The Official Future Guy's January 2010 WDW Trip Thread
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Len90
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Part 1 of the trip sounds great. Thanks for clarifying the balloon. Looking forward to reading the rest.
- Len90
"If you can dream it, you can do it. Always remember that this whole thing was started with a dream and a mouse."
"Here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow, and fantasy"
"If you can dream it, you can do it. Always remember that this whole thing was started with a dream and a mouse."
"Here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow, and fantasy"
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Future Guy
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mindflipper- not sure about how many the balloon can hold; maybe 20 people. The price was surprisingly reasonable; only $16 per person.
. . .continued
Where were we? Oh, yes; Monday in EPCOT. After the Journey Into Imagination Arctic Restroom Experience, we made our way to Le Cellier for lunch. We checked in and waited about ten minutes for our table-not bad at all considering how busy it was. I ordered the New York Strip and Marie ordered the cheese soup and the Maple Barbeque Grilled Chicken sandwich. Everything was cooked to perfection, and we cleaned our plates. The pretzel bread was also very good. Marie ordered the Double Chocolate Whiskey Explosion Awesome cake for dessert, but when it arrived she was too full to eat it, so our server put it in a box for us. I've heard some grumbling lately that Le Cellier isn't as good as it once was, but don't listen to it. We had a great experience, and our food was perfect. Yeah, it's expensive, but we knew that going in and budgeted for it.
After lunch we headed over to the UK. I was hoping that Tigger would be in the toy shop, since he's Marie's favorite, and to our delight, not only were Tigger and Pooh in their customary greeting area at the rear of the store, but Mary Poppins was at the middle of the store and Alice was at the front! First we got a picture with Alice:
Then we got a picture with Mary Poppins:
As she signed Marie's autograph book, I told her that she and my wife have something in common; when Marie snaps her fingers, I clean up the nursery! She laughed and said "I wish I could get Bert to do that! All he does is dance."
After Mary we got in line for Tigger and Pooh (this was the longest line of the three). While we were waiting, Mary walked out the back of the store for a quick break, and as she passed Tigger he started clowning around with her. "Spoonful of Sugar" was playing over the store's speakers, and when it got to the part where Mary and her reflection in the mirror are singing at each other, Tigger pantomimed an imitation of Mary singing. It was hilarious. We were too far back in the line to get a picture, unfortunately.
Soon, it was our turn to get a picture with Pooh and Tigger:
While Marie was getting her book signed, Pooh and I had a talk about how I used to be as svelte as Tigger, but now I'm as stout and round as Pooh, thanks to all the tasty smackerels Marie feeds me. The PhotoPass photographer also got some adorable pictures of Marie hugging Pooh, and they'll be on the PhotoCD that we ordered yesterday. As soon as it arrives, I'll be sure to post them.
We exited the UK and walked off across the World Showcase. We encountered another "street artist":
And got our picture taken in front of the lagoon:
Also, it was interesting to note that, although I'd read that the Cantina de San Angel (that's the counter service venue on the shore of the lagoon, across from the Mexican pavilion) would be closed for demolition as of 1/3, it was still operating as of Monday 1/4. By the time we made it around the lagoon, we were both feeling the effects of the lack of sleep the night before. We hopped on the monorail and went back to the resort for a nap.
When we woke up, we went back to the MK for our last chance to catch SpectroMagic. SpectroMagic is probably my favorite show at WDW, and we got a great spot to watch, on the curb in front of Exposition Hall. Although it was hideously cold, Ariel was not any more covered up than she usually is; the only thing she was wearing from the waist up was her seashell bikini top. She must have been freezing! After the parade we went to Tomorrowland and rode the TTA (it's even more fun at night) then went to Cosmic Ray's for hot dogs. For the first time that I can remember, Cosmic Ray was actually performing.
After we ate, we went back to the resort to turn in for the night.
Tuesday, January 5
We had to get up kind of early because we had an 8:10 reservation at Chef Mickey's. The breakfast was great and the characters were a lot of fun!
I made friends with Donald by telling him that although the restaurant is called Chef Mickey's, I know it's really Donald who does all the cooking!
After breakfast, we headed back to the MK. Marie wanted to get pictures with the princesses and fairies (not that I had any objections!) so we took the train to Toontown. The princess line was the shortest, so we got in that one first.
Cinderella asked Marie if I was her Prince, and I told her that I was actually the jester, but Marie married me anyway. I think she got a kick out of that.
Belle was the friendliest. I wasn't saying much (after all, what does a 31-year-old-man talk to Belle about, the Lakers?), so she tried to draw me out a bit. When it was time for the photo she asked Marie if she could take my arm, and said to me "I know you don't mind." Sorry for the poor photo quality. The PhotoPass pictures were better, and when I get 'em, I'll post 'em.
After the princesses, we got in the fairies' line. Although the fairy merchandise hasn't been as successful as Disney wanted, the line for the fairies was twice as long as the princess line. Maybe it's all about Tinkerbell, I don't know. Anyway, this is another place where the PhotoPass photographer got some good pictures that I don't have yet.
First up was the Asian-looking fairy. I think she said her name was Silver Mist.
Next was Tinkerbell.
And then the redheaded fairy, whose name I don't remember. She attributed the cold weather to the Winter Fairy blowing snow at us or something. I wanted to remark that the Weather Channel blamed the whole thing on Arctic air masses and jet streams, but the Winter Fairy explaination sounded much more plausible, but I was afraid I'd come off as overly sarcastic so I kept my mouth shut.
