20041218-cruise-friends-memories Part 3

[ohiominnie]

ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!

As if life isn't stressful enough right now.

For the FIRST time in a week we all left the house to get haircuts. For the last week SOMEONE has been home at ALL times. As of Tuesday evening, everything was fine. Tonight we realize my van had been broken into and things stolen. The worst loss? Our DVD case with a BUNCH of movies (mostly Disney). The worst movie to lose? Song of the South. I had a 7 yr old in tears over that one.

ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[ohiominnie]

I'm really not sure the arteries in my head can take this.

I took the dog out to pee before bed. I'm a little jumpy now that my van has been broken into..."what ELSE could happen out here in this crime ridden neighborhood??" The flood lights are on, but I'm in the shadows of our big trees. All of a sudden, in the dark, I hear the jingling of a big chain. Sounds like a BIG dog heading right toward me. I yank on Maggie's leash, yell "MAGGIE, LET'S GO" and (luckily) she runs in after me. A BIG dog comes around the corner. It sort of looks like the neighbors dog, but when I say "Come here, Sadie" it acts elusive, pees in my yard and skitters away.

I did call the neighbors and they are looking for her (she's a bolter and isn't well trained)

So, right now, my blood pressure is just a TITCH high.

What a day. What a week. I need 10 days on the Magic!

 

[justmestace]

OhMinnie! Unbelievable how it all seems to crash at once! I'm so sorry! Wish there were something we could do to help. Does it help to know that I feel bad for you right now??
When it rains, it pours. After my company left, I crashed for two hours. Having those two in the house is like having four kids. Jay's sister doesn't have custody of her son (he voluntarily moved in with his dad 4 years ago...he's 15 now) but she thinks that she needs to be his "buddy" all the time, rather than his mom. So there's always goofing around, punching, poking, tickling, joking, bickering, bad language and inuendo. The kid is huge, and he punches Jared in the arms until he's bruised, but she won't say anything to him. I did, but he just laughs at me. (By huge, he's 6'1" and weighs 200+)
So I called my mom after my exhausted nap, and my cousin is over there.....he's been accused of a horrendous crime he didn't commit (trust me on this one...he didn't) and he's hysterical, mom's upset. My Aunt & Uncle live in Naples Florida, and can't get to Omaha to be with him.....
I tell ya..it doesn't end.

Minnie.....at this point in time, ten days anywhere sounds good. And it's bad, I just got back! What if we all pool all of our money, and buy our own cruise ship and live on it forever?????

 

[paulcrsb]

Originally posted by justmestace
What if we all pool all of our money, and buy our own cruise ship and live on it forever?????

I'm all for that! I think I have about a buck twenty five !

Paul

 

[justmestace]

Originally posted by paulcrsb
I'm all for that! I think I have about a buck twenty five !

Paul

Okay, Paul.....you're good for one pillowcase!

 

[justmestace]

So, anyway....more of the trip.

On Friday, Day 2....we spent half of the day doing some very special shopping with Barb, Jay and Alexa. Then we all went to the MK and rode a few rides. Of course, we HAD to do Country Bears (sorry, Cash!) because they have done away with it at DL, and it's just tradition.

We met GaRry, Vicki and Gregg at Wilderness Lodge. I'd never been there.....It is beautiful. A lot like the Grand Californian, but I think WL is even more special.

Dinner was a true "experience". We ate a Whispering Canyon. Why is it called that?? It is a very noisy place! No one wanted ketchup, though. Our waitress was a blast. Someone, who shall remain anonymous, taught the waitress how to scare bees. I refuse to divulge the way to scare bees until we get on the ship....but let's just say that it was quite a surprise!

After dinner, Megan and I took the boat back to the MK for E-Ride Night. I've always loved being in the parks at night, and this was perfection. Best money I've spent in a long time. We hit every ride, and had a ball.
Rode the very special Monorail Green back to the hotel at about 1 a.m. and totally crashed.

By the way....Megan and I have still not found out who our "Secret Pal" is......we had a lot of balloons and goodies in our room??????

 

[videogal1]

Originally posted by ohiominnie
So did you buy the cheese? I know me, I'd have figured if it was in my dog's mouth I'd just *have* to buy it lest anyone else have to buy it.

Well, I saw several dog hairs on it when Cash gave it to me so I just put it in the basket. The thought of being mugged by fellow shoppers for putting it back in the case after the doggie love it got had me a little concerned...I just healed up from the dog bite and have only allowed myself one visit to the ER per month.

