Cheese Ball Yak Attack: 2 kids, 2 dogs, 1200 miles - The Sequel

[FreezinRafiki]

This post has been removed. Bambi replied to a bunch of stuff, but was logged in as me. Her comments are below.

 

[stopher1]

Another nice update - and great fireworks pics. I like fireworks too!

Glad you got to meet up Timmy...oops, sorry - with Tim. Sounds great. I'm anxiously awaiting in his TR to see if we were even remotely close to crossing each other's paths while I was there later that week.

And how great, you were treated nicely by that unnamed CM. I love it. They are overworked and sometimes tired like any of us - but they do go out of their way A LOT to help people who follow the rules and are generally nice themselves.

 

[cj9200]

Great updates Barry. I especially like the pictures of Madison and Tiana. The look on both of their faces is priceless.

I also love fireworks and this pic just blew me away. Perfect framing.

 

[E3yore]

(Note to any potential future employers: yes, there is a picture of my wet butt on the Internet. Deal with it and hire me anyway.)

Let's not go upsetting any potential employers. I fully expect to move within minutes of Disney World. But lets be honest if they are reading your TR they know that you don't work.

From there it was on to one of Madison and Evan's favorite attractions: The Country Bear Jamboree!

Another aside (because it's my trip report and I CAN, that's why!). Madison loves to wander around the house singing the "Little Buford" song.
Momma don't whup Little Buford
Momma don't pound on his head
Momma don't whup Little Buford
I think you should shoot him instead.
It dawned on me one day that if she sings it at home, she must sing it in daycare or at pre-school. Since we haven't gotten a letter sent home, they either don't hear her or aren't concerned.

As a parent and social worker I find this song to be very disturbing, especially when Madison says that poor little Buford should be shot for stilling Momma's fries. As a side note I have never liked fries that much.

So how strong is the coffee at Tony's? (I've always wanted to use that smiley)

Believe it or not, I don't drink coffee! I'm naturally caffeinated. I'm sure Bambi will be along pretty soon to drop some smart-alack response to confirm this.

First, I had no intention of making "some smart-alack response" but since you are expecting one I will give it. Barry has never needed coffee or any other caffeine product because he has always (I feel confident in saying always as we have been together for more than half our lives) been Obnoxiously Outgoing. But I love you dear.

While we were standing there, Evan still up on my shoulders, we this exchange:

Me: "Hey Evan, my neck and shoulders are getting pretty sore."
Evan: "Yeah, buuuuut I think I'm going to stay up here."
Me: [dejected] "Oh. OK."

That's my boy.

The worst part about being so close to the castle is trying to fight the crowds on the way out. If we we were cars, it would be bumper to bumper. So I guess it was heal to toe traffic. All made worse by the people that think they can save significant amounts of time by cutting people off and squeezing through spots that they have no business squeezing through.

People: we're all going in the same direction at the same speed. You will only save, at the most, 20 seconds on your trip down Main Street by doing this. And don't give me a dirty look when you step so close in front of my stroller that I don't have time to react and it hits you. Get over it.

For those of you who are interested I did hit this guy and I felt bad for a nanosecond because that is when he opened his mouth about how upset he was that he was hit by the stroller that he stepped in front of.

 

[unclescrooge_0707]

The 2 CM's i remember were:
the one i tried to teach how to juggle. It was when people were lining up for the afternoon parade. They bring out the ring toss and such? One of them had juggling balls, and I asked her if she knew how to juggle. She said no, so I showed her, and she really looked like she was trying to learn the basics.

The second was a woman who was blocking Main Street USA at 15 minutes before the night-time parade. A guy was trying to stand in the walking lane. he kept saying he could stand where he wanted, and she kept telling him he was wrong, without every saying, "you're an idiot, go away". Point is: she kept her cool, never said any sort of negative anything. Just "sir, this lane is for moving traffic. The reason there are no seats is because these people have been here for almost 2 hours to get good seating. For now, you will need to keep moving."

