Mickey’s Hand is in my Pocket w/Pics. Ending Edited in 10/16-#84

[tiggerbell]

DH -

Can't wait to see the "Tornado Map"!

 

[TyRy]

But I have to wonder: is it possible that some, like TyRy, may just love planning as much as than being there?

Ok all my fellow planners, help me with this. It's all part of the experience - we love, no need that planning in our lives. So when we have no trip planned we are missing something!

Now, If I read something from any of those remaining 47 emails and find we didn't cover it the way I would have wanted, I'm gonna be mad!
Then she'll say, "OK, WELL THAT MEANS WE HAVE TO GO BACK! YAY! TIME TO PLAN ANOTHER TRIP!"

OOOO - time to hop on your e-mail and change things I already sent so we have to go back!!!

hehe...next time she'll drive the whole way dare!

Does that mean if I book a trip right now for later that if I drive we're going...consider it booked!! And now that I have my mighty I-Pod, it's 80's hair metal and Abba all the way down!!!!

 

[tiggerbell]

And now that I have my mighty I-Pod, it's 80's hair metal and Abba all the way down!!!!

Ooh!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wanna go!!!!!!!!!!

 

[tiggerbell]

err...for the record, I still have 47 of those emails regarding this trip to read.
(shhh...I told her I read them all. I had about 250 going back over a year, got down to about 75 before the trip, and read 28 our first night there)

That's really, really funny.... but probably also a little true.

Now, If I read something from any of those remaining 47 emails and find we didn't cover it the way I would have wanted, I'm gonna be mad!
Then she'll say, "OK, WELL THAT MEANS WE HAVE TO GO BACK! YAY! TIME TO PLAN ANOTHER TRIP!"

Hate to tell you this, but I am fairly certain she was already planning another trip...

 

[312.Duck]

So we decided that we will do 57-24-65-231-10-75 (thanks SpiceyCat for the absolutely awesome directions.)
.
OK – sounds like traffic, I’ll listen for a minute. DH was starting to snooze when all of the sudden he heard me yell “WHAT?!” Turns out 65 was closed both directions due to a 15 car pileup about 10 miles ahead of us due to weather. Weather? What weather?
.
So off to the gas station we go, and while we are sitting there trying to figure out a way around (had our big AAA map), we start hearing about tornadoes. Ummmm – it’s hurricane season and I don’t recall AL being in tornado alley so what the heck are tornadoes doing here? The reports are coming fast and furious and DH is trying to circle each town where there is a warning and drawing little tornadoes when one is confirmed. He’s also now trying to figure out a way around the storms and I’m starting to panic.

Man, that was INCREDIBLE! That was one of the most exciting parts of the trip. I was starting to get a bit sick, and this took my mind away from it.
That guy on the radio, I want to say it was like 87.9 FM Birmingham or thereabouts, was FANTASTIC. Dave something.
He performed such an exciting play-by-play of the tornado action I felt like I was listening to a 1950's baseball radio broadcast!

I have his name and station on the back of the map I was annotating; I will post such when I check it out later. That man deserves is props. He really gave us a great picture of what was happening, and guided us where and when to go through the state. We actually stayed the course, but followed along as the Tornadoes were heading East, just past our expressway.

Likewise, I will scan the map with my drawings and post them here for all...

OK...I finally have enough posts to post a pic, so here's the TORNADO MAP of Alabama!
I've also clarified that the station in Alabama was 87.7FM WBRC, which is the live broadcast of the FoxNews weather, and the person who was saving our lives with the play-by-play was:
FOX6 Chief Meteorologist DAVID NEAL! (click for his website)

Now here's the map (click to enlarge)...I have a legend on there to explain my scribble.
I noted where we started (Decatur, GA), where the huge crash was (exit 290), my original plan to route around the crash, the exits for alternative routes around the TORNADOES, highlighted alternative routes, towns where funnel clouds were seen, and most importantly, where the Tornadoes actually touched down (I drew little tornadoes for those) -


312.Duck's Tornado Map!

...MORE TO COME! -DH

 

[tiggerbell]

Hi! Trying to get my ducks in a row for our stay at AKL in 40 days...

