Zombie Apocalypse and Pixie Dust - A 2 week Disneymoon (PTR link 11/14)

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

Looks like you had a great Christmas! How exciting to think that next Christmas you'll have a little one around!

 

[mickeystoontown]

It looks and sounds like you two had a great Christmas. How sweet of you buying each other Disney related Christmas gifts. Those are my favorite kind of gifts.

Yay for going after Christmas shopping and snagging good deals. I havent done one bit of after Christmas shopping which is a bit unusual for me.

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

So funny, Tom got me the Kinect for Christmas JUST so he could buy me the Disneyland game also!

 

[ronnmel]

Ah sweet you got the Disneyland game! I mean I would buy that game I really would it looks like so much fun from the footage I've seen of it but only problem with getting it is the fact that it's for Kinect. And I bloody hate Kinect! The only thing Disney related I've got so far for xmas is the Now that's what I call Disney album. Good to know you had a great christmas much better than my christmas though which my christmas consisting of me along with my family just sitting about and doing nothing.

I'm sorry you didn't have such a great Christmas. I love Kinect, especially the Dance Central game. It's the Wii I have a problem with. Games are fun, but so damn hard to control sometimes!

Duhhhhhhh of course I knew you went to TL lol BLONDE MOMENT!! I have a lot of those! So which did you prefer, BB or TL? We love BB!

I love your little Christmas tree but how exciting to get a bigger one for when the baby gets here! That Disneyland kinect game looks like so much fun! Also, what a cute shirt that Ron bought you

I'm glad the unpleasant pregnancy side effects have subsided!

@ the Blonde moment. I'm not blonde, but I've had plenty of pregnancy brain moment lately. And I'm sure it'll only get worse in the months to come.

BB has more and better slides. But I hate waiting in line for those (especially since up here, with our super tiny summer, waiting in extremely long lines is the ONLY way to go to the water parks). Apart from those great slides, all BB has is a very boring wave pool. TL may have less slides, but it has Crush N Gusher which is a lot of fun and unique. But most of all, TL has the best wave pool I've ever seen and you never have to wait inline for it. So Typhoon Lagoon is my favorite. Plus, coming from the North, I appreciate the tropical theme better than the fake snow. But I really do love both. We just had bad luck with BB this time, which I will get to in the next update.

I'm very excited to get the bigger tree up next year, with all the beautiful ornaments I've bought.

Looks like you had a great Christmas! How exciting to think that next Christmas you'll have a little one around!

We did have a great Christmas. And I saw from your TR that you had one too! I'm sure next year I'll be bursting with excitement for Peanut's first Christmas.

It looks and sounds like you two had a great Christmas. How sweet of you buying each other Disney related Christmas gifts. Those are my favorite kind of gifts.

Yay for going after Christmas shopping and snagging good deals. I havent done one bit of after Christmas shopping which is a bit unusual for me.

Disney related gifts are my favorite kind too. It just warms my heart every time Disney finds a way into our life. Even today, I was in kind of a funk all day, and it was talking about my favorite day on our past Disney trip that finally managed to lift my spirit, after unsuccessfully trying all sorts of different things all day.

Ron thought I was going a little crazy with all the Christmas shopping, but I don't care. I had fun.

So funny, Tom got me the Kinect for Christmas JUST so he could buy me the Disneyland game also!

Awesome! How do you like the game so far? Between Ron getting a new Xbox game and a new Blu-Ray players, and me getting two new videogames, I've only been able to try it once. Can't wait to explore more!

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Love your Disney related gifts! I got plenty of those from friends/family too. I believe I got 3 shirts, a Mickey hoodie, a picture frame, a photo album and a Disney gift card to use in February.

I have never been to either water park, but might consider going to one (I can't remember which one is open when I go, and which is closed) my next trip after those pictures!

