Let this be on the record : I did NOT instigate this trip... Complete :)

[marivaid]

... just tweaked it a little.

Grumpy (aka : mom) wanted to go back to Orlando. Her main reason was that, ever since we came back (August 23rd), all she's done is play nurse. No, not Dirty Nurse - and thank you for getting that image in my head, btw - just a regular nurse. My grandmother didn't feel well (she would have probably felt better had she been taking her medication), then my dad had to have minor surgery on his arm, and he didn't want to do any traveling before that surgery.... only it turns out that he doesn't want to do anything AFTER either. My mom lost it after he canceled their cruise for the third time - because it was gonna be a little cold in Dubrovnik at that time of year.

Funny, every time I hear or read Dubrovnik, I get a Roman Castevet flashback and get the urge to say "You're in Dubrovnik,I can't hear you!". Thankfully that word doesn't come up quite often in everyday conversation. Rosemary's Baby is a constant reference in my family. When Grumpy was pregnant with Jessica, she was trying to knit her some onesies. According to my grandmother, if those fit my sister, she'd have to call her Adrian

But I slightly disgress.

The other reason Grumpy wanted to go back to Orlando so soon after our last trip, was that she didn't get to go to Discovery Cove. Now, flashback to when I was planning our summer trip...
Me : "Are you sure you don't want to go with us ??"
Grumpy : "I have NO interest in this at all !"
When she saw the photos and heard about our day, of course, she whined that she didn't get to go.

After that, Jesse started talking about going back as well. She has vacation in November. I have vacation all the time, because I haven't found a job yet. I want to do something I actually LIKE, instead of working in a lousy supermarket like I've been doing for the past two and a half years.

The difference between this year and the last one is that I've never, ever, been that broke in my entire life.I am SO broke, that I can't afford the Tassimo pod thingies anymore, and have to drink instant coffee. If that's not hell, I don't know what is.
My grandmother, on my father's side, gave us some money which I'm using to pay rent and bills until I find a job I like. There is no extra for a movie ticket, let alone an international flight.

I told Grumpy & Jesse that I would be more than happy to plan a trip for the two of them but that I couldn't possibly go with them.
They both said they didn't want to go without me. My mom said that she'd paid for a much longer and more expensive trip for Jesse AND Alex (her GF) when they were both unemployed. It was my turn.

Who am I to argue with my mother????

So, anyway, Grumpy already had a plan. She wanted to go to Discovery Cove, and stay at a cheap (but not TOO cheap) I-Drive hotel. Sounds good to me, I started to search for hotels. I was surprised to see that most of our favorites were booked solid. Must be a big convention or something. Then Grumpy saw that there were some Halloween parties over at WDW - maybe we could pop over there for a day or two?

We ended up booking Coronado for our whole stay. My mom said she'd rather pay for taxis a couple times than stay at a nasty hotel on IDrive. And we could do a party! We'd just cut back on dining and only do counter services.

The bigger problem, as usual, were the flights. I've rarely booked 3 weeks before a trip and expected the prices to be bad, but not THAT bad for that time of year. 800 euros (about $1100) per person is NOT what we expected.
We were about to cancel the whole thing when I had a Bath Revelation (happens to me a lot - must be the steam or something).
Grumpy and I each have over 30,000 miles with American Airlines. AA now allows you to book your trips separately. Because Grumpy & I will be getting our Gold status with this trip, we used the points for Jessica. I got her departure flight, Grumpy got her return. All in all, with the taxes,it cost us about $130! So we ended up paying only 2 flights out of 3, which made the trip possible.
We had to leave a day early, and will spend that night at POP, but since we're arriving around midnight that's not a big deal. Jesse's thrilled, because we have a layover in Dallas, and she's always wanted to see Texas. Well, she'll see the airport

I didn't bother with ADRs since we were cutting back on dining. Then one night, when Grumpy was sleeping over, just for the heck of it I checked the price difference between the room-only discount at CSR and the free dining offer. I wanted to show Grumpy that free dining was not a good deal.
My plan failed.
For three adults :
CSR rack rate+free dining : $214/night
CSR room-only offer : $153/night
Which means that for $60 a day we could have the dining plan for the three of us. We've been to Disney often enough to know that when you have no car and have to eat all your meals on property, even if you only do CS, it's very hard to spend less than $20 per adult per day. And considering we would most likely have gone to Boma anyway, and probably a character meal as well, for once the DDP looked like a great deal.

