You little sneak! A TR with lies & pictures! (July 25-Aug 5, 2010) Done 3/29

[DisneyFreak06]

I'm in the process of uploading some new pictures to photobucket. Hopefully I'll get the next bit up before too long and I will still have some readers!

 

[DisneyFreak06]

I don’t remember where we went next, but I’m guessing I snapped lots of pictures. I tried to get the crown on Cinderella’s head at the fountain.

We watched Mickey’s Philharmagic. I love the 3D movies at Disney. I enjoy the ones in the theatres, but not as much as the ones at Disney World. In fact, when I was watching Tangled, I kept expecting water to squirt out at me each time she was near water... Does anyone know why?

I even put the glasses on my camera to try to take a picture.

We headed back to Tomorrowland after that. We saw Stitch. One of my sisters who went to Florida in May took her kids on it (she forgot that I had advised her NOT to) and she didn’t like the way the seat pushes down on her shoulders, so she hunched down, and then it kept pushing, so she ended up way low on the seat. It makes me laugh now because I can picture her trying to get away from the shoulder thingies and then practically sitting on the floor. Needless to say, she didn’t like the ride, and neither did her kids who screamed the whole time the lights were out. I don’t mind it, in fact I kind of like the thrill of the lights being out and wondering when Stitch is going to find me. I do not like the Chilli Dog part though... ewy!

Next up was the Monsters Inc Laugh Floor. I get such a kick out of these types of shows. They are so cute, and the technology is fun.

We decided to take a little break so we went on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority (TTA/Peoplemover etc).... I’d never been on it in all my 3 previous trips to Florida. I loved it. You see a different side of the park, and it’s comfortable and you get a breeze. Going through Space Mountain, I reached across and grabbed Blanche’s ankle.... Her response was “Why aren’t you scared of me?” After she screamed as loud as the SM riders! I laughed quite hard at that. During the ride, we took pictures of our feet to annoy/gross out Rose, as she is deathly grossed out by feet. I’m not posting those though, I have extremely ugly feet! (We did get a chuckle when we showed Rose the pictures at the GF)

I like the attitude of this guy!

We went around a few times, Blanche was scared that I was taking too many breaks. I like to go commando style in the parks, but I like to take breaks and slow down too. I’m very flexible, so I didn’t mind. It was hard for her because it wasn’t the trip we had talked about before she got hurt.
I believe that we slowly made our way out of the park now. Here are some pictures I took on my way out... including more castle pictures!

I liked this CM. He pretended it was windy out for my picture. He explained that on a bad day, they can lose up to ten balloons, and a good day is one or two. Wow!

I don’t think I’ve mentioned yet, but we did spend a lot of time in the shops... When we went in July 2009, I spend over $800 in 3 days!!! Then I went back in August and I spent another $800. In my previous two trips COMBINED, I might have spent $200. I blame Blanche and Rose, they created my shopping demon in Florida. Before, the important thing was the rides and pictures etc.... Now shopping is right up there! You’ll hear just HOW much I spent when I finish up the TR.... Let’s just say I spent a lot again for now.

 

[DisneyFreak06]

Continued here because I had 4 too many pictures on the last post.


On our way out of the park.

I think I like this shot with the CM IN the picture better than out. It makes the shot a little more interesting.

We took the bus back to the hotel to relax for a little bit before heading to AK for EMH.

Up next: Animal Kingdom: Why? Why? Why won't you look at that???

 

[DisneyFreak06]

We took the bus back to the hotel to relax for a little bit before heading to AK for EMH. We got those chicken nuggets again. There is something about them. I think they put some kind of additive in them that is addictive, because I don’t know how many times we got them on the trip. (I did the same thing last year too)

The plan was to go to AK in the afternoon/evening for EMH. I had never seen AK in the dark, and really wanted to try to get some good shots. Only I got lazy and didn’t take my tripod, so that didn’t work.

Blanche had never stayed on Disney property before our last trip, so she'd never done EMH, she’d never had a character meal, and she’d never park hopped before. She was having many “firsts”, and she liked the idea of hopping when you felt like it. There was a semi bus full of us heading to AK.

Both Blanche and I love how tranquil the parks can be when you stop and smell the roses, as they say. I love trying to get a few shots of the parks without anyone in them, where you wouldn’t know you took the picture at a theme park.

We saw this fun guy

And then we saw the Tree of Life!

And some kangaroos! This was my first time seeing the kangaroos, so I was very excited. Blanche hadn’t been to AK in ages, since the year the park opened, so it was like everything was new to her.

