9/23/07: Life Stinks! The 2nd Season! -The Final Episode. :(

[CRSNDSNY]

Wow...this is a beautiful picture!

You don't happen to have a higher resolution copy of it, do you? I'd love to have that as my desktop!

[miztigg]

enjoying

[Mozart]

Originally Posted by chepic

Cool picture of the starfish!!!! I hope you don't mind but I copied it into my ever-growing picture montage for my screen saver!!

I suppose if they stayed docked at CC, there would be the person that would try to sleep on a hamock....which would be kind-of cool.

Thanks for the TR, it is great to read.

Cheryl

Copy away. From what a lifeguard told us about the bugs, you don't want to stay there overnight anyway.

Originally Posted by CRSNDSNY

You don't happen to have a higher resolution copy of it, do you? I'd love to have that as my desktop!

That picture was taken with one of those $8 disposable underwater cameras. I'm surprised it came out as good as you guys seem to think it is. Actually, it is my laptop's background right now, and it looks okay.

[Tink rules]

So I guess with the bugs...



Gilligan and the Skipper didn't get a good night sleep...

Ginger and Maryann were ok because she found a native to swat the bugs...

The Howels had central A/C

And the Professor is STILL trying to invent a bug spray!!!

[ArmandXG]

Hey Mozart, great T.R. You should really tell us that great line uttered by Joel at Palo's, cause by the looks of his thread, he NEVER will!
I like how you describe meeting "friends" in the terminal. On our 2006 cruise, we all had green wristbands. Everyone was running around, hunting bands and introducing themselves. I thought it was great. That's one of the good things about being a Dis'r, you'll always have friends waiting for you on board.
I'm enjoying this T.R. so much, I'll have to go back and read your first one.

[Mozart]

Originally Posted by ArmandXG

Hey Mozart, great T.R. You should really tell us that great line uttered by Joel at Palo's, cause by the looks of his thread, he NEVER will!
I like how you describe meeting "friends" in the terminal. On our 2006 cruise, we all had green wristbands. Everyone was running around, hunting bands and introducing themselves. I thought it was great. That's one of the good things about being a Dis'r, you'll always have friends waiting for you on board.
I'm enjoying this T.R. so much, I'll have to go back and read your first one.

I'm still giving Joel a chance, even though he has gotten pretty lazy. If it goes on too long, I'll share it.

Honestly, if Joel hadn't posted a picture of his family awhile back, I would never have met anyone on the cruise. I probably would've figured out who they were at Palo's, but I wouldn't have had time to meet him then. I like the green wristband idea.

[Mozart]

It’s that morning. The one where everyone disembarks. After waking up as slowly as we think DCL will allow, the whole group heads up to the buffet on Deck 9. As we’re getting in line, all of a sudden a blonde woman comes literally, hopping into view yelling “TAKE MY SIDE! TAKE MY SIDE!” Yes, one last visit with Coralia takes place since the Palo’s team has to serve at the buffet on the final morning.

After getting the typical buffet fare, we head towards our luggage. The cruise is all over. One important note: Look at your luggage tags and remember them. My in-laws forgot what character was on their tags and spent awhile searching all over the floor looking for their bags. The line to get out this morning was pretty long, it probably took us 15-20 minutes to get out, and then the cruise was done. But my wife and I still had a full Disney day to go. We had decided after the cruise was over we would extend things by taking a daytrip back to Orlando. To put it simply…EPCOT…HERE WE COME! It’s the day before the Food and Wine Festival begins. We wanted to come on the first day of the Festival, but due to some other events going on, we have to travel back to South Carolina on Friday, so EPCOT could only be done on Thursday.

So we jump in the car, drive through another 5,000 lovebugs, and watch the golf ball get bigger and bigger. Thank God they took that wand down, by the way. When we get there, the first thing we notice was that the Food and Wine Festival signs were already up. Well, just a reminder of how close we’re going to come without success.



The next thing we notice is that off to the left at the entrance gate is a sign which says “Cast Member Preview.” Now my curiousity is piqued. What, exactly, will the cast members be previewing? Hmmm…all the signs are up…cast member preview…could we be so lucky as to get a preview of the Food and Wine Festival? No way our luck is that good.

Then again…I wouldn’t put anything past Coralia. Maybe she arranged a surprise for us.

[Mozart]

Once we got into the park, we do the same thing we do every time we get to EPCOT…we head to Soarin’. Now, this was the first time we’ve been to Soarin’ since they modified the queue area to have that interactive “game.” Once everyone figured out how to play, it was a lot of fun. I still have no idea how they do some of the things they do. Their technology is just amazing.

