Solo Trip Report 9/3-9/10

I live…RIGHT BEHIND YOU!

Kidding. I live in a wee little town called Royersford.

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Ha ha ha…I just google mapped that. Closer KOP! We just had a liner meet at Longwood Gardens 2 weekends ago.

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I am rear to in Pottstown. I also know my sister’s in-laws in Royerford.

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Congrats on going back to school, I know that can be an exciting challenge and very time consuming :slightly_smiling_face:. As someone who works in higher education, I feel obligated to tell you to continue focusing your spare time on your schoolwork. I do look forward to reading the rest of your report when you’ve had the time to work on it.

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Loving this report. I had thought of doing Disney solo and decided against it, but after reading this I’m thinking, why not? I have not been to the World since 1979: Epcot ground breaking had not even begun yet. Stayed at the Polynesian and thought about staying there again, but having worked on a Norwegian Cruise Line ship in Hawaii for 3 years, I have had my fill of that theming for quite some time. Funny, I had always dreamed of going to Hawaii, and having worked there for that time, I have no desire to ever go back.
Can’t wait for the next chapter of your trip,

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The five absolute best things that I found about a solo trip was:

  1. Pointless things are ignored, interesting things are explored. Don’t feel like riding that ride? Move on. Want to try “shooting” EVERY rifle in the Fort on Tom Sawyer’s Island? Yeah you can do that too (Turns out not all of them work, but more than what I thought did work. I believe a moment of silence is needed for all the imaginary bandits hiding at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad that fell at my hand, and my rifles.). All without annoying the rest of your party because…welp, you’re it.

I will say an indifference to riding rides throughout this trip was probably a HUGE benefit for my trip. I don’t do well in lines (I hate feeling like I’m wasting time and lines are direct manifestation of that, even with Disney’s excellent efforts to make the queues interesting), so being able to just blast past something because I deemed that line “too long” helped my mood so so so much on many an occasion.

  1. Changing of the plan. While a TP going in is certainly a great idea, you can also get there on the day and just flat out toss it and no one in your party will care. You can also rearrange things at the drop of a hat to avoid things you didn’t like or want to do again. As we will see as my trip continues to unfold, I take full advantage of this ability.

  2. Less stress. Going into this, that was something that completely surprised me. Because Disney, as you would expect, is geared toward “family”. But as I mentioned, it seemed bringing families only made people stress and fight. I actually felt sorry for many of the families I saw while there. More than once I had the thought of “It’s a beautiful day and you’re at the best place…what is there to fight about?”

  3. Speed. When writing about solotrips, everyone comments on the “do things at your own pace” angle. But reporting it just doesn’t do it justice. If you’ve ever been out shopping with someone and were struggling to keep up, or struggling to slow down to not lose anyone in your party, you know my pain. Ever have to wait for someone to finish eating so you can get going because you have things to do? Ever been with someone and they woof down their dinner while you’re trying to enjoy yours and they complain about the time?

You don’t run into that at all.

You’re a fast mover and you’re here at Tony’s but your FPP ends for Haunted Mansion in 10 minutes? Not a problem. You’re a slow mover and you want to get started in the direction before you’re even in the FPP window? Not a problem. You want to watch that parade, then move to another spot in the route and watch it again, doing this several times, because that dragon is friggin cool? Yeah, still not a problem.

  1. Cost. It’s not a surprise that Disney is expensive, but when you start buying “1 ticket” for everything, watch that cost plummet. A MNSSHP ticket is roughly $100. That’s really high for a family of 4, but for you, that’s just $100 with no other cost. For as much as I did, for where I stayed, and for what I ate… it was a lot of money for me (not gonna lie), but it was only about 30% of what it would’ve cost had I been a family of 4.

So in the end, if you’re considering it, GO. And if you want to spluge on yourself, or not, do it, because after all, you’re the only one you have to make happy on this trip.

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Great summary! I did a few days solo in July. No compromises!! I did not have to adjust my walking/eating/shopping speed for anyone. I did not have to add or skip rides/shows/meet-n-greets/bathroom breaks for anyone. I spent my money the way I wanted to. Highly recommended!

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I agree with all of your points 100%! I think I’m a bit of an impatient, independent, opinionated, introverted curmudgeon, so being by myself is kind of a relief. I love trips with my husband and kids, and we are very compatible travelers so we don’t really have meltdowns or fights, but I still find touring the parks alone to be a different and enjoyable experience. I don’t really like eating alone though. (My one solo-ish experience was with similarly independent friends, who just met me for meals.)

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Day 3 - 9/5/16 - “The Force will be with you, always.”

The day starts off with me “sleeping in” as it’s 6:30AM before I’m moving. Unlike the previous day, I had no breakfast scheduled and so I was looking forward to my cereal. As I said before, a fond memory from my first trip was my mom preparing me a small box of cereal for breakfast and I wanted to recreate it a bit. But don’t worry, there’s no underlying sadness to this memory or it’s recreation. My mom is alive and well and simply didn’t go on this trip.

As I breakfasted out on the balcony, I once again became awestruck at my view. The rain had passed but everything was still soaked from last night and the air was cool. Down below, at the gates, I could see the morning crowd start to form. Unlike yesterday, however, I told that nagging feeling to take a flying leap and leisurely finished my breakfast.

Once I had a belly full of a healthy mixture of coffee and cereal, I packed up my gear for the day and headed out. A short time later I was at the gates of MK and followed the procedure I had done yesterday. The only difference was this time I had an 8:00AM tour instead of a breakfast reservation.

As experienced the day before, I found being in the park during this time to be absolutely sublime. But unlike yesterday, I made my way straight to Tony’s and the Town Square Theater instead of down mainstreet as that was the meeting place for the tour.

Inside, small pouches were organized on the counter, each with a colored tag on it. Everyone lined up and gave their name to the cast member by the counter to check in for their tour. Once you gave your name, they gave you a pouch(it’s a hearing device so you can hear your tour guide), telling you not to open it, and have you pick out your lunch that would be provided later.

