2005 WDW Trip Report Index

Well, the first trip report is finally all over here in the blog. This post is here to help you navigate through the various posts throughout the blog without having to scroll through miles of lines in the blog to figure out where one day starts. Hopefully you enjoy (enjoyed) reading it!

The next trip report will start appearing on here in the coming month.


Pre-Trip


Day 1: A Day of Firsts


Day 2: Timing is Everything


Day 3: Disney's Revenge


Day 4: Birthday de l'Aaron


Day 5: Donald and Daisy and Elves (Oh My)


Day 6 (Part 1): Verrrryyyy Interesting


Day 6.1 (Part 2): Oh Solo Me-o


Day 7: Finale

2005 Trip Report, Day 7: Finale

Thursday, December 22nd...our last day. We still have a day left on our passes to hit a park, but we chose not to head out this morning before departing. It was originally in our plans, but American Airlines shuffled up the schedule at our home airport, and we lost over 3 hours of touring. Instead of trying to run to a park opening and spending just a short amount of time there (and potentially risking a tight connection to get on the Magical Express), we'll just take it slow.

 

No alarm (sorry, Stitch), but we're up by 7 again. We lounge around for a few minutes and then get dressed for breakfast. I started telling everything "Goodbye" yesterday, and I find myself doing it again around Movies.

 

As we head out to the food court, there's definitely a different feeling in the air...more people and more stress. We open the door to the food court and are wondering where the heck all these folks came from (what, did Music and Sports decide not to do breakfast this morning?) It still wasn't packed, but there were noticeably a lot more people there.

 

We have TONS of snack credits left (I tried to burn a couple the night before with Debbie's and Mare's crew, but it didn't pan out) so, on top of getting breakfast, we start loading up the trays with water, Mickeyrice krispie treats (the ones with the chocolate ears…a final nyaahhhh to South Beach), and fruit. Yes, Robin, I got yet another Mickey Waffle to eat. I swear I'm going to break the scale the next time I get on it as I enjoy the hell out of that last waffle.

 

I look around the food court, and there are a lot more kids crying...a lot more angry parents...a lot of things that I didn't notice until just today.

 

Yep...definitely ready to get back.

 

We head back to the room for a while. I turn on the tube and watch Stacy on the top ten a couple of more times. Despite what I have read...she's not that annoying and actually kind of cute.

 

I decide to start taking the bags to the Magical Express check-in so we can just relax and enjoy the last hour or so here. I head down with the first load and get in line for the M.E. check-in. Of course, they won't let me keep the bags down there...SOOOOOOO I drop the bags off with the baggage service for the hotel and head back to the room for the rest of the bags. I then get the first load of bags (that I had JUST dropped off) and get in line for M.E. again.

 

A few minutes later, I give them my information, and something in the computer blows up. Though they can see all three of us flying out, for some reason they can't access all three of us.

 

The blood pressure is starting to rise in me. For those who don't know me, I'm prone to have somewhat of a temper. For those who do know me well, you're probably moving to take cover. This isn't how I was hoping to end one of the best vacations I've been on.

 

After the third try, they tell me I'll have to check in at MCO.

 

WHAT???!!!!!

 

Dumbstruck, I ask them what exactly that means...I'll have to take the bags with us and check in at the airport.

 

 

SOOOOOOOOOOOOO....The bags go BACK to baggage service (3rd time I've talked to them today...running out of tip money), and I head back to the room...not so much in a good mood (I fit right in with the rest of the folks at the resort).

 

I tell Sheri what happened, and she asks if I spoke to a manager or someone. I look at all the carry-ons and Aaron, and I realize that it ain't gonna be fun at MCO if we have all these bags. I tell her to hold on, and I'll go back.

 

 

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO....I go back to the Magical Express counter and wait my turn. I am helped by someone different this time, and I plead my case that they try one more time...trying to get checked in at MCO with 5 checked bags, 4 carry-ons, a stroller, and a 3 year old was going to be not-so-fun. They make one attempt, and the computer laughs and tells them I have to check in at the airport (I think I read on the monitor something like "what, like the moron didn't understand the first time??!!!"). I ask about the logistics...what will we have to do with the bags? I look over to the baggage service folks, and they run away as fast as their feet can carry them. I'm told that they'll bring the bags out to the bus, the bus driver will load the bags on the bus and unload them at MCO...after that, we have to get them to the American check-in.

 

 

 

Say What?

 

 

 

GRRRRRRRRR...this was one of the reasons we chose to stay on-site...being able to check in at the hotel and bypass the lines at Orlando International Airport. I'm thoroughly pissed off at this point. [img]http://community.the-underdogs.org/smiley/angry/letitallout.gif[/img].

 

I leave the line and start muttering to myself...

 

Son of aB****I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!!!!

 

 

On "BELIEVE", I slap all my paperwork with my hand and realize that I didn't have as good of a grip on the paperwork as I had thought.

 

Papers went in all directions.

 

Time stood still for an instant as I realized that this was going to be a mess.

 

Crap...they're gonna call security because they'll think I threw this stuff at them. I'm going to end the best vacation I've ever had with an assault/battery charge.

 

Someone walking by helps me out with picking up the papers, and I apologize to those around me. Nobody had any paper cuts, and I don't see anyone with a white straightjacket heading my way, so I count my blessings and, rather embarrassed, head out of the lobby with my head down. Did I over-react? Of course. Having worked in the service sector as a server at a restaurant, front desk at a Holiday Inn, and as a whole slew of things for Frontier Airlines and AirTran, I know that 85% of the time, the problem is not a result of the person in front of me. I, at least, remembered that when I talked to the folks at the resort check-in. I should have kept my cool afterwards, though.

 

Okay...so this sucks...but those who are using Magical Express without a partner airline are in the same boat...they just didn't have their expectations deflated in the process. Not a major biggie in the grand scheme of things. I head back and tell Sheri the good news (and the news that I didn't get arrested).

 

We head down and meet the bus. I'm starting to feel a little better, though I'm still embarrassed at the paper shower I caused. On the bus, Hook is playing on the monitors, and I love this movie (I have a thing for Julia Roberts as Tinkerbelle , so I watch that on the ride to the airport.

 

We get to the airport and collect the masses of suitcases that belong to us. I head in and start looking for a cart to load all these bag...huh?

 

Is that an American Check-in counter about 50 feet away?

 

Yep

 

Is there only one other person in line?

 

YEP YEP

 

Is this a good thing?

 

HELL YEAH!

 

We lug our bags over and get checked in. Our longest wait of the entire vacation was to ride the security screening ride.

 

We grab a bite to eat, and I realize how weird it is to pay money for food. I almost considered trying to use my Key to the World to pay for it.

 

We get on the plane, arrive late, and race through O'Hare to our connecting gate.

 

And we're home.

 

And Aaron's great streak of doing well on potty training comes to an abrupt end as soon as we open the door. I guess this means we'll have to live at WDW for a while to get him trained.

 

I could think of worse ways to do it.

2005 Trip Report, Day 6.1 (Part 2): Oh Solo Me-o

As I walk out to the busses, I'm really torn between heading back to the room or heading out. As I mentioned before, this is probably going to be one of the only chances I'll have to do this, and Sheri did insist that I go. Okay…rationalizing here…it's okay to do this.

Soooo…which park to hit...hmm. I'd really like to head over to Epcot one last time to see if I can sneak on Mission Space. I don't want to get there late and have to fight the masses leaving, however. I'll let the busses decide where to go.

Two minutes after I get there, here comes the Epcot bus. There were only about ten of us on there. We head to the big golf ball one more time…and I'm glad…I get to tell it goodbye. As I step off the bus at Epcot, I realize for the first time I don't have a stroller. Hehehehehehe…this could be fun! I head to the bag check and WAIT…NO BAG. :woohoo:. This could be really fun (Aaron who?). I make a beeline for the nearest ticket line, and they aren't even doing the finger scans…you got a ticket? COME ON IN!

I run through the Legacy cemetery, pass Spaceship Earth, and look at the wait times. Mission Space: 8 minutes. Hmmmm…I may be able to handle that. I'm now at a fast trot as I make the left turn towards the attraction. Epcot seemed rather quiet this time of night. I hypothesize that either A) everyone is over in the World Showcase for Illuminations; or B) everyone is at Magic Kingdom. WHO CARES??!! I'm here now, and I'm going to have some fun!

I make it over to Mission Space and walk and walk…I didn't even think of the single rider line (I'm a newbie doing it by myself…mind out of the gutters, folks). While waiting in line, they start filling one of the prep rooms and are short 1. Oh Yeah...I'm in! I become navigator and am with a family of 3 (only the 12 year old daughter had been on it, so I'm worried that we're gonna crash). Now, I start to remember what my brother-in-law said about this ride when he was down here back in August…claustrophobic, and you just ain't right after the ride. I quickly discount him as a wuss and harken back to my days at the Air Force Academy. Hell, if I can spend a classified amount of time in isolation during my survival training…if I can hold my cookies while screaming through a narrow canyon in a Huey doing 45 degree banks…if I can live through one of my own landings in a Cessna, then I sure as Hell ain't worried a bit about this ride.

