Saturday, July 24, 2010

Home, Sweet Home is the Lesson Today

by: LaLa

Some things in life are just worth waiting for.

Seinfeld’s Season 7 DVD set.

A warm slice of Friendship bread. With butter. The real kind.

True love’s first kiss. True love’s 4,831st kiss ain’t so bad either. As long as you got the right guy. And he’s recently gargled.

Being surrounded by good friends and good food while witnessing history being made as the Saints win the DADGUM SUPERBOWL. WHO DAT BABY?!

Battle For My Wallet 18.….is it? I tend to lose count.

And…a ride aboard the newly (to us) refurbished Space Mountain.

Or, at least, that’s what we told ourselves as we stood in a kingdom that seemed pretty magical on our very first day of Vacation. As we crossed from yesterday into Tomorrow, we stopped short (NOFrankCostanza) when we saw that the wait time for Space Mountain was 60 minutes and that all Fastpasses had been distributed for the day.

Houston, we have a problem.

Now, we are not normally ‘stand in line for 60 minutes’ kind of people. We are normally the people throwing the big fat Loser sign to the ‘stand in line for 60 minutes’ kind of people as we pass them on up. Grinning. And taunting. Because we’ve gotten quite good at working the Fastpass system and knowing when to go and when NOT to go, we haven’t stood in a long line at Disney since Battle For My Wallet -5 was penned. Since county wasn’t cool. Since Victoria had no secrets.

But we were doing something we’d never done before. Going into a park on arrival day. In the middle of the day. In the height of summer. We knew things wouldn’t follow our normal pattern. So we called an audible and hopped in line. Because we really, really wanted a ticket to ride. Bad. And we were still on that ‘just arrived in Disney and we’ve got the rest of the week ahead of us’ high.

So as my husband ushered us in the door with a big, goofy, spaced out grin, I turned and asked one more time. Just to be sure he understood what he was suggesting.

“You realize the wait time for this is 60 minutes right? And you still want to stand in line? For 60 minutes?”

“Sure, it’ll be fun. And I bet it won’t take that long anyway.”

Cut to the end of the week.

We’re still in line.

At least, that’s what it felt like. Sure, they refurbished the queue area for our present enjoyment and it was VERY cool to be able to play interactive video games while we stood still. And didn’t move. One inch. In fact, we loved the additions and felt they really made the time waiting in line go by pretty fast.


Oh, who am I kidding? It went by slow. Extremely slow. Despite the cooler than cool video game screens lining the walls. Perhaps it was because we ran into a group of Brazilians along the way.

Literally.

Well. Truth be told, they ran into us.

Danced into us is a much more accurate description.

As we were standing there, waiting and talking, we heard an extremely loud, high pitched sound assault our ears and the ears of everyone around us. We quickly located the source and I heard my husband groan, “Not again”.

We’d run into billions of Brazilians the year before and among other bad experiences, had a scary run in involving two different groups, two different ear splitting whistles, a whole lot of yelling and mosh pit style dancing, and an angry mob who had all had enough of the whistles and the yelling and the mosh pit style dancing. All while waiting for Fantasmic and standing shoulder to shoulder with half the world’s population, it seemed. In all the years that we’ve been vacationing there, it was the only time I’ve ever felt unsafe. Or feared for the safety of my children. It was such a strange feeling, and a complete oxymoron. Considering we were in the happiest place on Earth. The experience, unfortunately, capped our trip off on a very low note, and it was something we’d hoped against hope to avoid this time around.

But as we stood there having our ears assaulted and having men literally shimmy into us from the next line over, regardless of the steel bar separating us (and he was WORKIN’ that shimmy… homeboy put Shakira to shame!) and listening to groups alternate the chanting and ear splitting whistle blasts between themselves with no regard for anyone else around them, our mood grew sour.

I understand Disney is all about making money. And those groups bring in a lot of money. Obviously. But IMO, something has to be done to curb that type of behavior from large groups in the parks/attractions or else families will eventually get tired of putting up with it and find other places to vacation. You could see it in the eyes of every family around us. There was no magic to be found anywhere in that line that day.

