Thursday, February 07, 2008

Jana say Disney: Day Four...let the fun begin!!


Before I start this this morning (a very cranky morning, therefore thinking about Disney is a great idea to keep me from snapping) there are a few things to know before reading.

1. I am writing this for my own recollection. So bear with me.
2. Nobody else in my life likes listening to me go on and on about Disney either.
3. There are a few Disney abbreviations to help me not have to write too much you may need to know. MK= Magic Kingdom, AK= Animal Kingdom, MGM= Hollywood Studios, and a CM= Cast Member, or, employee at Disney. Now you're in the loop. Because you truly want to be.
4. Oh, and EMH= Extra Magic Hours. These are extra hours the parks are open to the people staying on Disney resorts. They come in handy. Yet another: FP= Fast Pass. Fast Pass is a device that allows you to get a 'standby ticket' for a ride. So if there is a long line, you go to the FP machine, and it will print you a ticket for a time to come back, like 10:00 a.m. to 10:40 a.m., and then when you go there, you don't have to wait in line. These are free, but considering the money you spend to get in the park, they're probably in reality about $30. And you can only get one at a time, so you can't have multiple Fast Passes.
4. Baby swap: Wow this is the best. Basically LP and the older girls would get in line for a ride Miss M was too little for, say, Space Mountain, tell the CM we wanted to do baby swap, and they would give him a ticket. Then they would ride the ride as I waited in the gift shop, and when they were done, I'd take the older girls and the ticket, and get right back on the ride without having to wait in line!! So the older girls got to ride each ride 2x in a row with little waiting. I did get a lot of souvenir shop time though.

Seriously. I wrote all of that out! Holy cow, what a total freak. At least I admit I'm a freak. I'm not in total denial.

************************************************************************

Again Miss M had a very restless night, so I was up early again. LP wanted to use the EMH we had at MGM Sunday morning, but they were from 8-9 a.m. and we just didn't make it. We grabbed McD's for breakfast and made it there at 'rope drop', which is when the park opens and they have goofy spiel about Hollywood and then they let everyone in at once.

It was freezing. Bitter. And I'm from the Midwest so I am not a namby-pamby. It was probably about 45 degrees. All that warm weather I'd given us the day before was ruthlessly taken away from us. But that was OK...we were at Disney and my mother said it was 18 degrees in St. Louis. So I'd take it.

LP went to get a fastPass for the Rock-N-Roller Coaster and Al, Rug and I headed for Tower of Terror. MY favorite ride. Hands down. I just love the creepy way all the CMs act, like they are really working at a 1930s Hollywood Hotel. It is so awesome. Basically the premise is, a hotel gets struck by lightning, sending guests into the Twilight Zone (with Rod Serling along for the ride). The reality is, you are in total darkness in an elevator and just keep DROPPING. Each time is different too.

It was a short line, and they take about 25 people at a time, but right before the 3 of us went in, this CM stopped us and made us go to the side. "Congratulations!" she said to me. "You've just become part of our Year of a Million Dreams and have all won Dream Fast Passes for the rest of the day!" She gave us these lanyards with free Fast passes for all the rides at MGM that day. It was pretty cool. The girls were so excited about it. Of course I could have been a big party pooper and told them we could've won a night in the Cinderella castle, but hey, a prize is a prize and we were all very excited about it!

Do you see how cold we are?

After that LP took the girls on Rock N roller Coaster and then I rode with them again. I had to be the 'weird old single rider lady' and I rode with a 10-year-old kid who had never been on the ride. It was a lot of fun!

After getting a few character autographs, we headed back to WWOSports for Rug's soccer game. I think by the last day we finally figured out how to get everywhere. I know I ended up at Epcot at least once trying to get on the highway.

The atmosphere was pretty somber and pretty much everyone kept to themselves, but they all showed up, much to my surprise. Did I mention it was freezing? We lost, 7-3, a pretty bad whuppin'. But it was over and we had the rest of the week to enjoy Disney. So long to the soccer dramaz.

We headed back to MGM and LP took the girls to ride Tower of Terror again. We all ate Power bars and granola bars for lunch, since we had reservations at the Rainforst Cafe later and knew we'd be eating a lot.

Miss M and I sat down on a curb because I noticed people who lining up for what I figured was going to be a parade. They had street actors and Miss M wanted to WALK, but I really wanted to keep our spot, so she had a mini-Miss M fit. One of the street actors, a 'cop' came over and wrote her a ticket for public display of a hissee fit. It was funny. I was really hoping LP would get back before the parade started, and he was right on time. We had great seats. Cruella deVil came over and started harassing Al, telling her she knew where her puppies were--Al was laughing hysterically.

We rode Star Tours and did a few other things, then headed off to DownTown Disney to eat. We had reservations at the Rainforest Cafe and we still had to wait 1/2 hour for a table. It was really crowded. LP does not do well when he is hungry. The girls ordered a 'Volcano' for dessert...


and ate the entire thing.



We roamed a little around DownTown Disney but it was really cold, and Rug got a hair wrap. We went home and collapsed into bed.

Tomorrow: Animal Kingdom and Yo Ho Ho, the Pirate and Princess Party!!

1 comment:

Bente said...

The cop giving Miss M the ticket is hilarious!