Orlando Smackdown: Dis vs. Uni. Ch.16 Japan Hates me, Just Hates me 7-13

[Thumper_Man]

For the Uni fans - did you see this ?

http://blog.wdwinfo.com/2013/02/07/...disney-updates+(Disney+Updates+-+wdwinfo.com)

Wow, they've come a long way in 2 months. When we were there, I don't even think the HP building was up yet. Or just started going up. Now it's almost enclosed. You could see all the work going on inside Transformers. I may have some pictures of that to. We can compare and see how far its come.

There was no wall around Simpsons either. I will definitely have to go back when they finish everything. Thanks for the update DVC.

 

[Thumper_Man]

T-man we just might pay Harry a visit Sunday.

You will love it. We spent most of our time at IoA there. Well at least Lady H and I did. JagQT spent all her time on Hulk. We really do enjoy the whole park though.

 

[dvc at last !]

Wow, they've come a long way in 2 months. When we were there, I don't even think the HP building was up yet. Or just started going up. Now it's almost enclosed. You could see all the work going on inside Transformers. I may have some pictures of that to. We can compare and see how far its come.

There was no wall around Simpsons either. I will definitely have to go back when they finish everything. Thanks for the update DVC.

Do you have pics from your trip of the same areas to compare with these pics from the update ?

 

[Thumper_Man]

Thanks Mike and Monica for the pics.

I'm going to have to kill $100 and buy tickets to Uni. Of course, I'll have to buy for the whole family, so $300 for all of us. Plus hotel.... Anyway, sounds like they did Harry Potter area right.

Monica, thanks for the updates. I may not be able to afford to visit right now, but I can enjoy your trip.

Glad to share. I was just looking at the pics Nebo took. He got some pretty good shots, so there's not too much more to show you. I do agree, I think they very much got it right.

 

[Thumper_Man]

Do you have pics from your trip of the same areas to compare with these pics from the update ?

I know I have some of Transformers. I don't know if I have any of HP or Simpsons. I'll have to look when I get home from work.

I remember telling Lady H if I should put my camera on the mono-pod I took, hold it up over the walls and take pictures. Set the timer to take pics as I'm holding it up. Too many TM's around at the moment. I don't know if they would've told me anything or confiscated my memory card.

 

[dvc at last !]

I know I have some of Transformers. I don't know if I have any of HP or Simpsons. I'll have to look when I get home from work.

I remember telling Lady H if I should put my camera on the mono-pod I took, hold it up over the walls and take pictures. Set the timer to take pics as I'm holding it up. Too many TM's around at the moment. I don't know if they would've told me anything or confiscated my memory card.

We will be looking forward to seeing what you have when you get home from work -
I must ask what are/is TM's ?

 

[Thumper_Man]

I must ask what are/is TM's ?

Disney calls there employees Cast Members, or CM's as we like to refer to them. Uni calls their's Team Members, or TM's as we call them here on the Dis.

 

[nebo]

I failed to fix my ticker when I booked my flight. I leave tomorrow actually. Praying this snow storm doesn't mess with my flight.

I don't care if the plane needs deicing, just don't delay it!

You're one of those people that don't scrape off the back window after it snows, aren't you?

I get to meet up with some dissers who have relocated to Orlando. Gonna hang out in DTD with them. Splitsville.

Say hi to Lynda for me,,, she's one of them, right?

Thinking of leaving a few hours earlier in case the roads/traffic gets bad. 5-7 inches of snow can close schools and they are saying it's going to be heavy.

Perfect time to take off to Disney!

Please explain to me again why you live in Michigan, and we are just as dumb living in Chicago. I HATE winter!

Well hello Neebs. I was sighing through my spam filter and found my Trip Reports email notification. Sent it to my inbox, and opened it up to find a tR by Neebs. So, here I am, for now. It's all I can commit to these days!

Rest assured that you sucked me back in...

Wow, I haven'[t seen you in years!
Aren't you the one who made my avatar picture for me? Of Rafiki holding up a Nebo sign? I used that one until just recently when another friend made up the pic that sits there now that I also liked and he helped me switch it over,, but I did appreciate you one you made for a long time.

We have had a winter snow advisory since 7pm. So far all the snow we already had, has melted.

Seriously.

My stomach has been in knots all day.

I am not a good flyer. I usually am holding Tim's hand tightly with tears coming down my face on take offs and landings.

