Linda N. & Mom- May 2007

WHO: Linda N. (age 40-something), MFLT Agent and Mom (age 65) who lives in the Vero Beach area. Mom is very active and walks two miles every day, rides her bike a couple of days a week, but has no kneecap due to a car accident in 1972. Theme parks wear her out.
WHEN: May 13-16, 2007
WHERE: Disney's Pop Century Resort
WHY: "Research" trip to see Laugh Floor, Nemo Musical, and partake of some grown-up restaurants without kids. (Except for the big kid also known as my Mom)

DAY 1: Sunday, May 13, 2007 - Mother's Day

Never finished work until about 2am and I had to be up and out of the house by 7am to make a bank deposit in the ATM prior to heading to the airport. Made it out of the house at 7:15 so I was pretty happy. Did the bank deposit, picked up an Egg McMuffin and coffee and moseyed off to Indianapolis International Airport. Parked in the "Economy" lot at $6.50 per day and the shuttle was right there. Since I was not checking luggage I wasn't pushed for time. Got to the terminal and headed towards security.

Not too many people at IND at 8:45am so I get right into line. Send through my suitcase, laptop and case, and purse, and then I get into the bomb-sniffer. Unfortunately it alerted on me (maybe it was hairspray?) and I am now "captured" in the thing with all sorts of alarms going off. Am told by TSA to stay put and a couple of agents come over. They tell me that all of my bags need to be searched and I need to be patted down. I'm not in a hurry, and am a travel agent, and I don't think I fit any security profiles so I'm not too worried. I stand there and get the pat down while the TSA rep looks at my bag tags. When I'm cleared to go to my stuff she starts asking me about Disney and I end up passing out a couple of business cards. LOL Within 10 minutes I'm at the Southwest Airlines gate.

I had scored a coveted "A" boarding pass for Southwest Airlines. Boarding was pretty quick and surprisingly the plane was not full. most of those direct flights from IND to MCO are full. There's an empty seat next to me which was nice for all my stuff. I pulled out some magazines and was able to read for two hours. A totally uneventful flight.

Get to MCO at 12:45pm and mom is waiting for me. She starts complaining about the LoveBugs (LB) all over her new car. We get into the parking lot and she decides to WASH THEM OFF THE CAR WITH SPRAY BUG CLEANER and paper towels. Geesh... I'm wanting to go to Disney and she's cleaning off bugs! She should have done that before she came in to the terminal as she was pretty early.

Fifteen minutes later we start driving to Disney. I 'made' her drive to PC from MCO. The woman tells me she can't find her way anywhere at Disney so I figure a quick shot down 417 to PC would boost her confidence. We arrive within 20 minutes, all the while she is complaining about those bugs and her new car. We get to PC and she looks at the bugs and is obsessing over the paint disintegrating in front of her. (LBs tend to destroy paint on vehicles, or so I was told about 50 times).

Check in was quick and the room was ready but we stop in the food court for a sandwich and to check out the refillable mugs (which seem smaller than in years past, by the way). It is so far out in the 50's building I have a pretty clear view of PC:Early Years, which is an unfinished ghost town where the parking lots are used for bus driver training and storage. Since I like to be away from the action of Disney resorts at night I'm not annoyed but most people would not have been pleased with that room. We're in 2436 right next to the staircase on the corner--no neighbors and its a quick trip to the pool and parking lot, and less than five minutes to Classic Hall by taking the outer sidewalk--not walking by the pool area which is where most people would go. The room was probably among the cleanest one I've ever had at Disney with no dirt (or anything else) behind the bathroom door or in the corners. We schlepp everything upstairs (cooler with breakfast stuff, bags, water) and head to AK. Mom had purchased an AP voucher (seasonal pass) and was concerned about getting it activated. Mom is worried about her car and she wants a car wash. We head around the corner to the Hess station and get in line to get the thing cleaned. I count seven cars in front of me (I'm driving) and figure at 5 minutes per car we'd be there for half an hour. I tell her that I do not have time to sit in a carwash line but we can come back. She's OK with that and we (finally!) make our way to a park.

I sneak into the front of the AK parking lot; now that we're actually on Disney property I'm driving for the rest of the trip. There was no way mom could handle the shortcuts. I score an up close parking spot (by now it was after 2:30 pm due to mom needing to eat, see the pool, and clean more bugs off the car) and we head to Guest Relations to activate her AP. That done we head to the turnstiles. I put my AP in and nothing. It has been demagnetized since my last trip in October. I send her through and go back to Guest Relations to get another ticket. Five minute later I'm in the park.

Mom hadn't been to AK since about 2001, and she thought it was really pretty. We head over to Nemo and it is CLOSED due to technical difficulties. Darn! I needed to see it. I decide to go on to Everest and get in the single rider line. Within 10 minutes I'm on the ride (mom ditched it). Didn't get stuck on top of the mountain so I was happy. No problems with the motion either. I get out of the ride and mom (my big kid!) was not where I told her to stay. She had decided to go outside and find a seat.

We start walking through Asia and it really is pretty. Crowds are not very large but they are starting to line up for the parade. its 3:50pm and the parade will be starting at 4pm. We head towards the Safari and run into the parade. I hadn't seen Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade in a couple of years. Was sort of ho-hum; seems like they filled up a lot of ride vehicles with guests. We see most of it and make our way to the Safari. Within 10 minutes we're on.

