I See a Line, I Wait In It ~ A January 2016 TR - Completed 12/29

[KathyM2]

I think it's super cool that you went over to meet the podcast guys. Although I can totally understand your internal debate about it because I would be doing that too. But glad you did it and have the picture to prove it!!

 

[afwdwfan]

As some of you know, over the past year or so I’ve become a big fan of the DIS Unplugged, which is a series of podcasts created by the people who created and run this wonderful message board. The guys who were sitting and eating at Pecos Bill’s were the host of the show, Pete Werner (who is also the person who originally created wdwinfo.com & disboards.com), and the producer, Craig Williams.

Whoa! Cool! I'm glad you got a chance to meet them.

Unfortunately you missed meeting the really cool guy who was probably about 50 feet away from you right there.


ME!!!


We were watching the parade that afternoon right where it steps out into Frontierland... you know, just next to the Pecos Bill outside seating area.

For a long time after this trip I wondered whether going over to say hello to them was the right move.

They always say it is nice to have a fan say Hi, so I think it's all good. I'm sure they appreciated knowing you watch and appreciate what they do!

 

[SarahDisney]

I think it's super cool that you went over to meet the podcast guys. Although I can totally understand your internal debate about it because I would be doing that too. But glad you did it and have the picture to prove it!!

Thanks
As much as it was a hard decision, I think I'm glad I did it.

Whoa! Cool! I'm glad you got a chance to meet them.

Thanks. It was cool.

Unfortunately you missed meeting the really cool guy who was probably about 50 feet away from you right there.


ME!!!


We were watching the parade that afternoon right where it steps out into Frontierland... you know, just next to the Pecos Bill outside seating area.

Yeah, and we went over to that area before the parade ended and had to wait for it to pass to cross over to get to Big Thunder.
So we were probably within feet of each other and just didn't see each other (in my defense ... I thought you were still at your conference, so I didn't know to look).
Crazy.

They always say it is nice to have a fan say Hi, so I think it's all good. I'm sure they appreciated knowing you watch and appreciate what they do!

They said it was a good thing that I came over to say hi. I'm just not entirely sure I believe them .

 

[SarahDisney]

Day 7, Chapter 5: I Follow You on Instagram
Monday, January 11th, 2016
​

When you last saw us, we were headed to a fun character meet. We got in line before the character meet began because we didn’t want to miss out. We had to wait a bit for the character to show up, but it wasn’t a big deal. We weren’t the only ones waiting.

To pass the time, some of the people in front of us on line were talking to the character handler, and one of them mentioned that she follows him on Instagram. Because apparently he’s a big deal in the Disney Instagram world. There’s a character handler who is Instagram famous. They had an actual conversation about this.
I have no words.

Once I recovered from that trauma, it was time to meet an awesome character:

We actually had a really nice chat with Peter. He was very talkative. He was kinda disappointed that he wasn’t on our race medals … we talked a bit about the races, and we even mentioned that Tinker Bell has her own race weekend in California … but that wasn’t good enough for Peter Pan. He wanted to be on a race medal (note: we kinda forgot to mention it, but he is often on the Tink weekend 5K medal).
So Peter Pan came up with a plan … the three of us should just keep bugging Mickey Mouse until he gets so annoyed that he gives in and gives Peter Pan his own race weekend. Nice plan, Pan.

Pictures of our chat:

Next up was a trip to our favorite FP+ kiosk to pick up FP+ #10 of the day. We did that, but we also picked up something else …

That, ladies and gentlemen, is a paper FP+. It can be given to you by a CM for whatever reason they want.

We went to the FP+ kiosk and instantly went to work … since we are experts and knew what we were doing. One of the CMs there, Thurman, saw us working the kiosk and asked us an important question … if we could FP+ anything in the park, what would we do?
The answer was, obviously … Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. And so Thurman handed us that paper FP+ to allow us to use the FP+ line for our nighttime ride on 7DMT. Yay! Thanks Thurman!

We (temporarily) put away our gift from Thurman and made our way over to our 10th FP+ of the day … The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.

