Growin'upDisney
<font color=blue>I've been to Disney since I was k
- Joined
- Aug 12, 2003
- Messages
- 964
Cast of Characters
Me = Tausha
DH = Chris aka Panda
DM = Julie (my mom)
DSF = Erick (my stepfather) aka Dude
Yep, he broke the car. Ripped the entire muffler right off the car. Not sure how he did it though. He didnt hit anything and he wasnt driving any different than other who had been in the car before him. But of course, this was now a moment of pride.
Wow, man. You drove that car so hard you ripped the muffler off.
Must be a guy thing.
So they took that car out of the rotation and Dude had to wait until the very end to get back into a car. So while we stood around one of the instructors was doing the ride-alongs. These normally go for $100 per person but they conveniently lower the price to $80 for the spectators there with other drivers. I passed on the idea but several of the wives were hoping into those lovely RPDE jumpsuits and strapping on a crash helmet. I was tempted, especially since it seemed that the ride-along was at a higher top speed that than the Rookie drivers were driving. In fact, the ride-along is at about 145mph where the drivers for the Rookie experience are held under 125mph
Dude finally got into another car, which they asked him not to break. The great part was that they let him start from the beginning and do 8 more laps. So since he had done 5 complete laps the first time he drove a total of 13 laps. Thats the equivalent to the next package above the Rookie Experience. Very cool indeed.
So after all the driving was done all the men, with huge smiles plastered on their faces, went back into the office to receive their lap speeds and paperwork. Oh and by the way dont forget to stop in and see the pictures taken at the front desk. So we dropped $69.95 on two 5X7s in the Official Richard Petty Driving Experience plaque and headed into the gathering area.
So they called out the name s and they guys dug into their packets to see just who had gone the fastest. The top speed was 123.5mph driven by a guy who had already driven at the RPDE before. Same thing for the guy in 2nd at 125.1mph. Next was 124 something by a Rookie driver. Then DH clocked in at 123.8mph and Dude a sliver behind at 123.7mph. They were both very proud of themselves.
So they gave back the jumpsuits, shook the hands of their instructors and headed out the door very satisfied men. They had lived a dream and enjoyed every second of it.
I wouldnt let them near the drivers seat of the rental car. No way was I going to let either of them drive after just getting out of finely tuned race cars at speeds of 120+, my driving was bad enough.
OK, so now that they have had there fun, it was mom and my turn. We all headed to the Grand Floridian to grab a quick bite to eat before mom and I had 12pm appointments for facials at the spa. I was treating mom to a facial to say thanks for all the help in planning the trip and making it so special. We ate a late breakfast at the Grand Floridian Café. They boys were going to take the boat to the Poly and leave us with the car. We strolled through the lovely grounds of the GF toward the spa and wedding chapel.
The spa is very nice. Your typical elegant day spa atmosphere. They provide lockers, robes, and spa shoes. Our CM called each of us and for the next 75 minutes we relaxed and enjoyed being pampered. While it was a great experience I will caution that the GF Spa is overpriced. I have been to fancy spas in Hawaii, on a cruise ship, and here at home and while most fancy spas are overpriced, the GF spas are even more so. But in the end I would have paid more to say thanks to mom.
Next there was another surprise for my mom. I had 2pm PSs for High Tea. Ever since I first read about this experience at the GF I knew my mom would love it. We arrived a little early and waited out in the lounge on beautiful sofas. We relaxed until the Tea room opened. We were seated next to the beautiful garden window where we could enjoy the beautiful weather. Our CM was a sweet older woman, whose name has slipped my mind. I reviewed the tea over on the restaurant boards, but I will say that this was a truly wonderful experience that I highly recommend. The prices are very good and the food is excellent. This will be a definite must do for every trip in the future.
As we were getting ready to leave I realized my Ray-Ban sunglasses were missing. I searched all around the table and found nothing. I went back to the couch in the lobby and again found nothing. I was really upset. I know I had them walking from the spa back to the hotel because I cannot ever walk outside without sunglasses, even on overcast days. At the age of 28 I have the eyes of a 70 years old. I have had retinal surgery in each eye and have developed cataracts as a result of the eyesight saving retinal surgery. I am clinically blind since without contact lenses my eyesight is worse than 20/1000. My eyes sensitivity to light is tremendous and I cannot function out of doors without sunglasses. And of course I cannot buy cheaper sunglasses because they do nothing to prevent me from squinting in the sunlight. So I have to spend upward of $150-200 on sunglasses and I hate to lose them. So what was an otherwise perfect day was marred by the fact that I couldnt find the sunglasses. I checked with Lost and Found and nothing.
