Hurricane or No Hurricane!!

[ShhhQ]

Sorry had trouble thinking of a catchy title.... but my biggest fear of the trip would be that the hurricanes would either hit the area and close the parks or make the weather so horrible that we would end up drenched!

Our trip began late Aug 29th (around 11:30pm)

I slept most of the day so I would be awake for the trip...

Here is the original cast and crew..

Myself, Michelle

My Mother

My Brother, Michael

we set off and met up with (My) friends at the first rest area....

My Best Friend Hope

her husband AL

their boys

We arrived at a Travelodge in Macon, GA at around 1:30pm and decided to take it easy the rest of the day... kickin back in the pool and hot tub!!!

 

[shane&jakesmom]

Hows was your birthday, I cannot wait to read more about your trip

 

[faindrops27]

I'm in!! I just got your pm. Thank you very much!! I cannot wait to hear all about your trip!!

 

[ShhhQ]

Thanks for joining me!!!! My birthday was great, and that is what I am about to write about!

 

[ShhhQ]

Arrival Day!!!!

We loaded up our cars and headed out of Macon, GA and traveled to our Happy Place! We arrive at POP at about 2pm and head straight to check-in.

Our rooms (Mom and my, and Michael's) were not ready yet... because they wanted to give us connecting rooms... so we were given a number to call that they would give us our room numbers as soon as they were ready... but we were told they would be in building 1 of the 50's on the first floor... I was happy about that, but we didn't care for the wait (seeing as we were tired and wanted to relax before dinner). We spent time at the Everything Pop store.... My brother actually bought me a pair of Mickey ears for a birthday present! and I in turn bought him a t-shirt that he liked.... it had Donald Duck on it, in a rage, and stated that "I failed my anger management class!".... that fits my brother to a TEE! Mom was getting wore out and couldn't continue walking around so I called to see if our room was ready... nope..
So I went and moved our van to the 50's lot and somehow worked her electric wheelchair out... and it was buried under all our luggage!

Meanwhile, the friends room was ready and they were chillin in their room.... we after an hour or so joined them.... so we were chillin with them when our rooms were finally ready. Our rooms were basically right around the corner from them. We went to check out our rooms.... and Mom got upset!
We had requested a handicap room and they gave us a regular room... she wanted a king-size bed and a roll-in shower (she felt the room was smaller cause it had 2 beds in it). When we opened Michael's room... he got the kingsized bed and roll-in shower..... but he was the only one sleeping in that room! I personally was happy with 2 beds cause I would sleep better alone!
I finally talked her out of having them move our room.... she could leave her chair in his room and she could use his shower, she didn't seem to care that I had trouble sleeping when we share a bed (we shared a king bed last year and I woke everyday with a headache from tossing and turning all night).
We got settled in and cleaned up.... and decorated the door and window...

at about 7 we got loaded up in the cars and headed out to Contemporary Resort for our 8pm ressie for Chef Mickey's!
Good thing we left that early cause we hit a snafu.... I didn't know that we had to stay right when we went thru the parking gates for MK and ended up in the MK parking lot!! After our slight detour, we arrived on time for our dinner!

Now I must say that the food wasn't the greatest (standard buffet fare), but I do believe it was the atmosphere that makes this place popular.

I had to help Mom with her plates so by the time we arrived back at the table everyone else had theirs half-eaten so not a lot of pics....

and the incredible re-lighting cupcake!!

(My brother was sitting next to me and kept re-lighting it)

 

[bettyann29]

Im in..

We left to go to WDW on the 29th also!..

Cant wait to hear more..

 

[ShhhQ]

The character interactions were the best part of the meal...

each character came by and saw us (Pluto made it around twice, which was great because we forgot to get his autograph the first time around)

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take the pics and those taking them had less experience with my camera and sometimes heads paid the price....

Michael tried to shove my cupcake in my face on my first bite....

We topped off the evening with a ride on the Monorail....

