Kirk's Birthday Trip Report!

kirksheppard · Mar 3, 2009

I made it to the hotel (Quality Inn and Suites by the Indy airport) after a couple short detours (code for getting lost - twice) and got to watch the end of American Idol before settling in for the night. On the way here, I was rethinking my intinerary a little and I might make some modifications. Stay tuned to see what I end up doing and when!

I did make a brief stop at the McDonald's on Post Road and I'm still amazed that this location doesn't have hot chocolate but does have a stupid Red Box Movie Rental machine. PRIORITIES, RONALD!

While I was lost, I called 411 to get the number for the hotel and the idiot girl on the phone couldn't find the hotel so I hung up on her rather rudely and called back. They must have been warned about me because the 2nd lady was more stern about the locations available. I hung up on her, too. I did find the place and thanks to Tiffany at the front desk, I'm on the 1st floor and comfortable.

My flight is out tomorrow at 10:35, so I'll leave the hotel about 8am which is so much nicer than leaving my home at 6am. My head cold is almost gone, so pray/keep your fingers crossed/meditate/whateverspiritualmethodyouemployee and hope that I'm all better before I have to get on the plane.

I'll probably check in from the airport... see ya then!

kirksheppard · Mar 4, 2009

Day One: Arrival, Animal Kingdom, and Magic Kingdom

Today was a great day with one glaring exception, which I'll to in a minute. But first let me praise Southwest Airlines again - they have figured out this boarding thing (at least for travelers' like me who check in early and don't have a big party to get seated together). We were literally on the plane for 10 minutes before we were pulling away from the gate. There was a nice woman and her daughter, who was celebrating her 9th birthday at Disney, seated next to me and we had a nice chat throughout the trip.

We arrived 20 minutes early to MCO and I really lucked out with Magical Express. No waiting in the check in line and then I literally walked right on to the bus . . . and Pop Century was the first stop.

Now here's where things got a bit ugly. First, I was not feeling great and couldn't hear well because my ears never fully popped (this cold did a number on me in the air). I hopped off the ME bus and walked into the lobby - and very quickly found the "Online Check-In" desk where I was supposed to be able to walk up, show my ID, and receive my packet in a very smooth, quick process. There was a couple ahead of me who had been waiting awhile, it seemed, and they were a little peturbed that other members of their family had not pre-registered and were getting waited on before them in the regular line. I was starting to fume, because nothing upsets me more than service employees anywhere ignoring me. Look up, apologize, say you'll be there in a second, but refusing eye contact and not acknowledging that I'm there will usually result in me asking to speak to the manager.

So, after the couple finally were waited on - and after I realized that the person waiting on them was busy talking to another cast member dressed in a shirt and tie for an extended period of time in what looked like a casual social conversation while we were being ignored I really had had enough. That same shirt and tie guy walked by and asked how my day was going.

"I'm a little frustrated, to be honest." He stopped. "I don't understand why 6 people from the non-online checkin line have gone while I've stood here waiting when I've actually already 'checked in.'"

He said, "Well, there was an issue with that guest up there."

I said, "Then they should have been transferred to a different agent or to concierge." I remained calm, but assertive. "The whole point of this system is to speed things up, right?"

His response was, "Well, we are still in trial runs."

And again, quite calmly, I said, "Yes, you've been 'upgrading' a lot of systems lately. This works about as well as your new dining reservation system does."

And then he walked away.

WALKED THE FRICK AWAY!

He must have thought about it, though, because he said to the poor sap behind the counter who just returned from his break, "Angel, would you take care of this gentleman, please?"

And Angel argued with him that he couldn't.

BOILING POINT!

But the manager was adamant and so I went over to Angel, who was completely clueless on how to do the check in for me. I wasn't upset with him; he was put in a real bad spot. He did figure it out though and I praised him for his hard work and thanked him for taking care of me. I got my packet and room key and then lined up for concierge to get a print out of my dining reservations.

Guess who called me up? ANGEL. "This is what I do!" he announced. He quite quickly printed the list for me and I thanked him again and went to find my room.

I'm in the 1950's building on the 3rd floor facing the parking lot. If I had a car, this would be a great room. Fortunately, its not THAT far from the busses.

I threw my bag down and went to line up for the bus for the Animal Kingdom. It took about 20 minutes to arrive and we saw 2 buses for each of the other parks come and go before it came. I started to think my early luck had run out permanently.