 

[ronnmel]

Day 6 part 4 - "Due To Some Inclement Weather, All Water Attractions Are Closed"
August 16th, 2011

I've been pushing off this update long enough, it's time I write it. Truth be told, Day 6 was probably one of the worse 2 days of our trip. It was bad by any means, but it just wasn't great like all the other days had been. It was kinda blah. Let's get it over with, as Day 7 was probably THE best day of our trip. Speaking of which, I have a bit of a side story :

Today I woke up on the wrong side of the bed, having just had a frustrating dream. Nothing I did or Ron did all day was able to get me out of the funk I was in. That is, until we started talking Disney over dinner. It all started with me having Nachos for dinner and mentioning that I was kinda sad of having missed trying out the new Mexican CS at Epcot last August (you'll see why a little later in the TR). Then I mentioned how I was not really looking forward to writing this update due to it being kinda blah. But then I started talking about Day 7, and why it was my favorite day of our Disneymoon. You'll see why when I get to it soon, but just talking about it was enough to lift my spirit. It even gave me enough energy to finish the dreaded Day 6 update tonight.

Ok, so back to the matter at end, bad weather at Blizzard Beach. We knew, being Florida in August and going to a water park in the afternoon, that this was a real possibility. We had already decided that we would just wait out the storm, as those usually don't last very long. It wasn't raining yet, but we knew a downpour could start at any moment so we went to spend some time in the souvenir shop. After a while it still wasn't raining yet and didn't actually look that bad outside so we sat on a bench and just people watched. The more people would exit, the happier we would get. That meant shorter lines for the slides once they opened back up.

We went to go talk to a manager close to the entrance. She told us that they would be closed around 30-45 minutes, possibly longer. She showed us her little portable hand-held radar. There was a big red spot right over our area. She also showed a few yellow spots that may or may not cause trouble later.

We go back to our seats and people watch some more. We switch benches a couple of times. Then we decide to go for a walk around the park. We see lots of bees everywhere, especially at this one drink station. There must have been at least 20 bees! Crazy. I would never go near that thing. We did not have our camera with us at the time. However, earlier that day I had taken more pictures which did not fit in the previous update and this update is seriously lacking so here they are.

The kids/tweens section :

We waited a loooooooong time (from about 4:30pm to 5:45pm). It did not even rain once!!! We were ready to call it quit when we heard a bell and saw people running towards the slides. It seems lifeguards are returning to their stations, so we go stand in line at the bottom of the Green Slope. If I'm ever gonna find enough courage to go down Summit Plummet, it with a very short line so it's now or never.

Summit Plummet :

The sun ever started to shine! Things were looking up. But then...




























BOOM! We heard the thunder again!
A message on the speakers told the lifeguards to get to the nearest weather shelter. People were booing as they were leaving. By that time it was almost 6pm. The park was set to close at 7pm, and we knew it would be at least 15-30 minutes before they reopened IF they did not hear any thunder again, so we took the decision to leave. I was quite sad.

We got our stuff from our locker and exited the park. We checked out the mini-golf, but it was closed. We couldn't help but wonder why, since it wasn't raining and mini-gold doesn't involve water. (I've since read disneybarbie's Disneymoon TR and understand better why they close. The little mini-golf building was hit by lightning as they were all sheltered under! )

At least we did not have to wait long at all for a bus and were back at POP in no time. We went to our room, grabbed our dirty clothes and headed to the laundry room. The change machine in the 50s laundry room was broken, so we checked out the one near Petals in the 60s area. The change machine was broken there too! There was no way I was making the trek to the 80s, so instead I went to the food court to ask for some change.

We put our clothes in the washer and went into the Hippy Dippy Pool. Kinda worked out great since I really wanted to try that pool and Ron never wanted to. He preferred the quietness of the Bowling pool. The setting sun on the POP sign was really beautiful, as the sun lighting the clouds from behind.

These pictures were taken a little later that evening, but it'll give you an idea of what the Hippy Dippy pool looks at night.

We move the clothes to the dryer (boy is that laundry room FREEZING when you are wet from the pool!) and go take our shower. After laundry is finally done we go get a late dinner at the POP food court. Sorry, no pictures again. I think I had something against bringing my camera in the POP food court.... Ron had the Beef Broccoli. He liked it, but thought the serving was kinda small (which is surprising, since everything is so big in Disney). I had the Chicken Mediterranean Flatbread, which was also just okay. However, I did not get a dessert right away and instead asked for a sundae. They stamp your bill, which you then present to the ice cream counter after you are done eating (I think you have 90 minutes to do so). It tasted good, just like a regular sundae.

