Photo TR: Dan Smith's Birthday Bash Stunt Spectacular 2/11 - 2/17

"How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth,
Stolen on his wing my eighteenth year!"

Well, it's time for another WDW photo TR, straight from my twisted mind to your desktop. Brace yourselves for all of the joyfulness that is sure to be experienced by all Disney fans, and also purveyors of shameless puns and that's-what-she-said jokes.

For 18 years I've made it a point to let my parents know that I'm the only family member who hasn't celebrated their birthday at Disney; February just wasn't a convenient time for me to be born, apparently. So, as calculated and intentional corporate luck would have it, Disney decided to give me a free pass for my 18th birthday this year. Besides my awesome day at the Magic Kingdom on the 12th, I was at Epcot for Valentine's Day, and in between I took a campus tour at (my official new place of residence as of August) Florida Tech, which is like more awesome than Lord Vader driving in a Delorean playing "Don't Stop Me Now" with a nuclear explosion in the background.

Let's see you figure THAT one out, Einstein.

So, without further delay and slightly more entertaining blocks of text, I present my Floridian travels.

Day 1: A Fool And His Childhood Are Soon Parted

In case you were wondering (and I‘m sure you were), I share my birthday with Mr. Stovepipe down there. My 18th was his 200th. (I was also born in Lincoln Hospital in Lincoln, Ontario. Seriously. Surprised I wasn't named Abe.)

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All you Losties out there can imagine how wary I was of my seat number...

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Tunes all set.

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The shot that no other traveller has.

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For all those Tampa Airport POV enthusiasts of which I'm certain exist out there...

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"Welcome to Tampa, where the local time is... DAMN you, Dali!"

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Good. It's good to know I've arrived. Thought I was having an out-of-body experience. (13 minutes early, too.)

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No one ever travels to see the Leaning Tower of St. Pete...

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Canadian pirates unite!

"And it's a heave-ho, hi-ho, comin' down the plains,
Stealin' wheat 'n barley 'n all the other grains!
And it's a ho-hey, hi-hey, farmers bar yer doors,
When ya see the Jolly Roger on Regina's mighty shores!"

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1. I finally escaped 15-below weather.
2. It's actually really freakin' windy up there.
3. I asked for raspberry lemonade but instead they gave me raspberry iced tea, which wasn't that bad anyway.
4. That photo looks nothing like me.

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dandaman

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Food. Food is tasty. Sweet food is tastier. Revenge is sweet… sweet food is revenge for indulgence! I get it now!

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30 seconds earlier: "JOCK! START THE PLANE! START IT!"

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Our wheels for the week. Silver Mazda 5. Pretty decent if the air conditioning worked.

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Since my sister wouldn't see me on my actual birthday, she made me an awesome card... and I'm sure only Disney/coaster enthusiasts would understand the acronym.

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dandaman

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I stayed at the "Star Spor" for the next couple of nights...

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"Colour! Number! Random saying! HIKE!"

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"That's no moon... that's a long fly ball to left field!"

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America's "super-sizing" craze is getting freaking ridiculous.

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“Donald waits for the serve…”

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“…And the nephews pull a Hail Mary!”

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I found a Blatant Mickey!

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Presenting my Pin of Ultimate Power which would be responsible for 62 b-day greetings the following day.

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Read on, folks, it can only get better from here.
 

dandaman

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 2, Part I: Local Man Now Legal Age; Lottery Ticket/Infomercial Marathon To Follow

It starts… with a strategically-placed American Idol Experience GMA cameo. This is the kind of weathercasting I want to do... toting around the country with a little weather on the side!

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Happy birth-time to me...

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…For the last time, NO, I've been 18 for a half-hour now!!!

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Aah, geez… I can’t believe we wore the same outfit today. (Hi Matt!)

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...But can I celebrate tomorrow?

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Trolley Show guy gave me a really big, really invisible birthday present on the way in.

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Celebrate semi-hidden Mickeys!

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Watch out, ladies... I'm quite experienced at scoring.

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Celebrate embarrassing acronyms!

(This is actually a pretty awesome show! Though it'd be lame but the amazing technology even made it possible to make pop culture jokes. Sweeeet.)

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dandaman

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Celebrate that guy!