Your room number was 5018 - was that on the 5th floor? Was it a deluxe room (slightly more sq. ft'age)? Was there a fridge? If so, where was it located? Do you have a picture of it? Could I be more freaked out?

 

[TwinkieMama]

I just found this! I skimmed and I am I can't wait to come back and soak all this up- the planning! the tornado map! DH's defense! I love it.

 

[TyRy]

Hi! Trying to get my ducks in a row for our stay at AKL in 40 days...

Your room number was 5018 - was that on the 5th floor? Was it a deluxe room (slightly more sq. ft'age)? Was there a fridge? If so, where was it located? Do you have a picture of it? Could I be more freaked out?

Let's see - it was on the 5th floor and was a pool view - which we had booked. It was not a deluxe though. When you walked in and took the elevators directly to your right they dropped you off down the hall from our room. We actually had another elevator right across from us and that took us right to the pool. We had windows on one side of the room (in the hall)

so we were only bordered by one room. DH probably remembers more detail than I do about getting to the room since I was always lost

Here's a pic of the beds from the door:

And a view from our balcony:

And this was looking at our room on I think the top floor.

Of course - I have no pics of the fridge - it was right past the door when you walked in. It was just a tiny dorm room type one without a freezer.

Does that help????

 

[TyRy]

I just found this! I skimmed and I am I can't wait to come back and soak all this up- the planning! the tornado map! DH's defense! I love it.

Thanks TwinkieMama!!!

 

[312.Duck]

So we had 4 hours of sleep – it’s Disney who needs sleep???

'Nuff Said - LOL!!!

...we head over to the WL. ..... We pull up
and let the guard know we are checking in – and they handed up a parking pass pre-printed with my name on it- yeah! Then we leave and they say “Welcome Home.” ...........My DH knew he was in trouble and I made him pull up to the guard each time after that to be let in instead of using the bypass with our keys. I just wanted to hear “Welcome Home” – is that so wrong?

Nuts!
As soon as we left the Wilderness Lodge, she went into a funk I thought I'd never break ...she was truly HOMESICK! "Welcome Home, TyRy!"
Thankfully the greatness that is the Animal Kingdom cured her....whew!

It’s about 10:30am – later than I had originally planned on..........I bolt into the Lodge.....
Wait about 10 minutes in line and end up with a great cast member. I think I was only with her about 20 minutes – DH will say is was an hour

Let's count 'em....24 pics, 3 videos (short ones on the camera), I explored every nook and cranny,
I had a good cry at the GREATEST BAR IN DISNEYWORLD (IMHO from all that I've been to...) -

TERRITORY LOUNGE-

...cuz I was just SO happy to be back there!!!

Sooo......I returned to the front...and found her still in the same position:

hahaha...

...but I think he was sleep deprived and could not judge time .

Ladies and gents...does this look like 20 MINUTES?!

HAHA...ain't she great?
I am SO THANKFUL she's as INSANE as she is.
Let me tell you, this chick is well on her way to being a great Disney travel agent (for our price range, of course ) ...

She really did a number, and made a fantastic trip out of this...

...MORE TO COME! -DH

 

[PrincessAlways]

It's a "he said", "she said" report! This is great! I love it!! More please!

 

[312.Duck]

Beware that if you go looking for the Belz outlet, it is now a Prime outlet. Glad you could still see the shadow of Belz or we might not have known where we were. Didn’t find as much good stuff as we did last time, but still managed to get a number of things

"Shadow" is right! Belz (Prime Outlet) has definitely gone "downhill" every year we've gone...not the same vibrant place it once was.
A sign of the times, of sorts: no longer the big spending '90's. Still some good buys there, though.

My time was well spent. While we were about one room too far over for a perfect view of the castle, I could see the top spire, monorail and the Mainstreet Train Station. We also discovered that we could see the fireworks at night.

Agreed, the room and view was sweet...

Great desk area (lots of outlets, cool light!!!)...........................and the coolest headboards!!

And a most gorgeous view of nature, while still getting peeks at monorail, castle, and lake.
Well done, TyRy!

Of course, there was the ceremonial spit test...

just kidding! LOL...


