There's No Crying in Disney! ***Completed

[lauren_elizabeth]

All caught up on your report! An all-girls trip sounds like a blast!

 

[twob4him]

Wow that was an early post... Its gotta be hard in a way to get around the World with lots of gals in tow....everyone wants to do something different. I love the friendly squirrel. We encountered a friendly bunny...he wouldn't let you touch him but he wouldn't hop away either. Amazing I can just see whats ahead with the Mexican food...I see it coming a mile away! ( a repeat performance by Miss Sourface? ) But I shall wait and see if I am right...not fair jumping to conclusions

 

[Goofyluver]

Uh-oh...is something wrong with the mexican food?????

 

[DisneyJo]

I'd heard about the Epcot trained squirrels

I'm surprised you have any hair left after your trip

 

[PrincessV]

Okay, I loved it all, but I'm about the squirrel! They really don't do them in SoFL? Must be a central FL variety - we've got a TON of eat-from-your-hand squirrels in Tampa!

But my real point here is how the littlest and most surprising things at WDW often get our attention.... for my DS, it's ducks. Mallards, to be exact. He would gladly drop any ride in favor of checkign out some ducks. Too funny!

 

[myrsfmly]

Ugh! I want to be there NOW! Thanks so much, although I have been to Epcot lots of times, I am realizing how much of the details I have missed from reading your report. So i need to get back right away to fix that...

 

[LurrrvtheDuck]

Ah beautiful Japan, the same serene feeling I felt in China was the same one that I felt in Japan. It truly did transport me to a foreign land; I absolutely love the Japan pavilion. I'd have to say it is my favorite part of the WS and boy did we have a good time here. We took some pics outside of the Pagoda and around the koi pond. Collette and I had an impromptu photo with me as the model and she the photographer. She snapped some pretty good pics of me too, I used one of them in the intro page of me.

Ok so off we went into the humongous Japan gift shop. Have I mentioned how much I love this place? It's absolutely wonderful, makes me want to actually travel to Japan. Every time I've been here I always see something new and it actually does look like it's been renovated since the last time I was here because I don't remember it being this big. We're immediately bombarded with all things anime, Yani goes a little crazy because she loves anime. I like anime, but I'm more old school anime and this new stuff I don't know much about. I do pause and admire all the cute Sanrio stuff and am tempted to buy something ChocoCat, seeing as they don't have anything Badtz Maru. We keep wandering and I mention to Yani and Collette that maybe we should buy something for our boss who was nice enough to let all three of us go on vacation at the same time seeing as we all work together in the same department. They agree and we start looking for what we can buy him. I spot a glass case with all these cool looking Samurai swords and there's a little one that is actually a letter opener. I check out the price and it was like $16 which isn't too bad, so I show it to Yani and Collette and they like it too and we agree to get that as a gift. Yeah I know it's a letter opener, but the sword itself is really really cool looking. It's a Samurai sword in it's sheath and it had a little stand to hold it in and everything (I wish I would've taken a pic of it). So I head on over to the lovely CM behind the counter and tell her that I would like to purchase something in the glass case, she comes out and I point out the sword and she shows it to me and then we head back to the counter for the purchase. She tells me that the sword needs to be shipped to me. I was a little confused at this, so I tell her that I live in Florida and won't be flying. She says it's their policy for all weapon type stuff. So I asked her how much that would cost and she explains to me that it's already included in the price, so I said no prob.

After finishing all the necessary paperwork to ship the sword I head off in search of my group. Of course DC is lost somewhere. I find Yani and then DC shows up, she was checking out the oysters that were nearby. We look around for Collette and Monica and spot them down the store in the clothing area. They were all excited because apparently one of the sales girls had modeled a kimono for them. They led us to the dressing room area to show us the other kimono's that were on display. They were absolutely gorgeous and amazing how much detail goes into one of them. We head further down and into the food area of the gift shop. Yani and I pick out some chopsticks for our friend because her new boyfriend is part Japanese and she has a newfound love for all things Japanese, so why not have your own pair of chopsticks? Collette and Monica head further into the food area and I don't know where DC has wondered off to.

