We're Doing WHAT For My Birthday??? - Final Thoughts

[kaoden39]

Mike,

That is amazing!! Thank you!! I saved it to my computer to use as a desktop. We have a big screen on our desktop and that will look amazing on it. I am pleased to hear I am not the only one that loves Wall-E. My family thinks I am nuts.

 

[mnmrmustard]

Mike,

That is amazing!! Thank you!! I saved it to my computer to use as a desktop. We have a big screen on our desktop and that will look amazing on it. I am pleased to hear I am not the only one that loves Wall-E. My family thinks I am nuts.

Well three cheers for being nuts then!

If that shape doesn't work well on your desktop I have two other versions that are the same quality but may fit it better. Mine is ultra-stretched to encompass the two monitors.

Now back to the TR Fun!!!!

 

[mnmrmustard]

We continued our journey with Donald and the Caballeros. Donald did a mean hat dance

It’s getting dark in here

Donald trips down a pyramid

Festive skeletons

Very musical culture

This part had a real IaSW feel to it

Donald in trouble again

Mexico with a tropical vibe

Los Mariachis

Mexican magic carpet?

Fireworks!

Donald is the star!

The stars love him :-D

Hasta la vista baby!

We got off the ride and decided to skip shopping in there other than looking through the crystal shop outside the ride entrance. Very cool stuff but very $$$. We took a wrong turn and went out the doors on the right side as you’re leaving the marketplace. It was actually very peaceful on this side and shady. And it had this cool mosaic

Unfortunately there wasn’t a good way for Roxy to navigate her ECV so we went back in and out the other set of doors. We rolled back out front and I snapped one more shot of the big pyramid

Roxy volunteered to take her scooter and zoom back to Norway to see if Maelstrom was open. I browsed one of the stalls and eyed the margarita stand until she called saying it was open. I met her and we were quickly at the entrance

I took one more shot of the architecture before we went inside.

The line had been kind of spread out up until the doors, then it started to get a little tight. As we went through a very pushy group of ladies literally pushed past us. I think I said something along the lines of “oh please, go right ahead” to them, but they acted like they didn’t hear me.

Once inside we were wedged between them and another group that had a teenager pushing an older lady in a wheelchair. He kept hitting Roxy’s already unhappy ankles with the chair. I had to put myself in between her and them and give the kid a look to get him to back off. I’m happy to report that this was the only ride line that we had people issues on for the whole trip :-]

I was surprised at how much the line zig-zagged once you got inside but it was air-conditioned so no real biggie. It took about 20 minutes to make it onto the ride, which I though was pretty cool. I tried to take pics but it is so low light and the movement is quick enough that I ended up with a bunch of very blurry images. This is the only one worth posting.

We came out and I got a pic of Roxy with the big troll guy – I think he was trying to get fresh with her

With that accomplished we went back past Mexico and on to the main walkway towards Future World. Here we found some flag topiaries

Just past them was Lightning McQueen!

Mater was supposed to be there with him but they apparently had some issues with him and had to pull him from the display :-[

Next up there is shopping and food and fireworks!

Click here to view the next chapter: Day 3 Part 13 - Roxy Shops, I Much, and We Are Illuminated!

 

[mnmrmustard]

By now the sun was going down and it was finally cooling off a bit. I walked over to the lagoon facing SE and captured this panorama

SE Lagoon Panorama

We followed the central causeway back to Future World. I was getting hungry and figured Electric Umbrella would be a good cheap fix. Roxy wasn’t hungry so she veered into MouseGear while I sat down with a chicken sandwich and fries. After eating I got a call from Roxy and we browsed MouseGear some more and picked up a bag for Roxy and some stuff for the girls. After we checked out it was close to 8pm so we started heading back towards World Showcase.

Hey look, SE! Haven’t seen that before – lol

Fountains

Now the sun was completely down and the air had a purplish-pink hue to it

Here’s a big picture of it

We headed back to the lagoon and saw that they had the central spot completely roped off for some special event. So we rolled around and picked a spot in between the Mexico and Norway pavilions to watch the show.

