DebIreland
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Part 25: Our World Showcase evening!
(Still) Day 9: 1st November, 2006
So we're off to World Showcase on this lovely evening and can hardly contain our excitement - we're gonna visit more countries and see my very favourite 'attraction' in all of Disney World - ILLUMINATIONS!!!! It's dark, the heat has gone down a bit, and World Showcase looks beautiful.
Okay, let's move it, where to first?; will we run through each country?, gotta see them, gotta see them, we already saw the UK but must investigate it further and then move on, hurry, hurry, hurr........ hang on, we're starving, might as well stop right here at Harry Ramsdens - basically a stone's throw from the entrance.
Hey, we gotta get the practical stuff like hunger out of the way, right?
So DH stayed to wait for the order and I took the kids across the road to those lovely tables and chairs behind the little Tea Shop. What a gorgeous area this is to sit, chat and eat in peace. Here's a photo (from Allearsnet) of that general area....
Alice had fallen asleep in the stroller and it took a bit of manoeuvering to get her to the only free table which was behind another table where a couple sat. I needed to go to the right of the woman to get the stroller past because next to that was a little square grassy area with a step up. "Excuse me please". Nothing. Hmmm, perhaps she didn't hear me? "Excuse me, can I get past you please?". Nope. Nothing. She's chatting to her friend/DH/bf (in English by the way) and completely ignoring me! Uh, one last try. "Hello there?"
Nothing! Her chair was pulled waaaay back so she was taking up about 4 feet and could easily have moved in a couple of feet without too much bother. But no. Instead she chose to ignore me. I had no choice but to half lift the stroller onto the grass (with Wayne's help) - 2 wheels on the kerb and 2 wheels on the ground - and then half lift it back down again whilst squeezing myself past her. So I did this to her:
...................
well, in my HEAD I did that.
So finally the boys and Alice and I took our seats and, as I turned to get a proper look at our cranky neighbour, I noticed she was staring at us and muttering something to her friend. What IS her problem? I couldn't fathom it, unless she doesn't believe in kids being at Disney World. 
I saw DH coming back soon after. Wait! What is this strange phenomenon? Do I see said lady smiling at him? Do I see her......... what? No? It can't be. Do my eyes deceive me? Is she actually pushing in to let DH past??? Yes, she is. Either she's got an attack of the guilts OR she's a man-woman, you know the type? Women who smile, giggle and flick their hair back shyly when they're around men but whenever they encounter women they give them demon-spawn looks and wish them nothing but ill-will?
The food was yum! We (Garth and I) don't eat meat, but we eat fish. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, what's with that? But it's just the way it's come about over the years. I haven't eaten meat in 23 years but fish came and went. DH doesn't really eat fish at all and then Wayne eats everything, the works. Anyway as fish goes, this fish was good and pretty genuine "fish and chip" stuff I would say. So a thumbs up for Harry Ramsdens (or is it called the Yorkshire County Fish Shop??).
Alice had woken up a couple of minutes after we sat down and I managed to feed her a yogurt and some fish too. And you know what happened? The strangest thing. I thought I saw demon spawn woman (DSW) looking my way and, sure enough, when I looked back there she was smiling sheepishly at Alice.
All I can think is that she'd had a nasty run in with a stroller and/or it's toddler-owner earlier and when she saw us coming she assumed Alice was trouble too. Well my mother always said "don't lower yourself" so I took that advice and smiled back at DSW. So there! [NOTE: we meet her twin brother, Demon Spawn Man, at Cirque du Soleil the very next night!!!! 
]
At this stage Wayne is practically hyper-ventilating and can't keep still - he is so keen to get moving and seeing and doing. Perhaps we're all more tired than we realise as we are now on our 9th day, but this night would be the start of a series of comments from Wayne such as "why are we always stopping and starting?", "why can't we get anything done?", "why is everything taking SO long?". And he was right. From tonight on, things took twice as long and there were far more interruptions. Odd really. But it was still all good. Or mostly good. No worries there.
