April 11, 2010
Day 1, Part 7 In Which I Knock Over the Elderly Trying To Get To My Prince Charming
NOW EDITED WITH SOME PHOTOS!
WHEW.
It’s been awhile!
Where were we? Ah, yes… at a place I would much rather be.
Let’s go back now to our room at the Caribbean Beach Resort. Where we were getting ready to go have dinner at the Grand Floridian.
I had to shower first. We had planned on buying small bottles of shampoo and conditioner at the supermarket upon arrival. Of course that didn’t work out because of Hertz Lady.
“I’m sure they have shampoo and conditioner at Old Port Royale,” my mom said.
“Oh, it’s ok, I’ll just use the Disney stuff.”
“………..are you sure?”
“Yes.”
I don’t know what I was thinking. I was probably in that Disney bliss state of mind where everything is perfect and nothing can go wrong. Unless you miss your ADR time which is obviously, a disaster.
You wanna know what is an even bigger disaster? Brushing your chlorine-ified hair out when it has the Disney shampoo/conditioner/goo in it. Because really that’s all it is. Is goo. There is nothing in that bottle that acts even remotely the way conditioner does.
THANK GOD I had my Got2B magic hair lotion in my bag. Someone gave it to me as a gift and I was like “Hair lotion? Ew.” But it smells INCREDIBLE and gives your hair body. This time I put it in after I got out of the shower hoping that it did SOMETHING besides make me want to die, like the goo did. Thankfully it acted as a conditioner and all my knots were gone! So ladies: Got2B Hair Lotion is the key to your happiness.
Or you could just bring shampoo and conditioner.
Or you can beat up Hertz Lady when she tries to practically blackmail you for a Rent-A-Car.
Sigh. I’ll get you, Hertz Lady!
Off we went to the Grand Floridian. I was SOSOSOSOSOOSOSOSOSOSO excited. Beyond reason. The bus ride from CBR to the MK is long and I believe the bus was actually bouncing along with me. In excitement of arriving. How could it not be? Sigh… I’m tearing up just thinking about it. Oh, Disney.
We arrived at MK with plenty of time. Oh my my. My first glimpse of the Magic Kingdom in a year and a half. Took my breath away, it did.
Are you about to cry from the beauty of these photos or am I just emotionally unstable?
If only they would let you camp on this beach. I hate camping, outdoors, bugs, etc. But I would make this my HOME in an instant.
I lead my mom straight ahead to the Resorts Monorail. Remember, she had no idea where we were going. It took EVERY RESTRAINT I had in my body not to run to the Magic Kingdom and assault it with hugs.
My mom was confused. “Where are we going? Isn’t the Magic Kingdom this way?”
“We’re not going to the Magic Kingdom,” I said, feeling bittersweet.
“Then why… are we here…?”
My mom isn’t as Disney obsessed as me and hadn’t visited in four years. She was truly confused a lot of the time. I told her to just follow me. You have to get creative with Disney transportation. She didn’t realize that we were getting on THE MONORAIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My version of Heaven mostly involves the Walt Disney World Monorail System.
It’s happiness. Bottled up in a highway in the sky.
The smell. Is THE BEST SMELL ever. Even better than the dirty Disney water smell. Even better than Laila, the essence of Norway. Even better than ANYTHING YOU HAVE EVER SMELLED.
The man’s voice. SIGH!!! TEARS IN MY EYES AGAIN!! JUST DESCRIBING THIS!!!!!
Let me tell you a secret: if a man wants to seduce me… he needs to say only this:
“For the comfort of others, no smoking please.”
AND I WILL BE SMITTEN INSTANTLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Or “We are now circling the Disney created Seven Seas Lagoon.”
Even if there is NO LAGOON present… I will fall into his arms instantly.
I will ESPECIALLY want to marry him if the man says, of course:
“Por favor mantengase alejado de las puertas.”
Of course… no one ever does. Oh my aching heart!
I guess we’ll discuss my troubled love life later, because we were almost at the Grand Floridian!! As we approached it, I said, “God, the Grand Floridian is just so beautiful.”
A man sitting with his family across from us turned to look at it and said, in complete seriousness, “Oh, that big thing is the Grand Floridian?! It's nice!”
