Flowers, 5Ks, and Fiancées-A May 2011 TR *Updated 4/30 The Last Update*

[MEK]

OMG - Your ring story had me on the edge of my seat. Can I just tell you that every person must misplace their engagement ring at least once. I am so glad it was found in a logical place and not at the bottom of the pool or in the washing machine. Phew.

Dinner looks lovely and that is a very cool picture of the castle and space mountain.

Congrats on registering for the EE run!

 

[TanzUnited99]

Lol that's funny how you both ended up with matching shirts again unintentionally!

OMG your description of the BREAD had my mouth watering and took me back to when I had it at Kona!! I think I more or less ate the whole thing...there was no way I was sharing that little beauty!

I also had that Teriyaki Steak and it was yummy. Haha I'm guessing you'll remember this meal because of the sauce story.

 

[amazingact21]

I've read your whole TR Alicia. It is GREAT!!

I feel nostalgic thinking about the trip DH and I just took for our anniversary and super excited about DS and I going in May for EEC.

Thanks for reading! Special celebration trips are so nice. DH and I already miss our Disneymoon and it's only been 3 months.

OMG - Your ring story had me on the edge of my seat. Can I just tell you that every person must misplace their engagement ring at least once. I am so glad it was found in a logical place and not at the bottom of the pool or in the washing machine. Phew.

Dinner looks lovely and that is a very cool picture of the castle and space mountain.

Congrats on registering for the EE run!

As long as I never lose it again, I'm all right. I think Alex would disown me if I made him go through that all over again.

Lol that's funny how you both ended up with matching shirts again unintentionally!

OMG your description of the BREAD had my mouth watering and took me back to when I had it at Kona!! I think I more or less ate the whole thing...there was no way I was sharing that little beauty!

I also had that Teriyaki Steak and it was yummy. Haha I'm guessing you'll remember this meal because of the sauce story.

That bread was so delicious! I can buy Hawaiian bread in stores, but I can't find that butter, and that's what makes it so special.

 

[amazingact21]

May 9th Evening:

DH and I exited the monorail, my moment of sadness forgotten.

We were at Magic Kingdom!


DH stepped off to the left to try and get a good photo of the train station while I went through bag check. It took me a few minutes to get through the line; a lot of people had chosen this park to spend their night in. When I finally got through it, I found DH patiently waiting where I left him.

"What's up?"

He kind of furrowed his eyebrows. "I can't get a good shot of the station."

"Why?"

"That woman," he pointed to a lady standing on a concrete ledge, "won't get off that spot."

"Well, give her a second. She'll take her picture and move on."

"Alicia, she's been there for five minutes already."

Yikes.

So we waited a few more minutes hoping the woman would get her shot and move on, but no luck.

We ended up just having to include her in our photos:




I almost wanted to laugh at the situation, because the lady was STILL there when we left. She was like a statue, camera raised to her face, arms up.

She never moved!
I was impressed with her determination.


We put out tickets through the turnstiles and walked onto Main Street into this:


Madness!

Main Street was swamped. It was the first time the whole trip that we ran into crowds.
I expected it to be busy being evening Extra Magic Hours and the Electrical Parade night, but that took me by surprise.

It was only a little after 7 o'clock and the parade was scheduled for 9:30. I mean, Alex and I stake out spots hours ahead of time, but we're the exception. Normally spots next to us don't fill up until about 30 minutes prior to showtime.

I guess everyone got the memo to sit down early that night.

I had tossed the idea around in my head about catching Wishes, but with these crowds I decided to skip it.
We dodged and weaved our way down Main Street and towards Tomorrowland. The castle looked especially nice that evening.



We headed over to Space Mtn and grabbed two fastpasses for 10:45pm, fifteen minutes before EMH were to start.

Perfect.

Then we swung to the right and made our way through Fantasyland. There was no way we were going near the hub until the fireworks were over. I watched the teacups go round and took a peek at the gates blocking off the new Fantasyland. Back then I didn't know too much about what was going to be in the new part of the park, so I became excited at the mystery of it all.

Unfortunately, Fantasyland was just as busy as Main Street. Parents were trying to get their children on one last Dumbo ride and others were using their Peter Pan FPs. Through all the mayhem, I did stop and look at the sun setting in the sky.


It was gorgeous.



I was very happy with our decision to take it easy and just walk around for awhile. It's one of DH and I's favorite pastimes in the parks.

We made it to the carousal and the back of the castle, and I played around with the camera for a bit, trying to get an amazing shot of the carousal in action with the castle looming in the background.

It would've been a beautiful shot.
But for some reason, the castle had a big box around the bottom of it.

Sort of took away from the magic a little bit.


DH finally convinced me to move on, so we traveled past IASW and came upon Haunted Mansion. The wait time was posted at 10 minutes, and this was an attraction we hadn't gone on last December.