While Yani and I finish our chopstick selection we hear all this laughing coming from nearby and who else could it be but Collette and Monica being loud. We wander over to them and see that they've quickly become friends with some other people around the Saki bar. Plus they're all brandishing little white cups and cheering each other and taking shots. Collette grabs me and announces to everyone that it's my birthday and to give me a cup of Saki. I of course am completely embarrassed by this, but seeing that everyone is being loud and it's practically only us in the gift shop I go with the flow modestly and am handed a cup of Saki. I have never had Saki before in my life so I took a small sip not knowing what to expect. It was warm and very smooth and didn't taste too bad. We got introduced to the group and proceeded to take pictures with them and continue our shots.
Here we are:

DC finally appeared next to me and asked what was going on. I gave her a sip of my Saki since they wouldn't serve her any seeing as she's underage.

Yes I am slowly corrupting her, but my theory is better me than some stranger right? Anyhoo our lovely CM bartender who's name is Ayumi (cute name huh?) asks me if it's really my birthday. I nod and tell her that it's actually tomorrow. She takes my Saki cup and turns it around and asks me my name and starts writing something in Japanese. She then hands it to me and tells me that it says "Happy Birthday Li" in Japanese symbols and she dated it.

Here I am with Ayumi and my free souvenir cup:

Everyone else sees this and they all start wanting cups with their names on it. Apparently, though she's not really supposed to do this because she was asking us all to not tell anyone, so we all gave our word and she proceeded to give most of us free souvenir cups with our names in Japanese. We bid our goodbyes to our new friends as they were off to Morocco to continue their drinking tour Around the World. DC pulled me to show me these cute little kitty figures that represent something according to the color. She picked some out and I picked some out too. Yani was buying some stuff and we joined her so we could move on to Morocco. We did some last minute picture taking.
Here are Yani, Collette and Monica as we were leaving Japan:

Here they are again on the opposite side of the matching statue:

Can you tell the Saki was already getting to us?! I sure felt it. It was starting to get cold again, but I was nice and warm thanks to my Saki.

We make our way to Morocco and it's getting darker, I check the time (but I don't remember now what time it was) and check to see when the last character times in Morocco were, and they had long since passed us. Darn I was hoping of getting to meet someone from Aladdin. Namely Aladdin, since he's my second favorite Disney Prince. Oh well, some other time I guess. As we're walking Monica asks me when we're eating. So I explain to her again the plan, that as soon as we finish the WS we're going to head on over to Mexico and use our lunch credit (CS) for dinner. I tell her I want to get there around 8:30-8:45 to get seats because it gets full at night. So she nods and says ok. (Remember this) Honestly there isn't much to do in Morocco. We headed into the itty bitty gift shop and browsed around, took some pics wearing hats:

Then I found the Genie's lamp!
I wish for…..

Collette thought the CM was gorgeous and struck up a conversation with him and his really long name. I decided to buy the lamp because I really really liked it and I hadn't bought many souvenirs. The CM was writing Collette's name in Arabic? I guess. Then my Cuz decided she wanted her name in Arabic too, so he wrote it out for her. I bought my lamp and we headed out towards the next country.

Onward we trekked to France. DC was a little excited to go here because she was dying to have a crepe. I don't really know what there is to do in France either, so we all just decided to admire it from far away and wait for DC. Here's Collette in front of France:

Monica hates France and refused to take any pics and Yani didn't care for a pic either. DC finally came back crepe-less. I asked her what happened and she said that they weren't considered a snack and she decided she didn't want one anymore. Uh ok… DC took a pic in France, and when I uploaded the pics, her pic looked a lot like a pic I had from one of my previous visits. Check it out:
Cuz's pic

Me in '93 (of course DC looks more calm and collected than I do here):

We crossed the little bridge towards the UK and I spotted the International Gateway entrance that I had read so much about when our resort was originally the Yacht Club. I had never noticed it before though, so I was a little excited about this little bit. We took some pics around UK, their Flower and Garden theme had Winnie the Pooh characters and I spotted my favorite character and decided to take a pic with him.

Then we decided to all take a pic inside the famed red telephone booths.

Nighttime was slowly descending and it was getting closer to the 8 o'clock hour and our cameras had started dying. Well at least the flash was. So we didn't stay too long in the UK and quickly proceeded to Canada.

