Circusgirl
Queen of the Moisture Festival. Allora!
- Joined
- Nov 10, 2007
- Messages
- 1,726
Magic Kingdom, Girlfriends, Shopping and Food, or A Perfect Girl Day in the World
I neglected my trip report, Christmas In July, for too long, so the original thread has been locked and moved to completed trip reports. With most of the trip yet to go, I'm back with a new day. You can catch up and review at the link above, or just forge ahead with me! I'm about to wake up on my first full day of my Christmas and friends extravaganza...
When my alarm went off at 6:00 am, my fuddled west coast timed head didn’t even recognize what the sound was as I lay in the dark, pondering my next step. Once sufficent consciousness surfaced I reset it for 7:00 then snoozed until 7:30. In what would be a most unfortunate ritual for the next four mornings, the folks in the room next to mine started screaming at their kids at that point so there was no going back to sleep. I’d not had a problem with noise carrying at this hotel before, but the screaming penetrated right through the connecting door. Apparently the kids never did anything right in how promptly they showered, dressed or put on their shoes. It was a boat load of stress and especially sad because of the whole being at Disney World thing. It was so awful as it went on morning after morning that I finally checked in at registration to see how much longer they would be staying. I was kind of surprised when they told me, but at least I knew when it would stop.
I was totally comfortable with the rate at which I showered, dressed and enjoyed my coffee and fruit. I put a mountain of moleskin on my feet and checked the weather report. It was actually a little bit grim and mostly about damp and cold so I piled on some layers and popped out on my lanai to check reality. (It ended up shooting past the 70s and right into the 80s which was fine with me.) I was out the door at about 8:30 and headed to the Monorail by way of the thatched hut mailbox where I posted my Disney Dreams Giveaway entry for the day. I am sure I have taken a picture of this themed detail, but I cannot find it anywhere in any of my trip photos. It is super cute and you’ll just have to take my word for it for now.
The Monorail station was busy and I joined the throngs headed to the gates and watched the happy opening show.
When we were released into the park I zipped up Main Street heading toward Fantasyland and Peter Pan. I stopped to visit with Donald Duck at his tree lot along the way.
I'm a pushover for a guy in buffalo plaid:
I soared over London and Neverland in a sentimental trip on one of my always favorite rides and then the wild west called so I walked from childhood’s dreams over to Big Thunder Mountain.
I clickety clacked and laughed my careening way through the rumble tumble wilderness. As I left the flooded mining town behind, the line for Splash Mountain was negligible. I checked the water jets and since they didn’t seem very aggressive I got myself a log, a dose of zip-a-dee-do-dah philosophy and a civilized little splash at the end of the falls. This has become one of my favorite rides. I love the sets and all the little touches along the way, and want to have the Laughin’ Place as my party pad.
As I left Splash Mountain I saw a couple wearing super cute custom made matching t-shirts featuring a picture of Chip and Dale and the words, “Double Trouble, Rachel (and) Richard, Best Buddies”. They were so cute that I first followed after them and then ran up to them and asked if I could take their picture. They kindly and happily posed for me.
They asked if I was there alone, and when I said, “yes”, Rachel looked at Richard and said, “Is it ok?” He said, “it wouldn’t work” so I thought that whatever she had in mind wasn’t going to happen, but then she said she’d show me and brought out a little ziploc bag holding pins from Disney parks around the world. She told me they’d brought them to give away to special people, and told me I could pick whichever one I wanted. They were totally cool, and after admiring them all, I picked one of Mickey with the castle from Disneyland Paris. It was a certifiable magical moment and my first day had barely started!
Walking light and fast from the happiness of my encounter with Richard and Rachel I floated back to Fantasyland and journeyed through Snow White’s story and the light and dark sides of Winnie the Pooh. There weren’t any crowds or waits yet so I thought I’d swing by Toon Town and try Goofy’s Barnstormer. In September I’d admired the queue, but hadn’t been willing to wait for a ride that goes by in the blink of an eye. I cruised through the Flight School for Dogs and Cats and climbed aboard the zany little coaster. Right behind me there was a little boy named Stephen riding with his mom. He started to cry and wanted to get off. The loading CM came over and knelt down by Stephen’s seat and asked what was wrong. Stephen’s eyes were red and wet and he said he was afraid of the ride and didn’t want to go. The CM asked Stephen if he was afraid of going too fast and Stephen mournfully said that he was. The CM told sad Stephen that there was a “slow” button that the CM could push so the train wouldn’t go as fast, and asked would Stephen want to go if he pushed the button. Stephen replied in the affirmative so the CM went and pushed the “slow” button. Stephen bravely held on and we took off for the short swoopy ride. When we pulled into the station a very short while later, a laughing Stephen told the CM, “That was awesome!” and wanted to ride again. Way to go, cool CM!
