*Marty_Mouse_House*
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Jun 17, 2004
- Messages
- 60
Saturday, June 5, 2004
The Dolphin rooms were really lovely. They had remodeled and gotten rid of the teal and peach color scheme for more subdued decor. The beds were luxurious with pillowtop mattresses and done all in white. The toiletries basket was nice with shampoo (my husband likes to call it "real poo") and separate conditioner,
lots of soaps, and a vanity kit with cotton balls, swabs and emery board. The beds were so comfortable, it felt like home. Of course I had to bring my own pillow - the Contour Cloud - can't sleep without it and carry it everywhere. I woke up sometime during the night, realized where I was and looked at the clock - 4:00 a.m. It was exciting thinking I was at the Dolphin and Epcot was just down the sidewalk and I couldn't get back to sleep. I was thirsty too. "Honey," I nudged my husband, "would you go down to the ice machine and get me some ice?" He grumbled something that I took for a "no". I continued on, "Do you think I could go down to the ice machine in my pajamas?" He grumbled something that I took for a "yes" so off I went, ice bucket in hand. Now whenever we stay in a hotel (and it's usually next to an ice machine) I hear the rattling and clunking half the night and in my sleep-deprived dreams and I'm usually thinking, "Now what moron needs ice at 4 o'clock in the morning?" Now I know. I managed to make it back to the room without seeing anybody and picked up the newspaper already outside the door. I fixed myself an ice water and looked out the window. That's why I love the balconies, but I didn't have one. Our view was to the bridge going to the Yacht Club with misty street lights turned on. I expected to see the joggers up and already at it, but it was empty and kind of eerie. There was not one person out there. I settled myself in the bathtub with the light on and read the paper. This went on till about 5:00 until I got bored with nobody else to pester. I went back to bed until the wake-up call came at 7:15.
MGM Studios was the early admission day. DH decided that we were so close to it that this was where we should start off the day. It would be harder to get to when we were over at the Contemporary. I asked for a late check-out time and they gave us until 12:00. At least we would be able to see a little bit of MGM before we had to head back. I clipped the pedometer on and off we went. We briefly considered taking the sidewalk from the Dolphin to MGM but I had done that before and it was a Loooong walk. A boat was pulling up to the dock anyway, hence, our running again with fanny packs, camers and water bottle carriers flying. It turned out to be the boat for Epcot, and not the one that we wanted. We only had to wait a few minutes and saw the boat for MGM coming toward us.
My husband loved MGM. My son thinks it's okay. I like it the least of the 4. I don't know what there is about it. I feel like I just wander around and around and even though I do everything (except the Tower of Terror) I feel like I haven't accomplished anything. Into the park we go and proceed to get fast passes to TOT. I get a fast pass too even though I know I won't use it. My husband keeps pestering me, "Is today the day for Tower of Terror?" I have already decided, "No, today's not the day." It doesn't keep him from asking. We keep trying to decide what ride we will do first - and happen to be walking past the Great Movie Ride - and there's a cast member calling for people to come in (no line) so in we go. My husband says that he will never live it down that our first ride is the Great Movie Ride! But we have fun and now have a ride under our belts - and make our way over to Star Tours. We discovered that this was a Star Wars Weekend - not hearing about it before - which gets our son excited who's a Star Wars afficionado. They have characters walking all over the place (don't ask me which ones) and skits going on outside Star Tours, and there's even a special Star Wars Who Wants To Be A Millionaire with just Star Wars questions. So we do our Star Tours ride (not my husband's favorite, but DS and I enjoy it), then use the fast pass tickets for TOT. Usually I accompany them up to the elevator part of it and just when they are loading the elevator, I tell the ride attendant that I'm using the chicken-out elevator. That way I get to see all the ambience of the ride which is the best part without having to do it. Today, however, I wanted to sit outside and watch the doors to the TOT open and listen to the screaming. I turn on the walkie talkie and wait. It's amazing the conversations you will hear on a walkie talkie. Example: "Dan?" No answer. "Dan?" No answer. "Dan Smith?" Answered by someone hollering, "Don't use my last name!!!" I guess she got him to answer! Then there's the frequent "Mom?" (or Dad), "Where are you?" I happened to recognize my own son's voice among the multitudes of "Mom, we're finished, where are you?" I tell my son to just go ahead and use my first name otherwise we'll never be able to connect with all of these people named "Mom" and "Dad".
