BronxTigger
09-09-2007, 03:33 PM
Day 3, Monday, August 20, 2007
You can read my pre-trip report here. (http://www.intercot.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=112363)
You can read my Day 1 report here. (http://www.intercot.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=115146)
You can read my Day 2 report here. (http://www.intercot.com/discussion/showthread.php?p=1413247#post1413247)
Resort: Caribbean Beach Resort, Aruba 5313 (http://travel.webshots.com/album/560609079FdXLbZ)
Cast: Me & My friend Amanda, a CM
For Day 3 Photos click here. (http://travel.webshots.com/album/560607442IWqawt)
This day started early again. I had a tour this morning, and needed to be at MK by 8:45. So, I wanted to be at the bus stop by 8. We got up and went to Old Port Royale to get breakfast. I had French Toast and I also got a cinnamon roll for later. The food was decent. I made it to the bus stop a little before 8am, and I was getting off the bus at MK by 8:20. I was really early. I got a few pictures then I went to the special entrance and was let in. I went to City Hall and registered, and they said I could walk around and take pictures if I wanted to. I just had to be back at City Hall by 8:45. This was great. I got to take a lot of photos with only a handful of people in the parks. I went to the end of Main Street and got a lot of great photos before heading back to City Hall.
I took the Mickey’s Magical Milestones Tour. This tour is a 2-hour tour and it focuses on Mickey Mouse and his history and how it impacts the Disney organization. I chose this tour because this was a short trip and I wanted a tour but not a long tour. I’ve never done a tour before and I found this to be a good first tour. I would not hesitate to do a tour again; I want to do the Keys to the Kingdom Tour next. It is a 5-hour tour so I want to do it when I have a longer trip.
My tour guide was Anibal, from Puerto Rico. This tour begins at City Hall. We started by heading outside to the front gates, where we stood and looked at the Railroad Station. He talked about the history behind it and how the windows have names and sayings in them. The Railroad Station window says “Keeping Dreams on Track/Walter E. Disney/Chief Engineer”. He also talked about the Mickey face that is made of plants and has been there since the park opened. We then moved into the Exposition Hall and he talked about the movies that play in there and also pointed out the timeline mural in the back. We then moved onto the train, where we were asked to draw Mickey Mouse while the train was moving, because this is how he was originally created. We got off at Toontown and went and met with Mickey Mouse in the Judges Tent. We got photos and autographs. We walked through the park over to Mickey’s Philharmagic, where he talked some more about the history of Mickey before watching the show. We sat in the second row, and if you’ve never seen it up close you should try it some time. After the movie we made our way to the back side of the castle and talked a bit about the merchandising aspect of Mickey Mouse. Then, we went to a little area I don’t remember seeing before. It was off to the side behind Liberty Square. We were the only ones there, and the tour guide presented us with our own set of Mickey ears. He had written “Mouseketeer 2007” on one ear and our name on the other. I wore these ears with pride for a large portion of the rest of the trip, and I plan to wear them to the Intercot meet next month. Look for me!
After the tour I called Amanda to come meet me. I walked around a bit before she came. I tried to get a potato in Liberty Square but they hadn’t gotten there yet. I walked towards Fantasyland and I overheard a group of people who said the oddest thing. We were passing the Haunted Mansion, which is covered in scaffolding due to refurb. They said “Oh look, there’s the castle! It sure looks like it’s falling apart.” Huh?? I kept walking to Small World and took a cruise around the world. When my boat was waiting to unload we were next to the clock. Except, I never realized it WAS a clock. Imagine my surprise when, at 11:45, this thing pops open and starts a song!
After Small World I met up with Amanda at Pinocchio’s Village Haus. I admit it, I like WDW pizza. This is the only place in MK to get it. Amanda got Figaro Fries but decided she wasn’t hungry enough to finish them all and since I was about to go get a second pizza, I just ate those fries instead. If you haven’t had them before, you should try them. They’re quite good.
After lunch, I wanted to hop over to POFQ and check it out. It’s on my list of “want to try resorts” and I also was told that I HAD to try beignets. I was NOT disappointed! I am planning on making a special detour to POFQ on my next trip also. We also checked out POR, but very briefly and I have no photos from this resort?? A CM in the gift shop at one of the 2 PO resorts gave us some Mardi Gras beads to wear. They were cooler than the Pirate Party beads…they were three colors on one strand and they were a bit longer. We wore them the rest of the day.
