Mike & Missy's Grand Adventure! 9/5/09 DCL Western & WDW TR w/ pics! COMPLETE!

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Love the character photos!

 

[UGAFan0829]

As we made our way over to lunch, we passed this, which I thought was a really cool way to do some advertising...

After a short walk, we had arrived at Sci-Fi and were ready to see what the place was all about.

We were a few minutes early, but went ahead and checked in since they always request that you be early anyway. There were a good amount of people waiting to be seated, and a ton that were turned away who didn't have an ADR. After a few minutes, we were finally taken to our car. There was a family already seated in the front part of the car, so we got the back. We ordered, and as we waited, I took a couple pics of our surroundings.

Soon after, our food finally arrived. Both of us ended up choosing the Cheeseburger and fries, which were just okay in our opinions. Definitely nothing to write home about.

For dessert, Mike went with the Apple Crumble, and I chose the Hot Fudge Sundae. Both were pretty good.

Before we left, we asked our waitress if she would take a pic of us in the car, which turned out pretty good.

All in all, I have to say that we were a little disappointed with the whole experience. Sci-Fi really isn't mine or Mike's thing, so that didn't do anything to help. Our waitress was okay, but was less than pleasant and a little slow. And to top it off the food was just okay. Again, I think I had set a certain standard after reading all the positve reviews, and for us it just didn't live up. It certainly wasn't a terrible experience by any means, but it's not somewhere that we'll be trying again anytime soon. We'd pick 50's Prime Time over it any day.

With lunch over, we decided to head back over to TSM and use our Fastpass before we went back to Animation Academy to wait for a drawing class, but not before we made a quick stop at Rock N Roller Coaster to pick up a Fastpass. We then zoomed back over to TSM, and I snapped a couple more pics that I missed before as we breezed through the line...

And once again, I got skunked...

I really need to go buy the Wii game so I can get some practice in!!

After leaving TSM, we headed over to Animation Academy to find that we were just in time for the next class.

I've never been able to draw at all-but I love doing this class. Today, we were drawing Dale, which was a bit harder than I'd thought. I snapped this quick pic of Mike hard at work...

Here is what the instructor's work looked like as it was progressing:

Here's how Mike's turned out:

And finally, mine--

I thought Mike's turned out much better than mine, with the exception of the dark teeth. We got quite a laugh out of that!!

 

[scottishwee35]

wow these photos look so cool....

Scottishwee35

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I think both of your drawings turned out nicely.

 

[Jennifer48]

I'm sorry to hear that you didn't have the best experience at Sci-Fi. At least you tried it though right?!

I think your drawings are fabulous

 

[UGAFan0829]

wow these photos look so cool....

Scottishwee35

Thank you!!

I think both of your drawings turned out nicely.

Thanks, Leesa! They weren't as bad as they could have been, I guess!

I'm sorry to hear that you didn't have the best experience at Sci-Fi. At least you tried it though right?!

I think your drawings are fabulous

Yes, I am glad that we tried Sci-Fi...it was the only way to know whether we'd like it or not. I dunno...we may give it another chance again in the future...who knows!

 

[UGAFan0829]

When I last left off, we had just finished our class at Animation Academy! And it was time to go use our Rock N' Roller Coaster FP's, so that's where we headed! For some reason, our redneck ride photo is the only pic I have from this ride...

After RNR, we decided to head over to one of favorite rides in all of Disney...Tower of Terror!
On our way over, we stopped to have a couple PhotoPass pics made...

Even though the wait was only 20 minutes, we decided to go ahead and use the Fastpass that we'd been given that morning.

I LOVE this ride. Even though we've been on it several times before, we still get a little nervous! It's so much fun though. So of course, I had to take another RRP:

I was holding on to Mike for dear life while laughing my head off:

We love the ride so much that once wasn't enough. So, since the stand-by line was still only 20 minutes, we decided to go for it again. And here is our last RRP of the day:

At this point, we'd pretty much ridden what we wanted, and seen what we wanted, with one exception. I thought it would be cool to check out the new American Idol attraction. I'm not a huge fan of the show, but I do like to watch the auditions at the beginning of each season as they are usually pretty hilarious! The next show was starting at 4, and we still had a few minutes to kill, so we decided to check out a few shops. While we didn't find anything, we did manage to kill just enough time, so we headed on over to the AI theater.

