Rajah
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 17, 1999
- Messages
- 9,633
Cast:
Rajah/Tammi -- As usual, trip report writer and trip planner
VonDrake/Michael -- Rajah's DH, whose conference is our excuse for the trip this time
Guest Cast:
Art -- our CM friend, pin-fanatic, and all around cool guy
Marsha and Tom -- aka Mackey Mouse and her DH from the DIS
Carol, Jen, and Kristin -- aka CarolAnnK and her daughters from the DIS
"Aaron" -- another solo IOA guest
Dates: Feb 28 through Mar 4, 2001
Destination: WDW, and for Rajah, USF and IOA as well
Name: "Swimsuit edition" -- keep reading to find out why, though one tip: always take your swimsuit, even if you don't think you'll want it
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This morning we had the alarm set for 8:30. When I rolled over to look at the clock and wasn't ready to get up yet, I knew for certain that Michael wouldn't be ready to get up yet either. So I pushed it back another hour and just said goodbye to our 9am Hollywood and Vine PS -- with Michael not feeling well and about to start a grueling conference, it wasn't worth it to rush this trip. We ended up snoozing until 10 when I finally got up.
By the time we were both ready to move around, it was 11am -- after most breakfast places have stopped serving breakfast. But, the room service menu said breakfast was available until 11:30 and I remembered the TV preview of the Swan and Dolphin mentioning a breakfast buffet at the Coral Cafe downstairs. So, we started downstairs to check.
First stop was at the little shop Daisy's Garden where Michael searched through their cold and allergy medicine. He couldn't find anything that was exactly what he wanted and turned down my offer to once more hunt for a WalMart, instead opting to just go with the 12-hour Sudafed, which at least would help with part of his symptoms.
Then it was on to the Coral Cafe where we tentatively walked up and asked about breakfast. Great news: they did indeed serve breakfast until 11:30, and there was room for us! So in we went where we were shown to a table and given instructions on where to begin, then told to go ahead and start if we wanted the buffet.
We attacked that buffet pretty fast. I already had an almost-full plate when Michael pointed out that they even had an omelet counter! So I grabbed another plate and ordered my omelet. On my other plate I had some hash browns, bacon, and either french toast or waffles, I forget which. Whatever the case it was something that wasn't pancakes and took syrup and they weren't very large. The syrup bottles were adorable, too! Next to the buffet was a little basket filled with tiny glass maple syrup bottles! If they hadn't been so sticky, I would have brought one home
They each held enough syrup for two servings, or one *very* generous serving. Just right.
And the omelets were good, too. Still not quite as good IMHO as the Crystal Palace or 1900 Park Fare ones, but much better than the one we'd had the morning before.
When we returned to our table, we found it set with a coffee thermos, two glasses of water, and two glasses of orange juice. Our server, Dave, was very friendly and attentive without being overly so. And we really liked the way you could charge to your room -- they bring your check pre-printed with a spot to put room and name. If you want to just charge to your room you just fill it out, no need to get out any cards. Otherwise, you hand the server the method of payment.
Before we left, we asked about the breakfast hours for the weekend. During the week they serve breakfast until 11:30, and on Saturday and Sunday they serve breakfast until noon. But on Sunday, it's a character meal and gets pretty hectic so we were told if we wanted to eat then to expect a wait.
After breakfast I was ready to move over to the parks, but Michael wasn't feeling well and needed to rest. So back up to the room we went for a little over an hour. Michael stretched out on the bed to wait for the Sudafed to take some effect while I grabbed my book and went out on the balcony. I was only out there a few minutes before the sun drove me back inside, but it was very nice being out there while I could be! I love the sound of kids playing in the pool And it was fun watching kids play on the beach as well.
Housekeeping came by about 12:30, and that was the only thing that got Michael up. He took over the spot on the balcony after we talked about what to do tonight. Tonight, after all, was E-night. Did we want to go or not? After some discussion, we decided to go for it, so I left him drinking a cup of coffee on the balcony and ran downstairs to guest services to get our E-tickets.
Obtaining the E-tickets was quick and easy, though for some reason the first pair the guy printed didn't work so he had to print us another pair. For a moment, I wondered if I'd have to go back upstairs and get Michael's park-hopper ticket, but it was enough for me to show my ticket, room key, and method of payment. Then he marked our room as having obtained passes, and handed them over.
After that, I went to the front desk to ask about my Universal Studios two-day pass I'd ordered through TicketRES. I was told the Concierge desk next door (next desk over) was where I'd find them. So over to Concierge I went and asked about the tickets. The two ladies there looked, but no luck. Normally, I would have trusted they'd be there tomorrow, but something spurred me on to ask some more questions: had these ladies ever heard of TicketRES or Dreams Unlimited?
No, they hadn't, but if it was an online service they could look it up. Which one lady did when I gave her the address. She searched for a phone number, but no luck. So she called information and asked for a discount ticket provider that matched a name mentioned on the TicketRES page. She called that number, only to be told it was disconnected. By this point, I was beginning to get rather nervous. But she came through and said "here's an email address, let me email them and see what we can find out." So she took my information and sent an email to Dreams questioning my ticket purchase.
Very impressed with the service at the desk, I thanked the ladies and returned to the room. I wouldn't let it bother me -- I was here on vacation after all and could always still get another ticket at the door if things weren't made right. But I trusted Pete and Dreams to make things right for me and went on about the day.
By the time I got back up to the room, Michael felt up to at least *going* to a park. He wasn't sure he'd be up to *doing* anything once we got there, but at least *being* in a park was enough for me. So we hiked down to the boat dock where we watched the fish and birds while waiting for a boat to MGM.
When we got to MGM, it was about 2pm, and I walked in trying to stay in a good frame of mind. Those of you who have read my past trip reports may recall that MGM and I don't get along: 9 times out of 10 *something* goes wrong in MGM in such a way that it ruins my time in that park, even though I love a lot of the attractions and shows there. But this time, for the first time, I really *wanted* to go to MGM -- not just I wanted to ride Rock 'n Roller or see Fantasmic (which we'd skip this trip), but I really *wanted* to go to MGM in general. Maybe it was the view of the Tower of Terror from our balcony.
We went straight to Rock 'n Roller, me observing and appreciating building details like I've rarely done in MGM, and were surprised at the wait: only about 20 minutes, and fastpass return time was 2:40-3:40. Not bad at all, and much less crowded than any other time we've visited. In fact, MGM as a whole seemed much less crowded than usual. That I think went a long way toward making it a better afternoon than usual for me.
As we were walking up to get our fastpasses, a couple stopped us and said they had a pair they wouldn't be able to use. It was only for 20 minutes earlier (2:20-3:20), but hey, we'll take them. We briefly considered getting another set, but didn't want to push trying to ride Rock 'n Roller twice with how Michael was feeling. He wasn't even sure he'd be up to riding once.
By this time, even though we hadn't done much, Michael needed to sit down. So since I was craving fudge (stupid fudge shop we had to walk past every morning and evening at the Dolphin... ) we stopped in the candy shop and grabbed a snack and two bottles of water, then found a table at Starring Rolls and sat down. We ate our fudge and drank some of our water, then I got up and looked at the pin station for a few minutes. In general, we just sat there for a bit until Michael felt up to walking. Then it was over to Voyage of the Little Mermaid, which he'd only seen once and which for some reason I'd been really wanting to see again since January. Maybe it was that the scenes in Animazement at Disneyland reminded me of Voyage of the Little Mermaid, I don't know.
We had about a 15 minute wait at Little Mermaid before we were allowed in to sit down, but then we really had fun with the show. One poor little girl behind us was absolutely determined to consider this scary: "It's not going to be fun, you'll see! It'll be scary! I won't like it" -- this before the lights had even gone down. Then she and her parents got into discussions on how things were done and they're just puppets and those are people up there and it's like the movie and close your eyes if you get scared and shhhh let's be quiet so others can watch the show. Others may have been irritated by it, but I thought it was cute.
After the show (which was excellent as usual -- perfect timing) we debated going straight to Rock 'n Roller. I unfortunately had decided to leave the camera bag back at the room so didn't have anything to protect the camera. My thought was to look around and see if we could find any shirts or something that we wanted, then we'd wrap the camera in the shirt. Michael's idea was much, much more practical but he humored me and allowed me to look. In the end, we went with his original idea: just go get a locker and put everything in there until we're ready to leave Even if we did only have the locker for about an hour and a half.
With things safely stowed in the locker, we hiked back over to Rock 'n Roller where there was only a 15 minute wait. We walked right on to the preshow area with our fastpasses, then were ushered into the sound stage and from there into the waiting area for our limo. I don't care how much I love this ride, I *still* hate watching that launch
This time, we had a really cute couple in line behind us. I'm not sure where they were from, but they were an older pair and she had an English accent and they were both really sweet. We talked to them about the ride and let them know it wasn't as bad as it looked, warned them to keep their heads back during the launch and that once the launch was over it's great from there on, and so on. They seemed to appreciate it.
Then, when it was our turn to get in the loading stalls, we had the option to go straight on if we wanted the back car. We very much did NOT want the back car, so moved ahead to the queue for the front half of the limo. The couple behind us watched what we, veterans of the ride, chose and quickly opted to follow. So we all ended up in the same car.
What a RUSH! Man, I love that coaster! I tried to relax with the launch this time as I did last time, but wasn't as successful. Michael said the launch wasn't as bad for him as usual because of the effects of the Sudafed In fact, he said this was the most relaxing ride and he could barely tell we'd gone upside down I sure could tell -- I just *love* those loops and the barrel roll.
