WDW Family Trip, December 2007, Day 2, Part 4: Hello??? It's Incredible!!!

Part III of Day 2 can be viewed HERE.

We head out of pirates and start making our way back through Adventureland. A Dole Whip sounded good, but the line was rather deep there. As we walk, I call Mo (7:22 pm) to see if they wanted to meet up for the 8:00 Spectro. No answer. We often avoid Main Street for parades as it’s mass insanity. We decide to try a new spot not too far from the bridge connecting Liberty Square and the hub and found our new parade spot! I then call Mel (7:35) and got her voice mail.

While we were waiting, Sheri decides to look at a cart with Christmas ornaments on it. She’s about 50 feet away and is trying to get my attention. Mind you, I’m 50 feet or so away, and there’s a lot of foot traffic going between us. After the 4th failed attempt, I finally shout “I CAN’T HEAR YOU!” Like in the subway scene from Crocodile Dundee, someone in the middle of the crowd relays her message to me: “WHICH ONE DO YOU LIKE?!”

I peer at her for a second…”THE ONE ON THE LEFT!” (relayed)

“I THINK I’LL GET BOTH!” (relayed back to me with laughter)

Spectro starts, and we notice that some of the larger floats are having some trouble making it over the humped bridge between the hub and Liberty Square (remember, this report is from 2007, before they fixed the bridge). Every time a float gets stuck, someone gets on the radio, and, within 20 seconds, a tug materializes to hook up and help it over. After the third float got stuck, we started cheering for the tug driver. By the fifth float, he was getting more applause than the end of Wishes.

The boys really like the parade. This, surprisingly, is the only parade we’ve seen here, mainly because most of the parades are in the afternoon when we’re back at the resort resting.

Spectro ends, and we debate what to do about Wishes (remember that Eric ain’t too fond of things that go boom). We decide to stay put…it won’t be a direct view of the fireworks and the castle, but the crowds aren’t as crazy.

A good spot for Spectro does not necessarily translate to a good spot for Wishes. The music isn’t piped in over there, and they fire off some of the shells less than 100 feet from where we were.

Not good for Eric.

He didn’t even look up to see Tink flying.

After TraumaWishes, we head into Liberty Square while the crowds exit en-masse. Aaron wants to do the Haunted Mansion, but we convince him to wait until later. We get a couple things to drink and then slowly start to make our way towards Main Street with the cattle herd. I knew the second run of Spectro was likely going to start soon, so we (SLOWLY) start making our way to the left (Thanks to advice from The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World). Enroute, Aaron crashes. Eric, however, gets his second wind. We get to the Confectionary and look around. Sheri gets in line to buy a couple of things for the boys, and I decide to check the time on my phone.

I just missed call from Debbie. They were about to enter the park, and we’re right at the entrance…

…and I have no way to get a hold of her!

As we exit, I’m scanning the crowds entering just in case, but we didn’t see them.

I figured I’d try Mare since she’d have Debbie’s number. I pull up her stored number and call it…bad number.

Bad numbers for both Mare and DD. OH COME ON!!!!!

I go through my log of missed calls and find a number that looked foreign. I call it and get Mare’s voice mail.

Whew...back in business! I left a message apologizing for not being able to meet back up.

Now for the fun part…putting a sleeping kid into a stroller is one thing, but trying to pull him out, hold him, collapse a stroller, and carry them both onto a bus just ain’t gonna be fun. After a mighty struggle, we get on the bus, standing up. Eric, of course, wants to be held. Mommy (standing up, still) starts to hold him, when the most awesome family on the bus (sitting next to us) offers to hold Eric. We thanked them but told them that Eric tends to be shy to strangers. Of course we said that right as Eric crawled right up in her lap.

The little brat! He had mischief in his eyes as he did it, too.

Another family lets Sheri sit down, and I pass Aaron off to her in exchange for the second stroller. A few minutes later, Eric decides to join the dog-pile on Mommy and hops on top of both of them before heading back to his new family. One of the girls in the family takes one of the strollers I’m holding. Let’s see here…Sheri is wrestling with 2 kids, with a family helping out. Another family is holding a stroller. I’m just standing on the bus holding one stroller. I call Sheri a show-off and pretend to just stretch and act like I’m enjoying my time off from parenting.

On the ride, Eric the Possessed pulls out the lighty thing from Todd and Mo and starts putting it right in Aaron’s face (not touching it, but as close as you can). Aaron’s sleeping through the whole thing, which makes it all the more funny. That got several folks on the bus chuckling.

We arrive at the Pop and threaten to run off the bus as fast as possible so Eric can stay with his new family, but eventually get the families rearranged to the proper order. After much thanks and promises of Christmas cards, the families depart, and we start looking around the gift shop at the Pop. I look at the time and see that Mare called again (10:23) and left a voice message.

My phone had NEVER gotten a workout like this. The Moose Meet in October was close (calls between Dan, Mare, Ed, Jennifer, Debbie, etc, etc, etc, but this one was busier.

We head back to our dog-butt view room and start getting the kids ready for bed. I decide to take the mug we brought from home and get some Diet Coke. Yes, Disney, I’ll admit that I broke your rules this time…the first time ever! I brought the mug that we bought back in May to use for this trip! Yes, it was purchased at the Pop, but it was from a different trip a few months ago! Have mercy on me, oh Walt!

He didn’t.

I get to the filling station and try to take the top off of the mug. I pull and pull…

…and pull the handle right off of the mug.

Maybe I am Mr. Incredible!

I fill the mug and scoot out as fast as I can before Walt’s stormtroopers tackle me. The FIRST TIME I bend the rules a bit, and look at what happens!

I get back to the room and show Sheri. She said that they probably would have exchanged it for a new one. My contention was that the handles probably are meant to do that when they are washed in a dishwasher, thereby indicating that the mug has been off-property and therefore is no longer able to be used for any further trips and that if I tried to exchange it again then they would probably kick us out and put us on a list to never stay on site again and....

...about this time, Sheri just shook her head and contemplated calling Debbie for a drink.

We get to bed and watch a little Saturday Night Live before falling asleep. Justin Timberlake was the host, and he had a hilarious skit about being the mascot for a soup kitchen.

ZZZZZZZZZ. Tomorrow is a birthday that I want to kind of keep low-key.

Day Three starts HERE.