Like...They are Going with STRANGERS?!?! Sayonara Part 1- Join Us on the new thread!

[All7OfUs]

Virus, virus go away!
Come again some other day!

...okay, there is absolutely no medical rationale that tells me this will help, but it sounded good.


Kathy

That it did!!!

LOVE your new stylin' ticker! A Christmas trip is going to be so fun!!!

 

[winkers]

I hope you're feeling better this morning....or is it evening...anyway get better!

 

[Sleepingbooty]

Rebecca, thanks!!! It was so sudden we are all still very surprised. Apparently it was a VERY hard day in Salem.

My own Rebekah is having to go on a antibiotic now, her cough is deeper and the fever has hung around for over a week- poor thing!

Poor thing - and now you, too! Have her drugs kicked in yet? Maybe you should just go ahead and help yourself to some too!

I see I missed the clue. I guess I could go back and look for it... but that would be a lot of trouble considering I probably won't know the answer anyway

 

[eandesmom]

I feel like I never got to this post as things turned sour just as you put it up. First off, Western Oregon has a HUGE Hispanic population. In the town of Woodburn alone the demographics say that it is 26% Latino!!!!! The reason is the high agriculture, but many are becoming permanent citizens. Yeah, I'm going to need/ want some Spanish.



It is truly a Godsend having Gulnara to help me! When we first arrived, I was literally drowning in dishes and laundry. I did VERY little else, as I had to study language 40 hours a week.



It would be very weird for me to NOT have a helper around the house. Here's how it works here. The youngest male child ALWAYS stays home after he is married, and his wife becomes the "slave" of the home. They are expected to care for the aging parents, but in return inherit the home and land. So there is always a helper in the home. For older siblings and their families, there is a social system of younger women being obligated to help when circumstances arise such as parties, new babies, etc... to go over and help the relative. So, to have someone around to share the load is normal, and necessary. No one has ever batted an eye about us having someone to help with shopping, prep cooking, laundry, or cleaning. She also pays our bills and navigates property/neighbor issues. Most women in the US HAVE househelpers but do not realize it. They are called vacuum cleaners, butchers who grind their meat for them, clothes dryers, automatic bill pay, and sidewalks to keep most of the mud out of the house. We have none of those.



Pul-eeze.... but then again, I don't know the whole story either.



She is an amazing role model that's for sure!! But from a completely different culture with different social obligations than we have. Nevertheless, we can certainly learn a lot from her!



I don't think it's from lack of knowledge, but more from missing a clue or 2 due to the busy-ness of life. Don't worry about it; it was really meant to be a fun source of diversion rather than a cut throat game, right?? (Shhhh, don't tell Tim or Cynthia, though)

Interesting on the Spanish. Evan's school is the ESL school for the east side of our district and so we have some exposure to it but I was fascinated to see on Eric's teacher conference schedule 3 different translators scheduled for the parent conferences.

Of course now I can't recall which languages but none were Spanish. I know there was Russian, I want to say Somali and something else that was really unusual. It was amazing to me to see that the district could even provide translation for all of them.

I can't imagine homeschooling and doing everything around the house without help. Trying to manage all of that and working full time is really hard without some kind of help and you are right to put it in perspective. While someone to work on the yard, or clean the house, or help prepare meals or schlepp kids around would be a godsend to most working mothers we DO have so many things that we take for granted, like dishwashers and washing machines and vacuum cleaners!

And....

I saw that!

hmmph.

That's me. Cut throat. Though to be fair a couple of people at the PTA board meeting last night may have thought so.

 

[All7OfUs]

I hope you're feeling better this morning....or is it evening...anyway get better!

It's evening. We're watching Cars, and eating Hot Fudge Cake. Nothing helps me feel better than a big plate of warm, gooey choco cake!! Ka-chow!!!

Poor thing - and now you, too! Have her drugs kicked in yet? Maybe you should just go ahead and help yourself to some too!

I see I missed the clue. I guess I could go back and look for it... but that would be a lot of trouble considering I probably won't know the answer anyway

Yeah, I hope it's just stress and grief all piled up, and will go away after a good night's sleep!