And I was not disappointed at all! Absolutely awesome ride!!!! I had to be grinning from ear to ear when whe blasted off. I haven't felt 2+ Gs for a long time YEEHHHAAAAAAAA! Everyone in our capsule did their tasks exactly as planned, and I'm glad to say that when we went to manual control, I got us safely on the ground :cool:.

Okay...so maybe I didn't. Now, as for my wuss brother-in-law…well, he WAS on his honeymoon, so he may have been tired for some reason or another.

Okay…on and off in about 20 minutes. It's 8:55…perhaps Soarin' won't be too bad this time of night. Okay…all you WDW veterans can go ahead and laugh at me…it was still a 1 hour wait. I stand in line for a minute or two and decide that I'll wait to ride this with my lovely wife next time we're here.

By the time I get to the monorail, it is about 9:15, and I can see Wishes wrapping up. Good...I didn't really want to see Wishes without the family. I call Sheri on the ride over to MK to see how they're doing, and things are great. Sheri's packing, and Aaron's watching Toy Story on the DVD player. I hang up with her and sit back for a few minutes. I look at the MK parking lot as we near the TTC…still a lot of cars. I get off at the TTC and make the run down the ramp and the run back up the other ramp for the MK monorail. As I get there, one of the monorails arrive, and about 250 people sardined in the cars pop out…and about 20 of us get on. I'm starting to feel good again. Stitch hits his head again trying to get out at the MK, and I give Debbie a call to see if they're actually here. Yep! They're in Adventureland but heading to Fantasyland. She sounded fairly excited, so last night must not have gone too terribly bad. I'll meet them at Philharmagic. I head to the bag check (old habits are hard to break) and get in…

Now I know what it feels like to be a salmon swimming upstream. Folks numbering roughly the population of Maryland were heading out of the park, while I was trying to get on Main Street. I turn past the confectionary towards the castle and IT'S SNOWING!!!!!! I thought they only did that for MVMCP…this is so cool!

I run through Cindy's Castle and start looking for them.

CHRIS!!!!!!

Lexie and Austin get their eagle-eyes honestly. Debbie spotted me from about 70 yards. We give each other a real quick hug and start talking about a mile a minute. I explain why Sheri and Aaron weren't there, and Renee takes it really well...besides, no stroller means we can go a LOT faster. We talk about what to ride first. Mark had already ridden BTMRR but says he can be convinced to ride it again, and I start twisting his arm. Nah...let's see what the kids want to ride. We decide to head over and do It's a Small World first. On the way, Debbie tells me that she talked to RootmanDan earlier today.

RootmanDan?

In my mind, Dan (the "Main Moose"…the owner of lodgeboards) has always been ROWTmanDan, so it took me a second to figure out who she was talking about. She says that Dan asked what I was like, and the twinkle in her eyes told me that something was coming.

"Ohhhh, Dan" she said, "it's a good thing you aren't down here. His wife is sooo stuck up..."

"And you told him I'm a real ass, right?" I say, smiling.

"Nah...I told him you are just like you are online!"

I bit my lip...I very nearly said "great...so he thinks I was staring at your chest the whole time, then, right?!" I was worried that Lexie would have dropped dead from embarrassment had she heard me say that.

We get on IASW in no time, and I'm seated between Debbie and Mark. Renee warns me that I may need to wake her Dad up on this ride, and Debbie jokingly puts her head on my shoulder, pretending to sleep. I immediately start removing my clothes...I took off my sweatshirt (hey, it was starting to get a little warm in there...cue the porn music). We go through the ride, and I contemplate drowning myself in the water about half-way through to end the singing. Now off the ride, we talk about where to go next.

We start walking towards Tomorrowland and having a good time just walking and talking when Lexie (I think) notices the line for the Speedway was short (in relative terms). We hop in line and inhale near-lethal amounts of carbon monoxide. The girls are worried about being able to steer their cars, and I crack a joke about women drivers.

Yeah…the lodge ladies were preparing to attack for that comment.

We get in the cars, and I'm the last in line (behind Mark, who's behind Mare, who's behind Debbie...) We go around, and I enjoy the (cough) gentle breeze and the (gasp) sights. As we get toward the end of the ride, the others get out of their cars, while I'm first in line waiting. There's a little incline where I'm at, so I try finding the "friction point" where I can stay on the hill without moving.

Almost got it......alllllmooooooosssttttt goooooottttttttttt itttt....

FLASH

WTF?

I look over and see Debbie with this big grin on her face, and her and Mare (with an equally-evil smile) looking at the picture that was just taken:

Apparently, I didn't quite have the car stopped on the hill yet.

Debbie hollers out to me "You had such a serious look, I couldn't resist!" I wonder to myself just how soon that one would be posted on the Lodge (it was on there in less than a week). Hell, I've had a pic with a penis on my head in front of the word WOOD, so this won't be too embarrassing (I hope...unless she caught me picking my nose or something). I start up the ramp after them trying to look mad...

DEBBIE!!!!!

I don't think she was too scared of me.

We head over towards Buzz and see the line, so we decide to hit the TTA (I had never ridden it before, so I think they appeased my interests). Austin works his way toward me and tells everyone that I was riding with him. Debbie starts smiling...her son has a new bud. We ride it, and the trip through Space Mountain was really neat! While on the ride, we talk a little bit about what Debbie's husband does and other things and try to offer solutions to Mare's possessed digital camera.

Off of the TTA, we have a little fun on the escalator going down and then head over to Buzz. Again, I'm claimed by Austin. Cool...I'm sure he knows the secrets and where to shoot for the big points. Being the competitive freak that I am, I size up the competition. Mark was by himself, while Mare and Debbie were in another, and Lexie and Renee in another. I figure the Lodge Ladies would be the competition. We start the ride and

FLASH

AGAIN??!!!!!

I look right a Debbie and start shooting her with my laser (I think I got 100 points for it).

We're going through, and I realize really quick that Mark is the one to beat, although Debbie closed her eyes and got a 100,000 target as soon as she got on the ride. Austin and I both start shooting Mark, who returns the favor. I start wondering if one of us could be blinded if we caught a laser in the eye (but I continue shooting him).

We save the universe and get off the ride. At the exit, they have a station to view yourself on the ride (and can purchase a souvenir pic, of course!). Again, I've got this serious look on my face, and I'm grateful that nobody comments on how stupid I look.

We exit and start making our way towards Adventureland for the Carpets and for Pirates. Debbie gives us a tour of the Tomorrowland Terrace Noodle Station and sings praises about it. Hell, if nothing else, it's a short-cut to Main Street that nobody around us knows about.

On the way, Debbie comments about how Austin has taken a liking to me. I tell her that I had three little sisters, so I'm fine with it. Lexie turns to Austin and says "just think of what it would be like if there were three of me around!" That got me laughing again. Gotta love siblings!

We make it to Pirates and walk on (absolutely no wait). Renee isn't big on this ride, so she stays behind with one of her parents (I don't remember which one...HEY!!!!! IT WAS LATE WHEN I GOT BACK TO THE ROOM, AND I DIDN'T GET ANYTHING WRITTEN DOWN, SO THIS IS ALL FROM MEMORY...DEAL WITH IT!!!!!!! (okay...I feel better now). Not having to worry about Aaron jumping in the water, I take in the ride and notice a lot more of the animation this time.

We get off and head through the gift shop. Debbie, Mare, and Lexie gush over posters of Orlando Bloom and Johnny Depp. I tried to make a comment about Keira Knightley, but it fell on deaf ears.

It's nearing Midnight (closing time), so we start heading back. The kids want to go on the Magic Carpets, so we get in line. I then notice that I'm the only one above the age of 13 that's riding this. Debbie looked surprised that I actually wanted to ride it. I didn't care...it was the Magic Kingdom!

We get on (one guess who I rode with), and we head up to the top. I see Debbie with her camera out, so I crouch down every time we fly near where she was standing until the carpets lose their magic, and we get off the ride. There is a little pin-trading going on with the CMs that are manning the attraction, and we spend a couple minutes trying to find a black pin-back on the ground at 11:55 pm (the latest report is that the back is still escaped and should be considered armed and dangerous).

We keep on walking back and stop at the Treehouse. Everyone but Mark and me head up (I've walked enough for one day...I didn't feel like doing a stairmaster). Mark and the CM have a really good talk about pins, and I'm just nodding my head like I understand.

They come down and look somewhat tired (can't imagine why). I look at Renee and marvel at how her legs have held her up this whole time...she's a trooper.

We cross the Adventureland bridge and arrive at the hub and...WOW! There are probably 15-20 characters out signing autographs and getting pictures taken..WHOAH! Not just the usual ones, either. Suzy and Perla were there, and Mickey and Minnie were together. Helluva way to end the visit to MK, if I do say so myself.

