Versus, The Trip That Never Shoulda Happened, Update 5/2, Done!

[LITTLEKID58]

Great TR

 

[NMAmy]

I get 2 Dole Whip floats, one for me, one for Pluto. Umm, how do I say this, Pluto and I didn’t think they were all that.

I'm with you on this one, Marie! I don't care for pineapple so that may be a big part of it.

Now you have me wondering about Test Track, Tink. Did he talk you into it?

 

[mmeb144]

Sunday, 2/11/07

This morning, I really, really wanted to get an early start. Animal Kingdom was the order of the day. We burst out of bed. Er, I burst out of bed. I set the wake-up call the night before for 6:30 am. I hate the Stitch wake-up call. I want Mickey! Maybe we should petition for Drill-Sergeant Mickey. Can you hear the wake-up call? Reveille, followed by Mickey’s voice saying: “Time to get out of bed, soldier. Got big missions to get done. Get out there and spend that money! Now, move it! Move it!”

I took my shower then woke up Tink and Pluto. We went to the Floatworks for the first breakfast of the vacation. I could hardly wait for my favorite breakfast, this number:

You can kinda see the refillable mug in the corner of the shot. That is the best beverage on the property! You can have any variety you want, and you only have to pay one price.

We made it to AK about 8:30. Too early for some people in my party, but mama wants to ride EE. We wait forever; get run over a couple times by people in wheelchairs, then finally, the line moves. Yay! We spot Wes Palm over the heads of the crowd, but he isn’t headed our way. Too bad. We beat fast feet to EE. Did you know that first thing in the morning the fast pass line for EE is longer than the regular line? Holy Cow, Batman! We waited in the fast pass line for about 20 minutes. (How is this saving me time?) After we got our fast passes, got 3 this time, one for each party member, we headed over to the Kilimanjaro Safari.

When I picked up the hydrocortisone this morning for my ankle, the CM who waited on me asked where we were going today. When I told him AK, he told me about the baby elephant and giraffe. I could hardly wait to check out these new additions to the Safari. Like, I haven’t seen baby animals before. Tink got some nice shots. Here’s a couple for you to enjoy:

After the safari, we were hungry. It’s like we’d been gone 2 weeks… We bellied up to the snack cart by the safari. Tink was hungry and thirsty. We decided to splurge on the popcorn bucket. It would keep Tink out of trouble for a minute while Pluto and I rode EE. When we ordered, we found out that we won a free bucket of popcorn from the Year of a Million Dreams. Cool! Pay attention folks, this is the only thing we got from the year of a million flops, er dreams, all week.

Pluto and I rode EE. How cool is that ride? The backwards part was very scary. When we got off, I offered the extra fast pass to Pluto, but he wasn’t having any of that action. I hopped right back on. I could see the kids from the lift hill. I waved but they were dissing me. Too bad. EE was just as fun the second time.

I bought the ride photo from EE with Pluto scared to death. Hey, he’s 14, not too many opportunities left to mess with him.

We checked out Restaurantosaurus for lunch because it’s supposed to be like McDonald’s. But, it’s not. No Big Mac. We decided to head back to the resort for lunch. We have the refillable mugs, and the resort has the pool and hot tub. Three things in it’s favor.

Marie

 

[mmeb144]

After our relaxing afternoon at the resort, we headed back to MGM about 4 pm. Our goal, Fantasmic! As we were walking into the park, we caught High School Musical Pep Rally being performed way down at the end of the street, under the hat. That was on my to-do list! We walked down as fast as we could. I figured that Tink would be beside herself with joy. I looked down at her. Huh? No serious expression of joy… In fact, she looks, uninterested. Is this the same little woman who watched High School Musical with me all 5,000 times? I asked her what’s going on. She said that the singers sounded wrong. I listened closer. They sounded fine, a little tired but at least they were still carrying a tune. I reminded Tink that for the movie they could do it over and over to get it exactly right. Live is different. She wasn’t interested in watching the Pep Rally.

I checked the entertainment schedule. Hey, Beauty and Beast is starting in about 10 minutes. Poor Pluto, having to put up with the women folk watching another girly thing. He didn’t say too much, but he actually looked like he was enjoying the show. We hadn’t seen it in a few years. Those actors were performing their hearts out. I had a really good time. Tink did, too.

