dandaman's Very Long TR: 8/19-8/30

I’ll try to type as much as I remember, but I might have to edit a lot and add stuff in, once I remember it.

8/19- We left our house (in Belle River, Ontario) at exactly midnight. Dad looked at his watch and claimed it was 12:01, and blamed my mom for making us “late”. :rolleyes:

We took I-75 the whole way down, without stopping anywhere. (Hotel-wise. I still need to take a “break”, don’t I? :lookaroun)

We arrived at our hotel, Buena Vista Suites, at around 8:30 p.m. (“Wow, that’s a fancy hotel, all lit up n’ everything…” :lol: ) Dad got off work a day early, and drove all the way through, 20 hrs. straight, so we ended up staying 2 nights at BVS. We got the MouseSavers rate of $89/night, and it would’ve been worth around at least $200/night, because that 2-room suite was luxury… Well, luxurious to me. I usually get the floor of the hotel, wherever we go. :lol: I got my own TV and microwave, coffeemaker, bed… Ah, that was the life.

I remember eating at some new “pizza buffet” place that just opened, next to Hawaiian Adventure Golf or something like that, on SR 535. Very good value; around 7 or 8 dollars for all-you-can-eat pizza, salad and desserts! :sohappy: It was surprisingly loud, but the food was definitely the star of the restaurant (as it should be).

1 day down, 11 more to go. :brick:

8/20- Went shopping at Festival Bay Mall first thing in the morning. Has anyone ever heard of this FX thing they have in the middle of the mall? You stand on a little platform that can vibrate, according to what’s on the screen in front of you (there’s track tubing to hold up all the elements surrounding the platform), and there’s TONS of effects. Chocolate smells, bubbles, really strong wind, multicoloured spotlights, heat… wow. You can pay for an advertisement, complete with effects that you can buy, to play during your commercial. So far, some truck company and Fun Spot have actually advertised… the rest is filler, but very entertaining filler at that. I stood on that platform, eating a pretzel dog, for about 20 minutes while my mom and sister went shopping. :lol:

Bass Pro Shop was having a hunting and fishing expo, and that place was PACKED. I counted at least 150 people at the gun counter (scary thought, considering this is downtown Orlando…)

Finally, I bought a little surf-dude kind of necklace at Ron Jon. That, and my Yankees hat, makes me look like a totally different person (more on the hat later).

Next, we headed over to Belz Factory Outlet World. It’s more or less a tradition to go there during our Disney trips. That Character Premiere place is the only real reason we go there… for all of the bargains on perfectly good WDW merchandise, at less than half the cost on most of the things they have there! Festival Bay is definitely better, IMO. In July 2003, we went there when it was a brand-new mall. Now, it’s expanded at a really surprising rate.

I’m pretty sure we ate at Golden Corral that night (see: best buffet on earth). That’s the one restaurant I wanted to do outside the World. Because we had the free Dining Plan, I wasn’t sure if we were going to have a chance to eat there… but, seeing as how our admission/hotel stay/plan didn’t start until the following day, I got my cake, pizza, steak, ice cream, and brownies… and ate it, too! (Well, really, I could only eat about half. Eyes are bigger than the stomach. :lol: )

Keep in mind, I’m not even in Disney World yet. Oy vey. :rolleyes:

I’ll try to write some more tomorrow. This alone took me about 2 hours, so I might as well post my unnecessarily detailed first 2 days of the trip.

Stay tuned!

