Kilted_Yank
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Nov 7, 2002
- Messages
- 415
Day seven, 11 September, 2002: Typhoon Lagoon
We got up this morning, planning to do a water park, and decided the today we were going to Typhoon Lagoon. We hadnt been to Typhoon Lagoon for about two years , mainly because Olivia was too small to make use of the ginat wave pool (porbably just because daddy can be a bit overprotective). Because of this, and because River Country is always closed when we come here, Blizzard Beach had become
our favorite water park Well, after spending 5 minutes at TL, it
became apparent that Blizzard Beach, as nice as it is, had to go
back to being second best. Hearing this pleased Susan no end, as she absolutely LOVES this park!
After getting lockers and changing, we set ourselves up on the sandy area near the kiddie slide on the extreme left of the wave pool (as you look at it). This done, we headed for the wave pool. This was a lot of fun, but to tell the truth, Susan is more of a wave pool person than I am. She loves them and can spend hour after hour bobbing about in the waves. It is becoming clear that young Olivia has been cut from the same bolt of cloth. As for myself, a pool is primarily a place for lap swimming, and when I was younger, a place for water polo. So after enjoying the waves for a while, Olivia and I headed towards the beach, but were distracted by the kiddie slide. Olivia wanted to try the slide so I walked her to the top and helped her into the slide and told her to wait until I had gotten to the bottome before sliding down, which she did. Once she came down I was going to help her do it again when she said: I can do it myself, daddy! . I dont mind telling you that I only thought it was cute for a moment, until I realised that I was now to wait at the bottom of the slide with the other discarded nearing-middle-age fathers. I tried to be cool for a few minutes, but by this time, Olivia had started making chums with the other kids, so I sat on the bench and waited until Her Grace was finished and announced that she wanted to play in the sand now.
Once we retired to the beach so she could play with her sand toys, I learned something: That no matter how old you are, you can still have fun building sand-castles. Now, I suppose that if you are reading this, you are probably in your 30s or 40s, and you have probably forgotten how much fun it can be to play in the sand, your only toys being the very high-tech bucket and plastic spade. If you havent forgotten, good on you, because I had... and at one time, I was the sand-fortress king of Battle Hill elementary school (Union, New Jersey). Olivia wanted to make some sort of sand structure, and decided that her loyal minion (me) would be great help. We set to work and in a short while had built a modes little sand castle. It was fun, but I think Olivia got a lot out of just hauling bucket after bucket of sand to the beach, and pouring it into the sand.
Once Olivia tired of this, we headed back to the slides for awhile,
and then back out to the wave pool to find Susan. We were able
to get her to accompany us to Castaway Creek, so that we could float around for a while. Perhaps I am just getting old, but I LOVE floating around on those tubes! I contented my self by watching the people (mostly our British cousins) and Olivia contented herself by scooping up leaves and plastering them to my arms and legs. After a while, we had had enough and headed of for lunch. Susan and I had cheeseburgers,
while Olivia had the childrens meal, which was a long hot dog and
some chips (crisps for you Brits). The thing that immediately struck me was that the childrens meal cost $3.99 but the same meal at Blizzard Beach would have cost at least $7!
OK, lunch done, we showered and changed and headed for Epcot. Naturally, we did Spaceship Earth again, which is a great place for a wee break.
Next was Test Track for Susan, as it was one of the new things
that she wanted to try on this trip. We waited while she rode,
and fortutnately, because of the on again-off again rain, the ride
looked like a walk-on. Hooray! Well, we waited... and waited...
and waited. Afterr a while, we walked around to see where she might might have gone. Little did we realise that Susan had finished the ride and gone in search of us while we were looking for her.
Once we found each other, we headed for World Showcase, just as it started to rain. We decided to bail and headed for the exit.
While all of this was going on, Olivia had fallen soundly asleep,
not stirring until I was putting her in her car seat.
We made a quick stop at Goodings and headed back to our cabin for dinner (spicy chicken breasts), relaxation (and a little wine) and blessed sleep.
NEXT: Typhoon Lagoon!
Susan, Bill, & Olivia do Disney, Sept. 2002
Adventurers: Susan, 40-something, wife, mom, water woman, sparkly-eyed woman-child. Bill, 38, husband, father, cook, King of the Sand Castle. Olivia: Nearly 4, water child!, Fearless, theme-park commando, QUEEN of the sandcastle
Day seven, 12 September, 2002: Typhoon Lagoon!
We got a bit of a late start this morning, but no matter, we decdided to go back to Typhoon Lagoon for our morning, even though the weather looked threatening. Late or not, we were still there just in time for opening, and after making logistical arrangements, we based ourselves in the same place were were the day before... our sand-castle building site was undisturbed. in fact, I can still see footprints from my sandals.
Susan dashed off to the wave pool, while I was
once again assigned to stay out of Olivias way while she cavorted on the slide with the other kids. I did my officals duties well, chatting with the other dads whose children have pushed them away (whine and sob!). NOTE: My child is growing way too fast! After a while, we joined Susan, who was bobbing away happily in the wave pool.
Can I take a moment here to comment on the behavior of unsupervised children in the pool? While I realize that kids will be kids, and that we were all children once, is it too much to ask that parents at least TRY to act like they are supervising their children? Maybe I am getting grouchy at age 38, or maybe it is because I have been a trained lifeguard for a long time. Whatever it is, I wish parents would keep a closer eye on their children, especially children with questionable swimming skills. Wave pools, especially deep wave pools, can be deadly. This leads me to wonder aloud (to Susan) why more small children arent wearing life jackets.??? Hello!!!??? What are you thinking??? OK, rant over (for now).
We played in the wave pool for a while before it was time to build todays castle.
This day, I decided to go all out and build a proper star-shaped
castle with battlements, fortifications, gateposts, and a moat (yes, Im childish, sue me... Im on vacation). Olivia had a grand time with this, and her building skills have increased notably in one day. While we were happy with our project, Olivia wasnt so proud of it that it prevented her form wrecking the whole thing with a will, before we went to castaway creek and then to lunch.
After lunch, we decided that we were going to give Epcot another
go, as we had a truncated experience the day before. Susan needed a battery for her camera, so Olivia and I rode Spaceship Earth again.
