We Ditched The Kids! - UPDATE (7/22 - NYC trip)

[wasnotafan]

LIFE UPDATE:

Sorry I have been scarce on the boards this week. It's been an incredibly busy week and I haven't had much time to work on an update here or catch up on your TR's. So I apologize for being so far behind! I'll do my best to catch up if/when things slow down.

The big reason for my absence is: I finally got a promotion! Those of you who have been talking with me through the years know how long I've been trying to get over that particular hump. So this is a very exciting time and the first raise I've gotten in 8 years. We may or may not have visited my favorite steak house when we got the news. The only downside is that it means the end of my long-running gag of comparing the interview process to Morgan Freeman's visits to the parole board in The Shawshank Redemption.

I'll start the new job (not only is it a raise, but the work location is 10 minutes from my house) at the beginning of May. In the meantime, I need to try and get things wrapped up in a good place in my current position. It's very possible that my DIS time could drastically decrease with the new position, so I don't know what that will mean for the future of TR's. But hopefully it will all work out.

In the meantime, I promise I'll try and catch up here and on your TR's as soon as I can!

Congrats on the promotion, better you than me. I don't want more responsibility, just more money.

 

[pkondz]

That's a non-starter right there.

Yep.

I know. I mean, uh...I wouldn't have guessed that.

That line cracks me up every time.

One of the better ones from that movie. That whole interchange is.

Sorry I have been scarce on the boards this week. It's been an incredibly busy week and I haven't had much time to work on an update here or catch up on your TR's. So I apologize for being so far behind! I'll do my best to catch up if/when things slow down.

I get it. Trust me.

The big reason for my absence is: I finally got a promotion!

Saw that on FB. Congrats!

We may or may not have visited my favorite steak house when we got the news.

I trust that it's "may" and not "may not".

The only downside is that it means the end of my long-running gag of comparing the interview process to Morgan Freeman's visits to the parole board in The Shawshank Redemption.

Small price to pay, I'm thinking.

(not only is it a raise, but the work location is 10 minutes from my house)

Nice!

 

[franandaj]

The big reason for my absence is: I finally got a promotion!

Congratulations!

hose of you who have been talking with me through the years know how long I've been trying to get over that particular hump. So this is a very exciting time and the first raise I've gotten in 8 years.

I haven't been around all 8 years, but I have followed several unfulfilled promotions.

I'll start the new job (not only is it a raise, but the work location is 10 minutes from my house) at the beginning of May.

That's awesome!

t's very possible that my DIS time could drastically decrease with the new position, so I don't know what that will mean for the future of TR's. But hopefully it will all work out.

Ugh. So you're saying that all your DIS time happened on work time when you were supposed to be doing your job.

It's been so long since I was employed by someone else and the Internet was so new I barely remember how much time I spent at work on personal items. Although I did plan our entire NZ trip mostly at work and that was about 20 years ago.

In the meantime, I promise I'll try and catch up here and on your TR's as soon as I can!

Good luck! And I hope the new job is all you hope it to be!

 

[Flossbolna]

Mark, how wonderful! I am so happy that they finally realised what a creative and smart guy they have working for them! Congratulations! I hope the new job is not only financially rewarding, but also interesting and with great colleagues!

 

[Cinderella's Fella]

LIFE UPDATE:

Sorry I have been scarce on the boards this week. It's been an incredibly busy week and I haven't had much time to work on an update here or catch up on your TR's. So I apologize for being so far behind! I'll do my best to catch up if/when things slow down.

The big reason for my absence is: I finally got a promotion! Those of you who have been talking with me through the years know how long I've been trying to get over that particular hump. So this is a very exciting time and the first raise I've gotten in 8 years. We may or may not have visited my favorite steak house when we got the news. The only downside is that it means the end of my long-running gag of comparing the interview process to Morgan Freeman's visits to the parole board in The Shawshank Redemption.

I'll start the new job (not only is it a raise, but the work location is 10 minutes from my house) at the beginning of May. In the meantime, I need to try and get things wrapped up in a good place in my current position. It's very possible that my DIS time could drastically decrease with the new position, so I don't know what that will mean for the future of TR's. But hopefully it will all work out.

