"It's Coming and it's BLUE" - A July 2010 TR - COMPLETED!!

[MarieTheCat24]

JULY 24TH PART 5: BLLLLLLLLUUUUUUUUUUEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Alright, I’m finally back, so let’s get down to business (to defeat the Huns)….

As Lia alluded to in one of her replies, our beautiful, wonderful, fabulous experience at Le Cellier was about to take a turn for the worst. We had finished our meal and were waiting for Barry to come get the check when I started to freak out. Like, really freak out. I think I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m prone to panic attacks. Oh, yep, I definitely mentioned that because I had a panic attack the night before we left and I know I mentioned that. So yeah, I started freaking out, feeling like I couldn’t breathe and got really fidgety. I really don’t know what triggered it, but in that moment, I just felt like I needed to get out of there. So Dad and I headed outside, hoping that the fresh air would calm me down, while Mom and Katie waited to figure out the bill.

Well, the fresh air didn’t calm me down. I was still freaking out. I just really wanted to get back to the Polynesian and lay down for a little while. This is kinda weird of me but whenever I have a panic attack, I really just want to be “home”. Be it my house, my house at school, or in this case, the Polynesian, I just needed to go “home”. Aaaaand I’m really over-sharing about my panic attacks, but I guess that’s relevant to the story.

So I start booking it to the monorail. Literally, I was, like, power walking. Apparently I have super human speed that kicks in when I’m panicking. Dad was lagging behind, walking at a normal We-just-ate-a-big-lunch-at-Le-Cellier pace, and I remember getting really impatient. I kept stopping and turning around and standing there with my hand on my hip like an impatient three-year-old, waiting for him to catch up. Oh, I should also mention that during this time I was texting Katie who was still at the restaurant waiting for the bill to get figured out. I’m not sure exactly why it took them so long, but it did. Oh, and I don’t remember doing this, but I guess I also took these pictures while “briskly” walking out of the park. Evidently I multi-task when I panic.

As we passed through the turnstiles, I got a text from Katie saying that they were finally leaving the restaurant. At this point, I was starting to relax a bit. I was still kinda jittery, but I was feeling a little closer to normal.

Alright, let me just take this moment to complain about how much I hate the Epcot monorail platform. After staying at the Wilderness Lodge the previous two trips, I got used to the buses and forgot about how miserable this thing is (Although, boy do I have some horror stories about the Wilderness Lodge bus to Epcot…I’m definitely willing to share (and relive the trauma) if you wanna hear).

I mean, who wants to climb up this after a long day in the park?

Obviously I’m not an architect, but there has got to be a better way to get everyone up to the monorail without such a steep incline. It’s ridiculous.

So Dad and I pulled out our grappling hooks (thank goodness we packed them) and headed up. There was a monorail already waiting in the station, so we walked right on. I was all “SCORE!” but quickly realized that I spoke too soon. We sat on that monorail for what seemed like forever. I don’t know if they were just trying to space out the monorails or if one had problems, but we sat in the station with the monorail doors open for quite some time. Do you remember how earlier I said that as Dad and I were passing through the turnstiles, Mom and Katie were leaving Le Cellier? Well, we sat there so long that THEY MADE IT ONTO OUR MONORAIL. At first, I thought I was hallucinating or something. I had been staring blankly out the door and when I saw them walking up the ramp I did a double take and was like OMG HOW LONG HAVE WE BEEN SITTING HERE? There’s no way that’s them. So I texted Katie to verify, and sure enough it was them. Crazy.

Eventually we FINALLY got moving, which was good because I was about to fall asleep. I was leaning on my dad’s shoulder, and knowing me I would have fallen asleep and started drooling all over him, which would have been bad news bears. I mean, a 20 year old girl drooling on her Daddy’s shoulder? SO LAME. But thankfully the movement (and the narration) woke me up and I made it back to the Polynesian without any embarrassing sleep-related moments.

The downside of staying in Fiji is that once you reach the TTC, you still have quite the hike to get back to your room. I’m always all, “Yay! We’re here!” and then I’m like, “Oh, no we’re not.” But the Polynesian is SO FREAKING GORGEOUS that it makes up for the long walk.

I’m always super aware of my surroundings when I’m walking through here because, a few years ago, I came *this* close to stepping on a snake. Yeah, it was pretty traumatic. I was walking along the path, being my happy-go-lucky, I’m-at-Disney self when I happen to glance down only to see that my foot was about to come down right on top of a little green garden snake. It was awful! I did like an awkward hop to avoid stepping on it and began flailing around. I mean, it was only a garden snake so it’s not like I was going to be eaten alive or anything, but I don’t do snakes. Plus, what would have happened if I actually stepped on it? I was only wearing flip flops, so would I have ended up getting snake guts all over my feet? *shudder* I would have needed about 10 HAZMAT showers and 30 years of therapy to deal with that.

Moving on…

Katie decided to hop up into the gardens and pose for a picture with this guy. I think he’s supposed to be intimidating, but in my opinion, he looks pretty friendly. He’s got a bit of a smile going on. It’s not just an I AM GOING TO DESTROY YOU face.

With all of the leaves starting to fall out of the trees here, what I wouldn’t give to see one of these again.

Oh, and this is really random of me, but I have this fascination with palm trees and the sky. I’m obsessed with taking pictures from underneath a palm tree, looking up at the sky. So this is one of my favorite pictures from the trip. It just screams WARM! TROPICAL! HAPPINESS!

We finally made it back to our room, only to find this little guy waiting for us.

We couldn’t figure out exactly what it’s supposed to be, but because we had just eaten at Le Cellier, I decided that he was a moose AND that this was some sort of sign from the Disney gods. I don’t know what they were trying to tell us, but I’m pretty positive they were trying to tell us something. It was probably only something along the lines of “Don’t forget to book your next Disney vacation!” or “Join DVC!” or “Don’t wait too late to hydrate!” but whatever. It was a sign from the gods, I felt really special, and no one can tell me otherwise.

As per usual, I took this little midday break as an opportunity to snuggle up in bed, watch Stacey, and catch a few Z’s before heading back to the parks. I’m pretty sure everyone else went to the pool.

