Disney World post!
So mater, middle eldest sibling, and myself went to Disney World last week. Here is a brief (or not-so-brief) rundown of our adventures.
Stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, which meant a lot of views like this outside. Giant balcony, apartment-style hotel room, which was handy for making things like full breakfasts and (vegan) grilled cheese sammiches. Much cheaper than eating out all the time.
First place we hit up on Monday was Hollywood Studios, which is basically our favorite park, at least for middle elder sibling and I. The revamped Star Tours ride is fantastic. And I got to go on the Tower of Terror twice. :D The Indiana Jones stunt show is the same as it's always been, as is the Muppet-Vision 3D, and they're both fun as ever.
And managed to notice something we hadn't before!
MOTHA. FUCKIN'. POWER RANGERS.
Also, we hung out there pretty late. Sibling did some epic fanboying at one of the artists-inna-fishbowl (present in some gift shops) and got an awesome Ratigan sketch while we were waiting for Fantasmic, which is absolutely amazing. Unfortunately the artists that work there can't do crossovers, and we both went ;_; at her for that, even though she was (very laughingly) sympathetic. So I may be hitting one of y'all up for a commission sometime in the future. (Sam, hikari-pretty, how's your Disney art...?)
As you can probably guess, we at various points impressed/intimidated/made cast members be taken aback by our ridiculously extensive knowledge of Disney minutiae.
Also they have extended hours in the morning or evening on certain days if you're staying at one of the resorts. This meant that, after Fantasmic, I could drag the middle elder sibling through the Tower of Terror and he could take pictures of the inside while I went on the ride (again).
On Tuesday we swung back to Hollywood Studios to watch the fast cars stunt show, for me to ride the Aerosmith coaster, and also for me to catch a girl's attention and get a high-five for wearing a Heartless t-shirt. She also let me know about a pin of Mickey in the Org cloak that was apparently available somewhere. Also the Commissary at Hollywood Studios has an awesome arugula, quinoa, and couscous salad that you can get sans meat. Om nom nom.
The sensor on the ground there makes water start dripping from the ends of the umbrella. :)
Then the sibling and I went to the Magic Kingdom, and it was pretty freakin' awesome because when we were there everyone was gathering for the Wishes show, so we basically didn't have a wait for anything.
We hit up the Haunted Mansion, ensuring an evening of terrible puns.
Then we hit up the new bit of Fantasyland and discovered the glorious wonder that was Gaston's Tavern. It is quite glorious, from the ridiculously hilarious fountain/statue at the front to the fact that it very OOC-ly serves hummus and organic soymilk for those of a more vegan-y persuasion. (And it was Kikkoman organic soymilk, not Silk!)
We climbed up the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse and it was pretty. Then we went on Pirates of the Caribbean, where the cast members were silly ("Have fun storming the castle!" yelled one as our boat departed, and "LAND HO" bellowed another as we arrived at the end), the Jungle Cruise ride, which was as godawfully punny as usual, and I went on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. (Splash Mountain was closed.) I also went on Space Mountain and it was totally super-humid in there for some reason.
We also saw both the Main Street Electric Parade and Wishes, which was nice, and I got a compliment from one of the cast members on my Heartless shirt. Then we went back to the hotel and crashed.
Wednesday we went to Downtown Disney and wandered around. We were happy to discover that there was a decent amount of Oswald merchandise available, and you saw someone in Oswald ears on a regular basis.
So of course we had to pose like this, on account of Epic Mickey 2 and the middle elder sibling's status as my Player 2. (Older brother playing older brother, you see.)
Also we had a wander through the Lego store, which necessitated posing like this.
Also there was a design-your-own t-shirt store. The cashier was impressed as hell by our design--she'd never seen anyone be that creative with the "you can make it say anything option". Unfortunately, our extremely clever and awesome shirt was slapped down by the censors even though she loved it and also it was amazing, okay. (I may have been the one to come up with the "Kiss my kilt" thing and I am DAMN proud of it.)
So yes, this is THE T-SHIRT DISNEY FORBADE. BE ASTOUNDED BY ITS BEAUTY.
Also there is a Babycakes at Downtown Disney and we kind of raided it like a lot. Vegan, gluten-free, sugar-free, delicious. Cupcake flavors we got: red velvet, brownie with chocolate topping, blondie with chocolate topping, french toast (and it did actually taste like french toast!) brownie with mocha topping, and carrot. Doughnut flavors were cinnamon and sugar, coconut, chocolate-dipped, and cookie crumble. The cookie sandwich had vanilla cream and the corn bread was just corn bread. :) I was a happy happy vegan on this trip.
