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

[LOVEMY3KIDDOS]

Appearantly I was a bit behond here...busy weekends kill me with the Dis! Anyway, all caught up! LOVE the MNSSHP updates! You have really made me want to go even more than I already did! Everything looked great! The decorations are wonderful! Can't wait for HS!!!

 

[MEK]

Ahem...did you see the ticker?

OMG.....Great! Don't know how I missed that!

DHS COOL!!

Wouldn't it be great if I started it tonight????? Can't promise, but I would like to get it going.

I remember being terrified of the Snow White ride when I was very little -- I don't find it near as frightening anymore.

I can definately see that. Seriously, that tree looks like it is going to jump out at you!

Love the picture with Minnie in her witch costume! I do agree that Minnie's house is very domestic, but then she doesn't have Goofy and Donald over there trying to remodel her kitchen.

She really is quite the diva! As far as her kitchen, I think it could use a remodel! Kidding!

Great pictures of a spooky Main Street and entrance!

Thanks!

I'm jealous you got a picture with Minnie in her costume! On our night the line was packed all the way around with strollers and there was no way I wanted to wait!

Well, it was pretty late by the time we saw Minnie, so our line was about 10 people deep. If it had been any longer than that - forget it - there is no way Denny would have waited. He thinks all the character visits are for kids, anyway.

Dale almost picked up same the same tee as Denny to wear to the party but ended up with another. Glad to hear you enjoyed the party and nice pics!

I love that T-shirt. We gave it to Nicholas and now he is enjoying it!

Loved your update! We are contemplating doing the Halloween Party. Is the extra cost worth it? Bear in mind that we might have a 2 1/2 yr old and a 10 year old in our group.

On to DHS....

Thanks. I loved the party, but I don't know how easy it would be to do with a 2 1/2 yr old. It would be perfect for the rest of your crew and is probably great for a young child as well. I definately think its worth the money because it isn't something you can do every visit. I think all the parties should be experienced at least once. Now, keep in mind that it has been a long time since my kids were toddlers, so its hard for me to remember. I hope someone who has small children comments.

Melissa???????

Appearantly I was a bit behond here...busy weekends kill me with the Dis! Anyway, all caught up! LOVE the MNSSHP updates! You have really made me want to go even more than I already did! Everything looked great! The decorations are wonderful! Can't wait for HS!!!

I hear ya on the busy weekends. You want to find the time and just can't. Glad you are all caught up. MNSSHP is definately a fun party. I liked it better than the Christmas party and would definately go again....oh, wait, I am....next year!

I will start HS as soon as I can. Pictures uploaded and ready to go.

 

[praisehisname]

OK - just so you know - I realize I definately look like I belong in an episode of "What not to Wear" in this picture. That is actually a white tank top under my Mickey tank (in case you where wondering. haha).

Love it!

Looking forward to hearing about your DHS day!

 

[MEK]

Love it!

Looking forward to hearing about your DHS day!

Do you watch Stacy and Clinton, too? I love them!!!!

I hope to post about HS soon. I got some really good ToT photos!

 

[PracPerfPatricia]

Well I think your Hallowishes and Parade Photos are great...

I so desperately want to go to the Halloween party....like I'm an eight year old...desperate...

How did the soccer game go?

 

[manntra]

Here are a few of his Hallowishes pictures....

Oops there are two Illuminations in there too I think! Well now you get the idea of how ours will be next year!
Tracy

 

[MEK]

Well I think your Hallowishes and Parade Photos are great...

Thanks!

I so desperately want to go to the Halloween party....like I'm an eight year old...desperate...

I know you have a trip planned next November for your daughter's 16th, but you know there are quite a few of us that are heading down for food & wine in 2010. Let's see - Christine, Jen, and now LL! I think you need to find an excuse to sneak away for a quick trip! (See -I am practicing my enabling now!)

How did the soccer game go?

Well - the latest is....

Brian plays Wednesday night at 8pm. If the win they advance to the 2nd round. That game will be Saturday night at 8pm.

Nicholas's traveling team won Saturday's game and lost Sunday's game (1 - 0). They are still in the playoffs. They play the 2nd place team (Methacton) on Saturday - game time TBA. They have to play somewhere on a neutral field. Its usually a big complex near West Chester, Pa. If they win, they play again on Sunday for the championship.

