Peoplemover TTAs August 2011 Trip Report - But Wait...There's More!

PeoplemoverTTA · Sep 7, 2011

Day 4 - August 22

My family definitely consists of Disney purists. I went to Universal in 1997, and most recently in 2002. On my last trip, I found the Uni parks to be totally filthy (I remember grabbing a bite to eat and literally every table was filthy, and all the garbages were overflowing, at IoA). So, we haven’t made a point of leaving the magic for a day at another Central Florida park. I did enjoy the parks, but it just wasn’t worth leaving Disney for a day.

Until Harry Potter.

My sister is a school librarian, and a huge Potter fan. I was a casual fan, having read the first three books and seen a few of the movies. But, when we decided we had to check out the WWoHP, my cousin and I decided to read all the books and watch all the movies together.

I am SO glad I did! I became totally enthralled with the world of HP, and I loved reading each book and watching each movie right after. I timed it pretty well, so that I finished all the books right before the final movie came out. So, needless to say I was prepared for our trip to Hogwarts!

My aunt and grandma were taking it easy after their long drive, so we saved some cash on a cab by driving her Equinox to Universal. A short trip down I-4, and we made our way to the gates right as IoA opened.

Somebody’s excited for a trip to Uni:

We followed the huge mass of people to the WWoHP...and were finally met with this gorgeous sight:

My cousin couldn’t do Forbidden Journey, so my sister and I immediately made our way to the queue. It was a pain not being able to take in any bags, and the queue was already at 90 minutes (but they just opened?!?), but there was no way we were going to miss this!

Imagine our surprise when we found out shortly there was a single riders line. I haven’t looked at too much info about WWoHP, because I wanted to be surprised, so I somehow missed that a single riders line was available. We decided that we’d check out the full queue on our next trip (hopefully during a slower season) and hopped in the single riders line. Just 15 minutes later, we both ended up riding together anyway.

We both took dramamine, since my sister never does thrill rides...ever. But, she knew she had to experience Forbidden Journey at least once (I’m so proud, lol). And we both made it through without a hitch. In a word, FJ was simply amazing. Just completely blew both of us away. If Uni can keep up the ingenuity, I will definitely start to take them more seriously, because we were just astounded by this ride.

When we emerged from the ride just 20 minutes later, we luckily found our cousin, who had settled on a bench for a 90-minute wait! We stopped to take a few photos, but the crowds were really pouring in by this point, and it was really difficult to even stop for a photo (no joke!).

We went back into the shop to take a look around, but we literally could not move. I’m pretty sure I didn’t even get to see all the merch, but I did find some pretty cool Gryffindor winter gloves - I will be wearing them all winter

. They were only $20, too, so I was pleased. We’d find out later that my sister gets a 20% discount on all merch in Uni with her AAA card. We did not know this! Luckily, she could take her receipts and get a refund on her first purchases...saved me $4 on my gloves!

My sister, channeling her inner Kingsley Shacklebot (I thought it was funny they sold his hat/crown thingy):

I love just about any picture of Hogwarts or Hogsmeade - I couldn’t stop snapping away (although it was becoming increasingly difficult, as people were packed in the tiny land):

Here I am at the gates of Hogwarts:

Okay, previewing this post, I see that I uploaded my pics at a smaller resolution. What do you guys think? I was worried that they were a little too large in my first posts, but I hate not being able to see details. Any preference?

PeoplemoverTTA · Sep 7, 2011

Day 4 (Continued)

After a few pics, we decided to check out the rest of IoA, and make our way back later for more pics and shopping. We weren’t interested in any other attractions, but we were definitely interested in more merchandise, and in just soaking up the atmosphere.

 But first, we had to wait in another line, for something so delicious we simply had to have it....butterbeer! 

My sister decided to just take a sip of mine to see if she liked it, before shelling out $4 for her own glass - big mistake, since she ended up being (generously, I might add) given a mere few sips. To sum it up succinctly, butterbeer is pure heaven. I mean it is beyond delicious. And it really was refreshing! Even though it was barely 10am, it was already very hot and humid, and the butterbeer was perfect.

My cousin and I both decided to get the frozen butterbeer...but I wouldve paid for a glass of froth (does that sound disturbing?). It was so delicious! My cousin declared that butterbeer tasted like, and I quote, “Butterscotch and love.” Lol, so yeah, it was popular with our family! I had already had a few sips by this point:

One thing I’ll point out here about Uni that we were pleased to see was that there were lots of seating areas. We easily found a covered table to enjoy our butterbeer and decide where we were going next. And we noticed that, around the park, there were many areas like this. Very nice touch!

After enjoying our butterbeers, we decided to ride Jurassic Park, a ride I recall fondly from my last trip to Uni in 2002:

I suppose by now they were getting annoyed with me telling them to come up with an original pose, lol:

After getting completely soaked, we soaked up some details over in Toon Lagoon. I love the fun little nooks in Toon Lagoon, but there really isn’t much to do. I wasn’t up for a ride on Dudley Do-Right, although I'm a big fan (I’m only 30, but I used to love watching that cartoon when I was a kid. I actually do a very strange impression of Dudley Do-Right too...”Hello, Miss Purdy!”) Good stuff

.

Here are some shots from Toon Lagoon, although my favorite photo op, with Marmaduke, was being painted (boo, hiss...okay no, it’s good that they were giving it a refresh, but I was sad I missed a great photo op):

I used to love reading Marvin when I was a kid:

Looking for Moose and Squirrel? (Love the little guy who sweeps up for the Fractured Fairy Tales, too):

I used to joke that I was going to go here for college when I was a kid (I was a strange child, lol):

I was avoiding thrill rides because of my blood pressure being a bit off, and my sister and cousin wouldn’t be riding anything anyway, so we mostly soaked up atmosphere as we made our way around the park (wow, when did I become a boring old lady? :lol

.

Coming up: we continue our trek around IOA!

