JenniBarra
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2002
- Messages
- 415
Friday, February 8
This morning, we are up earlier than we've been any other day this week. Very tired, I am feeling particularly sorry for agreeing to the time share presentation! Still, we make it there.
Okay, I suppose these are things they do to put people in an "up" mood, but I find that the loud music simply serves to get on my nerves. (As if I wasn't feeling cranky enough due to being tired!) We're soon ushered into the room with the breakfast spread. I really believed that we would have breakfast and then be taken off to some quieter location. Instead, we get the spiel in this loud, noisy room. I try to act interested (though, truly, I am not since we're only doing this for the perks), but I start to lag while Keith is still asking a bazillion questions. (I ask him later if he was *really* that interested and he said that he never understood how time shares work and now he did. He also felt that it was good to attend because it would give us something to compare Disney Vacation Club to, should that be something we decide to further research.)
As I'm beginning to see this stretch past 90 minutes, I try to lean into Keith and make subtle motions hinting to wrap this up, but he doesn't get the hint! Eventually, I get brave and up and say to the rep, I've seen too many problems with this program that don't fit with how I like to vacation, so, sorry, it really isn't going to work. I suppose this caught the guy off guard, but then he agrees to do what he needs to do to legally finish up the presentation, such as actually show us a unit. (I will be honest in saying that the units looked nice inside, but, if I were really interested in a time share, the outside atmosphere of the place just wasn't me.) Then we come back and he signs off and brings in "the closer." He tries to put a little last push, but that doesn't work...and then they bring in a closer for the closer! We hold firm. *Finally* they give us a form to redeem for our gifts. Even after we get our $50 Disney dollars, mini-vacation, etc., we're told we have to talk to yet another person...who tries to get us to come to a presentation for *another* time share resort. : P At this point, our patience is wearing really thin, and we explain that this is our last full vacation day, good day!
Keith thinks it was worth it from the knowledge he gained. Me, I think I would rather just have had the extra sleep! (And now I'm feeling rather "unmagical.")
We decide to make a brief stop at Disney-MGM, as Keith still hadn't been on the Rock 'n Roller Coaster. He took a while, though, to get to this decision as he initially was displeased that I was not interested in it at all. (I know that it is electromagnetically propelled, just like California Screamin', and that's a ride that's probably more scary than fun for me and makes me kind of queasy!) I kept explaining that just because I didn't want to go didn't mean he didn't have to ride. Finally, he agreed to my "his and hers" ride plan. I took off for a solo visit to The Great Movie Ride and he did the coaster.
As for my journey, I was seated with a man and his small daughter on one side and a couple on my other side. I felt so badly for the little girl! She started out on the seat with dad, but ended up in his lap after all of the gunplay, mummies, and aliens! I suppose there's not enough room for it, but I find myself thinking maybe a similar attraction would be a nice addition for the Hollywood Pictures Backlot at DCA. A lot of people think the park needs more dark rides and we could "borrow" it, but then maybe have an entirely different set of scenes inside...
Afterward, I meet up with Keith. He looks at me, smiles, and says, "Jen, you would have...HATED it!" He tells me about how you start off right into a loop, which, yes, would have finished me off right there. ; ) He tells me that he found the ride to be rather short and while he liked the idea of it being a coaster in the dark, I don't think California Screamin' has been displaced as his favorite coaster.
At this point, we talk about lunch plans. Keith really has the idea in his head that, even though the monorail is more utilitarian at Disney World, he still wants to ride it. He suggests that we eat at a hotel on the monorail line, which will enable us to use our AP lunch discount, and he figures after all the blah meals of yesterday (McDonald's for lunch and the bad Cantina San Angel experience) and this morning's freebie breakfast (pancakes that refused to be cut!), we're entitled to a nice meal. We inquire at guest services about our options for quiet lunch spots and decide upon the Kona Cafe at the Polynesian.
So we head for the bus to Epcot, so that we can take the monorail from there. We walk all the way over...to find that the monorail is down. We find out too little too late that guest services *was* informed of this, but the CM we spoke with must have gotten word of this *after* we'd spoken with him. So now we need to ask what bus goes to the Poly and we're back off again.
