MOMS:Mom's Only Magical Sabbatical - 4 & 5, #10, MX2 is all the sudden British? Done.

[DisneyWorld Delight]

CAST MEMBERS
DisneyWorld Delight:Me, Mother of 2 who has never been anywhere w/o DH or kids. (DWD)

MAGICX2:Mother of 2 who HAS been places w/o DH or kids. (MX2)

Pre-Trip
So my dear friend (MAGICX2) got the bright idea to go to Walt Disney World, as a Mom’s/Friends Only Trip. She had her husband call mine, (who also happen to be cousins) and we got the all clear.

Sounded like a brilliant idea. We are both bona fide Disney Nuts, are frequent fliers on the DIS Boards and consider ourselves Uber Planners for vacations to “The Happiest Place on Earth.” Could it get any better?

We start planning. This was in May. The trip was slated for December. We had gobs of time to decide where to stay, what to wear and most importantly where to eat and shop. We were going to take advantage of this little opportunity to stray from our usual family feasts of hamburgers, chicken fingers, mac n cheese and the like. On top of that, the plan was to leisurely stroll thru WDW proper, touching and taking in everything. Bonus, Christmas Decorations would be up and it would be MAGICX2’s (MX2) 29th Birthday.

Now before I start getting grief about going to WDW without the Kiddo’s, let me explain they have been there many times. For their Birthday’s even. So, we weren’t stunting their childhood an anyway, or so we thought. (We'll wait for the book to come out.)

6 months is a long time to think about the trip. Time spent scouring the DIS boards for the best deal, can’t miss opportunities…you all know the drill. It was bliss… until about 2 days before the trip. I started thinking, what am I doing? Leaving my kids and husband. I was feeling the dread. Somehow I got myself ready to go.

MX2 here…..I’m thinking “Yeah baby! No kids, no husband…BLISS!” I got myself ready to go no problem.


Wednesday December 7, 2005 – Day One
The weather outside was frightful… (sorry, couldn’t help myself) ok, it was cold.

MX2 pulled up at 5 am and we were off. She had already started the morning off rough. There were no open gas stations on the way to get me and she was running on E.

Getting that taken care of, we started chatting right away. I got real nervous when she about buzzed right thru a red light at a major intersection.

We managed to get to the airport ok, where we realized she was bringing the demon possessed piece of luggage. That puppy would not cooperate. It wanted to throw itself on the floor every 2 minutes.

What was in it you ask, well only 15 pairs of shoes and even a pair of boots! I am a true blue girl myself, and realize the importance of the “right” shoe, but come on. We are going to be there for 4 days.

Funny thing was, when planning, she was all, “lets pack light and just have carry-ons,” what happened to that girl?

So, we got checked in, and went straight thru security. Or at least I did. Upon turning around she was stripping down and having trouble passing thru. As I am laughing at her, getting my bags together, I rip my ticket. You know, by the fine print: “ticket invalid if perforated,” “surrender to gate agent complete,” heck it might as well say, “MORON, this ticket is very valuable, hold it betwixt your thumb and pointer finger very gently and don’t move until you are fastened into your seatbelt!” Just Great. There goes that $136 round trip steal we got 2 months earlier. Thank heavens all they had to do was print a new one; I figured I’d have to give a urine sample or something. As we stand up to get in line for the flight, I whip out my cell phone and turn it off. MX2 goes to do the same and no cell phone. Talk about letting the wind blown out of her sails. What will she do without her cell phone? It’s immediate contact to DH and DK’s. And to keep contact with me! In all the rush with Valet Parking, she must have left it. We get on the plane, her mind is working, and I can see it. (Can I get off this flight, get to my car and back in 5 minutes? Scanning, scanning…need solution.) I could have made it. Seriously! She looks thru her carryon one more time. There it is. Right where it should be, in her Tinkerbell purse. Whew, disaster averted. Pixie Dust a flyin’. Flight was great. Arrived at 9:30 to sunny weather. Too bad we had to retrieve “demon bag.” We struggled down to the Budget desk; they set us up with a brand spanking new, orange, Chevy Cobalt. (By the way, this car had the gear shift in the wrong place, so every time I tried to reverse or put it in park I ended up with a little windshield wiper action. THE WHOLE TIME.) We head over to The Beach Club.

I must interject here. DWD has stayed at BC before. She is used to the glam. I on the other hand am not. It is POR and AS for us. NOT ANYMORE! You just feel special pulling into the drive, seeing the expanse of it all, and especially the “Welcome Home.” (Even thought we are not DVC elite) I was on cloud nine!

There’s Art, famous Beach Club Lobby Representative. We were excited.

