crazycatperson's April 2014 Pop Century trip report

Day 5, Monday, April 7, Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios - Our final full day started at the Magic Kingdom, which wasn't quite as crowded as it was Friday but was still pretty full compared to autumn, when we usually go to WDW. As we proceeded up Main Street, cast members started to usher people over to the sidewalks. A few minutes later we heard music coming from behind us - it was the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party working its way up Main Street to the hub. We'd never happened to be in the vicinity of Main Street when this event was occurring, so since it isn't the sort of thing we'd go out of our way to experience, this was our first time seeing it. We stood along Main Street adjacent to the hub; I danced around a little while taking pictures and hubby just stood there - he's not into acting silly in public, but I am still working on curing him of that little hang-up. Once the last float passed, I realized they were just circling the hub until they were all in position, and since there weren't many people waiting curbside, I was able to get even better photos with the sun at a good angle instead of partially backlighting the floats and performers. Once everything was in place, I started dancing around to the music again. The CMs kept asking people who were celebrating something, anything, to raise a hand, but we weren't, and they didn't get too many hands raised so they were pretty much begging people to come up with some reason to celebrate ("You're at Walt Disney World!" which I admit is a really great reason to celebrate).

I knew this really wasn't hubby's thing, so we didn't stay for the entire show. With much hope but not much luck, we checked the Peter Pan's Flight standby time, but already the line was longer than we cared to wait. We passed by It's a Small World because once per trip is all hubby can stand. At the Haunted Mansion, the standby wait was advertised as 15 minutes, but that was an exaggeration because we literally walked right into the stretching room and then onto the ride. And it's a good thing we stopped then, because the next time we passed by the standby wait was up to 45 minutes! Our next stop was the Hall of Presidents. Folks who were there in the last couple of weeks - is Ulysses Grant missing, or did I just not see him? I didn't notice his animatronic being lit up when his name was announced, and later I scanned the entire stage and somehow couldn't pick him out. And it's not as if I don't know what he looks like.

After the Presidents, we stopped by Sleepy Hollow so I could try the chicken waffle sandwich. Hubby raved about it last November, and several of you have also endorsed it, so I had to try it for myself. It was around noon when we got there so I expected a crowd, but was amazed that there was literally NO ONE in line at all! Could it be that most folks think it's just a place for funnel cakes? Anyway, I very much enjoyed my sandwich, which hubby declared was a must-have for every future trip. He tried the ham waffle sandwich, but didn't like it nearly as well as he liked the chicken, so I let him have some of mine - it was huge and I really didn't need to eat it all.

Next stop, back to Peter Pan's Flight. And again, no luck with the standby line. Next trip we will definitely have FP+ for this attraction. While hubby visited the tobacco attraction, I walked over to The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, another fun ride. Although the standby line wasn't as bad as at Pan, it was still longer than we cared to wait. As I returned to the smoking area to wait for hubby, I noticed Princess Fairytale Hall. The standby line for Rapunzel, who was with Snow White, was 45 minutes, but the line for Cinderella and "Princess" (it didn't say which one) was only 25 minutes. I'd walked past a few princess meet and greets and had even stopped to watch a time or two, but I had never done one myself - not at Fairytale Hall, not at a character meal, never. And 25 minutes seemed reasonable. My only concern was hubby - this was not exactly the sort of thing that would appeal to him. So I dragged him over and made him do it anyway.

We were surrounded by little and not-so-little girls, including three teenagers each wearing her favorite princess's pin (Ariel, Belle, and Cinderella) and several little ones in their princess finery. I really liked the ornate decor inside the hall, especially the large portraits of various princesses and of course, Cinderella's glass slipper. I told hubby that I hoped our second princess would be either Tiana or Aurora, two of my favorites - Tiana because she seems so real and Aurora because Sleeping Beauty was the very first movie I ever saw when it was first released and I was all of four years old. (And you know the movie made an impression because I still remember going to see it.) When we finally made our way into the princess room, I was pleased to discover that princess number two was in fact Aurora. First I met Cinderella, with hubby manning the camera. She asked if he was my prince, and of course I said that he was; Aurora asked if he was my dragon slayer, and again I assented. She said that was excellent because Phillip might need help slaying a particularly nasty dragon. I can't say this is something I would do every single trip to WDW, but it was actually a lot more fun than I'd expected.