In the meantime, I promise I'll try and catch up here and on your TR's as soon as I can!

 

[jwwi]

Congratulations on your promotion!

 

[irene_dsc]

Congrats on your promotion!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

CONGRATS MARK!!!! I know this promotion was a long time coming for you! Well deserved, I'm sure. I guess we will be glad to see you when we can.

 

[justafigment27]

Congratulations on your promotion! A 10 minute commute is pretty nice as well!

 

[Poolrat]

45 minutes of air conditioning!

And darkness to aid the napping process.

The big reason for my absence is: I finally got a promotion! Those of you who have been talking with me through the years know how long I've been trying to get over that particular hump. So this is a very exciting time and the first raise I've gotten in 8 years.

I will say it again.... Congrats and it is well deserved and long overdue. I hope this new job satisfies you and restores your faith that the wait was worth it.

 

[Dugette]

Congratulations on finally getting a promotion! It's about time. I've only been following a couple years, but I know this was long-awaited.

Also, I'm starting to think that maybe the key to getting promotions/raises is DIS-ing at work? No wonder I've been in the same position for nearly 9 years - I do 99% of my DIS-ing at home. Guess I need to reconsider that one.

Hmmmm, maybe this raise means we can have even more glamorous trips to follow - maybe you'll even stay in a room where the kids can all sleep in beds. Looking forward to seeing what is to come.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Congrats on the new job!!!

Thank you!

Shut the front door!!!! Really??? Is this a joke???

It's so hard to believe.



I'm glad you finally broke through. Congratulations, I couldn't be happier for you!!!

Does the promotion come with a padded handle for when you're leaning on a shovel?

Thanks, Andy! And yes, this is very hard to believe. I had started to think it might never happen. But there was a lot to learn in the repeated attempts, too. You learn much more from failure than you do from success.

Now I get to make other people lean on shovels.

Congrats on the promotion, better you than me. I don't want more responsibility, just more money.

Thanks! That's the American Dream, right there.

One of the better ones from that movie. That whole interchange is.

Agreed.

I get it. Trust me.

I'm surprised you even have time to sleep, let alone post TR's on the DIS.

Saw that on FB. Congrats!

Thank you, sir!

I trust that it's "may" and not "may not".

Ok, fine. I stuffed my face with a grilled ribeye and loaded baked potato.

Small price to pay, I'm thinking.

Congratulations!

Thanks Alison!

I haven't been around all 8 years, but I have followed several unfulfilled promotions.

It was a long, painful process. But I did learn a lot.

That's awesome!

Ugh. So you're saying that all your DIS time happened on work time when you were supposed to be doing your job.

You're killing me.

Most of my available DIS time did come from work--lunch break is a great time to work on TR chapters and the slow days are good for catching up on replies to the other threads I follow or responding on my own threads. At home, with 4 kids, I mostly am otherwise occupied. Also, most of my time online at home is via the iPad or phone, so that doesn't lend itself to writing TR chapters or multi-quoting very well. And Julie would yell at me if I disappeared to the computer every night.

It's been so long since I was employed by someone else and the Internet was so new I barely remember how much time I spent at work on personal items. Although I did plan our entire NZ trip mostly at work and that was about 20 years ago.

I bet you don't regret it!

Good luck! And I hope the new job is all you hope it to be!

Thanks, and me too!

Mark, how wonderful! I am so happy that they finally realised what a creative and smart guy they have working for them! Congratulations! I hope the new job is not only financially rewarding, but also interesting and with great colleagues!

Either that, or I was the lesser of all evils!

Seriously, though--thank you very much!

Thanks, Randall!

Congratulations on your promotion!

Thank you!

Congrats on your promotion!

Thank you!

CONGRATS MARK!!!! I know this promotion was a long time coming for you! Well deserved, I'm sure. I guess we will be glad to see you when we can.

Thank you! Hopefully I'll still be able to be around. I have a feeling I will be very busy.

Congratulations on your promotion! A 10 minute commute is pretty nice as well!

Thanks! That new commute is going to be pretty awesome.

I will say it again.... Congrats and it is well deserved and long overdue. I hope this new job satisfies you and restores your faith that the wait was worth it.

