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Come on Everybody! Sing
Along...
10/6/06
There is just one moon and one golden sun.
And a smile means friendship to
everyone.
Thought the oceans are wide,
And the mountains divide,
It's a small world after all.
NOTE:
Since it was after THREE IN THE FRICKING MORNING when I finished this post,
I decided to revisit it for corrections & additions. They appear
in this red text.
I love Disney World. So much.
Even if a solid week there makes me want to rip off my feet and hobble
around on my bloody stumps, in vain hope that would make them feel better.
Last year it was definitely just that the Sketchers weren't up to that
kind of exertion, but this year, I screwed it up myself by not wearing
sneakers to the airport. I always wear flip-flops when I fly, because
they're easier to kick off at security. But with Disney's Magical
Express, I couldn't get to my luggage for a few hours--and I'll be damned
if I'm going to sit around the resort waiting for my bags when there are
Theme Park attractions waiting for me.
Apparently an inch of foam rubber
isn't enough protection for my feet from the pavement pounding of Disney
World. My feet were sore already that first night. But the
new Nikes came through and my feet didn't get any worse over the course
of the trip.
Everyone should order the Disney
World vacation planning video next year. There were camera crews
ALL OVER THE PLACE while we were there, so maybe we're in it somewhere.
DAY ZERO (Saturday, 9/23):
I spent 90% of the day before my
trip cleaning and packing. I wanted my condo to be as spotless as
it possibly could be so I wouldn't (1) have to come home to a depressing
mess or (2) be greeted by some sort of smell I hadn't realized would manifest
itself in my absence.
Jen, the most generous and self-sacrificing
friend anybody could ever have, came over to hang out with me on Saturday
night AND drive me to the airport at 6:15 in the morning (for my 8:00 flight).
This is half an hour earlier than I originally told her--and that I originally
anticipated, but the more I thought about it, the more paranoid I became
about getting there early enough. We ordered some Imo's and watched
Disney movies (Sky High & The Emperor's New Groove). I told Jen
I would just wake her up when I was ready to be out the door so she could
sleep as much as possible--it's not like she had any decisions to make
that morning, so I could do the thinking.
I think Jen stayed up for all of
Emperor's New Groove, I went to bed after Kronk talks to the squirrel the
first time. By then all my favorite parts have occurred, so I didn't
need to stay up any longer.
DAY ONE (Sunday, 9/24):
Wake at 6:00, throw on clothes, take
a pee, put in contacts. Make bed, throw last of toiletries into suitcase,
make one last lap to be sure that everything is in a leavable condition.
Wake Jen, wait while Jen takes a pee, leave for airport.
After a hug and another big thank
you for waking up at this ungodly hour to take me to the airport (I think
I must have asked her if she was sure she really wanted to do it about
20 times), Jen drove off and I headed into the airport. There was
only one other person in front of me in line, so I got checked in pretty
quickly.
Because it was so early, there hadn't
really been time for security to get too backed up, so I was probably through
there in 10 minutes. Leaving me with SCADS of time to kill in the
airport. Since Katie and I briefly discussed how nice it would be
to go directly from the airport to the parks without having to worry about
bags, all I had with me was my purse & a book. So I settled in
at the gate, hooked up my iPod and cracked open my new book--after I left
Katie a long and rambling message, just to take up time, knowing she couldn't
possibly get my message for hours.
I found a seat right in the front
row (woo-hoo! bulkhead leg room!) with a woman and her little boy.
(Her husband and other two children were right behind us.) In spite
of his extreme resistance to actually stay inside his seatbelt (although
I do applaud his ability to escape without ever UNFASTENING said seat belt)
they were good seatmates. I was excited about being in front, because
Katie was meeting me at the gate & I wanted to be off the plane as
fast as possible (especially since we didn't have to wait for luggage with
the Disney stuff). As soon as the fasten seat belts sign was off
there was this fat old lady blocking me in--and blocking me from being
first! Humph! No matter, she was old; I smoked her on the jetway.
Katie was waiting for me right at
the gate--everybody on the plane was TOTALLY jealous that I was met at
the gate in these days of increased security. We headed down to the
Magical Express Center, where the super long line moved surprisingly fast
and the bus to our resort came right away!
Checked in at the Pop Century--it's
cute. Lots of interesting kitsch to look at on the walls while you
wait to check in. With the package we got, our park tickets and meal
vouchers were all on our room keys, so we had to check in to start the
fun. But our room wasn't going to be ready until 3, so we just dropped
Katie's bag (which now held my book and travel docs) off with Luggage Services
so they'd take it to the room when our luggage showed up. Right outside
our room there's a giant big wheel
& giant foosball--oh, and Twister, regular-sized
Twister.
