"When I went it was all lights, and music, and Mickey doin' his magic." — Aug. '18 Disneyversary TR — Completed (Finally!!) August 20, 2021

[docsoliday1]

I wasn't sure whether I could justify the cost, or whether I'd regret it. Even though I'd loved our MK wedding pictures, it seemed a little much for an anniversary. But this ended up being one of the most wonderful and worthwhile experiences from our trip, and I truly cherish the photos Ali took! No regrets here!! I didn't think anything could stand up to our amazing Magic Kingdom shoot from our wedding day, but this was a close second.

I don't know what the cost was, but the results are phenomenal. I liked both the B&W and the color version. Glad you have no regrets. Listening to what you said, I kinda think you like these better.

 

[mesgram]

Your niece is so cute!! Two is such a fun age. Sorry you got sick on this trip. It's good you were able to take it easy but still get in some park time. Hopefully you will make it to Sea World some day.

 

[amazingact21]

How great that the Grand Floridian Cafe offered something new with their allergy friendly dishes! That alone had to make the meal completely worth it.

What a bummer about the cold, though! Sea World was just not meant to be. I feel like everybody has that attraction or location that they've never been to and that baffles others. For instance, my family has never been to the Wilderness Lodge before.

Oh dear, that Cast Member should have known better than to make that comment about the DAS card. Honestly, I feel like there are more non-visible health conditions than there are visible ones. Hopefully, she was new and has since learned that was inappropriate.

Sorry your dinner was sub-par. Seems a shame to spend so much at a fancy restaurant and receive a basic fare.

 

[afwdwfan]

For those of you who may have been wondering, yes, N and I did make it home from our trip! I promptly jumped straight into the last year of my master's. (I attended my first class approximately 7.5 hours after arriving home in Nova Scotia, to be exact.)

Holy cow!!! Burn that candle! I hope things are going well with school.

We had an absolutely wonderful trip, managed to just dodge Hurricane Dorian a couple of times and race it up East Coast, only to have it make landfall in Nova Scotia and batter us here at home instead.

Yikes... he's a relentless one! That had to have been a fun drive, racing him up the coast.

Eventually she laid out the ground rules for him: "I don't want to go anywhere with snow, or anywhere where I don't know what I'm eating!" Talk about a love of adventure! I mused that perhaps they should just continue to visit WDW to be on the safe side.

Well, if you plan the time of year right, this does leave plenty of viable options.

We couldn't decide between chicken tenders and pepperoni pizza, so we got one of each. (I guess I really shouldn't judge the lady from the breakfast for her not-so-sophisticated palate! )

Oh, you were judging her palate??? I was judging her hate of snow.

After setting up the DAS with the you're-so-young lady, we went over to Frontierland for a little pin trading at the pin store there. Then we popped over to get a dole whip. I was wearing my birthday button, so the CM handed me this massive work of art, saying that they made it extra big for my birthday:

Well, that is a nice gesture from a CM to help smooth the sting of a less than stellar CM experience.

The dad came out with a quote that I almost used for this chapter title: "Okay, we'll just leave you to the gators and the snakes then." Nothing like a parent's love!

I would never use a line like that...

(This is obviously why I don't write dining reports. ...That, and the fact that I'd never get them done. )

There's gotta be a market for some food critiques about dishes that are allergy free!

Being extra careful, I guess, which is better than not careful enough.

In our sue happy society... I know it is frustrating for you that they're acting like they know better than you do, but when you mentioned a dairy allergy, they're doing the right thing by not allowing you to have any and potentially receiving blame if you get sick.

I can't remember whether N got his own dessert or shared mine, but I don't have any other photos. We paid our bill and headed back to our building to turn in for the night. All in all, our meal at Narcoossee's was reasonably enjoyable (specifically, N's far more than mine,) but other than the confetti on the table there just really wasn't anything special about it. For the price, I don't think we're inclined to go back any time soon.

I'm sorry it ended up not being better than it was... sounds like it was adequate, but at that price point, I'd certainly be disappointed with something that isn't just stellar all the way around. It's a shame that they don't do a little bit better there about offering some better prepared allergy friendly dishes.

 

[docsoliday1]

We walked around for a bit and enjoyed the gorgeous surroundings, trying to decide what to do next.

Ummm, enjoy Disney?

In the end, we decided we would just arrive a bit early to our breakfast reservation, and possibly explore the resort first, so we hopped back in the Nissan and made the incredibly long drive over to park at the Contemporary.

Or you could do that.

I wasn't in the TR-planning groove yet

Tsk tsk tsk.

We both decided to do the buffet, but I spoke to an allergy chef to have some allergy-friendly items made for me in the kitchen as well.

We've never done the buffet, but I've heard good things from Caroline (disneyandi14).

