maryryanbogard | Entries tagged with disney trips

Remember our earlier plans to at least briefly visit Downtown Disney- sorry, Disney Springs- including DisneyQuest which is sadly on the chopping block? Yes, those plans were cancelled after we ended up driving to Orlando and got caught in that traffic jam and indeed the day after we attended Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party was the day our cruise departed. But lest you forget, my travel companion was the woman who up and drove us down when flying down didn't work out, and since I had done the online check-in for the cruise I was able to choose a port arrival timeframe that left us with a couple hours to kill even after factoring in the time it would take to get to Port Canaveral from Disney World. Oh yes, and our vacation package came with two vouchers for free admission to DisneyQuest (as well as some other coupons we never used nor intended to use). So once we were all packed and checked out of the hotel, we made our way to Disney Springs, or at least the part thereof containing DisneyQuest (the so-called "West Side"). (No, there were no PhotoPass/Memory Maker people anywhere around there; all pictures here are from my own camera.)

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The whole experience was bittersweet in two ways. First, there's that whole thing about DisneyQuest shutting down (as of this writing it's still open, but for how much longer- either way I hope that statue and those arcade cabinets find good homes elsewhere in Disney World). Second is that this really was the end of my time in the Most Magical Place on Earth (the Happiest Place on Earth is in California; Florida uses "most magical" instead). My vacation, however, was really just beginning.

Current Mood: happy
Current Music: Buckner & Garcia - Wreck It, Wreck-It Ralph

As I mentioned back when I first announced this trip, the reason I wanted to go in October was so I could attend Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party- MNSSHP for short- after years of envying other cosplayers' photos of them in the Magic Kingdom itself in full cosplay. Don't get me wrong, I'd gladly go to Disney whenever and just wear Disneybound outfits at most, but an opportunity's an opportunity (and it turned out there was another good reason to go when we did- more on that when I get to the cruise portion). Of the many Disney costumes I own, I chose Jubileena Bing-Bing (the cherry girl from "Wreck-It Ralph") because 1) she was never actually meetable or part of any parades or stage shows (thus no chance of being mistaken) and 2) even at conventions and during her movie's heyday you didn't/don't really see too many people dress as her anyway. As for my mother, well, since the only Olaf costumes are of the "mascot" (or worse, "sexy") variety, Elsa was the next best thing (in the costume my grandmother made, not one of the "sexy" costumes of her that sadly also exist).

Anyway, once we had donned said costumes we took the bus back to the Magic Kingdom (driving in the Elsa costume didn't seem like a good idea), which from the gate looked like this:

( Costumes, fireworks, a parade, and ghosts )

Anyway, it may not sound like we really did all that much. But we came, we saw, we ~~conquered~~ cosplayed. And I'd say we got our money's worth out of it.

We were quite exhausted, though, so it wasn't a moment too soon seeing these guys again:

So ended the "land" portion of our "Disney by Land and by Sea" vacation. Or did it?

( Continued... )

Current Mood: chipper
Current Music: Betty Taylor, Bill Lee, Paul Frees, The Mellomen, and Thurl Ravenscroft - Grim Grinning Ghosts

( And a little bit of Adventure, but mostly Tomorrow and Fantasy )

Next up: Mickey's-Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, and why I decided to break day two into three parts.

( Continued... )

Current Mood: giddy
Current Music: Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke - Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

Our second day in the Magic Kingdom was another early morning for Mom and me. This time it was because we had a breakfast reservation. Remember that building I took a picture of at the end of that first night in the Magic Kingdom, saying we'd be inside it in a matter of hours? That's a restaraunt called The Crystal Palace. While we were pretty much saving the "big"/"fancy" meals for the cruise, I figured we should get at least one character meal in (yes, Disney does have meals where certain groups of characters appear, albeit only at certain restaraunts and in some cases only for certain meals of the day), so when I saw that the Crystal Palace had an opening for that second morning we were "in town" so to speak, I booked it. Granted, it wasn't one of the pre-park opening timeslots everyone raves about, but it was still while breakfast was being served (the characters here show up at all three meals but it seemed that food-wise most people prefer the breakfast offerings- and it was relatively cheaper), which was fine.

Because of the difficulties we'd had driving ourselves around Disney World (GPS is completely useless once you're past that "welcome to Walt Disney World Where Dreams Come True" archway) the day and especially the night before, this time we actually took the provided bus- motor coach (Disney and their flowery terminology!)- from the hotel to the park. And actually got there in plenty of time before our reservation, though we were a little confused at first as to where we were exactly and did we need to get on something else from there (the bus stop for the internal bus system is not at the Transportation & Ticket Center but at the spot where the monorail and ferry boats drop off people coming from the TTC, but we didn't know that).