The line to check in takes a while (decorations are grand!) and when we get up there, we have a trainee. Hmmm. We had booked a standard room AAA rate. Of course we were hoping for an upgrade. We had talked it over earlier and these things need to be finessed. Well we are chatting with the 2 CM’s checking us in and she says to me under her breath, “think I should mention an upgrade?” I shake my head no. It is my nature to hold back, try not to bring any attention to myself, follow the rules… MX2 turns and says, “This would be a good time to train him how to do a free upgrade.” I nearly wet my pants. They laugh and MX2 explains we are there without our children; it’s her Birthday…so they start looking thru the room lineup. They actually want to give us a water/fireworks view. All is great, the room isn’t ready, we can come back later for our assignment and keys.

It can pay to ask.

We stow our luggage and head to the cruise line desk. In October, DH decided if I was going to WDW to play, he was going to take our DD’s on a Disney Cruise. So I set him up and they were to leave the next day. I wanted the girls to have a new toy on the boat and was leery about leaving that up to him. So I asked the Cruise Desk CM if she could get my packages to the boat. She made a few calls and got the all O.K. I was elated. The girls would walk into the stateroom and find a bag for each, with a baby doll and book. Little Pixie Dust! Thanks Gladys. (I found out later, my girls and husband thought the stateroom hostess was just the best thing because she left gifts for them!)

By the time DWD got everything settled we had been in and out the top secret luggage room three times to retrieve things from her bags. We were on a first name basis with the bellmen.

After that we decide to head to the World Showcase for a little shopping and eating. Stopping at the ticket station to activate her AP, MX2 is given an Epcot Happy Birthday button; she immediately puts on the outside of her bag. We start in France at the Patisserie, is there anything better that on overpriced doughnut at WDW!?! We make our way around, stopping to admire the holiday finery and all the merchandise. MX2 has never gone thru the shops. They have only eaten there. So this is all new to her and we are enjoying not holding back children who will knock down the ornaments and such. At one point we noticed Aurora signing autographs. And being the good DISser that I am, immediately comment, “Where is her handler?” At that point we realize there is such a thing as too much information.

Looking for the candy other DISsers have raved about was fun. Pockey, good. Toberlarone, good. Flake, not so good. We were tired from travel and a little slap happy. I am impressing her with my ability to sniff out the clearance section. Thanks Mom! Yes folks, even in WDW you can find something that no one else wanted and is marked down. Those are the things I want. Japan had some beautiful dishes marked down and MX2 starts fingering them and drops one. I don’t want to buy a broken one. She stops touching.

By slap happy DWD means while walking thru the shops in Japan she bumps into me and says “Sorry.” The next thing I know she is in hysterics with laughter. I as her what’s so funny. She says “I just said SORRY in the SARI room!” I look around and sure enough, saris and kimonos everywhere. I too start laughing, people are looking, and no one finds it funny but us. Go figure.

At the American Pavilion there were some Holiday Kiosks selling things not normally there. Hand painted eggs, artwork, and pots. The ringer was a hammock that was wondrously comfortable that cost $150, a little pricy, not to mention, must be shipped home. MX2 didn’t want to leave that hammock. She sat down and was 2 minutes from taking a nap.

After dragging her away, we are really ready for our room, but it isn’t. We called repeatedly. MX2 was starting to get a long day’s travel headache, so we head back to the BC. We didn’t want to screw up our upgrade, but she needed to lie down. Thank heavens the room was ready; we had fun with the teasing from Bell Services and made our way to the room. This was NO upgrade. No fireworks, no water. Just forest. But, we were close to an elevator and I have never been that close to an ice machine, so it worked. (I usually have to walk a mile for ice.) She lies down and I HAVE to unpack and get organized. Little OCD, but I MUST. BE. IN. ORDER. I will drive her nuts over the next 4 days with this.

While she is napping, there was a knock at the door and a CM is there with balloons and a card from the big cheese himself. She asks for the birthday girl, I say she is sleeping. She said, “Oh, how old is little girl?” I said no, she’s an adult and she kind of snorts at me and takes off. Oh well, MX2 will love the balloons!

She gets up feeling refreshed. We have Candlelight Processional at 6:45. I give her the “Love Ya / Mean It” pin I ordered from Bad Shoe. As we love trip reports, paying a little respect to those who do it right! She puts it on the outside of her bag with the Epcot button. She also adds 2 more to trade. OK. Let’s go. Candlelight Processional was beautiful. And this is where I realize she has an affinity for pictures. Picture after Picture after Picture was taken in those 40 minutes. 2 pictures for each shot. One with the flash, one without. I was shocked. I took like 3.

