Cast of Characters:
Myself - 35 year old single gal who is ready to come home
Jane Smith - 62 year old who cannot make up her mind
As usual I got up fairly early today, about 7AM. I took a shower and packed the rest of my things for the move to the Dolphin. Jane Smith finally woke up after 8am sometime, just as I was getting ready to leave. I told her I needed some fresh air and I was going to take my bags out to the car. She said she would be along shortly. I loaded up the car and went back into the hotel to find out about the breakfast voucher I was supposed to get. I hit the jackpot - on the weekends you don't get a continental breakfast, but a full hot breakfast buffet, I was in heaven. I figured I better be nice and let Jane know that we get a full breakfast, so I called up to the room. I could barely hear her as the TV was so loud. Think I forgot to mention, when she is in the room, she has the TV on constantly and blaring loud, you can hear it all the way down the hallway, horrible. So I told her about the breakfast, she said she would be down in two minutes. I went to the restaurant and got us a table, ordered a drink and then went to check out the buffet. I didn't wait for Jane as I figured she would be down shortly. I enjoyed a nice breakfast with bacon, sausage, potatoes and danishes. I kept waiting for Jane, but she never did appear. Finally, about 45 minutes later as I'm walking out of the restaurant she shows up. So I go back in to sit with her, of course she has to pick a table that was not cleared yet, UGH!!! She ate maybe two bites and said her stomach wasn't feeling well. Ok then, it's off to the Dolphin. I was so excited about this hotel, as it was my first on property stay and I couldn't wait. As I pulled into the lot I was just in awe at how beautiful everything was. I valet parked the car (so that Jane wouldn't have to walk) and had our bags taken to the bellhop. Jane wanted to carry her own bags so as not to tip the bellman, but I would have none of that. I checked in and as I figured our room was not ready yet. No problem, they would call my cell phone when it was. I asked for a room not far from the elevator (but not next to the elevator shaft, Jane made that perfectly clear) and also if they had some sort of view of the Epcot fireworks, they would see what they could do. We went outside to get a bus to the Magic Kingdom and boy was my timing perfect, there was one waiting. It was a little bit of a distance, but if we didn't fool around we should have no problems making it. Well Jane couldn't walk fast, so I ran ahead so that the bus wouldn't take off. As we neared Magic Kingdom, Jane informed me that she didn't want to go to Magic Kingdom today but to Animal Kingdom---WHAT?????? Did I not just go there on Thursday and she didn't want to go, she wanted to stay in??? I was ready to scream. So I told her ok, you will need to transfer to another bus, but I warned her the walking there is not easy and she may have problems. So an unexpected day of freedom, I was geeked. I entered the park fairly quickly and took some more pictures of the castle. I figured since I was in front I would go to Tomorrowland first and hit the rides I didn't get to the other day. First up was Stich. I was a bit leary about this one, I had seen it when it was Alien Encounter and didn't really care for it, but I wanted to see what all the controversy was. The wait was maybe 15 minutes, not bad at all. What I couldn't understand was while I was standing in line there were several small children who were already crying and clearly did not want to go on this attraction. The one mother I saw literally dragged her son in and made him sit there. Once the show started, he was screaming bloody murder. He was so frightened and wanted out, but the mother would not move. I just couldn't believe this. Finally a castmember came over and basically told her that she would need to take the child out. What would posses a parent to do this to a child?
