off to neverland
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 21, 2004
- Messages
- 703
Cast:
Me, Rae, 34, Disney lover
Dix, 43, Great guy who who makes Love Coffee
Boo, 4.95 year-old picky eater wearing a Brat Hat
Sis, 1.95 year-old who can holler louder than a blowhorn
Goldi Locks, Nice DVC member who traded her points with us
Laser-accuser guy: Nice man helping out with world safety
Mr. Customs Man: Grumpy, serious guy in uniform with no patience for drugs or childbirth
Mr. And Mrs. No Manners: Rude people who pop up with different faces throughout our trip
Cute little girl in the front: Loud mouth who unintentionally traumatizes kids young kids on rides
Cousin: Make-up-less advisor whose areas of expertise include hats and droopy b**b prevention
My Dad: Fearless landrover driver who makes great spaghetti
My Mom: Woman who loves blue and might show up unannounced
Love-Boat-bellhop-guy: CM who likes to rescue damsels in distress
Inventory of important trip items:
Three new premium annual passes
Fancy Laser Camera
Unofficial Guide to Disneyworld
Missing Disney Dining Experience cards
Brat Hat
Old Key West Key Card
Love Coffee
I woke to the smell of Love Coffee. Dix had already completed a workout in the gym and had made my morning coffee.
I grabbed a cup and immediately picked up the telephone.
To save you all from incessant whining I have purposefully omitted the constant mention our missing Disney Dining Experience cards. Ill whine now.
It was driving me crazy that we didnt have that confirmation! Except for Pizzafari, every place we had eaten since arrival accepted the DDE, and we had missed out on the 20% discount at each of those places! In the past few days, I had cringed every time we handed a cashier our visa; it hurt to know we were paying more money than we should be.
Disney Dining Experience was open on Tuesday and this day was Tuesday! I called an hour before they opened and left a message begging them to fax our confirmation to Old Key West as soon as possible. I couldnt wait to have that confirmation in my hands.
The little boy who normally wakes at the slightest sound in the morning slept through this phone call as well as our preparations for our morning at Magic Kingdom. We opened and closed the washer and dryer doors, turned lights on and off, and talked in our normal voices. He didnt budge.
We finally woke him and offered both kids cereal and bacon. Boo ate neither.
We drove to Magic Kingdom and arrived at the entrance just as the opening ceremony ended. I love that opening ceremony; it revs me up for the day!
Tommorrowland was first on our list. While Dix rode Buzz with the kids twice, I managed to squeeze in a ride on Space Mountain. When I was finished, Boo claimed he wanted to do Buzz one more time. I traded places with Dix and went on Buzz while Dix rode Space Mountain. It worked out well.
The simple advice to arrive at the park at opening is alone worth the money paid for the Unofficial Guide. Because of our prompt morning entry, we rode 5 rides as a family in our first half-hour at MK, and the park still seemed empty.
Fantasyland was next, and we were able to walk onto Peter Pan, the Teacups, and Snow White.
Boo had been avoiding Pooh. Last year, he had been thrilled with that ride but after the fifth time around, something about the Heffalumps and Woozles, beware! voice spooked him. He never wanted to go on it again.
I knew in my heart that in the past year he had outgrown his Hefflumps and Woozles fear. I told him I knew--as a fact-- that he would love this ride, and he wouldnt be scared. I explained to him that I would respect his wish to say NO to any ride in this park except for the Pooh ride. I wanted him to try it again, and I told him that if the Heffalumps and Woozles were indeed still terrifying to him after this time around, hed never have to go again.
He thought about it for quite some time. Finally, he relented, and decided to face his fear.
He laughed his way through the Heffalumps and Woozles.
He loved it!
Next on our list was Mickeys Toontown. Boo and I tried Goofys Barnstormer for the first time, and he was absolutely thrilled. I was too; that is a fun little rollercoaster! Boo and I were able to ride three times without even getting out of our seats, and we would have gone again except I wanted Dix to have a chance to watch Boos face and hear him laugh on this ride.
