Marcia takes her family to POP for a week in Aug, pics! updated 11/6, day 7, pg 8

[jmskinner]

Great update. I have a lot of pics DH ruined by jumping in the way, but it is never just the corner, normally his head and nothing else.

Ok, I have to try that Green Apple Margarita, I love the Fiesta ones.

I have never been to any of the clubs at DTD. Always have the kiddo with us. Guess we never will.

Why don't they have buses from the parks to DTD? It makes no sense.

 

[marsh0013]

Day 5, Sun Aug 17

So this was an off day for us. Pre-planned. And I was kicking and screaming! Haha. I don't like taking off, I know I'm a horrible person, but I didn't really want to go visit my grandfather. I wanted park time. Oh well. I was over-ruled by the rest of the fam. So I had arranged for a rental car from the Dolphin. And I had arranged an ADR for 50's Prime Time Cafe for 9:15pm. That was really all we had set in stone.

Anyway, that morning, we slept in. Well, the boys and I did anyway. My mom got up and went to church. She took a cab both ways. Once she got back, we all got ourselves ready to go and were on a bus to MGM, where we arrived at 11:50am. I figured, since we were stopping there anyway, we may as well go in and grab some FP's to use later. Of course, Toy Story Mania was out, so I got us 4 for Tower of Terror. That would mean 2 rides for me and Chris later, and we'd rely on the single rider line at Rock'n'Roller Coaster.

So we took the boat over to the Swolphin, and went into the Dolphin to pick up the car. It was easy peasy. So we headed to my Grandfather's in St. Cloud. We had "dinner" at around 4:30pm. Then we dropped him at his house, and headed back to WDW. We dropped the car off at the Dolphin at 6:30pm, we were on a boat at 6:45, and arrived back at MGM at 7pm. Well, 3 of us anyway. Stephen stayed back cause he was having tummy issues. Normally, I wouldn't tell you this, but it comes into play later. Now, originally, I thought about heading to Epcot instead because I wanted to catch Off Kilter. But I decided to go with the rest of them to MGM. And I would later regret that decision! You will see....

So we're at MGM. I stopped by the Tune In Lounge to let David know we would be back later. And while I was walking out, who was walking in but Cindy...the CM who had taken me on Toy Story Mania during the CM preview in May! Small world!

So then I took my mom and Chris's tix (and mine) and got us 3 FastPasses for Star Tours to use later. It was okay that we only had 3, since my mom didn't want to go on anyway. Then we went over to use 2 of our FP for ToT that I had gotten earlier in the day. There ended up being no line, so we wouldn't have needed them anyway, oh well! Ah, here's a pic

And here's our redneck shot, it's blurry, I'm in the neon (lime!) green

At this point, we were wondering where Stephen was, so we called him. Found out he had already come into the park and had decided to go on the single rider line at Toy Story Mania. And he was almost at the front. So the other three of us decided that since he said it was a short wait, we'd go and do it too. But when we got there, the line was really long for singles, so we decided just to wait for him. Now, I got a little peeved that Stephen didn't tell us right away that the singles line was short. But oh well. So I was jealous that he got to go on again.

Then the boys and I wanted to use our FP's for Star Tours. Well, we got there, and they had the FP line closed. So that was a waste. Oh well, not gonna complain about no lines!

Next up, we decided to try out the single rider line for RnR. It was actually a pretty long wait. Like, 30 minutes or something. For the singles line. I wasn't thrilled, but it wasn't too bad, since we met a really nice girl from Germany who was riding alone as well. She told us about her trip, how she was there for three weeks! Wow, that was pretty awesome! She was really sweet. My mom and I ended up on the same train, and we got "Sweet Emotion", while the boys ended up after us, and got "Dude Looks Like a Lady". Here are our shots!

Since the wait was so long for the RnR, we actually got to the 50's just in time for our ADR. Or a couple minutes late. Yeah, my notes say we got there at 9:20 and our ADR was for 9:15. But they weren't busy, so it wasn't a problem. Look how empty it was!