More tranquil shots

Now I’m confused.... because at some point on this day, I stopped to take a picture of EE and the temple, so that you can see how well they are aligned. I can’t find the pictures of that anywhere! I did take some last time, but still...

I remember this clearly because I stopped to take the shot, and told Blanche to come see. She barely moved, so I was like “You can’t see it there ... you need to be here” and she didn’t really move again. I looked at her and I couldn’t believe what I saw. Here I was almost literally pushing her, and making her move a lot, and then I got it. She was in so much pain that she could not move. Not a step. We were stopped in the middle of the pathway because she couldn’t walk. I felt terrible. I was pushing her to move faster, I was making her sit on wooden benches to watch shows, I was making her go go go go, and I was hurting her! Mind you, she was not taking enough medication, but I didn’t know that. This is the point that I realized just how much pain she was in; this wasn’t just a little cramp, this was an injured hip. She had been playing down her injury for quite some time; she didn’t want to tell me before the trip in case I told her that she wasn’t allowed to come. The doctors had told her it was okay; it couldn’t make it worse, but to pay attention to her body.

So we stopped, and stood there. I took a few pictures while peeking glimpses at Blanche, who was not in tears, but looked like it could happen. (Sorry Blanche! Hope you don’t mind, but this is an integral part of the trip...) Eventually she felt well enough to move, so we slowly moved to figure out what to do. The funny thing is, she was walking slowly, and since I figured out just how much pain she was in, even slower than before because I told her to, but people kept bumping into her. It was like she was invisible, or like she was a bulls eye. Since I noticed this, people would walk right up to her, trying to walk through her almost. There would be lots of room ahead of her, behind her and beside her for them to go around, but it was like they walked right into her. Maybe they were expecting her to move faster or something, but I thought it was odd.

I know that technically I have 4 pictures I can post on here before I hit the limit, but since the next part is Festival of the Lion King, I will put them all together. So here, so I don't waste my last 4 images:



UP NEXT: Same day... July 26th (STILL!) The Lion King

 

[DisneyFreak06]

On our list of must-dos (not to be confused with must-gos which are leftovers at my house… normally pronounced « mussgos ») was The Festival of the Lion King. I will just give you my favourites.

Now this one I played with some... which one do you like best?

Original:

1st edit:

Then I realized I liked the female singer better than the dancers in this shot, so I cropped them out. 2nd edit:

I think I'm at my quota for pictures... Good thing I'm at the end of my FOTL pictures... sorry if that's too many. It's hard to pick from 120 pictures.... Wow! I only took 120 pictures of FOTLK... guess I'll have to take more next time.

In the next post you will see some shots on the way out of the park. I’m sure I rode EE before leaving, but I missed Dinosaur on this trip.

 

[DisneyFreak06]

I don't think I lasted until dark at AK, but that's okay. We were tired. I think this might have been the night that we watched the first part of Enchanted. It was funny because Blanche had never seen it and I refused to tell her the ending, so she got mad at me!

Coming up: July 27th: We are now officially traitors! (GASP!)

 

[DisneyFreak06]

Warning: Background story ahead!

I felt like such a traitor on this day! I went to Universal Studios for the first time! Here’s a little bit of background: Any time I’d gone to Disney, I’d only used Disney transportation. I never took a taxi, never used a rental car, never used a car service. Nothing. Just Disney. In fact, DME was what helped push me into going to Disney the first time. I loved travelling, but hadn’t traveled often. My first flight was in 2000 going to Rome with a large group of Islanders for World Youth Day. I was 24. I’d never been outside of Canada, never been outside of the Maritimes (PEI, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia) before then. That was incredible! I loved it and I was bitten by the bug.

I’d wanted to go to Disney long before then, and even had read some guide books. But in 2006, I was on a “break” with my boyfriend of 5.5 years. We ended up breaking up for good in June, but at that point I was still figuring things out. (Oh, and btw, he’s one of my closest friends now, and I realized that for a few years we were only friends, not in a relationship really. We are much more comfortable as friends... but that’s another story! LOL) I really needed to do something for me – something fun, something interesting. So it was Sunday, and there was one week of school before March break. I looked into going to Disney. But I didn’t have enough money. I couldn’t do it. Then my dad heard what I was thinking about, and he understood why I had to do it. You have to know that I have a large family, 10 brothers and sisters, (all grown up now, but only 14 years between us and no multiples) and my family does not have much money. Never did, probably never will! But my father took $500 out of his line of credit to help me go to Disney for the first time. I will never, EVER forget that. I paid him back, of course, but it still brings tears to my eyes when I think about it. That’s why I help my family go when I can. I took my nephew, and I lent my sister money to come with me twice. (Sorry Rose! ) Of course, for one of those trips, she gave me a free plane ticket, so I can’t take all the credit....

