"One Step Ahead of the Slowpokes!"- A Dec '10/Jan '11 Trip Report! FINISHED 3/9 pg 38

[dtr_angel]

I just read your TR this far, thanks for the chapter links! I'm hooked. I'm heading over to your PTR next!

 

[Tracy161]

Joni, what an incredible husband you have!!! I understand completely the devastation that can be caused by a full memory card. I was in England just a few weeks ago and when mine maxed out, you'd have sworn I just lost my best friend, it was tragic! And Disney of all places is NOT the place to run out of photo ops!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

What a fun update! Woody sounds like a blast! That is so funny how he was ignoring John - I love the bunny ears picture!

 

[JessicaFaye508]

I AM CAUGHT UP YAYY!

Thanks for coming over to check out my TR's too! I'm so glad you did!

I loved loved LOVEDD all of the updates. It's really cool to read it from your guys's point of view because you haven't been on every single ride yet! I have, and although it's great, I still wish I had some of that first time surprise factor. They haven't made a new ride for my entire high school career! But thankfully that'll change once fantasyland is expanded!

As for the Animal Kingdom music from the safari... I have that! Except the problem is I don't exactly remember where i downloaded it from I wish I knew how to send it to you! Is there a way to do that? I don't know.

I love all of your food reviews! I always get so excited to read them haha

And I'm going for Christmas this year!! So this is PERFECT because I don't know a lot about the Holiday season at WDW! I love reading about all of the seasonal stuff

Can't wait for the next update!!

 

[Parla]

Well, tomorrow it will be exactly four months since we left on our trip, so I guess this is a good time to finally finish our second day!

We made it back to our car in the DHS parking lot fairly quickly, which is good because I was exhausted and freezing. On the way back to POP we listened to our customary Disney trip music: my Classic Disney CD set that I got at the now extinct Virgin Megastore on our first trip! It is a five CD set that has all of the songs from the movies and the parks! I love it. The only song it doesn't have is the one they play on the radio on Kilimanjaro Safari! I have been searching for a place to download that song forever!

Anyway, I guess now is as good a time as any to explain our trip title, which is something I definitely should have done months ago. While listening to my Classic Disney CDs on this trip I made an interesting discovery. Apparently John LOVES that song from Aladdin. He kept requesting it over and over again, and before the end of the trip he knew all the words! He loves to sing the part in a weird voice when the lady is like "Still I think he's rather tasty!" I'm sure he would just love knowing that I told all of you that!

Okay back to the trip report! We got back to POP and made the trek to our room. When we got in we realized we had a few nice surprises!

A card from Minnie and Mickey and a towel swan! How nice! I don't think we got a towel creature on our last trip so I was pretty happy. The PP card was pretty worthless to us since we had ordered the CD and didn't need the discounts, but I kept it anyway because it was pretty.

After we changed into some comfy clothes we went to the food court to fill up our resort mugs. On our way through the gift shop and into the food area we saw the coolest thing ever! They were having a gingerbread house contest for the CMs who worked at POP (I think that's who it was for ) and I had to stop and vote for this beauty!

How cool is that?! It's the house from Up! I got so excited when I saw that, so I cheated and voted for it like three times. I know, I'm a rebel!

After we filled up our mugs with caffeinated goodness we decided to wander around the POP lobby a little. We went into the arcade and played a few games but we got bored quickly and decided to leave.

By this time I was really tired and really cranky because while trying to take a picture in the arcade I realized my memory card was full! That made no sense because my card is supposed to hold 2,000 pictures and I had only taken like 400! I was so upset because it was only the second day of our trip and now I had no means to take a picture!

We walked back to the room (Well, John walked. I sulked and dragged my feet like the big brat that I am.) and I decided to take a hot bath. While I was warming up John told me he was going to go get one more soda refill before we went to sleep. Wouldn't you know that my super sweet and amazing husband went back there just to buy me a way overpriced SD card for my camera? Sometimes he is just too much. He also brought me one more surprise!

Yay! A POP pin! It has become my Disney tradition ever since our very first trip to get a pin for the resort where we stay. I was so excited! I'll tell you what ladies, Prince Charming ain't got nothin' on my hubby!

And so ends our second fabulous day at Disney! I think we were both asleep before our heads hit the pillows.

Up Next: My cold finally gets the best of me. Exactly how much of our trip does it manage to spoil? Stay tuned to find out on our Epcot day!

