MY ADVENTURES N WALT DISNEY WORLD, UNIVERSAL STUDIOS & OTHER ASSORTED SILLINESS TRIP REPRT; APRL '16

[knewton64]

I'M BRINING BACK THE 'TR MOOD MUSIC' (yes, even tho it's from my recent adventure n2 DISneyland) CUZ.........

(with a wee bit of some mood music to help set the tone)
pppssstttt!!! Just double right click w/yer computer mouse over the above video & it will play 4 u
and as an extra bonus......
how about some music from Downtown Disney(land) and David Wayne??

The reason why I am doing this is
.....I'm seeing that you can listen to it while reading this TR.
(its only good for that page that u r on)
and besides -
It's catchy!!




T.T.F.N.
&
CHEERS Y'ALL

 

[knewton64]

HAVING A MAGIAL TIME OUT AT THE MAGIC KINDGOM



DAY FIVE
APRIL 15TH


I actually beat the wake up call and was way up earlier than the 5am wake up call cuz today I was ready to enjoy a very relaxing day at one of the original houses Walt & Company built and that is of course, the Magic Kingdom.
a

Or so I thought as it took me a wee bit to get used to seeing all of this -

-(everyone at 'Rope Drop')-


Mind you, I have been on tours all this time so WOWZERS!! That's a lot of people!!


Even had fun seeing them open the Park -


and -



Entering the park, I spied "Scoop" and just had to strike up an impromptu conversation with him along with his friends Heldegard & Bea.
Again, the outfits these people were wearing.....very intricate in detail. I'm impressed.

Love how the Mayor gace me his 'business card' and politely told me that it would get me anywhere to the 'back of the line.'
(got their autographs too)


Soon, I took a 'bucket of ice" and chilled out (over the crowd issue) as I had a M&G at 9am to enjoy with two of my favs - Anna & Elsa.

These two are so much fun to inneract with as this time, I sneeked a peak at their clothing and really marvel as to the detail that goes into what they wear.
(* SEE POSTING #67 FOR DETAILS AS 2 WHAT WENT ON DURING OUR M&G*)



Hmm.....that reminds me, feel like asking them next time where they get their clothes from on account my Sister is in bad need of something to wear for her birthday. Their reaction outghta b priceless. Love Elsa's shoes.


that reminds me as well on a sore subject as I have been readin a lot on DISboards about BOG people and their feelings about the "Before the Park opens ticket" admissions ticket, etc and I tell ya what -

Around 9:15am ish,
my mouth sure dropped to the floor as I watched in astonishment as the BOG and or 7dmt people........


..... WERE RUNNING towards the BOG restaurant area of the park as I was in que for the Anna & Elsa M&G.


PEOPLE - THIS IS A DISNEY PARK. LETS SET A NICE EXAMPLE FOR OUR CHILDREN.
(as I watched n horror in seeing many a CM having to actually YELL at these people to SLOW DOWN AND WALK.......)



ALLLRIIGHTTTT....enuf of my Anna & Elsa cuz its now time 2 boogy on over to this place for some much needed grub -



for a much needed -


Ok.....will admit - that woke me up.



Of course, I made sure my food would "stay down" as I waited a bit before chiilin' out riding Space Mountain followed by this little gem of a find -

OMG!! What DISney can do with AA's these days!!

Rode POTC, JC and just about you name it until around 1pm, then it was time to head on over to DISney Springs and the highlight and gem of what I have been waited for all this adventure -



COMING UP NEXT:

**THE LONG AND THE SHORT OF IT**




T.T.F.N.
&
CHEERS Y'ALL

 

[knewton64]

From DISney Springs & Goofy's.......



**SIMPLE RULES TO LIVE BY**

COMING UP:
Shopping at DISney Springs & kickin' it while at Backstage LaNuba tour.




T.T.F.N.
&
CHEERS Y'ALL

 

[macraven]

like the list!

 

[knewton64]

like the list!

