The 75% All New Trip! - All done! Bonus Material finished, Link to new TR!

[franandaj]

[Continued from Previous Post]

As is my norm, I did a once over of the buffet. First to take some pictures of what was on offer and to make my plan of attack. They had cereal, but I’m not going to waste my food space on that!



As well as sausages.



Whole fruit? Nope not for me today. I was surprised however at the number of folks who were blatantly taking these and putting them in purses, backpacks, and other bags. One guy put no less than half a dozen oranges and the same number of apples, and even a few bananas in his backpack. At least do it discreetly!



Then there was cut fruit.





Yogurt in various flavors



Some toppings for your yogurt



And mine and Fran’s favorite, the strawberry soup! Although at first I thought that they had discontinued it, the dispenser is new.



I don’t remember this “Mexican flair” to the buffet, first there was tortillas



Scrambled Eggs



Salsa



Sour Cream, Guacamole, Cheese and Pico de Gallo



Corned Beef Hash



Lox and all the trimmings



Omelet Station





Breakfast Meats



Cheese Blintzes with sweet toppings







Wow! This buffet is starting to rival the one on the ship!

Cheddar Cheese



Spinach or Cheese stuffed buns



French Toast and Pancakes



Sausage Gravy



Potatoes O’brien



Pastries



Bread Pudding



Pecan Sticky Buns



Bacon & Tater Tots





Cheesy Eggs



Mickey Waffles



Breads for toasting



Croissants, Jams, Marshmallows and Gummy Bears



[Continued in Next Post]

 

[franandaj]

[Continued from Previous Post]

Chocolate Donut Holes





Bagels and Cream Cheese



When I went past this tray, it was empty, so I had to go back to get this shot, plus I wanted one of these!



Here was my first plate.



This was Fran’s first plate



Here was Fran’s second plate



And my second plate



Fran’s next plate



And her last plate.



And then my last plate.




Next Up: We hit a park.

 

[pkondz]

Catching up!!!!

So it’s been a week since I’ve given you an update on what’s going on in our lives.

Doesn't seem that long to me.

Between Doctor’s appointments, getting to the gym and another little thing, we haven’t done much in the way of moving.

Life gets in the way, sometimes.

Those of you who are friends on FB may have already seen this.

I have lost 10 lbs in 6 days, so that’s no laughing matter.

That's pretty amazing actually.

I would like to drop another 15 but I doubt that I can hold the same rate. If I could I would be there in less than 10 days, but we’ll see.

That seems... almost dangerous.
But you know yourself much better than I!

It’s not forever, but with the amount of weight loss, I need to go with it!

I get that. Continued good luck!

Pretty sunset was going on.

Nice!

We made a beeline for the Osborne Lights along with about 20,000 other people.

I didn't know you had that many friends with you.

When we finally got our first glimpse of the lights, Fran said, "This is way too excessive."

and also

Erth? What's an Erth?

We'll if the "A" in Earth could have been lit up

Ah. So I'm not the only one.

I would like to think that it was due to the fact that the lights are closing thus year, but @afwdwfan reported a similar situation last year with his family nearly being trampled and no one knew the lights would be closing then.

I remember that.

And, just.... nope.

It didn't take long for me to start feeling claustrophobic and on the verge of a panic attack.

Yuck. I can't even imagine.
I don't want to imagine.
No thanks.

People everywhere were not paying attention to what was going on around them, they were so caught up in the moment that they were oblivious to their surroundings. I couldn't get out of there fast enough!

Double yuck!
No way, José.

finally I just followed behind an aggressive guy with a scooter who was practically using it like a machete in a forest of people.

Usually I would be indignant, but...
Yeah, I'd use him to my advantage, too.

Once we were out to safety, I commented to Fran that it was really a waste since there wasn't even a casino anywhere on there!

I doubt they were taking walk ups but it appeared that even folks with reservations were waiting about 15 minutes to be seated.

That's not bad. Considering they're not really reservations.

Fran had a blast in there.

She recognized every TV show, knew all the actor’s names, and for most she even pointed out what series they went on to star in following their roles in these classic 50's sitcoms.

Whoa. Impressive.
I didn't recognize any, I don't think. But then again, they probably weren't playing up here.

That's a great shot of you!

We split a Gingerbread milkshake, which was their seasonal offering. It was sooooooo good. Much more Gingerbread flavor than my cupcake.

Yum. I like the little gingerbread man on top.