Great.

We walked up to the part where the line splits into 2 parts. There was no sign telling us what was different about the lines, and I had no idea that they had put in an interactive queue, so we stood there for a couple seconds, puzzled.

"Which way do we go?"

We had no clue, so we said, "Hey, let's go the left. Why not?"

We ended up picking the interactive queue line, which turned out to be a good choice.

It was fun seeing the books and the Captain's watery grave. Due to the dark lighting, I only got one good shot of the whole thing:
f1 by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr

It took about 20 minutes to get to the front of the line. Longer than we'd anticipated, but no big deal in the end.

A CM led us to a room and closed the door.

And I fell in love with the intro.

I'd only gone on HM once, when I was 13, and I didn't remember much, because I was with my friend and we talked the entire time.
So to experience it as an adult was amazing.

I loved the stretching part, and I was totally enthralled with the ceiling scene (you know what I'm referring to). I could simply watch the intro over and over again and be perfectly content.


DH and I made our way to our doom buggies (there goes the cool vehicle names again) and rode off into the darkness.

The ride stopped briefly at the scene with the ghosts dancing in the dining room, which was the best stopping spot we could've asked for. DH and I pointed out new sights and watched all the special effects closely.

That five minute pause was like a nice little gift to us.

We weren't expecting to end our ride with the hitchhiking ghosts and ended up laughing at our ghost chilling out on the top of our buggy. (That ended up being Alex's favorite part.)
In the end, DH and I thoroughly enjoyed the attraction. In fact, it immediately became DH's favorite dark ride.

By the time we got off the ride, it was fully dark. Time to experience MK at night.

Our personal favorite!

We walked past BTMRR and saw the wait time was longer than we wanted to deal with, so we skipped past that as well as Splash Mtn. The two of us kept walking until we came upon an empty POTC queue.

My favorite dark ride!

I held such fond memories of the two us us riding Pirates at 12 o'clock in the morning last December when it was freezing out, and we dreaded stepping out of the gift shop and into the cold night.

Thinking back on it, we made our way into the ride.



Can you tell I was ridiculously excited to ride Pirates again?


We were seated in Row 6 in an almost empty boat, and the two of us thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I enjoy the beginning of the ride, when you go through the mist apparition of Davy Jones, but my all time favorite part is the cannon fight between the two ships.

You really feel as if you're in open water and you can feel the mist spray on your face from a cannon hitting the water.

And you smell the Disney water.

It's a unique scent, and I always smell it during that scene....Might be a tad bit weird-but I do.


After the ride was over, we had to take a picture in front of the mast.





We continued on our way, hearing the Main Street Electrical Parade in the distance.

It has a very distinctive soundtrack. Some could say it borders on annoying...

The crowds seemed to be thinning the closer we got to the exit of Adventureland, so we decided to see what Main Street looked like, out of curiosity.


The Adventureland sign.
f2 by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr

I love that bridge into the land.


We came out by Crystal Palace, and...

That led us into utter madness!

But that's for the next update.


Up Next: Where's Wishes?

 

[TanzUnited99]

Wow at the crowds at MK and you've got to give that woman points for having the guts to stay on that podium for so long as she probably was in a lot of other peoples photos It must have been annoying though.

I love your shot of the castle and enjoyed HM as well.

 

[amazingact21]

May 9th Night:

You know how sometimes you do something you KNOW is a bad idea, and yet, for some inexplicable reason, you truly believe the end result might turn out well. For example, when you're walking out the door in the morning, and you remember you left something inside the house. You could turn back, dig your keys out of your pocket, unlock the door, make the animals go crazy, and get said item from its spot on the kitchen counter or on top of the printer in the office.

Or you could go ahead, get in the car, and head off to your day, thinking that there's no way you'll need the item that day.
And then you get to work and realize that that work-related receipt needed to be filed that day. The one sitting on the printer. Or you get to the grocery store and you remember that the list of ingredients you needed for the evening's dinner is on that list, lying on the counter.

It never works out, and yet, as human beings, we have this built in hope that it will.

Well, in the case of our Magic Kingdom night, I fell into that crazy hope that we weren't getting ourselves into a pickle.

I should've just went back inside and grabbed the paper…



Alex and I walked out of Adventureland and were slammed by fellow guests.

It was like a tidal wave!
Adults towered over us, blocking our view, strollers bit our ankles, pushing us in whatever direction they were headed, and small children kept putting their sticky hands on our arms, causing us to do the, "Meh! Ah," cringe sideways scuffle.

(Not saying we were horrified by the kids, just reluctant to get ice cream and sticky lollipops on ourselves.)

There were guests behind us, pushing us forward in order to get to the exit of the park.

