"I'm With Sneezy!" A Mom-&-Me/Solo October Trip! Upd 12/16

[SimplyGoofy]

I'm in!

I love that you bought a balloon - I've often thought about buying one myself!

I can't wait to see what your tour has in store...

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Aw! SEBASTIAN showed up on our MM! We weren't sure what Mom was holding until we looked at MM later that night.

After a visit from the only crab you want as a surprise, it was time to walk on in.

There is one thing you should know about me - I'm a big, big kid. Especially at Disney; I lose all awareness of my age and become 10. So it was no surprise that when I walked around the corner and saw the balloons out and floating in the sky that it took me a moment to suddenly realize that while I felt like I was 10, I had the budget of a full-grown adult who is a major saver and budgeter and had been planning this trip for a year.... and there's one thing I have wanted for years. Since I was a kid, really, and I learned there was such a thing and that we couldn't afford it. And I planned on having it right here and right now.




A LIGHT UP BALLOON!!! IT'S A BALLOON THAT LIGHTS UP! And get this - you can TURN THE LIGHT ON AND OFF AND IT LIGHTS UP AND IT FLOATS IN THE AIR AND I ALWAYS WANTED ONE AND I GOT ONE AND I LOVED IT SO VERY MUCH!!!

It's never too late to have a happy childhood! (Although it looks like yours was happy in many ways, even if you couldn't get the balloon then.)

 

[DaisyDuck001]

I have taken a picture of every TSMM score I've ever made; I started doing it back in 2010 on my first trip back to WDW after a ten year hiatus (hence my user name; in German, zehn Jahren is "Ten Years").

A lot of people will probably get a laugh out of this. I haven't seen most of the "Star Wars" movies, and I'd thought "Zehn Jahren" was a "Star Wars" character from one of the later movies!

 

[ElenaJane]

Um, yeah, immediate walk on vs FP is a big difference! Certainly a big difference when you are paying for it. At least they should have advertised correctly. I am so excited to see how the rest of the tour goes!

Did you mom's HM MB do anything when you checked in for FPs? A CM told me if you had one, instead of the light turning green, it was some different color and played spooky music. He might have been pulling my leg....

 

[ZehnJahren]

I'm in!

I love that you bought a balloon - I've often thought about buying one myself!

I can't wait to see what your tour has in store...

Hi, thanks for joining!

That balloon made my week. You should buy one; they transport you instantly to childhood!

More tour coming up soon! It will take a couple of updates because I have a lot of pictures coming up.

It's never too late to have a happy childhood! (Although it looks like yours was happy in many ways, even if you couldn't get the balloon then.)

I had a very interesting childhood and a lot of it was very happy. Not getting a balloon as a kid was the very least of my worries, I assure you. But boy was I glad to get one as a grown-up. And I'll tell you what - if I ever get the chance to take any children with me, every one of them will get a balloon as well. Talk about instant happiness.

A lot of people will probably get a laugh out of this. I haven't seen most of the "Star Wars" movies, and I'd thought "Zehn Jahren" was a "Star Wars" character from one of the later movies!

Ha! I haven't seen any of them, can you believe it? I keep meaning to watch them but...

Um, yeah, immediate walk on vs FP is a big difference! Certainly a big difference when you are paying for it. At least they should have advertised correctly. I am so excited to see how the rest of the tour goes!

Did you mom's HM MB do anything when you checked in for FPs? A CM told me if you had one, instead of the light turning green, it was some different color and played spooky music. He might have been pulling my leg....

It IS a big difference, isn't it? It would be better to advertise correctly so people don't expect something different. It wasn't a tour-ruiner but it did make me wonder if more things would be popping up that weren't what was advertised.

YES, it DID do different stuff. At HM, it did a spooky sound - but I don't remember if the color was different.

 

[ZehnJahren]

Fair warning, I will go over our entire tour; if there's something you don't want to know about the Ultimate Day of Thrills tour, please skip this installment.

Finally, they called all of us over by the Plaza and said the tour was starting. We would head to Adventureland first, and then make our way in a half circle around the lands until we arrived at Tomorrowland. So we walked over to Adventureland to wait on their "rope drop".





