brad192
10-24-2007, 02:44 PM
10/12/07 - Friday
Cast – Just Me, 48 Yr. old Disney Nut, engineer, singer, and thespian.
Supporting Cast – All my new Intercot buddies!
Dates – 10/9 thru 10/16
Accommodations – Pop Century, 50’s section, room 3434.
After a good night’s sleep, I woke at 6:45 & got ready for the big AM meet at Casey’s. Donning my new red Intercot T-shirt, I headed out. A short wait & I was headed for MK. In the park around 8:45, I was early for the meet, so I did a little browsing in the Emporium for a few minutes. Wow, that’s the time of day to shop! It was me, a couple other people, and the salespeople. I worked my way towards Casey’s, and ran into Lanny (Hoop Dee Do). In fact, I kept running in to him all week long, all over the place! I wasn’t stalking you Lanny, honest! We had a nice talk about Intercot & Disney, and then it was time for the meet.
I’ll be honest, I’m terrible at names, so I’ll forgo trying to mention everyone I met. It was really nice to finally meet everyone, especially John, our fearless leader! After a nice chat, the distribution of nametags & pins, and bit of milling about, several of us decided to ride PotC. As soon as we arrived at the building, the Pirate Tutorial was starting. Of course we had to stop & watch! Cap’n. Jack & his assistant were very good, and had the kids selected & the crowd really into it. In a pirate kind of mood, we headed on in to ride – Intercot, party of 11…oops, we can’t count, make that 12! :blush: At least we didn’t get stuck for 40 minutes, like the last time I rode.
After PotC, I decided to go my own way and headed for Splash, putting on my spiffy Intercot hat as my bald head was a little sore from the sun of previous days. It was still early, so the wait was only about 5 minutes. Loading up, I got front row right seat. To my left was another guy about my size (uh oh, we’re nose heavy, not a good sign). Looking back in our log, there were 4 other big guys in the middle & back seats. Looked like max load for our poor little log, and an imminent deluge ahead for all. :snorkel: Away we go, and the first little drop hosed both of us in the front row. Oh well, better to get it over with quickly & enjoy the rest of the ride! We zip-a-dee-doo-da’d thru the rest of the ride, headed up the hill for the drop, and over we went. We must have gone extra fast due to the weight in our log, because halfway down to the briar patch my spiffy Intercot hat flew off my head, never to be seen again! :( We hit the bottom and a literal wall of water came over the front of the log, soaking everyone – even the guys in the back! It was hilarious! :funny: We were all laughing hysterically the rest of the way (found our laughing place, huh?). Soaked & dripping, I exited the ride, found a bench, wrung myself out, and checked my camera equipment to make certain it all still worked. No harm done. The water must have woke my stomach up, because I was now very hungry. Pecos Bill’s beckoned.
I decided to pass on my usual burger from here, and opted for the BBQ pork sandwich, with beans, fries, carrot cake and – you guessed it – another iced tea. The sandwich was HUGE! It was big enough to have its own gravitational field! I could only finish about half of it, but it was quite good. I just hoped I would be hungry for my 5:30 ADR at Concourse. Still feeling like a used tea bag, I headed for the Treehouse to do my once-a-trip march thru that attraction. I love the movie, and as a kid I always wanted to spend the night there just once. Ok, I’ll admit it, I still do. After my descent, I headed for the Tiki Room. While still a cute show ( I love the name of the tiki goddess – Uh Oa), it’s too short & I really miss the more laid back, tropical feel of the original. Exiting Tiki, my huge lunch was doing a number on me & I felt a bit tired. Knowing I had a long night ahead, with the evening meet & MNSSHP, I decided to head back to my room for a little nap, doing a bit of shopping along Main Street on the way.
