Cast:
Matt
Jeff
Joe
Don
Nick
Susan and Bill
Colleen and John
Sarah and Tom
(Each Person's name links to their Flickr page; John's name links to his trip report for the same period).
Preface:
Welcome to Tom & Sarah's Trip Novel, Part II. I have deemed this Part II rather than an independent trip report despite over a month passing between the two “Parts” because I fashion this trip report in the vein of the Godfather trilogy (minus the third part, which didn't work out too well for the Godfather, so we'll cut our “trilogy” short at two). Not so much in the mafia violence or because this trip report has Al Pacino, but because both have fairly decent camera work, and much like the Godfather Part II, some will speculate that this trip report surpasses its predecessor in quality (although perhaps not length). Now that I have lost half of the audience with an introduction that reads overly-egotistically (“who is this schmuck? Comparing his Disney trip report to a work of cinematic brilliance?!?!”), some gall, right?
Also worth noting is that this report report is thirty-two single spaced pages of text. I don't point this out because I want to warn you before you make the time commitment to read it, but because at this length, and given my schedule as a full time student, much of the report was written very hastily. I hope that its somewhat coherent and not rife with grammatical errors, stylistic faults, and misspelled words, but such may be the case.
Further, if you're interested in the photography here and would like EXIF data for the pictures, it can be found on the Flickr page for each image that is on Flickr (denoted by little watermarks that read “Bricker”). To access said data, click the picture, which will take you to Flickr. EXIF data can then be found by clicking the "More Properties" link in the lower right hand corner.
If you would like to read our previous trip reports, check out the following links:
August 2007 Trip Report
November 2007 Engagement Story
August 2008 Trip Report
November/December 2008 Trip Report
August 2009 Pre-Trip Report
August 2009 Photo Trip Novel
That said (boy, I really do know how to hook 'em into reading the report with all of these disclaimers and arrogant proclamations...), on with the show!
Chapter 1: The Three “P”s – Peer Pressure & Planning
This trip was born around the beginning of the year, when a couple of my Flickr contacts informed me of a photography oriented trip they would be taking in October with some other folks from Flickr (see above cast list for links to their photography). Initially, I declined, citing monetary costs and Sarah's class schedule as prohibitive. They persisted in pressuring us to take the trip, and eventually we agreed. I don't think it's ever really that tough to pressure a couple of Disney geeks into taking a trip to their favorite place.
The one thing that was tough, at least for me, was the idea of taking two trips in such close proximity to one another. The last two years, we've done trips in mid August, and then again in late November/early December. While I have always enjoyed the Winter trips for the Christmas decorations and atmosphere of the parks, I have felt that the anticipation for the trip can't grow enough in the three or so month break between trips. This is the same reason I would be hesitant to ever move to Florida. I think some of the luster would wear off.
This concern dissipated for me as we began planning in the weeks leading up to the trip, and thinking of all the fun we'd have for our first Fall/Halloween visit to Walt Disney World. Sarah, being a goth and Satanist, was particularly excited, as she loves Halloween (just kidding). Since I am no longer 6 years old, I don't go trick or treating, and I don't really see the appeal in the Halloween holiday. I guess making costumes is fun for me, but it's nothing to write home about. That said, when it comes to any holiday at Disney, I get enthused, and I shared Sarah's excitement for our Halloween trip.
Part of this preparation process included determining what we would be for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. Normally, I make all of my costumes by hand, which generally means sewing for a while until my hands get tired, then trying to glue or staple the rest of the fabric together. The results are generally less-than-stellar. Last year I adopted this strategy and made a beer warrior costume out of old beer boxes I found. Figuring I might want a more high quality, and less crude, costume for MNSSHP, we started brainstorming in advance. We initially wanted something that said “Disney.” This was difficult for Sarah because many female costumes are a bit...overly revealing, to put it mildly, and difficult for me because all of the ideas I had were a bit too grandiose or impractical (I still don't understand why I can't make my own Sully costume!?). The costumes that weren't revealing or cost prohibitive just looked cheap or tacky.