While at the Adventureland rope drop, we got into a circle and introduced ourselves. Lauren was a former CP who ended up working for the mouse full-time. We all introduced ourselves and gave name and home city - the tour had two people from NJ (a man and woman, appeared about 25) and three people from OH (parents and their son, the son being around 25-30 as well).

Rope dropped, and the crowds that had formed tried to get past the CMs, who asked that everyone stayed behind them. I didn't know Adventureland was such a draw!

We headed directly to Pirates. Lauren walked at a regular pace, not too awfully fast, but didn't offer much to say.



When we got to Pirates, we were told that Cap'n Jack was still asleep and hadn't roused the pirates yet, and we wouldn't be able to go on. Lauren told us that we would come back later, and we were off to our next ride, Splash!



Lauren and a tour member:



... and of course, Splash in the background!

We went through the FP+ line (of course, there was no wait at all as we were one of the first to make it to the line), and the family from OH put on ponchos. They did NOT hear the end of that. Every CM we passed said "ponchos? really??" We had a good laugh about it.



Looking at the picture, it seems the man in the couple needed the poncho more - he ended up pretty soaked. Mom and I got a few splashes, but our shoes remained dry and to me, that's what counts. I can be SOAKED, but I need dry shoes. We were required to wear close toed, close heeled shoes on this tour, so I kept hoping it wouldn't rain so we could avoid wet tennis shoes.

Next up was BTMRR, of course. After that was our first "scary thrill" of the tour - HM.





We had a good ride, no stops, through the FP+ line that pretty much was non-existent, and then Lauren checked her MDE to see about PotC.

It was still closed. "Oh well," said Lauren. "We'll figure something else to do!" and it was on to a first for my mom and me = 7DMT.



I was looking forward to this ride. As it was, it was not disappointing to us at all. It was super smooth, and the animatronic area with the dwarfs is just amazing! I wanted to get stopped there so I could look at everything. We also really enjoyed the video that they give you with MM; those videos are so cool! I hope they do that with more rides!

We got the very first seat on the ride; what luck, because we were more interested in SEEING the ride as clearly as possible than thrills right then.









Now it was time for the first break of the tour - Gaston's!



I grabbed a water, but I'd had breakfast and wasn't hungry like everyone else. Instead, I headed into the store and had a look around. This was probably my most favorite thing I found at all the parks:



Oh how I would love to have that! BatB is one of my most cherished Disney movies.

My mom told me I should sprint to Uptown Jewelers to make sure the HM bags weren't released. I held up my phone, as I'd checked my facebook group and no one had said a word. If they'd been released, I'd know!

Finally we were all back together and looking to head to our next ride - Space Mountain!

 

[ZehnJahren]

Fair warning, I will go over our entire tour; if there's something you don't want to know about the Ultimate Day of Thrills tour, please skip this installment.

Next up was Space Mountain - we headed over, but I couldn't ride due to still having some neck issues from a car accident earlier in the year. I'm in good shape, but I know SM is very jerky and I couldn't take the chance. So while I waited in line with everyone else, I took the chicken exit once we got to the end.



It seemed like it took forever in the dump shop. I kept waiting and waiting, but my group wasn't showing up. I found the photo booth that took MM and took some terrible pictures.



I kept waiting, looking around at everything, even going outside for a bit. I really wanted this SM glass, but I didn't want to have ONE THING shipped home.





The day was sunny, but storms were ahead. How far into the tour would we get before the skies opened? I hoped we'd finish the tour before that happened but I wasn't sure that would happen - and I was right.

Mom walked out into the dump shop after a couple of minutes. Turns out that they went on a second time! Why would they do that, with someone who already couldn't ride? I was irritated but again, it wasn't a deal breaker. I was just surprised they'd make me wait even longer when there were plenty of rides we could ALL ride.

Finally, they joined us and we headed to the bathroom for a short break before heading to Buzz Lightyear.







Kind of crappy scores, but in reality I can't stand this ride. I never ride it on my own. I hate that I can't see where my laser is, and that I can only shoot once every second or so. I have an itchy trigger finger, what can I say?