We got an order of onion rings, they came with a horseradish sauce that was absolutely delicious. We polished off those suckers in no time.

<sigh> I've heard of these rings and have had them on my to-do list for years.

Some day.

Then we split the fried chicken. It was really good too and we completely cleaned our plates!

Love that fried chicken. Worth it just for that.

Since we cleaned our plates we could have dessert. Fran got the chocolate brownie sundae.

I wonder if any one would have the guts to say no to a customer!

So I took some photos of the empty restaurant.

Nice.

That's my fave shot. I really like it.

I remember these Collier’s Encyclopedias from growing up.

but they are all glued together into one big prop.

Too bad. But I suppose if they weren't, they'd be destroyed in a matter of weeks.

Outside the restaurant the park was fairly empty so I tried a long exposure shot using a trash can as my tripod.

I did the exact same thing.

By this time two more people in (rented) scooters were behind us. They actually had the nerve to get mad at the bus driver for not taking them on the bus.

He explained that he could only hold two scooters and that he would radio in and another bus would be coming along for them. "But that could be 20 minutes!" They complained. Well geez what do you expect when you leave the park over an hour after closing? There's always a taxi I thought.

I really despise self-entitled people.
I hope the next bus was 40 minutes.

At one point Fran gave me a tow it was so low on battery.

Again? Sheesh.
Still... you guys must've been an interesting sight.

Hope I didn't piss you off!

No! But this kills me.
I just got caught up on my own TR and I deliberately used "annoyed" because I assumed "piss off" would've gotten starred out.

Do Canadians ever really get pissed off?

I have two teen daughters.
'Nuff said?

And so it was upon us. The last full day of the trip.

Boo!!!

I woke up well in advance of my scheduled "get out of bed" time which meant I could take a bath.

You're really milking this, aren't you?

Wait. Did you take a bath in milk?

so we pulled up right before the bag check and just watched. The security guys eyed us suspiciously as if we were going to rush the gates, but I guess they eventually figured out that we came in peace and stopped eyeing us.

Because there's nothing more suspicious than you guys.

Then we headed off to catch the monorail.

Wait. What?
I thought you were going in the park!

Once we got to the Grand, I was able to take all the shots that I wanted on Sunday with no one blocking them.

nice.

the characters came by and then we got down to eating.

This sounds like me. "Yeah. Yeah. Characters... Food!"

Alice was commenting to me about the hot air balloon on my shirt. I think she had said that rode in one and was asking me if I had even been on a ride in one.

What did you tell her?

First to take some pictures of what was on offer and to make my plan of attack.

Gotta make sure you're not wasting precious tummy space on stuff you can get anywhere.

They had cereal, but I’m not going to waste my food space on that!

Like that, for instance.

As well as sausages.

Those look... undercooked.

Whole fruit? Nope not for me today.

Ditto.

I was surprised however at the number of folks who were blatantly taking these and putting them in purses, backpacks, and other bags. One guy put no less than half a dozen oranges and the same number of apples, and even a few bananas in his backpack.

Really! Wow. I might take... one. Maybe. And probably not.

Scrambled Eggs

Stop. I could eat that whole chafing dish.
Love scrambled eggs... provided they're done at least semi right.

Breakfast Meats

I'm drooling. I'm just going to stop here.
But then I'd be glad I didn't stop because...

When I went past this tray, it was empty, so I had to go back to get this shot, plus I wanted one of these!

... yesssssssssssss.

This was Fran’s first plate

She sure does love that soup!

Next Up: We hit a park.

Ah! Okay. So you are going to one.
Standing by.

 

[mvf-m11c]

At least you made it in time for the rope drop show at the MS station.

Breakfast at the GF looks nice. Very nice pictures of the Disney characters with you and Fran.

 

[afwdwfan]

I woke up well in advance of my scheduled "get out of bed" time which meant I could take a bath.

Woohoo!! Time to abuse the abundance of water!!!!

We decided that since we were already here we might as well catch the show, so we pulled up right before the bag check and just watched. The security guys eyed us suspiciously as if we were going to rush the gates, but I guess they eventually figured out that we came in peace and stopped eyeing us.

Nice! That actually looks like a great vantage point to watch it from. But yeah, I can see security maybe giving you a little more than a passing glance given their stepped up efforts that were taking effect during your trip.

They had cereal, but I’m not going to waste my food space on that!

That would be a rookie mistake.

