Disney hopes, dreams and foggy deranged memories plus the lady turning 70.

[yecats]

Days 1 & 2 - I am starting off this thread by giving a bit of history. I am a Disney fan and for at least two decades went for a good week every three years mostly staying on property with short spurts for a day or two at hotels off property. It has been a nine year absence since I was last there so it will be a longer trip to enjoy.

Going on the two week tour:
Me = mid 40 out of shape lady.
Mom = turning 70 on the trip out of shape lady.
In loving absentia - all the deceased relatives who previously enjoyed WDW with us.

So prior to February 2017, I have planned and set up many lunch/dinner reservations and made sure to set up all the fastpasses in advance. This is the first trip we stayed offsite at a rental home. Why you ask? Because we decided to take the dogs. My dog is a large older lab who just doesn't do well pinned up for long stays anymore and as I was bringing mine, mum decided to bring the 50lb pup which would have to go to doggie daycare each day. Yes I planned so much that I was seeing the trip in my dreams even with many of my dead relatives packing to take the journey with us.

All planning aside it was the end of January and my vacation day arrived. Time to pickup the rental van from the airport. Nearly two hours later still waiting to find the rental van as each one had a problem in them, mainly attempting to drop all the back seats into their own wells so I'd have enough space to pack our house into the van (yes literally). Three men were attempting to help me with the vans and the seats so when we found one where every seat finally went down into the well I knew I had met the vehicle for me.

We live in Southern Louisiana and the drive is about 650 miles and just over ten hours when anyone else is driving but not this trip. When I don't fly, this trip is usually a 12/13 hour drive and we started it at 3AM. Mom was to do the first bit of driving but as we got to the MS/Alabama line an idiot cut her off entering I-10 and she had to serve to miss him hitting the front end but all the luggage/packing landed on the dogs so we had to repack the vehicle. Two hours later, round two with a new vehicle just outside of Pensacola and repacking what landed on the dogs. Mom was now done driving and her dog was done riding in the back so from that point forward we shared parts of a 50lb puppy sleeping on me, mom and the center console all the way to Kissimmee.

I have always hated this drive as it is hours of nothingness followed by the roller coaster hills and pine trees which just lull me to sleep so we began the rest stop tour all the way to Tallahassee. I apologize to all those that my mum's dog woke up at all those rest stops just simply because she barks at everything. By afternoon we managed to find the one Arby's that was nearly out of all food. All the snowbirds were in there complaining due to the lack of food. They still had roast beef though but no lids for drinks or straws so we had to compromise a bit. AT this point I am pondering what type of vacation will this turn out to be. Will my hopes and dreams come into vivid color or die on the drive in, I am certainly wishing for the best

Mom and me realize by the time we are on I75South that we aren't young spring chickens anymore and making more frequent stops by the tourist traps selling BBQ, ice cream and all the silly things you can buy on the road. I am one of those annoying people who has to ask the employees working in these shops how far away from the Turnpike are we (and I always know that we are usually within 120 miles or so) but amazingly none of the locals have any idea how far away they live from the turnpike. This area of FL I refer to as the Twilight Zone of Florida since no one ever has answered that question.

Finally around 4 pm we hit the Turnpike and it is now time for my deranged memories to appear. I always revive when I reach this area as your close to Disney and I have fond memories of all the Orange groves and the smell of the oranges as your driving by (remember the scene from Soaring over California with the orange groves from the air). Where did the freaking orange groves go???? Anybody????? Buehler can you answer the question? I became a bit depressed, honestly, I loved smelling miles of oranges that just no longer exist. Does Florida grow oranges anymore? They really need to change those license plates. Well anyway the past orange groves still live in my memory. As it is nearing 5 pm I decide to exit the depressing Turnpike at Hwy 27 exit and take the back way in to Kissimmee missing all of that I-4/beltway drivetime traffic.

Now next deranged memory moment coming up. 15 to 20 years ago Hwy 27 was the boondocks area. Nothing but orange groves and scattered businesses around. Wowza, we started that drive between Mineola and Clermont and needless to say I had to ask my mum if we were still in Florida because all of a sudden it looked like we were driving through the mountains and basin of Los Angeles but a more cleaned and developed version. Honestly, I was flabbergasted at how this area turned out but at the same time depressed at what is now missing. If you have an hour to drive around go see this area and realize it looked nothing like that 15 years ago.