After the fairy meet-and-greet it was time to venture back out into the frigid cold. Marie took a picture of me in the Wild Animals cage behind Dumbo:
. . .and then we rode Pooh. After that we got a picture with Ariel, who was a little more sensibly dressed than the last time we saw her:
After that, we stopped to watch some kind of saxophone band performing in front of the carousel. I'm not sure what they're called, the Fantasyland Saxophone Band, maybe? Anyway, they were quite good.
We went to see Mickey's PhilharMagic, and rode Small World, and then Marie started to feel tired. The cold and the fact that we had to wake up a little early to go to Chef Mickey's were starting to affect her. On the way back down Main Street we got to meet the Mayor and his wife:
"I'm the best mayor money could buy!" he told me. I thought about telling him he should run for Congress. The Mayor was carrying a cane that he would hand off to whoever was taking his picture. When Marie took his picture, he hung it on her arm, and she forgot it was there and walked off with it. We were a few yards away waiting for a picture of a couple of Main Street's other leading citizens when he suddenly hollered "Where's my cane?" and Marie realized that she still had it. She sheepishly gave it back to him, and we all had a good laugh.
Then, we got a picture with the other citizens of Main Street I mentioned earlier:
We went back to the resort so Marie could take a nap. Afterwards, we went back to EPCOT to ride some more attractions and finish the evening off with Illuminations. As the monorail was making the loop around Future World, it briefly stopped for some reason, and we got a cool overhead shot of the fountain in front of the Imagination pavilion.
We went into the park and rode Spaceship Earth. Something funny I noticed: after the scene with the Steve Jobs lookalike building a PC in his garage, you go directly into a tunnel that had has a Matrix-inspired "datastream" effect projected on the walls. Is this a subtle clue that the work of guys like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates led to our enslavement by the machines? After the ride I really wanted to play some of the games in the post-show area, but it was just too crowded.
We left SSE and walked through Innoventions. By this time we were getting hungry, so we had a late lunch/early dinner at the Seasons restaurant in The Land. It is, hands-down, the best counter service place on Disney property, in my opinion. The prices are reasonable, the food is healthy, and the portions are generous.
After dinner, we headed over to Mission:Space. Marie is very susceptible to motion sickness, so she didn't ride. After standing in line for about 10 minutes, there was an announcement that the wait times would be longer than expected. I had a nice conversation about EPCOT Center with the lady in line next to me, and eventually the line got moving again, and I was assigned to Team 2. However, simulator #2 had broken down, and the CMs assigning people to teams didn't get the message. We were taken into the corridor that leads to the post-show area and cooled our heels until the next cycle. After the ride, Marie and I headed into the World Showcase.
The first thing I noticed was that the Cantina De San Angel was walled off. This made the traffic flow through the area even more constricted than it already was. We got Fastpasses for Maelstrom, then went back to Mexico and rode the boat ride, then watched the glass sculptor for a while before heading back out to ride Maelstrom.
Maelstrom exits into Norway's main gift shop, which is home to the most expensive sweaters known to man. I'm serious. There are sweaters in there priced at over $500! Are they handmade out of gold thread by the Pope?
Soon it was time to find a spot for Illuminations. This was one area where the cold worked in our favor. Usually people start camping out around the lagoon an hour before showtime, but this time the weather seemed to have scared people right out of the park. We had no problem finding a bench right in front of the lagoon, between China and Norway. I left Marie there and went to find us some hot drinks, and as I walked I noticed that none of the prime spots were taken. We settled in with our drinks, bundled up like Eskimos and wrapped in the blanket Marie had bought at Mouse Gear earlier. The show was fantastic, as usual.
After we got back to the resort, we were pleasantly surprised to find the Electrical Water Pageant performing outside our window:
And that's all for Tuesday. Stay tuned for Part 3!
. . .continued
Where were we? Oh, yes; Monday in EPCOT. After the Journey Into Imagination Arctic Restroom Experience, we made our way to Le Cellier for lunch. We checked in and waited about ten minutes for our table-not bad at all considering how busy it was. I ordered the New York Strip and Marie ordered the cheese soup and the Maple Barbeque Grilled Chicken sandwich. Everything was cooked to perfection, and we cleaned our plates. The pretzel bread was also very good. Marie ordered the Double Chocolate Whiskey Explosion Awesome cake for dessert, but when it arrived she was too full to eat it, so our server put it in a box for us. I've heard some grumbling lately that Le Cellier isn't as good as it once was, but don't listen to it. We had a great experience, and our food was perfect. Yeah, it's expensive, but we knew that going in and budgeted for it.
After lunch we headed over to the UK. I was hoping that Tigger would be in the toy shop, since he's Marie's favorite, and to our delight, not only were Tigger and Pooh in their customary greeting area at the rear of the store, but Mary Poppins was at the middle of the store and Alice was at the front! First we got a picture with Alice:
Then we got a picture with Mary Poppins:
As she signed Marie's autograph book, I told her that she and my wife have something in common; when Marie snaps her fingers, I clean up the nursery! She laughed and said "I wish I could get Bert to do that! All he does is dance."
After Mary we got in line for Tigger and Pooh (this was the longest line of the three). While we were waiting, Mary walked out the back of the store for a quick break, and as she passed Tigger he started clowning around with her. "Spoonful of Sugar" was playing over the store's speakers, and when it got to the part where Mary and her reflection in the mirror are singing at each other, Tigger pantomimed an imitation of Mary singing. It was hilarious. We were too far back in the line to get a picture, unfortunately.
Soon, it was our turn to get a picture with Pooh and Tigger:
While Marie was getting her book signed, Pooh and I had a talk about how I used to be as svelte as Tigger, but now I'm as stout and round as Pooh, thanks to all the tasty smackerels Marie feeds me. The PhotoPass photographer also got some adorable pictures of Marie hugging Pooh, and they'll be on the PhotoCD that we ordered yesterday. As soon as it arrives, I'll be sure to post them.