Not only did we have time to admire the flowerbed with a reminder of what was to come that night...

( ...but we were also in time to catch the special welcome show they put on just before the Magic Kingdom officially opens. )

After the show/once they let us in, since we weren't in a rush to see anything like the previous day I got pictures of some of the scarecrows they put up for Halloween:

( Breakfast with Pooh and his friends )

( Another character meeting and more shows )

Even so, more on our second day next time. Whether or not it's actually true it feels like I got a lot more pictures on day 2 than day 1, so this will broken up even more than day one/our arrival. Still, a busy yet fun start to another magical day at Disney World.

( Continued... )

Current Mood: rejuvenated
Current Music: Sterling Holloway - Rumbly in My Tumbly

For the nighttime entertainment, we found a place at the main hub. You think the castle at night is cool/pretty now...

...this was nothing compared to "Celebrate the Magic", the "new light show" I mentioned earlier. Now I wasn't able to get good pictures of it the first showing, but it turned out they ran it again between the main fireworks show and the second parade of lights, at which point Mom and I had moved to a slightly better spot anyway. So the following photos are actually from that second showing, as is the video my mom got of it (which I might upload somewhere at a later time; they're the wrong file type to just put on Photobucket).

( Celebrate the Magic )

( Wishes )

( The Main Street Electrical Parade )

While the the crowd had thinned a bit by that point, we still waited a little while before trying to leave so as not to get too caught up in the crush of everyone else trying to leave. So I got one more in-park photo:

We'd be in that building in a matter of hours. Then, as we were leaving I at least heard the audio for the so-called "kiss goodnight", a special "goodbye" show they play for those still in the park a little past official closing time (not so much a "go away" vibe as a sincere "thank you for coming" vibe).

Getting back to the hotel was difficult, but when we did get back I found all the plushies I'd brought arranged like so:

(FYI there were actually two beds; some were on one and the others were on the other.) Yes, these are all the official Disney plushies with the exception of Sergeant Calhoun who for lack of an official plushie was custom-made by StichyButton on Etsy. I actually own all the (other) Sugar Rush kids' dolls, too, and wanted to bring all of them on this trip but even without Anna and Elsa there wasn't enough luggage space to do that (and do remember I orginally thought I'd be flying down). So only these guys came along for the ride.

In any case, thus ended a busy yet fun day in the Magic Kingdom.

( Continued... )

Current Mood: jubilant
Current Music: Henry Jackman - Arcade Finale

With our sucessful arrival, it was time to start experiencing the magic for real. Very soon after taking those few photos of the hotel room decor (and I do mean very soon), we found our way to the car and headed off for the Magic Kingdom for the first of two days we were to spend there. We were in a bit of a hurry not because of a restaurant reservation or FastPass, but because of the lack of one. Despite all the backlash I keep seeing against "Frozen", the wait to meet Anna and Elsa still tends to be in the neighborhood of two or three hours (or more than that, even!) for those without a FastPass, or so I'd heard. I tried numerous times- and obviously failed- to get FastPasses to see them for both Mom and me prior to the trip (they only allow so many of these per attraction, per day). The best and really only alternative I was given when I asked advice on a Disney Parks fan forum was to get in line as close to park opening as humanly possible. There'd be a long wait even then, but not as bad.

So it wasn't a moment too soon when we saw this:

( Read more (warning: lots of photos)... )

We had decided to forgo the earlier Main Street Electrical Parade that evening (again, taking advantage of most everyone else watching it to do other things with less wait) in favor of the less-crowded second run. However, the fireworks would only run once, and were to be preceded with a new light projection show. This is geting long, though, so more on those next time. Still, already I was happier than I had been in a long time.

( Continued... )

Current Mood: giggly
Current Music: Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel - For the First Time in Forever

As mentioned earlier, my mom and I were staying in Disney's Pop Century hotel for the "land" half of the trip. The general theme is a roadside motel from decades past that celebrates... well, decades past. Specifically, the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s- the latter half of the twentieth century.

For the record, it was at one point going to represent the whole century, with the earlier half (or "legendary years") across a lake from what actually got built (the "classic years"). But, for whatever reason, the "legendary years" instead became a completely seperate hotel with a totally different theme. Yet the main building (that's it in the picture) housing the check-in desk, gift shop, and food court is still nevertheless called "Classic Hall".

