Who Knew Choking Each Other Would Earn Us Fastpasses? We were just kidding!

Hello there and welcome to my trip report.

I guess I'll start out with the introductions of the cast and crew.

My name is Lisa (a/k/aTinkerbell as my boss likes to call me) and I am a 44 year old paralegal, wife to John and mother to Hunter and Lacey (who didn't join us on this trip 'cause she's attending missionary college). My husband, John, also 44, owns and operates a cabinet shop which is good because I can always talk his boss into letting him off work to go to Disney.

John acts all nonchalant about going to Disney but when somebody asks him a question, he immediately starts chattering away.

Since I am still uploading pictures and can't seem to find a picture of John and I from this year's trip, I guess I'll just use a picture from last year's trip.

Hunter is our son and he turned 13 just 3 days before we arrived in Disney. We couldn't think of a better way to celebrate becoming a teenager than by partying hard with Mickey and the gang. Hunter is a multi-talented little dude. He can play the acoustic guitar, electric guitar, keyboard and viola. Magical illusions and cup stacking are his newest tricks and he's pretty darn good at both. When he's not playing an instrument or trying to trick you, he's playing football or singing in the honor choir. See....I told you he was multi-talented.

Also along for the ride this year was my Mama, Edna. She's 76 years old and dotes on John and Hunter like they were her little babies. Mama has been to Disney with us once at Thanksgiving, 2000. That was back in the day when we stayed offsite 'cause we didn't know any better.

We were anxious to see how Mama would do with all the walking, heat, humidity, conveyor belts, etc.

Again, I don't have all of my pictures uploaded so I'll just use a picture of Hunter and Mama riding the clamshells into The Seas with Nemo and Friends. Not the best of pictures but a picture nevertheless:

We are a pretty silly fun loving family that always seems to attract.......hum.......let's just say,we always seem to have an "incident" happen during each of our trips. Over the years:

1) We got stuck on Test Track in the cold section and I almost tinkled myself;

2) My tooth (temporary crown) fell out while eating lunch at the Electric Umbrella and I had to super glue it in;

3) John got his toe broken after being run over in a drive-by scooter incident;

4) Hunter boogied with every character we ran into;

5) My wonderful, beautiful, loving family pedaled off on the surrey bike without me when my shoe hit the pedal and flew over my shoulder;

6) Lacey and Hunter jumped for joy in front of the Epcot ball;

7) We laughed so much during the trips that I caught myself saying "stop making me laugh or......" every 30 minutes.

And so forth and so on. We love spending time together and there's no better place than Walt Disney World to act silly and have a good time. Our goofiness paid off during the trip and that same goofiness inspired the title of this report.

This was our 15th trip to Disney in 13 years and our 5th stay at the Caribbean Beach Resort. We spent 9 1/2 glorious days at Walt Disney World and I could have stayed longer had my boss not insisted that I return to "the real world".

I have people ask me all the time why we go to Disney World year after year after year. I've tried to explain it to them but, unless you are a Disney fan like myself, you just can't understand. Remember those old Lay's potato chips commercials? You know, the ones that said something like "Lay's potato chips...so good you can't eat just one!" I liken Disney to a Lay's potato chip....."Walt Disney World is so fun you can't go just once!"

Now that the introductions have been made, I guess I'll get busy working on the next installment.

Oh....I hope that everybody feels free to post replies/comments 'cause I really like chatting.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Just then, a castmember walked into the room (where was she when I needed her?) and made the announcement that the doors were about to open and we were to enter and move all the way down the rows. We let quite a few people go first because if you go in first, you're always the ones at the end of the row. Smart thinking huh!

Yeah, well, ya'll already know that but lots of folks don't.

We were able to get really good seats just about two or three rows back and I tried snapping a picture without a flash and this is what it looked like:

Yeah, like poo!

