ANOTHER Adventure in Autism (4/15) A Taste of What's to Come...

Kathy,
Great up-date

Visualizing your group after your description I can understand why security singles you out :rotfl:

I'm with Ed about the whole security thing, I believe we need it, but sometimes I really wonder about the people performing the checks.

There seems to be a lot of them that have the "Wyatt Earp" syndrome.

Celebrity Greeting....I love a good cliff hanger :woohoo:
 
Hey Kathy I have a question? Do you use a note from your doctor for Billy at WDW? We were thinking of doing this with my son since he throws a complete FIT if anyone is next to him in line that isn't familiar to him. Heaven help us if they accidentally bump into him! In the past, we would just by pass the ride all together if it had a wait of longer than 15 minutes... needless to say he has never ridden Dumbo or Peter Pan. Anyway, just looking for your opinion on this. I have read that some people have been given a hard time. :goodvibes Thanks

Kathy I hope you don't mind me jumping in here, but I thought I'd add my experience...

Last year we brought a doctor's note and the CM at Guest Relations didn't even look at it. This year we brought our previous GAC with us and asked for another one. No questions asked either time, once I explained what accomodations Alex needed. Go for it... you'll be pleasantly surprised. :goodvibes Amy

Also - We preboarded on Southwest with a "blue card" that they give out for people with disabilities that require preboarding. I explained that my son had autism and they gave me the card, no questions asked. With all of our "stuff" that we had to get in the right place so everything would be handy, it was very helpful to preboard.

Have a great trip!
 
Hi Kathy!

New reader to your TR. Found you on the others (Goofster, Blue & Buzz) and had to check yours out.

We got back 2 1/2 weeks ago from WDW. When we went through airport security we also had to take our DVD player out of the bag. The inspectors had to run it through the x-ray machine by itself. We have taken the DVD player on at least 10 other plane trips and never once have been asked to take it out. You flew Delta and we flew Southwest, so it must be a new measure in security.

Looking forward to more.....
 
Chapter Three: Into the Air, Into the Woods


The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.


- ROBERT FROST


After parting with a ludicrous amount of cash at Starbuck’s, Tricia and I rejoined our little group and began distributing the morning sustenance. Coffee only for Ed and Aunt Rae…they each brought breakfast bars with them… O.J. and a bagel with cream cheese for Tricia, and dry Cheerios and water for Billy. Like Tricia, I chose the bagel with cream cheese (Is there really a more perfect breakfast food than this?) Only I preferred to wash mine down with hot tea.


*Side note: I love the smell of coffee, but cannot stomach it. It always makes me a bit queasy, especially if it’s the really strong coffee like Starbuck’s sells. Perhaps it brings me back to the all-nighters I pulled during college, when I guzzled cup after cup of it so I could finish typing a paper that was due the next morning!


Anyway, we barely had time to finish our breakfast when they began boarding the plane. Our flight was overbooked and the attendants were calling for two customers to volunteer to take a later flight out of JFK, first class upgrade and limo travel to the other airport included. Ed pretended to get up. “See ya!” he joked. I don’t think so, Buster!


We boarded the plane and took our pre-assigned seats. I used to call the day before to request bulkhead seating for Ed and Billy so that Billy would not have anyone’s seat to kick in front of him, but he’s getting better at flying now so I chose two rows together with the boys seated behind the girls. This way, if he did happen to kick, he’d only be kicking one of us and not a stranger. It may not seem like a big deal, but it makes a big difference in Ed’s comfort. (He insists upon sitting next to Billy when we fly.) I remember our first flight with the kids in ’03… poor Ed spent practically the entire flight holding Billy’s legs down so he wouldn’t kick the poor guy seated in front of them. :rolleyes2 After 3 hours of this, he was frazzled and definitely feeling Grumpy. And Billy wasn’t too happy being restrained, either. Live and learn.


