Fleeing From a Winter Wonderland - A First-Timer's Disney Christmas-Completed 12/9/09

Try this:

http://thesledgehammer.wordpress.com/feed/rss/

And yes, I do go through Wordpress. I've got a few nitpicks with it (mostly in terms of user interface and a seriously fail-o-riffic built-in spell checker) but it has some nice features to it as well like built-in Blog stats, a much easier comment system to deal with (for the users anyway) and other things like that.

Thanks! I just added it. I'm about to read about Tacos.

I use Blogger. I don't update too often, and when I do, it's mostly about Henry. :rolleyes: But, if you are interested: http://thelastcoffee.blogspot.com

ETA: Just read about the Tacos. I love that your family made up a holiday!! Too funny! And how very clever. I've never seen, or heard of, tacos with radishes-but they look pretty good. I love me some good Mexican food. We have a GREAT place here in town with the real stuff, all homemade by a local family. Their corn tortillas are amazing.
 
Thanks! I just added it. I'm about to read about Tacos.

I use Blogger. I don't update too often, and when I do, it's mostly about Henry. :rolleyes: But, if you are interested: http://thelastcoffee.blogspot.com

ETA: Just read about the Tacos. I love that your family made up a holiday!! Too funny! And how very clever. I've never seen, or heard of, tacos with radishes-but they look pretty good. I love me some good Mexican food. We have a GREAT place here in town with the real stuff, all homemade by a local family. Their corn tortillas are amazing.

So your birthday is on June 7th, huh? That's one day before mine (Well OK, I'm ahead by a year, but still...) And in case you hadn't heard, apparently some people can just get away with having 29th birthdays every year for as long as they want (I know some people that have to be on their 15th 29th birthday by now...)
 
So your birthday is on June 7th, huh? That's one day before mine (Well OK, I'm ahead by a year, but still...) And in case you hadn't heard, apparently some people can just get away with having 29th birthdays every year for as long as they want (I know some people that have to be on their 15th 29th birthday by now...)

June 6, so you are two days behind me. Er...363 days ahead. :laughing: HAPPY (belated) BIRTHDAY by the way!! :banana: Did you have a good birthday? I haven't caught up on blogs recently in case you did blog about it. :rolleyes:

I like the idea of having my 29th birthday over and over again...:thumbsup2 Though, 30 really hasn't been so bad so far.
 
June 6, so you are two days behind me. Er...363 days ahead. :laughing: HAPPY (belated) BIRTHDAY by the way!! :banana: Did you have a good birthday? I haven't caught up on blogs recently in case you did blog about it. :rolleyes:

I like the idea of having my 29th birthday over and over again...:thumbsup2 Though, 30 really hasn't been so bad so far.

Thanks, I think. :confused3 I'm not a big fan of the whole "getting old" bit here, but I suppose I can't complain too much.

I haven't really done anything special for my birthday today, but I'm heading over to my parents' house for the obligatory dinner and a cake tomorrow evening when my siblings can be there.

And yes, I do need to write another update. I'm working on it, I swear. :rolleyes1
 


Okay, you guys got me curious and I HAD to find the post with the radish bedecked tacos. Love the blog- gonna be spending some more time over there soon. The tacos looked mighty nifty. Looking forward to that forthcoming update and a HAPPY B-DAY to you!
 
OK, I'm pretty sure that my extended absence from the TR has probably put me on at least one milk carton by now (which, considering some of the crud they've been putting on milk cartons lately, would probably be something of an improvement.) I promised at the last update that I wouldn't make people wait a month for the next one, then suggested that it meant I would make them wait two instead. So even though it's been more than a month and a half since I last updated this (and now more than six months since I got back from the trip) I am actually exceeding my (admittedly abysmal) standards by updating sooner than I planned on. At least that's what I keep telling myself (I don't think my psychiatrist is buying it though.)

So, without further ado...

Part 14: If You Can't Make it Here, You Can't Make it Anywhere (which, of course, I probably didn't do.)

