Trip Report Dissertation? More Like... Disney Vacation. COMPLETED

tonystark · Jan 29, 2020

Going in this time!

Ride #26. Never disappoints!

I would willingly trade places with this guy. Oh, to stand in the water and scowl at people as they pass, while he goes to grad school in my place...

Next up...

Ride #27. Single-rider line, maybe 15 minutes long, and grandma and I ended up in the same car anyways.

Where were these little legs scampering off to?

That's right, here we were for ride #28. This is probably the most times I had ridden SSE in one day, by the end of the night, anyways.

Hi John Progress! I'd be seeing him tomorrow, but he didn't know that yet.

One day, instead of taking a picture of this woman with the SAME ANGLE every time, I will simply turn around in my (ATTENTION SPACE TRAVELERS, YOUR TIME MACHINE WILL NOW ROTATE BACKWARDS TO PREPARE FOR YOUR RETURN TO EARTH) time machine and take a picture of her head on.

After SSE, it was time to get my grandma set up before fireworks.

Big crowd in the Rose & Crown tonight, but my grandma got her wine as she apparently always does for Epcot fireworks, and we didn't wander too far to find a seat for Epcot Forever.

KellBelle · Jan 29, 2020

I am with you 200% on the Skyliner lol

tonystark · Jan 30, 2020

If you wish to have an acceptable viewing of Epcot Forever, sit in front of this wall at the Canada pavilion.

No words can adequately describe the depths of my despair and visceral recoil to the sound of a child's voice doing the spiel about how Epcot Forever was about to start in 10 minutes, 5 minutes, etc. lolllllll

At least the torches were on...

Okay, so I will admit we cheated here. Grandma and I both reasoned that since you can get a FP for Epcot Forever, this should count as an attraction. So, we called this ride (attraction, really) #29. What is my opinion about Epcot Forever? I shall not mince words. It sucked. The music had its moments, but lacked any sort of emotional connection by moving on so suddenly. Epcot music whiplash. The stupid Aladdin bit at the end was so shoehorned. Ugh.

I did, however, really enjoy the kites. I would not mind seeing that in HarmonioUS. Or, like, bring Illuminations back and throw some kites in there. Anyways, with the end of fireworks, it was officially EMH at Epcot. We should have started making our way to Norway in the middle of Epcot Forever since neither of us were particularly bothered about it after about five minutes in, but we stayed and watched the entire show, which meant FEA was at 50 minutes by the time we got there.

This was the back of the line. While I appreciate the need to scan everyone's magic bands to ensure they are a resort guest, it really holds up the line for rides like this. I wish there was a faster system, like integrating it to the FP scanners instead of having to do it with iPads. We got out of this line after about 10 minutes of not moving, because it just wasn't worth it.

Yay torches!!!

If you're going to have one last ride at Epcot before heading out, it might as well be... Well...

Ride #30.

Johann Guttenberg has some REALLY skinny legs. I guess he gets all his arm workouts with inventing the moveable type printing press, that he neglects his legs

This scene felt voyeuristic, her hand is on his LEG...She isn't even looking at the moon landing happening on the television.

Boots. As you can tell, with 5 rides of SSE in a day, you start finding interesting things to be entertained with.

tonystark · Jan 31, 2020

We were leaving

. Maybe by the time I come back, Wallcot will be no more. A gal can dream.

Truly leaving...
With that, our day at Epcot had concluded. Including Epcot Forever, we had done 19 rides. Bonkers, if you're asking me, with the paucity of rides available at Epcot. Forced to ride Imagination twice... And, you know what? After this trip, my grandma said we had set a new record and would need to beat the total number of rides for the trip record next time... I am GETTING TOO OLD FOR THESE SHENANIGANS. By the time we tumbled into bed, I fell asleep very quickly, pretty exhausted from the day. Our step count for today was 34,278.

tonystark · Jan 31, 2020

JANUARY 8TH... Magic Kingdom. 'Cause I just can't get enough.

