We're Baaaaaaaack!

[NJ Mike]

Hey y'all, just a quick note since we literally just got home a 1/2 hour ago. How's that for mouseplanet loyalty? lol. We tried to post a message while we were down there from an internet cafe (where we were checking on our flights home), but some big dummy Couldnt remember his password and has been relying on cookies for the past year or so for this site. (note to self, get my pw from the admins and write it down this time).

We had a great time, long story short, Hoop Dee Doo - WAY COOL (pics coming soon of 2 ogres eating their weight in food), Mission Space- Equally Cool, Loved philharmagic, paid homage to the hairy leg several times, And the food and wine festival combined with seeing blake shelton (twice) was a real treat. Halloween party on the 31st, just like the old days, got in at 530, no lines for rides, but the candy and character lines were nuts. Luckily for us we pretty much stuck to the rides, fireworks, and parade, so crowds were no problem. Walking was tough at times on the pathways, but the rides were fine.

The hotel was great, we loved the food court, and the only problem we had were the beatles the size of a big mac, that we saw several times around the walkways of the resort ( those suckers were HUGE!).

My only pet peeve is that it is physically impossible to follow the signs from magic kingdom (as well as a few other places) to the all stars, or for that matter, even the animal kingdom resort area. On several instances if you didnt follow the signs for blizzard beach, you were WAY out of luck. (disney, PUHLEASE fix the signs).

Leslie, sorry we missed you down there. Kadiehl, it was nice meeting you. Tom and I were a bit tired and worn out that night in the food court, but thanks for taking the initiative to come over and say hi. It was good to put the faces with the names finally for us all. Maybe we'll run into you again sometime.

All in all, we ate WAY too much, discovered the chocolate mousse (or as we liked to call it "shocolate moussssssse" ) in france, and many many fine beers, and food from around the world.

Be sure to look for a trip report from us soon, but for now, i think it's time to catch up on some beauty sleep (tom needs it more than I do)

But we're back, so we'll be around in a day or 2.

[Drince88]

Welcome back!
Glad you had a GREAT time and got to meet some of the other mouse padders.

[ChoEarfan1]

Ya know if them boys did'nt get back soon I was fixin to start up a 12 step program....and I ant't talkin' 'bout no Hooptie Dooie Thingie!!

Welcome back lost sailors of the Carribeano!

[Mark Goldhaber]

Welcome back! Glad to hear you had a great time.

Originally Posted by NJ Mike

The hotel was great, we loved the food court, and the only problem we had were the beatles the size of a big mac, that we saw several times around the walkways of the resort ( those suckers were HUGE!).

Sure they were beetles and not palmetto bugs (big, flying cockroaches)?

[Tink's Hairdresser]

the hairy leg or those turkey legs?!?

[NJ Mike]

Originally Posted by Mark Goldhaber

Welcome back! Glad to hear you had a great time.


Sure they were beetles and not palmetto bugs (big, flying cockroaches)?

I remembered seeing a palmetto bug when i was about 10 down there (my dad pointed it out to me back then). And I said to my wife I thought thats what they were, but she pointed out that it had 2 curved "pinchers" (for lack of a better word) coming out of its head, so it did resemble a beatle. But perhaps it really was a palmetto. The thing was about 5 inches long. yucko.

We had a great time though. Got to do stitch a few times, and we agree, cool attraction but definitely not for the under 6 crowd. My 9 year old and his 9 yr old cousin were fine, but my 4 yr old nephew definitely was NOT ok lol.

There were a lot of highlights to the trip, and some good fun like every time we walked past I.A.S.W. we gave my sister-in-law a good ribbing by singing "it's a closed world after all, it's a closed world after all...."

I'm sure a lot of other details will spill out over the next few days. But for now, i'm off to download my 794 digital pics (no thats not a typo) onto the ol computer.

[efoxx]

Originally Posted by Tink's Hairdresser

the hairy leg or those turkey legs?!?

I think he means the pirate on the bridge on PoC

[91wingnut]

Gotcha beat Mikey....587 pictures - and 7.5 hrs of video..so if we did it, I got it on film somewhere.

My first post since we got back. In my post Disney blahs now. Don't wanna do anything around the house, watched my Eagles get destroyed by the Steelers, weather not so good, etc.....

