Cast: Goofmeister DH32, Mrs. G or Angie DW32, Samantha DD5, Ryan DS1.5ish
Dateline October 18, 2004 7:15 am
Today is our first full day of vacation. After waiting months, and literally counting down the days we are finally going to the MK. And, we are having breakfast in the castle (*). This is so cool. I wish there were more to do and see in the castle. But, I digress.
We board the bus at 7:15. Our PS (as they were previously known) is for 8:10 with the park opening at 9 am. This means (for those of you who are not paying attention) that we will be in the park before opening. No touristy-types will be blocking our first view of the castle or marring our otherwise Pulitzer Prize winning photographs. Drawn to it as easily as the poor unsuspecting moth to the flame we cannot resist. The sight of Cinderellas castle and the realization that we are finally here overwhelms us freeing the cash to flow forth. A flood of happy memories makes it difficult not to have a teary-eye and a mile wide smile. And we will be alone to soak it all in and revel in our own self satisfied joy.
*Sigh*
Giddy with excitement we de-board
disembark
de-bus? Whatever, you get the idea. With a fluid flip of the wrist I smoothly and one-handedly unfold the stroller. And I lose control of it sending my kids diving for cover. At least thats why I think they were lying on the ground. Surely I didnt do that? Luckily (for me), they were too excited to cry over their injuries. (Suck it up! Theres no crying in Disney World! Weve a breakfast to eat. GO! GO! GO!).
As the holder of all things photographic I am also the main cinematographer. This makes no sense to me at all, namely because I suck. Angie is a much better cameraman (cameraperson?) than I am. Her video is precise, tells a story, captures the moment, and doesnt have random shots of my feet. I tend to forget to stop recording, frame the subject poorly, and cut the scenes too short. So, on this morning I am attempting to up the quality of my footage. Shouldnt be too hard given my track record.
Samantha has prepared for the princesses by using some glitter powder on her face. She looks beautiful. Angie is also looking extremely cute this A.M. However, Ryan looks non-plussed, but really he doesnt know what to expect. I try to set the electric atmosphere with some witty banter.
So, Samantha. Where are we having breakfast? I said face buried behind the camera. She ignores me as she intently stares at the little hexagon bricks below her. Trying again, Saman-THA, are you excited to see the princesses? I ask emphasizing the last syllable in her name. I often do that when Im slightly annoyed with her. I wonder why?
yes. Oh look I just saw a tile with Goofmeister on it! She is excited about the tile with our last name, but playing along with Daddy, not so much.
I give up on the Q&A and instead film most of our walk from the bus to the castle. Fascinating. Im trying to simultaneously capture the drama of walking under the train station and my familys reactions. Good concept, but in the end its was just a bunch of shaky video with no clear subject, and Samantha in the background talking about the brick with our name on it. Did I mention I suck? Of course, I dont have time to see how lame my movie is because I cant miss their reactions as they round the corner. I try to stay ahead of them, which forces me to film over my shoulder halfway turned around. The highlight of the home movie is Angie yelling Watch out! and then the camera pans wildly as I try not to stumble over the
one other family on Main Street. These innocent folks had decided to stop in the middle of Main Street to read a park map. It nearly cost them their lives. Of course Im embarrassed to which I react with my usual rant about people stopping in the flow of traffic. Yes, it was their fault I wasnt watching where I was going. And yes it didnt matter that no one else was in the park.
We checked in and I went through my usual panic about lost reservations. Maybe Im neurotic? Again, there was nothing to worry about, and as a bonus we didnt have to wait. They immediately escorted us upstairs. We have been here twice before, so I was expecting the hostess to stop at one of the many tables in the center of the restaurant. She kept going, and going, and I couldnt believe our luck. We were seated at a window seat with a great view of Fantasyland. Namely the carousel, but it was fantastic to sit in the castle, and look out over the park. Samantha loved the fruit, until the mini-muffins came. She loves her some mini-muffins. Ryan liked them too.
Ma Lord, would you care for more eggs?
Yes, winch, and be quick about it.
As you wish Ma lord, anything for the children?
Bring more muffins for the Muffin Twins. Now begone.
Angie was very pleased with the table, I believe her exact words were Excellent. Did I mention she was looking really cute? Love that girl, really I do. We saw Princess (by convenience) Mary Poppins, Princess (by marriage) Cinderella, Princess (by birth) Aurora, and I think that was it. There may have been other minor princesses, but they werent video worthy. Ryan liked the princesses (thats my boy
), and of course so did Samantha. She had to tell each of them all about her little brother, and that it was his first visit, and what our whole entire life story was. Ok, just to Mary Poppins, but I think Samantha felt sorry for her having to pose as a princess. It was blatantly obvious that the other princess didnt include her in any of their reindeer games. And really, it wasnt our whole life story, just a succinct synopsis of the days plans. So I exaggerate, eh, whaddya gonna do?
