IvyandLace
Certified pixie dust user
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2000
- Messages
- 758
September 21, 2001
Bio:
Pixie #1: Me! Quasi-manager of this tour and distinguished DIS junkie; been 'round the World four times; celebrated my 27th BD on the 13th of Sept. but continued to celebrate it on tour (more about this in later reports!); "day" job: labor and delivery night nurse; leaving DH at home due to school responsibilities. Favorite Disney character: Tinkerbell
Pixie #2: "Princess Pumpkin" (i.e. Pun'kin) 'Lil sis and best friend of Pixie #1; been 'round the World six times; slowly becoming indoctrinated in the DIS culture; 24; "day" job: social worker in emergency department (but still a fan of ER); leaving cat at home due to fear of flying. Favorite Disney character: Eeyore
Pixie #3: "Mommy Mouse" (i.e. "MM") Disney mom of above Pixies, has been 'round the World 9 times, 54; "day" job: secretary for family business. Lover of all things Disney-we have her to blame-I mean, thank for our obsession! Leaving Pops (DH) at home due to fact that he's not a fast walker and would slow us down. Favorite Disney character: Mickey of course.
Schedule for the day: EE Epcot, Animal Kingdom, PS at Tony's Town Square at 6:50pm
And they're off...
Today starts with a Mickey wake-up call for 6am for MM who does not believe that Mickey actually calls the room! (How, after nine tours of the World, she has missed this, we will never know!) I hear her say "Hello?" and, after a few moments of listening to Mickey, hear her drop the phone in the darkness along with a pair of glasses and other nightstand paraphernalia Good morning!! We all bounce quickly out of bed-it's our first park day, after all!-and are able to make it to ASMu Epcot bus stop at 7am. We are the first ones there! Woo-hoo! Eat our Pop-tart breakfast on the bus. It is at this time that we meet the family who will forever be known as the "Wisconsin people" family of four who flew in yesterday and are on their first trip ever! They are clueless about Test Track, free parking when staying at WDW resorts, what to pack in their backpacks, etc. Of course, we fill them in as best we could on the short ride to Epcot. Once out, we make it through our first of many backpack searches and head to Test Track! We end up 3rd, 4th, and 5th on the ride and are extremely proud of ourselves for this accomplishment. ** high fives all around** We turn around and the "Wisconsin people" are waving! We wave back and end up enjoying TT three times in a row without getting off because of the low crowds! Wow! Pretty cool We then try to go to the Living Seas and HISTA, but they are roped off until 9am bummer. It is at this point that I buy my 2nd pin of the trip-Jiminy Cricket! (He's actually for my husband, but since I believe my husband would want me to wear him, I stick him on my pack with Tink!) I'm a certified pin collector. After a ride "in the golf ball" as Pun'kin so aptly put it, we are off to AK! We notice a definite increase in crowds here as it is fast approaching 9am, but it is nothing unmanageable thankfully! First on the agenda, Kilimanjaro Safari for FP. We head to Kali River Rapids but the line is way too long so we decide to head to Camp Minnie-Mickey to make the next Festival of the Lion King show-we missed this last time and have heard all sorts of good things about it so this is a definite "must-do". However, we get sidetracked with a very short wait for It's Tough to be a Bug-wonderful as always. MM and Pun'kin forget the ending until the very last moment giggles all around. We come out smiling, and, after realizing we just missed the next Lion King show, we decide to check Kali River Rapids again as it is very humid out. We are ready to get wet! It is now a walk-on and we get soaked! We end up riding with a bunch of obnoxious teens, and after the ride was over, we all looked at one another and blurted out "I'm so glad we didn't bring the kids!" (See initial trip report if you don't know whom I'm referring to!) What a wonderful feeling to know that we didn't have to deal with all the attention- seeking behavior kids sometime exhibit! We squish to Safari and get to bypass loads of people-I love FP here! Always seems to help get you on fast! While in line, a good meaning CM points out Tink and says, "Well, where's Peter Pan?" I look down and think "Who cares about Peter Pan .where is Jiminy??!" Panic ensues for a moment as we realize that Jiminy is lost. I am briefly sad but will recover. However, because of this incident, I now have a slight pin phobia and refrain from buying any more for quite some time.
Back to KS we don't remember the bridge part! (Have they changed KS?) Of course, we love seeing the animals in such a beautiful setting! Temps today-once again in the high 80's with slight breeze and increasing humidity-chance of showers this afternoon-we'll see! We head off KS with one mission in mind-to see Festival of the Lion King!
We walk right in and end up in the giraffe section. It is a terrific show with great costumes and so much going on!! Two thumbs up by everyone! We will definitely be back again.