PeoplemoverTTA · Sep 7, 2011

Day 4 - The Conclusion

Although I was avoiding thrill rides, I definitely wanted to ride Spiderman. The line was 90 minutes; however, so I passed (darn it). We made our way through the shops in the Marvel area, and I found this awesome t-shirt (another one that I liked, but not enough to buy, lol):

I’m slightly out of order with my pics here, but I feel compelled to step in now and mention what I find to be the coolest thing about Uni parks. And here it is:

Have you seen these hand dryers? They’re Dyson, and they’re amazing! I’m somewhat of a hypo, but I had to take out my phone and snap a picture of this hand dryer. It was so cool! Yeah, I was stoked about hand dryers, what can I say?

Okay, back to our regularly-scheduled program, we made our way around the park and over to Seuss Landing:

We rode Cat in the Hat, but at this point the day was so incredibly hot (it was about 1:30-2pm), and there was so few shaded areas in Seuss Landing, that we talked about whether we were gonna make it much longer. Up until this point, we had hit parks until opening, and we were back in the hotel by 12-1pm, avoiding the worst part of the day. This day was the hottest yet, and here we were in direct sunlight at the worst part of the day...and it was taking its toll.

We all agreed that we were just about out of energy, so we decided to get back to WWoHP to check out more details, grab some food, and find some more merch!

We were pretty hungry, so we decided to stop at Three Broomsticks first. And of course, we had more butterbeer! My sister and I split the chicken/ribs combo (Not too bad, but not great. I think it was $13.95):

I was very impressed with the order maintained at Three Broomsticks. They had a certain number of registers open, then you went to the corresponding spot at the counter. Then, you were guided to a seat. It prevented the horrible situation where everyone’s so busy ‘holding” a table that no one can eat!

Here’s a crummy pic inside Three Broomsticks that I took with my phone:

Once we were done eating, we called my dad to check in, then wanted to check out Ollivander’s:

Um, it was a madhouse. I had heard it was bad, but I was hoping that, because it was the Monday locals went back to school, it wouldn’t be too busy. I was wrong! The three of us quickly got separated, and I was astounded at the number of people who didn’t know where to go, so they just stopped...right in the middle of the store. It was chaos.

I wanted a wand, but I wasn’t sure whose wand I wanted to buy. But, I couldn’t get close to the inside of Ollivanders, so I made my way around to check out what else they were selling (a few stores were connected...I couldn’t even keep track of what store I was in, it was so crazy). I ended up in another room that had wands, so I quickly grabbed a Hermione wand and attempted to find a register. Then, I figured I would find my sister and cousin after.

That exhausting shopping exercise completed (my sister bought Dumbledore’s wand), we then went into Zonko’s joke shop. It was much easier to navigate, and I contemplated buying one of these:

But I quickly realized I would do absolutely nothing with it, lol.

Zonko’s was connected to Honeydukes, so I went in search of some Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans. They were $10 (geez), but I had to have them! The line was ridiculous inside Honeydukes, and I was apparently the only person who realized you could check out at Zonko’s (they were connected!), so I bypassed the line and checked out rather quickly. I even went back to the line to let people know they could cash out over there, but no one listened - your loss (that’s just like people who don’t use both sides at counter service locations...if you’re not going to use the left side, I will!).

I took a few more photos before we made our way back to POFQ:

Overall, I think that the details inside WWoHP are amazing. When my health is a little better (stupid blood pressure), I’ll definitely go on the Potter-ized dueling dragons. And, my next visit will definitely be in January, or another slow-ish time of year. It was too hard to soak up the details, because it was literally packed wall-to-wall in every store...literally everywhere! The good news is that I had budgeted $200 for souvenirs here, and I ended up only spending $60 (although we dropped about $30 for food....making us appreciate our free dining even more!).

We headed out at about 3pm, and realized we should try to get a table reservation, since we’d have an extra credit for that day anyway. We called our aunt, who made some reservations for us. The only place available was Wolfgang Puck (The Cafe), on the West Side. Seemed like something different, so we were excited to give it a try.

Now until this point, both our food and service was beyond outstanding. Our servers were amazing, the food was delicious, and the experience was A++.

We were bound to hit a snag sometime!

From the moment we sat down (our ADRs were for 4:30, and there were only 2 other tables occupied when we arrived), our server seemed put out by us. I think her name was Elizabeth, but I unfortunately can’t remember now.

We waited 20 minutes for our drinks, and another 45 minutes for our food. It just felt like we weren’t wanted there as customers. I ordered the macadamia nut chicken, and it was okay. My sister ordered spinach artichoke dip for her meal (I know, I know), and both the dip and chips were so burned, she could only eat about 3 chips. I don’t recall the other meals, unfortunately (seems I wanted to just put it out of my mind, lol).

Once our meals were delivered, we never saw our server, so my sister couldn’t send her food back. And we never got any refills on our drink, even though we ended up being there almost 2 hours...we just never saw her!

Finally, she came over for dessert. We placed our orders, and were sitting just behind the dessert counter. We watched our desserts being plated, and then we waited...and waited....and waited....

We waited a half hour for our desserts. Although we saw our server walk by about 5 times (avoiding us carefully each time), she never brought them over. Finally, we saw the pastry chef start to take our desserts down and return them, when she FINALLY went over to get them (she forgot my cousin’s, though, which was packaged to go).

As soon as the desserts were brought over, we asked for our bill. This is where I got really steamed. When she brought our bill, our server then added, “Since your gratuity is not included, here is a detailed list of your order so you can give a proper tip.” That is a direct quote that is burned into my memory. I could not believe her nerve! We had tipped very generously at our previous meals - but you have to earn it!

We left a 10% tip, something I never do - ever (you have to be bad to earn that bad a tip, lol), and I stopped on the way out to talk to the manager. I explained that we had free dining, but if I were paying for that meal, we would be having a serious talk. My concern was that we were treated with such disregard, and such poor service, we will never eat there again. The manager thanked me (and seemed very genuine), and said he had complaints about a server from several people that day. I let him know our table number and server name, and he thanked me again. He actually said that sometimes there are people who are not up to par, and that our service was definitely not up to par. He apologized profusely, and said he hoped we would be back.

We won’t (lol), but I appreciated that he seemed to genuinely appreciate my feedback. It was by far the worst meal of the trip, but the moment we left, it was out of my head completely. After all, we were in WDW!

