jsmla
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Who: Jennifer, 45, solo for the first time
Where: The Magic Kingdom
When: January 28, 2006
So you see, imagination needs moodling - long, inefficient, happy idling, dawdling and puttering.
Brenda Ueland
Rats, did it again. Slept away an entire Disney afternoon, and in public too. I would much rather NOT sleep in public. I do all kinds of undignified things in my sleep that I would never do when wide awake. One of them is expose my body in all its swimsuit clad magnificence to all of the Pop passersby. Its not that my swimsuit is scandalous, not by any means. Its a solid affair with lots of ruching over the stomach and a little skirt to cover the more distressing things going on behind me. Scotts Uncle Bill once said that the older you get the more you should cover up, a wise philosophy. I have this voluminous batik print wrap thing that I use to cover myself every second that Im not actually in the water. This afternoon I had obviously dreamed up some pretty intense stuff because when I woke up my batik thing was fluttering in the breeze two sunbeds over. And now I have slat marks down one side of my face and upper thigh, ugh.
The weathers taken a turn. Its now quite cloudy with a lively breeze blowing stuff around on the pool deck. Guess Im lucky that the wind didnt deposit my cover-up in the pool. Definitely not swimsuit weather, so I cover up, grab a drink in my mug and head back to room 5259 for a shower. Ive been lonely quite a bit but I must admit that I dont miss the family at all at shower-time. DH and DD collectively spend hours in there every morning. I love having my own bathroom! Without them along Im all ready to go in 30 minutes. The only downer is that the sunbed slat mark below my right eye just wont go away. Ordinarily this would bother me but its getting dark out and I figure no one will be able to see.
Im excited about this evening. Im going to see Spectromagic and Wishes! This is a special solo treat for me. During the past few years I have spent Spectro and Wishes time riding Splash Mt. and Big Thunder Mt. RR. over and over. And over. Thats when Im with the kids. When Im with DH we spend Spectro and Wishes time somewhere else, anywhere else. Scott ranks this stuff somewhere between broccoli and and the dentist. The last time Scott and I were at Disney together we spent Spectro night at the POFQ pool bar watching football. So Im pretty jazzed.
The bus ride to the MK is uneventful. I still dont like riding the bus alone but Im starting to get used to it. At the Magic Kingdom its a lovely evening if a bit windy. Once again its what I think of as happy busy. Lots of people about but not a shoulder to shoulder crush. I walk slowly down Main St., just taking my time and enjoying the atmosphere. The Magic Kingdom is incredibly pretty at night. People are already staking out spots for the parade. Everyone has their favorite way of marking their territory. Strollers, blankets and Grandpa seem to be the preferred methods. We used a variation of the Grandpa method, the large sprawling teen-aged male. Give Sam a hot dog and a Game Boy and were set. Hell hold our spot while I take his much less patient little sister into the shops. No need for spot-holding tonight. Its just me and Im not all that fussy so I take my chances and head left into Adventureland. I intended to get a Dole Whip float but the stand is closed. A bit too chilly I guess. Chilly and windy.
I do like Adventureland at night. I think its the torches. Swiss Family Treehouse is open which surprises me. Somehow, I didnt think it was open after dark. I have a climb. I loved this attraction as a kid. I just thought it was the neatest way to live that I could possibly imagine. I wanted to sleep in a hammock and wash dishes in a sink made out of a giant shell. Now I wonder how anyone could possibly haul a piano (organ?) up into a tree and have it still work. How did they even save it from the shipwreck? My mom plays and her piano requires long and expensive visits from the tuner every time someone bumps the thing. (DS, 20, has only recently been allowed to enter the piano room without adult supervision.) And all those stairs! And wheres the, uhm, facilities? Adulthood has certainly dimmed the charms of Swiss Family Treehouse, at least for me.
Over to Tomorrowland. Buzz is still closed but a trip on the TTA is almost as nice, especially at night with all of Magic Kingdom lit up. I especially like the look of Astro Orbiters at night. Atmospherically, Im more of an Adventureland girl but Tomorrowland is quite pretty after dark.
