Operation Big Thunder: the Dole Whip Conspiracy COMPLETE

[middlepat]

Nice update there Captain. Glad to see you got the most out of your visit to Canada.

As for your "lie" I have to think that this is where you are bending the truth.

We tried to brighten someone’s day by giving away the rest of our Soarin’ FastPasses, but every time we tried to get someone’s attention to give them away, they looked at us like we were growing tentacles and steered clear. We could not give away Soarin’ FastPasses. So, Sarah and I shrugged and went on the ride, and had an awesome time.

As viable as your story may be, I would think that there would be some poor schlub (as a fellow schlub I should know) who would graciously accept a stranger's offering of free fast passes.

 

[GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes]

We looked for animals from the balcony, but couldn’t see any.

Time to do something foolish (like that’s an unusual occurrence). I’m going to disregard what my eyes see and call that last sentence the lie for this chapter. I say that you did see a few critters that morning; they’re just not in the picture you posted.

 

[glennbo123]

I'll say that the lie has to do with the extra Soarin' fastpasses. I think you didn't attempt to give them away....when the other family members opted out, you and Sarah high-fived and said "more rides for us!"

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Godfather.

Jill in CO

+1

Game over man = Aliens

+1

Our mission, and we chose to accept it,

Mission Impossible.

pulsar level five, subsonic implosion factor two

Men in Black

Jill in CO

+2

we boldly go where no one has gone before

Star Trek

+1

ETA: not sure whether it is a real direct quote and whether you need a specific film or so - but I am so happy that I recognised something!!

Luckily, the most recent film was called "Star Trek". Good job, you're on the board!

Sounds like a wonderful start to your two days in the parks! I am amazed that Scotty would go on Mission Space!! He is starting to grow up I guess.

Yeah, we keep telling the kids to stop growing, and they just won't listen.

Both of the boys are very cautious. I can't be surprised, because I was the same way growing up. The hard part about encouraging them to try new things is that I have to take the lead and set an example. So lately our motto has been that when you try a new experience, you only have 2 possible outcomes: either you find something you love, or you have a great story.

And your kids have very good taste to vote for the German drink!! It is very popular here, and they started selling a "zero" version of it some years ago.

Must be the German blood in both mine and my wife's families.

Mission Impossible II Our mission if we choose to accept
Men In Black pulsar level five, subsonic implosion factor two

Missed it by that much.

Love the pictures. They all turned out great. I am so glad the kids are all enjoying the rides so much.

Thanks! We're always hoping we get some good shots here and there.

And yeah for a Tink pin! I guess its going to be awhile before the Tooth Fairy is that "unlame" again.

Well, they better get used to it, because the Tooth Fairy is on a strict (i.e. non-Disney) budget.

It doesn't even look crowded. That's not how my Epcot morning looked.

It got more crowded as the day went, but we were honestly shocked that we moved around so easily on this first day. I think it was a Sunday and the EMH were at the Magic Kingdom, so we were betting everyone who had just arrived was heading there for the first day. The crowds seemed to bear that out.

Cyborgs don't feel pain = The Terminator

+1

Why are things so heavy in the future = Back to the Future

+1

 

[GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes]

Missed it by that much.

A "Get Smart" refference

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

We love Epcot too, every last one of us. We also discovered we really like Living with the Land. Our first time was in 2004 and it's a not miss every trip.

I have a feeling we'll be riding it quite a bit from here on out.

Sorry the others didn't like Soarin' as much. I agree with Julie and take a pass on Mission Space, shopping is so much better.

It's funny, because at home everyone talks about how much they love Soarin'. But then Sarah and I are the only ones who ride it multiple times.

I'll have to think about the lie.

There are quite a few candidates as I read over the chapter. I might give a hint on this one. We'll see.

I almost forgot, Tink did the Tooth Fairy duties for us too in 2007. Danielle thought it was way cooler than the regular tooth fairy. She lost it at diner in Crystal Palace. Tink Rocks!