It was truly a great birthday!!!
But it was a great trip tooo.... (and I wore the birthday pin all week)

 

[brookelizabeth]

Great report so far! Looking forward to more...

 

[SunnieRN]

Sounds like you had a great beginning to your trip!
We are leaving in a couple of hours and I am so excited! I am glad it worked out well with the rooms. You came up with a great solution!
Looking forward to more!!

 

[ShhhQ]

Disney Hollywood Studios

I still have trouble with that name.... I wanna call it MGM!

We chose to go to DHS on Labor day as it had evening emh and 2 showings of Fantasmic (and I really wanted to see this)

With a 6am wake-up call I got up plenty early.... I had rented a scooter (as did Hope.... me for bad feet, her for a bad back) and we had to pick them up at 7am. I got dressed and went to apply sunscreen.... but couldn't find it... well, umm... we forgot to pack it!!!! Oh well, last year I didn't even get a tan, let alone a burn.... so decided not to worry about it.

We got our scooters and gathered up her family (mine was sleeping in and would meet up with us at the park) and hit the bus.... Well having done this before, I had practiced parking scooters at work each night and was fairly adequate getting it on the bus.... Hope however had no previous experience and lets say she had problems parking it...

We arrived at DHS with time to spare to enter... this was what I wanted to happen.... I went to the guest relation window and got a new birthday badge... they had them when I checked in at Pop, but were out of ENGLISH ones.... I also got 4 1st trip buttons for them.... did I forget to mention this was their very first trip?

We got in line and waited for the opening show.... this was new for me as well cause we missed almost all the park openings last year.... when we were given the all clear to enter the park we headed strait to the new ride Toy Story Mania... to get FPs... good thing... there was a line for just the FPs I began to think I was in line for the ride!!!!

By the time we got our passes, I got a phone call from Mom saying that she and Michael were at the park... we met by the hat and thought about seeing Indy show first... well we had plenty of time before that started so we all headed to Star Tours first... everyone agreed this was a cool ride! Well there was still a lot of time to kill before the first Indy show, so at my insistance, we went to see....or is it hear.... sounds Dangerous... I had to do it once... It was ok... but not an attraction I would be upset to miss....

When we left that is was finally close to the time for Indy and we headed that way.... I wasn't able to get any clear pictures of the show, but got this one of the set........lol

Even caught a shot of Hope waiting for the show to start...

I liked this show (and was able to figure out one of the volunteers was a plant long before it was revealed)

By the time the show was over, we were all starving.... but where to eat?

I have heard many people here on the DIS say that there is no decent CS restaurants at DHS.... so I really didn't have good imput to pick a place... we just had to find one that was on the DDP.... but where?

 

[bettyann29]

We were also in Hollywood Studios on Labor Day!! I loved that there were 2 Fantasmics.. We went to the 2nd one..

Im betting you went to Primetime 50's.. Thats one of my favorites at this park.. Thats where we went for dinner.. Am I right??

Keep it coming.. Love the TR

 

[shane&jakesmom]

then what happened?

 

[ShhhQ]

After the Indy show, we were all starving..... so I pulled out my trusty map.... and tried to remember what CS places were on the ddp...

The closest one that I could see was Backlot Express.... I didn't get my camera our for some reason, so no pics of our lunch here....

My family all went for burgers and fries, while most of the others had chicken tenders.... I thought the burger tasted good!

One story though... while we were waiting on our food at the counter... a guy came up with a hot dog that was burnt, they replaced it for him and offered him a free dessert as compensation... he said he already had dessert so they gave him a free apple juice instead.... I thought that was pretty cool, many places would give you a hassle about replacing the hot dog, while this place bent over backwards to make it up to him!!!

After we ate.... the boys wanted to see the Jedi Academy show, but it didn't start for some time... and we all ran to see the Muppet show.... it was cute!!! I would definately watch it again... Well the muppets ran too long and we missed the Jedi show.... they wanted to sit out in the sun for a half hour to wait for the next show... I really didn't want to do this, but was willing... In the end we gave up.... Mom went shopping, Michael wanted to go back to his room for a nap and a shower.... so the 5 of us plodded on together....