We knew we had to stay far away from
the Animal Kingdom, or the new Expedition Everest ride would be WAY too
tempting, and we promised Beth we'd wait for her. So we went over
to the Disney MGM Studios for some Tower of Terror/Rockin' Roller Coaster
action. We mostly just wandered around the park, getting ourselves
reacclimated. Got the first of my character pictures: Kim Possible
& Ron Stoppable. Ron was pretty annoying. Looked like Kim
was getting pretty sick of him.
The Love Bugs were out in full force.
Love bugs are these gross little bugs (they look a lot like lightning bugs,
but without the light) that flood over Orlando in April & September
for about two weeks, and as suddenly as they appear, they're gone.
They're called Love Bugs because once they mate, they're stuck together
by the butt until they die. They don't bite or anything, they're
just fricking EVERYWHERE. And if you fan your hand at one to shoo
it away, it just lands on your hand. They're jerk
bugs, really. But rain & nightfall both get rid of them.
Katie & I discussed how we didn't really notice any Love Bugs last
year, despite being there around the same time. Near as we can figure,
last year's super-charged hurricane season must have wiped most of them
out. Look at this nasty.
I'd say they mostly disappeared by
Thursday.
Disney added Lightning
McQueen & Mater to the "Disney Stars &
Motor Cars" parade at MGM. They did a REALLY good job with them.
Magic Kingdom was open until midnight
for Magic hours, so we headed over there to cruise around and wait for
Beth's call that she'd landed. We seriously did next to nothing.
I think we rode the haunted mansion and wandered around the park.
A little browsing in the shops. We got a box of popcorn and sat in
rocking chairs in Frontierland. We mostly strategized the best way
to get everything we wanted to do into our schedule.
We met Beth out front (since we had
her ticket), and got our bracelets for the magic hours (that's how they
identify the people who are resort guests--and therefore allowed to be
in the park after close).
One of the things we KNEW we had
to do was check out the "New & Improved" Pirates of the Caribbean ride.
They've incorporated the movies (Jack Sparrow in particular) into the attraction.
The Johnny Depp Animatronics are EERILY realistic.
It's like, "Dude, I can't believe they forked over the money to get Johnny
Depp to hang out in here all day, every day."
When we left (at almost midnight)
we headed for the bus stop that would take us back to Pop Century.
It was way down at the end of the row, and there was a HUGE crowd between
us and the queue for the bus. I was trying to figure out how we could
get around when I heard somebody say that the crowd (easily 500 people,
probably more) WAS the line for the Pop Century bus. It didn't take
as long as you would think, at least half the buses coming in were for
us. It wouldn't have been bad except halfway through our wait I started
feeling pukey. It was probably a combination of dehydration (according
to Beth) and the obnoxious woman smoking in line. So I stayed near
the edge of the crowd, just in case I ended up hurling in the bushes.
Disney World is completely non-smoking except for specifically designated
areas, and she lights up right in the middle of this suffocating crowd.
Oh, and right over her baby's stroller.
Since we had two beds for three people,
we each get a bed to ourselves for two nights. Beth was quick to
volunteer to go first (and suggest that once we heard her snore, neither
of us would want to sleep next to her).
DAY TWO (Monday, 9/25):
We woke up early (with a wake-up
call from Stitch & Mickey) to head over to the Animal Kingdom for morning
Magic Hours. We decided in advance that this would probably be the
only park we woke up early for--you just see more animals (who are more
active) the earlier in the day you show up. First was the Safari.
If you look closely, you can see
that the flamingo island is a hidden Mickey
(the Mickey Mouse icon shape incorporated subtly into a park attraction).
This is the closest I've ever been
to the Thompson's Gazelles (Tommys). I just
think they adorable because they're so tiny.
Then Beth told us the secret to why
you can almost ALWAYS see a lion on the safari.
But it's a secret, so I'm not telling you.
There are two walking trails where
you can see a lot of animals. The Pangani Forest Exploration Trail
shows African animals, like the Gorillas and
Meerkats
(and I think the Okapi & Naked
Mole Rats, but I'm not sure, they might be from the Jungle Trek).
And the Maharaja Jungle Trek has animals from Asia. Like TIGERS
and GINORMOUS BATS!! The Tigers were really
active, it was cool.
I like Okapis and Naked Mole Rats,
because they're crazy animals. Okapis are all mixed up--horse body,
zebra stripes, giraffe horns; and naked mole rats are just awesome grody.
They're so creepy cool.
And of course we had our first (of
a half dozen) rides on Expedition: EVEREST!