Donald’s boat and the cartoony coaster:
Further lightened by that sweet encounter I cruised over to Tomorrowland, walked on to Buzz Lightyear and warmed up my universe saving skills. After defeating Zurg I called Missy and she said she was up for coming over to the Poly for breakfast so I started making my way back to the gate. I shopped briefly at the Emporium and then hopped on the little boat back to the GF and the Poly. I walked along the marina from the dock to the GCH and arrived at the Kona Cafe a minute before Missy. Cathie unfortunately was still down with a flu-like GI thing, but was finally able to eat something this morning. I couldn’t believe that after Missy and I had talked she had gone to the food court, gotten something for Cathie, brought it back to the room, then taken a bus From Pop to the MK and the monorail to the Poly all in a very compact piece of time.
We ate an awesome Kona breakfast. Missy had been wanting to try the Tonga Toast, and I went with my favorite of the Big Kahuna and a press pot of Kona coffee.
There were tropical-themed gingerbread houses in the Cafe and the lobby. We admired the confections and shopped at the Bou-Tiki, and then I took Missy on a tour of the resort.
There were four tiny baby ducks starting their duckly careers in the essential stream flowing down to the volcano pool.
There were many garden spirits like this:
Eben called and checked in while we were walking along the beach. He’d be arriving the day after tomorrow and would take the Magical Express to the hotel and then meet up with me at Epcot.
We finished the tour with a look at my room, which really was a palace to me. The more recent buildings here feature rooms with 476 square feet, which allows room for a comfortable seating area with a daybed, two comfy chairs and a table in addition to the desk/dresser area and the little bar and closet area between the closets. Room pictures will be along a little later in the report...
Missy then headed back to check on Cathie after we set our plan to meet tomorrow for lunch at Tony’s Town Square Restaurant. I decided to go to DTD and do a round of shopping. Because of the annual passport discount I always try to get whatever I can at the World of Disney first, and I also wanted to make a trip to Goofy’s Candy Company. I drove over to DTD and scored a fantastic parking place right next to the WoD. I went in and embarked on what turned into a shopping frenzy. I ended up with what has been my favorite Disney purchase ever, a cool sweatshirt with tattoo inspired Mickey art, a Mickey Christmas shirt, a journal for my trip report notes, 2 pins, 2 christmas plates and a bowl (on sale - how could I resist?), and a light up Santa Mickey Christmas ornament for my best friend that turned out to be so color-changingly glorious I was really sorry I didn’t buy one for myself. The crowning glory of the shopping trip was a fiber optic decorated tree that I had resisted every day during my 2008 December trip. I kept seeing it and wanting it and convincing myself to not aquire it. It was on sale this year, and the nanosecond I saw it on the shelf next to the cash register, I picked it up and added to my pile of loot. Its twinkly brightness was a terrific room decoration, and I love it ridiculously much.
Lugging my giant bag of stuff I headed off to the Pin Traders and checked out the new LE pins and the upcoming releases. At the World of Christmas I admired many things and bought some cute Tink gift tags on sale. As I’m remembering what I was carrying I can’t believe I stopped to take photos, but apparently I did.
Then I went to Goofy’s and scored my first round of Pretzel Rods and dipped Rice Krispy treats.
Better living through chemistry!
Now so laden I could barely walk I headed back to the car. I had a little more time before I needed to start getting ready for dinner at V&As so I stopped by the CBR for a nostalgia tour. The Christmas trim here was in bright tropical colors and featured exotic flowers and colorful fish.
While was I was in the gift shop at Old Port Royale scoping out the cutest of Mickey night shirts (pink waffle weave, with Mickey head ice creams in bright colors) I ran into Chuck and Lynn. They had already checked in and were shopping for some warmer clothes for Lynn based on the unusually cold weather that had been predicted.
Lynn had been really ill for the week leading up to their trip, and had even been worried that she would have to cancel. She was still recovering, so after we had a happy little visit they were heading back to their room so she could take a nap. They didn’t say anything about the package I had left them, and I was a little concerned that the front desk hadn’t given it to them, so I asked if they had any surprises when they checked in. They said they hadn’t so I stopped by the Concierge’s desk and had them check on it. It turned out they were delivering it to the room at that moment so it was in the room when they got back from shopping. Then I felt a little dorky that I’d blown the surprise...
I drove back to the Poly, schlepped all the stuff back to my room and stowed away all my goodies. I set up the twinkle tree and it sparkled for me while I put on fresh evening makeup and my fancy dress for V&As. I walked to the monorail in the beautiful evening air, admired the Polynesian gingerbread houses in the lobby of the GHC, then rode a stop to the GF (enjoying the announcements in that ridiculous way that shows I am a total geeky fan) and disembarked into the opulence of a fancy Victorian Christmas a la Disney.
