Updated: 11/09 The Great & Powerful Oz heads to Food & Wine with Disers - Oct 2009

Candice30

World's Greatest Aunt! -- or so the kids tell me.
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Oct 6, 2003
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Day 1 – Sunday 10/04/09

Woo hoo…the time was finally here to leave for our October trip to the world. I hadn’t been since June and was definitely going through withdrawal. I was excited to see my friends again and meet some new disers. I was sharing a room with my friend Pete (klofan) and meeting our friend down there. Let’s just call her “Duck.” Though later we began calling ourselves “Pecantz” ….a combo of our names. She had already left and was already there having fun with other disers. Since we had an early flight, I had Pete pick me up at 4:30 AM. I hadn’t slept much as I had waited till the last minute to pack and Pete had to work the night before so we were both exhausted and working off of 2 hours of sleep. Waiting for him to come, I turned on the TV and what did I decide to watch……….yup…and airplane disaster movie. Probably not the best choice before boarding a plane but it was one of my favorites. I checked the clock and realized that it was already 4:30 and I hadn’t heard from Pete and suddenly thought to myself, “what if he isn’t up yet?” I decided to text him and he said he was only 2 minutes away……YEAH! This is where the ridicule began….I had what I would consider to be a normal size suitcase for a 6 day vacation. Pete on the other hand, had a footstool for a suitcase. Because of its size…that is about all you could use it for! Ridiculous…but he is a guy…he wouldn’t understand. We loaded the car and headed off to the airport. We dropped the car off and waited for the shuttle to the terminal. It was freezing out. Took a picture of our parking spot to remember later. We boarded the shuttle and almost missed our stop because the driver stopped in between terminals. Pete said “isn’t this our stop?” I responded with a no but realized my mistake as we started to pass the airtran terminal. We had to have a somewhat annoyed driver stop to let us off.

Line was a little long but we were talking so it went quick. We checked in and I dropped off my bag…or as Pete was now referring to it, as my trunk. He decided to carry his footstool on the plane. WHATEVER! Got through security without issue and headed to the gate. “Oh…sh**” ….yep….this was Pete remembering that he had no toothbrush. Of course being the good friend I am…I took this opportunity to teach him a lesson about teasing me about the trunk. We stopped at the gift shop and “oh…sh**” ….yep…this was Pete remembering that he had no hair products or even a brush. That’ll teach you! My large suitcase isn’t so funny anymore now is it? I told him that he could use some of my stuff and he bought a toothbrush and something to drink and we headed over to the gate. This is probably a good time for me to mention our seating situation. One of us….he shall remain nameless…did not think it through when we checked in online for our flight. We had separate reservations and long story short….didn’t end up with seats together. Clearly you can see who the brains of this operation were! Just kidding Pete. We had plans to cry for the agent if need be and tell her we were long lost siblings but no need, they gave us seats together almost all the way back in the plane but it was cool. Unfortunately there was a gentlemen in our aisle seat who was not the freshest smelling and lapped over into Pete’s seat. I moved as close to the window as possible so he could scoot over into my seat a little. Sorry but I forgot to take photos on the plane.

Usually when I fly I take my allergy pill, put on my iPod and go to sleep but Pete wouldn’t have it. Wouldn’t even let me listen to my iPod since he had nothing to listen to. Apparently he broke his headphones before we left but I think it was just another excuse for something else he left and he didn’t want to tell me. So we talked the entire 2-½ hour flight about anything and everything. Even played “name that fat celebrity” in alphabetical order of course…and a written game on the barf bag because neither of us had any paper. A game mind you that we had to stop because Pete’s ears were killing him. I think he knew he was about to lose but I decided to give him a break. Just a little turbulence on the flight and a little fear on one of our faces…but again…he shall remain nameless! HA! And we finally landed in Orlando at 9:30 AM. We headed to magical express and boarded a bus right away. We pulled off about 10 minutes later and stopped at a couple of other resorts before ending up at POFQ. This resort is so quaint.

