The ABC's of a BSN Celebration! Trip Wrap up; Final Thoughts (7/11)

[alpal22]

Hi Liesa! Fairly long time reader coming to say hi!

 

[franandaj]

OK, I'm back from having fallen off the planet again.

I literally kept your H is for Hollywoodland post up on a browser on my phone since the last time I posted here so I wouldn't get lost as to where I was in your TR. I was very confused by your process for getting a Boarding group. So do you simply need a reservation for DHS to secure the group now?

I'm going to have to refamiliarize myself with the whole RotR situation with DL reopening. I may have a chance at getting a 1PM reservation on my many days out there.

OK back to read a few more chapters.

 

[franandaj]

Go you, Alison!! LOL!! (No true mocking there! I 100% know how hard it can be to both get here at all and then stay caught up and I"ve gone through my own fair share of DIS absences over the years.)

Hey look I caught up to my own quote! I wasn't that far behind....then. Well now I'm incredibly behind.

Unfortunately they are not true links but rather just pg. numbers. The DIS destroyed BB Code usage and there is no sign of it being fixed. I had a REALLY hard time with the coding as it was and never was able to figure out how to do links after the DIS changed a couple of years ago. I'm too busy to devote time to that right now, so pg. numbers will have to suffice. The DIS REALLY needs to make embedding links for our chapters WAY more user friendly.

I'll keep that in mind when I start my new TR.

Hey Friends!

I just wanted to let y'all know that I don't regularly go to the list of TRs, so if you're replying here and have a TR that I could join in to read, let me know! You can just PM me with a link and I'll do my best to be a contributor/commenter!

Is this still the case? I'm getting ready to launch a new one.

And no, anything but pilot is pretty darned boring.

I prefer anything but pilot. Too much stress.

Look at you go!!!!



I was happy I could help her out that way, and in the end, I still got exactly what I wanted.

I hope so too, but know how scarce time can be these days.

You're telling me....

We ate at some incredibly yummy places this trip!! Excited to share about them!!

Can't wait to hear about yummy eats that I did not cook.

Yes, it's how they all work with a few exceptions. And it's really a pretty good solution.

No, you use QS codes with your phone unless you ask for paper. But, you CAN order AT the restaurant for sure. However, we also saw lots of folks doing mobile ordering for take-away too. Was interesting!

I know what you mean by this. They had this at the first place we went to after our vaccinations.

 

[franandaj]

The first time I ever went in 2000, it sucked.

Hmmm that makes me question when it was that I went...it was very new. Like not all of the hotel had opened up yet new.

It wasn’t always that way at AK. The first time I ever went in 2000, it sucked. I vividly remember going there with the kids who were 9, 7, and 4 at the time and we basically walked around aimlessly for a couple of hours, ate an eggroll, watched the monkeys, and promptly left. Admittedly, I hadn’t done my research about what there was to do there, but I also remember thinking that it was very sparse, there legit wasn’t a lot to do, and it was cold.

I can see where little kids and cold would make it dreary. I seem to remember being wowed by the place then again we may not have done much cause this may have been pre-scooter times and she had a hard time walking around such a large park.

At 7:40 we tapped in (no finger scans right now) and were cruising our way over to FOP. As hoped, it was a walk-on, but unfortunately, that also meant horrible photos.

I'm hoping lots of DL is like that when we get to go....

To be quite honest, I wished I’d gotten to spend more time in the “Research Room” in the queue as this was my first time ever for going through the Stand-by queue.

I had the same thought when I rode it at the DVC event last year.

They pipe in a scent during that segment. And I am 100% positive that it’s the Disney shampoo scent.

I'll try to notice next time I ride. Although I wouldn't know the scent because I've never used it. I have a prescription shampoo that I use, and the hotel stuff would irritate my scalp.

sadly, this time around I’d put my long lens on for the Safari rather than my fast lens for dark rides.

You still got some pretty good shots!

I invariably spend inordinate amounts of time gazing at the birds there, but I never seem to get crisp shots of these feathered friends.

I tried to get some decent ones on my last trip to no avail.

 

[Steppesister]

Your safari pictures are outstanding!

Aww, thank you so much!! I really loved how they turned out this last trip!

 

[Steppesister]

I’m a little bit behind here! I had a disboard hiatus but like any good show pre-Netflix - I now have a bunch of posts I can binge!

I am just coming off of one myself and it's so nice to find some posts to reply to. Over the next few days I will try to get an update or two put up before I'm off again for a little bit. Seems I come and go in spurts.

How lucky you guys had such an informative Lyft driver. When I went last in 2019 we had many drivers who had no idea where to drop us off, we had one literally say “I know nothing about Disney”. As a ride share in Orlando you think you’d brush up on these things.

