The "Aren't you glad I booked the room?" TR - Page 27 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
PassPorter.com
Award-winning travel guidebooks

   guidebooks   |   news   |   podcasts   |   boards   |   blog   |   worksheets   |   photos   |   articles   |   updates   |   register   |   follow us on


Forums Closed
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.

So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.

Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.

And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.

We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm​. You made it all happen.

There are other changes as well.

Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:

We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.

It's time to move on and move forward.

PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.

But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.

So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.

And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.

That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!

If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.

So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!

Best wishes for a wonderful and magical new year!

Go Back   PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums > PassPorter's Walt Disney World Resort (Florida) > Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
Register


Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.

To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.

If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 11-05-2016, 01:12 AM   #391
stobaugh6
Community Rank: Adventurer
 
stobaugh6's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Texas
Posts: 519

Post Thanks / Like
I hope all is ok with you. Saying a prayer for you and your family tonight.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
__________________
Heather



My Countdown Counting down to: 4 Families...7 adults and 19 kids at Walt Disney World!!!
Woohoo!!! We're having fun now!!!
My PassPorter Bookshelf
My Previous TripsWDW All Star Music January 2017, WDW Ft Wilderness Resort April 2015, WDW Polynesian Resort September 2010, WDW ASMovies Jan. 2009, WDW Off Site May 2007, WDW Off Site July '89, WDW Off Site July 82, WDW Off Site July '81
stobaugh6 is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 11-05-2016, 09:18 AM   #392
suzanne1972
Community Rank: Traveler
 
suzanne1972's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Scotland
Posts: 343

Post Thanks / Like
__________________




Disneyland Paris approx 2004, Caribbean Beach April 2013, Polynesian May 2014, Old Key West October 2015, Wilderness Lodge Oct 2017, Disneyland Paris October 2018 and looking forward to AKL Sept/Oct 2019 trip!
My Countdown Counting down to: 4 nights Universal then 14 nights at Wilderness Lodge (hopefully!!).
Off we go!!!
My PassPorter Bookshelf
My Previous TripsWDW Caribbean Beach Resort April 2013, Polynesian Resort 2014 OKW Oct 2015, Wilderness Lodge Oct 2017
suzanne1972 is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 11-06-2016, 10:19 AM   #393
lindawdw
Community Rank: Trailblazer
 
lindawdw's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 5,668

Post Thanks / Like
Hope all is ok.
__________________
My Previous Trips1975 Off-site, 1982 Poly, 1985 CR, 1987 Poly, 1988 Off-site, 1990 Off-site, 1992 - 2015 CBR, CR, POFQ, CS, ASM , POP, WL, YC, BW, BWV, OKW, GF, GFV, BCV, BLT, AKL
lindawdw is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2016, 12:32 PM   #394
CinderAbby
Community Rank: Legend
 
CinderAbby's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Eastern Massachusetts
Concierge Level: 3
Posts: 19,490

Post Thanks / Like
Tuesday morning I got to sleep in - I woke up at 6 . I got Lenny and Abby up a few minutes later. We got ready for the day and had breakfast in the room to use up some of the things we had ordered from Garden Grocer. We finally left the room at 7:50 and at 8:58, we had already been through security, we had gotten a wheelchair and we were in line to see Tinker Bell. We were there maybe only ten minutes tops as the line was short and as usual, I have no idea what Abby and Tink talked about. All I know is when we were done, it was way too early to get in line for our Mickey Mouse fastpass.




We went and got the 2016 quarter from under the train station while we waited but when we entered the theater again, it was still too early by about 5 minutes. Once we could scan our fastpasses, it didn't take long to get into the room with Mickey. I still think it's cool that he talks now.

Lenny's recording of the M&G

My recording of the M&G






After visiting with Mickey, our next destination was the Emporium for yet another 2016 pressed coin. The Main Street trolley show was taking place in front of the wagon again (work was taking place on the tracks so the trolley couldn't be used) so we stopped for a few minutes to watch. When it was done, we continued onto the store. While we were in there, we saw a display of stuffed Duffy bears and Abby decided she wanted one. Lenny asked if we were going to have it sent to the hotel but I told him no, Duffy would go with us.

From there, we went to Sir Mickey's in Fantasyland for another penny. While Lenny and I went inside, Abby stayed outside to watch the Royal Majesty Makers. She liked them and when they were done, she wanted a picture with "Lady Llewellyn."




Because I had mentioned Abby's name, Lady Llewellyn picked up on it and that started some fun interaction with her. Lady Llewellyn mentioned how she was looking for a husband and how she had written "Dear Abby." I asked how that had worked out for her and she said "well Dear Abby is here, she came in person to answer me." She then proceeded to ask Abby how to get a man and Abby said something like "well just ask someone." Lady Llewellyn then started asking the men walking by if they were single and everyone of them said no. Then, for whatever reason, Lady Llewellyn started throwing her hanky on the ground to see if someone would pick it up for her and someone did - Abby :P. Abby did that twice and then on the third time, instead of hitting the ground, Lady Llewellyn's hanky actually hit someone who came over and gave it back. After that, I'm not sure where she went but someone approached me - it was SueM from here on the boards! She had heard Abby's name and was wondering if it was us so she came over and we started to chat. We only talked a few minutes and then we said goodbye. I'm pretty sure she said she had a fastpass for Peter Pan so she headed that way and a minute or so later, we ended up going that way ourselves to get a DAS time for the ride. After getting that, Abby wanted to ride the carousel but she got distracted by a procession with Elena of Avalor. She was just walking around with some of her court holding flags and I'm not sure what Abby was thinking, but she started following along. I knew Elena wasn't going anywhere so I stopped Abby and Lenny from following her in favor of riding the carousel. Abby wasn't happy about that but I told her Elena wasn't going anywhere, she didn't have a M&G yet and when we saw the procession go by the carousel towards the castle as we waited in the line, Abby must have realized she truly wasn't missing anything.








After going around and around and around, we stopped at the bathrooms by Pinocchio Village Haus and then continued onto Be Our Guest to check in for lunch. We were allowed right in and even though a CM mentioned something about Lenny parking the scooter and walking in, we took it with us anyway as Lenny always takes it in and parks it at a plug near the bathrooms to give it a charge while we eat.

__________________
Disney 2018 TR COMPLETED 10-20-18 POSTS 266 - 273
Looking for my previous TR's? Here they are
My Previous TripsAll WDW - July 1980 off property - July 1981 FW - July 1983 FW - July 1985 FW - August 1987 FW - July 1988 Treehouse Villas - July 1990 Treehouse Villas - July 1997 FW - August 2006 AS Sports, 1st time with DH and DD - August 2008 AS Sports - August 2009 AS Sports - August 2010 AS Sports - July 2011 AS Sports - August 2013 AS Music - August 2014 AS Music - August 2015 AS Music - August 2016 AS Music - August 2018 AS Music, Kate (lovewdw2) joined us for the weekend
CinderAbby is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2016, 12:33 PM   #395
CinderAbby
Community Rank: Legend
 
CinderAbby's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Eastern Massachusetts
Concierge Level: 3
Posts: 19,490

Post Thanks / Like
Lunch was good as always and after finishing up, we realized we were done in time to go see the new stage show again. Since the weather was good at that time, we figured there was no time like the present to do it. We enjoyed it again and then went back to Fantasyland. We saw Lady Llewellyn again who was still looking for a man but she was also out teaching some etiquette - how to sip tea and how to curtsy. When she saw Abby curtsy, she said "everyone watch Abby and do what she does." She also mentioned that Abby was "Dear Abby" if anyone had heard of her. After the etiquette lesson was done and a few more pictures were taken, Lady Llewellyn gave Abby her card. It declares Lady Llewellyn is a "Royal Etiquette Expert."




