The perfect proposal goes perfectly....wrong *COMPLETED!! 3-10-07*

[djm99]

I love this TR!!! Any TR that can make me laugh cry , and make me feel all mushy inside deserves a gold star from me!!! I've been like this with my laptop all morning !!! I read all 15 pages!!!! Guess I better get back to work!!!

 

[ToTLaugher]

ToTLaugher - yup, that's right! Dear or Disney, depending on how much of a disney nutter you are....

http://www.wdwinfo.com/abbreviations.htm

Thanks Bazzanoid!

 

[Disneygal4life]

bump,

can't wait to hear more

 

[Madmother]

waiting

 

[PrincessNED]

Welcome ZEONSTAR

 

[angel*lady]

HELLOOOOOOO!!!! Are you out there?!?!?! Don't mean to be a pest! I know you have a life outside of these boards, but ... I'm still stuck at home with this broken ankle and I NEED A FIX!!!!!!!

 

[Jennygt]

LOVE IT!! Keep it comming! Happy to hear I am not the only NUTTY planner out there!!

 

[luciloo]

Love your TR, Congratulations to you both, now can we have more please

 

[krissy2803]

What a great thread. You are a very good writer. I look forward to the "rest of the story".

 

[Psymonds]

BTW--do you guys name all your VWs too? I don't know if its a weird PA thing, but we've all had names for the cars--such as:

Loretta the Jetta
Babbit the Rabbit
Eli the GTi
Baloo the VW
and, when friends rented a car in Germany, they got a VW Polo--his name was Hans Polo.

Also--to everyone else that asked: we have set a date for our wedding of August 18th, 2007 and unfortunatly, we are not going to be having a Disney wedding OR honeymoon. The wedding has to be in PA because we both have very large familys that do not like to travel; and we are honeymooning at a resort in Hawaii as a gift from my grandparents. But the summer after that, its all Disney, baby!

DW owns "mug's Bug" and, until the transmission finally gave out (and I moved to California) I was the proud owner of "peter's rabbit" (after the children's book.

DW and I were married in mid aguust of last year. I do like an august wedding.

 

[VW_Guy]

Part VI—A Soarin’ We Will Go, Or: You Want Me To Wait HOW LONG??



After crossing the Sahara-like vastness of the concrete walkway through Innoventions East and West, we arrived at one of the best (and only) places to eat in all of Epcot’s Future World. The Land. I always loved how this pavilion looked—you walk up a ramp alongside what looks like a mini-rainforest, into a covered area adorned on both sides by a “futuristic” (now 70s-retro) mosaic on sloping walls that funnel you towards the entrance. Once inside, you are bombarded by all forms of activity, from the slowly rotating Garden Grill, to the people at the tables moving around like little ants, to the antagonized guests waiting in line for Living with the Land. On our way to the counter-service tables, we stop off at the Soarin’ entrance to pick up Fast Passes for later in the afternoon.



Now, as a means of understanding the circumstances, we are visiting the hallowed World in late July of 2005. Soarin’ had just opened a few months prior, so I figured the lines would be a bit longer than most. However, I was not at all ready for what I was about to see. The first inkling of weirdness that I got was the FastPass return time—it was only very early afternoon, and already the return time was approaching the Future World closing time of 7PM. Then, I saw the standby line. The posted wait time was 2 ½ hours. I breathed a sigh of relief as the Fast Passes shot out of the ticket-issuing kiosk, thankful that they even had any left and we would not be subjected to the 8th ring of hell known as a standby line. However, as we made our way to the food, I thought about the absurdity of that line. Only in a place like this could you convince hundreds of people to VOLUNTARILY stand for over two hours. In any other circumstances, that would be seen as some form of torture. You are made to stand still, but to keep you on your toes, (and from getting comfortable) every two minutes, you have to move 22” forward. Not only would it be torture, it would be self-inflicted torture—its not as if Mickey’s evil twin (lets call him Yekcim) was hiding in the rafters with a high-powered rifle ready to pick off anyone that literally steps out of line. If this behavior was witnessed out of context, it would no doubt be judged as mass hysteria, because not only are the people all acting crazy, they are all acting the same kind of crazy in unison.



