The 5 trips of My "Disney Free Year" - A Mermaid, A Buzz, A Boat and A Steak - 7/8

Those super-fun moments of waiting during your childhood trips really stuck with you, huh? Most kids remember ice cream or the castle or something :laughing:.

...yet!!! You don't know that Stitch won't be ruling the planet, stinking up the place!

I've never actually taken the train around the MK. It seems like an efficient way to travel, unless you have to wait an inordinately long amount of time. But then you're at least waiting and not walking!

Haha :rotfl: Like you haven't figured out that I'm not like "most kids" :rotfl: But seriously, there are attractions that I have NO memory of - Like Take Flight and Mission to Mars - no memory at all! (but my parents do, I know we went on them) But man those gates - I could even tell you what I was wearing. What does that say about me?? :rotfl:

True, but if Stitch takes over, I'm heading to the past (aka Carousel of Progress)!

DH has me trained to take the train whenever possible! Usually the MK comes at the end of the day and/or trip, so my feet are usually pretty spent. I'm very sad that the toon town station is closed, that one was the most convenient. Even "waiting long" for the train is almost like 8 minutes :rotfl:

I will always remember those gates too...probably from all those walks from the Polynesian to the TTC on our way to Epcot!

For me, I think it was just the anticipation waiting at those gates knowing we were going to the parks. Or maybe it was the bright colors :lmao:
 
So, anyway, we were on the good ‘ole TTA. This is the mildest ride in the future of the past! Yahooo! Wrap your head around that one!

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I thought this would be a good test to try to take pictures with a moving vehicle.

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This is the life…

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We were right in the most ugliest boringest part of TTA (inside Space Mountain, past progress City, before the rollercoaster part - basically just a utility hallway) and
the ride shut down and we started rolling backwards.

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Exciting!

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We stayed there for a while, and I was starting to think we might need to be evacuated. So I took a little nap, since being up at 5 and not really sleeping was starting to get to me.

Nap time!

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Well either that or I drank the poison milk meant for Peter Pan, but enough people clapped for me that I was able to revive.

I really didn't care that we got stopped. I just wished it had been at a prettier spot!

Eventually we started moving again.

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After the People movers, we headed back to Frontierland. I was hoping the little path along the train tracks would still be open, but no dice. We had to take the long way.

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Panic went to Carnegie Mellon University, and at her commencement Randy Paucsch (of the Last Lecture) was one of the speakers, shortly before he passed away. It was cool to see a quote of his at the Magic Kingdom!

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At least the long way is also the pretty way!

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Soon, we made it to constructionland (shout out to Nory whom I shamelessly stole that one from)

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I’m not sure why I was taking so many roof-top shots. Kinda weird.

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On our way, we ran into the parade.

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We found a pretty good quiet spot, so we decided to watch the parade.

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At first we were just going to watch the first two floats, but we got caught up in the randomness of it.

Like why are Pinocchio and Snow White on the same float?

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Or Aladdin, Dumbo and Mary Poppins – talk about random!

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Or Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland? What were they drinking when they came up with these combos?

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And what makes Cinderella so cool that she gets her own float?

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All you lesser Princesses can share a float!

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Then we saw Tiana and Naveen. Naveen was awesome and really animated, and was talking to a little kid.

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I tried to zoom in on him, and hit pay dirt!

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Naveen is my new favorite – ever!
 
I have to agree that Cinderella is pretty awesome. I mean she must be she has her own float!!!! I hope you let us know how Alaska was too!!!
 

Even "waiting long" for the train is almost like 8 minutes :rotfl:

8 MINUTES?!?!?! I want to be on the train NOW!!!! :laughing:

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Naveen is my new favorite – ever!

Awww that's such a cute picture!!!

Being stuck on the TTA, then going backwards, probably would have freaked me out a little. It paused while we were on it, but nothing out of the ordinary as far as car direction.

I like the parade of random character assortments. Seems festive.
 
Panic went to Carnegie Mellon University, and at her commencement Randy Paucsch (of the Last Lecture) was one of the speakers, shortly before he passed away. It was cool to see a quote of his at the Magic Kingdom!

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Well, Randy Paucsch was a Disney Imagineer! I'm not sure what he helped develop at Disney (he took his sabbaticals there in the 90's). Part of his Last Lecture was around following your childhood dreams and he claimed to have done so by being a Disney Imagineer. Also, Hyperion (a Disney owned publisher) is responsible for publishing the book The Last Lecture - which is a great read for anyone and everyone.
 
