The Shmoopy DINKs in "Plussing the Weenie" -- now COMPLETE!

[Lady Lallie]

I am so sad that it's your last full day.

I'm super excited to have breakfast at CP again. It is very yummy and getting into MK before opening is priceless.

I hate it when people are making fun of you but you don't really have proof just that feeling that they are making fun of you. So annoying.

I am so glad your Mousefest book signing went well. I think it's great that you took the time to do that. I must go during Mousefest one year.

 

[Circusgirl]

Greetings from the World!!!
I signed up for internet for 24 hours, and was rewarded by finding your updates waiting. I loved everything about them, but especially:
The orangest human
Your encounter with an honest to goodness Imagineer, and one who worked on Space Mountain, no less!
The union of cute funny writers
The part about our meeting is of course my favorite bit. I'm only a tiny bit embarrassed (but in a great way) and I have this to say - right back at ya!!!!!

I am so sorry about your horrible experience at V&A's. It was the complete opposite of everything it should have been and I'm super disappointed that you didn't get the great three hours of pampering with food you signed up for. I also sympathize about the negative distraction factor of people who act as though they don't seem to realize they are in a public place raining on other people's experiences.

I don't want your trip to be over!

It is unusually cold here, although still warm relative to the severe cold and snow just about everyone else in the country is experiencing. The shops are doing a brisk business in gloves and hats, and I can't believe I brought so many tank tops. It is a good excuse to buy that cute velour sweatshirt I have been coveting.

Stacey says you are all in the top 7 best things about Disney!

 

[AmericanCaesar]

I hate to be a credit hog, but it was ME that worked up the courage to ruin that Imagineer's day by asking him questions about his job, thereby spoiling his tranquil day! Just kidding -- he was very gracious and appreciative for the chance to talk about his highly unusual line of work (unusual, that is, if you're a working stiff like me).

Also, I figure I would pass along the link to the photographic record of our December trip:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/americancaesar/sets/72157611225531003/

It's kinda like my chance to trip-report the thing. Enjoy!

 

[girlbomb]

Great update. I can't believe it's your last full day.

addictedtothemouse, thanks! I couldn't believe it was our last day either. It went by so quickly!

I am so sad that it's your last full day.

I'm super excited to have breakfast at CP again. It is very yummy and getting into MK before opening is priceless.

I hate it when people are making fun of you but you don't really have proof just that feeling that they are making fun of you. So annoying.

I am so glad your Mousefest book signing went well. I think it's great that you took the time to do that. I must go during Mousefest one year.

Lady Lallie, I was rereading your trippie recently, and I remembered your experience in the castle, when people were not being subtle about noticing you taking pictures of the food. It's like, Bill and I make fun of other guests' behavior all the time -- we were judgmental of the family at CP recording their 9-year-old so scrupulously -- but we never let them see or hear it, because while we love being judgmental, we don't want to be mean or hurtful. The way I feel is, judge us all you want! Just don't sneer in our faces. A CM named April was making fun of me that Saturday morning for riding Space Mountain five times in a row; she kept saying, "You again?" But she did it in a teasing way, and not a hurtful "god, you're a dork" kind of way, so I didn't mind.

(PS: I am a total dork.)

Greetings from the World!!!
I signed up for internet for 24 hours, and was rewarded by finding your updates waiting. I loved everything about them, but especially:
The orangest human
Your encounter with an honest to goodness Imagineer, and one who worked on Space Mountain, no less!
The union of cute funny writers
The part about our meeting is of course my favorite bit. I'm only a tiny bit embarrassed (but in a great way) and I have this to say - right back at ya!!!!!

I am so sorry about your horrible experience at V&A's. It was the complete opposite of everything it should have been and I'm super disappointed that you didn't get the great three hours of pampering with food you signed up for. I also sympathize about the negative distraction factor of people who act as though they don't seem to realize they are in a public place raining on other people's experiences.

I don't want your trip to be over!

It is unusually cold here, although still warm relative to the severe cold and snow just about everyone else in the country is experiencing. The shops are doing a brisk business in gloves and hats, and I can't believe I brought so many tank tops. It is a good excuse to buy that cute velour sweatshirt I have been coveting.

Stacey says you are all in the top 7 best things about Disney!

Circusgirl, thanks for sharing a little real-time Disney with the rest of us! I hope you're having a fabulous time, and I can't wait to hear all about it!

I hate to be a credit hog, but it was ME that worked up the courage to ruin that Imagineer's day by asking him questions about his job, thereby spoiling his tranquil day! Just kidding -- he was very gracious and appreciative for the chance to talk about his highly unusual line of work (unusual, that is, if you're a working stiff like me).

Also, I figure I would pass along the link to the photographic record of our December trip:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/americancaesar/sets/72157611225531003/

It's kinda like my chance to trip-report the thing. Enjoy!

And Shmoopy, you're right; all the credit for talking to the Imagineer goes to you. I'm so glad you did, because I would have been way too shy. Most of the photo credits are yours, too! You're the greatest.

I hope to post another chapter on Tuesday, but tomorrow, we move into our new place! Looking forward to seeing you all on the other side...

 

[Lady Lallie]

Lady Lallie, I was rereading your trippie recently, and I remembered your experience in the castle, when people were not being subtle about noticing you taking pictures of the food. It's like, Bill and I make fun of other guests' behavior all the time -- we were judgmental of the family at CP recording their 9-year-old so scrupulously -- but we never let them see or hear it, because while we love being judgmental, we don't want to be mean or hurtful. The way I feel is, judge us all you want! Just don't sneer in our faces. A CM named April was making fun of me that Saturday morning for riding Space Mountain five times in a row; she kept saying, "You again?" But she did it in a teasing way, and not a hurtful "god, you're a dork" kind of way, so I didn't mind.

(PS: I am a total dork.)

Oh yes, Marc and I make fun of people all the time but we have developed a way of doing it without even talking most of the time. Then once we are out of earshot of the "victim" all bets are off. Those people in Cinderella Castle were annoying, they need to learn to be judgmental with tact.

Good Luck with moving!!

 

[girlbomb]

LadyLallie, thanks for the good wishes! We're mid-move, and it's going as well as can be expected. Except I haven't had time to update, and I refuse to fail at Trip Report! This is exactly how I stopped working on my first pre-trip report -- we moved, and in the flurry of activity around that, I was unable to post for a week or two. And it doesn't look realistic that I'm going to have more than 5 minutes of down time (that's not spent watching LOST tonight!!!) until the weekend. But I can't wait to tell you about our last day and a half in Disney, our bests/worsts, and our plans for next time. All coming soon!

