The cast included:
Myself - 35 year old single gal, at this point asking what was I thinking
Jane Smith - 62 year old cranky person
Day 2 started out looking sort of promising. Jane Smith got up at a fairly decent time and got ready while I laid in bed being lazy. I jumped in the shower and while I was getting ready Jane Smith decided to go to the Priority Club room for the complimentary continental breakfast. I would later learn that Jane Smith is quite frugal with her money (even though she has a boat load of it!) I finished getting ready and also went to grab a quick bite to eat. I was pleasantly surprised with the breakfast offerings, not the typical continental breakfast, more of a "deluxe" continental. My tummy satisfied I pushed Jane Smith along to get her going to leave. I think she would have stayed there looking out the window for most of the morning if she could have, but my agenda was to hit Magic Kingdom raring to go. I did take a bit of a detour once we got on Disney property, the company I work for was holding a ride and drive event with General Motors in the Epcot parking lot, so I wanted to stop by and say hi to some of my guys. We walked around the event a bit and saw the setup, etc. Jane Smith was quite excited and said we have to come back on Thursday when it opens to the public so we could test drive the cars. Well that's all fine and dandy, but that just didn't jive with my well thought out plans for that day! I knew this show would be coming to Detroit in June, so why would I waste my time driving cars that I'll never be able to afford when I could be at the Mouse House??? So it was off to Magic Kingdom. I thought I was doing really well as I have a handicapped parking permit, as I have a bad knee. I was honestly a bit concerned as to how I was going to handle all the walking, but my knee must have known I was at Disney and decided to take a break. Well I parked in handicapped parking, but found out that it was a longer walk to the transportation center then if I would have parked in general parking and took the parking lot trams, oh well live and learn. Except that Jane Smith started immediately that this was horrible, she shouldn't have to walk all this way. My thinking mind went into effect immediately and I suggested an ECV for her, but oh no, her vanity wouldn't allow her to use one. So off we shleped ourselves to the monorail, but first I needed to go to ticket sales, as I had purchased Jane Smith's ticket online, but opted for picking the ticket up at the park. No problem, it was quite easy. The friendly sales person said we would just need to go through the ticket tag system and we would be all set. Finally boarded the monoral and Jane Smith practically pushed this little boy out of the way so that she could sit down. I felt pretty bad, as I have a lot of consideration for people and this is not how I interact. After standing in line for the security check we finally made our way to the entrance and the turnstiles. Jane Smith proceeded to put her ticket in the reader, but nothing happened, tried again, nothing. The cast member asked another cast member what might be wrong, the ticket had not been validated yet, this was all Jane Smith needed to hear. She blew a hissy fit and I just wanted to crawl into a whole and claim ignorance in knowing her. So off we headed to guest relations. I didn't fare much better here as we had to wait in line, so this just aggitated Jane Smith even more....UGH!!!! Finally got to a window where Jane Smith reemed the cast member out, I was so embarassed and then yelled some more that she had to again stand in line to get into the park, I was mortified by this time and knew I had made a big mistake. I tried not to let this unpleasantness stop me from having a good time though. I poked into a few of the shops on main street, mainly wanting to get a sweatshirt as it was really cold. I found a nice zip up sweat jacket that came to be the best purchase I made. As soon as I walked out of the store, I saw the sign advertising Pal Mickeys. Well I had to at least go check it out, Jane Smith followed from the rear. I was quite enamored with Pal Mickey and was really trying to justify purchasing one. Jane Smith said get it, I'll pay for it. So for her sake, at least there is a miniscual of a decent bone in her. I think she felt guilty since I was using all my points, etc. for the entire trip, so I didn't feel guilty letting her pay for it. So now I was all set to conquer Magic Kingdom. I took some pictures of the castle, was in awe of all the gold around it and didn't mind a bit the green walls. I decided for the sake of walking to first visit Tomorrowland. The crowds