Who Turned Up The Heat?! - TR May 2011 - Page 4 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Wow! I didn't know you could exchange a purse just because of the placement of the logos. Nice to know since I'm going to have to pick one up!
Loving the tattoo with the sparkles. Oh, and your daughter's purse is adorable.
I haven't been to the Luau since my first trip about 30 years ago and I think I might have to go again soon. Geez, you guys and your trip reports are killing my bank account
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Wow! I didn't know you could exchange a purse just because of the placement of the logos. Nice to know since I'm going to have to pick one up!
The pattern is not positioned exactly the same on any of them. They had two at World of Disney, but both were similar. The CM is the one that suggested she look at the other stores and exchange it if she found one she liked better. It worked out well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jennie622
Loving the tattoo with the sparkles. Oh, and your daughter's purse is adorable.
I believe that's actually a small backpack. DW and DD both like the "Nerds" stuff, and that was something that DD got at DTD.
The Luau sounds like fun! Gonna have to try that sometime. Thanks for the picture of the 40th anniversary stuff--Disney & I have that in common, and I think I'm going to have to save up for extras of that stuff!
Our original plan for this day was an 8:25am breakfast at Cinderella’s Royal Table, then head to Animal Kingdom. We also had 8:50pm reservations for dinner at Chef Mickey’s. Sometimes plans change and you just have to roll with it….
We woke up early to get ready for our breakfast. We wanted to get to the Magic Kingdom around 8:00am, and for once we were right on time. We tried to eat here on our first trip and there was absolutely nothing available the whole week. So we felt lucky to get this great time slot and were looking forward to it. I was surprised at how many people were on Main Street as we were walking through it.
From reading here I had pictured it being deserted. I forgot that Crystal Palace also has early breakfast.
We took our time and had our picture taken by multiple PhotoPass photographers along the way.
It was nice to get some pictures without a crowd of people behind us. We haven’t ordered our CD yet, but this one was taken with our camera.
I couldn’t resist clowning around.
After taking a few more pictures we made our way to the back of the castle. We were taken right away and had our picture taken with Cinderella. It was cute seeing all the little girls all dressed up in their princess costumes. We climbed the stairs and were seated at our table, right next to a window. Unfortunately, the work was still taking place on the back of the castle so the windows were blocked. We were promptly served our breakfast and soon after were greeting the princesses as they made their rounds. When they had the little “show” that took place, I was impressed with how well concealed the strobe lights are in the architecture of the room. When it was over and the lights returned to normal it was difficult to pick them out among the wood trim. Our food was ok, basic breakfast items with the exception of the potatoes. Those had a little “kick” to them, which I liked.
I commented in a thread about CRT about how this meal felt rushed to us. I should clarify that statement here. This was the only sit-down meal that we had the entire week that took less than an hour. In fact, we were seated at our table for less than 30 minutes. It wasn’t that our server was hovering or pushing us to leave, but they were definitely turning tables quickly. Maybe it was because it was approaching park opening at 9:00am? Maybe it was just that they were more efficient? Or maybe it was just that it takes less time for the characters to make a complete circuit? They still managed to celebrate my birthday with yet another cupcake. They also gave me a card signed by the princesses, and gave us a second one because of our anniversary celebration.
After breakfast we were downstairs and outside just before 9:00am. We noticed the CMs getting ready to remove the ropes, and since there were very few people around we decided that we would try to squeeze in a couple rides quickly in what I call “commando mode”. (more to come on that term in Day 5’s recap!) Our first stop was The Haunted Mansion. There was no line at all, so we took our time exploring the new queue. We loved it! I would have liked to spend a few more minutes at the poetry book, but with no line it’s hard not to just rush on through. We all really like this ride. The crystal ball was really a lot better than when we were here in 2008 – the image is so much clearer now! I had told DW & DD about the new hitchhiking ghosts, but they hadn’t seen the video I watched. Actually, all I had told DD was that they changed and were really cool. So when we got to the end we were all paying close attention…and they weren’t working! The new images were there, but they only hovered over the top of the doom buggies. That was disappointing! But we still enjoyed the ride, and moved on.
