Just back - crazy busy & the GP have lost their minds!!!

[TaraPA]

You are not seeing double, yes there are 2 threads on the Trip Reports Board with the same title. I started the other one on the Theme Parks Board just as a general little thread about my recent trip, but it got moved over here. So that one is mostly about the crowds, this one will be the full report with pics!

THIRD ANNUAL BLT SHAKERS GIRLS TRIP!!!

This was to be the 3rd trip of a lovely bunch of ladies who met right here on The DIS. Yes, right here! There was a thread on the Community Board for people from PA. We posted there & started meeting up on our family trips when we were in WDW at the same time. Then we thought the heck with family, we're going - just the girls!

Here is the cast of characters:

myself - Tara - TaraDPA
Linda - PrincessAlways
Terri - MineChuchie
Janis - Terri's friend - I forget her DIS name!
Carol - HakMat

Here are our smiling faces at Beaches & Cream, from bottom left:
Carol, Terri, Linda, Janis & Tara

The other ladies left on Friday, March 11th. I have elementary & middle school kids so I just didn't want to be away that extra night, so I went on Saturday, March 12th. The 4 of them stayed at POFQ & they all loved it & said they'd go back. POFQ is on my WDW Resorts Bucket List, so maybe next time!

Ok back to the title - if you're wondering what GP is, it's General Public. They were rude, obnoxious & entitled moreso than ever on this trip! I work in retail, so I'm quite accustomed to the GP & all their rudeness, but this trip some people just took the cake!

I used some Airtran points that were about to expire & got an free upgrade to Business Class. Everything was going smoothly until I overheard the flight attendants say they were one short in coach & one over in Business Class. The flight attendant casually asked the 7 of us in Business Class if we were in the right seats, everyone said yes, but he didn't check. I was distracted by them asking 2 military young men if they would like to be their guest in Business Class for the flight, that was just awesome. The young men, in their military camo, thanked the flight attendant & the flight attendant shook their hands & paused, and said "no, thank you." TOTAL tear jerker moment!!!

Anyway, back to the GP. So finally the flight attendant says to a woman in seat 1 (I was 1 row behind her, across the aisle) if she had her boarding pass because that seat was showing as empty on their list. She said no she didn't have it, and buried her head into the window & pretended to look out. The FA asked how she got on the flight without a boarding pass. She said she lost it. So the FA goes back to the list & figures out she must be the missing name from coach class. He asks her if her name is XYZ & she says yes but continues to stare out the window. He explained that she was in the wrong seat, she was supposed to be back in the coach cabin. She said she could sit anywhere she wanted, what did it matter? Oh boy, everyone in Business Class was perked up for this one! I've heard of wedding crashers - but here we had a First Class crasher!!! He said it mattered because their was a difference in fare - she paid for a coach ticket & could gladly stay where she was seated if she wanted to pay for the upgrade. She asked how much the upgrade was. He said $69 plus the $16 for the drinks I served you. She was silent & stared out the window. He asked if she would like to give him her credit card or would she like him to escort her back to her seat that she paid for. She said she had no money on her & got up & bolted into the bathroom - where she stayed for TWENTY minutes!!!!! It was bizarre! I could hear the FA's that were gathered right by the cockpit - they weren't sure what to do. The male FA wanted the female FA to go in & get her out, but the female FA said she couldn't do that. They joked that if she wanted to sit in a cramped bathroom for 2 1/2 hours then let her! Finally after 20 min. she came out & stomped back to her seat in coach. She didn't give any more drama but when we landed she flew up the aisle, grabbed her bag from above my head & was the 1st off the flight. She ran off into the airport. Everyone in Business Class agreed that she was on something or had a few screws loose, just the way she was acting. It actually gave us all a good laugh!

