20041218-cruise-friends-memories Part 3

[justmestace]

Jenny.....thanks for my morning "fix" .....not offended by that word, unless someone uses it in the course of a normal conversation.

Ohminnie....haven't formally welcomed you home yet!! Glad you had a good time, thanks for the report...I live vicariously through other people's trips to WDW!

Off now....mucho to do!

Stacey

P.S. LYNDA!!! Were you not listening to the warning about being careful????? Do I have to come down there and watch you every moment? Do I have to go with you on your next cruise??

 

[ohiominnie]

Day 4. Sleep in. Breakfast at Whispering Canyon at 10. We had a great server who really gave my MIL a hard time. The plan was to spend the day at Epcot, but instead we hung out with Mike's mom and her dh. First thing, I got to give flu shots to my MIL and her dh. MIL figured I'd miss, twist or somehow inflict more pain than necessary, but it was quick and painless---for me anyway! We went golfing at Winter-Summerland (I won) then MIL and her dh went to Downtown Disney and we went over to Epcot. I had NO idea what the F&W festival was, but I found out rather quickly!!! After stoping for stroganoff, salmon, pierogies, creme brulee, wine, etc etc, I was well aware of what the F&W festival was!!!

Bugged out before Illuminations and headed home, stuffed and happy!!


Forgot something, on Saturday night, after leaving the Scuba family and going back to meet up with the MIL, we went to Downtown Disney. Ate at Earl of Sandwich (very good) and then went shopping!! Went to Once Upon a Toy---they have a new game... It's the game of LIFE, Pirates of the Carribean edition. We decided we must have it, but didn't want to get it right then and have to haul it around. Found out it had JUST come out THAT day and that from 10A-7PM, the creators were there signing the game. Unfortunately, it was now 7:30. Well, unbeknownst to us, MIL was buying it FOR us to thank us for treating to MNSSHP! It's SOOOOOOO cool! We played it last night and spent a good 15 minutes looking at the board. It looks like a map, but there are many identifiable things on there such as: Whispering Canyon, Castaway Cay, Barbosa Bay, Typhoon Lagoon, and so on.

So, that's why we were up late Saturday, up early Sunday (ee) and then needed a nap before MNSSHP. I knew there was a reason we were so sleepy!

Btw, the bus ride to Downtown Disney was the BEST ride we'd ever had there. Our bus driver was a hoot!!! He had everyone on the bus saying WHEEEEEEEE whenever we turned a corner, WHOOOOOOAAAAA whenever we stopped, and OH-AH every time we went over a speed bump. In between he'd ask triva questions or get the bus singing a song. He referred to the Grand Floridian as "the red roof inn" !!! He was a blast and we were sad to have to leave his bus!!!

 

[ohiominnie]

Day 5, EE at MGM. What a waste for me. Rockin' roller coaster, Tower of Terror. I shopped while the non-scaredy cats rode those rides. Found some cute baby gifts for my niece. Then had to tell the children that she's pregnant. KT says "wow, I don't remember her getting married." Like WDW is where I want to explain the birds and the bees!

Lunch at Primetime diner. Good food, fun times. I felt sorry for the girl at the table next to us getting lectured by her mother. Seriously, for 15 minutes this mom is going ON and ON about how this girl is not going to have any fun in life if she doesn't try some things like Rockin' Roller coaster or Tower of Terror, and doesn't she remember that she didn't want to ride Space Mountain, but they made her do it and it was fun, and she had to face her fears or she wouldn't have any fun in life and that she gets herself all worked up for nothing and can't she control herself better than that and she's just being a sissy and copping out and is she doing this just to get attention and why isn't she eating her sundae, has she lost her appetite??? I felt like leaning over and saying "it's alright, I don't ride Rockin' Roller coaster or Tower of Terror and there are STILL plenty of things to do to have fun." But I stayed out of it. Poor thing, the mom just went ON and ON and ON!!

Ended up at Downtown Disney again. Kids wanted to play in the fountain and we ate at Rainforest Cafe. We always eat there expecting GREAT things and it's just so-so. Irritating that the waitress kept referring to us as "family." "Family, I'll be right back with your food." "Family, do you need a refill?" "Family, thanks for coming." I think she got confused at one point b/c she called the ppl at the table next to us "Family" too!