But my favorite part of any hotel room:

...and I was ready to start my vacation, 312.Duck-style!

I will say, though that one of the few negatives -- over time -- was the whistling of the darn boats every morning!
At first they were so endearing..."we're here!"
But after about four days, on those early mornings -- after big nights out for drinks & dinner -- I started to tire of the constant wailing of those boat whistles...



Next up...I need to diagram the 312.Duck paths in and out of the Wilderness Lodge for those far back on the West wing!

...MORE TO COME! -DH

 

[312.Duck]

Day one at Parks: Epcot
...well, I'll let her talk, and just add my 2¢!
(I will say it was nice to have water back in the lagoons, etc., as in 2004
they were all empty due to hurricane clean up efforts.)

HERE'S how it started:

You can't see her, but I can guarantee there's a mean look on her face since she
a) is waiting in line, impatiently...and
b) I made her "late."
________________________________________________________________

Day one at Parks: Epcot
I should say the original plan, the newer plan went something like, "what do
you mean we have to leave to watch the Bears game – we are on vacation!"
Yep – first road block, now we have to leave the park for hours to go watch football.

...and I'm thinking, "she can't be serious!"
This is Da Bears we're talking about here, folks, DA BEARS!
WHAT CAN POSSIBLY BE OF GREATER IMPORTANCE IN LIFE?!?!?
IS SHE NUTS? HOW COULD SHE NOT HAVE PLANNED FOR THIS!?

Ah hem. Compromise.
There's no better place to watch The Beloved than at Disney.

Well – this is where I learned EARLY means two very
different things. To me it meant before a park opened. To DH it meant
whenever he woke up – as he pointed out, he is on vacation. Again, I remind
him we are at WDW and this is a different type of vacation!

See, I've always agreed we could get soooo much more done on a Disney vacation without the p's (parents, DP's?), as they wouldn't "slow us down," so to speak. And that's still true.
But I never agreed to be up at the crack o' dawn, SSS, eat, and be going full force all day! I meant that at our own "leisurely pace," we'd still double the number of attractions.

Official DISclaimer:
Hey man, I tried, but I'm outta shape, don't sleep well, was dealing with a
gastrointestinal problem, had clothing issues, the dog ate my homework, etc., etc.!

Well we had seen the entrance to Epcot while we were driving around the day
before and noted that it was only about 5 minutes away. Somehow that 5
minutes turned into almost thirty as we just kept missing it.

LOLOLOL!!! I forgot about that! Poor me! I was lost without my Dad's "Disney Map."
I'm not the most cognizant person at DW...I see everything, but I'm too busy taking it in to pay attention to where I'm at (short of getting in an accident).

I think she needs to be driving and I direct!

The game had already started while we were eating, and I’ll give DH credit
here – he did not panic. Not even when I saw Belle and Aurora right outside
and insisted I needed pictures with them.

That's who they are?? OK...now I know.
They were in what, Roadrunner and Tom 'n Jerry, right?
I always get my movie characaters mixed up (wrong).

Finally arrived at ESPN and it was jammed.

Yeah, with Steelers and Bengals fans (they were playing each other). bleh!
Like, who cares about them! The Steelers won the Super Bowl last year, big deal!
Anyone not paying attention to DA BEARS is a heretic!

After that went to Figment for the first time – it was cute and glad we
finally went on it. We then tried forever to make the postcards you can
send and got one after working on it for like 30 minutes.

LOL! Yeah, that was a big waste of a ½ hour!

A little clip art and a computer and a 12 year old could do better.
BLEH!

I should mention that I have SUCKER written on my forehead – I have always bought all the

NO WONDER she misses her bangs so much!


End of Day-

Uh-oh – we have an ADR in just a couple of minutes for Rose and Crown. We’ve eaten there every trip to get an easy way to watch Illuminations. But there was so much more to see in WS since we lost all that time in the afternoon. It was at this point I became a bad Diser – I blew off my ADR.

Ehhh...Rose and Crown is a great place to view the works, esp if you can get a good seat outside,
but the other views around the lake are excellent as well, and not to be missed.
Plus, R&C doesn't seem as good as it used to be, so the food's not as much a part of the attraction anymore (for me, anyway).

