Silent's Trip Report 2011 (August 14th-21st)

Hey, guys. It's been an insane month, but now it's finally come to a close. We just got back not long ago from a weeklong trip to the World, consisting of myself, my friend Keith, and my parents. After my 2007 trip, I'd planned to write out a long report, but unfortunately it got away from me and I never did it. I refuse to let the same thing happen this time, even though my first attempt got wiped last time I wrote it because it asked me for my password again, and when I gave it my entire post had been erased.

To give some backstory, I'd planned a trip with Keith and some of our other friends for 2009, but it didn't work out. My dad promised that if things didn't work out, that he'd put a trip together himself for the next year. Unfortunately, that didn't work out either. Finally, this year came and we made plans in January for August. Keith had gone in 2008 to Animal Kingdom with his family and had faint memories of going to Magic Kingdom when he was young. His only time visiting all the parks was when he was too young to remember anything, so this was a fresh experience for him.

We were finally going to stay in the Wilderness Lodge, a place I'd dreamed of staying since first seeing pictures of it when I was a yound boy. It was our first foray into Deluxe Resort territory. How'd we do? Well, here's the report. For ease I'm just going to post it in bullet points of my observations and happenings.

-August 14th-
Park: Magic Kingdom
Feet/Leg Condition: Good


-We began early in the morning, packed up the car and flew out of Stewart Airport at 8 in the morning headed for Orlando International.

-Despite the fact that Disney's Magical Express is advertised as having signs all through the airport directing you to where you need to go, we saw no signs whatsoever. We were in Terminal A and decided to follow the signs that pointed to "ground transportation". When we got there, we found the busses, but were told that they were unloading people, and that we'd have to go to Terminal B to load. We then made the walk across the entire airport to the ground transportation area for Terminal B, and it was only on getting there that we started seeing signs for the Magical Express.

-The lodge was beautiful, as expected. I'd showed Keith some pictures of the place, but it was beyond what he'd thought, and he was awed by the lobby.

-We needed an extra bed for Keith, but couldn't bring an air matress along with us. We knew that rollaway beds were on a "You can ask but we can't promise anything" basis, so we were hoping we wouldn't show up to being down one bed. We were told that rollaway beds were not permitted due to fire code, but that we could get an air mattress. That was even better, since that would allow more flexibility and ease of storage.

-My parents have their anniversary in late July. When my dad registered for the trip and they asked if we were celebrating anything, my dad put their anniversary, so they recieved anniversary pins.

-We got one of the coveted "bear face" rooms, which share a view of the courtyard and an exit to the lobby. Unfortunately, we had a giant tree right in front of us, so the view of the creek and pool were almost completely obstructed. We could see beyond to Bay Lake, though.

-We had lunch down at Roaring Forks. I suppose rich people don't visit the food courts often, because it was rather tiny. There were two stations for food and a drink area with some shelves in the center with snacks. We'd stayed at Port Orleans Riverside the previous two stays, so we were used to the huge Riverside Mill. The barbecue flatbread of the day was delicious, though. It was beef with barbecue sauce and "tilamook cheese" melted on top.

-Dinner was Whispering Canyon Cafe. We were seated in the back near the windows looking out on the courtyard, so we were away from the craziness. I'm sad to say that I can't remember the name of our waitress and failed to get a picture, but she was blonde and went by her nickname that was related to her blondeness. She gave us a shower of straws, which was perfect because Keith is a bit of a germophobe and it gave us the ability to try each others shakes without having to use any straw on more than one shake. We all agreed my strawberry was the best, although Keith's cotton candy shake tasted kinda like Lucky Charms. Skillet was good, as usual. Keith had the porkchop and absolutely raved about the cheese and chorizo grits. My parents had left their pins in their room, so the waitress gave them a new set, this time writing their names in marker on them. They also received two glasses of champaigne with strawberries on them.

-It was the Magic Kingdom's late night, so we headed there after dinner. Keith had somehow gotten my camera and was in charge of the picture taking, and he got plenty as we went down Main Street. He was lagging behind us taking pictures of the street and the castle.