Although, I do have this picture on my camera of Mom “sleeping” with the moose on her head, so I’m not sure exactly what they were doing…

Around 5:30, we once again trekked over to the TTC to head to Epcot for the evening. As per usual, it felt like we waited forever for a monorail to come, when in reality it was probably only 5 minutes.

STORY TIME! I’m sure you’ve all been dying to know the origin of this TR’s name, and we’ve finally reached the point where I can share. As we were waiting, I was kind of spacing out, messing around with my camera, not really paying attention to anything going on around me. Then, all of a sudden, I hear the most adorable little voice yell out “It’s coming and it’s BLLLLUUUUEEEE!!!” I don’t know where the voice came from, but OMG it was adorable. The way he said “BLLLLUUUUUUEEEEEE” was so cute! So being the wacky people that we are, Mom and I wound up spending the next five minutes obsessively repeating “BLLLUUUUEEEEEE” over and over to each other. Throughout the rest of the evening, we tried to work it into conversation as much as we could. “Hey, what color is the sky?” “It’s BLLUUUUEEEE.” “Where does Nemo live?” “In the big, BLLLUUUUUEEEE world!” It went on and on.

Here’s a picture I took of the “BLLLLUUUUUEEEEE” monorail approaching.

Now, I’m just staring at it, repeating “BLLLLLUUUUUUUUEEEEEE” over and over in my head. That will never stop being hilarious to me.

Anyway, a few more “BLLLLLUUUUUEEEEEEE” jokes later, and we were back at Epcot.

Spaceship Earth, you are the most wonderful thing ever. Even though I’ve never actually ridden you. I took COMM 101, I don’t need another “And then they invented paper!” lesson.

Here’s a pic Dad took of us walking. As you can see, I’m in front demanding that my family feign enthusiasm for Epcot. It didn’t work so well. Although, I do think they had more fun on this particular day than they’ve had at Epcot in the past, so YAY I guess.

I don’t know why, but I’m kinda obsessed with this fountain. It’s so simple, but cool.

Here’s my attempt at being artsy.

Now that I’m looking at it, I’m picturing mini-Jungle Cruise boats floating around in there with little, tiny Jungle Cruise skippers instructing everyone to marvel at the BACKSIDE OF WATER! Oooooo! Ahhhhhhhh!

As per our usual Epcot tradition, we planned on spending the evening in World Showcase, so we headed straight back there….at an unbearably slow pace. Katie’s foot started bothering her earlier in the day, and now the poor thing was in a lot of pain. We decided that once we made it to Mexico, Katie and Mom were going to order some nachos and find a place to sit for a bit, while Dad and I trekked around the globe.

I love walking through here.

It’s random, but there’s just something so inviting about this pathway. I feel like it’s calling out to me. “Come visit World Showcase! Come eat delicious foods and see pretty buildings and spend a ton of money on merchandise!”

After meandering past La Cantina’s construction walls, we said HOLA to Mexico!

I cannot wait until I turn 21 because the Lime Raspberry Margarita at the revamped Cantina is calling mi nombre!

Due to my love of stereotypical Mexican culture (and the 6 years of Spanish I took in middle school and high school) I immediately headed inside too look around at the kitschy tourist trap souvenirs. I’ve spent mucho dinero on giant paper flowers and mini-piñatas over the years. But yeah, I love this place! It’s so pretty and it’s always crazy crowded and it makes me feel like I’m in a real Mexican market.

LOVE this fountain. I don’t know why, but I do.

Here’s a picture Dad took. See if you can spot me!

After browsing through the entire marketplace (Tostitos chips and all) and pretending I still know Spanish by throwing out some random vocab words here and there, we headed out.

Here’s a picture I took of the (then) construction of La Hacienda de San Angel...I think that’s what it’s called…

I love the blue dome! It’s super pretty and I can’t wait to see it in person with all the walls down.

CONTINUED IN NEXT POST~

 

[MarieTheCat24]

We continued on “around the world”, stopping next in Norway. As you can see in this picture, it was quite busy.

I guess that’s what happens when your country offers a princess meal.

Anyway, I headed into the shop (which I believe is called the Puffin’s Roost, or something awesome like that) to look at $300 sweaters I can’t afford, which is always fun. Someday, when I’m a millionaire, I’m going to buy, like, 50 of those sweaters just to be like SUCK IT, NORWAY! I CAN FINALLY PAY FOR NOT JUST ONE OF YOUR OVERPRICED SWEATERS, BUT 50!

Of course, while in Norway I also stopped to smell “Laila – the Essence of Norway”. I like to imagine that all of Norway smells like Laila. Like, you get off the plane in Oslo and it’s like BAM! Laila. If any of y’all have actually been to Norway, please don’t tell me that it doesn’t actually smell like Laila. I’d like to preserve this little fantasy of mine.

After Norway, we kept on walking. We didn’t stop in China because we didn’t have all night, but I snapped this picture as we passed.

Yay China!

We kept on moving, blah de blah de blah…

And then we entered Germany, the land of giant pretzels and beer.

Whenever I think of Epcot’s Germany, I think of the beer and pretzel costumes from the “Springtime for Hitler” performance in The Producers. The performance is on youtube if you’ve never seen it.

We headed into one of my favorite stores in WS…

I love Christmas. Y’know those people who are obnoxiously obsessed with the holiday season? Well, I am one of them. I like to stretch Christmas into a two month celebration, so I’ve already started listening to Christmas music. In a couple weeks I’ll be breaking out the decorations and then it’ll be Thanksgiving (which is really just Pre-Christmas, but is equally important because Thanksgiving food is the greatest food. I’m pretty sure I could eat turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie every day for the rest of my life) and then ABC Family’s 25 Days of Christmas will start and once that happens, I pretty much just walk around on cloud nine. So basically what I’m saying is I’m a Christmas-aholic. Ergo, browsing through the Christmas store is quite enjoyable.

After carefully examining every single ornament in the place, Dad practically dragged me out and we moved on to Italy, but not before stopping and watching the miniature train set. Then, I took this picture.

And then we finally got to Italy. I’m sorry that my Italy pictures suck. Evidently I wasn’t in a picture-taking mood this evening.

