Halloween Weekend with our Favorite Disney CM...new PTR LINK p. 16

[cbg1027]

That F & W pin of Chinese Minnie is so cute! Great souvenir!

Soarin' is definitely my favorite ride at Epcot, and in my top three of all Disney rides.

 

[Caretames1]

Wow, what a full day! The food looked yummy, and then you throw EOS in there and hit the bullseye!

 

[Caretames1]

 

[marDgreen88]

I fell a little behind but just wanted to say Merry Christmas!

 

[wdwgirl03]

In my opinion, you didn't really miss anything by not getting the Baked Ravioli. It tasted like Chef Boyardee.

Really? That's kind of a bummer. I still would've liked to try it but oh well!

That F & W pin of Chinese Minnie is so cute! Great souvenir!

Soarin' is definitely my favorite ride at Epcot, and in my top three of all Disney rides.

Thanks-I thought she was super cute!

I would agree with you on Soarin. It might be my favorite ride in all of Disney.

Wow, what a full day! The food looked yummy, and then you throw EOS in there and hit the bullseye!

It really was a loooong and tiring day but definitely lots of fun.

Aww, Merry Christmas Carey! I hope you and your family have a great holiday. And Go Pack Go!

I fell a little behind but just wanted to say Merry Christmas!

Thank you...I hope you have a great Christmas!

 

[wdwgirl03]

OK, it's hard to believe that Emma will be done with her College Program in just 2 weeks. Where did the time go? I'm looking forward to her coming home but at the same time it's kind of sad because she is having such a good time. Oh well, I guess all good things must come to an end!

Hopefully with winter break I can get moving on this TR. I can't believe it's taking me so long to do a TR for 2 days! Plus, Dad and I are almost at 100 days until our Easter trip so I might have to start a new PTR for that.

So, enjoy the next update and the little Christmas treat at the end.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

We woke up in the morning with plans to go visit Hollywood Studios, aka Emma's home. I think the CP bus was scheduled to stop there around 8:30 so we left to meet her there. It was a much nicer morning than it was on Saturday, that's for sure! You know it's going to be a great day when you see this right away in the morning:

Gotta love those early morning shots when everything looks so peaceful. I just love that view!

We then walked around to the bus stop at Congress Park.

Our good streak with the buses continued and soon we arrived at Hollywood Studios. We knew Emma wasn't going to be there yet, especially since we got there so quickly so I was able to take a few more pictures. These topiaries looked familiar...(more F&GF "recycled" topiaries)

DHS's version of the "Let the Memories Begin" pictures. So cute!

There weren't too many people waiting to get in yet. I can't remember a time when there were so few people. But, it was still pretty early.

After having gone through the routine with Emma on Saturday, we went over to the CM entrance to wait for her to come. I admired the empty Hollywood Boulevard and all the familiar sights. Just having that down time to take in all the surroundings really makes you appreciate all the work that went into the theming of the park.

In case you forgot where we were...

Another detail I can't ever remember seeing were the Mickey heads on the gates. So cool.

After a few minutes we spotted Emma going through security and were ready to go. Our plan of attack was to head to Toy Story Mania first (that's a no brainer) but then after that, we would be able to slow down. One of Emma's roommates, who also works at the Studios, had a bunch of fastpasses that had to be used by the end of October. She knew she wasn't going to be able to use them so she gave them to Emma. That meant we wouldn't have to wait in the crazy line to get TSM fastpasses for a second ride.

Before long we were on Hollywood Boulevard. Of course we'd be stopped up at the rope but there still wasn't a ton of people there. It's not too often the street is this empty in front of us!

While we were waiting for the park to officially open we were entertained by one of the best Cast Members ever. His name was Oscar. That's him in the green outfit.

He was so friendly and energetic. There were a couple younger boys who had on birthday buttons and made everyone sing to them (which they didn't really seem to enjoy) and then when some of the other CMs came out to help with the TSM stampede he had one of them start a game of Simon Says. I don't know how it came up but he had mentioned to someone that this was his part-time job. You could just tell he loved every minute of it! Then again, I'd be pretty happy if I worked at DHS, haha.

