PrincessAurora
<font color=blue>Hmpphh! Who needs that boy in gre
- Joined
- Oct 26, 1999
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DAY FIVE - SAILING @ THE POLY, DISNEYQUEST, FAT TUESDAY AT PORT ORLEANS
CAST:
"Pinky" AKA PrincessAurora - Computer geek, web designer, and Disney Princess Fiend. Already planning next trip to The World.
"The Brain" AKA Captain_Nemo - Applied Mathematics Major, first timer at WDW, trying hard to put his trust in his "native guide".
(Please note all detailed food reviews are featured as a separate report after Day 8)
Well today we hit the mid-way mark. It was a day to sleep in before making plans. The Brain being a considerate hunter, went downstairs to stalk and kill the illusive grits and get some tea as I seemed to have picked up a touch of the crud that had been dogging him for a week. To start my day off, the grits were bad. They were undercooked and lumpy. I grumbled and picked lumps out while The Brain offered to take them back. I wouldn't let him but grumbled at the cook and thought wistfully of lemon/lime squishy over at Dixie Landings. The morning was really lovely and since The Brain knows how to sail, we thought we would go rent a boat.
So we took the bus to the Magic Kingdom where we caught the monorail to the Polynesian. Have I mentioned what a monorail nut The Brain is? Remember that for later - Anyway, I wanted to see this resort and must say that I liked it a lot. While I think it could do with a face lift, the grounds were beautiful and I noticed no smell in the lobby that someone reported a while ago. It was like being in the islands. The white sand beach was also incredible and there was hardly anyone using it.
We got directions to the docks and rented a sailboat after a few false starts. It seems that while they will let anyone, including 12 year olds, operate the small power "water mice", you have to be certified to sail. It became apparent why. Well, The Brain is certified although he's use to things a bit more "antique" than these new fangled boats but hey, what do I know? I put on a life vest and climb in a 14' Hunter sailboat that now seemed smaller than it originally looked.
We pushed away from the dock and The Brain told me that I would have to switch sides of the boat and duck (to keep from being hit by the boom) when he said "jibe". OK, I'll go along and it was very pretty out but I'm not usually that kind of gal. I like big boats with cabins, cabin boys, motors and a place to put my martini and little munchies. Let's just say that drowning and I are well acquainted and while I don't have a fear of water per se, the vastness of areas sometimes makes me nervous.
That being said, we got out on the lake and were having a good time sailing around. The winds are a bit tricky. The wind is blocked by the island and the Grand Floridian but when you get past them, you get gusts. We dealt with a few wakes but things were fine except for my sore knees while "jibing". Then something happened. I'm not quite sure what. It was either a combination of a wake and a weird gust of wind or else The Brain decided that the way to take over The World was to bump off Pinky, but all of a sudden the bottom of the boat was the side of the boat and I was hanging on to it for dear life, yelling the whole time. I have no idea what heroic feats Brain accomplished to get the boat level because I was too busy hanging on and screaming. I know that sailboats are built to sail at an angle but not for me, no sirree. The Brain decided that it was time to take the boat back. Now during this incident, water had sloshed into the boat. True, the boat had a drain of a sort but my shoes and socks were soaked. See Trip Report #2 re: Kali River Rapids. I Hate walking in wet socks and squishy shoes.
So we dock the boat, I wring out my socks, The Brain squeezes them out some more and I lay them on the hot deck - turning them like so many slices of bacon, cooking in the sun. So went my sailing experience. Next time, in the immortal words of Roy Schieder in Jaws - "We're going to need a bigger boat."
After dealing with the damp shoe situation, we head back to the monorail station. Now we had been trying to ride up front with the driver for the past few days but it had not been possible before. I guess (let's see if I get this right) each day, each resort on the monorail line is assigned a specific color monorail for "theirs". They can then call dibs on the front cabin for people at their station to sit up front. Example: The color for the Poly that day is silver. If you got in the front cabin at the Contemporary because it was empty and then arrived at the Poly where there were people specifically waiting for the front cabin, they would ask you to get out so their people can get in because it is "their" monorail color. Does this make sense? Well the Poly color was silver that day, The Brain had made friends with the monorail lady and she did kick out 2 people from the front cabin so we could ride all the way to the Transportation Ticket Center (a whole circuit). He had a great time quizzing the drivers about Mach 3's, Mach 4's, Mach 5's, Mach 5's that were Mach 3's and bunches of other stuff. He was happy and that was all that mattered.
We took the bus to Downtown Disney and took in DisneyQuest. We had lunch and went on a few of the rides. Maybe it's because we were tired but I felt I had more fun with these games the last time I went. It was pretty deserted but the virtual jungle cruise and the virtual Fight the Supervillians game only made me queasy. I thought that the build your own rollercoaster would be fun but it still wasn't fast enough for The Brain. We determined that we were tired and I was starting to get sick. Great. Lots of tea, my voice is going, I'm starting to cough. Wonderful. To top it all off, it's Fat Tuesday - the ultimate day for Mardi Gras and we were planning on going to Pleasure Island and the Adventurers Club. It was on the itinerary. Now all I wanted to do was go back to the resort.
After much discussion and a nap, we ate left-overs from the fridge, had some juice and decided to check out the courtyard downstairs for Mardi Gras but to stay in and not go to Pleasure Island. We watched a cooking demo by Chef Paul and learned the "holy trinity" of creole cooking - celery, onions and peppers. We still had 2 1/2 days and didn't want to blow it now. Taking over The World was going to have to wait.
