crcormier
<font color=green>We laughed, as it was quite appr
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2003
- Messages
- 7,862
Well, first off, I want to apologize for the quality of my reports thus far, this trip has been much busier than my last trip and time constraints and fatigue have affected my reports. So I made the decision to wait until I got home to finish the rest of my reports. Plus, I was home very late on Day 3, and to find out the reason, read on Mouseketeers
Wednesday, May 18th. Today is my 32nd birthday. And to celebrate, I am headed to the Magic Kingdom to start off with the Keys to the Kingdom tour. We sent my mom and dad on it last month for her birthday and they really enjoyed it. So up at 6:30 to head over to the Mouses house. Parked the rental car right near the front and walked over and grabbed the monorail. Please stand clear of the doors. Por favor mantenganse alegado de las puertas. Got to the MK just before 8 oclock and headed over to guest relations to get a Birthday button (an official one this time!) and then got in line with all of the character meal folks.
Into the park and headed over to City Hall to find out that I am signed up for the 9 oclock tour, not the 8:30. Oops. Guess I could have slept in a touch longer. Oh well. Ill just have to start walking right down the middle of Main Street U.S.Aaaaaaaa . (Another song to have stuck in your head. No need to thank me. I do what I can.) Starving, and with the bakery not yet open, I settled for a Mickey headed rice krispie treat. Hey, its made out of cereal, it counts as breakfast!
I'm walking right down the middle of Main Street U.S.A...
Finally, 9 oclock rolled around and we were joined by Mandy, our tour guide for the morning. Bright and cheerful in her costume with the riding crop, (the one costume that has not changed since its creation at the opening of Disneyland.) We all received headsets dialed into a microphone Mandy wore to help us hear what she was saying no matter where we were, which theyve only been using for a few months, but is a great idea, because in a busy park or a line for the Haunted Mansion, its hard for 13 people to hear one person. (Apparently Mandy said there was one incident she told us of a cast member that was giving a tour and really needed to use the facilities, but forgot to turn off the broadcast, until a kind tour-goer ran into the bathroom and kindly informed her of this. Since I am from Massachusetts, I can only say that must have been a wicked pi**ah. Wow, filters are even tuned to Massachusetteese.)
The tour was excellent, and Mandy was a great guide. It covered Main Street U.S.A and the windows above, Adventureland and the Jungle Cruise (including a private ride on it), a trip backstage, though limited in access due to security.) A guided tour of the Haunted Mansion and the hidden Mickeys inside of it, and the Pirates of the Caribbean. Lunch at the Columbia Harbor House and then a trip down into the utilidors to talk about the 4 keys to the kingdom. We did have to take an oath not to reveal anything and to not get Mandy fired, so I wont really get any more in depth than I have, but I highly recommend this tour to anyone who really wants to get a little inside information and a wants a chance to notice things they never may have noticed before. I will share one story that I think Im allowed to. They occasionally need to empty the moat by the castle to clean it and find a variety of materials in it; hats, glasses, wallets, wheelchairs (yes, wheelchairs) but the most interesting was a small plastic bag. In it were two rings, an engagement ring and a wedding ring and a note that read It started here and it ended here. They never did track her down. So fess up, was it you?
Tour Guide Mandy and myself...
The afternoon was spent enjoying the rest of the park, the Tiki room (and yes, I enjoy the new show,) Space Mountain, the Carousel of Progress. (This was a must since you never know when it may close for good, sadly.) A showing of Stitchs Great Escape. I enjoyed it more the second time, I think it is pretty entertaining, though still needs a bit more tweaking. But I am a big Stitch fan as well. A trip on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority. A galactic gobbler. A stroll through Toontown. Big Thunder Mountain. The crowds are busier than a normal May month, I think, but not bad, the longest wait Ive seen today is between 30 and 45 minutes. I did watch the new Cinderellabration. Its a nice show, the little girls (and the big girls) who love the princess mythology will really enjoy it. For myself, I enjoyed the show they had before more this show. Though Belle was in it. So it does have that.
