Jessica Johnson & Family - May 2007

Day 4 - May 18, 2007

This was another morning where the only thing I had planned was to check out of the resort by 11 am. And, yet another day where my body decided I had to be up at the crack of dawn. Well, actually, it decided I had to be up at 9 am, which, for me, is pretty much the buttcrack of dawn. So, I did my usual morning routine, got ready, and then lugged all my crap out to the car. There wasn't a bill on my door, so I made a quick stop at the lobby, where I had them print me out a copy, and then I was on my way to my new home- Port Orleans Riverside.

I parked the car and headed into the lobby, where I nearly passed out at the line. Then I realized it was just the Magical Express line that was sooo scary, and not the check in one. I was checked in by a nice Cast Member who was Earning His Ears. He did a great job, and soon I was on my way with both Chris's key and my own, and a parking pass for each car. My room was ready, so I set out to get there, deciding that there was no need to have to tip bell services- I could haul my own luggage up to the room.

BAD decision. My room was on the second floor of Acadian House- but, it was off in the left wing. Since I took the elevator, it meant that I had to take a really long walk to get to the room, and, of course, I took the least efficient path I could have found. And, to top it off, the little door on the cooler that houses the plug broke off, so everywhere I went, I was trailing a cord behind me. Eventually, I found the room, which seemed oppressively hot, so I made the air conditioning as cold as I possibly could, and then got things settled. Then I headed back out to the car- and found a much quicker route there. Without anything to lug up the steps, there was a set of stairs nearly right outside our room.

Back in the car, I set off to Pop Century. Since I'd already explored pretty much every foot of the other three value resorts, I figured I'd cover the last one, and at least be done with that category. So- I parked the car, and then wandered, all over the place. While at Pop, I had a stroke of genius and realized I could get a much more effective overview of the pools by going up to the top floor of one of the nearby buildings! Woohoo! Of course, it would have been great if I'd thought of it the day before, but oh well. So, I did that, and then when I was tired of the heat (and conveniently done with the pictures) I made my way back to the lobby, and decided to have lunch.

I still wasn't all that hungry, so I ended up grabbing a Chef's Salad from the cooler, and found a quiet spot near Classic Concoctions. I gave Chris a call, to see where he was at in his drive down, and we talked for a while. Eventually I attempted to eat the salad- and found I just couldn't eat. So, I ate the hard boiled egg, some of the ham and some cheese. Then I pitched the rest and headed back to the car.

Since I still had a while until Chris arrived, I figured I'd kill time by heading back to the All Stars and employing my new picture taking strategy. I started at Movies, and parked by the nearest buildings to the quiet pools, and took some pictures. At Music, it took me 2 different buildings to find the right angle for the piano pool. The Calypso Pool had been closed for Rehab the previous day- so I was able to get some shots of it, before making my way to Sports and getting the pool that was right by my room. Well, old room.

Once I had the shots, I headed back to Riverside, figuring I'd leave the car there, and do some exploring at the resort until Chris was on property. Since I had his key- I'd have to meet him so he could get into the room, and he was still about an hour out. I called him to check on his progress, and then set off on foot to explore. I pretty much got outside of my building, took about 5 pictures and decided it was just too stinking hot, and I was wiped out. So, back to the room I went, where I rested, drank lots of water, and then watched trashy tv, like Maury and Judge Joe Brown until Chris arrived.

When Chris pulled into the resort, I talked him back to our room, while heading downstairs to meet him with his parking tag and key. I also had to get the case of water out of my trunk, and then showed him the quick way to our room (he only had a carry on). He wanted to take a quick shower (he'd come right from work), so I freshened up, and then called my brother. As usual, I got his voicemail, so we waited a few minutes until he called back. Then we headed off to Caribbean Beach to pick the kids up. I called when we got to the resort, and they were waiting outside for us. We headed back to Epcot, and after getting our wrist bands, headed right to the World Showcase, where the kids had no desire to actually see anything.

We had talked a bit of getting some food- possibly Chinese, but apparently they had already eaten before we picked them up, so Chris and I were on our own. I made them stop in Norway so I could get a rice cream, and then I drug them all onto the boat ride in Mexico. Chris was about as thrilled with the changes as I was, and my brother pretty much thought it was hokey. Still, it was good for a few laughs.

Then we headed out to FutureWorld, where our first stop was Test Track. I think the standby time was 20 or 30 minutes, so I headed inside with everyone's bags, and found a spot on the bench. I always travel with at least one book, and thankfully I had the Imagineering Field Guide for Epcot, because I soon got a text message saying that they'd shut the ride down due to rain (it was drizzling when we approached the ride, and it turned into a full on deluge). They were going to wait it out though- and after 30-40 minutes, they finally came off the ride. According to my brother, Test Track is "ok, I guess".