Our waitress was Memory, and she was nice enough. But there really wasn't any shenanigans. Oh well. We had drinks, we had appys, then we peaced out to the bar and hung out with David. Oh here's a family shot of us at the table before heading to the bar

So my mom and I went and spent what we thought was our last time with David. He wasn't in any rush to get us out, but we left not too long after, because they needed to close up for the night. Here's me on the way out

And the moon over the trees

Not sure what time we headed out, but it wasn't too late. We were sad to say goodbye to David, but our plans didn't put us back in MGM for the rest of our trip. I told him I probably wouldn't see him till the new year, so that was a bummer. (I have since booked a trip for Nov...he doesn't know though!). So we went back to Pop and sent ourselves to bed. We had an MK morning (not EMH though!) ahead of us!

I'm really sorry this installment is so light on pictures. It was a pretty empty/off day.

next up: morning in MK

 

[jmskinner]

Uh oh, stomach problems. Never good, especially on vacation.

Can't believe 50's Primtime was so empty. Love the food there and the atmosphere, but the atmosphere is it being so packed and loud with people carrying on.

 

[Figment's Friend]

TIME AWAY FROM DISNEY No, I'm just kidding, it sounded like a fun day. I can't believe how empty 50's Prime Time was in August! Glad you're going in November, it'll give me another something to read before I leave for the World on November 30th! (In other words, you better write another TR!)

 

[Cinderelly5507]

I've been lurking on your TR, but I just had to come out and tell you I love it! You guys seem like a fun bunch! Love all the ride pics

 

[2xcited2sleep]

You booked another trip for November?!?!

 

[Nancy for Disney]

Nice update. I like your redneck photos. We never quite got the hang of those on our trip.

 

[marsh0013]

Great update. I have a lot of pics DH ruined by jumping in the way, but it is never just the corner, normally his head and nothing else.

Ok, I have to try that Green Apple Margarita, I love the Fiesta ones.

I have never been to any of the clubs at DTD. Always have the kiddo with us. Guess we never will.

Why don't they have buses from the parks to DTD? It makes no sense.

haha, that's too funny! close up head shots, awesome. and yeah, i know the no buses from parks to DTD thing is so people don't park at DTD and just use the buses to save on parking costs. ah well.

Uh oh, stomach problems. Never good, especially on vacation.

Can't believe 50's Primtime was so empty. Love the food there and the atmosphere, but the atmosphere is it being so packed and loud with people carrying on.

i know, that atmosphere is what makes the place! guess i know better than to have such a late ADR.

TIME AWAY FROM DISNEY No, I'm just kidding, it sounded like a fun day. I can't believe how empty 50's Prime Time was in August! Glad you're going in November, it'll give me another something to read before I leave for the World on November 30th! (In other words, you better write another TR!)

i know, really, it was a sacrifice on my part! and no worries, i will surely write another trippie!

I've been lurking on your TR, but I just had to come out and tell you I love it! You guys seem like a fun bunch! Love all the ride pics

aw thanks so much for coming out of lurk-dom! welcome!

You booked another trip for November?!?!

yup yup! nov 11-19! gotta hit MVMCP, love it!

Nice update. I like your redneck photos. We never quite got the hang of those on our trip.

thanks so much!

 

[marsh0013]

Day 6, Mon Aug 18, Part 1

This was a Magic Kingdom morning, and I was so excited for it! Plus, it wasn't an EMH, so we got a bit of extra sleep. Sweet! We were on a bus at 8:10, and arrived at the MK by 8:30. I took charge of the tickets, and was right at the front for rope drop. Here's a coupe shots I took while waiting to get in

And pixie dust!

Our mission for today was to get Chris on Splash Mountain as many times as possible. And to get Belle pics for Stephen. Sooo, we all headed to Frontierland. I sent mom and Chris ahead, while Stephen and I went for the FastPasses. Since mom and Chris busted such a move, they were the first ones on the ride of the day! They got front row, they were so excited!

Here's me and Stephen when we got on

And Chris and mom got right back on line, since that was the mission

After that, it was about 9:30, and we decided to split up. Mom and Chris went to ride Big Thunder while Stephen and I headed over to Toon Town. Because we were going to meet the princesses! I know that Toon Town often opens early, so we got there with time to spare.

And as expected, the characters came around 9:45 and they let us in. Here they come!

And here we go, on our way to the judge's tent!

And here they come up the line!

Well, glad I got those pics, because we were on the other line. The princess line. And we crossed our fingers that Belle would be there for Stephen. Because when I had been there in May, there had only been Aurora and Cinderella. But we were in luck, she was there!