We bid her goodbye and continued onto Fairytale Hall for our fastpass to see Cinderella and Aurora. As with every other M&G, I have no idea what was said and soon we were leaving Fairytale Hall.







When we did, who did we see outside but Lady Llewellyn once again. This time she was surrounded by four men. I stopped to congratulate her and once again, Abby was introduced as "Dear Abby" and since she had four men in front of her, Lady Llewellyn wanted Abby to instruct one of them on how to ask someone to the ball. He actually did and it was funny but before anything else could be said or done, some big, fat raindrops started to fall. Everyone took off at that and we were lucky enough to get under the roof at Philharmagic right as it started to pour out.

We enjoyed our impromptu musical journey and when we were done, the rain was too. We saw plenty of blue sky but we still heard thunder in the area. It didn't much matter what the weather was because it was actually time for our last fastpass of the day back at Fairytale Hall for the Rapunzel and Tiana M&G. As soon as we scanned our bands and were in line, I took out the iPad and was able to book another FP for the Little Mermaid starting at 1:10 - about half an hour later. I still don't know what was said but Abby actually spent a few minutes with Rapunzel - it was the longest she spent with any of the Princesses in a long time.









We left Fairytale Hall for a second time and hit the bathrooms followed by Peter Pan and It's a Small World. Just like the other times we did these two rides, Lenny parked the scooter, transferred to the wheelchair and used it for the two rides.






__________________
Disney 2018 TR COMPLETED 10-20-18 POSTS 266 - 273
Looking for my previous TR's? Here they are
My Previous TripsAll WDW - July 1980 off property - July 1981 FW - July 1983 FW - July 1985 FW - August 1987 FW - July 1988 Treehouse Villas - July 1990 Treehouse Villas - July 1997 FW - August 2006 AS Sports, 1st time with DH and DD - August 2008 AS Sports - August 2009 AS Sports - August 2010 AS Sports - July 2011 AS Sports - August 2013 AS Music - August 2014 AS Music - August 2015 AS Music - August 2016 AS Music - August 2018 AS Music, Kate (lovewdw2) joined us for the weekend
CinderAbby is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2016, 12:34 PM   #396
CinderAbby
Community Rank: Legend
 
CinderAbby's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Eastern Massachusetts
Concierge Level: 3
Posts: 19,490

Post Thanks / Like
When we left Small World, it was raining again but not too badly. Lenny got back on the scooter and then we went to use our Little Mermaid fastpass. We enjoyed the ride this time since there was no little kid screaming. Then we went from being dry under the sea to getting wet on "dry" land as it was still raining when we finished the ride. It was really only a drizzle, but it was still wet Since it was getting late, Abby wanted to head towards Liberty Square. We stopped at the Haunted Mansion for a DAS time but the scanner wasn't working so we were given paper fastpasses to use instead. We then went to get "our" spots for the parade although technically they weren't spots yet. It was about 2:15 but the ropes weren't up. I did ask a CM that was in the area and he said as far as he knew the parade would be happening. Weather can change quickly in Florida so we decided to wait. While we waited, I pulled out the iPad to get another fastpass. I got one for Pooh at 4:05 figuring that would be late enough should the parade be delayed. About 3:00, there had been no announcements about the parade but the CM I had talked to earlier came over and told me they were still planning on having the parade so we stayed put. As we waited, I ended up talking to an older gentleman and his wife who came and parked next to us in the wheelchair section (the ropes did eventually go up) and he told me his daughter works for Disney and it was actually up to her if the parade was shown or not. I thought that was pretty cool. She eventually come by to talk to them too and even though she didn't say it to me, she did tell them it wasn't looking very good for the parade because of the storms in the area. They ended up leaving to go do other things. I'm thinking Abby might have heard that it wasn't looking good because a few minutes later at 3:20 when it started to pour




and it was finally announced the parade was delayed, she said she wanted to leave the spots and go ride the Haunted Mansion with our return time. Pretty much the whole time we were in line, it poured out and it finally slowed down as we neared the entrance doors about 20 minutes later.

As before, we were directed down the little hallway that put us in the exit hallway and we stood behind the line. When it was our turn to board, they stopped the belt and let us get on the doom buggy that was right there at the end of the moving walkway. It's hard to believe but all in all, we spent about 30 minutes here as I have noted we left the Haunted Mansion about 4:15. We all had to go to the bathroom so we went to Rapunzels village since it was so close. Afterwards, while I stopped to get us some ice creams, Lenny and Abby went to find out about the parade. We didn't know if we had missed it, if it was still delayed or if it had been canceled. I met them coming back to me in front of Columbia Harbor House with the news that the parade had indeed been canceled. With that news, instead of getting our "spots" and eating the ice creams, we chose to stand between the Columbia Harbor House and the stroller parking underneath the overhang that is there. That way, if it started raining again, we'd be nice and dry to eat our cold treats.

Since our fastpass window for Pooh had been open for a little while, we headed there next. On the way, I happen to notice the wait for the mine train - it was up to 120 minutes. I'm sure the weather was not helping the line any as it's been a while since I'd seen it that long. As was becoming my routine, as soon as we scanned our bands and were in line, I pulled out the iPad and was able to get a fastpass for Buzz starting at 4:45 which was only a few minutes away. We had fun with Pooh, Tigger and the rest of the gang but we wanted fun of a different sort so we went right to Tomorrowland. After Lenny parked the scooter and got in the wheelchair, we got in line for Buzz. Out came the iPad and we got yet another fastpass for today. This time it was for Enchanted Tales with Belle at 6:10. Abby had something she wanted to do first so she didn't want an earlier time. As we rode Buzz this time, I managed to avoid whatever target it was that kept giving me lots of points. I know at the time I had figured out what it was but now I don't remember, I just know it's something in that first room. Abby got the high score for a change and was very happy about that. We have a routine in Fantasyland - ride Peter Pan followed by Small World. Now we have a routine in Tomorrowland. Ride Buzz followed by Monster Laugh Floor. Since it's easy enough, Lenny stayed in the chair and we headed in that direction. Once we got in line, we were able to get the phone number and code word to send in Abby's joke but sadly they didn't use it . It was still a funny show though and when we were done, Abby was ready to go back to see Belle. Once Lenny was on the scooter again, we stopped at the Speedway quickly for a DAS time then continued on. While Abby's joke might not have been picked at the Laugh Floor, Abby herself was picked once again to take part in Enchanted Tales with Belle. This time she was picked to be Madame Wardrobe. The only thing she did was parade around and have her picture taken but that didn't matter - Abby was picked to be something.







Lenny was still hurting from falling at the pool so there were times it just made sense for him to stay in the wheelchair. At Belle, he has to transfer to the chair and once we came out, he had to go to the bathroom. It didn't make any sense for him to transfer back to the scooter to literally go around the corner to get off it again so he stayed in the wheelchair and I pushed him to the bathrooms by Pinocchio Village Haus. What about the scooter you ask? We had a solution for that. Abby drove it and was very happy about it although she didn't say this time "I gotta get me one of these" like she did the last time she drove one.