Unless ’magic’ is code word for ’just waitin’ for an opportunity to pop somebody in the mouth’.

So it was this mood that hovered over us as we inched our way to the front of the line and tried to distract ourselves from Rico Suave and his crew by pointing out the differences in the attraction since the last time we’d ridden it. Our mood seemed to lift as we got closer and closer to the loading dock. Things were starting to look up. We finally made it to the front and excitedly gave our CM the number in our party and were told which numbers were ours.

We had numbers! Finally! We were given numbers! To stand on!

Stand back cause we ‘bout to get our ride on!

As we excitedly stood there on our numbers singing “I Made it Through the Rain” in our (my) head, we began to notice things. Things that told us something was amiss. The CMs were casting confused looks at each other and they weren’t loading the newly refurbished spaceships anymore.

Surely it’s not what I think it is.

We waited for a few seconds, knowing full well it WAS what we thought it was. And then came the confirmation. In the form of an announcement that informed us that due to technical difficulty, Space Mountain was temporarily closed and would no longer be boarding.

Funny dressed man with a microphone say what?

We’d already waited long enough to allow Barry Manilow’s career to come back around. Twice. But now it was over. We’d made it through the rain. For nothing. We slowly ventured off our little numbers, looking back over our shoulders longingly, and were given a set of Fastpasses on the way out. As a consolation prize.

Strike one.

But it was still the first day. We were still pumped to be there. So what if the inaugural ride was a big fat, freakin’ bust? We had the rest of the park to explore.

We explained to the kids what happened, told them we had ALL WEEK to come back and ride it, and then asked them where they wanted to head next. We’d do whatever they wanted. Because it was still the first day and we were just happy to be there.

The kids were calling the shots, and they picked Thunder Mountain.

We, as a family, LOVE us some Thunder Mountain. It really is the wildest ride in the wilderness, you know. So we quickly agreed. So what if it’s all the way on the other side of the park? A ride on Thunder Mountain and a little “hang onto your hats and glasses folks’ action is JUST what we need to get this vacation back on track.

So we walked. And as we walked, we stumbled upon an ironic reminder that it's possible for even Walt to have an 'off' day.



We laughed a little bit and made immature jokes amongst ourselves along the way. Most of them involved the word 'poop'. Before we knew it, we found ourselves at the foot of the big orange mountain.

The posted wait time wasn’t very long so we high fived each other and high stepped it on over. Time to get our ride on.



And then it happened. Just like before.

The CMs. Again with the confused looks. Sure enough, as we got closer, we were told they were experiencing technical difficulty. Thunder Mountain was down for the count.

Strike two.

This trip wasn’t starting off exactly the way we’d planned. So far we were 0-2, and like Mick Jagger, we couldn’t get no satisfaction.

It was at this point that the love of my life, seeing distress on the faces of his family and knowing he had to get us on a ride and get us on a ride now, dug deep into his bag of tricks and set about amazing the rest of us with his mad skillz.

You may remember me mentioning the fact that he was wearing The Birthday Pin. Loudly and proudly. Well, suddenly Birthday Boy turns to us and says, “Follow me and let me do all the talking.” I had no idea what he was up to, but when he gets that look in his eye, it’s best to just follow him and let him do all the talking.

We follow him straight to the Splash Mountain Fastpass line where he digs into his pocket and proceeds to pull out four Fastpasses for Splash Mountain.

From last year.

He makes sure the CM working the Fastpass line has an unobstructed view of The Birthday Pin and proceeds to tell our story. He fills her in on how we got the Fastpasses on our trip last year but were never able to use them because the ride was broken down both times we tried to ride it. He explains that we’ve just tried to ride two different rides that were also broken down and wonders if there’s ANY WAY possible we might be able to use said Fastpasses to ride Splash Mountain.

Then he dips her all the way back and lays one on her. After he just gargled.

Just in case she needs a little extra persuasion.

I’m kidding. Of course.

Or am I?

Actually, instead of laying one on her, he pulls out his weapon of choice: the big puppy dog eyes. Those big brown eyes that no woman in her right mind could resist. The same ones that have had me swimming from the moment I first gazed into them.