When I woke up at the usual 7:30 alarm on this fine Florida morning, I felt almost entirely like crud, which is a distinct improvement over the past couple of days when I had awakened and felt entirely like crud. I suppose I could have finally been getting used to the whole routine, but With just a day left at the World, the standard "I'm just about to run out of vacation" panic seemed to be simmering at the back of my mind. Nonetheless, my standard night owl habits and perhaps a bit of residual jet lag led me to hit the snooze button for another hour of sleep, as I had the previous three days. Finally an hour later, I woke up, almost being somewhat ready to take on the day ahead.

As I prepared for the day and contemplated my plans, I realized that I had a choice to make: Either I could head back to DHS since I barely scratched the surface on the place the previous day before heading back to Epcot, or I could head for Animal Kingdom, which is the only park I had not yet made it to. I had already pretty much made the decision that I was most likely going to end up passing on Animal Kingdom on this trip, but I still hadn't quite decided what I was going to do with the day. About the only definite item on the agenda was Illuminations in the evening since I seem to have run out of proverbial steam an hour before it was scheduled, but besides that the plans were up in the air.

As with the previous day, I departed the hotel and headed for Downtown Disney, mostly with the intent of skipping the hotel buses. Although the Disney hotel buses to DTD aren't supposed to actually start running until 10:00, it turns out that buses to POFQ begin running at 8:30 (I'm not entirely sure on this, it might even be 7:30,) presumably to allow the DTD hotel-bus shunning miscreants such as myself to have some alternate route to the parks.) I can't recall exactly when I got there, but I believe the regular buses had begun running by that time as well. Nonetheless, I opted for the suggested bus to POFQ, where I got off the bus and since I hadn't really decided what I would be doing that day yet, I was going to take the first bus to a park that showed up. About five minutes later, that bus ended up being the one to DHS, so I hopped on and made my way over.

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Upon arriving at the park, I was too late for the initial mad rush to Toy Story Mania, but I decided that I would give it a shot nonetheless.

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Making my way over there, I found that not only were Fastpasses still available (I managed to grab one with a 2:50-3:50 return time) but the standby line showed a 45 minute wait.

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Since apparently all the cool kids were riding this one, I decided that sounded almost reasonable, and decided to go for it. The actual wait turned out to be closer to 30 minutes, which provided plenty of time to get a good look at the queue, which is quite well done.

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I especially liked this giant Viewmaster disc of old departed Disneyland landmarks from the old Tomorrowland, back before they messed it up (but I digress.)

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In spite of my inability to see 3D due to a laundry list of eye problems which render my left eye basically useless (but my right eye functions well enough for me to function normally,) I managed to apply the dubious skills gained from a life misspent on video games to the task at hand, and put up what I assumed to be a relatively decent score. The seat next to mine was unoccupied, hence the goose-egg from over there.

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After getting off the ride, I decided to head over in the direction of the Great Movie Ride, but ultimately ended up taking the scenic route through the back of the park, where over near the notorious ABC Commisary (of Doom) I encountered some wet paint signs in a rather odd location. Oh well, I guess that answers the question about how they can get the trees to be so realistic here. I was wondering about that.

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Upon arriving at the Great Movie Ride, the sign showed a 10-minute wait I intended to get in line, but instead got distracted by the various prints in the sidewalk, to the point that by the time I figured out what I was doing that 10-minute wait had somehow turned into a 40-minute wait, at which point I decided to just save the ride for the next visit. Instead, I decided to head back toward the part of the park where the Tower of Terror and Rock 'n Roller Coaster reside.

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As I mentioned in a previous installment of the trip report it seems a bit odd to me that there was an entire gift shop of just Planet Hollywood merchandise at DTD, but you could sort of see the point since there was a Planet Hollywood there. This, on the other hand, is completely inexplicable. Besides, if I was inclined to shop with stars located anywhere north of the D-list, I seriously doubt that a gift shop full of vaguely Hollywood themed kitschy self-referential merchandise would be the place to do it.

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Moving on, I reached the Rock 'n Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror. Both had fairly long lines, and with no sign telling how long the Single Rider line was, I decided to just grab a fastpass, but I still had a while before I could get one for RnRC (I never could quite bring myself to actually ride Tower of Terror, on this trip at least.)

In the meantime, once again I had not made any plans for food for the day (and in fact had headed for the parks without pausing for breakfast on the way out,) so I decided that a stop at guest services was in order to see if they could check on available lunch reservations. Although my original intention had been to head over to Epcot for lunch, when I got there they happened to have a 2:15 ADR available at 50s Prime Time, which I went ahead and grabbed. This left several hours to kill between now and then though.