Thank you, Pat!

Congratulations on finally getting a promotion! It's about time. I've only been following a couple years, but I know this was long-awaited.

Thanks a lot!

Also, I'm starting to think that maybe the key to getting promotions/raises is DIS-ing at work? No wonder I've been in the same position for nearly 9 years - I do 99% of my DIS-ing at home. Guess I need to reconsider that one.

Well, I tried to explain how it works for me above. Maybe if I had a laptop at home it would be different. Right now I have busy days and slow days, and the slow days are when I can pop in here.

Hmmmm, maybe this raise means we can have even more glamorous trips to follow - maybe you'll even stay in a room where the kids can all sleep in beds. Looking forward to seeing what is to come.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves! I am still at heart a cheapskate, and my daughter starts college in 4 years.

 

[pkondz]

I'm surprised you even have time to sleep, let alone post TR's on the DIS.

What is this "sleep" thing that you speak of?

Ok, fine. I stuffed my face with a grilled ribeye and loaded baked potato.

Atta boy.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Congratulations! I know that this is a long awaited and well deserved promotion! Now we just keep our fingers crossed that it doesn't cut too deeply in your DIS time.

 

[Steppesister]

That it was! Now we need the time and budget to go back and do another one.

Good luck with that!

Seriously. Lots of great places to get that sleeping time in.

Ellen's also comes to mind.

I finally got a promotion!

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTY!

And a couple of dancing bananas for good measure.

(I actually saw it on FB a while back, but didn't want to steal your thunder here. You are welcome.)

It's very possible that my DIS time could drastically decrease with the new position, so I don't know what that will mean for the future of TR's. But hopefully it will all work out.

That would seriously stink. Say it isn't true.

Does the promotion come with a padded handle for when you're leaning on a shovel?

 

[GoofyFan1515]

45 minutes of air conditioning!

And darkness to aid the napping process.

Unless it turns into a water ride............and then you're wide awake wondering What The............

The big reason for my absence is: I finally got a promotion! Those of you who have been talking with me through the years know how long I've been trying to get over that particular hump. So this is a very exciting time and the first raise I've gotten in 8 years. We may or may not have visited my favorite steak house when we got the news. The only downside is that it means the end of my long-running gag of comparing the interview process to Morgan Freeman's visits to the parole board in The Shawshank Redemption.

Congratulations Mark!!!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

What is this "sleep" thing that you speak of?

I have a toddler. I have no idea.

Congratulations! I know that this is a long awaited and well deserved promotion! Now we just keep our fingers crossed that it doesn't cut too deeply in your DIS time.

Thanks Lisa! We'll just have to see how it all works out!

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTY!

And a couple of dancing bananas for good measure.

(I actually saw it on FB a while back, but didn't want to steal your thunder here. You are welcome.)

Thanks Liesa! Definitely dancing banana-worthy.

That would seriously stink. Say it isn't true.

It isn't true.

Ok, I have no idea how it will work, but you told me to say it.

Unless it turns into a water ride............and then you're wide awake wondering What The............

Congratulations Mark!!!

Thanks Marv!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Chapter 5: Money’s Too Tight For Steak.

I seem to be in the habit lately of posting chapters on my kids' birthdays. Today is Scotty's 10th birthday--or as we like to think of it, the 10th Anniversary of When Scotty Happened!

It was early afternoon on a beautiful December Saturday in the Magic Kingdom. We were there with thousands of our closest friends, and more arriving by the minute.


I’d known to expect crowds. There was no Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party scheduled that evening, so that fact combined with it being a Saturday meant the Magic Kingdom would be full of people. However, I felt like I needed to be in the MK today because I knew the tour would take 5 hours out of the day, so I needed to schedule around the party and make sure I could maximize the amount of hours we’d have there. We still had 3 Fastpass+ reservations to use, but…well, I’ll get to that. With the crowds, we needed to prioritize.


We had not yet had a Dole Whip on this trip. That needed to be fixed, pronto. So Aloha Isle was the first stop. Julie was so anxious she couldn’t even wait for the obligatory photo before diving in.

