From Kick'n It at Kidani to Play'n It at Pop adults only p62/63 last thoughts&request

[eandesmom]

Hi All!

I read through everyone's great comments and I promise to respond to everyone individually, tomorrow! It's already 11pm and we just got home from Dorney. Talk about "walk - on". It was walk - on everything. I just really wish I could do hard-core thrill rides, like those coasters that send up spiraling upward and then flying backwards up another 90 degree tower only to leave you hanging there looking straight down. You know - those really crazy ones. But we did ride the tamer coasters numerous times - Talon, Steel Force, and the new one - Hydra (which was down most of the day).

The Hydra is a B&M coaster (the same company that made the Incredible Hulk coaster in IoA). It was very smooth and very fun. I did work up the nerve for the front seat on Talon and that was amazing. I kept thinking we were really going to hit our heads on the track. What a rush! Unfortunately, after several rides on those looping coasters, I started to get one of the "coaster headaches". You know - that funny pressure in your head which is probably a warning that you've knocked your brains against your cranium a few too many times. But I managed to ride Steele Force 5 times, Talon 4 times, and Hydra twice.

We stayed until dark so we could visit a couple of the Halloween Haunt attractions. Well, I think I screamed more at the spooky looking people jumping out of the fog, then I did on the cranium busting coasters. I hated to leave, but we had a long drive home, made longer by an accident that closed all the lanes on I95. The one attraction was just down-right gory, but so much fun. We had a blast. I wish they would have their picnic there again next year.

Anyway - gotta go sleep. Comments and an update will be coming tomorrow!

Sounds like a fun day, I know nothing about that park but it sounds like they have some good coasters! Although I have to say....I don't think of the Hulk as being tame! I like it but I don't think it's tame. Does that make me lame?

UGH on the coaster headache!

OK, not so funny for you. Does your state having a driving curfew? Delaware does. In fact, for the first 6 months the 16 yr old needs an adult in the car. I am grateful for that.

We do have a curfew, it is 1am. Somehow he managed to "miss" the freeway coming back from a friends and ended up over by his mom's. On a night his mom and sister were away at a game. It is impossible to miss the freeway from where he was to get to his mom's. He'd have had to drive over, or under it. But at 5 minutes to 1 DH didn't want him on the road so let him stay over there. He's not been allowed to drive any of our cars since then, we will see what happens this weekend but he's cut off at night for now. No evidence of anything else but....

see below

to the horror store of teens alone gone bad. You will have to share a story or two.

Gone bad is a stretch. Good, actually normally exceptionally good, teens doing stupid teen stuff like saying they are sleeping over at a friends, actually going to a party and getting severe alcohol poisoning. AP/Honors, academic scholarship candidate kinds of teens doing this. Ones that have no history of drinking and such and run the risk of getting kicked off of cheer if caught. And hopefully having the scare of their lives and never doing anything like it again but still! Talk about putting everything at risk!

I that cooler, too. I did check it. It was full of water and a bottle of wine. Since the plastic wheely thing detacts, I just carried that and put it under my seat. We kept that bad-boy filled with ice. No leaks whatsoever. Perfect for a trip to the value resorts!

Did you wrap the wine to keep it from breaking? Or did you check it with ice in it?

We did get a bit of a warning. We knew the head was going to be on the fish. We didn't know about the rest of the body. Filleting it tableside does sound like the right thing today. Maybe not of the waiters knew how to do that? Interesting. Because it was the bones, not the appearance, that really presented the challenge. When the waiter asked how everything was, and Denny told him about the bones, he just sort-of did this ......

It seems crazy to me that a Signature restaurant would not know how to do that tableside. I mean if "I" can do it....

I did look marvelous. I can only say that because I have no pictures of myself to prove it. But at least my pants fit, because they were way too tight before I started weight watchers!

That's wonderful about the pants!

 

[kindra657]

I'm in! That fish looked scary! I would've sent it back! As for the rental car, we never bother, and as for going without the teenagers.... i'm all for it! can't wait to read more!

 

[MEK]

Mary Ellen, I think Denny had the guy on the right for dinner



Serves him right for messing with Marlin and Dory

LOL! That is so freak'in perfect! You're really giving Shocker a run for his money with that picture!

