Episode MMXIV: We Don't Say Goodbye, We Say Kwahirini (updated 2/28)

[Tracy161]

So happy to hear that you've been so busy lately doing so many fabulous things!!! ChalkFest sounds like it'd be really fun! And I love the Goo Goo Dolls as well and bet they had a great show! I did the ALS ice bucket challenge as well... just last night in fact! I'm in upstate NY also and it was not a warm night... but very happy to take part in it anyway!

Looking forward to your next update!!!

 

[MidnightParade]

Nice to be busy sometimes!! lol, "Doing things, with people" thats sounds like something I could say!

I love your sign! That's pretty clever and fun!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Catching up!

Good to hear all of the details of the photos I saw on FB!

That chalk drawing that you took a photo of is simply amazing. At first I thought it was some sort of three dimensional sculpture!

Sounds like you're having a good and fun end to your summer!

 

[khaleesi]

Wow! I've seen it all on Facebook sure, but when you put it all down in one post like that it's clear to see you're having a heck of a summer. Awesome!
I loved the pictures of the chalk drawings, some seriously amazing stuff.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

It has been incredible!!! Hoping it continues into the fall

Those chalk drawings were unbelievable!! I want to play along next year.

So happy to hear that you've been so busy lately doing so many fabulous things!!! ChalkFest sounds like it'd be really fun! And I love the Goo Goo Dolls as well and bet they had a great show! I did the ALS ice bucket challenge as well... just last night in fact! I'm in upstate NY also and it was not a warm night... but very happy to take part in it anyway!

Looking forward to your next update!!!

Thanks!!! Johnny Goo was really emotional. It was pretty cool. I know they love playing at "home"!

Yay for the ice bucket challenge! I'm seriously considering doing it again when it's NOT hot out. I haven't decided yet though.

Nice to be busy sometimes!! lol, "Doing things, with people" thats sounds like something I could say!

I love your sign! That's pretty clever and fun!

Hehe, thanks!!! I knew I had to work Frozen in there somehow

Catching up!

Good to hear all of the details of the photos I saw on FB!

That chalk drawing that you took a photo of is simply amazing. At first I thought it was some sort of three dimensional sculpture!

Sounds like you're having a good and fun end to your summer!

For the first time in forever, I actually ENJOYED summer! Usually I'm ready for it to just go away!

I can't even explain how cool the chalk stuff was!

 

[khaleesi]

Day Four, Part Four​

This trip was over SIX months ago! Hard to believe. I'm having terrible withdrawal and seriously considering wearing my Magic Band as jewelry. As an alternative (for now), I'm heading to Hot Topic later because I saw they have Finding Nemo jewelry!!! And I really need to start looking into this Disney Bounding thing.

I said at work the other day that I hadn't been to WDW in soooooooooo long. Nobody was sympathetic. Not one single person. Hmpf.

But... I got this picture in a text the other day... it came with the caption "I totally picture you doing this!" And of course once the idea was put into my head, well, I did! I invite you to play along. Hahaha.

(Oops... that's a little large. But I'm too lazy to go edit it. Ahh well.)

The rest of this update is actually a continuation of what I planned on talking about a month ago. So it's not terribly long, but these are the pictures I had uploaded that day.

Anyway... after my yummy Nutella waffle, I headed over to one of my favorite attractions... Mickey's Philharmagic!!

I loved the Lion King show that used to be in this space (and when I say that, it sounds like I go all the time and saw the show a bazzilion times. Nope. Just once. LOL.)

But I've seen Philharmagic a bunch of times. It's an absolute necessity for me. Love the 3D, love the movie clips, obviously ADORE the music. I could have sworn I took a picture of the writing above the doors warning everyone to stay back because they open "automagically", but apparently not. I try to throw "automagically" into conversation whenever possible

After singing along and watching Donald's silly butt stick out of the wall, I headed back over to see if the Little Mermaid ride was back up and running.

And....

Well...

Was it????

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sydney loved this when she went and she talked it up so much. Did I love it as much as she did?

YES!!!!!!!

I've heard others say they didn't really care for it, but I think it's awesome!

The "Under the Sea" scene is probably my favorite... it's so bright and colorful and, again, the MUSIC. Yay!!!

