gopherit
I'm not in the book, you know.
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2003
On the Seventh Day of Disney, Mickey gave to me:
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 (thats 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!
THE SEVENTH DAY
On the seventh day God may have rested, but my sister did not. After great consultation with her DH back home, her kids, and the BWVfront desk, she decided to hit the road namely, take her chances up I-95. The throngs of people now evacuating had clogged I75 up very solidly, and she felt her best chance was a swift, though rainy, trek up the eastern coast. She called our room at about 7:15 to let us know of her plans, and also to impart a bit of news to us: BWV told her that as of 8 am, 3 of the 4 main parks and 1 water park (BB) would open and remain open until 1pm. Due to the early closure, they would then refund the day back to your ticket in essence, a free half day! The word free was all my DH needed to hear; he moved into high gear with our crew, packed a bag for the park and was ready to go! We listened to the messages on our phone from the BWV management; they also stated that due to storm preparations, Disney transportation might be spotty and you were therefore advised to take your own transportation to the parks. We decided that with the short timeframe, and since EPCOT was on the menu for today anyway, we would simply walk over there. We left the rest of our gang in the room; they didnt seem to share DHs freebie mentality or enthusiasm. Our fam of 5 walked down a basically empty Boardwalk towards EPCOT. Once we got there, it was 8:05 am and a small group had gathered, waiting to get in the gate. There were some initial problems, then finally at about 8:20 the gates did open and we all filed through. It was a bit eerie because it was so empty. And everywhere you looked, preparation for the storm was underway. There were Disney maint. folks everywhere toting cordless drills; for every trash can, food cart, you name it, they would pop these little brass plugs out of the sidewalk and brrrrrrrrrrrrp! In would screw a steel bolt just as neatly as you pleased, attached to a bright yellow nylon seatbelt-type web. In seconds they had strapped down virtually anything in sight. I took Caroline by the hand and hustled on past, lest she end up bolted to the pavement in a flash of yellow webbing as well.
We didnt rent a stroller; we figured we would only be in there until 1 pm, whats the point of the hassle. We had minimal baggage anyway wow, was that ever liberating! We stopped first at Test Track most of the Fast Pass machine were not working, and with good reason no need. We walked into this line a 5-10 minute wait at most. Unfortunately, that was just long enough for Evan to start fretting again. I was at a loss he had ridden this before, why now the angst? His stomach was churning and he couldnt recall had he really enjoyed this on the last trip? So I had to affirm my sons fears.
Evan: My stomach hurts!
Me: Your stomach hurts. That can be painful.
Evan: I just dont know if I can do this, with the way my stomach hurts!
Me: Your stomach hurts and you are afraid you cannot ride Test Track.
Evan: Its just that Im not sure I can do this ride. And I dont feel good.
Me: You are afraid to do this ride. You are afraid, and you dont feel good.
Evan: I dont want to miss this, though!
Me: You are afraid to ride, and you are also afraid that you will miss not riding. Do you want to ride with your father or me?
Evan: Umm, Dad. And my stomach just kinda hurts now, too.
Me: So you will ride with your dad, and I will ride with Caroline and Ryan, and your stomach is still hurting a bit.
Now I know some of you are thinking, Is she completely ignorant? Whats with the mynah bird routine? But for some crazy reason this works. Simple rules you cant say I or inject things like It will be alright, or I know how you feel or its ok. Just state the facts maam, only the facts (but in a way that they know youre listening, not just mimicking or repeating) and no feelings of your own. I didn't invent this concept, but I sure do use the heck out of it times like these. By the time he gets done with his litany of fear, were actually up to the ride, and he has realized hey, I made it this far. Hes still prattling on about how he is not so sure about this, and how it makes him queasy, but nonetheless, he gets in the car with his dad. We do the test track, and he steps off, positively beaming. Wow. Another psychological battle faced and conquered. I would congratualte myself, but as the saying goes, God designed the human body such that you can neither pat yourself on the back (nor kick yourself in the bottom) too easily. Meanwhile, our dd is yelling, I wanna do it again, Mom!! I wanna go again!!! Woo Hooo! Evan exits Test Track almost bragging, and definitely asking to join his sister for another ride real soon.