We went to the souvenir shop and bought a charm bracelet for Ron's DD.

Ron went to the arcade while I took a short walk around the resort (that must have been when I took those pool photos). By 9:30pm we were both back in the room and settled down in front of the TV before going to sleep.

No Characters Today


Up Next, A Great Start To A Great Day, and Chatty Cast Members
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[ronnmel]

Love your Disney related gifts! I got plenty of those from friends/family too. I believe I got 3 shirts, a Mickey hoodie, a picture frame, a photo album and a Disney gift card to use in February.

I have never been to either water park, but might consider going to one (I can't remember which one is open when I go, and which is closed) my next trip after those pictures!

Oooh, lucky! You got so much Disney stuff!! I don't think most of my family really understands our love for Disney and so never gets me anything related. Probably doesn't help that we don't have any Disney store in the area...

I'm not sure February is the best time to visit a water park (unless the weather is really warm), but I think you should definitely give them a chance once. Please do not take this "blah" update too much into account when thinking about the water parks. The fatigue of being day 6 of a very busy trip combined with the bad weather forcing the closure of the water attractions certainly tainted our past experience somewhat negatively. However, we still absolutely love the water parks. We were trying a new strategy this time (going late, since most people leave by mid-day), and it did not work our due to storms. That same strategy might work out well in february though, when humidity is much lower and there are less thunderstorms. As for us, since we'll probably be going back in August again we'll just change our touring strategy and get to the water parks at rope drop like we did two years ago, and leave whenever we are done. We'll jsut sleep in on a different day.

 

[ronnmel]

Day 7 part 1 - "I Love Being 2!"
August 17th, 2011

Since I really haven't updated a lot lately I've decided to be nice and give you two updates today. I have so many pictures of this day, I'm thinking it might take as many as 8 updates to get through them all! Let's get started, shall we!

Today was a big day. It was the half-way point in our Disneymoon. We now had just as many days behind us as we had ahead of us. But no time to be sad, let's get on with our usual morning routine, which had us up at 7am and to the POP food court to eat breakfast. Ron had bacon and eggs for breakfast. I tried to eat a croissant, but failed and only got chocolate milk. I think it was at this point that I gave up trying to eat breakfast before heading to a park. I'm really not a morning person, and especially not an early breakfast person. It's only now being pregnant that I've had to force myself to eat before even setting foot out of bed (thank you lovely hubby for bringing breakfast in bed every work day. )

We did so great on time that morning that we got to Hollywood Studios by 8am, nearly one full hour before the park opened!! It's kind of funny that we refuse to wait in any attraction line for more than 20-30 minutes, yet will gladly wait 60 minutes for the park to open. Oh the things we do to avoid crowds!

Being there so early got us super close to the rope. In fact, thanks to our great position (and my years of practice weaving myself in and out of people getting out of the subway at rush hour to catch my bus), I was amongst the very first 5 people to get a Toy Story Mania FP!!! After grabbing those we quickly got into the standby line to ride it right away. As we got to where the FP line usually merges (it was too early for it to be open yet), just after grabbing the 3D glasses, they let us go through the right and bypass the rest of the line. "I love being 2!!!"

I kicked my previous score's butt and got about 168,000, while Ron attained his personal best with 195,000.

We left one of our favorite ride for another favorite of ours, Tower of Terror. This has got to be one of my favorite queue of all WDW. So full of details!

We happily bounced up and down a few times in the doom elevators, then it was time to get another set of FPs. We chose Rock'n'Roller coaster, and got a few pictures at the same time.

On our way back down Sunset Boulevard we met the firsts of several chatty Cast members that day. Two security guys stop us and ask if I have a camera so they can take a picture. I say sure and hand one of them my camera. Just as I'm getting ready to pose with Ron the security guy turns around and pretends to take a picture of his colleague! Then he says : "Oh, you thought I meant I would take a picture of you" He actually did take a couple of pictures of us then.

Ron got a "Junior Officer" sticker, which he proudly wore on his bag. I then turned the camera around and took a picture of Ron with the security officers.

Up Next, Who Will We Get To Draw This Time?
​

 

[suorkaterina]

I'm not a big fan of the water parks but mostly because somewhere in my teens I forgot how to hold my breath underwater. I love the lazy river though, and I think every resort should have one!