We had 7-day park hoppers, and we didn’t want to use a day in the parks at this point (it was just before 7pm), so we checked out the West Side, then headed back down to the Marketplace for a little more shopping. The crowds on Monday night were much better than on Saturday (as expected), so we just took our time and enjoyed a slow evening.

Remember how I mentioned that I was feeling frustrated about our lack of time in the parks? Never fear, because we are about to hit the parks in major high gear over the next few days!

fractal · Sep 7, 2011

PeoplemoverTTA said:
Okay, previewing this post, I see that I uploaded my pics at a smaller resolution. What do you guys think? I was worried that they were a little too large in my first posts, but I hate not being able to see details. Any preference?

Bigger is better!

I'm enjoying the report on IOA and HP. Something we would like to do next time down.

PartOfYourWorld · Sep 7, 2011

PeoplemoverTTA said:
Thanks for following along. I'm just about to post pics from Universal now We actually went to Kona for breakfast later in the trip (did I already mention that, lol, I can't recall). I loved dinner, but I actually had the opposite impression...breakfast at Kona was my absolute favorite meal of the trip (I'm drooling now just thinking about my Tonga Toast, lol).

To each it's own

And I have to agree with fractal above, bigger pictures definitely better!

And about going in January, that's when I went to visit Universal this year. The park was empty, HP did have alot of people in it, but no where near how you described it. The line for the Forbidden Journey never went above an hour (I'm pretty sure..if it did it was only to 90 minutes) the only line that was every crazy was Ollivander's but I avoided going to see that little show, I just watched it on youtube. The shops were still a little bit crowded but you could walk for the most part. But I definitely suggest visiting it in January, crowds are much lower.

And glad to see you bought wands!!! (I purchased Snape's from there) And bummed to hear about the gloves because they didn't have those when I went in January! (And it was cold tooo :shrug

Can't wait to read the rest!

PolynesianPrincess · Sep 8, 2011

PeoplemoverTTA said:
Day 4 - The Conclusion

Although I was avoiding thrill rides, I definitely wanted to ride Spiderman. The line was 90 minutes; however, so I passed (darn it). We made our way through the shops in the Marvel area, and I found this awesome t-shirt (another one that I liked, but not enough to buy, lol):

I actually own this shirt!!! There's a long story behind it but long story short, this guy I used to date called himself Captain America (he and all his roomates had names from the Avengers) so I bought that shirt because is has CA on it. I LOVE it!

When we went to WWOHP, we made sure not to go first thing in the AM. We went around 4pm and waited maybe 20 minutes for the ride. I did hear it was PACKED earlier in the AM though so I'm glad we let the masses get their HP fill before we headed over.

PolynesianPrincess · Sep 8, 2011

Isn't Butterbeer soooo yummy!! I had one when we went in May and it was sooo good... Not sure why I didn't try one when we first visited last year but I remember a couple of people in my family getting one at dinner and I just didn't.

Yeah... Ollivander's.... When we went during Thanksgivign week last year there was a 110 minute wait JUST TO GET INTO THE STORE!!! It was a madhouse!! Even in May which wasn't even close to being as crowded as November there was still a huge line to get in. Craziness!!

So bummed you had a terrible experience at WP

That's never been a place we have wanted to try out but after hearing about your experience, it's moved even farther down on the list lol

PeoplemoverTTA · Sep 8, 2011

fractal said:
Bigger is better!

I'm enjoying the report on IOA and HP. Something we would like to do next time down.

And it is thus decreed, I shall return to larger photos :lol: Thanks for chiming in, because I wasn't sure...although in today's day and age, just about everyone has high enough internet speed to load larger photos, right?

PartOfYourWorld said:
To each it's own

And I have to agree with fractal above, bigger pictures definitely better!

And about going in January, that's when I went to visit Universal this year. The park was empty, HP did have alot of people in it, but no where near how you described it. The line for the Forbidden Journey never went above an hour (I'm pretty sure..if it did it was only to 90 minutes) the only line that was every crazy was Ollivander's but I avoided going to see that little show, I just watched it on youtube. The shops were still a little bit crowded but you could walk for the most part. But I definitely suggest visiting it in January, crowds are much lower.

And glad to see you bought wands!!! (I purchased Snape's from there) And bummed to hear about the gloves because they didn't have those when I went in January! (And it was cold tooo :shrug

Can't wait to read the rest!

It was between Hermione and Snape for my wand purchase. I didn't even know when I made it into the shop, so I had to make a last-minute decision. Ah, next time I can get Snape's, I suppose.

Before I left, my boss mentioned that his family was going back to Orlando so that his son could buy an Elder wand. I then went into a long discussion about how my sister and I were debating whose wand to buy. He just kind of looked at me, speechless. Probably because his son is 10. I'm 30, and my sister is 34 :ROFLOL: Ah well, we can't help that we're dorks!

And thanks for the tip about January. I'm hoping I can swing it (I'm contemplating a move to full-time freelance, so I might not be able to afford a trip this January), because I have loved the crowds and weather that time of year in the past. I think for WWoHP, it's a must!

derelicte19 said:
I actually own this shirt!!! There's a long story behind it but long story short, this guy I used to date called himself Captain America (he and all his roomates had names from the Avengers) so I bought that shirt because is has CA on it. I LOVE it!

When we went to WWOHP, we made sure not to go first thing in the AM. We went around 4pm and waited maybe 20 minutes for the ride. I did hear it was PACKED earlier in the AM though so I'm glad we let the masses get their HP fill before we headed over.

derelicte19 said:
Isn't Butterbeer soooo yummy!! I had one when we went in May and it was sooo good... Not sure why I didn't try one when we first visited last year but I remember a couple of people in my family getting one at dinner and I just didn't.

Yeah... Ollivander's.... When we went during Thanksgivign week last year there was a 110 minute wait JUST TO GET INTO THE STORE!!! It was a madhouse!! Even in May which wasn't even close to being as crowded as November there was still a huge line to get in. Craziness!!

So bummed you had a terrible experience at WP That's never been a place we have wanted to try out but after hearing about your experience, it's moved even farther down on the list lol

Lol about the shirt! Captain America, hm? Seems like an interesting guy :lol:! I was very close to buying it myself, but I was very stingy for the first few days of this trip, I'm not sure why (although it proved useful toward the end of my trip - how's that for a teaser, lol).