312.Duck's attraction....FIRE!

Good Night-

After that it was back to the WL and grabbed dinner at Roaring Fork –
nothing special.

I'll say! I had heard the Counter Service at the "deluxe" resorts was not as
good for what should be obvious reasons, but this was LAME!

Funny thing is, many who seem to be able to afford "Deluxe" seem to need CS every bit as much as those at the moderates!
IT was always packed, as CS is perfect for kids who want their nuggets & fries. Dissapointing, to say the least.

...MORE TO COME! -DH

 

[TyRy]

You can't see her, but I can guarantee there's a mean look on her face since she
a) is waiting in line, impatiently...and
b) I made her "late."

Yep -he made us late and I wanted to get a lot in - he's lucky we somewhat still did!

...and I'm thinking, "she can't be serious!"
This is Da Bears we're talking about here, folks, DA BEARS!
WHAT CAN POSSIBLY BE OF GREATER IMPORTANCE IN LIFE?!?!?
IS SHE NUTS? HOW COULD SHE NOT HAVE PLANNED FOR THIS!?

OK -it was early in the season - like the 3rd game or so - I figured we are on VACATION! And in a place we do not get to very often. Maybe if we had DVC and went a LOT then I would not mind missing a minute by watching a game

Besides - even when I did plan for it the following week - nothing on Sunday afternoon - the game got moved to that night, hence my nice romantic dinner at Narcoossee's with DMIL

 

[tiggerbell]

More!!! I leave for AKL Saturday!!!

 

[Tinkerbell1013]

I'm really enjoying your TR...I leave in 17 days and this is just making me waaay more excited to go!

 

[312.Duck]

"Off" Day - Trail's End, Typhoon Lagoon and MK at Night
(I changed my header to read "Day 03." I didn't skip Day 02. This would just be Day 02 at the parks, but our third day down there...)

We had a 9:30am ADR for Trail’s End and since we had never been to Fort Wilderness, DH was actually up and ready to go today.

haha...

Trail’s End at Fort Wilderness was probably the best breakfast we've had in Disney.
Great selection. No Mickey Waffles, but Pooh Bear waffles!!!
......................

I was soo damn full, I didn't think I could do anything the rest of the
day...thankfully there wasn't too much planned...whew.

I was so full, in fact, I was seeing things...like this apparition-

GHOST OF TYRY

Anyway, the place itself looks soo cool. I defnitely would like to stay there in the
near future. Cool counter service, bar, and the entire joint looks like it's made of
Lincoln Logs!

It was still HOT, so it time for a water park. Off to Typhoon Lagoon – we hadn’t been
there in six years, so it was time to visit again.

UH OH!!!...Our last time there I almost drowned in the wave pool, and the ol' lady tried to finish me off!!!!
Ask her for her side of the story from that episode!

DH did all the slides and tried the “Crush N Gusher” which he proclaimed to be pretty lame. I think with all the hype I’d heard and then told him about, he expected more. Sorry, no pics from here as we didn’t want to leave our camera unattended.

No, she didn't want me to get in trouble taking pics of ... oh, nevermind!
Ask her about the big boys in speedos! hahahaha....!

We had a little time to kill before heading out again, so we took some nice shots around the WL. The birds when you walk from the parking lot:

I joined them birds for a quick fly around the campus...

hehe...

One thing I like about the deluxe resorts are the outside deck areas
where you can look out, read, smoke, whatever...
There was one in the front of the WL I didn't go to for some reason,
and a nice one overlooking the pool area in back (where TyRy posted a pic from)-

I don't have a wide angle lens, so here's my polish version of a wide angle pic
from the deck using Photoshop (I'm part Pole, so there haha...)

----------------------------------------------------------------
Soo...on to the Magic Kingdom.
I've become tired of the boat cruise...it's nice at times,
but I'm impatient and often want to just get to the park so I can get to
having fun.
Hence, my love for the monorail. That and the Air Conditioned ride!
(The same applies for returning from the MK,
when I just want to get back to the hotel (read: bar) and relax there.)
So if it's not a madhouse, the monorail is my choice!
__________________________________
Yay! My favorite welcome sign at DIS...

