On the Eighth Day...

[gopherit]

On the Eighth Day of Disney, Mickey gave to me:
Eight seats at Beaches,
Seven hours of showers,
Six panting pirates,
Five Prin- cess- essssssssssss!!!!!
Four soggy swimmers,
Third place on Millionaire,
Two rooms at Boardwalk,
And a night in the BCV!

Cast of Characters:

Cindy (that’s me, 37 yr old “Mom”, obsessive-compulsive planner of these trips!)
Rich (DH, 38 yrs young “Dad”, basically wonderful and easy going, but occasionally known to slip into the less-loved persona, Mr. “How Much is This Going to Cost Me?”)
Evan (9 yrs old, our deep thinker and comfort seeker)
Ryan (8 yrs old, our tireless spark on an endless thrill quest)
Caroline (4 yrs old and already has the role of drama queen mastered!)


CLICK HERE TO READ THE FIRST DAY!
CLICK HERE TO READ THE SECOND DAY!
CLICK HERE TO READ THE THIRD DAY!
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FOURTH DAY!
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FIFTH DAY!
CLICK HERE TO READ THE SIXTH DAY!
CLICK HERE TO READ THE SEVENTH DAY!
CLICK HERE TO VIEW PICTURES FROM DAYS 1 THROUGH 4!



THE EIGHTH DAY

In the light of the new day “post-Charley”, we weren’t sure what to expect. How much of the area had been damaged? From what we viewed off of our balcony, the world seemed right as rain – a bit damp, with a few leaves and limbs scattered about, but otherwise very intact, with clear skies above. The news channels told a different story, however, of rooftops sheared away, thousands without power, entire trees ripped from the earth, area flooding… We felt “spared” somehow -- very lucky -- and wondered how many of the Disney employees were not so fortunate. I admit it – I did not take any photos during the storm, nor in retrospect did I take any pictures showing damages done. It felt wrong, somehow, to capture that anything had gone wrong in the World…like stopping to stare at an accident on the road, or something. I wanted to remember the World as perfect, everything in its place, pristine and unchanged. Pictures of uprooted trees and debris were not something I would want to remember.

We noticed our “phone light” flashing, but neither of the 2 messages pertained to any long-lost food for us. The first message was dated at about 6 am and basically told guests to sit tight until management had “assessed the damage thoroughly”. Amusingly enough, the next message had a time only about 5 minutes later. It stated, “We have assessed the property fully…” Wow – in 5 minutes, that’s fast work – I didn’t think it was possible to walk the length of these infamously long BW hallways in less than 20! In any case, the announcement was made that 3 of the four parks would open this morning; AK would stay closed for the day, as would Typhoon Lagoon. All parks would open at 9 am – no early magic hours. We had originally planned to do TL on this day, but just as the weather was ever-changing, so too were our plans. We decided to do EPCOT. We wouldn’t need transportation (other than our own 2 legs) and BIL/SIL hadn’t made it over there yet. I don’t mind saying that EPCOT is my favorite park. Oh, the MK is great and a must-do, and there are aspects of MGM I just love, and AK is a whole different animal altogether (yes, pun intended), but EPCOT just really “does it” for me. My eldest feels very much the same way, perhaps because the thrill rides here are few and far between, other than Mission Space and Test Track, and he had already conquered one of those yesterday! So it was off to EPCOT for all.

The kids were quick to point out that there was nothing in their bags that morning, so I quickly remedied the situation with some Disney candies and small figurines. (Gotta keep my title as “Supreme Fairy” intact, you know, hurricane or no hurricane!) We got over to the International Gateway just before 9 am. Once again, there were some delays before Disney finally allowed us to pass through the gate. I guess they had to make sure everything was safe, as it should be. Plus, our understanding was that Disney was very short-staffed today. The closures of TL and AK were not due so much to damage as an inability to staff so many venues.

We stopped for some family picture-taking in front of the flowers and EPCOT “ball”. You know, photography is a real point of contention for me when we travel. During the trip I swear I’m taking pictures all the time, and after, I always wish I had taken so many more. There’s always something I wish I had captured better, earlier, later, faster, clearer, closer up, farther away… But as I already said before in a prior “Disney Day” post, life is for living, and I tire too easily of spending it behind the lens! I was already up to 300 digital images by this time, so I prayed nothing would happen to my camera or memory card. Sometimes I really wish they didn’t allow these cards to hold so much! It’s a clear example of the “eggs in one basket” motif – potentially you could lose ‘em all!

