The Jungle Book, Chick-fil-a, and Me!! Updated 1/15!

[nts4wdw]

The Jungle Book, Chick-fil-a and me

It all started as a very sweet plan by my hubby and I to spend some time together. December 6 is my birthday which happens to coincide with Mousefest (A great gathering of WDW Geeks) and a lovely time to visit WDW. Perfect setting for a just the two us trip, right. We thought so too.

BUT, as often happens, life gets in the way and we found ourselves on the way to our romantic getaway with our 11 and 13 year old in the backseat. No problem! After all, we are still going to WDW, right?

If you read either of our other trip reports, you know us so skip this part. If you are new, here we are!

Chuck, big mean police officer, obsessed with photography and podcasts. My one true love.
Lynn, obsessive planner, wanna be stay at home mom.
Jake lego maniac, almost too cool to be seen with us, but not quite.
Em, lover of all things Disney and all around fun girl.

So that’s us. I hope you’ll stick around for the ride. There will be laughter and tears, but as always a fun time.

Oh did you figure out my title? Yep, the Jungle Book, Chickfila and me, we all turned 40 this year. And I got to spend it in WDW!!!

 

[rentayenta]

Great title and darling tye dyed shirts! Look forward to reading more. WDW my 40th is the plan too.

 

[jordanyosh]

Okay, I'm in......just laying around the house today before the XMAS madness starts tomorrow.

 

[nts4wdw]

Great title and darling tye dyed shirts! Look forward to reading more. WDW my 40th is the plan too.

Glad you like the shirts! Got the instructions right here on the DIS. WDW is the perfect place to spend your 40th.

Okay, I'm in......just laying around the house today before the XMAS madness starts tomorrow.

Thanks for the vote of confidence! I have the first installment ready, but I'm having photobucket issues.
Enjoy your madness tomorrow!

 

[nts4wdw]

Day one

(Dual trip reports are always more fun. Comments from Lynn are in purple, comments from Chuck are in blue, and comments which no one will ‘fess up to will be in green.)

Our 4 day WDW adventure began at 23:45 hrs 12/5/07
It was an uneventful trip, except for the fact that I got to drive in Florida for the first time. My first official act as a 40 year old!! (I turned 40 one minute after midnight. Just missed Walt’s birthday.) We arrived for our one night at the Pop Century at about 7 AM and can you believe it, our room was ready.
Love the tree.

And of course a stop in the gift shop is a must! Do you think this will fit in my house?

I am loving this sign!

We were in the eighties (our first time in that section) on the back side, but hey, it’s only one night so we are fine with it. A quick dump of stuff in our room and we were standing at the MK bus stop.

A short bus ride and we are looking at this.

It’s hard to believe I was at my desk the day before and now I was there!!

Aren’t we cute?

Lynn was a bit apprehensive about hitting MK on Thursday because TGM advises against it, and we neverrrrr do anything that is contrary to TGM <All hail the great and powerful TGM>…..but I have to say that if we wanted to hit MK..then Thursday would have to be it, TGM’s blessings or not…..the morning went smoothly….10 min. waits for BTM, HM SM walk ons for Small world and Pirates----could it be that Mike made a mistake? (I know blasphemy, Lynn still refuses to discuss it, let alone acknowledge it)

Don’t hate on Mike, OK? (Jealousy)

We went over and got our fast passes for Space Mountain,and walked on to Peter Pan and It’s a Small world.
It was time for a potty break before Haunted Mansion. It was in that bathroom that I had a very surreal experience.

To be continued

 

[OhMari]

I was hoping someone would post that went to Mousefest. I have the 2007 Passporter, so I still read everything yet from their site.

 

[nts4wdw]

Day One Part Two

A surreal experience!

While walking through Fantasyland we were spotted by a fellow Dis’er Tammy <aka: ILoveMy3C’s). She recognized us from our June trip report and took the time to introduce herself and her family (We’re Stars, I can already feel my head swelling….I’ll take my Desanni water chilled at 43 degrees and please, no photos).

Ok, maybe Chuck is used to being a star (He was on the local news for delivering a baby in front of the local Bingo parlor.), but it’s not every day I have someone come up to me will I’m washing my hands in the ladies room and say, “Aren’t you Lynn? We loved your trip report!”

Seriously Tammy and her family were very sweet nad even though I was so shocked I’m sure I babbled like an idiot, She and her daughter agreed to have their picture made with us. Here they are! Hey Y’all! Thanks for saying hello! It was definitely a high point of our trip and made me get off my butt to write this report!!

After being turned away from the Haunted Mansion (It was down), we proceeded to BTMR.