seemed quite heavy, which was a bit disappointing as I had purposedly avoided mid-winter break/President's week to miss the crowds. I decided TTA would be a good first ride, as it is tame and Jane Smith could probably handle it. The ride was nice and I enjoyed soaking in all the Disney magic. I had wanted to do Stich, as I had been to it when it was Alien Encounter and wanted to see what all the talk was about, well the wait was 45 minutes and I didn't want to waste a fast pass on it, so I passed! Walked over to Space Mountain and did get a fast pass to return in an hour. In the meantime we walked around a bit, looking for batteries for Pal Mickey since he didn't seem to be working well. By this time it was time for my fast pass, so I headed for Space Mountain. Jane Smith went in with me, but told everyone she could that she would not be riding this, like anyone really cared. I enjoyed my ride as always. Once the ride was done Jane Smith commented that she was hungry, ok so it's off to Cosmic Ray's for some lunch. I was again pleasantly surprised that the food was quite good, I had a cheeseburger and fries and really enjoyed it. Jane Smith had a caesar salad which looked good also, but I didn't get that close of a look at it, as we didn't sit together. I wanted to sit outside, as I'm from Michigan and don't get to do this often, Jane Smith said it is way too cold and the wind is blowing, no outside dining for her. Ok fine, so peace and quiet. With half the day wasted, it was time to do some serious walking. I headed toward Fantasyland, as I wanted to do Pooh and Peter Pan. Of course both were very long waits and I decided to try another time. Jane Smith was already tired, so I sat her down by dumbo and told her I was going to Haunted Mansion to get fast passes, little did I know Haunted Mansion doesn't do fast pass. The line wait said 20 minutes so I decided to do it alone, I didn't think Jane Smith would want to walk all the way over there. The wait wasn't long at all and I finally found my first hidden Mickey, and unfortunately the only one I could spot all week. Next time I will buy the hidden Mickey book. My cell phone kept going off while on the ride, but I ignored it. Of course it was Jane Smith, telling me that the spot I left her at was uncomfortable so she moved, but she was going to find a restroom, I would meet up with her shortly. I took a ride on the carosel and felt like a little kid again.
Found Jane Smith and told her about no fast pass for Haunted Mansion, we decided to hit Mickey's Philharmagic. Well she didn't like all the twisting of the lines inside, oh well, just tune it out was all I could do. I had never seen this show before so I really enjoyed it and surprisingly Jane Smith did as well. Started walking towards Frontierland and asked her if she wanted to try Haunted Mansion, which she did, very short wait, so I went for my 2nd time. Realized after we got off that the reason it was so short was that the parade had started. I had seen it last trip, so I wasn't trying to actually see it. We did end up seeing a bit of it near the Hall of Presidents. I hadn't been in the HOP before, so I figured this was a good opportunity, except Jane Smith wanted nothing to do with it. I went inside and looked around, but felt guilty leaving her outside alone, so I didn't stay for the show. We walked around to a few of the shops and decided to hit the Dole Whip stand. I knew I just wanted a little bit, as we had 5:30 PS at Crystal Palace, but Jane Smith got the big Pineapple Float and thus ruined her appetite for dinner. We leisurly walked over to Jungle Cruise, which was an experience to board Jane Smith. I never knew she had so many problems with mobility, otherwise I would have planned accordingly. She wasn't impressed with Jungle Cruise and thought the jokes were stupid. Ok fine, to each his own. We then headed for Pirates of the Carribean. I love this ride, but again, Jane Smith didn't like the little drop that splashes water on you (guess she didn't want her pre-done hair getting wet for 7 days). By this time it was about 5:00pm, so we headed towards Crystal Palace. Jane Smith was not at all hungry since she ate the dole whip and I was quite disappointed as I wanted to eat with Pooh and friends badly, she wanted to eat at some lobster buffet outside the park (that's all I heard about all week). Well I guess the aromas from the building got to her and she agreed to dine there. We waited maybe 15 minutes and were seated. Of course there were children runnning around which is not an uncomman site at Disney, but this didn't sit well with Jane Smith. I tried my best to enjoy my dinner and of course everytime one