Diary of a Mad Lime Green Woman

[Convert]

Great report!

 

[lindajoan]

Hi Linda. Thanks. Hurray for DL and hurray for Pasadena. DH is a Monrovia boy, and I met him at UCLA, so much of our dating was in the MAD/Pasadena area.

Hello there, neighbor! (or former neighbor!) I moved to Pasadena about 3 years ago and I love it! Once my fiance' hooked me up with an AP (a *must* he thinks), I've loved going for dinner and a couple rides on the weekends. I can't wait to get back to WDW for POTC, though! It's so much better there.

Looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip!! We might go in November and I'm getting so excited reading your TR!!

~LJ

 

[stinkerbelle's mom]

your report! Yikes on the creepy guy. Hopefully he doesn't cause any harm! Love all the pictures. You all look great. Love the closeup of the kids! Can't wait for more!

 

[cynderella]

You got so much done at MK! My family was a bunch of killjoys - two short mornings there and that was it. I told DH that next time we are going to spend a little more time there so I can do more MK/DL comparisons!

 

[dwheatl]

Day 7-Aug 2
One of the best things about being a Disney commando is that my family usually lets me have my way on vacation (except when it comes to getting moving in the morning). Today is day 2 in Epcot. We head for Test Track first thing, to get FPs, and it's a lucky thing, because we get a bonus FP for Mission Space that is effective immediately. We ride Mission Space right away, and I feel the G-force thing more this time. I love it! We have a while before our FPs for TT are good, so we head to Innoventions (East, I think). We end up spending a lot of time in there, about an hour and a half. We try the "success" games, but they all equate success with money, and that's not really us, so we move on. We have a great time in the plastics area, where we learn about recycling, and then we design robots on computers, have a "beauty contest" with them, then race them, all on the computer. The kids robot wins the race and comes in second in the beauty contest. Showoffs. But ha-ha, the jokes on them, because this is educational and they are having a great time. Afterwards, we build robots out of recycled plastic, and those are our souvenirs of Innoventions. Free! Hard to beat.
This takes us up to lunch time, and we go back to Seasons because we know everybody will find something they like. When we finish eating, it's time for Test Track, so on we go. Just as we are starting, it jerks to a stop and messes up my neck. Bummer! DH has skipped both MS and TT because he was worried about just such a thing. Smart man!
We agree to split so DH and I can do World Showcase while the kids do more Future World. They spend a lot of time at Innoventions (West this time) while we view the Canada film, visit the UK (why is nobody dancing when the British Invasion is playing?) , France, where sadly, three years of college French leaves me unable to understand the CM saying, "If you can understand French, raise your hand," and the American Adventure. WS is VERY HOT, and Am Ad doesn't start for about 20 minutes, so we grab a cherry slushee at the cs restaurant next door. This cools us off enough to perk us up, and I really enjoy the American Adventure. It's very touching and inspiring. However, it also goes longer than expected, so we are late meeting the kids at the Living Seas. A funny thing that I also wrote about on the funny things board http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=693927 is a family we see in front of the Living Seas. They're taking a picture by the statue of Nemo and Dory and Dad puts his son in the dirt between the statues, where he obviously doesn't belong. A CM heads over, and Dad grabs the kid and says, "Junior, what are you doing in there? Get down here right now!" or words to that effect. We enjoy the LS, but miss the bubble-vator and clamshell ride. We skip Crush because there is a long line and there is never a line for this at DL, so we figure we'll just see it in CA.
Finally, we find Club Cool, right by the Character Connection, and this is the place where you can try Coca Cola products that are popular in other countries. The watermelon flavor from China tastes like the rind. The ginger ale from Mozambique tastes like regular ginger ale to me. I like the Vegita Beta flavor from Japan, which is marketed there as a health drink, and the kids like the Mezzo Mix from Germany, which is a mix of Coke and orange that Germans mix with their beer. We drink so much that we are sloshing around (What can I say? From my earliest childhood, all you can drink soda = ). We're not really hungry (wonder why?) and we're hot and exhausted. We all feel like we've hit everything in Epcot that we want to see, but I don't want to go sit in our room at 7 p.m. DD wants to swim, but nobody else is up for it. I suggest a monorail ride to look at the MK resorts, and nobody has the energy to argue or come up with something else. We drop off DH's ECV at the front gate, and get a bag from the CM for our robots.
We walk out to the monorail and get in a car. It stinks like you wouldn't believe, but we're all too tired to move. DD pulls out a bottle of citrus perfume and squirts it, but now it just smells like someone pooped on a lemon tree. Then she pulls out a sample bottle of Tag that I had ordered for DS but which he despises, and she starts squirting that around. I ask her to please stop, as there is another family in the cabin, and I am afraid they will asphyxiate (we are used to DD's heavy hand with the scents).
We transfer to the resort line at the TTC, and ride around the hotels. The Grand Floridian is beautiful. I would definitely like to stay there one day. The Poly has it's own charm, but I just think the Contemporary is ugly. I guess its appeal is the view (amazing, to be sure) but I can't get past the outside.
If we take the monorail back to Epcot, we'll be stuck, because Epcot is closed by now and our hotel is by the International Gateway. We get off the monorail at the TTC and catch the bus to MGM. There is a huge crowd waiting for the bus, I guess to get to Fantasmic, but miraculously, we all get on. It's like the s at the circus coming out of a VW, only in reverse. DH is really in a bad way now (poor guy, I've really run him into the ground) so I grab a wheelchair in the MGM parking lot and push him over to the boat launch. I intend to take the wheelchair back or up to the front gate, but the water launch pulls right up, so DH says leave it, because the odds of someone needing it getting off the water launch are as good as someone needing it in the parking lot or at the front gate (I doubt this is true, but it could be...).
We stop for dinner at the Fountain, which is right on the way to our room, and the CM is so nice and accomodating to DD (she gets a grilled bacon and cheese sandwich, which is definitely not on the menu). For the one time the whole trip, we remember to get our AAA discount at the Dolphin restaurants.
When we get back to the room, we are all pooped, so we watch TV in bed.
Tomorrow-

