Volunteer John and the Contemporary Journey! Chapter 13 1/13 - FINAL THOUGHTS / COMPLETE

[cajunfan]

Definitely stop by the store if you get there early. I may or may not be working...I am "on call" tonight...hoping for a no have a nice night, since I am still fighting a cold and worked last night.

Have fun! A friend is going see it in the regular theatre at 10:40pm. He asked if I wanted to go at that time, but I have to be at my mortgage paying job at 7:30 in the morning (it's in Brentwood and I live by Opryland so have to leave really early), so that was way to late for me!

The only comment I have heard on the radio from someone that saw the preview Disney did was, "Star Wars is back"...from a "hard core" fan that thinks the last three were not good.

 

[Volunteer]

Definitely stop by the store if you get there early. I may or may not be working...I am "on call" tonight...hoping for a no have a nice night, since I am still fighting a cold and worked last night.

I'll swing by if I am there early. Hope you feel better!

Have fun! A friend is going see it in the regular theatre at 10:40pm. He asked if I wanted to go at that time, but I have to be at my mortgage paying job at 7:30 in the morning (it's in Brentwood and I live by Opryland so have to leave really early), so that was way to late for me!

Mortgage paying jobs are the pits

The only comment I have heard on the radio from someone that saw the preview Disney did was, "Star Wars is back"...from a "hard core" fan that thinks the last three were not good.

That's the general conscientious. Trying to keep my expectations low.

 

[cajunfan]

Let me know what you think about the movie...so far everyone has been positive. And there should be new merchandise at the stores this morning. I'm not sure what it is (it was quarantined boxes) but we set the stage last night so the morning crew could come in and put the new stuff out this morning. I guess I will see it tomorrow when I get there.

 

[Volunteer]

Let me know what you think about the movie...so far everyone has been positive. And there should be new merchandise at the stores this morning. I'm not sure what it is (it was quarantined boxes) but we set the stage last night so the morning crew could come in and put the new stuff out this morning. I guess I will see it tomorrow when I get there.

The movie was great! SO much fun. A simple, heartfelt adventure with deep emotions and grounded storytelling. It "felt" like Star Wars, which is something the prequel's missed so much. Of course, just my humble opinion.

 

[Volunteer]

Merry Christmas everyone!!

I hope you all are having a great time with loved ones! My family decided to spend Christmas at the beach to escape the "cold" weather in Tennessee. Wait ... it's 70 degrees in Tennessee? Oh well, at least we have nice views.

Anyways, onward ...


CHAPTER NINE: LAST NIGHT IN PARADISE

I met up with my friends and before we knew it, we were back at MGM for the evening to check out the Osborne Lights.

The crowds were pretty heavy so we didn't stick around long. It was a nice moment, because the first time I saw the Osborne Lights was with my two married friends in 2006 - they were living in South Florida at the time and I met them for a few days in the park. I'll never forget seeing the lights for the first time with them, being blown away. Now here we are again in 2015, but they've added a three and two year old while I've added at least 25 pounds . I hope Disney finds a place again for the lights in the future.

My friends wanted the kids to see Fantasmic (the first showing). We couldn't eat dinner and make it to the show (my friend actually got us all seated at Fantasmic, then grabbed a turkey leg outside the theater). My dinner was .... popcorn and maybe a corn dog?

No pictures from Fantasmic, but rest assured Mickey defeated the enemies in his dream again. He seems to have this dream every time I see this show ... maybe he should stop eating and drinking right before bed? I know I have weird dreams if I do that before I fall asleep. And the review from the three year old, "Mickey defeated the bad guys Mr. John!"

Moving on ....

The adults decided to stay and have some fun while the grandparents took the kids back. So we headed to Rock in Roller coaster for single rider. Remember earlier in the day when single rider was 45 minutes? Well ... it was that long again.

I had a ride picture, but it was awful. sorry not sorry.

At this point, we were all pretty tired so we decided it was time to make our way back to the Grand Floridian. We waited the "full" twenty minutes for the bus to get there, and we were all a little crabby. One in our crew wanted to catch a cab (If I didn't have to walk to parking at this point I may have requested an Uber), I was thinking "Grand Floridian buses should not take this long" (Snob ) and another adult in our crew said it out loud. After playing the "is that our bus coming around the corner game" (you know you've done it), we got on our bus ready for a peaceful ride back.

Well, that was not in the cards.

I know Disney buses have kids on them, and at the end of the night they are tired and cranky just like the parents are. No judging here, but this was definitely the worst ride in my entire Disney bus riding career.

