I am sooo sorry this is taking so long everyone.

I really appreciate you sticking with me. Seems like everyday after work, I go home and we work outside till after dark, come in & eat SUPPER

, and then fall in bed. I'll try to squeeze this installment out during my break today.
Ok, so we've settled into our respective rooms and have already broken up the bickering about who gets what bed. We decided to go ahead and make our way over to Hoop-de-doo Review as we really had no idea where we were going or how long it would take. Having learned my lesson from other aimless wanderings with Bear, I stopped down at Pop's front desk to get directions. Of course there is no direct bus, so we were told to get on the bus out front that would take us to Downtown Disney and then switch busses and get on the bus to Fort Wilderness. Sure, sounds simple enough. So we proceed outside to the bus lines. Oh, goody, a chain maze. I don't know what's worse...trying to duck under the chain to bypass the empty section of the maze and feeling like somehow you're cutting in line, or walking through the whole thing and feeling like a gifted lab rat on the easy maze to some tasty cheese. The bus came pretty quickly and we were on our way. Not too full so we didn't have the dilemma of "does that person deserve to sit more than I do?" That was a conversation I'd had with my offspring before we left. "If you are sitting and people are standing, you WILL offer them your seat." Out in the middle of Io-where, its just not an issue that comes up very much, and kids don't know what they're not taught.
Made the bus switch in Downtown with no problems and listened for our stop. That's when the long day of traveling completely froze my brain. "Next stop - Wilderness Lodge." Ok, guys that's our stop. Everybody up." We disembark and wander in the direction that everybody else is going. "Hmmm, pretty place. Gee, you'd think there'd be a sign or something pointing to HDDR since its supposed to be such a popular show."
Bear - "Don't you know where we're supposed to go?"
Me - "Need I remind you I've never been here before either?"
Bear -"Well, you'd think with all that research you did, you would have bothered to find out where the show was."
Me - (very sweetly)"Does someone need a cigarette?"
Kids - "Quit your bickering, you two."
So we finally find someone to ask and we get the third eyeball look. "That's over at Fort Wilderness."
"Oh. (insert dumb look) Where are we now?"
The CM smiles sweetly, although I'm sure she was thinking, "oh, Lord help us. Another family from Hicksville."
"This is Wilderness Lodge"
"How do we get
there?"
"Take a right up here, go around the edge of the room, take another right, down the ramp, and out to the boat landing. It will take you over to Fort Wilderness."
Everybody got that? I look desperately at Tink. She nods and leads us on, directions secured in her steel trap mind.
We hear a boat horn blast and quicken our steps. OMG! They're leaving without us! No, its ok. They're just pulling up.
It's dark now and the ride is really pretty. It occurs to us how these very sheltered kids have partaken of quite a variety of transportation today - van, airplane, mini monorail, bus, & boat. We unload at FW boat landing and...I'll be darned...there's signs pointing to HDDR. We check in and they point us to the line to get our picture taken. Not realizing that "no, thank you" was an option, we just do what they tell us to. We watched while they took the picture of a little girl in a red gingham dress. I tell you, with the wagon wheel it was adorable. Then the next group stepped up. There had to be at least twenty of them. and you know it's nearly impossible to get that many people to look in the same direction, have their eyes open and refrain from picking their noses all at the same time. Well, this group was no exception. And then they started having trouble with the camera. Everytime they would get the majority of the group to stand still, then she would have problems with the settings on the camera. The DVC booth was lit up behind the group, so the photographer switched off the light and adjusted the settings. Big mistake. The camera had been specifically set up to account for that light, as she was told very loudly by her superior a few minutes later. We heard the words "just quit messing with stuff and leave it alone!" which made Dude smile because he thought he was the only one that heard that after he'd been out in Bear's shop. So after about 20 minutes it was finally our turn. 'Click' Ok, got it. Guess we're just really photogenic
Before long, it was time to line up to go inside. I figured that considering how late I'd been getting around to making reservations that we'd be in the back. Nope. Much to our very pleasant surprise we were in the front row beside the piano. Then the show started and any crankiness and weariness just disappeared. The actors are completely corny and totally wonderful. It is almost impossible to find something that will entertain the whole family - just "bawdy" enough to be funny without being embarassing. This show has definitely hit the bullseye. Every part is fun - from the singing and jokes, to the servers SLAMMING the bucket of chicken down on the table. The older gentleman used his sign to "fan" Princess, causing her hat, napkin etc to fly off the table, sending her into a fit of giggles. The young male lead winked at Tink, causing her to blush six shades of pink. All of our cheeks hurt from smiling.

In fact, Tink hasn't smiled that much since she was a baby, and I think that was just gas. Bear enjoyed the show so much, he FORGOT all about the unlimited beer and drank lemonade instead (now,
that is a ringing endorsement!) Even Dude got in on the fun, twirling his napkin high like the rest of us. I can't rave enough about the food, the show, everything was wonderful (ok, maybe not the family picture they came around to sell us. Guess we're not that photogenic

) But, HDDR is definitely a "don't miss."
There were busses waiting to take us back to our resorts (directly this time, no switching). Back to our home away from home at Pop and zonked out immediately in preparation for our first day at the parks!
Up next: MGM (or Money, Gimmee Money)