Since it was my birthday, my uncle had called and wanted to come out for dinner, so we tried to make plans for Ohana, but there was nothing available until 9:40, so we instead made plans for an 8 oclock dinner at Artists Point at the Wilderness Lodge. I got my extra magic hours wristband and took the launch over. There were jabs by the staff about whether or not it really was my birthday, and that I couldnt possibly be thirty-two. Dinner was excellent. I had a pork chop with macaroni and tilamarook (I think it was) cheddar cheese. My uncle had buffalo (quite tasty.) And for dessert I was given a blueberry cobbler with strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries, topped with their own black raspberry ice cream and a candle in it, on the house, which was very nice, though the waitress said she would not sing since she wanted me to enjoy my birthday. For myself, my uncle and his partner, dinner ran $119 I believe, but with DDE was taken down to $94, roughly a $25 savings, or $8 a piece. So this meal really made the DDE break even. But if you want the solo numbers it should be up to about $29 now.
After dinner we took a stroll around the grounds of the hotel since my uncle had never seen it before. We got to see the geyser erupt, and got to watch the Electrical Water Pageant parade go by. This is one of the finest examples of Disney magic to me. There may only be a handful of people that watch this parade any given night, yet Disney does it, because they feel it should be there.
My uncle and his partner departed back to St. Petersburg and I headed back over to the Magic Kingdom to get in a ride on Splash Mountain, since I had missed it earlier. I made my way over to Frontierland and boarded, after a two minute wait since there was some sort of technical difficulty. We loaded up and floated around the outside until we slid down the ramp into the first show area. And now we found the difficulties. The music was playing, the voice-overs were speaking but no-one was moving. At all. It was a house of dead animatronics. And an occasional message stating Attention, all animatronic performers will begin moving immediately, please stand clear of all animatronics, or something to that effect. We heard this a few time as we floated through the oddly cheerful House of Wax. Then the music and voices stopped and we floated silently. It was the most surreal experience I had ever seen at Disney. I will probably have nightmares about it. Finally everything was rebooted and the rest of the ride resumed normally. I disembarked and realized after that they were letting people go through a second time to make up for it, but it was late, I was tired and decided to head back to the car. A second ride on the monorail and I was back at the TTC.
Now I will preface this part by saying it was just after midnight, so technically this did not occur on my birthday. Or at least thats what Im going to tell myself. And if you dont like people talking to themselves, well, tough, I tell you its too late. And so do I. Walking towards the lot I felt around in my pocket for the car key. Hmmm, not in that pocket. Nope, not this one either. Ummm, nope, not this pocket. Nope, not here either. Oh dear. After searching every pocket of my shorts 93 times or so, no luck. The key was gone. Well, no need to panic. I walked over to the bus attendant and asked if she could call security for me. He arrived and called around, but no key had yet been found. Since I had another tour the next morning, had to check out of Saratoga, and didnt want to wait around until 3AM for a locksmith (the rental agency did not have any spare keys, I was told another would have to be made), I had the security officer drive me back to the entrance to the MK to catch the last bus back to Saratoga, and would check in with lost and found the next day. He was nice enough, but was a little curmudgeonly (isnt that ironic that curmudgeon is a fun word to say?) He claimed he was out of pixie dust after they had renegotiated their contracts for a 3 percent raise but now have to pay 4 percent more for health insurance. I tried to be sympathetic, but was just tired and annoyed that I lost my car key. Finally got back to the room around 1:45. Just in time to pack so I could get a few hours sleep before morning. BUT... there was a very nice Mickey Snack Pack from Disney Florists waiting for me on my table that my wonderful sister had ordered. So that was nice to find.
Snack pack delivered from my sister! She rocks.
So that was my birthday. And a little bit of the day after. The birthday was great. The first few hours of the day after not so much. No trip to PI or Jellyrolls tonight, since my car is stuck in Sleepy 71. But its Disney, the good still outweighs the bad, and I got into bed with Stacey as she did her best to cheer me up.