Going into this, I would’ve swore up and down that I had scheduled my tour for 8AM, and when they couldn’t find me on the list, I was ready to scream “shenanigans!!” But then they found my name… on the 8:30AM tour. Wha? I had them double check it and then just kinda rolled with it as so long as I was schedule FOR a tour, I didn’t really mind when it was to take place. But, just to satisfy my own curiosity, after I got my pouch and picked out my lunch, I checked my Disney Experience App to see when exactly I had noted it. There it was, right there at the bottom: “8:30AM KEYS TOUR! Set 3 alarms!” So it would seem back when I scheduled this months ago, I must’ve thought “8AM? What nutcase gets up that early?!” and decided 8:30 AM was as early I would go. Good job, dingus. Lesson learned, folks. Don’t underestimate the power of Disney making you ok to wake up early!

Oh well, so with time to kill I sat down and watched a bit of Lady and the Tramp playing on the TV in the waiting area of Tony’s. And now it’s time for a small confession: Only just then, seeing the movie, did I finally make the connection that “Tony’s” was from the movie. Up until now, I didn’t realize it had any connection to anything. Smiling at having one fo those “ah ha!” moments, I watched the movie I hadn’t seen in years.

As I sat watching though, it dawned on me that I was still in here before park opening, and I could watch this movie nearly anytime. So, with that I got up and went out onto the porch area while I waited to take some photos of a, once again, empty park.

Yesterday’s early access lead me to experience Main Street at, what I thought, was it’s quietest and most sparsely populated I’d ever see. Today, I learned that was not so. After the initial crowd has blasted down Main Street to get to their destinations, even their low murmur of noise vanished. It was a ghost town, and if this was at night, it would’ve been spooky. It was so quiet, I actually heard a conversation between a vendor a security guard from over by the far entrance where I came in at (try experiencing THAT at Rope Drop!). I took this opportunity to photograph some of the empty corners…for no other reason than I could.

After a bit, the tour gathered and we got started. I won’t go into much of what was said here because for the cost of the tour, I really feel one should experience completely through fresh eyes. Anything else and I would consider it robbing you of your experience. While you certainly can probably find all the information online, I will not contribute to it. Sorry :slight_smile:

But I will say this: I had an absolute blast on this tour! As I said, I love Disney History and so hearing the origins of details of the park was phenomenal. And I don’t mind sharing that the “story/plot of the two Disney Brothers statues” got me right in the feels. While the cost is certainly high for the tour, it was probably the best “extra” I spent money on. Though it is probably far more easy to justify 1 ticket vs 4.

Because of this tour, I got to see details of some of the rides in ways I wouldn’t be able to throughout the rest of this trip. I’m also glad I did the tour early in the trip as well because it gave me a new appreciation for when I would go on the rides or even experience the park later in the week. The details of the one side street (I forget the name) alone made the tour worth it for me, but I’m a sap for that kinda stuff.

So to sum up, if you have the cash and the time, and love Disney “backstage” stuff, do the tour. You’ll love it.

After the tour, I had a fastpass for the Festival of Fantasy parade. For those that don’t know, the FPP puts you in a roped off area just by the entrance gates at Main Street. So you get to see all the floats for an insanely long time as they will circle around you as they finish the route. I hadn’t seen the parade in its entirety yet, so I was looking forward to this.

Before the parade began, the Ole Miss marching band was in town and strutted their stuff down the way. Not sure if that’s a normal thing for Disney to do, but I liked the addition none the less. Following them was two “first families” who, based on the smiles from inside the car, were having the “Best. Day. Ever!” :wink: The whole crowd got into it and returned their enthusiastic waves.

I’m actually not a huge parade guy, but there’s something about a Disney Parade. And this particular parade stood out as one of my favorites because Mickey happened to notice me in the crowd and posed on his float for a good while so I could take a picture. Such a small thing and yet it made a huge impact.


This made a far larger impact than it probably should have.

So after the parade, which was sped up because of a bit of rain, it was off to Hollywood Studios! Since Hollywood Studios is currently under a refresh, and because of the advice found here, I felt confident being able to not dedicate a whole day to it, and instead give it half a day. I was really only going for the Star Wars stuff anyway. Besides, if I found if there was more to do, I could easily go back, right?

Getting to HS from MK couldn’t have been easier and I got there with no issues. Once again, the bus system at Disney is such an upgrade over what I remember. Unlike showing up to Animal Kingdom, you can actually see the park entrance from the bus unloading area so it was easy to find my way.

The 1950’s era decor is really cool looking as you walk through the gates. As I step through and pass by the old ticket-windows, I get hit with a flood of memories. It all looks so familiar, and yet completely different all at the same time. I don’t remember much detail from the original time I was at HS because my brain had extreme focus on only two things we experienced here back then.

In 1990, my brother and I were HUGE fans of the Ninja Turtles and it was THE reason we were there at HS, back then I believe it was called “MGM Studios”? During the day, the Turtles had a singing and dancing show, as Disney tends to do, and I remember we had dragged our parents to be there early enough for us to get a really good viewing position. Because of this, we ended up waiting for a long while for the show.

Now, I was going to go into a whole description of the TMNT show, but thanks to the magic of the interwebs…Here, view it for yourself! Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at Disney MGM Studios TMNT - YouTube

ahem….So yeah… after considering the “nap torture” my mom imposed on us… I now consider us square after that show.

After the rain from yesterday, the threat of rain today, and the early rise the past two days, I’m starting to feel the effects. I’m sluggish to move and the 5 Hour Energy and Power Bars I’ve eaten aren’t really helping much. But I soldier on and I head toward the back of the park. My reservation is at Mama Melrose’s and I want to locate it first before I do anything else so I can better plan how much time I need in order to make sure I’m not late for the reservation.

For a park that’s so under construction, maps that look so small, this place is still pretty big. It takes me some time before I find the restaurant, but once I do and I note where I am, it’s off to check out the Star Wars stuff. The original plan was to make a line for Star Tours, but the earliest fastpass I could get was an hour from now, and I had a feeling the line would be really long to chance a stand by. But that’s fine, because while I waited, I just took in the sights and went to find the Launch Bay.

I would soon find myself at the Launch Bay and, going inside, I realize I’m at the “exit” area. Which I thought was odd as I didn’t remember reading anything about a ride here, so I’m not sure why there’s an “exit area.” I would end up working my way back to about where the Jawa trading area is before deciding this place probably should be seen properly from beginning to end and not in reverse. So with that, I go back outside to locate the entrance.

