FINALLY COMPLETE! 10/3/2010- But Why is the Rum Gone? Disneyween 2007

[DisneyLaura]

I'm not dead!

I'm still here. Glad you checked in.

 

[WelovMickey!]

I just wanted to say I started to read your trip report yesterday and I have to say the this is by far the best one just I have read! You and your friends remind me of me and my best friend. I miss her. Anywho Congrats!!! On getting a job at Disney and moving there!! That is my dream...I have been trying to convince my dh about that for about a year now. Maybe if you would like to you can pm on the steps you took to your dream in Disney. I am not sure how to get started. Well just wanted to tell ya I love your report!

Ingrid

 

[RHONDALEE]

Hi Crystal

Can't wait to see you in September

I am sooooooo jealous that you are working there now and I'm not:

I have 1 more Midwest winter to go and then -God willing and the creek don't rise - we will be Floridians

Rhonda

 

[RHONDALEE]

I think I killed Crystal's thread

 

[GorshGoofy]

I think I killed Crystal's thread

Maybe there are no computers in Neverland?!? I just hope she's okay.

 

[mla1977]

I saw Crystal a few weeks ago and she is doing fine. She works a lot though. I did bug her about the TR. Maybe if I get mine started and she starts reading that, we can get her to head back over here.

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

Hey guys! I am alive I really am working on an actual update, too! I finally found my notebook with my notes from this trip, which is going to be a huge help!

I haven't had a chance to check the boards yet, but there was a fairly big announcement last night about Disney closing PI in September. I know some of you have read my trip reports for a long time, so you understand that the Adventurers Club is *really* important to me, and losing it is unthinkable.

I don't know if anything we do can make a difference at this point, but if you're an AC fan, or if I've ever dragged you there, or even if you've just read about it in my reports and thought it sounded nifty, please send disney an e-mail and share your opinion about it closing! I'm really hoping that if enough people protest, they'll reconsider keeping the Club open.

To keep this slightly more on topic, I wanted to add that I posted a few pics from my recent fun at Star Wars Weekends on my Flickr account--

www.flickr.com/photos/casacrystal

It's not a trip report, but it's the good old fashioned Crystal & Katie sillyness!

Thank you guys for your patience with the report!

 

[punkin413]

Hey guys! I am alive I really am working on an actual update, too! I finally found my notebook with my notes from this trip, which is going to be a huge help!

I haven't had a chance to check the boards yet, but there was a fairly big announcement last night about Disney closing PI in September. I know some of you have read my trip reports for a long time, so you understand that the Adventurers Club is *really* important to me, and losing it is unthinkable.

I don't know if anything we do can make a difference at this point, but if you're an AC fan, or if I've ever dragged you there, or even if you've just read about it in my reports and thought it sounded nifty, please send disney an e-mail and share your opinion about it closing! I'm really hoping that if enough people protest, they'll reconsider keeping the Club open.

To keep this slightly more on topic, I wanted to add that I posted a few pics from my recent fun at Star Wars Weekends on my Flickr account--

www.flickr.com/photos/casacrystal

It's not a trip report, but it's the good old fashioned Crystal & Katie sillyness!

Thank you guys for your patience with the report!

a petition has been started about saving the adventurer's club: http://www.petitiononline.com/wdwaclub/petition.html

 

[DisneyLaura]

Hi Crystal Glad to hear you're doing well. Can't wait for an update but I guess the pictures will have to do for now.

 

[Philadisney]

I am so glad that I planned a trip before AC closes, so I will have the chance to get dragged there before it goes for good! I read an article today talking about how the Adventurers Club is supposedly going to be repurposed into the entrance of the rumored Night Kingdom....but obviously that's not very concrete.

 

[Disneygrl36]

So glad to know you are still alive & well Crystal. Has moving to Orlando & working for the mouse lived up to your expectations?
So about the Adventurer's Club. Just signed that petition.

 

[KatGarcia]

Chica....28 days....we must visit AC!!!!!

 

[Philadisney]

Hey Ms. Crystal - See ya real soon!