 

[Lady Lallie]

LadyLallie, thanks for the good wishes! We're mid-move, and it's going as well as can be expected. Except I haven't had time to update, and I refuse to fail at Trip Report! This is exactly how I stopped working on my first pre-trip report -- we moved, and in the flurry of activity around that, I was unable to post for a week or two. And it doesn't look realistic that I'm going to have more than 5 minutes of down time (that's not spent watching LOST tonight!!!) until the weekend. But I can't wait to tell you about our last day and a half in Disney, our bests/worsts, and our plans for next time. All coming soon!

No worries. If I don't see you updating soon I'll just start harassing you. Moving is huge. I personally hate it. We are going to be moving April 3rd and I am ready to start packing now because I know I will lose steam by then.

 

[donaldsgal]

Just for the record, you've got more than one fan waiting for the end of the report. Take your time coming back, but don't let the thought that no one will miss the TR keep you away. Here's looking forward to the end...

 

[girlbomb]

Thanks for the encouragement, LadyLallie and donaldsgal! It took forever, but I finally got a little bit more of the report done -- no pix yet, but I hope to go back and add some. Hope you'll enjoy!

Day Nine, Part Two: Have A Holly, Jolly Post-Mouse-Fest

So we left off on our last full day in the parks, in a very busy MK, after a surprise visit to the Diamond Horseshoe for lunch, fueling ourselves for the afternoon’s activities. Right now, those activities start with a trip to Space Mountain to add another Fip to our growing collection. The standby line is an hour – eesh! – so I’m glad we’ve got three Fips for this ride in our pocket (along with one for Splash) that we can use later. Then we take the walk to Toontown, where we haven’t spent any time this trip. We see the railroad approaching just as we are, so we decide to take it for a round trip ride; then we’ll come back and tour Toontown. As much as we love the RR, it does seem to be emitting a funny burning smell – “What does this thing run on?” Bill asks me. “Human hair?”

But whatever it runs on – pixie dust, magic, steam, fossil fuels – it’s a lovely ride, with great views, especially from the raised platform at the Main Street station. It’s so pleasant to sit there while it loads and unloads, watching monorails glide by, seeing people stream past the bag checks and in through the gates, hearing the faint music playing, sun shining…ahhhh!

By the time we make the full loop and get back to Toontown, we can see that it’s way too crowded to tour. The line for Minnie’s house is long and unmoving, and to be squished up against a slow line of shuffling people is not the way to see Minnie’s house. Mickey’s house is similarly jammed, and we’re not waiting a half hour for the Barnstormer, thanks, nor do we think we’d be welcome on Donald’s boat. So Toontown is kind of a bust for us, and we make our way through the throngs and out into Fantasyland, where we see a 15 minute wait for Philharmagic.

Yay! I could watch this movie over and over. Today’s one of those days where you seriously do have to move all the way to the end of the row, and even the first two rows are nearly full of guests, but it’s still a joy to slip on those glasses and get lost in Donald’s adventure. After the show, we browse the shop, where I grab a Toy Story T-Rex t-shirt for a three-year-old pseudonephew of mine, and the “Four Parks, One World” CD I read about here on the DIS (gotta have the Soarin’ soundtrack, for times when I need a little pick me up).

Then we wander back towards Tomorrowland. Or rather, we plow through the crowds, the likes of which we’ve never seen before. But Monsters Inc is only posting a 10 minute wait – why are all these great attractions so uncrowded, when the walkways are jammed, and the E-ticket rides are posting hour long waits? I don’t know, and I don’t care; let’s watch some Monsters tell some jokes!

The only downside to not carrying my phone is that we can’t text yet more of our hilarious riddles to the show. So we content ourselves with people watching as we wait to be ushered into the theater. I spot a heavyset, middle aged guy with a bald spot and a blank expression standing near us – “I bet that guy’s going to be picked as That Guy,” I say to Bill.

And what do you know? I’m right! Just like Bill was right about the family of the day coming from Ohio! We’re ready to be cast members, thank you; we already know how to choose That Guys and the families of the day. Just give us our credentials and we’ll get started ASAP.

During the show, which is as adorable as ever, I am also featured on the screen as the person who doesn’t see the monster under her seat, and I hope I react with the appropriate level of mugging.

By this time, I have most of the gifts I need for my friends’ kids, but I’m still missing something Wall-E related for nine-year-old Miah, so we look in Star Traders and Merchant of Venus. Nothing! Boo. The only Wall-E stuff we saw was back at Animal Kindgom, in Dinoland of all places – had I known it was that scarce, I would have nabbed it then. I may have to make do with a DVD of the movie, or maybe we’ll stumble across another stuffed Eva – I don’t remember where I saw them last, but maybe we’ll see them again. In the meantime, I’d like to put in another request more Wall-E swag in the parks, please! Specifically pajamas, in a women’s size four!

We leave the Tomorrowland stores empty-handed, and notice that for the very first time ever in our Disney history, there is a short line for the TTA. They actually have to set up ropes and a line to keep people in a queue for this ride – wow! It moves fast, though, and we enjoy our swing around Tomorrowland, noticing that Space Mountain is down temporarily. This happens all the time, but we’ve had good luck this trip – not once has SM been “101” when we’ve been looking to ride it. (“101,” we’ve deduced, is the code for a minor issue that stops the ride temporarily; whenever we’ve heard that code applied to a ride, it’s always been operational again within ten minutes.)

After the TTA, we skip over to the Carousel of Progress. We get seats just as they’re ready to close the doors; then we realize that we’re stuck in a room with a large group of cheerleaders, who are singing and clapping every time “It’s A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow” plays. Okay, we get it! The song is corny, and you’re cool! You’re cheerleaders, and you can clap rhythmically! Duly noted! Can you shut up now, so we can enjoy our ride? Because we do enjoy this ride, as corny as it may be. I used to call it the “Carousel of Naps,” but over the years, we’ve developed a real fondness for it, and I don’t like having it interrupted by a posse of snot-nosed twerps with matching hair poofs. It’s like, you devise something this creative and charming, and then you can turn your nose up at it; until then, you can keep your derisive attitudes to yourselves.

(I realize that I’m going to have to get better at putting on emotional blinders, and blocking out things like snotty cheerleaders, hooting footballers, potential line-cutters and the like. For one, I'm coming off as extremely anti-cheerleader/footballer, and I'm sure there are great kids out there who participate. Also, I can’t control everyone around me, and I have to stop letting other people get to me so much. I still enjoy Disney World more than just about anything on Earth, but I’d enjoy it a lot more if I’d just live and let live, rather than fuming about other people’s behavior – for the most part, they don’t affect my experience except inasmuch as I allow them to.)