On Thursday we swung by the Magic Kingdom to go on Tom Sawyer's island and hold the caves up. (Family tradition.)
Also yes, we are wearing matching T-shirts. Mom forced us to, as she had purchased them on Monday whilst waiting for us to come out of the Star Tours ride. (Have I mentioned how awesome the revamped ride is? 'Cause it's really really awesome.)
Also you can get a really good view of the Haunted Mansion from Tom Sawyer's Island.
Then we trundled off to Epcot because of Reasons, but not before posing again.
Unfortunately we were unaware that a.) there was such a blinding glare on the poster and b.) that despite it being the day mom is still not that good at picture-taking.
Also it was the Flower Show so there were ridiculously fancy hedges all over the place.
The middle elder sibling insisted I post this photo with the caption "Fezzes are cool." Also the restaurant was called "Restaurant Marrakesh" and I laughed.
Also in the Japan section they had a little museum featuring Japanese monsters and also their current representation in pop culture, and I accidentally enthralled a tiny otaku by helping her identify who was who in some of the displays. Middle elder sibling found the entire thing hilarious because she would turn away for a second and then come back again, asking a different question each time. (I was clearly the only grownup she had ever met who liked anime--her mom stood there the whole time with a deeply amused expression on her face, apparently.) We had a lovely little conversation about Inuyasha, and she gave me an enormous smile when I confessed that while I did not much care for Pokemon, she was carrying around a lovely little pikachu.
Also, OMG those Lum figurines. Do want.
After that we hung around some more, I found the Mickey in the Org Cloak pin the girl had told me about (and bought it) and then saw IllumiNations.
Disney is really, really good at the epic nighttime spectaculars, you guys. Really really good, and it only gets more impressive if you're at all familiar with live performances, which of course the middle elder sibling and I are as a result of working at the haunt.
Friday we hit up Universal, and holy hell is it crowded as fuck in the Harry Potter section.
Whilst there, we wandered around a bit, I rode on the Harry Potter ride (very fun, very fancy, will make you nauseous if you don't like the swingy-around kind of ride) and the Dragon Challenge coaster, and watched the Hogwarts choir sing. The Slytherin soprano was amazing and also very pretty. She had on sparkly green eyeshadow and kept shunning the Ravenclaw baritone's flirtations.
Fortunately the middle elder sibling is freakishly tall and therefore capable of taking pictures without other people's heads in them.
Also I got a frozen Butterbeer because it was freakin' hot. This is actually a triple crossover because I was wearing a Kingdom Hearts shirt and drinking the Butterbeer while walking through Jurassic Park.
Then we went to the Superheroes section because of Reasons having to do with the Hulk coaster (The last time we were there, back in 2007, eldest nephew and I finally made it through the 3-hour line to ride...and they shut it down because of a thunderstorm. We were right there.) and I got complimented twice on my t-shirt, once from another random girl and once from the dude who scanned my fastpass to ride.
And then mom and the middle elder sibling wandered around whilst I rode the Hulk coaster (IT WAS AMAZING OMG) and sibling took this.
After that sibling and I decided to wander over to the "Lost Continent" and see the Poseidon's Whatever show, and it was incredibly cheesy and hilarious. Poseidon had to fight "Darkannon" or something but the "tour guide" was very, very silly and much giggling at the cheesiness was had. I shall transcribe some here:
*all of the lights suddenly go out* "Quick, kid with the blinky shoes! Do your stuff!"
"YOU HAVE AWAKENED ME FROM MY SLUMBER!" "Wasn't me, it was this lady in the front row here!"
"GO TELL YOUR MASTER--" "...Yoda?"
*giant door in the wall slides open* "What, you're going in there?! A giant hole in the wall opens and you all just walk right through it?!"
*everyone continues on to where we're clearly supposed to go next* "Great, now we've gone from a dark creepy room to... a better-lit creepy room."
And then when we got back we discovered that what we had spent the week calling "moo-cows" were nomming literally right underneath our balcony, so here is a picture of them.
And that was basically our trip! Wear Kingdom Hearts swag, folks, it makes people like you. And talk to people as well! I offered insights on what to do on dangly roller coasters, complimented shirts, got a couple of high-fives from complete strangers, and made at least two small children all squeaky-like with joy. The second one was a little boy in line for the Dragon's Challenge coaster. His mom was asking if he really wanted to do this, and I chimed in with the opinion that it would be awesome. Then we high-fived and rode, and it was.
