Day 6 “Maps, we don’t need no stinking maps”

[yepod]

Mon Oct 28th
Cast of characters: DD-Emily, 3 ½ yo, ‘You’ll be sorry if I don’t see Katie’
DW-Jody, 40, ‘Are the boys lost or in jail?’
Me-John, 50, ‘Where’s the Moderator of the transportation board when you need him?’

We had planned to take it easy today as Emily was getting cranky (not to mention Mom & Dad!) & Jody had to do some laundry. I know I’m being judged already for leaving my dear wife to do the laundry.

Even when I DO volunteer, she just doesn’t trust me to do it right. What do you mean I can’t put those new red shirts we just bought in with the whites? LOL The 3 of us had breakfast at the POR food court (nothing memorable). The plan was for the Trekker clan to come over to the poorer side of town. They were staying at AKL at this point! The girls were going to do laundry, pool & play. The guys were going to (brace yourself for a revealing DISer secret here) go shopping! Ron & I had talked about doing ALL the Disney outlet stores in the consumer malls. Trekker being one of the DIS Transportation board moderators, was a perfect candidate for navigator! Oh boy was I deluded! So much for putting moderators on a pedestal! I had rented a car for the express purpose of this kind of freedom.

We let Emily know ‘straight away’ that Katie was coming for a visit (why prolong the agony?)! The players arrived & the guys were off around 9:30. I had directions to the Belz mall on I drive, but Ron assured me we wouldn’t need a map! (I hear Rod Serling in the back of my brain! The robot is saying ‘warning Will Robinson’! Spock is saying, ‘this isn’t logical’! And I’m sucked into a false sense of security! What was I thinking?)

We headed out of POR & made good headway until we got to the exit off I4 to I Drive. I exited & we came to an intersection & Ron said “I think this is where you want to turn, but I’m not sure” so we continued through the light. Remember my reference way back on day 1 about the great signage ON Disney property? Well we weren’t in Kansas anymore Dorothy! We couldn’t see any signs at this intersection AT ALL.

We wound up driving through some VERY questionable neighborhoods. But we did make it back to the same intersection & this time looked very carefully, & what to our wondering eyes should appear, but EMPTY sign frames at all corners!!! LOL We turned by instinct (& the moss growing on one side of the palm trees) & shortly found the Belz mall! We hit both stores as well as the Universal outlet for some Scooby stuff for Emily (A huge fan, bless her heart! After all, just because the 3 of us eat, drink, dream Disney 24/7, there’s always room for a little irreverence!!) We then got an address from the Belz Disney store for the Belz Premiere Mall! Headed out & this time I said I think I know the way! Reprise: What was I thinking?

I remembered passing a consumer outlet mall on I Drive on Thursday night on the aborted trip to Wal-Mart. No sweat! Well we take the sketchy directions the CM had given us & proceed to get lost. This time we drove what seemed like half way to Tampa, when I remembered how to get back to I drive via Erlo B Highway.

We did go to the other mall on I-drive but it’s not the Premiere mall, it’s not even a Disney sanctioned outlet, but they did have a few good bargains! We then left with new directions. They sounded vaguely familiar from the last ones & found the Premiere mall. And hit the last Disney outlet & headed home. I knew Jody would be getting worried but since we were only a few minutes away I declined the use of Ron’s cell phone! What should moments later ring? Jody had voiced to Katie her concerns & Katie said ‘oh just call them’ LOL

A $7 toll call later to find we were driving in the gate! We got back around 2:30, so we did that shopping trip proud! Ladys, eat your heart out! I didn’t get the missed parade look, so I survived! R & K high tailed it back to their resort in order to freshen up for our PS for Fantasmic Dinner Package at Mama Melroses. We headed towards the back of MGM to see Jessie & Woodie at Al’s Toy Barn. Emily wanted to meet them but we didn’t have time for the long line before our PS. We had just been seated when Ron & Katie showed up. Our server was very sarcastic (we loved it, you’d think we were in 50s Prime Time)! We all started with 2 excellent flat breads (pizza to us maroons!) & a nice salad. Jody had chicken & penne pasta with an excellent sauce & I had the beef fillet that was melt in your mouth! Emily had more pizza! It was a great meal.

It is a pricey package & for those who don’t mind getting to the ampitheater early, it’s not worth the extra money to see the show! I joked with our server about losing our vouchers for entry into Fantasmic. She laughed & said the CMs would be the ones REALLY laughing if we showed up without them. The yepod clan had never seen Fantasmic & remember the DW who likes to be there early! Well R & K & I wanted to hit RnR because I hadn’t had a chance yet & they’re always fired up for this ride. We sent miss ‘get there early’ ahead with Emily (holding our entry vouchers) Ron insisted Katie & I ride the front of the car & I was challenged by Katie to hold my hands up on RnR, so I made a valiant effort, but the picture showed me just starting to raise them when the flash went off. At least Katie didn’t call me a wuss! I had promised her I would scream like a girl & at the end of the ride, as we were coming to a stop, I didn’t let her down!
We made it to Fantasmic just in the nick of time, as Jody was starting to go in without us! The show was truly a fantastic Mickey fantasy!

(Wow that would make a catchy name!) We thoroughly enjoyed it & our last night with the Trekker clan! We were headed out of the park when Ron said to Jody “what’s your rush?” She always hates to be the last one to leave & doesn’t like to stand in the crowd for a bus. Well as Ron put it, Disney will always let you spend your money, so they sure weren’t rushing us out! We slowly made our way through the shops & did some fantastic pin trading! We found a very accommodating CM Manager who was pleased at Emily & Katie’s interest, (& probably wanted to get rid of Ron & I) so traded us many lanyard pins! She truly exceeded our expectations!

What a nice finish to a great night! And when we got to the busses it was no wait on a relatively empty bus!Day 7 Just a few more!

 

[Poohshoney]

Jody, sounds like a fix to me!

Teo male myths shattered in one TR - wow!!! Men LIKE shopping and men can't navigate for t toffee... Seriously, we had just the same problems with Belz and Premier - we missed the latter completely and couldn't be bothered going back.

These are great John, you done good!

 

[pumba]

thanks so much......we have done the Fantasmic pkg before and it is a lot of fun to know you just walk in and sit down ....and have a good place to watch it.......we had eight in our group and a wheelchair to boot and loved the convenience.........thanks so much for your report.....

 

[Marla Hellwig]

Shame on you not reading maps - I can just see you and Ron sitting in the car now - thanks for posting!

 

[vald1977]

So happy to hear you all enjoyed Fantasmic together! Poor Emily is going to be lost without her Katie for the rest of your trip.

 

[nativetxn]

I really enjoyed Mama Melrose when I ate there last May but I understand they have changed the menu, so I'll just have to eat there again next week

What a fun day!

 

[Trekker]

For those of you not aware of it - the Fantasnic Dining Package has changed. You now pay something like $16.00 for a child and $29.00 for an adult and get to make certain selections offthe menu at the restraunt you chose. It is really a bit pricy for me.... But it was an opportunity to spend some more time with great new friends.

 

[oldkicker]

That excuse for not doing laundry just doesn't hold water. Believe me - I know.

Isn't it great to linger a bit in the parks? Especially MGM - I really like it there at night!

Nice job, John!

 

[Micca]

Hey John just wanted to give a shout out to another male Disney shopaholic