bert425

Final Day at Disney (Last full day of the trip) Part 1 although I knew this was going to be my last full day in Japan (and at the DisneyParks), I declined to meet up with those who were going to be meeting up early to head to the parks at open. they were going to meet at 6:45 am, as both parks opened at 8am on Saturday. I understood, as some folks were leaving this afternoon and had things they wanted to do. but I was exhausted, I'd been getting up early for nearly 2 weeks and had been cramming in long days. Oh, it had TOTALLY been worth it, but even tho I had a few things on my "hit list" i wanted to get to in the parks? I needed to sleep in. So I had set my alarm for 9am - although I woke up before 7:20am anyways, and got out of bed. I was dressed and down at the breakfast buffet by 7:30, and it really worked in my favor that I had slept in a little bit. The restaurant was WAY less crowded than it had been on previous days, and not only was everything fully stocked up and tasty, but I was able to get a fresh egg from the chef who was making them as folks were asking. yeah, this is "bert is not super hungry". . . LOL. . but everything was delicious! the smiley faces are hashbrowns! since I was by myself, they sat me towards the back of the room, near the windows looking out the backside of the hotel. it looked very overcast and drizzly, but I got this lovely view - that I hadn't noticed on prior days - of some fountains, sculpture, and a quaint temple building out back of the hotel. I finished up my breakfast at just around 7:50 and headed to the Monorail station. . really the only one I saw walking. yep, the Monorail was deserted, as most everyone at the resort stop who had planned to go to the parks, was either already at the park gates, or was waiting for the weather to clear up a little. love the glasswork on the monorail. . so lovely. here's the whole Monorail route. . . I was going all the way around, since i wanted to go to Disneyland 1st. I had a few things I wanted to do today - at both parks - but 1st on my hit list was Buzz Lightyear at Disneyland, and I wanted to get a fast pass for it. showing up just after the gates have opened, really makes a difference in terms of how many people are in the courtyard! but as you get closer to the gates, there are still some folks around lining up to get in LOVE this view. . . hell, I've been dreaming about it. I can't wait to go back at some point in the future and see it again in person. headed to the right towards Tomorrowland, as I was gonna get my fast pass for Buzz, but stopped to take a pic or two of store windows along the way. the Star Tours castmembers out front trying to entice folks into the attraction. As you can see from the clock there, the park had been open ~45 minutes, and it was still a walk on. I told them I'd be back, after getting my fast pass. after getting my Buzz fast pass - which I think ended up being around 10:45am, I then went into the lottery building to try my hand at getting a Spooky Boo Parade lottery ticket. Since I was solo this am, I hit jackpot the first try (and got premium seating by the main parade stop). Now I just had to keep fingers crossed that the rain would hold off enough the parade wouldn't be cancelled. Peeking at the already LONG line for Space Mountain, I headed back to Star Tours, where the cast were thrilled to see me again. gee. .I wonder how they remembered I had just passed by. . .LOL Exiting Star Tours, you cross over the main walkway, and come out near the top level of the pizza restaurant there. it was way too early to eat (and I had just eaten anyways), so no one really in the restaurant ordering downstairs. . . but I noticed upstairs? an entire animatronic display of alien & machines making Pizza and buns. very cool. even in the rain, folks still lining up to see "One Man's Dream" show (and Space Mountain behind it) I think I will go ride Pooh's Hunny Hunt. . which means I have to take a detour thru the new Beauty and the Beast area. .and pass by the new Baymax ride. a peek of the building by lifting my phone over the hedge barriers. after a ride on Pooh, I rode a few more things in Fantasyland, and remembered to take a pic of the unique top of the Pinnochio ride. it was starting to drizzle, and the timing was good that I was in Fantasyland anyways, as there was something here that was on my "hitlist" Yep, Philharmagic - Tokyo Disneyland style. the lobby wasn't super crowded, so was able to take some nice pics. the show was wonderful, and it's been so long since I've seen the American version, that I can't recall if we get Donald's butt on the back wall in America. but I loved this. I did a little bit of wandering and admiring the Halloween decorations around, before I had to head back to Tomorrowland for my Buzz Lightyear fast pass. on the way back, watched a few moments of this street entertainment - he was pretending to be TDL maintenance, but the cart was full of props and magic tricks (and fought back against him). Didn't have time to catch the full show, as I had a fast pass, but it was wonderful to stumble across this as I was walking. Toy Story soldiers. buzz buzz buzzz. . . . . .just as fun as I remembered it being. Even tho I only got to ride it this one time? glad I got to get a ride on it. Coming out of Buzz, the Spooky Boo Parade was passing thru the main area. . i noticed it was the "rain" version, with not a lot of dancers between the floats and the characters wearing raincoats. so snapped a few pics, while still hoping that my reserved spot for the later parade would still happen - if the weather held out from pouring rain. and honestly? it didn't look all that appetizing to me. (and this is the example of what it looks like.. so you KNOW they picked the best one to display). . LOL a sign in a restaurant window caught my eye and distracted me from the parade. . and I discovered a NBC Jack Skellington themed Tomato/braised beef sandwich. which i was SO tempted to try. . but I wasn't all that hungry, and I really had my stomach set on a Mickey Waffle. . so settled for a picture of it. I decided while in the front section of the park, I'd do some shopping, sightseeing. . so was in and out of a few main street stores. what DOES Grandma say???? (mine always said, don't sit on the couch! it's for guests only!). some store window displays, including the unique "Chocolate Crisp" tins they had for Halloween too bad the cranes are up. .but still a wonderful view. next time, I hope to get to go thru the castle more displays in the Stationary store. (i was on the hunt for magnets, diecast cars, any kind of fun souvenirs. . . and I bought a bunch of em on this day) as I shopped I made my way towards the New Orleans Square area. . .. and the Mickey Waffle Stand. the theming over here is fantastic (and Pirates is just back behind this building, which are bathrooms) looking up the "street" for a fantastic view of the castle - from in front of the Waffle shoppe. the line was LONG. . but oh so worth it. line in front of me to even get into the shop. . . and extending out behind me into the walkways the menu tho they have a cast member walking the line and taking orders, who then hand you the pre-written order so they can move the line fairly quickly. (tho i think I ended up in line for ~25 minutes) I got Strawberry and Custard with Iced Coffee. the line zig-zags back and forth inside the shoppe, and thru a big window you can watch the chef churning out waffles. it's quite the show. once I got my waffle and found a window seat (not too hard, surprisingly, as crowded as the place was!), a Pirate brass band popped up on the walkway outside. oh how was the waffle? AMAZE-BALLS. SO good, I'd say it was worth the trip to the park *just* to try one of these. I thought this would be the highlight of the food I ate today, but it did get one upped later at TDS. . .(in part II) waffle and coffee and since right here by Pirates, it would be "wrong" not to ride it, right? If I recall, Jon had texted me while I was eating my waffle and asked if I had made it to the parks and where was I? It turned out that he was close by, so we met back up and I think we rode this together (and possibly did Country Bears and Tiki Room together again too). some Halloween atmosphere in Frontierland, near Country Bear Jamboree I still had a bunch of time before the Spooky Boo Parade and there was some things I wanted to do at Tokyo DisneySea. . . so I parted ways with Jon and headed past the Castle and towards the front of the park. the transportation system double bus was parked and ready to take on passengers, but this one wasn't on my list, so just snapped some pics of it as I walked by. the closest I could get to the castle, during the refurb. Still incredible to see tho. . as I keep saying. some more Halloween decorations up in the main courtyard. I mean. .it's a pic one *has* to get, right? Beauty and the Beast Cosplay. . holding Gelatoni cosplay. . LOL the bicycle Piano guy entertaining among the crowd around him in the Main Street area that I passed on my way out. TIGGER! bounce bounce bounce and Piglet too and Eeyore. . all just outside the front gates, and mingling in the main courtyard in front of the Monorail station. the lines were just a bit too long for me to stop and wait, so I was happy just taking pics of others posing with them. Cinderella and Prince Charming cosplay on the way to the monorail.