We ended up camped out next to a French couple and their son. We couldn’t understand much of what each other said but we had a good time trying :-D The sun was now gone and darkness enshrouded the lagoon

WE Lagoon at Night Large

Finally it was 9pm and I was going to stand up and start taking pics. But for some reason our area had people staying seated up front. I have seen Illuminations only one other time and we were all crowded and standing at the fence. Roxy helped be my conscience and I stayed down for the sake of the people behind me, which unfortunately meant that I had to squat in an awkward position for the show. I was not feeling very Disney by the end of it from mad ankles and knees. Still got some interesting pics though – on with the show!

It started out with a bang!

Very bright

Like a volcanic eruption

Then things went pink

Now that’s a fire!

Big Shot of that One

Classic starbursts

***Warning! Excessive Panoramas Coming Up!***

And then the world came out

Big panorama of the World lighting up

The fountains kicked in

Big Shot of Fountains

Then they turned blue

Blue Fountains

And on to Pink

Pink Fountains

Sparks light the sky

Sparks in the Sky

And everything goes boom!

The World goes Boom!

Next up, we finish being Illuminated …but the evening isn’t over!

Click here to view the next chapter: Day 3 Part 14 – Fireworks, Goodies, and Night Views of WS

 

[mnmrmustard]

The show headed towards its finale

Like a big flower!

Blindingly bright

Purple explosion

Blurry but still pretty

Another big boom

The torch is lit

The Torch Large Scale

Close-up of torch

High-flying fireworks

Final caboom!

Now on a normal night you’d see all the masses flooding towards the exits, and there was a certain amount of that. But for us and the lucky guests of Disney Resorts it was EMH time! We went against the flow clockwise back around WS. Soon we were clear of the crowds and passing Norway.

It looked very sleepy

China was very serene

Then we made it back to our goal, Germany! We went into the goodie shop and Roxy picked up an assortment of chocolate and caramel delights. It acted as her dinner since she had shopped through regular dinner time. I just wanted some cold water ;-] We walked through the shops and I took a pic of the fountain

We walked back towards the lagoon and a CM snapped out pics.

As you can see my sunscreen didn’t hold up quite as well as I would have liked. Forehead was better by morning but my neck was pretty red as the lanyard and my camera strap kept rubbing off the sunscreen.

Fuzzy but still a cool pic

From there we took a leisurely stroll around the rest of the loop. It was really nice, the temp was good and the crowds were gone. Very nice quiet time for Roxy and I.

Italy shines

Japan Glows

Morocco Rests

Paris is filled with Romance

One last slightly fuzzy panorama looking back towards American Adventure

Slighty Fuzzy American Adventure

Next up we wrap up our late night at EPCOT with a wild ride!

Click here to view the next chapter: Day 3 Part 15 – A Fast Finish to a Long Day

 

[mnmrmustard]

Okay, I know I need to scale back the amount of pics I post with these TRs. I had to do 15 parts to this day to make it work – lolol

Once we finished the loop we decided to go ride Test Track. As I may have mentioned we had only done EPCOT one other time and our group ended up split with me taking care of Bean, who wasn’t feeling well. The other group went on TT so I had never been on it. The line wasn’t bad and gave enough time to look at all of the cool stuff along the way without us getting bored.

Looking across the organized mayhem

Old School

Emissions test

The engine churns along

The acoustic room was cool.

Stripped car

Corrosion test

Seat wear test

Hi Roxy!

Airbag test

Smushed car

Hearing the briefing

Camera couldn’t keep up but it made cool designs!

Heat lamps

Beware corrosion

Squirrely turns

Loved the MOO!

The trip outside was way too fast and dark to capture anything but it was a lot of fun! We disembarked, collected Roxy’s scooter, and walked out into the showroom.

Future car

Stickers!

Fountains at night

SE …yes, again

We stopped by the TS3 topiaries one more time and got a CM to take a shot. Kinda fuzzy but the Photopass pic is better and I just ordered the CD!

We turned in Roxy’s scooter and took the LONG walk to the POP bus. I believe it was slot 18 or something, all I know is it was far. We got on the bus which had maybe a dozen people on it. We made it back to POP around 11:15pm and were asleep just before midnight.

What will tomorrow bring? What park will we go to? Well okay, all you have to do is look back at the main page to see our itinerary – lol. So tomorrow will find us at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. I have to go through those pics, but the upside there is that there is only 374 of them and I will whittle that down before posting. The EPCOT pics totaled just over 400 AFTER whittling them down. So the hope is that Day 4’s TR section won’t have quite so many chapters ;-D

Click here to view the next chapter: Day 4 Part 1 - I'm Ready for My Close-Up!