Mom looks so enthralled in this picture; it cracks me up:



After Buzz, we headed out a CM only door and headed backstage. Frank was waiting for us with a van; we loaded up and headed to HS.

On the trip over, Frank and Lauren told us about some of the buildings we were seeing. It's AMAZING how big the building for RNRC is, and you really don't see it while you're in the park. The launch area really moves the ride out of the park. ToT is massive as well - you really don't realize it until you're driving up behind it and all those underground parts are exposed.

Frank took everyone's MBs at this point for attendance purposes. I kept my MB for the MM on it, and handed over my AP card. Mom was sad to see her HM MB go, but it would be back before we left AK.

First up? RnRC.



I stood in line for this one, but for the same reason as SM I chickened out at the last minute. I was just worried it would jostle my neck too much, and I'm still in recovery. So I AGAIN took the chicken exit - I wasn't expecting to - and met one of the tour attendees in the dump shop (she wasn't riding either).



Once the group got off, I realized that Mom didn't have an MB on, and therefore we couldn't get her picture! Lauren said we should stop by the picture area and they could manually add it to our MM, and I asked the group if they minded waiting for just a moment for me to add it. Noone cared, so we walked over.



I love that picture of mom so much.

Here, we passed another group of Disney CMs, all training to be tour guides. They all were very happy to see Lauren; she said hello and waved to everyone.



Next up was ToT - now this one, I knew I could ride, so I was onboard!



You could see the clouds gathering and growing darker.







Love those ToT videos that you give you with your ride!

Next up? LUNCH! And we were ALL hungry!



Uh oh. It's gonna rain.

We headed for the Brown Derby ... quickly. It started to sprinkle by the time we got near Starring Rolls, and by the time we sat down at our already-ready table it was pouring outside.



I sat on one end next to Frank and Lauren; we each had a seat saved with name cards. Mom sat to my right, and was next to the family of three. The couple sat across from me. The chef came out to talk to me about my stupid allergy, and fortunately I could eat everything. I was glad I wouldn't waste any more time for our group by causing my meal to take more time!



I unfortunately didn't get ANY pictures of my meal or anyone else's we were all so focused on the company and the rain and the ambiance.

My review? IT WAS AWESOME. The food was absolutely delectable. I had never had risotto before, in my life - this was the most delicious thing I had ever tasted! The chicken was cooked perfectly; the vegetables were so delicately glazed that they almost crunched when you bit into them - truly one of the best meals I've had at Disney, ever. I ate until I was full - not stuffed, because I knew we had more rides to ride! My mom loved her sandwich; she said it was the best meal SHE'D had at Disney; we were very satisfied with the delicious lunch!

We left the restaurant to more pouring rain; fortunately, next up was TSMM and it was just around the corner. We all donned ponchos and away we went.





Not my best score:



But Mom broke 100k! She wanted to beat me so bad. Not going to happen!



Finally in HS was Star Tours. This was originally one of two rides I was going to sit out - I can't do simulators. Mom decided against it as well, and so did another member of our tour, so we headed to the dump shop. IT WAS CROWDED; people were trying to stay out of the rain, and there was very little room to move.



This was another case where we waited for a loooong time for them to come out. Once they did, we found that the weather had not let up in the least; it was pouring rain, and we were off to AK. Would we make it on EE, or would we have to be content with D! only?

 

[STLMickeyMom]

Wow! You've done a lot so far! And your lunch sounds wonderful. We've never eaten at brown derby before but I always hear it's delicious.

The picture of your mom on RnR is great! She looks like she's having a blast.

Darn that rain! The star tours dump shop always seems so crowded to me. I can't imagine what it's like when it's raining out.

Can't wait to see what's next!