After the ride, we checked on the couple behind us. They looked a little dazed, but otherwise none the worse for wear. After assuring they were okay, we all went to the monitors to wait for our picture to come up. When it did, I decided I had to have it -- I'd been sorry we hadn't gotten the one with us and Becky back in November, and had been wanting a photo ever since so this was a must-have.
So while Michael explored the shop, I got in line with my photo number in hand. When I got up to the front, I had to leave and go get Michael -- this wasn't an easy decision. We could get the standard photo frame -- which was one of those so-so stiff-paper ones. Or we could get a really neat 3-d frame. Or we could get a Jewel Case where you open the case and the inside jacket is the photo and where the CD usually goes is a CD-shaped REALLY COOL 3-d coaster/limo effect. That's what I wanted, but at $31 or so I wanted to check with Michael first. Back I came with him and ended up walking straight to the same lady I'd left moments ago. One look at the CD option and Michael said get it, even without me mentioning that was the one I wanted.
Once we got off Rock 'n Roller, we decided to go check out the Animation tour. We had dinner PS at Citricos for later that evening, but we figured we'd have enough time. Barely, but enough time. So on we went where we joined in a group of about 10 people I've never stood in so short a line for the tour, on a week-day no less! By the time we were let in 15 minutes later, though, the group had gotten almost large enough to fill the theaters.
After watching that oh-so-cute Back to Neverland (or is it Return to Neverland? I never can remember...) we were led into the animator's scene. We got spots on the floor right next to those nifty windows, then watched as the female animator drew the main character from Atlantis for us, followed by Mickey and Minnie. As we were leaving the animation room, Michael commented that he's certain that first room is nothing more than a set. He remembers some elements that haven't changed at all in a year's time. I think he's right. But, once you get past that first room, you're into the *real* stuff
We were a little concerned that with it being after 4pm on a Friday we wouldn't see anybody. But, we actually saw more action this time than we did our last run through here, which was before Tarzan was released. This time we saw people working on scenes from Lilo and Stitch (I think that's it's name...). One guy was scanning the black and white cels into the computer, and he even looked up, smiled, and waved to us -- we as usual had hung back from the rest of the group so we could really get a good look.
In the storyboard room they had walls *full* of sketches from Atlantis. Man, that looks like it's going to be a great show! Our CM guide (Jenny, I think) mentioned to us that she'd been able to see the cast preview of the movie. I asked it if was any good, then realized there was no answer she could give but that it was great
But, she did honestly seem enthusiastic about the movie -- said it was like an animated cross between Indiana Jones and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. I'm really looking forward to its release. She's also the one who told us that what we were seeing people working on was Lilo and Stitch instead of Atlantis. That makes sense even though for some reason I was expecting Atlantis. I don't know if she'd told everyone that Lilo and Stitch was what was being worked on or just us -- we were so far behind the rest of the group that what she was saying before was muffled. As usual, we were some of the last two or three people who had to be ushered into the last movie room.
We noticed there were some changes to the final classics scene since our last visit: the movie was updated to include brief scenes from Tarzan, which was nice. It was great to see some of those classic scenes on the big screen again, even if only for a moment. I wish there was a theater somewhere that still showed all the old classics on the big screen.
When we got out, we all but ran through the exit and store. It was now about 4:45, and we still had to get back to the Dolphin, change clothes and get our stuff, then get up to the Grand Floridian and find Citricos before our 5:30 PS. So we walked as fast as we could through the crowds back to the front where we emptied out our locker and turned in the locker key. I asked for a receipt just in case we wanted a locker in the Magic Kingdom during e-night. Then we rushed out to the corner above the boat dock. There we saw that a boat was approaching, but doing so slowly. We had more than enough time to slow back to a normal walk and catch our breath before boarding the boat, then had a nice leisurely ride back to the Swan and Dolphin. Finally, a visit to MGM where -- for me -- nothing went wrong.
This always happens when you're in a hurry, though: there was some hold-up with the boat in front of us at the Swan/Dolphin dock, and so we were put in a holding pattern (basically moving forward and backward very slowly in the water) in that small lake for about 5 minutes before we were finally able to pull up and get off.
Then it was another mad dash to the room. While we walked, we discussed options: we could find the busses and hope for a bus to get us to the Grand Floridian on time (like that would happen), we could take a cab which would require more waiting, or we could do the most logical option: drive. We opted for driving. So after we changed into some nicer park attire (Michael had to get out of his shorts mostly for Citricos -- we both went with black jeans and T-shirts) we grabbed our stuff for E-night then hurried to the car.
Michael just *knew* we'd be late this time anyway, but I kept telling him not to worry. He expected us to have a 15-20 minute drive to get to the Grand Floridian. But, when you're not having to stop at other bus stops for the hotel or other hotels, you can make good time. We were at the Magic Kingdom entrance within 3-5 minutes, where I told the CM that we had PS at the Grand Floridian. She waved us through and directed us to the proper road and told us which light to take. Then we drove up to the guard house at the Grand Floridian and told the guard there we had PS at Citricos. He told us where to find it, then asked if we wanted Valet parking. We said no, so he directed us to the self parking lot.
When we got there, we were a little confused as to what to do. There was a gate that was down, and you had to have a key-card (room key) to open it. So I pushed the "press for assistance button". That apparently buzzes the guard station, because as soon as I pressed it the gate opened. There was a camera, so I'm sure what it was was the guard could see who we were and that we were authorized to park there since we had dinner PS, so let us through. We found a spot right away, then hurried up to the main building and up the stairs.
Citricos was well marked and easy to find off in its back corner. As you come up that really neat wide staircase opposite the elevator, look across the way to your right. Citricos and Victoria and Albert's are both there and marked. So we hurried around and checked in pretty much on time (may have been 5 minutes late). There was no wait, and practically no one in the restaurant at all, so we needn't have hurried.
Our server Rich was very friendly and attentive, but again not overly so. I got a couple of pictures of the restaurant and the food as we ate our relaxing dinner. The view from our table (which was right on the window) was really nice -- we looked out over the pool and the buildings of the Grand Floridian. We had fun watching the great variety of people going past. There was everything from people in suits and fine outfits (likely heading for places like Victoria and Albert's), to the families in swimsuits heading for the pool, to the kids in princess costumes. I think we saw 4 Snow Whites, 2 Belles, and a couple of others that I don't recall. All were darling. Made me want a little girl I could dress up as a princess
The food ranged from excellent to pretty good. We started with a veal ravioli which was unlike any ravioli we'd ever had before. It was the best part of the meal, served with a delicious mushroom and truffle sauce. I could have made a meal out of that alone -- it wasn't that big, but it was that good. Then I had the signature Veal Shank for dinner while Michael had the pork. Both were good, but both were missing something. For me, the veal shank really needed more sauce of some sort -- it came with a little bit of a soy glaze, but more of that great mushroom sauce on the ravioli would have gone great with it. Michael pretty much liked his pork but thought it needed something not quite so spicy-strong (not really hot spicy, but very strong on the rosemary or thyme or sage or something like that) to compensate for the potatoes. We both thought the ravioli was better. But despite both meals missing a little touch, we thought what we had was very good and will definitely try this place again.
We both had a glass of wine with dinner: Michael had the Anapamu Pinot Noir -- the wine paired with his pork -- which he really liked. I'm not big on red wines (or any alcoholic beverage in general for that matter), but for some reason I really wanted to try some wine with dinner tonight. So I asked about the wine that was paired with mine. It was a Chateau Pesquite, which was a red sweet. I mentioned that I'm not really usually fond of reds, but Rich insisted this wasn't as tonic as the reds I'm used to. So he offered to let me try a taste. I took him up on it, and found that this was actually a very good red wine. It was sweet and smooth and the first time I think I can honestly say I liked the taste of a red. Unfortunately, I don't think any wine goes well with any food but cheese -- it gets too sharp for me when mixed with food unless it's cooked into the food. So I couldn't finish my glass after I got it.
After dinner, we had to try dessert even though neither of us was able to finish eating all of our meat (there was a LOT of meat on that veal shank! Very tender, but like I said needed more sauce). I had the chocolate ravioli with vanilla ice cream. It usually comes with licorice ice cream, but I'm not fond of licorice so when I asked for it without ice cream, Rich volunteered to substitute vanilla instead. Michael had a chocolate-chestnut tureen (sp?) with a dessert wine. I thought the chocolate ravioli was absolutely delicious, and Michael finished every bite of his tureen.
One thing I'd been concerned about before coming to Citricos was that we'd feel out of place in park attire. But once we got there and other guests started showing up, we didn't feel out of place at all. There were outfits there ranging from obvious park attire and kids and adults in shorts to Sunday finery, and all were treated equally. The place had a very nice atmosphere, but wasn't stuffy, and wasn't overly-loud at all. We'll definitely be back in the future.
After dinner (about 7:20 -- took us about an hour and 40 minutes at Citricos), we made our way out to the monorail to ride over to the Magic Kingdom for E-night. While we were waiting for the monorail, the couple next to us struck up a conversation: they had the exact same camera we had -- the Nikon CoolPix 990. Only they'd just gotten it and weren't entirely certain how to use it. So for the next few minutes until the monorail arrived and then the entire ride until we got off at the Magic Kingdom (they continued on), we were giving the lady tips on how to use the camera and where to get extra memory cards for it and that stuff.
(If by any chance you're the lady we talked to -- we figured out just after getting off what your problem was: you had the setting on film ratio, which will only get you about 20 pictures to a card. If you switch it to screen ratio (XGA or VGA) you'll get a lot more. That was the difference between our settings and why I could get 80-90 pictures but you could only get 20.)
