WDW 10-Year Anniversary Trip, Day 6, Part 3: Roses are Red, Bad Busses are Blue

Part 2 is located HERE.

The parade still hasn't made its way over to the end yet, so we sneak through and find ourselves back in Adventureland. We hit the bathroom by Aloha Isle. As we walk out, SNAP there's the first float in Spectro. The timing was seriously scary. We seriously walked up to the street about 20 seconds before the float passes us.

We watch Spectro for about 10 minutes and then decide to start making our way to Main Street USA for Wishes. We pick a spot just before the hub…a little farther back than we were on Day 2. I am dying of thirst, so I tell Sheri I'm gonna head over to the snack cart and get a water. Sheri grows roots and doesn't move, while I get in line.

When I get to be about 3rd from the front, I notice that the guy currently ordering was wearing a disneyworldtrivia.com shirt. Hmmm, I thought to myself…must be a big fan of Lou Mongello (author of the Disney Trivia books, podcaster, and speaker at some of the larger meets like Mousefest and Magicmeets/PA Dismeets). The more I looked at him, though, the more I started thinking that his build was close to what Mongello's was from pictures I've seen. Those who know him know exactly what I mean.

The minute I heard him say "thanks," I knew it was him.

I call out his name, and he almost throws his popcorn in the air. I think I startled him, considering he jumped about 4 feet. In an e-mail afterwards, he just said he wasn't expecting to hear his name being called from the millions of people around. He stays near the snack cart while I'm still in line, and we talk for a few minutes. He was on a research trip (he says he has to laugh every time he says that…research at WDW…tough job!). I told him that I listened to the old Mousetunes podcast and have heard his new one (WDWRadio), and I thanked him for doing the stuff he did with the books and the podcasting. He asks where I'm from, what I do, why I'm down here, etc, and we shoot the breeze for about 4-5 minutes. After I got the water, we shake hands, and then I head back to find wifey in the sea of bodies. I tell her who I met in line, and she recognized his name because she was bidding on his book on e-bay. In his May 27th show, he actually mentioned our chance meeting about 54 minutes into Episode 16. After Millionaire, I'll consider this my fifteen minutes of fame (10.6 million viewers and $16,000 has a tendency to trump anything). His podcasts are often long (a running joke between WDW Today and WDW Radio), but he gets amazing guests on there and provides a LOT of information on them.

Oh, and Sheri ultimately did win one of his trivia books on e-bay. She's tried winning a signed copy of the Volume 2 a couple of times but hasn't had luck.

Wishes was as it always is. My favorite parts are the red shells popping up one at a time during the Fantasia music, the "Genie" shells during the Aladdin music, and pretty much every time they fire off the white side ones. It's a great way to mark the end of a vacation.

After Wishes ends, we head off the street to the side and let the mobs clear out a little. As we're people-watching and looking around, I notice an interesting thing here…I actually recognize some of the folks from our resort as well as from seeing them in other parts of the MK and other parks. I definitely like this way of visiting the parks – taking the time actually experience Walt Disney World, rather than just "going there." With this trip, I'm loving the parks even more. I don't feel like we have to ride all the rides…we're hooked, and we know we'll be back again real soon. It's only my third time here (Sheri's fourth, though the other time was just a one or two day trip with her aunt/uncle), but the real magic of the place has found me…not just the excitement of the rides or seeing the characters. I'm working on a blog entry to answer those who wonder why we love the place so much.

After about 10-15 minutes of waiting back, we make our way out to the bus stops. Yeah, there's a line, but it's expected. Besides, the weather is perfect, the ducks aren't assaulting us (we got a restraining order against them), the scenery is great all around Seven Seas Lagoon, the Contemp is all lit up, folks relaxing on their balconies, etc. We talk to a really nice family from Colorado waiting just behind us. They tell us that they got an awesome dream at Blizzard Beach earlier in the day. As they were getting ready to leave, the team stopped them and told them that they were selected to stay in the park for about an hour or so after it closed. Only about 100-125 got this, so they pretty much had the park to themselves with no wait on any of the slides.

We get to the Pop after our next-to-last bus ride (M.E. to the airport) and head into the gift shop. We buy 2 more glasses like what Pat put into our basket (and a carrying container) and head into the food court. In there we pick up a half-dozen items for a friend who needs a Disney fix (hope you liked the Mickey Rice Krispy treats, Tricia!). We pay for it and make our way outside. Unlike our stay at the All-Star Movies, where we explored that hotel like crazy, we haven't walked around much at all. We walked around a little and saw Mowgli/Baloo and the giant Play-Doh. We head back to our room and pop our champagne. Sheri finishes up a little packing, and we toast ourselves to a most excellent trip. The alarm is set for 5:30, which is gonna be early for us since we stayed up talking until around 1.

5:30 comes, and we're out the door a little before 6:00. We check in for our flight, which was MUUUUUUCCCHH better than the last time I tried it (last day of the December 05 TR). We almost open up the food court, where I got another waffle (not sure what wifey got). Out to what Sheri calls "Bad Bus" stop for ME. While waiting, we see about 5 hot air balloons up to our south. Most families waiting have that sorrowful look on our faces that we all experience on this part of the trip. Sheri and I are ready to be back home with our kids, so the "bummage" level isn't too high. I think we feel comfortable with the parks now and can cut back the trips by a day…we hope to test this in December, where we are shooting for a 4.5 day trip as opposed to a 6 day trip.

The bus gets there about 15 minutes late…the roads are all blocked off for a triathlon today, so it was interesting trying to get to some of the resorts. We go off-site and pick up some folks at a non-Disney hotel…didn't know that they offered that. It's a quiet trip to MCO as some folks slept, while others just looked outside or watched the Disney propaganda video. The timing is perfect…just as we get to MCO, the video is ending. Very few dry eyes as Mickey and his gang do their goodbyes:

M…I...C…….

SEE YA REAL SOON!

K…E…Y…….

WHY? BECAUSE WE LIKE YOU!!!

M…O….

U……

S………..

EEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeee

WDW 10-Year Anniversary Trip, Day 6, Part 2: Roses are Red, Bad Busses are Blue

Part 1 of this day is located HERE

We took the nap took the nap took the nap…until around 2:30. Then the phone rang, and we about fell out of the bed. I heard the Lodge ringtone and guessed it was ncligs on the caller ID. YEP! His flight had already arrived, and he was on the road down to Vero Beach. He asked how our trip had been going, and I asked if he was ready for Cindy to be around 24/7 (okay, not really, but I did ask if they were excited about her being down there full time). We talked for a couple more minutes and then let each other go. We'll meet up sometime Nick!

Sheri still had the adrenaline going from the phone ringing…she had already showered and was dressed and ready to go. That meant one thing:

I had better get my butt in gear and get dressed too!

I fill the ice bucket up with ice and throw the champagne (from Pat) in there to start chilling for when we got back tonight. We walk down to the bus stop and SNAP the Epcot bus to our stop (less than 2 minutes).

Over to Golfballland in a few minutes, and we immediately head for the tip board to see if there's a shot at Soarin….75 minutes…nope! No problem…we can look at some more of the World Showcase. We pop into the UK first to see if Mary Poppins was around. Nope. We then go to France so I could see if Belle was around. Nope. Hey…how about the wine tasting? Nope…line's waaay too long. Gray Goose Slushie Thingy? YEP!!!! It would have been perfect had I not spilled about 20% of it when I picked it up. Over to Morocco for Jasmine!!! Nope. Sheri takes a picture of a camel, and I try to convince her to take a picture of one of his feet for a joke pic to send to the Lodge Guys. She thinks about it for a second and then pulls about 20 hairs out of my arm.

WAIT…I see a flash of cyan near the water…it's Jasmine! WOOHOO!

