The Village People take on "The World" & a 25th Unbirthday: 10/31 - FINAL UPDATE

[KatMark]

Ann, I am loving your photos. Great job.

 

[annnewjerz]

Ann, I am loving your photos. Great job.

Thanks, Kathy! I'm glad you're enjoying and I hope you stick around for my December TR when I eventually take that trip. It'll be for 7 days instead of 3, so it's going to have a ton of pics!

 

[KatMark]

Thanks, Kathy! I'm glad you're enjoying and I hope you stick around for my December TR when I eventually take that trip. It'll be for 7 days instead of 3, so it's going to have a ton of pics!

Absolutely. The holiday pictures will be great--we've never been there in December (just send me a PM when you go with your trip report in case you don't see me hanging around it). I posted some of our PHotopass pics on my trip report -- I love the one with Mark and Minnie.

 

[scoot241]

Just thought of this... wasn't it you who told me you weren't big on parades Ann?

 

[annnewjerz]

Yup, I hate them---but if I'm paying $60 for a ticket, you can bet I'm going to see the parade!!

Shows on the other hand, I really can't stand. I have never seen Beauty & the Beast, the Little Mermaid, Nemo, Festival of the Lion King---none of them. At the party, I made no effort to see the Villains show and for Christmas, I can guarantee I'll skip the Christmas show they do.

Some people have been trying to convince me that this year I need to see Nemo. We'll see about that. If I have spare time, the most I can say is maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe.

Fireworks aren't my thing either. I think it had more to do with crowds and less to do with not enjoying whatever is going on.

 

[scoot241]

Yup, I hate them---but if I'm paying $60 for a ticket, you can bet I'm going to see the parade!!

Shows on the other hand, I really can't stand. I have never seen Beauty & the Beast, the Little Mermaid, Nemo, Festival of the Lion King---none of them. At the party, I made no effort to see the Villains show and for Christmas, I can guarantee I'll skip the Christmas show they do.

Some people have been trying to convince me that this year I need to see Nemo. We'll see about that. If I have spare time, the most I can say is maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe.

Fireworks aren't my thing either. I think it had more to do with crowds and less to do with not enjoying whatever is going on.

LOL you must see Nemo!

Judging from the pictures, if you liked Boo to You, I think you'll really like Spectro.

Fireworks crowds can get a bit crazy, but I really like Disney's shows since there's usually some sort of story involved instead of just music. Plus, I like explosions.

 

[norybell]

I just got back from my trip and am waaaay behind on trip report reading, so I'm only through Day 1, but I had to post to say you've made me very, very sorry that I last-minute canceled my bluezoo reservation!

Oh well. There's always next time.

 

[annnewjerz]

I just got back from my trip and am waaaay behind on trip report reading, so I'm only through Day 1, but I had to post to say you've made me very, very sorry that I last-minute canceled my bluezoo reservation!

Oh well. There's always next time.

Thanks for catching up! I can say bluezoo was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G, but I'm sure it'll always be great---so you can always make it a point to go on your next trip.

 

[Gdad]

Excellent stuff Ann- I enjoyed all the pictures.

 

[norybell]

Yup, I hate them---but if I'm paying $60 for a ticket, you can bet I'm going to see the parade!!

Shows on the other hand, I really can't stand. I have never seen Beauty & the Beast, the Little Mermaid, Nemo, Festival of the Lion King---none of them. At the party, I made no effort to see the Villains show and for Christmas, I can guarantee I'll skip the Christmas show they do.

Some people have been trying to convince me that this year I need to see Nemo. We'll see about that. If I have spare time, the most I can say is maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe.

Fireworks aren't my thing either. I think it had more to do with crowds and less to do with not enjoying whatever is going on.

OK, I'm all caught up now! Like you, I'm not at all a parade or a show person. But I loved Boo to You. And I actually saw some shows on this trip, just because they were a good spot to relax for a bit after lunch. FOTLK was eh, VoTLM was cute but eh, but Nemo...wow. Nemo was seriously awesome. I highly recommend it.