Here are a few of his Hallowishes pictures....

Oops there are two Illuminations in there too I think! Well now you get the idea of how ours will be next year!


Tracy

OMG....Your friend's pictures are The Bomb! Seriously, I especially love the first picture. But they are all so good, I really can't decide. Simply Amazing. Do you think you friend can give us some pointers? Once we have our new cameras we definately must replicate these!!!!!!!! Then there will be no stopping us!

Thank you so much for posting them. Wowsa!

 

[MEK]

When I last left off Denny and I had just returned from MNSSHP and we fell alseep as soon as our heads hit the pillow. I slept like a rock, not waking up into the silence was broken by a rather obnoxious sound. I felt very fortunate that our first two nights/ mornings at POP were so quiet. I didn't hear any noise, any turbo toilets, any heated discussions. Nothing - just peace and quiet.

Remember I told you that I stayed in the same exact room in January of 08. During that trip I was woken up every night at around 2am. When my upstairs neighbors would come home and I could hear them talking and running the shower. Because I knew the walls were paper thin, during this trip I was very careful about closing the bathroom door in hopes that it would block out any adventitious sounds. Well, on this particular morning (Day 4) I woke to quite the sound. I'm really not sure how to put it tactfully other than to say it was a man in the middle of a very, very loud "bio break". In my morning fog I thought it had to be a faucet running full force, because it lasted forever.

And then.....the flush of a toilet. I couldn't believe it. Our neighbor must have had a 2 gallon bladder capacity. Denny and I laughed about it later. He said it reminded him of one of the Naken Gun movies. I don't know if you remember that movie, but there was a scene were Frank Drebin (Leslie Neilson) went into the mens room right before giving a speech and forgot to take his mic off. You can use your imagination to figure out the rest!

So....what a way to start the day. I was still in a serious fog when I gathered up the mugs to head over for some nescafe. I stopped at the registration desk to ask them what would happen if I checked out today. Would my meal credits still be good through the next day? Crazy as it was, there was still a little part of me that wanted to stay DVC for one night. So - the answer - yes, my meal credits would still be good if I checked out that morning.

So did we check out?......Nah! By the time I walked back up the steps I realized I didn't have it in me. As fun as it would have been to try for a studio at the Wilderness Lodge or BLT (we were having dinner at Artist Point that night), it seemed like way much too much trouble. I didn't even mention the idea to Denny, because he would have thought I was out of my mind.

So, I skipped my morning run and we got ready to visit HS. True to form, we arrived at HS about 10 minutes after park opening. The late arriva was working out well for us. We got a decent AAA spot and make a quick trip through bag check and headed right to Rockin Rollercoaster. If you followed my June TR you know that we never rode RnR. We got short changed on FP's because we started with TSM FP's. I decided I didn't care if I road TSM. Don't get me wrong - I think the ride is great (even though my death grip on the gun results in hand cramps), but I really wanted to get my thrill on with RnR and ToT.

So guess what? RnR was down. Grrrrreeeeaaaat! We grabbed FP's and got in line for ToT. The Wait time was posted at 13 minutes - I love that - 13 minutes - haha! Actually, I wish! I think it was at least a 20 min wait just to get into the TV room. But that was OK. Once I realized we were going to be waiting in the outside queue for awhile, I broke out the trusty camera and started taking pictures from the queue.

It was another one of those "ah - hah" moments......another place where I never really noticed all the details before. I usually only FP ToT. Between the FP and my pre ride "nerves", my attention to detail is not good.

So.....would you like to see some pics????? Yeah? Yeah? Well, here goes.......

LL....who loves ya.......

Check this out......What great detail...... HTH....Love it!

I was strangly calm during our wait. Normally I don't even like to talk because I get such bad butterflies in my stomach. But, honestly, the last several times I rode ToT it has been relatively tame. Again.....I don't know if they toned it down or I have became more relaxed with the ride. The first few times I rode it I felt like my stomach was coming up through my throat.