Anyways, back to the beginning. It was because Disney was providing transportation to the hotel that I decided I could do this. Rose and some other people I know were all “Oh my gosh! You can’t go travel alone, something could happen!” One of the teachers I was working at even asked who I would call if I fell and scraped my knee. I was not concerned about it, I knew I would be safe with Disney, as I literally was in Disney’s hands straight off the plane. I wasn’t stupid, it’s not like I would go off with strangers or something. I would stay in more well lit places etc...

So I’d never taken a cab, and never ventured outside of Disney until I went on my third trip. The one where I practically cried standing outside of Magic Kingdom because I wanted to go in and we were not doing parks. The one with Rose and Blanche where we only shopped. (And boy, did we shop!!! 3 days and we came home with double the suitcases we went down with). We took a taxi to one of the outlet malls.

Then on my next trip I took a taxi to go to Church. Felt safer because I’d been in a taxi with Dorothy and Rose a month before.

But never, EVER had I imagined I would be wasting Disney time going to Universal Studios, even though I thought I’d like the park. (I thought I might if I were going down for minimum 2 weeks... then I could spare precious Disney time!) I totally felt like a traitor. But I loved it! It would have been better if Blanche could have gone on the rides. I know she likes them, so it was hard for her to watch me get in line all the time and then find her afterwards. She did enjoy sitting and relaxing some, but I’m sure she didn’t like it that much, she would have preferred the rides. (Right, Blanche? So are you going to just keep lurking or are you going to get yourself a Disboards account and comment on this? Huh? You too Rose!!! )

So we got up and had breakfast at the food court. I love free QSDP. It’s so nice. Blanche has all the receipts, so I can’t give you any details on much, unless I have pictures, which I tend to have some of! We’re going to supper on Thursday so maybe she’ll bring them to me then.

Some shots of the bedspread and breakfast, but not breakfast on the bedspread:

I had ordered our tickets to Universal through one of the online companies and brought them down for us. I took them out on the 25th and told myself not to forget them. Guess what I did. I forgot them! I was so upset, but we decided we’d just buy tickets at the gate, and then save these ones for a future trip. This way we had an excuse to go again! I felt awful because I was making Blanche spend even more money than was necessary.

I may or may not end up posting a lot of pictures... Am I even allowed to post pictures of Universal in my TR? I hope so because here they come:

I wanted to document it all as it was my first experience here. Boy I wish I’d had a digital camera on my first trip to Disney... still can’t believe I only got about 1 shot of the castle!

Have I mentioned how much Blanche and I love palm trees?

And we’re in the park now!

I like Shrek, sometimes I think he is Disney’s cousin

I actually went on this, and Blanche was jealous. I think it was one of the scariest roller coasters I'd ever been on at that point, I loved it!

A tour group followed us here!

I think it was either hotter this day, or it just felt hotter than Disney, less air conditioning, or less lines inside or something, but I felt the heat more here than at Disney World.

I like these ones because it looks quiet

Jaws!

Some more around the park:

I’m not a big Simpsons fan, but for those of you who are:

So that's all for now. Coming up is part 2 at Universal... no catchy title, just that. And I'm hoping that I can convince Blanche and Rose to create accounts to comment. I know they're reading this, so they may as well comment.... They might if some of you come on and try to convince them too!

 

[DisneyFreak06]

I loved Woody Woodpecker as a kid, and my dad loves all these oldies

I got Scooby and Shaggy, but there are other people’s kids in the picture, so I’m not posting them, but here is Curious George and the man in the yellow hat.

Some more around the park:

My first view of anything Harry Potter! (okay, besides in the airport. )

Back to the Future

Which one do you like best?

The original?

Edit 1?

or Edit 2?

Coming up next: Another boring non title part 3....

 

[DisneyFreak06]

And a last few pictures:

I remember we noticed that the shape of the name tags are the same as the Disney tags.... with the name of the place where the worker is from. At first we thought they were copying Disney but then we thought that perhaps it's a city of Orlando thing?