I think I woke up pretty early this morning, because I had time to turn on Stacy and her must-do's. They really ought to update this, only because her chunky magicband draws my eye every time. Maybe Stacy just loves being a gen-1 gal.

Riverside is very beautiful. I also like how, while walking to the lobby, we passed by a little fishing hole where you could pay to fish for half an hour and up. I don't know who would decide to go fishing when they could go ride Haunted Mansion or eat a citrus swirl or something, but the option is there.

I wandered around the food court while grandma was getting her breakfast. Do you notice anything amiss in this picture? Anything....? ..... There's an empty bag of Lay's BBQ chips just chilling with the refillable mugs.

Not a long wait for the bus. And before I knew it...

Here we were! MK hadn't actually opened yet, but I'm glad you're able to meander around the Hub rather than having to wait outside the train station.

Speaking of train station, it was completely empty up there, so I scampered to take some pictures for the 'Gram. As you do. While in the vicinity I discovered something terrible.

When I did a pressed penny on my last solo trip (Aug 2018?) IT WAS 51 CENTS. Now they are a dollar!? I thought this was sacred, Bob, I never thought the price of pressed pennies would be brought to your attention... But it has been...

I'm always rushing through the hub going hither and yon, so I took a second to stop and take a nice photo. It was colder today than our Epcot day, and I was back in shorts, because I have no sense. We stood at the Liberty Square entrance with the intent of rope dropping Big Thunder Mountain. We were SCAMPERING at high speeds by the time we were allowed inside, only to get to the Rivers of America wooden-pathway thing (IDK the official term, the short cut from Liberty Square to Frontierland. You know the one) when a CM mercifully stopped us and said that Big Thunder was down. Boo. But I knew where to go. You know where I was going.

Ride #31. Not a bad way to start the morning. No rose set out on Master Gracey's grave, though.

I stared INTENTLY at Madame Leota here. Eventually her eyes opened. And then it was inside and a beeline for the girl on the tightrope.

tonystark · Feb 1, 2020

We got stopped here for a while.

After HM, we had our first FP to get to. I had backed this day up with FPs perfectly arranged from 9-12, so that we would have the rest of the day to play FP roulette as MK was to stay open til 10 with EMH tonight. Though I will spoil it now and say we did not stay until 10pm, but we got close.

Early enough that there was space to be enjoyed as we toodled along.

OMG, totally loving the new crane installations in Fantasyland/Storybook Circus!

Oh bother. It's ride #32.

Remember last time when I finally put Kanga- and -Roo together and everything made sense in the world but for a brief moment? I remember. Also, during our trip, the heffalump that blows a smoke ring was not working

HOORAY!

No judgment please, we had a goal to meet and only 13 hours to do it. Ride #33.

Can't say I've noticed these chaps before. But now I have.

FINALLY. MY NAME ON THE BOARD. A MOMENTOUS OCCASION!!!

Ride #34. But this time, we had a FP

tonystark · Feb 2, 2020

A quick pop into Memento Mori.

Oh the temptation... But again, the thin fabric of the sweatshirt turned me off from buying it.
Here's something that I found absolutely ridiculous.

These jars were originally $60, and were on sale for $30. They are made of plastic. You can see the edges of the label where they were cut out on the template in the picture of the jar above. You could probably make these jars for $10 or less yourself. I think there might have been a picture of the ghost in it, or something, or it made a noise? Anyways, I don't foresee these flying off the shelves.

Just walking past on our way to our next ride.

I guess I did actually get a picture of the sign from head-on. My original thoughts still stand, it's lacking the scale and #impact.

Ol' Reliable for ride #35.

Tron construction photos that are no longer up-to-date or relevant but I still post it... Tbh, looking at the track, I think I could ride it no problem. The problem lies in the ride vehicles, which look reminiscent to FOP (they had some set out, but there was a line of people wanting to test them out and take pictures so no thanks). When I rode FOP, the ride vehicles freaked me out really unexpectedly and made me anxious, so if Tron grabs down on your legs and back again I shan't be partaking, thank you kindly.

