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Old 12-21-2005, 12:50 AM   #1
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The Twelve Days of Disney...what did Mickey give me???

Preface: I might be adding photos, but chances are, if I do, I'll put them in a seperate post. I haven't had a chance to sort through them all yet!

The Twelve Days of Disney!

(Day one doesn’t really count, since we weren’t in WDW yet) Took the stroller/wheelchair to the bike shop to have the wheels checked b/c they’ve been losing air. Guess it was my pump, so I bought a new one (out of my Mickey Bar money [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/cry.gif[/img] ). Went to the grocery store for milk for DH, then headed home to load up and wait for the mail. Still no check from the school (it’s been several weeks), so I’m starting out with $200 less than planned. L We finally got underway about 430 pm and stopped by Sears for a quick return, then headed toward the Holiday Inn Express. Dds were hungry and wanted KFC, but spied a Bob Evans instead, so that’s where we went. Bad move, service was slow, the menu had been reduced, and there was no corn?!? B had had a bad day and no corn put her precariously near the edge. A promise of dessert finally brought her back. Checked into the HIE for our park ‘n’ fly (DH refused to drive us/pick us up due to his anxiety issues, so we had to go this route…I was not very happy about it) Signed us up for the 7am shuttle and got the girls in their swimsuits. They swam happily while it was 18 degrees outside. Watched Mickey’s Twice Upon a Christmas and Dds went to sleep around 930pm, I didn’t sleep at all. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

On the First Day of Disney, Mickey gave to me…Tickets to a Christmas Party!

Got up at 6am and got dressed. Went to the breakfast area at the hotel, but no one was really very hungry. We were loaded up and ready (in 7 degrees) by 650 or so. The shuttle driver loaded us and unloaded all 10 bags (!) plus the stroller. Uneventful pass thru security (except the girls’ magic wands! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/rofl2.gif[/img]) and we were at the gate by 725. Boarded at 820 and then were subjected to a kid (5 or 6yo) *screaming* all the way down the aisle that he didn’t want to sit in the back, didn’t like the seat, hated the seat, hated his parents, hated the airplane. Fingernails on the chalkboard kind of shrill screeching. It was awful and his parents did NOTHING to stop it, other than hiss at him under their breath every so often. He kicked S’s seat the whole way and at some point his bratty little sister stabbed the flight attendant to the point that she cried out and limped the rest of the flight. I know very well about “unseen disabilities” and people being rude about it, but you can frequently tell how the parents react whether it is a disability situation or the kid is just a brat. In this case, the kid was a poster child for brattiness. He would just randomly look out the window and start screaming on purpose to set off his little sister (who also started screaming…we’re going to crash type stuff). This *really* upset S who does have an unseen disability and she was miserable the whole flight. I tried to do something about it, but she hates having any kind of attention even worse, so we just put up with it. After no sleep at all, I was exhausted by the time we got to MCO and ready for that afternoon nap! Dds watched Suite Life and Raven on my new iPod on the flight…LOVE that gadget!!!

Arrived MCO about 1110 and went to get the bags. I rented a $3 cart and was able to fit it all on. Made my way to the Alamo counter and was upgraded to a full size SUV for the same price as my midsize…get this rate: $183 for 12 days!!! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img] Chose a gold one and loaded up. We arrived at the Pop about 100 (the same time as people on our flight who used DME) & checked in. Our room wasn’t ready yet, so we went to eat. B had M&C, I had lo mein and so did S. She didn’t like it, though, so I got her M&C, too. As I was walking back to the table, I heard my first of many parents yelling at their kids about how they chose the food, they were going to eat it b/c it cost a fortune and no they weren’t going to buy them anything else. It was so sad, and I reminded S that if there was anything she got and didn’t’ like, to let me know and we’d get something else. Went to lobby concierge to pick up our CP tix to discover that our 2nd one (Monday) had been cancelled altogether when I called to remove my Dad from the ressie! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/eek.gif[/img] AND…it was completely sold out! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/dizzy.gif[/img] After some finagling, we got it sorted out and by then the room was ready (245ish). We were in the 70s, sorta far out, man. Got to the room and decided there wasn’t time to nap and it was too chilly to swim. As I started to pack our MVMCP bag, I realized there were no coats/fleece ponchos. I’d left them on the plane!!! I called the airline and was told they’d call if they were found. Nothing. So…I had to wait for bell services to bring the suitcases to get out layering shirts, hats, gloves, etc. We were soon “on our way”. Valet parked at the Poly and rode the ferry to MK. Went straight to GS for our GAC’s, but they give a tag now for the stroller as wheelchair (like a luggage tag). Headed over to VMK Central and I filled out the quest forms while Dds created a character in the park.