As I chuckled to myself about people acting crazy (do they not understand the concept of the FastPass?), I shortly found myself in another form of craziness, and this time, I myself was taking part. The thing I love about eating at the Land is the sheer variety of food. I’m not at all a picky eater, and I often like to vary my food choices, just to make life a little bit more interesting. So, I always look forward to eating at the Land, because I can decide on a whim what I will be eating. Whatever I feel like at that particular time is what I get to eat. Its like eating at the Hoss’ buffet, but with actual good food. The downside—which I always forget about because it is overshadowed by the giddy anticipation—is the seating situation in the Land. Like most counter-service restaurants in the World, there are clearly not enough tables to correspond with the numerous food choices offered.



So, we have to play the Hover Game. If some of you are not familiar with the Hover Game, it works like this: You split your party up into teams. In this case, there are only two teams, because we are only two people. I dub my team “The A-Team”, and make believe I am the perfect mixture of Hannibal, B.A., Face, and of course Murdock. My DF refuses to create a name for her team, so I am forced to call her “Team Doesn’tKnowHowToHaveAnyFun”. Now, the objective of the Hover Game is to move out into the sea of filled tables, and find a spot that is about to become available. You might think that this is an easy task, but by thinking that, you are obviously showing that you have not played the Hover Game in a real-World cutthroat situation.



First, you have to find a family that appears to be wrapping up with their meal, then (and this is the important part) you have to judge how soon they will be cleaning up and leaving their table. There are a few cues by which this can be judged. First off, if you see the group director pull out any form of park map, move along. This is a group that will be spending the next 10 to 15 minutes deciding what they want to do next. Along those lines, if you see any groups that finish up their meals and proceed to recline back in their seats, keep moving—this is the classic body language (usually made by a prominent male in the group) that he/she is in need of some relaxing time, and will not move from that seat until he/she is darn well ready. No, what you need to look for are the groups that are being lead by a Commando—usually the family is in matching T-shirts, and sometimes one or more of them are wearing an especially eye-searing lime-green. (seriously, who picked that awful color?) These are the people that will be finishing their meals in record time and head off for whatever is next on the most-assuredly handy Disney Trip Itinerary.



When said group is located, you need to take up a tactical position that is far enough away to allow them to finish their meal in peace, but close enough to swoop in and take the table as soon as their butts are exactly 1” off the stool. If, from your staked position, you notice others in the vicinity playing the Hover Game, you have to do one of two things to guarantee your success. You need to either stare them down with your best King of the Cafeteria I Was Here First and I WILL Be Getting This Table So Don’t Even Try look; or, if the group at the table seems to be affable, approach the group leader (you will know which one is the leader by the aforementioned Disney Trip Itinerary), and ask kindly if you may have their seats when they are finished. Giving the other Hover Game player the stinkeye after asking is completely up to you and is legal, although looked-down upon in most circumstances.



After I secured us a table (because, of course, the A-Team always comes through), I reserved the table in the standard method of draping whatever you have on you over the surface, and flagged down DF from her strategic position on the other side of the room. We took turns guarding our golden table while the other person got their food. I don’t particularly remember what I had on this occasion, but I do remember I left full and happy, especially due to the meal plan’s included dessert for CS meals. After we finished eating, I stopped the next person that was aimlessly walking by looking for an open table with a full tray of food (rookie mistake), and told them they could have ours, because, I know not everyone has the wherewithal to play the Hover Game, and I take pity on those who are clueless.



During lunch, we had discussed what we wanted to do in Future World before we moved on to the World Showcase, and we decided the only two attractions that were yet to be had were Living with the Land, and Journey into Imagination. DF has issues with Honey I Shrunk the Audience (I think the mouse part really freaks her out), and we had ADRs for supper at the Coral Reef, so we planned on touring The Living Seas after that. We considered moving right over to Living with the Land, but the standby time was showing well over 45 minutes. (which is my cutoff for waiting in ANY standby line, even ones with a catchy theme song—“...listen to the laaaaaand, listen to the land.”) I figured it would thin out after the lunchtime rush, so we would hit it later when we came back for our Soarin’ Fast Pass return time.



