rgoble5972
Are we there yet?
- Joined
- Feb 4, 2001
- Messages
- 276
Saturday 23rd September 2006.
Good Morning, welcome to Larry and Robin’s Wedding Trip Report day two, not that there was a lot of separation between day one and day two for Robin. Robin not only is a superhero, but also has the strength of ten men, admittedly ten small puny-armed men with little strength, but ten nevertheless. The poor wee lassie had only been asleep for one hour when she got up and started her trip around the whole Walt Disney World resort, carrying lime green goody bags, to Old Key West and the Pop Century. She must have looked like Kermit’s Personal Assistant during a pretty busy Muppet Convention. She did however, put so much effort into her gift bags, I was really impressed, not actually impressed enough to go with her, after all it was four thirty in the morning, but hey I’m the groom in a couple of days and I need my beauty sleep.
When she came back, I was amazed and impressed at her efforts. Well done Robin, super host.
(Actually, the hardest part about delivering the gift bags wasn’t getting up after just an hour’s sleep; it was finding my way around Old Key West at 5:00 in the morning. I had never been to Old Key West before and, since it was quite dark and rather foggy like a good old Florida swamp, I had a dickens of a time finding the guest parking and the lobby.)
After getting up we went down to breakfast at the Pop food court, where we met up with Clive (best man) and Karen for breakfast. (Michael was having a sensible lie in.) I was pretty impressed with C and K. (Maybe I should call them Calvin Kline for the rest of the TR!!!) Anyway, if I’m being honest, and frankly I usually am in my Trip Reports, much to my own personal detriment, I expected Clive to be on the grumpy side this trip. I didn’t see him as much of a Disney Guy, it’s possibly the 10 years of him teasing me about going all the time, or maybe because, well he can be a weeny bit grumpy at times, just slightly you know. But oh no, Clive is Mr Disney. That’s MR Disney to You. He and Karen were pretty much raring to go. One of the things you might not know about the Brits at Disney is that because we are five hours ahead, when we get there, we get up really early, because at seven in the morning our bodies think that its, lunch time, so we ain’t ones to be sat around waiting for our American friends to get up and stroll lazily down to breakfast we want to go and get our money’s worth and GO DISNEY.
Anyway, we had a great breakfast with CK and I explained the fastpass system to them, and went and picked up a couple of lanyards for Clive and I to put our passes in, I have no problem looking like a dork at Disney with my lanyard around my neck the whole trip and it seemed like Clive didn’t either. You may be pleased to know that I didn’t actually have it around my neck during the wedding service!! (I don’t know about you, but I was definitely pleased he took it off for the ceremony!)
We also went through the finer points of the Disney Dining Plan, that’s because, Robin the mega trip planner booked almost everyone on the DDP. (Isn’t that the German Democratic Party???) How it works, (and I’m sure Robin would put me right if I am wrong) is this:
You get three vouchers (well electronic vouchers on your room key actually) each day; one for a Sit down meal, a counter service meal, and a snack, Now each meal is separated into………………
OK I’m bored explaining this. You get to eat your way pretty much across the world, with lots and lots of food, and if you eat it all you are going to get pretty big, so be careful. The good news was that for us it was part of a special promotion, and it was FREE…….. Yes FREE, when did you last hear that, it’s FREE and at Disney…I blame global warming they must have lost their little Disney minds.
Anyway the gist is we had a nice breakfast, Paula Wes, Robin’s Dad and Michael came to join with us for breakfast and CK got to meet the Goble Clan. (And lived to tell the tale.)
After breakfast, we all went to Epcot, Michael’s favourite park and pretty much mine too. The plan was to take CK and show them the great stuff in future world so they would know how mighty cool WDW is. As many of you regular readers know I have regarded myself as the king of the fastpass scam. There used to be several and now there are only really two. I like to brag that I was pretty good at them and I promise you it’s true, but I was pretty much regarded by Disney as the fastpass scam king too. (Mainly because I used to boast about them in my Trip Reports.) Twice I was contacted by Disney to advise them on how I cheated the system, and once I was treated to a trip behind Splash Mountain, to look at the fastpass system in operation, by a senior fastpass Cast Member. Sorry to keep on boasting about it, but it’s one of those pride before a fall things.
