T Minus 11 Days

...and counting!

Yes, guys and gals, its time once again for a vacation to Disney World! In the words of the Kool-Aid guy, "OH YEAH!"

I bet you're asking yourself "Who? What? When? Where? Why?" and I'm so glad you asked!

Who:
Beth - Disney nerd extraordinaire. Girlfriend of Mark. Short, terrible typist and pretty damn funny. I'm sure you know me.
Mark - Disney nerd extraordinaire... X's 2. Boyfriend of Beth. Tall, computer wiz and possibly funnier than even me. Plus he's a Disneyland CM so thanks to him we got some awesome deals on our vacation.
With guest appearances by... Dad (That would be my pop) and Debbie (That would be my pop's wife) for a few days.

What:
A much, MUCH needed vacation.

When:
We will leave out house on May 3rd and arrive on Orlando on May 4th. We leave in just 11 freakin' days!

Where:
Were you not paying attention? Walt Disney World, people! More specifically... All-Star Sports. Sure its not anywhere near my "Top Ten Places I Must Stay Before I Die" but it was cheap and available. Besides... as long as I'm with my Marffy (and its clean and safe) who cares! We paid a little bit more to stay in the "Surf Rooms" so that is pretty cool. I'm actually really looking forward to it.

Why:
Life's hectic, work sucks and Mark and I rarely get time off together. We miss each other and this vacation is going to be the perfect chance to have some fun...TOGETHER! And what better place than Disney World? Disney is how we met and we both enjoy it so much.

We've bought batteries, swim suits (or board shorts as the case may be), booked hotels and flights, bought shorts and sunblock... all that's left is to pack. And all that's left for you to do is sit back and await our return. And once that happens... let the trip reporting begin!

If you get bored waiting for us feel free to read last years trip report: WDW Jubilee

And I thought I'd leave you with this since we're flying on Delta... it seemes appropriate. Plus it was just so damn cheesy... I loved it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLyR4Gj4KKw


See you real soon!

Nine Days 'o Dancing

So it's only 9 days, and 11 hours (as I write this) until we depart the airport for Orlando, FL! At this point we have all of the things purchased (I think... I'll have to check my TadaList ...) and everything is now falling into place as the day slowly inches forward.

As Beth mentioned in the last post, I'm Mark. I'll occasionally post on this blog, but for the most part this is Beth's baby, mainly because I get terrible's writers block. So that's why this post is about to end awkwardly...

Just like that ^


Ok.

May 3rd and 4th DAY 1: The Journey Begins

Finally the day had arrived! The day we were leaving for our vacation! Ok so technically our flight didn't leave until May 4th at 1255am but since we had to LEAVE our home on May 3rd to get to the flight on time... that became our "Departure Day".

I worked a half day. Or at least I was scheduled to work a half day... but do you ever really WORK the day you leave for your vacation? I think not. Mark (the Lucky Duck!) got out of work that day at the last minute. Let me tell you... having to get up at 430am to go to work and then sitting there all day knowing your boyfriend is off while the minutes tick by ever so slowly to get to 11am so you can leave for the day... well its just plain torture. But finally 11am did come (though I was convinced it never would) and I headed home and didn't hit a single spot of traffic. Score!

I went home and took airborn as somehow in the two days prior to leaving I got a cold. And a pretty nasty one at that. We cleaned the house before we left to make sure we'd come home to a nice cozy place. Nothing ruins that "Fresh Vacation" feeling faster than coming home to a dirty house. Unless its work. After cleaning the cold took its toll on me and I crashed for a few hours. When I woke up we visited with Mable, The Wonder Kitty. I was nervous about leaving her for so long even though Mark's family would be watching her. But thanks to some helpful folks at Laughingplace.com I did feel a bit better about it.

Since we had cleaned out the 'fridge earlier in the day (no one wants to come home to sour milk and mystery meat when they get back from vacation) we decided to get fast food. We opted for In n Out. Yum! We took the food back home, ate and watched the Office. Soon I just couldn't breathe anymore. I was too congested so Mark took me to the store and we got some nasal spray. I was a little afraid to use it because it was a gel and that just sounds painful, squirting a gel up your nose... on purpose! But I did it and I was breathing easy in minutes!

