Here we are at OKW and after our arrival yesterday and getting lost outside Disney and some short tempers, we went to bed hoping to wake up all refreshed and in a Disney mood!
So we get our wake-up call from some unintelligable character, but it doesn't matter.....we are up and ready to have a fun-filled day! DS makes himself a club sandwich while the rest of us just enjoy some toast and coffee (the benefits of a villa-type room) and the next thing you know we are on the bus to our destination - MGM.
As I am sitting there enjoying the lovely bus ride
, I notice my DS keeps putting his finger in his mouth and then removing it, ripping off a piece of towel paper and wadding it up and then placing that inside his mouth, on the inside of his cheek. He's getting more and more frustrated and I am wondering what the heck he is doing. And I am sure anyone sitting near is is wondering the same exact thing! I ask and he responds that his wire in his top braces has apparently shifted some and the end is stabbing the inside of his cheek. His cheek is apparently all cut up at this point (I guess this happens to him all the time) and the wire is stabbing into an open spot. So he is trying to wad a piece of towel paper up, wet it and place it in side the check as some kind of protection against the wire. Well, apparently it's not working!!! I suggest we look for Anbesol at the park and try to think of anything else we can do to fix this. We have no tools (at least not with us - we do have some back in our car), but nothing suitable for clipping this wire. Today is Sunday, so I tell him if it continues, I will find a local orthodontist and take him there the next day to get the wire trimmed. Being the teenager that he is, he responds that IT WILL BE FINE, HE'S BEEN DEALING WITH THIS FOR MONTHS ALREADY AND HE'LL DEAL WITH IT! Ok, we are off to a good start this morning, aren't we? So I figure if it gets bad enough, I'll find an orthodontist.
Meanwhile, we arrive at MGM. It is approx. 9:15 a.m. when we get into the park and we head directly for Rock 'n Roller Coaster. There is only a 5 minute wait, so DH, DD & DS go on. I am roller coaster chicken so I waited outside the ride. Ok, what I should have done was confiscate their passes and head right over to Tower of Terror for a fast pass. They are off the ride in about 10 minutes and we head over to Tower of Terror. It's about 9:45 now and the fastpass time is 10:45 to 11:45. So they get their fastpasses (I am a Tower of Terror chicken too
- actually I am just a plain old chicken and we head to the Great Movie Ride. We all enjoy that and we walk around a little more and then they head back to Tower of Terror and I head over to Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Now I am doing things the smart way 
and I take their passes with me to get fastpasses at Millionaire. Of course now I don't need the fastpasses!!! The CM is outside the attraction yelling to people on the street to "come on in - the show will begin in.....minutes". So I find a stand and order an iced tea (by the way, what is with the unsweetened iced tea everywhere in Disney? There is nothing like adding sugar to a cold drink - does it ever dissolve? Can't they sell an unsweetened and sweetened at least?) Anyway, I find a bench outside Millionaire and wait for my family to return. When they do, we head inside Millionaire, which was a lot of fun. I felt sorry for the two people who actually got into the hot seat, though, because one was a woman from England who seemed to get quite a few questions that only someone living in the U.S. would be able to answer and then a girl around 14 who got several questions that a teenager wouldn't have a clue about. We enjoyed it though!
When we first arrived at MGM, it was beautiful weather. It was not humid at all, there was a nice breeze and the temp. wasn't too high. But by late morning, that changed. There was still a little breeze, but it was pretty hot and it also got a lot more crowded in the park, so we decided to head out.
I had purchased a few "Connections" vouchers which you buy ahead of time and then they entitle you to a sandwich, side item, beverage and dessert. A lot of people on the DIS recommended "Beaches n Cream" at the Beach Club as the place you would get the best deal with a voucher, so we decided to go there next. We enjoyed a relaxing boat ride over there from MGM. We found the restaurant and were seated within a few minutes. It is a very small type of hamburger joint and it was pretty crowded. They seated us at round table in the center of the room and with the napkins, salt and pepper and whatever else was on that table, I wondered where we were going to put our food! So my DH requested a booth and we were moved within minutes. Our waitress was an older woman and she was a little on the cranky side, at one point scolding my son for speaking too low when he ordered and she couldn't hear him. The point of the vouchers was that there was supposed to be enough food allowed that if you shared a sandwich between two people, you would still be stuffed when you left. So I figured my DH & DS would share something and since my DD is a vegetarian and I am not a fussy eater, I would just share with her. I had paid $22 for the 2 vouchers and with them we ordered a Dbl. Cheeseburger which came with fries, a Veggie burger, which came with fries, a caeser salad and an order of onion rings. DH & DS decided they should each have their own sandwich so the next thing I know, they are ordering another cheeseburger & fries. Ok, so that's another $9. Still not bad for 4 people. They gave us plenty of food, in fact, we took some of the extra fries and onion rings back to our room. For dessert we decided to be brave and order "the kitchen sink", which is a $21 dessert and consists of I believe 1/2 gallon of assorted flavors of ice cream, whole brownies, candy bars, loads of cheeries, all sorts of flavored toppings & a whole can of whipped cream. They make a production out of bringing out this dessert and then hand you four spoons & wish you luck in eating it! No dishes - just four spoons - you just dig in. So after a few minutes of this, the whole thing seems to turn into a glob of mixed flavors and to be honest, I wasn't impressed with it at all. I would have been much happier with some sort of sundae I could identify. So we did the best we could with that, didn't even make a dent in it and we left. It was interesting, but I don't know that I'll go back there.
