Ahhh. This was it! The day we had all been waiting for. The reason for watching Disney Sing-along Fun At
Disneyland video ad nauseum. The day we were entering the realm of children's fantasies.
I'd like to report that we were all so excited that we woke up even before the alarm went off. I'd like to, but I can't. After walking 12,579 steps yesterday, I was wiped out. So were the kids. We must have slept like rocks, but we rolled out of bed when the alarm did go off, even if we rolled very slowly.
We managed to get out of the room and down to breakfast at scheduled time. Because we were moving so slowly, I didn't really get a chance to check out the news about the hurricane. I think I may have been the only person in the state of Florida that still thought there was a chance Jeanne would miss us. Perhaps that was a good thing, since I didn't spend any time worrying about it.
The hotel restaurant, Streamers, again only had 2 or 3 groups besides our family there for breakfast. We had some cereal or bagels (along with a banana) and were out the door. No reason to linger over breakfast here.
Once we passed the toll booth to the TTC, we drove past many empty parking lots. It is hard to believe that the parks could hold as many people as it would take to fill those spaces. We ended up in the 3rd row of the first parking lot. There were more people here than we had encountered at any of the parks so far.
When we got on the tram, there was a group in front of us with matching shirts that was having a great time. No question that they were excited! My boys watched this group raise their arms when the tram went under the tunnel like it was a roller coaster. After that, we couldn't just ride the tram ever again. We had to experience it as an attraction, arms up, squeals and all! It is great being a parent and getting to do that with your kids. And we hadn't even gotten completely out of the parking lot. This was going to be a great day!
We showed our passes so that we could head to the ramp for the monorail and went through the gate. That's when I saw the sign directing us to either the ferry or the monorail. Oooo, a ferry. We hadn't ridden a ferry yet. I attempted to convince the boys that this is a great idea and we took a vote on how to get to MK. When the monorail won by 3 to 1, I invoked the "Mother's Dictator Act" and we started for the ferry. We get about 10 steps when a CM tells us that the ferry isn't running yet. Ok. That has to be Walt's way of reminding me that this trip is all about the kids. I can take a hint. We took the monorail to MK.
As we are passing through security and the turnstiles, I'm telling DH about how I want to get the boys to Tinkerbell's Treasures. He isn't exactly sure what I'm talking about, but he's game. We are waiting outside the railroad station to get to the rope when I realize that there is no train at the station and no opening ceremony going on. Hmmm. Hurricane preparations?
The music came up and we were all let onto Main Street for rope drop. We don't try to push to the front, but when the rope drops we are off. There were a lot of people there, but no one else seemed to have an agenda like we did. DH was pushing that stroller like a madman! We got to the shop just in time to hear the CM say, "Come on, girls. Let's see if we can wake her up." We didn't get there in time for the boys to wake up Tinkerbell, but we did get to see it. Tip: Don't waste your time rushing for this. Our time would have been better spent enjoying the walk back to fantasy land. The whole things consists of some tinkling music and some lights on the wall. Take your time, but do stop in the shop and ask to look in the bureau. Maybe you can see Tink anyway!! Hint! Hint!
First thing the boys wanted to ride was Dumbo. Believe it or not, we walked right on. When we started to get on the ride, the CM was handing out blue and red chips. I'm not sure what they were for, but we were supposed to put ours on Dumbo's outside ear. The CM then came around and picked them up. What is that about? Maybe to keep people from trying to ride twice in a row? DS#1 and DH ended up in a car almost directly across from DS#2 and myself. I didn't get even one good shot of them, but I got a great photo of DS#2's face as he 'flew' Dumbo up and down with the lever. Pure happiness. I was enjoying watching him so much that I forgot to look over the fence to see the construction on 20,000 Leagues. DH told me later that it was totally drained and had heavy equipment out there. I think I had the better view.