More dawdling around through Tomorrowland and up the path to Mickeys Toontown Fair, past the track for the Tomorrowland Speedway. I dont know about you but, as a parent, I thought the Tomorrowland Speedway was the scariest ride in Disney World. First you have to stand in a horrible, monumental, endless line while breathing in exhaust fumes in the hot Florida sun. Secondly you have to stand in this line with your kids. Kid #1 is impatient, cranky and whiney. Kid #2 is loud, fidgety and amusing himself by annoying Kid #1. Kid #1, who is hot, sweaty and covered in Mickey Bar wants to be held. This ties up my arms and I can no longer restrain Kid #2 from crawling on the ground (yuck!), swinging on the queue barriers or just generally annoying everyone around us. Just as we head down the final stairs Kid #1 will have to go to the bathroom. She will also have a temper tantrum because her brother gets to drive his car alone. We finally get into our car where Kid #1 will insist on operating the gas pedal which she is at least two inches too short to reach. Our ride is done fits and starts. At least once a CM will have to come out and re-start our car. Kid #2 has left us in a cloud of fumes and is continuously ramming the car in front of him. Kid #1 will have another hissie fit when I take over while driving into the unloading area. Ride over and, believe it or not, the kids have had a GREAT time. I have a headache and whiplash. And where has their father been do you ask? Hes stayed behind to capture this magical experience on film. Sooo, while the Tomorrowland Speedway is not nearly as bad as character stalking, Im glad I dont have to ride it anymore. Kid #1(18) and Kid#2(20) still love it.
The path to Toontown is very nice, peaceful and quiet. I have a lovely walk to the train station. I just miss a train so have a few minutes to wait. Try to call Scott on his cel but hes not answering. Im not really expecting to hear from him since his horse thing is probably reaching a peak of excitement about now. I do get a hold of DS who assures me that everything at home is just peachy. Theres a lot of noise in the background. DS has odd pastimes. His peer group is the sort that does Society for Creative Anachronism (Renaissance Fair) stuff. One of their favorite activities is something called RPG. I dont know exactly what it is that they do but it involves a lot of dressing up in costumes. DSs favorite is a Russian Mafia Don. As a rule Im glad that Sam has these things at home. Otherwise Id probably worry more about what theyre up to. At home I can assure myself that theyre not drinking or worse. I just worry about DFIL. He has Alzheimers and is confused enough without having Zelda Queen of the Gypsies traipsing through his den.
My train pulls up and I let Sam return to his fiesta with a few admonishments about discipline and responsibility. I reality Im profoundly grateful to have the kind of son who is so willing to take care of his elderly grandfather. Without him Id be completely housebound. Instead here I am taking a lovely train ride around the Magic Kingdom on a delightful, if chilly, evening. If Sam wants to dress up like Zorro its okay with me.
I end my train journey in Frontierland and the first thing I notice is that Splash Mt. is open. Yippee!! Its been down for re-hab and was not supposed to be running tonight. Theres plenty of time before Spectromagic and I decide to I check it out. Almost no line so I go for a ride. I love Splash Mt. Its right up there with Tower of Terror and Mickey's Philharmagic for me. Theres almost nobody in the line and I get to pick my own seat. Its cool out so I opt for the drier back seat. A family hops onto the two seats in front. Like Big Thunder and the TTA Splash Mt. comes into its own after dark. Its a great ride under any circumstances, at night its spectacular. The only problem was that we got stuck in a very interesting spot. You know the part at the beginning when your log glides along the front of the mountain? It floats past Frontierland (very pretty all lit up) and alongside the big drop. Right past the big drop into the brier patch. Ordinarily its kind of exciting because there is the chance that a falling log will spray you as it hits the bottom. After much study, my family has come to the conclusion that the splash effect is somewhat enhanced with water cannons. Sam believes that every third log gets the big splash. I dont know about that. All I know is that this night our log came to a standstill at this splash point and every single log that came down dowsed our boat. We were stuck there for a good two or three minutes. I only got the tail end of the splashes but the family in front got soaked. Ive ridden Splash over 100 times and Ive never seen anybody get as wet as these people did. Dripping hair, sagging pants, squishy shoes soaked. And its getting cold out. Im sure they had to leave the park. Still no one in line as our ride ended and the CM asked us if we wanted another go-round. We looked at him like hed lost his mind.
Its Spectromagic time! I easily find a great spot on the raised porch in front of whatever it is that used to be the Diamond Horseshoe Jamboree. I havent seen Spectromagic in over four years and even then I didnt get to see it properly. Its a gorgeous parade and I just love it. It's just so Disney. The Ariel float and the Night on Bald Mountain one are my favorites. Spectromagic makes me tear up a bit but in an enjoyable sort of way, nothing like the bizarre Cinderellabration incident.
More wandering around after Spectromagic. Its still quite windy and getting colder. Luckily I had my jacket in my bag and its nice and dry. I popped into Pecos Bills and had a look at the place. DH and I are considering the Dining Plan for our October trip and were not very familiar with counter service outside of Epcot. Pecos Bills looks good for DH but not so hot for me. Im not much of a burger and fries girl. Maybe Ill check out Cosmic Rays later.
