I Got My Disney Fix and I Feel Fine! An illustrated story.

[mkluvsmickey]

Nice cliffhanger....

 

[Joshua_me]

We're really enjoying your trip report, and your pics are nothing short of
*fantastic* ! That shot of the sun setting over the Poly was incredible...

What make and model of camera did you use ?

 

[quiltymom]

Thank you for the kind compliment! The camera I use is a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8. It's halfway between a point and shoot and a DSLR, having a fixed lens (you can't swap it out) but a large zoom range. It's also very lightweight, which is a necessity for me.

All Panasonic cameras have Leica lenses, the best in the business. So the opticals are great.

It also has a lot of bells and whistles, which I'm still figuring out how to use, yet it also has a "simple" mode for when you don't want to think. The sunset photo was shot on "Sunset" mode - I kid you not! It's said to increase the deep colors of the light, and you can see that it did.

I've been very happy with it. It's a big-kid camera for those who don't want to spend too much $$ but want to have more options than with what is available on a traditional POS.

Are you thinking that maybe santa will drop one in your stocking this year?

 

[pixleyyy]

I'm getting ready to print some t-shirts and wanted to know if you did yours on your own or had them printed somewhere. If you printed them at home, did you use the dark transfer paper and is that why you see the white (I want the white on our designs to show but my printer doesn't print white). I LOVE your shirts and I love the look of the family all matching.

 

[quiltymom]

Yes, I printed all my transfers on the dark transfer paper. I was too worried that the other wouldn't work as well, and I was very happy with the way they turned out.

Just make sure you don't put the tees in the dryer afterwards. Let them hang dry. The transfers will stay in much better condition that way.

Have fun with your tees! I had so many matching outfits that DH started calling them the "uniform of the day."

 

[Backstage_Gal]

Caught up on your report tonight, Quiltymom, very enjoyable, great jpb

 

[DisneyJo]

Love the hula hoop photos and I have a lumix too just got it in August for our trip and even thoughmy hubbie is an SLR man we both love it

 

[kors]

Great report...can't wait for your next update~

 

[quiltymom]

First, the Dream.

6:30 am. After a fitful night’s sleep (I can never sleep the night after flying), the alarm goes off. Handsome & I get ready before waking the kids and getting them ready. We eat breakfast in the room and then head over to the South Depot to catch bus for Animal Kingdom.

Okay – that sounds peaceful. Since I’m still paranoid about the bus system, I was prepared for the worst. In actuality I was a drill sergeant getting the troops ready to go. Handsome had to tell me to chill a few times, that we would be fine no matter how what time we left. But I didn’t listen to him. I had them out the door to the South Depot by 0730 hours.

We saw the Animal Kingdom bus arriving as we reached the main building, so we moved our bushy tails as fast as we could to catch the bus. And we did. I guess the driver took pity on we poor souls. Thinking that we would be visiting all the other stops before leaving POR, I was amazed that we took off straight for AK. Needless to say Handsome was very good to me when we arrived at AK at 8:00 am, one full hour before the park opened, without even an “I told you so.” Can you see why I married him?

There was no one in line at the turnstiles at all, just a few people sitting on benches except for those people arriving for breakfast. Handsome found a bench as well, but I grabbed the kids and parked it in front of an turnstile, the unofficial first person in line that day! Tee hee. Handsome did join us after a while (smart man), but then he had the KTTW cards, after all.

At about 8:30, CM’s started taking their positions at each turnstile. Our CM was a man named Jose, and he was from Ecuador. We had a wonderful chat while we waited, mostly about how he tries to talk with as many people as possible on the job so he can work on his English skills, and about his homeland. Here he is with Mick.

At 8:45, the countdown began, and we meandered our way over to EE. Except that EE was not open yet. Another duh. I had forgotten all about the a.m. greeting at the oasis. Silly me. We grabbed a position at the front of the rope and waited for the show to begin.

A CM approached Buddy Boy and said, “Hey buddy, how are you doin’?” Well, Buddy Boy didn’t have a clue what was going on around him (typical of Aspergers Syndrome); he wanted to get on that ride NOW and could’ve cared less that someone wanted to talk to him. I reminded him that it was good manners to return the greeting, so he did.

The CM then asked him if he wanted to open the tip board for that day. He hadn’t a clue as to what that meant, but I told him to go along.

The CM told us that we were going to be given priority seating to the Festival of the Lion King. You could’ve knocked me over with a feather. So I chose a random time and after the little ceremony DS was presented with a Year of a Million Dreams Wish card and a priority reservation for FOTLK.

Then it was time for the opening ceremony at the Oasis. It was cute. The kids really enjoyed it. Besides, we had a great view. Here’s some pics:

We had received our Dream. But the Nightmare was still to come.

 

[Hedy]

I'd totally do the bus thing, too....you never know.

 

[scottny]

see the busses are not bad there. so many people on here put the fear of busses into people when they really were not bad. an hour early that is funny.

How great he got to do the opening of the board.

Ok I have braced myself for the nightmare.

