Really?? Is this May or is it August? The Trip of a Bunch of Trips.

[jusero]

Our trip has changed. We were going to be at SOG for one night following our arrival. We were going to rent a car and head south to visit friends. Our friends called today and had to cancel due to family issues.

We talked over several possible ideas and finally called SOG and we are booked for 5 nights there.

So our Disney trip is now going to our longest. We are going for 16 nights, 17 days.



Just a little excited right now!

Angel16

I hope your friend's family issues aren't too serious. But how exciting it is to increase our stay! You will find it so relaxing to have that many days to come and go as you please and feel absolutely no rush to do the parks commando style. Since we increased our stays from five to 10 days, we have enjoyed it even more. Excited for you!!! I still have a year...sheesh.

 

[jusero]

A friend asked to see my pics of the luau at the Poly. We went in 2010. Sorry I took more of the hunks than the ladies, but ... well ... no, I'm not sorry.

Since there are quite a few, here is the link to the pics.

http://s954.photobucket.com/albums/ae24/jusero_photos/luau/?albumview=slideshow

 

[Angel16]

That is all? I want more hunks, more hunks. You have to go back and take more please. Great photos ! You ae a very good photographer, but I probably have told you that a least fives times by now.

I love the Poly...wonder if I still will after all the planned changes and a DVC added on?

Angel16

 

[jusero]

That is all? I want more hunks, more hunks. You have to go back and take more please. Great photos ! You ae a very good photographer, but I probably have told you that a least fives times by now.

I love the Poly...wonder if I still will after all the planned changes and a DVC added on?

Angel16

Oh, if you insist!

 

[jusero]

The shot I originally got sunburned getting ... but was deleted ... then reshot. Click on the pics for videos.

 

[jusero]

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[jusero]

Sorry folks. I am hoping to get the final chapter written and up this weekend.

 

[haleofafamily]

Thanks for the invite! I was wondering if I missed your TR.

Spent the morning catching up. Love, love, love your photos and your sense of humor!

We became addicted to WDW during our Sept trips. The 1st one was between 2 hurricanes and the place seemed like a ghost town. My mom and I rode ToT and literally saw no guests the entire time (from the line to the gift shop). It made it even scarier and more fun. You will love Sept crowd wise (free dining has messed with it a little though) but it is still pretty hot.

 

[jusero]

Woo-HOO!!! I finally got chapter 11 written. Now I just have to get the pics finished and get it posted. Thanks for your patience!

 

[jusero]

Chapter Eleven

Here we are, the day I have dreaded for the entire week&our last day in the parks. But it is also one of the most fun too. We will be doing a marathon day hitting all four parks and our fave rides and winding the day down with the fireworks dessert party.

Our plan was to hit Animal Kingdom first, then head over to Epcot, then hop the boat to Hollywood Studios and finally to Magic Kingdom. Woo-hoo!!!

Up and out early, we were at Animal Kingdom for rope drop. While walking across the parking lot towards the gate, I felt the sun searing down on my head. Crap. I forgot my hat and without my hat, my scalp at the part in my hair will end up looking like a lobster by the end of the day. Well, I will just have to buy a new hat. I hated doing that because they are so expensive, but I found the cutest hat, so I was happy and covered.

Hat on head, we made a bee-line to the safari and, guess what? The animals were actually on my side of the truck!!! Hallelujah! I was able to finally get some halfway near decent pics of some of the residents of the safari.

Happy as a slinky on an escalator (yah, I stole that from a commercial), we headed out to hit Dino one more time. Along the way, we stopped to watch the street performers in Africa and skipped into Bugs. After bumping our way through Dino, we popped over to Expedition Everest to try and get some video footage. Leo stopped by the monkeys (or apes) to watch them while I headed up to the great mountain.

After getting some footage (which I cant find now), I was on my way back to meet up with Leo at the apes (or monkeys). It was then when I saw possibly one of the stupidest things ever, anywhere. This lady had her baby, which was at the crawling around age, actually on the ground crawling around. As hot as that pavement must have been, not to mention filthy, and not in a quiet corner or off the beaten path. I mean, I know Disney keeps things clean, but not enough for me to put a baby on the ground. And she had her right there near the exit of Everest, right there by the rocks where the path turns to go towards the Nemo show. Plus, that doesnt even take into account the heavy, heavy crowds in that area. In the short time I stood there staring with my jaw hanging open, there must have been at least six people who nearly stepped on or tripped over this little one. I probably should have said something, but I am sure it would not have made a bit of difference. And, no, they were not from another country where things may be done differently.

