Stupid Guest Tricks

I finally got down there for the first time in 8 years (yes 8, not 10) on the 28th of November and stayed till the 7th and I had a really great time, got one of Zazu’s tours, filled out a crapload of GSF cards, and encountered my fair share of SGs. I’ll put a post in the WDW forum with a cliffnotes version of just the SGTs a little later, I was writing it in my smart phone the whole time I was down there. Yes had my cell on me the whole time. It also had my restaurant reservation information in it and chirruped at me an hour before each restaurant so I could make my way across the park in time for my times. Soooo…. I’ll do this one post at a time, with each day being a post.

So the night before I left, with my stuff packed into my little red pilot case, and a colapsable trunk I borrowed from my SO and the cats in the trusted hands of my flatmate, I hauled the luggage down to my car and headed out for dinner at my folks place, to stay there overnight and get up in time for my 6am flight. There I discovered that the trip when I was 14 (forced to pretend I was 12) was the FIRST trip, not the second, and the second was when I was 16 in 2000, based on the pretty 2000 world hopper my mum handed me, which still had one day and 3 days waterparks and more left on it. I also obtained from them one of the handy garbage bag thin ponchos we had used on previous trips, and borrowed a fanny pack, since mine could not be found.

4:15 am trip day, I woke up, pulled on pre-selected travel clothing, and rolled into the car by 4:30 for the 30 minute trip to the airport. I live near a smallish airport, so even though it was the day after thanksgiving, bag check and security was no hassle at all… apparently Delta are now charging to check even one bag, but I booked before that rule went into effect so there was no charge for me. Mum took my winter coat back with my father and her to the car on the grounds I wouldn’t need it in Florida. After security, I got McDs for breakfast on the terminal, realized my phone was out of batteries, and wound up witting in a corridor eating my breakfast near the only available outlet (I had the charger in my carry on thank goodness.)

Turns out the plane to JFK was on the tarmac, and me with no coat.

So I ran out to the puddle jumper, and they took my carry on because the pilot bag needs to be planeside checked on such a small plane, and we were off for NYC. In NYC I had to loiter about outside the plane and wait for my bag back. Brrrr…. NYC to Orlando was a delightful trip though, with those lovely covered hallway things that mean you don’t have to go outside to get on and off the plane…

So… Orlando international. Great Fun. IT’s HUGENORMUS as I’m sure many of you know. Pulled out my map to ask a train-thingy seciruty man “Does this dotted line on my map represent your train?” but I only got as far as “Does this” before he said “Take the train and go down to the ground floor, on side B.” I guess he recognized the map as the one that comes in your Disney Magical Express vouchers. He must see them a zillion times a day.

On the train I encountered a fleet of people on the train-thingy in embroidered Year of a Million Dreams ears. I joked “If I follow you, will I find the magical express?” and they laughed… when the train stopped I found out why. They must have ordered the ears off the web or something, because they got out and filed up behind a man with a tour flag. Guess they were part of a group. If they really thought year of a Million Dreams ears were going to going to be a good way to keep track of each other in the park during the Year of a Million Dreams…. They had another thought coming.

So I pulled out my map again, and found my way down to the magical express and waited on the longest line I waited in my whole Disney Trip. Finally got on the bus, and flopped into a lovely cushy seat. Really the magic started for me as they started to play that video where Mickey and the Gang ride the Magical Express, having flown in from Disneyland, and check in at their hotels. I was ever so excited.

I was dropped off at my hotel, the Pop Century, in front of a red carpet to the doors, where I believe I met the first authentic Disney CM of my trip… (I’m pretty sure the express people are Mears, right?) who smiled and handed me some stickers and told me right where to go inside to check in. To mu surprise, even though I’d arrived earlier than check in time, my room was ready for me, so I could drop off my carry on instead of toting it around the parks for the day. I was in the 1950’s, facing the 1960’s building, and the room was quite nice. I’m sure the rooms at the Grand Floridian are 10 times cushier (more on the Grand Floridian later) but it was just my speed. Brightly colored, and I got the King Sized bed I asked for. I think I was in a disabled enabled suite, because I had an extra peephole, further down the door, and adjustable bathroom accouterments.

So, after a drop off at the room, and a swap out of stuff in my fanny pouch (Locked my wallet and iPod in the safe and took only my Key to the World card, poncho, cell phone and little pack of tissues in the fanny pouch, and my cannon elp on the belt in it’s case. Took the stickers too… figuring I could give them to a little girl who might appreciate them more.

