The Bear and the Bow: Christmas with the Mouses - Update 9/11

[__disneygirl]

Hey, I am finally all caught up with your TR! I really like the way you write... especially because it's completely different from anything else on this board and that is refreshing!

Your assessment of the Wizarding World seems to be one par with most of the other things I have heard, except everyone usually says Forbidden Journey is amazing. The main reason I haven't been there yet is that so many big fans like me seem to be super underwhelmed with the area as a whole. I remember before it was announced that Universal was doing it, there was a rumor it would be Disney and I CRIED I was so excited. What Disney could have done with it... is too amazing to even think about. I'm still excited to eventually go and will be decked out in my Slytherin garb, though.
I've never been to IoA but Seuss Landing was always what I wanted to see most, and it bums me out that you said there's blank space and so on.

When I go there, I really want to just take it for what it is and not compare it to Disney so much, but Disney's standard of quality is just so much higher than the rest of the world's and it shows in things like that. I hate the Six Flags we have here in NJ so much even though I love riding the rollercoasters, because they try to be like Disney but then fail at really delivering anything spectacular and a lot of their attempts are just embarrassing.

Oh I am so jealous you got selected at Ollivanders! I heard they only choose kids. You're so lucky, that must have been awesome.

Wow, I love the Lorax Trees!

YAY Disney!!! Lately I have this obsession with POFQ. I don't know why, but I just love it now even though I've never even been there. It looks so gorgeous and fun and I think i'd even like the freaky huge decorations at the food court. I don't know, it's something different at least. I've always wanted to visit to try the beignets, but now I realllly wanna stay there.

Ahh the Lego goblin is so awesome! And Hagrid!

Mr. T sounds annoying. You're a good sport.

The GF is so beautiful. I've always wanted to eat at the GFC but I heard it's been pretty bad lately!

You are such a good girlfriend for not going on any attractions without your boyfriend. Then again, it's always more fun to share it with someone else. I can't wait to read more!

 

[Merida]

Hey, I am finally all caught up with your TR! I really like the way you write... especially because it's completely different from anything else on this board and that is refreshing!

Your assessment of the Wizarding World seems to be one par with most of the other things I have heard, except everyone usually says Forbidden Journey is amazing. The main reason I haven't been there yet is that so many big fans like me seem to be super underwhelmed with the area as a whole. I remember before it was announced that Universal was doing it, there was a rumor it would be Disney and I CRIED I was so excited. What Disney could have done with it... is too amazing to even think about. I'm still excited to eventually go and will be decked out in my Slytherin garb, though.
I've never been to IoA but Seuss Landing was always what I wanted to see most, and it bums me out that you said there's blank space and so on.

When I go there, I really want to just take it for what it is and not compare it to Disney so much, but Disney's standard of quality is just so much higher than the rest of the world's and it shows in things like that. I hate the Six Flags we have here in NJ so much even though I love riding the rollercoasters, because they try to be like Disney but then fail at really delivering anything spectacular and a lot of their attempts are just embarrassing.

Oh I am so jealous you got selected at Ollivanders! I heard they only choose kids. You're so lucky, that must have been awesome.

Wow, I love the Lorax Trees!

YAY Disney!!! Lately I have this obsession with POFQ. I don't know why, but I just love it now even though I've never even been there. It looks so gorgeous and fun and I think i'd even like the freaky huge decorations at the food court. I don't know, it's something different at least. I've always wanted to visit to try the beignets, but now I realllly wanna stay there.

Ahh the Lego goblin is so awesome! And Hagrid!

Mr. T sounds annoying. You're a good sport.

The GF is so beautiful. I've always wanted to eat at the GFC but I heard it's been pretty bad lately!

You are such a good girlfriend for not going on any attractions without your boyfriend. Then again, it's always more fun to share it with someone else. I can't wait to read more!

Haha, thanks! I go back and forth on whether or not that's a good thing. Annnd then I realize that it's silly to care!

Ugh, silly disappointing WWoHP. Not that I'm expecting wonders and amazement out of Avatarland (seriously Disney, LOOK AT DISNEYSEA AND ADD JULES VERNE LAND. Or Beastly Kingdom. Or Studio Ghibli or any idea that is not incredibly stupid), but it was just so squished. And a really quick visit if you don't want to go on really dubiously rethemed roller coasters. Seriously, Disney was able to loosen some of the reins at TokyoDisney and that turned out to be mind-blowing, so why couldn't they do it here? Just shove Harry Potter into MGM, no one would quibble (well, people would, but I don't care about them). They would have to bend their no adult costume rule but that's not a dealbreaker for me.

I wouldn't mind so much if everyone wasn't trying to copy Disney's success; if you're clever enough, it can come off well and work, but I've found very few people clever enough and it falls flat. Like, if Universal wants to be big roller coaster/thrill ride park, great! Do that! Focus on that and making that experience the best it could be instead of doing a halfway job on Cat in the Hat that looks old and broken down within five years.

