"Norway? More like No Way!" Goobers' Jan 12 TR! Up.x2 4/6: FINAL THOUGHTS!

[danimaroo]

Chapter Thirty-Seven: "Okay, I hope I don't get stuck in this cave."
Day 9: January 26th 2012​

So, why did we catch a bus to Grand Floridian?

TO CATCH A MONORAIL OF COURSE! (Marissa, you are so pro at figuring out my next step, hahaha.)

Matt gave a big thumbs up once we were on...

And we were on our way to my favoritest park!

MK of course!

Once we arrived at around 3, we decided to see if we could catch the train over to Frontierland. I'd never been on the train, and it'd been awhile for Matt, so soon enough we were enjoying a pretty view while we waited to depart..

The train is so much fun! I highly suggest it as a great way to get over to Frontierland, especially when there is a parade happening.

We hopped off and grabbed a Fast Pass for Splash Mountain, then decided to do something that neither Matt or I had done in MANY MANY years...

TOM SAWYER ISLAND!

We had to wait a bit before we got to the island, namely because there were actually a decent amount of people (including, surprise surprise, a tour group) waiting to be transported.

There was also a CM "earning his ears" so he took a bit longer in getting back and forth with the raft, but I thought it was cute how people gave him a big hand when they got off their raft, haha.

We finally made it across...

And I have to say, Tom Sawyer Island is way awesomer than I thought it would be!

We seriously ran around like we were 5 year olds... Going in and exploring all the caves.. Though I'm pretty sure at one point I was a little concerned about getting stuck in a cave, hahaha.

We made our way over the bridge...

And of course waved at the Liberty Square Riverboat!

We finally made it to Fort Langhorn..

And I have to say, I greatly appreciated that Fort Langhorn does indeed have a bathroom, hahaha... That would've been bad if there wasn't one, especially after drinking a ton of water that day!

Anyway, we decided to go down and try to get through the hidden escape!

We made it out! And then I took some photos because this is kind of a fun area..

I grabbed a photo of the map, which was very helpful in navigating the island!

Not gonna lie, I'm kind of glad they got rid of that burning cabin. I remember when I was 6 being TERRIFIED of it, mainly because I had nightmares of my own house burning down (and so yeah, burning buildings freaked me out)... It's the only memory I have of Tom Sawyer Island, really, from when I was that age..

ANYWAY! As we headed back on the raft, we spotted.. TOM SAWYER DUCKS!

Continued in next post​

 

[danimaroo]

Chapter Thirty-Seven: "Okay, I hope I don't get stuck in this cave." CONTINUED
Day 9: January 26th 2012​

After we made our escape from Tom Sawyer Island, we popped over to Haunted Mansion for a quick ride..

Then we used our Fast Passes for Splash, and headed over to Winnie the Pooh for some FPs!

We needed to kill some time, so we thought why not go check out Philharmagic? Neither of us had ever seen it, so we headed on in..

What a cute show!! Would I say that it tops Muppet Vision 3D for me? No, but it is still a great show! I especially love the very end of it.

We got a bit hungry, so we decided to go get dinner at Pinnochio's Village Haus. I'd planned on getting chicken parm, but we both ended up getting the pizza, salad and gelato...

We enjoyed our dinner, though Disney pizza isn't the best, and headed back to Winnie the Pooh to use our FPs.

AGAIN, why is this ride SO CUTE?! I always leave it smiling!

After Winnie the Pooh, it was time for one of the best attractions to ride at night... Haunted Mansion!

Matt picked up a Haunted Mansion book, which is SUPER interesting and I still need to continue to read through, but it gives you a really awesome look at the attraction in all the different Disney parks. Of course we just skip the part about that terrible Eddie Murphy movie they made about HM. I am excited that Guillermo del Toro is planning on making a Haunted Mansion movie... because I know he will do it justice. (He did Pan's Labyrinth, which is an excellent, albeit depressing movie)...

Anyway! After that, we went back to Splash Mountain. Can you believe this would be our first time riding it fully through at night?!