First up, we met Aurora

Then Cinderella

And then the star of the show, Belle! Stephen was enamored. I asked her if she'd kiss him on the cheek, but she said she saves her kisses for her Beast. Oh well!

After our time with the Princesses, we went to meet mom and Chris at the Main Street Bakery for breakfast. Yum Yum! I must have taken the path over to Tomorrowland and grabbed us FP for Space on the way to breakfast, though.

Next up, we had to go see Philharmagic, since Chris hadn't seen it yet. On the way, I got a picture of the Castle. Empty park much?

My friend James loves the Genie, so I got this picture for him of a poster on the wall

We gave my mom the camera, and she took this

Yes, she cut off Stephen's head. I looked at it and saw that, so had her take another. They still made funny faces, cuz that's what they do!

After our journey through the movies, we headed over to Tomorrowland and grabbed another set of FP for Space. Right, so now we had 4 FP's for Splash, and 2 sets of 4 for Space. I know some people have asked how I hold so many FP's at the same time, well, here ya go!

We decided to take a load off and ride the Tomorrowland Transit Authority. I do love this ride, even though it's slow. It's just nice to zoom around the whole land and just relax. Good times! Once we got off the TTA, we used one of our sets of FP's for Space. Then we went and grabbed a set of FP for Peter Pan, then went and used our second set of FP for Space. Yeah, our windows were really short this day! Thank you TGM, for your green park rating. Perfect.

Once we were done in Tomorrowland, it was about time to head over to the Plaza for our 12:25 ADR. We got there at about 12:15, and were seated a few minutes later. Twas a nice and relaxing lunch. We all enjoyed it.

Since we were still holding 4 FP for Splash, plus the 4 for Peter Pan, the boys decided to stay and use them, while my mom and I headed back to Pop for a break. So Chris got to go on Splash a total of 4 times this day, so he was pleased. Mom and I were at the bus stop by 1:20, and I was napping away by 2pm.

next up: Fay makes her presence known, my wet afternoon in Epcot, dinner @ Fulton's

 

[Figment's Friend]

Ugh, sorry it took me so long to reply! Love that handful of pixie dust for a great park opening! I hope Fay didn't end up making everything too wet on your vacation, looking forward to more!

 

[englishrose47]

All caught up Marsh !! I am planning to go on TSM as many times as possible in May!!

 

[marsh0013]

wow...so it's been a month since i updated this....i'm so so sorry! i doubt anyone still cares, but i'm going to finish this, i promise! day 6, part 2, coming up soooooon....

 

[marsh0013]

Day 6, Mon Aug 18, Part 2

Alrighty, so when I left you a month ago, I was just about to take a nap. And that I did, from 2 til 3:15pm. Here's a pic I took on the way back to the room...very similar to one I took on the way to the room in May!

Anyway, so my mom decided she wanted to stay at the hotel, and she would meet me later. But I wanted to hit up Epcot! So I got on the bus and was dropped off at 3:45pm....aaaaaand it was pouring!! So I donned my poncho, and off I went. Fay was not going to stop me! No way, no how!

So I was planning on hitting up World Showcase, first stop, Miyuki. Well, I got there after she started her show, so it was pretty crowded, so I figured I'd catch her later. What's a girl to do? How about get a cocktail? Yes, that sounds about right . So I went to Italy and got an Italian Margarita.

Then I really didn't have anything to do till the fake Beatles at 4:30, so I took my time walking around Italy and Germany taking pics. Here's the big golf ball from across the lake

Here's some of Italy (notice the wet ground...it had stopped raining though)

Germany

oh look, I stopped in Japan too!

Then it was time to catch the British Invasion at 4:30. They played She Loves You, I Feel Fine, Roll over Beethoven, All My Lovin, Please Please Me, I Wanna Hold Your Hand, and When I Saw Her Standing There. They were great, as usual.

Then it was Miyuki time!!! I love seeing Miyuki, and I was lucky enough last November to get picked to get a candy. This time, I got there early enough for the 5:05 show that I was in prime candy location. She made 3 candies (Pegasus, Dragon, and Flying Cow)...and then...she picked me!!! I got a Frog. Woo Hoo!