Apparently there are recipes out there to make Butterbeer at home, but I don't know if I'll try it. Kind of adds to the mystique and "special-ness" if I have it surrounded by Hogsmeade and Hogwarts!

Yeah, Wolfgang Puck was a disappointment. We had free dining, and we needed something last-minute, so I didn't have super-high expectations, but it was still pretty meh all around. You live you learn - it definitely won't be on my list for the next trip!

PartOfYourWorld · Sep 8, 2011

PeoplemoverTTA said:
It was between Hermione and Snape for my wand purchase. I didn't even know when I made it into the shop, so I had to make a last-minute decision. Ah, next time I can get Snape's, I suppose.

Before I left, my boss mentioned that his family was going back to Orlando so that his son could buy an Elder wand. I then went into a long discussion about how my sister and I were debating whose wand to buy. He just kind of looked at me, speechless. Probably because his son is 10. I'm 30, and my sister is 34 :ROFLOL: Ah well, we can't help that we're dorks!

And thanks for the tip about January. I'm hoping I can swing it (I'm contemplating a move to full-time freelance, so I might not be able to afford a trip this January), because I have loved the crowds and weather that time of year in the past. I think for WWoHP, it's a must!

haha your boss is in for a rude awakening when he gets there. From what I remember there was us dorks of all ages dressed in HP gear! He's going to think everyone is crazy! :lol:

And your welcome! January is a great time to visit all the parks! No crowds! And it was nice this past January to be in the only state in the US that didn't have snow on the ground

PeoplemoverTTA · Sep 8, 2011

Day 5 - August 23

I was seriously jonesing for more quality park time at this point, and so we started off Day 5 at DHS - my sister’s favorite park, and a park where there was a ton of new stuff for me to do (It has been several trips since I’ve been able to say that. Back in the mid-2000s, I was a passholder, and would visit 3-4 times per year. Now that i haven’t been back for an extended trip in 4 years, I could have some “first times” for several attractions).

One of those “first times” for me would be Toy Story Mania. I was in WDW for 3 days back in 08, and they were doing CM previews, but alas, I did not know a CM to get me in, so 3 years later, I would finally experience this attraction!

I had heard what rope drop was like at DHS, so I was not surprised to see people literally pouring in the streets and shops, waiting to make the mad dash for FPs:

My cousin was quick, so we let her weave her way through as far as she could get, knowing that my sister and I were, frankly, not as pushy :lol:. We knew she’d have a better chance of making it there before we did.

So, when the rope dropped, we promised we’d meet her at TSM. Alas, we could not help but stop to meet these two!:

Aren’t they cute? I heard my cell phone ringing the entire time we were waiting, but we never mentioned what took us so long, lol.

Our FPs weren’t until 11:50, so I took my time taking shots of Pixar Place (so different than the trailers for MnGs that were on Mickey Avenue previously, lol). So many details!:

PeoplemoverTTA · Sep 8, 2011

Day 5 (Continued)

Okay, I apparently can't remember what size I have been uploading, so I guessed...I think these are in between the two! Ah well, I'll get it right by the end

My sister was feeling a little under the weather, so while she, er, recuperated, I dashed off for my first ride on Star Tours 2 (another first!). Of course, as soon as I made the decision, my sister was ready to grab some breakfast (we skipped Sassagoula this morning), so I tried to hustle. Honestly, it was still only 9:30 by this point, and the park was completely dead except for Pixar Place - it was kind of nice!

I was in such a hurry I didn’t snap any pics (yet), but I did enjoy Star Tours. I am not a Star Wars “geek” (I use the term affectionately, lol, as I am a “geek” for plenty other things), but I really did enjoy the ride. I encountered General Ackbar and Darth Vader. I think we went to Hoth (where all the At-Ats are?).

After I emerged from Star Tours, I returned my sister’s text, and met them at Starring Rolls for some breakfast (mmmm, cinnamon roll!). But, darn it, I forgot to get a Butterfinger cupcake! This was one of my “must-dos” for this trip, and I forgot. There was a line out the door, so I decided I would try again later (an ominous promise!).

From there, we headed over to Muppets, to enjoy my favorite 3D show on property (My sister and I often trade lines from this show while at home, lol).

I shared a post about this in another thread, and also on Twitter, but I was really sad about the state of Muppetvision 3D this trip. This morning, the orchestra lift was broken, Waldorf’s mouth was broken, a CM left the door backstage open, the fireworks were frozen “on,” and of course the Swedish Chef and cannon were missing. All of these factors were simply too much...I can usually ignore a minor issue, but this was downright poor show. I tried very hard to just enjoy the show, but I was genuinely sad that it looked like it was so neglected.

Later in the trip, while the fireworks weren’t frozen, and the door was not left open, it was in a similar state of disrepair. I truly hope the upcoming refurb fixes these issues, and also plusses some of the other effects (someone noted in the Muppets thread recently that they should return the smoke when Waldo “burns rubber,” I agree). Remember when they tried to market Muppetvision as “4D?” Let’s get all these effects back so that it can truly be an extra-sensory show again!

end rant, lol

Now, one of the other “musts” for me this trip was actually a meet and greet...with Phineas and Ferb! I used to gripe about the new Disney Channel, unfairly lumping P&F into the barrage of shows I felt led to the decline of a channel that was a big part of my childhood (although I was amazingly well-rounded, I might add, and ended up an English major, lol...just sayin).

Then, one Saturday afternoon, I found myself switching channels and stopping on Disney XD. I was immediately hooked on P&F. The quirky humor, awesome music, and perfection that is Doofenschmirtz just won me over completely.

So, needless to say, I was stoked to meet them! I ended up waiting in a 30-minute line that was mostly in direct sunlight, but it was worth it. I also chatted with a nice mom who seemed at the end of her rope. She was hopelessly staring at a map, and didn’t know how to get to the front of the park, so I offered help. We made some nice conversation, while she griped about her husband and son...awkward, lol.