You can buy a cd with the song on Amazon for $24.99. That's quite a lot of money for one song though.
http://www.amazon.com/African-Dawn-Various-Artists/dp/B00000AGIP

I had an SD card give me an error message on our trip to Chicago last year. Couldn't take any more pictures at the Field Museum and still haven't taken the card to see if the pictures can be salvaged off of it onto a disc somewhere. In shopping for a new card I found a cool two story Target downtown with an escalator for your shopping cart.

 

[sbprincess]

I don't remember seeing gingerbread houses when we were there! I wonder if they were put up later or if I just missed them. Oh well. But I do love the one you voted for too. Up is one of my favorites!!

Your DH is definitely a keeper. I am grateful as that means you'll have pictures for the rest of your updates

Oh, and it's cool to know we live so close!

 

[TanzUnited99]

Wow Joni you have an incredible husband!! I was getting emotional reading this post - silly I know

Good luck with finding the song that is played on the KS radio. Love the explanation of the TR title!

I saw them gingerbread houses on another TR and they look great, don't they? Have not seen the UP one before and it deserves the three votes, even if it meant rebelling!

Again, how sweet of John to buy you an overpriced SD card and the Pop pin - he sure is a keeper!!

 

[DisneyFirefly]

That's so sweet of John I think the resolution on your camera may have been too high for your card to store as many pictures as the card said it could. A higher resolution means that the picture file will be larger, which reduces the amount of pictures you can store in that resolution. I'd look into that, just in case

 

[stephielela]

Awwww what a sweet hubby! We saw gingerbread houses at the Polynesian, but I never noticed any anywhere else... I love that Up one too! I would have voted for it a few times myself!

 

[Cat0727]

Your Woody meet was one of the best character interactions I've ever read about! John standing to the side is hilarious

Aww the UP gingerbread house is adorable! It's very creative. And double awww to John for being so thoughtful! He is a keeper for sure!

 

[Nermel9]

I love the gingerbread houses, I hope the one you voted for won, since you broke the rules and voted for it 3 times!

Oh no, one of my biggest Disney fears is filling up my memory card! I know it wouldn't be the worst thing ever, since you can always buy a new one, but it just scares me for some reason! That was so nice of John to get you a new one and a Pop pin, it's adorable!

 

[chunkymonkey]

Hi Joni! Just wanted to say that I have been reading your TR but just haven't had time to post! But I love love love your meet n greet with Woody!! Soooo cute. Your t-shirt is adorable too! Is that from the Disney store? I love TS t-shirts. They make the cutest stuff!

Your husband is super sweet to get you the pin and the overpriced SD card. He seems to know exactly what you need!

 

[dancin_princess]

Joni, I'm so sorry. I've been MIA for so long, but I'm determined to get caught up tonight.

The colors on that Jungle Cruise sign are pretty. I also enjoy the puns of the dialogue on JC. Although, it is best to be on a cruise with people who have a sense of humor.

The Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake looks scrumptious, I love toffee and caramel.

Philharmagic is my favorite 3D show. I enjoy it so much, that when I am bored, I watch it on YouTube.

I'm not a parent either but those parents were awful! It's no wonder their son had a runny nose and bad cough.

I'm glad I snapped pictures of Toontown. It's sad that it's only a memory now but I look forward to all the new changes.

Very cute jacket, glad you were able to find something warm.

Just looking at your pictures of IASM made the song get stuck in my head, which made me think of the scene from The Kingdom Keepers.

Your pictures of the castle came out very good. I didn't get a chance to watch your video yet but I subscribed to your channel so I can go back later and watch it.

RRnRC is my all time favorite ride too (followed by EE)

You're Scrooge McDuck came out really good.

lol @ Full House Indy ref.and the thought of someone randomly shouting out "STEVE!"

Awesome for having best score of the hour at TSM, it is very cool.

LOL at John getting freaked out by the water at Little Mermaid.

Oh gross, I literally gagged when I read that the kid sneezed in your face.

Your dinner at Primetime looked so yummy, 3 kinds of meat, awesome.

The first picture with you and Woody is so cute. Matter of fact, I liked all the Woody pics. That is the best character interaction I have heard. It made me laugh, and I told my boyfriend and he laughed too.

Aww so sweet of John to surprise you with an SD card and a Pop pin.

There, I am all caught up.

 

[therussells08]

I just read your TR this far, thanks for the chapter links! I'm hooked. I'm heading over to your PTR next!

I'm glad the chapter links were helpful! Thanks for reading along!