Paul (that would be Mark's dad) called us around 10pm and said he was almost here. We said our goodbyes to Mable and gave her lots of kisses before we headed out. The trip to the airport was uneventful. When we got to the ticket counter to check in the ticket agent told us our flight was delayed... for 2 hours. We were going to miss our connection in Houston. They told us they'd have our new flight arrangements when we arrived. So we ended up waiting about 4 hours at the Ontario, CA airport. Finally our plane arrives and I swear the people getting off the flight tried to be as slow as possible. You'd think that they'd just want to get off the flight since they were getting in about 2am but I guess not. Fiiiiiiinally we were able to board and we were on our way!

Waiting (and freezing) in the Ontario airport for our delayed flight



We arrived in Houston about 2 hours late and with our connecting flight already gone. Poop. So, after singing "The Stars at Night" in Texas like I always wanted to do, we stood in a line as long as the Nile and waited our turn to be rebooked. When we got our new flight information we noticed a problem. Mark was on a 915am flight and I was on a 1030am flight. What?!? Noooo! So we tell them the problem and there is nothing they can do other than put me on standby for Mark's flight. We rush over to where Mark's new flight was departing and Mark bought me tissue as I had the sniffly nose from hell and I think I was driving him nuts.

They started boarding his flight and finally he couldn't wait any longer and had to board. We made plans on where to meet up if I didn't make it on the flight. The ticket counter agent had said it didn't look good. So I stood off to the side and they started to call stand-by's up one at a time. I waited and waited and waited. Finally I heard my name. YES!!!! They told me and another fella to follow them down to the plane. When we got to the door we were told to wait. And we waited and waited... come to find out there was only ONE seat left on the flight. Now I was worried that I'd miss my confirmed flight since they had me wait so long. But eventually they told the other guy to scram. I WIN!!! So I get on the flight and I fumble around for my phone, while trying to manhandle my luggage because I didn't know where Mark was on the flight and I wanted to text him to let him know I made it. I reach the seat the flight attendant directed me too and who should be in the seat next to me... My Marky! Hooray! During drink service the flight attendant asked if we knew each other before the flight. LOL! I guess that would be a little strange to see two people you assume are strangers getting cozy before the flights even over.

Soon the flight was starting its decent (thank goodness because my ears were killing me. Congestion and crazy cabin pressure don't mix, kids)and soon we were landing is sunny, humid Florida. YEAH! A quick stop at the potty and we were on our way to Disney's Magical Express. Checkin was a breeze and we were on our way in no time.

On the DME bus. Hurry up! I want to go to WDW!!


We had a much nicer CM (Stands for Cast Member if you're new here) checking us in this time. Our room was ready for us and we were in room 1126 (I think). It was pretty nice and I was pleased as I was worried about staying in the All-Star Sports (Thats ASS if you're playing at home. LOL!) But the room was quiet, away from the pool and facing lots of lush foliage.

We unpacked and tried to decide what to do. Our plan had been to go to the Magic Kingdom today for a while and meet up with someone Mark works with before going to our dinner reservations. And then the next day we were going to Typhoon Lagoon. But with the delay in our flights we didn't feel it was worth it to rush to the park for 2 hours before dinner. So we decided to just relax and skip the water park the next day and to MK then. We let Mark's friend know we wouldn't be able to meet up and then decided to take pictures of the resort. We were outside for all of about 4 minutes when we realized we made a fatal error in not changing out of our jeans first. LOL! What were we thinking. Back to the room for a quick change-a-roo and we were ready to explore. We definitely liked our area (The Surf area) the best. It looked to be the most up-kept.

Hooray! The maid left us a hidden Mickey!

In the room, finally!

2 minutes later we realized how stupid we were for walking around in 90-degree-humid-like-a-gator's-arm-pit weather when we could be in shorts.

Mark is like Donald Duck. He gets angry over silly things but he gets over it fast and he's super cute and lovable. Here is is with his doppleganger doing his Donald impression. LOL!



After we explored we caught the bus to Disney's Animal Kingdom (DAK) and then another bus to Animal Kingdom Lodge. I saw those Croc shoes everywhere. I told Mark how I keep hearing there're soooooo comfy. I couldn't believe how they were everywhere. We tried to decide if we could get over the ugliness for the comfort factor.