At this point we were maybe half an hour away from needing to park hop to Animal Kingdom to see Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade for the very last time before it disappears. We decided to swing by Pirates of the Caribbean to see how long that line was and made our way back into the hub when what did we encounter but an outdoor princess meet and greet featuring Tiana! Well, that was just the princess trifecta for me! And the line wasn't horribly long, short enough that we could meet Tiana and still have plenty of time to get to the AK bus. When our turn arrived, I told Tiana that my husband would like me to get her gumbo recipe. The CM playing the part must have rehearsed the answers to all sorts of possible questions because without the slightest pause she responded that she doesn't give out her recipe, but she could tell me she uses lots of hot sauce, what folks down in Louisiana call "slap your mama" sauce because when you taste it it makes you want to slap your mama! This time, a CM took my camera so hubby and I could both pose with Tiana, and she took quite a few, the whole "slap your mama" conversation along with a posed photo.

And finally we were on our way to Animal Kingdom. I'll save the rest of the day for another post.

Photos from Magic Kingdom - Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It!

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Princesses! And a couple of MK landmarks.

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Thanks, alicemouse. I hated to think Grant was AWOL. I'll look in that location when we return in November.

Day 5, Monday, April 7, part 2 - And we're park hopping from MK to AK to catch the parade. When we were at WDW in the fall of 2012, I went to MK without hubby one morning and then took the bus to AK to meet him there. I remembered that in 2012 the park buses stopped at the TTC, so we hopped the monorail. When we arrived, we stopped at the small refreshment stand between the monorail and the ferry for a couple of bottles of water, and it was a good thing we did because as we passed the monorail entrance to go where I thought the park buses stopped we saw a sign saying that the DHS and AK buses were at the MK entrance! So it was back on the monorail and back to MK. Fortunately, I'd built extra time into the schedule in case there were transportation issues, and we still made it to AK with time to spare. After picking up a park map to verify the parade route, we headed over to Pizzafari so we could be near the parade's starting point. Even though it was less than 20 minutes until parade time, the crowd along the route was pretty sparse and we found an amazing viewing spot outside a shop. Because of a tree and a curve in the route, we had a completely unimpeded view of the parade as it approached, and I got my best photos ever of this parade. This is hubby's favorite parade, so at least he'll have something to remember it by once it's gone. Because we had such a fantastic spot, we had some great interaction with the parade participants. A human CM stopped with me long enough to get a character on a float to look my way, Timon got really up close and personal, and either Chip or Dale bumped shoulders with me and we danced a bit (once again, I was boogying to the music while hubby just stood there).

When the last float passed, we followed the parade as far as the walkway to the park entrance, and then hubby and I split up. He stayed to ride Expedition Everest in the single rider line while I went directly to DHS hoping to find the Toy Story Mania standby line was not too long.

It was, but the next American Idol show was just a few minutes away, so I hotfooted it over and made it just in time. I am not a fan of that TV show, but the DHS show is okay as entertainment goes. The three singers at the 5:00 hour were: a 15-year-old girl who sang in her school chorus but had no individual training, she sang well but went a little off key in the middle and her voice was a bit weak, nothing training and experience can't cure; an adult woman (with a huge family in the audience, including her five children!) with a wonderful voice who had no training at all; and an adorable 14-year-old boy with an amazing voice for a kid his age. When the time came to vote, I was torn between the woman and the boy, so torn that I didn't get a button punched in time! Oh, well. The woman won, and I can't imagine my one vote would've made a difference even if I'd voted for the boy. Later in the evening, we happened by the video broadcast of the finale show outside the theater, and the woman who won the 5:00 show came in second in the finale, so you know she could sing.

My phone buzzed just as the show was ending; hubby had arrived and made his way directly to Tower of Terror, where we both had FP+ reservations. I waited near the spot where you can check out your ride photo; once hubby was off the ride we exchanged Magic Bands so he could ride again on my FastPass.