hits the MK for day 2. Will the rest of the survive?

 

[cynderella]

but now it just smells like someone pooped on a lemon tree.

I giggled myself into tears over this one. Maybe because I have my own prior experience with "poopy roses"

I can't believe we were at MK on the same day!!!

 

[dwheatl]

I can't believe we were at MK on the same day!!!

It IS a small world after all

 

[uhtimex]

This has been a GREAT TR I can't wait for the finish.
I ran into a "creepy" guy at Astroworld (RIP).
the rest of the day we were watching for him. eeeeeekkkk

 

[ericafny]

This is such a great TR!!! I am trying to figure out our days and we definitly had to cross paths at some point...

By the way I was definitly a commando on this trip, but good thing DBF could keep up with me. There was one day where I could just tell he had had enough but didn't have the heart to tell me

That is scary about the guy taking photos, and then he runs into your kids...I hope they caught that guy and he didn't do any severe damage.

Can't wait to read the rest of the report

 

[Disneyland_Mama]

Great TR!
Looking forward to more!

 

[nutz2notz]

Your trip report is great and I am really enjoying it.

We head back to Tomorrowland for some sentimental favorites. We start with the Carousel of Progress, which was one of my dad's favorites, and it makes me feel like he's there with me while we're watching.

I grew up in Anaheim and COP is a sentimental one for me too. My dad took us to Disneyland once a year and we always had to go on the COP as it was one of his favorites. I am looking forward to riding when my kids and I go in January and I am sure I will feel my dad with us as well.

 

[dwheatl]

I grew up in Anaheim and COP is a sentimental one for me too. My dad took us to Disneyland once a year and we always had to go on the COP as it was one of his favorites. I am looking forward to riding when my kids and I go in January and I am sure I will feel my dad with us as well.

Love your name! We hit the place that shall not be named in mid July when we were in So. CA for a couple of days. It was nowhere near as good as Disney, but it has its charms.

My folks took us to DL once a year, too, and when I started college down there, I bumped it up to twice a year, which is what we've done with our kids, too. At 18 and 16, they still like to go with us.

 

[dwheatl]

Day 8- August 3

Grab your , this is a long one!