We had time to look around before checking in for our dinner at Boma. What a beautiful place! I loved how you could walk right outside and see the zebras. We spent a good deal of time just looking around and soaking up the fact that we were TOGETHER and got to be together for DAYS. It was very exciting. Finally it was food time. We had a nice attentive waiter who I decided was cool because his name was Seth and that rhymes with Beth. Its pretty easy to please me. LOL! We tried mostly everything. Everything was interesting, most was good. I'd eat there again. There was this really tasty meat pie of sorts that Mark and I really liked. And of course... dessert. We ordered a pot of coffee that was some of the best we've ever had and ate tasty desserts till our hearts content. And Mark fell in love with their canolli although I'm hard pressed to believe that that is African. LOL!

Cool! A zebra!

Waiting for our table at Boma

the best part of any dinner... Dessert! And coffee!



I was having trouble breathing again and I had to check my nasal spray so we headed back to the hotel to see if our checked bag had arrived yet from DME. It had! So nice and easy. I loved not having to deal with the liquid restrictions. We just put all our shampoo, makeup (mine...not Marks) sunscreen and what not in a small bag and checked it. And there it was... waiting there for us with a little help from Disney Magic. It was getting late and I'd been up since 430am the day before so we hit the sack to be well rested for our first day at the parks in the morning!

Content and happy after a yummy dinner and great company.

May 5th DAY 2: We Meet Mr. Freezy Breeze

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May 6th DAY 3: Our Gran Fiesta

YAWN! Good morning world! Its Epcot Day!

We showered, beautified ourselves, slathered ourselves up with five coats of spf50, grabbed our refillable mugs, hoisted the (much lighter) backpack onto my back with Mr. Freezy Breeze and our HFW bottle firmly strapped to the back pack we were ready for a day of exploring the future and the world. But first… a stop for breakfast at the ASS’s End Zone (tee hee hee… it never stops being funny.) I had a Chocolate Croissant (which is possibly the best breakfast in the world) and Mark had a Bagle and we each had a banana. We were eating light because we had plans for lunch. After eating and drinking a refillable mug full of Power-Aid (Gotta keep hydrated. HFW can’t do all the work.) we were ready to leave. But wait! I realized we left the PhotoPass in the room. So we headed back to the room to get it and to leave our mugs in the room because the idea of lugging them around all day just didn’t sound appealing.

Now we’re ready. Onward to Epcot! We arrived soon enough to find the worlds longest bag check line ever. Three months later we arrived at the back check table and they peaked in our bags and sent us on our way. Special CM entrance…GO! And there it was, Spaceship Earth in all her glory. A quick stop at the Peter Pan topiary for a PhotoPass picture and we were ready to go. Mark had never been on Test Track before so we made that our first stop before the line got too long.

Spaceship Earth and the Peter Pan Topiary

Us with Tinkerbell

I’m not a huge fan of Test Track. I rode in 2000 and I thought it was just “meh”. But Mark really wanted to ride and I was more than willing to give it a second chance. The line wasn’t bad at all when we got there. We waited maybe 10 minutes before we were boarding our 6 passenger car. The ride was pretty much like I remembered it… bumpy, breaks, hot, cold, turn, turn, almost run into something, and then fast. Its pretty much exactly like my commute to work every morning… complete with the almost running into something part. (I live in Southern California… its just a part of life.) Mark said he didn’t hate if but it certainly wasn’t his favorite. He gave it a 6 out of 10 (I give it a 4). To compare, his other ride ratings for WDW are as follows: Splash = 8, Everest = 9 and Great Movie Ride = 10.

Haha! Emissions test... Mark passes that with flying color. And flying wind. LOL!

Our test Track picture. The little girl in the back looks a little scared.

We checked out the new Siemens Project Tomorrow. Mark drove the car of the future and then we did this cool 3D game. Vizzini from The Princess Bride was a skeleton and would talk to us to tell us where to put his parts. Mark and I made a great team and were awarded the title of Top Surgeons. Oh yeah! We know where the liver goes!

Mark drives the car of the future.


