Welcome to the Wilmot's Wild World of Humidity! May 27-June 4, 2011 - Updated 7/22

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Robin & Larry Wilmot – May/June 2011 – Pop Century

Travel dates: May 27 – June 4, 2011
Travel method: Southwest Airlines
Resort: Pop Century

Cast of Characters

Larry Wilmot – husband of Robin, lover of the Carousel of Progress (pronounced “PRO-gress,” please, he’s British!) and, inexplicably, the American Idol Experience.
Robin Wilmot – wife of Larry, lover of Soarin’ and the way Patrick Warburton says, “Huh-LO.”
Paula Hanna – sister of Robin, wife of Wes, lover of the Magic Kingdom and Kim Possible, wonders why small, woodland creatures and birds don’t come and help out with all aspects of life.
Wes Hanna – brother-in-law, husband of Paula, lover of the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

Prologue

Have you ever dreaded a trip to Walt Disney World? I mean REALLY dreaded going? Not just having to pack or having to do a million last-minute things to get ready for the trip or having to endure a long series of airports and plane rides, but real live, honest-to-goodness, I don’t want to go? Well neither had I, until this trip.

And it certainly wasn’t an emotion that I understood. I mean, I LOVE Disney. I’ve been going to Disneyland since I was four years old and Disneyworld since I was a teenager. I met my husband through Disney. We got married at the Wedding Pavilion. We honeymooned in both Disneyworld AND Disneyland. If you cut me, I practically BLEED Mickey ice cream bars, for crying out loud!

Anyway, the reason I was dreading the trip was because of my foot or, more specifically, my heel. Late last year, Larry and I decided that we really needed to work on getting into a bit better shape, especially if we wanted to be able to do all those things we talk about doing whenever our great big beautiful tomorrow comes around and we get to quit our jobs and travel the globe, becoming ambassadors of goodwill. Larry has some internal health issues that so often crop up in men of *ahem* a certain age (high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, etc.) and I have some external issues that so often crop up in women of *ahem* a certain sedentary lifestyle (bad knees, widening hips, etc.) So, we got really motivated about stepping up the frequency with which we visited the gym and about walking regularly.

We were going great guns too until I had a really bad flare up of plantar fasciitis (severe pain in the heel caused by a tearing of the connective tissue that runs from the bottom of the heel to the ball of the foot—I’m not a doctor, but I play one on TV). Two trips to the doctor and several bouts of steroid/anti-inflammatory treatments later and it still felt like someone was stabbing a knife in my heel with every step I took. And we all know how many steps are involved in a Disney vacation.

Oh, and did I mention a complete ban of all shoes with any heel whatsoever and without good arch support? This might have been one of the most hurtful blows of all. You see, I love shoes. Disney and shoes. Those are the two loves of my life. (And Larry, obviously. Of course. Duh. Though I may just love him because he also loves Disney and doesn’t seem to care that I tend to buy a lot of shoes!) I actually once donated 75 pairs of shoes to a clothing drive for displaced Liberians and had way more pairs than that still left. And now they tell me no heels and must have good arch support. Have you seen shoes with good arch support? They have about as much sex appeal as a comfortable waistband.

But I digress.

So, I didn’t see how my foot would ever see me through the rigors of a Disney vacation. I started dreading the trip, thinking about how I wouldn’t be able to keep up with everyone and how my family would be disappointed that we couldn’t get lots done and go go go like we usually do. I actually became quite depressed the closer the trip came. I finally confided in Larry what the problem was and he immediately assured me that a) I was being a complete pratt and, b) of course everyone understood that I couldn’t do everything that I normally could. I made him promise that he wouldn’t feel obligated to stay with me if I was needing a break and that he’d go and do stuff without me.

At one point, Larry suggested that I might want to consider renting *gasp* a scooter, but I quickly put the kibosh on that idea. My pride, which was considerably more swollen than my foot, just wouldn’t let me consider that.

So, it was with great trepidation (and an even greater stash of pain killers!) that I began the trip. We had made these reservations (and moved them around several times) so long ago that I think the confirmations were chiseled on stone tablets. The travel dates were originally much earlier in the year to take advantage of milder weather but we pushed the dates back as far as possible to give my foot time to heal (ha!) but yet still take advantage of the free dining being offered in that time frame.

Unfortunately, pushing the reservations back meant that we’d have to endure Memorial Day as well as summer weather. Once we had made our airline reservations, we were locked in. My sister, Paula (who also lives and breathes Disney), and her husband, Wes, have their wedding anniversary in May and they decided that it would be fun to join us for a slightly belated anniversary celebration. All of the resort discounts were sold out for the Memorial Day weekend, so they settled for an overlapping trip; arriving three days after Larry and me and staying on three days longer.

We both had our flights with Southwest Airlines and had our resort reservations with the famous DCV resort, Pop Century. No, I did not mis-type (for once), nor am I dyslexic. Not DVC (better known as the Disney Vacation Club), but rather DCV or Disney Cheap Vacations! Having just purchased and furnished a house in Texas while not being able to sell our home in Scotland, thus resulting in two mortgages due each month, we needed the cheapest options possible. So value resort and free dining it is!

I was actually looking forward to having the Quick Service dining instead of the regular dining plan that comes with reservations at a Moderate or higher resort this trip as we’ve had the full service dining the past few times we’ve been to WDW and, first of all, you get way too much food plus, second, you’re rather constrained by your advanced dining reservations (ADR’s). We were looking forward to seeing how many quick service meals we could have that weren’t burgers and fries.

We did decide with Paula and Wes that we’d like to do one sit down meal during the trip so we made several ADR’s at various places that sounded good to everyone (‘Ohana, Sanaa, Tutto Italia, and Marrakesh) and figured we’d decide which one we wanted to go with closer to the time.

Other than that, very few advance plans were made. We usually do the early-entry-park-of-the-day-till-around-noon-back-to-the-resort-for-a-rest-then-to-another-park-in-the-evening kind of touring so I had a list of early/late entry parks but that was about it.

Friday, May 27th – Are we there yet?

Larry and I had a 7:55am flight so we were up early to take our dog and cat to my mom and dad’s house for a week of spoiling at “Mom and Dad’s Kennel.” We also left our car there and opted for “Dad’s Shuttle” to the airport (aren’t parents great?).

The first leg of our flight was right on time, allowing us to grab some breakfast from Schlotzsky’s in Austin before continuing on to Orlando. We landed in Orland about 15 minutes early at 1:50 and quickly made our way to Disney’s Magical Distress check in. We had to wait only about 10 minutes before being put on a bus to Pop Century. I called my mom to let her know we’d arrived safely and then sent a text to Paula (who wouldn’t be joining us until Monday) which merely said, “Swolphin!”

Now the Swolphin contest is a competition which originally started between Paula and me on a trip to Disneyworld probably 7 or 8 years ago and it goes a little something like this: the first person to spot either the Swan or Dolphin resort and shout out “Swolphin!” wins. Simple as that. Kind of like a version of the old “Slug Bug” game where the first person to spot a Volkswagen Beetle gets to call, “Slug Bug!” and punch his or her sibling in the arm, but with less violence. (Larry, however, has never really grasped the concept that you DON’T punch the other person in the arm when you say, “Swolphin!” So his version is a bit more painful.)

And the beauty of it is that it has infinite replay value because every time you go indoors (or get on a bus) and come back out, it’s fair game again. Sah-weet! You can only imagine how annoying it is at Epcot where you can see the Swolphin every time you come out of an attraction or gift shop or restaurant. It started out as irony, and now I can’t stop myself.

Swolphin!

Paula immediately texted back that my Swolphin victory SO didn’t count because she wasn’t there in person to be able to play along or some such lame excuse as that. Sour grapes it sounds like to me. One to Nothing for Robin!

We endured the rest of the Magical Distress journey by halfway watching the promotional video. I have to admit that I do like the part where Huey, Dewey and Louie keep asking Donald, “Are we there yet?” “No.” “Are we there yet?” “No.” “Are we there yet?” “NO!!” This was made even funnier to me when we pulled into the Pop Century only to be greeted by one of their road signs that said, “Are we there yet?”

I had checked in online the requisite 10 days before our arrival so we made our way to the On-Line Check In desk and were helped immediately. We found out that our request for a King-sized bed was granted, that we were in the 80’s, and that our room was ready. We stopped at the Food Court long enough to pick up the free refillable mugs that came with our dining package and fill them with a lovely, ice cold beverage to sustain us on the journey to our room and then we made our way out the back of the main hall to find our room.

Later, next June we were still on the trek to the room. As it turns out, the 80’s buildings are way out in the hinterlands of the Pop Century. In fact, it probably would have been closer to take the bus to the Wide World of Sports and walk to the room from there! This did not bode well for the pain in my foot and, in hindsight, I probably should have returned to the front desk and tried to scare up a closer room. As it was, the sheer distance from the Classic Hall was quite prohibitive of us using our refillable mugs very much and certainly eliminated any quick dashes to the food court or gift shop for a snack or other item.

Where? Behind the bunny?

Still, we were glad to be back at WDW so we dumped any extraneous items in our room (which was on the second floor and overlooked the Computer Pool) and began the hike to the bus stop (which, mercifully, was a bit shorter than the one from the food court if you didn’t mind a shortcut down a sand path and through a parking lot). It was about 3:30 by now and we were both starving but we figured we could wait until we got inside a park before we ate.

The plan was to head out to the Magic Kingdom (MK) since they had evening Extra Magic Hours. When we got to the bus stop, there was a long queue waiting on the MK bus. We quickly amended our plan and agreed to grab the Epcot bus, if it came first. We figured we could grab something to eat in the World Showcase then hop the monorail to the MK.

As it turn out, the first bus to show up was headed to Disney’s Hollywood Studios (DHS), so I said we could take the bus to DHS then grab a boat to Epcot, eat, then take the monorail to the MK. Larry was appalled at the amount of time that would take but agreed that a leisurely boat ride from DHS to Epcot would be a good rest for my foot, so he agreed. This began a precedent for the trip of taking wildly odd combinations of transportation to the parks and rarely winding up where we were planning to go in the first place because, as soon as we disembarked (de-bussed?) at DHS, saw the long queue waiting at the boat dock for a boat that was nowhere in sight, and heard the Star Wars music coming from the park (it was a Star Wars weekend), I was drawn to the entrance.

