sleepydog25
Been here awhile
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2004
- Messages
- 8,460
My name is Dog. . .Sleepydog. I'm licensed to thrill.
Day 5: One more full day on this mission. One more full day to fully uncover the truth. "The truth? You can't handle the truth!" barks Princess. Doc raises an eyebrow, then the rest of her wakes up, too. By dawn's early light, we are wide awake. Okay, maybe not "wide" awake, more like barely. . .nooo, more like teetering on unsteady legs stumbling to the kitchen to get some caffeine only there isn't any so you chug old coffee grinds straight 'cause you need the jolt sort of awake. Oh, yeah, you've been there, haven't you?
Today, the final full day at WDW, we have chosen to retrace our steps to MM's lair: the Magic Kindom. We're certain MM knows we're onto him and that he's carrying a buttload of pixie in his briefcase--you know, the type with hidden knife blades, poison gas, hidden compartments, invisible ink pens, a lighter that works like a flame thrower, and an inflatable raft that has a 50-hp Evinrude attached (I don't want to get too technical here, but much of that stuff has been shrunken to fit the briefcase by MM's henchmen, the Majinears--this is all classified stuff). Where was I? Oh, yes. We're onto him. And we will find him. We will go back to MK! "Don'cha mean 'back. . .to the future!"? queried Doc. Wrong park. Wrong studio. "Oops."
Though we enjoy riding the boat to MK most times (did you ever notice the eeveel image of a bear as you look at the backside of WL from the boat?), we decided that the bus would be quicker, and we didn't want to miss the Extra Mission Hour afforded us again this day. Our choice paid off with less than a 5 min. wait for the bus. Was that evidence pixie was nearby?
When we arrived at the park, the crowds were noticeably smaller (note to self: make every day at WDW a Thursday). We got to the gate at the same time as Day 3, yet we were much closer to the entrance. When the confetti dropped, we were in the park within a minute and heading straight for Indy Speedway. Seems Princess was reverting to her childhood. . .which makes sense given her age. We were
to the ride! Woohoo! Umm, I mean, it was okay in a kinda cool, secret agent way.
After choking on gas fumes, we went straight to Infinity and Beyond to zap Zurg zilly, er, silly. He's the easiest CHAOSian to beat in the whole park. The wait was nil. We DE'd our way (for the uninitiated, DE = Daddy Express--being a dad is my cover, you know) to the Teacups, then we made haste to Snow White and Pooh (now that would be quite the ride: Snow White, Pooh, and the Seven Heffalumps & Woozles).
Soon, I zipped over to Splish Splash I Was Taking A Bath Mountain, though zipping is a relative term. As you know, fellow agents, the entrance to that part of the park isn't opened until expiration of the EMH. I was at the It's a Small World entrance (you remember It's a Small World, don't you? You know, the one with that amazing and entertaining ditty, "It's a small world, after all; it's a small world, after all; it's a small world, after all; it's a small, small world." It's stuck in your head now, isn't it?) But, I digress. When the ropes were dropped, they weren't actually dropped but carried between a few CMs to keep the horde from making a mad dash. Just when they step aside past Haunted Mansion and you think you can make a run for it, you see a wall o' CMs ahead of you stretched across the entire promenade. This group walks you all the way to bridge near Spash Mtn. In other words, you ain't zippin' anywhere. Still, I managed to grap a secret FP and skedaddle back to my team.
I meet them at It's a Small World (you have heard the song, right?), and we ride it.
We put that demon to rest with a delightful stop at Philharmagic, then head over to Goofy's Coaster for a quick whiz, er, whirl there (Note to self: keep this PG). Though we have seen no pixie to this point, nor MM, we begin to realize that perhaps we've been lulled into a false sense of security. With that thought, we found ourselves at the FP entrance to Splasherooski. It was only 0940 hours. Crowds? What crowds? "We don't need no stinkin' crowds!" (Yes, it's time to play "What movie is that line borrowed [and slightly edited] from?")
For those keeping track, yes, we got soaked once again.
By now, we have hit all the major attractions that Princess so desired. I realized then that we had lost her. She was no longer Agent Princess, license to shrill, but had become the Kid. Not a care in the world. Doc and I, still of sound mind and body, figure it's time to go to park #2--Disney-MGM. Our mission? Catch 4 for a Dollar prior to Beauty and the Beastie Boys. If you recall, they had mysteriously taken Sundays and Mondays off. Given they are our favorite part of the Beauty show, we had to make contact with them if we could. We monorailed to TTC, then bused to Disney-MGM. I'm pretty sure we shook any tails we had as we made our connections quickly. Okay, to be fair, we did wait 12 minutes for a bus at TTC (our longest wait of the entire mission trip), and it's sort of like waiting for a bus on a strange corner in L.A. Note to Disney: I know TTC is only a throughfare, but man, you gotta do something to spruce up the place. It's as if you've fallen off the edge of the Disney universe there.