This is engrained on my DNA. My dad, an avid photographer, can often be seen with a 35mm in one hand, a digital in the other, and a camcorder strapped to his chest in a special harness he made just for the reason that he has no other hands to hold a camera with. How else am I going to remember this once in a lifetime trip if not with photos?! Not take a picture, Hah. Might as well not breathe.

After that we head to Le Cellier Steakhouse for our CP package meal. This was both our first time eating there. They were extremely backed up and we heard them telling people they had no ADR’s until January. Whew! After finally getting seated, the service took FOREVER. The food was excellent, but the service stunk. Hire some more wait staff, OK. I suppose it’s a little harder when you are trying to get CM’s from Canada, but geeze, they’ve been doing this for over 20 years now.

We head to bed exhausted.

 

[burly]

Keep em' coming! I love trip reports. This September it's just my sister(best friend) and I going...no kids....no husbands. I expect to be just like the two of you, laughing hysterically while everyone looks on like we are looney.

 

[LtlTee]

Awesome! Can't wait for more!

 

[OhMari]

I didn't know you could stay at the Beach Club without renting points. I'm learning something new every day. Thanks for sharing, looking forward to the rest of your report.

 

[DisneyWorld Delight]

Thursday December 8, 2005 – Day Two

The game plan for today is to hit Millionaire bright and early. And it’s MX2’s big day. So we get up and start to get ready. MX2 had shirts airbrushed for us during a Myrtle Beach vacation earlier in the year. On the front they both said: Moms Only Magical Sabitical. (Yes, you read that right, sabbatical was spelled wrong. She didn’t catch it till too late!) The back on both had a picture of Tink and mine said Best and hers said Friends. So I am ready in a flash. I am usually getting 4 of us together, so it’s a cinch. I start making the beds. MX2 is like, “what do you think you’re doing?” I can’t help myself. We head out.

MX2 spies Art in the lobby, so she gets down to business and trades a pin with him. I take her picture, we probably look crazy. (I didn’t realize that was going to be a theme to the trip. Pins, Pins, Pins. I don’t trade pins, so I am non-plused by it all, but apparently MX2 does.) She immediately puts the pin on the outside of her bag with the others.

Art is a celebrity for Pete’s sake! Can you say Samantha Brown? I had to trade.

It’s raining. We head out the MGM boat dock and on the way, bless his heart, a BC CM stops us and goes on to ask about our shirts, our age, ohh’s and ahh’s over us, telling us we don’t look a day over, well at least not 28/29. We walk away on cloud nine. With no boat in sight, and ton’s of passengers on the dock, we walk to the Swan Dolphin dock. It is really coming down now and no boat in sight here either. As we are already soaked, we decide to walk to MGM. As we head off around the Swan, we get so far and realize we need to be on the other side of the moat. So much for my expertise. We turn around and there is the boat. We sprint to the dock and make it.

At MGM, we head thru Security. Glancing into the guy’s bag in front of me I remember something I wanted to pick up. A camera strap. I wanted a black & white Mickey film camera strap. So I tell MX2. She knows exactly what I am talking about. Her dad has two, one black/white and one black/red. She mentioned purchasing one also.

MX2 stops at Guest Relations and gets a “Today Is My Birthday” pin. Puts it on her shirt. Every CM notices it. It’s like they’re scared to not wish her a Happy Birthday.

We head to Millionaire. Get right in and get situated. I have never been here. MX2 is a pro. She knows how to work the game. She has been here before and done all the research. She fills me in. Guy Smiley comes out and the shows on. In the first round we come in 7 & 8 and second round 8 & 7. So our appetites are wet for more. We have an 11:30 at Brown Derby, so off we go.

We are seated right away. This is a restaurant DH and I are very intimidated by. The menu reads Greek to me. “Japanese style Duck, infused with a lemon risotto honey glaze over butternut reduction”…you get my drift. I was pleasantly surprised. It seems like an old boys club. Very much leather infused with testosterone kind of joint. The food and service was great and I will be back.

After this, you guessed it, back to Millionaire. They were taking a break before the next game, so as we head off to do some shopping, MX2 asks to be in the Fastest Finger Seats for the next game. Can you believe this girl? So Bold. They lady say’s yep, tell me your name when you get back. Now we’re real excited.

We head to Sunset Boulevard for some shopping and start talking to an artist. Had a really great conversation and MX2 purchased the most vibrant picture of Tink we had ever run across. The artist said she was using a different green than usual, so we decide it’s a one of a kind.

Back at Millionaire we are standing in the FF line and MX2 realized her Art pin was missing. There were only 3 pins on her bag. I just knew in my head, she started out with 5, but the only one we recognize was gone was the Art pin. She was so bummed.

I wanted to leave and retrace my steps to look for my Art pin. But, I didn’t want to disappoint DWD so I suck it up. I walk with my head down the remainder of the day hoping I will come across it.

