Canadian Buffoon's Solo Disney Vacation - Update 07/08! pp99 - Here today gone tomorrow

pkondz

Brace yourself for immediate disintegration
Joined
Mar 9, 2007
And so it begins


Hi! :wave2:

And welcome to another Canadian Buffoon Vacation!


Before we get started...
Wait... Who's this "we"? It's a solo vacation, isn't it?

Well I guess that would be me... and you!
Yes you! You lucky reader, you get to relive the excitement and majesty of going to Disney World without actually going there!!!
Don't you feel awesome now?
Don'tcha?

No?


Well, I'll write about it anyway, and you can read on and decide for yourself, OK?

What?
Who am I?

Some of you already know, but for those who don't, a little about myself.

I first went to Disney World when Disney World and Magic Kingdom were the same thing.
No Animal Kingdom, no Hollywood Studios or MGM or even an Epcot!
So that pretty much clues you in that I is one old dude.
Which factors into why I'm going on this solo trip in the first place.
More on that later.
First I better post a picture of me to scare the children with.

Hmmm...
That's a bit problematic.
You see, when you go on a solo trip, you don't tend to take many pictures of yourself.

(Ha! I just shocked every selfie-loving teenager out there!)

Nevertheless, I found a loophole.
Disney can take pictures of you while you stand there trying not to look stupid!
Well, for reasons that will become clear shortly, this wasn't going to happen...
at least not much.
I mean, the looking stupid part? Yes.
Shelling out a hundred and seventy bucks? No.

But I did spring for a few pics.
Let's see.
I need to make a good first impression.
Something that eloquently and accurately portrays my maturity and proper upbringing and stature.

This should do...

PhotoPass_Visiting_Disneys_Hollywood_Studios_7192327634_zpsuti2lpae.jpg


Subtle, no?

Okay, now that I've just lost most of my readers,
I'll continue on for the benefit of the two or three hardy souls who obviously have strong stomachs
or have simply lost the will to live full and productive lives and instead are choosing to read on.

I feel for you. I really do.



Before we get to the point where I'm sitting on Rock 'n' Roller Coaster mugging furiously for the camera,
I better explain just how this trip came to be.
Especially since some of you know that there wasn't any likelihood of it happening in the first place!

Last year I had a milestone birthday.
If you're guessing 30 or 40, you have just become my new best friend.
On the other hand if you're thinking 80....
Expect to one day answer your doorbell to a burning sack of offal.

Really!
80???
So cruel. :sad1:


As I was saying, last year I had a milestone birthday.
My parents were kind enough to provide me with some cash as a birthday gift.
My MIL did too.
Great! What do I do with my windfall?
If you get birthday money and use it to pay off debt or to pay bills...
Well, you do what you gotta do, but this boy ain't gonna do that!

Spend those puppies!
Preferably on something that you normally wouldn't spend money on.

I had a few thoughts... and Disney wasn't one of them.
Why? Because while my parents and MIL were very generous, it wasn't enough to pay for a Disney vacation.
A vacation wasn't even on the radar.
Stuff was.
Maybe a new camera lens.
Maybe an add-on for my Harley.

However.
Christmas wasn't too far off...
My folks and MIL usually give us all some cash then too...

If I combine my gifts... this could work.

Maybe.


Disney is not next door.
It's about two thousand miles away.
Walking would take over six hundred hours... one way!
Frankly, I just don't have that kind of time.

I could drive, I suppose. But where's the fun in that?
Actually, driving wasn't really an option either.
Non-stop, you're still looking at thirty hours.
I didn't want to take too much time off work,
and I especially didn't want to take that much time away from my family.

I have every confidence in my wife, Ruby and my daughters are old enough (14 & 17) that they can take care of themselves, but...

I still want to be there to make things easier for everyone, ya know?

My only real option was to fly.
(Or to teleport, but since the technology isn't quite there yet...)
Flying, and I don't want to shock anyone here, but... flying is expensive.
No! Really! It is!