At D-MGM, we FP'd Star Tours (was that Darth, Obi, and a storm trooper in a little skit with the audience out front? It was!), then chose to go in search of character contacts. One Jojo & Goliath, three Little Einsteins, and two Power Rangers later, we headed back to ST. That 'droid driving the shuttle is still as dumb as ever. Will he ever learn to drive that thing? Oh, he's not real, is he? Oops. I believe the forces of eeveel are getting to me. With only five minutes to spare before the 4 for a Dollar portion of B & B was to begin, we stepped up the pace. Yep, the ol' DE roared back into action. Oh, yeah, we made the intro. HA! As we knew the Hairy One winds up lovin' and livin' with Belle of the ball, we left early.
Frankly, we couldn't see anything else we had to do. Sure, there were some major attractions left, but we had to weigh our options. MM had been elusive but, strangely, we didn't feel in jeopardy. In fact, we felt good. We felt oddly alive. Hot and sweaty, too, but hey, this IS Florida in the summer! It was 1345, and we hopped a bus for VWL. The pool awaited. My run to FW and back beckoned me (if I'm gonna sweat, I want to really sweat). And we needed to collect our wits before the final night's activities.
After the pool for Doc and Princess and the run/pool combo for me, we prepared for our final meal at WDW at the famed spy hangout, Artist Point. Knowing the Kid was no longer any help with our mission, we dropped her off at the Cub's Den while Doc and I proceeded to AP for our rendezvous. . .
Obligatory romance scene alert! We kissed. We held hands. We shared a great bottle of wine (Rockblock Syrah from Oregon). We ate like royalty (buffalo filet served medium rare). And, of course, if you want the whole story, visit the Dining thread and look up my final food review for this mission. Cue the music. Violins! Harp! Tenor sax! Yeah, this is officially a PG-13 scene, now. Sorry, those records will be kept sealed unless you have the requisite clearance.
Let's just say the evening was tremendous. And then I had an epiphany. . .which I will relate to you tomorrow in the final mission report (it will also give time to those of you who need to look up epiphany).
Day 6: This was it. Our last day of the mission, and we woke. . .later than usual. Why? No rush to get anywhere. We had scoured the parks for days, relaxed poolside incognito, had feasted well, and had observed a few shows all to determine if MM was, indeed, the scourge he was rumored to be. And we had scanned every nook, every corner for the elusive "pixie dust." Overnight, Doc and I had formed an opinion about what we found, only we needed one last brief scouting trip to confirm our beliefs. So, onward we pushed. . .
We had mostly packed the night before, and once completely ready, had a valet come to pick up our bags for storage. He arrived within moments of calling to the front desk. It was 0330 hours. . .oops, that's a typo, I mean 0830 hours.
We headed off to The 'Cot where we managed to avoid the Baggage Checker from HE double-toothpicks and proceeded into the park. By now, Princess was completely into the Kid mode. There was no denying she had crossed over. At one point, she even looked up at me and said, "I feel different. You look different. Just who ARE you?" My reply: "Look, I AM your father."
Our mission this day was to test drive the test vehicles at the test track and not get testy. The park had opened a few minutes early, so we were riding the new supery dupery spy vehicles by 0900 (we FP'd them when we got off 'cause we saw a sign of MM but wanted to check again to make sure) then headed straight to SOARIN'. The flight wait was only 20 minutes from walking into the building to climbing aboard our gondola, and we smiled at our good fortune. And while we were on this ride, my greatest epiphany occurred: I recognized the Castle!
Suddenly, I was transformed, transported back to a time when I was much younger, kinder, and gentler (and had more, less gray hair). I was "bourne" with a new identity, a new mindset. DISNEYLAND! I had been there numerous times in another lifetime, and the Castle sparked that memory in me. Yes, the birthplace of MM, the holy grail of theme parks, the granddaddy of all things Disney, the home to the Storyland Book ride and the Matterhorn (and once upon a time, those silly little submarines)! It was immediately clear to me that the so-called eeveel agent named MM was not eeveel at all and that the pixie dust we had been searching for all week had been with us all along.
