How Many Attempts Does It Take to End Up In a Diabetic Coma: An Adult Adventure at Food and Wine Festival *completed*

Great gift bag!

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Except that we are all now lifelong friends.

I made a gift bag for my son. It includes some candy and snacks, some pins, some unopened packages of Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom cards I found on ebay, a Haunted Mansion t-shirt, and some travel size toiletries. Iā€™m going to give it to him at the resort on the first day, so I kept the magic band out.

Also, I need to start my trip report - yikes!

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Bon Voyage @betsyrina2! Your first Disney day starts tomorrow!

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Thatā€™s me and Keith on a bus on our way to the Magic Kingdom

The Journey Begins!

Practically perfect in every way ā€“ thatā€™s how Iā€™d like to remember this journey. It might not have gone that way. But thatā€™s how Iā€™d like to remember it.

I had done my research and my planning, being the plotter and planner that I am. If there was a fault, Iā€™d say I was ambitious. But will a dream become a reality if you donā€™t dream of it first?

It was Tuesday, October 22, 2019, and we took what was the very first flight of the day from Southwest Airlines at the a** crack of dawn. Philadelphia was still asleep as we traveled to the airport. Keith had just flown this exact flight two weeks before to see his grandmother. The flight was uneventful until the very end when we had a screaming child directly behind us who refused to stay in the seat. I donā€™t know what the parents are thinking not buckling him in when we are landing. It is for the childā€™s safety.
We are on our way on Magical Express to our first stop ā€“ Old Key West. Our bus is scheduled to visit Saratoga Springs, Old Key West, Port Orleans Riverside and our resort, Port Orleans French Quarter. The bus already was mostly full when we climbed aboard so it wasnā€™t long before we were underway. Keith wanted a bag on the plane but wanted to store it at Port Orleans French Quarter and go bagless into the park as he did the entire trip.

Do the people staying at Old Key West get off the bus? He**, no. We must circle around and try again. I actually liked visiting the other resorts. It allowed me to make impressions if I was interested in staying at them in the future. I totally would stay at Old Key West, but I have no interest in staying at Saratoga Springs. Itā€™s just the aesthetics of the resorts ā€“ thatā€™s all.

Keith dropped his bag with bell services, and I took a bio break. Before you knew it, we were on a Disney Transportation bus to the Magic Kingdom. When we entered it was a little bit before 11 am, just as I had planned!

Prior to our trip, I had created customized personal touring plans for each day in the parks. I had the ability to design them with the minimum line waiting and the fastest walking. We are brisk city adult walkers and lollygagging doesnā€™t enter our vocabulary. We both love all types of attractions.

What do you suppose we started with? I was surprised. It was the Tomorrowland WEDway People Mover. It turned out to be great because I have always loved this attraction. It was just what we needed. We were used to temperatures in the 50ā€™s. It would reach 90 today. Bright, sunny, and humid is the weather of the day. Keith already was sweating. Plus, we were dynamos trying to find our way to the most magical place on Earth. This forced me to relax. The cars of the attraction glided through Tomorrowland with a small breeze. It was the perfect overview. On our walk over, we saw the new archway, just a few weeks old, for Tomorrowland. While I liked the simple, clean lines of the design, it lacks scale. It lacks drama. The font needs to be larger; the whole design needs to be larger. I donā€™t mind the simplicity, but it needs drama. Hello, I am a gay man. Give me drama, thank you.

Touring Plans gives the parks a crowd level rating for each day on a scale of 1-10. 1 being the lightest crowd. The scale is mostly based on line waiting, not as much weight is placed on predictions of actual bodies in the parks. Today in the Magic Kingdom was rated a 1. The crowds surprised me. Based on the amount of people that I saw I would think it was a 3. But no, a 1.

