Ooh, the monorail DOES smell funny... (almost finished!) [11/30-12/17, 2010]

[bumbershoot]

Why are there UP borders when there's NOTHING to do with that movie in the parks anymore? Why? What am I supposed to put the Ellie grape soda button graphic on???? Grr.

Silly photopass...



I also cannot add a border with, for example, the castle, to a picture not taken at MK.

Yeah, I think it's best that I not get the CD in the future....

 

[kaoden39]

I always want to get the cd, I never get the pictures to support it so I don't. On my text trip I don't want it. I will still do all of the photo pass pictures, because I love doing it. Now, but I never used to.

 

[bumbershoot]

I have the Golden Globes on right now, which is usually tricky with a kid in the room, but it's also pretty fun, because you see how many actors do stuff in "kids" movies. Or, well, just movies that my kid has seen.

So...Johnny Depp (Jack Sparrow), Natalie Portman (he just calls her Amidala), Jeff Bridges (voice of Big Z and from Tron), Ricky Gervais ("he was, he was, he was in Night at the Museum!!!"), Tom Hanks and Tim Allen (the kid said "Who is Woody" then "ohhhhh" when I reminded him LOL), Colin Firth (Mamma Mia, can't really let him watch that anymore, he's starting to ask too many questions about the more adult parts!)...that's all I can think of right now.



omg this "real life casting call" ad is hurting my brain. I wish I'd pursued acting soooooooooo much sometimes....just too chicken. Can't be chicken and be an actor.



Poor Robert, got upgraded to first class for his flight back to the States...hope they give him some swag. I live for the swag he brings home when he gets upgraded... My fave pen is from Asiana; second fave is from Delta. It's actually a triangle instead of a cylinder.

 

[bumbershoot]

Still doing the pictures. Keep having to sign out then back in. It's hilarious how few pictures we got, and how many versions you can get, just to have options when you go to print them....

I think I turned 13 pictures from one of the parks into 97?

 

[kaoden39]

I watched the Golden Globes at 5pm because for some reason our NBC showed it then. I thought Ricky Gervais had some pretty bad jokes.

 

[kaoden39]

Still doing the pictures. Keep having to sign out then back in. It's hilarious how few pictures we got, and how many versions you can get, just to have options when you go to print them....

I think I turned 13 pictures from one of the parks into 97?

That is the only way to get your money out of the cd.

 

[bumbershoot]

Well, I'd feel better about the money (remember, with WDW it's $40 more than DLR unless I could somehow get a DLR ID number onto it, if only my brother were into Disneyland, I could send him!) if I'd gotten more actual images taken. Because editing the few into many just gives me more choices, but I won't end up using all of those choices.

I should have had Sherry put her card ID number onto my account! Shh, don't tell anyone I talked about wishing I could share with someone...

But if we'd managed a DLR trip (my pix will expire in about 10 days so I suppose there's still a chance LOL), I could have just paid DLR price, and could have gotten a refund of the pre-purchase CD price...dagnabit.

 

[kaoden39]

Ooh, ooh, I say trip!! Trip, trip, trip!!!

 

[bumbershoot]

The silly thing is that I was GOING TO take a quick trip from the 7th to the 10th of this month, but then kindheartedly decided to not take it, feeling it was more important to get new mattresses for everyone instead. Silly silly me....

 

[kaoden39]

I tell you those silly responsible decisions will get you every time.

 

[bumbershoot]

Seriously.

And we got the mattress sets on a good sale, so I still could have...but the airfare had gone up. Dangit.

 

[kaoden39]

Aren't airfares outrageously ridiculous? I cannot believe how much they are.

 

[bumbershoot]

Well...not to the places I've been looking, at the times I've been looking. But it went up from the really cheap rate (to me) that I wanted, so it outpriced my wallet and mind.

Gah, I do have to get airfare to Phoenix soon, though, got a family reunion to attend! Have been TRYING to make it "convenient" to land at SNA, go to DLR, get a rental car and drive, but I cannot make that convenient. DH wants to try to make it convenient to get to San Diego for a visit to my brother, then borrow SIL's Durango and drive from there, but again, can't make it convenient LOL.