From the ability to catch nearly all our transportation needs within moments, to the thrill of the rides, to the beauty of VWL, to the wonderful meals, to the excellent CMs, to the look of wonderment on Princess' face at BBB, to the doowop sound of 4 for a Dollar, to the 0 to 60 rush in 2.8 seconds of RnRC, to getting drenched at Splash Mountain, to the three books' worth of autographs, to the refreshing feel of the pool, to the great bottle of wine at AP, to the lasting memories we had made as a. . .gulp. . .family. Hey, we weren't on a mission; we were on vacation. No wonder Princess looked too young to be an agent. And that Doc. . .hubba, hubba.
And I wasn't a secret agent at all (
I'm just saying this to protect my cover). It all made sense now.
After smelling the oranges and nearly knocking the man out of the boat on SOARIN', we headed back to Test Track for one last spin. Sure enough, we DID find ol' Mickey, a hidden Mickey. Okay, for many of you out there, finding HMs is easy and a full-time hobby as you lollygag around the parks. I swear, I'm HM-challenged. You can point your finger at one, and I'm likely to say, "Huh?" However, this time, Doc did find one that I easily saw. It was our first, honest-to-gosh, not easily noticed Hidden Mickey ever. And it happened on the ride that our daughter wound up loving the most--do you need more proof of Pixie than that? Any takers on what we saw?
Armed with that knowledge, we left The 'Cot and drove to Animal Kingdom. And, yes, it WAS hot! Very hot! In fact, it was 10:15 when we arrived and it was already 90! Our mission, er, goal was to get a few more signatures in Princess' third autograph book (yes, we buy the ones in the park even though you can get a cheap little book in dozens of off-site places, but isn't that special purchase part of the Disney experience?). We had gotten numerous pics and signatures (including an extra one at the PSB when one of the princesses forgot who she was that day, then flipped the page surreptitiously and signed the correct name!), but the list wasn't going to be complete with Pooh and friends. So, we waited in the hot line at the hot gazebo in the hot park in the hot state of Florida. And it was worth it as Pooh (Princess' fave), Eeyore (Doc's fave), and Tigger (my fave) were all there. We thought about attempting to get onto EE and/or KR, but since we had an 11-12 hour drive coming up (and did I mention it was hot?), we opted to end our Disney experience on that note.
We headed back to VWL to pick up our luggage, take a quick dip in the pool to cool off, say goodbye to the Lodge one more time, get a refill in our mugs, and hit the road for home. And so we did. Was the mission a success? Absolutely. We did a fair amount of planning beforehand to give us the structure of our visit (must see venues), but we allow ourselves slack time in order to be spontaneous when needed due to crowds, ride availability, heat, and our own desires. Our only setback was not getting to ride EE though we made a conscious choice to not do so. I also chose not to take the extra time to ride ToT, preferring to hook up with the team, umm, family that day. It's all about family, you know.
In the next day or two, I may think of a tip, highlight, or head-scratching moment to share, but for the most part, I have mentioned all that seemed imporant at the time. Thanks to all of you for your kind comments and for bearing with my penchant to wax poetic. Until the next shaghedelic, in like flint, never say never trip. . .dum, dum, dumdum, dum, dum. . .
Coming in September to a Thread Near You: Sleepydog Goes Cruising with Doc. . .Alone
Day 5: One more full day on this mission. One more full day to fully uncover the truth. "The truth? You can't handle the truth!" barks Princess. Doc raises an eyebrow, then the rest of her wakes up, too. By dawn's early light, we are wide awake. Okay, maybe not "wide" awake, more like barely. . .nooo, more like teetering on unsteady legs stumbling to the kitchen to get some caffeine only there isn't any so you chug old coffee grinds straight 'cause you need the jolt sort of awake. Oh, yeah, you've been there, haven't you?
Today, the final full day at WDW, we have chosen to retrace our steps to MM's lair: the Magic Kindom. We're certain MM knows we're onto him and that he's carrying a buttload of pixie in his briefcase--you know, the type with hidden knife blades, poison gas, hidden compartments, invisible ink pens, a lighter that works like a flame thrower, and an inflatable raft that has a 50-hp Evinrude attached (I don't want to get too technical here, but much of that stuff has been shrunken to fit the briefcase by MM's henchmen, the Majinears--this is all classified stuff). Where was I? Oh, yes. We're onto him. And we will find him. We will go back to MK! "Don'cha mean 'back. . .to the future!"? queried Doc. Wrong park. Wrong studio. "Oops."
Though we enjoy riding the boat to MK most times (did you ever notice the eeveel image of a bear as you look at the backside of WL from the boat?), we decided that the bus would be quicker, and we didn't want to miss the Extra Mission Hour afforded us again this day. Our choice paid off with less than a 5 min. wait for the bus. Was that evidence pixie was nearby?
