Jumping, Dancing & Jamming Our Way Through Walt Disney World! I'm With the Band Now!

[mickeystoontown]

Ok, I have a dirty WDW secret to admit. I've been 4 times, and have never seen Fantasmic! I'm really hoping to be able to this trip, cause I've always wanted to, just something always came up that kept me from being able to.

What the? What the? You have never seen Fantasmic? You have got to see it at least once. If there are two shows during your trip, go see the last one. It doesn't seem to be as busy as the first.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Mary Ellen, I'm reposting the choking pictures from my last trip report just for you. The story is we were sitting around waiting to go into the Hollywood Hills Theater and it was getting late and we were feeling a little goofy. The result? This:

A little while later, I approached a castmember and told him that my mother couldn't stand for long periods of time and what time did they suggest we get in line but still get a seat. They said that they had been watching us and that we had given them a good laugh. They then handed over four Fastpasses for Tower of Terror and four Fastpasses for the Rock N Rollercoaster. I had no idea that choking my loved ones could lead to Fastpasses.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Ya'll are not going to believe what I found! A snippet of my foolish self dancing with Mulch Sweat & Shears! But, I can't get it to upload to Photobucket or YouTube. I'm going to keep trying so I can post it for all to see. Hey, I've already humiliated myself enough why not drive the nail in the coffin?

 

[brookelizabeth]

Hiney Hiders! I've never noticed that!! Love it!

We've never done the Fantastmic package, but I've seen that walk on a map, and it didn't look too short there either! Thankfully there wasn't a wait PLUS the long walk though!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Hiney Hiders! I've never noticed that!! Love it!

We've never done the Fantastmic package, but I've seen that walk on a map, and it didn't look too short there either! Thankfully there wasn't a wait PLUS the long walk though!

Isn't that the cutest name ever for bathroom stall locks! I love it and always giggle when I see it.

The walk was super long and we all questioned whether or not it was a privilege. I do have to say, though, that it was quite nice not having to search for a seat.

 

[mickeystoontown]

As I said, I did find part of the video of me with Mulch Sweat & Shears but not all of it. I remember there being two parts but I can't find one of them. Right now, it looks like it is uploading to YouTube but there's also this message underneath the loading info: We did not recognize the format of this file, but we will try to process it anyway. See this article on recommended formats for more information. I guess I'll know when it finishes it's attempt to process it.

Moving on. I found more pictures of Fantasmic with some of them being just as crappy as the earlier ones and some being a bit better. In some of them, I was attempting to capture the images that were projected onto the water sprays.

***Continued in next post

 

[oopsiDAISY]

OOOh, those big images of the villains are CREEPY!!! Can't wait to see you dancing a jig with the band...

 

[mickeystoontown]

With Mickey's Nightmare over, it was time for another "nightmare"....the thousands of folks leaving the theater. Oh no, I don't think so! We will keep our tired booties on the benches and let some of them go before even attempting to leave. John did this:

While Hunter and Lacey chatted about something:

After about 30 minutes or so, we made the long walk down the hill and to the front of the park. Along the way, we heard someone squeal and then jump. There was a snake slithering across the pathway! Thank goodness it wasn't in front of us or my Mama would have been . No lie, she gets physically ill when she sees even a picture of a snake. Seeing one in person or in snake or whatever you would call it, really freaks her out.

We finally made it to the front of the park and, obviously, Hunter was still talking:

We decided to walk to the car instead of taking the trolley. We didn't park too far away from the entrance so off we went. We were almost halfway to the car and we spotted a wheelchair and made Mama get in. No need for her to walk any further when she could have one of us wheel her to the car. In front of the van were these caution cones and the kids took Mama on an obstacle course around them.

Hunter was telling Lacey to GO and started timing her:

See how Mama's arms look as if she were cheeringin the picture below? She was say GO! GO! GO!

They went a long way down the parking lot:

They found another wheelchair in the parking lot and decided to race each other:

I think the two of them could have stayed in the parking lot for hours but we told them we were leaving them if they didn't get in the van. It had been a long hot day and we were ready to hit the bed.

The drive back to the resort was super fast. We asked Mama if she wanted to walk down to the beach with us. It had become our custom to go to the beach each night and reflect on the day. She declined saying that she was going to hit the bed. The rest of us walked on the beach and it felt like we were getting a foot massage. The sand felt so good!

***Up next: A sleep in/let's do nothing but whatever we want to do day.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Disclaimer:

1) I go to Disney with the thought in mind that absolutely no one knows me there and that I can make a complete fool of myself (within reason) and come home with a semi-clean conscious.

2) This girl ain't got one ounce of rhythm in her entire body. None! Nada! Zilch! Goose Egg! It certainly shows!