The Fairy Godmother paid special attention to a shy toddler Samantha. Ever since then Samantha has taken every opportunity to talk to her. Today was no exception, and again FG spent a little extra time making Samantha feel special. Thats why we come to WDW, a little extra that puts magic in our stays. We left through the side door, collected our stroller and rolled out to an empty Fantasyland. We could see that Dumbo was operating and we concluded the park mustve opened early. We were headed to Pooh when we saw a film crew was shooting a commercial at Dumbo. Puzzled we stopped, and quickly a CM APB was sent out to detain us from going any farther. We werent supposed to see that. We must be punished. At least I thought wed be, but the CM was very nice and understanding. We told her it was an honest mistake as she escorted us to the ropes. She understood, and set off to have the situation corrected. The side door was supposed to be locked. Doh! We were a little embarrassed, but as we were waiting another family did exactly what we had done. So, we felt better, and had a little company to boot.
While we were waiting Angie remembered that you could wake up Tink in Tinkerbells Shop directly across from us. The girls decided to do that as soon as the rope dropped. We positioned ourselves to have the best shot at getting to Tink first. The same CM who escorted us back also unclipped the rope from our end first. Yea! With this advantage Angie and Samantha got inside the shop first. A mom/daughter pair closely followed them. Just inside the shop, the mom pushed Samantha down to get to the CM first. The CM, however, saw the whole thing and let Samantha wake up Tink instead. Justice prevailed. Both girls got a certificate though, which I guess is fair to the daughter, after all she didnt act badly. But I still cant help feeling like they were rewarded for bad sportsmanship.
Later I asked Samantha what it was like to wake up Tink. It wasnt really the real Tinkerbell. She said matter-of-factly. Blasphemer! And my own child even. Angie works a little mom psychology on her planting sufficient doubt as to whether or not it was the real pixie. It could have been, and most likely was the real deal. Its a little weird to mislead your children, but she can hate us later. For now we are going to hold on to the magic just a little while longer.
Ryan and I wait outside the shop. I hope the girls hurry up before it gets too crowded. I guess all the muffins made him drowsy because he started to fall asleep. I panicked. He cant fall asleep now; we are just getting to the good stuff. I tried wheeling him in circles, spinning him around, anything to keep him alert. In the end the muffins were too much and he conked out. Nooooo! Muffinnnns! Angie and Samantha returned from their brush with selfishness, and decided to ride Dumbo. I waited with Ryan. When Dumbo was over, I carried a sleeping Ryan through the 100 acre woodses and over London with Peter Pan. We grabbed FPs for Mickeys Philharmagic and decided to go over to BTMR. And Ryan slept.
Samantha and Angie were going to take the Goofmeisters maiden voyage on BTMR. I waited with Ryan under a shady tree, and watched the other waiting families. Disjointed and detached like a car with only three wheels we ticked away a bright autumn morning. And Ryan slept. It was pleasant, and I didnt mind not riding. It was great to sit there in the shade watching my boy sleep in the happiest place on earth. Id have liked to have that moment last forever, but eventually the girls returned. Since Ryan was still sleeping they rode Splash for the first time ever and got another BTMR FP for later. I was getting a little anxious to go to Mickeys Philharmagic, but we still had plenty of time and Ryan was still sleeping. However he soon woke up and I thought he might like to have something a little more interesting to look at than a bunch of strange rear ends. Hes down at that level you know. We moved down to the bridge across from the flume. I wanted to catch the girls terrified expressions as they flew by. I suppose they could also have been laughing, but I was convinced that no sane person could enjoy at fifty-foot drop. I filmed quite a few boats before they made the plunge. Unfortunately, I suck. I did catch them, but just barely. Angie liked the ride, but the water had messed up her contacts.
We grabbed some snacks before taking the train to Toon Town. The line was short for Goofys Barn Stormer so Samantha and I rode. She liked it, but its a little hard on my knees. As we are waiting to detrain (or whatever), Angie decides to scare the poop out of me. She sneaks up on me, points the camera, and quietly says my name. She claims that she wasnt trying to startle me, but I know she delights in seeing me jump. Whyd I tell you that? Because it happened and Im all about the facts, that and donuts. Umm, do-nuts. Hmm
..Where was I? Oh, yeah. Focus, Focus. We saw Mickeys Philharmagic.
Just between you and me, dont you hate the pre-show? Its a cruel little tease isnt it? One moment your standing in line, not going anywhere, getting to know you neighbors. You know the oblivious family who cant seem to get the concept of moving forward with the rest of the line. Oh and then theres those other neighbors who insist on groping each other. And dont forget the family of inappropriate dressers. Who wears heels to the MK? So, you dont really enjoy the company, but at least its familiar. Then, you get all excited to actually be doing something, and it turns out that no, we just get to wait some more, but with glasses! Whats worse is that everyone piles up together and now you have new even closer neighbors. Like sheep we all squeeze in until you think that if the doors dont open soon someone will have to die. The doors finally open and youre so relieved that it actually enhances your enjoyment of the show. Hmmm, maybe there is a method to the madness. We liked it very much. I was worried about Ryan so I covered the little water spray things. He did great, although he could care less about the glasses.
Next up Firsts part deux. In this episode we see Buzz, COP, TTA, the best thing ever, a parade, and eat dinner. Oh boy, a story about chewing!
