Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Magic Kingdom!

It’s Wednesday. The Mr. has to be in on a conference call this morning. Not his fault. Lets just say that the poor planning and communication skills of others have somehow created an emergency for him. It’s messed with The Plan. Show of hands! Who’s surprised!? That’s what I thought. If I didn’t have to make dining reservations when we want a nice table service meal, I’d skip The Plan and if I knew what Murphy looked like I’d stay the heck out of his way!!!

Plan B said that we’d go to the Studios in the morning and the Magic Kingdom for the rest of the day. We are now progressing to Plan C. Hollywood Studios is the Mr.’s favorite park. DD and I would feel bad going there without him so we decide to go to the Magic Kingdom until he’s finished. He’ll call me on my cell and we’ll meet up at the Studios. Then it’s back to MK for dinner at Tony’s (YUM!) and the Main Street Electrical Parade. We sorry for the Mr., but we’re getting Girl Time at the MK!     We’re off like a herd of turtles with air brakes! What’s that? Never heard of turtles with air brakes? Well, where have you been?

Anyway, DD and I arrive at the MK with a mission. You see, two years ago during our first Girl Time at the MK (the Mr. was on a tour) we met Jack from New York, New York. We stopped in at the Main Street Ice Cream Parlor for cones and took them next door to the Bakery where we could sit down out of the heat to eat them. While we were there, the Share A Dream Come True parade began and the CM at the cash register brought out a big ol’ Mickey glove. He waved to people outside. He waved to people inside. He sang along with the parade music. We enjoyed his enjoyment. While I was throwing away my napkin, he had come up to our table to visit with DD. Jack, as his name tag identified him, told her she had a wonderful smile and he had something for her, but she had to promise to wear it for the rest of the day. (I was back by this time) She promised and he gave her a Tinker Bell pin on a card with a little quote about dreams coming true. He was a wonderful man of obvious intelligence since he recognized an extraordinary girl when he saw one. Hey, I’m allowed to think that. She’s my little girl. I’m supposed to believe she’s the most delightful creature ever to walk the earth. DD thanked him and she made his day when she gave him a hug. That was a great day. We met the Mayor of Main Street too, but that’s another story.

Fast forward a little to the summer 2009. We’re once again at the MK Bakery, this time with Grandma in tow and Jack recognizes DD, now 17! He tells me he could never forget the smile that my Angel has. His wording, not mine. He and DD are buddies by this time and they have another visit later in the week. We’re back in October with Auntie L. Now Jack has met a fairly large percentage of the female portion of our clan and has been happy to see My Girl every time.

Back to the present, and our mission is to say “Hello” to Jack at the Bakery. Except he’s not there. Hm. Well, maybe he doesn’t work until later in the day. We’ll try again. Meanwhile there are Make Your Own Mickey Ear Beanies to be created, rides to be ridden and other general merriment to be had! We poke through shops that the Mr. doesn’t understand the importance of. We ride Snow White. We find Cinderella’s wishing well. We make a blue sparkly Kermit patched, fuzzy black eared Mickey beanie with DD’s name on the back. We listen to the Dapper Dans, the Citizens of Main Street and the Saxophone Band make their music. We’re on our way to the Haunted Mansion when the Mr texts and says he’s finished with his call. He’s putting his laptop away and will be ready to leave the Lodge soon. We ride the Haunted Mansion and head for the monorail. The Mr. texts that he’s leaving right before we board and then texts again saying that the race is on! What? We’re racing? Well, OK. It’ll be fun. The monorail takes us to the Transportation and Ticket Center where we’ll catch a bus to Hollywood Studios. We’re almost there when the monorail stops. Waiting for our turn to proceed. Sigh. The Mr. texts again. He’s already on his bus. nuts! I tell him we’re stuck. Long story, short. He beat us. >:(

One of our favorite shops in HS is Sid’s. It’s right inside the gate and it’s full of movie memorabilia. They always have a trivia board. Answer all five questions and you get a little Magical Moment certificate. I generally stink at trivia…unless it’s Disney trivia. Today, a few of the questions aren’t strictly Disney, but we did alright anyway. I knew it was Clark Gable who had bad breath and missed on what color Samuel L Jackson’s Star Wars light saber was. So if I can remember Clark’s bad breath, how come I can’t remember to buy trash bags when I stop off at Wal Mart? Alas, it remains one of the mysteries of my life.