Sounds like a fun day, I know nothing about that park but it sounds like they have some good coasters! Although I have to say....I don't think of the Hulk as being tame! I like it but I don't think it's tame. Does that make me lame?

UGH on the coaster headache!

It was a great day! I don't think the Hulk is lame either. This was like the hulk (smooth), but not as long, not as high, and no blast off through the tunnel. I consider it a regular theme park coaster, not one of those really crazy ones that even your kids say, "Wow, that was intense". Dorney park is sort of like a 6 flags, but its owned by Cedar Faire parks. I'm not sure what else they own, but their annual pass for ALL their parks is $150. That could be a serious good deal for thrill ride junkies.

We do have a curfew, it is 1am. Somehow he managed to "miss" the freeway coming back from a friends and ended up over by his mom's. On a night his mom and sister were away at a game. It is impossible to miss the freeway from where he was to get to his mom's. He'd have had to drive over, or under it. But at 5 minutes to 1 DH didn't want him on the road so let him stay over there. He's not been allowed to drive any of our cars since then, we will see what happens this weekend but he's cut off at night for now. No evidence of anything else but....

I had to read this a few times, but NOW I get it. Slick! Nice try! I don't blame you at all for not letting him drive. Why do teens think adults are so lame that they don't know what's really going on. Remind me to tell you about the time in July when Brian "stole" my car while I was sleeping.

By the way, 1am seems like a really late curfew to me.

Did you wrap the wine to keep it from breaking? Or did you check it with ice in it?

I used some big plastic packing bubbles that were inside of box that was shipped to me recently. I put the wine and water inside a cardboard box and then put the cardboard box inside the cooler. I used the packing bubbles to cushion everything. Worked like a charm. The only stupid thing I did was fill the whole thing with ice after we arrived. Silly me.... I forgot to take the cardboard box out first. That was messy!

It seems crazy to me that a Signature restaurant would not know how to do that tableside. I mean if "I" can do it....

I'm glad you explained the whole process to me, because it does seem crazy that they did not filet the fish properly.

I'm in! That fish looked scary! I would've sent it back! As for the rental car, we never bother, and as for going without the teenagers.... i'm all for it! can't wait to read more!

Welcome Kindra..... I should have posted the picture of the fish, then taken a poll to find out how many people would have sent that fish back!

Going without the teens was so much fun. We are now planning another teenager free trip for May!

 

[MEK]

A Magical Evening at the MK (AKA "My aching feet")

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OK....you are not going to believe this. this has never happened to me before. I just started working on an update and I LOST it! It vanished! Poof....gone......into thin air. I am so exhausted from my late night at Dorney, that I actually started to fall asleep and I must have closed my update by mistake. OK...that really stinks.

So, I will not get through the entire update, but I really want to start.

So when I left off, we had just left Narcoosees to hop the monorail to MK. Originally I thought we would watch Wishes from the Narcoosee's deck, but I realized that we had just enough to get over to MK before Wishes started. If you read my June 09 TR you might remember that my camera batteries died and I almost got into a fight with a woman right after I went up on the deck outside of the train station to photograph Wishes. It was not one of the highlights of my June trip.


Well, tonight I was going to try again. We got up to the train station just as Wishes started. Let me add a disclaimer to my pics....I have finally decided that it is impossible to get good firework pics with my point and shoot Fuji. I decided not to use any of the special modes, I just put the camera in automatic and here's what I got. It ain't all that.....

OK...they are bad, but by my next trip I hope to have a better camera and I am going to use a tripod. I really had a hard time keeping the camera steady. I'm not super steady to begin with, let alone after having a few drinks!

After Wishes, we decided to do a few things in MK. Despite my sleep deprivation, I was feeling pretty energized. I was so excited to be in the MK and I just wanted to soak up all the energy around me. It was really invigorating.

The castle looked so beautiful....

The halloween decorations were so cool....

Wooh...Where did Denny go?

Wait....I'm not even sure if that is Denny.

Oh, there's that crazy castle again.....

I have always wanted to visit the MK during Halloween and I certainly wasn't disappointed. I especially love the little array of carved pumpkins lined up above the exit which read, "See you real soon". How cute is that?