Mickey waffles, donuts, and an allergy-friendly version of the sweet potato pancakes on the buffet. Holy smokes! I'd never seen so many carbs intended for one person in my life! Fortunately, I also had the one fried egg for some protein to balance all those carbs, so no harm done!

Carbs carbs, everywhere! Well, at least you had an egg. Whew!

I think N went back up to the buffet once more, but I don't have photographic proof.

Photos or it didn't happen.

I had heard some mixed reviews of this buffet, but we had an excellent breakfast there.

I admit, I don't think I've read a lot of reviews, but I thought they were all positive.

We still prefer Boma as our supreme breakfast buffet of choice, and I'd still choose GF Cafe for breakfast in the area if I wanted to order breakfast off the menu.

Never been there yet either.
Too many restaurants, so little time.

Yes, we had returned to the GF already. Shortly after our late breakfast

Wait, you said you were early for your breakfast!

I asked the CM, a kind-looking lady probably in her 50s, if she would indulge me in my very first pin trade, and she enthusiastically obliged! I found a pin on her pouch to trade, and offered her one of my Stitch emoji pins in return. She seemed skeptical that I would want to give up a pin so wonderful, and she confided that Stitch was her favourite! She looked at me with a twinkle in her eye and, comparing herself and Stitch, said, "...because Ohana is the most important thing to us...and also our badness levels are extremely high!"

Very cool!

Thanks so much, sweet GF merch CM! You made my first pin trading experience a magically memorable one!

She was just reeling you in and sounds like it worked.

She talked about how most people who stay beyond a certain period of time end up staying for decades

Makes sense. I guess, like anything, they either really enjoy it or really don't....heard many people who have some horror stories too. I really think you have to be a strong people person because I've personally observed some of the guests are horrible.

how while Disney might not provide the most competitive salaries, they do provide good benefits packages that someone in her line of work might not find elsewhere, etc.

That makes complete sense...nail salons typically don't have the large number of employees needed to do good benefits.

I was proud to sport my own little hidden Mickeys for the rest of the trip:

Cute.

 

[docsoliday1]

Trying not to quote on everything, since I'm trying to catch up....AGAIN.

Some of this is either just too good or irresistible to not reply.

Obviously the most important ride to fit the bill was Journey into the Imagination with Figment. Duh.

Well of course! Still my favorite since it was one of the ONLY when it opened.

JK. It was close and it had the shortest line.

Aww, dang. And here you had me thinking you liked it too.

I snapped some photos along the way:

This is a fantastic shot!

These were the same flavour as our wedding cupcakes: brownie cupcakes with cinnamon frosting. Friends, don’t knock it till you try it!

I have not tried it, but I like both and now you have my interest piqued.

Because it was our anniversary, we wanted to do something special for dinner. We headed back to Epcot, and back to the exact place where we were married a year previous. (We were running a little late because N had managed to miss the exit on the way!) We had a dinner ADR booked at Le Cellier, because N loves it there, and because it’s in the pavilion where we vowed in front of our closest family and friends to do life together.

Makes complete sense and way cool!

The service was okay. The server discouraged me from talking to the chef about my allergies, but I asked to anyway.

Um, excuse me?? Don't speak to chef about allergies???? That is just totally wrong. I'm guessing have you get ill is better in his mind. Wrong wrong wrong.

This was perfectly adequate, but much less chef interaction than I was used to.

But the last time we'd been there N's meal had been spectacular, and the allergy chef (a different one!) had gone out of his way to make my meal special

You mentioned a strange interaction with the manager, so hopefully you spoke to them about this. Normally, I go to guest relations for good things, but I, personally would have lodged a complaint. Totally NOT Disney there.

Also, I don’t feel that I should be entitled to pixie dust on vacation or anything, but I did note that were weren’t given any kind of extras for our anniversary. No offers of dessert, or drinks, or buttons, or not even a “congrats” written on the bill, etc.

No, you're not entitled, but when so many other places have gone out of their way to make it special, coupled with the poor service, this is a real letdown. I have been thinking about going there because...steak. Now, since my wife and I both have an allergy, maybe not.

 

[docsoliday1]

makes you wonder what the poor people are doing."

Okay, my senioritis is really showing. I've read this before and was past this point (pretty sure I commented on it before even). I was thinking I was, but when I started looking at your photoshoot, somehow they didn't look familiar. I wonder if maybe one of the times the dis stopped notifying me of updates to your thread, I just picked up where you were currently at instead of starting from the beginning. Only logical conclusion I can come up with. It's my story and I'm stinking to it.

The saying is part of American lore. It was said often in the South, usually by people who were not so rich.

Again, think I already said this. I've been from (or in) the South most of my life and I'd never heard it. In a way, I find it charming. The people who aren't rich, but content with what they have or what they're doing are most likely to say it. I think that's a great life lesson...be content with what you have vs. always wanting more or what someone else has.