We were told to go back to GS to book the tour only to be told that all tours had been cancelled, so we had to go back to VMK central for the pack of cards/bracelet. Finally it was time to find a ride! BTMRR was the first choice, so off we went (it was about 530 by this point). Rode that and headed to Splash, but B had a breakdown, so we skipped it for now. Stopped in Pecos Bill’s for dinner and just sat for a bit. Walked around to Adventureland and decided to do POTC (1st for them). B wasn’t all that wild about that one, either and wanted to get to ‘her’ pirate ride (Peter Pan). On the way around, I was the photo spot, so we stopped for our picture, about a 10 minute wait. Went to Fantasyland and rode PP & IASW. B wanted to ride Buzz, so we headed that direction and got sidetracked by a Silly Old Bear, where B learned that it’s no all about her and what she wants. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/ukid.gif[/img] Went to Buzz and got my hiney kicked (38000 to 6000!) Stopped in to look at MVMCP merch and only got the stripey antenna ball…it was all too spendy and not that nice-looking. Went for cocoa and cookies (no line, the first parade was on), so we sat on the terrace and had a break. Went and staked out our usual spot for Wishes and waited for 30 minutes. All I can say is WOW! It was beautiful. We snailed back toward Liberty Square…complete gridlock and RUDE people. We finally got back to BTMRR and decided to try Splash. B agreed and we had fun. We staked out a parade spot just outside the Christmas Shoppe. The parade was wonderful. A reindeer kissed B’s hand and wow-ed her. We loved watching that parade! It was 1130 or so and we were exhausted (esp me), so we retrieved the car and went back to the Pop.
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Old 12-21-2005, 12:50 AM   #2
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Re: The Twelve Days of Disney...what did Mickey give me???

On the Second Day of Disney, Mickey gave to me…a cool Epcot tour and a dinner followed by a CP! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Got up at 830 and got ready for a day in Epcot. Walked to the Land and rode Soarin’ (1st for Dds), which we all loved, then got a bite to eat…strawberries and croissant (cha-ching!). It was 10, so we went on the Behind the Seeds tour which was supposed to be an hour, but wound up more like 1 ½. The girls were bored in places, but enjoyed feeding the alligators! After the tour, we rode Soarin’ again and grabbed a quick lunch (where we encountered more yelling parents b/c the kids didn’t like the food L) Dds wanted to ride Figment next (woohoo), so we walked on to that. I think they need to rename it the Ursula Ride - you poor, unfortunate souls! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/rofl2.gif[/img] Walked across and went to SSE where a car of teen boy kept reaching out and touching things, throwing stuff, and just being jerks. I did report them to a CM (they were that bad), who detained them, so I hope something was done. They really ruined the ride for us and it was the only time we rode it this trip. After that, we went into Innoventions to do the robot thing, which was fun. Out of 12 people, S was 3rd and I was 4th in the race! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img] B was 4th in design, too. We ‘built’ our plastic robots and decided to check out Club Cool. It was nice and I bought the girls the most expensive frozen coke known to man! We did the Build a Cup (they got Stitch, I got Mickey) and they are cute, but I’m not sure if they are worth eight bucks each! We wandered into the WS and went to Mexico. Now I remember why we never go on that ride! LOL! The girls started their Kidcot masks (Santa hats on them), but the station at Norway was too crowded. Maelstrom had broken down while we were on it, took awhile, but we finally got off, but all the people in the line flooded the store. Went through China to get B a headband and a gift for S to give her vision therapist. It was time to see about our 500 CP. We were a little early, so we went in the American pavilion to see the gingerbread house. The line for CP was LONG…past Japan. We line up and B was losing it so I kept her in the stroller and I’m so glad…she fell asleep before it began (just like 2003). Jaci Velasquez was a disappointing narrator. Granted, it was her first time, but you’d think she could have rehearsed a litlle. She also messed with/flipped her hair a *lot*, ‘boogied’ a bit too much, tried to sing along, but didn’t know the arrangements (seems like she could have at least picked up a CD to listen to a few times) and was generally nervous. Even so, she seemed ill-prepared, reading line by line rather than complete sentences. The musicians were fantastic and B did wake up for the last part, so that was nice. When it was over, we started around for our Garden Grill dinner and had a chance to see the tree-lighting along the way, which was delightful. We were taken in to GG quickly and seated in Jan’s section…she ROCKS! She brought Dds and ‘industrial’ sized plate of M&C and they polished it off. We had big laughs with Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale (especially Pluto’s “Chippendale” routine! :O and Mickey hauling him off to the doghouse!!!) After dinner, we rode Soarin’ again before heading back to meet up with M at the Pop (she’d flown in) Repacked all our bags and had a little iPod mishap (trouble downloading photos…froze up) which stressed me a bit, but it fixed itself after the battery ran out by the next morning. Finally got to sleep excited about the cruise tomorrow.
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Old 12-21-2005, 12:52 AM   #3
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Re: The Twelve Days of Disney...what did Mickey give me???