We stop at the Confectionary for a bit, and, after looking around for a couple of minutes, I tell Mark I'm going to head out to the street for a bit. I walk out and just absorb my surroundings. I hear one Mother telling her daughter (about Aaron's age) that she was so glad they came out and did this. I take in the lights...the smells...the music...the castle...and create an image in my mind that I don't want to lose. After about 5 minutes, I head back into the Confectionary and wait for the rest to finish paying for their items.

We head out of the Magic Kingdom for the last time of the vacation. Before the last goodbyes, we talk for a few more minutes. Mark shakes my hand, and Mare and Debbie give me a hug. I tell the kids goodbye, and I make my way to the bus stop.

Yeah, I'm glad I came out and did this too. 3 hours is nowhere near enough time to really get to know someone, but I earnestly hope that I cross paths with these folks again sometime.

I didn't realize I still had one ride yet this night. I get on the bus near the front and then give up my seat for a mother with a kid that was absolutely zonked on her shoulder (I got a nice comment from the bus driver for that act). We get on our way, and the driver says that it's X minutes and that she wants to get us there quick so she can get home too. in unison, the bus tells her to go faster. She says she can make it to the hotel in 5 minutes.

"DO IT!!!!"

She asks if we will all kick in some money in case she gets pulled over.

YEP!

We broke the sound barrier around the TTC and absolutely flew past the other busses. We were in the middle of passing a bus when our usual exit flew by. "No problem...this other way is faster!" we hear from the front. I have visions of the Knight bus from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and briefly look for the shrunken head (Take it away, Ern!).

We pulled in around 7 minutes after we left.

She got a huge round of applause!

I take my time going through the hotel lobby and walk down toward the Fantasia pool. As I enter Andy's room, I'm ready to go home and ready to come back already (weird how one can have those conflicting feelings at the same time). I get into the room, kiss Sheri goodnight and drift off for the last time in room 720 of the All Star Movies.

All we have to do is check out and get on the Magical Express for the ride home. Insert ominous music here.

December 2005 Trip Report, Day 6 (Part 1): Verrrryyyy Interesting

Mush's note: I had planned on doing my "what it means" post here, but I'm still working on the right words. I figured that I had better get back to the Trip Report before people started sending out the hounds...

We had a wake-up call set up for 7:10, and, damnit, Aaron had better answer this one!

 

Aaron's awake at 7:05. Fingers are crossed

 

 

RING

 

 

NO MORE SLEEPY!!!

 

Aaron:

 

Finally!

 

 

We get dressed and prepare for MGM today with the possibility of meeting up with DaisyDebbie and the Badelves clan for EMH at the Magic Kingdom. I notice the Magical Express tag on our door...no problem...I'm starting to be ready to get home.

 

While we're getting ready, Aaron just chills out on the bed:

 

 

 

We head over to the Movies food court, and I take particular pleasure in eviscerating Mickey in the form of a waffle with strawberries acting as blood.

 

Time for the all-important timing check with the busses. We head out and get on a bus within 5 minutes (luckily, it was going to MGM). We arrive and do the finger squeeze thingy and then pile in to wait for whatever opening ceremony they have here.

 

About ten minutes later some characters start walking towards us from the big hat along with some CMs. The rope is dropped, and the masses take an immediate right to head for the Tower of Terror and the Rockin' Roller Coaster.

 

We head for the hat. Nice and peaceful...no mob scene.

 

And who do we run into?!

 

 

We were second in line :-D.

 

 

After the autograph and pics, we head over to Mickey Avenue, and it's completely deserted. We are a bit early for the first showing of the Voyage of the Little Mermaid, so Sheri snoops out a pressed penny machine. While destroying some Government property, we talk to Ahmed, one of the CMs working nearby. He looks like he's near hypothermia.

 

We still have around 20 minutes before the show starts, so we head down Mickey Avenue to see if any characters are out. We stroll by WWTBAM (Who Wants to Be a Millionaire), and, though I know Aaron won't enjoy it, I decide that I'm going to try to make one of the games today. I need my revenge on the game. This thought was short-lived, because Jo-Jo and Goliath were right across the street. Aaron's really excited while in line, but I think his excitement was split between seeing Jo-Jo or seeing an ad for Little Einsteins.

 

We head back to see my hottie, Ariel (refer to day 2 for more information), and I'm not disappointed. Aaron watched with a lot of interest and asked a ton of questions throughout the show (my apologies to all around us). Still, I think I liked the show better than him.

 

 

We exit the show, and Sheri heads over to get the stroll...

 

What, honey? The stroller's not there? Sheri is trying to hide what she's dreading, but she's nearing the panic stage. I drop Aaron off with her and have them get in line for Playhouse Disney (due to start in ten minutes). I look around for a couple minutes...TADAAA...the CMs had moved it to another place. I move it to yet another place (where a couple hundred other strollers were parked) and join them for the show.

 

It was definitely a cute show, and we thought Aaron would love this one. For some reason, he was just kind of eeehhhh with it. I don't know if he was starting to get tired or not feeling well or what, but he just wasn't into it. This gets us to thinking that perhaps we should cut this day short a little and let him unwind at the hotel. This pretty much axes seeing Beauty and the Beast and jeopardizes Millionaire.

 

We leave Mickey Avenue and make our way over towards where Muppetvision 3-D is. On the way we see Stitch! . Of course the line for him is about 40 deep, so we decide to try to catch him before we leave.

 

Suuuurreee, Chris...that plan really worked at Animal Kingdom on Day 4, didn't it?! Fool me once, shame on you...fool me twice...

 

 

We keep on walking past the ABC Commissary and Sheri asks me where Mike and Sully from Monsters Inc hung out. Mare (Badelves) provided some great directions last night when we met up with her group at Epcot on where Mike and Sully were, but I'll be danged if I could remember what she said. I knew we were in the general vicinity, but I didn't know exactly where.

 

At that exact moment, we pass an opening to our left and see a CM and a line forming. A couple of seconds later, a garage door opens, and there they are! Good God, Sully is friggin HUGE:

 

Heck, I'm even a little scared going up to him, but Aaron runs right up. Considering this is one of his favorite movies, I shouldn't have been surprised.

 

 

We finally get to Muppetvision (after a detour for Aaron to play in the car in front of the 50's Prime Time Cafe). The Muppets have always been one of my favorites. I remember watching the Muppet Show all the time growing up, and I think my sense of humor falls right in line with them. Plus, I used to do a lot of their voices for my sisters when they were growing up (I can do a mean Fozzie Bear, Miss Piggy, and Gonzo as well as a decent Kermit and Swedish Chef, PLUS I have this hilarious perverted Grover routine, but I digress). Needless to say, I'm excited to be here...much more so than Sheri is. I'm busting up at the pre-show show on the screens, while Sheri considers disowning me. We experience the show, and Aaron enjoys his second 3-D movie, though not as much as Philharmagic. While I love the Muppets, I have to agree that the technology is better at Philharmagic.

 

Aaron donates a few pennies to the Muppet fountain, and we seek out lunch at the Pizza Planet. Aaron was hungry...he ate about half of his pizza by himself. After eating, we head down to play a bit and find an air hockey table. As I fish out a couple of quarters to play, a girl hands Aaron a little Pooh toy she got from one of those machines that you put a quarter in and turn the handle...you know guys...like the ones we used when we bought the engagement rings...they come in that plastic bubble thing. Her Mom said she already had that toy and wanted to share.

 

All together now....aaaawwwwwwwwwwwww.

 

Aaron has tried playing air hockey before, and I think he likes hearing the sound of the puck being scored against him. I nearly pulled a muscle trying to miss the puck to keep the score even.

 

 

Aaron's definitely getting tired, so we head out after one game and seek out another elusive character...Buzz Lightyear. We find him nearby and snap a picture. We then make our way to Millionaire. Of course Aaron crashes as we get there. We have about a half-hour before the next show, so I grab some bench and keep Aaron company while Sheri looked around a little in a shop or two.

 

Then I got to thinking...am I actually eligible to play this? I ask a CM if contestants on the actual TV show could play. The best way I could describe his reaction is a combination of , , and . He asks another CM, and I see them pointing my way.

 

Why the Hell did I even bring it up?

 

We kind of agree that I can play, so we go in (me holding a snoring kid) and watch some of the highlights from the show. I'm starting to get a little excited now. We get into the studio, and immediately I start comparing it to the actual ABC studio in New York. First off, there are a LOT more seats at MGM than in the actual studio. Second, the keypads are different. Even though I was in the "ring of fire" for the actual show, we did get to try out the keypads in New York. Third...there was no boom camera (a very annoying camera mounted on a long hydraulic arm that moved all over the place while you try to answer a question worth a lot of money) here at MGM. There were other differences, but, in its defense, the studio DID look a lot like the real one. It was much brighter in the MGM one, and the New York studio used some "smoke" to diffuse the lights to create a neat look.

