PrincessAuroras Weird and Freaky Trip Report - Final Installment

[mickeymousemom]

More kitty prayers coming your way...we had a dog who had a jaw tumor..not fun....also have had several animals and the comforter/carpet/floor/ problem...I guess thats what happens when you take in senior animals...our home is a nursing home for aged dogs and cats, or so it seems...I guess I should put a sign outsidethat says "Shady Litter Box Rest Home"..oh well...

...and I think cats like nothing more than to stretch in the sun.(well..besides chasing imaginary moving things across the living room)....

Here's to your kitty!

 

[PrincessAurora]

Chauncy, my black basketball cat from hell, says thanks. Or he would if he was awake but he is still breathing - I checked.

Now on with the saga

Now Tink & Grumpy want breakfast. Grumpy wants to go to Donald’s Breakfastasurous. I tell them it’s a character breakfast and you need ressies. Grumpy said the last time they were here they just walked in. O kay, yes but it’s a character breakfast. We have 2 already scheduled and its PRICEY and not included on the dining plan because our table service credits are already spoken for. Also character breakfasts are usually at least an hour – an hour and half long and we have the ride EVEREST. There are priorities and hanging out with an elderly duck that has anger management issues is not one of them.

To be honest I really don’t want to eat at Donalds in addition to spending the extra money. Anything sponsored by McDonalds gives me hives. I saw “Super Size Me”. Nuff said. We decide to head into Harambe, grab something at Tuskers and Tink needs to get in another bathroom break.

When Tink returns, we wait for Grumpy who is looking at things. He keeps saying “don’t wait for me, I’ll catch up.” Fine. Once we all meet back up, its on for eggs at Tuskers. Eggs and bacon and biscuit to be exact. You really can’t mess eggs up too terribly bad. We are sitting outside on the patio and I can hear talking and dish washing and glass clinking and I’m wondering if the noise is fake or not. At Disney you can never be too sure. First Grumpy thinks its real because he can’t think of any reason why Disney would put those fake sounds in. I disagree. They do this all the time. Tink & I think its fake and I think we win. Go us!

We run over to the Safari and see a 20 minute wait. We must now consult our Fast Pass times, the travel time to get to Everest, the line time and the length of the ride. We figure we should be able to do it with time to spare.

This was actually a cool safari. Even though I am done with the poacher thing, we saw a TON of animals this time. The only thing I didn’t see were the lions. No lions. We even got to see some like deer like critters being a little frisky if you know what I mean. There were just going to town and the Moms & Dads had to give various explanations at the same time, which was even more confusing and hilarious.

“They are dancing honey”
“They are saying hello”
“This is how you get babies”

HELLO, I want to hear what this dad has to say because that sounds TONS better but just then a giraffe wandered into the road and gave everyone something else to talk about. Wonder if that kid will ever get back to that baby discussion and which gazelle was mommy.

Once our safari was over we high tail it over to Nepal. We walk on the ride and I’m just amazed at the line themeing. It would be worth it to be in line for a bit in order to see all of this. Next time I will, this time I must ride. I also heard that there is fake Yeti poo inside the mountain. A little Imagineer humor there. You are going too fast to actually see it but its there. It’s just like the condoms in Bill Clintons pocket in Hall of Presidents. Have confirmation of the condoms, no actual pictures of the poo yet but it really sounds like something they would do.

OK - I am a HUGE weeny. HUGE. I will admit that while I ride Splash Mountain I would get all worked up about that drop and scared and freaked out. The strange thing was that I wasn't scared at all as I got on board. Mainly because I knew that I just had to experience it once and Mickey wouldn't kill me. Also the whole thing was a basic mystery.

So here is my experience from what I can remember.....

You get in the train and go for a little slow jaunt through the countryside. How lovely. This is nice, go around a nice little turn and now you go up that large ascent that you can see between the village and the mountain. Now this is scary if you are afraid of heights. I am. The thing is they designed this so your car completely covers the track so from your POV, it is like you are almost suspended in air. If you look over the side (which I never had the huevos to do) you could see straight down - no track. From this elevation you can see MGM and Epcot and Elvis and Jesus. I breathed and felt proud of myself for not closing my eyes.

