Jaime's May, 2006, Trip Report!!!

[tiggerbell]

Breakfast: French Quarter
Lunch: Sci-Fi @ 11:20am (TS)
Dinner: Prime Time @ 7:05pm (TS)

Plans: MGM all day. Take bus to MGM. Make sure to catch LMAX. Fantasmic?

Reality: We are supposed to go to POFQ for beignets today. Somehow, we don’t. Why, oh why, can’t we stick to the plan this trip???

Oh, and before I forget, even though the other room is having trouble with the wake up calls (once they got Lauren to stop picking up the receiver, they realized their speaker phone didn’t work real well, and they stopped getting the wake up calls), OUR room is enjoying them thoroughly! I am up, showered, and dressed – usually sitting cross-legged on the bed with my finger hovering over the speaker button – every morning! Mickey and Stitch do their thing, and every morning, Rhonda and I start to giggle, then she gets up to shower, dress, etc.

Today is an MGM day, and I had read about the Jedi training sessions. Lauren is a HUGE Star Wars fan, so I thought it would be really cool to try and get her picked. I did not count on her being afraid of Darth Vader. I did her hair SO CUTE!

I made 2 ponies, turned them into braids, then looped them up and held them in place with the pink braid pony holders I got at Target! Princess Leah, watch out! I even made up some crap about she was wearing an orange shirt and Darth Vader was afraid of orange shirts. But alas, at the words “Darth Vader”, I lost her! No Jedi Training Camp. Crap.

Anyway, we head to MGM, (we drove) and go straight over to Tower of Terror. Rhonda and Ron are going to ride it. I brought the Valium, just in case, but Lauren was bored, and let’s all be honest – I CHICKENED OUT! While they were on the ride, Judi & I took Lauren into a couple of shops looking for cast members to pin trade with. I found Adam and then we found a girl cast member. Judi looked at the CM’s name tag and asked Lauren what the girl’s name was. Lauren looks at the name tag and yells, “Lauren!”

They were wonderful with her, they spent a few minutes talking to her. I told them about the Jedi Training and how she was afraid of Darth Vader, I even told them about my stupid orange shirt lie, and Adam played right along – something about some troopers or something that wear orange??? I don’t know. Didn’t matter. No Jedi Training camp.

Rhonda and Ron finish with the ride and we head over to the Villain Shop to find gifts for the teenagers I left at home. Judi finds a little lunch box filled with candy for Lauren to buy for her little sister, but they can’t ship candy – it sits on a truck all night and part of a day. So we decide to come back. Voyage of the Little Mermaid is our next thought, but we kinda veer towards the big hat in the process. Minnie!!! We haven’t seen HER yet, so they get in line. I say, “Give me your tickets and I’ll get FPs for Ariel”. Rhonda, Judi, and Lauren hand them over and I go over to the shade to get Ron’s. I haven’t mentioned that yet, have I? If you want to find Ron on this trip, look for shade. He’s always off to the side, leaning on something!

I head over to the fast pass machines and I feel like an idiot – there’s no line. We really didn’t need the fast passes. But I get them anyway and head back over to Minnie. Then we head into The Great Movie Ride. I wanted to see the new film clips I heard were added. It was cool – I really liked the Pirates of the Caribbean clip where Johnny and Orly are on the ship and Johnny turns and winks over his shoulder.

Our “guide” had trouble with his microphone the entire ride, so I guess it was a good thing it wasn’t our first time through there, or it would have made NO sense!

After that, we used the FPs for the Little Mermaid. Enjoyable, as always. And, yes, when we left the show, we were reminded that we hadn’t found Ariel yet for Lauren to sing to her! We know, we know!

We have an early lunch today, so we have to keep an eye on the time. We head across the park to see if Mike and Sulley are out – 2 of Lauren’s favorite characters – and they are. She announces she’s “going up alone”. O-kaaayyy.... not a problem. Actually, the reason for that was because “when she was 3” she was afraid of the characters at first. Daddy was able to get her to have her picture taken with Mike and Sulley – ONLY because they were her favorites and because Daddy went up with her. A couple of days later in that trip, Auntie Jaime got Lauren to go up to Mickey all by herself, and she even gave him a hug! Man, I was so happy! Not just because she was able to get over her fear, but because her first character hug was Mickey himself!

So, she goes and gets her picture taken with Mike and Sulley and comes back saying she can’t wait to tell Daddy!

We head over to Star Tours and the 4 of them ride that. I wait outside in the sun – just the thought of the simulator ride makes me sweat! I get to hear the beginning of the Jedi Training Camp – it sounded like it was a really cute show...

 

[tiggerbell]

By the time they come out of Star Tours, it’s time to head over to lunch. Yea, Sci-Fi! I know there are a lot of mixed reviews (and very bad reviews) of this restaurant, but we go there almost every trip! It’s fun – sitting in the cars, watching the movie clips. And the food has never been a problem for us.

In fact, in planning this coming December’s trip, DD15 had to chose between Prime Time and Sci-fi, and went with Sci-Fi! Of course, she also has another – weirder – rule: If you eat in MGM during the day, you eat at the Prime Time. If you are eating there at night, you eat at the Sci-Fi. Because – have you figured it out yet? – it’s dark in the Sci-Fi, so you should only eat there at night. Yup, she’s nothing if not logical – and weird! But I like getting the salmon there, so her logic works for me!

Back to this trip – we check in and then head over to the bathroom real quick. We’re seated right away (in the restaurant, not the bathroom!) and I sit up front with Lauren, the middle seat is Ron and Rhonda, and Judi’s in the back seat alone.

Lauren immediately grabs the crayons and starts in on her children’s menu – whoa! Hold on; let’s figure out what you’re getting! Wow! The children’s menu has appetizers!

