My first trip to WDW and DH's first time being arrested (Dec 2009)

[RigLee]

Ya'll have waited an awful long time for this and thank you for being so patient,

Rig was making a goofy face so I had to crop him out of this picture, But I on the other hand looked great and couldn't let this picture of me go to waste.

Now you have a face and no longer have to imagine.

And now us together.

Continuing on with the story now.
--------------------------
We had gone to bed fairly early but we didn’t fall asleep right away, we talked and joked for the longest time.

Rig had been at his goofiest that day, at home he has so much on his mind and so much to do all the time that the goofy moments a far and few in between. He’s not Mr. super serious all the time either but I seldom get a free spirited Rig for a whole day. This was one of the best days at Disney.

The next morning we woke up to gray skies. Bummer for two reasons, one being that this was our Animal Kingdom day and two being that we were meeting with Jenny and Grant. If you remember our first day spent with Jenny and Grant had been a horrendous rainy day. Hopefully the rain wouldn’t be as bad today as it was on our first Epcot day, is what I was thinking while getting ready.

I went into the bathroom to wash my hair when I saw it in the tub, he was vibrant green and so cute (please don’t laugh at me here)

“Rig, I yelled, what’s the safest way to pick up a baby alligator?”

“Did you say alligator Babylee?”

“Yea, do I pick it up by it’s tail, or do I have to clamp it’s mouth closed like they do with big alligators? This one is just a baby, a tiny one. I’ve never seen one so small, it might even be a newborn.”

Rig came into the bathroom and looked at my alligator and then looked at me.

“The sad thing is, he told me, I think you’re being serious here about that being an alligator.”

“Florida has alligators galore, and I heard that baby ones sometimes live in the water pipes.”

Rig scratched his head, “Baby, that’s a lizard.”

“But it’s green.”
“Yes it is, but it’s still a lizard.”

“Are you just trying to protect me by telling me it’s not an alligator? Cause I’m not scared.”

“It’s not an alligator, I promise you, you’ve seen lizards before Lee.”

“Never seen a green one.” I was a little disappointed, I thought it would be cool to go back home and tell everybody about the alligator in the tub. “Could you get him out of there then so I can wash my hair.”

Rig went for the lizard but it scurried up the shower wall, and we decided to just let him hang there, he wasn’t hurting anybody.

I washed my hair and brushed it out and that was the extent of my hair do for the day, why bother doing anything else with it?

We got dressed for chilly weather and then Rig and I headed out the door.

We were meeting Jenny and Grant at the bus stop early so we had about 45 minutes to go down to Everything Pop and get some breakfast.

The place was packed, the eating area was crowded but I still found us a table, the place to order your food was utter chaos.

Rig went with his usual big breakfast of pork parts and pancakes, I had a muffin and fruit. Because it took so long to order the food we didn’t have a lot of time to eat. And once we finished eating Rig wanted to go into the gift shop and get me a poncho while I went out to the bus stop to find Jenny and Grant.
I found them on the bench by the Animal Kingdom stop. She looked dressed for chilly weather, he was wearing shorts but at least this time he had on tennis shoes and not flip flops.

Rig met us there shortly after, he said he didn’t see any rain ponchos so he would get me one once we got to Animal Kingdom.

“How are you doing today?” Jenny asked Rig

Rig gave her his big smile, “I’m above ground.”

“You look so much better than the last time we saw you.” She said

“Well I feel much better too.”

The line for Animal Kingdom bus wasn’t bad, we stood back under the shelter of the over hang and waited for the bus to come and once it got there we went and got in line and boarded the bus. Jenny and I were able to sit together and Rig and Grant had to stand. Jenny and I used the time to catch up. I told her about our day yesterday how we missed out on Toy Story Mania, and the about the joke I had played on Rig, followed by the “document” he coerced me to sign.

She told me about their day of mostly shopping and eating and lounging by the pool.

Grant and Rig were deep in conversation then they both just busted out laughing so hard, everybody on the bus turned to look at them. Jenny commented on Rigs dimples. Then she commented on my dimples and said that Rig and I were going to have some dimply babies in the future. I had no comment for that, I was trying to picture my dimply babies.

When we got to Animal Kingdom the rain had picked up a bit, not a super hard rain but a thick steady drizzel, more than a mist though. Rig took off his jean jacket and handed it to me, “Wear this until I can get you a poncho.”

I draped it over my head like a blanket.
As we walked to the gate Grant was telling us the best way to tour Animal Kingdom, but said if we wanted to do it differently he would be happy to just follow us. But since Rig and I had missed our first day of this park while he recovered from his run in with a truck, and we wanted to make sure we got to see and do a lot we decided that we would just go along with Grants plan. But Rig reminded him that we are moseyan people, we don’t run to rides.