So… off into the World, feeling extremely light on my feet and excited about being in Freaking Disney World, I hopped the buss to EPCOT, on the grounds that I wanted my first easily recollectable memory of to first experience Magical Kingdom to be arriving for opening. It’s only been 8 years, but I really don’t remember much of the trip I had last time. Mostly I just remembered the Sorcerer’s apprentice bit of Fantasmic, that we watched Illuminations in a torrential downpour, and the time I tripped over a 2 foot tall cement station that the rest of the family stepped over no problem in the AAA parking section at Epcot, and scraped my knee wide open… that and the pure swelling joy walking up toward the park I had just before I fell. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanyhow…

Hopped off the buss in EPCOT and went directly thru to the Imagination Pavilion, to Ride Journey into Imagination… but it went 101 while I was in the queue. So I headed over to the World Showcase, taking the boat over to Morocco and working my way toward Mexico. Two hours into my Disney adventure… I had my first, and most personally irritating encounter with an SG. Walking along between Germany and Italy, minding my own business, I felt something clip my left foot… it startled me and I changed trajectory moving to the right and turned to look over my shoulder, and caught an ECV bumper to the back of my right ankle. My foot was bent forward far further than it’s really meant to go, and the back of my sneaker was caught under the bumper making it impossible for me to pull free as the ECV continued it’s forward motion. Now my recollection may not be the best since I was in pain at the time, but I remember being relived as it felt like the pressure from the EVC was letting up, and then hearing a whirring and feeling the pressure return. Like he’d eased off the accelerator, and then HIT IT AGAIN. At that point, I basically screamed bloody murder, (I thought I was about to loose a tendon) and he put the ECV in reverse and backed up off me. He started muttering about people stopping to fast in front of him. I hadn’t stopped until my shoe caught under his bumper… and he had to know he was coming up close on someone when he clipped my left foot and I turned my head, so I’m not buying it. I probably slowed some out of instinct when I looked over my shoulder, to avoid running into anyone, but yea… aaaaaaaaaaaaanyhow….

I hobbled over to the side of the road, crying by that point, and sat down on the curb. Another guest, a motherly lady, told me to sit right there, she was going to get a CM. About a half a dozen people asked me where my party was… surprised I guess that no one was assisting me. I had to tell them I was there alone. A lot of people were very surprised at that. I guess I probably looked even younger than usual, crying my eyes out…. but it HURT. A CM from Italy arrived and gave me some ice for my ankle, and asked me the customarily 3 times if I’d like to go to first aide. I could tell, by that point, with the ice, that it wasn’t a sprain. I was just going to have a huge bruise on the back of my ankle, so I declined, and after a few minutes sitting down, hobbled back off toward Germany.

Since I can’t do circlevision (makes me motion sick) I got thru most of the countries kind of quick, and found myself in Mexico, where I decided to avail myself of the Gran Fiesta, having previously only rode the Rio Del Tiempo. Hobbled inside and got on line… where I was promptly kicked in the arm by a woman who got in line behind me and then jumped over the ropes to meet her party. I became a bit discouraged at that point… having been injured twice in a few hours upon arriving in Disney… both by SGs. The idiots taking flash pictures all the way thru the ride didn’t help…

Sooooooo…. Then I headed out back towards Japan for my dinner. On the way thru China, I saw Mushu and Mulan taking pictures with kids. I had time left once I got to Japan, so I poked around in the store, and spent far too much money. There’s a reason I selected Japan for my first meal in Disney. I’m a huge Japanophile. Big on both their traditional and pop culture, and their FOOD. Baught myself three pair of chopsticks and some Pockey, and my boyfriend a Christmas present…. Had them sent to my hotel. I’m disappointed at the pockey selection there… I was hoping for some of the rarer flavors, but the only had chocolate, strawberry and one rare. That’s the one I baught, Brazilian Pudding. Then I watched some people get pearls from oysters, a little girl got two from one oyster. I considered buying a pocket watch, but it was made in China. Silly to buy something in Japan that was made in China… so I headed upstairs and checked in for my meal. The stairs gave my ankle some trouble… so I sat down at the top of them with my coaster and just people watched for a while to avoid having to walk back up them.

