Oh Luggage, Where Art Thou?

[hookedonthemagic]

Did you get to see much of the filming? I've seen a couple of commercials and a movie shoot. It's kind of interesting.

Lisa

I only saw that and on our first Epcot day, I neglected to mention that we saw a team outside the Land Pavillion filming in Spanish. We tried to get in on that one, too.

 

[cyjmhill]

I said it before, and I'll say it again...

Loving your trip report...keep it coming!!

Can't wait to read the rest!!!

 

[hookedonthemagic]

So when I last left you, it was pouring at the ASSp resort.....

We decide to drag our wretched bodies out the door and head to Downtown Disney (thought I was going to say Haunted Mansion -didn't ya?). We waited on a bus forever!!! But the real fun started once we were on the bus......
While the kids had been watching TV back at the resort, DH and I caught a cat nap. Unbeknownst to us, DS8 had taken my cell phone and made a video of DH sleeping in his boxers and snoring. He asks for my cell on the bus and shows us his little piece of cinematography. Well, I'm laughing so hard on the bus that people are starting to look at us and DH is completely red-faced! It was great!

We get to DD and I'm soooo excited! Like any good woman - I love to shop! I head straight for the scrapbooking store and I have to say I'm a little disappointed. I spent way less than I had intended and got everything I wanted. They definitely could use my help on that one. But while we were traveling through to the Art of Disney, we saw the little girls that had been to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique getting their pictures made! OH MAH GAH! God certainly knew what he was doing with me by giving me boys, because if I had a little girl, I would be completely broke. I don't know how you guys that have girls do it. Their little hair, the nails, the make up, the princess dress........(everyone together) Big sigh........

We headed across the street into the Christmas Store where I normally go nuts. However, I had promised DH that since we are going back for Christmas that I would behave. I only bought 1 ornament.

DH is not a shopper at all, but he always wants to go to the ESPN store. We went there, I tried and tried to get him to buy something, anything, but no, he left empty-handed.

Once Upon A Toy - Again a little disappointed in the selection - nothing really new. However, DS11 was the most frustrated. He has the monorail in his bedroom (yes, it was an impulse buy on our first trip many moons ago) and he was wanting to add the Polynesian Resort and they don't make it anymore!??! We looked the whole week. A CM told us that they are re-doing it and the whole monorail playset and will be coming out with new stuff soon. (sarcastically) Oh boy!

At the World of Disney, DS8 got sucked in to the new Pirate Room. But I have to say, I had given the boys their money before we got to WDW and they each knew how much they had to spend. So, DS8 picked out a treasure chest and stuffed it to the brim with jewels, coins and of course, a bloody eyeball.

Where the real fun was had, was outside the World of Disney. They have a giant Stitch on top of the building and he spits on guests below. Well, DS8 and DS11 loved that and got totally drenched. DH and I watched from a safe distance.

You'll probably think this is terrible, but we left after that and returned to the resort. Remember, the boys hadn't gone swimming earlier so we owed them. And that's what we did. And all was right with the world.

Now tomorrow's installment adds my DBFF and her DH and DS. It gets fun from here.....but I have to go to bed! More soon!

 

[hookedonthemagic]

I said it before, and I'll say it again...

Loving your trip report...keep it coming!!

Can't wait to read the rest!!!

Thanks so much. I'm much funnier in person than in print. But I'm trying! Thanks again!

 

[justplaingoofy]

More! More!


Oh..how I appreciate your sense of humor! you remind me so much of my sister with your parenting ideas. Her kids have to try something first before they say they don't like it... yep, green beans, broccoli, and tower of terror. And yes, now they do love all 3!

Wow!! just realized its almost midnight! No wonder you went to bed!

 

[hookedonthemagic]

More! More!


Oh..how I appreciate your sense of humor! you remind me so much of my sister with your parenting ideas. Her kids have to try something first before they say they don't like it... yep, green beans, broccoli, and tower of terror. And yes, now they do love all 3!

Wow!! just realized its almost midnight! No wonder you went to bed!

Very funny! And no, for some reason I'm still here and not in bed yet. Meanwhile DH is on the couch behind me sound asleep and snoring like a log.

 

[MemoryMakers2669]

OK, subscribing, but also want to know what DBFF is? What is the extra F is what I really want to know..I know it is for Dear Best Friend.

 

[kaw1218]

AWWWWW, It makes me soooo happy that my lime green friends have come over to visit!

Well, someone has to read it! ( and we kinda felt sorry for ya)
Seriously though, great TR. You and Tara are both great writers.... now if I can only convince one of you to write mine in September..........

 

[Luvchefmic]

Okay, everyone - ready for Animal Kingdom?