That picture of Ron with the Security guys is vacation picture GOLD! Super awesome! I love those out of the ordinary moments, especially with really cool CM's.

Yay for two update's!

 

[Nermel9]

Looks like you had a great Christmas, so many Disney things! I really want that Disneyland game, but I don't have an Xbox, just a Play Station.

That's annoying that BB closed, opened back up, and then closed again! I didn't think anything ever closed in FL due to inclement weather, since it happens all the time in the summer, but I guess they have to be careful at water parks! So you didn't get to go down Summit Plummit? I did it once and that was enough for me! It's over before you can even realize that it's fun!

I wish I could get Brandon to get to a park an hour before it opens! I have a hard enough time getting him to rope drop at MK 15 minutes before that park opens! Although, the TSM stampede is so annoying to me, that I refuse to be a part of it. I'm hoping that they do the "give a day, get a day" promo again this year so we can get FP's again, those worked great for TSM!

So did you like going in August? I'm sure it was HOT, but how were the crowds? I'm thinking of going in September next year, but if for some reason we can't, I'm thinking August, which freaks me out!

 

[ronnmel]

I'm not a big fan of the water parks but mostly because somewhere in my teens I forgot how to hold my breath underwater. I love the lazy river though, and I think every resort should have one!

That picture of Ron with the Security guys is vacation picture GOLD! Super awesome! I love those out of the ordinary moments, especially with really cool CM's.

Yay for two update's!

How weird that you would "forget" how to hold your breath underwater. Did something happen? I love the lazy river too! I think the new Aulani DVC resort in Hawaii has one.

I love that picture with the security guard. I'm glad I thought of taking it instead of just keep going to our next destination.

Looks like you had a great Christmas, so many Disney things! I really want that Disneyland game, but I don't have an Xbox, just a Play Station.

That's annoying that BB closed, opened back up, and then closed again! I didn't think anything ever closed in FL due to inclement weather, since it happens all the time in the summer, but I guess they have to be careful at water parks! So you didn't get to go down Summit Plummit? I did it once and that was enough for me! It's over before you can even realize that it's fun!

I wish I could get Brandon to get to a park an hour before it opens! I have a hard enough time getting him to rope drop at MK 15 minutes before that park opens! Although, the TSM stampede is so annoying to me, that I refuse to be a part of it. I'm hoping that they do the "give a day, get a day" promo again this year so we can get FP's again, those worked great for TSM!

So did you like going in August? I'm sure it was HOT, but how were the crowds? I'm thinking of going in September next year, but if for some reason we can't, I'm thinking August, which freaks me out!

The POP pool didn't close despite hearing thunder, but I guess at the water parks it takes so long to evacuate everything that they have to be extra careful. With the resort pools, everyone can be out of there much faster. And no, I didn't get to go on Summit Plummet. But I do know what kind of slide it is though, I've been to very similar ones in my area.

We are very efficient in the morning, which is why we can get to the parks super early. We take our shower at night, and I really don't put on a lot of makeup, so all we have to do is get dressed and put on sunscreen. Plus, it's much easier to get up when you know you're going to a Disney park. At home we'll hit snooze a thousand times.

8 years of taking the bus and subway to school, the TSM stampede to me is no different than that, so it doesn't bother me. And to me the fact that we got to go on TSM 4 times our first day there makes it all worth it.

I'm a teacher, and though sometimes principal will agree to let you take unpaid personal days off to go on vacation, it's quite rare and kinda frowned upon. So really the only times we can go are : Between Christmas and New Years (expensive AND crowded), March Break (not as crowded as our break is really early, but flights are ridiculously expensive. Plus, we like to go for longer than a week), and Summer. Since value season starts around mid-August, to us it's the best time to go. Rooms are cheapest, flights are not so bad, and crowds, though big, are more manageable than earlier in the summer. We just get to the parks really early, do the big rides in the morning, then spend our afternoons watching shows or going on less popular rides. As for the heat, I hear it's just as bad in September. And being from a place where winter lasts 6 months, I appreciate being HOT. Don't get me wrong though, if we had a choice we would definitely go in the fall. In fact, I do want to once in my life ask for those personal days and go in October (for Food & Wine and MNSSHP).