Edit: The filter actually banned the work "t r u c k i n g"! :lol:
 

Connor002

Active Member
My newly invented words of the day:

churchy- of, or relating to church

ebayable- able to be sold on ebay

hatitude- mutual hate between two groups

:D
 

Cinderella Fan

New Member
Nope - won't be there during Thanksgiving. My husband and I always go to the beach at that time. I think Thanksgiving is a man's holiday - women cook all day while men get to sit around and watch football. So about 5 years ago, I went on strike, so he went on vacation.....:rolleyes:

We will be down Nov 29 through Dec 4... I can't wait!! I am sitting at my front door with my bags packed! All of my students think I have lost my mind - but hey? It's okay to be 24 and obsessed with Disney....isn't it? :p
 

dandaman

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Connor: I actually use the word "churchy" occasionally. :lookaroun

Cinderella Fan: Very interesting take on Thansgiving. I just had to laugh at the fact that you went on strike from a holiday. :lol:
 

Cinderella Fan

New Member
Not from the holiday - just from COOKING for the holiday! :goodnevil

Now, we buy the whole turkey dinner thing - besides, that is not what the holiday is about....it's about being thankful for what you have. And I am thankful we can go on vacation!!!! :D
 

dandaman

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
^Attagirl!

I would celebrate it by making a frozen turkey TV dinner and watching Thanksgiving specials. :lookaroun
 

dandaman

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Park #4: Magic Kingdom

Since we’re at a monorail resort, it didn’t take long to get to MK (around 9:15). The first thing I wanted *cough* to do was Stitch’s Great Escape, purely because I hadn’t seen it yet, and I didn’t want to waste my time in even a 10-minute line.
Now, I know I’ll get some… “comments”… about this… but, SGE really wasn’t all that bad. Okay, I can understand where most of you are coming from; you hate it because it replaced Alien Encounter. I’ve never had the chance to experience it, so I can’t say either way. Heck, maybe I just set my expectations lower, basing them on comments read here. It seemed fine to me.

*ducks from flying objects* :lol:

I think I went to get 4 FP’s for Space Ranger Spin next. I got 364,000; my sister got 64,000. Maybe it’s because I was steering?… ;)

The FP’s time frame came up rather quickly (which was quickly becoming the norm for the vacation), so we got 2 more for Buzz, and 2 for Space Mountain. My dad hadn’t done Space Mountain since around the late 70’s, so I was rather surprised to see him use the second SM Fastpass. Considering he’s had countless surgeries, and currently his knee hurts like all get-out, the seat configuration didn’t seem like it would agree with him. Turns out it didn’t, but at least he knows for next time…

I don’t think we really did a whole lot else after eating at Cosmic Ray‘s, due to the fact that we were coming back for EMH. I remember doing the newly renovated Small World (which, by the way, is visually stunning now), and Mickey’s PhilharMagic. I really don’t remember a whole lot of what happened between Space Mountain and coming back for EMH.

We ate at 1900 Park Fare around 7:00 (this was the only character dining we went to through the whole trip). It was all right, IMO… The atmosphere was somewhat loud, but very nice décor. Unfortunately, I can get better variety at Golden Corral. Got some pics of me and Cindy… and, Megan blushing while holding Prince Charming’s hand. :lol:

Arrived back at MK just in time to see Wishes. It was about 15 minutes prior to the show, but we still had to line up for the wristbands. By the time we actually got in, the show’s audio had just barely started!

After the show, we fought upstream of the one-day guests exiting to get to Adventureland. Megan (my sister) wanted to see if the Tiki Room was open… nope. Well, we can always try another night ride on the Jungle Cruise. The skipper we got was Asian, and had a really strong accent, so you couldn’t really tell what she was saying at some parts. The ending was pretty hilarious, though: “Did everyone have a good time?! *cheering* All right, then… (we’re about to dock) stay happy, stay happy, stay happy… (docking) All right, now get out of my boat!” :lol:

I believe we went on Pirates next. Megan hadn’t been on it in about 5 years, because of the “huge drop” in the dark. :rolleyes: She finally went on it that night, but she still was the only one that screamed… and loudly at that.

I think I went on Splash Mountain next, about a 20-minute wait. Night rides are always fun on the thing...