Seeing the construction on the Pizzeria REALLY had me craving pizza. But not the sucky park pizza. I wanted a good slice of pizza. Why don’t they have a little stand selling delicious pizza for all of us Italian food craving people to buy? It would be super popular.

We walked around the shop for a little while, but it was full of Brazilian Tour Group kids looking at the soccer stuff and we could hardly move. It was crazy. So we headed on towards America.

We weren’t actually planning on stopping here, but we decided to check out the gift shop because we had never gone in there before. We were curious as to what kinds of “American” souvenirs they’d be selling. I also wanted to try on a tri-corner hat and pretend to be a tea partier. Which I did. But we didn’t take any pictures.

I liked this shirt. Unfortunately these days I feel like the only “laughter” we’re exporting is the fact that the rest of the world likes to laugh at us.

Someone tell me what’s missing from this picture…

Cleveland. I’m assuming that was as obvious to you as it was to me.

I was shocked (SHOCKED) that it was not included. I mean, we’re way more important than the cities they put on the shirt. Just watch the Hastily Made Cleveland Tourism videos on youtube. (I’d link to them, but some of the language isn’t exactly DISboards appropriate) They prove just how vibrant and full of joy our great city is. Our river caught on fire, everyone’s poor, our major professional sports teams haven’t won a championship since 1964, the weather almost always sucks, and like, 3 people still live here. It’s a fabulous place…

…And yet I wouldn’t trade growing up there for the world. It’s funny, I complain about it all the time, but I really do love Cleveland. We have our fair share of issues, but the thing I love about Cleveland is just how strong a bond we all have. When LeBron James decided to “take [his] talents to South Beach” there was a collective “ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?” that took over the city and it was amazing. I’m always going to be proud to be a Clevelander.

Anyway, back to Disney. God, this has become the world’s longest update. And most of it is just me rambling on about stuff. Apparently I have a problem.

We headed past Japan and stopped for a hot second in Morocco to buy a bottle of Sprite. So exotic of us. I took this picture of Aladdin and Jasmine meeting and greeting while Dad was buying it.

I’ve wanted to meet Aladdin and Jasmine FOREVER, but the line was super long. Thankfully I got to live out my dream later in the week at the Magic Kingdom.

We skidaddled right through France because Katie and I had spent a ton of time there that morning and went straight to the UK. Dad went and bought some fish and chips while I browsed around for a bit.

This picture isn’t great, but I love these gardens.

I started out by exploring the tea shop. The Beatles tribute band was playing at the time, so I had some nice background music. That store had a really cool Alice in Wonderland tea set, which I wish I had a use for, because I really wanted to buy it. I’m a big Alice in Wonderland fan. Well, not so much of the movie (either version...don't even get me started on my issues with Tim Burton movies) but I adore the book. I read it over and over as a kid, and it means a lot to me. I fully intend to walk down the aisle on my wedding day with a bouquet of white roses painted red.

My next stop was the Toy Soldier.

I saw this dress and was all SCREW PRINCESSES. MY LITTLE KID SELF WOULD HAVE BEGGED FOR THIS.

Although, I don’t understand the need for the giant ALICE on the front. I think we all know who this dress belongs to…

I spent quite a bit of time looking through these books, which I love.

Children's books are the best.

I continued browsing through the rest of the shops in the UK. When I stumbled upon all of the British Invasion merchandise, of course I had to stop for a while and carefully examine everything. I’m not kidding. I was standing in there flipping through books for quite a while. But how could I not? I was surrounded by the Beatles and the Rolling Stones – the two greatest bands of all time.

I fell in love with this.

I mean, who wouldn’t want their ice cubes to be awesomely shaped like that?

I also fell in love with this t-shirt.

I didn’t buy it, but I spent the rest of the evening debating walking back over to the UK to buy it. It’s ridiculously cool. They also had an awesome shirt that had the lyrics to “Hey Jude” on it, but the only sizes they had left were XL and XXL, which was a bummer because I absolutely would have bought that shirt. “Hey Jude” is my favorite song of all time. It’s my “Cheer up, buckaroo! Life doesn’t suck that bad” song. The lines “And anytime you feel the pain, hey Jude, refrain. Don’t carry the world upon your shoulders. For well you know that it’s a fool who plays it cool by making his world a little colder” are kinda my motto. I’d get them tattooed on me if A: it wasn’t such a long quote and B: I wasn’t so afraid of needles. LOL. Although maybe someday I’ll get over my fear and figure out a way to attractively minimize the lines to fit on my shoulder.

Anyway, tattoo talk aside, I had a lot of fun looking at all of the Beatles/Stones merchandise. Then, I headed outside to meet up with Dad who was just finishing his beer and fish and chips. I took this picture from where we were standing.

It’s a prime example of why I love World Showcase in the evening. It just feels like one big street fair or something. People are just gathered around, eating, drinking, and being merry. It’s so much fun. And so not what you would expect at a theme park, but I guess that’s what makes Disney so wonderful.

I’m gonna stop here because this is already way too long, but I’m really going to try to update on a more regular basis. I know I keep saying that, and then I don’t update for 3 weeks, but now that midterms are over, I have a bit of downtime over the next week or so, so I’ll try to crank out as many updates as I can. I mean, I can’t believe that I’ve been writing this thing for 3 months and I’m still not finished with Day 2. At this pace, we’ll be finishing up about a year from now. LOL.

 

[tinkgurl]

Yes! An update! I will be back to catch up!

 

[Amandapur]

The best part of "the shirt that doesn't say Cleveland" is that Boston is so important it's on there twice. I'm also a Christmas-aholic. I started listening to Christmas music already and I'm counting down the days until November 16th for the Glee Christmas album to come out. I don't think there is anything better in the world than Christmas and Glee combined...maybe Christmas, Glee, and Disney World combined lol.