When I saw that - it just made my day.
Very applicable anywhere -





T.T.F.N.
&
CHEERS Y'ALL

 

[knewton64]

DAY 5
cont -



Now @ DISney Springs, u just gotta
** STOP HERE B4 SHOPPIN**



for a -

which really
really helped to set the mood for the rest of the day but of course ya can't have of of these until ya go to this "Goofy" place -


for something to compliment the shake -
so I grabbed a few items......



SCORE!!!!

I was reallllllyyy wanting something Gingerbready.....spoke w/Betty at the counter and she recommended I try these so with 2 of each under each hand of mine, I liberated them from where they were hiding out

and as I was payng for my things, I kindly asked her for a sheet of paper/pen and quickly wrote to her that I am paying "X" amount for the next guest and to SHHHH!!!! It's a surprise and if they should ask, tell them its from .


She smiled and agreed and soon I was off with my bag of goodies and with the smile in my heart that I had paid it forward from what someone had done for me earlier the day before.
IMHO, do this just once while you are on a DISney vacation (in some form) and the payoff to me is tremendous.


Now
keep in mind as I was leaving Goofy's, a very nice Rep was standing outside handing out free samples. Of course, ya know me, I jjuusstt had to try some samples ....
Just then, a male Guest walked up to this lady, stuck out his hand then saw was she was offering and then said, "No thank you, I don't get n2 sweets"

I hesitated for a minute or two, then calmly asked the lady about where she is standing (right in front of what is really a SWEET SHOP) and this Guest says to her, "No thank you, I am not into sweets??."


Ok.....now to me, that's !!
Where is Jeff Foxworthy when you need him the most -


Anywho -
Yes, I hit up the Downtown Disney store and and a few others b4 I wound up in the La Nuba area (around 4:30pm ish).

Got n a quick 30 minute nap before the fun began.


poligize for the blurriness but this is a picture of a picture.



UP NEXT:

Enjoying being the only Guest on the BACKSTAGE AT LA NOUBA BY CIRQUE DU SOLEIL tour.





T.T.F.N.
&
CHEERS Y'ALL

 

[knewton64]

**TIME FOR A JAW DROPPING EXPERIENCE @ La Nouba**




So, I get escorted up a private elevator to the 2nd level. There I meet my Tour Guide (Lande Berlus) who hands me a shopping bag like bag of La Nouba goodies

and takes me to my seat.



She asks me what I would like to eat and brings it to me (popcorn & soda; all in a souvineer bag and drink holder).



OK ....THIS IS WWAAAYYYY COOOOLLLLLL!!
I had center staged seats and really enjoyed one incredible time watching the show that close. It was like my jaw never closed for the whole show. Love the clowns


the "Bird"


the
Cyclists and yes -
even the Nuts


and the
Trampoline artists....you name it, it was fantabolous to see them that close.

Afterwards, she took me down from my seat and back to the elevator and down into the basement of the building. There, as we were walking to our first point of orgin, you could easiliy tell WHO was walking right past you!! Yes, I quickly said a universal way of saying "hello" to all of them and just felt like I was in .

YES!! just look at their eyes and face..they still have a lot of makeup on them. If you know anything about the show (or have it on dvd.....).......you will be able to recognize whose who as I did 2 seperate times.


and Lande!!



Anywho -
she took me down to the basement area of the place, showed me a few things and then BAM!!

I get my pic taken with Romuel-

Mind you, I am the only one of this tour so I have an apporx 7 minute of so Q&A with him, even got his autograph.

Amazing what the stars of this show do in between performances.....
some even still do cardio all the way up to leading to the next perfomance,


Now, if that don't motivate cha to lose weight I don't know what will!!

We slowly made our way back up to the 2nd floor of the building but before we ended the tour, She took me back up to the auditorium to meet Rob (backstage Director) who is from Scotland and he accent was too much fun to hear as he really enlightened me on tings about the show that really had me doing a lot of "AH ha" reactions.



Like - Q: Remember seeing the that small train that runs across the stage??
A: It's pulled by a string from one side of the stage to the other. 2 COOL!!