Looking forward, anxiously.........................................HERE IT COMES!!!!!!!

All right!!!​

I’ve always said just stick me in front of the castle and I’m a
happy person – so true even now.

THE CASTLE CURES ALL!!!

Home!!!

______________________________________________
So our (HER) main focus was the Spectromagic parade.
I went along with it, and to achieve the proper mindset (the happy, gungho DH, not the crabby, tired, or bored one ),
I kept reminding myself that since it was DISNEY, it had to be good. ANd it was. It was GREAT. And I can't find any pics!
I'll have to post some of the video, I guess.
Yes, if you have the chance, even I highly recommend that parade. Those lights are truly impressive.


Good Night-

After Spectro it was back to the castle for Wishes….I asked DH if he wanted to watch from the front or Rose Garden and he said no – he wanted a different view….so that’s what we did. We were on the left hand side on the spoke that leads to Liberty Square.

I LOVE LIBERTY SQUARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
aH hem...sorry 'bout that!

That turned out to be a pretty good spot, but there's nothing really to sit on or lean against.
Some kid hopped the fence and sat on the lawn. Rather than pull him out, his dad hopped it as well and sat there next to him.
Should one be mad about that (if they can do it, everyone can),
or enjoy the fact they got away with it and had a good memory?

I chose the latter...



...MORE TO COME! -DH

 

[TyRy]

UH OH!!!...Our last time there I almost drowned in the wave pool, and the ol' lady tried to finish me off!!!!
Ask her for her side of the story from that episode!

Here's the deal - I love the water, BUT, I do not swim. I swim enough that I passed it in high school but it is not something I like. I HATE going underwater!!!!! I'm the first person in for a volleyball game in a pool or going around the lazy river, but cannot stand to be under water. OK - now that you have the back story.....

We were in the wave pool and DH was in farther than I was. He came back a little and I went in further when I saw him "waving" at me. Well I kept running away from him every time he grabbed me cause I thought he was trying to dunk me. Turns out he was so caught in the pull and out of breath from struggling to get out of it that he was actually just trying to get me to help him get out of it....BUT how was I supposed to know that

I can't remember (I'm sure he'll answer) if it did finally take a lifeguard to come and get him. So now being the good DW, all I do is tease him about it when we get near a wave pool.

No, she didn't want me to get in trouble taking pics of ... oh, nevermind!

Which he did anyway

Ask her about the big boys in speedos! hahahaha....!

All I have to say is I wish I have that much confidence to walk around in a tiny little string bikini - something you know by the way I look I would NEVER do in my "fluffy" state! There were a couple of gentlemen who had the tiniest little Speedos on, who probably should have been wearing a little bit more. We're not talking olympic swimmers here. When your belly covers your Speedo and people have to do a double take to make sure you are not walking around naked, it's time for a little more material. That's JMHO of course.

THE CASTLE CURES ALL!!!

Home!!!

YES IT DOES. In fact, my back is bugging me again, so I might need to go and sit in front of it for a while so I feel better

So our (HER) main focus was the Spectromagic parade.
I went along with it, and to achieve the proper mindset (the happy, gungho DH, not the crabby, tired, or bored one ),
I kept reminding myself that since it was DISNEY, it had to be good. ANd it was. It was GREAT. And I can't find any pics!
I'll have to post some of the video, I guess.
Yes, if you have the chance, even I highly recommend that parade. Those lights are truly impressive.

This is actually high praise from DH as he hates parades. Something I've always known and tried to deal with. Unless we've been trapped by a parade at WDW we've never seen one....this was the first one I actually planned for us to sit and watch. So knowing how he doesn't like parades he should have NEVER questioned me when I insistsed we see this one, as I knew he would like it. Is there an "I told you so, I told you so" icon?

 

[TyRy]

So it’s now a million years after I started this TR and I am determined to finish it. DH wanted to put his “opinion” in on all our days, but has become way to busy to finish his end of that. So instead of waiting, I’m going to go ahead and finish this in the next couple of weeks (I know, I know, famous last words)

So when we last left off, we had finished dinner at CRT and headed out to MNSSHP. I was really looking forward to this as our first one was on Halloween a couple of years ago and it was walk on everything. I figured it was the beginning of October so it would be fly onto everything! HA! Was I wrong.