Iā€™ve been in Walt Disney World for only 20 minutes and Iā€™ve concluded thereā€™s a lot of confused, deluded people in this park that donā€™t know what they are doing. I feel for them. What I was most surprised by was the number of adults who were totally oblivious to their environment. They were completely unaware that suddenly moving at a diagonal you would bump into me. Oblivious that stopping suddenly I would be right behind them and might walk right into their person. Walking with their heads down, paying more attention to their phones than their surroundings. I expected impulsive behavior by children. I really didnā€™t experience that. My problem was with clueless adults. Not just today in the Magic Kingdom but the entire week in all parks.

Something that is new for me is Instagram at Disney. It has been over 10 years since Iā€™ve visited, and Instagram did not exist. Now, a variety of walls at Walt Disney World have become famous backdrops for Instagram selfies. On this trip, I was on an unexpected scavenger hunt for the walls of Walt Disney World. Last trip I was on a hunt for character meet and greets. Now, its walls. Go figure.
First on my list was the wall that started it all ā€“ the purple wall which has expanded to the new galactic purple wall. Throughout my week I was on the hunt for Disneyā€™s best Instagram walls.

NEXT: FastPass+ gets put through its paces

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MainStreetduo

It was time for our first FastPass+ of the day ā€“ Space Mountain! I was surprised at how much I had forgotten and how much theming I enjoyed. I remember a number of trips my hips getting bruised in the ride vehicle because of so much jostling. This time I was perfectly fine. Is it because I weigh more than I ever have before? I remember having a tough go of it as a rail thin teenager. Not this time. This was probably my most enjoyable ride on Space Mountain yet. Space Mountain had just the right amount of excitement. Thatā€™s all I could handle today, thank you very much.

spacemountain

Next, itā€™s a bright, big, beautiful tomorrow because it is a walk on at the Carousel of Progress. There are so few people that we donā€™t need to go to the end of the row. We have our choice of rows. We decide to sit towards the back and move close to the end just in case more arrive. Nope. Just after sitting we are in the turn of the 20th century. Since this attraction was one of the original Walt Disney World attractions, it was cool to see the technology of early audio animatronics. The Sherman Brothers knew how to create a hook in the music, and it puts a smile on my face and a tap in my step. I was so happy!

Can you believe that Iā€™ve never seen Tom Sawyer Island? Not once! Not even on my first trip as an 8-year-old. Iā€™m a big hiker and explorer. Just wandering around every nook and cranny, every crooked bridge was fun. The refreshments were not available, but I did not have a need. I did take take advantage of refilling my Brita filter water bottle. Whew! It is hot! Thank you, water fountains, but we have to get back on a raft to head back to the mainland.

Itā€™s a FastPass+ window to Splash Mountain. But I forgot I had packed away my flip flops, just for this occasion in my suitcase that Magic Express has at the moment. Splash Mountain is on my top FIVE list of Disney attractions. It has a story, it has music, it has fun characters, great detail, and a little bit of excitement with a drop into the briar patch. It is Disney Imagineering at its best.

Out touring continued with another FastPass+ attraction, Peter Panā€™s Flight. Probably why folks gravitate to this attraction and create long lines is the fact that it is appropriate for all ages. Also, its capacity is small even though it loads continuously. After Tom Sawyerā€™s Island and Splash Mountain, we greatly appreciated the air conditioning of a dark ride. I love the illusion that you are flying in a ship. Plus, Peter Pan is my favorite character. Notice my outfit today?

NEXT: The magic of a name badge and how to get more grey stuff than one person can possibly eat

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Really enjoying this report. Thanks for writing it!

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If there are no other people in the world besides them, then how are they supposed to know they could bump into anyone?

If itā€™s a bad one, and Iā€™m tired, Iā€™ll say something like, ā€œPlease donā€™t chew gum.ā€ or, ā€œI guess thatā€™s the best you can do.ā€ Sometimes, itā€™s just amazing. Some people will just walk right into you when you are standing STILL.