Once in EPCOT, we headed straight for Test Track. Today there were no qualms from Evan – he was raring to go! We picked up Fast Passes for Test Track and then DH, BIL, Ryan and Evan headed to walk onto Mission Space. I decided to use the time to get a stroller for Caroline and my nephew, so I left Caroline in the care of my SIL, who was tending to her son and baby at a bench near the front of Mission Space.
At the stroller rentals, I debated briefly… Ryan was having real issues with the strollers. He was upset that his sister got to ride while he had to hoof it. Granted, he just turned 8, but he is small for his age, and he was starting to look so tired. He would be the last one to complain from a fatigue stand-point – unlike his brother, this kid has an incredibly high pain threshold. I knew in my heart he could probably make it just fine, and that his issues were more from a sibling rivalry standpoint, but in an effort to maintain smooth waters on this post-storm day, I elected to get a double stroller and a single. My nephew could have the single, and my dd would share intermittently with a brother. Besides, I rationalized, if neither boy elected to ride, it would be nice to have the space for the backpack and such.

After I got the strollers, I hustled on back, and as I rounded the corner towards Mission Space, I saw the fountains that precede it at the intersection of MS and Test Track. I thought, “Look at those soggy little urchins playing in the fountain at only 9:30 in the morning – wonder what their parents are gonna do to dry THEM out…” And then I stopped – hey, that was MY soggy little urchin, sopping wet from head to toe, and the other “urchin” was her cousin! They were having the grandest of times in the fountains, but there wasn’t an inch of dryness to be found anywhere on them. SIL said they had asked if they could play in the fountains, but she hadn’t realized that it meant they would stand RIGHT OVER the fountain jets! Once they did that, she said it seemed pointless to pull them out… when you’re wet, you’re wet, so you may as well enjoy. SIL and I wrung out their socks and squeezed out their sneakers as best we could, both instantly wishing we had put sandals on them that day instead. I took Caroline’s shirt off of her and wrung it out as well. But as I was getting the clothes dry, that slippery eel daughter of mine darted back out into the fountains, loving the feel of the water in her newfound shirtless freedom as she flitted amongst the fountains. My daughter, the topless dancer....

The socks and shoes were sitting in the bright Florida sun, but it seemed they were just getting hotter, not drier. Hot wet clothes would surely be unacceptable once their fountain thrills wore off. Being moms, SIL and I both knew what was going to happen next – our kids would eventually tire of the fountains, and then, noticing their still-damp clothing stuck to their body, they would begin to whine and wail about their wetness. SIL had the idea to dry some of their clothes in the bathroom, but alas, there are no hand dryers in those bathrooms, only those brown marginally-absorbent paper towels. We agreed that if push came to shove, we would just buy them dry clothing – a plan we of course conjured up secretly from our frugal hubbies. It wasn’t worth trucking back to the villa for the clothing, and the kids could use a Disney “souvenir outfit” anyway.

My dd certainly held up her part of our prediction – the second she stopped racing through the fountain, then came the dawn – hey, I’m Not Dry! She instantly turned on more water-works of her own as she wailed:

“Wahh! I have wet panteeeeeeees!”

Until now, I don’t believe I’ve discussed at any length why precisely we call Caroline a Drama Queen, and this would be a prime example. Once that girl starts crying, she can’t stop – it’s all about her, the performance, and she gets wayyyyy too into it. So far, in fact, she can’t back out. She's thinking Emmys here. You try to appease the situtation and wonder why the girl is still crying. And then you will ask her, “Please, stop crying” only to hear her cry back, “Buuut I c-c-c-caaan’t!” And she will start to snuffle and snort and sob in a way that you feel certain will cause hyperventilation or the attention of Child Services. It has been my finding, therefore, that the ONLY thing that will get this gal to settle down is to get her mind off the subject, and the easiest way is laughter. At this stage in the trip, I was running dangerously low on ideas to deal with my children’s many psychoses, however! Evan had his fears of everything, Ryan had his middle-child “Notice Me!” issues to deal with, and now the Pre-K Princess was having a melt down. So first I tried the simple reasoning techniques, but no dice, and honestly, I think her crying actually picked up a notch. I was getting desperate (and cranky, too).

“Wahhhhh! I’m all wet! Wahhhhhhhh…” she moaned on.

“Caroline, stop crying – we will get you dry clothing! Pull yourself together, Honey!”