So that's what we booked : October 27-Nov 4 at CSR, plus the night of Oct 26 at POP.



Because we only booked about 3 weeks before the trip, we had to pay the package in full when we booked. I swear, I heard Grumpy's Premier card cry.
Poor card is brand new, so it's not used to that yet. Oh, why is it brand new ? Well because on our flight back, Grumpy left her whole wallet in the seatback pocket on the plane. Because her passport wasn't in her wallet, we didn't discover that until we were on the taxi back home. Had to have my dad meet us at my apartment so he could pay the driver. THAT was fun!!!
Grumpy is now forbidden to buy alcoholic drinks on the plane - yep, that's why she took her wallet out in the first place, to buy wine.

For those who have read my previous TRs, you might be wondering why Alex isn't part of our little voyage. Well, let's just say that my sister was easy going compared to her this summer. Alex complained about the heat, and walking, queueing, and basically did nothing but sit at the computer inside the room and play games. She did that in Orlando, in Disney, and in Fort Lauderdale. My mom said, no more, she can play games at home. I will not miss her nasty attitude, and it'll give us a chance to see what Jesse is like on vacation when she's by herself.

Gotta go get myself cleaned up, waiting for the post guy to deliver what might be my Halloween Party costume, and if he sees me the way I look now, he might just run the other way with the package !

 

[bumbershoot]

Sounds great! I cannot wait to read more about this trip, which I am sure will be incredible.

 

[marivaid]

Sounds great! I cannot wait to read more about this trip, which I am sure will be incredible.

Thanks for reading I'm still fixing that schedule/ADRs a little, but watching Bones at the same time just to make sure it doesn't make me hungry again

 

[bumbershoot]

Good idea!

 

[brer_rabbit]

Yay another trip report - I've really enjoyed reading all you other ones

Hope you have a much better time than in the summer! I'm sure you'll love the halloween party

Have a great time

 

[janloz]

Signing on too. Love your previous reports.

 

[KatMark]

I'm signing up too.

 

[marivaid]

I'm waiting for Jesse to send me her pics, because I was extremely lazy with the camera this time but she films/takes pics of EVERYTHING. But I guess I can do the first couple days of our trip without her pics

Oh yeah, for those of us who haven't read our previous TRs, might be helpful if I introduced us

Grumpy aka mom, 61. Loves "baking" (aka laying on a pool chair until smokes comes out of her skin), swimming, being silly with the characters (or occasionally molesting them), and shopping! Has the Chandler Syndrome, all you have to do is point a camera at her and she'll either open her mouth, close her eyes, or make a silly/scary face. Proof in image :

Jesse aka DearSister, 34. Adores Donald, Pluto and Goofy. Loves dolphins, Shamu, and anything with a skull on it. Has her head nearly shaved and three tatoos, and it makes her look tough, which she is not at all. Is always taking pictures or filming, hence most of the pics I have of her look like this :

Me aka The Turkey, 31. Would live in Florida if someone would just get me a Green Card already! Stitch is my prince. Princesses freak me out. Planner extraordinaire who hates making changes to her schedules - but got used to it. To fit in with the family, here's my personal silly/scary pic from last summer (when Jesse stuffed cotton candy in my mouth to make me shut up) :

-----------------------

So, it was the morning of October 26th. Grumpy had slept over at my place, we'd sent the cats on vacation to Grandpa's the day before, it was cold and rainy and yucky and we were reading to get the heck out of there by 6am.

At 8am sharp the guy from the car service we always use was there to pick us up. We'd been worried because there'd been a lot of strikes in our country for a couple weeks before the trip, and some protesters were blocking gas depots, which meant hours of waiting at gas stations to get any kind of gas, that is IF the station had any. The driver told us he had enough to get us to the airport but only halfway back - so make sure you don't forget anything!

Passports - check.
Money - check.
Credit cards - check.

Off we go.

