Julie's Epic WDW Ongoing Trip Report!

[dandaman]

I've always said the Pirates gift shop is one of the best out there... nice to see someone agreeing

 

Fantastic TR!

[Meteornotes]

This photo TR has already been one of the best ever, but to find out that the ax murdering duck has a sidekick has pushed it into Hall Of Fame status!

 

And I'm also not much of a fan of parades. We did see the one at WDW for Halloween, but we sat down like five minutes before it started, which made it OK. I'm not into the whole "camp out fora spot" part...

 

dt

[lapseofreason]

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

 

WTF.. that looks A LOT like Burger World (Beavis and Butt-Head).. what a trip!

[USRoadTripper]

Next, I wanted to introduce everyone to one of my favorite places in Disney World, the Adventurer's Club. I've barely heard it mentioned on this website, which is a shame since it's crazy, funny, kooky and extremely unique. I've never found any other place like it.

When I first started on RADP, all the evening meets were held in the Adventurer's Club, so I got to know it when I was only 19. I've had a tough time getting friends my age to appeciate the club since sometimes you can walk in, and nothing is going on at that second. It might look like a place to get a martini and have quiet chat, but it's not! So most of my non-RADP friends give it 30 seconds and decide they don't like it!

Generally, the club is improv comedy, though the structure of the night is all scripted. Certain things happen at certain times, but they incorporate the audience and you never know what may come out of it. There have been nights when I have laughed so hard in this club that my stomach was sore the next day.

I think that everyone who has Pleasure Island admission should give the Adventurer's Club at least an hour of your time. There is almost always something going on, be it characters wandering around chatting with guests, or shows in the Main Salon, Library, Mask Room, or Treasure Room. The club is geared to older teens and adults, but even kids as young as 9 or 10 should really enjoy it, and it doesn't get so risque that mom and dad would have to worry.

When I first heard that the Adventurer's Club might be on the chopping block with the new plans for PI, my initial reaction was "Well that would suck, but progress is progress." But now, after having spent so much time in Adventurer's Club on this trip...I think it's loss would be tragic! Pleasure Island, and really all of Disney World, would never be the same to me if this place were closed. I grew up in this club...made friends for life in this club...and have spent countless evenings whiling away hours on end in this club. I certainly hope Disney sees what a gem they have on their hands here, and decide to keep it around so others can enjoy it too!

On to the photos!

Here Pamelia leads Hathaway and Emil, as well as Samantha Sterling (another one of the club's adventurer's) in singing Three Little Fishies. Not pictured are the club's ichthyologist Otis T. Wren and club curator Fletcher Hodges.

During the Hoopla (Hoopla!) one night, Emil sang a song about Frosty the Snowman, which was hilarious. This actor's name is Karl, and he's my favorite in the club! He plays all the male characters.

Here we see Emil and Pamelia during the nightly Rythm Ritual. All the characters assemble in the Zebra Mezzanine, and play drums, cymbals, cowbells and stuff right before the final show of the night, the Hoopla! (Hoopla!)

This is Kiki the club's maid. Each actress who plays the maid makes up her own name for her maid character, so Kiki may not be the maid's name when you visit.

Here we have Hathaway Brown, the club's aviator and habitual ladies man, on the left. And on the right is Emil Bleehol, Adventurer of the Year, and winner of the Balderdash Cup, from Sandusky, Ohio.

On to the characters...this is club president Pamelia Perkins.

Inside the library is where the main shows of the night take place. This is the club's organ, Fingers Zambezi. She used to live in the organ loft upstairs, but there was a falling through.

The room is covered in artifacts gathered during the adventures of club members, including some samurai warrior statues from a Holiday Inn on 192! Beezil the Genie lives inside that armoire.

This is another one of the small alcoves with shows, the Treasure Room.

These masks are Claude and Arnie. These "greco-roman" masks are symbols of the harvest...Claude, the grape harvest, and Arnie the...horny harvest!

All the masks on the walls have stories of were they came from, or who they were owned by before the club. The middle one is Glinda, a bride's wedding mask from Bali, who turns out to be a witch.

