Seals

The Sunday of Thanksgiving week we had FP+ for the 2nd show of Fantasmic (8 pm I think). I had read elsewhere to get there earlier than the time so we go there 15 min before the FP+ time. We passed the waiting standby line  to a set of MB readers where we were about 10 people back. They let us through before the standby line, but we were of course slowed down by people's inability to scan their MB in a timely and orderly manner. We  got to seats in the middle center, about 15 or so rows back. My DS and I headed back to the vendor stands so he could get a churro and we were swimming upstream through the standby line minions who were coming in. We had to walk behind a CM pushing a cart to get through. But after we got our churro there weren't many people coming in and there were still plenty of seats left even in our row  by the time the show started. So in theory FP+ may work better for the second show when it's crowded. But  one has to get to the line even before the FP+ time so still not that great an experience.  This was before tiers so we did have RnR and TSm FP+s also. 

. Amusement park ride that a handy with a little woodworking and mechanical ability could easily make in his backyard.

Great idea!

How old is that picture of Mark Hammill? After seeing recent pictures of him I don't think I'd recognize him if I walked past him today.

 

You know how many Muppets movies I had seen before this one?

 

None.

 

The first Muppets movie came out in 1979.  That's the year I graduated High School and turned 18.  The drinking age was 18 then, and I was in college.  Going to a G rated movie about puppets wasn't high on my list of things to do.

 

Then came the sequels.  I guess I remember hearing about them.  But had zero interest in seeing them.

 

The last of the first batch of sequels was released in 1999.  And then there were no more Muppets movies until Disney put out the new one in 2011.

 

I found some information on Wikipedia that shows the names of the movies and how they grossed in theaters:

 

Didn't your girls have any of the Muppet movies on VHS/DVD?  We had Treasure Island and Christmas Carol on VHS at one point. The 2011 movie was one of the better ones.

 

 

And this lady:

 

 

There's a story that goes with that lady.  We have seen her several times in the parks.  Which is weird.  But for some reason we have.  We all remember her from a Halloween Party we attended.  She was all by herself.  And we kept running in to her.  Then, for the last 24 hour event at the MK, she was in line not too far ahead of us to meet Mickey and Minnie.  And we have seen her other times too.  Always by herself.  So we call her the Solo Traveler.  We've discussed before how strange it is that we always seem to be running in to her.  Then, it dawned on me what is going on.  And I shared my theory with the twins.  I think the Solo Traveler is one of them who has time traveled back from the future.   I'm not sure which twin she is, but I think she keeps showing up to remind them to work hard and do good in school, or else they will spend their futures as Solo Travelers in the Magic Kingdom.  For some reason, that theory didn't go over very well with the twins. But, what other explanation could there be?

 

 

Did it ever occur to you she might be stalking you ?

 

 

 

 

I share that one because these two kids were in line behind us when we were waiting to check in.  There were two girls with them who looked to be about the same age.  I was wondering what they were doing there.  The blog rules said that you had to be 18 to enter for a chance to come to the Meet Up.  Each winner could bring an underage guest, but the person entering had to be 18.  The twins are 18.  There is no way these kids behind me were 18.  But there they were.  They were annoying as could be.  I wonder if their parents work for Disney or something.  Do you think either of those kids are 18?

 

Is that kid on the left on a tv show? He looks vaguely familiar.

 

 

 

Also, a number of those photos have more than 2 people in them so there must have been a lot of employees' family, friends, next door neighbors, etc. allowed to break the rules.

 

 

The secret part is that we got to see the new Muppets movie.  But, we're not allowed to talk about or disclose the plot.  The movie doesn't come out until March 21.

 

 

Ha! Muppets movie and plot that can't be figured out from the previews don't really go together.

The main thing I want to know are all the funniest jokes in the previews?

Just read an interview with Angelina Jolie about the movie in Entertainment Weekly (?) while waiting for my son at the dentist's office. Sounds like she really got into the role as she talks about experimenting with different voices with her kids to see which one they liked and about Malificent's motivation for who she is. Also showed that AJ's then 3 year old daughter played a little girl in one scene because all the 3 and 4 year old actors they tried out were too afraid of her. 

Glad to have the chance to recommend them. We rented #2 this past Thanksgiving. We had 2 adults and 3 teen boys. There was enough room but you also have to figure out who is going to be willing to share sleeping space with whom to decide if the bed configuration will work for you.  We also felt a little crowded on interior storage/shelf space but we also seemed to have a lot of stuff (5 cell phones charging; 5 idevices charging, etc.). This was our first experience with a pop up, though, as we are used to camping with 3 tents for 5 people.  Overall, however, we all loved it and I highly recommend Fortcamperrental.com.  They took care of everything and everything was in good order and clean.  It made for a nice relaxing vacation. 

Beautiful pictures!  My parents used to love going to Longwood Gardens during those long NJ winters.

Great picture with the fat cat too.

Note to self: Save up lots of money. Stay at the Fort for the duration of the Flower and Garden Festival. Try every single thing on every menu.

Seriously, looking at just those couple of menus I would have trouble deciding on just one or two things. Even if I didn't think I'd like them some of the combinations sound so interesting I'd like to try them and find out for sure.