of the characters would come around Jane Smith was convienently at the buffet, so I had to ask around for someone to take my picture. I thoroughly enjoyed the food here and will definitely be making this a priority on future trips. As we were leaving I stopped to take some pictures of the Pooh topiaries and saw Jane Smith speaking to a manager. I didn't know what that was all about until we went outside. Evidentally she did not like the suggestion of 15-20% tip for your server and felt the need to voice her opinion. Anyone else wouldn't of said anything, just tipped what they felt they should, but not her, I was quite embarassed when I heard. I got a great place outside Crystal Palace for Wishes and called home to hear a friendly voice. My mom told me keep my chin up and I'll get through it, yeah right, she wasn't there dealing with it. Next Jane Smith decided that it was child abuse for parents to have their 3/4/5 year olds out this late for fireworks, they would never remember it anyway, so why would they subject them to it, everyone heard all the way to Animal Kingdom I'm sure! Sometimes it's so much better to keep your thoughts to yourself. I suggested that we wait for the crowds to disperse before we tried to leave, but no she wanted to leave immediately after the show. So here we are pushing our way through the crowds (and I'm claustrophobic), not a pretty picture. We started heading for what I thought was the parking lot when Jane Smith made a left turn towards guest relations, oh no, what now. She complained that she could not walk any further and that handicapped parking was totally inappropriate. UGGH!!!! Well guest relations being the wonderful customer oriented people that they are, offered to drive her in a van to get our car. Oh boy what fun, she wanted to sit in the front seat, a no no, so she complained about that and then couldn't get into the van, I thought we would never get to leave. Finally made it to our car and I drove back to the Crowne Plaza. I had enough for the day and really couldn't take any more. It was only 8:30, but I just didn't have the energy to deal with anything further, so I laid in bed and watched TV until after 11 as Jane Smith dreamt of her next evil doings.
Day 3 just ahead, my day of freedom!
Myself - 35 year old single gal, at this point asking what was I thinking
Jane Smith - 62 year old cranky person
Day 2 started out looking sort of promising. Jane Smith got up at a fairly decent time and got ready while I laid in bed being lazy. I jumped in the shower and while I was getting ready Jane Smith decided to go to the Priority Club room for the complimentary continental breakfast. I would later learn that Jane Smith is quite frugal with her money (even though she has a boat load of it!) I finished getting ready and also went to grab a quick bite to eat. I was pleasantly surprised with the breakfast offerings, not the typical continental breakfast, more of a "deluxe" continental. My tummy satisfied I pushed Jane Smith along to get her going to leave. I think she would have stayed there looking out the window for most of the morning if she could have, but my agenda was to hit Magic Kingdom raring to go. I did take a bit of a detour once we got on Disney property, the company I work for was holding a ride and drive event with General Motors in the Epcot parking lot, so I wanted to stop by and say hi to some of my guys. We walked around the event a bit and saw the setup, etc. Jane Smith was quite excited and said we have to come back on Thursday when it opens to the public so we could test drive the cars. Well that's all fine and dandy, but that just didn't jive with my well thought out plans for that day! I knew this show would be coming to Detroit in June, so why would I waste my time driving cars that I'll never be able to afford when I could be at the Mouse House??? So it was off to Magic Kingdom. I thought I was doing really well as I have a handicapped parking permit, as I have a bad knee. I was honestly a bit concerned as to how I was going to handle all the walking, but my knee must have known I was at Disney and decided to take a break. Well I parked in handicapped parking, but found out that it was a longer walk to the transportation center then if I would have parked in general parking and took the parking lot trams, oh well live and learn. Except that Jane Smith started immediately that this was horrible, she shouldn't have to walk all this way. My thinking mind went into effect immediately and I suggested an ECV for her, but oh no, her vanity wouldn't allow her to use one. So off we shleped ourselves to the monorail, but first I needed to go to ticket sales, as I