Flowers, gardens, Monkees, food, wine, MNSSHP and tae kwon do

[kangaand2roos]

OK, between the Ferguson (maybe even interspersed with them) were several other trips. I know there was at least one trip over Christmas week when I was younger. The main thing I remember about that was watching the Christmas parade in Christmas day. There was a big crowd that day and we were standing right next to a family from Alaska. I thought that was cool because I had never met anyone from Alaska before! That's about it for that trip.

There were at least two when I was a teenager. I know one we stayed at the Contemporary, maybe both were and they're running together in my mind. These are some memories from those trips, though I'm not sure which things happened when.

I remember checking into the Contemporary and they asked if my parents wanted to allow charging privileges on mine and my brother's room cards. They said yes! I'm sure there was some sort of limit, but wahoo! We could charge stuff!! I'm thinking I was in 8th or 9th grade at the time. I remember that there were signs everywhere around the property promoting The Black Hole. There was a kid's area or some such thing where my parents were able to leave us. I don't remember if we could come and go on our own or if we had to be checked in and out. There was a movie theatre in there and we watched Candleshoe with Jodi Foster. I believe that this was the trip when we first had multi-day passes that were all-inclusive. I think we had 3-day passes. There was only the MK then, so 3 days there was awesome!! I'm not sure if I am remembering this correctly, but I think my parents even let my brother and I take the monorail over to the park by ourselves (but with each other.)

Then there was the time that we water-skied at the Contemporary marina. the 3 of us had learned to water-ski at summer camp and rarely had the chance to do it outside of those 6 weeks a year. When we found out that we could do it at WDW, we begged and pleaded and our parents relented. The reason I remember the water-skiing so clearly is that it was cold out. And when I say cold I mean bone chilling cold! We wore parkas in the boat, took them off to ski, and put them back on once we dried off. It was REALLY, REALLY COLD! REALLY COLD!

One of those trips included a visit to Circus World for the benefit of my little sister. Several of the childhood trips included visits to Busch Gardens which we all loved. I remember getting these plastic animal thingies. I think they were $.50. Two quarters into a machine, push a button and hot plastic is shot into a metal mold and a minute or so later, out pops a plastic animal thingy. Years and years later, I accidently melted something plastic in my dorm room, and the odor reminded me SO strongly of something, but I couldn't remember WHAT! It drove me crazy. Really crazy. At some point, later it suddenly hit me. The smell of the melted plastic reminded me of the animal thingies from so many years earlier!!

Imagine my delight when I went to Busch gardens decades later with my daughter and they still had the animal thingy machines! It's amazing what a memory trigger scents can be!

I really have no other specific memories of these trips. If any more pop up, I'll be sure to pass them along.

Next up, my high school senior class trip...

 

[AuroraRose]

See! I knew I would be understood here! I think that the thig that really did me in is my pin addiction. Usually they start releasing the new Hidden Mickey pins in the fall, but this year they didn't release them until January 1. We had completed the last series over the summer, so when we were there in November, we didn't have any HM pins to look for. If we don't go until October of this year, it's going to be tough to complete the series. I think it's only reasonable that we have an additional 9 trading days!. Plus, I'm just not sure I can make it eleven months without a fix! I really hope the crowds are better than the last two trips with the kids!

Ooh, pin trading! Bill started my addiction! He decided one year to get a few pins to trade for some Star Wars pins one of the CMs had on her lanyard, and it's been all downhill since then!

I love all your posts on your past trips. And I hadn't heard about the Cinco De Mayo meet, and I'm kinda sad because we have ADRs at that time.

 

[kangaand2roos]

Sorry for the delay in posting. After three weeks of living with my germ infested spouse and offspring, I finally succumed. Luckily, I seem to have a milder case of the crud they've had and I'm feeling a bit better. I was supposed to go to NYC with the family this weekend, but I sent them off without me so I can recupperate. I will apologize in advance for any typos as I am typing on my iPhone from bed and said iPhone sometimes has interesting ideas as to how words should be spelled!

So, onto my senior class trip...

