Trip of a Million Dreams, or a couple anyway...

[mom2jcc]

Wow, can't wait to find out what is was!!! Great TR!!

 

[GOOFYsince71]

what was it??

 

[sunny04]

I hearby forgive everyone who has ever taken too long to write a trip report and frustrated me. I'm so sorry guys. It's been one of those months......just craziness everywhere. But here we go...I'm determined to finish this by the end of next week.

So we were on Oct. 1 at the Garden Grill and I left you all hanging. Sorry again.

When we walked around to our seats, Chip and Dale were sitting at our table and they tried to hunch down and hide from us. The CM was like, "Oh my, we seem to have double booked this table. Chip, Dale, do you mind sharing?" So they got out and hugged us all....Dale immediately attacked me with hugs and kisses and wouldn't let go. It was so funny. Then they let us sit down, and Chip and Dale sat with us and they told us we were the "Gardening Family of the Day". This was brand new today, so there was only one other family that had ever won this (at lunch on that day) and we were it for dinner. As they were explaining, we realized that Mickey and Pluto had snuck in behind us as well. We got some great pictures with all 4 characters...they played around giving us our menus, etc. Really cute, lots of attention. There was a commemorative watering can with a scarecrow and flowers in it and a sign that said "Gardening Family of the Day". They also had a photo book that they were going to put on the table of every family that wins for the Year of a Million Dreams. You fill out the card with who you are and when you won and messages to others. So someday, it will be really cool to look at what everyone wrote. Of course for us, there was only one other family that had written in it. MIL and FIL just could not believe this was happening. That we were the ONLY family at dinner that day that would win, and ONLY ONE OTHER family had ever won just astounded them. It was really fun. Of course, the characters stopped by numerous times to check on us and play. Dale continued to scoot in beside me and stuff. The lights were blinking at one point and the CM said "Those crazy chipmunks." So when they got back to our table I told them they were getting blamed for the lights. They were sooo offended, but for the next 5 min. or so, the lights got blinked several times. The food was amazing, by the way. It was also the first day of a new menu, and it was fabulous. We ate lots and lots of food. It is obviously fresh and so yummy. The dessert was the only just "ok" thing of the whole night. It was awesome. We didn't want to leave after having such a wonderful time, but we had to eventually. So....off we went.

DH and I wanted to do Figment after dinner(I LOVE Figment...even if it does need some major updating and improvements...I still love it). So we split up since MIL and FIL had already done it. DH and I went into the gift shop first to get a bag to carry our commemorative thing, and then went back around to ride. Imagination.....Imagination...... Can you believe there were actually other people on the ride? We couldn't. There usually is no one else in our car with us. I was actually excited for Figment...how nice to have more people on the ride this time!

Then we started to head around to WS again. We decided to walk around to the entrance to see if there was anything pretty for the F&W Festival entrance. There wasn't. While we were stopped taking pictures of the ball, a girl came up to us with Dream Fastpasses. They had won them for the day, but hadn't used them all and were leaving. So she gave them to us. We were totally excited. When we started looking as we walked towards TT, there was only one left for a couple rides, so we wouldn't both be able to ride. So, we ended up not using them either. We felt kinda bad that maybe someone else could have used it, but it was so pretty and neat to have gotten one, that we just kept it.

So then we started back around to Mexico. I shopped first. I was looking for something little to put in with a christmas present to a lady that works at my school. She's from Mexico, and I thought it would be neat to add something from there in her present. I found these great wooden ornaments for only $6 and got her one...and me one. And I also got one of the great nativity sets. They are so pretty! Then we went on El Rio del Tiempo. I know a lot of people don't like this ride either, but I love it. It's so peaceful and pretty at the beginning, and I love learning about other cultures, so it's all really cool to me. Plue, IASW is one of my favorites, and the end is so much like it that I love it too. What can I say? I'm easy to amuse. At the end when they are trying to sell you stuff, I noticed a cute little turtle that I wanted to get for my sister-in-law, so we looked for it in the market, but didn't see it.

So, off we went. We stopped in China to watch the video because we never had. I remembered the last time they had signs up about the new Hong Kong Disney, so I thought the video was about that, but I was wrong. I think it was the exhibit room that was about that, and it was already changed to something else this time. But that's ok. We still got to see new stuff. If you've never been inside the China building that the video is in...you need to just walk in. The entrance and the ceiling are really cool. We went into the shops...for those of you who don't know this..I teach drama, and China is one of the cultures I teach about when I do design. So I always like to look in that shop. I found Chinese Opera Masks for $4.50!! I was amazed and excited. So I bought a few....especially since once I got home, I was planning to start Chinese Opera at school. It was perfect! As we walked out the acrobats were performing, and we had never seen them either. So we stopped to watch them for a little bit. By this point it was about 7:45, so we went ahead and found a spot for Illuminations.

