Party Every Day - Updated 8/29/10

[UncleOrville]

After our trek, we found that Splash had been reopened and had only a five minute wait posted. We skittered through the regular queue, and were boarding our log (all in the same row, of course) in no time. We sang and danced and splashed along for around 10 glorious minutes, much to the delight of our log-mates, I'm sure.

Wet hair!

After Splash, we headed through Adventureland in hope of a ride on the Jungle Cruise and a Dole Whip.

We found that the Jungle Cruise had an hour-long wait! Being that this was one of the most unacceptable things we'd ever seen, we promptly proceed to the FP area and collected FPs for about 40 mins from the time we'd gotten them. A much better solution! And since we now had a bit of time to wait and didn't want to walk too far since it was devastatingly burning hot out, we took the opportunity to visit one of our fav attractions, the Hall of Presidents.

Once we arrived at the Hall, we were absolutely crushed to find that the hall waiting area no longer features a portrait of our hero TR (the great American conservationist who rode rough and walked softly and carried a big stick)!! We were mightily disturbed, but thankfully were let into the show immediately, so didn't have long to dwell on TR's absence. Luckily this “Teddy” bear is featured, and extra luckily for you, I took this really terrible pic of it before running in for the show before the doors closed.

We were then delighted to find a segment devoted to TR in the show! I loved the updated show. I like the more personal stories about some of our most memorable presidents (thank goodness TR is featured or guest services would have gotten a good talking to), although what's with including Andrew Jackson? He doesn't have the sunniest record, and there was no mention of anything questionable. I know none of the presidents were perfect, but come on. Anyway, overall I really enjoyed the refurb. Though the Obama animatronic just looked really off. Laura was devastated that the Battle Hymn of the Republic was removed from the show. Anyway, I enjoyed the new version, as I had always enjoyed the old version (minus that George Bush speech about equality for all that was totally insincere, but whatever).

Moving on and over to Adventureland, much to your delight, I am sure. Well, we used those FPs for the Jungle Cruise and sadly had a real dud of a skipper plus a boat packed with an uninterested Brazilian tour group, so it was not the best cruise we've taken.

 

[UncleOrville]

To reward ourselves for completing our arduous journey through the jungle, we got some Dole Whip Floats (just for me and Liz). And they were delish. The perfect refreshment for a trip to the surface of the sun. Oh wait, we were still in Adventureland and it was just 712 degrees there? Oh, right.

We finished up our Dole Whips as we headed out of the MK, having accomplished all we'd desired to that morning and needing some respite from the heat.

We traveled back to the Poly uneventfully via boat launch.

Some interesting foliage:

Laura and Liz posing with what they had thought was the “Neve” building.

 

[UncleOrville]

Our building

A friend!

Once we got back to our room, Liz and I swimsuited up and hit the volcano pool. I look cool enough to be spring breaking in Cabo, right?

Here are lots of pool pics – the volcano pool and surrounding area are really gorgeous.

Laura never comes swimming with us, and this time spent her afternoon break visiting our parents who had just checked into Sugar Loaf at the GF. In the lounge, Laura enjoyed some afternoon snacks (fresh veggies and pretzles) and said our parents' room was great and that they were very pleased.

Liz and I returned from our swim just in time to watch GH. I mainly showered and got myself ready during it, and Liz mostly watched. She started watching sometime last year and I've been watching for a few years now, but have never had anyone to talk to about it, so it's great fun filling her in on all of the absurd back stories. Especially in public places where other people can hear us.

After taking in some Sonny Corinthos, we finished getting ready and Laura returned. Liz missed her dearly.

We had planned on going to Epcot and eating a CS dinner, but Liz and Laura were of course desperate for MGM and I didn't care much, so we bused it over to MGM from the TTC. On our walk over, we saw this dead leaf, which we had been convinced was a snake in the dark the night before. We were so concerned that we walked back from whence we had come and took another pathway. Turned out we were obviously in grave danger.

 

[VBsHustla]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JEN! ​

 

[VBsHustla]

Only legitimate smile of the trip!

 

[UncleOrville]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JEN! ​

Thank you!!

 

[UncleOrville]

Once we arrived at MGM, we headed back to TSM right away and found a standby wait time of only 30 minutes posted! We'll take it!

