The Surviving Deployment Trip Report, Updated 10/18 COMPLETE!! About This Page:

[drabbito]

I now HAVE to do the MNSSHP it sounded like sooo much fun I am sorry you got sick while on vacation .

[a_bernard]

I so love all your pictures. You make me see so many things that i have never noticed before. Also love all the interactions you guys have with the characters. And i love the picture in the Haunted Mansion. Never even thought of taking a picture. Didn't know we weren't allowed either. We had so much fun. It was a great night to be remembered. Amanda enjoyed her evening just as much as me and it is thanks to you guys.

I am so sorry that you felt so sick the next day, but at least you had a nice day shopping at DTD. Hope you got to feel better the next day and for the rest of your trip

[PrincessSharon]

What fun you had at MNSSHP. And great shopping at DTD. Sorry you got sick, though. Hopefully you'll bounce back right away.

[Mauimouse]

Sorry to read that you are getting sick on your vacation. I unfortunately know that feeling, as I got sick with a nasty cold back in March. I was down for the count for a couple days, no fun. Hope that you feel better tomorrow and that Nyquil does the trick.

Sounds like you had a good shopping day at Downtown Disney. I need to get to WPE at some point, the food looks so yummy.

[disneydreamer33]

You got to see a lot of characters at MNSSHP. I don't remember that many being there 2 years ago.
Great pics.
I love how the CM thought Victoria was the real Alice. Too funny.
Sorry you got sick.
I agree with the heat too! Ugh!

[Linnynad]

Ahhh.....the Wishes CD! What store was that you found them in? The Haunted Mansion cards sound really fun too!!!

[Meggera]

Originally Posted by Linnynad

Ahhh.....the Wishes CD! What store was that you found them in? The Haunted Mansion cards sound really fun too!!!

I got the Wishes CD in World of Disney.

[Tawnya]

I really want to go to MNSSHP now looks like it was a blast! Im so sorry you got sick that is never fun especially on vacation. Great day shopping, where did you get the haunted mansion glow in the dark cards? Id love to get those for DH. Hope you feel better for the rest of the trip!

[Meggera]

Originally Posted by Tawnya

I really want to go to MNSSHP now looks like it was a blast! Im so sorry you got sick that is never fun especially on vacation. Great day shopping, where did you get the haunted mansion glow in the dark cards? Id love to get those for DH. Hope you feel better for the rest of the trip!

She got the HM cards at WOD. They are neat.

[Meggera]

September 17 - Day 4, Part 1
I woke up at 6:32 a.m., when Mickey and Stitch called. So, I did set up a wake-up call last night. My nose was stopped up, so I knew I'd be blowing my nose all day. I hopped in the shower and got ready. Victoria got in the shower. When I was packing up my backpack, I made sure to put a box of tissues in the bag. We had chocolate cake for breakfast. Afterall, we are on vacation and the cakes were piling up.

We saw some cute visitors in the pool as we walked by.


We were on a bus to DHS at 8 a.m., and made it there in no time. We were first in line to get through the turnstiles.


I saw some eyes looking back at me from the shadows cast by the balcony fixtures. Do you see them? They are on the building. I thought they looked so neat. Sort of Egyptian looking.

We were let through the turnstiles, and Victoria and I booked it to the right side of the rope. Our goal was FPs to TSMM and a chance to ride it right away. I was not feeling well and made sure to take Sudafed. I told Victoria she had the task of getting to the FP machines to grab our FPs. She was prepared.

The last time we had been to rope drop at DHS, there was no show, so it was interesting to watch. The couple chosen to open the park was a couple celebrating their 2nd anniversary. They were very cute.


The rope dropped...
Lights, Camera, Action!
The CMs led the mass of people carefully to Pixar place. We were walking at a pretty good pace, and Victoria went on ahead of me. I knew I had to take it easy. Victoria was the first one at a machine. Victoria!!

She had our FPs (10 - 11 a.m., return time) in hand so we hopped in line to ride. We walked straight through the queue. I still wanted to see the queue since I had never seen it before. So, I would slow down to snag a picture, and this big man behind me would try to push past me. After three times of him trying to push past me, he got so close to me, I elbowed him in the stomach and told him he wasn't going to get any further even if he made it past me. Now really. What would passing one person accomplish him? Ridiculous!

Here are the pictures I was able to capture.


We actually walked right up to the ride and only had to wait for the next car. It was awesome!


I think this might be my new favorite ride. I dream about it at night. I look forward to riding it again very much. I like it so much, I bought the Wii TSM with two more Wii remotes, and I'm taking it to Orlando when we go back in two weeks. I will surprise Victoria and Michael with it, but I'm the one who will be dying to play it.

Anyhoo, I thought I did well for my first time. I got the beaver, and Victoria got the bunny.