Carrot and Celery Sticks with Ranch Dressing $1.99
Fruit and Cheese with a Mango Yogurt Dip $1.99

Lauren picks the fruit and cheese.

Entrees?

Grilled Chicken Breast roasted potatoes and green beans $5.99
Macaroni and Cheese $4.99
Hamburger served with fries $4.99
Chicken nuggets with fries $4.99

She hears “green beans” and picks the grilled chicken. This is a weird kid. I have 2 kids of my own, so I know. This is a weird kid.

The waiter comes over to take our order. I tell him we’re on the dining plan. Meanwhile, the peanut gallery behind me is yelling up to me, “What does she want?” “Don’t forget her drink!” “Makes sure she orders something other than mac ‘n cheese!” “Do you know what she wants?” “Don’t forget to tell him we’re on the dining plan!”

I turn around and yell, “Stop backseat ordering! I got it!”

I place my order and Lauren places hers (sure, she’ll talk to a waiter, but tell her Darth Vader will be around.... ) I tell him (my receipt says it was Tim D.) that she wants chocolate milk, but I want to pay for a glow cube. He tells me chocolate milk is the 1 thing they won’t show up in. So I ask for the chocolate milk and a glass of water with a glow cube for her! He tells her the color choices and she picks red. When it comes out, it’s in a Sci-Fi cup! Awesome! I just thought I was paying for the cube and we get the cup, too!

I don't know what she was looking at, but MAN, her hair was crooked in the back!

I got the spinach artichoke dip and the bar-b-q chicken sandwich – which I think used to be shredded and now is whole. It was good, except the bar-b-q sauce had a smoky taste to it, and I’m not a fan of smoky, so it was just aw-right for me, dawg. Rhonda got chili and a burger with mushrooms. I went coke, she went lemonade. Dessert was hot fudge sundae (me) and apple crisp (her).

Lauren’s dessert choices were:
Chocolate Gems Sundae $2.99

Fresh Fruit Cup $2.29
She went with the word “gems”! Turned out to be vanilla ice cream with M&Ms and sprinkles. That makes for a very happy 5 year old!

I don’t have the slightest clue what Ron or Judi ate. Right after we got there, they played the clip of the 80 foot colossal growing man. It’s hysterical. There’s a huge hypodermic needle they plunge into his ankle! And then he pulls it out of his ankle and throws it at the men, spearing one of them to the ground! “B” movies are awesome! And the cast members scream at this part and, during the next scene, when everyone is running from the 80’ guy, a waitress runs across the front of the restaurant, yelling “Run for your lives!”

Well, it scared Lauren. She spent most of the meal saying, “Is he coming back? I don’t like that man.” Which, by dessert, turned into, “When is he coming back? I want to see him again.” Arg...........

Just as dessert is being served, Lauren says, “Uh-oh.” I say, “What?” Now, you can tell when a child is taught to think as opposed to being given answers, because she looks up at me in a panic, and says, “Do you see what’s missing from me?” Hey, kid – just because your parents want you to think things through and figure them out for yourself does not mean you do the same to me. WHAT are you talking about???

Her lanyard’s gone. OK, “When was the last time you remember wearing it?” (Two can play at the THINK game!) And she tells me she left it on the toilet paper holder in the bathroom. I’m off to the bathroom (truth be told, I had to go anyway!) I check all the stalls and decide, since the ABC Commissary and the Sci-Fi share a bathroom, I’d head that way first. I go up to a cashier in the Commissary and ask who I should talk to to see if someone turned in a lanyard. He directs me to a manager, who checks their office. Nope. He directs me to the Sci-Fi, which I already knew about and was headed to next. As I start to walk away, another manager-looking man catches up with me and says he’ll go with. I didn’t get his name, and never even realized he was listening to the first conversation with the other manager. He takes me to the front desk of the Sci-Fi, goes behind the counter and opens their cabinet, and pulls out Lauren’s lanyard!

I thank him profusely, and head back to the table where I do Joey’s, “I couldn’t find it..., YEAH, I DID!”

And I get to eat my slightly melted dessert! Rhonda and I scream along with the waiters when the 80’ guy comes back on, and Lauren laughs at it this time. Totals for lunch at the Sci-Fi = Rhonda and I $65.50; Judi, Ron, and Lauren $92.35.

Oh, and Tim D didn't charge me for the cup or cube!

 

[tiggerbell]

Blur time again! We went and saw the Muppets and I also know that anytime we had to go through New York Street to get somewhere, I kept up the pace – I’ve heard about those Power Rangers and the havoc they cause!

We knew Ron would probably enjoy the car stunt show (and Lauren LOVES Herbie), so that seemed to be a must. But, we don’t have a lot of time left (we wanted to go back to the pool for awhile before dinner) and I wanted to do Millionaire – I got in the hot seat in September and was dying to try again! So I told them to do the car show, I was going to Millionaire. Judi opted for the Millionaire show, too.

In September, after the first fast fingers question, I was number 7 on the board – my first time getting up there. I answered the next 7 questions right, including the one the player missed, thus getting in the hot seat. This time, I blow the fast finger question – Judi ends up on the board, but I can’t remember her number.

The guy who get in the hot seat uses 2 lifelines in the first 5 questions, so I figure he’ll be out of there soon. The next time they show the board, I’m #2 and Judi is long gone. I blow the next question! Stupid question about stupid cooking! Doesn’t matter – because Hot Seat guy rallies and ends up making it just as far as I did in September – 128,000 points! Time’s up, game over, the next person in the Hot Seat would have been his wife!

We meet up after and start talking about this evening. We are supposed to eat at the Prime Time at 7:05, but we want to go back to the hotel pool for awhile. Suggestions? All of a sudden, Judi is interested in planning the dining portion of the trip and wants to know where else could we eat! Either Rhonda or I (I’m gonna go with me) suggests Whispering Canyon Cafe – IF we can get an ADR.