It's the coolest! Plus, the queue is really cool. It's set
up like a Yeti museum, so there's a lot of really cool stuff to look at
and read while you wait in line.
All this before 11 AM.
Then we were ready for our first
Disney Dining Plan meal experience. Our meals were a part of our
package, so we put a lot of thought into picking the places, knowing there
wouldn't be a charge, and we'd get to try some fancier places. We
headed over to Epcot for lunch at Le Cellier. Located in the Canada
section of the World Showcase, Le Cellier is a steakhouse themed to look
like the inside of a wine cellar.
Every one of our fancy meals includes
an appetizer, entree & dessert (and either a refillable soft drink
or a one time specialty drink--non-alcoholic). At Le Cellier, I had
a berry smoothie, this delicious little layered crab salad thing that was
wrapped in salmon, the petite filet with cream cheese mashed potatoes,
and for dessert--chocolate "moose". Get
it? (It's coated in cookie crumbs. Mmmm.)
After some more rides, we ended our
day with Magic Hours at MGM Studios--starting with Fantasmic! Which
is the best show EVER! If you go to Orlando, and you miss this, your
vacation is incomplete. We wanted to make sure we got to see it this
time, because we got rained out last year. We also did the new "Journey
Into Narnia" attraction. There's not a lot to it, but what they have
is pretty cool. You enter through the infamous
wardrobe, and they've got the whole winter scene with the lamppost
set up. There's a brief movie, and the White Witch comes out (for
real) and yells about human children in Narnia, then you exit through a
hallway that has some props & such from the movie. Right outside
there's another lamppost (not as good as the one inside) where you can
take pictures.
Another huge line at the end of the
night, but it was a fast line again.
DAY THREE (Tuesday, 9/26):
Considering that over the past two
days we (1) stayed at the Magic Kingdom until midnight, (2) woke up early
to go to Animal Kingdom, and (3) stayed at MGM Studios until midnight,
we decided that we had no problem at all blowing off Epcot morning hours.
We figured with 3 of our big meals there, we'd spend plenty of time there.
This was probably our most low-key
day. We were having our fanciest dinner (Narcoosee's at the Grand
Floridian), so we had to have nicer clothes with us (GF snobs actually
ask for a stricter dress code than the other parks & resorts).
We spent our day at the Magic Kingdom (I guess we were in withdrawal after
going everywhere ELSE the day before). I even convinced Beth &
Katie to go to the Country Bear Jamboree. (If Katie's going to want
to go to The Hall of Presidents and the American Adventure, we can at least
do the CBJ.) Katie was digging it, I saw her. It's a cute show.
It gets a bad rap.
We took one of the resort boats from
MK to the Grand Floridian, because Katie loves boats and none of us have
really had much reason or opportunity to take those boats before.
We were super early so we'd have time to change. Narcoosee's doesn't
open until they started serving at 5:30 (our reservation time), so we walked
over to the main building. It's all very pretty, but it feels too
much like a museum. Like you can't make too much noise.
There was a wedding taking pictures
in the lobby while we were there. Just the groom's side, so it must
have been before the ceremony. We were trying to guess the groom.
I guessed it was the guy who looked scared and nervous.
I had the most amazing crab cakes
for my appetizer. They were baked instead of fried, and instead of
your normal crab cakes that are about half breadcrumbs, these were nearly
all crabmeat. It was super yummy. I had the Surf & Turf
(why not, it's free!) and I can't for the life of me remember what I got
for dessert, but I'm sure it was delicious and it was probably chocolate.
Beth just found out before we were seated that her boyfriend got a new
job, so she treated us to adult beverages. She's got an interest
in wine that I think she gets from her father, so I let her choose a wine
for me with my dinner.
Then I think we saw Illuminations
at Epcot...
Stuff's running together.
DAY FOUR (Wednesday, 9/27):
Today's big meal was the Coral Reef
in Epcot's Living Seas. Lobster bisque, Grilled mahi-mahi and a chocolate
cake thing was ganache in it. Mmmmm. The coolest thing about
the Coral Reef is that one entire wall of the dining room is the big Living
Seas aquarium. The big sea turtle seems to really like people and
kept coming up and settling by the glass.
They've been giving the Living Seas
a Finding Nemo makeover. It should help make it more appealing to
kids. There's this awesome attraction called "Turtle Talk with Crush,"
where a roomful of people get to have a 20 minute Q&A with Crush.
