May 2011: The Year of Surprises! [TR]

[jm106]

Its so cool to read along with you since not only were we in Dis at the same time, we also went to MK arrival day-May 22 and were at the Mickey meet and greet that afternoon

 

[Lidian]

Our first trip we drove all day and didn't go to a park. We checked into the resort, had dinner at the food court and just spent the evening walking around the resort to check it out. But last year we broke the drive down into 2 days... drove most of the way on Saturday and stayed that night in a hotel. Drove the rest of the way to WDW on Sunday morning, checked in and made it to Epcot by 11 or so. Getting the extra half day at Epcot was definitely worth it!

So surprising and unfortunate about the CMs during the parade. That would have made me mad, too!

And thanks for showing the envelopes... your mom did a great job!

I was tickled to hit a park on arrival day. I even planned to take the kids (at least DD if DS clung to DH) if DH wasn't up for it. It's not a must-do for every year. The past two years, it was arrive and go to DTD. Not anymore!

And thanks for the compliment. If I did the, it would have stick figures and the CM would be trying to figure out why I was drawing random things on an envelope, since it definitely wouldn't look like anything Disney.

We had friends who are in the military visit us last spring. We were talking about personal space and they said that many countries don't value personal space like we do. He said they went to one country where they hired pushers to shove everyone into the subway like cattle so the doors could close. He said that there was no such thing as personal space on those trains. I couldn't even imagine!

My step-mother has travelled around the world and she's said the same thing. I'm too claustrophobic to be able to visit countries like that - and do well there. (I'm sure I'd be okay for a visit, but wouldn't thrive.) I get antsy when the bus drivers at Disney pack the buses full.

Its so cool to read along with you since not only were we in Dis at the same time, we also went to MK arrival day-May 22 and were at the Mickey meet and greet that afternoon

If you were doing a TR, I could comment back - and look to see if I wandered into any of your pictures. I don't recall what your schedule was like, so I do wonder if our paths could have crossed at other times.

I'd love to hear what all you did on 5/22.

 

[lbuzz52]

I am on the fence if Ill do a TR. I want to share but my PTR was a bit of a dud in comparison to most,lol. Maybe Ill do it. I just love talking about it and everyone here gets tired of my stories.

You should. My ptr was dud-like too but I'm doing a TR. The way I look at it, it's a great souvenier. Just print it out and add it to a journal or scrapbook. Any comments are just an extra bonus.



my kids were the same way about the pool. I know we don't get to swim much at home, but come on, it's WDW!

I can't believe that CM - she stinks! I'm sorry she changed the mood of the parade. Hopefully you got to see another during the trip

I personally like spectro better. MSEP has the nostalgia factor, but spectro wins. However one after another would definitely take the cake. Add The Halloween Parade and I'd be in heaven.

 

[Lidian]

You should. My ptr was dud-like too but I'm doing a TR. The way I look at it, it's a great souvenier. Just print it out and add it to a journal or scrapbook. Any comments are just an extra bonus.

my kids were the same way about the pool. I know we don't get to swim much at home, but come on, it's WDW!

I can't believe that CM - she stinks! I'm sorry she changed the mood of the parade. Hopefully you got to see another during the trip

I personally like spectro better. MSEP has the nostalgia factor, but spectro wins. However one after another would definitely take the cake. Add The Halloween Parade and I'd be in heaven.

I agree that a PTR/TR is a great souvenir!

Well ... if I responded on the parade status, we'd be getting ahead of my TR.

But yes, that sounds good ... MSEP, Spectro, Halloween, AND Christmas all following each other .... that's my kind of parade.

 

[lovethattink]

You should. My ptr was dud-like too but I'm doing a TR. The way I look at it, it's a great souvenier. Just print it out and add it to a journal or scrapbook. Any comments are just an extra bonus.

I will check out your TR! My first few TRs and PTRs were duds too. I'm doing better now!

 

[Lidian]

After a restless night ... I kept having nightmares that I'd sleep through my whole Disney trip. ... I awoke to my alarm clock buzzing at 6:45AM. Once up, I started getting ready, letting DH and the kids sleep a bit more.

