Back early tonight because the weather has turned downright cold. You just don't expect 50's & 60's in mid-April in Florida. That's MidAtlantic weather. Mayeb we're cursed and brought it with us. Anyway, while I sit in my warm Cypress apartment watching Indiana Jones & the Raiders of the Lost Ark (more on that later), I figure I'd check in with my latest trip reports.
First off "The Day I Thought We Had a Plan But Learned We Really Didn't"... For the
DVC newbies out there who think we veterans always get it right, here's proof that's not always true. And how to improvise when weather and scheduling doesn't cooperate.
Sunday, 4/13: Our plan for the day involves going to church and then grabbing lunch at one of the resorts. We're Catholics who always try to catch mass when we're traveling. It's a way to explore the locale as well as keep constant with our faith. And in the Catholic church, every church has a slightly different dressing to the standard mass. (In the Southwest, you have a strong Spanish influence with music, decor and even language spoken. In London, we celebrated mass in a cathedral hidden in the formerly poor section of the city and once totally demolished in the German Blitz. In williamsburg, the church is in a roundhouse celebrated in a circle like the old Colonists would have.) In Orlando, mass is a United Nations of Catholic tourists.
Our church is Mary, Queen of the Universe Shrine, a huge bright white cathedral bordering I-4 near the outlet mall. The parish began decades ago at the Polynesian due to the dream of one dedicated priest who believed Catholics would still want to take time to worship even amidst their busy Disney vacation. As the parish grew with demand, they purchased land offsite and began building this cathedral with help of donations from tourists all across the world. Indeed, before every mass starts Father welcomes us with a show of hands how many are visiting. 3/4 of the audience raises their hands this day. And it seems we are from all over the world as well. (Lots of Brits again.) We also have around a dozen couples celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary.
What is special to my dad and I is the cheery wheelchair-bound parish volunteer rolling up to us calling our names in greeting. We had met her last May when she told us about the special Mother's Day celebration at the church. (The altar is flooded with roses donated in remembrance of mothers of all the visitors.) Diane, the volunteer, remembers my dad and I and asks for a full update on our family as she shares her own stories. It's like being back home for a few minutes.
Now I need to stop and share with you a little story to explain why this church has a special meaning to Dad and I. See before we started coming to Florida a few weeks at a time, my mom was with us battling breast cancer. The most we managed away from her treatments was a week in March. She always wanted to go to church here and our last trip together in '04 we found this shrine. But our check out day was Sunday so y the time we had packed up to van to head home, mass was already half over. The closest my mom got to the church was the parking lot. We left for home with a promise to return the next trip. Sadly, my mom died 4 months later. So my dad and I vowed to return to this church the very next trip and light a remembrance candle for her. We do so now every trip. There's a strong Irish culture in the parish (shamrocks etched into the tall white central columns) so we feel a part of my Irish mom is happy being remembered there.
I'd give you pictures of this church but here is where the weather throws a curve in my plans for the day. We started the day with a warm 78 degrees and bright sun. After mass, the sky darkens, the temp turns to a chilly 60 and the heavens open up with rain. It pours so hard I quickly stuff my camera deep inside a bag so it doesn't get ruined (killed a camera last July 4th when I learned that lesson). My dad decides he really needs to switch to long pants and warm clothes so we head back to the resort to change.
By the time we get back on the road to Wilderness Lodge it is after 2pm. I figured we'd just grab lunch there at Whispering Canyon Cafe and them maybe take a ferry over to Fort Wilderness for the afternoon. But I really mess up my schedules. We arrive at WCC at 2:30pm and learn the restaurant has closed. So we ask for a dinner ressie and are given 9:40pm. What the heck do we do with ourselves for the next 7 hours?!
The temp reads 58 degrees. It's windy. The rain lets up but I'm a little concerned about the accessibility of the ferries. They all seem to be the kind that you step down into and not the Friendship boats made for easy wheelchair access. So I suggest we take the car over to Fort Wilderness (that means the parking lot 1 mile from Pioneer Hall). As soon as we get in the van, the rain begins to pour again. We drive through FW's parking lot before deciding to just bag the whole idea and go to Plan C... DisneyQuest.
I've been itching to try DQ for a long time but my regular AP doesn't pay for it and I can't see forking out money for a separate admission charge. But my sister loans us two of her MYW passes with lots of Plus admissions left on it. So Dad and I head over to DTD (amazing how we keep going back there). We're hungry so our first stop inside DQ is for the 5th floor Cheesecake Factory. We have a couple deliciously juicy cheeseburgers before we hit the main attractions.
I should tell you that when you enter DQ you are treated with a most unusual elevator ride to the 3rd floor. Shades of the old Living Seas Hydrolators as the elevators go pitch black, a video screen lights up and the Genie takes you on an adventure to wonderland. (I get flashbacks of ToT for a moment with the sudden dark and ascent but happily the elevator does not plummet 5 stories.)
DQ is pretty much what you imagine. Lots of classic arcade games with a half dozen or so virtual reality games. People look quite funny wearing these 3D helmets but the games are kinda fun.
We try Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride, watch several families head in a wild Jungle Cruise wide (courtesy of an interactive aero bed, sensor paddles and big screen movie).
Our favorite turns out to be Pirates of the Caribbean though we need at least 4 more gunners to make a serious contender in that game. (You go into a boat room where there's a captain's wheel and 5 cannons. A wide video screen surrounds you and the deck rolls with the waves, though the CM deactivated the rolling for me.)
When all is said and done, we've killed about 3 hours in DQ. By the time we leave the sun is shining again and the weather has warmed up about 10 degrees. It's actually pleasant outside. We debate returning to Fort Wilderness but in the end decide to stay put. Dad's been itching to go to the movies and Nim's Island is playing in 30 minutes. We know nothing about the movie other than it's got good reviews. We use my AMC frequent members card, buy a couple tickets, then get churros and wait the next 20 minutes on the WestSide lake overlook of SSR.
The movie Nim's Island turns out to be a fantastic adventure flick ala Bridge to Terabithia but much better. Since I'm also a writer, Jodi Foster's role strikes a familiar chord. I highly recommend you go see it at home. Oh and anyone who wonders why anyone would want to go to the movies in Disney, well part of the reason is the neat little things you may find here. Like here was a replica of Wall-E right in the lobby.
The movie lets out around 8:30 and we're hungry. We remember we had made those earlier dining ressies at WCC so back we go to the van. We're getting to know these back roads really well. Earlier we discovered another backstage shortcut from Palm Parkway to MK through the staging areas.
Wilderness Lodge is nice and warm. The EWP is playing as we exit the van and I race to the beach to see. Alas I am too late. Instead, we ramble about the lobby a bit (love the gift shop there) and then listen to the waitresses hamming it up with the customers. One announces table 41 has just ordered their 3rd helping of baked beans. And in her flight attendant impersonation, she tells the crowd "In the event of a Stage 1 Baked Bean Emergency oxygen masks will deploy from the ceiling". Meanwhile another table celebrates a birthday. As the CM leads the restaurant in a chorus of Happy Birthday, he devours the cake. We figure of all the places to work in Disney, this has to be one of the best.
Our dinner of Texan style meatloaf ends our "day that didn't go as planned but still worked out".
I know, I will get on those dang ferries at some point. Your VWL vets are laughing at my silliness. I will say VWL is one of the prettiest resorts come springtime. I loved visiting just to get these pictures:
I hope you continue to have an enjoyable, relaxing time. It seems to me you are doing it up right.
Hope it gets better for you (and the rest of us 