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Keith on the Tomorrowland People Mover


Photos of Tom Sawyerā€™s Island

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Time for our 1:55 pm ā€œBe Our Guestā€ reservation. Keith does IT for a major university. I am not stupid, but we tried to use mobile order for lunch while on Magical Express and did not find it possible. I could have sworn that before our trip I saw that it was possible. But not now. Tiny frustrating considering the wait to get in to order was the longest line we had in Walt Disney World. It wasnā€™t too bad of a wait, but in my life, I donā€™t do lines. Not even lines of coke. We had free reign as far as the menu goes because we were on the dining plan. We could have had anything we wanted to eat. We could each have had something different, but this was the first of more than one occasion where we ordered the same thing! I loved the theming. All the recent additions to Walt Disney World in the last 8 years have really upped the game when it comes to detail, immersion, and theming. How cool is it that the armor that line your wait to place an order makes sounds and speaks to you? That just cracks me up. After ordering on a touch pad screen, we were told to wander around the restaurant and sit wherever we would like. We chose the ballroom because it was well lit. The rooms were packed and we had little choice as to tables. We ended up on a 6 top. Soon we were joined by a very nice mother and daughter. We hit it off and were chatting away. Very soon our entire lunch arrived. We each had ordered the French Dip sandwich served on a baguette with au jus and pommes frites (French fries) for $17.49 each. We also had a glass of Simi Cabernet Sauvignon, Alexander Valley at $16 each. Dessert was The Masterā€™s Cupcake, a chocolate sponge cake topped with Lumiereā€™s special, ā€œGrey Stuffā€. While the recipe is not known exactly, the grey stuff is probably a combination of white chocolate mousse with chocolate pieces blended in. With the cupcake you get an extra piece of chocolate bark thatā€™s perched on top. And yes, Lumiere is correct, it is delicious. The dessert cost $4.99. With fast casual or quick service meals dessert does not come under the dining plan so we had to pay additional.


Exterior of Be Our Guest


The Ballroom

Ratings of restaurants ā€“ Scale of 1 ā€“ 10; 10 being the best
Ambience 10
Food 8
Price/Value 2
Overall 7

We enjoyed our lunch. It was tasty. I definitely would order it again, especially the cupcake and the wine. Was it worth the price? No, absolutely not. It was way overpriced. If I wasnā€™t on the dining plan I would have been pissed. That much money for a lunch that was just tasty and not amazing? But you are paying for the overall experience. The theming is just outstanding.

Now for the cast members ā€“ everyone we encountered were so friendly and engaging. But one stopped by our table to find out how our lunch was going. Michael was surprised to discover that we were two parties that did not know each other and were willing to share a table. We must have looked like we were having fun sharing stories. By this time, Keith and I had already started having lunch. Another server remarked how guests are reticent to share a table.

Keith thinks the cast members believed that because I was wearing a name badge that was identical to the cast members but with a red background, instead of white, they thought I was a Disney executive. That the red ā€œsignifiedā€ something with which they were unfamiliar. Next thing you know, Michael brings out plates of Grey Stuff in the shape of Mickey with sprinkles for all four of us. As we are enjoying that, another cast member brings another set of grey stuff to the table for all of us. Thatā€™s a lot of chocolate mousse, even for me.

Once we were getting ourselves together, Michael stops by some more and after chatting he offers to take our photograph in the ballroom. He is a former PhotoPass photographer and knows what angle would be best. The result is wonderful. He made us feel like we are royalty, just like the Beast.
Part of the name badge situation is you can not get these anymore. I canā€™t get them form the company I purchased them from. I canā€™t find them on Etsy, not Ebay, nowhere. I was going to have one made for Keith, but it just wasnā€™t possible which is why these college program cast members were unfamiliar with it.

NEXT: What is wrong and right with Port Orleans French Quarter

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The famous name badge that causes such a commotion

The photo that our awesome cast member took. I love it!

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"If there are no other people in the world besides them, then how are they supposed to know they could bump into anyone?

If itā€™s a bad one, and Iā€™m tired, Iā€™ll say something like, ā€œPlease donā€™t chew gum.ā€ or, ā€œI guess thatā€™s the best you can do.ā€ Sometimes, itā€™s just amazing. Some people will just walk right into you when you are standing STILL."