Once everyone was up, dressed, sunscreened, and ready, we made the quick trek to the bus stop. We didn't wait long for a bus, and we practically had it to ourselves. We were feeling that this was a great sign of things to come!

We arrived a little after park opening and went straight for Star Tours FPs. After looking around a bit, I finally asked a CM where to sign up for JTA. He pointed me in the direction and we jogged over ... only to be greeted with one of the longest lines we had seen. We heard someone mention they were putting kids in evening shows, so we knew we'd be turned away if we attempted the line. So we walked back to catch one of the JTA shows on our way to see Muppet*Vision. I did ask the kids if they'd rather chance the line or go tour the park. DD was smart enough to know that waiting in lines just bites.

After the JTA show, we went to Muppet*Vision and was first in the holding room for the next show. We enjoyed the pre-show, as always, and saw in the front row. DH really cracked me up ... the CM announced to pick any seat in the house, but recommended for kids to be in the front. DH insisted we had to sit all the way at the end, fill in all available seats first. Boy, he has been trained well at WDW. I pointed out that we could sit in the middle, and he argued that we had to scoot all the way down. So I went and sat in the middle with the kids. He finally followed me.

When exiting M*V, I saw a very sad sight.

I had been looking forward to the Phineas & Ferb M&G for months, only to find out shortly before arriving that it was being postponed. I was thankful the kids didn't know, or they would have been heartbroken.

After M*V, we browsed the shop. DS got new ears!

I sent our newlywed friends (Ben & his wife) a text since I knew they were visiting DHS this day as well. They had ridden ToT 4 times and RnRC 3 times. I pointed out that there was more to see than just those two attractions. I also asked if they wanted to meet at Backlot Express for lunch. They said they'd love to, so we went on the Backlot Tour while we waited for lunch time to roll around.

I never could get a good picture of the plane.

I love Backlot Tour ... simply because it has one of my favorite movie props. Kudos to those who recognize it. (I was sad that they moved it though.)

After Backlot Tour, we got a text from Ben that they were ready to meet for lunch. We took the maze over to Backlot Express ("Didn't we just come through here?").

I had the Southwest Salad with Chicken. YUM!

DH had the Angus Onion Straw Cheeseburger. He said it was good.

DS had the Meaty Mac. He didn't touch it.

DD had the Chicken Nuggets. She ate it all, then helped me eat my salad, and then helped brother eat his Meaty Mac.

For dessert ... DH and I both had the Darth Vader Chocolate Cupcake! YUMMY!!!

After lunch, we decided to grab our TSM FPs. Guess what. They were all gone. The FP machine was closed. The wait was around 70 minutes, so we decided to check back later. Instead, we grabbed FPs for ToT and RnRC for DD and myself. (I used 2 tickets each kiosk.) But first, we saw a Green Army Man, with no wait. So of course the kids had to go meet him!

We decided to use our Star Tours FPs, so we went that way. Guess who we passed! The newlyweds.

They were on their way for TSM FPs. I told them they were gone, we just came from there and the wait was 70 minutes. So they decided to tag along and ride Star Tours as well (they had FPs).

Let me just say, I was a bit worried with the changes to ST ... but I absolutely LOVE the changes!!!! I won't spoil it for those who haven't seen it yet (send me a PM if you really want details). We agreed that we wanted to ride again, and again, and again, and again!

After unboarding, we browsed the gift shop. The kids had a blast!

On our way out, a family stopped us with an upset little boy. They asked us how DS did on ST and then asked DS some questions. "Did you enjoy it? Would you ride again? Do you think my son will like it?" DS responded with a huge "YEAH!!" "I hope we ride it again!" And DD chimed in that their DS should totally attempt it. The boy seemed to perk up a bit, and I do hope the family got to ride as a family.

We felt the wait times at most attractions were reasonable throughout the first part of the day. And yes, we really did ride ST shortly after lunch. I posted my love for ST2 at 2pm, so that put us riding around 1:15, so about an hour after lunch. We were all fine.

Stay tuned for the next chapter of DHS: Back to back stunt shows: Can we handle it?

