Jaime - May 2006

THURSDAY, MAY 4TH, 2006

Plans: MGM all day. Take bus to MGM. Make sure to catch LMAX. Fantasmic?

Breakfast: French Quarter
Lunch: Sci-Fi @ 11:20am (TS)
Dinner: Prime Time @ 7:05pm (TS)

Reality: We are supposed to go to POFQ for beignets today. Somehow, we don't. Why, oh why, can't we stick to the plan this trip???

Oh, and before I forget, even though the other room is having trouble with the wake up calls (once they got Lauren to stop picking up the receiver, they realized their speaker phone didn't work real well, and they stopped getting the wake up calls), OUR room is enjoying them thoroughly! I am up, showered, and dressed - usually sitting cross-legged on the bed with my finger hovering over the speaker button - every morning! Mickey and Stitch do their thing, and every morning, Rhonda and I start to giggle, then she gets up to shower, dress, etc.

Today is an MGM day, and I had read about the Jedi training sessions. Lauren is a HUGE Star Wars fan, so I thought it would be really cool to try and get her picked. I did not count on her being afraid of Darth Vader. I did her hair SO CUTE! I made 2 ponies, turned them into braids, then looped them up and held them in place with the pink braid pony holders I got at Target! Princess Leah, watch out! I even made up some crap about she was wearing an orange shirt and Darth Vader was afraid of orange shirts. But alas, at the words "Darth Vader", I lost her! No Jedi Training Camp. Crap.

Anyway, we head to MGM, (we drove) and go straight over to Tower of Terror. Rhonda and Ron are going to ride it. I brought the Valium, just in case, but Lauren was bored, and let's all be honest - I CHICKENED OUT! While thy were on the ride, Judi & I took Lauren into a couple of shops looking for cast members to pin trade with. I found Adam and then we found a girl cast member. Judi looked at the CM's name tag and asked Lauren what the girl's name was. Lauren looks at the name tag and yells, "Lauren!"

They were wonderful with her, they spent a few minutes talking to her. I told them about the Jedi Training and how she was afraid of Darth Vader, I even told them about my stupid orange shirt lie, and Adam played right along - something about some troopers or something that wear orange??? I don't know. Didn't matter. No Jedi Training camp.

Rhonda and Ron finish with the ride and we head over to the Villain Shop to find gifts for the teenagers I left at home. Judi finds a little lunch box filled with candy for Lauren to buy for her little sister, but they can't ship candy - it sits on a truck all night and part of a day. So we decide to come back. Voyage of the Little Mermaid is our next thought, but we kinda veer towards the big hat in the process. Minnie!!! We haven't seen HER yet, so they get in line. I say, "Give me your tickets and I'll get FPs for Ariel". Rhonda, Judi, and Lauren hand them over ad I go over to the shade to get Ron's. I haven't mentioned that yet, have I? If you want to find Ron on this trip, look for shade. He's always off to the side, leaning on something!

I head over to the fast pass machines and I feel like an idiot - there's no line. We really didn't need the fast passes. But I get them anyway and head back over to Minnie. Then we head into The Great Movie Ride. I wanted to see the new film clips I heard were added. It was cool - I really liked the Pirates of the Caribbean clip where Johnny and Orly are on the ship and Johnny turns and winks over his shoulder.

Our "guide" had trouble with his microphone the entire ride, so I guess it was a good thing it wasn't our first time through there, or it would have made NO sense!

After that, we used the FPs for the Little Mermaid. Enjoyable, as always. And, yes, when we left the show, we were reminded that we hadn't found Ariel yet for Lauren to sing to her! We know, we know!

We have an early lunch today, so we have to keep an eye on the time. We head across the park to see if Mike and Sulley are out - 2 of Lauren's favorite characters - and they are. She announces she's "going up alone". O-kaaayyy.... not a problem.

Actually, the reason for that was because "when she was 3" she was afraid of the characters at first. Daddy was able to get her to have her picture taken with Mike and Sulley - ONLY because they were her favorites and because Daddy went up with her. A couple of days later in that trip, Auntie Jaime got Lauren to go up to Mickey all by herself, and she even gave him a hug! Man, I was so happy! Not just because she was able to get over her fear, but because her first character hug was Mickey himself! So, she goes and gets her picture taken with Mike and Sulley and comes back saying she can't wait to tell Daddy!

We head over to Star Tours and the 4 of them ride that. I wait outside in the sun - just the thought of the simulator ride makes me sweat! I get to hear the beginning of the Jedi Training Camp - it sounded like it was a really cute show...

By the time they come out of Star Tours, it's time to head over to lunch. Yea, Sci-Fi! I know there are a lot of mixed reviews (and very bad reviews) of this restaurant, but we go there almost every trip! It's fun - sitting in the cars, watching the movie clips. And the food has never been a problem for us.

In fact, in planning this coming December's trip, DD15 had to chose between Prime Time and Sci-fi, and went with Sci-Fi! Of course, she also has another - weirder - rule: If you eat in MGM during the day, you eat at the Prime Time. If you are eating there at night, you eat at the Sci-Fi. Because - have you figured it out yet? - it's dark in the Sci-Fi, so you should only eat there at night. Yup, she's nothing if not logical - and weird! But I like getting the salmon there, so her logic works for me!

Back to this trip - we check in and then head over to the bathroom real quick. We're seated right away (in the restaurant, not the bathroom!) and I sit up front with Lauren, the middle seat is Ron and Rhonda, and Judi's in the back seat alone.

Lauren immediately grabs the crayons and starts in on her children's menu - whoa! Hold on; let's figure out what you're getting! Wow! The children's menu has appetizers!

Carrot and Celery Sticks with Ranch Dressing $1.99
Fruit and Cheese with a Mango Yogurt Dip $1.99

Lauren picks the fruit and cheese. Entrees?

Grilled Chicken Breast roasted potatoes and green beans $5.99 Macaroni and Cheese $4.99
Hamburger served with fries $4.99
Chicken nuggets with fries $4.99

She hears "green beans" and picks the grilled chicken. This is a weird kid. I have 2 kids of my own, so I know. This is a weird kid.

The waiter comes over to take our order. I tell him we're on the dining plan.

Meanwhile, the peanut gallery behind me is yelling up to me, "What does she want?" "Don't forget her drink!" "Makes sure she orders something other than mac 'n cheese!" "Do you know what she wants?" "Don't forget to tell him we're on the dining plan!" I turn around and yell, "Stop backseat ordering! I got it!"

I place my order and Lauren places hers (sure, she'll talk to a waiter, but tell her Darth Vader will be around....) I tell him (my receipt says it was Tim D.) that she wants chocolate milk, but I want to pay for a glow cube. He tells me chocolate milk is the 1 thing they won't show up in. So I ask for the chocolate milk and a glass of water with a glow cube for her! He tells her the color choices and she picks red. When it comes out, it's in a Sci-Fi cup! Awesome! I just thought I was paying for the cube and we get the cup, too!

I got the spinach artichoke dip and the bar-b-q chicken sandwich - which I think used to be shredded and now is whole. It was good, except the bar-b-q sauce had a smoky taste to it, and I'm not a fan of smoky, so it was just aw-right for me, dawg. Rhonda got chili and a burger with mushrooms. I went coke, she went lemonade. Dessert was hot fudge sundae (me) and apple crisp (her).

Lauren's dessert choices were:

Chocolate Gems Sundae $2.99
Fresh Fruit Cup $2.29

She went with the word "gems"! Turned out to be vanilla ice cream with M&Ms and sprinkles. That makes for a very happy 5 year old!

I don't have the slightest clue what Ron or Judi ate. Right after we got there, they played the clip of the 80 foot colossal growing man. It's hysterical. There's a huge hypodermic needle they plunge into his ankle! And then he pulls it out of his ankle and throws it at the men, spearing one of them to the ground! "B" movies are awesome!

And the cast members scream at this part and, during the next scene, when everyone is running from the 80' guy, a waitress runs across the front of the restaurant, yelling "Run for your lives!"

Well, it scared Lauren. She spent most of the meal saying, "Is he coming back? I don't like that man." Which, by dessert, turned into, "When is he coming back? I want to see him again." Arg...........

Just as dessert is being served, Lauren says, "Uh-oh." I say, "What?" Now, you can tell when a child is taught to think as opposed to being given answers, because she looks up at me in a panic, and says, "Do you see what's missing from me?" Hey, kid - just because your parents want you to think things through and figure them out for yourself does not mean you do the same to me. WHAT are you talking about???

Her lanyard's gone. OK, "When was the last time you remember wearing it?" (Two can play at the THINK game!) And she tells me she left it on the toilet paper holder in the bathroom. I'm off to the bathroom (truth be told, I had to go anyway!) I check all the stalls and decide, since the ABC Commissary and the Sci-Fi share a bathroom, I'd head that way first. I go up to a cashier in the Commissary and ask who I should talk to to see if someone turned in a lanyard. He directs me to a manager, who checks their office. Nope. He directs me to the Sci-Fi, which I already knew about and was headed to next. As I start to walk away, another manager-looking man catches up with me and says he'll go with. I didn't get his name, and never even realized he was listening to the first conversation with the other manager. He takes me to the front desk of the Sci-Fi, goes behind the counter and opens their cabinet, and pulls out Lauren's lanyard!

I thank him profusely, and head back to the table where I do Joey's, "I couldn't find it..., YEAH, I DID!"

And I get to eat my slightly melted dessert! Rhonda and I scream along with the waiters when the 80' guy comes back on, and Lauren laughs at it this time. Totals for lunch at the Sci-Fi = Rhonda and I $65.50; Judi, Ron, and Lauren $92.35.

Oh, and Tim D didn't charge me for the cup or cube!

Blur time again! We went and saw the Muppets and I also know that anytime we had to go through New York Street to get somewhere, I kept up the pace - I've heard about those Power Rangers and the havoc they cause!

We knew Ron would probably enjoy the car stunt show (and Lauren LOVES Herbie), so that seemed to be a must. But, we don't have a lot of time left (we wanted to go back to the pool for awhile before dinner) and I wanted to do Millionaire - I got in the hot seat in September and was dying to try again! So I told them to do the car show, I was going to Millionaire. Judi opted for the Millionaire show, too.

In September, after the first fast fingers question, I was number 7 on the board - my first time getting up there. I answered the next 7 questions right, including the one the player missed, thus getting in the hot seat. This time, I blow the fast finger question - Judi ends up on the board, but I can't remember her number.

The guy who get in the hot seat uses 2 lifelines in the first 5 questions, so I figure he'll be out of there soon. The next time they show the board, I'm #2 and Judi is long gone. I blow the next question! Stupid question about stupid cooking! Doesn't matter - because Hot Seat guy rallies and ends up making it just as far as I did in September - 128,000 points! Time's up, game over, the next person in the Hot Seat would have been his wife!

We meet up after and start talking about this evening. We are supposed to eat at the Prime Time at 7:05, but we want to go back to the hotel pool for awhile. Suggestions? All of a sudden, Judi is interested in planning the dining portion of the trip and wants to know where else could we eat! Either Rhonda or I (I'm gonna go with me) suggests Whispering Canyon Cafe - IF we can get an ADR.

If not, we stick with the original plan. Holy cow! We got 7:20 for WCC! Excellent! Prime Time cancelled, we head to the pool. Oops, first we went back to the Villains Shop and got some pirate and Nightmare merchandise - DD15v is Nightmare and DD18 is Pirates - I found her Captain Jack Sparrow flip flops at DTD the other night! Wasn't sure if she'd wear them or hang them on the wall - she hasn't worn them yet, but they're not on the wall either!

We didn't bring any pool toys with this time - I seem to be missing a trip to the pool... the first time we brought 1 toy, the 2nd trip we brought 3 toys and had the whole pool playing catch (so much for QUIET pool!), and this trip we didn't feel like playing with every kid in Disney (not that we minded the first couple times, we just wanted to float around this time).

Flashback: When my 15 & 18 year old DDs were 3 & 5, we went camping with Ron and Judi one summer. It turned out to be the hottest summer of the decade. It was over 100 degrees every day. One evening, Judi, the kids and I went for a walk and left Ron at the camper. We passed by to see him sitting outside in front of a fan! Earlier that night, Judi handed me the portable grill and a package of chicken and told me to get dinner started, I just held the chicken out and said, "Done."

We ended up spending 5 hours one day STANDING in the 4 ½ foot pond the camp had - along with every other camper there! Just STANDING in the middle of the pond. My kids couldn't swim yet. DD3 was (and still is, come to think of it) not a fan of water she can't see through, so she adopted another family with little kids on the beach and played with them all day. DD5 hung around my neck for a good 2 hours before I had had enough.

I balanced her on my leg for a minute and showed her what I wanted her to do with her arms (wiggle them up and down - picture that robot-ish breakdance move - I can't think of what it's called, where it looks like something is flowing through your arms - HELP!!! What's it called???) So she did. Then I told her to kick her legs back and forth gently. She did. I let go, she stayed afloat, and I announced, "You are now treading water." Thank heavens! My neck was killing me, she was rubbing it raw!

Judi and I continued our conversation and DD5 just treaded water. For a while. Then I turned to her and said, "You know - if you put your hands in front of you and your feet behind you, that's called swimming." And off she went! It was that easy. All day, she would swim over, tread water, then tell us, "I'll be right back." and swim off. It was great.

Back to today: Lauren is a stone. Or just really uncoordinated - she couldn't do it. She was just too afraid of the water, I think. I gave up and sent her back to the shallow water. And I tried to teach her all 3 times we were in the pool. Oh, well, that's what swim instructors get paid for, right?

So, we swim and we splash and we float (some of us do, anyway). And after about an hour, we drag our refreshed bodies out of the water and into the showers. And look up in my Passporter HOW to get to the Wilderness Lodge.

Wow! So easy to get to the Wilderness Lodge (and what a great map of the property in the back of the Passporter!) We valet park and we are really early! So Rhonda and I take the group back to see the boat dock and the beach and the pool and the geyser - which we timed so we could watch it go off at 7:00.

After the geyser, we strolled back into the hotel, stopping to check out the menu at Artist Point and peeking in Roaring Forks - we were all kind of shocked at how small Roaring Forks was, I guess we were thinking of that as the WL food court, but they list it as a "cafe".

We check in for our ADR and Lauren spots the Lincoln Logs table. I manage to snag one of the wing back chairs they have right by the table, and the rest of the group goes down into the lobby to sit on a couch.

There are about 6 kids building away, when all of a sudden out of nowhere, comes a little tornado - he was about 3, I would guess, and knocks down the building of the little girl standing in front of me. Her mom was sitting in the chair next to me. The little girl turns to her mom with her mouth hanging open and a look on her face of shock! Pure shock! She can't believe what just happened! She was so shocked looking that both her mom and me burst out laughing!

The father of the tornado comes flying over (I see where he got the tornado genes!), grabs the little boy, and apologizes like the kid just murdered someone! He made the little boy say he was sorry and, still apologizing, dragged him away. The little girl begins to rebuild, and the mom and I are still laughing!

I told her I was sorry to laugh, but the look on her daughter's face was priceless. Through her own laughter, she tells me if it had been the little brother that knocked it down, they'd be pulling the girl off of him!

Then Lauren's building falls - well, let me clarify, it wasn't a building, it was two towers that, according to the laws of gravity, never stood a chance (no pun intended). She begins to rebuild (and, yes, I laughed when her towers fell, too). They call our name and I tell her we have to go. NOW she gets upset. Not that they fell, but because she can't fix them. But she is soon distracted as she enters the restaurant and realizes, (all together now) "I was here when I was 3."

We are seated about 2/3 of the way into the restaurant and Lauren is immediately involved in her children's menu and crayons. (You can't say she's not easy to distract!) She and I figure out what she's going to eat - choices:

All-you-care-to-Enjoy BBQ Skillet - $8.79
Roasted Chicken Drumsticks with Yukon gold mashed potatoes $7.59
Peanut Butter and Jelly served with carrot sticks and applesauce $5.49
Hot Dog with French Fries $5.49
Hamburger with fries - $5.49
Macaroni and Cheese with fruit - $5.49
Grilled Cheese with fries - $5.49
Chicken Strips with fries - $5.49

She goes with the mac 'n cheese. No sooner does she decide than it's time to go up and ride a pony! She remembers, of course, and off she goes!

The waitress comes over, tells us her name, takes our drink orders, throws the paper napkins in the general direction of the table, and leaves. Judi gets it. She says, "Oh, OK! It's one of those places!" But she says it happy, not like my ex-MIL said it about Ed Debevic's in Chicago, and then proceeded to crab the entire meal, "I'm paying good money for this meal! I don't have to put up with rude behavior!" Uuuuhhhhh..... isn't that the point at Ed Debevic's???

Anyway... we get our drinks, Lauren finds us (I had to stand up and wave) and returns to her children's menu, and we're relaxed. A waiter walks by and, being friendly, nods and smiles at Judi, who happened to accidentally make eye contact. Judi waves and smiles.

He thinks she is flagging him down and stops. She clarifies, no, you smiled so I waved. His name is Andrew. He asks if we have ever eaten here before. I answer, "Some of us have." [pointing at Rhonda and myself] Andrew says, "Oh, so then YOU know the rules."

I say, "Yes, and I think HE [pointing at Ron] is REALLY thirsty." Because it was the only gag I could remember them doing at the moment. He asks our waitress's name - we have no clue. He said he'll figure it out and pass on my message.

A cry comes up from about 3 tables away - a waiter has grabbed someone's cell phone and we all had to say "hello" to Grandma on the other end of the line. (It might have been her birthday, too, I don't remember.)

We order: I went with the skillet, which comes with salad, so you don't get to pick an appetizer. I wanted nachos. Rhonda wanted salad. So she ordered... well, you see what happened. Ron got either soup or salad, and Judi got soup. (and, btw, I only ordered the skillet because I wanted to try it and it wasn't costing me anything, I knew I'd never finish the first skillet, let alone order any 2nds!)

Rhonda got the pork chops and Judi asked if she could have just 1 pork chop (she could!). Why don't I ever know what Ron orders???

Suddenly, there's another cry from another table, "Ketchup!" Lauren's head pops up from the children's menu - memories flood her brain! I point out the table with the ketchup and say, "Go!" and she's off like a shot! But she doesn't know where the ketchup GOES. I yell across the restaurant (oh, yeah, I'm all class!) "Follow the other kids!"

She follows a kid who doesn't know where he's going either and the 2 of them are wandering around the restaurant! Total strangers, after pointing and laughing, lead them in the proper direction and Lauren is ready to return to our table... wherever that may be. Yes, I stand and wave. She returns to the children's menu like nothing ever happened.

The food comes - wow and yum. Another cry for ketchup and Lauren's off! She eventually ended up making about 5 trips to deliver ketchup - loved every minute of it - and, after the 4th trip, knew the entire layout of the restaurant and, I think, the names of the chefs, waitstaff, and busboys.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I mean - the table, the waitress shows up, tells Ron she heard he was thirsty, and sets in front of him a half-gallon jar of coke! The best part was that NOBODY at the table heard me tell Andrew that Ron was thirsty! They all dissolved in fits of giggles! Ron spent the rest of the meal trying to get the waitress to bring him the lid to the jar so he could take it home! Lauren will still tell you that the waitress told Ron, "You just don't listen!" although she has no idea what Ron wasn't listening about!

He also spent a lot of time complaining that he couldn't finish all that - I had him refill my glass from his jar and then showed the picture to the waitress, telling her Ron was cheating! When we left the jar was half-empty and Ron spent the night in the bathroom!

Dessert was amazing! Judi got Kahlua-flavored Chocolate Cake - chocolate mousse filling and fudge icing $5.19. I got Happiest Celebration on Earth Dessert - warm chocolate S'more cake, chocolate sauce, Graham cracker crumbs, Graham cracker meringue cookie and topped with a toasted meringue peak $5.79

Rhonda and Ron got Apple Caramel Pie - crumb-topped deep dish apple pie with Haagen Dazs vanilla ice cream $5.19 - to go without the ice cream (wimps!) And Lauren picked Worms in the Dirt - Chocolate cake, chocolate pudding, and gummy worms $2.29 Before we left, they did the pony thing again - off she went. This is one of our favorite restaurants!

Back to the room we rolled - another wonderful day!

HIGH: getting to change from PT to WCC for dinner, Ron's half-gallon jar of soda, making the board on Millionaire
LOW: my feet (always my stupid feet), otherwise it was a great day!
MILES WALKED TODAY: 7.5

Page: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9