DC2CERUMA - Day 3

Viscerally would be a good word to describe several of today's events. Some feelings that I just felt down in my gut. Feelings that just happened. They were unexpected.

The day started at Disney Hollywood Studios. Toy Story Mania. Got to the park before rope drop at the intersection of Hollywood and Sunset. Once the rope dropped the mad dash was on to Pixar place and Toy Story Mania. I was towards the front of the pack and went into the line to get a fast pass. I stood by as the line where I was didn't move due to one lady having problems getting FPs to spit out.

As I stood by, there were what seemed like legions of people passing me by. The green army men were out to help with the crowd. One even commented that I must be from Hawaii because my shirt was so loud. I didn't know what to say, while I was wearing an aloha shirt, it was one of my more subdued shirts.

Inside the queue, I really liked it better than California's version. When someone says the parks are the same, you can point to this as a difference. In line the lady in front of me and myself got talking. Turns out she's a knowledgeable Disney fan. We ended up riding together. I just edged out Becky from Ohio and got to share with her about my podcasts and pictures of Aulani, the Disney Vacation Club Resort that is coming up in Hawaii.

The two big rides were next with Tower of Terror and Rock n Rollercoaster starring Aerosmith. I like WDWs ride mechanism for Tower, but Tokyo's has a kick butt story. When someone says the parks are the same, you can point to this as a difference. The only problem that I have with RnR is the big safety harness with makes it a bit awkward trying to get in and out. But, you manage because it's such a cool ride!

Heading back down Sunset Blvd, I checked with a couple of cast members to see if they knew if Rosie would be out. Neither knew. In the animation building, I met up with Joseph who worked at Disneyland and transferred to WDW. It was good to see him. Fun lunch talk at the Studio Catering Company. He needed to get home to sleep so I walked up to the front of the park to say bye, but I'll see him next week at DPN Westfest.

Just about each time I passed a photopass person, I stopped for pictures! But what I really wanted to do was find Rosie. I stopped at the Information Booth and talked to the girls there. They said that didn't know what Citizens of Hollywood would be out. They depended on the Citizens telling them. Come on now, they have a list of what characters would be where for characters like Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and the rest of the gang, they should be able to do the same for the Citizens.

The American Idol Experience took up my 2pm time slot.

I was impressed with the stage and how the show was pulled off. My singers weren't that impressive in my opinion. The "Winner" was a 14 year old who likes theater. He chose Lion King's Circle of Life and it was so over the top. Well, it is what it is. Who knows, maybe he had a lot of relatives in the audience.

About this time I discovered a couple people were going to be in the parks and made some arrangements. I was lucky with Toast when he called. My phone battery is dieing quickly. To save the battery, I was putting the phone in plane mode which shut off searching for signal which was draining the battery. Every so often i would take it out of airplane mode to pick up new twitters and Facebook updates. I had just enabled the phone for regular service when Toast called. It was a fun lunch because I had enabled regular calls again.

So, a note to people. I might be answering my phone right away at WDW with the poor signal quality I don't want to drain the battery. If you call or are looking for an answer, please leave a message and I'll get back with you!

I went back to animation after the Great Movie Ride. I waiting in line for the UP! characters. There was a long line, but it was worth it. When I got up to Carl, Dug and Russell, I just had this really strong feeling in my gut.

I asked Dug if he could sit and he obediently did so. The photo pass photographer took a number of shots. I felt wonderful with the three of them. I don't totally know why. I think it's because of the message that was conveyed. As I sit here writing this paragraph, those same feelings are on me. When I went to leave Dug, I hugged him and in the position I was in, my head was near his mouth. I heard a slurp like I was being licked. It was one of those moments.

Back on Hollywood Blvd, there a director there setting up a shoot with his assistant. I asked them if they knew if Rosie was working. When asked why I said that I had been there before and she had a really, really good way to remove stubborn spots and I couldn't remember what she told me. He let me know that she usually worked Fridays but that she was off today. This corroborated what someone had told me earlier in the day and that Rosie was semi retired. Within hour of the first one, I had that same strong feeling in my gut. I was soooo disappointed. I love the character!

