Tab and Greg's "Awesome" Trip, Day Two

[Tabetha]

Cast:
Tabetha: Disney fan who came to the "World" late in life, and am now making up for it! This is my second trip on property, last year we stayed at Pop Century with my sister.
Greg: Disney fan that has been to the "World" pretty much every year for the last 15 years. Has seen it all, and is starting to see a little tarnish on the magic. Has been his lifelong dream to stay at the Polynesian.

We've been dating for over a year now, and this is our first "alone trip"!

02/14/05 Day Two: Valentine’s Day! Ah-smooches for all!

Whyyyyy can’t I sleep? Greg’s fast asleep, Stitch isn’t due to call for another hour, and I’m staring at the ceiling. I want to get up and shower, but I don’t want to wake Greg. Finally, I give in. I have a wonderful shower, once I adjust to the smell of the Florida water, (only briefly taking time out to curse myself for forgetting my philosophy face wash at home) and get dressed. Greg stirs. He is not EMG, just sleepy. I tell him that he’s still got time to sleep, and he konks out again. I sneak out.

My idea is that it might be nice to bring up a press pot of Kona coffee, to help shake out the cobwebs when Stitch finally does call. Besides, I’m looking forward to trying it. I don’t see the press pot on the menu at the coffee counter, and ask at Kona. I’m shot down almost before I even finish my question. They don’t allow Kona Press Pots to take out. Pooh. Well, Kona blend it is. I order two from the counter, stop and buy the largest bottle of water I can find, and walk back to the room. The grounds here are beautiful, and I enjoy the walk every time I take it. As I pass by a thick bamboo thatch, I stop for a moment and listen to it creak and click in the wind. I bet that’s really creepy in the dead of night, in the middle of nowhere! Greg had mentioned reading that this was one of the reasons ninjas had been so successful. Hard to tell if that noise is just the wind in the bamboo, or a hired killer! I’ll take his word for it. He’s read the “Art of War”, I haven’t. Maybe I should. If we ever get into a major fight, I’m screwed, I bet!

Just as I walk into the room, Stitch finally calls, and Greg sits up. “So, what are we doing today?” Greg knows I’ve made a few specific plans for each day, which he encouraged. All he has to do is wake up and ask what we’re doing, and off we go! This morning, we’re taking our breakfast vouchers to 1900 Park Faire. Hooray! Greg gets ready, and I watch Krissa’s top seven. It’s my “Hold Music” while waiting for Greg this trip. I step out onto the balcony and watch the birds while Greg arranges champagne and strawberry turndown service for later that night.

We hop the monorail, and whisk over to the Grand Floridian. A mom and her daughter get off the same time we do, the daughter is dressed as Alice. Her mom is asking her to slow down.
“Slow down, Alice. Wait for mom.”
Oh, that gets me right there. How sweet. I remember “pretending”, and only responding to the name of the character I was imagining myself to be. I went through a whole “Emergency!” kick when I was 4. My mom had to call me “John Gage” before I’d come to lunch. Even as a kid I recognised there are few good roles for women!
Greg points out that maybe her name really is Alice.
Back to breakfast. I booked our PS for 10AM, knowing we’d be exhausted from the long day before. We get to the podium at 10:15. Not so much with the “promptness”. The woman who checks us in is super sweet. She welcomes us with a “Happy Valentine’s Day”, and asks if we’ve been there before. I tell her no, I’m excited about the strawberry soup. Greg’s eyes bug out.
“What? What is strawberry soup?”
The nice lady tells him to ask me; I know what’s up! Score another one for DISboards! We’re given a beepybuzzy, and are told to come back when it talks to us. I think that’s a cute way of saying, “when it starts beeping and buzzing”.

We had realized on the way over that we’d left the digital camera in the room. I try to say it’s ok, but Greg is insistent. If I want photos with characters, he’s going to make sure I get photos with characters. We buy a funsaver, and just as we finish getting our change, the beepybuzzy starts beeping, shaking, and TALKING! When did that start happening? It freaked me the heck out. I couldn’t wait to get it back to the podium and out of my hands. Creepy Beepybuzzy. The nice podium lady sends us off with an “Enjoy!” and an exaggerated kissing noise. Sweet.