__________________
Disney 2018 TR COMPLETED 10-20-18 POSTS 266 - 273
Looking for my previous TR's? Here they are
My Previous TripsAll WDW - July 1980 off property - July 1981 FW - July 1983 FW - July 1985 FW - August 1987 FW - July 1988 Treehouse Villas - July 1990 Treehouse Villas - July 1997 FW - August 2006 AS Sports, 1st time with DH and DD - August 2008 AS Sports - August 2009 AS Sports - August 2010 AS Sports - July 2011 AS Sports - August 2013 AS Music - August 2014 AS Music - August 2015 AS Music - August 2016 AS Music - August 2018 AS Music, Kate (lovewdw2) joined us for the weekend
CinderAbby is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2016, 12:36 PM   #397
CinderAbby
Community Rank: Legend
 
CinderAbby's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Eastern Massachusetts
Concierge Level: 3
Posts: 19,490

Post Thanks / Like
By now it was somewhere around 7 and we were getting hungry so we decided to go to Pinocchio Village Haus. It wasn't where I wanted to go but we did anyway for a few reasons. One - we were right there and so was the restaurant. Two - Abby really wanted to eat here at least one other time and I couldn't keep saying no. Three - we were hungry and they had food so we went inside. I know Disney doesn't always like for people to get tables before getting food but that's exactly what we did. Since we had decided to eat here, Abby was a happy camper - but even more so when we went to the side of the restaurant with the windows overlooking Small World. Just as we entered the little area, a family was getting up so I asked if they were leaving and they said yes. As soon as they were gone, we took the table and not a moment too soon - someone else came in and wanted to get the table too but we were there first. As soon as Lenny and Abby were settled, I went and got in line for food. Abby wanted nuggets and that's what they had so that was her choice. Lenny loves pasta and after looking at the menu card he decided on the chicken parm. So they were both happy campers at this point in time. Me? I was in the not so happy camp. I don't care for pasta and as I've gotten older, I don't care for nuggets anymore. I would have liked to try the flatbreads they have but they didn't have plain cheese for adults so I ended up ordering the chicken alfredo. Abby enjoyed her meal and Lenny enjoyed his. Mine was okay and I remember playing with it some and then just deciding to eat my chocolate cake instead of finishing dinner. I also used the ipad too instead of eating. I was able to get another fastpass for sometime after dinner for Buzz again and before I could put the iPad away, Abby asked about moving our fastpasses for the next day. The way I had worked them, I got them all in a row (855, 955 and 1055) but Abby wanted to meet the characters we had not seen yet. Between last trip and this trip, she quickly learned that if we do them early in the morning, we do much better at not only meeting them but also at meeting them quickly so that's how she wanted to start the next day. Both our Peter Pan and Little Mermaid fastpasses were easily moved to later in the day but the one I had for Pooh - at 1055 - I left alone. Being such a late time and having an hour to use it, we couldn't see having any trouble getting to it. With tummies happy and Abby happy from being able to watch Small World, we finally left the restaurant, hit the bathrooms again and went back to use our Speedway DAS. I purposely stopped to see the mine train wait too on the way by. This time it was up to 140 minutes. I like the ride but I won't wait that kind of time for it, not even with a DAS - I'll use that for something else. Back in Tomorrowland at the Speedway, it wasn't surprising that Lenny didn't want to ride it again. It's a good thing too he didn't want to ride because I didn't get a time for all three of us - just me and Abby. He chose to go down the path between Tomorrowland and Fantasyland to have a cigarette instead.






Abby driving at the Speedway

I expected him to be recording

After we met up with Lenny again, we went to use our last fastpass of the day back at Buzz. We had fun and once again repeated our "routine" by going to Monster Laugh Floor again. It actually surprised me Abby wanted to go here as it was about 8:30 and we're usually on our way out of the park by that time. Not tonight though - she wanted one last chance at having her joke picked. To greater her chances of being picked for something, she didn't even sit with us. She sat elsewhere in the theater (but not far enough away that I couldn't find her - she doesn't always blend in well, what can I say?) but sadly she didn't get picked nor did her joke. It wasn't for lack of trying though. Lenny even called her on her phone but she wouldn't answer it - the thing that had gotten me up on the big screen last year. I wish she had because while Lenny was calling her saying "Abby, answer the phone" someone else in the audience was on her phone and she ended up on the screen instead. Oh well. Maybe next time.

After we left the theater, before we could even call it a night, Abby decided she wanted to do two more things before leaving the park. One - look for Shellie May and two - watch the Main Street Electrical Parade. Since it was so close to 9, we chose to watch the parade first and then look for Shellie May afterwards. Abby dislikes the crowds so in order to watch the parade, we attempted to go where we had seen it one other time with success - on Main Street, back from the crowds by Town Hall. As we were just about there, a CM approached me asking if I were willing to do a short survey. I didn't really want to but I agreed as I have seen the electrical parade before and I was okay with missing it. Abby and Lenny however proceeded up the ramp to the Town Hall and then went out on the front stoop to watch from there. It was a good spot because it was elevated enough to see over the crowds and there were very few other people there. The survey that I took was asking about the places we had eaten that day and really did take only a few minutes but by the time I actually found where Lenny and Abby were, it was almost the end of the parade. I finished watching with them and after the crowd thinned out a little, Abby and I went into the Emporium to get Shellie May. Once at the register, the CM was good and asked if we wanted the tags taken off, which Abby did, so she cut off the tags but when it came time to scan the MB it came up denied. Thinking it was something to do with Abby's (she said she was paying for her and scanned her MB) I scanned mine and it came up the same thing. I wasn't quite sure why that was happening but I told the CM and Abby I would be right back. I had my credit card with us that day but it was back with Lenny and the backpack. I finally got back to him and boy was he cranky. Part of it I understood but it was an oops oh well. When I found them on the steps, I had parked the wheelchair behind the scooter then locked the wheels. When Abby and I left him to go to the Emporium, I didn't move the chair. Lenny couldn't move forward because he was at the edge of the stoop but he couldn't move backwards either because the wheelchair was blocking him. I think someone ended up helping him and he was trying to make a big deal out of it. I admitted I wasn't thinking so I'm not sure what else he wanted from me. I just grabbed my credit card though to get back to Abby who was waiting back in the store. Once Shellie May was paid for, we left the store to go get Lenny and the chair and head out for the night. Once the chair was returned, we were lucky and were able to get on a ferry that was already there at the dock and it wasn't long before we were back at the TTC. As we were driving away though, we saw Wishes start and I was glad we were out of the park already. Once we were finally back at the hotel, I went to the front desk for a printout and pay whatever it was we owed. It turns out it was a little under the $1500 limit. At first I was surprised we had gotten that high but I really shouldn't have been. We had been charging everything to the MB - quick service meals, table service meals, snacks, souvenirs (what we got of them), you name it - and this was actually day 10 of our trip so all in all, that wasn't bad at all. It worked out to about $150 a day and I know at least two of our TS meals were more expensive than that with tip.

Once all of that was taken care of, I returned to the room and got some things ready for the next day. I don't think Abby and Lenny went swimming this night - I think she went right to bed. Lenny I'm not sure about but I know I was in bed by midnight.
__________________
Disney 2018 TR COMPLETED 10-20-18 POSTS 266 - 273
Looking for my previous TR's? Here they are
My Previous TripsAll WDW - July 1980 off property - July 1981 FW - July 1983 FW - July 1985 FW - August 1987 FW - July 1988 Treehouse Villas - July 1990 Treehouse Villas - July 1997 FW - August 2006 AS Sports, 1st time with DH and DD - August 2008 AS Sports - August 2009 AS Sports - August 2010 AS Sports - July 2011 AS Sports - August 2013 AS Music - August 2014 AS Music - August 2015 AS Music - August 2016 AS Music - August 2018 AS Music, Kate (lovewdw2) joined us for the weekend
CinderAbby is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2016, 12:40 PM   #398
CinderAbby
Community Rank: Legend
 
CinderAbby's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Eastern Massachusetts
Concierge Level: 3
Posts: 19,490

Post Thanks / Like
Happy Birthday Lenny!

