JULY 7TH PART THREE: We Pillage, We Plunder, We Won't Turn Off Our Flash, Drink Up Me Hearties Yo Ho!
We went over to Adventureland next.
Just look at those crowds.
Actually, a HUGE tour group got in line for Pirates of the Caribbean just before us. You can kind of see them in the picture. They were all in pink. As we were walking in, a CM stopped us and, with a wink and a nudge, said You should probably head to the left. I love that the cast members know were not here for sharing a boat with giant tour groups.
When we got to the loading dock, another cast member who looked like he was using up every ounce of willpower to not let out a very long string of expletives asked us if we knew any Portuguese. My family all turned to look at me because apparently to them taking 6 years of Spanish in school means Im also fluent in Portuguese. Um, ok.
I explained that I dont speak Portuguese, I (kind of) speak (some) Spanish. The CM nodded across the dock to where the tour group kids were already flashing away with their cameras and said that they didnt respond to a sweet, but stern No flash photography please in English. Everyone was still looking at me, so I was just like Well, IN SPANISH WHICH IS TOTALLY NOT PORTUGUESE JUST FYI, it would be something like No tomar fotos con flash but I really dont know BECAUSE I HAVENT TAKEN A CLASS IN FOUR YEARS STOP PUTTING ME ON THE SPOT ALSO GOOGLE LANGUAGES OF THE WORLD BECAUSE REALLY YOU THINK SPANISH IS PORTUGUESE?
Anyway, we loaded into our boat o non-tour-groupers and soon realized that being in the boat
behind the tour group might just be worse than sharing one.
The second the ride started it was move two feet, 30 CAMERA FLASHES, move another two feet, 30 MORE CAMERA FLASHES, and so on. Lather, rinse, take a ton of photos that may or may not actually be of something. Who would know? Its pitch-black in there.
I was really hoping to learn that besides no tales, dead men also tell off people who ruin the experience for everyone else, but no luck.
Thankfully, the flash photography became less of an issue after the drop. Was it mean of me to have hoped that they had no idea it was coming and their cameras ended up in the water? Because I did.
Of course, as soon as A Pirates Life for Me kicked in, the chanting started, and it kind of made me long for the flash photography. Im all about singing along and having fun, but theres a way to do it quietly and respectfully without annoying every other person on the ride and these kids were not doing it that way.
I mean, its not a sporting event, its a theme park. The soundtrack to
Space Jam wasnt playing over the loudspeaker so there was no reason for weird clapping (and it wasnt even on beat w/the music which to be honest made me angrier than the clapping itself) and repeatedly yelling HEY! Time and place, people. Time and place.
After Pirates, we headed to an attraction where clapping your hands and stomping your feet is not only appropriate, but encouraged.
THE COUNTRY BEAR JAMBOREE!
This attraction is widely regarded as lame, politically incorrect, and in need of replacement, but it has a special place in my heart. For one, its ridiculous in the best possible way. I mean, it features bears singing songs about getting drunk (and depressed), getting turned on (and turned down), and great big puddles of blood on the ground.
If that doesnt scream national treasure, I dont know what does.
But, more importantly, it was a favorite of my late grandfather. He taught me to love these silly audioanimatronic bears on my very first trip to WDW. At four, I didnt understand the jokes, but I loved loving things that the people I loved loved. And Grandpa loved the heck outta Big Al.
As it was still fairly early in the day, there werent many people who had a hankerin for real old country rhythm (their loss), so we were the only family in the holding area at first.
The claw marks all over the floor are a nice touch.
By the time we were let into the theater, a decent amount of people had joined us. We still had a row to ourselves, but it wasnt empty.
I mean, look, you can count the tens of people in this picture.
Thats a big crowd for the Country Bears. And everyone was really into it! One older woman gave a big round of applause after every number. It was cute.
Much like the Jungle Cruise, this show is 10x more fun when the people around you are into it. One of my all-time favorite Disney memories is the time we saw the Country Bears late at night with a group of super drunk frat guys in the row ahead of us.
Yep, you read that right. Inebriated people. In the Magic Kingdom. And Boozin It Up w/Belle wasnt even open yet.
Anyway, these guys were awesome. Im the type of person who finds others drunken antics highly amusing as long as they dont involve punching me in the face or getting behind the wheel of any sort of vehicle and these didnt disappoint. There was singing, there was dancing, and good times were had by all.
So basically what Im saying is that a strategically placed beer stand wouldnt hurt anybody.
After the show, we decided to grab lunch at Pecos Bills.
We ordered a burger, pulled pork, and a chicken wrap.
Dad accomplished The Triple Meal Whammy by sampling some of each. He also said, and I quote, Im gettin my dine on.
Parents who make Stacey jokes >>>>>>>
The food was great as always (its kinda hard to make a bad chicken wrap) and we left satisfied.
As you may know, Mom and I have a bit of an obsession with Disney Christmas ornaments, so we decided to go look around Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe. Its one of our favorites. Granted, there are only like 4 Christmas shops on property so that isnt saying much, but whatever. Prefacing anything with Ye Olde automatically makes it 60x more awesome than everything else.
Dad and Katie wanted nothing to do with us referring to everything as "Ye Olde" for 20 minutes ("I would like one ye olde Mickey bar, please"), so they went to ride Haunted Mansion.
While we were browsing, a CM noticed my birthday button and pulled me over to a phone so I could listen to a special birthday message from Goofy. It was cute. I felt like an idiot standing there in the middle of the store on the phone, but it was worth it.
After looking around a bit more (we had a No Buying Ornaments Early in the Trip rule), we headed back outside.
Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! was just finishing so I danced along from where we were.
ITS THE TIIIIIIIME OF YOUR LIIIIIIIIFE YOU DONT WANNA MISS OUT ON RIGHT HERE AND NOW
We told Dad and Katie wed meet them at the Haunted Mansion exit, so thats what we did.
Old-timey filter. Spooky scary. Boys becoming men. Men becoming wolves.
Yeah, I gave up on the filter after one picture. Im not much of a photo editor. I get way too distracted by things like singing Werewolf Bar Mitzvah and just resize the image.
AND I NEARLY DROPPED THE TORAH WHEN MY HANDS TURNED INTO PAWS
Sorry, sorry. Focus, Kara.
Those 999 happy haunts have a pretty cool hangout. I wonder how theyd feel about a living, breathing roommate. Id have to do something about all the dust, but at least I wouldnt have to worry about them stealing my food. Hmmm
)