I love this ride. The scene where you go over the orange groves, and down the river both just make you feel fresh. But my favorite part is the golf ball. I love hearing everyone on the ride scream. Meanwhile, I’m sitting there yelling out “I’VE GOT IT. I’VE GOT IT!” Most of them think I’m an idiot. (Shocker.)

Now, I know. We’ve been pretty slack in the past. We’ve never been to the Finding Nemo ride or Turtle Talk with Crush. So, we head over there to do that for the first time. Turtle Talk is awesome. That’s about all I can really say. Just a fun thing to watch, dude. Can I throw in a Cowabunga just because I’m a child of the 80’s?

After a trip to Mission Space, we look at our watches. It’s 11:00, and you know what that means. The International Pavilion is now open. Since that’s what we really go to EPCOT for anyway, we head towards the back. We also did something we’ve never done before. We went clockwise. We always start in Canada and work our way around that side, but this time we decided to break tradition and start in Mexico.

While we’re making our tour of the world, we notice that the Food and Wine Festival booths are being prepared. Cash registers are going on their stands, cooking utensils are being setup. It’s just a reminder of how close we are with no luck. But the souvenir booths are not open and don’t appear to be in the process of opening anytime soon. Bummer.

So we do our shopping. Some earrings from Mexico, a child’s outfit from China for my niece (and I’ve got to admit that she looks adorable in it), lunch in Germany, and then we see it. The booth is open. People are buying food. What’s going on here? The next booth is open, and the next. So I walk up to one of the people at a booth and ask what’s going on. “We’re doing a soft opening today for cast members. Bur, really, everyone’s welcome.”

OH…MY…GOD!

We quickly finish the shopping portion of our trip, and begin a 2nd tour of the world, this time stopping at the food booths along the way. Put simply…we start chowing down, and drinking a lot of wine. The perfect conclusion to this Disney trip.

Our story is almost done…but next time, I’ll make you hungry.

[zweihund]

Originally Posted by Mozart

Once we got into the park, we do the same thing we do every time we get to EPCOT…we head to Soarin’. Now, this was the first time we’ve been to Soarin’ since they modified the queue area to have that interactive “game.” Once everyone figured out how to play, it was a lot of fun. I still have no idea how they do some of the things they do. Their technology is just amazing.

I love this ride. The scene where you go over the orange groves, and down the river both just make you feel fresh. But my favorite part is the golf ball. I love hearing everyone on the ride scream. Meanwhile, I’m sitting there yelling out “I’VE GOT IT. I’VE GOT IT!” Most of them think I’m an idiot. (Shocker.)

Now, I know. We’ve been pretty slack in the past. We’ve never been to the Finding Nemo ride or Turtle Talk with Crush. So, we head over there to do that for the first time. Turtle Talk is awesome. That’s about all I can really say. Just a fun thing to watch, dude. Can I throw in a Cowabunga just because I’m a child of the 80’s?

After a trip to Mission Space, we look at our watches. It’s 11:00, and you know what that means. The International Pavilion is now open. Since that’s what we really go to EPCOT for anyway, we head towards the back. We also did something we’ve never done before. We went clockwise. We always start in Canada and work our way around that side, but this time we decided to break tradition and start in Mexico.

While we’re making our tour of the world, we notice that the Food and Wine Festival booths are being prepared. Cash registers are going on their stands, cooking utensils are being setup. It’s just a reminder of how close we are with no luck. But the souvenir booths are not open and don’t appear to be in the process of opening anytime soon. Bummer.

So we do our shopping. Some earrings from Mexico, a child’s outfit from China for my niece (and I’ve got to admit that she looks adorable in it), lunch in Germany, and then we see it. The booth is open. People are buying food. What’s going on here? The next booth is open, and the next. So I walk up to one of the people at a booth and ask what’s going on. “We’re doing a soft opening today for cast members. Bur, really, everyone’s welcome.”

OH…MY…GOD!

We quickly finish the shopping portion of our trip, and begin a 2nd tour of the world, this time stopping at the food booths along the way. Put simply…we start chowing down, and drinking a lot of wine. The perfect conclusion to this Disney trip.

Our story is almost done…but next time, I’ll make you hungry.

Wow - that's really cool that you got to be one of the first at the Food and Wine fest!