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

Wow...World Showcase in the evening is my happy place. I think about being there...oh just about everyday but especially when I'm stressed or in a bad mood. For all the things you said in your update, it's just the BEST! I have to agree with you on the Mexico marketplace. It's totally my favorite inside pavilion. AND would you believe on our honeymoon last year, after an indulgence in food and beer for lunch in Germany, we walked into Mexico and there was a photopass photographer just waiting to take my picture on the fountain!! We were hysterically laughing because I had been dreaming of the perfect marketplace picture but the lighting just makes it so hard on a regular point and shoot. DH said I must have wished that photopass photographer into existence! The was the one and only time I've ever seen one there.

Anyway, love your description of all the countries! Everything you've mentioned are things I think about there too...the smell in Norway (although, I prefer the Gier), the gardens in the UK...LOVE that Walt quote on the shirt in America. And I never would have noticed it but since you asked what was missing...where is Philadelphia?? Of all cities, it seems that one should most definitely be there since America practically BEGAN there!

Anyway, excellent update!

 

[norybell]

What a wonderful day at Epcot! Well, a wonderful day minus the panic attack, of course. And the ridiculously long monorail wait. Seems like the Epcot monorail often takes forever in the afternoon.

Here's a picture for you, taken from a Poly hammock last week:

 

[Cat0727]

Exploring the World Showcase is one of my favorite things in WDW. I love browsing the Mexico marketplace, although I haven't bought anything from there (yet), which is a surprise. Every trip we took to Mexico we always brought home all those chachka items- piñatas, dolls, mini sombreros and a regular size one that's on top of my bookcase collecting dust lol.

I knowww those sweaters in the Norway shop are such a rip-off! I really like them, too! I am waiting until the first day of November to start playing Christmas music because I like to enjoy Halloween first (although I'll admit I cheated yesterday ). Do you know if they've released the previews of each Glee song for the Christmas album? I'm dying to hear them!

 

[MarieTheCat24]

HAPPY HALLOWEEN, EVERYBODY!!!
Make sure you do the Thriller dance at least once today!

Yes! An update! I will be back to catch up!

TINKGURL! I am sooooo behind on your TR it's not even funny. I need to catch up ASAP.

The best part of "the shirt that doesn't say Cleveland" is that Boston is so important it's on there twice. I'm also a Christmas-aholic. I started listening to Christmas music already and I'm counting down the days until November 16th for the Glee Christmas album to come out. I don't think there is anything better in the world than Christmas and Glee combined...maybe Christmas, Glee, and Disney World combined lol.

OMG. How did I miss the fact that Boston is on there twice? Wow. I can't believe that no one at Disney noticed that. Or maybe they did, but they're all from Boston so they don't care.

A combination of Christmas, Glee, and Disney World? That sounds like heaven.

Wow...World Showcase in the evening is my happy place. I think about being there...oh just about everyday but especially when I'm stressed or in a bad mood. For all the things you said in your update, it's just the BEST! I have to agree with you on the Mexico marketplace. It's totally my favorite inside pavilion. AND would you believe on our honeymoon last year, after an indulgence in food and beer for lunch in Germany, we walked into Mexico and there was a photopass photographer just waiting to take my picture on the fountain!! We were hysterically laughing because I had been dreaming of the perfect marketplace picture but the lighting just makes it so hard on a regular point and shoot. DH said I must have wished that photopass photographer into existence! The was the one and only time I've ever seen one there.

Anyway, love your description of all the countries! Everything you've mentioned are things I think about there too...the smell in Norway (although, I prefer the Gier), the gardens in the UK...LOVE that Walt quote on the shirt in America. And I never would have noticed it but since you asked what was missing...where is Philadelphia?? Of all cities, it seems that one should most definitely be there since America practically BEGAN there!

Anyway, excellent update!

Yeah, I've never seen a photopass photographer in there either. How awesome for you! They should have one in there all the time, because like you said, it's next to impossible to take a good picture in there.

You're right! How could they leave Philadelphia off the shirt??? Seriously, who designed this thing? It has so many problems.

What a wonderful day at Epcot! Well, a wonderful day minus the panic attack, of course. And the ridiculously long monorail wait. Seems like the Epcot monorail often takes forever in the afternoon.

Here's a picture for you, taken from a Poly hammock last week:

OMG. I'm dying. I wish I was lying in a hammock, staring up at the palm trees, soaking up some sun RIGHT NOW. Maybe I should buy a potted palm tree and stick it right next to my bed so that I can lay there and look at it. I'll just have to do my best to imagine the "warm and sunny" part though.

Exploring the World Showcase is one of my favorite things in WDW. I love browsing the Mexico marketplace, although I haven't bought anything from there (yet), which is a surprise. Every trip we took to Mexico we always brought home all those chachka items- piñatas, dolls, mini sombreros and a regular size one that's on top of my bookcase collecting dust lol.

I knowww those sweaters in the Norway shop are such a rip-off! I really like them, too! I am waiting until the first day of November to start playing Christmas music because I like to enjoy Halloween first (although I'll admit I cheated yesterday ). Do you know if they've released the previews of each Glee song for the Christmas album? I'm dying to hear them!

I love the World Showcase. So much.

I don't think they've released the previews for the Christmas album yet, or at least if they have, I haven't heard them. I'm excited though. I loved their cover of "Last Christmas" from um...last Christmas.

 

[Nermel9]

I'm going to forget 10,000 things I wanted to comment on since your update was so long, so hopefully I will remember the important stuff!

Ugh, I'm sorry you had a panic attack in Disney World. Nothing bad should happen in Disney...I used to have panic attacks a lot, they seem to have died down a little, but I can't imagine having one there. It's like when I get a migraine there, it almost makes it suck even more because you're not supposed to be anything but happy in Disney!

I LOVE how you got your TR title!

I really love those shirts you saw in the America pavilion! I really like the one with Mickey and the quote about laughter, but I pretty much feel the way you do about actually buying it.

I love those little Alice dresses for girls...I never see kids dressed like her in the parks. I love Alice, I definitely would have wanted one of those dresses too, I like the princesses but Alice definitely gets screwed a little because of them!

I'm so ready for Christmas season...I am a HUGE Christmas dork! Which is part of the reason I'm going to WDW in the middle of November to start celebrating Christmas! Ahhhhhhhh, I'm going next week, I can't wait!!! Can't wait to see Christmas lights and hear Christmas music...in WDW, no less!

