Shookie Hates Walt Disney World

Only because I'm not there.

So I did the PTR - I did the LTR - Now it's time for the ROTR (Regular Old Trip Report)
Lots of awesome trip reports around here many from the same time I was there so I will
try to keep this sweet and to the point without too much babble.....(that's going to be hard for me).

When: September 27th - October 4th

Who: Enzo Tina Avery Pace

On our way:

In the Air url=http://www.flickr.com/people/26598802@N06/][/url]

Getting a little closer:

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Everyone's first monorail ride when you fly into Orlando (for us that "we're there!" moment)

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Doing my best to not get a speeding ticket at this point:

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Not too many things beat this feeling:

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First (and last) time at the CBR:

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This supposedly speeds things up but never does...

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CM made us some sweet birthday pins and for some reason an anniversary pin......she did such a good job I didn't have the heart to tell her...Our room was ready.

Sweet:

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Even Sweeter:

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[ShookieJones]

Unless you are dressed up ! The Victoria and Alberts crowd are easy to spot when they get on a bus headed to the MK.

When my wife and I were dating we got pretty snazzed up to go out to Portabello's for some reason....
Just walking anywhere in WDW I felt like I was out of place.

The days of those 70's photos where everyone was in full on dress slacks, button shirts, dresses etc...are LONG gone!!

 

[real mad hatter]

When my wife and I were dating we got pretty snazzed up to go out to Portabello's for some reason....
Just walking anywhere in WDW I felt like I was out of place.

The days of those 70's photos where everyone was in full on dress slacks, button shirts, dresses etc...are LONG gone!!

Yeh! Bring back purple satin bellbottoms and 6" platform shoes,maybe a little glitter under the eyes.

 

[ShookieJones]

Day 5

EPCOT (center)30th Anniversary
The weirdness continues.
I was very excited to snag some merchandise quickly and then spend the day rocking some F&WF.

We were there at rope drop, and so was every other WDW\EPCOT nerd…..as you all know the line for merchandise was quite extensive (and ridiculous if I’m going to be honest). I would never wait in a line like that………..or would I? Before I knew what I was doing I was following the throngs of nutcases towards forming a line that would eventually wind around the outside Mouse Gears and well into FW.
My wife looked at me like I had 3 heads (justifiably so) and said
"have fun I’m getting breakfast."
Avery -- a veteran "concert ticket line waiter" -- found some strange joy in standing in line with me so she kept me company.

I’ll admit I had a (20 minute) moment where I contemplated not doing it….then we struck up an awesome conversation with a married couple behind us - Aaron and Erin ( how funny is that) an aerospace engineer and a teacher from DC. They were incredibly cool, very interesting people who STRANGELY enough -- were WDW (and Harry Potter) geeks - amazingly enough the next 3 hours (dear God what’s wrong with me) went by in a flash. My wife and son came in and out of line but spent most of their time wandering around in FW.

I honestly am NOT the type to wait in a line like that for ANYTHING, but I have to say I was caught up in all the nuttiness and all things considered... sitting there having in depth nerd conversations with my daughter and some super cool, like minded people with ‘fountain’ music playing in the background was not the worst thing I could have been doing that day.

I don’t have any pictures of the line for some reason..I thought I took some but you’ve seen the videos etc. around here..it was madness…and I was part of it. I did manage a few pics, eating some delicious F&W grub from the kiosks and even briefly meeting up with @foolishmortal and @derelicte19 so all in all in was a pretty good day.

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22 ounce Moosehead and a filet..yeah..WHY NOT!!!?

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A very hearty, creamy, delicious Fisherman’s stew from the UK kiosk..

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They’re getting tired of all the eating and drinking and adult stuff I’m loving right now…

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Lunch was spent snacking at Kiosks so we grabbed a QS at Sunshine Seasons…

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Here is Pace’s dramatic impression of Avery at Universal

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I got pictures of food and fireworks but in all the hub bub..no pictures of friends –but as mentioned I did have a chance to meet and greet with Steve and Darolyn (before she headed home) and family members which was nice treat and always cool to place faces with names.
We ended the night with a bang –

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The 30th tag was very impressive and as far as my fireworks experiences --- a pretty d*mn good show.

 

[ShookieJones]

Day 6
I don’t know how this happened but we ended up BACK at EPCOT….TWICE this day….I don’t have a perfect recollection but from what I’ve been able to piece together……we went in the morning left for DHS and came back for our ADR at the Garden grill………Did I mention it was a weird trip? Here are some pics:
Pace grinning ear to ear……NOT!

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This was our first year with a Disney Chase card…one of the main reasons I got it was because I saw the ‘member’ perks at the F&WF that I read about here. One of the perks was the Chase members lounge. Again for some strange reason…I don’t have any good pics of the lounge…..

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Anyway….Free hot and cold beverages, charging stations…and wrist bands for preferred seating for Sugar Ray and Illuminations….yeah sure WHY NOT!!??

Off to DHS…TOT for a half a dozen rides…

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We’re not big parade people..but it’s a weird trip so why not watch a parade!!….I used to actually like the old Stars and Cars parade --- the new Pixar parade…uh..not so much. We’re definitely not parade people.