I had trouble staying in our spot though...I kept having to walk around. The cart behind us had a salmon thing and the smell was so strong and kept blowing into my face when the wind would blow. It was so gross. MIL and I went to Norway for treats...because that is the best part about waiting for Illuminations. Yum yum. We had some wild families around us playing, dancing, and having a screaming contest that made us laugh and kept us entertained for the wait. We watched Illuminations, and then left for the night.

 

[sunny04]

Oct. 2 - We planned to leave this morning at 9 am for the parks, but it was more like 9:15-ish. It was 10 before we got to AK. We don't really do much at AK, and we have a system for the order we go. So we went straight back to Safari and got a fastpass (the wait was 60 min. already). Then we walked over to the Maharajah Jungle Trek because DH is obsessed with taking pictures of the tigers. Of course, it was a waste of time this time as the tigers were not out, except for like one that was asleep in a corner. We went on around to Dinosaur, which claimed a 20 min. wait, but was only about 5. I love Dinosaur....I have loved dinosaurs since I was a kid, so I'm the one that giggles through the entire thing while others around are screaming. Due to DH's surgery the month before, we were not doing EE on this trip, so we went back to Africa for a cinnamon roll at Kusafiri (Tusker House). It was only 11 am, and AK was miserable. It was hot and more crowded than usual. We heard CMs talking about how weird it was to be a Mon. morning and so crazy. It was really, really miserable and crowded and hot. So, at 11:15, we were able to do Safari, so we did. Then we split up. I sat on a bench to wait while DH went back through the Jungle Trek to try to get the tigers again. Then we left. We got back to our hotel(Coronado Springs) and decided to check out Pepper Market for lunch. It was kinda cool. The food was really good. I couldn't decide what I wanted, but saw some yummy cookies at the bakery section, so I said "I want one of those cookies" and the guy was like ok, you know what? and he put more in the bag because they aren't much. I thought he put 2 in the bag, but when I got to my table, he had put 3! Now, if you are me and love cookies, that is a dream all on it's own! 3 for the price of 1! And boy were they yummy! Anyway, so we finally chose our food (I had a sandwich and DH had fajitas) and it was very good, and we had leftovers that unfortunately got mostly thrown away. Then we went back to the room. We had a cute little duck made out of washrags. Then we rested up before our second night of MNSSHP.

 

[sunny04]

Oct. 2 continued -

So around 4:30 we were ready to leave for MNSSHP. I had brought a homeade pirate costume and had been so very excited. Until I put it on and couldn't get it to work quite right. The sash needed to be a little longer, and I had meant to cut it in half and connect it to make it longer, but forgot. So I spent a lot of time trying to fix it, and finally decided I would just have to deal with it and adjust it all night. I also spent a long time trying to get this great hair idea to work, and finally had to give up. So needless to say, I was feeling silly instead of cute by the time I was ready. Now, husbands out there reading this, listen and learn. By this point, the ONLY thing I needed to make things better was for DH to smile and tell me how adorable I looked anyway and I would have felt better. However, husbands tend to not realize how crucial these moments can be, and so he just waited for me to be ready. Therefore, I was frustrated at the costume, feeling insecure and quite bummed out in general. So by the time we got to MK, I was not a happy camper. Then, we start seeing all these people in fantastic costumes, and there they were...the perfect Jack Sparrow and wench in their beautiful, expensive looking costumes, and then did I feel stupid in my silly little outfit. So then I'm nearly in tears. Why? I don't know. It just hit me wrong for some reason, and DH is asking what's wrong, and I want him to STOP asking so I can get over it. Another husband lesson - there are times that you should ask and comfort, and there are times that it makes it worse!! This was the time to leave me alone. I didn't want to be sad and cry in the middle of WDW. It's the happiest place on earth!!! So then I'm getting frustrated that he won't stop, and he's frustrated that I am fussing at him for trying to help, yadda yadda yadda. Great start to the evening.

So on the monorail, I'm psyching myself up. I'm at Disney World, I'm going to the MK for goodness sake! If only I had a safety pin for this annoying sash. As we walk off the monorail and I'm praying for calm and to get over this silliness, what appears on the ground in front of me, but a safety pin. It was the most magical moment for me, believe it or not. And do you know how stupid I am?? I did not pick it up. I smiled and it made me feel better, but because of the people all walking behind us, I just kept going. And I have regretted it since - it was my magic safety pin, and I just kept walking. But it made me feel better anyway.

So we got inside and had some extra time before checking in at LTT, so we decided to stop in the Christmas shops and pick out our ornament of the trip. We had one of our most unmagical moments ever, as the CM acted like we were wasting her time, and seemed put out that we wanted to have it sent to our room when we hadn't told her that before. So I got a little testy with her and said forget it, we'll just carry it with us. And then she tried to backtrack, and was like oh no, it's no problem. Interesting, if it's no problem, why did you make us feel like it was 2 seconds ago?? Ah well....I guess if that's the worst thing we find at WDW, it's not too bad.