The script of the safari has changed, and I noticed the differences. Not as much Wilson as previous, and he "heads back to base camp" by the elephant pool. The poacher thing has been downplayed too. I liked the changes. When I mentioned it to the CM at the end he said that the changes are very recent and not all of the CMs have the script memorized yet.

We decide to leave and head over to the BoardWalk to Spoodles for dinner. It was about 5pm and I had a table at 5:20. Ideally I wanted to try the Flying Fish Cafe and there was nothing available. Decided to check FF before going to Spoodles. We head to the BW and mom is still fussing over her car. We both needed a decent meal so I promise her that we will get the car washed after dinner.

Unfortunately we cannot get into the Flying Fish but she says to try back around 6:30pm. We decide to go to Spoodles and will try the FF next time. Spoodles was pretty much empty and we are seated immediately after washing up.

There are few places where I have not dined at Disney and Spoodles is one of them. I had seen the menu and already decided this was not a place that my kids would enjoy. While they are not fussy eaters they do not eat Lemon pasta or cassoulet, nor would they enjoy anything on the appetizer menu. It was going to be an "adult" meal. I look at the menu and then look at mom... she has no idea what she's going to eat. I tell her she can order off the kids menu but since she likes pasta dishes maybe she should try it. I order the pork chop with cassoulet, a Margherita flatbread, and iced tea.

The server brings out foccacia bread and an olive tapenade, which was pretty good despite my dislike for green olives. Flatbread is next, and its wonderful. (Kids still wouldn't eat it despite it just being pizza on a thin crust). The restaurant is filling up (its about 5:50pm) and the lobby is full too. We're seated next to the pizza window on the BW so we can watch them make pizzas. (Was interesting to see that everything is freshly made).

Dinner arrives and its really good. Pork a bit well-done and the cassoulet would have made a great vegetarian meal (had it not had meat in it). Mom starts counting shrimp in her pasta and finds 12. She's happy and likes her meal. I try it and find it to be too "lemon-y" for my taste; I am not a big carb person and this is not something I would order.

We finish as much dinner as we could (we had split the flatbread and had some of the foccacia) and I ask for the dessert menu. I decide to try the Gelato, which is freshly made every day. The flavor of the day is Almond, served with almond brittle and a Cherry Jubilee. I am not a huge gelato fan but decide to give it a whirl. It shows up and its very pretty, and best of all it really tasted great. Mom takes some and we finish it up. We get the check and I present the DDE card and get my discount, tip the server quite generously (he did a great job) and we're on our way.

Heading out the door mom reminds me that we need to go to the car wash. OK, Ok... away we go. I get to the Hess Station (its pretty much across the road from BW) and we get in line. We're pondering whether or not the machine accepts real money and can't tell if its a code or cash. The car in front of us goes in and I pull up--it only accepts a code! I tell mom to hurry up and run in and get the code. I get out of the car and spray her bug stuff all over the place. Didn't want to waste any more park time with this woman worrying about dead bugs on the paint so I decide we needed some chemical warfare. Mom comes out with the code and thought I was a genius for spraying before the car wash. (Glad that college education came in handy, LOL).

Now she's feeling pretty good about the bugs being eradicated from the paint and we go into the car wash. Of course now she confesses to feeling anxious and claustrophobic in the car wash... I tell her that we're not on a track and can drive out at any time. Phew... not much different than taking my kids when they were five. Car wash done we head to MGM and Fantasmic, which was being shown at 9pm. (Its 8pm now).

We get to MGM and park in the very front--they were directing us there. Mom gets out of the car with her paper towels and bug cleaner and spends the next 10 minutes washing off the rest of the LBs. I'm waiting, and waiting, and waiting... finally she is done and we start walking in.

I cannot find my ticket or room card (with charging priviledges) and rather than go back to the car I decide to have Guest Relations do another ticket. This would be my second ticket in five hours. As I gave my driver's license and the CM was searching for the data I locate my ticket and room card in the wrong pocket of my fanny pack. I get better organized and we FINALLY get into the park. We head up the main street and go into the Animation courtyard for some photos and then to the Big Ugly Hat where I get some passholder pins. We head up to Fantasmic at 8:30pm.

Fantasmic was not crowded; it was EMH at the MK which siphoned off a lot of the crowds. The stadium was about 85% full. Weather was nice, with just a slight breeze. I noticed a backdrop on the sides of the stage that was not there during my last trip to F! in August 06 (I missed this show in October). It did a nice job of hiding what was coming "just around the river bend."

When the show was over we walked out to the car and drove back to PC. Mom wanted something to eat so we went to the PC food court. I remind mom that she does not sleep well when she eats after 7pm and suggest that she skip the dessert and have an apple instead. We look at what they're offering for future reference and head up to the room. I tell mom that we're going to Epcot the next day and we had to be out of the room by 8am if we're doing the disney bus. She tells me to set the alarm for 6:30am. Mom has to have breakfast, coffee, and a short dose of Good Morning America. I think its early, but I want to go to the parks for opening so 6:30am it is.

Next up Day 2, Epcot.

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