Thurs. Nov. 13th, 2008 cont.
We finally made it to Soarin, we really enjoy this ride, but they either need to thoroughly clean the screen or replace it, it was filthy, especially in the upper left side. It was not up to Disney standards at all
!!
We had never been to Club Cool, so we went there. They have Flavors from Around the World:
I liked the watermelon one and another one, but I cant remember the name. Bill seemed to like some of them too. Now here is where having a big mouth works against you. I had made the mistake of talking about Beverly before, even showing him pictures of my online friends relatives/friends drinking it, so there was no way he was going to try it. Nothing I could do or say could get him to try on taste of it. So I tried it, there are no pictures, but if you look at Scotts picture from his trip report it will give you an idea of the face I made.
We left there and saw a hat display, since he didnt try Beverly he caved in when I asked him to try on hats:
We went to the First Aid station; they have 3 different areas at this location:
Rooms with high beds:
Semi private areas with low beds:
Rooms with low beds:
After we left First Aid we started to go left towards Mexico to walk around to our destination of Japan for dinner. Before we even got to turn we ran into
Skipper Tim from the Jungle Cruise, he remembered us from October and introduced his lovely wife, and gorgeous baby. We talked for a couple minutes, it was so nice of him to talk to us. So many CMs seemed to remember us from the trip 3 weeks before it made us feel special.
We said our goodbyes and made our way toward Japan taking some pictures on the way:
I wasnt sure where the elevator was and I also wanted to see the pick a pearl station so we headed inside a shop. I saw a woman get an 8½ mm pearl, it was beautiful. We found the elevator and made our way up. It wasnt that long until the hostess asked us to follow her inside. We had a family from the New Jersey area (I think) sit with us, the rest of their party was at the table next to ours.
Wada was our chef for the evening:
We both ordered the steak and chicken. Wada talked and cooked, we got vegetables and noodles first:
He saw me cut up Bills food.
(I do this because Bill's left hand is the only one that is functional and it is somewhat limited. I also do this because of the Cerebral Palsy, it effects his swallowing capabilities sometimes.) When it came time for the steak and the chicken, he cut Bills up for him. He said I was on vacation and it was up to him to take care of it. That was so nice, I was very touched.
For dessert Bill got the Chocolate Ginger Cake and I had the Fruit Tart:
We both loved the food and will be going back. When we left we came outside and saw the most amazing full moon. I wish I had a camera that could have taken a picture of how fantastic it looked over the World Showcase, it was mesmerizing. This is the picture I ended up with:
We walked around for a bit and then started making our way to the wheelchair accessible location for Illuminations. We picked up a funnel cake on the way, we hadnt had one there before and it was on our to do list. The college program CM at the wheelchair area was great. He was very personable and really seemed to be enjoying his job.
He let a couple in that had a service dog with them. The man was in a manual wheelchair, they owned DVC. They were very nice, we chit chatted about going around Disney in a wheelchair, the dog Max does many things including pulling the gentleman around Disney World when he gets tired. Max was a handsome black lab. He was very friendly, came right up to Bill and I, he just put his huge head in my lap. He weighed about 80lbs. When he laid down he put his head on Bills feet. I can not believe I didnt take pictures of this magnificent creature. Other people started showing up and he made the rounds meeting people. Then he came back by us, he seemed to go to sleep, that is until Bill started coughing, his head jerked up completely alert and just stared at Bill with compassionate eyes making sure he was ok. It was something to see.
The fireworks didnt bother him one bit and after they were over he climbed up on the bench between the lady and I. We thought he was going to cuddle up with her, but no he laid his head my lap like he had known me forever. It made me miss Ace
, but he was so sweet and he just let me love on him. It was time for them to go and we said our goodbyes.
We didnt start walking out until about 9:50pm. We love staying back and letting the crowds filter out. That way it feels like we are almost alone in the World Showcase when we are leaving. I really hate to leave there when it feels like it is just us. The beauty of the entire night was magical, the full moon, the music, the feeling like it was our own peace of Heaven, I just love that feeling.
Then we walked up to the Pop bus stop. The first thing I always do is take a count of how many wheelchair/
ECVs there are. That way I know how long a wait there will be. There were 5 people on wheels in front of us, no big deal, we have all night. Many people wait a long time for a bus, we like to lag behind so the rush of the leaving crowds dont effect us as badly. A bus pulled up, loaded 2 of the WCs and another bus pulled up beside it and loaded more people. That took care of many guests very quickly. They then pulled away and another bus pulled up took more guests and 2 more wheelchair/ECVs. Then another bus pulled up behind it and took us and another wheelchair user that had wheeled up. Our bus CM, Tommy was very professional, polite, and just a great guy. By the time we loaded, there was no one else in the queue, so us and the other couple had the bus to ourselves. We were in the room by 10:45pm.
Next installment
old favorites and wandering around
And Max? 
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so great to "see" you!! Oh I don't know which ride would be worse to be stuck on 
. I will have to ask Bill what he thinks.
Loving your report as usual. Bill has made me want to eat at The Land. His food looked yummy. And the pictures of the sky and the Christmas castle. Aw, heaven.
What an awesome picture of the back of the castle too. You're getting good at Disney photography! I'm sorry you got stuck with Figment, but sounds like you made the most of it. I'm sure some people would have really given them a hard time about making them wait. We also got stuck on a ride this past December. Quite the experience!
I look forward to reading more. I'm looking at your tickers trying to figure out if we go this year if we can overlap with you guys and meet. Someday..
!! Disney tickers are what keeps me going and happy. Sounds like you are having a great time planning for your sister's friend, that is great!
)
