Wait while I take a picture, I cant eat any more, NO KIDS! Sept 2012 Trip Report

If you need a little background on me any my wife please visit my Pre Trip Report HERE.

So with no more delay here it goes.....

We had counted down from 344 days for our arrival day. Finally it was here and all was set. So we hit the road around 8am EST and headed I-75 Sound Bound!!

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Not too eventful during our trip. However I must point out while needing to fuel up before leaving Georgia we decided to visit what we felt was a pretty good deal on fuel. $3.69 per gallon.

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After I swiped my card and started fueling I noticed the price was a lot different from what was on the sign. I told my wife. Wow this gas is $3.74 a gallon. Confused I kept pumping and started looking around. Then my eyes were finally able to focus on the VERY tiny notice on the right side of the HUGE Citgo sign. Notice picture zoomed in below...

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Needless to say when you first get into Valdosta, GA and see a Citgo gas station, just drive a few mile further down and you will find plenty of gas stations with the same pricing and no need to pay with cash or a special gas card. Stay away from Citgo!!

Anyway nothing was going to get me upset so off we go with a tank full of gas and before we knew it....

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The Florida State line and Ron Jon Surf shop signs!!! Ahead of schedule and making great time!

Of course my first stop when entering Florida is...

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Thats right!! The I-75 Florida Welcome Center!!

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Nothing like finally being back in Florida! This is by far my most favorite State Welcome Center!

Pat was kind enough to offer me a free cup of Orange Juice and Grapefruit Juice.

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After that its always fun browsing the brochures.

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So we are back on our way and once we get on the Florida Turnpike the signs point the way!

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But before you can get there you have to pay the toll!!

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And once you go through a lengthy countdown and make all your ADR's and travel all that way...

You arrive here........

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SharonD

Well-Known Member
Just wanted to say your TR brought me out of "lurker-mode." Really enjoying everything about your report - the photos, your writing, your enthusiasm, and THE BEER ;) It looks like the two of you toured at the perfect pace.
 

nngrendel

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Okay. I have to continue this TR! Been crazy here at home for the past several weeks. Just a note on something that big has happened is I got Custody of my daughter after being divorced for 5 years! I cant believe it. Its a messy situation but I have custody of my daughter!! Im a happy father right now! Makes me want to book another trip to celebrate! Sorry about that just had to share.

Anyway.... After a relaxing evening and getting a great nights sleep I was up and ready to head back to the parks. Its another great thing about traveling as adults. You can change plans on the fly and actually get rest when you get tired. So this day I wake up feeling very refreshed and ready to go.

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Beautiful blue skies and the weather was awesome! Time to head to the MK and catch the monorail to the Poly! Its breakfast time at Kona for some Tonga Toast. No wonder its a glorious morning! So after a short wait and a ride to MK we hop on the monorail to Poly!

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Love the views from up on the monorail...

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and before we know it here we are at the Kona Cafe for our first visit. I was very excited about this after all the hype about the Tonga Toast. I didnt even need a menu!

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So after a very short wait I hear angels singing as this was placed in front of me...

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YES!!!! This was awesome! Thats all I got to say. Fantastic!

Wife ordered a omelet and she enjoyed hers very much too.

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and here is what I was able to reduce my Tonga Toast to...

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Tonga Toast checked off and made mental notes to never have a trip again without it. Today was already starting off awesome!

So after sitting around and digesting this beast we finally head out to the MK for the morning.

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Such a beautiful morning for visiting!

We decided to at least see Mickey. We haven't had to sit in any lines waiting to see characters but figured Mickey was worth it.

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So to our surprise! No lines!

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So we get in and I didnt know this but this was the talking Mickey. I have seen youtube video of it but never in person had a chance to meet the talking Mickey. I thought it was pretty cool. They were also doing some video that day and we had to agree to be video taped. Dont think they will use any footage of us in any promos but I thought it was pretty cool.

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And Mickey said he wanted me to come back and see him real soon! Not sure if he tells anyone else this but I dont know if he likes my company or my money. Oh well. Still a cool guy!

Balloons and a blue sky!

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Then after eating Tonga Toast and meeting Mickey it was time to be a Galactic Hero!

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Then my first every ride on the Carousel of Progress. I know I know. Lots of you are like what?!?!
Telling you trips without kids you get a chance to ride other things without complaining. My kids would have never been happy on this one.

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So I will share a few shots from this ride before I continue. Enjoy!

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So after this we head over to the new Storybook Circus to take a look.

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and I will have to continue this on another post.....
 

nngrendel

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Continuing......

Got to see the new Dumbo area and really like it. It was like I was in a diffrent park. So different from what it was.


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I really think this new area is great. What a wonderful way to get your kids soaking wet from head to toe where they will be miserable for the rest of the day. Not sure if the kids here had a change of clothes but mind you it was very early morning. I cant imagine walking around in soaking wet clothes very much longer after all this. Everyone seemed to be having a great time though. Dont think me and my family will get much enjoyment out of this as my kids are pretty much grown up for something like this anymore. But a great upgrade to this area.

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For those of you following my TR I must add I am a little upset I didn't get shots of this at night. Time for another trip to get this.

Next its time for PhilharMagic.

