Day 5 Tuesday 7/10/01 What is that noise?
Cast of Characters:
Me - Now referred to as Spanky thanks to Cousin Dave at 50's Prime Time. 3rd trip.
Michelle - My lovely wife who has had to endure all the changes that I've thrown at her concerning this trip. Is now starting to understand my Disney obsession. 6th trip.
Devon - An eating machine. Just turned 15 but still my baby. 3rd trip.
Jordan - Loves to have things his way. Just turned 12. 3rd trip.
Camryn - A true princess. 3 almost 4 going on 25. Now also referred to as Sugar Booger. Also thanks to Cousin Dave. Willing to try anything once. 1st trip. She is so excited.
It's 4:30 in the morning and one of the kids electronic toys has gone nuts. Why is it making that noise while I'm trying to sleep. WHOOP WHOOP WHOOP. Somebody yank the batteries out of that thing before it wakes everyone up. Now there is a voice talking to me. "There is an emergency on your floor. Proceed to the nearest emergency exit and evacuate the building." What are they talking about? It repeats again. We grab the kids out of a deep slumber, grab the fanny pack and the stroller and hike down seven flights of stairs wondering what is going on. We descend to the first floor and congregate in the area between the Swan and Dolphin. Wow, some of you people sleep in some interesting outfits. How do you get your hair to look like that and how long did it take? It was a fashion statement as few have seen. Now I'm sure that all these people are thinking the exact same thing about us as well. I see nothing happening at the Dolphin. No leaping flames, no smoke, nothing. After around 15 minutes, we are told that somebody pulled the fire alarm on our floor. So we make our way back to our room. Time to try and fall back asleep. Of course I'm wide awake by now but I know it's going to be a long day if I don't try to get a little sleep. Finally I fall back asleep. Why is that noise happening again? Am I having a nightmare? Same announcement. "Evacuate the floor." This time I forget the fanny pack and we take that familiar march. Outside we are again. It's 6:15 in the morning. This is going to be a long day. Again we are told that somebody pulled the fire alarm and we can go back inside. This time though I have left my key in the room. So off to the front desk in my PJ's with no form of ID and ask for another room key. They issue one and we head back upstairs. Well I'm up for good now. Figure I might as well go and do a couple of loads of laundry and get that out of the way. Get the laundry done, grab some more pastries ($16.10) and we head off to the Grand Floridian.
I had scheduled for Camryn to participate in the Grand Adventures in Cooking Class this morning. We get her settled in and take off. I take the boys down to the marina and get them into a Water Sprite and send them on their way to explore the open waters. Michelle heads to shop for awhile and I find a nice chair at the marina to sit in and relax for awhile. All to soon the boys are back and my break is over. We head into the lobby and decide to go ahead and buy our E-Ride passes for tonight. Who needs sleep at this point anyway. Well E-Ride tonight is from 11 until 2 a.m. I'm up for it, I guess.
We relax a bit longer and soon the little chefs are wheeling their creations into the lobby. Today's special is pepperoni pizza made on english muffins. I have to admit they are quite tasty and all the chefs look adorable in their aprons and hats. Her apron with the handprints will be a keepsake for many years to come. At $19.95 per child, this is a true bargain. Two hours of fun for the kids and memories for a lifetime.
We head for the monorail station and are quickly on our way to the Magic Kingdom. A quick stop at the Camera Shop and get a few more autographs and it is time for Lunch. We head to Pecos Bills for some hamburgers and Hot Dogs. Extra mushrooms and sautéed onions from the fixins bar and I feel great. Total for the gang came to $24.23. Quite a bargain for the amount of food we got.
We head out and take another round on Pirates. This is one of those rides that even at the busiest times never seems busy. After Pirates it is time to give the Magic Carpets a whirl. The line was not bad. 10 minutes at best but not hardly a lick of shade anywhere. Jordan was steering in front and made sure that we were always in proper position to be spit on by the camel with each pass. That's ok, cause it felt great today. Off to Buzz to battle the Evil Zurg again. This is one of my gangs favorite rides. I'm getting better. Over 100,000 points this time. The only problem is that everyone else is getting better also, so I still don't have any bragging rights. A couple of trips on TTA, and we head back to the hotel to rest and swim awhile before it is time to head to Fort Wilderness for dinner.