Next up:
Three Hours in the Temple of Food
I neglected my trip report, Christmas In July, for too long, so the original thread has been locked and moved to completed trip reports. With most of the trip yet to go, I'm back with a new day. You can catch up and review at the link above, or just forge ahead with me! I'm about to wake up on my first full day of my Christmas and friends extravaganza...
When my alarm went off at 6:00 am, my fuddled west coast timed head didn’t even recognize what the sound was as I lay in the dark, pondering my next step. Once sufficent consciousness surfaced I reset it for 7:00 then snoozed until 7:30. In what would be a most unfortunate ritual for the next four mornings, the folks in the room next to mine started screaming at their kids at that point so there was no going back to sleep. I’d not had a problem with noise carrying at this hotel before, but the screaming penetrated right through the connecting door. Apparently the kids never did anything right in how promptly they showered, dressed or put on their shoes. It was a boat load of stress and especially sad because of the whole being at Disney World thing. It was so awful as it went on morning after morning that I finally checked in at registration to see how much longer they would be staying. I was kind of surprised when they told me, but at least I knew when it would stop.
I was totally comfortable with the rate at which I showered, dressed and enjoyed my coffee and fruit. I put a mountain of moleskin on my feet and checked the weather report. It was actually a little bit grim and mostly about damp and cold so I piled on some layers and popped out on my lanai to check reality. (It ended up shooting past the 70s and right into the 80s which was fine with me.) I was out the door at about 8:30 and headed to the Monorail by way of the thatched hut mailbox where I posted my Disney Dreams Giveaway entry for the day. I am sure I have taken a picture of this themed detail, but I cannot find it anywhere in any of my trip photos. It is super cute and you’ll just have to take my word for it for now.
The Monorail station was busy and I joined the throngs headed to the gates and watched the happy opening show.
When we were released into the park I zipped up Main Street heading toward Fantasyland and Peter Pan. I stopped to visit with Donald Duck at his tree lot along the way.
I'm a pushover for a guy in buffalo plaid:
I soared over London and Neverland in a sentimental trip on one of my always favorite rides and then the wild west called so I walked from childhood’s dreams over to Big Thunder Mountain.
I clickety clacked and laughed my careening way through the rumble tumble wilderness. As I left the flooded mining town behind, the line for Splash Mountain was negligible. I checked the water jets and since they didn’t seem very aggressive I got myself a log, a dose of zip-a-dee-do-dah philosophy and a civilized little splash at the end of the falls. This has become one of my favorite rides. I love the sets and all the little touches along the way, and want to have the Laughin’ Place as my party pad.
As I left Splash Mountain I saw a couple wearing super cute custom made matching t-shirts featuring a picture of Chip and Dale and the words, “Double Trouble, Rachel (and) Richard, Best Buddies”. They were so cute that I first followed after them and then ran up to them and asked if I could take their picture. They kindly and happily posed for me.
They asked if I was there alone, and when I said, “yes”, Rachel looked at Richard and said, “Is it ok?” He said, “it wouldn’t work” so I thought that whatever she had in mind wasn’t going to happen, but then she said she’d show me and brought out a little ziploc bag holding pins from Disney parks around the world. She told me they’d brought them to give away to special people, and told me I could pick whichever one I wanted. They were totally cool, and after admiring them all, I picked one of Mickey with the castle from Disneyland Paris. It was a certifiable magical moment and my first day had barely started!
Walking light and fast from the happiness of my encounter with Richard and Rachel I floated back to Fantasyland and journeyed through Snow White’s story and the light and dark sides of Winnie the Pooh. There weren’t any crowds or waits yet so I thought I’d swing by Toon Town and try Goofy’s Barnstormer. In September I’d admired the queue, but hadn’t been willing to wait for a ride that goes by in the blink of an eye. I cruised through the Flight School for Dogs and Cats and climbed aboard the zany little coaster. Right behind me there was a little boy named Stephen riding with his mom. He started to cry and wanted to get off. The loading CM came over and knelt down by Stephen’s seat and asked what was wrong. Stephen’s eyes were red and wet and he said he was afraid of the ride and didn’t want to go. The CM asked Stephen if he was afraid of going too fast and Stephen mournfully said that he was. The CM told sad Stephen that there was a “slow” button that the CM could push so the train wouldn’t go as fast, and asked would Stephen want to go if he pushed the button. Stephen replied in the affirmative so the CM went and pushed the “slow” button. Stephen bravely held on and we took off for the short swoopy ride. When we pulled into the station a very short while later, a laughing Stephen told the CM, “That was awesome!” and wanted to ride again. Way to go, cool CM!