I wanted to impress my bride to be, by my great fastpass scamming techniques, so Robin and I went up to Mission Space and I was going to use the best technique to get 8 “free” fastpasses. Normally this works best with an accomplice, and I later in the week trained up Karen to be my Fastpass Scamming Gal, a role she took to like a Duck to water. Anyway, I go up to the machine, start to take out the “free” fastpasses, and the cast member instantly spots that I’m up to no good, comes up and demands to look at my fastpasses, tells me that she can tell that I’ve cheated to get them, (which you can by looking at them closely) and confiscates them, so I have to use our tickets to get some real ones, (which then means we can’t get any more for ages.) So I walk away with my tail between my legs rather embarrassed and hot flushed of face. Robin was very kind.
Obviously I was relieved at her understanding. I’m pretty sure she only agreed to marry me because I promised her that I would teach her my Fastpass scamming techniques. There I was down on my knee, (In a Mall in Dallas actually, proposing to her- Yup a Mall, I’m a keeper!!) saying……
“Robin, my sweetheart, I may not be able to keep you in the lap of luxury that you are accustomed to, I may not be able to give you a Cadillac to ride in, I may not be able to provide you with big diamond rings, I may not even be able to take you to eat at the finest restaurants, but I can promise you Fastpasses for Haunted Mansion, whenever you need them”
”Oh Larry, YES YES YES” (Hey, I know what the important things in life are. And, in Larry’s defense, he did actually provide me with a big diamond ring when he proposed. However, the “mall” bit of the proposal is a slight exaggeration in that we were actually OUTSIDE of the mall when he proposed.)
But I digress. Having embarrassingly failed, I was on a mission to prove my manliness so we instantly went to Test Track and “stole” eight of them there. The CM not being quite so observant as her colleague over at Mission Space. Sorry I wish I could give up doing this, but until Disney introduces a 12 point recovery plan, I’m just addicted. (Please don’t ask how you can get free ones if you don’t know, I promised Disney that I wouldn’t tell anyone how to do it in my TRs anymore.) One thing I did notice however, is that at the new Everest ride they were really on top of things there, and I wasn’t able to pinch any at all the whole trip, everywhere else though I pretty much got them at will.
We met up and went over to the Land for our first look at Soaring, we didn’t have too much of a wait and it was nice to see how the building looked compared with California, and it was a lot bigger than the queue at California Adventure, I liked the queuing area, some nice glass work and lots of interesting stuff on the walls to look at. The ride is pretty much the same, and by pretty much the same I mean pretty impressive. It was great during the ride to look over at CK and see how much they were enjoying themselves. It was also great to go and have my first rides with my new family. They are all great fun. It was the first time I had really had a chance to spend some time properly with Wes, and I think we became good friends by the end of the trip. Paula and Bill I already knew a little better. It was good to be part of the gang. The ride did have an a little optical glitch in it, and it did detract a little in the suspension of disbelief department. But you gotta admit it’s a great ride. And I know that Robin would dump me for Patrick Warburton, the Pre Show Guy. – HULLO. (No, baby, of course I wouldn’t dump you for Patrick…Is he gone yet? Has he quit reading? Good, then yep, I’d trade in a minute…just kidding, dear.)