Well, maybe not if you happen to work in, or have a family member who works in the industry.
I, unfortunately, do not.
Although we keep telling Elle (my oldest DD) she should apply for WestJet.
We really don't care if she wants to or not.
We've paid for her childhood, it's time she starts paying us back!
It's the least she could do, don't you think?
whip_zpst3srmlip.gif



But I did have some airmiles saved up.
Maybe I'll just take a peek and see what's available.
Probably nothing.
Since you usually have to book six months in advance if you even want a shot at getting seats.
At least to Florida.
But you never know.


I don't know why, but it seems to be a popular winter destination for Canadians.
I was looking to go in about three months. Value season. i.e. (hopefully) slow season.
And (definitely) cheap season.
(Value being a Disney term for "We'll wring every last penny out of you anyway,
so we'll trick you into coming when you think you'll save some cash.")

I took a look on the airmiles site and low and behold they still had flights available.
Great!
Now let's start looking at hotels.

I had three general options.
In order of cost it was on site hotel, off site clean hotel, off site flea bag hotel.

There was also the option of driving down to Grand Forks, ND (about a two hour drive) and flying out of there.

Pros and cons.
Flying out of Grand Forks allows me to keep my airmiles.
I can then use the airmiles to purchase my Disney park tickets.
But it means flying into Sanford and not Orlando.
So no Magical Express.
And probably a rental car. Although you get a good deal when you book air and car as a package.
Still have to factor in the extra cost of the car rental.

After crunching all the numbers, the cheapest option was as follows:
Use airmiles to get park tickets
Drive to Grand Forks
Fly to Sanford
Rent a car
Stay at the roach motel

After doing all the calculations, I checked back on the airmiles site.
What's this?
They had flights for fewer points than earlier!
If I sacrificed some comfort (you'll see), I could get flights and tickets with the available points I had.
I decided to try to narrow my dates down to a few choices and make my decision soon.

The next day, some of the low points flights were already gone!
Ding! Ding! Ding! Alarms are going off in my head.
Well, more noises than usual were going off in my head.
Book those flights while you still can!

And that's what I did.
Leaving on a jet plane Sunday February 8th, returning on Friday the 13th.
jasonkills_zpskh5rn3qt.gif



Now where to stay?
With airmiles points taking care of the park tickets and flights
(plus applicable taxes, fees, gouging and roasting over an open fire),
I was going to be able to stay at a non-disgusting hotel.
And when I saw that Disney was offering twenty percent off rooms...
That, combined with no longer having to rent a car, sealed the deal.

animal-smile-wallpaper-13_zpsyri7eivh.jpg


Over the next little bit, I tried to book at Pop, since I'd never been, but they were sold out.
So instead I booked at ASMu.
I figured that if I was going to stay at one of the All Stars,
I'd stay at one that I'd been to before.
I did think about booking at Sports or Movies, but... :confused3
I decided that since I couldn't get Pop, I wanted to be in a familiar place.
I already knew that I wouldn't be spending much time at the resort.

Last time, we were in Country Fair... which is pretty much in another county.
I'm pretty sure I did more walking to/from my room than I did in the parks!
This time I requested Jazz.
Even if I didn't get it (which I didn't think I would) I hoped to at least get Rock or Broadway. As close to Melody Hall as I could get.
I figured that if I requested Jazz and didn't get it, they'd take pity on me.
Either way, when I checked in, I was prepared to fight for as close a room as I could get.
catfight_zpszwf0h3cd.gif



Over the past few years I've been collecting a list of must dos/want to dos.
Here's a partial list of things I hoped to do over the course of the trip.
That's in addition to going on rides/seeing shows.


In no particular order:

Dole whip float
Carrot cake cookie at the Writer's Stop
Take a bus to DHS then the boat to Epcot
Try the onion rings at Prime Time or Flame Tree
Just go to Prime Time!
Voices of Liberty at America in Epcot
Pork shank at Gaston's
LeFou's Brew
Pecos Bill's for the burger and fixins bar
Candy Lady in Japan
Mickey head pretzel
Kaki gori (shave ice) in Japan
Cronut at snack booth just before Canada
Margarita in Mexico
Grey Goose slush at France
Karamel Kuche in Germany
Heck, just enjoy World Showcase for a change

Lots of other stuff too, (like Beaches and Cream) that I didn't bother to include on this trip
since I wasn't going to have time to visit DTD or the Boardwalk area or other resorts.