Here is the entrance to the Mask Room, one of my favorite little holes in the wall in all of Disney.

This is the Yakoose. He's half yak, half moose. He was supposed to go to the taxidermist, but ended up at the upholsterer's instead. Sometimes he comes to life and says some stuff about how he's just "hangin' around."

This is the club's goddess, Babylonia. No, her name is not "restrooms." A couple of times a night, she will pick on unsuspecting, virile men in her presence.

This is Colonel Critchlow Sunchbench, the head of security and club gleemeister. To wake him up, you have to yell "Free drink Colonel!" He's the one that leads the new members in singing the club's theme song, and is actually very lifelike to be a puppet!

The first thing you come to is a statue of Zeus, or "God with Rod."

You enter on the second floor, in the Zebra Mezzanine. This is your view down into the Main Salon. Looks pretty interesting...lets go meet some of the club's residents.

Welcome to the Adventurer's Club. It's 1937 and the club is holding it's annual new membership drive.

[Nrthwnd]

I remember when Pleasure Island was just created and starting up, with the Adventurer's Club included in it's original layout of dance clubs and bars.

 

Glad to see it's still there with a continuing of shows and 'stuff'. I loved the masks wall, by the way! Do they all work and 'chat', or are they just stationary on the wall?

 

Excellent ongoing TR Julie.

[USRoadTripper]

Sunday, December 4th

Magic Kingdom day!

 

Sunday was the RADP day set aside for Magic Kingdom meets. Kevin went to the Splash Mountain meet at park open, but I didn't make it up early enough to make it to that meet. Instead, I wandered around the resort and took pictures while enjoying a frosty frozen Coke.

I won a Sylvester figurine!? Each came in a nice plastic ball too. When we rode Space Mountain, I noticed that they added sacks to the insides of the rockets. I liked those, cuz it gave me a place to put my balls.

At the meet a few years ago, Rob Steere played Whistlestop forever and never won anything. This day, I played five times and won three times! Eat it Steere!

Before our ride, we found a real DDR machine and Kevin gave it another go. This time he did much better, and dare I say that even yours truly could have done well on this one.

Woah...I have even impressed myself with this lovely picture of Space Mountain.

Well there's your answer!

Have you ever wondered why that one part of the TTA track is painted black?

BEST...HAIRCUT...EVER!!!

Once we arrived in Toontown, we both got drinks then explored Donald's boat. Afterwards, we took the "secret path" over to Tomorrowland.

He is also overjoyed to find that the map includes Canada as well!

Kevin points out the long journey he has made to attend the meets. Sure you're not still feeling that liter of beer there Kev?

Kev says "I have a blister. Lets ride the train to Toontown."

Kevin takes in a little more Bench: The Ride on Tom Sawyer's Island, and this one seems to have quite a bit more airtime than most other benches!

OMG! Disney World has a tilt house and no one told me about it!!! How has it taken me 8 1/2 years to find out that Disney has a tilt house! I must visit it on every trip now.

It's another coaster photo! I had to lay the smack down on a kid in one of the gun rooms in the fort so I could get this photo.

Kevin had purchased a new hat the day before, which was very appropriate for him, since he is "incredibly good looking"

I'd never really spent much time on Tom Sawyer's Island, but it is a really fun little place! We crossed the barrell bridge to see if we could see anyone from the meet still in line, but we didn't see anyone.

Next, the group went en mass to the Haunted Mansion, but the wait was posted at 40 minutes! Everyone decided to stay except me and Kevin, who decided to explore Tom Sawyer's Island.

Cinderella's castle. The first meet I attended was at Mickey's Philharmagic, but I didn't take any pictures for some reason.

I had a chicken ceasar salad in the food court for lunch, and it was yummy! They also have unlimited refills of frozen Coke and frozen blueberry drinks with a refillable mug! Such a perk, and I took advantage of it every day!

[ltp74]

I went to the Adventurer's Club for the first time monday night and it is great way funnier than the Comedy Warehouse across the street and shouldnt be missed. I don't think it's in trouble of being closed since it was the only club that had wall to wall people in it all of the other clubs where empty and it was a castmember night, the way they have it set-up is cool since you move from room to room and each "show" is long enough for everyone to order drinks.

