I'm home!
OK, so I've technically been home for well over a day, but I needed a bit of "me" time after all that "people" time.
Considering how bad my memory is, I doubt a few Disney review will happen, but here are a few highlights, first the bad:
Am and I are both getting old! Between the bad troubles, headaches, sore tummies, and feet trouble, both of us had a rough time!
The days of enjoying the peaceful October time in Disney World is now over...I've NEVER seen it so crowded!
I now understand why people complain about the groups of drunks at the Food and Wine Festival...they were everywhere! Having drinking contests and just being general idiots, but it was the large quantities that was shocking.
What is up with the store CM's lately? Did they ALL have to go through some new training course that taught them to move like snails? I can't tell you the number of times I wanted to just rip the scanner out of some CM's hand and check out my stuff myself! Not ONCE did I have a CM move like they were in a hurry (or like I was...which I pretty much always am)!
And speaking of CM's, I realize that I am an Asper girl and have selfishness issues (or what the rest of the world would call selfishness), but I sure as heck could care less about the CM's personal lives and every single one I encountered had to tell me some story about how they came to Florida, where their husband works, to even what they are eating for supper that night! They all started off with "where are you from?" and then once we said, off they went on their own tangent. None of them had any Disney comments that would even kind of interest me. I don't deluge them with my business, what makes them think I want to hear theirs?
Brazilian tour groups were EVERYWHERE...which is also probably why the parks were so crowded. Although they weren't as bad as I have seen, there was no line cutting or shouting out loud, the whole "I understand English when it comes to how to ride rides and where to go", but "I don't understand English when you tell me no flash pictures", got really old really quickly!
Speaking of guests, this is my dance space and that's yours...stay out of my dance space!! I can't tell you how many times I had people stand right up on me (and yes, I know I have issues with that, but this was beyond normal to the point that even Am noticed it). I'm not saying they had to stand a mile, but at least a foot would have been nice! That extra foot isn't gonna get you in the ride any quicker.
And what is up with kids and flashing things? Their shoes, their toys, their jewelry...everything flashes! I never noticed it before (probably because I didn't know how easily I could have a seizure because of Ferg-id), but I had to take bus rides with my eyes closed, ride some rides with them closed, even walk through queues with my eyes shut. And the darker the area, the more flashy things kids insisted on operating. To add insult to injury, Disney was actually selling most of these flashy things! That is definitely going in my complaint letter to them this year. A brain tumor sufferers worst nightmare!
Oh, and I gained 12lbs that I now have to re-lose.
And now the good:
They had a special "dress rehearsal" of the New Fantasyland section and not only did we get to ride the new Little Mermaid ride, but we got to shop, tour the restaurants and have LaFou's Brew at Gaston's Tavern! I could well up just talking about it! It was gorgeous and sweet and pretty advanced, and all the things I knew it would be, but since there is a possibility I won't be going in December, it just made it that more special.
For the first time ever, I actually loved eating at The Hollywood Brown Derby. It's always the one place I dread, but it was actually really good (even that bitter grapefruit cake). It's one of Am's favorites because of the cobb salad, but it's always been one of my least favorites...consider one of my stead-fast opinions changed!
But, on the subject of food, how amazing was the Food and Wine Festival! Only one thing I had was horrible and, believe it or not, it was the cheese fondue from the Cheese stand. Of all things that SHOULD have been good, how can you screw up melted cheese? And everything was on a roll of some sort, but it was still good! I tried things I would have never tried before, ate things I never miss, and enjoyed every second of it (despite the gritty fondue and the extensively long lines).
It always amazes me how much Disney changes from one trip to the next, but since I skipped a year, new stuff was everywhere...from the new graveyard at The Haunted Mansion, to the New Fantasyland section to even the fronts of stores and even just the smallest change of new carpets everywhere...Disney is ever-changing and constantly amazing!
But at the same time, I'm constantly amazed at how much Disney stays the same...you can always count on the best food anywhere and the rides to be completely immersive from the start of the line to the exit of the ride. Everything is always clean and fresh and generally (despite their snail's pace and annoying personal diarrhea), the CM's were overall kind and nice.
How good it felt to be home at the Wilderness Lodge again! I'm never as happy as when I stay there, and this time was no exception. It really is "my perfect place". For someone who is terrified of trees and woods, doesn't like western architecture and artifacts from America's old west days, it should be my worst nightmare, but it just has this amazing vibe than makes even me love it. And we've always managed to stay there after a refurb, so it was as beautiful as ever!
You can also count on guests being complete idiots and adding to our fun by having something to make fun of! And older man singing "Ho, Ho, Ho, Ho" for Pirates instead of "Yo Ho" gave us a new theme song..."ho, ho, ho, ho a Santa's life for me".
It feels really good to be an annual passholder. Not only did I get discounts everywhere, but it really made me feel like part of everything...I don't know why I didn't do it sooner (probably because I still have spending issues and can't afford to go more than once a year because I spend too much in the stores!).
I'm sure I'm missing some important stuff, but that's it for my "quick" recap (those that know me know I don't do "quick" posts!). If I think of more later, I'll add it, plus some picture highlights.