been cautiously watching our planned trip to Carowinds on 6/13, and wasn't feeling super confident - even tho it's still ~2 months away. but luckily, Southwest changed our flight, and since they made the changes? we had option to adjust the reservation for free if the new flights "didn't work for us" - up to 60 days out. So I've rescheduled us for late July now. Feeling much more confident things will at least have calmed down, and it's much more likely the park might actually be able to open by then. It's 3 1/2 months from now, so thinking positive! (and hotel let me rebook, with only a slight increase in room rate, since we went from early summer to right smack dab in middle of summer, so of course the rates are higher. . but who knows? they might be begging for customers then, so they might drop the rate by the time of the trip). but I'm looking at this as a positive. . giving things more time to get back closer to "normal"

so cool to see the construction pics. never got to the park when this existed, so sadly never got to try it out myself.. but used to watch videos of it.

in *most* of the States with Stay at Home orders, Construction is considered "essential" and is being allowed to continue. ESPECIALLY Construction in open air/outside situations - as it's possible to maintain social distancing. Austin has allowed construction on buildings downtown to continue, as an exemption to the original City Shelter In Place order (well before the Governor issued a State-wide decree). just sharing info, not judging.

nice update. we didn't eat at that restaurant / bar during our visit a couple of years ago (the restaurant was too expensive for what we were in the mood for at that moment), but we did marvel over the fish in the bartop.

this week's update: 2/18: 218 lbs 2/28: 209.4 lbs 3/6: 206.4 lbs 3/11: 205.2 lbs 3/18: 201.6 lbs 3/25: 198.8 lbs 4/1: 196.2 lbs (so down ~22 lbs!)

don't forget the question if there's a water fountain on the massive hike up the mountain for the drop tower.

yeah.. new estimates are that Texas will peak May 5. . so still over 4 weeks away. I think the Texas parks will be lucky if they are able to open back up in June.

