MKFan-PR
Certified MK Freak! Work is what I do for Vacation
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2002
- Messages
- 495
The MKFan familys Dec Trip
The cast:
MKFan-PR: Me, 35, Disney maniac since my first trip way back when I was 5. This was my 11th trip, the 7th with my DW, the 3rd with our DD. I love planning, but Im no commando. I go to WDW to relax.
DW, 39. This is her 8th trip total. We really enjoy being here. And she loves the fact that shes becoming an expert.
DD, 4. Well call her Non-Stop, since she literally was during the trip. This is actually her 3rd trip, but it will also be her most memorable, since she was 9 months and 3.5 YO on her two previous ones.
Day 6 Dec 3: Where we try the fine art of improvisation
Well, its now the 6th day of this vacation and I havent been able to sleep past 8. Why should today be any different? Non-Stop is up right after me, of course, so its Toon Disney for her while I read the paper in the balcony. DW is still sound asleep, but since today is our off day, to do whatever we feel like doing on a whim, well, her whim now is to sleep late. Oh, well, at least one of us is getting to sleep late.
When everybody is up we order room service breakfast (gotta take advantage of being in a Deluxe while we can) while we ponder what well do. On this day well give improvisation a try. Now, before all you commandos scoff at the mere mention of that word, and before you say Ha! Lets see you go down in flames!, let me tell you we always have a general plan of where to go and what wed like to do. But were open to do stuff that presents itself during the day, without stressing ourselves about where we need to be in the next few minutes.
See? I told you. Its not complete improvisation. So calm down.
Before breakfast arrives I go to get some Pink Lemonade (of course!) to Captain Cooks, then on the return I stop to throw some quarters down the drain I mean, down the machines at the arcade. Pretty expensive for old games, but Ive always loved arcades so I dont mind much.
When I get back to the room DW has a mixture of panic, relief and rage all bottled up in her look. Oh, oh. Ive seen this before. This volatile mixture can only caused by one thing: I screwed up. And I dont know where.
Well, it turns out that room service has arrived, but I took all our keycards/room charge cards with me. At least the ones that dont have the stamp Not valid for Charging on it. So DW was in a panic because she couldnt find a valid card, couldnt find me, and couldnt find cash to pay (ahem I took that too
); she was relieved when she saw me come through the door; and in a rage because
well, because I screwed up! Thankfully the room service CM was a very nice guy, and he was amicably chatting with DW and Non-Stop while he waited, and he was about to tell her that he was going to leave it and come back in a few minutes to see if I was back and get the card. I dont know if he was going to get in trouble for that, but just for being so nice about my screw-up, I tipped in addition to the one that was already charged.
We laugh about the whole thing, then enjoyed our breakfast. We changed and decide that the first order of business was to stroll around the Poly. We found Sunset point, and took some pictures. It was truly a wonderful sight. Although a bit windy, we loved the views from there.
It was quite warm, and I was looking to rent a boat for a ride. I was looking to rent a canopy boat for all three of us, but there were none there. DW offered that I should go with Non-Stop on a Water Mouse, but I wanted all of us to go so, sadly, I passed on that
.
Well, what now? The Boardwalk! We love going there just to hang out, so we get in the car (which has been sitting all by its lonesome in the parking lot since Saturday) and head to the Boardwalk.
As we enter the lobby of the BWI/BWV, we sit down to soak the atmosphere. And soak we did. We sat in front of one of the fireplaces (we dont have those in PR), and DW and me did some serious atmosphere soaking while Non-Stop doodled and practiced her name in a little notepad that she brought. Ahh. Peaceful family time. Enjoy it every time you get it .
After we were all soaked, we strolled through the Boardwalk, stopping to get some pastries at the Bakery. We decided there to stroll to Epcot, and maybe see if we could eat at LeCellier (again, without a PS! ). We took some pictures along the way, then entered through the International Gateway.
One of the things that you have to be aware with improvisation is that sometimes things will not go as you hoped. So, since we were foiled again in our attempt to eat at LeCellier without a PS, we though that the best option available would be to eat at the food court in The Land.
We had a nice time there, relaxing and eating our lunch (if I remember correctly, chicken strips, with Ice Cream for dessert). There were quite a few options on things to do: the Timon and Pumbaa movie, Food Rocks and the boat ride. Decisions, decisions
Well, we choose none!
