Disney World 2010: Day 7

Operation “Excessive Travel”

Monday morning started with a bus ride to the Magic Kingdom. As we de-bussed, the girls immediately began asking to go on the Small World.  This was problematic, as we weren’t going to the Kingdom; we were there to catch the monorail for the breakfast with British characters at the Grand Floridian. 

Following yet another frantic attempt to show Dave the five legged goat on the Contemporary mural as we whizzed by in yet another stinky monorail cabin (they must have changed cleaning fluids), we arrived at the breakfast, and the girls calmed down some.  We were seated by a cast member from Lima, who shared stories with Rosa.  Although, that may have been the night we had dinner there at 1900 Park Faire with Cinderella instead.  The experiences were similar. 

We sat in the exact same spot, and were told we had time to get food immediately before a character popped in.  This time it was, appropriately, Tigger.

Hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo indeed, I’m trying to get an omelet here.

We had a fun time meeting him, Pooh, Alice and Mary Poppins. Rosa got another birthday song (and cupcake), and Kim had to wear layers to insure she was properly dressed for each of her favorites from the Alice and Pooh stories.

Aurora reminded Grandma to wear her Pooh earrings, which caused him to engage in a little Pooh dance when he saw them.

No point here,

I’m just juvenile and giggle whenever I type “Pooh”.

Anabelle was even happy to meet the Mad Hatter this time. However being afraid of him must be an age dependent thing, because as soon as he came over Aurora disappeared under the table for quite a extended frowny face period.  Well-fed and well-charactered (Yes, that is a word.) we took the long and fun monorail ride all the way back to EPCOT, filled with some probing WHERE WILL WE GO NEXT GUY questions.

With the weekend party goers cleared out, we made a bee line to begin the Second EPCOT Death March, in reverse this time. The first stop was Canada and the then new Circle Vision movie. Actually, it was pretty much the old Circle Vision movie with Martin Short adding some funny bits to it.  Kim’s kids were awake and enjoyed this one. Anabelle, as not only a fan of the Cat in the Hat show that Short voiced but also a HUGE Three Amigos fan, had a blast. Besides being impressed by the visuals, she would yell out, “NED!” whenever Short appeared.

That’s my girl!

After the film, we continued around World Showcase, talking pictures, looking at sights and getting Duffy stamps.  Due to different interests and speeds, our little band ended up breaking apart for the Second Death March about mid-way through.

When we got Anabelle’s Duffy stamp in Italy a comedy troupe of crazy Italian women were performing. We laughed along for a while but then left, figuring we saw enough of that at family gatherings.  Rosa exchanged her pants in China and I found one of those Asian shirts that I always liked, but never had the right body shape to wear before. Translation: not round. 

We learned that there was no bathroom in China (you think they’d have at least one with those billion people there) and we broke up further as Rosa ran Anabelle to Norway.  They crossed paths with the rest of the gang there, but split again when they went to the front of Mexico for a picture in front of the pyramid, while the rest of the group stopped to let Veronica (a huge Donald fan) make up for sleeping through the meeting with him in his Mariachi guise.

I caught up with Rosa and Anabelle again in front of Mexico and as we waited to regroup with everyone the effects of another Disney tradition that I really should avoid took hold.  For the second Disney trip in a row, I didn’t eat anything on the second EPCOT Death March. The last time it was due to not wanting to waste time, even though I wanted a bratwurst and a beer. This time was a little different. I actually walked up to the bratwurst counter, but my health conscious new metabolism made me start to get nauseous at the thought of eating one.  After that I was all flustered and stupidly refused to eat or drink anything.  Therefore, instead of taking a fun return Fiesta ride in Mexico, I decided to turn into a raving lunatic, making a very prolonged period uncomfortable. 

Write this down:

THE WHERE WILL WE GO NEXT GUY CAN NOT BECOME A RAVING LUNATIC. 

That’s really important. 

Seriously, if anyone ever sees me in World Showcase and I’m not heading to, or coming from a table service meal, strap me down to the nearest counter service joint and pour whatever entrée, beverage and dessert that is available, regardless of health content, into my gullet. 

Needless to say the reentry to Future World was more awkward than it should have been.  We went to the Disney Visa character spot next, the kids played some Playstation demos to avoid having to stand still while we were on line. Since both families have the card they let us in together and we met up with the only normally dressed Mickey of the vacation along with Pluto.  We each could get one free picture print, which we’d have to pick up together since we used one Photo Pass card. This arrangement layed the ground work for the evening’s upcoming drama.

There was a pretty cool fire safety thing in Innoventions that we tried.  The first part was set up like a game show. They gave out IR flashlights to find “fire hazards.” The second part was the fun of the “Escape from the burning house” demonstration that Anabelle did last time. The girls all enjoyed crawling around the artificial fire together, with Anabelle maintaining a running commentary as they went.

That’s my girl!