I tell DH that if hes gonna try Mission Space, nows the time and place, but he poo-poos the notion, and we head to Universe of Energy. We enter just as the intro begins. I should note that Caroline refers to Ellen Degeneres as The Dory Lady because she discovered one day as she overheard Ellens daytime show on TV that, Heyyyyyy that lady sounds just like Dory! (Gee honey wonder how THAT could happen?) I did try to give a brief explanation on the concept of movie voice-overs, but she would have no part of it. She prefers to keep the magic of animation intact, thank you very much! So anyway were in Universe of Energy, and Ellen gives her little speech to the late arrivals, and dd motions for me to hold her. I pick her up right as Ellen says, Oh, and by the way I LOVE your hair! Uh, no, not you yours is well, it's fine, I guess, but you YOU -- yeah YOU Verrrry Nice! Cute! Caroline yells excitedly, Shes talkin to me! The Dory Lady LOVES MY HAIR! And I laughed until I realized that if Caroline has the NICE hair that would make mine the fine I guess hair Oh well, let dd believe! (And for the record -- she really DOES have NICE hair! Very pretty.)
The kids enjoy this show. After Universe, we head to the Big Ball, as kids are prone to call it and there is ZERO LINE. I mean you just jump on. Today is nothing short of amazing and its not hot, and its not raining Hurricane? Where? You gotta be kidding.
After Spaceship Earth, we take the kids through Innoventions. Weve never done these with the kids before never seemed to be enough time, always seemed too crowded. But today we are flyin and there are no lines for anything in here, either. We make a video e-mail, then let the kids play some of the games. They loved the Mickey Mouse tag game wanted to play that over and over and over. Evan won the Most Ice Cream Cones award, Ryan won for Most Tags, and Caroline got the Cleanest Ears award. We had to almost pry them out of here, at which point I said to DH, Its now or never youre either gonna ride Mission Space or not! Ryan was game to try it; I, however, being motion sick at the THOUGHT of motion, had elected to skip the Mission and stay on Planet Earth. Caroline realllllly wanted to head for Space too but alas she was a few inches shy of goal. So Rich took Ryan over to MS and I headed Evan and Caroline over to the Living Seas. We wandered through the Nemo section, then some other areas, until Evan declared that all these fish gave him a headache. We had great timing just as we came out, we spotted Rich and Ryan returning from their mission to Mars! Ryan and Rich both declared it a must do and Evan, seeing his brothers reaction, was clearly considering it for future reference. We wandered over to Kodak where the kids were ultra bummed to see that the fountains were all turned off in anticipation of the storm. We watched Figment and then had a blast playing in the Kodak stations that follow. There was ZERO waiting tons of cues open for use! We must have sent about 6 emails of morphed photos. After that, it was closing in on the 1 pm hour, so we started heading for the International Gateway exit. Man it was getting creepy now everything was bolted down and/or closed, and it seemed eerily silent and uncrowded, especially for the middle of the day. Once we got to Boardwalk, we joined back with SIL and BIL and the boys. They informed us that my sister had left at about 8:30 am and had left a bunch of food with us. We decided, speaking of food, to grab a quick bite of lunch at that point. We walked over to Beaches and discovered that a veritable throng of folks had beaten us to it: not only were they packed, but the takeout line extended well into next week and they were not taking anymore seatings. We headed to the boat dock everything was so battened down. You got the feeling you were in a ghost town, except for all the confused hungry tourists trotting about. While at the dock, we pondered if ALL the restaurants were closing. I fed a quarter into the binoculars on the dock.
Hmmmm . I see NO traffic in or out of Big River. No, wait a couple is stopping they are chatting with someone outside the Grille and now they are walking away. Panning over to ESPN and Spoodles, it was more of the same. "There are people walking up and walking away. Nope -- nothing open there." Quarter-time is now over, as the binocular fades on the closed restaurants of Boardwalk. It was at this time that my BIL decided that everytime one of us said ESPN he would end it with the ESPN song: Da-da-dum..dadadum! This got old, so old that SIL and I could only refer to it ever after as you-know-what-that-starts-with-an-E. We made it back over to BW just as mist began to fall. It was now about 2:00 pm. We did determine that ALL the restaurants were closing, and we should probably just head to the villa for lunch. SIL and I decided to grab a few provisions at the General Store there on the BW while the guys took the kids upstairs. SIL did, however, have the baby strapped to her front in one of those gopher-pouch contraptions. I picked up some frozen pizzas, a jug of water, and some soda, while SIL grabbed the real food: cookies and candy! Lots of humanity was in there stocking up, as only people faced with a storm can do. The bread and milk were going fast. I swear, I think even lactose-intolerant people will grab milk when faced with bad weather its an inborn response. As we crept along in the line, we heard our first inkling that BW planned to feed its guests during this storm. Wow thats a noble gesture, we thought. Some folks even scaled back on their purchases, as the story grew to one of an all-you-can-eat buffet. As we neared the cash register, I said to SIL that I didnt see what the fuss was about anyway if its a Category 2, by the time it hits Orlando, it will diminish over land to a tropical storm at best. Thats when the man 3 feet back corrected me with the info it was now an official Category 4. Oh I see. Throw a few more Reese cups in our basket, Betsy this just might be a long night!