We are taken to the FF seats and boy was I feeling like hot snot. As the “less important” people file in, they are reading our shirts. One lady, looking a little harried was reading my shirt and I mentioned, “We left our kids at home.” She asked for a shirt to join us and her husband agreed, we should take her. It was fun knowing we were buzzing around not trying to please everyone else and putting out fires left and right. - During this game the room was full and we had a lot more competition. I never made it on the board, but MX2 came in 4th, right before it was over. Oh my, what might have been…? If she had made it to the hot seat, she would have gotten some more pins!!!

As we head out, we stop at the camera shop. The CM said there were no camera straps to be had in all of WDW. What? Apparently they are a pretty popular item. And if we were to ever run across the black/white film strip hold onto it, pretty valuable and of course hasn’t been available for years. Now I’m disgusted. I just assumed I was going to waltz in, get what I wanted and be on my way. Now, not only is what I wanted not even made anymore, but any camera strap now in production is sold out. Mamma is not happy.

We head back to BC and stop at Hurricane Hanna’s for a drink. The CM’s on post were two young men. And guess what they were doing to pass the time away. Coloring pictures of princesses no less. We had a good time teasing them and found out one of them had a friend MX2 knew from Ohio. Small world. So, off we head to our room and MX2 steps on something that is making a ton of noise. I knew what it was before she lifted up her foot. The Art pin was stuck in the bottom of her shoe. We were hysterical. What are the odds that a gal would lose a pin in the morning and be the very person to find it hours later at a busy hotel?!?! Can you feel the Pixie Dust? It is a little scratched up, but that makes it worth more in my opinion.

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Can you hear the angel chorus!
I had walked maybe 50ft with something going clack, clack, with each step I took. I stopped, lifted my foot and (miracle!) there was my Art pin! I could not believe it. It had been at least 6 hours ago when I had walked through that area. A little scratched, but those are now engrained memory lines! What are the chances?! It took me several days to get over the karma of it all. Pixie Dust!

We get ready and head off to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. Because it had been raining the whole day, MX2 had been looking for a hat at every shop to keep the rain out of her eyes. Talk about picky. I saw tons of hats that fit the bill. No, she’ll keep looking. Would you believe the hat she found was at the gift store outside the train station before going in? It was blue with an M on it and a Monorail. I told her I would know the hat I wanted when I saw it and I wasn’t buying one until I found the one that was just right. Go figure. But as soon as she spied it, she grabbed it right up. Guess she knew what she wanted. She was so happy about that hat! We walk into our playground. The Magic Kingdom. Boy oh boy is it beautiful. Nothing is prettier than MK at night, but with the decorations added. Oh my. And it is not raining! We go on the train station platform for 25 or so pictures. Then we head to the tree, for 30 or so more. (I take 2.) We have an ADR at Tony’s so we head over there. While waiting, a very nice lady took our picture on the porch of the restaurant and she would wait and see if we liked it and take another, without the flash the next time, of course. She was very kind. So our number was up and the hostess’s wanted to know about our shirts. They thought it was great and were very friendly. We had a birthday decorated table and our waiter was Parvic. He was great. We had never eaten there and were surprised the menu was very traditional Italian. I was expecting lasagna and fettuccini. This is no Olive Garden. We weren’t sure what to get. We asked for his recommendation and it was Eggplant Rollatini. Never having eaten Eggplant we weren’t too sure. Parvic brought us a sample. It was heaven. So we ordered that and another dish and split them to sample as much as possible. (We had done this earlier at Brown Derby too.) While we were waiting on dinner, the hostess Evie came to talk to us more and would you believe she brought us two pins each! My pin collecting birthday buddy was floating on cloud nine. Except for the fact that, here we were eating dinner and the limited edition pin for the party would be going on sale any minute. She was getting really anxious as we had heard they sell out fairly quickly, along with the evening’s party merchandise. So, she calmed down long enough to eat some chocolate cake, and then we were outta there.

We had so much cake left over we gave it to the couple behind us who had a little girl. They were very grateful and completely shocked. Pixie Dust from us!

We power walked to guest relations to buy our Limited Edition pins and were told they were on sale at the Exposition Hall. We were just there. Power walk back and the line couldn’t be smaller. We get the pin, no problem. I am also buying one for a pin crazy friend back home. We head to the Emporium to buy party merchandise, we find it and MX2 starts in. She can’t believe how cheap the merchandise looks, and how little selection there is. She just can’t fathom it. This is WDW for pity’s sake. And she is talking very loud. I am cringing, remember I don’t make scenes. All these people are grabbing things and she is pretty much telling them how they are wasting their money. We finally get the heck out of there and go to get our free picture. That goes very smooth. We are checking off all the things we want to do pretty easily.

