Disney World 2022 day 5, August 6- Ratat-oompah

Similar to the first MGM day, I woke up before what had become “standard early” to make sure I was fully signed in and able to make an attempt at accessing the Guardians of the Galaxy virtual queue.
 
Unsimilar to the first MGM day, success was not to be mine.
 
The App activated, I clicked on the virtual queue, and it said there was a six-hundred-fifty-seven minute wait…
And well before I could lock in that fantastic offer by moving my thumb the whopping distance of an inch and a half, the reservations were all gone.
 

On the positive side- the streak continued! 
For the fourth day in a row, and the fourth Park in a row, we all met at our bench and assembled on line for the bus a half hour before the Extra Magic Hour Half Hour. The Disney Magic and probably our family genetic predisposition to Disney pulled us through the entire first rotation.
YAAAAAAY!
 
On the bus, an Irish family was answering trivia questions on their phone. Just as they read the question, “What does EPCOT stand for?” their signal vanished. Since they were asking out loud, when the Mom made eye contact with me, I stepped into Instant Disney Friend-dom and said, “Ooh, I know, I know!”
 
She had her kids ask me, and I told them “Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow.” Followed by not only spewing huge amounts of random EPCOT trivia on them about its history (as they did seem interested and were not recoiling in terror) but also doing the required by law Cast Member joke of saying, “Every Person Comes Out Tired.” To which the Mom replied, “All of the Parks should be named that.”
 

We had our usual issues through security. Anabelle started to wonder if it wasn’t the Sucrets box of Band-Aids they kept telling her it was, since she carried it outside of the bag a couple times, but rather the notebook full of metal pins that was requiring they select her for an extra search each and every time.
 
Our best guess at the reason Grandma always had the more detailed search was not her knee replacements as she suspected, but the fact that she carried an entire extra purse inside her purse.
 
She really does plan for everything.
 
Renovations changed the entry method to EPCOT significantly and we followed the construction walls until they brought us out behind the Living Seas. 
 
It’s the Back Side of Water!!!!!!
YAAAAAAAAAAY!!!
“Oh two aich! Oh two aich!”
 
The day’s focus was on Future World to avoid the weekend Food and Wine Festival drunken mob, and take advantage of those heathens knack for ignoring half the Park. After four days of Non Stop Disney, no one was running a Half EPCOT Death March dash to get to the long line attractions anyway. Instead, we started with a no line Soarin’ – though we did need to traverse the the long, empty, Kitchen Kabaret-less walk to reach the boarding area.
Alas…cha cha cha. 

Soarin’ is always fun, and another fantastic example of a great “thrill” ride that doesn’t induce nausea or damage Old Man Bones.
 
Since it’s there, and it is a different kind of fun, we took the Land Boat ride after landing. Someone before us got water from the ride on the seat Anabelle chose, leading her to ask, “Why am I the one who gets wet on everything!?”
 
The mailbox at the farm says “B. Jones.” I feel like that must be a reference to some Imagineer or Disney film, but I can’t know everything. Anabelle and Rosa claimed it was a Midsommer Murders reference. I’m not sure that’s correct. In the functional greenhouse, Rosa made sure to lean away when we passed the wheat.
Rosa is hilarious. 

At one point the kids were head banging (they corrected me, they were doing “gyrations”) to native flute music. We did sing the “Listen to the Land” song, but a random woman shushed us.
Rude much?
(“Heathens.” – Auntie Kim)
 
Some other stuff happened as we continued through the attraction, but the take away lesson of this ride is that someone with as big and clumsy fingers as I have should not try to type notes in the dark on a boat.
 
The line was still short for Soarin’, and we were still us, therefore we went again.
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!
 
Trying to cling to the “not running across Parks based on line length” idea, we went next door to “Not the Living Seas Anymore, but I really don’t care, and I’m still calling the other Park MGM anyway, so there.”
 
There were fish!
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!
I like fish. 

We all meandered apart following the cute, and mostly functional for a change, entry ride.

