A Touch of the Magic--2 Days in WDW About This Page:

[minemoz1]

Great report Allison! Actually, I think you can still get the Mickey Bars you speak of from the Good Humor ice cream man (truck). I remember seeing the picture on the side menu when there was an ice cream truck in the city last summer.

[TiggerAlli]

It would have been cool [img]images/icons/cool.gif[/img] if you got on Price is Right, Tara! I still think that I will just be a waste if I get in the hot seat though. I love the hat, we just wish that it was somewhere else!

No Way minemoz1! I am so there! I loved [img]graemlins/love.gif[/img] those things when I was 13 [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] ! I am sure it won't be the same, now I wonder where the ice cream man is????

Gotta stop posting here and get moving on the next installment! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[Heidi]

Allison,

Really enjoying your report so far. I can't believe how easy going you are considering some of the things you have had to put up with. But like you said, you are only there a few days and we going to have fun. I can't imagine going for a short period but it sounds like you guys had fun. And you were there on my birthday - May 10th. I remember thinking that day as I was blowing out some candles on a cake at work - I wish I was at WDW. I'm with you on the smoking. I couldn't handle that room either and would do the same thing. I get very congested when stuck in a room with smoke. I hardly go to bars or pubs anymore because the day after is a write off for me.

Looking forward to seeing what else happened. [img]graemlins/puter.gif[/img]

[TiggerAlli]

Who: TiggerAlli (Me, Allison), 34, 11th visit
TooGoofy4U (DH, Kevin), 33, 10th visit
Why: Because we could!!
When: May 10th-12th

Day 2 "Excuse me, could you move over an inch?"

We arrive at Ep COT only to find the parking lot more crowded than we have ever seen it! Of course we haven’t ever gone in the main entrance this late in the day so that may be why. I did some ‘stunt’ driving to get us into a parking spot that wasn’t at the very end of the lot and we were on our way. We loved the 2000 over Spaceship Earth but we are not that enamored of the Epcot. It just seems too small or something, I am getting used to it but I still prefer the 2000. Anyhow, we go inside and took some pictures of the very cool [img]images/icons/cool.gif[/img] topiary (loved the film reel) and then decided to hop on Spaceship Earth. DH loves this ride as do most people, I am afraid that I don’t quite understand the fascination. It is worth doing because it is a classic but it just doesn’t get me the way some rides do. Plus we both really preferred the Walter Cronkite (I know, get over it, move on [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img] ) version and DH can do a mean impersonation of that (with his own ‘touches’ [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img] thrown in) so it’s kind of a whatever type ride for me. The first thing that we noticed here and we noticed it all over this trip was that the air conditioning just didn’t seem to be working. One of my favorite things about this ride is that when it is boiling and I am a mess I can cool off and be comfy for a little while. Not this time. I know that things are being cut back but the air??? Oh well. We then got FP’s for TT and walked over to The Land, going through MouseGears, of course. This has to be the first time since this store opened that we didn’t buy anything! The standby line said 45 minutes but we thought it wouldn’t be that long. BIG mistake, we waited at least 45 minutes if not longer but the FP’s weren’t working here so there was no choice. I don’t know what it is about this ride but we MUST go on it every trip. Originally it was that sappy song, Living with the Land, which HAD to be written in the Flower Power age, that we just got such a kick out of but now it’s something that we love to do. Unfortunately there was a group of about 6 11-13 year old boys (what were they doing on this ride, such NOT a pre-teen boy ride, IMHO) who were also waiting. I know that boys have a lot of energy and that they will do what they will do but these kids had no awareness of anyone else in line. [img]images/icons/mad.gif[/img] Thankfully they weren’t too close to us but the guy in front of them got the full brunt of their assault but he never said a word. Now this guy was about 35 years old and 6’4” and while he was VERY thin he still could have told them to knock it off but he never did anything but shoot them dirty looks once in a while. We finally get to the front of the line and here it comes again, “Could you please move over an inch?”. Who won’t move so my DH doesn’t have to try to squeeze himself into a spot that a 10 year old girl wouldn’t fit in? The big skinny guy! I don’t get it, you couldn’t get up enough nerve to tell 12 year olds to knock it off but you’re going to be rude to me??? Whatever, I will never understand people, I’ve given it up as a hobby! [img]images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] We enjoyed this ride, singing our own little ode to Listen to the Land at the end, and headed off to the International Gateway via the Rose Garden path. I love walking down this path and smelling the beautiful roses! I also have to mention here that the topiaries and things in general for the Flower & Garden festival were way cut back from last year. There were signs and topiaries and shops and everything all over the place last year. I would say they had maybe a quarter this year of what was there last year. That made us a bit sad but at least they didn’t cancel it all together! We decided to eat dinner and there was no question about where we were going, Harry Marsdens (is that the name?) fish stand! DH loves the fish from the Rose & Crown and since we weren’t doing any sit downs and I had never had the fish this was the place for us. I made a dork out of myself [img]images/icons/blush.gif[/img] (although the CM was very nice about it) by asking what crisps were. Okay, most people might not think that they made a dork out of themselves by asking this simple question but I pride myself on knowing these types of things so I felt pretty stupid! 2 fish & chips and 2 large diet cokes later and we were on our way to find someplace to eat. I had hoped that there would be someplace in that seating place to the left of the restaurant but it was not to be. We plopped down on a bench and went to work! YUM, we will do this again, although probably for lunch next time. Then we headed over to the France pavilion to get a crepe. DH is not that much of a chocolate fan so he would have gone for the strawberry topping but I only like fresh strawberries and since we got the fish & chips for [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img] him we got the chocolate crepe! I have to say I was disappointed when I saw that they just reheated the crepe and that it was just basically hershey’s syrup but it was still tasty. We walked past the American Pavilion where Paul Revere and the Raiders were playing (just how old is he anyway? The way he was talking it sounded like he was ancient!) and walked right into (almost ran actually) the American Adventure. We have always enjoyed this (DH loves the eagle song) and after we took the 8 hour behind-the-scenes tour in ’96 it is always neat to see since we know how it all works backstage! This one always gets me a little misty even though I am not a chest thumper when it comes to patriotism (I’m more of a quiet patriotic [img]graemlins/usa.gif[/img] person). Now for our third encounter (last time, I promise) with “Could you move over an inch?”. After the show I wanted to get a picture of the Minnie/Mickey topiaries in front of the pavilion but they were in the middle of the fountain. There were lots of people sitting around the fountain which is totally understandable but I literally ended up leaning between & over 2 people to get this picture! I always move for people, duck so I am not in their video, and we are both very aware of this kind of thing so it’s irritating when people won’t even lean a little so you can get a picture. Oh well, luckily I was able to get the picture later on when there weren’t so many people around. We started walking back toward TT and stopped to check out the trains in Germany. We aren’t into trains but we are into our German ancestry so we always like to stop and look around this area a little bit. We walked up to TT and got on after a minimum wait. I really really wanted to stay for Illuminations but DH said we needed to get going because we were heading to DD for some quick shopping (got to get that in, right?). I love Illuminations, favorite nighttime show by far, so this was really hard for me, I kept looking back and saying things like “Look, you can see the smoke from the fireworks.” and other such inane comments! DH was right though because we were both already tired and we still had to go back to CS to pick up some Disney $.