As some of you know, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride used to be located in the area that now houses The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. There is a little “easter egg” where you can see Mr. Toad handing over the “deed” to the ride to Owl. I always try to get a picture of this, and I think this was the first time I actually did it (not a great picture, though):

I do have some better pictures to share:

Once we finished celebrating Winnie the Pooh’s birthday, it was time for another trip to our favorite FP+ kiosk. We were hoping for Pirates of the Caribbean, and we saw one available, but it was too far away, and we wanted something sooner. We decided instead to take a FP+ for Mad Tea Party as FP+ #11, which we could use right away, with the hope that we could hustle over to a kiosk after we got off the ride and hopefully still grab that POTC FP+.

Teacup Selfie:

As soon as we got off the ride, we hustled our way over to the FP+ kiosk near Stitch’s Great Escape. And by we, I mean … I was hustling faster than Beth (which is somewhat abnormal), so I just walked ahead and she caught up with me.

Alas … no POTC FP+. We did manage to pick up another (somewhat) hard-to-get FP+, but we had to wait a little bit to use it, so we decided to standby Pirates.

We actually had a bit of a wait for Pirates. Enough of a wait that the two guys in front of us on line were contemplating skipping the line. Beth mentioned that the key is to have a “friend” waiting at the front of the line.
And just like that … we made new friends. They were from Omaha. I may have made a Peyton Manning comment (yeah, I definitely did … sorry, Beth, I like the Mannings). We talked a little bit about the races … they were exhausted just looking at our medals! We enjoyed talking to them and it made our wait a little bit more fun … but then we got separated at the end and ended up in different boats.

With the whole “my camera is terrible at low light” thing my pictures didn’t come out so well, but here are some of them:

As some of you may remember, a while back they got “new” boats for POTC, and there were a lot of reports of people getting VERY wet on this ride. We were spared – we got pretty much the normal level of POTC wet (aka not noticeably wet). Our Omaha friends, on the other hand … they got soaked. I had read something here on the boards about it being related to weight distribution. This made them think that maybe they should go on diets.
Beth suggested that they take up running. Because it’s not like they had mentioned earlier that looking at our medals made them exhausted. Yeah, Beth thinks she’s funny.

After parting way with our new non-runner friends, we decided that it was dark enough to use our paper FP+. We decided to cut through the hub to get there … which also meant a chance for us to get ourselves some nighttime castle PhotoPass pictures.

We found a photographer in a good position, but there was a bit of a line. We decided to wait, and we chatted about something, as we do on lines. There was a youngish couple (probably a little younger than us) getting their pictures taken … and then there was a ring. He proposed!
I have to admit, I always thought that proposing in front of Cinderella Castle was kinda lame. But actually seeing it happen … it’s magical. There are some things that you just have to witness in person to understand how special they truly are.
By the way … you know how there’s always that one obnoxious jerk who screams “say no!”? That was me. Yeah, I’m terrible.
They seemed happy, though, so I’m glad she didn’t take my advice. She said yes, and hopefully they’re either planning or celebrating their Disney wedding!

There’s no way we could have possibly topped that, so I’m just gonna post our picture:

We chose that border because it was right after we went on POTC and we didn’t get PhotoPass pictures with the sign (we did on a previous trip).

Once our pictures were taken, it was time to use our paper FP+ (aka FP+ #12) for our favorite attraction at Magic Kingdom …

(By the way … if you want a true picture of what I look like at Disney World … there’s a better one tomorrow, but this is close. The camera is out a lot more than Beth wants it to be.)

Just a little bit of background on us and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train:
We first rode 7DMT on our November 2014 trip, and when I logged on to the FP+ website 60 days before the trip, I couldn’t get a FP+. I was eventually able to get one for late in the day. I had read that it was a great experience at night, so we decided to keep the late FP+ even though we had the opportunity to move it up. We rode 7DMT at night and absolutely loved the experience. We have since ridden it during the day (duh … we did it twice this trip), but the nighttime experience is really something different and we make an effort to ride it at night at least once every trip. So this was our nighttime ride.

Anyway … back to the story. Even though the camera was out, I don’t have many pictures to share … none of them really came out well. But I do want to share a few of the “not great” pictures with explanations.