There were guests in front of us, attempting to push us back to Adventureland, because that's where the flow was trying to head.

And all around us there were guests standing stock still. Feet planted so firmly on the ground, I thought for a moment they were cemented there.

The motionless people were defiantly trying to defend their territory, their faces mentally screaming, "I've stood here for 2 hours, 45 minutes, and 7 seconds to let my kid see the fireworks. I'm hot, tired, and I kinda have to pee, don't mess with me!"

I, for one, was not trying to get in their way. I'm one of those people who stake out their spot hours ahead of time and don't let grumpy parents intimidate me into giving their young ones a spot in front of me.

I didn't want these people's spots.

Actually, I didn't know WHAT I wanted. Why in the heck had I walked us into this madness?!?

We didn't have many options on what to do. We were at the mercy of the whims of the other guests. Luckily, they cut us a break and opened a tiny gap in front of us while they closed around on our right and left.

With no place else to go, we were swept to the open section. That dumped us in front of a tree with a concrete seat around it.

The second we were through the gap, it closed up, and we could see that we had to move forward or risk being trampled. Only half the bench was filled, so DH and I sat down on two empty spots.

If we had to deal with this insanity, at least we were going to be off our feet.

All around us, every square inch of space was filling up. We just sat there and thought, "Go with the flow-just go with the flow. Once Wishes is over people will leave and the park will be nicer."


I tried to distract myself by taking a few pictures of Crystal Palace and the castle.





Every minute that passed made the crowd issue worse. DH and I just kept up a steady conversation while the EP ended while some people got up and left.

Unfortunately, the situation escalated into the land of unbearable when the Magic, the Memories, and You started. DH had a pretty decent view of the castle, so he began taking some pictures of the show. I tried my hardest NOT to watch, because I was planning on watching it the following night. Before the trip, I had avoided listening to the music and watching youtube videos, because I wanted it to be a surprise to me.

These are some of the shots Alex captured while I was humming to myself.


What helped me was that there was a cluster of trees in front of us, partially blocking my view.

What caused the crowds to lose their minds?

Those same cluster of trees.

After a couple of seconds of the show, people began realizing that they couldn't see what was happening on the castle. And you wanna see a perfect demonstration of mob mentality?
Sit at that spot during the night shows.

One man started yelling that he couldn't see, which was echoed by several mothers.

Then the kids started screaming that they wanted to see the show.

Families began making a mad dash farther ahead, literally pushing people out of the way with their stroller, trying to get into a non-existent spot.

People looked back at these intruders like, "Cut it out!"

One guy even looked like he was about to hit someone when a father rammed his stroller into the back of his leg...continuously.

And if that wasn't enough-guests were trying to use that area as a gateway to and from Adventureland. This one woman with a toddler-aged son in his stroller tried to cut through the sidewalk directly in front of us.

Of course there were people standing wall to wall right there. But she saw about five inches of space and she said, "I'll make them move."

Which caused her to end up pushing the stroller against people's backs, in hopes they'd move forward a few feet. Like that was even possible.

In doing that, she also preceded to run over Alex's feet over and over again.
Now, we'd already been dealing with our feet being ran over. It was bound to happen in that situation.

And up until then, the driver of the stroller would turn around and apologize.
We saw no big deal in it. They weren't doing it intentionally.

But this lady was, in fact, doing it in with the hopes that we'd all move away.

Alex was...

...

....

Explosive.


Yeah, that's a good description for him.

Now, you must understand. My husband has the patience of Job. This man can keep calm under any circumstance, and he never takes things too seriously. He usually just lets junk roll off his shoulders and moves on with his life.

So, to irritate my husband is to really cross the line. Even if the woman had apologized, Alex would probably have immediately been cool and gone back to his normal, go-with-the-flow self.

But she didn't.


In fact, she kept cutting him sidelong glances, seeing if DH would lift his feet up. Instead, DH let out a loud, "OW! Lady, have some courtesy, watch where the heck you're going!"

The woman threw DH an insincere look and finally moved on. I looked over at him, and all I could think was, "Oh man-he's going to blow. He's about to flip out. And this is all my fault. I should've known not to go near the hub, I saw those crowds earlier."

To add to the misery, parents started letting their kids climb around the tree, in hopes that they'd get to catch some of the show. One little boy was crawling all over our backs, pushing us, kicking us with his little feet.

I'm really not trying to sound anti-kid right now. I don't mind children. I used to work in a childcare center. If anyone without children of their own knows how to deal with toddlers, it's me.
I just did not appreciate the parents letting them loose on us.


Once the Magic, the Memories, and You was over, the crowd instantly began to buzz. There were a couple fireworks at the end, so a nice chunk of the guests thought that was it for the night.

Magically, people began swarming towards the exits.


