Touring the Tower of Terror and other Ghoulish Delights! Sept 13 TR | FINALx2 4/17!!!

[danimaroo]

Hey...came over from the FB Sept group! I'm totally addicted to your Trip Reports now. Must be because you're a fellow Bostonian

Seriously, I love your reports. My dh and girls LOVE to do the funny/silly faces thing on ride photos. God help the CM who is rude to them about...I'm not only a Boston girl, I'm also a redhead Sorry you had to deal with that...so rude!

Your descriptions of all the treats and snacks are making me want to try them all! I'm making a list of the best ones to try for when DH and I are there without the kids.

Thanks so much for all the laughs and allowing us to visit WDW with you!!! I forget what your Sept dates are but I'll have to keep my eyes open for you to say hello

YAY! I'm so happy you're here! And yes, Bostonian at heart, always. I'll be visiting in a few weeks actually to see my family!

I'm glad your family does the funny faces, too. It makes ride photos so much better!!

There are SO MANY good ones in Disney. The list is endless. I'm sure there are a ton I've missed, ahhh.

I'm so glad you commented and are enjoying my TRs. It makes me happy! We'll be there the 10th-21st, so please say hi if you see us!!

 

[danimaroo]

Chapter 52: Farewell, Animal Kingdom, until we meet again.
Day Ten: September 20th, 2013

Oh the day before our last day of vacation... WOMPWOMP. This is when the running around REALLY catches up to you and you just want to sleep forever. We woke up at 7:45 and my feet were pounding, swollen, and neither of us wanted to get going. But alas, we dragged ourselves out of bed and got out the door relatively quickly, right on down to the bus stop.

You can always tells when my trips are coming to an end because my photos of us waiting for buses start to dissipate, hahaha. My photos seem to always start once we're at a park. I was evidently too tired to take photos of us on the bus, but then again, I've already posted like 8500 other ones, so I'm sure you guys can survive without them on this day.

So anyway, we got to Animal Kingdom pretty quickly, and I immediately snapped a photo of Matt looking all bright and bushy-tailed for our final morning at AK.

Of course, we headed STRAIGHT back to Asia, because I needed to have some time with my BFF Yeti friend for the last time during this trip.

BFF time resulted in the following photo.

Matt looking for something, I was I guess taking video and making a stupid face. WEEEEE.

After we hopped off, we stopped in the EE shop to get a hat for Bruce that we knew he'd love. We then started to make our way on over towards the Maharajah Trek since we hadn't done that yet and love it so much.

One of my favorite parks of the trek is the bats! I just love those little guys and could watch them forever. They're so cute! I know most people don't like bats, and I will admit, one flying past my head isn't ideal (I have experienced this in a girls' dorm hallway, NEVER AGAIN), but looking at them eat their little watermelon just melts my heart. Little nuggets.

We moved on from our bat friends, right over to the tigers, who were just chillin'.

Well no, actually, all of them were sleeping except for that one guy above. And he was just obsessively munching on grass... kind of like our dogs do when their stomachs are upset. So he was either hungry and trying to prevent himself from barfing.

After we got our fill of Mr. Tiger chomping on grass, we moved along.

Matt needed to make sure to snap some photos of his own... so I took photos of him taking photos of me, mwahaha.

Then Matt got tired of me taking photos of him and proceeded to make this face.

HAHAHAH, he's such a stinker.

We kept walking and finally made it to my favorite part of the trek... the prayer flags and the ruins area! It is seriously my favorite part to take photos and video of. The theming is SO well done and I truly feel like I'm on some serious jungle trek when I'm walking through this area.

We got into the bird area and those guys were really out in full force this morning!

I love the colors on the birds, they're so vibrant. But I'm secretly scared they'll try to peck off my foot if I get too close to them. Plus, I don't like being that gal, all up in the bird's business.

We headed out of the trek and spotted lots of monkeys just swinging around, INCLUDING a little baby one with his Mom (he's the white little nugget in the photos, if you can see him).

