When we last left our intrepid travellers, Lisa, Rob, and Stacy were in Lisa's rental on their way to the MK. Amber and Cindy were on a Lynx bus somewhere also trying to get to the MK. And there was a deadline, at least in my head - 4:00pm looking at the castle. Of course, that we clearly not going to happen since we were just pulling into the parking lot at 3:56. Ok, we're close. Can that calm this stage manager's soul?
I won't bore you with the ride in...everyone does it. Park the car, ride the tram. But, I was happy. It's part of the Disney experience. Rob and I both needed to stop at the ticket windows - Rob needed to pick up his pass from willcall and I needed to purchase my brand new, shiny, 15 month Annual Pass!!!
Yep, I got it. Now, please don't flame me for this, but I may have gotten a Florida resident rate. You see, when I lived down here, I didn't want to give up my Minnesota driver's license because, quite frankly, I wasn't sure how long I would be staying. And the state of Florida is very helpful because of all the "snow birds." They have a "Florida only" license - you can't use it outside the state but you can have it AND a license from another state at the same time. So, when I left Florida and moved to St. Louis, I surrendered my MN license to get my MO one, but I was able to keep my Florida license and, since it doesn't expire until 2012, I use it to get resident tickets. Is it completely honest? No BUT Disney still gets the money because whatever I don't spend on tickets, I spend somewhere in the parks. So, do I feel guilty? Nope. If that makes me a bad person, then so be it. Just don't put me in Disney jail!
After all the ticketing, we jump on the monorail and head to the front gates. And we wait. And wait. And wait. We couldn't go in until Cindy and Amber got there. I am so close to that silly castle I can taste it but I can't see it. Then I hear the Dreams Come True show start and I really get antsy. Oh, and have I mentioned it was surface of the sun hot??? I know it's Florida, I know it's hot, BUT it is October. I lived down here for 3 years and never felt these temps in October. It really felt more like July/August. And then, it started to rain. I didn't get too upset because I could tell by looking at the sky it was just "Florida afternoon rain" and wouldn't last long. However, I don't like being wet so I reached into my bag for my poncho. Whoops, I guess I left it in my carryon in the hotel room. Ok, mental note to self, put the poncho in your park bag. It does no good in the hotel room. And just some forshadowing here - I never did remember to take the poncho out of my carryon. Why did I even bother to bring it??
Finally, at 5:00, Cindy and Amber arrive! Hugs and introductions all around and then I practically sprinted to the ticket gate. And let's be clear, I am a pooh size girl, I never move that fast! I'm sure people around me were looking at me like this
. Next thing I know, I'm standing on Main Street and staring at my castle. ANd the tears started. Oh, how I have missed you castle. I really wanted to run up and give it a hug but I think I would have freaked everyone out so I just cried for a minute and then looked at my peeps and said "Let's get this party started!!!"
First stop was Casey's. I hadn't eaten all day and I needed mini corn dogs in the WORST way. We all got food (and water) and then, since in MY mind we were already an hour behind, I made everyone eat and walk. No time to sit - there were rides just waiting for us. So I led a parade of 5 people all trying to weave through Columbus day weekend crowds while trying to take pictures AND eat corn dogs, hot dogs, and french fries AND balance whatever drink they may have gotten. I am not a nice group leader. Our next stop was the jungle cruise. While we were waiting in line, I got sick - I mean I felt dizzy, I saw spots and then had tunnel vision, and I felt like I was going to throw up in the very nice plants lining the que. Lisa noticed me acting funny and got concerned. I seriously thought I was going to pass out. She handed me some water and reminded me that A) I wasn't used to the heat, B) I had just shoved corn dogs down my throat in like 4 minutes and C) I was probably tired since I had already been up like 14 hours at that point with the whole travel thing thrown in. I held on until we got on the boat and after sitting for the ride, I felt much better and ready to continue our night at the park.