And now I just found out that Robert's brother wants us all to chip in and send MIL to Korea again this year...whimper...so much for paying off DVC 7 years early...mattresses, bed frames, Robert's online coursework, family reunion, trying to get to DLR (canNOT make it work so upgrading to a Premiere AP is, eh em, convenient) for a couple days, AND getting another WDW trip in there since we did upgrade to APs...my bank account is shrieking right now... And Robert has developed so much financial trust in me that he just wants me to do it, he gets all Tim Gunn on me..."make it happen"...

 

[kaoden39]

I love Tim Gunn.

 

[bumbershoot]

I promise I'll get to the next day soon! We went to Magic Kingdom! We had food! The weather acted up! So did my aunt! LOL. I'll do it, I promise!



In the meantime, y'all gotta read this. It's absolutely the sort of experience I might have had with the Universal TMs, who were awesome. By the way, grab some tissues before you get to the last half or so of the story...

 

[kaoden39]

Aw geez Molly now I'm crying. Thank you for sharing the story.

 

[bumbershoot]

December 5, day 6​

This morning we had to get up and go, as we all had ADRs at Crystal Palace at the Magic Kingdom (here's a map of the park). We were supposed to have breakfast before the park opened, so things moved a lot faster than the other mornings.

I should mention that on the other mornings when things were relaxed, I was actually quite OK with it. It was a weird feeling, like an alien had invaded my brain and taken away my will to yelp at the slowpokes, but the invasion was complete because I could think about how I would have normally minded, but I didn't mind on those days.

But on this morning, we had to scoot. We chose to drive, because things had been a bit iffy with the buses. Since I didn't keep notes (what a bad decision) we have to logic it out, and by doing so we realize that on the FIRST night, my aunt and husband decided to see if car or bus was faster when we all went home. Remember, we'd met up, then we took the bus to DHS, got the message that our room was ready, went back to the room, then we drove in. Even though we were parked pretty close, my aunt didn't really want to walk, and chose the bus to get home that evening. Robert chose to go with her. Well...there were problems. There weren't that many people in line for OKW, and their "new" bus system goes by sheer number of people, NOT on length of time. Supposedly there are videocameras, and it's monitored. Of course, me being me, I can't help but wonder what might have happened if Auntie had feigned a serious health problem on camera...but I digress even more than I mean to.

So no bus came, no bus came, no bus came....40 minutes, no bus came to go back to OKW (other buses came and went from the area). Robert kept calling (don't know who) to see if a bus would come, they said that a bus would come when it came...no bus no bus no bus. Finally a bus going to Saratoga Springs stopped for them. They would be dropped off AFTER SSR was finished. So they got on the bus, and it took ages. There were others with them trying to go to OKW (just not enough to trigger a properly assigned bus I guess) because they had a reservation at Olivia's, the one table service at OKW. They had a late seating; it was their last table service on their last night on the Dining Plan...the next morning they were checking out and flying home. Since no one had the phone number to Olivia's, Robert called us back at the room, to find out when it closed...sadly, those people ended up at OKW without being able to eat, because it closed before they got anywhere near the resort.

Robert and Auntie got home upwards of 2 hours later than we did.

And waiting for buses in the morning was kinda weird.

So anyway, even though "everyone" says that, in general, taking Disney transportation is best to Magic Kingdom, we drove, because we were going in so early.

We ended up with supremo parking spots in the lot. You leave your car, cross a lane, walk under a thing, up a thing (isn't this thrilling?), and eventually you get up onto the monorail (I think there's a boat, too, and I wish we'd taken that but I was not the boss). Walking along...

We came into the same area that we'd been for the resorts day the day before, and went through bag check, found a line to get us in.

What we realized as the hour continued was that...they'd opened early! So we were not alone in the parks...nope, there were more people there than just those there for early breakfast. Dagnabit!

Oh well...it was still cool.

We had a big family picture done, but that was put on cousin's photopass card, which has now expired unless she did something with it. Drat. Just like our Test Track picture, it would have been a good "before" picture for me and Robert LOL.

Off to breakfast!

We saw Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore, Pooh, the usual. The food was pretty good, our server sounded JUST like Heidi Klum. They had some sort of insane pastry thing that was good, but I cannot for the life of me remember what it was. Helpful, I know!