I didn't really care for the attraction, not much different than before, but at least I saw it. While I was in Stich I heard my phone go off, so I checked my messages and Jane had called. Get this....she lost her park ticket and was going back to the resort to try to find it. I was just astonished. I waited a while to call her back and then got her voicemail, so I left a pleasant message saying I hope she found her ticket. Later I would speak with her and find out that she never did find her ticket but guest relations issued her a new one, that's pretty impressive since she didn't have the numbers off the back, I wasn't going to ask any further. She also told me how she found this nice young man to push her around in a wheelchair. This poor guy probably didn't know what he was getting into. She did remark that she could barely walk there, gee didn't I tell you that earlier? So back to my story, I went to Buzz and got a fast pass, as the line was already starting to get long. I then took a stroll on TTA, for some reason I really enjoy riding this, maybe it's just relaxing. Once my ride was over I headed to Carousel of Progress, I had never seen it and knew I wanted to do it this time. It was pretty neat to see. By this time my fast pass was ready, so I took a spin on Buzz, I think I got something like 61,800 points, nothing very good that's for sure. It was still pretty early so I decided to try Astro Orbiter, it said there was a 30 minute wait, but it didn't look like that much, so I went. Well there were exactly right, 1/2 hour. Surprisingly, I got pretty dizzy from this ride and probably won't do it again, go figure. Lunchtime was getting near so I thought maybe I would check into getting a PS somewhere. My first thought was the castle, but the hostess just was not very helpful and would not put my name down or anything, so that sort of turned me off. Next I thought maybe I could go back to Crystal Palace for an early dinner. I waited in line over 15 minutes and then found out they had nothing until after 8pm, forget that one. So I wondered around a bit and checked out Liberty Tree Tavern, but I wasn't hot about family style for one. I settled on Tony's at 2pm. I walked towards the front of the park and hopped on the train, as I had not ridden it before, it was nice to take a break and relax. I checked in for my PS and requested a table on the porch, I was seated within 10 minutes. I checked out the menu but wasn't that hot for it, I decided on a salad and a Chicken Parmesan Hogie. I was not thrilled with this meal at all, the marinara sauce tasted like something out of a bottle. I ate very slowly as I knew the parade started at 3 and would be there around 3:30. My waiter had no problem, so I had a perfect seat for the parade. This is the one parade I have seen before, but I still really enjoyed it. By this time my feet were pretty tired so I took the train to Frontierland and got a fast pass for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. I had time to kill so I walked over to Haunted Mansion, the wait said 25 minutes, but I had nothing else to do so I waited. After that I thought I would try one more time for Pooh, but again the wait was quite lengthy. Next time I will have to plan better for Pooh. So I walked back over to do BTMR with my fast pass, I still had to wait close to 25 minutes, the lines were incredible. By this time I was getting pretty tired, so I again took the train and got off at Mickey's Toontown. I headed for the Indy Race Cars, there was a 25 minute wait, but it didn't look like it was that long, so I waited. I thought I would really like these, but I found the cars really hard to steer. It was getting near the time to stake out a place for Spectromagic, but I had time for one more spin on the TTA. I figured I would get a spot near Main Street so I could also see the fireworks. I arrived about 6:10p and Main Street was already packed. I got lucky and did find a spot right near a corner with a post to lean up against. I got friendly with a family from New Jersey and they held my spot while I went to get a hot dog at Casey's. I kept wondering if I was nuts waiting for Spectromagic, but I would be proven wrong. In the meantime Jane Smith called asking where I was. I told her my location and she said she was right outside the park near guest relations, had a great seat for the parade. Gee that's funny, I didn't think the parade went outside of the park. When I told her that the parade didn't start until 8pm, she said there was no way she was waiting, so she was off. I loved the parade and am so glad I stayed. I got a nice chair for the fireworks, but when they started, there was a tree in the way, so I walked up Main Street to the front of the Park and stood under the train station, I could see great and this gave me a perfect out to avoid the crowds. I hopped on the bus back to the Dolphin and ran up to my room. Jane was already in bed and figured I was staying in - WRONG! I wanted to check out the Boardwalk, so I put some jeans on and took off. I just didn't want to stay in the room, so the fresh air was nice. I enjoyed the Boardwalk, but it was pretty dead. I stopped in the bakery and got a piece of carrot cake to take home for my mom and I. I made my way back to the Dolphin and sat in the soda shop for a while drinking a coke. Finally talked myself into going back upstairs, Jane was still up. So I had the treat of trying to fall asleep to the TV blaring again. The heat was also turned up to 82, 2 more days and I'll be free.
