Jenna and Blair's Day(s) of Fun! *Pictures!* Sept 6-13th Day Four is Up!

[DexLabDeeDee]

Okay. Here we go – Jenna and Blair’s Day(s) of Fun! “Friends” reference! Also, Jenna doesn’t share food! I totally approve of a fry buffer (I love french fries!). I am a selective (read: picky) eater so when I find something I like I don’t want to share it!

On with the show…

Oh, except for two things: You’ll have to forgive me; posts might not come up in a timely manner. I have to do this at work (shhhh!) because we still don’t have the internet at home. So. Here is my pre-trip report if you want to read through it here otherwise I will give you some background.

Me (Jenna) – 27 – I love to go to Disney! I have been with my parents but never with my husband, this was our first time together. I am an analytical chemist who also uses the right side of her brain! I love to read, dance at weddings and play the piano. I also love dinosaurs, Harry Potter and volleyball. Oh, and a big one – I love to plan. Pet Peeve: Indecisive people in front of me. For example, people at a CS deciding at the register when they had all the time in line to decide or people deciding last minute to get in my lane because they need to make a turn.

DH (Blair) – 28 – He loves to go camping. He loves to walk, read and do woodworking. He works in sales/customer service for a roofing company. He’s a right brain person that also uses his left brain! Very easy going about most things but knows what he likes. Pet peeve: hates crowds. Which is the reason we are going in September.

As I mentioned, this is our first trip to Disney together and I wanted this to be a positive experience for him so he would want to come back. No pressure, right? Normally, my family and I stay off-site but this year we took advantage of the free dining offer and stayed on Disney property. Our resort – Port Orleans Riverside:

(Isn't it gorgeous? Love all the trees!)

I must say that I was nervous about staying on Disney property. I really like being in control and waiting for a bus that doesn’t have a schedule does bad stuff to my brain. I would have rented a car but DH was insistent that we use the bus system. He doesn’t like to drive or worry about where he is going. So I thought I would give it a try. We’ll see how it goes…


Here was our itinerary –

Sat - Check-in - CS meal
Sun - AK - Pizzafari and Boma
Mon – Epcot – Yakitori House and Coral Reef
Tuesday – Free Day and MNSSHP – CS meal and 1900 Park Fare - Part I
Tuesday – Free Day and MNSSHP – CS meal and 1900 Park Fare - Part II
Wednesday – MK – CS meal and Ragland Road
Thursday – HS – Pizza Planet and Les Chefs de France
Friday – Epcot – CS meal and Tokyo Dining
Sunday – Check-out - Breakfast at the Yacht Club

 

[Cinderelly5507]

Just read your PTR! Looking foward to seeing if DH went to MNSSHP with you and how the Segway tour was!!

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Hi Cinderelly! Welcome to my trip report! All will be revealed in time....

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

I have to admit that I was a bit of a nervous wreck this day but desperately trying not to be. Hurricane Ike was in the Caribbean and was a definite threat. I knew that once I got down to Disney, we would be distracted and I would be fine. I also knew that no one had any idea of what Ike was going to do so there is no point in worrying. I know all that but all the logic in the world doesn’t seem to matter sometimes. Being from Minnesota, I only sort of knew how hurricanes behaved. Ike seemed to be a big one and if it went up to central Florida I knew that Disney would probably be closed for at least the day. Or more. But I was determined not to let this completely freak me out. And above all, I would melt quietly on the inside and not jar our vacation with my panic.

Okay, so we had a flight out at 10:55pm on Northwest and we got to the airport around 8:15am. We had already checked-in online the day before so we went to the e-check-in. That worked fine and we were on our way through the shortest security line ever! Hooray! We were still quite early so we wandered a bit. I wanted a new puzzle book and Blair wanted a magazine so we walked into one of the shops. Right above the puzzle books was….

A TV.

On CNN.

Reporting on…

Hurricane Ike.

Uhhnnn…Deep breaths. Look! Crosswords and Sudoku!

Of course, Blair couldn’t really find anything he wanted so we wandered to our gate. After a long walk down the concourse, I had the crazy idea that maybe we should check our gate and see if it changed since yesterday. After checking, yep, it had changed. To a gate way back near the main terminal. Oops.

We did arrive at our gate fine. Of course there were three TVs there all on CNN. But they were talking about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. I must confess that I had no idea what they were until I started listening. I’m embarrassed to admit that at first I thought they were chocolate companies. Financial wizardry is not my forte, obviously.

They talked about that for awhile but then, of course, they had to talk a really long time about Ike. Okaaay....Look! A toddler picking his nose and showing it to his mom. Fascinating!

Then the gate attendant announced that there were problems with the engine and they would need 30 minutes to fix the problem. Then the captain would tell us if we would be able to leave. Whaaat?? I am so glad that we didn’t have a connecting flight.

Good news is that they fixed the problem. We took off an hour later than scheduled but we did not FALL OUT OF THE SKY!

We got to Disney’s Magical Express, no problem. Not much of a line. Since there were only two of us the CM at the queue let us both go through. The CM that was checking us in at the counter was nice but a little annoying. The conversation went something like this:

“Is it just the two of you? No children?”

“No children.”

“You didn’t kidnap any on the way down? No infants?” (He truly said this.)

“Nope. Though I’m sure a lot would have liked to have come with us.”

“Right. Okay. So I’ll check you in here. Just the two of you, right?”

“Yes.”

“Port Orleans Riverside, correct? And you just need transfers for the two of you?”

“Yes.”

“And here is your booklet back. You will need to have this for your transfer back to the airport after your stay. Just the two of you, right?”

“YES.”

Wow. Are couples such a rare breed? I didn’t feel like we were all that unusual. People on the boards talk about going by themselves all the time. I didn’t feel like he was teasing, either.

We got right on board, no wait and then we sat down and took off five minutes later. We stopped at OKW and POFQ before getting let off at POR. I liked the resort instantly. The line wasn’t too long at Registration and we enjoyed the atmosphere while we waited.

The CM (who I think was named Patrick) who helped us was very nice. We were originally going to be in one of the rooms at Magnolia bend. This was disappointing. I wanted Alligator Bayou because I felt that DH would enjoy all the trees and feel of the rooms there. I don’t usually say anything in these situations, though. I don’t like to be thought of as difficult. It was important to me so I took a deep breath and asked for a room in Alligator Bayou. Patrick was very pleasant and said that most of the rooms close to the lobby were full but he would check. It took a really long time but then he came back and showed us on the map that there were rooms available in the very back of the resort. He said it with such a depressing tone that I asked what was wrong with the rooms there. He looked a little startled and then explained that most people don’t like them because they are far away. DH spoke up then and said, “We’ll take it!” Haha. He likes it when things are out of the way. Patrick laughed and left again to find out what buildings were available. I was surprised that this all wasn’t on his computer. He came back and said that they had a room open in Building 38 which was the first building after you cross the bridge from Ol’ Man Island. Perfect. So we left and geared up for a long walk to our room. You cross a bridge to Ol’ Man Island where the pool and bar are located and then take another bridge off the island to the other side of the river.

Then a quick right and the building is right there. We had a laugh. Our big long walk took five minutes, max. And it was very scenic so no big deal. The room was very nice and really cold.