 

[Tracy161]

Kara!!! I stumbled upon your TR this morning and have been reading your updates throughout the day... and it's been amazing!!! I love your style of writing and I have continually read aloud many of your lines to my husband... although I can't pretend that he takes as much interest as I do! Oh well!

I would happily adopt you to be my Epcot buddy! My husband absolutely has no patience for World Showcase and I have absolutely NO idea why anyone would be so adverse to the wonders and pleasures that is World Showcase???

I am so excited to hear the rest of your trip!!! Glad to hear that mid-terms are over! And thanks for the entertaining report!!!

 

[MarieTheCat24]

I'm going to forget 10,000 things I wanted to comment on since your update was so long, so hopefully I will remember the important stuff!

Ugh, I'm sorry you had a panic attack in Disney World. Nothing bad should happen in Disney...I used to have panic attacks a lot, they seem to have died down a little, but I can't imagine having one there. It's like when I get a migraine there, it almost makes it suck even more because you're not supposed to be anything but happy in Disney!

I LOVE how you got your TR title!

I really love those shirts you saw in the America pavilion! I really like the one with Mickey and the quote about laughter, but I pretty much feel the way you do about actually buying it.

I love those little Alice dresses for girls...I never see kids dressed like her in the parks. I love Alice, I definitely would have wanted one of those dresses too, I like the princesses but Alice definitely gets screwed a little because of them!

I'm so ready for Christmas season...I am a HUGE Christmas dork! Which is part of the reason I'm going to WDW in the middle of November to start celebrating Christmas! Ahhhhhhhh, I'm going next week, I can't wait!!! Can't wait to see Christmas lights and hear Christmas music...in WDW, no less!

Yeah, panic attacks are no fun. But at least it happened after I ate and not before. If a panic attack had prevented me from soup enjoyment, I would have been so upset.

Seriously, why aren't there more little kids in Alice dresses in the parks? I mean, I guess she's not as glamorous as the princesses, but she's still an awesome character. (And that dress would be waaaay more comfortable than the poofy, itchy princess dresses.)

I am soooooo jealous of you! I've always wanted to go to WDW around Christmas to see all of the decorations, etc. I'm sure it's extra magical during the holiday season. I can't wait for your TR!!

Kara!!! I stumbled upon your TR this morning and have been reading your updates throughout the day... and it's been amazing!!! I love your style of writing and I have continually read aloud many of your lines to my husband... although I can't pretend that he takes as much interest as I do! Oh well!

I would happily adopt you to be my Epcot buddy! My husband absolutely has no patience for World Showcase and I have absolutely NO idea why anyone would be so adverse to the wonders and pleasures that is World Showcase???

I am so excited to hear the rest of your trip!!! Glad to hear that mid-terms are over! And thanks for the entertaining report!!!

Thank you so much!

I don't understand why people don't like World Showcase. It's so awesome! Sometimes I just want to shake my family and be like, "WHY DON'T YOU SEE HOW AMAZING THIS PLACE IS???"

 

[YukiPhnx]

Hey Kara! I just wanted to let you know that I've read your update, but am in the midst of studying for a final, so will be back later to give you a real long comment reply thing.

Hope you had an awesome Halloween!

 

[MarieTheCat24]

Hey Kara! I just wanted to let you know that I've read your update, but am in the midst of studying for a final, so will be back later to give you a real long comment reply thing.

Hope you had an awesome Halloween!

YUKI! I'm ridiculously behind on your TR, but I promise I'll catch up soon. Gah, I feel like such bad TR reader. I just have soooooo much reading for school, so the idea of more reading isn't all that appealing right now. But at least TRs have pictures, and Disney is a lot happier than reading overly descriptive books about death for my WWI class. Why isn't DIS 101 a class?

And GOOD LUCK on your final!

 

[YukiPhnx]

YUKI! I'm ridiculously behind on your TR, but I promise I'll catch up soon. Gah, I feel like such bad TR reader. I just have soooooo much reading for school, so the idea of more reading isn't all that appealing right now. But at least TRs have pictures, and Disney is a lot happier than reading overly descriptive books about death for my WWI class. Why isn't DIS 101 a class?

And GOOD LUCK on your final!

Nooo, don't feel bad. I'm exactly the same. I've got so much going on at school that I just have NO TIME for the DIS. I really just want to sit down and catch up on ALL my TRs. And put up an update too.

I've been watching a new string of WDW vacation videos on youtube. Look up fritoburrito's channel. He has videos of his 2010 vacation. If you haven't seen them Oeshpodge's channel is not bad either.

Also, instead of studying, I spent a considerable amount of time watching "Surprise" videos on the Disney memories website. They're so cuute!!

 

[__disneygirl]

I can't believe you updated this thing on the 29th and I am just now reading it. I am a fraud!!!!!!

Especially because I am mentioned in your update, right at the beginning, even! CELEB.

I also feel the need to tell you that I have an 'Ohana reservation for our first night of my 21st birthday trip, fiesta, soiree, etc. As I have lamented in the past, we have NEVER been there, and I like to start our trips with a dinner at one of the MK resorts. I'M SO EXCITED!! Here I come, OHANA!! Y'ALL AIN'T READY!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, onto your update. I'm so sorry you have panic attacks. That sounds so horrible. Especially while at Disney. I must say, I love that you still had to photograph the beauty that is Epcot even in your weakened condition. That is a true Disney fan right there!

It would be cool if they had the conveyerbelt action on the Epcot Monorail ramp like at the TTA and Space Mountain.

Omg at the whole snake ordeal. I've never been afraid of snakes... I mean, if one was all up in my grill I would be very upset but just in general, they don't bother me, because they are NOT the worst thing in the world aka Spiders. Which need to be capitalized at all times b/c they are that threatening to my physical health and mental state.

Anyway, I've never seen one at WDW but there are cute little salamanders everywhere at the resorts, ESPECIALLY CBR... and let me tell you, the thought of accidentally stepping on one of those little guys kills me! Oh and there are millions of snails at Pop Century and I get the same anxiety. I just don't think anything should be stepped on at Disney!