The entrance was pretty easy to find thanks to the Stormtroopers directing a line into the place. This was the first time I noticed them walking around and I found that really cool. Mainly because, so far in my trip, Disney Characters seemed to be stationed and unmoving at specific spots, most likely because they can’t go walking around without being mobbed. So to see “Free Range Stormtroopers” struck me as a little odd and a welcome surprised.

Anyway, following the crowd, I soon found myself at the entrance of a movie theater to which we were being directed into. I wasn’t aware there was a movie at Launch Bay (ok, so my planning wasn’t THAT thorough outside of MK, sue me), so with the feeling “why not?”, I took a seat to watch. My initial hesitation was brought about because I’m not a huge fan of the latest Star Wars (blasphemy, I know), so watching a film gushing about their latest “achievement” was something I wasn’t really interested in, but I’m here to “see it all” and this counts…so…on with the show.

Lucky for me, though, the movie was absolutely not what I expected. The movie was short, but I found it completely inspirational as it reminded me why I love Star Wars and spoke to the impact it’s had on others and where the future of the franchise was headed. A similar effect that “Carousel of Progress” had on me earlier. Coming out of the theater, any weariness I was feeling from before had completely disappeared. The movie had left me psyched up for the future of one of my favorite franchises and that left me energized in general.

With my second wind, I made my way into the “museum” and took… a… ton… of… pictures! The ships, the models, the props, the costumes, everything got its picture taken. One of my favorites would turn out to be a closet filled with “junk”, that, if you’re a star wars fan, you can identify almost every piece in that closet. I’m not sure it was actually intended like that, but if it was, yet another hat off to the imagineers.


Once I got out of the museum (it took a while), my FPP window for Star Tours opened, so I started heading over that way but stopped when I saw more Free Range Stormtroopers, this time they were searching the strollers for contraband (ha!). What was really great is they were interacting with the guests using canned phrases that were somehow not random. A little extra touch that was very cool watch.

Heading into Star Tours, I fondly recall my first trip with the massive AT-AT, and the droids making comments as you go up the ramps to board. It’s nice to see that hasn’t changed. When I first rode this, way back when, it was with the original droid pilot (RX-24), and as the ride would dip and seem to plummet during take off, it actually scared me so I ended up closing my eyes for the first bit. It wasn’t until my mom noticed and then told me, quite sternly, to open my eyes on the ride that I was able to enjoy it.

Today, my eyes are wide open without needing to be told and it’s such a fun ride. The addition of 3D and the different endings are excellent. I’m glad they kept the “you are not supposed to be here” aspect of the ride as it goes through the various worlds.

After Star Tours, I stumbled across the Jedi Training Academy during their final training. Now, let me start by saying that I enjoyed Disney World as a solo adult quite thoroughly. I was able to see and do things in a way you just can’t as a kid. I could go where I want, eat what I want, and have no one tell me what to do. But if there was something I could give all that up to be a kid again, it would have been for this.

As I stood there witnessing the Jedi and Sith cast members interact with the kids, I could only be envious and know that I would’ve given my left arm to be a part of something like this back in 1990. To get up there, and BE a Jedi, complete with lightsaber, and actually face off with Vader, with the effects and music backing up the experience? Wow…that’d be something.

As the final celebration scene unfolds, with the music swelling up, and the Jedi Master triumphantly proclaiming that these are the “Future of the Jedi!”, I’m caught up in the moment and find myself full-on cheering for these completely anonymous children, along with the rest of the crowd, as if they had actually defeated the Dark Side. An absolutely fantastic part of Hollywood Studios and I can only hope the kids that participate realize, whether now or in the future, just how lucky they were.

After the Jedi Academy, there’s still one thing left on my to-do before dinner and that’s the Star Wars Galaxy Far Far Away show. I found that this is a weird show where it seems like filler and a prelude to something that never follows. It’s cool to see the costumes (and that semi autonomous R2), but beyond that, it seemed rather hollow. Still, if it’s this or some weird and cringy dance off, I’ll take this any day of the week.

After that, it was a straight shot to the restaurant and I had just made it to Mama Melrose’s in time for my reservation when they kindly informed me that… I didn’t have a reservation. Confused, we compared devices and sure enough, my ADR was not there on their screen but it was showing on mine(not sure why), but the girl assured me it was only going to be a few minute wait.

The wait was, indeed, not long and I was then treated to one of the more lackluster dining experiences of the trip. I was seated next to a group of 6 (4 adults, 2 kids) who, apparently, imbibed a little too much and now one of the women was getting loud, and she demanded RESPECT for something that happened earlier in the day or she was going to go back to the hotel! But her husband knew this game and was not interested in letting her get the respect she so deserved. Or something. All this seemed to cause quite a distraction for my waitress who seemed to be only able to focus on them, and I kind of felt bad for her. For myself, I was rather glad I was alone for this as I wouldn’t want to have to compete with the group as I would be trying to talk to a companion. I used this time to update my notes on my phone and organize some pictures on my phone.

To start off my meal, I was delivered a dipping plate of the nastiest olive oil I’ve ever seen complete with, what I hope, was oregano (I didn’t touch it). Disregarding it, as it really had no bearing on the meal, I ordered a vegetarian lasagna. It took some time to get to me but the wait wasn’t really worth it. The dish wasn’t bad, just nothing to write home about. Throughout the dinner, my waitress only interacted with me 2 times: Once to take my order, and once to give me my check. I didn’t even get a refill on my drink. Like I said, the group next to me was very distracting, so I didn’t really hold it against her really. It was an “ok” meal, but nothing I am eager to repeat.


What. The heck. IS THAT?

Good, but let’s not get over excited here…

By the time I paid my check and was able to get out of there, it was only minutes before the Star Wars firework show and I had to move with purpose to get to the viewing area. Surprising myself, I made it in time and got a relatively good spot, not quite prime but pretty close and far better than what I was expecting given my lateness.

This was one of the few shows I had watched on youtube prior to coming here and the video I saw was from someone who did get a perfect viewing spot. Thanks to the video, I had a real good idea of how the show was going to go. The video left me less than impressed, though as it seemed like just a compliation of clips and sounds from the movies with no cohesion at all, and that I’m no fan of. When I originally heard about it, I had hoped it was going to be something like Star Tours where there’d be some sort of story, whether a retelling of the movies or something new I didn’t really care, but not random scenes and images from the movies. That’s that lack of “level of refinement” thing and I expect more from the new curators of my beloved Star Wars. Especially after that movie earlier today. So I was really only here watching the show because I was at Hollywood Studios and so I could say “Yeah, I saw it.”