If not, we stick with the original plan. Holy cow! We got 7:20 for WCC! Excellent! Prime Time cancelled, we head to the pool. Oops, first we went back to the Villains Shop and got some pirate and Nightmare merchandise – DD15v is Nightmare and DD18 is Pirates – I found her Captain Jack Sparrow flip flops at DTD the other night! Wasn’t sure if she’d wear them or hang them on the wall – she hasn’t worn them yet, but they’re not on the wall either!

We didn’t bring any pool toys with this time – I seem to be missing a trip to the pool... the first time we brought 1 toy, the 2nd trip we brought 3 toys and had the whole pool playing catch (so much for QUIET pool!), and this trip we didn’t feel like playing with every kid in Disney (not that we minded the first couple times, we just wanted to float around this time).

Flashback: When my 15 & 18 year old DDs were 3 & 5, we went camping with Ron and Judi one summer. It turned out to be the hottest summer of the decade. It was over 100 degrees every day. One evening, Judi, the kids and I went for a walk and left Ron at the camper. We passed by to see him sitting outside in front of a fan! Earlier that night, Judi handed me the portable grill and a package of chicken and told me to get dinner started, I just held the chicken out and said, “Done.”

We ended up spending 5 hours one day STANDING in the 4 ½ foot pond the camp had – along with every other camper there! Just STANDING in the middle of the pond. My kids couldn’t swim yet. DD3 was (and still is, come to think of it) not a fan of water she can’t see through, so she adopted another family with little kids on the beach and played with them all day. DD5 hung around my neck for a good 2 hours before I had had enough.

I balanced her on my leg for a minute and showed her what I wanted her to do with her arms (wiggle them up and down – picture that robot-ish breakdance move – I can’t think of what it’s called, where it looks like something is flowing through your arms – HELP!!! What’s it called???) So she did. Then I told her to kick her legs back and forth gently. She did. I let go, she stayed afloat, and I announced, “You are now treading water.” Thank heavens! My neck was killing me, she was rubbing it raw!

Judi and I continued our conversation and DD5 just treaded water. For a while. Then I turned to her and said, “You know – if you put your hands in front of you and your feet behind you, that’s called swimming.” And off she went! It was that easy. All day, she would swim over, tread water, then tell us, “I’ll be right back.” and swim off. It was great.

Back to today: Lauren is a stone. Or just really uncoordinated – she couldn’t do it. She was just too afraid of the water, I think. I gave up and sent her back to the shallow water. And I tried to teach her all 3 times we were in the pool. Oh, well, that’s what swim instructors get paid for, right?

So, we swim and we splash and we float (some of us do, anyway). And after about an hour, we drag our refreshed bodies out of the water and into the showers. And look up in my Passporter HOW to get to the Wilderness Lodge.

 

[tiggerbell]

Wow! So easy to get to the Wilderness Lodge (and what a great map of the property in the back of the Passporter!) We valet park and we are really early! So Rhonda and I take the group back to see the boat dock and the beach and the pool and the geyser – which we timed so we could watch it go off at 7:00.

After the geyser, we strolled back into the hotel, stopping to check out the menu at Artist Point and peeking in Roaring Forks – we were all kind of shocked at how small Roaring Forks was, I guess we were thinking of that as the WL food court, but they list it as a “cafe”.

We check in for our ADR and Lauren spots the Lincoln Logs table. I manage to snag one of the wing back chairs they have right by the table, and the rest of the group goes down into the lobby to sit on a couch.

There are about 6 kids building away, when all of a sudden out of nowhere, comes a little tornado – he was about 3, I would guess, and knocks down the building of the little girl standing in front of me. Her mom was sitting in the chair next to me. The little girl turns to her mom with her mouth hanging open and a look on her face of shock! Pure shock! She can’t believe what just happened! She was so shocked looking that both her mom and me burst out laughing!

The father of the tornado comes flying over (I see where he got the tornado genes!), grabs the little boy, and apologizes like the kid just murdered someone! He made the little boy say he was sorry and, still apologizing, dragged him away. The little girl begins to rebuild, and the mom and I are still laughing!

I told her I was sorry to laugh, but the look on her daughter’s face was priceless. Through her own laughter, she tells me if it had been the little brother that knocked it down, they’d be pulling the girl off of him!

Then Lauren’s building falls – well, let me clarify, it wasn’t a building, it was two towers that, according to the laws of gravity, never stood a chance (no pun intended). She begins to rebuild (and, yes, I laughed when her towers fell, too). They call our name and I tell her we have to go. NOW she gets upset. Not that they fell, but because she can’t fix them. But she is soon distracted as she enters the restaurant and realizes, (all together now) “I was here when I was 3.”

We are seated about 2/3 of the way into the restaurant and Lauren is immediately involved in her children’s menu and crayons. (You can’t say she’s not easy to distract!)

She and I figure out what she’s going to eat – choices:

All-you-care-to-Enjoy BBQ Skillet - $8.79

Roasted Chicken Drumsticks with Yukon gold mashed potatoes $7.59

Peanut Butter and Jelly served with carrot sticks and applesauce $5.49

Hot Dog with French Fries $5.49

Hamburger with fries - $5.49

Macaroni and Cheese with fruit - $5.49

Grilled Cheese with fries - $5.49

Chicken Strips with fries - $5.49

She goes with the mac ‘n cheese. No sooner does she decide than it’s time to go up and ride a pony! She remembers, of course, and off she goes!

I know it looks like she's miserable, but she's really having a GREAT time!

