Everything Old Is New Again! - A Dec 2010 Trip Report : THE FINAL ENTRY page 45

[Rental01]

...About this time Dave (dvzcerfs) and his family were leaving their meal at Le Cellier. I texted him and let him know where we were. They stopped by and I got to meet his lovely wife and DD. They weren't staying for Illuminations, so we didn't have too much time to chat

Wait - he missed out on Illuminations? Was he meeting Mickey in person? Was Stitch flying him to the moon? What possible reason could he have for abandoning the BEST closing show in the whole of Disney? On our last trip I was sick (like "probably going to die" sick) such that I was trapped in our (never again) all-star room for the whole last day of our trip and I still made it out of the room to get to EPCOT for our yearly tradition of hitting Illuminations as our last memory of Disney. I'd like to see those pictures of Mickey and Stitch on the moon with his family...

...(Plus the awesome Holiday Tag)

We usually go the week before Thanksgiving and did not experience this. Do you know the days that they do that? I'd really like to experience that.

Can we pwn TR pages, because I think I just did...

 

[IamTrike]

At then end of my last entry, we were standing on the monorail platform waiting patiently for the Tronorail to pick us up. Unfortunately, it was Monorail Gold coming around the bend. My new theory - the Tronorail actually runs on a concealed track, parallel to the Epcot line. It never stops and no one actually gets to ride it. Based on all of the trip reports that I've read where people eagerly await a ride on it but it never comes, this is the only plausible explanation.

We rode it several times marathon weekend. (it was full of sunshine, puppies and all the characters from Phineas and Ferb. My memory from that weekend is a little cloudy so I might not be remembering it accurately.) All you have to do is run 13 miles and then they let you on.

I'm not sure what Madison and Kayden were looking at, but Evan was busy finding all the bathrooms.

That's pretty smart. Bathroom location is something you really want to get right.

And speaking of the Holiday Tag - wow. Very moving. I plagiarized the heck out of Wikipedia for this because it did such a good job of explaining it:

Immediately after the regular finale a female announcer announces; "And now, at this special time, as we embrace a promise of a new year, we would like to offer one final message."
The song "Let There Be Peace On Earth" is played as the Earth Barge closes. Afterward, there are messages of "Peace on Earth, good will to men" in several languages. When a language is spoken, the pavilion associated with it lights up.
When the American pavilion lights up, Walter Cronkite says, [Edited to Add: Make sure you read this part in your best Walter Cronkite voice. It really adds to the effect] "During this glorious time of year there is one message that rings out around the world in every language. Peace on earth. Good will to men is a wish to hold in our hearts throughout each passing year. A gift of immeasurable value. A treasure being handed down with care, from generation to generation. And so our holiday wish is that everyone, everywhere share in the spirit of the season. Peace on earth, good will to men."
The song continues with an uninterrupted firework display, ending with a loud explosion of fireworks.​

If you've never been to Disney World during the holidays - add it to your bucket list right now.

Wow, just reading that was moving. Bucket list updated...

After a few minutes the bus that brought us still hadn't left. We turned around and noticed they were unloading a [redacted]* woman in an ECV.
(*The proper description for this lady's demeanor throughout the loading, busing, and unloading process is not suitable to be printed on a civilized Internet. Let's keep with the Christmas spirit and say that even the Grinch would get sick of this lady and kick her out of his cave)

Bummer, I'm wondering if she just watched the same thing as you?

Up Next: Animal Kingdom and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party!

Hurray there's more

The worst part is that it's basically a big tease. They take you almost halfway into the park, then all the way back to the parking lot where you have to get off and walk for 10 minutes before you're back to where you just were. But I forgive them, because it's Disney.

Yeah but its also more monorail time, and monorails are cool.

We've also stood on the bridge between England and France. That's a pretty nice spot too.

This spot rocks. Seconded

No one complained about it. They were all exhausted and ready for bed anyway.

Too tired for cookies, is really tired.

 

[mom3sonstt]

As an ECV user I know (and apologize) for how long loading and unloading it takes.....which is why I have been staying at the epcot resorts recently so I have fewer buses to deal with. But as to the grinch lady....she had a scooter for heavens sake, she should have been the one "walking" back to the treehouse. We stayed there on my 2nd ECV trip. We had one of the closest tree houses to the walking path, we walked to the bus stop (not the treehouse one) whenever we went anywhere. I'm not sure what the name of it was, but I remember going past a quiet pool with a bar b q area, around a parking lot and over to the bus stop. It wasn't a long walk...and was probably quicker than waiting for 2 buses.

