MonorailMan
<font color=red>Relatively Cheap Date, Dewars Alw
- Joined
- Jul 12, 2007
- Messages
- 1,766
I want to begin by saying that this was truly one of the best vacations I've ever had. I want to publicly thank David for helping make this possible. He was amazing and an absolute sweetheart. Jeffrey comes off as a hard meanie until you realize he's just being a sarcastic dummy. (It's just his performance background.) Jeffrey made it very apparent that he didn't want to leave, and is even talking about making reservations for another visit sometime very soon.....and I, of course, won't argue with this.
On Wednesday morning David told me where OrlandoMike worked on the Disney property.......and being the idiot that I am, at the end of that long day I went to the Yacht Club in search of him and was told "Mike isn't working tonight", so I just assumed I had found the right place. Hopefully next time we'll get to meet. (FYI: a bus ride from the Poly to the Yacht Club can take about 45 minutes if you have to wait at Downtown Disney for a bus to transfer. The weird thing was I was the only person on the bus the entire ride back to the Poly.)
I got to do a lot of things I've never had the chance to do at WDW before, as well as some highly memorable activities:
--I finally got to ride the updated Haunted Mansion, which I loved. It still feels classic, but is now slightly more modern and with better sound.
--I finally got to ride Rock 'n Roller Coaster. While it's not my favorite coaster ever, I was still pleasantly surprised.
--I finally got to ride in the front seat of the monorail (thanks to Jeffrey's big mouth), and received the complimetary "Assistant Monorail Captain" cards.
-- We had what was possibly the best meal either of us has ever eaten in our lives at The California Grill. We didn't have a reservation, so we sat at the bar and had the handsome server named Ray continuously giving us samples of wine and liquor that he said would compliment the courses we ate well.....and they absolutely did.
--I finally got to ride the current version of Spaceship Earth and enjoyed it a lot more than I anticipated. I have the picture of us that they e-mail to you, but don't worry-I won't scare you with it.
(Another FYI: Experiencing something live at WDW is always better in person than it appears to be online.)
One more to go. *drumroll*
--I asked the hostess at The Kona Cafe if a man named Gary still worked at the restaurant, and she confirmed that he did, so we made a breakfast reservation so I could see him. Gary is a server at Kona that has been working there ever since my first trip to WDW when I was 7 years old. During my 3rd trip to WDW my family went back to Kona for breakfast and Gary asked us, "Aren't you guys from Michigan?" We were.......and it had been 4 years since we had previously been to WDW! Being 31 now, it amazed me that he was still there. It was something that I suppose wasn't a really a huge deal, but it still brought tears to my eyes because WDW has played such a huge roll in my happiness as both a child and even now. It was the cherry on the cake.
I'm going to miss being there. I already miss the "Disney water smell" that you notice everywhere from the water rides and park fountains, to the Poly tap water. Hopefully the next time I'm down I'll get to meet Mike. Once again, thank you, David. I'll make sure we're back really soon.....whether you want us there or not.
*drops his remaining pocket change into his "vacation piggy bank"*
On Wednesday morning David told me where OrlandoMike worked on the Disney property.......and being the idiot that I am, at the end of that long day I went to the Yacht Club in search of him and was told "Mike isn't working tonight", so I just assumed I had found the right place. Hopefully next time we'll get to meet. (FYI: a bus ride from the Poly to the Yacht Club can take about 45 minutes if you have to wait at Downtown Disney for a bus to transfer. The weird thing was I was the only person on the bus the entire ride back to the Poly.)
I got to do a lot of things I've never had the chance to do at WDW before, as well as some highly memorable activities:
--I finally got to ride the updated Haunted Mansion, which I loved. It still feels classic, but is now slightly more modern and with better sound.
--I finally got to ride Rock 'n Roller Coaster. While it's not my favorite coaster ever, I was still pleasantly surprised.
--I finally got to ride in the front seat of the monorail (thanks to Jeffrey's big mouth), and received the complimetary "Assistant Monorail Captain" cards.
-- We had what was possibly the best meal either of us has ever eaten in our lives at The California Grill. We didn't have a reservation, so we sat at the bar and had the handsome server named Ray continuously giving us samples of wine and liquor that he said would compliment the courses we ate well.....and they absolutely did.
--I finally got to ride the current version of Spaceship Earth and enjoyed it a lot more than I anticipated. I have the picture of us that they e-mail to you, but don't worry-I won't scare you with it.
(Another FYI: Experiencing something live at WDW is always better in person than it appears to be online.)One more to go. *drumroll*
--I asked the hostess at The Kona Cafe if a man named Gary still worked at the restaurant, and she confirmed that he did, so we made a breakfast reservation so I could see him. Gary is a server at Kona that has been working there ever since my first trip to WDW when I was 7 years old. During my 3rd trip to WDW my family went back to Kona for breakfast and Gary asked us, "Aren't you guys from Michigan?" We were.......and it had been 4 years since we had previously been to WDW! Being 31 now, it amazed me that he was still there. It was something that I suppose wasn't a really a huge deal, but it still brought tears to my eyes because WDW has played such a huge roll in my happiness as both a child and even now. It was the cherry on the cake.
I'm going to miss being there. I already miss the "Disney water smell" that you notice everywhere from the water rides and park fountains, to the Poly tap water. Hopefully the next time I'm down I'll get to meet Mike. Once again, thank you, David. I'll make sure we're back really soon.....whether you want us there or not.
*drops his remaining pocket change into his "vacation piggy bank"*
I've learned a lesson here: Never listen to the Poly's valet parking cast members. 