Found some footage of Everest. Click on the following photo to see the video:


I met up with Leo and told him about this crazy lady. With his obligatory whaaaaaat??, we headed out of the park to make our way to Epcot. And along the way I noticed a lot of women carrying carnations. Oh yah, it is Mothers' Day. Where's my carnation? Of course, you have to read that in a very whiney voice. That's ok, though. I really didn't want to carry one around all day and I feel guilty laying it down somewhere.



We made it to the gate by about 11 and headed to the Disney buses. We figured it would be quicker to catch a Disney bus straight to Epcot than to go back to Shades and going from there. Turns out, it may have been quicker to go to Shades. It seemed to take forever for the Epcot bus to get there. Three buses for Hollywood went through and another three for TTC before the Epcot bus showed up. And when it did, this lady and her son who were just walking up the sidewalk strolled right up to the bus door while the line of about 20 people was standing patiently IN THE LINE. Leo and I were actually the first in the line, so I felt obligated to tell her the line was back there. She acted all surprised and embarrassed and slunk her way to the back of the line. Yah, right, she had no clue that the 20 or so people standing there were there for the bus.

Two crazy ladies in a matter of an hour. Entertaining for sure.

Of course, we had possibly the slowest bus driver ever. He was going 35 the entire way, in a 45 zone. Of course, he did speed up to 45 at one point, in a 35 zone. But we did manage to finally get to Epcot by about 12:30. An hour and a half after leaving Animal Kingdom.

Anyway, finally at Epcot (and later than planned) we headed straight for Soarin'. At this hour, it was unlikely we could get on standby, but maybe we could get fast passes for a little later. Fat chance! The line was 120 minutes and the fast pass machines were covered. There was even a 45 minute line for Living with the Land.

So, with our ride options extremely limited, we decided to grab lunch here at the Land. So Leo went to try and find a table while I headed over to the Asian counter. I found a long line and thought, crap. But then I noticed a guy behind the counter on the right side where there was not one person in line. Was it closed? Certainly didn't look like it. But why was no one in line there? Oh well, what the hell. I scooted over and walked up to the counter. And the guy said' "may I help you?" Too funny. Since no one was here, everyone thought it was closed. With my food in hand within mere minutes (and probably pissing more than a few people off), I headed out to find Leo in the sea of people.

Incredibly, I found him pretty quickly. I don't really remember what we had, but I do remember thinking it was pretty good for fast food Asian.

With lunch out of the way and our ride options at a minimum, we decided to see what the lines were like at the Universe of Energy and Spaceship Earth. Leo wanted to do UE because he really needed a nap, so we headed over there and found only about 20 or so people there. Cool. And after the fairly lengthy and somewhat amusing intro movie with Ellen, we headed through the doors to the cars.

Click on photo for video:


Now, if you have ever been on this ride, you know the cars are huge. They are kind of like the ones at the Great Movie Ride, but much wider. You can probably seat about 300 people on each of the two cars, with about 20 people per row. Now, with just 20 or so other people there, you would think it would not be a problem getting our very own row all to ourselves, right? Wrong! One of the other families of about six got in our row with us and literally sat right next to us. Really, they did. Three hundred other options and they couldn't possibly find another seat for this 45-minute ride. I heard Leo giggling on the other side of me. Yah, go ahead and giggle Mr. Man. At least they were not noisy, bratty, talkative or stinky. And Leo was able to get a good nap out of it.

At about 6:30, we were ready to head out. However, since it took longer than we had planned to get this far, we had to skip Hollywood and head straight to Magic Kingdom. No biggie for me. Hollywood is my least favorite of the parks. And since we had 8 p.m. ressies for the dessert party, we had no time to waste.

On to Magic Kingdom!

And a quick monorail ride later, we were walking through the gates of my second home for the last time for the next year. Well, a year and a half this time, since we won't be able to get back until September 2013.

Anyway, walking through the gates knowing it's the last time feels so much different. Almost bitter sweet. Everything seems to sparkle just a bit more. The castle just that much more beautiful. The sounds and smells of Main Street even more vivid. And the crowds seem to fade into the background until you feel alone standing there at the hub.

Kinda makes me want to pull a Mary Tyler Moore and start twirling around right then and there and throw my hat in the air. OK, so if you were born after 1970, you probably have no clue what I am talking about.

After fighting off the MTM urge, we did the Wizard of Oz skip on down to Adventureland. Gotta, gotta, gotta get one more visit to Capt. Jack and the grim grinning ghosts.

Luckily the crowds were lining up for the parade so the lines were short. We breezed on and off both rides so quickly, we even had time to take in Philharmagic one more time as well as riding the People Mover. I just love riding the People Mover at night. I also don't know what it is about this little ride that I love so much. It is one of my faves too.

