the Legend
Master of Attractions and TourGuide Hopeful!
- Joined
- Jun 2, 2001
- Messages
- 347
Cast of the not-so Little Mermaids
DS Rob (King Triton) - Thats me. Misleader of the Mothers and Head Babysitter.
DM Lydia (Scuttle) - My Mum who discovers possible use for a dinglehopper!
DN Nadine and Adair (Ariel and her twin Sister) - 7yo Twins. Today, they are Little Mermaids.
TG Michael (Sebastian) - Owner/Operator of Michaels VIPs and our Trip Advisor and Planner
Day 2, Tuesday 28 Aug - Surfs Up!
Michael had scheduled an easy day today. For Day 2, he had us sleeping in and going to Typhoon Lagoon as late in the day as possible. What a great call this turned out to be
After the excitement of arriving late last night, I knew it would take sometime to get to sleep but I didnt expect us to get up at noon! We had a late lunch at the All-Star Sports Foodcourt. Nothing out of the ordinary here and it was priced OK for our pockets. It goes without saying that we bought the refillable Mugs and made many trips to the drinks dispenser over our 10 nights at the All-Star
Around 2 PM, we're on a bus to DD and getting off at the Marketplace stop. In an unusual display of cruelty
, I made our group hike over to the Wyndham Palace with me to pick up our Rental Car. The Alamo people were very courteous and we were on our way in minutes netting a Chevy Malibu for our efforts. Now this was my first time driving in the US and getting accustomed to driving on the right side of the road took a while but the traffic was light and that it was a short drive to Typhoon Lagoon. We managed to find a park right up by the gate and by the time we passed through the turnstiles, it was 3 PM.
Michael had mentioned that people usually leave around 3 PM when the cooler afternoon weather rolls in because many have evening plans or children in tow and this time seems to be the most popular. True to his word, a lot of people were leaving, so many in fact that I thought the Park was closing. It seems that kids, no matter what you feed them or how hard you try, when they've had enough, they've had enough. Most of the families leaving had children with them. And most were being carried or strollered out. Getting a locker was easy and we found some good beach chairs at Out of the Way Cay, just south of Shark Reef. As the Girls and I broke down to our swimsuits, Mum was a little disappointed. When I asked why, it seemed that I had not told her about Typhoon Lagoon and therefore she did not wear her bathing suit. Seems funny though because the Twins, who were staying with her in her room, had theirs on under their clothes!
In the end, she was content to lie in the Sun and go wading in the Surf Pool so we left her to it and headed for Castaway Creek.
The Creek was full of empty donuts. The Twins and I jumped in and floated all the way around. There were no traffic jams and going by the accents, there were a lot of Britons in the Park. Once we had completed a full circle, we went over to the Surf Bay. We started wading out and got to the 4-foot mark when all of a sudden WHOOSH! closely followed by screaming and running. The Wave hit us by surprise but we took it on
... and lost. The Twins were knocked off there feet and I emerged from the Pool spitting water like an Italian Statue. We LOVED it! After chasing waves for what seemed like an eternity, we left the pool to search for Mum. She had gone for a walk and we caught her near the Shark entrance to Castaway creek. She was off to the Surf Pool to go wading. The Girls and I decided to head for the Storm Slides. There was no wait and we vitrually walked onto the Slide of our choice. I should've known I was in trouble when I saw the name of the Slides - Jib Jammer, Stern Burner and Rudder Buster. Fearing for the health of my backside, we decided on doing Jib Jammer first.
RED LIGHT! GREEN LIGHT! ... Niece 1 (Adair) away! Weeeeeeee!
RED LIGHT! GREEN LIGHT! ... Niece 2 (Nadine) away! Weeeeeeee!
RED LIGHT! GREEN LIGHT! ... Aaaaaaaaarrrrrrrgggggghhh!