I had originally thought that we would take the boat to DTD and relax and enjoy shopping. However, with Ike (maybe) coming I thought that we should go to MK and try and squeeze in some more time at the parks.

We quickly got our stuff together and walked out to the North bus station. (Wow. It was hot. I hadn’t noticed it before when we were walking to the room) We weren’t exactly sure how the bus thing would go. We sat down and saw a bus for HS come by and stop. Okay. I see how this works. After a little while another family comes with an ECV and sits down. They got on the bus for Epcot and it took some time to get the EVC on the bus. While they are doing that, the bus for MK comes and pulls up behind Epcot. I thought that the MK bus would pull up after Epcot left. No no no no no. My mistake. The bus for MK pulls away to go the next station. Oops. I guess you need to get up right away and go to the bus. I was a little put out at first but I realized that it was a good practice because otherwise you would be sitting there awhile and people want to get going. (This is something that would come up again and again later)

Meanwhile, DH is really quiet next to me which is normally okay but it is a weird quiet. We finally get on the bus to MK and 20 minutes later we are walking through the gates. Everything is decorated for Halloween!!

We head straight to Tomorrowland and get FP for Space Mountain. The wait is 50 minutes. Hey, that isn’t a long wait time for the evening. It’s a little crowded, not too bad. We are starving because we really haven’t eaten much today and I decide to go to Pecos Bill’s. Well, along the way we pass the Haunted Mansion with no wait time so we hop on. I had been on it after the refurb but Blair hadn’t been on it since he was 9. I love the Haunted Mansion. Always good. Blair said that it was fun. But he said it in a flat tone.

I thought that he was just hungry so we go to Pecos Bill’s and order a double cheeseburger for him and a bacon hamburger for me. I normally don’t really care for hamburgers but I was really hungry and I thought that Blair would enjoy the fixin’s bar. He got lettuce, tomato and pickle and I thought I would try the “carmelized” onions. I have now found that I can eat cooked onions but I really don’t care for raw onions. This is a HUGE step for me because I didn’t used to eat any onions ever. Here is our food:

I say “carmelized” because only some of the onions in the frying pan were carmelized and the rest were just cooked. The food was okay. Pretty standard fare. I didn’t much care for the french fries. I have high standards when it comes to them. I love that you can get hot cheese to dip them in though! I normally think that you should be able to eat a good french fry without any embellishment but I love hot cheese! These really needed the extra oomph from the cheese. We each got a cookie for dessert and they were gross. I swear I could taste the preservatives.

With food in our tummies we wandered over to POTC and walk right on. Blair perks up a little bit when I show him the theming. He especially likes the two pirates in a stalemate.

Pretty much no line. Within two minutes we are off. Blair again says it was fun in that unfun tone. We then pop over to BTMRR. Again, barely a line! Whoo hoo! My family normally comes during Spring Break so this is AWESOME!! After, we go back to Tomorrowland to use our FP and on the way we try and go through the castle. It’s blocked off. Shoot. I have never walked all the way through the castle before. It is always blocked when I try. Another time. When we get to Tomorrowland we find out Space Mountain is down. Okay. We have to wait. I want to show Blair the TTA so we get on and I forget that it goes through SM! The lights were on! I felt like I was walking in on a family member naked. I clapped my hands over Blair’s eyes and shut my own until we get out. Ahhhh! I quickly steered us to Buzz next to get the willies out. I totally lost to Blair. Grrr. Even knowing the secret shooting spot, I lose! He had 165,000 and I had only 80,000 - I didn’t even break 100,000! Grrr. SM still wasn’t fixed so we wandered to Fantasyland and saw Mickey’s Philharmagic.

While we were waiting in the big room, I can see that I am losing Blair. He just has that look on his face. I try and keep my enthusiasm but it is hard when I have Mr.Grumpy Pants dragging me down. It isn’t what he says but how he says it and what he doesn’t say. He thinks that I am complicated but he is waaaay more complicated than I am. I have to look for the tiniest of clues to indicate how he really feels. Drives me nuts sometimes. I realize that we need to ride SM and then leave. We get there and – Thank You! – the ride is operating. And when we get off, finally a smile from Mr. Grumpy Pants! I know not to press my luck so we quickly leave without seeing the fireworks and make our way to the busses and back to our room.

Mr. Grumpy Pants on the TTA

I must say that I was really disappointed by how this day went. I didn’t think that he would instantly fall in love with Disney but I didn’t expect him to be so down. I felt like I was losing the magic and that depressed me too. I went to bed feeling very bad about the week to come.

Up next, Animal Kingdom. Can this get better?

 

[Mickey'sMainMami]

I totally feel you when it comes to grumpy husbands. Dh doesn't really like Disney either, or at least he didn't at first, but he is coming around! I hope your DH eventually found some pixie dust, and I can't wait to read more!!

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Thanks for joining me, Mickey'sMainMami! I really didn't expect his mood because he loves to play around and have fun so I thought that once he got down here he would really like it. Maybe I was expecting too much too soon. It was definitely a marriage lesson for me.

 

[VanniGirl]

I hope your DH feels better about Disney as the trip continues

 

[BadgerGirl84]

Oooo---you ended day one with such suspense! Will he hate disney and be a party pooper all week? Or will you be able to "show him the light" and make a Disney believer out of him??? I'm definitely staying tuned.

 

[disneyvacalover]

subscribing

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Hello all! Thanks for checking me out! I am going to be posting another installment today so stay tuned!

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

I felt a little better when I woke up on Sunday. Nighttime always makes everything seem worse. I still couldn’t quite get up to my usual enthusiasm but I was looking forward to the day. Expedition Everest today!

We ate breakfast at the Riverside Mill. I had eggs, sausage and a croissant. Blair had French toast, eggs, bacon and a banana. We both had orange juice.

Can you guess which orange juice was mine and which was DH’s?

The food was basic mass produced breakfast. Not really good but not bad either. Blair and I talked a little about the day before. I asked him how he liked MK and he said that it was too crowded. What? It was a little busy but in no way crowded. Wow. We walked onto most of the rides! Except SM. That’s pretty freakin awesome if you ask me.

I don’t remember getting on the bus to Animal Kingdom, so it must have been uneventful. We got there before it opened, so we stood in line and looked at maps. Blair saw that someone had a map in Spanish and he perked right up and went looking for one for himself. It kept him occupied while we waited. He minored in Spanish at college and lived in Mexico City for a semester.

We got let in about 15 minutes before opening and got to see the little character show beforehand. I got Blair prepared to walk quickly to Expedition Everest. I pointed out the route and told him that we were going to go through Dinoland. That also perked him up. Dinosaurs? (We are both dinosaur fans.) But I told him that we would go back later, we had to go to Expedition Everest first.