I really hope the person sitting next to me is as accomodating as my husband.

I can totalloy understann your fears,,, I'm pretty much right there with you.

I did fly myself a few times and did not like it - you will be fine !
(I made sure my rosary was in my purse - yes, really.)
Just remember you will see be in that beautiful sunshine and warmth.
Enjoy.
Take care.

Black Velvet can help in that situation also.

It's so beautiful! The sun is shinning there are no clouds and 72 degrees!

AND NO SNOW!

I'm
so
happy
for you
I'm going to see if I can get the car door open that's frozen shut to see if it will start now from all the "sunshine" we've just had.

Glad you made it safe and sound Mony.

So Nebo, are you waiting until after Mony gets back to post another chapter? Just going to let her post live updates so you don't have to write? Waiting for me to post more pics from Potter? This is your TR after all. I had to fight hard to get it back for you from Ponzi.

Still recuperating from last night's hangover? From the teeth? Waiting until after your next trip in April so you can throw that one in to? Inquiring minds want to know. Well at least I want to know.

Well Mike, you are totally correct, I've been in a lull lately. this happens to me at times, when for some reason it's just hard to write, what I need is to get back in the the grrove,,,, How Stefan got his groove back, but yeah, the eyes and teeth issues have made the groove a bit of a challenge to find recently, but we haven't given up yet.

Ok I'll bite.
Nope,,, not touching that one, Old Yeller.

It is pure 100% gorgeous here today, at least 80 with a breeze and no humidity, I can breath!

The flight was great, the landing just sucked.

Ok,,,, now I'll bite, why did it suck? You're alive, isn't that all you can ask for?

I am sitting by the pool, room is close to the Market where I can get beer and that I have.

Oh pool,,, beer,,, sun,,,, real degrees,,,



I had a lively chat with Smidgy and at least a few more hours if sun or a nap or both.

boy,,, she never gives me "lively" chats.

The hot tub was bubbly and relaxing.

The pool is empty and calling my name!

Sigh,,,, nothing better than to be on a first name basis with a nice pool.

Ha! I have typos just like Nebo!

And I'm sure the beer had nothing to do with that.

. By the time the ride whips you up and down, side to side, and every which way (even loose); they all came out pretty blurry and dark.

Nice little movie reference there, Clint.

This concludes our tour inside Hogwarts Castle. If Nebo still lets me, I'll post some pictures of WWoHP later. Some pictures of what WWoHP looks like on the outside. I'll post a link later to all the WWoHP pictures we took in our TR if you want to look at them.

Wow, great job on the pics Mike, I knew I was missing a lot but had no idea it was that much!
Geesh,,, why does everything always now have to be so dark? That might be why I like The Cat in the Hat ride so much. For an indoor "dark" ride, it's even brighter than I'ts a A Small World.

Thanks for posting all the hog warts pics! That's probably as close as I'll get to it for a long, long time!

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

No,, not buying that one,,, you can always start palnning a trip,,,,just tell yourself you'll be filliing the dates in later!

Glad to share.

We're in the same boat as you. Probably won't get to WDW for a long while now. Probably not until 2016. We'll probably wait until they finish the expansions and new additions at Uni. Plus see what WDW comes up with next. See if Avatar ever gets going and see what they plan on doing with DHS. Lady H and I have been wanting to go to Hawaii for quite some time now. Next year we'll be going with a couple of good friends of ours, who joined us on a trip to WDW in 2010. Only way we can really be at WDW now is through the eyes of Nebo (although they're not very good lately) and Smidgy. Maybe I'll see if we can go to DLR to get our Disney fix. It's closer and about a 1/3 of the cost for us. If Nebo & Smidgy manage to make it out to DLR, and still want us to go, for sure I'll find a way out there.

Mike,,, I sure hope we can still go around September or so,,,, we first need to see how the taxes,,,(and refund) turn out,,,and I've got to decide also on whether or not to have this secondary cataract that I've developed in my "better" eye removed.

I read The Stand EONS ago... when I was riding a bus daily to the community college in the next county. Had about an hour and a quarter ride each way. I was so involved in the story, that one day when I sneezed, the first thought in my head was "OMG, I'VE GOT IT!!!" Then in the same second I said to myself, you are such an idiot. Lawz!


Feel free to be an idiot anytime you want to be on this ;thread. But I have one question for you,,,, that i doubt anybody else will understand......That question is,,,,
"Baby, can you dig your man?"