After resting awhile and a nap by me, we head back towards the Magic Kingdom to catch the boat to Fort Wilderness. We are running early for the show so we decide to go ahead and run into the Magic Kingdom and get our armbands for tonights E-Night while Michelle and Camryn look for characters in the Camera Shop. We quickly reunite and are on our way to the Hoop-Dee-Doo. Last time we were there 3 years ago, I believe they assigned tables based on when you showed up at the theatre. We were running late and got the very back table in the restaurant. Right next to a huge pole. We didn't enjoy things very much. I was not about to repeat that mistake. I had called last October for these reservations. They now assign tables based on when you make your reservations. As I went to the window to pay for our tickets the woman said that we had really good seats for tonight's performance. Sounds good. As we go to check in with the guy who tells you which door to go in he questions me as to how long ago I made my reservations. He says that we should have a really great evening. We are then led to the very first row of tables almost dead center. This is a great table. The food starts coming and we start eating and eating and eating. The food was good but the show was fabulous. I never realized how much we missed last time. The actors were giving us a hard time sitting that close and we had a great time interacting with them. The boys didn't want to come back here after our last experience, but now it is one of their favorites. Total: $215.99
After the show we head back to get Camryn and Michelle settled in for the night while the guys head out for some late night rides. Well now Devon doesn't feel good and wants to stay in the room. Michelle quickly decides to take his place and we get Devon and Camryn fixed up for the evening and off we go. Turn on our cell phones in case they need to reach us and it is time to ride. We arrive back at the Magic Kingdom just in time for the parade. We work our way back through Tomorrowland and quickly ride Buzz and Space Mountain. Now we are off to Haunted Mansion. The CM's are a whole lot different here at night than during the day. Very creepy, but we loved it. Now we are off to Big Thunder and this also seems different at night. Then to Splash. Just as we are passing under the possums while everyone is singing about the Laughing Place, the ride stops and the lights come on. 15 minutes of this song will drive you batty. Turns out someone decided to hop out of their log and stroll through the ride. Guess they didn't hear about the man who tried that earlier this year and died. Some people just don't think things through. We ride two more times without getting off. Back to BTMRR and ride it three more time without getting off. Back to Splash for a couple more trips and we are now exhausted. We had never done an E-Ride night before. There were no crowds at all. All rides were a walk on. Back at the hotel at 2:30 in the morning. I won't have any trouble sleeping tonight. Tomorrow - Animal Kingdom
Cast of Characters:
Me - Now referred to as Spanky thanks to Cousin Dave at 50's Prime Time. 3rd trip.
Michelle - My lovely wife who has had to endure all the changes that I've thrown at her concerning this trip. Is now starting to understand my Disney obsession. 6th trip.
Devon - An eating machine. Just turned 15 but still my baby. 3rd trip.
Jordan - Loves to have things his way. Just turned 12. 3rd trip.
Camryn - A true princess. 3 almost 4 going on 25. Now also referred to as Sugar Booger. Also thanks to Cousin Dave. Willing to try anything once. 1st trip. She is so excited.
It's 4:30 in the morning and one of the kids electronic toys has gone nuts. Why is it making that noise while I'm trying to sleep. WHOOP WHOOP WHOOP. Somebody yank the batteries out of that thing before it wakes everyone up. Now there is a voice talking to me. "There is an emergency on your floor. Proceed to the nearest emergency exit and evacuate the building." What are they talking about? It repeats again. We grab the kids out of a deep slumber, grab the fanny pack and the stroller and hike down seven flights of stairs wondering what is going on. We descend to the first floor and congregate in the area between the Swan and Dolphin. Wow, some of you people sleep in some interesting outfits. How do you get your hair to look like that and how long did it take? It was a fashion statement as few have seen. Now I'm sure that all these people are thinking the exact same thing about us as well. I see nothing happening at the Dolphin. No leaping flames, no smoke, nothing. After around 15 minutes, we are told that somebody pulled the fire alarm on our floor. So we make our way back to our room. Time to try and fall back asleep. Of course I'm wide awake by now but I know it's going to be a long day if I don't try to get a little sleep. Finally I fall back asleep. Why is that noise happening again? Am I having a nightmare? Same announcement. "Evacuate the floor." This time I forget the fanny pack and we take that familiar march. Outside we are again. It's 6:15 in the morning. This is going to be a long day. Again we are told that somebody pulled the fire alarm and we can go back inside. This time though I have left my key in the room. So off to the front desk in my PJ's with no form of ID and ask for another room key. They issue one and we head back upstairs. Well I'm up for good now. Figure I might as well go and do a couple of loads of laundry and get that out of the way. Get the laundry done, grab some more pastries ($16.10) and we head off to the Grand Floridian.