Happy Birthday, Bill! 67. . yay. . . stay safe, and you'll be on Coaster soon enough!

there are only a couple of doubles. but already have plan that if I like something, to hang on to the packaging, so can see if I can find it at my local H-Mart Asian market

^ I think they are just hard candy balls - the design is all on the plastic wrapper. hard to tell what's gonna be candy and what's gonna be a savory snack. but that's the fun of it

and my box of Japanese snacks/treats showed up - less than a week after ordering! (and yes, they did ship from Japan, the customs tag is attached still). really pleased with the variety, even tho I'm sure some of them are gonna be not to my liking. but excited to try them out over the next several weeks. and a lot of the packaging is absolutely adorable!

Honestly, I'm only shocked that it's not the HP "Wildcat". . as I've said for years: "Car with square wheels going down a road full of potholes" most awful thing I've ever been on.

thank you so much for all the hard work putting this together. I'll have to wait until I actually have some free time to explore it in more detail, but taking a quick peek it looks great.

you got some EXCELLENT pictures, Zach! in particular the sunset ones, although my favorite are the ones you got of Hollywood Dream coming out of the building. what a unique perspective, and such a fantastic picture. so many nice memories coming back today, thanks

tho seriously.. other than some minor slips, I'm sticking with my exercise and eating healthy plan. i find it helps me cope.

this week's update: 2/18: 218 lbs 2/28: 209.4 lbs 3/6: 206.4 lbs 3/11: 205.2 lbs 3/18: 201.6 lbs 3/25: 198.8 lbs - so down ~19.5 lbs so yay me (of course I picked up to-go sushi from my favorite local place to celebrate - and to support them).

was really missing Japan.. and just ended up buying off of Amazon, the 40 pack of "assorted Japanese snacks and candy" LOL.. hope it's not awful, tho I'm sure it's gonna be a little bag of stuff I could have bought by going to HMart. Prolly for cheaper than the $18 too. Safer not to go out tho. and I DO like the "mystery box o crap" aspect of it. still have one more full day at Tokyo Disney complex to post, and hope to get to it in the next week

Albert Uderzo, co-creator of Astérix, passed today and more distressing.. we're starting to see impact from CoronaVirus on Celebrities in the past 24 hours, we've lost: Famed NY Drag Queen, Mona Foot https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/pride/9341107/mona-foot-dead-nashom-wooden-coronavirus veteran Afro-jazz legend Manu Dibango and late this afternoon, , Tony Award winning playwright Terrance McNally

Of course, would bow to recommendations from those who cruise way more than we do. but we really like "Celebrity".. the age range tends to be 25-65 on the ships we've been on. the food is spectacular, and the entertainment is very good. my 2cents. we enjoyed our cruises on Royal Caribbean too, tho the crowd tended to be much younger (I'd say 15-55 or so), and the food was very mediocre unless you upgraded to a "cost extra" restaurant. The shows were only so-so, but acceptable. if you want to feel REALLY young? go on Holland America (it was the cruise line my Mom insisted on for the last trip we took with her). The cabin was very nice (parents got us all suites to come with) and the itinerary was decent. But the food had no flavor or spice (no salt!!), the shows were all bad vaudville comedians, and the ship shut down by 9pm each night. Age of the crowd? late 40's-90's hope that helps.. LOL

a few more pics I found in my folders - tho not sure which days they are from. . think these might be by Brad Roach, or maybe Erik? Possibly Robb even. but they are good, so sharing! Maleficent coming thru the Mirror in dragon form during Fantasmic Spooky Boo parade cast member Haunted Mansion at night, looking spoooky.

this made me so happy this morning, so sharing. this family had to cancel their Disney Trip (wonder why?). . . and so did this: [fbvideonew] [/fbvideonew] it's wonderful, and I smiled the whole way thru. multiple news sites are picking it up, here's one, if you want to read more about it: https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2020/03/19/with-theme-parks-closed-due-to-coronavirus-texas-family-creates-a-little-disney-magic/

^ oh my. . not unexpected (especially after Cuomo's NY announcement today), but it's likely the correct move for most States. will keep an eye on the news.

^ was it only 10 minutes??? it felt WAY longer. . but that could have been because we were terrified they were gonna come talk to us.

^ I wouldn't cancel. 1) it might go on as planned (unlikely, but you never know) 2) if they do cancel on you, by then they will have a policy on how to handle in place. just my 2 cents.