Then you go into the mountain and pick up speed. This ride is fast. I like RnR coaster and I'm not a thrill coaster person. I think it helps that I cant see the track and there is rock music. However that coaster does make me dizzy (because of the inversions along with the fast switches) this coaster did not give me that sick feeling. Anyway, it is fast. But is it is smooth. No jerking around.

You do some nominal turns and dips and then you come out onto the outside of the mountain and the track is twisted in front of you. You approach this slow. You stop. You stay there for a few seconds. Now you are going backwards. The track switched like a railroad siding behind you so what you are seeing is not what you were just through. You see a shadow of a Yeti tearing up tracks. Guess he is mad. Deb Willis is right. Don't put your head against the head rest when going backwards. It prevents your head from vibrating.

Then you go forward, you are heading out. You go down and down and down and I screamed the entire time like a little girl or a rabbit caught by a bear or something. I found screaming helped alleviate stress. You bank to the left. Now here is the weird thing. On most coasters I HATE those drops because you get that "my stomach is coming out of my mouth" feeling. I didn't get that here. I chalk that up to the speed with the smoothness and the banking motion. You do another little bit, now look to your left real quick or you are going to miss the Yeti. He is really cool. Not scary at all. You slow and then it is done. It is really short. The ride cant be longer than 2 minutes. Needs more Yeti.

All my adrenaline is going and I was wobbly for about 3 minutes. Would I go on it again? Yes. Here is a picture of other poor souls flying up the invisible track:

NEXT: HurlFest 2006

 

[Sleeping Jedi Beauty]

I appreciated your description of Everest. My mom has drop issues, so we'll be guinea pigs before she actually goes on it. I hope it's open when we're there, but I'm taking the I'll believe I'm on the ride when I'm on the ride approach since I don't want to be all excited to go on this brand new ride only to found out it's closed because they're still working out bugs in the system.

 

[Thumper's Tara]

“This is how you get babies”

HELLO, I want to hear what this dad has to say...

You go down and down and down and I screamed the entire time like a little girl or a rabbit caught by a bear or something.

You certainly got my attention with this descirption...breathe Tara breathe! It certainly tells me how you were screaming!!

 

[Chapter 11]

We even got to see some like deer like critters being a little frisky if you know what I mean. There were just going to town and the Moms & Dads had to give various explanations at the same time, which was even more confusing and hilarious.

Reminds me of a story somebody told me once (I have no idea if it's true or not): father and son were walking along and saw two dogs, well, engaged in similar behavior to the deer-like critters mentioned above. Father, thinking fast, says to his son, "oh look, that dog in the back must have hurt his leg, so the other dog is helping him walk." Son ponders this for a moment, and then replies, "isn't that typical -- you try to help someone out and you end up getting scr**ed?" Like I said, no idea if it's true or not, but it gives me a laugh nonetheless.

Hope your kitty feels better.

 

[PrincessAurora]

You certainly got my attention with this descirption...breathe Tara breathe! It certainly tells me how you were screaming!!

No bunnies were actually harmed in the writing of this report.

 

[PrincessAurora]

Tink and I start looking at the cool architecture to be found in Nepal. Here are some Spirit Poles, some depicting Yeti outside the temple area.

This is the best thing about Nepal, the incredible detail that goes into everything. My one suggestion would be that they need some food in this area. The tea place is great (more about that later) but there is no real food. Once this gets packed, they are going to need it.

Well at this point Grumpy wants to ride Dinosaur by way of that Carnival from Hell - Hester and Chesters. This would make Walt puke. No really. Just like my cat hacking up a hairball. Walt was very specific when he was building Disneyland that he didn’t want carnie rides in his park. He found them cheap. He wanted rides and attractions that were interesting and fun and unique. This is why I don’t like Paradise Pier in DCA but that is another report.

I just have a problem with those cheap carnie game booths and Primeval Whirl is just a spewfest waiting to happen for me. It’s like the teacups on steroids. Now for all you whirl and hurl freaks, go for it. You’ll love it and squeal like little squirrels, tossing your nuts into the air with glee. I’ll just turn green and ralph on your Cole Haans. So we hurry through there and go right on Dinosaur before any shoe damage or squirrel abuse can occur.

I have to say, I really don’t like this ride. I don’t know if they have changed something since it was “Countdown to Extinction” or not. The first time I went on it, I liked it. But every trip after that, its green city. I am not going on it anymore. It is way too jerky, it tosses you all over and its too dark to see anything.