Anyway, I finally made it to the head of the pack, and had my moment of glory:

Then, at long last, it was time to return to TSM for our FP window. Now, I am normally a pretty competitive person; however, when it comes to Buzz Lightyear, I just try to best my own score, I’m not competing with my family. But, for some reason, my cousin starting talking some (lighthearted) trash, trying to get me pumped for TSM. I wasn’t taking the bait (she’s been on TSM at least 5 times, while this was my first time...I didn’t expect to beat her).

Because we had FPs, we missed most of the queue, but my first sighting of the ride vehicles was kind of exciting (excuse the crummy iPhone picture, please!):

I rode alone on one side, while my cousin and sister rode alone on the other. And here was my final score:

My sister had 132,xxx (can’t remember the rest). And my trash-talking cousin? 96,xxx. Boo yah! Amazingly, she was quite quiet after this

. I was so excited that I beat her, I walked out with my 3D glasses on (how embarrassing!). I walked back and gave them to the FP CM, explaining that I was too busy gloating about my score, lol.

Little side note here. One of my exes said that he had 3D glasses from all the shows at home. This bugs me. Why would someone take something like that? Totally not a souvenir, and not free...just strange that someone would steal from Disney, but I digress.

Now you may be wondering where my aunt and grandma were at this point. They arrived late and kind of took it slow for awhile, but this fine morning they decided to start at Epcot. They had 12pm lunch ADRs at Nine Dragons (which they love), but we elected to skip a table service meal that day, and take a bus over to Coronado Springs.

My cousin stayed there twice, and raved about the Pepper Market, so we decided we’d have lunch there instead.

On the way out, I took some ambience shots of DHS (Which my family still calls MGM, lol. Old habits die hard! Didn’t know I’d ever be able to convert, but I got in the habit of just calling it “Studios”).

And shortly thereafter, we arrived at Coronado Springs:

Over at Pepper Market, I elected to try the fajitas, with a strawberry shortcake for dessert (I’ve spent too many months drooling over blackthidot’s pics of strawberry shortcake in the food thread!):

It was a great meal, and a particularly great use of a counter service credit! I liked checking out the only mod I haven’t visited, although I don’t think it was enough to pry me from my favorite resort, POFQ.

After lunch, we were going to do some shopping (their gift shop looked HUGE), but my cousin wasn’t feeling well, and asked if we could take a cab back to POFQ to save time, so we hopped in and made our way back to the hotel for a nap.

I don’t want to forget which building we were in so I can request it next time, so I took a picture of our room number, lol (my aunt and grandma were in 3140, next door, but not connecting, if you’re interested. Their room was a handicap-accessible for my grandma):

PeoplemoverTTA · Sep 8, 2011

Day 5 (Continued)

We met up with my aunt and grandma after nap time, and decided we’d hit Epcot together that night. There were Extra Magic Hours, and because I tend to not do well in direct sunlight (I almost always have a hat on when I’m outside), my sister and I decided this was the perfect time to do World Showcase, because it is just way too hot during the day.

When we first arrived, though, we had to hit up my second favorite attraction (after the Peoplemover), SSE!

**Quirky family story time, lol. *** I loved the previous version of SSE, and I really do miss the glitter city and the swooshes. Just a sentimental miss, on my part. The first time I rode the new SSE, I was really disappointed, but I grew to begrudgingly accept the cartoon this time, although still disappointing (I mean who really thinks that, in the future, you'll ride a space motor bike and a body scanner will check your health every morning...seriously).

Anyway, one time about 10 years ago, while planning a WDW trip, my sister and I both happened to mention the most random thing that was our "favorite" part of SSE. Not the smell of the dark ages (although when I was a kid, whenever we went camping I'd tell my mom, "I smell Spaceship Earth," lol). It was the little projection of the Roman and buggy that used to come out of the buildings and ride down the street in Rome. Do you know the projection I'm talking about? We both randomly discovered that we looked for it every trip, and had an unnatural love for it :lol:. I mention this, because each subsequent trip, we'd give a knowing nod at this point, and on this trip, we bowed our heads in memory, lol. I mean it was a simple projection, why take it away!? So sad

Little bit of drizzle followed us to Epcot:

My aunt left her hat in her time machine, so my cousin, sister, grandma and I waited for her by the exit:

Blue sky, rainy sky, doesn’t matter. SSE is just stunning (especially sans wand - yes, it still gets me excited that they took down the wand!):

We decided to do some shopping next in Mouse Gear - my first time since they changed the layout:

I found an awesome retro Epcot shirt, and also bought some suckers and keychains for my coworkers. The CM who cashed my order forgot to put the resort delivery slip in the register though (she was a brand new CP), so it took about 20 minutes, since she then left for her break, and the new CM was also “Earning Her Ears,” and took awhile. They were both really nice and I wasn’t in a hurry, so we had a nice conversation during the wait.

From here, I was starving and had been wanting to try Sunshine Seasons for dinner, so my sister, cousin and I headed there for food, while my grandma and aunt headed to Great Britain for some fish and chips.

I was kind of obsessed this trip with any signs that were “retro” Epcot, lol. My cousin does not seem amused:

I had the pork chop with mashed potatoes and fruit compote. I also had my second strawberry shortcake of the day for dessert, lol (this one was 10x better than the one at Pepper Market, which was still good!) The entire meal was outstanding!:

My cousin was kind of whiny at this point, and I think she just had mashed potatoes. My sister had the roasted chicken, which she said was really good:

She had an apple caramel cake for dessert (her dessert obsession is apple crumble anything, as you’ll see over the course of the next few meals, lol):

She said it wasn’t very good, and I tried it as well. It had a very odd texture, and not much flavor. Not something we’d get again, but it was worth a try.

PeoplemoverTTA · Sep 8, 2011

Day 5 - The Conclusion

After a satisfying meal, my sister and I had to drag my cousin on Living With the Land (She was kind of getting on my nerves at this point, lol. Why are you here if you don’t want to go on anything?! That’s what happens when you travel with people who you normally don’t do WDW with, though).

I have never been on LwtL at night, so I took a few pictures with my flash by accident before realizing that it wasn’t allowed! I quickly stopped, though, after these few pics:

Although I preferred it with a live CM (just added something dynamic to the attraction), it is still fun and informative, and something I will ride each trip.

