SharkTums Posted April 30, 2006 Share Posted April 30, 2006 Good Luck Derek! And yes, the pictures are hilarious! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Johnson Posted April 30, 2006 Author Share Posted April 30, 2006 Don't worry too much Derek, the photos are just fine. It is the 6 chapters of The Chronicles of Derek and Greg you need to worry about! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted April 30, 2006 Share Posted April 30, 2006 Southwest also sponsors the sky ride at BGE. No wonder the lines are always so long. Fun stuff, guys--thanks. I'm flying Southwest out of Norfolk to California in August for 1) my niece Sarah's wedding and 2) a trip to Disneyland to check out the 50th anniversary stuff. Wish me luck there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nrthwnd Posted May 1, 2006 Share Posted May 1, 2006 Excellent TR Chroniclessssss Erik! Derek. You dance alone, but with power and 'self' and...... Eh, what was the beer again you finally got? Looked like a great time for all, guys. And I guess Derek will be the 'TPR-Meister" for the UK Tour, huh? All those UK beers to learn, remember, understand....consume....and share with othersssss.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Florida420 Posted May 1, 2006 Share Posted May 1, 2006 Yet again nice PTR, I loved the videos. But Erik, I am a little offended that you have not participated in my "guess that toilet" game, after all I did it just for you. You didn't put any special game in your TR for me. Even though, you did seem to use a few "similar" shots for it. 8) I'll just consider that your nod to me. maybe it's just a coincidence, don't know. It's OK your still my dawg! Follow-up "It's still really F'n busy!" shot. Mandatory "look a this F'n crowd, all waiting to get in!" shot Gratuitous "Full Parking Lot" shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wes Posted May 1, 2006 Share Posted May 1, 2006 GARY IS TALKING TO ME. I miss him too. Is it October yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nrthwnd Posted May 1, 2006 Share Posted May 1, 2006 No. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregleg Posted May 1, 2006 Share Posted May 1, 2006 Yikes, too funny. I'll get the Rock N Roller Coaster credit someday. Yesterday we decided we'd rather just go to Magic Kingdom, rather than me wasting time at MGM. My flight home fared somewhat better than Derek's, but it still wasn't pleasant. Here's the message I sent to some fellow frequent fliers when I got home (and I'm probably going to post over at Flyertalk): If I ever fly Southwest again I'll shoot myself, twice for good measure. Calling them a Mickey Mouse airline is too harsh on Disney. Most unprofessional behavior I've ever seen in a flight crew member. The pilot had decided that a landing gear strut needed to be changed. Fair enough, but he did this AFTER we'd boarded. That had us sitting on the ground for an hour while he "found a mechanic who understood him". So, that's bad enough (but whatever). But THEN, the flight attendant announced "Ok, ladies and gentlemen, we're going to be breaking in a new landing gear now, so you might want to give your loved ones a kiss before we take off, just in case..." I know Southwest tries to encourage a "fun" environment, and I know there wasn't any issues and she was trying to be cute, but you NEVER joke about safety. That was the last straw on an already poor experience (the flight down had issues, too). First impressions mean a lot, my first time on Southworst was anything BUT favorable. I've had issues with USAirways, but they've always done much better than this, and this trip made me appreciate US all over again. And don't get me started about the group boarding thing (even with an "A" pass on both flights). The elite rush on the majors has NOTHING on that madhouse. Derek's experience was even worse -- his flight home was delayed 3 and an half hours. These things happen, but... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Johnson Posted May 1, 2006 Author Share Posted May 1, 2006 The question I need to ask Derek is, "Did Greg get his RnR credit Sunday morning?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekRx Posted May 1, 2006 Share Posted May 1, 2006 Originally I hadn't planned on coming down to ride Expedition Everest until I was 100% certain it would be opened, which would be after April 7. I planned this weekend with Greg "Glutenfree" because he hadn't been to Disney in over 12 years. I got the credit on E:E back in March on an unplanned trip, but decided I love Disney enough to want to come back again. I figured this would be a dead weekend, but I was SO very wrong! Kali is a fun rapids where you don't get too wet, except for 1 side of the boat We met up with Erik and Leann, and then headed to this since we had time and I like dung OK, here's interesting logic. Step 1. Build bridge connecting area to new attraction to even out traffic flow. Step 2. open bridge. Step 3. open attraction. Step 4. Close bridge. WTF?!?! Dark, Dark, Dinosaur! was totally worth the trip! We're on the ride, we're excited "Jeff, why don't you call or write anymore!?" Random turtle dude Dave, wish you were here! This was the real reason I keep coming back to Animal Kingdom anyway They were only running 1 side at the moment, but its only 1 credit to Greg, so he didn't mind. Plus there was NO wait After getting our fastpasses for EE, we swam our way against the current of the River of Tourism back to DinoRama for Greg's cha-ching Apparently someone told EVERYONE that Expedition Everest was opened I'm beginning to wonder if we should have gone to Knoebels instead OMG! This must be the Sea of Humanity portion of the park! Saturday morning we were at Animal Kingdom for opening (this sign still shows they're building Beastly Kingdom) Coronado Springs was really nice and quiet, unlike the All-Stars The resort wasn't very busy at midnight Just finding my riding position, 'cause I'll be in it for like 14 days come June We stayed