As to the rest of your report, love your illuminations daddy-time picture.. Also think it's cute watching all the kids plotting their escape routes on the maps.

 

[amyrella]

NM I didn't want to start a dis argument!


Great update!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Illuminations is definitely my favorite Disney fireworks spectacular (seemed like an appropriate title). I love holiday Illuminations too, that ending is so peaceful (well, up until I'm totally woken up for the trip back to the resort by those final fireworks!).

 

[Poolrat]

tronorail - yup I have been on it.

Holiday tag- Most awesome - can't wait to see it again.

Cold ground at Illuminations

Blanket under bottom -


Lady at bus stop- really?!?!?!?

Good thing you had found that path earlier in the trip- I had a hard time finding it the first time so I can only imagine trying to find it in the dark .

 

[KatMark]

Another great update, Barry. I'm not a big Illuminations fan (it falls way below Wishes and Fantasmic in my personal book), but that photo of you and the kids is absolutely worth it--very cool!

 

[E3yore]

I'm not sure what Madison and Kayden were looking at, but Evan was busy finding all the bathrooms.

Now every time he looks at a map he asks where the bathrooms are.

My memory is a bit foggy here and we don't have any photographic evidence, but we may or may not have done another ride on Test Track here. If we did, it was really, really fun.

We did not ride Test track again.

I know what we did do, however, and that was head over to World Showcase for Illuminations. We found a great spot just in front of one of those stores right at the entrance to WS. It wasn't crowded yet, so we were able to stake out some prime real estate right at the guard rail.

All would have been well except that guy that decided to squeeze between you, the kids and the fence.

About this time Dave (dvzcerfs) and his family were leaving their meal at Le Cellier. I texted him and let him know where we were. They stopped by and I got to meet his lovely wife and DD. They weren't staying for Illuminations, so we didn't have too much time to chat. Pictures or it didn't happen! Drat, I guess this didn't actually happen either.

Not knowing the rules does it count if someone were to verify that it occurred?

Of all of the shows and fireworks we saw during this trip, I think this was my favorite. Not for the content of the show, but because of this:

The ground was pretty cold, so I was sitting on a blanket with Madison on one leg and Evan on the other. For the entire show (Plus the awesome Holiday Tag) we just sat there, snuggled up to keep warm and watched the show.
Best. Show. Ever.

You just wanted them for the extra warmth they provided.

And speaking of the Holiday Tag - wow. Very moving. I plagiarized the heck out of Wikipedia for this because it did such a good job of explaining it:

Immediately after the regular finale a female announcer announces; "And now, at this special time, as we embrace a promise of a new year, we would like to offer one final message."
The song "Let There Be Peace On Earth" is played as the Earth Barge closes. Afterward, there are messages of "Peace on Earth, good will to men" in several languages. When a language is spoken, the pavilion associated with it lights up.
When the American pavilion lights up, Walter Cronkite says, [Edited to Add: Make sure you read this part in your best Walter Cronkite voice. It really adds to the effect] "During this glorious time of year there is one message that rings out around the world in every language. Peace on earth. Good will to men is a wish to hold in our hearts throughout each passing year. A gift of immeasurable value. A treasure being handed down with care, from generation to generation. And so our holiday wish is that everyone, everywhere share in the spirit of the season. Peace on earth, good will to men."
The song continues with an uninterrupted firework display, ending with a loud explosion of fireworks.​

This was the first time I enjoyed Illuminations.

If you've never been to Disney World during the holidays - add it to your bucket list right now.

Dose this mean we can't do it again? I was hoping we could just add it to the reoccurring list.

As wonderful and joyous as Illuminations made us, the bus stop took it all away. First off, the Saratoga Springs stop is almost the farthest one away, and by the time we get there, it holding pen is almost full. We watch busses come and go for other resorts - some multiple times - before our bus arrives. First they load the people in wheel chairs and ECVs, which of course takes forever. I'm not putting down the people in those vehicles, but it take soooo long to load them. The bus gets packed to the gills and drives off. I lost track of how long it took the next bus to arrive, but I probably could have timed it with a sundial. And it was dark out.

The problem was the lack of buses running from Epcot to Saratoga Springs. There were easily 4 buses for the other resorts for 1 Saratoga Springs bus. This was a week that Saratoga was at or near capacity so the wait was extremely long. The kid puking behind us did not help the wait either. Although, the guy with the really nice mullet was entertaining.