 

[disneygirlinnj]

WOW OK for some reason I never subscribed to this thread so I am SOOOOOOO far behind!!! YIKES!!!!!!! I'm going to ignore the food reviews on here since I'm commenting on the other report you have going

Erik's 4:30am breakfast didn't hold him over very long, so he decided to dig into the snacks I made for the flight. Homemade chocolate chip cookies, his favorite and my special recipe. I honestly don't toot my own horn very often, but they are DA BOMB! The best chocolate chip cookies I've ever tasted, and that's saying something because chocolate chip cookies are my absolute favorite treat.

I LOVE well made homeade chocolate chip cookies! Mmm... now you have me wanting some

In 10 minutes, we saw a bus to every park, except the Magic Kingdom. I definitely don't think 10 minutes is an extraordinary wait or anything, but considering the other parks seemed to have such frequent busses, we decided that if another Epcot bus came before the Magic Kingdom bus, we'd go there instead. After all, F&W Fest was going on and there are some rides I like in Epcot. I wasn't going to complain about going anywhere in Disney for my birthday.
Mission Space had a posted standby wait time of 20 minutes. Not bad, not bad at all. Mission Space is tied as Erik's favorite ride with Splash Mountain, so we headed over.

Of course, we did orange, or "more intense." If you're going on this ride, you might as well go big or go home! We walked in and literally right through the queue, not waiting in line at all. No wait at all, sweet! We took our spots in line. Erik was the Commander and I was the Engineer.

Sucks about the bus situation to MK and also later on. I never understand how some resorts have bus issues but yet others don't.

As for Mission Space... LOVE your photos! And I totally agree... Go Hard or Go Home... Orange all the way! I'm sad that the ride doesn't have the same thrill for everyone else. Every time I go the orange line is nonexistant...not that I'm complaining much but I just hope Disney doesn't try to 'fix' it. ya know?

Some of the decorations for Food & Wine Festival were really cool. I couldn't get really any photos that I would have liked, however, because as soon as we neared the World Showcase it was apparent we'd be dealing with wall to wall crowds.

I'm not exaggerating when I say the World Showcase was unlike anything I've ever seen in Disney. There were so many people, it was shoulder to shoulder. Not only did we not sample anything at the booths, we could barely see any of the booths because of the line-ups. I did, however, have the opportunity to see people eating and drinking off of the trash cans we passed on our way to the IG. So gross. I know that Disney keeps things clean, but those are trash cans. I don't care how clean they're kept, things like snotty tissues, dirty diapers and half-eaten food goes in there. I would rather stand with my plate or take turns eating than eat off of a non-talking version of PUSH.

As we were leaving dinner, we still hadn't decided what the game plan would be for the rest of our night. We stood in the lobby area to decide and I saw a light fixture that I really liked. It reminded me of jellyfish or mushrooms.

The crowds at F&W were definitely INSANE! Luckily we didn't stick around too much on the weekends to see it at it's peak. As for the garbage cans? I agree....bleh. But I will admit that at one point I had to place my food on top of the can to take a photo of it. there was wall to wall people everywhereeeee.

Wow you sure posted a lot! Much quicker than my TR's glacial pace. I spent a ton of time on processing though.

Ha... I might win for the snails pace TR award...I'm not even done with my full Day 2 yet!

Do you spend much time on processing because you like it, need it or what? I hate doing it, so I try to get them as acceptable as possible when I shoot them. Then, I maybe add a vignette, adjust the WB and that's about the extent of it.

I'm jumping in on this convo.... I notice that in the beginning of the trip photos...I process a LOT... then as I get through a few hundred...I get lazy and annoyed and just give up.

. Glad to know I'm not the only one! I NEVER remember to turn off the 10 second delay after I use it. I AM getting better about changing my ISO after being in low light conditions though .