 Anabelle bee lined for the Manatees first while Rosa and I followed. Once that addiction was satisfied, we walked through the side exhibits together as well. 

Operation “Exposure Therapy So I Can See the Dolphins at Disney World” was a rousing success. Anabelle was able to walk through the big tank area, and spend a quite while staring happily at the Dolphins. 

I alternated being with her and Rosa in the mammal half, and going back to the other side to have some personal fish moments.

 

We finished up, went back downstairs and after a brief and unpurchaseful search of the gift shop, met Grandma outside. Things were going on with Turtle Talk, so the three of us walked around and rode the Nemo Shells again. YAY!
 
When we returned, Aurora was waiting with Grandma. She joined us and with Aurora, the four of us walked around and rode the Nemo Shells again. YAY! 

As we entered, there was a shockingly large number of people on the “Lightning Lane.” They likely had to wait longer than we did, as there was no one else on the Stand By line with us. Aurora and Anabelle made jokes about, “Needing to book a Lightning Lane for Nemo,” anytime anything regarding urgency arose for the rest of the vacation.
 
That ride is really cute, and the projection on the tank at the end elevates it above regular dark rides. YAAY!
 
Grandma waited for the Turtle Talk gang and we four walked across that side of “Not Future World Anymore, Yet I Still Don’t Care” to Imagination.
 

Over at Imagination, a rest room stop brought a surprise. (To me. Anabelle, in her normal caring way, pointed out, “We knew about this, you fool.”) Winnie the Pooh was running around the little shady, grass covered area with his bee catching net. My whole family and AllEars maintain this is a Butterfly catching net. Their rationale is “Who ever heard of a bee catching net?” My rationale is that Pooh needs to keep the bees away to get the honey. In either case, the girls had a great time waving to him, and frolicking along on the sidewalk. In addition, in either case, rationale may be an overly strong term. 

Yes, there was a surprise Pooh by the bathroom. Insert your own juvenile joke here.

 
The rest of our family caught up to the Imagination entrance while we were close to boarding the ride vehicle. The Cast Member asked if the four of us could fit in one row. We answered, “Only Game of Life style,” referencing how the pegs have to be wedged in between each other when there are more than four “children.”
 
Yeah, the Cast Member didn’t get the reference either, but we got to sit two and two in our own car anyway.
 
Rosa was determined not to be scared by the explosion that reveals the room full of Figments that startled her on every single one of the many (very many) times we have enjoyed this attraction.
 
She accomplished this by grabbing my arm, squinting and saying, “Is this the explosion?” every time the car stopped, startling me. Therefore, she was tensed and ready when it finally happened.

As well as the other eleven minutes we were on the ride.
 
We spent some time in the playground making music, and shopping in the store waiting until the whole gang was reunited.
 
Rosa watched little kids grabbing stuffed animals and wistfully said, 

“Remember the time we used to buy toys?”
Then looked at me and added,
“Well, I mean for Anabelle.”
Nice.
 
Based on timing of our lunch reservation, and the Ratatouille ride wait varying yet holding steady under an hour, it was time to start our First EPCOT Death March. This was an unofficial one, as we didn’t stop at each country…
Though, it counts as we went all the way around, because we’re insane.
 

We went straight to France where the EPCOT gods smiled on us and the Remy Ride wait had dropped from fifty-five to forty minutes in the time it took us to get there. We had to pass the other new addition to the pavilion on the way to the ride, the creperie. 
I’m guessing the fact that I consistently pronounced it “crap-erry” may be why nobody in our family tried it.
 

Back to Remy- I thought it was cool that the fountain outside had statues in the style of the concept art/ closing credits of the film. The EPCOT gods continued to smile as the regularly scheduled McGinley EPCOT Rainstorm out of a clear sky hit once we reached the covered part of the queue.  
 

The line had the fun and immersion Disney puts into all its newer attractions. The animated sign in the rooftop section with Gusteau, and the moving paintings in the next room were a nifty touch.  Aurora and Anabelle may have started openly weeping when they saw Collette’s shadow.
 