The coolest thing of the day happened as we were exiting the park, around midnight. We had seen some video equipment earlier in the day, between the flagpole and Main Street Station. I asked a CM, and he told me it was for a PBS special with a pianist named Jim… something. As we were walking by, I thought I heard a familiar voice. All of a sudden, Megan starts yelling, “OMG! It’s Wayne Brady!” :eek:

He was singing on stage, and we could only get a few fuzzy pics of him from a distance. He was singing a few Disney songs, including “Bare Necessities”. That’s probably the only “true” celebrity we’ve ever seen… god, we’re like Canadian rednecks. :lol:

I’ll be preparing for high school over the next few days, so a few more updates may be delayed. I apologize in advance if that occurs. Thanks (and congratulations) for reading this far!

The next update will be Epcot. See ya real soon!
 

dandaman

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
8/25- Park #5: Epcot

We arrived at around 9:30, and the park was already as crowded as it was at 10:30 of the first day there. I, once again, bolted to Soarin’ for Fastpasses. The time for it was between 1:30 and 2:30, and the park hadn’t even been open for a half-hour! However, if there was ever a Disney non-thrill ride to wait for, that would be it. I think that, somehow, our “new Fastpass” time (when you can get another FP) was relatively short. So, to pass the time, we experienced Universe of Energy.

No matter how many times I see it, it still cracks me up. Favourite moments: “What did you call her?” “Stupid Judy.” And: “I mean, it just wouldn’t be nice of me to pop out of your trunk and go (switches screens) HEY! Well, actually how did I get into your trunk anyway? That’s your fault for not locking the car!” :lol:

We went over to Test Track and got more FP’s. Then, we took the Odyssey pavilion pathway (I really don’t understand the relevance behind it, besides “convention centre”) to World Showcase. Once again, I went to Liberty Inn for lunch. Who needs culture when you can have some good ‘n hearty regular park food? :lookaroun It must be in the Jello… P.S. Kudos to Bonnie, the cashier there. I got her 3 times over the course of the trip!

Because the rest of my family ate at Nine Dragons in Japan, I watched the drummers on the pagoda balcony while trying to find them again. When the show ended (they still weren’t there), I went to watch Miyuki, the Candy Artist. If it weren’t for the fact that it would melt in the car within 10 minutes, I would buy one of those creations in a heartbeat. Alas, the Florida sun would take its toll, so I couldn’t buy anything. Still fun to watch, though. She made a really cool dragon in about two minutes!

We had to walk really fast, again, around the United Kingdom/Canada side of WS to get to our Soarin’ Fastpass window in time. We got in by just 5 minutes! I honestly can’t get enough of that ride… the fact that it leaves nearly everyone in awe is enough to justify those long lines. Can you imagine what they’ll be like at Christmastime, though?! :eek:

We left the park for yet another nap. I, of course, bought more ice cream. :D I think we left for an 8:00 reservation at Alfredo’s at about 6:30. The Epcot monorail system was actually down due to a communications error, but they had a lot of buses cycling through from the TTC in its place. We were quite lucky to be able to sit down on one of the buses. A lot of people, at this time, were arriving to take advantage of Extra Magic Hour, so you can imagine how long of a line there was at the bus stop…

Finally got into the park around 7:00. First, we got our EMH wristbands, then we headed straight to Alfredo’s. We stood in a line just outside of the reception room… once I asked someone, we corrected that. It turned out, that line was for non-reservations. We had waited there for 10 minutes… whoops. :lol:

Once we got into the reception room, it was really only another 10 minutes before we were seated. We had a server that had just started his job that day (Luigi from Naples is awesome!), so a few things had to be corrected. For a first-time server, though, I think he did pretty good!

I have three words to describe the Fettucine Alfredo: Oh my god. I don’t even like Fettucine Alfredo, and my parents can back that up. Maybe it was the fresh parmesan, or the homemade egg noodles, or the parmesan butter sauce… but that ties with Concourse Steakhouse’s filet mignon as the best meal of the entire trip.