Earlier, when I checked the TSM standby line on first arriving at DHS, I also checked the Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow. At the time (a little before 5:00) they were handing out passes to the 6:30 show, which fit well into our FP+ plans for the evening, so I picked up two passes. Once hubby was finished with Tower of Terror, we made our way back to Pixar Place and had a seat in the waiting area. This experience is okay to do once, but IMO not something I would ever need to do again. And I'm still wondering if that was really Johnny Depp on screen or a very competent look-alike.

After becoming pirates, we swashbuckled our way over to Backlot Express for dinner. We both got the 1/3 lb Angus onion straw bacon burger (mine without cheese, and I was pleased to note that they discounted the burger without the cheese, since most fast-food joints won't do that). We ordered one with fries and one with carrot sticks to be a little bit healthier, intending to share both, but of course they both came with fries, although the carrot sticks were also supplied upon our request - we ended up taking them with us and hubby ate them the next day. The burgers were AWESOME and the fries were also surprisingly good - as at Casey's , they looked average but tasted much better. If I want something light I'll get the Asian salad at ABC Commissary, but if I want a burger I'll definitely return to Backlot Express.

While we waited for our food (we were advised that the non-cheeseburger would take extra time to make, not a problem), we chatted with a CM from the college program. She told us about getting credit for working at WDW while also doing coursework online at Auburn University. Her stint in the college program was supposed to end upon her graduation this spring, but she signed on to stay until the end of the summer. This was the second current or former college program CM we'd met in two days, and both seemed wonderful and were very attentive and friendly, just what you expect from a WDW CM.

After dinner our FP+ window for the Great Movie Ride opened and we all but walked right on. We got the cowboy storyline, which was great because the past few times hubby and I had both gotten the gangster. Then it was time for Toy Story Mania! My final score was 113,000, still a beaver, dang it. We had a bit of a surprise during the ride; hubby started out with a much higher score than mine (first time ever), but by the end I had just barely surpassed him. (I always beat him at TSM and he always beats me at Buzz Lightyear.)

Finally it was time for hubby to get his coveted butter pecan ice cream from Hollywood Scoops. We got a cone to share, and I spooned ice cream into the cone while he ate what was left in the dish (I prefer cones, he doesn't). This is some seriously good ice cream, folks, so try it if you haven't already. We'd had a long day by this point and didn't have time to do much before we headed in for the 10:00 Fantasmic show, so I sat in the food court reviewing the photos on my camera while hubby visited the tobacco attraction again. When he returned, I showed him all the photos for the first time since I'd only just figured out how to do that (new camera).

We headed into Fantasmic at maybe 9:40 or 9:45 and got excellent seats less than ten rows from the front and in the right-center area. Right at 10:00 we felt a few drops of rain. They became more numerous. They let up, and we hoped. Mickey arrived and did his magic as the rain picked up again. And in the middle of the first projection part of the show, the lights came up and we were told the show had to stop due to the weather. We understood the decision; of course the safety of the cast members must come first, and it's not like we haven't seen that show many times before. Still, it's our absolute favorite fireworks show, so we were a bit disappointed to miss it.

We checked the TSM standby line again, but it was longer than I cared to wait, and since the rain showed no sign of stopping we gave up and left. Hubby and I split up at this point; he took a bus to Saratoga Springs to find a resort pin for his hat while I caught the Pop Century bus.

By this time the rain was quite heavy and was actually trickling through my hat. Unfortunately, the bus shelters at DHS don't provide nearly the protection from the elements that they do at the other parks. Most of the people in the very long Pop Century bus line were totally exposed, and the handful who were lucky enough to be under cover wouldn't budge, even when they could've moved ahead in the line, until they knew they could actually get on a bus. A standing room only bus was pulling away when I arrived at the bus stop. Another bus arrived fairly quickly, but a wheelchair was waiting, and the driver needed to attend to that before letting the rest of us on. Most of the folks in line seemed not to understand; they started grumbling and even shouting at the bus driver to open the door! But of course he was doing his job the right way, nothing we could do about it. One woman ducked under the chain with her stroller and dashed up the wheelchair ramp, only to be told she had to get off the bus. I was near the point of screaming that the bus drive was required to secure the wheelchair before he let us on! but I refrained.

