It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times. updated 4/18. The end!

[scottny]

LeFou’s Brew is very sweet. Not sure if I could drink it now after the surgery.
Nice parade pics.
No pics with flash in COP and some cm’s say no video and others allow it.
Nice pic of us all at the meet.
Hey! Scrooge is not always out. LOL
Nice Jingle Cruise pics.
Very nice parade pics. There were several annoying people by us that night.
Eww. Horrible angle for the balloon pic.
Great updates and pics.

 

[tazdev3225]

How cool that you were part of the giant DIS meet that I remember Scott and Kathy talking about! That looks like so much fun!

It really was a lot of fun. It was wonderful meeting the others. I already knew Scott.

I really like the Christmas overlay on the Jungle Cruise. I think its cute.

It is cute. I wish it showed throughout the ride.

Fun parade pictures and more lovely castle pictures.

Thanks. I think I over compensate with castle pics because I forgot to take any on one trip.

Looks like you had a great time at the party. I haven't been to that party in forever and I think I need to go back!

The party was fun but I'm not sure I'll do it again. Sold out means very crowded.

LeFou’s Brew is very sweet. Not sure if I could drink it now after the surgery.

Maybe that was what was wrong. I don't drink sweet things and hate soda.

Nice parade pics.

Thanks I was glad I got to see it.

No pics with flash in COP and some cm’s say no video and others allow it.

I have so many pics on there that sometimes I just put the camera away.

Nice pic of us all at the meet.
Hey! Scrooge is not always out. LOL

Didn't you get Scrooge? I was happy to get all 3 of them after waiting forever.

Nice Jingle Cruise pics.
Very nice parade pics. There were several annoying people by us that night.

Yes that may not have been the best spot. I got decent pics so I was happy.

Eww. Horrible angle for the balloon pic.

It was I guess but you can always get a new thinner you picture. You look really good now.

Great updates and pics.

Thanks.

 

[KatMark]

Awesome updates!

I love the mega DIS picture. It was so nice meeting everyone. I just wish we'd had more time together, but I know everyone had party plans.

Great pictures of you with The Ducks! I think we saw you sitting in line with Scott while we were on Dumbo. We didn't get to see any characters except for Pooh and friends.

You got some awesome parade picturs too. I did really bad with those this year and I was so disappointed. So I enjoyed looking at yours because it is such a fun parade.

 

[tazdev3225]

Awesome updates!

Thanks

I love the mega DIS picture. It was so nice meeting everyone. I just wish we'd had more time together, but I know everyone had party plans.

More time would have been nice but we all had things we wanted to do.

Great pictures of you with The Ducks! I think we saw you sitting in line with Scott while we were on Dumbo. We didn't get to see any characters except for Pooh and friends.

Scott did say he saw you headed that way while we were waiting

You got some awesome parade picturs too. I did really bad with those this year and I was so disappointed. So I enjoyed looking at yours because it is such a fun parade.

Thanks I really enjoy the parades. I would love to see the new MK one in May but my traveling companion isn't as fond of them. Since I really want to go to Star Wars Weekend I won't push the parade and it is her Birthday trip. I am working on a surprise dinner for her right now.


Any one reading along a slight off topic question. Has anyone done the Hoop De Doo Revue? Is it worth the money? My friend has wanted to do that but nixed for cost reasons. I want to surprise her with a birthday dinner and was wondering if it's worth it. She is the kind of person who would really have fun being picked on.

 

[tazdev3225]

DAY 5 begins.

This was actually a later starting day. I am not ALWAYS on the run. We got to the bus stop around 9 AM. I took a couple of pics along the way.
Loved the lights


And the map that got me hopelessly lost the first night


I then realized I couldn't find my phone. I headed back to the room. Not there. Back I went to the bus stop and looked through my bag again. There was my phone. I should have had Jim call it and I swear it wasn't there when I looked the first time.

Anyway the bus cam within a few minutes of my getting back to the stop. We made the rounds and were at DHS by around 10 AM.

I had to get a pic of the tree.


The bag check line was LOOOONG!!!! I told Jim to go through the other line and I would meet him at TSM as we had a FP for there and we were cutting it close time wise. I got through the bag check and into the park with no issues. Headed straight to TSM and no Jim.