Back to the trip report...By the time we got to the Magic Kingdom, we had about 20-25 minutes until the fireworks. We'd already missed tonight's performance of the Main Street Electrical Parade, so trying to move on Main Street was the usual post-parade nightmare. We stopped to exchange our e-tickets for bracelets first, then slipped into the crowd and began our swim upstream and around all those still crowding around to watch Fantasy in the Sky from Main Street.
As we were fighting our way up to the hub, we walked past a CM selling one of those twirling-light thingamabobbers you can spell words with. I briefly toyed with getting one and having it spell out "The DIS" and spinning that around during E-night, but I decided against it. That would be silly, and what were the chances of running into more DISers while in the park anyway?
So we continued up to the hub and took one look at the crowds. "Do you want to stand in this for the fireworks?" "No" "Let's try Fantasyland". So on we went, back to the Liberty Square entrance where we could cut around the side of the castle to Fantasyland. We decided to try the Pooh ride first just in case there wasn't a long wait. Ha ha. Right. We walked up, and there was a 25 minute wait posted, which we could easily see being the 25 minutes. With the fireworks in 15, we said it wasn't worth it so went over to the rocks next to the character meet and greet and perched on them for a few minutes.
Then I noticed that the tables along the water nearby were open, so I went up to the CMs to ask about the fireworks. Here was one of my most stupid moments, or rather phrasings, from my Disney trips. I knew this was a good place to watch them, as I had asked the CM at the Pooh ride where they would be going off. When I walked up this time, I asked if you'd be able to *hear* the fireworks here. The two ladies gave me a funny look and said "Oh, you'll hear them all right." I laughed and explained I meant the *music* that goes with them -- I *knew* you'd hear the explosions . We had a brief discussion during which time one of the two CMs mentioned she thought you could faintly, but we might want to move a little closer to the castle as the music would be louder there. As the tables along the water were closer to the castle, this sounded like a good idea, so we commandeered a couple of chairs and pulled them up to the railing where we could get a good view of the fireworks going off almost straight overhead.
Before the fireworks, I decided I was going to make SURE I could get that final firework that has been so elusive on past trips. So I switched memory cards. Little did I know, I'd failed to delete all the Disneyland pictures from that card from our previous trip in January Fifteen pictures later (and still without a *good* picture of that final huge firework), I looked down and saw I had *80* pictures on that card. Guess what I spent the next several minutes doing while we were in lines for attractions? That's right... select, delete, yes. Select, delete, yes. Select.... I couldn't just clear out the entire card without losing the firework pictures I'd just gotten, so I had to delete the other 60-some-odd pictures one by one.
Anyway, we did get to see Fantasy in the Sky from along the water's edge. From where we were sitting -- right next to the rocks right on the railing around the water of what used to be 20,000 leagues -- the fireworks went off overhead in the general direction of the King Triton fountain and Ariel meet and greet. They were too high up to get both in the picture, though. And you could hear the music just fine from that location -- better than either our Frontierland viewing place along the bridge, or our Tomorrowland viewing place right below the "line in the sky Peter Pan drew for Tinkerbell so she doesn't get lost". But the fireworks were missing something without being able to see the castle. The hub and Main Street still get my vote for the best places to watch Fantasy in the Sky.
After the fireworks, we checked out Pooh again *just in case*. Sure enough, they'd closed down the line and weren't letting anyone else in. Oh well, we still had several hours of fun ahead of us. Little did we know at the time just how *much* fun we'd have
With Fantasyland closed, we circled around to Tomorrowland. Michael wasn't up to Space Mountain tonight with his cold, so we decided to do Astroorbiter. This was the first time Michael was on this ride, and only my second time, so we had fun. And it was especially fun at night! Castle! Space Mountain! PLANET!!! Contemporary... Main Street... PLANET!!! Castle.... repeat. The planets are in caps because you'd be looking out at the distant scenery, then suddenly a planet would zoom up out of nowhere almost within touching distance. Okay, maybe it wasn't that close, but it felt that way The only bad thing about the ride is that the cars are a little uncomfortable with two adults in them.
After that, we paused at Alien Encounter briefly. I'm not what you could call fond of this attraction (in fact I'm vehemently against it because of it's placing which makes it too easy to be the first Disney attraction encountered even with kids, but that soapbox is for another time), and Michael hadn't ever been on it before. Up to this trip, he'd had no interest. But just before we left home, we'd had dinner with some friends. They were some of Michael's coworkers who were coming to the same conference that was our excuse to come out here and they wanted to know what Alien Encounter was all about. So I described it to them as I remembered it from my one ride two years ago. Michael said after I described it, it didn't sound as bad as he'd feared it would be so he was curious. However, I pointed out to him that he'd said Space Mountain was a no because of how it would get his heart rate up. Increased heart rate made him feel worse with his cold, so tonight wasn't the night to do Alien Encounter. Instead, we went across the way to Buzz.
Once again, we got stuck in this ride, but this is one I don't mind getting stuck in. This time, it was in the final room where you attack Zerg's escape ship. I was lucky enough to find a 10,000 point target that was easy to hit, so I just put the gun on that target and kept holding the button down. When we finished, Michael -- who hadn't found the 10,000 point target -- had about 115,000 points. I on the other hand had just over 714,000
One ride was enough for us for tonight, so we left Tomorrowland and went over to Liberty Square. We were two of the ten people in line for Haunted Mansion -- Michael actually counted since it was so non-crowded. In we went, where our CM host Edward snuck up on a lady in the group next to us. He kept following her until she turned around and, coming face-to-face with someone she didn't think was there, shrieked, to the amusement of her party and us. We laughed as Edward left the room to go see if there was anyone else who needed to be ushered into the Stretching Room.
That's where I overheard probably the best thing of the trip. One of the girls in the party asked the others if that CM might have been Safari Steve. My ears perked up at the name Safari Steve, so I turned around and asked them if the CMs name was Steve -- we didn't notice until he returned that his name was Edward. The shrieking lady said they didn't know, but Safari Steve was a friend of theirs on a Disney website. Before she could finish explaining the site, I asked "That wouldn't happen to be the DIS would it...?"
Our very first chance DIS encounter, and none of us with our green ribbons The "shrieking lady" was Marsha, aka Mackey Mouse, who was there on a last-minute trip with her DH Tom, and her co-moderator CarolAnnK (Carol) and Carol's daughters Kristin and Jen. I introduced myself as Rajah and Michael as VonDrake. Marsha said she thought that might be me as she recognized me from the pictures we've posted, but she couldn't believe it was us since she could have sworn we'd just returned Yeah, that was us Marsha
Edward returned to a bunch of giggling ladies and two "suffering" guys (very good about the excitement the ladies were showing). We asked him if he knew Steve, and Edward was able to keep up his deadpan expression for only a few more moments before he lost it as well. Nope, he didn't know Steve -- or wouldn't admit to it anyway
The remainder of the stretching room was a complete blur as we chattered excitedly all through that and up to the doom buggies. There we split up since, obviously, seven people can't fit into one doom buggy The CMs were in fine form tonight, though, and I swear poor Marsha had a "jump at me" sign over her head! They got into the buggy right in front of ours, and at least two other CMs jumped out specifically at Marsha -- peeking around the corner, slapping the back of the doom buggy... all sorts of tricks, and *all* for some reason to Marsha!
Michael and I chatted as we went through the Haunted Mansion. Running into some DIS members unexpectedly at E-night was surprising enough, let alone running into a whole group where we were almost the only ones in the stretching room (I feel sorry for those other 3 people who had to put up with us ), let *alone* the other DISers all being people we recognized and actually kinda knew from the boards! With almost 24000 people registered, it would have been VERY easy to run into DISers we didn't know.
When we all got out of the Doom Buggies, we resumed our excited chatter. Outside the Haunted Mansion we paused to hunt down the ring. Michael and I had found that back either in November or December, but finding it again in the dark was another matter Thankfully the exit queue was essentially empty. I thought I had a flashlight with me, but no matter how much I looked I couldn't find it. Turned out it was back in the room the whole time. What we ended up doing was finding it by feel (Michael has an excellent memory (sometimes) and remembered almost exactly where it was so found it rather quickly), then I took a flash picture of it to show them what it actually *looked* like. Don'tcha just love digital, where you can "waste" film like that and have a picture to show instantly?
Then I told them what I remembered of the various stories of the Mansion and why the ring was there in the first place before we all headed as a group toward Splash Mountain. No one said anything about where we were going until I asked if anyone was up for a ride on Splash -- I really wanted to ride but Michael wasn't up to it for the same reason he wasn't up to Space Mountain. Marsha indicated that they were heading that way anyway, so off we went
Tom, Kristin, and I were all very quick to say we're going, but it took a little convincing to get Marsha to come along as well. Michael was a definite no tonight since he wasn't feeling well, and Jen and Carol both knew they did *not* want to do it. When I found out Marsha had done the ride before and didn't have any strong "I'M NEVER GOING ON THIS AGAIN!!!" feelings, I figured it'd be safe to convince her to go
So we left our stuff (except my poncho) with Michael, Carol, and Jen while the rest of us hurried on to Splash. There was almost no wait at all -- in fact, the three kids that were exiting the boat we were about to enter were told if they wanted to go again they could get in the back of our boat. They did so
This, I must say, was the most exciting time I've ever had on Splash. Why (besides the obvious being with new friends)? Well, I usually get teased by the CMs for wearing a poncho. My usual excuse was to cover the camera equipment, but this time I just didn't want to get wet. So the CM loading us called over to the CM operating the boat launch and told her to call someone else on the phone. We heard the grinning CM on the phone as we were going by, "boat 10, front row...get them extra wet!" And you know what -- I *did* get wetter on this ride than I ever have before I'm still not sure if they were joking and the ride was just set to get you wetter in general since it was warm and this was the first time we've really ridden Splash in the front while it was warm, or if they were serious and they *do* have someone controlling extra splashes One reason we got wetter, though, was we stopped right in the splash zone on one side of that first big drop -- so when a boat went down next to us, we all got soaked (even with the poncho -- well, no, *soaked* with the poncho is what happened to me on Sunday, but more on that later).