Next up, DD.

[ 05-22-2002, 05:26 PM: Message edited by: TiggerAlli ]

[Tara O'Hara]

Allison I really like your trip report alot! I miss Walter Cronkite ,too AND the Listen to The Land music! Remember when they used to play it over the speakers in the park? Have fun at DD!

Tara
[img]graemlins/wavin.gif[/img]

[tikibird]

Okay, I'm going to be a dork. What ARE crisps? [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Keep the great segments coming......

[TiggerAlli]

Thank you Tara & Tikibird! [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Still hoping to get it all here by tomorrow but it's taking longer than I thought!

I have to say I can see why it takes so long to get these posted, it's tiring trying to get everything down 'on paper' [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] ! Fun, but tiring! [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

[Tara O'Hara]

Allison- I am not sure about that hat either. It sort of reminds me of when they made the castle that gaudy pink! It sounds as though they put a lot of effort into it though, so I don't like to say too much! I totally remember the Mickey bars you speak of! That is so cool about your husband getting in the hot seat!! I would LOVE that. When we went to LA, I was in the studio audience for the Price is Right and wanted to be picked as a contestant sooooooooo badly! And I agree, these are time consuming, but fun! They are also fun to read.

Tara
[img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[PS - I LUV WDW]

I also have to mention here that the topiaries and things in general for the Flower & Garden festival were way cut back from last year. There were signs and topiaries and shops and everything all over the place last year. I would say they had maybe a quarter this year of what was there last year.

<font size="2" face="Comic Sans MS, Arial">Oh my -- and I thought this year was amazing as we've never been before. I can only imagine how much film I would have used if there were more!

... and after we took the 8 hour behind-the-scenes tour in ’96 it is always neat to see since we know how it all works backstage!

<font size="2" face="Comic Sans MS, Arial">Funny we are the same way since we took the tour! It was amazing seeing this adventure from behind the scenes!

Thanks again for taking the time to do your report!

