Out of Town

I left work early Friday and drove (admittedly sleepily) to Orlando. Ape left early this morning on the Safety Patrol bus bound for Universal. My job was to meet them close to dinnertime so that if need be, I could rescue her from the park. As luck would have it, she caught a shuttle to our hotel and I was able to met her there. At Embassy Suites! I was able to get a free Coke on arrival and I spent a lot of time over the next 3 days pretending I was at AWA. -crosses fingers-

After a surprisingly-deep chat about stuff, we met up with her sis's brood who was just arriving. We ate a pretty good dinner at Uno's and then went back to the room to chill. Well, I chilled - the others went swimming. We were both exhausted (her from a full park day and me from the previous night's CoP) and we basically crashed. Well, I had a work-leftover to handle but it was quick.

Saturday was Magic Kingdom day. Of course, we took advantage of the free breakfast - I must learn to *stop* eating their omelettes. They give me tummyaches. Leaving the hotel, we parked at LBV and rode the bus in to avoid the 14-dollar parking fee. It took longer to get in than expected, but we still had plenty of time for fun. Buzz Lightyear, Space Mountain, Stitch, Thunder Mountain... From there we all headed to dinner at Lone*Star. It was pretty good, aside from a bit of unpleasantness with Bro and his oldest. Their Younger keeps egging him on and then the older one catches dad's ire... I finally said something to Sis about it.

Back at the hotel it was more pool time, some 'Net time and then bedtime. We worked hard to stay hydrated in the heat, buying a drink or two and grabbing the free icewater they offer. Oh yeah - silly Space Mountain line wrangler: Telling me "no" is pretty much inviting me to find a way. It's basically what I get paid for. Granted, taking drinks past a checkpoint (into a 70-minute wait!) isn't quite in the spirit, but /come on/!

Oh - near the end of the day, at Mickey's PhilharMagic!, my "Poke Me" shirt got me a poke finally. One of the staff girls poked my chest as she came into the waiting area from the auditorium. I gave her a "whoo-hoo~" and quickly realized the Doughboy sounds more like "tee-hee!". Oh well, it was silly fun!

Sunday was another day in Mickey's World. After the ob:breakfast, we packed our cars and headed to Animal Kingdom. I'll be honest. Up to now, I've never considered myself an AK person. But as I age (hopefully gracefully), I'm finding that I appreciate things more openly. So it was with a mostly-open mind that we drove in, eschewing the free-but-slow bus thing so as not to be late for the Survivor finale.

In line to pay for parking, Sis was ahead trying to get us a deal. When she moved up, I took my turn and the drone in the booth took my card. "(giggly) So, sob story didn't work?" "(emotionless) 14 dollars Sir." "(a little catty) Why not take that money and buy a personality?" Moments later, a scooter drone would fuss at me because I slowed to check on Sis's parking - I thought they were holding a spot for me. /sigh At least the rest of the day would be great!

I marched ahead to get the full crew fast passes for Expedition Everest, which we missed last time. Then we did Finding Nemo: The Musical. Think elaborate puppetry, following the movie's plot. But the human performers are actually performing visibly themselves - they're clearly meant to be seen dancing, singing and emoting. The puppetry was fantastic and despite the oddness of basically two entities in each role, it was one of the best stage shows I've ever seen.

So I made darn sure I got into The Lion King. Oops. Not as good. Not only was it not the story of Mustafa and Simba, Father and Son, it was a bit too Cirque de Soleil for me. I can't appreciate everything! Please don't misunderstand - it was very well done, with most of the good songs and lots of audience participation. Hakuna Matata comes to mind here. But the story, such as it was, stunk. And some of the songs simply didn't fit. Also, unlike the actual Lion King musical (as I recall), the dancers were more akin to cosplayers than puppeteers. Although there were 4 nice sets with animatronic animals representing the 4 "cheering sections". I was appropriately enough in the lion section.

I was alone at The Lion King - the others took in the bird show and some kids' carnival games. Then it was time to head to base camp. Returning to "Asia" I slowed down to take in the atmosphere. I'd really like to learn more about this part of the world and it culture. And I felt Disney's Imagineers did a solid job with the theming. I met the crew with about 10 minutes before our FP window opened and so we chilled and exchanged show stories.

Then it was time to climb. We got to the boarding platform very quickly and, for our first-ever ride, scored front-row! Elder and I took it, and Ape and Younger were just behind. Once it started I did my usual "pretend it's a motorcycle" and actually posted in my seat and leaned all over the place. When the g-forces weren't kicking my tail! And I'll say this - the extended backwards-in-pitch-blackness section owns. For having zero loops or rolls this thing is wicked fun! So naturally we checked with Sis, whose boys wouldn't touch a coaster if it were made of chocolate and whose husband is kinda iffy on such rides. She told us to use her passes and so we did! In a span of less than 10 minutes we rocked that mountain! Elder even found a goofy cain wallet in the seat pocket (which we turned in of course!).

Oh yeah - aside from several "Epic!"s at getting a front-row seat, Elder screamed "This...is...Spartaaaa!!!" at the top of the big drop. When asked why he delivers the line in a crappy English accent, he shrugs. lol

From there, we stopped to let Younger grab a Lego set, and I looked for the Medieval Market Village. I want my cosplay gear something fierce, but I really like that set too. And it's back in stock online... After that, it was gas & go, headed to Red Brick for our customary "headed home" dinner. It was good as usual but I think next time I'm going to try something else. Sis wanted dessert (of course! But no Cold Stone Creamery please!) and it was clear we were going to be late for Survivor.

So I told Ape to call Mom and have her put the phone near the TV. This wasn't optimal, but it was good enough that we could keep tabs on the first challenge. Bye~e Colby! We got home in time for the second and final elimination. When it turned out that Russell won it, I assumed Parvati was homeward bound. But the moment they tossed Jerri, I congratulated Sandra. And left. I cannot stand the "jury phase" and actually check out at this point. It stops being "Outwit - outplay - outlast" and becomes "who ticked off the fewest jury members?"

I did laundry and straightened up. Found out that Sandra *did* win. Her big claim to fame? TWO titles, and not a single challenge win! The ultimate stealth player, right? The exchange betwixt Russell and Boston Rob was priceless and led me to suggest an upcoming season to Jeff: Those two, picking their tribes schoolyard-style. Slightly-altered rules to encompass a true team concept for some of the time. Captains are vulnerable after the merge but not before - better lock in support early, boys! Nicaragua looks fun though!

Just before bed, I sent out my 4th cosplay RFQ, the first three being busts... ><