We get back up to the room and prepare the pizza feast for our hungry crew. We had the TV in our bedrooms set to the weather while the TV in the living area was kept on the Disney movies they were now showing non-stop on 3 different channels: Monsters Inc, Nemo, and Brother Bear. A nice touch, Disney thanks. All of our patio furniture had been moved indoors by BW staff. A letter that was slipped under our doors advised us of the storm ,adn asked us to basically stay put throughout the storm so that if they needed to reach us, they could. (I imagined the chaos that could ensue if a tornado came and they had to remove us from our rooms yikes). Anyway, a message on our phones told us that yes indeed there would be a meal provided, and that guests of BW Inn and Villas were to come to the lobby at 4:30 pm to receive this food. We also had a message from Magical Gatherings there would be no Illuminations dinner tonight. Really? Can we have an updated itinerary for our files? On second thought spare the trees. You may lose a few in tonights storm, so conserve where you can. On a bright aspect of this, I pointed out to BIL and DH that the cancellation results in a hefty return to our credit cards, as it was prepaid back in June as a rate of 59.99 per adult and 19.99 per kid; this news of course is well received. Gee, we should have sprung for more Reese cups.
At 4:35 SIL and I take the kids down to the lobby for the feast while the guys tend fort in the room with the baby. We exited the elevator to a room filled with pandemonium. There was no line of any sort just people everywhere. We went across the lobby until we thought we had found the end of a line or so it seemed. I noted to SIL, Man, this is sheer craziness in here. The couple in front of us immediately pounced, stating that THEY thought it was VERY NICE of Disney to do this , and wed NEVER find anything like this at OTHER hotels! Ok, ok, lady, I agree -- Im just making a comment here! Somebody give Mrs. Eisner something to chew on besides me, please? My feeling was that, while a gracious gesture, BW had invited disaster by making the invitation so open no semblance of order, and who could tell where the food was? We finally approached someone at a beverage cart (wherein all that remained were some sad little juice boxes and water). We asked, Umm, where is the food line? To which he looked up at us and, looking startled by our ignorance, said while shaking his head, Lady, its GONE. The food is LONG GONE. Huh? Whats that about? I spotted a BWV manager and said to SIL as I pointed at him, Hey look, theres someone who might know! This manager spotted me pointing at him and I swear he tried to duck and run but there was nowhere to hide. I literally (and to quote Dave Barry, I am NOT making this up) had to assuage this man and repeat to him that I was NOT angry I just wanted some of the details! Easy boy easy me FRIEND! So what the hey was going on down here?
The manager told us a tale like he had come straight from the battlefields the horror, the horror! Apparently, over 1600 sandwiches in nice little sack lunches basically vaporized. Meals in boxes that were intended for special diets heck, no one cared, they were grabbed up in the feeding frenzy. Bags gone, boxes gone, cookies gone all that remained now were the drink carts, such as they were. He then changed his posture and said in his best managerial voice that they had LOTS of people working feverishly to make MORE food, so DONT WORRY, but go back to your room and we will CALL you when its here!
SIL and I met another woman in the melee she said that when she got on the elevator, a young guy was getting off with about 8 bags of food and a stack of cookies and sodas. Someone commented, WOW, thats a lot of food, you must be in a Grand Villa! Nope, the guy commented, Just me and my buddy, but we plan on eating well tonight. Now perhaps he was pulling her leg and really did have a wife, in-laws, and hungry kids to feed but Ill bet that woman sure wishes she had gotten his room number so she could check on him (and maybe snag a bag or two ) A different manager overheard this conversation and noted to us that while the management was told to instruct folks to go back to their rooms, his personal advice was to at least leave a scout in the lobby, such that if the food came, you would have dibs in case another piranha attack occurred. SIL and I looked at each other, looked at the lobby chaos, and thought, It aint worth it. We grabbed some cans of soda that were being unloaded and headed back upstairs. The rain was really teaming down now at 5 pm. The kids settled down for another movie after all the lobby mayhem. At around 6:30 pm I decided I really wanted a USA Today, so I headed back down. BIL went with me (just in case there was any food to be had ) The BW store had been transformed. Where the clothing used to be, they had cleared the shelves and placed boxes of cereal, Pop Tarts, chips, and bread. On the counter they were selling milk, wine, and beer. Someone spotted the Mikes Hard Lemonade bottle my BIL was carrying and wanted to know where he got it. BIL had a brief notion to sell the remaining 4 bottles in our fridge at a premium, along with some of the Corona, but were no scalpers. I grabbed my paper, put down my change, and fled the chaos and no, there was no food, only very grumpy people. That same BW manager was down there, telling people to go to their rooms, they would call when the food came. One man was giving management the what-for about the lack of food, and his dd pointed to the managers pin and said, Oh Tinkerbelle! The manager stopped and said, You like it? Here take it. I chided BIL and said, Tell him you like his shirt and see what happens
To be honest, I would have HATED to have been that man. It was like a scene from Bugs Life and he was Princess Atta, surrounded by Hoppers all wanting to know: WHERES MY FOOD? I think, given the circumstances, Disney made a good faith effort and the greed of some spoiled it. I cant hold Disney accountable for that. Oh, perhaps they could have organized it better, or charged a nominal fee as some of the resorts did to reduce the greed factor. But hindsight is 20/20 and its not like they get to practice this routinely. And had we all heeded their early morning news, we all knew they were closing things up at 1 pm. The time to act was earlier in the day not in the thick of the evening storm. After all, somewhere nearby, that manager had a house, and probably family too, that was also on his mind. I really felt for those locals who stuck it out with Disney either by force or choice. I felt badly too for the Inn-side. After all, lots of villa folks (or at least the ones who know the kitchens are real and not just props for that homey feeling) keep a fair amount of food in their pantry. We were fully stocked and had no worries, meal-wise. Later that night I whipped up pancakes for all yum. But if someone was relying on a Silver plan and a PS to get them through the evening, and had no back-up vittles yikes.
