Keane's March 2012 Trip Report - Part 5
"Let The Memories Begin... Again..."
Please see Part 1 for cast and plot summary...
Day 3. Tuesday, March 6th. Animal Kingdom 2
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The props are spectacular, the costuming is... interesting. But the musical presentation really can't stand alone. We won't mention Jenny's criticism of Nemo having the most annoying character ever to be put on the big or little screen, nor that I don't think a single number from Nemo the Musical would have made it into the movie itself when it was being written. Oh wait, I did.
Oh well. Perhaps we'll see "Avatar, The Musical" in a few years.
Isn't the internet wonderful? Any of us can be a critic...
We really haven't eaten since breakfast, and need food. I have never been to Pizzafari, and it seems like a good time to try it.
We get to Discovery Island (DI), only to find the parade floating past. We find the taped off section, and can actually move around DI during the parade. Much of it takes tight turns, so I actually drive the scooter walking next to it. We make it all the way to Pizzafari.
The place is pretty much empty. I take everyone's order, and have them go sit down. A couple of Pepperoni Pizzas and a veggie pizza, *no* goat cheese. Do I want to donate a dollar toward the Disney Conservation Fund? Sure. It's the cheapest way to get any sort of pin on properly...
I figure I can carry all the food until I find out the pizza orders come with a salad. Hmmm... About to call Jenny for help, but the cashier isn't busy and helps me carry the food. Maybe it was good that I donated that dollar. :-)
As I'm eating, I notice the creature eating creature motif from Flame Tree has been carried over to here. Then I notice the bats hanging from the ceiling, lizards on the walls, and there are bugs all over the chairs. I know there's a cat by the entrance, but it just sits there and does nothing. Typical cat. The food isn't bad, I like the chewy pizza crust. I'd eat here again.
We return to Kidani, and stop by Johari Treasures, the gift shop in the lobby. Mom buys a couple of pins (sigh), and I pick up my Kidani t-shirt, and a 1/2 lb of butter. They have those Land o' Lake half-sticks. Jenny has never seen them before. They also get me for another dollar toward the Disney Conservation Fund, but this one is under the guise of AKL instead of AK. Matching pins. I ask if I'm going to be hit up for a dollar in the rest of the theme parks. Apparently not.
Anyway, first night we haven't had a pizza flyer under the door. Jenny goes to guest services for a jogging trail map, and there isn't one. So she treadmills at the gym by the pool.
I find that Bob Sherman has died and inform the newsgroup. sigh. I make sure everything is backed up, and re-check everything for tomorrow. We see John Carter tomorrow night.
Day 4. Wednesday, March 7th. Magic Kingdom sans Miss Marie...
sigh.I knew there'd be a day like today. Mom's not feeling well. Remember that Ice Cream she ate in Animal Kingdom? Did you know that over 90% of Asians are lactose intolerant? Put those two together. Now if she had informed me, I could have fed her a couple of Imodium earlier, and she probably would have been okay. But did she ask me? No....
I give her a bottle of PowerAde that I have to replace the fluids and electrolytes, and Jenny makes her a soft boiled egg, but she's going to stay in today.
So it looks like Jenny and I will hit the parks alone. And it will be Magic Kingdom.
We get to the park about 10:30am, and one of the first things to do is to go and get another set of Sorcerer Cards. We may not play the game today, but someday...
We get stopped by the Dance Party floats coming from backstage. It's an okay show, but it sure does mess up the hub while it's going on. We're finally able to cross, and go into the Emporium. Jenny wants a hoodie sweatshirt. Before they became infamous. She finds one she likes, and wears it. I'm in a t-shirt and shorts. Wimp.
Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party
We turn into Adventureland and pass the corn dog stand. After Pirates.
Last December I asked a CM if a handicap had to transfer and step down into the boat, and was told yes. So trying to take Mom on Pirates, or even iasw, is pretty much impossible. So we're doing it now! I put the camera into a low light mode once on the boat, but it's really tough getting a picture in a constantly moving (on all three axis) vehicle. Photo failure rate due to movement is about 4 in 5. But, we watch some pirates pillage a village, and tip our hats to Capt'n Jack, and head out for that Corn Dog. Mmmmmm...
Since we have to stop and eat the corn dog due to Jenny's need for catsup, I can observe a more advanced sorcerer player at the portal behind us. She has her cards arranged in those 9 trading card size plastic pages that fit into a binder. Thus, she can hold up to 9 cards at once, though I think 6 or 7 is the maximum. It looks to be an interesting game...
We got word that Disney might be soft opening Storybook Circus, so we wander over that way. On the way, we stop into Hall of Presidents for some reason, but we don't stay for the show.
We do stop in to drop off and pick up another ghost at Gracey Manor. As we stood in line, I took some pictures of the Mansion, and realized we don't actually go up into the mansion for any reason. What's in there? Is there anything behind that door, or is it all show? Hmmm...
We travel around Fantasyland II looking for management types, but there aren't any. I can't tell you the number of times something soft opened when I was here at the world, but still missed the soft opening. Star Tours 2, Lights, Motors, Action... Beast's castle looks okay over the construction walls. Oh well, we head over toward Buzz.
Liberty Square / Fantasyland 2
If you haven't read my reports of late, you should know that out of some sort of "fairness", I am handicapped in some form on Buzz. I can't remember the last time I could use my right hand to aim and right thumb to shoot. I have to point out that despite these handicaps, I still win. But the scores are closer, and once again, I digress.
