Episode 68 - Pimping the Pipster
This was our free day, so we took advantage of it and slept in. Well, sort of. I woke up around 9 and couldn't fall back to sleep. I didn't want to wake the girls, so I grabbed our bag 'o clothes and headed down to do some laundry. It was a fine morning outside and already the Hippy Dippy was filling up. One of the things I really enjoyed about this resort was that it seemed as if there was always a party going on.
Usually whenever I left the room alone, I took the steps. (It was faster that way.) But with the addition of the laundry, I elected to take the elevator. As I was waiting, a family of four showed up and joined me. When we got in the elevator, I had to crack up when their girls argued over whose turn it was to push the button. We had that exact same discussion EVERY time we used the elevator during our stay. I let them get off first and then pulled my rolling duffle bag full of laundry around the Hippy Dippy to the laundry room attached to Petals. On the way I saw Nana, Papa and Preston in the pool and gave a wave.
I swiped my Key to the World card (which I later found was unnecessary as the door was already unlocked,) and headed inside. It was a bit of a stark contrast once you were actually in the thing as there was ZERO theming going on in there. I was kind of disappointed actually. I figured since they managed to trick out everything else in the resort, they would at least do SOMETHING in there. (Maybe some period washers or something...) But alas, it was not so.
Shortly after I arrived, another dad came in with a bag of clothes as well. We chatted a bit and I discovered he was from Kansas City. He had volunteered to stay behind and wash clothes while his wife and daughter when to Downtown Disney to shop.
Not long after we got our clothes going, a cast member came in and mopped up a pool of water near one of the washing machines. A few minutes later another CM with a tool belt came in and leaned over to look behind it. He then wrote something down and left. About five or ten minutes later, a second CM came in and looked behind the washer, then he too left. Shortly thereafter, both CM number two and CM number three returned, looked behind it together then left.
Unable to contain our curiosity my newfound friend and I each took a peek behind it as well. (I still have no idea what was so fascinating back there, or why they felt the need to leave after each glimpse of it.) Before long, it was time to experience the joys of drying.
KC guy had decided to read his paper and I read the news on my phone. What really stunk though was there wasn't any seating in there. We just kind of stood around and tried to keep out of the way of people coming in and out. We had both agreed though that leaving clothes unguarded here was not a wise move. (Having seen two different folks come in and relocate someone else's stuff.)
As we were both engrossed in our respective news articles a lady came in and immediately felt the need to engage in conversation. (In a manner what was way too bubbly for a pre-noon conversation I might add.) She was on her honeymoon, and it was fabulous, the wedding had been fabulous, the decorations were fabulous, the cake was fabulous, the dance was fabulous. I know all this because kept telling us how fabulous it all was. Repeatedly. Neither KC guy nor I ever really said anything. We just nodded and grunted from time to time.
Then she took her clothes out to fold them on the main table there and that's when it got extremely awkward. Her load of laundry consisted solely of, shall we say intimate apparel, including outfits of a naughty nature. And she was folding it right there. In the middle of the room. ON THE TABLE. In front of God and everybody.
Now this is a direct violation of the known Man Laws of Public Laundry Handling. When I folded my clothes, anytime I came across the more personal items, I just stuffed them in the bag to fold them later. Thats the way it's supposed to be done. It's in the manual. Page 432 to be exact, right between proper grill lighting techniques and approved methods of duct tape dispensing. I mean seriously now.
KC guy and I spent our time averting our eyes everywhere BUT the table, all while attempting to avoid appearing rude by ignoring her or conversely appearing perverts by looking at her. (It was then that I REALLY wished for some theming, or at least a TV.) Eventually she finished, still talking as she made her way out the door. After giving us a final shout about it having been fabulous chatting with us, she disappeared. For a moment we stood there wondering what had just happened and how we could avoid it in the future. Finally, KC guy deadpanned "Something tells me they have yet to hit the parks." I wholeheartedly concurred and before long, it was time to properly man fold my own loads of clothes and head back to the room.
I ran into Papa on my way back. He had gotten out of the pool right after I passed them earlier and had gone back to the room to change. He was now returning from Everything POP with three freshly refilled mugs, while Nana was helping Preston finish getting ready.
When we got back to the room, the girls were up and watching The Disney Channel. Tracy was on the phone with her aunt, and I dropped off the laundry bag then headed out to top off our own mugs. Once I got back, I helped get the girls ready and soon there was a knock at the door. Nana and crew were there to say their farewells before heading to the Magical Express bus for their return flight.
