RSoxNo1's Trip Report 10/1-10/4

Hello everyone. If you haven't read one of my trip reports before, here are a couple of the old ones:
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?t=378712
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?t=378712

Now onto Day 1 of my long weekend:

Well, apparently my alarm went off at 4:30 AM. I didn’t remember my girlfriend Marie telling me to hit the snooze alarm, but I woke up 3 minutes later to her getting out of bed. We were out the door by 5:15, and at our terminal at Providence Airport by 6:20 AM for our 7:40 flight. The line at Dunkin Donuts at 6:23 in the morning very well may have been our longest line of the day. Our flight landed about 20-30 minutes early.

Marie’s mother Joanne, and her boyfriend Doug were waiting for us at the airport. They had just been to the DMV that morning to get Florida State IDs so that they could get a discount on annual passes. We made a quick stop at their rental property, and we were in Epcot by 12:15.

Now, I have started collecting fastpasses, and was a little annoyed that the only ones available for the day were for Soarin’, Test Track, and Mission: Space. The crowds were incredibly light, so they weren’t running fastpass for Maelstrom or Honey I Shrunk the Audience. Additionally, Living with the Land was closed for refurbishment until October 4th, so they weren’t running fast passes for that.

Throughout the day, I went back to Soarin’ to grab fast passes 3 times, we only wound up going on the ride once, so I have 8 passes for my collection.

Some mid day wait times:
Soarin’: Listed between 30-40 minutes most of the day
Test Track: Listed at 30 minutes when we went on at 1:45, we were off the ride in 30 minutes, and at that point the wait was down to 20 minutes. It was up to 50 minutes on the tip board at one point, but that could have been due to a break down.
Mission: Space: When we went at 1:25, Marie and I both walked on to the less intense training. The more intense training was listed at 20 minutes, but Doug was only 1 or 2 minutes behind us at the Exit.
All fastpasses for all 3 attractions were gone at 7:55 when I went to check again.

While in Future World, we walked onto Spaceship Earth, after some mid day shopping (Food and wine festival gifts, as well as some shirts for a co-worker). We also spent some time in the Seas pavilion, going on The Seas with Nemo and Friends ride which was featuring a fully functioning Angler Fish. It caught my buy surprise as I haven’t seen it moving in a few years. After watching the manatees and dolphins for a few minutes we went in to Turtle Talk with Crush.

We had toured World Showcase in spurts, with the first run coming right after acquiring the first fast pass for Soarin’.

We ventured towards the Canada pavilion, and throughout the day gradually made our way around the lagoon, stopping at the Food and Wine Festival kiosks along the way. For the uninitiated, they set up temporary themed kiosks that showcase foods from all over the world. Some of the countries are represented in World Showcase already, and others are not.

Montreal, Quebec:
Cheddar Cheese Soup for Tim and Marie
Salmon for Doug
Sausage for Joanne

Athens, Greece
Spanikopita for Marie
Chicken with Tatziki Sauce for Tim and Joanne
Greek Salad for Doug

Brazil
Beef Stick in bread crumbs for Doug

This was the point where we had done a bit of shopping. I went to drop some items off in the car while they all went to the tequila bar in Mexico. We met up again for some of the Future World attractions mentioned above, and ultimately would continue our tour around World Showcase where we had left off. Before eating, we stopped to see the O’ Canada film.

New Zealand
Lamb Slider for Tim and Marie. This was probably our favorite item, it tasted like a meatball
Scallops for Joanne

Ireland
Guinness for Joanne
Guinness and Lobster Pie for Doug

France
Short Ribs for Marie and Tim
Escargot for Joanne
Affligen Beer for Doug

New Orleans
Gumbo for Tim

It was at this point that we started to realize there were a ridiculous amount of gnats all over World Showcase – I’d never seen this at Disney, as normally they do a pretty efficient job of insect pest control.

Melbourne, Australia
Doug and Joanne got Barramundi

South Africa
Beef sirloin for Tim and Marie
Mealie soup for Doug
Beef sirloin for Joanne

New Deli
Mango Lassi (chilled mango yogurt drink) for Doug

Krakow, Poland
Kielbasa and Potato Pierogie for Tim – I’d definitely eat this again. The pierogie and lamb slider were probably my two favorite things.

Dessert Stand
Grand Marnier Parfait for Marie.

At this point we had gone around World Showcase and decided to forego a second trip on Soarin’ in favor of the Three Caballeros and Maelstrom. We grabbed desserts at the Norway bakery before enjoying Illuminations to close out the night.