By the time we got off the People Mover, it was time to head to our ressies. When we got there, they had already started letting people in so I couldn't get any pristine shots of the buffet and they were already pretty picked through.

We found our seats in the very middle of the very front row. The same exact seats we got last year. Perfect!! I don't know how we got so lucky two years in a row, but I'll take it!

After dropping everything at our table, we headed to the buffet and filled our plates. The set up this year was a bit weird. The way they had it, you went through the line and then got stuck in a bottle neck at the beverages station. The only way back out was past the buffet tables again and with everyone headed through, it was really hard to squeeze through, especially with your hands full of goodies and drinks.

As was last year, the desserts were just OK, but not what you would expect from Disney. I filled my plate, but ended up eating just half a cupcake and a brownie. My tolerance for sweets isn't what it used to be. But, being a diabetic, that's probably a good thing. The hubby, however, polished off his plate, what was left on mine and went back for more ... and he never seems to gain weight. I just simply hate him sometimes.

Continued in next post.

 

[jusero]

I was so excited about our seats and the great pics I was going to be able to get. However, that thought was short lived as the fireworks started. As soon as the show started, about seven or eight people ran to the railing and stood there. Now, mind you, there were about 100 people there and everyone stayed in their seats & except these seven or eight people. I guess this handful thought it was OK to just stand there in everyones way. Maybe they are more special than the rest of us? And to make it even worse, not one of them standing up there were kids.

Needless to say, I didnt get very good shots this year and spent the first few minutes being annoyed and embarrassed. Annoyed because if everyone had stayed in their seats, we all would have had a great view.

But, why embarrassed, you may ask? Because that guy right there in the middle in the light colored shirt? That is Leo! Yep, really.

I was mortified as I sat there complaining about all these inconsiderate people standing up there & and he jumps up and joins them. I think I sat there with my jaw on the table for a couple minutes. Then I decided that, since this was our very last day here, I was not going to let anything & even my hubby acting like a goof & put me in a bad mood.

The show was spectacular, as usual. No matter how many times I see it, it still makes my heart soar. If I were a crier, the tears would flow.

The day had cooled and the crowd had thinned a bit by the time the show was over. But it was and EMH night, so we had a couple hours left and we were going to take advantage of every single minute.

I really love that you dont have to get those wrist bands anymore for the EMH. Just use your room key.

I was so please that we still had time to hit our faves one more time & as well as a few bonuses. With little to no lines (surprising since the crowd was still pretty high), we even got to hop back on the Magic Carpets and the Jungle Cruise in addition to Pirates and Mansion.

We also decided to ride Snow White one last time since it was closing for good this year. Even though I am not a big fan of Snow, it is a shame to see such a classic close down. I asked Leo to video tape the ride through, while I tried to get some pics. Why did I do that? Why?? He got the entrance and the exit, but didnt tape anything in between. He said he didnt want to waste the battery. Ummmm, this is our very last night and our very last ride of the trip. What are you saving the battery for? Maybe he wanted to tape me snoring tonight. Thats it!

After Snow, we headed on over to the Thunder Mountain area to kill time until the park closes. Then we, veeeeerrrrrrry slowly, make our way back to the castle. Since this is the farthest spot from the main gate, it usually works and, by the time we make it back to Main Street, there are very few people left and we have the castle and Main Street pretty much to ourselves. Didnt work this year. The crowds, although not nearly as bad as it was during normal park hours, it was still pretty high & and kind of disappointing.

We heard the goodnight message and made it back in time to see the kiss goodnight. But we still didnt want to leave. So we continued to hang around the castle and the hub taking pictures and stalling.

Click on photo for video:


By the time we heard the second kiss goodnight and saw the night cleaning crew starting to come out we headed towards the gate as slowly as humanly possible.

Its just so hard to leave knowing that this is it for another year. But, in this case, another year and a half, since we wont be able to come back until September. By the time we made it to the gate and turned for one last look at my house, not even the monorail was still running anymore. We had to hop on the Poly boat to get home.

The boat ride was cool and peaceful, if not a bit sad. The lights of the lakeside resorts sparkled off the water while a faint spray hit my face. There was that slight marshy smell in the air that is so Florida and the sound of the water slapping the side of the boat was rhythmic and relaxing.

As we pulled up to the dock, the boat unloaded in silence. Only the ships skipper saying goodnight broke the silence. Then the soft clumping of sneakered feet up the dock disappeared as we crossed over onto the asphalt.