Day 4 - The Locksmith Who Spoke Chinese
Wednesday, May 18th. Today is my 32nd birthday. And to celebrate, I am headed to the Magic Kingdom to start off with the Keys to the Kingdom tour. We sent my mom and dad on it last month for her birthday and they really enjoyed it. So up at 6:30 to head over to the Mouses house. Parked the rental car right near the front and walked over and grabbed the monorail. Please stand clear of the doors. Por favor mantenganse alegado de las puertas. Got to the MK just before 8 oclock and headed over to guest relations to get a Birthday button (an official one this time!) and then got in line with all of the character meal folks.
Into the park and headed over to City Hall to find out that I am signed up for the 9 oclock tour, not the 8:30. Oops. Guess I could have slept in a touch longer. Oh well. Ill just have to start walking right down the middle of Main Street U.S.Aaaaaaaa . (Another song to have stuck in your head. No need to thank me. I do what I can.) Starving, and with the bakery not yet open, I settled for a Mickey headed rice krispie treat. Hey, its made out of cereal, it counts as breakfast!
I'm walking right down the middle of Main Street U.S.A...
Finally, 9 oclock rolled around and we were joined by Mandy, our tour guide for the morning. Bright and cheerful in her costume with the riding crop, (the one costume that has not changed since its creation at the opening of Disneyland.) We all received headsets dialed into a microphone Mandy wore to help us hear what she was saying no matter where we were, which theyve only been using for a few months, but is a great idea, because in a busy park or a line for the Haunted Mansion, its hard for 13 people to hear one person. (Apparently Mandy said there was one incident she told us of a cast member that was giving a tour and really needed to use the facilities, but forgot to turn off the broadcast, until a kind tour-goer ran into the bathroom and kindly informed her of this. Since I am from Massachusetts, I can only say that must have been a wicked pi**ah. Wow, filters are even tuned to Massachusetteese.)
The tour was excellent, and Mandy was a great guide. It covered Main Street U.S.A and the windows above, Adventureland and the Jungle Cruise (including a private ride on it), a trip backstage, though limited in access due to security.) A guided tour of the Haunted Mansion and the hidden Mickeys inside of it, and the Pirates of the Caribbean. Lunch at the Columbia Harbor House and then a trip down into the utilidors to talk about the 4 keys to the kingdom. We did have to take an oath not to reveal anything and to not get Mandy fired, so I wont really get any more in depth than I have, but I highly recommend this tour to anyone who really wants to get a little inside information and a wants a chance to notice things they never may have noticed before. I will share one story that I think Im allowed to. They occasionally need to empty the moat by the castle to clean it and find a variety of materials in it; hats, glasses, wallets, wheelchairs (yes, wheelchairs) but the most interesting was a small plastic bag. In it were two rings, an engagement ring and a wedding ring and a note that read It started here and it ended here. They never did track her down. So fess up, was it you?
Tour Guide Mandy and myself...
The afternoon was spent enjoying the rest of the park, the Tiki room (and yes, I enjoy the new show,) Space Mountain, the Carousel of Progress. (This was a must since you never know when it may close for good, sadly.) A showing of Stitchs Great Escape. I enjoyed it more the second time, I think it is pretty entertaining, though still needs a bit more tweaking. But I am a big Stitch fan as well. A trip on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority. A galactic gobbler. A stroll through Toontown. Big Thunder Mountain. The crowds are busier than a normal May month, I think, but not bad, the longest wait Ive seen today is between 30 and 45 minutes. I did watch the new Cinderellabration. Its a nice show, the little girls (and the big girls) who love the princess mythology will really enjoy it. For myself, I enjoyed the show they had before more this show. Though Belle was in it. So it does have that.
