Julie's Epic WDW Ongoing Trip Report!

[PhishyBrewer]

^That's funny!!!

[Scaparri]

Did you happen to stop at our local Whataburger on this trip??

 

Whoa whoa whoa!!! Hold up!!!...

 

Gainesville has a Whataburger!? How did I miss this? I thought they were only a western thing? Either way, that's awesome!

 

Anyway, great TR so far Julie.

[SharkTums]

Deb has a great site, I use it all of the time! Heck, I'm even subscribed to her weekly emails!

 

Ugh, kid leashes...grrrrr...

 

Keep those trip reports coming!!!!

[Erik Johnson]

Yes Gainesville has a Whataburger. Its right by the I-75 exit on Newberry road.

This is the Gainesville Whataburger.

[Hattuchili]

Great update, Julie! It was really funny!

 

--Sören

[CoasterJunkie]

I was at WDW Friday, and I saw a TON of those kid leashes...we had quite a few laughs too...as the ground was slick due to the rain, and kids were slipping all over the place, and the parents were using the leash to hold them up!!

 

Deb's site is cool...I also receive her email weekly. I didnt relieze everyone was in the parks this week. I was in AK yesterday to. I would have loved to have met Deb. I did get to speak to some CM's over at EE though.

[zaneymon]

There best be a photo for me comeing soon or im going to be really sad

[pianojohn]

Great pics and report. Did you happen to catch the Tarzan Rocks show? It is closing soon as is American Vybe at EPCOT. Too bad as these were some of the last places you could see live music and singing.

[Mr.Six]

Yes! I was once ontop of Julie! Nice, Trip Report. Too bad EE isn't open yet..oh well just another reason to go back to Florida soon!

_six

[ChrisZer0]

Julie, This report is greatness...I think you've set the TR bar high for all of us future reporters, Excellent work!!

 

Rob & Elissa: You should be able to take down deb wills easily, she appears to be a few steps away from a broken hip I kid, I kid....

 

Chris "It Was An Accident, She Slipped In The Tub" Zer0

[USRoadTripper]

John, yes, we did see Tarzan Rocks, but all my pictures from it were blurry, so I just didn't mention that we did it. I think it's a shame, as that is a very well done show, and one I always tried to see any time I was in Animal Kingdom.

I also spent a lot of time at Adventurer's Club on this trip! You may have been there on the same nights and I never knew it. I have a couple of dozen AC pics on their way.

 

-Julie

[USRoadTripper]

Epcot, RADP 10 and Mousefest

As we all leave, Kevin is awarded the grand prize, which he promptly names The Scarlet Poohpernel. From there it was off to the RADP 10 big meet and greet!

Here was my view during one of the stops. SIDEBOOB!

Here is where the ride made its first stop. It made a total of three stops, but Catherine was sitting in The Theater when it stopped first, so Kevin was the winner!

Everyone boards, ready to play. Right to left we have Jack with the camera, Marta in tye dye, Bruce in rainbow making you adjust your contrast, Sean covering his face, Bill picking his teeth and Min waving hello.

This guy was this year's prize. We weren't quite sure what kind of outfit he was wearing!

Next up was Spaceship Earth Roulette! We each pick a scene from Spaceship Earth, then we ride. If the ride stops, the person who chose the scene that the meet host is sitting in when it stops wins a prize. Makes sense? I picked "Jeremy Irons Speaks."

Kevin and Shawna were in the back of my car, and I'm pretty sure I rode with Pamela.

And another group! Front row: Tracy, Jack. Back Row: Marta, Carol, Erica.

Once at Imagination, I ran into a meet I didn't even know they were having! So I had lots of company for my ride on Imagination. Front row: Jack, Jessie. Back row: Sean, Bruce, John, Charlotte.

Shrimp! The sea's tastiest critters! Anyway, after Living Seas, I headed off to Imagination before the 10:30 meet at Spaceship Earth.

I played with the macro setting on my camera for a bit too. Never knew cuttlefish were this cool close up, huh?

My first stop was to check out the renovations at Living Seas. It looks nice, but it didn't seem to be dramatically changed to me. I will miss the The Sea preshow though, as it was the best movie in Epcot!

On my way to Epcot, I had the greatest bus driver ever! He was Dave, and he cracked jokes and kept insisting that he was lost the entire time. Everyone getting off the bus took his picture!

Kevin was up and out before me on Sat. the 3rd. I had an omlette with potatoes and a biscuit in the food court, which ended up being what I had most mornings, so this was the only picture I took of it. I ate at a Space Invaders table, which rocked.