Off we went to check in at LTT. We sat in the rocking chairs for a few minutes to wait for MIL and FIL to meet up with us. Then we checked in for a lovely dinner. The food was good, as usual. Chip played with my hair, pulling on my pirate hair thing and then being shy. One of the CMs came around and dusted everyone off. For the YOMD they started doing "unbirthdays" here, so we saw several tables get an unbirthday cake and sung to. Pretty cool.

After dinner, we walked around to POTC, but it was closed. So we split up. Dh and I headed over to Buzz. We got stuck for quite a long time right in front of the Buzz that talks in line. I started repeating his lines with him...I got to giggling because it's so melodramatic. He's like "that nefarious criminal, the Evil Emperor Zurg" and then there's this music note that's like bum, bum, bum, but it's high pitched instead of scary sounding. So everytime (and we heard it like 20+ times) I did that part with him. Dh laughed, as did the man in line in front of us....for a little while anyway. Then I think I was the only one that still found it funny. That happens often in my life.

After DH beat me in Buzz, we headed over to Toontown to do some trick-or-treating. We got our picture made with Mickey and then headed down the trail. Then we went back around to Fantasyland and rode Pooh and I giggled as I bounced with Tigger as always. Then we headed over to Liberty Square to find a spot for the parade.

 

[sunny04]

Oct. 2 - DH and I went over to Sleepy Hollow to try to catch the Headless Horseman stop on the bridge. So we got some water and sat for awhile. I called my mom to say hey since it was a relatively calm little spot in our trip. And I proceeded to get bitten by mosquitos ACROSS MY FINGERS!!!! It was insane. I had like 7 bites across the hand that was holding the phone. Only me apparently....So we watched the Headless Horseman and got some pictures, then walked to Main Street to look through the shops. We got down there, and DH decided, hey, let's watch the parade from here. Yes, the same parade we watched twice a few nights ago. So, we stood by the fire station, the very end of the parade route. It was almost to us already. It was actually a really fun spot to watch from, because they are going backstage, and you get to watch how long they stay in character. It was fun. Jack Sparrow turned around backwards on the float and kept waving and stuff until you couldn't see him anymore. Of course, by that end, all the candy people had run out of candy. Oh well. Then the villian show was about to start and I really wanted to see it. Last year it was so cute with the Big Bad Wolf as the DJ. This year, excuse me, was crap. I was extremely disappointed in the way they did it this year. It was a bunch of half dressed people writhing around the stage around Maleficent. Not very appealing to me. Then it was time for Hallowishes. If you haven't been to MNSSHP, the price is worth it just for this show. And the parade...and everything else!

 

[sunny04]

And more Oct. 2 - We headed over to POTC, but that seemed to be the direction everyone was headed after the fireworks. It was quite insane and crowded, so we passed POTC and decided to find a spot to try for a Headless Horseman picture yet again. <sigh> Yes, we watched the parade 4 times on this trip. This was actually my favorite though. We were all the way on the other end, right where the parade starts in Frontierland. We were the first people to be passed by the parade. Pretty nice spot, right at the front. DH got some good pictures too. And waiting there was kinda quiet and out of the way. There was also a man in a wheelchair across the way that was dressed up as the Mayor of Main Street. He made my night. He was having the best time and was sooo excited about the parade. I made DH take a picture of him, so I could remember how happy he made me. I smile everytime I see that picture.

While we waited, the CMs had lots of games going on. They played a beanbag tic-tac-toe thing and gave out candy to the kids, etc. DH and I ate some popcorn and candy and waited. We were so close to the characters it was cool. Geppeto took my candy bag and walked off with it. (He brought it back). Eeyore shook his candy bucket at me. The hyenas posed for pictures. It was lots of fun. I also noticed lots of mistakes in this parade. The HM dancers nearly lost it...one guy almost dropped his girl on the dip and they could hardly keep a straight face.

After the parade we went back to POTC and finally got to ride. We had a boat by ourselves. Then we trick-or-treated in Adventureland and I got my pictures made with the characters in there. Tarzan must be a hard character to be....It would be hard to speak in that stilted way all the time. Jane asked if I was a "friendly pirate" and when I said yes she said "Lovely!" They were fun. Then we headed over to HM. We did the little trick-or-treat path by the boat and it was all fogged up and had a coffin and everything. When we got to HM, there were characters out front that looked so authentic, we thought they were CMs, but once we got home and looked at the pictures, we realized they were all wearing MNSSHP arm bands, so they were guests!! What great costumes! Everyone was getting their pictures made with them.

