Jessica Johnson & Family - May 2007

Day 2 - May 16, 2007

Today was the day that my baby brother was coming to Disney for his very first trip! I got up around 7 (way too early for my tastes!) then got ready and drove over to the main lobby to get some cash from the ATM. Then I stopped in the gift shop to grab a magazine, and break a $20 so I had money for the tolls, and then asked the Concierge if they had airport directions. They did, so armed with my little business card, I headed back to the car and set out.

I've driven to the airport many times, but for some reason I decided not to trust my own instincts, and instead tried to follow the directions from the resort. This resulted in me being on 192 by Medieval Times, and nowhere near the airport. I get frustrated when I'm kind of lost (I say kind of, because I knew exactly where I was, but just not how to get to where I needed), and that never helps the situation. I ended up turning around, and finally saw signs for the airport. Once I was on the right road, it was a pretty quick trip to the airport, and I made up some of the time that I lost. I pulled into the parking garage, and spent the next 10 minutes driving up and down different aisles to try and find a parking space. In the end, I had to go up a floor, and then through some more rows before finding a space.

I hurried as quickly as I could to the elevator, then back up to the terminal, where I made a quick run to the Crocs store to see if they had a pair that I wanted. They did- but not in my size, so I ran back to the other terminal, while calling my brother to see where he was (I was hoping he was still on the plane), and he was down at the baggage claim. I headed down there and found him, met his girlfriend, and then took them both out to the car.

We made a quick stop at Publix for some snacks for them, and then headed to Caribbean Beach where they were staying for their trip. I helped them get checked in, and their room was ready, so we drove out to the Aruba building, where their room was. I then helped them get settled in their room. I asked my brother what he wanted me to do- did they want me to hang around, or did they want time to themselves? He invited me to hang out with them for a while, and to go to the parks with them. After much discussion, we settled on the Magic Kingdom, and headed back to the car and drove over.

We took the monorail over to the park, and I think I mortified him when I asked if we could sit in the front! Sadly, it was already full, so we had to settle for a normal car. He seemed kind of impressed with the monorail- I don't think he's really encountered one. I guided them off the monorail, through security and into the park, where I then made them stop at the VMK shop, so I could turn in the quests I'd done, and get the cards. Once that was done- I said that I was up for whatever they wanted to do. But, no one seemed to have plans. He was totally unfamiliar with the parks, and after refusing to let me take his picture in front of the Castle, said he'd do whatever his girlfriend and I chose. She didn't really have any opinions, so I told him to pick right or left, he chose right, and off we went to Tomorrowland.

I guess I should take a minute and explain that I am quite a bit older than my brother. In fact, I'm 10 years older than him, so in a lot of ways, he was pretty much an only child (we do have a sister who is 2 years younger than me), so there are some things that I experienced, and he hasn't. Though we came from the same family- it often seems like we grew up in different worlds. Which, I guess we kind of did, but I digress. My point in saying this is to explain that this was literally the first time the child had ever set foot into an amusement park. At 19, nearly 20, he had never been on ANY ride. Ever. Not even a merry go round. Nothing.

So- this made the trip doubly interesting. All new stuff for him, but no clue what he could "handle" ride wise. (Supposedly mom loves roller coasters, but dad has motion sickness issues and is a bigger ride weenie than I am). I figured we'd start small, and then just see what he could handle. As we headed into Tomorrowland, we saw that Buzz only had a 10 minute wait, so I steered us onto it. I had my own car, and I suck at this game normally. I suck even harder when I'm trying to steer my own car. My brother wouldn't tell me what his score was- he claims he forgot. (I asked as we got off the ride).

With Buzz out of the way, I decided to throw him to the wolves ;o) We headed over to Space Mountain, and I found myself a bench, while the two of them got in line. I called Chris (he'd been calling periodically, but always when I was driving, so I hadn't spoken to him since I'd picked the kids up) and told him what they were up to. He asked me if I'd told my brother to be sure and duck. In addition to being a decade younger than me, he's also quite a bit taller- last I checked, he was 6'4". Soon they were off the ride, and I asked how it went. Typical of my brother, he tells me, "It was fun, I think I'm going to puke".