Eventually, we're finally at the Poly. I'm thinking we'll have to come back on a future trip, when the fountain is running downstairs in the Great Ceremonial House. He, on the other hand, seems more amused by all of the naked tiki gods with their backsides facing us in the lounge!
At the restaurant, before we are seated, the hostess takes us by the dessert display. Not only do the desserts look scrumptious, there's two very cool carvings (one out of milk chocolate and one out of white chocolate) on either side of the display. Needless to say, we haven't even ordered yet, but we do know that dessert is a definite! ; )
We both end up having the blackened mahi mahi "burgers." Yum! Dessert was also wonderful.
After lunch, I decide that, for a change of pace, we should take the ferry over to Magic Kingdom. This was a completely different experience for Keith, as, on our last trip, we only took buses and the smaller boats. (I'm thankful the weather is so nice - not humid - because one of the ickier memories I have of my very first WDW trip was having taken a nice cool shower in the afternoon, only to be crammed on the ferry with so many other warm bodies. I don't remember it 100%, but I think we must have taken a rental to the TTC every day - we were staying off-property - and my mother was burnt out on monorails for some time afterward and she usually loves to ride it at DL.) We have a great view coming in.
Once we're back on land and headed toward the gates, we pass by Melissa and family. We shout a quick hello, but don't have time to really chat as her husband says they're trying to make it to Cirque.
Today, my plan is to catch mostly shows, which works out well as I can tell that the park is much more crowded today, with it being Friday. My first stop, though, is FastPass for Winnie the Pooh. From there, we go to catch Legend of the Lion King, something I definitely did not want to miss with it closing down permanently later in the month. The puppets are quite neat! Next, it's off to the Tiki Room. While there's no tiki garden, the bird agents are cute. As for the show itself, I'm *still* trying to figure out what I think of it. I miss the enchanted fountain, though I suppose the maintenance of the attraction is easier without. I also wonder, ironically, if this show will date *faster* than the original, due to having a more contemporary selection of songs (while the original seems more timeless, IMO). My husband noticed that it was shorter - and not that he said it out loud, I think he missed how the original soothes him into a nap! (He also tends to sleep on IASW. I've learned to live with this because, if he's asleep, he can't complain about how much he dislikes it! <g>)
Next, we hit Buzz Lightyear again. As on Monday, a lot of the inside queue isn't even being utilized all that much, so most of the line is outside...where we hear the same TTA narration overhead, quite literally, about once a minute! Eventually, though, we're standing in the inside line, where we see Mark, the nice CM who was working Space Mountain on Monday. Keith thanks him again for the FastPasses that day and Mark asks if we know about the hidden Mickey in the queue area. Shortly afterward, we're seated.
Once moving, we get to the "room" after the Peoplemover effect and end up stopped. This was actually a neat experience because, when the ride stopped, I saw these poles and chains automatically pop up at both edges of the ramp. I suppose this is automatic safety feature for the CMs, so that they don't accidentally step off the edge when walking the belt. The lasers also went off, blacking out the scores. We watched CMs come by twice and someone made an announcement over the PA, but we just couldn't make it out. Eventually, the lasers are turned on (the previous scores were unfortunately lost) and we're still not moving, so, in the meantime, everyone is racking up the points while we wait to move again. ; ) Not long after, we're moving again and it ends up that someone had dropped a camera bag and a sensor noticed it, prompting the automatic shutdown.
Keith now wants to catch TTA again. For whatever reason, on this particular trip, I really notice just how close we are to the cars and track in Space Mountain. I knew that we went past the launch area, but the rest of the time you're in the mountain, it's so dark I thought maybe there was a glass panel that later separates TTA from the coaster and that the coaster is some distance away, but that's not the case at all!