Then we went and rode Mission Space together, using the legal fastpasses, (drat) this was CK’s first time in Epcot, and they really enjoyed the ride, It was great fun to be on the ride again, it’s such a fantastic piece of engineering, and when you think about it, there is nothing in the world that can compete with this as a piece of technology that mere mortals get to play with, basically a centrifuge. It’s cool and fun and I enjoyed showing people which buttons make the speakers squeak when you press them, and yes I did all my jobs at the right time, I think I’m Astronaut material. And if I had half a million quid or so I would without a shadow of a doubt give it to Richard Branson, the boss of Virgin so I could go on his plastic bath tub ride into space in a couple of years time. I bet you didn’t know he’s planning on sending them up from Lossimouth near Elgin, either did you???
After the ride Bill, Robin’s Dad, noticed that he has left his mobile phone in the storage bin in his capsule, and tried for ages to get it back, and the CM’s were very helpful but no joy and ringing it up didn’t do much good. Whilst Robin and Bill were with the CM’s, CK and I went over to see Space Goofy and Space Mickey, both of them seemed to find that fun, and by then Clive was in big time Disney Mode, he even went and bought a hat. Go Clive Go. So we took a few photos of Clive and Karen, with Goofy and the Big Cheese, which was fun.
Then we went and finished off the big three, by going and riding Test Track, also a pretty impressive ride. It’s looking a bit scruffy these days though and there were bits of it not working, like the cones at the start. But hey you can’t moan when you get to see “Smug Bill” in the pre show. Yes a Number 7. Everyone seemed to enjoy the ride. And I think doing Soarin’, Space, and Test Track is one decent start to a Disney Vacation.
Well it was getting a little warm, and so one of us regulars suggested that we take CK to Ice Station Cool, and so we meandered over there under the Electric Umbrella walk way where they sell those funny stiff balloons. Past the fountain, which was just in regular mode rather than in show mode, and then WHAM, one of the biggest disappointments of the trip. “Where is the Ice Station part of Ice Station Cool?” I hear myself saying, “Someone has stolen it!!!!!!” Someone in the vast empire of Disney or Coke, has stolen the best bit of Ice Station Cool, the bit where you go exploring in the ice tunnel, seeing the frozen yeti, or what ever was there, having ice drip onto your neck. All gone just a boring door into the Coke area. Apparently it wasn’t handicap accessible. Actually it was pretty slippy in there, and Kids probably ran around, falling and skinning their knees, so maybe they got rid of it for health and safety reasons, anyway whatever the reason, it’s a big loss in my book. (I may be completely making this up but I think we asked a Cast Member why the icy part was closed and they told us that they were making it more accessible. My mom went through the entrance several times when she was using an ECV and it was rather tight manuevering.)
What is still there though is the fun of tricking people into drinking Beverly, “Hmmmm, Beverly is my favourite, you must try it Karen”. Only to see the distorted face of Karen 20 seconds later. Ha, big laugh….. Works every time!!!
Robin had written an itinerary for the first few days of the trip, and at 11am we had arranged to be at the Tip board in case any of our Floridian chums wanted to meet up with us at that time, so we went over there about five minutes before, the team all decided to join with us at a later time in the trip, but Robin and I had a good time, chatting to a cast member named “Bob” for about twenty minutes, about matters Disney.
After this we met up with the Goble’s and CK, and went into World Showcase. First stop was Mexico. We rode the Rivers of Time, and Robin knows that tune and all the words, so we had a wonderful accompaniment throughout the boat ride. (Actually I don’t know ALL the words, but I’m not above making up the ones I don’t know. Did Larry mention my lovely singing voice? No? Hmmm.) Apparently they have changed it recently and have Disneyfied the market seller’s area, which is a shame because I always thought that was the best bit. Though I have to admit that the life size mannequins on the roundabout’s pretty spooky in an oogie kind of way which is pretty impressive also. And hey fake fireworks, that’s not too bad either.
We spent some time looking at the goods on sale, I quite fancy a pottery sun on the outside of my house, but I don’t expect I will ever get around to buying myself one, but you never know, stranger things have happened.