Great minds think alike! Sounds like our daughters much prefer it when Tink handles tooth duties.

Why are things so heavy in the future?

Back to the Future

Jill in CO

Better go beat up Glenn for his point.

we were flying into a meteor shower, barely avoiding canyon walls and crashing through barriers to the edge of a cliff

Homage to Star Wars.

Jill in CO

No, I was just trying to describe the ride. And our lousy pilot.

Game Over could also be a reference to the movie Spy Kids 3D

I was going for Aliens there.

Nice hat picture.

Thanks! I think Scotty wears it well. Did he do your homeland proud?

A nice morning on the savannah and then onto EPCOT.

Having a car does make you feel spoiled doesn't it???

I really thought he whole parking thing might be a nightmare but I was pleasantly surprised.

SO much faster than the buses.

Going out on a limb and saying breakfast wasn't pop tarts and crappy coffee. It was crappy coffee and something else.

Remember, all meals were out of pocket on this trip. We had to skimp somewhere.

I need to try the new missions with Agent P.

Your enjoyment will depend on how much you enjoyed the Kim Possible missions. I'll explain in the next chapter (spoiler).

 

[declansdad]

Thanks! I think Scotty wears it well. Did he do your homeland proud?

He did but to be honest I've never seen those outside of the WS.

 

[that's nice]

Hey Mark. I finally had a minute, and by minute I mean a solid hour to sit down and read through your whole TR! (up to this point)

Just so you know, your Mission Log #10 link brings you to the wrong link.

What a great time at the beach. Relaxing with a side of sightseeing. Sounds like a win to me.

I cannot believe the kids didn't realize that you were heading south to Florida and ultimately Disney!!! I am impressed you and Julie were able to pull off the surprise! The video is great!

Your AKL room looks amazing! That is on our bucket list too. DW & I really want to stay there some day.

Great start in Epcot! I wonder why no one wanted your Soarin' FPs? You don't look like a psycho or a weirdo...

Hope to stay (mostly) up to date from here on out!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Yes, we're officially "lame". Sigh....this regular Tooth Fairy couldn't even fold the dollar special...

She's not even a a teenager yet. I thought we still had a couple of years before we were lame.

But we DID have pop-tarts and crappy coffee for breakfast.

Uh oh. Pat? Did you see this? Julie's giving hints already!

Absolutely spoiled. It's going to be hard to go back!

We still have to ride the monorail. It's not a Disney trip unless we ride the monorail.

We got quite a few compliments on them. (And I take orders if you'd like to purchase some before your next trip!)

Hey, you're getting in on the shameless plug action, too!

Final verdict: Soarin' is better than the Ski Lift from Hell.

So it's got that going for it, which is nice.

Yay nerds!! I was surprised at how MUCH they enjoyed it!

I'm just glad you still like nerds.

That sounds AWESOME!!!! If you ever come state side, can you pack some in your bag to share with me?

I don't think TSA would allow Mezzo Mix into the country. Pack it under some guns and knives and then you should be ok.

A day at the beach with your young’en over a DisMeet? Oh wait…
I’d have done that as well.

It was hard to blame him.

Magical, Terrestrial or “aromatic”?

Well, the latter has been around so much, it's not really a visitor anymore. More like an uninvited member of our extended family.

Not too shabby at all. That was mighty nice work on Tink’s part there
(and of her minions as well)

Good thing Tink's minions can improvise.

No, the moral of the story is that if you going to do anything…
literally anything under the sun…
you ought to do it a Disney.

If ever there was a Man Law that needed to be adopted, that's one right there.

Wait a minute… I thought you said that we wouldn’t be finding any of that there highbrow literature type stuff in this here TR, and now you go and start sticking stuff like that in here?

I'm sorry. I'll try and do better next time. Here, pull my finger.

Escapism trumps reality most of the time.

Hence the reason we keep going back to Disney World.