We have to get some personalized mouse ears – one set for Bill’s brother Kevin, and one set for my pseudoniece Phoenix – so we go to the Chapeau shoppe towards the front of Main Street. We put in our order, then we’re waiting in the back of the store for our finished ears. And there’s a guy talking a little too loud about nothing. He can’t remember Julia Roberts’ name – “What’s her name? With the red hair? She was in that movie? Big star, the one with the red hair? Juliette something?” – and for whatever reason, this strikes us as really funny. So as soon as he leaves, we start quietly asking each other, “Who’s that guy? Who was on that show? He’s blue and he lives in a garbage can? Elmo? Elmo the Grinch?”

And I know, I was just complaining about people’s derisive attitudes, and then here we are, making fun of this guy. Who, fortunately, is far away from us by now, and has no idea of the hilarity he’s spawned. Because we keep this up as we return the locker key and walk back to the Contemporary for a nap – “Who’s that guy? With the hotel? The hotel made out of bread? The guy with the blowtorch?” – getting more and more absurd, and laughing harder and harder, until tears are streaming down my face and I’m begging Bill to stop so I can breathe.

Back through the lobby, up the elevator, down the hall overlooking the concourse, and into the room, where we lie down for a well-deserved nap. We’ve got one more night left at the MK, and we want to make it count!

(More coming soon – thanks for your patience in waiting for this installment, and thanks for reading!)

 

[donaldsgal]

After the TTA, we skip over to the Carousel of Progress. We get seats just as they’re ready to close the doors; then we realize that we’re stuck in a room with a large group of cheerleaders, who are singing and clapping every time “It’s A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow” plays. Okay, we get it! The song is corny, and you’re cool! You’re cheerleaders, and you can clap rhythmically! Duly noted! Can you shut up now, so we can enjoy our ride? Because we do enjoy this ride, as corny as it may be. I used to call it the “Carousel of Naps,” but over the years, we’ve developed a real fondness for it, and I don’t like having it interrupted by a posse of snot-nosed twerps with matching hair poofs. It’s like, you devise something this creative and charming, and then you can turn your nose up at it; until then, you can keep your derisive attitudes to yourselves.

(I realize that I’m going to have to get better at putting on emotional blinders, and blocking out things like snotty cheerleaders, hooting footballers, potential line-cutters and the like. For one, I'm coming off as extremely anti-cheerleader/footballer, and I'm sure there are great kids out there who participate. Also, I can’t control everyone around me, and I have to stop letting other people get to me so much. I still enjoy Disney World more than just about anything on Earth, but I’d enjoy it a lot more if I’d just live and let live, rather than fuming about other people’s behavior – for the most part, they don’t affect my experience except inasmuch as I allow them to.)

Are you ones that comment to people about their behavior? Admittedly, I'm a "not-so-subtle-under-my-breath" commenter on others' behavior. I lack the courage to full-on call someone out, though there are times I want to. Amazingly enough, I tend to be much more oblivious to irritating behavior at Disney than I am in regular life, but there are times when I want to speak directly to a person. Not to scream, but to raise awareness (makes me sound so evolved, right? ). Just curious if you ever comment to others about their antics. I think sometimes the pack mentality wins out. It only takes one snooty Valley Girl/jock/Aggro Mom for others to feed off of.

“Who’s that guy? With the hotel? The hotel made out of bread? The guy with the blowtorch?” – getting more and more absurd, and laughing harder and harder, until tears are streaming down my face and I’m begging Bill to stop so I can breathe.

Hilarious! Sounds like something my sister and I would do - and about which we would laugh profusely for many minutes.

Thanks for the update.

 

[Lady Lallie]

"Carousel of Naps" I love Carousel of Progress, I always have for some reason. I think it's the History buff in me. I would have been really aggravated if I had been in there with the clappers. That's really annoying. On our last trip, we had some singers but they were cute little kids really enjoying the ride, not obnoxious teens.

Your last night? I don't want your TR to end. I've really enjoyed reading along. I think maybe you should go back to Disney before December!

 

[girlbomb]

Are you ones that comment to people about their behavior? Admittedly, I'm a "not-so-subtle-under-my-breath" commenter on others' behavior. I lack the courage to full-on call someone out, though there are times I want to. Amazingly enough, I tend to be much more oblivious to irritating behavior at Disney than I am in regular life, but there are times when I want to speak directly to a person. Not to scream, but to raise awareness (makes me sound so evolved, right? ). Just curious if you ever comment to others about their antics. I think sometimes the pack mentality wins out. It only takes one snooty Valley Girl/jock/Aggro Mom for others to feed off of.

donaldsgal, we almost never say anything to people -- Bill asked some folks to stop taking flash photos on Spaceship Earth, but they ignored him (or maybe didn't speak the language). I want to be more of a "live and let live" type of gal, though it does bug me, not only on my own behalf but on everyone's, when I see people breaking the social contract. It's a delicate balance, isn't it?

"Carousel of Naps" I love Carousel of Progress, I always have for some reason. I think it's the History buff in me. I would have been really aggravated if I had been in there with the clappers. That's really annoying. On our last trip, we had some singers but they were cute little kids really enjoying the ride, not obnoxious teens.

Your last night? I don't want your TR to end. I've really enjoyed reading along. I think maybe you should go back to Disney before December!

Lady Lallie, I don't want our TR to end either! And we'd LOVE to go back before December. We keep saying to each other, like Jack said to Kate on Lost, "We have to go back! Kate, we have to go back!"

But for now, here's Day Nine, Part Three: Saturday, December 13: Have A Holly, Jolly Post-MouseFest

So it’s been a hectic day so far at the MK, with a quick jaunt over to the Yacht & Beach Club for the Mega Mouse Meet, which was mega fun. The crowds have been thick today – so thick that we wouldn’t have been able to get anything substantial for lunch without a 45 minute wait at any of the counter service locations, had we not stumbled into the Diamond Horseshoe, which looks like it was opened at the last minute to accommodate surprising crowds. Indeed, this morning at the MMM when Bill was chatting up Len Testa of the UG and touringplans, he asked Len why predicted crowd levels had jumped from 5s and 6s to 8s and 9s for this weekend. Len was unable to say exactly why there was such a crush, he just confirmed that we weren’t crazy – the parks were!

But we’re still here at the World, and still loving it, and we’ve got a pocket full of Fips for Space Mountain that we’ve been hoarding all morning and afternoon. We’ve got dinner at the Crystal Palace, and plans to watch Wishes (without interruption!), and then we’re going to ride Space Mountain like there is no tomorrow (which, since we’re leaving to get back home tomorrow, there isn’t).