We headed out of Port Orleans to go to MGM. I wanted to catch the Animation Academy. We just missed getting in the group before us. It was worth the wait though, and the line really got long after us. We got to draw Stitch. Sebastian was our animator, and he let me keep his drawing at the end. This is something I would do again on every trip.
We also went to One Man’s Dream before leaving the park. Amanda had to go to work at 11:30p-9a, but she wanted to sleep a bit before her shift. I did not want to go on TOT by myself, and I didn’t want to walk all the way over to ride RnR. I decided to go back to CBR and hang out for a bit on the hammocks before going to AK for the EMH.
EMH at AK was very crowded. I waited about 30 minutes for Everest and then I wanted to go on Primeval Whirl but the line was posted at 70 minutes. A CM estimated it would be around 50 minutes, which was still longer than I wanted to wait. I decided to just walk around the park and enjoy the atmosphere at AK in the dark. I was planning to return to AK on Day 5 and hit what I missed, which was a lot at this park. I was not too upset though because I had done EVERYTHING: trails, rides, shows, etc on the last trip in 2006 with only a couple of exceptions (the Pocahontas Show and the Nemo show, which hadn’t opened yet). I decided to head over to DTD to buy some things I had seen the day before but hadn’t gotten. I thought to myself, “Oh, I’ll head over to the All Stars because I want to see ASMusic because I’ll be staying there on the Intercot meet. And, it’s kind of close to AK so it should be quick. And, the All Stars are busy so they run a lot of buses. I shouldn’t have to wait long.” The line was SO LONG. If I did that again I’d probably go transfer at Saratoga Springs, but All Stars was fine. I just had to wait for the 7th or 8th bus before there was room for me on one. They loaded quickly though; they had 2 buses loading at a time and a CM to make sure they were full and loading fast. The line was still long when I got on the bus though. I decided though that I wouldn’t look around, because I still needed to eat and I wouldn’t have much time to shop: it was already after 9 and the stores close at 11. So I got off and transferred at Sports. The DTD bus came quick, and I got a seat on that one. I ate at Earl of Sandwich (yum!) and then went to Basin and World of Disney. Then, it was time to catch the CBR bus and go to sleep.
Click here for Day 4. (http://www.intercot.com/discussion/showthread.php?p=1413260#post1413260)
You can read my pre-trip report here. (http://www.intercot.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=112363)
You can read my Day 1 report here. (http://www.intercot.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=115146)
You can read my Day 2 report here. (http://www.intercot.com/discussion/showthread.php?p=1413247#post1413247)
Resort: Caribbean Beach Resort, Aruba 5313 (http://travel.webshots.com/album/560609079FdXLbZ)
Cast: Me & My friend Amanda, a CM
For Day 3 Photos click here. (http://travel.webshots.com/album/560607442IWqawt)
This day started early again. I had a tour this morning, and needed to be at MK by 8:45. So, I wanted to be at the bus stop by 8. We got up and went to Old Port Royale to get breakfast. I had French Toast and I also got a cinnamon roll for later. The food was decent. I made it to the bus stop a little before 8am, and I was getting off the bus at MK by 8:20. I was really early. I got a few pictures then I went to the special entrance and was let in. I went to City Hall and registered, and they said I could walk around and take pictures if I wanted to. I just had to be back at City Hall by 8:45. This was great. I got to take a lot of photos with only a handful of people in the parks. I went to the end of Main Street and got a lot of great photos before heading back to City Hall.
I took the Mickey’s Magical Milestones Tour. This tour is a 2-hour tour and it focuses on Mickey Mouse and his history and how it impacts the Disney organization. I chose this tour because this was a short trip and I wanted a tour but not a long tour. I’ve never done a tour before and I found this to be a good first tour. I would not hesitate to do a tour again; I want to do the Keys to the Kingdom Tour next. It is a 5-hour tour so I want to do it when I have a longer trip.