Beyond that, it was still fun. Poor Marsha was quite nervous, especially as we came around the first bend where you can watch the other logs going down the final drop. I kept turning around and all but ordering her to look at ME, talk to ME, Don't watch that final drop! That always gets *me* nervous and I love the ride! Then Kristin and I talked Marsha through the rest of the ride, giving her advance warning when we were about to go over the smaller drops. We repeatedly assured Marsha we'd let her know when we were coming up on the big one.
Just before we came up on the big drop, I watched for then pointed out the cute little FSU gopher. I'll have to try to get a picture of it next trip It popped out right over our boat so they could even hear it. The story behind that gopher is that one of the engineers constructing the ride (or it may have been an imagineer designing it) was an alumni of Florida State University -- FSU. So in tribute to his Alma Matter (sp?), he had the little gopher say FSU when the ride was built. Don't know how true the story is, but the gopher does very clearly say FSU and it makes sense.
In the end, Marsha survived the final drop and said she thought the earlier drops in the ride were actually worse because you kept expecting it to be the final one. Once you hit the final one, it's nothing As I keep saying: it's not as bad as it looks
We got out of our wet boats and paused to see the picture. When I saw it, I knew I had to have it -- a nice record of our first chance DIS encounter. My plan was to find Michael and get my money from him, then come back and get it. But sweet Marsha said that if I could post it, they'd pay for it. I can post it That's what I intended to do in the first place, so Marsha and Tom picked up the tab on that. Thanks Marsha and Tom!!!
Our next stop was Thunder Mountain. This time, Marsha and Carol sat out. Marsha was iffy on whether she wanted to do Splash, but she KNEW she didn't want to do Thunder, so we didn't push it. Jen and Michael joined us, though, and this time we left the stuff with Marsha and Carol.
When we got to the loading zone, we found they were only seating people to the right. So we headed back to the very back car where we only had something like a one-train wait. Jen and Kristin got the very very back, Tom sat in the middle seat of the car, and Michael and I took the front seat of the car. Around and around we went, this time me sharing the goat tricks with them. What's the goat trick? When you go up the lift -- I *think* it's the second one -- watch for the goat on the hilltop. Whether it's the second or third, there's definitely a goat there and you can't miss it. If you're in the back part of the train (really only works for the back couple of cars), glue your eyes to that goat. Don't let it get out of your sight as you go around the curve until you can't see it any more period. It'll make that curve MUCH wilder if it works for you. For some reason, it doesn't work for all people. Then, the second one -- when you circle around, you'll see that the goat comes into view again. At this point, you'll be going straight for a brief period, and it's just before the train "drops out from under you" and you pass through the short tunnel to the outside of the ride. When you see the goat again, keep watching it -- the drop comes as more of a surprise if you don't see the cars in front of you going down
When the ride was over, our train pulled in to the *left* station this time. There was no one in line, and the CM said over the loudspeaker "Anyone who wants to go again can. If you want to get out, raise your hand and I'll let you off." She paused for a moment, but no one wanted off, so out we went again for a second cycle through During that pause, I explained the goat trick again where I wasn't having to shout over the clackity-clack of the lifts. Jen had missed the effect, so I told them I'd point to it when we got there. Made an even wilder turn when I was pointing to the goat
When the train pulled into the station this time, it was everybody off. So off we went to find Marsha and Carol. We had to hunt for them since they weren't standing where we'd expected, but we found them on a bench not far away. We explained that we'd gone a second time, and they said they kinda expected that when we hadn't come off
After that, it was time to part ways. I quickly noted down everyone's name for the trip report and Splash photo, but I forgot to get a group picture I thought about it both when we were on Splash and on Thunder, but that doesn't do much good when you're on the ride and your camera is with those sitting out the ride and by the time you get off you've forgotten We had a great time with Mackay Mouse and CarolAnnK and families. I hope we can do it again sometime
Once we parted, Michael and I returned to Thunder for one more ride. This time, we got stuck on the lift in the earthquake cavern We weren't there very long, just enough for me to take the camera out of its bag but not enough time for me to take a picture before things started back up again. This time, we went back into the same station we left from and there were people in line, so we didn't have another no-wait go around this time.
By now (about 10:15 pm, with E-night until 11), Michael was ready to head back, so we went back to the hub where Michael, as usual, humored me. I wanted to see the characters briefly. We saw Mickey, Goofy, and the Chipmunks from a distance, but they all had lines and I didn't want to wait in line for them. But across the way was Pluto, no one in line, dancing around like a puppy. He even got on the ground and rolled over and over several times as though doing tricks until people noticed him and came up to join him. We stood and watched him with the other guests for a moment or two before heading back down Main Street.
We stopped in the Emporium briefly, but didn't see anything we really wanted to buy for once. So out we went, where I got caught by the neat animated scenes in the windows. This time, the theme was Disney Princesses, and again Michael humored me (poor guy, I know he wanted to go back and lie down) and let me get pictures of the windows There was Snow White, Cinderella, Ariel, Jasmine, Belle and Pocahontas. We found it surprising that there was no window for Aurora (Sleeping Beauty).
Then on the way out, we saw some people doing surveys. I don't know why, but I REALLY wanted to do a survey. So we found excuses to hang around (Michael muttering the whole time about how I was completely messing up the idea of "random sampling") until we got a chance to do one It was just basic questions like if you'd been to E-night before, how many individual rides did you do, did you buy any food or drink, and so on. The best one was what would you like to see different about E-night, to which I answered some Fantasyland attractions in addition would be nice. He said a lot of people were saying the same thing, so hopefully sometime in the future we'll see Fantasyland attractions added to the lineup. Though hopefully without taking another land out of the picture -- I wouldn't want to lose Splash, Thunder, or Haunted Mansion in favor of some Fantasyland attractions
Finally, though, we got out to the monorail where we circled around past all the resorts until we got to the Grand Floridian. It was a bit of a hike out to the car, but we were happy. Then, when coming out of the parking lot, I made the mistake of turning left. I forgot the busses turned left when coming out of the parking lot opposite, which meant I needed to take a *right* . Michael remembered, but in typical Michael fashion said nothing until we were driving past an "authorized vehicles only" sign with no way to turn around So we got a brief tour of some back roads... which looked like... well... roads. Roads that weren't as well lit as the main guest-area roads. I turned around the first chance I got, and I think *that* was when Michael very helpfully told me I should have turned right
From there, though, it was an easy drive back to the Swan and Dolphin. I'd always been concerned about getting lost on Disney property -- that was one reason I'd never wanted to rent a car before. But for me, it was easy navigating the roads. Other than that one wrong turn from the Grand Floridian, we had no incidents of getting lost and I really liked the car
By the time we got back to the Dolphin -- only about a 10 minute drive -- the wind had shifted, and in came such a strong smell of smoke that just the walk from the parking lot to the door almost set off my asthma. Thank goodness the entire trip wasn't that way -- it really set off my asthma in that short time and poor Michael's cold (which at the time I thought was just strong allergies since to him "not feeling well" covers the spectrum from allergies to strep throat and he was only taking allergy medicine instead of cold medicine <IMG WIDTH="15" HEIGHT="15" SRC="/infopop/emoticons/icon_razz.gif" alt="razz"> ). If the smoke from the I-4 fires had been that strong the entire trip, I'm afraid we would have seen very little beyond the doors of the Dolphin. This was also the only night I could smell the smoke in our room, but by morning it had mostly cleared away.
When we got into the lobby, Michael yet *again* humored me (isn't he wonderful?) and followed me around as I took pictures of the deserted lobby and entryway. I tried to get him to go up to the room, but he wouldn't leave my side except to go sit down at the first place he found close to where I was taking pictures at the time.
When we finally got back up to the room, it was almost midnight and the message light on our phone was flashing. When I checked the messages, I found it was from the ticket provider about my Universal ticket. He said he got a message from Dreams Unlimited (was it only at noon this morning that the Concierge desk emailed them for me????) that I hadn't gotten my ticket. He said he'd left a message for me to pick up when I checked in, but I never got said message. I was supposed to call them, and since I hadn't called, they hadn't delivered (I had *no* phone number and no message -- apparently wires got crossed entirely from the very beginning on this TicketRES deal). So he said he'd call tomorrow morning between 7 and 8 am and we'd be the first dropoff of the morning. Michael and I both grumbled about the time, but decided at least I'd get my ticket.
So from there we both got ready for bed. One word of warning, though -- if you're staying at the Dolphin and try using the shower... double-check that the shower curtain is INSIDE the tub. I usually do, but forgot to do so this time and when I stepped out, it was into standing water that covered the towel-mat! I was able to get it almost all soaked back up, but that left only one towel for Michael.
Then I worked on the trip report while he got ready for bed, and from there it was just a struggle to fall asleep with the smell of smoke. The air filters weren't enough to filter out the smell, and I could tell I'd be waking up with allergy and/or asthma problems if this kept up all night.