As we were waiting, they had "camera crews" out in the audience taping clips for the show we were about to see. They went to several crowds and asked them to scream and yell for a certain contestant. It made the wait go by faster and was fun to watch. After just a few minutes, we made our way inside. I didn't take any picture of the contestants--I thought it was weird to take pics of someone I really didn't know, so I just snapped a couple shots of the stage...

It turned out to be a really good show, and I was glad that we took the time to see it. The girl who got picked from our round was absolutely AMAZING. I can't remember where she was from, but she blew the other contestants out of the water. She was so good that she got a standing ovation after her performance.

After AI, we decided to head back over to Pixar Place to see what the wait was like for the Toy Story characters. I'd been wanting to see them, but the wait was insane when we were ridining Toy Story Mania.

On the way over, we noticed that Mike and Sully from Monsters, Inc. were out, and the line was pretty short. So, we paid them a quick visit:

They are too stinkin' cute.

We then made our way to our final destination over to Al's Toy Barn. Thankfully, the wait wasn't nearly as bad as it had been, so we jumped in line. I usually don't feel weird about waiting to see characters, but it seemed like we were the only adults without kids. I think sometimes people with kids look at us like we are weird or something because we're two adults standing in line with a bunch of kids to see characters. Either way, I tried not to let it bother me too much!! It seemed like it took forever, but we finally made our way up to Buzz and Woody:

By this time, we were pretty tired, so we decided to call it a day and head back to the resort.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I feel that way too sometimes when standing in characters lines. Instead of feeling weird though I feel sorry for those adults judging me as obviously they have lost their sense of fun.

 

[UGAFan0829]

I feel that way too sometimes when standing in characters lines. Instead of feeling weird though I feel sorry for those adults judging me as obviously they have lost their sense of fun.

Wow, I never thought of it that way, Leesa!! Very good point! But I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one who feels that way!

 

[UGAFan0829]

As we were leaving the park, we decided to take a nice relaxing ride on the water taxi to get back to the resort. We didn't have any ADR's booked for the rest of the day, so we were able to take as much time as we needed. We made our way to the boat dock, and within a matter of just a few minutes we were on our way back to BWV. It was such a peaceful ride, so I thought I would take some pics along the way. Our first stop was the Swan & Dolphin:

Next came the Beach & Yacht Club:

Then came our beautiful resort:

Since we still had plenty of time, we decided to hit the pool for a little while in hopes of actually getting to make it down the slide. So we headed for the room and suited up. And wouldn't you know that as soon as we got in the water and were making our way to the slide that one of the lifeguards made an announcement that there was a storm in the area, and that the pool was closing! Yes, the curse of the Luna Park pool had hit yet again! I was beginning to think that it just wasn't meant to be for us to actually enjoy the pool and slide on this trip. Disappointed, we made our way back to the room where I sulked for a little while.

We watched a little TV and I surfed the net before I headed out to the balcony for a bit. Since we were so close to the pool, I was able to hear the water runnuing down the slide. So I took a closer look, and low and behold the pool had reopened!!!! So what did we do--We took off fast as lightning and headed for the pool, again!! Thankfully, this time we were able to enjoy the slide until the pool closed. I know those lifeguards thought we were out of our minds-we went down the slide so many times that I lost count!! The elusive slide was elusive no more!!!

After our sliding adventures were over, we had worked up quite the appetite, so we had to figure out what to do for dinner! As we were leaving the pool, we saw a lady with a pizza box, and it hit us-we were going to have pizza for dinner!!

So we headed over to the Boardwalk and hit up the pizza window.

Unfortunately, the pizza isn't on the dining plan, but that was okay as we knew that we'd have to pay for a couple meals OOP. We decided to go with mushrooms and cheese only on ours. While we waited for our dinner to bake, we found a table right by the water. And not a minute too soon our buzzer went off letting us know that the pizza was ready!!

As we sat there and enjoyed our yummy dinner, we just took in our surroundings and relaxed. It was such a beautiful night, and lots of people were out on the Boardwalk. I took lots of pics as we sat, though most of them didn't turn out so well...I still have to work on getting good night-time pics...

With our relaxing dinner over, we decided to take a stroll around the resort before we headed back to the room for the evening. We were so fortunate to be able to stay in such a beautiful resort, so we wanted to take in every little bit that we could. Of course, I took a few pics along the way...