“B-b-b-but I c-c-c-can’t stopppp! Wahhhhh…”

“Caroline – think, now – THINK! Think… umm..... think of Gracie! She’s…um, Gracie’s doing the hula…. The hula, yes, in a little grass skirt, with a flowery lei made of parsely… and she’s SINGING to YOU…”

At that point I start imitating for my dd the image of my son Ryan’s guinea pig, Gracie, doing an authentic Polynesian hula dance while singing. I make up some words as I go, winging it for all I’m worth: (in my best guinea pig voice):

“I’ll do a hula for a carrot
If you think you like my dancin’
And can spare it….
One measly carrotttt!”

“Wahhhh… wah… sniff sniff…” (Like the storm last night, I’m seeing the winds shift – maybe, just maybe…so I continue!)

“I’ll do my little hula jig
If you could feed this guinea pig
A little lettuce!
And some celery!”

“Teeeheeeeheee” came the giggles from my dd, with dew-drop tears still clinging to her cheeks. I’m not sure if it was the image of a very fat little cavy in a grass skirt dancing on its hind legs, or watching her 37 yr old mother’s portrayal of such on the streets of EPCOT, that did it for my dd, but in any case, another psycho-crisis averted…Whew! So why are all these tourons now staring at me? I smile and wave – nothing to see here, just a desperate mom imitating a dancing rodent for her overly-emotional daughter…move along, good people! Don’t you have Fast Passes to use somewhere? Shooo!

About this time DH and the Space Rangers returned. Evan was beaming – this ride, he declared, was The Ultimate. He didn’t get sick – amazing! – and he LOVED it. Could they PLEAAAASE do it again? Wow – who was this kid and can we keep him? It was probably the happiest he had been all week. About this time DH notices DD and asks, “Is she soaking wet?” I should note that my DH is sometimes a poster child for the “Here’s your sign” songs. He once walked into his infant nephew’s bedroom, resplendent with crib, changing table, diapers and such, and said, “So is this the baby’s room?” I responded, “No, your brother and SIL sleep in here… it’s a tight fit in the crib, but it saves on space overall and the sheets are easier to wash. HERE’S YOUR SIGN.” Once again, he had asked a question that really deserved no answer! Gotta love that man, despite himself.

I started doling out lunch to everyone – we were all pretty hungry, even though it was only 10:50 am. I finished my lunch pretty quickly and decided to take DD into MouseGear to find some dry clothing. We went into the store and quickly located the kid section – unfortunately there wasn’t that much to choose from. DD finally selected a shirt and some shorts. She wanted the panties too – a princess pack of 7 pair, one for each day of the week. I should also note at this time that DD is extremely picky about how her clothing fits, ESPECIALLY her underwear. I have bought panties of every enticement possible for a toddler: Princesses, Dora, Pooh bear, Barbie, plain whites, pretty pastels, polka dots, puppies, briefs and bikinis – everything short of thong -- and the bottom line is that ALL undies “bug her”. There seems to be only one brand – Hanes Her Way from WalMart – which, if bought one size too big, she will tolerate with a minimal of oh-so-attractive tugging and pulling and fidgeting (of course all done while out in public). So no way was I going to plunk down nearly 25 bucks for panties she would most likely never wear again. We agreed to do our best to dry her britches out, and if need be, she could go native under her new shorts until the panties are dry.

At the counter, however, there were problems. The clerk was new – probably diplaced from some other job and set behind the counter on this day due to all the hurricane chaos. He had great difficulty figuring out what to do with my Disney rewards card. He tried to enter in the number and then the register jammed. Hmmmm… so he goes to the register to his left, and promptly jams it too. After 5 minutes, a manager comes to “unjam” the 2 registers. Meanwhile, DH has begun sending radio-SOS to me that we MUST go to Test Track… NOW. Our fast passes hang in the balance! He has very low shopping threshold, especially when there are rides to be ridden, and he couldn’t understand why I couldn’t just walk out of the store and return later. I couldn’t exactly get on the radio and say that register-morons had taken me captive, so I just kept reiterating, “I WILL BE THERE SOON”. The manager was finally able to ring up my purchase. I questioned her as to whether she had ever cancelled the first 2 attempts. She assured me that those attempts never went through, everything was good, here’s your receipt and your purchase -- and Have a Magical Day!

I raced out of the store and over to Test Track to a now-grumpy DH. They COULD have been a good 20 people ahead, but thanks to ME… and where was I and WHAT had I been doing? I didn’t want to get into it so I said I had technical difficulties and we just focused on heading into the ride. Everyone loved their Test Track ride yet again, although honestly, it does make me the tiniest bit queasy…but I am such a motion sickness wimp that I get ill just thinking about travel sometimes. Add a whiff of petroleum product and I am definitely turning green.