Next up was Cinderella's Golden Carrousel. We were the first ones in line for the next ride, and I was scanning the horses. I began telling the boys that Cinderella's very own special horse was on this carrousel and I would show it to them as soon as I found it. Tell you what, there is a lot of horses on that thing. While I was looking, other people were filing in behind us. There was a cute little girl who had obviously come from CRT and was dressed in a princess outfit. I was so disappointed to hear the CM come up to talk to her and tell her that he had a special horse just for her. I knew exactly which one he was talking about. I was sure that little girl was going to be thrilled. I know he didn't hear any of our conversation, so it wasn't intentional on his part, but I was still disappointed. He then came to us and was chatting with DH and myself about the history of the carrousel. One horse went by, and he told us that it was named Liberty and was the only remaining original horse there. He totally saved the ride for me. I knew my boys would enjoy Liberty much more than a girly princess horse. When the ride stopped, the CM let the little girl on first and took her to Cindy's horse with the golden ribbon before he opened the gate for the rest of us. I thought that was really nice. That way, no one could grab the horse when she was all excited about it. DH took DS#2 and they headed for Liberty while DS#1 picked out his ride. My ToT boy picked out a bench seat so that he didn't have to go up and down so high on the horses. Too funny.
On to Snow White's Scary Adventures. DS#1 sat with me, and we made it not so scary by yelling at Snow White not to eat the apple and telling the Dwarfs to hurry up and get home. He was having so much fun hollering that he forgot to be scared at all. I think that he would have been happy to ride it again if we hadn't been going to Mickey's Philharmagic next.
No lines again as we walked right into Philharmagic. After the Muppets at MGM, I didn't think that DS#2 was going to like this very much, but he did really well keeping on his glasses and watching. I'm not sure if my glasses were defective or if it was just me, but for most of the movie, I didn't get the 3D effect. DH mentioned the same thing after we left. Don't get me wrong, though. It was still great. All the recent movies were represented so the boys were extremely familiar with these characters....probably more so than Snow White, Peter Pan, and even Pooh. They really liked it.
We walked right over to Peter Pan's Flight to fly over London. Minor wait here...Maybe a minute, before we caught our boats. The boys loved this one, too.
We walked past a barricaded IASW which wasn't as hard on me as I thought it would be. I guess I was expecting the Disneyland facade with boarded up windows. So it wasn't nearly as traumatic as I expected.
We had already decided that we weren't going to hit Toontown Fair. In heading out of Fantasyland into Liberty Square, I didn't even realize that we had missed The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. The boys never even noticed.
DH and I took the boys over to go into The Haunted Mansion. We didn't make a big deal about it, and they didn't have a chance to get upset about being scared. There was no one to be seen in line at all. So we stopped and took a photo of the boys in front of the hearse with the mansion as a backdrop, before we started up the path. As we got near the headstones, the CM at the door ushered us into the mansion. We were able to see Leota moving, but didn't get much of a chance to really examine the graves. Immediately, we were into the no exit room. No problems with the boys, even when the lights went out and you could see the ceiling. We boarded our doom buggies, and away we went. Knowing at least one of the stories behind the Haunted Mansion for background really made it more enjoyable for me. DH and DS#1 were in the buggie in front of DS#2 and me, but I was still able to tell DH about the hidden Mickey in the ballroom. This time, I noticed some logs under a dining chair in the ballroom scene. I tried to see where they were supposed to have come from but couldn't figure this whole thing out. Anyone with any insight? I saw the abstract hidden Donald on the back of the chair at the floating candelabra scene. I'm afraid that someone was really stretching to see a duck there. It didn't look like much to me. The boys did fine on this ride until we got to the graveyard area. They did NOT like the ghoulish heads that popped up. There was no hysterics, but we covered eyes for that part of the trip. It made it much better.