I heard on one of those travel programs that the Imagineers made it dark on purpose. I call shenanigans on that. If that’s so, it’s a dumb choice. It’s a lazy choice. You can’t see the dinosaurs really well, it doesn’t create an atmosphere of apprehension, and it just makes me wonder what are they hiding. If it were lighter would the dinosaurs look lame or fake? Would they look like Joan Rivers on the red carpet with WAY too much plastic surgery and her eyes pulled to the back of her head?

Also the ride is a poor mans Indiana Jones. If you have never been to Disneyland, you are missing one of the BEST rides. Dinosaur took the jeeps and the ride technology from Indy but did it on the cheap. Indy while bumpy is smoother, WAY more exciting, HUGE open rooms with flames and snakes and a rickety rope bridge and skeletons and THREE different ways you can go so the ride is a little different depending on which tract you take. AMAZING! This, not so much. Bottom line, I was sick. I needed to sit down and breathe for a bit. Everest just gave me a buzz; Dinosaur makes me feel like I’m about to be hit by the asteroid.

So we start to wander towards Asia, taking pictures and waiting for Grumpy from time to time. He keeps saying, you don’t need to wait for me. OK, fine. Tink wants to do Kali because on their first trip (all of 3 parks days) it was cold and she didn’t get to go. I told her sure but it’s a weenie ride. Grumpy didn’t want to go (Those dogs suck) so we said fine; we’ll see you later.

Kali River Rapids now has the rule that you can’t take your shoes off. OK, weird phobia thing here but I HATE wet feet. I hate the way your tennies go “squish, squish, squish” and the water is now all full of dirt and nastiness from the toe of your tennies and it’s just gross. The last time I did this ride I brought plastic bags from the supermarket and tied them over my shoes. People mocked me but my feet stayed dry. Since I wasn’t planning on riding this ride (I was sooo focused on Everest) I was without protection AND I had Pal Mickey! He made sure to prattle on about how he can’t get wet and to put him someplace safe if we are going to ride this ride. If figure that I will wrap him in my heavy leather jacket.

We get on with a few families. Luckily they aren’t bin hogs so I’m able to save Pal Mickey – that rodent better appreciate this! I was talking to the little girl next to me and her mother about the ride and how fast it goes, when the dips are coming, if she is going to get splashed, etc. Fortunately we didn’t get splashed but another little girl across from us and her dad got the wall of water. She looked like someone just stepped on her hamster. That glazed look of open mouthed shock. It was sad but also kind of funny.

After retrieving Tinks things from Grumpy we went over to the Maharajah Jungle Trek. I figured maybe some flying foxes or naked mole rat action would improve Grumpys mood. He lagged behind us. When we stopped for him, he would say not to wait, just to keep going. Now I know you have heard this several times. I’m not repeating myself; there is a point to this. The point, however, comes later. Wait for it....

NEXT: Animals, Drummers and Why Grumpy is grumpy today

 

[mickeymousemom]

MY GOODNESS WOMAN! This teasing has GOT to stop! Trip report...I need trip report...


....can you not just sit down one evening with some cognac and a box of cheezits and finish the darn thing all at once?

...of course that WOULD be alot less fun. I love suspense. Cognac and cheezits, not so much.


(And I'm thinking Grumpy needs to go find Doc, who might give him something to make him Sleepy, or at least keep him from acting Dopey, which would make Tink and Princess Aurora more Happy.)

 

[PrincessAurora]

MY GOODNESS WOMAN! This teasing has GOT to stop! Trip report...I need trip report...


....can you not just sit down one evening with some cognac and a box of cheezits and finish the darn thing all at once?

...of course that WOULD be alot less fun. I love suspense. Cognac and cheezits, not so much.


(And I'm thinking Grumpy needs to go find Doc, who might give him something to make him Sleepy, or at least keep him from acting Dopey, which would make Tink and Princess Aurora more Happy.)

OK first - cheezits? Are you high? LOLOL I can do Cognac and Chocolate. In fact I need to go to the store to pick up some ... lady things and need chocolate anyway. I know TMI.

BUT I do have the next section ready so I will write some more and post when I return.

And the whole dwarf thing is WAY too funny! You are way more clever than I. I have a great wit with a 15 minute delay.