Our last full day, and the pace is taking its toll. DH stays at the hotel because he's so worn out, but promises to meet us later. The bus takes a long time to get to us, and when it does, it totally fills up. The bus driver announces in a beautiful African accent, "Next stop, Magique Kingdom" meaning that we won't have to stop at any other resorts before getting to the park. I'm thrilled that this is a nonstop bus, but some hayseeds in front of us say, "What did he say? Magique Kingdom? Do you think he means Magic Kingdom? I've never heard anyone say it THAT way before!" When we get off the bus, I tell my kids that their Nana's response to anyone who criticizes something by saying, "I've never heard that before!" is "Well then you haven't heard much," meaning, don't advertise your ignorance. They agree that's pretty wise, and DS even pulls it on DH a couple of days later. Mr. Smarty-Pants!
We make it to the park around 10:30, and we head for Tomorrowland, where the line for Space Mountain is not too bad (it wasn't an EMH day at MK, so the crowds must be elsewhere). The kids go on SM, and I go on the TTA. I get my fill of Tomorrowland this way. We meet up and DD wants to do the Tomorrowland Speedway (she has a driver's license for heaven's sake), so we stand in the heat and finally get on. I was trying for the Lime Green car, but I get a blue one. The Speedway is similar to Autopia in DL, but Autopia has a billboard with lots of corny jokes, which I enjoy. We haven't been on the WDW Railroad yet, so we walk to Toontown to catch it. On the way we pass the Barnstormer, and DD wants to go on that, and there's no line, so we walk on. Good thing there's no line, because the ride last about 20 seconds, as Cynderella mentioned in her TR. We get to the train station, and it looks like the train might be a few minutes. The heat wave we left behind in CA has now caught up with us in FLA, so DD goes to play in the water works at Donald's boat until the train comes. We ride to Frontierland and get Splash Mountain FP's, then go to Columbia Harbor House for lunch. DS gets a vegetarian sandwich and enjoys it, I get the ham sandwich, and DD gets the ham sandwich with just the cheese on it (that's right, a ham sandwich without the ham. It's like the scene where Peter Fonda gets toast in Easy Rider-way before my time by the way, but that's a famous scene). The CM asks who the trouble maker is, meaning DD, and then asks her if she really wants just cheese on olive bread. She says yes, that's fine, so that's what she gets. I don't know if the olive bread is always like this, but mine and DD's tastes nasty, so we toss it. DS said his was good, so there you are.
Next, we go through the Swiss Family Treehouse, and when we get out, I go to call DH only to find that he has called earlier and I missed the call. The kids want to hit the Tiki Room, so I send them in while I call DH. and he agrees to meet us at the Tiki Room exit. DH wasn't able to get an ECV because by the time he reached the park, they were sold out, so he has a manual wheelchair. The Tiki Room is a convenient place to meet, because the Sunshine Tree Terrace is right there, and they have great frozen treats. DH gets a lemon raspberry slush, DD gets a coke and chocolate float, and I get a cappucino float (now you know where I get my commando energy = ) It's FP time for Splash Mountain, and it's a good thing, because it's super hot now and there's more than an hour wait in the standby line. We get a little splashy together, then decide to split until dinner time. I tell the kids to meet us at Tony's Town Square at 6, even though we don't have ADRs (we did not make any ADRs before we got to WDW this trip).
DH and I go to CBJ one more time, afraid that it may be gone the next time we come. Teddi Bera's song gets stuck in my head, and I end up singing it for days on end. I that song, even though I know Big Al is the popular favorite, and "Mama, don't whoop little Buford" was the one my dad went to
hear. It's like they say, in matters of taste, there is no argument.
DH wants lunch before we head to POTC, but when we look at El Pirata y el Perico, everything has beef on it, so he decides to get food after we ride. We get in line and make our way down into the building, and the line stops. It's supposed to be a 20 minute wait, but we creep along for 45 minutes until we get to the front of the line. The people in front of us get in the boat, and then are told to get out again. We are all told to go back the way we came, which is difficult, because DH has already given up his wheelchair (he was supposed to just pick up another one after the ride). There's a little chaos, but people are considerate and we manage to get a wheelchair and get out of there. We head to Pecos Bill's and DH has a chicken wrap that he says is simple and good. We like Disney food best when they don't try to get too fancy with it.