It was then time to go on the Universe of Energy.  Anabelle had been excited about seeing the animatronics dinosaurs for months. She carefully explained them to reassure her younger cousins multiple times. Therefore, when any of them saw the picture of them in the Birnbaum’s Guide they’d say:

“Those dinosaurs don’t jump out at you, they’re juuuuuuuust THERE.” 

Between the exhaustion and drama of the day she didn’t want to go. Between an appeal from Grandma and Rosa talking to her she agreed but had already gotten very nervous.  She laughed at some of the bits with Ellen and Bill Nye, but in no way enjoyed the ride, and wanted to go home in the middle of it. The effects were also too loud for Kim’s girls so we ended up throwing them all in the stroller and crossing the park (yet again) to see Figment again before dinner.

Dinner was at the rotating Garden Grill. The food is always excellent there and, because the restaurant rotates, instead of a buffet they keep bringing you plates until either you’re full, or you explode.  Mickey, Pluto and Chip and Dale made the rounds to goof around with us. Since the place is circular, instead of bypassing people they’ve seen before (like in almost every other character meal) they keep stopping to play around a little more, which is the bonus of the place beyond the food.  The waitress was a combination of Southern girl happy and Disney happy that was extreme, in a good way, even in the “Happiest Place on Earth”.  We also had another waiter come over and comment on my DC tattoos, saying I should be a Marvel fan because Disney owns Marvel now. (They really take their company pride seriously.) I was able to calm him by detailing the extensive amount of Marvel books in my collection, though not permanently etched on my body.

Due to differing priorities, energy levels and preparation times, we split up yet again. Grandma went back to the hotel…

Well, actually she tried to, but ended up waiting for the wrong bus for quite a while before heading home.  She has a history of getting lost leaving EPCOT on her own.  The worst was a mistake at the International Gateway when I was a teenager that established a history of my family being raving lunatics at that park.

As Kim and Dave started packing up and changing the little ones to bring them over to Nemo, our three ran over to Mexico again for a final Grand Fiesta Ride.  We asked Anabelle on the way back to Nemo if she’d like to see Illuminations and she said yes.  Kim’s girls weren’t big fans of fireworks when they were not oversensitive to noise and I figured they wouldn’t want to see Illuminations.  Therefore, I was planning to get her to go pick up the pictures so I could see the show with my family and she could duck the crowds with hers.

At the “Not the Living Seas anymore but I don’t care” the cast member gave Anabelle one of the red timing cards. Aurora got one shortly before us when they arrived. Apparently, there’s a daily quota.  When we exited the ride, they were just going into the Turtle Talk with Crush show.  We followed them to grab Kim to get the pictures and the door closed behind us, sealing us in.  It turned out to be a very funny show.

Crush’s encounter with a buh-uh-uh-kini, which he told us to, “Pretend you’re Dory and forget this whole thing ever happened,” was especially good and the kids loved it. Crush chatted directly with Anabelle a couple of times, and referenced Aurora’s laugh sounding like “someone talking to the dolphins.”  Even though the whale at the end sent Aurora diving briefly under the bench, they all had a great time and it was actually worth it.

However, once we got out we had very minimal time before Illuminations.  Rosa and Anabelle ran to get a spot for the show, while Dave ran for the stroller and Kim and I ran to the camera store. It was a case of cross miss assumptions.

I was rushing to the store thinking that Kim was trying to leave;

Kim was rushing because she saw me rushing and thought the store was closing. 

Amidst all the rushing (with full pack this time) I favored my right leg so much I pulled my left Achilles tendon (JII=4).  We got to the store and encountered another comic book fan who liked my tattoo…a little too much, even according to his coworker.  Kim and I had been skipping bathroom breaks during all the rushing, forcing us to take turns sprinting out of the store while the other picked their photo. We found Dave, and by then the girls had ear plugs in -an almost constant state by the end – and were mostly asleep in the stroller.

This means: amidst all the rushing someone put them in there, but I have no recollection of whom.

Therefore, they stayed for the show, rendering most of the evenings rushing pointless.  The music, lasers and explosions had already started, and were pretty, but I couldn’t find my family in the dark. Anabelle had a great time, so even though I was sad I didn’t get to see her see it, it was worth it.

We crowded onto the bus with Aurora sleeping on Kim and Veronica on me with Anabelle holding her little hand the whole time

Awwwwww.

There were many more of these “Awwwwww moments” in between the first and last night bus ride as well.

Back at the POP Anabelle showed Rosa her chameleon skill in the arcade before some packing and shutting down for the final night.



Links to the whole Campaign History
Preludes and Plans
Day 1: Operation Magical Beginnings
Day 2: Operation Jungle Run
Day 3: Operation Early Kingdom
Day 4: Operation Showtime Doubletime
Day 5: Operation International Alchoholics
Day 6: Operation Magical Meetings
Day 7: Operation Excessive Travel
Day 8: Operation Giant Nostalgia