Day or night, I take this exact same picture whenever I am on the Peoplemover. A compulsion.

Bad picture (what do you expect, coming from me), but I want this poster for my roooooooom please Disney let me spend moneyyyyyy.

Kind of embarrassing, during ride #36, John burned the turkey... they had to have frozen pizzas for Christmas dinner :/

tonystark · Feb 3, 2020

Ride #37. It was time to redeem myself from my, frankly, appalling performance last time.

Much better. I could live with this. In fact, I WILL live with this. Proudly.

By this time, we had finished all our scheduled FPs and thought it best to get something to eat before diving into the world of whatever was available. It was time to test out another DFB recommendation.

I WAITED for this. Like I sat down and took this picture, and waited 10 minutes. Because they were out of cheeseburger spring rolls, but would be bringing fresh ones over if I wanted to wait. I decided yes, yes I did. So, I got fresh out the fryer (I assume?) spring rolls.

I would call these good value for $7.50, however... However... I thought they were a little overrated. Maybe I would've been a bigger fan of the pizza ones?

It was time for our next FP, you know where we're going.

Ride #38.

I relate to the gentleman who has been impaled and also is now a nest for a seagull.

We got backed up here for a couple of minutes.
It was time for our next attraction, and it was one I have absolutely no recollection of, if I did see it as a child. But you all rave about it, so here I was...

Ride #39.

I did like the floor with the scratches from their little claws. But would I like what awaited me inside?

Tuvalu · Feb 4, 2020

The Heffalump smoke ring is still not working. :arghh:

MoragL · Feb 4, 2020

tonystark said:
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Ride #17. But you knew this was coming :-(
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Omg, guys, a fiesta today! Can you believe my luck?
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My favorite part of this ride. I want a balloon.

Remember how I said we had to get more than 80,000 steps this trip? (Thanks grandma...) Well, it was time for our last scheduled FP, so we walked all the way back to...
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That concrete/triangle for a special someone now being blocked by two CMs.
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Soarin' to tower, please give me a decent seat on this ride.
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Boo. We were all the way at the end of the row so we probably had some of the worst seats in the house. Oh well, ride #18 was done. But it was time for lunch.
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This is a nice sign on the mosaic that I know has been here but I've never appreciated. YOU ARE A NICE SIGN ON THE MOSAIC!
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Oh, peaceful International Gateway... what have they DONE to you...
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According to my grandma, a ride on the Skyliner would have counted as an attraction as long as we were riding it to ride it, and not to travel somewhere particular (it would then be transportation). She made a convincing argument, but I won't go on it. I went on a cable car up to the top of Mont Blanc when I studied abroad in undergrad, and paid 60$ for the privilege of feeling like I was going to die.
View attachment 443518
Here's photo evidence if you don't believe me. But from that day forth (aside from having to take the cable car to go back down) I just won't do it. More power to those who do!

agreed, went on one in Banff, Canada and scared the living daylights out of me. Haven't seen the skyliner in person to see if I will try it or not.

tonystark · Feb 4, 2020

Tuvalu said:
The Heffalump smoke ring is still not working.

Boo... One of my favorite parts of the ride...

MoragL said:
agreed, went on one in Banff, Canada and scared the living daylights out of me. Haven't seen the skyliner in person to see if I will try it or not.

I just googled the Banff one and it made me shudder. The Skyliner doesn't look that bad, it's not high up off the ground REALLY, but I think I just struggle with the lack of control and the dangling... I don't mind heights if I'm in a building or on a plane, but a cable car? No thank you.

tonystark · Feb 4, 2020

This show has its charm, I think. Because it is so... Weird? No, there's a better word for it. It felt like I was in an alternate dimension Disney and this was one of the many attractions just like it. Also, we were seated so far over to the right that there was CONSTANT HYDRAULIC CLICKING. The culprits?

