"Everyone! Come see how handsome I am!" **FINISHED** 2/17

[dawnmichele]

We left our room and headed for our bus stop. We were about to have our worst bus luck of the night. Worst night of the whole trip, actually, but that's for the next post.

When we got to our stop, there was a family of 3 generations standing around. They said they had been waiting a while already. We continued to wait through 2 busses for Epcot, 2 for DHS, 1 for AK and 1 for DTD before our MK bus came. The 7th bus. Dang! That was a long wait.

Danny had texted me he was at the MK, so I told him we'd meet him on Main Street. That turned out to be a bad idea because by the time we got there, Main Street was super crowded.

We had a little trouble finding Danny, but after we did we struggled through the crowds to the first open spot where we could sit down and talk a little. We were across the bridge into Fantasyland when we found an empty bench.

Looks like we stopped for some photos on the way, though.

[/IMG]

On the way we passed Merida. There was still a line, but it was short. We were excited because we thought we’d get to meet her, but her handler told us the line had just closed. I hadn't realized how late it had gotten.

So we sat on the bench and decided what to do. Danny had yet to see any of the new parts of Fantasyland, so that was our plan. It was nice just sitting on the bench for a bit, watching the lights and watching the people. I really love Disney World, and I especially love the parks after dark.

I think Danny was thoroughly impressed with the expansion, although agreed it will obviously be so much better when the mine train is done. He also almost ran himself and his scooter through a rope that was marking off a queue. Yikes.

We saw Gaston out around his fountain. His handler kept telling people not to make a line. The handler would just call out to a group of people standing around and invite us to go meet Gaston. How weird was that? This Gaston was funny and all - Danny and Hannah thought he was hilarious - but he wasn't nearly as good as my Gaston from the day before. That guy was the best.

Again I was dazzled by the way the Magic Kingdom, and especially Fantasyland, lights up at night.

Up Next: Trapped! The bad part.

 

[dawnmichele]

Ok, so here comes the bad part. It's not really bad. Nobody got hurt or lost anything important. We just got stuck on a bad ride for a long time which was kind of nightmarish in a creepy freak out kind of way. I've been putting off this trip report because I dread writing this part. I'm just not sure how to equally explain to you how freaky it was while understanding it was just getting stuck on a bad ride at Disney World. Because even this worst moment of the trip is better than a lot of days in real life, you know what I mean? So I am not moaning and complaining. I am just saying it was bad.

Which nightmare ride was it? Why it was the happiest cruise that ever sailed; It's A Small World.

It is not a favorite, and I often wonder why I ride it at all. But it just sees like one of those rides you have to ride for it to be a real Disney World trip, you know? So Danny and I decided to ride it. Hannah was much smarter. On our trip in 2010, Hannah and I had been stuck in the middle of it for a few minutes and she wasn't going to let that happen again. Clever girl. She went off to ride the Haunted Mansion after we picked a meet up place for after.

We should have known something was wrong as soon as we got in line. The line was a little long, and moving really slowly. And there was trash! which is normal but not something they usually let you see at Disney.

We did make Disney friends with a lady in line though. She was about to head off on a cruise and she was excited. She was fun.

This lady in the booth did not look like she was having fun. She was on and off several phones and looked haggard.

As usual, I tried to pass the time by taking lots of photos.

See this clock? It was almost 9 when we got off, and hardly any of that was waiting in line.

Eventually we loaded in to the back row of our boat and took off. For about 2 minutes. We stopped right as our boat started to make that first turn. Looking ahead:

Looking behind:

We waited there for a very long time. We made some more Disney friends with the family in front of us. One of my favorite parts of this trip was about to happen.

There was a family in front of us with a dad and 3 kids. We were sitting there for a while and the kids started talking to us about Disney World (of course). The younger girl, who was maybe 12 asked me how many times I've been to the World so I told her it was my 4th trip, but my very first trip wasn't until I was 30.

"Oh," she said. "I thought you were 30 now."



Since I am actually 46, I was instantly in love with this girl. "You are my favorite person I've ever met at Disney World." I told her. And she totally is.

Yeah. So we were on the ride. Not moving. And then we started going very slowly. No one was really sure if we were actually moving or the waves were just moving us naturally. Through the whole ride we moved very very slowly. With the lights on. It was beyond frustrating. That song was making me crazy.

I took a lot of pictures. These are probably my favorites.

Notice how the boats are touching. Do they always do that?