I called him once, twice, three times and no answer. I got in line when I saw him approaching the area. He didn't look happy but I just assumed I was his toe. Nope! He got blue at the entrance but they assured him he was OK to go. I went through the FP and got green. Then I realized he was not there. He got BLUE AGAIN. I pulled up the app on my phone and showed it to the CM. They wouldn't let him in. I was seriously getting angry at this point. I was told to just go on he couldn't. Um NO!!! I am not riding without my husband. We had t wait close to 40 minutes in a line with other people who got blue. Finally it was determined to be "fixed" although he was still getting blue.

11 AM we were finally on the ride and one that I usually beat him at handily. Lost this time



I was just in a really bad mood at this point. We now had a choice. Go to Star Tours and maybe get there in time, lose the FP and just hang around or go o guest relations and try and get this fixed again. We opted for guest relations. So back to the front of the park we went. I was ready to tear someone's head off. Jim is usually calmer so he talked first. Thankfully the 2 CM's working here were very nice and one was from our area and heading home for a visit that night. They fixed the MB again. Gave us a new Star Tours FP time and gave us about 3 extra for the next day.

The issue, and it seems to be a BIG issue, is that I had an AP and Jim just had MYW tickets. The 2 types of tickets don't interface well so my AP is read but his tickets aren't. They told us they think they fixed the problem since they were able to identify it. They even got me into a slightly better mood.

It was now 11:30 and we had wasted quite a bit of time on the MB issue. We were now really late for a very important date.

Short update I know but I am going to leave you hanging a bit. Where were we headed and what were we going to do??? Stay tuned it will be worth the wait.

 

[scottny]

40 minutes. That is ridiculous. I hope you wrote an email to Disney when you got back about the issues.

Ooh, I know where you are going.

 

[tazdev3225]

40 minutes. That is ridiculous. I hope you wrote an email to Disney when you got back about the issues.

Ooh, I know where you are going.

I was ridiculous and I intended to email Disney but with the holidays I forgot.

Yes you do know where I was headed.

I have a question to ask of my readers. I don't know if anyone has noticed but someone just started a new TR with MY title. I dropped a subtle hint to them that they did not respond to so what do I do? I figure I have 3 choices - 1) Keep this title, (2) change my title or (3) OK I only have 2 real options. Some feedback please. I know it's petty but I am slightly bothered by it. I keep opening her TR thinking it's mine.

 

[NancyLuvsMickey]

Keep the same title but preface it with "The Real: It was the..." or "The Original: It was the..."

 

[tazdev3225]

Keep the same title but preface it with "The Real: It was the..." or "The Original: It was the..."

Thanks for the response. They are good ideas.

 

[PamelaPaige726]

Just started reading... And have to say you 2 are too Cute! My Hubby is a marathon driver too! I'm the sleeper, lol.

 

[tazdev3225]

Just started reading... And have to say you 2 are too Cute! My Hubby is a marathon driver too! I'm the sleeper, lol.

Thanks for joining in and thank you. I never thought of us as cute but I like it. He can drive the long boring highway. We joke that I'm lucky to make Maryland, an hour away.

 

[KatMark]

We are back from our week in Florida and I am slowly catching up.

I would have been absolutely furious with the whole issue with the MB's. They really needed to get out ALL of the kinks before they rolled them out. But I'm glad they gave you some extra FP's (they did that for Andy and his group the week of New Year's Eve too).

Hmm...not sure where you are going next but anxious to hear.

 

[tazdev3225]

We are back from our week in Florida and I am slowly catching up.

I would have been absolutely furious with the whole issue with the MB's. They really needed to get out ALL of the kinks before they rolled them out. But I'm glad they gave you some extra FP's (they did that for Andy and his group the week of New Year's Eve too).

Hmm...not sure where you are going next but anxious to hear.

I really was starting to lose it with the MB issues. The CM that fixed it that day finally gave me a reasonable explanation. He seemed to think the fact that I had an AP while Jim had a ticket is what was causing the glitch. He didn't excuse it and agreed that it should have be planned better before they had everyone using them. The extra FP's were a nice bonus.

I will be updating and most likely finishing this in the next week or 2. Definitely will have an update by tomorrow.

 

[tazdev3225]

Sorry I have been AWOL from my own TR but I needed something for this update that I kept forgetting to bring to my daughters house and when I finally remembered it they had a HUGE plumbing issue that I had to deal with til my SIL got home from work. It wasn't pretty, still isn't. There's a big hole in the ceiling from the leak.