Luckily DC had her camera that she hadn't even touched and had some life in it. So we snapped this pic in Canada while trying on some hats:

They had a cute Bambi Flower/Garden display too, here's DC in front of it:

There wasn't much to do in Canada either; I know they have a film retrospect thingy on Canada but none of us really felt like going to it. So on we marched, I spotted Le Cellier on our way out (which I had never noticed before either). You learn so much from the DIS.

We finally bid the WS Au Revoir, but were headed back around to Mexico anyway.

I Really Need a Margarita...

 

[Goofyluver]

What happened in Mexico??? Margaritas???

 

[twob4him]

I can just guess...ummmm, Collette doesn't like Mexican food and doesn't want to eat here????? She has somehow failed to let you know about this all day

 

[twob4him]

What happened in Mexico??? Margaritas???[/QUOTE]

Wow Jenn...you even know the correct spelling....impressive! I tend to be spelling challenged!

 

[LurrrvtheDuck]

We walk towards Mexico and see everyone flocking in that general direction too. Yani spots a Pirate Goofy so we snap a pic:

We happened to pass a gift shop though, so we decided to make one last shopping excursion. DC immediately wanders off and Collette and Monica kinda linger near the entrance looking at some stuff. Yani and I go in search of a Pal Mickey that I wanted. So we're looking everywhere, Yani spots some POTC stuff and goes kinda crazy since she lurrrves Capt. Jack. I think she ended up buying a cool hat though. We're still looking for the Mickey and I spot Collette and Monica who look kinda annoyed and I ask them if they want to go ahead to Mexico and grab some food and a table while we finish up here. Monica gives me a look and says "Why? Are you trying to get rid of us?" But she says it in a half joking way so I don't really know how to take it so I said "No I just figured you guys are hungry and could go ahead and grab food until we meet up with you." So she says, "No, go ahead, we'll wait." I shrug and Yani and I continue the Pal Mickey quest. I finally ask a CM and she tells me that they have them behind the counters. So Yani and I head to a register to buy her stuff and to buy my Pal Mickey. Yani proceeds to buy it for me and says it's my birthday present from her. Awwww! So after I hug my Mickey we go in search of DC and then Collette and Monica. Once we're all ready to go we walk as quickly as we can to Mexico.

By now it’s like 8:30pm and the place is packed of course. I’m looking for a place to sit near the lagoon and there’s nothing open. So I spot a little stone area to sit on and claim it. I turn to Monica and Collette and say “We’re gonna stay here and hold the spot, so if you guys want you can go and get some food and we’ll get our food when you guys come back.”

And that is when all hell breaks loose.

Monica decides to show her tail (as Sorul8 calls it) and starts her hissy fit.
She starts in “You know this is the second time you’ve said this and I don’t appreciate it. Are you trying to get rid of us?”

Me: “No I’m just telling you that we’re gonna hold this spot while you guys go get some food. Then we’ll get food when you come back, because there’s nowhere to sit and I don’t want to lose this spot.”

Monica: “I don’t appreciate the way you’re talking to us and dismissing us. This is the second time you’ve done this today and I’m tired of it. You’re an adult but your acting as if we’re children. I’m a grown woman and I’ve been following you around all day since you’re the so-called Disney expert (she says this very sarcastically) and I’ve stayed quiet all day following you. You’re not properly communicating though and just ordering us around and I’m an adult and deserve better!”

By this time I can’t believe what she’s saying to me and am embarrassed because I know everyone is looking at us, but I keep all this anger in and calmly proceed to talk to her.
Me: “Look, I don’t know when the other time it was that I ordered you around, but all I’m saying is that you guys can get your food first because I know you guys are very hungry and we’ll stay here and hold this spot until you come back.”

Monica: “You don’t remember the other time? Don’t act childish.”

Me: “No I don’t remember what other time, please tell me when I said something like that to you, because I truly didn’t mean to order you about.”

Monica: “When we were in the store you told us to go ahead. I thought we were having dinner like we have been and we are all going to sit down at a table and eat all together but apparently you don’t want to be around us. I don’t know if you’re feeling guilty for making us wait so long to eat lunch or what. But the way you’ve been acting is ridiculous and the most you could do is tell us what we’re doing because I thought we were all going to eat dinner together.”