That and The Birthday Pin. Which he shoved in her face with an overly dramatic twist of his shoulder. Just in case she missed it the first time.

I guess you know how it all went down.

She laughed in amazement at us.

It wasn’t so much the gall of the whole thing that got her. It was the fact that we held onto a set of Fastpasses for a year that had her speechless. Without speech. Once she recovered, she even said that. “YOU HELD ONTO THEM FOR A WHOLE YEAR?!” As she quickly waved us on through. After picking her jaw up off the floor and shoving her eyeballs back into their sockets. A little worse for wear. They were rolling around on that germ ridden Disney concrete, after all. I would’ve offered her a squirt of anti-bac but I didn’t want to push my luck.

I suppose we won her over with our idiocy. Or maybe it was the honesty.

Either way, we didn't care. Daddy had hit a HOME RUN and we were about to get our ride on!

Finally.

We were PUMPED and immediately high fived each other. After roughly an hour and a half trying to get our butts on something, we were finally about to experience our first ride of the trip. Right after we tossed everyone the big fat Loser sign as we passed them on up. Grinning. And taunting.

Cause that’s how we roll.

I never get tired of riding Splash Mountain. Never. Part of it is the music, part of it is the drop, part of it is hearing my husband tell the kids the story of Brer Rabbit and watching them listen intently. Even though he tells them the story each year as we make our way through the ride, they always act just as enthralled as they did the very first time they heard it. But mostly I just enjoy watching my kids’ faces as they squeal with anticipation. As we inch closer and closer to the big drop.




And I never, ever get tired of hearing the laughter of my children and husband intermingled afterwards as we float along and sing Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Da. I remember so many other times we’ve done the same thing, and that feeling, that unbridled and contagious joy, always feels like coming home to me.

It did on that day as well.

That was all it took to completely override the sour mood that had been plaguing us before, experiencing that first ride together as a family and looking forward to all the fun and excitement the week ahead would bring. With no interruptions or distractions.

That morning we had been at home. Making sure we’d packed everything in the van and getting settled for the long drive down. But that one ride on Splash Mountain, the one we’d waited all year for (literally) had kicked off our vacation in a big way. And as we passed by the beautiful castle and took in all the sights and sounds and smells, we looked around and pinched ourselves to make sure we weren‘t really dreaming.



As is necessary when you realize you’re in Disneyworld, according to our daughter.

My, oh, my what a wonderful day indeed.

25 comments:

  1. First of all, have you had this post up since WEDNESDAY?? Cause I'm losing my mind if you have. ;)

    Well, the first afternoon wasn't a huge success at first for the Lalas, was it? Nothing like a little technical difficulty and some crazy folks to share a line with to start your trip off right! But Brer Rabbit and the gang are always good for a good time. When I hear the first picks of that banjo at the beginning of Splash Mountain, I know I'm in my happy place. On the way to school many days, my kids will each get one Disney song pick to listen to. (Two songs and we're at the school.) My daughter usually picks the MK welcome song, and my son ALWAYS picks Splash Mountain. So when I actually get to the World, and hear it on the ride, I always remind the kids of the times that we're in the car on the way to school WISHIN we were in WDW. I'm with ya - that music always brings a smile to my face.

    But MAD PROPS to my friend Mr. LaLa!! Not only did he save the FPs from last year, HE BROUGHT THEM WITH HIM TO THE MAGIC KINGDOM!!!! Sure, we've got FPs stuck here and there in the NM house, but we sho don't have em with us when we need em! (Except for that one time at RNR - and we got DENIED because they had changed the FP paper since ours had been printed. Oops...)

    Loved this installment, just like I loved the first. Keep bringing it, girl. I'm so happy to be reading all about your trip. And happy y'all got to take it.

    NM

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  2. La, 2 strikes in a row!! Get OUT!!

    Excellent use of the the Birthday Pin Mojo though! WTG Dad!

