The conference my husband attended was now, finally, over and the remaining 2.5 days in Florida were true vacation days for him. Well, kinda. And he was so glad.
As mentioned earlier, he had been feeling very left out. Since our first on-site trip, hes been, possibly, the biggest WDW fan of the entire family and THAT is really saying something! Finally, he was in vacation mode and his expectations were high. Very, very high. And, as all seasoned DISers know, that can be trouble.
The first thing planned for that Wednesday morning was a Keys to the Kingdom tour, planned especially with Hubby in mind.
For most DIS-ers, I think this goes without saying, but that tour did not disappoint! We all loved it.
Almost equally, we loved our first pre-opening park entrance! We checked in at the Chamber of Commerce building and ordered our Columbia Harbor House Lunches. We were given name tags and a bottle of water and we were told we were free to look around the park and enjoy the sights and to meet back no later than 8:30. That 20 minutes of goofing off was a ball. Hubby and the girls did some kooky panorama iphone photography. He would start panning around the park in a circle and as he did the girls ran around, behind him, and struck corny poses so they would each appear multiple times in the same photo. This granted me, at least photographically speaking, my not-so-serious wish having a nearly Duggar-sized family, without all the college tuitions, or park admissions, for that matter. I took lots of photos for some projects I was working on, including the pastel portrait of my daughter that I posted in an earlier entry.
The photo pass photographers were on deck and ready to take pics too and we posed for tons. We didnt even mind the crane being in the photos. I kind of like the quirkiness of it being there. Its kind of like a reminder that WDW is not really magic, but it can be magical if you allow it. You just have to overlook some things. Remember that. I'm old and I know what I'm talking about.
I dont want to spill any beans about the tour. But I will share some general thoughts.
First, if you are hesitant to go because it is billed as a Five hour walking tour, please do not let that stop you. I am not in great shape. I always have some foot hot spot and I have to bring a park bag because I need to bring an epi-pen, an inhaler and a bag of Halls. I can honestly say that the tour was no more strenuous on my body than any other 5 hour block of time spent in a park. If you can tour any of the parks at a leisurely pace for five hours, you can handle this, no problem. And it really is so interesting, that it does not seem like five hours at all. Our guide sought out shady spots with tables and chairs on a regular basis for us when he had longer stories to tell. There were ample restroom breaks and, of course the two attractions we rode, after being led in the back way, were also nice breaks.
We had a person with a
scooter in our group and a lovely couple that was there, celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary.
Second, the tour, in my opinion is a great value. You not only get five hours of a seasoned cast member's attention, but also a meal, a cute souvenir, early park entry and a bottle of water...and remember, Disney bottled water is...what? Three bucks?
Third, It's pretty cool.
Besides the incident when my husband, who has a background in technology and security, pointed out what stood out to him as a fairly serious fire safety issue to the stunned and visibly annoyed guide, Im only aware of two times I stopped smiling during the entire tour. (As the girls would say: awkward!)
I found myself looking at the shoes of Mrs. 50th anniversary. She had on some shoes I had recently ordered from Zappos and, in fact brought on the trip, but had not yet worn.
Upon my daughters arrival at the resort, these shoes prompted this conversation:
Ew. MOM. NO. Old lady shoes. Just no. (Translation: Oh, mother, I see you got new shoes. They look great but you are such a youthful and hip and trendy mom, Id really like to see you in something more stylish.)
Me: What? These look OK. And besides they are comfy. They arent so bad. Are they?
Daughter: Mom! No. No no no no. (Translation: Well, they arent too bad. But maybe you should look for something thats moreyou.)
Me, frowning and looking at them with that WhatDoYOUKnow look: Ugh! Wha-a-at?
Daughter, to other daughter: EW. Tell her! Ew. Just. (shudders) (Translation: What do you think, Sis?)
Other daughter: Mom! (Translation: I love you, mom.)
Me: WHAT?
Other daughter: I. Literally. Just cant even. (Translation: I, literally, just cant even imagine how great those must feel on your feet.)
Me: Look, they are all soft and bendy. (demonstrates)
Daughter: Old lady shoes! Please. You cant be serious. (Translation: You dont look old, Mommy.)