In the spirit of complete disclosure, I have to mention that, at this point, the notes for this trip report say, and I quote, “wet children bump at bus.” I have absolutely no recollection of what this might conceivably mean.

Sooo, back to Larry and me walking past the entrance to DHS. Larry keenly observed me listing towards the entrance and asked if I wanted to go in here instead. Yes, please! Star Tours was calling to me.

I should probably mention that the Wilmot house is a house divided when it comes to Star Wars vs. Star Trek. Larry is a trekkie from way back (one of many endearing nerdy tendencies that he possesses) and, while I would consider myself a fan of most of the Star Trek franchise, I’m not a FAN of Star Trek, if you know what I mean. I prefer Star Wars. The first episode (or 4th, depending on how annoyingly anal you are) came out when I was in my formative years and I remember paying to see the movie at the theater at least 10 times.

Anyway, our first stop was at the newly re-opened Star Tours to see if there were any Fast Passes (FP’s) left at 4:00 in the evening on a Friday during a Star Wars weekend with the ride having been opened only a week. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that that would be a “no.” However, the stand-by line only had a 60 minute wait time posted so we decided to get something to eat at the handily located Backlot Express and see if the stand-by line was any better when we were finished eating.

Larry opted for the chicken nugget and fries meal with a beverage and the no sugar added strawberry parfait for dessert while I went for the grilled vegetable sandwich with fries, beverage, and marble cheesecake. I got the vegetable sandwich because I remember getting a grilled vegetable sandwich at Tusker House (back before it became a buffet) that was A. MAZE. ING. and, while this one from the Backlot Express didn’t quite ascend to the lofty heights that the Tusker House sandwich did, it was still a darn good sandwich.

Better fortified, we headed back to Star Tours where the stand-by wait time had decreased to 35 minutes so we hopped in the queue. There was some Jedi training going on at a nearby stage with a few Storm Troopers and, the man himself, Darth Vader popping by, but the majority of our in-line entertainment came in the form of the Yoda backpack that the young lady in front of us was wearing.

It probably took the better part of 30 minutes to get on to the ride but the line moved semi-steadily, only interrupted by Fast Passers from time to time, and I enjoyed looking at the refurbished queuing area. I agree with the consensus that the new ride is way sharper and smoother than the old version and has a much higher returnability factor (if that’s even a word). Not too shabby for the first ride of the trip!

Patrick Warburton provides the voice for this little guy. Disney must OWN him.

After the ride, we headed towards the tip board at the end of Hollywood Boulevard to see what options we had. All of the biggies (Toy Story, Tower of Terror, Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster) were out of Fast Passes but Larry noticed that the 5:45 showing of Beauty and the Beast was about to start and that would be a great way to rest my foot, so we headed to the theater and got fairly decent seats about two-thirds of the way down.

I always liked the music from Beauty and the Beast and we hadn’t seen the show in several trips so we both enjoyed ourselves. We did get amused at how they have to edit the story to get it to fit into a 20 minute production. “Poor Belle. You’ve lost your father and your freedom (and a good hour of plot from the movie) in one day!”

"Excuse me, Mr. Baker. Have you seen any spare plot lying around?"

It started raining lightly as the show let out, so we hung around at the back of the amphitheater for about 10 minutes until the rain had subsided. From there we went to the 7:00 final of the American Idol Experience. On the way to the theater, we happened to pass Chewbacca holding hands with an Ewok and heading across the park. If only the Ewok had been holding a Mickey balloon it would have looked like any other (very hairy) dad and son hurrying to get on the next attraction. Luckily, Larry was able to snap a quick picture of it.

Chewbacca and Ewok

We’d never seen a final show of American Idol, just the preliminary ones, and I liked that there was more singing and less filler than the regular shows. After voting for the next big singing sensation, we decided that a trip on the Great Movie Ride (GMR) was in order and were delighted to see that it was a walk-on. As we headed towards the GMR, we passed the stage in front of the giant sorcerer Mickey’s hat and watched a little bit of the Hyperspace Hoopla show that runs at the end of the each day during Star Wars weekends. I say “a little bit” because that’s all we could stand of the very squeaky host but, when we came back out from the GMR the show was in its finale phase and I had to chuckle about the likes of Chewbacca, C3PO, and Boba Fett dancing away to some Miley Cyrus/Lady GaGa/Katie Perry dance party.

C3PO may look uptight but, trust me, he can "Bust a Move" with the best of 'em!

Also when we came out, the skies were darkening ominously and we decided we’d better hot foot it over to the bus stop and try to beat the impending storm.

We made it just outside the part and almost to the Pop Century stop when the skies opened up and began pelting it down. Everyone at the bus stop huddled together so we were mostly able to get under a little bit of shelter and out of the brunt of the deluge. A bus quickly arrived but there were too many of us in the queue and we didn’t make it onto the first bus.

Ahhh! Now I remember. The cryptic “wet children bump at bus” were actually two children in very wet ponchos at the bus stop that kept crowding against and bumping into me and getting me sopping wet. Now I realize that they were children and that they were very excited because of the rain and, since they were nice and dry underneath their ponchos, had no concept that they were dripping wet on the outside. I mean, obviously, when I come into power, I’ll let them live. But, honestly, back off Timmy. Have you never been taught about personal space?

Luckily, we made it onto the second bus and back to the Pop Century without further incident. Oh but there was one instance of uncharacteristically bad show by Disney. As we turned onto the Pop Century grounds, we noticed that the light in the last “p” in the lighted Pop Century sign was burned out, leaving us staying at the Po’ Century! And you thought I was just kidding about being members of the DCV!

I stayed at the food court while Larry dashed back to the room in the rain to retrieve our refillable mugs. We used a couple of snack options for boiled eggs (for Larry) and a box of Wheat Thins for me. I was actually looking for a fruit, cheese, and cracker snack that I’ve seen before in the food court (well, okay, that I’d seen ten years ago!) but had no joy as the cases were fairly empty and the selections were fairly picked over.

By the time we walked back to the room, the rain had all but stopped. We shared the elevator to the second floor with a tiny baby frog that I rescued and Larry gallantly offered to run downstairs and place in a flower bed. I was afraid the frog was going to accidently fall down the gap into the elevator shaft before I could get him secured but I’m proud to report that he was safely relocated.

We were in bed by 11:00 with the alarm set for early entry at the Animal Kingdom (AK) the next morning.

Coming up shortly: Day Two

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Saturday, May 28 - With Sour Cream Und Evil!

Sunday, May 29th – Where’s My Other 60 Years?

Monday, May 30th (Memorial Day) – Blinking Indicates Help is On the Way

Tuesday, May 31st – If They’re Going to Make Them Inconvenient, They Might as Well Make Them Huge.

Wednesday, June 1st – You Seem to be Leaking Some Kind of Essential Salts

Thursday, June 2nd - We're chaffed to bits!

Friday, June 3rd - I think whining should be rewarded.

 

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Saturday, May 28th – With Sour Cream Und Evil!

I woke up at 5:30 and, in light of the previous long travel day and typically bad sleep the night before due to the excitement of the impending trip, made an executive decision to turn the alarm off and go back to bed. I’m pretty sure Larry was in agreement as he said, “Hmphf mmphf mmmm” and rolled over. My rationale was that, instead of killing ourselves to get to the AK for early entry, we could sleep in a bit and then go to Epcot which was the extra magic hour park the previous evening so, by all rights, it should be a bit less busy today.

We slept till *gulp* 10:00 (just 9:00 in Texas, which doesn’t sound quite so bad!) but got ready quickly. Larry went to the food court to fill our mugs up and then we set off for the bus stop. The first bus to come along was the bus to the MK. We hopped on board with a plan to take the monorail from the MK to the Transportation and Ticket Center (TTC) and then switch to the Epcot monorail.

The bus ride to the MK was uneventful except for my excited shout of “Swolphin!” when the hotels came into view. I pointed at the hotels just about the time that Larry turned to look at me and all I can say is that it’s a good thing he wears glasses or he might have lost an eye. Larry looked confused and said, “What? You’ve changed it to a poke in the eye now?” I again had to explain that the Swolphin competition was never about slugging someone in the arm, nor poking anyone in the eye. Sounds like sour grapes to me.

I also pointed out (being very careful not to get to close to Larry’s face) the Tron monorail, or Tronorail (though Larry insisted on calling it the Tronmobile instead), which was running on the tracks parallel to our bus.

When we arrived at the MK, we decided that it might be nice to take the ferry across to the TTC since it had been years since either of us had ridden on it. However, as we got closer to the dock we discovered that there was an EMS vehicle and several paramedics were attending to a person that had apparently collapsed at the ferry dock. A ferry was just pulling in, but it looked like they were going to hold the passengers on the ferry until they could take care of the injured/ill person. For the sake of time, we decided we’d stick with our original plan of taking the monorail. Hopefully, the person that was requiring medical attention wasn’t seriously injured and was able to recover and enjoy the rest of their vacation.

For some reason (I assume to more efficiently move the larger Memorial Day weekend crowds), they were only running passengers on the direct monorail from the TTC to the MK and not from the MK to the TTC, so we boarded the resort monorail and, after a quick stop at the Contemporary, were at the TTC.

I’ve found that, as I get older, one of the things that I enjoy most about riding the monorail (or bus, for that matter) is when a group of too-cool-for-school teenagers get on board and then (and, no offense, but this is most often done by the males in the group) refuse to hold on. Then, as soon as the vehicle starts moving, they are thrown across the cab and look way more un-cool extricating themselves from the laps of the seated passengers than if they had only held on in the first place. Sadistic? A little bit. Vindictive? Possibly. Enjoyable? Oh, yes!