Joni, what an incredible husband you have!!! I understand completely the devastation that can be caused by a full memory card. I was in England just a few weeks ago and when mine maxed out, you'd have sworn I just lost my best friend, it was tragic! And Disney of all places is NOT the place to run out of photo ops!

Thank you! He is so wonderful, and so tolerant of my craziness! I am the exact same way with my memory card! I just can't imagine being on a trip and not having pictures of everything to remember it!

What a fun update! Woody sounds like a blast! That is so funny how he was ignoring John - I love the bunny ears picture!

Woody was great! So much fun! John had a blast meeting him and goofing off with him!

I AM CAUGHT UP YAYY!

Thanks for coming over to check out my TR's too! I'm so glad you did!

I loved loved LOVEDD all of the updates. It's really cool to read it from your guys's point of view because you haven't been on every single ride yet! I have, and although it's great, I still wish I had some of that first time surprise factor. They haven't made a new ride for my entire high school career! But thankfully that'll change once fantasyland is expanded!

As for the Animal Kingdom music from the safari... I have that! Except the problem is I don't exactly remember where i downloaded it from I wish I knew how to send it to you! Is there a way to do that? I don't know.

I love all of your food reviews! I always get so excited to read them haha

And I'm going for Christmas this year!! So this is PERFECT because I don't know a lot about the Holiday season at WDW! I love reading about all of the seasonal stuff

Can't wait for the next update!!

Yay! Thanks for taking all the time to catch up!

I am loving your TRs! They are so much fun!

I'm glad you liked all of the updates! I wish I had known about the DIS on our first trip in 2007, because EVERYTHING was new to us then, and it was the most magical experience ever!

I have no idea if you can send it or not. I'm not great with technology! But thanks for thinking about me! I actually got the idea for wanting to download that song again when I heard it on one of your videos from your TR!

Yay! I'm glad the food reviews are a hit. They're a lot of fun to write! Next time I want to do a rating system like you did!

That is so cool that you are going during Christmastime this year! It really was magical! I can't wait for that TR!

You can buy a cd with the song on Amazon for $24.99. That's quite a lot of money for one song though.
http://www.amazon.com/African-Dawn-Various-Artists/dp/B00000AGIP

I had an SD card give me an error message on our trip to Chicago last year. Couldn't take any more pictures at the Field Museum and still haven't taken the card to see if the pictures can be salvaged off of it onto a disc somewhere. In shopping for a new card I found a cool two story Target downtown with an escalator for your shopping cart.

Thanks for sharing that link with me! That is quite a bit for one song...maybe I'll get it after this upcoming trip!

That stinks about your card, but at least you made a cool new discovery! I hate when cameras mess up on vacation. It's so upsetting!

 

[therussells08]

I don't remember seeing gingerbread houses when we were there! I wonder if they were put up later or if I just missed them. Oh well. But I do love the one you voted for too. Up is one of my favorites!!

Your DH is definitely a keeper. I am grateful as that means you'll have pictures for the rest of your updates

Oh, and it's cool to know we live so close!

The gingerbread houses were right along that little walkway between the gift shop and the food court. They might have put them up on Christmas Day or something!

I'm so grateful for John doing that, because we ended up taking about a million more pictures on the new SD card!

That is really cool that we live so close!

Wow Joni you have an incredible husband!! I was getting emotional reading this post - silly I know

Good luck with finding the song that is played on the KS radio. Love the explanation of the TR title!

I saw them gingerbread houses on another TR and they look great, don't they? Have not seen the UP one before and it deserves the three votes, even if it meant rebelling!

Again, how sweet of John to buy you an overpriced SD card and the Pop pin - he sure is a keeper!!

Thank you so much! That's not silly at all! I get emotional everytime I think about him! He's so wonderful!

Thanks! I thought that title was fitting, especially since we spent so much time trying to beat the crowds!

Those gingerbread houses were awesome! The Up one just blew me away! I hate to cheat for it!

Thank you again! I am so glad to have him.

That's so sweet of John I think the resolution on your camera may have been too high for your card to store as many pictures as the card said it could. A higher resolution means that the picture file will be larger, which reduces the amount of pictures you can store in that resolution. I'd look into that, just in case

I'm telling ya, he's a doll! I never thought about the resolution, but I bet you're right! I never check that stuff!

Awwww what a sweet hubby! We saw gingerbread houses at the Polynesian, but I never noticed any anywhere else... I love that Up one too! I would have voted for it a few times myself!