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We were in the check-in line but due to volume, a manager directed us to concierge to check-in. Much to the disgust of the CM there. This began my weeklong disgust with the CMs there…they were just mean to me all week. She was not friendly at all despite my best efforts to engage her in conversation. Pete and I were settling the room up in cash and he handed me a wad of cash and made a comment that I didn’t notice. I did notice the CM’s eyes raise a bit and look at me but I was too busy counting money for her. Later I found out that what he said when he handed me the money was “here baby….this is for last night!” Too Funny!!! Serves her right…she was being so grouchy. I wish I would have heard it to make her even more uncomfortable. Anyway, our room was ready and it was only 10:30 and we headed over to drop Pete’s suitcase….I mean footstool off before heading to the park.

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We texted Duck to let her know that we had arrived and we headed out to DHS. Woo hoo…in a park by 11 AM! First order of business…FOOD! We were starving and working off of a beverage and cookie on the plane. Actually, first order of business was to pick up my new AP. I had just then realized that I left the confirmation in the room. I gave the CM at will call my ID and she was annoyed that I didn’t have my confirmation#. She messed around on the computer a little bit and then asked for the credit card I used to purchase it “nope” left that too! Finally she decided to work a little harder and search for me by name and gave me my AP along with a heaping dose of her attitude. But we were finally in! I remembered the awesome burger I had at Backlot Express in April and that’s where we headed. Since we were passing TSM…we decided to grab a FP. It was already for 7:30 PM. Just then, we realized….no Backlot Express. I could have swore it was back there. Pete glared at me with hunger in his eyes and an empty stomach. We checked the map and quickly made our way over to its true location. We both got double bacon cheeseburgers with fries and soda………..YUM! Sorry but we were so hungry…no pics…just empty plates. The soda…or should I say “sugary goodness” was the best coca cola we have had. Maybe we were just thirsty or maybe it was because this woman spilled hers all over the bus on the way to DHS and all Pete and I could smell was the sugar. We craved it like a drug all week long….it was really sad!

We headed off to hit some rides finally. With full stomachs and only 2 hours of sleep, we were already getting tired so we decided we needed some thrill rides. Okay…RNR it is! So what… we just ate…what could happen? The first ride we got in the single rider line and walked right in and were on in about 3 minutes. Stomachs still good, we got in the standby line, which was only 20 minutes. The ride was awesome as always though I hit my head against the headrest and decided not to get on again. I think this is where our vacation began to take shape. We decided to head out of DHS and headed over to AKG after only 2 rides. Yes I put a “G” on the end of the abbreviation; if you have read any of my other trip reports than you are used to it…deal with it. Just to keep testing this stomach theory…we headed over to Primeval Whirl first. We both love this ride and no one else will ride it so we made sure to stop there. The line was long but I needed to get my head together from turning upside down on RNR. We waited in line sooooooooooo long! It was crazy hot already. Blame it on the heat…or the heavy lunch…or RNR…but we both came off this ride sick and decided not to ride again though the line was now non-existent. We headed to Dinosaur next. Let me first begin by saying that this is not one of my favorite rides. Yes they aren’t real but in the context of the ride, I’m scared. Loud growling noises in the dark…….no thank you. But I was a good friend and rode anyway. Here is the ride photo. Pete…it is not cool to laugh at your friends.

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To get out of the heat and stop the world from spinning a bit, we headed into it’s tough to be a bug to cool off.

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I still love this show….the termite is my favorite. There was this grown woman next to us who was terrified. The show started and we waited for the first kid to start crying. Instead, it was the woman next to me freaking out. She put her hands over her eyes and kept saying “is it over yet…is it over yet?” so funny…I was thinking…just close your eyes. Gave us a good laugh though. We headed over to Everest and were able to ride 3 times with little wait.

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At this point we realized one of the greatest things about having been to the world so many times…we didn’t have to ride everything or even stay in the park long. The heat index was over 100 and we were dizzy from Everest. We both needed a rest and again after only 2 rides, decided to head back to the resort to rest and unpack. Bus came right away and in fact, we had great service all week to POFQ. We stopped by the food court to grab a snack (chips and ice cream) and headed to the room to unpack. Me….I put everything away in the drawers and in their place. Pete, he unzipped his footstool (aka suitcase), kicked off his shoes and laid down…………boys!

