PrincessAuroras Weird and Freaky Trip Report - Final Installment

[zachnlucy]

This is like a very addictive soap opera!

That's just so true. I was talking to my husband the other night about Tink and Grumpy ... what sweet little Tink sees in such an overbearing sourpuss, and my husband, looking totally confused, asked me who these people were. I said they're Aurora's friends, you know, on the disboards. He just rolled his eyes and walked away. Some people just don't understand.

 

[PrincessAurora]

ZachnLucy - tee heee - thanks for the giggle. I am the strange friend that you either have over for a laugh while I empty your liquor cabinet or you hide behind the couch when I knock on your door.

Well, not that bad. You know, I'm going to be on the Travel Channel on the 28th so everyone can see me work up close and personal. It's called Fred Willards American Festivals and it comes on anytime between 5pm and 8pm depending on time zones. Its not on TiVo yet so I don't have details. There is no way to miss me, I am the chick with red hair wearing purple - I play Queen Elizabeth 1.

OK - here is another piece since you heard me ramble.

Now that we have been liberated from Grumpy we try to find the buses. This was a CHORE! They really aren’t well marked. We finally got in line and waited and waited and waited and waited. It was the only time that we waited this long for a bus. It was awful! We waited at least 25 – 30 minutes. I kept praying to various Gods and they kept spurning me. “O great (insert Gods name here) please send us a bus as we have been baking out here in the sun for so long and I promise not to say any more naughty words today or have any more drinks if you don’t like drinking and if you do then I’ll have extra drinks in your name, amen” Finally Zeus came through after 30 minutes and sent a bus. You GO Herc’s Daddy!

Knowing what we know now, we should have gotten off at any of the resorts and caught their bus to Animal Kingdom. AVOID T&TC if at all possible.

Once we arrived at Animal Kingdom we made straight for the tea place. It is in the new Tibet/Nepal section and it is a GEM of a place if you like real tea vs. Lipton. They have wonderful loose blends that they make into tea bags right there. They also have coffee drinks as well. If you like tea PLEASE check this out! It is on the way to Everest on the right hand side. It has lovely seating areas. I would hate this to go away because people don't come.

When we were there, most people just asked the CMs for "tea" or "hot tea" and were given most probably their mild house blend. When we asked for "Silver Needle" or "China Jasmine", first they just stared and then broke out into smiles figuring out that we were asking for SPECIFIC teas and were overjoyed.

I can't sing the praises of this enough. Also if you are one of these people from Starbucks - "I want a low fat, soy, dolce latte with hazelnut" - go home. I know - harsh - but true. I had this lady in front of me that was like this: "I want a grande capp with chocolate syrup". The guy stared at her like she was from Mars and said "You want a Mocha?" which is what she asked for and she says "do you have chocolate syrup that I can put in AFTER" and he is like "no" and I just want to hit her in the head with a lemur and feed her to the Yeti because I get that way when confronted with pretentious coffee bar freaks. Don't be one of these people. Have the wonderful teas. Enough said. GO HERE!

OK - for everyone that likes tea and Animal Kingdom.... there is a little secret. There is a “secret” place to sit. After you get your tea, walk back towards Africa, away from Everest. On the river side of the street (left) there is an entrance to a smoker’s gulag, then a soda stand. Now turn to your left towards the river right after that stand. Walk straight. There is a lovely hand carved pavilion with 3 stools in it that have butt grooves and are sooo comfy. Now shhhhhh, don't tell anyone else. We don't want this to turn into a "Wake Tink" fiasco. You can watch the river through the lattice panels,

or watch the smokers (but we can't smell them because we were up wind). It's almost like another animal exhibit.

"Watch the wily smokers as they savor their morning ritual. HEY! You! Do NOT throw packs at the smokers! They are on a special diet and other brands can upset their stomach." Smokers - please don't kill me.

We started calling these smoking corrals the “smokers gulags”. Here is where you go to be isolated from the rest of the population. Just as a note, if you have a problem with smoke, then STAY OUT OF THE SMOKERS GULAGS! They are for smokers. Deal. The reason I say this is that as we were observing the smokers in their natural habitat, a woman came down into the gulag with her child. It was down by the water and I guess she wanted to check it out. There were about 10 smokers, all lit up, when she arrived so it was OBVIOUS what this was. She was trying to tell everyone that they needed to put out their cigarettes because her kid was here and she didn’t want to breathe it.