OK, off to get my "no babies for me for the next 3 months in a row" pills. I don't know why I bother. My eggs are stale but better safe than a Mommy at my age. I'm just too cranky now. And there is the cat to think about.

 

[PrincessAurora]

Now I love the giant Malaysian bats and the mole rats have a special sort of weird vibe to them. It is also funny hearing people who are so proud of being dumb.

OK – this is a MOLE. Moles live underground. They are blind. Why are they blind? Class? Billy? YES, because they live UNDERGROUND! And what is it underground? Susie? Yes Susie it’s dirty but what else is it that explains why they are blind? Sally Sue? Yes because it is DARK. Very good Sally Sue. Point being that LITTLE KIDS can figure this out. You don’t need to see if you live in darkness all your life. So WHY is it that Gomer over here just can’t get wrap his mind around that concept?

The patient cast member tries to explain and explain and Gomer says “but it’s light now” pointing to the lit tank at which point I say “that is so we can see them genius, it doesn’t matter one way or the other to them because they CANT SEE. They don’t NEED to. They do just fine with their sense of smell and touch.”

OK before you all set me on fire for being mean to Gomer, let me say something. Gomer is not alone with the ignorance of the mole rats. I would see other people who were equally dumb. HOW did they make it out of grade school? I know they couldn’t all come from California. Our dogs suck. I mean our schools suck. Except for the private ones and the ones with nuns, especially the ones with nuns that made me kneel in the corner OR they would draw three circles in a line on the chalk board and I would have to put my nose in the middle one and put my outstretched arms in the other two. Yeah Sister Mary Ignatius would explain it all to us. Well except me because they decided I was the spawn of Satan so it was back to public school for me and see how well I turned out.

Where was I? O yeah, TIGERS! I love tigers. They are such pretty kitties. I would just love to throw my arms around their neck and hug them and squeeze them and call them George. But then they would rip my face off and I would be sorry. My friend Kat always said that if our house cats were the size of Tigers we would all be dead. They wouldn’t mean it, necessarily. But one of these days they would get annoyed and one swat would be all it took. I’m glad the my cat is small….er. Let me see if he is still breathing. Yup. When your cat is 17 years and 8 months old you start keeping a keener eye out.

OK back to the coolness of the animals. We thought that Grumpy would like the Tigers but he wasn’t around too much. We just proceeded on with our little tour. Afterwards we decided to go to the Pagani Trail and see the gorillas. Grumpy likes gorillas. He always seems drawn to any monkey/ape exhibit and contemplates them. Why? I don’t know. Maybe he sees them as kindred spirits. Beings trapped within their existence, having limited resources to convey their sense of despair and contempt to the outside world or maybe he just likes looking at monkeys.

After watching the cool gorillas, we go to Flame Tree for lunch because I am not getting near Tuskers (2 bad lunches was plenty for me) and I really love their pulled pork sandwich. Tink & I stand in line but Grumpy chooses another line. Fine. Things are moving very slowly as we have hit the beginning of the lunch rush. As we order we see that Grumpy still hasn’t moved much. I get my food and get a table for us. Tink finds me and sits down. We are waiting for Grumpy but no Grumpy. His line was long. Tink goes to get condiments and when she returns she said he was waiting for his food. We eat and are amazed at how good these pulled pork sandwiches are.

When Grumpy finally shows up, he is annoyed. He was looking for us. Why couldn’t someone come get him? He was down by the water looking for us. Tink says “Sorry honey but I thought you saw which way we went.” I notice on my receipt that our Counter Service credits seem to be off. I figure I will check it later. I try to go to my happy place now. It seems that the lure of pork has distracted Grumpy for the moment.

We decide to look at the otters since my dawn otter patrol has been fruitless these past two days. Otters are soooo cute. I just love watching them. It would be cool to have them as pets but I don’t have a pool, my bathtub isn’t big enough and I don’t know if they bite. I don’t think they would appreciate me stuffing them into a sweater or squeezing them and calling them George.

We find a bar next to Tuskers. Grumpy and Tink go to get a drink. I am still feeling the adverse effects of Evil Mo’s cosmos and do not want any alcohol. Grumpy says I need to drink. Ummmm, when did you get to be the boss of me? I would ralph on your shoes except you aren’t wearing Cole Haans or Manolo Blahniks so it’s not worth it.