We had time to catch Star Tours before it was time to sit down for Fantasmic. By the time we got back from that, we wound up sitting over by the far left hand side of the theatre. Never watched the show from there before. I got the kids settled and went foraging for snacks. Travel with me, and you’ll snack like a king! I stood in line forever. They had my favorite Fantasmic snack, the carmel corn in the plastic bucket. I got that, plus 3 sodas. Skipping supper was killing me.

I went back into the theatre. I couldn’t find the kids. Now, we’re talking one teen and one pre-teen, so it wasn’t like I’d left a couple of preschoolers alone. I was kicking myself for not noticing better when I left where they were located. Fortunately, I had made everyone wear the matching clothes. Two matching jackets stood out pretty good, but it was getting dark. I skootched in right beside them, just in time for the wave. Yay!

The show looked pretty good from where we were sitting. It really is true, there are no bad seats in the house. (Some are just better than others!) The down side of sitting all the way over there was the escape at the end of the show. It was the shuffle that would never end. I was so glad to get to where I could take a full step.

We caught the bus over to EPCOT. The big plan called for catching Illuminations, but I wasn’t so sure now. We were tired and hungry. We decided that we would eat first, then see what kind of seat, if any, could be found after that. We finished up around 8:40. No way would we be able to get a good, or any kind of, seat. We checked anyway. Just as we walked up, they opened up the stage area by the Trading Post. We walked right up and were one person back from the railing on the lagoon. Sweet! We were so close; we could feel the heat from the fire barge. Illuminations rocks!

The walk back to the bus was slightly easier from EPCOT, than from MGM. We made it back to the resort and read for a bit before bed. Another exciting day bites the dust.

Marie

 

[yellowtink]

Chapter 4: EE
It’s the second day in our expedition. To start the day off, we go to Floatworks, the resort food court. I had Froot Loops and apple juice. After we head back to our room, we go to the bus stop to catch a bus to AK. After we get off the bus, we head over to EE to get fast passes. We then head over to Kilimanjaro Safari. We saw many African wildlife, and yet again, we take pictures of the animals. I saw the baby giraffe.

We then got hungry and went to one of the many snack carts. We got a free bucket of popcorn as part of the Year of A million Dreams. Then, off to EE. I definitely did not go on it, especially because it is in the dark, it goes backwards, it has the Yeti in it, and I hate roller coasters. Then back to the resort, we go for a lunch of a chicken ceasar salad and cherry coke.

 

[yellowtink]

Now, we are off to MGM Studios. After we get there, we head over to Beauty and the Beast. The best part was it was live and real people not animatronics. Then, off to the evil Star Tours. I don’t like that ride, so I didn’t ride it. As we were going in, I got a lecture about how much they liked it or how much fun it was. Then, the people in front of us started saying how their 3 year old son loved the ride. Then, not five minutes later I got a lecture from another cast member so I just said, “I already got the spiel.”
Now, it is time for us to get seated for Fantasmic. After my mom got Z and I situated, she went off and got snacks, well to be precise caramel popcorn and a sprite. Oh boy, another bucket. Now it is time for it to start. We get near the end, ready to see this big, cool looking dragon, and what do we get, a stringy dragon. We start to leave and of course Z leads, the fastest person out of all of us, me being the slowest one has to tell him to slow down. After we make it to the bus stop, we wait and wait for our bus. We practically see every bus but ours. It finally comes and we get on, now for the looooooooooong bus ride to Epcot.

 

[yellowtink]

When we get to Epcot we are so hungry we eat first, and if there isn’t enough time we decide we can see illuminations another night. After my chicken nuggets at Electric Umbrella, we get to a spot were they are just opening a spot right next the fence, chachang. We are in the second row. We are sitting behind a nice group, as the show is starting, they make sure I can see and they even make sure another kid next to me can see. It was so sweet. It’s when it hit me, we really are in WDW. Then again Z leads us out of the park. It’s funny because Z still thinks that he is going slow, but for a kid who is short and tired, he goes like lightning. We get to the bus stop and wait again, but this time the bus came sooner, and there was much rejoicing in the kingdom, . To the room we go for a good nights sleep, not, I make myself laugh. We’re at Disney with commando Mom, there is no good night sleep.

