Is it still a selfie if 2 people are in it? Anniversary trip...

[Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie 119]

I really liked your wife's dress. Super cute, simple yet flattering.

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

And accordingly no to my DD(10). If there's more than one person in a picture it's a "Usie". Pronounced Us ee.

[ependydad...Doug 176]

I've been ready along for s few days and finally caught.

I'm really enjoying reading along.

 

Welcome! Hopefully I'll get moving along here now.

 

 

DW also likes a firm massage , I am not a fan .

 

Yeah, I don't get it. Apparently my sister is the same as me. She blames it on our dad doing the Vulcan neck pinch on us when we were kids. #daddyissues

 

 

That is a fail on my part Doug. I should have mentioned you could do that. My apologies. 

40 lashes with a wet noodle.  

 

At least. Our entire trip was ruined because we had to listen to the music from afar. I didn't get a single balcony fireworks selfie in the times we watched the fireworks!

 

 

I really liked your wife's dress. Super cute, simple yet flattering.

 

Thanks! She ordered it from eShakti. It's a pretty neat site where you're able to customize the dress to how you want. She did still have to take the straps in a little, but overall - she was very pleased with it. (Well, except for it turning her blue. It seems these need a good long rinse and repeat washes before it stops doing that.) It took a little while for it to make it here, but overall she's happy.

 

 

And accordingly no to my DD(10). If there's more than one person in a picture it's a "Usie". Pronounced Us ee.

 

I think we need to convince the kids that it's a "Self-us". :)

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

You two are adorable!  And your DW has a great collection of mouse ears.  :)

 

Looking forward to the 24 hour update!

[ependydad...Doug 176]

Now it is time for the much anticipated 24-hour event at Magic Kingdom. I don't think I would make a special trip from far for this, but being here- it was fun to do. We hit all of the major rides that we wanted (except for 7 Dwarves Mine Train, but I'm OK missing that) and had a few firsts for us.

 

Which, the first of first - we've never made a rope drop before. We aren't morning people. Our kids aren't morning people. So we just have never tried. But, for 24-hours of fun, we wanted to leave at about 5:15. Here we are actually at 5:45 on a bus (yes, we took a bus from the Contemporary to the MK; we were there, it was there; we had a long day ahead of us).

 

Today we were Disney-bounding as Mickey and Minnie. She's a far cuter Minnie than I a Mickey.

 

A few minutes later, we were headed up to the bag check & turnstiles:

 

We didn't make it far through the turnstiles before we hit the wall of people. But wife lined us up right in the center, so it was good.

 

With some fireworks, Magic Kingdom was open!

 

But, first- Let Me Take A Selfie:

 

We headed immediately in to say hi to Mickey. In line, we found a woman who apparently really loves Duffey and Shellie Mae. Lots of people were dressed up to this extent- sadly, I took very few pictures.

 

Talking Mickey is pretty cool. I won't lie:

 

And, I knew that I had won when we got out from Mickey and my wife teared up again. She's a cryer and a sweetie.

 

What else was there to do, but get outside and selfie (let me know when you get tired of these):

 

They were preparing to hang the flag:

 

We were preparing to lighten my wallet:

 

What I thought was, "hey, let's get her the Sorcerer's Hat and some spacers turned into so much more. A whole new bracelet, in fact! You'll have to wait for your photo on that until later, apparently, though.

 

So now, walking back through the park... it was time for a castle selife:

And, maybe a smoochie:

(see the nose and eyes- so awkward.)

 

A rare portrait selfie. My hands and phone just aren't made for these:

 

Around the side of the castle, there were no less than 15 people clamoring over each other to take that perfect castle photo. I think that they were all waiting for the sun to just peak through the spires. Meanwhile, I had $tuff to get done. I snapped a photo and moved on.

 

Can you guess where we are? And what we're after?

 

Yes, the infamous nutella waffle. My wife legitimately has a list of snacks and foods from around The World that she wanted to try this trip and this summer. This was tops on her list to get.

 

Being a purist- I don't like mixing real fruit with anything (chocolate or fruit dip), I opted for this:

 

They must plan on you just sliding the food into your mouth with as low as the stools for the tables were there. They couldn't have been more than 18" off of the ground. Strange, but no picture.

 

I do recall not being sure what we wanted to do next. But, I think one of my favorite rides at Disney is the Haunted Mansion, so we did that. First, we stretched:

(Keeping it decent- no under-roos pictures for me.)