So the phone call became a running gag with us, because we all saw no way there would be any more food from BWV that night. Hey dont tie up that phone line they may be calling! Somebody check the light is it blinking? Did we get the call? BILs new catch phrase (now that SIL and I werent saying ESPN anymore) was And Have a Magical Day! He would make cracks as if he were Disney calling, and say, We are currently out of food and Have a Magical Day! My sister got through for a quick check on us she had made it through to S.C. safely, so I was thankful for that. She was now concerned with what WE were going through. I promised to call her as soon as we knew anything about damages, etc., but it might not be until morning my cell phone was not going to be receptive probably until then!
At about 8:30 pm, you could almost feel the storm from inside our room. ON the whole, though, if you didnt look outside, you wouldnt have known. The glass doors just seemed to reverberate a little. Looking outside, you could see the trees just bending. We did see some idiot in a car at about this time. He (we think it was a he) pulled up into the main loop and parked and acted as if he planned to eixt the car is he NUTS? This would have been during the 100+ MPH winds, my friends. We looked out later and the car was gone hmmm, hope he actually DROVE it away. Well never know! But on the whole, if we were out looking for a view of mass chaos atthe hands of nature well, the lobby had more of that than any scene outside. I went into our bedroom and watched the weather report there it showed that the eye would pass over the Orlando area within the next 30 minutes. My son Ryan is a great fan of Storm Stories on the Weather Channel. At home he will watch that show, and then, a bit nervous over all he ahs seen in the power of Mother Nature, he will invariably ask, Mom do we have hurricanes in West Virginia? Have we ever been in a hurricane? Will we ever be in a hurricane? Has anyone we know been in a hurricane? Can a guinea pig die in a hurricane? The wonders of a young boys mind . And so now here we were in the thick of one and he didnt even bat an eye. It just didnt seem like anything hed seen on TV. The power was on, there were movies, pancakes, goodies, all his family was quite safe and intact, and his guinea pig was safe in West Virginia (the wild, wonderful but relatively hurricane-less state). Nah, this is no hurricane, Mom. We got nuthin to fear here.
At about 8:55 as we were watching outside, there was a POP and the power to the parking lot outside BW went off briefly. We all thought Aha! as if, suddenly now it will get ugly! But as quickly as the lights went out, they came back on like nothing had happened. The flags above the BOARDWALK arch soon switched directions you could tell the storm was on its way out. By 10 pm, you could go out on our balcony the storm was essentially over. We looked around the front of the BW resort from our villa view; aside from lots of leaves everywhere and lots of water down near ground floor patio doors, we could see no problems, really. BIL was in denial. That was no hurricane nothing happened. Go see if the phone light is blinking maybe our food is ready, haha And Have a Magical Day! We got the kids into bed and each retired to our respective rooms by 11 pm. I tuned in to the news to catch the local damage reports, but it was all very spotty at this point. We had seen enough TV for one day. I flicked it off and went to sleep. I was so out of it, I even forgot about the fairy bags.
FYI: By morning, the ground water we had seen had disappeared, leaving just the leaves and debris as a reminder of the night before that, and the fact that the American flags over the BOARDWALK arch were now shredded into individual stripes. Still there, yes just like the song says but shredded. Amazing.
COMING SOON THE EIGHTH DAY... (click here!)
Coping with PHD (Post-Hurricane Depression) in the World
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 (thats 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!