She never tires of this, and neither do I... this ride also has
the added benefit of being a great place to rest. After the ride,
and after Olivia did some electronic finger-painting, we went outside to collect Susan. Test Track was next, Susan had liked it so much that she thought that Olivia and I should try it. I will make a long story short by saying only these two things: First: If you have small children, and want to have your picture taken on this ride, make sure they sit in the front! Olivia was conpletely obscured by one of the seats in our picture. Second: Avoid this ride if you are a man of... larger carriage. I am just over 6 tall, and by no means a small fry, weighing in at well-over 200 pounds. My knees were bashed something awful while on this ride. I think I might have enjoyed it otherwise.
Next stop was Ice Station Cool, or that penguin place, as Olivia
calls it. While we were inside, I saw some kid drink the Beverly!
The face he made was worth a million dollars! HAHAHAHA!
Alright, off to World Showcase. First stop, Canada! Olivia and I watched Off Kilter while Susan went to the shop to look at their pewter.
As always, Off Kilter didnt disappoint. I always enjoy watching
them, because although they dont change the act all that often,
they are talented musicians that interact well with the crowd.
You never get the impression that they are just phoning it in.
During their set, Jamie took note of my kilt and gave me a big
ol grin and a thumbs up. I think he needs a Utilikilt, it has
GOT to be cooler than his wollen tartan affair (his is the Nova
Scotia provincial tartan, while the rest of the boys wear the Royal
Stewart).
Susan returned before the show ended, and when it was
done, we headed for the UK... and that is as far as we got before the rains came. We headed for futreworld, as there are indoor things that we could do there. Susan and Oliva went inside for Figment while I parked the stroller (which was all snug and dry under its all-encompassing plasic purpose-made cover). Once we were all inside together, we waited in the very short line... and waited... and waited... apparently there was some small mechanical problem and they were working to fix it. The cast members did a really great job trying to keep the guests entertained. Cast member Yogi deserves a special mention here, as he was the CM in charge and spent the time telling jokes and giving away the pins on his lanyard as rewards for correctly answered trivia questions. He also gave them away when a guest could stump him with their own questions.
Unfortunately, it was not to be... the mechanics had to close the
ride, and we all left and headed back into the park. By this time,
the rain had subsided forom a deluge to a lighter, but steady rain.
We could have done some other things, but decided to call it a
night when we discovered that the wind had collapsed the rain cover on Olivias stroller. Everything was wet, save our cameras. Of particular note was the fact that my trusty notebook was completely sodden! The ink was running and the pages were sticking together. Nooooo! (think Charlton Heston in Planet of The Apes) My Notes!, My nooooootes!!!!!. We headed for the
exit, while Olivia howled that she wanted fish & chips for her dinner.
We got back to the van in short order, and headed to Crossroads
and Red Lobster for dinner. Keeping this story short, I must tell
you that our dining experience wasnt very good. we had to wait
an hour from the time we arrived until our food came to the table.
I wasnt pleased, and I made no bones about telling the manager
what I thought of the performance of her staff.
It had stopped raining by the time that we left the restaraunt,
but by then we were quite through for the evening (we arent really night people). We went back to our cabin where Olivia had some play time while Susan and I did our best to take my sodden notes out of the notebook and lay them flat on the countertop to dry.
I also dried the stroller as best I could. We had our customary
playtime/reading time/nap time before we all went to bed.
NEXT: Serendipity
Susan, Bill, & Olivia do Disney, Sept. 2002
Adventurers: Susan, 40-something, wife, mom, water woman, sparkly-eyed woman-child, sexy roller coaster babe. Bill, 38, husband, father, cook, Roller Coaster Dude. Olivia: Nearly 4, water child, Fearless, theme-park commando, QUEEN of the sandcastle (and everything else!).
Day nine, 13 September, 2002: Serendipity
Up and at em at 0800 this morning and off to the Ft Wilderness
laundry station, which is right next to the quiet pool. I was hot
and tired after what must have been a 50 yard walk, so after I finished sorting and loading our laundry, I sat down to get some reading done. My reading didnt last very long as I chatted up two of my fellow launderers. My domestic drudgery-mates were a lady from Holbrook, New Jersey, and another from Windsor, Ontario.
Both of these ladies were quite nice, and pleasant to talk to, but after a few minutes, my new Canadian chum was going on about even though their taxes were higher she would never leave Cananda to live in the United States. I was polite and refrained from asking her why she thought I cared if she came to live in the US or not? I love Canada, I truly do, but Canucks can really be touchy at times. Ah well, each to his or her own, eh?
After the washing and folding were finished, I went back to the
cabin where we proceeded to make ready and depart for our first
stop for today, which was the Contemporary resort. Despite having gone throught the Contemporary on the monorail quite a few times, I had never actually been inside the hotel itself, so this was going to be a new thing for me. Our main purpose for going there was to purchase a pin for Susans I conquered the world! limited edition pin set. We found out in short order that the Contemporary shops were fabulous! ( I love that word. I dont think we use it enough).
On many Disney Boards, I have heard people say that the contemporary is their favorite place to shop... now I can see why that mightbe! After spending a while (and no small amount of money) there, we headed off to the Magic Kingdom.
Can you believe that we have been here this long and only been to the Magic Kingdoom once, so far? Well,we werent about to miss it any more, so here we are! After buying Susans next pin at the photo shop, we proceeded to Cosmic Rays for a bit of lunch. Olvia only ate half of her chicken strips, but being as excited as she was, we werent too surprised. Finishing our own, lunches, we pressed on to Tomorrowland.
Tomorrowland is my favorite part of the Magic Kingdom. It really
is, and to honor it, we headed straight for Buzz Lightyears Space
Ranger Spin, where I was fully prepared to do battle with the Evil
Emporer Zurg, his minions, and any other would-be space ranger that might have wanted a piece of me! I went on to score 380,000points in that game, beating the stuffing out of the unnamed, aforementioned would-be space ranger
(dnot mess with me, folks, Im a professional!). we went on the
ride a second time, and although my score wasnt nearly as good
as the first time, it was still enough for me to declare victory.
Next we rode TTA which is a must whenever we are in Tomorrowland. After TTA, I decided that since I had made some firsts on this trip, I would make another one, and ride Space Mountain for the first time in my life! (in for a panny, in for a pound, I always say) (funny how that term stayed in our lexicon, although we havent used Pounds as a unit of currency in over 200 years). Space mountain was neat, but not that big of a deal. I am glad that I went, but gladder still that I didnt have to wait in a long line to do it.
By the time I finished Space Mountain, Susan and Olivia were waiting for me. They had just finished going on Buzz Lightyear again, and were wearing laminated cards that Susan had bought denoting their space ranger rank. Me being the champion that I am, I needed no badge of rank ! Ha!
We spent the next while just walking around and watching the people and doing some more shopping, until we wound up in Fantasyland.
