FInally caught up!
I also hate when the "real world" tries to intrude on my Disney time. I hope things work out in your housing situation. I try to keep the attitude that "when it's right it works". Here's a
for good measure. Now get to writing missy.
Oh yeah, and that more comment
. My DD(14) rode Summit Plummit and when she got to the end it took her almost a full minute to crawl out. I asked what took so long and she said that she
was not getting out until she got rid of the wedgie.
addictedtothemouse, thanks for the
, and the kick in the butt. I am gittin' to writing, ma'am!
In fact, here's
all of
Day Seven: Thursday, December 11: Let it Precipitate, Let it Precipitate, Let it Precipitate:
Beep beep beep! The alarm rings at 6:30, and Bill and I are ready to get up and ride Segways at Fort Wilderness! The weather channel is predicting apocalyptic rain for today, with flooding and lightning and frogs falling from the sky (okay, they don’t actually predict frogs, but they do make this sound like the storm of the century), but while it’s cloudy outside, there’s no rain yet – fingers crossed! I call the WDW-TOUR line and ask what happens if we’re rained out; the CM tells me that, as of now, the tour is still on, that the Fort Wilderness tour features all-terrain Segways that can handle more rain than the Epcot ones, and that half the tour is indoors, so at worst, we’ll do the indoor half and get a partial refund for the other half. Sounds fair, but we’re still hoping for a full tour of fun.
We dress quickly and grab breakfast from the Grab n’ Go, still sticking to yogurt and fruit and muffins, so still no review of the hot food they’ve made available this year. And we
should take the boat to Fort Wilderness, where we've never been, but the CM at the desk told us a cab would be faster (wrong), so once again we take a taxi, which drops us at the front of the FW compound. And we need to be at the back of the FW compound. Whoops. So we take the internal FW bus (which comes quickly, thank goodness), and find the building where the tour starts without any trouble. We’re fifteen minutes early, but everyone else was earlier than us, so we’re all assembled, and the tour guides decide to get us going right away, before the threatened rain starts to fall.
We go through a short training period (shorter than the Epcot training, and without the long video about the invention of the Segway), and then we hit the trails. WOOHOO! I sure do love riding the Segway! Such a feeling of freedom and grace, especially for those of us who are not blessed with excellent balance. We’re taken around the RV grounds, where we see the campers with the famous light display we’ve seen on the Samantha Brown Travel Channel special:
We also ride through some undeveloped tree-lined areas, while friendly guides Frank and Bob point out interesting flora and quiz us on Disney trivia.
Of course I know which horse on the carousel is Cinderella’s, and which country’s flag (aside from the USA’s) flies permanently in the MK, but I do try not to be a show-off know-it-all, and let others take a crack at the answers.
I should mention that I am wearing my brand new rain suit, which I purchased before the trip, a two-piece pants and hoodie outfit that makes me look like the Gorton’s fisherman. And now it’s starting to sprinkle, but I am completely dry and warm and happy. The guides lead us into the stables and distribute ponchos – I’m delighted that we’re going to continue to tour, despite the rain – and we take some time to commune with the horses, and check out the photos of Walt and his favorite polo ponies, as well as equine Disney stars of the past.
Then the guides ask if we want to hang out a while longer in the stable, or hit the trails again. “Is this a yea or neigh vote?” asks Bill, as I slap my forehead and pretend not to know him. Everyone votes to move along, and we’re back out in the rain, riding along the trail to the Wilderness Lodge.
Bill Scurry, Segway comedian:
It feels like we’re in a totally different world, riding down the rugged trail under the trees with their Spanish moss, with no signs of the busy theme parks in sight. A few people jog by on the trail – we’re committed exercisers, but you won’t find us jogging in the rain at Disney! It’s very pleasant to be in such a relaxed natural setting, but in retrospect, I think we preferred the Epcot Segway tour – we love the action of the parks, and this is quite removed from that. But we definitely give this tour a big thumbs up, and are sad when it’s time to turn around and head back to the starting point at Fort Wilderness.
We thank Bob and Frank for their patient and expert guiding, then we hop on a boat back to the Wilderness Lodge, and catch a quick ride over to the Studios (which I just nearly called “MGM,” because I am a traditionalist at heart). By now, it’s really pouring, and thought it’s only 11 or so, there are as many people leaving as there are people arriving. I’m still okay in my rain suit, though I fear that my sneakers are going to get wet and become my Achilles’ heel; Bill is making do with a ballcap and umbrella. Rain stinks, but if it drives people out of the park, we’ll deal with it!
We head right to Toy Story and pick up a Fip for 3pm, then we slosh over to the Tower of Terror and wait on a short standby line (made slightly longer by the fact that only one side of the tower is operational right now). One good ride deserves another, and we’re exiting our second trip on the ToT when we pass right by a bunch of Streetmosphere characters, standing stock still in the ride photo area like they’re statues. I love Streetmosphere, and I hope we’ll get a chance to see them in action at least once this trip! But even standing still, they manage to be funny and diverting.