 

She's pretty even in the dark:

 

I'm slightly less attractive in the dark:

 

A ride usie is required:

 

Outside, we were disappointed that there wasn't a PP photographer, so we did what any sane couple would do. We took our 134th* selfie with the hearse:

(Note, number made up.)

 

I was very scared. My face was stuck like this:

 

No wait, it went back to normal:

 

Honest, I am capable of taking non-selfies:

 

And then, the doors lie:

 

Let's hope there's never a fire at Peter Pan:

 

Next up, we waited in line like normies for Peter Pan so that we could experience the interactive queue.

[ependydad...Doug 176]

You two are adorable!  And your DW has a great collection of mouse ears.  :)

 

Looking forward to the 24 hour update!

 

Thanks! The irony is that she's bought all of these recently... you know, like since we decided to move out of our house and downsize into a camper! Apparently having dedicated Disney gear is a priority!

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Great pictures.  I can't wait to see your wife's new Disney Pandora bracelet!  And more of the 24 hour event!

[ependydad...Doug 176]

I'm feeling festive, so let's keep going. As I mentioned, we decided to hit up the Peter Pan interactive queue (and ride).

 

First up, look at photos of the journey from Neverland to London. I know what I was checking out:

 

But, the rooms were pretty cool. Tinker Bell flew around and interacted with various furniture (none of which is reflected in this picture):

 

I had only heard of the shadow wall with the bells. I didn't know that butterflies also flew around:

 

(And, I won't lie- I'm a little mesmerized as to how they actually pull off this effect. To have a shadow means you'd have a bright light, but look at yourself- there was no bright light.)

 

Here's Tink in a picture:

 

And we're onto the ride!

 

We hadn't ridden Pirates the last 2 visits to WDW- either due to lines or it being down during our FP time. So I was excited to hit it this morning:

 

Front row seats! I sort of heard my wife mutter, "I don't want to be in the front." So we sat in front.

 

And we saw things:

 

ANNNNNDDDD... there is the drop. And front row seats. And we got wet. Like really wet. I was wet down through my shorts to my tush. Our bag was wet and soaked through. Wet shirts, wet faces, wet glasses. Like holy Splash Mountain Wet*. This picture doesn't do it justice:

 

Clearly, I missed the warning:

 

Anyway, we felt like we needed some corny flakes jokes. Up next was the Jungle Cruise. Waiting in-line selfie:

 

On the boat selfie:

 

Clearly this man knows not of the danger that is behind him:

(or, he's a total boss!)

 

This legitimately is what my campsite looks like when I tent camp with family:

 

I always thought of Disney as a family friendly place. And then there's this guy getting it from a rhino:

 

The hippos laughed and laughed:

 

Thanks be to the Internet, I've learned of a Dole Whip. We were near it and it was hot out by this point, so we decided to get one to share:

 

Being our anniversary, they decided that a loving couple shouldn't share one and Mickey gave us an extra:

 

You'll also notice that I got confused as to what I wanted to order. I think I meant to get a Dole Whip Float, but instead got a Cup.

 

In this picture are 2 things. One of which I really didn't care for at all and threw away after only eating maybe 1/4 of it and the other who I love dearly:

 

Yep. The Dole Whip Cup was a big fat miss in my book. Didn't care for it and didn't know what everyone raved about. Next time I'll try the float.

 

We made our way over to the Tiki Napping Room:

 

Look, there's my wife and two monkeys:

 

The show is about to begin:

 

Talking totem poles:

 

Singing birds:

 

I actually liked the new tiki room that they used to have with the bird from Aladdin. I get very little enjoyment out of this one. But, it's a classic and air conditioned, so we go.

 

WHEW.. gotta break there AND it is still only about 10am. Next up is Splash Mountain where we'll compare and contrast it's level of splashi-ness to PoTC.

[ependydad...Doug 176]

Great pictures.  I can't wait to see your wife's new Disney Pandora bracelet!  And more of the 24 hour event!

 

Keep reading, there's way more 24-hour even than you can shake a stick at. Nothing special, though- it just looks like a regular day at Disney.

[Family of Bears 98]

Doug, you're funny. And you're sweet to your wife. Keep up the good work.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Excellent updates!

 

I'm interested to hear more about your 24 hour day experiences.  I'm glad that you made it to rope drop so you could enjoy the low crowds in the early AM.