So we’re napped and refreshed and ready to get back to the MK, along with every other human being in creation, it seems. We re-enter the park around 6:00, and try to soak up the sights, smells, and sounds of a very crowded Main Street on our way to get yet another Fip for Space Mountain, now posting an 80 minute wait. The background music in Tomorrowland is reminding me of a Steve Martin song, from The Man With Two Brains – “I love-a you, and you love-a me, and we love-a both the same…” – so now I’m singing that happy song as we grab our Fips and think about crossing through the hub to check in for our 6:30 ressie at Crystal Palace.

But it is wall-to-wall (to-Wall-E) people in the hub tonight, so we take the Noodle Terrace path over to the Crystal Palace, where the porch is crammed with families. We get on a long check-in line, as a second CM with a portable check-in screen makes her way down the line as backup, and we’re soon told that they’re running 15 minutes behind in seating. With a crowd like this, 15 minutes sounds optimistic, but okay. We like optimism with our dinner.

These people are a little tired:

Actually, make that a lot tired, because if they’re able to sleep in this din, with CMs coming out every minute to bellow as loud as they can, “GARBLEMAN FAMILY?”, with kids crying and people jostling and complaining and stepping on each other’s feet – yeah, you’re a lot tired.

I meanwhile, am feeling a little psyched out by the crowds, and have a moment of serious claustrophobia that I talk myself out of immediately. By the time we’re seated – maybe ten minutes past our ADR time, and in our usual spot – I’m fine and excited and happy again.

But I am a very bad trip reporter, because I am not doing any of these meals justice. No photos, and only vague descriptions of the dishes – “it was very good,” “thumbs up from me.” And this meal is no different; my notes don’t say what we eat, except that we “enjoy it a lot.” So there you go. Not quite as helpful as the AllEars menu pages, am I.

But I can tell you that we make a lot of ham puns when Piglet comes by, and that I am reminded, watching Pooh make his way around the room hugging people, of the woman they call the hugging saint, who offers a hug to anyone who approaches her, and will sometimes hug the long lines of people who come to see her for 20 hours at a stretch. To hug people like that, to offer them comfort and reassurance and enthusiasm at their presence, is such a small but profound act, and the Disney characters do it all the time! Proving that many of the CMs at Disney really are saints.

After our “enjoyable” dinner of varied food stuffs (no cheese plate this year, though, which is something I miss), we head over to Splash, where the cool evening and the showing of SpectroMagic that’s about to begin are making for a short standby line. We ride twice, and on our second trip, I notice that, in one scene, Brer Fox and Brer Bear are referring to a book called “How to Catch a Rabbit,” by Brer Wolf. And I’m like, there’s a Brer Wolf now, on top of all the other Brer Creatures we have to worry about? Brer Rabbit sure has a lot of people looking to skin/roast/hang him.

After our second trip on Splash, we peek at Big Thunder, but the standby line there is 50 minutes, and we’re not waiting on it. So unless we have a strong urge to visit Tom Sawyer Island (we don’t), we’re kind of done with this corner of the park. Unfortunately, Spectro has started, which means that navigating anywhere else is a big problem. We attempt it anyway, taking the path to Liberty Square, only to get caught in a horrible logjam of people, strollers, and ECVs. Nobody’s able to get anywhere; even people walking on the stone ledge are finding the traffic up there too thick to make much progress. It’s five or ten uncomfortable minutes until conditions make it possible to wiggle forward and to the left, and jump over the rope into the Liberty Belle queue area, where we can breathe again.

Haunted Mansion has a 50 minute wait. And we’re not even bothering to look at the wait times in Fantasyland – it’s obvious that they’re long. And we have Wishes to catch, which means we’d better stake out some spots right away. So we head around Cosmic Ray’s into Tomorrowland, and then back towards the hub, catching one of the last few open spots on the Tomorrowland bridge.

(Actually, the spot we get is not ideal, as there’s a tree blocking part of the view. But it turns out that, if we move the garbage can behind us a foot or two, we’ve opened up a perfect viewing spot without ruining anyone else’s.)

And there we stay, as crowds gather around us, and we await the beginning of Wishes, heralded by Tink’s glittering flight. One of those narrating families has pitched their camp right next to ours – “Look at the castle! It’s changing colors!” – and it’s tempting to say something sarcastic to Bill (“Castle? What castle? OH! Wow, thank goodness she pointed it out, otherwise I might have missed the giant CASTLE right there in front of us!”), but we’re both feeling too warm and goopy to do anything but stand there, eyes to the sky, smiling and waiting for the magic to begin.

And when it does, it’s perfect. Wishes, to me, is like an immersive meditation experience, one that allows you to suspend all your ordinary ways of thinking and just give over to the question: What do you truly wish for? What’s your biggest, wildest dream? What do you hope for, and how does it feel to hope, rather than to feel cynical or afraid or discouraged? It feels wonderful, transformative; even better to know that you’re in a safe place, where others around you are allowing themselves the same luxury to dream big and feel hopeful. And if you feel like crying? Go ahead; you’re allowed. Encouraged, even.

I don’t feel like crying tonight; I feel like having a quiet moment of reflection – well, as quiet as it gets in a crowd of thousands, with fireworks exploding overhead. I know that what I’ve been wishing for is a home of our own, and an end to the stress and unhappiness of the past year, but more than that, I wish for big, corny, unattainable things, like peace on earth, and an end to unnecessary suffering and cruelty. I wish long, happy lives for all my loved ones; I wish I could be reunited with loved ones who have passed. I wish I could make a profound difference in the quality of life on the planet. And it feels good to be in touch with all these wishes, which seem too grandiose and impractical for everyday use; it’s good to know that the seven-year-old who used to think, “I will make sure to cure every disease when I’m a grown up so that nobody ever has to die” is still alive in me.

Oh, and while you’re asking, Mr. Cricket, we’d really like a home of our own. Can you talk to the Blue Fairy, or the Fairy Godmother, or whoever processes such requests? Thanks.

Post-Wishes, we are all googly-eyed and happy-fied, but we come back down to earth quickly enough to hightail it over to Space Mountain, to use the six Fips we’ve got in our sweaty little palms. And wow, there’s a long line outside – good thing we’ve got those Fips! We’ll just scoot past all these people and breeze through the…

Wait a minute…

Why is there such a long line for the Fip entrance?

Why isn’t the long line moving?

Could it be…Space Mountain is DOWN?



Yeah. Yeah, it could be. Well, that’s fine – it’s probably just a 101, the code we’ve heard used for a minor problem; it should be up and running again within 15 minutes. So while people all around us are freaking out and whining and quitting the line (those who aren’t marching confidently past us, only to reach the front of the line and be told, “Guess what, those people behind you aren’t standing in line because they enjoy it; the ride’s down”), Bill and I tuck in for a short, calm wait, in happy surroundings, with excellent people-watching opportunities all around us.