If you apologize, I donā€™t mind nearly as much. Just say, ā€œExcuse me, Iā€™m sorry.ā€ I would be happy with that. But most are just silent. Or worse still act like it is my fault. Americans need to take a page out of the Japanese book. Since there are so many Japanese in such a small area, they know about politeness.

Mobile ordering and ā€œPre Orderingā€ are 2 diff things. From the terminology you used, I just wonder if you were trying to use Mobile Order on your way from the airport or on a bus? Pre-Ordering at BOG can be done before you arrive to WallyTown from a link for your ADR in MDE.

Most people use the term ā€œMobile Orderā€ to describe the option for cs/qs restaurants while you are in a park. BOG offers a Pre-Order option, no idea if they also offer Mobile Ordering as well - those are 2 sep terms.

Also in terms of value? You should see the BOG BREAKFASTS!! Lookit THOSE prices, and go ahead and romanticize about what you will get for those prices. Then think really hard about the reality. The reality is the truth. They do serve a purpose though, and the value is in getting into the park and riding Pan or 7d with no wait.

Iā€™m late to the party and have only got to day 1. There are no snacks. This is not the way to OD on sugar. Apparently there is gray stuff coming.

I hope that " Diabetic Coma" is not an empty promise

Edited to add that of of course I hope there are no actual health emergencies of any kind.

Speaking from my time on the planet, donā€™t just assume that the ppl exhibiting this behavior are Americans. Especially in Wallyworld where there are visitors from all over the globe. Iā€™ve encountered plenty of rudeness from people speaking foreign languages (which doesnā€™t necessarily mean they are not American, but in a popular global vacation destination, itā€™s a decent clue.) Iā€™m not saying you are wrong by any means, Iā€™m just saying not to assume they are Americans just by appearance.

That would explain what happened. I saw the opportunity to pre order before we left on MyDisneyExperience. However, by the day of that had disappeared and they did not participate on mobile order.

Generalizations are never completely accurate. I just feel like politeness and courteousness is gradually eroding in my experience, not just in Walt Disney World.

I think three desserts at Be Our Guest lives up to the title. Not to worry. I will have horrible eating habits on this trip :wink:

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Me on the People Mover

Be Our Guest lunch

We end our time with the Enchanted Tiki Birds and the Haunted Mansion. Classic Disney. It isnā€™t a trip to Walt Disney World if I havenā€™t had the joys of these two attractions. The host for Tiki bird was the exception that proved the rule. She had such a dull monotone delivery she could have put the audience to sleep. Perhaps, she used to work at Tower of Terror and got into the habit (just kidding). Once again, I loved the full use of the room, but it is obvious that this is early audio animatronics (read with the voice going down three octaves on the word early).

I will always have a fondness for the Haunted Mansion because of the indelible memory of thoroughly enjoying this attraction at the age of eight. It was wonderful not being scared then and it is a marvel of old school Imagineering today.

We did learn an important lesson. We thought all we had to do after the rides Splash Mountain and Haunted Mansion was tap our Magic Bands to any button at the wall with all of the pictures displayed. Wrong!!! The picture is connected with a line to a particular button on the wall. Consequently, we ended up with some other folx in our PhotoPass collection for these two rides. Ugh! Learn from our mistakes. Tap your Magic Band to the correct button. I thought Disney had screwed up, no, we did.

While waiting to order our lunch (around 1 pm), I got the message on my phone that our room at Port Orleans French Quarter (POFQ) was ready. It was time for a break and finally check in. Keith retrieved his carry-on at bell services.

From Bell Services we stopped into the Jackson Square general store to pick up our complimentary rapid refill mugs that came with our Dining Plan. I chose the Mickey Mouse Club design. Iā€™m not really crazy about the illustration. I miss the days when the mugs were resort specific. Also, I prefer them like a tumbler without the handle but those were not available. We each made up our own Arnold Palmer concoction in the Sassagoula Float Works (the quick service restaurant) by getting some light lemonade from the fountain machine and mixing it with unsweetened iced tea. It hit the spot. We needed a little refreshment.

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