While walking through Frontier Land, Lynn pointed and said “look at that poor lost little boy standing in the middle of the street”, I looked and saw that it wasn’t a child, but Lou (Oh, Lou) Mongello (our first celebrity sighting!!). Mongellos’ were exchanged and as he took the time to chat with us, Johnathan “the voice” Dichtor walked up and joined in the conversation. Lynn was floored, she had just heard her very first ‘All About the Mouse’ podcast” just a couple of hours before as she bob and weaved in and out of Orlando’s roadway of death (otherwise known as I-4), and she had just told me as we were walking into the park how much she enjoyed the show, in addition to the other podcasts we listen to.

It was great to meet them both, but I was too much in shock to get a picture this time.

Here is photographic evidence that I opened my eyes on BTMRR this time.

What a great view!!

On our way to Pirates, we saw Peter Pan and Wendy and Emily got to meet them. They were so cute and told me even if it was my birthday. I must never grow up! (Don’t plan to.) They also said they were playing tag with Aladdin and Jasmine and if we saw them to say, “ Tag, no tag backs!” Too cute!

What’s a visit to Magic Kingdom without a visit to our old friend Stinky Toe!

I loved riding Pirates on my birthday!!

I took Lynn for lunch at Cayce’s hotdogs (I know what your thinking … ‘Chuck, you are Mr. Romance’, well you got that right, who don’t like a good (and expensive) dog?) Although I would like to point out, that I think it is a gyp that you can’t buy a single dog, you have to get a combo (dog and fries-or apple slices). And while there, we saw our third Disney celebrity of the day – Big Brian, from Big Brian’s podacst….of course he was a bit difficult to miss, what with the shotgun mike and all. I waited for him to quit recording (the piano player) and went over to say hey, we had met briefly back in June when he walked up on me and Miss Lynn photographing our Scopa’s elixir (ie..Dole whip)…don’t ask…we don’t judge what ya’ll do on your vacations……) but anyway, he remembered us, even to the extent that he recalled where we lived….yep, I leave that much of an impression…..

Here’s my big birthday lunch!

Serenaded by the piano player!

Back to Liberty Square to try again for Haunted Mansion! It was open!! We had a lovely chat with a couple in line ahead of us.
Ok if you have ridden since the refurb and don’t want to know, stop reading now.
Ok
Sure?
We loved it! The paintings that glowed when the lightning struck,

the staircase room,
Madame Leota floating,
and especially the Bride in the attic.

The soundtrack was much more clear and all the ghost in the graveyard much more crisp and easy to see.
We met the couple again outside and discussed the changes. We all agreed it was an upgrade for the better!!!

All Done!!
On the way over to the Tomorrowland Terrace, Em and I stopped to have a wish in Cinderella’s fountain.

On to MF 101……Ahhh,,, a gathering of my fellow Disney geeks and freaks……there is nothing wrong with us…it’s the rest of the world that doesn’t get it (they’re the freaks).
Mike Scopa and Lou Mongello explain how to get the most out of Mousefest.

After catching MF 101 and the outpouring of goodwill of those that donated $$$$$ to charity to get Matt to ride Dinosaur we headed over to EPCOT.
And what I really wanted to see on my 40th birthday! Yeah baby!!

 

[nts4wdw]

Day one Part Three

We acquired a new friend at Pirates and he had his first ride on the monorail.

Here’s your grand circle tour of Futureworld.

Universe of Energy

Mission Space

The Epcot Tree

Journey into Imagination

Ok , what red blooded woman would not want to spend her birthday looking at these guys!!!!!

Even though we only caught one set , it was worth it!

After catching their show and woofing down some McD’s fries and nuggets, we were off to the Dolphin to scope out the resort we would be moving into the next day - - Holy Mackerel!!!! Do we feel out of place!!! I wonder if there is a dress code just to check in?

The Tree was gorgeous!

Having had only 3 hours sleep since the day before, driving all night and the last remnants of red bull leaving our system, dictated that we had to cut our evening short. We had really thought about catching the Osborne lights,,,,but we were all getting very edgy and grumpy and the least little thing could have set us off (some where a kid in Heelies, a parent who thinks that there screaming, whinny, spoiled child is cute and everyone ‘needs’ to see them…or <shudder> a cheerleader, owes us their life).
We got back to our room at the Pop and everyone (except those of us with insomnia, ie; me) was in bed and asleep by 8:30. When I did finally hit the hay, I quickly came to the realization that I have been spoiled. After years of having a somewhat smaller bed, Lynn and I got a king bed a few months ago and I now sleep with reckless abandon, unfortunately for Jake who was sharing the bed. Good news though, his bruises are healing fine and it looks like Child Protective Services is deciding not to pursue an investigation.

