Shhh!! It’s a Surprise – Chapter 10: Next time, I’ll drive

Growin'upDisney

<font color=blue>I've been to Disney since I was k
Joined
Aug 12, 2003
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964
Cast of Characters

Me = Tausha
DH = Chris aka Panda
DM = Julie (my mom)
DSF = Erick (my stepfather) aka Dude

Happy 30th Birthday Christopher!!

Mickey woke us early this morning as we had an 8:10am PS at Cinderella’s Castle. We had special shirts made for DH’s special day. They read “Chris’s 30th Birthday Bash”. Once we were all in our matching outfits, we took some pictures in the early morning light.

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and

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It’s amazing how quiet the resorts and monorail are that early in the morning. Since the MK doesn’t open until 9am this morning, the only people waiting out at the front gates are character breakfastgoers. We had a fun time talking to the CM’s manning the gates as we waited for them to open. People loved our shirts and were already saying Happy Birthday to Chris.

As we entered the gates our first stop was City Hall for the Birthday Button. DH looked at me with some reservation. I, of course, made him wear it. The CM’s dialed up Goofy and he wished DH a Happy Birthday. With a deserted Main Street it was great opportunity for some pictures of the castle. We even posed for the professional Disney picture. We checked it out later in the day and bought one for each of us.



We arrived just on time for our PS. As we entered the first floor waiting area it truly felt like a real castle. The spiral staircase made it all the more lifelike. We were seated immediately. DH had no idea what to expect since I hadn’t told him anything about this breakfast. As he started to take it all in he noticed all the princesses wandering about. And as Wendy headed our way he soon realized what it was all about. For the next 30 minutes every princess came by and wished him a Happy Birthday and posed for pictures with everyone at the table. It was great fun and besides what guy wouldn’t love all the attention from very pretty princesses? The food was very good as well.

We left here very full and very happy. It was truly a great way to start DH’s birthday. We walked out of the castle just in time for the rope drop to Fantasyland. I highly suggest trying to get PS’s for Cindy’s before the opening of the park. We were already halfway through the park and easily beat the main gate crowd to Tomorrowland. First stop was Buzz Lightyear. DM and I had ridden this back in 2000. Dh and Dude got a real kick out of the ride. I didn’t give away the secret to aim at the high targets so that I could get the highest score. Didn’t work. DH and Dude are avid PS2 and Xbox players. Guess my trigger finger and aim just can’t compare. But DH felt he could do better next time

DH: “Why did you steer all crazy?”

ME: “I like to spin around.”

DH: “But every time I found a target you would move the car.”

ME: “Well I was trying to find targets for me too.”

DH: “Next time, I’ll drive”

OK male chauvinist. Next time I’ll beat your score and never let you live it down, just you wait.

Next was Space Mountain with no wait time. Man that queue is long. “Hey isn’t this the way to Fantasmic!?” The walk sure felt long enough to get us there.

This ride spawned the great debate by DM and Dude that would be a theme much the rest of the week. I will call it the “This isn’t as good as Disneyland” debate. Now remember, we are all DL vets but DM and Dude go at least 3 times a year, so they are inevitably going to compare. Truth be told, you cannot compare apples to oranges. WDW and DL are two different animals and they don’t really compare. If I only had one day to visit a theme park, it would be DL. If I had a week it would be WDW. End of debate. Let’s move on.

We left Tomorrowland and headed to the other side of the park. First stop in Adventureland was the Jungle Cruise. Believe it or not this is where we encountered the longest line of the entire week. Sign said 15 minutes but it was closer to 30. Couldn’t believe it. Then we are the last 4 to enter our boat. There was really only room for 3 people but they insisted we would fit. Major skin-to-skin contact for the rest of this ride not to mention that it was already very humid. We had a very funny Jungle Guide who kept us laughing the entire time. Next was Aladdin’s Flying Carpets which DH passed on.

I should have made him ride, because when I exited the ride there he was with more new pins and My Pal Mickey.

ME: “I warned you about him.”

DH: “Yeah, I know. But he’s just so cute and wanted to come along with me.”

ME: “But from what I hear he gets really annoying really fast.”

DH: “Let’s just see for ourselves.”

I gave in. It was, after all, his birthday not mine. Let’s go Mickey.

The four of us and Our Pal Mickey (OPM) rode Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, and Haunted Mansion (which by the way OPM is a bit afraid of). We missed most of what he had to say the first time he said it and would have to raise him to our ears and strain to hear him. The jokes were corny and the games not real entertaining. I would recommend him for younger kids but suggest the adults pass on him. But we stuck it out with OPM since we had rented him for 24hours.

Next was the Hall of Presidents. OK the whole animatronics thing freaks me out just a little. The critters and the dolls in the rides I have no problem with, but ever since I first saw great Moments with Mr. Lincoln at DL I am freaked out by the human animatronics. I always have this underlying fear that they are going to malfunction and run out into the audience and wreak havoc. Maybe it’s a credit to Walt and the Imagineers for making them so realistic and life-like. Still, they give me the heebie-jeebies. And seeing more than 40 of them up on stage was enough to make me search out the nearest exit in case of a technological revolt.

Next was lunch at Columbia Harbor House. Decent food but I definitely love the upstairs seating area. It was much quieter than downstairs and was a nice place to relax.

On to Philarmagic, which has got to be one of the coolest 3-D attractions ever built. It’s hard to describe the feeling you get by watching this, but it is a definite must see attraction. We rode a few Fantasyland rides and decided to head back to the Poly for some rest. On the way out we visited many of the 75 years with Mickey statues. These were very impressive.

We decided to take the boat launch back to the Poly so we headed t the dock to wait for the boat. It was beautiful day and once we stepped on board the boat and headed back we realized this was the only way to travel…

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Sounds like the start to a terrific birthday.
 
I sat here and read your journey from the beginning. I love it. Can't wait to see the last chapters.:wave2:
 

Great report ~ Thanx for sharing.
 
I too loved Philarmagic. We saw it like 5 times in 2 days. Great reports
 














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