Off to our 11:55 lunch at the 50’s Prime Time Café, another place we’ve never tried before. And what a perfect way to spend time in the rain – in the cozy comfort of a really fun restaurant, with plenty to look at and admire and eat. Our server is Aunt Cindy, and she’s droll and sarcastic, which we love – she makes Bill take off his ballcap, but then offers us a shot from dad’s liquor cabinet if we want one. “You’re our favorite aunt!” we tell her.
Again, my notes fail me, so I don’t know what we have for lunch today – I know mine’s a fried fish sandwich, which is tasty, but there’s a lot more dry bread than fish on it, and I wonder if I’m going to be forced to eat my leftover bread after I rescue the fish from inside it. Bill has the meatloaf, I think (I’d ask, but he’s at work), and we greatly enjoy our surroundings as we dine. At one point, Cindy asks if Bill needs another soda, and he says, “No, I’m fine.” As she walks away, we hear her mutter, “That’s an opinion.”
I’m once again succumbing to the face-spraining yawns, despite taking DayQuil with magical uppers:
I hate to say it, but I think I might need a nap in the room before we come back to the park for more Studios fun this afternoon. We make a pit stop to get Rock N Roller Coaster Fips for later (we’d get ToT Fips, but they’re not distributing them, probably because half the ride isn’t operational today); then we start heading out of the park. We’re walking towards the bus stop, when my foot hits a giant puddle, and I’m soaked to the ankle – gah! But the bus comes within two minutes, and we take a chilly but efficient ride back to the Contemporary.
Nap time! Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz…
We’re up and out of the room again by 3:15, restored and ready for an afternoon of fun. And the weather has cleared up – now it’s sunny, and the buses are crowded with people making their way back to the parks. We check out the ToT situation – still no Fips, still only one side working, and the long standby line reflects that. So we grab another RnR Fip, and ride single rider-style. This time, we notice a sign in the loading area for the Buena Vista Fence Co., phone number 544-6500, and wonder what happens if you call it. We’re phone free, though, so we don’t get to try it. And it’s not even listed on
this site. I wonder what it could be!
After our 0-60 mile per hour takeoff, two inversions, and one corkscrew (but still no instructions re: Stephen Tyler’s hat!), we head back out into the post-downpour sunshine and through the crowded streets towards Toy Story to use the morning’s Fip. I am hooked on this ride! And, as strange as it sounds, I would like to spend a little time in the standby queue one of these days – not A LOT of time, mind you, just enough to appreciate all the details and catch Mr. Potato Head’s act. In the meantime, I am getting better at aiming and firing quickly, and I upgrade from bunny to beaver as my prize. Yeah!
From Toy Story to the Muppets – what could be more fun than bouncing around between hilarious and diverting entertainments? And, as Circusgirl noted, even the shop after the Muppet movie is a delight. Here’s a sign that’s tucked in a corner of the shop, proving what I’ve always suspected about showbiz:
The writer is always wrong! Tell me about it…
So we’re all Toy Storied and Muppe-fied, and now we’re heading back towards the ToT to see if they’ve resolved the earlier snafus that had standby lines backed up to 40 minutes. But as we’re strolling down Sunset, we run into…Streetmosphere! Hooray! And there’s another Adventurer’s Club alumnus in the troupe! They’re in the midst of a “Funniest Citizen of Hollywood” contest, whereby they take an audience suggestion of an item (Diet Coke, computer, etc.), and make a joke following this formula: “Ninety nine Diet Cokes walk into a bar, and the bartender says, ‘Hey, get out, we don’t serve Diet Cokes in here.’ And the Diet Cokes say, ‘Just put it on our Tab.’” Ba dum bump! The crowd is dying with laughter, and I’m so impressed at how nimble the performers are at improvising and staying in character, even while they crack each other up. I could seriously watch these folks for hours; Streetmosphere is on my list of the top five attractions in all of the parks. Best moment: The MC grabs a cell phone from a kid’s ear and says, “He can’t talk right now, he’s watching a show,” then snaps the phone shut. Brilliant!
But they finish their act all too soon, and we proceed back to the ToT, which is still backed up and broken down. So we use both of our RnR Fips, back to back, and it’s great to finally ride next to Bill for a change – even if the DJ doesn’t say anything about checking out Stephen Tyler’s hat, we can say it to each other. And when we get off the ride, there’s Stephen on the big video screen, and he’s wearing a hat! “There it is!” I say to Bill, excitedly. “CHECK IT OUT.”
But there’s no time to waste this evening, and we get back out there into the crazy crowds, thinking we’ll check out the Osbourne Lights again. WRONG. The crowd there is shoulder-to-shoulder, ugh! So we decide to hop to Epcot, and we mosey out of the park and towards the friendship boats – yeah, we’d make better time by walking, but the boat’s nice, too, and you get to sit down for the ride. In front of us is a solo young man with prostheses below each knee – I’m betting he’s one of the veterans we heard would be in the parks this week as a special “thank you” from Disney. I’m self-conscious about intruding on this guy’s personal space, or I’d say thank you to him personally. I hope he’s having a good time at the parks, and that he’s got friends he’s traveling with nearby.