THE SEVENTH DAY
On the seventh day God may have rested, but my sister did not. After great consultation with her DH back home, her kids, and the BWVfront desk, she decided to hit the road namely, take her chances up I-95. The throngs of people now evacuating had clogged I75 up very solidly, and she felt her best chance was a swift, though rainy, trek up the eastern coast. She called our room at about 7:15 to let us know of her plans, and also to impart a bit of news to us: BWV told her that as of 8 am, 3 of the 4 main parks and 1 water park (BB) would open and remain open until 1pm. Due to the early closure, they would then refund the day back to your ticket in essence, a free half day! The word free was all my DH needed to hear; he moved into high gear with our crew, packed a bag for the park and was ready to go! We listened to the messages on our phone from the BWV management; they also stated that due to storm preparations, Disney transportation might be spotty and you were therefore advised to take your own transportation to the parks. We decided that with the short timeframe, and since EPCOT was on the menu for today anyway, we would simply walk over there. We left the rest of our gang in the room; they didnt seem to share DHs freebie mentality or enthusiasm. Our fam of 5 walked down a basically empty Boardwalk towards EPCOT. Once we got there, it was 8:05 am and a small group had gathered, waiting to get in the gate. There were some initial problems, then finally at about 8:20 the gates did open and we all filed through. It was a bit eerie because it was so empty. And everywhere you looked, preparation for the storm was underway. There were Disney maint. folks everywhere toting cordless drills; for every trash can, food cart, you name it, they would pop these little brass plugs out of the sidewalk and brrrrrrrrrrrrp! In would screw a steel bolt just as neatly as you pleased, attached to a bright yellow nylon seatbelt-type web. In seconds they had strapped down virtually anything in sight. I took Caroline by the hand and hustled on past, lest she end up bolted to the pavement in a flash of yellow webbing as well.
We didnt rent a stroller; we figured we would only be in there until 1 pm, whats the point of the hassle. We had minimal baggage anyway wow, was that ever liberating! We stopped first at Test Track most of the Fast Pass machine were not working, and with good reason no need. We walked into this line a 5-10 minute wait at most. Unfortunately, that was just long enough for Evan to start fretting again. I was at a loss he had ridden this before, why now the angst? His stomach was churning and he couldnt recall had he really enjoyed this on the last trip? So I had to affirm my sons fears.
Evan: My stomach hurts!
Me: Your stomach hurts. That can be painful.
Evan: I just dont know if I can do this, with the way my stomach hurts!
Me: Your stomach hurts and you are afraid you cannot ride Test Track.
Evan: Its just that Im not sure I can do this ride. And I dont feel good.
Me: You are afraid to do this ride. You are afraid, and you dont feel good.
Evan: I dont want to miss this, though!
Me: You are afraid to ride, and you are also afraid that you will miss not riding. Do you want to ride with your father or me?
Evan: Umm, Dad. And my stomach just kinda hurts now, too.
Me: So you will ride with your dad, and I will ride with Caroline and Ryan, and your stomach is still hurting a bit.
Now I know some of you are thinking, Is she completely ignorant? Whats with the mynah bird routine? But for some crazy reason this works. Simple rules you cant say I or inject things like It will be alright, or I know how you feel or its ok. Just state the facts maam, only the facts (but in a way that they know youre listening, not just mimicking or repeating) and no feelings of your own. I didn't invent this concept, but I sure do use the heck out of it times like these. By the time he gets done with his litany of fear, were actually up to the ride, and he has realized hey, I made it this far. Hes still prattling on about how he is not so sure about this, and how it makes him queasy, but nonetheless, he gets in the car with his dad. We do the test track, and he steps off, positively beaming. Wow. Another psychological battle faced and conquered. I would congratualte myself, but as the saying goes, God designed the human body such that you can neither pat yourself on the back (nor kick yourself in the bottom) too easily. Meanwhile, our dd is yelling, I wanna do it again, Mom!! I wanna go again!!! Woo Hooo! Evan exits Test Track almost bragging, and definitely asking to join his sister for another ride real soon.
I tell DH that if hes gonna try Mission Space, nows the time and place, but he poo-poos the notion, and we head to Universe of Energy. We enter just as the intro begins. I should note that Caroline refers to Ellen Degeneres as The Dory Lady because she discovered one day as she overheard Ellens daytime show on TV that, Heyyyyyy that lady sounds just like Dory! (Gee honey wonder how THAT could happen?) I did try to give a brief explanation on the concept of movie voice-overs, but she would have no part of it. She prefers to keep the magic of animation intact, thank you very much! So anyway were in Universe of Energy, and Ellen gives her little speech to the late arrivals, and dd motions for me to hold her. I pick her up right as Ellen says, Oh, and by the way I LOVE your hair! Uh, no, not you yours is well, it's fine, I guess, but you YOU -- yeah YOU Verrrry Nice! Cute! Caroline yells excitedly, Shes talkin to me! The Dory Lady LOVES MY HAIR! And I laughed until I realized that if Caroline has the NICE hair that would make mine the fine I guess hair Oh well, let dd believe! (And for the record -- she really DOES have NICE hair! Very pretty.)