[DATman]

The last caption says it all!

[RCTfan]

First, I am loving the photo TR. One of the best I've read and looked at!

 

I absolutely LOVE the Adventure's Club! I only did one show, and it was Hoopla, but it was a blast. I was pointed out during the show because I was wearing a Stewie shirt.

 

I'm sad that I never got to go back because it was so great. This program I'm doing, I'll definitely go MUCH more often, and probably just stay the whole night.

[nursemelis374]

Great TR! I was just in Orlando last week and still working on my report. We went to the Adventurer's Club for the first time and it was great. Those guys were all hilarious! We watched the Balderdash Cup. My only complaint was that there were a bunch of people that came all the time and were only too excited to prove it. They were so irritating and we even thought the actors were bugged by them.

[stingrock23]

I'm glad you found that haircut.

 

That's better than a mullet.

[zaneymon]

^ Hey Mullets Rule

[Hattuchili]

Good update, Julie! It looks like I have to visit a few things, next year at WDW!

 

--Sören

[CoasterJunkie]

I LOVE the Adventurers Club...When I was an AP holder, Hubby and I would end our nights there. We got to know some of the CM's pretty well. Karl is one of my fav's also! He can play any of the characters. He and I used to have a running joke, everytime we would spot each other, we would give each a look, and just point...It wouldnt matter if he was in the middle of a show or not..LOL...

 

I think the best part of "regulars" is that if the crowd is a bit flat, they know they can pick on them to help get a room started. I dont know how many times Hathaway Brown ended up in my lap, or I started singing with the Colonel..LOL..they were some good times.

 

HOOPLA!!!

[USRoadTripper]

Raglan Road and Adventurer's Club

 

After a day at Magic Kingdom, I, Kevin, Peter and Tony decided to have dinner at Raglan Road, the new Irish Pub in Pleasure Island. I'd seen pictures and seen the menu, and the place looked great, so we decided to give it a try.

We headed back to the hotel and freshened up a bit, and changed into nicer clothes for the evening. Of course, once we arrived at PI, we had to have a little fun in the gift shop before dinner.

Finally she said she wanted to see some "pelvic action"! Way to go Babylonia! Little did she know that she'd pulled two Imagineers out of the audience to do that! Thus concluded a fantastic night at the Adventurer's Club.

Then they had to strike the same pose as Zeus (God with Rod).

A little later in the evening, Babylonia pulled Peter and a friend of his out of the audience, saying she wanted to train them to be her body guards. First, they needed to get on their knees and worship her.

...that I wanted a picture with Fletcher Hodges! I have never acted like such a teeny bopper little girl in my life as right after I got this photo! hahaha My favorite photo of the whole trip, and I showed it to everyone who would look!

So, I have had this strange school girl crush on Kristian for years now. I know! He's almost twice my age! So this night, Pamelia went around the room asking people what they wanted for Christmas, and I said...

Here are my two favorite actors in the club. Karl is Hathaway and Kristian is Fletcher Hodges. This picture was taken right after I twisted my knee chasing Hathaway into the Mask Room!

Time to end the night at the Adventurer's Club. This was the first performance of the Christmas radio broadcast, and it was fantastic. Here Emil is having Pamelia help him sing Dominic the Italian Christmas Donkey. Hilarious!

This was my dinner. It looks kinda small from the picture, but it wasn't! Overall, we all LOVED Raglan Road, and we all said we'd love to visit again sometime soon.

Kevin started dinner with a black and tan, and I started with a cider that was on tap. It was pretty good, but left a strange aftertaste once it was room temperature. I also think this photo is really sexy for whatever reason!

"Ah, so yer after me gold are ye? Well, you'll never get me lucky charms!" This is my second favorite picture from the trip!

Oh...who knew an oversized comical Guinness hat could be so sexy?

Top o' the mornin' to ya!