After Test Track, we headed towards Universe of Energy but it was closed. I wasn’t too surprised. I had noticed that when we had been in there the day before, the scene wherein wax-figure Ellen shoos away a dinosaur had broken – Ellen lay slumped on her face in a weird, unnatural position. But then, who’s to say what’s "natural" about a waxy talk show host prodding an extinct plastic reptile. Anyway – from there we went to Kodak to see Honey I Shrunk the Audience. Evan balked a bit at this – he really hates the graphic imagery of the snake and cat in this film. All goes back to that “photographic mind” thing of his. He had been having such a grand day, I didn’t want to jinx it, so I told him that he could bail if he wanted to – but he insisted – grumpily – he would do it. I was very bummed to see they had gotten rid of the one big screen in the intro-section of this attraction and put up all those little screens. And I was both bummed and relieved to have missed the “True Colors” segment. That segment always makes me cry and feel like I’ve missed so many photo ops with my too-fast-growing family! I bet that if you could plot my photography during a WDW trip, you would see a 150% increase in the rolls of film or digital images captured immediately after a viewing of HISTA! It’s photo-inspirational, I tell ya. We entered the studio and enjoyed the show while Evan kept his hands clamped over his ears and his eyes tightly shut during most of the performance. He opened them only for the last bit, because THAT part, he likes – and if you’ve seen the show, you know what I mean when I say, “Gesundheit” and "Hand me a towel"...

We approached the exit of the theater and realized – WOW – a monsoon had hit. We waited for a while, but knew we couldn’t wait forever – soon another audience of HISTA would be hot on our trails, and we would be forced out into the elements. With a leap of faith, my BIL ran down to the strollers and brought his back, along with all of our ponchos. Their stroller was a super-soggy mess as it is the type with padding; at least the Disney rental could be dumped out and readily dried. The clothing we had laid across our strollers was of course wetter than ever again – so much for that! We all donned our raingear and decided to duck into Figment to pass the time. We hopped right on – no waiting. I really wish I knew what braniac in Disney decided to use that skunk smell… I would love this ride so much better if Figgy-boy would hose me down with, say, Essence of Krispy Kreme doughnut instead.

After the ride, we exited into the throngs of humanity. Apparently these folks didn’t want to brave the elements either, so several rides-worth had just stayed in the Kodak games area. After our experience the day before (no waiting, everything at our instant disposal), it was very hard to enjoy ourselves here! Cues were 3 and 4 people deep to use the photo-morphing machines. We stayed here for a bit then herded our guys out and up to the fountains. The rain had stopped, and I told the kids to play but NO SOAKING – a sprinkle here and there is fine, but NO SOAKING! They played in the leap frog fountains for a while. The ramp that comes down from that area sure does get slippery, doesn’t it – I saw several kids shuffling their feet and sliding great distances – Disney should consider putting grooves for traction (or speed bumps – something!) Just as I had warned the group about this, WHAM! Down went Caroline. She looked like Charlie Brown does when he goes to kick the football and Lucy jerks it away – I think Caroline went airborne at least 1 or 2 vertical feet! The landing was hard, and of course caused her to cry profusely, which was understandable. I checked her over – amazingly nothing broken, no major knots, not even a dermabrasion…just wounded pride, as best I could tell, and perhaps a tender bum. Yet the gal wailed on. So looking around quickly to insure no one of great importance was watching, I did my best Piggy Hula in my rain smock, her cry transformed to giggles, and we moved on.

We headed next over to the countries. SIL was hot on the trail of a funnel cake. We made a pit-stop in Norway for the Maelstrom, but aside from this, it felt like we were doing Around the World in 80 seconds – no stopping allowed, just go-go-go til we hit USA and the funnel cake cart! We did stop briefly in Italy because I spotted the granita cart. Unfortunately, they informed us that our fave – lemon – wasn’t quiiiiite done yet, so we would have to come back in about 10 minutes. We went down to USA and got the funnel cakes. While the gang munched on these, I hustled back to Italy to grab the granitas. In a cruel twist of fate, they could not take anything but cash – no room key, no Disney rewards, only cash, thanks to Charley. Phooey. I at least had had 13 bucks on me, so I bought 3; I gave two to SIL and BIL and told my crew to just share one. We would be eating an early dinner anyway, so I would just as soon not tank up the kids just yet. SIL and BIL seemed ready to leave – perhaps the baby was getting fidgety, but I don’t sense that EPCOT has ever been their favorite park anyway. We had even raced past the living statues -- big big bummer -- we love those! It was now about 4 pm – probably not a bad time to go to Beaches and Cream and beat any other dinner diners for a precious table. We started heading for the gateway, but something in France caught our kids’ eyes – a street performer doing all sorts of funny acrobatics with stacked chairs, a fully set table, and audience members. Our kids were mesmerized. I can’t fully describe the act (and to do so might ruin it for any who have never seen it), but suffice it to say it had my kids’ attention (and mine and DH’s!) 110% and was both amazing and humorous! When we looked up, we couldn’t find BIL or SIL. We hunted around and finally located them, closer to the Gateway, looking impatiently for us. We parked our rental strollers down by the UK, thinking that when we came back into EPCOT later, we would head that way to ride some Future World rides again. The boys had already mentioned, after all, that they wanted at least one more run on Mission Space. My middle son was determined to try every "role" on Mission Space, and he had already done Engineer and navigator... 2 down, 2 to go!