Sorry, gals, it wasn't the John Stamos Aladdin from the 2005 trip report. Looking back, however, I think that may have been the Lodge's favorite Aladdin, so they're still probably cheering over there for him.

I look over and notice the bridge is up…here comes the globe.

We get to the American Adventure about ten minutes before the Voices of Liberty are to perform, so we grab some floor just under the rotunda. My first dream job at WDW would be a Dapper Dan. My second (a very close second), however, would be with this group. Some of it stems from the fact that, when I was with the Protestant Cadet Choir at the Air Force Academy and on trips, we would open up the concerts with Golden Dream, which I think is done at the attraction there (still have yet to see it). Having seen the sheet music with the 4 parts broken out (6 at the end of the song), and having sung the bass part, I have a strong respect for this group. Disney songs ain't easy to sing, and that has got to be one of the hardest. The crescendo at the end of that song, coupled with the 2- and 3-measure holds…it takes your breath away singing it, but bringing the audience to their feet on the first song is so worth it. Click here just in case you need a fix of the song. Needless to say, they did not disappoint at all, and it's hard not to feel at least a little patriotism after they get done singing.

I'm sorry I went on about that…it brought back some good memories, and I just let the fingers go. It could be worse…I could be talking about the flight back in this detail.

We have to hold the actual attraction for a later date as we have to hoof it over to Canada for our last table service dinner of the vacation…Le Cellier. We get there a few minutes early, but we're seated immediately. The guy seating us tells us we're going to his favorite table in "the Northwest Territory." It's kind of tucked away behind everything else, and it is perfect! Sheri got a chardonnay, and I went with a Moosehead. Usually, we agree to get different things to sample…this time, however, the mushroom filet came so highly recommended from several sources that we had to both get our own. When it comes to food, I'm not afraid to use my silverware as weapons to guard it. We both ordered the mushroom filet (mine medium, Sheri's dead and buried), and we also both got the highly touted cheddar soup. Our server recommended dipping the pretzel bread into the soup. I'm not a pretzel fan, but that was worth the price of the meal right there. You know how dogs are when they try to get every last piece of food in their bowl? That was me getting every last drip of that soup. Soup's gone, and so is the beer, so I switched to a Labatt Blue.

Then the filets came.

Oooohhhhhhhhh….that's about all I can say.

You almost didn't need a knife with this cut. The tenderness and the flavor were perfect. I think Sheri gave Jiko a slight edge as the best restaurant, but Le Cellier is right up there with it in my book. Oh, and the Labatt's gone now, so I went out on a limb and took the server's advice on trying a unibroue: the Maudite. I really liked it, but I can't really describe it. It's something that you have to taste for yourself, I think. Oh, and, if you're at Le Cellier, ask about the story behind the name and the label.

We decide to split on the dessert…I'm selfish and order the maple/vanilla crème brulee sampler (just added on the menu), while wifey orders the whiskey-soaked chocolate cake. I nearly had to use my silverware against my spouse for the maple crème brulee (I was like a dog getting that last morsel of food again).

As we head out of Le Cellier, I notice a billboard with a question on it…if I know the answer, I should tell the host/hostess. CathyCanada, you'll be happy to know that I became an honourary Canadian for a day (I even included that 'u' in honourary for the occasion).

Time to say "Goodbye" to Epcot and head to MK for the last night. On our way to the entrance, we hit the Beauty and the Beast topiary and get some photopass pics there. One of the poses would have been funny, had it been pulled off correctly…I'm supposed to be ferocious and growling, while Sheri is supposed to take some pose like a maiden with her arm up in the air. We were too busy laughing to get the pic to turn out. Gotta give credit to the Photopass dudette for originality.

We walk underneath Spaceship Earth and past the Peter Pan topiaries for the last time, with the ambient pirate singing from the movie in the background. See ya Epcot…it was really nice getting to know you finally!

Up the monorail ramp and SNAP, here it comes. We hop on and relax on the ride to the TTC. Down the ramp and up the ramp and SNAP, here it comes. We decided to take the resort monorail to see the Poly and the Grand Floridian one more time. Off the monorail, through bag check, through the turnstiles, assault Photopass guy, and we're on Main Street. We head over to grab FPs for Buzz and head over towards Fantasyland. Yet again, Sheri asks if I want to ride Dumbo, though I deserved it this time as I whined about the hotness that is Alice not being out by the teacups this time. We get in to do Philharmagic again…I cannot wait to bring Eric to this to see his reaction to the 3-D. If he's anything like his brother (and he is), he'll be reaching out to try to grab them. I watch the crowd almost as much as I do the screen…the kids having fun…the parents having fun. We both catch even more things in this viewing.

We head out and walk back to Tomorrowland for Buzz. There was a Dream Team CM talking to the folks in front of us…she talked to them the entire queue line. It was great as she showed genuine interest in their background (girl's in college…here with boyfriend I think). I hope their dreams did come true.

Game on! I miss the 100K target in the first room, but I nail the volcano a number of times for over 150K. Sheri tries shooting me (she's such a bad sport).

We decide to head over to Adventureland next for another ride on POC. There was a large group behind us…probably 12-15 people…having a good time in the queue. This wait was about 15 minutes…still not bad at all. After POC (the conveyor belt is still broken after it blew up back on day 2), we sneak through the crowds forming for Spectromagic and head over to Frontierland. Sheri comments on how dark Tom Sawyer's island is, and I ask if she's thinking of wanting to have a little "rendezvous" over there.

The response: more hair out of my arms.

We go past Splash Mountain and over to BTMRR. I rode this at night in Anaheim and wanted Sheri to experience how different the ride is at night. As we walk up, the CM sizes me up and reaches for a red card.

I'm now fully indoctrinated into WDW life (well, not fully…still waiting for a kiss from a princess). I get to do a red card!!!! The CM seemed relieved that he didn't have to explain what it was to me. The only reason I knew what they were for is because I think Mark (Mare's DH) did the red card for just about every attraction we went on. The posted time when we got there was 20 minutes. My goal is to get that changed!! As fast as we go through the queue, I don't think we'll have a problem getting it lowered.

VERY fun ride at night. I had my hands up, and Sheri tried, but she kept bringing them back down when we got into a tunnel. She liked the ride at night too!

We walk out and check the posted wait time.

10 minutes.

I almost started doing a celebration dance.

Part 3 (the end (FINALLY) of the report) is located HERE

WDW 10-Year Anniversary Trip, Day 6, Roses are Red, Bad Busses are Blue: Part 1

Day 6: Roses are Red, Bad Busses are Blue

Good Morning, Good MOOOrning. It’s great to stay up late. Good Morning. Good Morning to You!

That was my response to Stitch when he called at 7:30, and I put him on speakerphone.

For wardrobe selection, I went with the Mickey/Donald attitude shirt that I’ve seen at least 12 others wear. Sheri opts for a lime green shirt.

Lime green? NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooo........

Good Lord, woman, have I taught you nothing?!! I told her I was going to count how many people stared at her in the parks wondering what her name was over there. In case you haven't figured out yet, I'm not a huge Disboards fan.


We’ve lasted 5 days without really eating at the Pop food court (except for the first day there when we grabbed lunch) (and the donuts) (and the rice krispie treats) (and the pop refillable mu…OKAY!!!!! SO I’M WRONG!!!). I was in the mood for a Mickey waffle with fruit topping. We get ready and head down to the food court and…ummm…there’s no Mickey waffle.

This is what I want:





They don’t have that…they have this instead:



It just ain’t the same.

I manage to choke down the PopWaffle (because in my mind, it tastes nothing like it's supposed to, despite the fact that they're exact same recipe), and we head to the bus stops. A quick SNAP of the fingers, and a bus for MK rolls on up. Now, I’ve heard the horror stories about the busses…this is the second time we’ve stayed on site, both times at a value resort. We have no complaints whatsoever, whether it’s just our luck, our not worrying much about it, or whatever.