 

[pkondz]

Hi, friends! Isn't it crazy how quickly TRs grow up? I swear, you blink for one second, and a month and a half has passed!

Then your TR is off to school before you know it and you're feeling empty-nest syndrome.

(I attended my first class approximately 7.5 hours after arriving home in Nova Scotia, to be exact.)

Whoa! Ambitious!

I've been trying to do the whole duck thing ever since: keeping my cool on the surface, floating along, while below the waterline my feet are paddling furiously to keep up!

Somehow I can totally see you actually doing this.

We had an absolutely wonderful trip,

Good!!!!

I took excellent notes on a few of the trip days, and absolutely none whatsoever on other days,

I have done the same. It just really depends on where I am, what I'm doing and what my mood is.

I've also managed to finally catch myself up on all the reports I've been following, so now none of your are allowed to write anything else for at least a few more minutes so I have time to catch my breath!

I'm still catching up, so you're ahead of me!

Thank you!! I managed to keep myself healthy...at least until the very end.

Wish you could've stayed healthy for all of it. But at least it was delayed.

I wanted to share a couple of pictures of my precious little niece!

She's a cutie!

We were planning to spend this day at Sea World, which would be a first for N.
I had been to Sea World as a 10 year-old, but not since.

Same for me. I think the last time I was there was... back in 1978?

Eventually she laid out the ground rules for him: "I don't want to go anywhere with snow, or anywhere where I don't know what I'm eating!"

Well... she knows what she wants.

By the time breakfast was through, I was already waning. I felt tired, headachy, stuffed up, and altogether pretty miserable.

Oh, no.

He did, however, decide that we are cursed on the Sea World front, and that we would never end up actually making it there.

Yes. He's right. You'll never, ever get there. It's just the way it is, I'm afraid.

We continued our tradition of taking below-average quality selfies in front of the train station:

Much better than any I could possibly take!

We couldn't decide between chicken tenders and pepperoni pizza, so we got one of each. (I guess I really shouldn't judge the lady from the breakfast for her not-so-sophisticated palate! )

She didn't refuse him, but she did treat him judgementally when he asked, saying, "but you're so young!"

This CM would be such a delight for all the Make a Wish kids.

*End rant.*

I didn't quote all of that, but... it upsets me that you were upset by this. No one should be judged like that. I recently witnessed a scene at a grocery store parking lot where a young man parked in the handicap spot and was confronted by a very irate woman. I don't know if he had the required placard or not, but... he seemed fine, but how did that woman know he didn't have one of those invisible disabilities.
Yes, he very well may have not had one and was a self-entitled jerk who took advantage, but... we don't know.

sigh... I guess there just needs to be more education on the subject.

Then we popped over to get a dole whip. I was wearing my birthday button, so the CM handed me this massive work of art, saying that they made it extra big for my birthday:

yay! Massive Dole Whip!

N was thrilled because I usually offer to share with him and then eat most of the dole whip myself, but this time I definitely needed his help to finish it all!

I was amused to find our new towel swan lounging and watching a little tv:

Why? Towel swans can't have a little light entertainment? Are you towel swan discriminatory?

I laid out my pin haul from the trip so far, and realized I'd managed to accumulate more pins than any Disney fan really needs. (Of course, I still managed to pick up more before the trip was out.)

Whoa! Lots!

The dad came out with a quote that I almost used for this chapter title: "Okay, we'll just leave you to the gators and the snakes then." Nothing like a parent's love!

This is perfect Dad parenting. I salute him.

Our dinner ADR that night was for Narcoossee's (spelling? Nnaarrccoosseess? )

And yet... it's one of the places that's long been on my list.

We were promised that someone would let us know when we should go out, and would show us where to go.

When I quoted this, it was to say something like "That's really nice!"....

Because of our anniversary and/or my birthday celebration, our table was decorated with Mickey confetti, which was a lovely touch!

^These are drinks.
^That is bread and butter.

It seems a little inefficient to use unsalted butter just to then go and put salt on it, but it's super fancy-shmancy, as obviously am I, so I'm down with it.

Absolutely. You're obviously the epitome of fancy-ness.

My dish was perfectly edible, but while N's lobster was perfectly moist and soft, mine was rubbery and overcooked.

Well, that sucks.

let me just say that someone did NOT tell us when to go out there, and someone did NOT come over to us and let us onto the porch as we'd been promised.

All in all, our meal at Narcoossee's was reasonably enjoyable (specifically, N's far more than mine,) but other than the confetti on the table there just really wasn't anything special about it. For the price, I don't think we're inclined to go back any time soon.

Hmm... so a bit of a mixed review.

 

[Steppesister]

I definitely have to agree with the snow bit. I don't wanna go anywhere where there's snow when I'm on vacation. That's for darn sure.