There are cool African dancers next to the bar so we sit to watch them. They are really great. The do the limbo with the kids, do all kinds of great tumbling and are very bendy. Mmmmmm bendy……. Now a few of the spirit finger girls show up and are shakin their groove thing for the crowd. It is… well… kind of disturbing. If they were older, it would be cool but not when they are 13. I’m impressed and unnerved at the same time. Grumpy just drinks his beer. Tink is enthralled. I really think this is the best fun we had today, with the exception of screaming like a crazy person on Everest. This is a different kind of fun.

Just a note that shows like this are good for families, couples, groups and solo travelers. You can be as involved as you like or just get a drink and watch. It’s a lot of fun.

Tink has noticed, along with the rest of the civilized world, that grumpy hasn’t been really into Animal Kingdom and asks him why. So why does Grumpy hate Animal Kingdom? AMERICA CAN VOTE! Just phone your guess into 1-555-DOG-SUCK. I think with this whole American Idol thing, people would phone or text message an opinion on anything. Its really sad.

So what does Grumpy say? Grumpy says he doesn’t like Animal Kingdom because he is not in control of his environment. There are all these exhibits that are pre-done, all these parents & kids not getting what they are seeing or interpreting it wrong or being disrespectful to the animals or looking at the exhibits with ignorance.

Don’t try to make sense of it, you will just hurt your brain. My brain already exploded and it was murder to get the pieces out of my keyboard. I think the “L” still sticks because of a piece of brain under the letter.

Let’s just say there are different parks for different people. Tink & I like Animal Kingdom. There is no law (as of yet) that says that Grumpy has to like it too. Although I find it hard to see how you couldn’t with the otters and the Yeti and the screaming and the details. OK, I’ll stop now…..

NEXT: Gay Goat Rumble, poke. poke. poke. & are those fireworks real, the end to Day 2.

 

[Alysa]

Is Grumpy really Marvin the Paranoid Android in disguise?


"I got very bored and depressed, so I went and plugged myself into [the ship]'s external computer feed. I talked to the computer at great length, and explained my view of the universe to it, " said Marvin.
"And what happened?" pressed Ford.
"It committed suicide," said Marvin.


"The first ten million years were the worst. The second ten million? They were the worst too. The third ten million I didn't enjoy at all. After that I went into a bit of a decline"


"Life... don't talk to me about life."


"Why should I want to make anything up? Life's bad enough as it is without trying to invent any more of it."

 

[fizz13]

Keep em coming. BTW, love the AK too, think yours was the best ride description of EE I have heard yet, the first that made me really want to ride it NOW

Claire xx

 

[Chapter 11]

I would just love to throw my arms around their neck and hug them and squeeze them and call them George.

Whoa! Obscure reference to Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and the Abominable Snowman cartoon. Quite appropriate after your ride on EE. "I knew I took a wrong turn in Albuquerque." Loving the trip report.

 

[PrincessAurora]

Tink has never seen Rafiki’s Animal Planet Watch otherwise known as “the train to the educational place that we trick you to going to by mentioning a Lion King character”. I told her it was pretty cool – meaning there was air conditioning. So we decide to go for a bit. Grumpy has now taken to poking us. Yes. Poke, poke, poke. Why? I don’t know. When are you going to stop asking these silly questions? I give him the withering eyeball look and he just pokes Tink.

Once we get to the building, we scatter and start exploring. I find the poo lady! GO ME! She has 3 kinds of poo. Don’t worry its not fresh, it is sealed in a protective hard clear coat. There is dodgeball size poo, orange size poo and poo that looks exactly like Hersheys kisses. Now you get to play “Guess who pood the poo”. Well the first one was Elephant poo. I mean, pretty big poo. The medium one a little harder. She gives me a hint of big pigs. She should have said “big mean pigs that really have an attitude problem”. Yes, it is hippo poo. Now the wee kiss shaped poo. I guessed gazelles. Nope. Ummm, how about lemers? Nope. Bigger, way bigger. This is a hard one. In fact, you could win money at a bar trying to get people to guess this poo. It’s giraffe poo!

I guess they have 4 stomachs and by the time everything gets used for its nutritional value all that is left is a little chocolate kiss. Good thing kids aren’t allowed to roam the savanna. This is fun, I ask a family walking by to guess the poo. My luck (a) they are freaked out by me (b) they are not interested in poo and (c) they don’t speak English. They stare at me like I have just painted my body blue with woad and started screaming at them in Gaelic. Honestly, woad is sooo 1,000 years ago.