Me thinking, I made her wait so long for lunch?! OMG this lady has completely gone wacko on me.
Me: “Well I’m sorry you felt that way, I did explain to you that we were coming here to eat when you asked me, but it’s like a fast food eating where we get our own food and find our own table to eat at. But since it’s so full right now and I don’t want to lose this spot because they’re going to put on a show in a little bit and I wanted us to have a good view while we eat. “

Monica: “You said we were going to have dinner. So I thought it meant we were all going to sit down at a table all together like we have been and eat together.”

Apparently she is suffering from some sort of separation anxiety and she’s obviously not listening to anything I’m saying to her. At this point Yani jumps in and sarcastically says, “Well there aren’t any tables if you haven’t noticed, so we’re holding this spot while you guys get food and then we can get food.”

I think Monica gave her a displeasing look and she said something to her.

Me: "Well I truly didn't mean for it to come off that way and I'm sorry you felt that way, but I explained it to you twice and I thought you understood, but apparently you didn't. We're going to sit here so you guys can do whatever you want because you're obviously not listening to anything I'm saying."

She says more repetitive stuff that I don’t remember because by this time my head is basically buzzing from control of not yelling at her for being so dense. Then she and Collette walked away.

So off I stare into the lagoon and the lit WS going over what just happened in my head and feeling completely frustrated and embarrassed and angry by her stupidity. I mean I explained it to her twice what the plan was and apparently as Yani starts speaking she tells me that Monica had asked her too and Yani explained to her that there were going to be fireworks and that we were going to Mexico to eat and watch them before we left. I don’t understand, apparently it’s like talking to a wall to her. By this time it’s freezing cold again so I pull out my jacket that I had bought earlier and Yani and I huddle together to keep warm and DC who’s been quiet the entire time says she’s going to go get some food.

So Yani and I sit in silence and I stare off again into the lagoon, which is now lit by torches, and we’re grateful because the heat of the torch is warming us up some. I start to feel the big bulge in my throat as my anger/frustration is still in me. DC comes back and sits by me and offers me some of her food, but my appetite has completely left me and then she tells me about how rude Collette and Monica were in the lines getting their food, not to her, but to a CM. I just shrug it off and then I feel my throat bulge giving way and moving and the first tears start trickling down. I look away from Yani and try not to look at DC and try so hard not to sniffle because I hate crying from anger/frustration because of someone else’s stupidity.

So I’m silently crying and a damn sniffle gives me away and DC turns to me and says, “Li are you crying?” Which makes me cry even more as I say nothing and then she puts her arm around me and hugs me and says, “Don’t cry Li, you’re in Disney, you’re not supposed to cry.” Which makes me give her a watery smile, but tears continue to slide out. I start saying I don’t know why she acted that way, that I had explained things to her twice and even Yani told her and then DC says that she told her too. I said I wanted to surprise them with the fireworks since it’s their first time ya know and we didn’t get here in time and I didn’t mean to be rude if I was, which I didn’t think I was. I think that people understand what I’m explaining to them, I forget that in my head I know what’s going on and I thought I explained it well enough for her to understand, but apparently she’s retarded and didn’t understand me, which I don’t see how that happened because even Yani told her and you. Ugh it’s just so annoying! Then Yani in her infinite wisdom says, “You know what? Who cares, let’s just enjoy ourselves and forget about them.” This makes me feel a little better, but now I have a freaking headache from the crying and lack of food. I have a sip of DC’s drink and then Illuminations finally starts.

This is the only pic we got, which Yani’s camera happened to capture:

After Illuminations we gather up our stuff and turn around to leave and Collette approaches me with this huge smile on her face and practically jumping saying, “That was awesome! Oh my God that was so awesome.” I don’t even know what to do and give her a half hearted smile and nod and turn to look for DC and Yani, who are hovering behind me. There’s no fooling Collette though and she grabs me and asks, “Are you ok?” I nod my head because I don’t trust my voice because that damn bulge is back. She says, “You’re not ok. Are you crying?” I’m not even looking at her and shake my head no because I’m determined not to give them the satisfaction of seeing me cry, but tears are already blurring my vision and I just want to leave. Collette grabs me again and starts hugging me and telling me not to cry and starts making up excuses for Monica and I don’t remember what else and by this time I’m crying like a freaking baby and telling her that I didn’t mean for her to feel that way and that I thought she understood because I had explained it to her twice and that I wanted the fireworks to be a surprise. By this time Collette is crying too and still consoling and hugging me and apologizing for Monica still and then she calls out to Monica and then Monica starts talking and saying stuff and then Collette says that we all need to have a group hug and not be angry with each other. I honestly did not want to be hugging Monica so Yani was my buffer as we grouped hugged and my tears had subsided a little, even though my headache was bigger now.

