Tales from a December to Remember--Day 1, Thursday, December 1, 2011

At last one of my most anticipated days of the year had arrived! It was finally the day to leave for my annual December trip to Walt Disney World to spend some time with my Disney family, that crazy group of hundreds who I see each December. So, I was up long before the sun to get ready to head to the airport for my 7:10 a.m. flight to Orlando. Yes, it was early, but totally worth it because it was the start of 12 days of fun with the Disney family I usually only see once a year.

There is something really special about having a Disney family. They come from all over the U.S. and Canada. Some of them come from far off lands like Japan and Great Britain. For some reason, a large number of them come from a peculiar place known as Texas, known for its father and son presidents, cowboys, and groping. But no matter where your Disney family comes from, you can guarantee that you are in for fun, and laughter, and craziness.

This December trip to Disney World was going to extra special because we would be celebrating the 15^th Anniversary of All Ears, an amazing encyclopedia of everything Disney World that has been used by countless travelers to help plan their trips to Walt Disney World. Deb Wills, the amazing woman who founded All Ears, and her team, who work so hard to keep All Ears up to date, had lots of special events planned for the weekend of December 8^th through 11^th, and I couldn’t wait to participate! They named the series of events A December to Remember, and I adopted it as part of my countdown clock for my trip (Dreaming of a December to Remember), and now my trip report title.

I was also taking a four night cruise on Disney’s newest ship, the Disney Dream, in the middle of my trip. I was very excited to see the new ship, and really looking forward to relaxing on the ship.

As if that wasn’t enough fun for a week, I would also be attending DISapalooza after my cruise! I would be joining a group of DISers who would be venturing away from Walt Disney World to head over to Universal Studios for a private party at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

So, it was easy to get up at 4:30 a.m. to get ready for my flight because I had so much to look forward to on my trip this year! My driver arrived a bit before my scheduled pick up time, and I was soon on my way to Logan Airport!

I grabbed a quick breakfast at Johnny Rockets in the airport. I grabbed a seat next to two guys who were travelling to Fort Lauderdale on business. One of the guys kept asking the waitress for increasing amounts of money every time she asked him if he wanted anything else. When my check came, I jokingly asked him to pay my bill since he obviously has so much money because he asks people for money so much. Sadly, he wouldn’t pay for my breakfast.

I went to find a seat near the gate to wait for my plane to board, and a grumpy old couple sat down near me. They were arguing about when they would get to board the plane, and where they would sit once they boarded the plane. I said a silent prayer that they would not be seated near me. Thankfully, that prayer was answered.

Soon, I was on the plane, and waiting for it to back away from the gate. I was seated next to an annoying man who kicked off his shoes, wore a heavy jacket with a fur hood, and encroached upon my space and the space of the woman sitting next to the window. I soon found out that the rules don’t apply to him either. He sat there with his iPhone out reading something after they announced all electronic devices should be turned off. He even kept it on after the flight attendant specifically asked him to turn it off. In fact, he kept it on and read until we were about a half hour into the flight. The woman sitting across the aisle from me and I just shook our heads at each other after witnessing this behavior. Some people just don’t do what they are supposed to do.

I also was sitting in front of the Loud Family on the plane. I love the televisions on JetBlue. They really help pass the time on a flight. But lately, it seems like I’m always stuck sitting in front of a family that decides to have a conversation while wearing their headphones, causing them to shout loud enough for the people on the ground below to hear rather than speak in an indoor voice.

But even the Loud Family, and Annoying Guy couldn’t keep me from being excited about this flight to my favorite vacation spot. Luckily, my flight was on the ground about a half hour ahead of schedule, so I would be on Disney property a bit earlier than planned! I made a quick pit stop, and made my way to Magical Express. The Pop Warner kids were already starting to arrive, so there were long lines to board the buses at Magical Express. I made my way into the long line for the Boardwalk, and was seated on a bus within about 10 minutes. I was soon on my way to the Boardwalk!

My driver was Joe Gatlin if everything was all right on the ride, but if anything went wrong he was Joe Schartzz (with two z’s) if something went wrong. Joe was one of those drivers who shouldn’t be given access to an open microphone. He was funny at first, but then it got to be a bit grating. He was joking that if something happened to the bus like in the movie “Speed” a woman sitting up front would throw him down the stairs. About midway through the ride, I was ready to throw him down the stairs so I wouldn’t have to listen to him anymore.

After a quick stop at the Port Orleans Riverside, we were soon on the way to the Boardwalk! I went to the desk to check in, and was shocked to hear that my room was ready! I’ve never had my room ready at 11:30 in the morning!  I was in room 3071, a standard studio that overlooked the main entrance to the resort and the resort airline check-in desk. I wasn’t overly thrilled with the location. The noise from the main entrance wasn’t too bad, but on occasion, you could hear cars beeping, and every morning at 5:00 a.m., I was woken up by the resort airline check-in employees chatting loudly.

The room itself was just a few doors down from the elevator, and connected to another room. The room was clean and fresh. The bed was very comfortable, and everything was in working order. The mousekeeper made a Mickey head out of towels.