At Frontier land we cross the parade people barrier and check out a pin shop. I am bored, but she must look at all 25,000. She is in heaven, chatting up the sales people, getting info, and one guy is a Pin King. If they got it, he knows it. Tells us to go to Uptown Jewelers and see if they won’t sell us the previous party pins. So we start back to Main St. We run across a big bear and he starts hugging MX2 and then takes our hands and tries to run off with us. His handler is having none of this, so we say goodbye.

Got to cut in here. You know that tunnel that runs between Frontierland and Adventureland that has restrooms? We were walking thru there and had just come to the Adventureland side with not a soul in site (due to parade) and I catch large movement out of the corner of my eye. I scream like someone has just stuck a hot branding iron to my butt. In 3 seconds time I am imagining being attacked in a deserted Adventureland and no one hears me screaming because of the parade. All the while my mother’s voice from my days in high school is screaming in my head “STAY WITH THE CROWD!” Then I realize it is the bears from the CBJ. I think I scared them as much as they me. The largest gray one heads toward us while the other 2 and the handler head the other way. The gray one starts hugging us and twirling us around like we are dancing. Great interaction! Remember, not another sole around. Handler guy says come on. Gray Bear says shoo with his hands and links arms with us and skips off towards the Dole Whip stand. Handler guy gets irritated by this time and says time to go. Gray Bear blows kisses and off he trots. DWD and I laugh with childish giddy through the whole thing. More Pixie Dust for us.

We can’t get to UpTown Jewelers because there is a parade going on. Fine with me, I want to look for stationary and a camera strap, just in case. I am submerged in shopping and my cell phone rings. MX2 is at Uptown Jewelers and they are going to sell her the pins, what do I want for my friend? I’m like, isn’t there a parade going on, I literally think she must have knocked over a few “Green Army Men” to get to that jewelry store. I tell ya, the girl is nuts. The parade was over! I swear! We end up getting the other nights Limited Edition Pins (I am spending my entire friend’s cash on pins, I was worried about that, but she was very pleased when I got home).

After that, the fireworks are going to go off. We get separated because she will eventually take 200 pictures and one of the MK photographers lets her use his tripod. He even tells her, get ready here comes this and here comes that…she is so in her element. So while I am watching the fireworks it dawns on me what other pin is missing from her bag. Yep, the LY/MI pin I got her. She is riding high after her photo session and getting to see Tink fly for the first time in all her trips. We sit down to rest a minute and get ready for the stage show in front of the castle. I tell her about the LY/MI pin. She is so upset. I literally thought she was going to cry. It’s no biggie, I assured her. Of course I had to tease her a little bit too. I mean really, what kind of friend loses a priceless pin! Kidding, $10, badshoe.com.

After an immensely boring stage show and an awesome parade we head to fantasy land. We for sure wanted to ride IASW due to the rehab. It was like seeing a new show. It felt different. When it was over I asked a CM about draining the water and getting the money. He explained they did that every so often anyway and the tally is in the millions! All to charity, so next time your little buggar asks you to pony up some change…

We head to Toontown and MX2 has got it in her head she wants a picture with a princess. At the Judge’s Tent, the pictures with character lines are down. The evening is over. MX2 asks a manager, “Birthday girl can’t get a picture with a Princess.” The manager is feeling bad and decides to compensate her with a free pin. Can you believe it? She knows how to milk something. Anyway, as they are ringing her up, the manager is explaining how they compensate a guest to a new CM. They have a little tablet and they have to fill out the value and description of the merchandise and write down the guests name and so forth. I thought it was very interesting. They had an official name for it, but for the life of me, I can’t remember it.

It was “Pinnochio Knows.”

So, we head out of the park. It starts raining. Come to find out, her birthday wish at lunch was a rain free party and we got it! We are so tired. It’s late; the bus is standing room only. Feeling a little slap happy. We finally got a seat, and I’m really not sure what we are talking about but MX2 mentions Badger Balm and this sets me off. We are hysterical. I think the bus driver was happy to see us go.

Badger Balm is for my feet!

Ahh…we’ll be sleeping in tomorrow.

 

[DisneyWorld Delight]

Friday December 9, 2005 – Day Three
The plan today is some serious shopping. (We ended up sleeping late and paid for it by chasing time the rest of the day.) The sun was shining; we were going to hit the outlet mall. Ahh…it was going to be a good day. I made the beds. We stop at Concierge on our way to the car and they give us printed directions for the stores we want to hit. After a few misses, no biggie, we’re women and stop for directions, we get to the Premium Outlets.

