Operation Big Thunder: the Dole Whip Conspiracy COMPLETE

[eandesmom]

Julie just doesn't strike me as the "lightheaded" type. At least not unless she'd been feeling off all day.

 

[glennbo123]

Besides, I practically drew a neon light around that one in the chapter and though somebody should get it.

I agree -- your sarcasm drew me to it. And when I looked up the menu and saw no hamburger I thought, "yeah, you got the meatball sub...it must be that Julie got something else".

 

[GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes]

2 lies in this chapter, and both of them were found. Julie did not order a flatbread, also known as a "pizza"--she got a meatbull sub just like mine. So Glenn gets 10 points for that one. And she wasn't feeling lightheaded--she was simply a trooper and took one for the team so we could ride Thunder Mountain in the dark. Cynthia found that one.

Figures…

I called out that ‘lightheaded’ statement right form the beginning. But I figured that rather then it being a lie you added to the story, it was actually the excuse that she used so none of the young’ens would feel bad about her missing Big Thunder.

Being as we’ve already established that she’s directly related to Wonder Woman and all.

I can guarantee that’s exactly what Tamara would have done in a similar situation (and I suspect that to be true of nearly every other mom out there).

Good thing I was able to catch a number of quotes to make up for being a bone-head.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Julie just doesn't strike me as the "lightheaded" type. At least not unless she'd been feeling off all day.

She got a little messed up on Soarin' a couple of days earlier for some reason, but you're right. She loves BTMRR as much as the rest of us.

I agree -- your sarcasm drew me to it. And when I looked up the menu and saw no hamburger I thought, "yeah, you got the meatball sub...it must be that Julie got something else".

Figures…

I called out that ‘lightheaded’ statement right form the beginning. But I figured that rather then it being a lie you added to the story, it was actually the excuse that she used so none of the young’ens would feel bad about her missing Big Thunder.

Being as we’ve already established that she’s directly related to Wonder Woman and all.

They're almost twins, except she's not quite as tall and won't wear that outfit.

I can guarantee that’s exactly what Tamara would have done in a similar situation (and I suspect that to be true of nearly every other mom out there).

Good thing I was able to catch a number of quotes to make up for being a bone-head.

It's neck and neck as we hit the homestretch!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

A strange game. The only winning move is not to play.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

No days left on our park tickets. No nights left on our reservation. No ADR's left. I guess it's time to go home.

I hate this part of the trip.

We had about 5 hours of driving to do, as we would be spending the evening near Savannah, Georgia. With that in mind, we sat down to our gourmet Pop Tart breakfast and talked over our options with the kids. They were, as follows:

• Drive to St. Augustine, Florida and explore the oldest town in America, picking up some valuable education on America's history and culture.
• Drive straight through to Savannah and spend some time walking the city, again enjoying the history and beauty of one of the most representative cities of the Deep South.
• Find another family of 5, hit them over the heads, and then steal their tickets/room and pose as the "Griswold Family" or whoever the case may be for the next week. We could hide the other family in the Journey Into Imagination ride, where no one would ever go in and find them.
• We could simply stall our departure as long as possible, soaking in as much Disney atmosphere as possible before being forced to leave.

The kids thought things over carefully. And by thought things over carefully, I of course mean they immediately begged to stay at Disney World as long as we possibly could. Julie and I took this into consideration before providing a measured response, by which I mean that we immediately agreed without argument.

The first order of business was to hang around and simply enjoy the atmosphere of Kidani village.

It was the morning feeding time when the animals are called back to the pens for their main meals, so not too many were out and about. Still, we were able to enjoy the overall theme and detail of the resort.

As I've said numerous times before, the themes and atmosphere are what I love most about Disney. If they want to make you feel like you're in Africa, then you'll feel like you're in Africa. The attention to detail and the way they're able to immerse you in the story and shut out the rest of the world will never cease to amaze me.

Not that the rest of the country is bad or anything. America is great indeed. Imagine a country so free, one can throw glass on the streets!

