Truth be told, I was much more worried about the preshow than the actual ride itself.
Being stuck in a dark little creepy room ? TERRIFYING.
Plummeting 13 stories to my death ? Oh, well.
So while I didn't care if Grumpy didn't come with me in the elevator, there was no way I was going into the library without my mommy. She could take the chicken exit after that, if she wanted.
That was our deal, and so she came with me. I held on tightly to her hand when they turned the lights off & then when the guy came on the screen. It wasn't that bad, very much like Haunted Mansion. Then we went towards the elevators.
It looks like you're in the basement, with pipes and stuff everywhere. At first Grumpy was taken aback by that - you'd think Disney could clean up that place a bit ! We started talking with a lady who was there by herself. I could have sworn that same lady was on my Safari truck back in December when I was there solo ! She told us she used to be afraid of PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN !!!! And now TOT was one of her favorite rides. Before talking to her, Grumpy still intended to take the chicken exit, but she convinced her to try it, even just once.
So, we go in. We sit in the back row next to the lady, quadriple check our seatbelts, and hold each other's hands.
The elevator moves, but for some reason I got it in my head that there's a little pre-drop thing.
"Yeah, we go through the hotel a little bit first, they don't drop us right awAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY"
Yup they did drop us and I did NOT see it coming.
And you know what ?
It was awesome !!!!! I was lifted off my seat, feet up in the air, and LOVED the sensation. Soon we were both laughing as hard as we were screaming. But we were still screaming.
Next to me there was a big guy with a rapper look to him and at first he was talking to his buddies and being all cool like, it's Disney ya kno the rides are for kids.
That guy was screaming louder than me (and it is NOT an easy task). It made me laugh so hard because he had a very, very deep voice, and whenever they dropped us he would go.
OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWDDDDD
When we came out, I apologized for screaming in his ear, and he apologized right back. His buddies were laughing at him because he screamed louder and higher than a girl.
We completly forgot to check our ride photo, we were so thrilled we had actually been on the ride and enjoyed it. I wanted to go right back on immediately but Grumpy said no way, no how.
I figured since I was on a roll,why not try Rock'n'Roller coaster ? I went to check the wait time and it was already 40mns so that was out. Grumpy was glad because she didn't want me to go on it anyway. Next time.
We both felt a bit lightheaded by then. TOT sure is an adrenaline rush. We stopped for a drink and shared a pretzel and talked more about how awesome that ride was and how we'd have to come back and do it again, at least once.
At the moment though, Grumpy felt like something "calm and non dropping" so we went to check the wait time on Great Movie Ride.
On the way I snapped this pic of post-TOT Grumpy.
Then it was off to Great Movie Ride. I'm getting a bit sick of this one. Besides the alien and the Wizard of Oz part, I ain't digging it that much. So I kind of dozed off between pics. Our "driver" had the most annoying voice ever and I was dying to tell her to shut up. We were glad when we got hijacked by the gangster.
After that we had to get moving so we could make our Chef Mickey's reservation. This trip, I was obsessed about buying things for my new apartment. Which I don't have. And probably won't have 'til something like May or June. Nevermind though, I *had* to have that Hollywood Studios clipboard for it. Grumpy waited outside while I was shopping, then suddenly came rushing in. Hurry up we HAVE to go RIGHT NOW!
What ?? Why ?? What's going on ?
When we came out of the shop, I understood. High School Musical was coming up. Everybody was screaming and singing. We just screamed and ran the other way.
No bus for the Contemporary, but there's one for the TTC. That'll do. From the TTC we take the resort monorail to Contemporary.
Holy shmoly, that resort is a MESS ! I don't think we ever went to the CR and didn't see any kind of construction. When we get to the Chef Mickey's area instead of hearing the usual chaos coming from the restaurant, we hear drills and hammers. It's so loud that we actually pause for a minute and wonder if we wouldn't be better off having lunch at Kona instead.
But we're in luck - the workers leave on their lunch break a few minutes after we check in.
Oh, how different it is from our last time there. The characters are in rare form, Donald rubbing his ducky butt on a baby who screams with delight. And the food is great. Hmmmm peanut butter pizza. Yummy!!! Brownies and gummy bears for breakfast, anyone ?
Grumpy gets to hug her favorite character
Pluto even comes to sit at our table, and demands a cup of coffee.
We are really having a ball. Our server is a young Moroccan man who happens to be very, very cute. A little
too cute if you see what I mean.
Grumpy remarks that it's too bad he's not on the buffet.
"MOTHER!"
"What ?? I'm just saying. Just making conversation."
"He's too cute to be on our side. Probably shackin' it up with Mickey."
Grumpy was drinking her juice when I said that and it comes out of her nose. That's it, we're gone. We spend the next couple minutes laughing like idiots, if we could have rolled under the table we would have done it.
Donald stops by and starts shaking his finger at us, one hand on his hips. Behave! We pull ourselves together, assure Donald we were not laughing at him, and wipe the tears off our faces.
One last run to the buffet for a fake-healthy plate (take a donut, pastry, brownie, and cover them all up with fruit which you then get rid of) and we're off, making a stop at the gift shop which is one of Grumpy's favorites.
I leave Grumpy in the apparel shop and go to the toys one, where I buy myself a gift card. I've been thinking of doing that for a while, and it turned out to be a good idea. I put $125 on it and used it everywhere on property to buy anything from a coke to Hannah Montana stickers
Time to go back to our little motel :
In the lobby, I beg her to let me take her pic in front of the Lilo & Stitch surfboard but she refuses because Stitch is on it
Back to our room we go...
I'm a bit worried because the sky is turning dark...
Our room is not ready, but Grumpy can not wait. She changes into her suit and short and goes to the pool. I tell her I'll go fill our mugs at Captain Cook's and bring it to her at the pool, while the lady cleans our room. By the time I come out of Captain Cook's with our mugs, it's pouring outside. Not just a little bit, either.
I join Grumpy who's waiting for me at the pool and the life guard asks us to clear the deck, so we go up to our room. What should we do now ?
Well, we had wanted to go to
Walmart. Seems to me like this is as good a time as any. It ain't gonna rain inside Wally World.
Put our clothes back on, go out in the rain, hop on a cab. I want to go to the Walmart that's in Kissimee because people on this board have said it has a ton of cheap Disney stuff. And does it !!!! I buy a ton of silly stuff - Hannah Montana, of course, but Tinkerbell and Mickey too. But I'm mostly here to empty the cosmetic department. They have the powder and foundation I wanted, in the right color, and I buy every single one they have. I even hunt down an employee to help me find a Maybelline mascara (only to find out when we came back home that they sell it in my store!!!). Next up, give me Scope. The biggest one. Give me Listerine. Four of em. Crest with the Scope in it. Six packs of that, please. Where do they put the Caboodles ??
Verdict ? $345. Walmart, always low prices... until you add em up.
That store is great, but it's HUGE and there's nowhere to sit and rest. We wanted to buy a few grocery items to bring home but we're too beat to make it to that part of the store. Our feet hurt more from walking 2 hours in there than after a whole day in Epcot.
As soon as we're back in our room at the Poly, we crash on our beds. It's still pretty early - 4pm - and we can rest a couple hours before heading back to Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic.
Hours later, I lazily open one eye.. I woke myself up by singing/mumbling "America the Beautiful".
Huh ?? Why am I singing this ?? What is that music I'm hearing ?? WHY IS IT SO DARK OUTSIDE??????????????????
Oh, NO !!! We pulled a Jessica