After DH eats, POTC is still not working, so we head to Fantasyland. We enjoy Snow White, but when we're in line for Winnie the Pooh, some moron keeps glaring at DH, I think because he's in a wheelchair. DH is in the regular line; it's not like he's getting any benefit from being in the wheelchair except that he doesn't have to stand or walk. What is this guy's problem?
While we're in line, I figure I better call 407-W-DISNEY to see if we can actually get into Tony's at 6. They don't have anything until 8:30, but while I'm on the phone, someone calls to cancel a 5:40 ressie. I take it, and call the kids to meet us at 5:30, then we start making our way to Main Street. We are even able to walk right through the castle, since Cinderellabration is over for the day. We walk through the stores, mostly to stay cool, and we meet the kids at the restaurant right at 5:30. When we get in, little kids are sitting on the floor, watching Lady and the Tramp. The party ahead of us gets called by a server who uses a fake Italian accent, but our server is not so flamboyant. She is very attentive ,though, and likes to say, "Y'all" and "no problem". We have a great time at dinner, lots of laughs. I'll try to add in pictures soon.
We all head to POTC afterwards, and it is as fun as the first time. The kids want to go back to the coasters, I want to see Spectromagic and Wishes, and DH cannot keep going. We send the kids off to ride, then ride the railroad one full time around the park. A large party gets on at Main Street and starts passing around a bottle of Smirnoff's and pouring it into soda botles, then drinking from the bottles. As if they need more. They are very loud and obnoxious, and I'm sorry for the kids with them. Who needs to be drunk when you're at the MK, anyway?
DH and I get off at Frontierland, where we had left the wheelchair. Then I walk DH to the wheelchair return and kiss him good-bye.
I can remember vacationing with my parents as a teen, and meeting a man who was on vacation by himself. At the time, I judgmentally thought, "Who would vacation alone?" but here I am, on my own at WDW. My first act as a single DISer - get a hot fudge sundae and sit out on the terrace between Main Street and Tomorrowland and look out at the castle. When I finish my sundae, I head to Liberty Square to stake out a place for Spectromagic. I pick a place right across from the Christmas store. I have a great view standing behind the families sitting on the curb. The Spectro specters at the beginning of the parade are a little off-putting (too much like mimes), but the rest of the parade is beautiful. It's still really hot, and one of the butterfly girls looks a little dizzy from spinning in the heat, so some plainclothes CMs come to get her.
After the parade I take a spot near the funnel cake counter (no I don't eat one; I just had a hot fudge sundae an hour ago!) where I can see the front of the castle perfectly. I enjoy watching the changing colors and talk a little to a family that asks me why people are standing there. They had no idea about Wishes! I clue them in, and they stick around. When Wishes starts, we find that a tree is blocking the view of the fireworks. Everyone moves en masse to a place where we can see some of the fireworks as well as the front of the castle. I can see the images projected on the castle perfectly, which is pretty magical. Maybe I'm a little biased, but I think the fireworks show at DL, Remember, is better overall. Maybe it's just because I saw it first, and it was actually the week of DL's 50th birthday.
I make my way to the front of the park, and the resort busses, and watch people who walk to the bus stops, only to realize they need to go back the other way to catch the ferry (maybe I'm punchy, but this strikes me as funny). When I get to the Dolphin bus stop, I call the kids, and they are just exiting the park. It takes them fifteen minutes to get to the bus stop, and, this one time, I confess that I defy queue etiquette. I bring both of them up in line with me so I can make sure that we all get back safely. I feel guilty, but a mama's gotta do what a mama's gotta do. We get back to the hotel right around midnight, and that's the end of our last night at WDW.
Tomorrow-What can we squeeze in before heading to the airport for our cross-country trip?