We had a short wait, perhaps ten to fifteen minutes, so that there was adequate spacing between our take-off and that of the plane in front of us and… we were off! :woohoo: Aunt Rae was seated between me and Tricia and she immediately began to doze. Tricia began a bit of homework and I tried to read a magazine, but my vision kept blurring. I finally gave up and just closed my eyes. The only thing that kept me from falling asleep was a small boy seated across the aisle. He was only about four years old and naturally was very excited about flying. He kept piping up and asking his dad a thousand and one questions, the way all kids that age do, but unfortunately he was not using his “inside voice!” He also had a pretty bad cough, and every time he coughed Aunt Rae would shudder and say, “Oh dear!” and cover her mouth and nose with a Kleenex… as though it would act as some kind of a surgical mask and protect her from the airborne germs! :sick:


Other than that, it was an unremarkable flight. No crying babies, no men with horrible body odor, and no snippy flight attendants. Overall, it was a nice, boring, 2 ½ hours. Naturally, our curious and congested young friend across the aisle fell asleep about fifteen minutes before we landed! :rolleyes:


We patiently (or not so patiently) waited to disembark and soon we found ourselves walking through the terminal. We usually fly Continental, so this terminal was slightly different, but not so much that we became disoriented. We boarded the mini-monorail to the main terminal and were met by our Tiffany Towncar driver, who I’m happy to say, was a big help to Ed once our luggage was finally retrieved. We all removed our sweatshirts (except, of course, for Aunt Rae who wears sweatshirts in July) and stepped out into the bright Florida sunshine. Ah, it was great to see those palm trees! :cloud9: We piled into the mini-van and soon we were off to the Wonderful World of Disney!


For some reason, the ride seemed to take forever, even though there was not much traffic. Tricia read each passing Disney billboard with great excitement and we all boo-ed the Universal billboards!! (I don’t know why, we were just feeling giddy!) Soon we were approaching Disney property and I realized that I would not be able to get a good shot of the WDW arch from the middle of the back seat where I was sitting. I passed the camera up to Ed and temporarily delegated the photographer duties to him.


Hooray!! :banana:

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We catch our first sight of the Monorail track!

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Here comes the gate!

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Impressive!

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We're here! We're here! We're finally here!

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We pulled up to the Wilderness Lodge and were greeted with, “Welcome home!” when we told the bellman that we were staying in the Villas. Ed took care of the driver and I immediately recognized an important WL celebrity at the front entrance.

“It’s Ranger Stan! The famous Ranger Stan!” I gushed to the others. They had no idea who I was talking about, but I had read many lovely things about this wonderful CM on the boards and ran up to meet him. He was extremely charming and welcomed us enthusiastically to the Lodge. He has been there for many, many years. What a great guy! And he’s originally from Jersey, too!


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We entered the magnificent lobby and allowed ourselves a few moments to gawk, heads turned up and mouths open in wonder. Beautiful, just beautiful! Billy, of course, immediately looked around and found the kid’s TV area and made himself right at home in one of the little rocking chairs. The wonders of the Lobby held no interest for him, but old black and white Mickey Mouse cartoons certainly did!

I took out the camera to take more pics, but Ed glared at me and indicated that I should be checking us in, not snapping pictures. (Grumpy-puss!) :p Ed took care of checking our luggage with Bell Services while I stood on a short line for check-in. It was only about 11:45, so I knew our rooms would not be ready, but I wanted to let them know we were here and make sure there were no problems with our reservation. I had a moment of regret that I had forgotten to make a quick call to Member Services yesterday to confirm and it turned out to be prophetic.


“So, you’ll be checking out on the sixth?” the reservationist-in-training asked after looking at the computer screen. No, we were checking out on the eleventh. “Our reservations are supposed to be linked so that we do not have to change rooms,” I said. Remember, we had a few nights on our DVC points, a “cash” night in the middle, and the remaining week on points. (We make our reservations through DVC Member Services, not the CRO.) The supervisor training the CM that I was talking with got on the computer and clicked and clicked a bit. “Uh-Oh,” she said.


