20th Anniversary...Sloth thoughts and Barbershop Quartets...long About This Page:

[figmentintime]

We got to the AK around 11ish. The bus driver was extremely funny, telling Valentine's day stories to the few of us on the bus. Now I am not implying ANYTHING, mind you, BUT there were about 10 couples on the bus, as the serious parkgoers had gotten there HOURS before, AND it WAS Valentine's Day, AND none of us seemed in any hurry at all to get anywhere, AND we all seemed VERY relaxed...Hmmm..just a PG-13 thought.. When I told MY saga of the roses, (much to my DH's embarrassment.. but I didn't tell EVERYTHING!)the driver asked if he could pass that along. The bus clapped, and we all found ourselves telling about how we met, if/how long we were married, dating stories, etc. Right now, I would like to apologize to the one seemingly single young man who found himself stuck on this "love bus" with all of us! HOWEVER, to whoever he is dating, and he did say he was involved, if this young man does not use some of these ideas, well, it will be his own loss..
The driver gave us all Mickey and Minnie heart stickers as we left, and we sauntered (YES! I have NEVER sauntered ANYWHERE at WDW! I am the crazy woman RUNNING, dragging children and husband to the gate, screaming, "GO LEFT! GO LEFT! DEB ALWAYS SAYS GO LEFT!") through an empty turnstile into AK. We did begin to encounter a few folks heading out as we stopped to search for the sloth. There was a CM there, also looking for the sloth. I secretely hoped it had not been her job to shut the gate, or close the wall, or whatever keeps said sloth enclosed. Not that I envision much panic over a sloth enjoying a few days of freedom...She could start at her enclosure, and reach the tree of life in about a week! We looked around, and decided she was sleeping..It was remarkable to really take our time as we walked the paths and SLOWED down to enjoy each other and AK in a whole new way. We were overwhelmed, as always, by the Tree of Life, but this time, we just stared for quite awhile, finding hidden animals we continously overlook when we are in our usual WDW mode. I highly recommend taking the time to REALLY SEE AK. It is an amazing place. We decided to see the gorillas, as we have missed them every other time. Along the path, I spotted Devine, and pointed her out to Shan. We stopped to watch her interact with a young family. The dad did not immediately see her, and had a tiny girl by the hand, looking intently at a tiny treasure she had found in the bushes. Suddenly, the older brother screamed, "DON'T MOVE! THAT TREE IS ALIVE!" He was probably about 6, and laughed hysterically as the Dad did a double-take at the vines beginning to trail around he and his daughter. The little girl was precious, just reaching up to touch the leaves gently, and smiling. The mom was fumbling for her video camera, the dad was frozen, and the moment was about to dissolve. PIXIE DUST! An elderly couple went over to the mom, GAVE HER A SMALL CAMERA, and told her to take pictures, and keep the camera as a gift! I just never get used to being so humbled by the kindness of Disney friends that you haven't met yet! It happens every time we go to this special place. Kind of renews your faith in human nature. When I hear about Disney supposedly losing it's humaness, I just smile. To those of us who take moments like these into our hearts, and them make them a part of who we are, and share them, well, WE ARE THE HUMAN-NESS IN DISNEY. Keep it up, you guys!
We walked the trail, and got to the gorilla viewing cave. There were only about 5 people there. The CM was apologizing to us, we had apparently just missed the patriarch of the clan. I was reading one of the blurbs on the wall, when Shan touched my shoulder, and whispered, "Look!". I went over to the glass wall, and this huge silver back gorilla, followed by 3 smaller ones, came and sat RIGHT by the glass! The CM began to talk to us about these magnificent animals, and the largest one put his hand on the glass. It was a Tarzan moment, I can tell you! Shan looked at me sternly and said, "If you start singing ANY theme songs at all, I am walking out of here!" Sheesh! OK, OK, so I WAS humming a little...but it was almost surreal, that big old hand of his...We watched a bit longer, then we apparently got very boring, because they all got up and wandered out onto their grassy slopes.
