Packing for Pandora (May 23-30th) Trip Report

Hey everybody, TGM here with another trip report!

Lets start with the details...

We arrive tomorrow (Tuesday, May 23rd) and leave the following Tuesday (the 30th).

We will be in Pandora the day it opens.

Hopefully at least two of you will stay long enough to read that.

You: I wonder if he made another one of those ridiculous spreadsheets...

Me: Of course I did! I can't keep anything else organized, but I can make a mean spreadsheet.



And the numbers under the names of the restaurants, they're confirmation numbers so don't try to do anything with them. I can trust you, right?

Lets start with our cast of characters:



Dad: known as Druid, on the DIS

Loves Disney, but not obsessed. Favorite attraction: Haunted Mansion



not a good photo...

Me: Completely Disney obsessed. Favorite attraction: Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress (or the WEDway)



Mom: Could care less about Disney, but likes walking slowly, and sitting in the sun. Favorite attraction: American Idol Experience (I don't think she knows it's closed)


Oh yeah, one more thing. See the photo of my dad? The blur (or bokeh for you photography nerds) was added by iOS. Yes, that photo was taken on an iPhone. While Apple may say "Taken on iPhone 6s*" on their billboards, I really took that on my iPhone.

Any suggestions for photography apps on iOS? I use Tadaa, Aviary, and LongExpo, and I might be trying Apple's Clips this year.

I also might put some Spotify codes for songs you should listen to.



Oh look, there's one.

*actually taken on a $1,000,000 DSLR

Can't wait to hear all about it!

You're probably wondering how to use the Spotify code. (the last song in the album that pops up, but the rest are pretty good too)

Found my username and password, WooHoo!

Looks like you guys will have some time for "People Watching" on Sunday and Monday...

So, I guess I should start in the beginning, before I tell you why I'm typing this in a Marriott hotel room.

You: (shocked face emoji) TGM, why are you in the Marriott? I though you said you were going to stay at the Swan!

Me: You'll have to sit through every boring detail of my day to get to the end!

Let's see, I woke up at 7:00, got out of bed, got dressed, left the room, walked downstairs, ate a bagel.




Just kidding





I won't make you sit though all that




Let's start at the airport, where the excitement and mystery begin.



I sat down on the couch, and to my left I find an iPhone with 3 credit cards and a driver's license. My mom saw it, and started to talk to the phone. Didn't press the home button to ask Siri, just started talking to it.

Sheena: Whose phone is this?

Phone: (silence)

Sheena: (growing more upset) Tell me who you belong to!

Phone: (silence)

TGM: Lets look at the driver's license to find a name

Phone: (silence)

Lets call her Susan. The drivers license had Susan's name and photo on it. My mom turned around and yells "SUSAN! YOU ARE SO HAPPY TO SEE ME!"

Susan looked at her, and said "why do you have my phone?"

After we explained what happened, she was appreciative.

After our good deed, we walked downstairs to find a Project Fi machine. While I'm not a Google fan, I don't deny free socks.



Project Fi is a mobile phone solution from Google, but that has nothing to do with what the machine did.

If you answer 4 geography questions (which are not easy, by the way) you get a prize. We got a pair of socks, a few luggage tags, and a sleep kit.



We played more than once.




For every quiz won, you get a prize. We got at least 5 prizes.




To be continued....

I love the image of your mom yelling at some stranger's phone. Glad you were able to find the owner.

Where did I leave off?

Oh yeah, Project Fi.

Let's skip to the part when we get on the plane. Or a few minutes before.

My mom is determined to be the last one on the plane, because she thinks she will be the first one off when we land. Looks good on paper, but not in practice.



There she is, waiting for everyone else to leave.

When the coast was clear (and I mean clear, she decided it was safe to get on the plane.

Sadly, someone ran up behind her after she scanned the boarding pass.

Once we got on the plane, I took advantage of Netflix's new download feature. When I ran out of stuff to watch, I watched the movie on the woman's iPad in front of me. It wasn't any good.

Probably would have helped if I could hear it.

And we hadn't even taken off yet. There were 15 planes in front of us waiting to take off. We sat on the ground for 50 minutes! That's 50 perfectly good minutes of EPCOT time wasted!

Once we landed, I reluctantly put on my new bag.

For those of you that have been following my previous TRs, you know about The Satchel That Contains the Binder of All Things Disney. TSTCTBOATD was getting old. I was told that I "look homeless" carrying it. I have another bag that looks similar, but

what's the word?

Not-homeless-looking

Ah, that's it.

Anyway, I put it on, and the strap ripped off within 10 seconds.

That has nothing to do with it holding a tripod, 2 books, a pair of sneakers, The Binder of All Things Disney, and 3 pin lanyards.

No, it's just not TSTCTBOATD, that's why it ripped.



I love a good acronym.




I later came up with a brilliant solution, that I will be submitting to the US Patent office upon my return.

We headed downstairs, took a cab to The Swan, and headed in for check-in. Once we got to the desk, the CM (let's call her Nancy) says that she's gonna make an offer we can't refuse.

