Dancind
Tinkerbell's Mom
- Joined
- Jul 25, 2001
- Messages
- 7,730
Cast:
Me (Cindy, according to the Disney Personality quiz) 40 something, Mom, vacation planner and financier. Not in great shape healthwise, but determined to have fun anyway. MBA with an artists soul, sentimental softy.
DH, (Al) 47 (he doesnt care), gets on the plane when its time. Remodeling Contractor, award-winning homebrewer. (Wheres the beer?)
DD (Tink) 10, thinks shes a preteen, pure Princess. Dancer, artist, soccer mid-Monster, brainiac, comedienne.
This was to be the fourth full day of our vacation, and our goal this day was to get to the AK gates by 7:45, and see what they did before the gates opened. Well, we almost made it, even with the full breakfast cooking thing. By now, we were used to parking at Epcot and MGM, so the AK parking lot was a shock. You just keep driving in this big circle, and they finally let you park. Then you head for the shuttle and sit, because they wait for everyone in sight.
So we missed the opening ceremony, but were able to get into the park quickly and head back to the Safari for a walk-on. It was a nice morning, and we hoped to see lots of animal action. It was pretty good, too, the cheetahs were actually walking around. Our CM was Australian and pretty laid-back. I did notice that most of the CMs in the parks that were supposed to be playing roles were pretty low key, except the Jungle Cruise CM at MK. She was pretty good. This was a big difference from the Universal CMs we saw later in the week they all really got into their roles. Anyway, the highlight of our safari was our escort service, a rhino meandering along the trail in front of us, in no hurry to get anywhere. Next off to Asia to ride the River Raft, something we missed our first trip. Asia opens later, so we waited a few minutes, but then walked onto the ride. As it turned out, I was in the waterfall seat. Im going backwards, and the others in the raft are looking right behind me and screaming, and then the waterfall pours on my head. Oh well, they did say we would get wet! When the ride ended, I got out, and my family elected to stay on and ride again since there was still no line. Next we headed to Dinoland for some more rides we hadnt done before, deciding we would come back to Asia later for lunch at the Chakra hut. They had potstickers, one of Tinks favorites. On to the Dinosaur ride, and I cant tell you much about it. I had my eyes closed much of the time, and I know Tink did too. We both dislike jump rides, especially in the dark, and bumpy rides. The drop at the end was pretty fun, but my abiding memory from this ride is a boy that was in the waiting room with us. We were standing on a rail, looking up at the exhibit, and this boy of about 12 walked over and shoved Tink to the side, so she wouldnt be in the pic he was taking of his family. Didnt say a word, just shoved her, and his parents watched him do it. We were so shocked we didnt say anything either. Amazing.
After Dinosaur, Tink walked through the Graveyard in an astoundingly short time, and we headed for the Tarzan Rocks show. By this time, it was sweltering, so we thought sitting in shade for a while would be good. It was pretty hot in the theatre too, and the frozen lemonades tasted really good. No ice cream to be had for Tink though, probably too messy. Need I say, we sat on Row 3 for this show, almost right in the middle. We really enjoyed the show, we all love dance shows, and Tink was mesmerized by the whole thing the rock band, the skaters. One dancer was really good very tall with lots of obvious ballet training. Then Tarzan and Jane came on, and Im thinking: Jane is really pretty, but shes nearly as muscular as Tarzan. Pretty soon, we found out why. I dont know what the ballet-like flying routines are called when the acrobats wrap the scarves around their arms and bodies and fly, but it was one of my favorite parts of the Cirque de Soleil show when we saw it. Thats what Tarzan and Jane did, and they were very good. And I think being right on top of this show, as we were, enhances the experience. It was great.
Two more stops before lunch, both walk-ons. First Tree of Life for ITBAB, and then the Lion King show. We loved this show two years ago, and wanted to sit closer since we wound up in the back on our first trip. We were in the front of the line when the ropes dropped, and secured a spot on floor level, just behind the handicapped seating. Then waited. Tink had just finished her ice cream, no goodies allowed in the theatre. Just before the show started, a CM walked over with a little boy in a wheel chair and two very large women. You guessed it, they sat right in front of us. We were able to move over, though that put us in a handicap section which was empty. There were no seats behind us at that point. I can understand needing special seating for wheel chairs, but I dont understand the choice of putting them right in front of a kid, when theres plenty more seating to be had. When the parade part started, the little boy in the wheelchair got up and joined the parade anyway. I hate to think people rent the chairs to get last minute front row seating at the shows, but it sure looked that way at a lot of shows we went to during the week. The show was as good as we remembered it, and Tink got to be in the parade too. I think she felt a little silly and over the hill for this, but she wasnt the oldest kid. Just the tallest in her group, and she didnt look around. I got some good pics though. I thought we might do some of the nature trails after lunch, but it was just too darn hot by then. This will be a good activity for our next trip in December! Lunch was good, though the potstickers turned out to be a soup. Tink ordered it anyway. The half chicken from Chakra with flatbread for $5 was tasty and a great deal. It was even tastier with some of the sauce from Als chicken skewers see if you can get a side of sauce!