The main goal here being the Character Outlet, of course we stop at Coach on the way in. They had the best merchandise. I need a new wallet. I see at least eight I would love to buy. I just can’t bring myself to spend $60 on a wallet. I’ll spend $225 for a bed to sleep on for one night, but I can’t invest in a nice wallet that will see at least 3 years of action. (I learned my lesson. Can’t find anything in Ohio, they have different merchandise than in Orlando. I guess it’s due to the tourists, or so I was told.)

Anyway, we get to the Character Outlet. This is Shangri-La. Disney stuff I would normally buy, but at a drastically reduced rate. Can anyone stay stocking stuffers? And I bet I’ll find a camera strap. We mapped out the game plan, work our way around the perimeter of the store and then move left to right, front to back. Not a rack un scanned, no hanger left, well hanging. We did pretty good. I will be back. No camera strap.

The day was getting away from us, and it started to drizzle. We had to hit Dooney & Burke on our way out. That’s when MX2 spies the “mother of all” pocket books. The Small Tulip Tassel Tote in Forest Green. She is in love. It would end up being $80 after all is said and done. I know she is watching her spending money. And already she has had more pangs of buyers’ remorse than I could count. Being a good friend, I told her to step away from the purse. She reluctantly put it down, took a deep breath and we walked out of the store.

Onward. The next place I wanted to go was Ron Jon’s Surf Shop. I got a water watch in January before a cruise and I kept wearing it when home. My sister Allison loved it and kept commenting about it. I decided to call Ron Jon’s and order one and yes, they would send it to me. They did personal shopping on Thursdays and the minimum order was $75. OK. I guess that won’t work, the watch was $5.99. So, I was going to get one today. I just knew Ron Jon’s was at Millennia Mall. I could see it in my head. The Concierge desk said, “Oh, Florida Mall, here are the directions” when I mentioned Millennia Mall. So off we were to the Florida Mall/Millennia Mall on Friday afternoon at 3:00. Can you see where this is heading? First of all, it was pre-rush hour heading into full blown rush hour. Florida Mall and Millennia Mall are NOT THE SAME MALL and I do not have patience to sit for hours going nowhere. We have an ADR at Boma at 6, and MX2 has a book signing she wants to hit at DTD before that. Well, needless to say, after hitting all the wrong places at all the wrong times, I am ready to throw in the towel. MX2 is of another mindset. She has already invested more time than she’d care to admit looking for this watch and by golly we are going to Ron Jon’s. She calls and Adam gives her instructions. They lead to nowhere. I make the executive decision to bail and get on the 4. As soon as we get up there, big billboard, Ron Jon’s Surf Shop this way. She threatens my life, so we exit.

I told her if she VALUED her life she better exit. We had spent 3 hours looking for this joint for crying out loud!

I run in and she waits, car running in a highly illegal spot. Adam tells me, we don’t carry that watch anymore, but we have these water watches. He doesn’t understand, I am not looking for a water resistant watch, I am looking for a specific style, I don’t explain, I don’t have time. In the “New” water watch bin, there is one, lonely, missing it’s packaging, like mine, watch left. They sell it to me for $2.99 and off I go. It was the Festival Bay Mall if you’re interested.

We sprint to DTD, MX2 runs in, while I circle, trying to make a later ADR for Boma. No can do. Full for the night. She misses the Author, but does get the book signed by the Illustrator. She is going to call Allison and tell her she better like that watch… So off we head to The Animal Kingdom Lodge.

I head into the resort with a bad attitude. I am frustrated over the last 3 hours. We are late for the ADR. I am going to hate Boma.

I loved Boma! The food was different than anything I’ve had and pretty tasty too. We were exhausted and very silly. We tried every last thing. The rule was to try it all once before going back for something you loved. My favorite part was the Hummus. Go figure. I probably won’t be back because it was not somewhere my family would enjoy, so I was glad for the experience.

I liked BOMA. Except for the part about stepping in sawdust covered puke on the floor! Put a sign up why don’t ya, WET FLOOR or something! Evidently a little kid had chucked it at the hostess stand right before I walked up to check on our seats. Typical.

After this we go back to the room before heading to DTD. We still haven’t been shopping there yet. The whole day had been a time management issue, so let’s just make it worse by changing our clothes and redoing our hair and faces!

We head to DTD and attack the stores. It’s getting pretty late and we both are discriminating buyers, so we really have to check EVERYTHING out before we buy. We really didn’t get anything, because I guess the CM’s want to go home or something! We’ll come back tomorrow.