We got to the AK and I had to get my annual pass reprinted since it was in my luggage, which was being Magically Expressed to my room. The cast member was great. She realized it was my birthday tomorrow and I asked about the button and she was already working on making it for me.

I made my way into the park and went directly to Flame Tree BBQ and got some lunch. It was just OK; the portion sizes have gone way down and the quality has dropped here over the last couple of years. Plus, I hate eating outside near all those birds.

Let me ask you something... what part of "don't feed the animals" is hard to understand? Its not cute when Johnny and Jane give the pelicans and ducks french fries and I wish they'd mistake the little tyke's fingers for a potato and give me a real lunch time show. But I digress.

I headed over to Festival of the Lion King, which was starting at 3:30 (it was 3:10). About 15 cast member wished me a happy birthday on the way, which I thought might get annoying . . . but you know what? It didn't. On the way over, I also got a photopass and had my picture taken in front of the Tree of Life. I'm going to do photo ops a lot this trip, just because I want to.

At FotLK I sat in the Elephant section, which is new for me and I didn't like it as well. The sound system didn't sound as good and I don't know if I was in a dead spot or if they had mixed it poorly but during the finale the singers sounded really off.

I was able to get out of the theater quickly and tried to make my way over to Rafiki's Planet Watch, since I'd never been over there. I was hoping to find Jiminy Cricket to get my picture taken with him. I was stopped the end of the parade and the massive throng of people following it towards the front of the park.

I waited it out by standing by and watching the people. When things thinned out a bit, I was able to move towards Africa only to be thwarted yet again by the same parade! Only this time I got to see the whole thing, which I'd never done before. It was nice and simple and fun. It was not crowded at all, so I had a great spot and took some good pictures, which I'll post later. Several of the live actors wished me a happy birthday from the parade, too, which was very cool.

During the parade, we had our first nomination for Biggest Waste of Human Skin on Planet Earth 2009. Some how this lardbutt guy got seperated from his family; they were on my side of the parade and he was on the other side. He kept motioning for his wife to get over there where he was and the cast member near me told her in no uncertain terms that it would not be possible for her to cross over there and that she would just have to wait. Then she told LardButt the same thing . . . and he just looked at her like he wanted his wife to do it anyway.

So, once the parade was over, I had the great pleasure of walking towards Asia with these two as he threatened his wife in front of his children, told her that she should "show some balls," called her out for "talking ____*t to him but not having the balls" to do anything about it during the parade with the CMs, and "if anyone put their hands on you, I'd f&*k them up," and on and on it went for about 5 minutes.

First of all, stay with your party. Its not like they don't put up the parade blockades at least 15-20 minutes before the parade so you know something is going to happen in that area. Secondly, just because you weigh 400 pounds and are from somewhere in New England, that does not mean that a) you are a badass or b) that you should demean your wife especially in front of your children. But whatever. Beat her in the privacy of your room at the Red Roof Inn and leave me out of it.

So, I realized I missed the entrance to Rafiki's Planet Watch and backtracked. The train ride was pleasant and we saw a few animals from the Safari on the way out. It ws 4:50 by the time we disembarked and they were getting ready to close it down so I walked through and walked back to the train. There was no Jiminy Cricket - only Pocahantus and Rafiki - and I made my way back to Harambe Village via another pleasant train ride.

I did use my EMH privilege to watch "It's Tough to Be a Bug," which I just love mainly because I love to hear the reactions of people who've never done it. I then headed for the park exit and walked right on a bus to the TTC. I had to stand and it was a bit of ride, but it was fine. I managed to score a seat on the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom and made my way into the park. The CM at the turnstile gave me a Mickey sticker as a birthday present.

I bought some Mikey Ears for a lady back home who's granddaughter lost hers and had them personalized. I then decided to walk over to Space Mountain - just to see what the line looked like.

IT WAS ONLY 10 MINUTES.

At 6:30 PM.

So, I got in line. Once I got to the front, I was trying to decide if I could actually fit in the stupid little ride vehicle. It was a tight squeeze, let me tell you, but I'm so glad I wasn't in the front because at least I had a split second to prepare for the drops and turns. I think I might have also gotten a free back adjustment on the initial ascent as I heard my whole spinal area crack from the jolt.

After this, I realized I was hungry and thirsty. So, I walked over to Pecos Bill's and made it in just under the wire as they were getting ready to close. I used the self-serve kiosk, which is so fast and wonderful. However, something about the way it made me ring up my dining plan info made me worry that it had been encoded incorrectly and that I was just on the quick service plan instead of the deluxe.