Right when we got on the bus, a poor, tired, sensory overloaded little girl (maybe two or three) started wailing at a high-pitched level. I was thinking ...

... and she continued on this way for the whole ride. No breaks at any point. I felt so sorry for the dad, he was doing every thing he could. He definitely had a sense of humor about it, made a couple of jokes and apologized as they left the bus for the Poly. On top of all this, one of the sweet babies around us needed a diaper change by the smell.

It was just one of those bus rides that you didn't want to have, but it sure did beat being at home!

Once we got back to the GF, the family was sitting at the viewing area and Holiday Wishes was about to start. Since I needed to unwind after that ride, I bought a beer from the quick service restaurant and took a seat outside with my friends.

Going to apologize, these are the only two firework pictures I took.

HOWEVER, thanks to Elissa Morre on youtube I can show you a video!

After the fireworks show, we confirmed our plans for the morning (Animal Kingdom), and I went back to my room to enjoy the last few hours of being in it. Remember, I added an extra night to my trip, but I was not about to pay rack rate at the GF to stay no matter how amazing it was.

Up next: moving out of paradise

Thanks again for reading!

 

[adudeinblue]

The pictures didn't load for me, but at least you caught the show after that terrible bus ride!

Merry Christmas to you too!

 

[Volunteer]

The pictures didn't load for me, but at least you caught the show after that terrible bus ride!

Merry Christmas to you too!

That's odd. I did try a new way of imputing the pictures, where I didn't have to upload them to photobucket. I can see them on this machine using Chrome, but not Edge. I can see them on my ipad using Chrome and Safari.

I'll edit the pictures so we can avoid anyone else not seeing them. The Osborne light picture is good; however, the Wishes pictures are not.

 

[adudeinblue]

That's odd. I did try a new way of imputing the pictures, where I didn't have to upload them to photobucket. I can see them on this machine using Chrome, but not Edge. I can see them on my ipad using Chrome and Safari.

I'll edit the pictures so we can avoid anyone else not seeing them. The Osborne light picture is good; however, the Wishes pictures are not.

Thanks! It's showing for me now! Sorry!

EDIT: The Osborne lights are pretty cool! The Grand Floridan view is really awesome!

 

[Volunteer]

Thanks! It's showing for me now! Sorry!

 

[Volunteer]

Good morning everyone! I hope you're having a relaxing Christmas weekend. I woke up to this ...

We decided to shop today (since shops were open), and my family stopped by Hallmark for half off ornaments.

My moms haul

My haul

I may have a problem BUT, my tree is going to be awesome next year.

Moving on ...

CHAPTER TEN: LEAVING PARADISE

I woke up the next morning with severe Disney depression, because I was checking out of my once-in-a-lifetime room and I was set to check into ....Pop Century. Pop is great but I wasn't excited about visiting today! But, at least I was not going home just yet. I packed my bags and walked to luggage services to drop off my bags to transfer them to Pop. They let me know the bags wouldn't get there until later that afternoon, which was fine.



goodbye, my love


They started working on the Gingerbread house while I was there!

With my bags dropped off, I met my friends at the bus stop to head to Animal Kingdom!

First on the itinerary was Everest. Twice.


Rock in Roll?


Pondering existence?

BTW, back of roller coasters > front of roller coasters.

We rode the Safari, which was a great time but unfortunately I have no photographic evidence of this. I was really off my picture game today (I blame the post Grand Floridian depression). The little ones really had a good time seeing the animals.

At this point, we were headed to Epcot. I took some family pics in front of the Tree of Life (I'm really a great photographer - I got one out of two toddlers to look at the camera!), and we caught the bus to Epcot to catch up with the rest of the crew.

First priority was using Mission Space fastpasses. Code ORANGE. We succeeded our mission, landed on Mars, but then somehow were back in Epcot? I wouldn't say this bothers me, but I think about it every time I exit the ride.

Thankfully we were wise enough to do this before lunch, because we were all feeling a bit funny after the ride. I must be getting old - rides used to never mess with my equilibrium!

Clearly, the only cure for this is tacos in Mexico and Margaritas at La Cava.


YUM

We hung out in La Cava for a bit with the whole crew (it was in the low 90's so we were soaking up as much AC as possible). We also figured out our game plan for the next hour or so. Kids with other adults to Nemo, while my group used our Soarin fastpasses. I was hoping the three year old would be tall enough for Soarin, but he was just short.