When we got off, I started scanning the ground for that elusive engagement ring. I looked all over but couldn't find it. I wasn't about to conceed defeat, so I went over and asked some CMs that didn't look too busy if they could point me in the right direction. One of them kindly offered to show it to me. It can't get any easier than that. As she walked us back over to the awning at the exit, she reminded us that Master Gracey's fiancee was only 16 at the time of her death and still as small as a child. When we reached the supports at the beginning of the awning, she pointed down and there it was. The fiancee must have been pretty small, bacause that ring is tiny. (If you are looking, it is on the left side as you face the mansion. It does look a little like a bolt.) The CM mentioned that it needs to be polished and that it gets stepped on a lot. She then proceeded to tell us about the authentic hearse there. It had been built in England and was actually used at the turn of the century. She said that Florida weather was very hard on it and that it was part of their job to scrape the mold off the wooden wheels. She also mentioned some years ago, they were going to have to send it back to Europe to get it refurbished, and it was supposed to be gone for several months. When Disney heard that it wouldn't be back in time for Halloween, they started to scramble to figure out what to do. Luckily, they were able to find a craftsman in the midwest who specializes in wooden carriage wheels. He flew out and was able to take care of it.
As she went on with her stories, I heard one that was new to me. The empty harness in front of the hearse was originally supposed to be lighted in such a way that if you took a photo of it at night, the developed picture would show a ghostly horse standing in the traces. So far, it hasn't been done. The way she put it was, "The west coast gets everything first." She just laughed when I reminded her that most people like it at WDW better, though.
We let her get back to work with many thanks and then snuck back to take a quick photo of me pointing to the ring on the ground. Or course, you can't really tell what I'm pointing at, but I know what it is!!!
We walked over to the Liberty Tree. I was showing DH and the boys the 13 lanterns that represent the original 13 colonies (the boys weren't much impressed), when the phone rang. It was Dad. He and P were in the park. He told me that he was on a bridge across from the castle. That really narrowed it down for me. I finally got out of him that he was on a bridge to Frontier Land. Problem was there were actually 3 bridges he could have been talking about. Our conversation continued along these same lines. "Ok,Dad. What do you see around you?" "I see some water and there is a double decker bus letting off a bunch of people". "Umm, Dad? Do you see anything that doesn't move around the park?" "Yes! I do! I can see the castle." By this time, I'm laughing. I had just dug out the information that he could see a store when I saw P leaving a restroom right in front of us. I flagged her down and she led us to Dad. He had been about 50ft away the whole time! It is a good thing the park was not crowded. We might never have found them!!
It was 10:30, and they again offered to take the boys around. I knew that Dad wanted to spend some quality time with them, so after a quick consult with DH, it was decided. The boys would go with them for an hour. That way, when we'd meet up, we could all have lunch before the boys needed to take a nap.
DH and I went over to do The Hall of Presidents. I knew that DSs would not have truly appreciated this, but I enjoy it. The animatronics in here are amazing. It is very easy to suspend disbelief with all the Presidents fidgeting, whispering and, well, just acting human. We walked out of there feeling suitably patriotic.
We wanted to go back to the Haunted Mansion again to really get to concentrate on the details. We were rushed past the headstones again, which I tried to resist. One look at the dour CM and I did what she wanted. They really get into character! DH and I had a good time. He hadn't understood what I meant about the hidden Mickey last time so I pointed it out to him on the table. I also showed him the hidden Donald, but he agreed with me that it might take some wishful thinking to see it. It was fun to experience the ride as two mature adults, but we totally blew that when we picked up the hitch hiking ghost. Giggling while we gave the ghost rabbit ears and tried to pick his nose made me realize that we really need our kids, at least to justify our behavior.
Finshed there, we still had some time before we had to meet back up. Since we wanted to enjoy most of the rides with the boys for the first time, we decided to go get a birthday button for DS#2. In trying to get out of the room that morning, I had forgotten it. (Luckily, their GOH badges were on their lanyards.) We set off down Main Street headed to City Hall. As we passed all the balloons, I mentioned how much I like seeing them, but I'd never spend the money on them. We got the pin and were starting back, when DH said that he'd really like to get one for the boys. So we stopped. (I'm such a softy!) The CM with the balloons was struggling with them, just a little, because of the breeze that had started. But we got our ballon, and we went back to Liberty Square.
