Disney 2015 - Day 2

So, we just came back from MK for a bite to eat, and to change into our costumes for MNSSHP tonight. Figured I'd write this while it's fresh. (Cancel that. Didn't finish earlier, so instead of being a Part 1 and Part 2, now you're getting it all at once.) LAZY.

Got up a bit later than planned this morning, but it wasn't so bad, since the clocks changed, and it was an hour earlier than I thought! Got ready to go for the day, and decided to shave now so that I didn't have to later. I figure Peter Pan shouldn't have a full beard. I mention this only because I want to rant. See, for the last few years, I've been using a straight razor. The type than Sweeney Todd uses. The first time he used it I was sitting in the bathroom terrified I was going to watch him slit his own throat. My noises of concern were deemed unhelpful. It was tricky to get used to, but I love it now. Sadly, it's in bad need of sharpening, and I figured it'd be just as easy to leave it at home and pick up a regular razor. I got one of the 5-blade ones, with the trimmer on the back. Fusion, I think? Anyway, I hated it. Every pass I took, I clogged the razor with hair. It took longer for me to shave than it did for Rin to shower, get dressed, do her hair, etc, etc. I am not fast. (Please imagine this in Baymax's voice.) Getting my straight razor sharpened as soon as I get home, now.

Anyway, on to Magic Kingdom! We decided to forego getting a rental car this trip, so we're relying on Disney Transport. I haven't fully formed an opinion about it yet, but this morning took forever to get a bus, and then we were pretty much packed in like sardines. Yeah, meh. Not bad, not great, I kinda miss the car, but we'll see. Didn't take too long to get to MK though, and it was nice to be right at the entrance.

After entering with our Magic Bands (no major issues with them yet) (except that I suck at them), we went directly to Harmony Barber Shop to see if we could manage a walk in. I had tried making an appointment, but by the time I got around to it, they were all booked up. They took my name, said it would probably be about 2 hours, but to check back in an hour just in case. Awesome, I honestly didn't think I'd even get in.

So we wandered down Main St, Rin got her first glimpse of the Castle and got giddy BECAUSE CASTLE, then stopped at the Bakery, and picked up a couple drinks and snacks. I had a giant brownie (which I still haven't finished) and a chocolate smoothie (which was very meh), while Rin got a Bacon, Gouda, and Egg Breakfast Sandwich (bury me in gouda please) and a Strawberry Acai Refresher (also in this). Hers actually counted as a QS meal, while mine was two Snack Credits. I was planning to do a cost analysis again, but the receipts don't seem to show total cost anymore. Huh. We may try to look up all the costs later. Kept the receipts anyway.

We ate and drank as we wandered Main St some more, and slowly made our way toward Big Thunder Mountain. We had a FastPass+ and it was approaching. We got to the area a bit early, so stopped in one of the shops, got our pictures taken at a PhotoPass spot, then got into line. First ride of the trip! No dancing! I think it was a good choice, and it seems like they've added/refurbed it a bit since we were here last. Nothing major, just some little things I've never noticed. By the time we got off, it was over an hour since we checked in at Harmony. So, we headed back to Main St, and got to the shop just as the name ahead of me was being called. So, we watched some kids get their first haircuts, and Rin was in heaven. Okay, but, OMG BABIES. 

My barber was Nicole, and she was awesome. She and Rin talked a lot (I'm naturally quiet), and at the end, I got some official Pirate Booty (The male version of Pixie Dust), (I maintain it was dust - the man was Peter freaking Pan) and she even added some gold, since Pirates love gold. It wasn't the cheapest cut I've ever had, but it wasn't the most expensive either, and I'd definitely do it again. I only wish they could've shaved a Mickey into the side of my head, but Nicole said they don't do that. To the horse barber (for reference, Tri Circle D Ranch has Mickey heads on the sides of their horses)!

Next up, Sorcerer's of the Magic Kingdom. Rin's been wanting to do this since it was announced, so it was a no brainer to go start our hunt. I don't know if it's changed since it was first announced, but it seems a bit more involved than I remember the description being. We're actually still in the middle of our mission, so we'll see if we manage to finish before we leave for the week. But so far, so good. Like a scavenger hunt that adults can do without feeling completely stupid! THIS IS ALL I HAVE EVER WANTED.

After a few Sorcerer spots, we hit Pirates of the Caribbean and then Jungle Cruise. Hook! Hook! Where's the hook! I may or may not have bought a hook. Also, saw another scavenger hunt that I plan to look into. Both just as good as I remember, though we've still never had a Skipper as good as our first one. He was amazing. After that, we headed back to the room for the break I mentioned at the start. Got a slice of pizza, some pasta for Rin, orange juice, water, Mickey Rice Crispie Treat, and a pumpkin muffin. Not too bad. Not great, but not bad. The pumpkin muffin went kinda like gooey mushy in my mouth, I was hoping for something a bit spongier. Pasta was decent, though. Got changed into our costumes (Pan and Hook) (hence the hook!), and headed back for MNSSHP. I glued a feather to his ear. He is ridiculously tolerant of me dressing him up.