I had scheduled for Camryn to participate in the Grand Adventures in Cooking Class this morning. We get her settled in and take off. I take the boys down to the marina and get them into a Water Sprite and send them on their way to explore the open waters. Michelle heads to shop for awhile and I find a nice chair at the marina to sit in and relax for awhile. All to soon the boys are back and my break is over. We head into the lobby and decide to go ahead and buy our E-Ride passes for tonight. Who needs sleep at this point anyway. Well E-Ride tonight is from 11 until 2 a.m. I'm up for it, I guess.
We relax a bit longer and soon the little chefs are wheeling their creations into the lobby. Today's special is pepperoni pizza made on english muffins. I have to admit they are quite tasty and all the chefs look adorable in their aprons and hats. Her apron with the handprints will be a keepsake for many years to come. At $19.95 per child, this is a true bargain. Two hours of fun for the kids and memories for a lifetime.
We head for the monorail station and are quickly on our way to the Magic Kingdom. A quick stop at the Camera Shop and get a few more autographs and it is time for Lunch. We head to Pecos Bills for some hamburgers and Hot Dogs. Extra mushrooms and sautéed onions from the fixins bar and I feel great. Total for the gang came to $24.23. Quite a bargain for the amount of food we got.
We head out and take another round on Pirates. This is one of those rides that even at the busiest times never seems busy. After Pirates it is time to give the Magic Carpets a whirl. The line was not bad. 10 minutes at best but not hardly a lick of shade anywhere. Jordan was steering in front and made sure that we were always in proper position to be spit on by the camel with each pass. That's ok, cause it felt great today. Off to Buzz to battle the Evil Zurg again. This is one of my gangs favorite rides. I'm getting better. Over 100,000 points this time. The only problem is that everyone else is getting better also, so I still don't have any bragging rights. A couple of trips on TTA, and we head back to the hotel to rest and swim awhile before it is time to head to Fort Wilderness for dinner.
After resting awhile and a nap by me, we head back towards the Magic Kingdom to catch the boat to Fort Wilderness. We are running early for the show so we decide to go ahead and run into the Magic Kingdom and get our armbands for tonights E-Night while Michelle and Camryn look for characters in the Camera Shop. We quickly reunite and are on our way to the Hoop-Dee-Doo. Last time we were there 3 years ago, I believe they assigned tables based on when you showed up at the theatre. We were running late and got the very back table in the restaurant. Right next to a huge pole. We didn't enjoy things very much. I was not about to repeat that mistake. I had called last October for these reservations. They now assign tables based on when you make your reservations. As I went to the window to pay for our tickets the woman said that we had really good seats for tonight's performance. Sounds good. As we go to check in with the guy who tells you which door to go in he questions me as to how long ago I made my reservations. He says that we should have a really great evening. We are then led to the very first row of tables almost dead center. This is a great table. The food starts coming and we start eating and eating and eating. The food was good but the show was fabulous. I never realized how much we missed last time. The actors were giving us a hard time sitting that close and we had a great time interacting with them. The boys didn't want to come back here after our last experience, but now it is one of their favorites. Total: $215.99
After the show we head back to get Camryn and Michelle settled in for the night while the guys head out for some late night rides. Well now Devon doesn't feel good and wants to stay in the room. Michelle quickly decides to take his place and we get Devon and Camryn fixed up for the evening and off we go. Turn on our cell phones in case they need to reach us and it is time to ride. We arrive back at the Magic Kingdom just in time for the parade. We work our way back through Tomorrowland and quickly ride Buzz and Space Mountain. Now we are off to Haunted Mansion. The CM's are a whole lot different here at night than during the day. Very creepy, but we loved it. Now we are off to Big Thunder and this also seems different at night. Then to Splash. Just as we are passing under the possums while everyone is singing about the Laughing Place, the ride stops and the lights come on. 15 minutes of this song will drive you batty. Turns out someone decided to hop out of their log and stroll through the ride. Guess they didn't hear about the man who tried that earlier this year and died. Some people just don't think things through. We ride two more times without getting off. Back to BTMRR and ride it three more time without getting off. Back to Splash for a couple more trips and we are now exhausted. We had never done an E-Ride night before. There were no crowds at all. All rides were a walk on. Back at the hotel at 2:30 in the morning. I won't have any trouble sleeping tonight. Tomorrow - Animal Kingdom
for the person who kept pulling the fire alarm!