On to Day 3
-Rajah
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cdrtrisal@aol.com
(Links will return when I find a new place to host the sites)
Rajah/Tammi -- As usual, trip report writer and trip planner
VonDrake/Michael -- Rajah's DH, whose conference is our excuse for the trip this time
Guest Cast:
Art -- our CM friend, pin-fanatic, and all around cool guy
Marsha and Tom -- aka Mackey Mouse and her DH from the DIS
Carol, Jen, and Kristin -- aka CarolAnnK and her daughters from the DIS
"Aaron" -- another solo IOA guest
Dates: Feb 28 through Mar 4, 2001
Destination: WDW, and for Rajah, USF and IOA as well
Name: "Swimsuit edition" -- keep reading to find out why, though one tip: always take your swimsuit, even if you don't think you'll want it
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This morning we had the alarm set for 8:30. When I rolled over to look at the clock and wasn't ready to get up yet, I knew for certain that Michael wouldn't be ready to get up yet either. So I pushed it back another hour and just said goodbye to our 9am Hollywood and Vine PS -- with Michael not feeling well and about to start a grueling conference, it wasn't worth it to rush this trip. We ended up snoozing until 10 when I finally got up.
By the time we were both ready to move around, it was 11am -- after most breakfast places have stopped serving breakfast. But, the room service menu said breakfast was available until 11:30 and I remembered the TV preview of the Swan and Dolphin mentioning a breakfast buffet at the Coral Cafe downstairs. So, we started downstairs to check.
First stop was at the little shop Daisy's Garden where Michael searched through their cold and allergy medicine. He couldn't find anything that was exactly what he wanted and turned down my offer to once more hunt for a WalMart, instead opting to just go with the 12-hour Sudafed, which at least would help with part of his symptoms.
Then it was on to the Coral Cafe where we tentatively walked up and asked about breakfast. Great news: they did indeed serve breakfast until 11:30, and there was room for us! So in we went where we were shown to a table and given instructions on where to begin, then told to go ahead and start if we wanted the buffet.
We attacked that buffet pretty fast. I already had an almost-full plate when Michael pointed out that they even had an omelet counter! So I grabbed another plate and ordered my omelet. On my other plate I had some hash browns, bacon, and either french toast or waffles, I forget which. Whatever the case it was something that wasn't pancakes and took syrup and they weren't very large. The syrup bottles were adorable, too! Next to the buffet was a little basket filled with tiny glass maple syrup bottles! If they hadn't been so sticky, I would have brought one home
They each held enough syrup for two servings, or one *very* generous serving. Just right.And the omelets were good, too. Still not quite as good IMHO as the Crystal Palace or 1900 Park Fare ones, but much better than the one we'd had the morning before.
When we returned to our table, we found it set with a coffee thermos, two glasses of water, and two glasses of orange juice. Our server, Dave, was very friendly and attentive without being overly so. And we really liked the way you could charge to your room -- they bring your check pre-printed with a spot to put room and name. If you want to just charge to your room you just fill it out, no need to get out any cards. Otherwise, you hand the server the method of payment.
Before we left, we asked about the breakfast hours for the weekend. During the week they serve breakfast until 11:30, and on Saturday and Sunday they serve breakfast until noon. But on Sunday, it's a character meal and gets pretty hectic so we were told if we wanted to eat then to expect a wait.
After breakfast I was ready to move over to the parks, but Michael wasn't feeling well and needed to rest. So back up to the room we went for a little over an hour. Michael stretched out on the bed to wait for the Sudafed to take some effect while I grabbed my book and went out on the balcony. I was only out there a few minutes before the sun drove me back inside, but it was very nice being out there while I could be! I love the sound of kids playing in the pool
And it was fun watching kids play on the beach as well.Housekeeping came by about 12:30, and that was the only thing that got Michael up. He took over the spot on the balcony after we talked about what to do tonight. Tonight, after all, was E-night. Did we want to go or not? After some discussion, we decided to go for it, so I left him drinking a cup of coffee on the balcony and ran downstairs to guest services to get our E-tickets.
Obtaining the E-tickets was quick and easy, though for some reason the first pair the guy printed didn't work so he had to print us another pair. For a moment, I wondered if I'd have to go back upstairs and get Michael's park-hopper ticket, but it was enough for me to show my ticket, room key, and method of payment. Then he marked our room as having obtained passes, and handed them over.
After that, I went to the front desk to ask about my Universal Studios two-day pass I'd ordered through TicketRES. I was told the Concierge desk next door (next desk over) was where I'd find them. So over to Concierge I went and asked about the tickets. The two ladies there looked, but no luck. Normally, I would have trusted they'd be there tomorrow, but something spurred me on to ask some more questions: had these ladies ever heard of TicketRES or Dreams Unlimited?
No, they hadn't, but if it was an online service they could look it up. Which one lady did when I gave her the address. She searched for a phone number, but no luck. So she called information and asked for a discount ticket provider that matched a name mentioned on the TicketRES page. She called that number, only to be told it was disconnected. By this point, I was beginning to get rather nervous. But she came through and said "here's an email address, let me email them and see what we can find out." So she took my information and sent an email to Dreams questioning my ticket purchase.
Very impressed with the service at the desk, I thanked the ladies and returned to the room. I wouldn't let it bother me -- I was here on vacation after all and could always still get another ticket at the door if things weren't made right. But I trusted Pete and Dreams to make things right for me and went on about the day.
By the time I got back up to the room, Michael felt up to at least *going* to a park. He wasn't sure he'd be up to *doing* anything once we got there, but at least *being* in a park was enough for me. So we hiked down to the boat dock where we watched the fish and birds while waiting for a boat to MGM.
When we got to MGM, it was about 2pm, and I walked in trying to stay in a good frame of mind. Those of you who have read my past trip reports may recall that MGM and I don't get along: 9 times out of 10 *something* goes wrong in MGM in such a way that it ruins my time in that park, even though I love a lot of the attractions and shows there. But this time, for the first time, I really *wanted* to go to MGM -- not just I wanted to ride Rock 'n Roller or see Fantasmic (which we'd skip this trip), but I really *wanted* to go to MGM in general. Maybe it was the view of the Tower of Terror from our balcony.
We went straight to Rock 'n Roller, me observing and appreciating building details like I've rarely done in MGM, and were surprised at the wait: only about 20 minutes, and fastpass return time was 2:40-3:40. Not bad at all, and much less crowded than any other time we've visited. In fact, MGM as a whole seemed much less crowded than usual. That I think went a long way toward making it a better afternoon than usual for me.
As we were walking up to get our fastpasses, a couple stopped us and said they had a pair they wouldn't be able to use. It was only for 20 minutes earlier (2:20-3:20), but hey, we'll take them. We briefly considered getting another set, but didn't want to push trying to ride Rock 'n Roller twice with how Michael was feeling. He wasn't even sure he'd be up to riding once.
By this time, even though we hadn't done much, Michael needed to sit down. So since I was craving fudge (stupid fudge shop we had to walk past every morning and evening at the Dolphin...
) we stopped in the candy shop and grabbed a snack and two bottles of water, then found a table at Starring Rolls and sat down. We ate our fudge and drank some of our water, then I got up and looked at the pin station for a few minutes. In general, we just sat there for a bit until Michael felt up to walking. Then it was over to Voyage of the Little Mermaid, which he'd only seen once and which for some reason I'd been really wanting to see again since January. Maybe it was that the scenes in Animazement at Disneyland reminded me of Voyage of the Little Mermaid, I don't know.We had about a 15 minute wait at Little Mermaid before we were allowed in to sit down, but then we really had fun with the show. One poor little girl behind us was absolutely determined to consider this scary: "It's not going to be fun, you'll see! It'll be scary! I won't like it" -- this before the lights had even gone down. Then she and her parents got into discussions on how things were done and they're just puppets and those are people up there and it's like the movie and close your eyes if you get scared and shhhh let's be quiet so others can watch the show. Others may have been irritated by it, but I thought it was cute.
After the show (which was excellent as usual -- perfect timing) we debated going straight to Rock 'n Roller. I unfortunately had decided to leave the camera bag back at the room so didn't have anything to protect the camera. My thought was to look around and see if we could find any shirts or something that we wanted, then we'd wrap the camera in the shirt. Michael's idea was much, much more practical but he humored me and allowed me to look. In the end, we went with his original idea: just go get a locker and put everything in there until we're ready to leave
Even if we did only have the locker for about an hour and a half.With things safely stowed in the locker, we hiked back over to Rock 'n Roller where there was only a 15 minute wait. We walked right on to the preshow area with our fastpasses, then were ushered into the sound stage and from there into the waiting area for our limo. I don't care how much I love this ride, I *still* hate watching that launch
This time, we had a really cute couple in line behind us. I'm not sure where they were from, but they were an older pair and she had an English accent and they were both really sweet. We talked to them about the ride and let them know it wasn't as bad as it looked, warned them to keep their heads back during the launch and that once the launch was over it's great from there on, and so on. They seemed to appreciate it.
Then, when it was our turn to get in the loading stalls, we had the option to go straight on if we wanted the back car. We very much did NOT want the back car, so moved ahead to the queue for the front half of the limo. The couple behind us watched what we, veterans of the ride, chose and quickly opted to follow. So we all ended up in the same car.
What a RUSH! Man, I love that coaster! I tried to relax with the launch this time as I did last time, but wasn't as successful. Michael said the launch wasn't as bad for him as usual because of the effects of the Sudafed
In fact, he said this was the most relaxing ride and he could barely tell we'd gone upside down I sure could tell -- I just *love* those loops and the barrel roll.After the ride, we checked on the couple behind us. They looked a little dazed, but otherwise none the worse for wear. After assuring they were okay, we all went to the monitors to wait for our picture to come up. When it did, I decided I had to have it -- I'd been sorry we hadn't gotten the one with us and Becky back in November, and had been wanting a photo ever since so this was a must-have.