Next: Day Six - Epcot Revisited, Askerhaus, Le Cellier, Illuminations
CAST:
"Pinky" AKA PrincessAurora - Computer geek, web designer, and Disney Princess Fiend. Already planning next trip to The World.
"The Brain" AKA Captain_Nemo - Applied Mathematics Major, first timer at WDW, trying hard to put his trust in his "native guide".
(Please note all detailed food reviews are featured as a separate report after Day 8)
Well today we hit the mid-way mark. It was a day to sleep in before making plans. The Brain being a considerate hunter, went downstairs to stalk and kill the illusive grits and get some tea as I seemed to have picked up a touch of the crud that had been dogging him for a week. To start my day off, the grits were bad. They were undercooked and lumpy. I grumbled and picked lumps out while The Brain offered to take them back. I wouldn't let him but grumbled at the cook and thought wistfully of lemon/lime squishy over at Dixie Landings. The morning was really lovely and since The Brain knows how to sail, we thought we would go rent a boat.
So we took the bus to the Magic Kingdom where we caught the monorail to the Polynesian. Have I mentioned what a monorail nut The Brain is? Remember that for later - Anyway, I wanted to see this resort and must say that I liked it a lot. While I think it could do with a face lift, the grounds were beautiful and I noticed no smell in the lobby that someone reported a while ago. It was like being in the islands. The white sand beach was also incredible and there was hardly anyone using it.
We got directions to the docks and rented a sailboat after a few false starts. It seems that while they will let anyone, including 12 year olds, operate the small power "water mice", you have to be certified to sail. It became apparent why. Well, The Brain is certified although he's use to things a bit more "antique" than these new fangled boats but hey, what do I know? I put on a life vest and climb in a 14' Hunter sailboat that now seemed smaller than it originally looked.
We pushed away from the dock and The Brain told me that I would have to switch sides of the boat and duck (to keep from being hit by the boom) when he said "jibe". OK, I'll go along and it was very pretty out but I'm not usually that kind of gal. I like big boats with cabins, cabin boys, motors and a place to put my martini and little munchies. Let's just say that drowning and I are well acquainted and while I don't have a fear of water per se, the vastness of areas sometimes makes me nervous.
That being said, we got out on the lake and were having a good time sailing around. The winds are a bit tricky. The wind is blocked by the island and the Grand Floridian but when you get past them, you get gusts. We dealt with a few wakes but things were fine except for my sore knees while "jibing". Then something happened. I'm not quite sure what. It was either a combination of a wake and a weird gust of wind or else The Brain decided that the way to take over The World was to bump off Pinky, but all of a sudden the bottom of the boat was the side of the boat and I was hanging on to it for dear life, yelling the whole time. I have no idea what heroic feats Brain accomplished to get the boat level because I was too busy hanging on and screaming. I know that sailboats are built to sail at an angle but not for me, no sirree. The Brain decided that it was time to take the boat back. Now during this incident, water had sloshed into the boat. True, the boat had a drain of a sort but my shoes and socks were soaked. See Trip Report #2 re: Kali River Rapids. I Hate walking in wet socks and squishy shoes.
So we dock the boat, I wring out my socks, The Brain squeezes them out some more and I lay them on the hot deck - turning them like so many slices of bacon, cooking in the sun. So went my sailing experience. Next time, in the immortal words of Roy Schieder in Jaws - "We're going to need a bigger boat."
After dealing with the damp shoe situation, we head back to the monorail station. Now we had been trying to ride up front with the driver for the past few days but it had not been possible before. I guess (let's see if I get this right) each day, each resort on the monorail line is assigned a specific color monorail for "theirs". They can then call dibs on the front cabin for people at their station to sit up front. Example: The color for the Poly that day is silver. If you got in the front cabin at the Contemporary because it was empty and then arrived at the Poly where there were people specifically waiting for the front cabin, they would ask you to get out so their people can get in because it is "their" monorail color. Does this make sense? Well the Poly color was silver that day, The Brain had made friends with the monorail lady and she did kick out 2 people from the front cabin so we could ride all the way to the Transportation Ticket Center (a whole circuit). He had a great time quizzing the drivers about Mach 3's, Mach 4's, Mach 5's, Mach 5's that were Mach 3's and bunches of other stuff. He was happy and that was all that mattered.
We took the bus to Downtown Disney and took in DisneyQuest. We had lunch and went on a few of the rides. Maybe it's because we were tired but I felt I had more fun with these games the last time I went. It was pretty deserted but the virtual jungle cruise and the virtual Fight the Supervillians game only made me queasy. I thought that the build your own rollercoaster would be fun but it still wasn't fast enough for The Brain. We determined that we were tired and I was starting to get sick. Great. Lots of tea, my voice is going, I'm starting to cough. Wonderful. To top it all off, it's Fat Tuesday - the ultimate day for Mardi Gras and we were planning on going to Pleasure Island and the Adventurers Club. It was on the itinerary. Now all I wanted to do was go back to the resort.
After much discussion and a nap, we ate left-overs from the fridge, had some juice and decided to check out the courtyard downstairs for Mardi Gras but to stay in and not go to Pleasure Island. We watched a cooking demo by Chef Paul and learned the "holy trinity" of creole cooking - celery, onions and peppers. We still had 2 1/2 days and didn't want to blow it now. Taking over The World was going to have to wait.
Next: Day Six - Epcot Revisited, Askerhaus, Le Cellier, Illuminations