Seriously? I didn't know that about Ollivander's. I mean, I know I don't look 23, but I certainly don't look eight! Though it does make sense to limit it to the approximately age 11 crowd (adults have no fun ).

The Lorax is a freaking amazing book and the upcoming movie is a travesty. Ahem. Stupid Cheeto CGI movie (go awaaaay from movies TSwift, you already have a career).

I felt REALLY bad about not liking any of Bear's friends because we were a long distance relationship for ages, so we never knew each others' friends. And that can get weird sometimes and Mr. T is (was?) his best friend. And then Mr. T left and he was all 'OMG THAT WAS SO ANNOYING NEVER AGAIN' (okay, that might be a paraphrase) and I felt vindicated. It's more that Mr. T is ~trying to find himself~ right now, which whatever, but you can still be a good friend to your bff in the midst of your existential crisis/personality transplant/brain slug possession.

POFQ was so cool - even eliminating my cobblestone street bias. Our next trip, we're totally staying there. The whole Port Orleans complex is so pretty and I like being able to walk between the two (and sneak mugs into the dining halls at both for some more free drinks, oops). We always meant (by we, I mean Bear here) to go on a photo tour of the two resorts but ran out of time.

I thought GFC was one of the few to get pretty good overall reviews? We only go there for breakfast and it takes a special kind of place to mess up French toast. All three of us enjoyed the meals and - I must admit - the bathrooms are spectacular. Overall, the interior of the GFlo rooms/theming of GFlo aren't my favorite (we really like Port Orleans), but I can't deny that it is good at what it is!

I wasn't that good of a girlfriend. In my defense, it was only two rides (one that he doesn't even like that much!) and they went on a monorail tour (no faaaaair) and then got stuck in traffic. Four hours is a loooong time to spend in MK with no rides whatsoever!

 

[Merida]

Adventureland​

My first instinct was to continue towards Jungle Cruise – it has fastpasses, we like it, we plan on riding it. And there was no line!

Adventureland


Adventureland​

And then I realized that would be a tremendously stupid idea (and thus establishing how really terrible my instincts are). Why waste primo fastpass time for Jungle Cruise? No one else was doing it. Or the Tiki Room. Or the Carpets.

Adventureland Architecture​

So I wandered around; Adventureland has some of my favorite theming, especially in the Aladdin area. When I was younger, I went through a British Children in Boarding School phase (a lot of these books were my mother’s, so it was 1960s and prior British Boarding Schools mixed with Dianna Wynne Jones. Though calling it a phase is rather dubious because hello, best fictional trope EVER). And in every single book, the traditional ‘oh look how naughty the children are!!’ scene is that someone manages to get a hold of an unexpurgated copy of the Arabian Nights. So it became my life’s mission to track down my own copy (I’d read expurgated copies at that point; however, in between this time and the time of finding the unexpurgated Arabian Nights, I burned through pretty much all of my mother’s romance novels as well. So the unexpurgated Arabian Nights was kind of a let down, though I am now a Julia Quinn stan 4 life (Penelope Featherington, light of my life; Colin Bridgerton, best male romance lead EVER). If you haven’t read – or have, I don’t really care – and want to read any of them, send me a PM. I may or may not have a sizable collection of romance novels on my external harddrive. And you really should read them! Shockingly, I have like a thousand and one feelings about the Bridgerton ladies (and Colin) but they can be summed up as: too cute!!).

Anyway, the Arabian Nights (in one form or another, Shannon Hale has an excellent retelling; which – on another tangent – I love fairytale retellings. My collection of romance novels is matched only by my YA fiction collection and fairytale collection (those two often overlap though). And science books in general, I guess. Maybe I just have a lot of books) has been a meaningful part of my life for a long time and I like seeing it ~in real life~, though obviously in an edited/non-traditional format.

Tiki Room​

So there I was: all by myself in Adventureland, taking really silly pictures (Adventureland isn’t its best on cloudy days) and someone starts talking to me.

“Hey, whatcha doing?”

Magic Lamp​

Naturally, I practically jumped out of my skin. Was I doing something wrong?? No one told me I couldn’t be here!! Clearly the best response to this situation was to ignore it and take more really awful pictures so it seemed like I really belonged there (really, I have tons of A-land pictures of which I’m sparing everyone from seeing).

“Hey, don’t be shy, we’ve been waiting for you!”

That is – no lie – what was said next. I really hope it’s not just me, but that’s totally creepy, right? Hannibal (not the cool one with the elephants who used vinegar to conquer Italy, the serial killer one) vacations at Disney!! And has been waiting for me.

Hidden Jasmine​

Or it was just Aladdin.

Close enough.

I suppose someone didn’t realize that everyone hates Adventureland at 8:30AM and had sent out Aladdin, Jasmine, and their handler to loiter under an overhang. And I’m guessing they were really bored and wanted something to do? Well, I was kind of in the same boat so I stopped fake-taking pictures and headed over.

“Hey, you’re finally here!” Aladdin razzed me for a good five-ish minutes about ignoring them; I figured my serial killer defense wouldn’t hold up here, so I went with it. Jasmine was totally nicer and asked if I was travelling alone today.