When everyone was allowed to go in, we took a hard right while everyone continued straight. We walked past Dinoland, keeping the water on our left. When we got to a certain spot, two CMs were waiting with a rope to walk us to EE. We were the only ones there. They sounded surprised and said that we were like royalty, being escorted alone. They were really great and friendly. I was glad that Blair was able to see how great the CMs can be. As we approached EE, I could see that there is already a line of people who came from the other direction. I heard the CMs talking to each other and say something about the FP line. One broke off to go and work in the ride and the other stayed and asked if we wanted to go through the FP line or get FPs. I was a little confused. You need FPs to get through the FP line, so I said FPs. She said okay and then went through the FP line herself. Shoot! Now I get what she was asking. Because we were the only ones walking with her she was going to take us through the FP line and get on the ride right away. Grr! Missed opportunity. Oh well, we got FP anyway and went through stand-by which was really short. Blair actually complained that he didn’t get a chance to stop and read all of the stuff on the Yeti. This from the guy who was complaining about the “crowds” at MK! Even though the line was short, the ride was full and we had a great group. They were totally into the ride. It’s hard to describe. They just yelled and screamed at all the right places. They all laughed and clapped when we got into the station. (I did too!) It was great. We got off and I looked at Blair and he had a smile on his face. Not huge, but it was there! Thank goodness!!

We backtracked and went to Dinosaur next. My sister is terrified of this ride. I like it but I do feel a little anxiety when we get towards the end with the Carnotaur. I must have talked about how it was dark and scary a lot because Blair got out and asked, “That was it?” Um, yeah. Never mind. We walked back to use our FP for EE and we passed the Nemo show entrance and Blair asked if we could see it. Really? Okay. Yay! He’s actually asking for something! I decided that I wanted the picture from EE that time around. Blair wasn’t so thrilled. I don’t think he liked how he looked. He looked grumpy. I thought I looked good and I wanted it. He said that we would probably ride it again and we should wait to see. Looking back now, I think that he figured out where the camera was and he wanted a better picture of himself. At the time, he didn’t seem to completely care so I got the picture anyway. He’s too subtle. I have to always read between the lines. In the moment, though, all I could think was, “Great, he’s upset again. I thought this was going better.”

After EE we went to Kilaminjaro Safaris. Along the way we saw D’Vine! I had never seen her before. This was so cool. Blair thought it was a little strange but I was thrilled!

Is it true that they aren’t doing FP for the safari anymore? I thought I heard someone say that later in the week. Hmmm. We didn’t even try to get FP because the stand-by was so short. The safari went well, we got to see hippos walking underwater, the Tommies were up and moving about. The baby giraffe, who was born a few months ago, was out and walking around. He even posed for us:

He’s so cute!

Blair was fascinated by the steer with the huge racks. (Men are always fascinated by huge racks, aren’t they?)

All in all it was a really good safari. I’ve had a couple that had been better but there were definitely a lot of animals around.

We then went through the Pangani Forest Trek. This guy looked how we felt in the heat!

I thought that Blair would like the naked mole rats but he only sort of looked at it. I was watching one poor rat try and fit a huge mushroom up one of the tunnels. You would see him disappear behind a bend and then the mushroom would come tumbling down. Then he would come back down, grab the mushroom, and drag it back up. And the mushroom would come down. Over and over and over again. The CM here wasn’t so good. I asked several questions and she didn’t always understand me and she didn’t have a lot of answers.

Blair almost got hit by a bird in the bird area. He ducked and started to grin. “That bird almost got me!” Hooray! Thank you bird! Another smile from Blair. Several people had this experience, actually. This was the first time I had seen the birds cutting through at head level. It was kind of funny to stand at the exit and watch people duck as they walked through.

We walked through Harambe after the Trek. I love Harambe. I love the Coca-Cola signs and the building wear and tear and actually, all the little details that Disney puts into each of the “villages” in AK. At Tusker House, the Tam Tam’s of Congo were jammin’ it up.

We stopped to listen. It was really good. I couldn’t keep still, I felt like I had to move. I looked over to Blair and he had a huge smile and said, “This is great. I’m having a good time.”

I teared up. I know it’s a strange place to tear up, it wasn’t like we were watching Wishes or seeing our children (imaginary for now) hug Mickey for the first time. I was so upset the night before and second guessing my decision to make him come to Disney so when he turned and said that to me a load lifted off my shoulders. Now we can have some fun!

See how sweaty we are?

After Africa, we wandered through the Maharaja Jungle Trek. I love the giant bats. They were all hanging upside down and fanning themselves with one wing. Did I mention it was hot? One of them flipped over so he was hanging by his wing claws and Blair asked, “I wonder why he’s hanging like that?” We found out really quick. Blair answered his own question, “Yeah, I suppose you don’t want pee running down your face.” Haha. Good call. The tigers were out and moving around as well. Blair liked the theming – that we were going on the Maharaja’s hunting trail to his hunting lodge that looked old and ruined. It was neat.

We ate at Pizzafari. I love the pizzas at Disney. Num. We both got frozen strawberry lemonade. Perfect for a hot day, however, we really didn’t each need our own. We couldn’t finish them.

We went to the “secret” trail around the Tree of Life. I had never done that before. You can get really great pictures of the carvings up close. And it’s a little cooler and quite. Very nice. We ended up at It’s Tough To Be a Bug and decided to go in. I had never actually done this before in all the time that I had come to AK. It was nice to have something that was new for the both of us. We had to wait what seemed like a really long time before the show started. I don’t know if they were waiting for it to get busier because the show inside was definitely over while we were standing there. I didn’t realize that it was going to be so interactive. We were on the very far left of the stage and it was nerve wracking to sit there and see people react to something you couldn’t see. I knew something was going to happen but I didn’t know what until something poked me in the butt! Blair, of course, loves bugs and thought this was all hilarious. I have a spider phobia so having them come out of the ceiling wasn’t exactly thrilling for me. It’s Tough To Be Me sitting in the theater being assaulted! I left with very mixed feelings. Blair liked it.

We had to then go to Dinoland because Blair had a goal for the week. Collect all the pressed pennies he could with the coins that he brought. He brought A LOT. It was good that he had a goal. I had printed out information about all the machines around Disney, told him what places we would be visiting and then left it up to him. He spent a lot of time beforehand finding the pennies and getting them clean. Apparently you can’t have just any penny (well, you can just have any penny); you have to get the ones that are copper and not a blend. Those are the pennies from 1982 and before. After that they are copper-coated zinc pennies. Also, you have to get the imprint on the tails side of the penny so you can see the stretched out head on the non-imprinted side and also see the year. Wow. I had no idea that there was a technique. Blair brought a lot of pennies in a bag and then each day he would put as many as he could fit in a prescription pill bottle, alternating with a penny and then two quarters. I saw lots of people with the M&Ms Mini bottle, too, instead of a pill bottle.

We wandered a bit after exploring Dinoland, just soaking up the atmosphere. I went into the Art of Disney because I had been saving up gift cards and money from Christmas and birthday to buy a piece of Beauty and the Beast art. I have always loved that movie. For our engagement, Blair got me a rose dipped in silver instead of an engagement ring. (I didn’t really want one. I can’t have anything protruding from my fingers, I’m slightly clumsy and I’d end up knocking it out. Instead, I got a wedding band with inset diamonds and filigree. Anway…) The rose dipped in silver is a rose that never wilts, like Beauty and the Beast. So I wanted something to go with a display of my silver rose, preferably a Beauty and the Beast painting. I didn’t really see any Beauty and the Beast pictures. They did have the posters you could print but I saw one and it looked a little pixilated up close. There were also some statue\sculptures that held my attention. I loved the huge one with the balcony and the changed prince swinging Belle in the air while Mrs. Potts, Maurice, the feather duster, the dog, Lumiere and Cogsworth look on. Oh, but one little snag, it’s $1,700. It was too big anyway but it was beautiful. I’ll keep looking.