I was seated at a table alone, and helped rather promptly. Enjoyed the atmosphere and looked forward to my food. A table of four older women next to me saw me eating alone and assimilated me. They insisted I slide my table the two feet over to join up with theirs. They were very nice and seemed to think I was very funny. I get that reaction sometimes. It’s inconsistent tho… and I can never make it happen at will. While I was eating I looked out at the lagoon, and noticed a light emerging from a rock and giggled to myself. The Sushi was really good. I ate it with gusto, and had soft serve for desert. After dinner I headed back over to over to future world to ride Journey into Imagination. I came out the other end much more pleased with it than I had been with the middle version. It’s not the original, but… still it was better and it had Figment. A lady near the picture pick up said I looked very cheerful and slapped a Mickey sticker on my shirt. I explained about the versions and stuff, and how happy I was to see figment back, and she said “Then you should go around again!” So I did. Then dropped some more dough on a figment pin and an 11 inch plush, which I also had sent back to my room.

I headed off back toward the world Showcase to stake out a rail spot for Illuminations. The archways over the bridge were twinkling in time to Manheim Steamroller. I got a little misty from that. Manheim is Christmas in our family. Doesn’t matter if you have a single decoration up, the moment Papa loads the Manheim into the stereo and cranks up the volume… it’s Christmastime. Right… Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaanyhow… I turned left toward’s Mexico. The speller on the boat to Morroco had mentioned how everyone tries to see illuminations from between Canada and Norway… so I decided to see it from Mexico to avoid the crowds… except there was a restaurant on the water… so I stayed near the tree, and staked out a place on the fence. I called home to let my mom know how things were going, and then called my grandparents, who love to get calls from me in neat places (like Times Square on new years eve, and Santa Monica Pier.)

Illuminations was pretty nifty, but I have to say, from a young adult POV it’s the more boring of the night shows… also I was freezing because I had left my hooded sweatshirt in the room. Once the torches came on though it was much much warmer. After illuminations, I headed back out… and hopped the bus back to Pop Century…

End of Day One….

Great trip report, Mayo. Sorry to hear you were injured so early into your visit - I'm sure your ankle was still sore for the next couple of days. I had the same kind of accident the day before our Disney trip - a lady in a scooter rammed me in the back of the foot at WalMart and gave me a bad bruise. All I could think of was NOOOOO, not just before my trip to Walt Disney World!!

Anyway, anyone with a name like Mayonnaise has got to be a fun person, so those ladies in the Japanese restaurant were probably quite correct.

Looking forward to hearing about the rest of your trip.

Correction... upon looking it up on the you tube, although frequently mistaken for Mannheim, the music the lights dance to David Foster's Carrol of the Bells. He's got a Manheim sound to him, but his Carrol is much closer to the proper Carrol of the Bells than Manheim's version... oh well... I thought it was at the time and it still made me all goey and teary. *Higgles.*

8^P

So, Day two was my first Magic Kingdom Day. I was up with the sun, with the aide of my in-room alarm clock, and set off for the world with everything I brought the day before, plus a zipper-down hooded sweatshirt, because I learned my lesson freezing my buttox off at Illuminations. Off, onto a Magic Kingdom Bus, arriving at 8am, to get a good spot in front of the “Mickey Floral” to watch the Show on the Railroad platform. I loved it to bits… I mean, I’d seen it on the youTube before, but never in person and the experience of being able to see that from the front of the crowd, my first day in the Magic Kingdom in 8 years… it was like… WHOA.

So after that it was under the tracks and into the Magic Kingdom, grinning like an idiot and waving back at all the Mainstreet Merch people on the sidewalks with Mickey hands on waving… and trying to find the Chapeau. I got as far as the Uptown Jewlers, where I became pretty sure I’d missed it and stopped to ask a CM for directions. He sent me back thru the shops to the Chapeau, where I pounced on a pair of classic ears and had my name stitched in the back in gold thread, because the lady behind the register told me that was the original color, when I asked. I wore my ears out of the shop and back down the street where I was stopped by the very same CM who had sent me towards the shop, who wanted to admire my hat, and read my name before sending me on my way. That all meant a great deal to me, because I’d wanted ears the first two times I went to Disney as a kid, but my parents wouldn’t get me any on the grounds that they were “flimsy” and they didn’t want strangers reading my name off my hat.

When I got to the end of Mainstreet, I pulled over between the Hat cart and the snack cart, to read my map… since I had no plan whatsoever. Another CM saw me there reading my map, and asked where I was trying to go… I explained that I didn’t really know. I was trying to decide, and he recommended I hit Fantasy Land and check out the Philharmagic, so I set off for Fantasyland via Liberty Square… I was momentarily detoured, when I decided to ride Snow White, which I never rode when I’d been there before. I liked it. I’m a sucker for a classic darkride.