We made our way next door to Journey into Imagination, which thankfully only had a 10 minute wait—I’m sure this is because of its unpopularity as compared to the other attractions surrounding it, but I can’t imagine why some people (including the author of The Unofficial Guide) don’t like this ride. I loved the ride back when it was narrated by the Dreamfinder, and the addition of the wickedly funny Eric Idle has only made it better. Not to mention the fact that this is one of the very few attractions in the Disney-verse that has spawned its own unique character—Figment! After enjoying the ride, we were dumped into the Imagination Station. In the past, this was a great place to spend a few minutes and play around with all the technology toys. I have noticed, however, that as I have gotten older, the dirty looks that I receive from parents whose kids I am playing alongside have exponentially increased. I guess being a kid at heart sometimes has its limitations. After spending far too many precious minutes waiting for one of the photo machines to come available, DF and I decided to head on into World Showcase and on with the rest of our day.

 

[VW_Guy]

Since we were on the east side, we started at Canada and progressed on from there. Well, we didn’t really start with Canada, since there is nothing to do there other than eat a good meal, (yea, I know they have a movie there, but this is DISNEY, people—we’ve got more important things to do) so we walked Disney-pace through and on into England. Here we slowed down and took some time exploring the shops and buying some English tea for DF’s mom. France was next after crossing the bridge, and we each bought a glass of wine to aide in the shopping experience. The mime was out in front of the restaurant torturing a young child with his silent shtick, so we stopped off to watch. I’m sure the wine helped along on this occasion, but I’ve always found all of the street performers in the World Showcase extremely entertaining. The mime’s brand of comedy was a bit silly at times, but very funny, especially when aided by the boy he pulled out of the audience to be the butt of his jokes.



After his routine was done and the crowd dispersed, we kept moving counter-clockwise toward Morocco. I followed DF around as she went from shop to shop looking at all the ethnic wares and commenting how cute everything was. I can personally find nothing “cute” about a silver platter, and the mixture of the heat and the wine was not going well, so I “convinced” DF to move along by using my default persuasion technique of pouting like a five year old. She soon realized I was getting cranky and we moved along into Japan. Now this is a “country” that I don’t mind meandering through. I find everything about traditional Japanese culture to be very tranquil and pleasing, and one of my favorite places to waste time at Epcot (and I know, there are a lot of them) is standing by the koi pond watching the fish. Eventually, we made our way over to the USA pavilion.

We arrived in the Disneyfied Colonial Williamsburg just in time to see the fife and drum corps make their exit. We followed them on their way out, and after I snapped a few pics, we just kept walking along. I do enjoy watching The American Adventure—especially for the naptime-inducing air conditioning—but on this occasion, we didn’t really feel like waiting twenty minutes for the next show, and we didn’t really need an afternoon nap after sleeping in so late. So, on we moved to Italy. We got the standard pictures of the gondolas docked in the lagoon, and turned around to do some shopping. When I say shopping, what I really mean is randomly picking things up, looking at them, and then putting them back down. We found that much of the cool stuff they have in the shops around the World Showcase are a bit pricey, and we were only looking to spend a little bit of money on small souvenirs. DF did manage to find a place selling Venetian glass jewelry and bought a necklace and earrings. I stood back and agreed with every opinion that she had, because, as we all know, a man’s favorite pastime is jewelry shopping. After the torture… I mean… earring shopping, we entered into my favorite “country”—Germany.



As you may have worked out from my alias, I am a lover of German cars, and by extension, German culture. My DF calls me a “Deutsche-phile”, and I’m sure being an engineer only enhances my German-ness. My Dad’s side of the family only came over from the Black Forest region of Germany to the US four generations ago (around the 1890s), and is still nearly full-blooded German. Even today, much of our family’s traditions and cooking remain close to traditional German culture. Much of the family still speaks a little bit of German (mostly because we all learned it in high school) and we have all been back to visit one time or another. So, I really love seeing some of the traditional vestiges of Germany within WDW. We took our time walking around all the shops, sampled some German chocolate, and also got a pickle ornament. (Even though I’ve recently learned that the ‘Christmas Pickle’ is more of a German-American tradition than a traditional German tradition, we still like to hide it in the tree every year.)



