...and we're back

[Elena (aka: Bubble Lady)]

[font="Palatino Linotype"]...i went to hook up with BW, et al...they were going to go on pirate of the caribbean...i wanted to go on that...elyse said she'd wait for me...ok, so off i went...only we didn't go on pirates...instead we got into a line for a photo op to have pics taken with capt. jack...we waited in line a looonnnng time...some photos were taken while waiting in line...disneyprincess1988 was there too...finally our turn came...more photos...then i had to go...i couldn't leave elyse sitting all by herself...i made arrangements with BW (who was pretty sick by this time...coughing coughing...) to meet for the fireworks and off i went to meet elyse...only it was REALLY POURING now...she wasn't where i left her...cm's made her move despite her protests (my sis won't know where i went and i have her cell phone)...i walked back and forth past where she'd been...i was soaked...my army blanket was soaked...but warm...yea for wool...but i still couldn't find elyse...and no cell phone to try to call anyone...i was getting angry and frustrated...nowhere dry to smoke either...it was swamped...and nothing to eat either...aha! the tomorrowland terrace! i can get a hamburger there! oh no i can't...they only serve them at dl at the tomorrowland terrace...at wdw it's chinese...i ordered something i thought i could eat...but it had something in it i know would have made me ill..i had to take it back...i just wanted to cry...i looked for elyse some more...i still couldn't find her...i finally went under one of the awnings of a store until it was time to meet the group for fireworks...what i didn't know was that elyse was just one or two stores down under the awning scanning for me...she'd called BW and said "it's been a half an hour...where's elena?" after that BW's phone was turned off...i went to where we were supposed to meet for fireworks (the bridge between the hub and tomorrowland)...i walked back and forth across that bridge so many times i felt like a hooker...and no group...the fireworks started, but i didn't really get to see them and didn't enjoy them at all as i was walking back and forth and all around looking for my group...my blankie was very heavy now...completely soaked as was i...the fireworks were over now...i went back towards main st...and there was elyse..."where have you been?" (that's edited for here) i asked elyse..."right here, watching for you"...i tried calling BW...no luck, just answering message...i called my husband in l.a. to ask him to call BW's wife's phone and maybe they would call us back on my phone...Kid called back "we're taking BW to the hospital right now"...just one of the stories we were told...there's another about why i wasn't met for the fireworks show...neither made me or elyse happy..."don't forget to pick up the ecv"...only i wasn't given the key when i was given the stub...on the way out we stopped in at city hall to find out if we could get a rain check...we could and did...we passed out more :bubble: :bubble: ...it wasn't their fault the weather was so atrocious...now onto the locker and to get the ecv...so we waited around while we were first told we couldn't leave the ecv there...then we were told we could leave it there and someone would have to get it the next day...i didn't want to take a chance that anyone would be upset by that...then a security guard said he would look to see if there was a "key" around...by the time they found a "key" and we were on our way the rain was just way out of the ordinary for elyse and i...it took forever to get to where the bus was (of course it was at the last stop)...and it took a few buses before we could get on cuz of the ecv...by the time we got back to the hotel the cafeteria was closed...i didn't eat for the second day in a row...i couldn't even get a hot chocolate...i couldn't help it...i cried...i still had to get my blankie dried (a full drying cycle left my blankie still quite damp, but i had no more change and the change machine was broken), we still had on our ren faire garb and it weighs a ton when soaking wet...we left trails behind us as our skirts were dripping and dragging...i'd taken my hair down (it's below my waist) and it also was dripping...i knew this would end badly...after getting to our room there was a message on the hotel phone from Kid "i just realized i have the key to the ecv...we'll pick it up tomorrow...also, it's going to rain all day tomorrow...plan on doing NOTHING"...i called my husband and talked with him awhile...called and talked with my best friend for awhile...elyse called her home and talked awhile with her family...i think i finally crashed around 4-5 a.m.[/font]

[Elena (aka: Bubble Lady)]

[font="Palatino Linotype"]3/7/08 FRIDAY

well, it started out raining that day...and as told to us we did nothing that day...we were, well, ....we were getting phone calls from home asking where we were and what we were up to..."uh...ummm...well...ya see, it's raining pretty hard here and....", phone calls from cm friends at dl asking the same thing...frustration from previous days finally took over..."it's not quite what we expected..." i won't go into detail, but we did just stay at the hotel...mostly in our room with occasional times spent outside in the wide wet open (remember there was NO covered area for us smokers...we're a unwanted bunch after all, but they STILL like OUR MONEY well enough) to go to smoke...did i say there wasn't a place to sit either? now, i know smoking is a choice (but an addiction too), but really, they could come up with an alternative spot in that kind of weather...much later that evening BW came to take us to a store, but, remember too, he was pretty sick...we were out for maybe an hour...not long...and it was POURING...it was kind of a lost day :( [/font]

[Elena (aka: Bubble Lady)]