I agree, unless the intention and itinerary includes fireside chatting, walks within reason, and lots of hot cocoa. But I'd choose tropical over that most of the time.

 

[MeghanEmily]

I am sooooo far behind here. I know I kept up for a little while, but ouch...22 pages. I'll get there eventually Meghan...although you may be glad I've been gone.

Of course not! Glad to see you back!

I don't know what the cost was, but the results are phenomenal. I liked both the B&W and the color version. Glad you have no regrets. Listening to what you said, I kinda think you like these better.

Thanks so much! I'm really really pleased with them.

We've never done the buffet, but I've heard good things from Caroline (disneyandi14).

Yeah, it's definitely worth checking out the buffet.

I admit, I don't think I've read a lot of reviews, but I thought they were all positive.

I've heard positive reviews, too. The less-than-positive reviews I think were typically later in the breakfast period and I seemed to remember people saying the buffet wasn't refreshed and food had sat for a while. I'm sure this can be tricky if there aren't a lot of people dining because they want to keep lots of food on the buffet but not waste it if it doesn't get eaten. But we didn't have that problem with our meal.

Never been there yet either.
Too many restaurants, so little time.

This is the struggle!

Wait, you said you were early for your breakfast!

We were early for a late breakfast i.e. we had an ADR time that was late morning and we showed up at the resort before that time had arrived.

That makes complete sense...nail salons typically don't have the large number of employees needed to do good benefits.

I think this is probably spot on.

Aww, dang. And here you had me thinking you liked it too.

I do like Figment if I'm being honest. I like the character of Figment a whole lot, and I think the ride is cute. I think I would have liked it more when it had the Dreamfinder storyline, but I don't have any memories of it. The ride was updated around the time of my first trip to Disney, so I'm not sure I ever rode it with Dreamfinder.

Um, excuse me?? Don't speak to chef about allergies???? That is just totally wrong. I'm guessing have you get ill is better in his mind. Wrong wrong wrong.

Agreed. It's one of the things I really appreciate about Disney, being able to converse with the chef to make sure everything is understood and you get a good safe meal. Spoiler alert: one our most recent August trip we had a meal where they didn't bring the chef out at all for allergies as a general practice and it went horribly wrong!

You mentioned a strange interaction with the manager, so hopefully you spoke to them about this.

I don't think we did, and I do regret that. Kind of a running theme from the less-than-stellar meals on this trip. I think I was going more for Nathan's benefit because this was where he wanted to eat, and I had chosen lots of other restaurants over the course of the trip, so I wasn't really expecting anything of it. But if we had this kind of experience in future I think I would have wanted to bring it up with the server or manager and give them a chance to make it right.

No, you're not entitled, but when so many other places have gone out of their way to make it special, coupled with the poor service, this is a real letdown. I have been thinking about going there because...steak. Now, since my wife and I both have an allergy, maybe not.

Yeah, six months previous I would have told you to go for it because the allergy chef there was awesome and I had a great meal. After that time, I don't know that I'd recommend it for the cost. There are other places where I think you get more value for your money for a steak at Disney. Shula's, for instance, was really great for us. We're going back in November.

 

[MeghanEmily]

Your niece is so cute!! Two is such a fun age. Sorry you got sick on this trip. It's good you were able to take it easy but still get in some park time. Hopefully you will make it to Sea World some day.

Yeah, she's an awful lot of fun! She keeps us on our toes.

How great that the Grand Floridian Cafe offered something new with their allergy friendly dishes! That alone had to make the meal completely worth it.

It really did! It was a great breakfast.

What a bummer about the cold, though! Sea World was just not meant to be. I feel like everybody has that attraction or location that they've never been to and that baffles others. For instance, my family has never been to the Wilderness Lodge before.

It's funny how that happens! You go to Disney/Orlando so many times and it feels like you should have done everything there is to do by now, but something always evades you.

Oh dear, that Cast Member should have known better than to make that comment about the DAS card. Honestly, I feel like there are more non-visible health conditions than there are visible ones. Hopefully, she was new and has since learned that was inappropriate.

That's what I thought, too. I think you're completely right—so many people have stuff going on that you can't see on the surface. I'm not upset with her, but I do hope that she's learned more about disability and accommodations and whatnot since then.

 

[MeghanEmily]

Holy cow!!! Burn that candle! I hope things are going well with school.

Thanks! It's been busy, as usual, but I'm managing pretty well. We're all getting to the point where we're ready to be done with the classroom—it's at least the 7th year of postsecondary school for all of us—and get out into the real world and get our feet wet. We start another internship in January, which will be great experience.

Yikes... he's a relentless one! That had to have been a fun drive, racing him up the coast.

It was a little tense! My poor mom was pretty concerned, checking in frequently on where we were. We stayed ahead of the storm and didn't have any trouble till we got home.