For some reason I really wanted this picture while standing at the bus stop.

So, MNSSHP. First thing, check out Haunted Mansion. Unfortunately we were there a bit before the party actually started, so the ghost outside (Renata?) wasn't there yet. But, Haunted Mansion is still awesome, so on we went. Worth it. Even if we did break down like three times and I thought I might actually die. Then, some pictures with Gaston (ha, he was amazeballs! We were the last ones in line - we were passing by and it was already  closed, I think, but buddy let us through because he was awesome that way. Gaston talked with us for like, five minutes, too. He said some people just get so overwhelmed in his presence that their toes go all tingly and I showed him my hook and said I couldn't feel my fingers. He was concerned. As we were leaving I mentioned I had never seen a neck quite so incredibly thick as his and he taught us about chin ups - you put your chin up, and smile.) (Oh! And then we got La Fou's Brew. Good for the first and last bits, but the middle was too aplple-juicey for me. But I dislike apple juice, so there's that.) and Peter Pan's Flight (this was our only ride on Peter Pan's flight since it was slated to close November 3rd for refurb) (WHHHHHHYYYYYYYYY. Oh my God, though, the new queue area is fan-friggan-tastic. I'm not sure Zife has ever really expressed my deep and true love for Peter Pan before, but I teared up in theis cue because I was IN the Darling's house and it was fantastic.) and on to New Fantasyland. This is the first we've been back since New Fantasyland has been finished. I mean, when we were here last, the new queue for Winnie the Pooh had just opened, and the wall was still up. I'm pretty sure Snow White's Scary Adventure was still running too. Oh no! I forgot that was gone!

Alas, we didn't actually get much done at New Fantasyland, since Jack and Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas were there. So we hung out to get shots with them. It was awesome. Though Rin thinks they could do Jack's face better. It was the longest line in the history of forever, but it's so so beyond cool that they're at WDW now and not just Disneyland. It's my little sister's favourite movie of all time, so the wait was totally worth it. Plus, because they're both technically face characters we got to talk to them for quite a while. It was pretty cool they were so excited to see Captain Hook because they're kind of bad guys but not at all? Like, they were just like "Ooo, hey buddy! How'd you catch the flying guy??" and they talked to Zife about the glitter in his hair and we told them it was fairy dust from Tink. Sally wanted to know if putting her in a bottle of potion would help get the dust, and I said sometimes I poke her a little with the hook. Jack was grateful for the tip. We also got to take selfies with them, which actually seemed pretty common with these guys. I think that's a whole new level of cool with the photo ops. The photographer took lots of pics, though, and the handler took a bunch with our camera, too.

Not the greatest picture, but I haven't activated our Memory Maker yet.

Got a bit of candy, but not much. I feel like it was a lot harder to find candy stations this year than last time we went... however long ago that was. Poor Zife, one of the things we got the most of is coffee caramels. 

We got a decent position for the parade, and actually managed to see the Headless Horseman this time. I expected him to move faster than he did. Slowpoke. This is probably my favourite parade WDW does, simply because of the gravediggers. They're pretty badass, no lie. Though, I'm sad that the groundskeeper and his dog weren't in it this year.

Zife actually skipped a little bit here. After the parade we wandered back to the Haunted Mansion to see it all done up for the party. Renata (I think??) was there - I like her, she's very funny. We went into the line to get the PhotoPass pics with the horseless carriage that they superimpose a ghost onto. I look like the many chinned wonder in the "Act scared!" pic, but it was still a good time. From there we wandered over to Memento Mori, having never actually been there before. The cast members all seemed a little bored - they were reading each other ghost stories and trying on hats, but that's the kind of time when it's the most fun to see them. I love interacting with cast members being goofy. One gave us some Mickey stickers, and another regaled us with a story while his castmates provided the sound effects (there was a tense moment when they couldn't quite think of what to do for thunder, but crinkled paper saved the day). Yet another greeted me with "Ahoy!" as we rounded the corner and proceeded to die laughing when she thought I responded with "Okay." (I said hi, but the moment remains the same.)

Zife would like the thank life, the universe and everything for providing me as his wife and BFF because he forgot all this. 

After the parade was Happy Hallowishes, not my favourite fireworks show, but still awesome. And then it was time for The Sanderson Sisters. This show was awesome, and since we'd just watched Hocus Pocus the night before, it was kind of perfect timing. The sisters were perfectly cast, and I loved getting to see all the villains, especially now that some of the old 'masked' characters are face characters now. Ok, but holy crap, they were like "last time we came back was twenty-two years ago!" and isn't THAT the way to make a guy feel old. But seriously, they were amazing. They obviously studied their characters well from the voices to the facial expressions to Sarah kinda swinging off things and petting the men. And they sang I Put a Spell on You. So, you know, perfect. By this point it was well after midnight, and time to go back to the resort. Well, if you want to be technical, by this time it was well after midnight and time to duck into Casey's because we were starving and had been burned by the food court before. We just got some fries and ice water, but the fries were, frankly, delicious. I was really impressed. The water we seem to be getting this year is overwhelmingly tap water rather than water from the spout in fountain drink stations. I mean, yeah, it hydrates you, but at what cost? I take a sip and feel like I'm breathing out chemicals, blech. We hopped on the bus back to the hotel and ran to our rooms to grab our cups so I could test the "Hey, maybe the water spouts work after midnight" theory. They did. Huzzah! One less thing to hate about Value! But yeah, in the words of Zife - Goodnight!