Susan went into the Tinkerbell shop while Olivia and I rode the
Carousel. How many of you that have children, have a ride the he or she will only go on with you? or your spouse/domestic partner? Olivia knows and demands certain things. She KNOWS that she is supposed to ride the Carousel with daddy, just like she KNOWS that she only rides Dumbo with mommy. Whatever... it works for us.
Back to the Carousel, a german woman flirted with me, telling me
that she thought I had great legs. Go away woman, I thought to myself. I was busy having fun with Olivia, who, as soon as I placed her on the horse and put on her safety belt, she announced that I wasnt to touch her or the horse. So much for poor daddy, a mere saddle servant.
After the carousel, we went on Small World. I dont really get
tired of this attraction even though it is a bit schlocky. I guess
I just find it rather cute and harmless, not to mention cool and
dark. After this, Olivia went to sleep in her stroller which
left us free to roam around until parade time drew near, and once
we started to hear the parade music we headed in a particular direction. Come on now, you know what that means to us, dont you?, thats right... it is time for Bill & Susans eating goddies while your kids are asleep show! We headed straight over and got our Dole whips, and laid into them while taking our ease in the shade, watching the people pass. Having finished our snacks, we decided to walk a while. The Parade was over, so we had no reason to fear Main Street. This looks like a good time to stroll through the Emporium!
While there, I saw a Donald Duck hockey sweater that I knew that I had to have. I didnt buy it at that moment for some reason, but I figured that I had plenty of time to go back to the Emporium or some other shop to pick it up.
After we finished at the Emporium, we left MK and headed for the
monotrail (as Olivia calls it) to the TTC. Por favor, mantengan
se allejados de las puertas. We picked up our van at the TTC
and headed for MGM for more shopping etc... It started to rain
lightly as we arrived , but I told Susan that this rain didnt seem
like the kind that would last, so we pressed on. True to my gut
intuition... ok, not my gut, my bum knee, the light rain ended shortly after it began. We headed for Rockin Roller Coaster, because I had decided that I should give it another try. Well I rode it again (there was no wait) and when I finished, I rode it again! Woooo Hooooo! I am a convert, dear friends! I have seen the light, and the light is telling me to: Walk This Way... right to Rockin Roller Coaster, and that is what I am doing. How couldI have missed out on this all of this time?! I suggested that Susan should ride it and although reluctant, she decided to give it a whirl (isnt she brave?). Turns out that Susan liked the ride too! I suppose Im not really surprised. It is a rollercoaster, tis true, but the theming and the Aerosmith music takes a lot of the fear factor away.
After Rockin Rollercoaster, Susan and Olivia went to see Voyage
of The Little Mermaid again, while I scribbled in my old notebok.
After the show, we visited some more shops... and the one sports oriented shop DIDNT have my size (XXL) Donald Duck Hockey sweater! Damn and blast! (Let this be a lesson to you, William: when you see an item that you want, youd best buy it right there and then).
Once we were all shopped out, coastered out, and tired out,
we headed back to the cabin and I cobbled together a pot-luck supper: Princess Olivia had her favorite... Macaroni and Cheese, Susan had Potatoes Orlando (have I explained the to you yet?) and I had some frozen Lasagne... which Olivia was duty bound to share with me (my God, that child eats prodigious amounts of food! If it is on my plate, all of a sudden it is the food of the gods... I suppose I should be flattered).
After baths and showers and bedtime stories, etc... it is time for
me to scribble in my notebook, and then some reading. I am almost finished with Dr Turtledoves book, and I am excited to see how things turn out.
Before I finish for the day, I should like to take a moment to call
attention to some cast members whose efforets made our trip so much fun:
Sara at the MK photoshop is on the college program. She
is a scholarship student at the University of Maryland at College
Park. She is majoring in Mathematics, and would like to pursue
not only a Masters Degree, but a Ph.D as well. Not only is she
smart, she is exceptionally nice, and above all, extremely competent.
Jeines (pronounced Jane-ess), at MGM, is also on the college program. she attends the University of Puerto Rico. Jeines was very helpful and cheerful during our conversation in the muggy early september heat.
Mildred, at Typhoon Lagoon, in addition to being very cheerfull while working at the locker/towel/lifejacket station, remembered us from our earlier visits and took the time to tell me that she liked my kilts, and asked where I got them. Funny thing, Mildred said that one of HER favorite places to vacation was Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, which is a scant 90 minute drive from our home. If she likes Williamsburg, she is alright in my book (we love Williamsburg!).
Bernadetta, Silvio, and the carnival characters @ Italy in Epcot. These people we so sweet, not only to Susan and myself, but to Olivia as well. I bought a great cookbook while we were there and had a good conversation with Silvio about food preparation (one of my favorite things to talk about). Bernadetta was newly-arrived from Italy and her english isnt what it will be by the time she goes home, but what she lacked in language skills, she made up for in her contagious enthusiasm. A very nice young lady. What can I say about the masked carnival characters other than to say that they were, and continue to be my favorites at Epcot. These people put on a nice show, and intereact well with their guests... especially the children. Olivia has bonded with them to the point that she refers to Andrea Boccellis Con te partiro (Time To Say Goodbye) as the Epcot goodbye song She is even starting to sing parts of the song in the Italian.
OK, off to bed now, tomorrow is our last day and we have many things to do.
Good night.
Tomorrow: Finishing up
Susan, Bill, & Olivia do Disney, Sept. 2002
Adventurers: Susan, 40-something, wife, mom, water woman, sparkly-eyed woman-child, sexy roller coaster babe. Bill, 38, husband, father, cook, middle-aged, broken down rollercoaster Dude. Olivia: Nearly 4, water child, Fearless, theme-park commando, QUEEN of the sandcastle (and everything else!).
Day Ten, 14 September, 2002: Finishing up
Shine and rise as my lovely daugher says. It is 0800 and today
is our last day at wdw. We have lots to do yet, specifically, we
want to finish Susans I conquered the world pin set, but before
we do them, we decide to have one more morning at Typhoon Lagoon. Today is the last day of my water park pass so I want to take full advantage.
We got to TL right at opening time, and headed straight for the
wave pool. Olivia enjoyed the waves nearly as miuch as Susan, but eventually tired of them. Olivia and I left Susan to play in the
waves as we headed for the kiddie slide. I chatted with a German couple that had a daughter around Olivias age. It was fun, especially since our conversation was conducted completely in German (I learned the lingo when I was in the service). I really had to work at it, as I dont speak German anywhere near as much as I used to. The thing is, Olivia has no German and Horsts daughter had no English, yet they got on just fine, holding hands in the pool and on the stairs to the slide. If we could all get along like our children can, wed all be better off (are you listening George??).