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

I know what you mean about having one day that just doesn't measure up to the others - that always seems to happen to us too. I'm glad the following day was so great, though! I can't believe you were 5th in line for TSM FPs! We haven't quite mastered the TSM mad dash yet. I still debate about what to do first - FP or get in line. I love the picture of Ron with the security guards!

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

Boooo for the rainy water park day! Sounds like a good morning so far at DHS. That's really funny about the security guards. They weren't even streetmosphere! I LOVE the TOT queue too!!! It's so awesome! That's one of my favorite rides.

 

[ronnmel]

Will come back later to post the last replies, but I just needed to vent.

I saw the new promotion for Disney and their sweepstake to win a free trip. Well it's open to everyone in the US or Canada, EXCEPT the province of Quebec!
Please, Disney, tell me what did Quebec ever do to you?

More seriously, it most probably has to do with some sort of government law and regulation, but from a Disney fan point of view, IT SUCKS!!!

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Will come back later to post the last replies, but I just needed to vent.

I saw the new promotion for Disney and their sweepstake to win a free trip. Well it's open to everyone in the US or Canada, EXCEPT the province of Quebec!
Please, Disney, tell me what did Quebec ever do to you?

More seriously, it most probably has to do with some sort of government law and regulation, but from a Disney fan point of view, IT SUCKS!!!

That is horrible! You are probably right about it being due to some regulation but that is still bad. Sorry you can't win the trip.

 

[DisneyKira]

Awesome updates! Oh, and a late Merry Christmas to you! Christmas is the busy season at my work, so I have been kinda MIA the last few weeks. Sorry

Anyway, I love the picture of Ron with the Security guy!

So was the water park worth it? I am not a big fan of water parks, but Josh really wants to go someday. He loves water slides. I would rather just stay dry I have heard they get really crowded when it is hot.

 

[ronnmel]

Being a teacher, I can only travel during crowded times. I was hoping to be on preventive leave for both my pregnancy so that I could travel during those months, but obviously that is not happening as I've been back at work for two months already. That leaves me with only one option to travel off-season : beg my principal to let me take un-paid personal days. While I have a good feeling she would say yes (another teacher did just that this past early December), I doubt she'd let me that more than once. Which means I have to think real hard on when I would want to go. Since there is a good chance my next trip would be when peanut is a toddler and I'm pregnant with the next one, I'm thinking this might be the time to ask. I always thought I'd want to go during October to take advantage of Food & Wine and MNSSHP. But really I'm not a foodie at all (I'm super extra picky), and if I'm pregnant I can't get any alcohol. And with all these TRs lately about the Holiday decorations, I'm think early December might be an even better time, with all the decorations and MVMCP. I know it's a long ways off (probably in 2 years), but a Facebook message from a friend had me muse on the possibilities. What do you guys think?

I know what you mean about having one day that just doesn't measure up to the others - that always seems to happen to us too. I'm glad the following day was so great, though! I can't believe you were 5th in line for TSM FPs! We haven't quite mastered the TSM mad dash yet. I still debate about what to do first - FP or get in line. I love the picture of Ron with the security guards!

I guess one day has to be not as good as the other, to make you appreciate all the great days? Maybe Day 7 would not have been my favorite day of the trip had it not directly followed the "blahness" of Day 6.

If you can make it close enough to the rope and get your FP for TSM in the first few minutes, then it's absolutely worth it to do that then immediately get in line to ride it. Both times we didn't wait more than 20 minutes on it. This time, since they let us go through the special "2 people" line, we barely waited no more than 5 minutes!!!

Boooo for the rainy water park day! Sounds like a good morning so far at DHS. That's really funny about the security guards. They weren't even streetmosphere! I LOVE the TOT queue too!!! It's so awesome! That's one of my favorite rides.

We definitely learned our lesson : do not visit water parks late in the afternoon in the Florida summer. The chances of inclement weather is just too great!

For some reason Ron and I don't seem to have that "approachable" look that makes people randomly interact with us (I'm quite shy, and we usually are pretty focused on our next destination), so it was doubly fun that they chose "us" to do this funny little interaction.