We got to bag check and that’s when I realized that Jenny and Grant didn’t have their ginormous back pack with them, Jenny just had a small over the shoulder bag, so bag check was a breeze.

Once inside we walked until we were stopped by a wall of people. Grant commented that the place wasn’t too crowded but he thought due to the rain it would be less crowded than what it was.

The wall of people had started to move and we followed along. Grant said that he and Rig were going to go secure us fast passes for Expedition Everest and that Jenny and I should just head to the Safari and they would meet up with us. So that is what we did. The guys were in front of us for some time, it was funny to see the two of them together, they didn’t look like they meshed ya know?
Like high school cliques intermixing, the jocks with the emo‘s or something. But here was a cowboy and I guess I could say Grant looked like a biker, with his tattoos and all, not that tattoos automatically put you into the biker category, but I said before to look at him he seemed intimidating until you got to talking to him and figured out that he was a nice guy, and not to say that bikers aren’t nice guys either, but it was just weird seeing the two of them hanging out together.

I need to go back and talk a bit about my first impression of Animal Kingdom up to that point. It was leafy and green!
Not at all what I expected, I was thinking it was going to be more zoo like and I would see animals in cages here and there, I had been seeing birds and a few other things, but they didn’t look caged, and I felt like I was in the jungle, when we walked through what looked like a cave I was a little sad that Rig had gone forward without me, this was something that I would like to have experienced together.
Then when I saw my first glimpse of the Tree of Life, I was amazed, I drew a breath in and held it for awhile. It wasn’t magical like the castle, but it felt majestic in a nature way, I know it’s not a real tree, but what it symbolizes is just pure beauty.
I know Jenny and Grant had their way of touring the parks and Rig and I agreed to just follow them, but I knew at some point during the day I was going to need time with Rig to explore things at our own pace and study things more in depth.

The drizzel was staying steady, I had given up trying to keep Rigs jacket draped over my head and just ended up wearing it.
Jenny had on her poncho but she couldn’t keep the hood up, it kept sliding off her head, so she said forget it and decided to just have a bad hair day. It’s funny how you can get two woman together and they always eventually end up talking about their hair, and that’s just what we did. She hated her flat hair, I hated my curly hair, she wishes for curly hair, I use a flat iron to get rid of my curly hair. The grass is always greener syndrome coming into play once again!

I wasn’t paying attention to when it happened exactly, but I was no longer in the jungle and now I was in an African village.

“Wow, this place is so neat.” I said, “It’s like I could tell people I have been to Africa and not feel like I was totally lying.”

Jenny just smiled and nodded, I took time to look at my surroundings, some of the buildings had grass roofs. I actually felt like I was in another country. I felt it in my core, it didn’t feel pretend at all. It even smelled different.
I couldn’t wait for Rig to get there so we could take it all in together.

It wasn’t too long before the guys showed up.

“there wasn’t a wait for Expedition at all,” Grant said

“You didn’t ride it without us did you?” Jenny asked

“No, I wanted to though.”

I could tell that Rig was in awe of the place too, he was looking around at everything the same way I had been. He looked over at me and broke out into a wide grin, “Babylee, I just came from Asia.”
I giggled at the way he said it.

We got in line for the Safari, the line was cool, at first, I liked how it had the touring agent box, and then all the signs in line about the animals. It was a fun and educational line, a line that kind of moved quickly, it was one of those lines where you wait for a few, then walk a lot, wait for a few, then walk a lot. I was freezing cold, even though I had on Rigs jacket plus my hoodie, Rig had put his arms around me as I shivered. All Rig had on was his long sleeved shirt and a T-shirt underneath, I offered him his jacket back but I knew he wouldn’t take it.

“I need to get you a poncho, he said, we’ll do that after this ride.”

If Rig was cold he wasn’t letting on. I still don’t know how Grant could wear shorts and not be cold. Even Jenny was shivering.

After about 15-ish minutes it was our turn to load onto the Safari truck.
It was me on the outside, then Rig, then Grant and then Jenny. Us girls wanted the outside so we could have a better view.
This was an exciting feeling. I was hoping to see some major wild animals, We were told that the rain wouldn’t stop them from being out, but they couldn’t guarantee that we would see any lions. That’s what I wanted to see most.

Our truck started moving, we had a woman driver which Grant joked about.
I want to talk about the truck a little here, I thought it was the coolest thing that the truck had gear on it, suitcases and bags and stuff like we were really headed out into the wilds of Africa for a real safari. Just another little added Disney touch to up the scale of make believing. I love the little touches like that.