A little later, we texted Duck to see what she was up to and see if she wanted to join us for EMH at Magic Kingdom. With our second wind, we headed out to the bus stop.

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Bus came quickly for MKG. While waiting to meet up with the rest of the group, we headed to the transit authority to see if we could get a sneak peak of changes to space mountain. To our surprise, the lights were on and we were able to get a couple of peaks. We met up with Duck at Haunted Mansion and she brought along with her another diser, macraven and a friend of hers. Sorry but I was too tired to remember to take photos. “Btw….mac it was nice to meet you!” We headed into Haunted Mansion. Why the 3 of us (Pete, duck, and myself – or should I say Pecantz) have to ride in the same buggy I’ll never know….it’s just more fun squeezed in that way. I wish photos came out in here! I love screaming on this ride and scaring everyone…probably because I am the biggest chicken and I’d rather be the one doing the scaring. I started losing my voice at this point as I had been screaming on rides all day. Mac and her friend had a ride agenda so we said our goodbyes and duck headed off with Pete and I to BTMRR and Splash Mountain. In honor of our friend Kim whom we met in June, we or should I say I did my fair amount of “YIP-YIPS!” When we were there in June, Kim kept shouting this on BTMRR and it was a hoot. Now I can’t ride without yelling this all the way through. We called her on the cell and recorded it on her voice mail. We made sure to ride splash as well to see why they can’t stop scratchin those balls (in your honor Glenda). So much fun as always.

I was getting thirsty and Pete needed some nourishment so we headed to Cosmic Ray’s for a snack. Pete had a full meal and duck and I had iced coffee and fries. We were all so tired and we ended up hanging here for quite a while…..doing what else….talking and planning our next trip. Afterward, Pete and I couldn’t go on and we said our goodbyes to duck and left her at MKG. The park was open to 1:00 AM and we made it to 12:30, which was pretty good considering how long we had been up. Bus came quickly but only drawback….no seat on the bus and we had to stand all the way back to POFQ. I couldn’t even remember walking to the room….Just opening the door and collapsing. Whew……..a long first day but a good one!

Tomorrow…..our first day at Food & Wine.
 

I saw your trip report link on the "Goofy's Great Birthday" thread and had to come over. Let me catch up and I'll come back to post.
 
Holy smokes! I just went back and read the first couple of posts and I'm tired just from reading.....Whew! I absolutely loved Pete's comment to you when handed you the money. That is soooo something some of my group would do just to get a rise out of the castmember.

Looking forward to reading more!
 
I know! I'm late Candice, but I did have the flu, so give me a break. But there are so many things to comment on!

First of all, just because I brought the carry on bag- I could still fit all the other toiletries! I just umm forget them lol. Remember in December...roll...roll...ROLL!

And that first day when we were so hungry. That was the best cheeseburger I've ever had in my life!

I've never laughed so hard on Dinosaur either, haha. KEEP WRITING!
 
Holy smokes! I just went back and read the first couple of posts and I'm tired just from reading.....Whew! I absolutely loved Pete's comment to you when handed you the money. That is soooo something some of my group would do just to get a rise out of the castmember.

Looking forward to reading more!

too bad i missed it when it happened...could have really gotten her. :rotfl2:
 
I know! I'm late Candice, but I did have the flu, so give me a break. But there are so many things to comment on!

First of all, just because I brought the carry on bag- I could still fit all the other toiletries! I just umm forget them lol. Remember in December...roll...roll...ROLL!

And that first day when we were so hungry. That was the best cheeseburger I've ever had in my life!