Whew... another person that forgets to change the ISO! SO many of my shots were ruined because of this. I was tired...my brain wasn't working. That's my excuse!

We hopped off of the bus in front of the MK just as the opening show was starting. I had never seen this before, so was excited that we were catching it. I feel like such a loser saying this, but after being in a less than pleasant mood the day before because of delays, weather, hunger, etc. just hearing the "magic, wrapped up in pixie dust" song almost made me cry, almost. It finally hit me that we were in Disney, going to the Magic Kingdom in only a matter of hours. It was a nice feeling.

After about five minutes of walking, we seemed to be getting awfully close to the Grand Floridian. We kept walking and eventually we saw a dead end. You've got to be kidding me! Why in the world would anyone make a walkway to nowhere?? Makes no sense to me.

Honestly...that pixie dust song gets me EVERY time! We must have heard it 5 or 10 times and each time I got a lump in my throat. I'm a Disney sap!

The dead end walkways piss me off too. Originally they were supposed to alllllll wrap around in one big loop and of course.... Disney canned the idea. I still think they need to finish up the loop and alleviate the traffic for the monorails and buses. I would totally walk to the resorts.

As soon as we went through the ticket line, the comments about the Village People started and requests for the YMCA were being yelled from the four corners of the earth. A woman walked up to us and asked if she and her group could have their picture taken with the Village People.....

Haha, this made me laugh. During Star Wars weekends i saw guests ask other costumed guests for photos. During the Pirate/Princess Party we got comments on our costumes the whole night. Glad yours were a hit!

So we got off of Pirates and let's just say I "forgot" to tell Joe about the initial drop on Pirates, because it was like 3 feet and lasted for a second. This was a mistake and may have set the tone for the rest of the evening. He wasn't happy, in fact, he was mad that we didn't tell him. My theory was that if Erik can do it, Joe should be able to quit being a wussy and suck it up. I guess he didn't see it that way. So he basically decided against doing any more rides. Laaaaaame again.

*Photography note: I haven't run any of these through noiseware or anything else yet, because I wanted to get another part of my TR done. I tried to use the noiseware in Adobe Camera Raw but didn't notice any significant changes. Recommendations for a very easy to use program?

Ha, have to agree with you about Joe and his rides... lame!

I've been trying to find a good noise reduction program too. I've been using the noise reduction in Lightroom but not sure if that's the best I can find.

Love the photos on all the dark rides!

Noise Ninja works well for me and is pretty easy to use.

i'll have to try this!

As you can see, mid-way through the show, people wearing Mickey witch hats or something crept into the frame. It was either that, or leave the tall men in front of my camera during the show which would have resulted in less than stellar results. Either way, it's kind of a fun touch to have added to the pictures. I almost kind of wish I had one where people were lit with enough ambient light to see them in costume---but maybe next year.

After HalloWishes ended, Alex and Joe decided that it was time for them to leave. Party Poopers with two capital Ps I'll tell ya. Unless you have children, who spends $60 each on a ticket to go to a Halloween Party, takes the effort to dress up for it and then leaves 2.5 hours before the thing is even scheduled to end?! Them, that's who. Joe hated the Magic Kingdom which was making Alex have a bad time. I felt really bad considering this was Alex's first visit to the Magic Kingdom and he was really enjoying himself---but what can you do? We decided to just stay and enjoy ourselves because even if they didn't want to, we wanted to get our money's worth!

Fabulous fireworks shots! I'm sad i didn't get to see any when I was there last month. And boooo to the boys leaving so early! I agre...if I paid $60... I'm staying for the whole night!

 

[Amy]

Hi Ann! Ok, so I missed most of your pre-trip report, but I made it over here for the post-trip report (esp, since the main boss is out of town today). Really enjoyed it, esp. the photos! Can't wait to read your December trip report. Glad you didn't let the ride-wuss ruin your day!

