[lisalovesmickey]

Awesome Pictures. I can't wait to hear more!

Lisa

[dac921]

loving your tr Brandon... the pictures are AWESOME!!1

[bransworld]

Day 2, Sunday April 20th

Today we headed to Epcot. Juanita, Dwain and I got up early and made it to my first ever park opening. Greg and Joey slept in and planned to meet us later. Park opening was pretty cool, but i don't need to make it to the Epcot opening again.

We headed right for Soarin' but pretty much got trampled and gave up and decided to go to Nemo instead. We would catch Soarin' later in the day with Greg and Joey.

After going on Nemo we wanted to do Turtle Talk with Crush but it wasn't open yet. There was an annoying cast member working who starts yelling pretty much at the top of her lungs across the room to me that i stole her shirt. I was like no i didnt. She says yes you did and you must have stretched it out. I was like nope sorry it was this big when i got it. (I really wanted to say, excuse me but when i bought this shirt i was 18 pounds heavier, but i kept my mouth shut) and we walked really fast to the exit. I know she was just playing around but she was really loud and a little over the top.

After Nemo we headed to Spaceship Earth to check out the updates on it. We really liked the interactive screens in the ride vehicles. And the neat stuff you can do after the ride is over. I won't go to much into detail as i don't want to spoil the ride for those that have not been on the ride since the updates.

Juanita, Dwain and I decided we would stroll the park and enjoy the flowers and stuff from the Flower and Garden Show. We went and took quite a few pictures of the butterflies in the butterfly garden. (Wish, i submitted the picture you told me to for All Ears picture of the week)

We met up with Greg and Joey and headed to Test Track for some Fast Passes. And decided to grab some lunch at the Cantina Del San Angel. Greg and I split the combination meal and the nachos. Juanita and Dwain did the same. Joey went and got a hot dog from somewhere. But we all found the food to be pretty good.

We then walked around inside Mexico and went on the Gran Fiesta Tour. I missed this last year so it was the first time i had gone on it since the refurb.

We walked around more of World Showcase doing some more shopping and exploring.

Then we went on Maelstrom. We all enjoy this ride.

Somewhere in all of that Greg ran and got us all fast passes for Soarin'.

About this time it was time to go on Test Track. So we all head that way and ride.

It was then time for dinner at the Biergarten. We all really enjoyed eating here last year on our trip so it was a must do for us again. Our server wasn't the greatest but luckily it is a buffet so we didn't need her for that much.

We shopped around some more of World Showcase before our fast passes were ready for Soarin'. We headed to Soarin' and we were in the middle row. Which i liked a little better than being in the very top row. I loved all of the smells and the whole ride.

After Soarin' we headed to the bus stop for the 35 minute wait for the bus. And it wasn't even closing time.

When we got back to the room Greg and I changed and headed down to the theme pool. We ended up just stopping at the bar and getting a couple drinks and walking around the pool and the resort. I got some kind of drink that was called a Turtle Crawl. I am not sure what was in it other than some fruity alcohol. But is was pretty good.

Well that is it for Day 2. Greg, Joey and I all hit the sack pretty early as we were getting up the next morning early for our Keys to the Kingdom Tour.

[mairinmaureen]

Sounds like a fun day at Epcot. I can't wait to go on Soarin' for the first time this September.

[angell1975]

Great TR, Brandon! I can't wait to hear more!!

[Hunny]

So far so good! 35 min wait?? holy moly!!!!
Ahhhhh Beirgarten...can't wait to go back!

[disneylovers5]

waiting on the rest of your exciting TR. You have lured us in and let us hanging?

[dixie]

Welcome back Brandon-great TR and great Pics too!!

[Jennatrz]

Welcome back Brandon. Great TR and I like the pics. Please keep it coming.

[bransworld]

Day 3 Monday April 21st

Today i woke up with a very sore throat. No other symptoms though. So i was hoping that it was just sore from sleeping with my mouth open or something. But as the day went on it never really got any better.

Today we had a quick breakfast in the room. And headed to Magic Kingdom. We had to check in for our Keys to the Kingdom tour at 8:45. After checking in we hung around outside town hall for about 20 minutes. While we were waiting the park opening ceremony started. So technically i was there for my second park opening ever. The only problem is we were on the wrong side of the train station so all i could really do was hear the music and what was being said. I didnt get to see anything that happens. So i will have to go to Magic Kingdom park opening again some time to get the full experience.

Finally our tour guide Jackie came out and got us started. Jackie was a very good tour guide. She gave us so much information about Walt and Roy and the history of the parks. We started out walking down main street and learning about who some of the people are on the windows down main street. It was very interesting.

As we walked down main street we learned about the 4 Keys. Safety, Efficiency, Show and for the life of me i can not remember the other key.

