Well, our vacation's nearing an end (I'm using hotel internet right now) and here's a little update on the mini-UD reunion that occurred...
First off, we got to Florida on July 4, got to Orlando on July 5, and pretty much did a lot of shopping on those two days. On the 6th and 7th we hit Sea World and Universal Studios (first time ever at Sea World, and first time at Universal Studios since 1999 - Islands of Adventure excluded as we had done it in 2003 and 2005). Tuesday July 8th was our rest day as we went to Florida Mall and Premium Outlets. But I'm sure you guys would rather hear about Disney...
On Wednesday July 9, the Original New Jersey Trilogy alternated between Epcot and Magic Kingdom throughout the day (yeah, an arduous task if ever there was one). We started at Epcot in the morning, did the three rides we wanted to see (the new and TOTALLY AWESOME Spaceship Earth, the cutesy Seas with Nemo and Friends, and the always-makes-me-totally-psyched Soarin') then took the Monorail to MK.
At MK we took the train to Frontierland and went to Pecos Bill's for lunch. I had been keeping an infrequent contact with Ames (blackcauldron85) and somehow got lost from the family in trying to find her and Mason (Mason_Ireton), both of whom were playing in the park that day with Mason's friend and co-CP Jill. They had fastpasses to Splash Mountain, so after a few choice words and exchanges of dialogue, they went to Splash Mountain while I found my family at Pecos. We had lunch, Kram saw the Dreams Come True parade (whilst I chatted with a former manager I knew who now works Pecos). Afterwards we went to Pirates of the Caribbean. The 'rents and Jane went in ahead of Kram and me, as we waited for Ames, Mason, and Jill. The five of us did POTC together, then met up with the 'rents and Jane. There, we took a picture of the UD members (Jane took the picture so she wasn't in it). Kram should post it up when we get back to Jersey. It's pretty awesome as it's a FIVE-member picture (Me, Ames, Jill, Mason, and Kram), as Jill will be joining UD eventually (Mason's twisting her arm to join).
Anyway after that Ames, Mason, and Jill went to Thunder Mountain while we went to Jungle Cruise and we were supposed to call again but both Kram's phone and my phone died, and we didn't have their numbers memorized. We spent a few more hours at MK, taking in the Swiss Family Treehouse, it's a small world, Snow White's Scary Adventures, and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, as well as the obligatory Family-In-Front-Of-Castle picture. Then we went back to Epcot to see the new Gran Fiesta ride in Mexico, then get dinner in Japan and catch Illuminations. After that, we headed BACK to Magic Kingdom, where we rode Peter Pan's Flight, Haunted Mansion, and watched Spectromagic. With only a half-hour left till park-close, we checked out the Monsters, Inc. Laugh Factory, then rode Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin twice (as soon as we got off the castmembers were yelling "Last ride of the night, come and walk right in!" so we went again!). A long day but we made sure we did everything we wanted to (except for Carousel of Progress
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The next day, the New Jersey Trilogy hit DAK in the morning and early afternoon, Epcot in the late afternoon and early evening, and <strike>MGM</strike> Hollywood Studios at night. At DAK we rode Dinosaur, saw the Finding Nemo musical (OMG, I love it!!!), then did lunch at Pizzafari, followed by two consecutive rides on Expedition Everest (fastpass, then single-rider). We then took a bus to Yacht & Beach Club, where we walked around admiring the resort (and noting that aside from some of the staff and one lifeguard, we were the only minorities there as all the guests where Caucasian). From Y&B we walked to Epcot where we checked out the UK pavilion and the Canada Pavilion, then did Spaceship Earth again.
After that we headed to the Studios where we did Great Movie Ride (the tour guide person wasn't too good, though our Lady Mobster was awesome) and Jane got annoyed at Kram and me as we sang along to "Hooray for Hollywood", "That's Entertainment", "Singin' in the Rain", and "You're Off to See The Wizard/Follow the Yellow Brick Road/etc." After GMR we did the Prince Caspian tour (not much really, but it was nice seeing the broken stone table as well as the CliffsNotes version of the movie, along with the costumes and props). The wait at Toy Story Mania was a ridiculous 80 minutes so we decided to forego it until 9, when the majority of guests would be at Fantasmic. So we browsed around the park for a bit, checking out the AFI showcase (Villains...again), doing goofy stuff in New York Street, and eating at ABC Commissary. By 9 the line for Toy Story Mania was considerably shorter and we went in. It's an AWESOME ride, as it blends 3-D shows, video games, and an actual attraction all together. I'll type more about it later though.
Anyway, after Toy Story Mania we headed over the Fantasmic section where Kram and Jane did Tower of Terror while I bought an Itzakadoozie and waited for them in the gift shop. We then went to Fantasmic, watched it, then browsed the nice air-conditioned shops before heading home. It wasn't until we got to the hotel and I checked my e-mail that I realized that we had forgotten to call Ames to see if she wanted to do DAK/Epcot/Studios with us even though we mentioned it the day before! Sorry, Ames!
It's about 3 pm now and Kram and Jane are still at Aquatica (I hate water parks so I chose to sleep in and catch up on my writing in the hotel room), but we'll be checking out tomorrow and heading back to Jersey.
All in all, a great vacation and as always, I wish it could have been longer. Still, it was a lot of fun, and I look forward to my next visit (be it as a redeemed castmember or as a guest once again, whichever happens first...). This was my first time at Disney since that "dammit" incident and for the first time since 2004, I could experience the parks as a real guest and not as a castmember playing in the parks.
Albert