We exited the UK and walked off across the World Showcase. We encountered another "street artist":
And got our picture taken in front of the lagoon:
Also, it was interesting to note that, although I'd read that the Cantina de San Angel (that's the counter service venue on the shore of the lagoon, across from the Mexican pavilion) would be closed for demolition as of 1/3, it was still operating as of Monday 1/4. By the time we made it around the lagoon, we were both feeling the effects of the lack of sleep the night before. We hopped on the monorail and went back to the resort for a nap.
When we woke up, we went back to the MK for our last chance to catch SpectroMagic. SpectroMagic is probably my favorite show at WDW, and we got a great spot to watch, on the curb in front of Exposition Hall. Although it was hideously cold, Ariel was not any more covered up than she usually is; the only thing she was wearing from the waist up was her seashell bikini top. She must have been freezing! After the parade we went to Tomorrowland and rode the TTA (it's even more fun at night) then went to Cosmic Ray's for hot dogs. For the first time that I can remember, Cosmic Ray was actually performing.
After we ate, we went back to the resort to turn in for the night.
Tuesday, January 5
We had to get up kind of early because we had an 8:10 reservation at Chef Mickey's. The breakfast was great and the characters were a lot of fun!
I made friends with Donald by telling him that although the restaurant is called Chef Mickey's, I know it's really Donald who does all the cooking!
After breakfast, we headed back to the MK. Marie wanted to get pictures with the princesses and fairies (not that I had any objections!) so we took the train to Toontown. The princess line was the shortest, so we got in that one first.
Cinderella asked Marie if I was her Prince, and I told her that I was actually the jester, but Marie married me anyway. I think she got a kick out of that.
Belle was the friendliest. I wasn't saying much (after all, what does a 31-year-old-man talk to Belle about, the Lakers?), so she tried to draw me out a bit. When it was time for the photo she asked Marie if she could take my arm, and said to me "I know you don't mind." Sorry for the poor photo quality. The PhotoPass pictures were better, and when I get 'em, I'll post 'em.
After the princesses, we got in the fairies' line. Although the fairy merchandise hasn't been as successful as Disney wanted, the line for the fairies was twice as long as the princess line. Maybe it's all about Tinkerbell, I don't know. Anyway, this is another place where the PhotoPass photographer got some good pictures that I don't have yet.
First up was the Asian-looking fairy. I think she said her name was Silver Mist.
Next was Tinkerbell.
And then the redheaded fairy, whose name I don't remember. She attributed the cold weather to the Winter Fairy blowing snow at us or something. I wanted to remark that the Weather Channel blamed the whole thing on Arctic air masses and jet streams, but the Winter Fairy explaination sounded much more plausible, but I was afraid I'd come off as overly sarcastic so I kept my mouth shut.
After the fairy meet-and-greet it was time to venture back out into the frigid cold. Marie took a picture of me in the Wild Animals cage behind Dumbo:
. . .and then we rode Pooh. After that we got a picture with Ariel, who was a little more sensibly dressed than the last time we saw her:
After that, we stopped to watch some kind of saxophone band performing in front of the carousel. I'm not sure what they're called, the Fantasyland Saxophone Band, maybe? Anyway, they were quite good.
We went to see Mickey's PhilharMagic, and rode Small World, and then Marie started to feel tired. The cold and the fact that we had to wake up a little early to go to Chef Mickey's were starting to affect her. On the way back down Main Street we got to meet the Mayor and his wife:
"I'm the best mayor money could buy!" he told me. I thought about telling him he should run for Congress. The Mayor was carrying a cane that he would hand off to whoever was taking his picture. When Marie took his picture, he hung it on her arm, and she forgot it was there and walked off with it. We were a few yards away waiting for a picture of a couple of Main Street's other leading citizens when he suddenly hollered "Where's my cane?" and Marie realized that she still had it. She sheepishly gave it back to him, and we all had a good laugh.
Then, we got a picture with the other citizens of Main Street I mentioned earlier:
We went back to the resort so Marie could take a nap. Afterwards, we went back to EPCOT to ride some more attractions and finish the evening off with Illuminations. As the monorail was making the loop around Future World, it briefly stopped for some reason, and we got a cool overhead shot of the fountain in front of the Imagination pavilion.
We went into the park and rode Spaceship Earth. Something funny I noticed: after the scene with the Steve Jobs lookalike building a PC in his garage, you go directly into a tunnel that had has a Matrix-inspired "datastream" effect projected on the walls. Is this a subtle clue that the work of guys like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates led to our enslavement by the machines? After the ride I really wanted to play some of the games in the post-show area, but it was just too crowded.
We left SSE and walked through Innoventions. By this time we were getting hungry, so we had a late lunch/early dinner at the Seasons restaurant in The Land. It is, hands-down, the best counter service place on Disney property, in my opinion. The prices are reasonable, the food is healthy, and the portions are generous.
After dinner, we headed over to Mission:Space. Marie is very susceptible to motion sickness, so she didn't ride. After standing in line for about 10 minutes, there was an announcement that the wait times would be longer than expected. I had a nice conversation about EPCOT Center with the lady in line next to me, and eventually the line got moving again, and I was assigned to Team 2. However, simulator #2 had broken down, and the CMs assigning people to teams didn't get the message. We were taken into the corridor that leads to the post-show area and cooled our heels until the next cycle. After the ride, Marie and I headed into the World Showcase.
The first thing I noticed was that the Cantina De San Angel was walled off. This made the traffic flow through the area even more constricted than it already was. We got Fastpasses for Maelstrom, then went back to Mexico and rode the boat ride, then watched the glass sculptor for a while before heading back out to ride Maelstrom.