So many fun things. Also on this trip I apparently changed my standard rollercoaster picture pose from "smug thing that is smug king of smug mountain" to an expression that rayemars, having witnessed it on my face after my disembarkation from a really cool rollercoaster, once referred to as a horrifying Joker smile. :3
Stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, which meant a lot of views like this outside. Giant balcony, apartment-style hotel room, which was handy for making things like full breakfasts and (vegan) grilled cheese sammiches. Much cheaper than eating out all the time.
First place we hit up on Monday was Hollywood Studios, which is basically our favorite park, at least for middle elder sibling and I. The revamped Star Tours ride is fantastic. And I got to go on the Tower of Terror twice. :D The Indiana Jones stunt show is the same as it's always been, as is the Muppet-Vision 3D, and they're both fun as ever.
And managed to notice something we hadn't before!
MOTHA. FUCKIN'. POWER RANGERS.
Also, we hung out there pretty late. Sibling did some epic fanboying at one of the artists-inna-fishbowl (present in some gift shops) and got an awesome Ratigan sketch while we were waiting for Fantasmic, which is absolutely amazing. Unfortunately the artists that work there can't do crossovers, and we both went ;_; at her for that, even though she was (very laughingly) sympathetic. So I may be hitting one of y'all up for a commission sometime in the future. (Sam, hikari-pretty, how's your Disney art...?)
As you can probably guess, we at various points impressed/intimidated/made cast members be taken aback by our ridiculously extensive knowledge of Disney minutiae.
Also they have extended hours in the morning or evening on certain days if you're staying at one of the resorts. This meant that, after Fantasmic, I could drag the middle elder sibling through the Tower of Terror and he could take pictures of the inside while I went on the ride (again).
On Tuesday we swung back to Hollywood Studios to watch the fast cars stunt show, for me to ride the Aerosmith coaster, and also for me to catch a girl's attention and get a high-five for wearing a Heartless t-shirt. She also let me know about a pin of Mickey in the Org cloak that was apparently available somewhere. Also the Commissary at Hollywood Studios has an awesome arugula, quinoa, and couscous salad that you can get sans meat. Om nom nom.
The sensor on the ground there makes water start dripping from the ends of the umbrella. :)
Then the sibling and I went to the Magic Kingdom, and it was pretty freakin' awesome because when we were there everyone was gathering for the Wishes show, so we basically didn't have a wait for anything.
We hit up the Haunted Mansion, ensuring an evening of terrible puns.
Then we hit up the new bit of Fantasyland and discovered the glorious wonder that was Gaston's Tavern. It is quite glorious, from the ridiculously hilarious fountain/statue at the front to the fact that it very OOC-ly serves hummus and organic soymilk for those of a more vegan-y persuasion. (And it was Kikkoman organic soymilk, not Silk!)
We climbed up the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse and it was pretty. Then we went on Pirates of the Caribbean, where the cast members were silly ("Have fun storming the castle!" yelled one as our boat departed, and "LAND HO" bellowed another as we arrived at the end), the Jungle Cruise ride, which was as godawfully punny as usual, and I went on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. (Splash Mountain was closed.) I also went on Space Mountain and it was totally super-humid in there for some reason.
We also saw both the Main Street Electric Parade and Wishes, which was nice, and I got a compliment from one of the cast members on my Heartless shirt. Then we went back to the hotel and crashed.
Wednesday we went to Downtown Disney and wandered around. We were happy to discover that there was a decent amount of Oswald merchandise available, and you saw someone in Oswald ears on a regular basis.
So of course we had to pose like this, on account of Epic Mickey 2 and the middle elder sibling's status as my Player 2. (Older brother playing older brother, you see.)
Also we had a wander through the Lego store, which necessitated posing like this.
Also there was a design-your-own t-shirt store. The cashier was impressed as hell by our design--she'd never seen anyone be that creative with the "you can make it say anything option". Unfortunately, our extremely clever and awesome shirt was slapped down by the censors even though she loved it and also it was amazing, okay. (I may have been the one to come up with the "Kiss my kilt" thing and I am DAMN proud of it.)
So yes, this is THE T-SHIRT DISNEY FORBADE. BE ASTOUNDED BY ITS BEAUTY.
Also there is a Babycakes at Downtown Disney and we kind of raided it like a lot. Vegan, gluten-free, sugar-free, delicious. Cupcake flavors we got: red velvet, brownie with chocolate topping, blondie with chocolate topping, french toast (and it did actually taste like french toast!) brownie with mocha topping, and carrot. Doughnut flavors were cinnamon and sugar, coconut, chocolate-dipped, and cookie crumble. The cookie sandwich had vanilla cream and the corn bread was just corn bread. :) I was a happy happy vegan on this trip.
On Thursday we swung by the Magic Kingdom to go on Tom Sawyer's island and hold the caves up. (Family tradition.)