The room was like the pretty part of the Plaza at Disneyland, with the delicate windows and all. But the place is HUGE.

While we were eating, we suddenly noticed that it was absolutely positively POURING outside. And of course we'd left our ponchos back at the room, not knowing it was going to rain (I know it's FL, but it really wasn't scheduled to rain much at all during our stay). But more importantly, Little Missy's stroller was out in the rain, completely uncovered. They hadn't even put the sunshade up. Whoopsie. Poor chicklet.


After we ate, we had to take care of the stroller, so that she wasn't wet-bottomed all day. And from there we moved along!

First thing we did was the first thing we came to. Swiss Family Treehouse!

Interesting, in pictures, this looks much more real than it did in real life; in person it looked like the material was cracking. Emphasis on "material". In the picture it just looks like bark. Hmm.

They have little RC boats over in the SWT/Aladdin/Jungle Cruise area. We didn't drive any, but how cool!

Aladdin was cute. Always my fave way to start a morning (after a big breakfast or not), going around in circles and up and down (and front-up/back-down and reverse it as well!)...

Next up was Jungle Cruise, which was pretty fun. So weird to see it with FP!

Then POTC, which was dark and spooky and different and the same, and I missed Disneyland's version. I wish they could somehow combine the entrance of the two versions...I love going down and under the bridge to get into the very beginning of the DL line, but I also liked the entrance to MK's version. I didn't really like the dark dungeon-like hallways of MK's, but I also don't particularly like the "oh noes, gotta put these people SOMEWHERE, wrap them around here towards the back of this building" thing that DL's does.

Now, not everyone was going on everything. My aunt doesn't like many rides, though I think it's mainly because her knee doesn't allow her to get into the ride. It's such a bummer. She and my dad are around the same age and have knee problems, and both are refusing to go forward with fixing them. I understand, I really do. Surgery is scary frightening horrifying stuff. So I get that. But...in that case...get some wheels! Get yourself more mobile in situations like this. Ya know? Don't just sit out and be miserable all day because you can't step down and can't step up and all that...figure out a way to work with this. If anything, having wheels, even if you have to transfer into the vehicle, might get you on the ride in a spot where you have more TIME, you know? So she skipped Jungle Cruise and POTC, and Swiss Family Treehouse, and, hmm, Aladdin. Not much fun for little Nemo, I mean, for my auntie, is it? Hugs to Auntie..

Next up was Big Thunder Mountain Railroad...well, at least, FPs were up for that. The real ride we wanted was Splash. My cousin and her husband SWORE that they had never been soaked at all on the ride, and there was nothing to worry about. I still do not know if they were joking or not. Because, of course, with Robert on the ride, ya get wet.

While Auntie and her two grandchildren (one too short, the other with no interest) went off to ride around the park on the Railroad, the 5 of us went on Splash. Up front was cousin and her hubby, then me and E, then Robert...the two in the front were SOAKED, head to toe.

They take a great ride picture, E was doing some awesome "this is totally wicked!!!" look, and Robert was being pretty cool too. I gave my normal "I hate the universe and want to appear 25 years older and 50 pounds heavier than I already am" look. But because of the other 4, I did the unthinkable. I bought the picture.

Oh, I didn't just buy the picture...I bought a *package*. I bought enough for each little unit of the family could have a picture.

It was fun to buy the package. I might have to do that more often. With all the funds I'll have available from NOT doing the Photopass CD in the future.


Taking a break here...

 

[kaoden39]

That is too bad about the picture in front of the castle.

 

[bumbershoot]

December 5, day 6 continued​

Our BTMRR fastpasses should have come "up" by that time, but the ride was down! Noooo. Meh, it was OK.

So we went awandering through the area. Happily, I saw a popcorn cart with the adorable Mickey Snowman bucket, and a few of those were purchased by the extended family.

Then we saw the building housing Country Bear Jamboree, and after some wrangling, everyone but me and Eamon went to see it. I don't have huge urges to see it, and for some reason Eamon got really freaked about the thought of it (he's seen the movie they made from the show, and liked the movie, but I think he imagined what it was going to be like in a room with big bears and got nervous). Robert had been weird about skipping rides, and this moment was no exception, but since I didn't really want to see it either, we took the opportunity to have some mom/son time. Went into a shop and E got to play some checkers with a Cast Member...that was a nice moment.