You know you're thinking it:

Our first FP+ reservation was for an afternoon ride on the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, which we had not experienced yet. We had a little time to kill before then, so we looked for some other rides to check off the list. Pirates…wait time 40 minutes. Jingle Cruise…wait time 45 minutes.


We wandered up towards Liberty Square.


Haunted Mansion…wait time 40 minutes. Thank goodness we’d already done that one on the tour. Peter Pan…50 minutes. It’s A Small World…ok, I’ll be honest, I didn’t even look.


We could not find a single ride, even the lowlights, that didn’t have at least a 30-minute wait. At least it was a nice day.

Our other 2 FP+ reservations were not until the evening. I knew that Julie wanted to experience Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at night, so I’d made sure to make a reservation then. And since having an evening FP+ meant we wouldn’t be able to grab any more throughout the day, I’d gone ahead and made a reservation for the Wishes viewing area so I wouldn’t have to stake out a spot for over an hour.


It was here that we started to see the downside of the FP+ system. Yes, it’s convenient to know that you’ll definitely be getting on the headliners and won’t have to rush to get there. But the system has performed as Disney intended—it spread people throughout the parks to the other attractions. And so, on a crowded day, the FP+ system feels more like you’re being told, “Just pick the three rides you want to do today, and please spend the rest of the time in the gift shops.”


Part of that feeling stems from the fact that we’d grown accustomed to the paper FP system and had figured out how to maximize it to our advantage. Even on a more crowded day, we’d be able to get multiple rides on the headliners. Now, that advantage is basically gone. The best strategy is, of course, to get there at park opening, and I don’t think that will ever change. But this was definitely a different feeling for us—the feeling of attractions being unavailable without a long wait.


Without a doubt, the tour threw us off our normal park strategies. Without that, we would have hit many of the big rides in the morning. So I think in the future, we’ll arrive at park opening and reserve FP’s for the big rides in the afternoon.


We finished our Dole Whip floats and wandered a bit more until it was time for our ride on 7DMT. A look at the wait time revealed that the standby wait was 100 minutes, so we were very thankful for the FP+.

It still took about 10-15 minutes even in the FP line before we made it to the loading area. Such is the popularity of the ride. We got our safety bars in position and set off.

Heigh-ho,
Heigh-ho,
It's off to work we--wait, it's over already? Didn't we just get on?

Ok, that's an over-exaggeration. It’s a fun little ride. I’d look at it as a nice little warm-up ride. But it’s extremely short, and if I’d had to wait 100 minutes for that? I definitely would not have been happy.


Then again, I wouldn’t have been happy to wait 100 minutes for just about anything.


Once we’d finished, we walked around New(ish) Fantasyland. Hey, it was new to us, ok? And we enjoyed taking in the sights.

We wandered down to Tomorrowland, and still found that every ride had a wait longer than we were willing to bear. Even the Peoplemover line was backed up down the block. We ducked into a shop to get souvenirs for the kids. We had recently seen Tomorrowland, the movie, and thought Tomorrowland pins would be a cute gift for them. We took one more look around Tomorrowland and found that the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor had a 20-minute wait. That was acceptable. So we got in line.


I like that show a lot. Probably because I’m a Dad, and therefore the humor is right in line with my own. This time, I actually got on screen, but it was just as something generic like “Just happy to be here” or something like that. Being “That Guy” remains on the Bucket List.


Once we left the show, we figured we’d killed enough time to start heading to our dinner destination. Along the way out, we ran into the tail end of the Parade That Everyone Patiently Sits Through Even Though They Just Want To See The Fire-Breathing Dragon Float. I tried to get a good shot of the dragon breathing flames, but somewhere along the way we’d hit the knob on the camera and changed the settings, so it was waiting to charge up the flash before firing and the timing was off. So, no cool photo for us. Yes, you can blame operator error. I know you’re just itching to do that.

We had to take advantage of another photo op on the way out.

After another wait (I really should have sprung for that Express Bus Pass), we were on our way to the Yacht Club.


Well, sort of. The entrance to the Yacht Club was under construction, so they dropped us off much closer to the Beach Club. Then we walked about 3 miles back to the Yacht Club. Then we walked to the restaurant, which was actually much of the way back towards the Beach Club. We were eating at the Yachtsman Steakhouse.