We decide to try other things. So we head out in the direction of Mexico, to enjoy a trip around WS. But along the way, I have to try M:S again. This time I had a better time concentrating. Also, I had the role of Engineer. I am an Engineer. So imagine my disappointment when the Engineers job in this ride is the most uncool of all the roles. Put them to sleep? So Im the babysitter? I know the real life job is more exciting, but please! Well, I guess thats why you dont see any TV or movie dramas about life in an Engineering Firm.
After that, Non-Stop wants to try Test Track, so Im happy to oblige. We went through the Stand-By line, since we didnt want to take the FP (we wanted to end up in WS), and I didnt want to leave Non-Stop by herself in the Single Rider line (then I would be the one freaking out, not her!). While we started the ride it started to rain outside, so the ride stopped while we were in the hills. We waited for I dont know 4 hours. At least thats what it felt like. In truth it was probably about 5 minutes.
Non-Stop is brave to try new things, but as long as Mom or Dad is there with her. She wanted to do TT, but to be on the safe side she wanted me to put my arm in front of her, so she would have something to grab on to. After the ride stopped, I removed my arm to talk to her and to talk to the people in the back of the car. I did this a couple of times and every time she said: Daddy, excuse me. The arm. Not only is she cute, she is also Safety-conscious!
.
After buying the ride picture (her first!), we head out to the Mexico side of WS. Inside the Mexico pyramid, we took the boat ride, where we were given a tour of Mexico in the early 80s (man, is that a ride in need of an update). We always take it, kind of like tradition, since Mexico is the only Latino nation in WS, and also because, well, theres never any line!
After we exit the ride, DW enjoys browsing the market while I take Non-Stop to the Kidcot station. There shes given a mask, with an earring-thingy and a stamp from Mexico. Shes supposed to take it to every country, where theyll stamp it and put an earring-thingy in every one. She also gets to color the mask. In some intereseting designs, to say the least. Hey, shes 5; plus its art! It can be anyway she wants it to be!
One of my DWs favorite pastimes is browsing through a store. Shell look at almost everything, mostly looking for ideas to do at home, or for stuff that she might like. But only rarely does she spend anything. Hey! I DO have the best DW in the world! .
Today she found an inexpensive necklace that goes with some earrings that my Mom gave her. It made her day!
We continue with the browsing, stopping at every country around. DW browses, Non-Stop and I search for the Kidcot station, where she gets her earring-thingy and her stamp. In some places theyll even write her name in the native language, so Non-Stop has her name written in Chinese, Arabic and Japanese. Well, mostly her name. Many could not completely understand her name, so they wrote what they think they heard. Non-Stop and I have no idea what is actually written there, but hey, it looks cool!
By the time we reach France its about 8:30. We go to the Patisserie to get some pastries to enjoy before IllumiNations, but unfortunately Non-Stop, wanting to go nee-nee, had other plans. Off to the restroom!
I end up getting a creamy Napoleon from the Patisserie (Yum! But I told you: I dont want to get anywhere near a weight scale when I come back!), which we all share. Then we enjoy IllumiNations from a nice corner in Morocco. This is our first time seeing it from the WS side and its great, although theres a lot of smoke today from the fireworks. Non-Stop watches in my arms and loves it. She even sings along to We Go On (I have the CD at home since the time of the Millenium Celebration and IllumiNations 2000).
This used to be the best fireworks show in the park. With Wishes that no longer is true, but its still a great show!
We slowly stroll back to the Boardwalk. We stop along the way at the Boardwalk Bekery to get some cookies to eat later, then get our car and end up at the Poly. We enjoy another fine, elegant dinner of mini-pizzas and chicken strips, with some gourmet pineapple and cookies for dessert, while watching Sleeping Beauty. Then the ladies get inspired by her, and after freshening up, they go to sleep. I stay awake a little longer watching some TV, seeing the tireless Krista riding and showing the Top 7 Must-Sees. Now thats a fine job.
Man, time is flying! We only have two more full days left. Tomorrow is the last day I can buy stuff and ship it to our room.
I wonder if theres an opening as Kristas sound guy or cameraman. DW and Non-Stop could be Executive Producers.
I better get some sleep!
RHETORICAL QUESTIONS AND THINGS THAT I THINK I THINK:
-Why no Canopy boats at the Poly?
-I dont know cause Ive never had one, but how warm does a chimney actually keep you?
-Have they ever updated the Mexico ride?
-For those of you keeping score, successful attempts at dinners without PSs: 4. Failed attempts: 2, both at the same place. Lesson: you can do it without them, but youre better off with them.
-I think even the most decisive and driven person would go nuts trying to decide what to have at the Boulangerie Patisserie.
