My Surprise Disney Trip: Wrap-Up TR COMPLETE 5/19/05 About This Page:

[DawnDenise]

[b]Day 6: Part 2: MGM at Night and the lights Fantasmic!

<font color="red">Next we wander our way back over to Star Tours. Another first for us. We get on our ship in about 4 minutes and off we go. the ride! Chuck especially likes the effects. We disembark and move on to Muppets Vision 3D. Of course we have to stop and get a picture of Chuck on the Speeder Bike.



We get right in and wait for about 3 minutes before they let us into the theater. Not as great as Mickey’s Philharmagic or Tough to Be a Bug but still good. After leaving 3D, we head over to the ABC Commissary and grab a drink. On our way, we get sidetracked by the Monster’s Inc Characters. Who am I to pass up a character greet and meet? They do not sign or stamp books so we get our picture taken.



We go get our drink and people watch for a bit. I want to head over to the Magic of Disney Animation because I love it so much. We discuss other options and we agree to head there next. I snap a couple of the pictures of the sketches on the buildings.</font>



I just loved how the trees made this on look.



<font color="red">We wait for about 15 minutes as a group just entered into the theater right as we got there. I love seeing the different phases how a character comes about.We finally get in the auditorium and here all about Mushu. We exit and go into the interactive area. Of course, I know that the Incredibles are here, and we go stand in line for them. WOW….these guys are popular. We wait for about 25 minutes, and I finally get to see them. Chuck is wielding the camera as well as the Disney photographers. Mrs. Incredible stamps for both her and Mr..Incredible. Now a total of 6 pictures are taken between the two cameras. In every single one of them, it looks like I am copping a feel on Mr. Incredible’s behind. See for yourself!!</font>


My Picture


Disney’s Picture

<font color="red">After groping Mr. Incredible, we head back out as the Disney Stars nad Motor Cars Parade. We actually get pretty good seats right in front of the Brown Derby. We have about a 15 minute wait before the first car arrives. My pictures are not great because I had a very rude person cut right in front of me with his video camera. I voiced politely to the man that he cut right in front of me, and he just looked at me acting as he could not understand English. OK…I don’t press the issue. About 5 minutes later the man is speaking perfect English to someone standing by Chuck. Arrrggghhhh! Anyway, here are the pictures I am able to get.</font>








Took this one by just putting my camera up in the air in the general direction.



<font color="red">We have some time before our dinner so we go over to The Great Movie Ride. We get through the line in about 20 minutes and go through the history of movies. We go through the cowboy side. I love the end of this ride with all the clips. We exit and I have to go get some pictures of the hand and footprints.





Our PS for the Brown Derby is for 5:50pm, and we check in about 5:38pm. Now as we are at the desk, this lady out of nowhere comes flying up to the desk, pushes chuck aside and begins yelling, no let me take that back, screaming at the host. She keeps saying that she put her name in 30 minutes ago and her party of 9 is still waiting. She has seen many people come in after her and go right in. Now the host is trying his best to explain that the people she has witnessed going in before her, had a PS and she came in as a walk-in. This goes back and forth for about 10 minutes. Another host gets us checked in and as we turn to go sit down and wait, she turns on us. Ok…this is not the thing to do to Chuck. He rather calmly explains that if she would have planned ahead like his wife did, she wouldn’t be having this problem. He then says that this is the happiest place on Earth and if she can’t find the joy of being in WDW, not to ruin it for the others. I cannot help but smile. She then states that if we get in before her family does, she will be going to the highest person in Disney and letting them know what happened to her.</font>


Chuck after telling the lady off.

<font color="red">Yep, at this point, I am hoping that we get in before her. The manager comes and tries to explain the same thing that many before him failed. Well, he fails as well. He walks into the dining room and somehow finds a way to get a party of nine seated. Now, he tells they have a table ready and guess what??? She has to go get everyone from outside. We are called while she is gathering her family. Now, Tim, I believe, the host from the beginning must have said something to the manager about how she turned on us. As we are being seated, he comes over with two glasses of champagne for us having to deal with the lady. Very cool!!! We thank him and he asks Chuck what he said. The manager laughs and tells us to enjoy our dinner. He lets us know the family is on the other side of the restaurant so there shouldn’t be any worries.