Now that we were done with the 91 Freeway… I mean Test Track we headed back to SpaceShip Earth. Now this is an awesome ride! You’ve got Jeremy Irons talking to you, some cool AA’s, Bar-b-que smell and fiber optics. Its possibly the worlds most perfect ride. Except for the people in front of us AND behind us snapping pictures the whole way. Ugh! Talk about ruining the illusion. After we got off I walked up to the people who were taking the pictures, yoinked their cameras away from them and smashed them to bits in front of them.

Nah… I didn’t really. But I had you going for a second, didn’t I?


We were feeling very proud of ourselves and ready to enroll ourselves into medical school but cooler heads prevailed and we decided to try out The Seas with Nemo and Friends. The seagulls out front are great! And the queue is really well done too. Lots of interesting things to look at and they really did a good job of bringing that “beachy” feeling indoors. I almost expected to see Pamela Anderson bounce by the lifeguard tower in slow motion. Boooooiiiinnnng! Boooooiiiiinnnng! We boarded our Omni-Mover Clam-Mobiles and we were off. What a cool ride! What a cool effect! I cannot wait to see how they pull this off for the Subs in Anaheim. And the Big Blue World song sung at the end… woo boy that’s catchy! Although, I will say, there is one mildly scary part in the ride. Mark hid behind me so I could protect him though. Haha!

The Seas with Nemo and Friends

Beth, Mark and friends.



I really wasn’t feeling well at this point. Darn you cold, GO AWAY! We decided to get some HFW and rest for a bit. We found a water fountain and lo and behold… the water was cold! And apparently coldness greatly diminishes the essence of fart found in Florida’s water supply. Epcot scores big points because they have cold water! Way to go, Epcot!

With cold (non-fart) water in hand we decided to try the new Gran Fiesta Tour in the Mexico Pavilion. There was no line as Jose, Panchito and Donald invited us to board. Now, we enjoyed the original ride quite a bit but we REALLY liked the updated version. It was funny, cute and how could you not like the Three Caballeros? This ride gets an A plus from us.

We wondered the World Showcase until we came to Italy which is where our lunch reservations were. We headed to L’originale Alfredo di Roma (Or Alfredo’s for short) and went to check in. The host was apparently irritated that that people were trying to check in before they were open because he snapped at Mark and many others who attempted to check in. But, I’m sorry, if your doors are open and you’re standing at the check in podium people are going to assume you’re ready for them. Anyway, aside from Mr Snappy Pants the rest of the meal was awesome. There was some rather loud crying from the child in the table next to us but once his parents finally got fed up and took him out it was a lovely meal. Our waitress, Eleonora, was very good, the appetizer of Mozzarella alla Caprese was very tasty and the Alfredo was out of this world. Mmmm! Now I want some more just thinking about it. I’m not a fan of the “cream sauce” alfredo that most of us are used to. This is the kind I like. Cheesy and buttery and oh-so-good!

Lunch at Alfredo's. Yummy!

The air conditioning was wonderful but it was time to explore Japan. I love love love their store there. We picked out some candy for dessert. We got strawberry Pocky, chocolate Hello Pandas and rice candy (because its only 99 cents and you can’t beat that). We stopped to watch the last half of the World Showcase Players in the UK Pavilion (it was rubbish!) before heading over to see Figment. I just don’t know what to make of this ride. Its weird. And Eric Idle as a moon is just plain creepy. I would have liked to see the original version.

Mark was worried about me because with the cold and all I was dragging. He wanted me to be well rested for our Extra Magic Hours at the Magic Kingdom that night so we headed back to the hotel at about 2pm. It appeared Mark was tired too because he fell asleep on the bus and didn’t wake up until he dropped his sunglasses. When we got to the room I took airborne when I got into the room and fell asleep lying across the bed.

“Beth! Wake up.” Mark was rousing me from my sleep. It was about 4pm. “Did you hear that?” he asked me.

“Hear what?” was my groggy reply.

“The thunder! It sounded like the maid dropped her cleaning cart off the top floor.” I had not heard anything but I looked out the window and it was POURING. And the wind was so blowey that the rain was literally flying both horizontal and up. More thunder and some lightning. Cool! We decided it was best to not go outside at the moment although I did try to convince Mark it would be a fun game for him to go outside and we could see how long it would take for him to get totally soaked. I was betting on 20 seconds. But he wasn’t keen on that idea. Instead we hunkered down for a while and watched TV while we waited it out. We found Anne of Green Gables on TV (Yeah! My favorite!!) and watched for a half hour until the rain stopped.

