Jan 5-10 Me, Myself & I - Perfectly Happy On Our Own!

[Loriann70]

Joining in on the fun! Thanks for posting Anne! Keep it coming.

Lori

 

[Tatania]

On a side note, I’ve seen only one family with a Pal Mickey on this trip. Has his popularity waned so much that no one wants the poor guy anymore? I don’t even remember seeing him in any of the stores, although I really wasn’t looking for him either. I know there’s some new thing-a-ma-jig DS program being tested right now. I guess that will pretty much bury ole’ Pal Mickey.

I don't remember this. What was Pal Mickey?
It's funny you mention the "forgetting stuff" as I was doing exactly the same thing when I was there. Really stupid things. I started to wonder if I was getting dementia. I even ended up losing an expensive pair of glasses which I didn't notice till I got home. Anyway, my mind is coming back since I've returned.

 

[Anne's Family]

Pal Mickey was the plush Mickey Mouse doll that you clip upon your person and wait for him to giggle and tell you stuff while walking the parks. He had some kind of infrared in his nose that worked with different receptors around the park. He tells jokes, tells you about rides, suggests places to go etc. He was a great idea at the time and a big seller. Ours sits on top of the cabinet in the kids' bathroom. My daughter was looking through our photo albums one day and saw a picture of him and asked where he was. They don't even notice him up there anymore, poor guy.

 

[mnmrmustard]

Hey there! I'm still kickin' around, just had a busy time with sick kids and a promotion at my work.

9am wake-up, sounds like a nice sleep in. Funny about having to yell on the bus And at Epcot in less than 20 minutes? Cool!

All Christmas'd out aye? Well I guess dealing with all the Christmas crowds and after seeing it all once or twice, plus all the clutter it brings. I see a theme with people ...get the Soarin' FP and then do LWtL. I find the ride educational, but also relaxing. Too bad they weren't serving lunch yet. Nice shots inside there

The Jammitors looked cool, I've always liked drums. You were in the flag corps? Our local HS band puts on a pretty good show and is doing a "Sleepy Hollow" theme this year http://gphsband.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=1043 Great shot on TT - zoom zoom!

Nice lunch there, I love focaccia sandwitches And that was very nice of you to share your Epcot knowledge with the two ladies next to you. I never saw any Pal Mickeys there either. Great shot inside Soarin' - I never see pics from that ride.

Very cool that you ran into Newfriend again. O Canada sounds nice, I'll have to give that a look. No crème brulee???? I agree about France, but the Moroccan museum looked interesting. And I too like the fact that the King of Morocco brought his own craftsman over to put their pavillion together. The Friendship boat sounds peaceful, but I can almost picture you tapping your foot trying to make it go faster

Oh no!!!!! You forgot you visa? Bummer What happens at that meet n greet?

VERY cool closeup of the illuminations globe. Pokemon is evil ...it is not anime - lol. You really screamed through Italy and Germany! You did the what's in China/what's in Japan thing too (looking for the devil sticks). DW and DD11 went on a hunt for Mulan ...in Japan - oops! They did the same thing, walking back and forth between the plazas.

It sounds like getting the right/good food in WS is a bit of a dice roll. Not a lover of coconut? Ah well. And yes, that lefse looked pretty darned bland. I see something like that and my instinct is to search for the salsa Speaking of salsa, it looked like Mexico was a nice finish to the day. And good call carrying your jacket

All that walking and still off to do more shopping at DTD? You should do marathons! I'm looking forward to hearing what treasures you find down there!

 

[Paul (tigger fan)]

Still here lurking.

Enjoyed your latest instalments

Paul

 

[springandmac]

I'm starting to feel like a stalker, I keep checking back here but no new updates.

 

[Anne's Family]

I really AM still here, guys! Just got back from Spring Break in our NEW popup camper (ok, new to us). Yep, we finally found one. So I've been totally preoccupied with that and with planning our Spring Break trip to three different campgrounds in south Texas. Went to Enchanted Rock and Sea World. It was fabulous.

But not as fabulous as WDW, of course. I really will get this trip report back on the road. Just too much to do for one little person.