So while Michael explored the shop, I got in line with my photo number in hand. When I got up to the front, I had to leave and go get Michael -- this wasn't an easy decision. We could get the standard photo frame -- which was one of those so-so stiff-paper ones. Or we could get a really neat 3-d frame. Or we could get a Jewel Case where you open the case and the inside jacket is the photo and where the CD usually goes is a CD-shaped REALLY COOL 3-d coaster/limo effect. That's what I wanted, but at $31 or so I wanted to check with Michael first. Back I came with him and ended up walking straight to the same lady I'd left moments ago. One look at the CD option and Michael said get it, even without me mentioning that was the one I wanted.
Once we got off Rock 'n Roller, we decided to go check out the Animation tour. We had dinner PS at Citricos for later that evening, but we figured we'd have enough time. Barely, but enough time. So on we went where we joined in a group of about 10 people
I've never stood in so short a line for the tour, on a week-day no less! By the time we were let in 15 minutes later, though, the group had gotten almost large enough to fill the theaters.After watching that oh-so-cute Back to Neverland (or is it Return to Neverland? I never can remember...) we were led into the animator's scene. We got spots on the floor right next to those nifty windows, then watched as the female animator drew the main character from Atlantis for us, followed by Mickey and Minnie. As we were leaving the animation room, Michael commented that he's certain that first room is nothing more than a set. He remembers some elements that haven't changed at all in a year's time. I think he's right. But, once you get past that first room, you're into the *real* stuff
We were a little concerned that with it being after 4pm on a Friday we wouldn't see anybody. But, we actually saw more action this time than we did our last run through here, which was before Tarzan was released. This time we saw people working on scenes from Lilo and Stitch (I think that's it's name...). One guy was scanning the black and white cels into the computer, and he even looked up, smiled, and waved to us -- we as usual had hung back from the rest of the group so we could really get a good look.
In the storyboard room they had walls *full* of sketches from Atlantis. Man, that looks like it's going to be a great show! Our CM guide (Jenny, I think) mentioned to us that she'd been able to see the cast preview of the movie. I asked it if was any good, then realized there was no answer she could give but that it was great
But, she did honestly seem enthusiastic about the movie -- said it was like an animated cross between Indiana Jones and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. I'm really looking forward to its release. She's also the one who told us that what we were seeing people working on was Lilo and Stitch instead of Atlantis. That makes sense even though for some reason I was expecting Atlantis. I don't know if she'd told everyone that Lilo and Stitch was what was being worked on or just us -- we were so far behind the rest of the group that what she was saying before was muffled. As usual, we were some of the last two or three people who had to be ushered into the last movie room.We noticed there were some changes to the final classics scene since our last visit: the movie was updated to include brief scenes from Tarzan, which was nice. It was great to see some of those classic scenes on the big screen again, even if only for a moment. I wish there was a theater somewhere that still showed all the old classics on the big screen.
When we got out, we all but ran through the exit and store. It was now about 4:45, and we still had to get back to the Dolphin, change clothes and get our stuff, then get up to the Grand Floridian and find Citricos before our 5:30 PS. So we walked as fast as we could through the crowds back to the front where we emptied out our locker and turned in the locker key. I asked for a receipt just in case we wanted a locker in the Magic Kingdom during e-night. Then we rushed out to the corner above the boat dock. There we saw that a boat was approaching, but doing so slowly. We had more than enough time to slow back to a normal walk and catch our breath before boarding the boat, then had a nice leisurely ride back to the Swan and Dolphin. Finally, a visit to MGM where -- for me -- nothing went wrong.
This always happens when you're in a hurry, though: there was some hold-up with the boat in front of us at the Swan/Dolphin dock, and so we were put in a holding pattern (basically moving forward and backward very slowly in the water) in that small lake for about 5 minutes before we were finally able to pull up and get off.
Then it was another mad dash to the room. While we walked, we discussed options: we could find the busses and hope for a bus to get us to the Grand Floridian on time (like that would happen), we could take a cab which would require more waiting, or we could do the most logical option: drive. We opted for driving. So after we changed into some nicer park attire (Michael had to get out of his shorts mostly for Citricos -- we both went with black jeans and T-shirts) we grabbed our stuff for E-night then hurried to the car.
Michael just *knew* we'd be late this time anyway, but I kept telling him not to worry. He expected us to have a 15-20 minute drive to get to the Grand Floridian. But, when you're not having to stop at other bus stops for the hotel or other hotels, you can make good time. We were at the Magic Kingdom entrance within 3-5 minutes, where I told the CM that we had PS at the Grand Floridian. She waved us through and directed us to the proper road and told us which light to take. Then we drove up to the guard house at the Grand Floridian and told the guard there we had PS at Citricos. He told us where to find it, then asked if we wanted Valet parking. We said no, so he directed us to the self parking lot.
When we got there, we were a little confused as to what to do. There was a gate that was down, and you had to have a key-card (room key) to open it. So I pushed the "press for assistance button". That apparently buzzes the guard station, because as soon as I pressed it the gate opened. There was a camera, so I'm sure what it was was the guard could see who we were and that we were authorized to park there since we had dinner PS, so let us through. We found a spot right away, then hurried up to the main building and up the stairs.
Citricos was well marked and easy to find off in its back corner. As you come up that really neat wide staircase opposite the elevator, look across the way to your right. Citricos and Victoria and Albert's are both there and marked. So we hurried around and checked in pretty much on time (may have been 5 minutes late). There was no wait, and practically no one in the restaurant at all, so we needn't have hurried.
Our server Rich was very friendly and attentive, but again not overly so. I got a couple of pictures of the restaurant and the food as we ate our relaxing dinner. The view from our table (which was right on the window) was really nice -- we looked out over the pool and the buildings of the Grand Floridian. We had fun watching the great variety of people going past. There was everything from people in suits and fine outfits (likely heading for places like Victoria and Albert's), to the families in swimsuits heading for the pool, to the kids in princess costumes. I think we saw 4 Snow Whites, 2 Belles, and a couple of others that I don't recall. All were darling. Made me want a little girl I could dress up as a princess
The food ranged from excellent to pretty good. We started with a veal ravioli which was unlike any ravioli we'd ever had before. It was the best part of the meal, served with a delicious mushroom and truffle sauce. I could have made a meal out of that alone -- it wasn't that big, but it was that good. Then I had the signature Veal Shank for dinner while Michael had the pork. Both were good, but both were missing something. For me, the veal shank really needed more sauce of some sort -- it came with a little bit of a soy glaze, but more of that great mushroom sauce on the ravioli would have gone great with it. Michael pretty much liked his pork but thought it needed something not quite so spicy-strong (not really hot spicy, but very strong on the rosemary or thyme or sage or something like that) to compensate for the potatoes. We both thought the ravioli was better. But despite both meals missing a little touch, we thought what we had was very good and will definitely try this place again.
We both had a glass of wine with dinner: Michael had the Anapamu Pinot Noir -- the wine paired with his pork -- which he really liked. I'm not big on red wines (or any alcoholic beverage in general for that matter), but for some reason I really wanted to try some wine with dinner tonight. So I asked about the wine that was paired with mine. It was a Chateau Pesquite, which was a red sweet. I mentioned that I'm not really usually fond of reds, but Rich insisted this wasn't as tonic as the reds I'm used to. So he offered to let me try a taste. I took him up on it, and found that this was actually a very good red wine. It was sweet and smooth and the first time I think I can honestly say I liked the taste of a red. Unfortunately, I don't think any wine goes well with any food but cheese -- it gets too sharp for me when mixed with food unless it's cooked into the food. So I couldn't finish my glass after I got it.
After dinner, we had to try dessert even though neither of us was able to finish eating all of our meat (there was a LOT of meat on that veal shank! Very tender, but like I said needed more sauce). I had the chocolate ravioli with vanilla ice cream. It usually comes with licorice ice cream, but I'm not fond of licorice so when I asked for it without ice cream, Rich volunteered to substitute vanilla instead. Michael had a chocolate-chestnut tureen (sp?) with a dessert wine. I thought the chocolate ravioli was absolutely delicious, and Michael finished every bite of his tureen.
One thing I'd been concerned about before coming to Citricos was that we'd feel out of place in park attire. But once we got there and other guests started showing up, we didn't feel out of place at all. There were outfits there ranging from obvious park attire and kids and adults in shorts to Sunday finery, and all were treated equally. The place had a very nice atmosphere, but wasn't stuffy, and wasn't overly-loud at all. We'll definitely be back in the future.
After dinner (about 7:20 -- took us about an hour and 40 minutes at Citricos), we made our way out to the monorail to ride over to the Magic Kingdom for E-night. While we were waiting for the monorail, the couple next to us struck up a conversation: they had the exact same camera we had -- the Nikon CoolPix 990. Only they'd just gotten it and weren't entirely certain how to use it. So for the next few minutes until the monorail arrived and then the entire ride until we got off at the Magic Kingdom (they continued on), we were giving the lady tips on how to use the camera and where to get extra memory cards for it and that stuff.
(If by any chance you're the lady we talked to -- we figured out just after getting off what your problem was: you had the setting on film ratio, which will only get you about 20 pictures to a card. If you switch it to screen ratio (XGA or VGA) you'll get a lot more. That was the difference between our settings and why I could get 80-90 pictures but you could only get 20.)