On a totally different subject, I decided (for many reasons) to quit my job back in June and try to find something that was more up my alley. That meant less money, of course, but mostly to me it was a lot less exercising (I had a very physical job) and a lot more lounging around doing nothing. As a result, I'd gained back nearly 20lbs and most of my clothes didn't fit properly anymore,especially in the belly area.

As a joke, I told my mom that maybe I was pregnant. Oh, the stupidity of youth.... she and Jesse made fun of me the WHOLE trip for that.

It started in the car, after we picked up my sister who lives only 10mns away. Of course Grumpy had to tell her the "joke" right away.

"You're gonna be an auntie!!!"

Ah-ah very funny. So, it happens that the 2 guys I've dated recently, one is a butcher, and the other one a delivery guy.

"Hey, on the bright side, if you don't know which one is the daddy, just wait 'til the kid pops out and see if he asks for a knife or for the keys to the truck."

I. Loathe. You.

She spent the whole trip to the airport sucking her thumb and doing the Psycho shower scene thing. To make matters worse, I was car sick and had to open all the windows to breathe, freezing everyone else, but "we're not mad at you, we know it happens often when women are expecting".

Oh yeah ??? Expect to be hit, realllyyyyyyy soon.

ANYWAY.
We finally get to the airport and check in at the American Airlines counter. For the first time, we're going to transfer in Dallas, which means a nearly 11h flight, a 3-hour layover, then a 2 1/2 hour flight to Orlando. I'm tired just thinking about it.

Oh-my-Lord...never again, not unless that flight is free or a LOT cheaper than our usual JFK or Miami connection. And we got lucky because the flight wasn't full and we were able to spread out a little, plus the people in front of us didn't recline their seats for too long, but still, ELEVEN HOURS on a plane, I was going insane.
I don't know why but they only put on kiddie movies, we saw Where the Wild Things are twice, plus a cartoon but I didn't pay attention. None of us were able to sleep at all during the flight.

Finally we make it to Dallas, TX. Anyone know why they always play the Illuminations music at Immigration??? I love that it's the first thing we hear when we get to American soil.
The guy at Immigration was very nice, joked with us that he wouldn't mind coming over to Disney if we had room in our checked luggage. He was cute, I would even have made space in my carryon for him

We went through Immigration in only a few minutes, continued over to baggage claim, picked our luggage and then we realized the line for customs was going all around the THREE baggage claims areas. Usually going through customs is a breeze, it only take five minutes or so. This time we were there nearly an hour. We couldn't figure why it was taking so long, all they do at customs is take your custom form, sometimes they recheck your passports and that's it.

But anyhow we managed to get through that line, then the line to give the luggage back to be checked to Orlando, then found the tram that goes all around the Dallas airport. Grumpy wanted to eat at TGI Friday's, but the one in our terminal was tiny and full, so we shared an order of McD's fries instead.
Jesse went to buy some Dallas T-Shirts and other Dallas stuff. We'd stopped at the Dallas Cowboys shop on the way, they had a ton of stuff, but $34 for a TShirt ?????? No frigging way!

Of course, Clueless Grumpy had no idea the Dallas Cowboys were a team. She said something like, it's a cowboy shop but they don't have any cowboy hats!! Jesse & I pretended we didn't know her.

On to our second flight, which was mercifully short. Again none of us were able to doze off. Finally, I thought it'd never happen, our pilot announced we were beginning our descent to Orlando.

YAY !!! Only one fake monorail ride and a bus to go, and we're THERE!!!
First, get our luggage. Okay fine, first, let the plane actually land, then get out of said plane, then get luggage.
We were all BEAT by the time we reached DME. It was 11pm and we'd been up since 6am our time - so midnight EST. Grumpy & I went in to check since we never got our DME packet. The guy was half asleep as well but I woke him up.
"How many pieces of luggage?"
I only thought of our big bags at first, then remembered we had carry ons. The answer came out like this.
"Three... Four!! Five!!!! SIX!!!!!"

The guy was cracking up and said we made his night, he still had an hour to go and that'd help him not fall asleep. We were halfway thru the line for POP and could still hear him go "Three, four, five, SIX!!".

Yes, POP. Because we were spending our first night there. CSR was full with a big convention, and we didn't mind because it'd save us about $100 a night, plus we were only going to spend a few hours there.