 

[PixieMama]

I know I read all about your day at DHS, but all I can remember is:

I want that cupcake!!!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Is your favourite prop the ship from Flight of the Navigator?

I loved the new Star Tours as well!

 

[lovethattink]

I love your son's Kermit ears!! I don't ever remember seeing anyone else wearing them at the parks!

I'm looking forward to riding Star Tours. Can't wait til Anakin gets the ok from the neuro! At the opening ceremony, George Lucas was explaining that each ride is different and there are many sequences. He said unless you ride it a hundred times, you should not have the same sequence!

 

[Lidian]

I know I read all about your day at DHS, but all I can remember is:

I want that cupcake!!!

It was very yummy ... but ... it did have Peanut Butter as well. So if you're not a PB lover, you may need to bypass it.

DD kept stealing the chocolate flakes.

Is your favourite prop the ship from Flight of the Navigator?

I loved the new Star Tours as well!

YUSS!!!! It was one of my favorite movies as a kid, so imagine my excitement the first time I saw the prop. I have more pictures of it back from our 2009 trip.

Where did you land on ST? We landed on Hoth.

I love your son's Kermit ears!! I don't ever remember seeing anyone else wearing them at the parks!

I'm looking forward to riding Star Tours. Can't wait til Anakin gets the ok from the neuro! At the opening ceremony, George Lucas was explaining that each ride is different and there are many sequences. He said unless you ride it a hundred times, you should not have the same sequence!

Thank you! He picked them out himself and insisted on keeping them.

We never saw anyone else either with Kermit Ears all week. All the CMs loved it and gave him extra attention. I ended up wearing them part of the day as well, he wanted his Cars hat back, so in fear of losing them, I tossed the ears on my head.

I can't wait until you can experience ST! It was soo awesome. However, well .. I'll get to that in the next post.

 

[KatMark]

I commented on the Kermit/Mickey ears on Facebook -- I absolutely love them (Mark has to try them on in September; I don't think you read last year's TR, but Mark tries on hats at every single park...it's become a running joke).

I may go to Backlot just to order that cake...it looks so yummy.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

YUSS!!!! It was one of my favorite movies as a kid, so imagine my excitement the first time I saw the prop. I have more pictures of it back from our 2009 trip.

Where did you land on ST? We landed on Hoth.

That my dear, will have to wait for the trip report!

 

[Lidian]

I commented on the Kermit/Mickey ears on Facebook -- I absolutely love them (Mark has to try them on in September; I don't think you read last year's TR, but Mark tries on hats at every single park...it's become a running joke).

I may go to Backlot just to order that cake...it looks so yummy.

Yes, lots of compliments on FB about his new ears!

Can't wait to see Mark in them! That's awesome he tries on hats at every park!! Looking forward to hearing about his hat adventures this year!

It was yummy! I didn't know it was Chocolate PB when I ordered it though, so when I dived it, I got a surprise. It was a nice one though! DH made fun of me for not reading the sign. (I couldn't figure out what was wrong with the chocolate. ) I was kind of shocked that it was available as a dessert option, I had already ordered, but the CM changed my order for me so I could get one as well.

 

[Lidian]

That my dear, will have to wait for the trip report!

FINE! Be that way!!!



Can't wait to hear about your ST adventure! I'll be waiting impatiently though.

 

[PixieMama]

it was very yummy ... But ... It did have peanut butter as well. So if you're not a pb lover, you may need to bypass it. :

now i want it even more!!!

 

[jm106]

If you were doing a TR, I could comment back - and look to see if I wandered into any of your pictures. I don't recall what your schedule was like, so I do wonder if our paths could have crossed at other times.

I'd love to hear what all you did on 5/22.

Ok, Its ON!

You should. My ptr was dud-like too but I'm doing a TR. The way I look at it, it's a great souvenier. Just print it out and add it to a journal or scrapbook. Any comments are just an extra bonus.

.

Great idea. Im going to have to catch up with yours now but with all of the fun to read, I havent gotten anything onto my TR.

 

[Lidian]

now i want it even more!!!

Now I'm wanting another one!

