Mon. Dec. 18th:
Dear Nate, Calvin, and Toby,
What was your favorite joke at Hoop-de-Doo?
Yo Ho, yo ho, its a pirates life for me!
Thats right! Today Nate and Calvin sail the seas!
Toby gets to swim and play, and then we all go faraway:
Well visit other countries and see fire on a lake to end our day!
Pluto
Weve been looking forward to this day! This morning the older boys have the pirate cruise scheduled at the GF. Our plan is to leave Toby at POR with my mom and dad, and slip in a little kid-free time while the boys are digging for treasure. We get on the bus by 8:15. Were supposed to check in at 9 at the GF dock, and set sail at 9:30. Well, we keep forgetting that the crowds are picking up a bit. Being good TGMers, were still missing most of them, but today were traveling to MK in order to get on the monorail for GF, and MK is NOT a green day. I took care not to put us in any non-green parks when I was planning the trip, but I didnt consider that the pirate cruise puts us in the MK morning commute. We get the first MK bus, and when we get on the monorail, were one of the other parties going away from MK. However, as we circle around CR, TTC, and Poly, that changes. The monorail gets very crowded and stops for what seems a long time at every stop. Now its 9:05 as were getting off at GF.
We walk quickly, and find the dock with no problem. I really do love this resort. I know its almost a cliché to say so, because its the one youre supposed to love, I guess, but the theme really works for me. We see the pirate captain in full costume, and some other little mateys on the end of the dock. My boys are excited-nervous, especially Nate. He gets nervous and homesick easily; we spent most of 1st grade devising strategies to help ease his separation anxiety. Lets just say that if Calvin werent going with him, theres no way hed be there. Sometimes I wish my kids were more daring with these sorts of things (and the rides), but when it comes down to it, Im glad theyre deep thinkers and sensitive.
I sign them in, and the pirate cruise people are very organized. When I say my name, they have a CC slip and a waiver all ready for me to sign. I am given a pager in case of emergency, and told to wait until they sail off at 9:30 before I split. No problemNate will never let me leave a moment earlier. By this time, most the kids are there. I think I counted 18 on this voyage, and three adult pirates. Most the kids seemed to be in the 5-8 age category. I noticed one older sister who looked around 12 who was less than enthusiastic, and a few 4 year-olds. One definitely seemed a bit young to be goinghe wasnt able to stop wrestling around with his brother and was very hyper. I was glad it wasnt my problem.
9:30 comes around, and theyre off. We hug and wave, and wander back toward the main lobby of GF. We decide to stop and see how long the wait is at the GF Café. Were not really very hungry, but hey, were kid-free so we have to take advantage of it. The wait is 20 minutes, so we grab a pager and browse through the gift shop for a while. When were seated, were put right next to a family with a 2-year-old who proceeds to throw everything shes given off the table. It doesnt bother us though. Other kids rarely do. I think its the possibility of our own kids acting up that makes it stressful to eat in public, not the noise or flying objects in and of themselves. So we sit happily drinking coffee (no, its no better in the GF than anywhere else) and eating frittatas and fruit. Yummy. Breakfast was uneventful, so I dont have much to report. In fact, Im afraid if we didnt have kids, our entire trip report would be pretty boring. Boring in a relaxing, peaceful way. We sit in the sun by the boat dock, and I eat a gingerbread shingle. Yes, I know I just ate breakfast. Stop judging. We people-watch and wait for the boat back. We hear them before we see them: a chorus of yo ho, yo ho echoes across the water toward us. When we see them, all the kids are beaming.
They ate lunch onboard (PB&J, goldfish crackers, rice crispy treats, and juice in case you need to know), and get their loot bags as they exit the boat. These consist of plastic chests with gold coins, mardi-gras beads, and plastic rings. They love them. Theyre pumped about their adventure. Apparently it involved a mutany, several islands, and finding treasure following a map. They had so much fun! We get back on the monorail heading for Epcot and call Grandma. The grandparents and Toby spent their morning renting a surrey bike and pedaling around POR. Now Toby is napping. They will meet us in Epcot later.
