Day 2
When Mickey called at 6:30 AM, a collective groan was heard throughout the room. I thought going to bed at 11 would have been plenty of sleep for everyone, but I was wrong. The night before, when Julia started to gripe about the daybed, Helen told her she was more than welcome to call down to the front desk and see if there was an available room. She didn't say much after that. I didn't move at first, as I figured I'd be the last shower. The idea of trying to watch 4 women get ready in one bathroom was a little overwhelming to me, so I pulled on some sweatpants over the old boxers, jammed a baseball cap on, and went outside to enjoy what would probably be the coolest temperatures I would experience on this vacaction. It was very pleasant and quiet. I only saw one other person during my entire walk. The GF area is beautiful and I was glad I took it in while I had it virtually to myself.
When I returned to the room an hour later, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the ladies had all had their shower. I was about to head there myself when Keelie came and whispered to me that she needed to tell me something out in the hall. I asked her if it couldn't wait until later, when we could be a little more discreet about having a private conversation, and she said NO a a little bit urgently. So, we stepped into the hallway, where she proceeded to tell me in a stage whisper that while Helen was in the shower, Claire and Julia had had a big argument, Julia had called Claire all sorts of names, and that Claire had thrown a shoe at Julia. What did she do while all this was going on, I asked. Watched in disbelief, she said. I told her to just ignore anything that might occur between the two of them for the rest of the day, because it had nothing to do with her. I pointed out that Julia was leaving in the morning, and everything would be back to normal after that (I hoped).
We managed to get over to the MK a little bit early for our 8:30 PS. The park was not terribly busy, but there were people waiting for rope drop. Over in CP, we were seated quickly, and everyone was pretty quiet during breakfast. I can only speak for myself here, but I thought it was good, as usual. There was nothing really different or unusual about this particular visit. While we were there, Pooh was out in the middle area and the other 3 were coming around to the tables. Whoever was playing Tigger made my day, because Claire and Keelie stood up to hug him, but Julia didn't, so he reached down and grabbed her, literally picking her up out of her seat. I wish I had had a camera, because the look on her face was priceless. She's such a sourpuss, but she was so surprised that she was rendered speechless there. The rest of us got a good laugh out of it.
After breakfast, we decided to hit all of the mountains before moving on to the next park. We got Fastpasses for Space before going over to Big Thunder. The wait there was posted as 20 minutes, but it wasn't quite that long. Then, we went ahead and got in line for Splash. Helen sat that one out. I think she's only ridden it once. We waited about 20 minutes there, maybe a little more. Helen was glad she skipped it, because the girls and I got fairly wet. We were still a little bit damp when we hurried back to Space because we were nearing the end of our Fastpass window of time. Helen, Julia and I were in the back part of the rocket, while Keelie and Claire rode in the front part. They let a young boy from another party sit in the very front because he really wanted to, and he was upset that he would have been in the very back of the rocket in front.
By 10 am we were done there, but it was just the beginning of a long day. To add to the joy of running from park to park, Helen's daughters did not exchange one word (that I saw) for hours. I was not looking forward to crisscrossing WDW with Miss Priss and a sister who wasn't speaking to her, but I figured Helen could use all the support I could provide in this situation, so I did it for her. I would much MUCH rather have skipped this journey.
Next, we went to AK. It was already bustling, but not so much so as the MK when we left. We went straight back to KS and got a Fastpass there. While we waited, we went through the trail to see the gorillas. The group of guys were just sort of hanging out, while the others were more active. I was very sorry to hear about the unfortunate death of one of the males. All the time we were walking along, I could hear Julia moaning about the humidity and how this was just a glorified zoo. Although it was pretty hot, and AK always feels hotter than any other park, and I do think AK is, in some ways, a fancy zoo, her griping was getting on my last nerve. Our Fastpass time was not quite there yet when we were done with the trail, so we decided to have a drink while we waited.
