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graygables · 11-24-2004, 11:48 PM

Day 6:
Stitch took over the wake up call today, much to the delight of the girls! They were giggling about it all morning. Poor DH doesn’t like Stitch (he doesn’t understand the concept), so he was in for a day! We opted to take the bus to the MK today, since it is so much easier than trying to park there, but the bus was PACKED! I was really surprised, but I guess it was all the Stitch hoopla. We arrived and went straight for the train, rode around to Frontierland and walked onto both Splash and Big Thunder Mountain RR. That was fun, since DH had never been on either one of those. We started walking toward Fantasyland (it is *MY* birthday after all!) and I had some Japanese tourists stop and ask me for directions. This happened a lot on this trip; it seems that I exude some kind of “Ask me, I know everything” air, so I gave monorail lessons, directions, ride tips, you name it! A CM came over and said, “Do you need help with directions?” and I just waved her off…I have it under control, Ma’am!

DH was laughing at me all day. Went on Peter Pan next and I must say that I *really* enjoyed having DD to share it with (Look, there’s Tink! Bye Nana! Take that, you old mean Hook!) I didn’t realize how much I missed that on my solo trip! After that we walked into Mickey’s Philharmagic and enjoyed that, *BUT* (that’s a big but, BTW!

) they changed the scent during the Be Our Guest segment! I was *NOT* happy about it! I am very scent-sensitive and have strong memories tied to scent, but this one smelled like chemically altered berries, not my familiar Home Sweet Home Yankee Candle! I’m writing Disney about this one, b/c DH and Dds all said it wasn’t the same and not nearly as pleasant.

After we snapped some pictures in the shop, we got Pooh FP and DH took Dds on the teacups. Not me, thank you very much! Dds chose a green cup, since green is my favorite color (awwww!) and they spun away. By this point they were getting hungry and I had planned on trying Columbia Harbor House, but they were begging for Figaro fries, so Pinnochio’s it was! We had a nice lunch there and it was time for the Pooh FP. Rode that and walked around the Wishing Well path by the castle to head back to the bus. As I rounded the corner, I wanted to take a picture and much to my surprise (and delight) the Castle had been toilet papered! Apparently, Stitch was on the loose and being bad and had Tped the Castle as well as spray painting, “Stitch is King” on one of the turrets. It was hilarious, so I started snapping pictures. We saw a crowd gathering and a bit of a commotion and I realized it was the Cinderella show beginning, so we stayed and watched that…bonus! Wandered down Main Street and back to the AKL bus, where we were the only passengers back! We went to the room to freshen up for dinner and the afternoon, retrieved the car and drove to the AK for my birthday afternoon.

Once at the AK, we made a beeline to the FOLK and watched that show (and I actually *didn’t* boo hoo this time…just a stray tear or two!) We had promised Dds ice cream (from yesterday’s “meal deal”), so we stopped and got some cool treats. DH took Sarah to see Bug and I wandered around to India and waited for them there. We met up and walked through the Maharajah Jungle Trek, which DH had never seen, either, so that was neat. The parade was lining up, so we went to find a shady spot to watch. There was room right next to the handicapped area, so I took DH and Dds and parked the stroller. There were some people sprawled out on the ground (with all their junk spread out) and they got snippy with me about invading their “space”….”we have other people coming” to which I said, “Well, they’re not here now and we are” They had plenty of space hogged with all the junk and the CM standing there told me to stay put. I’m usually a very nice person, but these people chapped my hide. Then they start griping that the rest of their group isn’t there, he’s not going to make it, he’s so irresponsible (this turns out to be the woman’s DH

) who walks up just as the parade is starting with a little kid on his shoulders. *This* was the “people” they were hogging all the room for???? Oy! We stayed in our spot, since once they stood up there was oodles of room, and watched the parade. The AK parade is definitely one of my favorites. The floats are fascinating to me and I love to watch them! After it was over, we followed it out and I got to listen to DH complain again about the inefficiencies of Disney’s people moving, which I pointed out was financially efficient if it made people stop and shop!

