Dec. 2, Thursday
Finally, we can go to a park.
Well, we hope so anyway.
First we need to check back into our room, then get our tickets and make sure the dining plan is on them.
And it's Early Entry day, no point in going if you're not going to take advantage of it.
MK opens then for us at 8, computers don't come on line until 7 which means the alarm is going off a bit after 6.
Oy vey, not used to this anymore.
Alarm went off, followed immediately by the wake up call,, just in case. Diane got the alarm, I took the call from Stitch.
Now tell me, of all the possivle Disney Characters they could have do this, how in the world did they end up thinking Stitch would be the best choice?
And he yells at you the whole time!
Heck, I'd rather pick up the phone and have Dory tell me it's time to get up while trying to speak whale!
Anything would be better.
Just as we were walking out the door, it occurred to me that we probably aren't coming back this morning if all goes well, better bring some pain pills just in case.
And thinking about those pills made me realize that I forgot to take my other pills I have to take each morning for blood pressure and such, that would not have been good.
You know how some people suffer from claustrophobia? A fear of small, cramped spaces?
Well for the last ten years I've been taking medicine for Cholestrerolphobia, a fear of small, cramped arteries.
"Whew, that was close, I almost forgot to take my meds," I told Smidgy, "Once again it was the pain pills to the rescue, if I hadn't of thought of the Vico....."
"OH WILL YOU STOP?"
Boy, you would have thought Florence Nightingale would realize the importance of medicine.
We got to the reservation counter at 5 to 7. The concierge line was packed already, even have a couple people in front of us over on this side. One was a guy by himself, a VERY agitated guy by himself who wanted to tell us all about why he is so agitated.
This is a time when Disney was frequently shutting down their computer systems and not taking any reservations, apparently things got screwed up a LOT!
THis guy checked in yesterday afternoon with his family, got the room keys with tiks on the keycards and went to one of the parks, can't remember which one.
No soup for you!
Tickets weren't on the cards like they were supposed to be, and guest relations couldn't help because the computers were down again for cleaning, or whatever they do to them.
Probably power wash them too.
So they had to wait until the next bus and come back to Pop. The computers were down so they couldn't get it straightened out yet, but the guy was promised a 50 dollar gift card for their troubles, and he was there now to collect it before they went and tried the park tickets again.
I looked at him in astonishment but he seemed happy with the deal.
After taking my family to Magic Kingdom and finding out we couldn't get in and losing a day on top of it along with the kids disappointment and having the whole thing be Disney's fault, no WAY is 50 bucks going to cover it.
Nope, nopenopenopenope..
We were motioned to right at 7 and walked up there.
After exchanging pleasantries, don't you love to exchange pleasantries? It sounds so sophisticated. After exchanging pleasantries, and other vital signs, we waited for the stuff to run through the computer.
And waited.
Then we waited some more.
Ten more minutes of waiting.
Then the cast member spoke the words I knew were coming right around the corner, I just wouldn't let them get here.
"Why don't you try back a...."
"I have a better idea, why don't you start from the beginning, delete what you've put in and start over."
She gave me a strange look, shrugged her shoulders and I'm guessing did just that, less than 5 minutes later we were on our way to the bus stop, tickets along with the dining plan in hand and got to keep the same room.
I wish they'd ask me more often when they have a problem instead of trying to handle things themselves all the time, I sure could have prevented that abomination "Stitch's Escape!"
Now we're out in the wind waiting for a bus to the MK.
DId I tell you the CURRENT temperatures in WDW as we left the room according to the Weather Channel?
40 degrees!
It is so deceiving looking out too, not a cloud in the sky, looks like it's in the 70's. My biggest enjoyment came from the look on other tourist's faces:
Total bewilderment, complete looks of bafflement on them, many in short sleeves and shorts, it was like nobody ever thought about checking out the weather reports and woke up to find it sunny out.
One thing I was surprised about at this stage of the trip was that we still haven't run into anyone that had told us were staying at Pop on the same days as us also. Even Randy and Connie checked in yesterday so that brought the total up to 4 families that have checked in on this report.
At least now we don't have to worry about buying food anymore on this trip, we'll probably eat at Cosmic Ray's as soon as it opens for lunch, tonight is a Christmas Party which works out just great and keeps the busses running to make it easier to travel to Wilderness Lodge for our Whispering Canyon appointment.
reservation.
(been seeing too many doctors lately)
Standing at the bus stop freezing, Smidgy, as usual took the high road about the fact that she is wearing a winter coat and all I have is a spring jacket with me, since at home I told her that "I don't need no stinkin winter coats in Disney!",
"So, still don't think you need a winter coat, Einstein?"
Well, that's as high as her roads can go sometimes.
When we got to the park,,,,,,,,the tickets worked.
But nobody's fingers, could.
When we went through they kept telling people not to bother with their fingers, it wasn't reading them yet.
Fine with me cuz even when the system is up and running the way it's supposed to my fingers rarely worked.
Know what else always bothers me?
