Operation Big Thunder: the Dole Whip Conspiracy COMPLETE

[FreezinRafiki]

I can’t prove it, but I am convinced the Disney Imagineers placed the United Kingdom Pavilion and France Pavilion in their precise locations so that, when making the walk from Canada, a visitor can stand on the bridge over the waterway and loudly pronounce, “I see London; I see France.” Tell me I’m wrong.

Wow, I've always gotten the story that the waterway represented the English Channel. Your story is clearly better.

Why? Well, we were hungry. It was getting on about 11:30 a.m., and we were still under the impression that summer crowds would be large, and we didn’t want to spend a large part of our day waiting in lines for food and a table.

If only there was a Lou Malotti's in Epcot....

Hopefully we’ll get more adventurous next time.

Yeeeaaaahhhhh. About that....

A burger. In my defense, they offered a burger that had bbq pulled pork piled on top of it. How can I say no to that?

OK, I can't fault you for that one. It sounds good.

We paid for the meal, and then the CM caught us off guard by saying, “Please step to the side. You’ve been selected for a Magical Moment.”

It's neat that you were selected, but saying "wait right there, our Magical Moment Response Team will be here shortly to provide your with Pixie Dust" just seems to fly in the face of the purely random and spontaneousness that I always thing Magical Moments are. Maybe that's just me...

All kidding aside, it was fun. We figured we’d better put on our snooty faces to properly enjoy the meal.

Snooty?
Snooty.
Snotty?
Snotty.

Nice job, Abe Froman.

If you’ve been in the Liberty Inn before, you know that they have replicas of the original colonial flags on the walls. We all decided that Delaware’s was extremely lame.

I didn't want to say anything, but yeah, it kind of is.

Oops. I guess we’d ended up letting evil rule the day just so I could stuff my face with a cheeseburger. Oh well, it was only France.

Wasn't the first time they've been invaded, won't be the last.

What? Too soon?

The recruiter chastised us for prioritizing lunch over saving one of our allies,

Yes. Where ever will we get our baguettes and smelly cheese from now?

I can’t decide which picture I like better, so I’m posting both of these here:

First one. Love the framing with the trees. Nice job, Julie.

But it forced them to really stretch their “plot” in each country, in order to make the gags fit into a new story.

We did the <Redacted. If you want to find out, read my TR> mission. We never really did much of the Kim Possible missions, so it did feel a little choppy and convoluted, even for a Dr. Doofenschmirtz scheme.

Any other spot, and your voice would sound dull (insert wisecrack about me always being dull here).

No, Mark. Your voice isn't dull. What you say is, but your voice is pleasant and harmonious to the ear.

All right, I’ll tell you. “Now batting for the Philadelphia Phillies, #26…Chase Utley…” The kids laughed. The Chinese CM did one of these:

Based on the way the season is going, most Phillies Fans would do the same thing.


Or throw a battery at you.

 

[glennbo123]

I finally got a chance to read the latest chapter tonight...

I surveyed the menu and then ordered…


…deep breath…



…wait for it…



A burger.

Oh fer cryin' out loud!

then the CM caught us off guard by saying, “Please step to the side. You’ve been selected for a Magical Moment.” Say what?!

Awesome!

Love it!

If you’ve been in the Liberty Inn before, you know that they have replicas of the original colonial flags on the walls. We all decided that Delaware’s was extremely lame.

But strangely appropriate, don't you think?

Only, we looked at the spy phone and saw that it had timed out. That was a new wrinkle. When we’d had the phone before, you could keep it basically all day, even through meals. Now it timed out after 20 minutes.

They told us that when we picked ours up...caused us to have to split up, which was a pain. I like the old way better.

I can’t decide which picture I like better, so I’m posting both of these here:

Definitely this one.

We also found the Terra Cotta Warriors display, and I found Glenn’s favorite guy, Smiley:

Yay, it's good to see that he hasn't been kicked out of the terra cotta army yet. Was he singing Doo Wah Diddy?

Oh, and Guy Smiley could be a muppets reference. He appeared in the Muppet Movie and the Muppets Take Manhattan.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

that's one way to roll a new update to the top of the next page.
I like.