 

A couple of minutes before it is supposed to start, Aaron wakes up. I try to hand him off to Sheri, but he wants Daddy. He finally goes to Sheri before the fastest finger question. It's up, and it's a geography question (one of my stronger areas!). I go against Zurg's (Bennet's) recommendations on how to do this and think it out. I get the first two with no problem...pause a second, then put the third and fourth one in...DAMN...the third one didn't go in, so I enter it last and search for the "submit" button. Then I realize that there is no submit button (like on the real show).

 

Ummm...I didn't make it in the hot seat. Some really cute nursing student makes it in there instead. Sheri comments on how her pants were so tight they had to have been painted on her. I agreed a little too quickly for her liking. As the contestant talked, I started thinking that, despite her looks, I don't think I would want this girl as my nurse (unless we're talking naughty nurses). The game starts, and she burns a lifeline on the 100 point question.

 

UGH!!! At this rate, there won't even be time for a second person to get in the seat. She burns her second lifeline at the 300 point one (the host accidentally helped her out on the 200 pointer). Finally she gets to the 1000 point level, and I get to see how I'm doing.

 

3rd from the top

 

She blows the 2000 point question, and I know I answered it really fast...I've got a chance....

 

Still 3rd from the top.

 

Damn close, but someone else heads down to the seat. This guy is a restaurant manager and seems to know his stuff. I pause for just an instant on the 100 point question and never could get back on the leader board. He blows it on the 4000 point question, but the horn honks and we're out of time. I actually cringed a bit when I heard that horn. The last time I heard it was in New York, and six of the folks I was playing against realized that they weren't going to have their chance when that horn sounded. Some of the stories of these folks were really touching too...one guy was hoping to win at least $64,000 so he could go to China and adopt the sister of the child he had already adopted.

 

I gave it my best shot, and it was fun. Hey...third from the top ain't too bad, and I guess I have the actual show as a substitute to the MGM version .

 

 

 

We leave Millionaire and make our way back to see Stitch. YES...HE'S STILL THERE!!! We get in line and have a CM tell us that the line is closed.

 

@#$(^(#!#@$()%(^(&(&^%#$@#!#@!$@

 

No, I didn't actually swear out loud. I do however recall a discussion from the previous night while talking with the Lodge folks. I modify the punch line for the current situation, and Sheri nearly slaps me. Oh well...at least the Photopass pictures had Stitch in one of them (he's popping out of the street).

 

We make our way out to the busses for the nap that likely wouldn't happen. As we leave, Sheri and I both agree that MGM was probably our least favorite park this trip. We can tell that Aaron is nearing his limit, so we modify our plans. Originally, we were going to eat at Cape May, tour the Yacht/Beach Club, walk over to the Boardwalk and tour there, take the boat to MGM to see the Osbourne Lights, take the boat to Epcot to see if we could get on anything, then possibly take the monorail to MK for extra magic hours. We decide that we'll just eat at Cape May, look around the Yacht/Beach Club, and then decide on whether to do MK or not.

 

As if it were planned, Aaron bounces around the room and falls asleep a mere twenty minutes before we planned on leaving for dinner at Cape May. For some reason, he's a grouch on the bus over to MGM. He falls asleep when we get off the bus. We head over to the boat launch and watch the ducks. He wakes up long enough to see a few of the ducks and hopes that they follow the boat that we are about to get on. We make our way over to the Swan and Dolphin (though I still think it looks NOTHING like dolphin) and then over to the Yacht/Beach Club.

 

We enter the Yacht Club and WOW...Thurston Howell III area again (I think I actually saw him there). We wind our way around and around and around until we find the entrance to Cape May. We park the stroller and are seating immediately (about 5 minutes before our ADR time). We're seated, and our server immediately comes and introduces himself. He asks where we're from.

 

"Central Illinois" I reply.

 

"What part?"

 

Now I'm interested. "Right in the middle...Bloomington/Normal."

 

"Really?!" He says. "I got kicked out of a college in Bloomington/Normal."

 

This conversation just took a turn south. "Illinois State?" (he nods) "I teach economics there."

 

He fires back with "I had some Chinese guy trying to teach me economics there...he showed me graphs that I had no clue about and no use for."

 

GULP

 

"I've got two strikes against me, don't I?" I say, trying to smile.

 

He promises not to spit in our drinks, and we make our way to the buffet line. Considering the fantastic array of fresh seafood we get in central Illinois, I was really looking forward to eating mussels, clams, etc...but the lines were pretty long. Aaron didn't really want to be there either, so that didn't help out much. Yep, we'll be heading home at just the right time I think. Most every table service meal was, for lack of a better term, "orgasmic" down here, and I'll give the climax award tonight to the desserts at Cape May. They had some cheesecake that was absolutely awesome!

 

While drinking some coffee, both Sheri and I agree that Aaron has had enough. Then Sheri says something that I would never have expected in a million years.

 

"Why don't you go out on your own tonight?"

 

"No...I'm not going to do that...this is a family vacation!"

 

"It's fine...Aaron and I have had enough, and I know you still want to see some things and meet up with Debbie and Mare. We'll watch movies and pack. Go ahead...it's fine."

 

"But..."

 

"It's fine...otherwise I wouldn't have brought it up" (as she smiles).

 

Even the slightest breeze would have had me . Some of me still resisted, but more of me realized that this is win-win for everyone involved, and I probably won't get a chance like this anytime soon. I agree, but I continue to ask her if she's sure about this.

 

After eating, we walk around a bit and appreciate the decorations/ambience of these hotels. We love the chocolate carousel (looks just like the one Samantha Brown helped build on the Travel Channel special we saw last week!) As we walk back to the Yacht Club to watch the model train set, Aaron has...well...how do I put it tactfully...the runs (so much for tact). Nope, he's definitely done for the night. I change him, and we start to make our way out to the water.

 

We hop on the boat to MGM to catch the bus to Movies. We hoped to get on the bus at MGM before Fantasmic ended, but it finished right after the boat docked. The line for Movies was easily 100 deep. In my mind, I had been processing several itineraries for what to do that night. I really wanted to try Mission Space, but the timing would have to be really good. With the lines waiting for a bus, chances are I wouldn't be able to make it to Epcot in time. Just as I was about to nix Epcot from the plans, two more busses arrive for Movies, and we're on our way!

 

I'm starting to feel like a little kid...bouncing with anticipation. We get off the bus at Movies, and I jokingly head right in line for another bus. We head to the room and drop things off. I tell Sheri my possible plans and give her a long kiss and then ask her one last time if she was okay with this. She kicks me out of the room, and I begin my first solo journey in the World…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

December 2005 Trip Report, Day 5: Donald and Daisy and Elves (Oh My)

Originally the plan was to use Tuesday for Magic Kingdom and perhaps Epcot, depending on how much we had seen. Since this is the last day of MVMCP, we know that we want to be out of MK by around 4. I also had talked with DaisyDebbie prior to flying out, and she mentioned that today (Tuesday) had Epcot on the plans and tomorrow (Wednesday for you slower folks) was set up for wherever they wanted to go.

 

With all the possible scenarios, we decide one major item...NO WAKE-UP CALL. Too bad Aaron didn't get the message, because he was up and bouncing around by 7:10. As we head out to the MK bus, it's time to do the remarkably accurate timing check with the bus.

 

There's a bus waitingforus!!!!YEEHAW...Wait...it looks likethe rest of All Star Movies is also going to MK. So what the heck does this mean for our timing check?! I look at Sheri, and she looks at me. We both look at Aaron, and Aaron looks at us with this puzzled look that wondered why we are not getting on the bus.

 

Hmmm....we could fight the crowds at MK opening, or we could perhaps (looks over to the near-empty queue for the Epcot bus)...go to Epcot?

 

SUUUURRREEE...awesome idea, Mush. Man, I feel like a genius at coming up with this. We head over to the Epcot line...

 

 

 

 

...and watch 4 more MK busses come. We talked with a couple of Cubs fans and discussed some of the recent moves they made (all agree the pickup of Juan Pierre was definitely good). Sheri can tell that I'm already thinking about the end of the vacation (I have a knack for that). Finally the Epcot bus arrives (the wait was only about 13 minutes...not too bad), and we're off to the big golf ball place.

 

We go through the bag check and the turnstiles and make our way past Spaceship Earth. The opening ceremony was going on, but we were too far back to really see anything. So we follow the throngs toward "The Land" but stop when we encounter one of the Country Bears characters (tall one with orange hat). As he enters a door, I remember reading about a new character greeting place in Epcot. I tell Sheri that we're detouring, and we open the door.

 

We're the only ones in there! (I use that one a lot, don't I?).

 

First in line is Mickey! Since Aaron already had his autograph, we send him up without the book, and he is more interactive.

Too bad the Photopass pics are gone…there were some great ones in there! Pluto was next in line, and one of the photopass pics was there one of the best ones taken. That was one of the ones we bought. Aaron was kind of eeehhhh with Minnie as well as with Chip and Dale. And then...