Our truck starts out on the bumpy road. Now I don’t remember which animals we came to first, I will just tell you what I remember seeing. At first it seemed like we drove for a bit before coming to anything, We saw birds and little animals, nothing that I would get excited over, but the further out we got the more animals we saw.

What is so fantastic about this is you don’t see a single fence or enclosure for any of the animals, If I didn’t know any better I would have felt like my life was in danger, but I knew Disney had some natural looking way of keeping the dangerous animals from mauling it’s tourists.

At one point Jenny leaned over and asked Rig, “Does this make you miss home?”

Rigs sarcastic expression was enough to make me laugh, but he said, “Yes Jenny, because every morning I wake up and think, hmmm it’s time I round up the giraffes and feed the rhinos."

She smacked his arm, “I mean cause it looks kind of dessert like.”

We had never told Jenny and Grant that even though we were originally from Texas, we were living in Montana now, so I could see why she would ask that, I never thought Texas reminded me of Africa though. But Rig told her that we were actually from Montana by way of Texas.

Jenny and Grant were so happy to hear that we were northerners like them and thought it would be easier to visit each other, Rig thought the drive would be about the same distance whether it was to Texas or to Montana. We’ve never done the math.

We passed by the alligators and Grant shouted, “Those are the biggest lizards I have ever seen.”

I raised my eyebrows and looked at Rig, he tried to ignore me but couldn’t. “I had to tell him Lee, it was funny.”

“that’s what ya’ll were laughing about on the bus today.” I said giving him a pinch

Rig nodded, “I love you Babylee, dingy as you are, I love you.”

Jenny wanted to know what the joke was so Grant filled her in, and she had my back, “I could see how you would think it was a baby alligator.”

I’m not sure if Jenny was just trying to be nice, but I appreciated having somebody on my side.

The part of the Safari I didn’t like was where the bridge creaks and moans and then starts to give out from under us, not cool! I being dingy thought it was real, only for a second, I mean why would Disney put that part into a leisure safari ride, all we want to do is see animals, not get the tar scared out of us. (But then again why would Disney want to drop us 13 stories in a haunted hotel?) So naturally Leela did what Leela does best. I screamed to the heavens and grabbed onto Rig like he was the last life vest on the Titanic. It only took a few seconds to figure out that Disney added another touch to this ride, this one not being so magical. But still my scream was enough to have everybody, small children included, turn and look at me, some even snickered and pointed.

Rig, Grant and even Jenny were laughing at me.

“Now hush guys, it’s not that funny.”

Have you ever heard somebody laugh so hard they were crying, try to speak? that was Grant, I didn’t know what he was saying, but it came out as little squeaks.


“Eep, eew oooo eeeep.”

All of that while he was wiping tears from his eyes. And seeing Grant laugh so hard got Rig laughing just as hard, we became the annoying loud people on the ride. Well not we, I behaved myself, but the other three, I can’t say the same for them….
They did eventually calm down enough so I could hear what was going on with the poachers, another little tidbit story line to make us feel more apart of things, and I know it wasn’t real then, but it still broke my heart to know that things like that really do happen, how awful.

Oh, I wanted to mention that right before the bridge almost came crashing down, our driver put on the radio and let me tell you it was some beautiful music, I could see myself relaxing to this, not in a bath full of bubbles or anything, but relaxing out in the wilderness, like by the creek or something. It was gorgeous music but not enough play time on the ride if you ask me.

So our Safari eventually came to an end and we all exited. I knew this was one I wanted to come back to, it would be a different experience then, for one we might see new animals, maybe a lion, we didn’t see one that time, and two, I would know that our vehicle wasn’t really going to tumble off the bridge.

Everybody else agreed with me that we needed to come back to it. But for now it was time for Expedition Everest.

We started making our way towards Asia, Jenny was telling us about Devine. A beautiful vine lady who blends in with the foliage, they didn’t know if she would be out that day or not since it was drizzling and periodically little bouts of rain would pass through, it would make the surface slippery and with her being on stilts it probably wasn’t safe. I really wanted to see her but wasn’t holding my breath.

Jenny pulled out her camera and was going back through the pictures trying to find one of Devine, when she found it she handed it to me, the pictures of her were gorgeous, I then asked her if I could look through all of her pictures and she was happy to share them with me, so we’re walking and looking at pictures and talking and I’m not paying attention to anything else.

Then we get to our destination, Expedition Everest. I look up and see this monstrous mountain and I could feel the blood drain from me, I looked at Jenny and Grant, Grant was biting his lip, he knew I would be scared and he probably was figuring that I was going to bail, the look he gave me was hopeful, like maybe I would at least get in line, Jenny looked at me with sympathy, Rig, Rig knows me best, I think he could read it in my face cause he had that look of anticipation, he knew what was coming and he was right….