[font="Palatino Linotype"]SATURDAY 3/8/08

"come on, elyse, get up...we'll go out on our own"...i can't remember who got us into the park...i have the feeling it was BW, but it could have been someone else...if it was someone else and you know who you are please speak up...we went to epcot...we rode on nemo (finally...an especially good ride to give :bubble: on) and then i went to ride on test track while elyse went to have a cig (test track just wasn't for her...it did a number on her already bad back just days before) and then we went on mission space...then she'd had enough and went back to the hotel...i went to the magic kingdom...i had the bag with the :bubble: in it...first things first...i'm not the kind of person to go places alone...i really hate it...so i found the nearest smoking area, sat down, got out my cigs, my cell phone and called my best friend in l.a....i talked with her for half an hour...then pulled myself together...got out my map of the magic kingdom and was off...i went land by land and went on each attraction in that land (each attraction that was of interest to me anyway ;) )...when one land was done i went on to the next one...wow! i didn't realize just how different some of the rides are from the ones at dl...the same, but different ;) ...i made sure to go on as many of the "same" rides as i could so i could see the differences...i must admit i did nod off in iasw (ok ok...i sometimes nod off in the one @ dl too...i was tired...too many nights of not going to sleep until after 4am ), but i was in the boat all alone...what's with that on a saturday? where were the crowds? part way through my day i got a call from KidAtHeart "where are you?" it turned out i was headed in the direction of where she and amber were (i don't know if amber posts here or not...the only name i ever got for amber was amber)...so i met up with them and went on the hm with them...i don't recall if i went on anything else with them or not...but i did see just about all of the mk that day and rode most of the rides too (all of the ones that i wanted to ride with the exception of pirates...i don't know how i managed to miss that one) all in just a matter of hours...i should say rides and attractions cuz i also saw philharmagic...i gave out :bubble: liberally...not just to cm's but to guests that i thought would really enjoy them (we have our own way of deciding that ;) )...i must admit i did look at the map and list of rides and no matter how hard i looked i couldn't find some of the attractions i know we have at dl...then i realized that some of those rides are at other wdw parks or are not there at all i had dinner and with just a few minutes to spare i found a great spot to stand to watch the fireworks (to get a spot like that at dl i would have had to have been there an least an hour and a half ahead of time)...i decided i would video them...my little digital camera does great video...i recognized the music right away...it was from the show we had several years ago...some of the show was exactly the same as the one we used to have...some of it was very different...but i LOVE fireworks, so i didn't care...i even managed to hold my camera pretty steady :D: ...i didn't stay too much longer after that cuz it was pretty cold (we were really disappointed with that...we were hoping for much warmer weather than what we'd left behind at home...it turned out that l.a. was having great weather...figures, doesn't it?), but i wasn't ready to call it a night...i got back to the hotel and lingered in the shop in the hotel...got some hot chocolate and shopped some more...gave out some :bubble: to the people working there...topped off the hot chocolate and went towards our room...stopped at the s.s. near our room and called home...talked with my son, talked with my husband, talked to my lizzie (ok ok...so i'm a weirdo...you had to have known that going in ;) ), talked some more to hubby...called my bff in l.a (smoking while talking) and then went to the room...a nice hot shower and then i tried to write out post cards...i finally crashed around 3am...elyse was already sound asleep when i came in[/font]

[Elena (aka: Bubble Lady)]

[font="Palatino Linotype"]3/9/08 SUNDAY

elyse woke up feeling really unwell...she opted to stay at the hotel no matter what i was going to do...ok, i thought, another day like yesterday...i wasn't particularly looking forward to that...but, surprise surprise!!! my pinpal (a guy i met through ebay when he outbid me on some genie pins) called to say he'd brought his family from alabama (they're ap's) to meet us! AMAZING! they were going to be going to the wild animal park would i care to join them? would i? you bet! BW came to get me...he dropped me off at the studios park...i went in and dropped in at the store i'd first gone into when we'd been there the first day...i saw a t-shirt i knew would be perfect for my younger daughter...i bought it right away along with some other smaller items..."could you please have it sent to my hotel?" (i loved being able to do that) some :bubble: for her...then another lady joined her...she looked familiar...aha! i recognized her...she was the lady we'd seen the first day over by the stroller rental...she recognized me too...dunno if it was really me she recognized or the bottle of bubbles i'd just given the cashier...when i looked back at the cashier (an older lady probably around my age she looked like she was going to cry...she brought out this certificate "a certifiable magical moment" and put one of those tinkerbell pins on it...she even gave me one for elyse...now i nearly cried...ahahaha...i was glad it said magical moment...i already know i'm "certifiable" :notallthe )...we all talked for awhile...it was relaxing...the shop wasn't busy...but then it was time to move on...i went to the animation/museum building...took some pics there...went outside and tried chatting up another woman in a ss...sorry, but i must say that i found the larger portion of the other guests at wdw either unfriendly or downright rude compared to those we get at dl...dunno why that is...and don't say it's because it's where they're from...we get people from all over the place too...so i watch a small lizard taking a sunbath...i even took a photo of it...at least i didn't expect it to answer me when i talked to it ;) (that certifiable i'm not :D: )...