Our waitress comes and we order the Cobb Salad for Two and the Filets. Chuck and I start talking about Fantasmic and how we are glad we decided to the Fantasmic dinner package. We thought about skipping it this time around, but it was one of the last things I had mom change. Our salad comes and we devour this thing. I the Cobb salad. It is just so yummy!! Next, we get our entrees. We both got the Filet Mignons and oh my goodness were they tender. They practically melt in our mouths. Now, I am stuffed but Chuck refuses to pass on dessert. I cannot remember what he ordered at this point but I known it was good as he cleans the plate. We sign our receipt and head out back into MGM.

We snap this picture right outside of the Brown Derby.



We have about 30 minutes before we have to head to the back entrance into Fantasmic. We find the spot to get our EMH bracelets and then just go through some of the stores. We head to the back entrance and make our way into the reserved seating. We get pretty good seats about in the 4th row. We love the show just like we did last time. Here are the pictures that are presentable for show.











We head out of the stadium and head directly to ToT and RnR. They are still giving Fastpass to ToT so we grab one of those and head to RnR again. Only showing a 25 minute wait and we get through pretty quickly. We find a hoodie that Chuck loves in the gift shop after RnR but they do not have it in his size. I try and console him with ice cream. We have about 30 minutes before our time opens up for ToT and I get an ice cream Mickey sandwich for me and a Mickey bar for him. We start talking about how tomorrow is our last day. We are a little down but refuse to let it take away from the time we have left. We finish our snacks and head over to ToT. We are still a few minutes early. Finally, our time opens up, and we are in.

All I can say is that it is a totally different experience at night as well. Still awesome but really different. We end up buying our picture this time around and head into the gift shop. Now Chuck finally finds a hoodie that he likes and is in his size. Phew!! It takes about 15 minutes to check out for some reason and we head back out to the other shops. I cannot resist going into the Pooh shop and I buy one of the bigger plush Eeyores in a sleepshirt and nightcap. Do I have her put it in the bag? Nope…I carry it the rest of the evening. We head to the bus stops a little early and luck out. We hop on a bus right away that isn’t even filled to capacity.

We make it back to our home in Aruba and as I start the depressing task of packing, Chuck calls Guest Services again and tries to get our meal problem worked out. They say that it will show by tomorrow morning. We then call and get a time for them to pick up our luggage to store while we are in the parks tomorrow. We set the wake-up call and finish packing. It is here we discover we do not have enough room for everything. Uh-oh! We put what doesn’t fit in the luggage into a bag and decide, we’ll just have to buy another carry-on bag. Oh darn!

We take a shower and head to bed.</font>

LAST DAY: One Last Look at the Magic Kingdom &amp; the Quest Ends

[lauren-roxy]

Another fabulous update Dawn!! Your pictures are really great!! It always amazes me how some people can be so rude, I'm glad that Chuck set her straight!! I am so sad that your trip report is almost over! Can't wait to read more!!!

[amanda31599]

Great update. It's amazing how many characters you met! Hope I'm equally as lucky!

[Luv2plan]

[ QUOTE ]
In every single one of them, it looks like I am copping a feel on Mr. Incredible’s behind.

[/ QUOTE ]

You're too funny!!! I love the photos, and how nice that the manager at Brown Derby brought you some champagne! You deserved it after keeping your cool with the angry woman! I just never ceases to be shocking that people can be so rude - yesterday at our litte hometown McDonalds a car crashed into a telephone pole outside and the power went out, and while I thought the staff was excellent and reorganized in about 2 minutes (we were headed out, luckily for us) there was a guy in line making a fuss that they weren't taking his order!!

[TinkerBelz]

[ QUOTE ]
After groping Mr. Incredible, we head back out as the Disney Stars nad Motor Cars Parade.