Some final thoughts:

I enjoyed the day, but I don’t think it’s the kind of park that I would enjoy as much without having someone with me. I did ride the rides on my own, but they were not so fun solo. I don’t find that Universal puts as much into the queuing area as Disney does, so there doesn’t seem to be as much to look at. I don’t remember talking to that many people in the waiting areas as I do at Disney, but I don’t think it’s for lack of trying. I didn’t like their way of getting people on the rides either. I like how Disney tells you where to go, if you happen to choose the wrong “row” you could end up waiting much longer than someone behind you, which I find is not very fair when you all pay the same price at the gate. I’m not talking front of the line privileges either, I’m talking about the area when you get to the front and you have to pick a row for your seat. I did like the park and it was very beautiful there. I’m definitely not a hater.

Here’s what we did together, but not in order:

ET, Jaws, The Lucy Tribute, Shrek 4D, Terminator 2 3-D, Jimmy Newtron. I think that’s all.

Solo I did Hollywood RipTide Rocket, Men in Black Alien Attack, and The Mummy. I did get in line for the Disaster ride, but it was so hot in the outdoor line that I decided it wasn’t worth it. When there was a solo rider line, I was in it. If not, I waited in the regular line. I remember with MIB, they ran out of people in the single rider line. I could have gone through again and literally walked on, while there was at least a 60 minute wait. I wanted to talk Blanche into it, but I knew it was not safe for her.

The last picture I took was at 5pm. I can’t remember what we did at that point. We took a taxi to Downtown Disney for sure. We took a taxi directly to the park and then home we took it to DTD. I think. I need my receipts, because anytime I was at DTD, I bought something! LOL

I know we had pizza for lunch at an Italian restaurant. It was good. I just got a cheese pizza and a little salad, (again, I think!) and I liked it.

I’ll have an overall review of my visits to Universal (both parks) and Sea World at the end of my TR.

Up next: July 28, 2010 MK but my last picture was at 2:45??? Was I sick or something?

 

[captaindavidhook]

I am enjoying reading your TR..the pictures are awesome too...I hope there is more to come

 

[DisneyFreak06]

I am enjoying reading your TR..the pictures are awesome too...I hope there is more to come

Welcome, David. And thanks. I enjoy taking pictures, it's my biggest hobby. Besides the Dis, of course....

I'm off to write up my next chapter, so stay close!

 

[DisneyFreak06]

I like the little opening shows at the parks, and Blanche had ever seen one, so we got to MK in time for rope drop. We waited at the back, near the fence; both so Blanche could have somewhere to lean if she needed to, and so that we could have a good view of the show. It drove me crazy how many people got in my way for pictures though. I have a bunch where you have a blurry spot due to someone’s elbow or hair being in the way. We enjoyed the show and decided that we would take Rose to see the show from the entrance to the park. We wouldn’t actually go through the ticket area, but we’d try to see it from somewhere... We didn’t know if it was possible, but we were going to try!

Here are some shots I took while waiting for the show to begin.

We were having fun trying to predict what this guy would spell out. He kept going to back to the beginning to change what he was writing when it faded. It kept us quite entertained and smiling while waiting.

hmmm.... My image 16 seems to be missing... I wonder what it was of? If I figure it and I think it's interesting or important, I will add it later!

And here’s the show:

Yes, I do enjoy the little Topaz add on, and here's one that is a little different from what I usually do. What do you think?

A few of the family that got to open the park:

And now we’re on our way... a few more castle pictures ahead.

Here are two... I don't think I really like the first one, it's almost too fakey. Is that a word?

We made it up Main Street.... I think I now understand why it takes me so long to do a TR. One whole post just to get into the park and up Main Street! Maybe I should start telling lies about Blanche and Rose to see if they'll actually log in and start making this TR much more interesting!

Coming up: More MK pictures!

 

[GaRain]

I just love all the pictures.
Are those settings on your camera you are using or some program on your computer? I actually like your "fakey" one as it looks like a old timey drawing.

 

[DisneyFreak06]

I just love all the pictures.
Are those settings on your camera you are using or some program on your computer? I actually like your "fakey" one as it looks like a old timey drawing.

Hi, Thanks and Welcome!

Some of the pictures are straight out of the camera. The ones with obvious changes were done using the Photoshop add on Topaz. I have Photoshop Elements and I use Topaz Adjust for mine. I love it! You can get a 30 day free trial with both of those programs.

 

[DisneyFreak06]

Can you tell where we're heading now?

We decided to walk through the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House. I loved the tv show when I was a kid, so it always makes me smile to walk through it.

Oops! I don't think I was planning to post that many pictures.... Oh well. I like these ones! I took over 30 pictures in the Tree House, so posting only that many is okay, right?

Jungle Cruise is next on the list.

The actual ride pictures come up next!

 

[captaindavidhook]

Welcome, David. And thanks. I enjoy taking pictures, it's my biggest hobby. Besides the Dis, of course....

