The Get-Away... 3/12-16 About This Page:

[larissamorn]

This is who we are...

Larissa - 36 and major DL nut (even former cast member, Tomorrowland Attractions Hostess, class of, oh my, 1988)
Victoria - 15 and also major DL nut (herafter referred to as either "V" or "DTD" for dear teenage daughter, though occasionally you may see me reference her as "The Bottomless Pit" which she has given me permission to do)

And the reason for our trip? Celebrating birthdays and also the last chance we'll have to use our APs and enjoy the 50th. Also a test run for our WDW strategy.


"The Night Before Vacation..." and "Traveling Is Fun!"

3/11

Early to bed and early to rise makes a .... blah blah blah.

I was smarter this time than on our two trips to DLR last year and actually took the day before our departure off. Unfortunately, just like the last two trips, we saved packing till the last minute. We spent most of today doing laundry and made two outings to pick up essentials. All in all a relaxing day except for the packing.

It's been unseasonably cold and rainy [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/rain.gif[/img] here the last month or so, so we're packing much more than we'll ever wear. I just don't want to be caught freezing at night or baking in the afternoon.

We picked up some new luggage the other day knowing that our summer trip to WDW would require more clothes than we usually bring. We're taking the large and medium size suitcase for this trip and they're full, but not jammed. A big difference from the Halloween trip where all we brought were our backpacks.

Because I've not left quite enough stuff to do for the last possible moment I decide that this would be the perfect time to touch up my roots. Sure. We don't want funky hair for all the pictures we'll be taking with my new digital camera on this trip.

Around 1:00 am I'm finally satisfied with the selections we've made and I send V, who has fallen asleep on the living room floor, and myself to bed. It's weird falling asleep the night before a Disneyland vacation and not thinking, "Tomorrow I'll be on Pirates of the Caribbean!"

3/12
4:30am

<groan> Who books plane tickets for a 7:30 am departure?! Well, me. Since I've got no one to blame but myself I roll up outta bed and remember that, though I did step one of the root touch up I still need to tone. Fun. Good thing that only takes 20 minutes. Mmmm, nothing like the sweet, sweet smell of toxic chemicals to wake you up hours before sunrise!

5:00 am

Victoria sort of tumbles into the bathroom, still partially asleep. "Your hair turned out great!" I love my DTD! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] We've picked out our outfits the night before and are able to get ready pretty quickly. We're thrilled, but not surprised, that's it's freezing and pouring rain [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/rain.gif[/img] outside. Goody. V has never flown in the rain before and is nervous. She is, however, looking forward to breakfast at the airport, specifically Starbucks which she hasn't had for almost a month (she's trying to cut out caffiene and doing a darn fine job).

6:35 am

Well it's a good thing there was no traffic. We need to consider traveling on a Sunday more often. Our flight leaves in less than an hour and we still haven't even parked yet. I find a killer spot on the same floor where the garage connects with the terminal and then realize that we're checking bags this time. We wait for the elevator and then walk from the garage to the terminal. The walkway is covered but the rain is moving horizontally so it's not much protection.

No time for breakfast, but V doesn't seem mad, just disappointed. We pick up crackers and candy bars in the gift shop before trotting down to our gate just as boarding begins. I'm thinking, "I love Southwest!" because I got our boarding passes yesterday and we're in group A. Goody! But then I realize it really didn't matter because there's only about 16 people on our flight! My goodness. The flight attendants were hilarious and the passengers (us included) kept cheering every time the attendant said, "Orange County". It was priceless. Victoria was the only person younger than me on the flight. I'm guessing the average age of the passengers was about 45. Makes me feel slightly less old even though I'll be 36 in three days.

Landing is sort of jarring, but we've a wheel right under us. We got to sit in the bulkhead and V managed to get two pages of algebra homework done during the 40 minute flight.

While we're riding down the escalator to baggage claim an older woman in a security uniform decides she doesn't like the look of me and stares me down. I'm on vacation, but I'm still me, so I stare back only with a huge smile on my face. V turns to look, too, and starts cracking up. The security lady waves over a couple of OC sheriffs and I decided I'd better behave myself. Avoiding arrest becomes a sub-plot for our whole trip.