With airborne and advil in my system and nasal gel spray up my nose, I was feeling more rested and ready for Extra Magic Hours. We got our wristbands first thing when we got to the Magic Kingdom. We hit up Thunder first, with its herky-jerky lift hill and then ran off to ride the TTA. We rode Buzz and I won for the first time ever. I beat Mark by over 100,000 points. Woo hoo! I was very excited after that. I am the champion my friends and I’ll go on fighting till the end!!

Riding on the TTA


My awesome Buzz score

I have conquered you, Zurg!!

Lunch was hours ago by this time and we were hungry. We decided to give Casey’s on Main Street a shot. We got two hot dogs and two waters so we wouldn’t have to deal with the Magic Kingdom’s HFW. Oh look! They have sauerkraut at the condiment bar. Yummy! We ate outside and watched people feed the ducks and long-pointy-beaked-white-birds even though the sign said not to. But really, I have to admit they were really cute, especially all the little baby ducks that were around. Its hard not to feed cute things. Although, one lady did go a bit far by feeding a duck half her hot dog rather than a little piece of bun. That can’t be good for a duck!

We headed to IASW and we sat in front of a guy who obviously had no idea that using the back of our seat as a drum set might be just a teensy bit annoying. We thought another ride on the TTA might be nice. And it was. It was so romantic because as we were passing the castle, Wishes started. It was one of those perfect moments I think I’ll always remember.

Wishes was over so we decided to ride the Astro Orbiter or the Rocket Jets or whatever they’re called. All I know is they’re on TOP of the TTA platform just like ours should be. Hehe! That was a fun ride. Centrifugal force can be a bone crushing experience. After we wobbled ourselves off the spinny ride we got FastPasses for both Space and Pooh. Don’t ask how. Its top secret.

Wheeeee! Centrifugal force is fun!

I needed ice cream again and this time my 6th sense lead us to the Main Street Ice Cream Parlor. While we were waiting for our ice cream a little boy came in and asked “How much is a cone without nothin’ on it?” LOL! I’m not sure what the answer was because we got our yummy dairy treat and headed out to eat it. After the last sweet, cold and delicious spoonful was gone we were ready to use our Space fastpasses. Unfortunately, Mark was a bad bad guest and stood in the wrong number for our rocket. LOL! Sheesh! Don’t you wish guests would listen better. Haha!

We used our contraband Pooh fastpasses and bounced along with Tigger. The castle looked beautiful on our way out so we stopped to get some pictures before heading to the bus stop. At the bus stop there was a man and his family in front of us. The man was very frustrated because the queue wasn’t set up right and lots of people had to stand out from underneath the covered awning and it was starting to sprinkle. So Mark, with his infinite knowledge of chains and queues and the like switched a few chains around and fixed it so the all the people were able to stand under the awning. I think the guy in front of us was Mark’s new best friend. The bus finally came. It was late and everyone was tired. So tired in fact that the little boy who belonged to the family next to me, fell asleep on my shoulder. LOL!

Two sets of partners.

May 7th DAY 4: Limos and Love Bugs

Today was the day my Dad and Debbie were to arrive! Woo hooo! Mark and I got up and got ready. Mid-ready-getting we got a text that my dad and Debbie’s flight arrived. Cool! We finished getting ready and watched some tv (how cool is that channel that just shows Disney cartoons?! Very cool!). Soon another text came through “We’re in a limo!”

What?! They’re supposed to take Disney’s Magical Express just like us. How’d that happen? We’d have to wait to get the full scoop. Once they got to the hotel (Can you imagine pulling up to the ASS in a limo?) they checked in and freshened up. Mark and I head to the food court to get breakfast (chocolate chip pancakes for me and strawberry pancakes for Mark). Soon after Dad and Debbie come in. Hurrah! Hugs all around. They went to get breakfast and came back for more visiting.