After leaving Germany, we traveled into China. For some reason, during all of the trips I have made to Epcot over the years, I have never explored China. I have gone up and walked around in the gardens a bit, but I’ve never spent more than ten minutes total touring time in China. I don’t know if we never have had enough time to devote, or if it always ends up low on the agenda, but I have a hunch that its because of its position. China is between Germany and Norway. Now, traveling from Norway to Germany, I have already explained why I might want to just breeze on by China on my way to the oom-pah sounds and smell of bier. Traveling in the direction we are currently taking, it’s a similar story. Because, as some of you know, there is a certain ride in Norway that calls to you—that beckons you—to power walk your way through China and right into line. And that’s what we do—make a beeline for Maelstrom.



Now, I’m not going to re-hash the well trodden ground of the Maelstrom debate. Some people love it, some people hate it—I happen to think it is one of the classic Epcot rides and should never be fooled with (just look at what they’ve done to Akershus right next door—once an especially unique dining experience that has since been dulled down and draped with Princesses to fit the tastes of picky American children). So, all I’m going to offer on the topic is this—you’ve gotta love the trolls. After getting off our Viking ship and sailing on through the film theater (seriously, has anyone stayed to watch that?), we browse around the Norway shops. DF is forced to repeatedly stop me from buying a $100 2 foot tall wooden troll. (“But it would look SO AWESOME on my desk at work!! PUUULEEEEASE?” “No, the other engineers will think you are a freak—and that’s like, double freak. That’s like the kid that the nerds call nerdy.”) Eventually, I am forced to bow to her superior arguing skills and walk out of Norway with my head hung low.



We enter Mexico next and boy, do I like Mexico. It’s the only pavilion that is entirely indoors and air conditioned. Granted, it’s a bit small, but I’ve always loved the evening scene and relaxed feel you get inside. I have vivid memories of this place on my first trip to Disney with my folks when I was about 7. We ate dinner one night at the SanAngelInn, and I loved the scaled-down volcano that made the scene look like it stretched on forever. That, and meeting Chip and Dale are about the only things I can remember from that first trip. When we were done browsing the marketplace, we took a trip over to El Rio del Tiempo, not because I like the ride very much, but mostly because I feel bad for the CM’s working it, and I like to give them something to do. I also like to pretend that we are alone in the park—because this is the only attraction you can go on at ANY time of the year and be guaranteed to be the only group in line. For those ten minutes of the ride, its like you are the only guests in all of WDW. And when its especially busy in the parks, that is more relaxing than any massage or aromatherapy you could ever get.



We leave Mexico with just enough time to get allllllll the way down to The Living Seas to tour a bit before our suppertime at The Coral Reef. On the way into Future World, we stop off at the OdysseyCenter to use the rest room. I don’t really know what this place was originally intended to be—I think I remember it as a restaurant of some sort back in the 80s. Now, according to my CM friend (in the college program) Disney uses it for corporate meals, meetings and such. I like stopping off here because it is usually out of the way of most of the crowds, and its always clean and quiet. We went in the unlocked door to the restrooms, and at the end of the hallway, from the other side of a screen, I heard some sort of party going on. DF and I sneaked up to the screen and peeked to the other side where it looked like some sort of buffet/character meet was in progress. There were trays of food along one wall, and a bunch of families with kids standing around Tigger and Pooh. We (I) was really tempted to slide on in and partake of the fun, but after thinking about it for two seconds, I realized the worst thing that could possibly happen was to get thrown out of Epcot, so, we just used the facilities and went on our way.



We made our way down to The Living Seas, and found it fairly empty, as I’m sure most of the people were moving out of Future World and into the World Showcase for supper. We walked around a bit in the lower levels—there isn’t much to do here, other than walk around and take in the atmosphere. I don’t know if Turtle Talk with Crush was operating, but from reading about in on the DIS boards, it sounded like something that was only geared towards kids, so we didn’t bother looking for it. After 20 minutes or so of walking around looking at fish, we went back to “the surface” to walk around to the Coral Reef to eat—some fish. After we checked in, we waited about ten minutes to be seated (the longest we had to wait for any restaurant at WDW) and as soon as we walked into the dining room we could tell that the wait was worth it.