We walked over to Beach Club; we saw evidence of the hurricane moreso over here than we had at Boardwalk. SAB was closed; it still had quite a bit of debris in it. There was some flooding of sidewalks, and many trees were down, uprooted, or severed into pieces by the storm. We put our names in at Beaches – it appeared that we would have about a 20-minute wait, according to the CM. I agreed to that – it was still early, after all, and the extra minutes would give us time to forget about those funnel cakes and regain an appetite. The CM told me there was a party of 7 and 2 parties of 4 ahead of us, and she gave me a pager. I walked over with the gang to the BC lobby, where the kids were watching TV. The crowd began to get restless, however, and wondered if the wait for Beaches was worth it. I have never been one to rely on last-minute availablility – I want all my plans SET! But our plans had already been upset by Charley, so here we were, winging it. I attempted to get us last-minute ressies for Cape May, but they were booked solid until 8 pm. The CM on the WDW-DINE line was trying hard to locate something for us. It’s times like this, I mused to myself, that prove my point about WHY YOU NEED PS. If nothing else, this was a good lesson for our gang on how valuable a planned itinerary (and someone to plan it!) can be. Just as I had asked the CM to check some places in EPCOT, our pager went off. I politely told the CM our “number had just come up” and said thanks but no thanks to his services, and raced over to Beaches. I handed the CM our pager and said, “My group is on its way!” She took me to our seats – 4 stools at the bar. Errruhhh? Ummm – no. I explained we are a party of 8, plus one high chair… she said she had no record of that size group at all! I jogged her memory a bit, recalling for her that she had told me there was a party of 7 and 2 parties of 4 ahead of us, and that she had then given me this pager. She checked her books and sure enough found said parties on her sheet… ooops, in all the confusion, she hadn’t ever written us down. She vowed to get us seated just as soon as possible – and she did. They combined 2 little round tables, which we gladly crammed ourselves around for the sake of food! By now it was 5:15 pm and we were quite sufficiently hungry. I had some Q&C vouchers for the adults, and our server informed us on how these could be used. We were not given the options that some folks have mentioned (i.e. milkshakes or malts as the “drink”, or using a couple coupons to get a kitchen sink). Our server was apparently sticking closely to the “rules” – oh well! We ordered our drinks and meals, and all were delivered promptly. The double burgers were really thick and juicy – excellent! My eldest son had ordered an adult's single burger, rather than a kiddie burger, and was quite pleased. I tend to agree with him -- once they put the word "kiddie" in front of a food, the quality usually suffers. My onion rings were wonderful – thick and crisp. After the meal, the adults with vouchers still had desserts to order – we figured we would share them with the kids. The kids were a bit bummed we wouldn’t be getting all the fanfare of the kitchen sink (we saw at least 4 of those things get presented while we were there!) Nonetheless, when DH’s and BIL’s “No Way Jose” sundaes and my Fudge Mudslide show up, the kids are suitably impressed and forget all about the Sink! SIL was feeling too full to enjoy a whopping sundae this time, so she wisely ordered the chocolate cake. She nibbled on the single scoop of ice cream while the cake was boxed-up “to go”.

The baby (seated on BIL’s lap) was quite in awe of the No Way Jose – namely, the mound of whipped cream. BIL gave him a taste and that was it. The Kid Wanted More! You scream, I scream, the baby screamed for ice cream. It set into a vicious cycle that the rest of the kids found hilarious: Feed baby, baby eats, baby cries, feed baby, baby eats, baby cries. BIL could hardly get in a bite for himself, he was so busy keeping the wee one from wailing. DH and I felt certain that the baby was either going to have an ice cream head rush or barf before nightfall, he was eating so much.

The adults were all impressed by the coupon savings. I pointed out to them that whereas the 4 adult meals SHOULD have cost 80 bucks and change, instead our meals cost 46 bucks flat – tip included. All we had to pay for now were the 4 kids meals and tax/tip on those. I earned a big “wow” of appreciation from The Frugal Brothers on THAT one!