So now, we've finally made it to our Everest FP time - oh the anticipation! Sing it with me......"anticipation, it's making me wait!" (sidebar: I have a music degree and randomly and frequently burst out into song - sorry) The queing (sp?) area is incredible! Stop and look at the artifacts and if you get a chance to catch a travel channel re-run of the freaky Imagineer with the big honking earrings traveling over there to buy all of the stuff and research for the ride it's pretty cool - you should watch it. We're finally at the place where they start assigning you your row and DS11 (he's a bit of a chicken) starts freaking out. Now, many of you may think I'm terrible, but he's been totally stoked for this ride until just this very minute, so like any good Disney mom I told him to suck it up and get on the ride. No way was he backing out now! He got to sit next to me and we boarded the ride (much to his dismay). IT WAS AWESOME!!!!! So, so good. Oh, how I love to go backwards! Although, I will say that I was very preoccupied looking for the Yeti. And DS11 was making a face something close to this - Yes, really.

Melissa, When I was there last year I was watching the Imagineers building this beast, I kept looking up and up until the clouds and I caused myself a real neck pain....I remember thinking Oh I wish I was brave enough to go on this, Well I am taking you with me next week, well at least I am going to print out the "Suck it up speech" and you'll be in my pocket I can't be put to shame by an 11 yr old

Really enjoying your TR so far,
Ruthie

 

[hookedonthemagic]

OK, subscribing, but also want to know what DBFF is? What is the extra F is what I really want to know..I know it is for Dear Best Friend.

Well, in my mind, it means Disney Best Friend Forever. I was trying to find a way to have an abbreviation that would be appropriate for her. That's the best I could come up with.

 

[hookedonthemagic]

Well, someone has to read it! ( and we kinda felt sorry for ya)
Seriously though, great TR. You and Tara are both great writers.... now if I can only convince one of you to write mine in September..........

It's nice to be felt sorry for!
I just wish I was going with you in Sept. I'm sure you won't be writing about the miserable heat that Tara and I experienced. Nor the crowds.

 

[hookedonthemagic]

Melissa, When I was there last year I was watching the Imagineers building this beast, I kept looking up and up until the clouds and I caused myself a real neck pain....I remember thinking Oh I wish I was brave enough to go on this, Well I am taking you with me next week, well at least I am going to print out the "Suck it up speech" and you'll be in my pocket I can't be put to shame by an 11 yr old

Really enjoying your TR so far,
Ruthie

Ruthie-
Yes, we were there last May and I have pics of it going up and we were so excited then. DS11 has even downloaded the EE game off of the web and watched the Travel Channel special all about it. There was no way he was getting out of it! So, here's a special sneak peek just for you: It's kinda like BTMR with a backwards section and a huge Yeti at the end trying to grab you. Very mild actually. So listen Marine Mom, you cannot be a self-respecting Dis board member if you don't get on this thing! SUCK IT UP AND GO! And I want to hear all about it when you get back!
Melissa

 

[Luvchefmic]

Ruthie-
Yes, we were there last May and I have pics of it going up and we were so excited then. DS11 has even downloaded the EE game off of the web and watched the Travel Channel special all about it. There was no way he was getting out of it! So, here's a special sneak peek just for you: It's kinda like BTMR with a backwards section and a huge Yeti at the end trying to grab you. Very mild actually. So listen Marine Mom, you cannot be a self-respecting Dis board member if you don't get on this thing! SUCK IT UP AND GO! And I want to hear all about it when you get back!
Melissa

Ok Melissa, but there will be another note in my pocket, to whom it may concern upon my demise please go to Disboard.com and get in touch with YOU...it will be on your head....now I have to do it, what are there like 100,000 people that have access to this ? and how would I ever face the green club and You know who..! who doesn't miss a trick. .I promise a TR ....if I survive.....GULP

 

[hookedonthemagic]

Ok Melissa, but there will be another note in my pocket, to whom it may concern upon my demise please go to Disboard.com and get in touch with YOU...it will be on your head....now I have to do it, what are there like 100,000 people that have access to this ? and how would I ever face the green club and You know who..! who doesn't miss a trick. .I promise a TR ....if I survive.....GULP

You will be a survivor! And you're right, the limegreen police would never let you live it down! ::cop:

 

[Luvchefmic]

Loving your report so please get back to it ...didn't mean to high-jack it with my chicken sh*t feelings....I'm a night worker so I am saying ZZZZZZZZZZzzzz for now, will check your posts tomorrow..loving it.thanks for your support, Ruthie

 

[cyjmhill]

more...more...more. I'm hooked. You write so well - I am .

You should publish the movie your DS made.

I am waiting impatiently.

