HobNobbing with Nobby (A Gnome's 1st Trip to the World) FINAL Upt: 9/23 (P.48)

[jenjolt]

Great update and pics.

Funny to see SM with water on the track but not on the hill. I have only seen it completely water free or with water.

BTMRR is such a great ride.

HM is a blast.

It was really cool to see Splash Mountain like that! BTMRR was amazing and I hope to be able to ride it at night I think it would be even cooler LOL

I'm working on my HM post right now. I'm a bit of a perfectionist and this update has to be great in my opinion because it is HM and it deserves nothing less than my absolute best....stupid idiosincries LOL

 

[MAGGIED]

Jen... I can't wait to read all about HM... when we did the keys to the kingdom tour we got to go in the back door and they told us some really interesting facts about HM.... it is one of our favorite rides also!!!

 

[coffeehousemom]

You got to see Brer Bear & Brer Rabbit!!! You lucky dog you!!

Splash was down for us too. My kids have never gotten to ride it so no Jan for us next time. I love that ride.


BTMRR is very fun I took the kids on it a night last time that was really cool.

Waiting anxiously for the HM update I know we rode it at least 6 times last month.

 

[brookelizabeth]

Anxiously waiting to read about the HM!

 

[Lil'Mermaid75]

Whew. I think I'm all caught up. I love Big Thunder Mountain! On our last day there, we headed there at rope drop. DH and DS waited for me outside (DS is not so much into roller coasters and I think we traumatized him last year with this one ). Anyway....I was in the first train out. WHOOHOO. Ride came to an end and THEY LET US RIDE AGAIN!! Okay, I have never been on a ride at DISNEY where they let you ride again. But, there was absolutely no one waiting to ride. It was awesome!

 

[smidgen21]

hi Jen! I'm back from the World and all caught up on your TR. *taking 4 steps back* I didn't get to ride HM (don't hit me!).....so I'll have to live vicariously (sp??) through you. the wait was 50 minutes and I can't believe there is no FP. I was bummed. DH is teasing me with talk of a trip without kids so I just have something to look forward to next time.

 

[jenjolt]

Jen... I can't wait to read all about HM... when we did the keys to the kingdom tour we got to go in the back door and they told us some really interesting facts about HM.... it is one of our favorite rides also!!!

I also got to do the Keys to Kingdom tour and had a great time going in the back way into the haunted Mansion it was great LOL!!!

You got to see Brer Bear & Brer Rabbit!!! You lucky dog you!!

Splash was down for us too. My kids have never gotten to ride it so no Jan for us next time. I love that ride.


BTMRR is very fun I took the kids on it a night last time that was really cool.

Waiting anxiously for the HM update I know we rode it at least 6 times last month.

I still can't get over how rare a find they must have been...if I had only known LOL!!!! I'm almost finished with HM so soon we'll be riding it together again LOL

Anxiously waiting to read about the HM!

Almost finish...I had to really take time to work on this one LOL

Whew. I think I'm all caught up. I love Big Thunder Mountain! On our last day there, we headed there at rope drop. DH and DS waited for me outside (DS is not so much into roller coasters and I think we traumatized him last year with this one ). Anyway....I was in the first train out. WHOOHOO. Ride came to an end and THEY LET US RIDE AGAIN!! Okay, I have never been on a ride at DISNEY where they let you ride again. But, there was absolutely no one waiting to ride. It was awesome!

I don't want to spoil any of my TR but I also was allowed to stay on a ride....and it WAS AMAZING...but I'll tell you more about that later LOL!!

hi Jen! I'm back from the World and all caught up on your TR. *taking 4 steps back* I didn't get to ride HM (don't hit me!).....so I'll have to live vicariously (sp??) through you. the wait was 50 minutes and I can't believe there is no FP. I was bummed. DH is teasing me with talk of a trip without kids so I just have something to look forward to next time.

Oh I hope you had a great time!!!! I can't wait until my return trip!!! NO HM...50 minute WAIT...what has this world come to UGGHH!!! I would have been bummed to!! Well you won't have to wait too much longer we should be able to ride together soon!!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

But no pressure.....

 

[Diamondintheruff]

That's some feisty gnome you got there.

Can't wait to hear how he made out on HM.

 

[kschafer]

But no pressure.....

