Trip Report Frozen No More: a live birthday TR *Completed*

What: A mother/daughter long weekend to celebrate a Valentine birthday
Who: Myself (Tuvalu) and Emily (@TrolleyFollower91)
Where: POP! (70s building, yeah!)
When: Feb. 13-17, 2014
Why: I have never posted a trip report but was inspired by @coachwnh and @disneysince71 to go live!

Until about six hours ago, when our plane actually departed, I wasn't sure this trip was actually gonna happen. We live in Atlanta, a place that is not equipped to handle winter storms. You may have seen photos from "Snowjam/Snowmaggedon" (as the locals called it) from a couple weeks ago, where thousands of commuters were trapped in their vehicles from 8-12 hours and schoolchildren had to spend the night in their schools since the buses were unable to transport them home. Emily's usual 15 minute ride home from the elementary school where she student teaches took her over 3 hours, including having to abandon her car and walk the remaining two miles home.

After that storm blew over (so to speak!) I remarked to Emily how fortunate we were that the storm didn't happen the day we were scheduled to fly to Orlando. She replied, "Don't worry, that won't happen again."

Until this week.

Monday the forecasters began predicting a "catastrophic" snow and ice storm (I hear all you northerners laughing!) The governor of GA declared a state of emergency through the weekend. Schools and businesses
were closed beginning Tuesday. We began to see our long-awaited trip drift away...

Our Wednesday flight was cancelled at lunchtime on Tuesday. Sleet and freezing rain began that night and everything was frozen Wednesday morning.

Wednesday was a mix of sleet and snow. I was able to rebook our flight for late Thursday afternoon, doubtful we'd get to leave. And this is what we woke up to this morning:

 
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Tuvalu

Premium Member
Original Poster
We were packed and out the door of our room at 6:40 a.m. First stop was the resort airline check-in desk to obtain our boarding passes, check luggage and stow our carry-ons. Next we grabbed a couple muffins for a quick breakfast before going to the bus stop. Our plan was to go to MK for a little while, since we love MK in the morning!

Waiting for the Welcome Show. #motherdaughterselfies


Had hoped to be see the Mayor, but it was Scoop Sanderson again. And the Trolley Singers were missing a couple members. (Don't suppose anyone else in the audience noticed except us!)

We visited Pooh, took a ride on the TTA and went under the sea with Ariel one last time. We had FP+ for attractions in DHS and began making our way to the MK exit. As we were walking through Cinderella Castle Emily said, "There's Gary and Carol!" Gary and Carol Cruise are frequent contributors on AllEars.net and also have their own blog where they record their Disney vacations and Disney hobbies (pins, Vinylmations, Disneyana). We called out to them and introduced ourselves and chatted briefly. (And Gary even gave us a "shout-out" in his blog the next day!)
 

Tuvalu

Premium Member
Original Poster
The trolley was parked in front of the castle so we hopped on for a ride back down Main Street. Scoop Sanderson was there and I noticed that there is a tiny ice cream scoop attached to his hat :jawdrop: I was about to take a pic of it when our attention was diverted to the Dapper Dans, who were arriving to board the trolley. In celebration of President's Day, they were wearing their Patriotic attire.



As soon as they boarded, they began to sing a song they dedicated to Phyllis, the trolley driver.



The song was "The Old Grey Mare." Needless to say, Phyllis was not amused! The Dans apologized and said they had a better song for her.....and promptly began singing "Cruella De Vil"!

 

Tuvalu

Premium Member
Original Poster
Soon we were on our way to DHS. The park was very crowded and there were a lot of tour groups. Our first attraction was Rock N Rollercoaster ~ standby wait 90 minutes, hooray for our FP+! Due to my motion sensitivity I don't ride RNRC but I do enjoy the pre-show and the theming. I merely take the chicken exit when my traveling companions board the limo.

I noticed the wait for Tower of Terror was 20 minutes when we passed by on our way to RNRC. It had jumped to 40 minutes when we joined the standby queue. There were numerous groups in the line and many folks arriving with FP+, so our actual wait was 55 minutes. Long.



By then it was time for our Great Movie Ride FP+. We bypassed the standby line and went directly into the screening room. The CM directed us outside the queue and down to the front; seems there is a new "Party of 2" waiting area. But we did not even wait, as we were instructed to board the vehicle immediately.



We got the Western scene. Have not experienced the bandit and bank explosion in a while. My favorite scene is Munchkinland.

 

Tuvalu

Premium Member
Original Poster
Lunch was at Pizza Planet (tour group free). There was a special Valentines cupcake, red velvet with chocolate ganache, and we got one to share.





This cupcake was soooo yummy that in hindsight we should have shared one pizza and gotten 2 cupcakes!:hungry:

We had a leisurely lunch and then it was time for our Toy Story FP+. Savvy readers may note that we had two Tier 1 FP+. Thanks to a posting on this site a few days before our trip, we learned there was a glitch in the system that day that allowed more than one Tier 1 FP+ at DHS and Epcot. I immediately switched our Voyage of the Little Mermaid for RNRC. Score two Tier 1 FP+!

I scored Best in Vehicle at Toy Story Mania. No surprise given my intense trigger arm! I will mention that Emily has beaten me once at Toy Story, last March in Disney's California Adventure. (The whole west coast thing threw me off my game, haha.)




We got in line for Voyage of the Little Mermaid next. It was close to show time, and we figured we would have to wait until the next show. But we were allowed in the pre-show area and moved directly into the theater. Where there we NO available seats! So for the first time ever, we (and about 10 others) had to stand in the back for the duration of the show. Gave us a fresh perspective, to say the least.
 
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Tuvalu

Premium Member
Original Poster
We caught some 'Streetmosphere' performances on our way out of DHS. The improv entertainment really adds to this park. So many people, in a rush to get to the next attraction, never stop and watch. These performers are incredibly talented and FUNNY.

Daley Reel and Mimi Kaboom



Ginny Vermouth



 

Tuvalu

Premium Member
Original Poster
Our favorite skit was this:




Mimi Kaboom, Ginny Vermouth and the talent agent were sitting on a bench, chatting. When someone would step up and ring the bell, they would begin discussing the person's attire...very much like "What Not To Wear" only done with a POSITIVE spin.



We stood and watched for about 20 minutes before we needed to head for the bus stop. When we arrived back at POP, Emily got a chocolate shake in the food court and we hung out there before claiming our carry-ons and boarding the ME bus for the airport.
 

disneysince71

Well-Known Member
ok so I am totally bummed! So sorry I missed this we where there last weekend.... AND we stayed at Pop Century!!!! I am so glad you had such a wonderful trip... I am totally enjoying reading all about it!!!! :)
 

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