Can you guess how much (if any of it) that I did?
Over the course of the TR, you'll see how close I got.
If at all.


I was already within my one hundred and eighty day window for ADRs, so I did that next.
And when my FP+ window opened up, I was ready and got everything I wanted,
including FP+ for 7DMT and... hold onto your hats. Meet and greet with Anna and Elsa!

Elsa-anna-frozen_zpslyzk2fbc.jpg


Now I'm not really all that big into the characters.
I don't know if that's because I never met any when I was younger, or maybe I'm just jaded.
Probably the latter.
Either way, they just don't do much for me.
Oh, sure, I'll play along. If a character interacts with me, I'll enjoy it.
But I don't actively seek them out.
But I know how hard it is to see the frozen duo, so...

And as time went by, and the trip got closer and closer...
I really started to question my motivation for seeing them.
Wasn't I really just going to see them because I could?
I personally know one woman who stood in line for eight hours so her daughter could meet them.

Eight hours!
Eight!

:faint:

But I was smart! I did my research! I wasn't going to have to wait.
At all!
Besides, it'll look so good on the TR that I'm more than likely going to write.
(And look! Here we are! That just proves it!)


And then I thought of some Mom out there in the world.
Desperately hoping to get a FP+ so that her little princess could meet Anna and Elsa.
And not finding one...
And then telling her little princess(es) that she was really sorry but they just weren't going to be able to see Anna and Elsa...
"I'm sorry, girls. But there just aren't any FP+s left!"

Because I wanted to show everyone how I got to see them...

Yeah. That's not a good enough reason.
I just couldn't do it.
I turned it back.

I just hope that I made someone out there happy. I'll never know.




So that's how it began.
What's in store for you, my dear reader?

A few surprises, including one experience that I'm pretty sure most of you haven't done!
Lots of photos! Including some never before (well, I'm pretty sure) seen photos!!!
Prizes to be won! (Nope. I'm not kidding. Details to follow in the next update.)


Hope you'll stick around for the fun!
Drop a comment, let me know you're out there.
It makes my day.


Departure day coming up next!



Chapter links:

Day 1

Real world update.
Chapter 2 - So I lied

Day 2
Chapter 3 - The contest
Chapter 4 - Time to see a show!
Chapter 5 - Elbows off the table!
Chapter 6 - Finding the time
Real world update.

Day 3
Chapter 7 - Save dessert for last.
Chapter 8 - Is this seat taken?
Chapter 9 - Little Dog Lost

Day 4
Chapter 10 - P is for Piercing Eardrums
Chapter 11 - Looking for Nemo
Chapter 12 - 20,000 Leagues of Pixie dust
Chapter 13 - Ain't got no Oogie Boogie

Day 5
Chapter 14 - Second bridge to the right and straight on the coaster
Chapter 15 - Now that's a spicy meatball!
Chapter 16 - A Sashay Through the Park
Chapter 17 - Goodnight and Farewell
Real world update... take two
Real world update... take three

Day 6
Chapter 18 - Welcome back to the real world


Toronto Mini-TR
Part 1 - To the Center of the Universe!
Part 2 - Boom and Bust
Part 3 - Here Today Gone Tomorrow
 
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What a sweetheart you are for thinking you couldn't keep your Frozen FP+ because it might take the experience away from a child :)
Looking forward to hearing all your adventures and finding out how much of your "to do" list you "did" popcorn::
 


I'm here! Hope I can follow along.

I already know you didn't see the candy lady in Japan.

Music huh? I've stayed at Sports and Movies. I always want to do a new hotel. The all stars are mostly the same anyway.
You didn't want to see the new Little Mermaid rooms at AoA?

I've seen that shirt in person!
 