My choice of transportation to get between the Studios and Epcot was a water shuttle. I was so tired that I apparently dozed off. After we hit the last stop before arriving at Epcot, I startled awake and then heard "each seat can accommodate three people. If there aren't three people, please more towards the outside allowing other people to sit down." I looked around and I was the only bench that had open space. I know who the captain of the Friendship III was talking to!

When I entered Epcot via the International Gateway, I turned right to head over to the American Gardens. When I got near the bridge to the French pavilion, there was a third reaction and this one was strong enough that I could have said I had major allergies flaring up with the sniffling nose and runny eyes. But this one I know why. Back in December 2007 Mousefest I had pictures taken showing me with Paris in the background. I wanted to get to Paris to complete my Disney Park World Tour. In 2008, I made the trip and accomplished a major dream for me. It was there at Epcot that I was able to visualize that goal and 29 months later realizing the power that that moment in 2007 had done to affect me. It took a while for me to get myself under control.

In the American Gardens Theater, Atlanta Rhythm Section was about to get started on the Flower Power Concert Series. With the help of a regular CM, I was able to reconnect with a fellow college program custodial cast member. The funny part was when I asked for this person I got the eye, like "What, you trying to serve a subpoena or something?" I took out my phone and showed a text message saying to look him up. Once I did that, it was only a matter of minutes before the now manager appeared by the concert's control booth. We took a few minutes to say hi and talk. I posted on Facebook that I had met up with a former college program alumni and he responded in the positive to my post. One of the other alumni also asked who it was. Given some of the issues with Facebook, one thing that can be said is that it does make it easier to reconnect with people!

After the meeting in the American Gardens, I moved over to the Kidcot area there at the American Adventure and connected with The Legend. He and I are hosts on the In the Loop podcast and have communicated via e-mail and on the show for several years. It was great to be able to meet in person. For those of you reading this that are trying to get me to the Intimidation Meet for the Intimidator 305 coaster next weekend so we can meet, all I can say is sorry since I've had plans for DPN Westfest for many months and knowledge of the dates for two, almost three years. It is very cool to meet people who you have listened to and watched .

The Legend, excuse me, the Award Winning Legend, and I spent the evening in the park doing some attractions and eating. We tried Tangerine Cafe. Rides included but not limited to Sum of all Thrills, Spaceship Earth and Nemo and Friends. The Turtle Talk with Crush here is cooler than that at Califonia Adventure since this holding room has real jellyfish, puffer fish and rays to look at. When someone says the parks are the same, you can point to this as a difference. He pointed out some items for the Flower and Garden and I got to show him new interpretations to the wall hanging in The Circle of Life theater. The same carpeting is hanging on the walls 24 years after I had worked there. We're going to do Universal at the start of next week and I'm looking forward to it!

Jeff Lange entered the picture today. As The Legend and myself were exiting I saw Jeff. I introduced the two. Jeff introduced us to Bruce Lau, an artist who creates collector items for Disney. He was in the park to sign some of his art. Before we all separated ways, I got Jeff's attention and yelled "JUICY!"

The Legend dropped me off at Pop Century. I decided to hop in the pool for a little bit. When I did there were two ducks outside my door in the grass. Although I didn't write about it, last night there was a rabbit and tonight ducks.

I don't get animals like that outside my door in Hawaii.

For the Awesome Job cards, none were given out today. I made 60 cards, but so far only one has gone out. None of the situations/questions I asked today were things really outside the norm and didn't require complex answers. Maybe tomorrow! It was good to meet new people and reconnect with old friends. While I maybe traveling solo, I'm not traveling alone!

Tomorrow will start at the Magic Kingdom and not sure what after that. But, I will do a little bit of a sleep in before going out!