Hallelujah!

In fact, pretty much everyone that was around us left, giving us a split second opportunity to dash towards Adventureland.

But then...

The intercoms came on.

Nooooooo!!!


I shouted to DH, "Don't tell them!"

It made both of us laugh.

"Ladies, and gentleman, boys and girls, Wishes, our celebration in the sky will begin in five minutes."

Gah!

All of a sudden, people stopped walking and scrambled over to where we were, once again filling up all the free space around us.

Drats...

We fell into the same predicament, settling in for another 15 minutes of agony.


Wishes began and this is all we saw:


Sitting to my left were 2 mothers (obviously friends) with a couple small kids. They were being blissfully respectful, but I could hear their disappointment in their conversation.

One of their little boys asked their mom in a voice that I could tell was on the verge of tears, "Mommy, where's Wishes?"

Not only was the boy sounding like he was going to cry, so did his mother. She politely told her son that they couldn't see them, then turned to her friend and just said, "I can't believe we did this."

They shared a few more sentences, then I heard the same woman, who was definitely about to cry, shout, "They lied! This isn't the happiest place on earth!"

I felt bad for this group. I could tell without looking that this woman was exhausted. And her son not being able to see Wishes was like the straw breaking her back. I almost wanted to say something encouraging or at least give her some tips, but I felt like the last thing she needed at the moment was a stranger telling what she had been doing wrong and what she SHOULD have been doing.

I just hate it when I see people not enjoying the magic of Disney. Because I have no doubt that they looked forward to the trip and fantasized about all the astonishing memories they'd create while there. I know how upset I become when one little thing turns upside down; I couldn't imagine how disheartened it must have been to them to not have one thing go the way they'd planned.


By that point I was tired, my feet were aching from being ran over by numerous strollers, and I was feeling crummy that Disney's name was tarnished in someone's mind by other, unkind guests.

I was ready to leave.

Wishes had only been playing for a minute, when I turned to DH and said, "Screw it, let's go." If everyone else wanted to push, jostle, and be rude to me then I could find a functional escape route.

DH and I grabbed hands and barreled, twisted, and dived our way to the Adventureland bridge.

We were free!!!!!


Our nerves were completely shot, but just being away from the crowds helped us tremendously.

Although...I felt like I needed a reward for all my trials and tribulations.

Aahh, there, up ahead.



A magnificant stand adorned in pineapples called my name.

I purchased my beautiful Dole Whip float and everything in the world righted itself.

So we had a bad experience in Magic Kingdom.

Who cared.

We had 3 hours of Extra Magic Hours to let the park make it up to us.

And for me, it started with my float.


We sat down at a table by the stand and listened to Wishes.
Listening to Wishes was so much better in an un-crowded area and with a Dole whip.

We sat there for a few minutes after Wishes ended, reorienting ourselves. We just couldn't catch a break, it seemed like. From the ring incident, to the dinner accident, to this.

It just, plain and simple, was not our night.

Then, when we felt like we'd recovered, DH and I headed towards the rides.



Up Nextut Your Bag Down, Sweetheart.

 

[UGAFan0829]

Wow!! What an evening experience! I can't imagine what those crowds were like. Neither the DH or myself do well with them, so I can only guess what it would have been like. And the lady running over his feet with the stroller would have been icing on the cake. I'm glad he finally said something!

I'm so glad you were able to excape over to Aloha Isle...I can't imagine things that are much more magical that listening to Wishes while indulging in one of those succulent treats...Heaven for sure!

I'm glad that you still had plenty of time left in the park...and I sure hope it ended better than it started!

 

[Nermel9]

OMG. That whole MMY/Wishes experience sounds awful. I can't believe people were actually yelling "I can't see" for the MMY show. Uh, hello, don't they clearly say the show will be ON Cinderella Castle?

I'm glad your DH said something to the woman with the stroller. It makes me kind of regret not saying something to those people at the Halloween parade!

They shared a few more sentences, then I heard the same woman, who was definitely about to cry, shout, “They lied! This isn’t the happiest place on earth!”

Isn't Disneyland the happiest place on earth?

Don't worry, you don't sound anti-kid at all. There's nothing wrong with expecting kids to behave and parents to act like parents, I'm the same way. No, I don't have kids, but I'd like one someday, I work with kids 9 hours a day, so I feel like, even though I don't have one, I kind of know how to handle them too. Although people with children will tell you otherwise.

 

[TanzUnited99]

Eek at what you had to go through to watch The Magic, The Memories and You show as well as Wishes I also feel for that family you described with the small kids.

I'm happy that you didn't let that spoil the rest of your evening and that float looks yummy!!