Maelstrom exits into Norway's main gift shop, which is home to the most expensive sweaters known to man. I'm serious. There are sweaters in there priced at over $500! Are they handmade out of gold thread by the Pope?
Soon it was time to find a spot for Illuminations. This was one area where the cold worked in our favor. Usually people start camping out around the lagoon an hour before showtime, but this time the weather seemed to have scared people right out of the park. We had no problem finding a bench right in front of the lagoon, between China and Norway. I left Marie there and went to find us some hot drinks, and as I walked I noticed that none of the prime spots were taken. We settled in with our drinks, bundled up like Eskimos and wrapped in the blanket Marie had bought at Mouse Gear earlier. The show was fantastic, as usual.
After we got back to the resort, we were pleasantly surprised to find the Electrical Water Pageant performing outside our window:
And that's all for Tuesday. Stay tuned for Part 3!
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mindflipper
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Great report, Future guy! Look forward to the next installment! And thanks for the info on the balloon. Sounds like an affordable way to pass some time at Downtown Disney!
You should check some of the items in other gift shops around World Showcase. You would be surprised how expensive they are!
Hey, Future Guy, did you at least get the chance to e-mail your Spaceship Earth "Your Future" ending video to yourself? If you didn't, try it next time you're there. If you go the consoles located around the globe in the post-ride area, select your video from console, you can type in your e-mail and send it to yourself. When you get back home, the e-mail has a link and you can download the video in MOV format - a souvenir from the trip. And surprisingly - it's FREE!!!
You should check some of the items in other gift shops around World Showcase. You would be surprised how expensive they are!
Hey, Future Guy, did you at least get the chance to e-mail your Spaceship Earth "Your Future" ending video to yourself? If you didn't, try it next time you're there. If you go the consoles located around the globe in the post-ride area, select your video from console, you can type in your e-mail and send it to yourself. When you get back home, the e-mail has a link and you can download the video in MOV format - a souvenir from the trip. And surprisingly - it's FREE!!!
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boilerbabe
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Awesome report so far Future Guy!!! I'm really enjoying your pics. as well.
We too noticed the characters made from water on the pavement on our last trip! And we have no shame standing in line to take pics. with the characters, I'm glad Marie was able to overcome!
I'm so upset though, they are closing the Cantina in Mexico?! WHAT?! This is one of most fav. spots to eat! We love the food and the views. I hope they are building something similar in it's place?!
I'm looking forward to part III!
We too noticed the characters made from water on the pavement on our last trip! And we have no shame standing in line to take pics. with the characters, I'm glad Marie was able to overcome!
I'm so upset though, they are closing the Cantina in Mexico?! WHAT?! This is one of most fav. spots to eat! We love the food and the views. I hope they are building something similar in it's place?!
I'm looking forward to part III!
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Len90
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Just read the second part of the trip report. It really sounds like you got to see a lot of great characters this time around. I have never seen Alice or Mary Poppins hanging around England. I am surprised that Eeyore was not present there. Glad to see that the cold weather did not slow you both down and you were able to take advantage of the cold for some of the best viewing spots for Illuminations. It must have been really nice to be sitting under the fires during the pre-show.
- Len90
"If you can dream it, you can do it. Always remember that this whole thing was started with a dream and a mouse."
"Here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow, and fantasy"
"If you can dream it, you can do it. Always remember that this whole thing was started with a dream and a mouse."
"Here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow, and fantasy"
-
Mouseoholic
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Great trip report Future Guy! One of our goals on our last trip to WDW this past December was to try the balloon. We made several attempts and each time the upper level winds were just too high for them to let the balloon go up.
We too noticed the increase in crowds. I think more and more people are doing their home work and traveling in the off-season. Over the past 3 years we have seen an increase in crowd levels over past years. I thought we were in a recession???
Can wait for the next installment!
We too noticed the increase in crowds. I think more and more people are doing their home work and traveling in the off-season. Over the past 3 years we have seen an increase in crowd levels over past years. I thought we were in a recession???
Can wait for the next installment!
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mindflipper
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Mouseoholic
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hmmm. Had not thought about that. Good point.mindflipper wrote:Because of the recession more people are travelling shorter distances - travelling within the US instead of around the world. I don't know if the Diz resorts have had an increase, but some of the other affordable hotels off-property have.
Future Guy,
I love the fact that you both took the time to get pictures with all of the characters! That is hard to do and usually one of the things we regret leaving off. You have inspired us to be more patient!!!
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Future Guy
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Future Guy
- Shooting Galleries Gun Cleaner
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- Joined: Oct Tue 21, 2008 7:55 am
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Thanks for the kind comments, everyone!
mindflipper: Yes, I'm very well aware that you can email your SSE video to yourself. Actually I even put our first one (from our one-day trip in October) on YouTube. (link here)
And, boilerbabe, yes they are planning to replace the Cantina in Mexico with a new eatery. Rumors say it'll be a fully indoor facility with large windows for watching Illuminations.
When I mentioned the seemingly unusual crowd levels to a CM, he said it was more or less normal for this time of year. After all, these are the summer months for people in the Southern Hemisphere, and lots of people from South America were there. A word about the "infamous" Brazillian tour groups: based on stuff I've read on other boards, I expected to see all kinds of bad behavior from them. But I didn't. At no time did I see anyone trying to peek under Snow White's dress, urinate on Walt Disney's statue, or steal Cinderella Castle. The South American folks were just as pleasant as could be.