I have to agree that Cinderella is pretty awesome. I mean she must be she has her own float!!!! I hope you let us know how Alaska was too!!!

:rotfl: yes, awesome is the word I was going to use. Not at all one that rhymes with twitchy. No not me :rotfl::rotfl:

Alaska was awesome (except for the fact that DH couldn't go) I'm working on starting a blog so that I can share my non-disney adventures with you guys too! I'll be sure to post it when it's up and ready.

8 MINUTES?!?!?! I want to be on the train NOW!!!! :laughing:

Awww that's such a cute picture!!!

Being stuck on the TTA, then going backwards, probably would have freaked me out a little. It paused while we were on it, but nothing out of the ordinary as far as car direction.

I like the parade of random character assortments. Seems festive.

You laugh, but DH has come pretty close to that meltdown on occasion. :rotfl:

I love that picture of Naveen. So adorable! :lovestruc

I'll admit the backwards thing kinda freaked me out. It happened because they turned the magnets that propel the vehicles off, but even all that science-y logical knowledge didn't help me from thinking that the villains were attacking! :rotfl:

I'll admit it, it was a very festive parade, and we were definitely talking about it longer than we normally would have because of the Kooky combos.

Well, Randy Paucsch was a Disney Imagineer! I'm not sure what he helped develop at Disney (he took his sabbaticals there in the 90's). Part of his Last Lecture was around following your childhood dreams and he claimed to have done so by being a Disney Imagineer. Also, Hyperion (a Disney owned publisher) is responsible for publishing the book The Last Lecture - which is a great read for anyone and everyone.

Panic the depth of your knowledge never ceases to amaze me! :cutie:
 
Finally, We made it to the Wildest Ride in the Wilderness.

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Teeheee... This one always makes me laugh. (Yes, I'm 7)

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we were given the back of the train, but the couple in the row in front of us wanted the back and we really didn't care where we were, so we just switched with them. They were so grateful and thanking us profusely. I love Disney for that feeling. The tiniest things can make someone’s day.


We discussed Splash, but neither of us wanted to get wet, so we skipped it, and went back to wandering.

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We were hungry at this point, so we decided to once again rely on DIS advice, andgive Casey's a try. Can you believe I'd never been there before?

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We split fries and a corn dog bites, and took a little rest on the bleachers

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Yum! I can’t believe I’ve been missing these!

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By this time, both of us were really feeling our feet yell at us for all the pointless walking we’d been doing.

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After Casey's we headed down Main Street

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Then we were drawn to the candy store like moths to a flame…

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We’d get this Krispy for Queenie, if we could lift it!

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Greg called Panic so we held back at the entrance for a bit, while they chatted.

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I love the little hidden meanings – Main Street is the show, so the last store you see as you leave, is the Curtain Call…

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Holy pictures Batgirl! I like that they aren't all of the main attractions. If Ihad been in 3 parks in 1 day, I'd have been crying!

That Krispie is the biggest one I've ever seen:thumbsup2
 
My mouth is watering looking at these pics @_@

We also discovered that the jalapeno & cheese pretzels are available at one of the stands in America in the World Showcase at Epcot. Not the funnel cake stand... the other one.

OhMyGosh, thank you. I love the jalapeño pretzels at AK. They're my must do snack every trip to WDW. That and Dole Whip float. I didn't know you could get them outside of AK.

Oh, and I've been reading all along, just been quiet since my first stalker post. So, when is your next trip to WDW? My family is planning onn camping at Fort Wilderness for the first time this October and MNSSHP, which we've also never done.
 
True story. I got back from a 10 day vacation to Alaska today - like at 9 am. And I'm already pricing out next Disney trip. I just can't get enough. Seriously - I think I need to join you in the 12 step program!

Business idea: we start a 12-step program for Disney addicts. Then, with the money we make curing them of their addiction, we go to WDW monthly. :rotfl:

I am seriously feeling a little sad because, for the first time in ages, I have no WDW trip in the works. I'm hoping to maybe squeeze in a quick one before my AP expires in October, but between having to take a week off from work for a publishing course I teach at in July, and visiting my parents in WI in August, and my sister getting married in CA in September...I just don't know if it will work. :sad1:

Anyway, on to your updates! I love your pictures! Especially the Tomorrowland ones. I always spend a lot of time walking back and forth unnecessarily, too...but I think I end up getting more out of the parks that way, in the end!