After dropping my bags and Owner’s Locker in my room, I headed out to start having fun. As I walked by the gift shop in the Boardwalk lobby, I noticed that resort specific merchandise was back! I was very excited to see the shirts, jackets, cups, key chains, and other merchandise for the Boardwalk! I also looked at the new DVC merchandise! I wanted it all, but I made a promise to myself not to buy anything at Walt Disney World until after my cruise, so I walked out of the gift shop empty handed that day. Thankfully, I resisted the urge to buy it all my entire trip, and only bought a polo shirt and a luggage tag at the Boardwalk.

I made my way to Epcot, where I would be meeting my friends (aka my stalkers) Cheryl and Keith for lunch at Le Cellier. I met Cheryl and Keith at an Owner’s Locker Wine Night a few years back, and almost every trip I have taken since that time, Cheryl and Keith have also been there. So, clearly they are stalking me--I think they have an in at DVC who tips them off when I’m going to be there so they can plan their trip accordingly. I was a bit early for our reservation, so I watched Papa Noel, the Canadian Holiday Storyteller, talk about some of the Christmas traditions in Canada.

I then made my way to the restaurant. My stalkers weren’t there yet, so I walked back up the pathway to meet them. Within a few minutes, my stalkers had arrived to commence their stalking. We checked in at the podium outside the restaurant, and made our way to the lobby to wait for our table. It had been about a year since I had seen Cheryl and Keith, since I had expertly avoided their stalking ways on my September trip to Disney World, so it was nice to catch up with them.

We were soon seated at a table. We all started our meals with a delicious cup of cheddar cheese soup. It was nice and peppery, so it had a bit of a kick to it. It was really delicious. Of course, we all ate tasty pretzel bread with our soup. I was sad to see that the now had sour dough and multi-grain rolls instead of breadsticks.

Cheddar Cheese Soup.  Yum!

I ordered an angus cheeseburger for my entrée, and in true stalker form, Cheryl and Keith ordered a cheeseburger to share. The cheeseburger had cheddar cheese, thick slices of delicious bacon, and maple barbecue sauce. It was big, and juicy, and you could tell that they used fresh ground beef. Oh no, this wasn’t anything like the horsemeat burgers that they serve at the counter service restaurants. This was a deliciously messy five napkin kind of burger. We were all too full from our delicious burgers to order dessert.

After lunch, I said goodbye to Cheryl and Keith, intending to walk around the world showcase for a bit. But I changed my plans on the fly and decided to make my way to the Magic Kingdom. They would be filming the Christmas Parade at the Magic Kingdom on Friday and Saturday, so I thought it would make sense to spend a few hours over there this afternoon rather than with the crowds on Friday and Saturday.

So, I started to walk towards the front of the park to catch the monorail, and I ran into my stalkers, who were heading out of the park. We wound up taking a ride on Spaceship Earth on the way out. I chose different options for the moving at the end, and saw some scenes that I had never seen before.

After taking pictures of the topiaries at the Epcot entrance, I said goodbye to Cheryl and Keith, and hopped on the monorail to the Ticket and Transportation Center. On the ride, I met a really nice family from Atlanta, Mark and Missy, and their daughter Emily. Mark and Missy were celebrating their anniversary with a stay at the Boardwalk. We chatted on the two monorail rides between Epcot and the Magic Kingdom, and I recommended that they go to Jellyrolls while they were at the Boardwalk. It’s always nice to chat with nice people during a trip to Disney World!

Once through the gates of the Magic Kingdom, I met up with my good friends John (aka Towncrier) and Sue. It is always great to see John and Sue, who had been such gracious hosts when I went to Cleveland for their Memorial Day Picnic in May. John and Sue had been collecting fast passes for Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin, and they had six in hand when I met them. They invited me to join them on the ride, so off we went to Tomorrowland!

Sue and I rode together the first time. Sue told me that she was horrible at Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin, and I insisted that I was worse. Well, it turns out that Sue was my good luck charm because I got one of my best scores ever on the ride! Thanks, Sue!

After our first ride, we had some time before the next set of fast passes would be usable, so we took a ride on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority. I have always enjoyed riding on the TTA. It is a great way to have a few minutes to relax and chat with the folks you are touring the parks with.

We then headed back to Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin. This time Sue rode with John. Since my lucky charm was in another car, I was back to my normal bad shooting self, and didn’t even break 100,000, but that’s OK because I definitely had fun on the ride.

We then decided to head over to Epcot to catch the Candlelight Processional. Michael W. Smith, an amazing Christian singer, was narrating this evening, and I was looking forward to seeing him. We entered the long standby line, and Sue thought there was no way we would make it into the show, but thankfully, we did make it!

Michael W. Smith

We were seated about fives back in the back half of the theatre on the far right side of the stage. Several announcements were made asking people to slide down their rows so more people could fit in the theatre. The people in back of us wouldn’t move down, even after a cast member asked them directly. A lady stood up and announced that they wouldn’t be moving down because there was bird poop on the seat (though she used a different word that poop to describe it--Mickey would have blushed if he was there). The cast member said he would get a rag. He also handed her some programs and told her to sit on it, which had John, Sue, and I giggling.

When the show began, I was as mesmerized by it as I always am. Listening to the choir of over 300 sing some of my favorite religious Christmas songs always gives me goose bumps. It’s definitely a must do during my December trips to Walt Disney World! Plus, I say it counts as my weekly trip to church, so I don’t feel bad about not going to church on my Disney trips.