Now for the rest of the report:
Wednesday, January 6
The plan was to spend the first half of the day at the Studios, then take the boat to EPCOT for the rest of the day (including our 6:50 dinner reservation at Garden Grill). Unlike the previous few days, when we boarded a monorail to the parks from the comfort of the Contemporary's indoor station, we had to take a bus to the Studios, which meant waiting outside at the bus stop in the biting cold. By now Marie was showing symptoms of her cold; she had a sore throat that was constantly being irritated by breathing cold air. The shop at the resort was out of throat lozenges, so she just wrapped her scarf around her mouth and away we went.
As soon as we hit the park we made a beeline to Toy Story Midway Mania (hereinafter referred to as TSMM for the sake of brevity). Marie always beats me at Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, and when we played TSMM back on Labor Day she beat me at that, too, so I was looking for some redemption. The posted wait time was 30 minutes (but as long as the queue was inside a warm building, we frankly didn't care what the wait time was) but we were only in line for 15. Last time we played, I messed myself up aiming for the hard-to-reach targets, since they're worth more points. This time, though, I just fired away at whatever I could easily hit, and I won!
Next, we headed over to the Backlot Tour. We got only a very abbreviated version of the Pearl Harbor part of the show due to the cold (for some reason nobody wanted to be splashed with water in 30-degree temperatures). As our tram made its way behind the Lights! Motors! Action! area on the way to Catastrophe Canyon, we suddenly ground to a halt. It seemed the driver had gotten too close to the guardrail, and if she continued forward there was a risk that some of the tram cars might crash right into it. They called a crew from maintenance to come assess the situation, and eventually five guys showed up.
After some discussion, one of them took the wheel, backed us up a little bit, pulled forward, then allowed the driver to retake the wheel, evidently satisfied that we weren't going to hit the rail. All that hullabaloo for a two-minute solution? Better safe than sorry, I guess. Anways, after that we continuted to Catastrophe Canyon. Unlike Pearl Harbor, this part of the show did employ the normal water effects. Marie got a tiny bit wet. On our way out, she got a picture of the hidden Mickey on the semi truck:
Next, we browsed through the Muppet store (there was a specific Kermit shirt I wanted but they didn't have it in my size) and on the way out Marie wanted a picture with the fake snowman nearby.
She wasn't bundled up for comedic effect, it was really that cold! I kind of wanted to do MuppetVision, but the line was pretty long and Marie didn't think her motion sickness would let her do a 3D attraction.
We had lunch at Pizza Planet next.We had a hard time finding a table, but we finally managed to secure one on the upstairs level. We ate quickly because the loud noises from the various games (which clashed spectacularly with the music playing through the overhead speakers) gave Marie a headache. After lunch we browsed through the Star Wars store, and I picked up a bobblehead for my desk and a really cool baseball hat that looks like Boba Fett's helmet.
Neither of us felt much like riding Star Tours with a stomachful of Pizza Planet, so we went to the Great Movie Ride instead. Our "guide" was pretty good, but the person playing Muggsy the gangster seemed almost bored.
We were both a little tired, but because of our dinner reservation it wasn't feasible to go back to the resort for a nap. Also, Marie wanted to make another Velcro frog at the Velcro exhibit in Innoventions. So, we boarded the (thankfully enclosed) boat to EPCOT. The slow ride gave us plenty of time to rest. Once we got to EPCOT, though, we decided we needed more rest. So we headed over to the IBM exhibit in Innoventions West, where there are some comfy couches, and sat for a while.
You know, I really don't have a problem with Innoventions. Its exhibits are at least as timely and interesting as CommuniCore's were twenty years ago. I liked the open, airy ambience of Communicore, as opposed to the dark, cavelike Innoventions, but that's just a matter of personal preference. One thing I (slightly) object to: the row of Playstation games. It looks like something you'd see at Best Buy. Oddly enough, the Playstations were mostly vacant. Kids and their parents seemed much more interested in the other exhibits that let you experience things you couldn't necessarily do in your living room.
Later, we got up and wandered around, and I took some pictures in the hallway at the back of Innoventions West:
By this time we were rested up and feeling better, and Marie decided she wanted a hot cocoa and a pastry of some kind. I suggested we get it in France, so we headed off to the World Showcase. On the walkway from Future World to the World Showcase, I snapped this picture. With the foliage obscuring Test Track's track, it could almost be mistaken for World of Motion.
We also stopped in Italy, and I took a couple pictures while Marie browsed through the shops. Here's one showing the construction of the new pizzeria that's going at the rear of the Italian area, on the plot of land once alloted to the never-built Roman ruins/gondola ride:
And here's one of the bell tower:
Next, we went to Japan:
We went into Mitsukoshi; since they sell actual Japanese goods, I was hoping that maybe they'd have some old-school Gen 1 Transformers (because they still sell them over there). Unfortunately, they didn't have any Transformers merchandise that you couldn't get at your local Wal-Mart. However, I did get a picture of a very unusual snack food:
Are Kasugai Peanuts made out of PEOPLE?