-I'm a "go left and make a circle around the park" kinda guy, so, as always, first ride was the Jungle Cruise. Our skipper seemed like a fun guy, but lacked a good delivery and seemed to miss a lot. Did they remove the "inspired to go" line, because ours didn't use it, instead saying something about its enspiring beauty. The fog in the Amazon was coming up in very obvious high-powered funnels, ruining any atmosphere. I noticed this last time too, but at least this time I couldn't see the pipes. I hope they fix this. My dad and Keith weren't impressed, and many jokes were made at the ride's expense throughout our stay.

-Pirates seemed smaller than I remember, and I just went four years ago. How long until Davy Jones returns? His undead-ish status makes more sense showing up on a mystic fog than Blackbeard. We were really close to the boat ahead of us, and could see them go over the falls. When we were in the battle sequence, we actually got hit with a blast of air rather squarely in the head and neck. Never had that happen before, and it was really effective. Did it always do this, or was sometihng off? The mayor's wife was not functioning and never came out of the window.

The most awesome thing happened towards the end, though. There was a logjam at the end of the ride around Jack Sparrow, so we were waiting to get off. Someone took a flash picture, and a voice came over loudspeakers I didn't even know were there. "Yarr, Jack Sparrow has eyes everywhere and he always be watching, so please no flash photography, especially in the treasure room". I'd never heard someone come in over the loudspeakers before to reprimand someone, but the fact that it was done in character was amazing.

-Got to see the new interactive queue at the Haunted Mansion. It looked awesome. Ageing had been applied well to problem areas that I'd worry about. The instruments were a big wonky, though. It's hard for someone being there for the first time to know exactly how to make them make noises, and while you're trying to figure it out it feels like they aren't working right. The poetess book works very well, though, even if I do think the voice is a bit much. Is there any point to the portholes in the back of the Captain grave? Is something supposed to be coming there.

They've really gotta stop playing the introductory speech too early. I know they've gotta get people through quickly, but given how quick the ride loads, I'd think they could afford a few extra seconds. They should load people into the room, close the door, play the introduction and portrait morph, then take people through to the stretch rooms. It's getting rediculous at this point, though. We really weren't that far back when they opened the door, but we'd completely missed the opening speech and portrait, were pulled straight through into the stretch room, and the stretch room spiel was already playing when we got in. Some people missed the beginning, and the CM was speaking over it to tell people to get all the way inside. This is terrible show.

Did they make a lot of changes to the script? It seemed as though there were pieces missing, like the Ghost Host wasn't saying all his lines. I couldn't really pick out exact examples, but it didn't feel right. The only exact moment I could pick out was the fact that he did not introduce Madam Leota.

Finally, the new Hitchiking Ghost effect looks great, but I wish that you didn't clearly see your own head behind the effect. When me and Keith came to the end, for some reason my head showed up late, and when the ghost was messing with it (I think it was Gus) we were between mirrors and didn't see the effect. Does this happen often? Did get to see the effect on everyone else, though.

-Ahh, it's a small world. This was the first of the songs that got stuck in Keith's head. This was also the first time I really noticed the look-in from Pinocchio Village Haus, mostly due to the incredibly cute children that were waving and blowing kisses to us as we left on our voyages.

-Never got on Peter Pan. Wait was always more than 60 minutes. Philharmagic was great as always, though.

-Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor has absolutely no business being in Tomorrowland, and it is a sign of a blight on Tomorrowland's theming. That being said, good lord it is amazing. It is incredibly hilarious, and whatever improv guys they have working in the back are worth every dollar. Why do we have four spinner rides on property, but only one of these in the entire company?

-The projections on the castle looked beautiful. Unfortunately fireworks from the Tomorrowland bridge did not line up around the castle perfectly, but it was still beautiful, and Tinkerbell came right over us. Caught the Electrical Parade for the first time, and it wasn't until the end, when I didn't see Chernabog, that I realized that. It kinda fell flat in comparison for me, but that just might be because of what I'm used to.

-Headed back to the lodge after that. The bed still hadn't been delivered by the time we left, and we found out that it had gone to the wrong room, as it was delivered. We found it waiting for us now, though. Unfortunately, there were no blankets. We called down for them, but they wouldn't come.

-August 15th-
Park: Magic Kingdom
Feet/Leg Condition: Fair


-My dad has a ritual whenever we go on vacation and stay at a hotel of getting us breakfast. I guess he just likes the moment of quiet in the morning. Oh my goodness, Mickey waffles in bananas foster sauce. This... was... incredible. Is this a Deluxe-only thing, or just new? Coffee out on the balcony looking out over Bay Lake was exactly as I dreamt it, except for the choking heat.