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As I wandered around a bit near the entrance, I saw one of the groups of street performers passing by, and since that sounded like a good excuse to not stand for a while, I followed them down the street where they set up their little show.

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Since part of the schtick involved was that nobody was supposed to take any photos of the big important director guy, I don't have a lot of photos of that one Of course, all that probably would have happened would be that I ended up getting stuck in the act, but still. Beyond that, about all I remember was something about an overly pretentious movie director type, and a phone that rang way too much, but it was entertaining (and stationary) enough that I sat through the whole thing. Unfortunately, I never got the opportunity to question the Great Director Whatzizface about why my shares of In the Can Pictures were, well, in the can, but that's beside the point.

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By the time that was done, it had just about reached the point where I could acquire another Fastpass, which I proceeded to acquire for Rock 'n Roller Coaster. Between the relatively close return times, the late lunch ADR and the fact that there was a good chance that there was going to be an annoyingly stationary parade somewhere in the middle of all that, it was going to make for an interesting time, but that time was still going to be a couple of hours away.

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I still had several hours until lunchtime at this point, so I stopped to grab a pretzel before continuing onward in my wanderings through the park. I noted that it was beginning to get near time for the Lights Motors Action show, and began to head over in that direction. It is from there that I will pick up in the next semi-exciting episode of the trip report.

Coming Up Next: Part 15: Just Like Mom Used to Nag You About (Lights Motors Action, Lunch at 50s Prime Time and a Mad Scramble for More Midway Mania)
 
LOVE your milk carton blog post!!! :rotfl2:

When I read koala, I was like "huh?" and it only got better from there.

Great WDW update too - I love that you just decided whatever bus came first would be the winner for the park of the day. And I had no idea buses at DTD weren't really supposed to run until around 10:00 am. Explains why it took 45 minutes to get a bus there around 8:30 am back on our January trip. I walked over there from SSR and was trying to get a bus to the Dolphin for the car rental place. Lots of POFQ buses then too if I recall correctly, but little of anything else.

Great score on TSM! My DH, who is legally blind, can see the 3-D but things are small for him-he still kicks my butt at all those games. I won against him in Buzz once though! (and it was NOT becuase the squirmy baby was on his lap, it wasn't! Really, it wasn't...:rolleyes:)

That pretzel looks yummy!
 


He LIVES! What's up Verxorg? Nifty update as usual. Gotta love a good "go with the flow" day! I hope all is going well out west. Can't wait to see how your Disney Journey ends!
 
Hey Vexorg! You're still with us!

Your day in DHS sounds like a nice "soak-up-the-atmosphere" kind of time! Nice!

Was that a cream cheese pretzel you're sportin' there? Looking forward to hearing how Prime Time was and if you made it to those FP times.
 
OK, catching up again...

Hey Vexorg! You're still with us!

Your day in DHS sounds like a nice "soak-up-the-atmosphere" kind of time! Nice!

Was that a cream cheese pretzel you're sportin' there? Looking forward to hearing how Prime Time was and if you made it to those FP times.

Yeah, been busy with work, and my latest ill-fated hobby, so I haven't had time to check in too often. Still got Brook's PTR and GreatBiscuit's TR to catch up on too, as well as a couple of others. I'm sure I'll get to all this eventually.

Oh yeah, and the pretzel was just a standard one. I'll have to try the cream cheese pretzels at some point though, I've heard good reports on those.

He LIVES! What's up Vexorg? Nifty update as usual. Gotta love a good "go with the flow" day! I hope all is going well out west. Can't wait to see how your Disney Journey ends!

Well, after the three previous days of going nonstop in spite of better judgment, I don't think I was in the mood for much beyond going with the flow.

LOVE your milk carton blog post!!! :rotfl2:

When I read koala, I was like "huh?" and it only got better from there.

Great WDW update too - I love that you just decided whatever bus came first would be the winner for the park of the day. And I had no idea buses at DTD weren't really supposed to run until around 10:00 am. Explains why it took 45 minutes to get a bus there around 8:30 am back on our January trip. I walked over there from SSR and was trying to get a bus to the Dolphin for the car rental place. Lots of POFQ buses then too if I recall correctly, but little of anything else.

