Rosiejo's FTW trip report (November 2005) Completed 03.04.06

rosiejo said:
pedometer! That's the word I was looking for :rotfl2:
I sound so technical, yet it is Diane who uses it as I tend to use the accelerator on the car :rotfl2:
 
Really enjoying your report so far
and Congratulations!
 
I am LOVING your trip reports, They are hard work but I really enjoy re-reading mine just 4 months on so in 20 years they will be a fantastic reminder!

Your signature photo's are AMAZING, Def worth the extra for colour & bw :goodvibes

:flower:
 
GREAT TRIP REPORT!! :jumping1: CAN'T WAIT FOR MORE!! :hourglass And love the one thread it makes it so easy to read!! :banana: :banana:
 


Really enjoying your trip reports, rosiejo. Congratulations on your wedding in the happiest place in the world :wizard:

Looking forward to reading the rest.

ArielJasmine princess:
 
Up and out early again this morning for the Animal Kingdom. We drove down the 192 and up the “not so secret entrance anymore” on Sherberth Road. Last trip we’d stayed at the Radisson Maingate which is just on the corner so we wanted to point it out to everyone!

We parked up in Unicorn – in the exact same row that we lost the car in last trip :rolleyes1

We walked to the entrance as we weren’t too far back – it took a while to enter the park though, everyone seemed to be having problems scanning their fingers this morning!

When we finally made it through the gates DH and I went to get FPs for the safari while everyone else headed to Dinoland. We didn’t get very far as they had roped off just by the tree of life but we did get to see ::MinnieMo Goofy and Donald open the park – oh and then ::MickeyMo was up on a platform on the tree which was quite cool :wave: There were a LOT of people headed for the safari that morning – by the time we got there the wait was 15 minutes… we grabbed our FPs and then had to pretty much force our way back through the crowds to get to Dinoland – ever tried going the wrong way up an escalator? You get the picture ::yes::

Oh for the benefit of my DDA friends an escalator is the moving set of stairs that take you from one floor to another in a department store or mall… just in cse they have a different name where you are :rolleyes1

Now where was I??

Oh yeah – we got to Dinoland to find the others resting on a bench outside Dinosaur – resting?? Didn’t we just walk half way across the park and back and they’re resting?? :rotfl:

The line was non-existent – there must have been about 20 people with us… when we got into the antechamber where they show the video DH and I headed to the door at the other side – while everyone else stood at the back to get a good view?? AAgghh I can’t cope trying to take an extra 6 people with me – the video only sets the scene – the nearer you are to the door the sooner you’re on the ride and then off to ride something else before the lines form!!! :headache: Ok breathe… 1 2 3 :)

I love Dinosaur it’s a great ride – although over far too quickly and despite the fact there was NO-ONE on the stairs when we finished they wouldn’t let us ride again straight off :sad:

We checked out our photos after – for the laugh not to buy – way too expensive! Then we headed over to the river rapids. Dinoland was still pretty empty BTW so we could have ridden primeval whirl without a wait – but no one liked the look of it!

Most of us had worn “wet clothes” today and had dry ones stashed in our rucksacks. Dad wanted to take photos rather than ride so we headed over to the exit where the bridge is – dumped all our bags and then headed back to the entrance for a 10 minute wait – well it was actually 5 and only because it took us that long to walk there! We piled in a raft with a couple who were staying on from their previous ride – wearing their ponchos…

This is a great raft ride (although there are better) – and you can either stay bone dry or get drenched to the skin – it’s all the luck of the draw… I always end up drenched :sad: At the end of the first go the other couple abandoned ship – but Ian was still dry so we went round again. There was no line so we were allowed to stay on. This time he got what was coming to him! :rotfl:

I can’t actually remember if we made it three times… I just know when we got off we were glad for those dry clothes… well those of us who had brought some anyway :)

Once we’d all dried off we headed over to use our FPs for safari – DH and I took everyone’s tickets and went to FP Tough to be a bug on the way… only the FPs were not operating! Good news because it means the park isn’t that busy – bad news because so you know how much of a detour that is?? My feet were aching!

So we get to the safari expecting the others to be waiting – and there’s no sign of them! How we managed to take a massive detour and get there quicker I will never understand but they sauntered along about 10 minutes later – right on the nose of our FP “expiring”.