Shan wanted to try Kali River Rapids. Right. I was wearing a T-shirt, and had no other clothes with me, and he had brought a backpack with a complete change (did I mention he is an engineer through and through? Right brain marries Left brain) and I KNEW that I was the one who would get soaked. We went anyway. We were on a raft with a group from England. They were awesome! They loved every single moment of this ride, and helped us relive it as if it was our very first time, too. The smells, the water, the JOY when SHAN'S plan backfired and he got DRENCHED with every single possible splash point on the ride! Now a good wife would never have found humor in this unfortunate experience, total strangers gasping as he literally had water running off his body as we walked out of the ride...Fortunately, I left the good wife in the suite, and I had a blast! He floated off to change, and I floated into a shop to spend some..change, that is. I was looking for a shirt with the words, 'NATAZU' on it, and was really disappointed to discover that they never made any. I asked why not, and the CM said that it was a corporate decision that it was just not that catchy. I beg to differ! I love that phrase, and I think it would have been a big seller. Not to be discouraged, I did find a hawaiian shirt for my son, who has not been seen out of one in 3 years. Seriously. People in his high school actually dress up AS HIM for Halloween! All I can say is that he is an extremely confident young man, secure in his own image. With a 1580 on the SAT's, I leave his personal image alone! You go, Josh!!
Shan came out, looking dry but happy. We decided to find some food, and ended up at the Rain Forest Cafe, since our youngest, Emily, really wanted a "Save the Rainforest Kit" they only sell there. The restaurant was busy, even for 3:00, but we only waited about 10 minutes. My wrap was delicious, a spicy chicken and bean blend, and Shan had a "fish dish"..I can't remember what it was called. He said it was excellent. I mentioned that it was our anniversary , and the waitress asked us to give her a minute. Shan kind of got uncomfortable, and said, "You don't really have to tell everyone we meet that we are here celebrating, do you?" "Yep. Everyone. That's the rule. I read it somewhere, so just sit back and enjoy it." Shan has been married to me long enough to know when to concede defeat.
The chef came out with a flaming pineapple! Who knew they could blaze that way! Inside was a kind of pudding, cake-like thing. It was amazing! If you guys go there, ask for the flaming pineapple thing. ( I do have other skills, I just am not terrific at remembering menu item names! )
After lunch, we decided to head over to the MK to see the parade. Not one of our best ideas, or maybe it was just that it was such a GREAT idea that EVERYONE else also thought of it. Whichever way it was, the MK was hopping! I do think it was the most crowded I have ever seen. I remembered that it had the Magic Hour that day, so I think folks were piling in to spend the afternoon and evening. We kind of felt like cattle as we we were herded towards Tomorrowland. I yanked Shan over to one edge so we could figure out where we wanted to go. A CM came over to us laughing, and asked if we were having a wonderful time. I started to say yes, (really, that is ALL I was going to say! Honest!), but Shan interupted with, "Hi! We are Shan and Jane from Virginia, and we are here celebrating our 20th Anniversary! We are having a FABULOUS time, and No, we did not bring the kids, BUT we are returning in January with all of them and Jane's parents from California!" Oh, for a camera in my hand! That poor CM was probably just asking as he tried to get out of the crowd himself. He recovered quickly, and gave us another heart sticker each. He also was handing out fast passes to Buzz, as it turns out, so we were able to walk practically right on! How cool! I warned Shan about my prowess last time (in the first room before there are ANY Z's to hit, I tested my blaster, hit the blank wall, and scored 100,000! Shan maintains that it was just broken, but I am holding firm to the fact that I GOT the high score for the family, and STILL have the record. It's not MY fault if the ride has a glitch!) He just smiled, and told me to hang on and watch. Now my stategy is simply to blast the entire ride. I hit walls, people, my co-rider, and even a Z sometimes! I can never really tell which one of those little red lights is mine, and so I just shoot at everything! Shan carefully aims, spins us around, aims, shoots, spins, you get the idea. Flash to end of ride. Me, "But I really think if you just shoot continuously, you get a higher score! Look at mine! 285,000! I NEVER aim! You should try it!" Shan,"Nope. You just get the crazy blaster every time! It has nothing to do with skill and ability! I'll show you next time!" Thankfully, there was an hours wait, so he was saved the humiliation of falling once again to Jane the Master Blaster! HA HA!
We grabbed a coke, and headed over to Splash Mountain. Surprisingly, it was only a 15 minute wait. Odd, but great for us! I sat BEHIND Shan (I'm no fool!) and then right as we went down, he ducked! How chivlerous was that?! I reminded him that this WAS Valentine's Day, and men everywhere were sheltering their women from harm. He found that thought to be funny, as did a few other men around us. SHAME ON YOU, GUYS!