It's amazing technology. Whoever is operating Crush can clearly see
the entire audience, because he calls on people, identifying them by describing
their "shell" (shirt). I don't know if it's typical, but the kids
in our group kept asking questions that didn't actually apply to sea turtles,
like "How do you pull you head into your shell?" Crush tried so hard
he farted. Made bubbles and everything. Very cute.
Evening magic hours at the Animal
Kingdom, so we got in a few more rounds of Everest and Dinosaur.
We also saw Festival of the Lion King, which
is a really cool show that uses a lot of the songs from The Lion King,
but doesn't try to really recreate the movie (which is why the Little Mermaid
show is pretty lame). The extent of Simba's
involvement is really just to stand on that rock and be the mascot for
the lion section (he talks a little).
The Animal Kingdom normally closes
at 6, so even with the magic hours, it only closes at the same time as
everywhere else, so the buses aren't bad. We were going to do our
big day of shopping at Downtown Disney that night, so we decided to just
take whatever resort bus showed up first, and then transfer to their Downtown
Disney bus (there's no direct bus from the parks to Downtown Disney to
prevent people taking up those parking spaces to avoid paying to park at
the theme parks).
We saw an Old Key West bus pull up,
and we jumped on right away, especially since that meant it would take
us closer to Downtown Disney as well as taking us past our old homes in
what is now Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa. We were sitting across
from a cute little family. They had two little girls (I'm gonna guess
6 and 9) and a little boy (2?). They were fun. We started talking
to them a little. The dad started teasing the little girl about how
she should say hello and be friends, because then it would be less creepy
that she kept staring (at me). That I was going to get a restraining
order, and then she'd have to sit in the back of the bus.
She spent a long time trying to get
her dad to ask us a question she couldn't get the courage to ask herself,
which turned out to be asking why Katie & Beth wear glasses (I wore
my contacts the whole trip, it's just easier). It was weird how that
became a theme with kids. We were standing in line for Soarin' a
couple days later and the little boy behind us wanted to know why I WASN'T
wearing glasses (and he was very insistent that I MUST hold on during the
ride--I wasn't and he tapped me to make me hold on).
The parents asked us if we would
ride the bus with them all the time, because it had been the most pleasant
the kids had been on the buses so far. We had to confess that we
were just using them for their prompt bus service.
Just as our
bus from Downtown Disney was getting ready to pull away, the dad jumped
on real quick because the girls insisted he "tell you that you look like
Lizzie McGwire." And we're all "Who does?" because none of us look
like Hilary Duff. Apparently Beth looks like their babysitter, Liz,
whom they CALL Lizzie McGwire. Kids are so weird.
Then we spent a ridiculous amount
of money on souvenirs at the World of Disney.
DAY FIVE (Thursday, 9/28):
This was another day where we didn't
get started too early. I think it may have been the day I didn't
wait for the confirmation step on the wake-up call, so it didn't go through.
We found out that Beth had never
been in the front of the monorail (with
the driver), so on our way to the Magic Kingdom, we waited an extra train
to be able to sit up front. Which gave me a really good opportunity
to point out to Katie the metal Mickey that
sits on the roof of one of the auxilary buildings at the Contemporary.
The driver, realizing that Katie & Beth just weren't seeing it, practically
slowed to a stop so I could stand up and point at it until they saw it.
And we got our official monorail
pilot's licenses.
This night we had dinner at the Liberty
Tree Tavern at the Magic Kingdom. This is the only character dining
meal that we did during this trip. I was wearing my Goonies t-shirt,
and Chip got so excited that he started doing
the Truffle Shuffle. I took a picture; I should have taken video:
This was the night we planned to
see the Spectromagic Parade (Boo! I like the Main Street Electrical
Parade better!) and watch the MK fireworks. I mostly used it as an
opportunity to play with the settings on my camera and see which ones would
be best for the low light of the Halloween parade the next night.
But this Cinderella one came out really
well:
DAY SIX (Friday, 9/29):
Today was lunch at Les Chefs de France,
which you could probably figure out, is the restaurant in the France section
of Epcot. Honestly, the most remarkable thing about this restaurant
was the string of gorgeous French boys helping us. (Not that the
food wasn't great, it was, but the boys... wow.) Maxime was working
the door, Quentin was calling in people to be seated, Henry seated us,
Nicholas (OMG, most gorgeous eyes--we were having a LOT of trouble not
staring.) was our actual waiter, and Benjamin helped bring out the plated
food. All gorgeous--not very French names, though.
We walked around briefly to check
out the booths for the Food & Wine festival, but we were so full from
all the big meals we'd eaten over the past week that didn't do any more
than look. Then it was back to the resort to pack and get ready for
the Halloween party.