Safari was great – but then it always is – a giraffe came and stood right next to the truck :) Ian wasn’t too impressed as he said that they went too fast for him to take any pictures… well it isn’t a real safari and they do warn you about that at the start…

Oh the standby line was running at about 45 minutes by this time (11.30ish) like I said it was a quiet day – but why stand in line for 45 minutes when you can FP and wait 5??? :confused:

We did the Pangani trail afterwards – well it is right by the exit. David was in his element playing David Bailey with his new camera… the rest of us enjoyed the animals but were hungry and wanted lunch!

When we finally dragged him out Mum and Dad went their separate way for lunch while the rest of us ate at Pizzafari (I used to love the WDW pizzas but I think they changed the recipe… way too much sauce and I felt quite :sick: after eating this one) – then we met up again for the Lion King. Fantastic show – a definite must see – I love it. In fact this is how good it is, DH hates the theatre but after he saw this last trip he surprised me with tickets to go and see the stage show in London when we got back home :faint: :hug: :flower3:

Then we did Tough to be a bug – I hate this show – too many bugs! I’m just a wimp I know – everyone else loved it.

After that we wandered over to the Maharajah Jungle Trek – you have got to love those tigers – they’re so beautiful.

It was about 3.30 by now I think and everyone was ready to call it a day – not sure why no one wanted to see the parade… once again DH told everyone it wasn’t that great -must tape his mouth shut next time :rotfl:

So back in the truck we went – hope for a nap and a shower and then out to Cracker Barrel – tomorrow is mum’s birthday but as we’ll be at Fantasmic we decided to celebrate tonight and she wanted to eat here.
I like the Cracker Barrel – when I was a kid and we used to go to Florida we would drive miles to get to the nearest one – now 2 or 3 have sprung up on the 192. They all look the same inside though… :upsidedow

Our request for a party of 8 caused a stir as usual but they got us a table pretty quickly so no time to peruse the shop. This was a bit of a change form the burgers and fries we’d been eating so far – and everyone had great fun trying to decipher the menu and asking the waitress to translate everything for us – in the end the “let’s just try a bit of everything” mentality had the table bowing!

Food was great – as always – although we weren’t as brave as we thought and a lot of the sides were left untouched. You have to eat the biscuits they’re delicious – if not filling – and very strange for us “Brits” to whom they taste like scones, and we eat those for afternoon tea with jam and cream! The little cakes made of corn though were not so nice…

Once we were all pleasantly stuffed we had a nosey around the store – tried on some hats – and then headed home for some much needed sleep…

Miles walked: 6.3 (felt like more though!)
 
you seemed to get a lot done today, Cracker Barrel is really nice inside, welcoming and warm, nice report,

Claire xx
 


Did I mention that today was my mum’s birthday? :bday: Well birthday or not there’s no time for sleeping in when you’re at Disney so we’re up early and off to MGM.

I think we got there in time for opening – although I can’t remember what the opening was… anyone?

Once again DH and I collected up tickets and went round to FP RnRC – when everyone caught up with us Dad waited with us and everyone else piled on the coaster – it was sending round quite a few empty cars so there FP window opened while they were still riding – so I went and picked up TOT FPs. We ended up with so many spare FPs that day as some people wanted to ride RNRC again on their FPs and others didn’t – then not everyone wanted to do TOT. We decided to split up and meet at the Great Movie Ride so that people could ride what they wanted – and the rest of us could browse the stores.

It was a quiet day again so there was only one car on the GRM – so we saw the gangster scene again – I really want to see the cowboy!

Dh hates this ride – he says the films are too old and it needs to be updated – he just doesn’t get it! I love going through those classic films :)

After GMR we all road Star Tours – great ride – but some of the simulators at USF are better – sorry just my HO. DH and David spent ages in the shop after so Dad and I hiked over to Lights Motors ACTION to get FPs… only they’re not offering them today?? Ok my feet just can’t take this :rotfl:

Now all the rides were out of the way we had to juggle the shows… that’s the only problem with MGM – small park but hard to see in a day as you have to try and get all the shows in!