 

[ohiominnie]

Day 6, Animal Kingdom EE. Rush to the safari. It's closed. There is an "animal safety issue and you should get a fastpass." Get those, do the Jungle Trek and the Bird show. Then do the Safari. That is such a fun "ride." We all can't stop saying "Nahtazu" after watching the top 7 things to do at WDW and they explain that Animal Kingdom is "Nahtazu"...."Not a Zoo." Get it? Then the big kids to Dinosaur. I shop. Well not too much shopping. Mostly pin trading. See, we've found a few pins we liked and traded for them. Then we find out they are cast lanyard pins. So now the goal is to finish the sets. We need one more Minnie sunbathing. One more dalmation. A scuba diving goofy. And a Tigger playing baseball. We still need (from a prior trip) a Goofy in a tux.

Back to the lodge. To the pool to cool off. I call the kennel. Maggie is fine. Eating well, having fun, doing well.

Off to Hoop dee Doo. Pony rides before hand. And the sudden freak rain shower as I'm walking the ponies around. So now we're wet!! As always HDD was a very fun show. They picked us for their song "oh they come from all over when they come...."
"Oh they come from Ohio when they come...oh they come from Ohio, cross my heart and hope to die-OH"

Then a 45 minute wagon ride around the campground. The driver was telling us about the hurricanes, about preparations that were made, and about the after effects. The campground alone lost about 300 trees. I believe it. You can tell everywhere that things are thin. You can completely see the Contemporary from the WL boat dock. You can see a parking garage by MGM that was never visible before. You can see backstage buildings at Epcot. The trees are there to hide things, but now they aren't so hidden. The most damage looks like it was between the road going to the MK and Epcot. Could see it from the Epcot monorail. Big areas of trees uprooted, broken, down. Looked terrible. Heard a tornado went through there. Luckily the trees were the only visible signs of damage we noticed.

 

[jhemond]

Ok. So I'm preparing for the cruise. I'm doing some research online and I found some good tips:

Things To Do In An Elevator

1) When there's only one other person in the elevator, tap them on the shoulder and then pretend it wasn't you.

2) Push the buttons and pretend they give you a shock. Smile, and go back for more.

3) Call the Psychic Hotline from your cell phone and ask if they know what floor your on.

4) Bring a camera and take pictures of everyone in the elevator.

5) Move your desk into the elevator and whenever anyone gets on, ask if they have an appointment.

6) Lay down the twister mat and ask people if they would like to play.

7) Leave a box in the corner, and when someone gets on, ask them if they can hear ticking.

8) Pretend you are a flight attendant and review emergency procedures and exits with the passengers.

9) When the doors close, announce to the others, "It's okay, don't panic, they open again!"

10) Grimace painfully while smacking your forehead and muttering, "Shut up, all of you, just shut up!"

11) Crack open your briefcase or purse, and while peering inside, ask, "Got enough air in there?"

12) Stand silently and motionless in the corner, facing the wall, without getting off.

13) Wear a puppet on your hand and use it to talk to the other passengers.

14) Listen to the elevator walls with your stethoscope.

15) Draw a little square on the floor with chalk and announce to the other passengers, "This is MY personal space!"

 

[jhemond]

One more. This is for all the parents of young kids (or older kids too I guess).

During a dinner party, the hosts’ two little children entered the dinning room totally nude and walked slowly around the table. The parents were so embarrassed that they pretended nothing was happening and kept he conversation going. The guests cooperated and also continued as if nothing extraordinary was happening.

After going all the way around the room, the children left, and there was a moment of silence at the table, during which one child was heard to say, “You see, it is vanishing cream!”

 

[ohiominnie]

Day 7. MK ee again. It's packed. Cannot believe the number of ppl there. Lines get long, fast. We snag 4 Space fast passes. Ride some other things then tell the kids. This is it for the MK. If dad rides Space, you can ride once. If you go alone, you can ride twice, back to back. We go in the line with them, but only give up two fast passes and we take the chicken exit (I'm good at taking that one!) Then meet up with the kids. Next time, we can't even get in the fast pass lane b/c we only have TWO fast passes. So we send the kids in alone. They've done this a million times with us, they'll be ok, right? We wait in the gift shop. It seems like eternity, then they show up. There was a problem. When the CM asked the kids "how many" KT said "2." CM: "that's it?" KT: "yes." CM: "where are your parents?" KT: "in the gift shop." CM: "I can't let you ride without your parents." KT: "I am 10 yrs old. Disney considers me an adult. Disney makes me spend extra money on an adult annual pass. My brother is 7. The sign says children under the age of 6 must be accompainied by an adult. He isn't under 6, and he's accompainied by ME, a Disney adult." CM: "spots 1 and 2 please." HA!