I checked the time just after dessert, and it was 8:55. Crap! I didn’t want to miss Illuminations! So, I ducked out , jumped over the outside patio railing, and got a fantastic spot for the show! I was very surprised that between the Italian shop and the big tower in Italy could provide such a good view of both the globe and the fireworks! Being tall does have its advantages… ;)

After my family joined me back outside, we returned to the rest of World Showcase, to find it almost empty. There was something really cool about walking around the world at night, seemingly all to yourself. We hit American Adventure first, and it could still pack in the crowds. (Even though it was only half-filled, but it usually doesn’t play to a full audience anyway…). I think we were so caught up in just walking around World Showcase by ourselves, that we didn’t really bother to do anything there. We eventually made it over to the Land. (Geez, how many more times is going from WS to the Land gonna happen?)

We took a ride on Living with the Land, with absolutely no wait (as opposed to 40 minutes usually in the day), and then headed through Innoventions Plaza to get to Mission: Space/ Test Track. Once again (and still puzzling me), M:S had absolutely no wait, and half the rows were empty. They actually let us get flight trainers to ourselves! It was so awesome! I ended up going again.

I met up with the family at Test Track, just as the doors were closing at midnight. You really see a lot of things you never saw before during EMH… We finally got back to the hotel room around 12:30 a.m.!

How’s that for my 700th post? :D
 

Connor002

Active Member
How do you find the time to type these things up?
No lines for M:S... Consider yourself lucky; when we went M:S had a line 3+ hrs. long and a 2+ hr. line just to get a fast pass
 

dandaman

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Oh, believe me, I know. Well, maybe not 3 hours ( :eek: ), but I've been there for July 4th, and Christmastime... those type of lines may look painful to stand in, but if you can appreciate air-conditioned/shaded queues, then it's perfectly fine. :rolleyes:
Still, I've never seen a Disney line go beyond 120 minutes...

As for finding the time to post... I've been trying to post a new update every day, before noon. Now that I'm a high school freshman starting tomorrow, I can't guarantee daily updates.
Thanks to everyone for reading and commenting on the TR. It's probably more fun for me to type it than for you to read through page after page of (potentially depressing) experiences at WDW. :lol:

Note: First day of school tomorrow, so there won't be any updates before noon. I'll try to shoot for between 2:00-5:00 to have the next one up, okay? :wave:
 

Connor002

Active Member
dandaman said:
Oh, believe me, I know. Well, maybe not 3 hours ( :eek: ), but I've been there for July 4th, and Christmastime... those type of lines may look painful to stand in, but if you can appreciate air-conditioned/shaded queues, then it's perfectly fine. :rolleyes:
Still, I've never seen a Disney line go beyond 120 minutes...

As for finding the time to post... I've been trying to post a new update every day, before noon. Now that I'm a high school freshman starting tomorrow, I can't guarantee daily updates.
Thanks to everyone for reading and commenting on the TR. It's probably more fun for me to type it than for you to read through page after page of (potentially depressing) experiences at WDW. :lol:

Note: First day of school tomorrow, so there won't be any updates before noon. I'll try to shoot for between 2:00-5:00 to have the next one up, okay? :wave:

High School Freshmen as of Aug 29 :wave:
 

dandaman

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
The_CEO said:
Great TR Danda! I start school tomorrow as well.

* BOOOO *

While I like the nickname Danda ( :lol: ), let it be known that my real name is Danny. :wave:

Danda sounds Jamaican or something... perhaps I could get a new account by the name of "dan_da_mon"? :lookaroun

Oh, yeah... boooooo school! :lol: Let's get tigsmom to make us some good sack lunches!
 

dandaman

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Connor002 said:
High School Freshmen as of Aug 29 :wave:

How is it? :wave:

Apparently I have a better schedule for second semester...

1st Semester: Geography, Information Tech (Computers), Science, Math

2nd Semester: Gym, Music, French, English
 

Connor002

Active Member
Cinderella Fan said:
As a teacher, you all better enjoy these years in high school. If any of your teachers are like me, they are so COOL!!!:sohappy:

:lol:

I have one really cool teacher, the rest are nice, but nothing great
 

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