Anyway I left you with a trip to guest services to fix the MB again - HOPEFULLY!!!

We were now late and Jim was moving slow. Thankfully we had a short walk to


Disclaimer the picture is from a few trips ago. We were running so late I didn't take the time for a picture. We were meeting Scott, Bill and Tracy for Dining With An Imagineer. I parked my scooter and grabbed a quick shot inside.


We were then seated with the others in a private room. There was a father and daughter, 2 friends , another couple and a man whose wife is on the DIS. We introduced ourselves and met our Imagineer - Cindy Cote. Listening to her talk was fascinating.

The meal was beyond good. For starters we had soup.
I had the Oyster and Brie finished with Champagne, Chives and Lemon Aioli minus the oyster


Jim had Chicken Noodle


My choice was by far the better one. That soup was fantastic.

Then we had an Individual Classic Cobb Salad


If there weren't so many calories in that I could live on it. It definitely lived up to its reputation.

There are 3 entrees offered. Jim and I both had the Filet of Beef. We aren't huge seafood eaters and I can't always handle spicy.


That filet was so tender you could cut it with a butter knife. I will say the other entrees looked very good but we were happy with the beef.

Then there was dessert. Again a choice was offered of Crème Brulee or the Grapefruit Cake. I do not like grapefruit but if you serve it to me as that cake I will live on it.




And our Imagineer - Cindy Cote


This was one of the best experiences I have ever had at Disney. Ms. Cote was so nice to listen to and learn about her experiences with the Disney Company. The food was absolutely AWESOME! to borrow my grandson' favorite expression. The other people were a delight to spend time with.

The total cost for the two of us was $159.34. Worth every single penny. We also got keepsake menus with pictures of our group, signature dish recipes and a souvenir plate per person. This was also autographed if it was wanted, we were given a choice. We opted to have them signed.

Our plate


The Brown Derby also keeps the plates for you until you leave the park at the end of the day. That was much appreciated.

Lunch over and stuffed we said our goodbyes and Jim and I were off to the TOT. I avoided this ride for years and now it's a favorite. Of course I took a few pictures








I wish I had been in the front row. That's one of the best shots I have gotten before the drop


Of course I had to get the photo.


It's a running joke that every ride photo I have a camera in my face.

I leave off here with this picture and the question - Staying or Going???

 

[MEK]

Your meal looks delicious. That grapefruit cake - YUM! And dining with the Imagineer sounds like such a great way to spend lunch. Love it!

Your pictures from ToT turned out great - the cobwebs, the holographics, the drop. Nice job. I finally got brave enough to take a few in Feb but I haven't uploaded them to see how they turned out. should be interesting!

 

[KatMark]

Is that the only place you can have lunch with an Imagineer? We didn't care for Brown Derby in 2007 at all. Mark hated the grapefruit cake and we had awful service and my steak was never cooked right, but that beef looks awesome!

Glad you had a good imagineer.

Too funny about the camera in your face on TOT!

 

[Zeebs]

just spent my morning reading through your trip report, been great reading. Fantastic pictures. We will be at Disneyworld in May, we are offsite so we won't have the magic band issues, but a host of other ones I guess. (trying to think positively but to do that I need to stop reading threads lol)

I think I might need to plan a trip for Christmas time the decorations are lovely.

Kirsten

 

[tazdev3225]

Your meal looks delicious. That grapefruit cake - YUM! And dining with the Imagineer sounds like such a great way to spend lunch. Love it!

It was very good. I can't complain. I didn't think I would enjoy he grapefruit cake but it really was very good.

Your pictures from ToT turned out great - the cobwebs, the holographics, the drop. Nice job. I finally got brave enough to take a few in Feb but I haven't uploaded them to see how they turned out. should be interesting!

Thanks. I have been playing around with the camera a lot and was very happy with them. They were all without flash. The drop really is hit or miss. I am still trying to perfect the drop at night.

Is that the only place you can have lunch with an Imagineer? We didn't care for Brown Derby in 2007 at all. Mark hated the grapefruit cake and we had awful service and my steak was never cooked right, but that beef looks awesome!

Glad you had a good imagineer.