The whole room is designed to look as if it is underwater. One entire wall of the room is one of the LivingSeas aquariums, the lights are all dimmed, and there are various glowing objects scattered around the room. This was to be our “big meal” of the trip, as The Coral Reef was considered “signature dining” and would cost us a double Table Service meal each. The menu definitely read the part, offering all sorts of seafood options, from salmon to lobster. I love seafood, and was excited to begin with, but DF being a fish-eating Veggie was ecstatic to have a menu in front of her that contained more than three things she could eat. I think I ended up picking the crab-stuffed flounder, and I can’t really remember what DF got. The wait staff also acted the part, our waiter (I’m sorry, I don’t remember his name) was very fast and genial, and was better than most wait staff you get at many 4-star restaurants across the country (not that I have been to ALL of them, but you get my meaning). When our food arrived after a relatively short wait, the presentation was good—not the best I have seen in a high-class eatery, but better than most places in the World. But then came the letdown—the food itself. Now, admittedly, seafood in general is really hard to do correctly—in fact, I usually don’t bother with it unless we are somewhere near the coastline, or in a restaurant that specializes in it, like the Coral Reef is supposed to. My crab-stuffed fish tasted fine, and was properly cooked, but it was nowhere near fresh, the fish was dried out (possibly from sitting under a warmer) and the stuffing was low-quality crabmeat. Now, normally, I would not point out these things as a reason not to eat at a restaurant (after all, it was still MUCH better than your garden variety Red Lobster, and I still enjoy eating there every once and a while), but after Disney billed it as a “signature restaurant”, and made me pay double for it, I was expecting to be WOWed—as it was, I was moderately entertained by everything except the food. My recommendation to other WDW diners that want to check this place out would have been to only go there for coffee and dessert—don’t bother spending THAT MUCH money on a mediocre meal when there are at least three places over in the World Showcase that WILL actually WOW you. However, just today I was poking around online to see what others thought about it, and I found out that it is no longer listed as “signature dining” on the dining plan, and it only costs one Table Service credit per person. Under these circumstances, I would definitely recommend going, if for nothing other than the ambiance, and a broad offering of above average (but not outstanding) seafood. The one very positive thing I took away from the Coral Reef was the chance to enjoy the 50th Anniversary Dessert. It consisted of a polka-dotted orange flavored cake topped with orange sherbet and vanilla ice cream, with a piece of chocolate adorned with the Disney 50th Anniversary Logo. It was goooooooood. You can also see DF in the background enjoying her Chocolate Wave (I think that’s what it was called).

After leaving the Coral Reef, we headed back up to the Land for our time to Soar(in’). The line was predictably still eighteen miles long, but we slipped right on by with our Fast Passes. Once inside the queue area, I felt some true pity for those that had been waiting here for over two hours. As compared to other WDW wait areas, this one is beyond paltry. It looks as if you are waiting in a scaled-up version of the California welcome center. About the only thing of interest other than the crazy blue neon were the large photos on the walls depicting the beauty of California—however in this setting, they were almost mocking the guests in line, as if to say “Don’t you wish you could be here, rather than standing in some nightmarish line?” After waiting in the FastPass line for about ten minutes, we were ushered up to our loading area where you get the opening safety spiel from Puddy. (Or, the real life Krank, depending on your age bracket). As we began our ride, all the amazement of why people would wait over two hours to experience this attraction was replaced by the total astonishment of how good this ride actually is. Forget waiting two hours for this attraction—I would camp out front for tickets like concert patrons to get back on this thing. It was amazing. And it wasn’t just the show itself that amazed me—after we were placed back on the ground and the lights went up, I stared up at the gigantic machinery that was required to lift three or four dozen people up into the air and gently move them about in precise timing to the movie. The engineering aspect of it all is just mind-boggling. I would kill to work on a project like that—you hear me, Disney—KILL! (There aren’t any Universal executives that need “sent to Neverland” are there?) Actually, Disney—I’m just kidding about the killing stuff—I’m a pacifist—I can’t even kill bees—I just shoo them along if they are bothering me. But I could hunt them down and give them a stern talking to, if need be.