[/ QUOTE ] OK, it's a good thing I didn't have anything in my mouth because it would have ended up on my screen! That was SO hilarious. I had to run into the bedroom and tell my husband about it. Of course he looked at me like I'm nuts! LOL

[ QUOTE ]
I voiced politely to the man that he cut right in front of me, and he just looked at me acting as he could not understand English. OK…I don’t press the issue

[/ QUOTE ]

What is that with the "No Speak Englishy"?? LOL I remember when we went and my daughter was 4. My mom and dad came with us and this family sat in the middle of a row instead of moving down to the end. They kept saying "No speak Englishy"....now both my parents were in the Navy and I'm not saying what my mom did was right, but she said some Explicitives and then told them to move their "you know what's" down the row. Funny, they suddenly understood English. LOL

[ QUOTE ]
Ok…this is not the thing to do to Chuck. He rather calmly explains that if she would have planned ahead like his wife did, she wouldn’t be having this problem. He then says that this is the happiest place on Earth and if she can’t find the joy of being in WDW, not to ruin it for the others.

[/ QUOTE ]

OK, another gut buster for me. Sounds like something my husband would say. Well, OK, maybe he wouldn't have been so nice about it!! LOL

[ QUOTE ]
As we are being seated, he comes over with two glasses of champagne for us having to deal with the lady. Very cool!!! We thank him and he asks Chuck what he said. The manager laughs and tells us to enjoy our dinner. He lets us know the family is on the other side of the restaurant so there shouldn’t be any worries.


[/ QUOTE ]

Kudos for Disney doing something so GOOD. Of course they did, it is Disney, isn't it!

Thanks again for a GREAT trip report!

Yvonne

[Leah's Dad]

This is a great TR!!! Loving the way you tell the story with your pictures. I have to admit we ran into a couple of people like the one you ran into at the Brown Derby. And YES, the Cobb Salad is the best. I tried to recreate it for Thanksgiving last year, but it couldn't come close and the recipe isn't very easy to follow.

Leah's Dad

[Steph A]

Another great report. Sorry to hear about the lady at the Brown Derby, some people!!! I loved DH's words or wisdom. Planning is everything, especially at Disney!


Can't wait for more!
Steph A

[mamapajama]

I hope if (when?) we encounter such rudeness, I can handle it with such class. Probably not though, DH calls me his "little attack dog".

Elise

[2princessmom]

I just found and got caught up with your report! Too funny! I just love your stories! Thanks for sharing! Kudos to your husband for telling the lady to go and find some disney magic! Even bigger Kudos to Disney for making sure you were taken care of! I am sad to see the TR end!

[SuperKate]

Just READING about the lady at brown derby made me furious. I would have gotten right in her face just like Chuck did, and that would be VERY unlike me. Good for him though some people!


Great Report, and I cracked up laughing when I read..."After groping Mr. Incredible"

[Colexis Mom]

Another great update Dawn And yes, you are goosing Mr. Incredible

How rude of that woman at HBD Some people just don't get it I'm glad you didn't let it ruin your night, and how great that you got some free drinks

Great Fantasmic pictures as well I'm sorry it's coming to an end

[Cinderbrella]

Your DH handled that NASTY woman with such class! I would not be able to come back with a retort that quickly. This would be me ! How did Mr. Incredible's tush feel? Those pictures say a thousand words! Awesome trip report, Dawn. I hate to see it coming to an end!!

[DawnDenise]

[ QUOTE ]
How did Mr. Incredible's tush feel? Those pictures say a thousand words!

[/ QUOTE ]




I blush as I write this...Mr. Incredible's tush is quite firm.

[lauren-roxy]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
How did Mr. Incredible's tush feel? Those pictures say a thousand words!

[/ QUOTE ]




I blush as I write this...Mr. Incredible's tush is quite firm.

[/ QUOTE ]
You are too funny Dawn!!!

[DawnDenise]

[b] LAST DAY: One Last look at the Magic Kingdom. &amp; a Quest Fulfilled

<font color="red">Well, our last morning arrives, and the alarm goes off around 6:30am. We have a PS for Ohana’s at 8:00am. We get all the lose ends packed and set everything by the door for the bell services to pick up and store our luggage. We just bring the camera bag knowing that we’ll be finishing up our shopping and buying another duffel bag of some sort.

We first grab the internal bus to the Custom House as we want to stop by Guest Services and make sure our meal thing is corrected. I am so glad that we did. We get there and there is a small line but no big deal. We explain our situation and they bring us up in the computer. The CM says she sees all of our calls regarding the problem and sees where previous CMs have made the corrections but they never seem to take. The CM is making all the necessary calls and it is here I am seeing that we are going to miss our PS. While the CM is handling the coupon problem, I go to a house phone and call Disney Dining to see if they have any other openings for a little later. Nope…we are out of luck. I tell them to go ahead and open up our time slot and go back to tell Chuck.

