August and Everything After WDW - Trip Report - Day 1 complete **Updated 8/29** - Page 26 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Oh goodie, goodie, I'm so glad you are back and have started your TR. Sorry about the excitement in the elevator, but glad it was resolved quickly. Kinda disconcerting to get a 911 operator when you press the emergency button.
Love the tag team writing again and isn't Andy just like a man - blaming the poor kitty cat!
I am so glad you made it out of the elevator safe and sound. I know you were panicked but glad it was resolved because there would have been a lot of Passporters panicked if they didn't get their Melissa and Andy fix. Myself included.
Great update as always. Looking forward to more.
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They caught us all smiling and looking at the camera!!!
Great update! Your elevator story had me One of my friends got stuck in the one at our school, when the first put the elevator in. She was in there with a couple of kids in wheelchairs and was shocked when they didn't know where she was!
Anyway, sounds like you're off to a great start despite the battery setback. Can't wait to hear more
Oooh, I'm so glad you found some time to get started. Let me first start by saying the "bizarro" episode is on my top 5 list of Seinfeld episodes!!! And what's with your countdown? You mean we both like Bourdain and now Stone? C'mon? Were we separated at birth?
Great start Melissa and Andy!!! Sounds like your music helped make the first leg of the trip bearable and the McD's helped too I'm sure. Can't wait until you get to WDW!!!
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
Really, what is life without Seinfeld references? That was the greatest show. Ever. Pom and I could not possibly think that you two are any weirder than the two of us! I think the four of us are our own Seinfeld Foursome! HA!
I must say that I am looking forward to this TR, if nothing but to read your and Andy's views on the adventures of the Fools on the Hill!
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Brandi
Bakelins chillin' at the pool after a fun week at Disney!
What a hilarious start! Glad you survived the entrapment of the elevator (and the bathroom, Andy ) - - departure day always has to be filled with extra drama!
Sounds like a fun ride down -- but I can't imagine you guys being anything but fun!
The fact that Andy felt the need to stay up till like midnight watching the Olympics did not bode well for the 5:30 alarm. That said, I did wake up at like 2:30, wondering if we could just leave then. Then I woke up at 4ish, and thought the same thing. Finally the alarm went off and we were up and ready and out the Microtel door by like 6am. Andy took the luggage to the car while I checked out and had my ear chewed off by the old man working the front desk. He started talking to me about my camera and yada yada yada
And how his disability payoff from the military was going to pay for his new camera.
And he was really proud of his new laptop, too.
And his wire that kept the laptop attached to the desk so it wouldn't get stolen..... but somebody could just steal the desk.
I don't think somebody could move that bolted or cemented desk...........
Anyway.... I kept trying to get us outta there, but he kept yapping. In my head I was screaming "Hush OLD MAN!!! We have to go to Disney!!!!" Finally we were able to make our way out the door and finally we were off!
I kind of rested a bit for the first part of the ride. We were worried about the weather b/c I had seen on the news that morning that a really bad storm was coming through Jax right around the time we'd be passing through. But I think we juuuust beat it. It was dark all around but not pouring rain yet.
I think we made fairly good time, we arrived in the Disney bubble around 9:30. We had decided to drive straight to the AK b/c that was our park of choice since we added this extra bit of morning to our plans. This was the first time we had ever driven to a park. We parked in the Dinosaur section. I looked at the sign, saw we were Dinosaur 30 - 38 and made note that we parked near the sign, and that there were two signs, and were closer to the second one. Remember that for later people........
So we get parked, get out of the car, get our spray banana boat suntan lotion and I ask Andy if he'll spray my legs, but not my shorts.....and what does he do??? HE SPRAYS MY SHORTS!!! My khaki shorts!!!!!
On accident mind you. The banana boat sprayer isn't the most accurate thing in the world.
Whatever, I'm never buying banana boat again. It was greasy, nasty, and stained my shorts right at the beginning of our trip. Fabulous!
But nasty shorts aside, we caught the people mover as we called it to the front of the park... I called my mom to let her know we had arrived. I couldn't hear her b/c of all the announcements on the tram and I told her we were at the AK and were on the tram, and she asked if we were on the safari thing to see the animals.... I guess you could call this one version of that...
You're just looking at a different type of animal
We got in and headed straight back towards EE as that was our one goal for the morning.
The first official photo of the trip.
The line wasn't bad at all, I think we waited like 20 minutes at the most. We had not eaten breakfast and the fact it was around 10:30 by the time we got back into EE, our tummies were rumbling. The plan was to after EE head to DTD to get sandwiches at the Earl. So we joked in line that our tummies were screaming for a Le Frenchy and Florentine....
I took a few more photos in line...
I LOVE this picture!!!
We saw a mother pigeon and her baby who had set up a home in the line for EE....
I tried to get a pic... I took one and then I zoomed in on it in Photoshop...