I'm with Christine!

 

[jenjolt]

Chapter 13 (Part 1): 999 Happy Haunts and Yes I Have Already Reserved My Spot!

LOL…how classic is it that my 13th Chapter would be devoted to the Haunted Mansion. I promise I so didn’t plan it that way…really I didn’t if you would have told me that from the beginning that I would still be on my first full day and on chapter 13 I would have laughed my head off…either way the Happy Haunts knew best didn’t they LOL) This just keeps getting better and better and of course it would be the first post on page 31...you just got love this, I know I am!!

Oh once again I feel the need to say I’m sorry for the delay. I love my life I really do, but the constant busyness that I deal with I could do without. That being said however, I guess it really is my fault that I’m so busy. This last weekend I had the honor of taking part in a choir clinic held by my church. It was fantastic, I love singing in my church and anytime I have opportunity to sing with my friends I jump at it. So that is where I was on Friday and Saturday, so once again I was thrown off my update schedule. When I wasn’t at the choir clinic, I was busy trying to clean my house and keep my husband sane as he finished his finals. Now it would seem we can breathe again…finals are done, we rearranged our living room, and I’m even caught up on the dishes and laundry. WHOOHOO!!! This next weekend I’ll be scrapbooking, but its Disney related so I just might have to show you my works of art if you are all interested.

Now I must confess something to you all, I had a lot of fun, but I was very picky about writing this chapter. I do not take my love of the Haunted Mansion lightly and I really wanted to do justice to my first trip on this ride during Nobby and I’s adventures. So I actually hand wrote this update before posting it because I didn’t want to forget a single thing. I promise that the rest of my trips to the Haunted Mansion will be just as detailed because each trip I learned or saw something new and each trip had its own very unique experience with it. I also must apologize to Nobby’s loyal friends because Nobby won’t show up as much in this update (don’t worry he’ll be back right away, as if you can keep that gnome down), but the first ride on Haunted Mansion was all for me. You will learn more about Nobby’s impression of this glorious ride on our second trip to the Mansion. Well now that I have given you a very thorough introduction, shall we begin?

Three little words, who knew three little words, could bring such joy to my heart. I’d like to think every person in the world will one day get the privilege of hearing those special three little words. Those special words have caused my spirit to soar and have on countless occasions brought a smile to my face.

WELCOME FOOLISH MORTALS…LOL what three words were you thinking I was talking about. If you been a part of Nobby and I’s adventures for any amount of time then you know my ultimate favorite ride, the cream of the crop you may say, for me is The Haunted Mansion.

To be completely honest my fascination with this ride is borderline obsessive…okay who am I kidding I’m obsessed with this ride. I have books, I have read up on all the folklore and myths surrounding this mysterious place, I belong to an online community of that live and breath this ride, I have clips of ride downloaded on my MP3 player, I paid $1.00 to hear a daughter of one of the imaginers read one of the tales of the Haunted Mansion on Halloween Night, I have almost the entire ride script memorized and am working on the Holiday one over at DL that I’m extremely fascinated with at the moment, I have made a promise to myself that before I die I will ride every Haunted Mansion that sits in a Disney park (whoooo…another one to add to my bucket list gnomies!), I had the lovely P (aka ILuvCrush) make me my own personal design featuring the Haunted Mansion and yes it gets even more pathetic, I have even asked a CM to put me back on hold so I could finish listening to “Grim, Grinning Ghosts” instead of making a precious ADR. So in case you haven’t caught on by now, yeah I’m a fan and it was a HUGE deal when it was finally time for me to ride this marvelous creation of ghostly mayhem once again.

Just walking up to the Mansion gave me goosebumps. I just love the look of this place.

The ghost drawn hearse, the dead trees, the grass that is not cut exactly the same (did you know that, oh yeah the blades of grass, totally not even LOL), and more dead plants. As I was staring and admiring the exquisite attention given to detail, it dawned on me that I had discovered my Disney dream job. Do you know they actually put forth effort to keep the Mansion looking deserted and really creepy? They actually pay someone to make the plants look dead, shoot I do that all the time at my house for free. My Prince Phillip would be more than happy to provide a great reference on how well I kill plants; I have a talent for it. So you see, I could get paid to do something that comes naturally to me at my favorite place in all of Disney…one can only hope right???