The good news is the video doesn’t tell the whole story. While it IS a clip show, and I’m still not wholly behind that, holy crap those combat scenes are a whole other level of amazing when actually seeing it in person! You FEEL the walkers moving, you see the TIE Fighters and X-Wings shooting at each other over your head (kinda). It’s fantastic! This is definitely one of those things that a video just cannot do justice, and, in fact, kinda ruins the expectations a bit. If nothing else, the combat scenes alone are reason enough to view it again.

But looking at both Galaxy Far Far Away and the Fireworks show, it certainly seems like a missed opportunity on both fronts. As I said Star Tours creates a unique story, sure it’s flimsy and full of plot holes, but it’s still a story. Star Tours isn’t a clip show, and for that I feel it is far superior than either one of these shows. The same can be said for the Indiana Jones show, you don’t have to blaze new territory, but it should be more than just something akin to a screensaver on a computer. Hopefully, all this is just the hold-over until the Star Wars Land is done and that’s when they bring out the really amazing stuff.

After the end of the show, the park closed, and everyone made their way to the busses. Once again thanks to the advice found here, I knew I didn’t have to evacuate the park immediately and took this opportunity to go through some stores and see some of the movie memorabilia that could be found. After about a half hour or so of waiting for the crowds to dissipate, I was able to just walk onto my bus heading for the Contemporary.

An absolutely fantastic day concluded and as I take one final look at the castle for the night, I smile at at the thought that tomorrow is my first buffet experience. While, yes, that sounds awfully lame, I was really looking forward to Mickey Waffles!

To be continued…

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Sorry your experience at Mama Melrose was lackluster. I really liked it there. I also really liked the dipping oil with the weird leaves in it. :slight_smile:

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I had one of .my better meals at Momma Melrose. I had the catch of the day which was grouper and served on a shrimp risotto.

After the fireworks, we went back into the Launch Bay and got to meet with Chewbacca without having to wait for more than one family.

You are doing a great job on your trip report.

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Love your trip report. Can’t wait until the next installment!

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Thanks for the report! Look forward to hearing more!

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Thanks! I haven’t forgotten about this, just life has been nuts these past two weeks and my job has had the audacity to expect me to put in effort (the nerve, right?)

Regarding MM’s experience, it’s cool. While lackluster, it wasn’t terrible, which is probably far more important. An average meal at Disney is better than almost any meal at home! Just not what I was hoping for.

More to come when I can get a moment!

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Would love to read more. These past couple of days have been bleak for me and I could use some tales of Disney magic to lighten my mood.

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Well then… LET’S FIX THAT!!

Day 4 - " Zippidy Do Dah! Zippidy Ay! My oh my what a wonderful day!"

So last night I had gone to bed at a fairly reasonable hour, for Disney, 12AM. This morning, I awake at… 4AM! What the….? I mean, I know I’m excited for Boma and all that, but this is nuts!

OK! So it’s 4AM at Disney World, though nothing is open, and my breakfast reservation isn’t for 5 hours yet… what does one do? Well, not much really. Still, since sleep wasn’t in the cards for some reason (and, no surprise, I wasn’t tired because I’m working off of Disney energy) I start the morning ritual and take this opportunity to partake in a nice long hot shower. Which my body was enormously grateful for.

Now, to give some perspective, for the past several months, I’ve run or walked no less than 7 miles a day preparing for this trip. If my daily step counter dropped below 12,000 steps, it was a real off day. When I got to Disney, I noticed those numbers were amateur hour and my body was starting to feel it. The tail end of last night, my legs had started to grow sore and though no blisters, it was hard to move this morning. So the hot shower was a welcome relief.

After all that was done, it was onto the balcony to drink in that glorious view again with a piping hot cup of coffee. As I sip the hot beverage in the early morning light, I notice the air has changed. If the first morning was warm, the second morning was cool, but this morning was a perfect spot between the two.

I smile. I’m in my happy place.

There’s not much that happens for these few hours. I just enjoy my coffee, with the hotel TV playing it’s instrumental Disney music in the background, and I watch traffic build as cast members report for work or depart for home, or guests arrive or leave. It might not be coffee in the shadow of the Castle, but it’s a real good substitute.

Closing in on the time to leave for my reservation at Boma, I gear up and head down to the Kingdom’s bus lot. Originally, I had a reservation for Boma at 7:40AM, but after the awesome advice from the folks here (special thanks to @Lens_number_1_Fan, @OBNurseNH, and & @PrincipalTinker on this one) I had pushed it back to closer to 9AM to make sure I could take a Disney bus over to Animal Kingdom Lodge without a hassle.

Getting down to the bus lot, the sun is starting to crest over the horizon and it’s just a perfect morning for weather. It’s hard to explain but there’s this energy that is there that wasn’t there the previous mornings. I got “Zippidy Do Da” playing in my head (HEY! I warned you at the beginning of this that this was gonna get hokey! Don’t blame me! You knew what this was!).

I start to head to the collection of buses when the traffic controller (not sure what else he would be called) notices me and asks where I’m heading.
“Boma? Uh, I guess Animal Kingdom Lodge?” I say, not entirely sure what the lingo is for describing a destination for anywhere that wasn’t a park. I figure he’s just going to direct me to the proper bus.
“Sounds good, let me get you a bus.” He said and flips a switch on his mic “I need a bus for a guest to Animal Kingdom Lodge?”

This completely catches me by surprise. I had anticipated needing to wait for others to board a bus before it was allowed to go or to catch it during a scheduled leave, so I had allowed a nice cushion of time to get to the bus and then to Boma. But he is telling me a bus is going to specifically take me, and just me, to Animal Kingdom Lodge. I’m not used to this level of customer service, which is why it’s surprising. …sniff…’scuze me, I got somethin’ in my eye…. talk amongst yourselves…

After thanking him, I climb aboard my bus and I’m chauffeured off to AKL. On the way, the bus driver makes small talk with me and we end up discussing everything from weather, to cars, to the new Avatar Land to be opening up in Animal Kingdom. Based on what he’s said, the park sounds like it’s going to be a lot better than I had expected.