After we took in the hubbub of Main Street we made a sharp right and headed over to Tomorrowland. I needed to see the new lighting along the TTA. The TTA is one of my favs. It's always there when you need a break. It never disappoints.

Wow...look at those lights......cool!

More Tomorrowland......

I was hoping that our ride on TTA might provide some glimpse into the Space Mountain renovations, but that was not to be the case. This is about all I saw,,,,

These guys obviously wanted to see some renovations as well.....



Oh Lo

ok....this is revealing:

Another ride pic...

Well, I didn't get as far as I wanted, but maybe I'll get a chance to update again tomorrow night.

 

[wigdoutdismom]

Ohhhhh! I didn't know TTA was open! Yay!

You got some really cool castle pics in the spooky lights!

 

[Charleston Princess]

All caught up! So, Connor was hugging me good night as I was reading, so I could not resist showing him Denny's fish. His response was, "THAT'S A FISH!" I must say that your surf and turf looks way better!

Sorry about all the teenage angst and the sleepless night!

I about dying laughing at the "I am not even sure that is Denny" pic!

 

[mickeysmyboy]

LOL! That is so freak'in perfect! You're really giving Shocker a run for his money with that picture!

LOL!! All I could think about after I saw the dish on Denny's plate was that fish from Nemo!!

Sounds like a great night in MK so far! I love TTA as well! I love to take a ride with my feet up and feel a little breeze on my face!

 

[Lady Lallie]

You know....I love that last pic of the fireworks and the castle. Very pretty and spooky Halloween at the same time.

I am just so happy that TTA is opened again. I really missed it in May!

 

[MEK]

Ohhhhh! I didn't know TTA was open! Yay!

You got some really cool castle pics in the spooky lights!

I think TTA opened the week before we got there. The cool red lights on the track are a nice enhancement, but I really miss see space mountain. It won't be the same until that is up and running. I miss the day-glo lights, twinkling stars, and the screams. Most of all I miss the space mtn music. I hope they don't change that!

The castle does look especially cool at Halloween. I think I like the Halloween decorations better than the Christmas decorations. So glad I got to see them.

All caught up! So, Connor was hugging me good night as I was reading, so I could not resist showing him Denny's fish. His response was, "THAT'S A FISH!" I must say that your surf and turf looks way better!

I knew Connor would love that fish! OMG I crack myself up when I think how he would have reacted to THAT in a restaurant!

Sorry about all the teenage angst and the sleepless night!

I just you just have to have a little pain before enjoying the pleasure of a Disney trip! So, it's all good!

I about dying laughing at the "I am not even sure that is Denny" pic!

I really thought that was Denny, but I looked again and thought, "uhmm, not so sure".

LOL!! All I could think about after I saw the dish on Denny's plate was that fish from Nemo!!

Sounds like a great night in MK so far! I love TTA as well! I love to take a ride with my feet up and feel a little breeze on my face!

OMG! That picture was SOOOOOOOO perfect. Denny got a good chuckle out of that and I was down-right hysterical.

We did have a lovely evening in the MK. I tried to put it in my update, but, again, I ended up deleting things. Will carry on with it today/tonight!

You know....I love that last pic of the fireworks and the castle. Very pretty and spooky Halloween at the same time.

I am just so happy that TTA is opened again. I really missed it in May!

Thanks for the compliment, coming from the expert photographer LL! I just really struggle with those fireworks. But come May, I'm gonna kill it down there with a new camera!

Yes, you will get to ride TTA to your heart's content in January. And Space Mtn will be up!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't WAIT for that come May!

 

[Charleston Princess]

I knew Connor would love that fish! OMG I crack myself up when I think how he would have reacted to THAT in a restaurant!

He probably would have had to move tables and eat alone!

I just you just have to have a little pain before enjoying the pleasure of a Disney trip! So, it's all good!

It's like the dress rehearsal before a performance.

I really thought that was Denny, but I looked again and thought, "uhmm, not so sure".

There goes, Mary Ellen -- taking random pics of guys.