From The Land, we made our way over to The Living Seas (I am stubborn, lol) to ride Nemo. My sister hadn’t been on Nemo yet, so I was excited for her to experience it. I made her pose for a pic to celebrate:

Yet again, though, my cousin kept complaining. The queue was cold (well, it was hot outside), but I took my time to soak up the details (I think this is one of the best-themed queues in all of WDW), so she was griping. Then, when all 3 of us got in our clamshell, she pulled out her phone to text her BF (with the big, bright screen). I immediately told her to put it away, that she was killing the magic for me. Don’t think she appreciated it, lol.

After a spin on Nemo, we headed over to ride Journey Into Imagination (even though it’s not nearly as good as I remember from my youth, we have to get our dose of Figment), but alas, it was closed! Ah, next time we’re in Epcot, we shall see you again, Figment!

We made our way to World Showcase, where we met up with my aunt and grandma. They had finished eating (they eat way slower than we do, lol), and were ready to keep heading around World Showcase. We hadn’t seen the rest of WS yet, and I wanted to look for a new winter hat in Canada, so I asked if we could start over. They said they had already been there (ugh, different touring styles), and didn’t want to go back, so my sister and I broke off (also losing my grumpy cousin at this point, lol), and said we’d probably catch up soon.

While they meandered off, my sister and I went over to Canada. She didn’t want to see the movie (boo, hiss...I wanted to see all the movies!), but I did find a cool new winter hat - cross that off my must-dos!

We also chatted with a really nice CM, Carrie, who was from Alberta. They had some Canadian trivia at the register, and my sister and I tried to guess some of the answers. Our Canadian knowledge encompasses pretty much Ontario only, as we are about 20 minutes from the border (I live in a suburb of Buffalo, and my sister lives in Niagara Falls). It was a nice chat, and it ended oddly, as some creepy guy came in and asked the CM if she remembered him from “the other day.” He carried on with his interruption and was hitting on her in a really creepy way. We felt badly leaving her!

I’m slightly out of order here, but I want to share my Canada story, lol. I had sent my hat back to the resort, and when I picked up the bag 2 days later, I found this awesome little surprise in the bag:

What a nice thing to do! Just a little bit of magic, and some fun stickers - and it totally made my day! Thanks, Carrie!

Moving along, we stopped in France so I could get a pastry - sorry this pic is so blown out! It was some kind of almond triangle, and it was really good. Shouldve gotten some coffee to go with it, though:

We also checked out the shops, and it was weird. There wasn’t a CM to be found near the registers, but there were 3 of them at the Kidcot station. I found a leather bracelet I wanted (It had the Epcot logo - new one, alas, and flags from all the WS countries), but after waiting 10 minutes, we gave up and moved down the line.

Finally, we caught up with my aunt, grandma and cousin in Japan. They were tired and heading back (my cousin was on the phone with her boyfriend, oblivious), so we carried on without them.

I was hoping to see the American Adventure next, but we had just missed the show, and didn’t want to wait a half hour for the next one. I vowed to see it later in the trip (it is one of my favorites resort-wide).

Since my camera takes horrible night pics (I need a new camera before my next trip. This one is from 2005, and it is still good during the day, but I need better night pics!), there are only a few from here (sorry!).

In keeping with my vow to munch around the world, we stopped at the new (to us) Karamel Kuche to use some snack credits:

I got the caramel-filled chocolate cookie, which was really good, but not filled with caramel...just a drizzle on top. Not to be picky, lol. It was really good!

My sister got a rice krispy treat with chocolate on top, drizzled with caramel. She saved it for later, and after finally eating it, said it was delicious but a little rich (it was also huge!).

We rode Maelstrom (about a 20 minute wait, which was a little high, especially for EMH, but it was fun), and continued to make our way around WS.

I put my camera in slow-shutter mode and set it on a ledge for this shot. Not too bad, but not great, lol:

We had a nice rest when we hit the Outpost area, as they were moving back the Illuminations equipment (I was disappointed that no one wanted to see Illuminations this trip

).

And when we finally rode El Rio Del Tiempo (oh wait, Grand Fiesta Tour), which has really grown on me since the first time I rode (although that creepy chef looking way over....there, is still disturbing, lol. Do you know which one I'm talking about? Where he has the knife and fork, like he's going to carve Donald? Disturbing!), it was still only 11pm. We had another hour in Epcot!

At this point, my sister was really feeling under the weather, so she had to take a break. She suggested that, rather than wait for her, I head over to Test Track, so I made my way to Future World.

The single riders line said 20 minutes, but I ended up waiting closer to 40. Not to sound like I’m griping more, but I was disappointed in the experience. The preshow was not playing, and the door to the briefing room was propped open, so people just made their way through, while...nothing...played on the ancient screens.

A hoodlum teenager was sitting on ropes and a CM who passed asked nicely, “Please don’t sit on the ropes.” The guest had the audacity to say back, “Why?” I was in shock! How rude can you be?! Oh, and before making my way into the room, I saw a guest come in through the emergency exit door, right next to the briefing rooms (do you know the door I’m referring too?). She went up to a CM and said - and I am not making this up, lol - “I had to go outside and throw up, but I need to catch up with my family. Where should I go?” Uhhh...huh?

Finally, I made my way through the rest of the queue, and ended up sitting with a woman and her daughter (who was 9 or 10). The daughter screamed the entire time (like a scared scream, not a fun one), and when we went outside, she just went ballistic. Like totally crazy. The mother yelled at her, “We go faster than this while driving at home,” but it didn’t do any good. Really odd. Oh, and the in-car video didn’t work either - looking forward to the refurb for TT. Actually, that whole TT ride was just weird, so I’ll chalk it up to a full moon, even though I don’t know if there was one :lol:

So overall, a very packed day where we accomplished a lot, but it really did end on a weird note! I didn’t even get to see the new car wraps, lol. Finally, we made our way down the loooong walk to the POFQ bus stop (the bus stops at Epcot are so freaking far away!), caught a bus within 5 minutes (no standing - we did really well on this!), and were back in bed by 1am.