I didn't even get on that bus, but again another one showed up very quickly, and I was even able to get a seat. The girl sitting beside me had a toddler on her lap who was interested in my hat. "Yes," the girl said, "she has a hat, too!" (Both she and the little boy were wearing baseball caps.) I smiled at the boy and pointed out my kitty pins, then showed him the other side of the hat with even more kitty pins. I mentioned to the girl that the little boy was adorable. "Thanks," she said, "he's my little brother." I asked about their age difference; the girl said she was 15 and her brother was not quite 2. I said that was almost exactly the age difference between me and my little brother, so I understood exactly how she felt. But of course, I told her, my little brother is in his 40s now.

By the time we reached Pop Century the rain had let up, thank God, and I was able to walk my refillable mug to the food court for a much-desired cup of hot tea. Then I hung my damp clothes and hat up to dry and took a nice warm shower. Bonus, one less thing I needed to do the next morning, and that was a good thing because I couldn't really pack my clothes until they'd had time to dry.

Hubby, meanwhile, found a Saratoga Springs pin at the resort gift shop, then made his way to Downtown Disney hoping to find the remaining pins for his little collection, but the shops were closed by the time he arrived, so he caught the next bus to Pop and we called it a night.

Next up, departure day, boo hiss! And our original plans for the day get washed out.

A few photos from Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade.

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Day 6, Tuesday, April 8, Departure Day - I awoke before my cell phone alarm rang and set about packing. Everything seemed dry, and I did my best to fit my hat in amongst the clothes in my suitcase, not wanting it to get wet again. This was a mistake - things shifted around in transit and the hat is now slightly bent. At this point in the day, it was quite cloudy but dry, so we dragged our suitcases over to resort airline check-in and dropped them off along with our backpacks. We stopped at the food court for breakfast, the first meal we'd eaten there the whole trip, and we shared whatever they call the big breakfast over there - I can't find it on the online menu I usually consult, but it had scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, potatoes, and a biscuit. Plenty for two. Of course, we also filled up on hot tea or coffee.

The rain began while we were eating and continued for the rest of our time at WDW. Our original plans for Tuesday had been to spend the morning and early afternoon grazing the Flower and Garden Festival outdoor kitchens, but the forecast led us to cancel those plans. Instead, we hopped a bus to Downtown Disney, thinking we'd do a little shopping and get lunch at Earl of Sandwich. But it was absolutely pouring when we arrived. I had an umbrella and hubby had a rain poncho, but we didn't fancy walking anywhere in the downpour, so instead we waited for the next Old Key West bus so hubby could purchase a pin from that resort.

Once at OKW, hubby found his pin and we reconsidered our lunch plans. We were at Old Key West and we love Olivia's, so we decided on the spur of the moment to have lunch there. Of course we weren't exactly hungry, having finished breakfast less than a couple of hours earlier. And of course we had to get some of Olivia's lovely conch appetizers (chowder for hubby, fritters for me, although we each sampled a bit of both). So, we both ended up not being able to finish our sandwiches (veggie burger for hubby, Cuban sandwich sans cheese for me, I'd always wanted to try one of those). Hubby had his leftovers packaged up in a plastic container, and I asked for a sheet of aluminum foil so I could wrap half of mine and store it in my slingpack (small one-strap backpack that I use in lieu of a purse).

By the time we finished lunch, the rain had let up. Hubby took a smoke break, then we waited for the next boat back to Downtown Disney. Fortunately, the rain was light enough that the boats were running. As the boat exited OKW we caught a brief glimpse of the building we stayed at in October 2012 and a better glimpse of the bus stop where we caught so many park buses. Later in the ride I got my first glimpse of the Treehouse Villas (lovely) and a closer look at Saratoga Springs than I'd ever had before. Hubby pointed out the building he'd stayed at last November and the smoking area with a great view of DTD. It looks like a very nice resort; I'm sure we'll stay there sometime in the future, and when that happens I will also book an ADR at the Turf Club since so many of you have recommended that restaurant. At Downtown Disney we stopped at the Cirque du Soleil gift shop because hubby recalled they had some really cool items, especially the very ornate masks. And they were nice, but not something I'd be inclined to invest money in unless I had plans to attend Mardi Gras or or a formal masked ball.