Hannah started texting me asking what was going on. She had been waiting for us for a long time. I let her know we were kind of stuck and she walked over to the ride to wait for us. She texted me through the rest of the ride, too, giving me updates from up front as they closed down the line and emptied the queue.

"They have launched a rescue.” was the best one. But it wasn't till later.

After an unbearably long time, we made it to the Adios room and could see the dock. And then the boats stopped. Seriously, so close you could taste it, but not close enough.

We were there for a long time. The music never stopped playing and the lights never came on. Guests were getting crazy. A couple people kept standing up and trying to climb off after a while, but then CMs would come and yell at them about it not being safe and not wanting them to get hurt. Personally I thought if they didn't want us to get hurt they would turn off the music so we did't lose our minds.

It got kind of ugly. I think the music in that last room is louder than the rest of the room. It was hard to hear what was going on, even though what was going on was just being told the ride would start again momentarily. There was an infant screaming in the boat behind us and nobody could blame it.

Eventually some guys in regular clothes came around to help us out. They were out front in the queueing area. There was a kind of mean CM standing in the Adios room yelling some stuff at people, and she couldn't see the rescue guys telling us to climb forward through the boats. So she started yelling a Lot. She wanted us to sit down and shut up without realizing the rescuers were giving us different directions. I tried to tell her but it was too loud to hear in that room and I was more concerned with getting Out.

We were in the mobility issue boat, so it took extra long to help everyone out. Danny did a great job of climbing out. The rescuers were kind of nervous about letting him climb across the water by himself, but he and I both knew he could do it so I just grabbed his arm and let him pull himself over.

We were the very last ones out of the ride.

Oh man, that sucked. I hate feeling trapped and man were we trapped.
Whew!

So that was the bad part. Not so bad really, but I don't think I'll be getting on that cruise again for quite some time, thanks.

Up Next: Time for a breather!

 

[gracer9977]

Wow!!! Getting stuck in IASW would be enough to drive anyone insane. I like the ride (once and at normal speed). I too feel that it wouldn't really be a Disney Trip if I didn't ride it at least the one time. Plus my kids love it. In fact my favorite picture from the last time we were there is of my son (3 years old at the time) on the ride for the first time. His eyes are so wide and his mouth is hanging open. He was just in awe of everything he was seeing. I just love that picture. So totally illustrates why I love Disney so much. Just the magic of it all!!!

That last room the music is louder than the rest of the rooms. So I can totally imagine the screaming to be heard over it all. Glad you made it out!!!

 

[nowellsl]

I loved your Small World story Didn't someone in a wheelchair just get a settlement for being stuck in Small World? It may have been Disneyland. That's just extreme torture!

 

[dawnmichele]

Wow!!! Getting stuck in IASW would be enough to drive anyone insane.

That last room the music is louder than the rest of the rooms. So I can totally imagine the screaming to be heard over it all. Glad you made it out!!!

It was freaky! And surreal.
The music certainly seemed louder. Glad to know it wasn't just my imagination!

I loved your Small World story Didn't someone in a wheelchair just get a settlement for being stuck in Small World? It may have been Disneyland. That's just extreme torture!

Thanks. It did seem like the kind of thing you might do to get the truth out of someone. Not quite as bad as waterboarding, but if you had to stay in that room for very long...

I hadn't heard anything about a settlement, but if it did happen, I'm sure they deserved whatever reward they got!

 

[nowellsl]

Here ya go...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/27/its-a-small-world-breakdown_n_2964187.html

 

[dawnmichele]

Here ya go...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/27/its-a-small-world-breakdown_n_2964187.html

Wow. That's very interesting! Thanks so much for the link.

Too bad Danny doesn't have panic attacks (although he does have high blood pressure)! Just kidding, people. But 8k could make up for a lot of suffering -- and fund a couple more trips to Disney World.

"...stranding him for a half hour while the theme song played continuously."

Just like we felt, it was really the non-stop song that turned it into a bit of a nightmare. And as I said to the Disney CM we talked to later, they've got to know that song is a crazy maker. If you work at IaSW, the very first thing they should teach you is to Turn The Music Off when people get stuck. Hopefully they do now.

 

[nowellsl]

Too bad Danny doesn't have panic attacks (although he does have high blood pressure)

 

[sue_88]

Hi neighbor!!
I am really close to you. I'm in Gardner, formerly Olathe!