Coming soon - Day 6, oh my aching back
Myself - 35 year old single gal who is ready to come home
Jane Smith - 62 year old who cannot make up her mind
As usual I got up fairly early today, about 7AM. I took a shower and packed the rest of my things for the move to the Dolphin. Jane Smith finally woke up after 8am sometime, just as I was getting ready to leave. I told her I needed some fresh air and I was going to take my bags out to the car. She said she would be along shortly. I loaded up the car and went back into the hotel to find out about the breakfast voucher I was supposed to get. I hit the jackpot - on the weekends you don't get a continental breakfast, but a full hot breakfast buffet, I was in heaven. I figured I better be nice and let Jane know that we get a full breakfast, so I called up to the room. I could barely hear her as the TV was so loud. Think I forgot to mention, when she is in the room, she has the TV on constantly and blaring loud, you can hear it all the way down the hallway, horrible. So I told her about the breakfast, she said she would be down in two minutes. I went to the restaurant and got us a table, ordered a drink and then went to check out the buffet. I didn't wait for Jane as I figured she would be down shortly. I enjoyed a nice breakfast with bacon, sausage, potatoes and danishes. I kept waiting for Jane, but she never did appear. Finally, about 45 minutes later as I'm walking out of the restaurant she shows up. So I go back in to sit with her, of course she has to pick a table that was not cleared yet, UGH!!! She ate maybe two bites and said her stomach wasn't feeling well. Ok then, it's off to the Dolphin. I was so excited about this hotel, as it was my first on property stay and I couldn't wait. As I pulled into the lot I was just in awe at how beautiful everything was. I valet parked the car (so that Jane wouldn't have to walk) and had our bags taken to the bellhop. Jane wanted to carry her own bags so as not to tip the bellman, but I would have none of that. I checked in and as I figured our room was not ready yet. No problem, they would call my cell phone when it was. I asked for a room not far from the elevator (but not next to the elevator shaft, Jane made that perfectly clear) and also if they had some sort of view of the Epcot fireworks, they would see what they could do. We went outside to get a bus to the Magic Kingdom and boy was my timing perfect, there was one waiting. It was a little bit of a distance, but if we didn't fool around we should have no problems making it. Well Jane couldn't walk fast, so I ran ahead so that the bus wouldn't take off. As we neared Magic Kingdom, Jane informed me that she didn't want to go to Magic Kingdom today but to Animal Kingdom---WHAT?????? Did I not just go there on Thursday and she didn't want to go, she wanted to stay in??? I was ready to scream. So I told her ok, you will need to transfer to another bus, but I warned her the walking there is not easy and she may have problems. So an unexpected day of freedom, I was geeked. I entered the park fairly quickly and took some more pictures of the castle. I figured since I was in front I would go to Tomorrowland first and hit the rides I didn't get to the other day. First up was Stich. I was a bit leary about this one, I had seen it when it was Alien Encounter and didn't really care for it, but I wanted to see what all the controversy was. The wait was maybe 15 minutes, not bad at all. What I couldn't understand was while I was standing in line there were several small children who were already crying and clearly did not want to go on this attraction. The one mother I saw literally dragged her son in and made him sit there. Once the show started, he was screaming bloody murder. He was so frightened and wanted out, but the mother would not move. I just couldn't believe this. Finally a castmember came over and basically told her that she would need to take the child out. What would posses a parent to do this to a child?
