SnackyStacky
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 29, 2002
- Messages
- 6,799
I wrote these journal entries before going to bed each night. They're not as detailed as some of the ones I've read, but oh heck, I was bored! 
All of my daily reports are linked on one site with digital camera photos as well. Click here to see them.
Cast:
Me, Dan, 23 years old, church music director with a serious Disney addiction
Lisa, roomate, 26 years old, law student praying that a law firm will hire her.
I don't know if I mention it in the entries, but we stayed at the Courtyard Marriott in Downtown Disney.
Thursday, 9/5/02
Today was a late day. We got up at about 8:00 or so. The original plan was to have a leisurely breakfast, head to Downtown Disney, and then go to Epcot. But because I'm such a ride fiend, that plan didn't work out.
We went to the Magic Kingdom again, and went to Big Thunder Mountain to see if it was running. It was! We got in line and on the ride immediately. We sat behind a couple that made the ride more fun than it actually is. And once again, we headed from the exit right back to the entrance!
After our second time we went on Splash Mountain again. We got on, and the logs went through the ride, but neither the animation nor the sound was working. I wanted to buy the picture they take of you on the ride. I had been talking about riding again, and Lisa didn't object, so I passed up the picture the first time, and then Lisa told me she didn't want to go on again. I told her she should have told me that so I could have bought the first picture. Well, the second time everything was working. But we also got soaked. Going down one of the smaller drops, the water spilled over the front of the boat soaking both Lisa and I. She was definitely not happy, but it was vengence for missing the bus yesterday morning.
After taking a bus back to the hotel to change, we went to Downtown Disney and got a quick lunch at McDonald's. Rather than walk back to the hotel, we just decided to use Disney transportation. Since there was no stop to Epcot, we decided to go to one of the monorail resorts, and take the monorail to Epcot. We decided to go to the Contemporary. I am so glad we did! I've wanted to stay here since I first rode through it in 1986. It was so exciting to think that the monorail could be right outside my door and would whisk me to the Magic Kingdom! It's a really cool purple well, Contemporary motif!
We got to Epcot and again headed right for Test Track. It was so much fun, especially since the ride actually worked this time!
We decided to go to The Land next, and went through Mousegear to get there. This is a big shop with all kinds of Disney merchandise. I also got to go inside of Ice Station Cool. You walk through a chilled hallway (it was colder than normal air conditioning along the lines of the freezer cases at the grocery store), and ended up in a room where you could sample different Coke products from around the world. There was a watermelon soda from China, a citrus/Mountain Dew type beverage from Israel, a tropical fruit soda from Japan, and unidentifiable soda from Germany, and the Beverly from Italy. There was also an apple flavored soda, but I don't remember which country it came from.
After Ice Station Cool, we went to The Land. Inside is a boat ride called Living With the Land all about the future of agriculture. They have neat landscape scenes. A wooded area, a tropical rain forest, and the American plains. Those are my favorite parts.
When we left the Land pavilion, it was pouring out! We put on our rain ponchos and headed to Imagination to ride again. Afterwards, we decided to see Honey I Shrunk the Audience. I don't understand why there are no benches in the pre-show area. It's an excruciatingly long pre-show, and rather boring. After walking the parks, nobody wants to stand for 10 minutes!
After that, we began to "eat our way around the world." We started in Canada. Although we didn't try any food there, we browsed in the shops, and took in all of the amazing scenery. (despite the fact that parts of it were shrouded in scaffolding!)
We next went to the UK and window shopped, and took some pictures of some of the architecture.
Then we headed over to France. We tried a crèpe à confiture de fraises, or a strawberry crèpe. It was so yummy!
Next was Morocco. We browsed around the marketplace and decided to try some Moroccan food. We ordered and split a sandwich that had seasoned chicken breast, red onions, lettuce, and hummus on it. It was again, delicious!
We next stopped at Japan. Although we didn't eat here, the stuff for sale in the shops while extremely beautiful, was also very expensive! So we moved on to the American pavilion. We decided to see the American Adventure. Since there was 20 minutes until the next show, we had a seat and munched on a funnel cake.
The show was neat, but a lot less than I thought it would be. I'd heard about the amazing animatronics. They were neat, but nothing other than what we'd seen on all the other rides.
I had made a priority seating for the San Angel Inn to try and watch Illuminations from the patio. But duh me, the counter service place has a patio, not the Inn! (a priority seating is similar to a reservation it doesn't guarantee you to be seated at the assigned time, it assures that you will get the next available table, whenever that may be). So we just ignored our priority seating, and ate at the counter service restaurant in Mexico. It was delicious! I had all kinds of stuff, but Lisa ordered and I have no clue what it was!
Afterwards, I scoped out a spot to watch Illuminations. It was an hour and a half before the show would start, but I'm glad I got to my spot when I did. About 5 different people were all waiting for my spot! One family even had their son try to kick me so I'd move. It was right on the bridge before the Mexican pavilion for those familiar with the layout of Epcot. It had a PERFECT view of the ENTIRE Illuminations show.
Illuminations is gorgeous! Someone told me there's a story line behind it, but I don't remember. All I remember is that the fireworks are in perfect sync with the musical score, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. Amazing!