“Well, no, I’m actually here with my boyfriend and his best friend. Only now his friend has to go home so they had to go to the airport because he has to go home... to Chicago… on the plane…” I’m not the most concise person ever.

“Really? You didn’t want to go? That sounds like a fun trip!” No, Jasmine, it really wouldn’t have been, I didn’t want to be stuck in a car with them forever! We chatted a little more about the day, what I was going to do, what they were going to do (I was trying to be polite, but in hindsight that’s a really stupid question. ‘Oh yes, we’re just going to stand here in preparation of being mobbed by thousands of small children.’)

Eventually I did have to move on. Time was still moving on and I had fastpasses to collect.

“You should get your boyfriend a magic carpet! That way you won’t have to wait so long for him anymore.” Aladdin agreed with me about the gross injustice about having to wait for my boyfriend before going on rides, so I thanked him for the suggestion and headed out.

I’m really glad I stopped for them, even though before the trip I was pretty anti any waiting for meet and greets (I totally wasn’t waiting here, so it doesn’t count! In all seriousness, this M&G totally changed my mind on M&Gs in general. I still wouldn’t wait in long lines for the characters but maybe they are fun even for social incompetents like myself). But just having them be all nice and sweet and interested in me was very bracing.

So, nose metaphorically repowdered, I headed off into Frontierland (I’m guessing).

Miner's Cove​

I headed towards this sign (I have no idea what this sign is or where it’s from) and proceeded to take like five thousand pictures of it, all while trying to reach Bear on his phone to tell him all about Aladdin and Jasmine (he had Bluetooth, so it was safe!). I couldn’t reach him so I gave up on the sign and headed deeper into Frontierland. Destination? Big Thunder Mountain.

 

[__disneygirl]

Haha, thanks! I go back and forth on whether or not that's a good thing. Annnd then I realize that it's silly to care!

Ugh, silly disappointing WWoHP. Not that I'm expecting wonders and amazement out of Avatarland (seriously Disney, LOOK AT DISNEYSEA AND ADD JULES VERNE LAND. Or Beastly Kingdom. Or Studio Ghibli or any idea that is not incredibly stupid), but it was just so squished. And a really quick visit if you don't want to go on really dubiously rethemed roller coasters. Seriously, Disney was able to loosen some of the reins at TokyoDisney and that turned out to be mind-blowing, so why couldn't they do it here? Just shove Harry Potter into MGM, no one would quibble (well, people would, but I don't care about them). They would have to bend their no adult costume rule but that's not a dealbreaker for me.

I wouldn't mind so much if everyone wasn't trying to copy Disney's success; if you're clever enough, it can come off well and work, but I've found very few people clever enough and it falls flat. Like, if Universal wants to be big roller coaster/thrill ride park, great! Do that! Focus on that and making that experience the best it could be instead of doing a halfway job on Cat in the Hat that looks old and broken down within five years.

Seriously? I didn't know that about Ollivander's. I mean, I know I don't look 23, but I certainly don't look eight! Though it does make sense to limit it to the approximately age 11 crowd (adults have no fun ).

The Lorax is a freaking amazing book and the upcoming movie is a travesty. Ahem. Stupid Cheeto CGI movie (go awaaaay from movies TSwift, you already have a career).

I felt REALLY bad about not liking any of Bear's friends because we were a long distance relationship for ages, so we never knew each others' friends. And that can get weird sometimes and Mr. T is (was?) his best friend. And then Mr. T left and he was all 'OMG THAT WAS SO ANNOYING NEVER AGAIN' (okay, that might be a paraphrase) and I felt vindicated. It's more that Mr. T is ~trying to find himself~ right now, which whatever, but you can still be a good friend to your bff in the midst of your existential crisis/personality transplant/brain slug possession.

POFQ was so cool - even eliminating my cobblestone street bias. Our next trip, we're totally staying there. The whole Port Orleans complex is so pretty and I like being able to walk between the two (and sneak mugs into the dining halls at both for some more free drinks, oops). We always meant (by we, I mean Bear here) to go on a photo tour of the two resorts but ran out of time.

I thought GFC was one of the few to get pretty good overall reviews? We only go there for breakfast and it takes a special kind of place to mess up French toast. All three of us enjoyed the meals and - I must admit - the bathrooms are spectacular. Overall, the interior of the GFlo rooms/theming of GFlo aren't my favorite (we really like Port Orleans), but I can't deny that it is good at what it is!

I wasn't that good of a girlfriend. In my defense, it was only two rides (one that he doesn't even like that much!) and they went on a monorail tour (no faaaaair) and then got stuck in traffic. Four hours is a loooong time to spend in MK with no rides whatsoever!