I was a big fan of this ride. Trackless vehicles, clearly the wave of the future, allowed surprising changes, and easy positioning into giant screen projection areas, simulating additional movement. Anabelle loves this movie, and the fact that the characters that appeared prevented it from lining up with any specific point of time in the film bothered her at first, but she warmed up to it once she became accustomed to that concept. We all enjoyed it. Those trackless cars do a great job of moving around a lot, but not in an Old Man Bones jarring way.
 
Oddly, the ride reminded me the most of the classic EPCOT era attraction Horizons. I’m not referring to content, but rather to formatting. The similarity came from the mix of actual settings with ENORMOUS screens creating simulated motion and environments the way the old sequel to Carousel of Progress did. (Those mammoth screens on the old ride were IMAX size, these new ones could be smaller due to better positioning.) The 3D glasses enhanced the whole simulation.
 
Closing out a positive experience on a new attraction, lunchtime loomed. We completed another third of the First Unofficial EPCOT Death March. On the way, Aurora looked around the “Tiana” Food and Wine booth that didn’t have any food or wine, getting excited about a shirt there. She has the “mull over a purchase for a while” genes dominant. Our family is equally split between those and “kill it and bring it home now!” genes. Sometimes that divide exists in the same person. A bit more walking (the Mission Statement of EPCOT), and we reached Germany.
 
This was one of only two meals we were able to book for the full nine of us in one reservation sixty days ahead of time. Looking around the joint, I’m pretty sure I could have booked it that morning and still gotten a table for nine. The food was excellent, yet I think the reason for the empty tables was twofold.
A) The place was a gigantic, two level, half circle, cavernous hall.
B) The center of that half circle was occupied by an Oom-Pah Band.
 
Anabelle pointed out I have often told her the tale of friends helping out the Denville Harvest Festival early morning name tag dispensing that my parents ran. The reason was to have first crack at the used Book Barn. It was right across from the German beer tent, and I told her we’d book shop as long as we could stand being that close to an Oom-Pah band.
 
She leaned over to me and yelled through the din, “I GET IT NOW!!!”
Followed by, “There is far too much ‘OOM’ in this band.”
 
Most, if not all, of the kids, who already had discussed their dislike of the loudness of fireworks on this trip, kept earplugs in throughout the meal.
 
Normally I like dark beer, but since the “small” was a half-liter, I decided to go with the “flight” after all. Dave went for the full liter, which was impressive since unless I’m replenishing my hydration following a sauna like accordion bus, a liter of any liquid is overkill for me. Dave may have helped finished Kim’s “small” as well. This is likely due to a combination of German genetics and co-existing with eight rabid Disney fans in the Parks for ten days.
 

Anabelle sorted my flight based on “smell” order as her guesses of how much I’d like them. Completely stunning both her and myself, the dark one was pretty far down the list. More stunning was I liked the grapefruit beer the best. This was stunning for the following reasons:
A) I don’t like grapefruit.
B) I don’t like fruit flavors in beer.
Disney Magic - again!
 
Anabelle also decided a “flight” should only be used for three selections. Therefore, she named my four small glasses, “An airport.”
 
The hall was massive enough that condensate was dripping on us from the roof. Yes, the air conditioning coupled with the humidity outside gave the place its own weather system…
Or the roof was leaking, and the McGinley Downpour out of a clear sky was lurking above.
 
The band played a bunch of traditional Octoberfest kind of songs. There was also a sick xylophone solo. (I can’t believe I just typed that.)
 
The performance of, “In Heaven There Is No Beer” confused me. I’d only heard the 1971 version by Clean Living that Doctor Demento played, causing me great surprise when a “modern” song was mixed in with the traditional tunes. (Yes, I know 1971 is not modern and I am old. This is yet another naming thing I do not care about.) My usual bare minimum of research has turned up that it originated in a German film in the early Fifties. I guess that means it’s legit.
I also guess I’m a buffoon because this was the first time, after hearing both songs far more times than any human being should, I realized that the melody of “In Heaven There Is No Beer” is the same as “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.”
 