You can have dinner at The Flying Fish. I was very happy with the meal we had. It was all very good. They went off menu with the soup for Jim and one or two others who didn't care for the soup planned. So we were really happy. I can understand not wanting to go back to Brown Derby after a bad experience.

Too funny about the camera in your face on TOT!

It's a running joke. My friend I am traveling with in May started it.

just spent my morning reading through your trip report, been great reading. Fantastic pictures. We will be at Disneyworld in May, we are offsite so we won't have the magic band issues, but a host of other ones I guess. (trying to think positively but to do that I need to stop reading threads lol)

Over all the experience with the magic bands wasn't that bad. It really was helpful at the room. I find that people tend to dwell on the bad and forget to report the good too. We had issues yes but not enough to ruin the trip,

I think I might need to plan a trip for Christmas time the decorations are lovely.

Kirsten

Glad to have you here. Thanks I love taking pictures and sharing them.

The decorations are so beautiful. I wish we had skipped Universal so I could have had more time to check out the resorts.

I just realized we will be in Disney at the same time. Have a great trip. I'll be on a scooter and decorated somehow. Say hi if you spot me.

 

[tazdev3225]

I'm back - but imagine that as an ominous type scary voice.
I did forget to mention that when we went on TOT Jim's Magic Band worked so it seemed to be fixed again for the day. But did it continue?????

I left off looking towards the exit. Did we leave? Here's the next picture I took


We headed over to Animation Academy. I wound up with a lapboard and Snow White was our character. No pictures. My lack of drawing ability really showed here and the animator was very fast which made it difficult to keep up.

I still had the other FP waiting to be used so we had somewhere to be. Along the way I stopped over by where they do American Idol. There are a number of busts so I wanted pictures.

Bob Newhart - I loved his show with Suzanne Pleshette and still watch reruns


Bill Cosby - Hey, Hey, Hey. What can I say he's a hometown product


Mrs. Potts, Jessica Fletcher, I mean Angela Lansbury


Desi Arnaz, this one is just creepy if you know what I mean


I did get them all including Walt Disney. Some of them are really creepy. Mary Tyler Moore has hollow spots where the eyes are and she looks like she has no eyes. It was a fun few minutes remembering who was there and how they touched my life with their contributions to TV and film.

Anyway we were headed to - STAR TOURS. I had a mission this trip - to be the rebel spy. That didn't work out sadly. Even the trip where only 2 people were on the ride I wasn't picked. I had another mission - to see as many different combinations as I could before I got sick.

The first time through I stopped for a picture of Darth Vader


I got yelled at to keep moving. There was no one in line behind me so I was happy with the one shot.

Took a pic while we waited.


And that was my last picture for awhile. Jim rode the first time and his MB worked fine. After we completed our mission he found a spot to sit and get a drink. I headed back for my next mission. Stand-by was at 5 minutes or I would have skipped doing this. I rode 5 times total and saw 4 combinations. Two of my rides were exactly the same. The CM I chatted with said I had really bad luck with that. There are so many combinations that the odds are really against it. Oh well I was happy. Jim was too. He sat and relaxed for the final 4 rides.

Jim surprised me and took some pictures.


He had a great vantage point. I would have ridden Star Tours the rest of the night but I had something else to do. I took a pic along the way of the Muppet Fountain


Then a quick shot of Phineas and Ferb for my grandson. He LOVES them


And we arrived at our very crowded destination.

Continued in next post as I will be very picture heavy.

 

[tazdev3225]

Continuing on we were headed to the Spectacle of Lights. This will be pretty much all pictures and they do not do this justice.



The reason for the season


A Hidden Mickey



DSC00688

Another Hidden Mickey
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/94896178@N08/12840192273/]

They even decorated the trash cans


Jim - doesn't he look thrilled??? I made him use the scooter a his foot was really acting up.




Santa driving a police car


Even the windows had decorations "inside" and I just noticed the Leg Lamp from my favorite marathon on Christmas - A Christmas Story.


This picture needs an explanation. We were waiting to get our picture taken with a photopass photographer. I was taking pictures and for some reason zoomed out as I took the picture. I had my DSLR this trip. I loved the result


So much so that I did it again


Gargoyles. I love gargoyles






More Hidden Mickeys




A wreath


And we were done. I love Christmas Lights and that display while extremely crowded is so worth dealing with the crowds.