Today we were all up early once again. Even though Lenny had insisted before we left that he would not wake up a minute before 6:15 today , he willingly got up at 5:30. We let Abby sleep in until 5:50. We all got ready for the day and then left the room at 6:45. We made our way to the TTC as we were going to the MK again today. We were through the turnstiles at 7:40 and for the first time all trip, we were able to see the entire welcome show which made Abby very happy.








Afterwards we stopped and got a wheelchair once again but then we went right to Be Our Guest to check in for breakfast. I had preordered so we were able to go in, pay and then find a table. Lenny had been on an iced coffee kick this vacation so I went and made him that while we waited for our food to be delivered. We all got the Feast a la Gaston - scrambled eggs, potatoes, bacon, chicken sausage and fresh fruit. Everything was good. Well everything except the chicken sausage - to me it didn't look right or taste right but I'm of the camp it's not a sausage if it's not pork. Lenny liked them however and ended up eating his, mine and Abby's. The pastry dish was good too - we just cut everything up into thirds and we were all able to have a taste of everything on the plate. I'm on the fence as to whether I would go back or not. We like the restaurant, we liked what we had to eat but for a QS meal, I did feel it was expensive. We had the summer meal deal so we didn't pay a dime for it but if I had to pay cash? For just a few dollars more we could have a buffet breakfast at Crystal Palace. However, we did like what we had and had the park opened at 9 instead of 8, it would have gotten us into the park early. As with everything else, it has it's pros and cons and unfortunately the only "con" I can come up with is it's price - and even that's all relative. Everything in Disney is expensive and this restaurant is no exception.

We finished and left about 8:45 and as we did, we noticed the wheelchair we got was all twisted and in our opinions not safe for someone to sit in so we were going to have to take it back. On the way, Abby did some pin trading by the tea cups. There were a few CM's there - not park CM's because they weren't in costumes - and they had a camera crew with them but they were willing to do trades with us. The guy there asked us how our vacation was going, where we were from and even noticed Lenny's birthday pin and wished him a happy birthday. After chatting with him another minute or so, we thanked him and left but we were still wondering what they were filming. Because Abby wanted to see Merida, not go back to Main Street, we left her in line (she was second) for the M&G and told her to stay there, we would be back in time to go in with her as it didn't open until 9:15. As we walked away, I noticed a woman come up and instead of getting in line behind Abby, she stood in front of the rope blocking anyone from going into the M&G area. Lenny and I continued onto Main Street to take the wheelchair back. The CM immediately saw how twisted it was and we were given a new one. We made our way back to Abby - who called wondering why we weren't back yet because she was worried about us. She was afraid we weren't going to make it back in time but she didn't leave her phone on for us to call her. She called us then promptly turned the phone off again. When we did get back to her, it was really odd though. For this line, it goes up the walk towards the castle. There, standing next to Abby, facing the castle was that woman I had seen earlier standing in front of the rope. She was totally oblivious to Lenny and I trying to stand with Abby and after hearing her talk away for a good minute or two, I interrupted and said "can we stand with our daughter please?" She was like "of course" but instead of stepping forward, she took a step back in front of Abby but kept talking with the third person in line. I moved close to Abby and the woman finally got the hint to move and she moved back to basically where she should have been in the first place as she was the third person to get there and kept talking all the while. I don't know if she was trying to make herself first in line or if she was in a hurry or what was up with her. When the M&G finally opened, we all went in and that woman did stay third in line but when she was told exactly where to stand when Abby and I were with Merida, she walked up pretty close to us instead of standing where she was told. That caused the Photopass photographer to stop taking photos because she was getting in our shots and he told her where to stand. She did back up a little bit but she still ended up in our final photos as she didn't move all the way back



__________________
Disney 2018 TR COMPLETED 10-20-18 POSTS 266 - 273
Looking for my previous TR's? Here they are
My Previous TripsAll WDW - July 1980 off property - July 1981 FW - July 1983 FW - July 1985 FW - August 1987 FW - July 1988 Treehouse Villas - July 1990 Treehouse Villas - July 1997 FW - August 2006 AS Sports, 1st time with DH and DD - August 2008 AS Sports - August 2009 AS Sports - August 2010 AS Sports - July 2011 AS Sports - August 2013 AS Music - August 2014 AS Music - August 2015 AS Music - August 2016 AS Music - August 2018 AS Music, Kate (lovewdw2) joined us for the weekend
CinderAbby is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2016, 12:41 PM   #399
CinderAbby
Community Rank: Legend
 
CinderAbby's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Eastern Massachusetts
Concierge Level: 3
Posts: 19,490

Post Thanks / Like
After Abby saw Merida, she wanted to go to Adventureland to go see Aladdin and Jasmine. She wanted to stop at the bathrooms first so I told her to go ahead but I'd go get in line and she could join me. Lenny didn't get in line with me, he hung around outside the line so he could see when Abby was coming. As soon as she got there, he went and sat on the scooter in the shade to wait. We didn't have a long time to wait - maybe 10 minutes or so - but when it was our turn, either Abby said something or they noticed her shirt (which said today's my daddy's birthday) because I heard them call out "Happy Birthday Abby's dad" (he had moved up closer to take pictures so he heard them).




Continuing on her quest to see more characters, we took the ramp next to there and went to Frontierland for the Woody and Jessie M&G where we ended up starting the line. They are now meeting in the area by the Rivers of America across from the shooting gallery but if you get in line here, be forewarned, it is in the direct sun (at least in the summer it is). We were there somewhere around 9:45 and it was hot already. There was a tiny spot of shade we all tried to share but it was tough because it was so small. Woody and Jessie finally came out from near the Diamond Horseshoe review and Abby had her time with them then she was ready to move on. She had finally seen all the characters she wanted to see so she was quite happy.










We went to the verandah between Frontierland and Adventureland where we hit the bathrooms once again and because it was too early for our first fastpass, Abby decided she wanted to play the Pirates Adventure which we had fun with last year. We went and "signed up" to do that which is merely scanning your MB, telling the computer how many people are in your party and grabbing the map they tell you to. Lenny started playing with us but being on a scooter, he couldn't quite keep up and I'm not sure he was really that interested in the first place so he decided to go smoke and then meet us near Tortuga Tavern in the shade when we were done. In the middle of playing one of the games (there are five adventures in total), Captain Jack's pirate tutorial was starting so Abby and I stopped to watch for a few minutes. Like at the Woody and Jessie M&G, we were out in the direct sun and it was very hot. I'm not sure if that's what eventually got Abby moving or the fact that some little kids were chosen as volunteers (not her) but after something like 10 minutes, we moved on to finish our mission.




After we had completed three of them, we were offered a fastpass for PoTC, which we did take. In all, it took about an hour and a half to do all five missions. I did four of them with her but then I had to hit the bathrooms so I told Abby to do the fifth one without me and to meet me in the shade with dad. After we completed all five, we were offered a second fastpass for PoTC, which we declined, and Abby was given some sort of collectors card too, which she did take. I believe it's sitting on her desk with all the maps too which had been stamped when she finished the missions.