After we were all uncomfortably stuffed, we waddled out of Beaches and elected to split up. SIL and BIL were headed back to BW. The baby was done for the day, and their elder son wanted to swim. Caroline heard the word “pool” and she elected to head that way too, so DH conceded to go with her, thinking maybe, if they felt like it later, they would re-enter EPCOT for Illuminations. It was now about 6:15 pm, and my two guys looked at me and begged: Take us back to EPCOT, pleeeze! Like I said – it’s my favorite park, so it didn’t take much arm-twisting, and besides, with two hot dates like these at my sides, how could a lady resist? I hadn’t really had much one-on-one (or one-on-two, in this case!) time with the boys. So we ventured over and through the Gateway, picking up the double stroller from UK as we went.

It was as we neared Future World that my boys unleashed their fiendish plot – Get Mom on Mission Space! Are they SERIOUS? They take me by the hands and assure me – it’s nothing! Easy as pie, a piece o’ cake! (Ugh… did they have to mention food right now?) I convince them to try Test Track again instead… at least I know I can handle it, despite the slight queasiness factor. And maybe, I hoped, just maybe MS would be closed when we came off Test Track. It was an evil plot, I know, but I was a desperate woman, full of burger and ice cream that I did not care to revisit or see again!

But of course, I should have known better.... After all, this is Disney, where evil plans never win! 20 minutes later we exited Test Track and those Mission Space pleas began anew… and lo and behold, Mission Space was open and waiting, just for me. I look at their little beggin faces and in a moment of weakness, I give in. All I can think of as I’m being led up the ramp is that old song, “What I did for lovvve, what I did for loooovvvve….” The line was very short – 5 minutes waiting at best. This alone should tell me something... no one ELSE rides this after dinner, I’m thinking! We get to the part where Gary Sinise discusses the upcoming mission. He seems stuck on the fact that SOME of us should not be here, and would be best served to realize this and GET OUT, while we still can. He mentions this about 3 times, and each time, I swear, the man is looking directly at me. He KNOWS…. Help me Gary – I’m here under the coercion of my pleading pitiful young sons! SAVE ME, GARY! The boys at this point are telling others around them where to sit to get the “jobs” of their choice. A family next to us taps them for more information – I see a familiar look of fear in the mother’s eyes. I feel your pain, sister!

We move to the inner circle, and soon we are seated on the space ship. Recalling what all my DIS info has told me about Mission Space, I focus straight ahead. My son next to me says, “Mom – nothing’s happening yet – relax, look around!” I glance down briefly enough to see that the ship is equipped with air sickness bags. That's NEVER a good sign. Immediately I return to the locked-ahead-gaze, gripping-tightly position, steadfastly sticking to my purpose – I MUST LOOK STRAIGHT AHEAD OR SUFFER YE (er, ME!) THE CONSEQUENCES! Finally our mission launches.

So... was it cool, the way you feel like you’re being sent into the sky? Yes. And was it awesome the way your face feels “pulled” by the forces? Oh definitely. And was it amazing the way you nearly felt weightless as you then floated through space? Sure! Mission Control was now asking us to do our assigned duties – and my boys were hollering, “Mom- You’re the commander, press your buttons!” Without even looking at the boys or the buttons, I just pried one hand loose and slapped madly at the periphery of my screen until the request was satisfied. My buttons were certainly pushed... and I probably killed a stray gnat or two in the process, but by golly my job was done! I'm thinking now -- hey, it's ok, I can DO this! I'm doing OK! See Gary -- I'm one of the STRONG people!

And then came those meteors – Houston, I have a problem. The weaving, the lurching, the jerking contact… I felt my head grow hot, and I began to sweat. I know this feeling – it’s the same one I get when I ride shotgun with my husband (aka Mr. Toad) when he drives those twisty West Virginia roads back home on an infamous "short-cut". By now my stomach was in knots, rising fast, and I was deep-breathing to stay in control... Gary, where are you? Abort the mission! We finally skid to a landing on Mars and the instruction comes to “not move” and wait. Noooo! I can’t wait! Must get out! Must feel Terra Firma, and pronto! After what seems an eternity but most likely was 10 seconds, the doors open and we are released from captivity. WHEW! Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale… I see Evan pause long enough to snag a bag from the spaceship. Is he sick? Or am I that obviously green? He turns towards me and excitedly hollers, “Can you put this in your backpack, Mom? I’m gonna KEEP it as a SOUVENIR!” Only my son would think it “cool” to keep an unused barf bag as a memento... don’t let Disney hear you, kiddo, or they might start selling them in the gift shop!