I won't bore you with all the ride details. We've all been to the MK. I will say, between 5pm and 1am, we managed to ride everything except Peter Pan and a few of us didn't do Splash. We got in line for Peter Pan because it said it was a 20 minute wait. AFter 20 minutes, we still hadn't made it to the bathroom side of the line. Rob and I discussed and decided to bail. I think Cindy and Amber were confused because they thought we were close to the front of the line. After getting out of line, Rob and I showed them how much further we actually had to wait and they were fine with leaving. As for Splash, by the time we got there, it was 12:30 am. I was too tired to want to get wet at that point, Cindy wasn't thrilled with the idea of the drop, and Lisa wanted to take some pictures so Rob and Amber went while the rest of us waited. I wasn't too worried. AFter all, this was Day 1 of my trip, I would be back to ride Splash and Peter Pan, no worries.
I did have 2 interesting moments over the course of the evening. The first was at Haunted Mansion. I hate those rackin' frackin' turnstiles. As I mentioned, I am a big girl and the turnstiles at HM are the narrowest in the park. Can't we do something about those? Anyway, I have to stand on my tiptoes and turn sideways to get through. As I did that, my left leg cramped up in a BIG way - as in I couldn't even put my foot to the ground. I start yelling "Ow, ow help, help." And everyone in my party just looks at me. And I keep yelling "Ow, help, cramp in my leg, can't put my foot down, ow help" And now EVERYONE in line is looking at me and I'm still trying to push through the turnstile. Finally, AMber understands and runs over to grab my arm. She starts yelling at Rob "Grab her other arm. Help her over to the side." And Rob, god bless him, thinks he's helping. It is only after Amber muscled me over to the side completely by herself that Rob realized that instead of grabbing my arm and supporting some of the weight, he had grabbed AMBER's other arm. We finally got the cramp worked out and then spent a lot of time laughing at Rob and his "helping."
The other moment was a discussion with another park guest. We went to get our places for Spectro and Wishes. There was a family on the curb and Grandma, in her
ECV, was clearly holding places. Now, I don't have a problem with that. They were there first and they weren't trying to save places for 100 people or anything, it looked like Mom and Grandma were trying to save 3 maybe 4 places. However, there was a lot of room BEHIND them that could have be utilized IF Grandma hadn't parked her ECV in such a way that took up the space for like 5 more people. I went over and very politely asked if she would mind moving her ECV a bit so we could sit BEHIND them. I even stated, "I understand you are saving the curb seats and we would be happy to help you. We just want to sit behing you here." And I didn't think I was being unreasonable. I wasn't trying to push in, I wasn't asking her to get out of her ECV, AND I was polite. I just wanted her to park in such a way as to not waste space. The mom understood what I was saying and looked at Grandma and said, "Can you move?" And Grandma said "NO!" Just "NO" So, of course, I had to try to explain. "See, if you move your ECV like this then 5 more people can get in here. We really don't want to take your seats or anything." "I'm not going to move. I can take up as much room as I want. Go away."
Ok, I am clearly not going to win this one, so I walked away but I couldn't help adding "Thanks for being understanding. I hope you have a magical vacation." And Rob looked at me and said "Sarcasm much?"
Our day ended taking Cindy and Amber back to their hotel. And us getting lost on the way. Rob insisted that he knew where we were going from the park so Lisa listened to his directions. Of course, we were going the WRONG way on I-4. And both Amber and I questioned Rob when he said "take I-4 West." But Rob insisted and we listened. Lisa got a nice tour of the construction on I-4. We finally managed to get everyone back to their resorts and it was bedtime. 2:30 am. Wow. I was up for more than 20 hours. AND we were determined to make rope drop at DHS the next morning. Day 1 of the vacation was over. I was at Disney. Why did I feel like I should be happier about the whole thing?
Rob and I think the smell came from the room next door. We never saw anyone come in and out of the room but the "Privacy Please" sign was ALWAYS on the door. Rob told me on our last day that he finally saw the couple and they were in their 80's. Umm...good for you guys I guess.
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Ok, and how many weeks were you planning to be down here? And then they insisted that Rob and I would be with them for all this. I told them that I couldn't answer for Rob but I don't leave Disney property. Then their trip got shortened to 4 days and I said "We need to reevaluate what you truly want to do." And they came back with "All 4 parks and Sea World. BUT we are poor so we need to save as much money as possible." Ok, so I spent time planning everything so they wouldn't have to buy park hoppers and they could still get to all 4 parks, etc.
