Taking the World by Storm, July 2-11, Days 6 and 7

[missy28]

July 2 through July 11th, Marriott Horizons Resort

Cast of Characters:

Me (Melissa): 30, prosecuting attorney by trade, Disney Nut by hobby, acting as Tour Guide for the second time to my friend’s family who are:

Chris: 37, also a prosecuting attorney by trade, and slowly progressing into a Disney nut, husband to Tracy, and dad to Madison and Logan
Tracy: 34, teacher by trade, mom by design, my fellow poolside tropical drink drinker, and planner-ahead extraordinaire
Logan, aka Lo: newly 8, lover of Legos and fake weapons of all sorts, makes great sound effects
Madison, aka Mo: 5, a budding princess if there ever was one, lover of puppies and Kim Possible, and the Cheetah Girls.

Day 6, July 7: Logan and the Princess

Another lazy day down by the pool. The kids are having a great time, meeting new people to play with and turning into little prunes. Chris made a pitcher of Sangria for Tracy and I, and was ever the wonderful cabana boy, shuttling our tall glasses back and forth to the room for refills. Why can’t I find a guy like that?

We had hoped to utilize another Kids Night Out tonight, and go eat at Boma, but we had standing PS at Ohana’s. So, before we confirmed there was room for the kiddos at the resort, we cancelled our PS at Ohana’s and made one for Boma. Well, then Tracy calls and discovers that there is no room for the little pirates, so we scramble to figure out what to do. We figured we could just add 2 to the Boma reservation, but somehow that didn’t work. Then Chris decided the people at WDW-DINE would think he was crazy if he kept calling, so I made a PS at Ohana in my name, and we changed the Boma reservation from Wednesday to Friday. Sheesh. That was a lot of work for my brain to do on vacation. SOOOO, with all of our gastric plans settled, we readied ourselves for dinner. Madison decided she wanted to be Snow White this evening, and we all oooed and aaaahhhed appropriately. Again, it was raining by the time we reached the Polynesian. Chris, ever being the gentleman, dropped us off at the lobby, and went to park. Logan helped his sister out of the van and picked up the edge of her dress and carried it so it wouldn’t get wet from the rain. Now, I don’t EVER remember my big brother doing anything of the sort for me. In fact, he would have been more likely to push me down in the puddle in my princess dress rather than carry the edge for me. They were the cutest little pair. We checked in at the podium, I bought a round of drinks, and soon we found ourselves at a prime table overlooking the lagoon and the Castle. Our waiter was extremely attentive, and great with the kids, and the food was delicious. The kids participated in the coconut race and the hoola hoop contest. Everything was great, including the shrimp, which Tracy is allergic to, although she swore 2 or 3 wouldn’t hurt her. Famous last words. No, we didn’t have any problems with anaphylactic shock, thank goodness, but she wasn’t right in the tummy the next day. After dinner, Logan escorted the princess back to her chariot, i.e., minivan, helped her inside, and we sang Disney tunes all the way back to Horizons.

Day 7, July 8: Bootylicious people and the Line Cutters Convention

We arrived at the gates of Animal Kingdom around 8:30, and made it to Discovery Island in time to see the Characters on Safari drive up. We hoisted the kids up on the railing so they could see, and then we were off to Africa for the Safari. Almost immediately, we were on a truck headed for the Savanna. Madison didn’t remember this ride from 2 years ago either, and was taking it all in. For the last 2 times I have ridden this, there have been no giraffes out. Both times have been in the morning, and it makes me wonder if they are hiding, or just not out in the Savanna at all. We saw the baby hippo, but not the baby elephant, and our driver did a pretty good job of involving us in the saga of saving Little Red from poachers. After a successful save, we ventured into the Pangani Trail because I had promised to show them Naked Mole Rats. Remember, these kids (and I think their dad, too, secretly) LOVE LOVE LOVE Kim Possible, including Rufus, the naked mole rat. So, I was happy to oblige them in their quest for the rats. They sat and watched them for a while, and I waited in the aviary just outside. Too many reptiles in one place gives me the willies.