I'm off to write up my next chapter, so stay close!

I will stay as close as I can I have never been on the swiss family robinson attraction..after seeing your pictures, I just might do that...

 

[DisneyFreak06]

Now we’re actually on the boat.

I have more, but they’re just pretty basic...

Pirates of the Caribbean

I can’t remember if we rode it at this point or not, but I don’t have any pictures of it if we did. This makes me think probably not!

This one I like today because it makes me feel like I’m there... I love the heat and the palm trees.

Walking by Pecos Bill’s

On to Splash Mountain

Blanche didn’t want to ride it because she was nervous of the drop, with her hip, usually she loves it. So I went off alone to ride again.

I was in line, and there were two young (well, teenaged) girls behind me. I left my big DSLR with Blanche and took my little Canon G11. I bought it to have a second camera, because sometimes I don’t like lugging the big camera, but I want a camera that has the settings I am used to. One of the girls was interested in photography and was asking me questions about the camera. I let her take a look at it and she was so impressed that I trusted her with it. They were even telling me where to look for hidden Mickeys on the ride, but I couldn’t find any. They were sweet and made the line seem a little shorter. I love chatting with people in line!

I got splashed before the ride started...

 

[DisneyFreak06]

Poor Blanche was stuck not riding again when I hopped in line for BTMRR.

I like this one.

But then, after both SM and BTMRR, I couldn’t find Blanche! I looked and looked where we’d said we would meet, but I just couldn’t find her. I think it took almost 5 minutes.

Woody and Jessie

Then it was time for lunch. Pecos Bill’s was in the plans. I know I’ve eaten there on 3 of the 4 trips for sure.

I wish I could post the picture of Blanche, she took a bite of her carrot cake, and if she likes food, she can’t hide it. It makes me laugh. I can’t write the sounds she makes either, but she loved it. She really liked her taco salad too. I think they gave us extra large drinks too. They were huge. I got a burger on a whole wheat or whole grain bun. It was good, I think!

I really like the look of this restaurant. It has a special feel. I also chuckle when I’m there because when I took my nephew, a bird joined us at our table, INSIDE!

Then we headed for Country Bear Jamboree, but Blanche couldn’t sit on the bench for very long and had to leave. Then I couldn’t find her again! I looked and looked and even asked a few CMs if they had seen her. They remembered her, but didn’t know which way she went.

And then we saw the Hall of Presidents. Even though I’m not American, I enjoy this show, it brings tears to my eyes, and it helps me to understand why some people are so extremely proud to be American.

 

[DisneyFreak06]

I’m thinking 5 looks too big for font. I think I’ll try 4 this time...

On with the show!

Christmas Shop! Christmas and Disney, two of my favourite things!

Both Blanche and I love the rides. Finally we found one she could go on with me! Poor thing, it’s 1:05 and she’s just getting to her first real “ride” of the day!

Tell me if I’m posting too many pictures. I imagine there are some of you out there like me, who like to look at pictures, especially when they feel like they’re there. When I look through these, I actually feel like I’m walking through the queue at HM.

I take this one at least once a trip:

I haven’t been able to get a good ride shot of HM. Maybe one day.

This guy is really friendly and a great pianist!

And this is why I think something was wrong with me this day! I don’t have any more pictures! My last picture I took was of the pianist at 2:45.... weird. This wasn’t the day I spent the evening by myself at DTD, so I can’t tell you what I did. I know at 3:19 I bought some presents for my firefighter friend at the Firehouse on the way out of MK. I didn’t make any other purchases that day.... Maybe it was the day it started to rain and we stayed in and watched a movie or something. Sorry! Maybe if Blanche decides to create a Disboards account, she can fill you in a little more..... BLANCHE! BLANCHE!!! WHERE ARE YOU????



Up next: Sea World

It won't be for a bit because I have parent teacher interviews, report cards, and homework for my photography course coming up. Plus tons of meetings about World Youth Day. I'll be back to finish this TR as soon as I can. At the latest, I'll be back after March 9th! Hold me to it, please, guys!

 

[captaindavidhook]

i love eating at pescos bill. Next to the columbia harbor house, i think it must the best cs place at mk. hall of presidents by far, is one of my m fav attractions in mk. it truly is a great attraction and i love taking pictures of some of the historical things to have to offer. splash mountain pics look very cool and i don't think u r posting too many pictures. that what TR r suppose to be. a report filled in w/ detail and pictures. yes i shall hold the fort down and wait for more of the tr when u come back and yeah i am gonna hold u to it, so get the steppin lol