We get to Magic Kingdom at 8:35 and immediately notice that it’s a little more crowded than last time, though it’s still really quiet. 8:48, and...




...in case you missed it from Day 2.



Sheila Shufflehop was just a touch early because there was a long, awkward pause once before Mickey started to reply, and she almost started laughing as Mickey had his hands up in the air ready to talk, but he just couldn't say what he wanted to say for some reason. We watched them finish the first time, so we didn’t feel guilty about heading into MK while the CMs were still smiling and dancing. As we entered Main Street USA, I looked back for PandyPaws/Donna/Erika/insert_name_here (sorry Donna). Nope. It’s about this time that I start to question whether I missed a post where she’s not on the trains anymore (Okay, I cheated as I’m writing this…sounds like Donna is also conductor, Main Street driver, trainer, etc.). We’ll look for you and wave if we see ya in December.

Sheri has a mission today…hunt down every Photopass guy/gal on Main Street and have him/her take our picture with the castle in the background to maximize our chances of getting a good pic. Obviously, as this was 2 years ago, the Photopass pics aren't available anymore, but Photopass dudes and dudettes are almost always fine taking pics with your own camera too.






We went through the castle and walked onto Peter Pan and then over to iasw. We really didn’t have any agenda today…just wanted to take in the rides and the atmosphere. While waiting to get on the iasw boat, the CM tells us that she’s going to put us lovebirds in the back of the boat but that they’d be watching us to make sure we weren’t doing anything bad. I asked her if they had cameras every couple of feet. She said that we should be more worried about the motion sensors on the boat. I about fell in the water laughing...wasn't expecting that from a CM.


Sheri and I (okay, mostly me…Sheri usually just rolls her eyes when I come up with this stuff) have decided to come up with different storylines for the ride to make it more appealing:






A Dingo Ate my Baby!







Mafia Platypuses – the way they toss their eggs like that cracks me up.







Animatronics Gone Wild – Upskirts







Dale a tu cuerpo alegria Macarena





For the record, wifey had the camera the whole time taking these shots. She physically harmed me when I told her I'm using these shots in the TR...she thinks they're all bad pics because of the lighting.



We headed out and walked back towards the castle. For some reason we always go around the castle from the back on the right-hand path. This time we decided to do the left-hand path. We saw the wishing well for the first time (Again…how in the Hell did we miss this?). We also saw the garden where they do Story Time with Bell. Then we saw the rose garden for the first time.









Sheri starts reading the variety signs out loud to me, and I respond that yes, I can read. She fires back in a little girl’s voice “I CAN REEEEEAAAAD!!”

Catchphrase of the day.


We attack another photopass guy near the roses. While we’re getting the pics taken, another Photopass dude starts doing the bunny ears on the one taking our pics. They look and act like they enjoy what they do. Afterwards, Sheri asks if I want to do Space Mountain since we’re close to Tomorrowland. SURE! I didn’t think she’d want to ride it again so I steered us to Fantasyland first. We skip over to Space Mountain, where the posted time was 20 minutes…on in about 8. This ride was different…we were in the front car for the first time, and, when there’s no car in front of you to tell you which way you’re going, it’s a LOT more exciting. Sheri’s laughing not knowing which way we’re turning next, so I’m trying to shout back to her where we’re going.

“Left! Right! Leff…NOOOOOO RRIGGGHAAAAAAHHHHAAAHAAHAAAAA”




Lindsay was definitely right when she mentioned that it’s better up front when it’s warmer!

We got off the ride and proceed to commit a major touring faux pas…we stopped to talk about where to go next.

I see the Carousel of Progress turning around, so I suggest that. Hey, it’s something we haven’t done before, so let’s hop on! Not bad…though the jump in time between the last 2 scenes is quite astonishing.

We cross the Tomorrowland Bridge and head through the hub. The characters were heading off the castle platform to sign autographs, so there was a slight bottleneck. We walk around a bit just looking at things and ultimately find ourselves in front of the Haunted Mansion. We hop in line and are in the stretch room in less than a minute. From there we head around the river towards the raft for Tom Sawyer Island. This is another research trip for us to see how the boys would like this area.

Oh, Gawd, we’d never be able to pull them off the island!!! We’d be nervous wrecks trying to keep up with them and not losing them, but they would have a blast over there. I think Sheri was a bit freaked with the bats in the caves. Yeah, we’ll have to take them on here next time.

Back over to Adventureland so we could devour another Dole Whip. While sitting there, it looks like the Dream Team was at work with some folks nearby. Not sure what (or even if) they won. They seemed pretty happy, so I’m guessing that they did win something.

We head towards Main Street as it was getting to be around noon time. Nick and I had talked via AIM a few days before we left for Florida, and he said he’d be arriving at MCO around noon and might swing by WDW to meet up for lunch. We decided to head back and rest, and, in case he came over, Pop would be near the entrances. We stopped at the Confectionary to pick up some cotton candy for the boys. I recall hearing about how good Wonka bars are (from Matt Hochberg of studioscental.org and the WDWToday podcast), so we bought one and had it for lunch. As we devoured the bar, we headed out under the train station for the busses. More ducks assaulted us at the bus stop while we waited for the bus. It showed up after about 8 or so minutes (I forgot to snap), and we head to Pop.

Part 2 is located HERE.

WDW 10-Year Anniversary Trip, Day 5, Part 3: Magic Bus

Part 2 is located HERE

Our ressies for Jiko were for 7, but we left a little early to make sure we made it and to look around AKL a little bit. We hopped on the bus to MGM (it was waiting when we got to the stop). At MGM we hopped off the bus and went down 2 or 3 stops to the AKL station. There were only about 8-10 folks on the bus, so we sat towards the front.

I'm not sure we ever left MGM because what happened next can best be described as crossing over into the Twilight Zone.

The bus driver says she has to stop at Blizzard Beach. We get there, and she can't figure out which stop is for AKL. We help her out by pointing to the stall she needs to be at. While waiting, she tells us that she's a part-timer and only drives the bus once or twice a week.

We pull out and start making our way out of BB. We get to Buena Vista Drive and turn right. I immediately look at Sheri and whispered that we should have taken a left at that light. Though this is only the third time I've ever been to BB (the first times being earlier today), I knew AK and AKL were left (I even saw the sign from BB to reinforce this). Sheri kind of shrugs as her sense of direction is – ummmm – let's just say I am the navigator in the family. I decide not to say anything and let the driver make the decisions…until we got to the interchange at World Drive. When the driver throws up her hands in exasperation because she can't find a sign for AKL, I quietly mention to her that we turned the wrong direction out of BB. She says that's really weird because the sign there told her to turn right. I fought my impulses and just let her decide what to do. She hops on the P.A. and says we gotta turn around and whips the bus into the Swan's entrance.

At least it was an animal.

She does a U-ey and almost tips the bus over on the turn. She gets back to the light for Buena Vista and looks at me to make sure we're going the right direction.

Ever hear of TomTom? Well, I'm MushMush, and I'll get you there for free without GPS!!!

I start sending vibes to her to turn right onto Osceola…otherwise we'll be heading into the All Star resorts. She just about cuts off a van and makes the right (whew). We almost go to AK instead of AKL, but she makes the right decision to stay left at the last minute. A round of applause from the bus erupts as we enter AKL, but she can't read the signs on the stalls to know which one to pull into for the trip back to MGM. Sheri and I point out the one that says "DS" on it, and she thanks us and proceeds to go right by it to the MK stall.