Donald’s boat and the cartoony coaster:
Further lightened by that sweet encounter I cruised over to Tomorrowland, walked on to Buzz Lightyear and warmed up my universe saving skills. After defeating Zurg I called Missy and she said she was up for coming over to the Poly for breakfast so I started making my way back to the gate. I shopped briefly at the Emporium and then hopped on the little boat back to the GF and the Poly. I walked along the marina from the dock to the GCH and arrived at the Kona Cafe a minute before Missy. Cathie unfortunately was still down with a flu-like GI thing, but was finally able to eat something this morning. I couldn’t believe that after Missy and I had talked she had gone to the food court, gotten something for Cathie, brought it back to the room, then taken a bus From Pop to the MK and the monorail to the Poly all in a very compact piece of time.
We ate an awesome Kona breakfast. Missy had been wanting to try the Tonga Toast, and I went with my favorite of the Big Kahuna and a press pot of Kona coffee.
There were tropical-themed gingerbread houses in the Cafe and the lobby. We admired the confections and shopped at the Bou-Tiki, and then I took Missy on a tour of the resort.
There were four tiny baby ducks starting their duckly careers in the essential stream flowing down to the volcano pool.
There were many garden spirits like this:
Eben called and checked in while we were walking along the beach. He’d be arriving the day after tomorrow and would take the Magical Express to the hotel and then meet up with me at Epcot.
We finished the tour with a look at my room, which really was a palace to me. The more recent buildings here feature rooms with 476 square feet, which allows room for a comfortable seating area with a daybed, two comfy chairs and a table in addition to the desk/dresser area and the little bar and closet area between the closets. Room pictures will be along a little later in the report...
Missy then headed back to check on Cathie after we set our plan to meet tomorrow for lunch at Tony’s Town Square Restaurant. I decided to go to DTD and do a round of shopping. Because of the annual passport discount I always try to get whatever I can at the World of Disney first, and I also wanted to make a trip to Goofy’s Candy Company. I drove over to DTD and scored a fantastic parking place right next to the WoD. I went in and embarked on what turned into a shopping frenzy. I ended up with what has been my favorite Disney purchase ever, a cool sweatshirt with tattoo inspired Mickey art, a Mickey Christmas shirt, a journal for my trip report notes, 2 pins, 2 christmas plates and a bowl (on sale - how could I resist?), and a light up Santa Mickey Christmas ornament for my best friend that turned out to be so color-changingly glorious I was really sorry I didn’t buy one for myself. The crowning glory of the shopping trip was a fiber optic decorated tree that I had resisted every day during my 2008 December trip. I kept seeing it and wanting it and convincing myself to not aquire it. It was on sale this year, and the nanosecond I saw it on the shelf next to the cash register, I picked it up and added to my pile of loot. Its twinkly brightness was a terrific room decoration, and I love it ridiculously much.
Lugging my giant bag of stuff I headed off to the Pin Traders and checked out the new LE pins and the upcoming releases. At the World of Christmas I admired many things and bought some cute Tink gift tags on sale. As I’m remembering what I was carrying I can’t believe I stopped to take photos, but apparently I did.
Then I went to Goofy’s and scored my first round of Pretzel Rods and dipped Rice Krispy treats.
Better living through chemistry!
Now so laden I could barely walk I headed back to the car. I had a little more time before I needed to start getting ready for dinner at V&As so I stopped by the CBR for a nostalgia tour. The Christmas trim here was in bright tropical colors and featured exotic flowers and colorful fish.
While was I was in the gift shop at Old Port Royale scoping out the cutest of Mickey night shirts (pink waffle weave, with Mickey head ice creams in bright colors) I ran into Chuck and Lynn. They had already checked in and were shopping for some warmer clothes for Lynn based on the unusually cold weather that had been predicted.
Lynn had been really ill for the week leading up to their trip, and had even been worried that she would have to cancel. She was still recovering, so after we had a happy little visit they were heading back to their room so she could take a nap. They didn’t say anything about the package I had left them, and I was a little concerned that the front desk hadn’t given it to them, so I asked if they had any surprises when they checked in. They said they hadn’t so I stopped by the Concierge’s desk and had them check on it. It turned out they were delivering it to the room at that moment so it was in the room when they got back from shopping. Then I felt a little dorky that I’d blown the surprise...
I drove back to the Poly, schlepped all the stuff back to my room and stowed away all my goodies. I set up the twinkle tree and it sparkled for me while I put on fresh evening makeup and my fancy dress for V&As. I walked to the monorail in the beautiful evening air, admired the Polynesian gingerbread houses in the lobby of the GHC, then rode a stop to the GF (enjoying the announcements in that ridiculous way that shows I am a total geeky fan) and disembarked into the opulence of a fancy Victorian Christmas a la Disney.
Next up:
Three Hours in the Temple of Food
Sorry that was so sucky for you!