Michael W. Smith was an excellent narrator. He spoke each word like he meant it, and even sang along with the choir. At the end of the show as he was leaving the stage, he shook hands with each of the Voices of Liberty, many of the choir members, and even the woman who was signing the show. He just seemed like a really nice guy. As we were leaving the show, they whisked him right by us on his way backstage.

After the Candlelight Processional, I said goodbye to John and Sue. They were planning to head back to the Magic Kingdom to see Wishes, but I wanted to stay in Epcot so I could see Illuminations with the special holiday ending. I made my way to the Maelstrom, and then made my way towards the Gran Fiesta Tour. I ran into Donald Duck along the way, so I stopped to take a picture with him before going on the Gran Fiesta Tour.  

I then headed to Future World and jumped in the single riders line at Test Track. I wound up in line, and subsequently riding with the most judgmental and racist teenage girl I have ever encountered in my life. In the 10 minutes I stood next to her in line, she implied the cast member standing at the entrance to the single riders line was an idiot for saying that parties would be split up, made negative remarks that I would never repeat about several races and nationalities, and made fun of the nice foreign family who were in the car with us for not speaking English. Nothing says Holiday Spirit or Disney Spirit like a racist teenager.

I then made my way over to Mission: Space. I rode with a really nice mother and daughter. The mom was a bit apprehensive about riding, but I assured her that she would be fine. She wound up loving the ride. 

I then made my way over to Soarin’. I was surprised to see that there were still fast passes available at after 6:00, so I grabbed one to use later. 

Hunger struck, so I made my way over to Nine Dragons, one of my favorite restaurants at Epcot. I ordered my favorite dish—the General Tso’s chicken. They have the best General Tso’s chicken at Nine Dragons. They use all white meat, and it’s in a delicious peppery General Tso’s sauce.

After dinner, I took another ride on Test Track, and started to walk towards Soarin’ to use my fast pass. Along the way, I noticed that there was only a short line for the Epcot Character Spot, so I decided to go spend some time with the characters. Mickey, Minne, Pluto, Donald, and Goofy were all there for me to have a picture with them.

I then went to take a quick ride on Soarin’ before finding a spot for Illuminations. I was pretty tired by this point, so I looked for a spot where I could lean against a rail. I wound up leaning against the mask sculpture in Canada. While my view of the globe was obstructed, I had a clear view of the fireworks. I really love the Holiday ending of Illuminations. Listening to the holiday greetings and watching the fireworks shoot of as “Let There Peace On Earth” plays is always one of my favorite parts of my December trips to Disney World.

I then swam upstream towards the International Gateway, and the warm bed waiting for me at the Boardwalk walk. I was exhausted from the early morning, but elated by the wonderful start to my trip.

Harry Potter & the BLT--Day 7--Wednesday, September 21, 2011

The saddest day of the trip was now upon us. The day we had to finish packing up all our stuff, and head home. Even though I knew I would be back in two and a half months, I still hate leaving Walt Disney World.

I woke up before Krista, so I headed to the Contempo Café for breakfast again. I sure got addicted to the waffles with bananas and caramel sauce. They were so delicious. I have a waffle iron at home. I should make my own banana caramel waffles someday.

Krista was up by the time I got back to the room. I finished packing my stuff and getting ready to head to the Magic Kingdom. Krista decided that she would stay at the resort a bit longer so I checked my bag in for my flight, and was soon on my way to the Magic Kingdom.

My first stop was Fantasyland, where I grabbed a fast pass for Peter Pan. I then went to see Mickey’s Philharmagic. The show wasn’t very crowded, so I was able to sit away from other people. Of course, I was singing along to every song. I really love this show.

I then headed over to Tomorrowland, where I rode Space Mountain, and grabbed a fast pass to use later. I then took a ride on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority. I then went back to Peter Pan’s Flight to use my Fast Pass, and then headed back over to Space Mountain.

It was getting close to the time I had to head back to the resort to catch Magical. I ran into Krista as I walked towards the hub, and we agreed to meet back at the resort shortly before Magical Express time. I browsed in the shops and took some pictures on my way out of the park.

I met Krista in the lobby of the Contemporary. Since I had a bit of time, I ran up to the Contempo Café and got a dulce de leche cupcake. I had been eyeing those cupcakes all week, and finally gave into the temptation. It was very yummy, and very messy.  It has soft liquid caramel in the center, and a sweet vanilla frosting on top.

Our bus soon arrived to take us back to the airport. I am usually a big fan of Magical Express, but not on this ride. I now understand why they pick you up three hours before your flight time, and why some people complain about Magical Express. The Contemporary was the first stop on the ride, and our driver told us that he was expecting a full bus.

The bus was close to half full with all of the passengers who boarded at the Contemporary. We made stops at the Polynesian, the Grand Floridian, and Wilderness Lodge. We waited for 5 to 15 minutes at each stop!  We were sitting on that bus for about 50 minutes by the time we were enroute to the airport!

There was also an annoying family on the bus who must have been on a free dining package. They boarded the bus at the Contemporary, and the mom started asking the bus driver questions while he was driving. Turns out that she wanted to get off the bus to use her dining credits. So her and one other person got off the bus at the Wilderness Lodge, and came back with two large shopping bags of food about ten minutes later! The family proceeded to eat their stinky food on the bus on the way to the airport.

We finally arrived at the airport over 90 after leaving the Contemporary! I was so glad when we finally got off that dang bus!

