You left WHAT in Jacksonville?! Where Walt's Dream Met Murphy's Law UPDATED 9/23 Ch 5

[Tigger822]

Hi
if your out there say hello!
I used to be a lurker too.
Lisa

 

[Tigger822]

I don't Know if any one is reading this TR. I hope so! My husband is writing it I am just posting it and adding pics. He has not yet given me the next chapter and i am just posting to say if there are any readers out there hang on It shoud not be too long.

Thanks for sticking around !
Now to go sing "it's a small world over and over untill he gives me an up date.
He Will go

Lisa

 

[CommandoDawg]

I'm reading and enjoying. You are the funniest TR writer that I have read. Keep it up.

 

[Tigger822]

Chapter 4--To Rope Drop or Not to Rope Drop that is the Question?

We dragged ourselves out of bed around 10am after our six-hour sojourn the night before. We were heading to DHS today, and we originally were going to hit Rope Drop, but -- not a chance. We grabbed a muffin and a bagel for breakfast (we use our snack credits for breakfast, then our other meal credits for our later meals) then climbed aboard the bus for DHS. While in line, Lisa's Disney sense was tingling and she noticed a couple with a small child, all wearing some very familiar t-shirts. She realized they were fellow DISers and struck up a conversation. (I swear, Lisa can do this with anyone. If I had half her conversational skills, I'd be a rich man.) We did not write it down soon enough, so the name did not stick with us, but Ali, if you're out there, HI!

Now, you may be asking yourselves, why was Rope Drop so important for this particular day? Four words -- Toy Story Midway Mania. When we went through DHS last year, Midway Mania was brand spanking new, with wait times of over 90 minutes and the Fastpasses were gone by 9am. We never had a chance to ride it and we WANTED to as badly as anyone, so the plan this time was to hit the park at Rope Drop. I run straight for Midway Mania (my legs are much longer, so I was drafted for this particular job), snap up Fastpasses and get in line for Lisa and me so we can actually ride it twice. This was a good and solid plan, except after not getting to bed until 3am, we weren't going to hit Rope Drop plain and simple.

When we arrived, however, I took off for Pixar Place and to my pleasant surprise, there was plenty of FP's left -- we were scheduled for about 3:30 that afternoon -- and the wait time was only around 45 minutes now! I jumped into line quickly and Lisa eventually joined me. As we moved through, I marveled once again at the detail involved in just the line approaching the ride. Let's face it -- you could have just as easily had white concrete all over the place with a few flat-screens running Toy Story and the crowds would have hung around for the ride. The detail was incredible -- the board games on the ceiling, the crayons and toys all over the place, even down to the Nemo fish on the wall - all culminating in the giant talking Potato Head! Yes, the Potato Head WORKED!

Can you tell which is Andy's least favorite color!

Lisa and I wended our way through the line and sat down in the car. This ride was SO...COOL. I'm an old video game fanatic and this was off the charts for me. Unfortunately, I apparently became temporarily color-blind since it took me three of the five rounds to actually realize that I was on the blue gun instead of the red. Then I couldn't quite get the gun to fire correctly (again, this one was my stupid mistake). Lisa and I did not score well the first time, and she DESTROYED me, (32,800 to 19,700) one of the few times she has so completely obliterated me in a video game. Let's just see what the scoreboards look like when we come back later.

One thing we noticed, however, was that the Sounds Dangerous attraction, with Drew Carey, was closed. This ride apparently has been shut down for awhile, and the general consensus is that it's not going to last much longer. It's too bad -- I'm a big Drew Carey fan (260 pounds of one, actually -- I gotta go back to Weight Watchers) so it hurts, but if it doesn't draw, it doesn't draw.

After Midway Mania, we grabbed some lunch at Backlot Express -- chicken nuggets and fries. Not exactly the Ritz, but it was "free dining" so who's complaining?

Around 1pm we headed for the American Idol pavilion. This was of particular interest to me -- I wanted to try out on our next DHS day and I wanted to sit in on a show, just to decide if I should even try. I've been a karaoke singer for longer than I care to admit, but I'm too old to go out for the actual show. That always bothered me -- that's age discrimination! Everyone (particularly those little twits who live and die by the show) loves to tell me, "Well, they're always raising the age requirement." Well that's fine and dandy, that they raise it by a year each time, but strangely enough, I happen to get a year older every time they raise it! I've wondered for a long time how well I'd do if it came down to me vs. them, and this was about as close as I was ever going to get. I think I've watched maybe one Idol show in my life, and Lisa didn't watch it any more than I did.

The set looked INCREDIBLE -- a perfect replica. The room holds almost a thousand people and it looked about 75% full when we went in. I listened to the three singers, and took in the whole experience from the audience and decided "Oh, yeah, I'm going for this." Want to know how things went when I auditioned on day 2 of DHS? Stay tuned and find out, true believers.