Congrats Monica! So glad you made it out in time. Enjoy the trip!!




Right turn, Clyde.

Thanks for the pix, Mike!!

Whoa,,,, better line than mine,,, well done!

T-Man,
Thanks for sharing your pics - they are excellent.
I did read the books, but I did not see all the movies -
my children loved the books and the movies, too !
The HP Land looks very nice.

Monica,
Yeah ! She has arrived !

Did Nebo fall asleep ?

I know, I know,,, it's narcolepsy, from lack of narcotics.

For the Uni fans - did you see this ?

http://blog.wdwinfo.com/2013/02/07/...disney-updates+(Disney+Updates+-+wdwinfo.com)

thanks for that,,, I dind't know there was a new Yourasick Park coming out.

Wow, they've come a long way in 2 months. When we were there, I don't even think the HP building was up yet. Or just started going up. Now it's almost enclosed. You could see all the work going on inside Transformers. I may have some pictures of that to. We can compare and see how far its come.

There was no wall around Simpsons either. I will definitely have to go back when they finish everything. Thanks for the update DVC.

Yeah,,, that Simpson's expansion doesn't do a thing for me,,,, I don't like the newer Simpson's ride,,,,and just never got into the tv show,,,,I wish Marty and the Doc were back in that spot like originally

 

[Thumper_Man]

We will be looking forward to seeing what you have when you get home from work

Ok. Here is what I have.

This what Transformers looked like 2 months ago. If you go and compare the pictures we took, compared to the pictures to the link you provided, the main difference you will notice is that it is fully enclosed now. In my pictures, you could still see the work being done on the inside.







As far as the Harry Potter Expansion, the first picture on the link is pretty much the same picture I have. Just a little bit different angle.



You can see the progression through their pictures.

 

[smidgy]

ya know, I don't remeber seeing all that stuff in the castle , either. maybe it was a short cut we took, since the line was so short in the morning?
I know I wasn't looking around much, trying to see which way the line ahead went, to direct you.. and then there were always people right on our heels. I also know my mind was on the major decision about doing the ride or not.
the "castle tour" sounds interesting to me. I really would like to just take our time, wait for your eyes to adjust, and see what there is to see.

to cjlv: love the "lawz": reference. M o o n, that spells moon.

 

[pkondz]

Rest assured that you sucked me back in...

Oh, Gawd. So many lines.

It's so beautiful! The sun is shinning there are no clouds and 72 degrees!

AND NO SNOW!

Hey Monica, I've been out of the loop for a couple of days so missed saying have a good trip... but it sounds like you're having one!

In the movie, Harry could see his parents in the Mirror of Erised. Here, all you can see is legs and feet.

Well it does show you your heart's desire....


So you're a leg man with a foot fetish?

okay.

Just curious, but was there a moving pic on the front page of the newspaper too?

And thanks for the pics!

 

[Xclusive2WDW]

Please explain to me again why you live in Michigan, and we are just as dumb living in Chicago. I HATE winter!








Well Mike, you are totally correct, I've been in a lull lately. this happens to me at times, when for some reason it's just hard to write, what I need is to get back in the the grrove,,,, How Stefan got his groove back, but yeah, the eyes and teeth issues have made the groove a bit of a challenge to find recently, but we haven't given up yet.






No,, not buying that one,,, you can always start palnning a trip,,,,just tell yourself you'll be filliing the dates in later!

I can't answer why Mony's in MI, but that's pretty much bc I can't fully explain why I am either I missed the snow for years. . . in theory. In reality I'm over it at this point.

How Stefan got his groove back? Is that just a play on words from "How Stella. . ." or am I missing another Nebo and crew joke?

That is very true, you can always plan a WDW trip. In fact that's the subject of my current PTR (shameless plug, I know ). Seriously though, I planned a trip (turned into a few) and then opportunities to actually take the trip came my way and looky here, I have 2 tickers

 

[Backstage_Gal]

Mony, glad you made it safe and sound and that you have great weather. Could have gone the other way easily.

So you are contemplating visiting the Dark Side, huh? I still never made it there in all these years.

Have fun!

Nebo, hope you recover your muse soon, we miss you around here. Second cataract, that sucks! Hope you can have it taken care of.

 

[monymony3471]

Standing outside of Epcot watching buses just drive right by me, please send me a CSR bus!

 

[monymony3471]

So after fighting the crowds this morning

I headed over to Coronado. Oh how I have forgotten how beautiful this resort is.