I actually am expecting Avatarland to be amazing, not because I'm a fan of the film (I've never even seen it, it just doesn't interest me) but because I know that James Cameron and his team share the same obsession with attention to detail as Disney does, and from seeing the trailer I know it's a visually stunning film. So I'm sure that area of the park will be breathtaking just like the rest of the park, but with a little twist. But I REALLLLYYYYY wish they would bring whatever insanely talented and flawless people that designed Tokyo DisneySea over here and get something going. SHEESH.

"And then Mr. T left and he was all 'OMG THAT WAS SO ANNOYING NEVER AGAIN' (okay, that might be a paraphrase)"
hahaha ok even if you're paraphrasing, that must have been such a relief. Could you imagine if he was all "Sigh, I miss Mr. T! It was so fun having him here! I'm gonna go call him!"? I've never had a serious boyfriend but I feel like meeting friends of a guy I'm seeing or just friends of friends is always weird unless they're REALLY cool, which they never are. I always wanted to have that ~group of friends (like on TV) where you all meet through each other and everyone loves everyone and it just doesn't happen.

Okay, I seriously cracked up at Aladdin aka Hannibal Lector harassing you. That is just too funny. I went on a solo trip when I was 18 and whenever people randomly spoke to me I was always alarmed. It just kills me that he said "Whatcha doin?" Like, I'm picturing it now as cartoon Aladdin saying it and oh man there would have been lots of awkward giggling if this happened to me. And duh Jasmine, why would someone want to drive to the airport instead of being at the Magic Kingdom or Agrahbah or Adventureland or whatever? Girl, you know better than that.

 

[Nermel9]

I love your Adventureland pictures, they're really pretty!

Oh god, Aladdin harassing you like that creeped me out at first! Jasmine seemed like she was grasping for questions to ask you, though! It seems like they were really sweet though, and I'm glad they made you feel comfortable! I'm still not brave enough for a meet and greet with a face character. A non-talking character and I'm fine, but one that can speak to me, forget it, I'm so nervous! I really have to get over it!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

That's too funny that Aladdin was bored and chatty that morning! Sounds like a fun character interaction! That definitely would have startled me too!

 

[Merida]

I actually am expecting Avatarland to be amazing, not because I'm a fan of the film (I've never even seen it, it just doesn't interest me) but because I know that James Cameron and his team share the same obsession with attention to detail as Disney does, and from seeing the trailer I know it's a visually stunning film. So I'm sure that area of the park will be breathtaking just like the rest of the park, but with a little twist. But I REALLLLYYYYY wish they would bring whatever insanely talented and flawless people that designed Tokyo DisneySea over here and get something going. SHEESH.

Have you see Fern Gully and Pocahontas? I'd just save the five thousand hours it takes to watch the movie then. And that's the biggest problem! People cared more about other previous movies with similar themes than Avatar. Yes, Pandora is lovely and the 3D was great, but theme parks are, by their very nature, 3D. And.. that's all there is to Avatar. Pretty graphics, but Imagineers can make anything and everything stylish and immersive - and they can do it with in-house properties. Without James Cameron (which, how can you NOT get along with JKR but CAN get along with James 'Made Kate Winslet Cry' Cameron? I wouldn't want to be the JCam-Disney liaison!) being anywhere near the project.

Avatar's pretty much a reaction to Harry Potter, and that's fine. WDW needs expansion but Avatar won't replicate Harry Potter. Even people who haven't read/seen Harry Potter can give a summary or recognize the main characters (Harry, Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore, Voldemort, muggles). I don't know many people at all who care anything about Avatar - they never knew names, plots, anything. It was pretty was about as deep as it went. And that doesn't make for a very good following. I doubt many new visitors will come to Disney over and over again just to see AvatarLand; at least, not in the hordes that WWoHP came. The emotional connection to the franchise is missing.

Which is why it's kind of silly to base a whole land - not just one ride, which would be smarter - on a single movie franchise. A franchise that Disney doesn't own OR control (I can't ever see JCam releasing control). So I've seen it once, what's going to draw me back? Not character meets (no idea who they are and just meeting Random Blue Person 44 doesn't excite me). Not food (military food? Yuck. Pandorean food? Don't remember if it was ever even mentioned, so clearly not memorable). Not souvenirs (there's that one flying thing that would make a neat plush, but why would I buy it? I can't even remember the name! Or what it does! Especially compared to the more artisanal feeling of the rest of AK). Disney's run into this problem - the Ariel ride at DL, Toy Story Playland, and probably CarsLand as well. When you pin a whole land's success on one franchise, it can get old and stale REALLY fast. And how are you going to add on? The Fantasyland expansion is incorporating new experiences and characters (Belle, circuses) into Fantasyland. And you can't put new franchises/ride experiences into AvatarLand.. because then it's AlienWorldLand or something and you need to put more money into it to fix it. It's just such a rigid theme for a park - like, I may not like parts of Fantasyland or Adventureland, but I can still find things that I DO like, which is why I head back to them over and over again. Don't like Avatar? I have no reason to ever head back there, especially if it's not in the way of Everest or the Safari.