The year was 1984. My class decided to go all out and go to WDW for our senior class trip. This was a big deal because we went to school in Pennsylvania. Surprisingly, a large percentage of the class was able to raise or pay the money to go, so on the Wednesday before we were to graduate, three luxury busses pulled out of the parking lot at about 3:00 in the afternoon. The bus ride itself was memorable. Someone had a boom box, and I'm guessing only 2 tapes, because I'm pretty sure all we listened to for hours and hours were the soundtrack to Footloose and Billy Joel's An Innocent Man. Every time I hear a song from either album, it brings me back to that bus trip.

We drove through the night with some kids spreading out under the seat and others in the overhead storage. I just slept in the seat. We drove through the night , stopping for dinner and breakfast. Yes, we were those dreaded busloads of loud teenagers that you shudder to see at a rest stop! Our driver had quite a leaden foot and we arrived in Orlando in the late morning. I have no idea where we stayed, but it was a non-descript motel with a pool. We were housed four to a room.

I don't know if we ate lunch before or while we were there, but our first order of business was a trip to Wet and Wild. It was a great time, but I don't remember specifics. That night we went to some permenant market area. I remember that it was like a series of permenant tents. Does anyone have any idea what this might have been? I think we were on our own for dinner here. The only thing I remember purchasing was some orange blossom perfume which I have always loved.

I don't remember when it happened, but I'm pretty sure it was that first day. The one thing that marred our trip was news from home. My best friend Isabel called home to check on her 10 year old brother who had had heart surgery that morning. He had been born with a congenital defect and had had several surgeries already. When Isabel called home she found out tha Ben was not doing well. She was understandably distraught and considered flying home, but her parents urged her to stay. I'm sure her memories of the trip are not as fond as are mine. Ben ultimately pulled through and although he still has problems, his heart still beats to this day and he has his own family now.



We

 

[kangaand2roos]

Friday morning we were up bright and early to make it to the MK. I'm pretty sure we were there for rope drop, but if we weren't, it was shortly thereafter. For a reason I no longer remember, Isabel decided to hang out with another friend that day. I was with my friends Jenny and Ann and a bunch of others. We rode rides and at lunchtime we ended up at what I assume was el Pirata y Perico because I remember eating Mexican. At that point we split up because it was getting very cumbersome having such a large group. I ended up with just Jenny and Ann.

I don't remember what we rode when, but we hit many rides. At some point during the day we were sitting in the hub taking a break and started talking to two young men. It turns out they were Marines on leave and were enjoying so
e WDW R&R. If I remember correctly, their names were Jim and Dirk. If I am incorrect, we're just going to pretend those were their names. It was 26 years ago, afterall!!

They were both really nice guys, and we ended up spendind the rest of that day and the next with them. Dirk was a former Disneyland CM and he was a VERY funny guy. I think one of the first signs of his funniness was that he walked on his hands for us. When he had worked at DL, he was a Jungle Cruise captain. When we rode the JC with them, he did the whole spiel for us at the back of the boat, and did a better job than our captain!! For dinner, we ended up in what I assume was Cosmic Ray's. While we were waiting for our dinner, the fireworks were about to start and Dirk jumped up on a table and started reciting what the announcer said, right before he said it. If this happened now, I would think the guy was an obnoxious jerk, but at the time, I thought it was hilarious! After dinner we watched the late parade and made plans to meet Jim and Dirk the next day. We met our classmates at our bus for the ride back to the hotel.

 

[kangaand2roos]

Saturday was the day I was to see EPCOT Center for the first time. EPCOT Center had not yet celebrated its second birthday and we really didn't know what to expect. We met up with Jim and Dirk and explored Future World. Again, I don't have a lot of specific memories except that lines were longer for certain attractions than they are today. I know we rode Spaceship Earth and Listen to the Land, and that both had significant queues.

When World Showcase opened we were there and proceeded clockwise around through the countries. At that point our primary mission was shopping!

I'm pretty sure we rode El Rio Del Tiempo, with a long wait. I'm pretty sure we ate lunch at the Biergarten, and I know I purchased some wine glasses there. I had been to Germany a year earlier and fell in love with the German wine glasses with thegreen stems and bases. I didn't buy them in Germany and regretted it. I bought two in Germany. I also bought a Chinese tea cup. Not sure my motivation was for that. That's what I remember of my first trip to EPCOT Center.