We passed the border into Canada (!) and felt a teeny sense of achievement at reaching a second country, even if it is a whole hour later and even if we did already see this one today. We had a quick glance around, liked what we saw but decided to carry on to Mexico. But before we left we became aware of a band playing up ahead (still in Canada) [they sounded almost identical to a celtic rock band DH played with years ago - he's a bass player - used to do it full-time but still does it part-time these days]. Then we happen upon them and saw that it was Off Kilter.
Now, let me digress a second to say that back home, everywhere we go, DH knows someone. Everywhere. I wouldn't have expected the same thing to happen thousands of miles from home obviously. But, lo and behold, DH starts laughing and said "hey that's Mark". "Mark who?" I say. "Mark Weldon, there with the band, the bass player, remember him, from years ago?". I vaguely recall the name. The thing is, the music scene here in our city is quite small really and most musicians from the 80s and 90s know each other as many of them would have had stints with the same bands at one time or another. So we went up to see them playing and DH waved at Mark and he got a smile and a wave back. As it turned out, they were finished their set just a few minutes later so Mark came down to chat. DH and he caught up, compared notes, threw some names out there (mutual musician friends and acquaintances) and it was all very nice. But, suddenly it struck me, as I overheard them talking about familiar venues and places and names that it was all very like, well, being at home in a way. It was eating into my fantasy holiday time.
Time to move along now! So we said our goodbyes and by now, it was just 30 minutes to the time we were to meet Mike and K at Mexico for Illuminations. What? Where did the time go? Again!
Quick stop for a photo.....
Kermit just had to get in on the shot!!
Ok, so we're off.... we're on a roll, must keep moving, no more stopping, hurry, hurry, hurry, off to the next countr....... oh hang on, there's a store, a big one and I'm drawn to it!!! Let's stop here.
So we did! What a great place!!! I think it's called Port of Entry (that sounds wrong though but it's on my receipt). I bought Alice a little Mickey/Minnie mobile phone which she still loves to this day. Wayne bought a nice pin and I can't remember what Garth bought. All I know is I wanted to buy everything!!! The only thing is, anyone ever notice that Disney CMs in stores tend to take a looooooooooong time at checkout? There were 2 people in front of me and I was in line for 20 minutes. It was teeth-clenchingly, head-scratchingly frustrating. Still love the store though!
So we went straight to meet Mike and K in the agreed place - between Canada and Mexico but we couldn't see them. Oh no, not this again! Then we spotted them in the area specially designated for wheelchairs and ECVs. Oh, of course, I'd forgotten that they'd be there. This was awkward - Mike was beckoning us to come forward but I honestly didn't want to take up space in this area when wheelchair/ECV users might need it. What to do?! They kept calling us so we decided to go to them just for a minute and then move elsewhere so I asked the CM guarding the rope at this entrance if we could join them just for a minute. He asked if we were staying to watch Illuminations and when I said yes but we would find our own spot he said "no, you can stay as long as you're with the ECV user". Well, ok, but I still felt bad. We went to Mike and K, chatted a while and then I said I'd feel better if we got our own spot but Mike insisted that we stay so we did with the proviso that if we saw a wheelchair/ECV user trying to gain access to the area we'd move and also that we'd sit on the pavement to give anyone who came along behind us a better chance to see.
Garth needed the bathroom. Ok, no problem, DH said he'd take him. How long can they be, right? Everything's good - we've got our spot, the kids are happy, we're having a nice chat with Mike and K and we're just 30 minutes from Illuminations. Excellent..........
Continued in next post.....
(Still) Day 9: 1st November, 2006
So we're off to World Showcase on this lovely evening and can hardly contain our excitement - we're gonna visit more countries and see my very favourite 'attraction' in all of Disney World - ILLUMINATIONS!!!! It's dark, the heat has gone down a bit, and World Showcase looks beautiful.
Okay, let's move it, where to first?; will we run through each country?, gotta see them, gotta see them, we already saw the UK but must investigate it further and then move on, hurry, hurry, hurr........ hang on, we're starving, might as well stop right here at Harry Ramsdens - basically a stone's throw from the entrance.
Hey, we gotta get the practical stuff like hunger out of the way, right?So DH stayed to wait for the order and I took the kids across the road to those lovely tables and chairs behind the little Tea Shop. What a gorgeous area this is to sit, chat and eat in peace. Here's a photo (from Allearsnet) of that general area....