Oh, you were judging her palate??? I was judging her hate of snow.

Hah! Yeah, I don't judge about the snow at all. I'd be happy if I lived somewhere where I never saw another snowflake. Except maybe on Christmas Eve/Day.

Well, that is a nice gesture from a CM to help smooth the sting of a less than stellar CM experience.

Totally. It was much appreciated! It's the little things (Or when it comes to dole whip, it's the BIG things!)

I would never use a line like that...

There's gotta be a market for some food critiques about dishes that are allergy free!

Surely! I know I really appreciate the few blogs and things I follow about allergy dining at Disney and elsewhere.

In our sue happy society... I know it is frustrating for you that they're acting like they know better than you do, but when you mentioned a dairy allergy, they're doing the right thing by not allowing you to have any and potentially receiving blame if you get sick.

Yeah, you're not wrong about this. I typically always confirm that I have a dairy sensitivity, not a true allergy, when I talk to the server or chef, and I clarify that there are some things with dairy I can't tolerate very well, and some things that are fine, and that the main thing is that I can eat butter, so if that makes preparing the dish easier then I'm happy for them to use it. But honestly, I'm fine without it if they use something else (anything else!) to season a dish and make it appetizing. Because I absolutely would rather them be too careful than not careful enough. I'd be fine if they served my lobster without butter for dipping if the rest of the dish was spot on. A lot of Disney restaurants also have a dairy-free butter alternative like Smart Balance or Earth Balance or something, so offering that could always be an option. But alas, not every meal can be knocked out of the park.

 

[disneyAndi14]

It sucks getting a cold at Disney and in August. I couldn’t believe how many people had colds this past August.

I’m thinking yes to Sea World this year! I hope you got there. We haven’t been since 2012. I enjoyed it.

I’m sorry your dinner was not very good. Rubbery lobster without butter is a definite bummer.

I hope the cold was better for the next day!

 

[MeghanEmily]

Whoa! Ambitious!

Yeah, getting in around 12/1-ish (or something like that) and having a morning class probably wasn't the best planning on my part. I wouldn't plan it that way again in future. But I managed fine! The first day is always pretty chill anyway, and our professor only kept us for a half hour for what was supposed to be a 3-hour class, just long enough to go over the schedule/expectations for the term and answer questions. the only problem is that it made me wish I hadn't rushed home from Disney for a measly half hour or class, since that was Tuesday morning, and I didn't have another class scheduled until Thursday.

Somehow I can totally see you actually doing this.

She's a cutie!

She's quite something! Too smart for her own good, and just the right amount of sassy. She makes me laugh a lot.

Same for me. I think the last time I was there was... back in 1978?

Hah! You've got me beat then!

This CM would be such a delight for all the Make a Wish kids.

My goodness, I can only imagine.

I didn't quote all of that, but... it upsets me that you were upset by this. No one should be judged like that. I recently witnessed a scene at a grocery store parking lot where a young man parked in the handicap spot and was confronted by a very irate woman. I don't know if he had the required placard or not, but... he seemed fine, but how did that woman know he didn't have one of those invisible disabilities.
Yes, he very well may have not had one and was a self-entitled jerk who took advantage, but... we don't know.

sigh... I guess there just needs to be more education on the subject.

Yeah, I agree with you. It's entirely possible that the guy was just a jerk who wanted to get away with something so he didn't have to walk across the parking lot. But it's also possible, and probably much more likely, that whatever disability he had just wasn't apparent to her on the outside. You never know, that's exactly it. And for the very few times when it's actually a loser gaming the system, is it really worth it to risk most likely being rude and discriminatory to someone who doesn't wear their disability on the outside? Like, how much does it really affect your life why they're parking there that you need to harass someone and make them feel crappy. Like, there are some bad eggs out there and selfish jerks, don't get me wrong, but I find that when you really look at people, most tend to be overwhelmingly good and just trying to get around in life the best they can. It all comes down to education, 100%. People typically just don't know any better, and I don't blame that for that. But I'd like for them to have more opportunities to learn.

yay! Massive Dole Whip!

Best birthday present ever.

In fact, cancel all other birthday gift-giving from now on. I think this should always be the best birthday option.

Why? Towel swans can't have a little light entertainment? Are you towel swan discriminatory?

Oh my goodness! I had no idea, but apparently I have a subconscious implicit bias against towel swans! Thank you for bringing this to my attention so I can do better!

This is perfect Dad parenting. I salute him.

It was pretty hilarious.

Absolutely. You're obviously the epitome of fancy-ness.

Naturally.

Hmm... so a bit of a mixed review.