We went back to the wave pool for a while, until Olivia got knocked over by a wave a scraped her knee. She wasnt thrilled by this, so it was a good time to find our way to the more sedate Castaway Creek. After our customary circuit around the park, we said goodbye to TL for this trip, vowing to be back soon.
We changed our clothes and went on our way. The next stop was Disneys World of Sports. We needed theICTW pin from there, but had never been ther before. We followed the signage right to the place and got our pin in no time flat. We arent big sports fans, so the place doesnt hold much fascination for either of us, as nice as it is, so we went back to the van and beat a hasty retreat.
On our way to Animal Kingdom, which was to be the next stop, we passed the construction for Pop Century Resort and had a brief look around to see what we could see, which wasnt much. We went to AK for their particular ICTW pin and decided that since we werent staying, there was no need to park way out in the back forty, so we drove around the cones and parked really close to the front.
Olivia was asleep by this time, so I left Susan and Olivia in the
van while I got that pin for my Missus (yes, it was hot, but there
isnt much I wouldnt do for my sweetie).
The next stop was Downtown Disney. Now that we had gotten the last pin in the set, we had to take our certificate of completion to the pin-station and have it verified so that we could get the final pin in the set. Having done that, we repaired to the DD Gourmet pantry where we got really tasty food for lunch. Naturally, Olivia woke up as soon as the seal was broken on my sandwhich. So we shared my lunch (and part of Susans as well).
After lunch, we browsed around at DD for a while, checking for last minute souveniers and so forth. We didnt stay long because we were heading off to our last trip through MGM. At MGM, we browsed the shops, and I took a last ride on Rockin Roller Coaster. We didnt stay long, as we wanted to finish our trip at EPCOT.
At EPCOT we did what can only be called a Victory Lap around World Showcase. We stopped at the Italy pavillion and spent big bucks buying our last items. I bought a carnival mask for Susan as well as a nice litle brooch. Once again, we stopped at Famous fish & chips for our dinner, before we watched Illuminations.
Illuminations was as great as ever, and a fine finish to our vacationin the parks. After the show was over, we wandered through World Showcase and listened to the music as the crowds all pushed towards the exit. This can be one of the most truly beautiful moments at Disney. Imagine, a warm evening, after the beauty of Illuminations, with the Tapestry of Nations music playing hauntingly over the pervasive EPCOT sound system... walking around in the darkness with the illumination
provided by the burning torches all around the World Showcase lagoon.
By the time we reached the Chinese pavillion, most of the crowds
are gone... we pass others as they revel in the end of their Disney day, smiling or nodding to each other, as if understanding the magic of the moment. I cant tell you how much we enjoy this. The mood is sometimes so special that we barely talk above a whisper. This is Disney at its best, companionable time spent with my daughter and my wife/lover/best pal. We
enjoy doing this so much, it didnt even matter to us that on this
particular evening it was cold and raining cats and dogs!
We exited the park and headed back to Fort Wilderness to prepare for our departure the next morning. Once we got back to the resort, we got cleaned up and packed all but our essential items. After putting Olivia down to sleep, Susan and I made the mistake of watching Saturday Night Live. Although we are of the opinion the the show stopped being funny many years ago (before the Eddie Murphy years), we gave it a try.... and were surprised by how funny it was! One sketch was supposed to be a representation of celebrity Jeopardy! wherein one of the comics portrayed one of my favorite actors, Sir Sean Big Tam Connery. I laughed so hard, at one point, that I shot a blast of wine through my nose! It was great!
We went to sleep (later than we should have), with lots of good
thoughts and mirth running aournd in our heads.
NEXT: The long ride home.
Susan, Bill, & Olivia do Disney, Sept. 2002
Adventurers: Susan, 40-something, wife, mom, co-driver, sparkly-eyed woman-child, sexy rollercoaster babe. Bill, 38, husband, father, driver, broken down, middle-aged rollercoaster Dude. Olivia: Nearly 4, water child, Fearless, theme-park commando, QUEEN of the minivan.
Day Eleven, 15 September, 2002: The long ride home
0500: No! It cant be true... Were leaving? Nooooooooooo! Alas, I fear it is true... we have to go. I make several trips with all of our luggage, and we take the sleeping Olivia and strap her into her car seat. All is ready and away we go. As usual, we salute various landmarks as we leave the property and head onto I-4 towards I-95.
Fortunately, the traffic is light (where we are from, all of the
traffic here is light) and we make it to I-95 north in no time at
all. We stopped in Brunswick, Georgia for a quick bereakfast at
McDonalds and to get gas. While we are there, I took a few minutes to re-stow Olivias TV/DVD player so it wouldnt move about when we tooks turns and curves in the road.
At 2:30 We stopped in Benson, North Carloina for lunch at Pizza
Hut. After an unremarkable lunch, we got back on the road. We
spent the last leg of our drive home listening to Van Morrison,
and looking forward to being back in our home.
We arrived at the old homestead at 7 PM, right on schedule, unpacked the van, and collapsed in a pile.
What a fine time!
Last thoughts... at a distance.
It is nearly nine months since we returned from the trip whose story you just read. In the intervening months we have experienced another trip to Disney World, several orange alerts, a war, and several major events (mostly good, but not always) that have effected our professional lives. As I wrote this trip report, I made reference not only to the copious notes that I took, but also Susans memory, which is far better than mine. Every minute spent at the keyboard gave me that many more minutes of enjoyment of events now almost a year old.
Writing a trip report is so much fun, if only because you get to experience your Disney fun all over again. Today is
a rainy mid-may Sunday morning, and Susan has all of our Disney
planning materials spread out all over the dining room table (we
are going again in a little over two weeks), Olivia is wearing her
Tinkerbell nightgown, and we are listening to the Tapestry of Nations CD, but in my mind, I am once again having a margarita at Mexico in Epcot, watching Illuminations unfold in across the
World Showcase Lagoon. It is an incredible feeling. Those of you
who know what I mean are probably sharing some of that feeling with me at this very moment. Those of you that dont know what I mean will probably learn.
It is our great good fortune to be able to return to WDW on a regular basis, but I know that if we werent able to make the trip as often as we do, we would still cherish the vivid memories every bit as much. Reports like this one, and those of other likeminded Disney people, only intensify those memories.