When we left the castle and headed into Fantasyland we were stopped by a CM saying it was a private party….she did not see our wristbands. We showed them to her and were allowed to carry on. I know that was a big concern last year since they were not corralling everyone into one Land during the changeover, but every CM we saw was stopping and directing people out of the park without wristbands.

So we decide to so the rides in Fantasyland – Ummm NOPE – don’t think so. There were LINES and I mean BIG LINES. Where the heck did they come from? We didn’t even have this on Halloween! On a sold out night!! Well that idea is out the window! Let’s head over to Swiss Family Tree House and see if it’s any better over there. Hopefully the kiddies will all get tired and we can then go on the rides in Fantasyland.

BUT – then I see it – a Cinderella Coach. DH looks at me as if to say “we are NOT waiting in that long line.” I just look at him and plant myself in line No way am I missing a picture by it. So we wait, and wait, and DH points out how many rides we could have gone on, but I’m busy ignoring him cause I want my picture by it. So we make it up to it and here’s a couple of pics:

Ummmmmm – anyone else see more than me in the picture or do my contacts need cleaning! So much for him thinking it was dumb to want a picture in front of it!

We head over and the tree house is not super crowded. Good – plus it allowed us to get some cool shots of the MK all lit up for Halloween.

From there it was just wandering and trying to hit as many rides and find as much candy (ok he wanted the rides – I wanted the candy!) as possible. I don’t know what was with Halloween two years ago, but we never waited for anything, and here we waited for everything. Mind you not the regular standing in line forever lines, but there was still a wait. We made our way over to HM and had to wait (yep did a lot of that during the night) a few turns before we finally got in. When we came out, we see someone taking pics in front of the hearse. DH wants pics there. Go ahead and say it – yep we can be opposites. I get all excited about Cinderella Coach and he gets excited about the HM hearse! So we took a few pics and got a nice one…

And then I think DH was getting to act out his frustration of me dragging him around for the past week and a half

It was then parade time…I wanted to be close so we ran over to find seats along the route and actually got pretty decent ones. If you consider the back of the characters heads good ones…I think my camera must have been off by a couple of seconds!!

Yeah – you actually see Capt. Jack!

MMMMMM – CANDY!

Then it was time for the Halloween version of wishes…this is awesome. Why I have no pics I’ll never know, but I know I have a ton of video. After that it was my mission to find the “secret” candy trail that I had missed when we were there the year before. I was going to get all the “sugar on sugar” (as DH calls it) candy that I could find. Of course we got sidetracked (imagine that) and took a couple more pics outside of Toon Town. Hey – they were Halloween – had to do it!

Then I found my candy trail – YEAH – got lots of goodies!!!!

After hunting for more candy and riding more rides, it was suddenly midnight….boohoo. We started to walk out, but I then stopped on Mainstreet to say goodbye to the castle as we were not scheduled to come back to the MK tomorrow and I just wanted to drink it in one last time. As I said over and over…I LOVE the castle and the MK. So after a couple minutes of moping, I turn around and DH is gone. Not a little gone but GONE!!! He didn’t wait and now that a million people are leaving he’s wandered off. Now I’m no longer sad, I’m ticked. I try his cell a couple of times and get voicemail only – grrrrr. FINE, I’m just going to stand here and stare at the castle then for as long as I want!!!!

About 10 minutes later my phone rings and it is him – he’s back by the train station. So I SLOWLY make my way back there. I was not happy and thought we might be one of those couples you see arguing at the MK. But alas, we both calmed down and even ended up doing more pics by the Mickey ghost in front of the train station.

So it was time to say goodbye to Mickey

And head back to the AKL to sleep a few hours before out last full day at the AKL.

Up next: Who took my DH and replaced him with this guy?????

 

[tiggerbell]

YEAH, YOU'RE BACK!!!

This is exciting - I'm doing my first MNSSHP Sept. 14th!