I go get Tink and Grumpy and show them the poo. I figure nothing says vacation fun like guessing poo. They enjoyed the poo guessing although were all perplexed by the 4 stomach giraffe thing.

Next I petted a lizard. I mean how cool is that? I looked at some surgery pictures from the “animals swallow the craziest things” file. There was a duck who swallowed two dimes and a snake that swallowed a golf ball. There was also a picture spot with Pocahontas Barbie. Really. Barbie! Why Barbie? Well she was white for one thing. Disney had been really good in getting brown skinned actresses for this role who can play Native American. This chick was white as in “all my ancestors since the dawn of time came from the frozen North where the sun is weak and half the year is dark” white. They put a black wig on her and way too much make up. It was a travesty. Wasn’t her fault but if they didn’t have an appropriate person why not have Meeko or something? No one knows who is dancing around in the Meeko suit. It could be a Klingon for all we know or care.

So we decide to go to the petting zoo. Tink & I bet there will be goats and sheep and maybe a cow. Yup, that is pretty much it but they do have pigs as well. Yippee.

So we are wandering around and I am not petting anything because petting sheep is not my idea of fun. Just then I see the goats. What are the goats doing? Is this a mating ritual? Two of the goats are trying to do the “erotic dance in praise of Eros”, an ancient Greek custom and more so than I realized. First it’s like, here the goats go again. But then they break apart, one climbs on top of a rock and starts butting heads with the other one. They are backing up and BAM! Backing up and BAM! I am wondering if this is some weird mating ritual. The cast member says they are all boys. OK, that greek custom makes WAY more sense now. There is a third goat that seems all worried. He keeps running between the two goats, rubbing against them and then running around looking worried. No really.

I started getting this whole story going in my head. It goes something like the first two goats had this torrid love affair but the big goat broke it off when he saw his honey eyeing the sheep. They had a fight and are now trying to decide who gets custody of the rock. The little worry goat is trying to be the peacemaker, “Don’t fight – you’ll chip your horn. You know how this aggression effects your skin. Just stop it please. How about if I get everyone some lemongrass?”

I get so enthralled in the gay goat rumble that I don’t want to leave. Tink & Grumpy show up and the goats all decide to kiss and make up or at least stop smashing into each other so the show is over. We go outside, wash up and head to the train. Tink and I are walking down the path, looking at various things, talking about girly stuff that I can’t even remember. We get to the platform, making sure to ask the castmember for the First Class compartment since I am NOT traveling steerage and – you guessed it – Grumpy is gone.

Now for two days he has been saying “Don’t wait, just go ahead.” So we did. We figure we can always call him on his cell if he is too much longer. Well here he comes and he is all upset and saying “Why didn’t you wait for me?” Tink & I look blank. She says “Honey we’ve been waiting for you for the past two days and you’ve always said not to wait for you, to just go ahead.” Grumpy really doesn’t have an answer for that. I figure we will just get on the train, enjoy the ride and have a nice dinner. That will solve everything. Yup.

When we return to Animal Kingdom we watch the end of the parade (because we are trapped until it goes by), I wave like mad to The Mouse and then we head for the exit. I bypass the opportunity for more otter fun. Grumpy isn’t talking.

We get to the bus stop to wait for the Animal Kingdom Lodge bus. It takes a long time. It takes at least 25 minutes. This is long enough for Grumpy to start with the poking again. Poke, poke, poke. Only now to switch it up he is saying “poke” while poking you in the arm. Poke. O kay I am done with the poke thing now. I can’t figure out if Tink finds it funny or just tolerates it. What I wouldn’t give for her little handheld game with the animals about now.

We get to Jiko finally and have a nice dinner. See food reviews for details - http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1028850

After dinner I want to show them the animals and the grounds. However it is dark, Grumpy goes out the door by the pool, insisting that is the way to the savannah even though he has never been here in his life. If you’ve been to Animal Kingdom Lodge you know you just get to the pool that way.