It's pretty scary how you and I keep having all these weird similarities. I ALSO LOVE TAKING PICTURES UNDER PALM TREES OF THE SKY.

Another thing. My mom and I would have reacted to that little kid saying BLLLLLLLLUEEEEEEE the exact same way you and your mom did. Creep, get out of my brain!!

I can't believe you've never ridden Spaceship Earth! Get on that!! ...Literally. LOL.

I've never heard of that margarita from Mexico but I will definitely be adding it to my 25 page long list of alcoholic drinks I will be consuming while at Disney World.

I am obsessed with Christmas too, but usually I don't like to start getting all Christmassy until after Thanksgiving. It's weird, cause I've been pretty down in the dumps lately, but for some reason I am SO IN THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT. We have a giant Santa Mickey and tomorrow I am getting that sucker out. The other day I bought a Peanuts Christmas t-shirt and it's totally too early to wear that, but I don't care, I want to! I also need to break out my santa hat. It's totally time.

Floyd from 30 Rock would certainly be appalled at the lack of Cleveland on that shirt!

OMG, YOU DON'T LIKE TIM BURTON MOVIES? Thank God, because I am in love with him. I'm just looking for things to prove you aren't a clone of me!!

HOLY. CRAP. How did I miss that Rolling Stones ice cube tray? This is the only ice cube tray I will use during Mick's future visits to my home. Thank you for pointing it out to me! AND THE YESTERDAY SHIRT!!!!!!!!! WHOA Oh my God, ok, I guess I'm going to have to put aside an entire fund for this stuff. YET ANOTHER ONE.

Ok...so...seriously... UPDATE THIS THING!! Cause I will read it right away this time. I PROMISE!

 

[MarieTheCat24]

JULY 24TH PART 6: WE’VE GATHERED HERE TONIGHT, AROUND THE FIRE

UM....HI?

I haven't been around here in a loooooooooong time. A really long time. I half expected to log in only to find some new, futuristic version of the DIS. Like, you'd all be speaking in some weird future language that I wouldn't understand and then I'd be all sad and left out and I'd probably cry. But things don't appear to have changed all that much. I guess we're all just a month older. LOL.

I'd write up some big long rambling speech about my life and all of the craziness that has ensued over the past few weeks, but that would just take too long. And by the time I finished, I'd have no time to write an actual update to my TR, which is what y'all really care about (or at least I'm hoping you still care about) so here's the condensed version of the past month of my life:

CAR CRASH. PAPERS. BORING LECTURES. INSANE AMOUNTS OF READING. FREEZING COLD WEATHER. UNSEASONABLY WARM WEATHER. SNOW. ROOMMATE DRAMA. THANKSGIVING. ATE A RIDICULOUS AMOUNT OF PIE. WATCHED A LOT OF TV. OSU BEAT MICHIGAN (AGAIN). BREAKDANCING. FINALS.

I think that's about it. So without further ado, let's just jump right back into this thing...

After Dad and I completed our (rather rushed) journey around the world, I texted Katie so we could meet back up with her and Mom. While we were off being world travelers (I don’t really know how we managed that considering I don’t even have a passport. I think they need to tighten up their border security around the World Showcase. I can picture it already…People waiting in line for hours to get patted down by - and then have their pictures taken via body scanners with - TSA Mickey ), Mom and Katie found a spot for us to watch Illuminations. They said they were behind the gift shop on the left-hand side of the entrance to World Showcase, so we headed over there.

It was around 7:30 at this point, and I was SHOCKED to find that the entire area was pretty much empty. There was only one other family of four and a young couple sitting there with us. Like, that’s 10 people. An hour and a half before Illuminations. With a perfect view of the lagoon. In July. All I could think was “Where the heck are we? Because this sure ain’t WDW.” I mean, normally an hour and half before Illuminations, IN JULY, I’m already pushed up against the railing with big lines down my face from being smashed into the bars. This was like alternate universe Disney or something.

Here’s a picture of Katie leaning up against said railings.

Here’s a picture I took of Japan through the railing.

The sky:

And here’s a terrible picture of me with NO ONE AROUND.

At one point I was laying down, limbs spread out everywhere, just because I could. I thought about doing some “cement angels”, but quickly realized that would probably lead to bleeding, so I refrained. I’m not an honors student for nothin’.

At the risk of sounding incredibly lame, I have to say that the time we spent just sitting alongside the lagoon, enjoying the gorgeous weather and the rare moment of quiet, and talking about whatever random things popped into our minds was one of my favorite moments of the trip. Now that Katie and I are older and out of the house, these moments are few and far between. I miss them. I miss the four of us having dinner every night and talking about our days. Or rather, I miss how I would go on and on, in great detail, about my day at school while everyone else listened and silently willed me to stop talking. But OMG the fact that my purple crayon broke in half while we drawing pictures of ourselves in class was just tragic and I absolutely needed to share it with somebody, ok?

What was I saying? Oh, right. Family. My point is, kids, don’t forget to enjoy those little moments with your family. I know you probably think that they’re super lame, and that the last thing you want to be doing is eating dinner and carrying on a conversation with them, but I promise that you WILL miss those moments when they’re gone. No matter how much you may think you won’t, you will. There will be a day, after you’ve headed off into the real world, when you want nothing more than to just sit down to dinner with your wacky family.

Anyway, some of the super important life questions we pondered included: Why is Ke$ha famous? And why do I love her pointless lyrics so much? (After listening to “We R Who We R”, “And yes, of course, we does!” has become my new answer for any question beginning with the word “Do”. “Hey Kara, do we have homework tonight?” “And yes, of course, we does!” “Do the Buckeyes play today?” “And yes, of course, we does!” etc. I don’t know why, but I just can’t stop saying/singing it.) Why does Glee suck so much this season? Why is the local news always so unintentionally hilarious? How much money would you pay to go to an NSYNC reunion show if (when…I’m holding out hope. Justin Timberlake can only be a “serious” actor for so long) they get back together? And why don’t I have a Stefan Salvatore of my own? Seriously Stefan, when Elena dumps you for Damon (because we all know that will happen at some point) I’m here. Who needs Mystic Falls when you can bring your vampire awesomeness to the great state of Ohio? Oh, and bring Caroline with you because I kinda need her to be my BFF. KTHX.