Coming up: a mirror image day - more Studios and Epcot! But when will we finally have some quality time in the MK??

fractal · Sep 8, 2011

Loving the report and the food pics! What is up with cousin? At some point you needed to just cut bait.

Living with the Land is one of my favorites. Classic Epcot.

Val also had a problem with the leather braclet people on our last day. It was like they didn't want to make a sale. :brick:

Nice touch with the personal note though, Somehow the magic always comes through in the end! Looking forward to more!

PeoplemoverTTA · Sep 8, 2011

Day 6 - August 24

***I'm on a roll, but my wrists are getting tired, so let's do it...one more day!***

Watch out, kids, this is a picture-heavy day! After a fun day at Epcot and DHS yesterday, we geared up for another fun day of the same. But first, I had to stop and take care of some laundry at POFQ.

I decided to try and pack light this trip. Usually, I have a huge suitcase and carry-on, and even with DME, I end up dragging tons of stuff, and it’s just annoying. So, I packed 4 days of clothes (with some extras of other, low packing room essentials), and brought a full-size carryon, plus a “personal bag” with tons of space. As a result, I had to do some laundry mid-trip.

For anyone who does laundry during their trip and is looking to save money, I brought two Purex sheets with me. They have both the detergent and fabric softener, in one sheet, and then you don’t have to worry about packing heavy liquids or getting through security. I brought two with me, and it was so convenient. Plus, my bag smelled really fresh, lol.

It was $2 each for the washer and dryer, and although there were a bunch of people in there doing laundry, I didn’t have a problem finding a machine to use:

After getting up early to do laundry, I enjoyed some breakfast at Sassagoula, and we made our way in my aunt’s Equinox over to DHS (a little late, we made it there about 10:30). Upset over my serious lack of pictures thus far, I went crazy this morning with the pictures!

My grandma and aunt drove up, and brought both her scooter (which she uses in “real life,” so she’s actually a good driver, lol), and her wheelchair. We ended up using the wheelchair more, though, because it was more convenient. I’m sure she wouldn’t like this pic, but I like getting pictures of people when they’re not looking. Really “capturing the moment,” lol:

I love all the details at DHS:

Heading over to our lunch ADR at Sci Fi:

We waited about 10 minutes for our table (our ADRs were for 11:30, and I pushed for everyone to be ready to leave early enough so that we didn’t have to race for our meal, lol). And quickly settled in:

I didn’t take pictures of my food, cause it was so dark I knew they would be blown out, but I had a burger with the cucumber salad. And a delicious Oreo milkshake for my beverage (with a glass of water - I don’t really drink pop). The burger was pretty good, the cucumber salad was delicious, and the milkshake was yummy!

Now for dessert, my aunt and I had the raspberry cheesecake...at least that’s what it was called on the menu. It was actually cheesecake, combined with red velvet cake. Still, it looked good...it was actually really disappointing. It had no taste...literally, it tasted like nothing. It was the first thing I hadn’t finished, lol. My sister and grandma had the...you guessed it...apple crumble a la mode (piping hot and delicious - thanks to my sister for sharing!). We took our time with the meal, since we love the ambience so much.

To save time after lunch, I offered to go ahead and take my aunt and sister’s tickets to get FPs for Tower of Terror. I may have mentioned this before, but my sister has not been on ToT since 1997. She absolutely hated it, and her expression in the pic shows it. Here it is for reference (we’re in the last row, to the left, I'm on the left, my sister is in the middle, and my twin brother is on the right...I was only 17..so young, lol):

Our FPs were only 25 minutes away, but we took advantage so we could take our time shopping on Sunset Blvd. I kept snapping away as we made our way down the street:

Looking forward to seeing the Carthay Circle Theater in DCA:

PeoplemoverTTA · Sep 8, 2011

Day 6 (Continued)

Yes, I take pictures of trash cans, lol:

This picture wasn’t quite at the time, but it reminds me of a great story. I love the Citizens of Hollywood, and I really enjoy watching or participating in their shows. After ToT (yeah, I’m out of order), we made our way down Sunset Blvd, and the police officer was going in the opposite direction (towards ToT). He stopped his car next to my grandma, leaned his head out the window, and yelled:

“Hey lady, watch it! You know we have speed limits around here, lead foot!”

The entire family was literally doubled over with laughter...except my grandma. Oh well, it was funny! She wasn’t going fast, he was just teasing her, but I think she’s sensitive, lol.

Anyway, we went into Villains in Vogue, which sadly, shows no remnants of its original purpose as an actual villains store:

Experimenting with perspective:

And finally, we were ready to ride ToT! I know my sister was nervous, but she promised my mom she would ride it with us, and my mom would not be mad to know that I totally used that against her so she wouldn’t chicken out, lol.

Since that fateful ride in 1997, though, my sister has really become a fan of The Twilight Zone, so I knew she’d appreciate the details (and props at the end). She definitely appreciated the awesomeness that is ToT, lol.

I had to document the experience; however, so I took this pic before we entered the queue:

Is there a better queue in DHS? Not a chance:

There wasn’t anyone in the queue, so I made them stop near the “broken” fountain:

And before the doors on our elevator closed:

PeoplemoverTTA · Sep 8, 2011

Day 6 (Continued)

And the result? My sister said she would actually ride again (*gasp!* Although we didn’t make it back to ToT this trip), and this awesome picture, which we purchased, but I took this pic on my phone after to post on Facebook. My aunt has the hard copies and digital download card, but it actually wasn’t too bad. For two 5x7s and a digital download, it was $21.95:

When I posted this on FB, it drew a lot of amusing comments from our family. You can see that my sister is in a state of pure fear, and my aunt is both scared and holding her glasses on, lol!

One more ToT pic on the way out:

My grandma needed to stop and rest at this point, so while they “refreshed,” we sat on the stone bench area by the ToT restrooms. I wandered over to an ice cream cart, as it was sweltering at this point, and decided on this awesome new treat:

And yes, it was delicious! These were new since my last trip, and I had several during the course of the trip. It had real chunks of pineapple, and was only 80 calories. Plus, it was (one last time) delicious!