Then it was lunch time, and we started to diversify and spread out a little, people were going at rather different speeds in the party, and Robin and I were beginning to feel like elastic bands, stretched around World Showcase. However, Wes came to the rescue with a couple of walkie talkies, and we split, up to get food choices. Clive and I went to China, and I got double fried beef. We all took the food and met up in Germany were we got some tables and ate our grub. I popped over to the Steiff shop and bought Robin a little Steiff teddy bear key ring. (Which rather proves I’m not shaping up to be much of a decent bridegroom, because if I was I would have stumped up for a decent sized one rather than one you need a microscope to see?)
(While Larry looked after Karen, Clive and Dad, I took Michael, Paula and Wes over to Japan to take a look at the menu of their counter service restaurant. Michael and I got food there and Paula and Wes decided that Bratwurst and a giant pretzel the size of my head would push their buttons, so we took our food with us to Germany where we met up with the others.)
Clive and Karen decided to go and have some free time and explore WDW together. The rest of us went back the way we had come and went to Norway, and some folks went to explore the stave church. And we all went and rode on Maelstrom, and had a very fun troll like time, not forgetting to find hidden Mickey’s in the big mural. I also noticed that the polar bears are looking great, they had gotten a little tatty, and one of the seams had gone on the bigger standing up bear, and he used to look like someone had slit his throat, which is a bit discombobulating at Disney.
After this we started to head out and we popped into Guest services, to see if Bill’s phone had been handed in but no Joy. Robin rang the number again on her mobile, and it was answered, and it was in Mission Space, so Robin, set off with Michael to pick it up, I thought that they needed some Aunt/Nephew time’s so I let them go together. Well it was either that or I was too tired to go back, either way, I got all cosy on a bench and went to sleep for 10 minutes.
Then it was time for the annual ride on Spaceship Earth, which I rather enjoyed, I always like the commentary from Jeremy Iron’s who sounds a little bit pompous, but that’s us Brits for you.
It was time to head over to Italy for dinner/tea/evening meal or what ever you call it in your part of the world. There was a small problemette, however, in that Robin had booked it for 12 people, assuming that the whole tribe would be there, but with our Floridian Chums and CK doing their own things. We were a whole lot less, and it didn’t help that Robin Michael and I arrived there quite a bit before the others. So 12 initially became 3 and it’s probably fair to say that the head waiter was slightly less than amused. It was getting a bit too embarrassing for me, so I went and hid in the toilets, to let Bill, Wes and Paula get there to bolster up the numbers so that I could look the Italians in the eye.
However, we had a lovely meal, getting lots of different menu choices and sharing between ourselves. The service in Italy is excellent, with you taking less than one sip before they are wrestling your soda off you to go and fill it up. You almost have to sit with one hand on your glass and eat with the other one just to keep the eager waiters from your table.
That was the end of the Epcot part of the day, Robin and I decided to have some time on our own, so we walked along the walkway to MGM Studios and the rest of the Goble clan went by Friendship. Obviously the walkers beat them by a good 10 minutes. (Actually when it goes the other way from MGM to Epcot, it helps to explain where the phrase, “slow boat to China” comes from.) So we went and met Clive and Karen, at the tip board. They had picked up some fastpasses they hadn’t used so Michael went and rode some stuff whist the adults sat and enjoyed some chit chat and caught up on our days. CK told us about the night before when they had received some Disney magic when they asked a bus driver how they should get to their hotel, and he said, “Oh I can take you there” and he went out of his way to give them a private trip. That’s the sort of stuff that makes Disney stand out from the crowd.
After Michael came back we all went over to Fantasmic, well us and 10,247 other people. Bill was using a buggy, so we went and accompanied him at the back of the auditorium in one of the disability bays and had a great view. The show was as great as usual, but there was a problem when the dragon’s fire didn’t work, so the petrol on the surface didn’t light, and so we didn’t see the burning lake, but we did get a great gasoline smell for several minutes. I think CK who had never seen the show before had had a great time, and I know they had enjoyed their day as had we all.
Well, that’s about it for day two. Have fun. Cheers Larry.