After the bus ride, and because it was pretty much just a cab ride for me, I’m WAY early for my reservation so I take this time to check out AKL. Holy cow what an awesome hotel! When I speak about theming, THIS is what I’m talking about! Sure, it might not be “Disney” exactly, but it still works, and works well.

Heading to the back of the hotel’s lobby, I head outside and come to see the fire pit. I don’t know why it is so impressive, as my apartment complex has one and I couldn’t care less about it, but this one I just want to return later tonight and sit around it as someone tells a ghost story or two. I’m in the animal area and see a couple of birds that I can’t remember the name of and off in the distance, I see a couple feeding giraffes. This hotel is amazeballs. There’s just no better way to say it.

After my exploring, my stomach reminded me why I’m here and it’s Boma-Time! I head down and check in, but it’s still a few minute wait to be seated. As I waited, a group of women were setting up for a group selfie capturing the restaurant behind them, at the last moment, one of the hostesses photobombed the picture with a big smile and a peace sign. Having an older camera, the ladies didn’t realize the event had happened until after they looked at the picture after the fact. As they looked at the photo, they laughed in surprise at the unexpected face in the photo, and started quickly looking around to see where the mystery face came from. The hostess had slipped back a few feet like a ninja, awaiting their reaction and I suspect ready to duck out quickly in case they didn’t find it amusing.

Once they left, I was seated and it was off to the buffet! First round: cinnamon toast bread pudding with walnut sauce, chocolate chip pancakes, a mickey waffle and a Simba waffle, and finally scrambled eggs with goat cheese and chive.

I’ve never had eggs like this before, and I believe I need to make sure all my eggs are like this for the rest of my life. Absolutely delicious. In fact, all the food was. It would take three or four plates of food, with about a gallon of coffee and jamba juice, before I finally had to wave the white flag of defeat.

Practically rolling out of AKL, it was time to hit up EPCOT.

After a quick bus ride over, I’m in line and through bag check and thus beginning my “randomly selected for a screening” streak. From here on in, EVERY time I enter a park, I’m “randomly selected.” And don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind specifically, but my setup with my DSLR clipped to my belt makes it awkward as I have to completely take off the apparatus each time I’m “randomly selected.” If I ever have the great fortune to go back, I will have a better, more accommodating, setup so bag checks aren’t as annoying when carrying my good camera.

Anyway, through bag check and then through the mickey posts, turning them that ever satisfying green, I enter into EPCOT: Future World. Leading up to the trip, everyone was excited for me to go to EPCOT more than anywhere else, as this was to be more for adults than the rest of the parks, and for that I was excited to. Mainly because I love the idea of a harmonious future with all the nations of the world together. I know it’s in a bubble where reality isn’t totally there, but the fact that it COULD be a reality gives me hope, and in today’s world I’ll take hope anywhere I can get it.

Ok, enough of that, so once into the park I head straight for the big sphere to figure out where the entrance to the ride is. Big shocker, it’s right in front. I have a fastpass for Spaceship Earth, but I’ve got a few minutes before the window opens up so I take the time to explore around. As I head up the path on the right, I notice the “Art of Disney” store, with the “mickey” design I saw on the shirts from the “dance party” parade.

Still hoping to snag a shirt with the design on it, I head inside and plead my case to the cast members inside. Unfortunately, they don’t know of any shirt, and suspect it’s a shirt for just that show, but they spend more than enough time I would consider necessary to help me find something on the app or in another store. Seriously, the customer service is getting to me in such a good way. Sadly, we all came away with nothing but the suggestion to maybe try the the Mouse Gear store or the custom T-Shirt shop in Disney Springs.

Thanking them for their generous help, I bid them a good day and headed out and straight to the suggested Mouse Gear store. Unfortunately I struck out there as well. So it looks like Disney Springs was my last hope to hope, as I might not be able to buy an official one, but maybe I can create one that’s a good substitute.

Leaving Mouse Gear, my window has opened so I head back to Spaceship Earth. On the way, I pass by the fountain and notice that the water jets are not static like they were the first time I passed by, they’re now spurting and jumping and syncing up with the music. And it’s not just ANY music, it’s the theme from The Rocketeer, one of my favorite movies! So I stop and film the last few minutes of the show.

Once that was done, NOW it was time for Spaceship Earth, for realsies this time. I head back down the path and find the fastpass area and go in. When I was on this ride the first time in 1990, I remember it being one of my favorite rides and I was so ready to experience it through adult eyes.

Climbing onto my “time capsule”, was gleefully impressed that there was now a touch console asking for my information. I had the sense that there was going to be some serious changes from what I remember, and since this is a ride showing humans through the ages, I couldn’t wait to see what they had came up with.

I was sorta unimpressed. The ride is still great, but am I nuts or did they cut a lot of things out? I remember passing by a “family of the future” as they cook their dinner with computers and what not (no, I’m no thinking Carousel of Progress), but here it’s all now in that touch console with a cartoon depicting what I remember. Same message, just a bit customized, but not animatronics anymore. Which is cool and all, but I was hoping for maybe something a bit more… tangible than a cartoon? The ride also felt much shorter than I remember as a kid.

Either way, once that’s done, I head over to Soarin’ to see if I can jump onto the ride. But after I get closer, I see it’s a 120 minute wait. bwahahahah yeah fat chance I’m waiting 2 hours for ANY ride on this trip. I have a fastpass for it tomorrow, so I can just wait until then. So with that, it’s off to accomplish my main goal for today, which is to dive deep into the World Showcase and really get to know the pavilions. I had set aside the whole day for this endeavor and I did not want to waste a second more.

I walk onto the ring of World Showcase and I’m hearing ALL the languages. Hebrew, German, Spanish, English, French, Arabic, you name it, I’m pretty sure someone was speaking it here. I don’t know what it was, but it seemed to be expected that you speak your native tongue here than anywhere else in the parks. It makes me smile as I realize Walt’s vision worked. We’re all here, in harmony, enjoying the day. Again, sure, it might only work HERE, but you can’t blame Walt for the rest of the world screwing it up.

As I make my way around the ring, I first stop at Mexico and check that out. After inspecting the display cases of what they would wear in ancient times (capes for everyone!) I hopped aboard the Gran Fiesta Tour. I don’t remember much of this ride as a kid, but it’s a fun little ride. I really loved the fiber optic fireworks toward the end.