 

[TaraPA]

I had pre-arranged online to take the Mears shuttle. This was a first for me, I had always taken a car service, a cab or used ME. It was only $21 for the shuttle vs. $63 plus tip for a cab. I landed at 8:15pm & I found the Mears counter on the same level as ME (almost right beside it, actually) and was checked in & outside at the Mears podium waiting within 5 minutes of landing. I was the 1st person on the shared 11-person van. We drove up a few spaces towards where the ME buses were, and picked up about 8 more people, and off we went. No waiting at all. We dropped off at 2 offsite places, then The Swan for me. I checked in at 9:15pm, so an hour from the time I landed. Not too bad, a cab would have been faster, but also 3+ times the cost. I was really trying to ignore the huge cheerleading groups in the lobby being very VERY loud. They had a trophy so I was really hoping the competition was over & that they were checking out the next day! The other 4 ladies hadn't checked in yet, so I got the keys to our 2 BR Executive Suite. I ran around & took pictures of the suite which was really nice. I was a bit confused at first, since 1 room had to be entered from a totally different hallway than the other 2. I couldn't just go in 1 room & unlock all the connecting doors, since they were locked from the inside. It was like a big puzzle figuring it out!

The parlor area room with a double sofa bed & a king Murphy bed (that comes out of the wall like in Laverne & Shirley - remember that!??!!?) This room also had a full bath & balcony:

The attached room with 2 double beds & full bath:

The attached room with a king bed, double sofa bed & balcony:

We have always stayed in DVC villas before, so while thus suite was really nice, it didn't have the full kitchen that we were used to. But it worked out well for our group of 5.

 

[PrincessAlways]

ohhhhh.......I want to go back!!!

 

[TaraPA]

I went down to The Boardwalk to grab something to eat, and to get something for breakfast the next day at Boardwalk Bakery. The ladies met up with me, they had been at DTD for dinner at House of Blues. We called it a night around midnight since we had to be in MK bright & early for our Keys to the Kingdom tour!

It was still dark out when we got on the bus for MK at 7:20am. There was only one other family headed to MK that early (it opened at 8am). See how dark it is out there yet?? Linda, Tara & Terri:

We arrived & it was fairly empty. I went to guest services where I purchased my very first Annual Pass! I'm turning 40 this year, just like WDW, so it was my gift to myself. It didn't hurt that I had over 400 Disney VISA reward points to use to pay towards it.

We watched the show at the train station & then headed into City Hall to meet up with our tour group. They had water, coffee & tea for us. The tour is only supposed to have 15 people max, but ours had 19. You get these nifty little ear buds to wear so you don't have to be straining to hear the guide all day. We had Aaron as our tour guide, and he was AWESOME. They were filming him that day for a training video.

I learned so many interesting things on this tour & highly recommend it. We only did 2 attractions with him (front-of-the-line access) - Jungle Cruise and Haunted Mansion - and he taught us a lot of secrets & facts about both rides. We went behing the scenes to the huge warehouse where they were storing & cleaning the floats for the 3pm parade. We saw some of the CMs rehearsing for the parade. No pictures were allowed to be taken on this part of the tour.

We had a great lunch as a group at CHH - my very favorite CS in all of WDW. We were given a KTTK tour pin as well. I had the Anchors Aweigh tuna sandwich which I LOVE:

We could see MK was really crowded by this time - the queue line for HM was out into the park:

And they actually had a queue line for TTA - yes TTA - with a 15 min. wait:

Here we are with our very fabulous tour guide Aaron:

I have to say we saw some of the craziest dressed people this day. We joked that we would start a thread called "People of WDW" modelled after
People of Wal-Mart." I'd love to post some pics I took of these monstrosities but I don't know how to blur people's faces before I post them. I took about 5 pics just in MK this day that made us go

We got FP for Space Mtn & the ladies grabbed a spot on the curb of Main St to watch the parade. I went over to The Emporium to scope out the 40th Anniversary merchandise. Since it all has a 40 on it, and I'm turning 40, I wanted everything! Considering I only travel with a carry-on bag that was already full, I settled on the 1000-pc puzzle in a cute briefcase, and the photo album. Here are tons of pics of the Anniversary merchandise:

 

[LexiC123]

I'm along for the ride! Can't wait to hear all the anecdotes about the crazies in the parks!

You had quite the eventful plane ride, didn't you?! Talk about going from the sublime (the upgrade for the servicemen) to the ridiculous! I can't believe that woman actually thought it was ok for her to sit in First Class. Reminds me of that Seinfeld episode where Elaine sneaks up to First Class, LOL.

Looking forward to hearing more about the girls' adventure...

 

[TaraPA]

Hey LexiC123 - a fellow Swan/Dolphin fan!!!!