Ok... enough. You have other reports to read. Take care of yourselves, and remember: "Civilization begins when the strong recognise that they have a duty to protect the weak"
We got up this morning, planning to do a water park, and decided the today we were going to Typhoon Lagoon. We hadnt been to Typhoon Lagoon for about two years , mainly because Olivia was too small to make use of the ginat wave pool (porbably just because daddy can be a bit overprotective). Because of this, and because River Country is always closed when we come here, Blizzard Beach had become
our favorite water park Well, after spending 5 minutes at TL, it
became apparent that Blizzard Beach, as nice as it is, had to go
back to being second best. Hearing this pleased Susan no end, as she absolutely LOVES this park!
After getting lockers and changing, we set ourselves up on the sandy area near the kiddie slide on the extreme left of the wave pool (as you look at it). This done, we headed for the wave pool. This was a lot of fun, but to tell the truth, Susan is more of a wave pool person than I am. She loves them and can spend hour after hour bobbing about in the waves. It is becoming clear that young Olivia has been cut from the same bolt of cloth. As for myself, a pool is primarily a place for lap swimming, and when I was younger, a place for water polo. So after enjoying the waves for a while, Olivia and I headed towards the beach, but were distracted by the kiddie slide. Olivia wanted to try the slide so I walked her to the top and helped her into the slide and told her to wait until I had gotten to the bottome before sliding down, which she did. Once she came down I was going to help her do it again when she said: I can do it myself, daddy! . I dont mind telling you that I only thought it was cute for a moment, until I realised that I was now to wait at the bottom of the slide with the other discarded nearing-middle-age fathers. I tried to be cool for a few minutes, but by this time, Olivia had started making chums with the other kids, so I sat on the bench and waited until Her Grace was finished and announced that she wanted to play in the sand now.
Once we retired to the beach so she could play with her sand toys, I learned something: That no matter how old you are, you can still have fun building sand-castles. Now, I suppose that if you are reading this, you are probably in your 30s or 40s, and you have probably forgotten how much fun it can be to play in the sand, your only toys being the very high-tech bucket and plastic spade. If you havent forgotten, good on you, because I had... and at one time, I was the sand-fortress king of Battle Hill elementary school (Union, New Jersey). Olivia wanted to make some sort of sand structure, and decided that her loyal minion (me) would be great help. We set to work and in a short while had built a modes little sand castle. It was fun, but I think Olivia got a lot out of just hauling bucket after bucket of sand to the beach, and pouring it into the sand.
Once Olivia tired of this, we headed back to the slides for awhile,
and then back out to the wave pool to find Susan. We were able
to get her to accompany us to Castaway Creek, so that we could float around for a while. Perhaps I am just getting old, but I LOVE floating around on those tubes! I contented my self by watching the people (mostly our British cousins) and Olivia contented herself by scooping up leaves and plastering them to my arms and legs. After a while, we had had enough and headed of for lunch. Susan and I had cheeseburgers,
while Olivia had the childrens meal, which was a long hot dog and
some chips (crisps for you Brits). The thing that immediately struck me was that the childrens meal cost $3.99 but the same meal at Blizzard Beach would have cost at least $7!
OK, lunch done, we showered and changed and headed for Epcot. Naturally, we did Spaceship Earth again, which is a great place for a wee break.
Next was Test Track for Susan, as it was one of the new things
that she wanted to try on this trip. We waited while she rode,
and fortutnately, because of the on again-off again rain, the ride
looked like a walk-on. Hooray! Well, we waited... and waited...
and waited. Afterr a while, we walked around to see where she might might have gone. Little did we realise that Susan had finished the ride and gone in search of us while we were looking for her.
Once we found each other, we headed for World Showcase, just as it started to rain. We decided to bail and headed for the exit.
While all of this was going on, Olivia had fallen soundly asleep,
not stirring until I was putting her in her car seat.
We made a quick stop at Goodings and headed back to our cabin for dinner (spicy chicken breasts), relaxation (and a little wine) and blessed sleep.
NEXT: Typhoon Lagoon!
Susan, Bill, & Olivia do Disney, Sept. 2002
Adventurers: Susan, 40-something, wife, mom, water woman, sparkly-eyed woman-child. Bill, 38, husband, father, cook, King of the Sand Castle. Olivia: Nearly 4, water child!, Fearless, theme-park commando, QUEEN of the sandcastle
Day seven, 12 September, 2002: Typhoon Lagoon!
We got a bit of a late start this morning, but no matter, we decdided to go back to Typhoon Lagoon for our morning, even though the weather looked threatening. Late or not, we were still there just in time for opening, and after making logistical arrangements, we based ourselves in the same place were were the day before... our sand-castle building site was undisturbed. in fact, I can still see footprints from my sandals.
Susan dashed off to the wave pool, while I was
once again assigned to stay out of Olivias way while she cavorted on the slide with the other kids. I did my officals duties well, chatting with the other dads whose children have pushed them away (whine and sob!). NOTE: My child is growing way too fast! After a while, we joined Susan, who was bobbing away happily in the wave pool.
Can I take a moment here to comment on the behavior of unsupervised children in the pool? While I realize that kids will be kids, and that we were all children once, is it too much to ask that parents at least TRY to act like they are supervising their children? Maybe I am getting grouchy at age 38, or maybe it is because I have been a trained lifeguard for a long time. Whatever it is, I wish parents would keep a closer eye on their children, especially children with questionable swimming skills. Wave pools, especially deep wave pools, can be deadly. This leads me to wonder aloud (to Susan) why more small children arent wearing life jackets.??? Hello!!!??? What are you thinking??? OK, rant over (for now).
We played in the wave pool for a while before it was time to build todays castle.
This day, I decided to go all out and build a proper star-shaped
castle with battlements, fortifications, gateposts, and a moat (yes, Im childish, sue me... Im on vacation). Olivia had a grand time with this, and her building skills have increased notably in one day. While we were happy with our project, Olivia wasnt so proud of it that it prevented her form wrecking the whole thing with a will, before we went to castaway creek and then to lunch.
After lunch, we decided that we were going to give Epcot another
go, as we had a truncated experience the day before. Susan needed a battery for her camera, so Olivia and I rode Spaceship Earth again.
She never tires of this, and neither do I... this ride also has
the added benefit of being a great place to rest. After the ride,
and after Olivia did some electronic finger-painting, we went outside to collect Susan. Test Track was next, Susan had liked it so much that she thought that Olivia and I should try it. I will make a long story short by saying only these two things: First: If you have small children, and want to have your picture taken on this ride, make sure they sit in the front! Olivia was conpletely obscured by one of the seats in our picture. Second: Avoid this ride if you are a man of... larger carriage. I am just over 6 tall, and by no means a small fry, weighing in at well-over 200 pounds. My knees were bashed something awful while on this ride. I think I might have enjoyed it otherwise.