 

[dwheatl]

Rather than go back and edit, here are a couple of pictures I promised.

The big finale at CBJ, with my favorite, Swingin' Tedi Bera.

The Lady and the Tramp fountain we ate next to at Tony's.

The kids, the fountain, and yum our dirty dishes, at Tony's.

The castle changing colors before Wishes.

 

[stinkerbelle's mom]

Great writing & pictures! My mom would love that fountain. Lady & the Tramp is her favorite movie.

 

[cynderella]

but some hayseeds in front of us say, "What did he say? Magique Kingdom? Do you think he means Magic Kingdom? I've never heard anyone say it THAT way before!" When we get off the bus, I tell my kids that their Nana's response to anyone who criticizes something by saying, "I've never heard that before!" is "Well then you haven't heard much," meaning, don't advertise your ignorance.

Hayseeds! I haven't heard that term in years! LOVE it. The first night we went over to Epcot, the driver who pulled up at our resort stop had a serious middle-eastern accent and said his bus (which had no marquee up at the time) was going to "Eepcot" We LOVED that! My DS said that one huge thing he enjoyed about WDW was the rampant multiculturalism all around. It made for such a diverse, educational, and interesting trip. Hayseeds, indeed.

We make it to the park around 10:30 [...] We haven't been on the WDW Railroad yet, so we walk to Toontown to catch it. On the way we pass the Barnstormer, and DD wants to go on that, and there's no line, so we walk on. Good thing there's no line, because the ride last about 20 seconds, as Cynderella mentioned in her TR. We get to the train station, and it looks like the train might be a few minutes.

This was probably the closest we got to each other all trip. I bet we walked right past each other in Toontown or were on the same train. All of our Toontown and train experiences were right about this time, Donald's boat included...

The heat wave we left behind in CA has now caught up with us in FLA

Oh, yeah. This was the #1 hottest day that we were there (Aug 3). Even our day at AK wasn't as hot!!!

Maybe I'm a little biased, but I think the fireworks show at DL, Remember, is better overall. Maybe it's just because I saw it first, and it was actually the week of DL's 50th birthday.

Well, natch, cause, you know, my DH helped put on that 50th anniversay show.

I confess that I defy queue etiquette. I bring both of them up in line with me so I can make sure that we all get back safely. I feel guilty, but a mama's gotta do what a mama's gotta do.

Eh, it's not like everyone else in the entire 47 sq mi of WDW wasn't doing the same sort of thing. I bet no one even had a bad thought about ya.

 

[dwheatl]

Eh, it's not like everyone else in the entire 47 sq mi of WDW wasn't doing the same sort of thing. I bet no one even had a bad thought about ya.

I was reading a Catholic magazine today, and there was a cartoon in the back with a guy at confession saying, "And I cut in this line for confession, too." That'll be me!

 

[dwheatl]

Day 9, August 4
The Last Day

At this point we still have one day of the main parks on our tickets, as well as 2 water park days (but they expire soon; it's so much cheaper to just pay for those options the next time rather than pay for the never expire option and have to fill out the ticket next time, you know what I mean?) so I let the kids pick what we'll do today, keeping in mind that we need to leave around 2 p.m. I tell them if it were up to me, I would pick AK, but they're not going for that. They don't want to do a water park because getting ready for the flight home when you're water-logged is a pain, so DD picks MGM, and DS says that's OK with him. I'm happy, because we were so tired when we went there the first day, there was a lot we missed.
It's hard getting the kids up and out, especially because we have to pack up and checkout. There's a discrepancy on the bill, but I call downstairs, and they say it will be taken care of. It ends up taking an email to the general manager when we get home, but it finally works out. (for my Lime Green friends, I didn't have to and poke my finger in his face, but I was ready to). We manage to get everything packed up and into the car and get to the front gates of MGM by 10:30.
Right away, we go get two FPs each for RnRC and ToT. Being the wonderful, self-sacrificing parents that we are, we let the kids have the passes.
There's a little time before the passes are valid, so we go to see the Narnia exhibit. I have seen a few people rate this exhibit as boring on the DB, but I love it. I am a pretty big Narnia fan, reread all the books this past year, read The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe to my third-graders, watched the movie and own the DVD. I even stayed at a hotel in Solvang with a little Narnia when I was a kid, so how can I not love this? I take videos of the whole exhibit, and if you haven't been in, here comes the spoiler, so skip down to the next paragraph and you'll be safe. On my video, Jadis, the white witch, looks so real and scary. When I was there I was sure she was an animatronic, but Wow, she's the new kind, very realistic, like Capt. Jack on POTC. I also get shots of her sledge and costumes and weapons from both sides. I guess I'm just a Narnia nerd, but the whole family enjoys it.

