Day 3
Cast:
Me
DW
DS
Mammy
Ran
Park: MGM
Argh, another day, another transportation disaster. But at least this one was my fault. For some reason, I thought I read you could catch a bus to all parks except MK at the outpost in FW. I didn't learn until waiting for 35 minutes that the MGM bus doesn't go to the outpost, but goes to the settlement instead.
OK, so we got a late start, but who cares, right? We're in Disney.
Grrr, it's raining. Rain in Disney? Stop it, NOW. OK, that didn't work. We headed straight to Great Movie Ride and loved every minute of it. Got out of GMR to find MORE RAIN. OK, this is getting ugly now. Mammy's not happy in the rain. DS is not happy with MGM and Ran is just kind of following us around.
We thought maybe Muppet's would help perk us up, but DS fell asleep and even though Muppet's is great, we still walked out into the rain and the sad faces continued.
We walked around NY street and near Playhouse Disney, really just wasting time. We couldn't decide what to do. I wanted to do RNR and Star Tours, but it just didn't fit into the time frame. We had PS at 50s prime time and we didn't want to miss that. We headed there and had the pleasure of having our Brother Bob serve us. I had the fried chicken, so did Ran. DW had the grilled chicken sandwich, Mammy had the pot roast and DS had the temper tantrums.
OK, I'm losing my patience with the little one. Give him a crayon and he throws it. Give him a piece of bread and he throws it. Give him a cup of lemonade and he takes the straw out and throws it. Finally, Mammy takes him and calms him down as only grandmothers can do. For the first time this trip (literally), DW is able to finish a meal without having to deal with DS's sudden outbursts (not sure what's happening, because he's never like that).
Prime Time was great. Our neighbor was fussed at by his sister and had to wear her sweater and name tag. He even got up and bussed a few tables before filling someone's drink order. He really got into character, it was great.
Bob was great too. He fussed at me for ratting out my brother Ran for dumping his veggies into Mammy's plate. Then he fussed Mammy for not finishing all her veggies!!!! After he argued with DW about the veggies and who was the rightful owner of said veggies, he let us in on the secret of why he was "punished" by mom. He painted the cat! He said it wouldn't have been as bad if he wouldn't have shaved it first!!!! LOL LOL LOL LOL I just loved it.
I love Prime Time, the dressing down that's done is a bit harsh at times, but when taken in stride, it's fun.
We left Prime Time a little happier, but that darn rain
was back out. And DS was back in his temper tantrum mode. He saw someone with a lollipop and he wanted one. Well, we bought him the three-pack and he took the first one and threw it. After a little mommy-son time, we kind of all went our separate ways to try to just get away from it all. Mommy and DS went to Honey, I shrunk the kids play area, Mammy just sat on a bench people-watching (she loves that) and me and Ran went to Backlot tour. Backlot tour wasn't fun at all. It's normally longer, but I guess since the stunt show was added, some stuff was cut out. The show prior to the boarding of the vehicles was also absent, since it was too cold and rainy.
We left Backlot and headed toward Playhouse Disney. DS was a little better now and we wanted to get Little Mermaid and Playhouse Disney in while he was feeling good.
Well, we got to Little Mermaid five minutes prior to the show. We were walking towards the doors when they closed them, then said "How many do you have?" We said "Four adults and one child." And they waved us in. Well, the lights were already out and the doors were closing, so they rushed us into the theater. There weren't any seats available, so I told DW to take DS and find a seat for them. I headed to the back of the room, to just watch from back there. And then it all happened....
I don't know how and I don't know why, but I took a step and my left knee buckled and I went down like a sack of potatoes. Excruciating pain in my left knee followed as I lay on the ground trying to figure out how I got there. With the show going on, I tried to pull myself up to a seating position while keeping my knee pretty motionless. Wasn't sure if i had dislocated it or just sprained it. Someone from the show was flagged down and eventually someone came and told me a medic was on their way. I asked the cast member to try to keep it as quiet as possible, because I really didn't want anyone to be disturbed. She even said they would get a wheelchair and get me out of the theater ASAP, but I asked her to wait until the show was over.
The people around me were great. I apologized as much as I could, because I really didn't want their show to be ruined.
But this is where the so-called "Disney Magic" went south in a hurry. I was sitting on the ground, my left leg extended and a security guard walks RIGHT INTO MY LEG. Then he looks down at me like "Why did you trip me?" He pushes my brother out of the way (he was standing next to me) and then he copped a little attitude with my brother. I asked my brother to leave, because I didn't want any more distractions.