I requested that Julia accompany me to the stand to purchase them, and surprisingly she got up and came along wordlessly. I try not to interfere among Helen and her kids, because I'm not their father and, IMO, it's not appropriate. While we were standing in line, I pointed out (politely) that her mother was trying to be nice and show her the highlights of WDW during the short time she was here. And, considering everything that her mom does for her, the least she could do was keep her mouth shut and be appreciative. She said she'd try, much to my surprise.
We had a really good CM driving our safari vehicle on KS. He played along with the theme in a fun, but not excessively corny way. I appreciated that he made sure that everybody remained seated at all times, because there were a couple of boys (probably 7-8 years old) behind us who stood up several times. The CM even stopped the ride once to get them to sit down. The animals weren't out in full force, and the ones that were out were mainly standing/lying around, not that anyone could blame them in the heat.
Sadly, although there are many other fine attractions in AK, we moved on to Epcot after the safari. We took the car from park to park (except to MK in the first place) because I had heard bad things about the busses lately and we didn't want to waste a lot of time waiting on them. I think it was about 200 degrees inside the car when we left AK. I'm pretty sure that entering Epcot at noon on a Saturday during a holiday weekend was about the stupidest thing we could possibly have done (except for maybe entering the MK). The line at SE wasn't too long, so we went on it first. It took about 5-8 minutes to get on. I like that ride, but the best thing about it was that it was a great place to cool off for a while.
We decided not to ride the U of E. Julia was up for Test Track, so Keelie and I went on that with her. Of course, we went in the single rider line and were on in less than 15 minutes. The regular wait was posted as 1 hour. It must mean a lot to some people to ride with the other members of their party. Of course, if you have younger kids, it would be really important, but I don't plan on standing in line for an hour to ride anything. Nothing is worth that to me. Helen thinks TT a pointless ride, so Claire kept her company browsing in Mouse Gear while the we rode. Julia thought it was fun, so we went around and did it again. There were some technical difficulties during our second ride and we stopped briefly in the corrosion test, but it was no big deal.
After TT, we skipped the other side of Future World and went right to the WS. We started on the Mexico side and rode El Rio del Tiempo and looked around the pavilion a little. By the time we finished exploring all of the countries other than Canada, including doing the American Adventure (we didn't do the other movies/attractions in the rest of the pavilions), it was almost 5:30 (our PS time at Chefs des France). We all looked a little wilted by then, since we had been out and about since 8:30 with no real break. needless to say, we were ready to sit down for a while. I must bring up at this point the fact that, to her credit, Julia had behaved herself since our little conversation back in AK. When we were in one of the pavilions, Claire got me alone and told me about their altercation earlier that morning. I just told her that for Helen's sake I hoped they'd work it out soon. Keelie mentioned later that they both apologized for doing it in front of her, so I guess that was good.
Dinner at Chefs is one of Helen's favorites, and it's usually a pleasant experience. Our server (Jean or Jacques or something like that) was excellent. He didn't bug us, but was always there when we needed him. I'm not sure how he managed that, but we filled out a positive card thing for him. Well, Claire actually did it. Anyway, we liked him. I was surprised that none of us wanted even a snack at lunch, but I guess the heat kills your appetite. By this time, we were all pretty hungry, though. All of us drank water. This is a good place to order wine, IMO, but I find it sort of dehydrating when it's very hot outside. Julia had the vegetarian thing, which I believe was mostly eggplant and some other vegetables with cheese. She said it was very good. A lot times, Keelie orders off the children's menu, but she just had the onion soup, and liked it a lot. She's a cheap date. The rest of us had the chicken with mushrooms and potato puree, which is excellent. No one had dessert
With just a couple hours left to accomplish a lot at MGM, we hurried there next. We managed to get in Rock & Roller Coaster (long line), the Great Movie Ride (hardly any line) and ToT (not a good idea right after eating) before it was time to go back to Epcot to watch IllumiNations. We dragged ourselves back to the room a little before 10. I knew that it was the busiest day of this vacation and no way am I ever going to try to cram this much into one day again. I am getting too old for that. I planned on trying to take it easy the next day and the rest of the time. I had wondered if Helen would be able to keep up with us since she had been sick the week before we left, but she managed. I guess the sisters made up, because they were cordial at dinner and the rest of the day.