We pick up the bags after a few laps of the lower level of the airport. Despite literature advertising the contrary, there is no courtesy phone for the Disneyland Resort Express. We've been debating taking a taxi anyhow so we decided to go for it. Our driver was fantastic, the cab was brand new and powered by natural gas and had just gotten one of those cool-o gps navagation systems. It was neat and the driver was pretty excited as it was his first day using it. Unfortunately, technology doesn't like me and while we were saying, "Turn here! This is our hotel!" The maching was telling him to proceed another 600 yards. He finally turned into the next driveway and, with the meter still running mind you, drove all through that parking lot before he realized he couldn't get out, turned back around and was about to turn back onto Harbor when I said this was fine and we'd get out here. This added two dollars to our fare, but subtracted two dollars from his tip. Oh well.

9:35

We're entering the little lobby at the Carousel and congratulate ourselves on the fact that, if we'd waited for the scheduled DLExp we'd still be waiting instead of standing in the lobby of our hotel! We check in and the only room on the 5th floor that's ready is an accessable room with one king bed. We're way, way, WAY past the point of feeling okay about sharing a bed and told the host we'd be happy to lock up our luggage and wait for a regular room. So we locked up the bags and it was off to the parks!!!

Coming next, DAY 1, "Um, mom, is it time for breakfast YET?" "Is it seriously going to rain here, too?!" [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/rain.gif[/img]and "Don't the people who guide the tours know when the fireworks are?"

--L

[larissamorn]

"Mom, is it time for breakfast YET?"

It's been interesting on the last couple of trips how long the lines to enter the parks are. V mentions that she read somewhere that gate 20 usually has a short line. We decided to test it out and discover that it does indeed seem to be moving more quickly than the neighboring lines. The walk from the hotel lobby was a whopping three minutes, much, much, much closer than Paradise Pier and the Disneyland Hotel, and definitely closer than the Candy Cane. We're sticking with the Carousel from now on.

As soon as we get onto Main Street we head over to the Guided Tours office and inquire about the 50th tour. We've heard there is an evening tour that includes priority seating for Remember: Dreams Come True (aka the best fireworks show ever!). It takes three hostesses to figure out what times the tours are, whether or not they have the evening tour during this off-season and whether fireworks are happening on Wednesday (my birthday and the day I want to take the tour). The park is open till 11 pm all week and the DLR website had posted times for fireworks every night. I showed my printout of the calendar and one of the hostesses called Guest Relations to confirm that the information was correct. I always thought of the Tour Guides as Disneyland Experts. Their image tarnishes a little bit. It tarnishes quite a bit more when, after I've booked the evening tour with priority seating for the fireworks, paid $110 and the hostess gives me our tickets for a tour that begins at 4:30. "Well," I say, "since the fireworks don't start until 9:25 and the tour is only three hours long doesn't that seem maybe not right?" She then proceeds to phone guest relations again, then ask the other two hostesses before she finally figures out that they must not offer the tour with the priority seating for the fireworks on that particular night. (interestingly enough, on my birthday at about 7:45 pm we ran into a tour group in front of BTMRR...it could have been a VIP tour but I seriously suspect it was indeed the 50th tour including priority seating for the fireworks. it ended up not mattering a bit, though, as we'll find out when we get to 3/15)

We get into the park proper and are thrilled that it's been open less than an hour. There aren't very many people here, which is super nice. My poor daughter hasn't eaten since last night and is eyeing my left arm in a way that makes me uncomfortable, so we go get something to eat straight off. V decided while she was planning this vacation (she did all the planning/work this time, all I did was pay and come along for the fun!) we needed to do as many different things (or do many things differently) as we could. I pick up a scrambled egg platter, she gets a fruit and yogurt parfait and we sit on the brickwalk between Club Buzz and the Monorail station. It's definitely a different view from where we usually sit and we really relax and people watch for a long time. It's me that gets impatient first and we head off for our first ride, Astro Blasters!!!

I get in the "ship" first this time, as we're doing things differently, and mention to her that the reason I usually get a higher score is because the outside seat is in a better position to hit the far-away targets. My theory is proven correct as my DTD kicks my rear end and gets her highest score ever. When we check our pic after the ride is over we're both holding our blasters in a way that makes us look like we're singing into microphones. It's hilarious and we can't stop laughing for a good five minutes. People look at us like we're nuts.