I think this was a pretty easy clue, and it's not too far back. It was a game of NOTs. (elimination sort of)

 

[All7OfUs]

Of course now I can't recall which languages but none were Spanish. I know there was Russian, I want to say Somali and something else that was really unusual. It was amazing to me to see that the district could even provide translation for all of them.

As if Somali wasn't unusual enough.

I can't imagine homeschooling and doing everything around the house without help. Trying to manage all of that and working full time is really hard without some kind of help and you are right to put it in perspective. While someone to work on the yard, or clean the house, or help prepare meals or schlepp kids around would be a godsend to most working mothers we DO have so many things that we take for granted, like dishwashers and washing machines and vacuum cleaners!

Just grinding our meat if we want spaghetti takes a half hour. Dishes take another half hour. (3 times a day)

And....

I saw that!

hmmph.

That's me. Cut throat. Though to be fair a couple of people at the PTA board meeting last night may have thought so.

Then, we're a lot alike

I have to check TGurl's thread first thing to make sure I haven't missed a clue over there each morning.

 

[jenbear123]

I thought I planned far in advance. You already had a rough draft of plans a year ahead of time I know that they were very tentative plans (they've probably already changed by now - just haven't got there yet) but that's still pretty good. I guess any DISer is bound to have a decent plan of action if they were to just get up and go to Disney tomorrow.

Your park bag looks great with the added green Mickey - oops! I mean Minnie Too bad the zipper broke not two minutes after you got it. I can't imagine what shops must be like there. It's an amazing contrast to our overblown consumerism here in North America.

No, you're not the only one that obsesses over their budget. If anyone says they don't, they're lying. Only reason you won't see number crunching much here on the boards is because we all hate math! $50 for souvenirs? Honey, you've got some goooood control!

You have a blog? Can you send me the link?

Love your quilts. I salute to your handiwork. To keep my mind off of upcoming trips (and going insane from the excitement) I've taken up horseback riding (as you may have read in my PTR?) It keeps me out of trouble and as long as I don't fall and break my arm *knock on wood* it keeps me entertained.

Off to work I go!

 

[All7OfUs]

I thought I planned far in advance. You already had a rough draft of plans a year ahead of time I know that they were very tentative plans (they've probably already changed by now - just haven't got there yet) but that's still pretty good. I guess any DISer is bound to have a decent plan of action if they were to just get up and go to Disney tomorrow.

Likely, they've all changed. But I think we're fairly firm in what we've got now. As soon as Rations Drop is over and the last couple of installments of my Retro Trip report is done. I'm going to start posting our daily itineraries. Hopefully that will coincide with starting Vol.II of this PTR.

You are so right. If I won a trip to WDW tomorrow, I would pretty much be ready. Given the park hours and stuff, I could put together a decent trip and feel good about it.

Your park bag looks great with the added green Mickey - oops! I mean Minnie Too bad the zipper broke not two minutes after you got it. I can't imagine what shops must be like there. It's an amazing contrast to our overblown consumerism here in North America.

thanks!! In fact, as my DH was frantically packing yesterday for his trip to the States, I ran across my bag, and it reminded me I need to get it out and gaze at it once more. I also need to finish up maroo's and LeeAnn's Minnies for them. I really have so much more to do to really be ready. I like having this planned out so far ahead. I can really take my time, and not feel rushed about doing this or that. In fact, I was thinking about our window decorations too yesterday. need to get busy on that!

No, you're not the only one that obsesses over their budget. If anyone says they don't, they're lying. Only reason you won't see number crunching much here on the boards is because we all hate math! $50 for souvenirs? Honey, you've got some goooood control!

I. Hate. Math. I can do it, but it wears me out.

Well, I may end up doing more in the souvie dept. now, because I decided to add some park music CDs to the list. Souvies will be a whole series of posts coming up soon! Stay tuned for that.

You have a blog? Can you send me the link?

The link is in my siggie. It's the image with the camel on it. Just click there, and it should take you right to it.

Love your quilts. I salute to your handiwork. To keep my mind off of upcoming trips (and going insane from the excitement) I've taken up horseback riding (as you may have read in my PTR?) It keeps me out of trouble and as long as I don't fall and break my arm *knock on wood* it keeps me entertained.