When Mickey called at 6:30 AM, a collective groan was heard throughout the room. I thought going to bed at 11 would have been plenty of sleep for everyone, but I was wrong. The night before, when Julia started to gripe about the daybed, Helen told her she was more than welcome to call down to the front desk and see if there was an available room. She didn't say much after that. I didn't move at first, as I figured I'd be the last shower. The idea of trying to watch 4 women get ready in one bathroom was a little overwhelming to me, so I pulled on some sweatpants over the old boxers, jammed a baseball cap on, and went outside to enjoy what would probably be the coolest temperatures I would experience on this vacaction. It was very pleasant and quiet. I only saw one other person during my entire walk. The GF area is beautiful and I was glad I took it in while I had it virtually to myself.
When I returned to the room an hour later, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the ladies had all had their shower. I was about to head there myself when Keelie came and whispered to me that she needed to tell me something out in the hall. I asked her if it couldn't wait until later, when we could be a little more discreet about having a private conversation, and she said NO a a little bit urgently. So, we stepped into the hallway, where she proceeded to tell me in a stage whisper that while Helen was in the shower, Claire and Julia had had a big argument, Julia had called Claire all sorts of names, and that Claire had thrown a shoe at Julia. What did she do while all this was going on, I asked. Watched in disbelief, she said. I told her to just ignore anything that might occur between the two of them for the rest of the day, because it had nothing to do with her. I pointed out that Julia was leaving in the morning, and everything would be back to normal after that (I hoped).
We managed to get over to the MK a little bit early for our 8:30 PS. The park was not terribly busy, but there were people waiting for rope drop. Over in CP, we were seated quickly, and everyone was pretty quiet during breakfast. I can only speak for myself here, but I thought it was good, as usual. There was nothing really different or unusual about this particular visit. While we were there, Pooh was out in the middle area and the other 3 were coming around to the tables. Whoever was playing Tigger made my day, because Claire and Keelie stood up to hug him, but Julia didn't, so he reached down and grabbed her, literally picking her up out of her seat. I wish I had had a camera, because the look on her face was priceless. She's such a sourpuss, but she was so surprised that she was rendered speechless there. The rest of us got a good laugh out of it.
After breakfast, we decided to hit all of the mountains before moving on to the next park. We got Fastpasses for Space before going over to Big Thunder. The wait there was posted as 20 minutes, but it wasn't quite that long. Then, we went ahead and got in line for Splash. Helen sat that one out. I think she's only ridden it once. We waited about 20 minutes there, maybe a little more. Helen was glad she skipped it, because the girls and I got fairly wet. We were still a little bit damp when we hurried back to Space because we were nearing the end of our Fastpass window of time. Helen, Julia and I were in the back part of the rocket, while Keelie and Claire rode in the front part. They let a young boy from another party sit in the very front because he really wanted to, and he was upset that he would have been in the very back of the rocket in front.
By 10 am we were done there, but it was just the beginning of a long day. To add to the joy of running from park to park, Helen's daughters did not exchange one word (that I saw) for hours. I was not looking forward to crisscrossing WDW with Miss Priss and a sister who wasn't speaking to her, but I figured Helen could use all the support I could provide in this situation, so I did it for her. I would much MUCH rather have skipped this journey.
Next, we went to AK. It was already bustling, but not so much so as the MK when we left. We went straight back to KS and got a Fastpass there. While we waited, we went through the trail to see the gorillas. The group of guys were just sort of hanging out, while the others were more active. I was very sorry to hear about the unfortunate death of one of the males. All the time we were walking along, I could hear Julia moaning about the humidity and how this was just a glorified zoo. Although it was pretty hot, and AK always feels hotter than any other park, and I do think AK is, in some ways, a fancy zoo, her griping was getting on my last nerve. Our Fastpass time was not quite there yet when we were done with the trail, so we decided to have a drink while we waited.