Our plan for the afternoon is to do WS. First though, we hope to see Turtle Talk (remember we never got to it our first day). When we enter FW, we immediately notice how crowded it feels. Charlie splits off to grab FP to Test Track, and we head straight for Living Seas. We notice that Nemo has a 50 minute wait (in comparison to the 15 minutes we waited just 7 days ago). The Turtle Talk line is just filing into the theater, so we have to wait one show. Thats ok with me, since its only 10 minutes and ensures well be one of the first in the next time. The boys get a seat in the front of the carpet, and I sit on the first riser. Crush narrows in on Nate right away, asking where hes from. When he says Oregon, Crush pretends hes never heard of it, which makes Nate laugh. He talks to him a little more, and just when I think Im off the hook, Crush asks Nate to point out his parental unit. Great. Crush talks to me a little about how great being a parent is, and I cant think of one witty thing to say. Im completely boring. We loved the show though, and wished Toby had been there.
We meet up with Charlie, who got TT FP for 3:30. At this point I get the first of several phone calls. I walk away from Charlie and whisper into the phone. You see, tomorrow is Charlies birthday, and we have a Gifts of a Lifetime event planned for him. Its Jane on the phone, verifying some final details. When I hang up, I attempt to lie to Charlie, saying it was a search call from home; an elk hunter is lost. Elk? Yeah, I have no idea what I was thinking. Why the heck did I say elk? Do we even have elk in southern Oregon? I dont know. Thats how bad a liar I am. But Charlie doesnt question it, and were off the WS.
As soon as weve gone through the gateway to WS, the crowds visibly lessen. Whew. It felt very crowded and hot in FW. Maybe its all the concrete. Calvin was starting to wilt, as he always does when hes hot. When he gets hot (which is any time its over 75 degrees) he walks slower and slower, bending his knees more and more until hes practically crawling, then starts tearing at his clothes. Hes almost at that point when we get to WS and buy some water. We start with Canada, and the boys start their masks. This perks Cal up right away. They love projects like this. They start coloring, and get their first charm. We watch the Canada Santa for a while, and my parents and Toby meet up with us. The boys are excited to continue their masks, so we dont see the Canada show. We hustle on to the UK.
I have to say WS was one of the areas I was most looking forward to, and it didnt disappoint. I loved looking through all the countries. In the UK, we explored the toy store and watched a performer (not the Beatles band though
they were no where to be found, which is good, because wed never have gotten my dad to leave again). We found the KidCot station easily, and I have to give props to TGM for that. His listing of all the KidCot stations and where they were (in detail) really helped. We walked right to them all with no problem
even with me, the directionally-challenged in charge. Toby fell in love with the rugby balls in the toy store, and in hindsight we wished we had bought him one. My sister and brother-in-law live in Dublin, and he plays rugby. For Christmas, they bought the boys each an Ireland rugby shirt. They are so adorable in them, and that ball would have made a great photo prop.
We moved on to France, and all the way around the world finishing those masks. The kids never lost interest. Well, Toby did, but then he just ripped the mask off the stick, and used the stick as a sword. That kept him occupied for another few countries. We loved Morocco, and the boys had their names written on their masks in Arabic. We also loved the fruit smoothies there. We watched the drummers in Japan, and the acrobats in China. I loved that the KidCot Cms were all from their respective countries. The kids got a kick out of talking to them. They still had a little money left, and they bought dragon puppets in China. Theyre very cute, but the strings get tangled constantly.