So we headed to the car and I tried to let it go. Back to the Poly for a while before we headed out to Epcot for the evening. My handy dandy Worksheet had us down for Boma PSs for tonight but the timing was off as the early morning activities ran long and there was no way to do both. And tonight was pretty much our only chance to se Illuminations and I could hardly wait. We took the monorail over to Epcot and passed through Future World and headed right for World Showcase. It was dead. There were very few people milling about. It must have been the weather. I t was still cold. In fact it never really warmed up most of the day. So I assume people were staying out of the cold. But it kind of made for a weird trip to the WS. There were no performers out other then the Beatles cover band. The WS just seemed to have hardly any life. Then we realized where everyone was at. Inside eating. When I cancelled our Boma PSs with the concierge staff she said we wouldnt need a PS for Le Cellier. She was wrong no walkups the place was packed. So we ventured further around WS and stopped to shop along the way. I was still disappointed in the lack of activity here. We finally ventured to Italy and tried Alfredos. It was crowded too but only a 30-minute wait. We were seated within the 30 minutes. This restaurant is very noisy and the tables are way too close together. I have been to Italy and I know that having a meal is time spent with family but even they wouldnt pack people into a restaurant like this.
After dinner we finished walking around WS waiting for Illuminations. I wanted to get back to Canada to grab a BeaverTail and sit and watch the show. Well as we rounded toward Mexico I couldnt believe all the people lined up.
Me: Where the heck did all these people come from? I sear they must have been hiding someplace warm only to venture out 15 minutes before the show.
I guess many people come to Epcot at night just for the show. After seeing it again I remembered why and made a mental note that for next time I want to view it from several different angles around the lagoon.
So we made it to Canada before the show only to find Trapper Bob had closed up shop for the night. Your kidding me right?!? Its prime munchy eating time and its freezing out here. I would think that the BeaverTails would be a big seller. I had yet to have one but from the descriptions it sounded like perfect Illumination waiting food. I was bummed to say the least. I had been thinking of it and describing it to the other all week. Well Epcot was on the worksheet one more time so I would get one then wouldnt I?
Everyone enjoyed Illuminations. We had a partially blocked view by some trees and I think DH mumbled something about getting a spot earlier next time.
Me: Hey at least at this spot we didnt get wet like at Fantasmic.
DH: Oh, get over it already.
Me: Wow, arent we cranky. I think all the adrenaline form this morning had finally gone away and he was coming down off the high. I just stuck my tongue out at him.
We headed with the masses toward Epcots exit. I love the herd of cattle going off to slaughter analogy of trying to exit a theme park after its closing festivities. The mindlessness of it all always makes me laugh. I also thought that if I stepped 3 people to the right as delswife suggests I would really be lost. So I stuck close to DH for fear of separation.
We monorailed back to the Poly and put the end of another great day at the world. But as I fell asleep I realized that we were one day closer to the end and I started to get a little sad. But tomorrow was, dare I say it, a non-Disney day and I would finally be able to ride Hulk and Spider-Man and could cross them off of my coaster/attraction to-do list.
I fell asleep with visions of Super Heroes dancing in my head.
(FYI - marybet - I took your advice.)
Me = Tausha
DH = Chris aka Panda
DM = Julie (my mom)
DSF = Erick (my stepfather) aka Dude
Yep, he broke the car. Ripped the entire muffler right off the car. Not sure how he did it though. He didnt hit anything and he wasnt driving any different than other who had been in the car before him. But of course, this was now a moment of pride.
Wow, man. You drove that car so hard you ripped the muffler off.
Must be a guy thing.
So they took that car out of the rotation and Dude had to wait until the very end to get back into a car. So while we stood around one of the instructors was doing the ride-alongs. These normally go for $100 per person but they conveniently lower the price to $80 for the spectators there with other drivers. I passed on the idea but several of the wives were hoping into those lovely RPDE jumpsuits and strapping on a crash helmet. I was tempted, especially since it seemed that the ride-along was at a higher top speed that than the Rookie drivers were driving. In fact, the ride-along is at about 145mph where the drivers for the Rookie experience are held under 125mph
Dude finally got into another car, which they asked him not to break. The great part was that they let him start from the beginning and do 8 more laps. So since he had done 5 complete laps the first time he drove a total of 13 laps. Thats the equivalent to the next package above the Rookie Experience. Very cool indeed.
So after all the driving was done all the men, with huge smiles plastered on their faces, went back into the office to receive their lap speeds and paperwork. Oh and by the way dont forget to stop in and see the pictures taken at the front desk. So we dropped $69.95 on two 5X7s in the Official Richard Petty Driving Experience plaque and headed into the gathering area.
So they called out the name s and they guys dug into their packets to see just who had gone the fastest. The top speed was 123.5mph driven by a guy who had already driven at the RPDE before. Same thing for the guy in 2nd at 125.1mph. Next was 124 something by a Rookie driver. Then DH clocked in at 123.8mph and Dude a sliver behind at 123.7mph. They were both very proud of themselves.
So they gave back the jumpsuits, shook the hands of their instructors and headed out the door very satisfied men. They had lived a dream and enjoyed every second of it.
I wouldnt let them near the drivers seat of the rental car. No way was I going to let either of them drive after just getting out of finely tuned race cars at speeds of 120+, my driving was bad enough.
OK, so now that they have had there fun, it was mom and my turn. We all headed to the Grand Floridian to grab a quick bite to eat before mom and I had 12pm appointments for facials at the spa. I was treating mom to a facial to say thanks for all the help in planning the trip and making it so special. We ate a late breakfast at the Grand Floridian Café. They boys were going to take the boat to the Poly and leave us with the car. We strolled through the lovely grounds of the GF toward the spa and wedding chapel.