Yep. I think if I hadn't had allergies to contend with, and we'd gone on a night they weren't running quite so far behind, and we weren't too concerned about the fireworks (or they'd actually come get us, or actually eventually come back for us after they told us to line up by the verandah, etc.) and if I hadn't been more inclined to feel cranky about those things because I was feeling under the weather, then it probably would have been a very good meal. I know Nathan really enjoyed his food, and was just a bit put off by those other things and my meal. So on another night it would probably be an excellent choice. But there are so many other places we want to go that I probably won't head back any time too soon.

 

[MeghanEmily]

It sucks getting a cold at Disney and in August. I couldn’t believe how many people had colds this past August.

Right!?! Who gets sick in the summer!?! Apparently everyone at Disney World. I mean I know people at Disney are bringing their germs with them and touching everything and stuff, but I'd expect that much more in the winter than August.

I’m thinking yes to Sea World this year! I hope you got there. We haven’t been since 2012. I enjoyed it.

Hopefully I'll get to the trip report soon so I can confirm whether this is right or wrong! Sea World is a neat park. I think they get a lot of flack because of issues in the past with their breeding program and whatnot, but I think these days they've actually been doing some great work for conservation! And they've got some fun rides and shows. When we went when I was little, one of my favourite rides of all time was their little Atlantis-themed water ride.

I’m sorry your dinner was not very good. Rubbery lobster without butter is a definite bummer.

Definitely a bummer! Nathan's was much better from what he told me.

I hope the cold was better for the next day!

Spoiler alert: I did quite a bit better the next day

 

[pkondz]

Yeah, getting in around 12/1-ish (or something like that) and having a morning class probably wasn't the best planning on my part. I wouldn't plan it that way again in future. But I managed fine! The first day is always pretty chill anyway, and our professor only kept us for a half hour for what was supposed to be a 3-hour class

Lucky thing, that.

the only problem is that it made me wish I hadn't rushed home from Disney for a measly half hour or class, since that was Tuesday morning, and I didn't have another class scheduled until Thursday.

"I would never do that again... except if I'd known what I know now, I would've done the exact same thing."

She's quite something! Too smart for her own good, and just the right amount of sassy. She makes me laugh a lot.

Yeah, I agree with you. It's entirely possible that the guy was just a jerk who wanted to get away with something so he didn't have to walk across the parking lot. But it's also possible, and probably much more likely, that whatever disability he had just wasn't apparent to her on the outside. You never know, that's exactly it. And for the very few times when it's actually a loser gaming the system, is it really worth it to risk most likely being rude and discriminatory to someone who doesn't wear their disability on the outside? Like, how much does it really affect your life why they're parking there that you need to harass someone and make them feel crappy. Like, there are some bad eggs out there and selfish jerks, don't get me wrong, but I find that when you really look at people, most tend to be overwhelmingly good and just trying to get around in life the best they can. It all comes down to education, 100%. People typically just don't know any better, and I don't blame that for that. But I'd like for them to have more opportunities to learn.

Makes me wonder if...
"Excuse me. I don't mean to intrude, but you parked in a handicap stall. If you have an invisible handicap, then I beg your pardon. If not, perhaps you didn't notice that it was a handicap stall?"

Best birthday present ever.

In fact, cancel all other birthday gift-giving from now on. I think this should always be the best birthday option.

I support this!

Oh my goodness! I had no idea, but apparently I have a subconscious implicit bias against towel swans! Thank you for bringing this to my attention so I can do better!

Shame on you Meghan! On behalf of towel swans everywhere.

 

[MeghanEmily]

"I would never do that again... except if I'd known what I know now, I would've done the exact same thing."

Exactly!

Makes me wonder if...
"Excuse me. I don't mean to intrude, but you parked in a handicap stall. If you have an invisible handicap, then I beg your pardon. If not, perhaps you didn't notice that it was a handicap stall?"

As someone with a strong sense of justice, and who wouldn't want someone who didn't need the spot taking it from someone who does, I don't know what the right answer is here, but I do very much feel where you're coming from. I think that if I were someone who needed it (and I'm not, so take this with a grain of salt) I wouldn't like feeling like I had to explain my disability or justify it to a stranger who didn't know me from Adam. But that's assuming that I followed the rules, had my little placard thing identifying that I could park there, etc. I'd definitely think peeking in the windshield for a placard would be the best first step. If it was missing, maybe saying something is the right call in case that person just made a mistake, or if they're being a jerk and thought they could do it and not get caught. Or maybe they just were in a rush and forgot to put it up, and mentioning it to them would remind them to put it up. (Which could maybe also save them a parking ticket!) And I think doing it politely like you suggest, rather than jumping to the level of the irate lady is defffffinitely the right call!

Huh. Neat discussion topic.

 

[pkondz]

I'd definitely think peeking in the windshield for a placard would be the best first step

Definitely! Everything is solved if that placard is there.