On the Third Day of Disney, Mickey gave to me…a trip to a ship and some very, very, very high seas!!!

Raining, overcast, and chilly were the words of the day. We loaded all our bags in the car (in the rain…it’s a hike to the Pop parking lots!) at about 1030 and headed to Port Canaveral. We took bonine and a homeopathic remedy (for little ones) while we were in the car. The weather made it very difficult to see the ship when we finally got to the port, but seeing it’s sheer size rise out of the mist was stunning. Dropped off Dds/bags and went to park, and literally blew into the terminal. Got all the docs filled out, checked right in and boarded about 1215 or so. I amazingly did NOT cry. We were directed to Beach Blanket Buffet, but I wanted to eat in Parrot Cay, so they let us in. I’m not sure why they were discouraging it. After we had lunch, I went to change our late dining, only to discover that it had already been changed to the 6pm seating…perfect! Went to the kids clubs and got Dds all checked in. I moved S to the 10yo group b/c she’d met a ‘friend’ online at the Disboards, but that turned out to be a mistake. Around now, the rooms were available, so we went in search of our cat 8 (upgrade!). I hadn’t told Dds about it yet, I wanted yet another surprise and it was, indeed! Their faces lit up when they realized we had a porthole!!! We settled in a bit and met our stateroom host. Our bags had arrived, so we quickly unpacked, stored the suitcases under the bed, and highlighted the navigators (schedules). This is where I think Disney blows it…the girls had to choose between some things and that’s too hard for them. The dinner/show hours need to be just down/play time in the clubs and save the activities for other hours. They also need to coordinate with character greetings b/c S missed out on most of that. B didn’t, but that’s another story for tomorrow! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] Had the safety drill (still amazed at the number of people who just wandered up 20 minutes after it started [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif[/img] ) and went back to the room to lose the vests and take some ginger. The captain had advised people to take medicine during the safety drill [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/eek.gif[/img]


The sail away party had been moved inside b/c of the weather and the girls wanted to check it out. Didn’t like it so we went to deck 4 to watch us leave. I’d gotten a ginger capsule stuck in my esophagus and it was on FIRE, so I grabbed a non-alcoholic daiquiri for M and I and headed out. It was windy and chilly and the girls were being difficult (yet another precursor for this voyage). Some people arrived late, so they were met with cat calls and jeers from other watchers (pretty rude), but we soon discovered that they were already 3 sheets to the wind (how’s that for sailor talk??? [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] ) They moved the gangplank only to have an officer run out of the building with another late arrival, so replace the gangplank among more rude shouts, etc, etc. All this time, B has decided she wants OFF the ship, so M takes her (and our cups) to the room. They came back after we had started out of port and were almost in open sea when I saw something in the water - 2 dolphins!!! The girls were SO excited! We stepped inside and right on line for Lilo and Stitch. After photos, we started walking forward to Animator’s Palette for dinner. The dining room was nearly empty and the server quickly brought bread and told us to eat, but not drink too much water. I found out later that 25 crew members had been ill and they only had a few guests show for the late seating. I also later found that we had some 16-18 foot swells. Good thing we took our meds early!!!

