PART TWENTY FIVE:
Waking up in the Wilderness Lodge is a treat, especially when staying there has been a long-time dream. The best part is that we have no fixed schedule until Afternoon tea at the Grand Floridian at 2:20. Well have a leisurely morning. Some of us more than others. Im in charge of getting breakfast ready and setting up the Redneck Concierge. But that can wait. I just want to lie in bed for awhile and enjoy being here.
Stray thoughts wander through my slowly waking mind. I imagine a herd of Buffalo wandering through the untamed wilderness just beyond our room and perhaps pausing to graze beneath our ledge, er um balcony. There may even be Indians hiding in the woods. They could have paddled undetected in their birch bark canoes over the lake from the Magic Kingdom while we slept. Ive seen their tee-pees in the Indian village while riding the Magic Kingdom train, so it wouldnt be a long journey. What would Indians think of me? Im the perfect example of a Pale Face. I havent spent enough time yet at the pool to eliminate my pasty white skin. It looks like the skin under a week old Band-aid.
My grogginess vanishes the more I think about our first full day at the Lodge. I dont want to sleep the day away. We have a lot of exploring to do. First, I have to get up and look for buffalos and Indians. Lowell doesnt stir as I slip out of bed and don more of my Mickey Thrift Store attire. The patio door rolls back quietly and I step outside.
The morning breeze is cool on my face but promises a warm day ahead. I avoid looking to the left because seeing the driveway will ruin the illusion I am so carefully nurturing that we are truly in the wilderness. I make doubly sure not to look to the right, or I will really have to use my imagination and pretend that the truck parked over there is an albino buffalo. Alas, I see no Indians in the woods, but just in case theyre there, I strike my most fetching Pale Face Woman pose before turning to go inside. Good thing the Indians havent seen Lowell. Im sure his thick, wavy brown hair would make a prize scalp! Its been known to blunt power hedge clippers. If I dont shear him every six weeks he starts to look like Albert Einstein. (A few weeks ago after posting our pictures, reader NAB wrote me asking if Lowell was wearing a hat, or if that was really his hair. Now I frequently rib Lowell that his hat is messed up.)
Lowell is awake and looking at me when I return. What are you doing? Is it cold out?
I resist telling him Im looking for Indians. That would take way too much explanation. Besides, why remind him that hes married to an odd woman with an over-active imagination.
Just having a look outside. Its still a bit chilly, but its supposed to warm up. Im going to take a quick shower, then make coffee. Are you about ready to have breakfast?
I guess so.
In a few minutes I begin the task which should be a simple process: make coffee for two in the petite room-size coffee pot. I pull my Ziploc bag of ground coffee from a drawer, get the sugar and powdered creamers, bring the coffee maker down from the shelf above the sink, and set everything on the vanity top. So far so good.
I realize ten minutes into this operation, however, when I am sticky with wet coffee grounds and the sink, counter and mirror are streaked with brown stains, that this is not going well. The worst part is Ive only managed to make enough coffee for one refillable mug. I have to repeat the process for Lowells. Grrrrrrr. Whose bright idea was this, anyway? Oh, yeah . . . mine. Id heard that Disney coffee looked and tasted like mud puddle water so I decided to bring our own. The more I think about it, this is a lot of bother for what will probably be one day of coffee consumption. Tomorrow we have an ADR at the Kona Café for Tonga Toast and Kona pressed pot coffee. I seldom drink coffee much past breakfast, so the rest of our freshly ground coffee will probably go home with us.
I swab my mess with instantly bio-degradable tissues which not only does little good, but actually creates a bigger mess. Then I start pot number two. I finally get enough coffee for both the Wilderness Lodge and Grand Californian mugs and turn my attention to the rest of our breakfast spread. While Lowell takes a shower and washes his hat, I disappear with all our fixings and set up Redneck Concierge. You see, one of the consolation prizes for our room location is that just outside our room are two unique areas. One is a space with a beautiful oak writing desk.
The other is a cozy alcove with a gas fireplace and a comfortable group of couches and chairs. This is the perfect location for our own exclusive Concierge Lounge. From what I understand, the Lodges real concierge lounge is set up on the seventh floor in an area that overlooks the lobby, much the same way that this lounge does. But those people have to share theirs with dozens of families. And you meet all kinds, if you know what I mean. Ive heard stories about people schlepping from their rooms to the concierge lounge in bathrobes and fluffy slippers. Trying to eat enough to last till dinner. Stuffing cream cheese bagels in their pockets. Requesting beer for breakfast. Kids scattering a layer of Cheerios on the floor, pretending to be Israelites gathering manna. Such behavior is the exception to the rule, I hope, but I am taking no chances. Im posting a sign outside our alcove: NO 7TH FLOOR GUESTS ALLOWED. With any luck, well have the lounge to ourselves. That way, the worst I have to deal with is Lowell slurping coffee.