The DME driver must have thought everybody was too tired and cranky because he didn't put the Disney DVD on. We made a stop at Carribean Beach first, then were on our way to POP.
I was hoping we'd get to the resort before the food court closed, because we'd had a plane meal each plus some fries in the past 24 hours and we were all famished, especially Jesse. And I was dying for some tie-dye cheesecake that can only be found at POP.

We got to POP, I noticed that Luggage Assistance was closed and wondered what we'd do with our luggage - since we were only spending the night I had planned on leaving our big bags at the Luggage Services place and only taking our carryons.

Anyway we only had 7mns until the food court closed. We dropped Grumpy in the lobby with all the luggage and rushed there, grabbing what we could - which wasn't much because it was already beginning to close. I think Jessi got an Uncrustable sandwich and OJ. I got Grumpy a brownie and some OJ. We got some grapes to share, a couple small bags of chips, plus I got my tie-dye cheesecake and some cranberry juice.
The total was over $35.
I told Jesse NO MORE EATING until we are on the DDP!!!

We went back to Grumpy and she & I went to check in. I'd done the online checkin a couple days before but the girl couldn't find us. She was doing all she could but we were nowhere to be found. She did say, while she was searching, that luggage assistance wasn't really closed and that if we'd just knock on the door someone would come out and we could store our luggage there for the night.

Then she figured out what was wrong - it was past midnight, and the reservation system was already showing October 27th arrivals. She went back to the day before and found us. Once we got our keys, Jesse & I went to the luggage assistance with our bags. I knocked on the door and a boy opened the door, seriously, a boy, I would say about twelve (okay fine he was probably 18 or 19, but any man under the age of 30 is twelve to me). I was worried that our bags would be heavier than him and wanted to put them on a cart but he said he would manage just fine.

Our room was in the 90s, the buidling with the big Rubik's cube. Never been in that one before.

The refurbished rooms look great !!! The beds are so much more comfortable (and higher).

Hmmmmm tie-dye cheesecake....

There was just one little problem. My lips were blue, my teeth were blue, there was blue and red and yellow on my fingers that wouldn't go away. I brushed my teeth four times that night and it still wouldn't go away! I was worried because we were most likely going to Discovery Cove the next morning and I didn't want to scare the dolphins...

But too tired to care. We needed a shower, badly, then we got into bed. I shared with Grumpy, but I'd brought a sheet so I could just roll myself in it and not bother her. Anyway we were all too beat. I could have shared a bed with Hulk and still slept just fine. I could have shared a bed with Matthew McConaughey and let him sleep with his PJ top on.
Scary.

We set the clock for 7am. Initially we were supposed to go to Discovery Cove on November 1st, but had to do it as soon as we got to Orlando because of, well, if you're a woman, you don't need me to explain why.
So we had to wake up very early so I could call & make sure we could go that day, and if they indeed were able to accomodate us, we'd need to get there quick. We also had to stop by CSR to leave our valuables and luggage.
And still get to Cove by 10am.
Nice way to start our "quiet, calm and relaxing vacation", eh??
It was a little before 2am when we finally turned off the lights.

Coming up : I wanna swim in the corals, I wanna swim with the... TAKE ME OUTTA HERE!!!!

 

[Backstage_Gal]

Hi Marina,

I am excited you are doing another TR,, I have read all your other ones (I think).
I totally hear you on the looong travel time, I just got back from Germany and it was close to 20 hours with the connecting flight, sooo tiring....

Hope you find a job you like soon, being out of work sucks!
Looking forward to the rest of your trip.

 

[bumbershoot]

You have started! I'm so excited.

In that picture of your mom...is she giving a strange look because of Goofy's pants/waist-band situation?

 

[marivaid]

Hi Marina,

I am excited you are doing another TR,, I have read all your other ones (I think).
I totally hear you on the looong travel time, I just got back from Germany and it was close to 20 hours with the connecting flight, sooo tiring....

Hope you find a job you like soon, being out of work sucks!
Looking forward to the rest of your trip.

Thanks for reading !!!! 20hours to Germany, wow... what did you go there for, vacation? Somehow it's always more worth it if it's for vacation

You have started! I'm so excited.

In that picture of your mom...is she giving a strange look because of Goofy's pants/waist-band situation?