When we got to the security line, we got in the experienced traveler line. Big mistake. The experienced traveler line fed into one of the new x-ray machines, so it took a long time to make it through the line!  We watched the people in the line fly through while we waited, and waited, and waited.

We finally made it through security. It took us about two hours to get from the Contemporary and through security at Orlando International Airport. We were originally planning on grabbing some lunch at On the Border, but everything took so long that we had to settle for Burger King.

It was soon time to board my flight, so I said goodbye to Krista and Orlando until December.

Harry Potter & the BLT--Day 6--Tuesday, September 20, 2011

I woke up before Krista, so I took a quick shower, and headed over to the Contempo Café for breakfast. Once again, I got the delicious waffles with bananas and caramel sauce.

When Krista and I were both ready to head out, we walked to the bus stop to catch a bus to the Animal Kingdom. Once through the turnstiles, we made our way over to Dinosaur. Since there was no line, I wound up going on Primeval Whirl. I really enjoy going on this wild mouse roller coaster, but I only go on it if there is no line. We also took a ride on Triceratops Spin.

We then headed over to Expedition Everest. We grabbed a fast pass, and got in the standby line. Krista had never ridden in the front row, so we wound up riding in the front row. If you’ve never ridden in the front row on this ride, I highly recommend it. You get a fantastic view the first time the coaster stops.

Expedition Everest

After using our fast passes for a second ride on Expedition Everest, we grabbed more fast passes, and made our way over to Anandupar Local Food Cafes for lunch. I ordered the egg rolls and chicken fried rice. Krista got the egg rolls and I shared my rice with her. The egg rolls here are really good--very crispy with a lot of flavor--as my friend Diane discovered last year, these are egg rolls that Jesus would love and approve of. The chicken fried rice was very good as well, but they cut back on the amount of chicken they put in it.

After lunch, Krista decided to wander around a bit and take pictures while I used our fast passes for Expedition Everest. We decided that we would met up back at Bay Lake Tower later in the afternoon. I wound up riding Expedition Everest six more times.

Sometimes it’s fun to go on rides or explore the parks by yourself because you never know who you will meet along the way, and I met some interesting people on Expedition Everest during my ride-a-thon.  When I sat down on one ride, the man sitting next to me put out his hand and said, “Hello.  I’m Laroux from Pennsylvania.”  We chatted a bit as the ride began to start, and he introduced me to his family sitting in the row behind us.

On another ride, I was seated next to a nice British guy, who also introduced me to his family sitting in the row behind us. This man was a hoot on the ride--he laughed, smiled, and shouted throughout the ride. When we got off the ride, I told him that I was part of his family now, so he had to buy me lunch. He just laughed and said, “As long as we have a budget lunch.”

I then headed out of the park, and caught a bus back to Bay Lake Tower. When I got to  the room, there was a message letting me know that my package of stuff I bought at the Magic Kingdom the day before had arrived. I dropped my things off in the room. I headed to the elevators, and wound up riding in the elevator with a cast member named Vanessa, whom I would later discover was the front desk manager for the Contemporary (more on that later).

I made my way to the gift shop to pick up my package, and stopped at the Contempo Café to get an ice cream. I was in the main Contemporary building for about 20 minutes or so before I headed back to Bay Lake Tower. I went to the south bank of elevators, and surprise, surprise, my key didn’t work. The elevator started to go down, and I wound up on the first floor again, so I got off the elevator, and made my way to the north elevators.

The first elevator wouldn’t take my key, so I pressed a button to send it away, and pressed the button to call another elevator. I stepped on the elevator, and tried again to get my key to work.  Once again, it did not work. I was about to get off the elevator, when the doors shut and it started going up. I continued to try to get my key to work, turning the key every which way.

The elevator stopped on a floor, and a mousekeeper named Grimalda and a maintenance man named Jose stepped on. Jose noticed me shoving my key into the slot, and I told him that I couldn’t get the key to work. He took it from me, and tried, but couldn’t get it to work. He used his access key to get me to the 16^th floor, which is also where he was heading.

As we got off the elevator, Jose asked me, “Are you in room 8609?” I told him that was my room, and he told me that Grimalda was our mousekeeper and hadn’t been able to get into the room. Jose tried Grimalda’s key, then my key, then his access key, and none of them worked. He thought the lock needed to be reprogrammed, so he called the maintenance supervisor to send another maintenance man up with a programmer. Jose told me that someone would be right up, and suggested that I go sit in the elevator lobby.

So, off to the elevator lobby I went. And I waited. And waited. And waited some more. I walked back to my room to see if anyone had come from another direction, and I saw Grimalda sitting on the ground outside my room. I asked if anyone had come, and she told me not yet.

I made my way back to the elevator lobby. After a half hour of waiting, I picked up the house phone and called to see if they could find out when the maintenance man would be there. The first cast member I spoke with connected me with Thelma at the front desk of the Contemporary. After being on hold for close to ten minutes, Thelma came back and told me that the front desk would send a runner up to look into it. At that exact moment, maintenance man Angel showed up, so I let Thelma know she could call off the runner.

I walked back to my room with Angel, and once again, he tried my key, Grimalda’s key, and his access key, and none of them worked. He tried his programmer, but the battery was dead, as he had just used it on four other doors. He called one of his colleagues to come up with another programmer, but that guy said he was on a plumbing call. Angel told him that he should call the plumbers to do that, as it wasn’t their job, and again asked him to get the programmer, as I was waiting to get into my room.