 

[amazingact21]

Wow!! What an evening experience! I can't imagine what those crowds were like. Neither the DH or myself do well with them, so I can only guess what it would have been like. And the lady running over his feet with the stroller would have been icing on the cake. I'm glad he finally said something!

I'm so glad you were able to excape over to Aloha Isle...I can't imagine things that are much more magical that listening to Wishes while indulging in one of those succulent treats...Heaven for sure!

I'm glad that you still had plenty of time left in the park...and I sure hope it ended better than it started!

Having a Dole Whip while listening to Wishes was pretty magical. One of the highlights of my trip.

OMG. That whole MMY/Wishes experience sounds awful. I can't believe people were actually yelling "I can't see" for the MMY show. Uh, hello, don't they clearly say the show will be ON Cinderella Castle?

I'm glad your DH said something to the woman with the stroller. It makes me kind of regret not saying something to those people at the Halloween parade!


Isn't Disneyland the happiest place on earth?

Don't worry, you don't sound anti-kid at all. There's nothing wrong with expecting kids to behave and parents to act like parents, I'm the same way. No, I don't have kids, but I'd like one someday, I work with kids 9 hours a day, so I feel like, even though I don't have one, I kind of know how to handle them too. Although people with children will tell you otherwise.

I wish that whole experience had gone differently. I don't like confronting strangers, nor do I like having to hear all about how other people's trip are being ruined. It just does not make me feel very happy or put me in a magical frame of mind.

Eek at what you had to go through to watch The Magic, The Memories and You show as well as Wishes I also feel for that family you described with the small kids.

I'm happy that you didn't let that spoil the rest of your evening and that float looks yummy!!

The Dole Whip was delicious!!! It's kind of become my go-to treat whenever I get upset at MK. While we there in October, Alex bought me one after some teenage girl screamed at the top of her lungs behind me on BTMRR. After one of those floats, I felt ten times better.

 

[amazingact21]

Quick Aside before I get to the trip update. Has anyone ever had a Pyrex baking dish lid shatter on them before? Last night, I was trying out a new recipe, and when I pulled the 2qtdish out of the oven and set it on a warm burner to cool, the lid broke into a thousand pieces! Needless to say, instead of a chicken and stuffing dinner, Alex and I ended up having peanut butter and jelly sandwiches….


May 9th Evening Extra Magic Hours:

Pushing the Magic, Memories, and You incident aside, Alex and I prepared ourselves to have a great time inside the Magic Kingdom that night. And I have to say, we hit the park hard.

It was one of those experiences where we just knew we’d look back on when we’re much older and go, “How did we have that much energy?!” By the end, Alex was dragging me through Frontierland, enticing me with one more turn on Thunder Mountain.

Speaking of Thunder…We still had Space Mtn fastpasses to use, but we figured we could squeeze in a quick ride on BTMRR before we dashed to Tomorrowland.

Alex took this picture of me as we were leaving Aloha Isle, and I’m not sure why I don’t look very happy. We were only going to my favorite Disney ride, after all.



Along the way, DH spotted two carrot cakes sitting on the table:


We found it odd that someone would leave two unopened cakes behind, but I guess they changed their minds about eating them. Felt like a waste to me, because you know they just ended up in the trash at the end of the night.


The two of us walked onto Thunder Mountain and then rushed over to SM. I always have to laugh on this ride, because Alex is way too tall for this particular attraction. Sitting in the vehicles, he’s eating his knees, and it’s always so challenging for him to get out at the end.
By the time we exited the gift shop, EMH had started and Space Mountain was distributing Fastpasses. We grabbed two for later and headed back to Frontierland.


We took another spin on BTMRR, and then Alex said he wanted to go on Splash Mountain.
Last time we were at WDW, it was the four days before Christmas and the weather was freezing!!! So any thoughts of riding Splash were thrown out the window. But here we were, wandering around in beautiful 70 degree weather in shorts and t-shirts.

I have never liked drops on rides; I prefer to just turn and spin (even flip). I really don’t like that free-falling you get, where your stomach feels as if it’s dropping out, and your head gets lightheaded. But I couldn’t remember Splash Mountain that well, and I knew from Disney videos that the themeing for the ride was spectacular.

So, I sucked it up and told DH that I would go on it, but only if we sat in the back. Just because the weather was nice didn’t mean I wanted to walk around the rest of the night wet.
There was no wait for the ride and the CM in charge happily gave us the 6th row. We were placed with two other adults who sat in the front row and I have to say, they made my night.

The guy was so ecstatic to be on the ride. Bubbly, fun, energetic. He sang the songs out loud and gave a short “Whooo!” after every little drop.


Those little drops, by the way, killed me! I kept going, “Oh my gosh, this is it!” And then we’d be taken to a new scene….

The big drop finally arrived and I ended up pushing as hard as I could on the seat in front of me. Like I could stop the drop by planting my feet in the ground and propelling myself backwards.