The kids enjoy this show. After Universe, we head to the Big Ball, as kids are prone to call it and there is ZERO LINE. I mean you just jump on. Today is nothing short of amazing and its not hot, and its not raining Hurricane? Where? You gotta be kidding.
After Spaceship Earth, we take the kids through Innoventions. Weve never done these with the kids before never seemed to be enough time, always seemed too crowded. But today we are flyin and there are no lines for anything in here, either. We make a video e-mail, then let the kids play some of the games. They loved the Mickey Mouse tag game wanted to play that over and over and over. Evan won the Most Ice Cream Cones award, Ryan won for Most Tags, and Caroline got the Cleanest Ears award. We had to almost pry them out of here, at which point I said to DH, Its now or never youre either gonna ride Mission Space or not! Ryan was game to try it; I, however, being motion sick at the THOUGHT of motion, had elected to skip the Mission and stay on Planet Earth. Caroline realllllly wanted to head for Space too but alas she was a few inches shy of goal. So Rich took Ryan over to MS and I headed Evan and Caroline over to the Living Seas. We wandered through the Nemo section, then some other areas, until Evan declared that all these fish gave him a headache. We had great timing just as we came out, we spotted Rich and Ryan returning from their mission to Mars! Ryan and Rich both declared it a must do and Evan, seeing his brothers reaction, was clearly considering it for future reference. We wandered over to Kodak where the kids were ultra bummed to see that the fountains were all turned off in anticipation of the storm. We watched Figment and then had a blast playing in the Kodak stations that follow. There was ZERO waiting tons of cues open for use! We must have sent about 6 emails of morphed photos. After that, it was closing in on the 1 pm hour, so we started heading for the International Gateway exit. Man it was getting creepy now everything was bolted down and/or closed, and it seemed eerily silent and uncrowded, especially for the middle of the day. Once we got to Boardwalk, we joined back with SIL and BIL and the boys. They informed us that my sister had left at about 8:30 am and had left a bunch of food with us. We decided, speaking of food, to grab a quick bite of lunch at that point. We walked over to Beaches and discovered that a veritable throng of folks had beaten us to it: not only were they packed, but the takeout line extended well into next week and they were not taking anymore seatings. We headed to the boat dock everything was so battened down. You got the feeling you were in a ghost town, except for all the confused hungry tourists trotting about. While at the dock, we pondered if ALL the restaurants were closing. I fed a quarter into the binoculars on the dock.
Hmmmm . I see NO traffic in or out of Big River. No, wait a couple is stopping they are chatting with someone outside the Grille and now they are walking away. Panning over to ESPN and Spoodles, it was more of the same. "There are people walking up and walking away. Nope -- nothing open there." Quarter-time is now over, as the binocular fades on the closed restaurants of Boardwalk. It was at this time that my BIL decided that everytime one of us said ESPN he would end it with the ESPN song: Da-da-dum..dadadum! This got old, so old that SIL and I could only refer to it ever after as you-know-what-that-starts-with-an-E. We made it back over to BW just as mist began to fall. It was now about 2:00 pm. We did determine that ALL the restaurants were closing, and we should probably just head to the villa for lunch. SIL and I decided to grab a few provisions at the General Store there on the BW while the guys took the kids upstairs. SIL did, however, have the baby strapped to her front in one of those gopher-pouch contraptions. I picked up some frozen pizzas, a jug of water, and some soda, while SIL grabbed the real food: cookies and candy! Lots of humanity was in there stocking up, as only people faced with a storm can do. The bread and milk were going fast. I swear, I think even lactose-intolerant people will grab milk when faced with bad weather its an inborn response. As we crept along in the line, we heard our first inkling that BW planned to feed its guests during this storm. Wow thats a noble gesture, we thought. Some folks even scaled back on their purchases, as the story grew to one of an all-you-can-eat buffet. As we neared the cash register, I said to SIL that I didnt see what the fuss was about anyway if its a Category 2, by the time it hits Orlando, it will diminish over land to a tropical storm at best. Thats when the man 3 feet back corrected me with the info it was now an official Category 4. Oh I see. Throw a few more Reese cups in our basket, Betsy this just might be a long night!