OMG I had not even noticed the waistband situation (which, FYI, Grumpy didn't cause, she's been very good at keeping her hands away from character's crotches after the infamous Pluto incident).
But, no, that's not what made her do that face. It's just something she does when you try to take a pic of her

 

[bumbershoot]

(which, FYI, Grumpy didn't cause, she's been very good at keeping her hands away from character's crotches after the infamous Pluto incident).

I choose to believe you.

 

[Heluvsme]

Oh Marina, finding this this morning has made my day! Your trip reports are among my favorites, they make me laugh!! And I love seeing Disney through your eyes!

Also, I hope you're able to find employment soon, that is really and truly something you enjoy doing! Have you thought about being a travel agent? I think you'd be fabulous at it! That math you do when you're figuring out frequent flier miles boggles my mind!

~Dawn

 

[Tribilín]

Yeaaahhhh A new TR! I'm in! I'm in!

 

[loopymommy]

I'm so glad you're doing another trip report! Can't wait to read the updates!

 

[marivaid]

Oh Marina, finding this this morning has made my day! Your trip reports are among my favorites, they make me laugh!! And I love seeing Disney through your eyes!

Also, I hope you're able to find employment soon, that is really and truly something you enjoy doing! Have you thought about being a travel agent? I think you'd be fabulous at it! That math you do when you're figuring out frequent flier miles boggles my mind!

Thanks for reading !!! Yes I'd love to be a travel agent. I actually have some kind of degree in that, but so far, no luck. I had an interview just before we left but they picked someone else

Yeaaahhhh A new TR! I'm in! I'm in!

I'm so glad you're doing another trip report! Can't wait to read the updates!

Thanks for reading !!!!


A little HS, I think I'm officially bonkers. We haven't even been back for a week, and I'm already planning the next trip. I even booked some dining reservations!! Tellin' ya, I'm NUTS !!! I would really like our dad to come this time but it's so hard to get him moving...

 

[Heluvsme]

Oh Marina, I'm sorry. What a loss for them that they didn't choose you!

I have a friend in Scotland who's a travel agent from home, she owns her own internet travel company. She and her husband and son go on frequent trips just from her perks from booking trips!! Hotels comp her, airlines comp her, they recently took a 14 day trip here to the US,mostlyl paid for by the airlines and hotels, as a "perk" for her since she had booked so many online vacations. She really knows her stuff, and like you she holds some degree, I'm not sure what it is though.

Another trip? You are nuts! But thankfully so, we're all benefitting from your "nuttiness!"

~Dawn

 

[rndmr2]

I was glad to see you are doing another TR, Can't wait to hear all about your trip!

 

[marivaid]

Hi all, if anybody's still reading this
I'm waiting for Jesse to send me her Cove pictures because I don't have many at all, and let's face it, a picture-free TR is just boring.

I'm also rethinking our April trip. Besides the fact that Jesse & I seem to be the only two excited about it, it just isn't coming together at all. First of all I can't get the airline tickets I need with my miles at this time, plus we would go to Disney smack-dab into the Easter peak season. Higher rates, more crowds... and my father has the patience of a 2 year old with ADD. Grumpy wanted to spend a few days in NYC before going to Florida but good luck finding one or two rooms for FIVE adults in NY!! Not to mention, how do we manage with cabs?? I've never seen van cabs in NYC.


OK and I have to admit something else... Alex's birthday is in April. We can't take a trip on her birthday and not include her. But we don't really want her there. I don't want a repeat of this summer, neither does Grumpy. So I don't think the April trip is going to happen.

On another unrelated note, anyone know how to get this moved to the regular TR board???

 

[marivaid]

(Okay I'm sick of waiting for Jesse's pics, mine'll have to do!)

Grumpy woke up first that morning, a little before 7am. I was still in semi-coma but heard her, poor Grumpy was in the dark, trying to find the leftover OJ which was in the ice bucket. Which we had filled with ice only a few hours earlier.

Quick, flip on the lights before she drops that ice water all over herself!!!

Jesse was still sleeping. She makes grunting noises in the early morning, it's so funny. She's probably trying to talk but all that comes out is stuff like "huh? muhmuh, ahuh meh muh nuh!".