3:30 (Charlies FP time) rolled around when we were in Germany (we loved their pretzels, yum), and he and my dad went off to TT. I spent the entire trip trying to convince my family the could use FP after they expired, as long as it was the same day, but they never believed me. Anyway, they returned when we hit Norway, and said TT was a disappointment. I dont know if thats the general consensus or if they just expected more out of it. Anyway, I was excited for Norway because Toby was getting restless in his stroller (the mask sword had been confiscated by now) and I had read theres a Viking ship in Norway kids can climb on. We arrive, and kids are crawling all over it. I turn the kids loose on it, and about 2 minutes later, a CM comes running up and yells (literally yells in panic) that everyone must get off and that children are not allowed on it. Shes so intense that Nate begins to cry, thinking hes done something terribly wrong. The CM says that the ship is no longer a play area, since there have been accidents on it. I dont know if its always off limits now, or if we had a bossy CM on duty that day, but it was news to me.
We loved Norway though; man those sweaters are spendy, but beautiful. The kids opted out of Maelstrom (trolls are not on their approved list of ride attractions) and we decided to go on the Mexico ride instead. That was more our speed. We enjoyed Mexico, too. I really like the marketplace set up they have.
By the time weve completed WS, its 5 pm and the boys are getting tired. We have a 6 pm ADR for Merrakesh, but at this point, it doesnt look like theyre going to make it. My parents, saints that they are, offer to take them all home to POR and eat at their beloved Riverside Mill, have a swim, and go to bed. Secretly, I think theyre tired too. At any rate, theres no way any of them are going to stay for IllumiNations. Charlie and I want to try Merrakesh though, so we part ways. We wave goodbye and head back to Maelstrom. We grabbed FP earlier, hoping wed get a chance to try it. Its a fun little ride. It was even more fun to listen to the reactions of three teens who were riding behind us: one told the others there was a HUGE drop on the ride, and they were in a panic the whole time.
We wandered back toward Morocco, stopping at the Candlelight Processional and watching. It was Doogie Howser that night (that poor man could garner 20 Oscars and I think Id STILL call him Doogie). We loved the music, then wandered on to Merrakesh. That place was hopping. People were being turned away left and right. We got in right away, and the belly dancer was performing. It was loud, but we enjoyed it. It would have entertained the kids, but when she went away, I think they would have gotten restless with nothing else to look at, so we were glad they decided to bail. We enjoyed our second kid-free TS of the day. Moroccan food is one of Charlies favorites, and Merrakesh didnt disappoint. We went to college near a very good Moroccan place, and Merrakesh was very similar.
By the time we were done, we had plenty of time before IllumiNations. I was curious about the Boardwalk area since Id never seen it, and we walked out the International Gateway to check it out. Charlie played games in the ESPN area and I looked through the boardwalk and BWI. Its very pretty, and I love how close it is to Epcot (and only a boat ride way from DS, right?) but I think its too busy an area for my taste. I looked through some gift shops, and watched a magician. It was very nice
a beautiful night, and time to explore and see some of the areas I read about but hadnt seen yet. BC and YC looked pretty with their lights across the water. I eventually dragged Charlie away from his video games and we returned to WS. We got chocolate crepes in France and settled on our second choice spot for Illuminations, on a bench to the right of the pagoda in Japan. Our first choice was between the two green kiosks in France, but those little tables were already filled. We took turns walking around Japan, and waited. I got another call from Jane, and played it off like the smooth liar I am. (I probably said it was a wrong number after talking for 2 minutes, knowing me.)
We liked IllumiNations, but didnt love it. Why? Im not sure. It was impressive, for sure, especially with the added Christmas fireworks. But it was as if all the pyrotechnic guys decided to just pull out all the tricks and shoot off every firework they have all at once and call it a show. It didnt seem to flow well. They should just give up the pretense of having a storyline, because it seems to fumble. Or maybe its just me. Im a Wishes kind of girl, I guess.
We were still glad to have seen it, and glad the kids were already tucked into bed as we followed the mob out of the park afterward. The crowd seemed huge (I think WS is so spread out you dont feel it there, but FW is terrible), but we moved quickly through. We only waited a few minutes for a bus, and were home before 11. Everyone was sound asleep in our rooms.
Up next, our last day, and Charlies birthday event at DS!
Where were you on that one, TGM?! 