Since none of them were back yet, I went into the Christmas Shop to look around. I picked out several ornaments that I liked and called DH in to make the final decision. He chose our ornament for the year and I went to pay. Instead of carrying the package around all day, I opted to have it delivered to the front of the park for later pick-up. It should be there in about 3 hours, I was told. The CM told me that they were telling people they were only doing deliveries to the resorts with a 4 day window because of the hurricane. When I filled out my pick-up slip, I noticed that the DTD hotels were on it, too. But I didn't ask if they actually sent packages there.
When I finished there, there was still no sign of Dad, P, and DSs. Since they were 15 minutes late and had not called, I called them. They were just getting off the Indy cars with the boys. They had also done the Tea Cups and (great minds) noticed that DS#2 didn't have his birthday pin, so they picked one up for him. Since they were standing across from Starlight Ray's Cosmic Cafe and that's where I had planned lunch, we said we'd meet them there. DH was a little annoyed, but got over it. We recognized our stroller with the bright lime green bandana before we ever saw them so DH went over to add the balloon. They were waiting for us at the door. DH took the boys to get a table since it was now noon and prime time for lunch. Cosmic Ray's has different lines to order different foods (Who's stupid idea was this?), so I jumped into the burger line while Dad and P went to get salads. We successfully used the vouchers again, splitting the burgers with an extra bun. This time, the CM didn't charge me for the bun although I offered to pay.
Dad and P showed up at the table moments after I did, so we timed that well. They had some kind of chicken ceasar-y salad thing. P complained that it had entirely too much dressing, but that is typical. It was at that point that I figured out that I had hardly heard her complain this whole time. It's too bad Disney doesn't know what a huge compliment that is. After all, this is the woman who, when Dad took her to Hawaii, complained that their two bedroom condo was too close to the ocean and the water was too loud. Disney magic at work.
The rest of us enjoyed our meals. When we all finished eating, we told Dad that we'd call him when we got back to the parks after nap and meet up then.
As we were starting out of Tomorrow Land to go back the the hotel, I noticed that there were no lines at Buzz Lightyear. We made a quick detour to ride this before we left. While we were listening to Buzz give us our instructions, DH surprised me by pointing out at hidden Mickey that I had never heard about. I was very impressed. (For those interested, check out the planet pictures on the wall to the left as you face Buzz.)
This was one ride that I was not sharing my insider's knowlege! DS#1 and I took the car in front of DH and other DS, and we were off. It took me a little while to get the hang of aiming, but by the time we got stopped at the battery room, I was racking up the points. While we were stopped, I aimed at the small batteries at the back of the room and in no time, I had maxed out my points. I casually turned our car so that DH could see my score. The look on his face was priceless as he said, "How did you do that?!" It isn't often that I beat DH at anything, but I have to admit this was fun. I don't think this ride will rank in my favorites, but I surely enjoyed it this time!!
On the way out, I tried to see if I could hear Stitch behind the wall, but no luck. About this time is when our Mickey balloon broke free of his earthly bonds and headed off into the great gray yonder. Tip: It probably is not the best time to buy a balloon when there is a hurricane about to strike. We didn't have it long, but enjoyed it while we did!
We got back to the hotel, DH and the boys konked out. I used my nervous energy more constructively today and watched the hurricane news. No doubt about it, the hurricane was hitting sometime late that night or early Sun. I was really glad that we had decided to go to Magic Kingdom today instead of putting it off.
When everyone woke up, we went back to MK. We called Dad to let him know we were on our way back, and he gave us the news that there had been an announcement that the parks would close early, at 7pm because of the weather. As we entered the parking lot, we noticed quite a stream of cars heading in the opposite direction. I was surprised because, although it was breezy and a little misty at times, the weather was far from bad.