After I was given my prize, I moved out of the way so other people could see better. She made one more after mine, a Seahorse. I went to go see Off Kilter, but apparently I don't know how to read a schedule. Cuz they weren't playing.

So I headed back to grab a FP for Mission: Space, then rode Test Track single rider twice. Crash Test Dummy!

Then I used my M:S FP. I wanted to his the British Invasion again at 7pm, and my mom told me she was on her way over, so that's where we decided to meet. I was hoping she would get there early enough to grab us a couple cocktails from France first, but she was running later than me....so I went to France and got her a wine, and me a Grey Goose Slushie of course!

Made it back to the UK *just* in time for the show to start, but where was my mom? Still running (yes, she actually ran) from the front of the park. Haha, she arrived all out of breath, but caught it pretty quick when I handed over her wine. Cocktails cure all

The 7pm show was a Sgt Pepper's Show, and I was so excited! They played Sgt Pepper, Little Help from my Friends, Lucy in the Sky, When I'm 64, Strawberry Fields, Penny Lane, and All You Need is Love. Fantastic! And they were all dressed up too.

After that, we had to make our way out of the park, since we had dinner ressies at Fulton's. So we walked over to the Boardwalk and caught a bus at 7:50 to DTD. We arrived shortly later, and met the boys at the restaurant. Checked in and were seated at a gorgeous window seat upstairs.

We had an amazing dinner, you can read about it in my dining report. Here's a family shot

Once we were done, we kinda wandered around DTD a bit. We went to the gift shop of Raglan Road. I don't think anybody bought anything. We headed for the bus stop, and headed back to the hotel around 10:15pm.

We were in bed shortly after, to ready ourselves for an early morning at Epcot for mom's birthday!


next up: mom's bday, EMH at Epcot

 

[donaldtutter]

Welcome back!!

 

[englishrose47]

Great Update as usual Marcia !!

 

[jmskinner]

Your back!

I feel really stupid right now. I didn't realize they had Italian Margarita's at Epcot. So next trip, I want to try the Grey Goose Slushie, the Italian Maragarita, and my favorite the Fiesta Margarita. I may end up being one of those people passed out at Epcot.

Wow, that was a great table at Fulton's. I need to try it sometime.

Glad your back and look forward to the next installment!

 

[SunnieRN]

Woo hoo! An update!! Looking forward to more! Your family looks like they are having a great time and you are definately the fast pass queen!

 

[Figment's Friend]

It's been awhile, Marsh! I didn't realize the British Invasion did a Sgt. Pepper-set! I'm definitely going to remember this for my December trip and see 'em!

 

[marsh0013]

Welcome back!!

thanks! good to be back!

Great Update as usual Marcia !!

thank you!

Your back!

I feel really stupid right now. I didn't realize they had Italian Margarita's at Epcot. So next trip, I want to try the Grey Goose Slushie, the Italian Maragarita, and my favorite the Fiesta Margarita. I may end up being one of those people passed out at Epcot.

Wow, that was a great table at Fulton's. I need to try it sometime.

Glad your back and look forward to the next installment!

oh yes, you definitely need to try all of those, plus a few others!! no wonder i spend so many different days at epcot! LOL!

Woo hoo! An update!! Looking forward to more! Your family looks like they are having a great time and you are definately the fast pass queen!

thanks so much! we really had a blast, and i do pride myself on working the FP for sure!

It's been awhile, Marsh! I didn't realize the British Invasion did a Sgt. Pepper-set! I'm definitely going to remember this for my December trip and see 'em!

oh yes they do, and it was so awesome! i mean, i'm a big beatles fan, so i may be biased, but i really enjoy them!

 

[marsh0013]

Day 7, Tues Aug 19, Part 1

So today was to be a special day....it was my mom's real birthday!!! And it just worked out perfectly that we were headed to Epcot this morning, to *finally* ride Soarin', as it's one of mom's favorites. I mean, we had spent a few afternoons in Epcot already, but this was our first rope drop, and our first chance to ride Soarin, since you know, we don't wait on lines! Haha!

So it was EMH morning, and we were on the bus to Epcot at 7:15am. And it was raining. Not like, bad rain, but enough. Enough to scare the crowds away! I absolutely could not believe it! You've heard of the Soarin stampede? Yeah....check this out....