From there, we went in search of lunch at the ABC Commissary. The food was fine, but nothing special. As a memo to other cast members who may be visiting, you won’t get your discount here. We filed that info away for future reference. The Back Lot Express is air conditioned too and we think the food is better.

Onward, ho! Toy Story Midway Mania, here we come! Toy Story Midway Mania, closed! Bummer! We rode the Great Movie Ride the other day, so no need now. The Mr. likes the Lights Motors Action show so I check the schedule. Nope. No go. Star Tours? Sure. We’re science fiction-y people at our house. It’s a motion simulator, but it’s not too bad. I close my eyes here and there and I’m fine. The Mr. really likes it. Is it just me, or does the dump shop at the end of this ride have some of the coolest stuff ever! We like the Yoda T shirt that says Judge Me By My Size, Do You? Yoda is standing in front of the yard stick that says he’s too short to ride. He’s wearing Mickey ears and has a Mickey ice cream bar in his hand. It’s a hoot. The Mr. has a shelf in his office where he keeps his collection of cartoon and character figurines. We find a set of Star Wars figures. He likes them. He says he already has enough souvenirs. He puts them back. He goes to look at something else. He had to work this morning. TSMM was closed. No go on the stunt car show. It’s absurdly hot and he’s being a trooper. The Star Wars figures aren’t expensive. I buy them. It’s vacation. Why not?

DD’s thinking about riding the Tower of Terror and the Rockin’ Roller Coaster. The Mr. isn’t so sure he’s up for it in the incredible heat, but we head that way anyhow. We escape the heat by going int shops along the way. One of them has a table where the artist who designed the latest Hollywood Studios collector pin is sitting. He’s autographing the pins! How cool is that?! We buy one and he signs it for us. it wasn’t busy so we get to talk to him for quite a while. He knows all sorts of interesting things about two of out favorite movies: Pete’s Dragon and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. We send DD to see how long the wait is for ToT and R’n'R. Not happenin’ so we keep talking to the artist until we have to go back to the MK for dinner. That was one of the best things we got to do in the Mr.’s books! He spent quite a bit of time on the internet later on researching more about all the cool things he’d learned that day.

Alrighty. Bus to the Contemporary. Monorail to MK. Dinner at Tony’s. Salmon for DD and the Mr. and Chicken Parmesan for me. I’m disappointed that the mushroom ravioli isn’t on the menu any more, but the chicken is good. We didn’t have a lot of time left, so we’d have to pick and choose what to do.  The Mr.’s phone rings. Work. Crud. He sends us to go have fun. He’d catch up. We check the Bakery again. No Jack. He must be off today. sigh We’re sorry we missed him.

DD’s favorite thing in all the Magic Kingdom is the Carousel of Progress, so that’s where we go. The Mr’s call is over when we finish and we go to Mickey’s Philharmagic. Love that! Then Haunted Mansion. DD and I rode that earlier, but Daddy didn’t get to so we go again. I mean, really. Does a visit to Disney World even count if you don’t ride it? I don’t think so! We escape becoming the Thousandth Happy Haunt, and it’s time to find a place to watch the Main Street Electrical Parade. We find a good spot and I go in search of drinks. It’s our last park night and I splurge a little. I get the Great Big More Soda Than Anyone Needs In A Week size in the souvenir cup. Two of them. Cuz I can’t carry three. We wait. it’s almost time. DD has the camera ready. The music starts. And… a woman literally elbows DD aside and stands smack bang in front of her! DD glowers, but adjusts her photographic position as best she can. The woman also has balloons, the strings of which she is not minding. They constantly move in front of DD and her lens. DD’s eyes roll in disgust. She tries adjusting again. Mrs. Rude lifts her child to stand on the bench in front of DD.  Little wisps of steam begin to escape from DD’s delicate little ears. I can see just fine so I offer to switch places with her. We try, but DD’s just enough shorter than I am that she can’t get a good shot. It ain’t workin’ tonight. It’s give up on photos and enjoy the parade or drive herself nuts. Discretion is the better part of valor. DD watches the parade.