 

[hookedonthemagic]

Saturday - The Magic Kingdom - All day, no looking back - not a ride left unridden!

Yay! The arrival of DBFF is here!!!! I'm sooo excited! We live about 7 hours away from each other and don't get to see one another except every couple of years so this is huge for me! So I'm up and ready to go. Then there's DS8......... Every morning we have to drag him out of bed! WHOSE KID IS THIS? I'm trying to be there for park opening so as not to throw off DBFF's touring plan!

Now, I haven't said much about this, but I am a planning fool. I start months ahead of time and check the WDW website for changes regularly, have several guide books, etc. I look at it as failing to plan is planning to fail - and by that I mean without a good worked-out plan, you won't get to ride everything that you want to, much less a second (or third) ride. So you gotta be prepared. DH thinks that I'm like a drill seargent on this (however I don't see him complaining when we're not waiting in any lines). But DH got a good sense of just how tame I am when he saw DBFF pull out her LAMINATED touring plans that she had typed out complete with times! She made me look angelic and completely rational! (love you girl!)

We used cell phones to call each other and find each other in the mob of people and it was really easy - it is a small world after all! This was the very first time that I've ever seen the opening ceremony on top of the train station. The Mayor was there and of course Mickey and the gang. Very fun and the perfect way to start my perfect day.

Now DBFF's touring plan is the one we're following today and so we are starting at Space Mtn. We cut through the Tomorrowland Terrace restaurant so as to gain some ground on those people that took a light jog down Main Street. See, me, DBFF, and even the DH's aren't in the best shape and I'm personally a little too round to be running first thing in the morning. So, we too get held at the rope, but you shoulda seen the faces of those people that had sprinted to get there and we just come sauntering up. So when they drop the rope, the race continues - well DBFF's DH (henceforth referred to as DH2) started trying to distract some of the crowd with the following "Hey, look, there's Mickey". Nothing doing, they weren't buying it. They were in an out and out run by that point. We continued walking - mind you, a brisk mall walk, but still walking. We made it onto SM with no wait cause as soon as we got to the point where it splits for the 2 tracks, they opened up the 2nd track! Walking pays off!

After a glorious time on SM, we race back over to Buzz. I am a huge fan of this ride. DH and DH2 rode together, All 3 DS's rode together and DBFF and I rode together. DH and DH2 are ultra-competitive and DBFF and I set out to try and beat them. She had read me where some of the high point Z's were and we were trying to hit them all. Well, that didn't turn out so well. I don't know how they do it but I can't even hit the right targets when I know where they are! It was such a short line when we came off of it that we decided to ride it one more time!

Afterwords, DBFF and co. wanted to ride Stitch. Well, they were on their own on this one. We went on it last year and collectively agreed to never ride it again! YUK! So while they got grossed out, we went over to the Tea Cups and spun ourselves silly!!! I love to spin! We also had taken everyone's passes and obtained FP for Pooh while we waited on them.

We met them back for the Tomorrowland Speedway which is a tradition for DH2 and son. My kids have never been on it because the wait is usually too long so we saw this as an excellent opportunity for them to get on something that they've never done (after all, we don't want this to be "Boring World")! DBFF doesn't ever get to ride the Tea Cups because of spinning issues in the family, so while the boys were out for a drive, she and I spun. It was great!

As soon as we were done, we got pics of them driving around the corner - perfect timing! We were now in our FP time so we went and did Pooh. After Pooh, we walked into Philharmagic. One of my very favorites. If you haven't seen this one, make it a priority. It's one of my top 3 overall at WDW. It makes me smile the entire time. Afterwards we walked over to Peter Pan and got FP.

Lunch at Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe. Yes, I know, we went there on our first night, but this is our favorite place to eat in the MK. And since it was right at 11am, there was hardly anyone there and we sat down again and listened to Sonny Eclipse. Those jokes never get old - okay, yes they do, but I still love them!

By this time we're starting to notice that there isn't anyone at the MK today! Now, I had always heard and read that Sat. is a good day for MK but I didn't really believe it. I am a believer now! See, the reasoning is that for most people, Sat. is a travel day so the crowd level is down. Well, by the end of this day's TR you will see how right that is!

After lunch we jumped on Small World where I'm sure we annoyed everyone by singing along - if you were on that boat with us, our apologies. And if we weren't singing along, we were talking about the Kingdom Keepers book where the small world dolls come to life. A little creepy.......

By this time DBFF's DS has asked us about a million times when we're doing the Haunted Mansion - it's his favorite. Well, not yet, we have to use our FP for Peter Pan. Another one of my favs. I remember riding this as a kid and just thinking that the ship flying was the coolest thing ever. I still look forward to the lift-off.