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  3. LaLa! I am so sorry to have laughed at your bad bad luck. Girl you waited for an hour then got denied! Oh my. At least you kept going and got our of your funk with a little Splash! That ride is seriously good at blowing sunshine up your butt isn't it! Now that is a great first ride!

    I am now thinking that I was lucky to be there with the Puerto Ricans and not the Brazilians. How do I know I was there with the PR crew, well there was a nice little show of hands at LMA. Otherwise, I would have never known they had big groups there. Do the Brazilians whistle like the clown who only speaks with whistles? I would be scared too.

    I am ded over the picture of Walt and his pigeon friend!!!! Better him than you though.

    Mr. LaLa must have held his mouth just right while he flashed that button. Job well done! I cashed in on a 3 yr old Fastpass on our recent trip.... it felt so good.

    I'm off to get gargled.

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  4. Loved the update! I just woke up DH and made him pull out all our old fastpasses. Just in case, you know... Hope you're having a beautiful Sunday! --praisehisname

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  5. Well, I must say, I've always heard the stories about the dreaded crowds of Brazilians, but I only knew about the flags and the shouted directives and maybe the pushiness. Never new about the dancing and whistling and other invasive activities. The warning has taken on a deeper meaning to me, now, and I can safely say I'll be checking the Brazilian seasons out before planning any WDW trip in the future! BTW, by Brazilian seasons, I'm not referring to anything involving wax or itsy bitsy bikinis (GFAMT). So sorry the LaLas have had to live through two of them.

    I was feeling the frustration and angst for ya, my girl. I can't even IMAGINE being denied on our first two ride attempts (after a 60+ minute wait, no less). Bless that sweet man of yours for workin' the 1000 watt pearly whites, the birthday pin and the way-overdue fastpasses. DED! Way to salvage that 1st day mood, though! Love me some Splash. Zip a dee doo da indeed!!

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  6. Look at Ashclan bringing the Disney planning DVD talk! We love that line. Use is ALL the time. It's especially fun when it's ironic.

    Leave it to the LaLas to have their trip start off with a big fat BUST! Twice no less! I would have been so raged up.

    But mad props to Mr. La2 for producing the year old FPs. We've got some from 2 years ago, think they'll still work? Or do I need the birthday pin?

    I have NO patience for crowds of obnoxions. People who insist on letting their good time invade yours. A little bit of noise is fine but after a few minutes, it's rude. For crying out loud, it sent you to Manillow. DED! BTW. How bad is the scene that you're in Manillow?! Worst EVER!

    On an unrelated note: I just got back from a meeting in Chicago. The woman sitting behind me looked startling like Ashclan! At one of the breaks, I noticed she was on the tall side. I don't know what Ashclan does for a living, but given that everyone in the room wasn't a lawyer, I decided it was not out of the realm of possibilities that it WAS Ashclan.

    The meeting was boring and I was trying to decide how to find out if Ashclan was, in fact, sitting behind me. Do I randomly say "Maelstrom?" and see what she does?! Or would it be better to go the West Wing route and ask her if she knows the words to the Jackal?

    At the next break, as I was walking out of the room, I noticed her name tag was still at her seat. Not Ashclan. Unless, Ashclan's first name is Heather.

    Ironically, I was in Boston last summer for a meeting and didn't see any Ashclan lookalikes. But there's one hanging out in Chicago, FYI.

    Oh yeah, good update, La2.

    Z

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  7. Well, now I'm raged up. ZZUB came to Boston and didn't look up either me or Tinkerbellarella?!?! Geesh! Not that I have any desire to meet you, but still! A little consideration would've been nice. Or even a request for a restaurant recommendation or two. Hmph.

    And yes, that was me in Chicago. Even though my first name is Susan. I changed it to Heather for that trip only in order to protect my identity. In case ZZUB was there. If you had said "Maelstrom" I would've given you a raised eyebrow and moved to the other side of the room. Although if you had asked about The Jackal I may have been moved to break out the stereo and my lip-synchin' moves. Just remember...."Never talk to me during The Jackal."

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  8. But the real question is, was it even his b-day or was the pin too a remnant from a previous trip? hmmmmmm.