Shortly before the welcome announcement a bunch of characters came out to try to distract some people from heading straight to Toy Story Mania.

Aren't they cute in their Tinseltown outfits?

And then, it was time for the park to open! I took this short video and you can see Oscar in action. I was watching it yesterday and noticed toward the end you can hear some girl in the background say "Too much coffee in that guy."


The mad dash to TSM is always entertaining (and a bit frustrating) because there's always got to be some group who gets split up and then they feel like they can skip you to meet up with their families. But whatever.

We got there pretty quickly and walked right through the standby line. Good morning, Mr. Potato Head!

Before we boarded the ride vehicle Emma decided that Dad and I were going to ride together because, as she said, we hit all the targets and she can never get any of them. LOL. Then it was game on. I always try to save my energy during the practice round. Plus I wanted to beat Dad. It was a back and forth battle but when all was said and done, here were our scores:

145,500 to 146,100. Any guesses on the winner?








It wasn't me. I lost by a measly 600 points. Boo! I'd get a chance later to redeem myself but in the mean time there were other rides to do!

I'll leave you with this cute video. I saw this yesterday-it seems to be going around facebook, atleast among my Disney friends. I hope everyone has a great Christmas!
Twas the Night Before Christmas in Walt Disney World

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

Merry Christmas!!!!!

I saw the video as well and loved it

I can't believe she only has 2 weeks to go!! Has she thought about extending for another semester or is she not able to do that??

When I left a few days ago it was in the 80s with sun and it was pretty hard to leave even though I know I'll be back on New Years Eve lol.

 

[IheartDDuck]

I can't believe that your sister only has two weeks left to go. That's just amazing.

I love that Bailey's ganache cake. I'm just all happy thinking about it right now.

 

[Pinkocto]

Merry Christmas!!!

On our last trip I very happily defeated my mother, and with a very joyous attitude told the first CM we saw, I was very proud. Well he seemed genuinely happy for me and asked my score, only 190,000. Well he very proudly told us that he had the best score ever. The 500,000 something that shows up at the end of the ride. I very sillily felt I was meeting some kind of celebrity, I was in awe of his skill.

 

[xoktenox]

DHS I feel like AK and DHS get the short end of the stick by some people but I just love it! Like you said, the themeing is wonderful!!

Oscar did look like he had a little too much coffee lol I would have enjoyed him though!

Hope you had a Merry Christmas!

 

[jwwi]

Merry Christmas Sarah. Loved the video, thank you for sharing the link.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Merry Christmas!!!!!

I saw the video as well and loved it

I can't believe she only has 2 weeks to go!! Has she thought about extending for another semester or is she not able to do that??

When I left a few days ago it was in the 80s with sun and it was pretty hard to leave even though I know I'll be back on New Years Eve lol.

Hope you had a good Christmas Megan.

I don't know if she's seriously considered extending but she did mention in her blog a few weeks ago how she wishes she had atleast another month. Not much she can do about it now since her tuition/class schedule is all taken care of for this semester but who knows, maybe once she graduates she'll go back (or think about the summer alumni program?).

Yeah, when we talked to Emma on Christmas she said it was warm. It's going to be rough when she comes home to the cold, even though it hasn't been all that bad here yet.

I can't believe that your sister only has two weeks left to go. That's just amazing.

I love that Bailey's ganache cake. I'm just all happy thinking about it right now.

I know, it seems like she just started and now it's almost time for her to come home.

Yes, that Bailey's cake was pretty good.

Merry Christmas!!!

On our last trip I very happily defeated my mother, and with a very joyous attitude told the first CM we saw, I was very proud. Well he seemed genuinely happy for me and asked my score, only 190,000. Well he very proudly told us that he had the best score ever. The 500,000 something that shows up at the end of the ride. I very sillily felt I was meeting some kind of celebrity, I was in awe of his skill.

haha, nice! You should've asked him for all the secret targets so you could beat him next time.

DHS I feel like AK and DHS get the short end of the stick by some people but I just love it! Like you said, the themeing is wonderful!!