Great score on TSM! My DH, who is legally blind, can see the 3-D but things are small for him-he still kicks my butt at all those games. I won against him in Buzz once though! (and it was NOT becuase the squirmy baby was on his lap, it wasn't! Really, it wasn't...:rolleyes:)

That pretzel looks yummy!

You mean your milk cartons aren't covered with ill-conceived vaguely educational activities over there? I work for one of the biggest high-tech companies in the world, and the milk cartons would bore a third grader to tears. The ironic part is that some groups here actually manage to get the Talking Rain cans in the drink fridges custom printed with some product or website they want to promote internally. Apparently they can't do the same with the milk cartons though. Maybe if they wanted "fun" activities for where I work, they should stick code on the backs of the cartons and get people to debug it.

The "grab the next bus" approach would be great for a longer trip where you don't need to be rushing everywhere, but might be pushing it on a short one. And yes, the Future Trip To Be Named Later (or FTTBNL for short, since everything on the DIS is required to have an acronym of some sort) will definitely be at least a week (how many times have I said that now?)

Anyway, the next update will be coming a bit later on tonight. I think it'll take about three more updates (plus possibly a couple of extra posts at the end) to finish this up.
 
Although it's been less than a month since the last update, I figure I better actually finish this thing at some point, so here goes the next installment...

Part 15 - Just Like Mom Used to Nag You About (You DID remember to take out the trash, didn't you?)

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When I last left off, I was wandering (sort of) in the direction of Lights! Motors! Action! (Extreme! Stunt! Show!) but since there was still a good 45 minutes remaining before the scheduled time, I wasn't in too big a hurry for this. As a result, I decided to stop in at the One Man's Dream exhibit. I didn't have time to watch the film there, but have time to check out the exhibits (unfortunately, this is the only one of my pictures from this exhibit which came out.)

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After spending some time in there, I went back out, and proceeded to head toward LMA again, noting that a fair number of people were doing the same. Fortunately, the bleachers here were plenty large to handle the crowds, and although I had to go up a bit to find the open seats, but there wasn't too much danger of them running out before I got there.

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With around 15-20 minutes to wait before the show was scheduled to begin, I got my phone out to take a look at the news from back home.

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It seems that another major snowstorm hit the area overnight, and this was the scene on SR520, just about a mile from my apartment. Snow is a relatively uncommon occurrence in the area, so when it does hit (especially in large quantities like this) people tend to be ill-prepared to handle it. Although I knew I was going to get my fair share of the stuff when I got back home the next day (and believe me, there was plenty of the crud to go around) I sure was glad that I wasn't there at the time. This particular day also happened to be my parents' anniversary (32 years,) and I later found out that their anniversary dinner ended up being a bucket of KFC because it was the only place they could find which was even open.

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Eventually the show started, and sure enough, it was extreme, and had stunts. One might even be inclined to say that there were even extreme stunts there.

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Yeah, I think I might consider hanging out here too if it would let me get away from Lindsey Lohan.

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This part would have worked a lot better if I hadn't been on the backstage tour first and seen how it was done.

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Just a split second too late on this one.

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Finally, they ended with the customary bang, and the show came to its conclusion. By now, my reservation at 50s Prime Time was about 20 minutes away, so it was time to head over in that direction, As I walked by, I was informed by a CM that the Indiana Jones stunt show (presumably also extreme) was in progress, and I could walk in and watch if I wanted. Unfortunately I didn't have time for that (yeah, there was a lot of stuff I missed this time around,) but I still did get to 50s Prime Time with a bit of time to kill, so I wandered around a bit more in that general area before finally checking in.

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Although I'm not exactly an expert on the topic of 50s home decor (for obvious reasons) I could tell that plenty of effort went into the place.

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The "authentic" TVs were also a nice touch, although given the fact that Disney was better know for producing the stuff that goes on the television sets than they are for making the things, something tells me there was something a bit fishy going on here...

