Nala & pride + one tour WDW Final thoughts COMPLETE!
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RobinKay6573 · 02-10-2005, 01:11 PM

Great update! I love the story about the pin...very cool!

Jennifer2003 · 02-10-2005, 01:51 PM

Great update!

Jennifer

luvnwdwgal · 02-10-2005, 02:45 PM

What a cool pin!!

ripkensnana · 02-11-2005, 12:04 AM

Great update, Nala...I'll have to wait to read any more installments, though....I'm going to be gone .... somewhere .... can't remember where I'm going ......

**DrDolphin** · 02-11-2005, 05:10 PM

Such a

pin Nala!!! 20,000 Leagues was one of the reasons I became a marine biologist. I loved that ride!!!

Nala · 02-15-2005, 07:50 PM

Saturday January 29th Part 1 Future World

We were in no rush to get anywhere today so no alarm clock and no wake up call to start the day. I was surprised to be the first one to wake up. Usually Kiara is up at the crack of dawn, but I heard her still breathing heavily in sweet slumber as I slipped out of bed. I went to the kitchen and started coffee. It was about 7:15 and I smiled to myself as I thought about the luxury of sleeping that late!

Soon after I started rattling around in the kitchen Kiara emerged and began to torture Grumpy who was sleeping on the Murphy bed. Not long after Peter Pan got up and we all got ready for our day at EPCOT. We got on the golf cart to head to the bus stop when Grumpy asked if I had the passes. Um…..no!

So back we went to the cabin where they were safely tucked in a Passporter pocket. That was just the beginning of my many ditz moments to come.

We made it to the gates at 9:30 and stopped at Guest Services to activate our passes. We decided to go on SE before we did anything and got in a line that boasted a 5 minute wait. I rode with Kiara who hid her head in my chest almost the entire ride. She had done better on this one last year and I was surprised at her reaction. But when we got off the ride she did claim to like it. Once off SE we went straight to the stroller rental. Once again I must say a big thank you to the Passporter who posted about multiple day rental. This was great! Grumpy decided to keep the stroller pass along with the park passes which, considering my state of mind, was a good thing. Hey, I was on vacation and at Disney, I shouldn’t be required to think. As we got the stroller the character bus stopped in front of SE and I noticed a lonely Chip and Dale who had not been found by the mob yet. I pulled out the autograph books and sent the kids for hugs and pictures.

The crowd was quite thick around the other characters and much to Peter Pan’s dismay I pulled him and Kiara away from the area. I checked the times guideline and promised Peter Pan we would catch them in front of the WS at 11:15. He was happy with that.

We made our way to MS and Peter Pan was eager to go on. I told them I would meet them in the smoking area near MS or be in the fountains with Kiara. I pulled off her socks and shoes, rolled up her pants and told her to go play in the water. She was a bit hesitant at first but soon got braver and braver and wetter and wetter.

I had figured I would have to entertain her here today so I had packed an extra pair of pants for her so it was no big deal for her to get wet. She had a ball. I was keeping one eye on her and one towards MS for Grumpy and Peter Pan when I saw them coming towards us very slowly. At first I thought they didn’t see me waiving wildly at them as they turned to go towards the smoking area. I noticed Grumpy stop but Peter Pan was out of site. Grumpy then looked in our direction and gave me a nod but he didn’t move from his spot. As we walked towards them I saw Peter Pan with his head in the bushes.

The poor kid! We sat him down and offered to get him some water, which he refused. We were in a secluded area so I decided it was a good place to do a quick change of Kiara’s pants. I had intended to hold up a coat around her but she beat me to the punch and dropped her pants right out in the open. And of course she managed to pull EVERYTHING down.

This brought Peter Pan to life again and we all scrambled to cover her up while we giggled. Grumpy was a tad bit mortified by the whole ordeal but oh well. We realized the WS was about to open so we decided to leave FW behind and head there. I for one had had enough of launching and mooning.

Coming next …. our tour of the World, or half of it.

Cheriemek · 02-15-2005, 08:27 PM

I am enjoying your report!!

Jennifer2003 · 02-16-2005, 06:53 AM

LOL...streaking in WDW...how cute!

I love the picture of her in the fountain...

Jennifer

BritDisFan · 02-16-2005, 07:45 AM

Launching and mooning!!

Love your report.

Karen

Nala · 02-17-2005, 09:17 PM

We made our way to the WS bridge and checked Grumpy’s watch and found that the character bus should be arriving at anytime. Sure enough as I looked towards Mexico the bus was on the way. Last year the bus stopped in front of the lagoon so I herded the pride towards that area and pulled out the autograph books. This year the bus stopped farther up in front of the area and we noticed a huge crowd from FW making its way towards the characters. Once the bus unloaded I got Peter Pan and Kiara in line for the first of many meet and greets. The kids were able to get up close and personal with Kenai form Brother Bear (who I made the mistake of calling Koda), Donald, Gideon (who I had to tell Peter Pan who he was), Pluto, Meeko, Captain Hook, Rafiki and of course Stitch, who true to his character wrote his name in the back of the books and upside down.