I finally poke my way over to Main Street to find a spot for Wishes. Very, very, very, extremely glad DH is not with me. To call Main Street a zoo would be giving zoos a bad name. Zoos are models of constraint and decorum compared to Main Street 10 minutes before Wishes. I found a really good spot near the popcorn cart by the rose garden and waited. I have to say this, waiting for Wishes was definitely not boring. This is an opportunity for people watching extraordinaire. Instead of Tomorrrowland Speedway heck you have Waiting for Wishes heck. Family meltdowns are much more amusing when theyre happening to someone else and the population of Main Street was really at it tonight:
Dad bought his boy a light saber looking thing. His son is seven and apparently had cotton candy and Mountain Dew for dinner. Im sure you know the rest. They had to leave before Wishes started.
A man my age stood in the long line at the popcorn cart only to find that they didnt sell coffee. He got real mad. Pitched a big fit. He wanted to talk to a manager. At a popcorn stand. He missed Wishes too.
A grandfather had his 4 year old granddaughter on his shoulders. Shes wearing a stained Tinkerbell dress and a crooked light-up tiara. Every time a burst of fireworks happened she gasped, bent over, cupped her grandfathers chin in her grimy little hands and squealed Did you see that one, Granmpa? Did you see that one? They were my favorites.
Tinkerbell didnt fly (It was very windy out) but Wishes was beautiful. Id never noticed the moons and stars projected on the castle before. At the end there were so many fireworks it was almost like daytime on Main Street.
I tried to linger after Wishes, really I did. Im just not much of a shopper and gave up after 10 minutes or so. As I walked out from under the train station Mickey came out onto the platform and waved a good night to everyone. Nice of him. While I walked the long walk to the Pop bus stop the Electrical Water Parade began so I stopped to enjoy it. We stayed at Ft. Wilderness a lot when the kids were young and we walked down to the beach almost every night for this. Lots of good memories. What a nice ending to a wonderful night!
The bus stop wasnt at all crowded by summer Pop standards and I was on the second bus out. Wishes began at 9:00 and even with hanging around afterward watching Mickey and the water parade I was back in my room at Pop by 10:15. Not bad.
Good stuff:
Getting more and more comfortable with my solo status
Pretty much the whole evening
Not so good stuff
Not much I can think of. A little cold but it was January.
Where: The Magic Kingdom
When: January 28, 2006
So you see, imagination needs moodling - long, inefficient, happy idling, dawdling and puttering.
Brenda Ueland
Rats, did it again. Slept away an entire Disney afternoon, and in public too. I would much rather NOT sleep in public. I do all kinds of undignified things in my sleep that I would never do when wide awake. One of them is expose my body in all its swimsuit clad magnificence to all of the Pop passersby. Its not that my swimsuit is scandalous, not by any means. Its a solid affair with lots of ruching over the stomach and a little skirt to cover the more distressing things going on behind me. Scotts Uncle Bill once said that the older you get the more you should cover up, a wise philosophy. I have this voluminous batik print wrap thing that I use to cover myself every second that Im not actually in the water. This afternoon I had obviously dreamed up some pretty intense stuff because when I woke up my batik thing was fluttering in the breeze two sunbeds over. And now I have slat marks down one side of my face and upper thigh, ugh.
The weathers taken a turn. Its now quite cloudy with a lively breeze blowing stuff around on the pool deck. Guess Im lucky that the wind didnt deposit my cover-up in the pool. Definitely not swimsuit weather, so I cover up, grab a drink in my mug and head back to room 5259 for a shower. Ive been lonely quite a bit but I must admit that I dont miss the family at all at shower-time. DH and DD collectively spend hours in there every morning. I love having my own bathroom! Without them along Im all ready to go in 30 minutes. The only downer is that the sunbed slat mark below my right eye just wont go away. Ordinarily this would bother me but its getting dark out and I figure no one will be able to see.
Im excited about this evening. Im going to see Spectromagic and Wishes! This is a special solo treat for me. During the past few years I have spent Spectro and Wishes time riding Splash Mt. and Big Thunder Mt. RR. over and over. And over. Thats when Im with the kids. When Im with DH we spend Spectro and Wishes time somewhere else, anywhere else. Scott ranks this stuff somewhere between broccoli and and the dentist. The last time Scott and I were at Disney together we spent Spectro night at the POFQ pool bar watching football. So Im pretty jazzed.