Okokokokokok......the Geek in the was starting to come out again with Rob but his accent and the way his prsented the backstage area of the show really made my day.

Rob.

The two of them then escorted me to on stage to see what it is like to be a Performer for the show. The stage looks HHUUGGEE!!
But was fun to see it from the Perfomer's P.O.V.

She also took me to other floors of the building. showing me how the company got their start and things.....

But before I got to comfortable with all of this, it was soon time 4 bid Lande, Rob and company a fond adieu
(THANK U ALL AS I REALLY HAD FUN)

as I was off again to enjoy some much needed munchies at Bongos.........




Boogied on my way back to the bus late......
but not before cacthing one more milkshake to go & I was back home at Pop
around 11pm -

Flipped on some DISney tunes on my I-phone
jumped n2 the tub for a much needed hot bath w/H20 stuff thrown n 4 good measure....

and was lights out for Yours Truely around midnight.




What a wonderful adventure this has been.


What awaits for me on Saturday??





****DEPARTURE DAY****



OR IS IT??

(slight clue as to where I will be in the am)
- as I have a Cab 2 catch at 6:15am -

......and I haven't even begun to pack my bags yet.



T.T.F.N.
&
CHEERS Y'ALL

 

[macraven]

i'll be back later in the morning.
going to get some shut eye for now.


later.....

 

[knewton64]

i'll be back later in the morning.
going to get some shut eye for now.


later.....

zzzzzzzzzz!!!!!
**DING!!**

THIS IS MM AND YOUR WAKE UP CALL

GREAT THINGS ARE PLANNED FOR TODAY!! HAHA!!


I tell ya, i would make a lot of dough making wake up calls......hehehehehehehehehe.



okeydoey & seriously, a huge thank you for following a long as I hope you have enjoyed readin' as much as I have had writin.'


So until we meet again, how about some AK munchies to help kick start your day??




T.T.F.N.
&
CHEERS Y'ALL

 

[knewton64]

**DEPARTURE DAY, SMEPARTURE DAY**


SATURDAY
APRIL 16TH




Well, that was a "fine, how do you do!" as 4:45am hit me like a ton of bricks!!
But, I knew I had to do what I had to do -

So, off I was literally throwing myself n2 the shower, quickly got dressed, threw everything into a suitcase and staggered downstairs to the TSA area and thankfully "got rid" of my luggage......until I hit the DFW area later on this evening.

Gave the Luggage holding CM's my carry on, then gleefully hit the Pop Century breakfast area



one more time b4 it was time for me to jet off into a Cab and a ride to .......


ANIMAL KINGDOM-

(I didn't knwo that the park is divided into 3 sections)

Was lucky enought (due to the Marathon crowd) to make it to the park around 6:45am ish and enjoyed a rather quiet and fun 30 minutes relaxing by the Guest Relations area while watching some of the 'night life" walk byl from quirrels, armadillos to you name it, was really a treat to see this.
Soon, the CM's arrived to open the Guest Relations area and I was the first one there for the Backstage Tales Tour of Animal Kingdom -

The tour IMO, was a fun way to exit what has truely been a remarkable, quite intensive and very amazing journey into the house that Walt and friends built as it really the Tour Guides really opened my eyes to what the Park is really all about.

Example - AS you are walking up to the park, look on the ground and look at what you see
from the air, the 'paint like or mural like thing you see on the ground is actually one great big picture of a tree of life - I didn't know this. WAY COOL.

(pic of our Tour Guides)



Check out the feet on this bird -




We first took an orientation of the Park before we wound up by the Tusker House area
and zipped in behin the berm and had fun feeding the birds.


Learned a lot about them and then we were off again behind the berm as we went to the craqsh pads where the animals sleep at night.

NOW THAT WAS FUN!!

NEver have I seen any kind of animal up close and WOWZERS!! To see Rhinos, Elephants, etc UP FREAKING CLOSE!!!


From there, we learned a wee bit about conservation before winding up near the Tusker House area...... by the way -


AS you are walking over that bridge in AK and you look off on you right and see the "Tree of Life,"




see if you can look in the other direction across the bridge and spot "That DISney tree."


tour ended around 12:30pm with just enuf time for me to zip on over for some much needed lunch at Tusker House.