Alice had fallen asleep in the stroller and it took a bit of manoeuvering to get her to the only free table which was behind another table where a couple sat. I needed to go to the right of the woman to get the stroller past because next to that was a little square grassy area with a step up. "Excuse me please". Nothing. Hmmm, perhaps she didn't hear me? "Excuse me, can I get past you please?". Nope. Nothing. She's chatting to her friend/DH/bf (in English by the way) and completely ignoring me! Uh, one last try. "Hello there?"
...................
well, in my HEAD I did that.
So finally the boys and Alice and I took our seats and, as I turned to get a proper look at our cranky neighbour, I noticed she was staring at us and muttering something to her friend. What IS her problem? I couldn't fathom it, unless she doesn't believe in kids being at Disney World. I saw DH coming back soon after. Wait! What is this strange phenomenon? Do I see said lady smiling at him? Do I see her......... what? No? It can't be. Do my eyes deceive me? Is she actually pushing in to let DH past??? Yes, she is. Either she's got an attack of the guilts OR she's a man-woman, you know the type? Women who smile, giggle and flick their hair back shyly when they're around men but whenever they encounter women they give them demon-spawn looks and wish them nothing but ill-will?
The food was yum! We (Garth and I) don't eat meat, but we eat fish. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, what's with that? But it's just the way it's come about over the years. I haven't eaten meat in 23 years but fish came and went. DH doesn't really eat fish at all and then Wayne eats everything, the works. Anyway as fish goes, this fish was good and pretty genuine "fish and chip" stuff I would say. So a thumbs up for Harry Ramsdens (or is it called the Yorkshire County Fish Shop??).
Alice had woken up a couple of minutes after we sat down and I managed to feed her a yogurt and some fish too. And you know what happened? The strangest thing. I thought I saw demon spawn woman (DSW) looking my way and, sure enough, when I looked back there she was smiling sheepishly at Alice.
All I can think is that she'd had a nasty run in with a stroller and/or it's toddler-owner earlier and when she saw us coming she assumed Alice was trouble too. Well my mother always said "don't lower yourself" so I took that advice and smiled back at DSW. So there! [NOTE: we meet her twin brother, Demon Spawn Man, at Cirque du Soleil the very next night!!!! ]At this stage Wayne is practically hyper-ventilating and can't keep still - he is so keen to get moving and seeing and doing. Perhaps we're all more tired than we realise as we are now on our 9th day, but this night would be the start of a series of comments from Wayne such as "why are we always stopping and starting?", "why can't we get anything done?", "why is everything taking SO long?". And he was right. From tonight on, things took twice as long and there were far more interruptions. Odd really. But it was still all good. Or mostly good. No worries there.
We passed the border into Canada (!) and felt a teeny sense of achievement at reaching a second country, even if it is a whole hour later and even if we did already see this one today. We had a quick glance around, liked what we saw but decided to carry on to Mexico. But before we left we became aware of a band playing up ahead (still in Canada) [they sounded almost identical to a celtic rock band DH played with years ago - he's a bass player - used to do it full-time but still does it part-time these days]. Then we happen upon them and saw that it was Off Kilter.
Now, let me digress a second to say that back home, everywhere we go, DH knows someone. Everywhere. I wouldn't have expected the same thing to happen thousands of miles from home obviously. But, lo and behold, DH starts laughing and said "hey that's Mark". "Mark who?" I say. "Mark Weldon, there with the band, the bass player, remember him, from years ago?". I vaguely recall the name. The thing is, the music scene here in our city is quite small really and most musicians from the 80s and 90s know each other as many of them would have had stints with the same bands at one time or another. So we went up to see them playing and DH waved at Mark and he got a smile and a wave back. As it turned out, they were finished their set just a few minutes later so Mark came down to chat. DH and he caught up, compared notes, threw some names out there (mutual musician friends and acquaintances) and it was all very nice. But, suddenly it struck me, as I overheard them talking about familiar venues and places and names that it was all very like, well, being at home in a way. It was eating into my fantasy holiday time.
Time to move along now! So we said our goodbyes and by now, it was just 30 minutes to the time we were to meet Mike and K at Mexico for Illuminations. What? Where did the time go? Again!Quick stop for a photo.....