Its cold and Grumpy wants me to drink now. I don’t want to. Grumpy wants to go to Pleasure Island but I’m just not in the mood either for clubbing, drinking or Grumpy poking me about not drinking or not drinking enough or not keeping up while drinking. I tell them that I am going back to the Lodge and they should just take the Downtown Disney bus to Pleasure Island and have fun. I catch the Magic Kingdom bus and then hop the resort bus back to the Lodge.

Home sweet home. It is so nice and quiet. I get a mini fridge delivered since our room didn’t get one yet (no charge BTW). It was nice to enjoy the Lodge. I got the fridge set up, checked the dining plan credits and had a bad shock. The good news is that the receipt at Flame Tree was wrong and we did use the correct amount of credits. The bad news is that I miscalculated the amount of credits I had. Your credits are for the number of NIGHTS you are at The World and NOT the number of DAYS. The last time I was here in 2003 it was days and now it is changed. This makes a difference in my table dining since most of my places are 2 credit restaurants.

Well there is only one thing to do when this happens, go upstairs and watch fireworks from your balcony. We have a view of the fireworks over the otter pond and it was very relaxing. I am sitting there watching the show then hear a little boy next door with his father. They are watching the show and he asks “Daddy are those real or are they on TV?”

I have to laugh but also am a little sad. It is obvious that our kids are watching WAY too much television if a 4 year old can’t even make the connection between something real he is watching vs. an image on the television. Fortunaly he has a cool dad who explains it to him so this gives me hope for the future and props to this Dad voice in the dark that cares enough to take his son to WDW, watch the fireworks with him and explain things to him instead of just dragging him to a bar so the dad can drink. YAY DAD!!! YOU GO DUDE!

NEXT: Day 3 – we go to Epcot – more drinking drama, Norway princess drama, Japanese anime drama, more bathrooms than you can shake a stick at, guys in skirts, bad French food and good fireworks. Also Grumpy is grumpy BUT then finds something that makes him happy (besides beer)!

 

[tink38]

I don’t know. When are you going to stop asking these silly questions? I give him the withering eyeball look and he just pokes Tink.


You do that too? I can stop a small child in his tracks with the withering eyeball. (I consider it one of my finest attributes.)

 

[labdogs42]

Is Grumpy really Marvin the Paranoid Android in disguise?


"I got very bored and depressed, so I went and plugged myself into [the ship]'s external computer feed. I talked to the computer at great length, and explained my view of the universe to it, " said Marvin.
"And what happened?" pressed Ford.
"It committed suicide," said Marvin.


"The first ten million years were the worst. The second ten million? They were the worst too. The third ten million I didn't enjoy at all. After that I went into a bit of a decline"


"Life... don't talk to me about life."


"Why should I want to make anything up? Life's bad enough as it is without trying to invent any more of it."

random Hitchhiker's reference -- awesome!! There's a reason my screen name has "42" in it!

 

[kathymc]

Thanks for making the last hour at work be so much more fun! I had been keeping up with your foodie report but never got over to this one.

Sorry to hear about your cat, going through the same exact thing here. Took my 12yr old cat beauty in for a dental cleaning on tuesday and found out she has cancer in her jaw. They took out what they could and now she's loving the fancy feast I have been giving her!

 

[zachnlucy]

random Hitchhiker's reference -- awesome!! There's a reason my screen name has "42" in it!

What's 6 x 7? heh heh. Loved that trilogy in 4 [or was it 5?] books for years. Movie wasn't so good.

 

[PrincessAurora]

Thanks for making the last hour at work be so much more fun! I had been keeping up with your foodie report but never got over to this one.

Sorry to hear about your cat, going through the same exact thing here. Took my 12yr old cat beauty in for a dental cleaning on tuesday and found out she has cancer in her jaw. They took out what they could and now she's loving the fancy feast I have been giving her!

Thanks KathyMC! Chauncy is doing well and the biopsy said no cancer, just infected tissue. He is on the Fancy Feast as well.

 

[PrincessAurora]

I get up at 6:30am, get ready and head out into the Lodge for some morning time. Dawn Otter Patrol suspended today due to sleeping Tink & Grumpy. Ensemble: Pink cashmere sweater, pink cashmere sweater, black slacks, tennies, glasses, DIS Mickey Head – yada, yada

The great thing about the Lodge is that there are all these great things to be discovered just roaming the halls. You can find windows in the corner of one hall that overlook Artist Point Restaurant. There are little alcoves with fireplaces, balconies with chairs, desks with writing lamps and Indian artifacts. It’s really incredible. You can spend hours wandering around the Lodge and find new things on each floor.