Oscar did look like he had a little too much coffee lol I would have enjoyed him though!

Hope you had a Merry Christmas!

I'm with you. It's so strange to me when people say they're going to skip one of the parks (especially AK). All of the parks are so unique that I can't imagine going to WDW and not visiting them all. Heck, if I was there for one day I'd probably find a way to go to all four.

Oscar was awesome! Emma actually told me she saw him one day when she was leaving work.

Thanks...hope you had a good Christmas too.

Merry Christmas Sarah. Loved the video, thank you for sharing the link.

Merry Christmas! Glad you enjoyed the video...we all thought it was so cute.

 

[Nermel9]

Hope you had a Merry Christmas!

Haha, I always notice the recycled topiaries around WDW! I'm glad they get good use out of them, I guess!

DHS rope drop is such a let down. We did it for the first time in October and it's just a recording! I guess they can't do one like MK for every park, but I feel like they should do something! Oscar looked crazy! Although, I'd be happy if I got to open DHS all the time too! I love that park!

I love the characters in their Hollywood outfits!

TSM is so much fun, but I really wish they would do something about the FP situation! I don't know what, but something!

 

[wdwgirl03]

Hi DIS friends! Hope everyone had a good Christmas. Did anybody get any Disney themed gifts this year? I got a couple:

First I got a Pixar day by day calendar which is really cool.

But the biggest treat I got was this...a Disney Dooney and Bourke!

Thanks to Emma's CM discount my mom and dad were able to (luckily) pick this up earlier this month. I say luckily because whenever they called home they kept saying how the purple one (my first choice of colors) was nowhere to be found. So I was pretty surprised when I opened it up Christmas morning and got the purple bag! Isn't it cute? I love it! Dad even said that in a twisted way, it was sort of fun trying to find one.

Anyways...since I'm on winter break, time for another update!

Sunday, October 30, 2011 cont'd (part 2)

After our ride on Toy Story Mania, we gladly bypassed the fastpass line and went back toward Sunset Boulevard where we would be able to take advantage of Emma's roommate's fastpasses. They were good for any attraction in the park (except TSM, but she also had some that we could use there). But first Emma wanted to stop to get something to eat so we went into Starring Rolls and a got a couple things to split. We took them with us and would eat them after conquering the two big thrill rides.

We decided to do Tower of Terror first. Since Mom doesn't like TOT she waited outside while the rest of us rode. We didn't have to wait too long before entering the library for the little preshow. There was this one creepy Cast Member (I shouldn't say creepy, I should really say she was in character) who kept staring at us and then on the way out toward the boiler room she was peeked around the corner and in a spooky voice said, "Byyyyee." Dad thought she was pretty funny.

Soon we found ourselves in the boiler room, which wasn't very crowded.

Now that I've gotten over my fear of this ride, I've grown to appreciate the details/special effects a lot more. I love how they continue the story while the elevator moves into the shaft. It's so well done with the ghost family and then the lighting effects with the stars is brilliant. So much fun.

Here's our ride picture:

We're on the right side in the second row.

Next up was Rock 'N Roller Coaster.

For some reason I don't even think we used the fastpasses the first time we rode because Emma was hoping she'd get to see her friend. We didn't see her, but the ride was great as usual.

One thing that Dad wanted to do this trip was ride the new Star Tours again. He rode it in August when they moved Emma in and wanted to see if it would be any different since there are a bunch of ride sequences. So we headed over toward that area. When we got there, the Jedi Training Academy was going on so of course I wanted to stop and watch for a little bit. Even though I'm not really a Star Wars fan this show cracks me up because the kids are so fun to watch when they battle Darth Vader.

All of the young Jedis beginning their training.

Soon there was that ominous music and, accompanied by two Storm Troopers, Darth Vader appeared, hoping that some of the young Jedis might change their minds and go over to the Dark Side.


None of them wanted to join forces with Darth Vader so instead it was time to battle!

The tiniest Jedi-in-training...so cute!