Now it's time to read (having been a particurally unplesent morning...
I believe I'll savor this.

+1

Sounds like you've been having a rough go of it at work. Hope it eases up for you.

A reference to Sam Eagle and to Muppet Vision 3D

(I just saw that one at the bottom there… now it time to go back and read)

+1

The Bourne Ultimatum

+1

Well, another possibility could have been for the water way to represent the Pas de Calais (but then a tunnel under the water would have been more proper then a bridge over it). That being said…

I rather like your explanation better so we’ll go with that one.

I'm sure the whole English Channel thing is just an internet rumor.

Government work ethic?

Et tu, Rob?

(Oh… amd all of that there is obviously a reference to “Phineas and Ferb” just in case you feel like handing out obvious points.)

I don't think I can award points for that one. I mean, it's all part of the attraction itself.

Well that explains it. I know my bosses except that explanation regularly.

You can blow off work just for food? Then what are you complaining about ?

Ratatouille

+1

Some group of bon vivant(s) y’all are

Wait till you see what we choose for dinner!

And most other representatives of the current generation of America’s youth.

They're getting better. Slowly, painfully, but inevitably.

Hummmmmmm…

There's that word again.

Given the relatively limited choices at the American Pavilion...
I suspect that it would likely have ended up being…

Yah… one of those.

But it did have pulled pork on top. Meat + Meat = Win.

That would be a tough call.

I knew you'd be on my side.

She said: “You’ve been selected for a Magical Moment.”

Well, now we have a firm grasp of the obvious.

The pictures are priceless!
Nice choice of beverage there.
You're a regular sommelier

I find the '12 Coke has a bit more of a sugary bouquet than the '11 vintage.

Fight evil…

eat Cheeseburger…

Yah, that’s another tough call.

I haven't found a good way to do both at the same time yet, but I'm working on it.

It’s not like they aren’t use to things like that.

They probably just surrendered to Doofenshmirtz anyway.

That might just be the lie right there…
I’ll have to consider that for a bit

What, that the recruiter chastised us or that we got a new mission?

That reference showes up in a number of places but it makes me think of:

Animal House

It is, in fact, a slight Animal House reference.

+1

Hummmmmm…

Are you doing some kind of Buddhist chant or something?

That could be a useful superpower.
Certainly better then say… Magnetic Colon.

I'd use it on my bosses, but I'm not sure I want to hear what they're saying about me.

Bourne Ultimatum

Your nemesis stole that one out from under you.

And a very nice obligatory ceiling shot it was (as were the rest of the images)

That’s “big rotunda thingie” for those of us that don’t speak Chinese

Well, I stand corrected. Gotta get the details right.

How can you be so obtuse?

I like to think that the last thing that went through his head--other than that bullet--was to wonder just how the h--- Andy Dufresne got the best of him.

Nice Update. Sounds like a really enjoyable day in the WS.
Lord I wish I could go back down there some time in the near.

Me too, Rob. Me too.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

No brother of mine eats rejecta-menta in my town!

-Ratatouille

Just missed it!

I will never look at it the same way again. Thanks!

I dare you to shout it out loud on the bridge.

Lie.

Fun update! I could never get the E's to try KP so it'd all be new. Perry makes it seem cool so I think they'd try it and like it. Be glad you missed France...if you really did...it's on the lamer side of missions. LOL

For reference, the kids spent all day doing the spy missions in 2010 and did really well sharing the phone.

And yes, I do remember France being one of the lamer missions at that time. We really liked Germany, China and England.

I know this is pretty far back but no one has caught it.

UP!

+1

I think there was another obscure one I buried back there that nobody caught, but I'm too lazy to go back and look for it.

 

[GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes]

I like to think that the last thing that went through his head--other than that bullet--was to wonder just how the h--- Andy Dufresne got the best of him.

Shawshank Redemption

 

[afwdwfan]

Et tu, Rob?

Not a movie, but a Shakespeare play. Julius Caesar.

Dude... your TR just went to a Shakespeare reference...

 

[glennbo123]

Et tu Rob is obviously a Julius Caesar shout out. Now that Mark's gone all he's referencing Shakespeare.