had purchased Jane Smith's ticket online, but opted for picking the ticket up at the park. No problem, it was quite easy. The friendly sales person said we would just need to go through the ticket tag system and we would be all set. Finally boarded the monoral and Jane Smith practically pushed this little boy out of the way so that she could sit down. I felt pretty bad, as I have a lot of consideration for people and this is not how I interact. After standing in line for the security check we finally made our way to the entrance and the turnstiles. Jane Smith proceeded to put her ticket in the reader, but nothing happened, tried again, nothing. The cast member asked another cast member what might be wrong, the ticket had not been validated yet, this was all Jane Smith needed to hear. She blew a hissy fit and I just wanted to crawl into a whole and claim ignorance in knowing her. So off we headed to guest relations. I didn't fare much better here as we had to wait in line, so this just aggitated Jane Smith even more....UGH!!!! Finally got to a window where Jane Smith reemed the cast member out, I was so embarassed and then yelled some more that she had to again stand in line to get into the park, I was mortified by this time and knew I had made a big mistake. I tried not to let this unpleasantness stop me from having a good time though. I poked into a few of the shops on main street, mainly wanting to get a sweatshirt as it was really cold. I found a nice zip up sweat jacket that came to be the best purchase I made. As soon as I walked out of the store, I saw the sign advertising Pal Mickeys. Well I had to at least go check it out, Jane Smith followed from the rear. I was quite enamored with Pal Mickey and was really trying to justify purchasing one. Jane Smith said get it, I'll pay for it. So for her sake, at least there is a miniscual of a decent bone in her. I think she felt guilty since I was using all my points, etc. for the entire trip, so I didn't feel guilty letting her pay for it. So now I was all set to conquer Magic Kingdom. I took some pictures of the castle, was in awe of all the gold around it and didn't mind a bit the green walls. I decided for the sake of walking to first visit Tomorrowland. The crowds seemed quite heavy, which was a bit disappointing as I had purposedly avoided mid-winter break/President's week to miss the crowds. I decided TTA would be a good first ride, as it is tame and Jane Smith could probably handle it. The ride was nice and I enjoyed soaking in all the Disney magic. I had wanted to do Stich, as I had been to it when it was Alien Encounter and wanted to see what all the talk was about, well the wait was 45 minutes and I didn't want to waste a fast pass on it, so I passed! Walked over to Space Mountain and did get a fast pass to return in an hour. In the meantime we walked around a bit, looking for batteries for Pal Mickey since he didn't seem to be working well. By this time it was time for my fast pass, so I headed for Space Mountain. Jane Smith went in with me, but told everyone she could that she would not be riding this, like anyone really cared. I enjoyed my ride as always. Once the ride was done Jane Smith commented that she was hungry, ok so it's off to Cosmic Ray's for some lunch. I was again pleasantly surprised that the food was quite good, I had a cheeseburger and fries and really enjoyed it. Jane Smith had a caesar salad which looked good also, but I didn't get that close of a look at it, as we didn't sit together. I wanted to sit outside, as I'm from Michigan and don't get to do this often, Jane Smith said it is way too cold and the wind is blowing, no outside dining for her. Ok fine, so peace and quiet. With half the day wasted, it was time to do some serious walking. I headed toward Fantasyland, as I wanted to do Pooh and Peter Pan. Of course both were very long waits and I decided to try another time. Jane Smith was already tired, so I sat her down by dumbo and told her I was going to Haunted Mansion to get fast passes, little did I know Haunted Mansion doesn't do fast pass. The line wait said 20 minutes so I decided to do it alone, I didn't think Jane Smith would want to walk all the way over there. The wait wasn't long at all and I finally found my first hidden Mickey, and unfortunately the only one I could spot all week. Next time I will buy the hidden Mickey book. My cell phone kept going off while on the ride, but I ignored it. Of course it was Jane Smith, telling me that the spot I left her at was uncomfortable so she moved, but she was going to find a restroom, I would meet up with her shortly. I took a ride on the carosel and felt like a little kid again.