Now, it's time for the Haunted Mansion. Again, we're walking onto this and it's after noon now. Well, DBFF's DS has a moment of weakness and starts the "I'm not sure if I wanna ride this" kinda thing. Now I've mentioned before how I handled this with my DS, so I was looking forward to seeing how DBFF fielded this. (take note Ruthie) She just pulled him along into the ride and told him "you've ridden this before so stop it now. You're riding it." Ahhhhhh, more advice from another great mom. Now we love the HM and it was even more spectacular riding it with DBFF who looks for the hidden Mickey's with me. So of course (and I assume by now that you're starting to get this) the kids are in one doom buggy, the DH's are in one & DBFF and I are in one. The kids are in the middle - that's important because they are a little scared - not real scared, they've all ridden it before but never without an adult in the car with them. So we are going into the part where your car turns backwards and you tilt to go down the incline and DH's get the brilliant idea to scare the kids by beating on the back of their buggy. Well it echoes throughout the place and the kids scream, but DBFF and I are backwards, too and can't see a darn thing. The DH's are laughing so we figure it was them. Whadda ya gonna do?

This is where the fun starts - see DBFF and I both have scheduled another full day at MK for later in our stays, and so her touring plan ends here. But we look at our watches and it's only like 1:00pm. We can't believe it! So we start the off the cuff touring plan that I simply like to call - let's see how much stuff we can get through in one day touring plan. Since we're close we jump in to the Hall of Presidents which is just about to start. Perfect timing. By the way, the kids and the DH's didn't want to go but we made them.

Afterwords we head towards the other Mtns. We figure we can FP one and see what happens from there. Splash has a FP return for about 2 hours away so we grab FP's. We then decide to return to Tomorrowland and ride the classics. We jump on the TTA and enjoy a nice ride around the building tops. Sidebar: One time we were riding and SM's lights were on! It was the coolest! As soon as we are off of it we head to my very favorite - the Carousel of Progress - I swear I never get tired of it.

Now if you remember, I have a music degree. Well, so does DBFF. Her DH also sings and so does mine! Not to mention the kids. So everytime the song comes on - you've got great 4 part harmony! People were definitly staring! But that just gets us going - ya know, musicians like attention!

After we finish these 2, we notice that it is almost 3pm. Now we are not planning to catch the parade, but we would like to get back to the Mtns. so we cross through Fantasyland and on the sidewalk down by the river so as to avoid all of the parade route and come out right by SM and use our FP's. We had previously decided that we wanted to buy this picture so we need a theme. I knew that DS11 is terrified of this drop (he went on it when he was 4 and it ruined him for the next 6 years) so I suggested that we all pretend to be terrified. Everyone did a great job, but ever the joker, DH2 pretended that he was so bored that he had fallen asleep. But incidentally, I was right and DS11 didn't have a pretend face at all. Once again it was and it was genuine.

It's approaching 4pm and DBFF and co. have a PS at LTT so after we got FP for BTMR we decide to part ways until 5:30pm.

We went to see the Country Bears which is one of DS8's favorites. Now personally, the song that speaks to me the most is (and I quote):
"Momma, don't whoop little Buford
Momma, don't bust on his head
Momma don't whoop little Buford
We think you should shoot him instead"
It's the best. But DS8 loves it when Big Al sings "There was buh-lood on the saddle and......buh-lood on the ground." He sang it the rest of the day.

Since DBFF and Co. were eating, we figured, we should probably eat too so we went to the Plaza Restaurant at the end of Main Street and just across from Casey's. We had never been there before. It was good, it was air-conditioned. But alas, our biggest disappointment of the day, we didn't have time to stay for dessert and they did look good!

We met DBFF back at BTMR and use our FP's to ride. Her DS again had a mild moment of freakout but he rode it and loved it afterwards (see Ruthie?).

Now, I have neglected to mention my love of Cinderella, so I will mention it now. I love Cinderella. But more than Cindy, I love the Fairy Godmother. I think she's the best. So, I really wanted to watch Cinderellabration. I think I pretty much forced everyone else to do this, but at least we can all say that we saw it. And I have the most excellent pictures of it! The boys hated it. Oh well......

I hate do this, but the MK will have to be cont.........I promise, I will finish it today!!! There's these couple of kids that are wanting to be fed. I'm not sure what's going on but they keep calling me "mom" and begging for food like cats or something......more later.

 

[cyjmhill]

awesome!!!

keep it coming!

 

[disneynewbee]

Great report so far. Can't wait to hear more.

 

[fizz13]

Now that is a busy day Had to jump on the bandwagon and say I like your style. Writing good, touring good, can't wait to read more. BTW, can't be many more rides left to do can there? Did you get to Adventureland?
Claire xx