We hopped in line and waited only about 20 minutes.

 

[UncleOrville]

After TSM, it was time for dinner. Laura had seen a few options on menus posted online that were no longer available, so we trekked all over the place looking for something good. It had cooled down considerably at this point, so it wasn't too much of a terror.


Since we were at MGM, we of course had to ride my compatriots' fav ride, the Tower. I don't have any vivid memories of this experience so I'm going to venture to guess that it was a walkon and we got a decent drop sequence.

It was now getting late (when factoring in Disney transportation), so we made our way out of MGM to catch a bus to the TTC in order to get to the MK for Spectro. Well, as is always the case when we need to be somewhere at a specific time, our journey to the TTC took about three hours. Luckily a General Joe was loading at the dock as we arrived, so we ran over and boarded just before it left, pleased that we would not have to rely on that erratic monorail.

We actually arrived at the MK just before Spectro started, but found our fav spot by the Confectionary absolutely packed. Quelle horreur! We always waltz up to that spot as Spectro is starting and get a front row spot with a five foot radius in which to freely dance our hearts out. Had we chosen to head to our fav spot on this night, we would have been about five rows back. Change of plans!

We had been desperate for a little "heart, we did all that we could," and planned on taking in a showing of the Jamboree between Spectro and Wishes, but now we decided we'd jamboree it first, then catch Spectro from the frontier. We crossed over to the Emporium (only a bit illegally, as Spectro was starting) and high-tailed it through the shops to get to the Jamboree. Once we got there, we didn't have to wait long to be clappin' our hands and stompin' our feet to that real old country rhythm.

Because we are so awesome, we were able to catch the very beginning of Spectro after our jamboree. We had to watch from the end of Fromtierland/ Adventureland because we couldn't really get to any other spots. It was crowded and we didn't have the best view, but we just sang and danced along in the back of the crowd.

My Spectro pics were really atroc this night, so here are just a couple that aren’t terrible:

A glow stick exploded on Liz after Spectro.

She was not pleased, and we made a pitstop in that super smelly bathroom between Frontierland and Adventureland (near the Dole Whip stand) to clean her off. I stole her non-exploded glow bracelets since she was no longer interested in wearing them and I am fearless when it comes to glow stick poisoning (one exploded on me last year right after we got on the TTA, and I survived even after a full ride of glow stick absorbing into my skin). After Liz's hand had ceased glowing, we continued on to the hub for Wishes.

We stood back a bit further than we'd been at our last showing of Wishes, and it was once again a lovely show (though, again, my photos were terrible, so I will share only this shot of Tink).

 

[UncleOrville]

We left as Wishes was ending to get a head start on the crowds since the park was closing, and luckily we were able to get on the GF/ Poly resort launch relatively quickly. We got off at the GF in order to check out the Sugar Loaf lounge (which Liz and I hadn’t yet seen, and our parents’ room). The tiny desserts were delicious, and the lounge was empty (save for a few CMs) and lovely. I’d love to stay here someday.

We went back to the boat launch to catch a ride back to the Poly after our visit, and a boat arrived relatively quickly. It was, however, the weirdest cruise that ever sailed. Lots of passengers disembarked at the GF, but the captain told us that they do not normally pick up at the resorts at that hour. We said we were just going to the Poly (where they’d obviously be stopping since there were still a lot of passengers on board), and he said that they would take us on their boat just this one time, but that we couldn’t do it any other nights. The boat was a large vessel, much larger than the regular launch, and there was a strange crowd and skipper (obviously) aboard. Regardless, we did love that we got back to the Poly without too much turmoil.

After a successful day, we returned to our quarters and turned in.

Coming up next: our first DISmeet and our first MNSSHP!

 

[scoot241]

Dessert and booze... I'd love to stay in the Sugar Loaf Lounge too!

 

[UncleOrville]

Dessert and booze... I'd love to stay in the Sugar Loaf Lounge too!

Haha, yes, not a bad spread out there at night!

 

[Stefy]

Happy Birthday Jen, hope you had a great day

Great updates. Love your Poly pics, is such a beautiful resort and I cannot wait to stay there next year. Thank god that leaf turned out to be a leaf and not a snake, if that was me I would have hightailed it out there screaming and all!