Here's the choice

Option 1: get a room

Option 2: stay at the Marriott World Center for a night, get a free night, 12,000 points, free transportation, and free breakfast at the Garden Grove buffet every day for the next week. Plus, on your return, you get a room with a good view, on the 7th floor, with a balcony

What would you do?


You: did you pick option 1?

Me: No!


Nancy shows us where to put our bags, and we were off to Magic Kingdom!

But of course it can't be straight forward.

If you were in my situation, what would you do?

You: go out front and take a bus

Me: that's what I would do, but my mom would never allow that.

My dad says "Let's go through EPCOT, and take a monorail to MK!"

My mom says: "Let's take a boat to MK!"

I say: "There's no direct waterway from here to MK, but we can take a boat to EPCOT, and take a monorail"

I also say: "Let's take a bus to MK!"

We ended up doing a mix of all three. We walked from the Swan to Yacht and Beach Club, planning to walk to EPCOT. Of course, my mom wanted to get on a boat.

Or as I like to call them, the S.S. CO (carbon monoxide)

My mom loves to sit on the back, look at the beautiful scenery, and breathe the fresh air. The engine is also in the back of the boat. The fumes that come out go right into the back of the boat, for everyone to breathe in.

We get on the boat, which takes us back to the Swan, where my mom decides to get out and catch a bus.

For those of you who don't know the Crescent Lake area, that means we went in a GIANT CIRCLE.

On the bus, we got a driver who talked to himself. But, at the end, he told us that he might loose his job and go to prison for 100 years for what he was about to do. He dropped us off at the front! Once we got in, we headed to Tony's, and they let us in an hour early!



Tony's food was delicious. This was my second time there, and it has to be my favorite restaurant. After Tony's, we headed towards Liberty Square, and got on the Liberty Bell.

Here's another TGM secret for all of you! When you see water coming out from the top of a steamship, stay away! It is hot!

Actually, I might tell guest services about that to get some free fast passes.

We wandered a little more, and decided to head over to EPCOT.

Wait, I must tell you a short story from the future! (don't tell on me for breaking the time-continuum rules!)

I checked Disney news today and I saw that Jordan Fisher was performing live this night (the one you're reading about), in Magic Kingdom. For those who don't know about him, he is a singer, actor (I think he was in Teen Beach Movie) and he is currently playing John Lawrence and Phillip Hamilton, in Hamilton on Broadway.

I wish I could have seen him.

Anyway, we took a monorail to EPCOT, and saw Soarin' Around the World. With a 10 minute wait! The ride is INCREDIBLE, and we walked on!



After that, we headed to the Swan, to get a cab to the Marriott.

It was ok, nothing special.

At the Marriott, we got our room, and went to sleep.






There's more photos, but the DIS won't let me upload them, since they're too big.

I'll put them on photobucket when I get home.

You are a very engaging trip report writer! Nice spreadsheet. I may have to take a few ideas from that, if my family ever reads mine.

I use the 'pic tap go' app to edit my photos on my phone. I use Lightroom to edit everything else. I was a photographer in a former life. Now I'm just lazy.

I saw Jordan Fischer 2 months ago in Hamilton. It was amazing and so was him.

LOVE IT!!!!!! Love your personality! I wish I was that good at spread sheets!

chunkymonkey said:

You are a very engaging trip report writer! Nice spreadsheet. I may have to take a few ideas from that, if my family ever reads mine.

I use the 'pic tap go' app to edit my photos on my phone. I use Lightroom to edit everything else. I was a photographer in a former life. Now I'm just lazy.

I saw Jordan Fischer 2 months ago in Hamilton. It was amazing and so was him.

Click to expand...

Thanks! I'll have to try pic tap go.

ilovecraigandcooper said:

LOVE IT!!!!!! Love your personality! I wish I was that good at spread sheets!

Click to expand...

Thanks!

After we woke up and got ready, we headed to The Garden Grove, for our first day of free breakfast.

It was a buffet, and everything was at least 80% sugar. I can't complain, because it was pretty good, and it was free.

After breakfast, we headed to the boat launch to head to EPCOT. While we were waiting in line, a few baby ducks walked up to my dad. He thought they could smell Charlie on him.

They were more interested in the apple slice behind him.

You: does he think we know who Charlie is?

Me: Charlie is the duck at my dad's job. While all of the other ducks flew away, Charlie stayed back. Everyone thought that Charlie couldn't fly, so food was put out for him every day. My dad took photos of Charlie, and talked about him all the time.

One day, Charlie flew away.

Once we got to EPCOT, we headed to Ellen's Energy Adventure. They've changed the script since the last time we were there. Did you know, once you've entered the ride vehicle, it is 37 minutes before you get off? We do!

I guess someone had to pee, and didn't know how long the ride was.

Then, we headed to Mission: Space, headed around World Showcase and stopped to see The American Adventure.

The show makes up for poorly representing our cuisine.

Ever notice how all of the other countries have interesting foods, and we get the Fife and Drum?

Canada: come get some poutine!

Japan: come get some kakigori!

Morocco: come get some tabouleh!

America: WE HAVE FUNNEL CAKES!