Next Stop.... Backlot Tour!
I did get a couple good shots of this ride...

The pre-show...

This one guy was hilarious.... he kept jumping on the other guys back to hide from the incoming bombs...

Some props...

The disaster zone...

After the ride costume area.....

 

[ShhhQ]

After we finished the backlot, we continued our circle and came to the best ride of all.... the only ride that absolutely HAD to have FPs to be able to ride.... the brand new Toy Story ride.... I don't know why but I never once thought to pull out my camera so no pics of this ride.. or even the waiting areas....

We not only used FPs but once we got to the point in line we went in the W/C entrance.... so I am sure there was more interesting stuff to see than we got to anyway.... we were waiting in line trying to decide who was riding with who.... Hope and her husband, Me and the younger boy and the older one rode alone.... I was beginning to have some problems with my Scooter.. it would surge forward and then just stop... was very jerky.... and Hope had to prove hers wasn't acting great either..... she wanted to show us that hers kept going even when she let go of the handle.... she proved this by running herself into the railing..... the attendant for the ride noticed this and joined in... Asked her where she got her liscense! She kept teasing her as we loaded onto the ride, it was too funny!

I really enjoyed this ride.... it was similar to buzz as you shot at targets, but that is where the similarites ended.... you where 3-D glasses and your car stops letting you and your partner duke it out in a shooting gallery... times up you move to the next area..... then it adds your final score to the wall... I whooped my opponent! If this ride wasn't so popular we might have come back here, but it was just too busy to even think about it!

After this the next attraction to come into view that we wanted was the Little Mermaid show.... the oldest boy proudly proclaimed that HE wasn't gonna watch that!!! However, all 5 of us went in...

I tried to get some pics, but without using flash the shots really weren't that great..... but here is what I got... sorry they are so blurry...

After this show we felt it was time to get ToT FPs for me and the younger boy.... no one else wanted to ride.... so Hope gave me one of their cards and I took off to meet back up with them after I got them....

Once I re-found them we decided it was time to see the Beauty and the Beast show (actually one was about to start and all the other showings would be while we were having dinner so it was a now or never type deal)

I liked this show.... and I got some pretty cool shots!

After the show was over, it was time to meet the rest of our party for dinner at the restaurant....

 

[faindrops27]

I am so enjoying this!! And, Yes!! Happy Belated Birthday!!

Also, thank you so very much for the message. I switched to the Wave.

 

[ShhhQ]

I am so enjoying this!! And, Yes!! Happy Belated Birthday!!

Also, thank you so very much for the message. I switched to the Wave.

Thank you!!!!

Well you got to let me know what you think of the Wave....

We can't go back next year, but I am still hoping for the following year...

 

[ShhhQ]

We had 5pm ADRs for Sci-Fi Dine-In.... we were to meet the rest of our party there at 4:30... however that is what time the show got out, so we started booking it across the park... unfortunately I booked it too fast and lost the rest of them and they didn't know which way to go....

Well we all finally arrived and we gave them our names and waited to be seated.... while we were waiting we decided to take this time for a photo op in the display car out front!

It didn't take long for our table to be ready... we had been concerned since a few of us were POOH-sized that the car tables might be a bit snug, plus Mom had her w/c.... so instead of the booth tables that seated us at one long car that had chairs to it.... while I think the booth cars would have been neat... would have been hard to manage with our larger party anyway....

Here is what our table looked like... the empty chair was mine..

The Menu...

The napkin

a couple of the movie clips....

Most of our party wanted the ribs.... Mom said they were great.... but she didn't like the coleslaw (but in my family we are picky on slaw)

One of the boys wanted the grilled chicken sandwich...

the other boy had the shrimp pasta...