Considering how bad my memory is, I doubt a few Disney review will happen, but here are a few highlights, first the bad:
Am and I are both getting old! Between the bad troubles, headaches, sore tummies, and feet trouble, both of us had a rough time!
The days of enjoying the peaceful October time in Disney World is now over...I've NEVER seen it so crowded!
I now understand why people complain about the groups of drunks at the Food and Wine Festival...they were everywhere! Having drinking contests and just being general idiots, but it was the large quantities that was shocking.
What is up with the store CM's lately? Did they ALL have to go through some new training course that taught them to move like snails? I can't tell you the number of times I wanted to just rip the scanner out of some CM's hand and check out my stuff myself! Not ONCE did I have a CM move like they were in a hurry (or like I was...which I pretty much always am)!
And speaking of CM's, I realize that I am an Asper girl and have selfishness issues (or what the rest of the world would call selfishness), but I sure as heck could care less about the CM's personal lives and every single one I encountered had to tell me some story about how they came to Florida, where their husband works, to even what they are eating for supper that night! They all started off with "where are you from?" and then once we said, off they went on their own tangent. None of them had any Disney comments that would even kind of interest me. I don't deluge them with my business, what makes them think I want to hear theirs?
Brazilian tour groups were EVERYWHERE...which is also probably why the parks were so crowded. Although they weren't as bad as I have seen, there was no line cutting or shouting out loud, the whole "I understand English when it comes to how to ride rides and where to go", but "I don't understand English when you tell me no flash pictures", got really old really quickly!
Speaking of guests, this is my dance space and that's yours...stay out of my dance space!! I can't tell you how many times I had people stand right up on me (and yes, I know I have issues with that, but this was beyond normal to the point that even Am noticed it). I'm not saying they had to stand a mile, but at least a foot would have been nice! That extra foot isn't gonna get you in the ride any quicker.
And what is up with kids and flashing things? Their shoes, their toys, their jewelry...everything flashes! I never noticed it before (probably because I didn't know how easily I could have a seizure because of Ferg-id), but I had to take bus rides with my eyes closed, ride some rides with them closed, even walk through queues with my eyes shut. And the darker the area, the more flashy things kids insisted on operating. To add insult to injury, Disney was actually selling most of these flashy things! That is definitely going in my complaint letter to them this year. A brain tumor sufferers worst nightmare!
Oh, and I gained 12lbs that I now have to re-lose.
And now the good:
They had a special "dress rehearsal" of the New Fantasyland section and not only did we get to ride the new Little Mermaid ride, but we got to shop, tour the restaurants and have LaFou's Brew at Gaston's Tavern! I could well up just talking about it! It was gorgeous and sweet and pretty advanced, and all the things I knew it would be, but since there is a possibility I won't be going in December, it just made it that more special.
For the first time ever, I actually loved eating at The Hollywood Brown Derby. It's always the one place I dread, but it was actually really good (even that bitter grapefruit cake). It's one of Am's favorites because of the cobb salad, but it's always been one of my least favorites...consider one of my stead-fast opinions changed!
But, on the subject of food, how amazing was the Food and Wine Festival! Only one thing I had was horrible and, believe it or not, it was the cheese fondue from the Cheese stand. Of all things that SHOULD have been good, how can you screw up melted cheese? And everything was on a roll of some sort, but it was still good! I tried things I would have never tried before, ate things I never miss, and enjoyed every second of it (despite the gritty fondue and the extensively long lines).
It always amazes me how much Disney changes from one trip to the next, but since I skipped a year, new stuff was everywhere...from the new graveyard at The Haunted Mansion, to the New Fantasyland section to even the fronts of stores and even just the smallest change of new carpets everywhere...Disney is ever-changing and constantly amazing!
But at the same time, I'm constantly amazed at how much Disney stays the same...you can always count on the best food anywhere and the rides to be completely immersive from the start of the line to the exit of the ride. Everything is always clean and fresh and generally (despite their snail's pace and annoying personal diarrhea), the CM's were overall kind and nice.
How good it felt to be home at the Wilderness Lodge again! I'm never as happy as when I stay there, and this time was no exception. It really is "my perfect place". For someone who is terrified of trees and woods, doesn't like western architecture and artifacts from America's old west days, it should be my worst nightmare, but it just has this amazing vibe than makes even me love it. And we've always managed to stay there after a refurb, so it was as beautiful as ever!
You can also count on guests being complete idiots and adding to our fun by having something to make fun of! And older man singing "Ho, Ho, Ho, Ho" for Pirates instead of "Yo Ho" gave us a new theme song..."ho, ho, ho, ho a Santa's life for me".
It feels really good to be an annual passholder. Not only did I get discounts everywhere, but it really made me feel like part of everything...I don't know why I didn't do it sooner (probably because I still have spending issues and can't afford to go more than once a year because I spend too much in the stores!).
I'm sure I'm missing some important stuff, but that's it for my "quick" recap (those that know me know I don't do "quick" posts!). If I think of more later, I'll add it, plus some picture highlights.
Comments
You really needed a wonderful trip and it sounds like you got it :)