Unfortunately, I don’t have time to go through the pictures I took today. I will probably post them all when I return.
 
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RSoxNo1

RSoxNo1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 2 saw us arrive at Disney’s Hollywood Studios by 9:30 AM. Our first step was getting fastpasses for Toy Story Midway Mania. By 9:35 the distribution time was already at 12:35-1:35. After getting the fastpasses we went into the standby queue. The wait time was listed at 50 minutes, but we only wound up waiting around 25. Marie had the high score at 164,300, while I finished at 151,800.

As we roamed the park we quickly realized that the crowds were incredibly light.

After Toy Story Mania we walked around One Man’s Dream, and then headed over to Muppetvision 3D.

After Muppetvision we caught the 11:30 showing of Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular. What was strange was that Indiana Jones didn’t drop from above, he hopped over the far right edge of the boulder track, and then the show proceeded as normal. I know there was an accident at Indiana Jones a while ago, I’m not sure if they changed the opening segment as a result, or if they just weren’t running it this way for today.

After Indiana Jones, Marie and I went to Tower of Terror and Rock ‘n Roller Coaster. The Tower of Terror wait was listed at 20 minutes, but it was all in the boiler room. We used the single rider liner for Rock ‘n Roller Coaster and walked right in. The wait was listed at 30 minutes, but standby was all the way in the building. Marie thought the Engineer in the Pre-Show video looked like Ken Marino from the State, and sure enough it’s him.

While we were on Sunset Boulevard, Joanne and Doug walked through the stores, and the rest of One Man’s Dream. Afterwards we all went to see Lights, Motors, Action. At the very end of the show the Red car went up the final ramp but didn’t make the jump. The explosion went off around the car, nobody looked concerned, and there was no black pursuit car.

After this, Doug treated as all to lunch at the Brown Derby. We were able to walk in without a wait. I had the half chicken, and Marie and I split the Banana Foster. I don’t know that I’ve ever eaten here, largely because of the cost, but it was a good meal. We ate in the Bamboo room, and for most of the meal we were buy ourselves.

After lunch we used our Toy Story Mania fastpasses, where once again Marie had the high score, this time at 194,900. I finished at 174,700. We walked onto the Great Movie Ride and then headed out.

I took a detour down Sunset Boulevard to get additional fastpasses for my collection. They had already shut off the fastpass machines for Tower of Terror (at around 4:30). They were only running fastpass machines for Tower of Terror, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster and Toy Story Midway Mania.

After running a few errands, we headed into Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. I’ll have that report tomorrow.
 
RSoxNo1

RSoxNo1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We arrived at the Halloween Party at 7:30, and received several comments on our costumes. We went as three Guts contestants and the Guts judge Moira Quirk.

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The atmosphere walking down Main Street was very impressive. The street was lined with Halloween decorations, special lighting/lightening effects and fog machines. Halloween music dominated the speakers throughout the park, and the attractions that were closed were used as candy stops.

Several other people were in costume (I’d say about 30-40%) and it ranged from the very young, to the elderly. They seemed to have some technical difficulties during the party, as Big Thunder Mountain, and Haunted Mansion were closed at different times, and it’s possible that Big Thunder Mountain was closed all night from 8:00 PM on. Jungle Cruise was a candy stop so we weren’t able to ride that, but throughout the night we went on Pirates of the Caribbean, Splash Mountain (Doug sat out), Haunted Mansion, Hall of Presidents, Tomorrowland Transit Authority and Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin. Marie dominated Buzz Lightyear at 513,000. I was in the low 100thousands. As for Hall of Presidents, I found it to be very well done, and perhaps I will change my practice of only experiencing it once an administration. It’s not quite the same inspirational show that American Adventure is, but it’s definitely worth seeing. For Tomorrowland Transit Authority – the narration changed, but the coolest thing was seeing Space Mountain with the lights on. You can really see how much is hidden by the darkness, as there’s less of a need to repair sound dampening panels when they’re not visually intrusive.

I really enjoyed the Halloween Parade, especially the Headless Horseman, Eeyore’s costume, the Lion King Hyenas, and the Haunted Mansion Butlers (Pictures Below).

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I also enjoyed the HalloWishes fireworks, but ultimately I enjoy Illuminations with the Christmas Holliday tag better.

All in all, I would definitely participate in the Halloween Party again, however I’m not sure I would have the same interest in the Christmas Party.