I took off running as fast as I could in the opposite direction of that suicide ride. Rig caught up to me in a few steps and grabbed me around the waste.

“there is no way in heaven or he!! I am riding that thing.”

 

[*Meagan*]

OoOhhhhhhh love the pics!!! So glad I have a face to put with the names.. yayayayaya!!!!

Love your latest update sooo much fun!!!!!!!!!

 

[JKMJ441724]

I haven't read a word...

but

I'm subbing based on the title alone.

Is it ok to judge a book by it's cover, er, a trip report by it's title?

 

[olwyngdh]

Thank you for the Pics!! Rig is just as cute as I imagined him to be Too bad my daughter can't find a guy like him instead of the goober she is with!

Thank you so much for writing this trip report--I am enjoying it in so many ways--not just your humor and the wide eyed wonder at Disney, but the obvious love the two of you have for each other.

 

[ronnmel]

Pictures! We got full face pictures! Woohoo!

You guys make a cute couple. Rig so does NOT look like I had imagined him.

Hope you post the next update soon, I want to know if you rode EE!

 

[lovegrumpy]

Love the pictures. You guys look so cute together.

 

[RigLee]

This is a question that I ask my children before we go to sleep at night! I am always excited to hear what made them smile each day!

That is really precious and something they will probably do with their own children too."

I love this! My boyfriend and I have something similar. We call it "our challenge" and every night before one of us goes to bed [usually him first], we send the other a text message telling that person what we are grateful for God doing in our life's on that day. We love it because it makes us think about what we are greatful for instead of the bad stuff of the day. It's going to get harder in November when his schedule goes to 7-7

I love that ya'll do that, it's really sweet to me =]

Even when his schedule goes to 7-7 I am sure you will still find things to be grateful for. that is such a nice way to end your day, falling asleep on a happy note.

Really loved the updates. And the cute pic too. Hope you and Rig are having a lovely autumn.

Thank you, and we are enjoying our autumn days, I hope you are too.

OoOhhhhhhh love the pics!!! So glad I have a face to put with the names.. yayayayaya!!!!

Love your latest update sooo much fun!!!!!!!!!

Thanks Meagan.

I haven't read a word...

but

I'm subbing based on the title alone.

Is it ok to judge a book by it's cover, er, a trip report by it's title?

I guess it's ok to judge a trip report by it's title, , let me know what you think as you progress with this report. Kay?

Thank you for the Pics!! Rig is just as cute as I imagined him to be Too bad my daughter can't find a guy like him instead of the goober she is with!

Thank you so much for writing this trip report--I am enjoying it in so many ways--not just your humor and the wide eyed wonder at Disney, but the obvious love the two of you have for each other.

You are welcome for the pics, I kept ya'll waiting long enough.
Thank you for reading this, I have had a great time writing it.

Pictures! We got full face pictures! Woohoo!

You guys make a cute couple. Rig so does NOT look like I had imagined him.

Hope you post the next update soon, I want to know if you rode EE!

Yup, finally, pictures, so Rig doesn't look the way you imagined? What did you imagine just curious, cause I have read so many different things of what people imagined him to look like, and really he doesn't look like any of them.
I am working on my next update, I should have it up tomorrow.

Love the pictures. You guys look so cute together.

Thank you.

 

[ronnmel]

Yup, finally, pictures, so Rig doesn't look the way you imagined? What did you imagine just curious, cause I have read so many different things of what people imagined him to look like, and really he doesn't look like any of them.
I am working on my next update, I should have it up tomorrow.

I think mostly I had imagined him looking older. Even though I knew in the back of my head that you guys are young (from having read it in the beginning), your trip report is so well written and sounds more mature. So I imagined him looking more like in his late twenties.

 

[ToddyLu]

I went to bed at 1:30 a.m. Mississippi time this morning because I was getting caught up. I told DH about "fang" and that this story was absolutely precious. It is one that everyone here can relate,too.

My Mom still talks about Devine...she loves her and I hope you got to see her just once while there. Love EE and DH has a great camera and we caught the Yeti. Here he is just in case you did not ride it.....

 

[RigLee]

Rig had carried/dragged me back over to Jenny and Grant.

“I can’t do that Rig, put me down, I won’t ride it, I mean it.”

“You just need to simmer a minute babylee, nobody is going to make you ride it, but you can’t be runnin off wild like that.”

I kept looking up at the Roller Coaster, there wasn’t any part of me that wanted to even test the waters of this ride. I got dizzy just looking up at it.

We all just kind of stood there in silence a very awkward silence I would like to add.