Finally it's just too busy at the MK, so we decide to hop over to Epcot. But not before KT sneaks into a gift shop and spends 1/4 of her alloted Disney dollars on a tee-shirt for me! Awwwww. The only problem, it's thin. I can't believe it's Disney's shirt. It was $26 and it's very thin. Not the same quality I expect from Disney. Btw, Nick also bought me a pumpkin Mickey antenna topper!

Off to Epcot. Get on the monorail and sit. and sit. and sit. Finally an announcement is made. The monorails are down. I've never heard that one before. Please exit and take the ferry. So we take the ferry and hop on the Epcot monorail in the front seat!

Frantic searching for the pins to complete our sets. We found the last Minnie, but we still need scuba goofy, Woof the dalmation, tigger baseball and tux goofy. Go from CM to CM to try to find them.

Dinner at Le Celier. EXCELLENT. KT actually orders salmon off the adult menu. Too big of a piece for a kid, but no salmon is on on the kid's menu. We head toward the UK. Kids love the hedge maze. They play in that while Mike and I eat creme brulee (thank you DCL for that addiction!) Someone approaches me about my shirt (DIS) He doesn't post, but the ppl they are travelling with are very active. No idea who they are. More pin searching. Then, as KT orders a beaver tail in Canada, there is another one of those freak FL storms. It's pouring. We are huddled under a small umbrella by the Canada gift cart. KT is eating her beaver tail and then yells out "THERE IS SOMETHING HARD IN MY BEAVER TAIL. IT'S MY TOOTH!!!!!!" Everyone cracks up. FINALLY that molar that has bugged her ALL week came out....on our last night. Well, another tooth for Tinkerbell to collect.

Finally we head out of Epcot. To the WL gift shop and WHAT IS THAT??? A CM at the register has the Goofy scuba diver. I step out of line and grab a pin to buy. AH HA! And what's this? A couple behind us has Woof the Dalmation that they don't like. So I'm trying to trade with a CM and ask the couple what they want in return. I explain that my son, 7, has been looking for DAYS for Woof. They decide they want to GIVE me the pin for him. No trade. They won't accept any pin. They are happy to make my son's day! AWWWWWWWW. Oh, yeah, get the goofy pin. Thank the couple profusely. Notice they are wearing Red Sox clothes. In exchange for the pin we tell them we'll root for the Red Sox in the series! So....GO SOX!!!! So, of the 5 sets we were trying to complete, we finished off 3 of them. It's the first time the kids didn't groan every time we spotted a lanyard. They were actually going from CM to CM hunting things down.

Speaking of the SOX. When they were still in the ALCS, there were lots of SOX and Yankee garb on ppl everywhere. After the SOX won the ALCS, I saw only SOX clothing. It's like the NYY's didn't exist anymore (or no one wanted to be associated with them)

 

[jhemond]

Woohoo! A TOP without even trying.

 

[ohiominnie]

Originally posted by jhemond
Ok. So I'm preparing for the cruise. I'm doing some research online and I found some good tips:

6) Lay down the twister mat and ask people if they would like to play.

Obviously not in the DCL elevators!!! Way too small for that. But I love the list. My sister used to wait until the doors closed and then turn to face the back and say "you may wonder why I've gathered you all together today." Everyone would crack up. My sister could get away with every thing here on the list!

 

[ohiominnie]

Day 8. WAAAAAA, I don't want to go home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our FL town car ride will be there at 10:30. Not enough time to do anything, but too much time not to do something. AH, pin cart! And breakfast. And pack. And the kids take a nice long bubble bath in the whirlpool tub. It's 10:15. Better get downstairs. Our ride is prompt. To the airport without incident. The CM's at the airport Disney stores have lanyards. Who knew?? Found a cool pirate Mickey. Flight was a little late getting out and we had to wait for every other plane in the world to land. But finally we were off. A nice flight. Home again. Found out it was the FIRST sunny day Columbus had since we had left. Had we brought a piece of FL with us?

Saturday morning, bright and early....get my Disney fix by calling to schedule the DCL member cruise.

Dissapointed to find out the Wal*mart employees don't wear lanyards.

Picked up the beast today, so I guess it's really back to reality.

Good news:

Net weight gain 2 pounds! Not bad considering how I ate.

 

[jhemond]

Originally posted by ohiominnie
Obviously not in the DCL elevators!!! Way too small for that. But I love the list. My sister used to wait until the doors closed and then turn to face the back and say "you may wonder why I've gathered you all together today." Everyone would crack up. My sister could get away with every thing here on the list!

True. But it would still work if you stay at WDW the night before.

 

[jhemond]

Has anyone found anything out about the theme nights for the cruise yet? Weren't they supposed to come out soon? I'm getting anxious to figure out if I have enough of the right clothes.