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And sure enough, a closer look revealed this. At this point, some guy in a double-breasted suit with bad hair appeared and told me to pay no attention to the man behind the curtain, but since I couldn't find any curtains there, I couldn't figure out what he was talking about. Anyway, even with the reservation, it took about 15-20 minutes to get seated. When Mom came looking for me, I denied everything and tried to blame the neighbor kid across the street. Of course it didn't work (it never does,) and I soon found myself escorted to the table.

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As usual, the waitresses were up to their customary nagging. Some poor kid with his elbows on the table ended up on the wrong end of this one. I managed to be a "good" kid, only getting yelled at once for having my "Walkie talkie" out at the table.

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While looking around the place, I noticed this shelf of cookbooks near my table that contained, among other selections, "How to Eat Better for Less Money." When the check arrived at the end of the meal, I was pretty sure I could think of a few ways to do so.

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I ordered a milkshake (pointing out, of course, that if this had actually been at home I would have been told that I'd drink water and that I'd LIKE it!) and the pot roast meal for lunch. It was quite good (pot roast is one of the meals I make frequently at home) and I finished it, at which point my empty plate was paraded around the place and displayed to everyone whether they liked it or not.

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I hadn't been planning on eating dessert here since I had already had a shake, but when your dessert menu is in 3D, who can resist?

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I concluded the meal with the angel food cake, served here with a simple mix of berries. Nothing too fancy, but I cleaned off my plate so that means I get dessert, right? All in all this was a bit of a splurge (especially the part about the shake and dessert) but I wouldn't hesitate to come back here. Preferably with someone else to blame for everything next time around, and preferably on the DDP so I don't have to pay so freakin' much next time around.

Anyway, with the meal finished off and paid for, I was within the Fastpass window for Toy Story Mania and Rock 'n Roller Coaster, and would actually be cutting it a bit close on the latter. Unfortunately, was also running right smack into the parade (again) on the way over, which meant I would be cutting it REALLY close... I'll pick up from here in what will most likely be the second-to-last installment, coming soon (maybe.)

Coming Up Next: Part 16: The End is Near... (Putting the "Fast" into Fastpass, and Saying Goodbye to the World, at least for now.)
 
You mean your milk cartons aren't covered with ill-conceived vaguely educational activities over there? I work for one of the biggest high-tech companies in the world, and the milk cartons would bore a third grader to tears. The ironic part is that some groups here actually manage to get the Talking Rain cans in the drink fridges custom printed with some product or website they want to promote internally. Apparently they can't do the same with the milk cartons though. Maybe if they wanted "fun" activities for where I work, they should stick code on the backs of the cartons and get people to debug it.

The "grab the next bus" approach would be great for a longer trip where you don't need to be rushing everywhere, but might be pushing it on a short one. And yes, the Future Trip To Be Named Later (or FTTBNL for short, since everything on the DIS is required to have an acronym of some sort) will definitely be at least a week (how many times have I said that now?)

Anyway, the next update will be coming a bit later on tonight. I think it'll take about three more updates (plus possibly a couple of extra posts at the end) to finish this up.

I like the idea of putting code to debug on the back of the milk cartons! :laughing: Our company does not offer milk - only water...and plastic cups. Nothing fun, or comical, to read. But we do get a "cookie day" once a month where the Admins make us yummy cookies. So no complain' here!!

Love the FTTBNL. :rotfl:

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And sure enough, a closer look revealed this. At this point, some guy in a double-breasted suit with bad hair appeared and told me to pay no attention to the man behind the curtain, but since I couldn't find any curtains there, I couldn't figure out what he was talking about. Anyway, even with the reservation, it took about 15-20 minutes to get seated. When Mom came looking for me, I denied everything and tried to blame the neighbor kid across the street. Of course it didn't work (it never does,) and I soon found myself escorted to the table.

Oh that is funny! Good eye!
I wonder what they are going to do now that tube televisions are on the way out. I suppose they will have to pay a bunch of extra money to get them made still....!


This is a REALLY cool shot! We weren't given the View Finder for our dessert menu unfortunately. Hopefully when we eventually return to this restaurant they will!

Anyway, with the meal finished off and paid for, I was within the Fastpass window for Toy Story Mania and Rock 'n Roller Coaster, and would actually be cutting it a bit close on the latter. Unfortunately, was also running right smack into the parade (again) on the way over, which meant I would be cutting it REALLY close... I'll pick up from here in what will most likely be the second-to-last installment, coming soon (maybe.)