-As we'd mostly wiped out Adventureland, we decided to catch the train to hit Splash Mountain. Unfortunately, Splash was down. We grabbed some fastpasses, and my dad and Keith his Big Thunder. I'm not a big thrill-ride guy, but I'd gone on Splash for the first time last time, and was gonna go on Big Thunder for the first time this time, but my mom really didn't want to go on, and I didn't want to leave her alone. Got a video of them coming around the last couple of bends from the nice spot they've given you for that. Also liked the small window by the exit that looks down on the dinosaur skeleton.

-While I waited on them I looked over at Frontierland, getting a rare-for-me really far out look at the town. I know the Tiki Room was themed certain ways to fit in, and they included a similar roof to the top of a Frontierland building to match the Tiki Room style, but it really doesn't fit in all that well. You know what fits in less? The giant Magic Lamp looming over the Country Bear Jamboree.

-While I didn't notice it this visit, I remember last time noticing an eagle on a string in the air above one Frontierland building more towards Pecos Bill's. Was that always there just for themeing? I've never heard anyone mention it before or since.

-Did the things that looked like springs in the center of the viewing platform at Big Thunder ever work?

-Just goes to show that you never can know what a person likes and what they won't. I kinda joked about the Country Bear Jamboree ahead of time to Keith, but he absolutely loved it.

-Noticed a red and white dressed marching band sneaking out of a door behind the Hall of Presidents. Was confused, but we had no time to waste. We were on our way to lunch.

-The Columbia Harbor House is always great, and the chowder was incredibly delicious. I was disappointed in 2003 because after all the raving about it I found I'd come just after they discontinued the bread bowls. This has become out default lunch spot for the MK, though, and not just because it's in the part of the park we usually hit mid-day. We were stopped on the way out by a man who was taking surveys, and we had nothing but good things to say.

-Caught the Hall of Presidents. Morgan Freeman is great. Obama did not have the best looking AA, but I think he's slimmed down since he started as president, so it's understandable if he no longer looks exactly the same. Keith marvelled at how good the AA's were.

-Back to Tomorrowland to hit the Carousel of Progress. Hello second song stuck in Keith's head. This was the first time we'd been sat at the far end of the theater. Never before had I gotten such a close look at the scrims on the ends. I can't remember them being so bowed in or actually seeing the scene elements sticking out and running along the center of the scrim. I'm amazed those things aren't ripped or worn beyond repair in the center given how often the scenes are spun.

-Started walk across the park for our fastpasses. Stopped along the way at Aloha Isle. My feet had started bothering me at this point. I'd dropped my shoe size with my latest purchase because I've often gone with shoes that are too long because of how wide my feet are. This time I'd gotten a wide pair that had seemed to fit all right, and I thought that they'd stretch with use. Now I regretted it. While everyone else waited for the orders to be up, I sat on the nice little seating area nextdoor. Everyone came over, and just in time to watch a strong rain storm come in and pelt everyone else. Pineapple float was incredible, as always. Once the rain stopped, we ventured on.

-I'd asked a CM outside of Aloha Isle if Splash was still down, and they said yes. My parents didn't 100% trust that, and we went to Splash anyway. It was still down. We had five minutes left on our fastpass, but were told we could use it on any other ride, so we were headed back to Buzz Lighyear to get on there. There was no way I was walking all the way back across the park with my feet the way we were, and I wanted to see the entire train loop anyway, so we took the train to Main Street and walked from there.

-Buzz Lightyear was a fun time. We grabbed fastpasses, as they were only running about 20 minutes later (about the same time as standby). We caught Stitch in the meantime. Got back on Buzz Lightyear, had more fun, then hit the Peoplemover. Was not expecting to see the EPCOT model as soon as we did, and was disappointed to not hear any reference to it in the least.

-Got to see the Tiki Room. My feet were bothering me, and that wasn't helped by the fact that I rolled my ankle coming into the Tiki Room preshow, so now I had bad feet, a sprained ankle, and Epcot the next day. Did they tone down the storm and the scaryness of the tikis, or is it just me misremembering? Also, the tikis on the posts more lazily winked than ever blinked during the whole time. They looked like they were broken. This joined the Jungle Cruise as the butt of many jokes by my dad and Keith.