We had to meet the bus at 5:00 for our long drive home, where we again listened to endless Footloose and Billy Joel!

 

[kangaand2roos]

Deleted duplicate

 

[PrincessInOz]

My mind is still trying to catch up on all your trip reports

I'll be bringing pins from Oz to trade with you and your kids

 

[kangaand2roos]

So, I managed to survive my college years with nary a trip to WDW. After graduation in 1988 I opened a pet shop with my mother and began a 14 year career in the pet business. I was still with college bf (who I eventually became engaged to, and ultimately did NOT marry, but that's a totally different story, and not all that interesting!) After about a year in the business it was time to take a vacation and with some frequent flyer points I had earned, Marriott points my dad was kind enough to give us, and some convincing of bf, we planned a week at WDW.

We stayed at a Courtyard, I think the one near the airport. I know it was kind of a hike each day and we had to use toll roads. It was the week before Christmas.

I think we had 5 day passes. I don't remember if they were hoppers or not.

I do remember that this was the trip when I first experienced the Disney-MGM Studios. My mother and sister had been there over the summer with an exchange student who had spent the summer with us and had described unbelievable crowds at the Studios (this was it's first year in business.) They had waited nearly 2 hours for the Backlot Tour (that might have actually been worth it then!) They had also ridden It's a Small World one boat behind Magic Johnson, but that's another story.

We went to the Studios expecting the worst, and although there were crowds, they were nothing like what my family had experienced months earlier. We had a significant wait for the Great Movie Ride (45 minutes-ish) but I think we only waited for on tram for the tour. At the time, those were the two rides at the Studios. There was no TOT, TSM or R&R Coaster.

I really liked both of the rides and dearly miss the REAL backlot tour of the past. I haven't even ridden the present incarnation as it would just depress me. I also loved the GMR, and it continues to be a favorite. I'm pretty sure we saw the Indiana Jones Stunt show, but I'm not sure. I know we did the Animation tour and Superstar TV. I will address each separately.

The animation tour was AMAZING!! Walking past actual animators and watching work on actual animation was just incredible. I don't remember what they were working on. I was going to say Mulan, but that didn't come out until many years later, so it must have been something else. You could just stand and watch animators for as long as you likes. No one made you hurry up. It was really cool! There was a film with Robin Williams and Walter Cronkite, I think before seeing the animators. If you've never seen it, I just found it on Youtube here: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=&search_type=

It was great! I loved it. Then, toward the end of the tour they showed a montage of Disney films. This was also great except...

I don't do dead animal movies. I can suspend disbelief enough to watch police procedurals, no matter how gory, but I don't even like spiders and can't watch Charlotte's Web because a cartoon spider dies. I had spent my life scrupulously avoiding Bambi (I think I might have seen it once as a kid, but have blocked the memory) because I knew I couldn't handle it. So, there I was watching this happy little montage of Disney's best , and out of nowhere comes "Run faster, Bambi...bang...mother!...mother!...your mother can't be with you any more, Bambi."

Hey! That was SO unfair! Of course it reduced me to tears, and I still bear the scars today!

And just so you know, I do watch the Lion King, but fast forward through the death of Mufasa!

SO...that is my memory of the old Animation tour, and I would endure the years of torment following the Bambi trauma if they would just bring it back to a working studio as in the old days again!!

Superstar TV was a blast for me, not so much for bf. He was kind of a wet blanket, and wasn't all that thrilled when I got us picked to participate in the show. We were part of The Golden Girls. I don't remember exactly what our roles were, but I think we were neighbors. He was kind of PO'd. He got over it and I have a fun memory!

Back in the day, MGM truly was a half-day park, and I think that's about all we did there!

 

[kangaand2roos]

My memories of our other park days are more jumbled, so I'll touch on what I do remember.

At Epcot: For the first (and last) time, I rode Body Wars. I barely made it out with out a puke fest. Motion simulators and I do NOT get along too well. We played some of the games in that pavilion as well, not sure if we did any of the other attractions.