Mere moments before being accosted by the police (Don’t you love the hats? My grandma and aunt bought them in China for $6, and they swear they kept the sun off their heads better than any other hat, lol):

Not quite right for the “wearing it” pose, but still a nice shot of my sister:

Where to next?

One of my favorites, GMR: 

I tried a few crummy non-flash pics on my iPhone:

My sister, channeling her inner Eva Peron:

PeoplemoverTTA · Sep 8, 2011

Day 6 (Still continued, lol)

Where to next? Time for some more Muppets:

I always have to pick up the mat to see the key, lol:

I won’t go into the broken effects again, but I really do love this show, and hope it’s returned to its former glory soon. One thing, though - when we sat down, the show started with the doors open. Why, you ask?

Because it was raining, and stupid people would not get out of the way! People exiting the show had nowhere to go, and the poor CMs were out there trying to be heard, so that they could close the doors.

People, it’s August, and Central Florida...it’s gonna rain. Get a poncho and suck it up!

It was still pouring by the time we made our exit, so we went into the Christmas Shop for a little...er, shopping, then into the Muppets store. My sister had a nice International CM check her out (disappointing how the Muppets merch has been cut back, though), but with only 2 people ahead of her, it took a half hour! She was earning her ears, and extreeemely slow. It was raining, though, so we weren’t in a terrible hurry.

My aunt went to the other side of the store to check out (which used to be Pooh stuff, if I recall correctly...now it’s all the same old stuff you can find everywhere else, lol). And here we have an amusing story. Remember how my cousin was grumpy the day before? It carried over. I was waiting with my grandma, when my cousin came over and said that the CM at the register was rude to her. She was really put out by it.

I learned later that my aunt was buying my cousin a gift, and when my cousin came up and said to my aunt that she should be some thing she picked up, the CM said, jokingly, “Why don’t you put that back and find something else?” All to get rid of her so the gift would be a surprise...she wasn’t rude at all, lol.

I found that incredibly amusing, and typical of her (I love her, but it was typical, lol).

By now, the pouring rain had not let up, and we were munchy, so we headed over to Pizza Planet for a snack. It was about 2pm by this point. I split a meatball sub and salad with my sister (I miss the old house salad with your choice of Ken’s dressing). The caesar salad was okay, though). I know we’re weird, but we actually like the pizza here, we just decided to try something different.

The restaurant was, surprisingly, empty, and we had almost the entire upstairs to ourselves. We ate, and I suggested we head over to Epcot. Since we had a few breakfasts in the MK area in the next few days, I feared we might not make it back to Epcot.

Rather than breakdown my grandma’s scooter again (which is ridiculously difficult), I suggested they take the boat over to Epcot, and I would drive the Equinox. They love riding on the boat, so it was a win/win.

On the way out, we stopped for a cappucino at The Writer’s Stop, which I still call Ellen’s Buy the Book. It was such clever theming in the late 90s, lol. My family watched her sitcom every Wednesday together. Good times.

On the way out, I made my aunt pose with the Castle poster - it’s her favorite show

:

A couple more ambience pics on the way out (see the ominous skies?):

We beat them to Epcot by awhile, so I called and let them know we’d meet them at JII.

On the way, I posed with more random retro Epcot signs:

And I tricked my sister into trying Beverly, lol:

PeoplemoverTTA · Sep 8, 2011

Day 6 - The Conclusion

I could sit on this bench all day and just people watch, while taking in the scenery:

Finally, on our way into JII:

It isn’t close to being the same, but I love Figment:

My aunt and grandma weren’t interested in seeing Captain EO (which I hadn’t seen since I was a kid), so we decided to meet up at Universe of Energy (one of my favorites).

I’m not a huge Michael Jackson fan, but I was looking forward to seeing it again. I remember being freaked out by Angelica Houston when I was a kid, and I had to take off my 3D glasses, lol.

Here we go:

The preshow was pretty interesting, if not a little long. And what was my verdict on EO, 20+ years later? I actually thought it was really fun. Corny, but the effects were great, and really made the most out of the theater! My sister didn’t enjoy it, but I seriously loved it, and would have seen it again if we had the chance (we didn’t, though).

After finishing EO, we made our way to Universe of Energy, only to discover that it closed at 7. Darn, I forgot about that little snafu, since the day before had EMH and Future World was open till 9. Oh well, I snapped a few farewell shots on my phone as we headed out:

Me, posing for more pics I can use for my Facebook profile pic, lol:

Still another retro sign on the way out, lol. I hope they never remove these signs. I just love their retro appeal:

Even though it was only 7, we hadn’t taken a break that day, so we headed back to POFQ for a lazy night.

Waiting for them to finish taking everything out of the car, I snapped this pic of our building:

A few red herrings for this TR. The previous night, I discovered a weird looking rash on my leg. It didn’t hurt or itch, so I just figured it was heat rash.

And tonight, after we settled in for the evening, we saw on the news that a hurricane was gearing up to possibly hit Florida. My cousin asked if we should go home early, but I eased her concerns, letting her know that it was so far away, it could change course, missing Central Florida completely.

Next up, more Kona Cafe, and (finally!), some MK!

PeoplemoverTTA · Sep 8, 2011

PartOfYourWorld said:
haha your boss is in for a rude awakening when he gets there. From what I remember there was us dorks of all ages dressed in HP gear! He's going to think everyone is crazy! :lol:

And your welcome! January is a great time to visit all the parks! No crowds! And it was nice this past January to be in the only state in the US that didn't have snow on the ground

I felt so uncomfortable, because yes, two grown women debated which wand to buy, but I feel better knowing I'm in good company :lol:

fractal said:
Loving the report and the food pics! What is up with cousin? At some point you needed to just cut bait. Living with the Land is one of my favorites. Classic Epcot.

Val also had a problem with the leather braclet people on our last day. It was like they didn't want to make a sale. :brick:

Nice touch with the personal note though, Somehow the magic always comes through in the end! Looking forward to more!

Lol, so true about my cousin. You'll see later that the situation there resolves itself. I love my cousin, but sometimes touring styles just don't lend themselves to 24/7 togetherness. And "Classic Epcot" sums it up perfectly - I love Living With the Land!
Thanks again for the encouragement; it's been fun putting this TR together!