I loved your best moment / favorite person story. That is really cute. And, you did get some nice Small World photos.
My husband actully DOES have panic attacks. He would not be able to walk at Disney either but he has yet to agree to a Disney trip anyway. I have family in Florida so I just go to the parks with them when I visit.
I loved your interaction with Gaston! It is extra fun when they really get into and enjoy their character.
I'm looking forward to reading more about your trip!

 

[gobln]

Thanks so much for the AWESOME thread! I came across it today and couldn't stop reading through it!LOL! Totally appreciate your dedication and commitment to it.
We were last at DisneyWorld in August 2010. It was our little girls first time there (shse was 6). We had a blast and she loved it. Mine, my wifes AND my daughters birthdays fall in August, so we were having a group celebration thing!
This year-We're doing it again. In august, for 9 days. Can't wait! Exactly one month from today! WOOT!

I had to chuckle a little bit when I read that your daughter is "studying animation and loves video games" .
I was an animator for both feature films and tv for about 12 years before leaving california in 2002 to work in video games!!
Had the fun opportunity to work on a disney game called "Epic Mickey" (the first one). LOL!

Anyway! give my best to your daughter, and good luck to her in her studies! It's a fun (yet challenging) field to get into!

All the best and keep those posts coming!

 

[dawnmichele]

Hi neighbor!!
I am really close to you. I'm in Gardner, formerly Olathe!

I loved your best moment / favorite person story. That is really cute. And, you did get some nice Small World photos.

I loved your interaction with Gaston! It is extra fun when they really get into and enjoy their character.

Well howdy, neighbor! I've been to Gardner plenty of times !

Thanks so much about the photos.
Gaston was so great - certainly one of the trip's hilights for me!

Thanks so much for the AWESOME thread! I came across it today and couldn't stop reading through it!LOL! Totally appreciate your dedication and commitment to it.
We were last at DisneyWorld in August 2010. It was our little girls first time there (shse was 6). We had a blast and she loved it. Mine, my wifes AND my daughters birthdays fall in August, so we were having a group celebration thing!
This year-We're doing it again. In august, for 9 days. Can't wait! Exactly one month from today! WOOT!

I had to chuckle a little bit when I read that your daughter is "studying animation and loves video games" .
I was an animator for both feature films and tv for about 12 years before leaving california in 2002 to work in video games!!
Had the fun opportunity to work on a disney game called "Epic Mickey" (the first one). LOL!

Anyway! give my best to your daughter, and good luck to her in her studies! It's a fun (yet challenging) field to get into!

All the best and keep those posts coming!

Wow! Thanks so much for the compliment! I'm glad you're enjoying it.
I passed on your message to my daughter, and she was super impressed (of course we played Epic Mickey)!
I hope you'll continue to enjoy!

 

[dawnmichele]

Wow. I can not even believe how long ago my last update was. There is no excuse for that. Except maybe if I had been abducted by aliens. Yeah. That's the ticket! I was totally abducted by aliens. For a long time.

But now I'm back. My memory has been restored and I am so committed to getting this story told! Consistent updates from now until it's done. It's a long story, and I need to be done before my next Disney trip (which starts Nov 29th! PTR started here).

As I'm sure you remember, we left off being rescued from a nightmare cruise through a small world. Later I wished I would have thought to take more pictures of the rescue and the behind the scenes, but all I got was this of Danny being helped out:

After that mess, the next hour or so was kind of fuzzy. We tried to find a place out of the crowd to talk, but there crowds were everywhere. We paused around Tiana’s meeting place to agree to just keep walking till we found empty space. Which ended up being the dining area of Tortuga Tavern. We all shared our side of the experience, and Danny decided he wanted to talk to someone from Guest Relations. He wasn't mad, but he was kind of upset about only being communicated with through the yelling CM, the fact that no one acknowledged or apologized and the fact that they wouldn’t turn the music off.

A guy named Mike came over to listen to what Danny had to say. He told us that wasn’t the way it was supposed to be handled and apologized. He asked what he could do to make it better and we were all like - shrug. That’s how I always feel when some place messes up and asks that question. I don’t really know. Not mess up in the first place? Don’t ever do that to anyone again? I asked what they normally do in those situations and he offered me the anytime fast pass. We said ok, thanks but I laughed and added I wasn’t sure I’d be riding anything else that night. He pointed out there were still several hours till the park closed and that he hoped I’d change my mind. He was pretty nice, I guess. There’s not really anything you can do to undo that experience, but it was nice to hear someone say they were wrong and they were sorry. Sorry is a little word, but it can somehow make things just seem better.