So, I tried it again:

A little better but still pretty bad. Oh well, at least I tried. Immediately after John put on his glasses, he was asleep. I poked him when it came to the part when Miss Piggy kicks Bunny 'cause he thinks that part is funny. I know....first he likes the slimy Roz from the Laugh Floor and now he likes to see an innocent bunny getting kicked....what can I say? I love him despite those facts.

John quickly fell asleep again and I proded him with my elbow again when it got to the end when Miss Piggy's Statue of Liberty costumes falls off and the fireworks are exploding. I didn't want him stumbling out of the theater in a half asleep stupor.

We all noticed that the ending had changed a little. Remember the last part where the wall is busted out and the people from the street are looking in? Well, they used to be dressed in clothes straight out of the 70's. Now, they look like they are at least from the 90's/

We all wanted to stop into the store and see what they had. Lacey loves the poster of the Professor that's in the entrance to the theater and I always have to stop in and see if they have it for sale. They didn't. But, we did see some cute stuff and I found a hidden Mickey:

Where is it? Right here silly:

***Okay, so that's as much as I can get posted right now. I hope to be back later this evening to post replies if need be.

 

[mickeystoontown]

We left Muppetvision and headed back in the direction we had come from:

John tried Mama one more time and was finally able to get her on the phone. She had been wandering around the resort, ate in the food court and did a little shopping. She also talked to her sister and her first cousin. She said she had had a nice time just chillin'. John asked her if she was ready for us to come and get her and she said she was. John told her we were going to ride Star Tours and then he'd head that way. She said that was fine and not to get in any hurry.

 

[mickeystoontown]

You can tell by the number of pictures that I was able to take that the ride was pretty much a walk-on. We didn't encounter any line until we got right up to the part where the castmember asks "how many?".

Once we had completed our flight, John said he was going to head on over to the resort to pick up Mama. I told him that I'd go but he said he would so that I could go with Hunter to use the next Star Wars Fastpass.

After we rode Star Tours, John said he was going to get Mama. I offered to go but he said he would do it. He is such a sweetheart and he loves my Mama to the nth degree so he was happy to do it.

It was getting close to our Meet and Greet Fastpass for Jeremy Bulloch so we walked towards the front of the park with John until we came to the line. John continued on and we waited until it was time to use the Fastpass. Again, the castmember gave us a black and white photo for Mr. Bulloch to sign. Our time arrived and we were let in line with the other guests. This little boy was standing in front of us. I thought his handmade costume was too cute:

A picture of the sign:

When it was our turn, the castmember took my camera and took pictures while we spoke with Mr. Bulloch.

Mr. Bulloch was super nice and he chatted with us while signing his autograph. Again, I was very impressed that these stars were giving us one-on-one attention like we were the only persons in line. Hunter was grinning from ear to ear the entire time.

All too quickly, it was another guest's turn and we were shown the way out. Hunter couldn't stop talking about meeting Boba Fett in "real life". I have to admit that I thought it was pretty cool too since this was one character that I had actually heard of.

 

[mickeystoontown]

We knew it would be a little while before John and Mama would make it back so we figured we would take some pictures and do a little window shopping.

The guy at the ATM behind Hunter kept looking at us like we were nuts:

So we took another one after he left:

After walking through the stores, we decided to just sit down on a bench somewhere and wait. We heard music and saw that the High School Musical parade was coming down the street:

The Photopass photographer was standing near us and he took these pictures:

I think these are neat. Look at the reflection in his sunglasses...it's me!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Hunter and I didn't have to sit too long on the bench waiting for Mama and John. Really, we only had time to take a few pictures and watch the High School Musical float and dancers come by. Hunter had texted his daddy to see where they were and John said they were at the Hollywood Studios turnstiles. Instead of walking up front to meet them, we stayed put so it would be easier for them to find us. Before long, we saw them walking down the sidewalk.

It was nearly our dinner ADR at the Sci-Fi so we figured we better go ahead and check in. We gave them our name and we took a seat on the benches inside the restaurant. We may have waited 10 minutes, if that, before they called our name and we were led into the restaurant. It had been several years since we had eaten at the Sci-Fi and Hunter was excited for his Mamaw to see the inside.