 

[kaoden39]

Wow you really updated today!!

I love the fireworks over the water. That is how they do that here, over the Suisun Bay. There is something so pretty about it. I love the night time pictures you don't get to see them very often.


Oh and thank you. I am going to try it out on the desktop later and if I have a problem I will let you know.

 

[cherbear]

Mike, I LOVE the pictures. I very much enjoy all the shots, so you don't have to whittle anything for me!

 

[lovebuzzandwoody]

Okay, I know I need to scale back the amount of pics I post with these TRs.

Nooooo! I love all the pics!!!

In fact, I stole the sunset over SE pic... the one that is pinkish. You don't mind do you?

I am happy to be all caught up here ~ I've been slacking!

 

[Trentmom]

Love your Wall E Screen...That is so neat

I like Wall E too. I even have a shirt


Your pics are awesome as usual. Love all the fireworks pics

Never seen the flag Topiaries before. They were pretty cool

Love the Cars one


Glad u got to experience Test Track. Test Track at night is the da bomb

 

[mnmrmustard]

Wow you really updated today!!

I love the fireworks over the water. That is how they do that here, over the Suisun Bay. There is something so pretty about it. I love the night time pictures you don't get to see them very often.


Oh and thank you. I am going to try it out on the desktop later and if I have a problem I will let you know.

Yes, wanted to get day 2 finished! Oh yes, fireworks over water is the best. Adds so much more to the experience.

Good luck with the desktop.

Mike, I LOVE the pictures. I very much enjoy all the shots, so you don't have to whittle anything for me!

Thank you Cheri, and I can tell you there are still plenty of pics to come

Nooooo! I love all the pics!!!

In fact, I stole the sunset over SE pic... the one that is pinkish. You don't mind do you?

I am happy to be all caught up here ~ I've been slacking!

Okay, okay, I'll not over-whittle the pics for the rest of the trip.

Glad you liked the pic, and if you or anyone else wants a bigger version if anything else I post I still have the originals. Glad you got caught up before I started day 3!

Love your Wall E Screen...That is so neat

I like Wall E too. I even have a shirt


Your pics are awesome as usual. Love all the fireworks pics

Never seen the flag Topiaries before. They were pretty cool

Love the Cars one


Glad u got to experience Test Track. Test Track at night is the da bomb

Glad there are more Wall-E fans out there

Thanks again on the pics, I think I got all of the topiaries, not completely sure. The flags were pretty cool, just wish they weren't in the shadows. Lightning McQueen was one of the best ones I think.

TT Rocks for sure!

 

[mermaid764]

Wow you got such amazing pics of Illuminations and World showcase at night, the shots are awesome!

Evening EMH at Epcot s one my favorite parts of WDW as it never seems to feel as crowded as the other parks.

Can't wait to hear about DHS

 

[kaoden39]

Mike, I wanted to let you know Wall-E looks great on my computer!!

 

[mnmrmustard]

Wow you got such amazing pics of Illuminations and World showcase at night, the shots are awesome!

Evening EMH at Epcot s one my favorite parts of WDW as it never seems to feel as crowded as the other parks.

Can't wait to hear about DHS

Thank you, I love night photography. It is one of my favorites and the lighting and architecture of Disney really lends itself to it.

This was my first evening at WS and I know I want to come back.

I didn't get through my DHS pics this weekend. Finally got some good weather and spent a big chunk of yesterday working on the yard, very sore but got a lot accomplished. Today we went to see the new PoTC, it was pretty cool

Mike, I wanted to let you know Wall-E looks great on my computer!!

Whoohoo, glad to hear it!

 

[cherbear]

Mike, I was just going back through your posts so I could find the perfect picture for my desktop background....and that's when I realized that I had missed several posts of yours--including all of your universal day! So I kept going and reading, backwards of course. LOL What great fun you had there!

We never got to experience Poseidon's so I was looking forward to your take (and pics) on it, so I was surprised that you couldn't do it.

I can't remember what happened that forced us out, but I remember a whole group of us waiting and waiting in the front area, to only end up turning around after 20 minutes. I wish I could recall what it was that made us leave.

 

[Leger13]

I'm a BAD TR follower *sigh* I never did get to come and catch up. If work is dead tomorrow I vow to come and catch up.