I mean, obviously I could be wrong - DisneySea proves that they can do style and non-Disney things (but again, DisneySea didn't pick one movie but did more general lands that can be expanded more easily and aren't dependent on what's popular right now. And 20K Leagues could eat Avatar for breakfast, it's that cool), but I'm skeptical because they don't really have that momentum in US parks Or the money.

If that makes sense? Expanding Animal Kingdom is good, but none of the other bits are really movie-based (except for a few little things, like Dinosaur, and look how popular that is) so a whole movie themed land doesn't fit into the overall park. And it takes away any possibility of putting in Beastly Kingdom (maybe that's what so irritating? Avatar is probably one of the last major expansions for quite some time. And it's Avatar. There's so many amazing ideas that have been passed around - both fan and official - that it's a letdown to "just" get Avatar).

/end word vomit

"And then Mr. T left and he was all 'OMG THAT WAS SO ANNOYING NEVER AGAIN' (okay, that might be a paraphrase)"
hahaha ok even if you're paraphrasing, that must have been such a relief. Could you imagine if he was all "Sigh, I miss Mr. T! It was so fun having him here! I'm gonna go call him!"? I've never had a serious boyfriend but I feel like meeting friends of a guy I'm seeing or just friends of friends is always weird unless they're REALLY cool, which they never are. I always wanted to have that ~group of friends (like on TV) where you all meet through each other and everyone loves everyone and it just doesn't happen.

Okay, I seriously cracked up at Aladdin aka Hannibal Lector harassing you. That is just too funny. I went on a solo trip when I was 18 and whenever people randomly spoke to me I was always alarmed. It just kills me that he said "Whatcha doin?" Like, I'm picturing it now as cartoon Aladdin saying it and oh man there would have been lots of awkward giggling if this happened to me. And duh Jasmine, why would someone want to drive to the airport instead of being at the Magic Kingdom or Agrahbah or Adventureland or whatever? Girl, you know better than that.

Yeah, Bear is my first serious boyfriend (and honestly, I can't understand people who have multiple ones because it's hard work and I don't want to go through the whole process of meeting people/families, etc. again. So.. he's kind of stuck with me! I'm such a romantic). TV friends have ruined me for real life, I swear. Meeting Bear's high school friends was so awkward! Because they were all 'we will convince you to break up sig. others we don't like!!' and I was all '....salty-language-that-isn't-allowed-on-the-DIS' (I have been informed that this isn't ~what they meant~ but.. yeah. It's still awkward to listen to them trash other old significant others, especially when I'm really shy around new people and thus don't make ~fast friends). WHY ISN'T MY LIFE A SITCOM (ps, have you seen New Girl? I've heard that it gets way better after the pilot so I've been considering getting caught up. I have a lack of sitcommy goodness in my life right now).

Haha, I think Jasmine was just trying to be ~normal~ and Aladdin was all 'Screw this, I'm bored' and decided to be as weird as possible. She was really nice and kind of embarrassed about Aladdin, I think. But still - who picks going to the airport over anything else ever (okay, me if I'm craving Au Bon Pain)??

 

[Merida]

I love your Adventureland pictures, they're really pretty!

Oh god, Aladdin harassing you like that creeped me out at first! Jasmine seemed like she was grasping for questions to ask you, though! It seems like they were really sweet though, and I'm glad they made you feel comfortable! I'm still not brave enough for a meet and greet with a face character. A non-talking character and I'm fine, but one that can speak to me, forget it, I'm so nervous! I really have to get over it!

Thanks! Or rather, Photoshop thanks you. It's a horrible addiction!

I KNOW. Not that I would get seriously hurt in Disney or whatever, but the fight/flight instincts def kicked in for a couple minutes.

See, I'm opposite. I get so awkward when I can't see the person's ("person") face. Or have them talk to me (what if I'm really annoying and they can't tell me/make me go away???). idk, it was really a low-stress event because there wasn't anyone else waiting (this is not true for later in the night!) so it was more being chill with some people who totally randomly happened to be dressed like Aladdin and Jasmine! Yay!! And they talked to me first, which is a big plus. And if worst comes to worst, at least they'll forget about me when all the hordes of people come into Adventureland.

That's too funny that Aladdin was bored and chatty that morning! Sounds like a fun character interaction! That definitely would have startled me too!

It was! I was always super jealous of people having these fun and creative interactions AND THEN I DID IT! I felt so proud of myself (It's the little things in life that make me happy nowadays )

 

[ZehnJahren]

Such beautiful photos. The adventureland one with the tiki masks is really something! Very original, and pretty.

I also really like your Jasmine photo. Again, is another original point of view. But it's so weird that Aladdin would come talk to you. It's like, instead of a character interaction, Aladdin had a guest interaction. I wanted to do some characters on my trip but I was just to sidetracked with people watching and rides. And where I parked the rental car. A good 15% of my brain was constantly obsessed with where I parked the rental car. For real.