Ummmm, Dumberella – this is a SMOKING AREA, where people can SMOKE! Just shut up with your agenda and self-righteous whanking for 3 minutes. Now before people start setting me on fire let me say:
a) I use to be a smoker
b) I quit cold turkey many, many moons ago
c) I really HATE being around cigarette smoke and it makes me ill
d) I support a smokers right to feed their habit in their own home, car or designated area while in a publicly controlled place i.e. Theme Parks
e) The area was marked as being a smoking area
f) The lady KNEW it was a smoking area because when a smoker politely pointed this out to her to which she replied “I know that but…”

There is no but. You have every right to complain when someone lights up next to you in a non-smoking area. You have NO RIGHT to demand they put out their cigarettes in an area set aside for their use. Does everyone have that concept down? OK, thank you – moving on….

We take a leisurely stroll through Nepal and appreciate some of the really cool details like this:

NEXT: School in Harambe, what is up with that tree, the slllooowww safari guy, what Grumpy did all day

 

[a*lil*bit*goofy]

gosh. i read thru thinking i would find out what Grumpy DID do all day! sigh. i guess patience is a virtue...however to me patience is like sitting on a thumb tack...so bring on more! LOL!

 

[IlluminationsUK]

Loving your reports, "smokers gulag" - lol, hoping not to have to face them in December, giving up is hard people!!!

 

[Ron from Michigan]

Please Oh Please PrincessAurora tell us how Grumpy spent his day. It's about time you both ditched him for the day. Your report is so funny that I find myself laughing out loud at work and not getting anything done.

 

[PrincessAurora]

Tink and I decide to amble over to Harambe. We sit down in the bar area, get some drinks and watch the acrobats again with their nubile, supple, muscled bodies. Mmmmmmm, bodies…..

On our way to the safari we walk under this tree that looks like it has elephantitus of the man melons (if a tree could have those) or it looked like long gray hard sausages were hanging very low waiting to hit someone in the head. We were perplexed by the tree. I thought maybe we could ask someone in the store about the tree with the glandular problem when we saw a school.

Well it was actually a box, a podium and some benches but it said it was a school so we went over and sat down. It was there we discovered one of the coolest people in the Animal Kingdom – Chiz! She is a castmember from Botswana and worked at the Grand Palm Hotel before coming here for her 1 year visa tour. She has a little impromptu school and gives talks about Harambe, which is a REAL place. I thought it was a made-up Disney name but no, its not. Chiz was great even if people just used the school benches as a place to sit and eat and not really listen.

She told us that Botswana is a great place to go for safari. She made it sound so wonderful that I want to go. We asked her about the trees and she said that the low hanging things are a fruit. That yes they are heavy and yes people smack into them. She said in the wild you rarely see them because elephants eat them all.

We decided to quick do the safari before getting over to MGM to meet Grumpy. I think our safari guide was stoned or bored or both because he was just sooo deadpan and slllloooooooooww. We saw some cool animals including an ostrich that wouldn’t get out of the road. I was all for shooting it and dividing the meat up because that is some goooooood eats! It looks like steak and tastes like beef bird. I couldn’t get a majority in favor of running over my walking dinner. Damn.

As we get a bus all to ourselves, we decide to run up to the room really quick and change, then get to MGM and meet Grumpy. Since we had an empty bus we made a stop a Blizzard Beach first to see if we could pick up anyone. There was no one there either. Just then Tink gets a page on her phone. It’s Grumpy. He is at the Lodge. I didn’t ask for details but it seems that he is in the room and he is in a bad mood. So what else is new? I can’t even tell you how overjoyed I am to go back to the room to that.

So I trudge through the lobby like I am going for a root canal. WHY can’t he be in a good mood for just one day? Once in the room, I decide to put on heavy Wilderness Lodge fleece lined shirt since we will be outside for Fantasmic that night.