Found Jane Smith and told her about no fast pass for Haunted Mansion, we decided to hit Mickey's Philharmagic. Well she didn't like all the twisting of the lines inside, oh well, just tune it out was all I could do. I had never seen this show before so I really enjoyed it and surprisingly Jane Smith did as well. Started walking towards Frontierland and asked her if she wanted to try Haunted Mansion, which she did, very short wait, so I went for my 2nd time. Realized after we got off that the reason it was so short was that the parade had started. I had seen it last trip, so I wasn't trying to actually see it. We did end up seeing a bit of it near the Hall of Presidents. I hadn't been in the HOP before, so I figured this was a good opportunity, except Jane Smith wanted nothing to do with it. I went inside and looked around, but felt guilty leaving her outside alone, so I didn't stay for the show. We walked around to a few of the shops and decided to hit the Dole Whip stand. I knew I just wanted a little bit, as we had 5:30 PS at Crystal Palace, but Jane Smith got the big Pineapple Float and thus ruined her appetite for dinner. We leisurly walked over to Jungle Cruise, which was an experience to board Jane Smith. I never knew she had so many problems with mobility, otherwise I would have planned accordingly. She wasn't impressed with Jungle Cruise and thought the jokes were stupid. Ok fine, to each his own. We then headed for Pirates of the Carribean. I love this ride, but again, Jane Smith didn't like the little drop that splashes water on you (guess she didn't want her pre-done hair getting wet for 7 days). By this time it was about 5:00pm, so we headed towards Crystal Palace. Jane Smith was not at all hungry since she ate the dole whip and I was quite disappointed as I wanted to eat with Pooh and friends badly, she wanted to eat at some lobster buffet outside the park (that's all I heard about all week). Well I guess the aromas from the building got to her and she agreed to dine there. We waited maybe 15 minutes and were seated. Of course there were children runnning around which is not an uncomman site at Disney, but this didn't sit well with Jane Smith. I tried my best to enjoy my dinner and of course everytime one of the characters would come around Jane Smith was convienently at the buffet, so I had to ask around for someone to take my picture. I thoroughly enjoyed the food here and will definitely be making this a priority on future trips. As we were leaving I stopped to take some pictures of the Pooh topiaries and saw Jane Smith speaking to a manager. I didn't know what that was all about until we went outside. Evidentally she did not like the suggestion of 15-20% tip for your server and felt the need to voice her opinion. Anyone else wouldn't of said anything, just tipped what they felt they should, but not her, I was quite embarassed when I heard. I got a great place outside Crystal Palace for Wishes and called home to hear a friendly voice. My mom told me keep my chin up and I'll get through it, yeah right, she wasn't there dealing with it. Next Jane Smith decided that it was child abuse for parents to have their 3/4/5 year olds out this late for fireworks, they would never remember it anyway, so why would they subject them to it, everyone heard all the way to Animal Kingdom I'm sure! Sometimes it's so much better to keep your thoughts to yourself. I suggested that we wait for the crowds to disperse before we tried to leave, but no she wanted to leave immediately after the show. So here we are pushing our way through the crowds (and I'm claustrophobic), not a pretty picture. We started heading for what I thought was the parking lot when Jane Smith made a left turn towards guest relations, oh no, what now. She complained that she could not walk any further and that handicapped parking was totally inappropriate. UGGH!!!! Well guest relations being the wonderful customer oriented people that they are, offered to drive her in a van to get our car. Oh boy what fun, she wanted to sit in the front seat, a no no, so she complained about that and then couldn't get into the van, I thought we would never get to leave. Finally made it to our car and I drove back to the Crowne Plaza. I had enough for the day and really couldn't take any more. It was only 8:30, but I just didn't have the energy to deal with anything further, so I laid in bed and watched TV until after 11 as Jane Smith dreamt of her next evil doings.Day 3 just ahead, my day of freedom!