Then we did Philharmagic and looked around Fantasyland for Pooh in his costume to get my picture with him. He wasn't out. Then DH took lots of pictures with the fog and lighting and we headed back to the hotel.

 

[sunny04]

Oct. 3 - Again, we left the hotel a little late, around 9:30ish. Today was our MGM day. It was pretty cloudy, but after the heat of the days before, it was nice to have a break. The park was empty! We went straight to GMR, and it was nearly a walk-on. Maybe 5 min. wait. Then we went to backlot tour, and walked straight into the show section. I like how this ride changes out some of the items. They had the round cages from POTC2 in the backlot already. Although, some of the items in the "graveyard" need some paint or something. The Flight of the Navigator piece is looking terrible and it makes me sad.

After that we headed over to Lights, Motors, Action, and pretty much walked in and sat down. They have added a little spiel about Where Dreams Come True and have a family be directors for the day. They also give out limited edition pins to the kid that works the "RC car". I told DH during the show that I wanted to get a pretzel and ice cream when we left for lunch. He agreed, but then of course when it was over and his mom decides where she wants to eat, he forgot our agreement. We ate at Flatbread Grill. I like that place, so the food was good, but I was a little grumpy now. I really wanted a pretzel and ice cream. (Then Dh remembered and felt bad for forgetting, so we got ice cream later in the day and split it, I just don't remember when, so I'm putting it here.)

After eating, we went to Muppets and walked right in to the video part, which was almost done. So we barely waited for that one either. Then we split from the in-laws. Dh and I went to One Man's Dream, and they asked us if we wanted to answer trivia questions. We said sure. It was really cool. Having that trivia card made all the CMs talk to us. They were so excited to help and friendly and told us all kinds of information about Walt that we hadn't heard before. And we know a lot of that trivia type stuff. But they just had a wealth of information and were so excited to share. They followed us around and checked on how many answers we got. It was really fun! At the end, you turn it in and get a magical moments certificate. It was really pretty cool.

Then we shopped around, bought some pins. Then the streetmosphere appeared. Gosh they are funny! I don't know which ones these are, but one of the guys had a plunger stuck to the side of his face, and they parked their car in a no parking zone. So the cops come out and try to get them to move it. But the 2 guys (who spoke english to the audience originally) now speak no english, just jibberish. And they cops are not having much luck. Really funny! It sprinkled a little towards the end of the show, but not much. Dh and I walked over towards Mama Melrose, since we had ADRs there for 3:40pm. Insane time, but it's all that was open. We actually sat in one of the smoking sections for awhile just to sit and rest. It was a quiet little spot, and DH used his blackberry to try to look up the weather. It didn't look like any more rain was coming. Then it was about time to go to our dinner.

 

[sunny04]

Oct. 3 continued -
We got to Mama Melrose for our Fantasmic Package, and it was packed! We had never eaten here, and I was kind of excited, being the Italian girl I am. We were seated quickly, but that was about the only impressive thing about the meal to us. It wasn't bad, but it wasnt' anything special either. The flatbread was the best part. My tirimisu wasn't even coffee flavored...strange. Anyway, it was fine, we went back to the hotel to rest for awhile before our evening. In case I didn't mention this, our ADR was at 3:40pm....kinda early still. So we stopped in the shops along the exit to buy the HM Clue we've been wanting, and headed to the hotel.

We got back to MGM before 7 and shopped a little more. I bought me a nice Year of a Million Dreams jacket, since I usually end up chilly during Fantasmic, and some charms for my bracelet. Then we headed down the "yellow brick road" to Fantasmic. One thing that was disappointing to me was that they didn't have a magic password to get back in the section anymore. That was so much fun....oh well. The boat during the show was still being worked on, so the characters came out on stage instead. It was alright.

After Fantasmic, DH and I planned to go to the Poly and see Wishes from the beach. I've been trying to get him to do this for years. However, we were pretty tired. So we just took some pictures around MGM, and went back to pack.

Oct. 4 - Leaving day....
We had an ADR at Kona at 8:40 our last morning. We ate at Kona for the first time in April on my birthday, and I love it. So here we were again. We were seated by about 8:30. Yummy yummy food. We ate rather quietly as we were all tired. Then we said by to MIL and FIL who started on their drive home. DH and I however, went over to MK, just because we could (APs). This was the morning they opened at like 5am for the family to have MK to themselves. So, they announced on the monorail which lands were still closed. We didn't really want to do any rides, so we mostly walked around Main Street, took pictures, and just breathed in the magic one more time. Then we went to the hotel, packed up the car (I ate the last of my yummy cookies from the Marketplace...yum, still soft and tasty!) and we started our drive home.


Thanks for reading my TR! Hope you enjoyed it!

 

[missj1975]

Great trip report. Thanks for sharing.