 

TCD

[beccaewert 10]

love the report so far

 

I also love seeing the affection between you and your wife.....you can tell you really do love each other

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

Always get the pineapple float.  Even I admit that the Dole Whip on its own is.... meh.

 

And what's up with Pirates and getting soaked?  I noticed this too our last trip.  Seems to only happen when the boat is really full but still, I don't remember more than a few drops in the past.

 

Thanks! The irony is that she's bought all of these recently... you know, like since we decided to move out of our house and downsize into a camper! Apparently having dedicated Disney gear is a priority!

 

Hey, mouse ears don't take up much room. 

[ependydad...Doug 176]

Doug, you're funny. And you're sweet to your wife. Keep up the good work.

 

You're too kind. Careful, it'll go to my head.

 

 

Excellent updates!

 

I'm interested to hear more about your 24 hour day experiences.  I'm glad that you made it to rope drop so you could enjoy the low crowds in the early AM.

 

TCD

 

I really have nothing bad to say about the 24 hour day experience other than it felt like a regular day, just longer and it made Disney look like a little reminiscent of a homeless shelter.

 

 

love the report so far

 

I also love seeing the affection between you and your wife.....you can tell you really do love each other

 

It's easy to love her. Loving me back- I'm still not sure how she does it. It must be my dashing good looks.

 

 

Always get the pineapple float.  Even I admit that the Dole Whip on its own is.... meh.

 

And what's up with Pirates and getting soaked?  I noticed this too our last trip.  Seems to only happen when the boat is really full but still, I don't remember more than a few drops in the past.

 

 

Hey, mouse ears don't take up much room.  

 

 

My big secret is that I get flustered easily and when I went to order, I was as surprised as what blurted out of my mouth as anyone else. I think I knew I wanted a float, but the word just got tongue tied.

 

And yes- very wet. My wife was saying she thinks this is a result of the boat updates that they did recently- them being heavier or something. And we definitely were the front of a completely full boat.

 

There's a lot of little things that don't take up much room on their own. It's going to be interesting in a week or so as we start to pack the camper in earnest. I wont say "I told you so", but I'll think it...

[ependydad...Doug 176]

So, I won't lie- I really did fall asleep during the Tiki Room. I didn't mean to, but I suddenly felt my head bobbing and it weren't for apples. Oh well.

 

What better way to wake yourself up than another first? My wife hasn't ever ridden Splash Mountain. A large part of it is that she doesn't like the idea of walking around in wet clothes. But, since we were soon headed back to the hotel for a siesta, we decided that it was a good idea.

 

We definitely failed at getting a proper background to our usie:

 

We were fully prepared for a terrifying flume adventure and did not exit here:

 

And we're on!

 

I enjoy rides where I know it but she doesn't. I acted like every minor drop was "the big one". She stopped playing along pretty quick, but the ladies behind us were caught by it every time.

 

Riding the ride. It was hard to argue when it was time for "the big one":

 

Looking back at the drop:

 

My wife pointed out the bong lamp:

 

We saw this as we were exiting, but here's a sign where you get onto the ride that lies:

 

We got "splashed". We decided on a "wet ride" ranking from least to most wet:

- Small World

- Splash Mountain

- Pirates of the Carribean

 

I felt gypped.

 

Anyway, we took the train around to Circusville because we were Disney-bounding as Minnie & Mickey:

 

We met Daisy:

 

And Minnie:

 

Outside, they sent the Marching Band to announce our exit from the gift shop:

 

The one band member was a lot of fun. There was a little boy out there shaking his little groove thang. The bander started dancing with him. The boy ran. We laughed.

 

Moving along, Alice, the White Rabbit, and Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee were coming out from their backroom. I can only assume the Hookah Smoking Caterpillar was back there and they were hitting the hookah, but I have no proof.

(ok, a little proof- 1) grown men don't skip unless they're under the influence  2) clearly the cast member on the right was left out- look at that stankface)

 

And with that, we headed back to the hotel for some lunch and naps. The Contempo Cafe is terrible (the food is good, the wait is bad) and instead we decided on room service. It was a little fancy for me, but I got a pulled pork sandwich and she got something. But, the fries- I wish I had a photo of the fries. Quoting my wife, "they were amazing". Slices of potato and big chunks of seasalt and seasoning on them. Crazy good.