Our walk back to Shades was cool and peaceful with nothing but the sound of the breeze in the trees and the clicking of the bamboo tapping against each other.

Finally back in the room, we decided to just go to bed and worry about packing in the morning. As I was headed out to the balcony for one last night with the froggies, I noticed the message light blinking on the phone. I dialed it up and found out that I had a package at the front desk. I forgot I had sent a purchase home yesterday, so I went down to collect it.

Package in hand ... and tired as all get out ... I only sat out with the froggies for a few minutes. Of course, only now do I think about video taping my froggies so I can hear them all year long. Guess thats on my to-do list for our next trip.

Anyway, good night Mickey. Its time to get back to the real world. Not that we really want to.

 

[rcsilverspring]

Reading your wonderful trip report and seeing on my countdown ticker that we are under 60 days, I am more excited than ever to be going back "home". Thank you for sharing with us and making me feel like I was right there with you. Some day (I hope) we WILL have a picture of you & I together at our favorite place on earth. And since I AM the crier among us, know your pictures & colorful descriptions brought tears to my eyes and a smile to my face.

 

[Pluto_fan]

Just beautiful. Thank you for sharing.

 

[WDW 3]

A friend asked to see my pics of the luau at the Poly. We went in 2010. Sorry I took more of the hunks than the ladies, but ... well ... no, I'm not sorry.

Good choice!

 

[WDW 3]

We will be going at the end of the month and I have a question for you about the monorails or getting back to the TTC from MK & EPCOT. Now that they've stopped running the monorails late is it a pain in the butt or not too bad?

 

[jusero]

Reading your wonderful trip report and seeing on my countdown ticker that we are under 60 days, I am more excited than ever to be going back "home". Thank you for sharing with us and making me feel like I was right there with you. Some day (I hope) we WILL have a picture of you & I together at our favorite place on earth. And since I AM the crier among us, know your pictures & colorful descriptions brought tears to my eyes and a smile to my face.

Isn't it great fun watching that ticker slowly wind down? Remember to pack your tissues!

Just beautiful. Thank you for sharing.

Aw, thanks PlutoFan. Glad you are part of my little reading circle.

A friend asked to see my pics of the luau at the Poly. We went in 2010. Sorry I took more of the hunks than the ladies, but ... well ... no, I'm not sorry.

Good choice!

I know, right??

We will be going at the end of the month and I have a question for you about the monorails or getting back to the TTC from MK & EPCOT. Now that they've stopped running the monorails late is it a pain in the butt or not too bad?

I have not tried getting home from Epcot after the monorail stops, but it can't be too difficult catching the bus to TTC. Or just grab the bus to the Poly and walk up the hill. As for from Magic Kingdom ... no prob at all. You can catch the bus, hop on the boat to the Poly or just walk to the TTC, if your feet are up to it by that hour. It isn't all that far, from what I am told, but I have not walked it myself.

 

[WDW 3]

I didn't know they ran buses from EPCOT to the monorail resorts (I suppose they do now) and I don't think I've seen one at the TTC. We've ridden the AK and HS buses from the TTC but have never seen and EPCOT bus there. Maybe they have to have one now.

Thanks!!

 

[jusero]

I didn't know they ran buses from EPCOT to the monorail resorts (I suppose they do now) and I don't think I've seen one at the TTC. We've ridden the AK and HS buses from the TTC but have never seen and EPCOT bus there. Maybe they have to have one now.

Thanks!!

Now I don't know for sure about the buses from epcot. I am just assuming that, since they are stopping the monorail before the park closes on EMH, that they must offer buses. I am a bit mystified why they would stop the monorails when there are EMH.

 

[robin19871]

Once again. Beautiful pictures.. Love your trip reports and they will have to keep me satisfied until Easter 2014.. We have decided to go to Disneyland this August so I can't wait to get back and see all that I have missed since they have expanded it... Have you and Leo been there? You are such a die hard Disney fan that I would assume that you have.. It will be nice to see the differences between the 2..

 

[jusero]

Once again. Beautiful pictures.. Love your trip reports and they will have to keep me satisfied until Easter 2014.. We have decided to go to Disneyland this August so I can't wait to get back and see all that I have missed since they have expanded it... Have you and Leo been there? You are such a die hard Disney fan that I would assume that you have.. It will be nice to see the differences between the 2..

Yep, I have been to DL several times. I was stationed at Fort Ord for a few years so I was just about six or so hours from DL. But the DH has only been once a few years ago during the halloween season. He loved it. And I would also love to hear about all the changes you see. And I envy you seeing that new nightime light/water show. It looks amazing.