Mustard, thanks for all the kind comments. The Visa Meet and Greet is in one of the Innoventions pavilions. As long as you HAVE your Disney Visa, you can get in. It's a private meet and greet with three characters. One of them is always Mickey, then the other two vary. The first time I had Mickey, Pluto and Goofy. When I went the second time, I had Mickey, Minnie and Pluto. You get to spend pretty much as long as you want with them. The photographer will take as many pictures as you want and put them on your Photopass card. Then you get to have any one 5x7 photo free and you can buy whatever you want after that. It's a great deal. One of the few free things in WDW. The Disney card is worth it too. I get one percent back in dollars to use at the Disney store or at any Disney resort. There's other ways to use the money as well. I've got $82 saved up already for my next trip!

I'll get back to this real soon, promise!

 

[Anne's Family]

Monday, January 7, continued...

Yes, I’m finally back with another installment. Things might go a little faster now. I’ve got all my notes transcribed and all my pictures at my fingertips. It’s really not like me to drag my feet like this… really!

Nevertheless, when last we left Me, Myself and I, we were picking up packages at the Pop Century gift shop and then heading out to Downtown Disney to do some serious shopping. On the way to the bus stop (it’s about 7:30pm now) my husband calls. He’s got our kids at their karate class, but it seems their only signed up for half of what their supposed to. So I have to get that all straightened out with the martial arts place. Poor hubby knows nothing about all that. It takes a mom, you know.

At 7:40pm, I’m off the bus and walking into Downtown Disney. I don’t do much shopping when I’m with my family. They don’t enjoy it much. I only enjoy it if I can actually afford to buy something. Judging from my whirlwind trip through World Showcase, I’m obviously not much of a shopper if I’m not buying. But here, I plan to buy. I pass through Goofy’s Candy Company and drool over everything…

Downtown Disney is still all Christmassed up as well. I’m becoming wary of Christmas. At 8:09, my first stop is food. Wonderful food. Earl of Sandwich. I’ve never had a bad meal yet here. The crowd isn’t too bad at all. I decided to try something new… the Cannonballs sandwich. I can never pass up the salt and vinegar chips either.

This was the best meal so far this trip (and I had to leave the parks to get it). I totally savored this sandwich. The chips really didn’t go with it tastewise, but I enjoyed them nonetheless. The Diet Coke tops it off (yeah, that’s pretty much an oxymoron, but I don’t do regular Cokes). They were out of bread pudding, but I decided that a trip to Ghirardelli’s would be a good idea later.

At 8:24, I was done at Earl’s and I hit the Toy Store to pick up a couple of things for my neighbor’s 3 year old. I promised I’d get the My Little Pony and Mr. Potato Head bar for her. They’d pay me when I got back. I did Mr. Potato Head first.

I wish my kids still like this stuff. There’s so much cool Disney parts. It took a few minutes for me to realize that they are whole outfits in each section and you don’t just go around picking parts here and there. You have to decide what characters you want to do and get all the parts for that character. The Little Mermaid was impossible. The parts are huge, you’ve got the tail and the hair. They take up a lot of space, so I skipped her. I really filled that box though. I can cram with the best of them. I didn’t get an actual Potato Head, just parts. Then I went to the back of the store to hit My Little Pony.

Same thing here, you’ve got to decide what characters you want and be sure to get all the pieces for it. I’m sort of glad my daughter is done with My Little Pony. The hoof shoes alone drive me nuts. The parts are tiny, so you can get all the stuff for every character, a pony and extras just in case some get lost. My neighbor’s kid got a great deal. Each box was $19.00 and filled with stuff you can’t get in regular stores. I was pretty proud of my accomplishments. As I was checking out, they had that darned Mickey throw that you can buy for 10 bucks if you spend 50. I picked up a little something for my daughter and, lo and behold, I’d spent $50 bucks no problem. So hey, what’s $10 more? The throw will be a nice addition to the camper at home. Yep, throw that throw right in there. Send it all off the the resort. Leaving empty handed is always strange.