Anyway, those 2 CM's are why I'm hoping I can retire to the Orlando area and be one of those old-guy janitor cast members that has people wondering "what happened to that guy?"
"I'm here because i WANT to be!"
*not trying to hijack, just saying CM's are what make WDW different from anywhere else.

 

[FreezinRafiki]

I came to reply earlier but the pictures weren't showing up for me. I needed to see them before I commented. They are showing now though.

Google was pretty slow for me yesterday afternoon. I was adding some more pictures to my online Picasa account and it wasn't showing them. Must be all better now.

I was wondering how you got through there so quickly! That pass was a score!

You know... I might still have the texts on my phone. My phone saves the last 500. I don't think I've had 500 since 3/8! (I hope not anyways)

I looked at mine - I have 11 from you, starting at 9:20 and ending at 4:07, which was about the time my battery died and I had you txt Bambi's phone.
Who would have though that running into someone in a 107 acre area surrounded by 40,000 (give or take) other people would be so difficult?

You guys did have a nice spot!

I've seen Spectro, so I picked the spot with Wishes in mind. This way the kids could sit in the stroller and still have a clear view!


You are such a softy!!!

Good thinking!!!!

Madison has a lifetime pass for calling me Timmy. She was too funny!

She has asked about you a few times since. "Daddy, what was your friend's name from Disney?" Timmy, dear.

Great picture!!! That guy in the middle looks a little weird though.

It's too bad the camera flash washed out the green glow stick you had wrapped around your hat!

I can't understand why the balloon sellers stand right in the way of the masses leaving. They could stand at the circle at the beginning of Main St. where the crowd thins out.

My guess is that by the time you're there, you're moving much faster and there is more room to avoid walking near one of the sellers. You can also clearly see the exit and can rationalize not buying a balloon to your kids much easier. "Susie, we're almost out. You don't need a balloon" But they put them up further, where people are walking slower, it's harder to avoid them, the kids see them for a greater amount of time, and have time to work the parents and convince them to buy a balloon. It's not about crowd control, it's about revenue.

Nice updates!

Dole Whip Floats and fireworks! Wish every night could end like that...

Love that last firework picture, by the way.

Thanks. I found where you can buy the Pineapple Soft Serve mix. http://www.precisionfoodsstore.com/dole.html You can buy consumer grade soft serve machines for around $100, but I don't know if they will work correctly together.
As far as the fireworks - I'm not sure what Minnesota's laws are, but I'm sure you can light some sparklers.

 

[FreezinRafiki]

I guess you'd have to be naturally caffeinated to be up at 4:30 a.m. every day! I used to hate coffee. Then my son was born, and didn't sleep for 6 months. Now I'm addicted to it.

<--You're right. That was fun to use.

nice update barry. wishes pics came out clear. look nice!

These are GREAT fireworks pictures. I'm also curious what settings you used. Did you have a tripod or balance the camera on a handrail?

Another nice update - and great fireworks pics. I like fireworks too!

I also love fireworks and this pic just blew me away. Perfect framing.

I have a Canon EOS Rebel XTi, with the 18-55mm kit lens. Looking back, I shot 79 pictures of fireworks. (Or at least that's how many I kept. I don't recall if I purged out the bad ones yet.)
I did these all by just holding the camera - as you can see because some of them are slightly tilted. I wasn't even leaning on on anything. I shot them all using shutter priority mode. They were all either 1/10, 1/5 or 1/25 of a second. I had the ISO set at the camera's max of 1600. The lens was all the way open at 18mm, giving me an exposure of f/3.5. I know a lot of people like to shoot in RAW, but these are all JPG.
Unfortunately, it looks like Picasaweb strips off the EXIF data from the pictures, so if anyone wants specific information on any of the shots, post it here or PM me. I'd be glad to get it for you.

So your shoulders must really have been feeling good here...