    Sorry to hear about the tough start, but thanks for putting me in a splash mountain happy place frame of mind!

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  9. Technically, you never talk to Toby during the Jackal. But that couldn't possibly make a bit of difference.

    Z

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  10. Wowsa-wow-wow, what an opening day! Ah, the Brazilian Tour Groups (BTGs). We had our brushes as well this summer. It may bring you some pleasure to know I pulled a reverse-BTG, *on* a BTG, politely asking a gigantic group of them if I could please scoot by to find my family, who was aaaaalllll the way up in front of them... only to discover that my family was actually aaaaalllll the way back behind them. Oops. Lucky me, it happened to be the most polite, kind BTG I've ever seen. So they do exist! ;)

    Mr. LaLa is genius. "You kept those Fast Passes for a whole year?!" indeed. That was mad, forward-thinking skillz in action to be sure. Will you be keeping this year's Space Mtn. FP's for next year's trip?!

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  11. La - what a great recap of your first day.
    Loved the bird on Walt. Too funny.

    Your description of the Brazilians brings back many memories for the YAK's. We did a July b-day trip a few years ago. Flags, chanting, whistles, singing, invading your space, nothing says fun fun fun like all of that and a little bit of Copa Cabanna!

    Mad props for Mr. La! How many sets did he bring home for next year? Heh-heh!

    Keep bringin' it on, La!

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  12. Oh, how I’ve missed my favorite trippie folks! At least that’s what I call you in my head. When I refer to you in my head. Which happens with surprising frequency.

    At least I’ve finally learned not to talk about “trippies” or “TR’s” with normal people. The explanation is just too much for most of them. Squints of confusion quickly give way to eye rolls and dramatic sighs as they regret ever asking what the Sam Hill I was talking about in the first place. In their defense, I sometimes digress from the actual explanation to talk about grilled pound cake, Maelstrom, or the number 4. In context. I’m relieved to learn that digression is not only accepted but encouraged here in ZZUBWorld (OI other forum(s)) because without digression, where would we be?

    Where was I? Oh, yeah . . . Glad to be reading a beautifully entertaining story that tells me I’m not the only one who gets a big goofy grin smelling the Poly water or hearing the little noise the Monorail doors make when they open and close. Sometimes I don’t just grin. Sometimes I actually get a little teary. Just remembering those things.

    Or reading about other people who get it.

    I too have done a dance of joy because it was my turn to stand on a number. Especially a really good number. I too have more Disney songs on my iPod than you can shake a stick at. (Although why would you, really? Shake a stick at an iPod, I mean) I too have (loudly) proclaimed my love for Disney, my companions, and innocent passersby as I breathe the first good whiff of Disney air at my resort.

    In short (too late) thanks for being here and being Disney-loving people and telling your stories.

    And can someone tell me how to get an ID around this place?

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  13. LaLa, you are so right about the first day. I love the first day in the WORLD cause your right - nothing can really go wrong on the 1st day.

    I never get upset on the first day as we unpack the kitchen sink and all the other stuff we would never need if we were stranded for a year on a deserted island that NM has packed for our few days at WDW. I also never get upset when NM has perviosly said we could chill and go swimming the first day but when we enter the arches and she turns into "military-we can never chill out-there is too much going on to stay at resort-everyone needs to get moving-NM". The first day joy is excellent - you are so right about that.

    However, as I read the story of your first day and even drifted back mentally to my own euphoric feelings of the 1st day, I could not get out of my mind that you waited in line for Space Mountain for an hour (or longer).

    For that day and that moment in time you were "them".

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  14. Roger said:

    I also never get upset when NM has perviosly said we could chill and go swimming the first day...

    I wasn't aware NM spoke "perviosly" about anything, and I think I could've gone my whole life NOT knowing that. In other words: sounds like a lil sumpm sumpm you need to keep on the down low, Roger. But I am DED because we WERE "them". I can't explain it, but we were so dadgum giddy just to be there, we didn't care if we were them, this or that. Or how long it took us to blast off. Little did we know at the time that 60 minutes would turn into 2 days.