Okay, here's the scene: We are hoarded out toward the character signing; we are confused and there are thousands (okay, hundreds) of people milling around in the heat .Just as we begin to fail, we hear them! A blend of harmony infused with the past with a great big dollop of the very type of humor we love a silly whimsical childish role-playing singing group right there in Camp Minnie-Mickey!! I cannot believe it, but MM actually wants to sit down and it is then that I realize that we are witnessing something very special indeed. Not only are we being spontaneous but we are discovering Disney Magic!!! Something not on our schedule but something that we will talk about every time the trip is brought up!! The group was called "Happy Campers"-I didn't realize it at the time, but they are brand new to AK!! I definitely cannot do justice to their show/act but it was so hilarious that all three of us had tears running down our faces from laughing so much!!! We were even roped into doing the Chicken Dance in front of the hundred thousand people in Camp Minnie-Mickey! We were definitely chickens dancing Pun'kin and I love to make up different personalities and play them out at family gatherings but this was public!!! So, yes, a bit of stage fright but a funny-'til-you-cry experience that we will never forget. So if you don't get anything else out of this report, go see the "Happy Campers" for yourself!!! They were a wonderful Disney surprise.
We then laughed our way to Flight of Wonder-entertaining, Tarzan Rocks-good but not nearly as good as Festival of the Lion King, and Dinosaur-we actually took a picture of our picture at the end of this ride because it was so funny with all three of the pixies cowering in fear! Stopped for lunch at Rainforest Café (appetizer crab cake, Diet coke and cup of Clam Chowder for $21.00-yikes!) which wasn't really planned but we needed a break from the heat and our squishy clothes. It seems that whenever anyone orders their "volcano" dessert (chocolate wonder which we split last time with the kids and ate in less than six seconds), the staff calls out "Volcano!!" really loud so the whole restaurant can hear. So every few minutes throughout our meal, we would hear "Volcano" and decided to join in. This became a frequent phrase on our trip and quite useful whenever anyone needed a smile.
After lunch, we had seen everything we wanted to at AK and decided to head back to ASMu for a swim. Wow what a great pool they have here! The water was perfect-we all swam around for an hour and just smiled and relaxed. What a wonderful way to rejuvenate yourself. ASMu's pool was so huge that we never felt crowded. Pun'kin and I held our traditional "handstand" contest with MM being the judge and then it was time to head to Tony's for our PS. MK was originally scheduled to be open until 9pm with a Spectromagic parade at 8pm but they changed the hours after September 11th so that MK would close at 7pm. Oh, well we decided to keep our PS since MM and I really wanted to eat here last tour and never got to.
We decided to spend a few minutes shopping at the Emporium before our PS time. I bought a Tinkerbell charm for my charm bracelet, Mickey Mouse head crystal earrings and three postcards for ~$28.00. Once at Tony's, we were seated so that we could see Main Street and had a wonderful meal here. One word of warning: If you order the Eggplant Parmesan, please share it!! That's what I had and it was huge! Cost of meal=$23.00. Definitely worth it. After dinner, we were feeling adventurous and decided to head to the Boardwalk. This is one of the areas that we had never explored before and had put on our "to do" list prior to touring. We walked around for quite some time (MM had a nearly fatal collision with a surry!) and decided to finish off our night with ice cream at Beaches and Cream. We had never been here either, but I had read too many good food reports on it to pass it up! I didn't realize it would be as expensive as it was but it was still very good. I had a one scoop sundae (mint chocolate chip) with marshmallow topping for ~$4.00. It was delicious. We ate outside in the very quiet pool area and decided that we would only stay at the Boardwalk area with a very good discount. It was very fun, but we felt a bit closed in. We knew that the only way to get home to ASMu would be to walk through Epcot and since it was IllumiNation time, we decided to just walk REALLY fast to beat the crowds. Somehow we walked from Beaches and Cream to the ASMu bus stop outside Epcot in less than 20 minutes-wow! We booked. Pun'kin kept saying, "Don't look back! Don't look back!" as hordes of IllumiNation people were heading toward the bus stops. This is something I would definitely NOT do again (and would never be able to with the whole family anyway!) We made it onto the first bus and were asleep ~9:45pm.
Tip(s) for the day: Take time to see the "Happy Campers"!! They are so good at what they do and will make you laugh! Spend time at your resort pool regardless of where you are staying. Even an hour will make you feel like a brand-new person. Never ever try to race the crowds after IllumiNations with a stomach full of ice cream. Enough said.
Stay tuned for the next addition: The Pixie Chicks' World Tour-Day Three: "Happy Bert-day!" or "Why is there a straw up my nose?"