 

[mnmrmustard]

Mike, I was just going back through your posts so I could find the perfect picture for my desktop background....and that's when I realized that I had missed several posts of yours--including all of your universal day! So I kept going and reading, backwards of course. LOL What great fun you had there!

We never got to experience Poseidon's so I was looking forward to your take (and pics) on it, so I was surprised that you couldn't do it.

I can't remember what happened that forced us out, but I remember a whole group of us waiting and waiting in the front area, to only end up turning around after 20 minutes. I wish I could recall what it was that made us leave.

Oh no, well if you're missing stuff you can go to my first post - I have links to each chapter. Glad you found the Univeral day, hope it was fun in reverse

That's weird that you weren't able to do Poseidon's either. I kind of remember it from our 2002 trip, mostly I was thinking that the effects that we saw weren't worth all of the standing and walking we had to do. I would only go through it again if we'd done everything else we wanted to.

I'm a BAD TR follower *sigh* I never did get to come and catch up. If work is dead tomorrow I vow to come and catch up.

No worries Carla, I know how it is, I still have to make it back over to yours too. Come back when your wee one has a good nap

 

[mnmrmustard]

Saturday morning dawned warm and bright. Despite our EMH night at EPCOT, we somehow managed to be up and out the door before 8am. We grabbed breakfast burritos and filled our refillable mugs and were out the door. I just have to say how much I love the layout of POP! Easy walk to an easy-access food court and right out the doors to the bus loading zones. We headed outside and on a Disney bus which was happily waiting for us.

DHS was opening up at 8am and we were dropped off and walking past this sight by 8:12am

There was no real line so within two minutes we were through the gates and heading past the crossroads

Around we went and caught sight of the big hat

We were starting our day with some thrill-seeking so we strolled down and hooked a right down towards the icon of DHS

But that’s not what we were gunning for. That’s right, it was Rockin’ Roller Coaster time!

We went ahead and picked up FPs for it. Then we headed in to the stand-by line, which stopped at the same spot as the FP line. Yay for getting there early! We were quickly through Aerosmith’s spiel and on to the parking garage.

Some other concert goers were already in the limo

Each time we went through we stood aside for the 1st row and rode it two times in a row before the FPs were needed. 3rd time around we used them and on the way out I snapped this blurry shot.

We decided that three times was enough on RnRC. Our first big ride skip of the trip was ToT. I personally rode it 10 times (largely thanks to my younger daughter Bean) and Roxy rode it several times. We also rode it multiple times at DLR in 2009. We decided to give it a pass this time around and move on to other fun. We strolled back up the street and checked out a couple of shops. After some browsing we moved on up and around past the Brown Derby

Mickey was directing his brooms

We had decided to break up our day with as many air-conditioned rides as we could as the heat was already ramping up and I was trying to protect my neck from a minor sunburn I had gotten at EPCOT the day before. So our next stop was The Little Mermaid show. This was one I had seen with Bean on our Daddy/Daughter day but Roxy hadn’t seen it. Last time we ended up in the front row which kinda stinks as the stage is pretty tall. This time I had us sit in the back and had a much better view.

The story opens much like the movie with a ship on the horizon

Then it started raining, go figure

The laser-painted title was very cool

Then we had some laser jellyfish swim by

Then it was time for a little “under the sea” musical magic

More pretty lights

Then Ariel came on and sang about wanting to be part of their world

Flotsam and Jetsam overheard and reported back to Ursula

Ursula comes in and offers her deal to Ariel

Ariel says yes of course and Ursula laughs as she takes her voice

We do a laser transition

And boom, we’re at the end of the movie with Eric fighting Ursula on the ship

Next up more high seas adventure!

Click here for the next chapter: Day 4 Part 2 – Mermaids and Gangsters

 

[GeminiAngel]

We've been on the Lil Mermaid once. I Can't get my under 10 daughter back in there! She said its so boring.

No Disney magic for her, she just wants to do rides. I love all the disney shows and parades. Nice photos.

 

[mnmrmustard]

We've been on the Lil Mermaid once. I Can't get my under 10 daughter back in there! She said its so boring.

No Disney magic for her, she just wants to do rides. I love all the disney shows and parades. Nice photos.

Awww, sorry she doesn't enjoy the shows. Maybe she'll come around when she's older.

We like the shows but my younger daughter is just like yours, rides rides rides!