Next stop was Ice Station Cool, or that penguin place, as Olivia
calls it. While we were inside, I saw some kid drink the Beverly!
The face he made was worth a million dollars! HAHAHAHA!
Alright, off to World Showcase. First stop, Canada! Olivia and I watched Off Kilter while Susan went to the shop to look at their pewter.
As always, Off Kilter didnt disappoint. I always enjoy watching
them, because although they dont change the act all that often,
they are talented musicians that interact well with the crowd.
You never get the impression that they are just phoning it in.
During their set, Jamie took note of my kilt and gave me a big
ol grin and a thumbs up. I think he needs a Utilikilt, it has
GOT to be cooler than his wollen tartan affair (his is the Nova
Scotia provincial tartan, while the rest of the boys wear the Royal
Stewart).
Susan returned before the show ended, and when it was
done, we headed for the UK... and that is as far as we got before the rains came. We headed for futreworld, as there are indoor things that we could do there. Susan and Oliva went inside for Figment while I parked the stroller (which was all snug and dry under its all-encompassing plasic purpose-made cover). Once we were all inside together, we waited in the very short line... and waited... and waited... apparently there was some small mechanical problem and they were working to fix it. The cast members did a really great job trying to keep the guests entertained. Cast member Yogi deserves a special mention here, as he was the CM in charge and spent the time telling jokes and giving away the pins on his lanyard as rewards for correctly answered trivia questions. He also gave them away when a guest could stump him with their own questions.
Unfortunately, it was not to be... the mechanics had to close the
ride, and we all left and headed back into the park. By this time,
the rain had subsided forom a deluge to a lighter, but steady rain.
We could have done some other things, but decided to call it a
night when we discovered that the wind had collapsed the rain cover on Olivias stroller. Everything was wet, save our cameras. Of particular note was the fact that my trusty notebook was completely sodden! The ink was running and the pages were sticking together. Nooooo! (think Charlton Heston in Planet of The Apes) My Notes!, My nooooootes!!!!!. We headed for the
exit, while Olivia howled that she wanted fish & chips for her dinner.
We got back to the van in short order, and headed to Crossroads
and Red Lobster for dinner. Keeping this story short, I must tell
you that our dining experience wasnt very good. we had to wait
an hour from the time we arrived until our food came to the table.
I wasnt pleased, and I made no bones about telling the manager
what I thought of the performance of her staff.
It had stopped raining by the time that we left the restaraunt,
but by then we were quite through for the evening (we arent really night people). We went back to our cabin where Olivia had some play time while Susan and I did our best to take my sodden notes out of the notebook and lay them flat on the countertop to dry.
I also dried the stroller as best I could. We had our customary
playtime/reading time/nap time before we all went to bed.
NEXT: Serendipity
Susan, Bill, & Olivia do Disney, Sept. 2002
Adventurers: Susan, 40-something, wife, mom, water woman, sparkly-eyed woman-child, sexy roller coaster babe. Bill, 38, husband, father, cook, Roller Coaster Dude. Olivia: Nearly 4, water child, Fearless, theme-park commando, QUEEN of the sandcastle (and everything else!).
Day nine, 13 September, 2002: Serendipity
Up and at em at 0800 this morning and off to the Ft Wilderness
laundry station, which is right next to the quiet pool. I was hot
and tired after what must have been a 50 yard walk, so after I finished sorting and loading our laundry, I sat down to get some reading done. My reading didnt last very long as I chatted up two of my fellow launderers. My domestic drudgery-mates were a lady from Holbrook, New Jersey, and another from Windsor, Ontario.
Both of these ladies were quite nice, and pleasant to talk to, but after a few minutes, my new Canadian chum was going on about even though their taxes were higher she would never leave Cananda to live in the United States. I was polite and refrained from asking her why she thought I cared if she came to live in the US or not? I love Canada, I truly do, but Canucks can really be touchy at times. Ah well, each to his or her own, eh?
After the washing and folding were finished, I went back to the
cabin where we proceeded to make ready and depart for our first
stop for today, which was the Contemporary resort. Despite having gone throught the Contemporary on the monorail quite a few times, I had never actually been inside the hotel itself, so this was going to be a new thing for me. Our main purpose for going there was to purchase a pin for Susans I conquered the world! limited edition pin set. We found out in short order that the Contemporary shops were fabulous! ( I love that word. I dont think we use it enough).
On many Disney Boards, I have heard people say that the contemporary is their favorite place to shop... now I can see why that mightbe! After spending a while (and no small amount of money) there, we headed off to the Magic Kingdom.
Can you believe that we have been here this long and only been to the Magic Kingdoom once, so far? Well,we werent about to miss it any more, so here we are! After buying Susans next pin at the photo shop, we proceeded to Cosmic Rays for a bit of lunch. Olvia only ate half of her chicken strips, but being as excited as she was, we werent too surprised. Finishing our own, lunches, we pressed on to Tomorrowland.
Tomorrowland is my favorite part of the Magic Kingdom. It really
is, and to honor it, we headed straight for Buzz Lightyears Space
Ranger Spin, where I was fully prepared to do battle with the Evil
Emporer Zurg, his minions, and any other would-be space ranger that might have wanted a piece of me! I went on to score 380,000points in that game, beating the stuffing out of the unnamed, aforementioned would-be space ranger
(dnot mess with me, folks, Im a professional!). we went on the
ride a second time, and although my score wasnt nearly as good
as the first time, it was still enough for me to declare victory.
Next we rode TTA which is a must whenever we are in Tomorrowland. After TTA, I decided that since I had made some firsts on this trip, I would make another one, and ride Space Mountain for the first time in my life! (in for a panny, in for a pound, I always say) (funny how that term stayed in our lexicon, although we havent used Pounds as a unit of currency in over 200 years). Space mountain was neat, but not that big of a deal. I am glad that I went, but gladder still that I didnt have to wait in a long line to do it.
By the time I finished Space Mountain, Susan and Olivia were waiting for me. They had just finished going on Buzz Lightyear again, and were wearing laminated cards that Susan had bought denoting their space ranger rank. Me being the champion that I am, I needed no badge of rank ! Ha!
We spent the next while just walking around and watching the people and doing some more shopping, until we wound up in Fantasyland.