 

[DisneyLaura]

mdsouth - We are going in 2009 too. We'll leave the day before Thanksgiving and then stay for 10 days. I'm so excited, I can't wait to start planning.

Quiltymom - love your TR. I am going to go look at your others.

 

[DisneyObsession]

So far, so good! The dream sounds terrific!

But what about "The Nightmare"????

I feel like I am right there with you. I was at POR from 11/11-11/15 in Magnolia Terrace!! The busses were fine, of course it helped that we were right near the East depot!!

Can't wait to hear more!!!

 

[quiltymom]

I won't keep you in suspense, since I know you were up all night worrying about this...


I love roller coasters, but as I get older (gasp!) I don’t seem to do as well on them as I did when I was a teen. See, I’m deathly afraid of heights. One reason why I love the Disney coasters so much is that the track is either hidden in complete darkness or it is worked into the topography of the ride. I can enjoy the ride without having to see d-o-w-n.

Now in theory, I love roller coasters. Space Mountain (in Disneyland), Big Thunder Mountain, Rockin’ Roller Coaster, and best of all, the Matterhorn. Take, the RnRC for example. They shoot you out like a rocket, twist and turn you all around while you’re in the dark – except for those great neon signs. You don’t know what’s going to happen, you can just sit back and enjoy the ride, no matter what comes your way. That’s the way to do a coaster.

Back to our AK morning…

When the time came, we and all of our early rising AK friends started making our way over to EE behind “the rope”. I was amazed at the people who kept pushing ahead of us, like it was going to make that much of a difference that early in the morning.

We FastPassed the ride and jumped in line. The queue is great. I didn’t get many photos because the line was moving fast, and I knew that we would be getting back there later on in the day when the lines were longer. We boarded our train, and we were off!

We got to the steep incline and started up. I was dreading this part. I had my old, small camera strapped around my wrist and grabbed a few shots about mid-way up.

Then … the train stopped, right smack dab in the middle of the incline, way out in the open. I had Buddy Boy sitting next to me so all I said was “Oh great!” (YES, that is what I said!) I knew that it was time to start praying.



Now, I’m a woman of faith and God has guided me through some tough situations in my life before, but nothing has ever been as physically frightening as this. I knew that I should be brave so I tried to ignore impending doom and snapped a few more shots while we were there. Like ignoring the situation will make it go away.

This is what a photo looks like when you point & shoot but don’t look:

Then for some crazy reason I decided to time how long we would be there.

Five minutes. Time to start deep breathing exercises and quit taking photos.

10 minutes. More deep breathing and more prayers. Buddy Boy is not happy by now. There are other rides to go on, didn’t ya know?

11 minutes. I keep opening my eyes to look at the stairway located on the track next to me. You can see through the treads.

12 minutes. I wonder how many CM’s it would take to carry me down, blindfolded.

13 minutes. Where is my emergency chocolate stash when I really need it?

14 minutes … I stopped counting after this.

The whole time I was praying so hard that I wouldn’t have to climb down those stairs (it would’ve been if I was escorted, blindfolded, after being drugged). I prayed and I prayed for God to give me the strength to get through this, and continued with the deep breathing exercises to keep from panicking. As all this was going on in my little head, everyone else on the train was practically leaning over the sides to look down, to wave to people on the ground, or whatever. (These would be the people who would be reading this installment and saying, “That’s not a nightmare! That’s fun! eek.) Me, I’m trying not to loose it. I was very close to becoming hysterical.

And just when I thought I would make a complete fool of myself, we started up again, without any warning. Somehow I got off a few more shots:

Needless to say, I hated the ride. I screamed like a banshee the entire time, so much so that my throat still hurt the next day. I was shaking like a leaf when we got off. But I wouldn’t let it ruin my whole day. It was only 9:30 am and all I wanted was a stiff drink, and I’m not much of a drinker.

Chocolate Martini, anyone?

I told Handsome that it was my worst nightmare come true. But being the left-brained, nerdly sort of person he is, he informed me that no, it wasn’t my worst nightmare. That would’ve been if I had to climb down the stairs. I thanked him for that little tidbit of information.

The kids said that they didn’t want to ever go back on that ride again, and I wholeheartedly agreed. So we ditched our FastPasses, and we headed on over to DinoLand, USA. Woo hoo! Triceratops Spin, here I come!

Needless to say, I never got back to take any more EE queue photos. Oh well. I won’t be loosing any sleep over it.


Did I happen to mention that we have a paleontologist in the family?

 

[quiltymom]

I won't keep you in suspense, since I know you were up all night worrying about this...


I love roller coasters, but as I get older (gasp!) I don’t seem to do as well on them as I did when I was a teen. See, I’m deathly afraid of heights. One reason why I love the Disney coasters so much is that the track is either hidden in complete darkness or it is worked into the topography of the ride. I can enjoy the ride without having to see d-o-w-n.