At this point, we decide that maybe we should go ahead and stake out a spot for SpectroMagic. We find a nice spot at the hub, complete with hitching post so I can lean against it while sitting on the curb. Our entertainment is watching the CMs bounce large rubber balls with younger guests. (Some are delighted, but the youngest ones, in strollers, sometimes look bewildered!) As it gets darker, the castle lights up and alternates colors. Keith photographs this and also decides to get a picture of me "and my couple hundred friends" that have also joined us in waiting for the parade. ; ) (I'm still amazed that this is "off season" and there's *so* many bodies!)
The parade is very neat and, while it has more advanced technical effects than Main Street Electrical parade, I will always have a soft spot reserved for MSEP, as it's what I grew up with. (BTW, who are those little creatures with the pink and blue faces and mop top hair?) It's also interesting to compare what I saw in the broad daylight to what I was seeing then. (As you can imagine, SpectroMagic doesn't look nearly as glamorous when not lit up, but I did enjoy seeing the real "guts" of it on Monday's tour.)
After the parade, we have just enough time to catch the late end of our FastPass window for Pooh. It ends up the standby line is quite shorter now, but we still take advantage of walking right on.
As we're considering heading out of the park, we see that people are milling about for the fireworks, so we figure we'll go ahead and catch those since they're in about five minutes anyway. While waiting, we have a nice conversation with a family from England. This time, when watching the fireworks, I notice the "ghosts" that fly across the castle during "Grim Grinnin' Ghosts." (Are there other effects like used in the show as well?)
As we leave the park, Keith spins me around once we cross under the berm. All of the sudden, I feel like when I'm on the last day of a Disneyland trip and mist over. Keith responds to this by walking me over to the Mickey floral, pulling out his AP, waving it in the air, telling me to do the same, and instructing me to tell Mickey that this isn't "good-bye," it's a "see you later!"
Having told myself that I *will* be back, and much sooner than in the past, we decide which way we want to go to get back to the hotel. It ends up that the monorail is now running, so we decide to take the trip to the TTC. At the TTC, not too many people are going to Epcot, so we ask if we can ride in the front cab and we're able to pop right on when the next monorail arrives. Yes, this loop definitely has the best view. : )
This morning, we are up earlier than we've been any other day this week. Very tired, I am feeling particularly sorry for agreeing to the time share presentation! Still, we make it there.
Okay, I suppose these are things they do to put people in an "up" mood, but I find that the loud music simply serves to get on my nerves. (As if I wasn't feeling cranky enough due to being tired!) We're soon ushered into the room with the breakfast spread. I really believed that we would have breakfast and then be taken off to some quieter location. Instead, we get the spiel in this loud, noisy room. I try to act interested (though, truly, I am not since we're only doing this for the perks), but I start to lag while Keith is still asking a bazillion questions. (I ask him later if he was *really* that interested and he said that he never understood how time shares work and now he did. He also felt that it was good to attend because it would give us something to compare Disney Vacation Club to, should that be something we decide to further research.)
As I'm beginning to see this stretch past 90 minutes, I try to lean into Keith and make subtle motions hinting to wrap this up, but he doesn't get the hint! Eventually, I get brave and up and say to the rep, I've seen too many problems with this program that don't fit with how I like to vacation, so, sorry, it really isn't going to work. I suppose this caught the guy off guard, but then he agrees to do what he needs to do to legally finish up the presentation, such as actually show us a unit. (I will be honest in saying that the units looked nice inside, but, if I were really interested in a time share, the outside atmosphere of the place just wasn't me.) Then we come back and he signs off and brings in "the closer." He tries to put a little last push, but that doesn't work...and then they bring in a closer for the closer! We hold firm. *Finally* they give us a form to redeem for our gifts. Even after we get our $50 Disney dollars, mini-vacation, etc., we're told we have to talk to yet another person...who tries to get us to come to a presentation for *another* time share resort. : P At this point, our patience is wearing really thin, and we explain that this is our last full vacation day, good day!
Keith thinks it was worth it from the knowledge he gained. Me, I think I would rather just have had the extra sleep! (And now I'm feeling rather "unmagical.")