When we arrived at the park, the crowds were noticeably smaller (note to self: make every day at WDW a Thursday). We got to the gate at the same time as Day 3, yet we were much closer to the entrance. When the confetti dropped, we were in the park within a minute and heading straight for Indy Speedway. Seems Princess was reverting to her childhood. . .which makes sense given her age. We were
Soon, I zipped over to Splish Splash I Was Taking A Bath Mountain, though zipping is a relative term. As you know, fellow agents, the entrance to that part of the park isn't opened until expiration of the EMH. I was at the It's a Small World entrance (you remember It's a Small World, don't you? You know, the one with that amazing and entertaining ditty, "It's a small world, after all; it's a small world, after all; it's a small world, after all; it's a small, small world." It's stuck in your head now, isn't it?) But, I digress. When the ropes were dropped, they weren't actually dropped but carried between a few CMs to keep the horde from making a mad dash. Just when they step aside past Haunted Mansion and you think you can make a run for it, you see a wall o' CMs ahead of you stretched across the entire promenade. This group walks you all the way to bridge near Spash Mtn. In other words, you ain't zippin' anywhere. Still, I managed to grap a secret FP and skedaddle back to my team.
I meet them at It's a Small World (you have heard the song, right?), and we ride it.
For those keeping track, yes, we got soaked once again.
By now, we have hit all the major attractions that Princess so desired. I realized then that we had lost her. She was no longer Agent Princess, license to shrill, but had become the Kid. Not a care in the world. Doc and I, still of sound mind and body, figure it's time to go to park #2--Disney-MGM. Our mission? Catch 4 for a Dollar prior to Beauty and the Beastie Boys. If you recall, they had mysteriously taken Sundays and Mondays off. Given they are our favorite part of the Beauty show, we had to make contact with them if we could. We monorailed to TTC, then bused to Disney-MGM. I'm pretty sure we shook any tails we had as we made our connections quickly. Okay, to be fair, we did wait 12 minutes for a bus at TTC (our longest wait of the entire mission trip), and it's sort of like waiting for a bus on a strange corner in L.A. Note to Disney: I know TTC is only a throughfare, but man, you gotta do something to spruce up the place. It's as if you've fallen off the edge of the Disney universe there.
At D-MGM, we FP'd Star Tours (was that Darth, Obi, and a storm trooper in a little skit with the audience out front? It was!), then chose to go in search of character contacts. One Jojo & Goliath, three Little Einsteins, and two Power Rangers later, we headed back to ST. That 'droid driving the shuttle is still as dumb as ever. Will he ever learn to drive that thing? Oh, he's not real, is he? Oops. I believe the forces of eeveel are getting to me. With only five minutes to spare before the 4 for a Dollar portion of B & B was to begin, we stepped up the pace. Yep, the ol' DE roared back into action. Oh, yeah, we made the intro. HA! As we knew the Hairy One winds up lovin' and livin' with Belle of the ball, we left early.
Frankly, we couldn't see anything else we had to do. Sure, there were some major attractions left, but we had to weigh our options. MM had been elusive but, strangely, we didn't feel in jeopardy. In fact, we felt good. We felt oddly alive. Hot and sweaty, too, but hey, this IS Florida in the summer! It was 1345, and we hopped a bus for VWL. The pool awaited. My run to FW and back beckoned me (if I'm gonna sweat, I want to really sweat). And we needed to collect our wits before the final night's activities.
After the pool for Doc and Princess and the run/pool combo for me, we prepared for our final meal at WDW at the famed spy hangout, Artist Point. Knowing the Kid was no longer any help with our mission, we dropped her off at the Cub's Den while Doc and I proceeded to AP for our rendezvous. . .
Obligatory romance scene alert! We kissed. We held hands. We shared a great bottle of wine (Rockblock Syrah from Oregon). We ate like royalty (buffalo filet served medium rare). And, of course, if you want the whole story, visit the Dining thread and look up my final food review for this mission. Cue the music. Violins! Harp! Tenor sax! Yeah, this is officially a PG-13 scene, now. Sorry, those records will be kept sealed unless you have the requisite clearance.
Day 6: This was it. Our last day of the mission, and we woke. . .later than usual. Why? No rush to get anywhere. We had scoured the parks for days, relaxed poolside incognito, had feasted well, and had observed a few shows all to determine if MM was, indeed, the scourge he was rumored to be. And we had scanned every nook, every corner for the elusive "pixie dust." Overnight, Doc and I had formed an opinion about what we found, only we needed one last brief scouting trip to confirm our beliefs. So, onward we pushed. . .