Alex and the other guy threw their hands up and yelled in glee. After we got off the ride, Alex talked about how awesome it was, and he said he wanted to go on it again.

The drop wasn’t TOO bad, but I wasn’t up for another round, so I told DH he could go by himself. To which he said it wasn’t worth going on again if I wasn’t there.

I guess my terror makes the ride so much more enjoyable…


We took a left outside of Splash, and I debated going on Thunder yet again, but decided Haunted Mansion would be more fun. The 2nd trip didn’t let us down. In fact, it was a little bit more fun riding at night, because the horseless carriage looked spookier and the mansion gave off a more eerie feel.

By that point it was time to use our second set of Space Mountain fastpasses, so we crossed the hub to get to the other side of the park. On the bridge over to Tomorrowland, we spotted a PP photographer and figured we’d might as well get a picture together.


When we walked up to him, we went to stand by the metal railing and the guy said to me, “Hey, put your bag down, sweetheart.”

For some reason this really irked Alex, so I picture turned out a little awkward:


Once we were walking away from the guy, I told Alex that Cast Members are hired from all over the world, and that in some regions, saying sweetheart is just a common greeting. That made sense to Alex, but he still didn’t like it. I can’t say I really understood the irritation. To me, it wasn’t insulting, but Alex felt that it was kind of impolite. Like the guy had proclaimed, “Hey, toots, get over here!”

I don’t know…it was a strange situation. But one that I definitely remember, so when I was thinking about what to name this update, that stood pretty clear in my head.


We got to a virtually empty Space Mountain and headed inside.


We were directed to the left side, which I was happy about, because to me it’s a little bit more thrilling. As you can see in that photo, there was nobody in front of us. Normally, all those lines are filled to the max.


We were placed in the first set of cars:


I gave Alex the front, because I was hoping it might have a little more leg room. I took the middle spot, and a woman was placed in the last seat while her husband took the first spot in the second car.

We had a thoroughly enjoyable time. On the left side of the attraction, there is one drop that I always forget is coming, so it never fails I always let out a little shriek. It’s just so sudden and quick, that I don’t have time to prepare myself. Which is the whole point of the ride, I suppose...


After we got out of the ride and looked at our ride photo, the woman who was sitting behind me came up to me with her husband and got my attention.

“I just had to let you know, you were hilarious to ride with. You were giggling like a little kid.”

Aaaahhhh

Alex busted out laughing. He found that to be absolutely hilarious.

I was slightly mortified.

“Alex, do I really sound like a kid?”

“Babe, if I had a videocamera, I’d record you going ‘Hee-hee-hee’ throughout the entire ride.”

Great.
So I have since discovered that I am an endless source of amusement for ride companions due to my uncontrollable laughter.

Ahh, what am I to do?


Upon leaving Space Mountain, my fatigue from running back and forth across the park had caught up with me. I felt like we had accomplished all that we wanted to, and I was ready to fall into my bed and sleep for the next 6 hours.


Back at the hub, Alex suggested we try and get another picture in front of the castle. Unfortunately, I was so tired that I look a little crazed in the photo:


We have since learned to take our photopass picture BEFORE we start an action-packed night of thrill riding.


On our way out, I took a couple picture of the park:






I was getting a little bit sad by that point. Leaving Magic Kingdom always does that to me. But I reminded myself that I was going to be coming back the following evening and that wiped away all my morose thoughts.

We lucked out big time with the tram and caught the first one that appeared. Then, it stopped right before our parking lot row.


That black car in the blurry picture is our vehicle. (Also known as the Batmobile in earlier posts.) We’ve never had that good of luck with our parking spots. After running around like a mad person in the park, it was sweet relief to just hop out of the tram and literally be at our car.

Amusingly enough, when we were slowing to a stop, a guy behind us said, “Man, whoever’s in that car is a lucky son of a gun.”

Alex and I smiled at each other and imagined the look of jealousy and exasperation on his face when he saw us walking towards the car.


In our minds, it was a perfect way to end an adventurous day. We couldn’t believe how much had went down in just one single park day, and in our minds, we were headed to All Star Sports with a bag full of memories. Some bad, most of them good.

As Alex drove home, I thought about what else we could possibly encounter on our last Disney day.



Up Next…They Have a Plethora of Cones Here and the Monorail of a Thousand Daddies.

 

[UGAFan0829]

Woohoo for an awesome update! I'm so glad that the rest of your evening in the park was so productive!!!

Ok, I literally lauged out loud at the "get over here Toots" comment. I can so see my husband getting a little out of joint if the photog had called me sweetheart as well, so don't feel bad!