Another song led to a discussion, likely because it was played on the bells and there was virtually no “oom” in the “pah,” allowing some conversation. It was Edelweiss. That does sound like a traditional, old German tune, but we weren’t sure if it originated with the Sound of Music. Anabelle remembered much later to Google the tune. It turns out it was the last song written together by Rogers and Hammerstein. Somehow, having it be a song from a Julie Andrews film in Disney World made it appropriate.
 
When the band took a break, and we could hear each other…and hear ourselves think, interactions came back to normal. Morgan was the exception to this return to conversation. He became the second sibling to fall asleep on Aurora. She covered his head with two napkins, to prevent the tasty German meats from falling on it. Clearly, he, and to a lesser extent Veronica, had become family champions at Disney recovery as they found multiple places to fall asleep to prevent them from passing out on rides and at shows This is in a stark contrast to the rest of us.
 
What followed next was Anabelle initiating and the rest of the kids (and some adults) diving into a string of worse and worse “Oom-Pah” jokes throughout the rest of the meal.
 

What do you call a German band at the Haunted Mansion?
Toomb-Pah
 
What do you call a German band on Splash Mountain?
Floom-Pah
 
What do you call a German band getting married?
Groom-pah
 
What do you call a German band at the Flower and Garden festival?
Bloom-pah
 
Where did the band go on their break?
Restroom-pah
(Bonus- They had to Poom-pah)
 
What do you call a really fast German band?
Zoom-pah
 
Who cleans the floor after the German band leaves?
Broom-pah
 
And so on, and so on…
(Keep in mind that I have only listed the best of the nearly never ending stream.)
 
Aside- And now the source of Anabelle’s daily titles for this trip has been revealed.
 
Shortly after Anabelle asked-
What do you call a German band that fights the Fantastic Four?
Doctor Doom-pah
 
The band came back from break, and she yelled:
“Quick, somebody call Reed Richards!”
 
In a supreme illustration that we likely do way too much (scratch that, it is never way too much, simply an astonishing amount) in these Parks, the return of the Oom-Pah band did not wake Morgan up. This is astoundingly impressive, as even I could not do it.

And I can sleep through anything, including my alarm, and Rosa punching me in the head for not waking up for my alarm.
 
They went through the same songs and features as the last time they were out. During the bell ringing, Aurora was referencing cowbells and Christopher Walken, adding:
“I’m Christopher Standingstill.”
Aurora is hilarious.
 
When we didn’t think the band could get any louder, they did the Alp Horn duet. They had done one in the earlier set, but Anabelle missed them when she was at the buffet. This should define how loud the place was in general and how chaotic our meal times were specifically.
 
As Anabelle talked about missing them, (likely due to the volume and wearing ear plugs) Aurora thought she said she missed the “Al Porn.”
 
After that, it took quite a while to calm everyone down.
 
Anabelle pointed out that every day of this trip she’d believed our Table Service activities couldn’t possibly get any more chaotic, and yet every single day it did.
 
First was our exhausted and confused dinner during the storm at the Plaza,
That was topped by character shenanigans and them and us falling over one another at Tusker House,
Followed by the Mickimald incidents at Hollywood and Vine,
And the kids at their own table, egged on by Queen Rachel in the Castle.
“Surely today would be calmer…
And the freakin’ Oom-Pah band shows up!”
 
Astonishingly, this trend would continue full force for the remainder of our table service experiences in Disney World.
(Coming attractions for food events after the middle of the table service meals- The Snow White Bra incident, The Car Separation, Whatever that was at Tony’s, and Continuous Character Drive Bys)
 
Dave returned from the rest room. (See “liter of beer” above.)
He was somewhat wide eyed, and told me I should go before we left because he was amazed at the dead space.
 
I did go to check it out. (See “flight of beer” above.)
 
First of all, the classical music pumped in at non eardrum shattering levels was nice.
But the room was a tad…open.
 
The area in the center of the room with no stalls or sinks was big enough that we could have fit a three person feed juggling pattern with tricks into it easily.
Yes, old habits die hard and I continue to measure room size by juggling capacity.
 