Please keep these things in mind when you watch the following video and do not judge me any more than you already have.

The following video is just a snippet of the ones that my children took of me. Should I ever find the other where I Dropped It Like It's Hot, did The Cabbage Patch and The Sprinkler, I will post it. Like I said, I've already revealed enough about myself in this trip report and in previous ones (remember how I lost a tooth and almost pee'd on myself?) so why not drive the nail in the coffin now?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cuPlCNh0yo&feature=youtu.be

 

[mickeystoontown]

OOOh, those big images of the villains are CREEPY!!! Can't wait to see you dancing a jig with the band...

Some of them were a bit creepy but still very cool! I just posted the video for all to watch and laugh.

 

[JanaJohn]

1) I go to Disney with the thought in mind that absolutely no one knows me there and that I can make a complete fool of myself (within reason) and come home with a semi-clean conscious.

GREAT video! You looked like you were having one heck of a good time. And that's what we all want when we're on vacation! If my guess is correct your family was rolling on the ground laughing with you and had an equally great time watching you perform.

You can probably sum up this episode with "and a good time was had by all!" Years from now you'll look back and get a good laugh and the whole thing!

GREAT MEMORIES!!!

 

[sherylcin]

Well, I'm finally caught up and it looks like your day at HS was loads of fun. The video of you is quite...........well.............it's just plain funny!! It looks like you were having a great time and that's all that matters!

I have vowed never to see Fantasmic again without the package. I stood in that line (cattle drive) to get in last January with my whole family including 7 grandchildren ranging in age from under 1 to 11 and told my children that that will NOT happen again! It was downright scary to try to hold onto them and stay together. We've always done the package before but thought since it was January we'd try it without once. We ended up going all the way over to the section reserved for people with the Fantasmic package anyway. Sheesh! It is a long walk though isn't it! I'm glad Mama made it ok.

I smile when I look at your pictures of your Mama with you and your family on this trip. I just lost my mom a few weeks ago after a long illness but I have memories of lots of fun trips to WDW with her that I wouldn't trade for a million dollars!

 

[PhoenixStrength]

I LOVE the video! Especially The....Spin....Of....Death

You were a great sport and looks like a lot of fun.

 

[ronnmel]

Great video! Looks like you were having a lot of fun.

The only way I'll ever see Fantasmic again is by doing what we did last August : watch the second showing of the night and wait until the last minute to go in. Then grab a seat way at the top for a quick exit.

 

[reelmom]

I think you were AWESOME!!!!!

 

[deedeew80]

Hi Lisa! Great update!!! Love the video!!! You sure do know how to have a good time!!!

 

[Mom&RN]

Oh my gosh Lisa THANK YOU for posting your video. It made me laugh and made me remember why I love Disney so much because at Disney we can all let loose and have fun and not care what anyone thinks. You look like you are having a blast and I also loved the spin of death

 

[Caretames1]

Lisa, lisa, lisa! I want to go to DIsney WITH you! The video was so fun!

I agree with you about the Fantasmic package. The walk was crazy long! We were wondering when we went if we had turned wrong or something to have been walking for so long!

 

[oopsiDAISY]

Loved seeing you shake your groove thing...that cowbell solo was weak, though. Why do I say this? BECAUSE...I FEEL THE NEED, I FEEL THE NEED FOR ....
MORE COW BELL!!!!

 

[mickeystoontown]

I'm coming back to post replies and post another Disney installment. Because I take so many pictures though, it takes me a while to post a full day at Disney. So, instead of a Disney installment being first, I think I'll post about our most recent trip to Tennessee which I can probably knock out by the end of the day today.

As ya'll know, Lacey got married in August after having lived at home for almost a year. Prior to her moving home, she attended Mission Georgia Master's Commission in Georgia for three years. We had gotten used to having her at home again and we miss her terribly now that she is living in Knoxville, Tennessee. Since Lacey and Jesse wouldn't be coming to Louisiana for Thanksgiving, we thought we'd go to Tennessee to see them.

Our trip would have normally begun about 3:30 p.m. on November 23rd but, as luck would have it, John had to work over two hours and we didn't get to leave until around 5:45 p.m. Given that it was the night before a major holiday, we were afraid to drive too late into the evening for fear that we wouldn't find a hotel room for the night. Once we made it to the Alabama State line, we stopped at a rest area and picked up some of the hotel coupon books. We found a coupon for the Jameson Inn in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and called to see if they had any rooms available. They did, so we continued to drive.

I don't remember what time it was that we made it to the Jameson Inn but I believe it was around 10:00 p.m. or so. We checked in and decided before hauling all our stuff into the room that we'd go find something to eat which just happened to be a nearby McDonald's. What a lovely pre-Thanksgiving meal.

