No Work and All Play – Disney on the Company’s Dime! (8/1 There and Back Again)

[boxmaster]

Originally Posted by thecapells

And then the “Peter Pan” pose.
Thankfully the photographer suggested this one since the one thing I discovered about solo trips is I had no idea how to pose by myself!
I usually hold one of the kids or hug Mom but you’ll notice as we go on, in a lot of my pics I look like I have no idea what to do with my hands.

Yer bein' harrrrd on yerself.

Don't worry about it. Yer harrrrdly the only one this happens ter. (OK, enough with the pirate talk. ) We used to joke about two of the actors on the show I used to work at. You could tell they had the same issue if they didn't happen to have a prop in their hands, especially if they were in the scene together, which was often.

The castle looks great in all those different colors at night. Kinda like the Empire State Building, only more magical.

[3girls4me05]

I'm here and can't wait to read more. Love the castle in pink. As a mom of three girls I appreciate pink
Can't wait to hear more.

[Echo queen]

I'm in can't wait read.

[thecapells]

Originally Posted by praisehisname

Great pictures! I love the castle at night!

It is a site - always make you smile

[thecapells]

Originally Posted by boxmaster

Yer bein' harrrrd on yerself.

Dude - that's bad - even for you!!

Originally Posted by boxmaster

The castle looks great in all those different colors at night. Kinda like the Empire State Building, only more magical.

Yeah, I'd say the Castle trumps the Empire State pretty easily.

Originally Posted by 3girls4me05

I'm here and can't wait to read more. Love the castle in pink. As a mom of three girls I appreciate pink
Can't wait to hear more.

Actually I just think it's neat that it changes colors and looks great in all of them!

Originally Posted by Echo queen

I'm in can't wait read.

Then off we go!

[thecapells]

I figured since I was dressed appropriately, it was fitting to start my adventure with some Pirates


And who better to start a Pirate Adventure than a message from Davey Jones himself.
I tried to get a video of the cool effect:


Now one of the promises I made on this trip to the kids was that I would video everything so they could experience my trip when I got home.
This especially applied to the things they haven’t experienced yet.
I also decided to video some of the dark rides as the video comes out better than pics with no flash.
In addition, I thought I’d be able to “cut” out any shots from the video if they were good and use them as my pics.
So you’ll see a lot of that in my report.
For example, I took a video of the “we wants the redhead” scene but it was a bit dark and choppy.
I thought I could salvage this pic though:


I also had video on when I reached the doggie with the key.
So here’s a snapshot from that video:


And I was determined to capture Johnny Depp’s version of “Yo Ho” at the end but it was really bumpy at the end of the ride.
Here's the best I could do:


At least I was able to snag a decent snapshot from the video:


Lastly, I took a minute this time around to explore the gift shop some.
There’s some neat stuff in here!


By now, I was in full Disney mode.
It was about 8:30 and I hadn’t eaten dinner but I really was not very hungry.
There was too much to do and so little time.
The park was only open to 11 and I wanted to hit Spectro at 9 and Wishes at 10!
So I figured I could grab something on the go.
El Pericho was closed of course (one day that will be open) and Pecos Bill’s seemed like a lot of food.
I also wasn’t really in the mood for Golden Oak Outpost nuggets.
So I pressed on through Frontierland and into Liberty Square.
And what attraction should one definitely ride when the skies outside are dark?
Stay tuned and join me – if you dare…

[All7OfUs]

Sheesh, my bad!

If I had known you'd started I'd have been on page one!! I should have known better to check your siggie more often!!

Ah well... better late then never.

First off...

I hate that Mears gave you a hard time. That really stinks!

I also am steamed that the shuttle was misrepresented to you. Not a good way to get that magical feeling working for you.

But like you say, how could you stay grumpy once you hit the tunnel, and see the castle??

I had a feeling you'd hit Pirates first. The shirt gave it away.

HA! The great Photopass conundrum. Maybe you've acquired new skills in the everlasting vexation of what to do with your hands?

Great start!!

[praisehisname]

Great update! I'm going to try your videoing idea, since our kids aren't coming with us this trip!

[meeko_33785]

I can't even imagine staying off-property and not having a car! I'll be interested to see how that works out and if you have to take a taxi every time.

That's really sweet of you to video everything for the kids.