Ok, so we didn’t actually talk about any of these things that night. The truth is I can’t remember what we talked about. It’s been a while. I didn’t take detailed enough notes. Sue me. But these are all questions I’m currently asking myself, so if y’all have any answers, I’d appreciate them.

Getting back on topic, our awesome, spacious, quiet, serene Illuminations viewing location was about to get a whole lot less awesome. Around 8:00, this ridiculously obnoxious woman showed up and squeezed herself up along the railing right in between my sister and the young couple sitting next to us. I mean, there was a ton of empty space behind us and there was even some empty railing space on the other side of us, but she just had to squeeze herself in right there. It was super annoying. But whatever, it was just one person. It’s not like she was going to call her entire family and tell them to meet her there.

Except that she did.



Sometimes I just can’t handle people.

So this woman’s entire freaking family shows up and they proceed to attempt to cram into the small “barely big enough for one person” space she had initially squeezed into. I think she was expecting my family and the young couple on the other side of her to move, but we weren’t about to do that. We were there first. So the woman kept her son with her and dramatically told the rest of her family to sit on the other side of us. Well, only a few family members actually stayed while the rest of them went off to do something. I’m sure you can guess where this is headed. Twenty minutes before Illuminations starts, they all come back. Except there isn’t nearly as much space as there was before because perfectly sane people had filled in the space behind us. But, of course, Obnoxious: Party of 15 was not about to be separated so they all crammed in on top of eachother. And us. At one point, one of the teenage daughters had her hand on my leg. I’m not kidding. It wasn’t an accidental touch, either. She deliberately set her hand down on my leg with no intention of moving it. I think she was trying to get me to move, but I’m stubborn and wasn’t about to do that, so I just sat there with her hand on my leg for a good 5 minutes. Was it uncomfortable? Yes. Did I make her mad? Hopefully.

As all of this was happening, the empty space in between the two gift shops filled up with the dreaded Brazilian tour groups. As I’m sure you all know, Brazilian tour groups are a staple of any July WDW trip. They’re everywhere. With their tour guide flags, and their matching shirts, and their chanting. It’s annoying. Not, “OMG THIS IS GOING TO RUIN MY TRIP” annoying, but rather “JUST SHUT UP!” annoying. And before people start accusing me of being racist (I read that thread on the Theme Parks board) I fully realize that any time you get a big group of teenagers together, loud obnoxiousness is bound to occur. I mean, I’m in college. Loud (drunken) obnoxiousness is pretty much a staple of college. I’m used to it.

But when you’re trying to enjoy a calm evening at Epcot, the last thing you want is an ENORMOUS group of teenagers chanting so loudly that you can’t hear your own thoughts.

As I tweeted:
Waiting for Illuminations with hundreds of Brazilian tourists. The guy with the tambourine might get a little annoying after a while.

Mr. Tambourine Man was leading the chanting. Who brings a tambourine with them to a theme park? Can we put that on the list of banned things? If not, maybe I need to pack my own tambourine so I can challenge any future tambourine-bringers to a tambourine-off. When I win (which I totally will because I have mad tambourine skills) my prize will involve putting an end to the chanting.

Anyway, despite all of the craziness surrounding us, at 8:30, the torches were lit

Which can mean only one thing…It was time for...

THE PRE-ILLUMINATIONS TECHNO DANCE PARTY!!

As anyone who has seen Illuminations knows, Epcot begins playing a pre-show music loop all throughout World Showcase about a half hour before the show begins. I’ve dubbed the style of music they play “international techno”. All of the songs have a ridiculously catchy beat and I’ve never been able to keep from dancing along. I mean, just listen to this. Is “international techno” not the most perfect description of this song?

I can’t listen to it without imagining, like, the European versions of Snooki and the Situation fist pumping along. …Oh, other countries don’t have reality stars as annoying as the Jersey Shore cast? Well, then I guess I’ll just have to imagine our obnoxious reality show stars fist pumping along….Great, now I’m picturing little mouse ears coming out of Snooki’s signature hair poof.

This song is my favorite. When the bagpipes kick in, I just gots to get my dance on.

So I did.

Here’s Katie’s reaction to my need to dance…

I get that look often.


Because I love them so much I took a video of one, I absolutely must take some time to comment on the fact that I have a ridiculous love for all of Disney’s “over the PA” announcements. I don’t know why I love them so much, considering they mostly consist of “________ will begin in just a few minutes” or some variation of “Please remain seated” but they always make me so happy.



I love this guy’s voice. I love the way he says “Epcot” and “spectacular celebration”. I also love that Disney PA announcements always remind you to “take small children by the hand” and how every single time they do that, one of my parents makes some remark about taking my hand.

As fun as the Pre-Illuminations Techno Dance party is, and as much as I enjoy a good PA announcement, I wasn’t sitting there for hours with a stranger’s hand on my leg for either of those things. I was waiting for Illuminations. It’s funny because there really aren’t many things in life I’d wait 2 hours for. I mean, aside from the aforementioned wishful-thinking NSYNC reunion tour which I would camp outside for DAYS to get tickets to, I hate waiting for anything. And yet, while at Disney, I gladly sit ON THE GROUND for hours to watch fireworks. Weird.
But, yeah. I love Illuminations. A lot. Along with Space Mountain, Mickey Rice Crispy Treats, Spectromagic (I MISS IT!), dinner at ‘Ohana, Dinosaur, carrying around a bag of Disney merchandise, the Disney water smell, walking down Main Street at night, and making the mad morning dash to Toy Story Mania(Yes, you read that right. I enjoy the Toy Story Mania pandemonium), Illuminations is one of my top ten favorite things at WDW.

It’s the perfect mix of fireworks, music, water, lights, magic, fabulousness, love, joy, and lasers. The narration at the beginning that ends with the narrator blowing out the torches never fails to give me chills. I love when the inferno barge erupts and everyone lets out a collective gasp because the fire is so strong that it makes your skin heat up. I love just how perfect the music is. Honestly, whoever wrote it is a genius. There couldn’t be a better score. It’s gorgeous and incredibly moving. I love just how powerful the “illumination” of each of the countries is. The way it’s timed perfectly with the music brings me close to tears. And then those tears start flowing freely when “We Go On” begins. OMG. That song is just too much.