Next it was over to Fantasyland for a trip on Snow White's Scary Adventures. We haven't been on that in forever and since I'm reading the Snow White inspired novel Mirror Mirror I'm wanting to ride. Holey moley I forgot how scary this ride is. If you look at it as a grown up and really consider what it is you're seeing, man it could give you nightmares. I can't believe people (including yours truly) take their little ones on this thing. V was irritated and said she was never going on it again. Yikes.

It was time for something a little more sweet and mellow so we tromped over to Critter Country for a trip on The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. This was just as cute as last time, but we've heard the one at WDW has a more cohesive storyline. We're tempted to add it to our itinerary for that trip but worry we'll have to cut something else out, so we decide instead to ride it a couple more times on this trip.

We passed Big Thunder Mountain Railroad on our way to Pooh and picked up fastpasses. It's time to use them already, after Pooh and a few moments shopping. We head back to Frontierland and I decided that after six hours on high heeled sandals I might be ready for a break. On our way over to Tomorrowland we start to get a little concerned about the enormous clouds rolling in from the coast. Right in front of the closed-for-now Pirates it starts to drizzle. We've both got hoods on so no worries yet.

It's time for lunch first, though, and we head over to Redd Rocket's Pizza Port for our afternoon meal. We've only been in the park for about three hours but V is a bottomless pit and she's ready for more food. The line is incredibly long but we eventually get our chicken fusilli sans chicken, a couple of drinks and are ready to pay for our food. On our last trip we noticed that there were three or four registers on the other side of the beverage island that never have a lineup, so we squeeze through the crowd, around the dessert cooler and walk right up to a cashier. She's sweet, which is a nice change of pace for food service in Tomorrowland, and I pay and we sit and the food is wonderful as always.

It's definitely time to head back to the hotel for a nap, so we meander out of Tomorrowland and down Main Street looking in many of the shops. We notice there is not nearly as much 50th merchandise as on our two previous visits and have a difficult time finding any souvin"ears" we'd like to buy.

We get back to the hotel and our room is ready to go. It's up on 5, the same floor where the breakfast room is located. We're about halfway down and our room is fresh and clean. The beds, though, something's wrong with the beds. Why do the look so lumpy? And we keep noticing someone else's hairs here and there. It reminds me of my night at Port Orleans and I remember that no one is perfect, including hotel housekeepers.

I unpack a little, even though I promised V I wouldn't. She's already flopped on her bed and is making notes in her Passporter (the DLR edition wasn't ready yet so we purchased the 2004 edition for $1 and just used the pockets!). I change into my pj's and flip on the television. The Ring Two is on HBO and we decided to watch that. About half an hour later we're both out cold. We wake up right when the really scary stuff starts and V tells me to get my carcass up outta bed, that it's time to get back to Disneyland.

[Colexis Mom]

Great start [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zwavin.gif[/img] More please [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[Joy J]

Wonderful start - I can hardly wait to read more!

Joy

[larissamorn]

So just in case you're wondering why we went on so few rides just after arrival it was because as we were moving through the park things were going "down." Haunted Mansion was the first one we noticed out of commission (this was mildly terrifying, the idea that both Pirates and HM would be down during our visit), and as we crossed into Tomorrowland on the way to the Pizza Port we saw that Space Mountain was also down. While eating inside Pizza Port we could see the Matterhorn and the bobsleds weren't going either. We halfway suspect that there may have been a disruption in either the computer system or the power supply as this is the first time in lots and lots of visits that so many attractions have been down at the same time. I'd forgotten all about that, but reviewing V's handy dandy Passporter refreshed my memory.

So...

I must say we were most excited about our return to Disneyland that evening! It was the only night Fantasmic! would be showing and we haven't seen it in five or six years. When people write on the boards that getting a spot is a nightmare, man they aren't kidding. We've always done the balcony seating in the past (which is why we haven't seen it in so long - you can only justify that expense so many times).