I thought you weren’t going to talk about that particular reality?

All that work to set up a joke, and this is how you re-pay me?

I’ve about convinced myself that this is the way to go. Unless…
You’re interested in riding the boats or monorails specifically.

I've heard there are a few of us that are interested in exactly that.

I’m pretty sure that I read something similar to that in a physics textbook somewhere.

Without falling asleep?

That may come under the heading of: “egregious error”

At the very least, they had Scotty running around.

Everyone in our house would agree with this as well

I’ve never done the green side. But I understand the vomit is still a distinct possibility on the green side as well, you just don’t get the G-forces.

The green side doesn't bother me at all, but I do know of people who just have trouble with motion simulators to begin with.

Surprising for July…
Hummmmmmm…

This was explained earlier, but we were surprised with lower crowds than we had been expecting.

Whoa…. quite the image there.

Actually, if Mr. Vitale would somehow be convinced to turn it down a notch, I would not be opposed.

That’s actually being rather kind.

Well, that's Barry's description. He's always been nice that way.

They can be taught!

They're no dummies!

...unless, of course, I made the whole thing up.

I thought about saying that you could be taught as well, but you knew better and still took that first sip.
In our house, one of us would have been quick to point out that you’d just violated Rule-13.

Well, I am a dummy.

...unless, of course, I made the whole thing up.

Which means that now we all get to laugh at you.

Like that was going to stop anytime soon.

Not bad… though I’m partial to the Mozambique Ginger Ale myself.

I detected more of an oak-y bouquet with that one, with graceful earth notes.

Do you ever read quotes like that from wine snobs and wonder how they know? I'm willing to bet they aren't walking around chewing on bark and mounds of dirt.

“Ain’t I a Stinker”

I knew I should have taken that left turn at Albuquerque.

Good catch…
You don’t want to promote any “disharmony aboard this ship”

Not until it serves my purposes, anyway.

Nooooooooooooooo!!!!

(and had you thought to have “lobsters crawling out of our ears” we’d have had a reference to one of my favorite films… maybe next time)

Sorry to disappoint you there. I know what you'll say when you win the contest:

"It's a major award!"

Tells me that one of y’all must have been piloting the first time.

I blame Dave, and certainly not his navigator.

Hummmmmmmm…

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

And England…
(unless you know of a secret passage that I’m unaware of)

I'm sure a lot of people get to Canada by going to Mexico then Norway then China then Germany then Italy then the U.S.A. then Japan then Morocco then France then England and then Canada.

That was from memory, too.

Goes with out sayin’ now don’t it?

My workday could be best described as horrific…
So needless to say I missed where this update got put up.

As such, I suspect that there are no quotes left unaccounted for, but I’m going to list the ones I found anyway. Feel free to ignore em’.

Those are indeed the quotes imbedded in this here chapter. I hereby award you one Attaboy.

 

[glennbo123]

Got that going for it, which is nice = Caddyshack reference

 

[glennbo123]

Left turn at Albuquerque = Bugs Bunny reference

 

[glennbo123]

You keep using that word. I do not think you know what it means. = Princess Bride

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Actually, Wendy (lovealldisney, not sure whether she is following along) found a mail order shop for German food where she ordered some Mezzo Mix for her family for Christmas. Maybe they have the zero version as well...

To be honest, I always wondered why they don't sell it in more places outside of Germany. I think in France they sell it as "diet coke with orange" like there is a "diet coke with lemon" version here. And an American friend told me about those Coke freestyle machines which can up with a million flavours, but they don't have Mezzo Mix apparently.

I don't see any reason why they shouldn't offer it here. It's a unique flavor that I think might do well.

I found it online at http://www.aumarche.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=store.prodDetail&prodID=1194

We make a version of this with cola and orange soda... If you get the proportions right it comes pretty close.

I am so excited...in a week I can convince my friends to try Beverly!!!! They went for the first time last year but didn't see Club Cool. we got pictures of my sister trying it last time I took her and I want more!