 

Donald.

 

We meet again.

 

Okay...before we talk, do your thing with the kid...

 

 

Needless to say, Donald was wound up.

 

Okay, kid...get away. Don and I are going to have a heart-to-heart talk here.

 

I walk up to him and tell him that I was here 3 years ago and NEVER saw him. I then tell him he's always been my favorite because we have a lot in common.

 

I look gazingly into his eyes, and we start to embrace...

 

...when I realize my son is watching me with this look of sheer terror on his face (okay, he was laughing, but sheer terror fits better with the story line).

 

Now, my life is complete.

 

(Mush's note…after re-working this section just a bit, I realized that this was probably the moment where I finally "got it" regarding the magic of this place. I'm going to add a new post in the blog immediately after this is posted that might help those don't "get it" yet).

 

He also sees Pinocchio and Goofy (again) as well as a couple of the Country Bears. The lines were still non-existent, and Mickey headed outside to see if they closed the park without his knowledge. When he came back, he and Aaron played around for another minute or two. I had to follow one of the Country Bears through the queue to get the stroller and had some fun with him (I was behind him mocking his moves, and he kept turning around trying to catch me).

 

We head outside and continue to "The Land". As we enter, we're a bit hungry (the original plan was to eat at the Main Street Bakery in MK), so we look around, and the food court place was open downstairs. We look at the "Living With the Land" queue (it's a boat ride, so Aaron would like it) and we walk on. I love the tomato tree, and, all-in-all, we like the ride more than we anticipated.

 

We look at the line for Soarin, knowing that Aaron's about an inch and a half too short and are grateful because the line is over an hour according to the posted time. So we head over to the Living Seas pavilion. Turtle Talk was cute. I guess I didn't know what to expect, but there wasn't as much there as I had expected.

 

We decide to trot on over on the monorail to MK to see what's going on there. Aaron is excited to ride, and we get on in just a couple of minutes. While riding, Sheri calls her Mom to see how Eric (other son...who will be royally pissed when he reads this and finds out he got left behind) is doing. Her Dad answers, and that's not a good thing because he never misses work. Both her Mom and Dad have the flu (her Mom punched her Dad for telling Sheri that...now I know where Sheri gets it) but that Eric's doing fine.

 

We get to Magic Kingdom and make our way in. Despite the throngs of folks heading here this morning, the crowds seem to be dispersed well. We walk up Main Street, and I come to the conclusion that the Magic Kingdom is my favorite park...it just took me longer than most to realize it. We are planning to eat at Pecos Bills but have some time so we head over to Adventureland and ride the Tiki Birds and Pirates again. On the way to POC, Aaron actually starts singing "Yo ho Yo ho Pirates". We get on the ride in less than five minutes and get off the ride about 45 minutes later.

 

No...that's not a typo. The ride broke down while we were on there, and we were stuck just after the cannon blasts...near the guy in the well and the wife auction. The lights actually came on, and we moved backwards for a minute or two. Aaron thought it was pretty cool, while I felt certain I'd have nightmares about redheads.

 

After the ride, Aaron wanted to play swords:

 

 

 

We head over to Frontierland and Pecos Bills. On our way, Sheri makes a comment about all the birds. About 10 seconds after she says this, we watch one of the gulls start swooping down really close to the crowd. This poor woman had just gotten a hot dog and had just unwrapped it.

 

Yep.

 

The bird went for the hot dog. The birds wings are flapping right in front of her face and she lets out this blood-curdling scream, slapping at the bird and all-in-all freaking out. The bird ends up with about 1/3 of the bun. I'm right in the middle of trying to decide whether to laugh or make sure the woman was okay when the damn thing makes a beeline for us.

 

HIT THE DECK!!!! I scream.

 

All of us are ducking, except for Aaron, who I think was actually trying to catch it, as the bird screams over our heads. We get up from our crouch and exchange looks of combined humor and and look around veeeerrrryyyy carefully before we start walking again. We pass the assaulted woman, and she looks okay. Everyone around is smiling, so she must have taken it okay (despite the fact that she was still shaking as we passed by).

 

We get to Pecos Bills and have a great meal. Aaron's getting tired right about the time we start heading for the exit. BUT first we need to make a pit stop at the Emporium to see Judy (our neighbor, Stacy's, Mom -- she's got it going on ). We enter and split up until we find her. She doesn't see us yet as she's waiting on someone. Another register opens, and a CM tells us that we can go there. I quietly tell them that we know Judy and want to surprise her. He smiles and yells at Judy to "HURRY UP...THERE ARE PEOPLE WAITING!"

 

Judy has this puzzled look...especially when I follow with "Yeah, we haven't got all day, ya know...geez."

 

Then she sees us and gets this huge smile! We talk for about 10 minutes, and we're doing everything we can to keep the fact that her daughter, son-in-law, and grandson are flying down the next day to surprise her (it worked, btw...she couldn't believe it when she saw them).

 

We head out and get on the bus for Movies. We all were tired and crashed fairly quickly (FINALLY). I set my cell phone alarm for 5:00 pm so we can get to the Poly for dinner at O'Hana, and I drift off for a long warm-and-kind-of-near-winter-I-guess nap.

 

 

DINGDINGDINGDING

 

I get up, walk to my cell phone and turn off the alarm. Man, I feel refreshed! Aaron's still out, and Sheri is starting to stir a little. About a minute later, my cell phone rings. I check to see who it is, and it says "Restricted".

 

Hmmm...Must be DaisyDebbie. I answer it and wasn't expecting the New Yawk accent (I forgot where she hailed from before moving). We talk for a couple of minutes and discover that they'll be at Epcot for Illuminations, and, HEY, we were thinking of going there too! We'll try to meet up. I tell her our plans and that I'd give her a call when we got there.

 

We say our goodbyes, and I hang up and look at the clock. 4:35.

 

Wait...didn't I set the alarm for 5?

 

I check the alarm...yup...set to go off at 5.

 

I stare into space for a minute before it hits me. CRAP, I hung up on her when she called the first time!!!! Hell of a first impression ya made there, @#$)^$$#@!#@$ moron!!!! I tell Sheri what I did, and she agrees fully with my conclusion.

 

Everyone's awake now, so we decide to start making our way over to the Poly to see if we can get seated early. We hop on the first bus we see (MGM...pulled up as we walked out) and then hop off to transfer to the bus that goes to the Contemp/Poly/Grand Floridian. As we hop off the bus and look around, we find that we are very close to the bus that will go there.

 

We were standing right by it...

 

 

...the bus we just got off was the one we wanted. Sooooooooo we get back on, and the bus driver gets a good laugh from us. He sardines us to get everyone on the bus, and we head over to the Contemporary. We decide to get off the bus and look around a little more, and I'm really glad we did! I've only seen the main concourse level of the contemporary from the Monorail and from just walking around. Coming in from the bottom level of the Contemporary is an entirely new view. It looked really nice.

 

We walk around a bit and see Cindy's glass slipper and get in line for the monorail. There are 4 families ahead of us in line when it arrives. The doors open, and all the families go right in.

 

None of them went to the front.

 

Okay...somebody must already be in the front, but we make our way up there to see...just in case.

 

I ask the CMs there if the front was open..."go on in" they said. :-D This is kewl to the nth degree!

 

 

I am enjoying this probably more than Aaron is, but all three of us think it's pretty neat. I think it feels like you're going faster when looking down the beam than when in the back. Sheri mentions that the driver has a striking resemblance to Bobby Flay…funny thing is that he does look like him!

 

We get out at the Poly and head to O'Hana to eat. We're about 35 minutes ahead of our seating time, but we're seated within about five minutes. I've got my Hawaiian shirt on and am getting into the mood by humming some Jimmy Buffett:

 

Ia oro te natura

E mea arofa teie ao nei

(from One Particular Harbor)

 

I decided even before we left Illinois that I was going to have a nice drink at O'Hana. Sheri grabs a drink (one of the best Margaritas she has ever had), and I go for the lapu lapu. I figured if we got too drunk, Aaron should know that transportation system well enough by now to find his own way back to the hotel. The lapu lapu was good (even at $10.99, it was awesome), though Aaron thought the pineapple looked weird with a straw coming out of it. Sheri wasn't too keen on the beef (too rare...she likes her beef dead, buried, incinerated, and cooked again), but she really liked the sausage. I loved the entire meal. Aaron spilled his drink (oh well).

 

We look around the Poly some more, and I start thinking about whether we can afford to stay here for our ten year anniversary. Hey, maybe I can convince Sheri to use the money we would have spent on the cruise to stay here instead. I'm still trying to find a way to introduce this idea to her without instant castration.