“You rode rockin roller coaster, “ Grant said, it’s not as bad as that.”

“Rockin roller coaster was bad enough.” I said, “I’m sorry guys but you’re gonna have to go without me.”

Rig put his arms around me, “I’ll stay with you, I don’t need to ride it.”

“Please Rig, don’t miss it because of me, I’ll be fine waiting here.”

“I’ve been on it, said Jenny, I’ll wait with Lee and you guys go.”

Now I already felt baby enough without everybody talking about staying with me and it was ticking me off. “All of you go, I can stay here by myself.”

“Why don’t you just wait with us in line, you don’t have to ride.” suggested Grant

“I don’t want to have to say in front of everybody there that I chickened out, so I’ll just wait right here.”

“Are you sure you can’t do it? Rig asked, “I’m not trying to pressure you but you go through this every time and you always end up riding, even if it’s only once, you said no regrets remember?”

I looked back to the mountain, I really didn’t think at the time that I would regret not riding it, my fear was stronger than anything at that moment, I didn’t question anything, I had no “what ifs” it was safe to say that I would not be going on any expedition to Mt Everest. All I had to do was give Rig the look and he knew. He nodded and said, “Ok, wait right here for us.” Rig gave me a kiss and handed me his hat.

I watched the 3 of them enter through the fast pass line, tears had started to well up in my eyes. People were looking at me and I felt embarrassed, I tried to pass off my red tearful eyes like I was yawning and that’s what caused my eyes to water.

I remember when I was younger and had to get a few teeth pulled before I could get my braces, I was sitting in the dentists chair waiting for the Dr to come in and trying not to cry, I would talk to myself and try to distract myself, I read a poster on the wall and thought in my mind as cheerful as possible “that’s a funny poster Leela.” This day reminded me of being in that dentists chair, trying to distract myself and keep myself from crying, “Oh Leela, look at that little girls cute outfit, or I wonder how I would look with that hair do.”
But nothing could stop those embarrassing miserable tears from rolling. I wiped my tears on the sleeve of Rigs jacket, the rough material scratching at my cold skin making it feel like sand piper being rubbed on my face.

I knew the ride was safe, I saw little kids exiting with their parents begging to go on it again. “I’m such a loser.” I thought, it’s not that I wanted to ride Expedition Everest, I just didn’t want to have such a strong fear of it. I didn’t want my fear to ever get the best of me and today it did.

I paced around for a bit, and looked at all the extra touches of Disney. This place really was remarkable, slowly my pity party subsided and I started to enjoy the sights, “so what, so I didn’t go on Expedition Everest, I had done a lot so far, more than I thought I would, I wouldn’t let skipping this ride ruin the rest of my trip.”

It sounded good in my mind, I almost had myself convinced.

I went into the gift shop and looked around, I found a shirt that said I survived Expedition Everest, or maybe it said I survived the yeti, it didn’t matter, I only survived them because I chose not to face them.

With each new group that came out and stopped to look at their ride picture I searched for Rig, finally I saw him, he was talking to a girl, and then he pointed to the screen and laughed. I went over and looked at it, the girl was saying “I have to get this picture, I have to.”

I looked at it and Dang it, that girl rode this ride next to my husband!!!!!

As if I didn’t already feel bad for chickening out, but to see that some other girl was brave enough to go and she not only enjoyed the ride but she obviously enjoyed Rig as well, that was enough to make me spit fire. It was a double wammy! I wasn’t jealous of her that she got to sit next to my husband and judging by the picture, grab onto his arm, but I was jealous that she was fearless. I would love to be fearless for Rig, I would love to be as adventurous as he is, and try all the stupid things he does, ride the 4 wheelers way too fast and jump logs on the horses, but I’m not. And I know I never will be.

“Are you going to buy it? She asked him

“Nah.” he answered and looked over to see me watching them.

He shook his head, “whew, Babylee, that was intense.” He said

I put on my best smile as I walked over to him and put my arms around him, I made sure the girl was watching when I stood on my tip toes to put his hat on his head and give him a kiss, (he’s mine!)
“Did ya have fun?” I asked

“I did.”

Grant and Jenny were standing behind Rig.

“The yeti didn’t jump out.” Grant looked disappointed.

“The ride was enough without the Yeti.” Rig said

Grant wanted to buy the picture but Jenny talked him out of it. Later she told me that she could see I was not happy about Rig sitting next to the girl, she said they have the single rider line and you just get paired up if you’re alone, but it was evident that the girl was more than happy to ride next to Rig and Jenny didn’t think it was nice to purchase a picture of their friend sitting next to some random girl. And then she laughed when she explained the look I gave the girl as I kissed Rig, I didn’t think I was that obvious, but oh well, jealously is an ugly thing. And it reared it’s very nasty head that day. Can’t help it though, I am only human.