Phillharmagic was pretty incredible. There was no line at that time of morning. I walked right into the staging room, which was nearly empty, and got great seats inside because there were so very few people that pretty much everyone could sit near the middle.

After that I hit Small world, and then Peter Pan. I probably looked like a total froob, but less of one than I would have looked like, if people hadn’t kept mistaking me for a 12 year old. (I’m sorry… I’m not a princess. I’m a mouskateer, check the ears.) I can’t stress enough how you folks had me grinning non stop. Yes… even on Small World I was grinning like a froob the whole time.

After that I headed back thru Liberty Square, hit the Country Bear Jamboree, and wandered past Splash Mountain around into Adventure Land, where I walked in on Captain Jack Sparrow having some kind of competition with another pirate to see who’s side of the crowd was better at singing pirate songs. Then of course… I went on Pirates of the Caribbean, which would have been more fun if the young man in front of me hadn’t turned around and flashed me in the face with his camera. From there I made a bee line to the Jungle Cruise. I’d never been ON the Jungle Cruise before… apparently my mom thought it was stupid and not worth the wait. The lines were still pretty short when I got on though. Our skipper was hillarous, but the person over there who really added a little magic, was a very enthusiastic unloader named Sarah who was dancing around on the deck as our boat pulled up. After that I made a quick jaunt over to the Tiki Room, and exited back to the hub, in time to catch the end of “Dreaming with Mickey.” At about 12 noon, I headed back out of the park, stopping off at Town Hall for GSF Cards for Sarah, and the gentleman who helped me find the Chapeau, I don’t remember his name… I knew it then. I’ve forgotten it now, and it’s not on my list because I didn’t start writing them down till AFTER I realized that it would be better to do them all at once.

So then I went back to the hotel at that point, and picked up my Figment Plush, and Japaneese goodies from the Package Pickup at Everything Pop, and a bag of those Chip and Dale Pretzels, and some Caramel Corn. It was then that I noticed, on the lanyard of the CM checking me out, and the girl standing next to her, a pin I absolutely loved, and because I’ve been on this board, I knew about pin trading. I swear, otherwise I would have mournfully admired it from afar, and been on my way, but because I’ve read here about pin traders, I didn’t just admire it… I coveted it. As soon as I finished checking out, I went across the store to the pins, picked up a $6.95 Jiminy Cricket, and got back in line, and after paying for the pin, had my very first pin trade. I got what I would later find out was one pin in a series. The “Surprised” Figment, from the Figment Hidden Mickey Series (It’s not very hidden.) I felt kinda bad taking it from her, except that when I asked if I could trade her for her Figment pin, she didn’t know which one I was talking about. If she didn’t know the character name… she couldn’t have been that attached to it.

I took my packages, and my newly traded for pin back up to my room, with a quick stop off at the soda machine, and took a rest, watched some TV drank some soda, and ate some pretzels.

Then I hopped back on the bus and went back to the Magic Kingdom. I had lunch at the Liberty Tree Tavern, where my waitress Samira was very nice. She kept apologizing for the slow service, but I didn’t mind because I was watching the parade out the window. The braised beef was good… I don’t even like beef and I liked it. It was fall-apart-y just like she said it would be. Between Dinner and desert, when the place was nearly empty because of the parade, we talked while she cleared the table next to mine. She was a really nice person to talk to who seemed to really enjoy her job and the little things she got to do to make magic for others, so she was the first person to get put on my little GSF list in my smartphone.

After lunch I went over to Tomorrow Land, and rode Stitches’ Great Mistake. It was uncomfortable and awkward, and I didn’t like being pined down like that, and only re-enforced my belief that it was a good idea for me to have skipped Alien Encounter. Stitch was bad enough… if the alien was involved I think I’d have totally freaked. So after that I hit the Laugh Floor… and then rode the Carousel of Progress more times in a row than is probably healthy.

By that time it was dark, and I headed back across the hub, to get in line for the Haunted Mansion. I deliberately saved that for after nightfall, so I could get the full creepy effect. It stopped right while I was next to the whimpering dog in the graveyard. That’s kind of a disturbing place to stop… and the “the ride has stopped, please stay in your vehicles” message didn’t actually play until after we started moving again… not sure what was up with that… but I had on my ears and there was pretty much nothing to stop me grinning like an idiot.

So after that I stepped out, and headed back toward the hub, where I noticed crowd control measures were underway… I stopped to ask what was going on and was reminded about Spectromagic, which I’d forgotten… so I got a good seat for that, right in the hub, facing the castle, and called home while I waited. Spectromagic was awesome. My only regret was that my camera was too slow, so most of my pictures came out crap.