 

We hop on the monorail and take the circuit around back to the TTC. At the Contemp, a family joins us, and I'm torn between paying attention to the husband who might just be a relative of mine (we were joking that we had almost the same shirt on...he actually also had the shirt I was wearing in his wardrobe) or his supermodel wife whose shirt showed more than a little cleavage. It simply didn't matter how much you tried not to look….a eunuch would have even been staring. We get off at the TTC, and I've got a grin on my face that wouldn't go away. Sheri just stares at me...waiting for the comment...fist ready.

 

We just miss the Epcot monorail, and I told her it would probably be about 15 minutes before we saw another. Less than a minute later, in comes another monorail.

 

It's Sheri's turn to smile. I ignore her and give Debbie a call on the cell to see where they were going to be. They were currently in Mexico but heading to Japan. Apparently RoutemanDan showed them a good spot to view Illuminations...the second floor of the Mitsukoshi building. We get to Epcot (Sheri mentions that, according to me, we would still be waiting for the monorail at the TTC....) and start making our way in. We have time before we are supposed to meet up everyone, so we look at the wait times. We consider letting Aaron experience Honey I Shrunk the Audience (he's handled all the other rides with no problem), but it had already closed.

 

On to the World Showcase. We decided to head left this time and look around in Mexico and ride another boat ride for Aaron. El Rio was a nice calm ride.

 

Sheri falls in love with the San Angel Inn, and I think I have her convinced that we need to do a day or two alone in Epcot to really appreciate it (in a year and a half).

 

We start making our way to Japan to meet up with Debbie, and I'm starting to get a bit nervous. I've only met one other person from my online life, and we are moderators together for a large timesharing group, so I knew that person fairly well prior to meeting up with him. Debbie and her kids...I had only been on the Lodge since April, and I know her only through posts and a couple of pictures. With the other guy, we'd swap e-mails sometimes 5-6 times a day when things were crazy. I've already hung up on her once, and just had this weird feeling that it would be a weird meeting.

 

We sneak over to Germany to try to find a train set that Aaron could see. We then hit the bathroom near Italy. While there, I notice that I missed a call. It was Debbie saying that they decided to watch the show from a different place...between Italy and the Candlelight Processional stage. Hell, that's only a couple hundred feet away from where I'm standing! Sheri emerges, and I tell her they're somewhere (pointing) over there. DD said she was wearing a red jacket and had both her kids with her. Okay, so we walk where we are supposed to be heading, and I start scanning. As we get closer, I try to think back to pictures of Debbie and Lexie...all I can think about is the picture of the "turtle" behind Lexie's head near their pool and get to snickering. Sheri asks what's up, and I fail miserably trying to explain.

 

There they are! (I think).

 

"Debbie?"

 

Whew...it was them. We introduce ourselves and Aaron immediately makes himself at home. While introducing her and Sheri to each other, I quip that everything I've ever said about Sheri online was good (wink, wink...nudge, nudge). I still have just my Hawaiian shirt on, while Debbie has 3 layers on (the wuss). She jokes about me making her feel cold, so I throw on my jacket.

 

Debbie gets another phone call (loved the ringtone) and tells me that Badelves are still over in Future World but heading our way. I go through the memory archives and for the life of me cannot remember who this badelves is, aside from how they came up with the username.

 

While we're talking, I joke about trying to get Sheri to join the Lodge. Debbie does her best to encourage her by mentioning her obsession with Matthew McConaughey, and Sheri perks up immediately.

 

Lexie and Austin spot Mare, Mark, and Renee from about 400 yards and let us know they're here. They arrive dressed in the same attire...they look so cute! Aaron sees Renee and immediately takes a liking to her (someone around his height). Debbie does the intros for us, and Mare comments on the weight loss (I had lost around 50 pounds before this trip).

 

I have come to the conclusion that I need to do more research before meeting y'all.

 

 

The lodgesters pose for pics:

 

 

 

 

Oh...all right!!! Props need to go to the night-setting on our camera. Regardless, it looks like Debbie is getting into the Lodge spirit and sporting antlers (that, or they are devil horns :D)

 

(note: I did not doctor the "antlers"...that's how it actually turned out!!).

 

Anyways, Here's a much better pic (courtesy of DD) of Mare and Debbie, and a stupid picture of me with a crooked-ass grin (due to being surrounded by two lovely lodge ladies) and a wearing a coat over a Hawaiian shirt:

 

 

Also using Debbie's version...the whole crew

 

 

Okay...stupid smiles aside, things seem to be going well. Sheri mentions to the badelves clan that her scarf is the exact same pattern as their shirts. Aaron is getting a bit antsy while we talk with each other, so I pick him up, and he proceeds to start picking leaves off the tree we're standing next to.

 

Illuminations starts, and the Mush clan is wowed immediately (first time ever seeing it). When the fireworks stopped and the images were displayed on the globe, Aaron gets bored and starts playing with Lexie's water bottle...and knocks it into the water. I'm fully expecting a phone call from Disney with a DNA report and a bill for retrieval of the bottle.

 

Anyway, the lasers and the lights start hitting the buildings. About 45 seconds later I finally get it..."illuminations"...illuminating the nations. I knew those 24 years in school would eventually pay off . Sheri just mutters a "Duh" my way.

 

The fireworks start back up again when BOOOM!!! A nozzle about 40 feet to left of us lets out a shower of sparks and sends a shell over the lagoon. We all jumped out of our shoes on that one. We have the finale barrage of fireworks...or so we thought. I read on the disboards before I removed myself to lurker status over there that they added a special Christmas finale, and it starts up. Renee mentions that this isn't the usual Illuminations, and Debbie leans over to me and says "you think she's seen this a few times?" That got me cracking up. More fireworks off the barges, and the cannon next to us goes off again, causing us all to wish we had extra thongs to change into. Then comes the actual finale - red and green fireworks going off at a rate that would have made Washington DC envious. For only about the fourth time in my life, I was speechless.

 

We all talk with each other some more, and, somehow we get to talking about characters. Mark starts telling a story about Chip and Dale, and I fire back with "the Chippendales?!"

 

Debbie suddenly becomes very interested in the conversation at that word.

 

Yes, folks, Mush the pervert has arrived! With Aaron, Renee, Austin, and Lexie nearby however, I do my best to keep the volume and the content in check.

 

We make our way around the World Showcase and stop at the International gateway (Debbie was parked at one of the Epcot resorts). Mare and Mark tease her about her unexpected backlot tour of Disney World with her vehicle from a previous night. We say our goodbyes with the hopes that we would meet up tomorrow at Magic Kingdom for Extra Magic Hours. The Badelves and the Mushes continue on to Future World, and Renee and Aaron really start getting along well. He's in the stroller, but Renee starts holding his hand and then gives him a little kiss. My son must have the gift...he has a harem at daycare, and he gets a girfriend here at Epcot! Notice that I STILL haven't gotten a kiss from ANYONE (and I'm not even sure I've gotten a kiss from the wifey, either, on this trip)! As we get past Spaceship Earth near the Legacy tombstones, we let Aaron out for a bit, and he promptly goes running. Never fear - Renee chases him down for us. We consider renting her for the rest of our vacation.

 

We part ways with Mark, Mare, and Renee (again with the hopes of seeing them at MK Wednesday night) and head on to the bus. We had stayed in Epcot nearly 45 minutes after it had "closed", so the bus stop isn't too busy. On the bus ride back to the hotel, Aaron was talking about a mile a minute (yeah, he'll go to bed without a fight tonight).

 

 

Once we get him calmed down, he actually does crash fast. Sheri and I both agree that it was great night. The parks take on an entirely new feel when you're there with friends, and we made several friends tonight. And to think I was worried about meeting them! I'm really hoping that Aaron will last long enough to meet up with all of them again at MK for our last night at WDW (more foreshadowing for those who didn't catch it).

December 2005 Trip Report, Day 4: Birthday de l’Aaron

At 7:00, Stitch calls us and Mickey apologizes, yet the birthday boy remains . One of these mornings he's going to answer it.

 

Sooooooo...Aaron turns three today. I remember exactly what happened three years ago. Sheri was asleep on the couch and I was on the computer downstairs when I hear her say "Honey?"

 

"Yep"

 

"I think my water broke"

 

She thinks?

 

"Are you sure? How do you know?"

 

Mistake. That didn't come out the way I meant it.

 

2 hours and 45 minutes later (not bad for a first kid...didn't even have time for any drugs), Aaron introduced himself to the world screaming bloody murder.

 

And here he is now 3 years later. I can't think of a much better way to celebrate it.

 

We give him his birthday card, and he opens it and feigns excitement. Our agenda today takes us to Animal Kingdom for the morning and MK in the evening with a meal at Liberty Tree Tavern and all its characters. We throw on our outfits and head out for the timing test with the busses. On our way we paused for a b-day pic:

 

YEEHAW! The AK bus is there as we are walking up. Everyone's on, and we're off to Animal Kingdom! A few minutes later, we're there...about 45 minutes before the place opens. No problem...we're eating breakfast at the Rainforest Cafe first. Aaron loves animals, and this place quickly became one of his favorites. As I mentioned earlier in a previous day's report, we occasionally use some of our Fairfield timeshare points to stay at the Fairfield Nashville resort, located less than a quarter mile away from the Gaylord Opryland resort (and the Grand Old Opry). There's also an Opry Mills Shopping Center located nearby, and in it is a Rainforest Cafe. The first time we went, Aaron was only 15 months old and fighting a cold, but he was mesmerized by the fish and the animals in there. We went again when Aaron was 2, and he just fell in love with it! We joined the Safari Club (their frequent diner thing) partially because it gave us the equivalent of priority seating at any of their restaurants.