I get back to Guest Services, and there has still been no resolve. At this point, all Chuck and I care about is getting 1 more coupon so we can have our lunch at Tony’s Town Square. The CM works her Disney magic and get us all 3 that were accidentally taken off. She even runs a sample receipt to make sure that it shows it. We thank her and head over to the Old Port Royale. We contemplate getting something to eat but decide to head to the Magic Kingdom as it was getting close to 9:00.

We hop a bus and make our way to see my favorite place one last time. We make it through security and the turnstiles pretty quickly and immediately head to Le Chapeau to get some ears. My MIL insisted that she didn’t want ears. Well, in my head, that means get them. We get her and FIL the gold ones with their names on them. I also had to get some youth ones for my godson. Nest, we head up Main Street. The previous two times we were in the MK there was always a crowd around the Partners statue. We luck out and I am able to get a picture with Chuck.



I want to get some up close pictures of the Castle with all the new decorations. I know we have all seen them previously, but here they are again.










Now as we are walking around towards the Rose Garden, we hear people talking about Jiminy Cricket. My ears perk up, and we follow a group of people down into the Rose Garden. We receive a button from a CM celebrating Earth Day. She then explains that Jiminy Cricket only comes out once a year on this day. I do not know if this is true but I think it’s pretty cool that I am standing in line to see him.

In the line, we see all of the recycling efforts Disney has made in past years and what they are doing now. We get to see a couple of kids release some ladybugs. We play with the interactive displays and we finally reach Jiminy. I want both Chuck and I in the picture so we hand the CM our Photopass and get a couple of pictures. I end up buying these off the website after we return home. I had already packed my autograph books (DARN IT!) so I miss out on that part of it.




We head back out and run into Fantasyland. I ride Cinderella’s Carousel one more time and get a FP for Peter Pan’s flight. We head back down Main Street to check in for our PS @ Tony’s Town Square Restaurant. Wow…..what a line! Thank goodness for PS.

We get a little booth and look at the menus. We decide on the Garlic Breadsticks for an appetizer. Since we skipped breakfast, we are hungry. Claude, our waiter, takes our drink and appetizer order and now it’s time to decide on the entrée. Chuck decides on the Spaghetti and Meatballs. I am not in the mood for pasta so I go with the Grilled Chicken Panini. Breadsticks arrive and about 3 minutes later, our meals arrive. No biggie. Now Chuck has more sauce to dip his breadsticks in (like what they give us with the breadsticks isn’t enough.) I highly recommend the panini if you are not in a pasta mood when you come here. Oh my goodness was it good. We finish our meals and Chuck’s favorite moment arrives. He gets to order his Tiramisu. He had this dessert the last time we came here and always talks about it. I order the cheesecake I think. I am too busy watching him thoroughly enjoy it. He cleans his plate and we give Claude our card. We keep our fingers cross just in case it comes back and it is charged to our room. Nope…everything is fine!! On our way out, Chuck grabs a picture of me by the fountain.



We have about 3 hours before we have to head to back to the hotel. We run and go do Peter Pan’s Flight with our FP (almost missed our window) and just walk around. Chuck decides we should finish up our souvenir shopping here in the park, head back to the resort and finish our shopping there, then get a nice cool beverage and sit by the pool until it’s time to catch our car back to the airport. Sounds like a plan to me! BUT…..we get sidetracked again. Yep…by more characters. They have the Big 5 and a whole bunch of others. I head immediately for the less popular ones. First, I get Pinocchio.



Next comes Friar Tuck. Now there is no one waiting in the line so I am able to walk right up. Well, I guess he is excited that someone wants to be in his line and starts dancing me around his little area. We dance back and forth, he spins me, and then I spin him. I am dancing with him for about 5 minutes.





Well, Friar Tuck is not done with us yet. He takes the camera from Chuck’s hand and gives it to me. He then makes Chuck start to dance. It is AWESOME!!




We bid good-bye to Friar Tuck and made our way over to Terk.