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After fitting in a couple of more rides: ST, GMR, and of course RNRC…back to EPCOT (wow)…for Sugar Ray and Garden Grill….


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I know these dudes get a lot of flak…but it was one of my son’s favorite bands when he was young and I have to say they never tried to be what they're not- they're just a good pop band. Mark Macrgath was entertaining the band was super tight and with a couple of young rockers on bass and drums they managed to sound relevant playing almost 10 year old songs.



A quick ride on the sometimes maligned, but to me…always fun… Maelstrom

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I mentioned we were in a “buying” mode\mood this year so I bought my wife something from the puffin’ roost….
I couldn’t manage the 300 dollar sweater but I did get her a sweet fragrance…”Laila”
Love this roof:

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Time for our Ressies at the Garden Grill. Hmm…Looks like everyone is hungry…

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Or maybe the excitement was for these guys:

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Very few things make my young son smile - I’m glad a Disney character is one of ‘em..
Apparently it works for old men too….

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Another food pic fail. I must have been too wound up and hungry.
We decided we were too tired to take advantage of the preferred seating for Illuminations (besides the 30th tag the night before was not going to be topped) so we wrapped it up and headed back to the resort.

Next Day 7…..

 

[real mad hatter]

Awesome Shookie.Quick question.What are the bands on your wrist?

 

[MickeyPeace]

Really great trip report. The "weirdness" that you speak of gives it a special angle.

This has been a very weird Disney year for me too. I was supposed to be at WDW first week of Oct too but when the Jetblue plane computer failed twice before takeoff I decided to disembark and stay home!

I also cancelled a trip back in Feb (One More Disney Day). Just wasn't feeling it.

And the one trip I did take this year end of May resulted in me visiting the Celebration hospital for part of one day. The theme for 2012 for me became The Weirdness, The Memories and Me.

 

[ShookieJones]

Awesome Shookie.Quick question.What are the bands on your wrist?

Hey hatter - Those are the wrist bands we got at the Chase lounge in Epcot for preferred seating for the Sugar Ray show and for Illuminations!
Not too shabby huh?

 

[ShookieJones]

Really great trip report. The "weirdness" that you speak of gives it a special angle.

This has been a very weird Disney year for me too. I was supposed to be at WDW first week of Oct too but when the Jetblue plane computer failed twice before takeoff I decided to disembark and stay home!

I also cancelled a trip back in Feb (One More Disney Day). Just wasn't feeling it.

And the one trip I did take this year end of May resulted in me visiting the Celebration hospital for part of one day. The theme for 2012 for me became The Weirdness, The Memories and Me.

Wow...yeah it's like someone trying to tell you something right!??

Total weirdness for us. A lot of little mishaps that have never happened...all the stuff I mentioned so far.
We did a lot of things but when we came back we realized we missed A LOT of stuff we usually do and for no real good reason.
Disjointed and weird....but hey at least we were together and we were in the World. We're no worse the wear.

 

[real mad hatter]

Hey hatter - Those are the wrist bands we got at the Chase lounge in Epcot for preferred seating for the Sugar Ray show and for Illuminations!
Not too shabby huh?

Cool!

 

[ShookieJones]

Day 7
Ahhh that bittersweet feeling of your last full day. You still got a solid day to do as you please - enjoy the parks, eat a few delicious WDW meals, go to bed and know you’ll at least be waking up in the World…..but still a little sucky because it’s all coming to an end and that “coming to an end” feeling tries to nag at you and does it’s best to permeate everything you do…but NOT TODAY b*thces!
Today we’re going to start the day off with a big breakfast at Crystal Palace kick the cr*p out of the MK and wrap up the night with a giant steak dinner at the one and only Yachtsman.
Almost got a smile out of Pace again…

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Let’s eat! Rounds 1 and 2 were traditional Northeastern style breakfasts

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Rounds 3 and 4 had more of a southern flair…love me some grits and the sausages, gravy and biscuits weren’t too shabby either

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Checked out these guys –it was a first for all of us – nothing to do cartwheels about but we enjoyed it thoroughly none the less.

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A great moment with my two kids and look my finger is making another appearance what a ham!!

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I’ve always loved these palm trees, there’s just something about them…probably has something to do with that castle in the background

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I got a text from @Foolish Mortal saying he was in the area! So we met up, introduced the family members to each other then decided to take a ride on Space! This time I didn’t forget the pic!

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After riding we all chit chatted for another 20 minutes about everything and anything and parted ways. Steve – We never did get around to that beer! Next time bud!
Time for lunch!

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These were both pretty delicious, if not a bit on the sweet side –especially the chicken. FYI these things are huge and I easily could have split either one of these with Avery…Tina and Pace opted for some fried shrimp at CHH.
Caught a few minutes of these guys! They were tearing it up!