Our next stop was Splash Mountain, and the wait was only 10 minutes. DW was a bit nervous about riding it at the start of the day, since in 2008 she got completely drenched and looked like it in all the subsequent pictures. I let the girls take the front row and we were on our way to the Laughing Place. This time though, we all got splashed without getting soaked. I don’t know if that was a result of the recent adjustment they made to the water cannon or not. Splash Mountain is one of my favorite rides because of how the story is told throughout the ride. I love that you can have a “log” ride that doesn’t just feel like a log in a fiberglass trough.
We laugh when we look at this picture because DW always has this expression on her face in these ride pictures. It looks like she’s petrified, but she really is enjoying it. But for some reason she always looks this way. I do like DD’s expression too, and in my head I can hear her excited scream when I see it.
When we exited we headed in the direction of the Jungle Cruise. JC was only about a 15 minute wait, and I didn’t mind because I was looking at all the things in the queue area. I really made a point to be more observant on this trip, and it made me even more appreciative of all the effort that Disney puts into everything. And I know that I still only noticed a portion of it! Our JC guide was very energetic and had us all laughing and groaning at the same time throughout the ride.
At this point we had a decision to make… We were now into it and rolling! It was just after 10:00am, and even if we left then to go to Animal Kingdom we knew it would be at least noon before we got there. The MK crowd was still light, so we decided to stay and keep going. I would forego AK and the girls could go tomorrow while I was fishing, or they might wait for me to finish and then we’d all go. So onward we went, heading over to Tomorrowland. Monsters, Inc. was a short wait, but we decided to try Buzz Lightyear first. Again we had less than a 15 minute wait. DD rode with me this time, but DW beat us both handily. I think I had a defective ray gun!
Next up was the Carousel of Progress. This was another first for us. Somehow we had completely skipped it on our first visit. We walked right on and sat down. I found it interesting, but a little dated. But I like that this attraction is historic in the Disney world. DW thought that it smelled historic, and I can’t argue that – it was kind of musty. DD liked the song, and asked that I add that to the songs I had previously put on our iPods. I think she partly just wants to drive her mother nuts!
Out next stop was Monsters, Inc. This was a favorite of ours from our first visit. Again we walked right in and the doors opened in just a couple minutes. We were seated on the center aisle, but towards the back. I rolled up my sleeves hoping that my Mike & Sully tattoos would be noticed, but it didn’t happen. I did have the pleasure of being “THAT guy” in 2008, so DW was ok with not being involved this time. The audience for this show was good, and the people selected played along great. The show did seem shorter than I remember, but I’m sure that was just in my head.
At this point some observant readers may question why we didn't ride Stitch's Great Escape if Stitch is DW & DD's favorite character. Well, because we did it in 2008...and didn't like it. It was too dark, too loud, and too close. So every time we walked by it I would ask, "Anyone want to do Stitch?!" and we'd laugh and keep on walking. I never experienced what this attraction originally was, but it's a shame that with Lilo & Stich being what I consider a "little kid" movie that they don't have something more appropriate for a Stitch ride or attraction.
DD wanted to ride the People Mover again, so we did that next. This time the section inside Space Mountain was fully lit. After this, the girls wanted to ride SM again, so off they went. I went inside, and had a couple nice conversations with a CM and a guest from North Carolina. The CM was from a town in IL. not far from where we live, so I was talking to her about the warm weather back at home. When the girls exited the ride it was almost noon. They reported that the ride was lit up this time too.
Though the crowd was filling in, MK was not nearly as crowded as it had been on Monday. It was starting to get pretty warm. We walked over through Fantasyland, where DD tried lifting the sword in the stone, and a PhotoPass photographer took a bunch of pictures. The wait times for IASW and PP were too long, so we kept walking towards Adventureland. Along the way I needed to get a hat. Since we were planning on stopping at the Poly on our way to AK after breakfast, I hadn’t worn a hat that morning and I was starting to feel the heat. So I stopped to buy a floppy hat. But when I finally finished paying for it and chatting with the friendly CM, I turned around to see that DD had commandeered it for herself. LOL So I had to grab another hat off the rack and go through the process again. Of course, DW wanted a picture:
At 12:25pm we decided to try PoTC again since the posted wait was only 10 minutes. It turned out to only take 5, and this time we made it through without stopping. Yay! And then since there wasn’t a line this time by, we decided to check out the Swiss Family Treehouse – another first for us. I knew it was a ton of stairs, but what were we thinking?? We could check off another thing that we hadn’t seen before though.