Off to work I go!

I did read that, and responded too. I said that I liked to ride as a kid, but it's a hobby that has outpaced my budget these days. LOL! Quilting is affordable and requires only a little creativity and patience.

 

[jordanyosh]

I hope you're getting some good rest Liesa.

I had the same head exploding feeling this past week with no fever. People are saying it's a virus...

 

[All7OfUs]

Up to this point in this narrative, our merry little party had traveled the longest route possible to Orlando via motor home. By the time we got there, my parents were having serious second thoughts about whether this whole idea of going on a road trip with 4 kids in a 35 footer and visiting Disney World fell into the category of “fun” or “not”. I rather think it fell to the “not”. Once there, we found out very quickly just how clueless we were about the World. Disneyland, as it was in the 70’s and 80’s, was the extent of our knowledge and our only paradigm. Little did we know how vastly different the two resorts really were. I found out in 2004 just how much my beloved Motherland of DLR had changed as well. Sigh….

As I’ve said before, however, it was Disney, and no matter how clueless one is, it’s pretty hard to have a “bad” time; it just could have been better given more research (ok, well any research might have helped). At the end of the last chapter, we had just bailed on AK. We were chilly, and frankly bored. To us it was a zoo without the animals. Remember, I told you that I somehow thought that Florida was the perennially hot spot weather-wise? I was so wrong. It can get pretty cold there once in a while, and the week we were there happened to be one of the whiles. It was becoming obvious that, despite my best intentions to make the best use of the parks’ hours, our crew would need free sustenance (read Grandma's cooking) and warmer clothes in order to continue on. So back to the Fort we trudged, folding the stroller for every bus and tram we encountered. I was glad it was only an umbrella!

I think by the time we finally negotiated the now familiar Fort bus system and found our Loop it was around 3:00. We must have eaten a quick meal or something, and the decision was made that the 2 youngest would stay back with Grandma and Grandpa, while the oldest 2 and I headed over to the Magic Kingdom for a night time foray into havens of entertainment. Our tickets must have been those that would allow us to visit more than one park per day, since that is what we did. I had trained my kids very early on to be night owls like myself, so staying up late was going to be no problem. Honestly, I don’t recall any such thing as EMH, but we were going to stay until closing whatever time that was. My philosophy was, and still kind of is, take every hour that you can, give nothing back. And we did. We had fun. I don’t remember a thing we did, but I’m sure it was great. How could getting there on a cute little launch be anything but? We had warmer clothes on. We didn’t have to lug a stroller around. It was bliss.

But here’s really how I remember that we stayed out late. As we got off the bus at our loop’s entrance back at the ranch, and sleepily, yet satisfied with having had a delightful time, made our way back to our behemoth on wheels, we saw it! Well, actually at first we didn’t see it, we heard it. A soft rustling in the bushes just ahead startled us. Then we saw them. Two beady read eyes just like right out of the Haunted Mansion!! I think I let out a quick yelp, then burst out laughing. We had the extremely good fortune to spot our second armadillo!! The three of us watched him amble over to his next door neighbor’s front yard in great delight before we moved on, and I think even to this day, that that cute little creature in armored skin made a bigger impression on us than did all of Cindy’s Carousel horses.

That was the end of our 2nd day of Disney World touring. We had seen two parks, one having made a pretty dull impression on us. I can say that our opinion of AK has greatly improved since that first stop. Had we known the backstory, that you sort of have to make a game of it to see the animals, and that there were shows worth seeing, well, we might have had a more favorable opinion. We just weren’t prepared to tour a park with that mindset.

Tomorrow would be another day, and EPCOT was in the plans. Would it live up to our expectations of Disney-induced fun?? How would our only sit-down meal be? This and much more coming up.

 

[jordanyosh]

AK is a love/hate kind of park. For many people, it's their least favorite park.

I can truly understand that as really, there are only a few major attractions in the park. Most of the other attractions and shows require a whole paradigm shift in how you view theme parks. Most people can't make the shift which is too bad.