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Heaven: Now available in pineapple flavour.

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I've never hiked the Swiss Family Treehouse before... but yeah, 'twas kinda lame. Not many views besides foliage and more foliage. And "Bad Tiki Room".

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*refraining from ‘big organ’ joke*

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Anyone else ever wonder what happened to the rest of the tree? Stupid loggers.

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"World's Most Inaccurate Road Map"

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This buffet could use a healthy dose of “Meat-On-A-Stick” Ohana’s.

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More Canadian piracy!

"A swingin' sword, a skull-and-bones, and pleasant company;
I never pay my income tax and screw the GST!
Prince Albert down to Saskatoon, the terror of the sea...
If you wanna reach the co-op, boy, you gotta get by me!

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dandaman

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
"...No ma'am, I'm not actually Johnny Depp. Please stop asking."

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"And actually, I've got a question for you, love..."

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"...Have ya ever, like, looked at your hand? I mean really LOOKED at it."

(He would later find out that rum makes a poor substitute for munchies.)

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"Dead men tell no tales!"

"What about over at that mansion?"

"...Shut up, wench."

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My Delorean allowed me to jump four days into the future, play some mini-golf here, take a picture of a pirate ship and insert it into the same part of the TR. Am I a genius or what?

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Kinda cool to have a parade with giant gift boxes premiere on my birthday...

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I even got acknowledged by Robin Williams!

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Oh, my… oh my GOSH… Ollie LIVES!

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Disney Corporation meetings are serious business.

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dandaman

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Hurry! We can still catch the...

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Awwww…

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I'm still waiting for a "Great Moments With Mr. Disney" Animatronic attraction to make its way into the parks.

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Rollin' in my '71

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And so, upon turning 18, I sat down to an equally dignified meal.

...OMG OMG OMG CONFETTI EVERYWHERE

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If anyone goes to Tony's, get the spaghetti with Italian sausage instead of meatballs... you get two whole full-sized sausages! I could barely finish half of the meal!

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I also had my first-ever gelato, and it was on the house! (Metaphorically. If it was on the roof it’d still be worth the climb though.)

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This is a Dan-approved birthday dessert!

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...OK, I can see the mini-parade going once, but this is the third time in 90 minutes I've seen it. Foot traffic issues much?

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Oh, yeah, and I caught this hidden... thing... outside of Tony's. Celebrate 1950's Disney references!

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dandaman

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
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Train buff moment.

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Best I could get on the fly. (Oooh, 18th-birthday metaphor!)

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This would be better with the lamp lit...

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It’s probably Big Thunder Mountain. Or it could be Big Tragic Mishap. (No, wait, that’s Dinorama. *ZING!*)

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Celebrate white balance!

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Raise your hands... if you're sure!

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dandaman

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
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…Apparently 1.5 people are sure.

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Celebrate improper grammar!

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Can you tell I love BTM? (Fill in your own acronym.)

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Switch track enthusiasts unite!

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Brace yourself for temporal displacement!

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This is what cartoon characters see when they try robbing a train: a comically-placed heavy or sharp object.

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A goat on a roof? I thought those existed only in European mountain towns! Or on the walls of Applebee's!

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Ooooh, alternate view.

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No trains in one shot!

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dandaman

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
The Big Thunder Mining Company doesn't instill me with a lot of confidence.

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This would be an awesome Old West iron-horse shot if it wasn't a roller coaster. Or an artificial mountain.

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The weather enthusiast in me appreciates the fact that I looked up to see this.

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Part II will come tomorrow or the next day, so go do something... eat... sleep... go outside... I really don't care. But be prepared to interrupt all three when Part II is posted!
 

Disneybird

Member
Great trip report and pictures Dan. I especially love the shot from the airplane and the one of Cinderella's Castle.

Has anyone ever told you how witty you are? I'm sure you must hear it all the time .
 

dandaman

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Has anyone ever told you how witty you are? I'm sure you must hear it all the time.

Sure... usually they follow it up with cease-and-desist letters. :lookaroun :eek:

^^ Whatever happened to "concentrate on school work first"? :drevil:

Thanks for reading so far, peeps. Part II should be posted sometime after 9:00 tonight if I'm lucky.
 

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