My favorite part of the attraction is as you’re going up the hill in the mine, the shadows of the dwarfs are on the walls. So I tried to get a picture of that:

I also really love that you can see the castle from the ride … it’s one of the things that truly looks beautiful at night:

And of course … a picture of dancing dwarfs:

And, just to close it out, the video:

After we left the mine, it was time to head to our last FP+ for the day (that’s #13 for those of you counting), which was also our first repeat FP+ of the day … Peter Pan’s Flight!

Since we had already been on once that day, we didn’t take many pictures, but Beth got a great crocodile picture:

(Seriously, how good is that picture? Beth really nailed the Peter Pan pictures this trip!)

We enjoyed, as always. Peter Pan was our last ride of the day, but we still had plans. And by that I mean … plans to eat dinner. As for where we went to eat … that you’ll have to wait to find out.

Coming Next: Your Reflection is in the Picture

 

[rteetz]

What an awesome night!

That instagram story is really funny. I am glad Peter Pan was very interactive too, sometimes face characters aren't.

That coveted paper FP, I must say I am jealous. You put it to good use too!

Winnie the Pooh is always fun as well as the Teacups.

Pirates is a must do. It seems the problem has gotten better and people aren't getting soaked as much as they used too. I am glad you stayed mostly dry. That's funny that Beth said they should take up running.

7DMT at night is a lot of fun. I have done it during the day and at night, I guess the only thing left would be to do it during Wishes. I love the video they do with it as well.

That is a good shot of Tick tock croc!

 

[afwdwfan]

They said it was a good thing that I came over to say hi. I'm just not entirely sure I believe them .

If they didn't mean it then they wouldn't invite those encounters when recording the podcasts.

To pass the time, some of the people in front of us on line were talking to the character handler, and one of them mentioned that she follows him on Instagram. Because apparently he’s a big deal in the Disney Instagram world. There’s a character handler who is Instagram famous. They had an actual conversation about this.
I have no words.

You know you're just jealous...

We went to the FP+ kiosk and instantly went to work … since we are experts and knew what we were doing. One of the CMs there, Thurman, saw us working the kiosk and asked us an important question … if we could FP+ anything in the park, what would we do?
The answer was, obviously … Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. And so Thurman handed us that paper FP+ to allow us to use the FP+ line for our nighttime ride on 7DMT. Yay! Thanks Thurman!

Awesome! You guys really didn't do too bad with the FP+ situation, even without this extra one.

They were from Omaha. I may have made a Peyton Manning comment

By the way … you know how there’s always that one obnoxious jerk who screams “say no!”? That was me. Yeah, I’m terrible.

 

[SarahDisney]

What an awesome night!

That instagram story is really funny. I am glad Peter Pan was very interactive too, sometimes face characters aren't.

We got really lucky with the face characters this trip - most of them were pretty interactive!

That coveted paper FP, I must say I am jealous. You put it to good use too!

It was definitely awesome getting that, and I'm glad we had a great use for it!

Winnie the Pooh is always fun as well as the Teacups.

Totally agree

Pirates is a must do. It seems the problem has gotten better and people aren't getting soaked as much as they used too. I am glad you stayed mostly dry. That's funny that Beth said they should take up running.

Agree that Pirates is a must-do ... even though I don't love it as much as some people. I'm in favor of removing Johnny Depp. I'm also in favor of staying dry ... so I'm glad they seem to be getting better with that.

7DMT at night is a lot of fun. I have done it during the day and at night, I guess the only thing left would be to do it during Wishes. I love the video they do with it as well.

I would love to do it during Wishes ... we actually probably would have done that had we not gotten the paper FP. I'm sure it's super magical.

That is a good shot of Tick tock croc!

Thanks!

If they didn't mean it then they wouldn't invite those encounters when recording the podcasts.

Fair point. They are really very warm and friendly people.

You know you're just jealous...

Hey! I'm very happy with my 34 Instagram followers. (Although I'm also starting to wonder how I ended up with 34 instagram followers ... I thought I had like 12)

Awesome! You guys really didn't do too bad with the FP+ situation, even without this extra one.