After Germany…
Oh wait, we did have food here.
 
There were lots of German meats, very tasty. Rosa got a tour of the Gluten Free sections of the buffet and her own soup and dessert tray. I had some personal moments with the pretzel rolls along with the beer and cheese soup, something I normally don’t care about. (Disney Magic!) Anabelle was thrilled with the Spätzle. 

(And I quote- “I ate soooooooo much!”  Kim backed her up- “It was soooooooo good.”)
 
Honestly with all the Oom-pahs and Al Porn going on, it was hard to discuss what everyone liked, but the whole nine of us left full and happy about what we ate.
(And rested in Morgan’s case)
 
After Germany, we set about finishing the Reverse EPCOT Unofficial Death March. (Because who starts in Canada on purpose?) We planned to check the Frozen ride’s wait time. We couldn’t because it was broken…again. You’d think that when they did the themed overlay replacing the Maelstrom, they would have also replaced what made it break down on a near daily basis…
Alas, they did not.
 

Instead, Kim’s family and Grandma did some shopping in Germany and other lands they passed, and we three ran to see Mariachi Donald in our Three Caballeros shirts. The shirt, her Donald ears, and her little Donald sent the real thing into ecstatic joy. Donald was happy to see our shirts as well and there were hugs all around.
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!
The little girl behind us on line was equally excited at our vintage Three Caballeros shirts.
Teeny Instant Disney Friend!
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!
 

The rest of the family caught up as we finished Latin Waterfowl time. Kim enjoyed peeking in at her niece’s Donald experience. Once done, we all entered the pyramid for the Three Caballeros ride.
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!
 
Seriously Disney, go ahead and make a new Coco land in Animal Kingdom, but if you touch this attraction, it will get ugly.
 
Though we were all together on the ride, and therefore exited the boat together, some mystical force far and above anything we have control over splits us up in World Showcase.
 
Random wanderings completed, we managed to assemble at Mission Space. Rosa and Grandma headed elsewhere, while the rest of us rode. 

During this time (or the next wander time) Rosa found a hidden Mickey. I do not mean three circles on the floor or something. I mean an actual Mickey in a room behind Imagination that the rest of us were unable to locate on later attempts. Maybe he had been talking with Chip and Dale.

 

The four kids were in one ship together, bringing levels of chaos and goofiness never before seen (since their last ride) into the stratosphere. There were all kinds of references to Captain America Civil War on their flight. This is because Aurora had a Cap mask on from that movie, and the Cast Member pooh-poohed it stating “Team Iron Man!” as he loaded them. I think they were still explaining why his opinion was wrong as he sealed them in.
 
Anabelle looked to do some pin trading, but decided instead to flee the creepy, ears wearing, non-Cast Member in the post-show store. 

Once again, we were fragmented, and wandering, (as we do) but we all reassembled at the Big Ball for a fun ride. 

So it was kind of a fiasco, but somehow it worked out anyway. 

The group split yet again, mostly in the post-show area to play games. (Also, as we do.)
 

This was except for Dave and Grandma who passed out on a bench. They were taking a cue from Morgan no doubt. Kim and Morgan did the Shuffleboard Power Plant thing. At that time, I passed Veronica doing the Brain Challenge and Build a Body games in my futile attempts to know where everyone was as part of my Where Will We Go Next Guy duties.
 
Anabelle and Aurora took turns tandeming on the Spy Driving game. There is no official way to do this. However, clever folks that they are, they discovered a way. One would sit in front and drive, while the other squeezed in behind them…and screamed at their driving cousin the whole time. They seemed to have the most fun out of anyone in the entire attraction pavilion. 

I tried the driving game as well, and did infinitely better than my attempt on a previous trip. Apparently having a car capable of turning left is one of the keys to success.
 
Since we were in Future World, we went on Figment again…
Because us,
and
Because Figment.

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!
 