After that I stayed put mostly… moving a bit to the right to be nearer to Cinderella’s Clothesline, and chatted to a family of regulars who were also waiting for the fireworks. One of their kids was so tired, he tried to lay down and sleep right there on the ground… and he had to be at least 7 (the younger children in the family were asleep in their strollers.)

Wishes was wondrous. I kept my camera in the pouch and just watched it, figuring any pictures I took would be as crap as the Spectromagic ones, so I may as well just enjoy it. It turned out I was almost right under the ‘Clothesline’ so I got a great view of Tink.
On the way out of the park, going towards the busses… I saw what I thought was an attraction… well it was an attraction, but it was in transit to someplace else. I thought it was just meant to drift by silently like that, and really enjoyed it… it was the Dolphins, Brachiosaurus, Crocodile, and King Triton, from the Electical Padgent, just, floating by in the distance at a fairly brisque pace. By the time I got my camera out, the dolphins were nearly out of sight.

Then… back on the bus for Pop Century.

End of Day 2….

It sounds like a great trip! You are making me miss the World.

My brother’s gloating, has reminded me that I’ve not even finished this trip report… so, in an effort to re-live my adventures, I bring you the third installment of my Trip Report.

Ok… Day three was another Epcot day, but first, I was to start off the morning with breakfast at Chef Mickey’s. I’d been trying to get that reservation since I first booked my trip and had only succeeded in getting it, the night before I flew out. Needless to say I was psyched. I encountered a very friendly custodial employee behind Classic Hall, named Raffaelle who was sweeping water into a drain with a squeegee. He could very well have just gone about his work, as many custodial staff seem to float by in their own world, which of course is understandable, which is why I feel he went above and beyond when he instead greeted me with a cheery good morning and a smile as I passed him, asked if I was headed out to the parks, and when I answered that I was headed to the Contemporary to have breakfast at Chef Mickey’s grinned wider and said “You’ll have fun there.” As I passed thru contemporary hall I noted him in my Smartphone for a GSF card.

Coming out the front of Classic Hall, I hopped the buss to Magic Kingdom, and hopped the Monorail to the Contemporary. There were so few people headed out of the magic Kingdom at 8am, that I thought I’d give it a try to get into the front cab, and nervously walked over to the platform CM near that end of the platform, to ask if it was possible. He said to wait near the front, and he’d check when the train came in to see if it had people in it already or if there was room. A family of 4 came up behind me just a little later and asked the same thing. He told them he could only take 3 because the cabin only fit 4, and I tried to bow out to let them go together, but the mother wouldn’t let me and sent her two kids in with their father.

Thus began my very short ride in the front cabin. The kids were terrified of the driver, and their father was ribbing them to ask him something, so I got in the first question, which was also my last... I’m afraid it might have been an annoying one, so I won’t post it… but soon enough we pulled into the Contemporary and it was time for me to get out. I nearly left without my Monorail Co-Pilot License, not knowing that they handed out those sort of things, and even if I had known not thinking that Adults would get them.

So, I was about 20 minutes early for my reservation, since I wasn’t sure how long it was going to take me to get to the Contemporary from, but they seated me after only about 10 to 15 minutes. I declined the picture in front of the plate, since it cost more than I was willing to pay, and was shown to my table, which ordinarily would seat 4. I took the chair near the wall so I could look out over the whole restaurant, was served some orange juice, and introduced to my server Jon Jon, who upon finding I was dinning alone, asked me if I had a camera, and upon receiving an affirmative, assured me he’d keep an eye out for the Characters movements and be sure to be back at my table for each visit, to take my picture with them.

He then pointed me in the direction of the buffet, and left. I sat in my seat for a little while, appraising the movements of the characters, afraid to miss one while I was in the buffet line, and upon ascertaining that they were mostly at the other end of the restaurant, except for Donald, who I’d just seen go backstage, presumably for a break, I decided it was safe to go get food. I took a plate and served myself what I realized after I did it, was primarily kids food. I had a Mickey Shaped Waffle and a Hashed Brown Pattie… then further down served myself some bacon, and buttered and syruped the waffle and headed back to my table, figuring I could go back for more later… I never did. I got so giddy and my stomach was so full of butterflies that it took me until nearly all the characters had been by to eat just that. I had a great time waving my napkin over my head during the celebration.