“UH-OH” is not something one likes to hear when one is checking in. :scared:


“The reservations are here, but they’re not linked,” she said. “We have you in a different 2BR villa for the night of the seventh, and another 2BR villa starting on the eighth through the eleventh.” Uggh. That was annoying… if there was ONE thing that I had clarified each and every time I made our day-by-day reservation with Member Services it was that the reservations were to be linked. :headache:


The supervisor went “in the back” for a few moments and left me with the trainee. She took my license and a bit more info, but was hesitant to move off the current screen until the supervisor returned, so we stood there and chatted awkwardly until the supervisor appeared. “We can fix it so that you don’t have to move rooms,” she said, “but the reservations were not linked by Member Services and they are closed now, so I can’t do anything about it,” she added apologetically. “You will need to come to the desk to check out, check back in, and get new key cards on Friday.” Uggh. What a pain! Oh well, at least we don’t have to move. But, remember what I was told: Friday. I was to come back on Friday. Looking back now, that really made no sense whatsoever, but I suppose I was tired and I didn’t catch it at the time. My bad.


I turned my attention to the Dining Plan. The trainee brightened. “I can help you with that,” she said. I handed her my Visa card. They just put your card on hold, they charge you for the dining plan when you check out, so there’s no actual receipt to check. Too bad, it would have saved me a lot of grief later on. Aunt Rae, who had come up to stand next to me a few moments before, paid for her Dining Plan with cash. I purposely moved to the side so she could have privacy during her transaction. I would come to regret that, too. I should have listened in; that might have helped me catch the problem earlier. (Queue the ominous music: Dum-dum-dum!!)


I was given a business card with a number to call later for our room assignments and I tucked it into my wallet, gathered up Aunt Rae, and swung by the cartoon corner to pick up the rest of the family. Ed wanted to know what the hold-up had been about and I waved it off as “a minor glitch” with our reservation. I didn’t want to dwell on any problems and just wanted to get started on our vacation!


We decided to grab a sandwich at Roaring Fork and see if we could get lucky with a room assignment by the time we finished our lunch. We drifted through the lobby on the way, admiring the rustic interior and the fascinating displays of American Indian artifacts. The kids had fun throwing pennies into the indoor stream and making their first wishes of the trip.


As per Wilderness Lodge tradition, I had everyone rub Humphrey the bear’s generously sized nose for luck!!

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We were all getting pretty hungry by this time, so off we went to Roaring Fork to use the first of our counter service credits.


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Next up: We begin our adventure at Epcot’s World Showcase!


Kathy
 

Has your hair always been short? It looks good.:thumbsup2

Forboding comments in your latest TR..........:eek:
 
Coffee only for Ed and Aunt Rae…they each brought breakfast bars with them

What don’t this two know you don’t bring meals to the airport, your on vacation you are supposed to get very overpriced meals at the airport

Ed pretended to get up. “See ya!” he joked. I don’t think so, Buster!

:lmao:

“It’s Ranger Stan! The famous Ranger Stan!”

Congratulations, he is an Icon at the Lodge, I always enjoy the conversation I have with him, he is a wealth of information


We entered the magnificent lobby and allowed ourselves a few moments to gawk, heads turned up and mouths open in wonder

Every time we are their I can’t help but stop and take it all in again

The supervisor went “in the back” for a few moments

So here is what I am wondering, what do they do in the back, on our last trip the supervisor did the same thing to us, do they have a super computer back there?

I thin they just go back there and look at you through the two way glass and complain to their co-workers “We got another one to deal with”

(Queue the ominous music: Dum-dum-dum!!)

"Ruh-roh!"
 
Kathy I hope you don't mind me jumping in here, but I thought I'd add my experience...

Last year we brought a doctor's note and the CM at Guest Relations didn't even look at it. This year we brought our previous GAC with us and asked for another one. No questions asked either time, once I explained what accomodations Alex needed. Go for it... you'll be pleasantly surprised. :goodvibes Amy

Also - We preboarded on Southwest with a "blue card" that they give out for people with disabilities that require preboarding. I explained that my son had autism and they gave me the card, no questions asked. With all of our "stuff" that we had to get in the right place so everything would be handy, it was very helpful to preboard.

Have a great trip!


Thank you for answering. We will definately try it then. I already put a call in to his doctor. :goodvibes Thanks again!
 
Tricia's getting tall!
And I love how overpriced airport food is a part of people's TR's.
 