 

[jhemond]

Originally posted by ohiominnie
Saturday morning, bright and early....get my Disney fix by calling to schedule the DCL member cruise.

**Snip**

Good news:

Net weight gain 2 pounds! Not bad considering how I ate.

I want to go too!!!!

Congrats on the minimal weight gain. I gained almost 5 pounds when I went 2 weeks ago (and I was only there for 3 days). I managed to lose it all in a week though.

 

[justmestace]

Popped in for my lunchtime "Jenny fix"...she didn't disappoint!!

LOVE those elevator tricks...have been known to pull a few pranks, myself. And people complain about the kids messing around in the elevators!!



Ohminnie.....I can't believe the boarding place didn't bathe the "beast" before you came to get her......Molly is always fresh and pretty.

Okay.....I have the Christmas gifts lined up. I thought that I had been very good and not bought much.....so where did all this stuff come from????
Do they have to be wrapped? Couldn't I start a trend? "Surprise! A gift with no wrapping!"
How does one wrap an autographed baseball bat, anyway??

 

[ohiominnie]

Originally posted by justmestace
Do they have to be wrapped? Couldn't I start a trend? "Surprise! A gift with no wrapping!"
How does one wrap an autographed baseball bat, anyway??

Several years ago I made cloth bags out of holiday fabric. Now wrapping ALL of my Christmas gifts takes about 1 1/2 hours. Slap it in a bag, tie it closed with a ribbon with a tag-board tag on it. Voila!

I've since have had to make bags for my mom, brother and sister!

 

[Dancind]

Karen, thanks for the trip report! Isn't October a fantastic time to go to WDW? We had a great time, too. Yes, the Halloween parade was really a kick, and seeing Main Street decorated and lit for Halloween was too. DD keeps talking about when we go back "next year". Does this kid not realize she will be in high school next year, and won't be able to miss any school?

 

[tinkfan]

Good Afternoon Everyone!!

Happy Birthday Paul !!!

Unfortunately I am back from my too short of trip. I had a great time. The weather was perfect.
The one brief rain shower didn't hit the MK at all, it was strange.I knew people over at Epcot that got soaked.

I absolutely love Epcot food and wine festival. It just seems to be getting better and better. Got a chance to attend few of the wine seminars/tastings. I would have loved to had time to do some more.

Sat night the Party for the Senses was fantastic. Its getting up there in price, but I think its still worth it, especially if you attend with good friends.
There was something like 20 chefs and 50 wines to sample. It is really worth trying at least once. They also had performances from Cirque De Soliel.

I will definately be going back during that time next year.

Mary- yes, Dottie was there. ( Joe got sick and couldn't make it) They booked the member cruise too. I met her many years ago at HH and we have remained close friends. We try to make at least one trip at the same time each year, either WDW or HH.


Stacey- could you please send me some of your energy and motivation. I can't seem to find either!

Karen- your trip sounded wonderful. We were really tempted to go to the MNSHP on Friday night. They still had tickets, but I had just forked out the money for an annual pass so I couldn't really justify spending the extra $$.


Jason is home sick today, so I better run figure out what he feels like eating for dinner.

 

[ohiominnie]

Originally posted by tinkfan
MNSHP on Friday night. They still had tickets, but I had just forked out the money for an annual pass so I couldn't really justify spending the extra $$.

I was surprised at how "cheap" it was. I thought tickets were in the $45 range. But they were only in the $25 range, I believe. We got a lot of candy, rode a lot of rides and had a lot of fun. It was also a nice thing to do with MIL and her dh as they don't "do parks."

Btw, one of the first things we did was ride Space (well, not me...I didn't want to be motion sick the rest of the night. MIL's dh didn't ride either b/c of back problems)

MIL rode. Against my advice. She ended up sick. Literally. She was pale, green, and heading towards the bathroom. I really thought she'd leave early she looked and felt so terrible. But some rest and not letting her ride anything else fast helped.

 

[videogal1]

Originally posted by justmestace


LYNDA!!! Were you not listening to the warning about being careful????? Do I have to come down there and watch you every moment? Do I have to go with you on your next cruise??

I can't help it, GRAVITY LOVES ME !

 

[justmestace]

Originally posted by videogal1
I can't help it, GRAVITY LOVES ME !

Soooo.....shouldn't I come with you on your next cruise???


Off to take Jordan to dance, I finished all the wrapping, but didn't get it all boxed for shipping. Maybe I'll just let the UPS Store do that. Help the economy a little.

Back after dinner!

Stacey