Me: Well, I might return them. I really havent decided yet. (yeah, I just decided)
Daughters look at each other and make a face usually reserved for when you find some really, really old food behind a drawer in your refrigerator. And who wants to wear shoes that remind other women of old, spoiled, smelly food?
And this is what I was thinking as I looked at the shoes of Anniversary Lady. My daughters were right. They are butt-ugly shoes! But this sweet woman is nearly 80 and doing a five hour walking tour! If I can do a five hour walking tour at age 80, Ill gladly wear smelly old broccoli shoes.
But at that moment, still a few decades behind Anniversary Lady, I knew I wouldnt wear the shoes. My daughters were right. They really were just not me and that is why I had them for a few weeks and never wore them. I only ordered them because I was worried I would have foot issues on the trip. And I was doing OK with my basic Nikes. Man. I hate being wrong.
Wrapping it upso sorry I made you read about the shoes. Back to the trip.
The tour ended and we were all smiles. We sat outside Caseys and discussed our favorite parts of the tour and ate ice cream that someone bought somewhere. I dont even remember. My feet were fine, but I was getting tired. Not just tired-drowwwsy. I suggested that we go back to the hotel for pool, shower, nap, fresh clothes or any combination thereof. Everyone was in.
Except Hubby.
I dont really want to get too into this part because its not pleasant. But you know how sometimes you have an argument and all kinds of things are brought up and tossed about that have nothing at all to do with why you are upset? And you know how sometimes you see people at WDW acting like jerks and you think, People, you are at WDW! Quit acting like jerks!? And you know how sometimes you see a (for now) married couple sitting at a poolside table scowling and talking through clenched teeth? And you know how sometimes the hotel staff messes up your bill and one member of the party cant fix it because her (or his) name is not on the company credit card but yours is and even though you asked her to fix it and she tried and had no luck and you then tried and they scratched their heads and said they would work on it, and you get frustrated and you take it out on your spouse along with anything else you can think of but thats not really why you are angry at all, its just a handy excuse?
Yeah. Me either!
Fast Forward:
We are back at MK for what was a wonderful evening and all the unpleasantness was behind us. Except for the part where I didnt get a nap in. But sometimes that happens.
I will close with another top ten list of MeanestMomEvers somewhat semi- notable moments.
1. As we arrived, we used a fast pass and met Mickey at Town Square. Wow. I had not seen him since he became so gabby. I LOVE THAT! He demonstrated a few card tricks with us and even though we are a family with grown up kids, we received lots and lots of special and magical interaction with the big cheese, himself. And just like that, we were back to grinning like crazy! Thank you, Mickey! You helped us all get the magic back.
2. Dinner at BOG... food delicious. Daughters current college roommate is just a few tables over with a sorority sister. They are dining and using their refillable mugs. Im not sure why or how, since the BOG beverage station is curtained off for dinner, but there they were. It led to some dinner conversation about acceptable mug use. See? Its not just on the DIS! After dinner, we all walked over and said hello to them. It was awkward.
3. This night marked the beginning of The Great Pressed Penny Controversy. Im going to have to save that for my next trip report on our June 2014 trip for two, which I hope to crack out pretty quickly.
4. Pillow pets. Seriously? I Literally. Just cant even.
5. We are Space Ranger Spin maniacs. Everyone wants to top Dads score. We rarely do.
6. Constantly walking around the boarded off 7 Dwarfs Mine Train site was a mixture of frustration and excitement. We wouldnt be riding it on this spring break trip but it is nice to have something fun to plan for a future trip.
7. SOMEBODY was on extra good behavior due to a guilty conscience. I wont mention any names or nicknames. But I got to do anything I wanted. Heh heh.
8. Again, the girls missed their big sister. They called her to tell her so. I almost cried. They really are such sweet young women.
9. I asked a photopass photographer if I could take HIS photo. I was serious and not trying to be rude or anything. But he was annoyed by that. Sorry Dude.
10. We stayed at the park until closing and had a great time.
Almost there! 1.5 days to go. I promise to finish.
AND THANK YOU for all the positive comments and complements. You make it fun. Positive people rock. <cough cough, It wasn't my fault the bill got screwed up.>