Ok, Its ON!


Great idea. Im going to have to catch up with yours now but with all of the fun to read, I havent gotten anything onto my TR.

I subbed! Not to mention, I got there first! WOOT! Can't wait!

 

[Becc1]

Yay, your TR is well underway! It helped me excape the madness of my car ride home yesterday Love the Kermit ears, I never saw those while we were there, your son has beautiful eyes Can't wait to read more!

 

[Lidian]

Yay, your TR is well underway! It helped me excape the madness of my car ride home yesterday Love the Kermit ears, I never saw those while we were there, your son has beautiful eyes Can't wait to read more!

I'm glad my TR entertained you on the drive home.

Thanks for the compliments! Glad you made it home safely. I'm looking forward to hearing all about your adventures!!!

 

[Lidian]

We left off about halfway through our day at DHS. It's May 23rd and a Monday. Let's see what happens next!

Wow... 37 images! Guess I better delete some emoticons. **sigh**

After our Star Tours adventure landed us on Hoth ... we decided to stop for an ice cream and catch the Disney Junior show.

DD asked if she could video record it, so we let her (since she was fussing about watching the show anyway). The video is mostly of the ceiling and walls and backs of people's heads, but it did keep her occupied so she didn't whine while we were there.

I was a bit sad that the story hadn't been updated when they added the new characters. Why does Minnie have a birthday everyday of the year? I mean, c'mon already. Even DS thought the show was a bit stale, but he loved seeing Captain Hook!

Not long afterwards, DD and I decided to use our FPs for ToT while DH took DS to Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground.

I recall posting to FB that I was in line for ToT and wished I was anywhere but there. I despise ToT. It's the only ride I've ever ridden that terrifies me! I did snap a picture of the picture they took while on the ride - so its horrible quality. I'm front row, far right wearing DS's Kermit ears, DD is next to me in the Minnie shirt:

I was actually surprised by that drop sequence. It wasn't bad. Let's get a bit of the backstory in ... last year, I nearly lost my voice from the screaming. I barely screamed this year. I never went "Wooo!", but I didn't scream much. After it was over, I was a bit perplexed. I asked the guy sitting next to DD, "Is it really over??" He had been laughing at me, and told me I wasn't allowed to hold on (my hands were already white before the elevator doors closed). We must have had an odd sequence, because we only had one big fall, the rest were short - and the whole ride was over quicker than I recalled it from last year. I swear we only dropped 3 times.

On our way back to DH, we came across some street performers! I had been trying to catch them for the past two years (any of them), but had never been in the right place at the right time.

So we got to watch a filming of Romeo & Juliet.

I don't recall who they were, but they were absolutely hilarious! "Romeo" even brought in a bush (a little girl) as a prop, and gave her a line. The little girl was absolutely adorable. (She's in the last picture, standing in the street.) We stayed for their entire performance and then ran over to HISTK playground.

DS was absolutely drenched. lol

As soon as we got inside, DD took off to play. I checked the time and told DH we only had a few minutes before we needed to grab a seat for Lights, Motors, Action show - and we all needed to go potty first. So after finding DD, we went to the bathroom and walked over to LMA. It was already packed. Our legs were already exhausted, and we had to climb all the way to the top!! Eeeek! We had never seen the LMA show before, and wouldn't have been upset if we missed it, but I was about trying new stuff this year, so I did force us up into the nosebleed section. No, really, I kept waiting for our noses to bleed. lol Honestly, I think I was more worried about one of the kids falling than anything else.

After the show started, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that DH had slid to the edge of his seat and was filming the show. I think he got into it. He said he enjoyed it, and I did as well. I read a review from a friend that it was pretty lame and you spent more time watching them setup than anything. (Maybe they changed it since then?) We were entertained the entire time we were there.

The only thing I hated, the trek and the massive mob after the show. I checked the time, and told DH if we hurried, we could make it to the Indy show. So we booked it over to the Indy show and was sat on the far right side (looking towards the stage). When they did the "volunteer" request, I saw DH jumping up out of his seat, waving his arms around. O_O Who is this man and can I keep him? I've tried for years to get DH to show some spirit and try to be selected. I even asked him again earlier that morning. His response is always "NO!" So seeing him jump around, it really made my day. And I was too stunned and caught up to catch a picture of it. Sadly, DH was not picked, she never even looked at our section.