Now - according to the Hidden Magic of WDW the ToT is 199ft tall. According to my KTTK guide (I took the tour in 2008), EE is 195 ft tall and ToT in 190ft tall. I remember him say that EE has to been the highest point in all the parks because it is one of the highest points in all the world. In Florida there is a law that anything 200ft or higher must have a beacon for low flying aircrafts. So....I'm not too sure who to believe.

Here's a few more light pictures that I took right before we entered the building.......

And now we have arrived inside the grand lobby...

The pictures I took in the lobby all have a grainy appearance to them. I know part of this is my highly professional camera (LOL), but I think part of this is also the intentional theming to make this place look soooooooo creepy. Honestly, I think I would rather get stuck in the HM then in the ToT. I find the ToT a lot creepier.

Continued.........

 

[MEK]

Entering the library we saw this........

Here Rod Sterling told us the story of the tower. According to my Hidden Magic book some of this story is in Rod's own voice which was pieced together in part from the TZ episode called "It's a Good Life". Supposedly there are many TZ references in this room.....

1. the demonic popuo device from the "Nick of Time" episode
2. The metal robot from "The Invaders"
3. the book from the episode "To Serve Man"
4. A trumper sitting on top of a page of sheet music from the spisode "A Passage for Trumpet"

I didn't get pictures of any of these things. But I did take a few more pictures before we entered the boiler room.

Here's a youtube link incase you want to get your ToT on....... It's got the introduction video that is seen on the TV

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bFdC3qxpqQ

Next up....we entered the boiler room.....

Here is one ugly light fixture......

Our elevator awaits.......

Oh Nooooooo......front row........

Up close......

I look paralyzed. Seriously, I stay very, very still during the ride which helps me stay calm. Because, like I told you, this ride still freaks me out a little. But I always enjoy it when its over and I can't wait to ride it again in May!

And a scene from the exit.....

Up next......

RnR and the rest of the morning at HS.

 

[Lady Lallie]

MEK....I have one problem with your update!!

No light fixture is ugly!!

 

[MEK]

MEK....I have one problem with your update!!

No light fixture is ugly!!

I was afraid you might say that!

 

[wsushocker]

No light fixture is ugly!!

 

[Lady Lallie]

I was afraid you might say that!

Not ugly...functional but not ugly.

 

[wigdoutdismom]

Mary Ellen, you have some awesome pictures of the Hollywood Hotel! You might need to submit to a magazine. Very artistic!

 

[eandesmom]

GREAT TOT pictures! really fabulous detail. As much as I love your AK pics, some of these might be my absolute favs.

Perhaps because I have such a love/hate relationship with this ride...

 

[brookelizabeth]

So much to comment on!

First, CONGRATS to Brian and his team! Any recent updates there? How are they doing in the state competitions?

Love your TOT pics! Some really cool angles and details I've never really noticed while going through the line.

Your May ADRs are looking very tasty. As far as your birthday, I am all about a Kona breakfast. Amazing coffee, good food, beautiful resort! I'm with ya on wanting to stay there someday. I truly hope they manage to build DVC there somehow. Or maybe we will splurge for 2 nights there or something sometime down the line!

I also love your gate shot from Pop! I had no idea that was there! Very cool. I've never managed to get a picture of the gates. Perhaps in December I will sit at the FRONT of the ME bus and attempt to snag one.

Loved all your updates on MNSHHP. Sounds like a really wonderful night, relaxing and enjoyable with walk-on rides. That parade always looks so amazing. I am not into Halloween or even remotely creepy things, but the detail and theming of that parade is just fantastic. I hope to catch the Christmas parade in December because I have heard that one is pretty good too!

 

[dawnbu40]

Great ToT pictures! As someone who is too chicken for that ride I enjoyed seeing the detailing!

 

[LOVEMY3KIDDOS]

Mmmmmm....ToT!!! I love it!!!!! One of the best parts of that ride is that we don't have to do child swap for it! Our littlest can go on it and actually loves it! Your pictures are great! Sometimes waiting in those lines for a bit is worth it from a photographic standpoint!

 

[DWGal210]

What great ToT pictures!! You are so brave to do that ride - I rode it once and never again! I just don't like drops!

Looks like you had another fun morning!!

 

[mickeysmyboy]

Great pics from TOT!! Thanks for sharing because I'll never see it in person! I'm too chicken!