Hey Kathy! If this RN thing doesn't work out for you..you should look into writing books! When I read your reports I feel like I'm on the trip with you!!! Can't wait to hear more!
 
I go through security roughly 100 times per year and hate every minute of it. Two years, I too was on the "no fly" list. :mad: Talk about a pain in the rump! I had to have my attorney get me off at great expense... to the company. :rotfl2:

I'm a big fan of the Wilderness Lodge. It's beautiful. Did you and Ranger Rick have cocktails together?

The only issue with WL is transportation. I always have issues with it. :sad2:
 
Kathy - this is off topic, but you know you are on the DIS Boards too much when....we purchased a Disney watch for my sister in law this weekend that has a Nurse Minnie on the face - and I told my husband there was a woman on the boards that would like it, thinking of you!

Can't wait to read the rest of the report.
 
I want to reply to a couple of things in your last two installments:

It totally cracked me up thinking about Ed under all the weight of your luggage and Aunt Rae fiddling with her wallet and ID :rotfl2:. I love how you describe things.

I think the TSA is on to something. Your family really does look shifty, especially Aunt Rae, never know what she could be smuggling ;).

Your baggalini is not ridiculously bright, I thought it looked great :thumbsup2.

Aunt Rae and her Kleenex :rotfl:. Kathy, didn't you know that Kleenex will help fight off any kind of germs??

Do we all take a pic of the WDW arch? You will be seeing my version of it soon.

You have taught me so many things about the Wilderness Lodge. I didn't know about the famous Ranger Stan and I didn't know about rubbing Humphrey the bear’s generously sized nose for luck.

I am worried about the ressies not being linked and the dining plan problem looming :eek:.

I can't wait to read more popcorn::.
 
Chapter Four: Epcot: Eat, Drink, and Be Merry!


A man hath no better thing under the sun than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry.

- ECCLESIASTES 8:15



On our way over to Roaring Fork, I make a stop at the concierge desk to inquire about the availability of participating in the Flag Family ceremony. (Your family gets to wake up ridiculously early and raise the flags on the roof of the Lodge.) I’ve read that the view is spectacular and that it is one of those little-known Disney World experiences that one can enjoy if one only knows to ask.


It isn’t that little known, apparently, because the entire week of our stay was reserved already! Oh well!


I do believe that I misspoke about us setting off to grab a quick sandwich. I had forgotten that there is no such thing as a “quick” meal for our little group when said group includes Aunt Rae. When this sweet lady is with us, the lightest counter service fare necessitates at least an hour and a half to negotiate.


Billy practically inhales his food; it’s actually part of his spectrum of autistic behaviors. He tends to “overstuff” his mouth because he is under-sensitive orally. He’s trying to “feel” the food in his mouth and can’t do so unless his mouth is really full. We have to prompt him continuously to put his fork down or to just stop to take a breath or two! I would say that Ed and Tricia eat at a fairly normal pace and that I tend to be the slowest of us four. (Probably because I’m either talking or getting up and down from the table several times to help the kids.)


But Aunt Rae is an excruciatingly slow eater. :snail: First, she must wash her hands properly. A quick swish with wet-wipe will not do. She must wash her hands thoroughly with soap and water for at least five minutes, then dry her hands thoroughly before she will eat. If she is hard-pressed to find running water, she will settle for five minutes of antibacterial wiping. This is what she does during Mass on Sundays. There is a point during Mass prior to taking Communion where we shake hands with those around us. Aunt Rae will shake hands, but the antibacterial wet-wipes come out immediately and she will sit in the pew discretely washing her hands until Communion-time.


The dining plan is a great value and I love using it. But it can be a two-edged sword. While we love sweets in our house, we normally don’t eat dessert with lunch. With the dining plan, a dessert is included in both the daily counter service and table service meals. If we can get a cookie or a brownie that can be wrapped up for later, we usually do just that. Well, we try to, but Aunt Rae cannot seem to grasp the concept of grab ‘n go.