OH! I almost forgot, I got a new pirate joke from the guy directing us to our bus stop. Where did Captain Hook get his hook? The second hand shop. Badum CHE!

Disney 2015 - Day 1

Hello, and welcome to another (semi) live Trip Report! It's been a while, but we're finally back in Disney. This trip is a lot different than our last, much more budget oriented. It'll be interesting to see how everything goes, from the Value Resort, to the lack of car, to the DDP as opposed to the DxDP. I'll try to bring Rin into the mix a bit more this TR (he's gonna regret that), and she'll be typing in red again. So, on with the show!

Today was just a travel day, really. Our flight was out of Buffalo on Southwest, direct to Orlando. It was our first time on Southwest, and our first time flying out of Buffalo. The airport was nice, though smaller than Toronto. We decided to try Checkers for the first time, since there was one in the airport and we were getting hungry, but wish we hadn't. It really wasn't so great. Buffalove. That's what I got from the airport. That and I wasn't allowed to buy the 9 dollar shot glass that said it.

The flight was uneventful, though I have to say, I'm a big fan of Southwest's laid back attitude, and I'll definitely fly with them again in the future. Um, excuse you, the flight had a ridiculously cute baby sitting in front of us, AND they played Thriller as we were disembarking. Those are events, my friend.

Got to MCO ahead of schedule, and made our way to DME. It was our first experience with DME, and it was just mediocre. The Cast Members were pretty apathetic, and it just seemed not-Disney. The trip was decent though, and I enjoyed the DME TV with its little behind the scenes tidbits and whatnot. I like that their video thingy basically wraps up its info-sesh just as you're entering Disney property.

Once we made it to our resort, All Star Sports, I was a bit underwhelmed. I mean, I knew it would be different than AKL, obviously. But, even the CMs didn't seem as happy and magical. That, I don't think I was expecting. After we checked-in and got our Magic Bands (yay!), we made our way to the food court to get our refillable mugs. Easy enough, but I feel like the Magic Bands made the whole interaction impersonal. I'm not even sure the CM really said anything to us. He did not. We got more of a back and forth from the teenagers at Tim Hortons in Buffalo. Also the drinks are on a timer, which sucks, because I was one step away from mummification so I downed my water and went for more and they were all "negative ghost rider." which, okay, pop, I can see. Cause, like, maybe they're dumping into everyone's bottles for the day or whatever. But water? For Serious?

Finally, we made our way to the room. We got a room with two double beds, as there were no king rooms left by the time we checked in, (and the area we requested is apparently preferred so that was also a no go. For some reason this also nixed our high floor request. Such is life.) so we moved some furniture around and made a giant bed. Take that, Disney! We'll see if we get in trouble tomorrow... Yeah, I enjoy sleeping with my husband, but I generally resist sleeping on top of his ribcage. It was Super Bed or going the way of the Ricardos, frankly.

Our Massive Bed. And Rin!

We had planned to hit up Disney Springs tonight, but since we didn't get checked in and settled until around 10:00pm, we decided to hang out in the room. I would've liked to go swimming, but since we'd planned on Diseny Springs, we didn't pack anything in our carry on for swimming. Oh well, it's giving me time to write this. He seriously considered swimming anyway. I saw the look in his eyes. The boy is a fish.

Also, in regards to DME, it turns out that when you arrive late, they won't automatically bring your luggage to your room. They wait until morning unless you request it ASAP. Unfortunately, no one told us this on check in. I haven't slept in so many hours and I need to take my contacts out. 

Finally, we went to get some food. Got to the food court at 12:03am, and it turns out the food court closes at 12:00am. There were still people in line to order, but a Cast Member told us, rather shortly, that they had closed. I get that though. The pharmacy I work at routinely has people coming in last minute, or trying to get in after the door is locked, and nothing annoys me more than that. I just think she could've been a bit less abrupt about it. She was mean, man. And it wasn't just one, it was like, two of them, and they descended upon us like the wrath of God. Oh, and the drinks are closed until then, too. The self serve drinks. Including the water. Mickey would never stand for this.

Well, I suppose that's it for tonight. Just sitting here waiting for luggage now, and then time for sleep. Off to Magic Kingdom tomorrow! I get grumpier faster than Zife does, and the lack of tylenol/water/contact case/sleep isn't helping matters. So far my Disney has been a little more Motel 6 than I'd really like, but tomorrow we go to my fav place and it can only go up from here!