Overall, I would watch Country Bear Jamboree again, probably. I'm sure there are creepy details I missed, because I kept looking over at these guys. I do love them, though, even with their clicking.

We may have just had spring rolls not too long ago but I wanted something sweet. Thus the light "lunch". Light - cheeseburger spring rolls? Perhaps not.

Move it shake it mouse-ke-dance it out of my way please. I just want my ice cream. We scurried across the road when given the all clear, and thankfully wouldn't need to be crossing back over so it did not matter that this parade (is it a parade or a show?) would be swinging back down Main Street, because we would be long gone.

It seems so cramped back there, but everyone was in a good mood - maybe because it was cold enough that they weren't expecting that many customers. But then there are freaks like me who want ice cream no matter the weather.

I wish I had an All-American sundae right now!!! It was delicious. But you already know that. If you like peanut butter, I recommend this. If you don't like peanut butter... and you don't have a peanut allergy... I ask... Why?

A very nice day, as you can see. And since it was cold, and not many people were indulging in ice cream, there were many tables available.

Ride #40. Where else would one go to digest ice cream?

A selfie of me looking happy 2 be on the Peoplemover.

THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I HAVE EVER GOTTEN A NON BLURRY PICTURE OF THIS. I have tried every time. Also if someone is WAVING at you in the opposite Peoplemover car, wave back to them! Where are your manners???? (This goes out to all the people who stared blankly at me as I waved to them).

Peoplemover so nice we rode it twice. Back to back. We were killing time before the FP I managed to grab for us. Ride #41. We had met our original record, now anything above this was setting a new goal to meet next time.

tonystark · Feb 5, 2020

Ride #42. Just as terrifying as always!!

Ride #43. Would I perform decently?

The guy in front of us was with maintenance, he had something plugged into the scoring system and was fiddling around with it. He did not get to play

Not as good as earlier, but still a respectable score compared to... Well, you know.

Any guesses? For the unsatisfactory ride within, the queue is quite delightful. How much of the budget was blown on rock work? Oops.

Ride #44. She's pretty great too. Though all I can think about is that picture with her head popped off.

Back again. Heffalump and Woozles, beware, beware, beware etc. Ride #45.
BUT WHILE IN LINE AND SCROLLING THROUGH THE FP CHOICES, WHAT DID I GRAB?

I couldn't believe it, I had to grab it just to show you all. And then I cancelled it and released it out into the world for 2 people to enjoy. Because 7:15 was a long way off.

Ride #46. I think I picked this without even consciously realizing I was feeling very unwell. But by the time we got out of there, I thought I was going to pass out. My face got all flushed and I had to take off my sweatshirt (it was low 60s high 50s and I was in shorts) and we had to go over and sit by Pinocchio's Village whatever so my grandma could get me some water. We ended up sitting there for about an hour, debating on whether we should call it quits since we had set a new record and I was coming down with something. But, I chugged a few cups of water and...

Watched this little bird for a few minutes. I was feeling a little bit better and was not going to throw in the towel even though it was a bad idea that I paid for later, but... I was at Magic Kingdom, dang it, and it was time to get going. I used my second wind to power me through a leisurely stroll to an old reliable for our next ride.

tonystark · Feb 6, 2020

Ride #47... thank goodness for Ol' Reliable. I just "computer - ENHANCE" on this picture to see what this guy is looking at on his phone, it's a youtube video.

An even better non-blurry photo of this. I really outdid myself. Time to retire?

Oh to JUST BE STANDING ON THAT BRIDGE RIGHT NOW.... I WISH...

We were walking to our next FP at this point, I just thought these flowers looked pretty, with the castle in the background...

Ride #48. And then...

Back across the park to Cosmic Rays. I'm really noticing these lines on these pictures -- apparently it's a smart HDR issue on iOS that has yet to be resolved. Ugh.