on site at Coronado Springs, so we got to take advantage of the Magical Express Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekRx Posted May 1, 2006 Share Posted May 1, 2006 Then we had more time to kill before Erik and Leann's fastpasses were good on EE, so we decided to show Greg some of the animal portion of the park. "Gimme back my beer, you sumabytch!" Looks like the Yeti is looking for more HopDevil Ale End of the line. But the bird-on-a-stick flew away before I got there No mist yet, maybe next time. Then its another credit, right Jeff? But Erik is enjoying it WAY too much! A nice start to the ride Even Farmer John heard about EE and drove his tractor to Orlando Its true that Cuba is stuck in the 1980s. Erik's jean jacket would sell very high on CuBay.com, the Cuban equivalent of eBay The steam was working this time around. That means new credit, right Jeff? This is what EE looks like thru a giant straw According to this, you actually aren't climbing Mt Everest, you're going on a voyage of the Forbidden Mountain, home of that beer swiping Yeti Finally its time to ride EE The Jungle thing has birds too, this is a bird. Kids, do not try this at home. And wear a helmet, because GI Joe says so. And now you know... "Take me with you!" Erik's had enough of AK and is ready to leave Its nicely themed though These elusive creatures only come out when you're driving late at night on the highways going 70mph These ostrich were sure malnurished! Haha! Everyone THOUGHT I had a camera, when in reality its a highly sophisticated micro 12 gauge shotgun. Sorry kitty, you're not so Grrrrreat now, are ya!? But this bat wanted to show us something else of his Heres a bat hanging out showing off his wingspan in the Jungle Trek something or other Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekRx Posted May 2, 2006 Share Posted May 2, 2006 Moving on, we attempted to get Greg on Tower of Terror and Rock n Roller Coaster. Obtaining Tower Fastpasses were easy, but something must have been really bad over at Coaster because the Fastpass returns were at 4pm by noon, and standby was around an hour. After standing in line for Coaster standby for over 70 minutes, it broke down indefinitely and they kicked us out of line. Greg got no credit on RnRC this trip. Erik says "MGM today was just lots of pooh" "Hi, I'm a Vekoma ride. I'm going to break down now. No rides for you today!" Greg is amazed by the Worlds Largest Bathroom stall At least they had the street performers out Good Tower can cheer us up "I'm a big ole hat, I'm blocking out the Chinese Theater!" I don't like crowds But that changed upon entry At arrival it doesn't look too crowded Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted May 2, 2006 Share Posted May 2, 2006 Derek, have I mentioned that I love it when you put inside jokes in your trip reports that only like 3 people understand and two of those people probably forgot by now!!!! It is sad that Jeff dumped her! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekRx Posted May 2, 2006 Share Posted May 2, 2006 After the calibre of sucktitute that Disney MGM Studios was offering, the only thing that could have any hope of being satisfactory on Saturday was Epcot. If nothing else I knew that 2 of the newest rides would have single rider lines, so even if we couldn't all ride together and make dinner plans, we could all at least ride. We decided to take a more leisurely pace for this and take the boat from MGM to Epcot, arriving at the International Gate. Complete with an animatronic Down at the World of Disney store in Downtown Disney they were really hyping up Pirates of the Caribbean And then the grand finale made your head a splode All right! the fire barge is back and Illuminations is awesome again I SO can't wait to see all this stuff in June! Sake it to me, baby! Then it was off to hike the stairs to dinner Though at least they brought Figment back, although he's about as annoying now as Stitch Journey also had no wait, so we showed Greg how much they ruined it from the original version If Jeff had to carry envelopes with these giant floral created stamps, I don't think they'd be only 39 cents each. Wow, this "Please Try Another Flavor" sure is a hot seller all over the world! I really miss the old Cooling Zone with the snow and everything. And they were out of a LOT of types of drinks, including the Chinese Watermelon > After being asleep for 3 months I was thirsty! With warnings like this ALL OVER the ride, no wonder it only had a 0 minute standby wait. =( "Hello, Wes. Please come visit me again soon, I miss you" Welcome to CSI: Space Watch out, Robb! They forgot to turn off the "paint" robots! =D I never knew Florida had such dramatic temperature changes! Am I going thru Menopause, or is it getting hot in here? We ended up doing Single Rider on Test Track, but it was still only a 10 minute wait, even though it said 30. But as nice as they look, they're not food. Which is why I prefer Food and Wine Festival in October/November They bring out lots of them for this Flower Festival every April My mom would have really liked the orchids in Mexico If these steins were actually filled with Spaten Optimator, Soren would have lost his job and been deported, I would still be passed out in the Germany fountain, and Greg would be dead And then we catch "Soren at Work" And I find my favorite German too! Beer! Erik finds a familar German, Stefan! These guys were practicing for the International Taiko Drum Game Festival Epcot was hosting the annual International Flower and Garden Festival. Home Depot was a big sponsor I guess, as they were giving out aprons to children (but they wouldn't give me one) ='( Though Erik's message to Elissa may have made her send out her happiness calvary. 