Woo Hoo! Awesome way to spend your 25th birthday money!

I love that you made a trip "bucket" list! Maybe Roni and the girls and I should do that! A great way to make sure everyone gets in their must dos! I do hope that you got the Mickey pretzel. I know a little girl who swears by them ;)

Great pic on RnRC! Why didn't you pose?
 
Great chapter. I have no idea how to just quote a short part of your chapter. I will eventually have to play around with it and learn some new tricks. But, I've looked over your list and it's doable, all of it. We tried the Mickey pretzels for the first time last November and loved them, and I don't really care for soft pretzels. I noticed "eat zillions of ZEBRA DOMES" did not make the list. I can only assume that you have finally gotten the help you needed to kick this addiction.
I love that RnRC picture. Ours is similar, except that both of my granddaughters look terrified and I'm smiling sweetly. That other picture - lawn ornament?
 
Yay! So happy to be along for this TR!

Maria :upsidedow

Hi Maria! Glad you could make it!
Here's something for being the first poster.


EA105_zps8zavx0tc.gif


What a sweetheart you are for thinking you couldn't keep your Frozen FP+ because it might take the experience away from a child :)
Looking forward to hearing all your adventures and finding out how much of your "to do" list you "did" popcorn::

Hi Dawn! :wave2: So happy you stopped by! :)

At first I was thinking about keeping the FP and handing my spot off to some frantic looking Mom & DD.
But then realized that I couldn't, since the FP is tied to the Magic Band... plus they'd need two.


I just hope some fat, grumpy old dude didn't snap it up.


I mean some other fat, grumpy old dude.

Whoa, just happened on this! I'll definitely be following along.

Hi dg! Welcome!
Glad you wandered over from the last TR.


Just noticed your siggie. Did you get to use that AP?

I'm signing up so you better get this party started.

:eek: When a deranged rabbit with a gun tells you to giddy up... you giddy up!!

Welcome to the TR bunny boy!
(Tell Heather to post a hello if she wants one back! :snooty:)

I am here!!:wave: Looking forward to another extraordinary piece of literature:D

Hi Kris! Thanks for popping in!

Geez, "extraordinary piece of literature"????
Talk about putting the pressure on. Hope I don't disappoint!


But I have a remedy for that, so I can relax.
Here goes.


Prepare thine self for crushing disappointment!!!

Too subtle?

I'm here! Hope I can follow along.

Hi Carrie! :wave:
I hope you can follow along, too!


I already know you didn't see the candy lady in Japan.

I honestly didn't know she was gone!
But I guess seventeen years is long enough. Seventeen years!


Music huh? I've stayed at Sports and Movies. I always want to do a new hotel. The all stars are mostly the same anyway.
You didn't want to see the new Little Mermaid rooms at AoA?

Music tends to get consistently higher ratings than the other two All Stars.
Not sure why, but it was enough to convince us to go there last time.
And as I mentioned, familiarity was an incentive this time, knowing I wouldn't have much time
(or didn't want to take the time) to explore the resort.


I did look into AoA, but it's more expensive.
This trip was supposed to be as cheap as I could make it.
You'll see later on that there are some things that I did that increased costs,
so it wasn't a complete penny pinching vacation.


Mostly I just wanted to start on the right foot and keep costs low where I could.

I've seen that shirt in person!

Ha! Good eye!
Yup. I was wondering if you or Marie or Nebo or Smidgy would recognize it.


I'm here for the prizes

Of course you are! :laughing:
Welcome to the TR Stephanie!


Woo Hoo! Awesome way to spend your 25th birthday money!

Did I ever tell you how much I like you?
Thanks for joining in Shan!


I love that you made a trip "bucket" list! Maybe Roni and the girls and I should do that! A great way to make sure everyone gets in their must dos! I do hope that you got the Mickey pretzel. I know a little girl who swears by them ;)

As do I! You'll just have to read along to see if I get one or not.
You can tell Maddie that she's the reason (and your TR, of course) it's even on the list!


Great pic on RnRC! Why didn't you pose?