GF looks like such a pretty resort and Sugar Loaf looks lovely, one cupcake please

 

[UncleOrville]

Happy Birthday Jen, hope you had a great day

Great updates. Love your Poly pics, is such a beautiful resort and I cannot wait to stay there next year. Thank god that leaf turned out to be a leaf and not a snake, if that was me I would have hightailed it out there screaming and all!

GF looks like such a pretty resort and Sugar Loaf looks lovely, one cupcake please

Don't know how I missed your response until now! As always, thanks for reading!

We were definitely freaking out when we saw that "snake" because earlier that day I was telling Laura and Liz about a post I had recently read here on the DIS about someone's son being bitten by a snake on WDW property and having to be hospitalized!

I would kill for one of those GF cupcakes (and some sun) right now!

We should finally be back with another update today or tomorrow, so stay tuned.

 

[UncleOrville]

Omg, we are back! Can you believe it? So sorry for the posting delay, but here is what I think is a great chapter to make it up to anyone who might still be reading this!

Laura wrote the text for this post, and I have inserted the pics. Now on to the text... enjoy!


Woke up with a spring in our step, for we had big plans this day! Not only were we set to celebrate Halloween, but we were also going to meet up with our new bff, Dax! Plus, we were spending our morning at MGM, our fav spot. Woot!

We arrived through the gates at about 8:50, and we spotted all those American Idol hopefuls auditioning. We were considering auditioning as a trio, with a performance to that beautiful melody, “Blood on the Sidewalk.” However, obviously we would make it straight to the grand finale, and we just didn’t have that kind of time to spare!

Whilst we were corralled on the road awaiting the race to TSM, we were delighted to spot a Diser! It was this guy with his Dis name written on a card attached to a backpack. I was so pleased, but Jennie wouldn’t allow me to speak with him!

Thanks for showing us how much you love it, Liz!

I found the TSM rush to be absurd, but slightly less outrageous than last year. I collected everyone’s tickets and got the FPs, and then we met up at the end of the standby line.

It was very good. I was out of practice, though, and my score was not my fav! It was pretty upsetting, because the high score was a very surmountable 250,000. Sad sad!

Next, we had a performance with that hat. Our fav tune, “What’s That? A Hat,” is the perfect piece to accompany a visit to that giant chapeau!

After sunscreening in the midst of the street, we headed over to the Aerosmith ride, which had absolutely no queue whatsoever!

It was very exciting, but unfortunately, it meant that we had no time to prepare ourselves to once again come face to face with our nemesis: that Aerosmith manager lady. “Hey hey!” UGH! We hate her! A truly horrid preshow. I tried to give Jen and Liz bunny ears in the pic, but most unfortunately, only one of my arms was capable of moving! Loved this ride, as usual. Zooming down the 5, 10, and 101 is such a novel experience for me!

 

[UncleOrville]

We had arranged to meet our pal Dax by the Tower, so we headed over and were thrilled to find our BFF waiting for us! Dax was a true delight, and obliged our insane Tower photo request. We decided to be tweeting from the Tower in our pic, and I must say that we looked great. As a terribly uncoordinated individual, I was very proud of myself for not throwing my phone straight out the window.


We then had a group photo shoot in front of the Tower, in which we had a few technical difficulties. Eventually Liz managed to get us all in the photo!


We also took some pics with the hat, and the CM who was taking the pic kept insisting on zooming out and angling the pic from below in a most unflattering way. Eventually she took some great shots, and even snapped a twitpic for us!


Next, we decided that the most important thing we needed to accomplish at this place was a visit to the most important artifact in recent history: the Hannah Montana chicken coop. We found out that we’d have to see that ridiculous Backlot Tour preshow, but that we at least wouldn’t have to ride that thing! We hopped onto the queue, and we hung back so that we could have a private photoshoot with our chicken home. We popped it, locked it, and polka dotted it up and had a grand old time!

By the time we had our chicken coop fill, the rest of the group we were with was long gone. We then exited the premises immediately!