And I wasn’t disappointed as three young men got in our car at the Contemporary and preceded to stand around with their hands in their pockets pervading disinterest. God bless ‘em, thirty seconds later and they were laughing sheepishly as they untangled themselves from a couple of folks sitting on the far side of the monorail. Luckily, no one was hurt and, in their defense, the young men were polite and quick to apologize.

Once we arrived at Epcot, the plan was for Larry to make a small diversion to pick up Fast Passes for Soarin’ and then meet up with me in the UK since I move considerably slower with my hurting foot. Before we split up, we stopped by Innoventions, much to Larry’s dismay, to pick up a Kim Possible mission. I had been wanting to try one of these for a while now although Larry insists that the missions are “for 4 year olds.” I’d argue that 4 year olds couldn’t possibly work a cell phone better than an adult, but I think that, these days, I’d lose that argument.

Our mission time was at 12:30 in Italy. So we then split up for Larry to get the FP’s and I ambled on to the UK to seek out a shady bench. Sadly, there was no shade in the UK at straight up noon so, by the time I had wandered over the entire country, exhausted all my shady seating options, and plopped down on a bench smack dab in the middle of the blazing sun, Larry had arrived with our Soarin’ Fast Passes (return time of 5:00).

We were both a bit peckish by now since we’d skipped (okay, “slept through”) breakfast, so we decided to run the risk of being late for our Kim Possible mission time, figuring that they’d probably be fairly lenient about that, and get some lunch. Moroccan was sounding good to me while Larry had a hankering for some Japanese food, so we walked together as far as Morocco and then Larry hurried on to Japan to get his meal and meet me back in Morocco. That’s one of the nice things about eating at Epcot; that your party has a much wider variety of choices than at the other parks.

I decided on the chicken and lamb combo shawarma platter (chicken and lamb with hummus, tabouleh, couscous and bread) with baklava for dessert and grabbed a table indoors. It wasn’t long before Larry showed up with the Tonosama Teriyaki combination platter (salmon, chicken and beef with steamed vegetables and rice) and a slice of ginger cake. Larry said that I should have started eating without him so my food didn’t get cold and I had to laugh. How food could get cold in 95 degree weather with 90% humidity is beyond my ability to comprehend!

NOT part of the Shawarma Combo. The fez is optional.

After lunch we hurried to Italy to get our Kim Possible mission. Along the way, we stopped in America for Larry to take some pictures of an obliging crane that was just hanging out. Larry, still holding on to his “It’s for 4 year olds” philosophy, was embarrassed to go up to the Kim Possible kiosk so I made a point out of telling the perky Cast Member (CM) that my husband said that this was for children. “Oh, no!” she squeaked. “It’s for people of all ages; from children to…” and here she paused, I can only assume to think of a nice way to say “senior citizens.”

“Gimmers?” Larry volunteered. “Old people? Coffin-dodgers?” while the poor CM shook her head and looked more and more appalled. And while the CM never did come up with an appropriate age span, I can happily report that, later on in the week, Paula spotted a group of college-aged young men with a beer in one hand and a Kimmunicator in the other, making their way through China. So, if it’s good enough for cool young people….

Now if it wasn’t bad enough that Larry had to endure the humiliation of being one of two ADULTS on a Kim Possible mission, it was compounded by the fact that our mission was in Germany. Yes, Larry was grumpy about having to save the Germans. (Don’t ask. Not that Larry’s known for holding grudges or anything but it stems from the Germans trying to bomb England back to the Stone Age during in World War II. Never mind the fact that that was 80 years ago and that it was the work of a crazed Nazi dictator and that most of the people responsible are brown bread dead by now. You remember those endearing nerdy quirks that I mentioned earlier? Numero dos. )

Anyway, not wanting to give too much of the plot away, suffice it to say that a VERY BAD man was doing VERY BAD things in Germany and we were their only hope. I thought the whole thing was pretty cute and I got a kick out of making “things happen” with our Kimmunicator. I think Disney’s done a good job at concealing the clues in vignettes that non secret agent types would never suspect held a clue. But then who am I kidding? I just like to say the word “vignette!”

Again, not wishing to ruin the experience for anyone, but there was one pretzel flavor in the mission described as “Sour Cream UND EVIL!” that seriously cracked me up. For the remainder of the trip anything that had a flavor associated with it in any way benefited from the addition of “und Evil.”

“Hey babe, can I bring you a pastry?” Yes, please. I think I’ll take one with cream cheese…UND EVIL!”

“What are you going to have for dessert?” “I think I have a piece of cake…UND EVIL!”

Heck, even things that weren’t flavor specific seemed to benefit. For example, It’s a Small World sure is a charming ride filled with dolls full of merriment…UND EVIL!

Anyway, we saved the good folks of Germany and Larry graciously admitted that he wouldn’t mind doing another one as long as it was in the UK. We saved our Kimmunicator so we could select the mission in the UK later.

First, however, we were in serious need of some air conditioning by now, so we headed to America with the plan to snag a bench inside to listen to the Voices of Liberty and then watch the American Adventure. It was blissfully cool inside the rotunda and I could have easily been persuaded to take a nap if it weren’t for fear of being trampled by the Voices of Liberty. Larry took a minute to go look through their exhibit of American artifacts. I sat on a bench and tried in vain to silence our Kimmunicator which was obviously taking offense over the fact that we didn’t turn it back in. I had visions of it going off constantly during the show but I must have eventually pushed something right and it quit buzzing at me.

While we were waiting a CM informed us that they were having technical difficulties with the American Adventure and that it would be at least until the 3:00 presentation before they could get the stage reset. After the Voices of Liberty’s set however, they announced that the show would be proceeding as scheduled.

I find the American Adventure very therapeutic for me as I generally begin crying about a quarter of the way into it and don’t stop until it’s over. Larry finds it very therapeutic as he generally begins napping about a quarter of the way through and doesn’t wake up until it’s over. He was very brave this time though and didn’t sleep at all.

After the show, we decided to hurry to the UK to see the 3:00 set from the British Revolution. They used to have the British Invasion which covered Beatles’ songs but now the British Revolution covers a larger catalog of British groups including The Who, The Rolling Stones, Queen, Modern English, Manfred Mann, etc.

We didn’t quite make it by 3:00 and could hear that their set had already started so we stopped instead at the Kim Possible kiosk and exchanged our old Kimmunicator, which now was truly mad at me and greeting me with stony silence, for a new UK mission. Granted, attempting to finish a mission while a band is blaring in the square isn’t a great idea but part of the mission was conducted in some of the shops so we stuck it out and eventually saved all the good citizens of the United Kingdom from a VERY BAD MAN (und Evil!).

We actually took a break for a little while and went out to the square to listen to the end of the British Revolution set. A group of four CM’s on the international program came out of the shops and had a good time dancing to the music.

Patriotic Young Ladies

I think Larry won’t mind me sharing that the heartfelt enthusiasm of the young women and the fact that they were waving a Union Flag while they danced around to the UK music combined in such a way as to cause his usually stiff upper lip to wobble a bit and to bring a wee tear of patriotism to his eye. (He’s only lived here in the states for a little over a year now and I know that it took longer than that when we lived in Scotland before I quite feeling homesick on a daily basis.)

Anyway, with the music quietened we finished up our mission and decided to hang around for the next British Revolution set. I staked out a bench while Larry went to get us some diet cokes. While he was gone my mom called and I talked to her while I watched a little lizard munch down on passing insects.

"I may look small, but I'm actually quite fierce."

We enjoyed the 4:00 set by the British Revolution and then decided to make our way to Future World since it was almost time for our Soarin’ FP’s. Along the way, we decided to stop in for Captain EO, since neither of us had ever seen it. Wow. What can I say but WHAT THE HECK WERE THEY THINKING? Seriously? This was all that George Lucas, Francis Coppola, and Michael Jackson could come up with? I mean, I could understand if they lost a dare or something. And Angelica Huston? Really? Haven’t these people won Academy Awards and Grammys and such?

It was like if Thriller’s second cousin on its mother’s side were to have an illegitimate child with a neighbor of Star Wars.

Once we were already seated in the theater, Larry discovered that he had lost his 3-D glasses and, as it turns out, he was the lucky one! I kept trying to pawn my glasses off on Larry for him to look through and he kept passing them right back.

Trust me. It's better without the glasses.

Maybe, back in the day, it was more impressive. I must admit that I enjoyed the fact that Michael Jackson was still black AND he still had a nose in this one but I thought the script was so cheesy it could clog your arteries and I’ve seen better acting in porn movies. And what was up with that flying monkey/cat? Captain EO was so bad that afterwards we didn’t even object to going on Journey Into Your Imagination (JIYI) because it seemed so good in comparison!

If only the floodwaters could rise up and wash away Captain EO!

So, after cleansing our Captain EO spoiled palette with JIYI, it was blessedly time for our Soarin’ Fast Passes and a little bit of the genius of Patrick Warburton. Since we were close by, we also rode Living with the Land and then went on Spaceship Earth.

We were getting hungry by now and so we decided to go to the Animal Kingdom and eat at Mara for something a bit different. We exited Epcot and were lucky enough to walk right up to a waiting bus to the Animal Kingdom Lodge.

At Mara I had the chicken and corn flatbread with zough drizzle (not sure what “zough” is exactly, except that it was very green) while Larry had the rotisserie chicken. We got a fruit cup and zebra domes to share for dessert. When we were ordering, the CM asked Larry if he wanted rice with his chicken and Larry said “yes.” Turns out they gave him “fries” instead of “rice” and he was greatly disappointed. We watched another family with rotisserie chicken at a table next to us (with rice and vegetables) and theirs looked way better than Larry’s. In fact, he said that this was his most disappointing meal of the trip. My flatbread, however, was quite tasty, zough drizzle and all.

We were both cream crackered after dinner and decided to head back to the Po’ Century. To accomplish this we caught the first bus to arrive at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, which was for Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and then swapped there to a Pop Century bus.