 

We napped until our later reservation at The Plaza for a quick bite and to set off our night of fun.

 

See if you can find me in this picture:

 

In case you're ever board, Heinz has the answer- Trivial Pursuit. My daughter and I played this back in April when we were at a Hoss's restaurant. I was a little disappointed that this bottle in Disney didn't have a Disney-slant to it. Ketchup fail.

 

Still new to the "food picture taking"-thing, here's a mostly eaten club sandwich:

 

And a half (or more) eaten cheesesteak:

 

It was good; nothing special, but good none the less.

 

When we finished dinner, a parade was going on. Like good tourists- we stopped for a selfie, but not for the parade:

(Notice the wardrobe change for the wife. Still Disney-bounding as Minnie, but different attire.)

 

I don't know how we missed it, we've never noticed the castle before. Therefore- picture time:

 

 

We were there for one of the shows. We were as close to the stage as the shade would allow.

 

 

 

 

(Maleficent is easily my favorite villain.)

 

But, alas- Mickey wins this time:

 

From here, we made our way to the Laugh Factory for some more corny jokes.

 

 

 

They didn't use my joke:

 

 

More 24-hour event to come...

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Mmmm....your description of the room service fries made me hungry.  I wonder if they are served anywhere else at the CR?  Or do I have to get a room there to check them out.  Because I'll do that.  Anything for a good fry.  

[ependydad...Doug 176]

Mmmm....your description of the room service fries made me hungry.  I wonder if they are served anywhere else at the CR?  Or do I have to get a room there to check them out.  Because I'll do that.  Anything for a good fry.  

They are apparently served at the restaurant and I'll explain later how I know... :)

[Travisma 1,317]

You guys are just blasting thru the rides! We got skunked when we went Friday night. Rained out on 2 of the 3 rides. It was hot, wet and crowded.

[ependydad...Doug 176]

You guys are just blasting thru the rides! We got skunked when we went Friday night. Rained out on 2 of the 3 rides. It was hot, wet and crowded.

Having 18+ hours at a park in a day helps. :) The early morning made a huge difference. We waited less than 20-minutes for most everything. She kept an eye on some app (not the Disney one)- and we paid attention to its suggestions.

We used our FastPasses for Wishes and the Main St. Electrical Parade. I forget what our third was now, though...

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

 

 

We got "splashed". We decided on a "wet ride" ranking from least to most wet:

- Small World

- Splash Mountain

- Pirates of the Carribean

 

I felt gypped.

 

 

Haha... too funny.  I think you're the first person I've heard, upset that they didn't get really wet    Love it!!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

See if you can find me in this picture:

I see you in the mirror. Cool photo.

 

 

Still new to the "food picture taking"-thing, here's a mostly eaten club sandwich:

What the H-E-Double Hockey Sticks is going on in that photo?

Someone had "house made" chips instead of steak fries?

Mind blown.

TCD

[ependydad...Doug 176]

Haha... too funny.  I think you're the first person I've heard, upset that they didn't get really wet    Love it!!

 

The funny thing is- I've ridden Splash Mountain maybe 4 or 5 times and literally have never gotten very wet. I rode the similar plume ride at Sea World and came away drenched from head to toe. My daughter, her friend, and the friend's Mom rode Splash Mountain a few years back and they had to buy new t-shirts because they were so wet. I guess it's luck of the draw.

 

 

I see you in the mirror. Cool photo.

 

 

What the H-E-Double Hockey Sticks is going on in that photo?

Someone had "house made" chips instead of steak fries?

Mind blown.

TCD

 

"home made" chips > steak fries. Any day of the week. I don't care if they make them right there, in a central kitchen, or even truck them in (as long as the texture is fine). I love them danged things.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

"home made" chips > steak fries. Any day of the week. I don't care if they make them right there, in a central kitchen, or even truck them in (as long as the texture is fine). I love them danged things.

 

In addition to being much, much better looking than you, your wife is also much smarter, as I see she ordered steak fries.

 

Those "house made" chips are, indeed, shipped in from some factory (probably from New Jersey or someplace).

 

TCD

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

When Sarah and i rode Splash Mtn., she very much wanted to ride in the front row.  When we got to the point of being told which row to go to for boarding, we asked if we could have front row and they were happy to oblige.  (It meant waiting for one log to load.)  