In order to get back to OKW, we thought the easiest thing might be to go to Downtown Disney and get a bus there, so that was our next move. When we finally got back to our room it was mid-afternoon and we were hot & tired, so DD, DS & I went to swim at the Turtle Pond Pool. DH stayed back at the room and took a nap. We were only there about 10 minutes when the thunder started, so that was the end of swimming. We went back to our room, showered and made plans for that evening.
What better way to spend a Sunday evening than Pleasure Island! When we were in Disney in 1998 my DD, DS & I went to the Comedy Club for the first time and it was hilarious. Of course at that point there were a lot of "Monica & Bill" jokes and the entertainers at one point even commented "ok we want to keep our jobs here at Disney...we have to stop talking about this because this a Disney stage" - maybe that's why it was so funny then! We told my DH about it and went back again that same trip, only the routine wasn't nearly as funny. We decided to go back again so that was our first stop. The show was ok, but we were disappointed and felt it never lived up to our first experience. After the show ended, we headed over to the Adventurer's Club. We had never been there before. It was.....well.......it was interesting. I'm really not sure what my opinion is - I'd have to see it again I think before deciding. We walked around a little more and then left Pleasure Island and took a walk to find Disney Quest. They were closing soon but we planned to come back another day. My DH at this point looked like he was falling asleep on his feet, so we decided to take him back to the room and put him to bed. Well, I guess the impression we gave him was that we were going to "unload" him and he was not too happy about that and insisted he wasn't tired at all, when he closed his eyes he was just "resting them"! Whatever! So now he's offended by our "constantly making comments about his needing a nap" and I'm thinking that this evening is going to end the same as the previous one.....we are on a roll here! So we don't discuss it any more and head back to the room. We all get some munchies, joke around a little, DS continues trying to fix his wire on his braces and everyone crashes for the night.
I know........tomorrow is going to be the day that makes all my fantasies about our vacation come true, isn't it?
So we get our wake-up call from some unintelligable character, but it doesn't matter.....we are up and ready to have a fun-filled day! DS makes himself a club sandwich while the rest of us just enjoy some toast and coffee (the benefits of a villa-type room) and the next thing you know we are on the bus to our destination - MGM.
As I am sitting there enjoying the lovely bus ride
, I notice my DS keeps putting his finger in his mouth and then removing it, ripping off a piece of towel paper and wadding it up and then placing that inside his mouth, on the inside of his cheek. He's getting more and more frustrated and I am wondering what the heck he is doing. And I am sure anyone sitting near is is wondering the same exact thing! I ask and he responds that his wire in his top braces has apparently shifted some and the end is stabbing the inside of his cheek. His cheek is apparently all cut up at this point (I guess this happens to him all the time) and the wire is stabbing into an open spot. So he is trying to wad a piece of towel paper up, wet it and place it in side the check as some kind of protection against the wire. Well, apparently it's not working!!! I suggest we look for Anbesol at the park and try to think of anything else we can do to fix this. We have no tools (at least not with us - we do have some back in our car), but nothing suitable for clipping this wire. Today is Sunday, so I tell him if it continues, I will find a local orthodontist and take him there the next day to get the wire trimmed. Being the teenager that he is, he responds that IT WILL BE FINE, HE'S BEEN DEALING WITH THIS FOR MONTHS ALREADY AND HE'LL DEAL WITH IT! Ok, we are off to a good start this morning, aren't we? So I figure if it gets bad enough, I'll find an orthodontist.Meanwhile, we arrive at MGM. It is approx. 9:15 a.m. when we get into the park and we head directly for Rock 'n Roller Coaster. There is only a 5 minute wait, so DH, DD & DS go on. I am roller coaster chicken so I waited outside the ride. Ok, what I should have done was confiscate their passes and head right over to Tower of Terror for a fast pass. They are off the ride in about 10 minutes and we head over to Tower of Terror. It's about 9:45 now and the fastpass time is 10:45 to 11:45. So they get their fastpasses (I am a Tower of Terror chicken too
- actually I am just a plain old chicken and we head to the Great Movie Ride. We all enjoy that and we walk around a little more and then they head back to Tower of Terror and I head over to Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Now I am doing things the smart way and I take their passes with me to get fastpasses at Millionaire. Of course now I don't need the fastpasses!!! The CM is outside the attraction yelling to people on the street to "come on in - the show will begin in.....minutes". So I find a stand and order an iced tea (by the way, what is with the unsweetened iced tea everywhere in Disney? There is nothing like adding sugar to a cold drink - does it ever dissolve? Can't they sell an unsweetened and sweetened at least?) Anyway, I find a bench outside Millionaire and wait for my family to return. When they do, we head inside Millionaire, which was a lot of fun. I felt sorry for the two people who actually got into the hot seat, though, because one was a woman from England who seemed to get quite a few questions that only someone living in the U.S. would be able to answer and then a girl around 14 who got several questions that a teenager wouldn't have a clue about. We enjoyed it though! When we first arrived at MGM, it was beautiful weather. It was not humid at all, there was a nice breeze and the temp. wasn't too high. But by late morning, that changed. There was still a little breeze, but it was pretty hot and it also got a lot more crowded in the park, so we decided to head out.