Bio:
Pixie #1: Me! Quasi-manager of this tour and distinguished DIS junkie; been 'round the World four times; celebrated my 27th BD on the 13th of Sept. but continued to celebrate it on tour (more about this in later reports!); "day" job: labor and delivery night nurse; leaving DH at home due to school responsibilities. Favorite Disney character: Tinkerbell
Pixie #2: "Princess Pumpkin" (i.e. Pun'kin) 'Lil sis and best friend of Pixie #1; been 'round the World six times; slowly becoming indoctrinated in the DIS culture; 24; "day" job: social worker in emergency department (but still a fan of ER); leaving cat at home due to fear of flying. Favorite Disney character: Eeyore
Pixie #3: "Mommy Mouse" (i.e. "MM") Disney mom of above Pixies, has been 'round the World 9 times, 54; "day" job: secretary for family business. Lover of all things Disney-we have her to blame-I mean, thank for our obsession! Leaving Pops (DH) at home due to fact that he's not a fast walker and would slow us down. Favorite Disney character: Mickey of course.
Schedule for the day: EE Epcot, Animal Kingdom, PS at Tony's Town Square at 6:50pm
And they're off...
Today starts with a Mickey wake-up call for 6am for MM who does not believe that Mickey actually calls the room! (How, after nine tours of the World, she has missed this, we will never know!) I hear her say "Hello?" and, after a few moments of listening to Mickey, hear her drop the phone in the darkness along with a pair of glasses and other nightstand paraphernalia Good morning!! We all bounce quickly out of bed-it's our first park day, after all!-and are able to make it to ASMu Epcot bus stop at 7am. We are the first ones there! Woo-hoo! Eat our Pop-tart breakfast on the bus. It is at this time that we meet the family who will forever be known as the "Wisconsin people" family of four who flew in yesterday and are on their first trip ever! They are clueless about Test Track, free parking when staying at WDW resorts, what to pack in their backpacks, etc. Of course, we fill them in as best we could on the short ride to Epcot. Once out, we make it through our first of many backpack searches and head to Test Track! We end up 3rd, 4th, and 5th on the ride and are extremely proud of ourselves for this accomplishment. ** high fives all around** We turn around and the "Wisconsin people" are waving! We wave back and end up enjoying TT three times in a row without getting off because of the low crowds! Wow! Pretty cool We then try to go to the Living Seas and HISTA, but they are roped off until 9am bummer. It is at this point that I buy my 2nd pin of the trip-Jiminy Cricket! (He's actually for my husband, but since I believe my husband would want me to wear him, I stick him on my pack with Tink!) I'm a certified pin collector. After a ride "in the golf ball" as Pun'kin so aptly put it, we are off to AK! We notice a definite increase in crowds here as it is fast approaching 9am, but it is nothing unmanageable thankfully! First on the agenda, Kilimanjaro Safari for FP. We head to Kali River Rapids but the line is way too long so we decide to head to Camp Minnie-Mickey to make the next Festival of the Lion King show-we missed this last time and have heard all sorts of good things about it so this is a definite "must-do". However, we get sidetracked with a very short wait for It's Tough to be a Bug-wonderful as always. MM and Pun'kin forget the ending until the very last moment giggles all around. We come out smiling, and, after realizing we just missed the next Lion King show, we decide to check Kali River Rapids again as it is very humid out. We are ready to get wet! It is now a walk-on and we get soaked! We end up riding with a bunch of obnoxious teens, and after the ride was over, we all looked at one another and blurted out "I'm so glad we didn't bring the kids!" (See initial trip report if you don't know whom I'm referring to!) What a wonderful feeling to know that we didn't have to deal with all the attention- seeking behavior kids sometime exhibit! We squish to Safari and get to bypass loads of people-I love FP here! Always seems to help get you on fast! While in line, a good meaning CM points out Tink and says, "Well, where's Peter Pan?" I look down and think "Who cares about Peter Pan .where is Jiminy??!" Panic ensues for a moment as we realize that Jiminy is lost. I am briefly sad but will recover. However, because of this incident, I now have a slight pin phobia and refrain from buying any more for quite some time.
Back to KS we don't remember the bridge part! (Have they changed KS?) Of course, we love seeing the animals in such a beautiful setting! Temps today-once again in the high 80's with slight breeze and increasing humidity-chance of showers this afternoon-we'll see! We head off KS with one mission in mind-to see Festival of the Lion King!
We walk right in and end up in the giraffe section. It is a terrific show with great costumes and so much going on!! Two thumbs up by everyone! We will definitely be back again.