After our hug we gathered our stuff again and starting herding out of the park. Collette and Monica walked ahead of Yani, DC and I as we stayed huddled together from the freezing cold. We made our way to the bus stop and packed ourselves into the overcrowded bus back to the resort.

When we got back to the resort, Yani and I stayed behind because I was still waiting for our Croc so I said I was going to check something at the desk and we’ll be up. Then under my breath to Yani I said, “I hope that’s enough communication and they can stand to be briefly separated.” Yani laughed and shook her head in complete understanding. Our Croc had not arrived, nor had a package I was waiting for from my house. As we’re headed back to the room, I see that the food court is still open and ask Yani if she’s hungry and wants to grab some food. We never got to eat in Epcot (a margarita would've been completely helpful there though) so we grabbed some pasta and sat in the food court to eat our dinner. We started talking about what happened and by this time I was in complete anger mode and no longer crying and just angry that she ruined the day. I mean I didn’t even invite her and that’s what made everything worse. As we finished throwing our stuff away Yani says again, “Just ignore them and enjoy yourself, that’s what’s important.” Then she looks at her watch and hops to me and gives me a hug and says “Happy Birthday Li!” I laugh and hug her back and say thank you and we walk back to the room passing some weirdos swimming in the freezing cold and call it a night.

Happy Birthday to ME!!

 

[Donald is #1]

Wow! What a frustrating evening! You definitely needed a after that. I'm so sorry to hear about that night.

 

[tinawv]

Your trip report is great, and I absolutely loveeee your pictures.

 

[Dizmom0923]

It seems like someone always has to complain. If you take me with you next time I promise I won't do that. Great trip report.

 

[Goofyluver]

Wow Jenn...you even know the correct spelling....impressive! I tend to be spelling challenged!

It's the Mexican in me!





And Li...I'm sorry for your bad day! How rotton. To me...it didn't seem like you did anything at all...and I think someone was being over sensitive. I'm sorry your pre-birthday was yucky!

 

[Glendamax]

Wow! What an installment! First fun, then frustrating! I think I'm gonna take the cue from you, and start adding in all the crappy stuff in my trip reports as well! I ALWAYS leave the bad stuff out - especially the incidents with racists people who are soooo disappointed when they have to sit or stand next to me (Believe me, I have tons of those stories) In 2005 I even got into a shouting match with the person I travelled with!

I am sorry that what was supposed to be a great surprise at the end of the day ended in tears. But I do appreciate that you took the time to tell what happened!

Hope you write the rest soon! And that it turns out to be a better day!

 

[PrincessV]

THEY INSTALLED A SAKI BAR??????? Where the heck have I been?! Loves me some saki....

You guys missed the movie in France? That's it - I order you to return to WDW right this minute and see that fabulous, glorious, amazing homage to France! Not that I'm biased or anything.

I'm so sorry your day ended on such a rotten note. I think this is but one of the hazards of traveling with multiple personalities - people respond to unfamiliar territory so differently. I don't know if Monica's like this, but the primary issue I have with my mother at WDW is how frazzled she gets in crowds and when she's unfamiliar with her surroundings. I promise, we've had countless episodes like what you described. Hope things improve for your Bday!

 

[JenandMolly]

Great report!! Can't wait to read more.

 

[DisneyJo]

Oh no I'm so sorry that the day ended like that

BTW it's a telephone box not booth OK Sorry had a box/booth discussion last week

 

[Disneyolic]

BTW it's a telephone box not booth OK Sorry had a box/booth discussion last week

That discussion ended with the fact that it is a BOOTH not a box. Psst Jo...I was definitely thinking of you when she posted that!