We got back into MK after riding the tram/roller-coaster and the monorail. Since the hurricane was immenent, I wanted to take care of another of my must-do's before we did anything else. I wanted to get silhouttes done of the boys. My parents had one of me done at Disneyland when I was about their age and I thought it was really nice.
As we headed over to get it done, we came across a marching band right there on Main Street. Of course we had to stop to watch. The boys just love bands!
We then went over to the little cart near the China shop, just off Main Street, to have it done. To get each boy done with a frame for each was about $30. A bargain as far as I was concerned. DS#1 sat up in the chair like a trooper while DH took DS#2 off to explore the shops. I couldn't see how it was going, but the CM sure didn't seem to be concentrating too hard on this. It took a while and during this time, I could see snips and paper turning, but not much else. When the CM was done, he went around a corner to put it in a frame just as DH and DS returned. DH left this time with DS#1 in tow to shop. And we started again. DS#2 didn't do as well sitting still, so the CM handed me a little book to read to him while I held him in my lap. It worked out great and we weren't even finished reading when the CM said he was done. After the silhouttes were in the frames and handed to me, I was amazed! This guy was an artist. These silhouettes weren't just some generic head shots. He had truly captured my boys. He even got my 4 yr olds serious eyebrows and 2yo's up-turned nose. I now had my favorite souvenirs from the trip!
I have to brag a little here and tell you that the CM mentioned how well my sons did sitting still. He said some times it is a real struggle. I was really proud of my little guys. All moms need moments like this to look back on when the kids are screaming in the grocery store!
We had PS for Whispering Canyon at the Wilderness Lodge at 6pm, so I wanted to be at the boat dock by 5:30. We called Dad and told him that we wanted to ride the train around the park, so he was going to meet us near the station. They were going to be leaving soon anyway so this would put them back at the front of the park.
We all boarded the train and had a great ride. I had forgotten how much of the park you got to see. It was a lot of fun and very relaxing.
Dad and P left to try to get some Mexican food for dinner at EPCOT, but we still had a little time before we had to leave. A quick look at the map and we knew we wanted the boys to see Pirates of the Carribean. We didn't want them to miss it if the parks were closed for the rest of our trip.
As we walked back through the park, it was getting darker and the rain was spitting a little harder. It still wasn't horrible, but you could tell it was getting worse. And the park was emptying out. By the time we got to POTC, there was almost no one around. We parked the stroller and walked right in. I don't remember the parrot talking, but I'm not sure if it wasn't working or if we had just gotten in so quickly as to miss it. We got the first seat in the boat and off we went. The boys didn't like the cannons hitting so close or the loud noise, but that part was over pretty quickly. We provided a diversion for them when I told DH to call George. He didn't have a clue what I was talking about, but he was willing. (He's such a good sport!) "Hey, George!" didn't get any reaction except some strange looks from the others in our boat. Maybe he wasn't loud enough. So I gave it a try (shades of Indiana Jones' well!) "Hey, George!". This time I know that I heard a snort of laughter behind us. I'm sure they thought we were crazy. We continued on the ride for a bit before I asked DH to give it one more try. The name George was barely past his lips, when the ride stopped dead in the water. I know that I turned pale because my still clueless DH asked me what was wrong. We probably stopped there for 30 seconds while I spluttered out the story of George's ghost. I breathed must easier when we started to move again. We were a little slow getting off the boat, so when we were alone, I asked the CM there if they really had to say good night to George before they closed every night. He looked at me and said very seriously, "No, we don't HAVE to, but we always do." That was good enough for me. I was outta there!
DH wanted to stop to get swords for the boys at the gift shop, but we were running short on time. Maybe another time.