Okay, here's the scene: We are hoarded out toward the character signing; we are confused and there are thousands (okay, hundreds) of people milling around in the heat .Just as we begin to fail, we hear them! A blend of harmony infused with the past with a great big dollop of the very type of humor we love a silly whimsical childish role-playing singing group right there in Camp Minnie-Mickey!! I cannot believe it, but MM actually wants to sit down and it is then that I realize that we are witnessing something very special indeed. Not only are we being spontaneous but we are discovering Disney Magic!!! Something not on our schedule but something that we will talk about every time the trip is brought up!! The group was called "Happy Campers"-I didn't realize it at the time, but they are brand new to AK!! I definitely cannot do justice to their show/act but it was so hilarious that all three of us had tears running down our faces from laughing so much!!! We were even roped into doing the Chicken Dance in front of the hundred thousand people in Camp Minnie-Mickey! We were definitely chickens dancing Pun'kin and I love to make up different personalities and play them out at family gatherings but this was public!!! So, yes, a bit of stage fright but a funny-'til-you-cry experience that we will never forget. So if you don't get anything else out of this report, go see the "Happy Campers" for yourself!!! They were a wonderful Disney surprise.
We then laughed our way to Flight of Wonder-entertaining, Tarzan Rocks-good but not nearly as good as Festival of the Lion King, and Dinosaur-we actually took a picture of our picture at the end of this ride because it was so funny with all three of the pixies cowering in fear! Stopped for lunch at Rainforest Café (appetizer crab cake, Diet coke and cup of Clam Chowder for $21.00-yikes!) which wasn't really planned but we needed a break from the heat and our squishy clothes. It seems that whenever anyone orders their "volcano" dessert (chocolate wonder which we split last time with the kids and ate in less than six seconds), the staff calls out "Volcano!!" really loud so the whole restaurant can hear. So every few minutes throughout our meal, we would hear "Volcano" and decided to join in. This became a frequent phrase on our trip and quite useful whenever anyone needed a smile.
After lunch, we had seen everything we wanted to at AK and decided to head back to ASMu for a swim. Wow what a great pool they have here! The water was perfect-we all swam around for an hour and just smiled and relaxed. What a wonderful way to rejuvenate yourself. ASMu's pool was so huge that we never felt crowded. Pun'kin and I held our traditional "handstand" contest with MM being the judge and then it was time to head to Tony's for our PS. MK was originally scheduled to be open until 9pm with a Spectromagic parade at 8pm but they changed the hours after September 11th so that MK would close at 7pm. Oh, well we decided to keep our PS since MM and I really wanted to eat here last tour and never got to.
We decided to spend a few minutes shopping at the Emporium before our PS time. I bought a Tinkerbell charm for my charm bracelet, Mickey Mouse head crystal earrings and three postcards for ~$28.00. Once at Tony's, we were seated so that we could see Main Street and had a wonderful meal here. One word of warning: If you order the Eggplant Parmesan, please share it!! That's what I had and it was huge! Cost of meal=$23.00. Definitely worth it. After dinner, we were feeling adventurous and decided to head to the Boardwalk. This is one of the areas that we had never explored before and had put on our "to do" list prior to touring. We walked around for quite some time (MM had a nearly fatal collision with a surry!) and decided to finish off our night with ice cream at Beaches and Cream. We had never been here either, but I had read too many good food reports on it to pass it up! I didn't realize it would be as expensive as it was but it was still very good. I had a one scoop sundae (mint chocolate chip) with marshmallow topping for ~$4.00. It was delicious. We ate outside in the very quiet pool area and decided that we would only stay at the Boardwalk area with a very good discount. It was very fun, but we felt a bit closed in. We knew that the only way to get home to ASMu would be to walk through Epcot and since it was IllumiNation time, we decided to just walk REALLY fast to beat the crowds. Somehow we walked from Beaches and Cream to the ASMu bus stop outside Epcot in less than 20 minutes-wow! We booked. Pun'kin kept saying, "Don't look back! Don't look back!" as hordes of IllumiNation people were heading toward the bus stops. This is something I would definitely NOT do again (and would never be able to with the whole family anyway!) We made it onto the first bus and were asleep ~9:45pm.
Tip(s) for the day: Take time to see the "Happy Campers"!! They are so good at what they do and will make you laugh! Spend time at your resort pool regardless of where you are staying. Even an hour will make you feel like a brand-new person. Never ever try to race the crowds after IllumiNations with a stomach full of ice cream. Enough said.
Stay tuned for the next addition: The Pixie Chicks' World Tour-Day Three: "Happy Bert-day!" or "Why is there a straw up my nose?"
I'm glad they finally got to enjoy it. Sounds like you had a fun day.
Disney is really great about replacing them, though....Great report and looking forward to the next installment..
