You left us on the Pirates of the Caribbean which conveniently exits into a gift store. We had done this ride at least 3 times already today and if you remember DS has been patiently saving his Disney Dollars since the beginning of the trip. He wanted to spend them at the pirate store and each time we had exit through the tempting display of loot we had convinced him that he didnt want to carry his stuff around all day and maybe lose it and that we PROMISED we would come back to this store before we left the park which would be sometime after lunch.
So all of you with small children know exactly how a 6 year old processed that: here we are in the store After Lunch therefore it is time to buy. However we were not planning to leave MK just yet
. I mean who only spends a few hours in the MK on a three day trip???? Yet we had done all of our Must-dos, and some of them 3 and 4 times. We had elected not to see any parades, shows or characters in the MK because we had done/would be doing those in other parks. We wanted to devote our limited time at the MK to the rides. But here we are shortly after lunch
had we done it all? Were we really ready to leave the MK for good? Who knew when we would be back? It just didnt seem right.
Well, when in doubt, go on the Jungle Cruise. (If you remember from Mixed Marriage 1- no advance reservation is needed!

) We had planned to skip that attracting thinking it would be kind of a let down after at day at the gorgeous and new Animal Kingdom. So we pry DS out of the store and head over.
We had a longish wait but the time was worth it. Why? Well we were the last explorers to board our ship to adventure and before I had even sat down we knew we had an all star of a cast member. One who loved his job, loved the corn ball Jungle Cruise banter and loved making fun of hapless WDW guests. Like us.
We boarded incorrectly and we werent fast enough and what kind of husband gets on board before his wife? I could have been left behind or fed to crocodiles. DH blushingly made room for me on the crowded bench.

Now the CM told us the boat was unbalanced. Someone needed to be thrown overboard. DH tried to shove me overboard. DS was laughing. The other guests were laughing. Not with us. At us.
It was ok because we were laughing too.

DH was trying really hard to come up with some smarty pants answer but this guy was too quick to get a word in edgewise. At so it went
.the traditional lines with plenty of time to make fun of us, an older gent in a Goofy t-shirt and well, mainly us.
Can you guess how our cruise ended? I was going to leave you hanging here but I am feeling generous so here is what happened. We were the last to leave the boat and right before we did, sweet little curly topped DS asked the CM for his autograph.
He wasnt as shocked as the Japanese chef but it was clear that he didnt get asked too often. (Why is that? All you DISsers get autographs from cool CMs
right? Are we the only ones? It isnt weird, is it?)
The CM signed the book TwinkieKid, Your part of a great crew. Jungle wishes, indecipherable scribble beginning with J followed by a picture of a cat or is it a fox?
I love that. Jungle Wishes. I am going to start using that on my personal correspondence. For example:
Dear Teacher,
Please excuse TwinkieKid from school yesterday. He had pinkeye. Again.
Jungle Wishes, TwinkieMama.
I think it will take the nation by storm.