The waitress comes over, tells us her name, takes our drink orders, throws the paper napkins in the general direction of the table, and leaves. Judi gets it. She says, “Oh, OK! It’s one of those places!” But she says it happy, not like my ex-MIL said it about Ed Debevic’s in Chicago, and then proceeded to crab the entire meal, “I’m paying good money for this meal! I don’t have to put up with rude behavior!” Uuuuhhhhh..... isn’t that the point at Ed Debevic’s???

Anyway... we get our drinks, Lauren finds us (I had to stand up and wave) and returns to her children’s menu, and we’re relaxed. A waiter walks by and, being friendly, nods and smiles at Judi, who happened to accidentally make eye contact. Judi waves and smiles.

He thinks she is flagging him down and stops. She clarifies, no, you smiled so I waved. His name is Andrew. He asks if we have ever eaten here before. I answer, “Some of us have.” [pointing at Rhonda and myself] Andrew says, “Oh, so then YOU know the rules.”

I say, “Yes, and I think HE [pointing at Ron] is REALLY thirsty.” Because it was the only gag I could remember them doing at the moment. He asks our waitress’s name – we have no clue. He said he’ll figure it out and pass on my message.

A cry comes up from about 3 tables away – a waiter has grabbed someone’s cell phone and we all had to say “hello” to Grandma on the other end of the line. (It might have been her birthday, too, I don’t remember.)

We order: I went with the skillet, which comes with salad, so you don’t get to pick an appetizer. I wanted nachos. Rhonda wanted salad. So she ordered... well, you see what happened. Ron got either soup or salad, and Judi got soup. (and, btw, I only ordered the skillet because I wanted to try it and it wasn’t costing me anything, I knew I’d never finish the first skillet, let alone order any 2nds!)

Rhonda got the pork chops and Judi asked if she could have just 1 pork chop (she could!). Why don’t I ever know what Ron orders???

Suddenly, there’s another cry from another table, “Ketchup!” Lauren’s head pops up from the children’s menu – memories flood her brain! I point out the table with the ketchup and say, “Go!” and she’s off like a shot! But she doesn’t know where the ketchup GOES. I yell across the restaurant (oh, yeah, I’m all class!) “Follow the other kids!”

She follows a kid who doesn’t know where he’s going either and the 2 of them are wandering around the restaurant! Total strangers, after pointing and laughing, lead them in the proper direction and Lauren is ready to return to our table... wherever that may be. Yes, I stand and wave. She returns to the children’s menu like nothing ever happened.

The food comes – wow and yum. Another cry for ketchup and Lauren’s off! She eventually ended up making about 5 trips to deliver ketchup – loved every minute of it – and, after the 4th trip, knew the entire layout of the restaurant and, I think, the names of the chefs, waitstaff, and busboys.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I mean – the table, the waitress shows up, tells Ron she heard he was thirsty, and sets in front of him a half-gallon jar of coke!

The best part was that NOBODY at the table heard me tell Andrew that Ron was thirsty! They all dissolved in fits of giggles! Ron spent the rest of the meal trying to get the waitress to bring him the lid to the jar so he could take it home! Lauren will still tell you that the waitress told Ron, “You just don’t listen!” although she has no idea what Ron wasn’t listening about!

He also spent a lot of time complaining that he couldn’t finish all that – I had him refill my glass from his jar and then showed the picture to the waitress, telling her Ron was cheating!

When we left the jar was half-empty and Ron spent the night in the bathroom!

Dessert was amazing! Judi got Kahlua-flavored Chocolate Cake - chocolate mousse filling and fudge icing $5.19

I got Happiest Celebration on Earth Dessert - warm chocolate S'more cake, chocolate sauce, Graham cracker crumbs, Graham cracker meringue cookie and topped with a toasted meringue peak $5.79

Rhonda and Ron got Apple Caramel Pie - crumb-topped deep dish apple pie with Haagen Dazs vanilla ice cream $5.19 – to go without the ice cream (wimps!)

And Lauren picked Worms in the Dirt - Chocolate cake, chocolate pudding, and gummy worms $2.29

Before we left, they did the pony thing again – off she went. This is one of our favorite restaurants!

Back to the room we rolled – another wonderful day!

HIGHS: getting to change from PT to WCC for dinner, Ron’s half-gallon jar of soda, making the board on Millionaire,
LOWS: my feet (always my stupid feet), otherwise it was a great day!
MILES WALKED TODAY: 7.5

 

[tiggerbell]

Breakfast: French Quarter
Lunch: Columbia Harbour House (CS)
Dinner: 9 Dragons @ 8:45pm for Jaime & Rhonda/ Italy @ 6:30pm for Judi, Ron, & Lauren (TS)

Plans: MK in the morning, ride monorail to EPCOT to see Paul Revere @ 5:45pm
Rhonda & I will stay late. Hopefully we’ll be able to see the fireworks from the restaurant!

Reality: WE DID IT!!! We walk over to POFQ and have breakfast!!! I’m actually a little surprised to see Rhonda only gets 3 beignets instead of 6 – I know she can eat 6, the woman can finish off a Tonga Toast like nobody’s business!

Rhonda has been planning this trip since Lauren was born – when Lauren turned 5, she was going to get to go to Disneyworld for the 1st time (that was a little undermined by the fact that we got to use my boss’s condo for free when Lauren was 3 in January, 2005, making this trip her 2nd) So, Judi and Ron said this morning, they would sleep in, and Lauren, Rhonda, and I would head off to the Magic Kingdom alone.

So the 3 of us ate at POFQ. From here we take the bus to the Magic Kingdom – we have some unfinished business with a certain mermaid... I read somewhere that Ariel is there from the time the park opens – not true, at least on this day. So, we ride Dumbo!

If you ever want to feel like a big dork – ride Dumbo alone! If you ever want to feel like a nauseous, big dork – ride Dumbo alone and backwards, taking pictures of someone else!

I love that shot, but you can tell I'm getting dizzy!