Keep laughing, son. You are darling.
Boo was on a high when we stepped off that ride. He bounced when he walked and was literally bursting with excitement. Though he wanted to ride with Dix, he hated to waste time looking for his Dad when he could be racing through a barn at what felt like way dangerous speeds to him.
We found Dix and Sis in line outside of Minnies house waiting to meet Goofy. I hollered to Dix that he should take a turn with Boo on Barnstormer, and Id meet Goofy with Sis. Dix nodded yes to this and I started toward the line to switch out.
Sorry, maam. This line is closed. The CM who stopped me was a pimple-faced young kid, just barely 20 or so.
Im just switching with my husband. Im going to stand with my daughter that little girl that is already in line . And my husband is going to leave with my son.
But the line is closed.
We arent adding any more children to the line, I said. We are simply changing the parent who will be with that little girl who is already in the line.
Boo was keeping quiet, but his body would not stay still. He kept shaking his knees. He just couldnt wait to get back on that rollercoaster!
The CM spoke to me slowly, as if I might not understand. Okay, Ill make an exception just this one time, but you need to know that we have a policy that when the line is closed, its closed. We cant let any more people into the line.
Did he think he was protecting the President?
I smiled at him. He was enjoying his power position as Line-Closer.
Go ahead and feel powerful, kid. Youre just trying to find your place in life.
He didnt move out of my way, and we stared at each other. Are you going to let me switch with my husband or not?
Like I said, Ill let you do it this time. He was slow to move out of my way.
Thanks. I maneuvered around him to stand next to Sis while Dix ran off with Boo.
I looked over at pimple-faced CM, and wondered if it was my imagination, or had he grown an inch since we talked? He seemed quite puffed-up.
Enjoy finding your place, kid. One day youll wake up and youll be shocked and a little disappointed to realize that all of the sudden you are 34 and you know exactly where your place in life is.
Sis liked having Goofy pay attention to her.
Boo and Dix rode Barnstormer two or three times, and Boo came off flying high. He wanted to do another roller coaster, and he wanted to do it now! We told him about Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and warned him that it was much faster and wilder than Barnstormer. He was determined to try it.
Dix decided to ride Big Thunder with Boo. There was about a 15-minute wait for that ride, so while Sis and I waited, we bought a turkey leg from the kiosk near Bear Jamboree. I sat next to her stroller outside of Big Thunder and we nibbled on the meat. It was delicious and huge! We both ate quite a bit, and still had a lot left for Dix and Boo. A $5.00 turkey leg goes a long way!
Dix thought Sis and I looked cute munching on that huge leg and snapped a picture of me laughing about my lunch. It is not a very good picture of me, but I just had to post it anyway to show you what this turkey leg looked like!
Boo seemed happy but thoughtful when they came off Big Thunder. Dix told me later that he hadnt been scared, just a little overwhelmed with the ride.
There really wasn't anywhere to sit and finish our little lunch, so we decided to start for Tom Sawyers Island and finish it there. As we walked, I noticed people staring at the turkey leg I was still holding. A few people stopped me to ask what I was carrying, and where they might get one.
One man asked me if it was a ham bone.
Havent they ever seen a half-eaten turkey leg before?
As we were ready to load the raft that would take us to the island, we realized Sis needed an emergency diaper change. Dix quickly ran off with her to find the nearest restroom and told us hed meet us on the island.
The raft was crowded with people when Boo and I boarded. I turned my body toward the water so I wouldnt poke anyone with the turkey leg, which I now truly regretted buying. It was as big as a weapon.
I felt ridiculous carrying that thing around in my hand.
What IS the proper way to transport a half-eaten turkey leg around Walt Disney World?
We arrived on the island and I was concerned Dix and Sis wouldnt be able to find us if we explored, so we didn't stray too far from the dock. Boo was happy to sit and play with a stick in the dirt while I watched over him while holding that darn turkey leg. People walked by and stared. I stared back.