 

[teekathepony]

Ok, all caught up. Sorry I fell behind!
So I have not heard of this ultimate day of thrills tour. It sounds super awesome and I'm putting it on the list for next year!
I do have to agree with you though that the little differences between what you were told on the phone and what happened would be a bit annoying.
Glad your group was small and it sounds like fun meeting new disney people and riding rides all day together. A little like one long continuous Dismeet.
7DMT! I love that ride, I think they did a great job on it.
Wow... Very odd that they'd ride sm twice knowing you were waiting for them.
Your lunch sounds delicious. I've always wanted to eat at the Brow Derby. Is the lunch for this tour always there?
Yikes! Hope that rain lets up and soon!

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[ZehnJahren]

Wow! You've done a lot so far! And your lunch sounds wonderful. We've never eaten at brown derby before but I always hear it's delicious.

The picture of your mom on RnR is great! She looks like she's having a blast.

Darn that rain! The star tours dump shop always seems so crowded to me. I can't imagine what it's like when it's raining out.

Can't wait to see what's next!

Our first four days were pretty go-go-go-go! Even once I was solo, I was pretty busy! If mom's allergies hadn't hit her so bad, we probably would have kept up the crazy pace through the end of her vacation too.

The ST dump shop was a madhouse. And everyone was wet, and the floor was soaked; it wasn't a fun place to be.

Thanks for commenting; I was starting to think I was talking to myself!

Ok, all caught up. Sorry I fell behind!
So I have not heard of this ultimate day of thrills tour. It sounds super awesome and I'm putting it on the list for next year!
I do have to agree with you though that the little differences between what you were told on the phone and what happened would be a bit annoying.
Glad your group was small and it sounds like fun meeting new disney people and riding rides all day together. A little like one long continuous Dismeet.
7DMT! I love that ride, I think they did a great job on it.
Wow... Very odd that they'd ride sm twice knowing you were waiting for them.
Your lunch sounds delicious. I've always wanted to eat at the Brow Derby. Is the lunch for this tour always there?
Yikes! Hope that rain lets up and soon!

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

The tour was one of those that were announced back in May I think - they were announced and then you didn't hear anything else about it. Most people complained that the price was too high. After being on the tour, even with the AP discount, I'd probably agree. It started getting to me that things deviated from what I was told multiple times.

I agree; I think 7DMT is definitely Disney through-and-through.

I heard (another thing I was told that changed) that it would be at WCC at the WL, so I don't know if other tours go there and we went to Brown Derby because we were such a small group?

No go on the rain letting up. Spoiler alert: it poured the next day (our US/IOA day) as well.

Thank for commenting as well. I told myself if no one commented I'd just quit writing, but it's hard as I want to relive the trip in the future! I guess I could write it out for myself but what fun is that?

 

[Angeejoe]

I'm loving all the MM ride pics! I love your moms pic on RR!! I think it's silly that they take your MBs for the day. You were so smart to give your AP!

I'm a lot like you, I'm not great with change. If someone tells me that something's going to be a certain way, it better be that way!!!! It would really irk me to think I paid a lot for the tour & not get the promised walk on!

 

[wannabee]

Please don't stop writing.... I check several times a day to see if there is more about the ultimate thrill tour....... I'm curious if there was much to the tour besides the ride. I 've done keys to the kingdom and we got so much info.... Sounds like there isn't much talk on the ultimate thrill tour

 

[DaisyDuck001]

The "ultimate thrill" tour doesn't look all that thrilling at all, to pay extra just to run around using the fastpass lines. OK, glad I read about it and I know that's not something I'd like to do.... Hopefully the rest of your trip was more thrilling!

 

[stacy~**]

You are a speed updater! I can't keep up.

Interesting that they had you check in for the tour so early but then it seems you didn't leave for awhile. Nice that you were in a small group.

Haha about my fellow Ohioans in ponchos. Glad you didn't get too wet.

Buzz seems like a weird choice for a "thrills" tour.

Love the photo booth pictures. I wish I would have known about that but hopefully it will still be there next trip.

I have always been curious about the Hollywood Brown Derby. Nice to see a good review on it.

 

[ZehnJahren]

I'm loving all the MM ride pics! I love your moms pic on RR!! I think it's silly that they take your MBs for the day. You were so smart to give your AP!