I couldn't wait for Syd to see my pictures and to tell her how much I loved the ride!!

After Eric and Ariel got married, it was time for my FP+ for Enchanted Tales with Belle.

And it was closed.

Blah. I never did wind up seeing it. I never bothered changing my FP+ because I didn't think I would need to. Mistake. The next couple times I wandered around in this area, the wait was really long. But it's at the top of my list for my next trip!

You know what I DID see??? The Tangled restrooms! I had seen pictures on other trip reports and it felt mildly strange to be purposely looking for a restroom for a reason other than the normal reason why I look for a restroom

But oh my goodness. The detail here is like nothing I've ever seen for someone that doesn't really DO anything.

And I know we've all seen the pictures. But guess what? We're going to see them again Because it's just so amazing!!

The lanterns Rapunzel told me she would light for me:

After this, I really needed to head elsewhere. At this point, the weather was still cooperating and I still planned on going to the game.

Any guesses where I headed?

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Automagically is indeed an awesome word!!! I'm saddened that Philharmagic is going to be closed when I'm there. It really is the very best of Disney.

Oh yeah, I too love the Ariel ride, especially where you actually go under the sea. Just brilliant.

Enchanted Tales was closed???? How odd!

 

[MEK]

Sounds like you had a wonderful summer despite an increased work load. So happy you love your job right now!

That chalk art is simply amazing!

I, too, am shocked that Belle was closed. Technical difficulties, perhaps? Could you not have returned with the same FP since it was closed when you were there?

I love me some Little Mermaid, too! Such a pretty ride.

Glad you're back and updating!

 

[teekathepony]

What a great time! I adore Philharmagic too (automagically, those silly geese!)
I love the Little Mermaid ride too! I know some don't care for it, but it is what it is -- a slow, easy ride for kids. And it's done very well.
Too bad about ETWB though. I haven't seen it yet, hopefully this next trip!
The Tangled rest area is so well done. One awfully pretty set of washrooms.
My guess: ESPN wide world of sports???

 

[MidnightParade]

I love Philharmagic! Its just so so so magical!!! I really hope they don't get rid of it for a very long time and then only update it maybe!

Hmmmm...headed for another nutella waffle?!!

 

[Tracy161]

But I've seen Philharmagic a bunch of times. It's an absolute necessity for me. Love the 3D, love the movie clips, obviously ADORE the music. I could have sworn I took a picture of the writing above the doors warning everyone to stay back because they open "automagically", but apparently not. I try to throw "automagically" into conversation whenever possible

​

I am obsessed with that warning!!! I really do think the word "automagically" is way under used... It's up to us to make sure that happens!!! ​

 

[khaleesi]

Automagically is indeed an awesome word!!! I'm saddened that Philharmagic is going to be closed when I'm there. It really is the very best of Disney.

Oh yeah, I too love the Ariel ride, especially where you actually go under the sea. Just brilliant.

Enchanted Tales was closed???? How odd!

Boo to Philharmagic being closed

Agree about going under the sea... so well done!!!

I think it was technical difficulties, if I remember correctly.

Sounds like you had a wonderful summer despite an increased work load. So happy you love your job right now!

That chalk art is simply amazing!

I, too, am shocked that Belle was closed. Technical difficulties, perhaps? Could you not have returned with the same FP since it was closed when you were there?

I love me some Little Mermaid, too! Such a pretty ride.

Glad you're back and updating!

Summer was indeed amazing this year!!! And so glad I'm at a place where I can say I love my job and my coworkers. I've frequently had one or the other, but not both. But now I do

Yeah, I think it was technical difficulties. I probably could have done that with the FP+ but never really thought about it at the time!! D'oh.

Thanks!!!!!! Glad to be back... just don't want my trip report to end. Hahaha.

What a great time! I adore Philharmagic too (automagically, those silly geese!)
I love the Little Mermaid ride too! I know some don't care for it, but it is what it is -- a slow, easy ride for kids. And it's done very well.
Too bad about ETWB though. I haven't seen it yet, hopefully this next trip!
The Tangled rest area is so well done. One awfully pretty set of washrooms.
My guess: ESPN wide world of sports???