But man what a time we had in Mickey's house! We'll get together and get a trip report turned in. For now we're trying to get back in the work/school mode..

We did pay proper homage to the Grand Symbol of Disneydom, the hairy leg, while mom and dad shook their heads as me and mikey quoted dialog from the ride, and bowed in respect while chanting "Hairy leg - Hairy leg!" when we passed under the bridge.

Got lots of goofy pictures of me and Mikey doin' our thing. As soon as I figure out how to do it, I'll post some.

[kadiehl]

Yes, it was nice meeting you guys briefly while I was on my quest for Disney dollars Almost forgot those and they were gifts from the in-laws for the little ones for Halloween.

I thought of you guys during Pirates which I finally got to ride on our last day there- MONDAY I was almost a solo rider since I had to drag my son on to it. You will be glad to know that I bought my little girl the Pirates of the Caribbean Mr Potato Head pieces...now we have Pirate Potato Heads

I saw those bugs too and my hubby thought they were cockroaches. I have never seen one so I am not sure. They could eat a child though, couldn't they? LOL

I am jealous you guys had such a long trip. We have already decided our next trip is Thanksgiving- first week of December 2006- staying at LEAST 10 days.

The halloween party was fun but we did not trick or treat much either and I think the only characters we got there were Esmeralda and Quasimodo...walking onto Pooh and all those popular Fantasy Land rides was amazing. That is why we have decided our next trip will definitely include the Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party.

It was nice meeting you guys and your families and maybe we will see eachother all around Disney again at a less chaotic and earlier time of the day..not 11:30pm When we are all dazed and tired Your children and wives were nice and the children obviously held up better than mine did They are still sleeping off the vacation

[LeslieM]

I loooked and loooked for you guys all weekend but especially on Monday before we left. Flying in Thursday night and out again Monday afternoon was a bummer - still not recovered, but I am NOT complaining. We still had a blast and I'd do it again in a flash ! Thought of you on PotC, which we did several times. Some man in Epcot thought I was stalking him 'cause he looked kinda like you, Mike, from the back and I kept coming up to him, all ready to introduce myself to my new brother !

First time at POR - French Quarter ... Great resort, makes Number 3 on my fave list. Poly and OKW gotta come out ahead. If I could pick out my favorite bits of each resort and blend them together, it'd be the Best !

I survived my first Tower of Terror ! Now my favorite ride. Lots of firsts again on this trip; in fact, we mainly did firsts. First Food and Wine Festival - take away the drunks and the smokers, add in more places to sit, and it was delish ! My daughter's first ride on Space Mountain. My first time to wake up Tink. Our first time in Brown Derby - 2 hours to get lunch !!
First Tonga Toast - awesome ! My DD's first candy animal from Miyuki and first pearl from Mitsukoshi (silver grey twins !).

First MNSSHP - (10/29) had great fun but gave up on the trick or treating ! Enjoyed lots of walk-ons starting at about 5:00; by 6:30 it was a solid wall of costumes entering Tomorrowland. Good parade, okay fireworks (spoiled by Wishes now !), lots of wonderful little setups for the kids (i.e. Hula Hoop contest in Cosmic Ray's), forgot to get a picture before my husband left early (bummer), lots and lots of people !

I'm still trying to finish my trip report from August, so I'm not making any foolish promises about this
one !!

[nursemelis374]

I love that chocolate mousse, my friend is a professional pastry chef and I think WDW's was better than his (shhhh, don' tell)!

[NJ Mike]

Originally Posted by LeslieM

I loooked and loooked for you guys all weekend but especially on Monday before we left... Some man in Epcot thought I was stalking him 'cause he looked kinda like you, Mike, from the back and I kept coming up to him, all ready to introduce myself to my new brother !

Heh heh. Well we did the MNSSHP on sunday night (the 31st) so we didnt end up rolling on into epcot on monday until about 10:30-11:00.

It's funny, because some lady kept staring at me while were were taking a breather on a bench near mission space. I kept thinking maybe it was you, or someone else from here, but (not knowing what anyone looked like) I didnt want to walk up to a stranger and freak them out lol.