So, after my meal, I walked up to Guest Relations where she looked up my account and said it showed that I still had 3 table service credits and 3 snacks available. So, I felt relieved.

Before I left the park, I saw Pinnochio next to Guest Relations and I decided I wanted to a picture with him. The cast member gave me a birthday present - she would say "Happy Birthday" in 6 languages of my choosing. I think I made her do Spanish, German, Portguese, Russian, French, and Japanese. Her cohort said, "Do you really know if she didn't just make those up?" and I had honestly been thinking that same thing.

Pinnochio wished me a Happy Birthday and made me pose in a funny way with him. I headed out to the bus and rode back to the Pop. I briefly browsed the gift shop, but it was crowded, so I decided to call it a night. I made it to the room in time to see the American Idol results and I honestly think that with the exception of the rough check in to the hotel, things were really awesome.

Tomorrow: EPCOT, Le Cellier, and probably Downtown Disney!

smk · Mar 6, 2009

Here's hoping your birthday was great!

kirksheppard · Mar 7, 2009

DAY TWO: Epcot, Le Cellier, and Downtown Disney

DAY TWO: EPCOT & Downtown Disney

I have some great birthday memories. Getting my He-Man Castle Greyskull set when I was very young, going to Showbiz Pizza with a group of friends in 2nd grade (thanks Mom!), and hanging out with good friends in more recent years, and on and on. But nothing – and I mean nothing – has ever been as good as March 5, 2009.

I woke up and headed down to the buses about 8:30. I walked up and the EPCOT bus came right away, whisking us away but not before the driver punched in some sort of code that played an announcement: “Ladies and Gentleman, we have someone very special celebrating their birthday with us!” How nice!

I made my way over to the Will Call window to get my Birthday Fun Card; the cast member tried to talk me into the fast pass or the one day ticket but I held my ground. . . “show me the money!”

Armed with $75, I was now ready to start my day. I was in no hurry with absolutely no agenda, so I sauntered over to the nearest line and waited to get into the park. They did the countdown and the turnstiles opened. I made my way up to the Pin Station as I was sent on a mission by friend Connie to get a couple of pins that were released today. I found them, bought them, and sat and watched the opening ceremony.

Usually, I’m lined up ready to race to Soarin', but today I had no agenda. Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, and Pluto were all for the opening and I decided that it would be great to get my picture taken with all of them first thing. So, I went into the Character Connection and posed with the Fab 5. The attendants and photopass people were so great and everyone was having a great time helping me celebrate.

The weather was beautiful and I headed over to The Seas with Nemo and Friends. I rode through, browsed the aquarium a little, and thought I’d go check out the Soarin’ line and if it was too long I’d just ride Living with the Land.

Well, I nearly walked on to Soarin’ even at 9:45 AM and being by yourself sometimes has great advantages as they were looking for smaller parties to move up front and I got to go right into ROW ONE! YEAH!

After Soarin’, I rode Living with the Land and headed over to Journey Into Imagination. It wasn’t nearly as bad as I remembered it; I guess my expectations have been significantly lowered. I messed around for a bit in the Photo Lab after the ride and sent a few emails to folks back home with my picture.

It was nearing 11:00 and I had lunch reservations at 11:30 at Le Cellier, so I headed back to the World Showcase. Now, I think that the birds at Disney World have it in for me. I have admitted before that I am terrified of them. Yesterday at Animal Kingdom, two ducks landed right in front of me and were attacking another duck before a lady swatted them all with her guide map to get them to stop. I couldn’t do anything due to being paralyzed with fear, of course. So . . . today, the stupid seagulls at Epcot were harassing me by flying awfully close. One duck even stared me down so bad I took a picture of it to prove it!

Finally, the Canadian Pavilion was opened and I browsed the shop and took some pictures of the beautiful landscaping. I walked down by the waterfall and saw a rainbow.

I checked in at Le Cellier for my lunch reservations and waited on the bench out front while reading my book. I checked my email on my phone and so many people sent such nice birthday greetings via email and Facebook that I was truly humbled by it. Cast members continued to wish me a Happy Birthday throughout the day, by the way, and it was crazy – I never once was annoyed by it.

I didn’t realize that when Le Cellier does not open until the serving staff has sung “O Canada” followed by a “Let’s Play Hockey!” That was neat. I was seated in New Brunswick, which was an area I’d not sat in before. My server, Emily, was great. She didn’t bore me with her spiel as she knew I had been there many times before, but simply and efficiently took my order. My soup came out and it was almost perfect; it could have stood to be a few degrees hotter. It was still great, though.