During the brief lull between floats in the parade, I would slump down and lean on the short railing behind me. Madison would immediately complain that she couldn't see.
Sorry, dear. Up we go again.

Glad you guys could meet up! Now let's see what he says about you in his TR...

Me too.

Just got caught up, great pics of the fireworks. Nice to see you and Tim finally met up. Sounds like you guys had a great time.

It was a great day. I can't wait until you get to meeting up with Fed in your TR. Or has he sworn you to secrecy on it?

It's nice to hear there are still some good CMs!

And how great, you were treated nicely by that unnamed CM. I love it. They are overworked and sometimes tired like any of us - but they do go out of their way A LOT to help people who follow the rules and are generally nice themselves.

It's all in the karma. Just before this, a set of grandparents (each with 1 or 2 small grand kids) got separated in the crowd and one ended up on each side of us, about 20' apart. The grandmother was trying to get her husband's attention, but he couldn't hear her. I politely asked her what his name was, then use my big boy outside voice to get his attention and reunite them.

Oh boy! I want to hear what you thought of Le Cellier. I've heard good things about it on the various podcasts I'm addicted to... I mean occasionally listen to.

I'll go into more depth when we get there in the TR, but I'll give you a sneak preview now: we sat at a table and we ate food.

Glad you got to meet up Timmy...oops, sorry - with Tim. Sounds great. I'm anxiously awaiting in his TR to see if we were even remotely close to crossing each other's paths while I was there later that week.

I was hoping you might be around a bit more, but since you were on an anniversary trip, I didn't want to push it. I know how Bambi would react if I told her I was going to meet up with some buddies if we were on an adults-only get away.

Let's not go upsetting any potential employers. I fully expect to move within minutes of Disney World. But lets be honest if they are reading your TR they know that you don't work.

Uh oh.

First, I had no intention of making "some smart-alack response" but since you are expecting one I will give it. Barry has never needed coffee or any other caffeine product because he has always (I feel confident in saying always as we have been together for more than half our lives) been Obnoxiously Outgoing. But I love you dear.

For those of you who are interested I did hit this guy and I felt bad for a nanosecond because that is when he opened his mouth about how upset he was that he was hit by the stroller that he stepped in front of.

Oh yeah. It looked to me like he was mid-20s or so and he was there with his parents. He mentioned something about being hit by a stroller to what I assume was his father. The dad started getting pretty mad, but the guy who was "hit" then said "well, I did step in front if it." Dad really had no choice to but to calm down, but did come back with "then she should have been back an inch further."
Whatever helps you sleep at night, dude.

The 2 CM's i remember were:
the one i tried to teach how to juggle. It was when people were lining up for the afternoon parade. They bring out the ring toss and such? One of them had juggling balls, and I asked her if she knew how to juggle. She said no, so I showed her, and she really looked like she was trying to learn the basics.

The second was a woman who was blocking Main Street USA at 15 minutes before the night-time parade. A guy was trying to stand in the walking lane. he kept saying he could stand where he wanted, and she kept telling him he was wrong, without every saying, "you're an idiot, go away". Point is: she kept her cool, never said any sort of negative anything. Just "sir, this lane is for moving traffic. The reason there are no seats is because these people have been here for almost 2 hours to get good seating. For now, you will need to keep moving."

Anyway, those 2 CM's are why I'm hoping I can retire to the Orlando area and be one of those old-guy janitor cast members that has people wondering "what happened to that guy?"
"I'm here because i WANT to be!"
*not trying to hijack, just saying CM's are what make WDW different from anywhere else.

CMs do take a lot of abuse from people. But Stopher is right - if you're nice to them, they'll be nice to you. I'm sure that had Bambi's dad starting throwing a fit after those strawberries fell on him, the waiter would have sent the manager over and we might have gotten some free desserts or something. By being nice and understanding that accidents happen, he came over and surprised us with that No Strings Attached Pass.