:sleepin:After a nice nap, I woke at 3:45, got around & headed for the bus stop back to MK. Got in line, struck up a conversation with the woman in front of me, and her son when all of a sudden she spies my T-shirt and screams “Oh my God – Intercot!” It actually scared me! It was Amy (Mousefever) and her son Jacob, heading for the meet later that evening. We had a nice conversation on the ride to MK, and then parted ways as I had to get to the Concourse for dinner. Jumping on monorail Lime, I was there in no time at all. Way too early to check in for my ADR, I wandered about, people watched, and did a little tour thru the gift shop. Checked in for dinner at 5:25 & was seated at 5:40. Unfortunately (or so I thought), it was the very first table next to the entrance. It actually was kind of entertaining watching everyone show up for dinner, or trying to get a table without an ADR. Tina, my server, was by far the best I had all week long. A senior from CFU on the CP, this was her second & last stint on the program, as she was hoping to land a “real job” once she graduated. All thru my meal, Tina spent extra time with me, asking about me, my trip, etc. I even was able to get a rousing good plug in for Intercot! My dinner was wonderful. I started with the sea scallop appetizer – 2 huge scallops pan seared perfectly, accompanied by a tasty citrus sauce and a bit of greens. I elected to get the special entrée of buffalo filet, since it was included on the DDP. Wow! About an inch and ½ thick, and the diameter of a hockey puck, it was broiled to perfection, topped with herbed butter & onion crisps, and accompanied by a potato/cheese combo & grilled asparagus. Absolutely wonderful. For dessert, I selected the vanilla crème brulee, which came with some fresh berries. Tasty & not too much. Oh, and of course, I had iced tea to wash it all down with! Tina was so nice, I left her another 10% beyond the DDP gratuity, and sought out the manager to let her know how nice she was, and how much I enjoyed my meal.:tasty:
After dinner, I headed back to MK for the Party & Meet. Getting my wristband, I headed for the Noodle Station to meet up with everyone else. Once everyone arrived, introduced themselves, and chatted for a bit, a big group of us went to Laugh Floor. I hadn’t seen this before, so it was a real treat for me. I thought it was pretty well done, and quite funny. I’m just glad I didn’t end up being “That Guy”, although it does have some possibilities…..Hmm. We then rode TTA, and after I split from the group & wandered around enjoying all the costumes & craziness. A glutton for punishment, I rode IASW again, then headed back towards the Rose Garden, as it was getting close to Hallowishes time. It was a really nice show, with lots of ooh’s & ahh’s, but I still prefer Wishes. After the fireworks, a group of us meandered towards Frontierland for the second parade. We grabbed a great spot, and soon the Headless Horseman was headed our way. The parade was awesome, with lots of ghoulies & ghosties & such, but that darn song got stuck in my head for 2 days!
After the parade I only had 1 more thing to accomplish before I left – a Doombuggy trip thru the HM! Ya just gotta ride the HM during MNSSHP! It’s just wrong not to! Thought it was a nice touch that the CM’s manning the attraction wore extra-creepy makeup & costumes for the night. My ride finished, I (and the ghost following me home) headed for the Pop bus stop - #18 – all the way down at the very end, and my dogs were a barkin’. We waited about 10 minutes for a bus, then proceeded to load. I was boarding & noticed that there was some sort of miscommunication between the driver & another CM, something about “That’s enough for this one, we’ll load another right away”, and the CM hit the close door switch just as a little boy about 3 years old was starting to climb in. The door started to close, and the driver saw that it was closing right on the little guy’s arm! :jaw: He yelled & leapt at the door trying to pry it open bare-handed, and kept a big enough gap for the kid to remove his arm. The other CM opened the door, and to everyone’s relief, the little guy was uninjured. In fact, he just sort of stood there looking perplexed as to why everyone was making such a big deal out of it. His father however, began ranting like a maniac at the top of his lungs, cursing & threatening, and generally acting like a fool. Now, I understand he was upset & scared that his little boy was possibly hurt, and all of those things, but this rant was WAY beyond appropriate! I could see his wife with her head down, red faced, and trying to hide as best she could while dear old hubby went bananas. :angry: Security arrived quickly, and things seemed to calm down a bit. Meanwhile, we’re still on the bus waiting to leave for Pop. A few minutes later, we were told by an apologetic CM that we’d have to exit this bus & board another. Ok, no problem. I just wish I knew what the final outcome of this was. We boarded the second bus, and were whisked back to Pop in no time. I got back to my room at 12, and was in bed & sound asleep by 1. Tomorrow is the big Epcot meet & Illuminations event. Oooh, it’s gonna be fun!