Do you know the tip about the Fastpasses where it doesn't matter if your window is past? As long as you don't go early-you can go at ANY time after your window opens. Even hours past the window it lists on the ticket. Does that make sense?
 
It seems that another major snowstorm hit the area overnight, and this was the scene on SR520, just about a mile from my apartment. Snow is a relatively uncommon occurrence in the area, so when it does hit (especially in large quantities like this) people tend to be ill-prepared to handle it. Although I knew I was going to get my fair share of the stuff when I got back home the next day (and believe me, there was plenty of the crud to go around) I sure was glad that I wasn't there at the time.
That's gotta be a good feeling!

Eventually the show started, and sure enough, it was extreme, and had stunts. One might even be inclined to say that there were even extreme stunts there.
So it was not just a clever name? Nifty.

As I walked by, I was informed by a CM that the Indiana Jones stunt show (presumably also extreme) was in progress, and I could walk in and watch if I wanted.
Wow. I knew the show had gone down in popularity, but I had no idea they had to actively recruit an audience!


Although I'm not exactly an expert on the topic of 50s home decor (for obvious reasons) I could tell that plenty of effort went into the place.
You know I don't ever remember seeing photos of this area before. They are pretty 50ish looking though. At least I THINK they are.


The "authentic" TVs were also a nice touch, although given the fact that Disney was better know for producing the stuff that goes on the television sets than they are for making the things, something tells me there was something a bit fishy going on here...

And sure enough, a closer look revealed this. At this point, some guy in a double-breasted suit with bad hair appeared and told me to pay no attention to the man behind the curtain, but since I couldn't find any curtains there, I couldn't figure out what he was talking about.
That TV shot just cracked me up!

Also, I agree with BE - the ViewMaster pic was cool!

Coming Up Next: Part 16: The End is Near... (Putting the "Fast" into Fastpass, and Saying Goodbye to the World, at least for now.)
popcorn::
 
Yeah, still around (on occasion) but haven't had a lot of time lately. I really need to get this finished up at some point...
 
Still here with ya! Ready to wrap this up, I'm anxious to see how your trip ended and if you think, oh no, not if WHEN! you'll be back!
 
Ah... Guess I need to finish this, eh? Ignoring for a second the fact that it's been nine months now, I suppose I should actually do so. I'll try to get the rest out later this week.
 
Actually, I've got the next part (mostly) written now, I just need to go dig through the pictures and finish adding those in. You can expect it sometime tomorrow.
 
Yeah, I'm still here, and yeah, I'm going to finish this thing...

Part 16 - The End is Near...

(Note: These last couple of parts are going to be a bit short on pictures, since I didn't really take a whole lot.)

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When I last left off on this (about an eon or two ago) I had just finished off lunch at 50s Prime Time, where my (somewhat) good table manners got me through the meal (mostly) unscathed. As I was departing, the two fastpasses I had acquired earlier in the day for Toy Story Mania and Rock 'n Roller Coaster were now usable, but I was getting out at just the right (or wrong, depending on your perspective) time to run right into the afternoon parade.

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With the clock ticking on the fastpasses (yeah, I know now that they'll take FPs after the window, but still...) I wasn't exactly in the mood for a Block Party Bash (or any other kind of bash for that matter) Fortunately, I got there at just about the tail end of it, just as it was packing up and heading across to the next station. I did manage to catch one interesting detail as it was passing by though: The "Nutrition Facts" on the back of the big cookie box, complete with all the requisite Pixar in-jokes. And I thought some of the stuff I had for lunch was bad for me... Then again, apparently I can eat 75 kilograms of fat per day and still be within the recommended daily allowance, so it's all OK, right?