Of course, we got stuck under these guys...

But fortunately made it through without getting stuck for too long! YAY!

At this point we wanted to beat the crowds, so we headed out around 7:35. Of course, we couldn't skip by the Main Street Bakery without a little snack to bring back with us!

I decided on a chocolate chip cookie, while Matt went with coffee cake (which I didn't get a photo of)..

We caught our bus back to Beach Club and got back at around 8:30..

We relaxed and ate our treats while watching some TV... I caught up on my trip journal, and sadly noted... "2 more days left. " I'm guessing the smiley face was because we'd already had such an amazing trip but STILL had 2 days left?

Tomorrow involves us becoming Disney tour guides to a few friends, and you'll get the whole scoop on that in the next update!

Continued in next update​

 

[okw19]

You guys are making excellent use of the monorail!

I absolutely LOVE riding the train! It is so relaxing and a great way to get around the crowds of Main St.

I can't remember anything from Tom Sawyer Island. I had it as a must do for this trip, but you know how well that list went. Your pics make me want to definitely try it again next time though. I'm glad they have a potty there because knowing me I'd get over there then need to go. Tom Sawyer ducks! I wish they had a duck smiley. Donald will have to do.

I love Philharmagic! My sister and I did it the night we met you guys and loved it. Not as good as the Muppets for me either, but really cute!

I almost wish we would have eaten at Pinnochio's this trip. We used to always eat there growing up and look out at Fantasyland.

Love Pooh still. Glad Riley wanted to ride so many times.

HM and Splash at night are the best. That books sounds right up my alley!

Tomorrow is my last day. I remember texting about your tag-along that morning. Oh that means rain and bad hair/pics for me tomorrow too!

 

[marDgreen88]

HAHAHA yes, what can I say, I have eyes and ears at Disney 24/7. Hahah I mean I guess I figured since you had already done your GF visit, that a reasonable excuse to go back would be MONORAIL!

I've never ridden the train either! Although you obviously have now hahaha. AHH I've never been to Tom Sawyer's Island before either! AHH I'VE NEVER BEEN ON THE LIBERTY STEAM BOAT EITHER! Gosh I'm sounding really lame right now. But Tom Sawyer's Island looks like, really cool. Hidden escape? What is this hidden escape you speak of? Sounds LEGIT.

YAY PHILHARMAGIC! I love it so much. Winnie the Pooh IS so cute. I don't know why either. I reckon because it's Winnie the Pooh and as a rule, it has to be cute.

Omg HM at night. Frightening!!!! WHAT?!?!?! You don't like the Eddie Murphy movie?! OMG I love that movie. I think it's awesome. Hmmmm... well this is awkward. Hahahah.

Yall got stuck on Splash again?! What the...? Maybe they should be refurbing this ride all these months instead of Big Thunder. I swear though if it's closed or broken or something in July... I will cry.

 

[407-W-DISNEY]

HI!
TGIF!
I've been keeping up with your updates, but kind of busy at work to reply..anyway, I'm still reading along and enjoying!

 

[__disneygirl]

Raglan Road looks amazing! We've had ADRs there the last 2 trips but always end up changing things around. Your enthusiasm for it makes me want to definitely go now!

Can you believe in 9 trips I've never gone over to Tom Sawyer Island? I swear, next trip we are making it a must do. Maybe we'll go over first thing and try to find the paintbrushes. That would be fun!

They have gelato at Pinocchio's Village Haus? That's random. Was it any good?

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

I've never been to Tom Sawyer Island, but it looks really fun!

I'm SHOCKED that after your previous Splash Mountain ordeal you went back on the ride!! And you got stuck again! Remind me not to go on any spins around Chick-a-pin hill when you guys are around!!

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

This update is full of things I must do next time but haven't in the past, all due to a certain little baby growing into a certain little boy.

1. Train. Nope, never done it, but Sawyer loves his choo-choos (not that the girls didn't/don't, but just not with the same passion). Must do.