Hey, now we're talking! Julie will be happy to see this.

You can't go wrong with Beverly pictures! I just hope your friendship is solid enough to survive.

Yes I did find a web site to order Mezo Mix! But since then I've found a few German run stores here that sell it!! On top of that they also sell the Europe type orange Fanta as well! (YUM) so much better than American Fanta... If you ever have had Orangina it's it's simalar to that. I know that Woodman's grocery stores carry this and also Trader Joe's too. Here's a picture of it.

Anyway here is the web site you can order the Mezo Mix along with other German goodies! They were very quick to fill my order and ship! Enjoy!!

http://www.germandeli.com/

PS. I'm really enjoying your TR too...

Cool! Unfortunately it said they were out of stock when I checked it. I'll have to check back. Thanks for the link!

And Thanks for reading!

Hi Magdalene,

I haven't found any Mezzo Mix diet here at all.. that's ok as we like the full sugar version. It's a special treat.

I've tried making my on version of Mezzo with those freestyle coke machines it didn't taste anything like it... I think the differance is the orange soda in Europe taste so much different that our orange Fanta here. The orange soda in Europe is less sweet than ours... more like natural orange juice but with carbonation. YUM.....

That's ok, I'm very lazy. If I can have someone else mix it for me, that's always better.

 

[GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes]

"It's a major award!"

A Christmas Story

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Fun Epcot morning!

Ski lift from hell, that's funny. Well not really I'm sure. It is one way for Julie to get shopping in peace though I bet!

Julie didn't think it was so funny. The rest of us did, and made sure she knew about it.

Tink did much better, we've decided around here, the tooth fairy sucks. Or has Alzheimers....

We've had a few last-minute missions to get something under the pillow quickly, too. "Are you sure she didn't come? Did you check really carefully?"

Lie. You didn't try it.

I definitely tried the Beverly at some point in my lifetime.

Mmmm, European orange Fanta. I love that stuff. I carried it on by the gallons when I was on the Med cruise. It helped me kick my diet Coke addiction.

Have you ever tried the San Pellogrino blood orange soda? Mmm, tastes like European soda.

Jill in CO

Can't say that I have. I usually don't drink beverages with "blood" in the title, though.

I also have never eaten at the Yak and Yeti, mostly because I have a hard time with a restaurant that brags about "Yak".

ill say the lie was not everyone loved mission to mars this time around.

Are you saying kids who refused to get back on Soarin' would have trouble with Mission: Space?

Great Epcot morning!

We love driving to Epcot from AKL...especially for rope drop. You get "princess parking" (or I guess it could be "prince parking") and you can walk right to the gates!

I was really surprised how close to the entrance we were, even with the fact that we got up for Rope Drop.

I have to say that no matter how much I love Soarin', I just can't get it out of my head that I am 10, 20, or 30 feet above a hard concrete floor with just a belt around my waist. I always put the kiddie strap on when I get suckered into riding.

That was Julie's struggle, too. She remembered the ski lift feeling really unsteady underneath her and couldn't get it out of her mind when she got on Soarin'. She actually said the sensation of wind in her face on the ride really helped her.

My family loves Living With The Land!!! We ride it multiple times every trip! In May, my one goal was to ride it after dark during IllumiNations since they were keeping the Land pavillion open late. I got to do it, not once, but twice!! You wouldn't think it would be any different, but it's so cool going through the greenhouses at night.

That's an interesting idea. I've never tried it at night, but that sounds cool.

My daughter's favorite drink in the entire world is Mezzo Mix. Seriously. She makes us go to the World of Coca Cola a couple times a year just to get her fix.

That sounds expensive. Have you tried getting her hooked on Disney pins instead?

 

[MissLiz]

That sounds expensive. Have you tried getting her hooked on Disney pins instead?