Having to stick my finger into that slot that is maybe sanitized every 5000th time other strangers stick THEIR fingers into the same slot.
From the greasy hair head scratchers to the crotch scratchers to the ear diggers and the nose pickers, I shudder when I think about it.
You will too, now.
Your welcome.
They gave us a very abbreviated welcome show, (how come the word abbreviated is so long?), inside we grabbed a fastpass for Buzz, then headed on over to Fantasyland.
By this time I was in some serious need for heat, don't care at all what we ride as long as it's warm!
First stop was Winnie the Pooh and sat with two teenage girls wearing shorts and short sleeve blouses, the one's was actually sleeveless. Her skin looked like a plucked chicken, you got cold just looking at her but it was warm inside the ride.
For 3 minutes and 22 seconds.
"C'mon, c'mon, if a ride is ever going to break down, I can't think of a better time to do so." Even Smidgy agreed.
Now it's a must for us, every time we ride this we have to remember to see the picture of Mr. Toad handing over the deed of the ride/house to an owl, I believe. Sometimes it can go by so fast that one of us misses it, that's why we both keep our eyes peeled for it.
Kind of like when we ride Test Track, at the proper time we both have to say in unison with the female narrative voice at the right time, "Sure am."
We repeated the same order at Snow White, even though I couldn't see a thing in there, it's so dark. But I didn't care.
It was warm in there.
Again, no breakdown.
Man, Disney has got a lot to learn from Universal.
After SW Smidgy wanted a bathroom so I followed her over by the side of the castle to have a smoke while she went.
There is a DSA over by a staircase that leads down to Adventureland's Story Telling by Belle, it's a great view there and even though it's on a kind of main walkway, most people never go this way.
But what I am looking for most of all isn't the view, or people to make conversation with, it's something much more important;
A shaft of sunlight!
Nope, no way did I want to stand in the shade and the sun is still pretty low in the sky today, but there it was.
Only about 2 feet wide and 6 feet long, it was coming in between part of the castle and a big tree, I went and jumped up and landed right in the middle of it to stake out my grounds. But with me in there now, there is now no real evidence that it exists in the first place since I'm now blocking out the rest of it.
I figured my claim was safe. And Oh, did it feel good. Not enough to really warm you but enough to put a smile on your face.
A couple of minutes later, a guy walks up. It seemed like he was doing the same thing as I, killing time while his wife went and as he's lighting his smoke, he's also looking at the sun, then the ground, then the sun again.
Uh oh.
I tried to move a little closer to the wall in case he figured it out and tried to run interference on my sunlight, but he figured it out anyway.
Probably because my face was lit up like Patrick Swayze's was in most of Ghost. Thinking quickly before the situation turned violent
I saw a chance to make a profit.
"Yes, there is a shaft of genuine Florida ******s shining through right this moment, in this very spot. Due to the Homestead Act of 1841 it is legally mine until I vacate the premises, or in death." With that last line his eyes lit up.
"Here's the deal. 5 bucks for a regular King length, 7.50 for 100's, 10 bucks for a cigar, non negotiable."
I got a laugh out of him anyway, we talked until Smidgy met me there, then I relinquished my spot to him.
As we were walking away, another couple was walking up, and I could have sworn I heard, "Here's the deal..."
By the way, he told me he's from Tampa.
Now I'm freezing again, so we went to visit with Chucky, Talking Tina, the little Zuli doll and every other doll that has ever caused me nightmares in the past, but again, at least inside it was warm.
By now the rest of the park has opened up so we headed over to Frontierland to ride Big Thunder.
On passing through Liberty Square, they had the main parade ropes up on the sides, a cast member told us that they were going to be filming a huge float coming through in a little while.
Hmmm, we were told that the Christmas Day parade wasn't going to be filmed until Saturday, with Sunday an alternate date.
No, we didn't want anything to do with that mob scene, that's why we chose today.
At BTMR there was still no line and we went straight to the back like we usually do.
But this time I stopped her, and we got into the second to the last car in the back seat. The best ride is in the back, it feels faster and you get more "air" time, but one seat up doesn't really make much difference.
And wow, was it cold!
And slow.
I told Smidgy it's because the grease they use on the tracks is so cold yet it's still congealed and hasn't thinned out yet. THis really slows a train down, that's why the fastest rides are late afternoon on a hot day.
I had really wanted to get a picture, finally, of Diane's "permagrin" that she wears every time we ride this, but I didn't have enough feeling in my hands to risk messing with the camera in the middle of the ride.
After pulling back in the station, sure enough, there are two kids waiting to get in the back seat, but nobody was waiting for our car right in front of them so we just stayed put and went around again, in the cold.
This time my nose fell off.
She then suggested we go over to our favorite smoking area and see if I can re-attatch my nose.
We had the place to ourselves, main reason; too shady.
Then we took turns taking pictures like always in the rocking chairs.
See this jacket I'm wearing?
Hope you like it because that will probably be my attire in all the rest of the pictures.
Shoot, I didn't even want to take my hands out of my pockets!