As for the inevitable Avatar expansion, I think it's ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. "Dear Disney, could ya please PLEASE do something, ANYTHING, with Hollywood Studios? PLEASE???" *sigh*

 

[Merida]

This is a pretty worthless post - but I'm going to get super caught up on everything tonight and maybe even an update in the same week! We're supposed to be in a Storm of the Century right now (THIRTY SIX HOURS!!! FEET OF SNOW!!!) and I don't tend to do my best 'real' work when there's a chance of accumulation that's measured in feet. Also, I don't tend to leave my house (counting down the hours until I'm back...). My office window has excellent mountain and snow views, I'm easily distracted and it's Friday. We already have a good 5-6 inches so there will probably be lots of snow pictures and Cirque du Soleil tangents (Bear and I went last night, right before it started snowing).

For anyone who has seen the video of Kristen Bell and the sloth- that is so totally me right now you have no idea. Most of the times I can hide my weather nerdery but this is totally not one of them.

 

[marDgreen88]

Okay, so I already read your update, but for some reason I just never commented! Then I remembered the reason I hadn't commented was because I really had no idea what to say! I'm lame, I'm sorry.

I will say that your Aladdin encounter cracked me up! I would have been so freaked out!

I promise in your next update that I will be a more active commenter.

 

[Merida]

This has taken me ages! In my defense, my week (okay, 10 days) has gone something like this:

1. Get 12 inches of snow
2. Still have to go to work
3. Sister has baby!
4. Still have to go to work
5. Homework is due for the class I TA
6. Professor leaves, leaving me to fend off hordes of angry students
7. At its peak, I get 6 emails/hour plus people dropping by my office
8. Still have to do my own work
9. Read a thousand pages on fastpasses (v. important!!)

So now I’m going back and forth between grading papers and writing this and thinking about doing the dishes. 2 of the 3 will definitely be done tonight (and I may squeeze in a shower! Pure luxury.)

After two or three tries, I gave up trying to reach Bear on the phone to excitedly relate my Aladdin/Jasmine meet and decided to start focusing on my surroundings.

Miner's Cove​

Given my oh-so-firm anti-Splash Mountain stance, I headed up towards Big Thunder Mountain to finally grab fastpasses.

Big Thunder Mountain​

Big Thunder has some of my favorite themeing (minus the Line of Death) but I never spend time back there. Like it’s always a straight shot to grab FastPasses and then gone. We’ll come back and stand in line but that’s all. No exploring necessary!!

Given that I was alone, this would’ve been the perfect time to explore and see what was in the area.

Instead I broke a FastPass machine and had to go to the attendant, head bowed in shame. I don’t even know what I did but it definitely stopped distributing the return cards after I put my room key in.

The FastPass attendant hemmed and hawed over my machine but eventually decided it would be easier – and safer – to gently usher me out of her region before other machines mysteriously stopped working. She was very nice about it and gave me a second FastPass free without asking to see Bear’s ticket or anything.

My park ticket had been ‘counted’ for a FastPass so I now technically had a free FastPass to use to resync up the cards. Excellent! I could ride rides! See characters! Do anything!

Except, of course, all the things that Bear wanted to do with me. Rats.

Tom Sawyer's Island Map​

I headed out of Frontierland, still puzzling over the best way to optimize this FastPass windfall. Big Thunder, Space, and Splash were absolutely out of the question. Haunted Mansion and Small World had no Fastpass. And – after a quick check on my phone – I realized that none of the lines were long enough for FastPass anyway.

In retrospect I should’ve grabbed something for Winnie the Pooh because (spoiler alert!) we never went over there. Bear isn’t a big Pooh fan and never wanted to waste a FastPass on it. But I was still naively convinced that Bear would be back in the park shortly, leaving me no time to actually ride Pooh.

Br'er Rabbit

Pecos Bill​

The crowds – “crowds” – were starting to pick up in Frontierland, especially compared to Adventureland. One family would consistently step in my way every time I went to take a picture – I have a very lovely sequence of ‘Man in Ball Cap Walks by Pecos Bills.’ They were very nice people but were obviously unaware that there was very limited un-scrimmed real estate in Frontierland to photograph.

Haunted Mansion​

This is actually my favorite view in Magic Kingdom (not all those other ones that I say are my favorite. It’s really this one. At least it is on Sunday the 12th of February at 8:18PM MST). I stayed here for quite a bit; it was very peaceful and everything looks so nice. Not haunted or wild or anything. And the two lands blend very nicely together; even though none of the major “pieces” would ever be seen in the same location in the real world, they still fit.

Also I really wish my house had a corner tower and conservatory. I always pictured Mr. Boddy living there (Tim Curry optional) and would have died for a murder mystery dinner theatre bit inside (or near) Haunted Mansion.

I know the historical importance and blah blah blah of Liberty Square but I would also be totally in favor of a Salem/Northeast U.S. land that expanded the Haunted Mansion. And no one really cares that much about Liberty Square, right? There’s not much going on and you wouldn’t have to replace too much of the existing structures.

Fantasyland Lamp​

Alas, I am not a consultant for Disney Parks and thus all of my brilliant theme park ideas will never see the light of day. It’s unfortunate because I’m sure Liberty Square is a very nice place but I was getting bored and antsy so it was onwards – to Fantasyland!