We get back up to the room and prepare the pizza feast for our hungry crew. We had the TV in our bedrooms set to the weather while the TV in the living area was kept on the Disney movies they were now showing non-stop on 3 different channels: Monsters Inc, Nemo, and Brother Bear. A nice touch, Disney thanks. All of our patio furniture had been moved indoors by BW staff. A letter that was slipped under our doors advised us of the storm ,adn asked us to basically stay put throughout the storm so that if they needed to reach us, they could. (I imagined the chaos that could ensue if a tornado came and they had to remove us from our rooms yikes). Anyway, a message on our phones told us that yes indeed there would be a meal provided, and that guests of BW Inn and Villas were to come to the lobby at 4:30 pm to receive this food. We also had a message from Magical Gatherings there would be no Illuminations dinner tonight. Really? Can we have an updated itinerary for our files? On second thought spare the trees. You may lose a few in tonights storm, so conserve where you can. On a bright aspect of this, I pointed out to BIL and DH that the cancellation results in a hefty return to our credit cards, as it was prepaid back in June as a rate of 59.99 per adult and 19.99 per kid; this news of course is well received. Gee, we should have sprung for more Reese cups.
At 4:35 SIL and I take the kids down to the lobby for the feast while the guys tend fort in the room with the baby. We exited the elevator to a room filled with pandemonium. There was no line of any sort just people everywhere. We went across the lobby until we thought we had found the end of a line or so it seemed. I noted to SIL, Man, this is sheer craziness in here. The couple in front of us immediately pounced, stating that THEY thought it was VERY NICE of Disney to do this , and wed NEVER find anything like this at OTHER hotels! Ok, ok, lady, I agree -- Im just making a comment here! Somebody give Mrs. Eisner something to chew on besides me, please? My feeling was that, while a gracious gesture, BW had invited disaster by making the invitation so open no semblance of order, and who could tell where the food was? We finally approached someone at a beverage cart (wherein all that remained were some sad little juice boxes and water). We asked, Umm, where is the food line? To which he looked up at us and, looking startled by our ignorance, said while shaking his head, Lady, its GONE. The food is LONG GONE. Huh? Whats that about? I spotted a BWV manager and said to SIL as I pointed at him, Hey look, theres someone who might know! This manager spotted me pointing at him and I swear he tried to duck and run but there was nowhere to hide. I literally (and to quote Dave Barry, I am NOT making this up) had to assuage this man and repeat to him that I was NOT angry I just wanted some of the details! Easy boy easy me FRIEND! So what the hey was going on down here?
The manager told us a tale like he had come straight from the battlefields the horror, the horror! Apparently, over 1600 sandwiches in nice little sack lunches basically vaporized. Meals in boxes that were intended for special diets heck, no one cared, they were grabbed up in the feeding frenzy. Bags gone, boxes gone, cookies gone all that remained now were the drink carts, such as they were. He then changed his posture and said in his best managerial voice that they had LOTS of people working feverishly to make MORE food, so DONT WORRY, but go back to your room and we will CALL you when its here!
SIL and I met another woman in the melee she said that when she got on the elevator, a young guy was getting off with about 8 bags of food and a stack of cookies and sodas. Someone commented, WOW, thats a lot of food, you must be in a Grand Villa! Nope, the guy commented, Just me and my buddy, but we plan on eating well tonight. Now perhaps he was pulling her leg and really did have a wife, in-laws, and hungry kids to feed but Ill bet that woman sure wishes she had gotten his room number so she could check on him (and maybe snag a bag or two ) A different manager overheard this conversation and noted to us that while the management was told to instruct folks to go back to their rooms, his personal advice was to at least leave a scout in the lobby, such that if the food came, you would have dibs in case another piranha attack occurred. SIL and I looked at each other, looked at the lobby chaos, and thought, It aint worth it. We grabbed some cans of soda that were being unloaded and headed back upstairs. The rain was really teaming down now at 5 pm. The kids settled down for another movie after all the lobby mayhem. At around 6:30 pm I decided I really wanted a USA Today, so I headed back down. BIL went with me (just in case there was any food to be had ) The BW store had been transformed. Where the clothing used to be, they had cleared the shelves and placed boxes of cereal, Pop Tarts, chips, and bread. On the counter they were selling milk, wine, and beer. Someone spotted the Mikes Hard Lemonade bottle my BIL was carrying and wanted to know where he got it. BIL had a brief notion to sell the remaining 4 bottles in our fridge at a premium, along with some of the Corona, but were no scalpers. I grabbed my paper, put down my change, and fled the chaos and no, there was no food, only very grumpy people. That same BW manager was down there, telling people to go to their rooms, they would call when the food came. One man was giving management the what-for about the lack of food, and his dd pointed to the managers pin and said, Oh Tinkerbelle! The manager stopped and said, You like it? Here take it. I chided BIL and said, Tell him you like his shirt and see what happens
To be honest, I would have HATED to have been that man. It was like a scene from Bugs Life and he was Princess Atta, surrounded by Hoppers all wanting to know: WHERES MY FOOD? I think, given the circumstances, Disney made a good faith effort and the greed of some spoiled it. I cant hold Disney accountable for that. Oh, perhaps they could have organized it better, or charged a nominal fee as some of the resorts did to reduce the greed factor. But hindsight is 20/20 and its not like they get to practice this routinely. And had we all heeded their early morning news, we all knew they were closing things up at 1 pm. The time to act was earlier in the day not in the thick of the evening storm. After all, somewhere nearby, that manager had a house, and probably family too, that was also on his mind. I really felt for those locals who stuck it out with Disney either by force or choice. I felt badly too for the Inn-side. After all, lots of villa folks (or at least the ones who know the kitchens are real and not just props for that homey feeling) keep a fair amount of food in their pantry. We were fully stocked and had no worries, meal-wise. Later that night I whipped up pancakes for all yum. But if someone was relying on a Silver plan and a PS to get them through the evening, and had no back-up vittles yikes.