[USRoadTripper]

RADP day at Disney-MGM Studios

 

Today was the day for meets at Disney-MGM Studios, so Kevin and I were up and out early. I hadn't planned on going to the meets but I ended up waking up early, so I just stayed up. We grabbed breakfast in the food court, then I drove us to the Studios shortly after opening.

Kevin must still think I'm trying to get his lucky charms.

Next we made a stop in the Indiana Jones gift shop. I forget what we were even talking about, but suddenly we both burst into a knife fight.

The Disney-MGM Studios is an Elissa friendly park!

Kevin and I broke off from the group for a bit and went to Star Tours. Kevin was given the ever important job of handing off the electronic queue line monitoring card. There was no wait, so was it even necessary?

I've now ridden so many other coasters that are so much bigger, faster and taller, but this ride still kicks so much ass. I think it will always be one of my favorites.

There were 13 of us that rode Rock N Roller coaster, so at least I am not the only "coaster lover but drop tower hater" in the group!

As we head back over to Rock N Roller Coaster, Kevin and Mickey insist on molesting the marble door.

Only 8 people rode Tower of Terror at this year's meet, which I am told is the smallest RADP Tower meet ever. They still seemed to have a good time though.

Uh oh...this group looks like trouble if I've ever seen it!

However the group decides to head to Tower of Terror first. I don't ride tower of Terror, but I waited with everyone, then Pamela and I took the chicken elevator out! I love this picture.

Me and Kevin are more than ready to tackle the best Vekoma out there!

On RADP, we call this the BAH, or the Big Ass Hat.

[USRoadTripper]

More MGM photos

And again we concluded the evening in the Adventurer's Club. At one point Pamelia said, "If you have a camera, turn it on. If you don't have a camera, dance!" and that's how I got this photo of Catherine and Kevin!

We all parted ways after the show, with plans to meet at Adventurer's Club later. I stopped at a Walgreens to get a straightening iron, and grabbed Taco Bell for dinner. Looks bland in the picture, but it was Taco Bell, so it was fabulous!

Kevin, Jessie, Erica and I went to see Millionaire, then they watched Playhouse Disney (I didn't get in because I had a drink with me). Then the group reassembled and we all watched Fantasmic together!

What can I say, the stunt show was awesome! I'd give anything to know how to spin cars like that. I'd learn to do it but not tell anyone, then do it when they were riding with me and scare the poop out of them.

Next on the agenda was the Lights, Motors, Action stunt show, which a bunch of us had not seen. Had to grab this side boob shot on the way in though!

Kevin was in a theater production of Narnia a few years ago, so of course he wanted to take advantage of this lovely photo op. I think this is a great picture too!

After Muppet*Vision was Great Movie Ride. Would have been a nice picture if more people than just Tony were paying attention!

Tony stole Kevin's hat for a bit, and while it didn't fit quite right, the "incredibly good looking" inscription was still appropriate.

When lunch was over, we headed en mass over to Muppet*Vision. Today, the part of Miss Piggy will be played by a large turquois rectangle.

Suddenly Chatherine burst through the door, helping with the MGM part of the Great Race. When we discovered that the Racers were looking for WDW survey markers, Kevin and I were very glad again not to be running it this year!

The waiter wasn't happy with how much of her lunch Pamela had eaten, so he took her leftovers, covered them in ice cream and toppings, and called it a chicken sandwich sundae! Needless to say she didn't eat any of it!

He also decided that Pamela needed a bib too...but she doesn't look happy about it at all!

The waiter decided, for whatever reason, that Sean needed to wear a bib for the rest of the meal. He didn't seem to mind!

Here was my lunch. Mmm, a big turkey sandwich with chips and a pickle. Just what I needed after some other not so healthy meals.

Good thing he didn't see her doing that!

And our waiter wasn't taking crap from anyone! When he caught Jessie throwing spitballs, he grabbed her by the chair and dragged her into the corner! And he pointed her out to all the people walking by who were being seated!

We were steated at a table for 10, and our waiter made us sit boys on one side, girls on the other side.

The group reassembled a bit later for lunch at 50s Prime Time. Here are Bruce and Marta again, and this time, they are both making you adjust your monitor's contrast!