Apparently after they checked in for DME, they were lead out towards the busses and asked if they were ready to go. “Yes!” they said they were and the CM told them that was great but they wouldn’t be taking the bus today and lead them to a limo. How lucky is that?! They got a certificate and everything. What a great way to start off your first trip ever to Disney World. Talk about a magical beginning to your vacation.

Dad and Debbie were only here for 3 days. We wanted to give them a good overview of everything since we knew that there was no way they’d be able to do it all in that little of time. We had asked earlier when we were in the planning stages what Must See things they had to do. They had a short list… Everest, Mission: Space and Spaceship Earth. Unfortunately Spaceship Earth was closed JUST for the 3 days they were visiting. LOL! Oh well. Other than those things they said they were at our mercy and to take them where ever. MUAHAHAHAHA! I hope they’ve rested well before the trip because we’ve got 4 parks to smoooosh into 3 days.

It was noticeably cooler today. In fact I slipped my sweatshirt back into the backpack just in case I needed it in the evening. Our first stop was Animal Kingdom. We headed out to the bus stop just as the bus was pulling up. This would be the start of the excellent luck we would have with transportation while Dad and Debbie were with us. It must have started with the limo.

Dad and Debbie on the bus to Animal Kingdom.

Once we arrived and Mark got us all in (isn’t he the absolute greatest!) we headed right for guest relations to get Dad and Debbie Anniversary Pins. At the time of the trip, they were just about two weeks shy of their one year anniversary.

PhotoPass at DAK

Our first stop was Expedition: Everest. The line wasn’t bad at all. We waited maybe 15 minutes before we were boarding. I think this is the world’s most comfortable coaster ever. Big seats, the floor of the coaster flush against loading platform and a lap bar instead of uncomfortable Over the Shoulder restraints. The only thing that would make it more comfortable would be if you were strapped into a Barcalounger. We all agreed it was an awesome ride. That Yeti AA is just poetry in motion! It was a great way to start off attractions for Dad and Debbie.

Oooooh! Look at all the strange creatures.

Getting ready to meet the Yeti.

Expedition: Barcalounger



We decided to head to Dinoland. Mark and I had to ride Primeval Whirl because that ride is just the best. Sure it doesn’t LOOK like much. I’ll be honest, themeing is not its strong point. But where is lacks in story and detail it makes up in nausea-inducing spins and giggle-inspiring hairpin turns. Wheee! We all got off the ride a little dizzy. Then we headed to Dinosaur.

Lookin' cool on Primeval Whirl

This is what my father and Debbie look like getting tortured. LOL! I think they like it.

Indy has spoiled me. Dinosaur is just loud and dark. It seems like such a waste of a cool ride system. Granted, this time we went, the meteor effects seemed to be working better but you still can’t see much of anything. How cool would it have been if they put the same kind of detail into this ride like they did to Indy. You could see the whole landscape and really experience the “time of the dinosaurs” rather than the ride that’s there now… “Roar, dark, flash of light, roar, dark.” I just think it COULD have been so awesome! They should make me an imagineer. I have big ideas!

We were going to do the Safari but the line was too daunting. Off to MGM we go! Again, the bus was just arriving when we got to the bus stop. Dad and Debbie are good luck! Once we arrived our first order of business was Tower of Terror. Debbie had never been on the Anaheim version and she agreed to go on it for my dad. The line was about 20 minutes. It seemed to Mark and me that the sound in the library was way quieter in Florida. But on the plus side you seem to load into the elevator infinitely faster. It was a fun ride and Debbie enjoyed it as well.

YAR!!! Dad and Debbie are pirates.

We dashed over to Rockin’ Rollercoaster. Ugh! Lovebugs everywhere! I had been worried about these little creatures because I heard they were everywhere in May. But aside from splattered all over the front of the DME bus, we hadn’t encountered any… Except for now. In case you don’t know what love bugs are, once they reach maturity they spend the rest of their lives… er… copulating with their mate. I’m not sure if their was some sort of plant over by Rockin’ Rollercoaster that they liked or if they just like to make crazy insect love to Aerosmith but those things were “doin’ it” all over the place over there. We finally got inside and away from the Herbies, as Mark called them (Get it… Herby… love bugs. LOL!) and we were ready to ride. Psh... Dad and Debbie's second limo ride of the day. LOL! Here’s the weird thing. Remember how I have that darn cold. Well I was feeling much better but when I rode this ride…. It hurt my tooth. Weird, huh? I still had a lot of sinus congestion and my ears had a lot of pressure so that’s what I assume caused it. It was strange but my tooth felt back to normal as soon as we “pulled up to the concert venue”.