 

It came in handy here! When I made the ADRs, they told me that they couldn't do it for the Rainforest Cafe. When we got there, we saw people checking in for their reservation time.

 

 

Okay...we were told that they didn't take them, and we were the first folks in the place to make sure we got a table using our Club card, and now we find out that we COULD have had reservations??!! Dude, WTH?!!

 

I talk with the receptionist, and she says the Disney dining dingbat had the AK one confused with the DTD one (which doesn't take reservations). I showed her my Safari Club card, and she said I'd be seated with those with reservations. Whew.

 

We started looking around the gift shop (Aaron actually growled back at the leopard in there) when I notice a line of about 75 forming, and I start panicking. If we get seated after them, we may be waiting for quite a while. So I head back up to the podium and am relieved to find out that they are part of a banquet that will not be sitting in the main area.

 

 

8:30 rolls around, and we get in line...we are seated by 8:35.

 

I love the elephants with Santa hats on! We all ordered the Tonga Toast, and, not even knowing that this is not the "real" Tonga Toast, I still loved it. Wow that was an awesome meal! We stay and eat and miss the park opening...oh well, we knew it would be close.

 

The server asks if they can bring out a birthday thing for Aaron. Giving ice cream to a 3 year-old at 9 am? SURE!!!! What could happen?!!

Psychedelic picture courtesy of the night-setting on the camera.

 

We pay for the meal and head out to enter the park. As we get in line for guest services to get Aaron a birthday pin, we notice a talking palm tree (Wes Palm, according to Allears). I had heard about how he works but was nonetheless amazed by it. Sheri and Aaron also loved it. Wes was brutal to a woman standing in one of the lines to get in:

 

Wes: Hey Lady...the one in the purple with the fur coat on. Yeah you! A FUR coat?! Don't you realize this is an ANIMAL park?! GEEZ!!

 

Sheri then realized that the palm tree was actually corresponding with the people. I wish I had the camera to get her expression. All Aaron wanted to do the rest of the day was find the talking palm tree again.

 

We put the pin on Aaron, and immediately the entire park starts telling him "Happy Birthday!!" Wow...they really notice! We make our way to Africa and to Kilimanjaro Safari. As we head that way, good ole Pal Mickey starts vibrating every 20 feet to tell us the entire history of the park. At one point, I actually told Mickey to "shut up" and Aaron told me not to say that because it wasn't very nice. Oooooops! Even though we missed the opening by about 20 minutes, the lines weren't bad at all...less than a 10 minute wait to get in. Now, our driver...if SyracuseWolvrine reads this, I'd like to know if he was driving on December 19th...although I've never met him, I think I may have seen a picture of him that he posted a long time ago, and I had an odd feeling that it may be him driving. I was a bit too chicken to ask, though, because with my luck, it wouldn't be him, and I'd get arrested for a string of stalking charges across WDW. Eric...if you were working on December 19th in the morning at the Safari, we almost said "HI" to you. (Mush's Note: After talking to Eric not long after I initially posted this, we were 95% sure it was him as he was working that morning and was wearing glasses)

 

Anyway, we're off, and I snap another blackmail photo of Aaron:

 

That one may come out around high school prom time.

 

Aaron really liked the safari. Sheri seemed enamoured by both rhinos and the baby elephant (according to the number of pictures taken). We exit Kilimanjaro and run into a fantastic drum group in Harambe:

 

After listening to the drums/whistles for about 10 minutes, we decide to head to Asia when Aaron spots Baloo and some ape. Everyone in line tells me that it's King Louie, and Sheri teases me for not knowing something that a kid knew (I was giving my wife the mental middle finger every time she said that). Right behind us lay several sets of drums. Aaron makes a beeline for them, with me close behind (I've always wanted to be a drummer).

 

 

We get to this big one that Aaron can't reach, so I hoist him up and he hits it, getting a "thud" out of it. I show him that it has to be hit harder, like ...THIS!...

 

OWWW MY HAND DADDY!

 

Uh-oh.

 

Sheri takes the picture right then, and Aaron is just starting to recoil. But man, that drum made a cool sound! Sheri jokingly makes mention that DCFS might find that picture interesting.

 

We consider heading over to Maharaja Jungle Trek but decide after a potty break (dry…yaaaaay) to head over to Camp Minnie-Mickey. We head around Asia, go by the entrance to Dinoland, and get a good view of the Tree of Life. Funny...the first time I was at AK back in '01, I didn't think much of the Tree...now, however, something just made me want to look at it more and more. I'd like to say it was because I am more mature now than I was back in '01, but I don't think I could get anyone to agree with that statement.

 

Anyway, we head towards the Camp and find Lilo and Stitch by the Island Mercantile. But we also see a line of about 40 people. Okay...we know we'll be back this way, so we'll skip them for the time being.

 

We get past Lilo and Stitch and find Chip and Dale! I start explaining the Chuck and Dave thing to Sheri but get a bored look back from her. As we talk to the character escort, she really plays up Aaron's birthday pin and make sure Chip and Dale know it's his birthday. They start dancing around get Aaron giggling:

 

We have a bit of time before the next showing of the Festival of the Lion King, so I steer us to the character greeting trails. No lines? Are there any characters here? YEP!!! We walk in and are third in line for Aaron's first encounter with the big cheese himself. He's quiet around Mickey, but we get the pics.

 

Wow...that was cool...no lines. Let's see who's down this trai...no..NO IT CAN'T BE!!!!!!

 

IT IS!!!!!!
DONALD DUCK!!!!!

 

We're about 4th in line for him. I hoist Aaron up on my shoulders to let Aaron see who it is. "Hey Bud...who is that" I ask.

 

Aaron gets this big grin and shouts "Donald....CHICKEN!!"

 

Donald even paused to look at him on that one.

 

That got a good laugh from the folks in line. "That's not Donald Chicken

" I say (mostly laughing)..."Who is that?"

 

"Yep..Donald Chicken!" Okay, his ice cream breakfast snack must be kicking in, and he knows he's getting a rise out of me, so he keeps it up until he finally agrees that it's Donald Duck. He does the autograph thing and gets a pic taken. I then ask if it's okay if I got a pic with him too:

.

 

Too bad I didn't have time to really talk to him. Although I've finally met him, my life does not yet feel complete, and I have a feeling that this is not our last encounter. (To those who haven't caught on yet, this is known as "foreshadowing")

 

We also see Koda (who signed his name really cool...made the "o" in his name a bear print) and then decide to get in line for Lion King. We waited a few minutes and then head in. We end up sitting in the Lion part, and Aaron roars really well! The show starts, and Aaron is mesmerized by the show. About ten minutes into it, he is no longer mesmerized and falls asleep. I don't know how, but he slept through the rest of the show!!! Oh well...Sheri and I love the show again (this was one of our faves back in '01 back when we were clueless about the parks). We exit and head over to Tusker House to eat. We pass Lilo and Stitch again, but he's asleep, so we decide catch them the next time we pass by.

 

As we head over to Tusker House, we spot Flik and make a mental note to try to see him to when Aaron is conscious. As we get to Tusker House, the drum/whistle band is at it again, and Aaron rouses to listen. We make our way into the restaurant and decide on what everyone wants, and then we split up in our usual way. Aaron's a bit cranky (even though he slept over 40 minutes). We used 3 Counter Service meals on the Dining Plan, and I completely forgot that we all got drinks AND dessert along with the main course.

 

How in the Hell am I going to carry this?!!!! Never fear...a fantastic CM offers to take one of our trays to our table. We're all spread out with three desserts in front of us, so we graze on each others' meals. About half-way through, we have another family with a couple younger girls sit next to us (long table, so we sat next to each other). Aaron was flirting with the younger one, who was showing off by whistling like a bird to him.

 

Completely stuffed, we head out and almost walk into the drum/whistle show (wow they play a lot). We change directions just in the nick of time and head out the door we came in and make our way to Lilo and Stitch. Oh yeah...we almost forget about Flik. There was no line, so we hop right in and get the pic/autograph. Another birthday boy is in line right behind us, and we find out he was also celebrating his 3rd b-day, so Sheri and the other kid's mother share the times they were born and how many pounds they were and what color eyes the OB-GYN had and if they had an epidzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

 

Finally, we're on our way to see Lilo and Stitch...Aaron's awake, and it looks like there's no line. Woohoo

 

Crap...not there. And, of course, Aaron notices..."Where's LiloStitch?" All I could muster between self-berating breaths was that they had to go rest for a few minutes.