 

[spinetnglr]

Hey Ann!!!! I finally found time to read through your trip report ... I am still trying to catch up on everything since getting home on Sunday. I have really enjoyed your pictures ... you did an awesome job!!!!

Sadly .... I have very few pictures from my entire trip that I am really happy with. I only briefly looked thru them and havent really started editing any yet but saw only a few keepers. I am happy to say though that its not a reflection of the trip I had. I had an awesome time I just never found a "photography groove" but had no problem finding my "mental health groove". After the year I have had with my son's accident and follow up rehab, loosing my nephew in Afghanistan, the end of an 11 year relationship, my business slowing by about 30% yada yada yada ....just enjoying myself quickly became more of a priority than taking pictures. I never thought that would happen to me but being in there for a whole week alone was so much more enjoyable than I anticipated and I found myself forgetting I even had my camera with me. I'm hoping (if business picks up again) to make another solo trip in the spring with maybe some better results photographically. Hopefully this evening I will have some time to sit here at the computer and go back thru this thread and add a few tidbits of short lady perspective.

 

[WDWRocksMySocks]

Ann! So glad I FINALLY came over to your TR. Your pictures are absolutely amazing!!! Swoon. Seriously, they are ridiculous. The HM ones are crazy good! And the Wishes ones... Although, I would've given the guy in the witch hat or whatever the heck it was a boot for encroaching on your Wishes territory. How dare his crazy hat mess w/ your shot!!!

LOVE your Village People costumes. I was cracking up. You know, I feel the same way about parades and Boo to You won me over, too. The Headless Horseman is just too cool!

I cannot wait until your Christmas pictures. I'm excited!!!

 

[praisehisname]

Hi! I found your report a little late, but I'm enjoying it!

Denise

 

[annnewjerz]

Excellent stuff Ann- I enjoyed all the pictures.

Thanks, Jeff! Glad you stopped by.

OK, I'm all caught up now! Like you, I'm not at all a parade or a show person. But I loved Boo to You. And I actually saw some shows on this trip, just because they were a good spot to relax for a bit after lunch. FOTLK was eh, VoTLM was cute but eh, but Nemo...wow. Nemo was seriously awesome. I highly recommend it.

The more I hear about this Nemo show, the more I kind of actually want to see it. Only problem? My DM hasn't ever seen Nemo so I'm not sure she'd be interested. Plus---I would want a good close seat, and wadda ya think---does that require a long wait in line? I hear there's a Tusker House lunch situation deal where you get priority seating for Nemo. I have a Yak & Yeti lunch booked right now but I guess maybe I could switch it. Hmmmm.

WOW OK for some reason I never subscribed to this thread so I am SOOOOOOO far behind!!! YIKES!!!!!!! I'm going to ignore the food reviews on here since I'm commenting on the other report you have going

Quite understandable, you're doing your own food and trip reports---it's hard to keep up on everyone else's when you're doing your own!

Sucks about the bus situation to MK and also later on. I never understand how some resorts have bus issues but yet others don't.

I know. I thought staying at a moderate meant better bus service than at the values, but I guess that's not the case. Oh well, it was a bit of a bummer but we try to keep small stuff like that from getting to us---we are on vacation, after all!

As for Mission Space... LOVE your photos! And I totally agree... Go Hard or Go Home... Orange all the way! I'm sad that the ride doesn't have the same thrill for everyone else. Every time I go the orange line is nonexistant...not that I'm complaining much but I just hope Disney doesn't try to 'fix' it. ya know?

Thanks! I sure hope they don't "fix" it---that's one of my favorite rides, it's just so cool that you feel like you're really blasting off for a Mission to Mars. Plus, it's got Lieutenant Dan, how much better can ya get?!

But I will admit that at one point I had to place my food on top of the can to take a photo of it. there was wall to wall people everywhereeeee.

The things we do for our beloved food porn.

Whew... another person that forgets to change the ISO! SO many of my shots were ruined because of this. I was tired...my brain wasn't working. That's my excuse!