This will be my bed til Tim arrives.

Last night was a late night with Lynda and Noni and their husbands and Tim net up with us at Splitsville.

I was up 23 straight hours on 3 hours of sleep!

77 and blue skies! Can't get any nicer! It can but.....

 

[Thumper_Man]

Well it does show you your heart's desire....

Yeah I tried to picture myself winning the lottery jackpot, but it just didn't want to show me that.

So you're a leg man with a foot fetish?

okay.

You bet. Give me any of the Victoria Secret models in a mini skirt and high heels and ooh baby. Of course what they wear on the runway is even better.

What's that Lady H? I'm sleeping in the spare bedroom tonight?

Just curious, but was there a moving pic on the front page of the newspaper too?

Yes. Unfortunately the flash drowned out the background.
Here's another pic we tried to take without the flash. We tried to capture Harry as he was flying by, but couldn't get the timing down.

And thanks for the pics!

Glad to share. Tonight I'll post the rest of the WWoHP pics.

For now, here's a video we took of the talking pictures. Didn't come out the best, but we tried.

Hogwarts Talking Pictures

 

[monymony3471]

Oh forgot to mention this.


This is for you my sweet Nebo.

The !
Brazilians are here! Scores of them!

 

[Self_resqing_princz]

Yay! I'm all caught up!
Thank you for letting me know to get my butt here Nebs!
Can't wait to read the next chapter... if you can still see to type it up!

 

[pkondz]

If you're going to go around stomping out all the hidden Mickeys, it's gonna take a while.

Give me any of the Victoria Secret models in a mini skirt and high heels and ooh baby. Of course what they wear on the runway is even better.

What's that Lady H? I'm sleeping in the spare bedroom tonight?

And thanks for the info... I'll check out the vid later.

The !
Brazilians are here! Scores of them!

Yay! You're so lucky!!!! Can anything beat foreign relations?

(I'm leaving that as is... so many lines... so many lines...)

 

[Thumper_Man]

Here's the last of the WWoHP pictures.

Nebo got a very good shot here

Here's what it looked like the first time we ever visited.



Looks like Nebo just got to walk, stumble, fall, crawl (however he got there) right on to FJ.

We weren't as lucky the first time.


Here's are some of the shops:

Zonko's


Lady H rescued this little pygmy puff


He is now part of her pygmy puff family. She's missing names for them and she's taking suggestions.


Honeyduke's


Ollivander's


Inside Ollivander's


Ollivander's is connected to the Owl Post.


Remember the Weasley's Flying Car? You can see this on your way in to Dragon Challenge.


When we first saw this one


We didn't quite read the whole sign. All we read was Gringotts Bank, so we laughed when we saw this.


Here's a view of Hogsmeade from Hogwarts. I like how they even get the chimneys to smoke


Three Broomsticks. Notice there are literally Three Broomsticks.


Beware though, there is a dangerous prison on the loose.


This is the mandrake Nebo told you about that moves and screams.


Our favorite brew. Hogshead Beer.


At our favorite pub.


If you ever want to get a Butterbeer, it's faster in here. Especially if the lines are long at the Butterbeer carts. Hogshead is also connected to the Three Broomsticks. One place we liked to hang out here is out back of the Hogshead. There are some tables and chairs back here, but not too many people use them. Get a great view of all of IoA from back there to. You would think of all the time we spent back there, we would've taken a picture of it. I think we were preoccupied with our beers.

In case you get lost, you can always find your way. Just look for the street sign.


You really must see Hogwarts as it gets dark. This was from our first trip.


And our most recent trip. It was cloudy and foggy, so it really gave it an eerie feeling.


This sign magically disappears


And reappears.


Hope you enjoyed our journey through WWoHP. Next time we go back, I'll see if I can remember to take some pictures of what it looks like inside the shops. Plus take some pictures of Dragon Challenge. Thought I had taken some, but I can't find them if I did. If you ever go, keep an eye out for Hagrid's hut and the Triwizard Cup. They're both in Dragon Challenge. And it is true, you will hear Moaning Myrtle in the restrooms. Both the women's and men's. Ok, I know Ponzi will ask how I know you can hear her in the women's restroom as well. No I didn't go in. Lady H told me she could hear her in there when she went to make room for more Hogshead beer.

Thanks again Nebo for letting me post our pics of WWoHP. I'll let you take it back from here.