We had to hit Muppet-Vision in our travels. Lisa has always liked the Muppets, but I have loved every Muppet project since I was five years old, saw the Muppet Movie, and wanted to go to Hollywood just like Kermit did. The whole thing is just hilarious and the jokes and sight gags start long before you even get into the theater. The multi-screen gags with Gonzo, Scooter, Sam the Eagle, and Bean Bunny (Lisa's LEAST favorite character for some odd reason) were classic Muppet humor -- corny, but effective. We sit down in the theater and Statler and Waldorf are in their traditional spots as is the Swedish Chef in the projector room (the FLEEM is okey-dokey) and things got started -- we had seen this last year, so we knew pretty well what was coming but that didn't stop us from laughing the whole time.

We also took the Star Tours ride -- I enjoy Star Wars as well as Star Trek (yes, there are some of us out there who don't think one has to be better than the other) so this was a lot of fun. The detail on the simulator was amazing -- you can get sucked into believing you're really there!

We headed back to Midway Mania to play out our Fastpasses, and this time we had the routine cold. We were through the line in about ten minutes and this time we were yellow and green, and this time I made sure of what color I had (yellow, in case you were interested). Once I had the gun down, I just went to town! Both Lisa's and my scores were much better the second time around and -- as you can see

-- this time I edged her out. YES! Retribution is a sweet thing. (Yes, I know, I'm being petty -- but I lose so often I relish my few victories.)

Sorry Picture limit.
Be back soon!

 

[Tigger822]

I'm reading and enjoying. You are the funniest TR writer that I have read. Keep it up.

I will pass that on to my DH thanks!
Lisa

More TR comming I have to wait for photobucket to catch up

 

[Tigger822]

We move on to the Beauty and The Beast live show, which was quite impressive. We were both getting hungry, however, and our dinner reservation was still a couple of hours away so I was sent to forage while Lisa held our spots. I came upon the triple food stand nearby but as I headed down the way reading menus, none of them had simple and shareable (is that a word, and did I come near spelling it right if it is?) snacks that I could get with my snack credits. Then I had an idea, got in line and asked if I could just purchase a side of french fries, even though it wasn't listed on the menu separately. The CM at the register said I could and rang it up as a snack credit! Cool, more "free" food! I brought fries back and we shared throughout the production.

When we got to dinner, we had reservations at Hollywood and Vine.

The buffet meal was perfect for us -- we were both starved at the point -- and the food was EXCELLENT, although the service could have been much better. They looked understaffed, however, so I don't really think that was our server's fault, but that doesn't change the fact. Lisa found her favorite thing -- the corn spoon bread. Melt-in-your-mouth YUM. If you haven't tried this one, GRAB IT, it's fantastic. Our server told us if we gave her our email address, she would pass it to the cook and he would email us the recipe, but Lisa has been checking her inbox and we haven't gotten it yet. If anyone else has picked up this recipe, PLEASE PM it to her, she's been dying to have it again.

We headed for the Osborne Family Lights after it got darker and this is amother amazing sight. If you haven't seen this yet, make the time for it, because it is incredible. Millions of lights, all in perfect rhythm -- it is simply spectacular.These pictures really don't do it justice. It is one of my favorite things to see when we go at Christmas time-Lisa

Our final stop for that evening was Fantasmic. I had never seen this before, and Lisa had but she didn't tell me a whole lot. I also spent the whole time watching it on my viewscreen (I was recording it) which means I lost a great deal of the spectacle. This was another case where, next time, I just want to watch it myself and absorb the whole thing. It never would have dawned on me to project images onto spraying water, and it worked brilliantly.
I don't have any pictures of Fantasmic It's all on DVD and when I can figure out how to get it off that dumb little disk I will post It. So I will leave you with other pics from the day.

We didn't know it sprayed until he got wet!

Stay tuned!
Lisa

 

[Tigger822]

Life has once again caught up with us.
With my husband working two jobs he hasn't had time to write another chapter. If you are reading along sorry for the break in the story. He has promised me a chapter by Wed. so hang on.

At least we don't have to listen to ride soundtracks over and over.

Be back soon.
Lisa

 

[Guatemommy]

Lovin your report! I like your style, Josh!

We leave in 3 weeks for my DD's first trip so I am reading many reports these days and I do like how you wirte and lovin the pics, Lisa!

 

[Tigger822]

Lovin your report! I like your style, Josh!

We leave in 3 weeks for my DD's first trip so I am reading many reports these days and I do like how you wirte and lovin the pics, Lisa!

Thanks I just hope people are reading.
We wanted to tell our story to help people who are going.
I've learned lots from peoples Trip Reports and just wanted to give back.
Peek into the week for you he does American Idol Experience.
But You'll have to wait to see how it turns out.

Have fun on your trip. Yeah so close!
Lisa

 

[Momejules]

I am reading along as well. My husband and I, along with our best friends, are surprising the kids (6 between the 2 families) with a trip to Disney the same week as the trip you took, but not until 2011 (if that makes any sense). Interested to see how it all turned out and what we can expect as far as crowds and weather. Great job so far!!