We end up closing down the area and when we get back to The Beach Club it’s late. We walk thru BC Villa’s on our way to the main hotel from the parking lot. Our key card won’t open the door. Tired, so tired. We decided to go around the left side of the building, towards the forest outside our balcony as we had seen many guests coming and going this way. It’s much scarier at night when no one is around. We are at the half way point, keep going into the unknown or walk ALL THE WAY back to the front of the hotel. MX2 sees a service door partially open. Let’s go thru here, is her bright idea. No-o-o-o-o I am imploring. That would be wrong, that would be breaking the rules, we CANNOT not step foot in that room. She must not be able to hear me, because there she goes. And I follow. We walk thru a laundry room and out into the hallway leading to our regular elevator. While it was a quick solution, I knew Big Brother was watching and we were going to be kicked out. Somehow I fell asleep waiting for the other shoe to drop.

 

[Cinerama]

Love your report so far! I have had more than one "step away from that purse" moments at Coach and D & B too! Thanks...I'll be looking for more.

 

[Twingle]

Subscribing - loving your trip report!

 

[calstitcher]

Loving your trip report. Especially being "sorry" in the "sari" room. LOL

 

[DisneyWorld Delight]

Saturday December 10, 2005 – Day Four

This is our final day. We have so much to accomplish. We have seen things we wanted to buy and now must go back for them. We want to hit three different parks and DTD all in one day. We must get up early to accomplish it all. MX2 does not want to get up. I have to get into mom mode and get stern. While she is getting ready, after getting the room straightened up, I buzz down to the gift shop. They have some juice glasses I had spied at MGM and wanted to go ahead and get them now. I got to see a scam of the dining plan in action. Mom sent sons over with a child’s card and an adult food purchase. The CM told them to go get the right card. Amusing.

First stop is the Magic Kingdom as we “need” (MX2’s words) to get more pictures in the day light! And shopping on Main Street. (Fine by me.) We decide to have a hotdog at Casey’s around 10:30. I had never eaten here before and it was good. While in line there was a fellow behind us joking about $45 hotdogs and sauce. We got a good chuckle with that one. We will run into him later. And then while watching the cartoons and eating the dogs, a family was sitting on the bleachers completely zoned out, no food, and just watching cartoons. Mom, Dad and Kids. Did they not realize they were in the Magic Kingdom? And had paid a fortune to be in the Magic Kingdom? Again, amusing.

Next stop, Grand Floridian, to view the Gingerbread House. One the way out of the MK, we got in trouble with Disney Security. I couldn’t find a way out; after the turnstiles, due to the throngs of people coming in. So I bend down to go under a rope and the Security guys reprimands us. It was totally my fault, but it still stung and put a damper on my walk to the boat. See why I follow rules.

Yeah…because she gets caught!

On the boat, there is a lady sitting ahead of us with a purple/black film Mickey Mouse camera strap. MX2 notices it and inquires where she got it. Of course she said it was years ago… I jump in and tell her she better hang onto it because it’s worth lots of money. MX2 was ready to toss me over. She was going to offer to buy it right then and there.

The gingerbread house is as spectacular as it looks and we got some pictures. Of course, someone got many more than I, from every floor and angle possible, but I digress. One really neat thing, as we were looking at the house MX2 noticed a Salamander in the window. We got a picture. Can you imagine that scared little lizard streaking across the lobby entrance and deciding the gingerbread house was a good place to hide?

We head to Epcot. We still have some World Showcases to explore. We stop at Ice Station Cool and she tries the Beverly. I am too chicken. We take 100 pictures and stop to look at pins on our way back to the World. The crowds were thick today.

We are heading into China and there is a service dog walking with a lady. MX2 is interested in this and wants to go talk to the gal. I’m like, no, she’s blind, leave her alone. She heads over anyway, I blend into the background. Turns out the gal is a CM and she is working with Paws for a Cause, training service dogs in situations just like crowds and amusement parks.

Once again, pays to ask.

It must be 2:30 and we are getting pretty hungry. We head to Rose & Crown to try and secure a seat. MX2 got in line and it became clear real fast that the guy she was in line behind was the very same jokester from Casey’s that morning. He got their pager and walked off. MX2 got to the podium and the CM told her she was sorry, but he was the last walk in for lunch. They would be prepping for dinner after that. Bummer. MX2 went over to the fellow to tease him and tell him what a lucky guy he was. After that we head off to do some UK shopping. He catches us and tells us to take his seating. We decline and he insists. What about your wife sir? He explains they are here all the time. His wife works at the Poly, his daughter is a lifeguard at Blizzard Beach and they really are here all the time. He takes us to the podium and explains it to the CM. Thank you so much Mr. NiceyNicerson. This would be our last real meal here and probably the best. Pixie Dust. So as we are waiting to be seated, the host comes out and inquires our name, because there is a little confusion after all the switching. MX2 deadpans in the same British accent the host just used “Robinson.” I was floored. Were my ears deceiving me, or did she just answer him in a British accent. We look at each other and she is just as shocked as I. He looks at us and says, “Where are you from?” Ohio, right? He starts laughing and says, “That was a very English accent you had there.” She tries to explain, it just came out like that. We start rolling. Him included. He was so tickled.

