ???

I was kind of thinking the same thing! I mean bangers and mash regardless if they are vegetarian!

 

[franandaj]

Hi Alison!
Been missing you... also lamenting
the fact that I can't be joining
the gang this time round.

You're missing out, this time there's going to be like eight of us!

 

[franandaj]

Goodbye OKW room!

Where ya goin' next? I suppose I might find out when I get to the next update......

We were heading over to DHS.
Unlike the last time we went,
there was no anniversary
celebration going on.
So it should be a lot quieter,
right?

I mean, it's not high season
or (worse) Christmas season.
It's May! Nice, sedate, May.
May the fourth, to be precise.

It's just gotta be dead there, right?

I believe later on you mention something about not being Star Wars fans......

We had some time before our
first FPs of the day.
The standby line for TSMM was
already up to 40 minutes.
We both figured that it wasn't
going to get any lower today, so...
We hopped in line.
Which was 45 minutes long.
Fairly accurate.

I hate that TSMM and SDD are both Tier 1 FP, and that ToT and RnRC were put back in there too. When I visited in March RnRC and ToT were Tier 2, when I was making FP+ for October all the good rides but Star Tours are in Tier 1 again.

I got "Best in Car" with my score,
but it didn't really matter.
What did matter was that
I beat Elle.

You got pu....er a CAT!

Did I mention it was
May the Fourth?

Would it surprise you to
know that at 10am the
wait time for TOT was
110 minutes and RNRC was
already up to 115 minutes?

Doesn't surprise me one bit!

Contrast our expressions
with the two young ladies
in front of us.
Oh how I hope they got
their PP photo!

I'm not even sure what they are doing on that ride give their expressions!

Consistently, Mama Melrose
was rated as the worst
restaurant in all of Disney.
But I'd lately noticed that more
and more positive reports
were popping up, including
glowing praise from @chunkymonkey .

That's interesting. I hadn't heard much about it, when we took a VIP tour package during Star Wars Weekends. Lunch was included in the package price and it was at Mama Melrose. We chose our entrees over breakfast so that they would be ready for us when we sat down. One of us had Minestrone soup as their starter. And she got a mushroom flat bread and I had some kind of spaghetti with meat sauce, I thought everything was really good!

We started with the
"Fresh Mozzarella and
Vine-ripened Tomatoes".
Not sure why they don't
just say "Caprese salad".

Here let me help you out with that.

Elle opted for the Salmon
with Pappardelle pasta
and asparagus.
She liked the fish, but wasn't
a fan of the pasta.

Huh. I love Pappardelle pasta!

The ribs were fall-off-the-bone
delicious and that risotto!
WOW!
It was fantastic.
I have dreams now of that
risotto.

Huh, that sounds pretty good too.

And then Elle said it.
"You know how it goes up and
down in that one part?
That's like a slinky going
down stairs."

Do you think she's right?
Did they design it that way???

Interesting...I'll have to notice when I go back in October.

We got...
Voyage of the Little Mermaid.


This actually turned out to be
a good attraction to have a FP for.
While the show itself is pretty
forgettable, having a FP allowed
us to enter into the waiting area
ahead of the standby line.

The waiting area is air conditioned.

I can understand that, it must have been as hot as the sun when you were there.

Elle responded by saying.
"Too bad, so sad."
She didn't care.
She really didn't care.
Not exactly a Star Wars fan.
She was somehow spared
for uttering such blasphemy.

Oh, well I just say, that's more Star Wars for the rest of us.

The Frozen Sing Along was...
Hilarious! We both enjoyed
it a lot!

I'm not sure I've ever heard from someone who saw it. Most people say they sent their wives or daughters while they rode anything else. I may have some extra FP slots left due to my complaints above. Maybe I'll convince Fran to see it.

They spend 30-45 minutes
on each station.
So... for 30-45 minutes,
you're doing...
1 2 3 4 5 <SPIN!>

That's kind of how all the positions work. You may not notice this cause you dont tend to ride things 2-3 times in a row, but everytime you come back different people are working the various positions, like the ones who ask how many in your party, the ones who check to see if your seat belt is fastened, etc.