One of these days, I'm going to have to give Casey's corn dog nuggets another try. I thought they were pretty gross when I tried them! But maybe they were having an off (i.e., sitting under the heat lamp for too long) night?
 
Holy pictures Batgirl! I like that they aren't all of the main attractions. If Ihad been in 3 parks in 1 day, I'd have been crying!

That Krispie is the biggest one I've ever seen:thumbsup2

Yeah, I may have gone a little over board with the pictures ;)

Oh, we're not done yet. Though we did fall just a little short of the ultimate Disney day (we ended up scrapping our plans to go to DTD at the last minute) we definately were girlies on a mission!

I like krispies as much as the next person, but seriously, who buys those biggies?

OhMyGosh, thank you. I love the jalapeño pretzels at AK. They're my must do snack every trip to WDW. That and Dole Whip float. I didn't know you could get them outside of AK.

Oh, and I've been reading all along, just been quiet since my first stalker post. So, when is your next trip to WDW? My family is planning onn camping at Fort Wilderness for the first time this October and MNSSHP, which we've also never done.

They're must do for us too. when making the plan for the trip, we were discussing which park to scrap in case the goal of 4 became too much. AK was first on the chopping block, but quickly removed because we needed a pretzel! We didn't try them, but they look the same. YUM!

Ohh fun. We decided to scrap MNSSHP on our last halloween trip, and I so regret it. You are going to have a great time! I hope you do a TR, I'm very curious about camping at WDW, I'm not a fan of camping, but DH is. It could be a good compromise for us (you know, him camping, me staying at WL - :laughing: Kidding!).

The next trip question is complicated. Officially, my next trip is in January. Unofficially - anything could happen, I am a functioning addict :cutie:

Business idea: we start a 12-step program for Disney addicts. Then, with the money we make curing them of their addiction, we go to WDW monthly. :rotfl:

I am seriously feeling a little sad because, for the first time in ages, I have no WDW trip in the works. I'm hoping to maybe squeeze in a quick one before my AP expires in October, but between having to take a week off from work for a publishing course I teach at in July, and visiting my parents in WI in August, and my sister getting married in CA in September...I just don't know if it will work. :sad1:

Anyway, on to your updates! I love your pictures! Especially the Tomorrowland ones. I always spend a lot of time walking back and forth unnecessarily, too...but I think I end up getting more out of the parks that way, in the end!

One of these days, I'm going to have to give Casey's corn dog nuggets another try. I thought they were pretty gross when I tried them! But maybe they were having an off (i.e., sitting under the heat lamp for too long) night?

Ahhh Nory, I love the way you think! :rotfl::rotfl:

Isn't the feeling of no trip on the horizon just so devastating? It's like loosing your teddy bear or blankie. I totally know the feeling of trying in vain to squeeze one last drop out of your AP. I hope you have better luck than I did! But you know me, I'm a big advocate of the weekend trip - a quick fix is still a fix. :rotfl:

I'm usually rushing through tomorrowland because the theming is kind of bizarre to me. But slowing down, I was surprised how beautiful it actually is.

As much as my feet disagree with you, I totally agree. I think part of walking back and forth makes you stop and smell the roses. When we had a clear and concise plan for the MK in December, we didn't take in the sights at all, we just breezed through.

I had read mixed reviews about Caseys, but we really liked the corn dogs. They weren't too greasy or dry. Mmm... I'm hungry, corn dogs sound good right now.
 
It was about 4:00 at this point, so we were in really good shape to make it to our goal of all 4 parks. So we hopped on the Monorail.

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I wanted to take the Resort Monorail, so we could stop off at the Poly, but the resort
service was down, so we had to take the Express.

Sorry Grand Floridian, maybe next time.

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Some kind of event or something. Ever since I planned my wedding at WDW I feel compelled to take a picture of every event-type thing I see. Not sure what that's about.

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Another crowded monorail. Yippee. The parks weren't super crowded, but the monorail always was.

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Soon, we were walking into our 4th park.

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We got to Epcot, and I was super thirsty once more, so we stopped at Club Cool for a Vitamin water and hopped into my favorite pointless hallway for a little air conditioned break.

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Next, we headed into Bambi's butterfly garden. I was playing with the settings on
my camera, so we spent quite a while in here.