After bidding us all a hearty yet envious goodbye, they headed out and we were left to ponder our next move. Tracy told me that her aunt (the one she was talking to earlier) and her family were on their way to Disney's Hollywood Studios. We had known ahead of time that our travel dates overlapped, but they weren't sure ahead of time when they would actually be hitting the parks. We decided to go meet up with them a bit later on.
We weren't on a schedule other than our dinner ADR so we let the girls enjoy some down time while I got ready and we put our laundry away. Tracy also wanted to straighten up and re-organize our stuff a little better so we took care of that as well. Around one-ish, we were all taken care of and headed down to the bus stop.
We didn't have too long of a wait and soon we were on our way to the park. Everyone was getting a bit hungry on the ride over and decided that our first order of business was to procure some snacks. Along the way, we touched base with Tracys aunt and discovered that they were in the standby line for Rockin Roller Coaseter. We figured we had a good 45 minutes before we met up with them. This meant one thing. It was cheese stuffed pretzel time! WOOHOO. Or so I thought.
The bus soon arrived, and we made our way through the turnstiles. (Hailee still ducked under them.) We headed over to Min and Sid's and as we stood in line, I noticed something. The stuffed pretzels were mysteriously absent from the signage. I wondered if maybe I had miscalculated and pulled out my phone. I had bookmarked the menu page on AllEars so I pulled it up. Sure enough, right there on the site it listed Cheese Stuffed Pretzels. Hmmmm.
Then I noticed something else. Nothing on this menu matched what was on the sign. I began to worry a bit and when I reached the windows, my fears were confirmed. The menu had just been revamped and the pretzels that I had been reading about for so long were, alas, no more. I was crushed I gotta tell you. I mean you can't get a guy all jazzed up on visions of warm bread filled with spicy cheese and then rip it all away. Thats cruel and unusual!
Nothing sounded good at this point, so we decided for now to just get something to drink and look for something else to snack on. As the CM was filling up our cups, I snapped a couple of photos for the sign so I could send an email to AllEars and let them know about the menu changes. (Which I did later that evening.) This confused the poor CM until Tracy explained that I was writing a trip report and felt compelled to take photos of these sorts of things. Which I think actually confused the poor girl even more.
Once we had our drinks, the smell of popcorn led me to a nearby stand and we soon found a table to sit and snack a bit. Tracy asked what our supper plans were, and I told her we were going to the Whispering Canyon. I did my best to explain what it was, but having never stepped foot inside the Wilderness Lodge I'm afraid my descriptions were a bit vague. She listened to me muddle through it and finally said, Well, you've done great picking our meals so far so I trust you. I gotta say my love for that woman grew even stronger right on the very spot.
It was nearing the time when we thought Tracys Aunt and her family would be done with their ride. We made our way towards Sunset Blvd and I shot a couple of photos along the way.
As we neared the end of the street, the girls saw the sign for Hollywood Scoops. (At least I THINK that was the name of it. It was an ice cream stand down by TOT on the left hand side near Anaheim Produce.) Anyway, they decided ice cream would make the perfect chaser for popcorn. Of course they were correct so I grabbed us some and we sat in a little area behind the shop and ate. While the girls finished their ice cream, I pulled out the camera took a couple of shots with the zoom lens.
Tracys aunt called and said they were nearing the loading area and would be done soon. It was DOG hot outside so after the ice cream was done, I decided the best place to wait would be in the rides gift shop. As soon as we came in, we saw a machine that makes custom dog tags. We knew at once that we had to get a souvenir for Pippy. (Our annoying yet lovable beagle whom I believe may have been mentioned earlier. To recap, she is called The Pipster by the rest of the clan and Hairy Mongrel Beast by myself.) We wound up going with a heart shaped tag that had Minnie Mouse on one side and was engraved with Pippy and our address info on the other. We then spent another four or five minutes wandering around the rest of the shop.
I convinced Tahli to try on a hat.
Hailee said it would mess up her hair, so she only pretended.
(Have I mentioned yet how much I am DREADING the teenage years?) 
About the time we were done playing with the hats, Tracy saw her uncle and cousin coming off the ride. Her aunt and other cousin soon followed and we all had a happy reunion. 
Would our group stay together? What attraction would we squeeze in before heading to our dinner ADR? Stay tuned to find out!
Episode 68 1/2 - Nana has Left the Building (Written by Nana - The link at the end to episode 69 doesn't work. Come back here to get the correct link.)
Episode 69 - The Biscuits Get Rocked!
I'm so glad to have you here! I'll be happy to write a note for your boss. 
Believe, it's not nearly as bad as some of the ones I've come up with!
BUT they do lock it at 9pm, so you would need your card!