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The Haunted Mansion

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A cast member was sitting on a bench on the grass in front of Haunted Mansion. She was acting like Madame Leota and talking with guests in line.

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Cinderella's Castle

Lastly, I had forgotten about this, but there were small bucket trucks backstage at Hollywood Studios. They appeared to be small enough to get into the Soundstage next to Toy Story Mania...
IMG_3291.jpg

This was taken from Lights Motors Action
 
RSoxNo1

RSoxNo1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We got a late start today by design. We started out at Downtown Disney at around 11. We did some shopping, and stopped at the Earl of Sandwich for lunch. I had never been and likened it to Panera.

After Downtown Disney we ventured over to the Magic Kingdom at around 2:15. As we got off the Monorail we saw some sky writing, “U+GOD=:)” Now, if you are to solve for GOD, that equation reads, “GOD=:)-U”

The crowds were heavier today, which was to be expected. We crisscrossed the park a few times, but still managed to experience Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Mickey’s PhilHarmagic, Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin, Monster’s Inc Laugh Floor, and the Carousel of Progress.

Some points of note: For some reason I suck at Buzz Lightyear now. Marie scored 575,000 points, beating me by close to 550,000 points. For a while I chalked it up to faulty guns, but it’s gotten to the point where I have to admit that I’m no good. I did mention to our cast member that our vehicle wouldn’t spin to the left – she seemed surprised that there was a problem with any of the vehicles.

Over at the Monster’s Inc Laugh Floor, I submitted the following Tim Grassey original:
Q: What type of car do Vikings drive?
A: A fjord explorer.
It was chosen as a joke to be read during the show, so I can proudly say that I am once again famous in Monster World.

We left the park at around 7:30-7:45 and tried for dinner at either Ohana or Kona Kafe in the Polynesian, but didn’t have any luck. We dined off property before calling it a night.
 
RSoxNo1

RSoxNo1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We got another late start today. We didn’t get into the Animal Kingdom until 10:30, which was a little irritating. With a 6:25 flight we were already working on a tight schedule.

That being said, we had to rush a bit, but still saw most of the park. Marie and I went to the Single Rider line for Expedition Everest, while Joanne and Doug went to grab fastpasses for Kilimanjaro Safaris.

They met us back in Asia where we walked through the Maharajah Jungle Trek. There wasn’t much activity, and we only saw one of the tigers. After the Jungle Trek we went over to Africa to take a ride on the Safaris. The Safaris was very good, although my pictures sucked. We had a rare treat of seeing an elephant playing in the water.

After the Safari, Doug treated us to dinner at the Yak and Yeti. I had the Beef and Broccoli, it was decent.

We got out of lunch a little after 1:00 PM, stopped at Dinosaur to get fastpasses, and made it to the Giraffe section of Festival of the Lion King.

The day was completed with a trip on Dinosaur as well as Kali River Rapids. After Dinosaur I had seen an Animal Kingdom photo album but didn’t want to bring it onto the Rapids, so we stopped on the way out for my last souvenir of the trip.

All in all it was a good trip, and we’re headed back with my family over Thanksgiving.
 
Bobster

Bobster

Active Member
RSoxNo1 said:
We got another late start today. We didn’t get into the Animal Kingdom until 10:30, which was a little irritating. With a 6:25 flight we were already working on a tight schedule.

That being said, we had to rush a bit, but still saw most of the park. Marie and I went to the Single Rider line for Expedition Everest, while Joanne and Doug went to grab fastpasses for Kilimanjaro Safaris.

They met us back in Asia where we walked through the Maharajah Jungle Trek. There wasn’t much activity, and we only saw one of the tigers. After the Jungle Trek we went over to Africa to take a ride on the Safaris. The Safaris was very good, although my pictures sucked. We had a rare treat of seeing an elephant playing in the water.

After the Safari, Doug treated us to dinner at the Yak and Yeti. I had the Beef and Broccoli, it was decent.

We got out of lunch a little after 1:00 PM, stopped at Dinosaur to get fastpasses, and made it to the Giraffe section of Festival of the Lion King.

The day was completed with a trip on Dinosaur as well as Kali River Rapids. After Dinosaur I had seen an Animal Kingdom photo album but didn’t want to bring it onto the Rapids, so we stopped on the way out for my last souvenir of the trip.

All in all it was a good trip, and we’re headed back with my family over Thanksgiving.
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Man, you guys were zig-zagging all over the park!

Thanks for the great report. Sounds like you had a blast.
 

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