I have never met Captain Hook and he was very much in character. He chased away a duck that was making noise in the water below him and was very impressed with Peter Pan’s mohawk. Stitch was also amused by this. Now I was kicking myself for not buying him the $5 hair gel he wanted to buy (he forgot his from home) and making him get the cheap stuff that didn’t hold it. I can only imagine what attention he would have gotten had he been donning his full “rooster do”. This was the first time Kiara had collected autographs and I must admit it was lots of fun. I love how the characters even write their names in character!

After the meet and greet we made our way into Canada. It was about 11:30 so after reviewing the menu and snapping a few pictures I went into Le Cellier to make a PS for lunch. We were doing the luau that night and I was concerned that Grumpy would not get too full on the meal there due to his aversion to rice and vegetables so I insisted we eat at Le Cellier so he could have a “big” lunch. Little did I know this statement would become our standing joke for the rest of the week, but more on that later. Le Cellier had an opening at 1:00 so we were good to go and explore what we could of the WS. We walked past the waterfall and I played with the new camera. I took the kids to the Kidcot spots and started their masks and got their passports signed. We also found some pressed pennies for Peter Pan and he scoped out any potential pin trades. He was loving all of these activities!

After exploring Canada and a few more pictures,

we made our way to the UK. Another stop at the Kidcot spot for more pressed pennies, passports and masks, but not before I made the kids pose in the phone booths for a few photos.

I just love those! We took a short break in the back of the pavilion and caught Pooh coming out for a meet and greet and got a few pictures with him before the crowds found him. I didn’t want the kids to rush him, but he motioned for them to come over. It was here I think we started our first Photo Pass. I love these things! After Pooh moved on, The British Invasion started to play and at least Grumpy and I enjoyed a few songs. They were great but we decided to move on to France.

We explored the pavilion of France and found the pennies and mask/passport stop. OK for the last year since our visit at Le Chef’s, I have been dying for a cheese plate from the bakery. I sent Kiara back to Grumpy and Peter Pan and I went inside to check out the goodies. I figured I would pick up snacks for later that night for Grumpy if he came home hungry from the luau. I got two cheese plates, two baguettes , a strawberry tart for Grumpy (that looked so good) and Peter Pan had to have a piece of the cake of the day which consisted of chocolate, chocolate, chocolate and some more chocolate. Twenty one dollars later we had midnight snacks in a to go bag in hand and went to find Grumpy and Kiara.

We made a brief cruise past Morocco and only touched the surface of Japan and moved on to the American pavilion. Kiara begged Grumpy for a few coins to throw in the fountain and we discovered it was time to make our way back to Canada for our much awaited lunch at Le Cellier. I made a mental note to hit these countries later in the week to get pressed pennies and masks/passports stamped.

Once inside Le Cellier we were seated very quickly. I had been telling Peter Pan about Canada, or what I know about it, and told him about it being a bi-lingual country. Our server came to the table and we quickly noticed she had a French accent. She was quick to talk to us and tell Peter Pan more about her country and her province. She was a lovely, sweet, young girl and we talked with her a lot through our meal. She left us after taking our drink order and we checked out the menu. I had my mind set on the chicken sandwich with cheddar cheese and wasabi mayo. Grumpy was eyeing the petite filet with garlic mashed potatoes but was shying away from it due to the $24 dollar price tag. Once again I stressed I wanted him to eat a “big meal” so he wouldn’t go hungry at dinner. After little encouragement he gave in and we placed our order. Once again we chatted with our server about Canada. When our food came out I thought Grumpy was going to fall off his chair laughing. When they say petite, they mean it. His steak was so small we all busted out laughing. Peter Pan who ordered the steak off the kids menu had twice the meat on his plate. Grumpy stopped laughing long enough to look and me and say “So much for a big lunch!” Even though it was small he said every bite was heaven. Both of them! As I said earlier, this became the standing joke of the week. After I got over laughing about Grumpy’s portion I tore into my sandwich. While it was on a type of bread that looked like an English muffin, which put me off for a moment, this thing was to die for. The flavor of the very strong cheddar cheese along with the hint of wasabi on top of chicken was sooooo goooood.

After we finished our meal our server returned and we had the chance to talk with her more. I asked how long she had been at WDW and she told me ten months. She then said she was scheduled to return home in two months and didn’t want to go back. She then opened up to tell us that she shared and apartment with 4 other young ladies from around the world and when they all got to WDW none of them spoke English. She told us she learned it in THREE months! Then she went on to say she didn’t want to go home because she had no one to speak English to and she was afraid she would loose it all. As we talked I noticed she became very choked up and I found myself with tears in my eyes too. What a beautiful young lady she was. And a true testament to the magic if Disney .

After lunch we decided to head out of EPCOT and go back to the cabin. We had the late luau booked and thought it would be a good idea to give the kids a rest for what would be a late night. We stopped for a few minutes to take pictures in front of SE then headed out. (More photos on the Photo Pass) Once back at the cabin the kids had no desire to rest so Grumpy took them to the lake to fish. I got a bit of quiet time and tried to figure out how to get online from FtW. I took a few moments to peek at the happenings on the Passporter boards and before I knew it, the gang was back and we were all getting ready for our evening at the Poly.

Up next……. a hula, a great server and a bunch of ribs

**DopeyGirl** · 02-18-2005, 12:30 AM

Great update . . .

YAY!!! Another UK phone booth picture!!! I think we need to start a thread with JUST those pictures in it!!! Quite a few of us have them!!!

Looking forward to more!!!