-Dinner at the Liberty Tree Tavern. We'd first eaten here in 1998, and it's become a staple of our trips since then. Unfortunately, when we got there we found out that my dad had misremembered the time of the reservations. They were not at 6:05, but 6:50. As my feet were in pain, I relaxed on the benches outside near a family and watched the boys play with their guns they'd gotten at Pirates. Meanwhile everyone checked out the shops.

I was surprised to see that the restaurant was no longer sponsored by Stouffers, but instead Craisins. Not the company Ocean Spray, but their product Craisins. I still don't understand that. I wonder what the mac and cheese is now.

Possibly the strangest thing that has ever happened to me at Disney World happened that night. Weirder than having the mom of a child that ran into me and fell yell at me and then yell "Go Boston!" as I tried to say that he ran into me. Weirder than splitting a pair of shorts while sitting down in Mexico which were actually a bit too large for me. My second lemonade came, and when I grabbed the handle of the mug and pulled the mug split completely in half. It didn't break. It didn't shatter. It just seperated in half, vertically, and the lemonade poured out all over. I guess the mug was filled too soon after coming out of the dishwasher, and the glass was weakened. I was just left there staring in shock. There was no sharp glass, and the woman who came to clean it up just grabbed the broken halves and put them in her arm with the broken parts against her skin. It was just... one of the weirdest occurances that have ever happened to me.

Dinner was delicious. I'd worried that it might be mediocre compared to the rest of the meals, but the mashed potatoes were delicious, the gravy was very hearty, and the herb stuffing was amazing. The Craisins sponsorship brought about the addition of an apple chutney with Craisins to the Patriot's Platter, and a Craisin cake at the end of the meal. Didn't touch the chutney, but the cake was great.

-Hit the Mansion one more time. Due to the discovery that internet cost 10 dollars a day, I didn't have access, and the leadup to this trip had been so crazy (Keith had stayed with us the two previous weeks), that I hadn't been able to get all the information on everything for this trip. I remember hearing that there was a ring included somewhere on the Mansion grounds, but I couldn't find it. It was night by now.

-We'd planned on going to Splash Mountain early and then get to dry throughout the day. Now it was night, but it was finally up. No idea what was going on throughout the day, but it was cleared up now. First time trying the new lapbars, and it was tricky. I'm a sizeable individual. Keith, who was next to me, is a tiny individual. I pulled especially low to make sure Keith was covered, as it was a two-person bar. This would be fine, but there is absolutely no space in front of you to stretch out your legs and toes. I found that my leg from knee to toes were lodges firmly, and wouldn't budge.

All hopes of staying dry on the ride were dashed when, upon being dumped in the water, we smacked against the banks, and an entire wave of water just poured over the side and into the log.

One of the things a lot of people love about this ride is the jumping Brer Rabbit AA, and it's definitely a good effect. But seriously, do they have to have him clearly visible, albeit hunched down, as he is returned back to original position. Are we supposed to see this, or is it just a fluke that we saw it?

There was a literal logjam a few times during the ride. I noticed this on every boat ride our whole trip. What causes this? My feet were killing me from the aforementioned lodging by the time, but now we were coming to the big drop. No, wait, we were third in line to go up the lift hill. We hit a bigger logjam at the end.

I somehow made it off, though. Free at last! Now, though, I found that my entire legs were asleep. Do you know how hard it is to walk with your entire legs dead? I stumbled through the gift shop, and prepared to take the train to the gate.

-Does the train close every day at a certain time, or did it just go down that day. We had to hoof it through Adventureland back to the gate, and then we took the boat back to the Lodge.

-I was in pain, but it was early, so it was time to finally hit the resort pool for the first time. It was so warm, and felt fantastic. Because I was there alone, though, I didn't move past the stairs because I didn't want to leave my stuff behind.

-I drink, a lot, and I drink even more when I'm walking a few miles a day in August in Orlando. I'd filled a popcorn container from Main Street with water the day before, but Keith was sleeping by the door so I couldn't get to the fridge. Now I poured into it one of the Hawaiian Punch mixed we'd brought and chugged it down before going to bed.
 

SilentWindODoom

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
-August 16th-
Park: Epcot
Feet/Leg Condition: Terrible


-This was gonna be tough. My feet were hurting me, and I'd have to take it slow to not do too much damage. I skipped out of the room early and sat down in the lobby waiting for everybody. It was now that I realized the stripes of the carpet look like they have little evil tikis in them.