Plan B was to pool hop for the afternoon, so after a call we were off to the Beach Club. We took along clothes so that we could head to Epcot for the parade later. I should mention that we are DVC members staying at OKW on points that day, so we were able to pool hop to SAB. It wasnt very crowded and was a little cloudy, really perfect for an afternoon at the pool. I read, swam with Tink, we had a beer, Al napped. Tink made a friend to do the slide with, probably the highlight of her day. It was just heavenly, though we couldnt find Tink when it was time to go. Al looked for a good 10 minutes, and even walked into the lazy river at one point because he thought he saw her with his wallet in his pocket. I finally found her, she was in a shallow area with the big tube she had rented floating around her head. I dont think she ever explained that game to us. We got dressed and headed to Epcot, where we had to get the wet annual passes replaced before we could get in. The CM put the wrong expiration date on the back this time, so back again to get that fixed. We really wanted to see the Tapestry of Nations, since we had never seen it and it was ending soon. We claimed a bench in front of Japan, and ate some funnel cakes from the stand at America. And watched the weather. There was lightning, and it rained on our parade again. After the cancellation announcement, we headed toward the World Showcase exit amidst a little rain and lots of thunder. Stopped to watch the mime near France, and make a few pin trades, and the panchos came in handy by the time we got to the Beach Club. Since we were there, we decided on Beaches & Cream for dinner, hamburgers and shakes. Excellent dinner, best shake ever award from Tink, and we decided our waiter needed to be working as a Safari CM. Great dry sense of humor. Back to our room to watch the rain, I dont think they had the second parade that night either.
Day 5: More MGM and the Illuminations Cruise!
Me (Cindy, according to the Disney Personality quiz) 40 something, Mom, vacation planner and financier. Not in great shape healthwise, but determined to have fun anyway. MBA with an artists soul, sentimental softy.
DH, (Al) 47 (he doesnt care), gets on the plane when its time. Remodeling Contractor, award-winning homebrewer. (Wheres the beer?)
DD (Tink) 10, thinks shes a preteen, pure Princess. Dancer, artist, soccer mid-Monster, brainiac, comedienne.
This was to be the fourth full day of our vacation, and our goal this day was to get to the AK gates by 7:45, and see what they did before the gates opened. Well, we almost made it, even with the full breakfast cooking thing. By now, we were used to parking at Epcot and MGM, so the AK parking lot was a shock. You just keep driving in this big circle, and they finally let you park. Then you head for the shuttle and sit, because they wait for everyone in sight.
So we missed the opening ceremony, but were able to get into the park quickly and head back to the Safari for a walk-on. It was a nice morning, and we hoped to see lots of animal action. It was pretty good, too, the cheetahs were actually walking around. Our CM was Australian and pretty laid-back. I did notice that most of the CMs in the parks that were supposed to be playing roles were pretty low key, except the Jungle Cruise CM at MK. She was pretty good. This was a big difference from the Universal CMs we saw later in the week they all really got into their roles. Anyway, the highlight of our safari was our escort service, a rhino meandering along the trail in front of us, in no hurry to get anywhere. Next off to Asia to ride the River Raft, something we missed our first trip. Asia opens later, so we waited a few minutes, but then walked onto the ride. As it turned out, I was in the waterfall seat. Im going backwards, and the others in the raft are looking right behind me and screaming, and then the waterfall pours on my head. Oh well, they did say we would get wet! When the ride ended, I got out, and my family elected to stay on and ride again since there was still no line. Next we headed to Dinoland for some more rides we hadnt done before, deciding we would come back to Asia later for lunch at the Chakra hut. They had potstickers, one of Tinks favorites. On to the Dinosaur ride, and I cant tell you much about it. I had my eyes closed much of the time, and I know Tink did too. We both dislike jump rides, especially in the dark, and bumpy rides. The drop at the end was pretty fun, but my abiding memory from this ride is a boy that was in the waiting room with us. We were standing on a rail, looking up at the exhibit, and this boy of about 12 walked over and shoved Tink to the side, so she wouldnt be in the pic he was taking of his family. Didnt say a word, just shoved her, and his parents watched him do it. We were so shocked we didnt say anything either. Amazing.