Thanks. We definitely had a good FP+ day. We might not have hit 18, but this was a record for us!

This was definitely the trip of the football reference. I'm glad it entertained you.

I'm also glad that you're entertained by my meanness...

 

[natebenma]

I was a couple of updates behind:

Nice pictures at Gaston's fountain and Beast's Castle.

That is hilarious that a character handler has an Instagram audience!

You did a pretty decent job riding rides between FP and standby... and ...

ANYTIME FP!

That is so cool!

Wow, you got some decent photos of Festival of Fantasy parade considering you just happened upon it and were trying to get around it.

Can't believe you were so close to meeting Andy!

That is so cool that you met Pete and Craig from the podcasts. Love the picture! I have a lot of friends who watch/listen and someday I will. I say that I will do that while walking on the treadmill, but I haven't gotten into a routine with that yet.

Awwwww... witnessing the proposal must have been a special moment.

I agree- great picture of the crocodile at Peter Pan, Beth!

 

[Saphire5742]

Wow, you two were on a roll with those FP's. And how cool that you scored that paper one!
Sounds like a fun Pan interaction.
Never thought to ride Mine Train at night. Will certainly need to remember that for next time.

 

[SarahDisney]

Nice pictures at Gaston's fountain and Beast's Castle.

Thanks!

That is hilarious that a character handler has an Instagram audience!

It was definitely funny. And disturbing.

You did a pretty decent job riding rides between FP and standby... and ...

ANYTIME FP!

That is so cool!

Thanks!
We were definitely very excited about the anytime FP - that was a special treat.

Wow, you got some decent photos of Festival of Fantasy parade considering you just happened upon it and were trying to get around it.

Thanks!
Even though we didn't stop to watch it, I really enjoyed taking pictures ... there was so much to see!

Can't believe you were so close to meeting Andy!

We were feet apart (probably)! Feet!

That is so cool that you met Pete and Craig from the podcasts. Love the picture! I have a lot of friends who watch/listen and someday I will. I say that I will do that while walking on the treadmill, but I haven't gotten into a routine with that yet.

Thanks. I usually listen at the end of the day when I'm winding down and finishing all of my assorted stuff. It's an interesting dose of Disney and I love the personalities on the show.

Awwwww... witnessing the proposal must have been a special moment.

It was definitely magical!

I agree- great picture of the crocodile at Peter Pan, Beth!

Wow, you two were on a roll with those FP's. And how cool that you scored that paper one!

Thanks! We really got lucky with the FP!

Sounds like a fun Pan interaction.

Pan was a lot of fun

Never thought to ride Mine Train at night. Will certainly need to remember that for next time.

It's definitely a cool experience. Make sure to try it next trip!!

 

[Wood Nymph]

We found a photographer in a good position, but there was a bit of a line. We decided to wait, and we chatted about something, as we do on lines. There was a youngish couple (probably a little younger than us) getting their pictures taken … and then there was a ring. He proposed!

That sounds very romantic.

 

[BlvInMagic]

Finally caught up! (I was a few updates behind!) Really enjoyed reading about your MK day and SUPER jealous that you were able to meet Pete and Craig from the Dis!!!!!!!!!!!!! NO regrets lady -- that is just awesome!

Silly question, are you only able to get those additional FP+ via the kiosks or can you do it from the app?

 

[SarahDisney]

That sounds very romantic.

It certainly looked romantic - I'm sure she appreciated the setting for the proposal!

Finally caught up! (I was a few updates behind!) Really enjoyed reading about your MK day and SUPER jealous that you were able to meet Pete and Craig from the Dis!!!!!!!!!!!!! NO regrets lady -- that is just awesome!

Thanks

Silly question, are you only able to get those additional FP+ via the kiosks or can you do it from the app?

When we went, you needed to go to the kiosk, but from what I've heard, you can do it from the app now. I think it changed a few weeks after our trip.