Finally, we make it through all the road work on Hwy 27 and to 192 and to Formosa Gardens where the rental house was. This area also use to have a lot of trees and all of that is gone with nothing but one housing development going in after another. Even the many hotels are gone that once existed in late 1990's and early 2000's. Mom even said we'll never recognize the area 4 or 5 years from now. We make it to the rental and feel good that we could open all the locks and turn off the alarm. Rental house wasn't bad and was as pictured. It showed some wear/tear but it was clean and most things worked in it. You could see from the front yard some of the fireworks from Disney property. Very few houses had kids living there and it seemed most of the neighbors were snowbirds in for the winter as cars mostly from Northwestern states. Formosa has a lot of building going on so there were a lot of large dump trucks delivering all day long and we could hear them flying up and down the street at times in the house. One thing I missed staying on Disney property were good beds. I like a firm mattress and this house had none, these are the type that kids love to bounce off of but when your tired you will sleep on them.

I must be honest now, I may be a convert and prefer the rental home. Maybe it's my age or maybe it was because I felt like I was in my own home with my own things (pillows, blanket, dogs, backyard, quiet area) and not having anyone walking around out side the door in a small hotel room. I thought it would mess up my vacay a bit not staying on Disney property but I didn't miss it that much.

So there are the first days and my general feelings

 

[yecats]

Days 3 & 4 and more deranged memories:

First Disney day, Feb. 1, 2017. Slept good in rental, quiet, woke up around 9. Low flow water pressure but I'll adjust. Told mom Walgreens and Publix not far away so I'll go and pickup some basic food items to get us started. I went to Walgreens as it was closest. I realized I have stayed at the old hotel behind Walgreens as it once was a Ramada or Quality Inn back in the day -deranged memory moment in the parking lot of a bygone time with dead family members. Back at the house with breakfast, we eat and then take the pup to bring her to Best Friends for the day while my dog vacay's at home. By the way be prepared to sign your dog's life away at the Doggie daycare (no joke, lots of paperwork) Drive onto Disney property and mom wants to take a picture of the entrance sign but hey the highway sign telling us not to stop on the side of the road doesn't apply to us, Right? Oh well, no harm quick pic. Have I mentioned it's been nine years since the last visit. Yep the dog daycare is now across the street from PO Riverside but had to pay MK parking first and then push all the way over to the right lane and drive back towards Riverside. Dropped off pup and made u=turn back to MK. However, you have to now drive completely around the parking lot head back toward Epcot and make yet another uturn back through to MK parkinglot payment area to show the receipt I just purchased to now push all the way over to the left hand lane to enter the parking lot. Who was the lame brain project manager who came up with this parking pay situation. Why couldn't they just build the Dog Daycare under the monorail between the parks before you get to the parking lot turnstile thereby saving you time, energy, sanity and gas and 20 minutes of extra drive. This did tick me off as it makes no sense to do all that extra driving. We left the house a bit after 11 and are now in MK parking lot about 11:45, where did the time go?

So mum and me are not ferry fans but the monorail just broke down to MK so onto the ferry we go. We clear through security and by this time it is nearly 12:15. I just spent 1 1/4 hours attempting to enter MK, something is wrong with this picture. My plan today was to use the RR to get us around back side of park but I forgot RR is closed for refurbishment so started the hoofing. Now I realize that several things have been changed in the past several years in MK as the front entrance area is different as is castle forecourt area. They are more simplified and beautiful with several things moved around Walt and Mickey statue, castle is fully open, many bench seats gone and more torrets added around castle. I liked the Walt/Mickey statue in the front and I miss some of those benches to just enjoy the scenery. Personal preference I guess.