He was SUCH an active little guy and kept trying to climb ropes and jump around. We actually sat and watched them for a loooong time because of how active they all were. It was cute seeing them be protective of the little one, too.

After our trek was over, we headed over towards Dinoland because we wanted to pick up a specific t-shirt for our friend Bruce at home. Lucky for us, we found it sitting at one of the little merchandise stands.

HAHAHA, we knew Bruce would love that. I mean, it's a pretty hilarious shirt.

We left Dinoland and headed for Island Mercantile because I wanted to look for some Minnie ears for my niece, Melina. Granted, she's not even 2, but every kid needs a pair of Minnie ears! After I picked up a pair for her, I decided to see if there were any good Vinylmation to trade for... and shockingly, in the clear box, there were some actual GOOD ones!

Well, the Dirty Pig on the right is a good one because it's from the Pirates of the Caribbean set. Many of you know the little dirty pig on the Pirates ride, of course, kicking his little leg as he dreams next to a drunk pirate.

This Vinylmation was one I didn't own yet, and although I was tempted by it, I ended up passing on it because I wanted to try my luck in the mystery box. I have since collected the ones I wanted from that set because Pirates is one of my favorite rides.

Anyway, I was allowed to choose 2 numbers and was pleasantly surprised when I pulled a Park 10 Disneyland Paris It's a Small World!

This is CONSIDERABLY better than what I'd been getting from the trade boxes during our trip, and I am continuously hearing that trading in the parks has really improved! Granted, it all comes down to whether or not CMs are refreshing the boxes, but from what I've heard, it's improved and I've seen people in the Vinylmation groups find some really great older and popular ones in the trade boxes.

After this, we headed out of the park and waved farewell to Animal Kingdom, since it was our last visit to the park for our trip. It's always sad saying goodbye!

I was SUPER hungry, so we stopped and grabbed a muffin at that little coffee shop kiosk that's right outside of AK. It was surprisingly really good. I say surprisingly just because it was at that little random kiosk and for some reason I imagined it not being good. But I wasn't disappointed.

We decided to catch a bus to Old Key West again, which took FOREVER. Then of course, when the bus showed up, they had to change drivers. Wompwomp. So yeah, it took us a while to get to OKW, but we both enjoyed a nice break from the heat on the bus.

Look, the bus photos have returned!

Continued in next post​

 

[danimaroo]

Chapter 53: Why won't these people stop making out? Please make it stop.
Day Ten: September 20th, 2013

Fiiiinally, we made it to OKW and hopped off at a nearby stop and hoofed it to the Hospitality House. I always just take this as an opportunity to snap lots of photos of the resort. It's so pretty.

I also love the little Mickey's in the fences around the villas.

It's just such a laid back resort, perfect for anyone who wants to enjoy Disney but maybe get away from the craziness of the parks every so often... while being in Disney.

We headed right over for the boat dock... though before we got on the boat, we shot video of us celebrating being DVC members, hahahaha. So you'll recall us just throwing out our arms and being excited on our video... It was our celebration of being DVC owners at OKW.

Anyway, the boat came and we hopped on!

While we made our wait to Downtown Disney, I took photos of our MagicBand covers... and I have no idea why.

I was rockin' a Tiki Room one!

Matt of course was always wearing his Haunted Mansion one. Always.

The boat ride to DTD is always a delight and my favorite way to get there.

Anyway, once at DTD, we stopped by D-Street to feed my Vinylmation addiction...

OKAY, wait. Before I continue on with this TR, I need to tell you guys a funny story, and you'll understand why exactly I'm stopping my TR at this very moment to tell it.

So as I'm sure most of you who write TRs do, I take notes about our days during our vacation so I don't forget things. If I didn't, let's just say it'd be the worst TR ever... because I'd forget it all. It's hard to remember 11 days of fun, so notes are a great thing.

Anyway, the way I organized my notes when I get home is in Gmail (where I write all of my updates - hard-learned lesson after writing previous TR updates on the DIS)... and what I do is break out every single day of notes into single emails, with the subject being that specific day.

So, I went to open Day 10's notes this past weekend, and decided to just look through them to try and remember what exactly we did that day. It's pretty easy for the days of our trips to kind of meld together.