Turkey juices had finally penetrated the paper in which I was holding the bottom portion of the leg, and my hand was now getting greasy. I switched hands. What to do now with the greasy hand? Dix had the diaper bag with the wipes. I wiped the greasy hand on some grass. Several small blades of grass stuck to the grease on my hand.
I had been holding that leg for nearly 20 minutes at that point, and it now looked absolutely disgusting to me. While I stood there waiting for Dix, I studied the meat.
It looked like flesh. I had been eating flesh. Turkey flesh.
If I held on to that half-eaten flesh on a bone for another 20 minutes, Id be able to convince myself to give up meat entirely.
People walked by and stared at the little boy on the ground and his scowling mother holding a turkey leg like a club.
Dix finally made it to the island, and I immediately handed the leg to him. He ate a few bites and then threw it away because it was too hard to walk around eating a turkey leg.
Cumbersome buggers, arent they?
The next time we buy a turkey leg it will be when we are sitting at a table.
The kids enjoyed the island immensely. It was a nice retreat from the busy-ness of the park, and we took our time walking around and playing in the fort area until it was time to go back to the room for a rest.
As we walked down Main Street toward the exit, Dix dove into one of the little stores to look at something with Boo. While they browsed, I continued to slowly push Sis in her stroller toward the exit. The stroller was heavy and piled high; the temperatures had warmed up enough that we could take our coats off, and they were piled on the back seat of the double stroller. On top of the coats sat the diaper bag.
I was deep in thought, enjoying the sunny stroll to the exit. And then something shiny caught my eye. Coming toward me were shiny metallic-gold slippers with little spiky heels and bright gold laces crisscrossed all the way up to the wearers knees!
They were the most inappropriate Walt Disney World shoes I had ever seen.
I knew about inappropriate Walt Disney World shoes! Hours of perusing Badshoe.com had made me an expert in this area. These were, without a doubt, the most inappropriate Walt Disney World shoes EVER!
What kind of clothes would go with such shoes? My eyes slowly continued up the rest of the wearers body until they rested on her face. She was staring straight at me, and looked a little violated.
Oh my goodness, I had just looked at every inch of her! Did she think I had just, you know, checked her out? I looked back at the expression on her face. Yes, she sure did! She thought I had just, you know, checked her out!
NO!
I tried to smile at her reassuringly, but I think that made it worse. She now thought I had moved from checking her out to making passes at her!
I looked away as we passed each other.
Then it hit me: I had to get a picture of those shoes for Zurg! I would be a hero in Emporer Zurgs eyes if I sent him a picture of the most inappropriate Walt Disney World shoes EVER! My mind raced. Dix had my camera around his neck. Dix was in the store. The stroller was slow and heavy. If I went into the store for the camera, Id lose Shoe Girl in the crowd.
Id have to stay close to her. I spun that long stroller around, and almost knocked five people over in the process. A spinning double stroller has a very large circumference. I cleared a lot of pavement.
Once I was turned around, I noticed Boo and Dix coming out of the store. I hollered at Dix. That caught Shoe Girls attention, and she turned around to see me now behind her.
Great, now she thought Id moved from checking her out and making passes at her to actually following her.
I decided at this point that I was on the verge of harassing poor Shoe Girl. And I certainly didn't want to hurt her feelings with my attitude toward her shoes. Knowing how her feet were going to ache that evening, I couldnt bear to create any more stress for her this day, so I gave it up.
Spun that long stroller around, cleared a lot of pavement, and gave it up.
I am a terrible Badshoe picture taker! Even one of the little Zurg children has managed to successfully get Badshoe pictures. It takes much more tact and stealth than I portrayed that day.
I failed you, Emporer Zurg. Forgive me, for I have sinned.
Next Installment:
Part 10...A thief in the crowd....
Previous Installment:
Part 8...The Hanky Panky Promise!