At home, we go out to eat with her at least once a week and I’m certainly accustomed to her habits. She is a tiny lady, but she loves food and loves to eat. Unfortunately she eats every bite s-l-o-w-l-y and very c-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y. It never irritates me… except when we’re at Disney! We ate some tasty sandwiches and chicken strips at the Roaring Fork (Billy devoured chicken nuggets and two sides of fries), and then tucked our desserts in our bags for later. :hyper: The kids were fidgety and I have to admit, so was I! Epcot was waiting! But Aunt Rae was still chewing. And chewing. And chewing.


I took a deep breath and tried to relax. “Hakuna Matata,” I told myself, “Hakuna Matata.” Ed took Billy to the rest room and that passed a little time. They returned and AR was still eating. And I felt bad… she was really enjoying her meal and I was glad of it, but arrrgh! This was taking forever. Billy was getting antsy and we kept telling him, “Just a few more minutes, Billy. Aunt Rae’s almost done, honey.” I think she was finally starting to realize that we were all waiting for her, so she decided to take her little bowl of fruit that she had chosen for dessert with her… to the park. Ed gently suggested that she just leave it, but she is from the generation that does not waste food, ever. So, the fruit bowl came with us in a plastic grocery bag that she just happened to have with her in the little baggallini.

But not quite yet.

She needed a rest room stop first. :faint: That was another 20 minutes. Tricia and I were in and out and then stood outside waiting for her. I passed the time by calling about our rooms. They weren’t ready yet, but it was still early so what could you expect? Technically check-in for DVC villas is supposed to be after 3pm (but sometimes you get lucky.) Finally Ed took the kids out to wander around the lobby and they threw some more pennies in the stream while I lingered behind waiting for AR. After what seemed like an eternity, we finally mustered the troops and headed back out the main entrance and over to the bus stop for Epcot. It was just about 2pm.


It had really turned out to be a gorgeous day! There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and it was just so delightfully warm and sunny. The bus came quickly, (Yay! Our first Disney bus of the week!), and we easily found seats. It was about a 10-minute ride to Epcot and I enjoyed the new thematic music that accompanied it. The haunting flute melody that portrayed the Wilderness Lodge gave way to the Figment theme from Imagination as we pulled through the EPCOT gates.


We disembarked and the first order of business was to find a locker. Ed had been unwilling to leave the portable DVD player and his new laptop in our unlocked luggage at Bell Services, so he had been carrying them around in his backpack. We stopped by the lockers that were closest to the bus stops and watched as Ed fed coins into a slot. He closed the door and turned the key. We could hear the money fall down, but the key would not come out! He tried a different locker and after thoroughly consulting the directions posted behind the locker door, closed the door and turned the key. Again, the locker ate the money but would not spit out the key! :mad: Disgusted and out of change, Ed sent Tricia over to the change machine. She was back in a few seconds… she couldn’t work the machine.

This was becoming an exercise in frustration!

I ran over and got change. After a third attempt, we had a winner! Now it was on to bag check.


Perhaps because it was mid-afternoon, there were only two security agents checking bags and the lines moved slowly. We shuffled through the process and queued up again at the ticket window. (Well, AR and I stood in the queue; Ed and the kids plopped down on a bench to wait.) One of the windows became available and the CM motioned to AR. “Now remember,” I told her, “you want an eight day park-hopper ticket.” She walked up to the window and I was called to the next one. I renewed the annual passes that Ed and I had from last year and bought two APs for the kids. We’d get this trip, plus the Marathon Weekend, plus the ten-day family trip we have planned in August out of them, so I swallowed hard and handed over my Visa card. After the DVC discount was applied, I left the window feeling that we would certainly be getting our money’s worth this year! ::yes::


We joined the others and I distributed everyone’s tickets so we could go through the turnstiles. We made it through, although the CM had to help AR with the finger scan, and after a moment to put away our precious passes, we were on our way!


Everyone was too antsy to stop for a group photo, so I just took an oblique shot by the photo spot!

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Remy takes a starring role...

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Our next stop was Guest Relations, where we picked up the GAC, or Guest Assistance Card for Billy. We simply showed the CM our GAC from the previous year and she made out a new one with the same accommodations. After we did that, we headed further into the park.


A simply gorgeous day!