My tour guide was Anibal, from Puerto Rico. This tour begins at City Hall. We started by heading outside to the front gates, where we stood and looked at the Railroad Station. He talked about the history behind it and how the windows have names and sayings in them. The Railroad Station window says “Keeping Dreams on Track/Walter E. Disney/Chief Engineer”. He also talked about the Mickey face that is made of plants and has been there since the park opened. We then moved into the Exposition Hall and he talked about the movies that play in there and also pointed out the timeline mural in the back. We then moved onto the train, where we were asked to draw Mickey Mouse while the train was moving, because this is how he was originally created. We got off at Toontown and went and met with Mickey Mouse in the Judges Tent. We got photos and autographs. We walked through the park over to Mickey’s Philharmagic, where he talked some more about the history of Mickey before watching the show. We sat in the second row, and if you’ve never seen it up close you should try it some time. After the movie we made our way to the back side of the castle and talked a bit about the merchandising aspect of Mickey Mouse. Then, we went to a little area I don’t remember seeing before. It was off to the side behind Liberty Square. We were the only ones there, and the tour guide presented us with our own set of Mickey ears. He had written “Mouseketeer 2007” on one ear and our name on the other. I wore these ears with pride for a large portion of the rest of the trip, and I plan to wear them to the Intercot meet next month. Look for me!
After the tour I called Amanda to come meet me. I walked around a bit before she came. I tried to get a potato in Liberty Square but they hadn’t gotten there yet. I walked towards Fantasyland and I overheard a group of people who said the oddest thing. We were passing the Haunted Mansion, which is covered in scaffolding due to refurb. They said “Oh look, there’s the castle! It sure looks like it’s falling apart.” Huh?? I kept walking to Small World and took a cruise around the world. When my boat was waiting to unload we were next to the clock. Except, I never realized it WAS a clock. Imagine my surprise when, at 11:45, this thing pops open and starts a song!
After Small World I met up with Amanda at Pinocchio’s Village Haus. I admit it, I like WDW pizza. This is the only place in MK to get it. Amanda got Figaro Fries but decided she wasn’t hungry enough to finish them all and since I was about to go get a second pizza, I just ate those fries instead. If you haven’t had them before, you should try them. They’re quite good.
After lunch, I wanted to hop over to POFQ and check it out. It’s on my list of “want to try resorts” and I also was told that I HAD to try beignets. I was NOT disappointed! I am planning on making a special detour to POFQ on my next trip also. We also checked out POR, but very briefly and I have no photos from this resort?? A CM in the gift shop at one of the 2 PO resorts gave us some Mardi Gras beads to wear. They were cooler than the Pirate Party beads…they were three colors on one strand and they were a bit longer. We wore them the rest of the day.
We headed out of Port Orleans to go to MGM. I wanted to catch the Animation Academy. We just missed getting in the group before us. It was worth the wait though, and the line really got long after us. We got to draw Stitch. Sebastian was our animator, and he let me keep his drawing at the end. This is something I would do again on every trip.
We also went to One Man’s Dream before leaving the park. Amanda had to go to work at 11:30p-9a, but she wanted to sleep a bit before her shift. I did not want to go on TOT by myself, and I didn’t want to walk all the way over to ride RnR. I decided to go back to CBR and hang out for a bit on the hammocks before going to AK for the EMH.
EMH at AK was very crowded. I waited about 30 minutes for Everest and then I wanted to go on Primeval Whirl but the line was posted at 70 minutes. A CM estimated it would be around 50 minutes, which was still longer than I wanted to wait. I decided to just walk around the park and enjoy the atmosphere at AK in the dark. I was planning to return to AK on Day 5 and hit what I missed, which was a lot at this park. I was not too upset though because I had done EVERYTHING: trails, rides, shows, etc on the last trip in 2006 with only a couple of exceptions (the Pocahontas Show and the Nemo show, which hadn’t opened yet). I decided to head over to DTD to buy some things I had seen the day before but hadn’t gotten. I thought to myself, “Oh, I’ll head over to the All Stars because I want to see ASMusic because I’ll be staying there on the Intercot meet. And, it’s kind of close to AK so it should be quick. And, the All Stars are busy so they run a lot of buses. I shouldn’t have to wait long.” The line was SO LONG. If I did that again I’d probably go transfer at Saratoga Springs, but All Stars was fine. I just had to wait for the 7th or 8th bus before there was room for me on one. They loaded quickly though; they had 2 buses loading at a time and a CM to make sure they were full and loading fast. The line was still long when I got on the bus though. I decided though that I wouldn’t look around, because I still needed to eat and I wouldn’t have much time to shop: it was already after 9 and the stores close at 11. So I got off and transferred at Sports. The DTD bus came quick, and I got a seat on that one. I ate at Earl of Sandwich (yum!) and then went to Basin and World of Disney. Then, it was time to catch the CBR bus and go to sleep.
Click here for Day 4. (http://www.intercot.com/discussion/showthread.php?p=1413260#post1413260)