Angel told me that the other maintenance man wasn’t going to listen to him, so he called down to the maintenance supervisor, and asked that he have the other maintenance man bring up the programmer. Angel tried his programmer repeatedly to try to get in the room, but it just wasn’t working.

Angel thought that he might be able to get me in through the connecting door in the one bedroom, and knocked on the door, but there was no answer (at least not yet). So, I waited with Grimalda and Angel, chatting with them about Disney, Boston, and other random things.

Eventually, Wilfredo showed up with the second programmer, and that one would not work either. Sometime in the 20 minutes it took me to the package, my door lock has a major malfunction that would now require the master key to gain access to my room. Angel called down to the maintenance supervisor, and asked him to bring the master key up.

While we were waiting for the master key, I heard someone say, “Just a minute.” The man in the one bedroom unit next to mine opened to door, about 10 minutes after Angel had knocked one. And let me just say, I wish that this man had never opened the door. This man opened the door wearing only a pair of shorts, and let me just say that he had the scariest pair of man boobs I have ever seen in my live. They were flat against his stomach, and at least eight inches long. When I relayed this story to Krista later in the afternoon, I told her that I was kind of worried that I would have nightmares about the man boobs staying in the next room sliding underneath the connecting door to attack us. Angel apologized to Mr. Man Boobs for knocking, and told him that he didn’t need access to his room anymore. I think Angel was afraid to enter the man boobs lair.

So, here it was, over an hour after I left my room to go get my package, and I was still locked outside of my room. And here I stood chatting with Angel, Wilfredo, and Grimalda as we waited for the maintenance supervisor to come up with the master key.

As we waited, Vanessa, the front desk manager I had ridden in the elevator with on my way to get my package with strolled over to us. She started to say, “I heard there is a problem…this is your room?” I said, “Yes, and can you believe that I have been standing here waiting to get into my room since about 20 minutes after I saw you.” Her name was Vanessa. Vanessa had some keys with her, but alas, she didn’t have the correct key to get into my room either.

Vanessa was very nice, and offered me food or drink, and asked if I wanted to wait in the lounge. I told her I had invested an hour of time into this, and I wanted to see it through at this point. So, here I was, in the hallway with Vanessa, and Angel, and Wilfredo, and Grimalda. It was really becoming quite the party!

About ten minutes later, Grant, the maintenance manager, showed up with the master key. Only to realize that he didn’t have the correct key either.  So, off he went, back to wherever they kept the master key. 

At one point, another manager walked by our little group, and simply said, “You have everything under control here?” And we all told him yes.

After another ten minutes, Grant came back with the master key that would finally get us all into my room. It took over 90 minutes from the time the first maintenance call went out until I was finally able to get back into my room. If I had known it would take that long, I wouldn’t have waited there, but I had been assured that someone would be right away to take care of the issue. Then, it just reached a point where I just wanted to see it through to the end. It reached a point where the situation could be the punchline to a joke:

How many cast members does it take to open a door at a Disney Resort? 10, one to fix the door look, and 9 others to stand around and try to figure out what they need to do.

Grimalda quickly took care of my trash and towels while Angel replaced the door lock. Vanessa gave me a $50 credit to my account to make up for the time lost standing in the hallway waiting for access to my room.

Now that I was finally back in the room, I began packing up my things, as we would be leaving the next day, and I was hoping to be at the Magic Kingdom early the next morning.  I filled Krista in on all the crazy details of my key adventure, including the scary man boobs.

When I was packed, we headed over to the Magic Kingdom, where we would be attending Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. We had a bit of time before our dinner reservations at Tony’s Town Square, so we headed over to the Mickey Mouse meet and greet in Town Square. We only had to wait about 15 minutes to meet Mickey and Minnie.

We then headed to Tony’s for dinner.  We were seated pretty quickly. It had been a while since I had eaten here, so it was nice to try it again. It’s really pretty in the restaurant. I ordered a garden salad, which was served with a tasty house Italian dressing. For my entrée, I ordered the lasagna, which was very good, but not anywhere near as good as the lasagna at Tutto Italia.

After dinner, we browsed through some of the shops on Main Street and headed over to Tomorrowland, where we defeated Zurg and the aliens on Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin. We also went to the Carousel of Progress and Space Mountain.

Not only am I a two-time Acadamy Award Winner,

I am also a two-time Mickey Award Winner!

As party time approached, we started to make our way to Fantasyland. The line was short for the Tomorrowland Speedway, so we decided to take a ride. When it came to the point where it split into two lines, we decided to go to the lane on the left, which ended up being a mistake. They were feeding two rows of cars from the line on the right, and only one line of cars on the line on the left. We were still on the ride pretty quickly, but not nearly as fast as we would have if we went to the other line.

We then headed over and took a ride on the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Since I am a little kid, I had to play with the interactive features in the queue. I never really enjoy this ride, though. I’m still bitter that they took Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride out for this.

We did some trick or treating around Fantasyland, and took a ride on Snow White’s Scary Adventures since there was no line. We then went to another trick or treating area, where they were handed out incredibly delicious caramel apple filled Werther’s Originals.  We went back to that trick or treating spot many times during our trip.

We headed over to the Haunted Mansion. What’s a trip to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween party without taking a ride on the Haunted Mansion. I really enjoy the new hitchhiking ghosts at the end.