Armadillos. Are the bigger than possums?

 

[winkers]

We spotted an armidillo crossing the sidewalk on our last trip...whenever I think of them I remember the grooms cake in Steel magnolias....grey on the outside and red velvet inside.

so to me, they look like tasty little things.

 

[winkers]

I love AK mostly for it's themeing...is that a word?

Any way, i truly feel like I'm somewhere else. florida seems to disappear when i walk in.
for me, it's harder to enjoy with all my kids because they aren't interested in all the details.
But when it's just me and dh, I love to take my time...oh and I always get lost at least once.

 

[All7OfUs]

AK is a love/hate kind of park. For many people, it's their least favorite park.

I can truly understand that as really, there are only a few major attractions in the park. Most of the other attractions and shows require a whole paradigm shift in how you view theme parks. Most people can't make the shift which is too bad.

Armadillos. Are the bigger than possums?

That's what I was getting at. Now that I know where to look for the visual puns and hidden gems- you know the not-so-obvious, but great stuff that Imagineering comes up with, I can go with a different set of eyes. Honestly, I can say even with the paradigm shift I have to make, I like it better than Future World. Maybe even better than DHS. I like it for photo ops for sure!

opossums?? Don't know. Never seem one. Apparently my recently deceased grandfather would hunt them for dinner in Arkansas though. That was during the depression. I actually have a recipe or two for stewed possum!

We spotted an armidillo crossing the sidewalk on our last trip...whenever I think of them I remember the grooms cake in Steel magnolias....grey on the outside and red velvet inside.

so to me, they look like tasty little things.

but chewy.

 

[jordanyosh]

That's what I was getting at. Now that I know where to look for the visual puns and hidden gems- you know the not-so-obvious, but great stuff that Imagineering comes up with, I can go with a different set of eyes. Honestly, I can say even with the paradigm shift I have to make, I like it better than Future World. Maybe even better than DHS. I like it for photo ops for sure!

opossums?? Don't know. Never seem one. Apparently my recently deceased grandfather would hunt them for dinner in Arkansas though. That was during the depression. I actually have a recipe or two for stewed possum!

AK, theming wise, is my favorite park. If I want to go to a park and relax, I go to AK.

Come visit my house and just wait around late at night. We have lots of possums..In fact one was hanging out at my front door a few weeks ago. I thought it was a cat at first.....

 

[shannn]

Okay, y'all need to point me towards some things to read about AK so that I can appreciate the theming. Reading about the worlds in MK really added to my love of the place. AK is actually pretty boring to me, too. Once I've done the Safari, Kali, and It's Tough to be a Bug, I'm pretty much done. I need some education!

Now, DHS I adore!! I can just wander around Hollywood Blvd. for days. The Art Deco details are amazing.

I need to find some books or something about Imagineering. Any ideas?

 

[that's nice]

Okay, y'all need to point me towards some things to read about AK so that I can appreciate the theming. Reading about the worlds in MK really added to my love of the place. AK is actually pretty boring to me, too. Once I've done the Safari, Kali, and It's Tough to be a Bug, I'm pretty much done. I need some education!

Now, DHS I adore!! I can just wander around Hollywood Blvd. for days. The Art Deco details are amazing.

I need to find some books or something about Imagineering. Any ideas?

I think I've posted this B4 but it is an interesting read on DinoLand. Knowing the backstory makes walking through it a tad more tolerable! Just do yourself a favor... don't wait more than 5 minutes for Primeval Whirl!

Copied from thread... http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1609670

I posted this in another thread but its dead and since the story is interesting I wanted to share. I noticed A LOT of people who bad mouth Dinorama complaining it looks like a cheap theme park... In fact one person went so far as to imply that people who think its cool or fun don't love Disney or understand the old Disney. Having worked there for a couple of years and having spent more time in those parks playing around (pretty much every day before or after work) than most people I feel I have a pretty good understanding and I happen to like Dinorama's theming. A comparison was made to Dumbo which, while a traditional ride, was themed to make the rider believe they are Dumbo. The poster complained that Dinorama was just a cheap group of rides and had no value because it wasn't themed.