( Lobby, room decor, theming... )

In any case, for how little we were actually physically present, despite not being that close to the only park we'd even planned to vist, the Pop Century suited us just fine.

( Continued... )

Current Mood: satisfied
Current Music: Jerry Orbach and Angela Lansbury - Be Our Guest

I suppose I should start with the Thursday before the trip. I had finished packing, signing all the important documents needed to board the cruise ship, repeatedly measured and re-measured what I intended to be my carry-on bag, and waited for my mom to get off work so we could head to her friend's house, and from there, BWI (that's Baltimore-Washington International for those unfamiliar with the acronym). Oh yeah, and these babies were ready to go:

MagicBands, these nifty devices that have just about every thing you could possibly need (tickets, "FastPasses" for certain rides/characters, etc.) programmed into them (they even function as the room key for the hotel), included with resort stay/vacation package booking. The pink one is mine and the blue one is Mom's. They came plain, but I bought little "Frozen" icon decoration-thingies (Disney calls them "Magic Bandits") to put in the unused holes and give them a little flair.

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Finally, finally, we saw this:

WE MADE IT! And as if that sign/arch weren't enough, the security guards at the entrance gate for the driveway to our hotel, despite it being so late at night, were still very friendly and even told us "welcome home". If that wasn't proof we were now officially in The Most Magical Place On Earth, I don't know what is.

( Continued... )

Current Mood: indescribable
Current Music: Henry Jackman - Out of the Penthouse, Off to the Race

It was hard to leave, but yes I am home from my big trip and yes I will be posting about it. However, I'll be doing things a bit differently than, say, any convention reports I've posted, so I thought I'd give this heads-up post first, with the following points:

It will be in multiple parts. Not sure of the exact number as of yet, but it won't be one extremely long post. And yes, though I'm not setting a specific schedule they will be posted consecutively.

There will be embedded photos, perhaps even videos as well. Yes, I will be uploading pics to PhotoBucket (currently hosting my "mood" icons) as well as That Other Site, and the ones on PhotoBucket will be embedded into each post as relevant. This could be anywhere from one or two pics to... several in any of these posts, so those with limited data plans or still using 28.8 modems have been duly warned. (Whether or not there will be videos are subject to to whether or not my mom lets me upload the ones she got and if I can upload them somewhere I already have an account- no, I don't have a YouTube or DailyMotion account- but I figured I should warn about them anyway.)

"Aren't you trying to keep any public photos of you not in costume to a minimum?" Indeed I am, and yes I know I can (and in fact did) only wear costumes during certain events on Disney property. But there's a practice known as "Disneybounding" (basically, putting together a normal outfit that is reminiscent of a character (usually primarily going by color scheme) rather than the character's actual outfit/trying to look as much like the character as possible) that's sort of a way around that (and actually kind of fun in and of itself). So with the exception of an outfit that while "normal" is just a wig away from being an actual costume (though not of a specific character) that's what I did thus I still consider myself "in costume" even when I technically wasn't. Though not part of the trip report(s), there will be a post on that later. (And no, the outfits/parts thereof weren't solely for this trip, I can still wear them whenever I want, possibly even at conventions when I don't feel like going all-out.)

I think that's pretty much it. I'm still trying to regroup and get all thoughts, notes, and photos organized but the first trip post is forthcoming.

Current Mood: working

"M, you just got through a big move and attended both DragonCon and Anime Weekend Atlanta! What are you going to do next?"

I'm going to Disney World!

( No, really... I am- and that's not all )

Nearly forgot: yes, this is the "something else on the horizon I've been admittedly far more excited about [than DragonCon] this year", and it has also served as the main focal point getting me through what has turned out to be a very rough year. And yes, I will be bringing my laptop though internet time on land will be iffy and nigh impossible when I'm out at sea. But I'll at least be able to take notes and write at least some semblance of a trip report when I get back.

Current Mood: excited

Late spring-early summer-ish, 2006. My dad and stepmom were planning a vacation: a Disney cruise for the whole family. Yes, that did include me despite me having recently moved out (wasn't living with my mom, either, FYI), and yes I had some say in stuff like possible "shore excursions". So after all the planning, packing, et cetera et cetera we were ready to fly out of Dulles and land in Orlando in plenty of time to get to the port (via Disney's convenient bus system provided) and catch our ship.

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So yeah, it all worked out for the best. I still haven't forgiven United Airlines to this very day, though. If you must know why I'm sharing all this now, well, guess what I recently found? The T-shirt I bought with the aforementioned onboard credits (among other things), which reminded me.

Current Mood: complacent
Current Music: Blues Image - Ride Captain Ride