Then it was on to the Riverboat, which was a nice break...

I was then shocked because both of the boy cousins wanted to go on Haunted Mansion! Eamon refuses HM at Disneyland except for when he's protected by Jack Skellington. And cousin-E doesn't seem to like being scared...but they asked if they could sit with me so I could protect them, and who can resist that?

They are doing work on the line of HM, so the queue wasn't anything to write about, just a line. My E wasn't thrilled about being spooked, and he really missed Jack Skellington.

Finally Big Thunder was open again, and we leapt at the chance! It was fun and exciting.

**************

From the setup as it appears on the map, I thought I would be confused all day, thinking that it was just slightly different from Disneyland. I was not. I was confused, but that was just b/c I didn't know what was coming next. But to me it was *entirely* different. Some of the same rides, in very different places. That's how it was for me, at least.

***************

From there, we knew we needed to get a few FPs to Space Mountain. For some unknown not understood who knows why we did this reason, cousin's hubby, Robert, and I all went over there. The others went on IASW, which, it turned out, had a HORRIBLE wait time. The three of us went over to Tomorrowland, and went slowly...all the while, the others were in an interminable line.

So when we got back, FPs in hand, and the rest of the group finally emerged from small world, they were miserable. It's hard to enjoy a ride that you've waited an hour for. Ugh.

And it was at this point that my Auntie had had enough. It was semi-warm and definitely sunny and she didn't have a hat and she just wanted to go home (and these people don't fill their tummies through the day!). Okey dokey, no problem! Robert made her take a water with her, and even though she didn't want it, she was glad to have it. She made it home just fine via Disney transportation, and got some relaxing in, which was GOOD. She also had a bottle or two of brewed and hoppy "chemicals", which was also good.

The kids and cousin who had just been on IASW went over to Peter Pan (with cousin's hubby), and Robert and I decided to ride IASW, whose line was now much diminished. It was still a bit of a wait, but it was the same as PP's wait. I wanted to ride PP, but wanted to see IASW more. You see, I LOVE small world. I had the record album and played it so many times my stepmom nearly killed me (I found this out at our wedding rehearsal, I believe). Love love love the ride and song.

Well, it turns out I don't like it when there's more than a 30 minute wait!

Oh, I also don't like it when we are put in the *same row* on the boat as another couple. Seriously, who does this? Our seater, that's who. Squashed two slightly bigger than average adults with two bigger than average adults on what we (me and Robert, and probably the two slightly bigger than average adults as well) had kind of hoped to be a semi-romantical (the made up word "romantical", to me, just means "sigh, this is nice", not "romantic" meaning "smoochy smoochy") time with just the two of us. Instead, it was the four of us, with no one's arm around anyway.

Silly seating CM...(and yes, I double-checked with him, and yes, I should have refused)...

The 3 kids and 2 adults that went on PP were still in line when we got out. So I took the opportunity to clean out my backpack. Found my cookie that I'd bought our Epcot evening, LOL. Not so good nearly 2 full days later!


Once it was just the "kids", LOL, meaning the cousins and husbands and their kids which don't keep the cousins from also feeling like kids, the fun level went up just a notch. Or moved over. Something. It was different. Mothers and daughters have complicated relationships, and sometimes it's nice to have just one of the combo.


So we all went on the spur of the moment to Mickey's PhilharMagic. This was not on my list *at all* to do, but it seemed right at the moment. And it was really good! So much better than I'd expected. Hit the spot.


When we came out, cousin took her daughter to get a souvenir (she bought a fuzzy wand pen), and we found....

He just walked right out in front of us, and E&E were first in the line to see him.

I used to think I liked the scheduled meet and greets with characters (mainly so I could know when and where to NOT be), but every so often that sort of thing will happen, and it makes Eamon so happy...so it's nice.

 

[kaoden39]

Mickey's PhilharMagic is high on my list of things I want to do.

I hate when they seat you with another couple. Seriously I will wait thanks.