-Ugh. I wanted to take things slow. Epcot's busses are so far away, but now we were in a Deluxe resort, which meant getting in the coveted first bus station bank rather than the much farther ones down the line.

-I tried to get a picture of Keith holding up Spaceship Earth, but he failed to get his hands right, and there was a tree in the way anyway.

-I don't mind doing things a little less time-economic, but unfortunately I'd allowed Keith to get his hands on the unofficial guide, so he'd read on a lot of the strategies. Because of this, we skipped Spaceship Earth, and kept walking. My dad ran to Test Track to get fastpasses while we headed to Mission: SPACE, but the wait there was 30 minutes, and no one wanted to wait. I'd managed to walk on it repeatedly my last trip, but I guess the crowds were a little heavier this time. We instead went to Ellen's Energy Adventure.

-I always loved Ellen's Energy Adventure. I love the humor, I love the personalities, and I really don't think the core show needs updating. Maybe some new effects or something may be nice, but the core Ellen and Bill stuff could be kept. The man sitting on the bench next to me disagreed, because when Ellen appeared, he let out a loud sigh, which made me laugh. When we got off, Keith was nowhere to be found, and I just barely saw his silhouette as he ran out into the sunlight. Apparently, not knowing it was a 40-minute show, he thought he didn't have to go to the bathroom beforehand. He'd been dying during the second half, worried he wouldn't make it. He made it.

-We got on Test Track, and I was on the right end. This was good, because I didn't want the side with the truck on it. I'm not one for being startled. However, I had trouble with my seatbelt. We then left the station, but I still couldn't get my seatbelt clicked. I was worried I was going on without a seat belt, but I got it clicked just in time... for the belt-check station upstairs. Sitting in the front, I didn't have the place to hold onto that I had in the back last trip, and the ride seemed a lot more instense. As I was on the right side, this meant I was on the high side in the banks, and I really really felt like I was gonna just fly out of the car. I survived though.

-Got fastpasses for Mission: SPACE and headed across to Club Cool. Tricked Keith into trying Beverly, even though my mom almost spoiled it because she tried it first. I got him to, though, by pouring myself a cup and pretending to drink it. I poured it out after he tried it. The Israeli lemon-honey stuff was probably the best.

-The Imagination Pavillion was right out back, and we had time to kill, so why not? Imagination With Figment was pretty bad, and much shorter than I remembered. Keith actually laughed out loud when he saw the scene leading up to Figment's house where it was a black room with flat neon signs, which he said he could put together in a couple hours. This become the gold standard of horrible rides for my dad and Keith.

-Then it was time to see Captain EO for the first time. I'd never known it was a 3D movie before, let along a 4D movie, and me and Keith absolutely loved it. Sadly, it will probably be the only way we'll ever see Michael Jackson perform, but it was awesome.

-Mission: SPACE time! It was glorious, as always. We must have gotten placed in the farthest chamber, because it was a 6 minute walk through plain white hallways to the gift shop. The ride is an amazing experience, but it really needs a lot more themeing, and it would benefit from making the experience more genuine by making it an actual flight than a training simulation. By the by, is the "first family in space" from the timeline in the queue the first family to ride the ride, because that would be an awesome little touch.

-Took the Friendship boat across, although we just missed it and had to wait for the entire round trip to catch it. We had plans for lunch at Via Napoli! Caught a little bit of the Italian mime on the way in.

-Via Napoli. We'd finally made it to the World Showcase, and this was the moment of truth. This was the first time I'd been to Disney since I'd turned 21, and my plan was to Drink Around the World, but my cousin, who was going to join me couldn't come. Would I try, or just enjoy the trip. I was incredibly thirsty, and a beer would be refreshing at the moment, but I saw the full bottle of Perrier, something I'd never had but was always curious about for a couple cents more than the non-refilable cooler Keith had gotten, so I got that. It was like a very soft, delicate seltzer, and it was very refreshing.

For an appetizer we got the caprese salad, which is traditionally tomato and mozarella slices in olive oil with basil. It was about 8 dollars, and what the four of us received were five small half-slices of tomato, and five small half-slices of mozarella. It was very paltry, but the mozarella was incredible. Is there any place on property where you can find that mozarella for sale?