Back to the trip report...By the time we got to the Magic Kingdom, we had about 20-25 minutes until the fireworks. We'd already missed tonight's performance of the Main Street Electrical Parade, so trying to move on Main Street was the usual post-parade nightmare. We stopped to exchange our e-tickets for bracelets first, then slipped into the crowd and began our swim upstream and around all those still crowding around to watch Fantasy in the Sky from Main Street.
As we were fighting our way up to the hub, we walked past a CM selling one of those twirling-light thingamabobbers you can spell words with. I briefly toyed with getting one and having it spell out "The DIS" and spinning that around during E-night, but I decided against it. That would be silly, and what were the chances of running into more DISers while in the park anyway?
So we continued up to the hub and took one look at the crowds. "Do you want to stand in this for the fireworks?" "No" "Let's try Fantasyland". So on we went, back to the Liberty Square entrance where we could cut around the side of the castle to Fantasyland. We decided to try the Pooh ride first just in case there wasn't a long wait. Ha ha. Right. We walked up, and there was a 25 minute wait posted, which we could easily see being the 25 minutes. With the fireworks in 15, we said it wasn't worth it so went over to the rocks next to the character meet and greet and perched on them for a few minutes.
Then I noticed that the tables along the water nearby were open, so I went up to the CMs to ask about the fireworks. Here was one of my most stupid moments, or rather phrasings, from my Disney trips. I knew this was a good place to watch them, as I had asked the CM at the Pooh ride where they would be going off. When I walked up this time, I asked if you'd be able to *hear* the fireworks here. The two ladies gave me a funny look and said "Oh, you'll hear them all right." I laughed and explained I meant the *music* that goes with them -- I *knew* you'd hear the explosions
. We had a brief discussion during which time one of the two CMs mentioned she thought you could faintly, but we might want to move a little closer to the castle as the music would be louder there. As the tables along the water were closer to the castle, this sounded like a good idea, so we commandeered a couple of chairs and pulled them up to the railing where we could get a good view of the fireworks going off almost straight overhead.Before the fireworks, I decided I was going to make SURE I could get that final firework that has been so elusive on past trips. So I switched memory cards. Little did I know, I'd failed to delete all the Disneyland pictures from that card from our previous trip in January
Fifteen pictures later (and still without a *good* picture of that final huge firework), I looked down and saw I had *80* pictures on that card. Guess what I spent the next several minutes doing while we were in lines for attractions? That's right... select, delete, yes. Select, delete, yes. Select.... I couldn't just clear out the entire card without losing the firework pictures I'd just gotten, so I had to delete the other 60-some-odd pictures one by one.Anyway, we did get to see Fantasy in the Sky from along the water's edge. From where we were sitting -- right next to the rocks right on the railing around the water of what used to be 20,000 leagues -- the fireworks went off overhead in the general direction of the King Triton fountain and Ariel meet and greet. They were too high up to get both in the picture, though. And you could hear the music just fine from that location -- better than either our Frontierland viewing place along the bridge, or our Tomorrowland viewing place right below the "line in the sky Peter Pan drew for Tinkerbell so she doesn't get lost". But the fireworks were missing something without being able to see the castle. The hub and Main Street still get my vote for the best places to watch Fantasy in the Sky.
After the fireworks, we checked out Pooh again *just in case*. Sure enough, they'd closed down the line and weren't letting anyone else in. Oh well, we still had several hours of fun ahead of us. Little did we know at the time just how *much* fun we'd have
With Fantasyland closed, we circled around to Tomorrowland. Michael wasn't up to Space Mountain tonight with his cold, so we decided to do Astroorbiter. This was the first time Michael was on this ride, and only my second time, so we had fun. And it was especially fun at night! Castle! Space Mountain! PLANET!!! Contemporary... Main Street... PLANET!!! Castle.... repeat. The planets are in caps because you'd be looking out at the distant scenery, then suddenly a planet would zoom up out of nowhere almost within touching distance. Okay, maybe it wasn't that close, but it felt that way
The only bad thing about the ride is that the cars are a little uncomfortable with two adults in them.After that, we paused at Alien Encounter briefly. I'm not what you could call fond of this attraction (in fact I'm vehemently against it because of it's placing which makes it too easy to be the first Disney attraction encountered even with kids, but that soapbox is for another time), and Michael hadn't ever been on it before. Up to this trip, he'd had no interest. But just before we left home, we'd had dinner with some friends. They were some of Michael's coworkers who were coming to the same conference that was our excuse to come out here and they wanted to know what Alien Encounter was all about. So I described it to them as I remembered it from my one ride two years ago. Michael said after I described it, it didn't sound as bad as he'd feared it would be so he was curious. However, I pointed out to him that he'd said Space Mountain was a no because of how it would get his heart rate up. Increased heart rate made him feel worse with his cold, so tonight wasn't the night to do Alien Encounter. Instead, we went across the way to Buzz.
Once again, we got stuck in this ride, but this is one I don't mind getting stuck in. This time, it was in the final room where you attack Zerg's escape ship. I was lucky enough to find a 10,000 point target that was easy to hit, so I just put the gun on that target and kept holding the button down. When we finished, Michael -- who hadn't found the 10,000 point target -- had about 115,000 points. I on the other hand had just over 714,000
One ride was enough for us for tonight, so we left Tomorrowland and went over to Liberty Square. We were two of the ten people in line for Haunted Mansion -- Michael actually counted since it was so non-crowded. In we went, where our CM host Edward snuck up on a lady in the group next to us. He kept following her until she turned around and, coming face-to-face with someone she didn't think was there, shrieked, to the amusement of her party and us.
We laughed as Edward left the room to go see if there was anyone else who needed to be ushered into the Stretching Room.That's where I overheard probably the best thing of the trip. One of the girls in the party asked the others if that CM might have been Safari Steve. My ears perked up at the name Safari Steve, so I turned around and asked them if the CMs name was Steve -- we didn't notice until he returned that his name was Edward. The shrieking lady said they didn't know, but Safari Steve was a friend of theirs on a Disney website. Before she could finish explaining the site, I asked "That wouldn't happen to be the DIS would it...?"
Our very first chance DIS encounter, and none of us with our green ribbons
The "shrieking lady" was Marsha, aka Mackey Mouse, who was there on a last-minute trip with her DH Tom, and her co-moderator CarolAnnK (Carol) and Carol's daughters Kristin and Jen. I introduced myself as Rajah and Michael as VonDrake. Marsha said she thought that might be me as she recognized me from the pictures we've posted, but she couldn't believe it was us since she could have sworn we'd just returned Yeah, that was us Marsha Edward returned to a bunch of giggling ladies and two "suffering" guys (very good about the excitement the ladies were showing). We asked him if he knew Steve, and Edward was able to keep up his deadpan expression for only a few more moments before he lost it as well. Nope, he didn't know Steve -- or wouldn't admit to it anyway
The remainder of the stretching room was a complete blur as we chattered excitedly all through that and up to the doom buggies. There we split up since, obviously, seven people can't fit into one doom buggy
The CMs were in fine form tonight, though, and I swear poor Marsha had a "jump at me" sign over her head! They got into the buggy right in front of ours, and at least two other CMs jumped out specifically at Marsha -- peeking around the corner, slapping the back of the doom buggy... all sorts of tricks, and *all* for some reason to Marsha!Michael and I chatted as we went through the Haunted Mansion. Running into some DIS members unexpectedly at E-night was surprising enough, let alone running into a whole group where we were almost the only ones in the stretching room (I feel sorry for those other 3 people who had to put up with us
), let *alone* the other DISers all being people we recognized and actually kinda knew from the boards! With almost 24000 people registered, it would have been VERY easy to run into DISers we didn't know.When we all got out of the Doom Buggies, we resumed our excited chatter. Outside the Haunted Mansion we paused to hunt down the ring. Michael and I had found that back either in November or December, but finding it again in the dark was another matter
Thankfully the exit queue was essentially empty. I thought I had a flashlight with me, but no matter how much I looked I couldn't find it. Turned out it was back in the room the whole time. What we ended up doing was finding it by feel (Michael has an excellent memory (sometimes) and remembered almost exactly where it was so found it rather quickly), then I took a flash picture of it to show them what it actually *looked* like. Don'tcha just love digital, where you can "waste" film like that and have a picture to show instantly? Then I told them what I remembered of the various stories of the Mansion and why the ring was there in the first place before we all headed as a group toward Splash Mountain. No one said anything about where we were going until I asked if anyone was up for a ride on Splash -- I really wanted to ride but Michael wasn't up to it for the same reason he wasn't up to Space Mountain. Marsha indicated that they were heading that way anyway, so off we went
Tom, Kristin, and I were all very quick to say we're going, but it took a little convincing to get Marsha to come along as well. Michael was a definite no tonight since he wasn't feeling well, and Jen and Carol both knew they did *not* want to do it. When I found out Marsha had done the ride before and didn't have any strong "I'M NEVER GOING ON THIS AGAIN!!!" feelings, I figured it'd be safe to convince her to go
So we left our stuff (except my poncho) with Michael, Carol, and Jen while the rest of us hurried on to Splash. There was almost no wait at all -- in fact, the three kids that were exiting the boat we were about to enter were told if they wanted to go again they could get in the back of our boat. They did so
This, I must say, was the most exciting time I've ever had on Splash. Why (besides the obvious being with new friends)? Well, I usually get teased by the CMs for wearing a poncho. My usual excuse was to cover the camera equipment, but this time I just didn't want to get wet. So the CM loading us called over to the CM operating the boat launch and told her to call someone else on the phone. We heard the grinning CM on the phone as we were going by, "boat 10, front row...get them extra wet!" And you know what -- I *did* get wetter on this ride than I ever have before
I'm still not sure if they were joking and the ride was just set to get you wetter in general since it was warm and this was the first time we've really ridden Splash in the front while it was warm, or if they were serious and they *do* have someone controlling extra splashes One reason we got wetter, though, was we stopped right in the splash zone on one side of that first big drop -- so when a boat went down next to us, we all got soaked (even with the poncho -- well, no, *soaked* with the poncho is what happened to me on Sunday, but more on that later).Beyond that, it was still fun. Poor Marsha was quite nervous, especially as we came around the first bend where you can watch the other logs going down the final drop. I kept turning around and all but ordering her to look at ME, talk to ME, Don't watch that final drop! That always gets *me* nervous and I love the ride!