We had mostly packed the night before, and once completely ready, had a valet come to pick up our bags for storage. He arrived within moments of calling to the front desk. It was 0330 hours. . .oops, that's a typo, I mean 0830 hours.
Our mission this day was to test drive the test vehicles at the test track and not get testy. The park had opened a few minutes early, so we were riding the new supery dupery spy vehicles by 0900 (we FP'd them when we got off 'cause we saw a sign of MM but wanted to check again to make sure) then headed straight to SOARIN'. The flight wait was only 20 minutes from walking into the building to climbing aboard our gondola, and we smiled at our good fortune. And while we were on this ride, my greatest epiphany occurred: I recognized the Castle!
Suddenly, I was transformed, transported back to a time when I was much younger, kinder, and gentler (and had more, less gray hair). I was "bourne" with a new identity, a new mindset. DISNEYLAND! I had been there numerous times in another lifetime, and the Castle sparked that memory in me. Yes, the birthplace of MM, the holy grail of theme parks, the granddaddy of all things Disney, the home to the Storyland Book ride and the Matterhorn (and once upon a time, those silly little submarines)! It was immediately clear to me that the so-called eeveel agent named MM was not eeveel at all and that the pixie dust we had been searching for all week had been with us all along.
From the ability to catch nearly all our transportation needs within moments, to the thrill of the rides, to the beauty of VWL, to the wonderful meals, to the excellent CMs, to the look of wonderment on Princess' face at BBB, to the doowop sound of 4 for a Dollar, to the 0 to 60 rush in 2.8 seconds of RnRC, to getting drenched at Splash Mountain, to the three books' worth of autographs, to the refreshing feel of the pool, to the great bottle of wine at AP, to the lasting memories we had made as a. . .gulp. . .family. Hey, we weren't on a mission; we were on vacation. No wonder Princess looked too young to be an agent. And that Doc. . .hubba, hubba.
After smelling the oranges and nearly knocking the man out of the boat on SOARIN', we headed back to Test Track for one last spin. Sure enough, we DID find ol' Mickey, a hidden Mickey. Okay, for many of you out there, finding HMs is easy and a full-time hobby as you lollygag around the parks. I swear, I'm HM-challenged. You can point your finger at one, and I'm likely to say, "Huh?" However, this time, Doc did find one that I easily saw. It was our first, honest-to-gosh, not easily noticed Hidden Mickey ever. And it happened on the ride that our daughter wound up loving the most--do you need more proof of Pixie than that? Any takers on what we saw?
Armed with that knowledge, we left The 'Cot and drove to Animal Kingdom. And, yes, it WAS hot! Very hot! In fact, it was 10:15 when we arrived and it was already 90! Our mission, er, goal was to get a few more signatures in Princess' third autograph book (yes, we buy the ones in the park even though you can get a cheap little book in dozens of off-site places, but isn't that special purchase part of the Disney experience?). We had gotten numerous pics and signatures (including an extra one at the PSB when one of the princesses forgot who she was that day, then flipped the page surreptitiously and signed the correct name!), but the list wasn't going to be complete with Pooh and friends. So, we waited in the hot line at the hot gazebo in the hot park in the hot state of Florida. And it was worth it as Pooh (Princess' fave), Eeyore (Doc's fave), and Tigger (my fave) were all there. We thought about attempting to get onto EE and/or KR, but since we had an 11-12 hour drive coming up (and did I mention it was hot?), we opted to end our Disney experience on that note.
We headed back to VWL to pick up our luggage, take a quick dip in the pool to cool off, say goodbye to the Lodge one more time, get a refill in our mugs, and hit the road for home. And so we did. Was the mission a success? Absolutely. We did a fair amount of planning beforehand to give us the structure of our visit (must see venues), but we allow ourselves slack time in order to be spontaneous when needed due to crowds, ride availability, heat, and our own desires. Our only setback was not getting to ride EE though we made a conscious choice to not do so. I also chose not to take the extra time to ride ToT, preferring to hook up with the team, umm, family that day. It's all about family, you know.
In the next day or two, I may think of a tip, highlight, or head-scratching moment to share, but for the most part, I have mentioned all that seemed imporant at the time. Thanks to all of you for your kind comments and for bearing with my penchant to wax poetic. Until the next shaghedelic, in like flint, never say never trip. . .dum, dum, dumdum, dum, dum. . .
Coming in September to a Thread Near You: Sleepydog Goes Cruising with Doc. . .Alone
I love your style. It was really fun to read. I look forward to reading your next report.
So are you going on a 
Are you sure you weren't at Star Tours when you delivered this line?? 
). The HM came on Test Track. Guess again, my little chickadee (apologies if you aren't a little chickadee, of course). 