Unfortunately, she's hooked on those, too.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

You have to feel sorry for the regular tooth fairy... she just doesn't have as much pixie dust to work with as her cousin Tink.

Yeah, she definitely got the short end of the stick as far as resources go.

That is like the start of a literary masterpiece. Not exactly what I'd expect to find here.

One of the best opening lines to a novel I've ever read came from "Try Darkness" by James Scott Bell. It begins:

"The nun hit me in the mouth and said, 'Get out of my house.'"

Tell me that doesn't make you want to read more.

Well, there really is no need to sugarcoat it if that's what you really did.

And there it is.

I've got to admit though, I don't even like so-called "good" coffee, but I'd gladly drink crappy Disney coffee every morning just to be there every morning.

Is there any way to make a Pop-Tart sound appealing?

And that's a great point about the coffee. It's all about the location. I hated coffee for the longest time and refused to drink it...then Dave was born.

I learned that if you put enough sugar in it, it tastes pretty good.

It is great! We have always driven, but then park the car for a week and just use Disney Transportation. It has always been like part of the vacation to not have to drive. With a stroller on the last trip, we started driving and loved it. Not to mention with the AAA front row parking pass.

Planning our upcoming trip, I've been trying to convince my parents that we should drive to the parks instead of taking the busses and they aren't quite on board with the idea. I guess we'll just wait to leave 15 minutes after they do and then wait another 15 minutes for them to get to the park.

It absolutely would be a great help with a stroller. We flew down on our last couple of trips, so Disney transportation was a must, and I really don't mind using it at all. But it really was a huge difference in travel time to be able to drive ourselves. I think Disney just needs to hire a quality transportation engineer full-time to help with the transit system.

Now that is a great feeling.

Yes. Yes, it is.

Not sure it can quite beat the "magic" of the Magic Kingdom, but EPCOT has always been a special place to me.

I feel like there are more rides I'm willing to skip in the MK. And my appreciation for the WS has grown since I've aged. Then again, it was a bummer that Test Track was closed for this trip.

Touring plan for the day: See a flag, go the other way.

This was easier said than done as the day went on.

Why wouldn't they love it? It is one of my favorites. I've wanted to work in the greenhouses there doing the experimental agriculture since I was little.

I'm not sure you qualify as an objective party. If they added some tractors, you'd probably never leave this one.

Just kidding. I can definitely see the appeal.

I hope you got over to the Studios so she could drag you on ToT...

Stay tuned....

First of all... wow!

Secondly, it is a reference to TV programming. College basketball on ESPN or more specifically, any Duke game on ESPN.

+1

I wasn't sure whether to give you a point, but the sly Duke joke won me over.

Maybe you should have had Darth Vader in your space ship?

Stay in formation. He actually does say that on the GPS.

I love that stuff.

You can have the Beverly since you liked it so much. I'm keeping the Mezzo Mix for myself.

I'm not sure if convincing another innocent family to try Beverly should be a Man Law or if it should be in violation of a Man Law. Either way, this subject should probably be addressed, but I have to say I'm fully in favor of tricking unsuspecting strangers into trying Beverly.

I'm glad you agree! Everyone should try it. It's a rite of passage.

Either that or Mexico, but everybody knows Canada is the quickest way to get there... unless you're coming from the Boardwalk area.

The weird thing is, you don't even have to climb any fences or go through any checkpoints if you go through Mexico.

Wow, the Key Lime Pie of Awesomeness and homemade Disney shirts. You are talented. So what can Mark do?

I draw a pretty good Abraham Lincoln stick-figure. And...um...

Pull my finger!

Nice update there Captain. Glad to see you got the most out of your visit to Canada.

I was disappointed there were no moose.

As for your "lie" I have to think that this is where you are bending the truth.

As viable as your story may be, I would think that there would be some poor schlub (as a fellow schlub I should know) who would graciously accept a stranger's offering of free fast passes.

You would think it would be a popular ticket, right? Then again, it's harder now that they're enforcing the return times...