    Frick: I'm DED over the whistles! And you know, I think you're right. I think his aversion to the Brazilians may have something to do with flashbacks of the Clown Incident! Forget the rude behavior and lack of deodorant. He's just worried somebody's gonna throw a burlap sack over his head, strap him to a board, and start throwing meat cleavers at him.

    Again.

    Anonymous: so glad you found us again. Obviously you've been around for awhile and I'm loving that you're enjoying catching up with some TRs again. But I gotta ask, who are you? :) You know, your username from the DIS. Just curious. To get an ID, you basically just register an email address and pick a password and sign in name. Or else you could just sign your name (or ZZUB's) at the end if you'd rather do it the easy way and post as Anonymous.

    Which I have been known to do a time or two.

    And the thing that makes Walt's picture so funny to me is not only the fact that he's sportin' a pigeon, but that it also pooped on his head. While Mickey looks on. With that plastered on grin.

    My husband is going to love all the props yall are doling out. And sadly, we didn't bring any FPs home. Because...WE USED THEM ALL, BABY!!!

    Allright, beans are burning. I'll be back later to finish commenting on everything I want to comment on.

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  15. Thank you kindly for the welcome - hopefully I did the whole sign up thing correctly.

    I actually started a TR once but about 5 days after the first chapter, my life took a big, fat detour kind of like when the truck comes at you in RnR. Only I didn't see it coming and got creamed by the truck. Metaphorically. No actually truck was harmed; but it took me a while to find my funny again. You know you're in trouble when tales of blowing chunks in Disney bathrooms doesn't even make you giggle.

    Sooo - my funny is back but it's been waaaay too long since my last trip to WDW so I am (once again) living vicariously through others. Again.

    The Poster formerly known as Anonymous

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  16. Roger, you are KILLING me. The LaLas were "THEM". DED!!!!!!! And even though I don't believe you that NM could be the "military-we can never chill out-there is too much going on to stay at resort-everyone needs to get moving-NM", well, I kinda do. 'Sokay. We love her anyway! (Because, let's be honest, we have all been there at one point or another...)

    And La & Frick, the clown who whistles and Mr. La's fears of the burlap and meat cleavers! I may have lost a tooth on that one.

    Feels like old times :)

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  17. Awesome installment LaLa! We were lucky to not have to deal with throngs of Brazillions like we have in the past. I only remember a running into them a couple of times and we were able to alter course and head in the opposite direction. I can't imagine having the first two attractions fizzle out. ESPECIALLY after standing in line through both queues. Kudos to Mr. LaLa for breaking out his inner park beast.

    The pigeon photo cracked me up for the obvious reasons. Makes you wonder if there is a CM dedicated to keeping Walt's noggin guano free. What sort of uniform would this CM wear? Where do they operate from? Would they just pop out from a bush and give Walt a polish whenever the birds leave? These are the questions I want answers to.

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  18. Roger, I'm so glad you spoke up because I was dang concerned about those 60 minute waits too. Really, La? On arrival day? Yep, that makes you "Them."

    One of the nagging issues I have with the BTGs is their lack of reverence for Walt and Disney World. From what I've observed, most group members are there to play follow the leader with no interest in what they might immerse themselves in or where they might go next. I never sensed any desire to soak up Disneymania, which made me somewhat defensive.

    Now, I don't speak Portuguese but I can tell if someone is appropriately oohing and aahing during Wishes vs. chatting about the next day's wardrobe.

    By the way, I'd take that pigeon sentry CM position and can just see the costume. I'd do anything to be in the MK every day.

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  19. LaLa, thank you for pointing out my misspell. As NM woudl teell yuo, I du nmubers nto wodrs.

    Gimme a 10key and I am golden, but a keyboard - not so much.

    I know LaLa is not truly one of "them" even though she did act one like of "them" for a brief moment in time - first day joy and all. I am down with that (except I would still never sit in line for an hour).

    AND for the record, I love "them". It is because of "them" and how "they" do things that allow "us" to have a much more enjoyable time. I give all of them a mental shout-out every time I walk by Peter Pan and see a 70 minute wait.