Our server came around just a few minutes after we were seated and took our drink order. He offered to take our picture for us:

By the time our drinks came out, we were ready to order. I ordered the butcher steak. Mama ordered the ribs. John ordered the Reuben sandwich. And, Hunter ordered a burger. By the way, the burger is on the lunch menu but not on the dinner menu but they will let you order it as an entree for dinner. Just thought I'd share that little tidbit of info with you.

While we waited on our food, I took a few semi-crappy pictures:

I don't remember how long we waited for our food but it wasn't long at all. Food :

My steak:

John's Reuben:

Mama's ribs:

Hunter's burger:

I have to admit that I didn't care for my steak too much. It was a bit on the tough side and I didn't like the sauce at all. I am so glad it was served on the side and not over the steak; otherwise, I wouldn't have wanted to eat it.
Mama, John and Hunter all said their food was good and I sampled a rib from Mama's plate.

 

[mickeystoontown]

For desserts, I ordered the peanut butter chocolate cake which was outstanding:

Hunter is not a dessert eater but he ordered the cheesecake so that the rest of us could get a taste of it:

John ordered a hot fudge sundae:

And, Mama ordered a fruit plate:

My dessert more than made up for the yucky sauce and a little-on-the-tough-side steak.

Like I said, it had been a couple of years since we had eaten at Sci-Fi and it will probably be a couple more before we go back. I just don't care too much for the Hollywood Studios restaurants for some reason. They aren't bad but they aren't great either.

***Up next: More wandering until it's time to get our choke on!

 

[mickeystoontown]

After our meal, we were off to do more wandering.

I don't remember what we were doing or who John was waiting on but here he is sitting right about the same spot Hunter and I had sat earlier in the day:

Mama hadn't been to Hollywood Studios in 10 years so a lot had changed. The last time she went, the Backlot Tour still included going through the neighborhood that housed Ernest and the Golden Girls. Since the rest of us had walked around the Streets of America and taken our picture, we wanted to get one of Mama as well.

First, Hunter had to make a run to the subway station:

And, Mama's "Hey everybody, I'm on the Streets of America!" picture:

We knew we wanted to take Mama on The Great Movie Ride so we walked past/through Pixar Place. There was no need to even see how long the wait time was because the line was way outside the building. Too bad because Mama loves Toy Story so I know she'd enjoy Toy Story Mania. Next time.

 

[mickeystoontown]

We reached The Great Movie Ride but stopped to look at all the handprints:

 

[mickeystoontown]

As you have probably already figured out, there were hardly any people going into the attraction so we were able to take our time and really look at all the footprints and handprints. We walked into the building and there was no line at all. I took a picture of the cool light fixture:

Here's Hunter doing his signature "bow chicka bow bow" move:

We walked all the way down to the front of the theater and straight into the loading area. I fiddled with the settings on my camera and snapped another one of these pictures by mistake:

And, another blurry picture in the Wizard of Oz scene:

Why do I even try?

We came out of The Great Movie Ride and we instantly heard music. Cool 80s/early 90s music! I followed the music to the front of the hat and found Mulch, Sweat and Shears. Oh my gosh....I was in musical heaven! They played so many songs that John and I used to listen to. I thought I was going to show my age but then I looked around and almost everybody in the crowd was signing along and clapping their hands and dancing. Age be darned!, I felt like a teenager again!

Wanna get down with the boogie? Listen to this clip of Mulch, Sweat and Shears:



And, then, dun dun dun.....my darned camera battery died! But, just on that one camera. I had a backup camera, thankfully!

We stood and listened to the rest of the concert and then headed towards the Hollywood Hills theater since we were to see the last showing of Fantasmic.