We did the backlot tour – I’ve seen catastrophe canyon sooo many times I know what’s coming – but I had fun tricking Victoria into sitting on the wrong side of the car and then taking her photos as she got wet :rotfl: Although I sat on the dry side and still walked off with a wet bum – the water seemed to come down both sides! :confused:

By this point we were starving – but mum and dad were keen to get to LMA to get a seat. We had a bit of a spat here – I tried to tell them it was a MASSIVE stadium and we’d have no problem but they wouldn’t listen – so we said we’d split up and meet them in there… Ian and Victoria went off and we told them to go watch the show and we’d meet them outside after – then DH and I went to pizza planet with Emma and David. The service here took ages – at least 20 minutes so we were really cutting it fine to get back to the show. I had to take my pizza with me! (Once again it made me feel :sick: and I told DH not to let me buy any more). We hightailed it back to LMA with about 5 minutes to spare to find mum and dad sitting outside?? :confused: Why they didn’t go in and get a seat instead of waiting outside for 40 minutes I’ll never quite know. It all turned out ok though – as we were last in we had to sit high up in the bleachers – great view – nice cool air from the fans. The show is great BTW – go see it. The stunts are pretty amazing and I love the way they reveal how they do tricks – I won’t go into that here of course – wouldn’t want to spoil it for those who haven’t seen it :)

Some bits were actually broken that day – but we didn’t realise until we saw it again the next visit.

After the show however many thousand people got up and tried to get out at the same time – we all stayed put – and Ian and Victoria even spotted us and came over.

The it was off to WMTBAM play it! Gotta love this show ::yes:: DH and I both made the leader board – but no chance of the hot seat – we’d be useless anyway – far too many American questions. Come on Disney – you have visitors from all over the world – cut us some slack :rotfl:

After that we headed for the Muppets – we lost mum and dad David and Emma as they went to watch a street entertainer… the muppets were just closing their doors so rather than wait for them we decided to go watch – we wanted to see the parade and were cutting it fine anyway.

I love the muppets – it’s a great 3d show – just the right amount of humour and everyone’s gotta love the muppets right?

We headed over to watch the parade after – we were just opposite the “bust garden” and got front row seats on the rope! With just 5 minutes to spare I thought that was pretty good going. Thought they were disabled spots at first – but no – just no one stood there. I like the stars cars parade – so many characters :hyper: Got some great pictures too.

The others caught up with us after – they’d missed our muppets showing and had to wait for the next show – and then got rubbish spots for the parade so hadn’t enjoyed it at all. I didn’t say “I told you so”… but I thought it…

I think we went into Indiana Jones next – we might have FPd it some point but I can’t actually remember! I’ve seen this show so many times I’m actually getting a little bored of it… I think mum felt the same as apparently she went to sleep – with the explosions going off and everything! ???? :rotfl:

Time flies when you’re having fun and it was time to go get seats for Fantasmic – I think it was an early 6pm showing. By the time we got there it was packed :crowded: we had to sit front row centre! Should have been far left but I got everyone to go down in pairs and tell the CM blocking the stairs that we already had seats.

Once we were all in we decided to go get some food from outside – near TOT – but when we tried to get out the CM told us that we may not be allowed back in as they were nearly full ?? :eek:

Quite worrying as David had left to go back to the truck to get his tripod! So we watched the show hungry – but David did make it back.

It was a little breezy that night so we got some of the spray from the show – not good if you have expensive camera equipment – David had to put his away so he had a wasted trip to the truck in the end!

I love Fantasmic more and more every time I see it – it’s just so clever – and the amount of characters is great :)

We had planned to go to DTD afterwards (and David was going to bus it to MK as he wanted to photograph the fireworks from the entrance) but in the end we all decided we were too tired and hungry so we went to Shoneys on the 192 by Sherberth road.

On our last trip DH and I loved this place so much we ate there about 4 times in 2 weeks. So everyone had high hopes… don’t know what happened, might have been our server, or the chef having an off day – but it was awful :sad: Well awful is probably a bit harsh, but it wasn’t as tasty as we remembered.

We made the mistake of going into some of the shops nearby after eating – DH and Ian were looking for bargain PSPs… they didn’t find any but Victoria and I spent 45 minutes trying on trainers – and we both bought matching sandals – we slipped them on our aching feet and it was bliss, they were kid’s nikes and I’ve never seen anything like them before – made out of something like wetsuit material – but they did me proud the rest of the trip!