Neither of them gave their opinions on their food so can't tell you anything about them....

I decided to have the Butcher Steak.... not the best steak, but not terrible either.... I didn't care for the green beans (they were from frozen and frozen beans are the best tasting...) and the potatoes were a bit much, but I am not big on potatoes anyway.... I did however finish the steak!!

By this time we were all pretty much busting at the seams, but we had to have dessert.....

5 out of 7 chose this for their dessert

Hot Fudge Sundae!!! Yummmmmmmm

Now the 2 boys were the oddballs...
one had the cheesecake...

the other had the fruit salad...

after dinner we split up again and went our seperate ways.... the younger boy and I made our way to ToT.... but slowly as to let our food digest first... While Hope, Al and the older boy went to run an errand.... Mom went off on her own to go at her own pace as did Michael....

My young partner, was excited about going on the tower, but a bit apprehensive.... he is the only one in his family that will do these kinds of rides at all.... well he absolutely loved it!!!

I didn't purchase our ride pic, but I did try to photograph it.... not too clear but we were in front left....

After we got off this ride we met up with the other group and went to finish up our rides..... we still had to do the Great Movie Ride... I wanted to get the cowboy scenario.... as last year I only got to see the gangster.... however we were informed they only had the gangster going for the rest of the day... we should have gone earlier!!!!

For some reason the scene just wasn't as good for me as it was last year... probably cause they had a female playing the part of Mugsy... it just didn't feel right.... Mugsy is a guy not a gal!!!!! But it was ok

We also wanted to do Star Tours again....

By now it was time to get in line for Fantasmic!!!!!

AND what a LINE IT WAS!!!!!

we went to the second showing and it was wall to wall people lining up to get in... everyone was getting tired and cranky so they informed me we were leaving as soon as the show was over.... well I didn't want to, but didn't say so to them...

I had never seen the show before and am really glad that I got the chance!!!I was sitting in the very back (cause of our scooters) and I could still feel the heat of the fire on the water!!!!

When the show was over, I bolted out of there and got seperated from the rest of my group (I planned it that way, but they didn't know)... that was EMH night... I had my bracelet and I wanted to use it!!!! I decided I wanted to ride RnR before I left for the night.... however, it was closed!!!

Well pheww.... guess I was leaving after all!!!

I headed to the front gate, wondering if I would see the rest of my party at all! I did run into Al near the bus stop... he was frantic! He couldn't find his room key/ park ticket and thought he lost it at Fantasmic!!!! I didn't know what to do.... I wanted to help but was at a loss... he gave up and went back to the bus stop and found Hope... who informed him that she had his card.... WHEW... relieved we all boarded the bus and went back to the hotel...

We decided to have a 7am wake up call for our morning trip to MK!!!!
I wanted to be there for the "rope drop"...

alas, that wasn't to be....

 

[faindrops27]

They close Rockin roller coaster on emh nights. That does not seem fair. Hmpffh.

 

[ShhhQ]

They close Rockin roller coaster on emh nights. That does not seem fair. Hmpffh.

Actually, it was listed as being one of the rides opened for EMH... I think there was another reason it was closed.... I did hear someone say it had been closed all night, I personally hadn't even tried to ride it till then so don't know what was going on....

 

[ShhhQ]

Magic Kingdom

Stitch woke me up again.... and I hurriedly got ready...

I had decided, if my scooter was still giving me trouble after a full night of charging I was gonna call the company.... I went to my friend's room and the scooter halted on me 3 times during that short trip!!!!

So I pulled out my phone and called.... they would come and replace the scooter.... unfortunately, that meant waiting at the resort another hour!!!!!!

I told my friends to go on without me, but they chose to stay.... some of them weren't quite ready to go anyway and wanted more time. So Hope and I got on our scooters and explored POP for a bit.... She wanted to know what that building across the lake was... I remember reading something about them extending Pop, but it had come to a halt.... if anyone can tell me the whole story, I would like to hear it....