I didn't know there was a camera! :confused3

I made the leap from old TR to new and kept my footing. Now to settle in and read.

Hi Sandy! Glad you could make it! Welcome!
 
Great chapter. I have no idea how to just quote a short part of your chapter. I will eventually have to play around with it and learn some new tricks.

Thanks Sandy! :goodvibes:
It's easy to quote just a part:
Highlight the word/line/paragraph you want and a pop-up will appear with "+Quote|Reply".
If you just want to quote the one thing, click Reply and the highlighted part will be ready for you to comment on.
Otherwise, click +Quote and you'll get a message saying "Message added to multi-quote".
Keep highlighting and clicking +Quote until you're done.
When you're done, scroll down to the reply box and at the bottom left you'll see a bubble with "Insert Quotes..."
Click that and a new window will open up with everything you highlighted, ready to go.
If you want to remove something, just click the Remove button.
You can also rearrange the quotes if you need to.


Voila.

This courtesy message was brought to you by Trial & Error, makers of Frustration. The game for everyone!

But, I've looked over your list and it's doable, all of it. We tried the Mickey pretzels for the first time last November and loved them, and I don't really care for soft pretzels. I noticed "eat zillions of ZEBRA DOMES" did not make the list.

Guess we'll see how much got done.

Some things do not require inclusion on lists as they are self-evident.

To do list.
Breathe
Heart pump blood
Use eyes to see
Eat zebra dommmmmmmes
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm <sorry!>
Use feet for walking
Hands for stuffing delectable bits of heaven into one's gob.
etc. etc.


See? Totally unnecessary.

I can only assume that you have finally gotten the help you needed to kick this addiction.

It's not an addiction if it's a requirement for basic human life.

I love that RnRC picture. Ours is similar, except that both of my granddaughters look terrified and I'm smiling sweetly.

Show us! Would love to see it.

That other picture - lawn ornament?

:lmao: I had to go back up to see what you were talking about.
When I figured it out.... :rotfl:


Oh, man. That's funny!
 
Just noticed your siggie. Did you get to use that AP?[/QUOTE]

I used it in January, and will be going back for Food & Wine in October/November for sure. Now, I'm keeping my eyes open for good air fares. I'd love to see Flower & Garden this spring - what better use for an AP?
 
I used it in January, and will be going back for Food & Wine in October/November for sure. Now, I'm keeping my eyes open for good air fares. I'd love to see Flower & Garden this spring - what better use for an AP?

Wait. So did you get your AP this year or last? Or both?
Either way, F&W or F&G are great reasons to go!
Other great reasons to go?

MVMCP
MNSSHP
Spring break
Summer break
You need a break
You deserve a break
You want a break
Break, shmake, you just wanna go
Because it's there
You just had a birthday
Your SO just had a birthday
Your family member or BFF just had a birthday
Your hamster just gave birth
You just cleaned the house
You don't want to clean the house
You need to get away
You just got away and now you're back and need to get away again
Your boss is a tyrant
Your boss is an angel and wants you to go
Your not the boss of me!
Your boss is away
Your boss is here to stay
It's on your bucket list but you keep forgetting to scratch it off
It's not on your bucket list but you need to see if it should be
It's on your bucket list.... a lot
You won the lottery
You didn't win the lottery
Your neighbor won the lottery, but you'll show him!

I have lots more...
 
Wow, I made it! First page even! Checking in Sir!

Now I just have to go back and read it.

Maybe come back here and post something useful instead of blathering... Nah, who am I kidding...


ETA (see I said I'm come back), Happy 70th then Pkondzi. What's that? I'm not going to win any of the prizes?
 
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Wow, I made it! First page even! Checking in Sir!

Now I just have to go back and read it.

Maybe come back here and post something useful instead of blathering... Nah, who am I kidding...


ETA (see I said I'm come back), Happy 70th then Pkondzi. What's that? I'm not going to win any of the prizes?


You know, exactly 3 weeks today I'll be on RnR with CJ! It's getting so close!!! My shirt won't be nearly that good though...