I must have lost a bunch of weight
since Heather fitted me for the Wendy dress, because I remember it fitting
so perfectly, but I had to keep adjusting it this time. Didn't
want little Wendy Darling to be showing too much boobage--or bra straps.
Half the people who dressed up (adults
& kids) were pirates. Lots of Jack Sparrows and their pirate
entourages. There was one guy there, he was sitting near us before
the parade, who seemed to believe it a little too much. He thinks
he IS Jack Sparrow. Also saw a lot of little boys dressed
up as doctors. Their moms must have helped, because they had
"McDreamy" name tags.
Everyone was very impressed with
our
costumes. And while there were several little girls who may have
had cuter Tink costumes than Beth, she was BY FAR the least ho-ish of the
grown up Tinks. One girl was wearing vinyl. Ew. She was
the biggest Skank Tink.
Although, as
always, there were people who just didn't get it (despite being Disney
Cast Members, how disappointing). We were headed into Pirates of
the Caribbean, because we saw Captain Hook in the entryway taking pictures,
and we thought it would be fun to get a picture with him in our awesome
costumes. The cast member near the entrance said to us "Right this
way, pirates." To which I responded (I'm Wendy, remember?), "I am
NOT a pirate. I HATE pirates." And Dummy McDipwad said, "This
may not be the ride for you, then." Der. Wendy, Peter Pan...
Pirates=Enemy!
But we didn't
get to take a picture with Captain Hook, because as we were walking up
he GOT INTO THE QUEUE AHEAD OF US AND RODE THE RIDE. I bet
it was awesome for the people on that boat.
Tarzan got
it though. When I was getting my picture taken with him, he said,
"You look like Wendy, but you bigger." I told him I'd grown up.
Katie & Beth wouldn't come over (Beth says face characters freak her
out), and Tarzan asked me if they were afraid. I told him that he
scared my fairy.
Best part was the parade (and the
candy). They had a brand new pirate float, and the Haunted
Mansion group (which I love). It's very iconic
of the ride, plus the butler guys throw sparks
with their shovels. (It's just part of their dance, they don't lean
over like this the whole time.)
One disappointment--they
didn't seem to have planned it as well this year as they did last year.
Things didn't run as smoothly, and it seemed like they over-sold the event.
Much more crowded than last year. Although last year, the one we
attended was the first of the season, and this was the third one this year
(despite being the same week as last year). Plus the parade's "Special
Guest" was not as cool. Last year [the
Headless Horseman came riding along the parade route at breakneck speed.
Cast members were absolutely apoplectic trying to keep people on the sidewalks
to avoid trampling (without ruining the surprise and saying, "Listen, we've
blindfolded this horse--and its rider, for all practical purposes--and
they're going to come this way any minute, as fast as they can. Get
the FUCK OUT OF THE WAY before you die, mkay?"). This year they just
sort of trotted along.] Much less dramatic.
DAY SEVEN (Saturday, 9/30):
This was mostly a mopping up day.
Everything we hadn't been able to do, or wanted to do one more time. There
was a new show on the castle stage (that's what the picture in the header
is from) that they are only showing on Saturdays (I guess there aren't
enough people who know the routine yet to do it everyday).
Then back to the airport. My
plane was leaving an hour later than Katie's & Beth's, so my bus itinerary
had me leaving the hotel an hour later as well. Since I had absolutely
no idea what I would do at the resort for an hour, I just went on their
bus.
Katie &
Beth were flying Jet Blue, so they were able to check in and get their
boarding passes at the resort. I was flying Southwest, so I had to
keep my suitcase & check in at the airport. Katie & Beth
were able to come along with me this time (Last time we flew out of different
terminals), so we killed the several hours that Disney gave us at the airport
(so it's absolutely not their fault if you don't make your plane).
They left an hour before me, so I just waited at my gate for a while.
VERY TURBULENT flight coming back. Nothing horribly frightening,
just couldn't ever turn off the fasten seat belts light. Although
I did look out the window at one point and see that the wing of the plane
was visibly shaking.
You can see
RIGHT into the new Busch Stadium when you fly home from Orlando.
VARIOUS
DAYS:
I got 6 new
characters (I already had JoJo, but I took a picture again with Goliath)
for my Disney Character Picture page!
If my count is right, I'm up to 121 characters now.
~END DISNEY
GIBBERING ON~
Okay, I figured out a new way to
do the comments--this way comments will appear here instantly, instead
of whenever I next feel like updating. Just scroll down in the livejournal
frame below to read any comments to that entry. It navigates just
like a webpage w/o leaving the blog. I think this is easier for everybody.
Scroll down to read comments to this
entry (or to leave comments): |
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