SO YA WANNA KNOW WHAT REALLY HAPPENED AT MOUSEFEST??? - Day 2, part 3: YOU'RE MY FAVORITE...AND YOU...AND YOU...Updated 2/4 About This Page:

[SouthernBelle]

Great TR so far, I can't to read the next chapter, so hurry back,

[ripkensnana]

Day 2, part 2: YO HO, OH NO! NO PIRATE SONG FOR ME!!


So, where did we leave off? Oh, yeah…Jean and I were heading for the Great PoC Debacle….read on….

As the hour hand moved toward 4pm, we wandered to PoC, to find a humungous crowd! Steve had passouts, and tried to ask people to share, because there weren’t enough to go around. He obviously hadn’t expected a turnout nearly this large. Unfortunately, the size of the crowd and the poor acoustics made it next to impossible to hear Steve unless you managed to wiggle, elbow, and squeeze your way to the front of the crowd…I, of course, was a model of decorum and would have no idea of how to do that sort of thing (*cough cough*). After trying desperately for people to hear and share, Steve gave up and we headed for the ride queue. An alert CM stopped any more people from entering the attraction until we all got into the queue. Of course, all of us wanted to be in the left-hand side (because that’s where some of the Hidden Mickeys were that Steve wanted to show us), and also of course, the CM’s kept trying to get at least some of us to enter to the right. “No way, buddy, we’re a group – or didn’t you notice all these yellow lanyards…???”

A Hidden Mickey that looks more like a Hidden Pooh...

We wended our way through the queue, then arrived at the boarding area. The CM in Charge of Boat Loading was a bit nonplussed: “How many?.....Um, I didn’t quite get that – How many????”

So this is where the genius CM in C of BL made a monumental mistake! See, normally these boats are loaded seating 3 across, but in an effort to get these crazy Hidden Mickey people through the ride as quickly as possible, he decided that the best plan would be to load us 4 across….Okay, this might have worked if the ride had been designed to handle the overweight that resulted. Unfortunately, it hadn’t been. (*heavy sigh*) Follow along, as I guide you through our misadventure among the scurviest lot of pirates ever to set sail on the Seven Seas!! AAAaaaarrrrrrr!!!

The first part of the ride went smoothly enough, and I got a good shot of Davy Jones. I’d tried this the year before, and got nothing but fog. This time, with a new camera, I could turn the flash off. Here’s the result:


As I mentioned, the first part of the ride went smoothly, but then, as we went down the first drop, the motion of the boat became sluggish…Hmmm, what’s up with that? We rode partway through the little Caribbean town (“We wants the redhead”),

Cap'n Jack!


I wonder if there's rum in that barrel???


A delicate balance

then came a-cropper with a hairy, dirty leg dangling in our faces.

A hairy, dirty leg dangling....Oh, I already said that...

The ride came to a complete standstill. Okay, no biggie, probably a problem unloading a handicapper or something, it happens….

Wait…why was it taking so bloody long? Was there a problem? Indeed, there was! A disembodied voice announced that there was a temporary difficulty and that we should all remain seated. A few minutes later, same voice, same message. Then again, and again. I lost track of how many times we heard it. “Okay, we get the message, stay in the freakin’ boats!”

Eventually, the lights came up, so we took the opportunity to put the area under closer scrutiny than is usually possible, looking for Hidden Mickeys which might have been hitherto undiscovered…and I found one!



After 5 or 6 hours of listening to “Yo Ho, Yo Ho, a Pirate’s Life for Me.”… okay, okay, not quite 5 or 6 hours, it only seemed like it…but eventually, Mike Scopa, seated behind me, put his hands over his abused ears, screaming “Make it stop! Make it stop!”! Jean, in an effort to be helpful, said “Oh, you don’t like that? How about this one?” and launched into “It’s a small world after all, it’s a small world after all…” Some of the rest of us joined her for a few minutes in an effort to drown out the by this time obnoxious refrain of pillaging and plundering, not to mention drinking up me hearties, yo ho….

Before long, Mike shouted, “While we’re stuck here, we’re not spending any money at Disney!” And someone (maybe Walt himself) must have heard him, because the ride started right up! Seriously, it really did, at that exact moment!! Well, at least for a few minutes. We got bogged down a time or two more, but only momentarily – my guess is that these boggings occurred while the boats before us were unloaded.

Cap'n Jack turns up in the oddest places...

Finally, dry land! We made it to the relative safety of the gift shop (relative because it was, after all, a gift shop, and they had stuff for sale…but I resisted quite nicely, thank you very much), and found a few more Hidden Mickeys. Jean went in search of Fast Passes, muttering something like, “They’re supposed to give you Fast Passes if you get stuck on a ride for a considerable length of time…” and returned with a whole stack of them. She handed me a bunch, and we distributed them to various and sundry MouseFesters who’d been on the ride. Good for any FastPass attraction at the MagicKingdom, and valid until the end of January, 2008! Woo Hoo!!!