As a side note, if you have read Zzubs current report, you may remember his segment An inconvenient nap where he falls asleep one afternoon in a public place at the Wilderness Lodge. He firmly asserts (over and over and over) it was NOT in the lobby, but in an ALCOVE! He has taken a great deal of ribbing over his episode, so I posted my photo in his reader comments with a note, is THIS the site of your infamous nap? Of course since he seldom replies to readers directly, we may never know if this was the exact lounge, but there arent many similar spots at the Lodge.
By the time I return to the room, Lowell is dressed and ready for breakfast.
Come on, hurry! I tell him. I dont want anyone to make off with our food. We grab our fraternal twin mugs and head off to our exclusive lounge.
On the coffee table I arranged a couple different flavors of Oatmeal to Go bars, a few flavors of Nutri-Grain bars and the remains of our Airline Surprise trail mix. Okay, so we dont have an assortment of muffins and danish, or juice and fresh fruit, like the real concierge level, but this is still a fun little feast. More importantly we have what they do not: good French Roast laced with some hazelnut coffee. We are quite delighted to sit in our private sanctuary, with no children gathering manna or bath-robed adults in a muffin eating marathon; just us sipping coffee while looking down over the bustling lobby below. It is a self-made pixie dust moment; no Cast Members required. Magic comes in unexpected times and places if only your heart and mind are tuned to feel it.
The day after we leave will be our anniversary, November 14th. Being here at the Lodge is a great present to each other and the view below would be perfect on an anniversary card. If only we bought cards for each other. Cards seem like such a waste of money. You look at them for a minute, read the verse, then throw them a way a couple days later. Being Value Conscious, we started a new policy a few years ago. We each take a turn at the greeting card rack and pick out the perfect card. When we have selected one for each other, we exchange cards. After saying the typical, Awww, that was really sweet; thank you so much; that is a beautiful card, we put them back, then spend the money we saved on something more lasting. I have a momentarily pang of guilt as I think of the CEOs of the greeting card companies who would not be happy to read this. The people who write the verses and design the artwork probably hate us, too. Maybe they can make a card with an apologetic verse for me to send them to say Im sorry!
I take another sip of coffee and continue people watching. Families are checking in, with days of fun ahead. Others are sitting in chairs with luggage around them, probably waiting for Magical Express to take them back to the airport. Families walk through on their way to Roaring Fork snack bar or the boat launch to the Magic Kingdom. Some are headed to the gift shop. Lowell and I plan to buy a Christmas ornament there as a memento of this trip with the money we saved on anniversary cards. The lobby is a ceaseless buzz of activity and its relaxing and fun to watch everything from our lofty vantage point. I could happily sit here for hours if we didnt have so much to do in our remaining two days.
We finish breakfast and gather up the remains of our feast. The fraternal twin mugs were great for morning coffee since they hold twice as much as the ceramic mugs that come with the room coffee maker. Virtually no one passed our lounge, so no one saw the Grand Californian mug. Im still debating taking it to the pool. I may get up my nerve. Somehow I like the irony of doing Pool Hopper Detective Duty while drinking from a contraband refillable mug. Which reminds me, I should test the Pool Hopper Electrocution Kit to make sure its in working order, but Id better wait till late at night when power consumption is low. I might drain the local power grid and black out the entire region from the Lodge to the Magic Kingdom.
After grabbing whatever we need for the morning, we head out to explore and take pictures for the DIS peeps.
I love the totem pole with the Disney characters, and the seating area in front of the Grand Canyon fireplace.
One of our favorite places is the bridge over the spring. Its fascinating that the spring begins in the lobby and flows outside forming a creek and a waterfall.
The gift shop continues the wilderness theme with many items that have Lodge logos, moose, bears and other similar motifs. We browse through the store before turning our attention to the Christmas ornaments. We find a few we particularly like, but settle on one showing Mickey and Minnie and their Christmas Tree Farm. Its so cute, and I like it much better than any anniversary card Lowell could have chosen. Now that our shopping is done, were off to explore.
Wow! Im experiencing more weird side effects from the Time Dilation Effect. I just saw a bunch of you readers coming toward us from the lobby. Well, sure, you can join us on the walk. Wed be happy to show you around the Villas, then well all brave the trail through the untamed wilderness between the Lodge and Fort Wilderness. You can help watch for Indians and guard Lowells scalp. Well be tired when we get back, so how would you like to lie around the pool for a while. Great! I thought youd like that.
Okay, lets go!
And last I knew medicgirl911 was braving being fired for reading my report while working in the ER.
blossombird lost her job and was job hunting. I hope things have worked out on the job scene.
There are quite a few people I haven't heard from in a while like wvgoofyfan and barndweller etc. You're all like my second family. I hope you're still out there and doing OK.
SunKat: Sorry to hear you chickened out on hosting my Viking friends. Im sure they would have been a barrel of laughs, and as Suzflee observed, they arent fussy eaters and dont mind semi-burned food, so theyd be easy to cook for! 