 

[SarahDisney]

Day 7, Chapter 6: Your Reflection is in the Picture
Monday, January 11th, 2016​

When you last saw us, it was time for dinner. We were headed somewhere that we hadn’t been in a few years:

Or, if you prefer a less dark picture …

Cosmic Ray’s is the only location at Magic Kingdom where Kosher food is available “on demand.” Back in the day, this was our regular MK dinner location. But then we discovered table service meals and Be Our Guest Restaurant, and suddenly it was always BOG for dinner. This trip we decided to go back to counter service and revisit our old haunt, Cosmic Ray’s.

On our last trip to Cosmic Ray’s, we sat at a table with a view of the castle, and I saw these images projected onto the castle … and that was how I discovered the wonderfulness that is Celebrate the Magic. Since we had no plans to see Celebrate the Magic this trip, I figured that while Beth waited for our food, I’d snag us a table with a castle view so that we could see bits and pieces of the show.

As you can see … I got more than a table with a view. I got Beth’s reflection in a picture. Which, because I’m me, I found wildly entertaining.

I also got some pictures without Beth’s reflection:

We finished dinner around the time that Wishes was starting, so we went outside to watch the fireworks. We didn’t feel like fighting our way over to Main Street, and we had a pretty decent view from right outside Cosmic Ray’s, so we stayed there. And I took out the camera to take pictures:

Eventually we did decide to make our way over to the hub area (kinda off to the side, though), so we’ve got some pictures with the castle in them too:

We enjoyed Wishes, as always, and when the show ended, we made our way down Main Street to do some end-of-the-night shopping.

Castle Picture With Pretty Lights:

After taking that picture, Beth made her way over to the Emporium, and I was planning to meet her there, since I had one other stop to make first. I have a Disney Parks Pandora bracelet, and my tradition is to buy a new bead on every trip. I made my way into Uptown Jewelers, and after some deliberation, I walked out with this …

(Not my picture)

I’m not necessarily the hugest of Fantasia fans, but I do love me some Sorcerer Mickey, and I really like the bead. I’m glad I picked that one. It looks good on my bracelet (matches my other charms well), which helps.

We bought some stuff (gifts for people mostly) and made our way out of the park, but not without stopping for some final castle pictures:

And one final selfie on the way out …

Once we exited the park (sadface), we made our way to the bus stop. I don’t remember how long we waited, but we eventually made it back to the resort.

Today’s trivia was Cinderella-related:

I’m not going to post the answers … if you don’t know them, watch Cinderella again. I promise, you won’t regret it.

Once we got back to the room, we had to get ready for bed. It was time for our last night of sleep on Disney property .

Monday End of Day Stats:
Steps: 25,271
Miles: 10.66
Flights of Stairs: 7

Coming Next: Tree of Life Photoshoot

 

[afwdwfan]

As you can see … I got more than a table with a view. I got Beth’s reflection in a picture. Which, because I’m me, I found wildly entertaining.

She gets to be the star of the show!!!

I find it entertaining. well placed reflections in pictures can really add to them.

For example: You got an awesome picture of a jawa standing to the right of the castle!

I like your charm that you picked out. Excellent choice. You can't go wrong with sorcerer Mickey. The last night on property is always a bit of a downer though.

 

[Saphire5742]

After taking that picture, Beth made her way over to the Emporium, and I was planning to meet her there, since I had one other stop to make first. I have a Disney Parks Pandora bracelet, and my tradition is to buy a new bead on every trip. I made my way into Uptown Jewelers, and after some deliberation, I walked out with this …

Nice choice. Love the design

 

[rteetz]

Lol at the reflection of Beth in the mirror!

Wishes is a must do every trip. It's just classic Disney.

Nice pick for the Pandora bracelet. I bought the rundisney one for my mom for her birthday.

Great castle pics! I love how the castle is different in each photo.

 

[Wood Nymph]

On our last trip to Cosmic Ray’s, we sat at a table with a view of the castle, and I saw these images projected onto the castle … and that was how I discovered the wonderfulness that is Celebrate the Magic. Since we had no plans to see Celebrate the Magic this trip, I figured that while Beth waited for our food, I’d snag us a table with a castle view so that we could see bits and pieces of the show.