When we’d planned our meals, this was the one I’d basically forced onto the agenda. Yes, it’s very pricy, but we had those Disney Visa Rewards to cover it. And I knew we’d never, ever be able to afford to eat here with the whole family in tow. Julie was ambivalent—not that she doesn’t like steak, but she doesn’t go out of her way for it as a special meal. I, on the other hand, will go far, far out of my way for a good steak. Our dinner conversations usually remind me of something out of the Simpsons:


Marge: What do you want me to pick up for dinner tonight:

Homer: Steak.

Marge: Money’s too tight for steak.

Homer: Steak.


You can probably figure out which one is Julie and which one is me. Anyway, I figured this trip was basically my only chance to try the place out.


There was nobody in line and nobody in the restaurant, but they still made us go through the charade of signing in at the desk for our reservation and then giving us a pager to return when it was time to be seated. I guess that’s how you know you’re in a more pretentious restaurant. Anyway, we took about 22 seconds to go back out and sit on a bench before the pager went off. Well, look at that! I guess they found room for us.


We were seated by a window under the rotunda. It was a nice spot.

Our server was a nice older Hispanic man named Oscar, who was just wonderful company throughout the evening. He seemed pleased that we were willing to talk with him and took his time with us, sharing stories of his family. Just a great guy, and he made the evening very pleasant.


Julie went big and ordered the Kansas City ribeye, while I went with Oscar’s recommendation and got the NY strip steak. It came with potatoes au gratin as a side.

For dessert, we were going to abstain until Julie saw a “chocolate peanut butter pretzel cake” on the menu. Oscar brought out the plate and set it in front of Julie. He handed me a fork and an empty plate.


“She decides how much you get,” he announced. Thanks, Oscar. Tell me something I don’t already know.

Everything was absolutely delicious. The steak was really tender, and the potatoes were full of cheese and melted in my mouth. This wound up being my favorite meal of the trip. Julie, for her part, still preferred Boma. She’s weird.


After dinner, we wandered the Yacht and Beach Clubs a bit in order to see the Christmas decorations. The Yacht Club had a cool winter train set in the lobby.

While we were there, Julie tugged my arm. Just on the other side of the display stood Stephanie, our tour guide. I hadn’t recognized her in street clothes. She was hanging out with a couple of friends and showing them the decorations. We would have said hi if she’d made eye contact, but that didn’t happen so we just let her go without bothering her. She’d already spent 5 hours with me, so that was well above and beyond the call of duty. But it was nice to see a CM still enjoying Disney on her off-hours. I guess the magic hadn’t been ruined for her, either.


Not to be outdone, the Beach Club lobby featured a rotating gingerbread carousel.

That was an impressive piece of work. This is a little hard to read, but here are the ingredients:

After that tour, we hopped back onto a bus bound for the Magic Kingdom. The crowds had not dissipated in the least.

We had a little time to kill before riding Big Thunder Mountain, so we wandered over to Tomorrowland. The line for the Peoplemover was still stretching back to the stage area, but if you looked closely, you could see that they were stacking the line a bit. So we jumped in and only waited about fifteen minutes or so before climbing into a car.


It just so happened that the castle lighting ceremony took place while we were riding along.

The Peoplemover is classic Disney for me. I’ve loved it since I was a kid, and even though it’s doesn’t offer any thrills, there’s something about it that makes it a must-do for me. I think it’s a combination of factors—it was ahead of its time in terms of being powered through electromagnetism, it is a great place to rest your feet, and it’s also great for both people-watching and giving you a nice view of the park. The model of Walt’s EPCOT and the chance to see Space Mountain with the lights on always help, too.

After our ride around Tomorrowland, we set off for the opposite end of the park. Past the castle…

Past the Tangled Tinkle Spot. We paid our respects to Rapunzel here by…well, never mind.

Past the riverboat and Tom Sawyer’s Island.

And we finally ended up at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. The posted wait time was 45 minutes, so once again we were happy to scan our wristbands, get the glowy-swirly light-up thingy to turn green, and bypass the wait.