Then we noticed something we had never noticed before. Probably b/c we're FPing EE.........but, I look up and see I some very interestingly suspicious magazines hanging......
Nepalese Porn
Seriously!!! There's something up with those magazines!
I'd like to get a look inside one of them, not that I'm interested in Nepalese Porn, but I just want to know what's up with them And I like how they're hanging way up high, out of children's line of sight. It's the equivalent of when you go into a gas station and they have the cardboard in front of the magazines. But hey, those Everest hikers have to have something to keep them company on a cold night......
okay, moving on......
Finally we were on the ride, in our favorite last car spot.....
When we got off we checked out our photo, and Andy had busted out the Monty Python Upper Class Twit of the Year pose....
In case you're unfamiliar with the sketch.... here's a reference...
This Monty Python reference will be a reoccuring theme of this trip... A gutbusting theme at one point
Okay....
So since our tummies were now beginning to scream at us for some food we hoofed it out of the park. Remember earlier when I rattled off everything I made note of to remember where we parked??? Yeah.... didn't do us one bit of good. We wandered the parking lot like Jerry and Elaine and that fish wandered the mall parking lot...
Except I didn't have to take a leak...
What we had neglected to realize was that we had made note of a sign that spanned like 8 rows of parking spaces.... extremely looooong parking spaces.....
Yeah, so I thought, okay, just press the panic button on the key chain and we'll find it that way. Yeah that doesn't work when your key thingy's batteries are almost dead and you have to be like 10 feet in front of your car for it to respond.
I think I'm the one who eventually spotted it.
I agree, you did.... finally.
So I hopped behind the wheel this time b/c I like driving in the Disney bubble...and drove us to DTD. I dropped Andy off at the Marketplace entrance and then drove off to find a parking place. I wanted to look in WoD to see if I could find a new pair of shorts....but no luck.... I called Andy to see how the line was at Earl and he informed that they had done away with our favorite sandwiches!!!! Both of them!!!! It was like that moment in A Christmas Story when the dogs eat the turkey.... "No turkey soup, no turkey hash, no turkey sandwiches" At first I didn't believe him, b/c he has a tendency to lie to me about stuff, when I'm not able to see the truth for myself.......I kept asking about it......he kept saying it was true......I still didn't believe it till I got over there and saw the menu for myself........ Let's all have a moment of silence in rememberance of the Le Frenchy and the Florentine......
So instead, I had the next closest thing... the Ham and Swiss. Andy got the Montague.
That place is usually a well oiled machine, spitting people out left and right, rarely are there issues. But this time, there were lots of issues. People opening up their sandwiches, coming back up to the counter saying "This isn't my sandwich", etc. So we got our sandwiches and got the heck outta dodge
I drove us over to the POFQ and we got ourselves checked in. Our room wasn't ready yet, but we knew we were in building 7..... more on that in a bit.....
We found a spot in the foodcourt, filled up our mugs, and ate our sandwiches.
After lunch we decided to drive over and park at our building, which we discovered was out in BFE. We were going to just walk around the grounds a bit while we waited on our room. We decided to call just to check, and lo and behold, it was ready. We had the first floor corner room facing the parking lot. Niiiiiice (say it in your Borat voice... That's Niiiiiiice) During the trip we came to the conclusion that we were issued the 6th fartherest away room. The number one fartherest away room would be the one on the other side of the building, on the very top floor, then counting down from there.
I took some pictures of the grounds and our building....
Our building, and our room, down in the very bottom corner....
Andy must have been excited to have the 6th fartherest away room.....
Behind our building.......
And in our room!
We got in, unloaded the car and unpacked. One good thing about our BFE room was that the car was reeaaallly close....and no stairs to lug stuff up!
After we unpacked we decided to hit the pool......
I immediately went for my Orange Dream
I told Andy about how this is new thing to do for pics...... so he decided to give it a whirl..... He hates this picture
Nothing like an almost 30 year old man doing a kissy face and peace sign like a 16 year old on Myspace...
We hopped in the coooooold pool for awhile..... just relaxing, having a good time. When we got out we hit the bar again. Our fav old man bartender from March was there again... I like him... he gives the extra of the Orange Dream...
Note that I couldn't finish all of the drink..
Andy got a hold of my camera and took two sequential pics that I turned into this great gif....
There will be many more gifs this TR.....
That's me kissing my Heiny
After a nice relaxing time at the pool we headed back up to the room to get ready for the night's adventure at DHS.
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One of my friends got stuck in the one at our school, when the first put the elevator in. She was in there with a couple of kids in wheelchairs and was shocked when they didn't know where she was! 
PassPorter Guide Author
And thank goodness you made it out of that elevator in one piece! 
Can't wait until you get to WDW!!!
) - - departure day always has to be filled with extra drama!
And I like how they're hanging way up high, out of children's line of sight. It's the equivalent of when you go into a gas station and they have the cardboard in front of the magazines. But hey, those Everest hikers have to have something to keep them company on a cold night......
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