It was amusing watching her battle Darth because one of the moves they have to do is a swipe to the head but clearly she couldn't reach (and there was no need to duck when he swiped at her, haha!).

After the show we all ended up riding Star Tours. I have to admit, I was a little hesitant because I don't like motion simulator rides and had never done the original Star Tours. The wait said 20 minutes but it was really more like a walk-on. That might've turned out to be a good thing because if I would've had to wait I might've changed my mind! It was exciting getting to see the inside of the building for the first time.

So as we were waiting to board the Star Speeder (is that what it's called?) I noticed a couple small kids next to us. It was then that I started feeling less nervous. I decided if they could do it, then I could too! Once the ride started I started to enjoy it. I can't remember all the scenes we went through except for the ice planet (Hoth?). Overall it was pretty neat. I don't think I appreciated it as much as Star Wars fans might but I'd do it again. In fact, now that I have done it Dad is trying to convince me to do the wimp side of Mission:Space. We'll see when the time comes in April...

 

[wdwgirl03]

Hope you had a Merry Christmas!

Haha, I always notice the recycled topiaries around WDW! I'm glad they get good use out of them, I guess!

DHS rope drop is such a let down. We did it for the first time in October and it's just a recording! I guess they can't do one like MK for every park, but I feel like they should do something! Oscar looked crazy! Although, I'd be happy if I got to open DHS all the time too! I love that park!

I love the characters in their Hollywood outfits!

TSM is so much fun, but I really wish they would do something about the FP situation! I don't know what, but something!

Thank you! My Christmas was good and I hope yours was too.

There actually is a rope drop show at DHS. They didn't do it that day but we have seen it before. They have a little car come out with a film director who's shooting a new movie and there are a couple guests who get to help open the park. I'll see if I can find the pictures I have of it.

Yeah, the FP situation at TSM is insane. You have to wonder if the craze will ever die down, but then again look at Soarin. It's been there almost 7 years now and it's still crazy there too.

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

I love the bag!!!! You've never done Mission Space?! The easy side is fine but you still spin a little but not as much as the other side. If you don't like enclosed dark spaces that is going to be a problem lol.

 

[Caretames1]

Thanks for the video! It was cute and Kadence loved it!

Awww, we love DHS! It has become a very close 2nd to MK. I bet you felt pretty important going in the CM entrance! TSM is ride to get to first, maybe when Kadence is older she lose her fear of TOT and RnR.

I agreew with you, TOT has some of the best theming! It's just to drop that gets me

Love your new D&B purse!

 

[IheartDDuck]

Wow, I can't believe that you've never done Star Tours before, even the original! I do have to say though, simulator rides are their own thing. So I can understand the hesitance, because you can get motion sickness from that more easily. You read my February TR. Some things are just a motion sickness cocktail!

I love getting good CM's at ToT. It just makes the ride so much more fun, especially when they're creepy.

 

[marDgreen88]

I'm playing catch up a little, but that's so cool that yall were able to get those free fastpasses! Also, Oscar sounds like a hoot. I definitely appreciate seeing CMs that you can tell genuinely love their jobs.

I LOVE your Disney Christmas gifts! That calendar looks like it would be awesome, and THE DISNEY DOONEY IS SO CUTE! I did get a Disney gift too... nothing like THAT! But I got a stuffed Dumbo. It's seriously the cutest thing.

Moving on... Tower of Terror and RNRC are just so much fun. I love how close they are, too. It's just a little corner of thrills on Sunset Boulevard hahah. I totally agree, the Jedi Training Academy is so cute! I think it's really creative too. STAR TOURS IS AWESOME. It just feels so real!

 

[Nermel9]

I love your Disney Dooney, that's a great bag for the parks! And the calendar is adorable! I usually get the official WDW calendar, but it's sold our everywhere this year, so I got the Thomas Kinkade Disney calendar instead, it's really pretty!

Glad you liked Star Tours! I actually think Mission Space is a little smoother than Star Tours, so I think you can definitely handle the green side! I don't ever get motion sickness, but I went on Star Tours on this past trip and felt a little nauseous, which is really strange for me!