 

[mmeb144]

Who’d a thought that Commando Mom would let the troops sleep in on a Disney vacation? Me! I knew that tonight was going to be a late night. It’s February 12th, the Pirate and Princess Party Night. This is going to be fun. We ate at the Floatworks around 9 am. Yummy Mickey Waffle and Bacon! Plus, my favorite beverage, the refillable mug with coke. As we were walking back to the room after breakfast, I snapped a few pictures to remember the wonderful resort:

I feel like the Jungle Cruise Skipper pointing out my favorite plants, “Here, here, and… Here!” While pointing at whatever is green in the immediate vicinity. My favorite part of the resort is whatever part I’m looking at.

Marie

 

[mmeb144]

I really liked the Frog Fountains. It was so relaxing to walk by them. Followed by the terror of almost tripping over them because I wasn’t paying attention.

Marie

 

[yellowtink]

Chapter 7: Sleeping

Today we slept in till 9 am , I knew we were in for a long day if commando Mom let us sleep in. Now we are awake, so we head down to the food court, I have good reviewed cinnamon roll, it was only by AB, and an apple juice, all very delicious by the way. Now we are off to Epcot, to ride Living Seas with Nemo and Friends, or the clam ride. It’s basically a ride that tells part of the story of Nemo, it is pretty cool. You even get to see real fish. We went to Japan to get AB his need to get the Yakitori house, the fast food Japan restaurant out of his system. The food was icky, so mom let me go to the Liberty Tavern for chicken nuggets, grapes, fries, and a coke. I was one very happy camper. We stopped at the kidcot stop so we could get part of our passport filled out. The lady even wrote my name in Japanese. As we were leaving, we rode the big golf ball or Spaceship Earth.

 

[Montana Disney Fan]

Great report guys! I love the pre-teen attitude

Big Macs Rule! I'm with you on that one.

Space Mountain rules over Dumbo in our book. But we try to avoid Fantasyland since it's utter chaos whenever we walk thru there.

There are frog fountains all over WDW. We call the ones at SSR "Spittin' Frogs"

You guys went seriously "Commando" on this trip. What troopers you all are!

 

[mmeb144]

We headed over to EPCOT after breakfast. We were on a mission, Pluto wanted another cool anime t-shirt from the Mitsokoshi Department Store in the Japan Pavilion. He had gotten a Ruroni Kenshon shirt in December 2005 at the store and he wanted another anime shirt.

However, the World Showcase didn’t open until 11. We had some time to kill. I’d been reading about the Clam Ride, er, the Living Seas with Nemo and Friends from the disboards, so I really wanted to try it out. We walked through the queue. What a long queue! It was very nicely themed, like a beach scene, taking you under the water by the time you got to the clams. The part where you do the ride is pretty cute, but not something I want to do over and over again. We didn’t even stay in the Seas area after the ride. We are definitely attraction oriented.

We walked over to Japan. It so pretty! And only about 1 mile away from the Living Seas with etc., not like a bazillion miles like the real Japan. We trolled the Mitsukoshi store. Did you know that there was no one else in the store but us at 11 am? Weird! We cased the joint. No anime shirts that Pluto wanted. Too bad. He was bummed. I was bummed. It’s so hard to find cool shirts.

We found a display of these cats in different colors. They were definitely Japanese cats, like in this picture that I borrowed:

I wanted the yellow one. It’s supposed to give you good luck with finances. I could really use that. Hagrid could really use that. Maybe we would have won the lottery. I didn’t buy it. Who needs another thing to gather dust at home and wind up in the yard sale for a quarter? Although, I can see from my trip notes that I meant to go back.

Marie

 

[mmeb144]

MDF, I love your trip report. I'm so thrilled that you posted on mine!

You guys went seriously "Commando" on this trip. What troopers you all are!

My family has to agree with you on this one. I honestly didn't think that I was all commando. I got my pool time in. To me, that's part of the fun. That also means that we are not "going commando". But, my family thought that we were working too hard.

You can sleep when you're dead, soldier, er, family!