Oh and Victoria bought some wheelie trainers… they have small wheels in so you can skate in them- we’d seen some boys wearing them and thought they were fantastic! Victoria wasn’t sure but Ian talked her into it – he thought they were cool and no one back home would have some… she couldn’t get the hang of it though! She’s worn the trainers since but never with the wheels :rotfl:

And that was it – back to the villa to sleep, and no wonder we were tired… we walked 8.5 miles today!!
 
Really enjoying reading your report. You seem to fit so much into each day - I can't believe the number of miles you walk (although I'm sure we all walk about the same and just don't realise it). I like the sound of those 'wheelie' trainers, although I'm not sure I would wear them either.
 
Really enjoying your reports. I love the muppets too, this show makes me laugh every time.

ArielJasmine princess:
 
disneyeveryyear said:
I am really enjoying reading your report Clare.

By the way, we also call them escalators. :rotfl:

Oh Bev you got me there - I really thought you guy would have some fantastic word instead! But I remember now that it's lifts that you have the fancy name for :rolleyes1
 
rosiejo said:
Oh Bev you got me there - I really thought you guy would have some fantastic word instead! But I remember now that it's lifts that you have the fancy name for :rolleyes1

I have never thought of "elevator" as a fancy word :confused3 .
 
Great trip report! Can't wait to read the next one!!! Congratulations to you and your groom!

I cannot imagine the tension of having my mother and in-laws and siblings all in one group in crowded theme parks day after day :hyper2: :hyper2: :hyper2: :hyper2: :scared: - I'm not sure we'd all make it out alive each day. :rotfl:

Keep up the great writing. Waiting in anticipation..........
 
Early start again this morning as we head out to USF.

We had to go to the ticket office this morning to pick up two flex tickets that we’d ordered on the internet – the company usually sends out real tickets but due to Hurricane Wilma they’d had to send us a voucher to exchange at the gate. The queue for tickets was about 10 deep so I headed to the will call line and they agreed to swap the voucher for me.

Once in the park we headed straight to the Mummy – this was under construction last trip and I’d been looking forward to it ever since – DH not so much! He was worried about getting motion sick and had come prepared with his wrist bands.

We had to put all of our items in the locker – which was a bit of an ordeal – they work based on your thumb print and Emma just couldn’t get one to recognise her thumb print! David had trouble putting his camera bag in and a member of staff ended up forcing it in the locker for him.

There was no line whatsoever – so we just walked through the queue area – I was becoming terrified and David was winding me up the whole way there. We all got in the car and to be honest from then on it’s a blank! I was terrified and had my eyes shut the whole way around – that car moves very quickly and I felt quite sick with fear – I was so glad when it was finally over! Everyone except DH and me LOVED it – in fact they all ran round to get on again! DH was a mess – it made him feel really sick – and I was just unable to form a sentence!

We hung around the shop waiting for the others and then rescued our stuff from the lockers and headed to MIB.

I love this ride – it’s great fun shooting all the aliens although when they spin your car at the end it’s a bit of a killer!

As there was no line we went out two to a car – so I used two guns on the first go – one to shoot properly and one that I just waved around… when we checked the photos after I’d scored three times as many with my waving gun than mum did playing properly :rotfl:

We cheated and used the baby swap line to get back on the ride for a second go – instead of exiting and coming back through the lift again.

At the end of the second go DH turned green – the Mummy really messed with his motion sickness – so he went and waited in the shop while the rest of us “baby swapped” again.

Then it was over to Back to the Future (DH sat this one out, he doesn’t think it’s so great and was still feeling ill)

I used to love BTTF when I was a kid – and we would ride it 3 or 4 times each trip – now I can take it or leave it – it just seems way too bumpy and jolty. We didn’t have to line up for this – we walked through the ramps and when we got to the room it was time to get on.

Then we headed over to Terminator – this is just an amazing 3d show and I love it still after all of these years. The way they mix in the live action is fantastic. The newbies were all impressed with this too.

By now we were all getting hungry so we decided to split up and get back together in a few hours.