Since it was my birthday, my uncle had called and wanted to come out for dinner, so we tried to make plans for Ohana, but there was nothing available until 9:40, so we instead made plans for an 8 oclock dinner at Artists Point at the Wilderness Lodge. I got my extra magic hours wristband and took the launch over. There were jabs by the staff about whether or not it really was my birthday, and that I couldnt possibly be thirty-two. Dinner was excellent. I had a pork chop with macaroni and tilamarook (I think it was) cheddar cheese. My uncle had buffalo (quite tasty.) And for dessert I was given a blueberry cobbler with strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries, topped with their own black raspberry ice cream and a candle in it, on the house, which was very nice, though the waitress said she would not sing since she wanted me to enjoy my birthday. For myself, my uncle and his partner, dinner ran $119 I believe, but with DDE was taken down to $94, roughly a $25 savings, or $8 a piece. So this meal really made the DDE break even. But if you want the solo numbers it should be up to about $29 now.
After dinner we took a stroll around the grounds of the hotel since my uncle had never seen it before. We got to see the geyser erupt, and got to watch the Electrical Water Pageant parade go by. This is one of the finest examples of Disney magic to me. There may only be a handful of people that watch this parade any given night, yet Disney does it, because they feel it should be there.
My uncle and his partner departed back to St. Petersburg and I headed back over to the Magic Kingdom to get in a ride on Splash Mountain, since I had missed it earlier. I made my way over to Frontierland and boarded, after a two minute wait since there was some sort of technical difficulty. We loaded up and floated around the outside until we slid down the ramp into the first show area. And now we found the difficulties. The music was playing, the voice-overs were speaking but no-one was moving. At all. It was a house of dead animatronics. And an occasional message stating Attention, all animatronic performers will begin moving immediately, please stand clear of all animatronics, or something to that effect. We heard this a few time as we floated through the oddly cheerful House of Wax. Then the music and voices stopped and we floated silently. It was the most surreal experience I had ever seen at Disney. I will probably have nightmares about it. Finally everything was rebooted and the rest of the ride resumed normally. I disembarked and realized after that they were letting people go through a second time to make up for it, but it was late, I was tired and decided to head back to the car. A second ride on the monorail and I was back at the TTC.
Now I will preface this part by saying it was just after midnight, so technically this did not occur on my birthday. Or at least thats what Im going to tell myself. And if you dont like people talking to themselves, well, tough, I tell you its too late. And so do I. Walking towards the lot I felt around in my pocket for the car key. Hmmm, not in that pocket. Nope, not this one either. Ummm, nope, not this pocket. Nope, not here either. Oh dear. After searching every pocket of my shorts 93 times or so, no luck. The key was gone. Well, no need to panic. I walked over to the bus attendant and asked if she could call security for me. He arrived and called around, but no key had yet been found. Since I had another tour the next morning, had to check out of Saratoga, and didnt want to wait around until 3AM for a locksmith (the rental agency did not have any spare keys, I was told another would have to be made), I had the security officer drive me back to the entrance to the MK to catch the last bus back to Saratoga, and would check in with lost and found the next day. He was nice enough, but was a little curmudgeonly (isnt that ironic that curmudgeon is a fun word to say?) He claimed he was out of pixie dust after they had renegotiated their contracts for a 3 percent raise but now have to pay 4 percent more for health insurance. I tried to be sympathetic, but was just tired and annoyed that I lost my car key. Finally got back to the room around 1:45. Just in time to pack so I could get a few hours sleep before morning. BUT... there was a very nice Mickey Snack Pack from Disney Florists waiting for me on my table that my wonderful sister had ordered. So that was nice to find.
Snack pack delivered from my sister! She rocks.
So that was my birthday. And a little bit of the day after. The birthday was great. The first few hours of the day after not so much. No trip to PI or Jellyrolls tonight, since my car is stuck in Sleepy 71. But its Disney, the good still outweighs the bad, and I got into bed with Stacey as she did her best to cheer me up.
Day 4 - The Locksmith Who Spoke Chinese