What a Great set of Slides and I am eternally grateful to Disney for the padded pool bottom! With the Storm Slides conquered, it was time to go over to the raft rides. We met Mum on the way to Castaway creek and she thought it looked fun so the Girls and I got her on a tube and floated her over to Keelhaul falls. I was amazed and surprised! I'd never get my Mum in a Pool back home so there IS a first time for everything. At Keelhaul falls, there was a set of stairs you have to climb and like the Storm Slides, I didnt see any alternate route. Now my Mum has a plastc Knee joint in one leg and her "good" knee has Arthritis making Stairs and long-distance walking very difficult. Spurred on by the Twins, she bravely climbed the Stairs and we all took seperate tube rides down. Well Mum got soaked and had difficulty standing up at the bottom because of her kneess. The Lifeguards were on to it quickly but been the hard Mum Ive always known, she shook it off with a laugh and a smile.
We finished our TL day with a raft ride down Gang Plank falls. This was the big family raft where all four of us got to ride. Now Im not saying that we're big or anything. We're in shape. Round is a shape, right? Well when it came time to push off, our raft wouldnt move. We were grounded. I blame the lack of water beneath us which, despite my our best efforts, wasnt moving this raft. In a desperate move, I sat on the side of the raft and we started moving to the laughter of my family and the cheers of the waiting crowd. After handing in the locker key, I went with the Typhoon Lagoon Mug option for my deposit refund and used it when we got back to the All-Star. It was a little after 6:30. We showered, got changed and headed back to DD for Dinner.
With so many options for Dinner at DD, where did we go? McDonalds, crazy huh? The crazy part was the prices. Someone is definitely onto a good thing here however we'd like to thank them for supplying the squirrel and two rabbits we saw running by while eating our meal outside. The Girls had never seen so many free roving animals. From Dinner, we went to the World of Disney. I like this Shop and with my Amex discount, things couldnt have been better. Bought little but was definitely planning a return visit. It was getting close to 9 and we had our first Park Tour tomorrow so it was back to the All-Star for some much welcomed rest. Spent the night nodding off to WDW Tour Channel .... again
Summary - Typhoon Lagoon
Storm Slides, Raft Rides and Surf Pool
Response from the Lifeguards
Castaway Creek
Shark Reef
Access for Seniors and the physically-challenged
From Merfolk to Believers, How magical is the Magic Kingdom?
Read in the next installment of 'The Kiwis have landed (Day 3 - Dreams come true)'
DS Rob (King Triton) - Thats me. Misleader of the Mothers and Head Babysitter. DM Lydia (Scuttle) - My Mum who discovers possible use for a dinglehopper! DN Nadine and Adair (Ariel and her twin Sister) - 7yo Twins. Today, they are Little Mermaids. TG Michael (Sebastian) - Owner/Operator of Michaels VIPs and our Trip Advisor and PlannerDay 2, Tuesday 28 Aug - Surfs Up!
Michael had scheduled an easy day today. For Day 2, he had us sleeping in and going to Typhoon Lagoon as late in the day as possible. What a great call this turned out to be
After the excitement of arriving late last night, I knew it would take sometime to get to sleep but I didnt expect us to get up at noon! We had a late lunch at the All-Star Sports Foodcourt. Nothing out of the ordinary here and it was priced OK for our pockets. It goes without saying that we bought the refillable Mugs and made many trips to the drinks dispenser over our 10 nights at the All-Star Around 2 PM, we're on a bus to DD and getting off at the Marketplace stop. In an unusual display of cruelty
, I made our group hike over to the Wyndham Palace with me to pick up our Rental Car. The Alamo people were very courteous and we were on our way in minutes netting a Chevy Malibu for our efforts. Now this was my first time driving in the US and getting accustomed to driving on the right side of the road took a while but the traffic was light and that it was a short drive to Typhoon Lagoon. We managed to find a park right up by the gate and by the time we passed through the turnstiles, it was 3 PM.Michael had mentioned that people usually leave around 3 PM when the cooler afternoon weather rolls in because many have evening plans or children in tow and this time seems to be the most popular. True to his word, a lot of people were leaving, so many in fact that I thought the Park was closing. It seems that kids, no matter what you feed them or how hard you try, when they've had enough, they've had enough. Most of the families leaving had children with them. And most were being carried or strollered out. Getting a locker was easy and we found some good beach chairs at Out of the Way Cay, just south of Shark Reef. As the Girls and I broke down to our swimsuits, Mum was a little disappointed. When I asked why, it seemed that I had not told her about Typhoon Lagoon and therefore she did not wear her bathing suit. Seems funny though because the Twins, who were staying with her in her room, had theirs on under their clothes!