After almost an hour, my new scooter had arrived and we could finally go to the Magic Kingdom! At the bus stop, the line is kinda long, so I think... boy gonna be crowded today.... We get in the W/C line to be loaded and it is a long wait for the next bus...

Even Mom shows up before we leave....

Of course this is a bit of a problem.... we can't load all 3 of us on the same bus!! We debate, and I am just about ready to ride with Mom when the MK bus pulls up.... followed by yet another one... So we think, I will go ahead on this bus and Mom will be right behind us on the next.... WRONG!!! Hope gets loaded and then I get loaded.... the other bus pulls to the side of the first bus and only allows walking passengers to board..... now I am getting upset!!! There by this time is yet another gentleman in a scooter waiting to board.... and before we finish loading, another MK bus appears.... I start to take a sigh of relief, when it does just what the other bus did!!!! Only walkers, no W/Cs!!!!! That is just rude!!! Now we pull out... the only ones left at the stop are my Mom and the group behind her... out of 3 buses, she never got to board!

I get to MK in a bad mood, and to make matters worse... the others take off and leave me behind, so we get seperated at the bag check! Oh well, I will make the best of it..... and I snap a few pics...

A few minutes later, my phone rings and its Hope looking for me.... we meet up and then my phone rings again.... Mom has arrived and is looking for us...

So the party is back together... with the exception of my brother who is still back at his room asleep....

First stop.... Jungle Cruise!
We basically just walked on this ride, no waiting!!!

Our guide..

a snake...

apes destroying a camp...

some other animals...

The lions...

Explorers chased up a tree....

blurry crocs... or are they alligators... I always mix them up...

Hungry hungry hippos...

Watch out for the head hunters!!!!

Cute baby elephants....

After the Jungle Cruise, it was time to do the boys ride....
Pirates of the Caribbean!

No pics....

By now it was lunchtime and we were all getting hungry....

We call Michael several times and finally get thru to him....Not sure what Mom said to him though....

Hope wanted to eat at the Noodle Bowl... I told her that I thought it was only seasonal, but we decided to check it out.... so off to Tommorowland!!!

We arrive in tommorowland, but not sure where the restaurant actually is... a CM sees us looking around and asks if we need any help.... he informs us that the noodle bowl is indeed closed and recommends a few other locations... we settle on Cosmic Rays (which is kinda what I had in mind from the get go). On the way, I pick up a couple of FPs for Space Mountain for me and the youngest boy....

At Cosmic Rays.... so many choices.... Mom goes for the half rottisaire chicken and slab of ribs (on counter service!!!!) and I opted for the grilled chicken sandwich. I get cheese sauce for my fries!

When I get to the counter to pick up our order, the CM notices my birthday pin and yells that there is a special guest and starts singing loudly... Happy Birthday.... I am embarrassed, but a good embarrassed....

At the table my entire party missed it.... no biggie...lol!

I forgot to take pictures of our lunch yet again!!!!! My bad!

As I am finishing up and waiting for others to finish, my phone rings....
It is way too noisy to answer inside, sides I loose reception in buildings.... So I go outside... its Michael.. he has just arrived at the park and is looking for us! I tell him we have just finished eating and will meet him by the carousel of progress..... unfortunately, he didn't like the fact we ate without him and gets pissed off! Of course this upsets me.... I always get upset when others get upset... this is my nature...

On the way to CoP I borrow Mom's card and pick up a FP for Michael as a goodwill jester... We go over to the front of CoP and wait for him to show up... but we don't know if he will since he is mad.... Everyone is getting impatient and Hope pushes my buttons the wrong way and I snap!!!

I take off on my own and line up for CoP alone!!! Well, everyone joins me anyway.... except Michael, as he never showed up....

I calm down during the show....

Mom is tired and wants to return to the hotel for a nap....

I tell her to meet up with us at about 5 and we would all ride Haunted Mansion together....

Off to explore Tommorowland!