 

[stopher1]

:I was hoping you might be around a bit more, but since you were on an anniversary trip, I didn't want to push it. I know how Bambi would react if I told her I was going to meet up with some buddies if we were on an adults-only get away.

Though we debated it and *almost* decided to go to the Studios on that Thursday, we ended up not setting foot in any of the parks. We only went to AKV for dinner, and DTD to see Alice in Wonderland (twice), eat and look for a special something for our DD's birthday cake next week (never did find what we wanted... though, oh well). Otherwise we pretty much hung around the resort.

 

[dd50]

Great update and nice shots of the fireworks. You are brave, I never try to leave when the mob is leaving. I always wait it out awhile.

 

[FreezinRafiki]

Great update and nice shots of the fireworks. You are brave, I never try to leave when the mob is leaving. I always wait it out awhile.

We typically try to wait it out too, but the kids were getting restless as we just stood in the hub. We decided that if we were at least moving, it would help.

 

[that's nice]

Google was pretty slow for me yesterday afternoon. I was adding some more pictures to my online Picasa account and it wasn't showing them. Must be all better now.

I might have to look into Picasa.

I looked at mine - I have 11 from you, starting at 9:20 and ending at 4:07, which was about the time my battery died and I had you txt Bambi's phone.
Who would have though that running into someone in a 107 acre area surrounded by 40,000 (give or take) other people would be so difficult?

LOL If you don't mind maybe I'll post them in my TR. Would be funny to see them all together!!!

Difficult is an understatement!

She has asked about you a few times since. "Daddy, what was your friend's name from Disney?" Timmy, dear.

You could of just said Tim!!!

It's too bad the camera flash washed out the green glow stick you had wrapped around your hat!

I was trying to stand out in that sea of people!!!

My guess is that by the time you're there, you're moving much faster and there is more room to avoid walking near one of the sellers. You can also clearly see the exit and can rationalize not buying a balloon to your kids much easier.

I think you are right. (you probably don't hear that statement from Bambi- Do ya?)

It is all about the money!!! CHA CHING!

 

[FreezinRafiki]

LOL If you don't mind maybe I'll post them in my TR. Would be funny to see them all together!!!

That would be cool!

I think you are right. (you probably don't hear that statement from Bambi- Do ya?)

I'm not sure I understand. What do you mean "I'm Right?" This is very foreign territory for me.

 

[E3yore]

I'm not sure I understand. What do you mean "I'm Right?" This is very foreign territory for me.

I tell you when you are right. The problem is that it is not that often.

 

[E3yore]

Could you get to the updates already?

 

[Emma's Dad]

Could you get to the updates already?

HAHA! Busted

 

[FreezinRafiki]

Could you get to the updates already?

HAHA! Busted

But I'm at work. I don't have time to do updates.

 

[erika412]

But I'm at work. I don't have time to do updates.

Riiiight.

Recently, Middlepat's work restricted any non-business related website from their servers. Even his work-issused Blackberry is blocked. He can no longer access his personal email at work as well. He's very sad. How that relates to you *cough*working*cough* and *not* playing on the Dis, I don't know, but I felt like sharing.

 

[FreezinRafiki]

Riiiight.

Recently, Middlepat's work restricted any non-business related website from their servers. Even his work-issused Blackberry is blocked. He can no longer access his personal email at work as well. He's very sad. How that relates to you *cough*working*cough* and *not* playing on the Dis, I don't know, but I felt like sharing.

It relates in the fact that I'm the guy that handles what parts of the Internet are blocked at my work. Turns out that the DIS is still available!

 

[that's nice]

It relates in the fact that I'm the guy that handles what parts of the Internet are blocked at my work. Turns out that the DIS is still available!

SCORE!!!!!!

 

[DisneyDadC]

Wow Barry great photos again ! love the fireworks shots.I have come to the conclusion that I am not taking a camera with me in Dec cause there is noway my shots come out as nice as allot of you guys from the DDC