Monday August 31- Honoring Teena’s Wishes
This post is a difficult one to write and I really don’t want to go into a lot of detail about that morning.
It was 6:00. I made coffee, grabbed my phone and camera and I had my hand on the door to sneak out of the room when I heard the phone ring. Ninja woke up and answered it and I heard her trying to reassure the voice on the other end of the phone.
It was Teena, who was on the way to the hospital with Bob. She told us to go down to the lobby and let her coworkers know she would not be in that day.
The next couple of hours were a blur. We were getting reports from a mutual friend who was at the hospital with Teena and Bob. We were devastated when we got the news that Bob had passed away.
We continued to be in shock as we offered, through our friend, to rent a car and either come to the hospital, stay with Teena at her house or to pick up Teena and Bob’s daughter Jeanne who was on the way to Florida from her home in Las Vegas, when she arrived at the airport later that night.
At one point that morning, Teena called and talked to each of us. She told us she wanted us to go to EPCOT as we had originally planned, and to have fun. That would prove to be a very difficult task, as our hearts were with our dear friend, but we did our best to honor Teena’s request.
We all feel that the 4 of us, who had become friends through a love of Disney, the Beach Club in particular, were together at that moment for a reason, to comfort and support each other.
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Once we pulled ourselves together to leave, we headed down to the Yacht Club lobby to meet up with Wood Nymph and her husband who were having breakfast at Captain’s Grille. We were going to spend some time together with them in EPCOT.
I didn’t have a park ticket, so I purchased one and once we had entered through the International Gateway, a CM helped me set up Fast Passes that approximately matched those of my friends- Soarin’, Spaceship Earth and… What else did we have???
We walked and we talked.
We saw some kids doing the Albatross Pirate Cruise and we yelled over some “ARGHs!”
There was a Photopass Photographer when we got to the bridge between UK and France, so we had a group picture taken.
When we reached Canada, we had to pay tribute to our friend Janetmom, eh?
We continued on our way to The Land. Ninja Mom spotted a family up ahead and walked over to them. She talked to the mom and dad and asked if they were going on Soarin’. Then she explained the “Golf Ball trick”, where you pretend to catch the golf ball at the scene in the show. She slipped them a golf ball without the kids seeing. Spreading some magic!
We passed by some Cast Members, probably college program students who had just finished training and were earning their ears
I was able to convince my friends to pose for a few more photos in front of The Land. Apparently, Nannette and Rebecca wanted nothing to do with this.
The Photopass Photographer told us to do something silly. Who, us???
We rode Soarin’ (we asked for, and received, the top row) but we didn’t see the family that Ninja had befriended earlier.
As some of you know, one of my favorite foods at the World was the Roasted Beet and Goat Cheese Salad at Sunshine Seasons. I discovered during the June class trip that SS was no longer offering this.
Roasted Beet & Goat Cheese Salad, with Candied Pecans and Honey Sherry Dressing
"No salad for you!"
Boo hoo!
With my friends for support, I gave a eulogy for the loss of “The Salad I Dream About”.
Yes, there was actually video taken of my speech, but fortunately it has not hit the interwebs because it would surely go viral.
Checking in with Command Central
At this point, it was approaching the time for our Spaceship Earth Fast Passes. At least for most of us. Wood Nymph and her husband went through. Then the four of us tried to get through. Apparently the FP I made that morning was 15 minutes later than that of my friends. The CM at the checkpoint did not let us in and when we tried a few times to see if our time had come due, I think she smirked at us.
Finally, the appointed time arrived and entered the ride. Rebecca and Nannette rode together and I brought up the rear with Ninja
I took a few pictures in the ride and as always they are nothing to write home about
Where is the Future Photo for Ninja and me?
It got censored!!! I gave her a little smooch on the cheek at the time of the picture and it didn’t show up at the end of the ride.
We monkeys were not born yesterday, and we all know the secret of Beverly, however a trip to Club Cool was still on the itinerary.
This is where I recreated my "Cortana!" episode from the Wilderness Lodge.
We then made a pit stop at the “Secret Bathrooms” I can’t divulge the location to you, not because I am sworn to secrecy, but because I don’t remember. It is in a quiet area in the backside of a building behind Club Cool and on the way to Figment.
No stop to EPCOT is complete without a visit to the Imagination Pavilion. NOT to ride the ride of course, but to get some special popcorn and to take a much needed picture of our monkey Bubbles with MJ.
Sufficiently fueled with sugary international drinks and fortified with flavored popcorn, we were ready to take on the World (Showcase). The question is, was the World ready for us?
Next Up: It’s a Small Mexico