15 minutes out of MGM and we're already feeling better. (except poor Elissa who was being pestered by Erik as seen here!) The final stop before Epcot was the Boardwalk, which made me think of three great things: Robb, Elissa, and beer As well as the Yacht Club with its really neat themed pool On the way, we passed the Swan and Dolphin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luxo Posted May 2, 2006 Share Posted May 2, 2006 YOUR-HEAD-A-SPLODE Haha, I love the Homestar Runner reference, nice pics! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niiicolaaah Posted May 2, 2006 Share Posted May 2, 2006 OMFG look at that lady totally staring at Derek in disgust out of the corner of her eye!! \/LOUISE did you see my thread in the GAP for you????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louise Posted May 2, 2006 Share Posted May 2, 2006 This PTR combined with everyone's photos from March has got me itching to get back to Florida. Maybe I'll win the lottery and be able to make it over there again at some point before I'm dead. (Possible a little dramatic.) I've been laughing at a few of the captions but this photo cracked me up the most: The look on that woman's face is priceless! EDIT: LMAO Nicole, we think alike! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Johnson Posted May 2, 2006 Author Share Posted May 2, 2006 YOUR-HEAD-A-SPLODE Haha, I love the Homestar Runner reference, nice pics! If you watch some of the later clips that were posted, you would think that they were being narrated by Strong Bad himself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niiicolaaah Posted May 2, 2006 Share Posted May 2, 2006 Let's just keep posting that pic over and over, it is so funny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Johnson Posted May 2, 2006 Author Share Posted May 2, 2006 You know, I thought it was a bit strange that the rodents were at the Epcot side gate when we were coming through. See, that text message to Elissa paid off, thanks Elissa. Though Chip did drink the beer that was meant for you Derek. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekRx Posted May 2, 2006 Share Posted May 2, 2006 Our final day (of 2) was at Magic Kingdom. I was kind of worried seeing how crowded the other parks were on Saturday, but then I remembered Grad Night, so I hoped we would be better off, we were. We were only there for a little more than 3 hours, but we managed to do everything we wanted, and then some. We would have liked to stay longer to get some more rides in, but there's always next time (which for me is July!) I decided to take a little nap since I'd be 3.5 hours late arriving home overall. I can't wait to go back to Walt Disney World, but I certainly won't be doing it on Southwest Airlines! while at the airport, I finished my UK trip shopping and tested some of it out Luckily my mp3 player has a long battery life! This is where the Southwest plane should have been. As we left Disney for the airport, everything was on time. Then 10 minutes into the journey, my plane was delayed by 2 hours. Though apparently some lessons I'll never learn And my main reason for coming to the Magic Kingdom at all, the Dole Whip. My favorite ice cream since I was 8. And we had enough time to ride Pirates before it went down for rehab They even had the horses out on Main Street today We got sent to the back of the plane, an ominous vision of the future? I may like Toontown better than Toontown Fair, but I like Barnstormers theming better than Gadget's Go Coasters. Vekoma really tried to put the trains together like this! Greg's final credit of the trip, Barnstormer All aboard! I haven't ridden these since I was like 8, but didn't feel like waiting for it either Disney's Great Mistake Its a castle, its bigger than some. You get the point. You can't go to Disney World and not be inspired to eat their great popcorn But we still paid his little coaster a visit I guess Reid was really mad that we didn't come see him the night before because he broke Splash before we could attempt 13 people in a boat! Careful Yankees, they travel in packs! (because they're not only brother and sister, but also husband and wife) Though the scariest thing may have been OUTSIDE the Haunted Mansion...Rednecks! We hit Philharmagic which was pretty good, and then made our way to the Mansion Snow White had no wait, so we dedicated a ride to Bret and Dave. We also wanted to see the complete story that Disneyland doesn't have Pooh, its no Disneyland Tokyo, but its no Disneyland either! Metal palm trees are the future So I brought my Disneyland Space Mountain onride music with, which synched up pretty well The only Space Mountain with these trains and no onboard music Greg couldn't remember if he rode both sides, so we grabbed a fastpass to come back later to make sure he got on both Alpha and Omega We headed right for Tomorrowland for some Space Mountain Mickey and all his rodent friends came out to open the park Soon there will be one less park that has this entrance type We got to the Magic Kingdom just before opening Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugged One Posted May 2, 2006 Share Posted May 2, 2006 Great pics as usual Derek. That caption for the pic of you with Soren and Greg is a classic. Not too mention the look on that ladies face on Test Track. That's a bummer about your flight home. We've flown Southwest a lot over the last couple of years without too many problems. Here's hoping our Saturday morning flight to Tampa this weekend is problem free. Although I probably just jinxed it by saying that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted May 2, 2006 Share Posted May 2, 2006 In your first "Dole Whip" picture, it looked like your ice cream was chocolate dipped, then I realized it was just some woman's hair in the background. Why does Dole Whip deliver a more deadly brain freeze than any other ice cream? It does that to me, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted May 2, 2006 Share Posted May 2, 2006 What's up with this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Florida420 Posted May 2, 2006 Share Posted May 2, 2006 Or This?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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