Also on line with us is a family who are not watching their little boys, who are running and chasing a balloon and getting dangerously close to knocking into the vet in front of us. The parents aren’t paying a whit of attention, and I can tell that the kids are plotting to run ahead when the line starts to move, and that the parents are going to go with the flow and follow them, effectively cutting as many people as their kids can cut. This starts getting my dander up, and I am shooting looks and muttering things that can easily be overheard about the importance of people staying in line, and how I personally will not brook any line jumping. I mean, cut in front of me, that’s one thing. But cut in front of the guy who lost both legs below the knee? Not on my watch.
Anyway, the line starts moving, and I make myself incredibly wide and in-the-way so that the little hellions can’t pass, though they try – their parents are forced to take notice and call the kids back to their spot in line. And what does it matter anyway? We all get on the boat, and we all get seats, and we all take off for a happy voyage, with a skipper who’s got a serious old school Brooklyn accent, which makes me happy.
Also on board, and seated right next to me, is a woman with a thoroughly decorated handmade hat, including little Minnie Mouses, and presents, and Christmas lights, and plastic grapes, and I don’t even know what-all. She immediately starts talking to me about her daughter, who works on the Dream Team, and how her daughter can’t even tell her which park she’ll be in on any given day, or she’d lose her job. I’m smiling and asking questions and generally conversing with her (the skipper has nicknamed her “Minnie Pearl”); then we reach her stop, and without so much as a “goodbye, nice chatting with you,” she just takes off. Okay then! Have a magical trip!
Once we reach Epcot, we realize that crowds are just as heavy here as they were at the Studios, but that’s all right – it’s shopping time! We head straight to Japan, where Bill gets some sake and some litchi gummies (yum), and I get some more jigsaw puzzles (for a grand total of four so far this trip). Then we trek over to Le Cellier and check in for our 8pm ressie.
We take a seat outside, giddy from a full day of fun (even the nap was fun), and wait for our party to be called. Sometimes people have a hard time with my last name, Erlbaum – I have been called “Earbloom,” “Elbow,” and even “Erglebims” in the past. So we spend the five or ten minute wait riffing on more mispronunciations – “We have a table for the Ergonomic party? Ergonomic, party of two? The, uh, Elephantitis party?” “Yes, that’s us, we’re the Elephantitises.” We’re cracking ourselves up pretty hard, as we are wont to do, and when a charming young CM comes out to ask for the “Erulbum party,” we have trouble keeping a straight face. But we want our food, so we pretend to be Erulbums, and are guided to our table, where we meet an adorable blonde waiter named Colin.
Colin and Bill talk hockey for a few minutes, then he takes our drink orders (beer for Bill, club soda for me), and leaves us some delicious bread. I resist the temptation of the pretzel bread, and have a sensible salad for an appetizer, and the Portobello ravioli for an entrée; Bill has a sensible chicken chipotle sausage app and the pork osso bucco, followed by the sensible maple crème brulee for dessert. We remain big fans of the food here, and the service is terrific. Colin makes it onto our list of CMs to commend to Guest Services when we get home.
We’ve never checked out the Boardwalk at night, so we wander out of the park and towards the resort area. I don’t think I realized exactly how close the Epcot resorts are to the park – wow, that’s convenient! And the Boardwalk is hopping tonight – there seems to be some special live event going on at the ESPN zone, and it’s also occupying the Atlantic Dance Hall. We catch the last few minutes of a unicycling juggler’s act, and he’s hilarious as well as talented – at the end of his act, he allows a four-year-old kid to help him pick up his juggling clubs. Every time the kid hands him one, he says, “thank you,” and drops another one. And the kid keeps picking them up, oblivious, and handing him to the guy, who keeps dropping them. This goes on for a few minutes, while we’re all dying laughing, then he packs up and rides off.
There aren’t any other performers out tonight, so we decide to check out the lobby of the Boardwalk, which has a gingerbread carousel, and some gorgeous light fixtures, which cause me to think of Lady Lallie’s famous light fixture thread (now I wish I had taken a picture). We’ve been debating the pros and cons of staying at the Boardwalk or Yacht and Beach Club for our Dec. 09 trip, if Space Mountain is really going to be undergoing refurb during that time, but as nice as these resorts are, we’re still leaning towards the Contemporary.
And speaking of which, it’s time to head back there – even with our nap, we’re still under the weather, and the early mornings and hectic pace have been wearing us out. We cab it back to our hotel (
) and Bill goes straight to the room, while I check out the gift shops on the fourth floor. I still have a long list of friends’ kids to shop for, and of course we have to get two of this year’s plastic drinking cups for our collection. The shops at the Contemporary have a great selection, and I could browse for days, but I still haven’t made up my mind what I want for everyone, so I stick with the cups and make mental notes about the rest of the items I might want to snag for later.
Back up in the room, Bill is drowsily awaiting me. I change into bedclothes, snuggle up next to him, and we drop off as soon as our heads hit the pillow. Another blissful Disney day, free of outside world distractions – let’s hope we can keep it up!
I love the idea of dancing to Thriller with Tigger ears on - can life get any better?? 
)
(Okay, he cracks me up too. But I try not to encourage him.) 