Throughout the course of the week, I had taught Lauren the meaning of this:

Yup, “Sit Nicely, No Bad Dancing”.

Every time she spotted this sign, she would read it, then stand up quickly and shake her butt! It was so cute!

So they finally open Ariel’s line, there’s a 20 minute wait. Not too bad. And the CUTEST baby I’ve ever seen was behind us!!! She was 18 months old, her name was Arden, and she spoke so well, I could understand EVERYTHING she said!!!

She introduced Daddy and Mommy to me, told me her name was Arden, and announced that she wanted to meet Snow White. All in perfectly understandable English! It was amazing!

So, we get to the front of the line. Lauren tells Ariel she has a present for her – she knows her song. Ariel tells her to sing it as she signs Lauren’s autograph book. Lauren’s off and singing!

As Lauren continues to sing, Arel tells her that was nice, but be careful because Ursula might hear you and steal your voice (Lauren’s still singing) and then you won’t be able to talk. Nope, not a word. And that won’t be fun. (Lauren’s still singing) Why don’t we take a picture? Lauren stops singing and climbs up on the rock. Meanwhile, Ariel’s still babbling on about when she lost her voice Prince Eric didn’t know her name and was calling her Rachael.

Lauren gets down and says good-bye Ariel! Ariel’s telling her now that she sang good and to keep it up and maybe Lauren could go to rehearsal for her because Ariel never goes and..... we left.

No wonder the line took so long!

 

[tiggerbell]

We head towards ToonTown next, stopping in the Winnie the Pooh playground because I heard about the carving of the submarine inside the big tree. I go inside the tree (using the grown-up door, not the kid door) and there it is – a little blue submarine!

Now we wander into ToonTown to ride the Barnstormer. I get Lauren to do her high-pitch scream/shriek through the whole ride! We are going to see about the Princess line next, but it turns out it would be 40 minutes, and 1.) my feet said no!, and 2.) we have to eet Ron and Judi in 40 minutes.

We tell Lauren we can’t wait in the line and she announces, “I’m mad at you guys!” Fine, but we’re still not waiting in this line! Rhonda and I confer anddecide the best course of action is to take the train over to the Main Street station and see if we can find Pluto (someone else Lauren had been looking for all week).

We head over to the train station, and Rhonda says something to me about the “guest conductor”. Now, this may have been Rhonda’s favorite moment of the trip – because I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT SHE’S TALKING ABOUT. Yes, I’ll admit it right now, right here – RHONDA KNEW SOMETHING DISNEY I DID NOT KNOW.

Apparently, if you ask at the train station, you can sit in the special seat in back and get to announce “All Aboard!” over the microphone! Rhonda asked the station attendant and Lauren got a little certificate showing she was the “Guest Conductor”!

When the train pulled up, we went to the back of the train and showed the card to the cast member there. But there was already a little girl sitting in the special seat. (I think she and her mother had been sitting a couple of seats ahead and saw another child say all abourd and just shifted seats without asking if she could be the conductor.) But it didn’t matter, they both got to say it (and, in my humble opinion, Lauren did a much better job!)

We got off the Train at Main Street and I know we didn’t find Pluto (although some teenage girls told us he was across the way), but we ended up in line for Pinicchio and Geppetto – I don’t know why, but that’s what Lauren wanted to do...

Now we have to hightail it over to the Columbia Harbour House for lunch or we’re going to be late meeting Ron and Judi! Oops, too late. We’re late!

This is another favorite place to eat. We always head upstairs, and it’s usually pretty quiet up there, but today the word was out! It was not super crowded, but it was noisier than normal.

After lunch, we head over towards Frontierland. I have to tell this stupid story – it will make Rhonda so happy. Years ago, when I got back into Disney after a 7 year break we’ll call the Unhappiest Marriage on Earth, I read on a Disney website about “cheese” pieces on top of the Haunted Mansion. For 3 years, I have searched for what I could only imagine would be “swiss” cheese. I have taken pictures with the zoom lens, I have stood there and studied the building from all angles. I have never been able to see the cheese.

A couple weeks before the trip, I’m reading another Disney website – this time CORRECTLY. Yes, you know what’s coming.... the Haunted Mansion roof does not contain “pieces of cheese”, it contains “Chess pieces”!!! I AM AN IDIOT!

 

[tiggerbell]

We decide to head over and find some of the Toy Story characters by the Diamond Horseshoe. We find Woody and Jessie outside across the street from the saloon (near the water). There’s a small line, so we hop in. We are 3 families from the front when Woody & Jessie need to take a break. The woman in front of us says to her husband, “Every time!” So I say, “Well, thanks then!” and we laugh. They are obviously from NY or NJ by their accents. We are from Chicago, btw.

They had 2 or 3 (they seem to multiply to me at that point) little boys and they were eating popcorn out of a souvenir container. Now, I’m going to try to describe this in the order it happened, so I’m going to name one of their kids – let’s call him Taylor.

1.) Taylor spilled some of the popcorn.

2.) A man with 2 small boys and a Disney double stroller edges into the area where the characters had been and nonchalantly sits on the railing while the 2 boys play with the stroller where the characters were standing a few minutes before.

3.) The Chicagoans (us) and the New Yorkers (in front of us) realize this man’s intentions and start to make comments. The people at the front of the line must have been from somewhere NOT New York or Chicago, because they just glanced at the rest of us and didn’t seem to be willing to be the ones to make a fuss. Not to worry – Chicago or New York will handle it. My vote is for NY – I think this might get good!

4.) Taylor falls off the railing he was climbing on – spilling more popcorn and ripping a nice hole in his elbow. I feel bad for the kid, but you know how I feel about kids climbing on railings, and jeez!, now the New Yorkers are distracted!!! And the characters will be back soon!

