Trip Report 1/27-2/4 (No photos. Only pictures. Photo heavy)

[royaldisneyfan]

Great pics. Nice work!

[almandot]

Hoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay

fooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooor

Hollywood!

Hey it's like the rainforest scene in small world.



So unfortunately I forgot my low light lens in LA and was stuck with a slower lens all trip. Oh well.

GEE I WONDER WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN WHEN THEY TOUCH THE JEWEL


I miss the old clocktower scene switcheroo from Universal before the 90s fires.

Not to be outdone by Universal Japan they had a scene from Wicked.
Elpheba got the words wrong to Flying Gravity though.

For dinner we went to Mama Melrose. The food was nice. Nicer than the Italy
restaurant in Epcot honestly. But dear lord were they rushing us through our
meal though. That was the downright worst experience of them trying to keep
tables turning at a certain rate. If we weren't on the meal plan I wonder
if we would've gotten treated differently. And to make it better the dessert
tasted like it had been frozen and thawed(which it probably was) but hadn't
thawed quite enough and a little watery.


It was still raining afterwards and we found out there were actually 2 showings of Fantasmic.
We thought the first one would likely get rained out so we opted to make an attempt for the 2nd.
Both shows ended up happening but the 2nd show was nice and empty. About 1 of the sections
was full, another was half full, and the rest were completely empty.

So we tried to go on rock'n'roller coaster. We were walked into the preshow room
where the video was off and then taken into the loading area where we immediately
noticed all the lights on and them evacuated the ride due to an apparent incident.
We were given new fastpasses that were valid for the entire month. Only problem is
that the month was about to end in the next 2 days and we weren't coming back for
3 days. Would it still work? Well they let us in but we sure got a scolding from
one CM for no reason like we were cheating the system with one of the fake online
fastpasses. They could've just said no we didn't need a lecture.

And then it was time for Fantasmic wooooo!!!

Ever watched these guys during the canoe section? They stop what they're
doing and stand still on stage with their arms together waiting for their cue..
I feel like I wasn't supposed to be able to see them that clearly...

Ariel

Snow white.. oh yeah there were 2 princes in these last 2 photos too I'm told.

Raaaaaaaaaaaaaawrr hiss

But then Mickey was all nnnNnnnn! and after some angry walking around went Zap!

And then took a joyride on a steamboat

Stitch was there

Aladdin and Jasmine were too

Ta da! hu huh! hot dog! oooooh boy! that's SWELL! Gee....

Onward to the next day at Epcot!

[zip-d-dude]

I don't post very often.

That was BEST trip report I have ever seen. I have been around these and other boards for about 6 years.

Hands down the BEST.

[MinneapolisJeff]

This is a wonderful report! Cannot wait to see the rest!

[gRuMpEe]

Loving the TR!! Thanks for sharing...can't wait for more.

[Kuzcochik]

almandot this TR is hilarious. I absolutely love your commentary
Can't wait to see more.

[SplashMoun10]

Nice job on the compression Almandot. Really helps the photo browsing!

[Armadillo4]

Almandot, your WDW trip reports are among the best here on MiceChat. Your writing, layout skills and wonderful photos make for a really terrific trip report.

Being a parade junkie, I espeicially loved the photos and commentary around Mickey's Jamming Jungle Parade and the rainy Celebrate A Dream Come True Parade. Thanks for sharing this with us!

[TDLFAN]

That^^^ parade junkie needs to see the huge parade epics we have at TDR.

[cositaluvsmickey]

Just one word...Awesome!! great TR report.

[Bryce05]

Epic TR.

The baby gibbons at DAK have grown so much!

[almandot]

January 30th, 2009

We started out at Epcot getting a fastpass for Test Track
and then going to the good stuff, the food. But we weren't
very creative for our first choice, we grabbed lunch at
the Mexican restaurant. The tables were all wet from rain
but we had some company at least.

And then we headed into the pyramid, where inside held.. another pyramid.

Looking out onto the World Showcase Lagoon from Mexico

We then hopped over to Norway to complete the little boat-ride duo.
Polar bear goes rawwr!

But that was all for the World Showcase for the time being.

You win not one, not two, but three Figments farting butt-gas in your face.
Congratulations and thanks for coming to Epcot!