Back at the Pop, we stopped by the Food Court for some more boiled eggs for Larry and then headed to the room. I just wanted to wash my face and go to bed but I was having serious issues getting the soap opened. Figuring that I was just over-tired, I handed it to Larry to open for me. After struggling to get the wrapper off the soap for a few minutes as well Larry remarked, “I don’t know what they stick the tiles on the Space Shuttle with, but I’d give this a go!” I think he finally chewed the wrapper off.

 

[vleeth]

Okay...I think that has got to be the most I've ever laughed while reading a trip report!

Awesome job.

Do you take notes during the day or at the end of the day? Tell me all about it...I'm trying to figure out the best way to take notes on my next trip.

 

[rgoble5972]

Okay...I think that has got to be the most I've ever laughed while reading a trip report!

Awesome job.

Do you take notes during the day or at the end of the day? Tell me all about it...I'm trying to figure out the best way to take notes on my next trip.

Thanks. I'm glad you're enjoying it.

I usually jot down notes at the end of each day, once I get back to our hotel. Occasionally, if something really funny happens that I don't want to forget, I'll write it down at the time. This trip I bought a little notebook and pen that fit in my purse so I could keep my notes up-to-date during the times I sat and rested my foot and that worked really well.

Having pictures helps in remembering what order you did things.

 

[rgoble5972]

Sunday, May 29th – Where’s My Other 60 Years?

Determined to be at a park at opening time, we were up and at ‘em early this morning with Animal Kingdom (AK) in our sights. We had our morning routine down by now with Larry making the trek (following a trail of bread crumbs) to the food court to fill our mugs.

I think it was this morning that I came up with what I’m sure is an absolutely brilliant idea for Disney to implement regarding the refillable mugs. Now, as I see it, the problem with the mugs in the morning is that, while you’d love to stop on your way to a park and have a refreshing beverage, you don’t want to a) have to lug the empty mugs around with you for the rest of the day like so much dead weight or, b) have to hike all the way back to your room in the far nether-regions of the resort to drop off the mugs and then hot-foot it back across the desert wastelands to the bus stop. On the other hand, the problem with the mugs in the afternoon/evening as you return to your resort from the parks is that, while you want nothing more than an ice cold beverage (or eight!), you’re tired and hot and would rather shave your head with a cheese grater while chewing on tin foil than have to walk all the way to your room (which is nice and dark and air conditioned and beckons you to never, ever leave it once you get there) to pick up the mugs and make the Bataan Death March back to the food court.

So, I think that Disney should come up with some sort of system of checking out and checking in the mugs. Kind of like a refillable mug library. So in the morning on your way to the bus stop you simply swing by the food court, swipe your room key and get a mug. You enjoy your beverage of choice then return the mug to a drop off point (kind of like the 3D glasses return), scanning the bar code on the mug so they know you’ve returned it and go on your merry way to enjoy a day of theme park fun.

Same thing in the afternoon: you return to the bus stop (looking slightly less fresh than when you left that morning), stop off by the food court, swipe your room key again and pick up a mug. You can take the mug back to your room with you, if you wish. Since you’ve scanned your room key, the computer system knows that you have a mug and won’t let you take another one until the first mug is returned. At the end of your stay, you can keep the mug as usual for a souvenir. All Disney has to do is figure out the logistics of washing and storing all those mugs (Mr. Iger, I’m looking at YOU!). Feel free to use the idea, no royalties necessary. Perhaps a mere lifetime pass or two as a scant token of your appreciation.

Anyhoo, we made it to the bus stop around 8:40 and walked up to an AK bus ready and waiting for us. While on the bus, we discovered that Larry had left his cap back at the resort. While this normally wouldn’t be a problem, it was today. You see, about a week before our trip, Larry was in need of a haircut and he decided that he would go shorter so as to be cooler for the trip and for summer. Well somehow “shorter” turned out to be “practically shaved” thus necessitating the use of a cap when he’s in the sun for any length of time. We decided that it would be easier to just buy a cap once we got to AK rather than going back to the resort.

When we arrived at AK, our plan of action was to have Larry scoot off to obtain a couple of Expedition Everest (EE) Fast Passes while I and my bad foot made my much slower way to Kilimanjaro Safari (KS) where Larry would meet up with me. The stand by queue for KS said 20 minutes, but the wait looked much longer than that as the line was spilling out onto the pathways by the time Larry showed up.

Obligatory shot of the Tree of Life

Sweet, merciful monkeys it was hotter than the surface of the sun today! We decided to use a snack credit on a bowl of pineapple to share for breakfast while we waited the few minutes needed before we were eligible to get another Fast Pass (this time, for the Safari), and then catch the next performance of The Festival of the Lion King. On the way to Camp Minnie Mickey, we ducked into a store to pick up a new baseball cap for Larry’s poor head.

Now I know that we’re in the midst of a recession and that times are hard for everyone. I understand that cut backs have to be made, that families are tightening their belts, that sacrifices are being made on a daily basis. But I hadn’t realized the extent of the downturn or the effect that it had on Disney until today. Once in the shop, we quickly found Larry a nice cap which we purchased (along with a small notebook for my trip report notes). On the way out of the shop I was looking at Larry’s new cap and when it hit me. There it was. Stitched onto the underside of the bill like an indelible mark in history. “Celebrating 40 years of Magic!” *Cue the sound of a phonograph needle violently ripping across a record* What? 40? Wasn’t it just 9 years ago that we were celebrating 100 years of magic? And now we’re down to 40? Where did the other 60 years go? Disney: Now with 60% Less Magic. I can hear the little children crying the world over. Celebrating 40 years of Magic….UND EVIL!

Despite the new cuts, I didn’t notice the Festival of the Lion King being 60% less entertaining than the last time I saw it. Actually, it had been a few trips since we’d seen the performance and we both enjoyed watching it again.

Do these guys remind anyone else of giant Tinker Toys?

It was now time for our Expedition Everest Fast Passes so we made our way to Asia, stopping along the way to check out a neat display courtesy of Jack “Stop and Smell the Roses” Spence of AllEars fame. I had read on one of Jack’s blogs about a temple located in a little clearing just beyond the Yak & Yeti Restaurant. If you look closely, you can see that the silhouette of the temple matches the Expedition Everest “mountain range” in the background. Jack points out that the largest mountain (by virtue of being closer to the viewer) is not actually Everest. Everest is the one to the right. But the largest mountain is actually the Forbidden Mountain as in “Expedition Everest—Legend of the Forbidden Mountain.” The large temple even has a Yeti statue in it. Obviously, there used to be a statue of Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster as well, but with 60 less years of magic…..well, you get the picture.

Shrine-tastic!

Are we there yeti?

So, on to Everest where we used our Fast Passes and queued for the front car of the train (And when I say “queued” I mean “got on the first car of the very next train.” Sah-weet!). I DO love this ride.

Next up was Flights of Wonder where the addition of one of the exes from the Comedy Warehouse as Guano Joe made for a highly entertaining and very funny show. I suppose that one of the few benefits of the demise of Pleasure Island is the influx of so many highly talented comedic and improv Cast Members into a lot of the regular shows in the parks. I think their addition has elevated a lot of the shows that were a bit stilted or forced in the comedy department.

It was now noon so we decided to grab some lunch nearby at the Yak and Yeti Counter Service place. Larry got the Sweet and Sour Chicken, although he was tempted by the Orange Beef until he saw that celery was the second ingredient listed and changed his mind. Larry, it seems, is highly averse to celery. That in and of itself is not particularly noteworthy—a lot of folks don’t like celery—but Larry doesn’t like it because of its “evil shape.” *coughnerdyquirknumberthreecough*

Anyway, Larry: Sweet and Sour Chicken. Robin: Honey Chicken. You certainly can’t complain about small portion sizes here as each container weighed roughly the same as a smallish Bulldog. We both got the chocolate cake for dessert but it was so rich that splitting one was plenty for us. I hated to waste the second cake, so I stuck it in my purse to take back to the room for later.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to quickly spot the flaw inherent in that plan, does it? One sticky chocolate cake + transportation in a purse X 95 degrees to the power of 90% humidity is roughly the equivalent of the La Brea Tar Pits. Actually, more liquid than the tar pits. Needless to say, the cake went into the garbage about two hours later.

We made our way to the Kilimanjaro Safari and had a nice ride. We were stopped over the crocodile pit just before the bridge for about ten minutes due to an animal in the rode up ahead that was preventing the trucks from moving. Our cast member said that obviously you don’t want to argue with a 5,000 pound animal as to who has the right of way, so they usually just hang off until the animal moves on its own.

Oh no, sir. After YOU.

While I think the new Wild Africa Trek sounds like a neat experience, I do find the addition of all of the rigging, ropes, and bridges to be a bit distracting from the safari.

Wild Africa Trek rigging.

After we finished the safari, Larry wanted to take some pictures along the Pangani Trail so while he did that, I got a bottle of water and sat in the shade, resting my foot. When he returned, we decided we were both hot and tired so we headed back to the resort for a rest.

Larry's Hippo Picture

The bats were all very...ahem..manly. Children! Shield your eyes!

We wound up napping for over two hours so we were fairly well rested when we got up. The Magic Kingdom had late night Extra Magic Hours this evening, so we got ready and headed out to the park. The Main Street Electrical was still in progress when we arrived (well, the last two floats anyway). We wanted to watch Wishes, so we went up to the train station on the off chance of finding seats up there so I didn’t have to stand throughout the fireworks.

It was no surprise that all the seats were taken or saved. My mom called while we were in the train station and I sat and talked to her for a bit while Larry watched the new Magic, Memories and You show projected on the castle. Afterwards, we walked up Main Street towards the hub and found a decent spot in the middle of the street to watch Wishes. Therapeutic cry? Why, I don’t mind if I do!

We were both hungry by now so we decided on Pecos Bill for a burger and some fixin’s off the Fixin’s Bar. I got a cheeseburger while Larry had the deluxe cheeseburger (“deluxe” being the addition of bacon, onion rings, and barbeque sauce). Larry had the strawberry yogurt for dessert while I had the carrot cake. The icing on the carrot cake was weapon’s grade sweet, so I wound up scraping it off and just eating the cake. And I like sweet icing, but this was just Sweety VonSweeterson from Sweetsville.

