Sharon & Evan's Magical Adventure - Day 4

[Pugsly]

Finally ... resuming my TR.

If you need to catch up or remember who we are:

Pre-Trip Report: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2236835

Day 1: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2236845

Day 2: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2238316

Day 3: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2244459

Day 4 – Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Three Parks, One Pool, One Day

We were up in time to get ready and head to the MK in time to meet Kev, Tam, Susan, and Dot at 9:00. We find them at the corner of the hub and head towards Fantasyland for a tour of the dark rides.

On the way, we see the evil stepmother and stepsisters. One of whom, takes a liking to Evan and shouts that she is readily available and that he should call her. Evan thinks this is a riot and bursts in laughter. The evil stepmother never breaks character.

In fast succession, we ride Pooh, Snow White, Peter Pan (still my favorite – after all these years), and Mickey’s Philharmagic. Next up is Small World, where Tam makes a mad dash for the Carousel, refusing to step foot anywhere near this attraction. Evan and I had not ridden this in several years – in fact, I’m sure we haven’t ridden it since the refurb (how long ago was that?) Afterwards, we all make our way to Haunted Mansion for another great ride. And once again, we were stuck for a while – unfortunately, we have nothing to look at as we are stuck while entering the last room with the hitchhiking ghosts.

It’s after Haunted Mansion, that Evan and I declare we must have breakfast. The ladies suggest that Mrs. Potts’ Cupboard has excellent brownie fudge sundaes. Sounds like a great breakfast to me! Evan opts for the chocolate sundae, while I take on a rootbeer float and chocolate chip cookie (we are sure this satisfies our dairy intake and most certainly our daily sugar intake as well).

As we are due to meet India and Georgia at 11:00, we make our way towards Casey’s, passing by the castle and stopping at the Wishing Well, which Evan has never seen. We would be remiss if we didn’t toss in a couple of coins for good luck.

As we arrive at the hub, we can’t help but notice that Mickey’s Celebration parade/dance thingy is in full swing. We have lost Kevin and Tam, as they have made a bee-line for Casey’s. And Dot, Susan, Ev, and I proceed to lose each other as each of us get stuck at various places around the hub, partly by the crowd, but partly because we are enjoying watching the dancers. Personally, I think the parade (and music) are quite infectious. In typical Disney fashion, this is a brightly-colored ensemble that is absolutely full of energy!

Evan and I have managed to secure an ADR at Le Cellier for later this afternoon. The thought of eating here has TAM frothing at the mouth and we all agree we’d like to try and have dinner here together before we leave. Alas, it’s not meant to be (perhaps we were a little too delusional in thinking we’d be lucky) and we decide on having dinner at Bistro de Paris Friday night instead. The Jungle Cruise is up next with a skipper who definitely does not qualify for the Celebration parade – she has little energy and an unenthusiastic delivery and while I understand the need for the skippers to have a dead-pan delivery, I also would like for them to be breathing when they do.

 

[Pugsly]

Afterwards, Evan and I debate forgoing our Le Cellier ADRs, but ultimately decide we can’t possibly pass up the most sought after meal in all of Walt Disney World (or … at least that’s what I keep hearing.)

A short monorail ride/transfer/monorail ride later, and we arrive at the Canada pavilion with plenty of time to spare. We spend a few minutes touring the carts and shops inside and finally decide we must get inside where we can cool down. Today is day 3 of some very high temps and we are feeling it about 1:45 in the afternoon.

Evan and I begin the meal with cheese soup and the yummy breadsticks. Ever the beef eater (grandson of a Texas cattle rancher), Evan has the sirloin strip with Yukon potatoes and I opt for the burger and fries. A Molson for Evan and tea for me, round out our meal. Both meals are excellent. The burger would be offended if condiments were used – so juicy. We hear several of the international students are ending their program and today is their last day before returning to Canada. Those who we spoke with are both happy and sad – understandably so after being away from family and friends for a year, but who isn’t sad when they leave Disney?