2. Tom Sawyer Island...because Sawyer was named after Tom Sawyer, so I think this place is kind of his. We meant to go last time, but due to circumstances (yes, more circumstances than are already in my TR), we didn't make it there. We totally are this time.

No, PhilharMagic doesn't top Muppet Vision 3D, because NOTHING tops it. We're a Muppet-obsessed family, though, so I might be biased...

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Shew! Finally caught up! I'm sorry, I've been a bad reader lately, I'm in the don't-have-a-trip-for-nearly-a-year-so-throw-myself-into-anything-else mode lately, so I haven't been on the DIS much!

TS Island looks cool, I've been to WDW three times and never been over there! Looks like I may have to check it out. Raglan Road is on my list for the next trip, I think we will do dinner! yum!

I cannot believe there are hobo turtles too!

 

[Mrs. Sojourner]

Oh, I love all your pictures of Tom Sawyer's Island! That is one thing we have not taken enough time for. I'm looking forward to exploring it with my kiddos in the near future. I think they will love it.

 

[danimaroo]

Hey guys. I know I have a bunch of replies to get to, and I actually started to (which took me awhile), but then the DIS decided to log me out and I lost all of my replies. Soooo I'm going to take a break from that because of how annoyed I am right now.

Anyway, the main reason for this little blurb is just to let you guys know that life has been a little wonky for me as of late. I've been under a bit of stress since a few weeks after returning from our trip, mainly because I've been interviewing for a new job. Specifically one position with one company, and it's taken up a lot of my time and energy.

I've finally gotten towards the end of the process, and while I am a finalist, things got a little hung up and so I'm still waiting to find out if I got it.

Not sure how many of you have applied for a job/have gone through an extremely long interview process, but it's been unbelievably exhausting for me mentally and emotionally. I've talked to 7 different people and have taken a few tests for it, so yeah, I've put a lot of time and energy into this.

I REALLY want this job, and thought I had it in the bag last week but then something came up so now I'm waiting again. I'm still not sure what will happen with it, though I've been told I should find out early this week.

Anyway, this has basically put my life on hold for the past few weeks. Not sure how to explain it, but I think for both Matt and me, we just want to find out whether or not I got it so we can process the emotions of it. Either celebrate and be happy, or be sad... but either way, MOVE ON, you know?

So yeah, I'm hoping to feel motivated to start the next update here soon... And I'll let you guys know when I find out about the job.

Sorry for the odd "real life" update, but I thought I should let you all know what's been up in case I'm quiet for the next few days or something. Trying to keep my head up until I find out what happens!

Promise I'll get those replies done in a bit.

 

[dara00]

Good luck Dani!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Best of luck to you!!

 

[amyrella]

Good luck dani! Keeping my fingers crossed that you get it!! It's the worst waiting for an answer, ANY answer!!

 

[NancyLuvsMickey]

Good Luck!!!

Ok, I'm climbing on my Mom box...

Don't forget to write a Thank You note to the important person/people who have been interviewing you... It's old school, but it'll set you a notch above everyone else... And sometimes that's all it takes...

Climbing back off the Mom box...

 

[UGAFan0829]

Even though I haven't posted much lately, I have been following along faithfully and still loving every update. However, I did want to post now to send you lots and lots of Pixie Dust and good luck wishes!

 

[mouseketeer70]

Sending positive thoughts your way

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

DANI! Good luck on your job. Waiting is the worst! We're waiting on something right now, too, and it will affect a lot, but the only time frame I have is "before June." I need to make plans! I need to know one way or the other! I sincerely hope things go you way and SOON!

You're absolutely right...life most definitely gets in the way sometimes. We all understand that! So just relax and take your time.

 

[__disneygirl]

"Not sure how to explain it, but I think for both Matt and me, we just want to find out whether or not I got it so we can process the emotions of it. Either celebrate and be happy, or be sad... but either way, MOVE ON, you know?"

Totally know how you feel. I'm in the same situation! Being stuck in limbo is the worst. Sending pixie dust your way! Good luck!

 

[onelilspark]

Good luck! I've so been there!!