After eating, a ride on the Pirates of the Caribbean sounded like a good thing to do. The stand by time was posted at 10 minutes and it probably took every bit of that before we were on a boat. It’s nice that they’ve replaced squishy Davy Jones with Ian McShane’s Blackbeard projected on the curtain of mist.

If I could take the queue from Florida's Pirates and put it in front of the actual ride from California's Pirates, the world would be a perfect place.

What be I offered for this winsome wench? Stout-hearted and corn-fed she be. Shift your cargo, dearie. Show 'em your larboard side.

Apparently, folks just weren't getting that these were supposed to be pirates, so they indiscriminately went through the ride adding eye patches willy-nilly.

Here, the run is NEVER gone.


The Extra Magic Hours had officially begun by now and we decided to try the Haunted Mansion next and opted for the longer wait time for the new queuing area. While I thought most of the effects in the interactive queue were nice enough, I didn’t really think that they contributed anything to the Mansion as a whole. I mean, they were nice enough but it didn’t seem like they really belonged. It felt like Disney was trying a bit too hard on this one. I certainly wouldn’t feel the need to go through the queue again. Your mileage may vary, of course.

Now the ride itself is another story entirely as I’ve always been partial to the Haunted Mansion. I thought the new additions to the ride a few years ago were great and I think the new ghosts at the end of the ride now are excellent as well. How do they swap your heads like that? Steeped in AWESOME!

Larry really wanted to sample the new Space Mountain changes but my foot was giving me lots of grief today and the thought of walking all the way from Haunted Mansion to Space Mountain and then back to the hub of Main Street made me want to weep and then die! I told Larry to go one without me (save yourself!) and I would get something to drink and find a seat around the Partner’s statue and wait for him.

I queued up for a diet coke at Sleepy Hollow in Liberty Square. There was a Cast Member from Disney Sea in Tokyo in the queue in front of me and she said she was having a great time in Orlando. The Cast Member manning (wo-manning?) the beverage station was talking to a co-worker as she made my coke. She filled up the cup and passed the diet coke to me with about 2 inches of foam on top which quickly…did whatever foam does. Evaporated? Dissipated, maybe? The point being, she gave a really, really thirsty woman a diet coke that was a good two inches from being full.

I nicely slid the coke back to her (Can you slide something nicely? Yes, you can.) and politely asked if she would mind filling it all the way up as I was very thirsty. She looked at me like I had antlers growing out of my head but obliged my request and filled the cup to the top. I have to mention that they had really good, crushed ice there as well. In fact, that was the best coke I had the entire trip. Sad, I know.

I found a bench and sat and people-watched for a little while until Larry showed up. He had been thwarted in riding Space Mountain as it was down, but he opted for a spin on the Tommorrowland Transit Authority Peoplemover (TTA) instead. One of his favorite parts of the pre-Space Mountain rehab TTA has always been the “Mr. Tom Morrow. Paging Mr. Tom Morrow” part and he said that the new, afterthought Tom Morrow announcement was very disappointing.

It was almost 1:00am by now so we decided to stop for the night. By the time we caught the bus back to the Po’ Century and made it into bed it was after 2:00. Our heads had no sooner hit our pillows when we noticed the very loud sounds of a rambunctious group of people still at the swimming pool. At 2:30 in the friggin’ morning! What’s WRONG with people? I thought about calling the front desk but wimped out and didn’t do it. Luckily, we were so tired that we were both able to fall asleep despite the ruckus.

 

[vleeth]

60% less magic...I love it

 

[rgoble5972]

Monday, May 30th (Memorial Day) – Blinking Indicates Help is On the Way

After our late night we slept in late and took our time getting ready for the day. Paula and Wes were due to arrive today at around 2:00 so we tried to anticipate where they might want to go once they got settled at the resort. We decided to go to Disney Hollywood Studios since they had evening Extra Magic Hours, hoping to be able to get on Toy Story Midway Mania (TSMM) once the crowds thinned out a bit since Paula and Wes hadn’t been to Disneyworld since it opened.

We decided to have an early lunch at the food court before leaving for DHS. The food court was busy, but not too chaotic. I decided on the blackened fish sandwich. Good choice, but long wait. At least you know they cook it fresh. Larry had the beef and bleu cheese sandwich with a fruit cup while I had an ice cream sundae of dessert. Mint chocolate chip with chocolate sauce, nuts, whipped cream and a cherry. Not too shabby.

We caught the bus to DHS where we checked the tip board and found that they were already out of Fast Passes for Toy Story for the day (no real surprise). Larry went to get Fast Passes for Star Tours (we thought we’d be nice and let Paula and Wes use them if the wait times were crazy since Larry and I had already ridden it once) while I headed down towards Tower of Terror (ToT) and Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster (RnRC). The stand by line for Tower of Terror said 40 minutes while Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster had 60 minutes posted.

Larry caught up with me in the courtyard outside of Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster and we were debating what to do next when a woman pushing a stroller came tearing by us shouting “Fifteen minutes!!!!” to some poor person trailing behind in her dust. We assumed she meant that the stand by queue for Tower of Terror was now only a fifteen minute wait so we shrugged and followed along. Sure enough, the wait time had been dropped all the way to 10 minutes at Tower of Terror and we were able to walk right on. Sah-weet!

After ToT we decided to take in another performance of Beauty and the Beast. I know, but it’s one of Larry’s favorites. I think ever since he saw a performance of it where Chip fell over during the show, apparently concussed himself, and had to be dragged off stage, Larry keeps hoping it will happen again. Actually, he wanted to try out some different settings on his camera to see if he could take a few better pictures of the show. He’s really not that blood-thirsty. Although I must say, I’m always a bit disappointed when Chip doesn’t topple over myself.

Come on! One good kick to the head and he's a gonner.

Next up was a tour through One Man’s Dream and a nice, cool rest during the film. We headed over to the Backlot Tour, but it showed a 25 minute wait and neither Larry nor I thought it was worth it. I called Paula to check on their progress and they were at check-in at Pop Century. I told her that we were at DHS and for them to get settled and then call us when they got to the park.

The Muppets seemed to be calling our name so we went there next and sat, for the first time ever, on the front row (which is good if you don’t want to be squirted with water) for no particular reason except that we could.

We're with the band.

Afterwards, we were both hot and thirsty so we decided that we’d go to Starring Rolls, get a drink and a snack, and wait for Wes and Paula to arrive. We soon found that Starring Rolls closes at 4:00 (it was 4:05). Denied. We wound up getting a diet coke and a pretzel for me from Toluca Turkey Legs and an order of fries and a diet coke for Larry at Rosie’s. We sat down in the Farmer’s Market area out in front of the counter service places to wait. Paula called when they were on the bus to DHS and I told her where we were waiting for them.

It wasn’t long before Paula and Wes came strolling up, looking a great deal fresher than Larry and I. I told them that they too could look this bad after four days in the blistering sun.

We were close and Tower of Terror was calling Paula and my names so we took off in that direction. Wes is not a tremendous fan of the ToT, so he agreed to wait for us at the ride’s exit. Larry wanted to try getting on Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster using the single rider line so he split off from us once we got to the Fast Pass distribution area. We had just a short wait before we were screaming our lungs out. Best. Attraction. Ever.

Larry and Wes were both waiting for us at the exit. Larry said they weren’t using the single rider line at RnRC and the stand by queue was too long. We actually noticed several times this trip where the single rider lines weren’t being used, primarily on RnRC and Test Track even though the parks were quite crowded. Does anyone have any ideas why?

We decided to take a chance on Star Tours next and, although the wait time was posted at 30 minutes, the queue was way shorter than when Larry and I waited 30 minutes to ride it the first time, so we hopped in line. Sure enough, it was only about a 10 minute wait. We got different options this trip and I thought this ride was even better than the first one Larry and I had.

The stand by line had gotten considerably longer by the time we finished the ride so we gave the two Fast Passes to Paula and Wes so they could ride again. Larry wanted to catch the final show of the American Idol Experience so we headed for the theater with a plan to meet up again with Paula and Wes around 7:45 in front of the Great Movie Ride.

Even though it was still about 10 minutes before time for the show, the theater was almost full and they were just letting folks in a few at a time to be sure everyone had seats. The Cast Members were announcing that most likely not everyone in the queue would be admitted to the show and, even if you were, you might not be seated with your party. We just made it in before the cut off and were shown to seats in the next to the last row. The finale was enjoyable (as much because it was air conditioned and we were sitting down as because the singing was good) and Larry and I both voted for the woman who ultimately won.

We were a tiny bit late to meet Paula and Wes (who had ridden Star Tours and the Great Movie Ride) but found them easily enough. Extra Magic Hours were well underway by the time we made our way back to Pixar Place and Toy Story Midway Mania but the crowds hadn’t thinned any and the wait time was still over an hour (although it had been two hours earlier in the afternoon). We knew that we just had to be patient and that the queue would eventually get shorter if we waited a while.

They have some really amazing detail on the Great Movie Ride building.


My foot was really hurting today so I decided to find a bench across from the ride and set up camp. I sent Paula and Wes off to see the Muppets and Larry went off to try to make it on RnRC again (he was having coaster withdrawals since we’d only made it onto Expedition Everest so far this trip). While I waited I called my Mom to let her know that Paula and Wes had arrived safely.

Everyone showed back up by 8:45. Larry said that the wait for RnRC was still too long so he rode Tower of Terror instead. The Toy Story wait had dropped down to 40 minutes and the queue was shorter and moving steadily so we decided to go ahead and bite the bullet and get in line. We were actually on the ride in about 30 minutes.

I LOVED Candyland as a kid!


I had only been through the Fast Pass queue before tonight and Paula and Wes had never been on the ride before, so we didn’t mind getting the opportunity to look around the stand by queue. I thought it was really well done. Paula said that she liked the queue so much, she wouldn’t have been disappointed even if there hadn’t been a ride at the end of it. As it was, as soon as we got off, she declared that this was her new favorite ride.