We headed to Mel’s drive in – I had the kid cheeseburgers, which were bite size and served in a cardboard car – very cute! DH had some chicken strips and Ian & Victoria had brought a packed lunch. The food in Universal is quite expensive, and DH and I decided we were getting a bit sick of counter service for lunch every day and decided we’d go buy some packed lunch ingredients from Publix.

After lunch we headed to Shrek – we wanted to get “fast passes” but the machine was closed :eek: We had to stand in a 45 minute line in the hot sun. Now for all you peak season visitors this may not sound a lot – but we are in off peak season, and used to TGM at Disney – the longest lines we’d stood in so far were for food! We were told by a staff member that because the lines are so short the FP machines had been closed for weeks! I’m sorry but 45 minutes is not short – I wanted to FP Shrek and go and see Jimmy Neutron and then come back and wait 5 minutes.

Anyway rant over – Shrek is as good as ever – it’s so clever for a 4d show – and I love Shrek anyway – it’s so funny how they take the mickey out of Disney {no pun intended :rolleyes1: }

Next we headed to Earthquake – the first bit of the show is a bit dry but I love the actual “ride” part. Once again we tricked Victoria into sitting on the wet side… some things you never tire of :)

We were supposed to meet the others for Beetlejuice at this point – but Ian & Victoria decided they didn’t fancy it, I’ve seen it a million times and DH isn’t too fond so we decided to meet the others outside as planned but tell them we were heading to Jimmy. As it happened there were technical problems and the show was cancelled. Mum and Dad wanted to do Earthquake so we split up again agreeing to meet at the exit in an hour.

We rode Jimmy next – the 50 minute queue from lunch time had now dropped to 5 minutes. I love Jimmy Neutron – its so smooth, in fact if they brought over the film from BTTF and played it while I sat in these cars I’d be a very happy bunny!

We were torn about going to see Twister afterwards but decided to give it a miss – I know I’ve been on it before but I couldn’t remember what it was about!

Instead we wondered around the shops.

When the others joined us Mum and Dad said that they watched the Earthquake show and then the ride broke! Think they’re jinxing things around here today :rotfl:

Not sure what time it was by now – maybe 5pm? We agreed to call it a day and head back to the villa to get changed for dinner; we stopped off at Publix on the way for more lunch and breakfast supplies.

We headed out to Ruby Tuesdays for dinner – the burger specialist – that place is great! Unfortunately I wasn’t feeling very well by dinner so just had some fries for my tea. Everyone decided they fancied a drink this evening and started on happy hour at Rubys, then they wanted to go to DTD to the pub.

As I wasn’t well we got Dad to drop us back to the villa so we could pick up the car, DH wanted to go to Virgin at DTD.

We ended up bumping into the others in Virgin and then again in the Christmas shop! I wanted to go home but DH kept saying, just one more shop… at home he hates shopping but in Florida he just goes mad! :rotfl:

Oh yeah – DH and Ian both bought their PSPs tonight in Virgin – they got a good deal with some games included. The price was a couple of dollars more than a shop we saw on the 192 but they felt safer buying something so expensive from Virgin.

We headed home for an early night at about 10 – while the others enjoyed a drink and some music at the House of Blues.

Today was a bit of an odd day – I used to love USF – and I still enjoyed the rides here today, but there was no atmosphere. It’s as if Universal just don’t think it’s worth opening all the shops/stalls or sending out the characters when it’s quiet. And they closed the FPs which is really annoying. I love going to Disney first thing before the crowds get in and breathing in the magic – USF just feels like a ghost town.

Tired feet all round today, what with the 6.5 miles we walked at USF, and the 2.8 at DTD we clocked up 9.3 miles!
 
DebIreland said:
Great trip report! Can't wait to read the next one!!! Congratulations to you and your groom!

I cannot imagine the tension of having my mother and in-laws and siblings all in one group in crowded theme parks day after day :hyper2: :hyper2: :hyper2: :hyper2: :scared: - I'm not sure we'd all make it out alive each day. :rotfl:

Keep up the great writing. Waiting in anticipation..........

I'm not sure how we did make it alive! There were a few :scared1: moments and I won't be doing it again in a hurry - but we did have a blast!

Love the pictures in your sig BTW - adorable!
 

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