Sounds like a really rough arrival but a great first ride once you get to the park. Hope things only get better from here.

[dawnbu40]

You were off to a rough start but here's hoping the Disney magic kicks in and from here on it's all good!

[pipersmom]

Hooray for the start! Okay, that shuttle thing was just horrible, I hate it when hotels misrepresent things like that. Personally I'm hoping you meet another Disney-phile at the conference that you can hitch rides with! It looks like you had a great first night once you got there though. I'm guessing Haunted Mansion for the night ride, though that might be an easy guess, lol..I haven't been in so long I don't even know anymore what's IN Liberty Square! I hear you on the photo thing too, I hate getting my picture taken in general, Piper makes a good shield, lol.

[thecapells]

Originally Posted by All7OfUs

Sheesh, my bad!

If I had known you'd started I'd have been on page one!! I should have known better to check your siggie more often!!

Ah well... better late then never.

First off...

I hate that Mears gave you a hard time. That really stinks!

I also am steamed that the shuttle was misrepresented to you. Not a good way to get that magical feeling working for you.

But like you say, how could you stay grumpy once you hit the tunnel, and see the castle??

I had a feeling you'd hit Pirates first. The shirt gave it away.

HA! The great Photopass conundrum. Maybe you've acquired new skills in the everlasting vexation of what to do with your hands?

Great start!!

Was wondering if you'd make it over here!
Yeah, I'm still pretty pissed at Mears.
And BVS told me several times on the phone that they have shuttles back and forth all day.
I understand their schedule makes sense for most people.
But stopping after like 2:00 basically torpedo'ed my plans (and anybody else who planned to attend the conference during the day).

Originally Posted by praisehisname

Great update! I'm going to try your videoing idea, since our kids aren't coming with us this trip!

Yeah, my camera takes pretty decent videos and the kids had a blast when I got home.
It actually got them even more excited to see stuff in person.
And it was cool since I got some video of stuff they'll never get to see (more on that later).

Originally Posted by meeko_33785

I can't even imagine staying off-property and not having a car! I'll be interested to see how that works out and if you have to take a taxi every time.

That's really sweet of you to video everything for the kids.

Sounds like a really rough arrival but a great first ride once you get to the park. Hope things only get better from here.

It definitely took some re-arranging to pull off the trip once I found about the shuttle schedule!

Originally Posted by dawnbu40

You were off to a rough start but here's hoping the Disney magic kicks in and from here on it's all good!

Yeah, things got much better from here on.
Didn't I seem like I was in a good mind?

Originally Posted by pipersmom

Hooray for the start! Okay, that shuttle thing was just horrible, I hate it when hotels misrepresent things like that. Personally I'm hoping you meet another Disney-phile at the conference that you can hitch rides with! It looks like you had a great first night once you got there though. I'm guessing Haunted Mansion for the night ride, though that might be an easy guess, lol..I haven't been in so long I don't even know anymore what's IN Liberty Square! I hear you on the photo thing too, I hate getting my picture taken in general, Piper makes a good shield, lol.

No such luck on the Disney-phile but I did okay.
As for photos, I'm definitely not shy - just realized I need to invent some poses.

[WrightFamily06]

We stayed off property several times in a rental home which worked out well w/ our car or a rental car . I remember though when I was in middle school staying at a hotel near WDW with my family and we had the same problem as u the shuttles to the parks we few and far between . I myself though have to say we prefer staying on property also , mostly for the dinning , we always take our own car though due to the fact that WDW buses & my stomach don't get along ! LOL Beautiful pictures , POC is our Fav WDW ride . I'm saying your on your way to the HM , can't wait to see the pictures !

[HilJoy14]

We have stayed off-property several times and enjoy it. We almost always stay at the Hilton across the street from Downtown Disney. (Another option that we'll probably try, because it is cheaper, is the newly remodeled Regal Sun, also a block or so from Downtown Disney.) If you stay there, you're right by the Disney bus stop.

But if I was staying off-site, I would rent a car. It's something like $12 per day, and we like to come and go as we please.

(Just trying to let you know that staying off-site isn't always bad...)

Glad you perked up once you got to WDW. I know that would put me in a better mood right away!

[kbheap]

Your TR is off to a good start. Can't wait to read more.