Our first attraction was the 50 Years of Magic exhibit in the Main Street Opera House and the wonderful film with Steve Martin (we both love him!). I could spend hours and hours and hours in this exhibit and never get bored. Fortunately my DTD agrees, though we spent our time looking at different things. We went back three other times on this trip and I still feel like I didn't take it all in! We spent a lot of time on this trip talking about design and architecture and the concept art of Mary Blair in particular. What a remarkable artist! It was beyond cool to be able to see her actual work behind nothing more than a thin sheet of glass. I also spent a good long time looking at the exhibits on Adventureland, specifically the Enchanted Tiki Room which has been one of my favorites since my first visit. Did you know it was originally conceived as a restaurant with time specific seatings where the show would happen around you while you dined?! I would have been in heaven!!! Unfortunately the designers felt the attraction would attract more people than it could accommodate so they made it into a theater show. I don't understand why they didn't just make it bigger! Of course I also don't understand why they shut down the Tahitian Terrace either. My last meal there was for my fifteenth birthday. I still miss it!

After 50 Years of Magic we headed over to Space Mountain to see if they would honor our expired fastpasses since the ride was down during our return window. They did. In October we were told by more than one attractions host that they would honor fastpasses any time after the window started. I hope they continue this! It's very convenient. The ride was indeed up and running and just as good as ever (which is better than ever since the refurbishment last year). We rode in the front of the train for the first time ever, yet another totally new experience for us. I have to say it was a little bit scary! We also got to see a ton of stuff we haven't been able to see before, which was super neat. Our picture was hilarious, V looked like she was half asleep and my hair and the hood on my shirt were basically sticking straight up. We thought about buying it since it was so funny, but didn't. What we should have done was snap a pic of the pic with that newfangled digital camera. Oh well, I've got the image ingrained in my head for all time anyhow!

After Space Mountain we hopped on the Disneyland Railroad over to Frontierland Station and I explained to V for the millionth time that the only reason it was called the Frontierland Station, even though it's in New Orleans Square, is cuz when they built the station there was no NOS and it was nice to honor tradition. She's right about it not making sense, though. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

We were happy to see that the Haunted Mansion was up and running again but resisted the temptation to ride. It was time for dinner and we've been dying to try the new menu at Rancho del Zocalo. It was pretty nippy out but they had lots of heaters going! Nice, because the inside dining room is small and noisy and kind of smelly, but also because nothing beats sitting next to Big Thunder, especially at night. I must say the new menu looks much more interesting than the old one, both to veggies like me and meat-a-tarians alike. We decided to split the red chile enchilada platter as V wanted a bread bowl of clam chowder during/after Fantasmic! It was yummy-licious. The rice was a little to black-peppery, which is a crazy thing for me to say because I looove black pepper, and the beans were definitely not veggie, so V had two of the four enchiladas, all the beans and most of the rice. This actually filled her up, believe it or not. I was amazed. After dinner we split up for a bit, she went over to the

Frontierland Shooting Arcade and I made a break for Indiana Jones, Temple of the Forbidden Eye (aka the best ride almost ever!) to pick up fastpasses. I found her right where I left her, shooting away at coffins, tombstones and crows. Good times. I tried my hand and proved yet again that I am a dead-eye. Mwaaa ha haaa. Yikes.

We headed straight over to the Haunted Mansion and rode our hearts out. Well, almost cried our hearts out, actually. When I was in FL in 04 I spend about three hours at the Magic Kingdom with some of my colleagues. I insisted that we ride the Haunted Mansion. I sort of made an ass out of myself, but was the only Disney vet in the group so they conceded. Now I'll be the first to admit that I was supped on Disneyland and will probably always find most aspects of it superior to the Magic Kingdom. I'll tell you what, though, the Haunted Mansion at the MK sort of seemed like a joke based on the original attraction. I was really kind of upset at how gooby it was. Please don't rip my head off, I'm just being honest about my experiences. Anyhow, one of the things that was different at the MK were the portraits in the hallway (except you saw them once you were already in your doom buggy instead of walking past if I remember correctly). At Disneyland the portraits changed slowly, transforming from one thing to another. There was a ship, a greek beauty, and a pretty young girl that transformed into a ghost ship, Medusa and a crone. At the MK there were more portraits and they were either one image or the other, they change with the lightning flash. It's an okay effect, but not nearly as spooky as the original. Also, there was no May/December which was always my favorite. Well guess what?! The original portraits were GONE!!! and replaced with duplicates of the paintings/effect from MK. Well I was mad but Victoria just about gave birth to kittens on the spot. When they had Haunted Mansion Holiday up on our last visit the paintings were all altered to fit the Nightmare Before Christmas theme but at least the fade in/out effect was still the same. This was too different, too MK. Hmmm. We also noticed they had added a whole lotta more cobwebs and lamps to the boarding area, a piece of furniture was missing from the top of the stairs(good lord I need a hobby!) and though the ghostly piano player was still hammering away at the keys in the attic the ghostly, minor version of Here Comes The Bride was not playing. The ghosts in the graveyard also looked more glowy than we remember them but it's been a long time since that attraction has been rehabbed so that was probably not an actual change, per se. All in all it was disconcerting.