We thus decided to make our own costumes. While browsing our Disney film library, Sarah had the perfect idea: I would be Mr. Smee and Sarah could be Peter Pan. Their costumes were simple and we could make quality versions ourselves. This idea faltered when, after searching for weeks on eBay, I discovered that there aren't men's shirts (at least that I could find) like Mr. Smee's. Moreover, all of the women's shirts like Mr. Smee's were a bit 'form fitting' and/or had fairly deep v-necks. I normally wear my shirts with a more tailored fit, but jeez, that would be pushing it too far.
Instead, after learning that Buzz Aldrin and some other astronauts would be at the Magic Kingdom on the day of the MNSSHP that we were attending, we decided to go as astronauts. We figured we could wear the costumes for the parade, and for Buzz Aldrin's book signing; an added bonus! The decision was helped by the fact that Sarah had access to an astronaut flight suit, so only I would have to find or make a costume. Even after we made this decision, I hesitated to buy my supplies, continually scouring the internet hoping that I could find a cheaper flightsuit. Finally, I had the realization that my supplies wouldn't arrive in time if I didn't order right away, so I started messaging sellers on eBay, asking how quickly they could ship the patches I needed. Ultimately, everything did arrive in time with the exception of a cool ISTC patch that would give my space suit an extra touch of “Disney”, but my heart was racing each day I checked the mail prior to our trip.
The trip was initially set for October 1st until October 4th, which would cause Sarah and I to miss two days of school. I am not all that wild about class, so I wasn't too concerned with this. In any case, my grades are based entirely on finals, and the month before those finals is the time when I do most of my work for the semester, so it wouldn't make too much of a difference if I missed a couple of classes. Still, it isn't encouraged for us to miss class to visit our favorite Disney Parks. The more we thought about it, the more we realized four days was not nearly enough time at WDW. So we decided to extend the trip by one day, until October 5th, after everyone else left. You're only young once, and we certainly won't be able to 'skip' work like this next year, so we might as well make the most of our forgivable irresponsibility.
Packing this time was a bit more sporadic and last minute. Of course, this resulted in us forgetting some essential items. Such as our Annual Passes and Disney's Magical Express luggage tags and tickets. However, don't worry, we remembered the absolute essentials: extra socks. I guess this will only fuel the fire for those nightmares I have in the weeks preceding our trips in which I forget to pack items for the trip (although usually these are photography-related). Luckily, and thanks to those many nightmares which have caused me to be extra cautious about packing my photo-gear, I didn't forget any of that. That might have made for one disappointing photography trip!
Since there are no major airports in the quaint college town of Valparaiso, Indiana, getting to Walt Disney World meant either taking the short train ride to Chicago or driving back to Indianapolis. Since our little hellion children, Walter and Yossarian, definitely could not be trusted to behave themselves alone at home for the weekend, we opted to fly out of Indianapolis, where their grandma could watch them, feed them, and take them outside when they needed to use the bathroom.
We left for Indianapolis Wednesday after class. If everything went according to plan, we would be in Indianapolis by 8 p.m., and in bed by 9 p.m.. Well, as they say, the best laid plans of mice, men, and Disney trip planners, often go awry. We got to Indy at 8:30 p.m., at which time I threw my orange space flightsuit in the wash to try to shrink it a bit. After it was done, I began attaching the patches with the iron. The first one went on without incident. As I was attaching the second, I noticed it wasn't sticking. Come to find out, the remaining three patches were not iron-on. I had no clue how to attach the remaining patches. Like me, Sarah is somewhat remedial when it comes to home economics, and she suggested I use nail glue. Well, that was a disaster. I didn't think to put a towel between the layers of the costume, so the glue seeped through, and I ended up with a glue spot on the other side of the costume. To add insult to injury, the nail glue didn't work. While I tried to remediate the issues, Sarah went to Wal-Mart to get the proper glue. Upon her return, I finished the costume, and we finally headed to bed at around 11:30 p.m..