Cast – Just Me, 48 Yr. old Disney Nut, engineer, singer, and thespian.
Supporting Cast – All my new Intercot buddies!
Dates – 10/9 thru 10/16
Accommodations – Pop Century, 50’s section, room 3434.
After a good night’s sleep, I woke at 6:45 & got ready for the big AM meet at Casey’s. Donning my new red Intercot T-shirt, I headed out. A short wait & I was headed for MK. In the park around 8:45, I was early for the meet, so I did a little browsing in the Emporium for a few minutes. Wow, that’s the time of day to shop! It was me, a couple other people, and the salespeople. I worked my way towards Casey’s, and ran into Lanny (Hoop Dee Do). In fact, I kept running in to him all week long, all over the place! I wasn’t stalking you Lanny, honest! We had a nice talk about Intercot & Disney, and then it was time for the meet.
I’ll be honest, I’m terrible at names, so I’ll forgo trying to mention everyone I met. It was really nice to finally meet everyone, especially John, our fearless leader! After a nice chat, the distribution of nametags & pins, and bit of milling about, several of us decided to ride PotC. As soon as we arrived at the building, the Pirate Tutorial was starting. Of course we had to stop & watch! Cap’n. Jack & his assistant were very good, and had the kids selected & the crowd really into it. In a pirate kind of mood, we headed on in to ride – Intercot, party of 11…oops, we can’t count, make that 12! :blush: At least we didn’t get stuck for 40 minutes, like the last time I rode.
After PotC, I decided to go my own way and headed for Splash, putting on my spiffy Intercot hat as my bald head was a little sore from the sun of previous days. It was still early, so the wait was only about 5 minutes. Loading up, I got front row right seat. To my left was another guy about my size (uh oh, we’re nose heavy, not a good sign). Looking back in our log, there were 4 other big guys in the middle & back seats. Looked like max load for our poor little log, and an imminent deluge ahead for all. :snorkel: Away we go, and the first little drop hosed both of us in the front row. Oh well, better to get it over with quickly & enjoy the rest of the ride! We zip-a-dee-doo-da’d thru the rest of the ride, headed up the hill for the drop, and over we went. We must have gone extra fast due to the weight in our log, because halfway down to the briar patch my spiffy Intercot hat flew off my head, never to be seen again! :( We hit the bottom and a literal wall of water came over the front of the log, soaking everyone – even the guys in the back! It was hilarious! :funny: We were all laughing hysterically the rest of the way (found our laughing place, huh?). Soaked & dripping, I exited the ride, found a bench, wrung myself out, and checked my camera equipment to make certain it all still worked. No harm done. The water must have woke my stomach up, because I was now very hungry. Pecos Bill’s beckoned.
I decided to pass on my usual burger from here, and opted for the BBQ pork sandwich, with beans, fries, carrot cake and – you guessed it – another iced tea. The sandwich was HUGE! It was big enough to have its own gravitational field! I could only finish about half of it, but it was quite good. I just hoped I would be hungry for my 5:30 ADR at Concourse. Still feeling like a used tea bag, I headed for the Treehouse to do my once-a-trip march thru that attraction. I love the movie, and as a kid I always wanted to spend the night there just once. Ok, I’ll admit it, I still do. After my descent, I headed for the Tiki Room. While still a cute show ( I love the name of the tiki goddess – Uh Oa), it’s too short & I really miss the more laid back, tropical feel of the original. Exiting Tiki, my huge lunch was doing a number on me & I felt a bit tired. Knowing I had a long night ahead, with the evening meet & MNSSHP, I decided to head back to my room for a little nap, doing a bit of shopping along Main Street on the way.