Whole fruit? Nope not for me today. I was surprised however at the number of folks who were blatantly taking these and putting them in purses, backpacks, and other bags. One guy put no less than half a dozen oranges and the same number of apples, and even a few bananas in his backpack. At least do it discreetly!

You know if he's blatant about it they can always tell him no. Better than being sneaky and trying to hide it. I wouldn't do it, but I can't blame him. I mean you pay how much for that breakfast and then if you want an orange in the parks it'll cost like 3 bucks.

And mine and Fran’s favorite, the strawberry soup! Although at first I thought that they had discontinued it, the dispenser is new.

I missed it too. I had no idea it was in something like that. I was looking for a big bowl or something in the buffet with a ladle or something. I didn't even see it until my second trip.

This was Fran’s first plate

She could have probably gotten just a little bit more soup in that bowl...

Here was Fran’s second plate

Fran’s next plate

2 in a row with no Strawberry soup??? Was she feeling ok?

And her last plate.

Whew, that's a relief!

It looks like a good breakfast. Honestly, I think breakfast looks like a much better meal there than dinner. I'd probably prefer to go there for breakfast, but with DD being a big Cinderella fan, the make up of the characters at breakfast don't really appeal as much to our family. Looks like you had a good time though!

 

[jedijill]

Yay for getting the Trader Sams shirt! DL needs to carry the shirts too.

Love all the GF pics you got. It is soooo beautiful decorated for the holidays.

I'm not a huge buffet fan but that one looks really good. I love the variety.

Jill in Co

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

And so it was upon us. The last full day of the trip.

NOOO!!!! Say it ain't so!

I commented that we had arrived even before the rope drop show. And just as I said that the show began.

Now that's impressive timing. Admit it, you did it on purpose.

Once we got to the Grand, I was able to take all the shots that I wanted on Sunday with no one blocking them.

Always nice when you get the chance to do that.

They had cereal, but I’m not going to waste my food space on that!

Seriously! Get that stuff outta here!

Whole fruit? Nope not for me today. I was surprised however at the number of folks who were blatantly taking these and putting them in purses, backpacks, and other bags.

Well, I guess they figure they paid for it...

Breakfast Meats

NOW we're talking!

 

[rndmr2]

Nice Update, that really looks like a great buffet! We haven't done any character meals. (Last one I remember doing was in 1991 for my Senior week trip) I did have a couple ADR's when we did our trip in Sept 14 (CP and 1900) but they got switched when I was able to get dinner ADR's at Ohana and BOG. Oh well, maybe next time, I really would like to try that strawberry soup!

 

[franandaj]

Doesn't seem that long to me.




Life gets in the way, sometimes.

As it keeps doing to me.

That's pretty amazing actually.

Well, I hit a small plateau a couple days ago.

That seems... almost dangerous.
But you know yourself much better than I!

Well it's not like I'm starving myself. I'm going through Trail Mix like crazy, so I'm getting plenty of protein from the nuts. And I don't mean trail mix that is half M&Ms and such. In fact the one I seem to like best, actually has carob chips in it. I'm eating a ton of carrots, and tonight we're going to Souplantation so I'll have a giant salad!

I get that. Continued good luck!

Thanks, I just need to get back to the weight that I was before we went on the Mexican Riviera cruise.

I didn't know you had that many friends with you.

I don't have any friends.

Erth? What's an Erth?

Ah. So I'm not the only one.

Nope. And that was the very first thing that caught my eye.

Yuck. I can't even imagine.
I don't want to imagine.
No thanks.

Usually I try to avoid situations like that!

Double yuck!
No way, José.

Usually I would be indignant, but...
Yeah, I'd use him to my advantage, too.

Well it got us out of there more quickly and then he got all the dirty looks!

That's not bad. Considering they're not really reservations.

True.

Whoa. Impressive.
I didn't recognize any, I don't think. But then again, they probably weren't playing up here.

Also, you and I are the same age. They were all before my time, but Fran is 1 week shy of being 12 years older than me, so they were all on during her childhood. Her parents let her have a TV in bedroom so they didn't have to babysit her. Kind of like parents use iPads and Tablets today.

That's a great shot of you!

Thanks!

Yum. I like the little gingerbread man on top.

He was tasty! As was the shake itself!

Love that fried chicken. Worth it just for that.