Robin found us (or we found her…or actually, I think she called Jean’s cell phone) and as it was almost time for dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern, we headed that way.

A small postscript…I heard afterward that one of the first bogged boats had been evacuated, the one carrying the marvelous Lemon Jello…oops….Lou Mongello…and several other podcasters.

Read on: YOU’RE MY FAVORITE…AND YOU…AND YOU…AND YOU…

[Disneyphile's Wife]

Yes, you would think the CMs would know how to handle large groups of crazies!

Glad you made it through.

[Grammy Grumpy]

OMG weren't those Main Street Characters just that - CHARACTERS!!! They were awesome. DH and I ran into them again on another day and they were just as charming and crazy.

DH and I were 2 boats behind the cause of the POC shutdown. As you indicated, we were overloaded on the boats (can anyone say Titanic??) and a boat got stuck on the drop into the main portion of the ride. After about 30 minutes they turned the lights on by us (we were next to the skeleton in the storm at the main wheel) and they secured the boat that was stuck with a rope and took those people off the ride. Then after some more time they dislodged the stuck vessel and we were able to finish the ride. Oh, and the number of the boat that caused the problem - #13!!

Keep the TR coming Carol!

[DrDolphin]

Great report so far Carol!!! Meeting you at the Mousefest 101 meet was great - I was totally in love with the jeans you wore!

[Colexis Mom]

Great update! Sounds like quite the ride on PoC More please

[disneydani]

Glad you are having such a great time at mousefest! Hope the cold doesn't interfere too much!

danielle

[DyanKJ130]

Sounds like you had an interesting ride on POTC!! Can't wait to hear more

[PrincessSharon]

Wow, Carol, you really got around at Mousefest! I mean ... you know what I mean! Glad you're having such a good time (for the most part). And I figure if you've got to be stuck on a ride, it's best to do it with fellow Mousefesters. Can't wait for more, please.

[Lemap760]

I'd rather be stuck on Pirates then on Small World.

[RobDVC]

At least you were with a bunch of friendly people when you were stuck.

[ripkensnana]

YOU’RE MY FAVORITE…AND YOU…AND YOU…AND YOU…

After the Great Pirate Ride Debacle, we headed for Liberty Tree Tavern and our dinner hookup with Robin, and her roomies, Yvonne (Tinkerbelz), Sam (DVDIncrediman), and their teenage daughter, Kassie. Robin and Yvonne had made it their mission in life....well, at least for this trip....to embarrass Kassie as much as possible! I think we did pretty well at dinner (of course, Jean and I had to help)We loved our server, Blenekke`, because he was almost as crazy as we were (and we can get pretty crazy!).


Blenekke`, our server

The characters showed up almost immediately, beginning with Dale. And Robin began what quickly became the theme for the rest of the trip... "OH (fill in the blank), YOU'RE MY FAVORITE!"


Yvonne makes a point to Dale


Robin kept asking Dale if he liked his nuts roasted or salted....


I, of course, was a model of decorum


Naughty Kassie stuck her tongue out!

Next to arrive was Minnie, and I'm afraid we shocked this quaint colonial Miss with our ebullient, boisterous welcome!


Oh, Minnie, you're our favorite!!!


I, of course, was a model of decorum


Minnie posed with Kassie and Sam before she managed her getaway....

After Minnie's departure, we didn't have long to wait before the highlight of our meal arrived...no, not dessert...PLUTO!!! Well, okay, maybe not the highlight of the meal for everybody (especially those unfortunate enough to be seated near us), but Robin's real, true love!


(*gasp*) "Oh, Pluto, you're my absolute, most favorite of all!”

By this time, a fellow at another table yelled, "Don't listen to them, they say that to everybody!"


It must be love...or heartburn....


Yes, Pluto, I'll run away with you....

Between the visitations and demands for more food, Sam regaled us with his Navy stories (he seemed to have spent a lot of time in the brig...I can’t remember who he said he slugged….). We truly had a great time at dinner this evening, although I don't think the other diners had quite as good a time. I have a sneaking hunch that we weren't anyone else's favorite.

Goofy put in an appearance at just about dessert time.


I, of course, was a model of decorum


Oh, Robin had a camera, too! How about that?


Kassie and Goofy doing some kind of teen thing...


Kassie dives into dessert, while Yvonne and Sam try to figure out if they have a chance of getting any

We finally finished our dinner, and had Blenikke` take a group shot.


Our boisterous group - I, of course, was a model of decorum

As we left the restaurant, we could hear the last of the fireworks...or was that applause celebrating the fact that we were finally leaving? We may never know....Next: IT'S MICKEY'S VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS PARTY HEARTY!

[RobDVC]

Awesome meal! Sounds like you guys had fun meeting your FAVORITES!

[Colexis Mom]

Sounds like a great time at dinner Great pictures

[DawnDenise]

Looks like a spectacular dinner! Loved all the picture comments! Miss Model of Decorum. Looking forward to more!