 

[justmestace]

I forgot to mention that Megan & I were late arriving to dinner at the WL. Late for our plane, late for Chef Mickey's, late to WL.....do you see a pattern developing? And I hate being late.

In my defense on missing the plane, I was just reading the "rules" on the back of my reservation. Yep, for the first time ever, I read the rules. I just wish I had read them before the trip.

The "supervisor" that I talked to the morning we were supposedly too late to check our bags gave me the snide answer "That's why we tell you to be here two hours before the flight".

The rules say....Two Hours before an International flight.
One hour before a domestic flight
Check your bags curbside or counter 30 minutes
before a flight. We were there 45 minutes before. AND...the rules also say that if you are a customer with an advanced seat assignment, you must be checked in 15 minutes before departure. We had assigned First Class seats. And we were also entitled to "Express Check In"

Had I read the "rules" or had the supervisor bothered to tell me the correct "rules"....I would not have missed the plane.

I would write a letter, but nothing was really lost, other than a few hours at WDW, and dinner with my fellow DISer's...and I doubt America West cares about that.

 

[justmestace]

Saturday....Day Two 1/2 or Three....however you want to count it.

We slept late, which was truly wonderful. Woke up to the nice skies that the weather report had predicted.
I took my coffee out to the balcony, and could hear the MK's train whistle...and music coming from over there. Whenever they held a celebration in front of the Castle, I could hear it.

Rode the monorail to Epcot, and got Fast Passes for Mission: Space.
We went over and tested the different sodas of the world, then walked to France and had lunch there.
Time for our Fast Pass. Should have made a potty break first. Should not have eaten in France first. Should not have eaten at all first.
I have never been on Mission Space before. Nor will I ever be again. It is the first ride I have ever been on that supplies you with barf bags. By the time I found this out, it was too late. I was already in charge of firing the blasters, or whatever they are called. No one with a full belly and bladder (as old as I am) should be subjected to that many G's. Whatever they are. I thought the flab on my face would be permanently pulled back. Cheaper than a face lift, I guess, but not pretty.
It took me two hours (no kidding) to rid myself of the feeling that my body had been turned inside out. It took me two painkillers to rid my head of the feeling of exploding.

And in the short amount of time that we were in there, it had started to rain. And rain. We donned our ponchos, headed past Mexico to explore the world. We stopped in every country...another first for me.

We were meeting the gang and some new arrivals at the Rose & Crown that night, so Megan & I decided that we would just stay at Epcot, so as not to be late for dinner.
We went to China & Megan did a "Wish Pearl"...it was twins! So we had a very pretty pair of earrings made with tiny diamonds. This took longer than anticipated.
And yes, we were late for dinner.

 

[justmestace]

I was sooooo excited...the wait was almost over. We were finally going to the Rose & Crown, and Diana and Alicia were going to be there too! We were going to take our group DIS picture for Mary. But it was still raining. And raining. We all looked like drowned rats. Except for GaRry & Gregg. They'd had their hair done at the MK. GaRry's was green, and Gregg's was blue. Another first for me to see.
Our table wasn't ready, so we squeezed our way into the pub. Megan was at the bar getting a cider, and I was standing there getting a look at Tall, Dark, and Handsome. The bartender with the really nice......accent.
I was worried that they wouldn't do Illuminations that night, but to our delight, they did. We sat out in the rain to watch, and it was worth it.
All the "kids" were lined up on one side of the table, and immediately set out to torment each other. Aahhh...just like home. I think our young people feel as comfortable with eachother as the rest of us do. They're all going to have fun together. But I feel as though poor Gregg will not quite be able to handle being the only teen boy, with all of our teen girls around. The one that was there was keeping him pretty well occupied!

I'll let someone else tell you all about Tall, Dark & Handsome...and the "Hi Honey!"

Rose & Crown has great margaritas, by the way....who would have thought?

 

[justmestace]

We walked with Diana over to the Beach Club. It's really pretty back there. Thank you, Diana!
Went back to the GF and collapsed into bed yet again. I was feeling a little sorry that I had made reservations for breakfast at 1900 Park Fare for 8:45 the next morning. I knew neither one of us was going to want to get out of bed.