 

We head over to Dinoland USA and let him into the Boneyard. This kid played really hard in there! Luckily there were 2 of us keeping track of him because he would run around everywhere and had the pick of 3 slides to go down (all of which ended in a different place). After about 15 minutes of energy-burning, I convince him to take the bridge over to the dig site. He didn't quite know what to think about what was going on, so it took him a few minutes to actually get in the "sand" to start digging. He finally joined in with a couple of other kids. One kid would dig around a bone, and Aaron would try putting the sand back . I head in there to show Aaron what to do when Sheri snaps:

 

 

Great...this pic got shown to all the relatives over Christmas..."Look at Chris digging with the kids"! Grrrrrrrrr. I don't think I've cursed anyone yet on today's trip, so I'll curse my wife for taking this pic.

 

We spend nearly an hour in the Boneyard, yet Aaron still screams when we drag him out of there. It was nearing 1 pm, so we decide to head back to the hotel to rest. Along the way we do one more Lilo check. Nope.

 

Did Aaron notice? Yep!

 

Was he happy? Nope!

 

We leave AK and see the last person getting on the bus to the All Star resorts. I look at Sheri and ask if she wants to run for it. Yep! We sprint to the bus stop, and Aaron is loving it! We get back to the hotel and look at our window.

 

Spikey is battling Mr. Incredible! We weren't thinking or we would have taken a picture of it. Regardless, we all knew that Spikey would have won that battle (he was about 3 times the size of Mr. Incredible, and we all thought the movie sucked, anyway).

 

We go through what is becoming a routine of not sleeping during nap time. I guess we all did get about 45 minutes before waking up. But those 45 minutes came after an hour of fighting with him to fall asleep.

 

Our next item on the agenda consists of our first experience with a character meal. We have 6:05 ressies at Liberty Tree Tavern. We decide to head to the busses at 5:00 and maybe tour around Main Street U.S.A a bit. We get to the bus stop and eat the exhaust of a departing bus to Magic Kingdom. No problem...we've got an hour.

 

We wait.

 

And we wait.

 

17 minutes later, my Great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather drives a bus displaying MK on its sign, but he starts to pull into another space. He then takes 6 minutes to put a wheelchair passenger on and starts talking to them. The wheels on the bus finally start going rounnndd aaannnd rouunnnnnddzzzzzzzz.

 

We (finally) get to MK at 5:53...we have twelve minutes to get from the bus terminal, through the bag check, through the finger squeeze, through Main Street, over to Liberty Square, and to the Liberty Tree Tavern. We do a jog with the stroller and make it on to Main Street. Look...it's Goofy and MAXIE!!!!!

 

No time...wave to them...we gotta go! I actually start thinking of Commando Nikki (Robin's daughter…check out her 2003 trip report)and the airhorn and secretly wish she were here to help us out to clear a path.

 

You know, it's impressive how the writings of one unassuming woman can creep into so many other peoples' thoughts. LY/MI Robin!

 

No time...we're still flying through Main Street and try to make our way to the left hand side of the road near Casey's Corner because Cinderellabration just finished and about 3,000 folks are trying to make their way out of the park. I've never used the stroller as a weapon, but I nearly consider it. Aaron is just going along for the ride of his life.

 

We make it to LTT, park Aaron outside, take the stroller in and make it sit down and behave, and check in....6:04!!!! We had about 25 seconds to spare! Aaron is pinging off the walls, and one of the male CMs there gives him a sticker. He plays with it for a second until he sees the characters and goes from pinging to Tasmanian-Devil-in-tornado mode. We get to our table (sprinkled in pixie dust), and within a couple of minutes, Dale stops by. I love the look on Aaron's face on this one.

 

 

Goofy comes by and plays with him for a few minutes. The food comes out, and it's awesome, as expected. Then Pluto came by and slurped my wife and kid. While we were waiting for the cake that we ordered, I snapped this one of Sheri and Aaron:

 

Chip comes by, and Dale passes by again, this time playing peek-a-boo with Aaron:

 

 

I think they're buds, now.

 

The cake comes...

...and Aaron tries to eat it without a fork.

 

We are only able to eat about 1/4 of the cake, so we look around and find a family of 4 that had just finished their meal. I go to them and tell them about our situation. The kids give their parents doe eyes, and they accept our cake. I leave them my request that they "pay it forward" and give the extra to the next table and so on. They seem almost in shock and tickled that we just gave them our cake with no strings.

 

Out to the park we go! We basically have a free evening because we saw most everything already! We head to Pirates of the Caribbean, and I'm a little concerned about Aaron being scared. No worries...he absolutely loves it! Pal Mickey talks as we depart the ride and enter the gift shop, and he freaks me out! I have a basic idea of how he works, and I wasn't expecting him to talk when surrounded by 4 walls and a ceiling. He's lucky I haven't drowned him yet with all his talking. As if on cue, he giggles as we leave the gift shop and tells what has to be one of the worst jokes in recorded history...something about what white fluffy dessert flies around in the jungle on vines (a: a meringutang) BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

 

Wishes is starting soon, so we start heading back towards Main Street. Spectromagic was still going, so we had a little time. We notice that Aladdin's Carpets have no line so we walk on. Aaron again loves it (Daddy let him keep the carpet up as high as he wanted...not like the evil Mommy). As we get off, Aaron looks directly over to where Aladdin and Jasmine where and asks where they were.

 

 

 

Damn, kid, you've got a steel trap for a mind!

 

We get to Main Street (not the bridge like last time...my arm's getting sore from the barrage of punches I'm getting from my wife) and set up camp on on Main Street right by the hub (not too far from the Crystal Palace). We still had about 25 minutes before Wishes so we sit back and people-watch a bit. I am surprised at the exodus of people who aren't staying for Wishes, but that means a quieter park afterwards!!! we strike up a conversation with a few of the folks around us (one family was from Puerto Rico and freezing their asses off...another from Peoria, IL...close to home).

 

Then Wishes starts. WOW!!! It's amazing how different a fireworks show can be when you can actually see the fireworks. We all were mesmerized by it and can't wait to see it again! After Wishes, everyone heads for the exits. We look at Aaron, and he's rearing to go, so we start our way over to Fantasyland.

 

We can't get in. I guess it makes sense with all the pyrotechnics going off overhead that they probably want to clean it up, hose it down, and make sure everything's okay. I mess around with the CM holding the rope for a while until she gets sick of me and lets us (and everyone else) in. We know Aaron loved Philharmagic, so we decide to let him see it again on his birthday. While waiting we talk to a family...they live in Galesburg, and the Dad works as an engineer. Among my many obsessions is trains, so we talk a little about that. We go in and see Philharmagic again...still magical, but now we are expecting a couple of the surprises. We did see some items that we didn't catch last time. It's still up there as one of our faves.

 

It's now about 15 minutes before the park closes, so we decide to start heading out to hopefully avoid some of the insanity. There's another Spectromagic starting at park closing, so I heed the advice of the Unofficial Guide and make our way to the left side of Main Street. Along the way, Sheri lets out a "CUT IT OUT!" I wonder what I did (I was just walking...honest...I wasn't checking any girls out, singing at the table, or anything this time). I look at her with this look, and she tells me that it's not me (whew). She just got rammed for the third time from behind with a stroller, and the woman piloting the stroller gave a "Come On" on the third ram.

 

Oh no you didn!!! I turn around, and the expression on my face must have put the fear of God into her because she got very apologetic very fast and told me it was an accident. Sheri lets out a under her breath, and as she passed us, I could definitely see that there were no accidents to the ramming.

 

While on line for the bus, we talk to a really nice family from Mexico who was also staying at Movies. We get home and put Aaron to bed (he crashed on the bus). Sheri and I get to thinking...we're not working and we have guaranteed transportation to/from wherever we want here, yet we still have barely had a drink. I ask Sheri what she wants and head to the food court. I get a Mich Ultra for me and a Smirnoff Ice for Sheri. I get to the cashier, and he asks if there is another adult with me.

 

Really??? I need another adult?! Wow...didn't expect that. He even said he couldn't help out because his manager was sitting right behind him.

 

Hmmm...what to do. I briefly contemplated just putting Sheri's drink back and sticking with mine, but the repercussions of that action just would not be good at all for me. So I put Sheri's bottle of Smirnoff in my front pants pocket and walk up to the pool bar. I purchase my beer and head back to the room with the smuggled drink. We always have a tradition to toast and clink glasses whenever we have a drink. As I get ready to hit her Smirnoff with my Ultra, I look at her and ask her if she thought Aaron had a good birthday. We both look at Aaron, who's sleeping peacefully and smile.

 

THUNK

 

I couldn't stop laughing from the "clinking" of our plastic bottles together.

 

We both hop in bed, and, as I drift off, I realize that the vacation is more than half-over already :-( . Ahh the joys of being a pessimist.