You'd sure think!! We've also had our fair share of sucky drivers who had zero clue and circled around and around the MK because he didn't know you had to drop off at TTC. They need to up their game!

Also, I agree with the CMs about TSMM. I’m so sad that it seems to have fallen to the way side for most. I still love it and think it’s such a fun ride for the whole family.

YES!!! While I detest Buzz, this one still appeals, mostly because I can follow my weapons/ammo and can't see jack diddly on Buzz. I may as well have a blindfold on on that one.

And I’d definitely eat tachos for breakfast. As a night shifter there isn’t much I won’t eat in the morning. Cheeseburger at 8 am? Sure!!
Can’t wait to read on about SWGE!

I super prefered the "Mexican" ones over the Breakfast ones. And I aim to please the belly with these again soon!!

#nightshifterlife My dad was a doctor and I guess we often had to eat what he wanted after shifts, so burgers for breakfast were pretty common! Never changed as an adult.

 

[Steppesister]

Hi Liesa! Fairly long time reader coming to say hi!

Oh how wonderful to have you chime in and say hi!! I hope you'll pop in often and give comments and chatter!!

 

[Steppesister]

OK, I'm back from having fallen off the planet again.

Well, that was good timing since I fell of the same planet too. Took a little hiatus as I'm prone to do

I literally kept your H is for Hollywoodland post up on a browser on my phone since the last time I posted here so I wouldn't get lost as to where I was in your TR. I was very confused by your process for getting a Boarding group. So do you simply need a reservation for DHS to secure the group now?

THat's so funny!! I started some Spanish lessons (read 1 lesson) and have had that browser on my phone ever since. I'm afraid of losing it! LOL!!

So the short answer is: YES! You don't need to be IN the park to make your RoTR ressie anymore. You just need to have a park reservation and valid ticket (obviously) and start pushing refresh at 6:55AM. When you see JOIN, be fast. That's it. You can try again at 1:00

I'm going to have to refamiliarize myself with the whole RotR situation with DL reopening. I may have a chance at getting a 1PM reservation on my many days out there.

I am so envious of your getting to go to DLR. Kari texted the other day and mused that we should start planning a trip down there. Being as only open to Cali now, we'll have to wait, but I AM itching to go again someday.

OK back to read a few more chapters.

Looks like you made some serious trax!!!

 

[Steppesister]

Hey look I caught up to my own quote! I wasn't that far behind....then. Well now I'm incredibly behind.

Nah, you did well at catching up. My goal is to put another couple chapters up before I disappear again for a couple of weeks.

I'll keep that in mind when I start my new TR.

I used to be so much better at formatting and making things all fancy and pretty. I just don't have that kind of time anymore.

Is this still the case? I'm getting ready to launch a new one.

Yes, still the case. Maybe someone knows a hack or way, but I'm too old and dumb anymore.

I prefer anything but pilot. Too much stress.

I ROCKED the pilot last time!!!! Can't wait to share that chapter too!!

You're telling me....

Seems like "life" is just more time sucking now with the virus. I know for me, a bit of financial uncertainty has made me feel like I need to work more to stay ahead of an ever-changing work climate. Plus there are going to massive changes to taxes/rates coming out way. I'll have to work another job to make the take home pay I want for retirement to compensate.

Can't wait to hear about yummy eats that I did not cook.

Next chapter is all things eats!!

I know what you mean by this. They had this at the first place we went to after our vaccinations.

I'm too old school. I want a good old fashioned menu to peruse and meditate on. Hard to think really being distracted by scrolling up and down, up and down..... #notafanofqsmenus

 

[Steppesister]

Hmmm that makes me question when it was that I went...it was very new. Like not all of the hotel had opened up yet new.

Good question!! I wonder too, and don't know the year AKL opened. Huh!!

I can see where little kids and cold would make it dreary. I seem to remember being wowed by the place then again we may not have done much cause this may have been pre-scooter times and she had a hard time walking around such a large park.

I just think I didn't know really how or what to appreciate in the park or understand backstory or artistry of the park in general. That has certainly grown and devoloped!

I'm hoping lots of DL is like that when we get to go....

OH me too!!! I'm just giddy for you!!

I had the same thought when I rode it at the DVC event last year.

Lots to see in there, and it's so underappreciated because of how fast they want you to get through it.

I'll try to notice next time I ride. Although I wouldn't know the scent because I've never used it. I have a prescription shampoo that I use, and the hotel stuff would irritate my scalp.

That I do get, but just open the bottle and take a whiff!! I'm telling you.... it's the truth!!!

You still got some pretty good shots!

Thanks, Alison!!

I tried to get some decent ones on my last trip to no avail.

They are so hard!! I don't know if it's because they are moving too fast or??? Hmm, maybe I'll try sport mode next time!