The pedometer had logged 10 miles through the whole day. I won't be clocking anymore since I dropped it in the toilet and it broke!
All of my daily reports are linked on one site with digital camera photos as well. Click here to see them.
Cast:
Me, Dan, 23 years old, church music director with a serious Disney addiction
Lisa, roomate, 26 years old, law student praying that a law firm will hire her.
I don't know if I mention it in the entries, but we stayed at the Courtyard Marriott in Downtown Disney.
Thursday, 9/5/02
Today was a late day. We got up at about 8:00 or so. The original plan was to have a leisurely breakfast, head to Downtown Disney, and then go to Epcot. But because I'm such a ride fiend, that plan didn't work out.
We went to the Magic Kingdom again, and went to Big Thunder Mountain to see if it was running. It was! We got in line and on the ride immediately. We sat behind a couple that made the ride more fun than it actually is. And once again, we headed from the exit right back to the entrance!
After our second time we went on Splash Mountain again. We got on, and the logs went through the ride, but neither the animation nor the sound was working. I wanted to buy the picture they take of you on the ride. I had been talking about riding again, and Lisa didn't object, so I passed up the picture the first time, and then Lisa told me she didn't want to go on again. I told her she should have told me that so I could have bought the first picture. Well, the second time everything was working. But we also got soaked. Going down one of the smaller drops, the water spilled over the front of the boat soaking both Lisa and I. She was definitely not happy, but it was vengence for missing the bus yesterday morning.
After taking a bus back to the hotel to change, we went to Downtown Disney and got a quick lunch at McDonald's. Rather than walk back to the hotel, we just decided to use Disney transportation. Since there was no stop to Epcot, we decided to go to one of the monorail resorts, and take the monorail to Epcot. We decided to go to the Contemporary. I am so glad we did! I've wanted to stay here since I first rode through it in 1986. It was so exciting to think that the monorail could be right outside my door and would whisk me to the Magic Kingdom! It's a really cool purple well, Contemporary motif!
We got to Epcot and again headed right for Test Track. It was so much fun, especially since the ride actually worked this time!
We decided to go to The Land next, and went through Mousegear to get there. This is a big shop with all kinds of Disney merchandise. I also got to go inside of Ice Station Cool. You walk through a chilled hallway (it was colder than normal air conditioning along the lines of the freezer cases at the grocery store), and ended up in a room where you could sample different Coke products from around the world. There was a watermelon soda from China, a citrus/Mountain Dew type beverage from Israel, a tropical fruit soda from Japan, and unidentifiable soda from Germany, and the Beverly from Italy. There was also an apple flavored soda, but I don't remember which country it came from.
After Ice Station Cool, we went to The Land. Inside is a boat ride called Living With the Land all about the future of agriculture. They have neat landscape scenes. A wooded area, a tropical rain forest, and the American plains. Those are my favorite parts.
When we left the Land pavilion, it was pouring out! We put on our rain ponchos and headed to Imagination to ride again. Afterwards, we decided to see Honey I Shrunk the Audience. I don't understand why there are no benches in the pre-show area. It's an excruciatingly long pre-show, and rather boring. After walking the parks, nobody wants to stand for 10 minutes!
After that, we began to "eat our way around the world." We started in Canada. Although we didn't try any food there, we browsed in the shops, and took in all of the amazing scenery. (despite the fact that parts of it were shrouded in scaffolding!)
We next went to the UK and window shopped, and took some pictures of some of the architecture.
Then we headed over to France. We tried a crèpe à confiture de fraises, or a strawberry crèpe. It was so yummy!
Next was Morocco. We browsed around the marketplace and decided to try some Moroccan food. We ordered and split a sandwich that had seasoned chicken breast, red onions, lettuce, and hummus on it. It was again, delicious!
We next stopped at Japan. Although we didn't eat here, the stuff for sale in the shops while extremely beautiful, was also very expensive! So we moved on to the American pavilion. We decided to see the American Adventure. Since there was 20 minutes until the next show, we had a seat and munched on a funnel cake.
The show was neat, but a lot less than I thought it would be. I'd heard about the amazing animatronics. They were neat, but nothing other than what we'd seen on all the other rides.
I had made a priority seating for the San Angel Inn to try and watch Illuminations from the patio. But duh me, the counter service place has a patio, not the Inn! (a priority seating is similar to a reservation it doesn't guarantee you to be seated at the assigned time, it assures that you will get the next available table, whenever that may be). So we just ignored our priority seating, and ate at the counter service restaurant in Mexico. It was delicious! I had all kinds of stuff, but Lisa ordered and I have no clue what it was!
Afterwards, I scoped out a spot to watch Illuminations. It was an hour and a half before the show would start, but I'm glad I got to my spot when I did. About 5 different people were all waiting for my spot! One family even had their son try to kick me so I'd move. It was right on the bridge before the Mexican pavilion for those familiar with the layout of Epcot. It had a PERFECT view of the ENTIRE Illuminations show.
Illuminations is gorgeous! Someone told me there's a story line behind it, but I don't remember. All I remember is that the fireworks are in perfect sync with the musical score, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. Amazing!
The pedometer had logged 10 miles through the whole day. I won't be clocking anymore since I dropped it in the toilet and it broke!