Being so hot out, we had already finished off two of our bottles of water we had with us so we stopped at a kiosk to buy some more and Abby wanted a frozen lemonade that she finished fairly quickly. We then made our way to use our fastpass for Pooh. We all rode this together and in my notes, I have, and I quote "after Pooh, since Lenny wasn't feeling well, Abby and I used our mine train DAS." I cannot tell you why Lenny wasn't feeling well nor can I tell you when I got a DAS time for the mine train. We must have stopped on the way to return the wheelchair. I do remember scanning Lenny's band though to clear it out so obviously I told them all three of us would be riding when I got it. I do enjoy the mine train even though I still think it's too short of a ride.

__________________
Disney 2018 TR COMPLETED 10-20-18 POSTS 266 - 273
Looking for my previous TR's? Here they are
My Previous TripsAll WDW - July 1980 off property - July 1981 FW - July 1983 FW - July 1985 FW - August 1987 FW - July 1988 Treehouse Villas - July 1990 Treehouse Villas - July 1997 FW - August 2006 AS Sports, 1st time with DH and DD - August 2008 AS Sports - August 2009 AS Sports - August 2010 AS Sports - July 2011 AS Sports - August 2013 AS Music - August 2014 AS Music - August 2015 AS Music - August 2016 AS Music - August 2018 AS Music, Kate (lovewdw2) joined us for the weekend
CinderAbby is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2016, 12:42 PM   #400
CinderAbby
Community Rank: Legend
 
CinderAbby's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Eastern Massachusetts
Concierge Level: 3
Posts: 19,490

Post Thanks / Like
Drinking so much water, we hit the bathrooms again but this time at the Cheshire Cafe. As we were waiting for Lenny to come out, Abby and I talked about getting another DAS time. Abby wanted me to get one for Dumbo but for the first time in the trip, I wasn't feeling up to walking the distance to get it because my ankle was starting to hurt. As soon as Lenny came out of the bathroom, I told him what we wanted to do and he was really good - he got off the scooter and sat on the bench right there and let me use the scooter to go to Dumbo Once I got there, the CM offered to let me right in the line but I explained it was for my daughter and she was off waiting for me. It only took a couple of minutes and then I went back to Lenny and Abby. I gave Lenny back the scooter and then we went to ride the Little Mermaid with our fastpass that I had rescheduled the night before at dinner. When we came out of the ride, Abby wanted to go to Dumbo since we could. Lenny didn't feel up to riding so he said he'd meet us in the gift shop when we were done. I didn't see Lenny when we went inside but I did see the slush machines they had so I got in line to get us some. As I waited, I called Lenny who was on the other side of the store. I just couldn't see him because of all the activity in the center with slush machines and food being made. After I paid for the slush, I handed Lenny his and he promptly put it down on a shelf full of plush toys. I didn't like that and I don't think the CM's would have liked it had they seen it so I picked it up with the intention of putting it in the cup holder on the back of the wheelchair. My aim was a little off and instead of dropping into the cup holder, it dropped straight down to the carpeted floor and the bottom of the cup broke open. I picked up the cup before too much could spill out and went right back to the register. A CM came out and looked at the mess and I kept apologizing and then she went and got someone else to bring some towels. I was surprised how well it cleaned up and we were assured it was fine but I felt like an idiot and tried to give Lenny my slush but he wouldn't take it. I told him at the price I paid, I really didn't want to pay for another one and since I'm the one who dropped it, I should be the one to go without. I don't know if it's something they normally would do or if it was done because of my comment to Lenny but the first CM who had come to look at our mess walked away and then came back with another slush in hand. I thought that was very nice of her and thanked her. We finally left the store with all three slushes intact (well what was left of them because it was hot today).

We made our way near Gaston's Tavern to use the bathroom and then we had some Photopass pictures taken near the Mine Train.




From there, we went to Peter Pan to use our fastpass time. Before we had gotten into line, Abby said when we were done with the ride, she wanted to go right to Liberty Square to get "our" seats for the parade. By the time we were done riding Peter Pan (I made note of the time, it was 1:55), Abby changed her mind again and said she did want to ride Small World. We went there and for the first time this entire trip, there was actually a line in front of us. The CM came over and undid the chain and had everyone in front of us move down the ramp towards the boats. Because we had indicated we needed the wheelchair boat, he had us stand to the side but at the top of the ramp. He then told us we'd be on the second wheelchair boat but it would be there in only 5 to 10 minutes. After he said that, I noticed one was just leaving the loading area and there was a family in front of us with someone in a wheelchair so I knew it wasn't only going to be 5 or 10 minutes, it was going to be longer than that because it was just really busy to begin with. We didn't wait long - we stayed maybe 5 minutes and then Lenny decided that he didn't really want to wait to ride, he wanted to go get spots for the parade and come back later to ride. "Look at this place, it's packed. Let's get out of here now or we'll miss the parade." At first Abby was upset that we just left, she wanted to ride but as we approached the wheelchair section in Liberty Square, we saw there were only two spots left, "our" spots right in front of the planter with the tree. It was only 2:08 but we were all very happy we had gotten out of line. Even Abby agreed it had been a good decision. Lenny, having made that decision, won't let me forget it now . Today's parade was a good one. It was bright and sunny out and we saw the Disney World Philharmonic in addition to the Grand Marshals and everyone was dancing and stilt walking during the parade itself. There were no modifications needed today

Disney World Philharmonic from Lenny's camera





__________________
Disney 2018 TR COMPLETED 10-20-18 POSTS 266 - 273
Looking for my previous TR's? Here they are
My Previous TripsAll WDW - July 1980 off property - July 1981 FW - July 1983 FW - July 1985 FW - August 1987 FW - July 1988 Treehouse Villas - July 1990 Treehouse Villas - July 1997 FW - August 2006 AS Sports, 1st time with DH and DD - August 2008 AS Sports - August 2009 AS Sports - August 2010 AS Sports - July 2011 AS Sports - August 2013 AS Music - August 2014 AS Music - August 2015 AS Music - August 2016 AS Music - August 2018 AS Music, Kate (lovewdw2) joined us for the weekend
CinderAbby is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2016, 12:43 PM   #401
CinderAbby
Community Rank: Legend
 
CinderAbby's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Eastern Massachusetts
Concierge Level: 3
Posts: 19,490

Post Thanks / Like
When the parade was over, we went back to Small World to finally ride. When we got to the Polynesian section, I was surprised as the boats were backed up into there. They must have been having problems this day with the ride (which would have explained the line from earlier) because as we were sitting there, all the lights came on and it was announced that our "voyage" was temporarily delayed. Then a CM came over the PA system to announce there were technical difficulties. All in all, we only spent about 10 minutes in there and for anyone who thought the song was bad, I'd take that over the beating drums I heard. The bright part was I spent some time taking photos. You would think sitting still in a well lit room, they would have come out good . No they didn't but that's okay. They're good enough for memories but not for sharing. Our voyage finally finished and we made our way out of Fantasyland to go to Tomorrowland for our Buzz fastpass. I have no idea when I even got it (it wasn't one of our original three) and I have no idea who scored what but I would like to think that Abby got the highest score once again. I don't remember her being upset when we got off the ride. From Buzz, we rode the Peoplemover again. As Lenny was getting on his scooter after, I asked Abby if she wanted me to get any more fastpasses and she surprised me when she said no. What she wanted was to go to the Laugh Floor again as she had thought of a new joke to send in and being "Disney" themed, one she hoped would get picked. She typed in her joke, we got in line and the information on where to send it wasn't given. It wasn't given in the preshow area either We were all really bummed out about this. The show was still funny when it was our turn to go in but I couldn't help but be disappointed for Abby.