Our servers were Levi and Kecha and they were wonderful. M thought Levi was hot, but he was married. Kecha was in love with Miss B. They were great the whole cruise and the dining experience really made the trip worthwhile to me. After dinner, we stumbled (literally) back to our stateroom and got ready for Hercules. It was a good show, but for the “Hoochie Muse” who continued to make an appearance as Cruella DeVil among others. Interesting, the observations of children -- they said she “didn’t fit in with everyone else on stage”. I agree, she looked like a stripper and kinda wrecked it for me. Anyway, we laughed our head off at Pain and Panic & Hades was a hoot (“I know there’s only 3 of you in the audience, but STILL!” when no one laughed at his jokes!) The girls went to the clubs and I took a walk around deck 4 (although the doors on one side of the ship were locked) The waves were HUGE & I had a panic moment, but I really reel like I went a very long way with my fear of the ocean. BTW, there were people basically passed out all over deck 4 and I encountered several “protein spills” on deck. L

I lilted (nice way of putting it) back to the room to write, but the movement was VERY BAD in our very forward room, so I tried to lay down…bad move! I popped more ginger and homeopathic remedy and headed back mid-ship. I stopped in Shutters (photos) and I was the only person there. The Cms told me they’d NEVER seen that before…only one guest! I arranged for a 10 photo pkg (although I’d budgeted for 20) and purchased our embarkation photo. As I was walking back, the pager went off (around 11pm), so I picked up the girls (B was crying) and we went back to the room to get ready for bed. We ordered some hot tea and cookies from room service and settled in for the night. M’s excursion had been cancelled, so we decided to go to Nassau for a bit the next day.
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Old 12-21-2005, 12:52 AM   #4
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Re: The Twelve Days of Disney...what did Mickey give me???

On the Fourth Day of Disney, Mickey gave to me, a walking tour of Nassau and an awesome pirate party!

I woke up in time to see us pulling into the port at Nassau and dock…very cool. We ordered room service for breakfast (didn’t get the order right, but didn’t have time to fix it) and got ready. By the time we got the girls checked in the clubs and off the ship it was 1000 and I had to pick them up at 1115 for lunch! I had taken the map of Dave’s walking tour out of my Passporter and set a course for Ft. Fincastle. The map didn’t exactly line up with my route (and I refused to pick up a “tourist” map [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] ), but we got there in short order, took some photos, and set off in search of the Governor’s mansion. Took a photo and headed toward the straw market. I took some pictures at Christ Church and we finally made our way through the straw market, which was not NEARLY as bad as I’d thought it would be (guess nothing beats a Turkish market for pushy vendors!). M bought a LV knockoff (very nice one) and I got little ones some bracelets. M paid, since she was the only one who made it off the ship w/ cash (I’d changed purses). As we left, I spied a hat that I *LOVED*, so I tried it on and loved it more. For me, $20. M spotted one she liked and for her, $15. I tried to haggle the total to $30, but she wouldn’t budge. M pulled out her cash only to find we were short $5, so I asked the vendor’s name so I could come back after lunch. Her name was Ardel and I memorized where she was. As I turned, I put my hand in my pocket and lo & behold pulled out $6! I was so excited and she said, “The Lord be praised!” to which I said, “Amen, sister!” and she started blessing us and we had a lovely time talking about God. It was truly a blessing to my day! Got back on the ship right on time and picked up the girls. B had been crying again, they tried to page me (even though I told them I’d be in Nassau). No one seemed to try to comfort any children who wanted their parents or try to redirect them or anything (there was another little girl that was upset and they just said, “Your mom and dad are in Nassau, we can’t page them.” rather than try to help her…made me sad) For some reason, they never got my “do not page” message, which upset B even more that they’d page and I wasn’t right there. Most of the counselors seemed disengaged and uncaring in both clubs. Very much a sit back and make sure they don’t kill one another rather than hands on and involved. Both girls really disliked their clubs.