I also remember playing upstairs in the Imagination pavilion at the fun Kodak things they had up there (and have heard are rumored to still be there.)

We met and had photos taken with Viking Goofy, and ate dinner in China. I'm sure we did more than that, but those are what I remember. I do recall that I wanted to stay until park close but he was pooped out by 5:00.

I think we spent couple of days at MK, but have very few memories of exactly what we did. We ate dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern for one meal, and met Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear just inside of the turnstiles while waiting for the park to open.

We saw the Enchanted Tiki Room. Was this attraction once open air, because for some reason that is how I remember it? Outside of the attraction there were some live parrots which I loved (see below.)

We got a Mickey Bar that was frozen so hard that it was nearly impossible to eat! It was cold, so it longer than the traditional 4 1/2 seconds to melt!

It was cold this trip too. We wore heavy coats for much of our time there. We saw on the news that somewhere further north in Florida it snowed while we were there.

We had a character meal (breakfast I assume) on the Empress Lily.

One day, I left bf at the hotel and ventured to WDW myself. I was very interested in parrots (the specialty of our store) and I had heard that there was a Black Palm Cockatoo ( a very rare species) at Discovery Island, and I made it my mission to meet her! I drove to Fort Wilderness where I picked up the ferry to DI. I wandered the Island end enjoyed all of the animals. I saw a raptor show and a reptile show before it was time to see the parrot show. I finally got to see the parrot show and I stayed behind to talk to the trainer. She graciously talked to me at length and granted me the honor of holding Mame, the Black Palm Cockatoo. They were in the process of trying to find a mate for her through other zoos. I was saddened at some point in the future to hear that Mame had died.

I thoroughly enjoyed my day at DI and was very unhappy to hear about the scandal that later rocked that park. (they were killing native birds to keep them off the island...or something like that.)

My only other clear memory of that trip was sitting in the lobby of the hotel, in front of the fireplace, reading (David Eddings, I think) when bf was asleep. It was warm and very cozy.

I'll add a funny post script to this trip. The rest of my family left to go to Hawaii the day returned and we did not see each other. We were staying at my folks' house to take care of the pets. We returned to town on Christmas Eve and there wasn't much food in the house, so we went to go to Pizza Hut for some dinner, but it had already closed, as had McDonalds, Burger King and every other eating establishment in town. It wasn't all that late either, maybe 7:00. The only place we found open was a convenience store where we picked up a gourmet dinner of frozen pizza!! Wahoo!

 

[SoonerGirl]

Do you know when the animators left DHS? I thought on mine and DHs first trip that they were there, and was very surprised several years later when we returned with our kids and found that it was no longer a working studio. I started to think I had just dreamed that they were there the first time!

 

[kangaand2roos]

Do you know when the animators left DHS? I thought on mine and DHs first trip that they were there, and was very surprised several years later when we returned with our kids and found that it was no longer a working studio. I started to think I had just dreamed that they were there the first time!

I think there was a major rehab of the attraction in 2002, but I'm not sure if the animators were still there immediately prior to that rehab.

 

[kcandbella]

I went to MGM around 1993, a year before ToT made its appearance. As a 13 year old, I was not impressed with the park at all. There was nothing exciting enough for me! I am really looking forward to it now, though!

It sounds like your ex was a real PITA! I guess that is why he is an ex...

 

[kangaand2roos]

I went to MGM around 1993, a year before ToT made its appearance. As a 13 year old, I was not impressed with the park at all. There was nothing exciting enough for me! I am really looking forward to it now, though!

It sounds like your ex was a real PITA! I guess that is why he is an ex...

LOL...let's just say that we were very different. My DH doesn't get my Disney obsession, but he gets that I love it and doesn't stand in my way! That is why I DID marry him!!

 

[kangaand2roos]

Two Months!!!

Two Months!!!

Two Months!!!

 

[SoonerGirl]

I'm dancin'!!!!

 

[cinderella crazy]

Woohoo! 2 Months!

 

[cdotla]

Yiiiipppppeeeee!!!

We're also 2 months from today....can't wait!!!!

 

[AuroraRose]

YAY!

 

[TokyoDina]

No 1 month and 3 weeks~~! Haha!