(okay, this was kind of awful but my brain hurts after going through those homework papers. I am not meant to be a teacher ever. Grading hurts my soul. Also I maybe forgot a lot of my pictures at school. )

 

[IheartDDuck]

Hahaha, IMO it would have to be Tim Curry at Mr. Boddy! I couldn't imagine another one!

Mr. Mustard: How many husbands have you had?
Mrs. White: Mine or other women's?
Mr. Mustard: Yours.
Mrs. White: Five.
Mr. Mustard: Five?!
Mrs. White: Yes, just the five. Men should be like kleenex, soft, strong and disposable.
Mr. Mustard: You lure men to their death like a spider with flies!
Mrs. White: Flies are where men are most vulnerable!
Mr. Mustard: That's right!

Sorry sorry sorry, I just couldn't resist!!!

I get from the tone of the post that Bear didn't make it back when you expected him to? Sorry that you missed Winnie the Pooh!

 

[marDgreen88]

I'm glad you finally got a fastpass! Haha.

I'm a wimp and would therefore be too afraid to eat dinner in the Haunted Mansion. Even with other people around me!

You take really good pictures, btw. Impressive.

OH and P.S. Congrats to your sister on the baby!

 

[Merida]

Such beautiful photos. The adventureland one with the tiki masks is really something! Very original, and pretty.

I also really like your Jasmine photo. Again, is another original point of view. But it's so weird that Aladdin would come talk to you. It's like, instead of a character interaction, Aladdin had a guest interaction. I wanted to do some characters on my trip but I was just to sidetracked with people watching and rides. And where I parked the rental car. A good 15% of my brain was constantly obsessed with where I parked the rental car. For real.

As for the inevitable Avatar expansion, I think it's ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. "Dear Disney, could ya please PLEASE do something, ANYTHING, with Hollywood Studios? PLEASE???" *sigh*

Thank you! I can see all the places I want to improve with my pictures and sometimes I forget why I took them in the first place.

You've completely summed up a lot of my issues with the meet and greets. Like, I can never forget that they are people as well as the character! And then I get all awkward in trying to be respectful of both the person and whomever they're portraying (it's kind of worse with the non-face because you can't see their face or anything). But they were totally talking to me as people who just happened to have a flying carpet without really pushing the 'We're real live characters!!!' bit. I do enjoy watching them with kids because they're usually really cute but I don't need that kind of interaction so I've usually avoided them (it seems kind of rude to get a picture and then scram!)

We tried SO HARD to remember where we parked our car but inevitably, every day we would remember the section but not the row. We defaulted back to where we were on the first day (row 35 or something). It was awful! I wish they'd number the spaces because even if we got the row number right, we'd forget where we were in the row! Now we just leave after everyone else so that our car is the only one left.

I know.. Not that Avatar is bad in visuals or stuff like that, it's just not where I'd prefer to see money go! I know that I care more about Disney park history than a lot of guests (though not as much as some people on the Internet! Thank goodness for the Internet: making me feel better about my life and choices since 1998) and thus I have different expectations and standards, but I can't see a way Avatarland won't be a disaster.

Okay, so I already read your update, but for some reason I just never commented! Then I remembered the reason I hadn't commented was because I really had no idea what to say! I'm lame, I'm sorry.

I will say that your Aladdin encounter cracked me up! I would have been so freaked out!

I promise in your next update that I will be a more active commenter.

Haha, it's okay! I know I go through fits and spurts of reading-no-commenting/commenting-no-reading/commenting-AND-reading and then always end up writing novel length comments when I finally have ~inspiration~. I'm not really that chatty/social in real life (never engage in small talk with me, I am the WORST), so I don't mind comments/no comments! Some times it's just nice to read along and wait until there's something that you REALLY want to say or discuss, you know? Seeing page views go up is enough to assuage my ego.

Seriously, though, if you're lame, then I totally am as well for the sheer number of revisions/rewrites most of my comments go through. It can take me days to write up something at times and then another update was posted and it's back to the drawing board for me!

 

[duckylady]

OKAY I'M ALL CAUGHT UP NOW oh man.

I'm afraid to take time out of my Precious Disney Vacation in order to go to Universal and explore the Wizarding World, to be honest. It seems like such a tiny part of the park and even though I'm a super huge Harry Potter fan, I don't think it's worth the ticket price/getting a ride there/aforementioned taking time out of my Precious Disney Vacation.

I'm glad you guys enjoyed your resort! The Port Orleans resorts seem super gorgeous.

Ahahahasdfs oh, Mr. T. I was feeling annoyed for you guys.

OMG THAT IS ADORABLE THAT ALADDIN CALLED YOU OVER. I can't. I know what you mean about freaking out when someone calls for you and like, either freezing up or ignoring it. One time at Extra Magic Hours a cast member called out to me in the Emporium and I just stood there completely frozen. Turns out she just wanted to compliment my Donald Duck backpack loool.