Marie

 

[mmeb144]

Pluto and I really wanted to eat at the Yakitori House, in the Japan Pavilion. I’d eaten there before, on a trip that didn’t have children on the journey. I thought it was ok, kinda like saying that McDonald’s makes good steak. It’s not Mitukoshi Teppanyaki, but it’s ok. We got the sampler plate so that we could try everything. Pluto really liked the food. He and I had a great lunch. Tink, not so much. She did try all the food.

After Pluto and I were done with lunch, we walked over to the Liberty Inn to get Tink a little sumpin’ sumpin’. She was a good sport about the Japanese food.

As we were leaving EPCOT, we rode Spaceship Earth. I don’t know why Tink likes this attraction, but she does. We have to ride it every time. It’s getting kinda dated. Yo, Disney, how about updating the ending? Not just adding an attraction at the end of the ride, but updating the end of the ride. Rant over.

We rode in the front of the monorail over to the MK. We had to wait to catch the next train to get the coveted spot. It was worth it. I love the view from the front. We got the Monorail Co-pilot’s License. Sweet! I should laminate it and carry it in my wallet for my own portable piece of Disney magic. Nah! I have my magical memories.

Marie

 

[photo_chick]

You guys keep saying "going commando". In our house that is going without underwear, something that Mommy frowns upon!

Great report, waiting for more!

 

[Montana Disney Fan]

I ate at the Yakitori house with my brother back in 2002 and loved it. I remember having some sort of Japanese beer with it. Anyway, I've never eaten there with the kids and mom.

It really is beautiful pavilion. We can't seem to eat anywhere except Germany and the Fish & Chips in England.

My DD5 also loves Spaceship Earth. I like it for the quick nap it allows me.

That queue at the "Clam Ride" was actually full this week! But normally, we hit it early enough to just walk right on. Once again, DD loves it.

I'm actually down here (in WDW) right now. Just got back from swimming and then headed to dinner. We go home in the morning

 

[NMAmy]

Loved the resort pictures! I've never made it over there--it's very pretty.

Can't wait to read more!

 

[yellowtink]

We rode the monorail back to Magic Kingdom; we got to sit in the front. I now have a license. I can drive the monorail. We got there and went straight to get fast passes for BTMR. Now, off to Winnie the Pooh, we left AB to ride BTMR again. Mom and I almost got caught by the parade on our way back. We dashed off after they said if you weren’t watching then move. When we got there AB hadn’t gotten off so we waited, Mom was getting nervous, she thought AB left without us. Then, I came to the rescue, I saw him come out of the ride. Mom and AB wanted to ride Haunted Mansion, but it was having technical difficulties. Oh, the agony, it’s time for a smackarol of something. I got a Mickey shaped ice cream sandwich. Now, off to the Jungle Cruise. We got Justin, he was good, he had perfect timing for the jokes. “Watch out for Ginger, she snaps.” Mom and AB rode Pirates of the Caribbean, I didn’t ride. We then got a call saying my dad’s flight was delayed because of technical difficulties.

 

[yellowtink]

We rode the monorail back to Magic Kingdom; we got to sit in the front. I now have a license. I can drive the monorail. We got there and went straight to get fast passes for BTMR. Now, off to Winnie the Pooh, we left AB to ride BTMR again. Mom and I almost got caught by the parade on our way back . We dashed off after they said if you weren’t watching then move. When we got there AB hadn’t gotten off so we waited, Mom was getting nervous, she thought AB left without us. Then, I came to the rescue, I saw him come out of the ride . Mom and AB wanted to ride Haunted Mansion, but it was having technical difficulties. Oh, the agony, it’s time for a smackarol of something. I got a Mickey shaped ice cream sandwich. Now, off to the Jungle Cruise. We got Justin, he was good, he had perfect timing for the jokes. “Watch out for Ginger, she snaps.” Mom and AB rode Pirates of the Caribbean, I didn’t ride. We then got a call saying my dad’s flight was delayed because of technical difficulties.

 

[mmeb144]

You guys keep saying "going commando". In our house that is going without underwear, something that Mommy frowns upon!

Yikes! I didn't mean to "go commando" like that! Think more like Arnold Schwarzenegger. My family calls me Arni.

Marie