Soarin is my favorite ride at Epcot, and one of my favorite rides overall. I'm really excited for the new video coming in late 2016!

We met the rest of the crew at Turtle Talk, which I think is an under rated attraction at Epcot. Crush's interactions with the kids can be pure gold sometimes!

At this point, it was getting a few hours before our ADR at Ohana and I wanted to at least get some rest time at Pop (sniff ) before dinner. So we time traveled in Spaceship earth (past, present, and future) then I caught a bus to Pop Century Resort and Spa.


My room number

I know I'm giving Pop a hard time, but I really do like that resort and it's one of my favorite values (with AoA).

I knew I would not have much time to rest, so I napped for about 45 minutes until it was time to get moving.

UP NEXT: Ohana means family, as well as stuffing your face with meat and Lapu Lapu's.

Thanks for reading!

 

[DnA2010]

Hi there, newbie on board! Enjoyed your updates so far and look forward to reading more! The GF is just lush

 

[Volunteer]

Hi there, newbie on board! Enjoyed your updates so far and look forward to reading more! The GF is just lush

Welcome! Thanks for reading, and commenting. I'm glad you are enjoying the updates!

 

[disneyguy4life]

Awesome TR updates. Great ornaments too. How was the food in Mexico? I've heard mixed reviews about it. I really look forward to trying out Ohana one day real soon. I look forward to that update. Pop is a great resort and I loved my time there. I really want to try a room on the back side of the resort next to the lake where it is a little more peaceful.

 

[Volunteer]

How was the food in Mexico? I've heard mixed reviews about it.

The food is OK, but sometimes I really have a craving for chips and gauc hahaha

Pop is a great resort and I loved my time there

I agree!

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

Catching up on TRs while filling in time at the airport in Bangkok so apologies for falling behind.

Love the ornaments - I try to collect one from everywhere I go and have a bit of an obsession with them (as the four or so boxes full in my shed will attest!)

I see you've learnt the lesson that your never go deluxe then value, you always go the other way round if doing both in one trip so you're never disappointed

 

[bbjunkie]

Love your report!

I'm completely jealous of your fortune and pixie dust at GF! I would have been just as Disney-geeked as you were.

I agree that Turtle Talk is an under-rated attraction: our daughter (9) was picked for the first question last time we were there. Crush asked if she had any siblings, and she said no. He said, "ahhh, your parents were going for quality, not quantity." Pure comedy gold, I tell 'ya!

Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip.

 

[Volunteer]

Catching up on TRs while filling in time at the airport in Bangkok so apologies for falling behind.

Love the ornaments - I try to collect one from everywhere I go and have a bit of an obsession with them (as the four or so boxes full in my shed will attest!)

I see you've learnt the lesson that your never go deluxe then value, you always go the other way round if doing both in one trip so you're never disappointed

Hope your trip is going well!

I just decided on my Peru trip to start collecting ornaments from my travels. I have a tiny Alpaca hanging out on my tree now! That way I am reminded of the trip every year

Love your report!

I'm completely jealous of your fortune and pixie dust at GF! I would have been just as Disney-geeked as you were.

I agree that Turtle Talk is an under-rated attraction: our daughter (9) was picked for the first question last time we were there. Crush asked if she had any siblings, and she said no. He said, "ahhh, your parents were going for quality, not quantity." Pure comedy gold, I tell 'ya!

Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip.

Thank you for reading, and welcome! Glad you are enjoying.

 

[ursalita]

HI! Joining in. I'm enjoying your report. The room you had at GF was incredible. That's a nice tip about walking to the Contemporary from MK for the monorail, have to remember that for next time. That's so funny about Joe Biden crashing your vaca. Looking forward to hearing about Ohana. We've never been but it's a must for our upcoming trip.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I guess going from m the GF to POP before leaving is kinda like weening yourself off vacation .... and als an excuse to drown your "sorrows" in a La Cava margarita (my favorite EPCOT snack )

I too am looking forward to the new Soarin movie - very Much hoping it is up and running by our July trip

Seems like a fun day and nice to rest up before an "all you care to enjoy" dinner!

 

[crazycatlady]

Great report! I would love to stay at the GF some time! My family loves POP, but after staying at the Wilderness Lodge a couple of years ago and then Royal Pacific Resort the past two trips to Orlando, it was hard to even book CBR for our most recent trip (I know, snob ). I love the feel of hotels vs motels and you can't beat relaxing on your balcony at the end of the day. I look forward to reading about the end of your trip.