Tink *~*~*
Cast Member
Posts: 1066
Registered: Aug 2002
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Posted 08-30-02 10:10 PM
Cast of characters: Erin, closing in on middle age, stressed out Wall Street type from Long Island
Saturday 03/16/2002
Housekeeping pounds on the door at 9:00 am. I ignore them and stumble to the coffee pot.
My first mission was to swap out my credit card. My first two nights here were on me. The remainder of my stay is on "GigaFirm", the company for which I toil. I went to the fron desk and must have gotten the most lifeless, listless Cast Member in known history. This person was totally devoid of personality, and she was slow. She didn't understand the concept of swapping out the
credit cards. I would think this happens at conventions all the time. I walked her through it, and then asked her to check my room key to make sure that my Park Hopper got transferred to it during the room key debacle the night before. It had.
Finally, I asked to speak to the head of hotel security. She gave me a blank stare. I repeated my request and she started flipping through a book of phone numbers. She must have gone through each page three times, before I told her just to send the hotel manager over. She locked her computer keyboard with an annoyed little flip, proving that
there was actually some emotion hiding under there, albeit negative. Finally, she came back with a manager. I explained the circumstances under which I had checked in (if you recall, in my first episode, I actually opened "my" room to find that someone else was already checked in there), and then I explained about the night before, how no one had asked me for ID and just gave me a new key to the room. He winced when I told him that. I very nicely read him the riot act. I told him I didn't feel safe in his hotel, and that I didn't feel that my stuff was safe back in the room. Moreover, he was about to host a conference for *security* professionals, and it was at the very least, completely bad show. He was abjectly appologetic, and declared his intention to find the person who gave me the key without IDing me, and also that he was going to hold a meeting with all the security people immediately.
I had breakfast at the lake again, and then boarded the first bus to come along which was Epcot. I figured to take the monorail and then the boat to Magic Kingdom. Yeah, I know, Magic Kingdom on a Saturday - I must be crazy. However, it is much easier to go it alone than to drag
kids and strollers, and I have these two Tink watches that need batteries. One of them is not easy to open, and the jewler I took it to finally gave up. The other he refused to open because it is numbered on the back and he was afraid of ruining something valuable. (shrug), I wear the damed thing all the time, I don't care if it is numbered. So I intended to go to the timepiece place at MK. I had wanted to make it a day at MK when I did things I hadn't done much or at all before. It is a bit hard when you are down here on business and your time is so limited. I've been to the World five times now, and by no means am I an
expert. After all the reading and research I've been doing about Disney for school, I realized that there are lots of things in each of the parks that I've never done before. So I wanted to take the boat over instead of the monorail, because I only have a vague memory of having done that in 1985. However, the announced wait for the next boat was 20
minutes, and there was quite a crowd so I thought it possible that I would not get on the very next boat. Off to the monorail we go.
There was food garbage on the monorail platform. The CM kicked it aside. She had Hunchback on her ID pin as her Magic Moment, and when I asked, she said it was because her boyfriend used to perform in that show.
When I got to the watch shop on Main Street, they said that they do not do batteries, but that I should take the watches to Sears when I get home. Huh, never heard of this, but whatever. I browsed the shop a bit and exited in that little side street where the "piano lessons" happen.
I had never heard this before, and sat down to listen. While sitting there, I enjoyed reading all the signs on the windows overhead. Music lessons, dance lessons, various offices with people's names on the windows. That is one of the little details I've missed on past trips.
Cruising down Main Street, I normally go right into Tomorrowland, but this time I decided to go left. My next never-before experience was Swiss Family Tree House. On the way up the first few steps, I noticed that the fence was broken. There are all those fence parts that look
like the spokes on a ship's wheel, and one was busted in two, just hanging there with jagged edges. I'm thinking "splinters". There was a McDonald's fries box blazing red among the "vinyl leaves" greenery, with
a few fries strewn on the stairs. I also noticed that there is a lot of coinage down there in the water, and it made me wonder. Disney must eventually scoop out all that money periodically. Multiply that by all the fountains in the parks and hotels, and I am wondering what they do
with the money, how much of it there is each year, etc. Ironically, people have paid a pretty penny to come into the place where wishes come true, and they insist upon throwing more money to make more wishes! Another thing I noticed about the tree house is that there are some
pieces of furniture and props that look like genuine antiques, and other pieces that definitely look newer and fabricated. Finally, can anyone tell me why the sign says there are three people who sleep in the Crow's Nest (Franz, Somebody, and Somebody Else) but there are only two hammocks? Things that make you go "hmmmm...."
Next, Alladin. I had to pass the dole whip place, and made a mental note to circle back. I could not wait to experience the spitting camel. He doesn't spit very far or forcefully, and I was disappointed not to get wetter, as it was quite hot. Those little umbrellas they provide at the queue don't do much, do they? But I enjoyed making the
carpet go up and down, and finally settled on "up" until the ride stopped. There was one family on line in front of me with three kids; the youngest looked like she'd just started to walk. They were all cranky and tired. They had a Fast Pass to Space Mountain in about an hour, but they were discussing the possibility of leaving to go take a
nap because the little one was just so cranky. I told them about the little movie theater in the Exhibition Hall - air conditioning, and a carpet to flop down upon for a while. They headed right over there after the Alladin ride, and thanked me for telling them about it. That is my own personal crash pad in the MK, although it is a bit noisy these days with those 100 Years kiosks. But sitll a decent place to cool off and take a break.