We make our way over to the first Who Wants To Be A Millionaire show of the day. It happens to be a Star Wars one. We get in and sit down and are entertained by something, my son says it's a Jawa. This character does a fabulous job of entertaining the audience all without saying a word. You just had to be there. I'm sitting in between my son and another teenage who appears to be on high-alert status for Star Wars questions. Also, a Jawa was the first contestant and when the poor thing got the answer wrong (the host was translating Jawa-speak), some Stormtroopers rushed in and carried him off.
A person is picked from the audience who seems to be a regular and from Florida. The questions are going along and I have to peek at keypads either to my left or my right before I choose my answer because I have no idea otherwise. Then when I choose an answer myself without peeking I have to hear, "Mom I can't believe you picked that! Here's the right answer!" The entire show was entertaining - for the ask a friend call, they called it Phone A Stormtrooper, and another lifeline was called Ask The Jedi Council who was really the audience. The Stormtroopers stationed outside the building talked about encountering some Jawas. Special Note: George Lucas got the idea for the Milleanium Falcon from a hamburger and not a potato chip.
Back outside with more pictures with Star Wars people. It was getting toward 11:00 and we knew we had to make our way back to the Dolphin to check out. We hadn't eaten yet this morning so we decided to stop at Pizza Planet and carry our pizzas back with us on the boat. I was pleasantly surprised that they now offer a veggie pizza ($7.99) in addition to pepperoni ($5.79) and cheese. With apple juice ($1.49) and large coke ($2.29) our order came to $27.31. With pizzas in hand, we got our handstamps and rushed out the gate and made our way to the boat dock. My husband saw a boat already in the dock (from about a mile away) so we started running again. Our son first, with arms and pizza waving, my husband second - running with pizza jostling and me falling behind thinking that if they hold the boat for any of us they'll have to hold the boat for all of us. It worked, they held the boat.
---------------------------
Previous Trips: 30 plus trips in 30 years
Since being married we have stayed at: Fort Wilderness Campground, Fort Wilderness Cabins, Yacht Club, Caribbean Beach, Polynesian, Beach Club, Dolphin and Swan, All-Star Sports, All-Star Music, Port Orleans Riverside, Contemporary Resort.
The Dolphin rooms were really lovely. They had remodeled and gotten rid of the teal and peach color scheme for more subdued decor. The beds were luxurious with pillowtop mattresses and done all in white. The toiletries basket was nice with shampoo (my husband likes to call it "real poo") and separate conditioner,
lots of soaps, and a vanity kit with cotton balls, swabs and emery board. The beds were so comfortable, it felt like home. Of course I had to bring my own pillow - the Contour Cloud - can't sleep without it and carry it everywhere. I woke up sometime during the night, realized where I was and looked at the clock - 4:00 a.m. It was exciting thinking I was at the Dolphin and Epcot was just down the sidewalk and I couldn't get back to sleep. I was thirsty too. "Honey," I nudged my husband, "would you go down to the ice machine and get me some ice?" He grumbled something that I took for a "no". I continued on, "Do you think I could go down to the ice machine in my pajamas?" He grumbled something that I took for a "yes" so off I went, ice bucket in hand. Now whenever we stay in a hotel (and it's usually next to an ice machine) I hear the rattling and clunking half the night and in my sleep-deprived dreams and I'm usually thinking, "Now what moron needs ice at 4 o'clock in the morning?" Now I know. I managed to make it back to the room without seeing anybody and picked up the newspaper already outside the door. I fixed myself an ice water and looked out the window. That's why I love the balconies, but I didn't have one. Our view was to the bridge going to the Yacht Club with misty street lights turned on. I expected to see the joggers up and already at it, but it was empty and kind of eerie. There was not one person out there. I settled myself in the bathtub with the light on and read the paper. This went on till about 5:00 until I got bored with nobody else to pester. I went back to bed until the wake-up call came at 7:15.
MGM Studios was the early admission day. DH decided that we were so close to it that this was where we should start off the day. It would be harder to get to when we were over at the Contemporary. I asked for a late check-out time and they gave us until 12:00. At least we would be able to see a little bit of MGM before we had to head back. I clipped the pedometer on and off we went. We briefly considered taking the sidewalk from the Dolphin to MGM but I had done that before and it was a Loooong walk. A boat was pulling up to the dock anyway, hence, our running again with fanny packs, camers and water bottle carriers flying. It turned out to be the boat for Epcot, and not the one that we wanted. We only had to wait a few minutes and saw the boat for MGM coming toward us.