We split an order of
grilled cheese and
tomato soup.

That looks like a perfect portion, and nicer that they split it in the kitchen for you. Even the pickle!

Hello my beauties.
Oh! And that's what
half orders look like,
if you've never seen
that before.

And that looks like the perfect amount of ice cream for me!

(Yes, you can order
a half-order!
Thanks @franandaj
for that tip!)

You're welcome! I actually learned that from Jill.

And...
Did you see it in this chapter?

Yes I did. Quite talented. Made the corps.

Dang it. I KNEW I should have booked this instead of Prime Time!

Oh no, you did good! Prime Time rocks! It's going to be my first restaurant meals on property when I go back!

 

[afwdwfan]

We agreed that he would drive
us to our destination for a
flat rate of $20.

Cash under the table... good alternative to your screw up and having to reserve a second Lyft.

(Which, based on the title
of this update, I'm sure you've
got a pretty good idea where
that might be.)

Coruscant, obviously.

While he was trying to
set up his GPS for our next
stop, he managed to pick
a spot that blocked a
delivery truck from leaving.

Look, I can block a delivery truck for 30 seconds or swerve all over the road setting GPS while I drive, what'll it be???

And within just a few minutes,
we found ourselves backstage
at Epcot trying to explain to
a not very happy security guard
that we were trying to go
to Universal.


By now, I had lost all faith
in our driver and began
giving him directions.
After all, being Canadian,
I of course have a much
better grasp of the
directions in and around
Orlando.

Check in was painless and we got
a room that was fairly close to the
elevator which in turn was fairly
close to the lobby.

Sounds convenient.

She gives me a toll-free number.
The number that I dialed to reach her.
I start to laugh.

I hung up.
It was going to be faster
to walk to the Four-Points.
In any event, paying for
a Lyft was going to be
less expensive then the
cost of the aggravation
I was getting on the phone.

That's what you think... just wait till you see who your Lyft driver is going to be...

Will it come close to being
as good as Disney?

Probably

Will it fall horribly short?

Probably not

Will it surpass it???

Not a chance

 

[pkondz]

Hi kids!

Was away camping on
the weekend (this time
with the older DD.)
So playing a bit of
catch-up now.
Also not feeling very well,
so replies and TR reading
may come at a slower pace.

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

 

[pkondz]

I'm not sure- I think I read it on the MNSSHP.

I saw it too.
I'm glad we did it when
it was available.
Shame that after renos,
they won't bring it back.

They call it "pixie dust" I hear.

Hmmmm...
So does that mean licking
a neon frog and licking Tink
are both going to make
you happy?

Yes, finding the main building of a resort can be challenging some times

I can almost see his point except that he easily could pick up your ride once you put it in especially since he was ALREADY THERE.

Well..
I honestly don't know how
it works.
I think maybe that when you
put in a request, it maybe goes
out to all the cars within
a certain distance of that point?
And whoever jumps on it first,
gets it?

No idea.

Wow you're all kinds of fancy!

I'm one of the elite!
Or is that effete?

Same thing.

Just about!

He looks lovely as a frog

As long as he doesn't croak.

 

[pkondz]

We will be arriving at RPR in 44 days for our first ever trip to the dark side. Keep those updates coming!

I need to catch up around here first,
Then I'll start writing the next update.
I think the Uni chapters will be
photo heavy and prose light.

Which is probably a blessing
for everyone reading.

 

[pkondz]

Not a good sign.

Nope.

Oh no! It keeps getting worse.

Maybe should have let him go
after he dropped us off at OKW.

Nice Room.

It was!

Wonderful view.

I'm not sure how we got lucky like that.

Much better deal.

Right?!?!?
I mean... Disney is almost
trying to lose guests
to Universal.

Beautiful resort and you pictures really show it off.

It is beautiful...
and thanks!

Yes I did. He's being really sneaky.

But did you like it?

I have no problem admitting
that I had tears streaming
down my face towards the end.

Yes. I liked it very much.

Thanks again for the tip.