Following Aladin, I took the jungle cruise for the first time since 1985. I have to object to the spiel. When you are standing in the queue, you can hear the start of the spiel over and over again, and by time you get into the boat, it just isn't funny any more. I have read that the captains have gotten in trouble in the past for diverging from the script, but I think that they should be allowed to alter it, else the script writers should give them several alternate spiels. There was some bad show in the form of watering hoses in plain view snaking their way around the vegetation. Also, is there anyone else who is disappointed that the elephants *don't* spit at the boats? On such a
hot day, it is kind of a tease. Water, water everywhere...
Ah, time for the Dole Whip, and I am in heaven! Never knew something so good existed in this universe. I had the vanilla and pineapple twist. I took the opportunity to make some notes of my observations on the unprinted side of the 100 Years brown paper napkins that are all over the resort. I must have ten full napkins so far. They are easier to transport than a notebook - just stuff them in your pocket and you're in business. There was a family of duckies, momma plus three babies, running around the little adjacent patio looking for something to eat. I must say that all the little duckies running around the World are a
big draw with the kids. And it makes me think about the differences between Florida and New York. I live on the edge of some wetlands on Long Island, and I won't be expecting to see baby duckies up there until June/July timeframe.
Time to break my rule about doing unfamiliar things. I headed for Splash Mountain. I decided to forego the Fast Pass, since the return time was longer than the 60 minute queue. I was disappointed that there was no single rider line for this ride. I struck up a conversation with
a fellow named Pete from the UK and his lovely daughter, who looked to be about 10ish, and the time passed quickly. As we were going around the outside in the initial stages of the ride, we could see the snow globe parade starting. Soon, however, we were soaked and sitting in puddles. We must have hit everything just right, because I got it every
time. Yippee! Splash is such a satisfying ride, because it seems so long. You still have a couple of tableaus after the last plunge, and that's kind of neat.
After Splash, I headed toward the Castle. I had to pick up a red dragon in the crystal shop. A small boy I know moved to a new house over the summer, and his red dragon was mysteriously lost in the shuffle. His mother unpacked all the china into the china cabinet in the new home, and the red dragon wasn't there any more. No one knows what happened to it. Fortunately, the Castle had one, and I had it sent on to the hotel. Then I intended to get on Snow White, because that's another thing I've never done before, but the line was plain ridiculous. I hit the ladies room near the Fairytale Garden, and my 100 Years pin started wigging out. I don't understand why the pin would
start blinking away in the ladies room! Help me out here - how do these things work, exactly?
I headed over to Tomorrowland, on the off chance that the Carousel of Progress might be open, but it wasn't. But my pin was blinking away the whole time as I walked. I wandered back down Main Street, and stopped at Casey's for a
hot dog and fries. Then I went browsing the pins in the Town Square. My mission for friends was Scrooge McDuck and the Bear in the Big Blue House, but no luck. I purchased a bag of the rubber backs for my own pin. The metal ones that come with the pins are always coming off, and
I'm contstantly fishing them out of my bra and getting stabbed. The rubber ones are really much better little grippers. The whole time since the ladies room, I was experiencing Multiple Magical Moments and people were looking and commenting on it. I really think Disney missed
the mark by pricing these blinking pins at $15; there aren't too many people in the parks who have them, that I have seen.
One more thing to comment on about MK - somewhere in Adventureland, I heard "The March of the Siamese Children" from The King and I, and while sitting in Casey's I heard "Surrey With the Fringe On Top" and "Kansas
City" from OKLAHOMA! I was wondering - are the Rogers and Hammerstein show tunes in the public domain now, or does Disney have to license them to play them at the MK? Or maybe Disney bought them! heh heh heh
By this time, it was around 5:00 PM, and I boarded a bus toward Downtown Disney for some serious shop-till-you-drop at World of Disney. I have four nieces, and I always bring them some little trinket from these excursions to the World. Plus, one of them has a birthday coming up in a few days, which requires an extra present, and my assistant at the office has been breaking her butt for me on a certain project, so she needed a present too. Finally, I also had to buy stuff for me, me, me! After all, WDW is the Land of Rampant Consumerism, so why not consume? I had the bulk of it sent to the hotel, and then ducked into the gourmet
shop for a carrot cake cookie and a bottle of wine to bring back to the room. Also, purple M&Ms for my friend and massage therapist, who got a kick out of them last year. Mother of the dragonless boy. I got the bus back to the Coronado Springs, and pulled out my bills to do a little
banking.
Tomorrow (Sunday the 16th of March) my classes start, so I don't know that there will be much of a report. Depends on what I feel like doing after class. Do I really want to blow another day of my 5 day Park Hopper on those scarce hours after 5PM? I've been away from the office for two days, and one's punishment for that is massive email, so I might try to get some of that done tomorrow night.
Ciao for now,
Tink *~*~*
Tink *~*~*
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