After I’d had enough deep breathing, we took off again around the circle. Just as we were heading into Frontierland, we stumbled across the end of the Main Street Electrical Parade. It was great timing, as it turns out. It helped us all refocus and remember we were meant to be having fun. And taking pictures is always a great distraction for me.

After the parade passed us by, we grabbed some treats from the carts and headed for “our spot”. I didn't think to snap a shot of my snack till it was almost gone.

We were still talking about the ride fiasco, and Hannah took a picture to sum up how I felt while we were stuck on the boat.

While we were eating, Wishes started. D and H watched from the “spot”, but I wanted to take more photos so I walked around and watched from across the lake. It wasn’t an ideal place for watching, but it wasn’t bad either.

After a parade, a snack and fireworks, we were all feeling better and decided to hop aboard Big Thunder Mountain. It was starting to rain a bit but we weren’t going to let that stop us. We rode once, and decided to go one more time.

That second time around, the Fireworks were going off. Talk about magic. We ended up cresting the hills and zooming through the turns just as they were exploding everywhere. It was incredible. Hannah brought it up again at dinner just the other night. Best ride. ever.

On our way out, we ran into MSEP again. The rain was getting a little more serious, so we stood under the covered walkway by the Hall of Presidents and watched one more time.

It was raining for real by the end of the parade. We were all worn out, and I was worried about my precious camera, so we called it a night and headed out of the park and back to our room for the night.

Up next: A beautiful new day.

 

[nowellsl]

Beautiful pictures!

 

[dawnmichele]

Beautiful pictures!

Thank you! As you can probably guess, taking pictures is one of my favorite things to do - at Disney World and everywhere.

 

[dawnmichele]

Since we had made it to rope drop the first two mornings of our trip, and since we’d had a kind of rough night the night before, we unanimously decided to have a bit of a sleep in on the forth day of our trip. We didn’t have to be anywhere until our 11:30 lunch ADR, so I decided to live on the wild side and not even ask Mickey to call us in the am.

But we’re talking Disney sleep in, not at home sleep in. I don’t remember what time we woke up, but we were all bright, shiny and on the bus minutes after 10am!

We were headed for Epcot!
Once we got there, of course we stopped for some photos in front of our favorite giant golf ball.

This is one of my favorite pictures of us. It’s the cover of the giant photo book I made of this vacation.

We checked the big board and were thrilled the return time for Soarin’ FPs would time be perfect for an after lunch relaxing glide over the beauty of California.

We took our time and walked the long way to our lunch location (are you curious yet?).

I had one important stop to make first, however - I needed a frozen mango margarita! I had been dreaming of those things since my last one in 2010 and I thought I had waited long enough. Real life rules are invalid during a Disney vacation, so I didn’t even care that it was well before noon at that point. If Disney thought it was time to sell them, then I thought it was time to drink one.

We found the margarita stand and they were seriously just opening up. I even had to wait a couple minutes. Hannah told Danny we’d meet up with him and he took off to explore inside the pyramid. In a couple minutes I had my much anticipated frozen adult beverage and we headed in to look around.

[Side note: We love the world showcase version of a Mayan pyramid, but since we'd visited actual Mayan pyramids in Chichen Itza together, we did all stand there (well Danny sat there since he was on a scooter) and think it looked nothing like the real thing. The real thing is ancient though so it's not so much of a fair comparison, but I did like that it made us all remember another fantastic trip we took together.]

So, I had my drink and imagine my disappointment when it tasted like yuck. It just tasted like -- nothing. Definitely nothing fruity or tropical or mangoish. I was sad . H convinced me to take it back, pointing out I’d been waiting all that time and I should have a beverage I enjoyed. So I took it back to the cart lady and apologized, but said that I thought it did not taste right. She was nice and asked if I wanted to try a different flavor. I didn’t really, but realized since they’re all in the same big machine, just getting a fresh mango margarita wouldn’t really make a difference. I picked Strawberry, thanked the lady and headed back inside.

It wasn’t nearly as tasty as the mango was meant to be, but I was at Disney World drinking a fruity margarita before noon, so no one was mad.

Danny was riding the Gran Fiesta Tour so Hannah texted him about where we were waiting…

I have to say here, I used to love that ride when it was a quiet, beautiful tour through the glorious history of Mexico. But the current incarnation with the loud and obnoxious ducks is really not for me. I think Danny was a little disappointed, too. It used to be a great after dinner ride. We miss it.