We got off the bus and almost kissed the ground, along with the rest of the folks on the bus. The people waiting for the bus just had this confused look…they're waiting to go to MK but the bus said MGM…meanwhile the folks waiting to go to MGM are filing out of the queue and heading over to the MK line. The folks behind us who got off the bus wished them luck and said that they'd say a prayer for their safety and eventual return.

Good thing we left early.

Let's recap our bus journeys so far today. Pop to MK to WL to FW to BB to AK. AK back to BB to Pop. Pop to MGM to BB to Swan lot to AKL. I should have signed up for the Disney Transportation Frequent Flyer program…I probably could have gotten a free stay after all those miles.

We enter AKL and behold the atrium second only to WL. Sheri breaks the seal yet again. While waiting, I go over to the DVC kiosk in the atrium and ask if they've started construction for the villas yet. They're clearing the trees now. Now, if this were Wyndham or any other timeshare company, she would have sank her teeth into my neck until I agreed to take a tour and endure a hard-sell presentation that would have ended with us talking to the manager about a once in a lifetime offer that is only good for today and him telling us how stupid we'd be if we let this once in a lifetime opportunity slip through our hands and then getting pissed about us wasting his time if we say no. This is DVC, however, and she did not push at all about trying to get signed up. I almost wanted to take the tour for that alone.

Sheri comes back and we try to figure out where the Hell Jiko is in this place. We saw Boma, and I remember reading somewhere that Jiko isn't too far from Boma. We take the elevator down to the bottom floor and find it! We're still about 20 minutes early, so we get the buzzer and head to the bar. I sling the camera over my chair, and we start perusing the wine novel (too big to be a list). The bartender excuses herself to run a few drinks out. About a minute later, we get buzzed, and we get seated with a great view of the outside. Well, Sheri got a great view as my back was towards the window. The things you do for love.

Now, I already talked to Tricia about this as she inquired about it, but I figured I'd include it in here for others with similar questions about Jiko with kids. We saw a few children there…I'd say about 10% of the tables had kids there…most of those that were there were very well-behaved. There was one table where the kid (guessing around 3-4) was melting down, and the entrée hadn't even arrived yet. Sheri and I have differing opinions on this (big surprise there). Sheri thinks the kids should be older. I think that a younger kid could do it ONLY IF they don't get bored easily and can entertain themselves quietly for a good hour and a half. No, our kids wouldn't make it there.

We had already paid for the meal with the dining plan, so we were going to splurge and get a bottle of wine. We went with a middle-of-the-road priced white (Gewurtz). Middle of the road was still $46. As the wine order was being filled, the bartender makes a stop at our table with a little souvenir. Guess who forgot the camera this time? Let me have it, Brian…I deserve it. For the apps, we did what I think is the norm: the taste of Africa and the Kalamata olive flatbread. I'm not an olive fan at all, but the flatbread was very good. Then the main course…Brisully lauded the sturgeon yesterday and talked Sheri into getting it. I took RoutemanDan's advice on here and got the lamb.

Let's just say that Sheri's journal entry for the sturgeon included the words "ooh la la." I think she liked it. It was served with "vegetables of the moment." That became our catchphrase for the rest of the meal. Everything became "of the moment." We laughed until we saw the pic of the sturgeon entrée in Brisully's photo gallery…different moment – different vegetables (only a day or two difference between when we ate).

Dan didn't lead me astray with the lamb, either! It fell off the bone and had a perfect flavor to it. It had been a good ten years since I had it, and it blew away any way I've had it prepared before. Wifey called it "yucky pot roast," but you have to remember that this is a person that orders a filet mignon extra well done.

We still had a free beverage from the dining plan, so we both got coffee to go with dessert. We fought about who got to order the pistachio crème brulee. Sheri got the view for the meal, so I got the dessert. Sheri got the flourless chocolate cake with lavender and vanilla bean ice cream. It actually had a lavender taste to it! My dessert was better though. Plus, she didn't see the girls in the little black dresses behind her, so the view wasn't too terribly bad from my vantage point either.

We paid the balance and decided to walk around a little bit. It was dusk at AKL but you could still see the animals in the savannah areas surrounding the resort. We saw a few giraffes, zebras, etc before we started to make our way back towards the entrance. After the world bus tour earlier today (Too much, Magic Bus), we both agreed that a cab was the way to go. As we walked out, we could tell that it had finally rained a little bit. Those rain dances I was doing before hopping in bed seemed to have finally helped. We didn't know that it poured, however. Good…they needed it.

On the way back to Pop, I see if Sheri's interested in hitting Epcot for the EMH. She was starting to get a little tired and suggested that I head out there myself for a while. She could just relax in the room.

Now, before anyone says anything…especially those who have read our trip report from December of '05…let's clear up a few things:

1. I've gotten more sleep in the past 4 days than I usually get in a week. Sheri has gotten around the same amount of sleep (just a lot less stress, so it's better sleep). I'm wired and have a ton of extra energy.
   

   
   

2. Sheri knows that I wanted to do a couple things that she didn't have much interest in at Epcot, namely the burn-off and the orange Mission: Space. Sheri had a little interest in doing Test Track at night, but not a lot.
   

   
   

3. For those of you thinking…ummm…the kids are away and you have the room to yourselves...no comment.
   

   
   

4. When your spouse tells you to go solo to a theme park, like you're going to say no?
   

   
   

5. I'm not meeting any Lovely Lodge Ladies this time like I did last time. I won't be tempted to taste the tanginess of the forbidden fruit (got in an alliteration frenzy there).
   

We get back to Pop in one piece and without a criminal record and head back towards the 50s area. We walked up to our room at exactly 8:58 pm. I walked back out to the balcony to hear the intro to Illuminations. I see the opening shot and determine that we're about 1 mile away as the crow flies from the World Showcase lagoon. Off to the left, Wishes has started. It's just slightly under 5 miles between here and Cindy's castle. Oh, and farther left are the lights of Fantasmic. All 3 going on at the same time, and we can see all 3 of them. We see the climax to Illuminations and to Wishes (but no climax for Fantasmic…ironic, isn't it?) and head back into the room.

Sans Sheri (more alliteration), I head back through the Pop. It's weirder this time than it was last time. We've spent the past 5 days together without being separated for longer than a few minutes. I was kind of getting used to her. I walk through to the bus stop and find most of the folks out there hoochied up for Pleasure Island. There are about 5 of us waiting for the Epcot bus. It arrives packed with folks coming back from the park. Good sign.

We fly to Epcot and see the queue line veeerrrrrrry deep. Good sign. I almost get trampled by folks heading to the bus stop. Good sign. I see the sign pointing to where to enter. Bad sign. Bad because it took me to where the monorail exit was, through the ticket kiosks and right back to where I was 2 minutes ago, only now I'm in a sea of monorail patrons.

I glide in and immediately make my way towards the lagoon. I've heard of the burn-off and wanted to see what it was like. I didn't know when it was…only that your best chance to see it is during EMH. From what I've gathered, a LOT of folks don't know about this…just keep reading if you don't know, and you'll find out. It was just after 10 pm when I got there, and there were folks still stumbling out of the Showcase apparently after a failed attempt at drinking around the world. It's sprinkling a little, but it's really nice outside. The front had moved through, and it was probably in the low-70s to upper-60s. I imagined if Debbie were here, she'd be in a parka.

The pyro folks start screaming across the lagoon and drop people off to drive the barges back to reload for tomorrow's show. It was neat seeing the bridge up as they passed through. At about 10:20, I see that I'm now one of only 5 people next to the Pirate topiaries. A family walks up at around 10:22 asking what I was looking at. I told them that I thought they were going to release all the excess propane from the barge and light it…all at one time from all the nozzles (thus the name "burn-off"), and they immediately grabbed a spot right next to me to watch. About 10:25, the inferno barge becomes covered in little blue lights…my guess is those are ignitors/pilots. At exactly 10:30, we all nearly jump out of our skin as they make an announcement over the P.A. system of what was about to happen (a final salute to the evening…it's all controlled and safe…enjoy the fun all you pyromaniacs). They have a countdown from 5…

4…

3…

2…

1…

BBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!!