And for the comment on Space Mountain--I thought it was too funny as the last time we rode there was an older couple in front of me, and she too told me the same thing. Evidently, I laugh like a little kid, too. But then again, that ride makes me feel like a little kid!! I just can't help myself!

Gotta love the good luck of being let off the tram so close to the Batmobile!

 

[TanzUnited99]

Yay on immersing yourselves into the magic and getting loads done!!

Lol that is wierd about the unopened carrot cakes being left on the table - I guess some people do not have a sweet tooth like the rest of us!

Haha your recap of Splash Mountain had me laughing as well - what a fun way to ride the attraction!

I know what you mean about leaving MK behind - I had the same feeling

 

[Nermel9]

I love magic hours! You guys definitely got a lot done!

Splash is so much fun, I love the theming! I can't believe Space was so empty, I have never seen it like that!

Your PP pictures are cute, you don't look tired or awkward or anything!

 

[amazingact21]

Woohoo for an awesome update! I'm so glad that the rest of your evening in the park was so productive!!!

Ok, I literally lauged out loud at the "get over here Toots" comment. I can so see my husband getting a little out of joint if the photog had called me sweetheart as well, so don't feel bad!

And for the comment on Space Mountain--I thought it was too funny as the last time we rode there was an older couple in front of me, and she too told me the same thing. Evidently, I laugh like a little kid, too. But then again, that ride makes me feel like a little kid!! I just can't help myself!

Gotta love the good luck of being let off the tram so close to the Batmobile!

I loved that we got so much accomplished during Extra Magic Hours. And since that woman's comment to me, I try to pay attention to my reaction on rides. Don't want any more people getting a laugh at my expense.

Yay on immersing yourselves into the magic and getting loads done!!

Lol that is wierd about the unopened carrot cakes being left on the table - I guess some people do not have a sweet tooth like the rest of us!

Haha your recap of Splash Mountain had me laughing as well - what a fun way to ride the attraction!

I know what you mean about leaving MK behind - I had the same feeling

I don't think it matters if you go to Magic Kingdom on your first night of a trip, knowing you have several more days at WDW, you'll always feel a little sad when you leave. It's just so hard to have to walk about into reality.

I love magic hours! You guys definitely got a lot done!

Splash is so much fun, I love the theming! I can't believe Space was so empty, I have never seen it like that!

Your PP pictures are cute, you don't look tired or awkward or anything!

We were pretty surprised that Space Mountain was so empty, as well. Normally the wait is 40+ minutes. I'm kind of scared to see what the wait time will be when I go in May, since BTMRR will be closed.

 

[Queenofallthings]

I'm all caught up again! I have to say as I was reading the post of MMY/Wishes...I could totally relate to how you were feeling! I don't get where people's heads are at ...makes me wonder whatever happened to common sense!

I'm glad your evening turned out much better than it began! That Dole Whip was the perfect way to start out after your fiasco!!

 

[amazingact21]

I'm all caught up again! I have to say as I was reading the post of MMY/Wishes...I could totally relate to how you were feeling! I don't get where people's heads are at ...makes me wonder whatever happened to common sense!

I'm glad your evening turned out much better than it began! That Dole Whip was the perfect way to start out after your fiasco!!

I think in large crowds like that, people just become frustrated and that is piled on top of being hot and tired, and it just makes for a bad mood. I'm pretty mellow and patient but that incident was too much for me.


A good Dole Whip can do wonders for improving one's night, in my mind.

 

[amazingact21]

Okay, I admit, I have pushed this trip report to the side since I began my PTR. I just can't stop thinking about my upcoming trip; I forget that I still have to finish last May's report. Not to mention, I'm nearing the end of the trip, and I always get so sad thinking about having to leave WDW and remembering our last adventures in the park.

When I think about all those things, though, it eventually leads me to the amusing moments and memorable encounters that I have yet to record, which gets me motivated to write an update. I mean, I haven't even gotten to the part of the trip that stands out the most in my mind. And I haven't even brought up our last table service meal!

I have to get on this!


May 10th Early Morning:

Since Alex and I had stayed out so late the night before at Magic Kingdom's Extra Magic Hours, we slept in really late the following morning. I had accounted for us needing at least one night of decent sleep, so I planned for us to spend the majority of the day exploring the World Showcase in Epcot. And because that part of the park doesn't open until 11, I gave us a really easygoing morning.



We loaded ourselves into the car at around 10:30 and drove to the TTC. I figured that since we had gotten such a late start, we could opt out of the afternoon break and head straight to Magic Kingdom when we were through with Epcot.

Before getting on a tram, Alex took one last picture of our row. (With my lovely shoes in the way.)


We knew we didn't want to end the trip the same way we'd begun-trying to track down our vehicle. Unfortunately, we still managed to mess the whole thing up, but that'll come much later.