 

[glennbo123]

Not a movie, but a Shakespeare play. Julius Caesar.

Dude... your TR just went to a Shakespeare reference...

You son of a gun!

 

[afwdwfan]

You son of a gun!

It's about time I sneak one in on you!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

I can't tell you it's wrong because it just makes way too much sense.

Doubtful

Must you dump on everything we do?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...

I can't say no to a burger even if it doesn't have pulled pork on it. Couldn't you get some chicken thrown in there too to get the meat trifecta?

Now why didn't I think of that. It was still missing bacon.

Well, you did say you had 3 other families that you'd have to fight for a place to sit.

But not any more! Talk about pixie dust.

That kind of sucks.

It was annoying. But to be fair, they did warn us about it when we signed up. We just chose to ignore it.

That's the spirit!

If it had been a cool country, it would have been a different story.

You fell victim to Dr. Doofenshmirtz's timetoeatlunchinator.

I seem to fall for that one all the time.

And then he followed that up with an attack from the urinator.

No complaints here.

I felt confident that they would, but how well did you handle the sharing part?

I held my breath, stomped my feet and threatened to take the phone and go home.

Since when is Doofenschmirtz a bomb maker? I thought he made relatively harmless, yet hysterically unreliable inators.

Yeah, that sentence seems a little out of place, doesn't it?

I thought that was lunch.

Maybe we needed more burgers?

No brother of mine eats rejecta-menta in my town

Ratatouille

Sorry, folks! We're closed for two weeks to clean and repair America's favorite family fun park. Sorry, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh!

Great update. The Agent P missions sound pretty cool and you guys took great pictures around the World Showcase. I especially like Germany because I have never thought to take it with the trees in the foreground. Nice touch.

That one turned out really well.

Lunch - too funny - your snotty glances are perfect. I think that was our favorite lunch spot when the kids were little!

I would have loved to try another country. Maybe on the next trip.

And FWIW - I did not look ahead. I found that quote all by myself.

Good job!

I kind of like getting here late--that way I can read and enjoy the updates without trying to win the movie game.

Sometimes I feel that way about Glenn's TR too. It's a relief not to have to pore over the pictures looking for a stray Judy shadow.

I was disappointed that they hadn't switched over to the Agent P theme by our last trip. DD5 has no idea who Kim Possible is but loves Phineas and Ferb. I can't wait for her to try it out next trip!

Our kids were the same way, although they loved the KP missions, too! I think they just enjoyed finding the hidden doors and other tricks the Imagineers installed.

Love the tip about the rotunda thingy. Always been an Utley fan too. As a Cubs fan, I've been forced to find other teams to enjoy watching in the post season.

Hope you found a different team this year! But Utley is fun to watch. He plays the game the right way. Unfortunately, that's taken a toll on his knees. I don't think he'll ever be what he was.

For a while there, Phillies fans were almost as tortured as Cubs fans!

The Agent P spy mission sounds pretty cool. They had the Kim Possible adventure when I was at EPCOT with my niece and nephew in 2008, I believe, but they were only 7 and 5, respectively, so they had not heard of Kim Possible, and hence, were not interested.

Edit: I checked Wikipedia, and it appears that the KP adventure was not opened until 2009, so it did not exist in 2008 when I visited with my niece and nephew. My confusion apparently arises from the fact that I visited again in 2009 and 2010, when it *did* exist.

Hmm. Sounds like you need to get that flux capacitor checked, it might be on the fritz.

Nice update again Captain. Sounds like you guys had a nice moment at the Liberty Inn.

I demanded that they serve my burger at a consistent 92 degrees throughout, and they were off by at least 3 degrees. Still, we suffered through it.

I still need to review in further detail for the lie but in the meantime....

The Shawshank Redemption.

Sorry, nemesis. I can't award points for other people's quotes. Then everyone would be throwing them out there and I'd never keep track.

This last update just cracked me up. Great job!! Love the "I see London, I see France" hypothesis, the '12 Coke selection (very fancy) and the appropriately snooty pics, "it was only France" justification and so much more. Too funny!!!

I'm glad you enjoyed it!