THAT was kewl! Instead of trying to give an interpretation of the big bang and the importance of fire, just blow the damn barge up, and I'll love it!!! You probably could have felt the heat from that thing over by the Coral Reef.

I make my way over towards Test Track and see a 20 minute wait, so I skip over to Mission Space and grab an orange card. I inquire about a single rider line, but they weren't running it tonight. No worries, I was in the prep room just a couple of minutes later. I've ridden this thing three times, and every time I'm the navigator. Damnit, I want to be the pilot someday!!! I'm stuck with 2 high schoolers who have ridden it 6 times in a row already and were in for the 7th. The folks going into the simulator next to me are getting visibly nervous about the motion sickness. The guy asks how rough it is, and I mentioned about paying attention to not turning your head or closing your eyes in case you start to feel the effects…and that, if you're not sure, you might want to try the green version first and then decide if ya want to do the orange one.

The guy bolted for the door, leaving the 3 ladies he was with behind.

Oops.

We get in, and the other 2 start horsing around. I didn't really care because we were blasting off in no time. Oh yeah…love them Gs!!! Sheri definitely would not have forgiven me had I dragged her on this one. We get off after saving the space ship (alliteration), and I run over to the next simulator to see how the 3 women did. They LOVED it!

I then make my way over to Test Track and hop in the single rider line. They were filling up one of the staging rooms, and I was stopped before I could get in. About 1 minute later, the doors open up for another staging room, and the CM motions for me to go in there. The last group was still exiting, so I just kept on going right on through!!! I fill up a row, and we get in the car. Then the lights go yellow. Weather…hopefully the rain will keep away long enough for a few more cars to get through.

We got through! Okay, TT at night was neat, but not all I had dreamed it would be.

I decided that I'm ready to be back with wifey, so I stroll out the exit, pausing for a moment to watch the optics in the cement underneath the golf ball. I got back to Pop around 11:45, and Sheri was just turning off the TV when I opened the door. She wasn't expecting me back for another 45 minutes or so. I think I burned off enough energy to not be as annoying as I could be tomorrow, so it was a success for both of us.

Tomorrow is the last full day, and we're both ready to see the kids. We talk for a bit, both saying that slightly shorter trips might be best (shoot for 4-5 days rather than 6 days). We're still gonna have a heck of a good time tomorrow at MK and Epcot, but we're nearing the threshold of too much stuff. We ask for a wake-up call from Stitch for around 7:30 and drift off to sleep.

WDW 10-Year Anniversary Trip, Day 5, Part 2: Magic Bus

Part 1 of Day 5 is located HERE

Having lived through Yetimania, we then start making our way towards Dinoland. When we noticed that the line for the first showing of Finding Nemo was blocking the entrance to what I think was Chester's and Hester's Dinorama, we chanced it and got in line for the show. We were worried that we wouldn't fit in there, but those worries were baseless…the theater was only about a quarter full when we got in. Definitely packed when it started, but that shows how big that theater really is.

I had seen Aladdin in Disney's California Adventure last November, where Iago is portrayed with the actor visibly manipulating the puppet, so I was prepared for it. The show started, and someone got busted behind us trying to tape it. Sheri loved Dory (for about a week after we got back, I was humming the "Just Keep Swimming" song). Before I went to Anaheim, the Festival of the Lion King was my favorite. After Anaheim, Aladdin was by far my favorite.

Nemo just kicked Aladdin's ass. It was done VERY well!

We left Nemo along with half of Orange County and headed into Dinoland to ride Dinosaur for the first time. Smear, Splat, and Dip (or Smudge, Splatter, and Spit as I called them) were out doing their thing, and I had no idea how to get to Dinosaur from where we were. A CM was passing, so I asked him. "Follow me!" he said. On our way, he pulls out 2 of those fastpass thingys and gives them to us to bypass the standby line.

When you least expect it…they hit you with the magic.

We expressed our gratitude, thanked them and walked towards Dinosaur, partially dumbfounded at what just happened.

We went in and were on the ride in no time. I didn't think Sheri would be a big fan of this ride with all the bumping and jostling around. This one may have topped the AK ride list for her. You think you'd know someone after nearly ten years of being married! The placement of the ride photo was perfect!!! I think I enjoyed looking at some of the ride photos as I did actually riding the ride itself.

Having escaped certain death by asteroid and by carnotaur digestion, we were hungry. We had planned on either Flame Tree or Tusker House, depending on where we were at. Flame Tree was the obvious choice based on our location, so we got in line for it. The line was extremely slow (longest wait at AK), but we were in no hurry and enjoyed watching the kindergarten class lined up behind us and around us. We were amazed at how well-behaved they were and inquired one of the teachers if we could ship Aaron to them for a few weeks to learn how they do it. I didn't let on to Sheri, but I was missing the boys a bit here seeing so many of them around Aaron's age.

I got the ribs (not quite Famous Dave's ribs, but really good for the price). The key lime pie was great! Again, we nearly got abused by waterfowl there. Word of advice: feed the birds (tuppence a bag). They get really pissed if you have food and don't give them any.

We decided to try It's Tough to Be a Bug next to kind of gauge how the boys might do here. Sheri had no idea where it was, and I played along saying we had a hike to get there. The entrance, of course, was about 200 feet away from Flame Tree. We head along down the path towards the Tree of Life, and we take the time to absorb just how detailed the tree is.

On our way, we saw another Lodger there…one who we didn't even know was going to be down there at the same time:

Sweet and innocent had to take this pic:

We walked in just a few minutes before the doors opened. We grabbed our seats and threw on our bug eyes. This show is a lot funnier than I remembered from back in 2001! Being deathly afraid of stinging insects, I was prepared for that surprise (though I still jumped). Some kids were screaming and had to be taken out. Not as many as expected, though (about as many as I saw being taken out of Philharmagic). Wifey got some good air time out of her seat at the very end when the VIPs left early. As we left, we were discussing whether we'd scar the boys or not with this attraction. While we were talking, there were a couple of college guys behind us talking about the ride. They thought it was going to be a kids' movie and ended up screaming like a girl a couple of times (they were ribbing each other on the screaming). Sheri thinks Aaron definitely will be okay with it…she's a better gauge at that, so we'll see.

We've only gotten pics with Stitch (over in Tomorrowland at MK), so we headed over to Camp Minnie-Mickey for the character trails. On the way there, I pointed out to Sheri the dragon rock formation near the bridge to the camp and explained the Beastly Kingdom rumor and where it was going to be located. I told her to make sure she looked at the main sign for AK at the entrance. Back to the character trails…they looked a little full. What didn't look full at all was the entrance to the Festival of the Lion King, which was due to start in 5 minutes. We walked in and sat down in the warthog section. The show started as soon as the royalty (us) was seated. The person we consider the usual "lead" guy (he did the lead the other 2 times we saw it) wasn't doing the lead today. The usual second guy was doing the role of the lead, and he didn't do too bad at all at lead. We had the usual lead woman doing the warthogs, and newbies were doing the other 2 roles. The show was still really good…entertaining. It wasn't as crisp as the other couple of times we've seen it, but still definitely a winner.

We decided to head out and rest before our excursion to Jiko tonight.

On the way out, Stanley, of all people, makes his way out to greet people. Sheri pulls out the camera exclaiming that she needed a picture of him for Aaron.