After that we decided to head towards Animal Kingdom Lodge for our dinner at Boma. It was still a bit early but we were tired and ready to eat. I thought that we might be able to get in a little early. We walked to the bus for Animal Kingdom Lodge and it was really long. The two queuing lines were full and the line extended down the middle of the bus station for awhile. We ended up having to wait a long time for a bus, which is strange because AKL is the closes resort to AK. Every one else had buses coming for them frequently. We finally got on, surprisingly because we thought we were far back, the first bus that came.

When we got to AK, we wandered through the gift shop and then headed to the bathroom to freshen up as best we could. I felt really self-conscious because I was sticky and gross. It helped a little to wash up but we really needed a shower and new clothes. We checked in at Boma but they were really full so we got our buzzer, went to see the animals outside, saw them for two minutes because we were starting to sweat again and then went back in to the lobby to wait. Those couches look soft and comfortable but they weren’t. I felt like I was going to slide off. We got called in about 10 minutes after our actual check-in time so we were waiting for 30 minutes or so.

Our server was really nice. I am horrible with names and I forgot hers. I ordered a Glow-tini and Blair got a coke.

Glow-tinis are very very good. You have to like sweet, fruity drinks though. AND you get to keep the glowing ice cube. Hurray! One down side, it was $9.50 - yikes!

She explained how everything worked and the food that she enjoyed and then let us loose. This is what I chose:

Starting with the potatoes and working my way clockwise, I had potatoes with Afritude, an egg and meat quiche, pork, well-seasoned chicken, pasta salad (recommended by our server), and prime rib.

Notice how hard I try to separate my foods?

Blair had carrot soup and a salad.

Then he got this mish-mash of stuff that he couldn’t tell me what was what. I know the two balls on top are falafel, then corn bread, then some sort of meat, couscous, African vegetables and what I think might be Fufu (a mash of sweet and regular potatoes). And a beef stew with asian flair.

Notice that Blair just piles everything on? Tells a lot about the two of us.

I also went back and got some french fries later and dessert which I failed to take a picture of, apparently. I had the zebra domes, which I had heard lots of good things about and the banana bread pudding, which my sister raved about, and the peach cobbler.

Blair really liked Boma. He LOVED the carrot soup. I tried it and also really liked it. He liked the falafel and corned bread. The fufu was okay. He didn’t care much for the salad. He liked the meat and vegetables. He didn’t like the couscous at all. The stew wasn’t well seasoned. He didn’t have any dessert.

I did not like the potatoes with Afritude. Blair tried them and didn’t like them either. They were underdone. The seasoning was okay but it was hard to get over the underdone part. I don’t normally like quiche but I thought I would try it. I didn’t like it. I think that it would be okay for someone who likes quiche. The meat was a little bland but I could see someone liking it. The pork was good. I liked it. I really liked the chicken. I thought it was only okay at first but the more I ate it, the more I liked it. Not dry at all. The prime rib was good. I had to cut a lot of fat off and it wasn’t as tender as I like it but it was definitely worth eating. The pasta salad was gross. I’m sorry. I can’t really describe it any other way.

Dessert. I was really disappointed. I thought that the Zebra domes would be hard and instead they were soft and it tasted like there was alcohol in it like Kahlua. I don’t care for Kahlua. There are a lot of Kahlua flavored things out there, you’d be surprised. The banana bread pudding was okay. I didn’t think it was that great. I poured the vanilla sauce over it and that was nice but there were also some nuts in it. I hate nuts in my bread (and pudding!). Normally I love cobblers, apple or peach, but it was what I call “fake” fruit. It’s that heavy syrupy fruit that you get from a can. Not the homemade stuff.

All in all, Blair liked Boma and I thought it was okay, I could go back and eat and find something (the chicken!) but I wouldn’t necessarily choose to go.

After dinner, we caught the bus to DTD and quickly walked around. Blair was starting to get grumpy again. I was a little annoyed that I felt rushed but I also didn’t want to push him too much. We hit all the big stores and then we took the boat back to POR. That was an experience. It was night and after you get past the DTD area and resorts, it gets really dark. The trees close in on the water and the only light is from the boat. Creepy. I kept expecting to see the reflection of eyes in the water from alligators. Blair and I both commented on the creep factor once we got off.

We went back to the room and immediately crashed. Long day. Tomorrow was going to be even longer. On Saturday, I had surprised Blair with the Segway tour and he seemed happily surprised. That was in the morning at 8:30am but we had to be at Guest Services by 8:15am and then we had dinner at Coral Reef at 8:10pm. Little did we know what was in store for us the next morning…

 

[disneyvacalover]

lOOKING FORWARD TO MORE!

 

[heaven2dc]

Great report! I felt bad for you that Blair didn't seem excited at MK - I can't imagine if it were really crowded but you handled it great (it's hard not to feel down when you plan a trip to include someone like your husband who has never been before and they don't react like you hoped. I was afraid that was going to happen when I took my DBFF in February but she loved it! She said she was only going along so I wouldn't have to go alone.)

I'm glad your hubby enjoyed AK - let's hope day three goes just as well!

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Yikes! Sorry everyone. I am hard at work on Day Three. Work has been awful lately. Hopefully this week will go better and I will have some time to post today at lunch!

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

PANIC!!!!!!

Pure adrenaline this morning when we woke up and realized that we had overslept. For some reason the alarm didn’t go off at 6:30am. Luckily (though it didn’t seem so at the time), we woke up at 7:30am. However, we had to be at Guest Services in Epcot by 8:15am for our Around the World Segway Tour. That gave us 45 minutes to get ready, get to the lobby, call for a taxi, get to Epcot, get through the gate and over to Guest Services. And to try and not forget anything as we were going to be in Epcot all day! (Oh, by the way, we had never gotten a taxi from our resort before, so I only kind of knew how the process went. I did know that at the deluxe resorts, there are always two taxis on hand, though I didn’t know if this was the case at a moderate resort.)

So. We raced around. Well, actually, I raced around. When I was done and ready to go, Mr. Slowpoke was still puttering around. “You’re killin’ me, Smalls!” (A Sandlot reference for anyone who cares) Apparently I was vibrating nervous energy that was disturbing Blair because he told me to leave and go to the lobby and he would come soon. Ack! Soon? When is soon? I don’t know this “soon”. Give me a straight value! In minutes! Preferably 2 minutes!

Unable to deal with his obvious disregard of the situation, I took it in hand and completely forgot about him on the way to the lobby. (Ahhh, maybe he is smart after all…) I get to the lobby and immediately head towards the concierge and see that there are three people in front of me! After a mini-meltdown in my head, I got in line and anxiously surveyed the situation. It was not good. The people who were already talking to the three concierge CMs did not look like they were going to move any time soon. After a couple of minutes, one did move and two people moved from the line to the desk. Apparently they were together though it did not look that way at first. Then, another spot opened up and I was next in line! Blair joined me then, so we were set to go.