Goble/Wilmot Wedding Weekend - Day Three
Good Morning, welcome to Larry and Robin’s Wedding Trip Report day two, not that there was a lot of separation between day one and day two for Robin. Robin not only is a superhero, but also has the strength of ten men, admittedly ten small puny-armed men with little strength, but ten nevertheless. The poor wee lassie had only been asleep for one hour when she got up and started her trip around the whole Walt Disney World resort, carrying lime green goody bags, to Old Key West and the Pop Century. She must have looked like Kermit’s Personal Assistant during a pretty busy Muppet Convention. She did however, put so much effort into her gift bags, I was really impressed, not actually impressed enough to go with her, after all it was four thirty in the morning, but hey I’m the groom in a couple of days and I need my beauty sleep.
When she came back, I was amazed and impressed at her efforts. Well done Robin, super host.
(Actually, the hardest part about delivering the gift bags wasn’t getting up after just an hour’s sleep; it was finding my way around Old Key West at 5:00 in the morning. I had never been to Old Key West before and, since it was quite dark and rather foggy like a good old Florida swamp, I had a dickens of a time finding the guest parking and the lobby.)
After getting up we went down to breakfast at the Pop food court, where we met up with Clive (best man) and Karen for breakfast. (Michael was having a sensible lie in.) I was pretty impressed with C and K. (Maybe I should call them Calvin Kline for the rest of the TR!!!) Anyway, if I’m being honest, and frankly I usually am in my Trip Reports, much to my own personal detriment, I expected Clive to be on the grumpy side this trip. I didn’t see him as much of a Disney Guy, it’s possibly the 10 years of him teasing me about going all the time, or maybe because, well he can be a weeny bit grumpy at times, just slightly you know. But oh no, Clive is Mr Disney. That’s MR Disney to You. He and Karen were pretty much raring to go. One of the things you might not know about the Brits at Disney is that because we are five hours ahead, when we get there, we get up really early, because at seven in the morning our bodies think that its, lunch time, so we ain’t ones to be sat around waiting for our American friends to get up and stroll lazily down to breakfast we want to go and get our money’s worth and GO DISNEY.
Anyway, we had a great breakfast with CK and I explained the fastpass system to them, and went and picked up a couple of lanyards for Clive and I to put our passes in, I have no problem looking like a dork at Disney with my lanyard around my neck the whole trip and it seemed like Clive didn’t either. You may be pleased to know that I didn’t actually have it around my neck during the wedding service!! (I don’t know about you, but I was definitely pleased he took it off for the ceremony!)
We also went through the finer points of the Disney Dining Plan, that’s because, Robin the mega trip planner booked almost everyone on the DDP. (Isn’t that the German Democratic Party???) How it works, (and I’m sure Robin would put me right if I am wrong) is this:
You get three vouchers (well electronic vouchers on your room key actually) each day; one for a Sit down meal, a counter service meal, and a snack, Now each meal is separated into………………
OK I’m bored explaining this. You get to eat your way pretty much across the world, with lots and lots of food, and if you eat it all you are going to get pretty big, so be careful. The good news was that for us it was part of a special promotion, and it was FREE…….. Yes FREE, when did you last hear that, it’s FREE and at Disney…I blame global warming they must have lost their little Disney minds.
Anyway the gist is we had a nice breakfast, Paula Wes, Robin’s Dad and Michael came to join with us for breakfast and CK got to meet the Goble Clan. (And lived to tell the tale.)
After breakfast, we all went to Epcot, Michael’s favourite park and pretty much mine too. The plan was to take CK and show them the great stuff in future world so they would know how mighty cool WDW is. As many of you regular readers know I have regarded myself as the king of the fastpass scam. There used to be several and now there are only really two. I like to brag that I was pretty good at them and I promise you it’s true, but I was pretty much regarded by Disney as the fastpass scam king too. (Mainly because I used to boast about them in my Trip Reports.) Twice I was contacted by Disney to advise them on how I cheated the system, and once I was treated to a trip behind Splash Mountain, to look at the fastpass system in operation, by a senior fastpass Cast Member. Sorry to keep on boasting about it, but it’s one of those pride before a fall things.