Rig of course never once mentioned that girl, it was as if she never existed in his eyes.

When we left the souvenir shop it was starting to rain a little harder, Jenny said that going to the finding Nemo show would be a good escape from the rain, so we headed that way and saw that we had at least 40 minutes until the next showing, so we kept going and found ourselves in a fun Dinosaur area, they had carnival games and such.
“You guys want to play some kid games to pass the time?” Grant asked, we were standing by the squirt gun game.

“Participating in a live gun battle will negate my life insurance policy, I can’t do that.”

Grant didn’t know what to say to me.

Rig laughed, “Leela’s quoting movies again, at least it aint star wars.”

We sat down to play, gosh darn those games are expensive. But I am so good at the squirt gun games, I have a secret for those, and I can’t tell ya it either, but it works cause I won.

“Johnny Ringo, you aint no daisy, you aint no daisy at all.”

I was given a really cheap stuffed dinosaur, I wasn’t sure what to do with it so I thought I would hold onto it until I saw a kid that I thought would like it.

There was a ride called, the primevil whirl. It looked like fun. The rain had slowed to a drizzel again, and this dinosaur place was kind of empty, there wasn’t much of a line for this ride. So we all walked up the metal walkway and took our place in line and after ten minutes we were squeezed into the car.

The ride looked like fun, but it wasn’t fun, it gives the illusion of being fun when you are down below watching it. But once you are on it, it spins you to and fro and at times it looked like we were going to spin right off the track, it’s a painful ride too, I kept slamming from one side to the next, not that your given a lot of room to move around in but still my hips were pretty sore when we got off that ride, and Rig felt sick in his stomach.

We exited and Jenny and I went in search of a fountain pop for his queezy belly.

We got the pop and met Grant in the souvenir shop next to the carnival ride area. He told us Rig was sitting on the bench outside, I found him out there on the bench, in the rain, his head in his hands.
He really can not do spinny rides. I didn’t think this was as bad as the tea cups, but apparently Rigs stomach didn’t know the difference. I gave him the pop and tried to get him to come in the shop but he said he was real close to throwing up and any movement at that moment would bring it on, so I just waited it out with him.

Jenny came out a couple of times to check on us. Rig finally got up and excused himself to go find a bathroom so I went into the shop and waited with Jenny and Grant. Grant said we had missed the showing of finding Nemo but we could just catch the next one. Jenny and I tried on different hats and played with the Mr. Potato heads, (those are fun) I was starting to get bored and I was getting worried about Rig, but he soon came in and found us. He looked a lot better and told me that he had to force up his breakfast and now he felt good as gold. GROSS!

He wanted to see if they sold mints but Jenny had some gum and that worked for him. Still GROSS!

Grant said we could go on the ride Dinosaur. Jenny said it was a very shaky and bumpy ride, but Rig said he was fine and could handle it.

So we headed to dinosaur. Ah ha, the obligatory show before the show that Disney likes to make us endure. This wasn’t so bad, it had Bill Nye the science guy. I got excited watching the show, we were going to go back in time and see the dinosaurs, yay, I’ve always wanted to go back in time, not necessarily to see dinosaurs, mostly to go back to my junior high school days and tell myself to wear my hair different, wow, what was I thinking back then?

“this is kind of like Jurassic park.” I said

“A little bit.” Grant said

“The book was a tad bit better than the movie, but I still really enjoyed the movie.” I told Jenny,

We left the show viewing room and went into the line room. Excitement growing by the second

“How are they going to simulate us going back in time?” I asked Rig

“Your guess is as good as mine.” He shrugged

“I’m thinking plutonium and a flux capacitor.”

Rig chuckled and rolled his eyes.

We got down to our line up, we would be next. I was first in line to board, I turned around and faced Rig, “So let me get this straight, God creates dinosaurs. God destroys dinosaurs. God creates man. Man destroys God. Man creates dinosaurs…..dinosaurs eat man. Woman inherits the earth.” I smiled big

“You were just waiting for that opportunity to quote that weren’t you?” Rig asked kissing my forehead.

“I never thought I’d get the chance, Disney has come through for me in so many ways.”

Rig laughed, “You’re so dingy Leela, I can’t say it enough.”