The parade, which was spectacular, finishes and we debate staying for the fireworks. This should tell you how wretchedly hot it is. We, the Speck family, are debating the relative value of Disney fireworks. Never thought it would happen. We decide to mosey on. We’ll go through the Emporium. There are a couple of things we wanted anyway. We pick up DD’s messenger bag for school. It’s so cute! It has the Fab 5 looking “youthful”. Goofy has braces. Donald’s wearing horn rimmed glasses. Minnie has a light bulb above her head. The filament is Mickey shaped. The background is white and everything else is in bright neon colors and black. Sprinkled throughout are little phrases. like “Nerds Rock” and “Nerds Are Cool”. It’s sooo DD! We look for the shirt that the Mr. wanted. Then his phone rings. Again. sigh We find a place to sit in that little area next to Casey’s. We hear “Wishes” start so we go outside to watch. We see the fireworks after all. They’re lovely, as usual, but we’re feeling pretty bad for the Mr. He shouldn’t have to have his vacation interrupted like this. We make sure he knows we’re not mad at him. Poor guy.

We take the ferry back to the Wilderness Lodge after one last longing look at My Castle. It’s OK. It’ll still be here next time, but I’m still a little sad. We’ll get our mugs, go down to Roaring Fork and have some soda. Maybe a treat too. It’s that sort of night.

Clever Money Saving Tip Of The Day: Most counter service meals are pretty big. Sometimes I really want a burger, but I don’t need a double! It’s too much food for me and I’ll wind up wasting it. There are two solutions. If another person in the party wants a burger too, order an extra bun. It’s less than a dollar. Put the second patty on the extra bun and you’re all set. There are always more than enough fries to share. The alternative is ordering a kids meal. They come with the entree (burger, chicken nuggets, turkey sandwich, etc.) and your choice of two sides plus a beverage. It’s just the right amount of food for a smaller appetite. You’ll only want to do this at a counter service restaurant unless the reason you need a smaller meal is medical, such as gastric bypass. Then, by all means, ask your server if it’s possible to order a child’s portion of whatever you’d like. They usually try their best to accommodate you.

If It’s Tuesday, It Must Be Harry Potter

Remember that guy Murphy and the whole “plans of mice and men” thing? Yeah? Then you know already how this went. See, our Grand Plan for Universal Islands of Adventure and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was to get up early (you’re finding the flaw in the plan already, aren’t ya) and be at the gate by opening time. We would then go directly to tWWoHP and do everything there before the crowds got to be too much. Unfortunately, the word “early” was, by and large, not part of our vocabulary on this trip.

We managed to be up by 8 or so and on our way by 9. It doesn’t take long to get to Universal from Disney, however getting through the deceptively short lines of cars and into the parking structure does. Then you have to follow the other cars, bovine style, to a parking attendant who directs you into your parking spot whether you wanted to park next to that big ol’ paint scratching, mirror wrecking pillar or not. Then there’s the trek from the ramp to the front of the park itself where we were to trade our time share ticket vouchers for actual tickets. When , after approximately two-thirds of a Millenium, it was finally our turn and tickets were in hand, I thought I’d ask what they charged for their version of what Disney calls FastPass. Fifty smackeroos, that’s what! Not per family. Per person! After a dramatic #Gasp!# ~Choke!~ >Wheeze!<, I politely declined.

It was about that time that we realized we had left the Mr.’s hat in the car. Way back in Outer Mongolia. Where we parked next to the Voracious Pillar. Now, the Mr. should not, under any circumstances, spend any time out in the hot sun without a hat. His head burns and when it peels, it looks like he has a bad case of the Mange for three or four days. Back to the car for said hat? That ain’t happenin’. It was getting ratty anyway. Time for a new hat! We found one in the Endangered Species store. It was even on sale! The Mr. looked quite dashing in it if I do say so myself!