My husband loved MGM. My son thinks it's okay. I like it the least of the 4. I don't know what there is about it. I feel like I just wander around and around and even though I do everything (except the Tower of Terror) I feel like I haven't accomplished anything. Into the park we go and proceed to get fast passes to TOT. I get a fast pass too even though I know I won't use it. My husband keeps pestering me, "Is today the day for Tower of Terror?" I have already decided, "No, today's not the day." It doesn't keep him from asking. We keep trying to decide what ride we will do first - and happen to be walking past the Great Movie Ride - and there's a cast member calling for people to come in (no line) so in we go. My husband says that he will never live it down that our first ride is the Great Movie Ride! But we have fun and now have a ride under our belts - and make our way over to Star Tours. We discovered that this was a Star Wars Weekend - not hearing about it before - which gets our son excited who's a Star Wars afficionado. They have characters walking all over the place (don't ask me which ones) and skits going on outside Star Tours, and there's even a special Star Wars Who Wants To Be A Millionaire with just Star Wars questions. So we do our Star Tours ride (not my husband's favorite, but DS and I enjoy it), then use the fast pass tickets for TOT. Usually I accompany them up to the elevator part of it and just when they are loading the elevator, I tell the ride attendant that I'm using the chicken-out elevator. That way I get to see all the ambience of the ride which is the best part without having to do it. Today, however, I wanted to sit outside and watch the doors to the TOT open and listen to the screaming. I turn on the walkie talkie and wait. It's amazing the conversations you will hear on a walkie talkie. Example: "Dan?" No answer. "Dan?" No answer. "Dan Smith?" Answered by someone hollering, "Don't use my last name!!!" I guess she got him to answer! Then there's the frequent "Mom?" (or Dad), "Where are you?" I happened to recognize my own son's voice among the multitudes of "Mom, we're finished, where are you?" I tell my son to just go ahead and use my first name otherwise we'll never be able to connect with all of these people named "Mom" and "Dad".
We make our way over to the first Who Wants To Be A Millionaire show of the day. It happens to be a Star Wars one. We get in and sit down and are entertained by something, my son says it's a Jawa. This character does a fabulous job of entertaining the audience all without saying a word. You just had to be there. I'm sitting in between my son and another teenage who appears to be on high-alert status for Star Wars questions. Also, a Jawa was the first contestant and when the poor thing got the answer wrong (the host was translating Jawa-speak), some Stormtroopers rushed in and carried him off.
A person is picked from the audience who seems to be a regular and from Florida. The questions are going along and I have to peek at keypads either to my left or my right before I choose my answer because I have no idea otherwise. Then when I choose an answer myself without peeking I have to hear, "Mom I can't believe you picked that! Here's the right answer!" The entire show was entertaining - for the ask a friend call, they called it Phone A Stormtrooper, and another lifeline was called Ask The Jedi Council who was really the audience. The Stormtroopers stationed outside the building talked about encountering some Jawas. Special Note: George Lucas got the idea for the Milleanium Falcon from a hamburger and not a potato chip.
Back outside with more pictures with Star Wars people. It was getting toward 11:00 and we knew we had to make our way back to the Dolphin to check out. We hadn't eaten yet this morning so we decided to stop at Pizza Planet and carry our pizzas back with us on the boat. I was pleasantly surprised that they now offer a veggie pizza ($7.99) in addition to pepperoni ($5.79) and cheese. With apple juice ($1.49) and large coke ($2.29) our order came to $27.31. With pizzas in hand, we got our handstamps and rushed out the gate and made our way to the boat dock. My husband saw a boat already in the dock (from about a mile away) so we started running again. Our son first, with arms and pizza waving, my husband second - running with pizza jostling and me falling behind thinking that if they hold the boat for any of us they'll have to hold the boat for all of us. It worked, they held the boat.
---------------------------
Previous Trips: 30 plus trips in 30 years
Since being married we have stayed at: Fort Wilderness Campground, Fort Wilderness Cabins, Yacht Club, Caribbean Beach, Polynesian, Beach Club, Dolphin and Swan, All-Star Sports, All-Star Music, Port Orleans Riverside, Contemporary Resort.