And on an unrelated note, was your campsite right near the VIP cabins? i thought I saw the corner of one in one photo.

If that doesn't deserve a down arrow, nothing does.

 

Then apparently nothing does. Because anything that makes me happy, can't be deserving of a down arrow.

IASW provides me happy, nostalgic memories of the first time I enjoyed it in 1974.  And possibly I rode a version of it at the NY World's Fair, but I was only 3 when I went to it so I don't have a clear memory.   Up arrow for warm and fuzzy feelings.      :raspberry:

To each her own. I'm picturing myself drinking my morning tea from that Mr. Toad mug with a big smile on my face. Right now I have several dozen mugs and I only use one of the four Disney travel mugs to bring tea to work each day and at home I always use my Joy To The World mug that has pictures on it that remind me of It's A Small World. Mr. Toad will fit right in.

Way cool. And excellent decision to market that nostalgia factor. Leave it to Disney to find a yet another way to separate me from my $. 

Looks like we were posting at the same time.

 

And I hope you don't think I was being critical of you.  I appreciate that you posted this- I hadn't heard about it.

 

I just wanted to see if it really was any kind of a deal.

 

It's not.

 

TCD

 

But the reality is that a lot of people are going to see the word "deal" and think it is. I'm always surprised at how many people don't crunch the numbers. Or maybe I'm not.  It's like when a store marks something with that red "clearance" tag that you can get elsewhere for less, or is total junk, or both.

 

And on a personal note about the latest price increase, I'm really really glad I bought 8-day non-expiration parkhoppers + fun visits from Undercover Tourist right before the price increase last June.  Now my investment is worth even more.  And it's looking likely they will be the last Disney tickets I buy and when they are gone we are gone, unless there are some actual deals at some point in the future. 

Have stayed in 2000 loop several times and had no problems there. It is a partial hook up loop and therefore has more younger families who cannot afford large RV and stay in popup and tents. More children are around because they are outside and not in doors watching video games or television. It is a large loop so more people will cause more noise, but I would stay there again. The distance of the location is not a problem.

 

Agree. Have stayed in the 2000 loop 4 times and never in any other loop and have not had a bad experience. But we also don't spend much time in the campsite since we are at parks, going other places around the Fort, etc. Definitely worth the lower cost to us. In terms of comparing just the two tent/pop up loops, there would be no difference in cost. But I've been told it's a lot harder to get 1500 because there are fewer sites and it's requested more.

  It's called NGE testing and those CMs were on the clock and being paid to ride the rides. 

 

And where do I sign up for this job? 

Thanks. I'll show this to my son who wanted to take one apart. Of course he'll probably still want to take one apart. 

So was your daughter ok with a coupon instead of a balloon? Because in the picture she looks pretty darn proud of that balloon, as she should be. But if she was ok with the situation then I'd call that a win-win-win.

And I''m jealous because I always admire those Mickey and wish some stranger would hand me one someday.

Also, I noticed the long line of people waiting for the speedway.  Some things never change.

 

All those people complaining about crowds like it's a new thing. I do remember waiting in long lines. Of course we went during Easter week and in July. But the Main Street photo from 1977 is probably an 8 by today's numbers. Another nice thing about before the internet, we didn't know how miserable we should be.

Fish actually does mind it.  He does this little fall on the ground go limp routine.   But he eventually forgets about it.  :)  He's a sight!

You're better than I was. My son who most needed a leash did this every time and wore me down enough that I gave up on using it. It would have made things much easier.

Enjoying your trip report.

And congratulations on your adoption.

Now I'm sorry I already said your son was adorable. I need a new word for him in his Flynn Ryder outfit with the kiss on his cheek - uber adorable. You better watch out when he gets to be a teenager. And be sure to save these pictures.

Looking forward to hearing about your HDDR experience.

July 1977:

Not marked but I think also 1977:

Photography has never been one of my skills:

April 1974

This is a cool photo.

 

It must have been taken from the Contemporary Resort. 

 

It shows Space Mountain under construction.

 

And look how there's no bus stops at the MK.  It doesn't even look like there's a road to the entrance.   Which makes me wonder what the back-up plan was if the monorails were down?  I guess everyone had to take the ferry.  Or the monorails never went down.

 

TCD

It's funny that the two things I remember best from my two childhood trips to WDW/the Fort in 1974 and 1977 are Space Mtn and River Country and both of them must have been from the 1977 trip. Until I looked at the opening dates I thought I'd done both on both trips.

I wish I could remember the details of taking this. And that I'd taken more than 6 photos of WDW during that trip. I even took a few more of Cypress Gardens than WDW. But I'm sure my parents cautioned me because of the cost of developing film. Such a difference digital cameras make.

According to an online inflation calculator $17 in 79 is equal to $54.55 today.

I put 1979 because it says that at the top of the tickets. But I just now realized they are from Spring of 1982. I found them among things I got when we cleaned out my parents' house after my Mom passed away two years ago and I took all the Disney stuff I could find. I was thinking that I didn't remember going to the Revue, although that isn't unusual for me. Then I realized the tickets were from a trip my parents took with my younger brother when I was a sophomore in college. And how mad I was that they went without me during my brother's spring break instead of waiting until summer when I could go.

But still probably equivalent to today's price.

April 1974