We finally made it into the park itself and to tWWoHP (I am not typing out that whole title every time I need to use it) around 10:30. Oi Vey! Uff Da! Other assorted expressions of Consternation! Does the term “seething mass of humanity” mean anything to you? Bravely, we entered anyway. Hmm. What to do first? Photos by the Hogwarts Express! Done. Shopping in Honeyduke’s Candy or Zonko’s Joke Shop? The wait was over an hour. Oh look! The Dragon Challenge roller coaster had only a 20 minute wait time posted! Good deal! The Mr. and DD got in line. I figured that by the time they were finished, I could get through the line to buy a butterbeer. Said butterbeer cost $3.25 for a 16 oz, cup, $4.25 if you wanted the frozen variety, $10.50 for the 12 oz. plastic souvenir mug and $11.50 for the same mug with a frozen beverage. The cart also had bottles of “pumpkin juice” with a plastic pumpkin on the lid. I read the ingredients. It was mostly apple juice with a little apricot concentrate and pumpkin puree. Out of curiosity, I turned the bottle over to see if I could get an idea of the consistency because it sounded like it could be kind of thick to me. The unappetizing-looking sediment in the bottom of the bottle convinced me that I probably didn’t want one. The fool thing cost $5.99 anyway. Yes, Fellow Mousketeers, $5.99 for a single serving bottle of fake pumpkin juice. I finally paid for and received my butterbeer which I intended to share with my family. It looked pretty good and smelled quite buttery. Then the first sip, which was rather like unto butterscotch cream soda. Not bad, but what ho?! It’s artificially sweetened! Not my favorite thing. It wasn’t undrinkable, but artificial sweeteners disagree with me as they do a great many others. A little warning would have been nice. I tried the line for Olivander’s and Dervish and Banges. An hour and 15 minutes. Umm…no. I asked the employee who was minding the line if there was any time of day that was less crowded. The nice boy in the extremely hot (nasty hot, not hot hot), uncomfortable looking black costume said to come back after 5. It wouldn’t be quite as packed and the sun wouldn’t be so strong. I met up with the Mr. and DD who also tried the butterbeer. Their opinion was about the same as mine. Just OK. Heeding the words of the nice boy in the nasty-hot black costume, we left tWWoHP and proceeded to Jurassic Park. It was just as wickedly hot, but nowhere near as crowded. We had lunch at the first indoor eatery we could find. This was where we really started noticing the differences between Universal parks and Disney parks. I wasn’t even noon yet, but the trash cans were approaching the unpleasantly full mark and the tables were less than squeaky clean. The food itself was OK. I asked for a cup of ice water, which was cheerfully given, but it was just a little 8 oz cup. When I ask at Disney, I’m given a regular sized soda cup. Not a big deal. I’m sure they’d have given me another if I’d wanted one. The ookey part of lunch was the suspiciously roach-like brown insect crawling on the wall by our table. I know it’s Florida in the summer and there are bugs. It doesn’t necessarily mean uncleanliness. I also know that in all of our many Disney trips, no matter what time of year, I never seen that sort of insect on Disney property. Just sayin’!

Time for more fun! We explored the Discovery Center for a while and watched a baby T-rex hatch. They named it Anna. I’d have chosen something that sounded…large. Hortense or Brunhilda, perhaps. I had not been asked for my input, so Anna it was. We did see something quite strange there which had nothing to do with the park itself, but rather a family of other park attendees. First they passed around the bottle of sunscreen. Nothing unusual there. Then they passed around the deodorant. It was the roll-on kind. Ew. That’s all. Just…Ew.  We decided it was time to move on and try the boat ride. That sounded safe and somehow sanitary. It was a long wait, but we had all day and without FastPass available, you wait. There were fans and the walkway was shaded, so it wasn’t too bad. The thing that kind of broke the illusion of being in Jurassic Park was that we could look up and see the Hogwarts castle as well as Professor Sprout’s greenhouse which shades the line for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. I started humming that Sesame Street song…one of these things is not like the others, one of these things just doesn’t belong… DD gave me a funny look. When our turn came, we enjoyed the ride. I hadn’t realized it was the sort where you get good and wet, but that was alright. It was really sweltering. The heat index was well over 100 all week. We noticed what looked like a super-cool hang glider type ride. The glider wings were pterodactyls. But, dang bust it anyway, it was a kids only ride! You had to be under a certain height or be accompanying someone who was in order to ride! *sigh!* Finished with Jurassic Park, we wandered on.

I don’t mean to be negative, but unless you’re into roller coasters and turn-you-upside-down-and-inside-out rides, there isn’t a lot to do in this park. We checked out the Dudley Doright water ride, but the wait was almost two hours. It didn’t seem worth it. We pretty much shopped our way around to Seuss Landing, which is actually my favorite part. I can ride things there! I’m a weenie. I freely admit it. I’m not scared of most rides, except if it feels like I’m going to fly out of my seat. I don’t like to be jumped at or loomed over very much, but the real problem is that I tend toward motion sickness if things get too spinny or wild. No tea-cup or big sudden drop type rides for me. Motion simulators do it to me too. Consequently, Seuss Landing is just right for Yours Truly. We did just about everything there and shopped in all the cool, Seussian shops. Then it was a quick stroll through the Lost Continent where we watched a wise acre talking fountain spit water at passers-by and unruly children. That was fun. This put us right outside the gates of tWWoHP again. As the Nice Boy had said, it was much less crowded. We went to the Forbidden Journey ride and got in line. We loved the greenhouse which the line passed through. Strange plants were suspended above. There were planting boxes containing mandrakes. It was very well themed. The only drawback was that it was pretty darned dirty. One of the drinking fountains had a thick coating of icky black scuzz in it. I know that things happen in the course of a day in a theme park. People drop their gum or spill their drinks or any number of messy things can happen and unless a cleaner-upper type employee happens to be right there it might be a little while before a problem like that is resolved. This was just plain neglect. This part of the park has only been open for two months, fer pete’s sake! Unfortunately, we noticed similar situations throughout the park. Done complaining now! Then we reached the castle itself. How Cool Was That!?! The paintings talked to each other. You get to see Dumbledore’s office! Harry, Ron and Hermione appear from under the invisibility cloak and set the stage for the story told by the ride. (escaped dragon. must be caught before it wreaks havoc.) I wish I could have lingered and really looked at everything. I could have spent hours there. Then it was time to get on the ride itself. OK, pause for a minute. Rewind a bit. Remember how dropping and spinning and simulated motion are a really bad idea for me? Well, I was blissfully unaware that this puppy has all three. I won’t describe the ride because that would spoil it for those of stronger stomach than I. I didn’t see much anyway. I couldn’t look ’cause my lunch would have magically reappeared. I kept peeking because the little I did see was really cool. There were Dementors, spiders, a big ol’ dragon and I’m sure it would have looked exactly like really riding a broom. I, however, spent the whole time hoping it would be over before I spewed. (notice my clever little nod to Hermione and the house elves there) On the other hand, DD and the Mr. laughed, screamed and exclaimed their way through the entire thing, clearly having the time of their lives. As far as we could tell, the shop at the end had all manner of Hogwarty goodness for sale, but it was so crowded, we couldn’t really see for sure. The shop itself was delightfully creepy, though. We went outside and perused the wand cart. Alas! No Snape wand for DD’s friend back in East Podunk! They were sold out. The Mr. and DD rode Flight of the Hippogryph whilst I rested and regained my bearings. I could have used a coke, but apparently Magical folk do not drink carbonated beverages since, with the exception of butterbeer, there are none to be had in all of Hogsmeade.

I was feeling better and it was dinner time so we tried the Three Broomsticks. DD had fish and chips, the Mr. had shepherd’s pie and I had the roasted chicken salad. It was all pretty good! Once again, we discovered that our lemonade and pear cider, which was not really cider, were artificially sweetened. I suspect the apple cider is as well. The people working  there were really in character, so that was fun.

DD really wanted to see Olivander’s so she and I got in the much shorter than before but still pretty stinkin’ long line and the Mr. found something else to do while he waited for us. I’m estimating 45 minutes passed before we got inside, but it turned out to be worth it for us. We found ourselves inside the shop just as if we had stepped into Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. When the door closed, DD was chosen by the proprietor of Olivanders for a wand fitting! He was tall with black hair, a goatee, expressive face and wearing robes with a round, tasselled hat similar to the one Dumbledore wears. Quite mysterious and just a tiny bit spooky. He asked her questions and measured her arm, height and length of her upper lip (?) and handed her the first wand while describing what it was made of and instructing her to give it a flick. The flowers in a vase on a shelf wilted. He took the wand away and revived the flowers, muttering about other possibilities. He gave her a second wand to try and told her to say “Accio ladder”, which was supposed to bring the library ladder (the kind on a wheeled track) toward her. DD complied, but all that happened was a great banging and thumping as storage drawers randomly and loudly opened and slammed shut.

Then he said “Hmm…I wonder…” Just like Olivander did in the first movie. So cool! He asked her birthday. (It’s June 1st. Isn’t that about the same time a certain young wizard was born?) Then he brought out a dusty old box. Describing the wand, he made sure to mention that it had a phoenix feather core. When he put it into her hand, light glowed. A breeze swirled around her and he announced that the wand had chosen the wizard! It was just like the movie had come to life! Sooooo cool!

The man opened another door that led into the rest of the wand shop and told me that if we didn’t want to buy the wand we should just leave it on the counter.

We bought the wand. It looks like a cobra.

If you want to see it, here’s the link to it on the Universal site.

http://www.universalorlando.com/merchandise/HPProductDetail.aspx?ProductId=ecf2fda9-5cdd-478b-a750-865019c3c5fa%28MerchandiseBaseCatalog%29&parentCategory=category%28merchandisebasecatalog%29&CategoryName=Category|Collectibles%28MerchandiseBaseCatalog%29

There was a girl in this part of the shop who was telling people what sort of wand they should buy depending on their birthday. She said I needed holly. I kinda like that. The holly wands are quite handsome.

We were all Universalled out by that time, so we took a quick look through Honeydukes and Zonko’s which are right near the gate. Honeydukes was just what I’d pictured, right down to the chocolate frogs. We didn’t buy one though. They were huge and, really, it’s August in Orlando. Not a good combination. Zonko’s was a bit of a disappointment. There were Fanged Fliers, Extendable Ears and a few other things you’d recognize from the stories, but most of the rest was just gross or creepy novelties you’d find in the store at Halloween time. There were a few t-shirts and some wind-up tin toys too, but everything was boxed. There were no unboxed examples so you could really see the products. That kind of took the fun out of it.

On the way back to our car and the Voracious Pillar, which did not gnaw our paint or consume our mirrors, we got drinks and a soft pretzel and DD told her dad all about Olivander’s. That really was the highlight of our day. I’m glad we went, but I’m also glad we didn’t pay full price for the tickets. There are multiple reasons the Disney is on the top of the theme park heap and, while we had a good time, we saw many examples of those reasons.

Back at the Wilderness Lodge, we trooped down to Roaring Fork to fill our mugs and get a Mickey rice krispie treat before bed. It’s the Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios tomorrow so we’re going to need our rest!

Today’s Ever So Clever Tip: If you are ever in a crowd situation similar to the one we experienced, do what we did and ask an employee about a better time to come back. Later in the day, during a parade, or while everyone else is at a popular show are usually good bets.

Every Monday Should Be Like This

Our day today was like no other. Just guess what we did. C’mon, guess. You know you want to!

Oh, alright…party pooper.

Are ya ready?

Today we…..

Took it easy!

HA! Gotcha!

I woke up around 9 and indulged in the gourmet breakfast consisting of a pop tart and a juice box. The Mr. opened one eye some time around 11 and DD did not stir until 11:30. We were up late last night though. We have a tendency to do that.

Anyway, we had lunch at Roaring Fork, which was enlivened by one of the naughtiest toddlers I’ve ever had the misfortune to see. Remember that I work in a Disney Store. I see a lot of miserable brats, so this kid was something else. He spilled his grandmother’s drink and proceeded to throw his shoes into the mess! This was after “entertaining” all present with his repertoire of unacceptable antics while waiting in line for food. He was making my eyebrow twitch. Y’know how that happens when you feel the nearly uncontrollable urge to cho… well, never mind. ;}

Our Grand Adventure of the day consisted of venturing forth with a recalcitrant GPS to find a gas station and the CM only store. We found a few things, but I think this is one of those sometimes-it’s-totally-Fabu-and-sometimes-there’s-not-much-to-see kind of stores.

It was back to the Lodge for a swim and a snooze. For dinner we took the boat across the lake to the Contempo Cafe at the Contemporary for spice crusted Mahi sandwiches for DD and the Mr. and a turkey BLT for me. I had house made potato chips with mine. Yum-O!

We watched the Electric Parade on the lake and cruised back to the Lodge.

Tomorrow’s installment is sure to curl your hair, fellow Mousketeers, so come on back!

Today’s Tip: Before leaving home, buy everyone in your travel party a rain poncho. They’re available at dollar stores, and the camping department at Wal Mart and Target. Carry a zip top plastic bag for each one so you’ll have someplace to put them when wet. This will save you almost $8 each if you had to buy them at the parks!

Slowing Down at Disney World?

Usually our trips, whether we intend them to be or not, are packed full of activities. This time, we’re trying to do more relaxing and less go, go, go. This was our first more or less free form day. We did a timeshare tour this morning and were rewarded with free Universal Studios tickets. Hogsmeade, here we come! Well, not until later in the week, but, really, Score!!!!

We returned from our “90 Minute Presentation”…got there at 8 and didn’t return until 1… and met DD, who opted not to attend, at Downtown Disney for lunch. The Mr. returned to the Lodge for a snooze and DD and I had Girl Time shopping in all those places that daddies hate and mommies and their girls love! Girl Time with my DD is just about my favorite thing ever! Back to the Lodge for a swim and dinner at Cici’s Pizza with a coupon from one of those free booklets we picked up at Wal Mart the other night rounded out our day nicely. What a great deal! We got one meal free with the purchase of another and two large soft drinks. The whole bill was $20 and change! We got another great surprise too! There were peel-off coupons on the drink cups. We got coupons for a free meal and a free drink! We’ll use those on our way back from Universal on Tuesday.

Your Tip Of The Day is a no-brainer: Pick up those coupon books when you see them! There are all sorts of great discounts to be had in those things!

Two For The Price Of One!

It would seem, dear readers, that in my excitement, enjoyment and enthusiasm for All Things Disney, that I neglected to keep you informed regarding our vacation progress yesterday. Sadly, I also forgot to include a tip or trick on my last post. I will remedy your crushing disappointment immediately!

Yesterday’s Money Saving Tip: Since the water on Disney property tastes and smells of sulfur and the bottled variety costs $2.50 a pop, invest in a refillable water bottle with a filter. The Brita or Culligan brands can sometimes be found on eBay. An easier option is Pure Water 2 Go http://www.purewater2go.com/ Your bottle will easily pay for itself several times over during your stay. Order replacement filters as needed and your bottle will last for years!

On to Epcot! Here is The Plan, which we all know is unlikely to become The Reality. We intended to be at Epcot fairly close to opening time, known in Disney Speak as “rope drop”. We would spend our morning in Future World, progressing to the World Showcase when it opened at 11 AM. We had a reservation for lunch at Chefs De France and upon finishing our meal, would Park Hop to Disney’s Hollywood Studios for the remainder of the day.

HA!

We did not grace Epcot with our presence until at least an hour after rope drop. With only two hours until lunch, we rode Spaceship Earth, guzzled free soda pop at Club Cool (Try the Beverly ;} You’ll love it. Honest.) met Jiminy Cricket, bought the Mr. some new sunglasses, wandered France for a few minutes and then went to the restaurant. We had never eaten there before, so the new experience added a wrinkle or two to our gray matter. Didn’t hurt a bit! As a matter of fact, it was quite enjoyable both intellectually and gastronomically! That must have been the best French onion soup I’ve ever had. Everything else was quite tasty as well. The best part of all had nothing whatsoever to do with our food. We go to meet Le Petite Chef, Remy! He was adorable! His human companion wheeled him around on a tray on a serving cart and encouraged him to overcome his shyness. It was so much fun and the highlight of our day. ‘Course the rest of the scenery wasn’t bad either. Our waiter, Maxime, was purty, as were a great many of the others. {insert smug expression here} Afterward, we trekked through the rest of the Showcase and made our way to the Friendship boats for the short trip to Hollywood Studios. It was 5:30 PM.

Just before 6 PM the boat docked and the skipper announced that the Studios were closing at 7! What? It’s Saturday night! Whazzup with that?! A Star Wars Event, that’s what. Well, we’d make the best of it. Toy Story Midway Mania was experiencing technical difficulties, so we opted for another favorite of ours, The Great Movie Ride! After that, our Dear Daughter, heretofore referred to as DD, requested a trip to the Villain store and other shopping delights. Forty minutes and several purchases later and it was time to go.

OK, hit the Pause button for a second. We’ve established that my offspring is DD. I have referred to my husband as my Beloved Spouse, but the initials for that are socially unacceptable, so let’s just go on calling him the Mr.

Resume play!

Here’s where we become flexible again. There was nowhere near enough time spent at this park for my movie loving family. Wednesday was supposed to be our Magic Kingdom day. Now it’s Hollywood in the AM and Magic Kingdom in the PM day. I am most determined to head for the Kingdom immediately after lunch! Yeah. Right. We’ll see how that works for me. ;}

Epcot Day’s Tip/Trick: Pack breakfast items that you can keep and eat in your room while you’re getting ready to face the day. Granola bars, Pop Tarts, cereal bars, powdered breakfast drink mixes such as Tang, single serving boxes of cereal and instant oatmeal if your room has a coffee maker for heating water all pack easily. Don’t forget the disposable bowls and plastic spoons! Milk can be purchased in your resort gift shop by the quart if you have a mini fridge in your room or in half pints in the food court as needed. You’ll save lots of time and money eating breakfast in your room!

How Cool Was That!?!

You’ll be happy to know, Fellow Mousketeers, that breakfast at the Best Western Riverside was adequate. Nothing special, but there was a make your own waffle station, various breads and a toaster, standard toppings for said toasted bread products, prepackaged honey buns, raisin bran, frosted flakes, instant oatmeal, yogurt, orange juice, apple juice and coffee in regular and decaf. The quality of the coffee was most unfortunate. ;} The nice lady in charge of the breakfast room was very cheerful and helpful though, as was the desk clerk when I checked out.

The remainder of our road trip to Orlando was uneventful right up until the last few minutes. You see, our GPS guided us off the freeway at an exit we had never used before. What’s so cool about that, you may ask? It led us on to Disney property via a route that took us right straight past the back of Space Mountain, that’s what! We also drove past Disney University which is where the cast members only store is. This is exciting because we ‘ll be able to find it without any trouble at all later in the week! In addition to being an affiliate agent of The Magic For Less Travel, I’m also a Disney Store cast member (CM) which entitles me to all sorts of lovely little perks here in the parks, one of which is the ability to visit the aforementioned store. It doesn’t get much better than that pholks! I’ll tell you all about it later.

Once we checked in and got settled at the fabulous Wilderness Lodge, we headed out to Downtown Disney for some dinner. Our favorite counter service place to eat there is without a doubt The Earl Of Sandwich. Any sandwich or salad is $5.99. They’re pretty substantially sized too! Sides and desserts are available for about $2 each and a soft drink will run you about the same. It’s probably one of the most economical places on property that you can eat, but the best part about it is that it’s soooo yummy! Everything we’ve ever had there has been great.

After our meal, we wandered a bit and checked out the shop at the new restaurant, T-Rex. It’s operated by the same people who do Rain Forest Cafe, so it looks quite similar, but instead of animatronic elephants and gorillas there are great big ol’ dinosaurs! Inside, there is a Build A Dino. Think Build A Bear with prehistoric creatures. If you check the dictionary for the word “absurd”, I’m pretty sure that you’ll see a photo of a stuffed woolly mammoth which has been created and costumed in a stylish pink skort, glittery t-shirt and sparkly pink flip flops at Build A Dino. Don’t even get me started on the pterodactyl! What a scream!

We didn’t stay in Downtown Disney very long. The place was crawling with people and we were pretty darned tired. We made a quick Wal Mart run for a couple of forgotten items ’cause it just wouldn’t be a vacation unless we forgot *something*, you know!

It is now far later than any sensible person would be up and about, which explains why I’m writing this at 2 AM. Two AM!!! How the heck did that happen!? I’m going to bed ’cause it’s Epcot day and I intend to be on a bus in 7 hours!

Sleep tight, everybody!

Looooooooonnnnngggg Day!

Ever heard that quote about the best laid plans of mice and men going awry? Well, guess what!?!

Yesterday was supposed to be our departure day for the long drive from East Podunk, Wisconsin to Orlando with stops a few hours south of Chicago and Valdosta, GA. Notice I used the term “supposed to”. Earlier in the week, we received a notice from the power company that there would be a six hour power outage for “scheduled maintenance” on 8/11. Modified Rapture! So much for that plan! You don’t leave until you’re sure everything came back on the way it should, now do you? Who wants to come home to a fridge that hasn’t been running for a week? Yes, I know it’s highly unlikely that it wouldn’t kick right in as soon as power was restored. I also know that there’s this fella named Murphy who likes to mess with my world on a regular basis. It is, therefore, time for us to punt.

After much discussion, several changes to plans and hotel reservations and a great many last-minute errands, the decision was made to leave in the small hours of Thursday morning and drive all the way to Macon, GA. Fifteen hours including stops, and here we are! It’s only five or six hours more tomorrow and we’ll be hearing my very most favorite sound in all the World (Disney World, that is); the voice of the Security Host at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge saying, “Welcome Home!”

I’ve been up since 4 AM, fellow Mousketeers, so I’ll say goodnight.

Type atcha tomorrow!

PS: Travel Recommendation Of The Day

The Best Western Riverside in Macon, GA is clean, pleasant, reasonably priced, has interior corridors and serves a free breakfast the quality of which I will report on at a later date as I have not yet consumed it.