What better way to digest a meal, than to take a dip in the pool? Forget what your mama always told ‘ya – Evan and I don swimsuits and make our way to the Volcano pool for a little relaxation. We enjoy just sitting against the side of the pool, enjoy people watching – including the little ones splashing in the water, and the little and big ones (adults) playing the poolside games. Evan particularly enjoys watching the (female) CMs leading the poolside activities. Soaking in a pool and staring at the castle. It doesn’t get any better than this. Unless … you add a Pina Colava to the mix. So we do. For those not in the know, a Pina Colava is a pina colada with a raspberry swirl – simply delish! We decide to move to the beach and no sooner do we get settled onto the lounge chairs, then the sky goes dark and droplets start to fall from the skies. We managed to make our way back to the longhouse before the skies open up fully and enjoy the last of our drinks on the balcony. We even find this enjoyable. One of the many things I like about the Poly is the wildlife around the resort. Ducks and ducklings seem to be in abundance. It’s during this rainshower that a mama and her 8 babies scurry out from under one of the plants just below our balcony. Too cute.

With no sign of the rain clearing, and with our vacation already catching up with us, we turn on the TV and fall fast asleep, waking just before 5:00 – the time we are supposed to meet the Stringer/Yates clan, along with Rob, his wife, and daughter at the Boardwalk. In the words of Dr. Seeker, “We’re not gonna make it. We’re not gonna make it.” We call to wish them a good evening and arrange to meet in the morning.

Evan and I slowly wake ourselves and decide to head to the Studios for the evening. I’m still amazed how quick the bus ride is. We arrive while the AIE finals are in progress and they are showing them on the big screen outside the theater. I have to wonder whether the non-finals shows are shown on the screen as well. Evan stays to watch, while I try to secure a dinner seating at Sci Fi Dine In. We’re In! They are able to seat us in about 10 minutes – the exact amount of time it takes me to maneuver through the crowds and drag Evan away.

We’re seated in the last row of a car with a family of four who are celebrating the youngest daughter’s birthday – and she’s driving – without a license I might add (I think she was 6)! Evan orders up a Cosmic Traveler which we share. We’re not overly thrilled with the menu and truly came for the experience more than anything. We both ended up with a child’s cheese pizza and salad combo. Not bad. Not really good either. But edible. And the service was excellent! I think we would definitely try this again – maybe for lunch (when the menu is different).

After dinner, we decide a trip to Endor would be fun, so we’re off to Star Tours. We had just a smidge of a wait, but only about the time it would take the simulator to run through one ride. I know this one is a little dated, but I still think it’s fun and I’m still curious about the technology behind it. I don’t understand how they can make you feel like you’re moving at “light speed”!

We decide now is as good a time as any to use Evan’s FastPasses he received from the AIE, so one ride on Toy Story Mania and two rides on RnRC are required. My cheek is certainly feeling better as I didn’t have any problems on this ride. Though I do have to say, I embarrassed Evan each time we rode RnRC and they wanted to put us in the rear car – I absolutely refused because it’s a rough ride back there and I didn’t want to be jostled anymore than necessary. We are disappointed we are going to miss Fantasmic! – this is the one night this week that Fantasmic! isn’t showing. Evan shows great restraint (from crying) and an attitude that any Disney-fied parent would be proud of: “we’ll be back and will catch it then!” They grow up quick, don’t they?

It’s 10:15 and we decide to call it a day. Once back at the Poly, our nighttime ritual is observed and we make our way down to the beach. We spent some time rocking gently in the swing, reminiscing about our day, enjoying the Hawaiian music, the tiki torches, the water lapping up on the beach, and the view of the castle. What a wonderful trip this is!

If you’re keeping up (or in case you aren’t), Evan’s “Drink around the World” count:
Mexico – Margarita
Japan – blue-fruity thingy
Canada – Moosehead
Canada - Molsen
UK – Guinness
China – Tsing Tao

 

[wicket2005]

Lovely report Sharon thanks for posting.

 

[Chilly]

Keep them coming Sharon.

 

[Tammy Stringer]

Sharon

How lovely to read another day of your trippie - sitting here in the damp and positively autumnal England.

It all seems so long ago now but I am glad you are resuming your trip report to re-live the fun times we had

Tam

 

[SusanEllen]

Dear Sharon,
I'm not telling you anything you don't already know but want to say it anyway--Not only do you have a great kid in Evan, you've got a spectacularly agreeable traveling companion.

Le Celliar and SciFi in the same day and I wasn't there!!! Oh well, like Evan said about Fantasmic, "we'll be back and we'll catch it (them) then."

I still laugh when I think about finding Lady Tremaine and her girls that morning. I've told so many people about Drizella shouting at Evan asking if he had a girfriend and then putting her thumb to her ear and little finger to her mouth in the universal signal for "Call me."