I wanted to impress my bride to be, by my great fastpass scamming techniques, so Robin and I went up to Mission Space and I was going to use the best technique to get 8 “free” fastpasses. Normally this works best with an accomplice, and I later in the week trained up Karen to be my Fastpass Scamming Gal, a role she took to like a Duck to water. Anyway, I go up to the machine, start to take out the “free” fastpasses, and the cast member instantly spots that I’m up to no good, comes up and demands to look at my fastpasses, tells me that she can tell that I’ve cheated to get them, (which you can by looking at them closely) and confiscates them, so I have to use our tickets to get some real ones, (which then means we can’t get any more for ages.) So I walk away with my tail between my legs rather embarrassed and hot flushed of face. Robin was very kind.
Obviously I was relieved at her understanding. I’m pretty sure she only agreed to marry me because I promised her that I would teach her my Fastpass scamming techniques. There I was down on my knee, (In a Mall in Dallas actually, proposing to her- Yup a Mall, I’m a keeper!!) saying……
“Robin, my sweetheart, I may not be able to keep you in the lap of luxury that you are accustomed to, I may not be able to give you a Cadillac to ride in, I may not be able to provide you with big diamond rings, I may not even be able to take you to eat at the finest restaurants, but I can promise you Fastpasses for Haunted Mansion, whenever you need them”
”Oh Larry, YES YES YES” (Hey, I know what the important things in life are. And, in Larry’s defense, he did actually provide me with a big diamond ring when he proposed. However, the “mall” bit of the proposal is a slight exaggeration in that we were actually OUTSIDE of the mall when he proposed.)
But I digress. Having embarrassingly failed, I was on a mission to prove my manliness so we instantly went to Test Track and “stole” eight of them there. The CM not being quite so observant as her colleague over at Mission Space. Sorry I wish I could give up doing this, but until Disney introduces a 12 point recovery plan, I’m just addicted. (Please don’t ask how you can get free ones if you don’t know, I promised Disney that I wouldn’t tell anyone how to do it in my TRs anymore.) One thing I did notice however, is that at the new Everest ride they were really on top of things there, and I wasn’t able to pinch any at all the whole trip, everywhere else though I pretty much got them at will.
We met up and went over to the Land for our first look at Soaring, we didn’t have too much of a wait and it was nice to see how the building looked compared with California, and it was a lot bigger than the queue at California Adventure, I liked the queuing area, some nice glass work and lots of interesting stuff on the walls to look at. The ride is pretty much the same, and by pretty much the same I mean pretty impressive. It was great during the ride to look over at CK and see how much they were enjoying themselves. It was also great to go and have my first rides with my new family. They are all great fun. It was the first time I had really had a chance to spend some time properly with Wes, and I think we became good friends by the end of the trip. Paula and Bill I already knew a little better. It was good to be part of the gang. The ride did have an a little optical glitch in it, and it did detract a little in the suspension of disbelief department. But you gotta admit it’s a great ride. And I know that Robin would dump me for Patrick Warburton, the Pre Show Guy. – HULLO. (No, baby, of course I wouldn’t dump you for Patrick…Is he gone yet? Has he quit reading? Good, then yep, I’d trade in a minute…just kidding, dear.)
Then we went and rode Mission Space together, using the legal fastpasses, (drat) this was CK’s first time in Epcot, and they really enjoyed the ride, It was great fun to be on the ride again, it’s such a fantastic piece of engineering, and when you think about it, there is nothing in the world that can compete with this as a piece of technology that mere mortals get to play with, basically a centrifuge. It’s cool and fun and I enjoyed showing people which buttons make the speakers squeak when you press them, and yes I did all my jobs at the right time, I think I’m Astronaut material. And if I had half a million quid or so I would without a shadow of a doubt give it to Richard Branson, the boss of Virgin so I could go on his plastic bath tub ride into space in a couple of years time. I bet you didn’t know he’s planning on sending them up from Lossimouth near Elgin, either did you???