The Barrel of Monkeys monkeys are the size of a second grader!

The Pixar ball.

It was about 10 minutes until park closing so Wes, Paula and I decided to head towards the bus stop. Larry however was determined to get on RnRC before the night was up and dashed back to try to make it in line before the park closed. We planned on eating dinner at the food court when we got back to Pop so Larry said he’d either catch up with us there or see me back at the room.

We were greeted with a huge queue at the Pop bus stop but, luckily, two busses pulled up at the same time. The driver of our bus kept packing more and more people onto the bus than I have ever seen before. He must have been some sort of Tetris champion in a past life because he was stacking us in like cordwood. Paula, Wes, and I were too far back in the line to snag a seat so we filed onto the middle of the bus to stand for the ride back. The driver crammed a row of us standers down the middle aisle of the bus and then made us all step to the left while he wedged in another line of folks down the right hand side of the aisle. We were well and thoroughly packed in. In fact, we were so close to the poor folks sitting down that several of us were in some rather compromising positions.

The man in front of me had had to spread his legs apart and I was literally standing in the V of his legs. His daughter offered her seat to me but I declined saying that I was never really sure who had it worse on these late night busses; the people that have to stand the whole way back or the people who have to sit down while hoards of sweaty people with their arms raised up over their heads to hold on to the handrails loom over them. The father laughed and said that Disney certainly didn’t show this part in their advertisements. I agreed and said that “Disney: Smell the Magic!” should be their next promo. I’m fairly certain that we exchanged DNA during the ride home.

We made it back to the resort where we unstuck ourselves from our fellow passengers. We sadly said good-night to our new-found companions saying that we had only known them for a short time and yet felt so close. Literally.

The food court was complete chaos. I’ve seen riots that were quieter and better organized. Since I was a party of one and have ninja capabilities, I was finally able to wangle a Chicken Mediterranean Flatbread and an ice cream sundae (you actually just don’t get the sundae before you check out, you just tell the CM at the register that you’re getting a sundae for your dessert and then show your receipt at the ice cream counter later).

Poor Paula and Wes were in line at the registers behind a foreign family (I can see the eyes beginning to roll already, but wait, it gets worse) on the dining plan (audible groaning) and trying to argue totally inappropriate items onto the plan! (What? You mean I can’t get an entire specialty celebration cake as my dessert? How about a dozen donuts? No? How about you throw in two more refillable mugs? Listen. I’ll take this table and chairs and we’ll call it even.) Paula asked Wes if he thought they would ever make it to the register and Wes shrugged. “I don’t know. I suppose the Geneva Convention will expire someday.”

Eventually they made it to the table but not before Larry had shown up and went off to try and secure a morsel of food for himself (Chicken Caesar Salad and a fruit cup). I went up to order my sundae (Rocky Road ice cream with hot fudge) and the CM who made my dessert told me to “have a groovy day!”

Paula and Wes were staying in the 80’s too which made the trek back to our rooms convenient. It was midnight and we were tired and simpled out by now. Paula and I noticed a sign in the elevator above the Emergency light which said, “Blinking Indicates Help is on the Way,” which just became funnier every time we thought about it. We spent the next few minutes taking turns blinking and then collapsing into peals of laughter while our husbands looked consoling at each other and silently hoped that help was, indeed, on the way.

Back in our room and in bed, Larry and I discovered that the loud people were once again at the swimming pool. Tonight, I was in no mood to listen to them so I waited until 12:15 and then called the front desk. The nicest CM answered (I think her name was Angelina) and said, “Good evening. How can I help the Wilmot family?” I apologized for having to bother her but explained that there was a very loud group of people in the computer pool outside our room and I was under the impression that the pools were supposed to close at midnight. Angelina agreed that the pool did close at 12:00 and said she would be more than happy to send security around to check things out.

12:15 – Loud group laughing, yelling and shouting. 12:30 – Total and complete blissful silence. It was one of the quickest and most thorough jobs of handling a noise complaint that I have ever seen.

Unfortunately, the party at the pool wasn’t the only thing that had been keeping me awake. My legs were aching so badly that I couldn’t get comfortable enough to fall asleep. I wonder if the front desk could send someone over to do something about that as well? I finally took a pain pill around 2:00 and was able to go to sleep.

 

[vleeth]

Too funny.

I keep blinking...no ones here yet!

 

[rgoble5972]

Too funny.

I keep blinking...no ones here yet!

Exactly. I don't think anyone's coming.

 

[Pimama]

You're TR is great and I'm loving the laughs. Thanks!!

 

[rgoble5972]

You're TR is great and I'm loving the laughs. Thanks!!

I'm glad you're enjoying it. Hopefully, it's better than a poke in the eye!

 

[rgoble5972]

Tuesday, May 31st – If They’re Going to Make Them Inconvenient, They Might as Well Make Them Huge.

I had told Paula the night before to just give us a call when they woke up and we’d set us a meeting time for the next day. She called at 7:40 and said that they would meet us at 9:00 by the pool.

Giant Walkman by the computer pool and "keyboard" made entirely out of spongy rubber stuff that feels amazing to your tired feet when you walk/bounce on it.

We met up at 9:00 and went to the bus stop with the intention of taking the bus to Epcot. A Magic Kingdom bus pulled in first however, so we decided to bus it to the MK and the take the monorail to Epcot like Larry and I did earlier during the week.

I’m sure anyone who knows Paula can see the impending problem that’s looming here. What do you think the chances are of getting Paula, whose favorite park of all times in the Magic Kingdom, off a Magic Kingdom bus, past the Magic Kingdom (Can’t you just hear music from Main Street drifting out past the entrance? “All ABOARD!” shouts the train conductor.) and onto a monorail to Epcot? Well if you said zero. Zip. Nada. You’d be right. We weren’t 10 feet from the Magic Kingdom bus stop before she was skipping towards the entrance with a Mickey balloon in one hand and a Mickey ice cream bar in the other. And speaking of Mickey balloons; gosh, the Mickey balloon technology has advanced since I’ve been back. When did they start lighting up?

Artsy shot of the Castle.

Anyway, Magic Kingdom it is. Larry immediately scooted off to get Fast Passes for Space Mountain while Paula, Wes and I strolled a bit more slowly up Main Street towards our meeting place at Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. There was no sign of Larry when we arrived so I suggested that Paula and Wes go ahead and jump in the short line for Buzz while I waited because I had a sneaking suspicion the Larry hadn’t been able to resist the lure of Space Mountain and had decided on taking a little solo ride.

Artsy shot of the AstroOrbiter

Sure enough, he showed up a bit later somewhat breathless from the jaunt. Once Paula and Wes were finished with Buzz we all took a spin on the TTA.

The CLAW!

Space Mountain from the TTA.

Paula and Wes had never been to the Monsters’ Inc. Laugh Factory so we headed there next, stopping long enough to get Fast Passes for Buzz Lightyear. After another cute show, we decided to venture into Stitch’s Great Escape to kill the few minutes until our Fast Pass window for Buzz was open. Once again, the consensus for this attraction was a resounding “meh.” I think the ride had a lot of potential, but they just phoned it in. These days, doing this attraction only serves to make me angry.

The ride had, however, achieved its purpose which was to get us to our return time for Buzz so we went there next. Afterwards it was time for the Space Mountain Fast Passes to kick in so Larry, Paula and Wes went off to ride Space while I took everyone’s park passes and headed towards Fantasyland telling them to text me when they were off the ride so we could meet up.

On the way to Fantasyland.

I considered getting us all Fast Passes for Winnie the Pooh, but I knew Paula wanted to see the new interactive queue so I passed them by (although they’ve moved them all the way over to Mickey’s Philharmagic now). I stopped at Peter Pan and got two Fast Passes thinking that Paula and Wes might want to use them later, but my main goal was Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (BTMRR).

I finally made it all the way to Big Thunder where I got Fast Passes for everyone and then headed back towards Fantasyland and the Columbia Harbour House. It was blazing hot again today and the shade and air conditioning of the restaurant was calling my name. I generally enjoy their food so I figured it was as good a place as any to have lunch so I sent a text to Paula saying that I would meet them there. I snagged a table in a side room (I was disappointed that the upstairs bridge room was closed off) and sat down to wait.

It wasn’t too long before everyone else turned up. Larry was looking a bit worse for the wear in the heat so I had him hold our table for us while I went with Paula and Wes to order. I ordered the Fried Fish Basket and the Fried Shrimp Basket for Larry and me to split between the two of us. I always enjoy their fish and chips but the shrimp sounded good as well so that seemed like a safe enough way to try it. It was a good portion of shrimp and Larry and I both liked it. Larry got the Strawberry Yogurt for dessert while I got the Apple Crisp. We were so hot and thirsty that I went ahead and ordered two cups of ice water as well as our two large diet cokes.

The food, drink and air conditioning worked its wonders at perking us up so after lunch we made our way to Pirates of the Caribbean. The wait time was posted at 35 minutes and Paula and Wes were willing to give it a go. Larry decided that he’d go to the Jungle Cruise to get Fast Passes and I decided that sitting in the shade in front of Pirates sounded like a good idea!

Shade, Ho!

While I waited I talked to a man originally from India but living in Chicago and his daughter who had just gotten to Disneyworld that day. Larry showed back up and joined in our conversation until the Captain Jack Sparrow Pirate Training class started and he went to take some pictures.

For example:

Where do I sign up for class with him?

Better yet. Where do I sign up for classes with HIM?

Paula and Wes showed up a short time later and we all went to BTMRR to use our Fast Passes. You should have seen Wes’s grin as we got closer to the loading platform. Big Thunder is one of his favorite all time rides.

Actually, you CAN see the grin on Wes.

Paula and Wes in the car in front of us.

For your safety, PLEASE, no bad dancing.