I've never laughed so hard on Dinosaur either, haha. KEEP WRITING!

are you going to heckle from the side lines the whole trip report? Likely excuse about "leaving" the toiletries....yeah right.

so glad my fear amused you on dinosaur......some friend you are! :snooty:
 
Day 2 – 12/05/2009

Woo hoo…we are headed to food & wine. Our goal….to corrupt Pete. We were too tired the night before to figure out the alarm clock in the room so Pete set his phone instead. I woke up around 6:45 AM…not because I was ready to get up but because I was freezing!!!!!! I like the room cold but come on Pete, it was like a freezer in there. I jumped out of the covers long enough to turn the air down……way down. He was knocked out so he wouldn’t know right? I tried to go back to sleep but couldn’t but still too cold to get from under the covers…I ended up laying there for about an hour. Oh, forgot to mention that during that hour, I got back up and turned the air off. I finally decided to turn the TV on and see what was up with the weather and of course…Stacy’s must dos! Pete finally woke up around 8:30 or so. Neither us still very motivated to leave the room so this started our week long tradition of watching dr. oz, the judge shows and the Wendy Williams show, “How you doin?” Made a pact right then and there not to commando the parks and actually relax on vacation. After laughing at all the crazy people, we finally made a plan. We were supposed to meet Duck and other disers at F&W at 11am to begin in Mexico but no way we were gonna make that. Definitely Pete’s influence as I am usually out of the room by now. Pete will dispute this I am sure! He finally noticed the temperature of the room and said “why is it so hot in here?” Hee…hee. We finally made it out of the room and to the bus stop on our way!

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We arrived at Epcot about 11:30…not too late. We text the gang and they had already been through Mexico and such and were all the way in Italy. We told them that we would catch up. We stopped at the gift shop to buy those wristband gift cards. I regretted not doing this last F&W and had all these ones in my pocket from the change so didn’t want to make that mistake again. Loaded them up and we were ready for some food and some wine…..let the corruption begin. We stopped at the booths near Mexico first as we were getting hungry. We both got a quesadilla with chorizo in Mexico City. Sorry but I forgot to take pictures of the first couple of offerings….Luckily I remembered that I had a camera later….though much later! I had this last year so I knew it was a winner. We followed that up with the potato dumpling and kielbasa from Poland. I forgot that this was just so so last year and it again was just okay. Pete didn’t like this dish. It was still too early for me for wine so we pressed on. India didn’t have any samosas and South Africa any Bobotie so we skipped those. We finally made it to Italy and stopped at the Bologna booth. We decided to share the cannelloni….it was yummy. We were sitting on a bench fighting over the last piece when we noticed the group of disers we were supposed to meet up with sitting just across the way.

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Too busy eating to notice. We headed over and greeted everyone. Once again I must apologize as I have forgotten everyone’s screen names so if you are reading this……sorry, and help me to remember. We chatted for a while and decided to split up as part of the group wanted to see a wine/cooking demonstration….can’t remember which at the moment. Peter, Duck, diser GrumpyOne and I pressed on.

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I was ready to sample some wine/drink so we stopped at a pavilion I can’t remember now and there was a red wine (or so I thought). It sounded good and the cast member told me it was sweet…..really wish someone had caught mine or Pete’s face tasting this……….so disgusting. Not sweet at all. Turned out to be Bourbon that they mixed with some kind of fruit juice or something……not good and $8.50 for the small glass. I chucked it into the trash and headed in search of something else. If all else fails, there is always my Grand Marnier slush in France. The slush place was just opening so we headed to the France pavilion and got a slush from there. It was good but had a lot of vodka in it and once it started to melt, it got stronger and stronger.

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With our red lips we pressed on. A little disappointed with our slush from the France pavilion, we headed over to get a Grand Marnier Slush…Pete had wimped out and couldn’t finish the last one so he just watched the rest of us enjoy another slush!

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After this, I too had met my limit for the moment and we stopped in Canada to watch the movie and cool off…..Canada…my Canada. I have said it before and will say it again…I love this movie….out of all the countries in World Showcase, this one actually makes me want to go to Canada….the song also makes me cry. Halfway thru the movie I started getting dizzy and had to sit down. Pete thought I collapsed but no….just couldn’t stand any longer so I watched the rest of the film from the floor. Canada….my Canada. Greece was next on my list as I was craving spanokopita so we headed there. Can’t remember what Duck was eating.