I didn't really care for the attraction, not much different than before, but at least I saw it. While I was in Stich I heard my phone go off, so I checked my messages and Jane had called. Get this....she lost her park ticket and was going back to the resort to try to find it. I was just astonished. I waited a while to call her back and then got her voicemail, so I left a pleasant message saying I hope she found her ticket. Later I would speak with her and find out that she never did find her ticket but guest relations issued her a new one, that's pretty impressive since she didn't have the numbers off the back, I wasn't going to ask any further. She also told me how she found this nice young man to push her around in a wheelchair. This poor guy probably didn't know what he was getting into. She did remark that she could barely walk there, gee didn't I tell you that earlier? So back to my story, I went to Buzz and got a fast pass, as the line was already starting to get long. I then took a stroll on TTA, for some reason I really enjoy riding this, maybe it's just relaxing. Once my ride was over I headed to Carousel of Progress, I had never seen it and knew I wanted to do it this time. It was pretty neat to see. By this time my fast pass was ready, so I took a spin on Buzz, I think I got something like 61,800 points, nothing very good that's for sure. It was still pretty early so I decided to try Astro Orbiter, it said there was a 30 minute wait, but it didn't look like that much, so I went. Well there were exactly right, 1/2 hour. Surprisingly, I got pretty dizzy from this ride and probably won't do it again, go figure. Lunchtime was getting near so I thought maybe I would check into getting a PS somewhere. My first thought was the castle, but the hostess just was not very helpful and would not put my name down or anything, so that sort of turned me off. Next I thought maybe I could go back to Crystal Palace for an early dinner. I waited in line over 15 minutes and then found out they had nothing until after 8pm, forget that one. So I wondered around a bit and checked out Liberty Tree Tavern, but I wasn't hot about family style for one. I settled on Tony's at 2pm. I walked towards the front of the park and hopped on the train, as I had not ridden it before, it was nice to take a break and relax. I checked in for my PS and requested a table on the porch, I was seated within 10 minutes. I checked out the menu but wasn't that hot for it, I decided on a salad and a Chicken Parmesan Hogie. I was not thrilled with this meal at all, the marinara sauce tasted like something out of a bottle. I ate very slowly as I knew the parade started at 3 and would be there around 3:30. My waiter had no problem, so I had a perfect seat for the parade. This is the one parade I have seen before, but I still really enjoyed it. By this time my feet were pretty tired so I took the train to Frontierland and got a fast pass for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. I had time to kill so I walked over to Haunted Mansion, the wait said 25 minutes, but I had nothing else to do so I waited. After that I thought I would try one more time for Pooh, but again the wait was quite lengthy. Next time I will have to plan better for Pooh. So I walked back over to do BTMR with my fast pass, I still had to wait close to 25 minutes, the lines were incredible. By this time I was getting pretty tired, so I again took the train and got off at Mickey's Toontown. I headed for the Indy Race Cars, there was a 25 minute wait, but it didn't look like it was that long, so I waited. I thought I would really like these, but I found the cars really hard to steer. It was getting near the time to stake out a place for Spectromagic, but I had time for one more spin on the TTA. I figured I would get a spot near Main Street so I could also see the fireworks. I arrived about 6:10p and Main Street was already packed. I got lucky and did find a spot right near a corner with a post to lean up against. I got friendly with a family from New Jersey and they held my spot while I went to get a hot dog at Casey's. I kept wondering if I was nuts waiting for Spectromagic, but I would be proven wrong. In the meantime Jane Smith called asking where I was. I told her my location and she said she was right outside the park near guest relations, had a great seat for the parade. Gee that's funny, I didn't think the parade went outside of the park. When I told her that the parade didn't start until 8pm, she said there was no way she was waiting, so she was off. I loved the parade and am so glad I stayed. I got a nice chair for the fireworks, but when they started, there was a tree in the way, so I walked up Main Street to the front of the Park and stood under the train station, I could see great and this gave me a perfect out to avoid the crowds. I hopped on the bus back to the Dolphin and ran up to my room. Jane was already in bed and figured I was staying in - WRONG! I wanted to check out the Boardwalk, so I put some jeans on and took off. I just didn't want to stay in the room, so the fresh air was nice. I enjoyed the Boardwalk, but it was pretty dead. I stopped in the bakery and got a piece of carrot cake to take home for my mom and I. I made my way back to the Dolphin and sat in the soda shop for a while drinking a coke. Finally talked myself into going back upstairs, Jane was still up. So I had the treat of trying to fall asleep to the TV blaring again. The heat was also turned up to 82, 2 more days and I'll be free.Coming soon - Day 6, oh my aching back