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That’s about the time I realized that I forgot a major MUST DO on my list…

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Pace and Avery were hooked….especially Pace…man when he found out you could only get 1 set of cards per day….wow…did I ever get called a “NEWB” !! I deserved it…Did I mention it was a WEIRD trip.
Non-chalantly kicking villain butt

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Back to the room for the only kind of BAD Mickey mail:

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Our Mouskeeping was top notch all week and we tipped accordingly. However I thought this was strange. My wife sleeps with a pillow between her knees to relieve back aches she gets occasionally. When we would leave she would leave the pillow under the sheets and that’s how the bed would get made ---- see the lump?

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We got ready and we were off to what was (in my opinion) the best meal of the trip at the Yachtsman.
I passed time waiting for our table by staring into the aging room

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They had to wipe my drool off the glass after I left.

First off an amazingly delicious and unique ceaser salad:

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The Rib eye is normally my favorite cut of steak…but I’d be fool to pass up the Porterhouse when it looks like this:

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What better with steak then some sautéed shrooms….

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….and a frosty cold one. (a Belgian white I cannot recall the name of)

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I finished this meal with the most delicious house coffee blend and this ridiculous chocolate peanut butter pretzel cake thing that came with a dab of caramel ice cream. Tina had to LITERALLY stop me from licking the plate. Both the coffee and dessert didn’t get pictures but they deserve my undying love and devotion, they were an experience onto themselves.
My wife got this:

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Happy Birthday to her.

It was a great way to finish off our last full day.
Next up…..our very last day in the World………………

 

[dopeylover]

Great report! Glad you and your beautiful family had fun! Your food pics are great! Now excuse me as I go raid my fridge....

 

[ShookieJones]

Great report! Glad you and your beautiful family had fun! Your food pics are great! Now excuse me as I go raid my fridge....

Thanks dl! It's ridiculous but I make MYSELF hungry (and thirsty) when I'm posting these pics.

 

[ExtinctJenn]

You are so lucky to have kids that don't appear to hate each other. You have shot after shot posted of them both seeming to actually even like each other. The shot of your son on your daughter's back is priceless. They are adorable (a term they'd each hate so tell them I said they are "so cool" or something).

The whole lump in the covers thing because of the pillow cracks me up. I mean you'd think after they smoothed the covers and realized there was something underneath they'd undo them and pull whatever it is out. I almost want to do that on our next trip to see if we have the same result. If we do I'll name the occurrence "Shookie Spread" in your honor!

 

[Pooh'sBuddy]

Our Mouskeeping was top notch all week and we tipped accordingly. However I thought this was strange. My wife sleeps with a pillow between her knees to relieve back aches she gets occasionally. When we would leave she would leave the pillow under the sheets and that’s how the bed would get made ---- see the lump?

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Sorry, I can't pass it up...

lump? what lump?

 

[ShookieJones]

You are so lucky to have kids that don't appear to hate each other. You have shot after shot posted of them both seeming to actually even like each other. The shot of your son on your daughter's back is priceless. They are adorable (a term they'd each hate so tell them I said they are "so cool" or something).

The whole lump in the covers thing because of the pillow cracks me up. I mean you'd think after they smoothed the covers and realized there was something underneath they'd undo them and pull whatever it is out. I almost want to do that on our next trip to see if we have the same result. If we do I'll name the occurrence "Shookie Spread" in your honor!

Thanks Jenn! They annoy each other occasionally but you're right they don't 'hate' each other which is a GREAT thing, it makes for many moments like the ones you see in the pics. The fact that my daughter is not a girly girl and loves all things nerdy helps her relate to her brother and vice versa.

OMG...I couldn't understand what Mouskeeping was thinking. like you said they had to smooth the bed out..they had to notice it.... Again it's not like they were falling short in any other areas - they were top notch all the way around, the pillow thing was NOT a big deal, just strange..and I'm all about wanting to figure out things like this!! I really wished I could have asked her why.. without making it sound like I was mad about it! LOL....

 

[lebeau]

Great report. Looks like a fun trip. Love the Avengers costumes. I took the girls shopping for Halloween costumes this year and almost convinced them to go Avengers. There was a $30 life sized Cap shield that is still calling my name.

 

[PhilharMagician]

Great report. Looks like a fun trip. Love the Avengers costumes. I took the girls shopping for Halloween costumes this year and almost convinced them to go Avengers. There was a $30 life sized Cap shield that is still calling my name.

The Porterhouse @ Yachtsman is the bomb!!! I am glad you enjoyed. HMMM Belgian White

 

[ShookieJones]

Great report. Looks like a fun trip. Love the Avengers costumes. I took the girls shopping for Halloween costumes this year and almost convinced them to go Avengers.
There was a $30 life sized Cap shield that is still calling my name.

Thanks for reading!
Oh man! Avery and I would fight over that. We saw this little mini one at Uni but it was WAY over priced.

 

[ShookieJones]

The Porterhouse @ Yachtsman is the bomb!!! I am glad you enjoyed. HMMM Belgian White

Yeah it is!! I'll tell you what..that frosty beverage complimented it perfectly!

 

[Foolish Mortal]

Man I have got to stop wearing the Hawaiin shirts ! I know I've put on a few pounds over the years but aye carumba !! And I always get the Porterhouse. Tell Pace he's not the only one who has a hard time smiling. I rarely can smile on command. Usually it's only when trying on funny hats. Awesome report bud.