Thank you! I'm lucky to have him! I couldn't get over that Up house. I'm sure it won by a landslide!

Your Woody meet was one of the best character interactions I've ever read about! John standing to the side is hilarious

Aww the UP gingerbread house is adorable! It's very creative. And double awww to John for being so thoughtful! He is a keeper for sure!

Woody was great! John was such a good sport about it too! It was so much fun!

I thought the UP house was super creative too! What a great Disney twist!

Thank you! He's the best!

 

[therussells08]

I love the gingerbread houses, I hope the one you voted for won, since you broke the rules and voted for it 3 times!

Oh no, one of my biggest Disney fears is filling up my memory card! I know it wouldn't be the worst thing ever, since you can always buy a new one, but it just scares me for some reason! That was so nice of John to get you a new one and a Pop pin, it's adorable!

I hope it won too! I threw my morals to the wind for that darn house!

I understand completely, I had a mini breakdown when mine filled up. At first John was like, "Can't you just delete some?" and I was just like .

Hi Joni! Just wanted to say that I have been reading your TR but just haven't had time to post! But I love love love your meet n greet with Woody!! Soooo cute. Your t-shirt is adorable too! Is that from the Disney store? I love TS t-shirts. They make the cutest stuff!

Your husband is super sweet to get you the pin and the overpriced SD card. He seems to know exactly what you need!

Thank you for reading along! I'm glad you're here!

Woody was so much fun! I want to meet him again on our next trip! That shirt did come from the Disney Store! They have another one now that's on sale for $9.99. It says something about Mr. Right and has Woody and Jessie on it I think!

Thank you! I'm lucky to have him!

Joni, I'm so sorry. I've been MIA for so long, but I'm determined to get caught up tonight.

The colors on that Jungle Cruise sign are pretty. I also enjoy the puns of the dialogue on JC. Although, it is best to be on a cruise with people who have a sense of humor.

The Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake looks scrumptious, I love toffee and caramel.

Philharmagic is my favorite 3D show. I enjoy it so much, that when I am bored, I watch it on YouTube.

I'm not a parent either but those parents were awful! It's no wonder their son had a runny nose and bad cough.

I'm glad I snapped pictures of Toontown. It's sad that it's only a memory now but I look forward to all the new changes.

Very cute jacket, glad you were able to find something warm.

Just looking at your pictures of IASM made the song get stuck in my head, which made me think of the scene from The Kingdom Keepers.

Your pictures of the castle came out very good. I didn't get a chance to watch your video yet but I subscribed to your channel so I can go back later and watch it.

RRnRC is my all time favorite ride too (followed by EE)

You're Scrooge McDuck came out really good.

lol @ Full House Indy ref.and the thought of someone randomly shouting out "STEVE!"

Awesome for having best score of the hour at TSM, it is very cool.

LOL at John getting freaked out by the water at Little Mermaid.

Oh gross, I literally gagged when I read that the kid sneezed in your face.

Your dinner at Primetime looked so yummy, 3 kinds of meat, awesome.

The first picture with you and Woody is so cute. Matter of fact, I liked all the Woody pics. That is the best character interaction I have heard. It made me laugh, and I told my boyfriend and he laughed too.

Aww so sweet of John to surprise you with an SD card and a Pop pin.

There, I am all caught up.

Don't apologize! I totally understand! Sometimes life gets in the way of Disney fun!

Wow, thank you for taking the time to read everything! That's awesome!

Stay tuned, because your special appearance in this TR is still to come!

 

[therussells08]

I can’t remember what time we woke up the next morning, but I’m going to take a guess and say the butt crack of dawn. As soon as I got out of the bed I realized that my cold had finally won; I felt terrible. I popped some Dayquil and tried to brush it off. I left the room actually feeling pretty good. I don’t think the bubonic plaque could stop me from at least trying to have a good time at Disney!

We went to the parking lot, defrosted the car headache, and headed to Epcot!

I know we got there before opening because the lot was really empty. We parked in the Imagine lot and walked to the entrance. The place was so empty that the trams weren’t even running yet, so it was a pretty short walk.

Merry Christmas you big beautiful golf ball! (Now say that in the George Bailey voice from It’s a Wonderful Life!) John has always called Spaceship Earth the golf ball, so it stuck with me too!

We made it through the bag check in record time, and I had to take one more picture of the Epcot symbol in all its glory!

