Monday morning arrives, September 19, and i'm not exactly in my middle aged -end-of-the-trip- crazy mode, but they've got the straight jackets out just in case.
We have two days left, we leave Wednsday morning and I
want to make the best of these days.
I know, with all that has gone wrong on this trip, (and it ain't over yet) it will never go down in my memory banks as a great trip, way too late for that, but you still want to get the most out of it.
Remember, this is the trip that was supposed to fix and make right the frigid December trip last year,,,,,,,that was supposed to make right the problems we had and experiences with the Brazillian Soccer and Tour groups from the trip before that.
As we were getting ready, Diane asked a simple question.
Understand, when booking DVC, you only get maid service
once every 4 days, and the maid had come yesterday when we weren't home. That's also when you get TP and toiletries replaced.
Sounds like little baby toilets, doesn't it?
"Oh, what a cute little toily, he looks just like you, oh my goodness, he just flushed on me."
sorry
I would now like to make this an interactive trip report.
I believe there is a standard answer to the question Diane
asked me, but I'd like to hear your replies.
Ponzi, I'm almost positive you know,,,, so give others a chance at first, ok?
Diane: Steve, have you seen the shampoo?
Steve: No, _______________________?
Now, I want you to simply fill in the underlined area with your own response, and see how close it comes to what I exactly responded.
Yesterday turned into a much longer day than we wanted, and my foot was pounding this morning. I skipped having anything to eat and just took some pills for it, then some went in my pocket. Are you keeping score Yellowtink?
I stuck a Slim Jim in my pocket but doubted I'd get to it, and we left.
Even though I was in no hurry to bring the car back into the picture, seeing how this is a split stay day and hos slow the busses are mid-day, we drove ourselves there and we got to the Studios around 20 to 9, then positioned ourselves for Toy Story rope drop.
This is not for the fainthearted.
I don't get it, I'm six feet one, and I have a hard time geting my legs
to move that fast without breaking out in a run.
But we arrived safely and went directly into the ride, we'll get fastpasses on the way out.
Sometimes I like going through the standby lines, there can be lots of neat stuff to see, this is one of them.
It's incredible how much it must have cost to make up all the oversize games and crayons
and everything else in there, those all required engineering
and then be designed and individually made into molds and die casts just for it to be seen inside here.
Not like there's a production run on this stuff.
This is what happens when you spend your whole life in manufacturing, plus, it also makes you start inspecting the
welds that are holding together your ski lift at Blizzard Beach and other sky rides,,,, hey,, I've seen our welders
at a few places I've worked when they were hung over.....
"Don't sweat it Nebo, it'l hold."
Back to what I was saying, some queue's you really need to go through to get all that Disney offers.
Other examples are Kali River Rapids and Expedition Everest.
But this queue has a major problem area, that has even started fights, and that is Mr. Potatoe Head.
Everybody has to stop and take a picture of him, as well they should, but a lot of folks think that if you do this, that gives them the right to be able to pass you in line, which it doesn't.
Besides, there's no where to go anyway, not like the picture taker is slowing things down or preventing you from riding. You'll catch back up to the back of the line, don't worry.
At this stage, the line can move very quickly, and getting a pic can be a problem.
Unless you have a plan!
On Potatoe Head approach, I slowly let the people in front of us have separation from us, not too much, just enough.
Then, while still walking, I start to separate from Smidgy, who has gotten a little bit slower to all those behind her.
Then, I scoot ahead right behind the people we were following, I have plenty of time to take a couple of good shots until the rest of the group Smidgy was unobtrusively holding back arrives.
We then do the ride and she slaughters me again.
We had a wait then, like always at the studios, for Little Mermaid, then finally did that.
Let's see how these pics came out:
The Little Mermaid is the one on top.
The second picture is my 4th grade teacher.
After we had gotten a fastpass for Toy Story we then took a slow walk down to the other end to get one for Rock'n Roller Coaster to use later.
Yep, look at the smoking areas we should be stitting at right now!
After procuring RRC fastpasses it was now time to head back the other way again and take a slow walk back to Prime Time for our early lunch.
I think we have eaten here 3 times before,,, and finally,
finally we have learned.
Yes grasshopper, I shall tell you that which has been gleaned by the nebo family over multiple Prime Time viewings.
Split a plate.
No, don't karate chop a plate in half, I mean, split an order.
This is the perfect, just perfect resaurant to do this, especially for
those of you who are like me,,, embarrassed to do this.
Exhibit A will be the chicken:
The fried chicken here is terrific, maybe even better than Hoop de Doo, but you'll never finish it, and if you do manage to finish, more than likely you are done for the day.
What we finally did for the first time was split an order.