During our last visit to the Magic Kingdom in 2012, Scotty still hated BTMRR. So when we had the chance to ride it at night, I wound up taking Sarah and David for a spin while Julie took one for the team and rode the Tomorrowland Speedway with Scotty at the wheel. To say she got the wrong end of that deal is to say the Phillies didn’t quite recoup their value when they traded Ryne Sandberg for Ivan DeJesus. Anyway, at long last, Julie finally got to ride Big Thunder Mountain at night.


She loved it! It really is great at night. As Julie put it, it feels a little more out-of-control at night. And it goes faster than 7 mph, so it does get the edge over the “Speedway” as a nighttime experience.


We walked back towards Fantasyland. Once again, it was hard to find any rides that didn’t have a long wait. But we finally stumbled onto the Little Mermaid ride in the back of New Fantasyland, with a 15-minute wait time posted. As it turned out, there wasn’t a soul in line. So we figured we might as well jump in and cross that one off the list.


We’d ridden the Disneyland version in 2014, and I didn’t notice any difference between the two. It’s fine for a dark ride. Nothing terribly exciting, but it did its job.


After that, we decided to head for the Wishes viewing area. At the time, this was still available for FP+ reservations, and I did like the idea of not having to fight for a piece of pavement an hour before the show started. We scanned our bands and wandered in.


The viewing area had a nice view of the castle, and just about everyone was seated, so we just needed to find a piece of AstroTurf that was open and take our seats. I’d read that the CM’s would do a good job of keeping people seated so that everyone had a good view of the show.


At first, everything was fine. But with only 2 minutes or so until the show started, the late-comers started pouring in. And they just filled in wherever, and then remained standing. None of the CM’s made a move. A few kind souls tried to move their strollers out of the way when they saw they were blocking the view, but for the most part the late-comers claimed their spots at the expense of everyone else. We scooted around as best as we could to see the castle.


iPhone photos:

Regular camera photos:

Oddly enough I think the phone still does a better job with the fireworks photos. Good thing we spent all this money on the fancy camera and lenses.


The show was great, as usual. Except for the very end. Just when they built up to the grand finale, all of these bright flashes started going off in my eyes. And they weren’t part of the show. Just ahead to our right, some family was having a series of photos taken of themselves watching the fireworks. There was a Photopass photographer taking the shots, so I guess this must have been some package available to guests? I couldn’t imagine what would possess them to think it would be fine and dandy to fire a flash repeatedly into the eyes of everyone watching the show, but I wanted to take the lady’s camera and drop it from the highest turret on the castle. Hopefully their photos turned out with a family staring at the fireworks in awe while everyone in the background is either giving them a murderous stare or holding their hands up in front of their eyes in agony.


In any case, we liked the finale of Illuminations better.


We wandered without a destination after that, just soaking in the glow of Christmas lights.

We spent a good amount of time making sure the Emporium wouldn’t go out of business this year as we tried to buy our way back into our children’s hearts. I didn’t get a photo, but I’m pretty sure I saw smoke coming from the credit card reader as the CM swiped my card. There might have been a small yelp of pain as well. But I did get a new Mickey tie, so I have that going for me, which is nice.


Coming Up Next: Half-days in the Half-Day Parks!

 

[afwdwfan]

I seem to be in the habit lately of posting chapters on my kids' birthdays. Today is Scotty's 10th birthday--or as we like to think of it, the 10th Anniversary of When Scotty Happened!

Happy Birthday Scotty!

Haunted Mansion…wait time 40 minutes. Thank goodness we’d already done that one on the tour. Peter Pan…50 minutes. It’s A Small World…ok, I’ll be honest, I didn’t even look.

FP+ really screwed attractions like those up...

It was here that we started to see the downside of the FP+ system. Yes, it’s convenient to know that you’ll definitely be getting on the headliners and won’t have to rush to get there. But the system has performed as Disney intended—it spread people throughout the parks to the other attractions. And so, on a crowded day, the FP+ system feels more like you’re being told, “Just pick the three rides you want to do today, and please spend the rest of the time in the gift shops.”

Pretty much.