Except soon we start to think this might be more than a 101, as we’re hearing reports that the ride’s been down for over an hour, and CMs are saying it might not come back up. A senior-level-looking CM makes his way down the Fip line to tell us that Space Mountain Fips will be honored at any other Fip rides tonight, because they’re not sure the ride’s coming back up before the park closes in a few hours. “Really?” I ask. “It’s not just a 101?”

“No,” he says, “we’re not sure what it is, so we don’t know how long it’s going to take.”

Hmmmmm. Bill is skeptical – he thinks that CMs like to overstate problems so that you wind up happily surprised if the ride comes back up earlier than predicted, rather than disappointed – and he votes for waiting some more. But after a full half hour on the unmoving line, we decide to throw in the towel, at least for now, and see some more of the park on our last night.

Sad, that we spent all day saving our Fips for a triumphant final run of Space Mountains, but all right – that’s how it goes sometimes. We plan to be back next year, and we’ll get our revenge then!

In the meantime, one last Haunted Mansion for us, please. There’s a 20 minute wait, but that’s not too bad, and we are distracted as we join the line by a coach dressing down some cheerleaders in his custody – “Shut your mouth,” he says, very loudly, “or I will stick my fist so far down it, it will come out the other end.” Oh, my! Where have you been all week, coach? We could have used you and your authoritative speech a few times so far this trip.

A very merry trip through the Haunted Mansion, and then it’s back through still-thick crowds to Tomorrowland for a last ride on the TTA. We’d both love to stay longer, do everything else “just one more time,” but we’re weary, and we still have to pack. We never got to do the Tomorrowland Speedway this year, after last year’s hilarious crying-laughing experience on it; we only rode Small World once, we didn’t see SpectroMagic, and we didn’t spend nearly enough time just sitting on a bench somewhere and soaking it all in. But we’ll settle for a ride on the TTA to say goodbye for now to our happy place, and a happy ride it is. And as we pass through Space Mountain and see the lights on, and CMs literally scratching their heads as they try to fix whatever’s wrong with it, we’re glad we didn’t invest any more time waiting for it to come back up.

I love-a you and you love-a me, says the Tomorrowland music as we walk towards Main Street, smiling ruefully at all the familiar sights we love so much. We’ll be back next year, next year, we keep telling ourselves, and each other. One last photo before we pass back through the tunnel under the railroad:

Rueful, right? But satisfied, and grateful.

Next year, next year, we say, as we walk back along the path to the Contemporary, our home away from home. We try not to envy the carefree folks checking in at the front desk, the excited kids running around exclaiming over everything they see. We’ll be back! We’ll be back soon. And hey, we haven’t even left yet!

We get upstairs to our room and pack efficiently, even with the four jigsaw puzzles I bought for myself, and the myriad ears, dolls, and other items we bought for our friends’ kids. I check my email on the computer in the room – time to start easing back into the responsibilities of the Real World, see what’s waiting for us on the other side – then we set the alarm, smooch, and drop off to sleep. We’ve got breakfast at O’hana tomorrow morning, then a 2:45 flight – it’s not over yet!

(Last day coming tomorrow, then some Final Thoughts next week. Then it'll be time to start another PTR! Thanks for reading...)

 

[PinkPrincessZ]

Rueful, right? But satisfied, and grateful.

I love this line - it just says it all!

Another great installment - looking forward to your final thoughts, but I am so sad that the report is almost over!

 

[girlbomb]

I love this line - it just says it all!

Another great installment - looking forward to your final thoughts, but I am so sad that the report is almost over!

Thanks, PinkPrincessZ! I'm sad it's almost over, too, but I'm happy that I'm at least going to finish it, instead of flaking out and failing at trip report!

Still, I think we need more material so I can write another TR before next December. That's way too long to wait, don't you agree? If only there were a hole in our schedule, and some extra $$$ in the bank!

But in the meantime, here's our last day -- Sunday, December 14: I’m Dreaming of a Next Christmas

The alarm rings at 7:30, but there’s no rush to get up today – our hearts, and our feet, are a little heavy this morning, as we’re leaving in just a few hours. Was it any easier to leave, those years when we used to just rip off the bandaid and leave immediately on our last day? Or are we grateful for the opportunity for one last character meal, one last trip on the monorail, a few more hours in the land of magic before our flight?

We’re grateful – I don’t want to leave just yet. Or ever, really. But especially not just yet. I’m still loving it here. Which is good, because we’ve still got breakfast with Mickey, Pluto, Lilo, and Stitch!

So we dress, entertained by Stacey, and I make out our postcards, as it’s the last possible second to do so and have them actually come from Disney World.

Portrait of a procrastinating writer:

We make sure we’ve got everything, then we take a few pictures on the balcony:

Rue, rue, rueful.

Then we head downstairs with our bags, check in at the Magical Express counter (easy and fast), check our carry-ons with Bell Services, and head up to the fourth floor to catch the monorail to the Poly. We have a lot of time before our 10 a.m. ADR, but we figure we’ll check in early and see if they can seat us – if not, we’ll either explore the resort, or take the monorail for another loop.

So we board old band-aid, and take off, our eyes glued to the scenery out the window. Look, trees! Boats! Birds! Sky! The Grand Flo! Other monorails! Sigh. “If this concludes your trip to Walt Disney World, we hope to see you again soon.” Yeah, Mr. Monorail. We hope so too.

It’s a quick ride to the Poly, and the welcoming smell of the resort wafts over us as we enter. The rushing water of the falls outside makes for peaceful white noise, quickly replaced by the sounds of the activity inside, as families bustle about getting ready to start their days. We check in at the O’hana desk an hour early, but they hand us a pager and say they can seat us soon, and we haven’t even made it over to the gift shop on the other side of the mezzanine when the pager buzzes, and we head back to claim our seats.

Last year, we had breakfast at Kona on our last day, and while the wait was long and the atmosphere lacking, the food was super yummy – it was hard to pass it up this year, but we decided to try something new. O’hana’s room is much more inviting, with beautiful views of the resort and the lagoon, and characters roaming the tables. The bread and pastries they bring us are fabulous and sweet, and the fresh fruit is yummy, too, as is their signature fruit juice. Bill has some more traditional breakfast-y foods, which he approves of heartily – it may not be Tonga Toast or pineapple macadamia pancakes, but it’s really good.