We didn't linger very long at Downtown Disney, since it was still drizzling and we wanted to make sure we made it back to Pop Century in time for our Magical Express bus. We did get a good look at all the construction as we hiked to the nearest bus stops, including the new parking garages, the future home of the food trucks, and lots and lots of construction walls.

Back at Pop Century I wandered in the drizzle a bit taking cell phone photos from underneath my umbrella (they're already posted earlier in this trip report). Eventually we retrieved our backpacks, spent a little time in the food court enjoying a little more refillable soda and topping off for the trip to the airport, and then we were on the bus watching the "Come Back Soon and Spend More Money!" video and dreaming about our November trip. We finished our sandwiches at the airport food court along with a couple of Krispy Kreme donuts. Then it was on to our gate. Most likely due to the weather, our plane was delayed slightly, although the captain said that we'd likely make it to Baltimore right on time. Unfortunately, there was a baggage issue - the captain and crew weren't sure they'd gotten everyone's bags on the plane! So we ended up departing a good 45 minutes behind schedule, but still arrived not much later than originally scheduled, gotta love that jet stream when it's working with you.

Our bags were among the first to be offloaded, yay, and also arrived one right after the other, double yay, so soon we were cruising up the highway toward home. There's a spot in Hanover, PA, south of which I rarely go shopping, when I know I'm home. Alicemouse, it's the old Utz plant on 94, you know exactly what I mean. I do most of my shopping up on Eisenhower. So we passed that point and then I knew we were really home. And now, six-plus months to plan the next trip.

Thanks, folks, it was fun to write. It helped that I made detailed notes every evening.

We can't smell any of the Utz plants where we live, thank God; I do not need to be tempted by potato chips every day. Pretzels wouldn't bother me so much since we usually have pretzels in the house anyway. But they're Snyder's, not Utz; we like them better. (See, I told you all this was the junk food capital of the world - I can choose among several local purveyors of starchy goodness if I want a snack.)

I just finished reading the latest installment of BuffaloBill's Christmas trip report, and his endorsement of Disney cruises reminded me of few details I omitted from my report.

Hubby wants to try a Disney cruise.

Neither of his parents could swim, they did not send their kids to swim lessons, and my MIL also had a really serious water phobia (as in, wouldn't even get into a bathtub with more than a couple of inches of water in it). With all that combined, hubby has water issues. Aside from paddling a little on his back, he cannot swim and doesn't want to learn how. So I was amazed when he said he wanted to try a Disney cruise. He's serious, too! It came up because our Magical Express bus from the airport to Pop Century was actually a Disney Cruise Line bus, and that got him thinking. He's even thinking Western Caribbean, whichever route might get him near some Mayan ruins. Correct me if I'm mistaken, but that would mean a 7-day cruise, yes?

He also wants to try Port Orleans French Quarter someday. For us, this will mean a modest outlay of cash - we can't do a timeshare exchange there, and it will cost more out of pocket than Pop Century did.

And he's talking about keeping the annual passes. He hasn't decided yet whether to renew every year or to do the one year on, one year off routine, with three trips on each pass and then a year between with no trips. The latter option would be more affordable, even with the discount if you renew every year. The former would obviously be more fun and also would mean our renewals wouldn't need to be paid for at the same time, since he got his last November and I only just got mine a couple of weeks ago.

So, bottom line, I think he's being assimilated!

Look what I found at the supermarket yesterday! Pity Inca Kola was one of my least favorite Club Cool beverage options.

This was in the Latino grocery aisle along with all the Goya merchandise and other Latin American brands. They also had two or three flavors of Fanta, but probably not the Greek pineapple variety that I liked. I didn't think to check.

Pity I can't wander over to the Italian section and pick up a six-pack of Beverly.

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