 

[kangaand2roos]

So, the last trip I wrote about was the one with college bf. That was in December of 1989. I would not return to WDW for nearly eight years. But, before I can tell you about that trip, I need to tell you about something that happened in the interim that turned me from a fan into a fanatic.

Oddly enough, that something was a trip to Las Vegas!

I come from a family of gamblers. In a good way though. None of us are problem gamblers, we just all like it. My dad makes his living in the horse racing business. I guess it's to be expected. we live on the east coast, so most of the time casino gambling=Atlantic City. I enjoyed gambling in AC. I got there a couple of times a year on business and the odd time here or there with my folks, and when I went I usually played blackjack. I was young and had very little disposable income, so I didn't gamble much, but I did like it. But, what I really wanted to do was go to Vegas!

My opportunity cam in December of 1992, when I was 26. Dad had to go out on business, some horseman's conference, and Mom didn't want to join him, so he asked me. I jumped at the chance!We would be there 2 nights, and then I would take a red-eye home. I think it was the night before we left (maybe 2 nights, not sure) I got home from work and I was really hungry, so I went to make myself a bagel, and in the process of slicing the bagel, I also filleted my thumb! Nine stitches and some good painkillers later, I was good to go and went ahead with the trip.

We had an evening flight out of Baltimore, and my dad brought me a gift to read on the plane, the Unofficial Guide to Las Vegas. I read it cover to cover over the course of the trip, and after. We landed in Vegas and took a cab to Caesar's Palace. I gambled a bit, but wasn't doing well, so I went to bed. It was late and I was tired. The next day I had a couple of missions:

1. Learn how to play craps
2. See if could track down an old camp counselor, Elbow, who had worked as a BJ dealer at Caesars a decade earlier.
3. See a little bit of Lost Wages.

Dad and I are early risers anyway, and with the 3 hour time difference, we were up and at 'em at about 5 am. We took a walk somewhere and had breakfast and then went over to check out the Mirage.We saw the white tigers, dolphins and sharks. We took a cab downtown and saw the $1,000,000 at Binyan's, and then went to the Excaliber and saw a show there, The Royal Lipizzaner Stallions. We checked out the Mall under Caesars, and then went back to Caesars to meet up with Dad's friend Danny at the Casino.

While we were waiting on Danny, Dad started playing blackjack, and I went to see if "Elbow" still worked at Caesars. I asked someone at some info desk, and they couldn't help me. I walked over to Dad's table and watched a bit, and then I asked the dealer how I might go about finding out if an old friend still worked here. He asked who I was looking for and I told him an old camp counselor that used to work there and before I could spit out his name (cue It's a Small World music!) the dealer said "Steve Lebow, but you used to have a weird nickname for him."

After I picked my jaw up off of the floor, I managed to ask him how he knew. Caesars is an ENORMOUS operation, and this was a decade after I knew him to have been employed there! Turns out they had been roommates. I think that was my most astonishing Small World moment EVER!

Elbow was no longer at Caesars, but was doing stats or something for the Orlando Magic, but the dealer brought me his address the next day.

I walked over to a craps table to watch so I could see how the game was played. I had read in books, and knew the rules, but watching it in action was a different story. Now, remember that my thumb had nine spanking new stitches in it so I was bandaged to the hilt! I was also taking a fair amount of codeine. I was in a great mood. My bandages drew quite a few questions, and I quickly became know throughout the casino as "The Thumb!"

Soon Danny showed up and said he'd teach me to play craps. He had a deal for me. He would play and teach me while we played. I was in for 1% ($20) he had the other 99% ($1980.) If we lost, I owed him the 20, if we won, I got a 1% cut. We played for a couple of hours and in the end, I walked away up $20 which meant Danny doubled his money too! I also had a good education in craps. Danny is an aggressive player, so I learned a method that can get pricey, but pays dividends when you do well.

I then left the guys to their playing and I took a walk back toward the underground mall. On the way there, I passed a Warner Brothers store. In the window was a blue/green plaid flannel Tasmanian Devil nightgown. I kind of told myself that if I won any money, I would come back and buy it.

At some point Dad and I headed back to the room to get ready for dinner.

Continued in the next post...