Next Day 7 Where we almost forget the fudge
Stay Tuned!
The cast:
MKFan-PR: Me, 35, Disney maniac since my first trip way back when I was 5. This was my 11th trip, the 7th with my DW, the 3rd with our DD. I love planning, but Im no commando. I go to WDW to relax.
DW, 39. This is her 8th trip total. We really enjoy being here. And she loves the fact that shes becoming an expert.
DD, 4. Well call her Non-Stop, since she literally was during the trip. This is actually her 3rd trip, but it will also be her most memorable, since she was 9 months and 3.5 YO on her two previous ones.
Day 6 Dec 3: Where we try the fine art of improvisation
Well, its now the 6th day of this vacation and I havent been able to sleep past 8. Why should today be any different? Non-Stop is up right after me, of course, so its Toon Disney for her while I read the paper in the balcony. DW is still sound asleep, but since today is our off day, to do whatever we feel like doing on a whim, well, her whim now is to sleep late. Oh, well, at least one of us is getting to sleep late.
When everybody is up we order room service breakfast (gotta take advantage of being in a Deluxe while we can) while we ponder what well do. On this day well give improvisation a try. Now, before all you commandos scoff at the mere mention of that word, and before you say Ha! Lets see you go down in flames!, let me tell you we always have a general plan of where to go and what wed like to do. But were open to do stuff that presents itself during the day, without stressing ourselves about where we need to be in the next few minutes.
See? I told you. Its not complete improvisation. So calm down.
Before breakfast arrives I go to get some Pink Lemonade (of course!) to Captain Cooks, then on the return I stop to throw some quarters down the drain I mean, down the machines at the arcade. Pretty expensive for old games, but Ive always loved arcades so I dont mind much.
When I get back to the room DW has a mixture of panic, relief and rage all bottled up in her look. Oh, oh. Ive seen this before. This volatile mixture can only caused by one thing: I screwed up. And I dont know where.
Well, it turns out that room service has arrived, but I took all our keycards/room charge cards with me. At least the ones that dont have the stamp Not valid for Charging on it. So DW was in a panic because she couldnt find a valid card, couldnt find me, and couldnt find cash to pay (ahem I took that too
); she was relieved when she saw me come through the door; and in a rage because
well, because I screwed up! Thankfully the room service CM was a very nice guy, and he was amicably chatting with DW and Non-Stop while he waited, and he was about to tell her that he was going to leave it and come back in a few minutes to see if I was back and get the card. I dont know if he was going to get in trouble for that, but just for being so nice about my screw-up, I tipped in addition to the one that was already charged. We laugh about the whole thing, then enjoyed our breakfast. We changed and decide that the first order of business was to stroll around the Poly. We found Sunset point, and took some pictures. It was truly a wonderful sight. Although a bit windy, we loved the views from there.
It was quite warm, and I was looking to rent a boat for a ride. I was looking to rent a canopy boat for all three of us, but there were none there. DW offered that I should go with Non-Stop on a Water Mouse, but I wanted all of us to go so, sadly, I passed on that
.Well, what now? The Boardwalk! We love going there just to hang out, so we get in the car (which has been sitting all by its lonesome in the parking lot since Saturday) and head to the Boardwalk.
As we enter the lobby of the BWI/BWV, we sit down to soak the atmosphere. And soak we did. We sat in front of one of the fireplaces (we dont have those in PR), and DW and me did some serious atmosphere soaking while Non-Stop doodled and practiced her name in a little notepad that she brought. Ahh. Peaceful family time. Enjoy it every time you get it .
After we were all soaked, we strolled through the Boardwalk, stopping to get some pastries at the Bakery. We decided there to stroll to Epcot, and maybe see if we could eat at LeCellier (again, without a PS!
). We took some pictures along the way, then entered through the International Gateway.One of the things that you have to be aware with improvisation is that sometimes things will not go as you hoped. So, since we were foiled again in our attempt to eat at LeCellier without a PS, we though that the best option available would be to eat at the food court in The Land.
We had a nice time there, relaxing and eating our lunch (if I remember correctly, chicken strips, with Ice Cream for dessert). There were quite a few options on things to do: the Timon and Pumbaa movie, Food Rocks and the boat ride. Decisions, decisions
Well, we choose none!
We decide to try other things. So we head out in the direction of Mexico, to enjoy a trip around WS. But along the way, I have to try M:S again. This time I had a better time concentrating. Also, I had the role of Engineer. I am an Engineer. So imagine my disappointment when the Engineers job in this ride is the most uncool of all the roles. Put them to sleep? So Im the babysitter? I know the real life job is more exciting, but please! Well, I guess thats why you dont see any TV or movie dramas about life in an Engineering Firm.