[TiggerAlli]

Thanks again, everyone!

Tara, I don't remember them playing it over the speakers, I wish I did though. Our friends got an official park CD from '81 (I think) from ebay and we copied it. It has all the old Epcot songs but the Land is our favorite. Do you remember the "Universe of Energy" song? That one is just as funny! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] Our friend 'created' a dance to go w/that one.

Tikibird, Crisps are just regular old potato chips! I sort of knew that before this (from some cooking show or something like that) but I had forgotten.

PS - I Love WDW, I can't even figure out how many pictures we took last year w/all the topiaries and things. It was still amazing just not as full this time.

Heidi, Happy Belated Birthday!!! Thanks for reading my report. I never thought we would go for so short a time either but living closer now makes it easier (time & $$ wise). I don't know if I would do it again (okay, who am I kidding, if it was this or nothing you KNOW I'd be there! [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img] ) but it was fun even with everything that happened!

Thanks to all again! [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[ 05-23-2002, 09:08 AM: Message edited by: TiggerAlli ]

[TiggerAlli]

Who : TiggerAlli (Me, Allison), 34, 11th visit
TooGoofy4U (DH, Kevin), 33, 10th visit
Why : Because we could!!
When: May 10th-12th

Day 2 "Excuse me, could you move over an inch?"

We ran back to CS, picked up our Disney $ (which we didn’t end up using [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img] ) and then headed out to DD. We were really expecting it to be hard to get a parking spot since it normally is next to impossible but we ended up with something very close to World of Disney! Bonus! [img]images/icons/cool.gif[/img] We wandered around a little bit, just because you have to, but it was getting late and things would start closing soon so we had to shift into super shopper mode! We picked up the Mickey shirt I had seen at CS shop, the SpectroMagic and Magic in the Streets CD’s, and an AS sports (can’t really shorten that can you? [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] ) pin. We could not find the CS pin that we wanted or a 100 years shirt that DH had seen at MGM that we thought we would be able to get here. Then we just started walking through the various shops, visiting the Home store, the Christmas store (we LOVE [img]graemlins/love.gif[/img] that smell when you walk through the doors). We also went into the Pantry and Reading n ‘Riting. I had been looking for a small spiral notepad the whole trip because so many people mentioned it as being helpful for their trip reports but I couldn’t find one, not even at the Reading store! We both really felt that the selection of things was down. Not so much at World but the other stores seemed a bit empty. At this point both of us were getting really tired and my feet were killing me. I ended up with 5 blisters in different places on my feet this trip. [img]graemlins/cry2.gif[/img] I will be buying different gym shoes for the trip in Nov.! We bought a pretzel and a large diet coke and ate this while sitting outside World of Disney in that little bandstand area. Since I can’t find any good chocolate places in Atlanta that I like (really miss Fannie May [img]graemlins/pout.gif[/img] ) we went into Ghiradelli’s and I bought a milk chocolate almond bar (large size) and DH got a milk chocolate crispy bar. We then headed back to CS to check out the pools.

We walked over to the Dig Site, bypassing the quiet pool that was about 30 feet from our room (this is my fault--take full credit for this decision). In normal circumstances (i.e. my feet NOT feeling like chopped liver) this would have been fine but this is kind of a long walk and I wish we would have driven over! It was a beautiful walk as we followed the lake at the center of the resort around and all the lights were playing off the water. Very nice. I really liked the look of the area around the pool, the large ‘pyramid’ looked really great and I wish the slide wasn’t closed so we could have tried it out. The pool itself was sort of plain (just a big square) and could have had some more areas that were a little deeper. I would like to see this again in daylight when everything is open and we could get a little better feel for it all. It wasn’t terribly warm so after swimming for about 20 minutes we both decided that we would like to go back and jump in a warm shower and sleep. We walked back to the room, showered and while I wrote down some notes, DH fell asleep. I also started to doze while I was writing things down (don’t you love how the pen just runs down the page when you do that? [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img] ) so soon I was off to sleep as well.

Coming up Day 3 “Who caused this, I want his name!”

[ 05-23-2002, 11:04 AM: Message edited by: TiggerAlli ]

[rescuesk]

I am loving your report! Can't wait to read more!