After loading and unloading onto one of the trams, the two of us spotted the Epcot monorail sign and headed up the ramp.


Our carriage was waiting:


One of my favorite things about Disney is the Epcot monorail. It's kind of like the MK ferry in that it gives you a preview of what you're about to enter. On the ferry, you get to watch Cinderella's Castle as it inches closer and closer. You can't peel your eyes off of it (at least I can't) and all you're thinking is, "Can't this ferry go any faster?!?"

I love it...

And on the Epcot monorail, you get such a gorgeous view of the park. It's like watching the trailer to an anticipated movie. You see certain scenes and you go, "That is going to be so awesome!"

This time around on the monorail was even better, due to the Flower and Garden Festival. Talk about an amazing view. Everything was bright and colorful and tasteful.





I could have sat in that (air-conditioned) monorail for hours, just looping through Epcot over and over again.
But, I don't think I could've taken another chance at getting another "Daddy kid" in my car.

This "Daddy kid" was one of those memories that you just cannot forget. When Alex and I refer to this trip, we can't help but include "the monorail of a thousand Daddies."

You see, when we boarded the monorail, we sat down and were followed by a father, mother, daughter, and son. The son was probably 6 or 7.

And he was a whirlwind! From the moment the doors closed, this is what Alex and I heard:

"Daddy, why is the door-Daddy, is this going to be, Daddy, long? Daddy, it's, Daddy, sunny out, Daddy, is it going to, Daddy, is it going to rain, Daddy? Daddy, where are we, Daddy, going, Daddy? I love Epcot, Daddy. Daddy, Daddy, Daddy."

After every word the kid threw "Daddy" in his sentence! Alex and I looked at each other and just started giggling, because we were in amazement. We couldn't believe how many times this kid could say Daddy without showing the least sign of tiring. That's talent right there.

And the father just went with it. He answered the kid's questions and acted like hearing his name a thousand times was nothing new!

I wish I had something to record with, because if someone told me they'd heard a kid say Daddy every 3 or 4 words, I wouldn't believe them. But it was true. He just kept going and going, like the energizer bunny. By the time we exited the monorail, Alex and I were practically in hysterics. We could not believe it. For the rest of the day, one of us would stop and go, "Daddy!" and we'd both burst into laughter.

I almost felt bad for the poor father. I can only imagine how much patience he must have to be able to just go with it and not lose his cool.

Alex and I about fell on the ground laughing when we were entering the park, because, what would you know, that same family was walking beside us, and the kid was STILL going strong. "Daddy, what's that? Daddy, can we ride the car ride, Daddy? Daddy, do you have some, Daddy, water?"


We decided to detour to some topiaries to get ourselves together. We admired Mickey and Minnie and Pluto. They were really well done.



Alex mentioned that he'd like to try out Sum of all Thrills again before we began touring World Showcase, and I didn't see the harm in a quick detour.

We went inside Innovations, and it was practically empty. Everyone was away riding rides or seeing the various countries, meaning we had virtually no wait time for the attraction.


I realized that after watching the video in the briefing room once, it's pretty boring the second time around. Feels really long and dull. I ended up letting my mind wander.
And while it was wandering, I realized that Alex and I had only used one snack credit the whole trip! Making a mental note of that, I prepared myself for a day of eating a lot of food.


When we made it to the building portion of the attraction, I let Alex have free reign to design the coaster. He enjoys that kind of stuff, and I have virtually zero interest in it, so it was a win for both us.

I chose to take pictures of his creation:




Alex had chosen a jet this time around, and it was a lot more intense with 3 inversions.


We put our belongings in a locker and climbed aboard the same machine we were in last time.

I wasn't as big a fan of this coaster, because the inversions were a tad bit too much for me. I left feeling queasy, and I told Alex that I needed to walk it off and try to get my stomach to stop rolling. It felt like I had just done Mission Space (the intense side) five times in a row.


Leaving the Innovations building, we started walking towards World Showcase, taking in the beautiful late spring day.




There's not much better than a hot Florida day, in my opinion. It's what I consider home, and I couldn't feel more at peace than I was at that moment. Of course, there was that tiny little voice inside my head trying to bring me down by reminding me that it was my last Disney day. But I just hushed him up and concentrated on making the most of my Epcot time.



Up Next:Are You Going Bashful on Me?

 

[TanzUnited99]

Lol I'm delaying writing my next update for the exact same reason

Wow your pics of Epcot are amazing and I'm trying to rack my brains to think if we ever tried the monorail to Epcot - I don't think we did

Haha at the 'daddy' story - hilarious!

 

[Queenofallthings]

Loved this update! That picture from the monorail of all the flowers is beyond amazing...so beautiful! I can totally understand trying to juggle 2 reports now...not the easiest thing is it