What I would give for some fried chicken right now. I hope we don't get sidetracked for dinner tonight. Hometown Buffet is right next to the Souplantation. Theirs isn't as good as PT, but I wouldn't be able to resist and fried chicken right now.

I wonder if any one would have the guts to say no to a customer!

I think they'd get fired. The guy who sits next to me in band worked for Disney. He said there was a 2-day orientation for all new hires and one of the things a CM should never tell a customer is "no". That's why you always get such a song and dance when the answer is no.

That's my fave shot. I really like it.

I love it when everyone is gone from a location, when we came in the bar was packed, almost as bad as the Osborne Lights.

Too bad. But I suppose if they weren't, they'd be destroyed in a matter of weeks.

Or the pages would be ripped out. I wanted to see the ones that freaked me out as a kid.

I really despise self-entitled people.
I hope the next bus was 40 minutes.

I didn't even think of that! But yeah! I hope it was a really long wait for them!

No! But this kills me.
I just got caught up on my own TR and I deliberately used "annoyed" because I assumed "piss off" would've gotten starred out.

You're really milking this, aren't you?

Wait. Did you take a bath in milk?

I could bathe in Milk at home, they aren't rationing milk!

Because there's nothing more suspicious than you guys.

I know, but them what if I did hide a bomb under her seat?

Wait. What?
I thought you were going in the park!

If we were going in the park, why would we have waited on the other side of the security screeners. We would have just gone through and watched from there.

This sounds like me. "Yeah. Yeah. Characters... Food!"

No. Not at all. I'm like, "Wait to get food, Tigger and Pooh are almost here!"

What did you tell her?

I don't remember, but I have been up in a Hot Air Balloon. So I most likely went with something along those lines.

Gotta make sure you're not wasting precious tummy space on stuff you can get anywhere.

Exactly!

Like that, for instance.

Yeah, no cereal for me when I'm paying bank for this buffet!

Stop. I could eat that whole chafing dish.
Love scrambled eggs... provided they're done at least semi right.

Those eggs looked like they were properly cooked, but I only eat my own scrambled eggs any more. I can't get a restaurant to fix them the way that I like them.

I'm drooling. I'm just going to stop here.
But then I'd be glad I didn't stop because...

... yesssssssssssss.

I figured you would like that one. And it was just about time I wanted more as well.

She sure does love that soup!

And only 61 days until we get it again!

Ah! Okay. So you are going to one.
Standing by.

And it should be up shortly...well after I respond to all the folks here.

At least you made it in time for the rope drop show at the MS station.

Breakfast at the GF looks nice. Very nice pictures of the Disney characters with you and Fran.

That was completely luck. I didn't even know what time MK opened that day. Breakfast was excellent and I love the line up of characters.

 

[dhorner233]

That 1900 breakfast looked soo yummy!!!

 

[franandaj]

Woohoo!! Time to abuse the abundance of water!!!!

Well totally! Our house uses so much water without me doing a dang thing, I feel guilty taking showers. We even have a bucket in our shower to capture water as the shower water heats up and anything else that doesn't hit our bodies. I use those to water the plants in the yard.

Nice! That actually looks like a great vantage point to watch it from. But yeah, I can see security maybe giving you a little more than a passing glance given their stepped up efforts that were taking effect during your trip.

They seemed really nervous as if we had nefarious plans.

That would be a rookie mistake.

Totally!

You know if he's blatant about it they can always tell him no. Better than being sneaky and trying to hide it. I wouldn't do it, but I can't blame him. I mean you pay how much for that breakfast and then if you want an orange in the parks it'll cost like 3 bucks.

True. Fran often grabs an orange or a banana at a buffet, and I get that the breakfast is expensive, but I just thought that putting a dozen or so pieces of fruit on a plate, bringing it back to the table and standing there while you put it all into your backpack was a little over the top. I totally get it, but I'm just thinking that so many pieces of fruit is a little over the top. I couldn't tell how big his family was, but they were grabbing fruit for snacks for a couple days here I think.

I missed it too. I had no idea it was in something like that. I was looking for a big bowl or something in the buffet with a ladle or something. I didn't even see it until my second trip.

On our last trip it was a bowl, I've seen this dispenser at restaurants at DL, but I wasn't expecting it here.

She could have probably gotten just a little bit more soup in that bowl...

I didn't even notice that she had filled her bowl to the brim!

2 in a row with no Strawberry soup??? Was she feeling ok?