Matt
Jeff
Joe
Don
Nick
Susan and Bill
Colleen and John
Sarah and Tom
(Each Person's name links to their Flickr page; John's name links to his trip report for the same period).
Preface:
Welcome to Tom & Sarah's Trip Novel, Part II. I have deemed this Part II rather than an independent trip report despite over a month passing between the two “Parts” because I fashion this trip report in the vein of the Godfather trilogy (minus the third part, which didn't work out too well for the Godfather, so we'll cut our “trilogy” short at two). Not so much in the mafia violence or because this trip report has Al Pacino, but because both have fairly decent camera work, and much like the Godfather Part II, some will speculate that this trip report surpasses its predecessor in quality (although perhaps not length). Now that I have lost half of the audience with an introduction that reads overly-egotistically (“who is this schmuck? Comparing his Disney trip report to a work of cinematic brilliance?!?!”), some gall, right?
Also worth noting is that this report report is thirty-two single spaced pages of text. I don't point this out because I want to warn you before you make the time commitment to read it, but because at this length, and given my schedule as a full time student, much of the report was written very hastily. I hope that its somewhat coherent and not rife with grammatical errors, stylistic faults, and misspelled words, but such may be the case.
Further, if you're interested in the photography here and would like EXIF data for the pictures, it can be found on the Flickr page for each image that is on Flickr (denoted by little watermarks that read “Bricker”). To access said data, click the picture, which will take you to Flickr. EXIF data can then be found by clicking the "More Properties" link in the lower right hand corner.
If you would like to read our previous trip reports, check out the following links:
August 2007 Trip Report
November 2007 Engagement Story
August 2008 Trip Report
November/December 2008 Trip Report
August 2009 Pre-Trip Report
August 2009 Photo Trip Novel
That said (boy, I really do know how to hook 'em into reading the report with all of these disclaimers and arrogant proclamations...), on with the show!
Chapter 1: The Three “P”s – Peer Pressure & Planning
This trip was born around the beginning of the year, when a couple of my Flickr contacts informed me of a photography oriented trip they would be taking in October with some other folks from Flickr (see above cast list for links to their photography). Initially, I declined, citing monetary costs and Sarah's class schedule as prohibitive. They persisted in pressuring us to take the trip, and eventually we agreed. I don't think it's ever really that tough to pressure a couple of Disney geeks into taking a trip to their favorite place.
The one thing that was tough, at least for me, was the idea of taking two trips in such close proximity to one another. The last two years, we've done trips in mid August, and then again in late November/early December. While I have always enjoyed the Winter trips for the Christmas decorations and atmosphere of the parks, I have felt that the anticipation for the trip can't grow enough in the three or so month break between trips. This is the same reason I would be hesitant to ever move to Florida. I think some of the luster would wear off.
This concern dissipated for me as we began planning in the weeks leading up to the trip, and thinking of all the fun we'd have for our first Fall/Halloween visit to Walt Disney World. Sarah, being a goth and Satanist, was particularly excited, as she loves Halloween (just kidding). Since I am no longer 6 years old, I don't go trick or treating, and I don't really see the appeal in the Halloween holiday. I guess making costumes is fun for me, but it's nothing to write home about. That said, when it comes to any holiday at Disney, I get enthused, and I shared Sarah's excitement for our Halloween trip.
Part of this preparation process included determining what we would be for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. Normally, I make all of my costumes by hand, which generally means sewing for a while until my hands get tired, then trying to glue or staple the rest of the fabric together. The results are generally less-than-stellar. Last year I adopted this strategy and made a beer warrior costume out of old beer boxes I found. Figuring I might want a more high quality, and less crude, costume for MNSSHP, we started brainstorming in advance. We initially wanted something that said “Disney.” This was difficult for Sarah because many female costumes are a bit...overly revealing, to put it mildly, and difficult for me because all of the ideas I had were a bit too grandiose or impractical (I still don't understand why I can't make my own Sully costume!?). The costumes that weren't revealing or cost prohibitive just looked cheap or tacky.