I'm used to New York style pizza, lets get that out of the way. I'd never had a real Italian pizza before. It was much thinner and limper than a New York slice, and I was kinda unsure what to do with it. My first slice, which was from the center, was limp as a noodle, and when I brought it to my mouth, it drooped at the end and spilled a glob of sauce on the middle of my white shirt. It was very good, though. We had a Margherita pie and a pepperonni pie. I'm never one for pepperonni, but this was great. The small pepperonni
slices were completely crispy and delicious.

Dessert for me was the pistachio gelato, which actually tasted a bit like coconut. Everyone else had the tirimasu, which was covered in a thick layer of cocoa powder that was tough to get through, but good besides that.

-Italy: Now I could do what I love about the World Showcase, just enjoy the scenery and atmosphere. I sat at the base of one of the pillars and watched a little bit of the Italian Mime juggling soccer balls with a young boy.

-American Adventure: We took a look at the American Adventure, and my mom asked it it was a big patriotic show like the Hall of Presidents. We passed by, but not before looking at the MLB pins. They also had Uncle Sam hats, and not for a bad price concerning how much they charge for them in the City. I passed, though.

-Japan: My dad made 8PM reservations at the new Hacienda de San Angel. I'd wanted something different and hopefully earlier for dinner for me and Keith, and we were going to go to Yakitori House, but was greatly dismayed to find that entire half of the pavillion behind walls. It really put a huge damper on the Japan Pavillion to lose all of the gardens and Yakitori House.

Ahh, time to have some fun. I love getting all my gifts form World Showcase because you can find so much unique stuff and perfectly tailor it to the person. I got a couple of fans, a headband, and a box of Pocky (that was for me) at Mitsukoshi. Keith got a really nice tea set for his grandmother. I love the fact that you can get stuff sent to the room. It makes going around the parks sooooo much easier not being encumbered by bags. I also watched the little pearl routine a couple times.

-Morocco: Keith had not originally gotten the tea set, but went back with my mom to buy it, so me and my dad went to Morocco. We caught a show of Mo Rockin' and I marveled at what looked like a red board with Oreos glued to it, which ended up being some sort of portable drum machine. The rains came, so we hung out by Tangerie Cafe, drinking a delicious but incredibly sweet frozen watermelon drink and eating some marinated olives.

-France: I'd eaten a lot, so I wasn't ready for the crepe which I definitely wanted to get this trip. I would have lingered more, but everyone else was ready to go right on to the next pavillion.

-United Kingdom: All right. My feet hurt now, and this was something I was looking forward to doing. I announced that I was gonna get a pint and a basket of chips at the pub, and so I did. It was smaller than I expected, and I was shocked to find there was no seating at the bar.

I had a pint of Guiness and shared a basket of fries with vinegar with Keith as we relaxed at the pub. It wasn't quite the atmosphere I was expecting or hoping for. There wasn't even any music piped in, which I think would have helped things. When we were surveyed on the way out, I mentioned the seating at the bar and the lack of music. I'd never been surveyed once before, but we saw it a lot this time. Is it just because we didn't have any kids with us, or have they stepped this up recently?

Figured I'd get something golf for my friend Jack, but was dismayed to find that there was absolutely no golf merchandise in the pavillion. In the Crown and Crest I did find polos with crests on them, and grabbed one. When I payed for it and the Guiness bottle opener I'd gotten for my friend Alyssa, I was told it was $90. $90!!!! The shirt was $75. $75 dollars for a large blue polo shirt with the crest of Scotland on it. That's rediculous.

I was also dismayed to find no Doctor Who merch.

-Canada: When we called my parents to find where in the pavillion they were, I found that they'd continued moving on, and were now in Mexico. We walked into Canada, looked around, and took some pictures, but ran off to catch up.

-Mexico: Got into the Mexico pavillion, and realized the irony of the fact that the one pavillion that made the most sense of being in the Florida heat was indoor and air conditioned. When I got inside, I found that my parents were outside, having already finished, so Keith ran around to check things out once, and we moved on together.

-Norway: As we passed Norway, my dad said "Eh, Norway doesn't thrill me." We moved on.

-China: Last time I'd gone, the Temple of Heaven was under tarps. Now it was out, and it... was... beautiful. One of, if not the most beautiful thing I saw the entire trip. I didn't really have anything I wanted to get there, so I sat below the temple and by the ponds, just relaxing and enjoying the absolute beauty before eventually moving on. Was the stone picture in front of the temple always there? It's really hard to make out what the picture is of, though.