Mitsukoshi has an area where you can buy a pearl from a live oyster. This isn't unique to EPCOT; you can do the same thing at Ocala's Silver Springs and at a shop in St. George Street in St. Augustine. Marie has bought several over the years, and when she has enough she's going to have them made into a necklace. It's the Once Piece at a Time approach to jewelry. She got in line to get a pearl, and I went outside to sit on a bench and wait for her. While I waited, I took another picture of the Japanese pavilion as the sun went down:
After she was done in Mitsukoshi, we went to Morocco. I was hoping that we'd see Aladdin, Jasmine, or the Genie, and we were in luck:
By now it was pretty much dark, and dinner was less than an hour away. We forgot about getting Marie a pastry in France and decided to head toward The Land for our dinner reservation. We did stop in France, though, to have our picture taken with Marie from the Aristocats:
Next up was dinner at the Garden Grill. The food was good, our server was very nice, and best of all we got to clown around with Chip and Dale:
After dinner Marie was feeling pretty tired. The combined effects of the weather, her worsening cold, and not having had a nap that afternoon were really starting to wear on her. We hurried onto the monorail, and as it neared the TTC we could see the fireworks from Wishes. The Resorts monorail runs in a clockwise direction, so you stop at the Polynesian, Grand Floridian, and Magic Kingdom before you get to the Contemporary. After the stop at the Grand Floridian the train was almost empty, but we hit the MK right after the conclusion of Wishes, and we must have been only the first or second train to stop since the show ended. When the doors opened, people flooded in like that monorail was the last helicopter out of Saigon. It was so packed full, we could hardly move. I seriously doubted that we'd be able to stand up and get off at our stop. Fortunately, we were able to. It was a good thing, because Marie was completely exhausted, and as much as I enjoy the Monorail, I was just about Por Favor Mantenganse Alejado De Las Puertas-ed out. Also, if I had to hear one more time how Citrico's serves American cusine with a distinct Tuscan flair I may have had to hit something.
Something funny: there are these animated Events boards all over the Contemporary; they're basically movie-poster-sized LCD monitors that continuously display relevant information. For the duration of our stay, the one next to the escalator up to the Monorail looked like this:
Yay for Microsoft operating systems!
Anyway, Marie was feeling so bad that I strongly considered going straight home the next morning. However, she was insistent that we go to to Animal Kingdom. I told her we'd see how she felt in the morning. We had a hard time getting to sleep that night because the loud music and hullaballoo from Chef Mickey's lasted until after 11PM. We finally did get to sleep, though, and before we knew it it was . . .
Thursday, January 7
The last day of our trip! (sigh) Marie seemed to be feeling a little better, and was determined to go to Animal Kingdom. Also, the weather was a little warmer; still cold, but not as intensely uncomfortable as it had been all week. We wanted to do basically 3 things at Animal Kingdom: Kilimanjaro Safaris, Dinosaur, and It's Tough to be a Bug. On the way in, we got a picture of what looked to be a very cold flamingo:
Also, Marie got a picture of the hidden Mickey on the Tree of Life:
We skipped It's Tough to be a Bug because she was worried about her motion sickness, and we went on Kilimanjaro Safaris.
I wondered if any of the animals would be out, since the weather was colder than what they've got to be used to. Surprisingly, there were quite a bit of animals out and about. We got pictures of a sleeping hippo:
And a rhino:
We headed across the park, stopping briefly in Asia to take a picture of Everest:
By this time, Marie was rapidly tiring. She didn't feel up to doing another ride, so we went to the Flame Tree BBQ for lunch. Across from the stand where your order and recieve your food, there was some kind of an African hip-hop band playing. Their music was good, but it was so loud that the CMs at the counter were having a hard time taking orders. Something wasn't very well thought through, I think.
At our table, we were joined by some very sociable birds that were obviously used to being fed table scraps:
We tried not to feed them (after all, fast food isn't any better for birds than it is for humans). Some of the folks around us did, though, and it was strange to see birds fighting over scraps of chicken. Marie took this picture of a duck that was very determined to share her lunch:
After dinner we hit a shop or two so Marie could pick up gifts for her family, and then it was time to go home. She was profusely apologetic about her sickness forcing us to go home early, but it wasn't her fault. Besides, we've got annual passes. We'll probably go back to Animal Kingdom on a Saturday in a month or two to do the stuff we missed. Maybe it'll be warm enough for a ride on Kali River Rapids. We're also planning to go the Studios for a day during Star Wars Weekends, and I want to take her to Cinderella's Royal Table for our anniversary.
Our WDW adventures for this year aren't over, not by a long shot. I just hope we can afford to renew our annual passes when the time comes.
Thanks for reading!
mindflipper: Yes, I'm very well aware that you can email your SSE video to yourself. Actually I even put our first one (from our one-day trip in October) on YouTube. (link here)
And, boilerbabe, yes they are planning to replace the Cantina in Mexico with a new eatery. Rumors say it'll be a fully indoor facility with large windows for watching Illuminations.
When I mentioned the seemingly unusual crowd levels to a CM, he said it was more or less normal for this time of year. After all, these are the summer months for people in the Southern Hemisphere, and lots of people from South America were there. A word about the "infamous" Brazillian tour groups: based on stuff I've read on other boards, I expected to see all kinds of bad behavior from them. But I didn't. At no time did I see anyone trying to peek under Snow White's dress, urinate on Walt Disney's statue, or steal Cinderella Castle. The South American folks were just as pleasant as could be.
Now for the rest of the report:
Wednesday, January 6
The plan was to spend the first half of the day at the Studios, then take the boat to EPCOT for the rest of the day (including our 6:50 dinner reservation at Garden Grill). Unlike the previous few days, when we boarded a monorail to the parks from the comfort of the Contemporary's indoor station, we had to take a bus to the Studios, which meant waiting outside at the bus stop in the biting cold. By now Marie was showing symptoms of her cold; she had a sore throat that was constantly being irritated by breathing cold air. The shop at the resort was out of throat lozenges, so she just wrapped her scarf around her mouth and away we went.
As soon as we hit the park we made a beeline to Toy Story Midway Mania (hereinafter referred to as TSMM for the sake of brevity). Marie always beats me at Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, and when we played TSMM back on Labor Day she beat me at that, too, so I was looking for some redemption. The posted wait time was 30 minutes (but as long as the queue was inside a warm building, we frankly didn't care what the wait time was) but we were only in line for 15. Last time we played, I messed myself up aiming for the hard-to-reach targets, since they're worth more points. This time, though, I just fired away at whatever I could easily hit, and I won!