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From here, I headed over to Toy Story Mania to use my Fastpass. On one hand, you don't have the big long wait this way, but on the other hand, you miss some of the interesting little details in the queue. I wasn't particularly inclined to wait an hour and a half this time around though, and quickly got aboard for another ride. This time I managed to improve on my previous score somewhat. I also figured I might as well hit something with the other blaster. I departed and made my way over to Rock 'n Roller Coaster to use the other fastpass, but just as I was about to get there, I suddenly realized that once again, I had left my pack on the car over at Midway Mania, meaning that I would have to head all the way back over to try to get it back. Fortunately, the Lime Green Mickey Head I had placed on the bag made it easy to identify (even if I didn't get it back there was nothing all that important in there anyway,) and within a couple of minutes the CM who was supervising the stroller parking was able to retreive it for me. Having been reunited with my stuff, I made my way back over there, but by the time I did, lunch had begun to catch up with me a bit. I wouldn't say that I was feeling sick at all (a bit too full maybe,) but I was getting the sneaking suspicion that the Rock 'n Roller Coaster was probably not the best place to be taking $25 worth of lunch at that particular point in time. Sure, I wasn't going to get another chance to ride it, but I figured I could probably save it for the next trip anyway. I decided I'd just let someone else use the Fastpass, but found it surprisingly difficult to get rid of one fastpass. I ended up leaving the FP with the CM at the FP line and with instructions to hand it out to someone who could use it, and began making my way toward the park entrance. Aside from just being at the point of needing to take a break, I also had a bit of packing to take care of as well. Not only was this my last day at Disney World, but I also found myself facing an early morning flight out that would have me leaving the hotel at 4:45AM.

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I didn't quite head straight out of the park though. As I was leaving, I noted that someone from Disney Research was looking for people who had eaten in the park's restaurants that day to take a survey. Not being in that much of a hurry, I volunteered, and was led to a small room (more of a courtyard really) off to the side near the park entrance where several computers were set up. The survey was... Well, a survey. Having made my opinion count (or something like that) I continued to the park exit, and found the stop for the hotel bus. I think DHS may be the only park where the charter bus parking ISN'T three miles away from the park entrance, which is a good thing because I really wasn't in the mood for much walking at that point. The bus arrived shortly thereafter, and I returned to the hotel to rest for a bit, pack up, and figure out what I was going to do for my last evening at Disney World. To be honest, I really wasn't looking forward to going home the next day, since not only had the latest round of snow and ice turned the area up here into a big mess (as is, my car was stuck at my parents' house due to an impassable road,) but the weather reports for the day after I was to return were calling for a potentially destructive windstorm (which fortunately wasn't as bad as it could have been.) Not exactly the most fun thing to return home to, especially after four days at Disney World.

Nonetheless, after resting up a bit, I prepared to head back out. Since I had passed on it the previous evening, it appeared that Illuminations was going to be the main goal for the evening. It was still several hours away at this point though. The Magic Kingdom was out, as it was another MVMCP night (already took care of that one a couple of days previous,) and since I still wanted to catch Illuminations, Epcot was the destination for the evening... Eventually.

But first, I was headed for what was to be one last trip to Downtown Disney to take care of a bit of souvenir shopping. It was here that I made my major purchase of the trip: a framed character sketch of Donald flipping out over some random thing. I figured it would make a good counterbalance to the sericel of Daffy Duck I've got here in the den, and for a hand-drawn piece, I thought the price was actually quite reasonable. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be ready until several days after I left, and I had to include shipping in the cost. I'm quite pleased with the result (although it took nearly three weeks for it to arrive after it was shipped due to the various snafus created by throwing impassable roads into the already chaotic Holiday shipping season, with just a dash of standard-issue UPS incompetence for good measure,) but I'd recommend taking care of this early in the trip if you plan to get one of these, to improve your chances of being able to bring it home with you.


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Elsewhere in DTD, I made another trip to the World of Disney store where I spent a bit of time messing around with the pirate stuff. a CM graciously offered to take a picture (an offer which I, somewhat regrettably, accepted.)

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I wandered around the shop, but wasn't able to find what I was looking for, so I decided at this point to make what would be the last trip over to Epcot. Once again, I tried getting there by way of the Contemporary bus to monorail route. Sure, I've only been at Disney World for a total of four days in my whole life, but how hard could it be? Apparently hard enough that I managed to get lost on the way to the monorail and end up on the seventh floor. Oh well, photo op, I guess. After this, I got my bearings back, and eventually made my way back to the Epcot monorail.

Coming up next: Part 17 - And Now It's time to Say Goodbye: The trip comes to a close, but not without a couple more surprises along the way...
 

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