We started with an order of onion rings, which are just great here, same as at Flame Tree BBQ, then we split a chocolate milk shake, our sever brought us an extra glass and after filling up both glasses, there was still some shake left over in the big, metal cannister glass/cup.
And no, our server didn't look down on us for being cheap, not at all.
This was the first time we have eaten here and didn't get a table with a tv, but it was ok, one was right across from us.
The chicken came with mashed potatoes and "I thought" green beans, but Smidgy said it was "seasonal greens",
she asked if along with an extra plate we could get two servings of potatoes instead of the green crap, and that's exactly how it worked out.
Our one lunch order with appetizer got us both onion rings, a milk shake, mashed potatoes and two pieces of chicken,,, I got the leg and a breast, her a wing and a prayer. I mean thigh.
But one thing I couldn't do was get our "Mom", the server, and for once we had an older woman to really play the part, get mad at me and reprimand me.
This was very confusing to me, I usually have no problem getting people mad at me, but not her.
I left my hat on.
I put my elbows on the table.
I didn't pick up my glass with my pinky sticking out. (no, never did understand that one)
I even kicked Diane's shin under the table to make her say; "He's kicking me, he's kicking me," but to no avail.
We still both ended up stuffed, even left some onion rings and milk shake,,, man,, is that ever rich and the scary thing is, they even have a "malt" option.
We paid, then Diane said she needed the bathroom before we leave, I told her me too and I'll meet you outside.
Do you remember how I said I seem to have gone from a "chick magnet" to a "Looney Bird" magnet the last few years?
Cue up the latest Loney Bird.
The restrooms are down a long hallway here, first you pass the woman's on the right and a little further down is the men's on the right also. And boy, was there a line for the woman's bathroom, there was even a line for the men's room, but just one guy.
When a guy came out of the john, I expected him to go in, but he just stood there. Ok, I figured he's just weird and went around him and opened the door.
It was crowded, but I was only one back at a urinal, when done I rinsed my hands and walked out.
Strange guy was still standing there. Why? Don't know, didn't see any kids in there he could have been waiting for.
Just then it was really busy with people rushing in and out, and a woman came up to me with a styrofoam container in her hands.
Here is where I'm afraid I'm going to be a lousy trip report writer, and leave you with an Alfred Hitchcock ending which is essentially, no ending, like the Birds.
She was about 30 or so, and spoke little English.
When I came out she rushed up to me, with an imploring, pleading look on her face and I got out of her that the line to the woman's bathroom is too long and she just can't wait any longer.
Yeah, I know.
I started to back away, afraid to find out what my role in her problem was going to be, but she desperately reached out and grabbed my shirt to stop me from leaving.
I'm glancing around for maybe security.
But after some rapid fire barely intelligable dialogue, and her getting frustrated I didn't understand her, which resulted in some pretty amusing pantomimes by her in desperation, I did
figure out what she wanted me to do, and I did it for her.
She was the mime at Prime Time.
I took the styrofoam container she was holding back into the restroom, took off the lid and saw it was little more than half full of God knows what, then went to the sink and filled it to the top with cold water and put the top back on.
Nope, have no idea what it was, but when I came out she grabbed it out of my hands and without even looking thanked me and ran away. Then, the weird guy still standing there shrugged his shoulders and turned and stumbled after her.
Time after time, I have laid in my bed or on the couch trying to come up with a valid story for this, to nothing that satisfies me.
Anyway, Prime Time is one of our favorites,,,, however....
I'm not sure if they have changed a recipe or not, but I, we, are both big mashed potatoes fans,, but not here anymore. I'm not certain if they have always been this way, or it's something new, but there was definately something in there neither of us liked, some kind of spice we couldn't name.
Yes, just rembered the potato thing, otherwise it would have been a great meal, I may go with fries next time.
Lunch finished, that ended our morning at the Studios, and we eventually found our car in the parking lot and drove back to the resort.
We are still hoping to spend some time at the Kidani Pool.
A day and a half left, and still haven't hurt myself, so, what are the Vegas odds now, think I'll make it?
And yes, of course we have summer here. It's a wonderful day.
.
But you get a much better look at the Sunny D bottle between your feet.
Did you know there was a time when nobody had cell phones? No, really! It's true! People had to use this convoluted extraordinary procedure in order to communicate with others. I'm going to give you a complete and highly detailed method for communicating with the outside world (without a cell phone) that few, if any, are privy to. Ready? Here goes. Brace yourself.
You actually came out with your hand still attached? My DW will tell me, "Just grab it from my purse." Yeah, right. I will gladly walk the two miles back to the car. Pick up her purse. Walk two miles back to her so she can grope around inside there. Then walk back replace said purse and return to DW.
YUCK! Here's hoping you're all healthy and happy!