We did get up, and we did enjoy it, though. Hard to imagine two grown women getting excited about having their picture taken with the characters, but we did.

It was a beautiful day, even a little cooler, I thought. We headed for MGM. Megan had agreed to go on Tower of Terror with me, if I went on Rockin Roller Coaster with her. (Some people never learn). She cheated. We didn't do TOT.

We played Millionaire, and I was #5 on the board when time ran out.

Weather was still beautiful. We went on the Backlot Studios tour. We managed to get seated in the front of one of the tram cars. I distinctly remember telling Megan "Oh, this is great! We'll get a nice breeze, and get to take lots of good pictures". Famous last words.
The sky opened up. Literally. Thunder. Lightning. And pouring rain. We had ditched our ponchos, and had brought the umbrellas that we had gotten at Epcot the day before. We couldn't open the umbrellas on the tram, lest someone get their eye poked out. Why do they care if I poke out either my own or my daughter's eye, if we don't care? Just kidding.
Rain came in from all directions. We were totally soaked beyond belief. To the skin. And every time the tram turned a corner, all the rain on the roof poured in on us like from a bucket. I couldn't see a thing, my glasses were wet. We just sat and laughed hysterically. What else are you gonna do? They turned the tram around half way and headed back, but the guide continued her entire speech, at a pace that would earn her an award for the fastest talking human. That was funny.
We had lunch at 50's Prime Time, another first, and got the kiddie cups with the light-up ice cubes. And we had S'Mores. And we froze in the air conditioning.
We were having our grand final meeting at Pleasure Island at the Adventurer's Club that night, so we left MGM and went back to our room so that we wouldn't be late. I had to go put our clothes in the dryer at the hotel...another first, I've never done laundry on vacation. Hotel dryers don't work as well as ours at home. It took a lot longer than I expected.
So you know what's coming next......

 

[justmestace]

We were late getting to Pleasure Island.

I've never been to Downtown Disney at WDW before, so I had no idea where I was going. By this time, I had finally found my slip of paper with everyone's cell phone numbers, but no one was answering because they were all in the comedy club.
Megan & I went on in to The Adventurer's Club, where I made myself a part of the official greeters, checking I.d.'s. Actually, I was just standing at the door, watching for our group. While I was calling Vicki for the 5th time, they somehow slipped past me. They found Megan, who pointed to me, as I was yelling at Vicki to answer her phone.
This is where I met Cindy (stingfancb) and her DH, Boyd.
And, Boydid we have a good time. We taught Cindy how to scare bees. And I didn't learn another lesson the first time, I had two margaritas. And some weird drink in a Monkey Nut. We enjoyed the Adventurer's Club. I have to say, I've never been anywhere like it. It definitely was an adventure.
We headed back over to the Comedy Club. Improv is a hard thing to do, but these guys were great. Boyd learned several words that rhymed with his name. And some that didn't.
I'd have to guess that it was nearing 2:00 when the kids decided they were hungry, and there wasn't much left to pick from. They settled for pizza, we walked and talked some more. I didn't want to leave, because I knew we had to go home the next day, and I wouldn't be seeing my friends again until December.
Garry gave us a ride back to the GF. I had no idea how to find the busses or a taxi to get us there, and I'm eternally grateful he was nice enough to go out of his way to take us. And to show us some of the most spectacular examples of Disney Animatronics.
Garry claims they were real deer....but I'm not so sure. It's all a little fuzzy.

 

[justmestace]

We were the only people in the lobby of the GF at 2 am.

I waited at the desk, and finally a lady came out who granted my last magical wish........for a late check-out.

We slept until almost lunch time. So much for a quick run to Animal Kingdom.
We packed our bags, had a really nice lunch at the Grand Floridian Cafe, and hopped on the monorail for one last swing around. We got off at the Polynesian so that Megan could see it. Jay and the kids and I stayed there on our last visit. It worked out well for both of us. I found a silver Mickey bracelet that exactly matches my ring, and the CM who rang it up gave Megan a tube of mosquito bite relief that the CM's are given to use. Megan always gets eaten alive. And it worked better than any of the stuff I had taken with us. I told Megan we should buy some when we got home, but she'd already tossed the wrapper. Drats.
We slowly made our way to the monorail. Neither of us wanted to go. We got to sit in front, it was a little bit of consolation.
Just as we got back to the GF, our driver arrived, and we were off to the airport. The one time we didn't want to be somewhere, and we were on time.
It was nice to get home, and I was anxious to look back through all of the goodies we had purchased. Except they were in the empty bag Megan had brought with her. And her bags weren't there. Mine were, but they were only full of dirty clothes.
We filled out a report, and headed for home. As I walked in the door, the airline called. Someone had taken the bags by mistake, and returned them. They were delivered the next day. The funny thing is that Phoenix is one of the few airports that I've been to that actually checks your claim ticket. And how do you not look to see if you have the right bags? And how many people on that flight had DCL luggage tags? Oh well. They arrived, and everything was there. That's the good news.