Sue [img]graemlins/usa.gif[/img]

[minemoz1]

Can't wait for more, Allison. I understand your Fannie May withdrawl. You might want to check out their website and order a few things before the summer shipping restrictions kick in! [img]graemlins/yuma.gif[/img]

Fannie May Candies

[TiggerAlli]

Who: TiggerAlli (Me, Allison), 34, 11th visit
TooGoofy4U (DH, Kevin), 33, 10th visit
Why : Because we could!!
When : May 10th-12th

Day 3 "Who caused this, I want his name!"
We woke up to another wonderful Mickey call, I too wish that there was someway to do this at home! We got everything together since we had to leave tonight. I went outside to call Dollar to find out where the “within 10 miles of the airport” gas station was located since our lovely cell phone [img]images/icons/mad.gif[/img] did not work in the building (as my DH says, here’s what you can do with ‘can you hear me now?’). Now, we bought chocolate bars last night thinking we would eat them then (what was I thinking buying a large one??) but we never did. We are faced with what to do with them, we can’t pack them, they will melt all over everything and we can’t carry them because they will melt all over everything. So we ate them, nothing like pure chocolate [img]graemlins/yuma.gif[/img] for a pre-breakfast! We did not get our expected bill on the door so we headed over to the main building to check on that. We also needed to get me bandaids and to buy our CS pin. Of course, I never bring bandaids, we have a huge packing list (actually 4 lists, one for me, one for DH, one for stuff we both use, and one for puppy love), but I never put them on there because we never use them. For some reason this trip I thought about bringing them but figured that it would be a waste. Well, it did turn out to be a waste, of about $3.50 for the bandaids DH bought me while I was waiting to talk to someone about our bill. I am not sure exactly what happened here but we ended up with a $58 credit because of the whole room issue. They said I paid with a card that I couldn’t remember paying with and hadn’t brought with me. The CM had to go ask if it was okay if they could just credit my Disney CC instead. DH walked up while I was waiting. That was taken care of but it started me worrying if there had been some mix-up with the Nov. ressies and now they were cancelled or something. We took some more pictures as we were leaving the resort and when we got to the car I asked DH to call Disney reservations (I can be a real worrier) to verify that nothing was up with the Nov. ressies while I put my bandaids on. He couldn’t understand why I was worried about this [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img] and thought this was a dumb plan but agreed to do it when he realized that he was going to be sitting there while I put my bandaids on anyhow. While he messed with the, once again, not working so well phone I took my shoes and socks off and started bandaging up my 4 little toes. The cell phone battery was running down because we forgot to charge it in the exhaustion of the night before so he had to get off without talking to anyone (I did check on these after we got back and everything was fine, whew!). Of course it was taking rather a long time to get the bandaids on (have you ever tried to put bandaids on your little toes!?!?!) and DH was getting restless. I finally get all my piggies covered up and get the car moving, onto the MK!

When we get to the MK, I once again pick the wrong line and we end up way at the end of the next row instead of right next to the tram where we would have been. Am I cursed with this problem or what? Anyhow we hop onto the rather crowded tram and notice that there is a family of about 8 but they are spread all over the tram. It was really kind of weird, 2 people were in one row, 1 guy was in our row, and the rest of the people were spread out in 2 other rows. Just one of those weird things you notice. We get on the monorail because it isn’t a trip without hearing that message and riding through the Contemporary! When we get off we notice the topiary 100 years/Mickey so we get a picture of that quickly and then head into the park. The first sight of the castle knocks us over like it always does and I insist on a “Disney Hug”, this is something that I must have from my sweet DH when Disney feelings overwhelm me! I basically stand in front of him bouncing up and down half squealing “Dinee hug” over and over again (BTW, Dinee is spelled correctly, it’s all part of the whole package [img]graemlins/blush.gif[/img] ) until he hugs me! Okay, where should we eat our ‘real’ breakfast. I thought that Tony’s would be open since we ate there last year but no such luck. We wander down Main Street and decide to get something from the Main Street Bakery since many people here suggested it. We order the Cinnamon roles, I get coffee and DH gets whole (!!) milk. We normally drink skim so this was pretty much like drinking crème straight-woo! DH has a sometime nickname of MilkPhat from an earlier trip to WDW with our friends (long story involving Mickey bars that I’m not even sure I remember anymore [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] ) so I tell him this is an appropriate beverage for him. We sit outside around the corner toward Tomorrowland and eat our breakfast. At some point DH comments that this is WAY sweet and sugary. I am shocked as this is right up his alley! As a side note, we have an ongoing debate about the merits of sugar as a food, he loves sugary stuff, me not so much. Does anyone else know what I am talking about when I say that your mouth is coated in sugar? DH thinks I’m nuts but that feeling just grosses me out completely! Anyhow, I agree that this is very sweet. We watch some man drop his family’s cokes all over a table, watch everyone in said family get upset, and decide it’s time to leave our little corner! We get FP’s for Buzz and then head to SM where we ride twice in a row with barely any wait. Plus we got to ride in the back car (very cool but much more jerky than the front) and we got to ride both sides! This is great because we haven’t been on the left side in a couple of years. I actually ride this with my eyes closed because then I can’t see the drops that are coming up and it makes it more fun—try it if you like that kind of stuff! The line is getting longer after our second ride and we are in the time frame for our FP’s so we head over to Buzz. DH gets just under 100,000 (I forget what that level is) and I get my usual dismal score that I will not post here for terminal embarrassment [img]images/icons/blush.gif[/img] reasons. We always spin our car when we are going through the part that has the rays of light (can’t think of a better description) and I notice that about 4 cars after us start doing it too. Cool [img]images/icons/cool.gif[/img] , we started a trend!