This guy sneaks up on us while we’re eating:

We also get quick visits from Pluto, Mickey, and Lilo. We thank them for spreading the good cheer, tell them how much we’re going to miss them, and ask them to keep the place in good shape for our return visit next year. Next year! It can’t come soon enough.

After a tasty and filling breakfast, we get our picture taken by the photographer – we ask to use our camera, as we’re not going to stick around to get the official print they’d give us. Our camera gives us a little red eye, but that’s okay; we have plenty of pictures of ourselves from this trip. We know what we look like by now.

Since we have over an hour and a half before our Unmagical Depress pick-up, we decide to walk to the Ticket and Transportation Center and catch the Epcot monorail, which gives you that fantastic free tour of the park. It’s a quick, sunny walk, and the monorail comes right away. We practically leave smudgy noseprints against the windows, staring so hard at Epcot as we loop around inside it, but when the monorail stops at the Epcot station, we stay on. Sigh.

We’re perked up considerably when a family boards – mom, dad, and two twenty-something kids – and mom is just berating the heck out of dad. Dad is fumbling with something – Fips? Park tickets? – and as they flutter to the floor of the monorail, mom can not hide her disgust. “You dropped them!” she says, with the unmistakable if unsaid addendum, “you moron.” The beleaguered dad leans over to pick up the tickets, shoulders rounded, and she snaps at him. “Put them in your wallet this time. IN YOUR WALLET.” Then she turns her attention to the kids, asking them to make some kind of choice about the day’s activities. “You can only pick one,” she tells them. “PICK ONE.”

Again, it’s terribly wrong of us to enjoy other people’s public misery, and yet we are filled with mirth at this harridan and her family. “What are you doing now?” she asks her husband, who has made the mistake of, I don’t know, moving his hands? Looking out the window? What is he doing now? Whatever it is, it’s wrong, wrong, wrong, and she sighs and mutters to herself. And as soon as they get off at the TTC, Bill starts imitating her.

“You dropped them, you idiot. What’s the matter with you? Put them in your wallet! Oh, look, you can’t, because your wallet’s full of oatmeal! You moron. PICK ONE. PICK. ONE. What, are you stupid? Is your head full of oatmeal, like your stupid wallet?”

We catch the resort monorail, saying a poignant farewell-for-now to the Poly (site of our delicious breakfast), and the Grand Flo (site of our not-so-successful dinner at V&A’s). It’s so hard not to get off at the MK stop, watching other guests eagerly disembark and scurry down that ramp, but it’s time to get back to the Contemporary, take one last swing through the gift shops, and say goodbye.

Goodbye to this every morning:

Goodbye to this most evenings:

Goodbye to this every six seconds:

We’ll see you next year, if we’re lucky, and all goes according to plan. Only 50 weeks and five days from today…

But for now, we’re headed the other way. We’ve got a 2:45 flight from MCO to Newark airport, then Bill will collect our bags and get home to the cats while I go straight to a 7pm reading in the East Village. No rest for the weary – straight from the land of frolic and fun, to work!

Back at the Contemporary, we meander through the concourse one more time, listening to the happy Chef Mickey sounds and the hum of the arcade. Then it’s down to the lobby to poke our heads into the Wave – looks like a tranquil place for an upscale meal. We claim our carry-on bags from Bell Services, the Unmagical Depress bus arrives right on time, and we board. It’s all downhill from here…

After a stop at the Wilderness Lodge to pick up more sadly departing guests, we make good time over to MCO. Bill and I signed up for a service called Clear, which allows you to breeze right past security; it works very well for us, and we bypass a long line of shoeless travelers on our way to the gate. Once at the gate, we discover that our flight has been pushed back by an hour – this might make me late for the reading tonight, but I don’t really care, as it’s not a reading I’m eager to do anyway (as a matter of fact, the organizer had asked if I could change our flight to make it earlier in the day, and I declined – I wasn’t about to give up Disney time for this event).

Well, now that we’re not at Walt Disney World, crying children have lost whatever cuteness and novelty they might have otherwise retained, and there are plenty of them around. Bill and I put on our headphones and kill a bunch of time in the airport; then we board the plane for an uneventful flight back to Newark. Once in Newark, I regretfully take my leave of my darling husband, and jump in a cab to the reading…and just like that, it’s over. Back to work!

(Here's a pic of me working at the reading: Looks just like me, right?)

Reunited at our temporary apartment after the reading, Bill and I take a minute to download our photos, watching as the happy moments flicker by. It wasn’t a perfect trip, not by a long shot – we got sick, there was aggravation, and the crowds were nuts! But it was still wonderful, full of hilarity and joyfulness and new friends, and we’re suffering from a little bit of disbelief that we’re not going to wake up there tomorrow and start another day of fun.

Well, the cats are happy we’re home, and we’re happy to see them. Time to dump out the suitcases, sort the mail, flip open the laptop, and let the DIS know that we’re back!

(Coming soon: Final Thoughts, and a very happy ending! Thanks for reading. )

 

[Circusgirl]

I can't believe that we're all the way to where you're home again...

I have loved many things along these last few days, including the "narrating family" (perfect description - I will always laugh now when I'm near one of these) and your beautiful description of the experience of Wishes. I always want people to be quiet during Wishes because I think of it as a Show, a perfect wonderful thing I want to be immersed in and carried away by. You captured how it brings tears and hope and resolve - thank you!

I'm so sorry about SM crumping out on you!

I laughed and laughed about Unmagical Depress.

I'm in agreement that you need another trip because I don't want to wait until next year for another trip report. Really. I'm quite serious.
Well, ok, I'll wait if I have to.

Looking forward to the wrap-up.

 

[girlbomb]

I can't believe that we're all the way to where you're home again...

I have loved many things along these last few days, including the "narrating family" (perfect description - I will always laugh now when I'm near one of these) and your beautiful description of the experience of Wishes. I always want people to be quiet during Wishes because I think of it as a Show, a perfect wonderful thing I want to be immersed in and carried away by. You captured how it brings tears and hope and resolve - thank you!

I'm so sorry about SM crumping out on you!

I laughed and laughed about Unmagical Depress.

I'm in agreement that you need another trip because I don't want to wait until next year for another trip report. Really. I'm quite serious.
Well, ok, I'll wait if I have to.

Looking forward to the wrap-up.

Circusgirl, I hope you are enjoying a WONDERFUL trip to Disneyland right now, and that you're nowhere near the internet to read this!

And now, alas, it's the Epilogue: And They Lived Happily Ever After

So I’ve been stalling on finishing this TR, because I don’t want it to be over. We had an amazing trip, as always, and it’s been so much fun to relive it, but I guess it’s time to close the book on our last trip, and start thinking ahead to next year’s fun!