5.) Judi, being from Chicago, decides to take matters into her own hands, and saunters over to the cutter. She asks if he knows this is where the characters come out. He just nods slightly and smirks at her. She asks if he realizes this is the front of the line. Nod and smirk. Judi turns to the group of people and announces, “He know this is the front of the line.” And walks back to the group.

6.) The characters are coming back across the street. Smirky guy tells his kids, “Come on.” And yells at his wife, “We need to get in that line” pointing to the back of the line he was trying to cut in front of, like it was HER fault they weren’t already IN line! Jerk.

7.) As the line starts to move forward, Taylor steps on the popcorn container, spilling the rest and falling down again.

8.) We leave after seeing the characters, hoping Taylor’s parents take him to have either his sight or his balance checked in the near future!

More blurring of the day – although I know at some point we’re in Adventureland and we stop so Rhonda can get a pineapple spear and Judi can get a Dole Whip. I’m not in the mood for food right now, so while they sit on a bench and eat, I look at a nearby jewelry kiosk. I find a pair of Stitch earrings for DD15.

Rhonda takes Lauren over to see Rafiki and Timone across the way and I decide I do want something. I go up to the Dole Whip counter and notice the Dining Plan stickers next to almost everything on the menu! What???????? I ask if the root beer float is now considered a snack option and I’m told yes! “Snack Option” changed WHILE WE WERE THERE!!! So that’s what I got.

When I caught up to Rhonda, I asked why didn’t she tell me those were snack credit option, and she didn’t know they were! They paid for their snacks – they never noticed the symbols! I spent the rest of the day looking at menus and seeing snack credit options EVERYWHERE!

I should also point out that Rhonda wanted a “pineapple spear”. What they served her was a “wedge of pineapple”. NOT the same, harder to eat, very disappointing.

Blur, blur, blur... time to head to EPCOT!

The plan was to leave MK about 5 to get to EPCOT in time to catch Paul Revere and the Raiders at 5:45. Judi, Ron, and Lauren had a diner ADR in Italy at 6:30. It was 6 and we were just getting to EPCOT! Security took FOR-FREAKIN’-EVER! I don’t know WHAT the problem was, but they had to run to make their dinner reservation! We had planned on splitting up for the night anyway, this just wasn’t how or where that was going to happen!

So, Rhonda and I are on our own in EPCOT. We need a locker. Please tell me WHY the locker rental is not right by the lockers??? OK, done... finally. We get right on Spaceship Earth. Then we head over to the Innoventions walkway to get our wristbands – it’s Extra Magic Hours tonight – the park is open until midnight – and it’s our last night on vacation!

We head over to Journey into Your Imagination, because Rhonda didn’t get to ride that earlier in the week... huh, I remember her saying that, I wonder where she was....

We wandered into one of the Innoventions buildings looking for the House of the Future (we picked the wrong building), but we did find a spot where you get to try a SegWay for about a minute. They were taking the very last group of the day, so we went in. I’ve done the SegWay tour once, Rhonda’s done it twice, but it’s so much fun. That was cool, and we discovered something neither of us knew was there!

Next we wandered around the sculptures in Future World that were out for the Flower and Garden Festival, then headed out to catch the 8:15 performance of Paul Revere and the Raiders.

 

[MagicMe]

Can't believe this is your last night of vacation! I've really enjoyed your trip report. Can't wait to hear the rest.

 

[OhMari]

Thanks for sharing. I have the generic valium for when my back goes out. I take a 1/2 a pill and it does the job and relaxes my back. It also makes you forget. That is probably why you forgot about your ADR at the Poly. LOL.

My older kids call my valium "Captain Hook's Medicine" it makes you forget.

 

[tiggerbell]

I didn't know Valium makes you forget things... or did I?

 

[tiggerbell]

1.) At a family bar-b-q yesterday (May 28th, 2006), Ron tells us he DID have something to eat Monday at the Magic Kingdom – when the rest of us were on a ride, he got a strawberry smoothie. So, he did NOT go all day without eating anything. But, for the life of us, the 4 of us could not figure out when, or where, this occurred. So, I ask you: If a man says he drank a strawberry smoothie in the Magic Kingdom, but no one recalls seeing him do so, and he can not tell you when or where he got said smoothie; did he truly have one?

2.) OK, there was just 1 note...

 

[tiggerbell]

Where was I? Oh, yeah! Judi, Ron, and Lauren are at dinner in Italy (and I was informed they didn’t have to run). They also told me that there was a very long line outside the restaurant and they thought it was strange, so Ron went around the line and found the actual entrance to the restaurant, which is where they were supposed to go. Anybody have a clue what the OUTSIDE line was for? We thought maybe walk-ins?

They were seated in the back by the kitchen (as were we in 09/2005 for the Ladies’ Trip!) and Judi didn’t find the waiters as lovely as I normally do... (aaahhh.... Diego... I miss you so...)

Lauren had a blast waving her napkin around in the air! They all liked the food.

Meanwhile, back in Future World... Rhonda and I feel like kids in the candy shop – 2 Disney Freaks alone in EPCOT! Except, by this point, we’re headed towards the World Showcase!

We head through Canada and the UK (whoa!!! LOOK at the line for Fish ‘n Chips! It had to be 30 families long!) and, on the bridge before France, we run into Judi & crew coming back from dinner. We stop and chat for a couple minutes (yes, in the MIDDLE of the bridge – isn’t that the RULE in Disney? ) and we’re all kind of shocked about how crowded it is! Hmmm.... Friday night, Flower and Garden Festival, Concert, Extra Magic Hours......

Rhonda whispers to Ron to try and stop to ride Spaceship Earth on the way out – Lauren wanted to earlier in the trip and it just never happened. BTW, they don’t stop. They get a bus, pack up, and go right to bed. To be fair, Judi and Lauren DID have to catch a 7:30 Magical Express tomorrow morning.