Kermit just had to get in on the shot!!
Ok, so we're off.... we're on a roll, must keep moving, no more stopping, hurry, hurry, hurry, off to the next countr....... oh hang on, there's a store, a big one and I'm drawn to it!!! Let's stop here.
So we did! What a great place!!! I think it's called Port of Entry (that sounds wrong though but it's on my receipt). I bought Alice a little Mickey/Minnie mobile phone which she still loves to this day. Wayne bought a nice pin and I can't remember what Garth bought. All I know is I wanted to buy everything!!! The only thing is, anyone ever notice that Disney CMs in stores tend to take a looooooooooong time at checkout? There were 2 people in front of me and I was in line for 20 minutes. It was teeth-clenchingly, head-scratchingly frustrating. Still love the store though!So we went straight to meet Mike and K in the agreed place - between Canada and Mexico but we couldn't see them. Oh no, not this again! Then we spotted them in the area specially designated for wheelchairs and ECVs. Oh, of course, I'd forgotten that they'd be there. This was awkward - Mike was beckoning us to come forward but I honestly didn't want to take up space in this area when wheelchair/ECV users might need it. What to do?! They kept calling us so we decided to go to them just for a minute and then move elsewhere so I asked the CM guarding the rope at this entrance if we could join them just for a minute. He asked if we were staying to watch Illuminations and when I said yes but we would find our own spot he said "no, you can stay as long as you're with the ECV user". Well, ok, but I still felt bad. We went to Mike and K, chatted a while and then I said I'd feel better if we got our own spot but Mike insisted that we stay so we did with the proviso that if we saw a wheelchair/ECV user trying to gain access to the area we'd move and also that we'd sit on the pavement to give anyone who came along behind us a better chance to see.
Garth needed the bathroom. Ok, no problem, DH said he'd take him. How long can they be, right? Everything's good - we've got our spot, the kids are happy, we're having a nice chat with Mike and K and we're just 30 minutes from Illuminations. Excellent..........
Continued in next post.....
She asked if she could sit with Alice and I checked with her parents (who were right behind us) and it was fine with them. She and Alice were so cute together. It's such a treat for me to see Alice playing with another little girl as my only niece is 10 and we don't see her that often and other than my niece it's all boys around us most of the time - which I love but Alice, well she needs girls too! So anyway, what time is it? 8.55? 
Where are they? How long does it take to go to the bathroom?? I was also worried cause the guy at the rope was just about ready to stop leaving people into this area. I was pretty confused. The thing is, it had worked out so well that we got here in time and got a great spot and now they're missing. I'm starting to get mad. NOT because Garth needed the bathroom, PLEASE don't think that but because I just knew there was more to this. 
I was looking all around feverishly searching for them in the crowd. It's 9.05 - they were gone 35 minutes. Oh wait, hang on, they're coming. *Phew* But DH is looking totally laid back and relaxed and, as usual, taking his sweet time. 
not here, not now, this was supposed to be perfect.
Oh, it broke my heart. She couldn't understand how she had made a new friend and now that friend was gone. I had to stop myself from running after them and begging them to stay a while. But with a bit of cajoling Alice came around and made a few calls on her new mobile to Minnie 
to keep herself occupied. 
Mike and K told us about their beautiful wedding ceremony in Vermont a few years previously and told us of their many Disney adventures over the years. I got the impression that they had been there so often, by now they didn't make any big plans and certainly weren't doing anything commando-style, they were taking their time and were devoting a lot of their trip to meeting friends, old and new. They asked us to meet up with them the following Saturday but we had plans to go to Universal - we just weren't as flexible as them I guess. But we still weren't 100% sure if we would go to Universal or not, as money was getting tight and I deliberately didn't buy our tickets in advance as I decided to wait and see how we felt and how the budget was. We had been to Universal on our 1st trip and it's good, for sure (or "fo sho" as Tracy would say!! 
Mother's Day was in March here (same as Disney Jo!!) but hey, I'm not one to say no to flowers. 
Poor Alice, I feel so bad when that happens to Maddie. She loves to make new "friends" where ever we go and it's sad for her to lose them so quickly! 