We decided to go to dinner at Cosmic Ray's after the laugh floor. In the middle of dinner, I remembered that Lenny's niece was suppose to have a baby on the 13th. We hadn't heard anything so I said "wouldn't it be funny if your niece had the baby today? I bet the rest of your family would just love that." (Lenny's the black sheep of the family). Then, for whatever reason, I took out the iPad and checked my email. In it was an email from his sister - a picture of the baby! She was born on the 16th, not the 17th, but Lenny was very happy with getting the news on his birthday. He sent his sister a text letting her know we had read the news. Ipad and phone away, we finished up and just as we were getting ready to leave, a nice CM by the name of Valentin came over and started to talk to us. It's kind of nice that the CM's come around and talk but on the other hand it's annoying. I don't mind a question here and there but I'm in Disney - I want to ride the rides and see the shows, not sit in a restaurant and talk and I'm not the type of person who can just get up in the middle of a conversation and leave when someone is being nice. Because he was nice, we stayed and talked to him. He asked about our dinner, our vacation, things we had done. He was pleasant to talk to and however it came up, I mentioned the Laugh Floor and the lack of info to send in a joke. He said sometimes that happens and to talk to the CM's that are there as they should know the word even if it's not shown. We said thank you for the tip and we'd try that if the info wasn't posted on the tv. We eventually said thank you and goodbye to him and Abby wanted to go back to the Laugh Floor to see if a) the info was posted or b) if it wasn't if the CM would tell us it.

When we got back to the Laugh Floor again, there was still no code word given on the tv in either the queue or the preshow area and the CM's in each area didn't know it either for the show . Really wanting to send in the joke, Abby sent it anyway to the number we had (that didn't change from show to show) just without a code word. We entered the theater, Lenny and I sat in the front where they directed us and Abby sat off somewhere else. No matter how she tried, she still did not get picked nor did her joke and it was a really good one. I think only one joke was told by Marty and the rest was interacting with someone from the audience. I'll tell Abby's joke to you but if you pass it along, you have to give Abby credit for it.
"Why did Kylo Ren cross the road?"
"It was his first order."

Her joke not getting used, not being picked for audience participation and starting to get tired, when we left the show, Abby couldn't decide what it was she wanted to do. At first she said she wanted to go see Carousel of Progress, ride the train, then go see Philharmagic. Then she changed her mind and said she didn't want to do the CoP because it's "so long." I know somewhere in there, either Lenny or I mentioned we needed to think about doing the train as it doesn't run after 9 PM so that's where we ended up going. We took the path between Tomorrowland and Fantasyland and were just about at the station when a train pulled up but we didn't get on that one. With Abby getting tired, it could have been enough to cause a meltdown but either a CM told us one would be along in 5 minutes or I told Abby it wouldn't be much more than 5 minutes for the next one and she was okay with waiting. Plus as we waited, she asked if we could move our Soarin fastpass that I had scheduled for 9 am the next morning. After breakfast at the Garden Grill, she said she wanted to go see Joy, Sadness and Baymax again as it would be our last day in the parks this trip. I brought out the iPad to see what I could do and I was able to move it and I took a 2 PM time instead. I don't know now if that's the only time I could get or if it's a time that worked into the plans I already had. As I put my ipad away and as predicted, another train was arriving within that 5 minutes and soon we were on our way around the Magic Kingdom. Lenny can't take the scooter on the train so we have to do the full loop which actually is okay as we like doing it and once we were back in Fantasyland, Abby announced she wanted to go to Philharmagic and "end our night on a musical note."

As we walked towards that part of Fantasyland, I quickly called home to mom to talk with her since it was after 8 already. We only talked for a few minutes, we had a couple of Photopass photos taken, then we hit the bathrooms near Gaston's Tavern and then we finally made it to Philharmagic.



The ropes for Wishes had already been put up before we even entered the queue so when we came out of the show, we had to take the long way to get to Main Street as Abby was indeed done with the park and was ready to leave for the night. It was a few minutes after 9 when we got to Main Street and the "back" entrance behind the Plaza was open so we walked out that way. We returned the wheelchair and made a beeline for the ferry that was just coming in. We were able to get on in but instead of leaving like I thought it would, it sat there for a good 20 minutes if not more. We were all getting tired and just wanted to get back to the room. It did finally move and we eventually made it back to the room around 10:20. Even though they were tired, Abby insisted on swimming for a few minutes. I was too exhausted to do much of anything so I stayed behind and I think did absolutely nothing for a change. I'm not sure when they came back or when Abby went to sleep but I know I was asleep before Lenny this night. I only made it to about 11.
__________________
Disney 2018 TR COMPLETED 10-20-18 POSTS 266 - 273
Looking for my previous TR's? Here they are
My Previous TripsAll WDW - July 1980 off property - July 1981 FW - July 1983 FW - July 1985 FW - August 1987 FW - July 1988 Treehouse Villas - July 1990 Treehouse Villas - July 1997 FW - August 2006 AS Sports, 1st time with DH and DD - August 2008 AS Sports - August 2009 AS Sports - August 2010 AS Sports - July 2011 AS Sports - August 2013 AS Music - August 2014 AS Music - August 2015 AS Music - August 2016 AS Music - August 2018 AS Music, Kate (lovewdw2) joined us for the weekend
CinderAbby is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2016, 01:13 PM   #402
MMMD
Community Rank: Navigator
 
MMMD's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Northern New Jersey
Posts: 6,202

Post Thanks / Like
yes, take your time. I'm sorry you are stressed
__________________
Mary
My Previous TripsWDW yearly 1972 - 1982, offsite 2003 & 2004, CBR Feb 2007, YC Jan 2008, BC Dec 2008, Dolphin March 2009, Swan March 2010, Wilderness Lodge April 2010, Swan December 2010, Dolphin April 2011, Swan March 2012, Swan February 2013, Swan March 2014, AKL February 2015, AKL February 2016, ASMusic & Boardwalk February 2017
MMMD is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2016, 01:15 PM   #403
CinderAbby
Community Rank: Legend
 
CinderAbby's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Eastern Massachusetts
Concierge Level: 3
Posts: 19,490

Post Thanks / Like
Thursday morning was yet another early day. I was up at 5:30, Lenny at 5:45 and Abby at 6:05. We all got ready for the day and were out of the room at 6:45. We made it to Epcot and got through security and because there were not that many people, they made everyone go through the metal detector, including Lenny. Of course it went off when he went through but we don't know if it's because of his hips or because he might have left his glasses on his head instead of putting them in the plate. Regardless of what set it off, he was wanded and told he was all set. We made it to the turnstiles about 7:25 and today they were letting everyone through up to a rope that was just past the fountain before going under the geosphere. We were told if we had a breakfast reservation, we had to stay to the right. Instead of doing that, we went and got a wheelchair instead. As we were there getting that, either Lenny or I noticed a couple of bibs - one with Mickey, one with Minnie and he wanted to get on for his new great niece so we got that as well. With the wheelchair and purchase in hand, we went and joined the crowd that was growing. Lenny at one point in time said "aren't we suppose to go over there to the right?" meaning out and around the planter that is right there in front of the gift shop. I said I didn't think so, no one else is over there so we stayed put. Then as we talked about the new baby, I remembered the "theme" Lenny's niece seemed to be going with was elephants so I mentioned how we should get his great niece one of the baby Dumbo's I had seen where we got the wheelchair. He liked the idea so Lenny and Abby stayed in line while I went to go get it. When I came back to him, Lenny again asked if we were suppose to go to the right and behind the planter to get in because he saw people doing it now. I looked up and now there were a couple of CM's over there as well as some guests that were being let in so I said "yeah, I guess we were suppose to go over there. The CM only said stay to the right. He didn't tell us stay way over to the right. There is a difference you know." We were able to get out of the crowd though and go over there and it was really nice to be let in before the hundreds of others that were waiting. It pays to get an early breakfast because even on this EMH morning, we were still let in before they were (it was 7:50 when we were let in).