[Nrthwnd]

Excellent TR Julie! I hope to aspire some day soon, to your apparent greatness and journalistic...... um ..... greatness.

 

 

The captions are some of the best I enjoy reading. Keep up the great work there!

 

[USRoadTripper]

RADP 10 Big Meet and Greet

Allison (or The Mighty Paragon) shows off this years meet gift for her Loin Inspection Board members. She also has a three foot long sword called the deLIBerator that she used to bring to meets, but can't anymore because of security

Quiet, shy and unsuspecting, Brian was nominated for a beginners registration this year!

Sean, being married to a Loin Inspector, seems to be a consistant overachiever, and gets upgraded every year.

Bruce also got an upgrade! Thanks for the hard work Bruce!

Loin Inspectors Meet time! One of the ongoing RADP jokes is that there is a group of women who, every year, inspect and upgrade or downgrade the loins of the men in the group. Here is Jack getting his upgrade certificate!

Every year, Jen and Jeff do a Great Race around WDW. Last year, during the last leg, the boat I was on started sinking in the middle of Bay Lake, and I was immortalized for it on this year's shirt. Glad I didn't run it this year, though. Too tiring.

Here are Jan, Tracy, Kenny and Brian. My caption is not long enough for proper introductions of each person!

Kevin makes Ben very jealous as he shows off the Scarlet Poohpernel.

This was our group that posed for the big collage photo that Randy puts together every year. Good thing everyone was ready when they took the picture.

This is Sam. He did the WDW College Program right before I did and worked as a ticket taker at Magic Kingdom. Now he lives in Connecticut and works for ESPN. Yup, another "too cool for his own good" guy!

Here are Sean and Pamela. They live two exits down from Disneyland, so remember their faces! You may bump into them some day!

Still proud of his acheivement in winning Spaceship Earth Roulette, Kevin proudly displayed the Scarlet Poohpernel throughout the big meet.

[BarryH]

Great photos!

 

Keep them coming!

[zaneymon]

^ Same here Barry

[USRoadTripper]

As the Big Meet was ending, 8 of us decided to head to Beaches N Cream at the Beach Club for lunch.

Hey TPR, check this one out. I'm hugging on Tony...maybe I'm dating Tony now? Is this enough proof that I'm not dating Kevin? BTW, Tony's from Allentown, PA so look for him at Dorney!

Kevin and I tried SO HARD to get this picture! We were going for a cutesy "sharing a milkshake" photo but neither of us could stop laughing!

Tony and Jessie. Believe it or not, Jessie is the most normal among us. Oh who am I kidding, she's insane just like the rest of us. She just got there at a lot younger age!

If you think this is the only photo I have of Kevin making a smiley face burger at Beaches N Cream after a Big Meet, you'd be wrong

Mmmm...finally the food arrives. Almost all of us got the cheeseburgers with fries and what else...a pickle!

Kevin and Peter also get in on the "Take a picture of me while I take a picture of you" action.

After about an hour wait, we finally get seated and order. We are so happy that we all take pictures of each other taking pictures.

Peter and I got a charcoal sketch done by one of those Michaelangelo machines. It was only $2, and now I have three of them of me with different people!

Having never played anything DDR-like, Kevin and I try out this game in the arcade next to the restaurant. As you can see, I am doing so badly that I'm not even standing on any of the pads! Our score was a big fat F! hahaha

[Hurricane]

Hey Julz,

 

Thanks for the owl pic, It made my day,

 

Now I'm Jealous, O RLY!?

[smells_like_team_disney]

In the words of ChrisZero, YES, this TR is nothing short of greatness. Keep 'em coming Julie .

[Damien666]

Way to go on Pump it up! I never liked that game, it sucks compared to DDR. Anyway, keep up the fun TR!

[USRoadTripper]

Time to head off to the Mega Mouse Meet! Three years ago, the regular RADP meet plus the annual meets of a few other Disney groups all merged and became Mousefest, including the Mega Mouse Meet. Lots of Disney websites and people like travel agents and guidebook authors can rent space during it just like normal conventions. RADP ended up revolting and saying that we still wanted to have a separate RADP meet, which hacked off a bunch of people involved in planning Mousefest. But since we have lots of friends that work the Mega Mouse Meet booths, we've all made the journey there to see them the last two years.

Here I am with Shawna's hubby Scott, and we are bored out of our freakin' minds. I wouldn't even come to the Mega Mouse Meet if I didn't know the people at the AllEarsnet and Passporter booths! Luckily, Magic Kingdom was next!