 

[pkondz]

Good question!! I wonder too, and don't know the year AKL opened. Huh!!

April 16, 2001.

 

[Steppesister]

April 16, 2001.

Thanks! I was too lazy to Google at that particular moment.

 

[docsoliday1]

Yes, I know I'm way behind...story of my life right now.

I was one of those who went was had the most fun.... throwing toast, dancing in the aisles, such silly fun.

Those were the days. I did everything except dress up. Newspapers, toast, squirt guns, bell, etc. It's just a jump to the left.

 

[docsoliday1]

Friends,

If you are the praying type, I could use a bit right now. I have an appt this morning with the dermatologist and will be having a spot biopsied. Normally I wouldn't be too concerned, but this happens to be on my face near my eyebrow. Not very happy about a potential chunk being carved off right there.

Thanks to whoever see this.

I remember seeing this back then and was praying, just forgot to tell you. Have a lot of catching up to do.

 

[docsoliday1]

Mulriquoting is difficult on the phone, but here goes...

No. It's true and they even have their how hex codes!!! I should switch my font color to ZOMP just for fun!!

Probably more than you care to know, but
They've had hex codes (3 sets of 2 hex digits) for colors on the web since its inception....the hex values indicate how much of Red Green and Blue (RGB) for that color. 000000 = white, FFFFFF = black. FF0000 = red.

Steppe tried, but man those images were EVERYWHERE in Epcotopia!

I find that hard to believe. Must be like crop circles.

Obviously, it’s pointless to try and take any photos on the ride, but here are two. I always look like a dweeb because I just don’t ride this one enough to ever remember where the camera is anyway. My daughter and Mary Ellen look great though!

Personally, I think we all look like a dweeb with masks on, but it's the way of the world.

I mean who wouldn’t want to go 20,000 light years under the sea?!

Ummm, sorry to be nit picky, but 20,000 light years, one would not even be in the same galaxy containing the planet with said sea.

The queue is so well-themed! Setting the scene for a rural jaunt:

Sad to see it going. I know change is inevitable, but who moved my cheese?? You always take such great pictures and these are no exception.

And now my favorite of the 3 Mountains- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad!

Amen sister! Preach!!

Big Thunder Mountain is very protective of the gold it holds within, and the unfortunate soul who attempts to mine its riches is destined to

Really wish I could find a mountain that gave up its gold easy. Just one...I'm not greedy.

Amazing how they had such futuristic lighting equipment to light the way back then.

Too funny.

Bonus points if you catch the reference! Trust me, it's there!

Well, very hard to see anything on phone. Was looking for writing, but didn't see any.
Maybe you're making reference to the bird in the cage and what miners used that for?

 

[docsoliday1]

Do you have any idea how hard it is to photograph that cheetah?!?! It's either laying down WAY far away from the jeeps in the shade or it's moving AND your jeep is moving. But, this is the best photo I've gotten of him/her? to date so happy even though it's a bit blury

As many times as I've gone, I've only seen it once and it was laying in the brush and it's hard to tell it's there. Good fir you you were able to get it up/moving.

There's a new area on display for the Nigerian Dwarf Goats towards the end of the Safari now. The storyline is that it's the Warden's home and the goats provide milk products to support the conservation efforts. Really cute when the goats are climbing and playing!

A co-worker is (now part time) an animal keeper at AK. She was telling me all the different animals they've tried to put at the end of the safari have not done well. This is the latest attempt to have something there where it won't have a negative effect of the animals. She said they can't figure out why, just nothing has done well there.

 

[docsoliday1]

Giraffes!! So graceful!!

Except when they're kneeling to drink or lay down. Hard to drop that far down and still look graceful.

I don't think I have a favorite animal on the Safari but I do like the meerkats.

Quick before the hyenas commmeee.

When you ride BTMRR at Disneyland, do you know about the 'goat trick'?

Was going to ask, but see it's already been answered.

love Animal Kingdom, too! I hate when I hear people say it's a 'half-day park'. It is SO not!

I think that's from the I want rides only crowd.
Not now, but I can be content with watching the FotLK more than once too. Still was (and hopefully will be again) the best show on property. Watching all the animals at different times, watching the animations on the TOL, Pandora at night, so many things. For those of you who like it, sorry, but the worst night time show by far.

Sigh.... I swear I'm always losing something, forgetting, or nearly forgetting something.

This is a truism.

Aren't they awesome!! So goofy and comical. I often will stop and watch for quite some time.

Dig a tunna, dig dig a tunna.

 

[pkondz]

Ummm, sorry to be nit picky, but 20,000 light years, one would not even be in the same galaxy containing the planet with said sea.

Well, if you're gonna nit pick...