BUT NOT BEFORE I FINALLY GOT A CHANCE (bucket list) TO FINALLY ENJOY RIDING THIS FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME -



and -

(LUVED IT)


ANd afterwards, took my time chilling out over at Tusker House
and it was there that I experienced quite an incredible send off back to my Home Country of "Reality Land" by these guys -




DETAILS COMING UP





T.T.F.N.
&
CHEERS Y'ALL

 

[knewton64]

So, as I am eating my food, each of the characters come over to my table and I pretend that I am crying, ALL OF THEM ask what is wrong & to wit I reply that I have to leave to go back to my Home Country of Reality Land and I don't wanna!!



(that's wht I get for trying to do the "Mickey Pose" with my foot and that dang table gets n the way!! RRRRRR!!


So, I tell all of em that
** I WANNA STAY HERE **
And it was Mr Goof who took the lead and told me to stay right where I was at.......
they all huddled together w/him 'saying" with his index finger up in the air, "I've got it!"


And ALL OF THEM returned shortly to each give me a hug , a lanyard pin -
and a smile that I will treasure always.


During all of this
which I will admit, I cried on Daisys' shoulder but hey, it was worth it.


ANYWHO -
It's getting now close to 2:45pm
and
with a pocketfull of memories and pictures from Tusker House,

I made a quick bee-line into the nearest snack shop -



and scored me some cookies to go




jumped on the closest bus back to Pop Century -

Grabbed my carry on
and made a bee-line to



Cried silently all the way to the Airport
as this has truely been one heck of an adventure I will never forget.


The flight back to DFW had me thinking about all what I have learned about the DISney parks since September of last year and all I have to say is -
Walt and Friends for allowing us to share in your dream of bringing to us all what we love about all things DISney




Still.....
I did cry a bit cuz this adventrue was so dang much fun!!
But as they say, with every door that closes, another will opens up in the game of life.



YES - epxect



Yes, expect a DISneyland PARIS Trip report to be up and running in about 90 more days.




**THE DISNEY ADVENTURES CONTINUE**




as it will be called.........
wait for it.......................
wait for it............................


NOW!!


MY ADVENTURES N DISNEYLAND PARIS




T.T.F.N.
&
CHEERS Y'ALL

 

[DisBabe94]

I have been following along with your trip report from the beginning... LOVE your style Been a lurker for awhile, just recently made an account so I figured I'd comment. I especially love the part about paying it forward to the guest behind you at Goofy's. I will definitely be doing this on my next trip... what a way to pass the Disney magic on!!

 

[macraven]

still here knewton

take your time, i'm not going anywhere

 

[knewton64]

I have been following along with your trip report from the beginning... LOVE your style Been a lurker for awhile, just recently made an account so I figured I'd comment. I especially love the part about paying it forward to the guest behind you at Goofy's. I will definitely be doing this on my next trip... what a way to pass the Disney magic on!!

When I just read your posting, my eyes teared up a wee bit. AHHHHH!!!! .
There have been many a "Magical Moment" that I have encountered during this adventure and I am really looking forward to team up once again with Jennifer at Mei Mouse Fan Travel in getting this DISneyland France adventure up and running (Aug 2017 n celebration of buying a new car.....FINALLY).




Next on my list tho is getting re-educated if ya will in all things Texas history.
Headin'g down to Bandera, Fredricksburg & San Antonio Texas for my birthday - (Late Nov/early December) via Collete Vacations.com.
(Gonna c the Alamo, LBJ ranch - do some wine trasting down in Frederickburg, etc.....).




P.S.S.......lost 24 pounds headin n2 this DISney advenure......
gained 12 back = I STILL HAVE LOST WEIGHT!!


WOO-HOOO!!!

of course ya know what this means doncha??