Then Kristin and I talked Marsha through the rest of the ride, giving her advance warning when we were about to go over the smaller drops. We repeatedly assured Marsha we'd let her know when we were coming up on the big one.Just before we came up on the big drop, I watched for then pointed out the cute little FSU gopher. I'll have to try to get a picture of it next trip
It popped out right over our boat so they could even hear it. The story behind that gopher is that one of the engineers constructing the ride (or it may have been an imagineer designing it) was an alumni of Florida State University -- FSU. So in tribute to his Alma Matter (sp?), he had the little gopher say FSU when the ride was built. Don't know how true the story is, but the gopher does very clearly say FSU and it makes sense.In the end, Marsha survived the final drop and said she thought the earlier drops in the ride were actually worse because you kept expecting it to be the final one. Once you hit the final one, it's nothing
As I keep saying: it's not as bad as it looks We got out of our wet boats and paused to see the picture. When I saw it, I knew I had to have it -- a nice record of our first chance DIS encounter. My plan was to find Michael and get my money from him, then come back and get it. But sweet Marsha said that if I could post it, they'd pay for it. I can post it
That's what I intended to do in the first place, so Marsha and Tom picked up the tab on that. Thanks Marsha and Tom!!! Our next stop was Thunder Mountain. This time, Marsha and Carol sat out. Marsha was iffy on whether she wanted to do Splash, but she KNEW she didn't want to do Thunder, so we didn't push it. Jen and Michael joined us, though, and this time we left the stuff with Marsha and Carol.
When we got to the loading zone, we found they were only seating people to the right. So we headed back to the very back car where we only had something like a one-train wait. Jen and Kristin got the very very back, Tom sat in the middle seat of the car, and Michael and I took the front seat of the car. Around and around we went, this time me sharing the goat tricks with them. What's the goat trick? When you go up the lift -- I *think* it's the second one -- watch for the goat on the hilltop. Whether it's the second or third, there's definitely a goat there and you can't miss it. If you're in the back part of the train (really only works for the back couple of cars), glue your eyes to that goat. Don't let it get out of your sight as you go around the curve until you can't see it any more period. It'll make that curve MUCH wilder if it works for you. For some reason, it doesn't work for all people. Then, the second one -- when you circle around, you'll see that the goat comes into view again. At this point, you'll be going straight for a brief period, and it's just before the train "drops out from under you" and you pass through the short tunnel to the outside of the ride. When you see the goat again, keep watching it -- the drop comes as more of a surprise if you don't see the cars in front of you going down
When the ride was over, our train pulled in to the *left* station this time. There was no one in line, and the CM said over the loudspeaker "Anyone who wants to go again can. If you want to get out, raise your hand and I'll let you off." She paused for a moment, but no one wanted off, so out we went again for a second cycle through
During that pause, I explained the goat trick again where I wasn't having to shout over the clackity-clack of the lifts. Jen had missed the effect, so I told them I'd point to it when we got there. Made an even wilder turn when I was pointing to the goat When the train pulled into the station this time, it was everybody off. So off we went to find Marsha and Carol. We had to hunt for them since they weren't standing where we'd expected, but we found them on a bench not far away. We explained that we'd gone a second time, and they said they kinda expected that when we hadn't come off
After that, it was time to part ways. I quickly noted down everyone's name for the trip report and Splash photo, but I forgot to get a group picture
I thought about it both when we were on Splash and on Thunder, but that doesn't do much good when you're on the ride and your camera is with those sitting out the ride and by the time you get off you've forgotten We had a great time with Mackay Mouse and CarolAnnK and families. I hope we can do it again sometime Once we parted, Michael and I returned to Thunder for one more ride. This time, we got stuck on the lift in the earthquake cavern
We weren't there very long, just enough for me to take the camera out of its bag but not enough time for me to take a picture before things started back up again. This time, we went back into the same station we left from and there were people in line, so we didn't have another no-wait go around this time.By now (about 10:15 pm, with E-night until 11), Michael was ready to head back, so we went back to the hub where Michael, as usual, humored me. I wanted to see the characters briefly. We saw Mickey, Goofy, and the Chipmunks from a distance, but they all had lines and I didn't want to wait in line for them. But across the way was Pluto, no one in line, dancing around like a puppy. He even got on the ground and rolled over and over several times as though doing tricks until people noticed him and came up to join him. We stood and watched him with the other guests for a moment or two before heading back down Main Street.
We stopped in the Emporium briefly, but didn't see anything we really wanted to buy for once. So out we went, where I got caught by the neat animated scenes in the windows. This time, the theme was Disney Princesses, and again Michael humored me (poor guy, I know he wanted to go back and lie down) and let me get pictures of the windows
There was Snow White, Cinderella, Ariel, Jasmine, Belle and Pocahontas. We found it surprising that there was no window for Aurora (Sleeping Beauty).Then on the way out, we saw some people doing surveys. I don't know why, but I REALLY wanted to do a survey. So we found excuses to hang around (Michael muttering the whole time about how I was completely messing up the idea of "random sampling") until we got a chance to do one
It was just basic questions like if you'd been to E-night before, how many individual rides did you do, did you buy any food or drink, and so on. The best one was what would you like to see different about E-night, to which I answered some Fantasyland attractions in addition would be nice. He said a lot of people were saying the same thing, so hopefully sometime in the future we'll see Fantasyland attractions added to the lineup. Though hopefully without taking another land out of the picture -- I wouldn't want to lose Splash, Thunder, or Haunted Mansion in favor of some Fantasyland attractions Finally, though, we got out to the monorail where we circled around past all the resorts until we got to the Grand Floridian. It was a bit of a hike out to the car, but we were happy. Then, when coming out of the parking lot, I made the mistake of turning left. I forgot the busses turned left when coming out of the parking lot opposite, which meant I needed to take a *right*
. Michael remembered, but in typical Michael fashion said nothing until we were driving past an "authorized vehicles only" sign with no way to turn around So we got a brief tour of some back roads... which looked like... well... roads. Roads that weren't as well lit as the main guest-area roads. I turned around the first chance I got, and I think *that* was when Michael very helpfully told me I should have turned right From there, though, it was an easy drive back to the Swan and Dolphin. I'd always been concerned about getting lost on Disney property -- that was one reason I'd never wanted to rent a car before. But for me, it was easy navigating the roads. Other than that one wrong turn from the Grand Floridian, we had no incidents of getting lost and I really liked the car
By the time we got back to the Dolphin -- only about a 10 minute drive -- the wind had shifted, and in came such a strong smell of smoke that just the walk from the parking lot to the door almost set off my asthma. Thank goodness the entire trip wasn't that way -- it really set off my asthma in that short time and poor Michael's cold (which at the time I thought was just strong allergies since to him "not feeling well" covers the spectrum from allergies to strep throat and he was only taking allergy medicine instead of cold medicine <IMG WIDTH="15" HEIGHT="15" SRC="/infopop/emoticons/icon_razz.gif" alt="razz"> ). If the smoke from the I-4 fires had been that strong the entire trip, I'm afraid we would have seen very little beyond the doors of the Dolphin. This was also the only night I could smell the smoke in our room, but by morning it had mostly cleared away.
When we got into the lobby, Michael yet *again* humored me (isn't he wonderful?) and followed me around as I took pictures of the deserted lobby and entryway. I tried to get him to go up to the room, but he wouldn't leave my side except to go sit down at the first place he found close to where I was taking pictures at the time.
When we finally got back up to the room, it was almost midnight and the message light on our phone was flashing. When I checked the messages, I found it was from the ticket provider about my Universal ticket. He said he got a message from Dreams Unlimited (was it only at noon this morning that the Concierge desk emailed them for me????) that I hadn't gotten my ticket. He said he'd left a message for me to pick up when I checked in, but I never got said message. I was supposed to call them, and since I hadn't called, they hadn't delivered (I had *no* phone number and no message -- apparently wires got crossed entirely from the very beginning on this TicketRES deal). So he said he'd call tomorrow morning between 7 and 8 am and we'd be the first dropoff of the morning. Michael and I both grumbled about the time, but decided at least I'd get my ticket.
So from there we both got ready for bed. One word of warning, though -- if you're staying at the Dolphin and try using the shower... double-check that the shower curtain is INSIDE the tub. I usually do, but forgot to do so this time and when I stepped out, it was into standing water that covered the towel-mat! I was able to get it almost all soaked back up, but that left only one towel for Michael.
Then I worked on the trip report while he got ready for bed, and from there it was just a struggle to fall asleep with the smell of smoke. The air filters weren't enough to filter out the smell, and I could tell I'd be waking up with allergy and/or asthma problems if this kept up all night.
On to Day 3
-Rajah
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