Okay, first, she's taking a pic to show Aaron, thus incriminating us as to where we went. Second, she royally pissed off Stanley! Notice in the pic the lack of bodies anywhere near him. Sheri walks toward Stanley, and you could see him getting excited ("Somebody's actually coming to see me! I've been out here for ten minutes and NOBODY has seen me…she's my first one!"). She snaps the pic and starts to walk away.

I think Stanley flipped her off when she turned her back to him.

Sheri's quote of the day: "Why would Stanley be at Animal Kingdom?"

She realized the answer about 2 notes into my rendition of "IIIIIIIITTTTTTT'SSSSS THHHEEEEE GREATBigbookofeverything."

Hey hon…when you read this, consider this payback for all the elephant pics!

If Day 6 never gets posted, it's likely because she ended my life after reading this.

I point out the dragon on the Animal Kingdom sign in reference to the rumored Beastly Kingdom as we run away from Stanley's wrath and hop on the bus to Pop. We get back to the hotel room and rested a bit.

Continued…

WDW 10-Year Anniversary Trip, Day 5, Part 1: Magic Bus

My apologies to the Who:

Every day I get in the queue (Too much, Magic Bus)

To get on the bus that takes me to you (Too much, Magic Bus)

I'm so nervous, I just sit and smile (Too much, Magic Bus)

The theme park's only another mile (Too much, Magic Bus)

Today was AK day! The 2 times we had been here before, we know we've missed a TON, so we wanted to take a little time enjoy this park too. Actually, we have never even made it over to Asia in the previous trips. That's definitely going to change, thanks to Everest.

No alarm, still up at 6:50 (5:50 in Central Daylight Time…that's sleeping in thanks to Aaron's 5:20 wake-up calls at home). Initially we had planned to either eat at the Pop food court or the Rainforest Café. Without the boys, Rainforest would be kind of boring, and we felt like looking at other resort counter places, sooooo…let's try Port Orleans, since we haven't seen that one yet.

So how do we get there?

Well, it's kinda close to Epcot, I think.

Maybe?

We get to the bus stops around 7:15 and SNAP

Nothing.

SNAP SNAP

Crap.

No busses anywhere.

Someone in a car pulls up and asks if anyone needs a ride to Epcot for the Akershus character breakfast because, since there are no EMH anywhere this morning, the busses wouldn't be getting here for a while yet. Nobody joined them, partially because I think they would have had to ride on the hood of the car.

About 4 minutes later, an MK bus trundles in, and we decide to hop over there. It's kind of full, probably because of Crystal Palace and CRT ressies. On the way, we talk about the other resorts. Wilderness Lodge has Roaring Fork, but it's a boat ride there. The Contemp is in a state of chaos as they mess around with the floor space there. No real desire to eat at the Grand Floridian. Let's stick with Port Orleans.

We get to the bus stop for MK and look around for the Port Orleans stop…nobody there. We wait for a few minutes and almost get molested by some ducks in the waiting area. Then a bus pulls in for Wilderness Lodge.

No boat? What the heck, let's eat there! We hopped on, and the CM was in the back of the bus talking on the phone. Apparently, she wasn't supposed to start her run until 8.

At 8:00 and 3 seconds, we're on our way to WL. It's a nice short ride over there…less than 5 minutes. We waved goodbye to the palm trees and said hello to the northwest foliage (This is an awesome detail for this resort). We disembark to some ribbing from the folks waiting to get on ("back already?"). We walk into the atrium…MAN I love the grandeur of this place!!! We walked around a bit trying to figure out where the Roaring Fork was and got to look at some more of the detail in there. We walk around and notice something about this Deluxe resort that failed to notice on our last trip at the Deluxes: families smiling and kids having fun! We both commented that we could see ourselves staying here pretty easily.

We found Roaring Fork finally and used our counter service credits. The check-out lady told us that we could get an additional drink in lieu of a dessert…really nice of her to point that out to us. At one point, I used to read the forums on the DISboards that dealt with dining, but I got so annoyed at the constant bitching/critiquing in there that I quit reading it. I'm sure it's in there somewhere (along with ways to get 7 adult meals out of 2 CS credits if you sweet-talk this one CM and complain that someone else just did it last week and moan about how poorly marked items are and…)

ANYWAYS…we grab extra waters for the park, run the card through, and sit down to eat. The families were all gearing up for the day…excited kids, and parents almost as excited as the kids. Yeah, this will probably be our first deluxe stay (in about 17 years at the rate we're going). I enjoy the breakfast (pancakes!), but we took a little longer getting there than anticipated. No problem. We should still have time to get to see the AK opening (the one we haven't seen yet). We get to the bus stop, and a bus rumbles by in just a few minutes. We hop on and are on our way to Ft. Wilderness (?) to pick some up there. We get there, wait 5 minutes for nobody, and then finally make our way to Animal Kin…nope, stopping at Blizzard Beach first. We end up being about 15 minutes late for the AK opening, but it's no biggie.

I don't think it matters how busy or how quiet the place is…the pathways are narrow enough to always make it feel as though it's kind of busy there. We go through the oasis, past Discovery Island, and (finally) make it to Asia. Expedition Everest is looming in front of us as we head over to the fastpass distribution. As we're walking up, we hear the very distinct sound of a couple of Siamang gibbons doing their calls. I remember hearing them in the Nashville zoo and listened to them for about 20 minutes…that's a sound you don't forget. We grabbed the fastpasses and saw only a 20 minute posted wait. I tried convincing someone to ride it now, but someone wanted to head over to Kilimanjaro Safaris. So we trekked over to Africa towards the Safari. No time was posted, but we were told a half-hour wait. She batted her eyes at me, and we hopped in the queue. It was actually only around 15 minutes to get there. I watched an empty bus go by with a couple of CMs in there…the driver overshot the loading platform by a foot or two, and the other was pointing something out by the platform. "New driver training?" I asked the CM putting us in the lines. "Yup!" We talked for a minute or two during the wait. Sounds like the turnover there is pretty high as the drivers seem to head over to Backlot and then finally to the Great Movie Ride (indoors in the AC) as positions open up.

We hop in, and we're on our way. I figured that it was warming up quickly and that the animals were going to be less active.

The damn animals were allied with wifey.

Lots of pictures of the animals close to the vehicle.

And a couple of pictures of a tree trunk.

And one picture of the back of a woman's head.

I'll mention now that it was Sheri that had the camera.

We head off the Safari, and I head over to the whistle and drum folks while Sheri breaks the seal again. On our way back we find a Photopass dudette and get a couple of pics with the Tree of Life in the background. We keep on going around back to Asia (second time) and find another Photopass dudette to get pics with Everest in the background. Neither of us were fond of those pics (what we were wearing I think). We still had a few minutes before the FP return time, so we thumbed our noses at Disney and went into the requisite gift shop BEFORE the ride.

We're rebels.

I see the "scream like a girl" shirt and tell Sheri of the BTMRR reference to Del and how they should be paying Wobin royalties for usage of that phrase. Finally we head into the FP return queue…I've heard tons about the queuing area here, but it's a FP queue so there ain't a whole lot of time looking around. It was a short stroll to the loading area. By our place in line, we should be about two-thirds of the way back on the train. The pins came in handy again…the CM saw them and threw us to the front…second row as there was a couple on their honeymoon in the very front.

The group getting on the train before us is in their final preparations. The lap bar engages, and the girl in the very front row (late high school or early college by my guess, Sheri is correcting me and saying she was about 12 or so) just snapped. Seriously. She was fine, and the next second, her eyes get big, and she starts asking to be let off. There were no CMs near the front, so she starts screaming to be let off. In a matter of seconds, a CM makes her way up to her (probably seemed like an eternity to the girl). The reset the train and let her off. She was so worked up that she almost fell onto the track.