We thus decided to make our own costumes. While browsing our Disney film library, Sarah had the perfect idea: I would be Mr. Smee and Sarah could be Peter Pan. Their costumes were simple and we could make quality versions ourselves. This idea faltered when, after searching for weeks on eBay, I discovered that there aren't men's shirts (at least that I could find) like Mr. Smee's. Moreover, all of the women's shirts like Mr. Smee's were a bit 'form fitting' and/or had fairly deep v-necks. I normally wear my shirts with a more tailored fit, but jeez, that would be pushing it too far.
Instead, after learning that Buzz Aldrin and some other astronauts would be at the Magic Kingdom on the day of the MNSSHP that we were attending, we decided to go as astronauts. We figured we could wear the costumes for the parade, and for Buzz Aldrin's book signing; an added bonus! The decision was helped by the fact that Sarah had access to an astronaut flight suit, so only I would have to find or make a costume. Even after we made this decision, I hesitated to buy my supplies, continually scouring the internet hoping that I could find a cheaper flightsuit. Finally, I had the realization that my supplies wouldn't arrive in time if I didn't order right away, so I started messaging sellers on eBay, asking how quickly they could ship the patches I needed. Ultimately, everything did arrive in time with the exception of a cool ISTC patch that would give my space suit an extra touch of “Disney”, but my heart was racing each day I checked the mail prior to our trip.
The trip was initially set for October 1st until October 4th, which would cause Sarah and I to miss two days of school. I am not all that wild about class, so I wasn't too concerned with this. In any case, my grades are based entirely on finals, and the month before those finals is the time when I do most of my work for the semester, so it wouldn't make too much of a difference if I missed a couple of classes. Still, it isn't encouraged for us to miss class to visit our favorite Disney Parks. The more we thought about it, the more we realized four days was not nearly enough time at WDW. So we decided to extend the trip by one day, until October 5th, after everyone else left. You're only young once, and we certainly won't be able to 'skip' work like this next year, so we might as well make the most of our forgivable irresponsibility.
Packing this time was a bit more sporadic and last minute. Of course, this resulted in us forgetting some essential items. Such as our Annual Passes and Disney's Magical Express luggage tags and tickets. However, don't worry, we remembered the absolute essentials: extra socks. I guess this will only fuel the fire for those nightmares I have in the weeks preceding our trips in which I forget to pack items for the trip (although usually these are photography-related). Luckily, and thanks to those many nightmares which have caused me to be extra cautious about packing my photo-gear, I didn't forget any of that. That might have made for one disappointing photography trip!
Since there are no major airports in the quaint college town of Valparaiso, Indiana, getting to Walt Disney World meant either taking the short train ride to Chicago or driving back to Indianapolis. Since our little hellion children, Walter and Yossarian, definitely could not be trusted to behave themselves alone at home for the weekend, we opted to fly out of Indianapolis, where their grandma could watch them, feed them, and take them outside when they needed to use the bathroom.
We left for Indianapolis Wednesday after class. If everything went according to plan, we would be in Indianapolis by 8 p.m., and in bed by 9 p.m.. Well, as they say, the best laid plans of mice, men, and Disney trip planners, often go awry. We got to Indy at 8:30 p.m., at which time I threw my orange space flightsuit in the wash to try to shrink it a bit. After it was done, I began attaching the patches with the iron. The first one went on without incident. As I was attaching the second, I noticed it wasn't sticking. Come to find out, the remaining three patches were not iron-on. I had no clue how to attach the remaining patches. Like me, Sarah is somewhat remedial when it comes to home economics, and she suggested I use nail glue. Well, that was a disaster. I didn't think to put a towel between the layers of the costume, so the glue seeped through, and I ended up with a glue spot on the other side of the costume. To add insult to injury, the nail glue didn't work. While I tried to remediate the issues, Sarah went to Wal-Mart to get the proper glue. Upon her return, I finished the costume, and we finally headed to bed at around 11:30 p.m..