Ok, it’s 9:15. That took awhile. It takes time to finesse all those parts into a small box. I headed to the Lego store and ordered a personalized Lego brick key chain for my son. This was something I didn’t want to forget. He’s a Lego freak. I’d have to come back to pick it up, so I went on down to the other side of DTD to Sosa’s Cigars.

Ok, I’m clueless about cigars. That must have been written quite legibly across my forehead because the nice lady inside walked me back into the room-sized humidor and proceeded to talk a bunch of impressive cigar-talk—right over my head of course. She asked how much I wanted to spend. About $40. So I left with 4 cigars and a bill for $50. Imagine that. I keep telling myself he’s worth it. Which, of course, he is. I wonder, though, how long these cigars will sit in the dining room buffet at home before he actually gets around to smoking them? It’s a risk one takes.

It’s 10:33pm and I’m all done shopping. I went back to pick up my son’s Lego key chain. They’re really cool…

I didn’t get a Christmas ornament this time. It just has more meaning when I’m with the kids. I perused the bath shop but I’m not as enamored with bath stuff as many people. I rarely take baths, only showers. I looked over the pet stuff, but since my favorite cat is not long for this world, I didn’t spend any money on him. The other cat is a total waste of fur and we just feed her to keep from getting on her bad side. I strolled on in to Ghiradelli’s and ordered a butterscotch fudge sundae. I sat down outside and watched server after server go by with other people’s orders. There was a table of about 15 off-duty CMs at a table near me. They were all so close and having so much fun. I really wish I could have done that while I was in college. They were all young and having a great time. It took forever to get my order, but it was well worth it. Straughn was right about this place. It rates right on up there with Beaches and Cream (and it’s easier to get into).

It’s 11:00, it’s late and my knees are beginning to protest the 15 miles I’ve walked today. I’m pretty much feeling most of my 45 years this evening. So I head for the bus stop. I anticipate quite a wait, because there’s ALWAYS a wait. At 11:06, I’m walking up to the bus stop and (choir sings) there’s a Pop Century bus waiting there just for me. Wonders never cease. This has always been a 20 to 30 minute wait for me here. I took my good fortune and ran with it. Ok, I didn’t run, I hobbled a bit. Time to go back to my room and recuperate for my big day tomorrow.

At 11:24, the bus dropped me off at Pop, I put my little self to bed, no transcribing (decided to leave that duty from now on for when I get home—hence the lateness of the trip report), no relaxing before bed. I just fell in.

 

[Tatania]

Wow, that sundae looks scrumptious. I had the chocolate one but next time I'm doing the caramel!

 

[Anne's Family]

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Wow, glad I set my alarm. Mickey didn’t call me. If you don’t want to sleep through park openings, you’d better set your alarm and set a wake up call. There’s times when one or the other doesn’t work. I was up and showered and out the door.

At 7:53am, I was walking up to the Magic Kingdom gate. It’s TOUR day! I’m so excited. Ever since I took the Backstage Magic tour three years ago, I’ve wanted to do more. I’m a little afraid that this tour will be a bunch of stuff I already know or have seen, but you never know. It’ll be fun to see my DIS friends again. There was a special entrance turnstile for tour people and those with early ADRs. It was off to the right of the regular turnstiles. I checked in at City Hall, decided what I would eat at lunch when we stop at Columbia Harbor House.

I spotted Straughn and stayed with her until Springandmac showed up. Newfriend showed up as well. We all got our earpieces, checked them out and waited. City Hall is all scrimmed up to be refurbished or painted or something.

While we waited, I had Straughn take the required castle picture for me.

The earpieces are a new thing since my last tour. What a fabulous idea. I always get the pre-recorded stuff with the personal earpieces when I go to museums now, you get so much more out of an exhibit that way. The earpieces were pretty comfortable and I was able to hang the receiver on my side pockets halfway down my leg. It was very comfortable that way instead of at my waist.

At 8:38, we meet Matthew.