We drove to the Polynesian and valet parked for Dds first stay at the Neverland Club. I was a bit wary, since I

Simba’s for them, but they were excited. Walking in, the desk is Wendy’s bed, and there are steps leading out of the nursery through a window into Neverland! They put their coats in Wendy’s closet and were on their way! After taking care of the paperwork, DH and I took the monorail over to the Contemporary for my birthday dinner at the California Grill. I was a bit concerned b/c DH can be very self conscious and they escort you up in an elevator! He kept muttering that he was under dressed, but once we were sitting in the lounge area and they raised the shades, he was breathtaken, so didn’t worry at all about his clothes anymore! The view was stunning and we were seated at the most perfect window seat overlooking the Magic Kingdom. It was a complete, unobstructed vista and we just stared at it all evening! Our waiter was *wonderful*, not at all snippy about the “no wine” thing. DH had the salad and I had the most delicious pumpkin soup I have ever tasted. I asked for the recipe and the waiter seemed thrilled that I thought it was so good. For entrees, DH had the steak and I had the pork tenderloin on the goat cheese risotto (which I am not a goat cheese fan, but this was

) The waiter had told us that he would send us outside to watch the fireworks and have our dessert (the molten chocolate cake) for us when we came back in. He brought me a refill of my tea, only there was no ice in it and it tasted odd. I took another sip to find that he had put coffee in my glass instead! I didn’t want to say anything and I like coffee, so I just sweetened it and went outside. As we were going through the door, I saw him swoop my glass off the table, so I thought he’d caught his mistake.

DH and I stood outside and watched Wishes from the top of the World and it was gorgeous! I kind of like experiencing it from all the different angles. We went back in to find our table had been re-set for dessert with fresh napkins and silverware and there was ice in my glass. I took a sip and it was…iced coffee! I guess he didn’t catch it after all, but I wasn’t going to fault him b/c at least he’d caught the “ice” part! He brought our dessert, complete with birthday candle and a chocolate that read “Happy Birthday from the California Grill” It was very special. I blew out the candle and, just a memo to the chef…molten chocolate *will* melt wax! Part of the candle had melted into the center, but DH didn’t care, he ate it anyway!

We rode the monorail back to the Poly and picked up 2 very happy girls (they *loved* it so much, we cancelled Simba’s for Friday and brought them back here). There was a dinner buffet and all you can make crafts (which they made a *lot*!) big screen TV in a theater type area where they were *allowed to eat* (!) They played dress up and a lifeguard came and played pirate with them. A great time was had by all! Picked up the car from valet and headed back “home”. DDs wanted to go to the Zawadi again, so we stopped in and DH called and said he’d made a “boo boo”. I had called for turndown service that AM and the mousekeeper had showed up to do it, but DH told her no

Poor guy doesn’t quite get the whole “deluxe” thing, yet. I came up to the room to find a room service tray with a beautiful cake on it that said, “Love Michael” and party hats! I have a sneaking suspicion that a certain MAUREEN had a hand in it, too

Sneaky people…I

them! We had cake (only it was white, not chocolate, but the frosting was

chocolate, so that made up for it!) and Dds sang happy birthday to me. I stepped out onto the balcony to see 4 zebras, 4 wildebeests, and 3 giraffes right below our balcony, so close you could *hear* the grass ripping and their chewing it! Then there was the whole Christmas decorations in the lobby thing and, yep, crying again! It was the most wonderful birthday EVER and Passporters helped make it that way!!!

We finally fell over into bed and happily fell asleep knowing that tomorrow was going to be less hectic.

Next: An Empty World of Disney Store, The Infamous Tara, a Wonderful Family from Across the Pond, and the Prettiest CM on the Property!