We see Mary Poppins and Eeyore (my favourite) in the lobby. There are lots of kids around, and I’m hungry, so I figure we’ll catch them on the way out. When I’m hungry I sometimes turn into “Mean Hungry Tab” (MHT). It’s time to eat. MHT and EMG are the worst combination you can imagine. Don’t ever go out with us when we’re tired and hungry.
I don’t notice that the buffet is different on both sides of the carving station (tunnel vision when it comes to food, I tells ya) and I get an omelette (veggies and a touch of cheese) mini-Mickey waffles & blintzes. Later when I went to get another Mickey waffle, I noticed the fresh fruit area. Pooh again. I love to load up on fruit in the morning, and now I’m full. I get a few pieces anyway, and the last squeekings of the strawberry soup, and chalk it up to a learning experience. I notice kids loading up on ice cream. I feel for those parents.
As we sit down with our food, we hear the family at the next table complaining very loudly. They’d been there for an hour and a half, and had only seen three characters! Um. Ok. They complain to the waitress and some characters start making their way in our direction. They each stop to see me first. I get some major glares. Sorry gang, I was just sitting here quietly, not reaming out an innocent waitress…
We visit with Tigger, Pooh, The Mad Hatter and Alice, and feel quite lucky. We’re out in less than an hour.
I think the strawberry soup is ok, a little sweet and thick for my breakfast palate. Greg’s verdict on the strawberry soup?
“We make something exactly like this at home.”
Awesome.

We decide to spend the morning at MGM, and catch the bus over. We immediately Fast Pass RockNRoller Coaster, and wander over to do Star Tours in the meantime. I’m too big of a chicken to do Tower of Terror – I’ve done it before and hated it, so Greg let it go. He got me to go on RNR last year, which was a huge step for me. Now I love it.
Pretty much everything other than TOT and RNR are walk-ons. We do Who Wants to be a Millionaire – Play it!, and are both in the top ten for most of the show. At one point, I’m number two! I’m so smart!
After riding RNR a few times (once in the second row of the front car, once in the front row, and once in the very back row – wheeeee!) we decided that we’re “done” with MGM. I kind of want to see shows, but none are starting, and we’re ready to move on.
Off to Epcot!

Again, walk-ons. Test Track is closed, but we get on Mission Space without a fight. We both love that ride. We’re nerds.

At some point, we decide it’s time to head to Old Key West for dinner. We’re having a special Valentine’s Day meal at Olivia’s Café. We’re both impressed at Old Key West, it looks lovely. These Vacation Clubbers sure are savvy! The meal is excellent; it’s a prixe fixe which includes entrée, champagne and dessert. Greg started with a gumbo, I think. The entrée is rock lobster tail and steak (I gave my weensy steak to Greg) and vegetables – The dessert is chocolate strawberry shortcake with ice cream and whipped cream, and chocolate drizzled on top. We were tempted to give one back to the waitresses, but after two bites of mine, I was ready to fight for it. In the end, I only made it halfway through, but it was worth the effort! We used our Wishes for the meal. I was entitled to an appetizer under the wishes, but I figured that since alcoholic drinks aren’t included, and I got a glass of champagne out of the deal, I wasn’t going to worry about it! Deeee-lish!

We head to the gift shop to browse. I’m a chronic browser. On my way back from the ladies room, I see Greg at the cashier’s counter buying something suspiciously Eeyore-in-a-heart shaped. I turn around and find something less “spoil-sporty” to look at.

We go back to the room to drop off Greg’s “Mysterious Package”. When we get there, we see that my other surprise has arrived. I’d ordered a Mickey’s Hole in One basket from Disney Florist. He’s amazed. He loves it. It’s a lot bigger than I expected! I’m a little surprised that the golf club cover is Goofy instead of Mickey, but Greg says he already has the Mickey golf club cover, so obviously everything happens for a reason. Greg tears into the basket looking at all the goodies, I’m almost as excited as he is. He just keeps saying “this is so awesome, babe”. I’m thrilled. Perfect.