So looks like the consensus so far as been that we all love the Little Mermaid ride!! Yippeeee!!!! Sydney will be pleased. Hehe.

Hope you get to see Belle!! You're getting so close!

ESPN... nope!

I love Philharmagic! Its just so so so magical!!! I really hope they don't get rid of it for a very long time and then only update it maybe!

Hmmmm...headed for another nutella waffle?!!

I hope Philharmagic sticks around for a very long time!!!!!

Haha.. nope! Although I would love to be eating one right now!

I am obsessed with that warning!!! I really do think the word "automagically" is way under used... It's up to us to make sure that happens!!!

Agreed!!!!

 

[khaleesi]

Day Four, Part Five​

After spending an unbelievable amount of time in New Fantasyland, I realized I needed to get moving. I still had lots of things I wanted to do AND I would need to leave at some point to go to the Braves game.

So... I limped over to...

The Haunted Mansion!!!!

I think we ALL love HM. How do you NOT?! It's absolutely brilliant and timeless. The stretching room is one of the coolest things in WDW and it's been around since I was a child! Which just makes it all the more amazing. I also love all the little changes they made to the queue. The interactive queues are so genius!

I tried unsuccessfully to take a couple pictures right at the beginning of the ride. So I just enjoyed my trip in my Doom Buggy. At the end, my hitchhiking ghost had replaced my head with his... I now know how C3P0 felt in the battle of Geonosis

The first thing I noticed when I left HM was how CROWDED it had become. There were people everywhere!

The Minnie Mouse ears were starting to hurt my head, but I really wanted a castle picture with them on, so I headed in that direction!!

Thank you, Photopass photographer!

That crane made me really crabby. My sister actually wound up photoshopping it out of the picture when she secretly downloaded four of my pictures from Facebook and had a canvas collage created for my birthday

I'm glad you can see Walt in the background, even if you just see the tips of Mickey's ears. I totally understand why people book very early breakfasts at Crystal Palace!!

It's my favorite thing in the entire World:

And wait until you hear the story of how difficult it was for me to find the counterpart to the Partner's Statue, featuring this classy little lady:

That story takes place later, so it won't be in this post... I know you're all waiting with bated breath!!!

But to ease your pain, here's a picture of a pretty tree

At this point, there was no real rhyme or reason to where I was going. I was trying to fit things in before leaving for the game and I was starting to get overwhelmed by the sheer number of people in the park. NO WAY was this a "3" day at this point. In hindsight, I didn't exactly make the best use of my time and OMGosh my knee hurt!!! I did a lot of backtracking and while it wasn't ideal, wait until the end when you see my step count! Haha.

I headed over to Adventureland and snapped this picture for a friend of mine whose husband is really "into" skulls... not really my thing, but I love the way the picture turned out!!

I headed over to Jungle Cruise... where there was FORTY MINUTE wait. What the heck??? So I did not actually ride Jungle Cruise. I hobbled down those stupid steps, only to immediately hobble back up them

Luckily, the wait for Pirates wasn't anywhere near as long as the wait for Jungle Cruise...

As I was waiting in the queue, a little boy ahead of me was FREAKING OUT. He simply did NOT want to ride this ride. And he was still freaking out when they were loaded into their boat. The poor CM was trying to tell him it wasn't scary, but he wasn't upset because he thought it was... he simply did not want to ride it! Poor kid.

So, remember when Rapunzel warned me of ruffians being spotted in the area?? I think I found them! I made sure my bag with my frying pan was within arm's reach. You know. Just in case *grin*

I love this part that was added after the movies:

For the longest time (before her last trip, when she fell in love with the Little Mermaid ride), if you asked Sydney what her favorite thing at WDW is, she would reply....

Wait for it...

That's right, folks. Her favorite thing in all of Walt Disney World was the foot dangling over the bridge on Pirates of the Caribbean. So much so, that she and my sister used to sing "Yo ho yo ho a pirate's life for me. Dirty foot! Dirty foot!"



And after reading other threads on this board, I have realized that it's NOT that uncommon!