Anywho, after our Soarin’ adventure, we had planned on going on Listen to the Land, but it was mysteriously closed down. I thought it was supposed to run all day up until Future World closing time, but I guess I was wrong. This put a bit of a damper on things, because this was actually one of the rides that DF was REALLY looking forward to. Earlier that day, I had given her a brief overview of all the rides that we would be experiencing after the whole Mission: Space ordeal that morning. She wanted to make sure there weren’t going to be anymore “pukey rides” on the agenda. When I told her about Living with the Land, and how they show you all about different methods of growing plants, etc, she was really intrigued. She and her mother are both really into gardening—so I think she was hoping to pick up a few tips from the pros. This is where my pre-planning came in handy—because we couldn’t go on the ride, I suggested we do something better—I read about the “Behind the Seeds” tour in the Unofficial Guide. Its where they take you behind the scenes of the Land pavilion, and walk you through all the actual hydroponics stations, etc and show you up close how they work. She thought this was a monumentally good idea, and we sat down right there to call up and reserve a spot on one of the tours. As far as our plans went, the next day was going to be a full day at MGM, and then the day after that was going to be the Animal Kingdom day, followed by supper at France in Epcot. Since we didn’t plan on staying at AK for much of the afternoon, I suggested we schedule the tour for late that afternoon, so we would have all morning at AK, then come to Epcot early, take the tour, and make it to France for our ADR. They had a few spots left for the 3:30 tour, and they booked our spot. The tour only cost about $10 per person, and we paid up front with a credit card over the phone.



After leaving the land, we meandered back over to Innoventions to do a bit more shopping, and as 8:00 rolled around, we started heading up into the World Showcase to find a good spot for Illuminations. We stopped off in Mexico, as DF had spied the margarita stand earlier in the day and was looking forward to ending the day with a tall frosty one. Apparently, we weren’t the only ones who thought a drink would be a good complement to the fireworks, and the line was fairly long. As we waited, we chatted with a nice mom in line in front of us, and we all eventually started chatting with the couple in line behind us. These were by far the nicest people we ran into while on the trip—I guess it just goes to show you that our kind of people are the kind of people waiting in line for booze at WDW.

 

[VW_Guy]

Eventually, we got our provisions, and made our way towards the USA pavilion, looking for a good vantage point. My reasoning was that most of the crowds would be out toward the edges of the WS, so they could all make the mad dash for the exit when Illuminations was over. We didn’t mind being the last ones in the park, so we looked for a spot near the top of the WS. As we walked along, my theory proved itself right, and the crowds at the edges of the lagoon began to thin. We eventually found a nice location in Germany, on one of the sidewalks that juts out into the lagoon near the ferry dock. We had to stand because of the high walls, but we didn’t mind, and the show was just about to start.

Now, as I said before, DF and I aren’t really parade or live show kind of people. Yea, you get to see the characters, and hear the saccharine, way too cheery music, but until we have kids of our own that will enjoy that sort of thing, we will skip the crowds, and go on rides while the lines are down. That being said, seeing Illuminations is one of my favorite things to do in WDW. The show is light-years ahead of any fireworks presentation I have ever seen. Unfortunately, I was not able to fully enjoy it on this occasion. In the past, I was always one of the group—one of the kids. This trip was the first where I was the one in charge, and therefore, I took it as my responsibility—as had been my mothers—to make sure I got as much of the ‘magic’ on film. For most of the trip, it was great—I was snapping pictures left and right, and enjoying everything at the same time. I found this not to be true with Illuminations, however. I spent much of my time with the camera poised in front of my face, waiting for the perfect moment to snap a picture so after the digital camera focus-lag time, it would get the firework explosion in full field.

During the show, I was fully annoyed by not getting the timing right, and afterwards, all I have to show for it is two full photo album pages of what looks like blurry lightning. I did manage to get one or two good shots, but in retrospect, I think I would’ve had much fonder memories of the show if I had just put the camera down and been invested in the presentation; rather than having little memory of the show, and a stack of unintelligible pictures.

