DAY 6
To recap – we are:
J40 – me 40 year old
J4* - my wife
J7 & J11, our daughters, 7 & 11.
We are currently enjoying a week long trip to Walt Disney World and a week long Disney cruise. Join us, won’t you?
What did we do this day?
Having not blogged for a bit, we are trying to forensically reconstruct this day. Here are some notes, not necessarily in the order we did them.
We went to MK in the morning. Checked around Pirates, but it is still closed. I bought a at for my pirate night costume on the cruise, and J4* bought a pair of pirate Mickey ears. We saw a bit of the Capt. Jack Sparrow pirate training show – very cute. Reminds me of the Jedi Academy at the Studios.
With the crowds expected for Pirates, it seems the often closed El Pirata y el Perico has returned as a Mexican counter service restaurant. When I last ate there it was the daty they had reopened it as a table service buffet to help provide more MK table service for Dining Plan participants. Much better this way! With tacos or taco salad, you get a shell with meat, all the other toppings are at a nearby bar. Note that sour cream is only behind the counter, so you must request it.
Went on Stitch. The kids love Stitch and so love this attraction. I think perhaps because it’s about as much “thrill” as they feel they have complete control over. I personally liked Alien Encounter. I could see how this could be more enjoyable, if it just had a tad better story. As it is, it seems crippled by Eisner era budgeting.
Did the TTA, another favorite, although J11 cowers in fear during the passage through Space Mountain. She was amused that her VMK wristband (she likes VMK a lot, although we’vve had trouble getting it to run lately). She did the thrill seekers quest (OK, we had to cheat and find the answers online) and the High School Musical one (no “cheating” required! She knows that down cold. The in park answers we found quickly in the park),
We went back to the room. Having not rained today, it was hot and humid. J4* went to Epcot to do a little shopping (one of the joys of the Beach Club – running into Epcot at a moment’s notice!).
I was determined to finally cook my purchased meat (never got around to grilling at SSR). I had confirmed there were grills at the Beach Club Villas – a small picnic area by the BCV pool. Now I needed some tools. At SSR, the rental place, “Horsing Around,” lent them to DVC members. I asked at the Beach Club Marketplace, but they referred me to the Conciheerge. They in turn told me they tools were in a drawer by the grill, and if not, call housekeeping.
Soon after J4* left, the weather became threatening. No! I have charcoal, I have meat. I must grill!
As our room was in sight of the grill, I instructed my daughters on yhte use of a cell phone and went down to grill. J7 learned the lesson well, as she called my phone with the one I left her approximately every 30 seconds.
Started the grill. No drawer, hence no tools. Called housekeeping between J7’s diligent calls. No idea – they transferred me to private dining (a.k.a. room service). After a few minutes, I gave up.
Called J4* to try to let her know I had had the girls lock the door. Unfortunately, he call dropped before she heard that, so I had to call J7 to let her mom in!
Using a fork, I managed to cook all the meat I had purchased! Made sure it was all well done, to make up for any sins that transferring it between hotels might have caused.
We ate. The rain was never more than a sprinkle, so I grilled unmolested by the elements, mostly.
After this early dinner, we relaxed. J11 had decided that she could earn more allowance as a dishwasher, and had been trying to wash dishes for the past few days. So now, with more than a stray glass in the sink, I thought I’d let her really do it.
I showed her how to load the dishwasher. When I started to show her how to add the detergent, she informed me she already had added soap. We found that she had filled the soap receptacle with Palmolive. We have a dishwasher at home, she’s seen us run it. She knew we had never used liquid soap.
I at first thought little of the mistake until J4* said we should really get that out. I tried as best as I could, but there was still a little in the cup.
I thought it would be OK, so we started the dishwasher.
Was it “I Love Lucy” or “The Brady Bunch” (or both) where the washing machine suds up the entire house? Well we were soon living in that world.
Heaps of foam welled up from the bottom of the machine. We stopped it, and called housekeeping.
A great housekeeper named Cladonise (excuse the spelling – probably got that wrong) came up to help. At first she asked if we had Downy (we didn’t). Apparently that will kill the suds.
All that was left to do was empty it out with a bowl and repeat until it would start a cycle without foaming over.
Much work and a few towels later, she had it right as rain.
After that excitement, we decided to head to MGM for Fantasmic (a show that J11 had been afraid of. We were on the way to do it last trip when a downpour stopped us). We had a great Friendship boat driver on the way over. He picked out the “bad kids” on the boat (not ours, amazingly?) and placed them in “detention” at the front. He let them go only after the oldest did 20 pushups! The detention kids were actually as amused as the rest of us at the whole thing.
I went to get in line for the 9 PM Fantasmic about 7:30, ad te rest went on the Great Movie Ride. There was some gnashing of teeth after that, as J11 wanted to do Narnia, but J4* help that there really wasn’t time before they needed to join me (which was true).
I had decent seats – Scar row X – a pole blocked a little, but not very much. The show was enjoyed by all. The night was clear and getting cooler. The only bad part was that Maleficent never became the dragon. The dragon’s head peeked out of the mountain, but apparently could advance no more. J11, a dragon-lover, was disappointed, but I told her just a reason to see it again!
Narnia was still open for its last show afterwards, so we went on. J11 was in heaven. The cast member playing the Witch does resemble the actress in the movie very much. They must have a few with the requisite facial structure!
Back home and to bed!