On the morning of May 29, I woke up, fluttered my eyelash extensions, threw off the covers, flounced to the balcony, opened it, got out my pitch pipe to find my key, and belted out "Good morning Baltimore!"
Savvy readers will notice some fallacies with the above. (1) I do not have eyelash extensions. Or at least, I haven't mentioned them. Because I don't have them. (2) The balcony, in truth, was locked and wouldn't open. (3) I did not mention bringing a pitch pipe, and so I don't have one, yada yada. (4) We weren't in Baltimore. (5) I am not Tracy Turnblad, and my mother is not John Travolta. Nor is she Divine. Nor is she a man.
I do, however, like
Hairspray.
Savvy readers will also note that Nevi and Melneth did not join me in the imaginary fluttering of eyelashes and musical-reenactment, and this has some grounding in truth: that is because in our group, I am the Early Riser.
But thankfully Nevi and Melneth were on board with following
The Unofficial Guide's touring plans, which recommend getting to the park before rope drop. So once we were all up and had eaten breakfast and made ourselves presentable, we headed down to the lobby and out front to wait for the bus.
What's this? say you.
I thought you had Pearl! Why aren't you taking Pearl?
Dear readers, we were not taking Pearl to the Animal Kingdom because we had experienced a bout of save-cash-itis and balked at the $11 parking fee. And since the Animal Kingdom touring plan recommended that you arrive at the park just 30-40 minutes early rather than, say, the 70 listed for Magic Kingdom, we figured we'd give the Downtown Disney off-site bus system a go.
The bus system was supposed to run every fifteen minutes starting at 8:00. We got down there at 7:50, early enough to have this picture taken:
Side note: I took a little too much joy in using PhotoPlus 6's smudge tool on Nevi's and Melneth's faces. I think my brain actually cheered "Wheee!" at some point. Next time I may see if I can make the pixels really big, or maybe copy another part of the photo and paste it over their heads. I foresee a great source of amusement.
So that you may put a face with the TR writer, I've left mine in.
Continuing on: At 8:00, we started to look at each other nervously.
At 8:05, we voiced our concerns to one another, and other bus-waiters did the same. At 8:06, a 60s-ish woman sitting on the bench overheard us all and said, "It's ridiculous! We've been waiting here for the Epcot bus since seven o'clock!"
To which a husband, in the guise of speaking to his wife, replied, "Honey, the buses start running at 8:00, don't they?"
"Yup," said she.
This two-sentence conversation I took to encompass all that Melneth, Nevi, and I later realized we'd all been thinking.
Why in the world were the lady and her poor husband waiting since seven? If they seriously thought the buses began running at seven, why didn't they go ask someone where the bus was at, say, 7:30?
Mysteries of the universe, which we never asked because our bus arrived shortly after. It stopped by the Magic Kingdom first, and we were deposited in front of Animal Kingdom not at 7:30, but at 7:40. We vowed to take Pearl thereafter.
We spent our remaining time ensuring we had our plan down. Following the Touring Plan meant that someone (Melneth elected Nevi) would go get FastPasses for Expedition Everest while the others got to cool their heels at TriceraTop Spin, "if you have young children in your group." Having no children, young or otherwise, in our group, we amended that to cooling our heels at Primeval Whirl.
Rope drop, and Nevi was off, having given Melneth the backpack they shared (since I had my lovely sea green baggallini) for safe-keeping.
Melneth and I enjoyed a leisurely stroll to Primeval Whirl. Then we noticed the giftshop by Primeval Whirl, and decided to cool our heels literally. It wasn't that hot yet, but we like air conditioning. Melneth looked for a gift for her sister, but didn't get anything. I looked at overpriced coffee mugs and didn't get anything. We drifted back outside, and Nevi arrived a bit later. Throwing our arms up in the air, we shouted "Victory!" (This happened several times during the first couple of days. If you don't cheer yourself, who will?) Then we walked onto Primeval Whirl.
The three of us giggled like idiots during the entire thing. "Oh, here we go! We're turn--heeheeehee! Oh, look, now it's--hahahahee! Watch out, it's--gigglegigglegiggle!"
Yes, we are gigglers. But in fairness to Melneth and Nevi, it was probably I who drove them to it. I do scream during roller coasters and the like, but it gets all high-pitched and non-scream-like, so then I usually just end up laughing.
Anyway, after finishing Primeval Whirl (gigglegiggle) we headed for Dinosaur, which was also a walk-on, so speedily so that I almost didn't get this pic:
But get it I did, and then we traveled back in time. On several occasions I thought my sea green baggallini might get left in the cretaceous period (or Jurassic or whatever it was) since our vehicle jounced so much, and I could feel my baggalini throwing itself madly back and forth (I hadn't bothered to take it off, thinking it'd be safer on my back than in the little mesh bags they provide to stow your belongings).
Bones still supposedly where they were supposed to be, we made our way over to Kali River Rapids. We'd come prepared with ponchos. Nevi wore hers. Melneth and I were too lazy to get ours out.
In our raft, a red-headed boy who looked about ten repeatedly opined that he was afraid of the water. Seriously, about every thirty seconds, it was "I hope we don't get wet, because I really don't like the water. But I always get wet on these types of rides. People sitting across from me never get wet, you'll see." We'd go around a bend. "Ha ha! I didn't get too wet that time, which is good because I don't really like the water..." and so on. During the entire ride. If I hadn't safely stowed my camera in the baggalini in that covered bin they have in the center of the raft, I might have taken a picture of him just so I could better remember the annoying red-headed boy.
Then again, I think he made a strong enough impression even without the photo.
Nevi, despite the use of her poncho, got wetter than Melneth and I, and subsequently vowed to not go on any other water rides. Shorts sopping, we trudged to our next stop:
Flights of Wonder.
Next up: Well, are the matching T-shirts powerful, or aren't they?
I do like the idea of putting the UG tour plans in the baggie... I'll have to remember that one.
"I just gotta be me! ...As long as it's not like you." 
Love it! I had Samantha, I got Kit for Daisy, but she has never been a doll girl at all. Now I have to go look and see the 70s doll, which pretty much freaks me out.
Welcome! You may have some sunglasses to block the glare of the TPT if necessary. 
OUT::::I suppose I have to wait until after the Wedding. That is a loooooooooong time to wait and see if matching T-shirts are powerful. 
When I first started yesterday's installment, I had a vague thought that I might be able to get to that bit. Even though I prove time and again to myself that I can stretch things out into long posts that risk losing readers, I still have delusions about my brevity. 
Luckily I just thought she was cute.
You don't have to tell him why....just tell him he's had it coming since Sept of '88 