[Mozart]

Foods we purchased at the Food and Wine Festival, along with our recommendations for those of you going:

Chile – Camaron con Pebre (Shrimp with Cilantro Salsa) and Santa Rita Reserva Chardonnay – Not a bad start…
Argentina – Grilled Beef with Chimichurri and Bodega Norton Reserva Malbec – Wonderful!
Mexico – Quesadillas con Chorizo (Spicy Sausage and cheese ) – Just a note, if you spill your food, they will give you another one to replace it.
Spain – Papas con Chorizo – Potatoes with spicy sausage - Yeah, we’ve got a spicy sausage thing going on here.
Ireland – Boxy Potato Pancake with Bacon and garlic and Honey wine – probably my least favorite of everything we tried. Make sure you order a Guiness when here. The girls in the both go nuts whenever they fill one.
India – curried butternut squash soup with Sauvignon Blanc – Okay, I liked this one less than Ireland.
South Africa – Durban Spiced Chicken with Goat Door Charonnay – very good. Just the right amount of spices.
Turkey – Meze – Wonderful! Can’t miss! And I thought it sounded gross when we ordered it.
Germany – sausage and sauerkraut in a pretzel roll. Beck’s Oktoberfest beer. – Really good. The sausage is killer.
Poland – Kielbasa and Pierogies with a Zinfandel – yummmmm…kielbasa rocks!
USA – BBQ Pork Rib with Cole Slaw – not bad.

I just realized that basically everything we ate while we were there was pork. What are we saying here?

Japan – California Sushi Roll with dry Sake – not my favorite, but I’m not a big sushi person.
Australia – shrimp on the barbie with Shiraz – can anyone resist a shrimp on the barbie?
3 Sisters Café – Buffalo with Carmalized Onions – Fantastic! The onions melt in your mouth!
New Zealand – lamb slider. I didn’t know it had mustard on it until after I tasted it. I hate mustard.
Peru - Arroz con Pato – Duck with Rice – Great way to finish the night!

Unfortunately, because it was a soft opening, not all of the booths were open that night. And some of them closed early. But we were absolutely stuffed by the time we were done. It was a great night to say the least but, suddenly, EPCOT’s getting ready to close. For all intents and purposes, our vacation is done. All that’s left is time on Interstate 95.

And thus, it happens that 7 months of planning comes to a bitter end. On every trip I go on, I realize how much I love traveling with the Mouse. As weird as it may sound, living with the Mouse for a few days is almost inspirational. It refreshes the body, mind, and soul. Gives us a chance to really remember what life should be all about….spoiling yourself.

Just kidding, (sort of) but it really does give us a few days of wonderful relaxation. It’s something to look forward to during those times when life has us down. It’s the happiest place on earth, dropped onto a cruise ship. And I know that in 13 long months I’ll be back on board.

So for now, I shall not bore you with my customary final paragraph about how much better life is on the ship than it is at home. I shall not remind you that we now are forced to repay our credit card company for all the fun we just had. I shall not yet dare to begin writing a report for another cruise. You see, there are 13 months of normal life to live between now and my next magical moment on board Mickey’s cruise ship. 13 months of planning. 13 months of work. 13 months of living every day without princesses and pirates. 13 months of waking up to alarm clocks which remind me that it’s time to fight traffic on 385. 13 months of life.

Life stinks (again).

[Bethipooh4]

BRAVO!!!!!!

Wonderful as usual, your closing lines brought tears to my eyes....Thank you for sharing your trip with us!

[ashman]

well done!

[ArmandXG]

Bravo! (Applause) Well done Maestro! I love the closing paragraph!
Our first cruise was in Oct. 2006. I helped send off one friend at the beginning of the year and I'm now helping another get ready for Nov. 11th. I am still on my Disney high. My DH doesn't understand how I can get so excited over someone else's trip (park or cruise). In the mean time, I am planning our 2008 land/sea trip. It was origionally just the cruise, but the more we talk about it, the better it sounds to add the land portion as well. So 13 months ain't all that bad compared to 24! I just don't think people want to read about my whining for two years before I get back on the boat

I did go back to read your first T.R., only to realize I had already read it before. Disney certainly does it better! We were in St. Thomas when we encountered people from another ship that managed to get off without their required paperwork. The customs guy at the gate asked the woman "Did you like my island? Did you enjoy your visit? Next time your stay may be a little longer than planned!"

Again, great job on your T.R. ... Now over to see what (or if) Joel posted.

[zweihund]

Great finish!

[miztigg]

excellent!!!