We decide to make a brief stop at Disney-MGM, as Keith still hadn't been on the Rock 'n Roller Coaster. He took a while, though, to get to this decision as he initially was displeased that I was not interested in it at all. (I know that it is electromagnetically propelled, just like California Screamin', and that's a ride that's probably more scary than fun for me and makes me kind of queasy!) I kept explaining that just because I didn't want to go didn't mean he didn't have to ride. Finally, he agreed to my "his and hers" ride plan. I took off for a solo visit to The Great Movie Ride and he did the coaster.
As for my journey, I was seated with a man and his small daughter on one side and a couple on my other side. I felt so badly for the little girl! She started out on the seat with dad, but ended up in his lap after all of the gunplay, mummies, and aliens! I suppose there's not enough room for it, but I find myself thinking maybe a similar attraction would be a nice addition for the Hollywood Pictures Backlot at DCA. A lot of people think the park needs more dark rides and we could "borrow" it, but then maybe have an entirely different set of scenes inside...
Afterward, I meet up with Keith. He looks at me, smiles, and says, "Jen, you would have...HATED it!" He tells me about how you start off right into a loop, which, yes, would have finished me off right there. ; ) He tells me that he found the ride to be rather short and while he liked the idea of it being a coaster in the dark, I don't think California Screamin' has been displaced as his favorite coaster.
At this point, we talk about lunch plans. Keith really has the idea in his head that, even though the monorail is more utilitarian at Disney World, he still wants to ride it. He suggests that we eat at a hotel on the monorail line, which will enable us to use our AP lunch discount, and he figures after all the blah meals of yesterday (McDonald's for lunch and the bad Cantina San Angel experience) and this morning's freebie breakfast (pancakes that refused to be cut!), we're entitled to a nice meal. We inquire at guest services about our options for quiet lunch spots and decide upon the Kona Cafe at the Polynesian.
So we head for the bus to Epcot, so that we can take the monorail from there. We walk all the way over...to find that the monorail is down. We find out too little too late that guest services *was* informed of this, but the CM we spoke with must have gotten word of this *after* we'd spoken with him. So now we need to ask what bus goes to the Poly and we're back off again.
Eventually, we're finally at the Poly. I'm thinking we'll have to come back on a future trip, when the fountain is running downstairs in the Great Ceremonial House. He, on the other hand, seems more amused by all of the naked tiki gods with their backsides facing us in the lounge!
At the restaurant, before we are seated, the hostess takes us by the dessert display. Not only do the desserts look scrumptious, there's two very cool carvings (one out of milk chocolate and one out of white chocolate) on either side of the display. Needless to say, we haven't even ordered yet, but we do know that dessert is a definite! ; )
We both end up having the blackened mahi mahi "burgers." Yum! Dessert was also wonderful.
After lunch, I decide that, for a change of pace, we should take the ferry over to Magic Kingdom. This was a completely different experience for Keith, as, on our last trip, we only took buses and the smaller boats. (I'm thankful the weather is so nice - not humid - because one of the ickier memories I have of my very first WDW trip was having taken a nice cool shower in the afternoon, only to be crammed on the ferry with so many other warm bodies. I don't remember it 100%, but I think we must have taken a rental to the TTC every day - we were staying off-property - and my mother was burnt out on monorails for some time afterward and she usually loves to ride it at DL.) We have a great view coming in.
Once we're back on land and headed toward the gates, we pass by Melissa and family. We shout a quick hello, but don't have time to really chat as her husband says they're trying to make it to Cirque.