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We all felt we really needed a quick shot of Disney Magic, so we delayed our tour of World Showcase just a bit longer so that we could ride a hang glider over California! We must have been so excited that we were walking very quickly toward the Land pavilion and it was only when we reached the doors that Ed and I noticed that AR seemed to be having some shortness of breath. We all stopped before entering the pavilion so she could catch her breath. “I’m okay, I’m okay,” she insisted, despite the fact that she was pursing her lips to breathe. Soarin’ is her absolute favorite and she was anxious to get there. Ed scolded her, “You can’t fool us,” he said, and we waited for a few minutes before continuing on inside.


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We all waited expectantly in the queue. “Darn! We’re on row #3,” Tricia noted as we filled in our assigned spots on the floor. She always hopes for the top row so she doesn’t see all the feet dangling, but I don’t care. I think it’s an awesome ride no matter where you sit! The introductory film clip was rolling and I was amazed to hear Billy reading the place names as they came on the screen. (San Francisco, Palm Springs, etc.) And he sounded out the words fairly well, too! That’s definitely a development that I’m pleased with… he tries to read signs and menus and just about anything that is presented to him.


“Patrick” appeared on the screen to give us our flight instructions and AR quipped, “Oooh, I wish I could take Patrick home with me as a souvenir, he’s so handsome!” :lmao: We all burst out laughing because it was so uncharacteristic of her! “Aunt Rae has a crush on Kronk!” Tricia giggled. The attendant began to usher us inside and Billy began saying, “Soarin’, Hooray! Soarin’, Hooray!” over and over.


We strapped in and took off into the clouds. I absolutely love this ride! The scenery, the scented “breezes”, the powerful score… it’s a fantastic combination. Billy laughed and chuckled the entire time and kicked his legs wildly. We all clapped and cheered when it was over. “Now that's the way to start a Disney vacation!” I told the others, and they all enthusiastically agreed. We would definitely go back for more later in the week. “Once is just not enough,” Aunt Rae exclaimed as we moved slowly up the inclined exit. We had just begun touring and already I noticed that her endurance level had diminished quite a bit from last year. Ed suggested a wheelchair and was shot down, so we took an easy stroll over to World Showcase where guests were celebrating the last Saturday of the F&WF.


Oh my heavens, it was crowded! The difference between FW and WS was like night and day. Ed held onto Billy’s hand and AR gripped my arm as we blended into the crowd. Tricia was given strict instructions to stay within our sight. We were being pressed on all sides and did our best to move through the fray. I knew when I was drawing up our itinerary that with the kids and AR, we probably would not be able to enjoy the festival to it’s fullest, but it had worked out that this would be the best time for us to visit WS so we soldiered on. My goal was to try to catch some of the live entertainment acts that we had missed over the past years, and perhaps some of the special acts that were performing during the festival. The first of these we came across was an exhibition of dancing from Peru.



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I would have liked to have stayed and watched the entire performance, but the foot traffic around us was horrendous, so we decided to move on. The walkways were congested, but the lagoon looked calm and serene.


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We began walking counter-clockwise around the lagoon and we suddenly caught a whiff of the cinnamon-dusted roasted almonds that Ed loves. I insisted upon lining up at the little kiosk so I could get him a few bags. (Last year, we passed them by and when Ed really wanted them, we had a hard time finding them!) I was not going to let that happen again! After standing on line for quite some time, I returned to the group with the treats and offered some to Ed, but he declined. I had also picked up some water and the kids and I shared a bottle as we maneuvered our way through the ever-thickening crowds.

Boy, was I ever glad we had an ADR for dinner that night!


Tricia wanted to stop and do Maelstrom, but I really wanted to see Voices of Liberty and the Fife and Drummers at 4pm and it was getting close. Wouldn’t you know it, though, we got caught in a huge crowd near the Outpost as the bridge was being raised to let the barges for Illuminations into the lagoon!

Doh!

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Tricia was being pesky about going back for Maelstrom, but I told her that she had been on Maelstrom many times and that I really wanted us to concentrate on doing things in WS that were new experiences for us. She rolled her eyes and we stood waiting for the bridge, unable to move forward or backward even if we wanted to!