The best part of Future World, where they reveal
that the future holds a dirt path to nothing.

The fountain was closed so no pretty fountain shots,
just weird sky contrasting diamond non-sun-blocking sun-blockers.

That knee's about to bring a whole lot of ouch to the room.

After Test Track we headed to Mission Space, where Kaira
said she might go on orange team depending on how she felt,
but then I just grabbed orange passes without giving her
the chance to pipe up about it. =D

The colors here kinda remind of old tomorrowland concept art

The clouds were acting really cool too.

Walking in space? Ugh I want my Wall-E chair and meal in a cup.

So people in front of and behind us seemed quite intent
on taking flash pictures of every single scene on this
ride. It was quite annoying. Even in the Earth observation
room they took flash pictures which wouldn't even come out.
And when our cars turned backwards they turned around and
took more right in our faces. So I flicked my flash on and
strobed the hell out of them.

We also hopped over to the Living Seas, home of the
longest queue for absolutely no wait ever. Too bad
the ride isn't as long as the old one,
but what else is new at Epcot.

Honey, don't stare at them. So what if they only enjoy the company of other male seagulls.

[almandot]

Jolly ole England. No time for fish and chips though. We've got a
lot to do in the, well, is there anything to even do in England
besides have a drink or a bite to eat? I suppose there's
always swinging around the lampposts.

This girl was thrilled her picture was being taken upon exiting the bathroom.

Meanwhile across the channel...

Who needs Chinese acrobats when you've got a french guy on chairs.

A walkway behind France, so dark and mysterious..
Fortunately it was almost time for Impressions de France

We took a moment to stare at the other countries we would be visiting
or already had. Well, actually I'd just switched lenses and felt like
shooting a couple pictures with the sun setting on them.

And then a look back towards France as the sun set behind the Eiffel tower.
The original one in Las Vegas is cooler.

Ooo the ball was glowing

So it was Superbowl time in Tampa Bay and there were hundreds
of people wearing Steelers jersies but almost nobody there wearing
Cardinals jerseys, likely because get targeted by Disneyland advertising
plenty anyways, and this one guy with a Cardinals jacket gets a few
retarded Steelers fans making faces and taking pictures behind him,
but he walks away before they take their picture so they end up with
a picture of her going "HurhRHhrhy??" to nothing." If only Pittsburgh
had lost this would've been an even better vacation memory to look back on.

You're almost tempted to buy a fezz in this place. Almost. But not quite.

Ah Japan, land of the not-rising, already-set sun.

We weren't going to do the Kim Possible thing until later in the trip but
we did get to see the screaming robot baby head. And that's always nice.

What could the mysterious Universal Studios globe be there for...

It was time to be a true American and head into the American Adventure
only to see that the next showtime conflicted with my dinner plans so
shrug it off and say I'll do it some other time.

We had dinner plans in Germany, and said "Hi long line!
We'll be taking our reservation thingy now k thx!"



Inside the oompapatacular Biergarten. Lots of sausage.
Sausage in the potatos, sausage in the corn. Sausage in the sausage.

And then came the band for the gathering of kids rocking out on the dance floor

Did I mention there was a freakin tuba? Cuz there was a freakin tuba.

[DonDuck]

Fab-u-lous!

[almandot]

Dinner was done and we had to go stake a spot out for Illuminations.

boom..... Boom....boom..........booom.........booom....BREAW ARRRWRWRARRRR POP PAPCARRAAACK

What the heck! There was no fire! You can't have the big bang without a firey explosion!

The earth came spinning out, that's how it rolls.

Make it pink! Make it green! Make it..orange?
Merryweather stop being a hippie!

Then come the fun streamy things overhead.

more little fireworks

Okay, NOW the blue stuff

and then CIRCLES!

Grenadine finale

And that's that.

Made the long trek around the world showcase pavilions staring back at
everything lit up at night. Epcot's a weird park at night, it always
feels like "go home you're not welcome here anymore." Whereas Animal Kingdom
feels pretty and mysterious at night even though it's usually closed then.

Oh goody the line to the bus is 2 sections long and growing. But to their
credit they pulled up bus after bus with about 4 or 5 in a row. They
handled the busses leaps and bounds better than last time when we stayed at Port Orleans.