Today, my plan is to catch mostly shows, which works out well as I can tell that the park is much more crowded today, with it being Friday. My first stop, though, is FastPass for Winnie the Pooh. From there, we go to catch Legend of the Lion King, something I definitely did not want to miss with it closing down permanently later in the month. The puppets are quite neat! Next, it's off to the Tiki Room. While there's no tiki garden, the bird agents are cute. As for the show itself, I'm *still* trying to figure out what I think of it. I miss the enchanted fountain, though I suppose the maintenance of the attraction is easier without. I also wonder, ironically, if this show will date *faster* than the original, due to having a more contemporary selection of songs (while the original seems more timeless, IMO). My husband noticed that it was shorter - and not that he said it out loud, I think he missed how the original soothes him into a nap! (He also tends to sleep on IASW. I've learned to live with this because, if he's asleep, he can't complain about how much he dislikes it! <g>)
Next, we hit Buzz Lightyear again. As on Monday, a lot of the inside queue isn't even being utilized all that much, so most of the line is outside...where we hear the same TTA narration overhead, quite literally, about once a minute! Eventually, though, we're standing in the inside line, where we see Mark, the nice CM who was working Space Mountain on Monday. Keith thanks him again for the FastPasses that day and Mark asks if we know about the hidden Mickey in the queue area. Shortly afterward, we're seated.
Once moving, we get to the "room" after the Peoplemover effect and end up stopped. This was actually a neat experience because, when the ride stopped, I saw these poles and chains automatically pop up at both edges of the ramp. I suppose this is automatic safety feature for the CMs, so that they don't accidentally step off the edge when walking the belt. The lasers also went off, blacking out the scores. We watched CMs come by twice and someone made an announcement over the PA, but we just couldn't make it out. Eventually, the lasers are turned on (the previous scores were unfortunately lost) and we're still not moving, so, in the meantime, everyone is racking up the points while we wait to move again. ; ) Not long after, we're moving again and it ends up that someone had dropped a camera bag and a sensor noticed it, prompting the automatic shutdown.
Keith now wants to catch TTA again. For whatever reason, on this particular trip, I really notice just how close we are to the cars and track in Space Mountain. I knew that we went past the launch area, but the rest of the time you're in the mountain, it's so dark I thought maybe there was a glass panel that later separates TTA from the coaster and that the coaster is some distance away, but that's not the case at all!
At this point, we decide that maybe we should go ahead and stake out a spot for SpectroMagic. We find a nice spot at the hub, complete with hitching post so I can lean against it while sitting on the curb. Our entertainment is watching the CMs bounce large rubber balls with younger guests. (Some are delighted, but the youngest ones, in strollers, sometimes look bewildered!) As it gets darker, the castle lights up and alternates colors. Keith photographs this and also decides to get a picture of me "and my couple hundred friends" that have also joined us in waiting for the parade. ; ) (I'm still amazed that this is "off season" and there's *so* many bodies!)
The parade is very neat and, while it has more advanced technical effects than Main Street Electrical parade, I will always have a soft spot reserved for MSEP, as it's what I grew up with. (BTW, who are those little creatures with the pink and blue faces and mop top hair?) It's also interesting to compare what I saw in the broad daylight to what I was seeing then. (As you can imagine, SpectroMagic doesn't look nearly as glamorous when not lit up, but I did enjoy seeing the real "guts" of it on Monday's tour.)
After the parade, we have just enough time to catch the late end of our FastPass window for Pooh. It ends up the standby line is quite shorter now, but we still take advantage of walking right on.
As we're considering heading out of the park, we see that people are milling about for the fireworks, so we figure we'll go ahead and catch those since they're in about five minutes anyway. While waiting, we have a nice conversation with a family from England. This time, when watching the fireworks, I notice the "ghosts" that fly across the castle during "Grim Grinnin' Ghosts." (Are there other effects like used in the show as well?)
As we leave the park, Keith spins me around once we cross under the berm. All of the sudden, I feel like when I'm on the last day of a Disneyland trip and mist over. Keith responds to this by walking me over to the Mickey floral, pulling out his AP, waving it in the air, telling me to do the same, and instructing me to tell Mickey that this isn't "good-bye," it's a "see you later!"
Having told myself that I *will* be back, and much sooner than in the past, we decide which way we want to go to get back to the hotel. It ends up that the monorail is now running, so we decide to take the trip to the TTC. At the TTC, not too many people are going to Epcot, so we ask if we can ride in the front cab and we're able to pop right on when the next monorail arrives. Yes, this loop definitely has the best view. : )