Next, we headed over to the Backlot Tour. We got only a very abbreviated version of the Pearl Harbor part of the show due to the cold (for some reason nobody wanted to be splashed with water in 30-degree temperatures). As our tram made its way behind the Lights! Motors! Action! area on the way to Catastrophe Canyon, we suddenly ground to a halt. It seemed the driver had gotten too close to the guardrail, and if she continued forward there was a risk that some of the tram cars might crash right into it. They called a crew from maintenance to come assess the situation, and eventually five guys showed up.
After some discussion, one of them took the wheel, backed us up a little bit, pulled forward, then allowed the driver to retake the wheel, evidently satisfied that we weren't going to hit the rail. All that hullabaloo for a two-minute solution? Better safe than sorry, I guess. Anways, after that we continuted to Catastrophe Canyon. Unlike Pearl Harbor, this part of the show did employ the normal water effects. Marie got a tiny bit wet. On our way out, she got a picture of the hidden Mickey on the semi truck:
Next, we browsed through the Muppet store (there was a specific Kermit shirt I wanted but they didn't have it in my size) and on the way out Marie wanted a picture with the fake snowman nearby.
She wasn't bundled up for comedic effect, it was really that cold! I kind of wanted to do MuppetVision, but the line was pretty long and Marie didn't think her motion sickness would let her do a 3D attraction.
We had lunch at Pizza Planet next.We had a hard time finding a table, but we finally managed to secure one on the upstairs level. We ate quickly because the loud noises from the various games (which clashed spectacularly with the music playing through the overhead speakers) gave Marie a headache. After lunch we browsed through the Star Wars store, and I picked up a bobblehead for my desk and a really cool baseball hat that looks like Boba Fett's helmet.
Neither of us felt much like riding Star Tours with a stomachful of Pizza Planet, so we went to the Great Movie Ride instead. Our "guide" was pretty good, but the person playing Muggsy the gangster seemed almost bored.
We were both a little tired, but because of our dinner reservation it wasn't feasible to go back to the resort for a nap. Also, Marie wanted to make another Velcro frog at the Velcro exhibit in Innoventions. So, we boarded the (thankfully enclosed) boat to EPCOT. The slow ride gave us plenty of time to rest. Once we got to EPCOT, though, we decided we needed more rest. So we headed over to the IBM exhibit in Innoventions West, where there are some comfy couches, and sat for a while.
You know, I really don't have a problem with Innoventions. Its exhibits are at least as timely and interesting as CommuniCore's were twenty years ago. I liked the open, airy ambience of Communicore, as opposed to the dark, cavelike Innoventions, but that's just a matter of personal preference. One thing I (slightly) object to: the row of Playstation games. It looks like something you'd see at Best Buy. Oddly enough, the Playstations were mostly vacant. Kids and their parents seemed much more interested in the other exhibits that let you experience things you couldn't necessarily do in your living room.
Later, we got up and wandered around, and I took some pictures in the hallway at the back of Innoventions West:
By this time we were rested up and feeling better, and Marie decided she wanted a hot cocoa and a pastry of some kind. I suggested we get it in France, so we headed off to the World Showcase. On the walkway from Future World to the World Showcase, I snapped this picture. With the foliage obscuring Test Track's track, it could almost be mistaken for World of Motion.
We also stopped in Italy, and I took a couple pictures while Marie browsed through the shops. Here's one showing the construction of the new pizzeria that's going at the rear of the Italian area, on the plot of land once alloted to the never-built Roman ruins/gondola ride:
And here's one of the bell tower:
Next, we went to Japan:
We went into Mitsukoshi; since they sell actual Japanese goods, I was hoping that maybe they'd have some old-school Gen 1 Transformers (because they still sell them over there). Unfortunately, they didn't have any Transformers merchandise that you couldn't get at your local Wal-Mart. However, I did get a picture of a very unusual snack food:
Are Kasugai Peanuts made out of PEOPLE?
Mitsukoshi has an area where you can buy a pearl from a live oyster. This isn't unique to EPCOT; you can do the same thing at Ocala's Silver Springs and at a shop in St. George Street in St. Augustine. Marie has bought several over the years, and when she has enough she's going to have them made into a necklace. It's the Once Piece at a Time approach to jewelry. She got in line to get a pearl, and I went outside to sit on a bench and wait for her. While I waited, I took another picture of the Japanese pavilion as the sun went down:
After she was done in Mitsukoshi, we went to Morocco. I was hoping that we'd see Aladdin, Jasmine, or the Genie, and we were in luck:
By now it was pretty much dark, and dinner was less than an hour away. We forgot about getting Marie a pastry in France and decided to head toward The Land for our dinner reservation. We did stop in France, though, to have our picture taken with Marie from the Aristocats:
Next up was dinner at the Garden Grill. The food was good, our server was very nice, and best of all we got to clown around with Chip and Dale:
After dinner Marie was feeling pretty tired. The combined effects of the weather, her worsening cold, and not having had a nap that afternoon were really starting to wear on her. We hurried onto the monorail, and as it neared the TTC we could see the fireworks from Wishes. The Resorts monorail runs in a clockwise direction, so you stop at the Polynesian, Grand Floridian, and Magic Kingdom before you get to the Contemporary. After the stop at the Grand Floridian the train was almost empty, but we hit the MK right after the conclusion of Wishes, and we must have been only the first or second train to stop since the show ended. When the doors opened, people flooded in like that monorail was the last helicopter out of Saigon. It was so packed full, we could hardly move. I seriously doubted that we'd be able to stand up and get off at our stop. Fortunately, we were able to. It was a good thing, because Marie was completely exhausted, and as much as I enjoy the Monorail, I was just about Por Favor Mantenganse Alejado De Las Puertas-ed out. Also, if I had to hear one more time how Citrico's serves American cusine with a distinct Tuscan flair I may have had to hit something.