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After that we decided to ride Its a Small World. I said I wouldn't take pictures while on the ride but you know I couldn't resist. I didn't take hundreds but I did take a few. hahaha.

If listening to Its a Small World music would make seeing these pictures easier then Click Here

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Okay.... Were done....
 

nngrendel

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Beautiful day for the Haunted Mansion.

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Someone help me out... What is hanging up there??? Ive never been able to figure it out.
Wasnt really happy with my shots from this ride. I did something wrong and lots of them were out of focus. Oh well next trip...

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Whistle while you work?? Maybe hes in training for the new 7 Dwarfs ride when it opens?

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Love these guys. They never smile or anything at the loading area...

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I have to say this is the hardest dark ride to get pictures from. The stupid doom buggy never stops moving from side to side.

After a failed attempt to get better shots on the Haunted Mansion its off to ride PoTC and I made a point to get a few shots of the queue line. Love this queue area.

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Dead men tell no tales!!!

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Needless to say I am very happy with my second set of pictures from PoTC. Cant wait to do this again. Loads of fun! If anyone is interested to know what I was using I have a Canon 50D and lens is a 50mm prime f/1.4. All shots were taken at 3200 ISO and around 1/50 shutter. NO FLASH! :)
 

Cassie S.

Active Member
I know it's been said many times but... AWESOME PICS!!! I am especially enthralled with your Tomorrowland at night pic... wow. I love your writing style also. I am going on my first family trip to WDW in May and will be attempting a TR. I have started my PTR and have a pretty good idea of our itinerary. Congrats on winning custody of your daughter.
 

nngrendel

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I know it's been said many times but... AWESOME PICS!!! I am especially enthralled with your Tomorrowland at night pic... wow. I love your writing style also. I am going on my first family trip to WDW in May and will be attempting a TR. I have started my PTR and have a pretty good idea of our itinerary. Congrats on winning custody of your daughter.

Thanks Cassie. I think that shot of Tomorrowland is one of my favs too. I was so excited when I saw it for the first time. It was one of those times when I looked down the walkway in Tomorrowland and just went "WOW". It happens a lot but this time I took a picture of it.

As far as my writing style.... There are many others here that have far superior writing skills than me. So I am glad that someone enjoyed it. hahahah.

The Custody battle is an on going thing. Although I do not have permanent custody yet I will soon enough I guess. Its just a waiting game for the law to work. Its a slow process. Our first court date was a bust as the Ex didn't show up. After this is all said and done maybe it will be time for another Disney trip???? I say yes!
 

nngrendel

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Okay. For anyone still reading this...... Its been awhile since I have posted. Its been 87 days since our visit and sort of glad I have drug this TR out so much. Gives me time to relive it. So continuing.....

After leaving PoTC we head over to something that I have been meaning to try for a very long time!

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Thats right! Time for a Dole Whip!

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I must add this is very good. Me and my wife enjoyed it very much and we will be stopping by again on future visits. So after we get this little goodie we decide to take a leisure walk and try to decide what QS meal we were going to use.​
On our stroll we stopped at the Wishing Well. I have never been to the Wishing Well.....​
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We decided to stop at Cosmic Ray's to use some of our QS credits. We havent used many of these credits during our visit and the week was winding down. We were not that hungry but decided to get a quick bite and check out Sonny Eclipse. Food was blah but love listening to Sonny.​
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After taking a break and listening to Sonny talk about loosing his Asteroid Belt we decided to head back out. I must add we left at a great time. Not only did we get to see the afternoon parade....​
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We also got to see the Dapper Dans.​
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I must add I really loved the show. These guys have so much talent. This is one of the gems that seem to be missed when traveling with teenagers who only want to hit all the thrill rides. Not that I dont like thrill rides but these performances are great! Here are a few more shots from the performance and I must add that you should really try and catch one of the performances.​
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After this we then ran into the Main Street Philharmonic. I was wanting to see this show and glad I caught it. We were about to head out because we had ADR's for dinner at Nine Dragons but decided to stick around for this show.​
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I must say these guys were just loaded with talent. Wife and I have children who plan in the high school band and always enjoy listening to them play so this was a real treat! Again. If you havent seen this performance make it a point to see it. Great show!​
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These guys were also very willing to pose for photo ops with kids and visitors. Very nice people.​
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After this we saw people gathering up for the Flag Retreat. I knew if we stayed for the Flag Retreat that we would be late for our ADR's at Nine Dragons. I called Dining and they were happy to move our ADR back a couple hours so we decided to hang out and see this. I was really looking forward to this as well. Again something that teenagers would just loath doing.​
During our wait I grabbed a few shots to pass some time.​
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Miss the decorations just going through these pictures.​
So we got to see the flag retreat and I was very pleased. I must say this is a must see as well. They had a purple heart recipient there as well to walk the flag down Main Street. Pictures do not do it all justice but here is a few shots I took during the flag retreat. Also notice the flag was at half mast at this time. It was Sept 12th and although they had the flags at half staff for the 11th they still had them at half staff due to the murder of the US Ambassador in Benghazi the day before.
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Great visit to the Magic Kingdom that day. Hated to leave. However after this we left and headed back to the hotel to freshen up and empty memory cards and head back out for another viewing for Illuminations. Will continue with that. Hopefully within the next couple days. But who knows. LOL.
 

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