Rhonda and I, however, head over to America to get seats ear the back we can sneak out of quickly. Dinner is at 8:45, we can’t stay for the whole show.

FLASHBACK: A couple months back, as we’re planning this trip, I find out who’s playing the F&G concerts for the week we are there. I call Rhonda at work and read them to her. Now, I grew up in the 80s – Duran Duran and Rick Springfield ruled my day. She gets very excited about Paul Revere and the Raiders and I decide right then that we’re going to see them. (The funniest part was that my head was thinking Herman’s Hermits for weeks! I had no idea who these guys were!)

So that’s why we hopped from MK to EPCOT. And I am really not looking forward to this, except as a time to sit and be off my feet. Let me officially say right now: I EAT MY WORDS. Paul Revere and the Raiders were WONDERFUL!!! They were hysterically funny, the music was good (although it took 4 songs before I heard one I knew – “Kicks”, btw), and we were both very sorry we had to leave for dinner. They mentioned they have a theater they perform in, sounded pretty regularly, in Branson – it’d be worth a weekend trip to see them. (But do it quick – the guy’s like 70 or something!)
So, sadly we leave them, but perk up ‘cuz we’re goin’ to China! A lot of people trash this restaurant – sorry, but we love it! It’s an “almost-every-trip” place.

Despite a good 20 people hanging around (must-a been walk-ins! ), we’re seated immediately. Our waiter’s name was Lei – and I only remember this because he’s the first server we’ve had in 9 Dragons who spoke English. Ever. He was wonderful!

Appetizers: Rhonda went with pickled cucumbers (which I can’t find on the Allearnet menu) – you know what pickled cucumbers taste like? Yup, PICKLES! I went with something new and exciting sounding: Salad in a Vase - Enjoy a bouquet of Daikon radish, carrots, asparagus, celery, romaine lettuce and fried noodle ribbons served with our deliciously spicy Guai Wei ("strange flavor") dressing $5.99

It was pretty cool – and as soon as I walk over to Rhonda’s (it’s gonna be 90 degrees today!!!!!) and pick up her camera, I’ll download (upload) them for you. She has the picture of my salad. [HA!!! Rhonda used my camera in the restaurant!!!!!!!]

For our main courses, Rhonda got what she always gets: Honey Sesame Chicken - Batter-fried chicken breast served with tangy honey and sesame sauce $17.99

Tasty, but boring.

I went with something new and exciting and expensive: Sichuan Sea Treasures in Red Rice Sauce - Sichuan style seafood casserole with lobster tail, scallops and shrimp sautéed with Cantonese choy sum, Chinese mushrooms, Buddha's Hand squash in spicy red rice spice and XO sauce $29.99

Very tasty!

Lei informed us that the dessert they were serving today was cheesecake. OK! Again with the tasty!

At some point while we were eating, the world outside EXPLODED! I never realized how CLOSE Illuminations seems if you’re in China! It looked like it was happening right outside the window! (We were about halfway back through the restaurant)

 

[tiggerbell]

I’ve read a ton of reports about how crowded EMH is at EPCOT. Well, not the way we did it! With every intention of getting on some rides, Rhonda and I proceed to spend 2 ½ hours wandering through a mostly deserted World Showcase! It was wonderful! We looked at shops; we talked to cast members. We had a great time. We were both very full, so we just strolled. I loved the way the countries looked all lit up at night.

In Germany, we are standing by the tiny village and the trains are running all over the place.

We end up in a conversation with a couple about the Hidden Mickeys. We’re trying to tell them about the hidden Mickeys at the church in the tiny village. I’m snapping shots, in the dark, with my digital camera – so I can show them the Hidden Mickeys in the monitor. Except, the hidden Mickeys are gone! I think it’s a different church – Rhonda thinks it’s the same church. I take about 12 shots to compare with the pictures from September.

And we drive these poor people away.

Right after they leave, Rhonda spots a hidden Mickey bush in the village!

For the record – it’s the same church – they repainted it, covering the Hidden Mickeys!

We wander through the Japanese ponds and someone walks past me and says, “Man, those is some big fish!” O-kaaayyyy.....

As we walk, I’m oohing and aahing over all the open food stands. Just goofing around, because we are stuffed. As we get back around to the bridge between France and the UK, it’s been 2 hours since we’ve eaten, and there’s NO LINE at the fish ‘n chips stand! I say, let’s split a counter service meal! Rhonda says, “You’re kidding, right? We just had a huge meal 2 hours ago!”

Now, it was almost midnight, my feet hurt so bad I couldn’t even feel them anymore, I was in the happiest place I could ever imagine being, and I lost my mind! I doubled over laughing so hard – I could barely say the words, “But it was Chinese, I was hungry an hour later!”

FLASHBACK EXPLAINATION: I have allergies. I love dogs. I am allergic to dogs. So I get 2 dogs that total about 130# of dog. I sleep with them for years. I take Zyrtec for years. I use an inhaler for my allergy-induced asthma symptoms for years.

At one point a few years ago, I end up with pneumonia and could barely breathe. I must lay in bed for days. I love sit-coms. I can’t laugh out loud at the sit-coms, because it causes me to cough and cough and cough. I develop what is (I hope) affectionately called, “Mom’s TV Laugh”. The children will ask me to do it at parties. The TV Laugh consists of a (VERY) loud HA! The funnier I think something is, the louder the HA! (Not that it’s ever a quiet HA! in the first place)

I get divorced and lose the dogs and have to move to a dog free apartment. I no longer need Zyrtec or the inhaler. Life is good (but I miss the dogs). But the TV Laugh stays. Not all the time, I can laugh like a human being on occasion. But sometimes it slips...