Something funny: there are these animated Events boards all over the Contemporary; they're basically movie-poster-sized LCD monitors that continuously display relevant information. For the duration of our stay, the one next to the escalator up to the Monorail looked like this:
Yay for Microsoft operating systems!
Anyway, Marie was feeling so bad that I strongly considered going straight home the next morning. However, she was insistent that we go to to Animal Kingdom. I told her we'd see how she felt in the morning. We had a hard time getting to sleep that night because the loud music and hullaballoo from Chef Mickey's lasted until after 11PM. We finally did get to sleep, though, and before we knew it it was . . .
Thursday, January 7
The last day of our trip! (sigh) Marie seemed to be feeling a little better, and was determined to go to Animal Kingdom. Also, the weather was a little warmer; still cold, but not as intensely uncomfortable as it had been all week. We wanted to do basically 3 things at Animal Kingdom: Kilimanjaro Safaris, Dinosaur, and It's Tough to be a Bug. On the way in, we got a picture of what looked to be a very cold flamingo:
Also, Marie got a picture of the hidden Mickey on the Tree of Life:
We skipped It's Tough to be a Bug because she was worried about her motion sickness, and we went on Kilimanjaro Safaris.
I wondered if any of the animals would be out, since the weather was colder than what they've got to be used to. Surprisingly, there were quite a bit of animals out and about. We got pictures of a sleeping hippo:
And a rhino:
We headed across the park, stopping briefly in Asia to take a picture of Everest:
By this time, Marie was rapidly tiring. She didn't feel up to doing another ride, so we went to the Flame Tree BBQ for lunch. Across from the stand where your order and recieve your food, there was some kind of an African hip-hop band playing. Their music was good, but it was so loud that the CMs at the counter were having a hard time taking orders. Something wasn't very well thought through, I think.
At our table, we were joined by some very sociable birds that were obviously used to being fed table scraps:
We tried not to feed them (after all, fast food isn't any better for birds than it is for humans). Some of the folks around us did, though, and it was strange to see birds fighting over scraps of chicken. Marie took this picture of a duck that was very determined to share her lunch:
After dinner we hit a shop or two so Marie could pick up gifts for her family, and then it was time to go home. She was profusely apologetic about her sickness forcing us to go home early, but it wasn't her fault. Besides, we've got annual passes. We'll probably go back to Animal Kingdom on a Saturday in a month or two to do the stuff we missed. Maybe it'll be warm enough for a ride on Kali River Rapids. We're also planning to go the Studios for a day during Star Wars Weekends, and I want to take her to Cinderella's Royal Table for our anniversary.
Our WDW adventures for this year aren't over, not by a long shot. I just hope we can afford to renew our annual passes when the time comes.
Thanks for reading!
-
MetalRage
- Flight to the Moon Flight Director
- Posts: 1246
- Joined: Apr Tue 29, 2008 10:12 pm
- Location: West Palm Beach, Florida
- Contact:
Wow! I feel like I just got back from WDW myself! I enjoyed reading this! 
"When you're curious, you find lots of interesting things to do. And one thing it takes to accomplish something is courage." - Walt Disney :mickey3:
[url=http://www.userbars.com][img]http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/9147/userbar721338ez4.gif[/img][/url]
"We wants the redhead!"
[url=http://www.userbars.com][img]http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/9147/userbar721338ez4.gif[/img][/url]
"We wants the redhead!"
-
mindflipper
- Submarine Voyage Captain
- Posts: 10954
- Joined: Sep Sun 06, 2009 8:53 am
- Location: 76 Totters Lane
Glad to see you knew about SE's free "souvenir". I'm surprised by how many people don't; in fact, I only found out about from some UK friends that came for a visit and told me about it.
Great trip report and love the photos! I will be disappointed if all they do with that empty back space area in EPCOT's Italy is put a friggin' pizzeria!!! All that space wasted on a friggin' pizzeria?!? They could do so much more with that space! And I don't mean another gift shop either! It's amazing they could spend soooo much on Mission: Space and then spend soooo little on doing something really good with the unused space in Italy!
Great trip report and love the photos! I will be disappointed if all they do with that empty back space area in EPCOT's Italy is put a friggin' pizzeria!!! All that space wasted on a friggin' pizzeria?!? They could do so much more with that space! And I don't mean another gift shop either! It's amazing they could spend soooo much on Mission: Space and then spend soooo little on doing something really good with the unused space in Italy!
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Len90
- Submarine Voyage Captain
- Posts: 6740
- Joined: Mar Sat 29, 2008 8:04 pm
- Location: New Jersey
- Contact:
There is always one good thing about a cold sunny day... it makes excellent picture taking. There is no heat haze and the Winter sun angles (when at your back) make perfect lighting conditions. Amazing picture of the WoM and Odyssey buildings.
Sad that Mrs. Future Guy got sick, but you did manage to hit all four parks and do the best you could in that extremely cold weather. I have always had a blast with Chip and Dale at Garden Grill. They really are funny over there.
Sad that Mrs. Future Guy got sick, but you did manage to hit all four parks and do the best you could in that extremely cold weather. I have always had a blast with Chip and Dale at Garden Grill. They really are funny over there.
- Len90
"If you can dream it, you can do it. Always remember that this whole thing was started with a dream and a mouse."
"Here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow, and fantasy"
"If you can dream it, you can do it. Always remember that this whole thing was started with a dream and a mouse."
"Here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow, and fantasy"