When we went to Georgia for Lacey's wedding, we had stayed in the Jameson Inn but in the building in the back. The room had a little bit of a worn look to it but it wasn't dirty and it didn't smell. This time, we were placed in a room in the main building and the room was more worn. The carpet had a large stain on it and was actually coming up around the bathroom door. When I say coming up, I mean the carpet tacks were showing. But, we had gotten a good deal of just $60.00 and we were all tired so we walked around with our socks on and then hit the sack for the night.

The next morning, we woke up to a light frost which was both nice and a shock. When we left home, it was pretty warm and it felt good to feel the fresh crisp air. I hadn't done what I normally do when we stop somewhere for just one night....pack just one suitcase. Because we weren't sure what the weather would be like, I had packed all sorts of clothing: short sleeve shirts, long sleeve shirts, hoodies, heavy jackets and even scarves and gloves. That meant that we had to haul everything out of the car and then back in. Oh well, the extra exercise didn't hurt any of us.

We ate a continental breakfast in the smallish kitchen area of the hotel before leaving. When John checked us out, he told the person at the desk about our room being worn and all she said was something like "oh I'm sorry, we have new housekeepers". Because we were anxious to get on the interstate, John didn't pursue it any further. I wish I had thought to take pictures so I could have written them a letter once I got home.

The drive to the Tennessee line was uneventful and the weather was beautiful. We stopped at the Tennessee Welcome Center to take a pit stop and see if there were any coupons we could use while we were in Pigeon Forge. I took a peak in the vending machine area and thought it was neat that they had vienna sausages and word search books in one of the machines:

I have no idea why I don't have pictures of our drive from Alabama to Knoxville but I don't see any on Photobucket so I guess I didn't take any. We are used to road trips and usually use the time together to catch up on everything that's going on at school, work, with friends, etc. During the drive, Lacey would call us to see where we were. They were supposed to eat Thanksgiving dinner with Jesse's family but hoped we would be there early enough that we could get a quick hug or two in before they left.

We checked into the Jameson Inn and then decided to surprise Lacey & Jesse with an unannounced visit to their apartment. John called her when we got in the driveway to the apartment and told her to look outside and see if it were snowing there because it looked like it was as we were driving. She looked out and there we were. We didn't get to spend too much time with them before they had to leave but it was enough time to get a few hugs and see the things they had done with the apartment since our last visit.

The plan for the evening was for Lacey and Jesse to go to his parents and we would find something to eat for dinner. If it wasn't too late, they would meet us at the Jameson Inn and we'd work out the details for the rest of the weekend. Once back at the hotel, we unloaded our things and this time I did remember to take pictures of the room. Thankfully, this one was much nicer than the one from the night before:

There was an Applebee's near the hotel, so we had our Thanksgiving dinner there. I was surprised that there were so many other people there. I figured everybody would be with their families. Maybe they were travelers too. After dinner, Lacey and Jesse came and we watched a bit of television and formulated the plan for the weekend.

We had reservations to stay in Pigeon Forge on Friday and Saturday nights. Lacey would go with us to Pigeon Forge and Jesse would work on Friday and then drive to Pigeon Forge to spend the night with us. (Pigeon Forge is about an hour from their apartment.) He had to go back to work at lunch on Saturday but then he'd drive back to Pigeon Forge after he got off work that evening. Lacey would spend both nights and the days with us.

Saturday morning, we picked Lacey up from the apartment and we were off to Pigeon Forge. There wasn't anything really to see other than the city on the way there and we were talking so no pictures were taken until we got to Seiverville (Spelling?) where we say this cool water park attached to a hotel:

The trolley that runs from Gatlinburg to Pigeon Forge and then Seiverville (again spelling?).

We made it to Pigeon Forge by about 9:30 a.m. or so but we couldn't find the Twin Mountain Inn which, according to Mapquest, was on the lefthand side of the road. With so many hotels, stores and pancake houses (I crap you not, there have to be at least 50 of them on that strip of road.), we couldn't find it. I pulled into one of the stores and called the hotel. The hotel was on the left side but where you check in was on the right. Right....right behind us. I felt like such a dumb bunny.

In Pigeon Forge, the roads are all one way which makes it a pain in the rear end if you have to turn around and go the other way. Yes, there are cut-throughs but usually they get congested and, well, suffice it to say, it's not that easy to cut through. Anyway, I made it across the lanes of traffic and pulled into where we were to check in. It was still too early for our room to be ready but I wanted to go ahead and check in so that we could get on with our plans for the day.

**Continued in next post