After our visit to the Mansion it was time to get our spot for Fantasmic. V was totally wiped out so we looked around in the NOS riverfront area for a spot where we could actually sit. I asked a Fantasmic! host if we could sit "here" and he said sure, right up until the show starts and then we'll make you move. We ended up finding a spot on one of the raised patio-like brick areas that no one else had occupied yet and my DTD promptly plopped down, pulled out her Passporter, wrote about three things down and then fell asleep. She's amazing. I can't even fall asleep in my own bed. A good sized crowd of people eventually decided to join us up there and by the time the show was ready to start we were sort of jammed into our corner. No matter though, all that body heat kept us warm!

I thought I'd be cute with my new toy and try to take some pictures. After about five horrible looking shots I gave up and decided to just enjoy the show. It was wonderful, as always, way larger than life and such a great use of the Columbia (aka the ship of death) and the Mark Twain! The music still makes me misty, it's the memories of DTD as a toddler. Sigh.

Well that twenty minute nap perked her right up, that and the show which she still loves, so we headed over to Adventureland. I don't remember why but we decided we weren't up for Indy so we went on the Jungle Cruise instead. They installed a new surprise sometime in the last few years. I'll tell you what, it scared the bejezes outta me in October and this time, even though we knew it was coming V grabbed onto my shoulders and screamed. Imagine that, screaming on the Jungle Cruise. Who would ever imagine that?! Our skipper was pretty good, too. All in all a fun ride.

Now here's where the evening takes a strange twist. We haven't been in Fantasyland after dark since a holiday fireworks show about six or seven years ago, so V said she wanted to go check it out. Somehow or other she convinced me to get onto those stupid teacups. The Mad Tea Party. More like the Mad Hurl Party. I swear. During the daytime it's not one of my favorites but she loves it so we go. Well the only time I'd ever gone on at night was back in 87 with a bunch of kids my age I'd met in line for something else. Well the guy spinning our cup back then was like a water polo player or something and so the cup just about launched off the platform he was spinning it so fast. Now this time I don't know if it was a reaction to that memory or if I just shouldn't go on the teacups at night but I seriously thought I was going to say goodbye to my red chile enchiladas. I shut my eyes tight and plugged up my ears and couldn't stop cracking up because I felt like a moron and V was laughing her head off. Bleah. The things we do for our kids!

Well after that we were both ready to call it a night and couldn't have been more surprised that it was almost 11pm. We were shutting the park down. Cool.

The walk back to the room, not the hotel but our actual room, even on tired feet and through a huge crowd of people waiting for shuttles and trams, took about five minutes. Again, not to beat it into the ground, but about 1/3 the time it took to walk to the Paradise Pier. It was probably the same or less than it would take to get to the GC. At Disneyland you absolutely do not need to pay a premium rate for a super-close hotel.

Back at the room my insomnia kicked in and I decided to unpack the rest of our stuff. Exhaustion set in shortly thereafter and I crawled into bed. I believe I watched the middle part of The Ring Two again before falling asleep while the part of my brain that will not switch off at night was again analyzing all the continuity problems between the original and the sequel. We both slept GREAT!
Apparently it wasn't the beds that were lumpy but the bedspreads. Oh yeah, and my nifty travel tip, bring pillowcases from home - you get the face-feel you're used to as well as a familiar scent (or no scent at all, depending on the detergent you use!).

Whew.

[Colexis Mom]

Another great update [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zwavin.gif[/img]

[PrincessSharon]

Great so far! Glad you and your DD are having fun! Can't wait for more!

[DrDolphin]

Great report so far - can't wait to read more!!!

[chezp]

I've just got caught up with this and I'm loving this report. Great writing and I've been [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/roflmao.gif[/img] over some parts, especially the Mad Hurl Party!

[snoozy]

Great TR, sounds like you were have a wonderful time.