You ever have one of those feelings where you know - just know - what is going to happen? Well, we knew that as soon as she rolled off the ramp, drove 3 feet and lit up a cigarette that this woman was waiting for the Treehouse Villas bus as well. It took us about 1.7 seconds to come to the conclusion that taking the 1/2 mile hike (I Google Mapped it) at 10:50 pm (time stamp of that picture) in 35° weather (I looked it up - it was a record low for that day in Orlando) was the far better alternative to waiting around with this woman.

To be fair this woman was likely not a pleasant one to be around anytime of day with her smoking and language.

And you know what? The kids did great. Absolutely fantastic. We told them that it would be cold, it would be tiring, and it would be a pretty long walk, be we were all going to do it together. Not once did someone whine, complain, or beg to be carried. When we got to the villa, I told them how proud we were of them and that they all earned a cookie. That they could eat tomorrow. Now get to bed.

The kids really did a good job with the walk. They really did a good job the whole trip. We have really great kids. Kaylene, if you are still reading this do you want to go again?

Up Next: Animal Kingdom and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party!

During the planning stages this was referred to as Disney Overload.

Molly, I give you permission to come up with a very sever consequence for this very bad behavior.

Barry, I'd grab a cup if I were you!

I meant severe (although it could have been a slip I was talking on the phone with someone at work when I typed this.)

 

[E3yore]

NM I didn't want to start a dis argument!


Great update!

Yeah, I wanted to respond to a few things on here but knew it would end in an argument. Barry, heard from me though.

 

[FreezinRafiki]

great update barry. i remember when i could sit on the cold ground like that and get away with it. i think this was the night we had met up at epcot. i remember it was coooooled. the tronorail was just a film that was over the monorail that when it hit the station, turned back into one of the reg. momorails.ive never talked to anyone who was on that thing.

It's getting harder and harder to have enough lap space for them both. (I'll blame it on them getting bigger, not my lap area getting smaller)

Wait - he missed out on Illuminations? Was he meeting Mickey in person? Was Stitch flying him to the moon? What possible reason could he have for abandoning the BEST closing show in the whole of Disney? On our last trip I was sick (like "probably going to die" sick) such that I was trapped in our (never again) all-star room for the whole last day of our trip and I still made it out of the room to get to EPCOT for our yearly tradition of hitting Illuminations as our last memory of Disney. I'd like to see those pictures of Mickey and Stitch on the moon with his family...

I'll give him a pass on this one. His DW was sick and it showed. With the weather the way it was (in the 30s at show time) it was probably better that he get her back to the room. Besides, have you seen his signature? He's got a few opportunities to see it again coming up pretty soon.
I like the idea of a "last night" ritual. We haven't settled on one yet - we just go wherever the mouse takes us.

We usually go the week before Thanksgiving and did not experience this. Do you know the days that they do that? I'd really like to experience that.

I don't know when they start. I would assume right around the time they start Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party.

Can we pwn TR pages, because I think I just did...

[/QUOTE]
Well, it's my TR, so technically I own it. But i'll give you one of those 99 year leases for $1. But you have to pay me in Canadian Pennies.

We rode it several times marathon weekend. (it was full of sunshine, puppies and all the characters from Phineas and Ferb. My memory from that weekend is a little cloudy so I might not be remembering it accurately.)

It sounds so magical!

All you have to do is run 13 miles and then they let you on.

Not that magical. You can keep it.

That's pretty smart. Bathroom location is something you really want to get right.

He's a boy! Any bush is his bathroom.

Wow, just reading that was moving. Bucket list updated...

Hurray there's more

TONS more!

Yeah but its also more monorail time, and monorails are cool.

Hard to argue with that.

Too tired for cookies, is really tired.

I may have had one, though.

 

[FreezinRafiki]

As an ECV user I know (and apologize) for how long loading and unloading it takes.....which is why I have been staying at the epcot resorts recently so I have fewer buses to deal with. But as to the grinch lady....she had a scooter for heavens sake, she should have been the one "walking" back to the treehouse. We stayed there on my 2nd ECV trip. We had one of the closest tree houses to the walking path, we walked to the bus stop (not the treehouse one) whenever we went anywhere. I'm not sure what the name of it was, but I remember going past a quiet pool with a bar b q area, around a parking lot and over to the bus stop. It wasn't a long walk...and was probably quicker than waiting for 2 buses.

As to the rest of your report, love your illuminations daddy-time picture.. Also think it's cute watching all the kids plotting their escape routes on the maps.

No need to apologize. I know they serve a valuable service for a lot of people and Disney is doing their best to accomodate those people without too much affect on others.
It would have been wonderful if we could have had one of those close Tree Houses. Ours, of course, was one the farthest away on the other end.