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

The Rum Is Still Gone-- a very, very late completion of my October 2007 "But Why Is the Rum Gone?" TR!


Um, hi! *waves*

So... it's only been about a year since I last posted to my trip report.. almost 2 since the actual trip! I wouldn't say that's too much of a gap, would you?

I've never NOT finished a trip report before, so having "But why is the rum gone?" sit incomplete all this time has nagged me! Well, I decided to finally do something about it!

I can't promise this will be any good, since it's been a LONG time, and I've forgotten a lot!! But I feel like I owe it to those of you who stuck with me
through the rest of it to wrap things up! So, here we go!

The link to the first part of the report is in my signature. Now would probably be a good time to go read it if you are just joining us, or you don't happen to have a photographic memory of things you read two years ago! The thread is now locked, I think, so feel free to post any comments in this one, instead!

In case you have forgotten...

I am Crystal!

When this trip report started, I lived in Missouri, had just made it through a really rough year, and just quit an awful job.

Now I live here:

and I work for this guy:

If you want, I'd be glad to go into the story of all of THAT after the report, but after YEARS, I suppose I really should get on with the show!!

So...

We left off back in early October of 2007... feel free to go back and re-read the first part of the trip report, I know I sure had to!! Actually, reading it now was a really interesting experience!! It's sad to read about the Adv Club (although even that's fun for me to read about, since someone in that part is now a beloved friend, and it's not often you have the beginning of a friendship documented!), but also really interesting to see how much things
have changed in my life since then!!

ANYWAY (Oh my gosh, Crystal, this report has already gone on for TWO YEARS, cut to the chase already!!)

When I last posted, we were talking about October 30, 2007, and I had just checked into my awesome room at the Beach Club Villas, and then stuffed myself with yummy things from the Boardwalk Pizza Window & Bakery. I remember settling in with my food back in the room to watch Ellen DeGeneres, and the Halloween episode of Martha Stewart. Sometimes on a trip, you just need an afternoon to hang out with pizza & daytime TV!!

After my energy had been restored, I decided to walk over to Epcot to do a little bit of exploring. Gotta love being able to walk through the International Gateway from the BCV!!

I picked up a times guide, and saw that the candy lady in Japan would be starting soon, so that was where I set off to!

If you have never seen her work, put it on your to-do list for next time!

She makes animals out of a waxy-looking sort of candy. The crazy thing is, it takes her less than a minute, and they end up these elaborate works of art! The one shown here is a shark in progress.

One of my favorite parts of watching her is her English. It's fairly limited, and she tends to repeat things, but it comes out totally adorable. For instance "this doggy! Cute doggy, nice doggy! Doggy has hat... stylish
doggy! Candy for you!"

I took a quick clip with my cell phone. The quality is awful (these were the days before the iPhone, my friends!), but it gives you an idea:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0c88ZXc2BEU


After watching her creations, I wandered around the Japanese shops a bit.
Always quality stuff in here!

I have no idea what these things are, but I kind of want one of those things in the middle!

I bet this candy tastes just like every burger you've ever eaten. I'm kind of tempted to try some.

It was starting to get late now, and Katie and I had plans to meet up at the Beach Club soon to go over to the Adventurers Club. (Sherice had gone home today, I think.) I had a little bit of time, so I stopped to watch a singer who was performing at the Oklahoma area of the Food & Wine festival. I always like to try to take time to stop and watch any live entertainment, I love supporting people who are out doing what they love!

I walked up just as he was singing a Travis Tritt song called "He Stopped
Loving Her Today."

(I just had the hardest time finding the name of that song. I'm writing all of this with no notes, only the memory that has somehow stayed strong over
two crazy years.)

I have this thing about live music. It seems like I never really HEAR a song until I see it live, there's some kind of a connection. That happened with
this one, for sure. Having grown up in Branson, MO, I'm no stranger to
country music, and I know I'd heard this song a zillion times before. But
something about that night made me get it, and it was an incredibly emotional experience.