He promises us that we’ll learn at least one thing on this tour that we didn’t know before. The earpieces are wonderful! He doesn’t have to talk over his shoulder, yell at us or anything. I’m REALLY liking this. As a matter of fact, he warned us that now would be a great time to take that last “nature break” before we took off on the tour. He continued to take while we were away though. Well, not wanting to miss anything, I kept my receiver on. I could still hear him as I entered the restroom but it got a bit crackly as I went into the stall. I unclipped the receiver and held it up in the air until I could hear him clearly. He was talking about something really interesting. Ok, it’s a little weird in the restroom trying to do everything one-handed so that you can hear a tour guide… but I did it. I’m not ashamed to admit it. I did wash my hands with both hands though, if you wanted to know. Everyone else around our group can’t really hear him because he doesn’t have to talk very loud. It’s a little strange when he makes a joke and 20 people behind him laugh out loud at seemingly nothing if you’re just a passer-by. He takes us down Main Street and off to a side street to talk about a few things there. Right away, I learned about three things I’d never known before, and we’re not even a half hour into the tour. Ok, this’ll work. It’s more than I expected and this tour guide is the absolute best. You can tell he really knows his stuff. He’s just full of wonderful information and he can actually answer questions. He had an answer for every question we had and offered more information that we dreamed. He had great delivery as well. Nothing sounded rehearsed, canned or strained. He didn’t “um” or “uh” and he talked in a very entertaining manner without talking down. He realized that all of us were Disney veterans so he skimmed over the stuff he figured most of us already knew and skipped to the meaty stuff. I was very impressed with him obviously.

He took us up Main Street to the hub, through Adventureland and sat us down for about an hour or so to tell us some WDW history. By this time we’d been walking about hour so some people needed the rest. An hour sounds like a long time to be talked to, but he was so interesting, that time went by really fast. Before I knew it, we were up and going again to see the back of Splash Mountain around 10:30. At 11:00, we entered Columbia Harbor House and went to the upstairs dining area. They had roped off a special place for us and had our names at our place settings and our Keys to the Kingdom pin waiting for us. It was only a few minutes before we had our food.

At 11:35, we finished lunch and headed over to the Haunted Mansion. He made it sound like we were a special group and he’d take us into HM the back way for a ride. I knew it was just part of the tour, but it was cute how he made it sound. We went in via a side door and he told us some special things to look for as we rode the attraction. I learned some new Haunted Mansion things! We also rode the Jungle Cruise. I would much rather have done Pirates of the Caribbean. I think they’ve changed that now. Jungle Cruise just doesn’t do anything for me, although I did learn a couple of new things about it of course. One of those things was about the Pet Cemetery as you exit the attraction. I’d never noticed it there, I guess because it is all grown over by design. It’s up in the shrubs on the left. Way in the back is Mr. Toad’s statue marking his death (hence the death of his ride in MK). I thought this was just funny.

At 1:32, the tour was sadly over. Right on time though. My slated plans called for a trip to Tom Sawyer Island, the Pirate Tutorial and get as many pictures of Space Mountain as I could since it will go under the knife soon. Then a quick dinner before the Wishes Cruise. We all split up and I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to do next. Hmmm. I know! Cream cheese pretzel! It’s snack time!

At 1:48, I got my coveted cream cheese pretzel, and it was as wonderful as I expected it to be. That Diet Coke was refreshing as well. At 2:00, I got my fastpass for Space Mountain to return after 3:15. I got in line for Buzz Lightyear with a 5 minute wait. The line is all the way out of the building, but those continuous loading rides are a kick! I bow to the ones who invented them. It takes about 12 minutes to get in and out of Buzz Lightyear and my score is dismal as usual. I don’t even try too hard anymore. I suck at this attraction and I admit it and go on. At 2:13, I’m getting on the TTA—one of my favorite rides of all time. Yeah, it’s just a people mover, but it’s just so Disney. I sit back and relax with my feet up. There’s barely anyone on the TTA as usual. I think people are just too rushed to stop and enjoy this one. The more you go to WDW, the more you appreciate this little gem.