Before heading over to it’s a small world, we wound up grabbing some more Werther’s Originals.  Yummy. After riding it’s a small world, we grabbed more Werther’s Orginals. We must have trick or treated there a half dozen times.

We trick or treated our way towards Adventureland. As we stood in line at one station, I commented that the party seemed really crowded. The person in front of me told me she didn’t think it was crowded at all. As we chatted, she told me that she was a cast member with central reservations, and it was cast member discount night, so lots of cast members were there. Some cast members were even given free tickets to attend the event. As the night wore on, I noticed packs of young adults who you could tell were part of the college program.

We headed over to Pirates of Caribbean, and although the line said five minutes, we realized that it was a lot longer than that when we got inside. The fireworks were scheduled to start in about 20 minutes, so we decided to skip Pirates so we wouldn’t miss the fireworks.

We walked towards the castle, and joined the masses waiting for the fireworks to start. We wound up choosing a spot against a railing on the spoke leading towards Adventureland. Our view was slightly obstructed by a tree, but at least we had something to lean on.

Hallowishes

We then went to find a spot to watch the parade. We wound up choosing a spot in Liberty Square opposite the stockades. We were right at a rope and had a railing to lean on. It was right before the parade takes the turn to head towards the hub. It wound up being a nice spot, as there was no room for anyone to try to squish in front of us. We were really early for the parade, but the time went by pretty quickly as I chatted with a nice family from Canada.

The parade was a lot of fun, and we got some yummy Mickey Mouse lollipops. I really love the gravediggers, and seeing all of the characters in their costumes. And of course, it’s pretty neat to see the headless horseman ride by.

Headless Horseman

Boo To You Parade, Part 1

Boo To You Parade Part 2

And speaking of costumes, I am always amazed by some of the costumes that guests wear to the party. We saw one guy dressed in an elaborate scarecrow costume, and another guy dressed like the pope, complete with flowing robes and a pope hat. Our favorite costumes were worn by a family that poked fun at all of the things that wind up being heated topics on the DIS boards. They wore t-shirts that read  “Tour Group Leader,” “Refillable Mug User,” “Pop Warner Hoodlum,” “Resort Pool Hopper,” and “Cheer Team Brat.” They were simple costumes, but really funny.

After the parade, we headed over to Frontierland, where we went on Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain. We took one more ride on the Haunted Mansion. Before we left the park, I wound up buying myself a special souvenir. I had been debating buying it throughout the trip, but finally made the decision to buy it. Yes, I just had to buy myself my very own Crack Whore Mickey stuffed Animal. Tongue hanging out of his mouth, dirty hands, bloodshot eyes, hair all messed up, dishevled clothes. This wasn't the Mickey that we all know and love. This was a darker Mickey with an edge. 

We made our way back to Bay Lake Tower after a very long final full day at Disney World.

Harry Potter and the BLT--Day 5--Monday, September 19, 2011

After our late night at the Magic Kingdom, we decided not to push ourselves to get up and out this morning. I woke up before Krista, so I started getting ready for the day. I wound up heading up to the Contempo Café to grab some breakfast. I got the Belgian Waffles with bananas and caramel, which were served with sausage. The waffles were fantastic. They were made to order, and had a lot of flavor. 
 

When we were ready to head to Epcot, Krista and I went to the monorail. The monorail ride to Epcot isn’t bad, but the ride back when you have to do the full resort loop seems to take forever.

When we made it through the gates, we headed over to the Land, where we were planning to grab fast passes for Soarin’. We lucked out, and someone handed us fast passes that would be good for use in less than an hour. Krista wound up grabbing another fast pass to use later, but I decided to skip getting another fast pass.

Since we had a bit of time before our fast pass window, we wound up going on Living with the Land. I only go on this one every few years, but it is pretty neat to see the innovative ways that they grow things in the greenhouse. I wish that they would give out free samples along the way, though. Here, have a banana.

We still had a bit of time before our fast pass window, so we sat down in the food court until the window opened. One side of Soarin’ was down completely, and the other side was experiencing problems. We wound up waiting close to a half hour even with our fast passes.

After Soarin’, we made our way to Nine Dragons for lunch. I ordered the General Tso’s Chicken, and Krista ordered the Honey Sesame Chicken. Nine Dragons makes the best General Tso’s Chicken. It’s is very peppery, and has a nice kick too it, but isn’t too spicy. Krista seemed to enjoy her Honey Sesame Chicken (she ate most, if not all, of it, which usually means Krista likes something).

After lunch, we started to walk towards France, where Krista planned on getting dessert and going to the France movie. I stopped in the caramel shop in Germany on the way to get a vanilla caramel cupcake, and walked to France with Krista. I waited at a table outside while Krista ran in and got herself some chocolate mousse. Both of our desserts were very yummy.

I said goodbye to Krista, and headed over to Journey into your Imagination. There was a short line, and I was in line with a single mom and her adorable 2 year-old-daughter. The daughter was just the cutest little thing. She was all smiles and waving to everyone she say in the line, and I wound up riding in the row in front of them. The little girl seemed to enjoy the ride until we hit the smell lab. The look on her face when they did the smell test was priceless. She didn’t know to cover her nose and hold her breath like I always do.

I then headed over to Test Track and rode it twice using the single riders line. The single riders line was pretty quick, so it only took me about a half hour to ride twice.  Mission: Space was my next stop. The line was about 20 minutes long, so I decided to skip it until my next trip.