Eventually, the bridge was lowered and the crowds from the opposite sides of the bridge surged forward and hit each other like two rams fighting. “This is crazy!” Ed snorted, and he moved us to the side until the worst of the battle was done and the traffic resumed to a mere swarm.


We passed several food kiosks and the aromas were delectable, but the lines were just too prohibitive.


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We worked our way slowly around to the America pavilion and I inquired of a CM where the VOL and Fife & Drum would be performing. “Oh, they’re usually anywhere right about here,” she exclaimed, waving her arm to indicate an area in the brick courtyard in front of the American Experience. We found some seats on a low brick wall at the base of a shady tree and waited for the show to begin. Tricia drifted to a nearby pin kiosk and I kept an eye on her as she browsed.


Suddenly, the rat-a-tat-tat of the drums and the whistling of the flute drew our attention, but the show was not where the CM had indicated it would be! Instead, the brightly costumed musicians set up to the right of the AA theater. They drew a crowd quickly and we were unable to get a good view. Drat!


Oh well, we certainly could hear them just fine. I crept up and managed to take a few quick shots, then returned to the others under the tree.


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There was no Voices of Liberty performance tonight, even though it was listed in the Times Guide. I was a bit disappointed, but happy that we at least were able to have seen the Fife & Drum performance. Our next stop was the Pearville Fair, a cute little country fair-themed area just to the left of the AA theater. This was a very good area for kids… there were colorful placards with various pear characters painted on them and holes cut out so a child could put his face in the cutout and have his picture taken as a “pirate” pear or a “princess” pear. There were pear topiaries and pear-themed midway games and these funhouse mirrors, which Billy enjoyed immensely!



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Who's that handsome boy?

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He stood there looking at himself for about ten minutes while Ed munched on a …what else?…a juicy pear. We rested here awhile since it was not so crowded, and then moved on toward France, where I hoped to see Serveur Amusant, the comic waiter/balance act at 4:40. I was so glad that our dinner ADR was for 5:30! I was starting to get hungry and the crab cakes from one of the kiosks in America smelled so, so good!

We inched our way through Japan and Morocco and arrived in France.


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The line for the kiosk that sold French champagne was so long, I couldn't get them all in the shot!

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This time, the directions I received from a CM were spot-on and we scored front “row” spots for the comic waiter show! One of the performers even invited Billy to participate, but we had to decline, naturally. It just goes to show that he looks completely normal to the casual observer, but in reality, he has a lot of challenges both physical and mental.


Oblivious to the fact that he could have been in the show, he nevertheless enjoyed it very much and clapped enthusiastically when it was done.



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The performer even asked Billy if he had liked the show, and Billy surprised us all with a very loud and resounding, “YES!”


It was about 5pm and we were all getting pretty hungry. Since we were so close to our restaurant, I suggested we try to get seated before our ADR. Let me see, close to France... I wonder if you can guess where we would be eating??

(No fair going back in the PTR to check my itinerary!!!)


Kathy
 
am i first? Yup I am. Now I gotta go back and read.

Hey what are u doing up?

Great update. How would you rate your time at World Showcase? It seemed a bit too crowded......

The music from Soarin is the best. It conjures up....I don't know if I can describe it, but I think you know what I'm talking about.
 
Your AR stories always make me smile-she makes me think of my grandmother, who'd do the same thing, but she'd add "I'll eat first, because I'm slower than all of you."
 
I have a feeling there is going to be trouble on Friday. Sounds like a lock-out is going to happen. ;)

We were in a monsoon at Epcot, so we really didn't get to enjoy that day. The weather looks so beautiful.

Patiently waiting for more...
 
Am loving the beginning to your trip report, you really have a way of transporting the reader right into your report (your line about the flute melody playing at WL, I could hear it!!!).

I'm guessing there's a reason why you were specific in telling AR to get the eight day park hopper, uh-oh!

Also, that has to be AR in the reflection when Billy is looking in the mirror. She's a lot shorter than I pictured her :rotfl: !

Keep up the great work, it's like being involved in a good book!
 
Man, you're updating QUICKLY! Impressive. Putting other trippie writers (including myself, which never got started, darn photobucket anyhow) to shame!
 













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