We really need to question her sanity. First not finding stuff to buy at the stores and then only going with two bowls of strawberry soup!

Whew, that's a relief!

At least she finally came through with another bowl!

It looks like a good breakfast. Honestly, I think breakfast looks like a much better meal there than dinner. I'd probably prefer to go there for breakfast, but with DD being a big Cinderella fan, the make up of the characters at breakfast don't really appeal as much to our family. Looks like you had a good time though!

We've done both breakfast and dinner and we actually thought the dinner service was really good. We would go back but it just has never fit in with out plans.

Yay for getting the Trader Sams shirt! DL needs to carry the shirts too.

Yeah, DL totally needs to carry those. I can't believe that they haven't already jumped on it!

Love all the GF pics you got. It is soooo beautiful decorated for the holidays.

It is very pretty and I'm glad that it was so much calmer on this day than when we were there on Sunday.

I'm not a huge buffet fan but that one looks really good. I love the variety.

We like buffets only because you can pick out exactly what you want and have as much of it as you can, but I certainly wouldn't want to spend an entire trip eating at buffets. Besides you can't go wrong with the Strawberry Soup, and that's why we come to this one.

NOOO!!!! Say it ain't so!

I know, it has to happen at some point.

Now that's impressive timing. Admit it, you did it on purpose.

No we didn't. We just looked up and said, "Wow! The preshow is happening and we aren't late for breakfast!"

Always nice when you get the chance to do that.

Yeah, considering on Sunday I sat there for like 10-15 minutes waiting for a stupid family to get out of my picture. They couldn't even figure it out as I kept raising the camera to my eye and sighing when they stayed right there in the middle of the shot.

Seriously! Get that stuff outta here!

I know really, who eats that stuff at a buffet that costs like $30 per person!

Well, I guess they figure they paid for it...

I get that. Fran will occasionally take an orange or a banana, but she doesn't take a plate up to the buffet, fill it with fruit until it's overflowing and then put the backpack on the table and proceed to stuff it full. I mean you don't have to totally stealth it, but when we take a few pieces of fruit I casually put them in my purse below the table, not blatantly stuff a whole backpack while standing there in the middle of the restaurant in plain sight.

NOW we're talking!

And this is why I am on my strict diet. I want to enjoy this kind of thing in a couple weeks.

Nice Update, that really looks like a great buffet! We haven't done any character meals. (Last one I remember doing was in 1991 for my Senior week trip) I did have a couple ADR's when we did our trip in Sept 14 (CP and 1900) but they got switched when I was able to get dinner ADR's at Ohana and BOG. Oh well, maybe next time, I really would like to try that strawberry soup!

We really don't come here specifically for the character interaction, but Tigger is my favorite, so it is a bonus, we really just like the food and the strawberry soup!

 

[franandaj]

That 1900 breakfast looked soo yummy!!!

It is! As I said in the last post, we mostly come here for the food and the characters are just bonus on top of the rest!

 

[franandaj]

After we finished breakfast, for whatever reason, I went on ahead of Fran, I think she might have been paying the check, but I waited in line for her at the GF Gingerbread house and got her the pins she wanted. I took these pictures while in line.







They had these sweet treats on offer.





They were even selling Gingerbread houses, but I don’t know how we would have gotten it home.



I love the way they tiled these cookies.



Then we moved on to the Magic Kingdom.



Fran considered getting some more Sorcerer’s of the Magic Kingdom Cards, but the line was huge.



When we entered the park our FP were in play so we went over to Pirates. Ah, the monstrosity sized castle.



We entered Adventureland.



I had heard that Skipper Canteen was doing soft openings. There was no way I could eat anything more at this time, but I did ask if I could go inside and take a few pictures. They wouldn’t let me past the waiting area, but this was as much as I could see.



The sitting area.











As Fran approached the ride, she was approached by a British officer who asked to see papers for her conveyance. She explained that she was taking it to the Harbor master for transport, and at that he let her go.



Once at the ride, she pleaded with the attendant to let her charge her scooter as the battery was getting low again. He let her park it and charge on a plug behind a corded barrier. We scanned our MBs. The queue was totally wet. In the first 10 feet Fran's canes slipped at least three times. She told me that she was not going on the ride, as the rest of the walk was going to be too much. So I decided not to go either. DL's Pirates is much better anyways and I can go on that almost whenever I want so I didn't want her to sit and wait. Instead I got my scooter (technically hers) for her to ride around the store and check out the merchandise. They had pirates lounging all over outside the ride. I took this picture and after a discussion on @Captain_Oblivious’s TR where @afwdwfan mentioned that he won’t even take a shot if a young kid is in it, I decided to photoshop the little girl next to the pirate out of the picture. It was a fairly amateurish attempt, but how many of you would have known I did it if I told you? I know at least one.