By now we both needed a warm up so headed back into Fantasyland to give Philharmagic a shot, hopefully after that Cosmic Rays will be open and we can go for an early lunch.
I thought because of the cold this would be packed but I guess not too many people got up this early just to go and freeze, the theater was half empty.
Oh I'm sorry, it was half FULL!
And we didn't even walk ALL the way to the end of our row, we just sat down somewhere in the middle. Wouldn't have mattered much to me either way, it was so bright outside I couldn't see squat inside here either.
We made it to Cosmic's at 20 to 11, they opened at 10;30 and we're both hungry now.
One problem though;
the grill station that we both wanted wasn't going to open for another 15 minutes or so. Crap.
We walked back outside and stood there for a moment waiting for a Devine Sign for how to spend the next 15 minutes.
I saw it.
"10 minutes it says, c'mon."
This is one of my favorite things to do first thing in the morning when it's not really hot yet and there's no line.
I've always just loved sitting there relaxing and looking around, a great way to start a Magic Kingdom day.
With this cold though it wasn't even on our list, but since we are killing time anyway,,,,,,,
At least most of the line was in the sun, and ten minutes later we got in, I figured I'd be the nice guy this time and do the driving since I didn't have to on the way down and climbed into the driver's side seat.
"Hey, where's my steering wheel?" I exclaimed.
"That's ok, dear, you can use mine," she said, but it was too late now to switch so she drove. I guess they do this so the UKers feel at home.
Yeah, you're right, they ALWAYS feel at home in DisneyWorld, and act like it. So let's change that to "Jamaicans".
Now, remember this, our car is number 6. 6, is our car.
She looks so serious, doesn't she?
And she says she doesn't drive highways, just look at her, even if it is only 4 miles an hour.
But even though there were only 3 lanes open, it seemed as if every other car in the other lanes were passing us.
Out of curiosity, when we got off the ride I had to check the "Leaderboard" standings just for the heck of it.
I hope this comes through clearly enough:
I did NOT make this up, 6 was our car.
I congratulated Smidgy, that was hard to do!
Fully frozen now, we went back to Cosmic Ray's.
Money is now no object, she got the chicken and ribs combo platter while I got just the rib platter.
I chose the chocolate cake for dessert, chocolate milk as my drink.
And, to be honest, I was very disappointed with my meal, this brings the total of disappointments up to 4 now, I think.
In review:
the hotdogs are no longer all beef like they used to be at all the Disney fast food places.
the burgers are now designated as "Angus" so they can get a couple of extra bucks out of you.
the Nachos Supreme were anything but.
And now this.
I've had the ribs here in the past and they were just fine, not as good as Flame Tree, but still not bad.
But today they were "piled" high on this little plate, first cut up into 2's and 3's, then stacked on top of themselves, made it almost impossible to cut apart without sending one into your lap.
Before we ordered I asked Diane what the sign says they come with, does it say the usual "seasonable vegetables?"
She found this funny; "You mean "seasonal vegetables?"
I wasn't giving in just yet;
"No, do you put salt, or butter on your vegetables?"
"Of course, you know I do," she replied.
"So, you are in fact, seasoning your vegetables, therefore, if the vegetables are seasonabled, they become "seasonable vegetables".
I don't give up easily.
And let's face it, when they tell you seasonal vegetables, what they are really saying is, "green beans". I think there might be a 2 week period at the end of May when you might get peas as a substitute, but that's it.
So, we have this little plate stacked with extremely fatty ribs, with beans next to them that were made out of melted down Army Guys from Toy Story.
Which brings us to the mashed potatoes filling up the last remaining empty space on my plate.
The problem here is that they don't come with any gravy.
Ok, no gravy, how about some butter?
No butter.
For me, mashed potatoes need SOMETHING, without gravy or butter I would compare the flavor of them to very similar to Spackle, just not as tasty.
Then I got creative, in a kinda sickening manner.
I went to the fixin's bar and filled up a couple of those little white paper cups with mayo, then I grabbed a couple of the pre-packaged bbq sauce packets, mixed them together and voila'!, there was my gravy sauce.
No puking on your keyboards now.
But the ribs were really fatty, and once you were able to figure out which was and entire "rib" and picked it up, there was no putting it back down until you were done with it.
You'd lose your place as to where the fatty parts were, and I won't tolerate ribs that "snap" back at you.
But at least the entertainment part of the show was good, and this time I was a good boy too, I didn't heckle Ol' Sunny Eclipse once!
One more thing, what a waste the way they do their portioning at Disney, too.
The chocolate milk I got I specifiaclly asked for "small".
Well, they only come in one size, 16oz.
That's HUGE! Especially for chocolate milk, for crying out loud, I barely drank half of it.
There was a diamond in the rough though, I forgot how good these things were:
The chocolate cake that comes in a clear, plastic, cound container. They have the same cake at the food court's grab n go section at Pop and we became very, good, friends over the rest of the trip.
By the way, Diane had a much better opinion of the ribs, she also like the chicken part of her meal too.
And with that, I'm starvin, hmm, wonder what's in the fridge? Good night all,