That is a really cool picture of the castle during Celebrations and Beth in the reflective.

 

[fallonkendra]

I was a few updates behind, eek! Ok, here's me catching up:

Great pictures! I don't remember seeing a Photopass Photographer in that area, I'll have to look harder on my next trip!

We never did go on this ride Something else to add to the list for next time I guess.

As some of you know, over the past year or so I’ve become a big fan of the DIS Unplugged, which is a series of podcasts created by the people who created and run this wonderful message board. The guys who were sitting and eating at Pecos Bill’s were the host of the show, Pete Werner (who is also the person who originally created wdwinfo.com & disboards.com), and the producer, Craig Williams.

I've never really been into Podcasts, but that's really cool that you recognized those guys and went to talk to them!

Hmm, I missed this Photopass opportunity as well...

We may or may not have spent most of the ride being those obnoxious people who talk through the whole thing. I can neither confirm nor deny that. I will say that if, theoretically, we were to talk through the entire attraction, we would do it quietly in order to be minimally disruptive. I think.

I think the next time we go on IASW, we'll be the people who put in headphones and listen to music the entire time so we don't have to hear that awful song!

To pass the time, some of the people in front of us on line were talking to the character handler, and one of them mentioned that she follows him on Instagram. Because apparently he’s a big deal in the Disney Instagram world. There’s a character handler who is Instagram famous.

Now I'm curious what his Instagram handle is so I can follow him! Haha.

So awesome! Way to go!

As some of you know, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride used to be located in the area that now houses The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. There is a little “easter egg” where you can see Mr. Toad handing over the “deed” to the ride to Owl. I always try to get a picture of this, and I think this was the first time I actually did it (not a great picture, though):

This is cool! I need to try and find this next time!

They were from Omaha. I may have made a Peyton Manning comment (yeah, I definitely did … sorry, Beth, I like the Mannings).

Hahaha, this made me laugh

There was a youngish couple (probably a little younger than us) getting their pictures taken … and then there was a ring. He proposed!
I have to admit, I always thought that proposing in front of Cinderella Castle was kinda lame. But actually seeing it happen … it’s magical. There are some things that you just have to witness in person to understand how special they truly are.

That's so awesome you got a chance to witness something like that!

By the way … you know how there’s always that one obnoxious jerk who screams “say no!”? That was me. Yeah, I’m terrible.

Hahaha, you are awesome.

Cosmic Ray’s is the only location at Magic Kingdom where Kosher food is available “on demand.”

Do they have a selection of food you can order there, or is there only one option? Is it the same food you get at the table service restaurants?

As you can see … I got more than a table with a view. I got Beth’s reflection in a picture. Which, because I’m me, I found wildly entertaining.

Hahaha

Great choice!

The castle is so pretty in this one!

The spelling error of pumpkin is driving me crazy in that picture!

 

[SarahDisney]

She gets to be the star of the show!!!

Yes. That. I totally did it on purpose so that Beth could be part of the show.

I find it entertaining. well placed reflections in pictures can really add to them.

I agree on well-placed reflections.
Accidental reflections, on the other hand ...

For example: You got an awesome picture of a jawa standing to the right of the castle!

That's a Star Wars thing, right?

I like your charm that you picked out. Excellent choice. You can't go wrong with sorcerer Mickey. The last night on property is always a bit of a downer though.

Thanks! So far two of my three Pandora charms are Mickey charms ... I kinda like that mouse.
And yeah, the last night was a bummer, but at least we had park plans for the next day!

Nice choice. Love the design

Thank you!!

Lol at the reflection of Beth in the mirror!

Wishes is a must do every trip. It's just classic Disney.

Yes! This was our second Wishes of the trip ... but first one with music, which makes a big difference (we saw it Saturday night from GF)

Nice pick for the Pandora bracelet. I bought the rundisney one for my mom for her birthday.

Thanks! I was looking at the runDisney one, but decided to save it for a later trip. I'm hoping to get it on my next race trip.

Great castle pics! I love how the castle is different in each photo.

Thanks! That's why I posted so many pictures ... I loved that it was different in each picture!