Then, my steak came and I don’t know that I’ve ever had a better steak in my life. I got the New York Strip and it was juicy, tender, and almost melted in my mouth.

For dessert, I got the chocolate “moose” and Emily had them decorate the plate for me. She even handed me a birthday card signed by the staff of Le Cellier! What a nice treat.

After lunch, I decided to check out the “O Canada” 360 Circlevision film. It was pretty good and Martin Short was as least annoying as I’ve ever seen him. It was a nice little diversion and I’m glad I did it.

I headed through the World Showcase and realized that The American Adventure show started in a few minutes so I hurried to America. The Voices of Liberty were performing in the rotunda and they sounded incredible as always. I really enjoy the American Adventure show; I sat fairly close to the stage in the center and I got chills.

I went back towards Morocco because I thought I might be able to get a picture with Aladdin and Jasmine. I made it into the line before they closed it, I think solely because it was my birthday. They were fun and the pictures turned out pretty good.

I then went to France, hoping to get a shot with Beauty and the Beast, but only Belle was out. I still got a few pictures with her, though it would have been nice to have the Beast in there, too. I continued walking around the lagoon, browsing here and there and just taking in the weather and sights. I got to see a little bit of the Chinese Acrobats and was going to do the Maelstrom, but there was a 20 minute wait so I skipped it.

I headed up into Future World and rode Test Track. I walked right on in the single rider line. I was getting tired and so I walked into MouseGear, trying to decide what I wanted to buy with my Birthday Fun Card. I was torn about a few things so I decided to wait until later. I also stopped at the Art of Disney store, and looked at the wonderful things in there, but they were all out of my price range. A guy can dream, though.

On the way out of the park, I had a PhotoPass photographer take my picture and he was wonderful, as well. Everyone I encountered was either very nice or delightful; it seems some of that Disney magic has returned or maybe I was looking for it in different places. Regardless, I’ve fallen back in love with Disney World again – not that I ever fell out of love with it.

So, I went back to the room about 4:30, took a brief nap, and then headed to Downtown Disney about 6:00. I had dinner at Planet Hollywood, since I had a $15 voucher. It was crowded and it took awhile to be seated, but the staff was wonderful about it. They kept asking me to go to the bar but I really wanted a table. They accommodated me and the food was delicious. At the end, the waiter brought me a free ice cream sundae to celebrate my birthday!

I walked through Pleasure Island to the Marketplace and it was very busy. I hit all the usual stops, but it wasn’t the same without Connie and with all the people there, I didn’t stay long. I never did settle on a birthday present for myself, either.

When I returned to the Pop Century, I went into the gift shop and decided to get a Mickey and Minnie bobble head statue as well as a watch. Lots of things were on sale, including watches at 25% off. I still had $10 left even after these three items, and I could easily pack them in my suitcase, so I was satisfied with this.

I went to my room and went to bed reveling in the tremendous day I’d had. It was the best birthday ever and Disney really knows how to help you celebrate!

TOMORROW: Magic Kingdom, Disney Hollywood Studios, and Yachtsman Steakhouse

kirksheppard · Mar 11, 2009

I woke up and headed for the bus for the Magic Kingdom, which took quite awhile to arrive for some reason. When I arrived at the park, we still had 20-30 minutes before the opening show and I just sat quietly and watched people. Folks were quite friendly, wishing me a Happy Birthday and making small talk.

The music hit, the park was opened and instead of rushing to a ride like I normally would I just sauntered into the park, got out of everyone's way, and enjoyed a crossiant and chocolate milk at the bakery on Main Street. After that, I walked into Adventureland and rode Pirates. Sitting in the front row alone is cool.

I walked over to Frontierland and there was a PhotoPass guy by Splash Mountain, so I had him take my picture. It turns out he is from Fairfield, Ohio which is a northern suburb of Cincy so we chatted for a few minutes before I started over towards the Haunted Mansion. On the way, a man walked up to me and I could tell as he got closer he realized I wasn't a cast member, but I was able to help him anyway. I can't remember what he asked me, but I did know the answer and his family was grateful.

I saw Frontierland Donald out for pictures so I got another photo taken. Donald was looking over my lanyard pretty good and I was fearful because I didn't have any Donald pins on . . . but my Annual Pass had his picture on it, so he was satisfied.