But first, an epilogue of sorts: A few days after our return, we started working on this apartment situation again, approaching it from a new angle in hopes of revitalizing the deal gone wrong. We really loved this apartment, and were determined to try whatever we could to make the deal work – and we did! We signed the papers on Friday, January 9, moved our furniture in from storage on Monday, January 19, and brought the cats to their new home to spend our first night there as a family on Saturday, January 24. And since then, not an hour has passed that Bill and I don’t say aloud how much we love it, and how happy we are to be home.

As a matter of fact, I had to go to Washington DC for a reading last week, and though I was away for less than 36 hours total, I still found myself incredibly, pitifully homesick. That’s when I realized: I don’t want to be anywhere but at home in our new apartment right now – not even Disney! For the first time in I don’t know how long, I’d rather be home than in Disney World! Crazy, isn’t it? I’m sure it will wear off soon. As a matter of fact, if we had a March trip planned, I’m sure I’d be counting the days and hours until our departure; I don’t know how we’re going to make it until December 4, 2009!

But I know that this trip taught us a lot about how we want to approach next year, as all of our trips have done. So here’s a quick look at what we did this year, what we hope to do again, and what we’ll avoid next time around.

What we did:

Fifteen rides on the Tower of Terror
Fourteen trips on Space Mountain
Thirteen rides on Expedition Everest
Eight flights on Soarin’
Six rides on the Rock N Roller Coaster
Five trips on the TTA
Four rides each on Splash Mountain and Haunted Mansion
Three rides/shows each on Test Track, Spaceship Earth, Toy Story Midway Mania, Philharmagic, and Monsters Inc.
Two rides/shows each on Pirates, Big Thunder Mountain, Astro Orbiter, Teacups, and the Muppets
One ride/show each on Snow White, It’s a Small World, Tiki Room, Buzz Lightyear, Jungle Cruise, Aladdin’s Carpets, Carousel of Progress, Railroad, Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, Maelstrom, Nemo, Living with the Land, Circle of Life, Grand Fiesta Tour, Innoventions exhibits, Great Movie Ride, Star Tours, One Man’s Dream, Animation Academy, It’s Tough to be a Bug, Triceratops Spin, Safari, Pagani Trail, Maharajah Jungle Trek, Rafiki’s Planet Watch

One half day at Blizzard Beach, encompassing all the attractions except for the kids’ areas
One trip to Downtown Disney
One visit to DisneyQuest
One visit to the Boardwalk
One visit from the doctor
One Segway tour of Fort Wilderness
One Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party
One MouseFest event (MegaMouseMeet)
Seven rope drops

Two viewing of Wishes (well, one viewing of wishes, and a half a viewing of Holiday Wishes)
One viewing of Illuminations
One viewing of Fantasmic!
One viewing of the castle lighting ceremony
Three viewings of the Electrical Light Pageant – in one night!
One viewing of Friends of the Lion King
Two viewings of Streetmosphere
Two viewings of the World Showcase Players
(But no other street performers in the parks
no other stage shows besides FOTLK
no parades
and no character meets outside of breakfasts)

Table service meals at Biergarten, Crystal Palace breakfast and dinner, Coral Reef, Boma, Hollywood & Vine breakfast, Mama Melrose, Sci-Fi Drive-in Café, Teppan Edo, Cinderella’s Royal Table breakfast, Artist’s Point, 50s Prime Time Café, Le Cellier, San Angel Café, Victoria and Albert’s, O’hana breakfast

Counter service meals at Cosmic Ray’s, Pecos Bill’s, Diamond Horseshoe, Tempo Grab n’ Go, Sunshine Seasons, Patisserie, Yak & Yeti

Resorts toured: Wilderness Lodge, Fort Wilderness, Grand Floridian, Polynesian, Boardwalk

Phew! Writing it all out like that, it sure seems like we did a lot! And we missed a few things we would have liked to have done, including the American Adventure, the Imagination pavilion, Mission:Space, the movies in China, France, and Canada, Miyuki the candy lady, the Oasis (before all the animals were taken inside for the night), the Finding Nemo show, Lights Motors Action, Sounds Dangerous, SpectroMagic, Pirate tutorial, meeting the Ladies Tremaine, ToonTown, Tomorrowland Speedway, another trip on It’s a Small World, and about seventy more rides on Space Mountain, Tower of Terror, and Soarin’ (not to be greedy or anything). We also missed the chance to sit on our butts some more and just watch the activity of the parks around us. Next year!

Here were the highlights of the trip – favorite attractions, favorite meals, and experiences we really enjoyed:

Old MK favorites Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Philharmagic, Wishes, and the TTA lost none of their appeal; Monsters Inc. made it onto the list of favorites this year, and the castle lighting ceremony is gorgeous.

Old Epcot fave Soarin’ still holds its number one Epcot spot in our hearts, Test Track and Spaceship Earth run close seconds, and we love shopping at MouseGears and in Japan.

Old DHS fave Tower of Terror still rules, Rock N Roller Coaster delivers big fun, and Streetmosphere is the best show in the World, now that the Adventurers’ Club is no more. Toy Story Midway Mania is fantastic – it’s edging up onto my top ten list, but I’m not sure that Bill feels the same. And of course no trip is complete without a visit to One Man’s Dream, though we didn’t get to see the movie this year – so I guess our trip wasn’t complete. We’ll have to go back and finish it!

Old AK fave Expedition Everest is still king of the mountains, in my book. Not sure we added anything new to the “favorite attractions” list at AK, though we certainly love the trails and treks.

And new contender Blizzard Beach knocked us out! It will be closed next winter, but we look forward to trying Typhoon Lagoon, if the weather permits.

Best meals included old favorites Biergarten, Crystal Palace, and Boma, new favorites Coral Reef and Teppan Edo, and the very fun princess breakfast at Cinderella’s castle. Great atmosphere at Sci Fi and 50s Prime Time; too bad the food doesn’t live up to the surroundings. And Le Cellier and Artist’s Point provide very good food, but the atmosphere is comparatively lacking.

Best moments: Arriving. Sitting on our balcony, watching the castle lighting ceremony. Dinner at Biergarten, watching the kids dance. Dinner at Coral Reef, schmoozing with my Shmoop. Every single trip on Everest, especially that plunge down the mountain. Winning Dream ears and wearing both pairs. Dancing at the Cosmic Ray’s dance party during MVMCP. Laughing with Bill through breakfast at the castle. Discovering Blizzard Beach. Riding Segways around Fort Wilderness. Watching Streetmosphere do their thing. Crying laughing over “the guy, with the hotel made out of bread, the one with the blowtorch.” Meeting an Imagineer. Meeting Circusgirl! Leaning back against Bill in the AstroOrbiter and taking in the view. Every single trip on Space Mountain, Tower of Terror, and Soarin’. Watching Wishes on our last night. Pretty much the whole trip.