Like now... on the bridge between France and the UK. I “TV Laugh”. This one’s REALLY LOUD! 30 people turn and look at me. I’m not kidding. It was funnier than the line about Chinese food to me. I don’t know how I stayed on my feet or not peed my pants!

Rhonda’s laughing but says, “OK, you’re done. Let’s get you outta here!”

We wander through Mouse Gears, spending a bit first, then over to the bus stop. The line’s kinda long. We finally get to the front of the line, but we’ll have to stand on the bus. I’m sorry, no WAY that’s happening. We let a few families past, saying we’ll wait for the next one.

Yeah, seats! We go back to the hotel, pack up what we can and maybe we loaded it into the van...

HIGHS: Paul Revere and the Raiders (who’da thunk it???); cracking myself up on the bridge; Salad in a Vase; Arden, the Wonder Baby; ok, forget this – the whole day was wonderful!
LOWS: my feet (always my stupid feet), the cheese/chess confusion, Smirky Cutter-man
MILES WALKED TODAY: 10.5 (Holy Toledo, Batman!)

 

[tiggerbell]

Breakfast: French Quarter
Lunch: Earl of Sandwich for the road
Dinner: On the Road

Plans: Ugh.

Reality: Ugh. Now it’s time... to say good-bye...

Judi and Lauren catch the 7:30 bus and will be home this afternoon. Ron, Rhonda, and I hit the food court – nope, not at POFQ, but at our own Riverside (the best laid plans of Mickeys and men....)

Rhonda and I burn 2 counter service meals – Ron uses 4 snack options! They just NEVER got the hang of the dining plan. We check with the front desk – Rhonda and I have 5 snack options and 1 CS meal left. Ron has 5 CS meals left!!! Oy!

I figure there’s got to be something portable in the food court, so take Ron up to a cast member working a register who’s not busy at the moment. I tell her we have 5 CS meals left but that we’re leaving. Could she suggest something portable?

She was so sweet, and said, “Oh! You have GOT to use those! That’s money you have already spent!” She told us to go grab sandwiches and chips and drinks and make sure to come back to HER!

We go to tell Rhonda, who is guarding all of Ron’s snack options he had grabbed. Rhonda doesn’t like pre-packaged sandwiches. Arg!!!!

So, Ron and I go look – they have tuna or ham and Swiss. Ron doesn’t like either of these. Double Arg!!!! Why can’t you people work with me???

I grab 1 of each sandwich, 3 bags of chips, and 3 bottles of water. I tell her to just charge me the 3 CS meals, even though we’re short a sandwich.

We also get a BIG grocery bag from her – yeah, we don’t look too stupid bagging up a picnic! Then Rhonda and I go to spend the 5 remaining snack credits. Hmmm, we have enough chips and water, now what? Ooh! The snack plan changed, like YESTERDAY, remember? How about Mickey rice crispy treats? Yes, SWEET! We got a bag of Cheeto-s (cheeto-s, pizza, and ice cream are my weaknesses!) and 4 rice crispy treats.

Done! Into the car and away we go.................

For some strange reason, my allergies are acting up. So I take a Zyrtec. And I’m just not feeling great, I think it was just too much. I ended up sleeping or reading the entire drive! I had brought, as my vacation book, Waking Walt. Check it out on Amazon, it was fantastic! I finished it in the car Sunday and Rhonda read it after me (Judi’s got it now).

So, we end up somewhere in Tennessee... or Kentucky... I don’t know. But Rhonda plays a game of solitaire on my computer and the last think I hear is Ron telling Rhonda there is no way I will sleep through the night after sleeping in the car all day... but I do!

 

[tiggerbell]

Breakfast: On the Road
Lunch: On the Road
Dinner: On the Road

Plans: Double Ugh.

Reality: Triple Ugh. We’re home. Big deal.


FINAL THOUGHTS: Before I forget, the sandwiches we took to go – EXCELLENT! Make sure you grab some mustard or mayo packets for the ham and Swiss, but the tuna was really good – even Rhonda thought so! Yup, she and I split the 2 sandwiches and wished we had used the rest of Ron’s CS credits.

(To quote Paula Abdul): Love, love, love the dining plan. Rhonda and I had 1 CS we didn’t use, and we were still well over $100 ahead! I can’t say the same for Ron and Judi, but even wasting 2 CSs, I think they did ok. Judi was raving about the plan yesterday.

We just had a really nice time. Relaxing, fun, everything a Disney trip should be.

Next up in December, “Mommy & Meggie Celebrate Meggie’s Sweet 16 Disney Style”.
Thanks for making it through! C-Ya real soon!!!!!

 

[roberrl187]

Great report Jamie. Thanks for sharing.

 

[tiki23]

Thanks for sharing your trip with us! What a nice time you all had.

 

[DeterminedOne]

Loved it! Thanks for sharing.

 

[TLinden16]

Sounds like everyone had a wonderful trip! Lauren is such a cutie! So precious. I got one of those extra large sodas at Whispering Canyon. I think I drank about two thirds of it.

 

[tiggerbell]

Thank you all for the nice comments and PMs. I think I forgot to tell a story:

On the way down, I sneezed a couple of times. Ron got on my back about how I sneeze (I kinda hold it in, like a lot of people do).

"You're gonna hurt yourself! You gotta let your sneezes out!"

After a few days of this, I decided to get even. We were in line for Kali River Rapids and Ron was in front of me. I sneezed and he griped.

As he turned his back to walk along the line, I pulled out my little spray bottle (bought to keep myself cool in the Florida heat) and, faking a BIG sneeze, used the bottle for the first and only time on the trip, sprayed the back of his neck.

I REALLY WISH I could have seen his face - according to everyone around us, and Judi and Rhonda who could barely stand they were laughing so hard, it was priceless!