Now in theory, I love roller coasters. Space Mountain (in Disneyland), Big Thunder Mountain, Rockin’ Roller Coaster, and best of all, the Matterhorn. Take, the RnRC for example. They shoot you out like a rocket, twist and turn you all around while you’re in the dark – except for those great neon signs. You don’t know what’s going to happen, you can just sit back and enjoy the ride, no matter what comes your way. That’s the way to do a coaster.

Back to our AK morning…

When the time came, we and all of our early rising AK friends started making our way over to EE behind “the rope”. I was amazed at the people who kept pushing ahead of us, like it was going to make that much of a difference that early in the morning.

We FastPassed the ride and jumped in line. The queue is great. I didn’t get many photos because the line was moving fast, and I knew that we would be getting back there later on in the day when the lines were longer. We boarded our train, and we were off!

We got to the steep incline and started up. I was dreading this part. I had my old, small camera strapped around my wrist and grabbed a few shots about mid-way up.

Then … the train stopped, right smack dab in the middle of the incline, way out in the open. I had Buddy Boy sitting next to me so all I said was “Oh great!” (YES, that is what I said!) I knew that it was time to start praying.



Now, I’m a woman of faith and God has guided me through some tough situations in my life before, but nothing has ever been as physically frightening as this. I knew that I should be brave so I tried to ignore impending doom and snapped a few more shots while we were there. Like ignoring the situation will make it go away.

This is what a photo looks like when you point & shoot but don’t look:

Then for some crazy reason I decided to time how long we would be there.

Five minutes. Time to start deep breathing exercises and quit taking photos.

10 minutes. More deep breathing and more prayers. Buddy Boy is not happy by now. There are other rides to go on, didn’t ya know?

11 minutes. I keep opening my eyes to look at the stairway located on the track next to me. You can see through the treads.

12 minutes. I wonder how many CM’s it would take to carry me down, blindfolded.

13 minutes. Where is my emergency chocolate stash when I really need it?

14 minutes … I stopped counting after this.

The whole time I was praying so hard that I wouldn’t have to climb down those stairs (it would’ve been if I was escorted, blindfolded, after being drugged). I prayed and I prayed for God to give me the strength to get through this, and continued with the deep breathing exercises to keep from panicking. As all this was going on in my little head, everyone else on the train was practically leaning over the sides to look down, to wave to people on the ground, or whatever. (These would be the people who would be reading this installment and saying, “That’s not a nightmare! That’s fun! eek.) Me, I’m trying not to loose it. I was very close to becoming hysterical.

And just when I thought I would make a complete fool of myself, we started up again, without any warning. Somehow I got off a few more shots:

Needless to say, I hated the ride. I screamed like a banshee the entire time, so much so that my throat still hurt the next day. I was shaking like a leaf when we got off. But I wouldn’t let it ruin my whole day. It was only 9:30 am and all I wanted was a stiff drink, and I’m not much of a drinker.

Chocolate Martini, anyone?

I told Handsome that it was my worst nightmare come true. But being the left-brained, nerdly sort of person he is, he informed me that no, it wasn’t my worst nightmare. That would’ve been if I had to climb down the stairs. I thanked him for that little tidbit of information.

The kids said that they didn’t want to ever go back on that ride again, and I wholeheartedly agreed. So we ditched our FastPasses, and we headed on over to DinoLand, USA. Woo hoo! Triceratops Spin, here I come!

Needless to say, I never got back to take any more EE queue photos. Oh well. I won’t be loosing any sleep over it.


Did I happen to mention that we have a paleontologist in the family?

 

[Shmu]

WOW. So sorry about your nightmare. Glad you didn't have to climb down. I do not ride a lot of roller coasters for health reasons but in 2006 when DH and I went by ourselves I rode EE to brag to my teens that I had ridden it. I never saw the Yeti. Eyes were closed. I did have fun but will never ride it again. I was dizzy for about an hour later. This is a problem I am having as I am getting older. On this last trip, 2007, my friend and I were waiting for the rest of the crew to come off the ride and one lady got off crying hysterically. I felt sooooo sorry for her. On a lighter note, I am hoping to make the rope drop on our next trip. Haven't made one since 2000. I have to drag two teens out of bed. Not an easy thing to do. Loving the report and pics. Keep it coming.

 

[DisneyLaura]

Oh my. I think I would have freaked out too if I got stuck. But I do have to agree with your DH, at least you didn't have to walk down. That would have been way worse. Enjoying your trippie.

 

[fizz13]

Ok I think that would have been a nightmare for me too, poor you Love rollercoasters, hate heights, nuff said! Yay for DS and the tip board thoug, heres hoping your adventure is less scary from here on in. Don't keep us waiting too long, love love the trippie

 

[DisneyObsession]

Yes, that IS a Nightmare!!!! I am shaking here for you! I think I would have been majorly panicking!!!

Not sure if I should still feel sorry for myself that I didn't get to ride it or thank my lucky stars I didn't step foot on that ride!!!! Maybe by the time I write my TR I'll have it figured out.

Can't wait for more!!!

 

[scottny]

that would be a nightmare. I saw it was broken down while we were there but they got it working so we jumped on line.

Nice of handsome to tell you it wasn't your real nightmare. that was helpful.