I’m not sure if what happened next was my fault or the fault of the CM. I went up and told her that I needed a taxi to get to Epcot by 8:15am. Was I supposed to call a taxi or are there ones available outside to take? She responded with, “Yes, there are taxis outside.” Then she nodded. And that was the end of the conversation. So I immediately went outside, Blair hadn’t gotten to the taxi yet so I asked him if he was available. He said that he was not. Okay. Try not to panic. I went to Bell Services and asked them where I could find a taxi because I was told there would be one outside and I needed one to get me to Epcot by 8:15am. He said that they were supposed to call me one inside but he could also call here. He called a cab for us and while we were waiting, another taxi came up. The taxi driver came out asking for the people who called him but they weren’t around. Then he went to Bell Services and the nice man there told him to take us and the fare that he was supposed to pick up would get the taxi that we were supposed to get. Thank you! This was a life saver because at that point it was just after 8:00am. A very fast car ride later, we waited in a short line to get through the gate and got to Guest Services at 8:16am! And we were the first ones there. Go figure.

Here is Blair waiting for the tour to start. Looking pretty cool despite our wild morning:

After everyone arrived for the tour (there were 12 in our group, the max possible), we walked over with our Segway instructor (Demont) to Innoventions West. Once we got there, we got our helmets and watched a really brief video about the tour and then we got a little background on Segways and how they operate. The first hour of the tour was going to be training on the Segways and then the next hour was a tour around the countries with Amanda.

I found that the Segways were really easy to operate and easy to learn how to use. What is interesting about them is that they don’t keep still when you are on them; the gyroscope inside is always moving so you end up rocking back and forth a little if you are “still”. This isn’t a big issue at all. A little disconcerting at first but you get used to it fast. Getting on the Segway can be a little difficult at first as you have to find your center of balance. The instructors must live for this part of the training: 12 people getting on a Segway, wobbling all over the place. They have you get on and off a couple of times until they are sure you can do it. You adapt really quickly. The rest of the hour goes by fast. They have you go forward, turn, go back in between cones. Then you split into two groups and do maneuvers around cones and up and down inclines.

There were only two things that were a little bothersome for me. The first was that you have to sometimes wait for someone to do the maneuver properly. The good thing is that they work with you until you can do it, for me, I was ready to move on to the next thing. The other thing is that some people wouldn’t listen and we would have to stop and, again, wait until they did as instructed.

Once they feel you are ready to go outside, the other tour guide takes over and brings you around the countries, starting with China, then Germany, Italy, Japan, Morroco, France and if there is time, United Kingdom. At each country, there is a challenge – something that you have to use your Segway to maneuver around – and a brief background about the pavilion. In Italy, you stop and you get “free” time. They block off a large area next to the lagoon that you can use to do whatever on your Segway. Two rules though: you cannot go backwards and your hands cannot leave the handlebars. Even to take a picture on the Segway. The instructor and the tour guide will take your picture with Spaceship Earth in the background if you want.

Both rules were broken once. The guy that went backwards ended up falling off. That’s also why you sign a waiver in the beginning. The guy was perfectly fine though embarrassed, I think.

I never felt like I was going to fall off. The Segway is sturdy - you lean just a bit forward to move and then stand up straight to stop. If you lean backwards, you will go backwards. That’s when most people lose their balance, the instructor told us. Your feet and legs do get a bit tired. It helps to flex them when you are stopped at a country. There is only one opportunity to go to the bathroom – right after the training session and before the world tour.

Both Blair and I loved the tour. Our instructor and guide were both really great. Very charismatic. It was neat to be in the countries without any guests around. Though there were a lot of CMs doing maintenance and carrying around clipboards. It definitely felt like you were at a play right before curtain. Some of them had Segways too! The tour was very pricey - $95 each – but a very good value. In the two hours you really felt that you were able to use the Segway in a full range of situations. Blair really wants one now but they cost $5,000 each so that is not happening.

After the tour, we felt a little disconnected. We had such a great time, now what? Well, we popped over to Mission: Space. I was really excited for Blair to try this. We are also both into astronomy. This is the closest that I can get to space camp as I was never able to go as a kid.  Of course, we went on the spinning side. I love the feeling that you get during lift-off. It almost comes to the point where you can’t bear it anymore – then whoom! - you’re in space. Blair did really enjoy it.

We then went to Test Track, which I think has the worst queue line and pre-show out of all the rides in Disney. After the video, it seems to take forever to load into a car. I enjoy the ride but it isn’t one of my favorites. I feel that they have trouble with simulating the experience of testing the vehicles. When you go around the hairpin turns you are supposed to be testing the car’s handling with increasing speeds. The speed does increase but only until you get to the turn. Then you slow down around the turn and increase on the straight and slow down again around the turn. I don’t feel the slide that I would expect to feel when they test out a right angle turn without ABS brakes. The car just wiggles around a bit. The best part, of course, is the end with the speed test. That could be a little longer. Blair liked it okay. It wasn’t a favorite of his, either.

After TT, I wanted to introduce Beverly to Blair at the Coca Cola Club Cool. For those of you who don’t know, Club Cool is where you can try Coca Cola products from around the world. And the best part is that it’s free! Beverly is a Coca Cola drink from Italy that tastes disgusting. I wanted to get a snapshot of Blair’s gross face, which is really strange. (Does anyone remember when you used to have to go through this “snow” cave with frozen people trapped before you got to the drink statations?) So here is Blair trying Beverly:

What?! He likes it! Strange strange man. I couldn’t believe it. He said that it tasted like egg nog, which he really likes. Ew. Very strange. He took another cupful and before he drank it a man stopped him and said to be careful, it tastes awful. When I told the man that Blair actually liked it, he said, “You’re weird, man.” It’s true.

We were pretty hungry by then so we went into the countries to eat at Yakitori House in Japan. But first we had to stop for a “snack” since Japan is sooo far away. Oh, and look, what a coincidence, there is a fish and chips stand. What, Jenna, you don’t like fish? Oh that’s too bad. I guess I’ll have to eat it by myself. Blair doesn’t win any points for subtlety. I did try a chip before he ruined it with the vinegar. It was okay. Not enough crisp and a little dry. Blair liked it. He said it was the usual fish and chips.

Finally, we got to Yakitori House. When we picked up our food and were walking towards the door to sit outside, there was a little boy and girl, around 6 yro, kicking at each other and yelling. I could see that this was ripe for disaster. I tried to move back and to the side but of course, Murphy’s Law, they moved with me as I backed away. I said excuse me increasingly louder as they got closer. The boy eventually lost his balance and crashed into my leg. Luckily I was prepared and had steeled myself for it, but it still startled me and I bellowed out, “EXCUSE ME!” The kids then, startled themselves, ran to their parents and burrowed in the mom’s leg as she glared at me! Grrr.

Anyway, Blair and I got this:

Blair had tempura shrimp udon and I had the Shogun Combo which had sukiyaki beef and teriyaki chicken with white rice. Blair had a cookie and I got the ginger cake. Blair said that the tempura shrimp was okay but he really liked the soup. The cookie was passable. I love my dish. Every Disney visit has to have a stop at Yakitori House for the Shogun Combo. The sukiyaki beef is especially excellent. This was the first time I had the ginger cake. The flavor was okay but the frosting was whipped. Not enough substance.

After eating, we wandered through Japan. The shopping is excellent. One of the highlights of the world showcase. I felt like chocolate, so we wandered over to Germany but before I could get to the chocolate, I got stopped in the wine cellar and had a glass of Graff Riesling:

I have to find this here in Minnesota. It was delicious. Sweet, but not too sweet (at least for me) and I could really taste the apple flavor. Mmmm.