Back to the mousse for a minute. First of all it is FANTASTIC! But when we first ordered it our first day in epcot it was an experience that would go down in infamy. My goofy brother walks up, we were all a bit tired by now (about 7pm or so) and this very nice french guy asks my brother what would he like. Without skipping a beat my brother says "i'd like 2 of the shhhhhhocolate Moussssse." Now typing doesnt do it justice, but his psuedo accent was somewhere between the cm's, lumiere and pepe le pew. Like an even bigger dummy, I did the same thing (not thinking) and our wives started cracking up. Needless to say, we were all saying "shocolate mousse" in our best french accents the rest of the trip. In retrospect, I hope the cm didnt think we were mocking him, as that wasnt the intent, we were just tired, and stupid by that point lol.

One of the other highlights of the trip was when POTC got backed up and we got stuck right in front of the hairy leg. It was a sign from the disney gods.
So tom and I are in the boat bowing (in a sort of wayne's world "we're not worthy" motion) and we're chanting "hair-y-leg, hair-y-leg, hair-y-leg" as our wives, kids, and parents just shake their heads. There were 3 of 4 other people in the last row of our boat that werent related to us and god knows what they must have been thinking.

Originally Posted by 91wingnut

...so if we did it, I got it on film somewhere.

Uh oh....(note to self, confiscate anything incriminating asap)

Originally Posted by kadiehl

It was nice meeting you guys and your families and maybe we will see eachother all around Disney again at a less chaotic and earlier time of the day..not 11:30pm When we are all dazed and tired

Yes, 1130pm isnt a great time for a meet, and we felt bad about it the next day, and commented how tired we all seemed and how brief the hellos were. But, on the plus side, you didnt get between Tom and his food, which is always a safe practice...Especially after 1130pm when the danger is magnified significantly.

[LeslieM]

Originally Posted by NJ Mike

One of the other highlights of the trip was when POTC got backed up and we got stuck right in front of the hairy leg. It was a sign from the disney gods.
So tom and I are in the boat bowing (in a sort of wayne's world "we're not worthy" motion) and we're chanting "hair-y-leg, hair-y-leg, hair-y-leg" as our wives, kids, and parents just shake their heads. There were 3 of 4 other people in the last row of our boat that werent related to us and god knows what they must have been thinking.

Can't stop laughing picturing this !!!

I teasingly questioned, while passing under said leg, "think I should jump up and touch the leg for Tom ?" to my daughter and this man in front of us almost had a stroke. He turned right around and stared at me to see if I was really going to perform such an act. Some people just have noooo sense of humor !!

And I am sooo sad to have missed the shhhhhhocolate Moussssse ! And to have missed meeting you guys !

[DisneyDec]

[QUOTE=NJ Mike]The hotel was great, we loved the food court, and the only problem we had were the beatles the size of a big mac, that we saw several times around the walkways of the resort ( those suckers were HUGE!).

Did they sing songs from their early 'Can't Buy Me Love' days, or from their 'While Album' days?

My only pet peeve is that it is physically impossible to follow the signs from magic kingdom (as well as a few other places) to the all stars, or for that matter, even the animal kingdom resort area. On several instances if you didnt follow the signs for blizzard beach, you were WAY out of luck. (disney, PUHLEASE fix the signs).

Good Lord, yes! Being from the great megaopolis of BosYorkJersPhilWilBalDC I have become quite the driver. I can pretty much get from one point to another with one look at directions. Yet, when I was in Disney World in 2002 it was like my powers were taken away. I could not find my way out of the park area (which, is probably EXACTLY how they planned it). It actually took me two days to find the wonderful Super Wal-Mart off of 192 because I got lost. When I first arrived in the park I ended up missing the turnoff for Coronado Springs and arriving at the gates of the Magic Kingdom. They need some better signage.

Well, welcome back to New Joisey. Make sure you pick up your copy of the Courier-Post on Sunday, and have a cup of coffee for me at the diner (Gosh, it's great to be back in the Delaware Valley!)

Rich K.
On his way on December 4.

[NJ Mike]

Originally Posted by DisneyDec

...Did they sing songs from their early 'Can't Buy Me Love' days, or from their 'While Album' days?