I know Oom-pah land seemed recent, but it was already approaching dinner time. (“We wandered around” is a short phrase that takes up an excessive amount of time.) We split up in World Showcase to hunt food and shop. 

They went in the reverse direction again, while Anabelle Rosa and I started over in Mexico…

 
And went on the ride again. Ole!
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!
 
Anabelle wanted to check the pin trading in each country, and learned the pin board was almost always next to the Kidcot Station. Therefore, she decided to get the Ziploc passport things.
 
Kim decided to get them too. This had nothing to do with pin trading and everything to do with Disney letting everyone be a kid when they want to.
YAAAAAAAY!
 

Over in Norway, we took our usual selfie in front of the waterfall…
After Anabelle took a picture of one of my feet.
Yes, running gags for our family now go between vacation destinations.
 
The weekend Food and Wine Festival drunken mob was in full swing. Since China had no pins we grabbed the passport thing, peeked quickly in the store and continued Unofficial EPCOT Death March number two. We did spend a bit of time in the section about Shanghai Disney. They have a monster that follows you through their version of Kali River Rapids! That might almost make it worth riding.

Anabelle grabbed part of her dinner from a festival Indian food kiosk. They were sold out of something else she wanted. It might have been samosas, I could check the highlighted menu list in her Disney World Drawer, but I’m far too lazy to do that. I do have a great deal of pride pointing out she does have a Disney World Drawer, and did highlight the menu list I provided.
 
I grabbed a quick PowerAde in Africa so I didn’t die in the early evening humidity spike. A minor consideration, but needed.
 
In Germany, Anabelle traded a pin, after waiting for a kid who stared at the board from two inches away. As we entered the pavilion, we passed the rest of our gang going the other way. Aurora got her Tiana shirt!
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!
 
In Italy, the same kid was at the pin board. To give him focus and respect his space, we killed time and took a selfie on Anabelle’s solo dancing spot up on the platform. Since my wife and daughter always want a picture next to the Neptune statue, I started leading them towards it.
 
They said no, and we took one with it in the background from the pedestal.

My family loves to keep the Where Will We Go Next Guy guessing.
 
I remembered the new barbecue place in America. As we are huge fans of Disney ribs in general and the Flame Tree in particular, we wanted to give it a shot.
We did, yet we will not again.
Three reasons, in ascending order of importance.
1) The guy who took our order was incredibly cranky. (Though given the number of drunk people this Saturday Food and Wine filled afternoon, we’ll let that one slide.)
2) Despite advertising it that way when originally announced, there didn’t seem to be any Sam Eagle representation at the eatery. (A mug appeared months after we came home. Rude!)
3) The ribs were acceptable, but nowhere near the Flame Tree standards.
 
We’ll be going back to other, more international counters on EPCOT nights in our future.
(But may stop here for the Sam Eagle mug.)
 
Anabelle was excited to see a Turkey Leg “in the wild” actually being eaten. She texted Aurora immediately, demonstrating that we were always really together even when we were apart.
 

Japan had no pins, and Anabelle didn’t want to see the Kawai museum, because “its only fun with Aurora.” Travelling with family definitely enhances parts of the Parks.
 

Morocco had no one at the station, just the cards laid out, and no pins. Nearby Anabelle grabbed the rest of her dinner from a kiosk, her eagerly awaited Greek spanakopita. She enjoyed it and then said, “I feel snooty. I did the festival.” Then wore a “Snooty face” for a short time. This backfired on her at France.
 
Anabelle asked a Cast Member where the Kidcot station was. She told us there were two options- one was watching the Impressions Du France film. When Anabelle learned from her the movie ran eighteen minutes, she quickly asked the Cast Member. “And what is the other option?”  The deflated Disney Employee informed us how to walk around the corner into the proper store. Issues continued, as not only were there no people at the French Kidcot station but the card had no sticker on it, just random French in Sharpie. Anabelle’s overall response to the pavilion was, “France is lacking, they are too snooty.” We did bump into a pin board on the way out, and she had one of the France stickers in her stash from pin trading at home, however.
 