The wait was very minimal, 10 minutes tops at this point. Okay there isn’t anything that I don’t love about this ride but I really enjoy the queue. I mean who doesn’t love walking right past a family cemetery on their way inside a house LOL. So yeah, I’m one of those people I stop off to side and just take my time to really admire the tombstones. I always inform those around me to go on around me and I’m very careful not to be in people’s way, but I’m in no rush when its Haunted Mansion time. I read every tombstone and I have to tell you, the puns on some of those never, and I really mean NEVER, get old to me. I’m sure I scare some of the small children and probably some adults too as I stand trying to put my head as far as it will go through the gate (one day you are going to hear on the news about a woman who had to have the jaws of life brought in to remove her head from the Haunted Mansion, just remember you knew me before I became famous LOL), and I laugh like a loon at the jokes on the tombstones. However, I also appreciate the history and the stories each tombstone tells, if you know a little about the making of the ride it really adds to the charm. I know who Master Gracey is and what he means to the Haunted Mansion?? Do you??? (I don’t want to spoil anything about the Haunted Mansion for anyone so I might throw some hints out there, but I’ll let you PM me if you’re not sure about some of things in here).

No matter what, no matter how long the wait, I always wait for Madame Leota to make her presence known and grant me entrance into her ride. For those of you who are not acquainted with Madame Leota she is the fortune teller who in the afterlife still enjoys a great séance, you can find her in a crystal ball during the ride. Well back to her tombstone, if you do not know what I am referring to, next time you are waiting in line for the Haunted Mansion, take the time to admire, I mean really admire, at least for say 2-3 minutes Madame Leota’s tombstone, you’ll catch on.

Finally after completing my ritualistic gawking of the tombstones it was time to enter the Mansion itself. I so could not be a maid or butler of this house, you have to act grumpy and all creepy like and well I get to happy when I’m near the Haunted Mansion, so hats off to these wonderful folks who do such a great job of totally freaking me out. It was at this time I told Nobby to hold on to his hat because he was in for a real treat!

So just like with everything else I really try to take my time in foyer area of the Haunted Mansion. To me this ride is all about the little details, well I guess everything at Disney for me is about the little details. After experiencing the parks a couple of times I now find my true joy is in the little details that set Disney apart from the rest. I enjoy looking at the wallpaper and I really like admiring the fire place. Last but definitely not least in that room is the portrait. The one of the master of the house, I love how you get to see the stages of his life, very creepy LOL. Then you are invited into a portrait gallery of sorts. Now I must make a confession, I don’t find much scary about the Haunted Mansion, however that first scene in the stretching room tries to prove me wrong over and over again. Doesn’t matter but when it is suggested that “there is always my way” to escape the room with no windows or no doors and then lights go out, yeah I jump in fright EVERY SINGLE TIME.

After regaining my composure I made sure to be the last one to leave this very exciting room. The butler gave me quite the look and I told him in the most creepy voice I could muster….I was told I must stand here and listen very carefully. I swear the butler smirked, but I promised not to reveal his name because well that kind of behavior can get you stuck on It’s a Small World. However, if you ever just have some time to “kill” ( I couldn’t resist…corny pun #1), you should really hold back and just listen, you just might be pleasantly surprised. Then it was off to the loading area, once again you have to love the attention to detail. Then it was time to take my seat in the world famous Doombuggy. Now the night before I left I was getting myself in the Disney mood (as if I really need to try to do that LOL) and was listening to a PodCast devoted to the top 10 things we love about the Haunted Mansion. Well they mentioned the Doombuggy, and the gentleman on the podcast said if one of those were to ever come for sale one of his children would not be going to college, LOL, now that is some Haunted Mansion love. I do realize that he was kidding (well maybe LOL) however seriously if I thought I could afford one and it was on sale I’d buy one and put it in my living room, front and center. Could you imagine watching a movie in one of those things, now that would be cool. Oh wait I’m rambling and as if this post isn’t long enough and I haven’t even gotten on the ride yet LOL!!! So I carefully secured Nobby in his seat, he was a bit shaken up about the whole pre-show and our first introduction to our host…your ghost host LOL!!! We let the Ghost Host himself safely secure us in our seats and with a wave we were off.