I'm a lot like you, I'm not great with change. If someone tells me that something's going to be a certain way, it better be that way!!!! It would really irk me to think I paid a lot for the tour & not get the promised walk on!

They were more than happy to take your ticket, if you had it, but now everyone is wearing MBs. For the cost of the tour, I'm surprised the hopping just wasn't "included" for that day only, if you didn't have a hopper.

I did have a friend tell me I should write Disney and tell them all the ways the tour deviated from what I was told. I haven't really decided yet.

Please don't stop writing.... I check several times a day to see if there is more about the ultimate thrill tour....... I'm curious if there was much to the tour besides the ride. I 've done keys to the kingdom and we got so much info.... Sounds like there isn't much talk on the ultimate thrill tour

Oh good to know! There really was very little to the tour besides riding - ANOTHER deviation from what I was told. We had a VIP tour guide, but boy she was pretty quiet. She would tell us one thing about each ride, but they were mostly so uninteresting that I already forgot them all.

The "ultimate thrill" tour doesn't look all that thrilling at all, to pay extra just to run around using the fastpass lines. OK, glad I read about it and I know that's not something I'd like to do.... Hopefully the rest of your trip was more thrilling!

I know, right? I thought we'd get some information, walk onto the rides, and that it would just be ... DIFFERENT than how it was. For a tour, it was cool, but not for the price.

You are a speed updater! I can't keep up.

Interesting that they had you check in for the tour so early but then it seems you didn't leave for awhile. Nice that you were in a small group.

Haha about my fellow Ohioans in ponchos. Glad you didn't get too wet.

Buzz seems like a weird choice for a "thrills" tour.

Love the photo booth pictures. I wish I would have known about that but hopefully it will still be there next trip.

I have always been curious about the Hollywood Brown Derby. Nice to see a good review on it.

I AM updating quickly when I can. I take a break from job hunting to write about the trip, and I have 11 total days so I need to keep crackin' or I'll run out of steam!!

Yes, I don't know why we had to be there so early? Maybe they thought they were doing us a favor?

Buzz was a "competitive thrill" - like TSMM. And SM was either a "fast thrill" or a "dark thrill" I can't remember which. They all were some sort of thrill - "spooky thrill" for HM, etc.

I read about that booth on a TR here! It was fun to try and find; I wish they had more of them.

The HBD was probably the highlight of the tour to me. I checked later and my meal was over $30! Boy, for Disney food it was worth it though; it was so good! I wish I'd have gotten a picture of it.

 

[Angeejoe]

I really do think you should write a letter. You paid a lot of money for an exclusive tour that started late, didn't start before the park opened as advertised, had to wait in lines, went to a different restaurant (though we love Brown Derby & it would've been my preference), and you had a VIP guide that didn't talk! I'm glad you had fun & got the bonus of a signature dining lunch!

 

[ZehnJahren]

I really do think you should write a letter. You paid a lot of money for an exclusive tour that started late, didn't start before the park opened as advertised, had to wait in lines, went to a different restaurant (though we love Brown Derby & it would've been my preference), and you had a VIP guide that didn't talk! I'm glad you had fun & got the bonus of a signature dining lunch!

I'm still thinking about it - I just figure, what does it really matter? They'll probably still give the same information out to people, and my tour is over, so how will it benefit anyone? I don't want to sound like I'm complaining; it was "fine" but I won't do it again, that's for sure!

Regardless, I was definitely very impressed with lunch. The food was very special. And it was nice to actually sit and talk to Frank and Lauren about their jobs and what they do for Disney, and hear about their experiences with the mouse!

 

[khaleesi]

Bonjour!! Better late than never, right?? *sigh* Such a bad Dis'er, am I!

I'm starting to think that it hasn't stopped raining in Orlando since February! Every report I read... rain! Good times.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE that you bought that balloon and are so happy with it!! Yay!!!

And I totally feel for your mom. Allergies are miserable!

First, let me tell you a little story. A few years ago, my Grandpa unexpectedly gave me $50 for Christmas. He hadn't given presents for many years, so getting it from him was a surprise and I didn't NEED the money, so I just kept it in the envelope in my drawer.