After lunch (no, I didn't have a funnel cake) we DWed to Frozen Ever After.



That's the first time I used DW in this trip report! For those that don't know, DW stands for Disney Walk, which means:

Disney Walk - v. To walk fast to avoid lost tourists

Anyway, FEA was fine. The AAs were great, but everything else was ok. I can't believe how long the standby line was.

It's nowhere close to what the Ana and Elsa meet and greets were like in the beginning, but still insane.

Anyway, we headed back to the Swan after FEA. As soon as we walked in, in started to rain.

And it rained, and rained and rained. The deluge.

(bonus points to those who get the reference)

We talked to the front desk, who still didn't have our room ready.

We sat down on the couch, and talked to a couple from Scotland. They were nice.

After the rain stopped, I went out to take some time lapse photography. I went to EPCOT, and after security went through my bag, they said

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to leave..."

To be continued...

(my iPad is acting strange, so I'm just gonna dump a bunch of photos at the end of the posts. When I get home, I'll post more photos, and relocate the current ones)

Totally agree about the boring dining offerings in the American pavilion. There are so many interesting regional cuisines. But...I also know you and fear that you would eschew any of the more adventurous food options our country offers.

Loving the report TGM!

laura74 said:

Totally agree about the boring dining offerings in the American pavilion. There are so many interesting regional cuisines. But...I also know you and fear that you would eschew any of the more adventurous food options our country offers.

Loving the report TGM!

Click to expand...

Me? Eschew new foods? Never.

Thanks!

"Does this extend?", the security guard asks.

"Um, a little bit", knowing perfectly well it extends to at least 3x its current length, I responded.

"I'm sorry, but this is forbidden in the park. You can check it over here, or I have to ask you to leave"

I told him that I was over at the Swan, and I'd put it back in my hotel room.

Do you know what this object is? I've been bringing it to WDW for years, and now they won't let me in with it.







It's a tripod. I knew selfie sticks were banned (which I wholeheartedly support), but tripods?!

By the time I got back, it was time for dinner. We decided to DW over to DHS for dinner. On the way over, I was able to get a fast pass for TSMM in 45 minutes. Remember when you had to get there at ropedrop to have any hope of getting a fast pass? We went on Star Tours, then ate at the Studio Backlot place over there.

We DWed to TSMM and I can honestly say I didn't lose. I didn't come in 1st, but I didn't loose.

I was reminded that second place is also known as first looser. Thanks Dad.

Finally, we headed back to the Swan and went to sleep.

Photo dump time!

I didn't know tripods weren't allowed anymore. How about gorilla pods?
Nice time at DHS. Good luck at Pandora tomorrow! We saw it last weekend and Flight of Passage is the best ride I've ever been on.

chunkymonkey said:

I didn't know tripods weren't allowed anymore. How about gorilla pods?
Nice time at DHS. Good luck at Pandora tomorrow! We saw it last weekend and Flight of Passage is the best ride I've ever been on.

Click to expand...

Gorilla pods are fine, as long as they don't extend.

Thanks! Heading to AK today, hopefully for a soft opening.

After breakfast, we headed to MK. We went on Space Mountain, got a Citrus Swirl, headed over to Splash Mountain, rode the raft over to Tom Sawyer Island, and took the train around MK. Nothing happened that is worth writing about.

Except this; today was the day Pirates of the Caribbean opens in theaters. When we went out to the bus loop, I saw 2 busses that said "VIP CAST MEMBER". There was an unusual number of security people, K-9 dogs, and Orange County police cars.

Hmm, guest appearance?

We took a bus back to the Swan, spent a few hours in the pool, and took a bus back to MK for our reservation at The Wave.

The food was very good, my dad calls the steak "the best steak in the world", but the portions are small.

After dinner, we DWed to the CO (carbon monoxide) speedway. On the way there, we saw two people with thick New York accents.

Dad: are you from New York?

Them: yes

Dad: are you from Lon Gisland?

Them: Yes

Dad: Nassau County?

Them: YES

Dad: Massapequa?

Them: OMG YES

Them: IF YOU CAN TELL ME THE STREET I LIVE ON, I'LL DIE. OMG I'LL DIE. ARE YOU CIA?!? YOU MUST BE CIA!

Dad: Ha ha, no. Have a nice day. (DWs away, I follow)

Mom: I'm gonna go back to the pool. Can I take the boat there?



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Once back in the Magic Kingdom, we DWed to the CO Speedway, and then kept making FastPasses through the night. We made Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder Mountain, Jungle Cruise (with a skipper who went off the script a little bit) and then took a bus back to the Swan.

On Big Thunder, the one grown man who screamed like a little girl, and his little girl (who could scream at a higher pitch, and louder than he could) sat behind us.

I think I have permanent hearing damage.

When the fireworks started, we saw a scooter person start to watch the fireworks, and press the gas all the way down. Didn't bother to look where she was going, just kept staring at the sky. She almost ran me over.

That's the end of day 3. Not as entertaining to read as the other days.

How were the new fireworks? Better or worse than Wishes?

laura74 said:

How were the new fireworks? Better or worse than Wishes?

Click to expand...

We didn't see them