Obsessed w/Disney in OH
With hope, the imagination soars.
- Joined
- Sep 25, 1999
The Sloneckers January Trip to DisneyMGM, Hot Seat, Epcot Part 6 of 8
Slonecker Family:
Russ-DH, a converted Disney fan after trip in summer of 2000
Lisa-the compulsive plannerfanatical DIS fan; been dying to go back to Disney since summer of 2000
Holly-13; wants to set a new record for the number of times on Rock n Roller; definite list of have tos and can skip attractions
Emily-10; Has enough energy and curiosity for all of us! Ready and raring to gomost excited about missing school to go to Disney
Jana-6; Says she is ready to go and see Mickey and Minnie again. Thinks shes brave enough to try Rock n Roller!
Trip:
5 nights, 5 days at Port Orleans Riverside. January 16-22
Up and at it this morning to warm, warm weatherdidnt even need sweatshirts this morning!
Got to Hollywood & Vine for our breakfast ps. They dont let anyone in MGM for ps until 8:30. We got seated immediately. We had never been here beforethis is a neat place. We saw Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Chip & Dale in their finest glamor Hollywood attire. Part way through breakfast, they gathered the kids for a dance with Minnie. Emily and Jana had a lot of fun with that. The food was goodmickey waffles, egg pizza, and ice cream for breakfast. All smiles from the kids (and me too!) on ice cream for breakfast. Goofy came over and danced with Hollyyoure never too old to have fun with the characters! 
We headed to RnRstand by line was 35 minutesyou can tell its the weekend!! We got FPs and headed to the Great Movie Ride. This is fun as always--my favorite part is at the end when they play clips of some really, really great movies. Back to RnR for FP and we all rode. I always rode with Jana, and I worried that I wouldnt get her shoulder harness down far enough(she couldn't pull it down herself). This time, I turned sideways to help her and by the time I pulled mine down, they had locked them. I had both of my knees on the other side of the divider and with the harness down, I simply could not move my knees back. Boy, did my knees take a bruising riding like this!
By this time we could get more FPs, so we got 1 for TOT(Holly only interested one in repeating that from our last vacation!) and 4 for RnR. Holly and Emily were determined to get on RnR 10 times this vacation. They were up to 8!
We decided to do Millionaire so we zipped over there just as the place was almost full. We got seats that were so-so. The girls complained they couldnt see and we juggled some seats around. We did the fastest finger question, and when they put up the number, I noticed that it was close to where we were sitting. Just then, Emily popped out of her seat with a surprised look on her face. She looked at the screen, she looked at her seat, looked at the screen, looked at her seat, and said to us
Thats ME!!! Thats ME!!!
WOW OH WOW--I couldnt believe it!!!!! She went down with no hesitationI was in shock. We did the people here with you--family wave and she was cool as a cucumber. My heart was beating so hard and I was shaking badlyI think I was way more nervous than she.
She started off with a question that she might have known given less intimidating circumstances, How many years in a decade?. She asked the audience for help and of course they were happy to help. On to the next, something about the Rocky Horror Picture Showshe used the process of elimination on that one. And the next, What does D.C. stand for in Washington, D.C. ?" which she answered correctly...and What is a manse? brought a frown to her face. She took 50-50that didnt help and then phoned a stranger on Mickey Ave...who said correctly that it was a residence. And then for the 1000 point plateau question, she got a question about the Disney movie Emperors New Groove. I knew immediately she would get it right because she loves her TV and videosyup, she made it! I was relieved at that point, I knew shed get a prize and shed be so pleased. What is magenta a shade of? was the next question and she answered correctly. The next was the question What country was the city of Pompeii located in? She took her best guess but it was wrong. I was so proud of her though, she was cool, calm, and did her thing. She answered almost half of the questions on her way to the million!! The audience was so encouraging and moaned when she got out...people afterwards complimented her and that was so sweet.
We had to go back stage after and sign papers accepting her prizes. She got a ball cap that said, Millionaire 1000 and I was a winner at WDW and a lanyard with pins for every level she mastered. They also let her return to the hot seat after the crowd dispersed so we could take her picture. She was so proud to wear her prizes for the rest of the day. Thank you to anyone who took the time to ask her about it when they saw her hat. It was the highlight of our trip!!
Still on the high from the brush with stardom
, we set out for more MGM fun. At this point, Holly and Emily wanted to use their FPs for RnR and Jana wanted to go to Als Toy Barn for autographs and photos. We saw Kermit and Miss Piggy on the way and got their stampsthey dont autograph. We got to see Buzz & Woody after waiting in a long line. Jana was a little sad because Jessie wasnt there. 