He passed away earlier this year, and it really made me think of that $50 he had given me that I was just holding on to for no reason. I knew he'd want me to use it on something I would love, so I decided then to put it towards a purse so that he could "help me" buy one that I would use and love every day, and think of him every time I did. I decided if I didn't use it to buy a purse because I didn't find placement I liked, I would figure out something else that I could put it toward that would be well-used and well-loved.

That made me tear up! I'm so glad you bought something you love!!

I love that you spoke German to the CMs. I was a French major in college for a while before switching, but I've never had the courage to try to speak "en francais" in Epcot! Cool idea!!!

I have taken a picture of every TSMM score I've ever made; I started doing it back in 2010 on my first trip back to WDW after a ten year hiatus (hence my user name; in German, zehn Jahren is "Ten Years").

Mystery solved!!

 

[ZehnJahren]

Bonjour!! Better late than never, right?? *sigh* Such a bad Dis'er, am I!

I'm starting to think that it hasn't stopped raining in Orlando since February! Every report I read... rain! Good times.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE that you bought that balloon and are so happy with it!! Yay!!!

And I totally feel for your mom. Allergies are miserable!

That made me tear up! I'm so glad you bought something you love!!

I love that you spoke German to the CMs. I was a French major in college for a while before switching, but I've never had the courage to try to speak "en francais" in Epcot! Cool idea!!!

Mystery solved!!

Hi there! Thanks for joining! Better late than never, of course!

It was "rain, rain, GO AWAY ALREADY WOULD YA!!" for the first few days of the trip, but the rest of the days were gorgeous! I was there for a long time, so it wasn't too big a deal for some of it to be rainy, but had I been there the week before and had rain for my entire 11 days I would NOT have been pleased at ALL!

My mom was absolutely miserable towards the end of the trip and I was starting to worry she was actually sick - but she cleared up within two days once she came home, so it really was all allergies and not a developing cold like I feared.

I had held on to that money from my Grandpa for awhile, so it was bittersweet to let it go - but I know I'll use the purse for years and years, and I'll think of him when I use it, so it's good!

I am always shy speaking to the CMs, because that's their LANGUAGE, but I like to try. Usually I wait for them to ask how I am and just ask them back in German and they're surprised and start speaking to me. Then I get to tell them my German is bad, and talk about how I learned it and where. It's fun, but I wish I could remember more!

Yep! Zehn Jahren = 10 years! I didn't have to think very hard to come up with that one!

 

[ZehnJahren]

Fair warning, I will go over our entire tour; if there's something you don't want to know about the Ultimate Day of Thrills tour, please skip this installment.

We left for AK. On the way over, Frank and Lauren laughingly offered us cold towels - they said usually, it was so hot that the ice cold towels were snapped up, but we were all pretty soaked, even with our ponchos, and we said we wished they had dry towels, not cold ones. Frank said he would definitely have to remember that for later tours in rainy weather; we were the first.

Water had started to seep into my shoes - and when that happens, I'm pretty done, so I kept praying it wouldn't make it all the way in and start making me miserable. I can't handle wet feet.

We made it to AK, driving past some interesting things on the way over. Animal feed barns and weather testing for different siding for buildings; the backs of some of the AK rides and shows - and they didn't even look like ride buildings; lots of buildings with off road vehicles. It was all interesting to see. We parked and walked up a long flight of stairs, and at the top was the CM door in the D! dump shop.

Lauren led us out, but told us we were going to head for EE first to try and get on the ride before the storm made it over and shut it down, so off we went. First, a bathroom break.



Then we (too slowly!) headed through Dinorama towards EE.



By the time we got there, the ride was still going (I was sure it was going to shut down) and the rain had let up a little bit. We all pulled off our ponchos and jumped in the FP+ line.



The skies were still ominous.







But we made it through. Disco Yeti was in full force, so it was nice to at least SEE the yeti vs. it being cloaked in darkness.



The guy who was half of the couple was not happy in ANY picture. And of course, he was in every one of our MM pics. That must be his excited face?....? Or maybe he was bored of all these "thrills".