We decided to use the same strategy as the day before, so John walked with purpose to get Fast Passes for Soarin’ while I warmed up in Mouse Gears. It was really weird being in there so early because I think I was literally the only person in the store! I would have taken some fun merchandise pictures but I didn’t want to uncover my freezing cold fingers!

John called me within just a few minutes to tell me he had the Fast Passes and we decided to meet up at Test Track. I left Mouse Gears through some random exit that just so happened to come out almost right next to Test Track. As I was walking along this pretty path I couldn’t help notice again how stinking empty the place was!

Unfortunately my good mood was shattered when John and I met up and realized that Test Track was closed! Plus, we couldn’t get Fast Passes because we had just gotten them for Soarin’! We asked a CM standing nearby when the ride would open back up and he said they weren’t sure. GRRR!

Refusing to let this get us down, we decided to take a trip to Mars!

Mission: Space is one of John’s absolute favorite rides, but I’m not too crazy about it. Honestly, it kind of freaks me out the way it compresses your chest when you’re “taking off”. I always feel like I can’t breathe. The last time I rode it I actually had a panic attack that took awhile to get over, so I was hesitant to ride it this time. However, my desire to see Gary Sinise took over and I decided to ride the Green side while John went on the Orange side.

I rode with three really nice girls, but I can’t for the life of me remember what my job was. The Green side was way less intense though, so I avoided a panic attack and I got to see Gary Sinise!

Even though I rode the Green side John still finished before me and he was waiting when I exited the ride.

We decided to give Test Track another shot, but it was still a no go, and Fast Passes were disappearing with lightning speed!

We figured while we were in the area we might as well ride Spaceship Earth!

This was one of the rides that we didn’t try for the first time until our 5th or 6th trip. It’s another one that John loves and I’m not too crazy about. I really enjoy the personalized part where you imagine your future, but the ride itself kind of gives me the creeps. I’m not sure why, but something about being able to see those triangle things that are on the golf ball from the inside freaks me out! Maybe it’s because you can really tell how huge they are. I dunno, I’m weird!

I wish I had taken pictures of our “future,” but I totally forgot! I’m sorry!

After riding in the golf ball we tried Test Track one more time. Nope. Fast Passes were already for in the late evening at this point too. Double GRRR!

Next we decided to mosey on over to The Seas and see if we could find Nemo!

There’s something about the queue for this ride that I just adore. I think it’s all the fake sand. I really feel like I am at the beach!

We hopped in our clam and guess what! We found Nemo! Sorry if I spoiled the ending for anyone who hasn’t ridden it!

After our undersea adventure we hung around to check out a few more of our underwater friends!

I love manatees! They’re just big grey lumps, but still so cute! I took a video of these guys, but it was pretty much just them eating lettuce, so I didn’t figure it would be a must see for everyone!

As we were wandering around The Seas John took a picture of that giant Bruce to text to his friend Gilman. Gilman has a horrible fear of sharks, so of course John had to be a good friend and try to terrify him with that picture! Boys.

UGH! Eels are so creepy! I think that eels are my least favorite animal, next to three toed sloths. However, I do like to eat them on dragon rolls!

NEMO! I tried to get a picture of Dory too, but she kept forgetting to stop and pose!

We hung around a little bit longer because I really wanted to see the bottlenose dolphins and sea turtles, but I couldn’t get a good view of either.

After a few minutes I gave up and we decided to move onto our next stop!

Up Next: Someone tries to get fresh with me in the Land! Stay tuned!

 

[stephielela]

Loved your Epcot update! I'm sorry Test Track was being uncooperative, I get the impression it's closed a lot. I don't love it, so I skipped it last trip anyways, but I think Jack will be tall enough this year, so we migth give it a go.

 

[Tracy161]

I love Epcot sooo much!!! Even though you had some bad luck with Test Track, just being in Epcot is amazing! I can completely relate to your incident on Mission: Space (orange side). The one and ONLY time I ever rode orange I nearly had a panic attack too and had to bang on the doors for someone to get me out! I won't be making that mistake again...

 

[Parla]

Sorry about Test Track. We've only ridden it once and I'm really looking forward to riding again.

I really love Spaceship Earth. It's that slow ascent. It feels like your lying down relaxing yet you're on a ride.

I'm all for the chicken side of Mission Space. I never want to go through what it did to me when I rode before they had green and orange.

You mention empty parks a lot but I know you were there during a busy time. Do you use anything like Touring Plans of Tour Guide Mike?

I really hope you got to ride TT.