In the meantime I tried to look up the time of our next FP and the app kept giving me an error. I assumed it was the cement buildings blocking my signal. Purchases in hand we headed out and retrieved her scooter to head into Frontierland. Even there I couldn't get our plans to come up on the app. So I tried the browser version which also was experiencing difficulties. Eventually we went to the FP+ kiosk in Frontierland to find out the times of our next two FPs.

We headed over to HM as now this FP was open. I loaded my dark ride lens onto the camera in preparation for riding pirates and I snapped a few shots outside the HM using the "no flash auto mode" for some reason they appeared to be rather over exposed.





As I reached to check the lens it fell completely off the camera and hit the ground. We tried for a good 10 minutes to no avail to attach it to the camera. My brand new much anticipated lens is likely dead.

Real time update: Three days after we got home we took the lens back to Best Buy since she had purchased their Geek Squad protection plan for me. They told me they were going to ship it to Connecticut and would have it back to me with eight weeks. On December 30, they called me to say that the part needed to fix the camera would take too long to come in so they were “replacing” the lens. Technically that wasn’t true. They gave me a gift card for the full amount of the lens, slapped me on the back and said, “See ya!”. Well not really, but that’s what it felt like. That lens took over 3 weeks to arrive from Best Buy, so I started looking around and Amazon had the same lens for the same price and could deliver it within 5 days. AND the protection plan was half the price for that of Best Buy. So those of you following the “Sharing” TR will probably already have seen the pictures of DL’s Grand Canyon and Primeval World which I was able to shoot with my new replacement lens before it closed for the next year to year and a half. The best news? I think that other lens was faulty, it always fought me to take those low light pictures, auto focusing and refocusing. This new lens? I’ve only used it that once, but it worked like a charm! No fighting, almost every shot came out. I can’t wait to get back out to DL and take more pictures on some of the Dark rides. Anyways, back to the current TR.

So I used the 18-250mm 3.5 lens instead (my normal zoom lens)





















I was astonished to find that MK's HM has no hatbox ghost! It was also refreshing to see the original HM as the last 5-6 times I have been on it at Disneyland, the NBC overlay has been present. As much as I like it, that overlay is becoming somewhat tiresome as it is present at least 1/4 of the year now. I really prefer the original mansion.


[Continued in Next Post]

 

[franandaj]

[Continued from Previous Post]

After the HM we made my first ever stop at the Tangled Tinkle Spot. It was cute, but I really don't see why such a great movie only gets a bathroom.













We went on to watch Mickey's Philharmagic which is such a fun attraction! Then our 7DMT FP was up. For the third visit Fran neglected to go on it, so I rode it again twice. While I enjoy the ride, I really would enjoy sharing it with someone.







Front car! Woohoo!







I heard someone say that these guys were recycled from Snow White’s Scary Adventures.













This is the first time that I have captured the shadow going up the wall.











We decided that we wanted a little snack and stopped at Casey's, but instead our "snack" turned into a full blown lunch with polish sausage, corn dog nuggets and French fries. I really only wanted a snack and therefore only had a couple bites of the sausage and three or four of the corn dog nuggets as well as some fries.



At this point I was pooped, but Fran wanted to check out the Disneyana store. So I got my regular Starbucks iced coffee order to perk me up while she looked in the store. Then we headed over to the Emporium and the Clothiers. She had pointed out a shirt to me at Mouse Gears the day before and I was tired and cranky at the time and I didn't want it. Then I changed my mind and I couldn't find it anywhere in MK. She told me that she got hers at Disney Springs and we could go to WoD tonight since we would be over there later. A Christmas party was going on in MK that night. Fran said it was sold out and people were starting to enter the park, so it was definitely a good time to leave. We headed to the bus stop and waited and waited. It seemed like a long time that we waited. But I'm not sure. I just laid my head down on my scooter and nodded off to sleep, I was that tired.

When the bus finally showed up we boarded and then a ton of other folks piled on as well. The bus driver had never asked what stop we wanted, so we had to flag her down to get released.