-Outpost: They took out OsiRisi? Then why does this still exist? They can't at least add a new building or two and make it a real pavillion?

-Germany: We made it! Germany was our last pavillion. I would have liked a beer here, but the line was too long. I'd wanted to eat at either Chefs de France or Biergarten, but it just never panned out. I thought of getting a stein for my friend Andre, but the prices were astronomical.

-I wanted to take the Friendship Boat back to Mexico for dinner, but my mom had gone back to China for something, so we had to walk the whole way. It was murderous on my feet, but we somehow made it.

-Hacienda de San Angel was actually a bit disappointing. Both salsas for the chips really weren't good. I had the shrimp tacos, and it had a citrus sauce that was good, but too overpowering. The view out the window of Illuminations was great, though. If only we hadn't sat in the one table where the column in the middle of the room was positioned to block the globe.

-Ugh. The walk back to our busses. I was dying. At this point, it actually felt like my pinky toe was going to completely fall off. I was disappointed to find that they had rearranged the stops, and the Wilderness Lodge, despite being one of the Deluxe resorts, was pushed far back, even farther than the Moderate Port Orleans, where we'd stayed in the past. There was a crowd there, and we were forced to stand for the whole ride back.

-This ride back featured an incredibly bizarre choice of music. First it played the Ghostbusters theme. Really? Then it was "Don't You Forget Aboute Me", and then Steve Martin's "King Tut". It was really weird to hear on the way back, considering not one of those is a Disney Property.

-Got back to the room. There was no sitting since Hacienda de San Angel, but I made it! I actually made it! I didn't wanna take off my socks, because I was dreading what the damage would be. Sure enough, my pinky toes had each swolen into one huge blister. Ugh. This was only three days in.

So, would Silent be able to get over his bad shoe problem? Will he and his family be able to get through this week without completely falling apart? Tune in, as the rest of the trip will be revealed by the end of the weekend!
 

SilentWindODoom

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Wow - this is why I started walking 2+ miles a day before I go to Disney LOL

That's the thing. I'd been using a bike to make sure that I was in shape and had enough stamina to make it through this trip. The problem was the shoes. It wasn't my legs that bothered me, but my feet, which were pinched up in my shoes. After the first two days, I put moleskin on the soles of my feet, but that made for less space in the shoe making my feet even worse for Epcot.

It wasn't until we were in the airport that my mom asked why we didn't just get new shoes there. We never thought about it. LOL
 

Camelot

Active Member
I feel your pain, Silent. I always wear my broken-in Reebok sneakers to Disney, but for some reason on my last trip to Disney, for the first time ever, I developed blisters on the bottom of two toes of my right foot that hurt with every step. I bought some gel-filled bandages that were supposed to cushion the blister. It still hurt though.

It took several days after returning home for the blisters to heal.

P.S. I'm enjoying reading your trip report and looking forward to reading the rest :)
 

DisneyDebNJ

Well-Known Member
Thank you for taking the time to post your report. Boy, can I relate to blisters!!! Last year, being the fashionista I am, in my head ( :ROFLOL: ) I didn't bring sensible shoes to walk a near 8 miles a day! I too, start a month out before my trip and work my legs. (Which, I plan to start tonite, might as well!!) My son is an avid fan of Yakitori House (the chicken teriyaki is a MUST DO for him, atleast 3 times during our visits) When my legs start to bother me a bit, in Epcot, we love to stop at United Kingdom for the *Beatles* performance. (I amaze myself and remember EVERY word to EVERY song!!!) or watch the World Showcase Players performances. (I was actually a part of the act one year and had a blast!!!) Last year, splash mountain went down, when we were third in line to get on a *log*, dissapointed but we understand, things break down. Look forward to the rest of your trip report. :wave:
 

fractal

Well-Known Member
Great report! I'm really enjoying all the details.

Sorry about your feet. I swear by my Crocs flip flops/sandals but I also bring a pair of running sneakers. Switching between the two every day or so for some reason helps my feet.

I agree with the opening script at HM. One of the times we went on, by the time we got in the first room the portrait was a skeleton and half of the crowd was in the stretching room.

Looking forward to more.
 

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