 

[jenjolt]

What a hoot it was to read this update!! I enjoyed your pictures...the castle looked really creepy yet beautiful at the same time I really loved that!!!! TTA is such a great ride although it was very creepy for me to ride on it at night, I think Paula may have freaked me out while I was on that ride LOL I scare easily LOL!!!!! I was hoping for a sneak peak too at Space Mountain but no such luck!!

LOL...well let's hope its Denny...if not what a cute pic to have of some random guy at Disney LOL!!!!!

Can't wait for more...sorry you lost your full update...what a bummer!! Thanks for sharing this with us though!

 

[podsnel]

ugh! I hate when that happens- when you lose your whole update!!! Really! It just stinks!

And FWIW, I thought your automatic/ no tri-pod pics were great!!!

 

[MEK]

He probably would have had to move tables and eat alone!

Oh I can just see that. Well, if it makes you feel any better my 16year old, Brian, would have to move to another table, too. He despises fish!

There goes, Mary Ellen -- taking random pics of guys.

I am going to blame that mishap on the sangria, the champagne, and the sleep deprivation!

What a hoot it was to read this update!! I enjoyed your pictures...the castle looked really creepy yet beautiful at the same time I really loved that!!!!

Thanks. glad you liked the creepy castle picture. I can't wait to see the pics from yours and Pauls's trip. Are you doing a joint TR? Can't wait!

TTA is such a great ride although it was very creepy for me to ride on it at night, I think Paula may have freaked me out while I was on that ride LOL I scare easily LOL!!!!! I was hoping for a sneak peak too at Space Mountain but no such luck!!

You who are intoxicated by the Haunted Mansion scare easily?????NO! What the heck was she doing to freak you out?

Can't wait for more...sorry you lost your full update...what a bummer!! Thanks for sharing this with us though!

I do not know what my problem was last night, but TWICE I lost the pictures I posted of HM! I will try again tonight! The whole time I was thinking about you....thinking ...oh Jen is going to be so proud of me for taking these pics!

ugh! I hate when that happens- when you lose your whole update!!! Really! It just stinks!

I will never post an update again when I keep falling asleep. That is just a recipe for disaster. Fortunately I am much more awake today, so tonight's update better go smoother.

And FWIW, I thought your automatic/ no tri-pod pics were great!!!

Any you forgot to mention the sangria and champagne I drank right BEFORE taking them! Thanks for the compliment!

 

[LOVEMY3KIDDOS]

Ok! All caught up!!! So far so good! Good job on the car upgrade and glad to see you made it around alive with the shaking wheel! LOL
It sounds like you had a nice dinner with just the two of you at Narcoossees! Ahhhhh...what that must be like...a dinner without kids! Some day!!! But, the fish...eh, not sure if I could have stayed to look at that for the whole dinner! It was a bit scary! Actually it was so big and alive-looking that it was like you had a dinner for three! LOL
The fireworks pix look good! Just had to get a little taste of the MK in, right? Tired or not! I get that! We don't land until 10 pm in December...I wish I could get to a park, any park. But, it will be too late!

 

[eandesmom]

I had to read this a few times, but NOW I get it. Slick! Nice try! I don't blame you at all for not letting him drive. Why do teens think adults are so lame that they don't know what's really going on. Remind me to tell you about the time in July when Brian "stole" my car while I was sleeping.

By the way, 1am seems like a really late curfew to me.

Oh my!

I couldn't agree more about the curfew. It's one of those situations where I bite my tounge as that is between Jeff and his ex to decide what they are ok with and that's what the law is. That said the E's will NOT be allowed out that late when they are that age! It's 1am on Friday and Sat...I forget what on weeknights...maybe midnight? He can't have anyone in the car with him that is under 21 unless they are family for the 1st 6 months.

I used some big plastic packing bubbles that were inside of box that was shipped to me recently. I put the wine and water inside a cardboard box and then put the cardboard box inside the cooler. I used the packing bubbles to cushion everything. Worked like a charm. The only stupid thing I did was fill the whole thing with ice after we arrived. Silly me.... I forgot to take the cardboard box out first. That was messy!

Ok now it makes sense, the cardboard would stablize it perfectly, that was the part I couldn't figure out! How funny about the box, I would totally do that. In fact, I have although usually it's a beer 6 pack paper holder lol.

I'm glad you explained the whole process to me, because it does seem crazy that they did not filet the fish properly.