By now we were getting hungry for lunch, so we headed over to see if we could get into The Plaza. Unfortunately, there was nothing available as they were completely booked. I did get to meet the Mayor, and when he found out we were from Chicago (it’s easier to say that when people ask) he of course had some comments about our politics. As we headed down Main Street, I spotted the Dapper Dans. I had not seen them before and I like entertainment like this, so I stopped to watch while DW & DD stopped in a shop.
I got some good videos, but unfortunately did not record when they sang Cruella DeVille. It is one of our favorites, and they did a great job with it.
We decided since we liked Tony's so much we would try getting in there again. At 1:25pm they said it would be a 15-25 minute wait, so we waited. After only 7 minutes we were being shown to our table. We were having a good luck kind of day! And the table we were given?....right in front of the window with Lady & The Tramp. Perfect! This time DW tried the Shrimp Scampi (she loved it), I had the Bianca Flatbread, and DD wanted spaghetti – without meatballs. I volunteered to eat her meatballs for her, and I’m glad I did as the flatbread was just ok and I really liked the meatballs. DW decided to try the cheesecake for dessert this time. I tried to get a picture of the presentation, but it is a little blurry:
While we savored our shared desserts we made our plan for the rest of the afternoon. We would ride the train, then I would head back to the Poly while the girls shopped Main Street to their content.
Before hitting the train though, I decided to get the Toy Story shirt they had seen while I watched the Dapper Dans. That accomplished, we headed to the train station. DD enjoyed playing with the penny flip-motion devices while we waited, and then the train arrived. The RR was the first attraction we rode on our first trip, but we got off at Frontierland. This time we would ride the entire route. It was a nice relaxing ride, and we got to see some of the Fantasyland expansion construction. Seeing the signs still up around the old Toontown did make me a little sad though. We arrived back at the Main Street Station just in time for the parade, so we stopped to watch. The neatest thing was that I saw Belle interact with a little girl standing on the curb. Even from her place up on the float she asked the girl her name and said something to her. That probably made that little girl’s day, and she’ll probably remember it for a long time. Way cool!
I then headed for the boat dock and the girls headed for the stores. I didn’t have a long wait for the boat. I sat up front hoping to chat with the pilot:
But after getting underway I commented to him that with the breeze off the water it made the heat bearable and if you had to be out working in the heat that I guessed doing this wouldn’t be half bad. His only response was that it wasn’t so nice on the trip back from the Poly, and it was obvious he wasn’t in a good mood. He was the only CM all week that wasn’t very friendly. So I shut up and just enjoyed the ride. When I got back to our room I found this guy sitting on the bed:
It was our only towel animal of the week, and at that point I realized that I had not put out our tip that morning as I had expected to be back from breakfast before Mousekeeping arrived. Each day our housekeeper arranged DD’s stuffed animals around the room a different way, and our room was cleaned well. We certainly had no complaints in that department! For those curious, I tipped $5 per day in decorated envelopes. I checked email for a bit and took a short nap before the girls arrived back.
We had an 8:50pm reservation for Chef Mickey’s, but we had been hoping to get in earlier so that we could make it back to the Poly to watch Wishes from the beach. So we showered and headed over there early to try a walk-in. We arrived at 7:00pm, but there was nothing available because they had a party of 58 coming in. You read that right….58! They told us to return 15 minutes before our ressie. Not wanting to wait around there for an hour and a half, we got back on the monorail and decided to go to the Grand Floridian to explore it and shop so we wouldn’t need to after breakfast on Friday. After strolling around inside, we headed outside to the beach where Alex almost fell asleep in a hammock:
Me just chillin' in my new Toy Story shirt. I’ve liked this shirt since I first saw John Lasseter wearing one like it in one of the DVD special features!