That's right. I took that picture on the way to the Land...do you see anyone around me??? I should have turned around and taken a picture of those behind me....or should I say, those NOT behind me. I was absolutely amazed! I was easily the first one to the FP machines, where I got our set, and then we walked right on...and sat front and center! Perfect! Happy Birthday Mom! She was in heaven.

Since it was only about 8:15 at this point, we decided to stop for some breakfast, since we had lunch planned for 12:30. We ate at Seasons. It was good stuff.

After we finished our food, we decided we may as well ride Living with the Land to kill the time to our FP window. So we rode. Here's some shots.

Pretty sunflowers

I love these guys!

Well, as we were pulling up to the "dock", I spotted them...the Dream Team...standing there with big black bags. I told my fam, dude! We're totally about to get dreamed!!!! But alas, we walked off and they just smiled at us. Apparently, we were a minute too soon. Because the next boat got Dream Ears. Oh well, no biggie. I've gotten ears before, so I wasn't too disappointed. I probably wouldn't have even minded if it was FastPasses, since the park was so empty anyway. Just would have been nice to win! My mom hasn't won on her 2 trips. Oh well, like I said, we didn't dwell on it.

What did we do? Well, we went right back over to Soarin to secure another set of FP, since our window was up. Then we went right back on with our FP from rope drop. And we got to sit in the front again. I'll take that luck any day!

After that, we figured we may as well head to the other side of the park and try Test Track single rider line. Well, we got there, and the single rider line was huge! What's that all about? Oh well. We ended up getting FP for Mission: Space, since Chris still wanted to ride it and he hadn't yet. Then we went to check out Space Ship Earth, and lo and behold, it was only a five minute line. Perfect! Somehow, I managed to get no pictures of our screens.

At this point, my brothers went off to rent wheelchairs. I need to stop here and just vent. I was not pleased. I made sure they knew it. They weren't doing it to get on rides quicker (wouldn't have worked even if that was their intention, I know). They said their legs were tired, and they wanted to work their arms. Really? I thought they were being stupid. Anyway...

Once they got their chairs, they stopped to get some photopass pics. Yeah, I forgot that I have our Photopass Pics now, I'll include them from now on. Would you expect anything less from these two???

Then they went and did some golf ball pics

While they were on their chair mission, my mom and I went to use 2 of our FP for Soarin. We sat in the front, but I think this time we had to wait for it. But we don't mind. That extra 6 minutes is so worth it to not have feet in your view! Then we stopped back over at Seasons to get my mom her free birthday chocolate chip cookie! She shared a bite with me, which I enjoyed thoroughly!

We met back up with the boys, so that Chris and I could use our FP for Mission: Space. Once we were done cruising to Mars, we met back up with Mom and Stephen, and made our way over to World Showcase, because we were having lunch in France! My mom was very excited about this lunch, she specifically asked for it. On the way, Stephen was nice enough to push my mom in his chair, since she said she was tired. Nice.

We had a lovely lunch in France, then we split up again. The boys went off in search of Germany. And beer. German beer. Okay boys, just make sure you meet us for dinner! It is mom's birthday, you know!

Anyway, mom and I stopped off in Morocco to get a Tangeriene Coctail. This thing is yummy! Er, have I found a drink yet that I didn't find yummy??? Not sure, lemme get back to you on that one! Oh, and you get to keep the plastic "glass" it comes in.

So we had a bunch of Soarin FP from earlier. I'm not even sure how many at this point...definitely 2 left over from the last time when the boys were getting their chairs, and another 4 that we got after that one? Oh I don't even know! Yeah, I know. That's pretty crazy. We got to the land around 2pm And I'm pretty sure we only rode one more time, at least that's all I have written down. Maybe we gave the others away. That's what we did whenever we had extras, so yeah, probably. Anyway, this time we waited for the front again. Good times!

I'm pretty sure this day, I didn't plan in a break, since our afternoon was to be spent at AK, and it was only open til 7, so a break wouldn't have made sense. It was still raining at this point, but we were not discouraged! We made our way to the International Gateway, to walk over to the Boardwalk to catch a bus to Animal Kingdom from there. And I'll tell you about how awesome it was next time!

next up: rain rain, don't go away! wonderful afternoon in AK!