I figured we should go for a safe ride next, so headed to the TTA, and we all hopped in a car. I pointed out some of the other rides, and asked him if he wanted to ride the Speedway (he refused to respond), and then showed him the Hidden Mickey on the ride. Once it was done, he was feeling better, so I explained the other things in Tomorrowland. I strongly discouraged them from seeing Stitch, mainly because I didn't want to smell the thing. His girlfriend had been on Alien Encounter, which was far superior, so they were easily convinced to skip it.

With that taking care of Tomorrowland, we made our way up to Fantasyland, and through the area. Most of the rides had quite a wait, and while I would have enjoyed making him sit through Pooh, it wasn't worth half an hour of my life to do. We did happen to walk up just as they were getting ready to do another show of Philharmagic, so I drug them in with me. My brother is very much our father's son- I knew that he wasn't going to be all that impressed with the "magic" at Disney, but I'd be able to get him with the effects and technology. I was right- he loved Philharmagic for the effects.

When we were done in Philharmagic, we headed over to check out Peter Pan (I live to torture him), but it was a long wait, so instead his girlfriend and I forced him onto Small World. I do have to say- I felt very badly for him, as most of the vehicles aren't really designed for him to be comfortable, and the boats here were no exception. He wasn't all that into this one- but we're a sarcastic family, and were able to at least make jokes about the wonderful effects (like the rain) on the ride. There was quite the backup as we were nearing the end, and we got stuck in the next to the last room for a while. He wasn't amused, and at one point, I think he was contemplating getting out of the boat and walking.

We did finally make it back to the dock, and after hiking up the ramp to get out of the ride, we decided it was time for the Haunted Mansion. We made our way over, and pretty much walked right into the building, and right into the stretching room. I was hoping to show him the tombstone that moves, but there was no time. Inside the stretching room, I did my usual reconnaissance to find where the door would open, and then warned him he should probably not lean against the walls. He asked me why, just as the Cast Member told him to drag his wretched body to the dead center of the room. His response? "She's cheery" For the first time, ever, in the stretching room, no one screamed when they suggest the way out. I was all set, holding my ears, too. Oh well, I quickly guided them out of the stretching room, and into the queue, where we came to a standstill. They had the ride shut down, so we had to wait a bit for it to get started up again. I was in front of the two of them, and kind of jumped ahead to get into a doombuggy, figuring they'd take the next one, but they both hopped in with me. It was pretty cool to see him taking in the ride, though his girlfriend was sitting in the middle, and I was banging my head, so I know he couldn't have been comfortable.

When we were done, we decided to skip Hall of Presidents, and I led them out to Frontierland, where I left them at the entrance to Big Thunder Mountain. He had decided, after Space Mountain, that he wasn't going to do any more roller coasters, but his girlfriend and I convinced him to at least try one where he could see where he was going. He did, and it turns out he was fine on this one. I spent the time sitting on the ground waiting for them.

Neither one of them seemed to be interested in Splash Mountain, so we headed back to the main part of Frontierland, where we got stopped by the parade. True to form, the only thing he found interesting was the fact that the characters are tethered to the floats. Once the parade passed, we headed into Adventureland, where they decided to do Pirates. I told them I'd be waiting at the end, and went to my normal spot. It was wonderful to be out of the sun, and actually feeling some air conditioning. They came off the ride, and we kept wandering.

He decided he didn't want to ride Aladdin's Carpets, but I did talk him into the Jungle Cruise. Getting in line, I knew this could go either way. I began to get very afraid when the recording playing in the queue suggested dividing parties of 66 into two groups off 33 1/2. His response was "Who travels with 33 people?" But- once we boarded the boat, he really seemed to get into it. He laughed his way through the ride, and even seemed like he'd have gone on it again when we got off.

I wasn't going to push my luck, though, so we headed back towards the hub, and debated what to do next. I was starving, so I announced that I was getting a hot dog, and headed to Casey's, while they went to the Ice Cream Parlor. I met them at a table outside, and we enjoyed our snacks while trying to figure out what to do next. We decided it was time to head back to the hotel and rest a bit. They had to be up early to get to the airport, and he worked pretty late the night before.

So, we made our way out, and took the monorail back to the car. I explained where they had to go the following morning for their breakfast at 'Ohana, and then drove them back to their hotel. As we were leaving the Magic Kingdom area, going through one of the long jug handles just before the Car Care Center, there was this loud thud/snapping sound. After the first- what the hell was that? I realized that nothing had hit the car, and everything seemed to be fine. I kept driving, dropped them off, and all was well.