We headed back to the Contemporary about 8:00pm so the girls could hit the shops there. (I told you they like to shop!) At 8:30 we checked in at Chef Mickey’s, took our picture, and were seated shortly after. We had another great meal here. We love this buffet! The service was good but got a little slow right at the end, the food was excellent, and the character interaction was fun! We had plenty of time with all the characters, and saw several of them a couple times. At the end of our meal they brought a birthday cupcake for me, and also a cupcake for our anniversary:
After leaving Chef Mickey’s, the monorail was very crowded with people leaving the Magic Kingdom. We had to skip the first one as there wasn’t even standing room. We got on the next one and made it back to our room about 10:15pm. DD and I went to the quiet pool to swim until 11:00pm, and everyone was in bed by midnight. I had to be up early for my fishing excursion.
So the key to this day was our flexibility. Changing our plans and staying at the MK instead of going to Animal Kingdom gave us an opportunity to get a lot done. Our original plan was to do MK on Thursday after my fishing and stay until closing. The new plan would be that the girls would do AK on Thursday while I fished and then we would still do MK on Thursday night as our chance to watch Wishes. We got a lot done, and felt a lot better about the way things were going compared to having to leave early on Monday.
In the afternoon I pointed to the castle and said to Alex, “Just think – every time you see that castle you can say ‘We ate there!’” and we laughed. But she has…this weekend at the start of Pirates II she pointed to the TV and said, “Hey Dad! We ate there!” LOL
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and I think I might have to go again soon. Geez, you guys and your trip reports are killing my bank account 
From reading here I had pictured it being deserted. I forgot that Crystal Palace also has early breakfast. 
We took our time and had our picture taken by multiple PhotoPass photographers along the way. 
It was nice to get some pictures without a crowd of people behind us. We haven’t ordered our CD yet, but this one was taken with our camera.
I couldn’t resist clowning around. 
We were promptly served our breakfast and soon after were greeting the princesses as they made their rounds. When they had the little “show” that took place, I was impressed with how well concealed the strobe lights are in the architecture of the room. When it was over and the lights returned to normal it was difficult to pick them out among the wood trim. Our food was ok, basic breakfast items with the exception of the potatoes. Those had a little “kick” to them, which I liked.
We laugh when we look at this picture because DW always has this expression on her face in these ride pictures. It looks like she’s petrified, but she really is enjoying it. But for some reason she always looks this way. I do like DD’s expression too, and in my head I can hear her excited scream when I see it.
It was just after 10:00am, and even if we left then to go to Animal Kingdom we knew it would be at least noon before we got there. The MK crowd was still light, so we decided to stay and keep going. I would forego AK and the girls could go tomorrow while I was fishing, or they might wait for me to finish and then we’d all go. So onward we went, heading over to Tomorrowland. Monsters, Inc. was a short wait, but we decided to try Buzz Lightyear first. Again we had less than a 15 minute wait. DD rode with me this time, but DW beat us both handily. I think I had a defective ray gun! 
The audience for this show was good, and the people selected played along great. The show did seem shorter than I remember, but I’m sure that was just in my head. 
As we headed down Main Street, I spotted the Dapper Dans. I had not seen them before and I like entertainment like this, so I stopped to watch while DW & DD stopped in a shop. 
I got some good videos, but unfortunately did not record when they sang Cruella DeVille. It is one of our favorites, and they did a great job with it.
While we savored our shared desserts we made our plan for the rest of the afternoon. We would ride the train, then I would head back to the Poly while the girls shopped Main Street to their content. 
But after getting underway I commented to him that with the breeze off the water it made the heat bearable and if you had to be out working in the heat that I guessed doing this wouldn’t be half bad. His only response was that it wasn’t so nice on the trip back from the Poly, and it was obvious he wasn’t in a good mood. He was the only CM all week that wasn’t very friendly. So I shut up and just enjoyed the ride. When I got back to our room I found this guy sitting on the bed:
It was our only towel animal of the week, and at that point I realized that I had not put out our tip that morning as I had expected to be back from breakfast before Mousekeeping arrived. Each day our housekeeper arranged DD’s stuffed animals around the room a different way, and our room was cleaned well. We certainly had no complaints in that department! For those curious, I tipped $5 per day in decorated envelopes. I checked email for a bit and took a short nap before the girls arrived back. 
Me just chillin' in my new Toy Story shirt. I’ve liked this shirt since I first saw John Lasseter wearing one like it in one of the DVD special features!
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