 

[justmestace]

Looking back, the most magical part for me was to spend time with Megan as a person, and not as her mom. We had a ball together, and I got to spoil her one last time. In answering Mary's question about who to take on the cruise, my first thought was my sweet Grandma, who passed away when Megan was four. She never met Jordan (who was named after her) or Jared...and she would have loved it. But in the here and now, I wish that Megan and Pete could come with us as one big family.
I guess Megan and I will have to start the tradition my Mom and I have. We go somewhere, usually Vegas, for her birthday every year, just the two of us.

We are going to have so much fun on this cruise. We have a great group. And the Hershey Meet is going to be a blast for you guys.

Off I go....way past bed time.

GOOD FINALLY FRIDAY MORNING TO ALL OF THE EAST COAST CRUISERS, AND ALL THE REST OF US TOO!!!

Good night,
Stacey

 

[WDWLVR]

Good Morning Cruisers!

Happy Friday!

OM - sorry to hear about the break in. It does seem when it rains it pours. I have to ask - how did you have a tape of Song of the South - I didn't think Disney ever released that.

Stacey - thanks for the great trip report. Really sounds like you had a very active and fun trip. I happen to love Mission Space but know that Mark would get sick on it so I rode it once alone and once with friends.

Photo Gallery Update! The photos Stacey sent me from the WDW DIS meets are now up in the photo gallery. I am really amazed at the number of pre-cruise meets this group has been doing - fantastic!

 

[ohiominnie]

Originally posted by WDWLVR
OM - sorry to hear about the break in. It does seem when it rains it pours. I have to ask - how did you have a tape of Song of the South - I didn't think Disney ever released that.

I saw a link on the DIS once. To a site that sells them. I had to search last night for "Song of the South DVD" until I came across it. It's the "superhappyfun" website.

I'm so sad Disney never released it. I didn't see it as a kid but Mike did and he wanted the kids to see it. If they aren't releasing it b/c of the racial themes, that's really sad. The movie did not instill in my kids a feeling of superiority or teach them that slavery was right. Instead it gave us a chance to talk about the movie and why it is wrong to own another human being and how color of skin doesn't matter.

I think Disney is just cow-towing (sp?) to the "politically correct" crowd.

 

[WVMD]

OM - So sorry to hear about things.... and now today's Friday the 13th.... Maybe it'll turn into a good day for you...

Here's another site that has the DVD for sale... Song of the South DVD

Virgil

 

[tinkfan]

Happy Friday everyone!

We had lots of rain last night and more to come.

OM- sorry to hear about your theft. I also have a copy of Song of the South I bought online a few years ago. Not sure if its legal, but did enjoy getting to see it.

Stacey- Thanks for sharing your trip. Sounds like you guys packed in a lot in a few days.

Would everyone please send me a little pixie dust. Having some medical issues here, lots of tests, no answers yet. Expect to hear from Dr today.

Have a great day all!

 

[ohiominnie]

Originally posted by WVMD
OM - So sorry to hear about things.... and now today's Friday the 13th.... Maybe it'll turn into a good day for you...

Here's another site that has the DVD for sale... Song of the South DVD

Virgil

Thanks, Virgil. I'll tell ya, this stress is causing havoc to my body! I think a little Valium would be in line. I've lost another 1 1/2 pounds. That makes 3 1/2 pounds in one week! Not that I'm complaining, mind you.

How do ppl sell this SOTS? I mean, TECHNICALLY, wouldn't Disney have a problem with this?

 

[WVMD]

Originally posted by ohiominnie
How do ppl sell this SOTS? I mean, TECHNICALLY, wouldn't Disney have a problem with this?

I'm sure that Disney would have a huge problem if they had released SOTS on DVD - but, since they've chosen not to - then they may not be paying attention......

Virgil