Unfortunately for the poster, he couldn't be more wrong. Dinorama is actually brillantly themed to the area and the Back Story of Dinoland. However, since many... including the Poster... don't know this story and since Disney has cut some elements that explain the story OR people don't take the time to actually look around and take in the subtlety of areas of the parks and really explore... the erroneous idea that Disney just threw up some garbage attraction continues to be out there... an idea that is not only dead wrong but insulting to the imagineers who worked their butts off in building that park. I've met Joe Rhodee, the guy who designed the park, and believe me, he doesn't just throw cheap junk up... there is a reason for nearly everything...


TO enlighten those who do not know, HERE is the story behind Dino Land. I was an opening crew Cast Member for Animal Kingdom and we were told this story as we were touring the park led by one of the imagineers. This was during my first college program in 1998. It is one of my favorite Disney back stories and began a fascination with these stories.

Story Begins!!!

So in such and such year (It was given but I can't remember, however if one explores the area they can figure it out I believe) Dinosaur fossils were found in the area. It was a HUGE fossil find and generated a lot of excitement. There is a BIG DIG SITE where fossils are uncovered (This is the purpose of The Boneyard Playground site within the theme... it represents the dig site) The Dino Institute bought up the land in the area and hired a bunch of grad students to work the find (I don't know if they are still there but when the park opened there were Streetmosphere performers who did a show AS THE GRAD STUDENTS who were there to dig the site). The Grad students hung out at a local cafe on their off time (Which brings Restraurantosaurus into the theming of the area)... if you look closely you can see where they have signed their names, left journals and other things and even momentos in the cafe. The Dino Institute in the meantime needed to make some money to keep funding the dig. So they opened up a time travel adventure (Countdown to Extinction which was a MUCH better name... but now known as Dinosaur... and YES it was planned from the beginning to be tied into the movie... we heard that as well which was the first most of us heard they were DOING a Dinosaur movie...). Using time machines, they could transport people back in time to see the dinosaurs living... thus raising money to fund the dig through the ride and of course the Dino Institute Gift Shop.

Ok At this point we have covered story elements of:

The Boneyard
Restaurantosaurus
Dinosaur
Dino Institute Gift Shop
Streetmo actors (although I am not sure if they still perform)

Sue wasn't really tied into the story, but fits the theme since they were cleaning the bones when the park first opened and did a big part of it in DAK. They just never claimed Sue came from the Dig site or anything...

The Theatre in the Wild (or what ever its called) where Nemo is now (and had the Jungle Book which was horrific and Tarzan Rocks which was mediocre) was never really considered a part of Dinoland and thus just shares proximity but not theming.

So this just leaves Dinorama and Chester and Hesters which is where the story resumes...

So when the fossils were found Dino Institute bought up all the land, but there was ONE owner who refused to sell. The names of the owners were... (and you might start to see where this is going) Chester and Hester. Chester and Hester owned a gas station and once the dig site became a tourist attraction, they decided to turn part of their Gas Station into a shop to sell cheap dinosaur items to tourist... basically turning the gas station into a Roadside Attraction (much like South of the Border, Wall Drug, etc).

Now Dino Rama wasn't part of the original story, but it writes itself... Chester and Hester refused to sell and opened a roadside attraction tourist trap to make money from all the tourists. Dino rama IS THAT TOURIST TRAP. THE WHOLE PURPOSE IS THAT ITS SUPPOSED TO LOOK LIKE A CHEAP TOURIST TRAP BECAUSE THATS THE THEME!!!!! The imagineers purposedly did this to fit into the Chester and Hester enviroment.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...&ct=image&cd=2

Look at the DAK Map over at Dinoland. Notice the area sectioning it off from the rest of Dinoland... its because the Dino Institute owns all of Dinoland EXCEPT Chester and Hesters and Dinorama which is owned by Chester and Hester.

Personally, the rides are mediocre and I agree more could have been done, but not too much since they went to the extreme in keeping the theme. The THEMING is brilliant and fits perfectly with what they are trying to do.