Once done, it was off to Norway where I would quickly check out what they had going on there. I found it really odd that a country, so known for its cold climate, so much so that they were selling ski gear in their gift shop, to be here in super-warm Florida. Still, seeing the area where they analyze Frozen’s inspirations from Norwegian history was really cool (ha, pun!). I also noticed that Norway had their own Free Range Stormtroopers in the guise of warriors walking around and interacting with the guests. Very entertaining as they try to pick fights with all the males and steal their wives or mothers.

From there it was off to China where I was unaware Shanghai Disneyland had a HUGE display going in there. Stupid of me, right? I spent probably the most time in here as I looked over everything, finding everything really fascinating. One of the things from Shanghai I absolutely want to see here in the States is the Tron roller coaster. So seeing an area devoted to the ride made me really happy. Once, I was done with oogling all the new Shanghai Disneyland stuff (I now really want to go!) I found myself in a theater lobby with Mulan doing a meet and greet. While she was doing that, doors on my left suddenly opened up and a girl gestured for the few of us who were in the pavilion to enter.

We did and I had my first taste of Circle Vision 360° in “Reflections of China.” I know it’s not a ride really, but when you’re completely engrossed in the movie and you start flying over things you really get the feeling of movement. I felt myself, more than once, banking and swaying with the camera. I REALLY enjoyed that.

After China, it was off to Germany, but I just snapped a few photos and passed by, as I could see there was just a restaurant. Did I miss something there? I looked on the Disney site and saw there was nothing like what I just experienced in China.

Next up Italy…which… mimicked Germany. Ok, WTF? The architecture was certainly amazing, and probably one of the best views of the lake, but beyond restaurants, it looked as if there was nothing here. I have a lunch scheduled here later today (Via Napoli) so I decided I would breeze past this and then take a closer look after lunch.

I also breezed past American Adventure for now as I know my American History, I didn’t really feel like catching up on things I already knew.

So then we land in Japan and they at least have bit of a museum, which was showcasing… “cute.” I’m not sure why this choice was made, but I will say it was probably the first time I’ve ever seen an iPhone in a museum showcase. It was, nonetheless, kinda interesting to check out and see how ancient Shinto shrines and modern anime are connected to the roots of “cute”.

After Japan, it was Morocco which, had a small information area on the decorative wear of the people which I found pretty cool. Tile. Tile everywhere! Unfortunately, aside from the small room on this, there didn’t see to be much aside from, again, restaraunts and shops. I’m starting to wonder why everyone was so jazzed for this if you don’t have a bottomless stomach?

Speaking of stomach, it’s time for lunch! I head back to Via Napoli and I’m ALL sorts of excited. I had read reviews on this place, watched a video on the Magical Express bus about how they do this, and I loves me some pizza. Let’s do this!

I walk in and it’s a short wait and I am seated next to a boisterous group who, unlike the group at Mama’s, are enjoying each others company with laughter and smiles. A nice change. My waitress arrives… no, not my waitress…my WATERess? Wha?

She explains that there’ll be 3 people serving me today. Her, who is strictly there for water, my Waitress and a waiter in training. I nod in understanding and thank her for the water and my wait-duo arrives soon after and fills me in on the choices I have awaiting me, but alas… Touring Plans made this effort pointless as I know exactly what I’m after. I wanted to try all the pizzas, but at $20 a pie, it was going to be hard to justify, so I settled on 2. The White Pizza and my go to: margherita. Upon ordering both, and seeing I was alone, my Waitress double checks with me to makes sure I know what I’m doing. I smile and assure her I do, and thank her for double checking. Hi, I’m Randall and I’ll be your stereotypical 'murican fatty, today.

The pizzas come out and they are thinner than I was expecting, but absolutely delicious. So much so that I completely polished off the White Pizza and started into the second before I remembered I wanted to take a picture! Dang it!

As I eat, I learn, thanks to the group next to me, that this is the Waitress’s last day. Ok, so when you eat alone, you do a LOT of eavesdropping. Can’t be helped, sue me. Besides, they were entertaining. Anyway, the group next to me is asking for continous recommendations of food from the Waitress and apparently everything she’s suggested has been a huge hit with them, so they had spent a lot of time talking to her. I’m a bit envious because what she is suggesting does sound delicious, but I’ve got pizza to work through!

Once all is done, I congratulated her on her last day and I made my way out. I took this time to inspect the Italian pavilion, but my initial assessment remained unchanged: there was nothing here but shops and a restaurant.

So it was off to France. Tomorrow I have a reservation for Chef De France, so I don’t spend much time here but do check out the shops a bit. I started to leave france when suddenly a street performer show began, I stopped to watch an amazing gymnast climb up several chairs stacked on top each other. Really cool.

After the show had ended, England was the next stop. Sigh, and again, nothing but shops and restaurants. Am I asking too much to want to “experience” these countries without having to eat or drink there?

Moving on, it’s Canada with another, very entertaining, Circle Vision show. Once again, I find myself banking and swaying with the camera and I really love it. Canada’s movie was probably the most entertaining thanks to the efforts of Martin Short.

And then I was done. Wha? This can’t be right. I know I move fast, but c’mon. I open my map on MDE and sure enough, I visited everything already. Apparently World Showcase’s experience diminishes when you don’t drink, and even more so if you don’t eat at every pavillion. I still have about two hours before my FEA fastpass so I decide to go back to the countries I glossed over and see if there wasn’t more to them. I do this at a bit of a slower pace now, making an effort to take photos.

After meandering and discovering I didn’t miss anything obvious from those countries, I arrived at Norway to wait out the remaining time for my window for FEA (only a few minutes).

Once the Frozen window opens up, I stroll in. I’m not a huge fan of Frozen. I thought the movie was one of Disney’s weaker stories, and Olaf flat out annoys the bejesus out of me. But I had seen this ride via youtube and was blown away by the animatronics. I NEEDED to see this in person. I ended up sitting solo in the first seat in the boat, and I’m sure a grown man alone on a Frozen ride gave off a rrrreal good image :).