See below picture for a list of all installments.
Me, Rae, 34, Disney lover
Dix, 43, Great guy who who makes Love Coffee
Boo, 4.95 year-old picky eater wearing a Brat Hat
Sis, 1.95 year-old who can holler louder than a blowhorn
Goldi Locks, Nice DVC member who traded her points with us
Laser-accuser guy: Nice man helping out with world safety
Mr. Customs Man: Grumpy, serious guy in uniform with no patience for drugs or childbirth
Mr. And Mrs. No Manners: Rude people who pop up with different faces throughout our trip
Cute little girl in the front: Loud mouth who unintentionally traumatizes kids young kids on rides
Cousin: Make-up-less advisor whose areas of expertise include hats and droopy b**b prevention
My Dad: Fearless landrover driver who makes great spaghetti
My Mom: Woman who loves blue and might show up unannounced
Love-Boat-bellhop-guy: CM who likes to rescue damsels in distress
Inventory of important trip items:
Three new premium annual passes
Fancy Laser Camera
Unofficial Guide to Disneyworld
Missing Disney Dining Experience cards
Brat Hat
Old Key West Key Card
Love Coffee
I woke to the smell of Love Coffee. Dix had already completed a workout in the gym and had made my morning coffee.
I grabbed a cup and immediately picked up the telephone.
To save you all from incessant whining I have purposefully omitted the constant mention our missing Disney Dining Experience cards. Ill whine now.
It was driving me crazy that we didnt have that confirmation! Except for Pizzafari, every place we had eaten since arrival accepted the DDE, and we had missed out on the 20% discount at each of those places! In the past few days, I had cringed every time we handed a cashier our visa; it hurt to know we were paying more money than we should be.
Disney Dining Experience was open on Tuesday and this day was Tuesday! I called an hour before they opened and left a message begging them to fax our confirmation to Old Key West as soon as possible. I couldnt wait to have that confirmation in my hands.
The little boy who normally wakes at the slightest sound in the morning slept through this phone call as well as our preparations for our morning at Magic Kingdom. We opened and closed the washer and dryer doors, turned lights on and off, and talked in our normal voices. He didnt budge.
We finally woke him and offered both kids cereal and bacon. Boo ate neither.
We drove to Magic Kingdom and arrived at the entrance just as the opening ceremony ended. I love that opening ceremony; it revs me up for the day!
Tommorrowland was first on our list. While Dix rode Buzz with the kids twice, I managed to squeeze in a ride on Space Mountain. When I was finished, Boo claimed he wanted to do Buzz one more time. I traded places with Dix and went on Buzz while Dix rode Space Mountain. It worked out well.
The simple advice to arrive at the park at opening is alone worth the money paid for the Unofficial Guide. Because of our prompt morning entry, we rode 5 rides as a family in our first half-hour at MK, and the park still seemed empty.
Fantasyland was next, and we were able to walk onto Peter Pan, the Teacups, and Snow White.
Boo had been avoiding Pooh. Last year, he had been thrilled with that ride but after the fifth time around, something about the Heffalumps and Woozles, beware! voice spooked him. He never wanted to go on it again.
I knew in my heart that in the past year he had outgrown his Hefflumps and Woozles fear. I told him I knew--as a fact-- that he would love this ride, and he wouldnt be scared. I explained to him that I would respect his wish to say NO to any ride in this park except for the Pooh ride. I wanted him to try it again, and I told him that if the Heffalumps and Woozles were indeed still terrifying to him after this time around, hed never have to go again.
He thought about it for quite some time. Finally, he relented, and decided to face his fear.
He laughed his way through the Heffalumps and Woozles.
He loved it!
Next on our list was Mickeys Toontown. Boo and I tried Goofys Barnstormer for the first time, and he was absolutely thrilled. I was too; that is a fun little rollercoaster! Boo and I were able to ride three times without even getting out of our seats, and we would have gone again except I wanted Dix to have a chance to watch Boos face and hear him laugh on this ride.
