"What I did on my Summer Vacation" By: Heather K Age: 26 1/2

[JoBird]

What a spectacularly cool experience, RF!

You guys were so lucky! Yay for you.

Thanks for the update- 'cause that was a great story. Loved it.

I'm glad that they chose people of all types of families-- couples only as well as those with kids--- b/c I think it's only fair to do it that way.


Anyway-- yay!!!!

PS.... I hate the rain too. Hate it. Like HATE IT, hate it. Which is one of the reasons why.... we no longer live in PGH. Or Rochester, for that matter (Rain does turn to snow ,ya know. Rochester and snow go hand in hand,LOL). I would swear I have Seasonal Affective disorder.
Which would explain a ton.
hahahahahahaha

 

[mari360]

GREAT TR RF..... i can't wait to read more.....

I"m so happy you were chosen as family of the day.... too cool.....

 

[rusafee1183]

Thanks Mari! I will be updating with my next Epcot day soon! I hope you get a chance to keep reading

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Can't wait for the next update!

 

[wdwgirl03]

Just have to say I love the title of your report! Very clever!

 

[rusafee1183]

Just have to say I love the title of your report! Very clever!

Thanks wdwgirl! I was thinking that nobody 'got it'. LOL. I hope that you're enjoying the report! I should be updating again pretty soon!

 

[Beauty & the Best]

Heather - Family of the day! Wow! Y'all's day at DHS sounds almost too good to be true! It's like the perfect day

I hope your good fortune continues through the rest of the trip!!

Hmmm, fish that tastes like potroast? That's just plain weird. You didn't say anything about the dessert though, and I'm a dessert fanatic...don't leave me hangin'!

 

[rusafee1183]

Heather - Family of the day! Wow! Y'all's day at DHS sounds almost too good to be true! It's like the perfect day

I hope your good fortune continues through the rest of the trip!!

Hmmm, fish that tastes like potroast? That's just plain weird. You didn't say anything about the dessert though, and I'm a dessert fanatic...don't leave me hangin'!

I know!! It was weird.

I didn't mean to leave a girl hangin'

LOL

I had the key lime pie It was sooo good. They made it with like an oreo crust which I thought was strange - but it ended up being really good and Bob got the gingersnap crusted deep dish apple pie - which he said that he really liked. We really didn't go wrong with the desserts on this whole trip. I don't think that we'll go back to the FF - at least not for a while...But it wasn't bad.

Oh... and they gave us a creme brulee as an extra 'celebration' dessert. That's what the picture was. I don't usually care for creme brulee... But I ate the berries off of it, and they were delicious.

 

[rusafee1183]

DAY 5 EPCOT

WARNING! This day is not nearly as exciting as yesterday.

LOL. Just kidding.

Well… not really. But, come on. How do you compete with that?!?!!

We started this Epcot morning at Rope Drop. It was our first one ever at this park. We were running a little bit late, but still made it to the rope before they actually let anyone go. I was wearing flip flops, so I knew that I would not be able to keep up with the Soarin’ Stampede and stay alive – so I sent Bob ahead of me to grab our FP’s so we could jump in line as quickly as possible.

They started to let people go and it was a madhouse! I started getting tossed like a rag doll and was so distracted that I almost fell over a pole because I am a giant and it this little half pole only came to my knees. HAHA!

When we finally made it to Soarin’, Bob waited in line for a FP and I hung back looking around and taking in all the madness and the scenery. Aside from people about to kill each other for a FP, it was really cute in there! They had CM’s with the big Mickey Hands on, giving people high fives and waving as they ran for the gates. It was funny because Bob told me afterward that he saw the CM’s that were working at The Land. He said that they looked absolutely bored out of their minds and he was so tempted to go over to them and be like ‘YES!!!!!! I made it! I’m the first one here!!!!!!!!”

He’s an idiot, but he’s my idiot.

After we secured our FP’s we hopped in the standby line, which took about 20 minutes or so. I love Soarin’ I could do it all day. Except I get really bad motion sickness. The only part that I hate is when they start zipping through the streets of L.A. Ugh. I close my eyes so I don’t ruin the day of the person sitting below me. That scene, the Teacups, M:S, and the scene in Philharmagic where Donald is flying through the streets of Agrabah are the only things that I can’t handle at WDW. I’m good with everything else.

Anyway, after we finished up with Soarin’ we started making our way over towards the Living Seas. We went on Nemo, which I think is too cute, I love the seagulls out front.

‘Mine, Mine, Mine’ …. LOL. They make me giggle.

And then went right over to Turtle Talk.

Ahhhh, Turtle Talk.

Last year before our honeymoon trip to WDW, Bob and I had a DVR in our apartment. So, naturally I would record ALL of the specials about WDW from the travel channel. At one point I made Bob watch them with me so much that he would recite the lines from the segment about Turtle Talk.