[larissamorn]

Day 2 (aka the Marathon Day)

Part One, the Morning of Hilarity

6:00 am time to wake up!!! Are you joking me? Well DTD has always been an early riser... We'd decided the day before to be up and at em' at the break of dawn so we could do the Unofficial Guide One Day Touring Plan. Sure. Folks reading this who've only been to WDW need to understand that Disneyland Park has over 40 rides and attractions. 40. That's a lot. This touring plan has 27. I don't know what we were thinking. When she was little we could do Dumbo or Die in a Day. Then again that's when I was still in my twenties, so...

We shoot out of bed and get ready with minimal amounts of fuss, grab a bit to eat from the breakfast room (hard boiled eggs for DTD and apple juice for me). We jam down the block and hustle past the crowds. Oh, we're making great time. Yup. In fact it's five minutes to eight. Oh YEAH! Wait. Uh, ummmm, gee Victoria I think I made a mistake. I think the park opened at eight yesterday. It doesn't open till nine. So we hop out of the lineup and head over to Downtown Disney to pick up something to eat. We get about halfway to Compass Books (where they have a coffee drink she likes, as I still owe her from missing Starbucks at the airport on Day 1) before we decide we'll be doing enough walking for one day and we don't need to trek extra far for coffee. We turn back around and go to La Brea. V picks a fruit "plate" and I get the granola and yogurt cup and some grapefruit juice. The yogurt seems homemade and is super, super good. The granola seems more like trail mix and, though filling and undoubtedly healthy, is a little much for me. Also, just as a note to myself, having plain yogurt and grapefruit juice in the same meal isn't the nicest thing to do to my stomach. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

When we get back to the lineup at the gate it's about 8:40 and they start letting folks in. We've never been on Main Street for a "rope drop" owing to years of WDT trips with Magic Mornings where we entered an hour and a half before opening, usually via the Monorail which deposits you in Tomorrowland. This is another new experience for us and we are amazed at the number of people knocking us over to get closer to the rope. The horse of a woman next to me manages to elbow me in the head twice as her obnoxious teenage daughter shouts, "Come ooooonnnnn mom, we can get closer if you go this way!" They ended up one party in front of us in the lineup for the Matterhorn fifteen minutes later. We crossed paths with them several times during the morning and got to hear the girl whining at her mom and the mom shouting at her daughter. What a fun way to spend their vacation...

Well let me tell you how that touring plan went... We were relatively pleased at being able to get on quite a few rides in rapid order the first two hours the park was open. We did the Matterhorn first, since there's no fastpass for that one and the queue is oh-so-dull (except for the gorgeous alpine gardens!) The wait was maybe going to be fifteen minutes but as we approched the chalet(?!) the host shouts, "Party of two??" Well being the experienced DL travelers we are, both V and I shot our hands into the air with two fingers extended and hollered back, "TWO!!!" We were escorted past at least thirty clearly irritated people (including the horse-woman and her daughter) after only waiting about seven minutes. I definitely think the Alice side of the ride is more fun than the Submarine side, apropos of nothing. After that we headed over to Space Mountain and (gasp) waited in the standby line. Never again. Sure, our wait was only about 20 minutes, but it just feels wrong to wait in a standby line when there's a perfectly good fastpass line with no one in it. Spoiled, I know. Next it was over to Buzz and another standby line. This one was okay as we've never waited in the standby line here before and the queue does a nice job of setting up the storyline of the ride. I sit in the outside seat and rack up a bigger score than V. She no longer cares and I'm thinking she might aim that blaster at me on our next flight. We skip the picture viewing but can't resist slowing down to take in some pins as we walk out of the ride. We're trying to remember what it was that had us laughing so hard the last time we were in this shop (our Halloween trip last year). We finally remember that it was our imitation of the character from Nightmare Before Christmas with the axe in his head who shouts, "Bunny!" at the appropriate moment in the film. He was on a pin last Halloween and we kept saying, "Bunny!" to each other trying to get the voice right. We were hysterical and almost in tears. As soon as we remembered what it was that had us cracking up in October, Victoria says, "Bunny!" and it starts all over again. Sigh. Good times. SO!