Then again... There are those people who:
"This is great! My mom has (fill in disability here) so she can park in handicap spots. Whenever I borrow her car, I just park there!"

But... if the placard is there... and the person getting out of the car looks like he/she doesn't have a disability... I'm leaving it alone.

If it was missing, maybe saying something is the right call in case that person just made a mistake, or if they're being a jerk and thought they could do it and not get caught. Or maybe they just were in a rush and forgot to put it up, and mentioning it to them would remind them to put it up.

Exactly. "Excuse me, you parked in a handicap stall."
"Yes I did, I... oh! I forgot to put up the placard!"

pkondz saves the day!

Huh. Neat discussion topic.

 

[MeghanEmily]

"Friends don't get friends fired."
Aug. 23—Part 1

I'm about to jump into what's likely to be a text-heavy/photo-light update, so I'll try to make it as manageable for you to get through as possible and just hit some highlights...

You'll probably remember that when I last left off, I was feeling pretty under the weather. When I woke up that next morning nice and early, I showered all the congestion right out of my sick face, and found that once I was up and around I was actually feeling pretty human! My cold seemed to already be getting better compared to the day before, so I was hopeful that I'd manage to get through the entire busy day we had planned...beginning with a special tour at the Magic Kingdom!

I've mentioned previously on the DIS that we've done the Marceline to the Magic Kingdom tour before, and that N and I both enjoyed it. This time we were going to take the Keys to the Kingdom tour instead! 5 glorious hours of WDW history and fun facts at the Magic Kingdom, with a lunch included at Peco's Bill, and some backstage area access unique to this particular tour.

We hopped the monorail and headed over to the MK, taking in the beautiful morning.

Since we were taking a tour, I couldn't take a lot of photos. There were many parts of our tour that took place "backstage," and photography is strictly prohibited there. But I took lots of notes about fun tidbits we learned and things we saw. ...I also want to give a warning now that I will be sharing a few fun facts from our tour, so if you plan to take this tour at some point and would like for everything about it to remain a surprise, feel free to skip this update and join in again for my next one!


We arrived and checked in for our tour at the desk in the Town Square building, and we were introduced to our guide, Lindsey. She first took our group to Main St. USA where she talked about the development of Walt Disney World.

^That's Lindsey. She's the one in the cool hat.

Lindsey talked about some things I already knew from the UnDISCOVERED Future World Tour about how Walt purchased the land for WDW. She also explained how the Magic Kingdom is designed to block out reality at every turn. For example, as we headed toward Adventureland, Lindsey drew our attention to the fact that when you enter Adventureland your view of the castle is fully obscured by trees so you're immersed in the...well...adventure-y-land-ness?

As we walked through Adventureland toward the Jungle Cruise ride, we were fighting our way through the crowds...

...yeah. It was just us.

We rode JC and Lindsey told us all kinds of tidbits and tried her best to make some corny jokes. I have a note about the "Congo, Mekong, Nile, and Amazon rivers," and I believe that was to remind me that those are the rivers you're supposed to traverse during the ride. She pointed out hidden Mickeys/other neat features on the ride. (For instance, if you haven't before, see if you notice the faces of Mickey/Donald/Goofy in the canoes on the shore!) She also told us that the water is very shallow, only around 4ft deep for the most part, but that it looks deeper because they use water-soluble dye that gets mixed into the water through the famous "backside-of-water" waterfall. The skippers also have no control over where the boats go, so if your skipper passes the wheel off to a small child, don't fret! They do, however, control how fast the boats travel.

Next we talked a bit about the Pirates of the Caribbean as we passed it and headed backstage to the production area. Lindsey explained that the drop in Pirates is so the boat can get down into a lower building to pass below the train tunnel. Then when you finish the ride, you ride the ramp-escalator up to get back up to the level you started on.

Backstage, we got to take a look at some parade floats and learn a bit about how they're maintained and driven. There are three different levels of parade-float-driving difficulty, based on how complicated the vehicle is to drive, and how much visibility you have. A driver starts by learning to drive the floats at the easiest level, then when they're proficient with that they can do more training to drive more difficult floats. The easier floats to drive are ones like the vehicles that look a bit like typical cars, where you can see the driver sitting behind the wheel chauffeuring a character. A much more difficult float to drive (which we got to see up close) would be one like the barn float that Clara Cluck rides in for the Halloween parade. There's somebody in the bottom of that red barn driving it, and they have pretty limited visibility down there!

While we were backstage, Lindsey talked with us about how we would be going to another backstage area after lunch where cast members were sometimes seen getting ready in various stages of dress/undress, or where they might be doing normal human things like not using Disney-friendly language, etc., and that we shouldn't gawk at them or do anything to interfere with their lives, etc. She also reminded us again about not taking any photography backstage. She gave us an opportunity to ask any of the magic-destroying questions people might have, (e.g. about things to do with how characters get ready, etc.) And she warned us not to ask those kinds of questions out onstage in front of families/children. After going through all these rules, she told us that she trusted us to all follow them because she was responsible for us, and we were all friends now, and "friends don't get friends fired."