So the phone call became a running gag with us, because we all saw no way there would be any more food from BWV that night. Hey dont tie up that phone line they may be calling! Somebody check the light is it blinking? Did we get the call? BILs new catch phrase (now that SIL and I werent saying ESPN anymore) was And Have a Magical Day! He would make cracks as if he were Disney calling, and say, We are currently out of food and Have a Magical Day! My sister got through for a quick check on us she had made it through to S.C. safely, so I was thankful for that. She was now concerned with what WE were going through. I promised to call her as soon as we knew anything about damages, etc., but it might not be until morning my cell phone was not going to be receptive probably until then!
At about 8:30 pm, you could almost feel the storm from inside our room. ON the whole, though, if you didnt look outside, you wouldnt have known. The glass doors just seemed to reverberate a little. Looking outside, you could see the trees just bending. We did see some idiot in a car at about this time. He (we think it was a he) pulled up into the main loop and parked and acted as if he planned to eixt the car is he NUTS? This would have been during the 100+ MPH winds, my friends. We looked out later and the car was gone hmmm, hope he actually DROVE it away. Well never know! But on the whole, if we were out looking for a view of mass chaos atthe hands of nature well, the lobby had more of that than any scene outside. I went into our bedroom and watched the weather report there it showed that the eye would pass over the Orlando area within the next 30 minutes. My son Ryan is a great fan of Storm Stories on the Weather Channel. At home he will watch that show, and then, a bit nervous over all he ahs seen in the power of Mother Nature, he will invariably ask, Mom do we have hurricanes in West Virginia? Have we ever been in a hurricane? Will we ever be in a hurricane? Has anyone we know been in a hurricane? Can a guinea pig die in a hurricane? The wonders of a young boys mind . And so now here we were in the thick of one and he didnt even bat an eye. It just didnt seem like anything hed seen on TV. The power was on, there were movies, pancakes, goodies, all his family was quite safe and intact, and his guinea pig was safe in West Virginia (the wild, wonderful but relatively hurricane-less state). Nah, this is no hurricane, Mom. We got nuthin to fear here.
At about 8:55 as we were watching outside, there was a POP and the power to the parking lot outside BW went off briefly. We all thought Aha! as if, suddenly now it will get ugly! But as quickly as the lights went out, they came back on like nothing had happened. The flags above the BOARDWALK arch soon switched directions you could tell the storm was on its way out. By 10 pm, you could go out on our balcony the storm was essentially over. We looked around the front of the BW resort from our villa view; aside from lots of leaves everywhere and lots of water down near ground floor patio doors, we could see no problems, really. BIL was in denial. That was no hurricane nothing happened. Go see if the phone light is blinking maybe our food is ready, haha And Have a Magical Day! We got the kids into bed and each retired to our respective rooms by 11 pm. I tuned in to the news to catch the local damage reports, but it was all very spotty at this point. We had seen enough TV for one day. I flicked it off and went to sleep. I was so out of it, I even forgot about the fairy bags.
FYI: By morning, the ground water we had seen had disappeared, leaving just the leaves and debris as a reminder of the night before that, and the fact that the American flags over the BOARDWALK arch were now shredded into individual stripes. Still there, yes just like the song says but shredded. Amazing.
COMING SOON THE EIGHTH DAY... (click here!)
Coping with PHD (Post-Hurricane Depression) in the World
Thanks for another wonderful report! How long did you stay? Just wondering how many more to look forward to
:thewave:
