Our Magical Mulligan Trip!!

[OhMari]

Hi Lauralee
I didn't want you to think I abandoned your TR, i've just been enjoying reading TR. The sweater pictures crack me up. My kids in college go to parties around Christmas and the parties are called "SuperSweetSweater Parties". Not to pick on you, but your sweaters won't qualify for a few years yet.

Tidbit about the carriage ride. Useless trivia here. 2 of my kids go to Northern Michigan University and sometimes me and dh will go to Mackinaw Island for a day or 2 after we drop them off. You can take the little tourist bus, that takes you around the island and one stop is the "Carriage House". We were informed that this Carriage House, makes all the carriages, even the sleigh's for WDW. When they break or need some fixin, they ship them back up to Mackinaw Island to get repaired.

 

[Lauralee131]

OMG Lauralee, I had to read your reply to me several times before it made sense, will we need a translator when we meet?

Uh Oh...My NY accent comes back and I talk faster when I drink....just do what I do when talking to the locals here...

Smile and nod your head once in a while

 

[Disneyland_Mama]

OMG Lauralee, I had to read your reply to me several times before it made sense, will we need a translator when we meet?

Uh Oh...My NY accent comes back and I talk faster when I drink....just do what I do when talking to the locals here...

Smile and nod your head once in a while

Toss in a few drinks and it'll be all good!

 

[Lauralee131]

Hi Lauralee
I didn't want you to think I abandoned your TR, i've just been enjoying reading TR. The sweater pictures crack me up. My kids in college go to parties around Christmas and the parties are called "SuperSweetSweater Parties". Not to pick on you, but your sweaters won't qualify for a few years yet..

There you are! I was starting to think that you didn't love me anymore!

Tidbit about the carriage ride. Useless trivia here. 2 of my kids go to Northern Michigan University and sometimes me and dh will go to Mackinaw Island for a day or 2 after we drop them off. You can take the little tourist bus, that takes you around the island and one stop is the "Carriage House". We were informed that this Carriage House, makes all the carriages, even the sleigh's for WDW. When they break or need some fixin, they ship them back up to Mackinaw Island to get repaired.

That's interesting....and I hear Mackinaw Island is awesome!

 

[Disneyland_Mama]

Uhhhh.. where are you?

I think I'll just wait

for you

right here.

Just sayin'

 

[Lauralee131]

Uhhhh.. where are you?

I think I'll just wait

for you

right here.

Just sayin'

Ok, ok...here I am...I'm almost done with the ending...man, you are IMPATIENT...I'm dancing as fast as I can!!!!

 

[tiggerwannabe]

It's ok...take your time...

I am still trying to catch up on everything since leaving that game. I just got done reading your date night at Artists point...yes, I am that far behind...

I am still loving your creative writing, even without the woman from hell~

I am such a lurker, I wanted to stop in and say hi...

Hi!!!!

...now, back to our regularly scheduled program~

 

[Disneyland_Mama]

 

[DisneyJo]

Ohhhh Whooooo where are you?

 

[PrincessV]

I’m back, did you miss me?! I’ll admit to checking in with the Peeps and Fockers already, but your TR is my next stop and the very first TR I went to!

We got off the monorail and walked inside the main building of the GF. In a word, stunning. I felt as if I’d stepped back in time. There was an air about the place. I can’t really explain it. It was rich, yet not snobby. And it was beautifully decorated. I don’t know why, but it made me think of Titanic.

You totally nailed it! That’s exactly how I feel each time I visit the GF lobby.

And you may think I’m crazy but it was the best macaroni and cheese he’s gotten anywhere within the World. Seriously.

Not me; my DS had what had to be the worst mac&cheese on the planet at the Yacht Club, so I absolutely believe it varies around The World.

THANK YOU for dining at and telling about Narcoossee’s! I ate there long, long ago and had a wonderful meal, but wasn’t sure how it’s been lately, particularly in regard to kids. I’m going back to my May ADR plans for an edit….

V – is hoof-beats a word?

It’s a tad dicey…

If I hyphenate it like I did, does it BECOME a word?

Yes ma’am!

Your sleigh ride looked so cool, dorky sweaters not withstanding! I just love how you think – my first thought would have been that John was a nut-wing, too! Deliverance, anyone?

My NY accent comes back and I talk faster when I drink

I can vouch. But she’s an awful lot of fun! LY/MI!

Listen, I have a LOT of TR catching-up to do, so feel free to hold off on the next installment for a while. (Ducking to avoid the tub of popcorn ricocheting out of DisneyLand_Mama’s hand and hurling toward my head.)

 

[DisneyJo]

Listen, I have a LOT of TR catching-up to do, so feel free to hold off on the next installment for a while. (Ducking to avoid the tub of popcorn ricocheting out of DisneyLand_Mama’s hand and hurling toward my head.)

Don't listen to her Lauralee we're all sitting here with baited breathe waiting for more.

 

[Disneyland_Mama]

Don't listen to her Lauralee we're all sitting here with baited breathe waiting for more.

Yah!



Take that, V!

 

[Lauralee131]

I'm sorry gang...I've been slacking...

Darn it - life just keeps getting in the way of quality time between me and my Dis'ing! I'll make up for it soon, promise!!

Welcome back, V!!!! Missed ya girlfriend!!!

Jo, Dmama....and OMG - Tiggerwannabe's back!! I haven't forgotten...I'll get it finished up there soon!!!

LY/MI!!

 

[PrincessV]

Ahem....


Happy Birthday to you,
You post in a zoo.
With the DISers and the Fockers,
and the PrincessV's too!

Wow, that was truly awful, no?

I can't believe I missed it yesterday! I'm sooooo sorry

HAPPY BELATED BDAY LAURALEE!!!! Here's hoping the year ahead is filled with pixie dust and pineapples!

LY/MI!

 

[Disneyland_Mama]

Did someone say BIRTHDAY?????

Was it your birthday?? And V didn't tell us???

Happy Birthday Lauralee!!!!

arty: arty: arty:

 

[DisneyJo]

​

Happy Birthday for yesterday Lauralee
It's mine today!

 

[Lauralee131]

It's me baby!!! I'm back!!

Ok, my little trip report has hit a bottle neck so let's see if I can un-cork this sucker and get on with the rest of my trip....

Let’s see…where were we? Ah yes…our lovely sleigh ride had gone well. We’d managed to escape being bludgeoned to death in the woods by our non-psychotic driver and caught a bus back to the MK to catch a bus to the All Star Sports…

Now…do all of ya’ll remember that it’s Pop Warner week…or the end of it anyway…

Well, there were more cheerleaders than football players – I thought – and guess what? They were ALL staying at the All Star Sports…and were waiting for the bus as well.

Now…I need you all to raise your right hand and take the oath with me….I, state your name, promise not to flame Lauralee for anything that is about to become part of our permanent trip report. Any and all opinions stated within this trip report do not reflect the views of the Disboards, my mother, any of my friends, the makers of Jack Daniels or anyone else for that matter…

Ok, there.

Now we’ve got that out of the way…

I’ve struggled with this next portion of my trip report, which is why it’s taken so darn long. I have been having difficulty finding the right words to describe our bus ride without offending anyone as I think that to anyone that wasn’t there to see the “scene”, the words coming out of me may sound…ummm….offensive, but for the life of me, I can’t come up with any other way to describe this upcoming scene, which I will absolutely have to point out in order to explain the following scene…the bus ride.

And it makes me angry and a little bit sad as this is the complete opposite of the way I am raising my child.

Ok, let’s do it real quick, like ripping off a band-aid and you’ll see where we end up.

It is now after 10pm and my little guy is just pooped as we walk toward the bus stop to our last night’s accommodations…the All Star Sports. Hey – it was $60/night and then actually free as I used Disney Rewards. I’m all about free…or even cheap, at Disney World. Remember now, this enabled me to justify to DH why we needed to stay an extra night so we can do the sleigh ride in the first place.

Everybody with me?

Ok. Good.

As we approach the bus stop it is mobbed with cheerleaders, a couple of other families and about 3 mothers apparently chaperoning the cheerleaders. Now, unfortunately I must tell you that the cheerleaders were all black, in order to explain what’s coming up, but I don’t like doing that.

I don’t like to refer to people as colors. I used their names or if I have to point someone out I say it’s the girl with the green sweater, etc. I raise my child this way…we do not refer to anyone as black, white, brown, etc…in fact, that’s one of the reasons I couldn’t wait to get out of NH…they’re very prejudiced and it was a predominantly white area and there’s a lot of very narrow-minded individuals. I wanted more for my baby. I want him to grow up surrounded by culture…colors, languages, foods…a rich colorful life!

I want him to learn that just because we are not all necessarily the same size, color, religions that we’re all like M&M’s. A little bit different on the outside, but the same good stuff inside…sometimes a little nuts, sometimes not, but no matter what color the outside of the M & M’s are in the bag, the inside of every single one of them is the same…

I was born in the Bronx, spent most of my time growing up in Peekskill, NY…moved around quite a bit…lived for several years in Newburgh, NY, even Trenton, NJ…those of you familiar with these areas will understand that some of these areas were more white than black, some are more black than white, but I grew up surrounded by differences that make us all somewhat the same.

I enjoy the wonderfully diverse friends I have and have zero tolerance for racism and ignorance and people with incredibly tiny brains...

Ok, moving on then…these cheerleaders, all with NY accents I might add…I won’t go on to define the borough, but I know exactly where they were from…They were out of control…like wild animals and the 3 mothers between the 20 or so cheerleaders had no business chaperoning impressionable youths. Let’s just say that.

Poor DS would occasionally look at them with shock and confusion at some of the things coming out of their mouths as they were spewing “soap words” like the “core words” he’s learning in kindergarten (“and”, “if”, “like”, “is”, etc)…very naturally and very often in the course of their conversations with each other. They literally pushed aside a couple of other vacationing families with small children to cut to the front of the bus line…with their “chaperones” (and I use that word loosely) close behind them.

The bus comes and everyone boards. We are the last 3 to get on. Others behind us decided to wait for the next one. Lucky. The bus was very full anyway. We ended up, the 3 of us, standing in the front of the bus and my poor baby was so tired. I felt bad for him.

Now here’s where it gets ugly.

The bus was full.

Standing-room-only full.

Of the most disrespectful little monsters you’ve ever seen.

They were loud. Offensive. To me and I’m sure to others. They were LOUDLY commenting on the older gentleman who was driving our bus…and believe me – they were NOT nice, well behaved, Have a Magical Day words. And then…they started to rap. Even louder. And surprisingly – here in my happy place – every 2nd or 5th word in these songs was “whitey” and “white boy” with every 3rd and 4th words being swear words.

I was PISSED. I couldn’t believe first of all, that the girls were being so rude in the first place. In the second place, their chaperones were not saying a word and I couldn’t get over that. They obviously were not the only ones on the bus and the fact that these “adults” didn’t do anything, disgusted me.

And I’ve already explained to you all why I pointed out that these girls were black and how I raise my son, but what am I to do when trapped on a 20 minute bus ride like this? How do I answer the questions my son will have? What do I say if he asks why they’re calling someone a “**bleeping** white boy”, etc...

I was not happy.

Not at all. The bus ride gave me the biggest freakin’ headache. And worst of all, as we were standing I wasn’t able to cover my baby’s ears and he got to listen to the most vulgar disgusting version of the “wheels on the bus” song that you’ve ever imagined.

Ok, maybe if I ignore it, and DS sees me ignoring it, it will just wash right out of his head. I don’t want to make a scene…it’s been a magical day for crying out loud. Ok, so that’s what I did…tried as hard as I could to tune the cheerleaders out and hoped this wasn’t a sign of things to come at All Star Sports…I already wasn’t looking forward to this part of our trip…call it a hunch…

Stay tuned, Mousketeers for the final night of our journey! Back soon!

Love You, Mean It!!

 

[Lauralee131]

Thanks for the birthday wishes everyone!!

V - You're a poet and don't even know it!!

Jo!!! Happy Birthday!!!

D_Mama...you're not still throwing popcorn are you?!?

Well girls - we're all going to have to celebrate in August!! I booked my room!!!

Thanks again gang!!

 

[PrincessV]

In UMama's words... OH. MY. HECK. What a horrible way to end such a lovely day.

Let me add that Lauralee is not a person who pays lip-service to the views she stated above about tolerance - she truly walks the walk. We talked quite a bit about child-rearing and how to encourage sensitivity, kindness, understanding and acceptance of others.

If it were just you and your DH, maybe it wouldn't have been so bad. Maybe you could even have chuckled about the experience. But to try explaining this to a 5 year old? Not a job I'd relish. to you for getting through it.

Here's hoping the ASMu gets better...

On a happier note... are you really booked?! Where at and when? PM me!!

 

[Disneyland_Mama]

[I want him to learn that just because we are not all necessarily the same size, color, religions that we’re all like M&M’s. A little bit different on the outside, but the same good stuff inside…sometimes a little nuts, sometimes not, but no matter what color the outside of the M & M’s are in the bag, the inside of every single one of them is the same…

Well said, my friend, well said

And worst of all, as we were standing I wasn’t able to cover my baby’s ears and he got to listen to the most vulgar disgusting version of the “wheels on the bus” song that you’ve ever imagined.

Ok, maybe if I ignore it, and DS sees me ignoring it, it will just wash right out of his head. I don’t want to make a scene…it’s been a magical day for crying out loud. Ok, so that’s what I did…tried as hard as I could to tune the cheerleaders out and hoped this wasn’t a sign of things to come at All Star Sports…I already wasn’t looking forward to this part of our trip…call it a hunch…

I commend you for keeping your cool. I don't know if I could have done the same. Your reaction was the best lesson for your son. He saw your composure and that, my friend was class.

Well girls - we're all going to have to celebrate in August!! I booked my room!!!

Yah, and by then I will have celebrated the big 3-5!!!

On a happier note... are you really booked?! Where at and when? PM me!!

Oh yeah, baybee!! Let me know where you guys are staying. Jo's at CSR and I'm at POFQ, unless free dining pops up, then I'm switching to WL or AKL.