Pretty sure I've seen that shirt too, haven't I?


While you're solving peoples DISboards issue, any idea why my ticker keeps on stopping? It was keeping time for a couple of weeks, and stopped. I replaced it, kept time for a couple of weeks and stopped. I'm only 18 days out now.
 
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Because planning DD's trip - without me!!! - is not enough torture, I'll come along for the ride.
 
Before we get to the point where I'm sitting on Rock 'n' Roller Coaster mugging furiously for the camera,
I better explain just how this trip came to be.
Especially since some of you know that there wasn't any likelihood of it happening in the first place!

Last year I had a milestone birthday.
If you're guessing 30 or 40, you have just become my new best friend.
On the other hand if you're thinking 80....
Expect to one day answer your doorbell to a burning sack of offal.

Uh,... 50.


I, unfortunately, do not.
Although we keep telling Elle (my oldest DD) she should apply for WestJet.
We really don't care if she wants to or not.
We've paid for her childhood, it's time she starts paying us back!
It's the least she could do, don't you think?

Or Disney. Pick Disney!

Over the next little bit, I tried to book at Pop, since I'd never been, but they were sold out.

I'm not gonna lie, it's my favorite. I've booked moderates and before my 45 days out, it would be changed to Pop. It would be nice to have queen sized beds, a little more room, and pretty landscaping, but the bus system at Pop is second to none, and that makes all the difference in the world when you are worn out.

Over the past few years I've been collecting a list of must dos/want to dos.
Here's a partial list of things I hoped to do over the course of the trip.
That's in addition to going on rides/seeing shows.


In no particular order:

Dole whip float
Carrot cake cookie at the Writer's Stop
Take a bus to DHS then the boat to Epcot
Try the onion rings at Prime Time or Flame Tree
Just go to Prime Time!
Voices of Liberty at America in Epcot
Pork shank at Gaston's
LeFou's Brew
Pecos Bill's for the burger and fixins bar
Candy Lady in Japan
Mickey head pretzel
Kaki gori (shave ice) in Japan
Cronut at snack booth just before Canada
Margarita in Mexico
Grey Goose slush at France
Karamel Kuche in Germany
Heck, just enjoy World Showcase for a change

Lots of other stuff too, (like Beaches and Cream) that I didn't bother to include on this trip
since I wasn't going to have time to visit DTD or the Boardwalk area or other resorts.

Dole Whips are my Zebra Domes and I have always wanted to try the pork shanks at Gaston's Tavern. LaFou's Brew is sickly sweet marshmallow and juice.

And then I thought of some Mom out there in the world.
Desperately hoping to get a FP+ so that her little princess could meet Anna and Elsa.
And not finding one...
And then telling her little princess(es) that she was really sorry but they just weren't going to be able to see Anna and Elsa...
"I'm sorry, girls. But there just aren't any FP+s left!"

Because I wanted to show everyone how I got to see them...

Yeah. That's not a good enough reason.
I just couldn't do it.
I turned it back.

I just hope that I made someone out there happy. I'll never know.

Way to go!

It's easy to quote just a part:
Highlight the word/line/paragraph you want and a pop-up will appear with "+Quote|Reply".
If you just want to quote the one thing, click Reply and the highlighted part will be ready for you to comment on.
Otherwise, click +Quote and you'll get a message saying "Message added to multi-quote".
Keep highlighting and clicking +Quote until you're done.
When you're done, scroll down to the reply box and at the bottom left you'll see a bubble with "Insert Quotes..."
Click that and a new window will open up with everything you highlighted, ready to go.
If you want to remove something, just click the Remove button.
You can also rearrange the quotes if you need to.


Voila.

This courtesy message was brought to you by Trial & Error, makers of Frustration. The game for everyone!

A very heart-felt Thank You!

Some things do not require inclusion on lists as they are self-evident.

To do list.
Breathe
Heart pump blood
Use eyes to see
Eat zebra dommmmmmmes
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm <sorry!>

Dole Whip!!

Now let's see if I did this right....
Yay!
 

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