After the parade we headed over to COP. This would have been a nice realxing attraction had it not been for the RUDE family behind us! They had a toddler that they let run up & down their row talking & making noise (it was fairly empty) non-stop banging into our row of chairs every few seconds. If that wasn't bad enough, the man, for whatever reason, thought it was perfectly ok to take not one, but TWO cell phone calls, speaking in a normal voice the whole time. Hel-lo VOLUME!!! It totally ruined COP for us...then we get outside & we just HAD to take a picture of the family from behind us. OMG the female made it into our "People of WDW" book. Not only did she & her family have no consideration for those around them during an attraction, they obviously don't own a mirror either.

We had a 4:15pm ADR at The Plaza. I didn't know it but the girls had told them we were celebrating my birthday so they brought me a pin & a birthday cupcake. Awesome!

I think this was the day that Linda, Terri & Janice went back to the room for a nap. MK was open until 3am & we were determined to stay that long (and we were there since 7:40am!) Carol & I rode HM, POTC, HoP & the River Boat, finding lots of "candidates" for People of WDW along the way! I mean seriously - why would any female think it's appropriate to cut her denim shorts so short that the pockets stick out the bottom AND your underwear? How can that even be comfortable? I have a picture of this, we referred to it as "Hot Pocket Girl" but I just can't post it, I'm too afriad this person might be on The DIS - and thinks she was all that!

We met back up around 8pm for Dole Whips & a ride on POTC. Then we went to use our Space Mtn FP. It was down! ARGH! That's one of my favorite rides, and I wasn't too happy. MK was starting to get really really crowded, so we headed towards the hub to try & get a spot for 10pm Wishes. OMG it was insanity. Total chaos & people packed in like sardines. There was a lot of shoving & pushing. Getting out was complete gridlock. They brought CMs out with light-up wands to try & separate the walkways into 2 traffic directions, but it was still a madhouse. The guy behind me thought that by yelling "come on people, I've got tired kids here, let's go" repeatedly would make us all just part the seas & let him through. Really?

After a lot of people exited, we got some snacks & headed back to the hub to watch the pre-show again. I forget what it was called but it was awesome! They have all this cool stuff on the castle, then they project pictures of people from the parks from that day onto it as well. I don't have a good night setting on my camera, but here are a few shots:

This was cool- it was the outline of someone tracing the castle with a pencil:

Then they filled it in with crayon!

There was one scene about Pirates where they projected flames on the castle - and it was creepy - it actually looked like the castle was up in flames.

We found a spot for 11pm Main St Electrical parade. This was really fun, I had never seen the whole parade. How can you not love this?!? We did have fun watching some new candidates on the curb in front of us. They were, um, getting up close & personal in a way that just was wrong for MK!

We just walked around after this (if I remember correctly) and did some shopping on Main St before heading out around 12:25am. I checked Space Mtn but it was still down. We just couldn't make it til 3am!

 

[TaraPA]

Oh I forgot - someone had asked me once if Main St Bakery still had cinnamon rolls at night - yes! They were bringing them out fresh & hot a little after midnight when I stopped in for a snack

 

[TaraPA]

Day 3 - Epcot

We started off the day at our traditional ladies breakfast at Kona. I've never stayed at The Poly but it's on my Bucket List. I loe the theming & LOVE LOVE LOVE Tonga Toast!

Tara with Tonga Toast, Linda with Pineapple Macadamia Nut pancakes & Janis with eggs Benedict:

Off we went to Epcot via monorail. Holy dooley was it crowded - lines for the monorail, lines for bag check, lines to get in. It was just going to be one of those days!

We hit Ellen's Universe if Energy because that is one of my very favorite attractions in Disney! The ladies slept through it. We got FP for Soarin & did Capatin EO - another one of my favorites. We meandered our way over to La Hacienda for some snacks & drinks.

Here is where we had another GP encounter. They had opened up the inside seating (the TS side of La Hacienda) because it was so darn crowded. Well this man for whatever reason just assumed that he should be treated like gold & was yelling at CMs & demanding a manager because there wasn't enough seating for his family. They all had seats except for one, and there were no empty chairs available to move. Hey buddy - it's crowded, everyone is making the best of it, just deal. He didn't stop the whole 20 min. we sat there eating - just grumbling & complaining to anyone that would listen. I feel bad for his family, he was just making everyone else miserable too. I didn't hear what the manager told him but I never saw the manager bring back another chair for them. We came up with a saying - "why are you this way?"