After Illuminations was over, and everyone around us disappeared in a poof of smoke ala the Roadrunner, we took our time on the walk out, taking pictures of the countries all lit up.

In the past, as I said, I have always traveled with family, and we were much like the rest of the people in the park that night—crawling over each other to be the first ones to the parking lot. I learned after this trip that there is much to be said for just taking your time, and being some of the last people out of the park.

Sure, there isn’t much to do other than take some pictures, but being able to take a photo when there is no-one there to walk in front of you just as you snap the shutter is a joy in itself.

When we eventually reached the bus stop, there were a few stragglers along with us that were headed to the All-Star Resorts. I think the main bus runs had stopped operating by then, (it was going on 11PM) and there were some CMs on walkie-talkies calling busses over from where they were parked nearby as we stood in line. They condensed our line with the line for the Coronado Springs Resort, and called a bus over for us. We were somewhat chilled by the hyper-cooled air conditioning (that had no doubt been on full blast the whole time the bus was parked and waiting) but we were happy nonetheless to be out of the muggy air and on our way to a nice, comfy bed.

You might think that this would be the end of Day #2, when we made it back to the hotel and fell fast asleep. Normally, it would be. I would sign off with some short paragraph meant to tantalize you into reading my next much slaved-over update. Nope, sorry—we are all not so lucky. When we arrived back at All Star Music, already partially lulled to sleep by the gentle rocking of the bus, we passed through the closed down check-in area and sundries shop, and next to what we thought would be the tranquil pool area—calmly lapping away by itself, with perhaps another couple like us—up late from the parks, and relaxing by the poolside. This is how I pictured it—this was not the reality. As we emerged from the main building, it was as if all hell had broken loose. There were gaggles of teens, parents and children everywhere—screaming, splashing and yelling in, around, and beyond the pool. It was almost midnight, and yet there were five-and six year olds running about in soaked bathing suits.



We made our way back to our building, thankfully leaving the chaos behind us. We walked up to our room, and since it faced the parking lot, the antics at the pool were only a distant chatter, and could not be heard once inside with the door closed. We took turns rinsing off in the shower, and we got ready for bed. All the while, there were people walking by our front door, some attempting to be quiet, but most not. At one point, while DF was in the shower, there was a loud knock at the door. I was in my boxers watching TV, and by the time I got a shirt and pants on to see what it was, there was nobody outside. After that, I began to notice the voices in the room next to ours—the one that was one the other side of the interior adjoining door—getting louder. For the most part they were low, but every few minutes, they would swell up into laughter and shouting for a few seconds, and then die back down into a low chatter again.



By the time DF was out of the shower and dressed for bed, the noise next door had gotten very loud. It sounded as if there were about a half-dozen teenaged girls next door, all shouting over one another in a language we could not understand. DF and I were both very antagonized, but since it was going on 1AM, we figured it couldn’t possibly go on for much longer, and besides, we were both way too tired to do anything other than just fall asleep. We were attempting to do just that, when there was another loud knock, this time on the adjoining door. We ignored it at first, but two minutes later, a knock came again, this time followed by a spike of twittering on the other side of the wall. I angrily got up, and, channeling my father’s best “Angry Dad” voice, I pounded back on the door and shouted “Quiet down in there!” This was met by a momentary silence as I’m sure the residents next door realized that one of their friends was not next door, in fact, it was a loud and cranky American.



The apparent silence lasted for about ten minutes, when we heard some commotion outside our door. It sounded like some more teens were either leaving or joining the party, and within two minutes, it was obvious it was the latter. This time, teenaged boys’ voices could be heard mixing in with the higher-pitched female voices, and the volume jumped about four notches. At this point, DF had had her fill, and angrily got out of bed. “I’m going over there to yell at them!” I told her to go ahead, but they probably won’t know what she was saying and just think she was some crazy lady yelling at them for no reason. “I think they are speaking Portuguese. I speak Spanish, its probably close enough!” Although the though of seeing my DF yelling obscenities in Spanish was something I would probably find amusing, I am the last sort of person that would want to ruin anyone’s Disney experience, even if they were harshening ours. I recommended she call the Disney authorities and let them handle it, so she picked up the phone and dialed the front desk. She was automatically transferred to the main WDW switchboard, where she got an automated menu. After two minutes, she finally got an actual person on the line, and explained the situation. She was told that she would get transferred to the security office for the All-Star resorts and proceeded to spend the next 20 minutes waiting on hold.