He announced that his next song was his last one of the night, and in fact, his last one here at the Food & Wine fest, and he talked a bit about what an
amazing experience it had been.

And then it started to rain.

But there was something about that moment, that magic that occurs when music captivates a crowd, and something magical happens to the atmosphere. Despite the fact that drops were turning into torrents of rain, nobody left. We all stood there, barely able to see through the downpour, singing along.

The song?

"It's a great day to be alive."

(The singer's name is Perry Miears. He has a myspace, if you want to check him out!)

The song finished, and everyone dispersed. I started back towards the Beach Club, practically swimming to get there. But for some reason, I didn't mind being stuck in a total downpour with no umbrella or poncho. I was in such a good mood that I felt exhilerated by the rain. I may have broke out into a little bit of "Singin in the Rain".

The whole Boardwalk area looked so very Halloweeny! It was a dark and stormy night, and a fog had rolled in. AWESOME! I tried to capture it on film, but this was the closest I got:

Oooh, bad photography, SCARY!!

Back at the hotel, Katie had just arrived when I did, so she waited around while I dried my hair and changed into clothes that weren't dripping wet, and then off we went to the Adv Club!

Booze! Booze cures all things!

We didn't stay long this night... we may not have even stayed for the Hoopla. But tomorrow would be Halloween, so we had big plans coming up!!

And to close out this post, here is the view that was waiting for me from my balcony that night when I got back to the Beach Club:

Coming up-- Halloween!

 

[zweihund]

Welcome back Crystal! Can't wait to read the rest

 

[KatGarcia]

Just the fact that you decide to finish this after all this time is too funny! But I ma def reading along...and posting pics of Halloween when you get to it!

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

Welcome back Crystal! Can't wait to read the rest

Thanks for coming back!

Just the fact that you decide to finish this after all this time is too funny! But I ma def reading along...and posting pics of Halloween when you get to it!

Oh my, I forgot about that!! I'll be posting the first part of Halloween today, which means I should get around to that night by at least 2011!

 

[__disneygirl]

Welcome back! I've always LOVED your reports! I'd love to hear how you are doing working at WDW!

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

If you are still reading-- YAY! It is scary to pick up the metaphoric pen after so long!! Thanks for sticking around!

And here we are at last, to Halloween 2007!

The day started off like any normal Halloween would, with a trip over to Animal Kingdom to hang out with some wildlife.

That flamingo in the front looks appropriately creepy for Halloween!

Apparently I arrived at the middle of Morning Grooming Time at DAK? Again, this guy looks creepy! It's something in the eyes!


I decided to start out with the Safari. Given that I've been on the safari 28903789274 times since this particular ride, I really can't remember a single thing to tell you about it, so let's just look at pictures, instead!!

I love the Sable antelope! They are the symbol of the Harambe Wildlife Preserve.

"Dude, there's a giraffe outside your window."

Wow, I have surprisingly few safari photos from that trip. I often get a couple of minutes into the ride and remember how hard it is to get good pics, and give up!


Afterwards, I wandered over to Asia, where the Yak & Yeti was still being constructed:

Having already conquered Africa in the morning, it was time to hit the Asian counterpart, the Maharajah Jungle Trek!

No Halloween trip report is complete without bats!

After thoroughly exploring Asia, I went over to Camp Minnie Mickey to catch the Festival of the Lion King show again, and then decided to go back to the Beach Club. I really apologize for not being able to tell you much about the morning! I promise the night time part of the day will be more interesting!

The bus from the Animal Kingdom to the Epcot resorts is just one bus for all of the resorts most of the time. If I remember correctly, it stops at the Swan, then Dolphin, then Yacht, then Beach, then Boardwalk. So, rather than wait through several stops before gettin to the BCV, I hopped off at the Swan and wandered around a bit. They had redecorated since when I stayed here a few years ago!

The swans still look like they are shooting water from their nostrils!

I love the whole Boardwalk area! I still go there occasionally on my days off just to wander around and soak up the atmosphere!

Coming up. Halloween night shenanigans at the Adventurers Club!

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

Guess who is about to FINALLY update this trip report?