Brief Intermission: Now I’m going to be honest with you, I don’t mind taking pictures in POTC or in ISAW or even on the Jungle Cruise, I never use the flash but I’ll take photos. However I don’t do it during the Haunted Mansion. Maybe one day when I have ridden it for the millionth time I’ll try to take a few photos, but for me this ride is all about the experience and I can’t do that if I’m busy worrying about taking a non-fuzzy photo, so I’m sorry you’re just going to have to go through this ride through my mind and my memory and hopefully I’ll do it justice.

This ride has been momentarily delayed due to some ghostly mischief…please stay seated and we will continue with this ride in an upcoming post LOL!!

Oh yeah you had to know this was coming…seriously did you think I was going to be able to do the WHOLE Haunted Mansion in just one post LOL!!!!!!

And yes I was just able to do an entirely too long post on just the beginning of the ride...yeah I'm that good LOL

 

[wlwilliams9]

OMGosh!! I wait days and days for an update and now you leave me hangin! What the.......?

 

[jenjolt]

OMGosh!! I wait days and days for an update and now you leave me hangin! What the.......?

LOL...leave you hangin..good pun LOL!! Considering this is the longest post I have ever written yet HMMMMM LOL!! I'm working on the next part I just didn't want to keep you all waiting until I was done LOL!

 

[Lady Lallie]

I love your love for the HM. It makes me super duper excited that I get to ride HM with you in May. It's going to be amazing!

I want a doom buggy too!

 

[BellaSoleil]

You are so adorable! Your love for the Haunted Mansion is contagious. I wish I could hope into a Doom Buggy right this second.

Loved the 'ghostly mischieve' bit! Can't wait to read more!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

I'm trying to think if there is something I love as much as you love the Haunted Mansion. So far I haven't come up with anything.... except champagne.

Very nice start. You are definitely doing the HM justice!

Oh, before I forget, I would love to see the scrapbooking you do this weekend!

 

[Charleston Princess]

WELCOME FOOLISH MORTALS…LOL what three words were you thinking I was talking about.

LOVE IT!!! HM is one of my faves and Connor's -- maybe even my number one fave -- so I am eating this up, Jen!!!

I have even asked a CM to put me back on hold so I could finish listening to “Grim, Grinning Ghosts” instead of making a precious ADR.

That's classic right there!!! I heard that Saturday while I was on hold and it made my day!!!

The ghost drawn hearse, the dead trees, the grass that is not cut exactly the same (did you know that, oh yeah the blades of grass, totally not even LOL), and more dead plants. As I was staring and admiring the exquisite attention given to detail, it dawned on me that I had discovered my Disney dream job. Do you know they actually put forth effort to keep the Mansion looking deserted and really creepy? They actually pay someone to make the plants look dead, shoot I do that all the time at my house for free. My Prince Phillip would be more than happy to provide a great reference on how well I kill plants; I have a talent for it. So you see, I could get paid to do something that comes naturally to me at my favorite place in all of Disney…one can only hope right???

I had no idea about this -- I will have to pay attention to the plants in June! I have no luck with plants either.

I’m sure I scare some of the small children and probably some adults too as I stand trying to put my head as far as it will go through the gate (one day you are going to hear on the news about a woman who had to have the jaws of life brought in to remove her head from the Haunted Mansion, just remember you knew me before I became famous LOL)

Then it was time to take my seat in the world famous Doombuggy. We let the Ghost Host himself safely secure us in our seats and with a wave we were off.

Isn't that one of your favorite parts??? I remember as a kid even, I loved how that safety bar came down on its own.

This ride has been momentarily delayed due to some ghostly mischief…please stay seated and we will continue with this ride in an upcoming post LOL!!

Our HM ride last year actually had this happen to us -- we were stuck in the ballroom for a good five minutes -- Connor and I were dangling over our safety bar and having the time of our lives pointing out all the details.

Beautifully done so far, Jen!

 

[kschafer]

Jen, you crack me up!! It's a good anticipation

(BTW, I think you are my hero Christine! )

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

I SOOOO have not paid enough attention to the HM. You need to stop by my TR and check out the HM outfits one of the Disboutiquers made for her family. I really need to learn more Haunted Mansion secrets. The only one I knew was about the ring and now it's gone

 

[scottny]

great update and pics

HM is an awesome ride.