We notice we visited all the other characters previously and headed into the Emporium. Watch out WDW..the Ericksons are going shopping. We hit the T-shirts first. We fins that appropriately fit the personality of my mom, MIL, and FIL. We then find a couple for our best friends (the parents of my godson). I find a pretty cool frame for my mom and plan on adding a picture to give to her as a thank you for all that she did in planning this trip. I find a cool frame that is in the shape of the Castle. It has places for about 7 different pictures. Next on the list, time to dress my car. I get the 2005 logo license plate for the front of my car and the license plate frame that says “ Walt Disney World…Been There, Done That, Going Back. I get a new antenna topper with the sorcerer hat. Chuck finds a duffle bag that will hold these purchases, the ones back at the resort, and anything else we feel the need to buy. We purchase these items and head to the Sports themed shop down the road from the Emporium. This is where I saw my sweatshirt but they didn’t have my size. I want to check one last time in hopes that it can be found. I walk in the door and immediately go to the rack. YIPEEEEEEE…they have on XL left and the rest are small. Not even having a second thought, I purchase this as well. We put all of our purchases in the newly purchased duffel bag and make our way out to the buses.

We make it back in about 20 minutes to Old Port Royale. We still have a couple of things to purchase here. I pick up a polo with Caribbean Beach embroidered on it, a CBR magnet and two charms for my charm bracelet. Chuck picks up the CDs for Illuminations, Spectromagic, and Wishes. Our debit cards are worn out by this point and we head outside to find a table by the pool. I take a seat and chuck goes and gets us a frozen beverage. I see him looking over at the tattoo stand as he is waiting to get our drinks. He comes back and says he wants to get a fake tattoo. I can help but giggle. I have a real tattoo on my left shoulder blade and he always makes comments about it. I tell him to go find out how much they cost. He kind of jogs back over and says they are $7. I laugh and give him $10. Off he goes again. Once he gets back, he lifts his shirtsleeve up and there is Stitch.



We finish our drinks, and we sadly head over to the Custom House. We hand them our ticket to retrieve our luggage from storage and they point us to some benches to wait. Our luggage arrives and we put the bag with the souvenirs into the duffel bag and wait for our car. They are supposed to arrive at 6:00pm since our flight is at 8:30pm. At about 6:15, I call the company. As I am on hold, our driver arrives. Isn’t that how it always is? We get a limo for our return ride back to MCO. We say good-bye to CBR and off to the airport.

We stretch out and just go over what we did. We get to the airport in record time or so it seemed. We check in at one of the kiosks and check our baggage. We make our way through security and catch the monorail over to our gate. When we get there, we find out our flight is delayed by 30 minutes. No big deal. We pick out some seats and make ourselves at home. At about 8:00pm they come over the loudspeaker and ask for volunteers that want to switch to a noon flight tomorrow. We would get the $300 credit, lodging, and meal vouchers. Chuck and I seriously consider it but realize we would have to call the car company that is picking us up, call the kennel, etc. Even though it is tempting, we pass. We do end up calling the car service and letting them know we are delayed. They already knew as they are tracking our flight. Cool!

It hits 9:30pm and our plane finally arrives. Apparently there are huge storm over Nashville and another string over Indianapolis. JOY! I love to fly but this is not going to be fun flight home. Our flight is really full. We board and get situated. Initially, our flight is smooth. Chuck and I actually doze while listening to the MP3 player. They announce that we are going to be having some turbulence. We make it through without too much difficulty and land into Indy at about 11:00pm CST.

We get our luggage in baggage claim and head outside to meet the car. All I can say is BRRRRRRRRRRRR. Here Chuck and I are in shirts and shorts and it is raining with it being no more than 45 degrees. Luckily we do not wait long for our car. James loads our bags as Chuck and I duck into another limo. We lucked out on this trip by getting the limos. We tell him the address and we are on our way home. We are about to hit our exit when he asks if we are hungry. Chuck and I both say yes. We had planned on getting dropped off and then hopping into a car and grabbing something. He asks where we want to go and we choose Taco Bell. He pulls up into the drive thru and I place the order out the back window. Let me tell you, the people at Taco Bell must not get a lot of limos come through. We get our food and we finally make it back home at about midnight. James brings our luggage into the townhouse and we tip him $20 just for taking us

Well, the trip is over but yet there is one more installment to this trip report.</font>

FINAL TR POST: Pics of the souvenirs and our final words on most memorable moments.