The spa is very nice. Your typical elegant day spa atmosphere. They provide lockers, robes, and spa shoes. Our CM called each of us and for the next 75 minutes we relaxed and enjoyed being pampered. While it was a great experience I will caution that the GF Spa is overpriced. I have been to fancy spas in Hawaii, on a cruise ship, and here at home and while most fancy spas are overpriced, the GF spas are even more so. But in the end I would have paid more to say thanks to mom.
Next there was another surprise for my mom. I had 2pm PSs for High Tea. Ever since I first read about this experience at the GF I knew my mom would love it. We arrived a little early and waited out in the lounge on beautiful sofas. We relaxed until the Tea room opened. We were seated next to the beautiful garden window where we could enjoy the beautiful weather. Our CM was a sweet older woman, whose name has slipped my mind. I reviewed the tea over on the restaurant boards, but I will say that this was a truly wonderful experience that I highly recommend. The prices are very good and the food is excellent. This will be a definite must do for every trip in the future.
As we were getting ready to leave I realized my Ray-Ban sunglasses were missing. I searched all around the table and found nothing. I went back to the couch in the lobby and again found nothing. I was really upset. I know I had them walking from the spa back to the hotel because I cannot ever walk outside without sunglasses, even on overcast days. At the age of 28 I have the eyes of a 70 years old. I have had retinal surgery in each eye and have developed cataracts as a result of the eyesight saving retinal surgery. I am clinically blind since without contact lenses my eyesight is worse than 20/1000. My eyes sensitivity to light is tremendous and I cannot function out of doors without sunglasses. And of course I cannot buy cheaper sunglasses because they do nothing to prevent me from squinting in the sunlight. So I have to spend upward of $150-200 on sunglasses and I hate to lose them. So what was an otherwise perfect day was marred by the fact that I couldnt find the sunglasses. I checked with Lost and Found and nothing.
So we headed to the car and I tried to let it go. Back to the Poly for a while before we headed out to Epcot for the evening. My handy dandy Worksheet had us down for Boma PSs for tonight but the timing was off as the early morning activities ran long and there was no way to do both. And tonight was pretty much our only chance to se Illuminations and I could hardly wait. We took the monorail over to Epcot and passed through Future World and headed right for World Showcase. It was dead. There were very few people milling about. It must have been the weather. I t was still cold. In fact it never really warmed up most of the day. So I assume people were staying out of the cold. But it kind of made for a weird trip to the WS. There were no performers out other then the Beatles cover band. The WS just seemed to have hardly any life. Then we realized where everyone was at. Inside eating. When I cancelled our Boma PSs with the concierge staff she said we wouldnt need a PS for Le Cellier. She was wrong no walkups the place was packed. So we ventured further around WS and stopped to shop along the way. I was still disappointed in the lack of activity here. We finally ventured to Italy and tried Alfredos. It was crowded too but only a 30-minute wait. We were seated within the 30 minutes. This restaurant is very noisy and the tables are way too close together. I have been to Italy and I know that having a meal is time spent with family but even they wouldnt pack people into a restaurant like this.
After dinner we finished walking around WS waiting for Illuminations. I wanted to get back to Canada to grab a BeaverTail and sit and watch the show. Well as we rounded toward Mexico I couldnt believe all the people lined up.
Me: Where the heck did all these people come from? I sear they must have been hiding someplace warm only to venture out 15 minutes before the show.
I guess many people come to Epcot at night just for the show. After seeing it again I remembered why and made a mental note that for next time I want to view it from several different angles around the lagoon.
So we made it to Canada before the show only to find Trapper Bob had closed up shop for the night. Your kidding me right?!? Its prime munchy eating time and its freezing out here. I would think that the BeaverTails would be a big seller. I had yet to have one but from the descriptions it sounded like perfect Illumination waiting food. I was bummed to say the least. I had been thinking of it and describing it to the other all week. Well Epcot was on the worksheet one more time so I would get one then wouldnt I?
Everyone enjoyed Illuminations. We had a partially blocked view by some trees and I think DH mumbled something about getting a spot earlier next time.
Me: Hey at least at this spot we didnt get wet like at Fantasmic.
DH: Oh, get over it already.
Me: Wow, arent we cranky. I think all the adrenaline form this morning had finally gone away and he was coming down off the high. I just stuck my tongue out at him.
We headed with the masses toward Epcots exit. I love the herd of cattle going off to slaughter analogy of trying to exit a theme park after its closing festivities. The mindlessness of it all always makes me laugh. I also thought that if I stepped 3 people to the right as delswife suggests I would really be lost. So I stuck close to DH for fear of separation.
We monorailed back to the Poly and put the end of another great day at the world. But as I fell asleep I realized that we were one day closer to the end and I started to get a little sad. But tomorrow was, dare I say it, a non-Disney day and I would finally be able to ride Hulk and Spider-Man and could cross them off of my coaster/attraction to-do list.
I fell asleep with visions of Super Heroes dancing in my head.
(FYI - marybet - I took your advice.)