As we were leaving, the green army men arrived. These guys are so funny. Jana asked one of them, Will you sign my autograph?. He picked up her book and wrote My autograph. Jana sure got a laugh out of that!! On the way back, we picked up FPs for Indiana Jones.
We met up with Russ and the girlsthey made it to their 10 RnR goal and were psyched.
Holly did TOT. We stopped in at Honey I Shrunk Playground and this place was crazy!!! I really wish they had some sort of dividers between the different sections. It is so hard to find the kids back once they take off. Our kids are old enough, but with littler childrenthis place could be a nightmare.
We headed to Indiana Jones and it was good. I thought it was exceptionally loud, but entertaining and impressive with the scenery changes. We headed over to One Mans Dream. This was really, really neatthe models etc. were detailed and you could spend a great deal of time just looking and learning. We were all fascinated with this awesome story about Walt Disney. Truly an amazing story of an amazing man.
At this point, we had basically done everything we wanted to do at MGM and we were ready to head out. The bus driver this AM had suggested taking the boat from MGM to Epcot. We had never gone this way before, so we thought wed try it. Never againit took foreverway over an hour!! We waited at the dock, we waited while the boat stopped at Y & B, BW, S&D before finally arriving at Epcot. I guess we should have just gotten off at the first stop and walked but we werent sure how to do that. I must say that it was nice to see all the Epcot resortssomething to dream about for our next trip but it took way too long and the fumes of the boatyuk!!
We immediately headed to TTFPs were all gone for the day and the stand-by time was 75 minutes. The girls wanted to do the singles line, so we joined it. Part way through, Jana had second thoughts about the possibility of having to go in a car alone with strangers. As we got nearer the front, she began to cry because I couldnt promise her she would go with one of us. We shouldnt have joined the singles line, but everyone wanted to go so badly.
We got up there, and the CM seating people was not happy with us. She said, You should have known you wouldnt get put on togetherthats why its the singles line--head to the exit. So, Jana and I went to the exit without riding and with her really crying by now. However, as we were walking out, a kindly older CM interpreted her tears as fear of the ride, so he gave her a pep talk about the fun of the ride and gave her a pass as a baby swap in case she changed her mind. I felt deceitful using it, but she was sooo disappointed to not get to ride. So, she and I used the pass, and then we entered the regular line at the loading area, thus enabling her and I to be together. We got a dirty look from the original CM, oh wellI didnt set out with this goal in mind, but it worked out OK and Im not planning to do it again!! By the way, this is a great ride as always!! Just love the thrill of that outdoor stretch!!
We had not seen much of Epcot on our last trip because it seemed so overwhelming, so we had a list of things we wanted to be sure to do. We stopped in Mouse Gear to look around, then took in Wonders of LifeBody Warswe liked this a lot. It wasnt as rough as I expected. We also saw Cranium Commandwas a cute, clever show. A lot of adult humor in this. We went to Living Seaswhat a disappointment. We kept expecting to find something impressive, but we covered the whole area, and we were disappointed. The water seemed cloudy, the selection of things to see was not that greatweve been to zoos that have better aquariumsjust my opinion!!
At this point, we were starving!! We realized we had not eaten since breakfast this morningsnacking is OK, but not filling. We headed to Cantina de San Angel in Mexico. It was such a nice evening, we decided to sit outside and relax. The lines and wait were horrible, and the food was so-so. A glorified, expensive Taco Bell if you ask me. Also, the lighting in the outdoor eating area was so bad that we could hardly see what we were eating. (That was probably a good thing!! ) Oh well, we tried something new!!
We started to walk through the world showcase, but people were lining up for TOD. It was sooo crowded(I kept forgetting that it was Sunday and there was a holiday the next day!) We turned around and headed out again. I was determined to have a beavertail and since the parade doesnt go that way, we headed to Canada to try one. We ordered apple cinnamon and maple chocolate. These looked yummy! We found a spot to watch the lighted/musical fountain by the entrance and ate while we enjoyed the view. These things are delicious...will now become one of our "must-haves".
Jana had to go to the restroom, and it was quite a trick to find one in that area. I know Disney doesnt want people to see restrooms when they look around, but sometimes finding one is quite a trick.
We shopped at Mouse Gears and headed to the bus before the IllumiNations crowd. The girls wanted to swim when we got back that evening. Besides, we had seen IllumiNations the other night and didnt want to deal with the crowds. Well, it didnt matter that we got there early. The driver waited until after IllumiNations and the bus was filled to the top before he departed! Oh well.
We arrived back and the girls were excited to see that housekeeping had done something special. Emily had gotten Mickey gloves for a souvenir and housekeeping had folded down the beds, laid out the gloves, and the girls stuffed animalsort of a greeting party. This was neat. Holly and Jana wanted to swim, Emily wanted to be a bum, (what all Millionaires are supposed to do...) so they did their thing while I packed.