Time to do something foolish (like that’s an unusual occurrence). I’m going to disregard what my eyes see and call that last sentence the lie for this chapter. I say that you did see a few critters that morning; they’re just not in the picture you posted.

The picture doesn't quite show the whole savannah, does it?

Then again, I will say that we were told by the staff that the animals were fed between 8-10 a.m. every morning, and they were used to the routine and knew where to be to get their food. But they also weren't forced to come in at that time.

I'll say that the lie has to do with the extra Soarin' fastpasses. I think you didn't attempt to give them away....when the other family members opted out, you and Sarah high-fived and said "more rides for us!"

I like that strategy. But would we have had enough time to do that before we had to meet up with the rest of the family?

A "Get Smart" refference

+1

 

[GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes]

Yes. Yes, it is.

Phineas and Ferb

 

[GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes]

Stay in formation.

Star Wars (IV)

 

[FreezinRafiki]

I told him it was no problem, it had worked out well and that spending time with his son was probably more important that meeting some weirdos from the internet anyway.

So I didn't have to drive all the way to Chicago last year? Sheesh, now you tell me.

We needn’t have worried. Sarah got a nice note from Tinkerbell! Turns out the Tooth Fairy asked Tink to do the honors since we were at Disney, and Sarah ended up with a Disney pin that she had been eyeing up in the gift shop the previous evening. Not too shabby!

That's dangerous territory. If the kids stopped to do the math they would see that those pins average about $7 a pop vs. the normal buck they get from the regular tooth fairy. Say the kids average about 17 teeth each, times 3 kids, times $7 that's ....let's see...carry the 3....well, it's a lot of money that the tooth fairy/Tinkerbell would have to spend on pins.

The morning dawned anew over the savannah. Doesn’t that sound adventurous? I’ve always wanted to write a sentence like that to describe our travels. I mean, it beats writing the usual stuff like, “We had Pop-Tarts and crappy coffee for breakfast.”

Nice, but still not as poetic as "we were up at the butt crack of dawn." At least for this poet.

For the first time, we drove our own van to the park instead of taking Disney transportation. And I have to say, this spoiled us rotten. The drive was easy, parking was free with the room key, and it was a huge difference in total travel time as compared to the bus. Not only that, we were early enough to get a space only 1 row back from the main walkway to the entrance.

Because when you're going to walk 8 miles a day in the park, that extra 50' in the parking lot can make all the difference!
Actually, I love getting there early enough that we can just walk and avoid the parking tram. Strollers are a real pain to get on and off, especially now that they have doors on the tram.

The verdict on this one? To my surprise, everyone loved it! I had thought it might be a little dry for the kids, but I should have counted on the fact that they come from good, nerdy genetic stock.

Never underestimate the power of a 9 pound lemon.

I’m not letting him get his driver’s license anytime soon, that’s for sure.

Let him practice at the Tomorrowland speedway.

Whenever we do Mission: Space, I like to give the Pilot grief for flying us into a meteor shower. Unfortunately, the kids have now figured out what Navigator means and successfully threw the blame back on me.

Nerd kids rule!

So how did everyone do? They did great! Scotty’s color was back in his face and he was proclaiming the ride “awesome”. Another ride conquered!

This time, Julie begged out of going again, convinced that the ride had actually been built by the lowest-bidder ski-lift guys from West Virginia.

It's not a movie quote, and it fits much better over with Mission Space, but I think it applies here as well.
"It's a very sobering feeling to be up in space and realize that one's safety factor was determined by the lowest bidder on a government contract." - Alan Shepard

Except we had the same pilot again! What are the odds?

Probably had the same chief flight attendant, too.

Journey Into Imagination had a 5-minute wait, which was obviously far too long to stand in line, so we skipped that one.

Maybe It's a Small World with have a more agreeable wait time for your touring plan.

But as everyone knows, before you go to France, you have to travel to Canada first, eh?

Unless you travel by map.