Okay, some one lied to me at work and said beginning of February was off season. HA, HA, HA = go eff yourself lady. I always go in the off season in Nov./Dec. and February was no off season. This park was packed. Our first FP for HM hadn't hit yet so we were back in Fantasyland (my goal today was to get most of the kiddie rides out of the way). We were close to Smallworld and as it had a 25 minute wait we decided to go on it (I have never seen a wait on this ride ever) and the ride was hot (could barely feel the a/c on in the building but it was mid 80's outside). Then it was FP time for HM which worked well in and out in about 30 minutes (it was also a bit hot in there). Then FP for PP which worked well again. Went to see Philharmagic which then brokedown so we would need to comeback. At this point people were leaving Fantasyland to go see the parade and we were coming close to 7DMT. Mom wanted ice cream and I was watching the standby time (I could only get FP one day for this ride) and within a few moments the ride went from 90 minutes down to 60. Mom hadn't finished her ice cream yet and I was hankering to go on the ride so we finally got in the standby line. Well outside we moved fairly steady until we entered the vault and apparently do what you do in a vault and age slowly. We sat in the VAULT and were in there the full 90 minutes. We were given row 17 which I love the last seats and I really wish I would've filmed mom's expressions on the ride as they were priceless but I'll have to live with the memory. Mom has officially reached the age where you cut back on the rides and she wouldn't ride 7DMT again. After all the standing both us were suffering with our knees, back, toes and ankles. We went to eat Columbia Harbor House which we enjoyed the shrimp plates and needed the break. We walked back around to see if Philharmagic was running and it was still closed - a theme we would run into the whole trip.

We walked back to Under the Sea which had a small wait, like 15 minutes and decided to go on it. The ride line angered both my mom and me as it took you the entire 15 minutes to walk through the rope line. Now there were no true wait lines entering this ride and the ropes should've been closed off to cut the walk in half but it wasn't so it was as if you were a mouse in one of those contraptions trying to find your way through. You walked right onto the ride after the 10/15 minutes of ropes. The ride is cute but all the walking and waiting wore us out so we were ready to leave. By the time we were ushered onto the ferry (monorail still broken down) and made it to the van by the way we did the tram tour as we got on the wrong tram, it was close to 8 and then picked up the pup and made it home (picked up sandwiches to eat at home) it was 9 pm. It takes forever to drive around Disney property and I found that from the time we left the rental house to get to security at a park after dropping off the dog you will have lost more than hour (both ways). We both slept very well this night.

Day 4 - Epcot mania. Woke up at 9 again. Decided to go to Publix for more food items. Dropped off items, picked up pups (both dogs going to doggie daycare as it will be a late night) and headed to Epcot. Entered Epcot around 12:30 and waited at security which had the longest lines of the whole trip (we waited at least 20 minutes as some people were bringing their homes into the park). Mom loves the dinosaurs in Ellen's Energy Adv. but she always forgets how long the preshow/aftershow is but we went on it first. We skipped SE as the line was 45 mins. long (another ride I've never seen a wait longer than 10/15 mins for). We went into the Land Pav. and our FP for Soarin wasn't up yet so we watched the movie on the 2nd floor, went and rode The Land ride (about 20 min wait) where the veggies are grown and then went on the new Soarin which is beautiful/breathtaking and my favorite. Last time I came with my grandparents and my grandmaw fell in love with Soarin over California and rode it 3 times while we were there so it felt like I was riding it with her again. I don't understand why the FP line is so long here either (it feels as though you walk a 1/2 mile before you reach the load area).

We had dinner ressie at The Garden Grill where we always enjoy the food and have fun taking pictures with the characters. The family that was at the table adjacent to ours left me with memories of my grandparents taking pictures of me and themselves with the characters as the family we watched were doing. This is the only place on the planet that I don't cry missing my grandparents. We left and I went to see if I could get FP for SE which I did get for about 2 hours later.

We continued on into the Sea and Finding Nemo ride. Here comes the next deranged memory. I liked this area better when you just walked into the building instead of walking the 1/4 mile through the rope line to have to ride Finding Nemo. They can cut that rope line in half but don't, there was only a 10 minute wait so why the long rope line. Anyway rode and found Nemo then sat watching the Aquarium animals for quite some time as we both find this relaxing. The dolphins were doing the usual turns and several people were diving in the tanks. We also waited for Turtle talk which was cute and then left for SE as FP time was approaching. We always enjoy SE but thought the ending where they place your faces in the photos was too funny and had a good laugh at ourselves and others when you come out to see where everyone is from. We also played the build the bones game and had a good time.

As it was approaching Illuminations time we walked around in the shops and shared some popcorn waiting for Illuminations, watched and walked out with the crowd. We had a good time but this was the longest day we would have so we were very tired and the day was very hot and then became very damp at night so we started coughing a bit. We picked up the pups (and you began to know the other dogs as well as the same group would pick up the pups every night) and headed home. I think the combo of all the walking, heat, dampness at night and 9 hours in the park really took it out on us that night as we both had to put ice and heat on body parts that night. Overall it really was a beautiful day.