We exit Mission Space and my boys are absolutely euphoric. Wasn’t that the GREATEST? Oh yeah… the greatest. I am now wondering if I can perhaps submit a change to Gary’s monologue…

“Welcome aboard Mission Space. If you have entered into this Mission and realize that you may not be equipped for the journey ahead, if you are prone to motion sickness, have heart problems, or if you have just stuffed yourself like a complete pig at Beaches and Cream and are here under duress and/or ignorance, please make a rapid exodus now via the Chicken Run Portal located on the starboard side of this briefing room...”

We make a stop at the bathrooms. “C’mon Cindy – pull yourself together,” I say to the clammy green face staring back in the mirror. We try to get into Innoventions, but it is now precisely 7 pm and it is closed. We end up in Mouseworks, browsing about for items that might interest the boys when they go shopping at DTD tomorrow. A light rain has begun to fall, so we head towards the countries at about 7:30 pm to snag a spot for Illuminations. I was actually able to radio DH over at BW resort – amazing – and learn that he was not coming back into the park tonight. Caroline was content at the villa, after having spent much of the night in the pool. The boys and I select a spot near Canada from which to view the show, close to a bathroom just in case anyone has to use one. Lo and behold – will wonders never cease – Trapper Bob’s Beaver Tail shack is OPEN! Anytime we have ever come through in our many travels to WDW and EPCOT, it has been closed, and I have been SOOO curious to try one! So despite my queasiness and still being able to periodically taste the meal from Beaches, I grab a cinnamon one for all three of us to share. I tried for the maple – but the CM explained that they couldn’t get their shipment in (another artifact of Charley) and therefore had none. We all deem the cinnamon tail delicious, and ponder if we should grab an extra one to take home to DH and Caroline. As we sat there, breaking bread – or tail, as it were – in the mist, the boys and I had one of those rare moments of deep conversation, wherein they told me about things that were bothering them, how they felt about each other, a real Dr. Phil kind of moment with my kids! At one point, my middle son confided with tears in his eyes, “Sometimes…well, I just don’t get the feeling sometimes that people really even LIKE me….” To which his brother solemnly added, “Well I like you…I’d like you more if you were less selfish sometimes, but I DO like you!” Maybe it was the motion sickness… maybe it was the Fudge Mudslide revisiting me… maybe it was a lodged bit of Beavertail…or maybe it was the sincerity of the moment, nothing more -- whatever the case, I had the most immense lump in my throat during this conversation, I just cannot describe – and I have never felt so close to my boys as I did then, with them sharing everything they loved, feared, and loathed with me. I had to turn away a few times, because they wouldn't understand the difference between tears of joy versus sadness, and I didn't want them to think their conversation was upsetting to me. One son did spot some tears on my cheeks -- I told him they were raindrops.

Illuminations then began, and we enjoyed the show, huddled against the railing together, us 3. Afterwards, we sort of took our time winding our way out of EPCOT. We grabbed a beavertail for DH and headed “upstream” in the traffic now mostly making its way for the front gate. Passing by the UK, we noticed that some soul had taken our single stroller already, probably needing it for a weary child who could last no longer. Fortunately, we hadn’t left anything in it, so it was no big deal – just one less thing to cart out of here. We arrived at the Gateway and turned in the double stroller. The CM handed me one Disney dollar, and then inquired about our receipt for a single. I explained what happened, that the single stroller was AWOL from the UK – and she gave my son a Disney dollar anyway, saying “There – now there’s one for each!” With dollars in hand, we strolled back to the BW. Suddenly, Evan begins to really complain – and it’s the ear again. Not that again – what was the deal with this ear of his? It comes and goes, comes and goes… He was tired too, of course, which only exacerbated his actions (he can be a bit of the Drama King, when it comes to illness). Nonetheless, I was concerned that the pain didn’t seem to go away, and knew if this persisted, we had no choice but to take him somewhere and have it examined. He had no fever, and was sleeping fine, certainly eating fine – what gives?

We got back to the villa at about 10 pm. I took a Tylenol -- my head hurt a bit and I'm still not feeling really great after my trip to Mars; I know I'll never look at Gary Sinise the same, that's for sure. Things like that stick with me... My 2nd son Ryan was born in early July (think Wimbledon) and DH left the TV on in my labor/delivery room the entire time. To this day the plink-plunk of tennis makes me wince and crave an epidural.