Tink decides to engage Grumpy. She asks him ”How was your day honey?
G: OK
T: Did you go to the Magic Kingdom?
G: Yeah
T: What did you do?
G: Stuff you guys wouldn’t want to do.

Ummmmm – how do YOU know?

T: What was that?
G: Went on Country Bear Jamboree.
T: Oh, you like that show.
G: Those bears sucked.

O Kay! Guess there was a slight variation with the bears vs. dogs.

T: What else did you do?
G: Went on Carousel of Progress and the Presidents thing.
T: Anything else?
G: Nope, kinda sucked.
T: Well we have to get over to MGM pretty soon.
G: OK, I’m going to take a nap.

A NAP?! A NAP?! So Tink & I got our leftovers out of the fridge and ate them on the balcony while Grumpy napped. No otters in evidence. After we were done we decided to take a stroll of the halls. I showed her the little fireplace on the 4th floor landing overlooking the lobby and all these cool little things that I discover in the morning. We’ve been gone for about 20 minutes and decide to head back to the room. Upon returning we find that Grumpy is gone. Great, Grumpy is AWOL in the Happiest Place on Earth. I know that’s NOT rubbing off. I suggest that we call him. Honestly, who knows how long he will be gone.

Tink figures he is coming back to the room. How does she know this? His coat is here so we can just wait for a little bit. Great, back to reading on my bed and twiddling my thumbs. After about 10 minutes Tink breaks down and calls him. He says he went for a walk and is waiting for us to call HIM. Huh? Tink thought he was coming back because of the coat. I guess he wanted us to figure out he would want it and bring it to him. How were we to find him? I guess use our handy dandy tricorder but since that got nabbed by TSA in Oakland that is out.

He says he is by the fireplace on the 4th floor, looking at the fossils. I asked Tink if he meant the main fireplace downstairs because not many people know about the 4th floor fireplace. She said he specifically said the 4th floor fireplace. So off we go. Now let me tell you it is a windy walk from where we are with our otter pond view over to the lobby view rooms and then walk to the other end where the little fireplace is. We see a figure sitting in one of the chairs. We head over there and it’s not him. Great. HOW much time have we wasted? Now we have to find our way back down to the lobby.

Tink looks over the railing and sees Grumpy sitting in front of the main fireplace in the lobby. ARGH. We take the elevator down and head over to him. He is pouting and asks why we took so long. Tink says that he told her to go to the 4th floor fireplace. He said no, that he saw the fossils there but he was down here. No, honey that is not what you said. Now here comes the semantics argument again. I can hear the Sisters of Perpetual Patience calling me.

We go outside to catch the bus to MGM. While we are at the bus stop I see a woman with lime green ribbons on her sweater that have DIS written on them in black marker. I point, she points at my Mickey Head, we squeal the squeal of mutual recognition and exchange screen names. It was “Lovestoscrap”. She had just arrived with her kids and friends to have dinner at Whispering Canyons. It was nice just to have a geek out moment. See? Those lime green ribbons/Mickey Heads work!

(Note to 1000thhappyhaunt – Mel, you can tell your man that I have no idea what this nice ladies real name is, where she lives, what kind of car she drives or where she works.)

NEXT: Fantastmic and why that dog sucked

 

[Thumper's Tara]

G: Those bears sucked.

O Kay! Guess there was a slight variation with the bears vs. dogs.

I love it! I can't wait to read more!!

 

[mickeymousemom]

{sighs...in a whining sort of way}


I guess that was enough for today

 

[tammyandtommy]

We go outside to catch the bus to MGM. While we are at the bus stop I see a woman with lime green ribbons on her sweater that have DIS written on them in black marker. I point, she points at my Mickey Head, we squeal the squeal of mutual recognition and exchange screen names. It was “Lovestoscrap”. She had just arrived with her kids and friends to have dinner at Whispering Canyons. It was nice just to have a geek out moment. See? Those lime green ribbons/Mickey Heads work!

Ok im very tired tonight lets just say nothing personal but if you say lovestoscrap really quick....... ROLFLMAO No offense I understnad the name and think its clever , but nursing school exams and 2 page papers and the DIS is getting to me! On that note off to bed! no not off with my head!