Next up was using the Fast Passes for the Jungle Cruise for a corny but fun ride. It was 3:30 by now and the sun was absolutely scorching hot. Larry and I decided that we wanted to head back to the room for a rest before going back out tonight (we had Advanced Dining Reservations for ‘Ohana at 9:50). Paula and Wes still wanted to use the Peter Pan Fast Passes so we parted ways and headed out of the park.

On the way out of Adventureland we happened upon the Aloha Isle snack stand and decided that using two snack credits for a couple of pineapple floats just might save our lives. Sure enough, the cold and creamy float sustained us all the way to the bus stop.

Back at the Pop Century, Larry took our ice bucket and brought back ice for us. I sent a text to Paula asking if they were coming back to the resort of if they just wanted to meet us at the MK before dinner at the Polynesian later tonight. I think I drank three mugs of ice water before we fell into bed for a cool, dark nap.

We slept for about an hour and a half before I got a text from Paula saying that they were on their way back to the resort and they would swing by our room to decide about plans for dinner.

While we headed back for our nap they had gotten trapped by the 3:00 parade and so had gotten Dole Whip Floats too. They went on the Haunted Mansion (using the regular queue) and then went to Fantasyland to get Fast Passes for Pooh. They also got the requisite bonus Fast Pass for Mickey’s Philharmagic so they did Philharmagic first and the Peter Pan. By then they were pooped so they skipped out on Winnie the Pooh and headed back to Pop.

Paula and Wes stopped by and collapsed on our bed. I gave them some of our ice water to help revive them. Wes mentioned that he would love a beverage in his refillable mug but that it was so much trouble to have to go all the way to the room and then back to the food court to fill it up, especially when the mug held such a small amount of liquid anyway. “If they’re going to make it inconvenient,” he grumbled, “they might as well make it huge!”

Paula and Wes said that they were going to rest for a while and then just meet us at ‘Ohana for dinner. We decided to meet up about 9:30 to see if we could get seated a little bit early.

Meanwhile, Larry and I were rested and ready to go again so we headed back to the bus stop and caught the first bus to the MK. Once there, Larry went to Space Mountain to use the final Fast Pass while I decided to ride the train around the park. I looked through a few shops on Main Street first before heading up to the train platform to get on the waiting train.

I wondered if the train would still stop at the Toontown Train Station since they have the Fantasyland expansion in progress now and sure enough it did. Disney has changed the spiel to say that they’re just stopping to take on water for the remainder of the trip and to elaborate a bit on the new expansion plans. It looks like they’re keeping Goofy’s Barnstormer and adding a new Dumbo ride under the tent of the Storybook Circus. There was also a poster with the three little pigs on it and the caption “The Flying Piggolini’s,” but I’m not sure if that’s going to be a new ride or not. The Storybook Circus is billed as a three ring circus so it makes sense that it would contain three rides. But then again, I mistakenly assumed that Stitch’s Great Escape should actually be “great.”

New and improved Fantasyland. Now with 60% less magic!

I'm sure there's some Piggolini's in there somewhere.

Larry was waiting at the train station when I got back to Main Street. He said he thought there probably wasn’t enough time for him to ride Space and Carousel of Progress both, so he just rode Space Mountain and came back.

We had plenty of time so we decided to take the boat to the Polynesian and look around the resort a bit before dinner. The Skipper of our boat was way funnier than our Jungle Cruise Skipper and he kept up a light banter all the way to the Grand Floridian and then on to the Polynesian. We also got to see a bit of the Electrical Water Pageant along the way.

We looked around the Polynesian for a few minutes before Paula and Wes showed up. We checked in at ‘Ohana where the CM greeted us with a big “Aloha!” Now I’ve stayed at the Polynesian several times and I know that they’re going to say “aloha.” I had prepared myself for the aloha. I was aloha ready. But, for some reason, when the CM said it to me I got flustered and managed to butcher two languages at once by stammering, “Hello….ha.” Hello-ha? Really? Ugh. They don’t call me silver-tongued for nothing.

We were given a pager, and had just sat down when it went off and we had to get right back up again. It was late and we were all starving so I’m afraid the pineapple coconut bread was devoured in record time. I think the server may have lost an arm.

Larry hadn’t eaten at ‘Ohana since before he and I got married and he swears that last time he ate here he got food poisoning. He was game to try it again though and we’re glad to report that none of us suffered any ill effects (other than being really, really full) whatsoever. The food was delicious and plentiful and we all ate ourselves silly. As is customary in my family (Well, okay, in my family of “me.” I think I’m the only one that does this.), I restricted myself to only eating shrimp out of all the grilled meals because why would you fill yourself up on oak grilled pork loin or steak or yeti or chupacabra or taxi driver or whatever else they bring to your table when you could have a-friggin’-mazing spicy grilled shrimp? But that’s just my Earth logic.

There was a male Cast Member emcee this evening and we quickly dubbed him Luau Larry the Lounge Singer. He was kind of like a Hawaiian Elvis if you can wrap your brain around that mental picture. Ice Capades Jumpsuit Elvis, not Sun Records Elvis.

At 10:00 we were able to see most of the higher fireworks from Wishes which was a nice touch. By 10:30 they were bringing out the dessert of pineapple bread pudding a la mode with bananas and caramel sauce. With….an extra bowl of ice cream with sprinkles. Why? Because ‘Ohana is made of WIN!

We all groaned loudly when our server sat down the dessert, but that didn’t stop us from finishing almost every bite of it, including the extra ice cream.

By the time we finished our meal, the restaurant was cannon-practice empty (it had technically closed at 10:00). Wes tried to get a coffee at Kona but apparently they close at 11:00…in the morning. We were a weensy bit late then.

We were worried that we might sink the boat back to the Magic Kingdom from the sheer volume of our dinner, but we took it anyway and then picked up the bus to the Pop Century. We were happy to note that there were no loud groups of people in the pool this evening as we made our way back to our beds and our dreams of flying piggolini’s…on an oak grilled skewer.

 

[mrssmith06]

You are such a good writer! And funny...loving the details.

 

[lbuzz52]

This is very entertaining. I'm looking forward to reading more!

 

[rgoble5972]

You are such a good writer! And funny...loving the details.

Thanks!

This is very entertaining. I'm looking forward to reading more!

Thanks. I'm enjoying reading your TR too. I noticed from your current trip report that your family was there just a bit before us. It was stupid hot, wasn't it!?

 

[rgoble5972]

Wednesday, June 1st – You Seem to be Leaking Some Kind of Essential Salts

Once again the plan was for us to meet Paula and Wes at 9:00 at the pool. For some reason, Larry and I were ready 30 minutes early so I texted Paula that we’d meet them at Soarin’ and we left for Epcot. I figured that we’d make it to the park around opening time and we could sneak in a ride on Soarin’ using the stand by line before Paula and Wes arrived.

Once at Epcot, we were subjected to standing in the queue for one of the most thorough bag searches I’ve ever seen. This lady might actually find something!

Good morning, Epcot.



Unfortunately, when we got to the tip board, it showed that Soarin’ already had a 40 minute wait. Larry decided he’d try the single riders’ line at Test Track and I would go on to Soarin’ to get Fast Passes and wait for Paula and Wes. (They weren’t using the single rider queue at Test Track so Larry wound up riding Mission: Space instead.)

I went to The Land and picked up a couple of Fast Passes for Soarin’ and then was confronted with a small moral dilemma. Now something that I’ve failed to mention in this trip report is that Larry used to be somewhat famous for his ability to figure out ways to obtain--how shall we say it?--“unauthorized” Fast Passes. So much so in fact that he was contacted by Disney’s head of Fast Pass security once to discuss ways to eliminate some of the loopholes in the system.

This was back when Fast Passes were relatively new and Disney was still trying to work some of the bugs out of the system. The head of security was a very nice man who spent an afternoon with Larry, took him back stage behind Splash Mountain, and gave him VIP seating for that day’s parade. I’m glad to say that, since that time, Disney has all but eliminated any extraneous ways to get Fast Passes and has implemented measures that make it almost impossible to use any Fast Pass scams. ALMOST impossible. Obviously, being Larry’s spouse, he has confided in me the greater extent of his knowledge of the workings of the Fast Pass system.

So it was, on this particular morning as I held two legitimate Fast Passes in my hand, that I was presented with an opportunity to obtain a few additional Fast Passes and, I’m sad to say, I took it. Yes, I am going to Disney hell. I think I must have momentarily blacked out. One minute I’m standing there with 2 Fast Passes and the next minute I’m holding…..oh gosh, it sounds really bad now that I’m going to say it out loud…16 more! (Ducks behind desk to avoid storm of shoes, rotten vegetables, and expletives now being hurled at me!) In my defense, there ARE four of us, so that’s just four rides each (not counting the two legitimate ones). When Paula saw the stack of the Fast Passes later, she laughed and asked if I was planning on rolling around naked in them on the hotel bed.

Larry showed up a few minutes later and even he was a bit shocked at the sheer volume of Fast Passes that I had. We decided to share a breakfast at Sunshine Seasons while we waited on Paula and Wes to arrive. We got one adult breakfast platter (bacon, eggs, sausage, potatoes and a biscuit) which was plenty between the two of us. I asked Larry to go get two drinks (coffee for him, diet coke for me) while I waited at the register. I told the CM at the register that we were on the dining plan and that my husband was getting the drinks that went with our quick service option. The CM informed me that we only got one drink with breakfast.

Smiling condescendingly at her, I patiently explained that, when using a meal credit for breakfast, since you don’t get a dessert like you do for lunch or dinner, you got two beverages instead. (There, there, let me patronize you.) The CM insisted that you only got one beverage, so I smiled and nodded knowingly, completed the transaction, and went over to meet Larry at the drink station. Out of earshot, I told Larry (rather smugly and with much eye rolling) that the seriously misinformed CM was under the delusion that we only got one drink with breakfast but that I knew for a fact that we got two so to go ahead and get both of our drinks. Back in the resort room, I had the dining plan brochure to prove it.