Here's Charlotte cornering Kenny and stealing a hug. Charlotte and John are also from New Orleans, and their house was all but destroyed by Katrina. They had such a rough year, but you'd never be able to tell by their attitudes at the meets.

Peter got a little one-on-one chat time with Deb, despite the crowds around her. Not sure what he was talking about, but he sure looks funny doing it.

Jennifer and Dave were also out in full-force promoting their guidebooks to the parks and cruises.

There were reporters there doing interviews also, most likely for a Podcast of some kind. The man sitting down was yelling into the microphone Home Shopping Network style about how his site is better than eBay.

Here are Andrea and Brian working the AllEarsnet booth. They are both contributors to Deb's site (Andrea is Anita Answer). Too bad they were both stuck working and couldn't attend the other festivities.

I arrive, check in, and think "Oh my god...is there really going to be so much crap to collect that I need a bag *this* big???"

How many RADPers does it take to find the Northern Hemisphere Ballroom?

During the walk, we come across a little alcove of water that should clearly have a bridge on it. As light shone down from the heavens, Peter tried to part the waters Moses style, but it didn't work. This is my third favorite pic from the trip!

After lunch, we all packed up and headed over to the Mega Mouse Meet at the Dolphin for a bit. Here's Peter taking a picture of me, taking a picture of him. Is this getting old yet?

[Hattuchili]

Another good update, Julie! Thanks for posting!

 

--Sören

[USRoadTripper]

After we extracted Kevin from the Mega Mouse Meet, he, I and Peter went to the Magic Kingdom for the rest of the evening. As we arrived, they were about to run the Christmas parade, which was strange since it wasn't a Christmas party night. As most people quickly find out, I am NOT a fan of stopping and watching parades, but Kevin and Peter really wanted to stop and watch it. So I obliged, but I didn't take any photos (frankly, parades aren't entertaining at all to me...I know, I am in the vast minority here).

After the parade, we headed into Adventureland.

Thus comes to a close another lovely night in the Magic Kingdom.

Not to be defeated that easily, he just decides to go in backwards and "rnigs also" on the way!

Oh!!! Disaster strikes! Better luck next time Kev!

The treehouse had a very tiny door, so what's the obvious thing for Kevin to do? Try to limbo through it of course!

When we stopped to watch Wishes, we ran into Kenny and Donna. Then we all headed back into Fantasyland and played in the kid-sized Pooh playground for a bit. Ever wonder how many adults you can fit in Pooh's treehouse? The answer is four!

After we met up with Tony, we all went to the noodle station for dinner. This was what I got...it tasted ok, but the handful of raw veggies on the top was too much and I couldn't eat it. So I quickly hightailed it to Caseys and back with a hot dog.

After Splash, Kevin took in a little Bannister: the Ride as we waited for Tony, who was a few people behind us in line.

Peter says "This is NOT an acceptable amount of water!!!"

I just got a little wet during the ride!

Peter is captivated by Splash Mountain.

Next up was Splash Mountain! Mike (Mr. Six) had requested a cellular ride through Splash Mountain, so I obliged. This is me talking to him right before losing the signal inside the mountain. Robb even got in on the cellular ride as well!

"Come on Julie! Second star to the right and straight on til morning!"

¡Olé! What says "pirate" more than a sombrero and maracas?

OMG it's the axe murdering duck from Dollywood! Except at Disney World, he has a machete weilding sidekick!

Time for gift shop fun! Pirates has the best gift shop ever! Kevin tries out his sexy pirate look, but doesn't succeed the way Dennis does!

Next we rode Pirates of the Caribbean, where Kevin professed his undying love for this enormous keg.

Kevin and Peter both stopped for Dole Whips on the way through. They look so yummy, but I can't partake because of a citrus allergy

[DATman]

YAY! Crazy adults having a blast in a kids area! My friends and I do the same thing at SFMM, in the Looney Toons area. (but that baloon ride is INSANE! Go zamperla!)

[YoshiFan]

As most people quickly find out, I am NOT a fan of stopping and watching parades, but Kevin and Peter really wanted to stop and watch it. So I obliged, but I didn't take any photos (frankly, parades aren't entertaining at all to me...I know, I am in the vast minority here).

 

I feel the same way. I would rather be going on rides than sitting around and watching a parade. Especially when people get there an hour or more early to reserve a spot so if you want a good view, you also have to get there early so it's even more time taken up.