 

[5disneyfreaks]

I love this thread! I told my DH about the lime green mickey heads and he thought I was crazy! Now he will think that I am totally losing my mind, but he is out of the country and doesn't understand.

I look forward to the rest of your report! If I were you I would want to string Grumpy up and play pinata with him, but hey, that's just me!

 

[PrincessAurora]

Once at MGM, we head to the Tune In Lounge and cool bartender Dave! Evil bartender Mo is not here. YAY! Tink & I get Baileys & Coffee while Grumpy gets a beer. I really wish we could hang out here longer. I always hated MGM and as a park I still think it is sub par. HOWEVER if I had known that this lounge was here before I certainly would have had more fun on all those other trips to MGM. We finish up and head for the entrance to the arena. I have never seen Fantasmic before at WDW, only at Disneyland. I’ve always been too busy eating in the evening. Hmmm, halfway through my vacation and I think I’ve gained 5 pounds. I keep telling myself that calories don’t count at Disney but we all know that is not true. I know things are getting bad when the waistband of my pants is tight. Damn.

The entrance to the arena reminds me of the Hollywood Bowl in LA only without all the fabulous gay couples with their picnic baskets filled with wine and pate and smelly cheeses. Sometimes they bring boardgames. I wonder if I should have brought a boardgame. A nice picnic basket and a boardgame can never go amiss. I really miss the Hollywood Bowl.

We fight a sea of people and head for a decent seat, 3rd row off the middle towards the left side. Not bad for showing up right on time. The problem is that we also had a whole group of socially challenged teens behind us that I just wanted to throttle. No parents in sight. They were loud, obnoxious and have never seen a woman naked in their life. The way they are going, they are going to be in their 50’s before that happens.

They think they are sooooo cool. I am here to tell them, ummm, no - not in their wildest dreams. They are just loud and annoying.

They decide to initiate “the wave”. Goody. The wave. That is soooooo two decades ago. I know some of you out there are wave fanatics and if you love it then wave away. I am not into waving. We have to be subjected to the waves crashing about our shoals 12 times before it runs its course. Since that did not illicit enough response from the girls they are trying to impress, they change tactics. Now they are trying the “slow clap” building to the “fast clap”. I KNOW they are all virgins and will be till the day they die. Even the girls their own age around them are getting tired of the testosterone fest. Dudes, just pee on a tree and call it a night.

The show finally starts and now I have to be the one who rains on this festival of fun. I didn't like it. Now all of you should know by now that I am from California. I've seen the original Fantasmic at Disneyland. After seeing that show on the Rivers of America, this one is a really poor copy.

If you haven't seen the Disneyland show, I imagine you would like this one. To me this story was convoluted. The characters were too jumbled and the space they played in was too cramped. What was with the Pocohontas bit? Was it just so they could use another movie? The climax was also VERY lame. Mickey holds up a "sparkler sword" and the dragon sinks down behind The Mouse whether in shame or embarrassment, I'm not sure.

At Disneyland, the story is tighter, the characters more streamlined, the finale has Mickey actually slaying the dragon (a laser goes from his sword to the dragons chest and they are across from each other instead of one in front of the other) and at the end the characters are all on the huge paddleboat. The characters at this show are on two small boats, its not the same thing as the full size Mark Twain paddlewheel.

Now I know that MGM has less space, no huge river, no big paddleboat. But this was my experience. It's like going to Paris, seeing the Eiffel Tower and then going to Epcots France and seeing theirs. So if you have never seen the show, go. If you've seen Disneylands, do something else with your night.

You don’t really realize how many people are in that bowl until you try to get out. Unless of course you’ve been to a major football playoff game with bad freeway access and a ton of tailgate supplies. By anyway….

To top my personal pity party about how this wasn’t as good as Disneylands show. I now have ummmmm…. “lady issues”. Grumpy wants to go to Pleasure Island but the thought of sitting around with a whole bunch of people is starting to weird me out right now. I figure I have 3.5 seconds before the PMS Monster starts to eat people right and left like Godzilla.