Keep laughing, son. You are darling.
Boo was on a high when we stepped off that ride. He bounced when he walked and was literally bursting with excitement. Though he wanted to ride with Dix, he hated to waste time looking for his Dad when he could be racing through a barn at what felt like way dangerous speeds to him.
We found Dix and Sis in line outside of Minnies house waiting to meet Goofy. I hollered to Dix that he should take a turn with Boo on Barnstormer, and Id meet Goofy with Sis. Dix nodded yes to this and I started toward the line to switch out.
Sorry, maam. This line is closed. The CM who stopped me was a pimple-faced young kid, just barely 20 or so.
Im just switching with my husband. Im going to stand with my daughter that little girl that is already in line . And my husband is going to leave with my son.
But the line is closed.
We arent adding any more children to the line, I said. We are simply changing the parent who will be with that little girl who is already in the line.
Boo was keeping quiet, but his body would not stay still. He kept shaking his knees. He just couldnt wait to get back on that rollercoaster!
The CM spoke to me slowly, as if I might not understand. Okay, Ill make an exception just this one time, but you need to know that we have a policy that when the line is closed, its closed. We cant let any more people into the line.
Did he think he was protecting the President?
I smiled at him. He was enjoying his power position as Line-Closer.
Go ahead and feel powerful, kid. Youre just trying to find your place in life.
He didnt move out of my way, and we stared at each other. Are you going to let me switch with my husband or not?
Like I said, Ill let you do it this time. He was slow to move out of my way.
Thanks. I maneuvered around him to stand next to Sis while Dix ran off with Boo.
I looked over at pimple-faced CM, and wondered if it was my imagination, or had he grown an inch since we talked? He seemed quite puffed-up.
Enjoy finding your place, kid. One day youll wake up and youll be shocked and a little disappointed to realize that all of the sudden you are 34 and you know exactly where your place in life is.
Sis liked having Goofy pay attention to her.
Boo and Dix rode Barnstormer two or three times, and Boo came off flying high. He wanted to do another roller coaster, and he wanted to do it now! We told him about Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and warned him that it was much faster and wilder than Barnstormer. He was determined to try it.
Dix decided to ride Big Thunder with Boo. There was about a 15-minute wait for that ride, so while Sis and I waited, we bought a turkey leg from the kiosk near Bear Jamboree. I sat next to her stroller outside of Big Thunder and we nibbled on the meat. It was delicious and huge! We both ate quite a bit, and still had a lot left for Dix and Boo. A $5.00 turkey leg goes a long way!
Dix thought Sis and I looked cute munching on that huge leg and snapped a picture of me laughing about my lunch. It is not a very good picture of me, but I just had to post it anyway to show you what this turkey leg looked like!
Boo seemed happy but thoughtful when they came off Big Thunder. Dix told me later that he hadnt been scared, just a little overwhelmed with the ride.
There really wasn't anywhere to sit and finish our little lunch, so we decided to start for Tom Sawyers Island and finish it there. As we walked, I noticed people staring at the turkey leg I was still holding. A few people stopped me to ask what I was carrying, and where they might get one.
One man asked me if it was a ham bone.
Havent they ever seen a half-eaten turkey leg before?
As we were ready to load the raft that would take us to the island, we realized Sis needed an emergency diaper change. Dix quickly ran off with her to find the nearest restroom and told us hed meet us on the island.
The raft was crowded with people when Boo and I boarded. I turned my body toward the water so I wouldnt poke anyone with the turkey leg, which I now truly regretted buying. It was as big as a weapon.
I felt ridiculous carrying that thing around in my hand.
What IS the proper way to transport a half-eaten turkey leg around Walt Disney World?
We arrived on the island and I was concerned Dix and Sis wouldnt be able to find us if we explored, so we didn't stray too far from the dock. Boo was happy to sit and play with a stick in the dirt while I watched over him while holding that darn turkey leg. People walked by and stared. I stared back.