The animatronics did not disappoint, and it was totally worth it. Of all the rides at Disney, I would have to say this one was my favorite for several reasons. 1) The technology employed (obviously). I mean, you feel like you’re in the cartoon! The animatronics are just astounding to look at and the face-projection idea is genius. In videos the faces stand out, but in person it blends right in and look like it belongs and it is glorious. 2) It’s an original story. Unlike most of the rides at Disney which rehash the movie, or are random scenes, this is a continuation of the Frozen story. As a kid, I remember wondering why they made the rides rehash movies because if I wanted to see the story of the movie, the actual film does a much better job than this ride ever could. So with it being a continuation, it won huge points for me because it was something all new and never seen before. It’s the same reason I love Star Tours. But unlike star tours, which is basically a movie, this was more tangible. 3) The effects. A perfect use of sound, light, video, and carbon dioxide.

After Frozen, I still had the problem where I had seen almost everything I could in World Showcase, and I still had to come back tomorrow as I had a Fastpass for Soarin’ and Lunch to do in France. I started back toward Future World, unsure what to do.

While in the midsts of indecision, I came upon Universe of Energy, and was intrigued. Something in my head was throwing flags and saying “Don’t do it!” but I ignored it. There was no wait and I needed some time to figure out what to do, so I went in. Taking a seat in the giant semicircle theater, I ran some options over in my head while I waited for the …whatever this was… to start.

I should’ve listened to my head! It wasn’t until the movie begins, and that I see a SUPER dated film starring Ellen and Bill Nye, that I remember why I didn’t want to check this out. It’s too dated. After the 5-10 minute film where Ellen and Bill explain something about energy, the cast members open the doors and warn that a 70 minute ride was next, but if you wanted to leave, now was the time. I chose to abort and I exited.

Coming out of the theater, I went over my dilemma: I have set aside two whole days to visit EPCOT, and if I was able to see World Showcase in only a few hours, I can’t see Future World taking more time as it is smaller. I could see EVERYTHING today, but then what would I do tomorrow? I have to come back because I have reservations. I also wanted to check out Illuminations tonight, but it’s only 5PM and Illuminations isn’t for another 4 hours.

After going back and forth with the Pros and Cons, I decided I have a park hopper option on my ticket, time to make use of it. I would leave EPCOT and just revisit tomorrow and see what I had missed, and I would just see Illuminations tomorrow. Tonight, we go to Hollywood Studios.

This, my friends, would end up being one of the best decisions I made the whole trip.

I leave EPCOT and get on the Bus for HS (I didn’t realize they were in walking distance), and while on the bus, I pull up fastpass to see what’s available. By luck, Fantasmic is available and I click that quickly. I didn’t think I was going to be able to see it as the the FPP for yesterday was gobbled up quick.

The bus drops me off and it’s through bag check, “randomly selected” security, turning that mickey-post green, and then off to the Great Movie Ride. I absolutely loved this ride as a kid (though the Alien scene did scare the snot out of me!), and I think it spurred my love of classic movies (well, with a little help from my dad). The queue to this ride is so cool, as you progress down a classic movie theater. Once at the ride, I’m seated next to a family with a son who couldn’t have been more than 8.

This ride is so corny, I totally love it. It completely reminds me, somehow, of why I love the classic movies. As we progress through, I notice the boy reacting the same as I did all those year ago. Excited to see Indiana Jones, scared from the Alien, relaxed at Wizard of Oz, and then delighted and amazed as our tour guide returns from the dead.

The ride ends and I’m off to Star Tours. Got a different ending this time, and it’s still such a fun ride. I could easily ride that all day. Once Star Tours is done I caught Galaxy Far Far Away in full this time. My original opinion hasn’t changed. It feels like filler or a prelude to something that never arrives.

After the show, I stop at the Starbucks and grab myself a frappuccino and people watch for a bit, then go around taking pictures. It’s almost time for Fantasmic so I make my way toward it and I get close to the Tower of Terror, but I never get on. I want to ride it, but I am really bad with heights and even though I’ve gotten better over the years, I don’t think I can do ToT yet. I’m a huge fan of the Twilight Zone and theming (which should be obvious at this point) and both of these boxes are checked for this ride, but I just can’t bring myself to step on. I’m such a pansy. I do, however, check out the gift shop as I wait for Fantasmic.

Once Fantasmic opens up, I file into the area and take a seat a little off the left of the stage. I had hoped that FPP people were treated like they were for the Festival of Fantasy parade in MK and given special seating, but that would not be the case. You just sit wherever you want and I think only dinner party people got special seating. Upon this realization, and the fact that the area wasn’t filled by the time the show started, that I felt I wasted this fastpass. Not that I really care, given that nearly everything was walk on, but it’s the principle of the thing.

Once the show starts though, I completely forget my annoyance as it is completely amazing. Wizard Mickey “splashing” the crowd, the effects, the whole thing was just awesome. And it was far more elaborate than what I would have thought.

Unfortunately, upon the last fifteen minutes, and the finale, the Star Wars fireworks had started up and the light was encroaching on the show. Where once shadow was able to hide an effect, now you could see actors in black suits running around. It also became a distraction to several people around me, as they literally got entranced by something shiny and left the show to go check it out. I do not understand why Disney set this up like this and I feel bad for the actors putting in the work down on the stage.

Once the show ends, there is massive gridlock getting out of arena. I wasn’t really understanding why until I realized that the park was full on closing, and so EVERYTHING shut down all at once. And because I had already seen the stores for the most part, I didn’t really see a point in stopping in again to check out the same things that I wasn’t going to buy from yesterday.
Still, the walk to the busses had their own highlights and I was anything but bored. Mostly because a group near me were quizzing each other on various Disney movies and songs, and I silently played along.

Once at the bus, I decided I didn’t want to go back to the hotel yet, so I figured now was a good a time as any to revisit Disney Springs. Unfortunately, I had just missed the bus and so it was going to be a 20-30 minute wait for another bus. After spending about 10 minutes in a line that was going nowhere, I bailed on it as I heard a rumor that one could walk to the Boardwalk from here.

The Boardwalk was sorta Disney Springs-esque, so I figured that would certainly do as I wanted to visit there anyway. Locating a cast member to confirm the walk was possible, she pointed me in the right direction and a walking I did go.