It didn't happen too often, but unfortunately it happened with the pictures I cared about most---the fireworks. Meh, oh well!

Honestly...that pixie dust song gets me EVERY time! We must have heard it 5 or 10 times and each time I got a lump in my throat. I'm a Disney sap!

I heard it so much on the phone on hold prior to our trip but never even knew what it was from (haven't ever seen RD at the Magic Kingdom, horrible---I know). I'm making it a point for our trip in December to get to MK at least 30 minutes prior to when we enter to make sure we get to see it this trip. It's so cute and got me right in the Disney mood!

Love the photos on all the dark rides!

Thanks! I was pretty pleased with how they turned out---hoping to make some improvement in December though. Definitely glad I got a photo "practice run" in October.

Hi Ann! Ok, so I missed most of your pre-trip report, but I made it over here for the post-trip report (esp, since the main boss is out of town today). Really enjoyed it, esp. the photos! Can't wait to read your December trip report. Glad you didn't let the ride-wuss ruin your day!

Hey Amy! Thanks for taking your valuable RS time to swing by and read my TR. I'm really looking forward to our trip in December and we won't have a "ride wuss" for this trip, so it's bound to be better!!

Hey Ann!!!! I finally found time to read through your trip report ... I am still trying to catch up on everything since getting home on Sunday. I have really enjoyed your pictures ... you did an awesome job!!!!

Sadly .... I have very few pictures from my entire trip that I am really happy with. I only briefly looked thru them and havent really started editing any yet but saw only a few keepers. I am happy to say though that its not a reflection of the trip I had. I had an awesome time I just never found a "photography groove" but had no problem finding my "mental health groove". After the year I have had with my son's accident and follow up rehab, loosing my nephew in Afghanistan, the end of an 11 year relationship, my business slowing by about 30% yada yada yada ....just enjoying myself quickly became more of a priority than taking pictures. I never thought that would happen to me but being in there for a whole week alone was so much more enjoyable than I anticipated and I found myself forgetting I even had my camera with me. I'm hoping (if business picks up again) to make another solo trip in the spring with maybe some better results photographically. Hopefully this evening I will have some time to sit here at the computer and go back thru this thread and add a few tidbits of short lady perspective.

I totally feel ya on not getting into your "photography groove" Karyl. I felt the same way. I thought I would be so psyched to get shooting, but when it came down to it---once we arrived, I just wanted to enjoy my time in Disney. I'm glad I got some shots I was happy with, but most were on rides, during fireworks, etc. when I really didn't have much else to distract me. On our trip in December, I really want to focus more on shots of the parks themselves, the shops, the performers, the queues for the rides, etc.

Based on the one fisheye shot of the BAH that I've seen so far, I'm sure you're just being hard on yourself. I bet you got a lot of great shots and I can't wait to see some of them---so get to work!!!

Ann! So glad I FINALLY came over to your TR. Your pictures are absolutely amazing!!! Swoon. Seriously, they are ridiculous. The HM ones are crazy good! And the Wishes ones... Although, I would've given the guy in the witch hat or whatever the heck it was a boot for encroaching on your Wishes territory. How dare his crazy hat mess w/ your shot!!!

LOVE your Village People costumes. I was cracking up. You know, I feel the same way about parades and Boo to You won me over, too. The Headless Horseman is just too cool!

I cannot wait until your Christmas pictures. I'm excited!!!

I'm excited too!! I'm so glad you took the time to stop by and read. I was hoping I had at least a handful of people to comment---otherwise I was going to seriously lack the motivation to get anything posted. I'm glad you enjoyed the shots---barring any serious issues, I should have better ones when I come back in December, so keep your eyes peeled for my TR from that trip!!

Hi! I found your report a little late, but I'm enjoying it!

Denise

Hardly late at all, considering it was only a 3 day trip. Welcome! I hope you have enjoyed the TR so far. I'm about to put up my final installment and then it's back to planning our trip for December. If you enjoyed this TR, make sure to hop over to my December PTR (link in siggie) so you can follow my TR for that trip when we get back!!