We wandered inside the lobby to take another last look around. I dont think any of us wanted to say goodbye. I think the Animal Kingdom Lodge might be our new favorite resort on property. I will always love the Wilderness Lodge, and I think it has no peer in terms of the theme. But the theming is just as good at AKL, and it has the bonus magic of animals outside your window. Hard to match that.

After wandering a bit and taking a few more pictures, we made like good Disney visitors and exited through the gift shop. Remember how the kids had been eyeing up the pins since we first arrived? Well, it was finally time for Santa to take out his notes as to which kids liked which pins and begin emptying his wallet. We were concentrating on AKL-specific stuff at this point. As we all know, Rule #1 is Pictures or It Didn't Happen. And Rule #2 is: If You Don't Have Resort-Specific Souvenirs, Then You Can't Subtly Show Off To Your Friends That You Stayed There.

We made our way back up to our room and finished packing. I made multiple trips up and down the Zazu elevator as we piled everything into the van. Then we did a thorough check of the room and made sure nothing was left behind. We took one last look from the balcony and saw a couple of our antelope buddies there to bid us a fond farewell. I know it looks like they were bored by our company and sleeping, but they really missed us, I'm sure. For some reason, Darth Vader wasn't there to see us off.

We piled into the van and sadly said goodbye to Kidani...and hello to Jambo House, which has a much better gift shop than Kidani. Which means you can find more items there. Which means you can spend a lot more money. Which we did, again concentrating on the more AKL-specific stuff. This Generic Winter Holiday (to use the p.c. term) might remind everyone of the Jambo House gift shop, if you know what I mean. Of course, it may never happen, since the world is supposed to end on Dec. 21. Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together...mass hysteria!

We found one of Andy's long-lost relatives while we were there.

We completed Phase 2 of our plan to flush the vacation budget down the toilet, and decided to add a Phase 3 to insure our success: Downtown Disney. We'd received a 20%-off coupon from our purchase of the Dole Whip t-shirt the previous evening that was good in either the major theme park gift shops or at the World of Disney store. And with all the souvenir/Christmas shopping we were doing, 20% would end up being a decent number. It almost brought prices down to reasonable levels. Almost.

While we were there, we couldn't resist paying tribute with more KatMark Memorial Stupid Hat Pictures.

Dave actually had a Disney beanie hat like this when he was 2 years old. He wore it everywhere, until the propeller broke and fell off. Then he refused to wear it ever again. He wanted the propeller!

At one point, Julie spotted a t-shirt she liked, but it was in the men's section. It was a pink shirt with the old 70s-style Walt Disney World logo and a rainbow. But she couldnt find one in her size.

Now let's think about this for a moment. The shirt is in the men's section. It's pink. And it features a rainbow. Who do you think the target demographic is here?

Naturally, Julie asked me to go find a CM and ask if they had the shirt in a different size.

Thanks, honey. Were you still bitter about the riding BTMRR at night thing?

After taking out a 2nd mortgage at World of Disney, we still weren't ready to leave. So we wandered around a bit more. We couldn't resist a stop at the Lego Store. This remains my favorite giant Lego creation ever:

Although this one is cool, too:

We hung out in the toy store and let the kids do some more shopping in the Pin Traders shop until the savings account was finally drained. And then, alas, we couldn't stall any longer. We had to get on the road. Game over, man, game over!

It had been a wonderful if brief time in the World, full of adventure and surprise and magic. None of us wanted to leave it behind. There was begging, pleading, whining, and dragging of feet. That is the sound of inevitability. But eventually Julie had to tell me to pull myself together and get in the van.

Remember the photo of spontaneous joy in the van, when we revealed the surprise to the kids as we drove through the Disney gates? We took one on the way out as well. Let's do a compare/contrast experiment.

Arriving:

Departing:

I hear ya, kids. I hear ya.

Coming Up Next: We stumble into a, uh, unique lunch spot. And maybe a little bit of history after all.

 

[jedijill]

A strange game. The only winning move is not to play.