So I'm reading along, remembering little tidbits of our day, when I suddenly come across this in my notes:

Once at DTD, we went to D Street so I could get Vinylmation. Bought 4. Then I pooped my pants, and then I cried. I wasn't sure what to do, so I just spun around in circles, then rolled on the ground. It was a sad day.

...

I do NOT obviously recall writing this whatsoever during our trip. I know I would have remembered if I'd written that as a joke.... but even then, I just knew it wasn't me. So of course, I read it, and I literally start laughing to the point of crying and I can't breathe. Matt is staring at me like I'm a total weirdo and once I can finally breathe, I tell him I'm reading my notes and then read the above passage to him.

He of course starts laughing, as well, and I ask him if he'd highjacked my iPad while we were in Disney World and decided to add extra notes to our Day 10.... and he admitted that it was him, and he'd totally forgotten about it.

So yes, FIVE MONTHS AFTER THE FACT, I found Matt's fun little notes and we both were cracking up.

Needless to say, once we got to D-Street, I DID NOT poop my pants, nor did I cry, nor did I spin around in circles or roll on the ground.

This is the sense of humor of both Matt and me. If you haven't already figured it out, we are 5 year olds. And hopefully some of you guys are also 5 year olds and laughed at this story just as much as it made me laugh.

And for those who didn't... sorry for the poop jokes.

ANYWAY, back to the TR... So I picked up 4 Vinylmation at D-Street. As we walked in, I noticed a TON of leftover Vinylmation from the Reflections of Evil event were on sale at D-Street! Hahaha, I should have known. Oh well. I'm remembering this for our next trip because I will not be around during the next Vinylmation trading event... but I will definitely take a look at D-Street for any left overs from the event!

We left D-Street and went over to get some lunch at a place I've been wanting to try out FOREVER.

We are big fans of Earl of Sandwich, but wanted to try out something new... and had heard Cooke's was really good. It was pretty busy when we walked in, but we found a table after ordering and waited for our food.

While waiting, I took photos of my new Vinylmation I'd just picked up:

Yes, that last one is part of the Disney Afternoon series! I have both of the Rescue Rangers sets, Darkwing Duck, and Ducktales.

Our food came out not too long after we'd ordered. We both had decided on the Battered Burger. It had a garlic mayonnaise and tomato chutney... and it looked amazing.

First bite..

HOLY CANOLI. This was SO GOOD. Everything about it was amazing. I mean, yeah, it's a battered burger, but it was just so well done and the mayo and chutney were perfect flavors. I'm going to be bold here and say that this was easily our favorite counter service food we've ever had in Disney World. It is a TOTAL hidden gem (well, at least, I feel like it is because it's rare to see it pop up in people's TRs), and the food is very, very good. We will absolutely add this to our must-do list for every trip, that's for sure.

We finished eating, then left for the Lego Store to look around. Matt is a big Lego fan, so we obviously had to explore a bit. We came across some awesome Lego keychains, and ended up buying some Ninja Turtle ones for Matt and an R2D2 for me! I, of course, don't have photos because I think I actually took video instead... buuuut it never made it into our actual trip video. Wompwomp, can't fit everything I guess!

A trip to the Lego Store obviously means a trip to World of Disney... I mean, they ARE right next to each other.

We only picked up antenna toppers here though! I believe it was our poncho Mickey one? I'm not really sure!

This led to a trip over to Basin, where we wanted to pick up more soaps and also some gifts for Amy at home. She is a big fan of Basin.

We picked her up a bunch of bath bombs, then headed out over to Ghirardelli.

We couldn't leave Disney World without one last trip there! Matt got the Gold Rush:

I, on the other hand, switched things up and went with a Chocolate Shake.

Everything was delicious as it always is, and the shake was a good alternative to the usual ice cream.

We headed out of Downtown Disney to go catch a bus over to the Contemporary/Polynesian, since it was the first Monorail resort bus to show up.

So, we sit down towards the back of the bus and experience what I can safely say was the most BIZARRE DISNEY BUS RIDE EVER!

A woman sat across from me and was looking down at her phone, but kept making the most bizarre faces ever. I can't even explain it, but I texted Matt since he was siting next to her, and when he finally noticed, we were both trying to figure out why she was making them! She was definitely texting on her phone so I don't know if someone was just telling her a great story or what, but it was definitely interesting to watch.

But it wasn't this woman who made the ride weird. It was this other woman, her man friend, and newborn infant sitting a few seats up from us. The woman was holding the infant, and as we start to drive along to the resorts, the woman and her man friend start full-on making out. Like, I can't even describe to you what was going on. Matt and I both just stared at each other trying to figure out WHAT WAS GOING ON, but it was crazy. And they were way more touchy-feely than I wanted to see.

Look, I'm fine if you're in love with someone, but please, for everyone else's sake, please don't make out and be all over each other on a Disney bus WHILE HOLDING YOUR NEWBORN. Just don't. These two were really on the same level as the creepy old man who was sitting in front of me at Seinfeld's stand-up show that I saw a few weeks ago, who WOULD NOT keep his hands off his woman friend. AT A SEINFELD SHOW. Apparently Seinfeld and Disney buses are aphrodisiacs that I was not aware of.

It was the longest bus ride, but we finally made it to the Contemporary and immediately got off and ran away.

Continued in next post​

 

[hakunamomtata]

I literally laughed for ten minutes about you pooping and rolling on the ground. Thennnnn when I read that Matt is the one who put it in there, I laughed for another few minutes. Haha! That's absolutely hilarious. I'm also a perpetual 5 year old, so you're not alone. Lol.

 

[katt789]

I think I ended up falling behind!! Ah well,

LOVE those HM pins! I found 2 of them last trip and need to find out what set they’re from so I CAN GET THEM ALLLLL lol. I definitely also thought of you guys when I traded them!

Cute pps in Epcot!!

Yay for catching the characters out training!! Love those spots for that!!

good day in MK!! LOVE the nutella waffles, they’re so freaking tasty!! I realize I could probably easily make them at home, but like, why mess with a good thing? Lol.

WOW that cm was unpleasant, seriously, that’s stupid!!

Yay for HM and finding so many awesome things, I ADORE that statue!!

AHHH THE KISS GOODNIGHT. Frick, gonna cry. I’ve seen it a few times, and once was on top of the train station on the last night in Disney and I don’t think ive BEEN MORE EMOTIONAL IN MY LIFE. TRAPPED IN A GLASS CAGE OF EMOTION. Seriously, I love it

Also those cupcakes are devine

Love old key west!! Stayed there in Jan and just fell in love with it, and the boat ride to dtd!

BAHAHAHAHA that story is hilarious!!

Cookes of Dublin is definitely a place I want to try out!!

Ewwwww that bus ride back tho…..

 

[jkc0325]

Great updates! I'm LOL at your inappropriate bus make out story. We have some photopass pictures from MNSSHP that have 2 people making out like mad in the background. They literally stood right behind where everyone was getting their pictures done and made out for about 30 minutes! I asked the photographer to do her best to keep them out of the photo and she did for the most part but they still made it into a couple of them. Crazy!!!

 

[DharmaLou]

Well, since your post included pooping your pants and PDA with a newborn, I can share with you my 5yo DD's exciting moment today: she ate a green cupcake with green frosting yesterday, which resulted in... you guessed it, green poop today. St. Patrick's Day. "MOM! Even my POOP is green on St. Patrick's Day!"

There. We're all 5 years old, aren't we?

I'm not sure if I can comment on the food pics after telling you about poop.

 

[cruisingteacher]

That is hillarious that Matt added a note to your TR and even funnier that he forgot!!

I laughed!!

Also love that t-shirt from Dinoland.... such a sad T rex

 

[stimmons]

Holy....Geeze....Can't....Breathe.....Laughing. Jonathan would have SOOOOO done the TR notes to me too! Kudos to Matt! What's even more awesome is that he forgot about it.

That's so weird that you got the JackOLantern Mayor Vinylmation at D-Street because we traded at D-Street on Thanksgiving Day and got the same exact one! Twinsies....sorta.

 

[smile4stamps]

Yes The viewing from CA Grill of fireworks is pretty nice. Not as nice as being down in front as you can tell they are set off from a distance when you are up there but you do get a full view except for the castle swirlers and projections and they do play the sound track.

Your DtD trip sounds fun! And Matts addition to your notes is hysterical! You guys must have a blast just being together!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

I love watching the bats too. They're just so fascinating.

OK, first, I so admire all you folks who take the time to write notes out from your trips. I still haven't been able to it. Of course that just means I have to go through all the photos and write the whole thing as soon as I get home or else I'm screwed.

Second... OMG one of the funniest things EVER!!! Not only what Matt wrote... But also that it was five months after the fact before you even saw it!!!!

Hmmm interesting lunch discovery. I don't recall ever hearing anything about this place. Sounds like a winner though.

Oh my goodness the things you see on a Disney bus. I'm all for love, but that is just... NO!!! Nobody needs or wants to see that. Period. If you must... stay home.

 

[APears]

that is so funny and awesome that Matt forgot his prank!!! That burger looks awesome.

Also I keep seeing this blanket all around Disneyland and thought you guys would love it:
http://www.disneystore.com/fleece-t...the-haunted-mansion-throw/mp/1330733/1000334/

 

[DisDance]

Well now that your TR is almost over. Guess I should come out of lurking. I have enjoyed this TR so much I went and read all your TRs! By far the best trip reporter I have read, I'm sad to see the coming to an end, can you just go on continuous Disney trips so I always have a review to read? You would enjoy that wouldn't you?!

Matts joke was too funny, you guys are adorable together!

 

[keys1388]

Hahaha!! Brad and I do ridiculous things like Matt hijacking your trip notes! Love it! We are in the 5 year old club with you.

Some time, I need to tell you about our jungle trek experience last year with 6 month old Kaiya... It was not pretty.

We love Cookes! I don't know if their fish is the same as the fish at Yorkshire County Fish shop or not, but to us, Cookes is SO much better. That burger looks awesome!

 

[mrsflynnrider]

Dani I am loving this TR! I look everyday to see if you have posted again.
I am laughing sooooo hard at the "I pooped my pants" sequence of your TR! It is only made better that one, you didn't notice it until now and two, that Matt forgot about it! I haven't laughed this hard since the "Dinosaur ride photo"!!!! That one still makes my day!
Yes Dani, you and Matt are 5. That is what we love about you! I think I am about 6, but working on getting back to 5...

 

[JDailey]

Still happily reading along!

 

[Pesky]

OMG, my DH would've done the same thing to my notes -- probably more frequently. And funny enough, met him the same way you did. Must just attract those kind of weirdos. Loving the TR!

ETA: Oh, and if you want to meet Flynn and Rapunzel, next time you are in DLR, go to the princess shows by the castle. When we went, Rapunzel was in the morning, Belle in the afternoon but be sure to ask. Then after the little show (which is very cute and funny), hang out -- DO NOT LEAVE. Rapunzel and Flynn will come back for a little M&G with whoever is left in the ampitheater (if you leave, you are not readmitted).

 

[Aristocath]

I laughed until I cried about your trip notes. That is hilarious. Being the mom of three boys has totally changed my sense of humor.

I cant wait to get back to Ghiradelli's for a hot fudge sundae or as my youngest son used to call it- Jerry's deli.

Why does your trip have to end?

 

[shanneepants]

I loved your trip report.....makes me sooo excited for the trip my hubby & I are taking this coming September. Your video was wonderful as well.

 

[stinkerbell007]

Yes, the bats are fun to watch, I agree. My favorite time was with my sister several years ago. We were watching a few of them that were awake (most of them were dozing in the sun) and one of them began to.....shall we say "clean" itself. (down there.) We giggled (because we are five) and then the CM made the comment, "Well, they ARE all male....."

bwahahahahahaahhaaa!!!!