Abra Cat
Cast Member
Posts: 159
Registered: Sep 2002
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Posted 09-27-02 11:24 AM
September 13-21, 2002
Cast of Characters:
Kristi, 29, mom/trip planner/birthday girl; too many trips to count
Ken, 30, dad/computer geek/cute guy; too many trips to count
Grace, 5, new kindergartener/Cinderella fan; 2nd trip
Charlie, 2 ½, terrible two-year-old/Momma’s boy; 2nd trip
OUR TRIP TO WALT DISNEY WORLD (aka— NEVER, EVER AGAIN)…
Never, ever again! That is, “never, ever again” will we go to Florida in any month other than December or January. Was it hot? YES, it was hot! I grew up in Florida, I lived there until I was 25, but I must be spoiled now for the mountain air because I was absolutely miserable. We all were. But we had some fun, too.
Day 5 (Epcot)-
My 30th birthday! Breakfast in our room (cheese Danish, Entenmann’s donuts, chocolate soy milk for the kids, and soy latte for Ken and me), and we got to Epcot right before opening. Being good followers of the Unofficial Guide, when it opened we headed for Test Track. We were going to do the baby swap, so Ken headed into the ride while I went around to the swap area with the kids. After about 15 minutes with no one coming out of the ride, Ken suddenly came up from a different direction. Apparently, they announced that the ride was having problems and it might be a half hour or more before they got it going again, so Ken got off line. Immediately after he left the line, they got the ride moving again. Oh, well. I still had the baby swap pass, so I left the kids with him and went in the back way and got on the ride within 3 minutes. It was my first time on Test Track, and it was pretty neat, although right before we were supposed to bust through the “barrier,” the ride stopped. Suddenly, after sitting in the dark for 5 minutes, we found ourselves out in the sunlight, racing around the building. That part was fun, but probably would have had a better buildup if the ride had been constant, rather than stopping right before the big finish. According to the speed measurer thingy, we got up to 64.8 MPH— I don’t know if that’s the typical speed. Anyway, after I got off the ride, I went looking for Ken and the kids, and apparently walked right past them. Looked all through the gift shop, etc, and I even walked outside to look for them there. I finally went back to the wait area to retrace my steps, and of course they were waiting right there. In my defense, I wasn’t wearing my glasses! Next, we were planning to go to Body Wars, but at the last minute we decided it was too intense for Grace, plus Charlie’s too little for it, so rather than stretch their patience any further, we decided to head for Spaceship Earth, which we all enjoyed. After that, Food Rocks, Journey Into Your Imagination (and completely forgot Honey, I Shrunk the Audience, so we missed it), and The Living Seas (love the manatees!). After that, back to The Land for lunch at Sunshine Season Food Fair. Ken had a burger, the kids had (say it with me!) chicken strips and fries, and I had a chicken Caesar salad. It was all pretty good, and the prices weren’t too bad. After lunch, we hit Ice Station Cool (yummy watermelon drink— hated that Italian soda-medicine), and then the Universe of Energy. Charlie loved the dinosaurs, but then fell asleep on my lap, so we headed back to the hotel for nappy time. Wouldn’t you know it— he woke up refreshed and happy as soon as I laid him on the bed! We hung out in our room for a while, cooling off and reading, and then we slathered on more sunblock and headed back to see the World Showcase. We skipped Canada, because we could see no way to get the stroller up there, so we went on to the UK, where I bought some loose tea for myself, Hobnob cookies for my best friend, and some tea for Ken to take back to one of his coworkers. We checked out the shops in France for a duplicate of the tiny plaster frog Ken bought me there on our first date 12 years ago, but we had no luck. I was tempted by the humongous bottle of Shalimar in the window of the perfume shop, but alas, I have plenty at home. We saw Belle and the Beast in the courtyard, and I took lots of pictures of Grace with them. They were both very sweet to her. After that we were getting a bit hungry, so we shared some chocolate mousse, which was very yummy. I think it was after this that we saw the statue woman on display. Ken pushed the stroller up close so the kids could see her, and she bent down and stole Charlie’s sandal right off his foot! He didn’t get mad or anything— I think he was in awe. She stood there with it for several minutes, and when Ken asked her for the sandal back, she made him kiss her cheek! We all laughed at that, and I got several pictures. Onward to Morocco, where we ate dinner at the Tangierine Café. I had a Mediterranean chicken wrap with couscous and lentils, Ken had the same thing but with seafood instead of chicken, and the kids shared pizza and fries. It was all good, although Ken’s seafood wrap smelled and tasted like tuna. As we were walking out a breeze had picked up and it was starting to drizzle. We looked around in the shops, and visited Aladdin, and I got some nice pictures of the kids with him. As we walked towards Japan, it was starting to rain a little harder, so we ducked into the department store, where Grace used her very own money to buy a Hello Kitty umbrella (which I saw at Target a couple days later for half the price!), and I bought a paper fan with my name written on it in Japanese (which later ran when rain seeped into the bag). By this point, the rain was coming down hard, but we figured what the hell, and kept on walking through it. We skipped the American Adventure, figuring we experience that every day, and looked briefly around Italy. At Germany, I looked unsuccessfully for lederhosen for my best friend, and bought some chocolate covered M&M encrusted pretzels for when we got back to the hotel. Then on to China, where I saw many things I liked, but was feeling too wet and defeated to actually buy. Next was Mexico (see China, above). It was still raining like crazy, with no signs of letting up, so we headed for the exit, all of us thoroughly drenched. And yes, I know they sell rain ponchos there for just that reason, but I really didn’t want to be encased in sweaty plastic. Even with the rain, it was fun. And the crowds were practically non-existent, especially once the rain started. Anyway, we got back to the hotel room, and I immediately started stripping Charlie and sticking him under the blanket, since he’d suddenly started shivering, and being busy with that, I didn’t notice the birthday cake and plates sitting on the table. When I finally noticed them, Ken and Grace sang happy birthday to me. It turns out Ken had arranged with the front desk for them to bring the cake for me when we were in the room in the afternoon, but they were too late. On the way to the car when we were heading back to Epcot, he stopped by the front desk to ask about it, and they made sure it was there when we got back. And they didn’t even charge us for it! The rest of the evening was spent eating birthday cake and the chocolate pretzels from Germany. All and all, a nice birthday/Disney day.
Coming soon...
Day 6: The Reckoning
"A crib is a bed with bars on the side of it. It's kind of like a cage at the zoo. Except with a crib, you can put your hand through the bars. And the baby won't pull you in and kill you."- Junie B. Jones
"There's more than one way to skin a cat. And I happen to know that factually that's true."- Sunnydale Mayor Richard Wilkins, III
"Conventionality is not morality. Self-righteousness is not religion. To attack the first is not to assail the last."- Charlotte Bronte, 1847
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