I take a rest, and Greg disappears for a while. While he’s gone, the champagne and strawberries arrive. They’re beautifully done. I almost don’t want to eat them. Almost. Well, I’m still too full from the massive dessert at Olivia’s so for now I sniff, and wait. I’m a big food smeller. I can’t help it. For some reason, I love the smell of cooked meat. Can’t eat it, but love the way it smells. So there has been many a time when I’d stare at my dinner companion’s BBQ ribs, and ask if I can “just smell them”. Eventually, the people I eat with have caught on, and stopped offering me a bite when I do that. I really just want to smell it!

Another knock at the door, and there is Greg with a rose, and a Mickey shaped Rice Krispie square – I’d been picking them up every where we’d gone so far. They’re so cute!
He’d tried to get down to the lobby where they’d been selling flower arrangements, but it was all closed up. He was in a panic, and asked at Guest Services, and was helped by a wonderful CM. She asked what he was looking for, and he said all he needed was one rose. She went in the back, and came out with a rose, and gave it to him. Pixie dust.

He gives me the mysterious box, and sure enough there’s Eeyore, all snuggled down in a plush heart. He’s holding flowers and says “Happy Valentine’s Day 2005, Disneyworld”. So cute. I’m so excited to have him. I just hug it and thank Greg over and over.
“Take him out of the heart – I want to see what he looks like.”
“Why? He’s so cute in there! He’s got his little boxers on…”
“Yeah, but take him out – I wanna see!”
“What? Um, ok…”
I look inside, and there’s another heart shaped box stuffed in there! What is this? I open it, and discover a beautiful, delicate white gold bracelet and a pair of earrings. I almost cry. I’m not a big “bling” girl, but I love these. They’re “me”. Greg rocks. I get him to help me with the bracelet, and we dash out the door to the monorail.
We’re on our way to see SpectroMagic and Wishes. We have a “preferred seating viewing area” coupon as part of the old Dream Maker package that we had booked, and are looking forward to using it. When the monorail arrives, we manage to sit up front, with the driver and a couple of cute kids. Greg asks them if they’re going to watch the fireworks, and suddenly we’re caught up in a very excited conversation. They’re having a great time, and it’s so great to see their enthusiasm. They think the Magic Kingdom is the best part. I tell them they’re right.

When we get to the MK, we realize that we’d waited a little too long to get a good seat for Spectro, so we head to the reserved area for the fireworks viewing, and hope to see the floats as they cross the bridge. I love SpectroMagic, partially because we’d come across it last year by accident (I’d never heard of it) and was totally enthralled. Bright and shiny! We find it odd that no one is manning the “reserved” area, and it fills up quickly. I figure that since they’re no longer offering the preferred viewing vouchers, they must not really care about enforcing them. We see Spectro through the head and hands of a guy who keeps standing up to take photos by putting his camera waaaay up over his head. At one point Greg says rather loudly, “You’re killing me!”, and the guy stops. For a while. Not the best viewing of Spectro, but I know I’ll see it again.
When the fireworks begin, we realize why they might have discontinued the “preferred viewing” vouchers. From where were sitting, the fireworks were all taking place behind the two trees that frame the castle. Crap! Halfway through, we move closer to Main Street, and end up watching through tree with fewer leaves. Not the best night for Spectro and Wishes, but we’re together, and we see enough to get choked up.

We let the throngs leave ahead of us, and have a seat while things thin out a bit. We head back to the Poly to enjoy our delicious chocolate covered strawberries, and champagne. I fill out the room service menu for the next morning, and we fall asleep before our heads hit our pillows. Disney may be romantic, but it sure tires you out!

Day Zero: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=746706
Day One, Part One http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=747729
Day One, Part Two http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=748633

 

[mzzzh]

Tabetha.....I love your trip reports...they're okey dokey! More please soon!

 

[Ozymoe]

Tabetha,

Teared up reading your reports. keep on being considerate of each other's moods...you've got the makings of a great permanent relationship!

 

[Ron from Michigan]

Love your reports, but WHERE IS DAY 3. Hurry wev'e waited long enough.

 

[Tabetha]

Thanks everyone! I'm having fun writing them - a nice way to extend the trip! I'm thrilled that people are enjoying them.

And a big thanks Ozymoe - I feel so lucky to have a guy like Greg, and I know he feels the same way. Its easy to be considerate when it's not a one way street, you know?