Since we were in that area, we headed to Mission Space next. There was a bit of debate about what my brother would do, and in the end, I pretty much insisted he ride the weenie side with me. So, we split up at the entrance, with Chris and the girlfriend going on the Orange side, and my brother and I going on the "Green, less intense" side. I spent the brief queue time explaining to him why I thought it was best that he went on this side, and that when the ride first opened, it wasn't unusual to see stretchers being run through the exit of the ride. We went through the pre-flight, where I told him about us meeting Gary Sinise, and then just when I'd gotten him convinced he'd be ok on this side, that it wouldn't be bad, if he felt uncomfortable, just close your eyes, and on the other side they had to put in barf bags, but this side was easy, we got settled in our cockpit, and just before closing the door, the Cast Member leaned in and put in a fresh supply of barf bags. The look on his face was priceless- and I had a feeling that if he wasn't restrained, he'd have climbed all over me on his way out of the capsule. Luckily for me, he was stuck, and soon our mission was underway. Sadly for us, we were short both a pilot and an engineer, so it didn't look good for us- but we prevailed, and completed our mission!

As we exited the ride, he told me it was cool, and that he was glad he hadn't gone on the other side, as he felt a bit woozy. I tried to talk him into taking a picture post card to send to our parents, but he refused, as usual, and so, instead, we found a spot to sit and wait for the others. They were soon out, and the first thing his girlfriend said was- there's no way you could have handled that! Apparently, she didn't have the easiest time of it either, but she pushed through it. Chris has discovered that he feels out of sorts when he rides the "real" side, and that eating something with protein afterwards tends to help. So, as we wandered through Futureworld, watching some of the fireworks from Illuminations, we stopped to get him a hot dog.

Next up, we hit Spaceship Earth, since it wouldn't bother anyone's stomach. This is probably Chris's most favorite ride ever, and he was looking forward to getting in at least one more ride before the changes. After I convinced him that he was NOT going to recite the entire spiel, the ride was pretty much how we remembered it. Once done, we debated what to do next. Neither my brother or his girlfriend really had an opinion about what to do, so Chris and I figured that we'd make them go on Nemo, because it was low key, and if they weren't going to decide, we'd do it for them ;o)

Nemo was interesting, mainly because it was interesting to see the Cast Member at the end slow the conveyor when he realized someone was having trouble getting out of the clamshell in time. Then, another woman discovered her purse strap had gotten wedged in the side of the clamshell, and I learned that the Cast Members actually wear e-stops on their persons, so he was able to stop the entire ride without having to run for the control panel.

Then, we decided to head to The Land, because I insisted that they HAD to go on Soarin'. After taking the escalator down, we discovered that the wait time was 45 minutes, and they refused to wait that long. I was kind of puzzled, given the amount of time they waited for Test Track, but, whatever, it was their trip, and they got to set the agenda. They didn't want to do Living With the Land, so we were pretty much done for the night. So, we headed back to the Boardwalk Bakery, because Chris can't resist their peanut butter cake. He picked up a brownie for me and my brother, peanut butter cake for him, and then a cheesecake brownie for my brother's girlfriend. I wanted a fruit plate, as well, but they were all sold out for the night :o(

Then we headed back to the car, after taking a walk the long way around the Boardwalk. This was a mistake, because it started raining, progressively getting harder, and we pretty much managed to catch ourselves in it. In passing, I happened to mention that we were going to be in Epcot the following day, because Chris wanted to see the Gnome. My brother was like- "No kidding, they sell them here?" He was totally thrilled at the prospect of being able to get a Travelocity Gnome, and announced he was totally buying one. His girlfriend didn't seem to actually believe him- but, like Chris, he pretty much thought it was the coolest thing in the world to be able to own. Asked what he'd do with the Gnome, his response was classic Daddy or Chris (because all three of them pretty much think the same way) "It's a GNOME!" Clearly the rest of the world doesn't get that it doesn't need to have a purpose- it's a gnome, and cool, and a must have item. I understood him perfectly, because, well, I'm pretty much surrounded by the same mentality ;o)

Once back in the car, we firmed up plans for the following night, and then dropped them off at their resort. Chris and I headed back to Riverside- and we were both starving, since we really hadn't stopped for dinner. So, we made a brief stop at the food court, where we got an 8 inch pizza and a bowl of grapes before heading back to the room.

As usual, I did some work, and then we ate our meal, had our dessert, and settled in for the night, happy to finally both be in the same place.

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