Susan went into the Tinkerbell shop while Olivia and I rode the
Carousel. How many of you that have children, have a ride the he or she will only go on with you? or your spouse/domestic partner? Olivia knows and demands certain things. She KNOWS that she is supposed to ride the Carousel with daddy, just like she KNOWS that she only rides Dumbo with mommy. Whatever... it works for us.
Back to the Carousel, a german woman flirted with me, telling me
that she thought I had great legs. Go away woman, I thought to myself. I was busy having fun with Olivia, who, as soon as I placed her on the horse and put on her safety belt, she announced that I wasnt to touch her or the horse. So much for poor daddy, a mere saddle servant.
After the carousel, we went on Small World. I dont really get
tired of this attraction even though it is a bit schlocky. I guess
I just find it rather cute and harmless, not to mention cool and
dark. After this, Olivia went to sleep in her stroller which
left us free to roam around until parade time drew near, and once
we started to hear the parade music we headed in a particular direction. Come on now, you know what that means to us, dont you?, thats right... it is time for Bill & Susans eating goddies while your kids are asleep show! We headed straight over and got our Dole whips, and laid into them while taking our ease in the shade, watching the people pass. Having finished our snacks, we decided to walk a while. The Parade was over, so we had no reason to fear Main Street. This looks like a good time to stroll through the Emporium!
While there, I saw a Donald Duck hockey sweater that I knew that I had to have. I didnt buy it at that moment for some reason, but I figured that I had plenty of time to go back to the Emporium or some other shop to pick it up.
After we finished at the Emporium, we left MK and headed for the
monotrail (as Olivia calls it) to the TTC. Por favor, mantengan
se allejados de las puertas. We picked up our van at the TTC
and headed for MGM for more shopping etc... It started to rain
lightly as we arrived , but I told Susan that this rain didnt seem
like the kind that would last, so we pressed on. True to my gut
intuition... ok, not my gut, my bum knee, the light rain ended shortly after it began. We headed for Rockin Roller Coaster, because I had decided that I should give it another try. Well I rode it again (there was no wait) and when I finished, I rode it again! Woooo Hooooo! I am a convert, dear friends! I have seen the light, and the light is telling me to: Walk This Way... right to Rockin Roller Coaster, and that is what I am doing. How couldI have missed out on this all of this time?! I suggested that Susan should ride it and although reluctant, she decided to give it a whirl (isnt she brave?). Turns out that Susan liked the ride too! I suppose Im not really surprised. It is a rollercoaster, tis true, but the theming and the Aerosmith music takes a lot of the fear factor away.
After Rockin Rollercoaster, Susan and Olivia went to see Voyage
of The Little Mermaid again, while I scribbled in my old notebok.
After the show, we visited some more shops... and the one sports oriented shop DIDNT have my size (XXL) Donald Duck Hockey sweater! Damn and blast! (Let this be a lesson to you, William: when you see an item that you want, youd best buy it right there and then).
Once we were all shopped out, coastered out, and tired out,
we headed back to the cabin and I cobbled together a pot-luck supper: Princess Olivia had her favorite... Macaroni and Cheese, Susan had Potatoes Orlando (have I explained the to you yet?) and I had some frozen Lasagne... which Olivia was duty bound to share with me (my God, that child eats prodigious amounts of food! If it is on my plate, all of a sudden it is the food of the gods... I suppose I should be flattered).
After baths and showers and bedtime stories, etc... it is time for
me to scribble in my notebook, and then some reading. I am almost finished with Dr Turtledoves book, and I am excited to see how things turn out.
Before I finish for the day, I should like to take a moment to call
attention to some cast members whose efforets made our trip so much fun:
Sara at the MK photoshop is on the college program. She
is a scholarship student at the University of Maryland at College
Park. She is majoring in Mathematics, and would like to pursue
not only a Masters Degree, but a Ph.D as well. Not only is she
smart, she is exceptionally nice, and above all, extremely competent.
Jeines (pronounced Jane-ess), at MGM, is also on the college program. she attends the University of Puerto Rico. Jeines was very helpful and cheerful during our conversation in the muggy early september heat.
Mildred, at Typhoon Lagoon, in addition to being very cheerfull while working at the locker/towel/lifejacket station, remembered us from our earlier visits and took the time to tell me that she liked my kilts, and asked where I got them. Funny thing, Mildred said that one of HER favorite places to vacation was Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, which is a scant 90 minute drive from our home. If she likes Williamsburg, she is alright in my book (we love Williamsburg!).
Bernadetta, Silvio, and the carnival characters @ Italy in Epcot. These people we so sweet, not only to Susan and myself, but to Olivia as well. I bought a great cookbook while we were there and had a good conversation with Silvio about food preparation (one of my favorite things to talk about). Bernadetta was newly-arrived from Italy and her english isnt what it will be by the time she goes home, but what she lacked in language skills, she made up for in her contagious enthusiasm. A very nice young lady. What can I say about the masked carnival characters other than to say that they were, and continue to be my favorites at Epcot. These people put on a nice show, and intereact well with their guests... especially the children. Olivia has bonded with them to the point that she refers to Andrea Boccellis Con te partiro (Time To Say Goodbye) as the Epcot goodbye song She is even starting to sing parts of the song in the Italian.
OK, off to bed now, tomorrow is our last day and we have many things to do.
Good night.
Tomorrow: Finishing up
Susan, Bill, & Olivia do Disney, Sept. 2002
Adventurers: Susan, 40-something, wife, mom, water woman, sparkly-eyed woman-child, sexy roller coaster babe. Bill, 38, husband, father, cook, middle-aged, broken down rollercoaster Dude. Olivia: Nearly 4, water child, Fearless, theme-park commando, QUEEN of the sandcastle (and everything else!).
Day Ten, 14 September, 2002: Finishing up
Shine and rise as my lovely daugher says. It is 0800 and today
is our last day at wdw. We have lots to do yet, specifically, we
want to finish Susans I conquered the world pin set, but before
we do them, we decide to have one more morning at Typhoon Lagoon. Today is the last day of my water park pass so I want to take full advantage.
We got to TL right at opening time, and headed straight for the
wave pool. Olivia enjoyed the waves nearly as miuch as Susan, but eventually tired of them. Olivia and I left Susan to play in the
waves as we headed for the kiddie slide. I chatted with a German couple that had a daughter around Olivias age. It was fun, especially since our conversation was conducted completely in German (I learned the lingo when I was in the service). I really had to work at it, as I dont speak German anywhere near as much as I used to. The thing is, Olivia has no German and Horsts daughter had no English, yet they got on just fine, holding hands in the pool and on the stairs to the slide. If we could all get along like our children can, wed all be better off (are you listening George??).