That is actually a funny picture. Giant blue princess stomping down the streets of MGM, roaring, turning over fake cars as little people run out of the way. I am a little gleeful inside. We decide to go back to the Lodge and look at food options there. I just need some prescription med options and then I will be good. I just love meds. In fact I have an idea for a new game show called “Pick a Med”. Contestants pick meds at random and prizes are awarded depending on their behavior. I know once I had these little pink pain pills for a sprained ankle that made me feel like I was inside a marshmallow. You know how weird that sounds when you keep saying that? Your mouth starts to turn into a marshmallow.

NEXT: Close of the evening, the well behaved kids, uninvited guests

 

[IlluminationsUK]

To top my personal pity party about how this wasn’t as good as Disneylands show. I now have ummmmm…. “lady issues”. Grumpy wants to go to Pleasure Island but the thought of sitting around with a whole bunch of people is starting to weird me out right now. I figure I have 3.5 seconds before the PMS Monster starts to eat people right and left like Godzilla.

That is actually a funny picture. Giant blue princess stomping down the streets of MGM, roaring, turning over fake cars as little people run out of the way. I am a little gleeful inside. We decide to go back to the Lodge and look at food options there. I just need some prescription med options and then I will be good. I just love meds. In fact I have an idea for a new game show called “Pick a Med”. Contestants pick meds at random and prizes are awarded depending on their behavior. I know once I had these little pink pain pills for a sprained ankle that made me feel like I was inside a marshmallow. You know how weird that sounds when you keep saying that? Your mouth starts to turn into a marshmallow.

LMAO! Love it! More, more, more!

 

[mickeymousemom]

"Inside a marshmallow".....wow...now I love that one! DH and I were just talking the other day about a Lortab he took for his degenerative disc problem in his back(he never takes meds, but he bent over wrong and there it went Susie). I think I might ask him if he felt as though he were inside a marshmallow. I've taken Xanax and that's exactly how it feels...and though I'm also not a medicine taker, being inside a marshmallow is a purely wonderful experience. NOW...on with the trip report, dear!

 

[Ron from Michigan]

I have this picture of you walk down the street there at MGM and your just knocking everything out of your way. You had me laughing so hard at that one. So how did Grumpy like Fantastic, he didn't poke anyone did he.

 

[Linzybrooke]

I'm with you on the Disneyland version. I've only seen it there once and see it at MGM every year, but that one time was enough for me. The Peter Pan bit is excellent and there is a lot more energy and excitement to the show; it also feels more intimate than the gigantuous arena at MGM.

I wish they would take out Pocahontas and put in the Peter Pan bit...Pocahontas is not on the same level as most Disney movies and Governor Ratcliffs giant head is, well, it just is.

 

[zachnlucy]

Okay, I give. What does a green Mickey hat look like?

 

[PrincessAurora]

Okay, I give. What does a green Mickey hat look like?

Did I say hat? I meant head. Lime Green Mickey Head.

Go to Home Depot.
Go to the Paint Department
Go to the display of Disney paint
Check out "Alien Green" - swear to God (whichever one - insert name here)

It is the "hidden mickey" 3 circles in lime green. Take one, take 2. Just don't be a pig and take too many. I wrote DIS in both the ears and PrincessAurora across the "face". Then I wrapped the whole thing in clear packing tape because I am too cheap to buy a laminator.

I made a few of these for my clothes (they kept falling off to secure them) and also made luggage tags.

 

[PrincessAurora]

Well Mouseketeers, I have to leave town in a few hours and wont be back until LATE Sunday. This means I still have to pack, get things ready for the cat sitter, and I got a parking ticket since I forgot it is street sweeper day. Will check back in on Monday!

 

[melk]

Your report is so entertaining, and great that you update it so often, I have something to look forward to each day!!!

Exciting too that we'll get to see you on television the 28th. What exactly is the show, and will Grumpy be in it????

ETA: On no, just read your post! We won't get the rest until at least Monday?? Oh well, I'll just have to resume my real life until then, lol....

 

[TAKitty]

I kept seeing your thread pop up and broke down and read the entire thing tonight . Now it is past my bedtime and I have to get up at 5:30 a.m. tomorrow. The cat, used to my usual 10pm bedtime, is already in bed asleep. Thanks for the laughs! I can't wait to read more!