I'm not good at spotting movie quotes but loving your TR all the same!

The movie quotes are just a cheap trick to sucker people into reading it, anyway!

 

[glennbo123]

Nooooooo = Star Wars Episode VI, Return of the Jedi

 

[glennbo123]

"Sorry, folks! We're closed for two weeks to clean and repair America's favorite family fun park. Sorry, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh!" is a Vacation reference

 

[glennbo123]

flux capacitor is a Back to the Future reference

 

[GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes]

Sounds like you've been having a rough go of it at work. Hope it eases up for you.

Thanks for the thoughts…
Just this morning it started to clear up a might.
We’ll see if that won’t hold up for a while.

On the upside, I’ve been doing a lot of volunteer work up at the school this week and that is always fun.
Too bad you don’t get paid for doing the fun stuff.

Et tu, Rob?

Sorry about that Chief

(nice reference though )

Wait till you see what we choose for dinner!

I’ll run it by the Great Carnac and see if he can divine the answer without ever before having seen the question. All I’ve got to do now is write down the question, place it in a hermetically sealed envelope and then find a way to sneak it inside that #2 mayonnaise jar which has been buried under Funk and Wagnall's porch since noon yesterday.

Well, now we have a firm grasp of the obvious.

Well, you’re in charge of the oblivious…
I just thought I go after the obvious.

They probably just surrendered to Doofenshmirtz anyway.

As the joke says:
French military tanks come equipped with three reverse gears…
and one forward in case of attack from the rear.




I didn’t just say that out loud did I?

What, that the recruiter chastised us or that we got a new mission?

That the recruiter chastised y’all (but like I said, I’d have to think about it).
CM’s generally don’t ever “chastise”. But then again, if the recruiter was just playing the role in character, then I’ll but it.

At this point I’m suspecting that there was a little bit of tussling over who got to hold and punch the buttons on the communicator (and that the kids might even have had to fight you for it once in a while ).

Your nemesis stole that one out from under you.

It happens… I’m still “generally” following the policy of responding to the whole update first, so I got beat on that one. “ka sura”. There are usually more points to be earned in the responses between updates (as Glenn is currently proving)

and those are still fair game.

 

[afwdwfan]

I thought one less bomb maker in the world would be a good thing.

Casino Royale

Thanks for the hint.

 

[afwdwfan]

Julie really enjoyed her wrap-thingy

I'm going with this for the lie. What she actually ate was a flatbread.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Oh!! Thank you so very much for saving Germany!!!

Aw, shucks.

You did such a great job that I did not even notice the danger!! I am just glad that it wasn't Germany that got annihilated because you preferred lunch.

Well, Germany has yodeling beer steins, so that makes it cooler.

Katharina and I had lunch at Liberty Inn last year as well - we just wanted a burger and were in the World Showcase. And we thought the burgers there were really tasty. And we sat outside and watched the musicians. I don't really understand why that place has such a bad reputation. It might not have been so good in the past, but I think currently they are doing a great job! And your pulled pork burger sounds intriguing...

I've said this before, but I've never had a bad meal at Disney World. I'm not sure what makes some people complain so much, but whatever. Go try a Taco Bell, and then come back and let me know what's so bad about Disney food.

I hear ya on eating a burger. DS is the same way but with chicken tenders in the world.

At AA he got the chicken.

What's wrong with that?

I try and I mean really hard not to have a burger in the world. Sometimes I succeed and sometimes not.

The Plaza and Beaches and Cream usually win with a burger.

Sometimes you just can't beat a good burger. Especially if it has other meat piled on it.

Nice job meandering the world and saving Germany.

The Magical Moment was priceless and love the snooty looks.

We don't get the chance to do fancy stuff very often.

Great Magical Moment. The snooty picture is the best. I have fallen victim to long lines in AA and having to circle around the tables trying to find someone leaving so I could swoop in to grab their table.

That usually happens to us in Cosmic Ray's. But we figured it was a danger everywhere during the summer.

What a relief that you were able to get a new mission. I'm sure the kids would have been very disappointed if their opportunity to save the world was totally ruined.