 

[annnewjerz]

Well everyone, now comes the time I have been dreading for a few days, the final installment of my TR. Sadly, there aren't many pics for this installment (and even less that are actually interesting), but I hope you enjoy it anyway.


Day 3: October 19, 2009

Today was our final day in The World and needless to say, we weren't happy about that. BUT, we knew we'd be back in less than two months to enjoy a whole week in WDW during the holiday season , so we quickly turned that frown upside down and decided to make the most of our last day.

The plan was to wake up around 8:30 to start the day. Unfortunately, the night before---Erik set his alarm clock for 8:30am and selected "weekend" setting. However, it was Monday, so the 5:30am alarm kicked in and at 5:30 we got the rude awakening of "Spider pig, spider pig...does whatever a spider pig does." After our 1:30am bedtime because of Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, this was a less than pleasant wake-up call. We went back to sleep until 8:30 and got the day started.

Up and at em for our last day of the trip. Getting a refill in our mug, having a pop tart, showering and goig to Downtown Disney.5:32 AM Oct 19th from Tweetie

We didn't do any packing the night before, but since we only had carry-ons it was easy to take care of. We were out the door of our hotel by 10:45am after grabbing a Pop Tart to hold us over until lunch. I had to check out, drop by tripod off at the Business Center, go to the Concierge desk, drop our bags at the luggage room and have our boarding passes printed. It was a very smooth, efficient process and by just after 11:00am we were waiting for the bus to Downtown Disney.

Record time. Checked out, sent a package, printed boarding passes and stowed bags---now at the bus stop, all by 11:07.
8:11 AM Oct 19th from Tweetie

The bus arrived within a matter of minutes. Yayyy! Our elation quickly disappeared once we realized that this was going to be the looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooongest bus ride of the whole trip. We got picked up at the main bus stop in front of the lobby and had to pick people up from every bus stop at the resort. The bus driver had to be in his 70's and needless to say, he didn't exactly put the pedal to the metal. After about 40 minutes on the bus, we arrived at DTD. Hooray!!!

The plan was to shop around and have our first sandwich ever from Earl of Sandwich. After all of the great reviews, I was looking forward to being the judge of whether or not these truly were awesome sammies.

When we walked up, it was pretty packed. It was right around 12:30pm so I knew we were in for a lunch rush and were prepared to wait.

Standing in line at EOS. Gonna get the original and the holiday turkey sandwich.
9:01 AM Oct 19th from Tweetie

Erik and I decided that we wanted to get two sandwiches that appealed to both of us, so we could sample both. He picked the Holiday Turkey sandwich and I decided on the Original. What I had really wanted was the Caribbean Jerk Chicken sandwich, but Erik didn't seem interested and since we had a deal---I couldn't break it.

We got to the counter after less than 10 minutes in line even though you would swear it was going to take at least 20. Then, I called an audible. This would be our only real meal of the day and I wasn't sure how big the sandwiches were and since they were reasonably cheap, I decided to order three. I can't help it, I really wanted the Caribbean Jerk Chicken!!

So, we put in an order for a Caribbean Jerk Chicken, a Holiday Turkey and the Original. We also ordered a brownie since they get such great reviews, even though I knew we wouldn't be able to finish it.

(I apologize in advance for the pictures, it was super crowded and I had to make due with getting shots of the sandwiches with everything jammed on our table.)

The Holiday Turkey Sandwich:

Erik and I both agreed that this was seriously awesome. It was a roll with turkey, stuffing, cranberry and gravy. There might have been cheese on it also, but I can't find the menu description.

Basically, if you like Thanksgiving dinner the day after Thanksgiving, you will like this sandwich. The bread was awesome, the turkey was nice and thick---not regular lunch meat turkey, the cranberry was sweet and tart and the stuffing was moist and flavorful.