We went back to the wave pool for a while, until Olivia got knocked over by a wave a scraped her knee. She wasnt thrilled by this, so it was a good time to find our way to the more sedate Castaway Creek. After our customary circuit around the park, we said goodbye to TL for this trip, vowing to be back soon.
We changed our clothes and went on our way. The next stop was Disneys World of Sports. We needed theICTW pin from there, but had never been ther before. We followed the signage right to the place and got our pin in no time flat. We arent big sports fans, so the place doesnt hold much fascination for either of us, as nice as it is, so we went back to the van and beat a hasty retreat.
On our way to Animal Kingdom, which was to be the next stop, we passed the construction for Pop Century Resort and had a brief look around to see what we could see, which wasnt much. We went to AK for their particular ICTW pin and decided that since we werent staying, there was no need to park way out in the back forty, so we drove around the cones and parked really close to the front.
Olivia was asleep by this time, so I left Susan and Olivia in the
van while I got that pin for my Missus (yes, it was hot, but there
isnt much I wouldnt do for my sweetie).
The next stop was Downtown Disney. Now that we had gotten the last pin in the set, we had to take our certificate of completion to the pin-station and have it verified so that we could get the final pin in the set. Having done that, we repaired to the DD Gourmet pantry where we got really tasty food for lunch. Naturally, Olivia woke up as soon as the seal was broken on my sandwhich. So we shared my lunch (and part of Susans as well).
After lunch, we browsed around at DD for a while, checking for last minute souveniers and so forth. We didnt stay long because we were heading off to our last trip through MGM. At MGM, we browsed the shops, and I took a last ride on Rockin Roller Coaster. We didnt stay long, as we wanted to finish our trip at EPCOT.
At EPCOT we did what can only be called a Victory Lap around World Showcase. We stopped at the Italy pavillion and spent big bucks buying our last items. I bought a carnival mask for Susan as well as a nice litle brooch. Once again, we stopped at Famous fish & chips for our dinner, before we watched Illuminations.
Illuminations was as great as ever, and a fine finish to our vacationin the parks. After the show was over, we wandered through World Showcase and listened to the music as the crowds all pushed towards the exit. This can be one of the most truly beautiful moments at Disney. Imagine, a warm evening, after the beauty of Illuminations, with the Tapestry of Nations music playing hauntingly over the pervasive EPCOT sound system... walking around in the darkness with the illumination
provided by the burning torches all around the World Showcase lagoon.
By the time we reached the Chinese pavillion, most of the crowds
are gone... we pass others as they revel in the end of their Disney day, smiling or nodding to each other, as if understanding the magic of the moment. I cant tell you how much we enjoy this. The mood is sometimes so special that we barely talk above a whisper. This is Disney at its best, companionable time spent with my daughter and my wife/lover/best pal. We
enjoy doing this so much, it didnt even matter to us that on this
particular evening it was cold and raining cats and dogs!
We exited the park and headed back to Fort Wilderness to prepare for our departure the next morning. Once we got back to the resort, we got cleaned up and packed all but our essential items. After putting Olivia down to sleep, Susan and I made the mistake of watching Saturday Night Live. Although we are of the opinion the the show stopped being funny many years ago (before the Eddie Murphy years), we gave it a try.... and were surprised by how funny it was! One sketch was supposed to be a representation of celebrity Jeopardy! wherein one of the comics portrayed one of my favorite actors, Sir Sean Big Tam Connery. I laughed so hard, at one point, that I shot a blast of wine through my nose! It was great!
We went to sleep (later than we should have), with lots of good
thoughts and mirth running aournd in our heads.
NEXT: The long ride home.
Susan, Bill, & Olivia do Disney, Sept. 2002
Adventurers: Susan, 40-something, wife, mom, co-driver, sparkly-eyed woman-child, sexy rollercoaster babe. Bill, 38, husband, father, driver, broken down, middle-aged rollercoaster Dude. Olivia: Nearly 4, water child, Fearless, theme-park commando, QUEEN of the minivan.
Day Eleven, 15 September, 2002: The long ride home
0500: No! It cant be true... Were leaving? Nooooooooooo! Alas, I fear it is true... we have to go. I make several trips with all of our luggage, and we take the sleeping Olivia and strap her into her car seat. All is ready and away we go. As usual, we salute various landmarks as we leave the property and head onto I-4 towards I-95.
Fortunately, the traffic is light (where we are from, all of the
traffic here is light) and we make it to I-95 north in no time at
all. We stopped in Brunswick, Georgia for a quick bereakfast at
McDonalds and to get gas. While we are there, I took a few minutes to re-stow Olivias TV/DVD player so it wouldnt move about when we tooks turns and curves in the road.
At 2:30 We stopped in Benson, North Carloina for lunch at Pizza
Hut. After an unremarkable lunch, we got back on the road. We
spent the last leg of our drive home listening to Van Morrison,
and looking forward to being back in our home.
We arrived at the old homestead at 7 PM, right on schedule, unpacked the van, and collapsed in a pile.
What a fine time!
Last thoughts... at a distance.
It is nearly nine months since we returned from the trip whose story you just read. In the intervening months we have experienced another trip to Disney World, several orange alerts, a war, and several major events (mostly good, but not always) that have effected our professional lives. As I wrote this trip report, I made reference not only to the copious notes that I took, but also Susans memory, which is far better than mine. Every minute spent at the keyboard gave me that many more minutes of enjoyment of events now almost a year old.
Writing a trip report is so much fun, if only because you get to experience your Disney fun all over again. Today is
a rainy mid-may Sunday morning, and Susan has all of our Disney
planning materials spread out all over the dining room table (we
are going again in a little over two weeks), Olivia is wearing her
Tinkerbell nightgown, and we are listening to the Tapestry of Nations CD, but in my mind, I am once again having a margarita at Mexico in Epcot, watching Illuminations unfold in across the
World Showcase Lagoon. It is an incredible feeling. Those of you
who know what I mean are probably sharing some of that feeling with me at this very moment. Those of you that dont know what I mean will probably learn.
It is our great good fortune to be able to return to WDW on a regular basis, but I know that if we werent able to make the trip as often as we do, we would still cherish the vivid memories every bit as much. Reports like this one, and those of other likeminded Disney people, only intensify those memories.
Ok... enough. You have other reports to read. Take care of yourselves, and remember: "Civilization begins when the strong recognise that they have a duty to protect the weak"