:sleepin:After a nice nap, I woke at 3:45, got around & headed for the bus stop back to MK. Got in line, struck up a conversation with the woman in front of me, and her son when all of a sudden she spies my T-shirt and screams “Oh my God – Intercot!” It actually scared me! It was Amy (Mousefever) and her son Jacob, heading for the meet later that evening. We had a nice conversation on the ride to MK, and then parted ways as I had to get to the Concourse for dinner. Jumping on monorail Lime, I was there in no time at all. Way too early to check in for my ADR, I wandered about, people watched, and did a little tour thru the gift shop. Checked in for dinner at 5:25 & was seated at 5:40. Unfortunately (or so I thought), it was the very first table next to the entrance. It actually was kind of entertaining watching everyone show up for dinner, or trying to get a table without an ADR. Tina, my server, was by far the best I had all week long. A senior from CFU on the CP, this was her second & last stint on the program, as she was hoping to land a “real job” once she graduated. All thru my meal, Tina spent extra time with me, asking about me, my trip, etc. I even was able to get a rousing good plug in for Intercot! My dinner was wonderful. I started with the sea scallop appetizer – 2 huge scallops pan seared perfectly, accompanied by a tasty citrus sauce and a bit of greens. I elected to get the special entrée of buffalo filet, since it was included on the DDP. Wow! About an inch and ½ thick, and the diameter of a hockey puck, it was broiled to perfection, topped with herbed butter & onion crisps, and accompanied by a potato/cheese combo & grilled asparagus. Absolutely wonderful. For dessert, I selected the vanilla crème brulee, which came with some fresh berries. Tasty & not too much. Oh, and of course, I had iced tea to wash it all down with! Tina was so nice, I left her another 10% beyond the DDP gratuity, and sought out the manager to let her know how nice she was, and how much I enjoyed my meal.:tasty:
After dinner, I headed back to MK for the Party & Meet. Getting my wristband, I headed for the Noodle Station to meet up with everyone else. Once everyone arrived, introduced themselves, and chatted for a bit, a big group of us went to Laugh Floor. I hadn’t seen this before, so it was a real treat for me. I thought it was pretty well done, and quite funny. I’m just glad I didn’t end up being “That Guy”, although it does have some possibilities…..Hmm. We then rode TTA, and after I split from the group & wandered around enjoying all the costumes & craziness. A glutton for punishment, I rode IASW again, then headed back towards the Rose Garden, as it was getting close to Hallowishes time. It was a really nice show, with lots of ooh’s & ahh’s, but I still prefer Wishes. After the fireworks, a group of us meandered towards Frontierland for the second parade. We grabbed a great spot, and soon the Headless Horseman was headed our way. The parade was awesome, with lots of ghoulies & ghosties & such, but that darn song got stuck in my head for 2 days!
After the parade I only had 1 more thing to accomplish before I left – a Doombuggy trip thru the HM! Ya just gotta ride the HM during MNSSHP! It’s just wrong not to! Thought it was a nice touch that the CM’s manning the attraction wore extra-creepy makeup & costumes for the night. My ride finished, I (and the ghost following me home) headed for the Pop bus stop - #18 – all the way down at the very end, and my dogs were a barkin’. We waited about 10 minutes for a bus, then proceeded to load. I was boarding & noticed that there was some sort of miscommunication between the driver & another CM, something about “That’s enough for this one, we’ll load another right away”, and the CM hit the close door switch just as a little boy about 3 years old was starting to climb in. The door started to close, and the driver saw that it was closing right on the little guy’s arm! :jaw: He yelled & leapt at the door trying to pry it open bare-handed, and kept a big enough gap for the kid to remove his arm. The other CM opened the door, and to everyone’s relief, the little guy was uninjured. In fact, he just sort of stood there looking perplexed as to why everyone was making such a big deal out of it. His father however, began ranting like a maniac at the top of his lungs, cursing & threatening, and generally acting like a fool. Now, I understand he was upset & scared that his little boy was possibly hurt, and all of those things, but this rant was WAY beyond appropriate! I could see his wife with her head down, red faced, and trying to hide as best she could while dear old hubby went bananas. :angry: Security arrived quickly, and things seemed to calm down a bit. Meanwhile, we’re still on the bus waiting to leave for Pop. A few minutes later, we were told by an apologetic CM that we’d have to exit this bus & board another. Ok, no problem. I just wish I knew what the final outcome of this was. We boarded the second bus, and were whisked back to Pop in no time. I got back to my room at 12, and was in bed & sound asleep by 1. Tomorrow is the big Epcot meet & Illuminations event. Oooh, it’s gonna be fun!