Went to Triton’s for a lovely (empty) lunch and took S back to the club (she was torn, but insisted on trying it again). B refused, so we went to Shutters to find the AP photos. We saw Mrs. Claus in the atrium reading stories, so we stopped for that when Mickey and the gang showed up. We got photos and soon thereafter S paged and was VERY upset at having missed, but it was one of those choice things, plus there wasn’t time to get her checked out of the club in time to see them. I was exhausted from Mom’s One Hour Walking Tour of Nassau, so I laid down for a little nap. We got dressed and went to Parrot Cay for dinner. B wanted to make flubber, so M left dinner early to take her (plus she wanted to get back to the teen drama-of-it-all, the boys, the excitement…ugh!) S and I got our pirate bandanas (after disappointing Levi with the news that M&B would not return to the table…I just think that’s kind of rude, but what do you do??) BTW, B made flubber, but never got to keep any… they “ran out” before she picked hers up (you make one, there should be one to take home). I took S with me to shop in Treasure Ketch and one of the Cms admired S’s pirate costume, so we had a delightful chat about sewing. I picked up B, rounded up M and went to the Golden Mickeys. Wonderful show, made me tear up, and the Toy Story segment THRILLED Miss B. Tonight was the Pirates IN the Caribbean party, so I staked us out a spot on deck 10, overlooking the stage. S was upset b/c she wanted to be on the dance floor ([img]/ubb/images/graemlins/ukid.gif[/img] who are you and what have you done w/ my child???) but B refused and it turned into yet another, “I’ll feed you room service and keep you in the room the rest of the cruise” moments. We stayed put and I was glad. We wound up having a perfect view of the stage and Goofy, Captain Hook, and Mickey made their ‘appearances’ just to our right, so close we could have touched them. As an aside, Johnny Depp could have stood there and I would have been, Oh, hey look, it’s Johnny Depp, but you put Mickey next to me and I’m all “IT’S MICKEY!!! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img]” Man, I’m weird. Back to the pirates…we also had a perfect view of the fireworks and the girls were singing “We will, we will rock you” for a long time! After, the girls were hungry, but didn’t want to eat from the “midnight” buffet, so I snapped a couple of pictures of the chocolate show pieces and we went back for room service (manciotti…yummy!) and bed.
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Old 12-21-2005, 12:53 AM   #5
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Re: The Twelve Days of Disney...what did Mickey give me???

On the Fifth Day of Disney, Mickey gave to me, Castaway Cay (pronounce “key”, btw!)

Had room service for breakfast again and disembarked around 915. S and I had a 1000 excursion with Castaway Rays. We stopped for a photo by the snowmen (I was having trouble finding 9 more photos to buy!) and at the ship photo spot (and the fish). Caught the tram and I left M w/ instructions to drop off B (along with the do not page message) and started w/ S to the C Rays spot which was another 10 minute walk. Yikes. We hoofed it and arrived right up 1000. S got her snorkel (none for me, thanks) and we stepped into the icy cold waters of the Bahamas! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/rofl2.gif[/img] It was just a bit cheeeeellly!!! This excursion, though, is a WOW. The rays just do their thing and you just hang out with them. I got to feed Big Mama (feels like a pool vacuum…a slimy pool vacuum!) and it was awesome. S went snorkeling and I was trying to take pictures. My pager went off up on the beach, so we had to cut it a little short. Trudged back to Scuttles Cove to pick up B (crying again, no Cms anywhere near her) and headed for the beach. It was “no fun” without tubes, and Dds were hungry, so we went for lunch and trudged all the way back down to rent tubes, then drag them all the way back to where our stuff was (are we having fun yet?). The next 2 hours were spent watching them play in the water with a million other people and get sand kicked on me by bratty kids whose parents were too sloshed to control them. I finally could take no more of this “relaxation”, so we dried off, stopped in a shop, and went back to the ship. Got everyone showered and dressed and to the clubs for the Disney Sea University graduation show. I had to stop at guest services as I’d had a few issues with our room…my tip receipts and shutters punch card were missing along with our souvenir cups from the sail away. They got it all sorted out for me, so I went to shutters and picked up the last of the 9 photos…the *ONLY* photos there were of us. If I’d wanted 20, I’d be in trouble, there just weren’t any. No candids of the teens or any shots at dinners other than the first night. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

I went to the disembarkation talk (had nothing else to do…”When you decide who the head of the household is, this is what SHE needs to fill out on the form!” [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/rofl2.gif[/img]) and stayed for the graduation. It was really sweet…S showed up as “most popular” and “most relaxed” in Mickey’s Yearbook. B wasn’t in a single picture…she was never in the club long enough! After this, we got dressed for Triton’s and our final dinner. Gave out tip envelopes and took photos. The meals/servers were certainly the highlight of the trip. Wandered a bit and decided to go check out the Laila perfume in the duty free shop. They had an awesome gift set that was a large bottle of perfume, full size lotion and a dusting powder in a gorgeous handbag for “only” $89. I decided that was my Christmas present! Went to see Disney Dreams and enjoyed it, but not as much as the Golden Mickeys. After, we went back to pack and I walked in to find a Magical Moment certificate on my bed from the CM I’d talked w/ about sewing. It said, “Great job on the costumes!” What a nice surprise!!! We had a 615 wake up call for a 700 breakfast, so we went to bed early.
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Old 12-21-2005, 12:54 AM   #6
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Re: The Twelve Days of Disney...what did Mickey give me???