After the ride Bill, Robin’s Dad, noticed that he has left his mobile phone in the storage bin in his capsule, and tried for ages to get it back, and the CM’s were very helpful but no joy and ringing it up didn’t do much good. Whilst Robin and Bill were with the CM’s, CK and I went over to see Space Goofy and Space Mickey, both of them seemed to find that fun, and by then Clive was in big time Disney Mode, he even went and bought a hat. Go Clive Go. So we took a few photos of Clive and Karen, with Goofy and the Big Cheese, which was fun.
Then we went and finished off the big three, by going and riding Test Track, also a pretty impressive ride. It’s looking a bit scruffy these days though and there were bits of it not working, like the cones at the start. But hey you can’t moan when you get to see “Smug Bill” in the pre show. Yes a Number 7. Everyone seemed to enjoy the ride. And I think doing Soarin’, Space, and Test Track is one decent start to a Disney Vacation.
Well it was getting a little warm, and so one of us regulars suggested that we take CK to Ice Station Cool, and so we meandered over there under the Electric Umbrella walk way where they sell those funny stiff balloons. Past the fountain, which was just in regular mode rather than in show mode, and then WHAM, one of the biggest disappointments of the trip. “Where is the Ice Station part of Ice Station Cool?” I hear myself saying, “Someone has stolen it!!!!!!” Someone in the vast empire of Disney or Coke, has stolen the best bit of Ice Station Cool, the bit where you go exploring in the ice tunnel, seeing the frozen yeti, or what ever was there, having ice drip onto your neck. All gone just a boring door into the Coke area. Apparently it wasn’t handicap accessible. Actually it was pretty slippy in there, and Kids probably ran around, falling and skinning their knees, so maybe they got rid of it for health and safety reasons, anyway whatever the reason, it’s a big loss in my book. (I may be completely making this up but I think we asked a Cast Member why the icy part was closed and they told us that they were making it more accessible. My mom went through the entrance several times when she was using an ECV and it was rather tight manuevering.)
What is still there though is the fun of tricking people into drinking Beverly, “Hmmmm, Beverly is my favourite, you must try it Karen”. Only to see the distorted face of Karen 20 seconds later. Ha, big laugh….. Works every time!!!
Robin had written an itinerary for the first few days of the trip, and at 11am we had arranged to be at the Tip board in case any of our Floridian chums wanted to meet up with us at that time, so we went over there about five minutes before, the team all decided to join with us at a later time in the trip, but Robin and I had a good time, chatting to a cast member named “Bob” for about twenty minutes, about matters Disney.
After this we met up with the Goble’s and CK, and went into World Showcase. First stop was Mexico. We rode the Rivers of Time, and Robin knows that tune and all the words, so we had a wonderful accompaniment throughout the boat ride. (Actually I don’t know ALL the words, but I’m not above making up the ones I don’t know. Did Larry mention my lovely singing voice? No? Hmmm.) Apparently they have changed it recently and have Disneyfied the market seller’s area, which is a shame because I always thought that was the best bit. Though I have to admit that the life size mannequins on the roundabout’s pretty spooky in an oogie kind of way which is pretty impressive also. And hey fake fireworks, that’s not too bad either.
We spent some time looking at the goods on sale, I quite fancy a pottery sun on the outside of my house, but I don’t expect I will ever get around to buying myself one, but you never know, stranger things have happened.