 

[Tigger822]

Hi I'm at work and can't post pictures but I can tell you that i have a post to do tonight.
Sorry for the wait But he finally had time to give me another chapter update so i will post it when I get home.
Now I just have to get through my day with 12 Preschoolers and I know of three that are not sleeping at nap right now so my afternoon will be lovely oh well!

See you all later!

If your reading give a post please.
Thanks,
Lisa

 

[Tigger822]

Ok before I post The new chapter some pictures I forgot

Our photopass pics from our DHS day 1.
Sorry!
Next post will be Chap 5.

 

[Tigger822]

Once more unto the breach, dear readers...

First off, my apologies to the faithful who have enjoyed our work so far. Things have been decidedly weird for us the past couple of weeks, and if you've returned I appreciate your patience. If you haven't returned -- then, well, you're not reading this, so I'll move on.

For today's adventures, we hurtle you into the future... OK, sorry, can't sell that one. Welcome to EPCOT!

We were running pretty late for the morning. I wish I had a better excuse, but hey, it's my vacation and just once I'm sleeping in. We entered the park and jumped into the fray headed for Spaceship Earth.

The lines were rather slow but eventually, around 10:30 AM, we got into our spots and began rolling along to the demanding yet hypnotic voice of Dame Judi Dench. I love her work. We had a number of stops in the ride, however, it was rather odd.

The next phase was even more fun, I love the interactive games they have set up. It's interesting to move around and be silly, particularly after sitting in the ride as long as we had, even longer than normal given the stops.
Going to try and put in our Video of the future -- Sorry if it doesn't work!

Once we got out of there, I could feel the sugar shock creeping in and we headed over to the Electric Umbrella to grab lunch.

As soon as my strength returned ( good lord, I sound like Clark Kent after a Kryptonite encounter, but that's OK, I'm supposed to look like him after a cupcake encounter) we headed over and hit the Lands. We swooped into Soarin' and grabbed our Fastpasses for later that afternoon. We then rode through Living with the Land, which had no wait whatsoever for some highly explicable reason. There's only so much excitement you can add into a boat ride that has a trip through a garden as a high point.

We cruised through Innoventions East and West, and played through the interactive games -- Don't Waste It (trash recycling, actually rather cute),

The Great Piggy Bank Adventure,

Runtime (records your motions and puts them into a video game), and the newer one (to us, anyway) Where's the Fire? It's a contest to put out fires in all the rooms of a small house and it's actually a lot of fun. I've enjoyed a healthy childhood for nearly four decades now (I don't consider myself too old, just over-experienced) and I can always find a way to let my inner child out to play. It's not that hard when my inner child runs the place.

We then moved on Test Track, which is always a crushing crowd but still manages to move along once the doors open. Pile in, ride along and pray... sounds like my father-in-law driving...

We headed for Mission Space and rode the green side. Lisa is scared of getting sick on the orange side -- we could use some insight from those of you in the know in the DIS universe as to how much you get twisted around so I can convince her to try the orange. I thought about hitting the orange side on my own, but time was getting tight.

What Lisa enjoyed as well was the dump shop, where she found a bunch of things she wanted for her class's space unit, including...

We visited Club Cool, which Lisa REALLY wanted to do and I REALLY didn't. I dislike flavored drinks as a rule, and I really don't like regular Coke anymore (I prefer Diet Coke) so none of the drinks in there were of any real interest to me, but Lisa wanted to travel the world in beverages and never let it be said I could let my wife be unhappy. (So long, man card points, you were such good friends of mine...)

As our evening wound down, we found a brand new way for Murphy's Law to run roughshod over us. We had reservations set that night for Chefs De France,

our mutual favorite restaurant. Earlier on in the week, however, I had contacted Disney Dining to cancel our reservations for Chef Mickey's later in the week (we wanted to hold on to the dining credits). Why do I bring this up right now? Because the young woman I spoke to apparently couldn't tell the difference between Chef Mickey's and Chefs De France, since our dinner reservations for that night were cancelled. While Lisa kept a spot in the seating outside, I got on the phone with Disney Dining and raised a rather polite but definite stink (I was rather embarrassed, but my doctor is giving me something for that). Eventually, after some profuse apologies from Disney Dining and an un-charming amout of waiting, the Maitre D' seated us around 8:00 or so.

The meal was fantastic, as usual...

and we grabbed a bonus this year. Bryce, the terrific kid who waited on us on our last trip, was working in the restaurant again. Our waiter this year, named Johan, managed to grab him and bring him over and we got a picture with both of them!

Just had a thought here -- Bryce and Johan, both having spent some time in France and fluent in French, but neither name was anywhere near French. That was weird... in any case, that fun little reunion rounded out our evening and we headed back to the hotel.

For our next trick, we show DIS'ers how we do it Downtown!