Lunch, as you’ve probably guessed, was at San Angel Inn. It’s a favorite for all of us and we were so excited to enjoy it’s yumminess, we were a little early to our reservation. They didn’t mind though, and sent us right to our table - along the railing front and center of the pyramid! Excellent seating luck. We loved it.

We made our choices and watched the boats go by.

I remember nothing about our Sergio S, which I think means he wasn’t remarkably good or bad.

We devoured the chips but didn’t really love the salsa. We never do. It’s not bad, just not our favorite.

Ok, now I know it was still before noon, and I had just slurped down a frosty strawberry margarita - but it was vacation and I thought I really needed another, tastier margarita. I was still a little heartbroken that the mango one that morning was so lame, but there was a drink on the menu that looked like just the ticket. It was even mango-y!

Here’s how they described it (copied from the allears.net website): Wild Passion Fruit Margarita - El Mayor Premium Silver Tequila, ginger liqueur, passion fruit, mango nectar, fresh lemon juice, topped with mango foam, served on the rocks $12.50

It was pricey, but it was Amazing! Oh my goodness you guys, it was so delicious I could have drank it all day. If I were richer. And such a lightweight drinker. So good I have to show you another picture.

I thought I didn’t like foams, but this one really took the drink up a notch. And that spicy sugar around the rim was perfect.

But we weren’t here just to drink, we were here to eat! And soon our plates were being placed in front of us.

Danny went for Tacos de Carne: Tacos de Carne - Grilled New York strip on flour tortillas, topped with chipotle pepper sauce, scallions and avocado. served with rice and beans $21.00

He loved them and cleaned his plate, however he didn’t get a sticker like at 50’s PTC.

Hannah and I both ordered what we loved so much on our 2010 trip - Polo A Las Rajas - grilled chicken breast served over red peppers, onion strips, cream sauce, and fresh cheese $19.50

That dish is just divine. Seriously, so so good. Creamy. Red pepper and oniony. The chicken was moist and flavorful, the rice is a perfect match. Just a big fat 10 out of 10 from the both of us.

It is quite safe to say this restaurant is a big hit with all 3 of us, and we will try to eat there every time we can.

Up next: Hannah heads to a park by herself.

 

[murmkc]

You have some awesome photos!

 

[gobln]

[QUOTE

"Lunch, as you’ve probably guessed, was at San Angel Inn. It’s a favorite for all of us...."

QUOTE]

That is and has always been a favorite of mine and my families. Each time we've been to Epcot, we've made that one of our dinner spots in Epcot/WS. It's just soo pretty in that place. As soon as you enter the pyramid and step down those stairs, it just hits you with the actual size of the area. The shop/gift carts, the 'town' feel. And the restaurants with the pyramid, volcano and darkened sky! It's AWESOME!
We have another reservation for it on our upcoming August trip. I hope we get as lucky as you as far as our table seating.

 

[gracer9977]

Whoo Hoo!! All caught up again.

Just love your trip report and all the totally awesome pictures. I love all the pictures you have from the Electric parade, that one of Tink is great. Looks like you were right in front of her. Pete's Dragon is my absolute favorite part of that parade from the first time I saw him when I was 7 years old at Disneyland, to the last time I saw him in 2011.

Your pictures from dinner look and sound so good that I am starving just thinking about all the excellent Disney food that I will be enjoying in 6 months.

Will be watching for your next update.

 

[gobln]

Whoo Hoo!! All caught up again.

Just love your trip report and all the totally awesome pictures. I love all the pictures you have from the Electric parade, that one of Tink is great. Looks like you were right in front of her. Pete's Dragon is my absolute favorite part of that parade from the first time I saw him when I was 7 years old at Disneyland, to the last time I saw him in 2011.

Your pictures from dinner look and sound so good that I am starving just thinking about all the excellent Disney food that I will be enjoying in 6 months.

Will be watching for your next update.

I totally agree! Pete's Dragon is my favorite part of that parade too! I love when they make him "disappear" and then RE-appear in different segments. So awesome!
I also love the very beginning where the 'robotic' announcer comes on and welcomes everyone....then the lights go out to the escalating music! Gets my heart pumpin!

In the early 90's I bought a cd at DisneyLAND, with the entire music of both the "Main Street Electrical Parade" as well as "Fantasmic" (in it's entirety) ..and have had loads of fun playing it over and over for my little girl-getting us all super pumped for the Aug trip!!
Can't come soon enough!!

 

[dawnmichele]

You have some awesome photos!

Thank you brother! I told you I was a good photographer