Finally, we had made it back to our room. It had been a wonderful day with a near perfect ending, and it was time to call it a night. The next day was our last full day in the parks, and we were heading to the Magic Kingdom. Since we wanted to make it to park opening, we hit the hay, with a little sadness that our trip was slowly coming to a close.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

That pizza looks yummy! I am a pizza addict, don't think I could survive without it!

 

[UGAFan0829]

That pizza looks yummy! I am a pizza addict, don't think I could survive without it!

I'm a pizza lover to, Lessa! It was very yummy--definitely better than the pizza in the parks. I like lots of cheese on mine, and this one definitely had it!

 

[cherokeemamma]

I am so very late to your TR . Believe it or not...I have sat here this morning and read the entire thing! I am seriously neglecting things that I need to be doing. Obviously....I really enjoyed it.

Your pictures are wonderful and I love all of the details. Your food pics are making me really hungry. We have not had the opportunity to go on a cruise yet but are hoping to do so within the next couple of years. It really looks wonderful. Thanks so much for sharing...I am looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip.

The Boardwalk looks like a wonderful place to stay.

BTW...We must live in the same neck of the woods. We live in Loganville. I am assuming you live in or near Athens...so "Howdy Neighbor!" and "Go DAWGS!!!!"

TTFN
Darlene

 

[Jennifer48]

Hooray for getting to go on the elusive slide!

That sounds like such a relaxing evening.

 

[UGAFan0829]

I am so very late to your TR . Believe it or not...I have sat here this morning and read the entire thing! I am seriously neglecting things that I need to be doing. Obviously....I really enjoyed it.

Your pictures are wonderful and I love all of the details. Your food pics are making me really hungry. We have not had the opportunity to go on a cruise yet but are hoping to do so within the next couple of years. It really looks wonderful. Thanks so much for sharing...I am looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip.

The Boardwalk looks like a wonderful place to stay.

BTW...We must live in the same neck of the woods. We live in Loganville. I am assuming you live in or near Athens...so "Howdy Neighbor!" and "Go DAWGS!!!!"

TTFN
Darlene

Hi Darlene! I'm glad you found my report and enjoying it! You should definitely try and take a cruise! It really is SO much fun!

We really loved the BoardWalk. It was wonderful, and I know we'll definitely stay there again in the future!

How cool that you're so close. I actually live in Barrow County, so not too far from Athens, which is where I was born and raised. I do know where Loganville is. Actually can't wait to go to the flower/nursery place over there and get some pretty flowers soon!

Hooray for getting to go on the elusive slide!

That sounds like such a relaxing evening.

Yes, I know you can really tell just how big of a kid I am from the excitement over finally getting to go down the slide!

It really was a relaxing evening, and one of our favorites of the whole trip!

 

[UGAFan0829]

Uuuugh, I've been trying to get this thing updated for days, but for some reason, my pictures are coming out HUGE! I don't understand what's making them do that...I uploaded them the same way that I did all my others, so I'm really confused!

 

[UGAFan0829]

Saving the best for last...A Day in the Magic Kingdom, and dinner with friends!​

We were up bright an early this morning, ready for a day in the Magic Kingdom. Our plan was to make it for park opening, which we had never done before.

After a quick breakfast in the room, we were at the bus stop at 8:00 sharp! We wanted to give ourselves plenty of time as this was the park opening that we had looked forward to the most!

And just 20 short minutes later, we were at the entrance to the Magic Kingdom! We found a spot right in the middle of the train station and waited there. One of the first things I spotted was this precious sight:

It was so cool to see him. And he really looked like he was ready for the park to open as well!

The park was already decorated for Halloween, just as it was the last time we were there in 2007, so of course I snapped a few pics of all the pretty-ness...

Since the PhotoPass guys were out, we decided to get a couple shots here since we'd never had the chance before:

And before we knew it, the Mayor appeared to start the opening ceremony!!

Next came the train carrying all the characters who would help open the park!

Within a few magical moments, the park had been opened and we made our way under the train station and down Main Street!!

Since Magic Kingdom is our favorite park, I can never get enough PhotoPass pics, so we stopped for a few shots...