We went right to the Land and were taken right in for breakfast. Once again, Lenny used the wheelchair to get to the table and unlike when we had dinner here, the CM said "let me pull the table out for you to make it easier" and it really did. No one had to scoot around, we could just sit down where we wanted to. Being the last day of our trip, I don't have a lot of notes when it comes to breakfast but I can tell you this - it was really, really worth it. We enjoyed everything they brought out to eat - it all disappeared - and I lost track of how many times we saw the characters. I am so glad we booked this meal, especially for the last day. It just started the day off on such a happy note. Of course it was such a good time I wouldn't be opposed on any future trip to having it earlier in the vacation as well. I would definitely do it more than once on vacation.






You gotta love when you get photobombed by the CM's


We were done with breakfast about 8:45 and after a quick trip to the bathroom, we then headed back to the Character Spot for Joy and Sadness. It was 8:56 when we got in line and we were told it was about a thirty minute wait. It did take about that long but when it was our turn to meet with them, we had a present with us - a smile for Sadness. A few days before when we had seen them, Lenny said she just looked so sad that he couldn't help but get up off the scooter to give her a hug, he wanted to see her happy. We knew that wasn't going to happen so this morning, before we left the hotel room, Lenny had an idea of how to make Sadness look happy - give her a smile. We made it with a plastic knife taped to the back of a paper plate we had cut down and drawn a smile onto. While my video taking ability needs some work (I need to follow the subject and keep recording) the interaction was priceless.

Giving a present to Sadness

It was so much fun and Lenny was so happy he had thought of this. Sadness finally looked happy and because I didn't expect it, I didn't keep recording so I missed it when she was dancing around as we left.



__________________
Disney 2018 TR COMPLETED 10-20-18 POSTS 266 - 273
Looking for my previous TR's? Here they are
My Previous TripsAll WDW - July 1980 off property - July 1981 FW - July 1983 FW - July 1985 FW - August 1987 FW - July 1988 Treehouse Villas - July 1990 Treehouse Villas - July 1997 FW - August 2006 AS Sports, 1st time with DH and DD - August 2008 AS Sports - August 2009 AS Sports - August 2010 AS Sports - July 2011 AS Sports - August 2013 AS Music - August 2014 AS Music - August 2015 AS Music - August 2016 AS Music - August 2018 AS Music, Kate (lovewdw2) joined us for the weekend
CinderAbby is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2016, 01:16 PM   #404
CinderAbby
Community Rank: Legend
 
CinderAbby's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Eastern Massachusetts
Concierge Level: 3
Posts: 19,490

Post Thanks / Like
From there, we went to wait in the line for Baymax where I actually got cold. People think there is something wrong with me because I take an electric blanket with us to Disney. This day, not only did I have the electric blanket back in the room on the bed, but I also had a sweater I had decided to bring with me into the park! I couldn't take it anymore so I took it out of my bag and put it on. All day long, the sweater would go on then come off again depending upon where we were - several times I was wearing it outside too so it wasn't just indoors when I had it on. After visiting with Baymax, we went to Imagination next.






After riding, Lenny wanted a cigarette and Abby wanted to see the Pixar Film Festival again. I sent Lenny to the smoking section that was nearby and Abby and I went up to the theater. Again, we entered with something like 15 minutes to the next show and while we waited, I sat in the wheelchair and fell asleep. I was awake when it came time to go in the theater and when I sat in the wheelchair again, I fell asleep again. Abby likes this show so I went in it for her but I myself don't feel it's worth repeating. If they had better shorts, it would be but only one of the shorts is good IMO. After the show was over, we went and found Lenny. When he was done with his cigarette, we made our way to Nemo for our fastpass. It was only about 10:50 and our second fastpass of the day was for Turtle Talk so the plan was to ride the ride, explore a bit and then go see Crush again. Abby absolutely loves this pavilion and since we used our fastpass so early in the window and we had a long time before we could use our next one, we were able to explore as much as she wanted - which was pretty much the whole time. I was disappointed we didn't see the dolphins today but we explored upstairs and we explored downstairs. We even played "Mr. Ray's Pop Quiz" for a little bit. Abby got a certificate at the end for knowing the answers.


Red was definitely the wrong color to have Abby wear for this picture







As it got near our time for Turtle Talk, we made our way back downstairs to go scan our bands. We're always taken a back way to enter and this time was no different. We waited at the end of the hallway near the entrance doors until it was time to go in. Abby may be 16 but she's still a kid so she proudly sits on the floor with everyone else. When it comes to the question and answer time, she always raises her hand and now being the tallest kid there (meaning easily seen), she got picked again to ask a question


Where do you like to hang out?

Very happy from getting to explore for so long and getting picked to ask Crush a question again, we left the Nemo Pavilion to go get a DAS time for Test Track. Since Lenny was still hurting, we only got it for me and Abby and then it was nap time. I mean time for Universe of Energy . As we approached the building, I told Abby to go inside and wait for us because dad still had to park the scooter and get into the wheelchair. If we missed any of the preshow, we were okay with that but that didn't mean she had to miss any. Once Lenny was situated, we went to go in but Abby was coming back out and I immediately asked what was wrong. Abby said nothing was wrong, they just weren't letting people in yet. I kept pushing Lenny inside the building because I didn't know what Abby meant - we weren't told to stand outside - but what happened was she went through the doors and turned left where ropes were up. Had she turned right, she would have seen they were down. Either that or they were taken down because the CM saw me enter with Lenny and called us over. On a funny note though, talking about entering the building, I don't know if I've ever mentioned this but Lenny's birthday is 8/17. Every single day - and I mean every single day - we see this number or some combination of this number. We frequently look at the clock when it's 8:17, can be morning or night, sometimes both. It might be 7:18 when we look. At the gas station, I frequently see this number either in gallons sold, in sales amounts, in my end of night paperwork, etc. At school, it's in product numbers and UPC codes on boxes I get. Today, the 8:17 was the time we had left until the next show of Universe of Energy. I didn't happen to notice it but Lenny did and I just laughed when he told me about it. It's just too funny because we see it every day in one way or another. A few years ago when we went to Sea World, they had a scale big enough for all three of us and when we all got on, our combined weight was 817 pounds (thankfully at least 2 of us have lost weight since then). It's everywhere
__________________
Disney 2018 TR COMPLETED 10-20-18 POSTS 266 - 273
Looking for my previous TR's? Here they are
My Previous TripsAll WDW - July 1980 off property - July 1981 FW - July 1983 FW - July 1985 FW - August 1987 FW - July 1988 Treehouse Villas - July 1990 Treehouse Villas - July 1997 FW - August 2006 AS Sports, 1st time with DH and DD - August 2008 AS Sports - August 2009 AS Sports - August 2010 AS Sports - July 2011 AS Sports - August 2013 AS Music - August 2014 AS Music - August 2015 AS Music - August 2016 AS Music - August 2018 AS Music, Kate (lovewdw2) joined us for the weekend
CinderAbby is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2016, 01:17 PM   #405
CinderAbby
Community Rank: Legend
 