When we got back to the room Fran went right to sleep. I was slightly alarmed as we did not receive our friendly little DME notice indicating what time we would be picked up. I called them up and they told me our flight number was invalid. I pulled up our reservation on the computer and not only had the flight number completely changed our plane was leaving an hour and a half later! The nice agent updated our information in the system and said that all we needed to do was visit the Concierge desk in the lobby and they could print us out an updated DME voucher for boarding the next day. I texted Naked Jim and asked if he would feed the cats Wednesday night. Our plane was now landing at 9:15 instead of 7:30. Ugh. We would be lucky to get home before midnight. Then after we reacquainted ourselves with our kids, it was going to be a very late night.

Since this was out last full day, I knew we needed to start packing. I began by putting the things I had taken from the owner's locker back inside. We really didn't unpack a lot from here this time. We only cooked two meals in the room, plus we didn't need the extra stuff like BBQ tools and ponchos and stuff. Next time we will utilize the stuff from our locker a lot more. I also started to put some of the clean clothes into suitcases and some of the other stuff I knew we wouldn't need that night or the next morning. Finally I succumbed to tiredness and laid down for about half an hour before we had to get dressed and go out for dinner.


Next up: Our last night.

 

[Pinkocto]

Fun that you caught the MK opening show on the way to breakfast, I have never seen that show.

That was quick thinking of Fran's to check the Poly for the Trader Sam's shirt.

1900 Park Fare's breakfast has a lot of impressive choices!

The British officers in front of Pirates are cool.

Total bummer about your lens falling, but it sounds like it all worked out in the end.

I agree about the Tangled bathrooms, why not something more?

I'm shocked that your airline didn't notify you of the flight change.

 

[pkondz]

Well it's not like I'm starving myself. I'm going through Trail Mix like crazy, so I'm getting plenty of protein from the nuts. And I don't mean trail mix that is half M&Ms and such. In fact the one I seem to like best, actually has carob chips in it. I'm eating a ton of carrots, and tonight we're going to Souplantation so I'll have a giant salad!

I'm really proud of you! Stick to it!

I don't have any friends.

Excuse me? What am I? Chopped liver?

Well it got us out of there more quickly and then he got all the dirty looks!

Also, you and I are the same age. They were all before my time, but Fran is 1 week shy of being 12 years older than me, so they were all on during her childhood.

Ah. (But don't tell her you told me how old she was!)

Her parents let her have a TV in bedroom so they didn't have to babysit her.

Progressive.

What I would give for some fried chicken right now.

Easy, there.

I hope we don't get sidetracked for dinner tonight. Hometown Buffet is right next to the Souplantation. Theirs isn't as good as PT, but I wouldn't be able to resist and fried chicken right now.

Use the Force!
i.e. Force her to not stop there!

I love it when everyone is gone from a location, when we came in the bar was packed, almost as bad as the Osborne Lights.

It's been packed the two times I was there.
And there were no Osborne lights then, either.

I know, but them what if I did hide a bomb under her seat?

Meh. Doesn't matter, since they get you to search it yourself anyway.

If we were going in the park, why would we have waited on the other side of the security screeners. We would have just gone through and watched from there.

Good point.

No. Not at all. I'm like, "Wait to get food, Tigger and Pooh are almost here!"

Okay, so I was only 180 degrees off there.

Those eggs looked like they were properly cooked, but I only eat my own scrambled eggs any more. I can't get a restaurant to fix them the way that I like them.

I never, ever order eggs scrambled.
But when I see them in a buffet? I can't resist.

Going back to read the update now.

 

[pkondz]

After we finished breakfast, for whatever reason, I went on ahead of Fran

Uh, oh.
Well... Okay, I read ahead, but I thought "Oh no. And then Fran's scooter dies."

They had these sweet treats on offer.

I'll gladly accept that offer.

They were even selling Gingerbread houses, but I don’t know how we would have gotten it home.

In pieces.

Seriously, though. I like that they have those for sale.

I love the way they tiled these cookies.

Fran considered getting some more Sorcerer’s of the Magic Kingdom Cards, but the line was huge.

That's just not something I ever got into.

Ah, the monstrosity sized castle.

They wouldn’t let me past the waiting area, but this was as much as I could see.

It looks bigger than I expected.

As Fran approached the ride, she was approached by a British officer who asked to see papers for her conveyance.

She explained that she was taking it to the Harbor master for transport, and at that he let her go.