So today we had to act fast. Had to call Discovery Cove ASAP to make sure we could come today. We got our confirmation papers, located the phone number. I waited until after 7am to call, since I didn't expect them to be open any earlier. It was not yet opened for the day. An hour later, the lines were still not open, we were all awake by then and starting to worry.

I knew there had to be someone we could call, since we'd gone to Discovery Cove that summer and had checked in around 8am. But the phone number we had was the central reservation center - for all we know it could be based in Utah or the Taj Mahal.

Jesse had the idea of looking up the Yellow Pages and found a different number. Go DearSister!! We got someone right away and she told us it would be no problem for us to come today. YESS !!! I was shocked when the lady told me that we would also get $138 back. While I had noticed that the prices were lower that day, I certainely didn't expect them to refund us anything, since we were changing dates at the last minute.
Hats off to Discovery Cove!

As soon as I got off the phone and confirmed to my mom & sis that we could indeed go today, we got ready and headed out. All in all, we spent less than 9 hours at POP Century.
We left the building, crossed the parking lot again. It was about a litttle before 9 by then, and there were loads and loads of people waiting for the buses. CSR spoiled us. While I really like POP, I also hate waiting for those buses.
Off to baggage claim we went. I had the receipt in my camera bag and in two minutes we retrieved our luggage, got in a cab, and we were on our way to Coronado Springs.

Last summer one of the bell services men had hit on Grumpy - seriously!!! He's a tall black gentleman and she was in looooooooove. So she was a bit disappointed when we got to CSR, saw him, and that he didn't remember her. After all they'd been through together!!!!!
Nevertheless, he loaded our bags onto a cart and we asked him to please store them for us. We went to check in.

Now you may ask, why didn't we go straight from POP to Discovery Cove and let POP transfer our luggage?
We'd thought about it and decided against it. First, Jesse and I both had our laptops. Grumpy had quite an important amount of cash, plus all our passports. When we are in the US our passports never leave the safe - we bring our regular ID cards and use those instead.
I know first hand how LOVELY it is to try and go back home when you've lost your passport - not going through that again.

Because we knew we'd most likely head to Cove the first day, we'd packed whatever we needed for that day in our carryons which we had with us overnight. Before leaving POP, we'd transferred all our Cove stuff into a separate tote bag, Jesse took the two laptops and Grumpy put all the valuables in her purse.
There was no one waiting to check in but us, and I had done the online checkin for CSR as well, so it went really fast. Our room was not ready at 9am, not that we had expected it to. We requested the Ranchos, the area most guests DONT want to be in. It's our favorite. The CM said it was her favorite, too. She also said they would send us a text message when our room was ready, but the system is not setup to take international phone numbers. It didn't really matter, as we explained to her, we needed to store some stuff in one of the safety boxes and would need to stop by the front desk to retrieve it. So we'd just ask for our room number there.

I don't know if others resorts have this, but CSR has a separate room with safety boxes. It's located behind the front desk. We have used it before, and it was convenient that day. Guests have to wait outside the room, while the CM enters from another door. You can not get into that room without a CM. So it's a lot safer than using a locker at a park, for example.
Grumpy & Jesse went in to put the laptops, Jesse's camcorder, and Grumpy's purse in there.

I forgot to say that because of recent asthma issues, Jesse had been put on Prednisone (steroids) a few days before the trip. I've had to take this thing before and it makes you hungry, all the time. She was starving by then so we went to Cafe Rix and used our first dining plan credits on a cherry danish and a bottle of water. Jesse'd never had a cherry danish before and she thought it was delicious. It was the hardest thing keeping her away from these pieces of evil through the trip

Then we were FINALLY on our way to Discovery Cove. It seemed a lot emptier than when we were there in August.

We checked in, and got our IDs (oh how I loathe those photos - they stretch your head and make you look like an alien!!! Like I need help looking weird!!!).
Grumpy wanted her coffee, Jesse was hungry again and so was I, so we stopped to have breakfast.
Jesse got her beloved oatmeal with pieces of apple in it, Grumpy & I had a mix of mini danishes, croissants and fruit. It was pretty good! All meals are included with the admission price at Discovery Cove, and they really do a good job offering guests fresh stuff.