I actually did a mobile order this time, setting it up while in the gift shop for Pirates, but I didn't click "i'm here!" until I was actually there, like a good noodle. I should have clicked it right then and there in Pirates, because then the food would have been ready... But, Grandma mobile ordered for herself, and I did for me... This caused moderate confusion. I went to go fill up on pickles (as one does), and when I came back to the table, she went to go get her condiments etc.

My appetizer, as it were. You'll notice I was forced to use honey mustard, as the garlic ranch was not available, which detracted from the nugget experience.

But not from the delights of Sonny Eclipse.

A hidden Mickey, perhaps?

It was while I was chowing down on pickles when my order was suddenly available. But grandma had not returned! What to do??? Well, I utilized all of the courage I had to talk to a group of people at the table next to me, and one of them kindly agreed to sit at our table while I went and got the food. While I was up there, my grandma's order was ready, too. So, I texted her explaining everything, but she didn't even look at her phone. So, when I got back to the table and thanked the woman who had sat there for me, grandma was way over at another table arguing with a different woman thinking our table had been stolen. Oops. I swooped in and extricated her from that awkward situation, have no fear.

tonystark · Feb 7, 2020

The nuggets were freshly fried, so they were particularly delicious. Can't remember about the fries. In the background, you can see that I'm steadily making my way through the pickles - and that my grandma has an immense amount of fries. She ordered kids nuggets and then picked fries as her sides not thinking about the fact that it would result in a mountain of fries. Oops.

Proof for you all that I finished my pickles. It was time to bid Sonny Eclipse a begrudging farewell.

Ride #49.

While in line ... Me: what the [REDACTED] is that big [REDACTED] light for??? Turns out it's on Big Thunder, but I genuinely do not recall it ever being there.

I'm mourning anyways...

I took this while on the toilet. Because there was a Mickey glitter on the floor. Just one. Aww.

Ride #50. HEA was about to start at this point, thus the "20" minute wait.

I risked it all taking my phone out for this picture LOL. I am always afraid of losing it on Big Thunder.

We immediately got back in line for ride #51, and by this point it was EMH, so they were checking everyone's bands. But, once we got through that chokepoint, it was smooth sailing through the line to the ride.

tonystark · Feb 9, 2020

Don't know why this picture is so hazy. My phone was #struggling? perhaps.

Ride #52, and the last ride of HM for this trip

I have never passed by this with it being completely operational, so I stopped to take a picture.

We were stopped here for what felt like forever, but that's just because I find her annoying. What I would give to stop when you are flying backwards out of the attic, because it's my annual chiropractic appointment.

Goodbye for this trip, but I'll be back one day.

We made our way to Tomorrowland with the intent of riding Space, since there was a SUPPOSED 15 minute wait.

This was the line. Not 15 minutes. And much to my chagrin, they don't run Peoplemover during EMH (STUPID!!!) so... we went for the next best thing (I guess) in the area for our final ride.

Oops. Ride #53. Not bad for 3 days, really. Quite insane, actually.

Of course, you are all now aware of the new queue layout for Buzz, but at the time - this was BRAND NEW news, at least to me. Really weird, too.

Of course, my score went down from earlier... You must remember I wasn't feeling good... At least it was better than the... the... 25,000 I scored that one time...

I took this picture on our way towards Main Street to head out... Bye Sonny Eclipse!! I know you're crooning away in there.

tonystark · Feb 10, 2020

I shall finish this TR today so help me!! It has been snowing off and on all day today - and while it's nice to look at from a window, it's a wet snow and melting from the minute it hits the ground. Boo

Making our way out, I took more pictures of Main Street than I usually would because it just looked so pretty with the lights and the Christmas decorations. Sigh.

Goodbye Casey's Corner - while I have not eaten at you in many years, I always appreciate the ability to cut through you to get to the Emporium during fireworks...

Goodbye Plaza Ice Cream Parlor... don't tell any of your other Main Street friends, but I'll miss you the most

Goodbye train station, thank you for the excellent vantage point...