I can be an incredibly cynical person at times (or, as some would say, all the time) but in that moment, I can’t help but think that maybe world peace isn’t an unattainable dream. Maybe there is a way for the world to come together as one…To stop putting so much emphasis on our differences and start focusing on the fact that we’re all just people. People who, deep down, have the same goal – happiness.

Of course, my rare moment of belief in humanity is always quickly dashed by some idiot shoving me in the back or running over my foot with a stroller in the mad dash to get out of the park, but still, I like the warm fuzzy feeling Illuminations leaves me with, even if it only lasts a few minutes.

Anyway, here are a couple pictures…

Here’s a video I took of the end of the show. I recorded the first half too, but for whatever reason I can’t get it off my camera. It’s kinda shaky at times, but I was filming through a railing while trying not to watch the entire show through my camera.


Once the show ended, we joined the throngs of people headed toward the exit. The initial push from World Showcase Plaza up until you hit Innoventions is always miserable. People pack themselves in there like sardines. I’m not a fan of being in big crowds, so this is just no fun. This year, the no fun-ness of the experience was increased because someone was walking around with a full load. And by that I mean, it smelled like poop. Like, the worst I’ve ever smelled. Honestly, I didn’t know something this foul could come out of the human body. It was disgusting. I thought I was going to vomit. There is nothing worse than being trapped in a mass of people while being forced to breathe in poop-scented air. Ugh. Just thinking about it is making me sick.

The masses finally thinned as we made it to Innoventions and I stopped for a quick second to take a picture of Spaceship Earth all lit up. Except this is what I ended up taking a picture of.

I’m pretty sure they were trying to find the Haunted Mansion. Thinking back, I probably should have told them they were in the wrong park.

Anyway, we frolicked over the twinkling sidewalks, almost ran into one of the giant Leave a Legacy monuments, and made that treacherous climb up the monorail platform. While waiting for a monorail to come, a family near us noticed Katie’s Ohio University t-shirt and asked her if she was a student. The father was an OU alum and his wife just happened to be an Ohio State alum. So I talked with her about Ohio State for a while. I always like meeting alumni. It’s fun to be a part of such a big network of Buckeyes.

Eventually the monorail came and we all piled in. I hate riding the crowded monorail at night. It always causes my claustrophobia to flare up. But I was standing by the door, so I just focused out the window and not on the fact that we were probably breaking some sort of fire code with the amount of people that were packed in this thing. At one point, a little boy was talking to his grandmother and he loudly asked her, “Did you see the laser show on the big ball? It was BEAUTIFUL!” The grandmother was like, “During the fireworks?” thinking he was talking about the globe during Illuminations. And the little kid replied, “Nope. The one with the ride in it.” So clearly he was talking about the Siemens logo that gets projected onto Spaceship Earth. I wanted to cry. He was in so much awe of a logo. It was the sweetest thing ever.

When made it back to the TTA, I was thanking Mickey Mouse that we didn’t get stuck somewhere. If that thing had stopped at any point, I don’t even know what I would have done. OMG. I probably would have tried to bust down a door or go out the escape hatch in the roof. Or just started pulling my hair out while screaming “WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!!” I mean, that’s what people do when they go crazy, right?

But thankfully, I didn’t have to resort to any of that and we walked back to the Polynesian. Mom and Katie headed to the beach to watch the Magic Kingdom fireworks while Dad and I went to Captain Cook’s. I hadn’t eaten dinner yet and I was starving. Captain Cook’s was insanely crowded. But after staying at the Wilderness Lodge the past 2 trips, I was just glad Captain Cook’s was still open. Roaring Forks closes at 10, which is absolutely ridiculous. As the madness at Captain Cook’s showed, a lot of people like to eat when they get back from the parks.

Anyway, I got a pepperoni flatbread and devoured the entire thing. While I was shoving food in my mouth, Dad and I had fun counting all of the people who were using ancient refillable mugs. Obviously, Disney just doesn’t care and/or see any point in enforcing the “length of stay” rule. So, folks, just keep on bringing your old Dixie Landings mugs from 1996. They’re still refillable.

After filling my stomach, we headed back to the room and I went right to sleep. I needed to rest up for the mad dash to Toy Story Mania that awaited me the next morning. And boy, was that quite the adventure. But I'll save that for the next update.

Which will probably be posted in 2030.

And y'all will definitely be speaking some futuristic language by then.

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

I literally have a Dixie Landings 1996 mug. No joke. But I would DARE bring it! I know the DIS rules!

So glad you are back for an update and I have to say, I feel exactly the same way about Illuminations. So beautiful and gives me chills each and every time I see/hear it even though, at this point, I have every note memorized.

 

[Cat0727]

yayyy Kara glad to see you back with an update!

Illuminations is so beautiful. I don't know what it is, but nothing else compares to the way Disney does firework shows.

Amazingly, I've only experienced the Brazilian tour groups once. It was on an August trip a few years ago when my sister and I left MK after they closed and were waiting on line for the bus back to Pop. There were hundreds of them. I don't know why they think it's okay to push and shove people. So I think one of the tour guides thought my sis and I were with their group so she was shoving us onto the bus and I turned around and pushed the lady back b/c I was NOT having it...the lady looked so surprised haha.

 

[Nermel9]

Great update!!!!

I love the Illuminations pre show music more than anything...the 2nd song you had a link to, with the bagpipes? I had no idea that was a real song, out in the world, I just thought it was something Disney created.

Sometimes I just can’t handle people.

Sigh. I know how you feel. You just want to like everyone when you're at Disney, but the truth is, there are SO many annoying people there.

Great, now I’m picturing little mouse ears coming out of Snooki’s signature hair poof.

I know for a fact that Snooki doesn't wear mouse ears at Disney. Stop by my new TR when you get a chance (I just started it a few days ago so it won't be hard to catch up ) and you will see how I know that!

 

[tinkgurl]

We weren't too far from you that night! Fiance, Kristen, Chris, and I were at DHS!