CinderAbby's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Eastern Massachusetts
Concierge Level: 3
Posts: 19,490

Post Thanks / Like
Anyway, we entered the building and were able to sit down on the benches at the back of the room. Soon Ellen was on the screen telling us about her "dream sequence" and when that finished we made our way into the room for the ride vehicles. Knowing how this works for wheelchairs is a huge advantage IMO so when the CM asked if Lenny would be transferring, we both said no and he got loaded onto the vehicle with the wheelchair. If we had said no, he would have had to get out of the wheelchair and that would then have been moved way out by the exit - too far away for Lenny to be able to get back to it in any kind of timely manner. On another side note, this was the first time in years that I've seen them utilize all three vehicles. The last few times we've gone, they've only used the left and right ones, not the middle. Locked and loaded, we made our way through the pavilion and I slept on and off - more on than off though . When we returned to the original room and Lenny was taken off the vehicle, we made our way outside where we noticed the clouds were building. We also noticed something else - the scooter had been moved. We weren't sure why it was moved but then I noticed every other scooter was parked the same exact way. When Lenny had originally parked the scooter, he had parked it parallel with the wall that is right there. A few other scooters had been parked the same way. When we came out, the scooter was kind of at an angle, as were all the other scooters. And not only that, each and every scooter parked had little plastic dinosaurs left on them. I thought it was cute that someone took the time to move the scooters - there were something like 10 or 12 of them - and then carefully place these tiny little dinosaurs on them.



I didn't think to take the photo there so I took one at home of our little dino.

With our tiny little dinosaur put away so we wouldn't lose him, we left Lenny at the smoking section between UoE and Test Track and Abby and I set off - with our umbrellas - to use our DAS time. When we actually got to the ride, the single rider line was listed at 10 minutes. With the way the clouds were looking, I figured it was a very good probability that in that amount of time, it would start raining. I didn't want to scan our bands for the DAS time and not get to use it so I told Abby as much. I told her our chances were much better of getting on the ride as single riders than with the DAS and then we'd still have the DAS for another ride for later. Abby agreed so we set off. I didn't mind that we couldn't design a car but Abby likes to do it so that's a "con" for going single rider for her. As we got closer to the cars though, they were starting to announce that the ride may stop at any time and I kept hoping that we'd get on before that happened. Even right before we got into the car - we got to ride together - it was still being announced. We were able to ride and it was dry when we got to the outdoor portion of the ride so I knew it hadn't started raining yet. We got out of the car, Abby scanned her band for our picture and then we left and made our way to the front of the building. We had definitely timed it right because there were no wait times listed anymore and people were walking out of the building and getting out of line. I was so glad we did single rider and I think Abby was too. Then, as we stepped out from under the awning and track area, it started to spit some. We went to find Lenny and made our way over to the Land as quick as we could. We knew the sky could open up at any time and we were now in our fastpass window for Soarin. We actually did have time to walk slowly to get there because according to my notes, we were out of Test Track at 2:10 and our fastpass started at 2 but we really didn't want it to pour on us if we could prevent it. Just like on Monday when it started to pour after we got under the roof at Philharmagic, today it started to pour after we got under the roof at the Land.

We went inside and hit the bathrooms before making our way to Soarin. We still weren't sent down to the new theater so I have no idea what that one is like. I did joke again "are we in Reflections of China again?" Abby just laughed. After Soarin, we went and rode Living with the Land again. Lenny liked it before riding in the wheelchair so we parked the scooter by a plug and charged it and then went and got in line. This time through, Abby saw several "hidden" Mickey's in the food and Lenny saw an albino catfish. Abby also saw Epcot spelled out in the cabbage. I just wasn't quick enough to snap a photo of any of it. When we got off the ride, we chose to go get something for a snack from Sunshine Seasons. Lenny got a brownie, I got the chocolate mousse cake and Abby a cookie almost the size of her face. As we ate our snacks, we made plans to go to Spaceship Earth again. Everything was good and didn't last long and when we finally left the pavilion, it was sunny again. Because the weather had cleared, Abby changed her mind and wanted to go back to Test Track to use our DAS time. Abby was very happy to go through this way (the FP line) as she was able to design a car - she missed the feature in the single rider line. I don't remember how her car did but she said it did well. Once again we had left Lenny in the smoking section and even though there was quite a bit of blue sky, more clouds were moving in and I could clearly hear thunder. I also heard that dreaded announcement that the ride could close at any time. I couldn't believe our luck that we had gotten on the ride twice this day before the storms.

Abby was done in Future World after our second ride on Test Track so she wanted to move over to World Showcase. She was hoping we could get to Mexico before it started to rain as the clouds were coming in quickly. We did make it inside the pavilion and we went to ride the boat ride. It was a little bit of a pain at first because Lenny wanted to park the scooter and switch to the wheelchair but he was told he couldn't park the scooter where he was trying to because the Mariachi Band was coming to perform inside and the scooter parking is where they stand. There was a tiny little spot though, just big enough for two scooters, that he could park in and so he did. The other gentleman, sitting on the scooter in the second spot, was impressed with Lenny's ability to back the scooter into the spot and not hit anything. Once he got into the wheelchair, we headed to the ride. After we found Donald, we stopped for a few minutes to watch the Mariachi band but then Abby wanted to leave. When we got outside, it was cloudy out but it didn't look like it had rained at all. It was only 5:20 and I asked Abby what she wanted to do. Did she want to go ride Norway or see Reflections of China again? Did she want to play Agent P? The answer to all of those were no. What Abby wanted to do was go ride Spaceship Earth, have dinner and see Joy and Sadness again. That was it. After asking her any number of ways I could think of, I was finally satisfied that those three things were all she wanted to do before leaving the park for the night. Even the thought of a long line at Joy and Sadness didn't have Abby changing her mind so after a few minutes at the smoking area for Lenny to have a cigarette and for me to make some notes, we went back to Future World.
__________________
Disney 2018 TR COMPLETED 10-20-18 POSTS 266 - 273
Looking for my previous TR's? Here they are
My Previous TripsAll WDW - July 1980 off property - July 1981 FW - July 1983 FW - July 1985 FW - August 1987 FW - July 1988 Treehouse Villas - July 1990 Treehouse Villas - July 1997 FW - August 2006 AS Sports, 1st time with DH and DD - August 2008 AS Sports - August 2009 AS Sports - August 2010 AS Sports - July 2011 AS Sports - August 2013 AS Music - August 2014 AS Music - August 2015 AS Music - August 2016 AS Music - August 2018 AS Music, Kate (lovewdw2) joined us for the weekend
CinderAbby is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Reply




Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump














Please login or register to hide these ads -- it's free and easy!

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 12:07 AM.

-->

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Feedback Buttons provided by Advanced Post Thanks / Like v3.4.0 Patch Level 1 (Pro) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
(c) 1998-2017 PassPorter Travel Press/MediaMarx, Inc.
Celebrating 19 Years of Making Dreams Come True
Ad Management plugin by RedTyger