I walked on to Haunted Mansion and enjoyed that - it didn't stop once, which is a rarity for me! Then I went into Fantasyland and Peter Pan only had a 10 or 15 minute posted wait time, so I decided to wait. Then I saw Phillharmagic and walked over to the bridge by Liberty Square to watch the Dream Along with Mickey show. I knew it was time soon to check in for my flight (24 hours ahead of time on Southwest is crucial to get a good boarding position) and I was able to do it with my Nokia E71 phone. I then walked over to the hub and got my picture taken in front of the castle and Partners statue. The Photopass lady was wonderful and said that she had seen the new "Move It, Shake It, Celebrate It!" parade 6 times and she was very hopeful they didn't come get her for her break before it was over. She was right, it was infectious!

During the parade, I sat on a bench and watched people enjoying themselves dancing in the streets. I looked over and saw a quasi-celebrity; Tara, the woman who had directed the Pirates and Princesses Party Parade (as chronicled on my OnDemand channel's 10 minute episodes about a guy named Tristan trying out for the parade), was standing with some other management types watching the show.

After it was over, she noticed me and looked at my birthday pin and started making small talk. I told her that I knew who she was and asked if she choreographed this parade, too. She said she had directed it and seemed very humbled and embarrassed that I knew who she was. She was truly a joy to talk to and I will treasure that moment as one of the best on my trip.

After the parade, I went to Pecos Bill's for lunch and used my last remaining counter service credit there. I was full and tired and headed out of the park and back to the room for a quick refresher before heading over the Studios.

I was in the room for maybe 90 minutes, took a brief nap, and woke up refreshed. I got on the bus, which again took longer than it should have I thought, and made my way to the Studios. I immediately headed for the Animation Building in search of more characters. I'd never been in this building before and it was very nice! I skipped the tour for now, and browsed the museum setup. Bolt and his buddies were there, but I've not yet seen the movie so I bypassed him and headed over to Sorcerer Mickey for a picture. Then, on my way out Mr. and Mrs. Incredible were just coming out so I got my picture made with them, but there was no Photopass person there so the cast member graciously took my picture.

I walked over to the American Idol show, went right into the theater and found a seat. The show started about 10 minutes after I got there and it was very well done. The singers were above average, I thought, and I was very entertained by this whole thing. I left the theater and walked over to Star Tours and rode for the first time in a long time. I didn't get motion sickness like I did sitting in the back row in Disneyland, so maybe that was the problem.

After this, I headed over to the Tower of Terror and walked right on it, as well. It was fun and I had enough time to head back to Idol and line up for the next show. I got to see the pre-show this time, too, which was fun, and I'm really impressed by the way this has been put together. There were three different judges, whom I liked better.

I left the theater and decided I wanted to see at least part of the finale show before I had to head over to the Yacht Club, so I went and got my picture taken with the hat in the background and then I sat on a bench and waited. The show finally came on to the big screen outside the theater and it was well produced. I watched 3 or 4 of the 7 singers but decided I needed to go catch the boat. There were only about 15 people standing outside the theater watching this, so I wonder if everyone just left at 7 or what happened.

I walked on to the boat and stood over to the Swan and Dolphin, and after folks disembarked I found a seat until the Yacht Club. This is a nice hotel, but the lobby was full of conventioneer types and it felt too businessy for me. I found the Yachtsman Steakhouse and checked in. I had to wait a bit before I was seated, but eventually I was taken to my table. My waitress took her time coming to my seat and when she finally got there she was not all that friendly, which was a shame. She was matter of fact and not rude, but she was not very personable.

I ordered the Porterhouse and fries and it was amazing, though not as good as the New York Strip from Le Cellier the day before. I had the Banana Napoleon for dessert and it was great. After I tipped the watiress, she brought me another dessert - a strawberry chocolate mouse, and it was quite yummy.

I caught the bus back to Downtown Disney and transferred to Pop Century. While on it, these three college kids were chatting and the girl sitting closest to me said she didn't feel well all of a sudden. I gave her a Pepto-Bismol and she was saying how generous I was; I told her I just didn't want to get puked on. I made friends with these folks and enjoyed the trip back to the resort.

I packed all my stuff and went to bed, knowing I had to leave the next morning. :-(

smk · Mar 11, 2009

That feeling about leaving....that is the worst feeling in the whole world.

Kirk's Birthday Trip Report!

kirksheppard

Well-Known Member

kirksheppard

Well-Known Member

smk

Well-Known Member

kirksheppard

Well-Known Member

kirksheppard

Well-Known Member

smk

Well-Known Member