I’m walking through Fantasyland at 2:36 and it’s crazy crowded. Pooh has a 45 minute wait. I head toward Adventureland to see if the crowd is thinner there. As I pass through Liberty Square, it’s pretty crowded here as well. I decided to take that trip across to Tom Sawyer Island. It’s 2:54 and I’m waiting for the boat to take me across. The parade is just starting. Perfect timing. Usually, when I go to the island with my family, my husband takes the kids and they go explore while I sit and relax. I’ve never actually walked the entire island, never been to Fort Langhorn or anything. Now’s my chance. I take pictures right and left and stroll slowly all over the island.

I thoroughly enjoyed it. There weren’t too many people there this time of day. Hey, it’s the only part of Magic Kingdom where you aren’t told where to go, where to stand and what to see. It’s a total free-for-all, sort of un-Disney like. They usually want total control over you in the parks. This is always a fabulous respite.

At 3:36 I’m done at the island. I spent almost 45 minutes there. It seemed a lot longer though. I skipped the Pirate Tutorial (blasphemous, I know) and decided to go into the Hall of Presidents. It starts every hour and 1/2 hour so I could catch the 4pm show. As I’m in the foyer waiting for the show, I was “entertained” by a 3 year old running wildly around in just a grubby white tshirt and a very saggy (obviously wet) diaper—no pants. No pride in the parental units there. I sat in the second row of the Hall so I could attempt to get some good photos. My little point and shoot just doesn’t cut it though. First of all, the view screen is very large and VERY bright. So I have to cover it up so I won’t bother the people behind me. Well, I don’t have an alternate viewfinder (that’s why I can’t turn the screen off), so I’m essentially taking the pictures blind. I just point the camera with my hand over the screen and hope for the best.

Of course, it also has a red light that focuses the subject and sometimes you can see that on whatever I’m taking the picture of. So none of my pictures came out all that well, but I did try. After awhile, I just sat back and watched the show. Sitting up front gives you a great view on the details of the audio animatronics. They are always amazing to me.

At 4:22, I was done at the Hall of Presidents (and it wasn’t a nap!). I thought it was a great time to take in the Liberty Belle Riverboat. Something I’ve never done before, believe it or not. It never interested the kids. It also leaves every hour and half hour, so I stood and waited for the 4:30 boat. It’s very large and holds a ton of people, but not everyone can line up along the rails. I went all over the boat taking pictures of various things. I noticed that the rails have a silhouette of a bell incorporated in them. That was a neat find.

One thing to remember as you are on the upper deck though… there are seagulls. Nature takes its course as usual. Also, I didn’t realize that you enter the riverboat on the main deck, but you exit from the lower deck. I was done on the riverboat at 4:48 (so it took about 15 minutes or so. It was a very pleasant ride and it’s a great way to get some different views of Haunted Mansion.

I’m hungry again, now.

But Space Mountain was calling me so I headed there. Always a good ride, but a little outdated in my opinion. I’m anxious to see how the refurbishment goes. I’ve always heard that the Disneyland version is much better. I want to see how they take the roof off this puppy to do it.

At 5:20, I get off Space Mountain in search of a snack. Hmmm. I’ve never had a turkey leg here. This is a trip packed with firsts now isn’t it? So I stop at the Lunching Pad and order my first turkey leg. What else can make you feel like a cave man? Of course, with the Diet Coke in the other hand, it definitely tones that prehistoric vision down a bit. The turkey leg was really good but I’m notorious for not getting all the meat off any kind of bone. So I’m eating it on my way to Adventureland (in search of the eggroll cart) and just pulling off the big pieces with my teeth. It’s a very carnivorous thing, a turkey leg. As I’m about to go across the bridge to Adventureland, I sit and finish what I can and throw the rest away. Carrying my Diet Coke with me, I search for the “seasonally open” eggroll cart. Must not be the “season”. It’s nowhere to be found. I’m very bummed.

It’s 5:45 now and I pass the Pirata y Perico (whatever) restaurant and it looks closed. I thought that was a little strange but didn’t think much of it. I’ve never eaten there either. Maybe next trip? The wait time for Pirates of the Caribbean is only 5 minutes right now. A little further down the road, Jungle Cruise wait is 50 minutes. What? These people have their priorities all out of whack. No, I didn’t ride either one right now. I’ve got a Wishes Cruise scheduled with some other Disers tonight. I still need to find a tulip shot glass for a friend of mine who forgot to pick one up on her last trip.