I love this picture. How cute is that?


I was ready to ride it again, but the line was very long now, so we headed to RNRC.


We had no wait at all. It was great! We were quickly in our limo. It started out well, but right after the take-off, all the music and sound stopped. It is very strange to ride this ride with no music. No Aerosmith. It was surreal and not nearly as much fun. Once our limo reached the stadium, I asked the CM if they had stopped playing the music on the ride. She said someone must have had a camera or something and that the music stops in such cases. She then asked if we would like to ride again. I said yes, and she showed us the door to the red carpeted exit that led us straight back to the limos. We went straight to the front of the line and thought we'd have the ride all to ourselves. Here's the line behind us...


No sooner had a limo pulled up than a group came in. Rats. It would have been cool to have a ride all to ourselves. Victoria and I decided to surprise each other with our ride photo. I took a picture of the picture.

I was saying I love you to Michael, and Victoria was throwing up.

We left RNRC and headed to TOT.


We had no wait at all and walked straight on. Terrific! I guess everyone else was waiting to ride TSMM.


We made it safely back from the hotel and decided to ride it again.


Once again, no wait whatsoever.

We took the right queue and were told to go to the far right elevator. We joined a father and son who were in line.


This was a very different ride for us. It was just the four of us. How did we get so lucky? It was such a surprise, I asked the CM to take our picture.


Once our fall finished and the doors opened for us to exit, the two CMs outside seemed surprised at just the four of us on the ride. When I walked out, I said, "We're all that's left. We lost the others." They almost laughed.

We decided to ride it again. We were walking through the line again, but we were stopped by a line. So, we decided to get out of line and get a FP. As we were walking back down the FP line, we heard that TOT was experiencing technical difficulties. I'm glad we got out of line. We grabbed FPs.

It was now 10:15 a.m., and we had ridden TSMM once, RNRC twice, and TOT twice. Our FPs for TSMM were ready, but we decided to wait until later to ride.


We headed over to the GMR and took a couple of pictures along the way.


Beautiful costume from Shakespeare in Love.


This was the first line we waited in. We finally got on around 10:40 a.m. We always end up in the back of this ride. We once again ended up in the back. Victoria was perturbed.


We got the gangster version.


And enjoyed the rest of our journey through the movies.


We had an ADR at Sci Fi at 11:10, so we went there after the ride. We got there at 11:00 a.m. No sooner had we sat down to wait, than we were called in. Our server was Liz. She was great. I ordered the Beef and Blue Salad (Sliced butcher-tender steak with a Wedge of Iceberg Lettuce with Blue Cheese Dressing, Tomatoes and Bacon), a chocolate milkshake and the Peanut Butter-Chocolate Cake (Warm chocolate cake with a creamy peanut butter center served a la mode) for dessert. Victoria ordered the Italian Grilled Chicken Sandwich with fries (With bruschetta topping served on a Kaiser Roll with cucumber-melon salad or fries), chocolate milkshake and the hot fudge sundae for dessert.

We were hitchhikers in the back of a car with another family of four in front of us.


The milkshakes were fabulous as was our food. We both enjoyed everything very much.


There was a little baby in the seat in front of us, and she kept turning around to check us out. She made me laugh a lot because when her mother wasn't looking, she'd put her hand in her mother's tea. It was so funny! She was so sneaky.

We left the Sci Fi full and satisfied. We always enjoy eating there.

We next walked the Streets of America. By the way, all throughout this day, I was constantly blowing my nose. I took more Sudafed at lunch. I seemed to be feeling less and less well as the day progressed, and as of now, I have no more notes whatsoever. So, I'll be going on a Nyquil-infused memory. Hopefully, Victoria will be able to help me, too.



Michael called. Victoria is talking to her daddy in this picture.


We had to get the picture with Gene Kelly's umbrella. The last time we were here, it didn't have the water feature. It was funny because Victoria couldn't get the water to work without jumping on the black mat. Unfortunately, you can't really see the water.


UP NEXT: Victoria is smitten!

[B.M.]

Great day at DHS! You got a lot accomplished that first hour! Hope you got to feeling better before the day was out......

[PamelaK]

Sounds like another fun day so far. I'm so sorry you were getting so sick.

[dsnytina]

So sorry you're not feeling very well, but what a day at DHS!
Can't wait to read about Victoria being smitten...

[Nimros]

What a great day so far - you two got a lot done and some great photos. That's too weird about no music for RnRC... I can't imagine riding without it.

Glad you enjoyed Sci-Fi. And I'm so sorry you're not feeling well again. The plus side is, now that you've gotten over this, you should feel 100 percent when Michael is with you.

Your teaser sounds intriguing...hurry back with more!

[Tiggerbelle]

I love love love your TR!! You two just seem to have so much fun together! Hurry back with more, please!