I gotta get back out there and look nice for my upcoming San Antonio adventures......
So -
look for Moi to lose a few pounds n time for November.


and
(DANG LADYBUG ACTUALLY L-O-S-T 2 POUNDS WHILE I WAS AWAY!! RRRRRRR!!! SO here she is with me feeding her the Dog equivalent of cheeseburgers and twinkees to get her weight back up!) oh well -


she is now at 24 lbs.



T.T.F.N.
&
CHEERS Y'ALL

 

[knewton64]

still here knewton

take your time, i'm not going anywhere

Hmmmmm.....I have been out on a boat cruise ya see?

just couldn't resist dem Margaritas while on this cruise - heheheheheheheeee......




UP NEXT:
Final thoughts and where I am off to next.






T.T.F.N.
&
CHEERS Y'ALL

 

[macraven]

i have has such fun reading your trip report and looking at all the pictures

you did a wonderful job in putting this all together!


made me feel i was walking behind you taking in all the sites.
only exception was, couldn't taste all the food you showed us........

it is fantastic of all you put into your trippie to share with us.
video, tidbits, on the spot reporting, etc.

so many of my favorite mouse things were in your report....

you are a good guy Mr knewton!

 

[schumigirl]

Enjoyed reading your final reports..........I did like reading about your paying it forward to another guest.

We have been extremely fortunate over the years and have been bestowed many things and always pay it forward in any way we can. Last year we did such a thing for a family at Universal, details don't matter.......but we had the privilege of seeing them benefit from it and could see how happy it made them. We were so happy to have made their day by doing this. And I agree, you do get it back tenfold usually. It's nice to hear others doing it too. Doesn't always have to be a big thing, a gesture is nice too.

Your pictures are lovely and you certainly seemed to enjoy every bit of your trip.........Ghiradellis is one place we always say we'd go back to "Disney" for. Nice!

And margaritas are always good.........

 

[knewton64]

i have has such fun reading your trip report and looking at all the pictures

you did a wonderful job in putting this all together!


made me feel i was walking behind you taking in all the sites.
only exception was, couldn't taste all the food you showed us........

it is fantastic of all you put into your trippie to share with us.
video, tidbits, on the spot reporting, etc.

so many of my favorite mouse things were in your report....

you are a good guy Mr knewton!

Ahhhhh - 4 the compliment.
Makes me feel good when I receive this kind of feedback as it lets me know I am on the right track.
This vacation was soooo much dang fun as I love to blog about it as an electronic form of scrapbooking; that way I also know years from now what I did and where, etc.


ANYWHO -
Been fun but I have decided that next Tuesday is the start date of those two words in the English language I can't stand but oh well........ it is what it is:


LEAN CUISINE
&
CARDIO / CORE


No.....what a minute -
that's FIVE WORDS!!

But hey -
I wanna look nice for when I head off to the San Antonio, Texas area.
(Got that TR updated if ya wanna take a quick look to c what I am up to).






T.T.F.N.
&
CHEERS Y'ALL

 

[knewton64]

Enjoyed reading your final reports..........I did like reading about your paying it forward to another guest.

We have been extremely fortunate over the years and have been bestowed many things and always pay it forward in any way we can. Last year we did such a thing for a family at Universal, details don't matter.......but we had the privilege of seeing them benefit from it and could see how happy it made them. We were so happy to have made their day by doing this. And I agree, you do get it back tenfold usually. It's nice to hear others doing it too. Doesn't always have to be a big thing, a gesture is nice too.

Your pictures are lovely and you certainly seemed to enjoy every bit of your trip.........Ghiradellis is one place we always say we'd go back to "Disney" for. Nice!

And margaritas are always good.........

Hmmmmm.......you are giving me ideas for when I return n2 the land of all things Disney come August of next year -
I've got a while to come up with an idea but yes - the trend continues....





ANYWHO -
been fun - gotta boogy for now. Thank you all for reading this as it has been fun a writin it.



T.T.F.N.
&
CHEERS Y'ALL

 

[macraven]

i am that the trip is over.

i has been so kewl to read and watch what you did on your trip.......

boo hoo, no more great episodes from knewton to see every day .....