Eventually, as DF was not-so-patiently waiting on hold, and I was trying to block everything out and think “Disney Thoughts”, we heard the exterior door beside us fling open, and the whole group burst out onto the hallway and down the stairs out of earshot. DF hung up the phone in relief—it was 2 AM, it was finally quiet, and we finally got to go to sleep.

 

[VW_Guy]

And there she is--my week's worth of writing only equaling a half day of actual touring.

Geez, am I long-winded or what?!?!

It wasn't posting for me in one piece, so I had to break it down into three posts. Hope you all don't mind.

Well, anyway, I'm off to accomplish something with whats left of my Saturday. Stay tuned next week for day #3:

Part VII—Yeeey--MGM!, Or: Its Just Like Being Back in 1940s Hollywood. That is, if They Had a Giant Hat in the Middle of the Street Back Then...

 

[GeorgiaAristocat]

Great addition - looking forward to the rest!

MAELSTROM!

 

[gopherit]

THanks for placating us a bit more... and I'm totally with you about the camera thing. I always say, Life is for living - preferably on the OTHER side of the lens! For the life of me, I do not know how some folks do it, with their faces pressed the whole time to a video screen or lens. What's the point? Just order the Disney travel video and save yourself a hotel room! I always eat those words after I go to the Kodak pavillion, though - I see that "True Colors" intro and feel like I need to take 10,000 shots of everything I see, in between tears shed for my babies who are growing up, parents who are growing old, for skies of blue, red roses too - sigh, it gets to me, sniff sniff. :cry:

I'm also with you on the Coral Reef. We went there for our 12th anniv along with BIL/SIL and their fam... they live within a few miles of the coast and BIL loves to fish - both were very excited about it, much like your DF. Ambiance - great. Service (in our case, not so great - certainly amiable, but something was amiss as brought me a totally different meal than what I ordered. Might have been kitchen's fault - hard to say.) But the food - not worth the price. I second the idea of going here for dessert & coffee, but I understand it's probably not what the Coral Reef wants to hear - they want to sell those seats to dinner guests, I'm sure! I'm wondering if lunch would be better here....

And next time, pony up and get the troll! Throw caution (and the opinions of office nerds) to the wind! I have let people talk me out of a Bunsen Honeydew action figure set for FAR TOO LONG - and this trip, that baby is MINE. I'm getting my Beaker watch for Mother's day too...nyah. Let the science geeks of the world laugh, but we know the truth - it's only out of jealousy. GET THE TROLL.

ANYWAY - thanks again, waiting for the rest....

 

[jackdis]

GREAT, great, great!!!! Loved it!!!

 

[a*lil*bit*goofy]

now THAT was worth the wait.

just don't make us wait that long again, PLEAAAAAAASEEEEEE?

 

[VW_Guy]

I have let people talk me out of a Bunsen Honeydew action figure set for FAR TOO LONG - and this trip, that baby is MINE. I'm getting my Beaker watch for Mother's day too...nyah.

Beaker is the MAN!

mememememe, me, me, mememememe...... MEMEMEME!!
(Thats Beakereze for "Thanks for reading my.....oh my, I seem to have just caught on fire!")

Although, in addtion to Beaker & Bunsen, may I also recommend a side of Swedish Chef? Because who doesn't like to throw a few live fish around thier kitchen every now and again??

Huhr'di, hurh'di, hurh'di!

BTW, I've heard only good things about your TR, and I plan on getting to it, as soon as I finish up with ZZUB's trilogy. Hes almost as long winded as I am....

 

[Stitch#1]

I'm thinking your could turn this into a small book and sell it!!
Love your writing style and your wit.
Next time buy the troll! DH has several of them and now my son is into them too!