But we did do back to back stunt shows!

After IJ, I checked the clock. It would be pushing it, but I decided to attempt RnRC before dinner. I told DH to be at 50s PTC to check us in, just in case we got held up at RnRC.

So I grabbed DD's hand and we ran across the park to RnRC, showed our FPs, and hopped in line. When they made the announcement to fill in all available space, DD started weaving in and out of people. This got me lots of dirty looks. I pulled DD over to me and calmly told her that not everyone can listen to directions. DD laughed, I smiled, and everyone around me glared. (Well, its not my fault they wanted to stand so scattered about and the CMs are trying to fit as many people as possible into the room.)

We were sat in the first car (second row), so I was able to see the track. I have to admit, it was MORE fun to see the track. I absolutely love RnRC, and the darkness doesn't phase me. But it was awesome to know ahead of time we were going into a loop or whatever - it made me FEEL it more. DD was too short and didn't see the tracks though.

Once we got out, I checked my watch. OY! I had to hurry. Thankfully 50s PTC wasn't too far, but we had to book it, as we were nearing our ADR time.

Once into 50s PTC, I asked if my husband and son had been seated yet. They said they just sat them and to follow them. They took us to an empty table. So I pulled out my phone and called DH. They were in the living room. Wait, there's a living room? I totally missed it being in a rush. A few minutes later, DH and DS showed up. DS was tired and getting cranky. We were all hungry. And I was ready to see someone get punished! (Or at least picked on.)

Let me just say ... I was disappointed in the service at 50s. I was frustrated that the tables nearby were getting the "themed service", but not my area. I picked it specifically FOR the theme. For the record, her name was Judy or Judith, something like that. There was a lot of "hold 2 fingers in the air and say Naughty, Naughty, Naughty" nearby ... but not in my area. Will I go back? Yes, but I will INSIST on a themed server. If I wanted regular service, I would have picked Sci-Fi, its our favorite.

Anyway ... I chose Mom's Pot Roast with a chocolate shake.

DH had Cousin Barry's Olive Oil Poached Salmon and a vanilla shake.

DD had grilled chicken with macaroni marina, green beans, and fruit.

DS had salmon with rice pilaf. They eventually brought out his green beans and yogurt parfait.

As I was taking a pic of DS's food, another server walked by and asked if I seriously took a pic of DS's salmon. I told him that I had. "Don't they have fish where you're from?" "No, sadly they don't." lol So he picked up my camera and took a picture of ...

"I bet they don't have napkins where you're from either! Now you have a pic of one of our napkins."

rofl

This is the kind of server I wanted!

For dessert, I had Dad's Brownie Sundae.

DH had the Apple Pie a la Mode.

When it came to food, I will admit, 50s had DELICIOUS noms! I ate ALL of my pot roast (and not because I felt I had to, since our server could care less). DD cleaned her plate, then helped her brother. She loved their green beans. DH even cleaned his plate. Needless to say, we were stuffed when dessert rolled around - especially with the milk shakes. So mental note for next visit - no milkshakes with dinner - unless its to share! I did dive into my brownie sundae, and it was super good - just wished I could have eaten more. DD ate the popcorn I left behind.

Our original plan was to go to F! after dinner, but we were tired and cranky. We even had FPs for ST that we snagged earlier, but while talking over our meals, we were ready to go back to the room.

After dinner, the kids got their second wind and didn't want to go back to the room. I left it up to DH. I hated to miss F and another round of ST, but I was tired and I didn't want to push him. He voted for using our ST FPs. So off we went. (Yes, we were seriously going to ride a simulator immediately after eating.)

Guess where we landed this time!


Hoth. Again. It was 100% exactly the same as before, the only exception was the spoiler surprise. (Tink, did you see this? 100%! So much for that 100 times riding comment the devs made. lol)

After ST, DH was regretting we rode just a bit. He was fine, but commented he wished we skipped it. I got a text from Ben that they were seated for F! and still plenty of seating left. I asked DH if he would care to go watch it since we were still here.