Those stupid glasses are very difficult to find. I checked several different gift shops all throughout MK and hadn’t found them yet. As I’m walking out of the park, I check the biggest shop on Main Street and I spot them on a cart. They’re just putting them on the shelf. I grab one, buy it and carry it out myself instead of sending it back to Pop. As I’m about to check out, there’s an off-duty CM in front of me buying a handful of pins. He gets a 40% discount. Hmmmmmm.

At 6:11, I stroll into Exposition Hall to see what’s back there these days. I was under the impression that the ride vehicle for the old Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride was back here and you could get in it and take a picture. Well, I didn’t see it anywhere. I’d never seen the original ride anyway, but I thought it would be interesting. They still had some of the scene setups that you could put your head in and take pictures and the mini-theatre was there but nothing was playing. I’d be willing to bet that they do away with this area eventually unless more people “discover” it. I’d hate to see that happen.

At 6:25, I’m on the resort launch to the Grand Floridian where I’ll meet the other Disers for the Wishes Cruise. Dismeymooner2008 set it all up for us. She’s on her honeymoon and we’re horning in. I don’t have time to go back to my room for a heavier coat so all I have is my semi-clear rain jacket. You know me, I’m gonna freeze.


Next up... the Wishes Cruise I wish I'd skipped.

 

[Anne's Family]

I spend the time before meeting my friends by walking around the Grand Floridian. I’m sorry, but this resort doesn’t impress me at all. It’s a little too posh for me (especially since I’m looking pretty grungy and out of place). I guess I really don’t see the charm. I’m looking forward to staying in my camper at Fort Wilderness, so I guess that says a lot about what impresses me. At about 10 til 7:00, I start looking for the others down at the marina. We’ve got Disneymooners, Springandmac and jsmla. Jsmla’s husband isn’t doing so well and may not join us. One other person didn’t show up, so each of us has to pay a little more. I was expecting to pay $35 for my share and it ended up being almost $50. Not Disneymooner’s fault, just fate.

We headed out on the boat launch around 7:30. The driver had some bags of chips and cans of drinks for us. We tooled around the lake for awhile. He didn’t have much of anything to say, but took us around the back of the Contemporary. I was freezing but holding up. We had some good conversation as we went along. Just before 8pm, we settled in our spot to watch the Wishes fireworks at Magic Kingdom along with quite a few other boats. Our pilot had to keep correcting his position because we would occasionally drift. The fireworks started, the music is piped into the boat. Nice, but they are pretty far away. I didn’t feel like I was part of it. When I’m right there under the fireworks in front of the castle, it’s totally magical. I don’t care about the crowds at that point, they pretty much disappear for me. I love the feel of the booms as the fireworks cannons go off. I love seeing Tinker Bell fly overhead. You don’t get any of that being on the Wishes Cruise. Besides that, all the passing boats had to sound their horns as they went by. Totally distracting and annoying. You can’t get around that though. The Wishes Cruise might be a really cool think if you’re doing the romantic thing (perfect for a proposal or something), but not for me. I won’t do it again and I figure I won’t do the Illuminations Cruise ever either.

Well, at 8:13, Wishes was done and we were heading back to the marina at the Grand Floridian. Little kink in my plans here. I didn’t plan ahead on how I would get from the GF back to Pop Century. I don’t want to spring for a cab so I weigh my options. I figure that since the monorail runs through GF, I’d try that. So I took the monorail to the Magic Kingdom and then figured I’d go on to Epcot from there and a bus back to Pop. Well, I get off the monorail at MK and the line to get over to the Epcot monorail is tremendous. No matter what I do, I’m going to be in the mass exodus from MK anyway. I didn’t avoid that by being on the Cruise. I’m sure there was some other better route I could have taken, but I wasn’t thinking of it at the time.