So just as an FYI, next time in DAK spend some time and REALLY look around DIno land. Look at Chester and Hesters and find the gas dispensers, toolboxes etc. Look at Restaurantosaurus and find all the grad student stuff. It was really brilliant in the subtlety of the theming.. THe problem is as COOL as this is IF YOU KNOW THE STORY behind it (just like Haunted mansion makes SO much more sense if you know the story of the bride and groom, etc) if you don't know it... well it just looks lame. Disney Imagineers come up with elaborate back stories... they need to share them or make it a bit more obvious. A Chester and Hester Streetmo would go a LONG way as well as the Grad students in getting this story told.

SO that's the long and short. Hope you found it interesting.

 

[winkers]

Okay, y'all need to point me towards some things to read about AK so that I can appreciate the theming. Reading about the worlds in MK really added to my love of the place. AK is actually pretty boring to me, too. Once I've done the Safari, Kali, and It's Tough to be a Bug, I'm pretty much done. I need some education!

Now, DHS I adore!! I can just wander around Hollywood Blvd. for days. The Art Deco details are amazing.

I need to find some books or something about Imagineering. Any ideas?

I don't even know where to start about the theming. I love the architecture and the way it's been made to look old..there's so much to notice...signs, statues...I love the area around EE..seeing all the prayer flags .

I realy am not a zoo person...I get bored quickly at them. But I love walking the trails in AK....seeing tigers in what looks like anciet ruins, and none of the animals look like they are "caged".

there's just so many little things that makes it magical to me.

 

[All7OfUs]

I need to find some books or something about Imagineering. Any ideas?

I bought the series of Imagineering Field Guides (they are still writing the DHS one), and they are excellent!! There is a lot of talk about the backstory, and the rationales for theming the way they did for each of the parks. I'd highly recommend them!

I think I've posted this B4 but it is an interesting read on DinoLand. Knowing the backstory makes walking through it a tad more tolerable! Just do yourself a favor... don't wait more than 5 minutes for Primeval Whirl!

Copied from thread... http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1609670

I remember this very well!! It is a great write-up, but sadly doesn't make me any more excited about Dinoland. I get it, but don't- if that makes sense.

I don't even know where to start about the theming. I love the architecture and the way it's been made to look old..there's so much to notice...signs, statues...I love the area around EE..seeing all the prayer flags .

I realy am not a zoo person...I get bored quickly at them. But I love walking the trails in AK....seeing tigers in what looks like anciet ruins, and none of the animals look like they are "caged".

there's just so many little things that makes it magical to me.

Sadly, the first time, we didn't get it AT ALL. Then in 2008, we came, went and saw, but didn't really SEE as I intend to in Sept. Knowing what I know now, and having done more research, I think I know where and HOW to look for the special touches that make it such a beautiful park.

 

[eandesmom]

As if Somali wasn't unusual enough.

Just grinding our meat if we want spaghetti takes a half hour. Dishes take another half hour. (3 times a day)

Then, we're a lot alike

I know, Somali! I swear the other one was even more unusual....but I don't think it was blankistani!

I'd become a vegetarian I think.

Or make Jeff grind the meat.

So cute, the boys were checking out the Yurt (picture coming, I promise!) and asking about it and I was telling them about you and the fact that someday they might get to meet you since even though you live in Blankistani now...you are moving back to Oregon and have family in Olympia. They thought that was very cool.

Almost as cool as the feel of the camel fur.

AK.

I think we really lucked out in 2004. We didn't know what to expect, at all. And for whatever reason, it just "clicked".

Check it out.

Then again it may have been there was really good beer at the Dawa bar which boded well for a bunch of PNW beer snobs in a very hot park in a state full of really bad beer and our kids were wet, happy and dancing. And getting their inner zen on. I don't think this water area still exists but know it was by Dawa. It is my mission to try and find it!

FOTLK, Kali and the Safari sealed the deal. I was really worried that T&K wouldn't love it last year but they did! I would have loved more time there on the last trip and that was a first.

As to back story, check this blog out. Shamelessy copied from Heidi (Mryppns) TR. Also about Dinoland.

http://land.allears.net/blogs/jackspence/2009/08/chester_and_hesters_dinorama.html