 

We got very wet!  Not buy new shirts wet, but wet enough that I was glad i insisted on putting the electronics in a ziplock bag.

[ependydad...Doug 176]

Ok, so moving right along- way too many photos for a single park day. I'm sure I'll wear out my welcome (and stay anyway).

 

What's next? So here's where the crowd was starting to show. There was a line and a guy with one of those signs that kept moving back saying "herethe lies the end of the peoplemover line-th". I don't have a picture of him, but surprise, surprise- SELFIE!

 

Without kids, we got to sit on the same side!

 

This caught my eye, we'll investigate that shortly.

 

Obligatory Castle Picture. I do welcome the new Spires that are coming. (I saw on FB that someone saw part of one on a flat bed on I-4.)

 

Investigating that chalk thing. It's a 3D perspective piece.

 

Standing in line is so much more bearable without kids. Especially without my now 3 year old who wants to climb and sit and hang and play and yell and laugh and get mad and climb and sit and hang and play and yell and laugh and get mad and climb and sit and hang and play and yell and laugh and get mad and climb and sit and hang and play and yell and laugh and get mad and climb and sit and... well, you get the picture. So we waited our turn and got this picture:

(You can't see it, but we're holding hands- cute, ain't we?)

 

Lots of random film crews:

 

And, here's part of why. This is Ally from Austin and Ally taking selfies with people's cameras:

 

And here's Dez from the same show:

 

We sent these pictures to my daughter who was VERY jealous. Had she been there, I'm sure I would have been tasked with kicking kids and punching babies to get her up to the front.

 

And then we used our FPs for Wishes. While it seems like a terrible use of FastPasses- it is actually quite ideal for my family. We aren't ones to sit and hold a spot for a long time. So generally we sort of walk up and get whatever terrible viewing angle that we end up with. As you can see, we still didn't prepare ahead of time and showed up just prior to the show starting.

 

We picked a spot towards the back (closest to the corner bakery) where there was some open ground. We were much disappointed when about 10 minutes before the show, CMs came around and said that it was standing only and we had to stand for the show.

 

And now, fireworks. Remember to compare these against the view from the Contemporary. :)

 

I keep telling her that I pay extra just so they do the heart-shaped fireworks just for her, but she doesn't believe me.

 

Fireworks:

 

As a spot for watching the fireworks, I really liked this FP area. However, don't stand at the back against the railing like we did. The near constant shouts from CMs that "you can't stand here; move along; nothing to see here; yes, you- I mean you need to move along" was fairly distracting.

 

Anyway, in preparation for our upcoming trip (which starts in 2 weeks and a day, btw) - we joined an organization called Fulltime Families. On their Facebook page, I have been communicating with another family who are about to start their journey. Very similar families with our daughters being the same age and both of us have sons (his is a little younger than his daughter, but still quite older than my son). They live in the Orlando area. And we kept talking about getting together. He texted me saying that they were coming to the 24-hour event for a few hours with some friends of theirs. So, this is the text that I sent him back:

 

hey, I just met you

and this is crazy

but here's a favor

do it, maybe...

 

My wife and I get fairly regular headaches and we were going to run out of Excedrine Migraine before the trip was up. I wasn't sure what I was going to do about it and actually considered a cab to the nearest drug/grocery store. Steve and his wife were happy to stop for us.

 

And, we got to meet them for the first time. Interestingly, our park riding was just about opposite from each other until we caught up outside of Peter Pan. Being that the lines were pretty brutal for most everything at this point, we did the only logical thing and went and watched Mickey's Philharmagic Orchestra:

 

Being a terrible picture taker when it is important- the only picture I have of us with our new friends is the selfie above. Steve's in the red hat at the very edge of the picture.

 

We are looking forward to going back to Orlando in a couple of weeks so that we can spend a few evenings with them.

 

After our quick meet and greet, we made our way up to Main Street in preparation for the Main Street Electric Parade. Since there hadn't been a show in a while, we got to walk through the castle. It was crowded in there, so no "under the castle"-selfies. But, in case you haven't seen it before, here is the castle:

 

And we selfied out in front:

 

The Crystal Palace:

 

AND.. we were chased inside of the theater:

 

By this:

 

But, it wasn't terrible:

 

I do believe this was about the time that Travisma says he got rained out from his rides. It threatened with lightning from about the time Wishes was on until close to midnight. We hung out inside a bit and then you'll never believe what happened.