Now it’s time for us to board our time travel Jurassic park looking jeep. I couldn’t tell you if I was more excited for this or for when I was about to take a trip to Mars on mission space at Epcot. I guess I could say I was equally excited, I mean I had never been to Mars before and I can honestly say I had never been to the cretaceous period, both appealing in their own way. I couldn’t wait.
We were in the very front row, perfect!
We get buckled in, and make our way to the time machine. Which basically looked like a tubular oven. Then it shakes the fillings out of your head before popping you into the past.
Instantly and painlessly, (aside from the shaking your marbles lose part) you are in the prehistoric jungle. We were on the look out for a certain dinosaur, I can’t remember which one, I know a few of the dinosaurs, the T-Rex of course and the velociraptor but really my dino knowledge ends with that, and a few good lines from Jurassic Park.

This ride really is bumpy and shaky, Jenny wasn’t kidding when she told us that. It would slow down to check out a dinosaur and once we found it wasn’t the one we were searching for, the ride would jerk forward and we would be off again. It was kind of like riding in the truck with Rig, he takes his corners a little too sharp just like this ride. I found myself looking for the oh crap bar, just like when riding with Rig. If it wasn’t for the seatbelt holding me in I would have been bounced right out of the vehicle…..just like when riding with Rig. Hehehe

We came so close to being caught in a meteor shower, and a couple of times we were almost a Mcdino meal, but it was all good, until…this huge thing of a dinosaur charges us, I was face to face with this snarling, snot spewing prehistoric monster. Again if it weren’t for the seatbelt I would have jumped onto Rigs lap.

That’s when Bill Nye realizes his mistake and brings us back to present time.

“Omagosh guys, that was the greatest ride ever.”

We exit our vehicles and as were walking up through the hallway they have little TV’s and wouldn’t you know it, we brought a dinosaur back with us. Rig pointed it out to me, you could see the dinosaur roaming the halls on the monitor.

We checked out our ride picture. Funeeeee! All of us were leaning away from the dinosaur, and I had my hand held up to it, like that would save me. And Rig for once looked ridiculous in a ride picture.

That ride was definitely worth doing again. It took away all the bad feelings of not riding Expedition Everest, to me it was exciting and I got my fill of fun on it.

It was raining super hard when we came out of the ride, so much to the point that we didn’t want to run anywhere so we went back into the tiny souvenir shop and looked around for a bit, then stood by the doorway for a bit longer.

The rain finally slowed enough for us to make a break for it and go to the finding Nemo show.
It was so warm in the theater, we found seats in the middle of the theater and settled in. It was a while before the show started and the place was slowly filling up. I took off Rigs jacket and laid it on the bench next to us, I wanted to be comfy.

“I keep saying I’m going to get you a poncho and I haven’t yet.” Rig said as he put his arm around me and I cuddled up to him.

“I’m fine without one.” I said.

We all small talked back and forth to each other, we started making plans to hang out together in the evening after we left the park, we couldn’t decide if we wanted to hang out at the resort or leave Disney altogether and go out on the town, we decided to leave it go for a while and see where the day took us and how we felt at the end of it.

Then the lights dimmed and the music began, I knew because I had heard, that Finding Nemo wasn’t your regular stage show, but wow I was not prepared for what I saw. The jelly fish floating through the audience, if you allowed your imagine to let go, you didn’t even notice the people working the puppets. It’s easy for me to let my imagination fly, I want as much of the magic as I can get.
The bubbles, real bubbles floating down was such a perfect way to create the effect that you were under water, and the kids in the audience liked that, including Rig.
The show sucked me in from the very beginning, I found myself wondering at certain times how they were going to pull something off, I mean the cartoon itself is just so well done and so many great ideas in it, how were they going to transfer it to a stage? Were they going to have the cartoon montage like the little mermaid? Would there be a few stage tricks like beauty and the Beast? I had to give up wondering and just allow myself to go with the show.
I felt like I had just witnessed something miraculous, nobody, unless they saw it for themselves would ever believe just how amazing that show is.


And I cried, just like when I saw the cartoon, I cried. I cried cause I was sad for Nemo, then I cried at the happy ending.

When it was over I quickly wiped the tears away from my face, I didn’t want Jenny and Grant to see me being a total sap about everything, I looked over at Jenny and she was wiping tears away too, so then we just laughed, and then it felt natural to give each other a hug.

 

[RigLee]

I think mostly I had imagined him looking older. Even though I knew in the back of my head that you guys are young (from having read it in the beginning), your trip report is so well written and sounds more mature. So I imagined him looking more like in his late twenties.

Ok I hear ya.

I went to bed at 1:30 a.m. Mississippi time this morning because I was getting caught up. I told DH about "fang" and that this story was absolutely precious. It is one that everyone here can relate,too.

My Mom still talks about Devine...she loves her and I hope you got to see her just once while there. Love EE and DH has a great camera and we caught the Yeti. Here he is just in case you did not ride it.....