[dandaman]

Awesome pics!

[Chrissie]

Yeah! Great pics Julie, They make me look forward 2 WDW even more!

[Hattuchili]

WOW, more great pictures! Thanks for the update, Julie! I really love your Photo TR´s!

 

--Sören

[Ghost]

I love trip reports... so thanks for all the pictures... looked like fun (how could it have been otherwise)

[SharkTums]

Taco Bell, Squirrels, Vekoma rides, does it get any better???

[Shockwave]

I'm sure that squirrel has a relation or two living in my back garden!

[USRoadTripper]

Universal Orlando and Margaritaville!

 

Tuesday was my day to head off to Universal. Kim said she'd join me after lunch time, so I didn't get a very early start to the day. Might as well mention that Pop Century had either no cell service, or one bar of service through my entire trip. Quite inconvenient when you're waiting for a call from someone. I had to keep running out into the courtyard in my jammies when the phone rang!

The adventure lives on, as we proceed over to Universal Studios.

Our final ride of the park was The Cat in the Hat. By the way, nothing had lines...everything was a complete walk on, even all three coasters.

OMG!!! WTF is that?!?! It looks like a bobcat running free in Seuss Landing! It was seriously at least double the size of a normal house cat! Of all the stories, to go home and say you were mauled by a bobcat in Seuss Landing!

Me with the Cat in the Hat! I look so thin in this picture

The Zamp in the Lamp...my favorite little touch in all of Universal.

I couldn't do that today because GOOSE JUICE WAS CLOSED!!! Noooo! Dear God why????

When I am by myself, I will usually buy a Goose Juice and sit in the little waterside area of Seuss Landing and watch Hulk while I drink. And every time someone walks by you hear this say "Q. Q is for Quan. Quan is for Quandry."

Finally, to my favorite land, Seuss Landing.

Here is a photo for the coaster geek in all of us. This is where Fire is doing the flyover...love it! Airtime on inverted coasters isn't easy to come by, but this one has it!

Next up was Dueling Dragons. It took me years to decide, but I definitely prefer Fire over Ice. The flyover Fire does is the best element in either of these coasters.

I also like watching the boats come down the Jurassic Park flume, though it's dispatches aren't nearly as quick as Bilge Rat Barges.

One of my favorite things to do when it's crowded is to stand on this bridge by Bilge Rat Barges and watch the rafts go under this waterfall. Its infinitely entertaining.

Of course we are!

Next we took in Kim's favorite ride, Spiderman. I've still never been impressed by this ride. It's good, but it's no shot tower or B&M invert!

Next was my favorite ride in the whole park...Dr. Doom! No joke, I love this ride with a passion! And I've never had to wait for it since I always use single rider line. Kim won't ride it though, so it was just one ride for me today.

First stop...HULK! As I said, Kim recently lost 140 pounds, and she thought it was wonderful to be able to ride in one of the normal sized seats on Hulk, not the "big girl" seats.

The adventure begins. I think Islands of Adventure is one of the nicest parks I've ever been to, and is the third nicest in Orlando (behind Magic Kingdom and Epcot). The park is just beautiful, with fantastic rides!

I had the modified version of a Cheeseburger in Paradise. I like mine with tomato and guacamole, french fried potatoes, big kosher pickle and a margarita.

Ahh...just what the doctor ordered I got to keep the glass too!

I particularly love the margarita volcano that's above one of the bars. It seems to erupt about every hour or so.

Lunch was at Margaritaville. Seems like this is the only place I ever eat when I am at Universal anymore! Why go somewhere that's mediocre when I can go here?

It had been an entire year since I made it to Universal, so I was very glad to be back!

[Nrthwnd]

OMG!!! WTF is that?!?! It looks like a bobcat running free in Seuss Landing! It was seriously at least double the size of a normal house cat! Of all the stories, to go home and say you were mauled by a bobcat in Seuss Landing!

 

Well, with all that luscious leftover food in each of the parks, what cat wouldn't grow twice it's normal size?

 

Hey Julie, great continuing TR. And your captions are worth their weight in dill pickles - hah!