Then it was lunch time, and we started to diversify and spread out a little, people were going at rather different speeds in the party, and Robin and I were beginning to feel like elastic bands, stretched around World Showcase. However, Wes came to the rescue with a couple of walkie talkies, and we split, up to get food choices. Clive and I went to China, and I got double fried beef. We all took the food and met up in Germany were we got some tables and ate our grub. I popped over to the Steiff shop and bought Robin a little Steiff teddy bear key ring. (Which rather proves I’m not shaping up to be much of a decent bridegroom, because if I was I would have stumped up for a decent sized one rather than one you need a microscope to see?)
(While Larry looked after Karen, Clive and Dad, I took Michael, Paula and Wes over to Japan to take a look at the menu of their counter service restaurant. Michael and I got food there and Paula and Wes decided that Bratwurst and a giant pretzel the size of my head would push their buttons, so we took our food with us to Germany where we met up with the others.)
Clive and Karen decided to go and have some free time and explore WDW together. The rest of us went back the way we had come and went to Norway, and some folks went to explore the stave church. And we all went and rode on Maelstrom, and had a very fun troll like time, not forgetting to find hidden Mickey’s in the big mural. I also noticed that the polar bears are looking great, they had gotten a little tatty, and one of the seams had gone on the bigger standing up bear, and he used to look like someone had slit his throat, which is a bit discombobulating at Disney.
After this we started to head out and we popped into Guest services, to see if Bill’s phone had been handed in but no Joy. Robin rang the number again on her mobile, and it was answered, and it was in Mission Space, so Robin, set off with Michael to pick it up, I thought that they needed some Aunt/Nephew time’s so I let them go together. Well it was either that or I was too tired to go back, either way, I got all cosy on a bench and went to sleep for 10 minutes.
Then it was time for the annual ride on Spaceship Earth, which I rather enjoyed, I always like the commentary from Jeremy Iron’s who sounds a little bit pompous, but that’s us Brits for you.
It was time to head over to Italy for dinner/tea/evening meal or what ever you call it in your part of the world. There was a small problemette, however, in that Robin had booked it for 12 people, assuming that the whole tribe would be there, but with our Floridian Chums and CK doing their own things. We were a whole lot less, and it didn’t help that Robin Michael and I arrived there quite a bit before the others. So 12 initially became 3 and it’s probably fair to say that the head waiter was slightly less than amused. It was getting a bit too embarrassing for me, so I went and hid in the toilets, to let Bill, Wes and Paula get there to bolster up the numbers so that I could look the Italians in the eye.
However, we had a lovely meal, getting lots of different menu choices and sharing between ourselves. The service in Italy is excellent, with you taking less than one sip before they are wrestling your soda off you to go and fill it up. You almost have to sit with one hand on your glass and eat with the other one just to keep the eager waiters from your table.
That was the end of the Epcot part of the day, Robin and I decided to have some time on our own, so we walked along the walkway to MGM Studios and the rest of the Goble clan went by Friendship. Obviously the walkers beat them by a good 10 minutes. (Actually when it goes the other way from MGM to Epcot, it helps to explain where the phrase, “slow boat to China” comes from.) So we went and met Clive and Karen, at the tip board. They had picked up some fastpasses they hadn’t used so Michael went and rode some stuff whist the adults sat and enjoyed some chit chat and caught up on our days. CK told us about the night before when they had received some Disney magic when they asked a bus driver how they should get to their hotel, and he said, “Oh I can take you there” and he went out of his way to give them a private trip. That’s the sort of stuff that makes Disney stand out from the crowd.
After Michael came back we all went over to Fantasmic, well us and 10,247 other people. Bill was using a buggy, so we went and accompanied him at the back of the auditorium in one of the disability bays and had a great view. The show was as great as usual, but there was a problem when the dragon’s fire didn’t work, so the petrol on the surface didn’t light, and so we didn’t see the burning lake, but we did get a great gasoline smell for several minutes. I think CK who had never seen the show before had had a great time, and I know they had enjoyed their day as had we all.
Well, that’s about it for day two. Have fun. Cheers Larry.
Goble/Wilmot Wedding Weekend - Day Three