It does make me curious as to whether I could still do it

Going without the teens was so much fun. We are now planning another teenager free trip for May!

I want one of those just no kids...teens or otherwise!

A Magical Evening at the MK (AKA "My aching feet")

OK....you are not going to believe this. this has never happened to me before. I just started working on an update and I LOST it! It vanished! Poof....gone......into thin air. I am so exhausted from my late night at Dorney, that I actually started to fall asleep and I must have closed my update by mistake. OK...that really stinks.

I hate that! so frustrating. I've started doing mine in a word doc that I save until I go to post, it's been working much better. Of course it means I go on and on and on...

So when I left off, we had just left Narcoosees to hop the monorail to MK. Originally I thought we would watch Wishes from the Narcoosee's deck, but I realized that we had just enough to get over to MK before Wishes started. If you read my June 09 TR you might remember that my camera batteries died and I almost got into a fight with a woman right after I went up on the deck outside of the train station to photograph Wishes. It was not one of the highlights of my June trip.

I totally forgot about that, yikes!

Wooh...Where did Denny go?

Wait....I'm not even sure if that is Denny.

Oh, there's that crazy castle again.....

[/QUOTE]

Love the pumpkins and you've got some nice castle shots. I agree with you about point and shoot and fireworks...sad, but true.

 

[jenjolt]

I know...me the HM fanatic...scares easily...she got me a few times so that should be a lot of fun to share with you all LOL!! Yes we are doing a joint TR and I'm currently working on getting the pics uploaded onto photobucket and then we'll discuss a title and we will go from there LOL!! Hopefully later this week we will have it up and running LOL!!!!!

OOOH you took HM pictures..I cannot wait to see them!! YAY! Something utterly fabulous to look forward too!!!!!

 

[praisehisname]

I'm really enjoying your report, because DH and I are doing the same thing in December! 4 nights at the Pop, no kids! Can't wait!!!

Denise

 

[MEK]

Ok! All caught up!!! So far so good! Good job on the car upgrade and glad to see you made it around alive with the shaking wheel! LOL

Welcome! It would have been a really good upgrade if we didn't have that shaky wheel. I think we forgot about the shaky steering wheel until they day we needed to drive back and go over 62mph!

It sounds like you had a nice dinner with just the two of you at Narcoossees! Ahhhhh...what that must be like...a dinner without kids! Some day!!! But, the fish...eh, not sure if I could have stayed to look at that for the whole dinner! It was a bit scary! Actually it was so big and alive-looking that it was like you had a dinner for three! LOL

It really was a nice dinner and it is sooooooo nice to eat without kids. It was also nice that no one else's kids were there. I saw very few young children during any of our meals. (Not that I don't like young kids)

The fireworks pix look good! Just had to get a little taste of the MK in, right? Tired or not! I get that! We don't land until 10 pm in December...I wish I could get to a park, any park. But, it will be too late!

Yup....you bet. At first I thought I would be satisfied just to go out to dinner and watch fireworks from the deck, but then the MK bug bit and I knew I needed more...more....MORE!

Oh my!

I couldn't agree more about the curfew. It's one of those situations where I bite my tounge as that is between Jeff and his ex to decide what they are ok with and that's what the law is. That said the E's will NOT be allowed out that late when they are that age! It's 1am on Friday and Sat...I forget what on weeknights...maybe midnight? He can't have anyone in the car with him that is under 21 unless they are family for the 1st 6 months.

I like 10pm much better as a curfew! We also have the same restriction about extra kids in the car for the first 6 months.

Ok now it makes sense, the cardboard would stablize it perfectly, that was the part I couldn't figure out! How funny about the box, I would totally do that. In fact, I have although usually it's a beer 6 pack paper holder lol.

Yeah. It worked like a charm. Love that cooler!

I want one of those just no kids...teens or otherwise!

It was the best. You definately deserve a date night for your next trip!!!!!!

I hate that! so frustrating. I've started doing mine in a word doc that I save until I go to post, it's been working much better. Of course it means I go on and on and on...

I probably should start doing that. But the real problem was that I was way too tired to be doing an update and I kept nodding off and clicking stuff on the computer by mistake! Not good!