The bus ride to the MK is uneventful. I still dont like riding the bus alone but Im starting to get used to it. At the Magic Kingdom its a lovely evening if a bit windy. Once again its what I think of as happy busy. Lots of people about but not a shoulder to shoulder crush. I walk slowly down Main St., just taking my time and enjoying the atmosphere. The Magic Kingdom is incredibly pretty at night. People are already staking out spots for the parade. Everyone has their favorite way of marking their territory. Strollers, blankets and Grandpa seem to be the preferred methods. We used a variation of the Grandpa method, the large sprawling teen-aged male. Give Sam a hot dog and a Game Boy and were set. Hell hold our spot while I take his much less patient little sister into the shops. No need for spot-holding tonight. Its just me and Im not all that fussy so I take my chances and head left into Adventureland. I intended to get a Dole Whip float but the stand is closed. A bit too chilly I guess. Chilly and windy.
I do like Adventureland at night. I think its the torches. Swiss Family Treehouse is open which surprises me. Somehow, I didnt think it was open after dark. I have a climb. I loved this attraction as a kid. I just thought it was the neatest way to live that I could possibly imagine. I wanted to sleep in a hammock and wash dishes in a sink made out of a giant shell. Now I wonder how anyone could possibly haul a piano (organ?) up into a tree and have it still work. How did they even save it from the shipwreck? My mom plays and her piano requires long and expensive visits from the tuner every time someone bumps the thing. (DS, 20, has only recently been allowed to enter the piano room without adult supervision.) And all those stairs! And wheres the, uhm, facilities? Adulthood has certainly dimmed the charms of Swiss Family Treehouse, at least for me.
Over to Tomorrowland. Buzz is still closed but a trip on the TTA is almost as nice, especially at night with all of Magic Kingdom lit up. I especially like the look of Astro Orbiters at night. Atmospherically, Im more of an Adventureland girl but Tomorrowland is quite pretty after dark.
More dawdling around through Tomorrowland and up the path to Mickeys Toontown Fair, past the track for the Tomorrowland Speedway. I dont know about you but, as a parent, I thought the Tomorrowland Speedway was the scariest ride in Disney World. First you have to stand in a horrible, monumental, endless line while breathing in exhaust fumes in the hot Florida sun. Secondly you have to stand in this line with your kids. Kid #1 is impatient, cranky and whiney. Kid #2 is loud, fidgety and amusing himself by annoying Kid #1. Kid #1, who is hot, sweaty and covered in Mickey Bar wants to be held. This ties up my arms and I can no longer restrain Kid #2 from crawling on the ground (yuck!), swinging on the queue barriers or just generally annoying everyone around us. Just as we head down the final stairs Kid #1 will have to go to the bathroom. She will also have a temper tantrum because her brother gets to drive his car alone. We finally get into our car where Kid #1 will insist on operating the gas pedal which she is at least two inches too short to reach. Our ride is done fits and starts. At least once a CM will have to come out and re-start our car. Kid #2 has left us in a cloud of fumes and is continuously ramming the car in front of him. Kid #1 will have another hissie fit when I take over while driving into the unloading area. Ride over and, believe it or not, the kids have had a GREAT time. I have a headache and whiplash. And where has their father been do you ask? Hes stayed behind to capture this magical experience on film. Sooo, while the Tomorrowland Speedway is not nearly as bad as character stalking, Im glad I dont have to ride it anymore. Kid #1(18) and Kid#2(20) still love it.
The path to Toontown is very nice, peaceful and quiet. I have a lovely walk to the train station. I just miss a train so have a few minutes to wait. Try to call Scott on his cel but hes not answering. Im not really expecting to hear from him since his horse thing is probably reaching a peak of excitement about now. I do get a hold of DS who assures me that everything at home is just peachy. Theres a lot of noise in the background. DS has odd pastimes. His peer group is the sort that does Society for Creative Anachronism (Renaissance Fair) stuff. One of their favorite activities is something called RPG. I dont know exactly what it is that they do but it involves a lot of dressing up in costumes. DSs favorite is a Russian Mafia Don. As a rule Im glad that Sam has these things at home. Otherwise Id probably worry more about what theyre up to. At home I can assure myself that theyre not drinking or worse. I just worry about DFIL. He has Alzheimers and is confused enough without having Zelda Queen of the Gypsies traipsing through his den.
My train pulls up and I let Sam return to his fiesta with a few admonishments about discipline and responsibility. I reality Im profoundly grateful to have the kind of son who is so willing to take care of his elderly grandfather. Without him Id be completely housebound. Instead here I am taking a lovely train ride around the Magic Kingdom on a delightful, if chilly, evening. If Sam wants to dress up like Zorro its okay with me.
