Disney Diary from 2014

jameswb94

Earning My Ears
Joined
Jul 21, 2017
I'm a newbie and originally posted this in probably not the right forum area but this one feels more appropriate for this...


Leaving for WDW in a week (!) and I decided to revisit my Disney diary for the first time since the last trip and found myself laughing a few times and figured some here might get a kick out of it. I like to keep a diary going of the trip and try to write down as many little moments as possible...the things you tend to forget. Some first timers might find this a useful gage of how much we got done though it was a shorter, laid back trip...only stuck to the favorites. Hoping to be more ambitious this trip...anyway here it is (will be lengthy so buckle in):

Monday August 18th, 2014

Woke up around 4:45 AM, ready to go by 5:15. Dad was last to be ready, and we ended up leaving at 5:45 instead of 5:30. The GPS took us in some wrong directions and Dad listened to it because hey, what if it's right? Also heard a news story on the radio about a man who vanished, was declared dead, but came back 20 years later. A judge said he could not be brought back to life because the opportunity to do so expires after 3 years.
Eventually made it to JFK around 7 AM after solving the maze of roads and signs directing us to the long term parking lot. Made it through security with no trouble, but still only made it t our gate with about ten minutes to spare before boarding started. Brother (17 at the time) made it very clear that he hates airports. I noticed many airline workers who seemed very tired of dealing with people.
We were placed in the emergency exit seats and one of the attendants had to give us a special rundown of how it worked. After he was done this transaction took place...

Attendant: ......yes? Can I get a yes that you all understand?
Passenger: I was just listening.
Attendant: Well I need a verbal yes. *glares*

At this point, due to skipping breakfast because of the hurry, brother began to quickly start dying of starvation. He was sure he wanted this bizarre sandwich on the jetblue menu, but later found out that the sandwich was not available. We had pretzels instead. There was some turbulence on the flight but other than that it went well.

When we got to the DME area an older guy checking tickets asked which one of us was James Bond. I answered 'me', naturally (our last name is off by a couple letters)

We checked in at Old Key West where the desk worker gave us every detail of the inner workings of Old Key West and we were told the exact same information again by Bill, who drove us to our room. I suspect they are all robots....

After checking in and inspecting our room, we found my magic band did not work with the door. We went back to the hospitality area where the band was fixed and went out to eat. Brother was, by this point, absolutely starving and inhaled a hamburger.
Then we went to the Magic Kingdom. The heat was intense and Mom's knees were seriously bothering her (she has arthritis in both knees) but we pushed on. Haunted Mansion was our first ride. After that we did Hall of Presidents to escape the heat, and then did Splash Mountain. We forgot about some of the drops so it was especially fun. Then we took the train to Fantasy Land and walked to Space Mountain. We left after that, the heat was too much and Mom's knees were not cooperating.

Tuesday August 19th, 2014


The next day we all woke up late. I decided I wanted to go to a park before we did HS that evening and Brother decided to come along. We were in Magic Kingdom again by 1 PM. We decided to try PotC first. We waited in line for a good 15 minutes when people started pouring out and it seemed the ride had broken down. We left and decided to hop on the Haunted Mansion (my favorite) After that we did Big Thunder which had a 15 minute wait but ended up being more like 30. Then we took the train to Fantasyland and went on the Barnstormer. The wait was pretty short and we were given the red card to determine the new wait time. Then we made our way to Tomorrowland. The wait times were all out of control so we decided to just do the Peoplemover (for the first time) which Brother, for some reason, really enjoyed. When we got off we decided to give Pirates another try. The CM there kept yelling out that it was *not* meant to be a single file line, but everyone stayed single file anyway. Brother thought he'd be the trend setter and move ahead in the line as the CM instructed but right away some guy stopped him. "HEY! No cutting! Learn your manners!" he said which annoyed him to no end. The ride broke down yet again but we decided to stick it out and stay in line. When we finally got on we were seated in the front row, and in the second row was a loud Spanish family. The ride stopped *again* and they started laughing and taking flash selfies. It was fine, but took me out of the mood a little bit. At last it started working again. We got soaked after the drop. After that we left the park. As we left a woman went to a security guard saying she lost her son, then raised her voice to someone "You're unbelievable, Greg!"
We were on a bus with and old woman and an old man. The old man had Mickey ears, tons of pins and shopping bags and looked a little crazy. We assumed he was with the older woman but he got off alone. The older woman gave my brother a look that said "What was up with that guy, huh?"

We got back to the hotel room and relaxed for a bit before leaving for Studios. Mom's knees were feeling much better after an afternoon of relaxing. By the time we got to the park we had missed out first FP for the Great Movie Ride but were on time for Tower of Terror, which was a lot of fun. Brother liked it, despite saying he wasn't going on it before the vacation. After that we went straight to Star Tours which was also very good. Enjoyed the new additions there. When we got off brother and dad decided to go to RnR. I stayed behind with mom and looked around the shops. After we all got dinner, then did Tower of Terror two more times right before the park closed.

Wednesday August 20th, 2014

We left early in the afternoon to go to Downton Disney. There was much construction, it was brutally hot out again and was a little disappointing. After we spent the afternoon by the pool before going to EPCOT. The pool was refreshing despite being bathtub-hot. Mom stayed behind instead of going to EPCOT, decided she'd rather stay by the pool. Soarin' (her favorite ride) was closed and she wasn't interested in our other FP's. We went on Spaceship Earth, then walked around for awhile. We tried to go on Maelstrom before it closed for good but the wait was tremendous. If it's over 45 minutes we won't do it. Sad I didn't get to ride Maelstrom one last time, though it was never a near and dear attraction for me so I wasn't too troubled by it. We then did Test Track which brother declared his favorite ride. We watched the fireworks for a little and left.

Thursday August 21st, 2014

We woke up extra early to try and get on Midway Mania at HS because we couldn't get a FP. But we got there half hour after rope drop and by that time, the wait was already well over an hour. Instead we finally got on the Great Movie Ride which was fun as usual but is in need of refurbishment. Brother and dad did RnR one last time, then we did Tower of Terror one last time and that was that for HS. Not much to do there currently. Mom and dad went back to the hotel and me and brother went to Animal Kingdom to ride Expedition Everest. Brother really liked it though it gave us both a headache. By the time we made it back to the bus I was sweating like a pig. We went back to the room for a bit before one last mad dash in Magic Kingdom to re-ride the favorites. First was Space Mountain. Then we did PotC for the first time all together this trip. We of course ended up in the front row again and got drenched by the drop. Dad looked like he wet himself. Then we had dinner at Pecos Bill's and afterwards headed to Splash Mountain for our last FP. A thunderstorm rolled in though, and it closed due to lightning. We waited on line for awhile but then got off, instead using the FP on Haunted Mansion. After this Mom and Dad went shopping on Main Street and brother and I head off on our own for the rest of the evening. We intended to do Buzz Lightyear but once again...crazy wait time. We did the Peoplemover a final time. Much nicer at night. The Disney app said Splash Mountain was open again so we made our way over there and got right on. Another ride where we were seated front row. And another ride where we got soaked, worse now because it was dark out and somewhat cooler. We dried off by going on Big Thunder Mountain which had no wait. Ended up being much more fun than the first time for some reason.
To cap off the trip I requested one last ride on Haunted Mansion (bringing the total to 4) After that it was closing time so we left.
The next day we were home. :sad1:
 
I wasn't going to keep pen and paper notes of our trip this time. I was going to make notes on my phone until I read my pen and paper notes from 2004. They brought me so much joy, so I understand how you feel. Priceless! Thanks for sharing.
 

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