As I was heading back to Sports, I realized that the back driver's side window was down a bit- and I figured I must have hit the button. So, I pushed the button to put it back up, and it didn't budge. And, then I knew what that sound had been. The rotor on the power windows had broken. Again. We've replaced 3 of the 4 rotors since we've had this car (we got it in 2003). Other than the stupid windows, I love my car. Anyway, it was broken, and I had no idea what to do, but knew I couldn't leave it down. Every other time this has happened, Chris has been with me, so I wasn't sure what to do. So, I called him, and he suggested that I ask Bell Services if they had any duct tape, and ask them to help me put the window up. Oh, and shove the erasers we keep in the car, just for this type of occurrence, into the seal between the window and the door to help keep them up.

On a previous trip, this had happened, just as it started to pour. We were on our way to the Grand Floridian so I could pick something up in the shop, so when he pulled up under the porte cochere, he asked one of the valets if they had any tape. The valet was awesome- he found a roll of duct tape, and helped Chris tape the window back into place. So, I guess that's kind of what I figured would happen.

When I got to the resort, I parked the car under the porte cochere at Sports, and went up to the Bell Services podium. There were two bell services guys out, both of whom were helping one woman unload her luggage. They ignored me- and continued with the luggage, and then one of them hopped into the car and drove it away. Then, the remaining guy turned around and started helping the people who came up and were behind me in line. Eventually, this guy was finished with those people, and he asked how he could help me. I explained the situation, asked for some tape and some help- but, then told him to please get the luggage of the woman behind me first, as she had her tag out and was ready.

He vanished into the back with her tag and then a third guy showed up. He asked if we'd both been helped, and I explained what I needed, and then brought him over, and showed him how the window was down. He forced it back into place for me, and then vanished to find me some tape. While he was gone, I found the erasers, and tried to jam them in, but couldn't get the seal away from the window. By this time, the guy was back with some tape- but, I kid you not, he brought me a 6 inch strip of scotch tape. I said that I was pretty sure I'd need more tape than that, and he assured me I wouldn't. Then he put one end of the tape on the outside of the window, and looped it up over, the frame, and secured the other end to the inside of the window. I said that we normally use a lot more tape and that I didn't think it would hold. He looked at me like I was nuts, and told me- "See, it's all fixed" So, I did the only thing I could- I slammed the door shut, and the window fell right down.

He then shrugged his shoulders and told me that it was all the tape they had. I asked if they had any other type of tape, and was told no. Is it possible housekeeping or maintenance might have duct tape? "No, but you can ask if you want" and with that, he walked away. I figured I had nothing to lose, so went inside and asked the Concierge if they had any duct tape. They didn't, but offered me packing tape, so I figured that would work at least long enough for me to go buy some tape, and headed back out to tape the window up. By this point I was frustrated- I hate when I'm at a loss as to how to fix things, and when it comes to the car, that's pretty much always going to happen. If I can't fix it by putting in more oil, I'm afraid I'm going to break something, and being far from home, by myself wasn't helping the situation. I was already having visions of coming out and finding the car stolen, or finding that the window fell, and it had rained. So, it certainly didn't help things when I came back out and proceeded to try to tape the window up by myself, while both of the bell services guys I had asked to help me stood around having a conversation, while watching me do it myself. I get that it's not their job to fix my car, and I get that it's not their responsibility, but I guess, when the guy at the Grand had been so helpful, and I was a girl clearly by myself, I was surprised that two male Cast Members couldn't be bothered to at least hold the window while I taped it. Especially since I was the only guest in the area.

But- anyway, I put what I hoped was enough tape to keep the window up on it, and then headed back inside to give the tape back to the Concierge. Then I drove back to the room, and headed inside to call Chris with the update. He wasn't exactly pleased with the guys, but, since he was in GA, there wasn't much he could do about anything. After talking to him, I called Buick, because I was pretty mad after Chris reminded me that it was one of the windows we'd already replaced the rotor on.

That done, I spent some time working, and then decided to head to the food court to get some food. I promised myself that I would eat somewhere else the following night. I decided to get some chicken fingers and fries, more grapes, and a brownie (I'm fairly predictable) Then I headed back to the room with my food, and settled in for the night. It was the finale for America's Next Top Model, and after that General Hospital was on, so I had a nice quiet night in the room by myself.

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