After Germany, we just wandered around the World Showcase. We had a lot of time to kill because our dinner reservation was for 8:15pm at the Coral Reef. After awhile, we went to The Living Seas. I love the new queue area and the ride. Especially the queue part where it looks like you are underwater looking at a boat above. Very well done. When we got to the aquarium part, there was a scuba tour group in the tank. It was really fun to watch them wander around. At one point, I guess I was standing by some relatives of two of the divers because they came up to the glass and started waving and then turned around to have their picture taken with the relatives through the glass. While I was standing there, the instructor of tour came up to the glass and waved to me. He then pointed at me and then to the tank and tilted his head and made a “c’mon” gesture. I shook my head “no”. He made the gesture again. I shook my head no. He put his hands out asking “why”. I put my left hand horizontal and my right hand vertical, palms together and I swung them around like a shark going through the water. Then I pointed to the shark that was conveniently swimming below at the time and shook my head “no” vigorously. He waved his hand as to say “Bah, forget him.” then he gave me two thumbs up and waved good-bye. It is amazing what you can communicate without speaking. It was great to have him come up and talk to me. If I didn’t mind having fish swim around me, he would have sold me on the tour.

After The Living Seas we went to Living with the Land. Blair likes to garden over at his grandma’s so he was really interested. I love going through the greenhouse where they grow the plants upside down on jungle gym looking things. It is so nice and sunny and cozy there. I feel like getting out and sitting on the sand. It’s nice to sit and relax in the air conditioning, too. We killed some time sitting at the Sunshine Seasons café. Ugh. We were so hot and tired by that time. We walked through Mousegears:

Having fun with the Halloween stuff!

And we went to the Coral Reef a little early to see if we could be seated. While I was in the bathroom freshening up, our buzzer went off. This was the quickest that we were seated all week. We were seated at the top tier all the way to the back:

The fish tank was far away. I don’t think I looked at it much the whole night. We were given a fish guide and though we could still see the colors of the fish, it was a lot of work to look. Patrick, our server, came by and took our drink orders and made food recommendations. I had a virgin strawberry daiquiri with water and Blair had a beer. While we were looking through the menu Blair said, “I think I will get the pork.” What? I deliberately pick a seafood restaurant for him because we never go to one and he picks pork? I told him that he should probably get seafood because they specialize in it. He said, “Oh really?” I thought that he was joking with me and I said, very snotty, “Yeah, duh.” Then he got mad because he thought I was making fun of him and how was he to know that it was a seafood restaurant? Um, the name and the fish tank weren’t big hints for you? Apparently not because he said “Fine” in that not-fine voice and then looked at the menu again and wouldn't talk about it.

Luckily, Patrick came soon to take our order. Blair ordered the salmon with ratatouille and I had the New York strip with broccolini and potatoes au gratin. Patrick was a little put out that Blair didn’t order what he suggested. They “argued” about it for a little bit before Patrick finally gave up. It was a little annoying and uncomfortable that he wouldn’t accept what Blair ordered. We got bread while we waited but not enough. We were really hungry. Meanwhile, a large family was seated across from us. There were three women and seven kids between the ages of 1 to 7. The kids were cranky because it was so late and they were really squirrely. It was a huge distraction for us. Constant movement out of the corner of our eyes and sharp little voices randomly. It put a bit of a strain on our meal. I was getting exhausted just being across the table. I couldn’t imagine what it was like for those women.

We were very happy to see our food:

Blair’s Salmon with Ratatouille

My New York Strip

Blair really liked the ratatouille. I asked him about the salmon and he said that it tasted okay. He wasn’t sure what salmon was supposed to taste like. I take that to mean that it didn’t taste very good. If he really liked it, he would have said that he did. My food was decent. I’m not really a New York strip kind of girl. I prefer top sirloins or rib-eyes. The meat was a little dry but still edible. Not a ton of flavor. The potatoes were good. I had never had broccolini before but it tasted like asparagus so that was good. For dessert, Blair ordered the Key lime tart with mango. I was thinking about that or the mango sorbet (I love mango sorbet) or the chocolate wave but Patrick heavily recommended the Bailey’s and Jack Daniels mousse and I didn’t feel like arguing.

The Key lime filling was good but I thought there was too much crust and it was too dry. Blair thought it was fine. The mousse was good but not spectacular. After his glowing recommendation, maybe I was expecting too much. All in all, it was a decent meal. Not as bad as some of the reviews had hinted but I don’t think we would go again.

It was about 9:30pm when we finished up and walked out of the park. The line for the bus to POR was amazingly long. I got the impression that people had been standing there a long time when they booed each bus that wasn’t for POR. We stood there about 10 minutes, ourselves. A bus finally came but we had to get on the second one that came two minutes after the first. This was another time that I was really unimpressed with the bus system. The queue was completely filled and down the sidewalk – and the bus queues for Epcot are really big and can fit a lot of people.

We went to bed amidst reports of hurricane Ike. Looks like it might pass along the tip Florida.

The next day was a free day with 1900 Park Fare and MNSSHP!!!

 

[disneyvacalover]

GREAT Update!

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Thanks! It was a big day for us! I'm working on the next one, hopefully it won't take me as long to post as last time...

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

After going going going for the past three days we were really happy to have a free day. We slept in – on purpose! – and hung out in the room for awhile, reading and watching TV. We should have gone and sat by the pool but it was so nice to be in the air conditioning and comfy beds. We eventually got up and wandered around POR. Very beautiful resort. I love that it's quieter than some of the other resorts that we had visited.

Here are some pictures:

We thought about going somewhere to eat but, again, we were too lazy so we ate at the Riverside Mill. I got a pizza (not very original but I love my Disney pizza’s!) with a Mickey rice crispy bar and Blair got roast beef with blue cheese on ciabatta with chips and a brownie.

You already know that I like the pizza and the rice crispy bars are always good. Blair’s sandwich was fine but he thought it was lacking some umph. It needed just a little extra seasoning or something. The blue cheese apparently wasn’t really tangy. The chips were awful. Gross. They were obviously “homemade” and they were sort of soft. Like all the oil had penetrated the chips and caused them to soften. The brownie was too cake-like for my taste. Blair liked it. I don’t care for brownies with frosting on them, either. While I was eating my Mickey head, I asked Blair to take a picture:

I was so tired of keeping the pose to take this picture.

What you can’t tell is that the Mickey ear is already gone and I’m pretending I am eating it because this is at least the tenth picture he has taken. He kept fiddling with settings. While this last picture was taken and we were frozen for that instant in time, we hear: <cough> <cough> <gasp> <blah> <blah> <blaaaaaah>. Some kid was trying to make his sister throw up by making “realistic” throwing up noises. My reaction:

(I’m not crying – I really am laughing! It does look a little like I am crying over my eaten Mickey ear.)

Here we were, trying to capture this moment over and over again - a classic Disney picture with the Mickey bar – frozen, waiting (for hopefully the last time)….aaaand….throw-up noises. It was just so bizarre. I had to laugh.