Jon Jon, true to his word made it back for all the characters, although by the time he’d made it back on Minnie, the neighboring table had already taken my picture with her, in exchange for my getting all 3 of them in the picture with their 2 year old’s favorite character. I got to tell you, even as an adult I found the characters intimidating, and probably made a fool of myself saying things like what an Honor it was to meet them (the mice) and thank you so much for taking the time to see me (Pluto, Goofey), although by the time Pluto came around, I was far more loosened up, which is good, because he LICKED me. I called him a Rascal and we posed for Jon Jon with the camera.

After breakfast, I wandered the main area of the Contemporary, admired the “Share a Dream Come True” sculpture near the elevators, ascended the escalator, hopped back on the monorail. Despite the weather warnings it wasn’t raining yet, but there was a heck of a wind that day, and I took a picture o f the leaning Christmas Tree out the window, before the train started up. I rode to the TCC to transfer for Epcot, and started making my way thru Future World.

I decided since it was still early to hit the Seas with Nemo and Friends before it got too crowded, and after it started raining buckets, wound up spending the entire morning in the Living Seas Pavilion looking at the fish. I did Turtle Talk with Crush twice, and talked to some of the people who take care of the fish up on the upper level, where the little tanks are (I think it might be the Ocean Resource Exhibit… not sure.) There they had some living Conchs and a mated pair of clownfish looking after their eggs. A cast member behind the counter told me if I was interested in mating pairs of clownfish, where to find another set downstairs, so I headed down to the exibit aquariums and found the other mated pair that were in the tank that was split between them and the sea horses. At one I put on my poncho and ran around the pavilion in the pouring rain to the Coral Reef restaurant. Now, one thing disappointed me about that place, and it was the limited menu. I’m a Seafood NUTTER. I understand there needs to be variety, but 50% of the Entrees were not fish… and there’s only 10. Now I understand that you can’t have more than around 10 Entrees in a restaurant… but when I go to France in Epcot… all 10 Entrees are French. I was hoping for Lobster Tails, Crabs Legs, Steamed Clams, various fish fillets which exemplify the tastes of the ocean… maybe a seaweed salad. Of the Fish Entrees, 3 of them involved drowning the poor fish in Chutney or Barbeque sauce…

Now, that said, I was THRILLED with the meal I picked, the Lobster Salad with Lobster Bisque. The Lobster was so finely shredded into it that I was concerned at first it might have been diluted with whitefish, but it was basically a scoop of shredded lobster with a bit of mayonnaise, and made a delicious offset to the creamy piping hot lobster bisque which was TO DIE FOR. I was on the bottom tier of the restaurant with only one two seater between me and the aquarium which made for a delightful viewing experience. There was a scuba lesson while we were eating, and we could see the divers all paddling around in the higher levels of the tank. Two divers came down to the window where my two seater, the one next to me, and a four seater table were, and waved at all of us. One of the divers made Mickey ears over his head with his hands, pointed at me and gave me the thumbs up, as if to indicated that he liked my ears hat. I thought they must be CMs that entertain the guests every now and then, but they were on a mission as it turns out… it was the birthday of the woman at the four seater. They pointed at her birthday card, and gestured for her to hold it up to the glass… when she did, they pressed an 8 by 10 sign against the window which I presume read Happy Birthday, because her husband and children exclaimed that out loud at that moment. I couldn’t read it from where I sat… but it was only 3 words, 2 above 1, so I presume it was Happy Birthday [Name].

I told the waitress I was thrilled with the food but I was full and I was wondering if there was a way to convert an unused desert off table service into a snack. She went back and checked, but they couldn’t… “That’s ok, I’ll still skip desert,” I told her, “I really AM full and I don’t want to loose the taste of that lobster bisque just yet.” She told me to wait just there, and she’d be back with the check… she came back with not only the check, but a recipe card for the lobster bisque. which just made my day all that much more special. I’ve yet to try it… I’m thinking I just might this week, if I can get all the ingrediants. I could use a little taste of Disney.

After that I darted back around the pavilion to watch the Dolphin exhibition. I got some great pictures of the one Dolphin who was willing to pose for shots at the end. I wandered back over to the center of Future World, and rode on Spaceship Earth, and at around 5, decided to pack it in early in anticipation of my Keys to the Kingdom tour to start early the next morning. I stopped by Everything Pop wound up making two more pin trades for Figment Emotions series pins with the Merch CMs and picked up a quick dinner at the food court, in the form of a Chicken Caesar Salad to go, with Minute Maid Cranberry Raspberry Apple juice, and a tiny Cheesecake. I laid in bed and nibbled the salad while calling home and watching TV.

End of Day 3…