***Up next.....I PROMISE....choking!

 

[mickeystoontown]

After the Mulch, Sweat and Shears concert, we headed down the path towards the Hollywood Hills theater. I knew that we'd be early for the second showing of Fantasmic but I wanted to find a nice spot to sit and wait for the go-ahead to enter the theater. We found a nice little place to sit right beside the Beauty & the Beast sign. Hunter hopped up on the wall and sat. But, before too long, his shirt was stuck to the rose bushes behind him:

Since we still had a while before they would start letting people into the theater, I decided to take a few pictures. I had Hunter hop down from the wall and sit with his Mamaw and Daddy. This is the picture that I got:

I told Hunter to stop pestering his Mamaw and to pose for a nice picture and this is what I got:

Hunter, of course, wanted to be nosey and see how the picture turned out. I told him he couldn't and tossed the camera over to John. And, then, I said "You think you can choke your Mamaw. Let's see how you like a little choking buddy." John snapped this picture:

Not to be outdone, Hunter told his daddy to take this picture:

And, one thing led to another and we started getting sillier and sillier:

We were laughing so hard and were getting a few looks from other people who probably thought we were being serious. But, we didn't care. We were having fun choking each other. I know! I know! Who can have fun while choking somebody? Well, we can!

 

[mickeystoontown]

After we caught our breath, I told John I would go look for a castmember and see what time they suggested that we get in line. He said go ahead and that he was going to get Hunter to show him and Mamaw the pictures we just took.

I walked just a little ways and spotted two castmembers who were grinning from ear to ear. I thought "hummm, these sure are some cheery castmembers" but didn't think anything else of it. When I got to them, I told them that we had been waiting patiently with my mother and that we didn't want to make her stand any longer than we had to. One of them said "We know, we've been watching you guys and let me tell you, you've definitely kept us entertained." The other castmember said "You sure have. Do you always have so much fun together?" I told him yes we did and that it was my Mama's first trip to Disney in 10 years so it was extra special.

The castmembers told me that we should be able to wait for a while before getting into the line which was just what I wanted to hear. They asked had we done everything we wanted to that day. I told them that we had missed a good bit since it was Star Wars Weekends but that we had had fun anyway. One of them reached into their pocket and handed me four Fastpasses to Tower of Terror and four Fastpasses to Rock 'n Roller Coaster. They said it was a gift from them to us for giving them a few laughs that evening. I told them thanks a bunch and headed back over to where the rest of my family was waiting.

John asked what they had said and what was so funny. I told them that the castmembers had been watching us and that we had made them laugh. And, then, I showed them the eight Fastpasses. That's when Hunter said "Who knew choking each other would earn us Fastpasses?" Yeah, who knew that just being our goofy selves would do something like that?

I asked John and Hunter if they wanted to go on Tower of Terror and Rock 'n Roller coaster. John did but Hunter did not. I knew Mama wouldn't do either one. Mama said for John and I to go ahead and she and Hunter would wait for us.

We decided to ride Tower of Terror first and, again, just like last year, I couldn't believe that I was actually going to be plummeting story after story in a rundown looking hotel. I am too terrified of heights to do something like that. But, I did and not just once but twice! We used our second set of Fastpasses and got right back in line.

We started to use our Fastpasses for Rock 'n Roller coaster but were afraid that we would be too late to get in line. As we were walking back to where John and Mama were, we ran into the castmembers who waved and said "don't choke anybody". I just laughed and said I couldn't promise we wouldn't.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Just as we reached Mama and Hunter, the line into the theater started moving so we hopped in and were able to get some pretty good seats. The theater filled up really fast and I would have hated to be at the first showing if it were worse than the second. While we were waiting for Fantasmic to start, the crowd started doing the wave and I tried to get a video:



It wasn't took long after, that the lights went down and the show was ready to begin. I wanted to see if I could video the opening. It turned out okay, not great but okay. Be patient when you watch because you'll see nothing but darkness for about a minute and then Mickey appears:



My camera doesn't do so well when it's near darkness but I did attempt to capture some of Fantasmic:

 

[mickeystoontown]

All too soon, the show was over. I love Fantasmic! Mama said she remembered parts of the show but some she didn't. She was really glad that we had stuck around and saw it.