"Look at that most excellent double spinner dudes. That was awesome”

“I’m gonna ask the crowd for some questions, how about the little dude in the orange shell. What’s your name little dude?”


That’s all he would say as soon as I would put it on.

Every time.

And sometimes just randomly through the day….

Every day…..

So, I got the point and stopped making Bob watch Disney stuff with me before this trip. And this year we went to see Crush for the 1st time. It was so cute! At the end of the show he started asking the crowd if they had any questions, and this little girl raised her hand in front and he called on her. Here’s exactly how the dialogue went between them.

Crush: Uh, yes. The little princess in the dress up front… What’s your question?
Little Girl: ‘Uhhhh……'
Crush: "Did you have a question for me?"
Little Girl: “Uhhhhhhhhhh, We’re in Disney World."
Crush: "Hmmm, Correct, we are in Disney World. Nice observation little dudette.
……..OK! Does anyone else have a question…. Or another completely random statement."



The room erupted in laughter. I lost it. Bob and I were laughing so hard that we almost peed our pants. That was by far one of the funniest/cutest things we saw all week. We kept saying that all week. We’re in Disney World! Uhhh, yes. Yes, we are in Disney World.

LOL. Too funny.

OK! So after Crush, we started making our way towards TT and M:S. When we were approaching TT, we caught the very end of a show by those crazy guys with the trash cans - The Jammitors. We stopped and watched them for a few minutes, and then grabbed our FP’s for TT and went over to M:S.

There’s no way that you can make me get on that ride. I did the green one last year because Bob was dying to do it and I almost hyperventilated in there! Never again! Well, never say never. But, it will not be for a veeeery long time if I do ever get on it again. I was excited to go to M:S to meet up with my friend from the MAYer thread Jessi, ‘Sulleyfan’ !!!!

I wanted to see her looking my best, so I figured the earlier the better … You know, before the rides/sun/sweat/humidity made me look a hot mess . We walked up to the front and asked the CM’s out there where she was at. They said that she didn’t start until later that day. Dang. I got her schedule confused. OK. Well, we would just come back later that night. So, we started to head back towards the World Showcase to do the Kim Possible adventure.

On the way over we made a pit stop in Minnie’s Butterfly Garden, took some pictures in front of Spaceship Earth, and stopped at Club Cool again (no Beverly pics today , I learned my lesson).

We made it over to the WS, picked up our cell phones in Norway and did the K mission starting in China. After we recovered the Emerald Monkey, we decided to do another mission in France, since neither of us has ever spent much time back there. So, we started making our way back towards Mexico to grab a margarita and to hitch a ride on the boat. The margarita was goooood. Just what I needed on that HOT day. We walked around for a while, checked out a lot of the countries, searched for hidden Mickey’s - and did the mission in France. After taking a few more pics around the WS and decided that it was super hot and called it a day.

Here’s a pic of me with the delicious Margarita…

Hey, does this hat make my head look big?

 

[rusafee1183]

So, we went back to the resort and swam and napped for a while. Then took showers and watched Stacey (alright, I love her - but she was starting to get a little annoying) until it was time to go back to Epcot for our dinner ADR. We were torn. The Penguins were playing again tonight…. We had a late dinner ADR at Le Cellier, and we had skipped Illuminations on my birthday, so we weren’t quite sure what we should do. So, we had learned our lesson from the other night and just parked our car at the boardwalk and walked over to Epcot using the International Gateway.

We still hadn’t rode on TT yet that trip, or met up with Sulleyfan, so we made our way over in that direction. I wanted to see Sulley first – but we figured that we should hit up TT with our FP’s from earlier before we did anything. So, after finding another hidden Mickey while waiting for TT and meeting a really nice family from NYC that made fun of our Pens shirts (yes, I went home showered and put on ANOTHER one… LOL. We packed, like 4 of them ) we headed over to M:S again. We went inside and I saw a girl that looked like pictures I had seen of Sulley from online. Bob and I both yelled her name and she turned – so we were right! It was her! We only got to stay and chat for a few minutes, but it was nice seeing her and after getting a quick picture – Bob decided to brave M:S alone.

So, what else do you do when you are waiting for your husband to get done with a terrifying ride?

You go to the gift shop and take pictures of yourself!!!!

And send your friends funny videos of yourself pretending to be on the moon!

LOL.

After Bob had safely landed we saw a few more attractions and used our Soarin FP from earlier. We still weren’t sure what we were going to do about tonight. We had decided that we would kick ourselves if we spent another night at ESPN – so it was either Illuminations – or Le Cellier.

I know! An adult beverage would help us make our decision!