OK, it's safe to come back now. If you get a chance, and you like Narnia even a little bit, go see the exhibit. It's great.
After Narnia, it's almost time for the kids to use their FPs, and DD wants to see Voyage of the Little Mermaid one more time. We send them off, and then I get my chance to eat one of the treats I've been thinking about the whole trip. I've heard the cinnamon rolls at Starring Rolls are extra good, so of course I have to have one. It's flaky and sweet and rich, but it's cold, and the CM tells me they have no way to heat it up. It's worth eating, but it's going in my letter to Disney (you know, the one I mentioned before where I act like a crackpot and tell Disney the RIGHT way to do things ). By the way, I had lost 20 lbs. in the year before this trip, and from the way I'm eating, you might think I would gain it all back. However, with plus miles of walking everyday, I come home having gained just two lbs, and even that's gone in a couple of days.
One of the things I missed the first day that I really want to see is the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular, and we now have about half an hour to kill before the next show. Sounds Dangerous, with Drew Carey, is right across the way and about to start, so we decide to go in. Even though they give you fair warning at the beginning that you will be in total darkness for about 7 minutes of the show, several people bring in small children who begin screaming as soon as the lights go out. There are so many CMs moving about with flashlights to usher the little screamers out of the theater that it becomes a distraction, so I close my eyes. Ah, much better. DH and I agree that this is a fun show, but not great, and we both liked the old sound effects show better. Best yet was a similar but short-lived show that was part of Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln at DL. In that one, you were a civil war soldier getting ready to have your picture taken by Matthew Brady. OK, so we're history nerds too. There are worse things to be!
When we get out, we zip right across to Indiana Jones, and I'm happy to see that the show is in the shade. We love this show, and the best part is watching all the first-timers reactions to the "volunteers" in the show. When we leave, we hit Backlot Express for lunch, and I have a double cheeseburger, figuring it'll be right back to Weight Watchers when we get home. It's good, but they don't have the fixings bar like they have at Cosmic Ray's in MK. When we finish lunch, it's time to get the kids and leave. I meet up with them at RnRC while DH takes his wheelchair back to the rental counter.
The trip to the airport is uneventful, except for the fact that we have the hardest time finding a gas station to fill up the rental car before we turn it in. We drive around 3/4 of the perimeter of the airport before we finally find a Citgo and 7-11. The kids get something to eat and I get a Crystal Light Slurpee (I have to start tapering off, don't I?).
Here's a picture of the kids at the tram at MCO

In the security line at the airport, DS gets pulled aside because he is carrying a musical instrument he bought in Adventureland, and it has little metal keys on it. They check it thoroughly and decide to let him on with it.
The flight home is uneventful, although on the first half, the family sitting in front of us has a little girl who stands on her seat and jumps up and down WHEN THE SEATBELT LIGHT IS ON (her mother is engrossed in a conversation with a total stranger and ignores the daughter). The brother, around 8 or 9, is wearing a Hooters t-shirt and says that that was the best part of the trip. Charming family!
On the second leg of the trip, DD uses her Jedi powers to say, "What if nobody sits between Mom and Dad?" so of course, nobody sits between us. Hurray! I'm able to nap, and when I wake up, we're almost home.
We drive home from the airport (I stay awake now because I'm worried DH will fall asleep) and the kids get to the door of the house first. DD is shouting, "Hurry up and open the door!" because her cat, Tiger Lily, is crying on the other side of the door. For some reason, it reminds me of the movie Body Heat. When we get in, everything is as it should be, although my niece, who has been coming by to feed the cat, has left the toilet seat up, and Tiger Lily has been playing in the toilet water. I hug her anyway. It's good to be home.

 

[averill94]

What an awesome trip! Thanks for sharing it with us.

I hope to get to DL one day.

 

[stinkerbelle's mom]

Great TR. I'm sorry your vacation is over, but I enjoyed it. You're so funny, I thought you were on the quiet side-- man you're all fiesty & spunky. So glad you didn't have to and poke the GM! My sister had a cat named TigerLily, but called her Lily.