After that, Non-Stop wants to try Test Track, so Im happy to oblige. We went through the Stand-By line, since we didnt want to take the FP (we wanted to end up in WS), and I didnt want to leave Non-Stop by herself in the Single Rider line (then I would be the one freaking out, not her!). While we started the ride it started to rain outside, so the ride stopped while we were in the hills. We waited for I dont know 4 hours. At least thats what it felt like. In truth it was probably about 5 minutes.
Non-Stop is brave to try new things, but as long as Mom or Dad is there with her. She wanted to do TT, but to be on the safe side she wanted me to put my arm in front of her, so she would have something to grab on to. After the ride stopped, I removed my arm to talk to her and to talk to the people in the back of the car. I did this a couple of times and every time she said: Daddy, excuse me. The arm. Not only is she cute, she is also Safety-conscious!
. After buying the ride picture (her first!), we head out to the Mexico side of WS. Inside the Mexico pyramid, we took the boat ride, where we were given a tour of Mexico in the early 80s (man, is that a ride in need of an update). We always take it, kind of like tradition, since Mexico is the only Latino nation in WS, and also because, well, theres never any line!
After we exit the ride, DW enjoys browsing the market while I take Non-Stop to the Kidcot station. There shes given a mask, with an earring-thingy and a stamp from Mexico. Shes supposed to take it to every country, where theyll stamp it and put an earring-thingy in every one. She also gets to color the mask. In some intereseting designs, to say the least. Hey, shes 5; plus its art! It can be anyway she wants it to be!
One of my DWs favorite pastimes is browsing through a store. Shell look at almost everything, mostly looking for ideas to do at home, or for stuff that she might like. But only rarely does she spend anything. Hey! I DO have the best DW in the world!
.Today she found an inexpensive necklace that goes with some earrings that my Mom gave her. It made her day!
We continue with the browsing, stopping at every country around. DW browses, Non-Stop and I search for the Kidcot station, where she gets her earring-thingy and her stamp. In some places theyll even write her name in the native language, so Non-Stop has her name written in Chinese, Arabic and Japanese. Well, mostly her name. Many could not completely understand her name, so they wrote what they think they heard. Non-Stop and I have no idea what is actually written there, but hey, it looks cool!
By the time we reach France its about 8:30. We go to the Patisserie to get some pastries to enjoy before IllumiNations, but unfortunately Non-Stop, wanting to go nee-nee, had other plans. Off to the restroom!
I end up getting a creamy Napoleon from the Patisserie (Yum! But I told you: I dont want to get anywhere near a weight scale when I come back!), which we all share. Then we enjoy IllumiNations from a nice corner in Morocco. This is our first time seeing it from the WS side and its great, although theres a lot of smoke today from the fireworks. Non-Stop watches in my arms and loves it. She even sings along to We Go On (I have the CD at home since the time of the Millenium Celebration and IllumiNations 2000).
This used to be the best fireworks show in the park. With Wishes that no longer is true, but its still a great show!
We slowly stroll back to the Boardwalk. We stop along the way at the Boardwalk Bekery to get some cookies to eat later, then get our car and end up at the Poly. We enjoy another fine, elegant dinner of mini-pizzas and chicken strips, with some gourmet pineapple and cookies for dessert, while watching Sleeping Beauty. Then the ladies get inspired by her, and after freshening up, they go to sleep. I stay awake a little longer watching some TV, seeing the tireless Krista riding and showing the Top 7 Must-Sees. Now thats a fine job.
Man, time is flying! We only have two more full days left. Tomorrow is the last day I can buy stuff and ship it to our room.
I wonder if theres an opening as Kristas sound guy or cameraman. DW and Non-Stop could be Executive Producers.
I better get some sleep!
RHETORICAL QUESTIONS AND THINGS THAT I THINK I THINK:
-Why no Canopy boats at the Poly?
-I dont know cause Ive never had one, but how warm does a chimney actually keep you?
-Have they ever updated the Mexico ride?
-For those of you keeping score, successful attempts at dinners without PSs: 4. Failed attempts: 2, both at the same place. Lesson: you can do it without them, but youre better off with them.
-I think even the most decisive and driven person would go nuts trying to decide what to have at the Boulangerie Patisserie.
Next Day 7 Where we almost forget the fudge
Stay Tuned!