Next we head over to Frontierland to pick up a fastpass for Big Thunder. We notice that the touring plan has you walking past fastpass attractions where you will return later but not recommending picking up a fastpass. I know their fancy schmancy computer planned out this whole thing but why would you pass up the opportunity to not wait in line? Well the standby line in only 10 minutes! At DLR the posted wait times are usually 5 to 10 minutes shorter than actual waits. We were in line less than 5 minutes! FUN!!! Next it was over to Splash Mountain and Pooh. It took a lot of convincing as V usually says she doesn't want to go on Splash and then ends up having a blast every time. We manage to ride one out of every five visits. Well this time she agreed as she'd committed to doing the touring plan in its entirety, so into the line we went. Not bad, again less than half an hour. This lineup had a party of at least ten people, several of whom had run ahead to secure a better spot in line. As we progressed into the mountain members of the party shoved past us to catch up with their compatriots. Good gracious. And wouldn't you know it, they ended up in the boat before ours and the boat before that one. So totally worth all the pushing and rudeness!!! sheesh. Anyhow, when it's our turn to be sent to the boarding gate the hostess says, "Do you mind sitting in front?" I say okay and V looks like she's gonna sock me. It's still early and somewhat cool. We swap spots and I sit in the very front. I think they've redone the logs as in the past you sort of sat on the lap of the person behind you, three groups of two, per log. Now each person has their own partition in the log, still six per, but everyone gets their own backrest. Then, all of a sudden, the dispatch-hostess YELLS at Victoria, "Hurry up!!!" She's wearing flip flops (she shoved her vans into her backpack so they wouldn't get soaked) and trying not to slip as she's getting in. I turned around and told her to take her time. Safety first my eye. Anyhow, as we're sailing happily off on our cruise V all of a sudden announces that she's worried the ipods, which she's carrying in one of the outer pockets of her backpack) are going to get wet. I'm worried now, but think, hey, it's an REI pack, it's water resistant, they should be okay, plus we've got that protection plan from Best Buy, so.... Okay, don't worry, we're on vacation. Sheesh. So the ride is fantastic, as always. V's asking tons of questions about the story of Brer Rabbit and, as I only saw Song of the South once about a million years ago, I can't tell her much. She somehow gets the impression that it was either a foreign film or illegal to show in the US. I don't know how else to explain it so I tell her to look it up on the internet when we get home if she still has questions. Wow. This cruise isn't nearly as relaxing as I thought it would be. Then comes the first lovely surprise, a bucketful of water gets dumped on my head before we even enter the mountain. It didn't occur to me at the time but it was probably the dispatch-hostess. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] We're smart cruisers and lift our rears off the bench every time we go down a drop and we stay pretty dry for most of the rest of the ride. Sure. So now it's time for the drop, "So you're looking for a laughing place, eh? So how come you aren't laughing???" And oh my gosh, I've never sat in the very front of the log before and that drop is STRAIGHT DOWN so I scream my head off and proceed to get DRENCHED. Oh yeah, baby! But my rear was up off the seat and my tote bag was covering most of my front and I had my hands over my hair but it looks like someone sprayed the front of my pants with a hose. I am absolutely soaked from the hips down. I'm laughing so hard I almost get my pants the rest of the way wet. V is shrieking with laughter (at me or cuz that was fun?) and is asking me how wet I got. We get off the ride and she proceeds to just about fall over when she sees my pants. I congratulate myself on remembering to not wear jeans today and ask if we can stand in the sun for a minute. This got entered onto the back of the passpocket as the funniest thing that happened that day! We then headed over to Pooh for a nice warm blow-dry. Such a cute ride. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Next it's time for Indy and we decide to get fastpasses as the lineup is over forty five minutes. We skip the Jungle Cruise as we'd just gone last night, and head over to New Orleans Square. It's getting to be late morning and V is getting hungry and excited for her special lunch, so we decide on Haunted Mansion now, then we'll pick up the touring plan at Indy when we get back. Our Indy fastpasses are for early afternoon so we figure we'll come back after lunch.

Next entry... "V's Special Lunch" and "Is it Nap Time Yet?"

--L

[Colexis Mom]

What a great update! Glad you're having such a fun time this morning [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] More please [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[chezp]

Another great update - and that's what I call a commando day of touring! Very interesting to hear your observations about the Unofficial Guide's touring plan, as I suspect we'll be using that a little bit on our visit. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[PrincessSharon]

Great update! It sounds like you got really wet on Splash, but at least you laughed about it! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] Looking forward to more, please!

[Joy J]

Wonderful update - more please!

Joy