just my little girl and me, day 3, some tactical errors

[anne60]

Day 3, Sunday 11/11. On the bus to animal Kingdom at 8:15, first showing of It's Tough to be a Bug, then on to Kali River Rapids. Have I mentioned how much my daughter likes to get wet? Have I mentioned how much I DON't like to get wet? Rode the first time in a raft all by ourselves. I kept my hood tied tight and took my sneakers off, did not get too wet. CM asked if we wanted to stay on...sure, why not...mother with two teenage girls got on, this time a little heavier, a little faster, a little wetter, but I still was pretty dry from the waist down and I had my waterproof jacket on (with hood). CM asked if we wanted to stay on again, 3rd time's a charm. right? besides, my daughter had that please please please look on her face, so okay...this time 4 adult women join us and the mother and 2 girls stay on as well. This was tactical error number one. Those of you who have suffered thru physics can probably guess the outcome. I am not sure, gallon-wise, whether more water came down on me in the form of a wave or rushed over me as it flooded over the sides. I think there was a four inch spot between my shoulder blades that managed to not get soaked, and my daughter still bursts into pants-wetting laughter when she describes how my glasses got knocked sideways on my face. I dried off in a scant 4 hours, but I had to buy a new outfit for my daughter, since her jean shorts were still soaked at 1:30 and she was getting a rash! Even though we were wet, we enjoyed all that we wanted to see at Animal Kingdom, and headed over to EPCOT, getting there around 2:00. This was tactical error number 2. Why, you may be wondering, would I pick the 2 parks that require the most walking and combine them on the same day???? There are 2 reasons. One, I'm an idiot, and two, I figured since EPCOT was open until 9, and Animal Kingdom only took half a day, I would combine them. It started off well. We saw Spaceship Earth, Ellen's Energy, and Body Wars, and then headed into the world showcase. We once again got sucked into the Kids Stop thing, which theoretically is a great idea, but soon devolves into a Where's Waldo-isc endeavor, since each country tucks them into a different spot, and, instead of enjoying the country, you spend half your time trying to find the damn kids stop. This was also my only encounter with what I can most kindly refer to a "competitive" tourists. You know, the ones that use the double stroller as a battering ram to get their kid up to the front so they can get the mask/stamp/whatever and get the heck out of there. I must say that this was the one part of the vacation that my daughter's ice hockey experience served her well. She got cut off once, and after that, no man passed! We visited Mexico, Norway (rode Maelstrom for the first time and really enjoyed it!) and China, where we watched the acrobats perform twice. We then strolled casually over to the nearest boat ramp to catch a boat over to the other side of the world for our 5:10 PS at Garden Grille. Tactical error number 3. There was a small sign that apologized for the fact that the boats were not in service at this time. Yikes! I quickly went to consult my map to see which way would be shorter to walk, back the way we came or forward through the rest of the world. Tactical error number 4, I had lost my map. Now, many of you will say that I could have "eye-balled" and known to go back the way I came, but I have what my husband refers to as a "negative sense of direction". He says this because, statistically, even those with no sense of direction will guess right roughly 50% of the time, and I consistently go the wrong way almost always. My family marvels at the way I can enter even the smallest store at the mall, and, upon exiting, head in the wrong direction. It is a source of great amusement to family and friends. So, of course, we walked/ran/jogged around the world (the long way) and made it to the garden grille at 5:10 on the dot with red faces and runny noses. The meal was quite enjoyable (once my legs stopped shaking), but neither of us had any desire to walk back to the world showcase after dinner. We visited Spaceship Earth again, and this time spent some time in the AT&T exhibit. We really enjoyed "Tell'n'vision" because it involved TV for my daughter and a really comfortable couch for me! We were back in our room around 8, and asleep by nine, dreaming of our last full day and the Magic Kingdom!

 

[pnelson]

Was this your daughters first trip to DW? At 9 years old, did she still enjoy character sighting? What about the parades?

 

[swankybeth]

I know how you feel about Kali River Rapids. I get a good soaking each time we ride it. Then I vow never to ride it again. Of course, I still ride it everytime. Sounds like you had a nice day, even with all the "tactical errors".

 

[Gabrielle]

Great post and funny!

 

[anne60]

this was my daughter's 3rd trip to Disney. Yes, she loves the characters, which is why we did so many (3) character meals. She is a little bit of a ham, so she loves interacting with them. She loves spectromagic, but did not care to hang and wait for the Tapestry one a EPCOT (we saw ToN in April), thought the one at MGM was short, and liked the daytime one at MK, although I don't think she would sit and wait for it.

 

[pumba]

ours was doing Kali river ride.....in 90 degrees with those yellow mickey raincoats.....i am not sure if I got wet from the water or from the sweat that was pouring off me.......thanks so much for a great report......it is a riot to read.....

 

[nativetxn]

What you call tactical errors are actually magical memories. You made some great memories today, thanks for telling us about them.

Katholyn