I stopped and took a ride on Spaceship: Earth on my way to the park exit. I always try to chose different options at the end to make my story at the end a bit different each time.

I then took the monorail back to the Contemporary, where Krista and I were meeting up. We headed over to the Magic Kingdom, and did some shopping on Main Street. As we walked down Main Street, we caught the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party as it made it's way down the street. I really love the floats and costumes in this party. It's just so colorful and fun.

Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It!

We conitnued down Main Street and checked in at the Plaza Restaurant. We had to wait a few minutes for our table, so we sat at one of the tables outside and watched the guys who were on a crane next to the castle. 

I always enjoy the food at the Plaza Restaurant, but I wish the restaurant was a bit bigger. We were seated right next to one of the doors to the kitchen, so there was a lot of activity around our table. I ordered a chicken sandwich with ham & cheese, and Krista got a burger. Our waitress was kind enough to bring us some mayo for our sandwiches. Neither of uses mayo, but I was glad she brought it because mayo grosses Krista out. I wish that our good friend John was there to drink it through a straw like he did a few years back when we went to Olivia’s for lunch one day. I really enjoyed my sandwich. It had a nice flavor too it. Krista seemed to enjoy her burger.

After dinner, we took a ride on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority. Since we skipped dessert at the Plaza Restaurant, we wound up heading over to the Main Street Bakery for cinnamon rolls. I absolutely love the cinnamon rolls at the Main Street Bakery.  They are huge, but surprisingly light. They are ooey gooey and bursting with flavor.  It’s a must have on every trip.

We eventually made our way to the front of the castle for the Magic, the Memories, and You show. I really loved this show. It was neat seeing the color illuminated in so many different colors. It must be a thrill for the families whose pictures and videos wind up in the show. We stayed in front of the castle to watch Wishes as well, which was as fun as always.

The Magic, The Memories, and You!

Wishes Part 1

Wishes Part 2

After the fireworks, we joined the masses exiting the park, and walked back to Bay Lake Tower. We changed into our bathing suits, and headed to the main pool at the Contemporary for a swim. It was a bit chilly, but the water was still refreshing. There weren’t that many people in the pool, so it was very relaxing.

We then headed to the beach to watch the Electric Water Pageant on the lake. It’s been a while since I had seen this, so I definitely wanted to make sure that I saw it during my stay at Bay Lake Tower. This is a really cute show, and worth checking out if you are staying in the Magic Kingdom area.

Electric Water Pagaent

After the parade, we walked over to the pool at Bay Lake Tower for a bit. We also wound up playing in the water jet play area for a while. I’m sure that anyone who was sitting on the balconies that evening was getting a kick out of us running through the water jet. We also sat by the fire pit for a few minutes.

We eventually headed back to our room to get a good night sleep, as we had a busy day planned for Tuesday.

Harry Potter and the BLT--Day 4--Sunday, September 18, 2011

We were up bright and early to get ready for our reservation for breakfast at the Kona Café. We took the monorail to the resort, and arrived at the Kona Café shortly before our reservation time. For some reason, they forgot to buzz our pager, so we watched party after party enter the restaurant (including some we knew were walk-ins) be seated. I was about to go over and say something when they finally buzzed our pager. The cast member assigning tables said she had been wondering where we were.

Krista ordered the Tonga Toast, and I ordered the pineapple macadamia nut pancakes, and we shared with each other. I have heard so much about the Tonga Toast over the years, but I was a bit disappointed in it. It didn’t have very much banana in it, and was basically just a chunk of bread. The pineapple macadamia pancakes were very good. While I enjoyed my breakfast at Kona Café, I probably wouldn’t make the effort to go back there unless I was staying at a monorail resort.

After breakfast, we took a bus to Disney Hollywood Studios.  We arrived at the studios around 9:30, and went back to grab fast passes for Toy Story Midway Mania. The fast passes were for 1:00 in the afternoon, so we had some time to kill before we could ride.

Since neither of us had seen the new version of Star Tours yet, we decided to make that our first attraction. We were on the ride within ten minutes. I don’t want to give out too many details about the attraction, but I have to say that I love what they did with it. There are over 40 versions of the movie, so you can have a different experience every time you ride. Part of the movie we saw made me think of Mission: Space (ease it right, back to center). They seemed to tame down the motion of the ride a bit--it wasn’t nearly as jerky as I remember.

We took a second ride on Star Tours, and once again got on within ten minutes. The movie this time was a lot different than the first time. We both agreed that we liked the second version we saw better. The first time we rode, we were in the second row, and felt that we had a better view of the screen. The second time we rode, we were in the back of the vehicle, and we thought that you could feel the motion of the vehicle a lot more back there.

After our ride, we headed to the Great Movie Ride. The line was a bit longer than usual, so we had a bit of a wait, but not ridiculously long. This ride is always on my must do list. It’s just so much fun, although I wish that they would update the scenes a bit (for example, take out the alien scene, and perhaps shorten the western and mobster sections so they can include some other great movies).

After the Great Movie Ride, we headed down Sunset Boulevard to the Tower of Terror. The ride sign said it was 20 minutes long, and we were going to wait, but the line was out the front gate, so we decided to wait. As we walked by the ride sign again, the time had increased to 30 minutes!