Your photos are so lovely! If it's not super annoying for me to ask, what camera/lens are you using and what program do you use to edit? This upcoming trip (IN EIGHTEEN DAYS OH MY GOD) will be my first with a DSLR and I'm all anxious about it.

Seriously, though, if you're lame, then I totally am as well for the sheer number of revisions/rewrites most of my comments go through. It can take me days to write up something at times and then another update was posted and it's back to the drawing board for me!

LOL ARE YOU ME. I seriously do this so many times. I'm always terrified that I talk about myself too much when I comment on things like trip reports so I either end up revising what I say a million times or I just end up not commenting at all.

 

[marDgreen88]

Seriously, though, if you're lame, then I totally am as well for the sheer number of revisions/rewrites most of my comments go through. It can take me days to write up something at times and then another update was posted and it's back to the drawing board for me!

Hahaha I do the same thing. Like most of the time I'll leave my computer sitting open on someone's update while I leave the house and then I'll come home, read it again, and write what I want to say on a macbook sticky note. SO... we can be lame together. However, sometimes comments just spit out of me... like this one. So there's that!

 

[Merida]

Hahaha, IMO it would have to be Tim Curry at Mr. Boddy! I couldn't imagine another one!

Mr. Mustard: How many husbands have you had?
Mrs. White: Mine or other women's?
Mr. Mustard: Yours.
Mrs. White: Five.
Mr. Mustard: Five?!
Mrs. White: Yes, just the five. Men should be like kleenex, soft, strong and disposable.
Mr. Mustard: You lure men to their death like a spider with flies!
Mrs. White: Flies are where men are most vulnerable!
Mr. Mustard: That's right!

Sorry sorry sorry, I just couldn't resist!!!

I get from the tone of the post that Bear didn't make it back when you expected him to? Sorry that you missed Winnie the Pooh!

I love that movie so much. It's always applicable and I know approximately zero people that've seen it. I can't even get Bear to watch it! Mrs White is my favorite in the movie (Flames, flames on the side of my face!!) but I have a soft spot for Miss Scarlett (and the fact that she moves first in the game, haha) too. Clue was probably my first franchise (I had the games and the movies and the books, which shows my ~true devotion~ because they were pretty awful, even for whodunits). I'm kind of dreading the remake - it's such an 80s movie that I can't see it working any other way?

Yeah, he had estimated that it would take something like 90 minutes/2 hours. He was actually gone for maybe 3 hours? An excruciatingly long time to wait when Space Mountain lines are 20 minutes max!

I'm glad you finally got a fastpass! Haha.

I'm a wimp and would therefore be too afraid to eat dinner in the Haunted Mansion. Even with other people around me!

You take really good pictures, btw. Impressive.

OH and P.S. Congrats to your sister on the baby!

I knooow…. I'm the worst at getting things done in the morning (thus why I have a 45 minutes morning buffer on my work day which allows me time to do nothing on the Internet).

I thought about that and I think I probably wouldn't eat very much either. But I LOVE holiday-themed food (she says as she inhales her bag of conversation hearts) and I never really do Halloween things on my own. Ooooh, or a death day party (a la Harry Potter). That could be fun and more Haunted Mansion-y than just a murder mystery dinner theatre thing.

Thanks! And thanks from my sister as well (my wallet, however, is cringing. There's just so many cute baby things to buy! And it's like a rule that all aunties must spoil their nephews, right??)

 

[kmaria]

Popped over from my thread 'cause i finally noticed the link in your sig. Your photos are awesome!!

 

[Nermel9]

So I wrote this looonngg comment on my phone last night to your latest update and Avatarland, and right when I was about to post it, my phone just shut off. I was so mad, and it was so late I just gave up and went to bed. Stupid Iphone. Stupid technology.

Basically, I have no interest in Avatarland. I haven't seen the movie, and have no intent to do so. So I couldn't care less that they are going to spend 3 years building a land about a movie that I don't care about. I know it was a popular movie, but are people really obsessed with it? I know NOTHING about Harry Potter. But I do know that people that like it are obsessed with it. Same with Star Wars. I feel like if they wanted to compete with Harry Potter World (or whatever it is!) they should have just done a huge expansion in DHS with a Star Wars theme. How awesome would a Star Wars land be? Or Lord of the Rings? OMG. Every time I watch LOTR I wish that Disney owned the rights to those movies. I'd kill for a LOTR ride! Star Wars and LOTR have been popular for YEARS. Avatar? Can't remember the last time I heard someone bring up Avatar.

I wish they went with the Beastly Kingdom idea, and did a land with that theme in AK instead. That would have been amazing. Oh well. At least we're getting a new Fantasyland.

On to your update...I'm sorry you broke the FP machine, however, I LOVE that you used the phrase "hemming and hawing"...or "hemmed and hawed." You never hear people say that anymore.

I love your favorite view in MK, anytime the Haunted Mansion is in the background, it's a great view! And a Salem area would be so cool...I do love Liberty Square though! I wish there was a little more to it, though!