This was Erik's favorite sandwich of all three and he even said he thinks it's the best sandwich he has ever eaten. This coming from the Hoagie King himself---so that's an accomplishment for EOS.

Next up was the Caribbean Jerk Chicken:

OMG SOOOOOO GOOD. This was, by far, my favorite sandwich of the three. It was seriously better than I expected it to be. Again, the bread was awesome---I think it made the sandwiches. The chicken was nice and thick, the spicy jerk sauce was spicy with a nice little kick but not overly spicy and the banana peppers were fantastic. They were a little sweet and weren't served hot on the sandwich IIRC, which added a nice little coolness to an otherwise hot sandwich. I will soooooo be getting this again in December.

Lastly was the Original 1762:

We got this because it sounded simple and yummy. After all, it is the original which I take to mean an EOS classic---so it couldn't be bad, right? Right. It most definitely wasn't bad, but it was unfortunately our least favorite sandwich of the three. It was tasty, just a little boring and not quite as delicious as the other two sandwiches. Looking back, we could have skipped this one. The bread was good again, there was a ton of roast beef on it and the cheddar cheese was nice and melty. I think the thing I didn't like was the horseradish sauce. I expect horseradish sauce to have a little zesty bite and this sauce was more....sweet?? It just didn't taste like what I expected. Not bad, just didn't have any kick which is what I was expecting.

Lastly was the brownie I had heard so much about:

IMO, the brownie was a brownie. It seems to get a lot of great reviews here on the DIS, but to me it wasn't anything special. It was a good size, but after finishing probably 3/4 of each sandwich we didn't eat more than a bite or so each. I think my main issue with the brownie is that I like a fudgie browny, one that is very moist and rich. This brownie was definitely rich, but not fudgie if that makes sense. It was just kind of, meh.

Overall, we give Earl of Sandwich a HUGE two thumbs up. For the price and the taste it is a definite must on our list for December. Erik already specially requested lunch there again, so after some rearranging we'll now be eating there our first day in WDW before we see La Nouba on the west side of DTD. For Erik to say that it's the best sandwich he's ever had and not give him the pleasure of eating there again would just be cruel, wouldn't it??

After we had been completely stuffed to the max, we decided to walk our lunch off by doing some shopping at Downtown Disney. Personally, I hate DTD. I'm not huge on souveniers and it's usually crowded---I'd much rather be at the parks, but Erik had never really been so we decided to give it a whirl rather than spend another $150 in park admission for the day.

We popped into the Christmas store to see if there were any ornaments I wanted for the tree this year, we went into World of Disney and got a keychain and magnet for my Mom, as well as a toy for the dogs. I had to make a stop in the Lego store for a Star Wars lego keychain for a co-worker. None of these places really appeal to me, so after about an hour of walking around, we decided to call it a day and head back to the resort.

Just got a cab back to CSR from DTD. Too tired to wait for the bus today. Back at the hotel. 1.5 hours to relax before the DME picks us up.10:29 AM Oct 19th from Tweetie

When we arrived at CSR, we had some time to waste, so we poked around the gift shop, got a refill in our mug and went to sit outside at the Laguna Bar.

I sipped on a Diet Coke from my mug.

Erik enjoyed a just shy of $10 margarita from the bar.

It was sunny, upper 60's and overall a beautiful day. Relaxed and content, we sat enjoying our drinks and looked out over the lake. Soon enough, wouldn't you know we saw something swimming towards us and it was a gator! It was probably about 4 1/2 feet long from tail to nose and looked like it was sunbathing, just sort of floating around taking in the sights.

Watching the gator swim around probably occupied us for about 20 minutes. Lots of people on lunch took pictures, some fed the gator some bread and it stayed there for well over an hour while we relaxed.