Also yes, we are wearing matching T-shirts. Mom forced us to, as she had purchased them on Monday whilst waiting for us to come out of the Star Tours ride. (Have I mentioned how awesome the revamped ride is? 'Cause it's really really awesome.)
Also you can get a really good view of the Haunted Mansion from Tom Sawyer's Island.
Then we trundled off to Epcot because of Reasons, but not before posing again.
Unfortunately we were unaware that a.) there was such a blinding glare on the poster and b.) that despite it being the day mom is still not that good at picture-taking.
Also it was the Flower Show so there were ridiculously fancy hedges all over the place.
The middle elder sibling insisted I post this photo with the caption "Fezzes are cool." Also the restaurant was called "Restaurant Marrakesh" and I laughed.
Also in the Japan section they had a little museum featuring Japanese monsters and also their current representation in pop culture, and I accidentally enthralled a tiny otaku by helping her identify who was who in some of the displays. Middle elder sibling found the entire thing hilarious because she would turn away for a second and then come back again, asking a different question each time. (I was clearly the only grownup she had ever met who liked anime--her mom stood there the whole time with a deeply amused expression on her face, apparently.) We had a lovely little conversation about Inuyasha, and she gave me an enormous smile when I confessed that while I did not much care for Pokemon, she was carrying around a lovely little pikachu.
Also, OMG those Lum figurines. Do want.
After that we hung around some more, I found the Mickey in the Org Cloak pin the girl had told me about (and bought it) and then saw IllumiNations.
Disney is really, really good at the epic nighttime spectaculars, you guys. Really really good, and it only gets more impressive if you're at all familiar with live performances, which of course the middle elder sibling and I are as a result of working at the haunt.
Friday we hit up Universal, and holy hell is it crowded as fuck in the Harry Potter section.
Whilst there, we wandered around a bit, I rode on the Harry Potter ride (very fun, very fancy, will make you nauseous if you don't like the swingy-around kind of ride) and the Dragon Challenge coaster, and watched the Hogwarts choir sing. The Slytherin soprano was amazing and also very pretty. She had on sparkly green eyeshadow and kept shunning the Ravenclaw baritone's flirtations.
Fortunately the middle elder sibling is freakishly tall and therefore capable of taking pictures without other people's heads in them.
Also I got a frozen Butterbeer because it was freakin' hot. This is actually a triple crossover because I was wearing a Kingdom Hearts shirt and drinking the Butterbeer while walking through Jurassic Park.
Then we went to the Superheroes section because of Reasons having to do with the Hulk coaster (The last time we were there, back in 2007, eldest nephew and I finally made it through the 3-hour line to ride...and they shut it down because of a thunderstorm. We were right there.) and I got complimented twice on my t-shirt, once from another random girl and once from the dude who scanned my fastpass to ride.
And then mom and the middle elder sibling wandered around whilst I rode the Hulk coaster (IT WAS AMAZING OMG) and sibling took this.
After that sibling and I decided to wander over to the "Lost Continent" and see the Poseidon's Whatever show, and it was incredibly cheesy and hilarious. Poseidon had to fight "Darkannon" or something but the "tour guide" was very, very silly and much giggling at the cheesiness was had. I shall transcribe some here:
*all of the lights suddenly go out* "Quick, kid with the blinky shoes! Do your stuff!"
"YOU HAVE AWAKENED ME FROM MY SLUMBER!" "Wasn't me, it was this lady in the front row here!"
"GO TELL YOUR MASTER--" "...Yoda?"
*giant door in the wall slides open* "What, you're going in there?! A giant hole in the wall opens and you all just walk right through it?!"
*everyone continues on to where we're clearly supposed to go next* "Great, now we've gone from a dark creepy room to... a better-lit creepy room."
And then when we got back we discovered that what we had spent the week calling "moo-cows" were nomming literally right underneath our balcony, so here is a picture of them.
And that was basically our trip! Wear Kingdom Hearts swag, folks, it makes people like you. And talk to people as well! I offered insights on what to do on dangly roller coasters, complimented shirts, got a couple of high-fives from complete strangers, and made at least two small children all squeaky-like with joy. The second one was a little boy in line for the Dragon's Challenge coaster. His mom was asking if he really wanted to do this, and I chimed in with the opinion that it would be awesome. Then we high-fived and rode, and it was.
So many fun things. Also on this trip I apparently changed my standard rollercoaster picture pose from "smug thing that is smug king of smug mountain" to an expression that rayemars, having witnessed it on my face after my disembarkation from a really cool rollercoaster, once referred to as a horrifying Joker smile. :3