Tomorrow is our last day!!
Slonecker Family:
Russ-DH, a converted Disney fan after trip in summer of 2000
Lisa-the compulsive plannerfanatical DIS fan; been dying to go back to Disney since summer of 2000
Holly-13; wants to set a new record for the number of times on Rock n Roller; definite list of have tos and can skip attractions
Emily-10; Has enough energy and curiosity for all of us! Ready and raring to gomost excited about missing school to go to Disney
Jana-6; Says she is ready to go and see Mickey and Minnie again. Thinks shes brave enough to try Rock n Roller!
Trip:
5 nights, 5 days at Port Orleans Riverside. January 16-22
Up and at it this morning to warm, warm weatherdidnt even need sweatshirts this morning!
Got to Hollywood & Vine for our breakfast ps. They dont let anyone in MGM for ps until 8:30. We got seated immediately. We had never been here beforethis is a neat place. We saw Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Chip & Dale in their finest glamor Hollywood attire. Part way through breakfast, they gathered the kids for a dance with Minnie. Emily and Jana had a lot of fun with that. The food was goodmickey waffles, egg pizza, and ice cream for breakfast. All smiles from the kids (and me too!) on ice cream for breakfast. Goofy came over and danced with Hollyyoure never too old to have fun with the characters! We headed to RnRstand by line was 35 minutesyou can tell its the weekend!! We got FPs and headed to the Great Movie Ride. This is fun as always--my favorite part is at the end when they play clips of some really, really great movies. Back to RnR for FP and we all rode. I always rode with Jana, and I worried that I wouldnt get her shoulder harness down far enough(she couldn't pull it down herself). This time, I turned sideways to help her and by the time I pulled mine down, they had locked them. I had both of my knees on the other side of the divider and with the harness down, I simply could not move my knees back. Boy, did my knees take a bruising riding like this!
By this time we could get more FPs, so we got 1 for TOT(Holly only interested one in repeating that from our last vacation!) and 4 for RnR. Holly and Emily were determined to get on RnR 10 times this vacation. They were up to 8!We decided to do Millionaire so we zipped over there just as the place was almost full. We got seats that were so-so. The girls complained they couldnt see and we juggled some seats around. We did the fastest finger question, and when they put up the number, I noticed that it was close to where we were sitting. Just then, Emily popped out of her seat with a surprised look on her face. She looked at the screen, she looked at her seat, looked at the screen, looked at her seat, and said to us
Thats ME!!! Thats ME!!!
WOW OH WOW--I couldnt believe it!!!!! She went down with no hesitationI was in shock. We did the people here with you--family wave and she was cool as a cucumber. My heart was beating so hard and I was shaking badlyI think I was way more nervous than she.
She started off with a question that she might have known given less intimidating circumstances, How many years in a decade?. She asked the audience for help and of course they were happy to help. On to the next, something about the Rocky Horror Picture Showshe used the process of elimination on that one. And the next, What does D.C. stand for in Washington, D.C. ?" which she answered correctly...and What is a manse? brought a frown to her face. She took 50-50that didnt help and then phoned a stranger on Mickey Ave...who said correctly that it was a residence. And then for the 1000 point plateau question, she got a question about the Disney movie Emperors New Groove. I knew immediately she would get it right because she loves her TV and videosyup, she made it!
I was relieved at that point, I knew shed get a prize and shed be so pleased. What is magenta a shade of? was the next question and she answered correctly. The next was the question What country was the city of Pompeii located in? She took her best guess but it was wrong. I was so proud of her though, she was cool, calm, and did her thing. She answered almost half of the questions on her way to the million!! The audience was so encouraging and moaned when she got out...people afterwards complimented her and that was so sweet.We had to go back stage after and sign papers accepting her prizes. She got a ball cap that said, Millionaire 1000 and I was a winner at WDW and a lanyard with pins for every level she mastered. They also let her return to the hot seat after the crowd dispersed so we could take her picture. She was so proud to wear her prizes for the rest of the day. Thank you to anyone who took the time to ask her about it when they saw her hat.
It was the highlight of our trip!!Still on the high from the brush with stardom
, we set out for more MGM fun. At this point, Holly and Emily wanted to use their FPs for RnR and Jana wanted to go to Als Toy Barn for autographs and photos. We saw Kermit and Miss Piggy on the way and got their stampsthey dont autograph. We got to see Buzz & Woody after waiting in a long line. Jana was a little sad because Jessie wasnt there. As we were leaving, the green army men arrived. These guys are so funny. Jana asked one of them, Will you sign my autograph?. He picked up her book and wrote My autograph. Jana sure got a laugh out of that!! On the way back, we picked up FPs for Indiana Jones.