Good night!

 

[DisneyJo]

Yay another Lynn report Great start so far and can't wait for more

 

[nts4wdw]

Yay another Lynn report Great start so far and can't wait for more

Hey Jo!! So glad you could join us!!

 

[winkers]

yay! Another report!!

 

[rentayenta]

1. LOVE the pictures!

2. The Dolphin's tree is unreal!

3. Can't wait to read more!

 

[nts4wdw]

yay! Another report!!

Thanks for coming along!! It's gonna be a fun ride!

1. LOVE the pictures!

2. The Dolphin's tree is unreal!

3. Can't wait to read more!

1. Thanks!

2. Definitely!

3. Glad you are enjoying it! My birthday is definitely not over yet!!

 

[nts4wdw]

Day 2 Part one


Day 2 started with a wake up call from Mickey (as a side note, have you ever noticed that the telephones at the Pop have the loudest rings on the face of the planet? We loaded up our car in one trip ( a major feat for us) and then it was off to the Dolphin to check in.
After getting there and checking in (we were dressed in our finest T-shirts and shorts – I think we fooled them), we were able to move right into our room.

This hallway was big enough to drive a truck through!

Carmen checked us in. She was a sweetheart.

Wanna see our room? I know you do.

Here’s the bathroom with a little outer room with the sink.

But you don’t care about all that! How’s the view?

Yep that’s the Tower of Terror in the distance. It was a lovely view.

The Dolphin is definitely more geared towards business travelers, and doesn’t have as many Disney touches, but it was clean and everyone there was nice, not snooty a bit.

Believe it or not, we were moved in, had our breakfast and were at rope drop at MGM Studios. They had a great new show to open the park that involved the Streetmosphere performers and us all yelling, “Lights! Camera! Action! Hollywood, here we come!” Loved it!
After the drop and the mad rush by the crowds to TOT and RNRC, Lynn, me and Emily got some major face time with Chip and Dale, along with a few of the other characters that had gathered in front of the hat.

I even got a special birthday hug from Chip!

Minnie and Goofy had a good time with Em.

Jake returned with our fast passes for RNRC (THE GREATEST RIDE EVER!!!) and we all went onto Star Tours. After Star Tours we walked down towards the TOT and stopped to watch the Streetsophere characters as they were beginning a show.

After another fine Director Bon Bon production we headed to the ABC commissary where we scarfed down an early lunch. Why eating so early you ask? We have a date with the Beast!!

To be Continued

 

[nts4wdw]

Day One Part Two

Our next stop was our first real Mousefest meet, the Meet the Beast(s) meet with Dan and Eric from Mouseguest. Lynn and I had both been excited about this meet when it was first listed, but Emily was beside her self with the chance to meet Belle.

As we made our way to the Theatre, we spotted Officer Clark, keeping Hollywood Boulevard safe. We had seen him earlier in the street show. I begged Chuck to get a picture with him, two police officers together. Officer Clark saw my birthday button and asked, “Is today really your birthday?” Now, a smart person would lie and say yes, but I’m more widely known for my looks not my brains. When I said, no it was yesterday, but we are still celebrating, He pulled me into the middle of the street.

He began tell the crowd (loudly) that I was lying about my birthday and I was getting a ticket. He also asked where I was from, and when I said South Carolina, he said he was adding more charges. Sure enough, he got out his ticket book and began to write. Suddenly, he paused and told me if I could answer a question, he would tear up my ticket. He proceeded to ask me this long involved question about trains leaving New York and California and brother meeting in the middle on a farm on a Wednesday in a rainstorm with a rooster on the barn roof and if the rooster laid an egg, what side of the barn roof would it roll down?

Yeah, I know.

Roosters don’t lay eggs.

I told you I’m cute, not smart.

Here’s my ticket.

As you can see, I was fined 10 dollars for being from SC and only 3 dollars for “birthday fibbing”.
I’ll admit it.
I’m a birthday fibber.
And the fibbing ain’t over yet!

To be continued

 

[winkers]

I love that you got a ticket for fibbing and being from SC! What a great souvenier!

 

[DisneyJo]

How funny you got a ticket

 

[nts4wdw]

I love that you got a ticket for fibbing and being from SC! What a great souvenier!

It was too funny! The Officer was so serious about it.

How funny you got a ticket

I've got to get Chuck to take a good closeup picture of it. It's got all these weird charges on it!
Thanks for reading, you guys!

 

[tinawv]

The ticket thing is too cute. Looking forward to reading more.

 

[tinawv]

The ticket thing is too cute. Looking forward to reading more.

Sorry, double post.