After Africa, we caught Lilo and Stitch, got their autograph, and then made our way into It’s Tough to be a Bug. Somehow or another, we missed this one 2 years ago, so none of them knew anything about it. I knew that the spiders, stinger, and crawling bugs would send Madison back into her Tower of Terror coma, so I suggested we sit in front (where you can’t see the spiders) and that she sit in Dad’s lap. She was still a little shaken, but came through relatively unscathed. I sent them on to Tarzan Rocks while I got Primeval Whirl fastpasses, and met up with them in the theater. I like this show for one main reason—Tarzan. He is beautiful, although I could do without the wig. After the show, on the walkway back to Dinoland USA, we spot this kid, early teens, with “Bootylicious” written across the backside of her very short shorts. I know this is popular and the ‘in’ thing, but short shorts are usually made for people who can pull it off. Please don’t pour your child into clothes that don’t fit. Chris made the excellent observation, “If you are gonna have something written on your backside, shouldn’t it be true?” (Not that we are walking around thinking teenagers backsides are ‘bootylicious’ mind you, but you see the point I’m getting at.) We headed to Primeval Whirl, thinking this would be no problem for Mo because she could see the entire ride. She kept saying something about Dinosaurs jumping out. So, we thought we would just do a ride swap. Turns out, she thought this was Dinosaur, which she apparently remembered from 2 years ago! A very nice, gentle castmember asked her what scared her about the ride, and she said things jumping out. Once Mo was assured nothing was going to jump out, she stood up without a word, grabbed her mom’s hand and pulled her toward the ride. I thought, c’mon, let’s get this kid in a seat before she loses her nerve!! So, Tracy told her she could yell her head off on all Disney rides, and she did, and loved it.

By now it was H-O-T, and a perfect time to hit Kali River Rapids. The stand-by wait was about 35 minutes, and while I normally don’t do more than a 20 minute wait for anything (I have this theory, see, but I won’t go into here…), we had almost finished with everything we wanted to do at AK, so what would it hurt. This is also my favorite queue—the decorations are fabulous. Tracy and Chris entertained the kids by playing I Spy, which was perfect for such a visually stimulating queue. We ended up in a raft with one other family, with 2 little boys. I sat alone, with the warning that people who usually sit with me get wet. I have gotten drenched every single time I’ve ridden this ride, from the first time I rode it in previews on out. Well, the tiki gods must have been smiling on me that day, because I only got a little splashed, and the rest of my clan got wet wet wet. So, now it was time for Dinosaur. Madison had made her declaration, and nothing was getting her on this one, not even an extra snack. I agree with her on this one. I hate this ride, every time I ride it, I feel like I lose a couple minutes of my life. I’m sorry, I just don’t think being chased and harassed by dinosaurs in the cover of darkness is fun. And Madison had decided she wanted a Happy meal for lunch, and Logan wanted pizza, so I had the brilliant idea of letting Madison eat while they rode, and then we could head to Pizzafari to eat. So, Mo and I waited, and she ate her chicken nuggets and fries, and I had a beer. Then the rest of us ate at Pizzafari, and headed out of the park.

We made it to the Magic Kingdom just in time to hit the wall of people coming out from the parade. I felt like a trout swimming upstream. The goal here was to get everything done we missed the day of the tour. We started in Adventureland, with the Magic Carpets. I didn’t ride this, so I don’t know exactly what happened, but this is my understanding: the carpet they were in wasn’t working. The kids were in the front, Chris and Tracy in the back. It wouldn’t go up or down or do the the little wavy motion. After the ride was over, Tracy, who can be very forceful when necessary, mentioned it to Kelli, the college program castmember working the ride. Kelli had a smirk on her face like she thought it was funny that these parents were upset because their kids carpet didn’t work. So, her solution was to wait and observe the next cycle and IF the same carpet still didn’t work, she’d let them have another ride. Well, I missed what happened after the next ride cycle, but Kelli didn’t let them ride, and the kids were upset and Chris and Tracy were even more upset. Tracy did feel vindicated later, though, when we walked back by, and Kelli was sweeping up trash instead of running the carpets.

We saw the Tiki Birds and rode Jungle Cruise, both of which we missed on our previous trip. We had a great skipper, Natalie, on the Jungle Cruise, but it seemed like we were the only ones laughing. I decided that really must be a thankless job, especially if you get a bunch of foreign tourists who don’t speak English well enough to get the jokes. But, Natalie, We salute you!