And now the conventioneers are feeding said gator. I don't think that's allowed. Tisk tisk business people.
10:55 AM Oct 19th from Tweetie

Eventually, it was that time---time to head over to pick up our bags and wait to board the Magical Express. Who knows where the day went, it seems like we were only there for a few hours that day rather than until 3:00pm. Time to leave Disney always comes too soon, but like I said before, we knew we'd be back in a few quick weeks, so the sting of leaving wasn't too bad.

Waiting for the bus. Wish we had just one last ride on Splash Mountain but that will have to wait 2 months.11:56 AM Oct 19th from Tweetie

If I ever found anyone who spelled our name right (even after we tell them exactly how to spell it), I'd be amazed.

We ended up leaving on a Disney Cruise Line bus. The ride was uneventful and as usual, Erik fell asleep. We pulled into MCO around 4:00, went through security and rode the monorail one last time. Erik decided he wanted some dinner and that was a wise decision, because we wouldn't get into Baltimore until 8:30. We found a Sbarro (Erik's mall/airport food court fave) and had a seat.

At MCO, 2 hours til our flight. Sbarro and mcdonalds for dinner. Mmmmmmmmmm heart attackarific.1:20 PM Oct 19th from Tweetie

We boarded our flight on time and even though I had started to feel sick at this point, I decided it would be prudent to snap some pictures on the plane since I hadn't on the way down.

We took off and enjoyed a nice smooth flight back to Baltimore. The sun was setting while we flew and it made for a nice enjoyable view to pass the time.

We had a great flight home, arrived on time and looked like the weather was nice enough to make for a pleasant 2 1/2 hour drive home.

Just pulled into BWI. Great flight, got here about 5 minutes early. Makes up for the 45 late on the way down
5:29 PM Oct 19th from Tweetie

We obviously arrived home, safe and sound and absolutely exhausted.

The trip is officially over, but there's more fun to come in the next few months after we take our trip to WDW from December 12-18.

Thanks everyone for reading along and I hope I made this TR as entertaining as possible. I'd love to have even more readers/viewers for my report in December---so if you are interested, pop over to my "Christmas Vacation" PTR (listed in my signature) and join me for a wonderful week of deluxe accomodations, deluxe dining, MVMCP, Cirque du Soleil, Behind the Seeds and a bunch more!!

Ann

 

[Todd_H]

Great report, Ann! Looking forward to reading your upcoming December report and seeing lots more pix.

Happy Halloween!

 

[annnewjerz]

Great report, Ann! Looking forward to reading your upcoming December report and seeing lots more pix.

Happy Halloween!

Thanks for tagging along, Todd. I'm sure you won't be doing a full-fledged TR for November like you did for the last trip---but make sure to post your shots over on the Photo Board, I'll be looking for them!

PS: You going for work again, or with the family? If you explained, I missed it.

 

[norybell]

The more I hear about this Nemo show, the more I kind of actually want to see it. Only problem? My DM hasn't ever seen Nemo so I'm not sure she'd be interested. Plus---I would want a good close seat, and wadda ya think---does that require a long wait in line? I hear there's a Tusker House lunch situation deal where you get priority seating for Nemo. I have a Yak & Yeti lunch booked right now but I guess maybe I could switch it. Hmmmm.

I've never seen the Nemo movie, either, and I still loved the show! TGM and the sign in front of the Nemo theater both recommended getting there a half hour before show time, which I did, and I ended up with a really great seat, right on the inside (closest to the center of the stage) left section, maybe about six rows back from the stage. I didn't mind waiting the half hour, because I barely waited for anything else my entire trip (plus I have Scrabble on my phone). Of course, it was October; it might be busier when you're there in December?

Next up was the Caribbean Jerk Chicken:

That sandwich looks soooooooooo good. I haven't been to Downtown Disney in years and years, for this very reason:

Personally, I hate DTD. I'm not huge on souveniers and it's usually crowded---I'd much rather be at the parks,

But I might have to go there next time, just for the sake of this sandwich!

I'm sorry your report is ending...it's been great fun to read! Have you started a PTR for your December trip yet?