This was my 3rd Flower & Garden Festival. Here are some pics:

 

[loganpaulsmom]

LOVING YOUR TRIP REPORT.. I too am turning 40 this year and can't wait to get down there in May and pick up some of the merchandise.. what a great idea to do an all girls trip.. I will also being doing one, next year when the rest of my friends turn 40 but the destination is still undetermined..

can't wait to read more!

 

[TaraPA]

LOVING YOUR TRIP REPORT.. I too am turning 40 this year and can't wait to get down there in May and pick up some of the merchandise.. what a great idea to do an all girls trip.. I will also being doing one, next year when the rest of my friends turn 40 but the destination is still undetermined..

can't wait to read more!

There's always room on our girls trip for one more - you should join us! The plan is to go back in November of this year too!

 

[loganpaulsmom]

Oh boy if only.. I would LOVE that.. I am not sure how hubby would feel about me going without him, yet.. He loves all things Disney too.. LOL
I just have to say as well.. I made it on the first page of a trip report??? YAYAYAYAYA.. It's the little things.. LOL

 

[dumbocutie]

Love reading the report. I go next week my whole family is so excited.

 

[jpmandan]

 

[whitfive]

What a fun trip!

 

[whitfive]

subbing

 

[Mrs. Sojourner]

You sure ran into some "interesting" people on your trip! Loving your TR and can't wait to hear the rest.

 

[TaraPA]

You sure ran into some "interesting" people on your trip! Loving your TR and can't wait to hear the rest.

Oh IF ONLY I could blur out people's faces on some of the very interesting outfits I took pictures of so I could post them!

 

[TaraPA]

After La Hacienda we just slowly made our way around World Showcase to Japan, where we had an ADR at Teppan Edo. I had never eaten here before so I was looking forward to it. I was also looking forward to being in the air conditioning & away from the hordes of people in World Showcase that afternoon! We had a great chef & table mates (the entire table was from PA). However....there was a crazy bunch at the table next to us. it was another "Why are you that way?" moment.

We could hear the family coming a mile away. 4 adults & 4 kids, all of them were enagged in some sort of argument over where they were sitting. They must have re-arranged (very loudly I might add) the seats a dozen times. The poor hostess couldn't even get a drink order. One of the gentleman was just SO LOUD and had to make a snippy comment about everything & anything. Then the chef came out & introduced herself as Yoko. The same man, thinking he was all that, goes (again, LOUDLY) "Hey Yoko - like Yoko Ono - you know her?" and then he just busts up laughing (LOUDLY). Oh hardy har har you're hilarious buddy. Thankfully we were almost done with our meal because I couldn't have taken that loud obnoxious voice much longer. Two of the smaller kids were tossing this huge stuffed Pokemon back & forth the whole time OVER the grill/griddle. The chef must have said a dozen times that it was over 400 degrees and they ignored her, and the parents did nothing. I was so secretly hoping that freaking Pokemon would land on the griddle & just burst into flames!

Here is our nice, quiet table:

After that we just walked around World Showcase, and took a Friendship Boat across the water back to Future World to go on Spaceship Earth. It had been a 30 min. wait all day, and nwo was down to 20. Oh I almost forgot - I have pics of the offerings in the new Caramel shop in Germany!

 

[TaraPA]

Here's an interesting tidbit: on our KTTK tour our guide said that if you stand near The Promenade in Future World & look over across Morocco in World Showcase, you're actually seeing the top of ToT in DHS. They designed the top of ToT to match the architecture of the buildings in Morocco. Ok so we stood there awhile, at different spots & from different angles - and none of us could determine which building is ToT & not Morocco! Can anyone else spot ToT??

Those clever imagineers!! I cannot figure out which one it is!

 

[LexiC123]

Great pics, Tara! I love, love, love the F&G Festival, but haven't been in years. Now I'm thinking about how to swing a trip in the spring next year, so we can go.

I feel your pain re: the guy in Teppan Edo. I always feel so bad for CMs that have to deal with people like that, with a smile on their face.

Love the little bits of trivia. Makes touring WDW that much more fun, when you know some of the behind-the-scenes facts and info.

Can't wait for the next segment!

PS - in Photobucket, if you click on "Edit", that will bring you to a page with tabs along the top. If you click on "Distort" and then "Twirl", you can blur faces in your photos.