    Ashclan - lemmmme tell ya. You DO NOT want to get in NM's way when it comes to WDW. She is the most laid back, take it as it comes, never stress person I know. She is the exact opposite of me when it comes to stress, detail, organization and the like EXCEPT when we enter the arches. When we do, she is transformed into a full blown, military style, storm-trooper and you better have your A game cause there is no sittin' around and chillin' time. I love her for it but when she tells me "this trip we are going to take things a little slower", I am not buying what she is selling.

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  20. I get stressed out just reading about Rodger's response to stress...that is how stressed I can get.

    Lala...thank you so much for bringing back the feelings of ARRIVAL DAY. There is absolutely NOTHING in the World like it except it's polar opposite, ENVELOPE DAY. Boo for envelope day!! I am so glad we are still on ARRIVAL DAY.

    Psha. Of course Tim and Faith get red carpet treatment at Splash. I am sure it had something to do with the Aquanet. Lala is probably one of those ladies in the planning DVD, riding Splash with her happy blond family...cut to scene of southern belle...with perfectly formed helmet hair. I am so jealous.

    We waited 120 mins for EE in March but it was our only AK day and we got there at noon on a 10 day. So I think we became them that day, too. At least we had the secret, the golden ticket if you will...
    the BABY!!

    Those baby swap tickets allowed the girls to ride all their favs TWICE. Thank you, little sis!!

    LALA great installment! Could you please post another one this weekend while I am visiting my MIL? I am thinking i need a little yellow...

    :P

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  21. PMM said:

    Those baby swap tickets allowed the girls to ride all their favs TWICE. Thank you, little sis!!

    Way to work it, sista! That's one thing we miss about the kids being older now. Not being able to take advantage of the baby swap deal. The boy loved being able to ride everything back to back. Only Disney would turn a baby into a Fastpass ticket. Love that.

    And I'm DED over the Splash stuff. You ain't right girl. But I love ya! I would normally go all Roger on you for waiting 120 minutes but...it was EE. And if anything is worth waiting 120 minutes for (twice), it's definitely EE. LOVE that ride!

    Roger, it's all good with the spelling. Just gives me a chance to pick with you a little bit. Personally, I'd rather be the numbers person than the letters person any day. But that's Frick's gig, not mine.

    Quick : is dining spelled with one "n" or two?

    Just checking.

    Jami! Glad to see you, woman. I don't speak Portugese either but I DID pick up a phrase or two on last year's trip that seems to work really well. Apparently the word "SHUTUP", when screamed loud enough, long enough, and with enough venom behind it, seems to calm things down for a bit. They seem to understand that one. So that's your word for the day. Let's all try to use it in a sentence.

    I would also volunteer to scrape poop off Walt's head, as long as it got me close to a Dole Whip every day. AND as long as they didn't put me in a CHH costume. Those are the worst.

    Hey GB! Good for your for altering your course, and liv4pixiedust: sorry to hear you lost your funny but I'm glad you found it again. And I'm glad you found us again as well.

    Speaking of found us again: where the heck is Mel?!

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  22. Since she's not here to stop me, and I just like it to rhyme instead....

    I vote we change that mantra to:

    "Where the heck is Meck, the poster formerly know as Mel?!"

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  24. Hi LaLa!

    You know I'm even happier than you are that you went back home. Heck, I may be more excited for your trip reports than I am for my own trips.

    Maybe.

    How cool was it for Mr. LaLa to have those year old fast passes in his pocket. Makes you wonder though... exactly how often do you do your laundry? Just kidding.

    Maybe.

    I love it when husbands are just as excited about trips to Disney World as the rest of the family. I'm going to get me one of those.

    Maybe.

    Lastly, what a bummer that you got all the way up to the number on Space Mountain only to be sent packing. However, next time I suggest you just jump on the wanna-be-Shakira Brazilian man, sounds like that would have been a sweet ride.

    Definitely!

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  25. Eh. I've read better. My daughter's Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal box comes to mind. Of course, that's fortified with extra calcium, so probably not a fair comparison.

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