We met up with Russ and the girlsthey made it to their 10 RnR goal and were psyched.
Holly did TOT. We stopped in at Honey I Shrunk Playground and this place was crazy!!! I really wish they had some sort of dividers between the different sections. It is so hard to find the kids back once they take off. Our kids are old enough, but with littler childrenthis place could be a nightmare.We headed to Indiana Jones and it was good. I thought it was exceptionally loud, but entertaining and impressive with the scenery changes. We headed over to One Mans Dream. This was really, really neatthe models etc. were detailed and you could spend a great deal of time just looking and learning. We were all fascinated with this awesome story about Walt Disney. Truly an amazing story of an amazing man.
At this point, we had basically done everything we wanted to do at MGM and we were ready to head out. The bus driver this AM had suggested taking the boat from MGM to Epcot. We had never gone this way before, so we thought wed try it. Never againit took foreverway over an hour!! We waited at the dock, we waited while the boat stopped at Y & B, BW, S&D before finally arriving at Epcot. I guess we should have just gotten off at the first stop and walked but we werent sure how to do that. I must say that it was nice to see all the Epcot resortssomething to dream about for our next trip but it took way too long and the fumes of the boatyuk!!
We immediately headed to TTFPs were all gone for the day and the stand-by time was 75 minutes. The girls wanted to do the singles line, so we joined it. Part way through, Jana had second thoughts about the possibility of having to go in a car alone with strangers. As we got nearer the front, she began to cry because I couldnt promise her she would go with one of us. We shouldnt have joined the singles line, but everyone wanted to go so badly.
We got up there, and the CM seating people was not happy with us. She said, You should have known you wouldnt get put on togetherthats why its the singles line--head to the exit. So, Jana and I went to the exit without riding and with her really crying by now. However, as we were walking out, a kindly older CM interpreted her tears as fear of the ride, so he gave her a pep talk about the fun of the ride and gave her a pass as a baby swap in case she changed her mind. I felt deceitful using it, but she was sooo disappointed to not get to ride. So, she and I used the pass, and then we entered the regular line at the loading area, thus enabling her and I to be together. We got a dirty look from the original CM, oh wellI didnt set out with this goal in mind, but it worked out OK and Im not planning to do it again!! By the way, this is a great ride as always!! Just love the thrill of that outdoor stretch!!
We had not seen much of Epcot on our last trip because it seemed so overwhelming, so we had a list of things we wanted to be sure to do. We stopped in Mouse Gear to look around, then took in Wonders of LifeBody Warswe liked this a lot. It wasnt as rough as I expected. We also saw Cranium Commandwas a cute, clever show. A lot of adult humor in this. We went to Living Seaswhat a disappointment. We kept expecting to find something impressive, but we covered the whole area, and we were disappointed. The water seemed cloudy, the selection of things to see was not that greatweve been to zoos that have better aquariumsjust my opinion!!
At this point, we were starving!! We realized we had not eaten since breakfast this morningsnacking is OK, but not filling. We headed to Cantina de San Angel in Mexico. It was such a nice evening, we decided to sit outside and relax. The lines and wait were horrible, and the food was so-so. A glorified, expensive Taco Bell if you ask me. Also, the lighting in the outdoor eating area was so bad that we could hardly see what we were eating. (That was probably a good thing!!
) Oh well, we tried something new!!We started to walk through the world showcase, but people were lining up for TOD. It was sooo crowded(I kept forgetting that it was Sunday and there was a holiday the next day!) We turned around and headed out again. I was determined to have a beavertail and since the parade doesnt go that way, we headed to Canada to try one. We ordered apple cinnamon and maple chocolate. These looked yummy! We found a spot to watch the lighted/musical fountain by the entrance and ate while we enjoyed the view. These things are delicious...will now become one of our "must-haves".
Jana had to go to the restroom, and it was quite a trick to find one in that area. I know Disney doesnt want people to see restrooms when they look around, but sometimes finding one is quite a trick. We shopped at Mouse Gears and headed to the bus before the IllumiNations crowd. The girls wanted to swim when we got back that evening. Besides, we had seen IllumiNations the other night and didnt want to deal with the crowds. Well, it didnt matter that we got there early. The driver waited until after IllumiNations and the bus was filled to the top before he departed! Oh well.
We arrived back and the girls were excited to see that housekeeping had done something special. Emily had gotten Mickey gloves for a souvenir and housekeeping had folded down the beds, laid out the gloves, and the girls stuffed animalsort of a greeting party. This was neat. Holly and Jana wanted to swim, Emily wanted to be a bum, (what all Millionaires are supposed to do...)
so they did their thing while I packed. Tomorrow is our last day!!