This time, I have to use my left hand, and cannot use my thumb. I don't control the spin of the vehicle. At least I don't have a time handicap this time. In spite of her best efforts (and adding insult to injury I took pictures through the ride,) I wipe the floor with her. 999,999 to 35,700. I am, a Galactic Hero. You may address me as "Mr. Hero." (Mr. Hero personally thinks something was broken, but so long as he has photographic proof of his score, he's going to exploit it.)
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
A quick ride on the People Mover. Another staple of a visit to Tomorrowland. From there, we're going to take a ride on the train, and see what F2 looks like from the back.
Tomorrowland Transit Authority Peoplemover
We start the walk to the Main Street Train Station, and cut through the Tomorrowland Terrace, and... And.... AND..... THEY'RE SERVING! Had to take pictures.
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| The Dapper Dans on Main Street U.S.A. |
Did you ever see "Waking Sleeping Beauty"? Pocahontas was going to be the sure runaway hit, a Romeo and Juliet with American Indians, and Lion King was this experimental movie, wasn't sure if it was going to be any good, didn't know if anyone would want to see it...
Main Street U.S.A. / Walt Disney World Railroad
We end the day at MK at 2pm.
Day 4. Wednesday, March 7th.
Sanaa and D23's Cross Country John Carter Screening.
We get back to Kidani by 3pm. We talk a walk around the lobby and out to the Sunset Savanna overlook and take a few pictures. We have reservations at Sanaa at 5:10pm. Mom is doing much better, having taken Imodium this morning and resting the day.We are at Sanaa by 5pm, and get one of those buzzy-lighty things, and take Mom out to the Savanna Overlook. The buzzy-lighty thing goes buzzy-lighty, and we're seated close to the entrance. Dinner is pretty darn good. No food porn again. Don't know why...
We had the bread service as an appetizer. I had the Lamb Tandori Pilaf. I thought the Pilaf was a bit underdone, but otherwise was very tasty. Jenny had the Shrimp Tandori Rice, and Mom had the Slow cooked Beef Short Ribs and Lamb.
Problem was, we were in kind of a hurry. We have John Carter tickets, courtesy of D23. I knew I'd be at Disney World this week, and was able to get 2 free tickets to the Orlando showing at the AMC 24 in Downtown Disney.
We finished dinner at 6:30, we have to be at Downtown Disney by 7pm. I took Mom up to the room (I could only get two tickets, and this was way past her bed time), picked up the tickets to the movie, the car keys and Karen, and left Jenny behind to pay the bill. She has the TiW card. We meet at the Rafiki Elevator.
We got to West Side about 6:55. We go to the AMC 24 entrance by the Planet Hollywood side, and of course, we're at the wrong place. The place really isn't the AMC 24, but really the AMC 8 and the AMC 16 on the other side. We walk to the correct entrance on the old Virgin Megastore side, and are told to just go in.
The movie is being shown in Theater 11. We wander around and finally find Theater 11, where we find ourselves a line. We have to check our cell phones and cameras (I left my camera in the car), and are wanded to make sure we don't have any recording devices. Tight security. The movie itself gets released in two days.
I seem to be the only one with D23 credentials. Everyone else has a different type of entrance ticket. We're late, maybe the D23 members were let in earlier. According to an AP preview at DHS last weekend, Disney Visa was also giving away tickets. They and AP holders were let in first before other guests with a third type of ticket. Given that I'm an AP holder *and* a Disney Visa holder, you'd think I would have known about that. Nope. That's okay, we didn't get in until Sunday anyway. We finally make it into the theater, and it's about 2/3rds full. Comfy seats.
A few minutes before the feature starts, a Disney rep speaks to us. It's Disney Pictures that required them to confiscate cell phone and cameras, and if they spot anyone with a recording device, they will be escorted out. Unlike all the other D23 previews I've been too, there is no trivia, nor swag given out. What do you want for free, anyway?
There are trailers for Brave and The Avengers. Both look like interesting movies. I'm more interested in the Avengers than Brave, but I'm sure they'll look great on Blu. Unless D23 previews either movie, of course. (I thought Disney's purchase of Marvel for 4 billion was... not very smart, but it looks like it might be profitable.)
I wasn't sure what to expect of John Carter. The commercials looked like another Prince of Persia type production. Wasn't sure what to expect. Wasn't until well after the fact I found out the marketing snafus. The 10-minute preview (which is basically the opening of the movie) confused people more than anything.
But I was pleasantly surprised. It was a 100 year old sci-fi (actually now science-fantasy) book brought to life with 2012 movie making technology. The problem is, the short sighted today are pointing out that it's too much like Star Wars/Avatar/etc, without realizing where Lucas/Cameron/etc. got their ideas for their movies. For instance, I've actually seen complaints that the movie is entirely unrealistic because it's been known for years that Mars doesn't have a breathable atmosphere. sigh.
For someone who grew up on science fiction before we knew all the facts, it was an excellent movie. 4.5 stars. I hope they do the Blu-Ray right.
The movie ends, and Jenny loses her sun-glasses under the seats. The credits are still rolling, so it's dark. If I had my fanny pack here, I'd have a flashlight. Isn't hindsight wonderful? Another guest actually sees them (great night vision), and retrieves them for Jenny.
We exit the theater and get in the "A" line outside, where my driver's license is taped together with our cell phones in a ziplock bag. A quick trip to the bathroom, then we exit the theater to the parking lot. We have to find the car (we left it going toward another entrance to West Side, and have to get my bearing on where it is from this exit to the parking lot), proving once again, those key fobs are more handy for finding your car than remotely unlocking them sometimes. I tell Karen to get us back to Kidani, and I have a report out on RADP by 10:30.
End March 2012 Trip Report - Part 5.
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