I headed over to go through the single rider line at Rock ‘N Roller Coaster twice, while Krista went to see Beauty and the Beast. I wound up in line with the same guy both times. The first time, they actually put us in a row together. It was fun chatting with him while we waited in line.

I met up with Krista, who also grabbed fast passes for Tower of Terror. We then headed over to One Man’s Dream, and quickly made our way through the building to see what time the next movie would start. Since it was only a few minutes, we waited to go into the movie. This movie is definitely a must see for Disney fans. It’s great to see video of Walt, and hear his story.

We had a bit of time before our lunch reservation, so we took another ride on Star Tours. Our ride was very similar to our first ride (including the Mission: Space part). We both agreed that the second one was our favorite.

We then headed over to 50’s Prime Time Café for lunch. We arrived early, and sat in the lobby to wait. We had a bit of a wait, but were soon seated. A foreign couple came into the restaurant while we were there, and the woman looked like she dressed specifically for the restaurant. She was wearing a long poodle type skirt (though it didn’t have a poodle on it), and was excitedly taking pictures all round the lobby. It was interesting to watch someone so passionate about the restaurant. She must be a 50’s fan.

Our server was good, but she wasn’t the most interactive sever I’ve ever had at the 50’s Prime Time Café. She didn’t even yell at me for having my elbows on the table. At one point during our meal, Krista spilled a lot of her chocolate shake on the table, making a huge mess, and causing her to say a word that would make Mickey Mouse sad. When our server came over to see the mess, I told her that Krista said a word that would make mom want to wash Krista’s mouth out with soap. The server asked me what Krista said, and I told her that it wasn’t a word that you would ever hear come out of my mouth.

Krista ordered the meat loaf, which she seemed to enjoy. I ordered the pot roast, which is my usual meal at the 50’s Prime Time Café. The pot roast wasn’t as good as it usually is. Normally, the pot roast is very tender, and you can pull off pieces of the meat with a fork. This time, it was more like a brick of beef, and it required cutting it with a knife. It was still good, but I prefer it when it is tender.

Since I was a member of the clean plate club, I decided to order s’mores for dessert. I can’t go to 50’s Prime Time Café without getting some deliciously gooey s’mores.

When we walked out of the 50’s Prime Time Café, it was pouring out. We made a quick dash for the shops on Hollywood Boulevard, and browsed through the shops for a bit. When the rain slowed a bit, we made a dash back to Toy Story Midway Mania to use our fast passes.

We then headed over to the Tower of Terror to use our fast passes. Since there was no line, we decided to ride it a second time. This is my favorite ride at Disney Hollywood Studios (even if I did fracture my tailbone on it once).

We browsed through some more shops as we made our way out of the park to head back to the Contemporary. We were originally planning on spending some time by the pool, but it was raining again, so we just relaxed in the room for a while. When the rain stopped, we wandered around the resort for a while to take some pictures.

As we walked through the 4^th floor concourse in the Contemporary, we saw a bride and her entourage. A little girl excitedly ran over to the bride, thinking she was a princess, and wrapped her arms around her. The little girl’s mother pulled her away and apologized to the bride. The bride just smiled and said it was al lright. I have to say that if it were me, I would think it was magical to be mistaken for a princess on my wedding day.

We eventually made our way to the Contempo Café for dinner. Krista got a pepperoni pizza, and I ordered a roast beef sandwich. My sandwich was surprisingly good for counter service.  It had a lot of flavor, and the meat was very tender. It was served with roasted potatoes. The potatoes were OK. Some of them were undercooked.

After dinner, we headed back to the room. We were planning on watching the fireworks from the observation deck at Top of the World, and I also planned the evening so that I could be in the room to watch the opening of the Emmy Awards. Krista went out on the deck to wait for the fireworks, while I watched the beginning of the Emmys. I was hoping that the Glee cast would join Jane Lynch for the opening number, but alas, they did not. I was hoping to catch the announcement of the award for best supporting actor in a comeday, as I was hoping that Chris Colfer would end up winning the Emmy, but unfortunately he did not.

I joined Krista out on the deck. There were some guys standing near us drinking and smoking. I don’t think you’re supposed to smoke out on the deck, but that didn’t stop one guy from chain smoking up there the entire time. Someone actually confronted him about it, and the smoker was really nasty about it. I guess his cigarette is more important than anything else.

It was fun watching the fireworks from the observation deck at Top of the World, and the soundtrack was piped in. It wasn’t the best vantage point for the fireworks, though. You see the fireworks shoot up from behind Space Mountain. If you are staying at Bay Lake Tower, and have access to the lounge, it’s worth watching the fireworks from the deck, but if you have never seen them, you are much better off watching them from inside the park.

After the fireworks, we walked over to the Magic Kingdom for Extra Magic Hours. We headed towards Adventureland, and took a ride on the Jungle Cruise. We then went to visit the Tiki Birds. I’m glad that they went back to the original. I find Iago to be a bit grating because Gilbert Gottfried is so annoying, so it was nice to have the traditional show back.

We then went on Pirates of the Caribbean and Splash Mountain with very short waits. We then headed over to the Haunted Mansion. We went through the Graveyard queue, so we had a bit of a wait. While it was nice to have things to look at and interact with while we waited in line, I wasn’t overly impressed by the interactive queue. On future rides, I’ll probably use the faster queue on the right.

We then wandered around Main Street for a bit, and headed back to Bay Lake Tower.