Part 2 of Day 2 Here
We headed back to MK…had a good bus driver who was more than happy to talk about the new automated dispatch system that they're starting to implement for the busses. We've noticed that some of the drivers are using it while others are still doing their own spiels. I'd love to see the WDW Transportation dispatch office someday with the map and all the moving lights showing where the busses are.
We arrived at MK a few minutes later and decided to take the train around. I again looked to see if PandyPaws was driving, but I didn't see anyone resembling her there. We got off at Frontierland and had some time to kill before our ADRs at Liberty Tree Tavern. We walked on BTMRR again before heading over to LTT. We were kind of split on going here this trip. The food is good, but it's a character meal, and we were both a little worried about taking a seat for a family with kids. We're taking up a two-top, so chances are there wouldn't be kids at that table anyways. Plus, we have a CM friend who says that folks without kids eat there all the time. The line is long to check in with folks trying to get in without a ressie. Many of the kids were getting restless, and one diner was demanding to speak to a manager and seemed more concerned with finding the manager than finding where her kid had run off to. The food was as great as it was last time (the mac and cheese there is awesome, as is the beef!). The characters were just as interactive with us as they were with the tables with kids. There was a family from the U.K. next to us with an 18 month old who has never seen the characters before. We loved watching her interact with them her favorite was Minnie). The table behind us had several children. The youngest, unfortunately, was screaming every time a character got close to her. Yeah, we both missed Aaron and Eric a little at this meal, but we know how much they'll love this place when we eat here next time (Eric is fine with Chuck E Cheese, so we're not worried about the characters with him). The service was really good, and we slipped some extra tip in for him. Of course, the phone vibrated midway through the meal, and Heartland was calling about a second student that wanted to take the final that was not on the list.
We made our way back to Fantasyland and did Philharmagic. This one is definitely my favorite 3D attraction at WDW. We both noticed a number of things we hadn't seen before. I loved seeing the kids reaching for things (just like Aaron did). I couldn't handle another ride on IASW today, and Peter Pan was full. Neither of us had done Snow White, but we've heard horror stories. We decided to ride it just to see if it's that scary.
After two years of therapy, I still occasionally wake up screaming at night, thanks to that attraction.
And then.....
We came to.....
Damnbo.
The line was still long, and I wasn't riding it. I offered to stand by a topiary of a 'phant, but noooooo…Sheri wanted a picture by Dumbo. I wasn't going to win, so I got in line for the pic. I told her I would stand by it, but there was no way in Hell I was getting in there.
"YES YOU ARE!!!!"
Someone nearby offers to take the picture so both of us could be in it.
(Me) "No, that's oka…" (Sheri) "SUUUURRRREEEE!!!! That would be awesome!"
Okay, we took a (half-way) serious one too:
The person taking the pictures was dying to know the story behind it. All I could get out was that the pics she took will probably make several hundred folks' day (and ruin mine).
Now, for those reading this on the blog that is not from the Lodge, let me try to explain what's going on. Someone posted an awesome link where you could make your own "motivational poster"…you've seen them…a sappy picture with an uplifting message below it. Well, we all started having fun with the "make your own" site. I jokingly put one up about the owner of the Lodge (Dan aka RoutemanDan aka RMD). He fired one back with me in it, and, after gauging each others' levels of tolerance, we both went to war against each other with the motivational posters of each other, with each poster becoming funnier than the last. I knew I didn't ever have a chance of winning, with Dan being the one who controls the Lodge (and all the coding and icons and EVERYTHING) and with him owning and mastering photoshopping software. Still, everyone was having a good time with it, and it was all in good fun, especially as we both know each others' sense of humor and wouldn't get mad at anything posted. I was holding my own in the war…
until…
Dan took a pic of me from my 2005 TR where I'm swordfighting Aaron after POTC and photoshopped it into a pic with an elephant. I want to keep the blog PG-rated at the worst, so I won't go into detail (it's DEFINITELY not politically-correct). Let's just say that the elephant was happy to see me and leave it at that. From then on, the running joke has been about how I like elephants. Every time I'd fire of a poster about Dan, I'd pretty much expect elephants to follow in Dan's retaliation. That's why occasionally you'll see elephant references from friends on the Lodge, Facebook, Twitter, & this blog.
ANYWAYS!!!!!
We then headed over to ToonTown to look around. Since we were on a research mission, we hopped in line for Barnstormer to see how it was.
Yes, you read that right. In a sea of families, the two of us rode the Barnstormer.
It was only about a 10 minute wait. The kids would definitely love that ride.
We then went through Mickey's house (first time for both of us). Then we took the secret passage over to Tomorrowland from ToonTown. I pulled Sheri on the TTA, and she liked it. Nice and calming ride there. Thanks to Debbie and Mare (and Austin) for dragging me on that one.
We still had about 45 minutes before Wishes was to start, so we decided to try the MILF (I even got Sheri calling it that now). This was a decent wait for a show, but the theater was bigger than expected. I've heard the soft-opening audio of the Laugh Floor…they've done a LOT of tinkering with this attraction. It's almost all interactive with the audience now (a definite improvement).
We exited and started heading towards the hub for Wishes. I've heard that the bridge to Tomorrowland was a great place to view them, but we walked on a bit closer to just to the right of the Partners statue on the road. We saw where Tink was going to fly past, and we got in an argument about whether she flew up to the castle or down from the castle (I said "up" because I could have sworn that she flew to the castle in Anaheim…never mind gravity…she must have a motor). We could definitely tell which way she flew. In Sheri's words, we were so close that we could see right up her skirt! And, yes, Sheri was right on how Tink flew. She still hasn't let me forget it either.
Wishes was great, as always. We were a touch too close IMHO, and Sheri agreed. Next time we see it, we'll shoot for someplace near Casey's Corner. After the fireworks, we sit back and wait a little bit while the crowds thin out. We join the sea after about 10 minutes and make our way to the busses. It was a 20-30 minute wait, but it was expected. We struck up a conversation with the family waiting behind us. They were from Philly but were originally from Florida (and are still able to get the discount somehow…maybe I have that backwards). They had the kids with them, but they also said that they often come without the kids…they finished up their 19 year anniversary trip recently at the Poly. The ride home was uneventful, and we were in bed at a decent time. No alarm clock tomorrow!
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