Evan forgot about his ear as he told his Dad excitedly all about making Mom ride Mission Space and seeing Illuminations, in between shared bites of beavertail. We all turned in at about 11 pm, amazed that just the night before we were in a hurricane, and yet our vacation seemed to be continuing on, largely unphased! The news on TV told of more destruction, however – We may have been moving along with our plans, but many others were still very deep in a post-hurricane mess. And many of those who were in this “Post-Hurricane Depression” were the same folks who were working hard to keep our vacation plans afloat! They were certainly having a less-than “Magical Day”, that was certain, and it looked like many of them would be without power and utilities for several days – weeks – to come.

And so we were reminded again how very fortunate we were as we dozed off in preparation for Day 9.


COMING SOON… THE NINTH DAY... (click here!)

DTD – or the “Fifth Park”, as my kids call it! – and how to part company with lots and lots of moolah…

 

[fizz13]

Wow, I really felt for you over the M:S thing. This is one ride I don't know if I want to do yet. What fantastic trip reports and I only hope I can have a magical moment with my kids like that one day. As most of us moms know, they are few and far between.

Claire

 

[boston1029]

Thanks for the report. I've been reading each morning with a cup of tea. My boys have the same heartfelt conversations sometimes too. It brings tears to my eyes also. Your family sounds great.

 

[teentoddlermom]

Here I am again with another compliment to your writing! I have a 14 yo son who never talks...just his personality...so when you started telling about your conversations with your little men I felt a little emotional. Lucky you! As for your princess, she sure sounds just like my 5 year old princess.. the crying and the uncomfortable underwear! Why dont they make girls undies in satin? The poor little kids with bunchy bulky cotton undies with scratchy elastics! I digress..
I'm so looking forward to more!! Thanks and have a good day!

 

[OhMari]

How do you remember such detailed things.

Where did you get your vouchers.

 

[lovelykccat]

I absolutely loved your report. You are a terrific writer!
I'm looking forward to reading your next installment.
My DD7 and I are going to WDW in mid-November to celebrate her 8th birthday, and Epcot is one of the parks I'm really looking forward to visiting.

 

[gopherit]

Originally posted by OhMari
How do you remember such detailed things.

Remember that photographic mind of Evan's? Courtesy of yours truly. Actually, I can't take full credit. It's a genetic trait twiceover for our kids, because DH has an even more impressive memory than mine -- he just consumes all his mental "RAM" on sports trivia, though. What a waste.

Where did you get your vouchers.

Hotwire Savings club, of whom I have grown very very fond. DH wants me to drop 'em like a rock now that our trip is over. But I just cannnnn't .... they have those awesome 20% off gift cards, and the discount movie tickets. What's not to love? The $7.95 monthly fee is paid off and then some with every two $25 gift cards I buy, so whassa problem, I say!

 

[LuvindisCruiser]

From laughing with you during your "guinea hula" to crying during your deep conversations, I am so enjoying this "WDW Novel" that I have come to look forward to reading each morning. I'm so glad I am reading it now (a week or so after you wrote it) So, I don't have to wait for the next "chapter". Thanks for the laughs and "magical" memories to start my mornings !

 

[Minniespal]

Great report ~ Thanx for sharing.

 

[Alice28]

Wonderful, wonderful report so far. I have hung on to every word! I also have two boys, and hope to share some WDW moments with them when they're a little older like you did in this report. (And I have a 3rd on the way----maybe I'll have a diva princess too...)

I was cracking up at your new Gary Sinese spiel, as well as "Craving an epidural whenever you hear the plink plunk of tennis." LOL! I was watching the reincarnation of To Tell the Truth when I was in that epidural heaven/fog with the last, and even though it's not on anymore, every time I think of being in labor with #2, I think of that stupid game show.

 

[Ron from Michigan]

I just love reading your trip reports, they are so great. I feel like all of us here at the Dis Boards are part of your extended family now.

With every chapter we are welcomed back to your familys life and adventure at WDW. You are such a gifted writer that you should try writing a book sometime.

I have read the first 8 chapters today and know I will have the rest done tonight sometime.They just pull you in and you have to keep reading, just like a great novel.

I just love your discription of your experienc with your sons on Mission Space and watching Illuminations with them afterword.

Well I'm off to chapter 9.

 

[leahannpen]

Again, laughter and tears from me, thanks to you! LOL! That moment with your sons was sweet!

Can't wait to read day 9.

 

[4greatboys]

ACK! I had to buy those $25 underwear for my Evan on our last trip. Seems I forgot to pack the boy any underwear at all and going without, even for a very short time, is not an option.

 

[luciloo]

Just found this report, i am loving it.