NM I didn't want to start a dis argument!

I didn't see your original post, but I know the use of ECVs is a very hot topic on these boards. It doesn't take much to ignite a firestorm!

Great update!

Thanks!

Illuminations is definitely my favorite Disney fireworks spectacular (seemed like an appropriate title). I love holiday Illuminations too, that ending is so peaceful (well, up until I'm totally woken up for the trip back to the resort by those final fireworks!).

I have a hard time picking my favorite. Can't I just have a 3 way time for "awesome"?

tronorail - yup I have been on it.

You seem to be in the lucky minority!

Holiday tag- Most awesome - can't wait to see it again.

Good thing you had found that path earlier in the trip- I had a hard time finding it the first time so I can only imagine trying to find it in the dark .

And of couse I can't look bad in front of my kids - wandering around randomly looking for a mythical path.

Another great update, Barry. I'm not a big Illuminations fan (it falls way below Wishes and Fantasmic in my personal book), but that photo of you and the kids is absolutely worth it--very cool!

It does get pretty slow in the middle, but as I said above - I don't mind having a 3 way tie at the top!

 

[FreezinRafiki]

Now every time he looks at a map he asks where the bathrooms are.

Yeah, only hill billies just go in the bushes.

We did not ride Test track again.

Thanks Dear!

All would have been well except that guy that decided to squeeze between you, the kids and the fence.

Oh yeah, I forgot about that guy.

Not knowing the rules does it count if someone were to verify that it occurred?

Hmmm....we'll have to bring that up in committee, but it's not looking good.

You just wanted them for the extra warmth they provided.

Well, they did insist on being covered up. Who am I to say no?

Dose this mean we can't do it again? I was hoping we could just add it to the reoccurring list.

OK, you talked me into it!

The problem was the lack of buses running from Epcot to Saratoga Springs. There were easily 4 buses for the other resorts for 1 Saratoga Springs bus. This was a week that Saratoga was at or near capacity so the wait was extremely long. The kid puking behind us did not help the wait either. Although, the guy with the really nice mullet was entertaining.

How could I forget about those 2?!? That was a Class A mullet - past shoulder length and curly!

To be fair this woman was likely not a pleasant one to be around anytime of day with her smoking and language.

During the planning stages this was referred to as Disney Overload.

Yup. 2 parks. 16 hours. Nothing but fun!

Yeah, I wanted to respond to a few things on here but knew it would end in an argument. Barry, heard from me though.

 

[middlepat]

That was a Class A mullet - past shoulder length and curly!

Was this a full on Kenny Powers?

 

[E3yore]

Was this a full on Kenny Powers?

Nope. Way better than Kenny Powers. It was mid back, curly and he had thick hair. But the top of his head was very short and straight.

 

[IamTrike]

Nope. Way better than Kenny Powers. It was mid back, curly and he had thick hair. But the top of his head was very short and straight.

Was it better than Carol Brady's mullet?

 

[FreezinRafiki]

Words really cannot do this guy's haircut justice. Since I wasn't thinking straight and didn't snap my own picture, I had to turn to Google Image Search to see if I could find something close.
These are the closest I could find:

But our guy at Epcot outshines both of these guys. His "business in the front" was much more business-like. It was cut shorter and pretty straight. And his "party in the back" would be one of those epic parties that even the cops that had to break it up would be talking about 10 years down the road. It was longer, curlier, and fuller.

 

[chloe770]

Words really cannot do this guy's haircut justice. Since I wasn't thinking straight and didn't snap my own picture, I had to turn to Google Image Search to see if I could find something close.
These are the closest I could find:

But our guy at Epcot outshines both of these guys. His "business in the front" was much more business-like. It was cut shorter and pretty straight. And his "party in the back" would be one of those epic parties that even the cops that had to break it up would be talking about 10 years down the road. It was longer, curlier, and fuller.

I don't know weather to or be That is definitely an interesting choice of hair style.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Sounds like you rode the bus with Michael Bolton.

 

[afwdwfan]

And his "party in the back" would be one of those epic parties that even the cops that had to break it up would be talking about 10 years down the road. It was longer, curlier, and fuller.

I've never heard it put that way before!

Sounds like you rode the bus with Michael Bolton.

Michael Bolton??? Really??? I'm thinking more along the lines of Billy Ray Cyrus from the Achy Breaky Heart days.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Michael Bolton??? Really??? I'm thinking more along the lines of Billy Ray Cyrus from the Achy Breaky Heart days.

I stand corrected. Michael Bolton is more "nothing in the front, party in the back".