The show ended and the medics arrived to help assess the situation. Well, it's not dislocated, so that's good. But, I can't put any pressure on it. That's not good. I get a wheelchair and a little ride to First Aid. It was kind of aggrevating having RALPH (the security guard that tripped over me) following us saying "I can't leave you until I get all your information (the same information my wife had just given the CM at the Little Mermaid show)." Anyway, the first aid people were very nice. They brought me to a bed and let me lay while I waited for the van from the clinic to show up.
The trip to the clinic was pleasant and fast and the visit to the clinic was faster. As I was told at Disney, if I had opted for the hospital, I'd probably still be there instead of typing this.
Well, the diagnosis (early) is that I probably tore some cartilage. Doesn't appear to have any ligament damage. At the best, it's a sprained knee, at worst some cartilage damage. I was given a knee brace, some crutches, some painkillers and a receipt.
I was advised to enjoy my trip, but to enjoy it from the comfort and safety of a wheelchair or ECV. Problem with that is I'm the type of person that feels very fortunate I'm very capable of walking and I would rather struggle through the park on crutches than taking a wheelchair from someone that really needs it.
But this time, I will swallow my pride and follow doctor's orders. I won't like it much, but it's better to be safe than sorry. I'll have to follow up with a MRI when I get back home and I don't want to have to tell my doctor that I continued to damage it by putting weight on it instead of listening to sage medical advice.
Now, getting back to how the injury happened and the subsequent treatment. I don't know who's to blame for how I got hurt. Me for my clumsiness or the CMs for rushing us into a full theater (oh, did I mention completely dark theater?).
But I can say that I was really disappointed with Ralph. He'll get a nice little complaint from my part. There's no excuse for stepping on my injured leg, especially when another CM was standing there with a flashlight shining on my leg specifically for that reason. And the way he treated my brother afterwards, telling him to move, was a bit disrespectful. He tried to make it up later by offering my little boy a sticker and buttering up my mother, but the damage was already done.
It certainly won't put a damper on our vacation, but it's certainly going to slow us down a little bit. But my wife likes to look at the positives and she says this is just a good way for me to experience the parks at a different pace and a different angle.
So, if you see a red-bearded man clad in a kneebrace in a wheelchair or ECV, get out of the way, because I don't know how to drive those. LOL And if I do hit you or bump you in line, I apologize in advance.
Oh well, here's to a good night of sleep (hopefully those painkillers kick in pretty soon).
See you at Chef Mickey's in the AM and MVMCP in the PM.
Cast:
Me
DW
DS
Mammy
Ran
Park: MGM
Argh, another day, another transportation disaster. But at least this one was my fault. For some reason, I thought I read you could catch a bus to all parks except MK at the outpost in FW. I didn't learn until waiting for 35 minutes that the MGM bus doesn't go to the outpost, but goes to the settlement instead.
OK, so we got a late start, but who cares, right? We're in Disney.
Grrr, it's raining. Rain in Disney? Stop it, NOW. OK, that didn't work. We headed straight to Great Movie Ride and loved every minute of it. Got out of GMR to find MORE RAIN. OK, this is getting ugly now. Mammy's not happy in the rain. DS is not happy with MGM and Ran is just kind of following us around.
We thought maybe Muppet's would help perk us up, but DS fell asleep and even though Muppet's is great, we still walked out into the rain and the sad faces continued.
We walked around NY street and near Playhouse Disney, really just wasting time. We couldn't decide what to do. I wanted to do RNR and Star Tours, but it just didn't fit into the time frame. We had PS at 50s prime time and we didn't want to miss that. We headed there and had the pleasure of having our Brother Bob serve us. I had the fried chicken, so did Ran. DW had the grilled chicken sandwich, Mammy had the pot roast and DS had the temper tantrums.
OK, I'm losing my patience with the little one. Give him a crayon and he throws it. Give him a piece of bread and he throws it. Give him a cup of lemonade and he takes the straw out and throws it. Finally, Mammy takes him and calms him down as only grandmothers can do. For the first time this trip (literally), DW is able to finish a meal without having to deal with DS's sudden outbursts (not sure what's happening, because he's never like that).
Prime Time was great. Our neighbor was fussed at by his sister and had to wear her sweater and name tag. He even got up and bussed a few tables before filling someone's drink order. He really got into character, it was great.
Bob was great too. He fussed at me for ratting out my brother Ran for dumping his veggies into Mammy's plate. Then he fussed Mammy for not finishing all her veggies!!!! After he argued with DW about the veggies and who was the rightful owner of said veggies, he let us in on the secret of why he was "punished" by mom. He painted the cat! He said it wouldn't have been as bad if he wouldn't have shaved it first!!!! LOL LOL LOL LOL I just loved it.
I love Prime Time, the dressing down that's done is a bit harsh at times, but when taken in stride, it's fun.
We left Prime Time a little happier, but that darn rain
was back out. And DS was back in his temper tantrum mode. He saw someone with a lollipop and he wanted one. Well, we bought him the three-pack and he took the first one and threw it. After a little mommy-son time, we kind of all went our separate ways to try to just get away from it all. Mommy and DS went to Honey, I shrunk the kids play area, Mammy just sat on a bench people-watching (she loves that) and me and Ran went to Backlot tour. Backlot tour wasn't fun at all. It's normally longer, but I guess since the stunt show was added, some stuff was cut out. The show prior to the boarding of the vehicles was also absent, since it was too cold and rainy.We left Backlot and headed toward Playhouse Disney. DS was a little better now and we wanted to get Little Mermaid and Playhouse Disney in while he was feeling good.
Well, we got to Little Mermaid five minutes prior to the show. We were walking towards the doors when they closed them, then said "How many do you have?" We said "Four adults and one child." And they waved us in. Well, the lights were already out and the doors were closing, so they rushed us into the theater. There weren't any seats available, so I told DW to take DS and find a seat for them. I headed to the back of the room, to just watch from back there. And then it all happened....
I don't know how and I don't know why, but I took a step and my left knee buckled and I went down like a sack of potatoes. Excruciating pain in my left knee followed as I lay on the ground trying to figure out how I got there. With the show going on, I tried to pull myself up to a seating position while keeping my knee pretty motionless. Wasn't sure if i had dislocated it or just sprained it. Someone from the show was flagged down and eventually someone came and told me a medic was on their way. I asked the cast member to try to keep it as quiet as possible, because I really didn't want anyone to be disturbed. She even said they would get a wheelchair and get me out of the theater ASAP, but I asked her to wait until the show was over.
The people around me were great. I apologized as much as I could, because I really didn't want their show to be ruined.
But this is where the so-called "Disney Magic" went south in a hurry. I was sitting on the ground, my left leg extended and a security guard walks RIGHT INTO MY LEG. Then he looks down at me like "Why did you trip me?" He pushes my brother out of the way (he was standing next to me) and then he copped a little attitude with my brother. I asked my brother to leave, because I didn't want any more distractions.
The show ended and the medics arrived to help assess the situation. Well, it's not dislocated, so that's good. But, I can't put any pressure on it. That's not good. I get a wheelchair and a little ride to First Aid. It was kind of aggrevating having RALPH (the security guard that tripped over me) following us saying "I can't leave you until I get all your information (the same information my wife had just given the CM at the Little Mermaid show)." Anyway, the first aid people were very nice. They brought me to a bed and let me lay while I waited for the van from the clinic to show up.
The trip to the clinic was pleasant and fast and the visit to the clinic was faster. As I was told at Disney, if I had opted for the hospital, I'd probably still be there instead of typing this.
Well, the diagnosis (early) is that I probably tore some cartilage. Doesn't appear to have any ligament damage. At the best, it's a sprained knee, at worst some cartilage damage. I was given a knee brace, some crutches, some painkillers and a receipt.
I was advised to enjoy my trip, but to enjoy it from the comfort and safety of a wheelchair or ECV. Problem with that is I'm the type of person that feels very fortunate I'm very capable of walking and I would rather struggle through the park on crutches than taking a wheelchair from someone that really needs it.
But this time, I will swallow my pride and follow doctor's orders. I won't like it much, but it's better to be safe than sorry. I'll have to follow up with a MRI when I get back home and I don't want to have to tell my doctor that I continued to damage it by putting weight on it instead of listening to sage medical advice.
Now, getting back to how the injury happened and the subsequent treatment. I don't know who's to blame for how I got hurt. Me for my clumsiness or the CMs for rushing us into a full theater (oh, did I mention completely dark theater?).
But I can say that I was really disappointed with Ralph. He'll get a nice little complaint from my part. There's no excuse for stepping on my injured leg, especially when another CM was standing there with a flashlight shining on my leg specifically for that reason. And the way he treated my brother afterwards, telling him to move, was a bit disrespectful. He tried to make it up later by offering my little boy a sticker and buttering up my mother, but the damage was already done.
It certainly won't put a damper on our vacation, but it's certainly going to slow us down a little bit. But my wife likes to look at the positives and she says this is just a good way for me to experience the parks at a different pace and a different angle.
So, if you see a red-bearded man clad in a kneebrace in a wheelchair or ECV, get out of the way, because I don't know how to drive those. LOL And if I do hit you or bump you in line, I apologize in advance.
Oh well, here's to a good night of sleep (hopefully those painkillers kick in pretty soon).
See you at Chef Mickey's in the AM and MVMCP in the PM.
The same thing happened to me at home. I was just walking along, then whammo! Not fun! I hope you went on to enjoy the rest of your trip just the same. 