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[Elena (aka: Bubble Lady)]

[font="Palatino Linotype"]i decided that i would go back to the hotel before going to the wild animal park...i'm not sure why right now, but i must have had my reasons at the time...but then i hopped the bus headed to the wild animal park..."hi warren, i'm here...where're you at?" and there i met a very lovely family...warren, his lovely wife robin, the beautiful 14 yr. old daughter, samantha and their cute-as-buttons twins, sawyer and sadie (2 yrs. old), and their 19 yr. old niece (i can't remember her name right now...damn that crs!)...i spent the rest of the day with them...and it was the best time i'd had so far (sorry all, but there's just something about going to those kinds of places with kids...and i just love it)...the babies were really well behaved...and i kept thanking them for letting me tag along...and they kept thanking me for putting up with them...by the time i'd gotten there they'd been there for hours, so the only attraction i got to see there was the safari tour...but it was fun! (it gave me a kind of heads up on what to expect when i could go on when BW would be driving - if he ever got well enough to go to work while we were still there...he'd finally gone to the dr...just bronchitis, but a really bad case...he had my deepest sympathy cuz i get it at the drop of a hat...now please don't start dropping hats...i came home with it thank you very much)...but i did have my photo taken near the sign for the rain forest cafe since there's quite a good likeness of an iguana there (ok, so my iguana doesn't look quite like that ;) )...and from across the park i had my photo taken with the tree of like and it just so happened that the iguana was on the side facing us, so got that in too :D: ...then it was time to leave there, but that dear dear family that let me tag along invited me to have dinner with them at the hotel...yep, they were staying at the same hotel...so the day that was pretty good was extended a bit more...and as we were eating plans were made for me to join them the next day at the magic kingdom...they would be going there for just a few hours to try to tire out the twins for the long ride home that day...we said our good nights and parted company...i got some hot chocolate, picked up my packages from the couple of days before, went towards our room, stopped for a cig or two, called home, and then off to our room...i decided on a bath and nearly fell asleep there, but when i went to bed i couldn't fall asleep...out for another cig and a call to my bff...but the stupid bench was went...they'd turned on the sprinklers and it got the damned bench too...grumble grumble grumble...they really don't care much about the smokers...i wonder if all the smokers stopped going to their hotels how they'd feel about the drop in patronage? how about if we stopped buying stuff? hmmmm...back to the room...back to bed...it was at least 4am before i fell asleep...(don't worry...i don't sleep at home either )[/font]

[Elena (aka: Bubble Lady)]

[font="Palatino Linotype"]here are some photos[/font]

[Elena (aka: Bubble Lady)]

[font="Palatino Linotype"]...and some more photos[/font]

[ktulu]

Elena,

It sounds like it was a rough trip, overall was it a good or bad experience?

[disneyprincess1988]

Those are wonderful pictures, Elena. Thank you for posting them.

[Elena (aka: Bubble Lady)]

[font="Palatino Linotype"]MONDAY 3/10/08

HOORAY!! BW is finally feeling ok! ok enough to join me at the mk as i join my pinpal and his family for a couple of hours there...elyse's back was so bad by this time she was in bed with no plans to move around too much though i did ask if she wanted to go out...

it was a weekend of firsts...my first time meeting this family...certainly bw's first time meeting them (i hope it won't be the last as they are ap's)...and the first time that pinpal's older daughter went on several rides...i even went on the teacups (there's no governor on them at the mk like they put on them at dl)...i don't usually go on anymore, but while BW spun our cup i blew :bubble: ...but all too soon it was time for them to go...they had a loooonnnnnggggg drive ahead of them...hopefully the time we spent at the mk was enough to tire out the babies enough to have them sleep part of the way home (that was the plan anyway ;) )

BW and i headed for epcot and went on a couple of rides there...we stayed to watch "illusions"...we had a very good spot to watch the show from...and it's quite a show...it ended, but we were in no hurry to leave figuring there would be a huge crowd leaving at that time (not unlike the rush leaving dl after the fireworks there)...we just hung out and blabbed a bit...when the crowd looked like it died down we headed out...

BW dropped me off at the hotel and i went in and got my packages (yep, i did some shopping...i had to bring some stuff home for my family :D: )...i had my mug so i got some hot chocolate on my way out and stopped to smoke before going in for the night...a call home...and then in i went...

know that every day i went out i took at least 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 boxes of :bubble: with me and gave them all out...a few people knew who we were before we gave them :bubble: ...definitely they knew who we were after we gave them :bubble: ...and some of them said they'd gotten emails about us saying they were allowed to take :bubble: from us :D: ...that was pretty cool

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