I had purchased a few "Connections" vouchers which you buy ahead of time and then they entitle you to a sandwich, side item, beverage and dessert. A lot of people on the DIS recommended "Beaches n Cream" at the Beach Club as the place you would get the best deal with a voucher, so we decided to go there next. We enjoyed a relaxing boat ride over there from MGM. We found the restaurant and were seated within a few minutes. It is a very small type of hamburger joint and it was pretty crowded. They seated us at round table in the center of the room and with the napkins, salt and pepper and whatever else was on that table, I wondered where we were going to put our food! So my DH requested a booth and we were moved within minutes. Our waitress was an older woman and she was a little on the cranky side, at one point scolding my son for speaking too low when he ordered and she couldn't hear him. The point of the vouchers was that there was supposed to be enough food allowed that if you shared a sandwich between two people, you would still be stuffed when you left. So I figured my DH & DS would share something and since my DD is a vegetarian and I am not a fussy eater, I would just share with her. I had paid $22 for the 2 vouchers and with them we ordered a Dbl. Cheeseburger which came with fries, a Veggie burger, which came with fries, a caeser salad and an order of onion rings. DH & DS decided they should each have their own sandwich so the next thing I know, they are ordering another cheeseburger & fries. Ok, so that's another $9. Still not bad for 4 people. They gave us plenty of food, in fact, we took some of the extra fries and onion rings back to our room. For dessert we decided to be brave and order "the kitchen sink", which is a $21 dessert and consists of I believe 1/2 gallon of assorted flavors of ice cream, whole brownies, candy bars, loads of cheeries, all sorts of flavored toppings & a whole can of whipped cream. They make a production out of bringing out this dessert and then hand you four spoons & wish you luck in eating it! No dishes - just four spoons - you just dig in. So after a few minutes of this, the whole thing seems to turn into a glob of mixed flavors and to be honest, I wasn't impressed with it at all. I would have been much happier with some sort of sundae I could identify. So we did the best we could with that, didn't even make a dent in it and we left. It was interesting, but I don't know that I'll go back there.
In order to get back to OKW, we thought the easiest thing might be to go to Downtown Disney and get a bus there, so that was our next move. When we finally got back to our room it was mid-afternoon and we were hot & tired, so DD, DS & I went to swim at the Turtle Pond Pool. DH stayed back at the room and took a nap. We were only there about 10 minutes when the thunder started, so that was the end of swimming. We went back to our room, showered and made plans for that evening.
What better way to spend a Sunday evening than Pleasure Island! When we were in Disney in 1998 my DD, DS & I went to the Comedy Club for the first time and it was hilarious. Of course at that point there were a lot of "Monica & Bill" jokes and the entertainers at one point even commented "ok we want to keep our jobs here at Disney...we have to stop talking about this because this a Disney stage" - maybe that's why it was so funny then! We told my DH about it and went back again that same trip, only the routine wasn't nearly as funny. We decided to go back again so that was our first stop. The show was ok, but we were disappointed and felt it never lived up to our first experience. After the show ended, we headed over to the Adventurer's Club. We had never been there before. It was.....well.......it was interesting. I'm really not sure what my opinion is - I'd have to see it again I think before deciding. We walked around a little more and then left Pleasure Island and took a walk to find Disney Quest. They were closing soon but we planned to come back another day. My DH at this point looked like he was falling asleep on his feet, so we decided to take him back to the room and put him to bed. Well, I guess the impression we gave him was that we were going to "unload" him and he was not too happy about that and insisted he wasn't tired at all, when he closed his eyes he was just "resting them"! Whatever! So now he's offended by our "constantly making comments about his needing a nap" and I'm thinking that this evening is going to end the same as the previous one.....we are on a roll here! So we don't discuss it any more and head back to the room. We all get some munchies, joke around a little, DS continues trying to fix his wire on his braces and everyone crashes for the night.
I know........tomorrow is going to be the day that makes all my fantasies about our vacation come true, isn't it?
Krissy
!