So we each got one, I got the GGCLS and Bob had the Grand Marnier slush. We each insisted that the one we ordered was better – so I guess it’s good that we were both happy. After we were sipping our slushes for a few minutes a few people had seen our shirts and started yelling that the Pens were up 5-0!

WHAT!??!

The game just started maybe a half hour ago! That can’t be right!

But, they were right!

And the whole way from France to Canada people kept seeing our jerseys and giving us updates!! I guess we made the right choice by not going to ESPN… We knew what was happening the whole time anyway!

After we finished our slushes, we finally chose to have our dinner at Le Cellier. We figured that we could save Illuminations for next year. So, we went to check in and had a bit of a wait before we were seated.

Our server was a really nice guy that reminded me of my friend Carson, and he talked to us about hockey (surprise, surprise...... don't judge me...) so we really got along. Bob ordered the Cheddar Cheese soup and it was so thick you could eat it with a fork! I got the duck 2 ways and it was very good! I ordered the Strip Steak and Bob ordered the KC coffee rubbed steak both with the cream cheese mashed potatoes. As far as dessert goes, Bob got his standby Le Cellier dessert – The chocolate ‘Moose’ and I ordered the sorbet, which ended up being coconut and I was a little skeptical - but it was very delicious.

We finished up eating – and started our journey back to the car – which remember was parked all the way at the Boardwalk. We took our time and took a leisurely stroll back thru the International Gateway and popped our heads into the ESPN zone to see if the game was still on.

The guy working near the front door said that he was wondering where we were and that he was looking for us during the game. Bob told him that since we lost the last time we were there that he wanted to get rid of the bad JuJu and took the night off. We headed up the steps and made our way over to our car and wondered what tomorrow would have in store for us!

UP NEXT: DTD, HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS – ROUND 2! WE MEET OUR 1ST DISer AND F! IN A TSUNAMI!!!!

 

[Beauty & the Best]

Another great day! I am so loving your trip. If I have one that comes even a little close to it at the end of Sept, I'll be psyched.

Thanks for the dessert update...when I'm not eating them, it makes me feel better to hear about them

I love Soarin’ I could do it all day. Except I get really bad motion sickness. The only part that I hate is when they start zipping through the streets of L.A. Ugh. I close my eyes so I don’t ruin the day of the person sitting below me.

You know what? Its funny that you mention this b/c I just went on a tour at Epcot - unDISCOVERed Future World - and our CM guide told us that the whole movie was shot in a certain speed for the IMAX camera except for that one part. They shot that part in regular speed b/c it was just a test, then they found out that they couldn't get clearance for another fly-over and so they had to speed up that test footage and use it for the film.

Anyway, THAT's why you get that icky feeling on that part of the ride...it's not you, it's THEM!

Also, I just noticed this, but the line in my avatar area is the line right before the one in yours in the Zip-a-dee-do-dah song.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Great update! I totally agree - LOVE Soarin, could ride it all day! HATE M:S, never again. And I mean that - NEVER!! (Sorry Sulley! )

So was it as hot as last May? How about the crowds, more or less?

 

[rusafee1183]

You know what? Its funny that you mention this b/c I just went on a tour at Epcot - unDISCOVERed Future World - and our CM guide told us that the whole movie was shot in a certain speed for the IMAX camera except for that one part. They shot that part in regular speed b/c it was just a test, then they found out that they couldn't get clearance for another fly-over and so they had to speed up that test footage and use it for the film.

Anyway, THAT's why you get that icky feeling on that part of the ride...it's not you, it's THEM!

Also, I just noticed this, but the line in my avatar area is the line right before the one in yours in the Zip-a-dee-do-dah song.

Well, that's good to know! LOL. I like blaming my problems on other people.



I didn't even notice your avatar! That's very cool! Splash is the BEST! I love it

I am heading over to your PTR now! I read a few lines this morning then got busy at work...



Stupid work. Interfering with my WDW chat.

It seems really cute so far!!!

 

[trixiequilts]

Another great day, RF!

You and Bob have so much fun!!!

 

[JoBird]

What a fantastic day at my Fave park!!!!

I'm going to read it again and pretend I was there with you guys.


Okay, just kidding. Don't want to freak ya out or anything.


Anyway---
I'm so glad you met Sulley--- and uh-uh- me either. I'm not riding M:S again. Sorry Sulley.

Glad your day was great!

Thanks for the update.

Jo

 

[NewCrew42]

OK, this guy looks like one of the guys from Smear, Dip, and Splatter from AK. Did you ever see them?

 

[Beauty & the Best]

Well, that's good to know! LOL. I like blaming my problems on other people.



I didn't even notice your avatar! That's very cool! Splash is the BEST! I love it

I am heading over to your PTR now! I read a few lines this morning then got busy at work...



Stupid work. Interfering with my WDW chat.