I can sympathize for her…when I worked at the airport, we were in final preparations for an AirTran flight to depart (chocks were already pulled). They were just about to close the main cabin door and drive the jetway away from the plane when I hear loud thumps down the jetway. Mind you, I had earplugs in, and I was the lead in front of the plane (a good 20 feet away from the jetway), and I still heard it. A larger guy (could have played college football) freaked out and ran off the plane at the last second. After we got the plane off the ramp, we headed in to make sure everything was okay. He was almost hyperventilating right at the gate, but several others were helping out.

That train leaves, and ours rolls in. We hop in, and awwaaaaaaay we go! We gab for a brief second with the newlyweds and congratulated them. Then came the hill. Sheri doesn't like this part of coaster rides (which is why she likes RNR here and Mr. Freeze at Six Flags St. Louis). She looked a little sick as we went up, while I was trying to point out what all you could see (the Golf Ball, the Contemp, our house). It was a rather steep incline (I think only the Millennium Force at Cedar Point was steeper of the ones I've been on). We make the crest and wait for the rest of the train and then we're off! I saw the buzzard and was trying to point it out to Sheri when we started backwards. I watched the track switch in the cave with Shadowyeti. The yeti itself lived up to the hype…amazing how that thing moves!!!

Continued Here

WDW 10-Year Anniversary Trip, Day 4, Part 3: Around the World With the Big One

Part 2 is located HERE


We exited the ride, and headed over to the restroom area for Sheri. Brian and I head over to Sunshine Seasons and grab a couple of bottled waters (found out the keys worked again magically as I used snack credits for it). Brian asked if we had ever done the Behind the Seeds tour around Living with the Land. I said someday we'll probably hit it. "Wanna do it now? There's a tour leaving in a few minutes, and sign up is right here!"

Sheri comes out, and she's okay with it. So we sign up. As has been most of the afternoon, we had a war of the wallet (fighting to see who could get the wallet out first to pay for it!). Brian won this one. They had discounts. I had a AAA card and a Disney Visa card, and Brian had an AP (I think). We jokingly tried to convince the CM for a 45% discount (all 3 discounts applied at once). About 2 minutes later, Bethany comes out, and we're on our way! I won't go into detail and ruin the entire tour for those who want to do it sometime, but I would HIGHLY recommend it! I think I became the annoying kid in class that asked questions all the time, but she tolerated me pretty well (better than wifey usually does). She couldn't help but wonder why there was a person in the group named "Bris," though.

We got into the greenhouse, and displays/examples were really good in there. While it's neat to see things growing in there, it's easy to forget that the stuff in the ground is being grown in sand. Bethany talked about how they start the seedlings out and what they are transplanted into. She pulls out this little box and says that it all goes in here. "This is really durable…in fact, you could stand on it, and it could hold your weight." Some folks didn't believe her, so she hopped on it.

This picture was taken right as she said "Boy I'm glad that actually worked!"


The hydroponics area was really neat! She showed how they can grow vegetables entirely in water with the mixture of the right fertilizer. She handed out a paper to everyone who was interested in how to set one up at home. Sheri hands it to me and tells me to hold it up.

Bethany looks at Sheri as she's taking the picture of the handout and says, "I….can….give…you another one….if…you ….want?"

Yep, I was gonna tease her on that the rest of the day.

We went into another section of the greenhouse...Brian was selected to release ladybugs into the greenhouse to help control the aphid population.

This is the punchline to one of the funniest jokes I've ever heard, and Brian pulled the delivery off perfectly!

"THE" tomato tree:

I love how bananas and pineapples grow.

Towards the end, Bethany offers to give out awards. We encourage Brian to get one for his superior effort at letting ladybugs go:

We also got one for being able to sniff out herbs and spices fairly accurately.

We headed back to the entrance as the tour ended and thanked Bethany for the information.

Our ADRs were about 40 minutes away for dinner at San Angel. Brian was going to head back into the park to see the F&G festival some more, so we said our goodbyes. It was great to see you again Brisully! Until next time, bud!


We stopped at the Kodak place under Spaceship Earth to grab our photo from the Visa meet-n-greet and made our way over to Mexico.

We were seated a little early, and the meal topped Rose and Crown! It was beautiful in there…dark, but not too dark. The mariachi band started up as we got our appetizers and played for a good 15 minutes. The table behind me had a child with a "protein spill", as the mother (a former CM) put it. I had the Plato Mexicano, and Sheri had something else…HEY! She didn't put it in her journal, and I was busy eating my food! I had a taste of it, and it was awesome, but I couldn't remember it. She'll read this, slap me, and tell me what it was in a bit. I'll get back to you. Oh, and she'll want to make sure I include how I put my foot in my mouth about the cilantro in the ceviche appetizer. I mentioned how well it tasted, even though I didn't eat it all (wanted room for the main course and dessert). I commented on how, even though a lot of people don't associate cilantro with Mexican food, it worked really well (at the restaurant I worked at back in my undergrad years, I could have sworn I heard it was used primarily in Italian dishes).


The CM, without blinking, was exceptionally nice and mentioned in a very professional way that cilantro was used in a wide variety of Mexican dishes.

She leaves, and Sheri proceeds to call me a moron for the next ten minutes.

We gave her an extra $10 tip (above the 18% already given to her from the DDP), especially since the folks at the table next to us left her with a $5 tip on a significant bill. She was awesome as she took the time to get to know us a little and talk a little bit about where she was from (can she teach the servers at Mama Melrose's on how to do that without forgetting the rest of your tables?).

We left the restaurant and tried to walk on to the Gran Fiesta. The CM there tells us to stand off to the side for a minute. We thought we were in trouble or something.

The next boat fills, and they're off. Then she tells us to get in the next boat and to enjoy the ride by ourselves. The Anniversary pins! She wished us a happy anniversary as we coasted by.

Awwwwwwwww

The ride was cute…not as it'sasmallworld-y as I recalled el Rio de Tiempo being. We enjoyed the ride…loved having the boat to ourselves.

We hopped out of Mexico and made our way to Norway. Let me start by saying that the rumor of the total hotness of the female CMs there is completely and unequivocally TRUE!!!! Sheri even commented on the one at the snack stand outside. I did the requisite pic in a Viking helmet…tried to match RMD's stance in his pic in the hat…was close but not exact.

Over to China next. It seemed like both Norway and China were being overrun by high schoolers that were being typical unchaperoned high schoolers. We saw the warrior room and the rotunda in the temple.

The decision now was to figure out where to watch Illuminations. We walked past Italy where we watched it with the DD crew and the Badelves crew, but it was roped off for a special function. I heard that the bridge near the International Gateway was a good spot, so we walked over to there. I could tell Sheri had her mind on other things. Usually it's me that's getting a little melancholy this part of the vacation (we're past the half-way point and we'll be heading back soon), but I found a way to counter that (I think of every morning as "it's our first day here"…it moves the mid-point of our vacation later and later). Sheri was missing the kids.

We get to the bridge, and I hand Sheri the phone to call her folks. Unfortunately, the kids were at my folks' place today (crazy chain of events changed who was watching them a bit). Still, her folks wanted to gab.

Illuminations started, and I finally see the inferno barge in action!

I think I am going to get raked over the coals here, but I think I prefer Wishes to Illuminations (and I prefer Disneyland's fireworks to Wishes). The ending to the Christmas Illuminations was something to behold!!! The regular Illuminations, however…I like the first barrage and the finale. Perhaps it's the A.D.D., but the parts with the fountains slow it down too much for me, and I just don't appreciate the significance of the globe (yet…in time I might). I guess I don't get the symbolism of everything yet. The last time, I was worried about Aaron. This time, I could tell Sheri wasn't there.