It was nearing time for lunch, so Lindsey took us to Peco's Bill. N had pre-ordered some kind of soft taco type meal or something like that.

You can see part of the name tag he was given from the tour in that photo. I had requested an allergy-friendly meal, and it had seemed at the time like my easiest option for gluten/dairy-free was a bacon cheeseburger sans cheese. They were also supposed to leave off the corn chips, (which either contained an allergen or were likely cross-contaminated or something like that.) My only notes reviewing our lunch say: "worst allergy meal ever."

Aside from the fact that it wasn't very tasty, there were a couple of obvious problems that I noticed: there was no bacon on my "bacon cheeseburger," and they left the chips.

After lunch we made our way through Frontierland toward Liberty Square. Lindsey told us about how Big Thunder Mountain is supposed to be reflective of Monument Valley in Utah. She talked to us about the Liberty Tree, and how the 13 lanterns in it are supposed to represent the 13 original US colonies. Lindsey also showed us how forced perspective was used in the construction of Cinderella castle, and how the "bricks" on the exterior get smaller and smaller as they go up.

Next we rode Haunted Mansion, and Lindsey had primed us with some fun facts about the voice actors. (e.g. the voice of Madame Leota is also the voice of Lady Tremaine in Cinderella.)

After our ride, we hit up the prettiest restrooms in the park, the Tangled Toilets. Then it was time for the moment many on the tour were waiting for. We got to enter the utilidors—i.e. the tunnels under the MK that cast members use to get around—from a sneaky little spot in the gift shop beside Philharmagic. I won't give too much away for any of you who would prefer not to know about these types of things to preserve the magic...but I'll just say that the utilidors...look like...tunnels?? The main thing I noticed down there was that there were golf-cart-like vehicles everywhere that the cast members called "Pargos." We also were lucky enough to encounter royalty during our visit! Snow White and Sleeping Beauty were just on their way up to the castle stage as we were passing through.

While the tour is named in part for the fact that regular guests are given the "keys" to see the inner workings of the Magic Kingdom, it also features a lot of information about the keys required to be an effective cast member and an ambassador for Disney. During the tour, Lindsey talked a lot about the Four Keys: Safety, Courtesy, Show, and Efficiency. They're listed in that order due to level of importance, (i.e. safety always comes first, etc.) Knowing that these are the values and standards that cast members abide by, and hearing some examples of how they come into play over the course of the tour, I find myself noticing these qualities in cast members now all the time.

As we ended the tour, Lindsey talked to us about Roy Disney, and how he ensured that Walt Disney World was completed after Walt died. She told us that he had said that he needed to make Walt's vision a reality so he wouldn't have to explain to Walt why he didn't complete it when he was reunited with him again. The group collectively got a bit misty at this point.

Before we knew it, five hours had passed, and our tour was over. We took a monorail back to our resort and then headed off to our afternoon plans. We both really enjoyed the Keys to the Kingdom tour and found it interesting and informative. I thought seeing the parade floats was really neat, and our guide was friendly and had lots of great information for us. I was concerned that it might be a lot of overlap after the Marceline to the MK tour, but there was a lot of different information and only a few stories from "Marceline" were repeated. I did find myself thinking, though, that I actually enjoyed the "Marceline" tour a bit more. It was a shorter tour, and less expensive, but I felt the information on it was more interesting to me, and I liked going backstage in the Haunted Mansion ride, and learning more about Walt's personal history. But all in all, N and I were both pleased with the Keys to the Kingdom tour and were glad to have checked it off our Disney To-Do list!​

 

[kastoney]

This time we were going to take the Keys to the Kingdom tour instead!

I can't wait until Casey is old enough to do these tours or we find a way to get down there without her. So cool.

I also want to give a warning now that I will be sharing a few fun facts from our tour, so if you plan to take this tour at some point and would like for everything about it to remain a surprise, feel free to skip this update and join in again for my next one!

This made me laugh as no chance I could ever remember anything

she told us that she trusted us to all follow them because she was responsible for us, and we were all friends now, and "friends don't get friends fired."

Aside from the fact that it wasn't very tasty, there were a couple of obvious problems that I noticed: there was no bacon on my "bacon cheeseburger," and they left the chips.

Ugh this does not look good. Maybe you were meant to put the tortilla chips on the burger and pretend it was crunchy bacon??

the voice of Madame Leota is also the voice of Lady Tremaine in Cinderella

No way I had no idea!

Great run down of the tour. Though 5 hours does seem like a lot. I'll remember none of what you shared so I'll be ready in 8 years when we can finally go