And, okay, the not-so-great things: Crowds. Getting sick. Real estate aggravation. Anxiety-induced insomnia. Smokers who didn’t stay in the designated areas. Rude teenagers. Talkative doctors. Hammy fish at V&A’s. Space Mountain going down on our last night. Construction noise at the Contemporary. Leaving.

What we’re looking forward to next year:

Meals at Biergarten, Crystal Palace, and Boma. Though we also want to try Jiko, and we only tend to budget one dinner at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. A quandary! Looking forward to reinstating dinner at the California Grill during Wishes – did that our first three trips, missed it this year. Also looking forward to trying some new places, preferably in the parks, though we seem to be running out of those…

Another MVMCP. And another Segway tour of Epcot! This year’s Segway tour of Fort Wilderness was big fun, but we like being in the parks better than being at the resorts. Maybe the “Wild by Design” tour of AK, maybe Lunch with an Imagineer, maybe even parasailing. But maybe none of those things – we don’t want to cut into too much park time!

Typhoon Lagoon, if the weather permits. The new American Idol attraction, since I’ve read some good things about it here on the DIS. And Kim Possible, which sounds terrific!

Staying at our favorite resort, with MK view. Revisiting all of our favorite rides and attractions in the parks. Getting fudge and/or smores from the Confectionary on Main Street. Spending more MK time on a bench or the railroad just soaking it all in. Meeting the Ladies Tremaine. Watching the movies and street performers at Epcot; watching some more Streetmosphere at DHS. Slowing down at AK, smelling a few more roses, and seeing the Oasis while it’s still open.

NOT getting sick, NOT being stressed, and NOT taking ANY calls from lawyers, brokers, or real estate professionals of any kind! Knowing that, when we leave, we’re going home to the beautiful apartment we love so much – and knowing we’ll be back in December of 2010!

What we’re skipping next year:

Le Cellier, though the food and service are very good – we just feel like we’ve done this one, and want to try a new experience. Also skipping most of the other table service restaurants we did this trip (except the ones mentioned above), in favor of doing new things.

Innoventions. Glad we did it this year; no need to revisit it next year. See also: Snow White, Aladdin’s Carpets, Great Movie Ride, Triceratops Spin, Circle of Life, Grand Fiesta Tour. We may even skip Fantasmic! (heresy, I know), if it’s still causing massive crowds at DHS – we’ve seen it four times now, and we might give it a rest next year. Or not! We’ll see.

Morning EMH at Epcot. I think we’ll shuffle our days so that we get the extra hour of sleep, and avoid the extra EMH crowds.

What we did “right” (id est, what worked for us):

Having a plan!
Having ADRs! And changing them on the fly, when necessary.
Being at rope drop.
Working those FastPasses for all they were worth.
Taking taxis when we were pressed for time in the morning or exhausted at night.
Taking mid-day breaks when our butts were dragging.
Staking spots for Illuminations, castle lighting, and Wishes well ahead of time.

What we did “wrong”:

Too much park hopping. We thought we could escape crowds at one park by going to another, but all we did was waste time in transport.

Too many meals at resort restaurants. Dinners at Artist’s Point and V&As took us out of the parks prematurely, and transportation to AP was a hassle.

Not checking the dates on our MVMCP tickets when they were mailed to us! Fortunately, we were able to swap tickets for the night we wanted at the last minute, but if we hadn’t been able to, I would’ve been bummed out. I reconfirmed all our ADRs the week before leaving, but didn’t reconfirm all of our special event tickets and plans – next year, you bet I will.

Bringing my phone to the parks. I “had” to do it this year, but I won’t make that mistake again. No business on vacation! (To the extent that that’s possible.)

Letting other guests’ behavior affect our moods. I need to learn to live and let live a little better. If kids are snotty, or people take a long time ordering their meals, or they want to jump the line, I can’t control that – I can only control my reaction to that.

Dieting! Granted, I didn’t stick to my 1600 calorie per day regimen (far, far from it), but I did restrict myself from eating whatever I wanted, in whatever quantity I wanted. Not next year! Next year, I am going whole hog. If I gain weight at Disney, I’ll diet when I get back home.

***

So there you have it: Last year’s lessons becoming next year’s plans! I’m so grateful to all of you who took the time to read my report, and especially those who took the time to comment and encourage me through it – thank you, gentle readers! I look forward to starting our pre-trip-report for December ’09, and to reading many other happy TRs in the meanwhile. Wishing you lots and lots of pixie dust!



Janice

 

[PinkPrincessZ]

Such an excellent trippie, Janice! I will miss your wonderful prose for now, but you can count me in for next December's!!

 

[donaldsgal]

and



It was the best of times [the TR], it was the worst of times [the end of the TR]. What a great trip report. You have earned a devoted reader in me! There are just a few people's TRs that I try to read every time around, and you have made that list. When do you start your PTRs? I'll be signing on for future adventures most definitely!

BTW, I think I've stooped to a new DIS-low; I'm inviting readers for my PTR. I just started tonight; here it is: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2086349
Anyway, great great TR! I enjoyed it from the first to the last. Here's to Disney 2009!

 

[Lady Lallie]

I'm really sad your TR is over. I have enjoyed reading your wonderful writing and your Disney adventures. I am really looking forward to next December and your next TR. Are you going to try another PTR???

 

[girlbomb]

Such an excellent trippie, Janice! I will miss your wonderful prose for now, but you can count me in for next December's!!

PinkPrincessZ, it's been a pleasure having you along for the ride! I hope your 15th anniversary trip will be fabulous!

and



It was the best of times [the TR], it was the worst of times [the end of the TR]. What a great trip report. You have earned a devoted reader in me! There are just a few people's TRs that I try to read every time around, and you have made that list. When do you start your PTRs? I'll be signing on for future adventures most definitely!

BTW, I think I've stooped to a new DIS-low; I'm inviting readers for my PTR. I just started tonight; here it is: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2086349
Anyway, great great TR! I enjoyed it from the first to the last. Here's to Disney 2009!

donaldsgal, thanks! I don't know when I'll start the PTR this year -- maybe last year's mistake was I started too early? Maybe I'll just start reading yours and follow your lead!

I'm really sad your TR is over. I have enjoyed reading your wonderful writing and your Disney adventures. I am really looking forward to next December and your next TR. Are you going to try another PTR???

Lady Lallie, you are too good to me! I'm on board for all your P/TRs, too, and will noodge you when I do start our next PTR. Thank god for the DIS to keep and protect us between trips!