Afterward, I had the honor of being present for Dax’s very first spin on TSM! We had a brilliant time, and as we were exiting our vehicles, we met the greatest peeps! They were a group of fine gentlemen and their wives, all in these great matching tees about how they’re slow moving. They had been spinning about with Jen and Liz and let them know that they’d just beaten a bunch of former marines! We loved it and were very proud. We also picked up more FPs while we were in the area. Sadly, after a spectacular meeting, Dax then had to leave us!

Liz’s and Jen’s scores, respectively.

More to come shortly!

 

[UncleOrville]

We decided to dine at Starring Rolls the instant it opened, since we knew that because of MNSSHP, we’d be eating dinner early. We had to hit the potties first, though, and on our way, a police officer asked if we were planning to ride the Tower or Rockin Rollercoaster. “Of course,” we told that man! He then handed us some magical FPs!

We went into Starring Rolls next, and picked up our giant lunches. I absolutely love the CMs at this locale. Every time I’ve been, they’re so so kind and delightful! Loved this enormous meal, as always!

Some desserts:

Jen’s giant meal:

Liz’s meal:

Laura’s meal:

We caught another HSM performance, and this time, we had to drop by and dance for a while. We just can’t resist “The Boys Are Back!” However, we wish they would just play the Efron version rather than having those CMs sing. Also, we think it’s absurd that the waltz isn’t involved.

We headed into the Animation Academy next, and were hoping to draw either the White Rabbit or Joe Jonas.

Shockingly, we were disappointed! We had to draw that guy, Bolt! It was not our fav, although I ended up loving it. Liz accidentally drew a hyena, though.

 

[UncleOrville]

Liz and I decided that we needed the coaster and Tower again, so we headed back over while Jen visited The Little Mermaid and had a photoshoot.

As I (Jen) took all of the pics, and am inserting them here, here is my photoshoot. You will just have to imagine what the coaster and Tower looked like.

As we were walking toward the Tower, HSM was of course happening again. We were singing and dancing away as we walked, when we spotted the greatest sight! A CM at Starring Rolls and two 14-year-old boys were wildly crazy dancing to “A Night to Remember!” It was our absolute fav, and we tried to join in but they were too enthralled to notice!

We went over to the coaster first, and we couldn’t believe how empty it was. We had a pretty great ride, except for our lackluster high five photo attempt.

We visited the Tower again and had a brilliant drop sequence. Lots of long drops! We also had a grand old time in the photo, giving bunny ears to two total strangers. They loved it once they spotted the pic!

Jen was in our fav attraction, One Man’s Dream, so we zoomed right over to that great spot.

Here are some of my (Jen’s) photos from One Man’s Dream:

When Liz and I were entering to retrieve Jen, Edward, the most wonderful fellow I’ve met, was there at the door! He’s this great CM who spotted us and was so delighted to see us! He was like, “Oh my goodness! I’m so glad you’re here!” He was thrilled to welcome us to the attraction and chatted with us for a while and simply adored our tiaras. Along with a few pals we’d meet later that night, he was my fav CM of the trip! We went in and found Jen before playing around in One Man’s Dream for a little while.

 

[Stefy]

I heard about the lil boy getting bit by a snake. That is my one fear at Disney, seeing one of those, esp at the Poly (which is why I requested a 3rd floor room)

Wow, sounds like you had a great day, TSM more than once, walk on for RnR
what can be better than that?!?

Your lunches look soooo good and those desserts

V cool that the "police officer" handed you some FP's.

Your Bolt pics are pretty good, Animation Academy sounds like so much fun

 

[UncleOrville]

I heard about the lil boy getting bit by a snake. That is my one fear at Disney, seeing one of those, esp at the Poly (which is why I requested a 3rd floor room)

Wow, sounds like you had a great day, TSM more than once, walk on for RnR
what can be better than that?!?

Your lunches look soooo good and those desserts

V cool that the "police officer" handed you some FP's.

Your Bolt pics are pretty good, Animation Academy sounds like so much fun

It really was a great MGM day - we got tons of stuff done! And we really love the Animation Academy! Even our brother, who is not artistic or normally into that sort of thing at all, was obsessed with it when we did it with him in Disneyland.

 

[Khill]

Great report so far, just found it. You girls seem to be having such a dancetastically good time. ( I just made that word up )

Cannot wait to hear more about the trip.