Well, welcome back to New Joisey. Make sure you pick up your copy of the Courier-Post on Sunday, and have a cup of coffee for me at the diner (Gosh, it's great to be back in the Delaware Valley!)

lol, I think they were singing I wanna hold your hand but I didnt get close enough to find out for sure.

Yo, lets get it straight. We are from "jersey" down here. Only the yuppie, commuter, wish they made enough money to live in manhattan right next to a starbucks, crowd up north say they are from "new joisey".

Yeah I guess it's great to be back. All the leaves are brown, and the sky is grey....but it's not california we're dreaming of lol. It truly is depressing around here right now. Cold, leaves everywhere, no sun. sheesh. But it will all get better around april or so.

Well time for work, now i get to spend all day with a classroom full of kids talking about our trip, and really driving the point into my head that its all over.

[DisneyDec]

Profound apologies. I shall dunk my head in a vat of Rita's Water Ice (or Water Ice Factory, you decide). and swear off of cheese steaks and soft pretzels.

I am a man born of two worlds: Born and raised in the Northern New Joisey suburbs and then matured and honed in the South Jersey hinterland. The two environments are definitely separate and, as the next governor of New Jersey I will beging the process of statehood for North Jersey and South Jersey.

Viva La Cherry Hill.

[NJ Mike]

Originally Posted by DisneyDec

Profound apologies. I shall dunk my head in a vat of Rita's Water Ice (or Water Ice Factory, you decide). and swear off of cheese steaks and soft pretzels.

I am a man born of two worlds: Born and raised in the Northern New Joisey suburbs and then matured and honed in the South Jersey hinterland. The two environments are definitely separate and, as the next governor of New Jersey I will beging the process of statehood for North Jersey and South Jersey.

Viva La Cherry Hill.

mmmmm rita's pina colada water ice. Now theres a craving that will have to wait until....march. Boy it SU....STINKS living in NJ in the winter.

Never swear off cheesesteaks. They actually made some pretty good ones at the all star movies, but they put some kind of gravy on it. It tasted good (although not even close to home, but hey it was florida) , but you dont put gravy on a cheesesteak. Thats like putting ketchup on a peanut butter and jelly sandwhich.

[91wingnut]

That "gravy" on the cheesesteak was au jus.....

you uncultured swine!! (note the toy story reference)

[DisneyDec]

[QUOTE=91wingnut]That "gravy" on the cheesesteak was au jus.....

Bless you!

Au jus on a cheese steak? Pat and Gino are rolling in their graves (Um, unless their alive. Then their rolling in their restaurants.)

[NJ Mike]

Originally Posted by 91wingnut

That "gravy" on the cheesesteak was au jus.....

you uncultured swine!! (note the toy story reference)

Ok, you have definitely been hanging out in france too long. NO more shocolate mousssse for you.

Well i tend to skip the au jus when we go out to one of the steakhouses or when i get a good roast beef sub. Call me crazy, but i like my meat to taste like....meat. But now i know what to get you for christmas, a case of au jus in a can,so you can make your own florida psuedo-cheesesteaks whenever you want.

Oh, and before you start throwing around the uncultured references, I have a few pieces of evidence to show the jury about you dear brother.

Exhibit A. Does this guy look cultured to you? CLICK HERE

Still not convinced? Well you leave me no choice. Exhibit B. This guy? Cultured?
CLICK HERE

The defense rests.

[LeslieM]

Originally Posted by NJ Mike

Exhibit A. Does this guy look cultured to you? CLICK HERE

Still not convinced? Well you leave me no choice. Exhibit B. This guy? Cultured?
CLICK HERE

Ummmm, actually YES. He's MY kinda cultured, so there ! And, I'm telling Mom you're using big words again when you call Tom names !

PS - Send more pictures of what else we missed !
Signed, Your Sister,

[Photographer]

ROTFLMAO Nice photos! I can't stop laughing at the " piratical astronaut".

[vamassey]

Hey 91wingnut where's the payback? Surely you've got some pictures to show too!

[LeslieM]

Yeah !

[DisneyDec]

Originally Posted by NJ Mike

Still not convinced? Well you leave me no choice. Exhibit B. This guy? Cultured?
CLICK HERE

The defense rests.

I think the work would be more like 'disturbing' rather than cultured.