Sometimes you look at a picture and you realize "Dude! I'm really short!!"

Dad and Debbie wanted to do the Back-lot Tour. So we did that. They asked Mark and I to be in the pre-show thing where they douse you with water to show how some effects are done but Mark refused. Party pooper! LOL! I suppose I could have done it by myself but that wouldn’t have been as fun. So we all stayed dry while they found some other suckers… I mean participants, to play along. I will say, I found the backlot tour a little more interesting thing time because there were actually people working in the costuming section when we drove through unlike last time.

After the “tour” we walked through the Streets of America (sets that are designed to look like famous areas in the US) and headed to Hollywood and Vine. We had made “reservations” to do the buffet/ Fantasmic! dinning. This is an excellent deal. For the same price as everyone else eating the buffet, you also get priority seating to Fantasmic! We had a nice server who was originally from Riverside, CA which is not even a hop, skip and a jump from where Mark and I live. How cool. It really IS a small world after all. (HA! Now you’ve got that song stuck in your head. Oh wait… so do I. Shoot.)

Dinner was very enjoyable. I think the food was even better than the last time we ate there. They had some tasty chicken and beef dishes and Mark’s favorite, the creamed corn-corn bread which we all loved. And the deserts were all very yummy. We got our seat voucher for F! and headed out side. Brrrrr! It was actually a little on the cool side.

We went to the Great Movie Ride and our “driver” looked like he was about 12. But he did a good job! Unfortunatly, I cannot say the same for the girl we had as our gangster. She talked fast, did a horrible “gangster accent” and mumbled into the mic. Still, I love this ride. I love how unique it is and how it hasn’t been copied in any other park.

By this time, it was actually chilly out. Mark attempted to wear my sweatshirt but can you believe the sweatshirt designed to fit my 5’3 body wouldn’t stretch to cover his 6’4 frame? We decided to go see the Voyage of the Little Mermaid. We told Dad and Debbie we’d never seen it before so we couldn’t be held responsible if it sucked. I’m glad we put that little disclaimer in! Now… I wouldn’t exactly say it “sucked” but it was… peculiar to say the least. The opening “puppet” scene was pretty cool but the lame lasers and monsoon-like rains were what put it over the edge into kooky nuttersville. I’m still sorting out my feelings about it. We may have liked it a lot more if it had been HOT outside.

We perused through the Animation Studios but there wasn’t anything there we hadn’t seen done better at California Adventure’s animation place. Dad and Debbie decided to get beers and they bought Marky and I hot cocoa because we were chilly. We did some shopping before heading off to the SDSFDE (Super Duper Secret Fantasmic! Dinner Entrance). We found some good seats with minimal heads in front of us so we could all see. Mark and I shared my sweatshirt over both our legs and we all did the wave a few times. Or maybe I was the only one to do the wave. Its funny to see fathers use their children as human pom-poms during the wave. They’ll lift them up, shake them all around and go “Wooooooo!” and the kids love it. LOL! Finally the show started! And again I have to say, we’ve been spoiled by Anaheim. True, having actual seats are nice but the rest of the show just lacks that… “oomf” you know? It’s missing the “huzzah”, the “sparkle”, the “magic” of Disneyland’s. Plus they rely on the mist screens way to much. I don’t think we’ll need to see this show next time we’re in Florida. But I’m glad Dad and Debbie got to see it so they could make their comparisons.

Dad and Debbie got popcorn and Mark and I took some great night shots of MGM. Then we headed out and waited in what was truly the longest bus line I’d ever seen. I guess Dad and Debbie’s Transportation Luck took the night off. We did eventually make it back to the resort so we could collapse on our beds and dream of Steamboat Willie driving his cardboard steamboat from Florida’s Fantasmic!

Us and the big hat. It is ugly in the day time but I rather like the way it looks at night.

Dad, Debbie and the Hat

SMOOCH!