We then tried to go on BTM, but the line was almost to the beginning of SM. We headed over to POC, but that ride was an hour, too! WOW!
Desperatly, we looked for ANYTHING that did not have a horrendous wait time (I feel so badly for all the little ones who must have been overwhlmed with all the crowds. While I ADORE WDW, this was a day I would NOT have wanted to be at MK with children! When you have to wait over an hour for Dumbo or the Carosel, it's off to someplace else for me! Kudos to all the VERY patient parents we saw that day, the ones who were not screaming or yelling, or pulling little body parts around, but were cuddling, singing, and helping pass the time in creative ways! I especially applaud the young mom who had brought her little girl a spray bottle from home, and was whispering her to spray unsuspecting guests as they plowed by her stroller! Gotta love creativity!) At any rate, SHOCK SHOCK, the Tiki Birds was a walk-on! Here's a hint for all you couples out there. The back row on any area is almost always desrted, the avid bird fans sit up front, the families sit in the middle, and you can smooch to the tropics in air-conditioning without bothering anyone.
By this time, we were not sure we would be able to even see the curb, much less the parade route, so we decided to maybe get on the monorail, and head to CR to do a little shopping for son #2. As we walked, sort of, and were pushed along, a lot, we found ourselves outside the CP. The barbershop quartet was performing, and the CM helping them was the same young man Shan has blurted out our life's story to in Tomorrowland! He waved at us, made kissing sounds, and said something to the singers. They waved us up, and proceeded to serenade us for our anniversary! I started to cry again! It just hit me that if I could be anywhere with anyone, it was RIGHT there with Shan, for now and for always! He hugged me and gave me a big kiss, and it was just a moment! Don't ever hesitate to let a CM know if you are at WDW celebrating anything. You can never tell what will happen! The crowd broke up a little, as some with tiny ones were heading out, and lo and behold, a spot! We settled down, and got to see WDW's version of the Main Street Electrical Parade! (What is the name of that parade? We had never seen it before, and now my mind is drawing a blank.) It was beautiful! We decided not to stay with the teeming masses and instead hit the massive crowds who were also avoiding the teeming masses. On a chance that the walkway to the CR would be less crowded than anything else, we walked over that direction. It turned out to be a good decision. We were at CR in about 10 minutes, and up at the monorail in another 5. Thinking that dinner at Spoodles sounded just right, we took the monorail to Epcot, and took our time wandering through to the exit gate in WS. Illuminations was just beginning, and as we waked out, the music was playing, and the fireworks weer shooting off. It was another magical moment in a day full of them. We had no wait at Spoodles, and I actually did not tell them it was our anniversay. I didn't ned to. The couple at the table next to us saw us at the MK, and congratulated us. The waiter heard, and asked if we would like a complimentary glass of champagne and a cheesecake to share. We asked him to give it to the other couple with our good wishes, and felt really good about being able to do something for someone else ourselves! I think that could become addictive! Seeing someone who needs something, or just looks a little lost, and doing a small gesture to surprise them. What fun!
We got back to our suite after 10:30, and I leave you with that

[disneyagogo2]

What a great day! Thanks for sharing. I especially liked how you smoked Shan on Buzz. I'm glad you had so many magical memories. Happy belated anniversary!

Best wishes,
Lynnette

[Jillybean]

I know where I'm spending my 20th anniversary now!

Jill

[GFHoneymoon1194]

Jane...your husband really needs to give a class. Online of course. Sounds like you had a wonderful day. I can see how you both have made it to 20 years!!!! More please

[Tara O'Hara]

Oh my gosh!! You guys are so romantic and I am absolutely loving your every word!! What a wonderful Anniversary you had!!

[Cinderbrella]

Way to go, Jane! I love your TR so far. What great CMs and people that you ran into. Disney World truly is a magical place, and what a way to celebrate your 20th!!Congrats!!

[Colexis Mom]

Another great update Jane Awesome

[lindawdw]

Great update Jane Your husband sounds so sweet. WDW is the best place to celebrate your 20th!