We left soon after. Blair got some juice and a paper at the Mercantile and we went and took a nap back in our room. Well, we didn’t mean to nap; our bodies just kind of went to sleep. (Are we fun people or what?) By the time we woke up, we had to get ready to go to the Grand Floridian for dinner at 1900 Park Fare, after which I would be attending MNSSHP. Alone. Yes, alone. I had tried my very very best to get Blair to come with me. He would not budge. He said that I told him that he didn’t have to go in the beginning (waaaay back in June) and I couldn’t change my mind. At the time, I wasn’t thinking. I was trying to get him to be on board with the whole Disney thing so I said that he didn't have to go. When I said that I should have just told him he had to go, he replied, “Yes, you should have.” !!! (That sound you hear is my head banging against the wall.) How is making him go now versus making him go then any different? Whatever, fine, no candy for you.

Because of his stubbornness, I must admit that I was taking unwholesome glee out of making him go to the 1900 Park Fare character meal. Not a fan of characters, Blair is. Heehee. We left to wait for a bus a little after 4:00pm. Our dinner reservations were for 5:50pm but I thought that we could wander around the Poly or the GF before our meal. I had never been to the Poly or the GF before so I was looking forward to checking things out. Well, our bus came very quickly, which was nice but then at the next stop there were two EVCs to load. I don’t think that the driver knew exactly how to handle these. It took a really long time to get them on board. There has to be a better way. Then when we got to MK, there was a bus in our space but the bus driver just waited and waited and waited for the bus to move. There wasn’t anyone getting on or off the bus at the stop. It was just waiting. It was so frustrating. Eventually she got on the radio and honked the horn and the bus in front moved. I was so happy to get off. We caught the resort monorail right away – yay! – and headed off to the Poly. Oh, except it was already 5:20pm. What?! It took us over an hour to get to MK. Unbelievable. Well, we really didn’t have any time left so we went straight to the GF. Blair really liked the monorail. I love it too. After the bus issue, we loved the monorail even more. Blair thought that the monorail should go to every park and resort. I agree. The EVCs can easily get on and you don’t have to wait for a spot to be open.

Here is the view of the GF lobby when you walk off the monorail into the hotel:

We love this hotel. Some people said that they find it stuffy but I didn’t feel that way. It just felt rich and elegant. Like lava cake. There were kids in costume everywhere. It was fun. As we went down the stairs to the lobby (loved the stairs!), a mom and dad were video taping their kids coming down in their costumes. Cinderella and Peter Pan. We went straight to 1900 Park Fare and got the buzzer. It ended up being a long wait but it was enjoyable sitting and listening to the piano player.

When our buzzer, well, buzzed, we went up to the desk and were told to wait by some closed doors. A host came out soon and told us that we were very fortunate, that tonight we were going to attend the Prince and Cinderella’s Happily Ever After dinner. He then brought us into a long room decorated in a carousel theme. There were three separate sections – we sat in the middle section on the right – the middle section had the buffet. Helen, our server, seemed quite busy. I think at the buffet dinners they must employ fewer servers. She eventually made her way over to us, took our drink orders and explained how everything worked. While she was explaining, Lady Tremaine was announced. She swept into the middle of the buffet room, sneered at everyone and then walked to her first table. Helen explained that when the characters are announced, they go to the tables in the middle of the room, make their way up to the tables in the first section, back down the side of the middle room (where we were) and then out to the last section. We could see that Prince Charming and Cinderella were already out and mingling and the wicked step-sisters had yet to arrive. Helen said that we had plenty of time to get our food. She was right. Most of the characters came when we had finished our meal.

The buffet was separated into American, Italian and Chinese cuisine. So here is what we had:

Blair had the mashed potatoes, tomato mozzarella salad, pasta with meat sauce, spring green salad and something that looks quite strange. Also, he had the tomato Florentine soup. I don’t remember what it was that he had. It looks a little like a baked potato but they only had mashed available so I don’t know.

Wow. My plate looks a little pathetic, doesn’t it? I wasn’t sure what I would like, so I only took small portions. I had the marsala chicken, roasted prime rib, mashed potatoes (with gravy over the prime rib and potatoes), French bread and a Caesar salad.

We both really really liked the mashed potatoes. Num. Blair liked pretty much everything he had. The soup was just okay. After Boma’s soup, I think that he had high expectations. He went back and got some more tomato and mozzarella salad and mashed potatoes, so I think that’s what he liked the best. My Caesar salad had waaaay too much dressing. It was swimming in it. Gross. The prime rib was cut really thick and was tough. The marsala chicken was good. I went back and had more chicken and mashed potatoes and gravy.

Dessert. Mmmm. Blair didn’t have any but I wanted to sample a lot so here are a couple pictures:

The top pictures shows chocolate mousse, fruit tarte and apple cobbler. The bottom picture is my masterpiece: a chocolate chip cookie with vanilla ice cream covered in chocolate chips, M&Ms and gummy bears. Those were the only toppings available. It was excellent, but needless to say, I didn’t finish it all. I was a little weirded out by the gummy bears, though. I have never had gummy bears with ice cream and I didn’t care for the chewy sensation next to the cream and crunchy. The chocolate mousse was delicious, as was the fruit tarte. I didn’t like the apple cobbler. It was made with “fake” apples. That’s what I call the apples that come out of the can. It had a heavy syrup and the apples didn’t really taste like apples, just mush. I love apple cobblers so I was really disappointed.

Now, the characters. They were really amazing. Lady Tremaine and the Wicked Step-sisters in particular. I was a bit nervous about meeting face characters but by the end I felt completely comfortable. First to our table was Prince Charming. He was very nice. He asked us where we were from and if we would like a picture.

After the picture, he told us to enjoy our meals and then he moved on. It was perfect for me and Blair. I felt that if we wanted to talk with him more he would have stayed longer but we were fine with just that amount of interaction. Before the next character came along, Prince Charming and Cinderella danced their Happily Ever After dance together.

I was leaning back in my chair looking to my right. You can see the buffet behind Prince Charming and Cinderella.

Next was Cinderella. By that time, the Wicked Step-sisters had been announced and were being silly as they made their way around the room. Cinderella was nice and cute but seemed a little bland next to the “evil” characters.

We had been watching Lady Tremaine when she was in the center of the room. She was quite deliciously “mean”. The children were rather in awe of her and did anything she told them to do. She was very haughty and cold. Blair seemed a bit in awe himself. Lady Tremaine first visited the tables across from us and while she was visiting she caught Blair staring and glared at him. He laughed gleefully, looked at me and said that he was in trouble. After she was done with the other table, she turned on her heel and crooked her finger at Blair. He actually stood up. I was shocked. She told him in her low, quiet, cold voice, “If you want to stare then take a picture. Look nice.” After I took the picture, she took one with me and she told us to “treasure them always.”

Don’t you just love her sneer?

Blair really got a kick out of her. We watched her at the next few tables. She got to another table that had a husband and wife seated, except that the husband saw her coming and walked toward the buffet. Lady Tremaine asked his name and then bellowed across the room, “WILLIAM! YOU DO NOT GET UP FROM THE TABLE WHEN I AM COMING! GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!” Excitement charged through the room as everyone turned to look at poor William. He was beet red and making his way back to the table. When he got there, Lady Tremaine told him to apologize to his wife for leaving her alone at the table. It was very funny.