Without a doubt, the tour threw us off our normal park strategies. Without that, we would have hit many of the big rides in the morning. So I think in the future, we’ll arrive at park opening and reserve FP’s for the big rides in the afternoon.

I actually like to start hitting FP+ at the end of the first park hour. You saw first hand how desperately you need that revolving 4th FP. Get your 3 done and start using it ASAP!

Heigh-ho,
Heigh-ho,
It's off to work we--wait, it's over already? Didn't we just get on?

Ok, that's an over-exaggeration. It’s a fun little ride. I’d look at it as a nice little warm-up ride. But it’s extremely short, and if I’d had to wait 100 minutes for that? I definitely would not have been happy.

I totally agree. Fun ride, but I wouldn't wait half that long for it.

Then again, I wouldn’t have been happy to wait 100 minutes for just about anything.

Good point.

This time, I actually got on screen, but it was just as something generic like “Just happy to be here” or something like that. Being “That Guy” remains on the Bucket List.

Congratulations on finally hitting the big time!

the Parade That Everyone Patiently Sits Through Even Though They Just Want To See The Fire-Breathing Dragon Float.

Yes, you can blame operator error. I know you’re just itching to do that.

It is always the operator's fault. Assuming you're the operator.

Well, sort of. The entrance to the Yacht Club was under construction, so they dropped us off much closer to the Beach Club. Then we walked about 3 miles back to the Yacht Club. Then we walked to the restaurant, which was actually much of the way back towards the Beach Club. We were eating at the Yachtsman Steakhouse.

Hindsight is 20/20, but I'd just walk through BC, take a stroll down the boardwalk and go in the backside right there at the Yachtsman.

I, on the other hand, will go far, far out of my way for a good steak.

Everything was absolutely delicious. The steak was really tender, and the potatoes were full of cheese and melted in my mouth.

Awesome! I'm glad it didn't disappoint.

After that tour, we hopped back onto a bus bound for the Magic Kingdom. The crowds had not dissipated in the least.

The Peoplemover is classic Disney for me. I’ve loved it since I was a kid, and even though it’s doesn’t offer any thrills, there’s something about it that makes it a must-do for me. I think it’s a combination of factors—it was ahead of its time in terms of being powered through electromagnetism, it is a great place to rest your feet, and it’s also great for both people-watching and giving you a nice view of the park. The model of Walt’s EPCOT and the chance to see Space Mountain with the lights on always help, too.

Always a must do! I still don't think I've ever waited 15 minutes for it though.

Past the Tangled Tinkle Spot. We paid our respects to Rapunzel here by…well, never mind.

I’d read that the CM’s would do a good job of keeping people seated so that everyone had a good view of the show.

Really? I had always heard that they advertised it as you could just sit and watch from there, but then the CM's usually made everyone stand. Either way, I guess it doesn't really matter anymore.

Oddly enough I think the phone still does a better job with the fireworks photos. Good thing we spent all this money on the fancy camera and lenses.

I couldn’t imagine what would possess them to think it would be fine and dandy to fire a flash repeatedly into the eyes of everyone watching the show, but I wanted to take the lady’s camera and drop it from the highest turret on the castle. Hopefully their photos turned out with a family staring at the fireworks in awe while everyone in the background is either giving them a murderous stare or holding their hands up in front of their eyes in agony.

I hope you photobombed them with the finger.

We spent a good amount of time making sure the Emporium wouldn’t go out of business this year as we tried to buy our way back into our children’s hearts. I didn’t get a photo, but I’m pretty sure I saw smoke coming from the credit card reader as the CM swiped my card.

I know exactly what you mean. We had a similar experience in Mouse Gears. When the CM gave us the total, my first thought was there is no way that's right.

But I did get a new Mickey tie

Cool! I got one of those too. Which one did you get?

 

[FantasiaMagic]

Hi Mark! I'm Alison
I just read through your TR and I'm really enjoying it so far! It's nice you and your wife were able to experience a kidless trip. The POLY is a dream resort for me to stay at, so I loved seeing your pictures. I love all of your food pictures, everything looks great! I also think it is so cool you and your wife did the Keys to the Kingdom Tour, that is definitely on my Disney bucket list!

Looking forward to reading more!