But I don't want to leave

Well, at least we got to ride a new bus! I don't remember my experience being worthy of reporting, so you can assume it was just like a regular bus... but with Daisy's face on the side.

We got back to Riverside and I just wanted to go to beeeeeed because I was not feeling it at this point. But, we had done 27,597 steps, which meant we only needed 589 steps the following day to reach 80,000, the original record... We would be going to Disney Springs in the morning, whether we wanted to or not...

tonystark · Feb 10, 2020

I woke up the next morning thoroughly full of a cold, but we must press on... It was time to bid farewell to Riverside.

Here's a hidden Mickey I hadn't noticed on my final quest for a pen... No dice.

Goodbye Alligator Bayou, you were cute!

I'm going to assume they've taken the decorations down by now (they are still up in my heart)... so here's one last look at them until next year.

Grandma had her breakfast, and we drove over to Disney Springs, deciding it would be faster than taking the boat or bus for leaving purposes. Our first stop was the World of Disney, and below are some items I thought were cute/I wanted but for some reason did not treat myself to.

The A is the castle!!! Cute!!

I wanted a Porg SO BAD. They sit on your shoulder with magnet. I wanted it, but it was... 20 dollars. I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

More in my price range and actually cute, and I have no idea why I didn't buy this!? I traveled to and from Scotland with just a backpack this trip (mom booked the lightest economy fare known to man but she paid for my flight so I can't complain toooooo much) so I could have totally fit a pen in with me. I guess I just wasn't feeling it this morning.

I remember wanting to eat this - also it looks nothing like a citrus swirl.

We headed over to the Ganachery (spelling... you KNOW exactly what I'm talking about), not really intentionally, just to take a look around. They had a lot of cool Star Wars chocolates and a Frozen 2 chocolate that I remember looked kind of lame.

This dark chocolate sample was really good. I think it was 62%, for some reason that number is popping up in my mind. Could have been 70?

Just to take a little look see...

I would never wear this, but it's HM, so I took a picture. Maybe I would wear it if I had no intention of leaving my house for the day, or something.

tonystark · Feb 10, 2020

The one thing my sister had requested of me this trip was a cupcake. I obliged. Because I'm nice like that.

I thought these were very cute, but GOD to have a peanut butter cup right now... And you know what? My sister only ate half the cupcake and ended up throwing it away anyways... This is what I get for being nice.

We thought it best to get a lunch to take with us on the road because neither of us wanted McDonalds or wanted to stop for a proper lunch somewhere. So, Earl of Sandwich it was. We ended up splitting The Earl's Club, which was delicious, and I would totally get again.

Goodbye (back of the) sign!!!

Goodbye Mickey

Of COURSE we stopped at the Ghirardelli store for our free sample before we left, which I enjoyed after eating my sandwich half.

Well, that was the end of the trip. We did a total of 53 attractions (52 rides if you subtract Epcot Forever! which I wish I could subtract from my mind). As for our Disney Springs steps, we only ended up doing 6,232 but it was enough to push us over the finish line. For the trip, we did a total of 85,643. I'm going to hate past me when I have to ride 54 rides and do 85,644 steps next time... But overall, it was a great trip, despite getting sick towards the end.

I was sad to leave this guy, but it was time to head back to Scotland for school...

Here's a sunrise from a few weeks ago because I was feeling like a freak and got up at 7:30 AM to go grocery shopping... And yes, those are palm trees.

You never know what you might come across, so I totally recommend Scotland for anyone wondering if it's worth a visit. The weather can turn on a dime, but when it clears up, it's gorgeous.

Thank you for reading along, and I look forward to reading more TRs here to sustain me from Disney withdrawal!

Tuvalu · Feb 10, 2020

I hereby award you and your grandma the PARK COMMANDO trophy.

Well done!

Trip Report Dissertation? More Like... Disney Vacation. COMPLETED

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