Next trip we go we'll have to skip several big rides as we'll have a little one in tow, but we'll definitely use child swap to ride TOT. No way I'm missing that one!

That is horrible! You are probably right about it being due to some regulation but that is still bad. Sorry you can't win the trip.

I googled it, and Quebec does have some pretty stringent rules that make it costly and a hassle for sponsors to run a sweepstakes here, so most companies decide not to. Oh well, the chances of us winning would have been pretty slim anyway!

Awesome updates! Oh, and a late Merry Christmas to you! Christmas is the busy season at my work, so I have been kinda MIA the last few weeks. Sorry

Anyway, I love the picture of Ron with the Security guy!

So was the water park worth it? I am not a big fan of water parks, but Josh really wants to go someday. He loves water slides. I would rather just stay dry I have heard they get really crowded when it is hot.

Thank you, and a Merry Christmas to you too! No need to apologize, I certainly understand how life can make DISing kinda hard.

The picture with the security guy is for sure going to make it to the photobook (if I ever get around to making it that is )

To us the water parks are not only worth it, they are a must. We visited both water parks two years ago on our very short and busy 6 days trip, and 3 times on this 2 weeks trip. We love both of them for different reasons. But we also love water parks at home, so that can explain why. They do get very crowded when it's hot, but just like any other park if you get there for rope drop you should be able to get quite a few things done before too many people show up (and avoid the bad weather that usually comes later). And as crowded as they get, the water parks here are always worse. If you prefer staying dry, you can just go in the lazy river, get a chair and read a book, walk around and take pictures, and enjoy the wonderful Disney theming

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Being a teacher, I can only travel during crowded times. I was hoping to be on preventive leave for both my pregnancy so that I could travel during those months, but obviously that is not happening as I've been back at work for two months already. That leaves me with only one option to travel off-season : beg my principal to let me take un-paid personal days. While I have a good feeling she would say yes (another teacher did just that this past early December), I doubt she'd let me that more than once. Which means I have to think real hard on when I would want to go. Since there is a good chance my next trip would be when peanut is a toddler and I'm pregnant with the next one, I'm thinking this might be the time to ask. I always thought I'd want to go during October to take advantage of Food & Wine and MNSSHP. But really I'm not a foodie at all (I'm super extra picky), and if I'm pregnant I can't get any alcohol. And with all these TRs lately about the Holiday decorations, I'm think early December might be an even better time, with all the decorations and MVMCP. I know it's a long ways off (probably in 2 years), but a Facebook message from a friend had me muse on the possibilities. What do you guys think?

I would say early to mid-November is good! I did November 3-13th in 2010 and loved it! The crowds were mid-level the first couple of days due to Jersey Week, but not that bad and dropped off after that weekend. I was able to ride every single ride and see the shows in Magic Kingdom on one of the Jersey Week days, with little waits except for a few rides, and without EMHs! Early November is also the end of Food and Wine, so you can take advantage of the food at least, and the MVMCP and Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights starts during that time period too. I went to the first MVMCP and the first night of Osborne and the crowds were very manageable for each. Just my two cents of course, but I think that time period fills all of your desires. And if you went for 10-14 days you might even be able to do both MNSSHP and MVMCP if you arrived around Halloween.

 

[mickeystoontown]

I think most of us have had one of those "blah" days while at Disney. It still sucks though when all you want to do is have fun.

Don't you just love the streetmosphere actors at Hollywood Studios?! It sounds like the two cops you ran into were really into character.

 

[DisneyKira]

My mom just got back from her trip for Christmas. She said the crowds were awful. You can read her TR here if you want. I have heard October-November is nice, but I have never been during that time. I would love to go for F&W or the halloween party!

We went in May for our honeymoon and the crowds were pretty low. It was really hot, though. I have been to DW in feb before and the crowds were insanely low but the weather was FREEZING (we went during a cold snap)! I think it depends on what you want. Do you want hot weather or cool weather? The weather in FL never seems to be "mild" to me. It has always been really hot (over 85) or really cold (under 60). We will see how this January goes for us in terms of weather.

Are low crowds important to you? Keep in mind, in January and February, a lot of rides and shows are closed (including Fantasmic, which always seems to be closed in Jan/Feb).

Hope that helps!