Next was Anastasia. She flung herself at Blair and told me to take a picture of her with the handsome prince. She took one with me and then whirled away.

Isn’t she a hoot?

Drisella was right at her heels and was at our table when I was looking at the picture of Anastasia and me. I was feeling really comfortable at that point so I showed her the picture. She said, “Oh how awful! She really ruins a picture, doesn’t she? Let’s get a better one – smile big!”

We were ready to go after that but we had to wait for Helen to appear somewhere so we could get our check. While we were waiting Anastasia and Drisella fought over a pen and an autograph book. They really were perfect. It took a long time to get the check settled so by then it was after 7:00pm and time for MNSSHP! Stay tuned…

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

After 1900 Park Fare, we hopped on the monorail and stood in front of MK for a little bit. This is where Blair and I were going to part. There was fog everywhere and the lighting was green and orange and purple.

The haziness of the picture is due to all of the fog. There was actually more of it than it looks.

Goofy was out front in a scarecrow costume. They had wolves howling and creepy music playing. I was getting so excited. I made one last attempt to get Blair to come but to no avail. Oh well. I put on my cheetah Mickey ears and walked through the turnstiles ready to have a good time. After the turnstiles, CMs putting wristbands on people and handing out treat bags. Walking down Main Street was wonderful. There was Halloween music playing, the store fronts were lit up in different colors, the regular lights were off so it was a lot darker and they had ghost shaped lights moving across the top part of the stores. The castle was green and drew you like a beacon.

It seemed completely otherworldly. I caught most of the villain show. It was neat to see most of them in one place. The crowds were quite light. There were a lot of people but it was still easy to maneuver around, even during the show I could move closer through the crowd. After, the villains stood in front of the castle and lines formed to greet them. The lines did get a little bit long but not too bad. Looking back, I should have gone to see the later villain show and saw the characters then. I’m sure that the lines would have been even shorter. I got in the one for Cruella. They weren’t signing any autographs and there weren’t any photopass photographers that I could see. I had to get a CM to take my picture.

We were laughing because Cruella had a demanding little boy before me and when I got up to her she saw my cheetah Mickey ears. She immediately grabbed them (with my head still attached, by the way) and started rubbing one of the ears between her hands. “Oh yeeees, I needed it after that kid that was just here. He was a whiner, wasn’t he? You like kids, right? <millisecond pause> Yeah, I don’t like them either.” And while we were laughing the CM took a picture. It was so neat to have that interaction with her. She was the best out of all the villains. In between people, she would walk around with her arms out and hands clawed making faces at passing children. She had that half-crazed look in her eye like the cartoon.

People were gathering for the parade when I got done visiting Cruella. I wanted to Trick or Treat and ride some rides and catch the later parade. I got caught for a little bit because the Headless Horseman was coming through. It was very cool. I’m glad that I got to see it. It is nice also because they have an announcement right before he comes through so you can’t miss him if you are along the parade route. After that, I did a couple of treat stations and wandered over to the Haunted Mansion.

I got such a kick out of the 13 minutes sign.

As you go under the awning to the HM, there is a ghost lady (Lady Gracie?) sitting and talking to people as they stand in line.

Sorry about the quality. It was really dark and that was the best I could do.

Because of the parade, there wasn’t a line so I didn’t get to see a lot of her but she looked very ghostly. The maid that let the small group of us into the mansion was really creepy. She was all dirty and looked like she had stuck her finger in a light socket. We all went into the stretching room and just stood there for quite some time. I started to wonder what was going on and I looked over at the doorway and she was just standing there, blankly, very very still. Totally creeped me out. I turned away from her and looked at the family that was standing next to me. I finally couldn’t stand it any more and I looked back just as the mom from the family also looked back. We both screamed. The CM was right next to us. She launched into her spiel and we continued on with the show. When I got into a dune buggy by myself, one of the undertaker CMs got in with me, leered at me, then did a mwa ha ha ha laugh (which he did really well) and got off right at the end of the platform. The rest of the ride wasn’t any different but the experience was greatly enhanced by those two CMs. I found that the CMs for the rest of the night were completely on their game and having a good time along with the guests. It was a lot of fun. After I got of the ride, I had my picture taken with a photopass photographer in front of the hearse buggy.

I walked through Toon Town and was happy to hear “Ugly Bug Ball” from Summer Magic playing. I’ve never heard that at Disney before. I went through Alice and the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party where there are a lot of treat stations and character opportunities. I don’t really care for Alice in Wonderland so I skipped the characters. The people waiting for the characters created a bottleneck so I would try and go along this path during one of the parades. The path brings you to Tomorrowland so I rode Space Mountain, got more candy and got my picture with Buzz Lightyear:

Then I rode Buzz’s ride and took a picture of my score to prove to Blair that I can get over 100,000 points.

At that point I had lost track of time and I was really lucky to make it back to the hub where they started Hallowishes just as I got on the Tomorrowland bridge. Whew! I am so glad that I didn’t miss the fireworks. They had audio of the villains and played “This is Halloween” and “Grim Grinning Ghosts”. At the end, fireworks went up 360 around MK. It was so awesome. Completely magical. Wow. After the fireworks I wandered around getting candy.


I didn’t know that the CM did this until I took a look at the picture. Fun.

I rode BTMRR. I got my picture taken next to Cinderella’s carriage (photopass) and I just enjoyed all the decorations. They used a lot of shaped lights everywhere, spider webs, ghosts, bats.

After I had hit every treat station I saw that people were lining up for the parade so I joined a family by the steamboat. The CMs who were selling glow sticks and such were having fun dancing to the music. I got to see the Headless Horseman go by again. I was surprised at how much later after the Headless Horseman the parade started.

The “Boo to You” song is very catchy, by the way. I’m not a huge parade person but I really enjoyed this one. Peter Pan and Wendy were especially fun – “scaring” the lost boys on the “Boo!” part of “Boo! To You”. My favorite had to be the Haunted Mansion float. The caretaker with the hound dog and a lantern, nervously walking down the street. The float had the three hitchhiking ghosts on it. Then, the undertakers came after the float. They were really cool. There were about 12 or so of them with shovels that they would dance around with and then scrape against the ground in circles, creating sparks. They had to have been miserably hot, though. The temperature did not drop with the sun going down. The only thing about the parade that disappointed me was that they didn’t have a Nightmare Before Christmas float. They really should have.

After the parade, I went through all of the treat stations again, rode the TTA (I love it at night!) and headed out. Of course, when I got to the bus stops, I saw the bus at POR. I jogged quickly over to it and right when I got to the door…it takes off. Naturally. I was exhausted by the time I got back to the resort but not before I had a few pieces of my candy stash:

My bag was completely full by the end of the night. Not bad! And guess who didn’t get any candy when I got home…

I really loved Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party. It seemed like everyone else in the park was having fun, too. If you get the opportunity, you should go. It was definitely worth the extra price. Especially since your ticket gets you in at 4pm on your party night and you can stay until midnight. That’s 8 hours to spend with most of the rides open in Magic Kingdom plus all the extras you get because it’s a party night.

 

[heaven2dc]

What a great dinner you had at 1900 Park Fare! The characters were in true form - I've been contemplating taking my DS15 there in December. I wonder if the characters are the same for each meal? He would get a kick out of the ones who visited your table!