On the Sixth Day of Disney, Mickey gave to me…getting off the ship and a very long and busy dayyyyyy eeee)!

Got up and had breakfast in Triton’s, stopped to get one more photo of the Chihuly chandelier, and went to fine our bags. Immigration was painless, except for the luggage porters who didn’t understand the concept of “wait your turn”. I guess if people have 25 bags, they’re supposed to get priority clearance [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif[/img]. We were in the car and on the way back to WDW by 8am. It was wet and chilly, so a wee bit of a shock after the warm sunshine of the Bahamas! Drove to the CBR and checked in. Our room wasn’t ready yet, my mom was already all checked in from the day before, so we unloaded our stuff in her room (we had connecting rooms) and headed over to Epcot for a 1200 Coral Reef lunch. Had a little time, so we stopped in to see Crush. We still had our ‘sea legs’, so this was an interesting first pavilion! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/rofl2.gif[/img] Got kind of a crappy table at Creef and ordered the Chef’s Selection…mistake! The lobster bisque was yummy, but everything else was just gross after the cruise food! Went back into LS for the girls to start their KidCot things and for B to visit ‘her’ manatees. Oma bought a poncho b/c it was rainy/windy. Went over to the Land for the girls to do the KidCot thing and went to ride Soarin’. Oma wouldn’t go, so I took Dds and parked her. Hile we were in line, I noticed a VIP guide behind me, so I glanced over my shoulder and there was Eartha Kitt (the CP narrator we were seeing)! She was right next to me, but she was “incognito”, so I didn’t say anything to her. She had her DD, SonIL, and DGD along and they looked like they were having a lot of fun. Rode Soarin’, got Oma and headed for Test Track (Oma went into Mouse Gears). Once around and the KidCot stop, then off to Mouse Gears to collect Oma, but got sidetracked with the spending money. We started toward the WS, but M had blisters from “cute before comfort” shoes, so we sent her to 1st aid while we sat and enjoyed the tree. Went to the International Gateway and took the boat to MGM.

This was my Tower of Terror day, not to be avoided in any manner, shape, or form, and believe me, I tried. Yikes. I think Rachel coined the phrase: mean ride. This is the personification of that and I think Walt would hate it as much as I do!!! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/eek.gif[/img] All I can say is what I was saying in the picture, “holy crap!” [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img] No, I did NOT buy the commemorative keepsake of my sheer terror and I will never (EVER) ride it again. I was so physically uncomfortable (chest pain, but it is benign/stress-related, I’ve been tested!) that I told my mom if anything happened to me not to let Dds feel guilty for making me go on it! RnR was next (not for me, thank you), so I went and sat with my mom until they got back. It took until they finished for me to finally calm down enough that I felt like we could move on. Horrid, horrid ride!!!

Everyone was getting hungry, so we stopped for pretzels and drinks (memo to self: pretzels are huge, 2 can share!!!). S wanted cotton candy, but it had all wandered into Fantasmic, so we went in search of the Osborne Lights. I have never seen this before (didn’t have it in 2003) and I have never even been in this part of the park before (shocking, I know), but when we rounded the corner, I was awe-struck. Stunning, gorgeous, a must-see for Christmas Spirit! We wandered through, trying to take photos, but pretty much had our mouths hanging open the whole time. I was able to find some cotton candy and gingerbread for Dds, so they were happy. On the way out, we spied the Narnia thing and decided to give it a go. I was under-impressed and it seemed like just a big ad with a VERY few props thrown in. We went back to the boat and I had Oma and the girls get off at the BC (to take pics of decorations) while I rode on to Epcot to retrieve the car and pick them up there (this was also to keep my mom and Miss B from having to walk so far) I was 20 minutes from boat to car, so I was proud of myself! Drove around, picked them up and went back to CBR. Everyone was really hungry, so we stopped in OPR for refillable mugs and a bite to eat. Stopped in the shop for milk (and for Oma to shop -- theme!) and went back to our rooms to sleep. BTW, B said it was “Oma’s House” and “Our House” when we went into our connecting rooms!
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