So I decided to go to the bus stop for Pop at Magic Kingdom. That line was at least three busses long, so I wait. Sure enough, I board the 4th bus and head back to the resort at 8:54pm. I stopped by the food court and picked up a chocolate covered Rice Krispie treat. I figured I’d save it for one of those starving times. Back at my room, I find a little towel animal in my window. I relax a little and take it easy before going to bed. Tomorrow I plan to hit the Studios.

 

[Tatania]

As I’m in the foyer waiting for the show, I was “entertained” by a 3 year old running wildly around in just a grubby white tshirt and a very saggy (obviously wet) diaper—no pants. No pride in the parental units there.

ROFL Love your trip report.

 

[Anne's Family]

Thanks Tat. You might be the only one following at this point! But hey, at least I'm getting it all down. I'll forget all the details by next trip.

 

[PolynesianPixie]

Thanks Tat. You might be the only one following at this point! But hey, at least I'm getting it all down. I'll forget all the details by next trip.

Nah. I'm following, too. I'm planning my own solo trip, so this is exciting stuff!

I really enjoy all the detail. I feel like I am there and get to go to Disney all the time!

Thanks! I thought I'd come out of the shadows and let you know I'm here

 

[Anne's Family]

Hey Ami, glad to know there's more than one! Sometimes you see the view count go up and you just wonder if people are dropping in, seeing nothing of interest and moving on!

I shall be more confident in my ambiguity...

 

[Paul (tigger fan)]

Still here too,

We were at a wedding all weekend (fools), (best man duties for me) so nice to come back to some updates.

Your tour of MK looked and sounded interesting , something we discussed doing when we are shot of the kids when they are older and dont want to be seen with Mum and Dad on vacation.

Quality of your writing still top drawer stuff , keep it up.

Paul,

 

[Anne's Family]

Wednesday, January 9, 2008
I’m up and at ‘em at 7:30. Both the alarm clock and the wakeup call worked today. No missing rope drop this morning! At 8:11, I grab my Rice Krispie treat and head out the door. A bus for DHS was waiting at the bus stop just for me! It’s been hit and miss with the bus luck this trip. I’ve been pretty happy with it overall. At 8:28, I’m pulling up to the Studios. They’ve got all the signing changed (the change date was yesterday) but ALL of Christmas is still up, and the Christmas tree is even lit.

There are still swags across the streets, lights on the buildings… everything. I guess combining a park-wide name change in conjunction with getting Christmas put away is just too much for even Disney. I don’t think that sugar breakfast is sitting too well in my tummy, either.

I’m waiting at the turnstiles at 8:43 and the herd mentality has us all lined up at 4 turnstiles. A few people finally branch off and start new lines at empty turnstiles and the herd follows. At 8:51, they begin letting us in the turnstiles but still hold us back from the park. I must admit, this park has the least “wow” factor upon entering. I’ve never cared much for the big sorcerer hat. There are two CMs who obviously work at Tower of Terror holding a rope for those who will be dashing down that way for the first ride of the day. After the big hoop-de-doo entrance spiel, I follow them and the crowd toward Tower of Terror and Rock n Roller Coaster—of course my two favorites in the park. As we are headed that way, I hear screams from ToT already? Hey! Who got in early?

I cut across to Rock N Roller Coaster first since it always seems to get crowded earlier than Tower. The fastpass return time is for 9:45 so I grab one and get in line. I’ve never really paid attention to the fastpass line though. It seemed different this time, I guess I’ll find out when I come back with my fastpass. At 9:10, I’m leaving the preshow and getting into the line inside the attraction. It’s so cool in here, you feel like you’re really in the parking garage of a big building. The echo is perfect. I asked if I could sit in the front row and the CM told me to wait a few minutes for the next car. Everyone boarded the first car and I held back. The entire garage was totally empty for a minute or two except for me and the few CMs. That was weird. Then the doors opened and another group of people poured inside. I got my first row seat in the 2FAST4U car. I absolutely LOVE this ride. The soundtrack caps it all off.

At 9:21, I’m walking over to Tower of Terror. This is a fun one to watch newbies on. People who have never ridden it before. I don’t usually tell them anything about it unless they are clearly upset about riding it. I like to see their faces. The sign said it was a 5 minute wait, but judging from the line, it is clearly not 5 minutes. I was getting into the basement line at 9:34 after the preshow and on the elevator 5 minutes later. Makes you wonder how they calculate those times. This is such an awesome experience. It’s one of my kids’ favorite rides of all time. It’s so much more than just the drops in the elevator (although that is one of the best parts). The randomness is priceless. At 9:45, I’m taking a picture of myself taking a picture (on the photo thing at the end).

I'm the one next to the two praying girls on the right. Makes you wonder.

I head back over to Rock N Roller Coaster to use my fastpass since I figure I won’t be back on this side of the park again today. The standby line was already pretty backed up. There was a teenage tour group coming up behind me. At least 20 or 25 of them following a little lady with a flag and heading toward my favorite coaster. I boogied ahead of them and entered the fastpass line. This line is not like I remember it from before. I’m assuming it has changed since our last trip (or maybe I just never got a fastpass last time?) Doesn’t matter, I get to ride again!

At 9:57, I’m boarding the coaster again, this time I’m in the last seat of a car with a newbie. A kid who’s never ridden before. We got stopped just before the takeoff for some reason and they stopped the soundtrack to fix a seatbelt or something. Well, it didn’t start back up again. We didn’t get our countdown… we just took off. No music, no nothing. No Aerosmith, just a noisy ol’ roller coaster. This was NOT good. This is NOT how I want my last ride on Rock N to be on this trip. As we get off, I complain, but they don’t listen. I tell the kid he’s GOT to ride again. That simply wasn’t what it was supposed to be. He had to know that he missed a lot be missing the music. I hope he was able to get back on soon.

It was 10:05 and I had to start thinking about getting over to Fort Wilderness to do some scouting for our next trip. We are looking for a new popup camper (ours is a 1990) and the plan is to take it with us to Disney in August of 2009 and staying for at least two weeks at the campgrounds at Fort Wilderness. If you read my pre-trip, you know that whole story! So I’m going over there to check out the different loops of the campground.

I figured I’d mosey toward the entrance of the Studios. I stopped for some street performers and enjoyed that.

I vowed to do my best to see more street performers with the kids next trip. They got such a kick out of my husband being picked by the World Showcase Players for a skit and my son got to juggle balls with Sergio once. They really remember that stuff.

Sorry, didn't post too many pictures today. Sometimes I would hold off on taking so many pictures and just enjoy the park. I think today must have been one of those days!

Next up… a ride through Fort Wilderness.

 

[springandmac]

Thanks Tat. You might be the only one following at this point! But hey, at least I'm getting it all down. I'll forget all the details by next trip.

Look at you crankin' out the updates now.

I'm following along, I just got caught up.

 

[Mickeefan]

I just wanted to come out of my "lurker-dom" to tell you that your trip report is great. I went on a solo trip last year and loved it. Although, I enjoy going with others, it's definately a different experience when solo.

I have also done the Keys to the Kingdom tour with Matthew. He is so great. When our tour was over, I felt as though I could have gone on for another 4 hours. It went by so fast and Matthew was so fascinating. I have considered doing this tour again.

The Wishes Cruise might be a really cool think if you’re doing the romantic thing (perfect for a proposal or something), but not for me. I won’t do it again and I figure I won’t do the Illuminations Cruise ever either.

As for the Wishes cruise, I have not been on this particular cruise, but I can see how you'd feel "out of it" by being so far away. I did take an Illuminations cruise and it was spectacular. At Epcot, you are much closer to the action and I would advise you to not let your Wishes experience keep you from doing the Illuminations cruise. They are definately two different experiences.

Looking forward to reading more about your solo trip.

 

[iluveeyore]

Hey Anne - just chiming in! Just started reading today since I saw you went solo. Love your trippie! I just went on my first solo three weeks ago (seems like years ago!) without kids and DH and loooooved it! It's funny how I seemed to do a lot of what you did - I stayed at Pop two floors below exactly where you were, I used those foam earplugs, I decorated my window (with Easter stickies), and so on. Wishes is my favourite as well. I stayed for five nights/six days and had a wonderful trip.
Can't wait to hear more!