Wargames.

Jill in CO

 

[jedijill]

Griswolds

Reference to National Lampoons vacation.

America is great indeed. Imagine a country so free, one can throw glass on the streets!

Coming to America.

Jill in CO

 

[jedijill]

This Generic Winter Holiday

Happy Holidays

Jill in CO

 

[jedijill]

Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together…mass hysteria!

Ghostbusters

Jill in CO

 

[jedijill]

Game over, man, game over!

Aliens

Jill in CO

 

[jedijill]

That is the sound of inevitability.

The Matrix

Jill in CO

 

[scott2997]

The lie is - you didn't take out a 2nd mortgage at the World of Disney store.

 

[Poolrat]

A strange game. The only winning move is not to play.

War games

 

[eandesmom]

With that in mind, we sat down to our gourmet Pop Tart breakfast and talked over our options with the kids. They were, as follows:

• Drive to St. Augustine, Florida and explore the oldest town in America, picking up some valuable education on America’s history and culture.
• Drive straight through to Savannah and spend some time walking the city, again enjoying the history and beauty of one of the most representative cities of the Deep South.
• Find another family of 5, hit them over the heads, and then steal their tickets/room and pose as the “Griswold Family” or whoever the case may be for the next week. We could hide the other family in the Journey Into Imagination ride, where no one would ever go in and find them.
• We could simply stall our departure as long as possible, soaking in as much Disney atmosphere as possible before being forced to leave.

This could be the lie, no other options than delaying the inevitable as long as possible were discussed.

After wandering a bit and taking a few more pictures, we made like good Disney visitors and exited through the gift shop. Remember how the kids had been eyeing up the pins since we first arrived? Well, it was finally time for Santa to take out his notes as to which kids liked which pins and begin emptying his wallet. We were concentrating on AKL-specific stuff at this point. As we all know, Rule #1 is Pictures or It Didn’t Happen. And Rule #2 is: If You Don’t Have Resort-Specific Souvenirs, Then You Can’t Subtly Show Off To Your Friends That You Stayed There.

Hmmn. How does Santa empty his wallet, looking at his notes and grabbing pins (none of which seem subtle to me) , if the kids are present? Perhaps the lie is that they were not in the store but elsewhere.

I am rather fond of rule #2 myself.

I hope we get to see pictures of all that Santa bought!

Departing:

I hear ya, kids. I hear ya.
Coming Up Next: We stumble into a, uh, unique lunch spot. And maybe a little bit of history after all.

Me too.

 

[Pixie Princess]

Like the cavalry, I'm riding in late in the mission. I have a lot of catching up to, but wanted to pause and say how completely brilliant your intro is! Can't wait to get started reading more about the mission. My only regret is I'm way behind on the movie quote and spot the lie games.

 

[glennbo123]

Congrats to Jill on being around when the post went up. I was doing some volunteer work and couldn't do my usual stalking.

Beautiful pictures of Kidani! The missus took them, I assume?

Too funny on the shirt. So, did you get any strange looks?

 

[jedijill]

Congrats to Jill on being around when the post went up. I was doing some volunteer work and couldn't do my usual stalking.

Beautiful pictures of Kidani! The missus took them, I assume?

Too funny on the shirt. So, did you get any strange looks?

I just lucked into reading it as I was stuck on a boring conference call. I couldn't believe you guys weren't on top of it!

Jill in CO

 

[marvali]

Zazu - reference to the Lion King series of movies
Darth Vader - reference to the Star Wars series of movies, or since he wasn't there to see you off, it might be a reference to one of the many options you could get during the Star Tours ride at DHS.

The lie would be that a measly 20% off coupon would bring prices down to almost reasonable levels........

 

[Pixie Princess]

On to checkpoint 1! I can't tell you how much I love that you stopped at South 'of the Border! I grew up in SC and passed many a road sign for the place, and have NEVER been. I hear The Peddler Steakhouse is pretty good...food cooked over a "live charcoal fire"..how can you go wrong?