I end my train journey in Frontierland and the first thing I notice is that Splash Mt. is open. Yippee!! Its been down for re-hab and was not supposed to be running tonight. Theres plenty of time before Spectromagic and I decide to I check it out. Almost no line so I go for a ride. I love Splash Mt. Its right up there with Tower of Terror and Mickey's Philharmagic for me. Theres almost nobody in the line and I get to pick my own seat. Its cool out so I opt for the drier back seat. A family hops onto the two seats in front. Like Big Thunder and the TTA Splash Mt. comes into its own after dark. Its a great ride under any circumstances, at night its spectacular. The only problem was that we got stuck in a very interesting spot. You know the part at the beginning when your log glides along the front of the mountain? It floats past Frontierland (very pretty all lit up) and alongside the big drop. Right past the big drop into the brier patch. Ordinarily its kind of exciting because there is the chance that a falling log will spray you as it hits the bottom. After much study, my family has come to the conclusion that the splash effect is somewhat enhanced with water cannons. Sam believes that every third log gets the big splash. I dont know about that. All I know is that this night our log came to a standstill at this splash point and every single log that came down dowsed our boat. We were stuck there for a good two or three minutes. I only got the tail end of the splashes but the family in front got soaked. Ive ridden Splash over 100 times and Ive never seen anybody get as wet as these people did. Dripping hair, sagging pants, squishy shoes soaked. And its getting cold out. Im sure they had to leave the park. Still no one in line as our ride ended and the CM asked us if we wanted another go-round. We looked at him like hed lost his mind.
Its Spectromagic time! I easily find a great spot on the raised porch in front of whatever it is that used to be the Diamond Horseshoe Jamboree. I havent seen Spectromagic in over four years and even then I didnt get to see it properly. Its a gorgeous parade and I just love it. It's just so Disney. The Ariel float and the Night on Bald Mountain one are my favorites. Spectromagic makes me tear up a bit but in an enjoyable sort of way, nothing like the bizarre Cinderellabration incident.
More wandering around after Spectromagic. Its still quite windy and getting colder. Luckily I had my jacket in my bag and its nice and dry. I popped into Pecos Bills and had a look at the place. DH and I are considering the Dining Plan for our October trip and were not very familiar with counter service outside of Epcot. Pecos Bills looks good for DH but not so hot for me. Im not much of a burger and fries girl. Maybe Ill check out Cosmic Rays later.
I finally poke my way over to Main Street to find a spot for Wishes. Very, very, very, extremely glad DH is not with me. To call Main Street a zoo would be giving zoos a bad name. Zoos are models of constraint and decorum compared to Main Street 10 minutes before Wishes. I found a really good spot near the popcorn cart by the rose garden and waited. I have to say this, waiting for Wishes was definitely not boring. This is an opportunity for people watching extraordinaire. Instead of Tomorrrowland Speedway heck you have Waiting for Wishes heck. Family meltdowns are much more amusing when theyre happening to someone else and the population of Main Street was really at it tonight:
Dad bought his boy a light saber looking thing. His son is seven and apparently had cotton candy and Mountain Dew for dinner. Im sure you know the rest. They had to leave before Wishes started.
A man my age stood in the long line at the popcorn cart only to find that they didnt sell coffee. He got real mad. Pitched a big fit. He wanted to talk to a manager. At a popcorn stand. He missed Wishes too.
A grandfather had his 4 year old granddaughter on his shoulders. Shes wearing a stained Tinkerbell dress and a crooked light-up tiara. Every time a burst of fireworks happened she gasped, bent over, cupped her grandfathers chin in her grimy little hands and squealed Did you see that one, Granmpa? Did you see that one? They were my favorites.
Tinkerbell didnt fly (It was very windy out) but Wishes was beautiful. Id never noticed the moons and stars projected on the castle before. At the end there were so many fireworks it was almost like daytime on Main Street.
I tried to linger after Wishes, really I did. Im just not much of a shopper and gave up after 10 minutes or so. As I walked out from under the train station Mickey came out onto the platform and waved a good night to everyone. Nice of him. While I walked the long walk to the Pop bus stop the Electrical Water Parade began so I stopped to enjoy it. We stayed at Ft. Wilderness a lot when the kids were young and we walked down to the beach almost every night for this. Lots of good memories. What a nice ending to a wonderful night!
The bus stop wasnt at all crowded by summer Pop standards and I was on the second bus out. Wishes began at 9:00 and even with hanging around afterward watching Mickey and the water parade I was back in my room at Pop by 10:15. Not bad.
Good stuff:
Getting more and more comfortable with my solo status
Pretty much the whole evening
Not so good stuff
Not much I can think of. A little cold but it was January.