Time to head to AdventureLand. I mention the possibility of a Dole whip later in the day and again DH shocks me with a “that’s really sweet” statement. DH LOVES, ADORES pineapple so I am completely amazed by this comment. We had this last trip but I think we just got the pineapple mix, no ice cream. I think maybe the heat is getting to him or maybe he’s just tired! We get on Jungle Cruise and have a pretty good captain. DH videos this and at the point where she tells everyone to duck he doesn’t. She says to him “Don’t be afraid of looking stupid, sir, I make my living at it!” I, of course, get a kick out of the fact that he got singled out! We then head over to Pirates, DH favorite classic ride. Unfortunately the air didn’t seem to be on in here very much either, which is all part of the ride for us, you gotta have the cold dungeon feeling when you are walking through the line. Still we love this ride and have to do it multiple times every trip!

After that we go to check out the other 2 mountains! We get FP’s for BTMRR and jump on Splash since there isn’t much of a line. These 2 are also multiple must do’s every trip. Last year we got on BTMRR during the fireworks and since there were no lines the CM’s let us stay on for 3 rides in a row. We were coming over one of the hills just as some fireworks exploded over the castle—it was beautiful and one of the most magical things that ever happened to us! Anyhow, we ride Splash and sing along as we always do and we didn’t even get that wet this time! Then we head over to BTMRR but we are still outside our FP time. We stand there for a little while until I realize that there isn’t that much of a line so we get in the stand by line and ride. We jump off and get on with our FP’s! WooHoo! We are starting to get hungry (it was later than it seems, honestly!) so we decide to get FP’s for Splash and then eat at Perico Y Pirato or whatever it is called since DH had seen someone with a taco salad that he wanted to try out.

As we’re standing in line waiting to get our food I again mention the possibility of a Dole whip. For some reason DH thinks I said dough whip and asks me what I’m talking about. I repeat it and he says “oh, I thought you said dough whip”, I am getting frustrated at this point (plus for some reason I am thinking DOE, as in deer, as in Bambi [I know Bambi isn't a doe but it's Disney and what else is going to come to mind in this situation?] when he says this) and semi-yell that we have discussed this already. The CM is highly amused by the whole back and forth thing and smiles as she hands us our food and says “I’m not going to say anything.” [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] DH's chance to shine once again as we head to the table—he snaps the arm off his sunglasses (he will pop in here to say that he barely touched them, I am sure). We wear contacts and basically cannot see in any kind of strong sunlight without sunglasses, eyes water, squinting until you have a headache, the whole thing. So we now have to buy him new sunglasses. This is becoming a bi-annual tradition since we bought the sunglasses that he broke this time at the AK 2 years ago when he forgot his at home. I have to say here that I hate buying these kind of things (essentials) at places like Disney because it always seems like they are very expensive and a waste of money that I could be spending on souvenirs! We sit down to eat, DH has his taco salad and a large diet and I got the Empanada with beans and rice & a large diet. Of course this turns out to be largely the same meal I had yesterday at the Commissary. I liked it but I didn’t particularly want to eat it 2 days in a row, it was still good though. Our little spat continues(we are VERY sarcastic with each other, one of the things that drew us together in the first place so this is kind of fun for us). At one point my dear darling DH frustrates me so much that I tell him he is an “amazing man”, I don’t know—maybe you had to be there and maybe you have to know us better but this was truly funny for both of us. We finish lunch and set off in search of new sunglasses. He finds a pair that are only $14 (I actually have to admit that the sunglasses aren’t really anymore expensive than you would find anywhere else) and they say “Disney World Resort” on the arm! I am soo jealous!

[ 05-23-2002, 03:10 PM: Message edited by: TiggerAlli ]

[Tara O'Hara]

You are fitting more into two days then I did in a week! Wow, I don't know how you managed with the weather like it was! You guys crack me up. We love Pirates, too and I think it's sad that there is no longer much of a line for this attraction. I remember when you had to stand under the open, shaded part and didn't even get to the dungeon for a bit!

Tara