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I realized that I needed more food in my tummy so we headed back towards Mexico. In my frenzy to get the beef empanada, we forgot to take a photo….but it was yummy and remembered to share it this time.

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I mentioned that it had been a long time since I did any of the things around future world so Pete suggested the piggy bank adventure. I had never done this but it sounded fun so we headed over to Innoventions.

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This was a lot of fun but made me feel stupid because I couldn’t follow the simplest directions from the cast members and it made me feel real dumb to know kids have no problem with it but then I remember that they can whip my butt at video games too so I shouldn’t be bothered by this. After getting gold stars for saving, we decided to try the house fire thing where you identify the potential fire hazards in a home. A simulation had just started so we had to wait our turn. We decided to text Duck to see where she had ended up and she said she would come meet up with us after we were done. Finally it was our turn to play!

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Yeah…our team won! This was a lot of fun but I don’t think I will do this with Pete again! Boy is he competitive….yelled at me and all when I wasn’t moving fast enough. Pete if you are reading this….you were mean to me and I’m never playing with you again. :headache: We met up with Duck and headed to Test Track and had a little wait. As always, we passed the time by planning future trips in line.

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We were getting pretty tired at this point and decided to head out….but where to go? Duck mentioned she could do with some dessert and we discovered Pete had never had a zebra dome….the horror! So we hopped on the AKL bus. We hung out in the lobby before heading to their food court for zebra domes.

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We sat at the outside patio by the pool with our zebra domes and talked and laughed for about 2-3 hours. Who knows where the time went…all I know is how comfortable we were!

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Pecantz on the move! Finally ready to motivate, we decided to head to SSR and then DTD to have dinner. We stopped by Duck’s room for a minute and then toured SSR a little before heading off to DTD in search of dinner. We decided on Wolfgang Puck express where I had never eaten before. This is a definite must do! Ordered like counter service but served to you at your table and the atmosphere made it feel like a table service. We sat at the big wooden table in the middle of the kitchen and we felt like we were over someone’s house for Sunday dinner. I had the chicken alfredo and Pete had the 4 cheese mac & cheese; both came with a side Caesar salad. Duck had a grilled veggie pita with homemade chips. I loved eating on real plates for a change. Awesome experience!

With full bellies we decided to walk around DTD for a while before taking the boat back to SSR. We ended up spending the rest of the night in Duck’s room. My stomach wasn’t feeling too good and I contemplated going in search of a ginger ale but Duck offered me pomegranate champagne. Gotta love friends! Did you know that it works just like ginger ale for an upset stomach? Well it does….and we ended up finishing the bottle.

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I rolled up in a blanket and was set for the night. We watched one of those really stupid movies that you tell yourself the whole time it is on that it is stupid and you should turn it off but you keep watching it anyway. Yep…that’s what Pecantz had gotten into. (Hey Pantz….”I must have been sleep walking!”) Pete and I contemplated staying but since we were coming back the next day for a barbecue and to swim, decided to go back to our own room. We left about 12:30…dead tired and walked (not sure how) back to the buses at DTD and headed back to POFQ. Finally passed out about 1:30 AM….another late night! No way we will be to the barbecue on time!
 
I started getting dizzy and had to sit down. Pete thought I collapsed but no….just couldn’t stand any longer so I watched the rest of the film from the floor.

I've been doing this everytime.
But I go next to the wall, to the left as soon as you walk in the doors. You can see almost 3/4 of the movie, vs., only 1/2 and you don't get dizzy from turning to see everything.

Enjoying your Food and Wine, or should I say "Slushy Fest".
I sure miss the Food and Wine Expo, I was there last year and it was fun, but my dh never got the hang of it, and we ended up in Germany for supper.
 
Hi Duck, :rotfl2:
Ok I am here. Not sure how often I will be able to read. Find myself away for weeks now.

I just wrote about you and Jodi crossing the bridge and we went to Japan. :lmao:

Be back again,

Scott
 
Hey Guys!!:cool1:
Sounds like you guys had a Blast!:goodvibes
Keep it coming!:banana:
 












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