We got most of the way through EE when I heard the thunder rolling above us. "Oh man," I thought. "Please don't stop this ride." About that time, we ended up at the stop before you enter the exit area... and stopped. The rain picked up, and we were all sitting out in the pouring rain, just stopped and waiting for our turn to disembark under the awning. Fortunately, we didn't wait long - and then we were off the ride and laughing at our MM picture.

Lauren asked if anyone wanted to go again. We all DID, but we didn't want to be in the now-pouring rain, so each one of us passed.

We headed over for our last ride - Dinosaur.

This one is a favorite for me; I just love it. However, at the end the carnotaurus that usually comes barreling out from the right hand side was broken and the one from the left came out instead. We were clearly not that worried about him.



And that was it. Our tour was over.

They gave us an option of three things: 1) stay at AK; 2) go back to where we started in MK, or; 3) be dropped off at the TTC.

The couple chose to stay at AK, and headed off. We asked to be dropped off at the TTC, where our car was waiting in the very first spot, and the family of 3 chose to go back to MK. Frank said they would take us back to TTC, then drop off the family at MK; we were pleased with that, so off we went. We left AK through the D! dump shop exit, where there was a good 4 inches of standing water at the bottom of the stairs. I tried to jump it so my feet wouldn't get wet and mostly succeeded. I was so glad I had another pair of shoes in the car.

Frank and Lauren dropped us off at the Lost and Found building at TTC, and we walked towards the car. Our plan had been to head back to the condo for a few hours and then go to Epcot, but we were feeling froggy and decided to try and move our FP+ and just go straight to Epcot now. I changed my shoes into sandals I had brought and left in the trunk, and we were off to Epcot.

Ah Epcot.





We wandered around a bit, headed to the Mexico ride, did a little WS, and then headed to our FP+ for SE.







We shopped for awhile, and then decided to head back to the condo. We knew tomorrow would be a long day at US/IOA, so it would be a good idea to rest tonight and get ready for the next day. We managed to do all four parks by 5 p.m. and felt like it was a full day for us!!

My thoughts on the Ultimate Day of Thrills Tour:

While it was "fun" to do all the big rides in one day, too much deviated from my understanding of what the tour would be and I have to say that I left the tour feeling like my money was wasted. I'd done almost the same run of rides on my own in the past, even using Disney transportation, and felt like I could have done this on my own and possibly in less time. There needs to be something to punch it up a little, add a little something, before I'd ever, ever consider doing this again. To be honest, after this tour I'm turned off to all other Disney tours for fear they would be similar. The highlight of my day was the Hollywood Brown Derby. Mom, on the other hand, had a great time and loved it. To each their own, but I wouldn't do it again.

Moving on.

We headed to the condo, and I couldn't sit still. I spend a lot of time alone in my day to day life and I was on VACATION, so I needed to get out. I just couldn't relax in the room. So I left.



I headed over to the Tacky Tiki Bar for a drink. It was sprinkling, but I figured I could find something under shelter, right?



I found the beautiful Fountains pool, and a table, and then I headed up to look at the menu.



Nah, I'm not hungry:



I'm THIRSTY.



Ah, a pina colada drink! It had raspberry too. I bought the refillable drink cup, so all of my refills would only be $7, even if I got a vodka rocks. Sounded great to me! So I sat down to enjoy.



Oh man, it was TERRIBLE! I tried so hard to drink it and just couldn't. I thought it would be nice to have something tropical since I was chilling by the pool, but nope. I went back up to the bartender and apologized to her, but I couldn't drink her drink. I told her I was more than willing to pay for something else, but she wouldn't hear of it. I ended up with my favorite, a Cape Cod.



Aaaaaahhhhhh that's more like it.



The clouds were parting and the weather was very nice. And after a little bit of time, I had a new friend.



He came over to eat some leftover food on the table next to me.



He sat and meowed at me for awhile, but didn't run away. I finished my drink and got another, and then just sat and enjoyed the sunset and the beautiful weather until I decided it was time to head back to the condo and go to bed. Tomorrow was US/IOA day, and it was supposed to be another wet day in paradise!