I requested that Julia accompany me to the stand to purchase them, and surprisingly she got up and came along wordlessly. I try not to interfere among Helen and her kids, because I'm not their father and, IMO, it's not appropriate. While we were standing in line, I pointed out (politely) that her mother was trying to be nice and show her the highlights of WDW during the short time she was here. And, considering everything that her mom does for her, the least she could do was keep her mouth shut and be appreciative. She said she'd try, much to my surprise.
We had a really good CM driving our safari vehicle on KS. He played along with the theme in a fun, but not excessively corny way. I appreciated that he made sure that everybody remained seated at all times, because there were a couple of boys (probably 7-8 years old) behind us who stood up several times. The CM even stopped the ride once to get them to sit down. The animals weren't out in full force, and the ones that were out were mainly standing/lying around, not that anyone could blame them in the heat.
Sadly, although there are many other fine attractions in AK, we moved on to Epcot after the safari. We took the car from park to park (except to MK in the first place) because I had heard bad things about the busses lately and we didn't want to waste a lot of time waiting on them. I think it was about 200 degrees inside the car when we left AK. I'm pretty sure that entering Epcot at noon on a Saturday during a holiday weekend was about the stupidest thing we could possibly have done (except for maybe entering the MK). The line at SE wasn't too long, so we went on it first. It took about 5-8 minutes to get on. I like that ride, but the best thing about it was that it was a great place to cool off for a while.
We decided not to ride the U of E. Julia was up for Test Track, so Keelie and I went on that with her. Of course, we went in the single rider line and were on in less than 15 minutes. The regular wait was posted as 1 hour. It must mean a lot to some people to ride with the other members of their party. Of course, if you have younger kids, it would be really important, but I don't plan on standing in line for an hour to ride anything. Nothing is worth that to me. Helen thinks TT a pointless ride, so Claire kept her company browsing in Mouse Gear while the we rode. Julia thought it was fun, so we went around and did it again. There were some technical difficulties during our second ride and we stopped briefly in the corrosion test, but it was no big deal.
After TT, we skipped the other side of Future World and went right to the WS. We started on the Mexico side and rode El Rio del Tiempo and looked around the pavilion a little. By the time we finished exploring all of the countries other than Canada, including doing the American Adventure (we didn't do the other movies/attractions in the rest of the pavilions), it was almost 5:30 (our PS time at Chefs des France). We all looked a little wilted by then, since we had been out and about since 8:30 with no real break. needless to say, we were ready to sit down for a while. I must bring up at this point the fact that, to her credit, Julia had behaved herself since our little conversation back in AK. When we were in one of the pavilions, Claire got me alone and told me about their altercation earlier that morning. I just told her that for Helen's sake I hoped they'd work it out soon. Keelie mentioned later that they both apologized for doing it in front of her, so I guess that was good.
Dinner at Chefs is one of Helen's favorites, and it's usually a pleasant experience. Our server (Jean or Jacques or something like that) was excellent. He didn't bug us, but was always there when we needed him. I'm not sure how he managed that, but we filled out a positive card thing for him. Well, Claire actually did it. Anyway, we liked him. I was surprised that none of us wanted even a snack at lunch, but I guess the heat kills your appetite. By this time, we were all pretty hungry, though. All of us drank water. This is a good place to order wine, IMO, but I find it sort of dehydrating when it's very hot outside. Julia had the vegetarian thing, which I believe was mostly eggplant and some other vegetables with cheese. She said it was very good. A lot times, Keelie orders off the children's menu, but she just had the onion soup, and liked it a lot. She's a cheap date. The rest of us had the chicken with mushrooms and potato puree, which is excellent. No one had dessert
With just a couple hours left to accomplish a lot at MGM, we hurried there next. We managed to get in Rock & Roller Coaster (long line), the Great Movie Ride (hardly any line) and ToT (not a good idea right after eating) before it was time to go back to Epcot to watch IllumiNations. We dragged ourselves back to the room a little before 10. I knew that it was the busiest day of this vacation and no way am I ever going to try to cram this much into one day again. I am getting too old for that. I planned on trying to take it easy the next day and the rest of the time. I had wondered if Helen would be able to keep up with us since she had been sick the week before we left, but she managed. I guess the sisters made up, because they were cordial at dinner and the rest of the day.