Wow! She's quick!

Once at the ride, she pleaded with the attendant to let her charge her scooter as the battery was getting low again.

There it is. I was just a little premature.


Ruby's complaint, usually.

In the first 10 feet Fran's canes slipped at least three times.

Not good!

I decided to photoshop the little girl next to the pirate out of the picture. It was a fairly amateurish attempt, but how many of you would have known I did it if I told you? I know at least one.

In the meantime I tried to look up the time of our next FP and the app kept giving me an error

Crap.

As I reached to check the lens it fell completely off the camera and hit the ground.

No!

We tried for a good 10 minutes to no avail to attach it to the camera. My brand new much anticipated lens is likely dead.

Oh, no! That really sucks!

Real time update: Three days after we got home we took the lens back to Best Buy since she had purchased their Geek Squad protection plan for me. They told me they were going to ship it to Connecticut and would have it back to me with eight weeks. On December 30, they called me to say that the part needed to fix the camera would take too long to come in so they were “replacing” the lens. Technically that wasn’t true. They gave me a gift card for the full amount of the lens, slapped me on the back and said, “See ya!”. Well not really, but that’s what it felt like. That lens took over 3 weeks to arrive from Best Buy, so I started looking around and Amazon had the same lens for the same price and could deliver it within 5 days. AND the protection plan was half the price for that of Best Buy.

Great service.... not.
Totally unimpressive.

The best news? I think that other lens was faulty, it always fought me to take those low light pictures, auto focusing and refocusing. This new lens? I’ve only used it that once, but it worked like a charm! No fighting, almost every shot came out.

Glad it turned out for the best in the end.
Would've been better to not have a faulty lens (and not break it, of course) in the first place.

I was astonished to find that MK's HM has no hatbox ghost!

Yep. That is kinda weird, isn't it? It's got such an important part of history (HM history)

As much as I like it, that overlay is becoming somewhat tiresome as it is present at least 1/4 of the year now.

Huh. Never thought of that.

After the HM we made my first ever stop at the Tangled Tinkle Spot. It was cute, but I really don't see why such a great movie only gets a bathroom.

It's almost like someone said "Well, we did it! Got something for all the new movies!"
"Sir? What about Tangled?"
"Dang it!"

We went on to watch Mickey's Philharmagic which is such a fun attraction!

I love watching it almost as much as watching the littles reach for the baubles.

Front car! Woohoo!

I heard someone say that these guys were recycled from Snow White’s Scary Adventures.

I'm glad you were paying attention.
And... you're welcome.

This is the first time that I have captured the shadow going up the wall.

Nice capture! That's a tough one.

At this point I was pooped,

So you made room for Casey's after all.

Oh! A different kind of pooped.

It seemed like a long time that we waited. But I'm not sure. I just laid my head down on my scooter and nodded off to sleep, I was that tired.

Aw.... poor l'il Alison. All tuckered out.

When the bus finally showed up we boarded and then a ton of other folks piled on as well. The bus driver had never asked what stop we wanted, so we had to flag her down to get released.

Huh. Never realised that was something that you'd need to do.
Of course now, in hindsight, it seems obvious.

I was slightly alarmed as we did not receive our friendly little DME notice indicating what time we would be picked up. I called them up and they told me our flight number was invalid.

Wouldn't you think they would've notified you of that?

all we needed to do was visit the Concierge desk in the lobby and they could print us out an updated DME voucher for boarding the next day.

Well, not too bad, then.

I began by putting the things I had taken from the owner's locker back inside.

I've heard of owner's locker, but don't know anything about it. Details?

Next up: Our last night.

standing by... and... boooo!!!!

 

[dhorner233]

I'm exhausted just reading your update! I can see why you fell asleep on your scooter I know that feeling! I push myself as hard as I can when I get to go to a Disney park!

That is too bad you dropped your lens but the story had a happy ending!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

You guys always seem to have such a nice breakfast at 1900! I know Fran loves that Strawberry Soup!

Thats cool that they had those officers and pirates out around Pirates! They don't usually do that but I love it when they have those extras instead of cutting back!

Sorry to hear about you dropping that lens! Glad the one from Amazon is working so much better!

 

[mvf-m11c]

The GF gingerbread is something I got to check out during the holiday season and the details of it are just amazing.

I'm sorry to read that you drop your Sigma lens during your trip. Glad that you were able to get a new lens and it is working out well for you.