So we pulled up to the big, nice Grand Floridian and I knocked over several members of the elderly community and I think a child? While running out and through the doors.
Again… THE SMELL!!!!!!!! Whacks you in the face. The Grand Floridian smells so pretty. And it’s just so WHITE. And light pink. And prettttttttttttttttty.
I took this photo before running to the right and down the stairs:
A little crooked but I was in a hurry! Even though we were like 25 minutes early for our ADR, I was too excited to pause and take proper photos.
We headed downstairs to check in at 1900 Park Fare. The last time we had dinner here was in April 2006 and it was DEEEEEEEEEEEEELISHUS. And I was VERY excited to eat here again. I especially wanted their tri-color tortellini, which had been removed from the buffet for awhile, but added back soon before my trip! See, I knew the World revolved around me.
We went up to the podium and checked in. I gave our name. Immediately the woman said, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" and made me an adorable personalized birthday pin. With a Mickey head on it. I could have cried right there. I was so filled with joy. Two more cast members standing by came over and said "Happy Birthday!" one of the cute male CMs said, "Happy Birthday, Princess." They all excitedly began asking about me. Where I was from, how long I'm staying, where I'm staying, what brand of toothpaste I prefer, at what age did I have my first kiss, my most embarrassing moment, and so on. They were all so kind and so fun. It was hard to contain my emotions.
We waited about five minutes before being seated. I was delighted upon entering those big pretty white doors that lead into the loud and busy dining room. We were seated right under one of the carousel horses which I loved. I adore the decor inside 1900 Park Fare, very simple and classic.
I think I need a few of these in my home. You know, just to mix things up.
Behind me, to my left:
I took this while my mom was in the restroom, just so pretty here!
Our waitress arrived with this:
Which is now located in its permanent home, our kitchen table. I didn't put it there right away, but I did a couple of weeks ago, and my mom sighed and said, "I want Strawberry Soup.
"
She said happy birthday to me and told us that we were in the best possible spots for meeting the characters. I thought to myself,
Hmmm. There are bad spots in here? Shouldn't any spot be the best spot? Isn't this buffet like 30 bucks a person? But I assumed she was just trying to make us happy. She said a bunch of them were about to come right now and so we should stay seated.
I didn't really care about that to be perfectly honest. I was hungry and wanted DISNEY FOOD!!! You see, most of my thoughts revolve around Disney food, even bad Disney food (I don't talk to people, I talk to Dole Whips with human heads), so the fact that it was sitting feet away from me and it was ALL YOU CAN EAT... well, I wasn't waiting for Prince Charming. I was heading to the buffet.
Which, truthfully, is a metaphor for my life.
Cough. Anyway... my mom and I decided it was OK if we miss a few characters and we got up to head to the buffet. I had seen Cinderella a few tables down, Lady Tremaine too. But Prince Charming came up behind me LITERALLY OUT OF NOWHERE.
This is why I hate the real world. You can obsess over your knight in shining armor all you want but he never comes. When I am dining at my favorite restaurants back home, no princes approach me. Not even one time. Not even... EVER. Odd looking men who are 41 and work folding T-shirts at the Gap approach me. No princes. But then you get to Disney World and BOOM. Prince Charming. Right there! At your service. Confused at why you would be getting up to eat when you could spend time with him.
His brow was furrowed in a very cute way when he asked me this. I giggled and sat as he took my hand in his and said, "Happy Birthday, Princess."
I decided right then and there that I would make it mandatory for all friends and family members to call me Princess at all times or else they would immediately be cut out of my life.
We took a photo together which caused us to stand with our arms linked for a looooong amount of time. My mom somehow still can not figure out how to take a picture that is not blurry. I didn't mind. I was just standing there, enjoying the royal companionship. Prince Charming assured my mom that it was alright and he would stay until she got a good photo. He said he can never figure out all the new technology either. It was very cute. CUTE CUTE CUTE.
Then she got a good picture. Sigh. And he went. But not before saying, "I bid you farewell, Princess."
Up next: Our meal! My mom's Strawberry Soup addiction and meeting the other characters.
Thanks for stickin' with us. I appreciate it! And I am working on catching up on all your TRs that I love so much!!