Today was our sixth full day of the trip. We had really gotten the hang of the
DDP and had stockpiled an alarming number of snack credits. After big lunches and even bigger dinners, we were just not hungry in the middle of the day. I dont know what I planned to do with all those credits. I was most likely suffering from my grandparents depression era mindset not to waste a penny or a morsel of food. This mentality reared its ugly head twice today and I made a fool of myself both times.
The first of these episodes occurred during breakfast. DW had used a couple of snack credits to pay for a bottle of water and a Yoohoo. I know it made no sense, but it drove me nuts that she used two credits for low value items like drinks instead of something of greater value. The credits were free and we had more than enough to spare, but it bugged me and I failed to exercise restraint. It wasnt one of my better moments on this trip. DD4 told me that I wasnt on the fun side of the vacation any more. Of course, she was entirely correct. Its not always the kids who need to correct their behavior. Although I didnt overreact about credits again, I had a second faux pax later in the day.
I cannot tell you how much time I invested prior to and during this trip mentally preparing DS6 to ride Tower of Terror. Last year, the other kids rode, but not DS6. DS6 would have nothing to do with the ride and wasnt even too keen in entering the gift shop. Prior to the trip, DS6 claimed that he would ride ToT. In the days leading up to today, DS6 continued to claim that he would ride. We entered MGM and DS6 was no longer so certain. Despite his uncertainty, he didnt complain as we followed the crowds to The Hollywood Hotel. The fear and trepidation, however, were clearly in his eyes. To his credit and my surprise, he went through with it. I know it sounds silly to be proud of your child for riding an amusement park attraction, but I was really proud of him. What can I tell you
Im a sappy Disney Dad. When asked if they wanted to ride again, DS6 and DD4 replied NO. DD4 added that she didnt want to ever ride ToT again.
Our morning at MGM was pretty routine for us. RnR for DS8 and me; Little Mermaid for DW and the two younger kids; Star Tours (Im so tired of this ride, but DS6 cant get enough of it), and Muppets 3D. Im a sucker for the Muppets and it has rubbed off on the kids. When the Swedish Chef makes his appearance during the performance the kids shouted out, Dad, theres your favorite guy. The cook that talks funny. Im always disappointed by the merchandise carried at the gift shop outside Muppets 3D
they need a better and more varied selection.
We had an early lunch at Pizza Planet and I committed my second completely unjustified food related outburst. We ordered a couple of combo pizza meals and Mickey rice krispies for the boys for dessert. They both love rice krispie treats and this was the first time they ever had the Mickey variety. I took one of the kids to use the bathroom and when I returned DS6 was throwing his Mickey rice krispie in the garbage minus one bite. He said that he didnt like the way it tasted. I had clearly not learned my lesson from the morning and should have kept my mouth shut. But I was still hungry and, of course, was interested in the Mickey rice krispie for myself. After admonishing DS6 for throwing away the snack, DD4 reminded me for a second time that I had again left the fun side of the vacation. I needed to make amends.
We hustled over to Indiana Jones and entered just in time for the start of the show. Dont you all just hate when the emcee asks everyone that arrived early to get great seats to slide over to make room for people still entering the theater? Doesnt it piss you off that once you slide over those stragglers who didnt arrive early end up in your row? Today we were the stragglers and ended up in the first two center rows. We did our best to avert the nasty stares from our neighbors.
We took our first ever Backlot Tour. The 3 minutes spent at Catastrophe Canyon was pretty cool. The other 22 minutes we could have done without.
DW and I needed a rest so we grabbed some ground in Honey I Shrunk the Kids Playground and irresponsibly allowed the kids to do their own thing unsupervised. It was great!!! I then made some amends and returned to the fun side of the vacation when I bought Henna tattoos for the kids.
You will recall that when the boys and I visited MGM earlier in the week, we ran out of time for DS8 to visit the animation studio at The Magic of Disney Animation. All day DS8 had been asking to return to the animation studio and I kept promising him that I wouldnt forget. He was so excited. DS8 is our artistic child. He loves to draw and takes his time to make sure that his drawings are perfect in his eyes. Unfortunately, the animation studio does not lend itself to a leisurely drawing experience. They get you in and get you out. Our animator taught us to draw Mickey Mouses head. Semicircles here; 45 degree lines there; shade this area; dont shade that area. The directions were coming fast and furious. The kids couldnt keep up. DS8 was extremely frustrated. The other two were equally upset. By the time the instruction had ended, all three kids had either crumpled or ripped up their sketches. DS8 had tears in his eyes.
Laughter is the cure for grief and I had the perfect cure sitting on my easel. I know that I vowed no photos would accompany this trip report, but I would do this trip report an injustice if I did not share my Mickey Mouse sketch.
My severely disfigured Mickey looks as if he is suffering from the aftermath of a horrific accident. DW caught sight of my Mickey drawing first and fell into an uncontrollable fit of laughter. It didnt take long for the other kids to join in. The power of a pencil in my hand had brought DS8 back to the fun side of the vacation. I will be copyrighting and marketing my Mickey sketch and reserve all rights to pursue legal remedies against any unauthorized use of my sketch for financial gain or mockery purposes.
We returned to POR for a swim and some relaxation. In the late afternoon/early evening, we returned to Epcot. We went straight to The Living Seas to check out Turtle Talk With Crush which we had never experienced. This way so cool and DS8 was selected to ask Crush a question. DS8s question was: Can you roll over when you swim? Crush immediately went into a series of dives, flips and rolls. Crush then grabbed a red polka dot bikini from behind a rock and asked DS8 whether he knew what it was. DS8 responded: Its a bra. This drew quite a bit of laughter from the adults and Crush remarked that maybe he should stop wearing it. A not to be missed show.
We spent a little time in Innoventions and then we were off to Canada for dinner at Le Cellier. We had a 15 or so minute wait for our table, but were kept amused by the Le Cellier hosts/hostesses who kept us occupied with Canada trivia questions (answers below). If you are from Canada you can't play along; this quiz is for us Americans ignorant of our neighbors to the north.
1. How many provinces are in Canada?
2. What is the capital of Canada?
3. What Disney character originates from Canada and from where in Canada?
4. What is the official language of Canada?
5. What is the largest city in Canada?
It was fun and helped pass the time. Dinner was very good; although we had some service issues. The ice wine was sweet and delicious. Le Cellier remains one of our favorites.
Illuminations started shortly after dinner. We're not big fans of Illuminations and watched only five minutes or so before we left the park. DW was convinced that there was some malfunction with Illuminations this evening as it appeared to her that there was too much fire and smoke to have been part of the show. Shes been bugging me since weve been home to inquire on DIS whether Illuminations malfunctioned on September 3rd. I include this request in the trip report for DWs benefit. Her day would be made if she is proven correct.
As we went to bed that night, we were faced with the reality that only two days remained of our vacation. While that thought was somewhat depressing, we were returning to the Magic Kingdom in the morning. All was pretty good in our world.
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1. 10
2. Ottawa
3. Winnie the Pooh. Winnipeg.
4. Both English and French.
5. Toronto
). How you discribe your kids makes me remember our when they were that age. I really liked how you discribed ther pin trading styles. Now lets keep the report going.
makeover next month!
Thanks!)