***Continued in next post

 

[mickeystoontown]

Now, I don't know about you guys and gals but I don't relish the thought of joining hordes of people exiting a theater at the end of a long day. We like to sit down and wait for most, if not all, of the people to leave before we start out. We've even been in the theater when the clean-up crew is almost finished sweeping out the aisles.

We asked Mama if she cared if we waited and she said she certainly did not. She didn't want to be caught in the thousands upon thousands of folks leaving.

I had told John about how everybody who reads my trip reports (on another forum) gets a kick out of how he can fall asleep anywhere. He told me to take a few pictures of him so I could post them:

Oh, he's such a silly man!

 

[the1nonlysinger]

YAY! I was excited to finally read the "choking" story!! :sohappy: It was funny- you guys sound like a riot! Loving the TR so far- I always check to see if you have updates!

 

[mickeystoontown]

YAY! I was excited to finally read the "choking" story!! :sohappy: It was funny- you guys sound like a riot! Loving the TR so far- I always check to see if you have updates!

Sorry it took so long to get to the "choking" part but it couldn't be helped since it was mid-way through the trip.

We love spending time together and acting goofy (as if you couldn't tell)

 

[unkadug]

Sorry it took so long to get to the "choking" part but it couldn't be helped since it was mid-way through the trip.

We love spending time together and acting goofy (as if you couldn't tell)

Three months and 170 posts later....you really know how to keep us hooked! :wave: :lol:

 

[mickeystoontown]

Three months and 170 posts later....you really know how to keep us hooked! :wave: :lol:

I hope you'll continue reading because I have lots more funny pictures coming up and more tales to tale.

 

[mickeystoontown]

When I left off, we were waiting around the Hollywood Hills Theater while the crowds exited. After taking John's "sleeping" pictures, we looked around and saw that most everybody had left. So, we started making our way out too. Mama and Hunter were in front of John and I and seeing the two of them pal around made me smile. Here's a picture of Mama doing a little dance with Hunter. It looks like she's a little old woman who can barely get around but she was, in fact, doing a bouncy dance.

I don't know if you can tell it or not but there were very few people walking in front of us....maybe a dozen or so. It was well worth sitting down for a little while longer to let everybody get ahead of us.

I knew that there was no way I'd make it back to the resort without making a pit stop first. So far, every evening that we had left the parks, the buses had been downright COLD! Not just a little bit cold but COLD! Having to tinkle and freezing cold do not mix.

Even though I had to tinkle pretty bad, I still had my Dis trip report on my mind and I stopped to take a picture of a garbage can.

And a not-so-good picture down the street:

We came to the bathroom and I thought these signs painted on the wall outside were cute:

After the pit stop, we continued on to the front of the park. Again, there were very few people. Along the way, I couldn't help myself and we popped into a store or two. Hunter said he was so tired he could hardly stay awake:

Looks like he takes after his daddy and can fall asleep anywhere!

More pictures:

I think these variations of the Mickey ears are too cute:

 

[mickeystoontown]

We came across this coin operated horse and I couldn't resist the photo opportunity:

We tried our best to talk Mama into getting up on the pony but, no matter how hard we pleaded with her, it was a no-go. John even offered to push her up on the horse. Come to think about it, that was when she emphatically said "no way".

But, she did stop and pose for pictures near the truck at the front of the park:

We walked out to the bus stop and were happy to see that very few people were waiting in line. It was just one family and then us. I think two or three other people joined us the line. Soon, a bus was pulling up and in no time at all, we were all loaded up and dropped off at the resort.

So, that was our first experience with Star Wars Weekends. While I had a good time that day, I know that I should have done more research on how the whole thing worked. Next time, we will definitely have something unique for the Star Wars actors/performers/whatever they are called people to autograph. And, I don't want to just wander all around the park again. That just wore me out completely.

***Continued in next post