We stopped a bit in England. The bands there are always good. There’s a huge amount of quality British Rock and Roll to choose from, making it hard to mess that up. This night it was a Rolling Stones cover band.
 

With the movie closed, Anabelle proclaimed, “Canada has nothing.” The Kidcot Station was still down where the movie should be. Anabelle went over and bonded with the attendant. He understood her need to complete the “World Traveler” and replaced the already torn Ziploc briefcase she started the evening with by giving her a new one.  They both said, “Have a good night” together and yelled “Jinx!!!”

Awesome Happy Disney people are the highlight of the trip.
YAAAY!
 
The rest of Rosa’s dinner was at a kiosk over near Test Track, Gluten Free Yucca Fries. She only rated them as “ok” but Anabelle loved the one she stole before going on the Test Track Single rider line. 

She enjoyed it, sitting next to another Teeny Instant Disney Friend. The young birthday girl talked to her a bunch. When Anabelle said she had been on the ride “a long time ago”, the girl agreed it was a “loooooong” time ago for her too. The girl’s father looked up and said, “It was last year.” After her new little friend complimented her car design abilities, Anabelle came out to rejoin us.
 
I stood outside the whole time and frowned to protest the loss of World of Motion.
(“Dad, we know…shut up about it already.” – Anabelle)
 
While waiting, Kim texted me about the next morning’s plans. Due to my phone becoming a brick again in the evening heat and humidity, communications were problematic but we eventually worked it out back at the hotel.
 
Because it was next door, and Rosa’s back had stretched out from walking, the three of us did Mission Space before doing some night Big Ball PhotoPassing.
 
Kim’s family also did Mission Space before us, or maybe after us. I’m begging you Disney, could you please put PhotoPass pictures on EVERY ride. It would make my job cataloguing these adventures much easier. 

We got one of them fancy, “not-Jesus” Magic Express type busses back to the All Star Movies. After two EPCOT Death Marches, (unofficial though they were) it was very nice and comfortable.
 
I did a quick mug run. This night, Anabelle did not want Hot Chocolate, but a Sprite like her Mother. She told me not to mix it up and bring her “Sparkling Hot Chocolate.”
Hilarious.
She traded for two pins in the store and cafeteria as we passed through.
 
I got an irate call from Grandma about the cleanliness above the Murphy beds. Veronica’s allergies were in overdrive. Grandma looked up there and found a huge layer of dust. While she was telling me I hopped up to see ours, and saw an above average number of dust balls, but not a full coating. We had brought a small air purifier to combat allergies.
(Spoilers- it didn’t work.)
 
While checking ours I learned Kim checked hers, and found a moldy piece of cheese up there.

Mickimald, no doubt storing it for a rainy day.
Complaints were issued to the desk and notes were left in the room for the next day.
 
Rosa and Anabelle took matching pajama shirt pictures. Before (possibly during) passing out, we watched “Church TV” on my phone. Theoretically, at least one of us was awake at all times while it was playing, so it counted.
 
Jeff’s Disney World Philosophy:
As the center point of the trip is reached, this is as good a place to address “things” as any other is. Sometimes on our trips, “things” happen. “Things” can happen with any family, especially when everyone is hot and tired (and hungry) and have happened to, and been caused by, all of us here and there on these vacations throughout our adventures. I don’t dwell on the “things” or detail them in these stories. In fact, I refuse to dwell on the “things” during the trips as well. We’re together for the duration of the Magical Disney World Time, and the good times, family closeness and fun vastly outweigh any occasional “things.” There’s no need to focus on the “things,” and the “things” don’t reduce the overall wonderful time we have together. When we’re there, we’re too busy enjoying the good stuff, and when it’s done, the good stuff memories always overwhelms the “things.”
 
Well, that was a mess. I should have just fallen back on the Eleventh Doctor’s “Good things and bad things piles” quote from the Van Gogh episode like I always do and called it a day. This time though, I would need to add the “pile of bad things” really does become insignificant with the constant infusions of family togetherness and Disney Magic into the “pile of good things.”
 
27387 steps 10.5 miles

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