Love the pumpkins and you've got some nice castle shots. I agree with you about point and shoot and fireworks...sad, but true.

I'm pretty pleased with the castle shots, but, no matter what, I will have better firework pics next trip!

I know...me the HM fanatic...scares easily...she got me a few times so that should be a lot of fun to share with you all LOL!! Yes we are doing a joint TR and I'm currently working on getting the pics uploaded onto photobucket and then we'll discuss a title and we will go from there LOL!! Hopefully later this week we will have it up and running LOL!!!!!

OOOH you took HM pictures..I cannot wait to see them!! YAY! Something utterly fabulous to look forward too!!!!!

Oh, I can't wait to hear how Paula got you! I still have to finish uploading my pics, too. I took about 1500 pics in 5 days. Seesh! I ran out of memory cards and I had to start deleting! Can't wait to see what title you come up with. Can't wait to see the pics!

My HM pics are not that great, but I finally got one of the bride! I really started to memorize the different scenes of the HM. I rode it a bunch of times and it is addictive! I just wish I had you there to narrate all the different scenes.

I'm really enjoying your report, because DH and I are doing the same thing in December! 4 nights at the Pop, no kids! Can't wait!!!

Denise

Welcome Denise! You are going to have such a great time! We had a blast! December is such a great time to visit with the Christmas decorations!

 

[MEK]

I don't know what the problem was last night but I lost more trip report and deleted more pictures in one 2 hour time span than I have in my whole Dis career! LOL. I think I was just too tired to be posting. I kept falling asleep, jerking awake, and making bad key strokes.

So when I left off last night we had just finished riding TTA. I must have blacked-out for a bit after that, because I really don't remember walking to the back of MK to ride Big Thunder. I just remember it being a walk on. Perhaps the fastest walk-on of all times because before I knew it we were loading.

We had a blast. Here is a trick for making Big Thunder go faster - sleep 2 1/2hrs, drink sangria with a champagne chaser, then ride. Works like a charm. Makes Big Thunder go 30% faster. I'm not kidding - try it! I was screaming like a baby....scream, laugh, scream, laugh! So fun!

I couldn't quite convince DH that a ride on Splash was in order. "I don't want to get wet", he prostested. If I had Wigd's shower cap I would have put it on his head and said, "let's go". But I figured there was plenty of time for splash, so we set out to ride HM.

I have to tell you that I think I am becoming an HM addict. I don't really remember how many times I rode it this trip, but it was alot. I tried really hard to take in all the details. I enjoyed it more with every ride. I decided to take a few pictures of the stretching room.

And the great madame.......

I photographed that crazy bride,too, but I did it later in the trip. Must go in order!

After the HM we decided to check out the Hall of Presidents. The next show wasn't for another 15 minutes, so we just nosed around and took a few more pics....

The ceiling.....

And, of course, a light fixture outside the building for LL...

We decided not to stick around for the presidents, but we were able to see it later in the week. We were both getting a bit weary so we headed to the front of the park to catch the monorail. Next stop.....the GF.

Once we got inside I decided I had to get MORE pictures.....so here they are......

Just a few short hours ago this lobby had been teaming with people, but now the GF looked like a ghost town.

The Mercantile.....

Check out this beautiful ceiling.....

Some more cool floor pics....

I really wanted a picture of this car, and since this girl looked so good posing in front of it, I decided not to wait for her to move. lol.

By the time we reached the GF my feet were really hurting from walking around in my silly black sandals. Ouch! And we still had that 1/2 mile walk back to the car. We put it off as long as we could and finally made the trek back to the ADR car. We got to Pop without difficulty, filled our mugs with some soda (they don't have the frozen cokes anymore - bummer), and dragged our butts into bed. It was around 11:30. I was asleep in seconds flat.....and that's a wrap for Day 1!

Oops....I almost forgot....I felt compelled to take a picture of the GF map. Just in case I hit the lottery and really ever get to stay there (lol I wish)

Next up....More Anniversary Surprises at Epcot...and what do you mean that's double booking?

 

[Lady Lallie]

Your poor feet! I totally feel your pain!

Thanks for the light fixture.

I'm totally in love with the floors and ceiling at Grand Floridian. I really need to make it over there and check it out.