We got back to the boat dock to wait for our ride to WL just past 5:30. We waited under the canopy which was being buffeted by the wind and the spitting rain. We didn't care though. We were in WDW! We sat and waited...and waited some more. Even the people who had come in after us were beginning to grumble about the wait. That's about the time DH turned and asked me if I thought that my ornament would be ok at the parks for a few days. GASP! I had totally forgotten about it! I grabbed my receipt and ticket and headed back to the park. The CM at the turnstile said ( a little snottily), "Enjoy your whole hour at the park before it closes." Whatever. I ran under the train station to get my package and waited in a very short line. As soon as I had it in my hot little hand, I was running. I slowed down as I neared the dock and saw that a boat was just approaching across the water. Although we were among the first at the dock, we were some of the last on the boat. We ended up sitting next to a window that was stuck open. At least it was better than being on the outside deck like some others chose!
When we reached WL and were disembarking, DH asked the CM how long the boat would be running after the parks closed so we could get back to our car. He told us that the boats were almost done, but we would have no problem. We would just need to catch a bus back to the park from the front of the resort.
We walked past a beautiful pool area and saw the geyser erupt on our way into the Lodge. Uh-oh. That meant it was 6:00. We were late. We walked into the beautiful lobby and were awestruck. It was unbelievable. It sure left the DoubleTree Guest Suites wanting. I got to the counter to check in at Whispering Canyon and explained the situation. I was given a pager and told that it would be about 30 minutes. I knew there was nothing they could do. The place was packed! The wait gave us a chance to wash up in the bathroom before we sat down to enjoy some people watching. It wasn't long before the pager went off.
This was our favorite eating experience, hands down, on our whole trip! The boys had fun helping with the ketchup, doing the hokey-pokey and participating in the stick pony race. Not only did they have a great time, but the food was wonderful. DH and I had the all-you-can eat skillet meal. The pulled pork was delicious and the ribs were scrumptious. Service was superb, too. Our server, Allison, was the best we had anywhere. At one point, she had DS#2 stand up on his chair so everyone could see him. Then the whole restaurant sang Happy Birthday to him. He loved it! I've never been in a restaurant where EVERYONE sang the song. Usually, a few tables near the person sang and that's it. Not here. At Whispering Canyon, everyone gets into it. It was wonderful. While we were finishing up, I asked Allison if there had been any word on park hours for the next day. She wasn't sure but checked with her manager. It was official. WDW was closed on Sunday. Before we left, she brought out a birthday cupcake for DS. Too bad we were all too full to have more than a taste.
When we left the building, it was obvious that the weather had taken a turn for the worse. The wind was up and rain was comng down steadily. There were palm branches down and lots of leaves swirling around at the entrance.
At the valet stand, a CM noticed us and asked if we needed our car. DH explained that we were looking for the bus to take us back to MK to get our car. I knew it wasn't good news when I looked at the CM's face. Disney had just shut down the bus service not long before. Ever the optimist, I went to the front desk to ask if the buses from DTD hotels came this way and told the CM there the whole story. Nope. No luck. I was quite rudely told to go back outside and the valet would let us call a cab. I gave the guy the benefit of the doubt as I was sure he was stressed about the storm. So, although, my tension level was rising, I let him go with a dirty look. Back outside again, the valet there tried to call the hotel shuttle for us, but it was already gone. We could tell he felt bad, but there was nothing he could do except call a taxi for us. DH tipped him for his assistance and about 10 minutes later we had a cab.
The cab driver seemed a little put out that he had come all the way over for such a short trip. But he got much more helpful after DH tipped him well as we got out. He showed us the easiest way back to our car before he left. I guess that Hurricane Stress Syndrome really does exist!
When we got back to our room, there was a note under the door telling us the latest news about the storm. It wasn't very recent since it listed that there was no information on park hours the next day. We did get another one underneath our door about 10pm with more recent updates and restaurant info for the next day. DH got that one, because I was feeling every one of the 14,360 steps I'd walked that day. The boys and I were asleep.
That was all I knew until the next day. (Stay tuned!)