It depends on what direction you travel. Our galaxy is about 170,000-200,000 light years across. If you traveled towards the center from the Orion Arm (our neck of the woods), you'd not even reach your goal as the center is about 27,000 light years away. (Despite Monty Python's assertion that it's 30,000 light years away. They also use the old estimate of 100,000 light years across. Galaxy Song - Monty Python's The Meaning of Life - YouTube )
The nearest galaxy to ours is the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy which is 25,000 light years away. M31, or the Andromeda Galaxy is the closest spiral galaxy (and can actually be seen with the naked eye) to ours and is 2.5 million light years away.

Since the Solar System's alignment is almost perpendicular to that of the Milky Way, if you headed "20,000 light years under the sea", you'd most likely proceed in a line that was "straight down" to the bottom. If you continued that line and bisected the Earth's core and continued out the other side, the best case scenario would put you toward the outer rim, which is still about 58,000 light years away and thus you'd still be in the same galaxy. However, if you proceeded on the proper tangent, as the galaxy on average is only 1,000 light years thick, you'd easily leave our galaxy.

 

[Steppesister]

O is for: Open Wide Pt. 1
​

This chapter is an ode to the myriad of delicious snacks and assorted goodies we managed to stuff our eager faces with during the week-long pleasure extravaganza. Standing in stalwart solidarity with my Foodie Friends, this chapter, like all of my other many, many Trip Reports, will include context, commentary, and an ample amount of irrelevant, unnecessary drivel. I pondered long and hard about which order to present this array of delicacies, and settled on a semi-organized approach starting with a smattering of breakfast options that both disappointed and delighted, moving on to snacks of all manner going park by park, and ending with the Festival Foods of which there are in the usual excessive amounts.

Let’s start with the utterly regrettable CBR Avocado Toast that I had so long dreamed of for over a year. I’d savored every dreamy bite in 2019, lost in tropical reverie on the shaded banks near the Banana, soft early morning breezes blowing in my hair… could anything be more Heavenly with God’s gift to the gustatory senses? I had to go back. And did. Instead of a nice warm tropical breeze however, I was fighting an Arctic blast Florida seldom feels, constantly fighting with my paper napkin which seemed to want to flee the freeze as much as I did. The toast though, as bad as the cold was, was even more abominable. Instead of the fusion of flavors of tart pickled onions and sweet orange pieces, punctuated with the crunchiness of fresh radish, I found myself slogging through a heap of bland avocado chunks with an occasional hiccup of one of the above mentioned items. Granted, the toast was fine, but the lack of the signature sauce left my mouth too dry to let the whimpers of dashed breakfast dreams escape. What was once a morning favorite, was now a heap of disappointment embodied in a paper box.

​

What lacked in deliciousness in the CBR Avocado Toast, Woody’s Mexican-inspired Totchos more than made up for it. So much so, in fact, that we had them twice. I’ve already reviewed these tasty little hotties, but out of reverence for their outstanding rating, here they are again in all their carby-loaded goodness.

​

Oops! How did you get there?!

And now, Dear Friends, here is a breakfast that may very well surprise you. And yet maybe not. Let me remind my audience that I am not by nature a breakfast eater. I’m not hungry until 10:00 or so, but there are times it happens. In a matter of 20 minutes I can go from a park-loving, attraction-riding, generally amiable, smiling, happy lady to Ursula trying to procure food with all 8 arms. Sometimes what’s known and close by will have to do. Know what’s usually close by and well-known? If it were anywhere but Disney parks, you’d be correct with McDonalds, but this is a Disney park, so how about we go with $ixbucks? If you recall another non-negotiable thing about me, it’s coffee. First. Always. And when one gets hangry and they’re about to commit quite some time to a line for some caffeine, you may as well snack it up. Normally, on a regular old day that I’d hit up a local $ixbucks, I’d get the bacon and gruyere sous vide egg bites, but when I hit up a Disney $ixbucks, I’m partial to the Ham and Swiss Croissant. Enough, in fact, that 2 of them found their ways into my open, eager mouth on separate days. One after a perfectly wretched encounter at Sleepy Hollow trying to pursue the Waffle Dreams of Mikki at MK, and another at AK, after my visions of Cinnamon Roll ecstasy died in the stead of ham and cheese comfort. And it was fine. And I’m sure it won’t be my last one either.

​

 

[Wood Nymph]

Let’s start with the utterly regrettable CBR Avocado Toast that I had so long dreamed of for over a year.
.......
The toast though, as bad as the cold was, was even more abominable. Instead of the fusion of flavors of tart pickled onions and sweet orange pieces, punctuated with the crunchiness of fresh radish, I found myself slogging through a heap of bland avocado chunks with an occasion hiccup of one of the above mentioned items.

The picture of avocado toast makes it look good. It's too bad you didn't get the toast you dreamed of. I must admit, though, that avocado toast in general doesn't appeal to me.