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So get ready to scroll!

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Hey, you Marcel!

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Marcel, are you listening to me?

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Favorite! So naturally I took 3.

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MARCEL?? (Major bonus points to anyone besides Panic that gets this reference!)

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Yep, there's still more pictures. Believe it or not, I edited down too, I swear!

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Are you sick of flowers and butterflies yet?

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Business idea: we start a 12-step program for Disney addicts. Then, with the money we make curing them of their addiction, we go to WDW monthly. :rotfl:

BRILLIANT! :thumbsup2


Oooh I love that pic!

I've always wanted to visit during the flower and garden festival, but I'm pretty sure that all of the pollen would do DBF in. I just asked him about it, and he instantly shook his head NO and said "look at what happened to me when it was WINTER!" :laughing:
 
Hey, you Marcel!

:lmao::lmao: AT&T should be thanking you for the free advertisment!

I'm a thinking that you are one funny lady!

BTW love the butterfly pics! Is the butterfly house there always?
 
I'm so glad you chose to share so many photos. They were all so nice! I've never seen the butterfly house. LOVE all the topiaries (wish I could spell it BTW). I've never eaten at Casey's either. Isn't it fun to find new spot in a Rockin' Trip Report?

Thanks for sharing! I'm tired just looking at your report. My dogs would be howling by now :lmao:
 
BRILLIANT! :thumbsup2



Oooh I love that pic!

I've always wanted to visit during the flower and garden festival, but I'm pretty sure that all of the pollen would do DBF in. I just asked him about it, and he instantly shook his head NO and said "look at what happened to me when it was WINTER!" :laughing:

Yeah, I was pumped full of Claritin, and I was still stuffy when we left. It is pretty, but definitely not for the sneezy!


Hey, you Marcel!

:lmao::lmao: AT&T should be thanking you for the free advertisment!

I'm a thinking that you are one funny lady!

BTW love the butterfly pics! Is the butterfly house there always?

Winner! We love that commercial. My whole family shouts "Hey Marcel, you listening to me?" at each other all the time. We're kind of obnoxious actually :rotfl:

Thanks for the flattery :cutie:

I'm pretty sure the butterfly house is only there during the Flower and Garden festival. I don't remember seeing it any other time of the year.

I'm so glad you chose to share so many photos. They were all so nice! I've never seen the butterfly house. LOVE all the topiaries (wish I could spell it BTW). I've never eaten at Casey's either. Isn't it fun to find new spot in a Rockin' Trip Report?

Thanks for sharing! I'm tired just looking at your report. My dogs would be howling by now :lmao:

Before I comment on your comments, I just want to say I'm so mad jealous that your going to Alaska in a few weeks! I had such a great time, and can't wait to go back in a few years!:goodvibes

It was the first time I'd been to the Butterfly House either. Even though we've been to Flower and Garden Festival many times. It was pretty cool, though the butterflies seemed pretty scant.

I love pointing out to people (especially DH, because he often questions the usefulness of my Dis obsession) stuff I find out about on people's TRs. I think it's the best kind of recommendation!

I actually reached a point later in the day where I was pretty sure I couldn't go on. I was pretty sure my feet might fall off or something.
 
After the butterfly house, we made our way to the World Showcase. We saw the African Cats Sand Sculpture.

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There was a CM that was giving out stickers to those (children mostly) that could find the hidden Mickey. We’re so good we correctly guessed where it was without seeing it first!

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Next we walked towards the World Showcase, but we were both so hot and tired at this point, we knew we needed a break. So we thought we'd hop into the O Canada movie for a little rest. Both of our minds were cloudy from the heat and being tired
so it never registered with us that the Canada movie is in circle vision, so you don't sit. crap on a cracker!

As we were walking in, Panic turned to me, and said "I hate you" as we realized my error. I haven't seen the Canada movie in a while, so it was fun to see, but it didn't quite provide the naptime I was hoping for. Next time, I'll head straight to the American Adventure!

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Stupid Circle –Visioning Canadians!

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Even though there were no seats, the movie was pretty cute - I'll admit it.

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Even though their movie wasn't what I wanted, I absolutely love the Canadian Pavilion. So pretty!

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Blame Canada! Blame Canada!

Now I have that song stuck in my head.

Holy lots of stuff packed into one day Batman! I'm so impressed right now!

:worship:
 












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