It seems really cute so far!!!

Yeah, the guide actually said that lots of people get sick on that part. At least it's the kind of ride where you can just close your eyes.

I love Splash Mtn. too, but I don't get to ride it as much as I'd like. My husband has this thing about walking around w/ wet butt all day...don't know why that is!! I personally LOVE the feeling of soaked pants all day! It's so nice and squishy, you know?

Thanks for stopping by my PTR! We're all getting pretty excited about the trip now...only 3 weeks to go!

I know what you mean about work...it just gets in the way of all the important things in life like trip reports. In a perfect world I would just get paid for posting on the dis!

 

[NewCrew42]

Day 4!

Well, as promised I woke Bob up at the crack of dawn. There is no way after seeing the madness at the big rides at Epcot yesterday that I was missing RD at Hollywood Studios of all places. We showered, watched some more Stacey as we got ready (what can I say… we love her!) and headed out the door to see some movie magic!

As we were standing in line about 30 minutes before RD, I was trying to figure out the best route to TSM. This is what I was most worried about this trip, getting on TSM with the quickness. We were in WDW last May and we missed the soft opening by only a week! So, I have been super excited for this all year! I was looking around - eyeing my competition if you will - when I see a few cast members standing together in a huddle. I point to them and lean over and say to Bob that they will be picking ‘The Family of the Day’ soon. I literally just got done telling what that means and tell him to keep his eye open on all of the families (because I am nosey and we were guessing who may get chosen) when all of a sudden there is a tap on my shoulder and a CM standing there introducing herself to us. Her name was Kimberly and she asked a little bit about ourselves and why we were in WDW. We told her that we were celebrating our 1st anniversary and my birthday and she asked if we would like to help her ‘open the park’

I immediately started smacking Bob’s arm screaming ‘OHMYLORDYESSSYESYESYESYESSSSS!!!!!



So, we go into Guest Relations and Kimberly gets us some drinks, and talks to us about our trip and where we are from. She talked to us about the Penguins and how many times we have been to ESPN already…. (Apparently our sports enthusiasm showed.) No judgement of course….

She explains that we are going to be part of the opening "movie" that they will be filming and that we will be getting into a car that was owned by Walt Disney personally, that several presidents have been in. We'll be picked up, "shoot our scene" and then will be taken down Sunset Blvd in the car, and got to choose between either RnRC or ToT to have the 1st ride of the day - ALONE.

So, after some deliberation we chose RnRC! (Which ended up being a great choice because the rest of the day and the next day that we were at DHS, the line for RnRC was cr-a-a-a-zy. So that was the only time we rode it the entire trip)

We then walk out of the building and she weaves us through the crowd and past the rope. She takes our picture in front of the hat all by ourselves, says that she's just going to keep my camera take pictures during and then meet us at RnRC. The film crew comes and does their skit, and a woman named Tootsie Something-Or-Other comes and picks us up in the car. We are in front of about 3,000 or 4,000 people at this point. It was so exciting! We were cast as "The Happy Couple" and we had to wait until the countdown was over and yell into the microphone "HOLLYWOOD, HERE WE COME" and then they wisked us away down Sunset and opened the rope and the floods of people poured in.

At this point, all I could think about was TSM (isn’t that sad …) because I had planned on going straight there. But, as soon as we got halfway down the Blvd, it snapped out of it and hit me how awesome this is! We arrive at RnRC. We're waved to by all the CM's with their big Mickey hands and then went into the sound booth. It was sooo cool being in there alone! I commented once we got out of the room that we would have no time to search for hidden Mickey's in this line, because that's usually how we spend our time in the "alley" before we get on the ride.

So, we hop in the car and we take off! The music was cutting in and out the whole time, but we didn't care! We were still so excited! When we pull in the CM's were like "Oh, NO WAY! You're not getting off that easy! We know the sound was messed up - you're going again!"

We take off for a 2nd ride, with sound this time and it was amazing! You heard no one else screaming - it was so cool to be in there alone!

When we got off the ride, Kimberly was waiting for us. She gave us FP's for TSM, another set for any other ride of our choosing and told us that she was going to leave a package for us at Guest Services for us to pick up when we leave the park! We took some pictures with her and then went on with the rest of our day!

You guys are rock stars!

 

[Katiebell]

Hey RF -- just read your WHOLE report -- parts 1 AND 2 -- on my lunch break Great TR!!! Can't wait to read the next installment...

 

[NewCrew42]

It was funny because Bob told me afterward that he saw the CM’s that were working at The Land. He said that they looked absolutely bored out of their minds and he was so tempted to go over to them and be like ‘YES!!!!!! I made it! I’m the first one here!!!!!!!!”

This was so dang funny, I nearly spit ice cream on my keyboard!