This one turned out to be one of my favorites from the day:

After our pics, our first stop was Fantasyland. Our first ride of the day was It's A Small World, followed by Peter Pan's Flight, then Snow White. Once we had those done and out of the way, we decided to head over and visit my favorite princess, Ariel! We knew that her line could get backed up pretty quickly, so we got there just a few minutes before it opened, and they were already letting people in line.

Thankfully, since we were there early, we pretty much breezed right through the line and before I knew it, I was saying hello to my favorite princess of all!!

She was so much fun, and was really in character! When she noticed my hair, she asked if I was a mermaid too, so I played along and told her yes. Then she told me that I could be one of her sisters. She was too cute!

 

[podsnel]

I think Ariel is right- you COULD be one of her sisters! In the last pic, your eyes are the same color even!

Great photopass pics. Really need to make it to park opening someday... but sleeping in is soooooooooooo nice on vacation!

 

[UGAFan0829]

I think Ariel is right- you COULD be one of her sisters! In the last pic, your eyes are the same color even!

Great photopass pics. Really need to make it to park opening someday... but sleeping in is soooooooooooo nice on vacation!

Thanks, Ellen!! I know what you mean about sleeping in, but making it to park opening, especially at the MK is definitely worth it!!

BTW, I'm so glad that you're still reading. I was SO aggrivated that it took me so stinkin' long to figure out the problem with my pictures being so stinkin' big! Thankfully, I finally got it under control, so now the updates can continue!!

 

[UGAFan0829]

I had said goodbye to my new sister and were headed out of the grotto, when a CM spotted Mike’s shirt. She told us that Donald was making an appearance over in Frontierland if we wanted to try and catch him. So I bet you can guess where we headed next! We got there at just the right time, as the line was pretty short. I decided to sit this greeting out, since I’d just had Ariel all to myself, I figured I would leave Donald all for Mike. Thankfully, Mike made a good decision with his shirt choice, according to Donald, and he was in a much better mood than when we’d seen him in the AK just a few days earlier!

With two back-to-back character greetings down, we decided to hit up some rides. Since we were so close, we decided to hit up the Haunted Mansion first. It was closed for rehab on our trip in ’07, so we were excited to see the changes. The wait time was only 10 minutes, so we were in and out in just a matter of minutes. After we’d picked up our hitchhiking ghost, we decided to head over to Splash for some mountain fun!! Once again, the wait was very minimal and we were loaded in our boat in no time!!

I usually pack my camera away in fear of getting it wet and ruining it, but this time I decided to be daring and take a couple pics along the way.

Thankfully my camera survived, and I was able to document our ride!!

Since we’d successfully conquered one mountain-- that left only one more for us to tame (Space Mountain was closed for refurb at the time). So guess where we headed next?? I guess we were hitting things just right, as the wait time was once again almost nothing! We boarded the train and were lucky enough to be in the front!! I tried to take some pictures along the way, but the jerkiness of the ride made it a little hard, so this was all I got…

Right after I took this one, the train took a sudden turn and I nearly smacked Mike right in the face with the camera! I guess next time I’ll keep my camera in my bag where it belongs!

After our adventure through the mountains, we decided to head over to Pirates of the Caribbean for a quick ride. Can you guess how long the wait was? Since we’d managed to safely escape the Pirates, we decided to do something we’d never done in the MK before—so we headed over to the Jungle Cruise.

I think by this time, the park was starting to get a little more crowded as the wait times were going up just a tad bit. Either way, we couldn’t complain as we were cruisin’ through the jungle in no time!

It was a cute little ride, but not something I would stand in line for more than 15 or 20 minutes for.

By this time, we’d already been in the park for a little while and we were starting to get hungry. Our plan was to try and eat a little earlier to try and beat the lunch rush. We had already narrowed down our choices to Cosmic Ray’s, Pinocchio’s and a couple other places. And since we were a little closer to Pinocchio’s than everything else, that’s what we decided on. Our decision to eat a little early seemed to have been a good one as there were a ton of tables open. There were several things on the menu that looked good, but both of us decided to go with the chicken nuggets and fries, which were really good!

I wish I’d taken more pics of the restaurant, but this one was the only one I got:

For dessert, I had the usual chocolate cake, and Mike had the strawberry cheesecake, both of which were good.

We really enjoyed our lunch here, and decided that we’d definitely come back on future visits!