In the end, she was content to lie in the Sun and go wading in the Surf Pool so we left her to it and headed for Castaway Creek. The Creek was full of empty donuts. The Twins and I jumped in and floated all the way around. There were no traffic jams and going by the accents, there were a lot of Britons in the Park. Once we had completed a full circle, we went over to the Surf Bay. We started wading out and got to the 4-foot mark when all of a sudden WHOOSH! closely followed by screaming and running. The Wave hit us by surprise but we took it on
... and lost. The Twins were knocked off there feet and I emerged from the Pool spitting water like an Italian Statue. We LOVED it! After chasing waves for what seemed like an eternity, we left the pool to search for Mum. She had gone for a walk and we caught her near the Shark entrance to Castaway creek. She was off to the Surf Pool to go wading. The Girls and I decided to head for the Storm Slides. There was no wait and we vitrually walked onto the Slide of our choice. I should've known I was in trouble when I saw the name of the Slides - Jib Jammer, Stern Burner and Rudder Buster. Fearing for the health of my backside, we decided on doing Jib Jammer first.RED LIGHT! GREEN LIGHT! ... Niece 1 (Adair) away! Weeeeeeee!
RED LIGHT! GREEN LIGHT! ... Niece 2 (Nadine) away! Weeeeeeee!
RED LIGHT! GREEN LIGHT! ... Aaaaaaaaarrrrrrrgggggghhh!
What a Great set of Slides and I am eternally grateful to Disney for the padded pool bottom! With the Storm Slides conquered, it was time to go over to the raft rides. We met Mum on the way to Castaway creek and she thought it looked fun so the Girls and I got her on a tube and floated her over to Keelhaul falls. I was amazed and surprised! I'd never get my Mum in a Pool back home so there IS a first time for everything. At Keelhaul falls, there was a set of stairs you have to climb and like the Storm Slides, I didnt see any alternate route. Now my Mum has a plastc Knee joint in one leg and her "good" knee has Arthritis making Stairs and long-distance walking very difficult. Spurred on by the Twins, she bravely climbed the Stairs and we all took seperate tube rides down. Well Mum got soaked and had difficulty standing up at the bottom because of her kneess. The Lifeguards were on to it quickly but been the hard Mum Ive always known, she shook it off with a laugh and a smile.
We finished our TL day with a raft ride down Gang Plank falls. This was the big family raft where all four of us got to ride. Now Im not saying that we're big or anything. We're in shape. Round is a shape, right? Well when it came time to push off, our raft wouldnt move. We were grounded. I blame the lack of water beneath us which, despite my our best efforts, wasnt moving this raft. In a desperate move, I sat on the side of the raft and we started moving to the laughter of my family and the cheers of the waiting crowd. After handing in the locker key, I went with the Typhoon Lagoon Mug option for my deposit refund and used it when we got back to the All-Star. It was a little after 6:30. We showered, got changed and headed back to DD for Dinner.With so many options for Dinner at DD, where did we go? McDonalds, crazy huh? The crazy part was the prices. Someone is definitely onto a good thing here however we'd like to thank them for supplying the squirrel and two rabbits we saw running by while eating our meal outside. The Girls had never seen so many free roving animals. From Dinner, we went to the World of Disney. I like this Shop and with my Amex discount, things couldnt have been better. Bought little but was definitely planning a return visit. It was getting close to 9 and we had our first Park Tour tomorrow so it was back to the All-Star for some much welcomed rest. Spent the night nodding off to WDW Tour Channel .... again
Summary - Typhoon Lagoon
Storm Slides, Raft Rides and Surf Pool Response from the Lifeguards Castaway Creek Shark Reef Access for Seniors and the physically-challengedFrom Merfolk to Believers, How magical is the Magic Kingdom?
Read in the next installment of 'The Kiwis have landed (Day 3 - Dreams come true)'
inkbounc