I'm so glad your kids were good sharers. My daughter and niece weren't horrible but there was some hurt feelings when they had to share.

I'm sure it times out on people all the time. It helps that they have the tone on the phones that lets you know when it's time to hand it off.

My guess on the lie is the use of the bathroom in Italy. The marked bathrooms are in AA and as you enter Germany by the trains. Unless of course you used the restrooms in the restaurant. I find those bathrooms always really small.

Interesting guess. And impressive knowledge of the World Showcase bathroom layout, too. You are obviously a mom. So you're assuming I didn't take him into any of the restaurants?

First of all, if your kids are anything like mine, the lie is that they shared the cellphone well. Yeah, right!

But the instructions the CM's give you tell you to share and everything! You mean your kids don't do what they're told?

I'm am stealing the "I see London, I see France" thing for our next trip! My kids are going to love it (and repeat it over and over and over.....)

Feel free! I think I stole it from somebody else anyway.

We've never eaten at the Liberty Inn, but the Magical Moment sounds like it was lovely. We usually either eat at Via Napoli or at the Morocco counter service for lunch. My oldest will eat the heck out of a shawarma! Seriously, you have to make sure your hands get out of the way really fast when you set it down in front of her.

Good job, guys. Let’s just not come in tomorrow. Let’s just take a day. Have you ever tried shawarma? There’s a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don’t know what it is, but I wanna try it.

 

[glennbo123]

Shawarma = The Avengers

 

[glennbo123]

Feel free! I think I stole it from somebody else anyway.

I used that as a chapter title in my last TR, but hey, I probably wasn't the first to make that observation.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

As I'm about to head down to the pool with Mark, I can't make "individual" comments like I usually do.

You poor, poor woman. I appreciate you trying to make do.

But I did love the update...so much fun. I agree with Sarah...the regular tooth fairy is lame.

Um...Julie is the regular Tooth Fairy. Yeah, that's it. Hi honey!

Sounds like a fun day at Epcot; thankfully, at least up to now, the Brazilian tour groups haven't ruined your plans.

Stay tuned on that one...

Love the Liberty restaurant...I don't know what it doesn't get much love.

I guess people think it's wrong to have burgers in the WS.

And to Scotty for conquering Mission!

Wow, I've always gotten the story that the waterway represented the English Channel. Your story is clearly better.

We should write to Disney and have them change it.

If only there was a Lou Malotti's in Epcot....

...then we would not be eating there.

OK, I can't fault you for that one. It sounds good.

Guess what I'm eating for lunch right now, as I respond to these answers?

It's neat that you were selected, but saying "wait right there, our Magical Moment Response Team will be here shortly to provide your with Pixie Dust" just seems to fly in the face of the purely random and spontaneousness that I always thing Magical Moments are. Maybe that's just me...

Well, the important thing is that it feels random and spontaneous, not that it actually is.

Snooty?
Snooty.
Snotty?
Snotty.

Nice job, Abe Froman.

Are you suggesting that I'm not who I say I am?

I didn't want to say anything, but yeah, it kind of is.

That's ok. We're too busy being awesome to worry about making an awesome flag.

Wasn't the first time they've been invaded, won't be the last.

What? Too soon?

Nope, keep 'em coming!

Yes. Where ever will we get our baguettes and smelly cheese from now?

I'm French, you idiot! Why do you think I am talking with this outrageous accent?

First one. Love the framing with the trees. Nice job, Julie.

Sigh. Julie was busy dealing with Dave as he had an irrational temper tantrum over a spilled soda. So I snapped this one.

We did the <Redacted. If you want to find out, read my TR> mission. We never really did much of the Kim Possible missions, so it did feel a little choppy and convoluted, even for a Dr. Doofenschmirtz scheme.

Ooh, nice shameless plug.

I don't think knowing the KP missions would have helped. It still felt like they were stretching to include the already-in-place surprises.

No, Mark. Your voice isn't dull. What you say is, but your voice is pleasant and harmonious to the ear.

Like Charlie Brown's teacher?

Based on the way the season is going, most Phillies Fans would do the same thing.

Or throw a battery at you.

The crowds have mellowed over time. They'd only throw AA's at worst.