I make my way downstairs and sit in a couch by the geyser. People watching can be a real interesting sport. My favorite of the morning was a family of four, Mom, Dad and two little girls. They are both dressed in pink. Pink shoes, pink pants, pink shirts and ummm, pink water wings on their arms. O Kay. They are headed to Whispering Canyons Café, which is anything but quiet. Perhaps they don’t know that Whispering Canyons does not require flotation devices.

I head upstairs, pick up the crew around 9am and head out. There was some semantic discussion of the direction that we planned on traveling around World Showcase that involved Mexico and Canada and I have absolutely no idea how to describe it. Let’s just say it was Grumpy saying one thing, Tink & I hearing something else and confusion ensues.

While on the bus to Epcot I am seated by three little kids that are starting with “Don’t touch me! Dad! She’s touching me!” I look to my left and see Grumpy poking Tink. I review our ages. I estimate that the three of us are about 124 years old to the kids collective 16 years. I’m not sure exactly what this is suppose to prove but it fascinates and disturbs me.

Once we arrive at Epcot, I again get a shorter line than Grumpy. It just seems that for once in my life, the line fairy has decided to bless me.

We head straight for Club Cool, formerly Ice Station Cool, for free sodas. I go straight for the Chinese Watermelon drink. Grumpy likes the Kingley Lemon from Israel which is what Sprite aspires to be. Tink grabs her favourite – Beverly. Yes, you heard me right, BEVERLY! She is a freak of nature. She LOVES the stuff. She says it’s a bit sweeter this time. I am sucked in and try it again. BLECH! Same as last time, Children’s Tylenol and Spit. That is what it tastes like. Grumpy and I are in agreement with this. Beverly sucks and Tink is weird for liking it. We really don’t get it. Grumpy makes the rounds to the other machines thinking he might find another flavor that we haven’t already tried. He searches in vain.

Now Tink needs a bathroom. The first of 20 bathroom stops today. I did find out that if you head towards The Land, there is a bathroom in the breezeway between that building behind the Fountainview Café and Journey to Imagination. There is also a bathroom around the corner, straight across from The Land. I am getting a bathroom education.

We try to get a Fast Pass for Soarin’ but the earliest time is 12:30 and we will be in Norway finishing lunch with Princesses so we pass. We’ll try it on Thursday and if that fails, we can always ride it in Disneyland back home.

We have a little time to kill so we ride Journey Into Imagination with Figment. I know there are people that love Figment. In fact he has reached iconic status in some circles. I have tried and tried to get with the program but just don’t get the flying purple dinosaur. It’s OK but not anything to write home about. I think little kids would get more out of it. I don’t hate Figment, I just could do without him and not miss anything in life.

Now its nearly Princess time so we wander through Mexico towards Norway. The walkways to the lands are open but most things are still closed especially the booze. Damn. Tink heads into the Norway bathroom and Grumpy and I check out the stores. Grumpy likes Norway. He is a happy camper. His family roots are Norwegian so he is all about the Viking, raiding, fjord, troll thing.

The Kringla Bakery is closed. I press my face against the glass and stare at the rice creams. I remind myself of that Mervyns commercial “Open, open, open”. I make a mental list of everything I need to eat. I need to try School Bread this time and I have to have some leftse and rice cream and maybe a cloudberry horn or a veiled maiden. THERE IS SOOOOO MUCH!

Tink joins us in checking out the Norway store. She likes the perfume. She is a HUGE scented oil nut and can pick out the different scents. I smell it and get “Charmin”. I don’t know. My nose sucks. I’m not saying that the most popular scent in Norway smells like American toilet paper. I’m saying that my nose is all screwed up. I’m sure their perfume is lovely and tall blond women named Helga and Gerta all wear it for their blond husbands named Sven and Jorga.

OMYGOSHDOYOUSEEWHATISEE?!!! KRINGLABKERYISOPEN!!!! I run over to the bakery, go inside and start giving uncalled for advice as to what people should order. Yup, that’s me, the boss Norwegian Bakery stalker. I want to get something now but our lunch is in about 20 minutes and I don’t want to ruin my appetite. I know the bakery isn’t going anywhere so I slink out and decided to check in for our lunch at the podium.