After breakfast came the one part I truly hate about Cove : changing into bathing suits and wearing the jackets. I am a biiiiig girl and a very self conscious big girl at that. I'm telling ya, Cove must be worth it if I'm willing to stay in a bathing suit all day for it.

You can get either a vest or a wetsuit. Jesse went for the wetsuit. I had tried to get into one of those this summer, and barely made it out alive, so I went for the vest. Grumpy got a vest. We went to get showered and changed, then when I saw Jesse in the wetsuit I thought it'd be a little less scary on me than a bathing suit and a jacket that stops right above my humongous belly. But I was worried I would never be able to get into it. She said she'd help me and even went to fetch me one.


Then she proceeded to get me inside of it. Ohmylord... She told me to get in the shower (in my bathing suit, don't start puking over there!!!!!!!!!!!) and helped me get my legs in the suit, then get the suit up, and finally put the top part on and zip it up. I laughed like a maniac, then I panicked, almost cried, Jesse was VERY patient and helpful. We made it !!!!!! I was inside a wetsuit - and still alive!!!!!

We went straight to the lazy river, that goes all around the little island that is Discovery Cove. I love swimming there. Last summer Jesse & I went around it five times before lunch, then did our dolphin swim, and went around two more times. I honestly could spend the whole day just going around and around.

But we had something else to conquer that day. I had been talking Jesse's ears off about the Coral Reef (no, not the restaurant . It's an area of Discovery Cove where you can swim among the coral and fishes. It's beautiful. Well, it's supposed to be. If you stay in. Turns out, I'm megafreaked by fishes. I hate when fishes touch my feet and legs, especially. This time, I was adamant that I *would* swim in there.
The water is very cold which I don't really mind. I was in the water for about five seconds when a big huge grayish fish touched the tip of my foot.

"I gotta get out of here !!!!!!!"

I panicked and if I could have ran away, I would have. Not so easy in the water, I had enough trouble walking out. OK, I told myself, I would try again later. Went for another round of the lazy river instead. Then Jesse managed to get me into the stingray pool.

Of course, everyone is trying to get TO the stingrays when I'm trying to avoid them, and who do they all come to ? Me, of course. Turns out, I'm a fish magnet. While the stingrays come to you and will let you touch them, they don't actually try to touch you, unlike those evil fishes in the coral reef. So I managed to stay in there for a little while.

Unbelievable - it was already 1pm!!! Jesse and Grumpy were doing the dolphin swim at 2.50. I had decided not to do it this time. It helped bring the cost down for the 3 of us, plus I wanted to take photos. You're not allowed to take a camera in the water with you.

Guess what - Jesse was hungry so we went to lunch.

Grumpy said she needed to go back to the locker to get her money.
"Why? Everything's included."
"This morning I saw they had beer and I want one with lunch."
"It's included. Breakfast, lunch, and unlimited snacks and beer."

Now you picture Grumpy stopping dead in her tracks and the two of us behind her nearly falling ontop of her (that would have been the end of her).

"UNLIMITED beer?"
"Yup."
"For free???"
"Yup."
"And you're only telling me this now??????"
"Well PARDON ME, I didn't think you'd want beer with breakfast."

We went into the line. Grumpy asked me three times if she could get beer here, because she couldn't see any bottles. It's on tap. Now stop asking me or I'm taking you out of here and into the nearest AA meeting.

Grumpy went with the chicken caesar salad (and beer!), I got the salmon with vegetables, and Jesse got a veggie burger. We also got side salads, fresh fruit, and cheesecake. Everything tasted great. When Jesse was done with her veggie burger and salad she said she was still hungry and went back in the restaurant. I expected her to get another side salad, or some fries, but she came back with a second veggie burger AND a shrimp cocktail salad, plus another slice of cake.
Jesse had lost a lot of weight before we left, and she'd been eating very little for months, so it was really out of character for her. Grumpy can't understand that, but I know the feeling - last time I was on Prednisone I nearly ate Epcot.

Grumpy decided she needed another Bud Light to wash down her cheesecake.
I didn't think that was a good idea at all but she didn't ask my opinion.


About half an hour later, she was sprawled on a beach chair and Jesse and I kept telling her to speak and not yell. Guys, the Grump was HAMMERED.