After Dinosaur, Tink walked through the Graveyard in an astoundingly short time, and we headed for the Tarzan Rocks show. By this time, it was sweltering, so we thought sitting in shade for a while would be good. It was pretty hot in the theatre too, and the frozen lemonades tasted really good. No ice cream to be had for Tink though, probably too messy. Need I say, we sat on Row 3 for this show, almost right in the middle. We really enjoyed the show, we all love dance shows, and Tink was mesmerized by the whole thing the rock band, the skaters. One dancer was really good very tall with lots of obvious ballet training. Then Tarzan and Jane came on, and Im thinking: Jane is really pretty, but shes nearly as muscular as Tarzan. Pretty soon, we found out why. I dont know what the ballet-like flying routines are called when the acrobats wrap the scarves around their arms and bodies and fly, but it was one of my favorite parts of the Cirque de Soleil show when we saw it. Thats what Tarzan and Jane did, and they were very good. And I think being right on top of this show, as we were, enhances the experience. It was great.
Two more stops before lunch, both walk-ons. First Tree of Life for ITBAB, and then the Lion King show. We loved this show two years ago, and wanted to sit closer since we wound up in the back on our first trip. We were in the front of the line when the ropes dropped, and secured a spot on floor level, just behind the handicapped seating. Then waited. Tink had just finished her ice cream, no goodies allowed in the theatre. Just before the show started, a CM walked over with a little boy in a wheel chair and two very large women. You guessed it, they sat right in front of us. We were able to move over, though that put us in a handicap section which was empty. There were no seats behind us at that point. I can understand needing special seating for wheel chairs, but I dont understand the choice of putting them right in front of a kid, when theres plenty more seating to be had. When the parade part started, the little boy in the wheelchair got up and joined the parade anyway. I hate to think people rent the chairs to get last minute front row seating at the shows, but it sure looked that way at a lot of shows we went to during the week. The show was as good as we remembered it, and Tink got to be in the parade too. I think she felt a little silly and over the hill for this, but she wasnt the oldest kid. Just the tallest in her group, and she didnt look around. I got some good pics though. I thought we might do some of the nature trails after lunch, but it was just too darn hot by then. This will be a good activity for our next trip in December! Lunch was good, though the potstickers turned out to be a soup. Tink ordered it anyway. The half chicken from Chakra with flatbread for $5 was tasty and a great deal. It was even tastier with some of the sauce from Als chicken skewers see if you can get a side of sauce!
Plan B was to pool hop for the afternoon, so after a call we were off to the Beach Club. We took along clothes so that we could head to Epcot for the parade later. I should mention that we are DVC members staying at OKW on points that day, so we were able to pool hop to SAB. It wasnt very crowded and was a little cloudy, really perfect for an afternoon at the pool. I read, swam with Tink, we had a beer, Al napped. Tink made a friend to do the slide with, probably the highlight of her day. It was just heavenly, though we couldnt find Tink when it was time to go. Al looked for a good 10 minutes, and even walked into the lazy river at one point because he thought he saw her with his wallet in his pocket. I finally found her, she was in a shallow area with the big tube she had rented floating around her head. I dont think she ever explained that game to us. We got dressed and headed to Epcot, where we had to get the wet annual passes replaced before we could get in. The CM put the wrong expiration date on the back this time, so back again to get that fixed. We really wanted to see the Tapestry of Nations, since we had never seen it and it was ending soon. We claimed a bench in front of Japan, and ate some funnel cakes from the stand at America. And watched the weather. There was lightning, and it rained on our parade again. After the cancellation announcement, we headed toward the World Showcase exit amidst a little rain and lots of thunder. Stopped to watch the mime near France, and make a few pin trades, and the panchos came in handy by the time we got to the Beach Club. Since we were there, we decided on Beaches & Cream for dinner, hamburgers and shakes. Excellent dinner, best shake ever award from Tink, and we decided our waiter needed to be working as a Safari CM. Great dry sense of humor. Back to our room to watch the rain, I dont think they had the second parade that night either.
Day 5: More MGM and the Illuminations Cruise!