When we arrived, they were sending people to Hades (I forgot it was a character, and thought the CM was being "cute", I chuckled over the thought.) I saw later, that the seating was divided into sections, one of them being Hades. However, by the time we got to Hades, it was completely full. We ended up in Beast section. We were roughly 7 rows from the front, and we were the first family in the row. I snapped this with my iPhone and uploaded it to FB.

That first section was full by the time I got it uploaded. I'm not sure if it went SRO or not, but I'm guessing so. The pic was taken roughly 15 minutes before 9pm. I confess, I absolutely LOVED Fantasmic! Granted, it was painful to get in and out of the theater, but it was a wonderful show, and I really do hope to see it again!!

Once we were finally FREE! We headed for the bus stop. We were exhausted and cranky, and our legs were just plum sore. Not to mention ... I was getting my first ever Disney blisters. Not just one ... but FOUR. FOUR blisters!

Okay, last year, I wore flip flops most of the time, without an issue. I had issues with my Nike ones, but it never caused blisters, and I only wore them once when I switched to my cheap WM brand ones - and no issues.

Same flip flops, and now I have 4 blisters. I don't get it. But oh well. Thank goodness for moleskin!

While we were standing in line for a bus, I was attacked by a bug. I had just pulled my glasses up to the top of my head to rub my eyes when a bug flew right into my right eye. I'm not sure if it stung me or bit me or what ... but it was such incredible pain. I knew it was a bug, and I was trying to remain calm (because if one person panics, everyone else follows suit) ... and I grabbed DH's arm and told him to get the bug out of my eye NOW. He didn't even look at me and said he didn't see anything. So I'm standing there trying to remain calm, not kill him for not helping me, and try to get this bug that's nesting in my eye out.

I did finally get the bug out, showed it to DH and he was like "huh, guess you did have a bug in your eye". Really? At this point, I'm crying, but trying to keep it quiet. We ended up boarding the 2nd CSR bus that arrived that night. My eye was in such incredible pain still. Once we get back to the room, I was trying to post to FB and check emails, but I realized, we got no service inside our room. It was fine if we stood in the doorway, or outside on the walkway, but nothing in the room. Did anyone else have issues with reception in the room? (Data reception - as we had 2 bars for phone calls.)

I was miffed at DH for not helping me, I mean, yes, it was pretty dark, but he could have at least TRIED. I just wanted to go to bed. I did not set an alarm for the next morning, as it was our "free day" and we were going to sleep in.

Overall, I don't feel like we accomplished everything at DHS we wanted to. We missed some shows I really wanted to see ... We did make it to the Animation Studio after Disney Junior, but the wait for the drawing class was 40 minutes - at least.

I did have a nice interaction with the guy outside of the Animation studio. I was trying to find the drawing class, so I walked up to him with my map and said I was lost. He looked at me, looked around, looked back at me, and said, "FOUND YOU! Now you're not lost anymore." I chuckled and then had to rephrase that I was looking for the drawing class, but didn't know where it was. So he gave me directions. We glanced around, and there were characters out, but the lines were so long, we didn't attempt. We ended up leaving. I did have a CM approach me about my Muppet shirt and he talked for awhile with us.

So overall, I thought it FELT more crowded than my past years, but the lines were mostly manageable - with the exception of TSM. Once the FPs for Star Tours was gone, the line shot up to 50 minutes. I do recall the overwhelming number of rude people ... but that's not really new. It just seems the number keeps growing.

We missed TSM, the parade, B&tB Live, American Idol (skipped on purpose), Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Disney Channel Rocks.

OH yeah, at some point, we did ride The Great Movie Ride. But I don't recall when ... Our tour guide ... I have mixed feelings about his performance. He was very monotone, except when he was talking about himself. It was almost like everything was boring but him. Maybe that was intentional, but don't recall it from previous years.

That concludes Day 1, DHS: Monday, May 23rd.

Stay tuned for the next installment: You know its a lazy day when ...