It's over, and Sheri wants to head out immediately. I convinced her to stay back and let the hordes of folks go first, and, while waiting, we can call the boys. Of course, Aaron doesn't say much to her (talks my ear off, though). I would have been fine with the other way around. Eric had a couple meltdowns over the past day or two, and I think she started feeling guilty again about leaving them for so long.

We started working our way back while still talking to my step-mother (storms had rolled through central Illinois the previous day, and my father pulled a VERY long shift repairing power lines, so he was crashed in bed). We get to the bus stops, but they were bringing busses from every direction. They actually had 3 stacked next to each other for the Pop! We were back to the resort in no time.

WDW 10-Year Anniversary, Day 4, Part 2: Around the World With the Big One

Day 4, Part 1 is located HERE.

We head back over the bridge to the Gateway and grab a bench. About 3 or 4 minutes later, up strolls Brian! We do the hellos and figure out the first task at hand…LUNCH! Now, his birthday is tomorrow, so wherever we eat has to serve beer. The obvious place to sit down and have a beer is at the U.K. Since our DDP probably wasn't gonna work anyway, we didn't care if it was a counter service or a table service. The Rose and Crown, it is then! I didn't know where the check-in was, but we had a WDW veteran with us, and he steered us to the podium outside. It looks like they'll be able to fit us in. They gave us a pager that was finishing up its test buzz and told us to bring it up when it buzzed. Brian and I were on the same wavelength as we both mentioned that it was buzzing now and would like to be seated. "The second time it buzzes!!!"

The world showcase players were performing about 25 feet to our left, so we started walking towards them. We only got about 4 feet away…

Buzz.

The guy at the podium had this…well, you know what type of grin he had on his face as he basked in the knowledge that he got us.


We were seated, and we ordered the half-yards of Bass Ale:

You should have seen the eyes on the folks sitting nearby when they brought those babies out! Sheri wussed out and ordered an iced tea (she had to sacrifice the lack of Splenda and used the blue stuff I think). She had a taste of mine and concluded that it tasted like beer and that she didn't like it. It's the United Kingdom…what else but order the fish and chips (all three of us)! We gabbed and enjoyed the beautiful weather (seated outside) as we waited for the food. Bris mentioned that Glo posted on the Lodge that she was in an accident the previous day and had to go to the hospital…sore, but okay (whew).

The food was brought out by a girl with an awesome Irish accent. The last place we ate at (Mama Melrose's) left a bad taste in my mouth (literally and figuratively). I took a look at the fish and immediately wondered just how big that fish started out as…holy cow that was a lot of fish! Then I dunked it in tartar sauce and took a bite.

That may have been the best fried fish I have ever tasted!

As we finished up, Brian was nice to me and gave me some sound advice on drinking from the half-yard – beware of the bubbles near the bottom where the container flares out. Otherwise I would have covered myself in beer. We paid and decided to pay France a visit and try out one of those Grey Goose Citron lemonade slushes that Pat recommended (or the Grey Goose Slushie, as we called it).


Photo courtesy of "The Big One", which is what all the Lodgers gave as a nickname for Brian's huge camera.

PixiePat…I love you! Awesome beverage! Brian got one, and Sheri and I started out splitting one.

Until we got to Japan.

Then Sheri got a plum wine.

…and I was left to finish said slushie thingy off by myself.

About 6 minutes later, we were in Germany, and you can't pass Germany without a beer. We downed our slushie thingys, and I got in line for some Franziskaner:

Oh, and Sheri had inhaled the plum wine (best she's had) and got a sweet white wine:



We didn't even realize that we were kind of doing a modified version of "Drinking Around the World" until about now. Sheri, starting to feel the effects a bit, announced that she had to "break the seal" (I was floored that she said that), so we stopped at Norway so I could check out to see if the rumors about the hotties there was tru…..ummm…I mean, to see if the female gendered Norwegian cast members were as attractive as rumored. We didn't see any, in part because Norway was crazy because today (May 17th) is Constitution Day (a national holiday in Norway). The Norwegian flag was everywhere…they took pride in it there, you could tell. Brian and I sat on a rock ledge and talked while we waited for Sheri. I stowed our camera, and Brian put his camera down to do some re-arranging with all that he was carrying.

As we talked about good spots to view Illuminations, Sheri returns from the seal breakage. We got up and headed over to Mexico, where Brian introduced us to the fiesta margarita. One for him and one for Sheri (I was still finishing up the German bier)



Picture stolen from the net.

Hey, since we're all here, let's go into Mexico and see how the wait is at the new boat ride. Can we take booze in the temple? SURE! "It's Mexican liquor" Brian rationalizes. He and Sheri start up the stairs, and I start pouting at the bottom of the stairs…I had German booze. "Just tell 'em it's Dos Equis," retorts Bris.

I smile and start heading up with Brian stops suddenly and freezes. He looks around and looks at what he was carrying.

Sheri and I realize it at about the same time what the problem was.


WHERE IS HIS CAMERA??????????!!!!!!!!!!

He asks Sheri to hold the bag he was hauling and starts jogging over back to Norway. I make sure Sheri is okay with holding everything, and I follow him in trail, scanning the crowds walking towards me for someone who may have picked it up.

About 45 seconds later, I see him walking back with a "thumbs-up" and a look of utmost relief on his face. It was right where he left it when we were talking.

He shows Sheri The Big One as we approach, and you could see the relief on her face too (get your minds out of the gutter, folks!). He pretty much downed half of his margarita in one gulp (how he did NOT get a brain freeze, I'll never know!). "I have NEVER done that before…now I know what it's like to lose a kid!"

Whew.

Time to go into the Temple and chill for a bit. We walk in and are promptly turned away from the Gran Fiesta ride with the booze. I mentioned that we could look at the casa they have set up here.

Sheri and Brian both look at me as though I had drank a half-yard of beer, a slushie thingy, another beer, and part of a margarita in the past 40 minutes.

"No, I'm serious! It was on Deb Wills' site!!! Here, let me ask this hot Latina CM in the gift shop!"

She (the hot Latina CM in the gift shop) also looks at me as though I just drank a keg.

FYI, I didn't make this up!!! Casa Mexicana…it has 2 levels! Honest! It is supposed to be RIGHT WHERE WE ARE CURRENTLY STANDING!!!!!

I accept defeat, and we make our way back out. Hey! We have Soarin' fastpasses, and, of course, they just expired. I know that there have been reports that say CMs will still let you use them, but I didn't feel like taking the chance. I should have given them to someone to use a while ago. Still, we can do the standby line still. Everyone agrees, and we start heading over to The Land. Brian sees a CM with a pin board, and his Pavlovian instincts kick in. He follows her and looks over the board. I couldn't get my camera out fast enough because he was heading back within a minute. I ask him if we can stop by Innoventions West to see if they have the Visa photo thing going. They do! We told Brian he could come in too, but he decided to stay out and check out the video games they had out there.

Sheri and I both think back to the first day of our last trip (with Aaron) where we were worried about Aaron and the characters. When he let go of our hand and sprinted to Goofy and Minnie, we knew he would be fine and that those pics alone were worth the trip in itself. We head in and see Pluto standing there! As we turn around for the Photopass guy, we notice Mickey hiding behind a short fence. He runs out and joins the pics. The boys would have melted into a gelatinous goo had they been here to see that.

We head back out and find Brian saving the world with either Nemo, the Incredibles, or Buzz and Woody (couldn't remember). We hop in the standby line which still went pretty quickly. We talked about a lot of different things, ranging from family to Cruises. We made our way through, and Brian asked if we could get center section, middle of the top row. "All ya gotta do is ask", he said. We watched Patrick Kronkburton one final time and headed in.

We are sooooo glad he asked. While the other times we rode it were great, not having feet dangling above you and being in the very center of the screen was perfection!

Part 3 is located HERE