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This is one of those weird parts of a vacation that stick with you even though absolutely nothing happens but it’s still wonderful. I remember many of them from the trip in 1990. Just seemingly meaningless things like climbing the ramp to the monorail, or walking through a hotel hallway. As I make my way down the path, I set out my plan for the rest of the night: With HS now closed, I figure I’ll head to Boardwalk and look around and maybe close it out(12AM), and then Bus back to MK and close that out (I think they changed the hours last minute to stay open until 12AM or 1AM?). I don’t really do much else but look back on the day and how much fun I’ve been having, even with little setbacks like me finishing up World Showcase before I expected.

As I came up to the Boardwalk area, I noticed a sign saying something roughly to “this way to EPCOT” and I laughed. I had no idea you could walk from here to EPCOT, that’s awesome! I made it to the Boardwalk and come upon a very entertaining little sideshow of a magician doing a bit for kids. The Boardwalk is interesting, but it’s completely familiar territory for me as I’ve grown up near the Jersey Shore all my life, so there’s not much novelty here. Regardless I visit various stores and also use this time to visit the hotel. It’s a cool hotel, but I have to say I was rather disappointed with its cleanliness. This clearly wasn’t up to the standard that AKL or the Contemporary had set.

Oh well, not like I’m staying there, so I head out again and finish up the Boardwalk. There wasn’t much else to see beyond partaking in some very overpriced milkshake (which I totally did). With Milkshake acquired, I headed back to the sign that said “To EPCOT.” As I headed back, I figured this would be a perfect time to ride the monorail as I hadn’t fully ridden it yet. I also figured it’d be the fastest way back to MK as, so far except for this morning, no bus I’ve ridden has had only one stop.

Unfortunately, you can’t get to the monorail without going through EPCOT’s gates, as I am informed by a cast member. Thankfully, they were doing their Extra Magic Hour and this was the tail end of it, so I was able to pass through and, even though I was literally the only one in the line, be “randomly selected for a metal detector screening.” I laugh out loud when they tell me it’s random. Like who else was an option here? Apparently the security guy didn’t get the joke, and remained stone faced throughout the screening. From leaving Boardwalk to here, my energy has started to bottom out and so I do what is asked without question to just get moving on with it.

After I was through that, I moved quickly toward the monorail, but first, I make sure this isn’t a total waste of my time. As I said, my energy felt like it was bottoming out so I stopped by a coffee stand and grabbed myself a delicious cup of coffee. Then it was off to the monorail, which…SURPRISE! Wasn’t working. This kinda annoyed me a bit as I had asked the cast member at the gate before I entered about the monorail and she had made no indication that it was down. Sure she probably didn’t know, but I feel that’s something that should be communicated to all gate personnel. Had I know it was, I would’ve just bussed out of the Boardwalk back to MK.

Still, no big, onto the bus… Sadly, as I had arrived about the time the park closed, the bus area was mobbed with people. I was originally going to get on the MK bus, but that line was insanely long, so I decided to hop onto the Contemporary bus line which was far shorter. But even though it was shorter, the busses were seemingly taking forever to make their rounds. I ended up waiting next to a family of 4 who reminded me very much of my family and how they reacted to the situation of the monorail being down back in 1990. At the time, my parents had dragged us to a luau at the polynesian and the show had ran beyond the timeframe of the monorail to be operational. When I pointed that out (that’s right, the kid was keeping track of the time), my mom became extremely worried that we would have no way to get back to the hotel. Given the very vague bus system back then, I see why she would be worried as I remember she had seen a notice saying the buses were ending at 11PM that night. In reality, this probably wasn’t the case and there probably would have been buses galore once the show was done, but there was no way she was going to know that.

We had ended up leaving the show before it ended and my parents were furious for that and that the monorail was not working even though there were things happening along the monorail circuits. This family in 2016 was a near carbon copy of that reaction. Extremely annoyed that the monorail wasn’t working and irritated that they had to wait for a bus (that they were a bit concerned may not come back) with two little kids fighting sleep and, at any moment, needing to use the bathroom.

I couldn’t help but interject and help calm their fears a little bit. Assuring them that the buses will continue to pick people up until there is absolutely no one left. I felt this was an exceptionally true statement given how my morning started. As we’re dealing with Park closing, another will be along very shortly (this part I silently hoped was true as it had already been longer than I was comfortable with waiting). Sure enough the bus soon arrived and we all climbed on board and headed back to the contemporary.

Once back at the hotel, my energy level was at zero and I ended up bailing on my plan to close out MK and just headed up to my room to go to bed. After all, I had another BOG breakfast tomorrow at 8AM so I needed to be up by 6.

Entering into my room, I discovered my first towel sculpture!! It wasn’t a Disney character, but hey, I’ll take it! Anything to liven up this room. After taking a quick photo, I hit the sack.

I cannot express how great this day was, it was probably my favorite day of the week as I was able to fully utilize my Park Hopper option and be able to really take advantage of being a solo traveler. To change my plans on the fly like that was so incredibly freeing and I had to answer to no one for my decision. While I certainly was disappointed that EPCOT didn’t turn out like I had hoped, the shoot-from-the-hip Plan that I ended up going with was far more enjoyable than just “hanging out” in EPCOT until Illuminations had happened. And because of this plan, I was able to see Fantasmic, something I now would consider a tragedy if I had missed it.

–Side Note–

Even though I was dead tired by the time I got to the hotel and fell asleep, something would wake me up in the middle of the night. Not sure what, but because of this, I noticed that an animation was playing on castle. This wasn’t the wishes animation though, it was something else, I think. Though I can’t remember what it was exactly, I’m wondering if I got a “calibrating” version of the new Once Upon A Time show? That’s a nice little thought.

Either way, whether it was an alternative to wishes or something new, it was rather cool to get my own “private” show (though no sound). As soon as the the animation ends, though, I fall back asleep.

To Be Continued….

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Enjoying this very much!

Best part so far: Calling yourself Dingus.
2nd best: the moment of realization at Tony’s being from Lady & the Tramp.

I also had a moment somewhat like that a few years ago when I realized that “Auntie Gravity’s” is pronounced “Anty Gravity’s”. I’m from the Northeast where “aunt” rhymes with “want”… I still say it wrong in my head.

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Did you read where he “walked with purpose” :wink:
I thought of you and a thread on Chats a few weeks ago!

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Love that you baled on Ellen! I’ve never heard of anyone having the guts to stand up and walk out! Awesome.

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