Frontierland was next on the list, with the original plan being to get a fastpass for Splash, ride Big Thunder and then go back to Splash. No dice. The stand-by line for Splash was 90 minutes, and fastpass distribution was for 8:50 to 9:50. I got those Fastpasses, and we waited in the Big Thunder line. This is the beginning of the line cutting problem. We hadn’t been in line for more than 10 minutes when this kid, a scruffy kid of about 13, comes sauntering up the fastpass line, with a guilty look on his face. He makes eye contact with both me and Tracy, we immediately look at each other, and know something is up. I said, “I bet he doesn’t have a fastpass.” She says, “He’ll probably get all the way up there and then jump in line saying he’s looking for someone.” So a few more minutes go by, and we see the same kid, coming the wrong way down the fastpass line—he’d gotten busted!! Oh, we felt vindicated. So, I made the joke of, “first you abuse the fastpass system, next thing you know, you’re knocking off liquor stores, and going to the pokey.” It could happen.

So from here, we decide to cool off in the Hall of Presidents. I was hoping the kids would take a snooze, but no luck and soon we’re on our way to Tomorrowland on our mission to help Buzz save the Universe from the Evil Emperor Zurg. I had told them some pointers for high scores, and in doing so, both Logan and Chris kicked my rear end in points!! But it was fun as always. We watched Carousel of Progress, which the kids said they really liked (I guess I was kinda shocked at that, but I’m sooo glad!!). Space Mountain was at a 70 minute wait with no fastpasses left, so we decided it was a great time to eat some dinner at Cosmic Rays. After dinner, Toontown was on the agenda.

We stood in line for the Barnstormer, and met a nice little family from Montana who had a little girl about Madison’s age. This kept both girls occupied in the 25 minute wait. (Ugh.) So, this woman and her 2 kids kids do the whole “excuse me, I need to get by” thing, and they say they have to go the bathroom. We’re thinking that they are going to bypass the ride and leave the line to use the restroom. NO—they break the line, and get on the ride. Apparently they didn’t have to go that bad. This set the tone for our tolerance level for the rest of the evening.

We got in line to see Cinderella and her mice at the Hall of Fame, and the line was deceiving. There are 3 identical lines here, and each one leads into a different room with different characters. If you want to see more than one, you are supposed to line up in each line. This is where the problem started. People don’t seem to understand the concept of fairness and rules. Chris, his family, and I, are by nature (and Chris and I by profession) rule followers, and believe the rules are there for a reason. People were splitting up there parties into each line, and then whenever a person would get to the front of the line, the others would leave there place in line, and join the other, thus making the line longer for everyone. There was one guy who just kept butting his way to the front of each line, even after the castmember ‘warned’ him. (That guy shouldn’t have been picked up by the scruff of his neck and pitched over the fence in my opinion, but I may be a little harsh.) This woman kept trying to get ahead of us saying she had to get with her husband, brother, somebody, and we ended up just flat out refusing to let her through. I felt like if we could wait patiently, so could everybody else. I have never experienced such disregard at Disney before. (Although it didn’t end here… more on that later.) We finally made it to see Cinderella, and Madison got her autograph and picture taken. By the time we were finished, it was pouring outside, and we finally had a use for the ponchos we’d been carrying around all week. It was almost time for Spectromagic, and with the rain, I figured we could at least get a good spot to wait and see if they’d be able to run the parade. We found a spot on the left side of the hub, looking toward liberty square, sitting right on the concrete wall/fence that separates the grass from the walkways. We waited and waited, and they made the inclement weather announcement, and I started to worry if we’d make Splash at all. So, as the parade finally started, people began to congregate behind us, on the elevated grassy area, BEHIND the fence. Ok, people, they put a fence there for a reason. The poor castmember was doing everything he could to get these people to move. They move, and then 5 minutes later they’d be back. The best was when he’d tell them to move and they’d try to climb over ME to get down. No way, buddy. I think our patience had just evaporated by that point. The kids enjoyed the parade, and we booked it to Splash and caught it just as they were closing up. We had a great ride, and bought the picture at the end. We missed Wishes, but saw some of it from our log.

As we made our way out, the crowds were HUGE, and I knew it would take us forever to get out. Tracy put Madison on her back, and she quickly fell asleep. Chris took over and carried her all the way to the car. As we were waiting for the ferry boat, Tracy asked if I could see the ferry. Me, being a little slap happy by this point, pointed to the nearest Tinkerbell balloon and said, “There you go.” She didn’t find me funny. We made it home, and to bed, dreaming of our last quiet resort day.

 

[Minniespal]

Great trip report ~ Thanx for sharing.