We headed to Adventureland first. And went on Jungle Cruise. Now i love this ride normally just for the funny jokes the skippers tell. But Jackie is the one who did the talking and she told us a lot of info. Like the efficiency used on the rides to keep costs down. An example is that there are Hippobottomless on the ride. Meaning the hippos are only half of a hippo. The bottom halves are not seen so why spend the money on it. It makes total since. We learned some other efficiency things along the tour as well. Like there are some areas behind the scenes that can be seen from the train when you are riding it around the park. One area the back of the building is painted to look like red brick buildings. But on one end of the building you can no longer see it behind the scene so they didn't paint it to look like red bricks.

After Adventureland we went behind the scenes back behind Splash Mountain. Back there we were told about a yellow line that we were crossing over on the pavement. If the cast members are on one side of the yellow line they must have their smiles on and be on show. As soon as they crossed over the yellow line they could wipe the smiles off of their faces and were no longer on show because they could not be scene from the park.

Well back behind Splash Mountain we saw where the parade floats are kept. That was pretty much all we saw in this area.

We then headed through Frontierland. Pretty much just learned about how Walt wanted the transitions between lands, so that you could walk through the park with your eyes closed and be able to know where you were. By the sound of the music, by the feel of the walkway beneath your feet, etc.

We headed to Liberty Square and went to Columbia Harbour House for lunch.
If you ever go to eat there, go upstairs to sit. It is so much less crowded up there.

After lunch we walked towards the Haunted Mansion and learned more about the Liberty Bell and the Liberty Tree. Oh and why the center of the sidewalks in Liberty Square are a yellow color.

We got to walk right onto Haunted Mansion. I really like the improvements that were made.

After lunch we headed back towards Main Street and we got to go down into the Utilidors. I expected a lot more down there, but it was still pretty interesting to see. We spent a good hour down there talking again about the history of the parks and how the cast members get to the utilidors and other stuff.

We headed back outside and back to Main Street and we stopped and asked questions and Jackie told us some info about Cinderella's Suite in the castle and how it is awarded. She said it is very random. The Dream Team receives a message to be at a specific area of the park, she said it is very specific and computer generated. For example it could say go to Splash Mountain, "car" 13, seat number 2. And if there is someone in that exact spot they are the winner. If no one is there the computer generates a new place. They will attempt to award it 6 times in one day. If after six attempts and they don't have a winner they just don't have anyone stay in the suite. And if someone who mailed in an entry for the dreams wins, they usually pay them the equivalent amount of money for the suite. Because usually the mail in winner can not come that day to stay in the suite. And the rules say in order for you to stay in the suite you must come the day you win.

Then our tour was over. It was a lot of fun. I am looking forward to going on some other tours.

After the tour we went and got some fast passes for Space Mountain. And then we went on Buzz, and to Monster's Inc. Comedy Laugh Floor. I texted in the following joke which they used in the show. How do you catch a unique rabbit? Unique up on it. How do you catch a tame rabbit? Tame way.

After this we headed towards Adventureland and had Dole Whips. And then we went to the Tiki Birds and Pirates of the Caribbean.

It was then time for dinner. Greg, Joey and I were eating at Liberty Tree Tavern. I had heard so many good things about the food here. And it was no disappointment. We really liked it and have added it to our list of places we can go to again.

After dinner my throat was really bothering me so we headed back to the resort for an early evening. I got some Nyquil watched some TV. Juanita called and said she needed to show me something. Juanita and Dwain went to Epcot and had dinner at the Garden Grill. So after she called she came to our room with Dwain and showed me her engagement ring. Dwain had proposed to her in front of a fountain near Spaceship Earth. Their favorite park is Epcot and it was the perfect place for the proposal. I just wish we had been with them to witness it. But i am very happy for them. And since i am an ordained minister (Yeah, i went online and became one a few years ago). I volunteered to marry them when they were ready.

I then headed to bed and got a very good nights sleep.

[bransworld]

Here is a picture of where they got engaged...



And here is the happy couple...



And the ring...

[lisalovesmickey]

Ohhhhh that is so awesome and sweet! Congrats to the happy couple!

Disney Wedding?

Lisa

[lisalovesmickey]

OH Yeah....

Why are the center of the sidewalks in Liberty Square yellow?

Lisa

[Andrea]

Originally Posted by lisalovesmickey

OH Yeah....

Why are the center of the sidewalks in Liberty Square yellow?

Lisa

I want to know, too! You can't just drop that there's a reason and not share!

[bransworld]

Originally Posted by lisalovesmickey

OH Yeah....

Why are the center of the sidewalks in Liberty Square yellow?

Lisa

Back in the time period that Liberty Square is supposed to be in they didnt have plumbing. So the people's urine was dumped into the middle of the roads. So the yellow sidewalks are to represent that.