When he asked, in the most British accent I have ever performed, I say “Robinson party of 2.” Like I was from Elkshire or something. I look at DWD with my eyes bugging, silently imploring “Do I go on or just return to normal?” Next thing I know, the same accent comes out of my mouth as I ask “It’s such a lovely day. Will we be lunching outside?” He says yes and at that point asks where in the UK I am from. Mortified I blurt out “Southern Ohio! I am really sorry, it just came out that way!” He thinks it very funny and said it was the best fake British accent he has ever heard. Go figure!

He led us to our seat and we had the best server, Tommy. We could not stop snickering about the earlier situation and he was very understanding. We also got to talk a lot with him. He helped us pick out our food, which was excellent and then when we ordered dessert, we split the sticky pudding, (very good), but really couldn’t easily part the trifle in such a small dish. I asked for a bowl to do just that and he brought us a whole other trifle. More Pixie Dust. So we each had a desert and a half, plus lunch. We literally needed to be trucked out of there. I will be back to Rose & Crown.

Next we head to MGM for the Osborne Spectacle of Lights. On the way over we get on the boat at the Boardwalk dock. MX2 got in line as I ran to the restroom. I guess while I was gone a crazy family didn’t want her to be first in line for the boat as they sent their bratty preteen boys down the wheelchair ramp to cut in front of her. As I arrived, she was getting highly annoyed. The family was so loud and obnoxious and being very rude. I was mildly amused by the whole thing. Turns out they were last on the boat anyway as grandma was in a wheelchair and they had to wait for room at the back of the boat.

The boats were packed. Everyone was headed to the lights. I was starting to shut down. We get in the park, check again today for a camera strap, as we had everywhere else that day. Made a few purchases and checked out the lights. They are a sight to behold. And crowded. If you are claustrophobic, I don’t suggest it. If not, they are pretty impressive. Managed to take some pictures and took off out of that packed park.

Bussed to Saratoga Springs and walked around to DTD. I was anxious to see how long the walk would take and it wasn’t too bad. We shopped till we dropped, literally, and took the sad, long ride back to The Beach Club. Time to pack. Travel tomorrow comes early.

Sunday December 11, 2005

Today was just a normal travel day. Nothing real exciting. But is it ever coming home? Flight was late, but we got home in a decent amount of time. When we were landing I struck up a conversation with my isle mate. She was a CM at the Animal Kingdom. Working with animals. She is SO lucky I didn’t learn that at take off. I would have grilled her for the whole two plus hours. Her husband works at Universal. It was a very interesting 10 minutes.

Z' End. Thank you very much for reading.



This trip was very fun. It would have been even more fun if we hadn’t been so anxious with the many things going on with our families at home and on the ship. Of course everything was ok in the end. We all got our Christmas decorations up later than usual, but well worth the sacrifice.

The Camera Strap. On Monday, December 12, I looked them up on eBay. There were a few available which we immediately won. I got the current Mickey Heads strap. MX2 got a Red/Black film strip and my Dad won the Black/White film strip for me that I so coveted. I am now a happy camper.

Small Tulip Tassel Tote in Forest. When we got home, I called MX2’s hubby and filled him in on a great Christmas gift. He travels for his job, so he looked all over the country and I looked all over metropolitan Columbus, Ohio for that darn bag. It was nowhere. We finally gave up. She met him in San Antonio Texas over New Years and guess what? She is the proud owner of the STTTinF.

This was probably the one and only time DWD and I will have ever gotten to do something like this. I am so glad I got to experience THE WORLD with her and her with me. We each brought our own view of things and it was fun to share. I am not saying there is anything more magical than experiencing WDW with your special someone (DH, boyfriend, etc.) or your children. But this was a different type of magical experience. I saw more than I ever have in one trip before. The best thing about this trip is that there was Pixie Dust around every corner. Either sprinkling on us or us sprinkling someone else. The best kind of magic is the kind you don’t expect.

 

[DisneyWorld Delight]

Thank you to those of you who posted encouragement.

 

[Twingle]

Thansk so much for your TR - I enjoyed it very much. I'm so glad you were able to get your camera strap! And that MX2 was able to find her purse!

 

[nutz2notz]

I just finished reading your TR and I loved it. What a treat to get to spend time with a good friend in WDW. Thank you for sharing.

 

[meresandwillsmom]

I loved your TR. Congrats on taking time for you. Think I'll be planning a girls trip soon. Thanks for the inspiration!