Turkey juices had finally penetrated the paper in which I was holding the bottom portion of the leg, and my hand was now getting greasy. I switched hands. What to do now with the greasy hand? Dix had the diaper bag with the wipes. I wiped the greasy hand on some grass. Several small blades of grass stuck to the grease on my hand.
I had been holding that leg for nearly 20 minutes at that point, and it now looked absolutely disgusting to me. While I stood there waiting for Dix, I studied the meat.
It looked like flesh. I had been eating flesh. Turkey flesh.
If I held on to that half-eaten flesh on a bone for another 20 minutes, Id be able to convince myself to give up meat entirely.
People walked by and stared at the little boy on the ground and his scowling mother holding a turkey leg like a club.
Dix finally made it to the island, and I immediately handed the leg to him. He ate a few bites and then threw it away because it was too hard to walk around eating a turkey leg.
Cumbersome buggers, arent they?
The next time we buy a turkey leg it will be when we are sitting at a table.
The kids enjoyed the island immensely. It was a nice retreat from the busy-ness of the park, and we took our time walking around and playing in the fort area until it was time to go back to the room for a rest.
As we walked down Main Street toward the exit, Dix dove into one of the little stores to look at something with Boo. While they browsed, I continued to slowly push Sis in her stroller toward the exit. The stroller was heavy and piled high; the temperatures had warmed up enough that we could take our coats off, and they were piled on the back seat of the double stroller. On top of the coats sat the diaper bag.
I was deep in thought, enjoying the sunny stroll to the exit. And then something shiny caught my eye. Coming toward me were shiny metallic-gold slippers with little spiky heels and bright gold laces crisscrossed all the way up to the wearers knees!
They were the most inappropriate Walt Disney World shoes I had ever seen.
I knew about inappropriate Walt Disney World shoes! Hours of perusing Badshoe.com had made me an expert in this area. These were, without a doubt, the most inappropriate Walt Disney World shoes EVER!
What kind of clothes would go with such shoes? My eyes slowly continued up the rest of the wearers body until they rested on her face. She was staring straight at me, and looked a little violated.
Oh my goodness, I had just looked at every inch of her! Did she think I had just, you know, checked her out? I looked back at the expression on her face. Yes, she sure did! She thought I had just, you know, checked her out!
NO!
I tried to smile at her reassuringly, but I think that made it worse. She now thought I had moved from checking her out to making passes at her!
I looked away as we passed each other.
Then it hit me: I had to get a picture of those shoes for Zurg! I would be a hero in Emporer Zurgs eyes if I sent him a picture of the most inappropriate Walt Disney World shoes EVER! My mind raced. Dix had my camera around his neck. Dix was in the store. The stroller was slow and heavy. If I went into the store for the camera, Id lose Shoe Girl in the crowd.
Id have to stay close to her. I spun that long stroller around, and almost knocked five people over in the process. A spinning double stroller has a very large circumference. I cleared a lot of pavement.
Once I was turned around, I noticed Boo and Dix coming out of the store. I hollered at Dix. That caught Shoe Girls attention, and she turned around to see me now behind her.
Great, now she thought Id moved from checking her out and making passes at her to actually following her.
I decided at this point that I was on the verge of harassing poor Shoe Girl. And I certainly didn't want to hurt her feelings with my attitude toward her shoes. Knowing how her feet were going to ache that evening, I couldnt bear to create any more stress for her this day, so I gave it up.
Spun that long stroller around, cleared a lot of pavement, and gave it up.
I am a terrible Badshoe picture taker! Even one of the little Zurg children has managed to successfully get Badshoe pictures. It takes much more tact and stealth than I portrayed that day.
I failed you, Emporer Zurg. Forgive me, for I have sinned.
Next Installment:
Part 10...A thief in the crowd....
Previous Installment:
Part 8...The Hanky Panky Promise!
See below picture for a list of all installments.