If I didn't know better, I'd think everyone had stolen Jack's rum

----

Happy weekend everyone!!! It's a HAPPY HAPPY week here in Buffalo. For the last several months (actually, the last several YEARS) there has been a very real possibility that we'd be losing our football team. Those fears were wiped away on Tuesday and I cannot even imagine what the atmosphere is going to be like at the Bills game tomorrow!

Enjoy!!!

 

[Tracy161]

Great update, sorry to hear about the growing crowds though! It's always especially a bummer when you aren't expecting them.

Wow, what a very, very sweet thing your sister did for you with the collage!!! You should post a picture!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

That's a perfect word for HM Sue... timeless.

Ooh I know the counterpoint you're referring to, and it is often hard to find since they keep moving it.

I genuinely feel so bad when kids are forced onto things they don't want to do. Not saying that was the case here (being forced), but I have seen it far too often.

That pirate foot is indeed iconic. I have an older sister who hasn't been to Disney any where near the amount I was lucky enough to have been, but she always talks about the hairy leg pirate.

 

[MidnightParade]

Evil crane!!! lol, poor crane though so many people hate it. They should make a Disney movie out of it, about its struggles and no body liking it and then maybe everyone would like it!

 

[MEK]

Love the pic of you in your ears. So adorable!

Sounds like the crowds were pretty crazy that day. 40 minutes for JC is just too long for me, but I'm glad you were able to get on POC, even if you were with a screaming kid. Your holographic picture turned out great!

I love HM. I have to agree with you that so many parts of that ride really are just genius!

 

[librarygeek]

I'm catching up again!

I think you totally should wear your magic band as jewelry! I can't remember if I've told this story to you or other people on the boards, but my very first day of work at my new job, I was really nervous and shy. Then I saw one of my co-workers wearing a magic band and it was the perfect way to start up a conversation. Now we've bonded over our shared love of Disney

I saw that text joke too, and did it to my husband. Somehow he didn't find it as funny as I did!

I'm glad you mentioned the Lion King show that used to be in Mickey's Philharmagic, because it totally sparked a memory for me! I couldn't remember what had been there when I went as a kid, but now I definitely have a few vague memories of it!

I adore the Little Mermaid ride, and so does DH. There are so many amazing small details that just make it so great. Like the fact that your clamshell moves down when you are going "under water" and then comes back up when Ariel gets legs. And the Under the Sea room is so much fun, there's so much to look at!

Sorry you didn't get to see Enchanted Tales with Belle - it's super cute! I do love the Tangled restroom area though. I wish there was a Tangled attraction, but this area is so beautiful!

 

[librarygeek]

Oops, I see there's another update too so now I have to comment on that one!

I do really enjoy HM, but I must admit that I was scared of it for the longest time. I was a huge scaredy cat growing up, and still am in many ways. I hate things that try to scare you, especially stuff popping up at you. I used to ride HM with my eyes closed (this is even just 5 years ago!) and only open them occasionally. I've finally realized that HM is the least scary haunted house in the world and just really cool, so now I keep my eyes open the whole time!

Did you hear that HM is going to get a ride photo? I think it's going to be at the end with the Hitchhiking ghosts. That will be really cool!

Ugh, I hate that crane. It's in all my pictures from my last trip too. Feels like it's always there!

That poor kid before Pirates. If my child was that upset I don't think I'd be dragging them on the ride I can sympathize because as I mentioned early, I was terrified of everything haha.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Sorry your knee was hurting you so much and to walk that way only to not get to ride Jungle Cruise is a huge bummer

That is an awesome gift though to get the collage on canvas - with bonus photoshopping! They need to sell at Disney glasses that if you wear them it automatically takes away the crane and any construction, etc. ... kinda like the opposite of the sunglasses Roddy Piper wore in They Live


"I now know how C3P0 felt in the battle of Geonosis" ... and somewhere there is an imagineer that is thinking "FINALLY! Someone got what I was going for with that effect"

 

[ZehnJahren]

Yes, HM is definitely a classic!

I do get a little irritated when the crowd projections are low and then crowds like that show up!

I haven't got the chance to ride Pirates for awhile now; the line has always been prohibitively long. It used to never be like that; guess if we want to ride we'll need a FP+ for it.