Paula and Wes arrived as we were eating and decided to partake in breakfast too. I mentioned to Paula that she might want to go to a different cashier than the one we used because that poor CM was confused about the dining plan and breakfast options. When Paula suggested that she thought the CM might actually be correct, I was vehement in defending my position. I think I was still knee-deep in my placating explanation on how the dining plan worked when Paula pulled out her Dining Plan brochure and timidly pointed at the line that said “For Breakfast: one (1) single serving entrée, one (1) non-alcoholic beverage.” Wha..? Oh, MAN! Now I really AM going to Disney hell! It wasn’t even 10:00 in the morning yet and I had already scammed 16 Fast Passes and stolen a beverage from the food court. AND I was smug about it. Sheesh. Maybe later I can go push Mickey down in the dirt.

After breakfast (and my tasty stolen beverage) we debated if there was anything else that we wanted to do in The Land before we moved on. Paula put the Kibosh on Living with the Land and no one seemed to particularly want to do the Circle of Life. The last time I sat through Circle of Life I was struck by the irony of Disney lecturing to someone who was chopping down trees and diverting waterways to build a resort. Hello Kettle? There’s a call for you from Pot.

So, we opted to leave the comfort of The Land and head for The Living Seas where we scrambled aboard our Clam-mobiles to find the rather directionally challenged Nemo. Again, as with the Tronorail, Larry thought that clam-mobile was too boring a name and preferred to call them the Clam-bulators for the remainder of our time at The Seas.

Once inside the former Sea Base Alpha we visited Turtle Talk with Crush (always entertaining) and had a gander at the manatees before heading back to The Land for our date with Soarin’. I was pleased to see that, as a punishment for the scammed Fast Passes, we were given the third row.

Larry and I decided that the badness of Captain EO was so good that we needed to share it with Paula and Wes so we dragged them, kicking and screaming, to Imagination! (just imagine that you’re having a good time) so they could experience Hooter (Did I mention that there was a wacky blue elephant named “Hooter?” It’s almost too good to believe, isn’t it?), Idey, Ody, and the rest of the gang. They were both suitably appalled.

Two factors came into play when we escaped Capitan EO. First, it was beginning to rain and, second, it was lunchtime. Paula, Wes and I decided that a trip to Mexico was in order while Larry had a hankering (Do British folk ever really have “hankerings?” Or is that confined to just a Southern thing?) for some fish and chips. We decided that Paula, Wes and I would go to Mexico for food and a table while Larry ran to the UK for fish and chips and then he would join us.

We had just made it to Mexico when it began to absolutely pour down rain. Luckily, we were under the shelter of the Cantina de San Angel and were able to order our food (cheese empanadas with chips and salsa and the churros with caramel sauce for dessert for me) and get a table without getting wet. Larry was trapped in the UK experiencing typical British weather until he was able to dash over when the deluge slowed a bit.

By the time we finished eating, the rain had slackened off considerably so we went into the pyramid to look around and ride the Gran Fiesta Tour. Larry and I were assigned the back row which is always good for snogging.

We walked from Mexico to Norway (All I Needed to Know about Geography, I Learned from Epcot.) where we picked up a Kim Possible Mission for Paula and Wes. The Cast Member was busy explaining to a family with three children how to pass the Kimmunicator between the children so that they all get a turn pushing buttons and discovering clues. She finished up with their mission instructions and then began to help us.

“Do I have to tell you about sharing?” she asked. We all agreed that we probably had the hang of sharing by now, so she gave us the Kimmunicator and said our mission was in China.

Larry struck out on his own to take some pictures, but quickly came back for our park passes so he could pick up some Fast Passes for Maelstrom. Paula and Wes headed to China for their first mission while I found a bench in Norway where I could call my mom. I forgot that Larry had our cell phone, but he showed up a few minutes later and sat with me while I used the phone.

I don't think you can take a bad picture in China.

You can, however, take too MANY pictures in China.

Hello very much. Welcome to more happy smile pictures of China.

Tired of pretty China shots yet?

How 'bout now?

Consider my chi thoroughly focused.

Happy Panda says good-bye from China.


We got a text from Paula and Wes that they were finished with their mission in China, had thwarted the bad guy, and that it was safe to enter the country now, so we headed there to meet up with them in the gift shop. Along the way we discovered that the rain had brought out the tiniest baby frogs ever! We weren’t the only geeky folks “ooh-ing” and “ahh-ing” over the adorable things either.

Just look at this little fella. He's the size of three receipt numerals.



We looked at the Tomb Warrior display (Okay, everybody do their best Dokken impersonation and belt out with me, “TOMB WAR-RI-ORS!”) for a while and then back-tracked to Norway to use our Maelstrom Fast Passes. About half-way through the ride and 4 or 5 squinty-eyed trolls later Paula asked, “Does anyone in Norway have both of their eyes?”

Must resist urge to push over like dominoes.



The rain had completely disappeared by now and had left the park even hotter and muggier than before. Larry was craving an ice cream bar so we carried on past China, through the African Outpost to Germany. (Oddly enough, we found the World Showcase to be completely devoid of ice cream bars. You can’t move three feet in any direction in the Animal Kingdom without coming across an ice cream bar vendor, but not so much the World Showcase.) We looked through the new (to us) Karamell-Kuche at all the caramel dipped treats. They all looked amazing but it must have been hot indeed because they didn’t sound good to me in the slightest.

Germany: Now with more Karamell......UND EVIL!



We eventually made it to American, still hoping for Larry’s ice cream bar. Sadly, he was denied the Mickey bar but settled on a waffle cone with soft serve ice cream instead. We both got the largest beverages we could find and I got a jalapeno and cheese filled pretzel (Paula got the sweet cream cheese filled version so we could split them and see which one we liked best. The verdict? I couldn’t decide—they were both good.) The coldness and sheer force of the air conditioning howling into the Liberty Inn (where we decided to sit and eat our snacks) made me proud to be an American!

As we were sitting there, Larry noticed that my pants had some white, powdery looking stains just below my knees. In his charming, silver-tongued manner he pointed at them and said, “It looks like you’re leaking some kind of essential salts.” You sweet-talker, you. And because I probably WAS essential salt deficient at that very moment, I burst out into peals of laughter.

It looks like this guy leaked out all his essential salts, despite his best efforts to replish them with pretzels.

While we rested, we debated going back to the hotel for a break vs. just staying in the park until time for Illuminations. Although going back for a swim or a nap sounded tempting, we decided just to suck it up and stay till closing. I decided that it was really easier on my foot to stay in the park where I could walk for a bit and then rest it whenever it got to hurting too badly rather than having to walk completely through the park and all the way to the bus stop (which is usually one of the last slots with the exception of DHS where it’s third). Then to have to walk from the bus stop at the resort all the way to the room. And then to have to repeat the process in reverse to get back to a park and home again that evening. So, stay it was.

Paula and Wes wanted to look around the countries a bit more while I fancied heading towards the UK pavilion to catch the 6:00 performance of British Revolution so we split up with Larry coming to the UK with me. Once in the UK we found a bench and enjoyed some “Twist and Shout,” “Roxanne,” and “Bohemian Rhapsody” (oh yes they did!). When they got to the really rock-out part of Bohemian Rhapsody (You know the part where everyone in the car in Wayne’s World jams out? Right after the “Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me. For Me-e-e. FOR MEEEEEEEEEE!” part?) Tigger can tearing out of the shop where he had been signing autographs, put both arms, with each paw making the “rock on” gesture, into the air, and began banging his head with great enthusiasm. He did this for about 30 seconds before dashing back into the shop leaving a wake of small children and a very confused handler behind. I think it would be great fun to get to be Tigger. His handler, not so much.

After the set was finished Larry went to take some more pictures while I re-located to a more out-of-the-way bench (we had been front and center for the last show). From my bench I watched a bunny playing on the grass in “Hyde Park,” a squirrel rustling around in the bushes behind me, and my lizard from the other day still darting out onto the sidewalk to eat bugs. I felt like a veritable Snow White with all manner of woodland creatures around me.

BUNNY!





Larry was back in time for the 7:00 show and Paula and Wes showed up about 7:15. We decided that we all wanted to get fish and chips for dinner, (This would make Larry’s third time to eat fish and chips out of his last four meals but, hey, he’s British.) eat them while watching the 8:00 British Revolution set, and then find a spot for Illuminations.

Larry and Wes went to procure the fish and chips for us and we had a lovely picnic in park while listening to the band. For some reason, we were highly amused by the recorded announcement that they play after each British Revolution show where the woman exclaims, “We’re chuffed to bits that you came.” Paula and Wes had come “across the pond” to visit us when Larry and I lived in the UK and we had all heard people saying that they were “chuffed,” but, for whatever reason, this just got more and more funny every time we heard it.

Afterwards, we looked around in the UK shops for a while before heading out to the waterfront to pick out a spot for Illuminations. We found a place just to the side of the Rose and Crown. It was kind of behind a hedge, but we were all tall enough so that it didn’t block our view.

Once Illuminations was over, we sat on a bench and people-watched while we waited for the crowds to clear out. I think you see the biggest variety of park attire at Epcot—everything from women tottering in high heels and cocktail dresses to casual business attire to shorts and t-shirts. We finally decided to start the walk out ourselves. Later, next June we had made it to the bus stop and onto the standing-room only second bus. Two men towards the back of the bus offered their seats to Paula and me and, for the first time in my life, I took them up on it (and thanked them profusely)!

Good night, Epcot.



Back at the room, it didn’t take us long to fall into bed.

 

[vleeth]

Okay...now you're going to have half the people yell at you for 'scamming' fp and the other half begging you to tell them how you did it.

 

[rgoble5972]

Okay...now you're going to have half the people yell at you for 'scamming' fp and the other half begging you to tell them how you did it.

I must admit, I felt really, really, really bad about the "unauthorized" fast passes. (Obviously not so bad that I didn't use them, but really, really really bad nonetheless.) I don't know what came over me. I blame it on the Patrick Warburton.

 

[EeyoreEeyoreOh]

Just started reading and loving it so far! Too funny!

 

[rgoble5972]

Just started reading and loving it so far! Too funny!

Welcome! Glad you're enjoying it.