I can honestly say I did not see that Yeti, he looks crazy real. Grant said that the Yeti hadn't been there for a while.

 

[sue_88]

*sigh*, I am so content and will sleep better after such wonderful updates.
I can totally relate to Rig getting sick on spinning rides. I just skip over that kind of stuff now.
I have never caught the Nemo show but I love magical stuff like that. (I am a big fan of the Lion King show).

You and Rig are very nice looking! You will have lovely (dimpled) babies, I'm sure.

 

[fairyprincess1]

Thanks for posting the pictures Lee - you are an absolutely adorable couple...

Love the last 2 installments - Nemo is one of my favorite shows!!!

 

[MAJ RN]

First of, you two are absolutely adorable!! One day you will have beautiful children. The fact that you went on Rockin Rollercoaster is great and you should not feel bad for not going on Everest. I will not do RNR or ToT, scared out of my mind!! I love the Nemo show also, so beautiful. Can't wait to read more!!



Melissa

 

[AprilRenee]

two updates AND pictures!!! I was bouncing around on the couch when I saw you put up pictures! I was SUPER excited! :-D...but I won't let my DH look cause I told him he has to read all the story up to this point before he gets to see the pictures, just like the rest of us!! :-D

Actually Rig looks remarkably like what I was picturing. Maybe a little taller and I didn't picture the tattoo...I'm sure you probably described it but I forgot about it.

 

[AmberHeartsDisney]

nice pics great story!

 

[ocean134]

What a great way to start my Monday, after being sick all weekend, 2 TR updates!!! PERFECT!!!

I love Expedition Everest! I rode in the front seat with my mom! MY MOM is in her 60s! She was screaming like a little girl the whole time and absolutely loved it. Now she tells people that she can handle anything since she rode the front seat on EE! LOL

Also loved the Finding Nemo show. I wasn't sure how I would feel about the stage show but it is incredible! Disney did an amazing job! I don't know anyone who didn't think it was well done.

As for Dinosaur...that ride gives me anxiety! I have a deep-seeded fear of dinosaurs and that HUGE NASTY dinosaur toward the end is evil. To this day, I have NEVER been on the ride with my eyes open. I tried and failed. I can't keep my eyes open at all. It terrifies me. I think I am done riding that one for forever.

Also, love love love the pics of you and Rig! So cute!

 

[CruiseBoundnKY]

FINALLY...3 days of reading, but I'm caught up.

First, I was here because the title caught my eye.

Then, I was here because I was in love with your amazing writing talent!! I give you two thumbs up and a zillion props!!

I'm getting ready to go down for my 5th trip in December. I came to read trip reports so I could get some ideas of how to make Disney more romantic. I'm thinking we might need to ride the Ellen ride and maybe be someone's drinking game too

To all you doubters out there..I want to formally stand up for Lee and Rig. If you don't think any of this is true, then don't read it. I married my cowboy 15 years ago. We go on vacations and I practically have to wrestle him into shorts. It's cowboy boots and Wranglers all the way. We had a son, 7 wonderful years ago and guess what? He goes through more cowboy boots than you can imagine working on the farm. There is a cowboy hat hung on my bedpost and I'm very lucky to have him. My husband and his brother fight like cats and dogs too.

Anyway, I wish you both many, many happy years together and many more magical Disney memories!!!

Karen

 

[Backstage_Gal]

Lee, thanks for the pics, you two are so cute together!

I know I haven't posted in ages, but I have read everything, such a great report.

As for Dinosaur, NOOOOOOOOOOOO! I rode that a few years back with a group of Disers, and sat through the whole thing with my eyes shut tight as can be and holding on for dear life, the ride pic was just horrilbe to look at LOL. Never done Everest either, but I am seriously considering it, I read its on the level with BTM, so I think I'll give it a shot if I ever get out there again.

Keep on writing, such a great story, thanks!

 

[smidgy]

I know what you mean about wanting to be fearless.
I too, have never ridden Everest, and have ahd mulitple oportunities.
don't feel bad..there's nothing wrong with not wanting to ride something.
(however, you both should walk through the queue..not fass pass line.. once, it's really need)

glad to see your pictures! what a cute couple!


it took us numerous trips before we spotted Devine! she is usually between Asia and Africa, and usually in the afternoon. (this is one reason we kept missing her. we go for rope drop, do a few things, get fast passes for later, then go back to the resort for a while. and come back for evening EMH, so Nebo can see the dark rides, like dinosaur)

glas you enjoyed Nemo! we just love it!! instead of tryng to ignore the puppeteers, I like to watch their faces. it's fun to see the emotions on their faces match the emotions of the puppets! our favortie is Crush "Roll with the f l o w!"