11-24-2004, 11:48 PM	#22 (permalink)
graygables Community Rank: Explorer Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge Resort Posts: 13,717	Re: Another Day Older & a\'Deeper in Debt: Days 1-8! Day 6: Stitch took over the wake up call today, much to the delight of the girls! They were giggling about it all morning. Poor DH doesn’t like Stitch (he doesn’t understand the concept), so he was in for a day! We opted to take the bus to the MK today, since it is so much easier than trying to park there, but the bus was PACKED! I was really surprised, but I guess it was all the Stitch hoopla. We arrived and went straight for the train, rode around to Frontierland and walked onto both Splash and Big Thunder Mountain RR. That was fun, since DH had never been on either one of those. We started walking toward Fantasyland (it is MY birthday after all!) and I had some Japanese tourists stop and ask me for directions. This happened a lot on this trip; it seems that I exude some kind of “Ask me, I know everything” air, so I gave monorail lessons, directions, ride tips, you name it! A CM came over and said, “Do you need help with directions?” and I just waved her off…I have it under control, Ma’am! DH was laughing at me all day. Went on Peter Pan next and I must say that I really enjoyed having DD to share it with (Look, there’s Tink! Bye Nana! Take that, you old mean Hook!) I didn’t realize how much I missed that on my solo trip! After that we walked into Mickey’s Philharmagic and enjoyed that, BUT (that’s a big but, BTW! ) they changed the scent during the Be Our Guest segment! I was NOT happy about it! I am very scent-sensitive and have strong memories tied to scent, but this one smelled like chemically altered berries, not my familiar Home Sweet Home Yankee Candle! I’m writing Disney about this one, b/c DH and Dds all said it wasn’t the same and not nearly as pleasant. After we snapped some pictures in the shop, we got Pooh FP and DH took Dds on the teacups. Not me, thank you very much! Dds chose a green cup, since green is my favorite color (awwww!) and they spun away. By this point they were getting hungry and I had planned on trying Columbia Harbor House, but they were begging for Figaro fries, so Pinnochio’s it was! We had a nice lunch there and it was time for the Pooh FP. Rode that and walked around the Wishing Well path by the castle to head back to the bus. As I rounded the corner, I wanted to take a picture and much to my surprise (and delight) the Castle had been toilet papered! Apparently, Stitch was on the loose and being bad and had Tped the Castle as well as spray painting, “Stitch is King” on one of the turrets. It was hilarious, so I started snapping pictures. We saw a crowd gathering and a bit of a commotion and I realized it was the Cinderella show beginning, so we stayed and watched that…bonus! Wandered down Main Street and back to the AKL bus, where we were the only passengers back! We went to the room to freshen up for dinner and the afternoon, retrieved the car and drove to the AK for my birthday afternoon. Once at the AK, we made a beeline to the FOLK and watched that show (and I actually didn’t boo hoo this time…just a stray tear or two!) We had promised Dds ice cream (from yesterday’s “meal deal”), so we stopped and got some cool treats. DH took Sarah to see Bug and I wandered around to India and waited for them there. We met up and walked through the Maharajah Jungle Trek, which DH had never seen, either, so that was neat. The parade was lining up, so we went to find a shady spot to watch. There was room right next to the handicapped area, so I took DH and Dds and parked the stroller. There were some people sprawled out on the ground (with all their junk spread out) and they got snippy with me about invading their “space”….”we have other people coming” to which I said, “Well, they’re not here now and we are” They had plenty of space hogged with all the junk and the CM standing there told me to stay put. I’m usually a very nice person, but these people chapped my hide. Then they start griping that the rest of their group isn’t there, he’s not going to make it, he’s so irresponsible (this turns out to be the woman’s DH ) who walks up just as the parade is starting with a little kid on his shoulders. This was the “people” they were hogging all the room for???? Oy! We stayed in our spot, since once they stood up there was oodles of room, and watched the parade. The AK parade is definitely one of my favorites. The floats are fascinating to me and I love to watch them! After it was over, we followed it out and I got to listen to DH complain again about the inefficiencies of Disney’s people moving, which I pointed out was financially efficient if it made people stop and shop! We drove to the Polynesian and valet parked for Dds first stay at the Neverland Club. I was a bit wary, since I Simba’s for them, but they were excited. Walking in, the desk is Wendy’s bed, and there are steps leading out of the nursery through a window into Neverland! They put their coats in Wendy’s closet and were on their way! After taking care of the paperwork, DH and I took the monorail over to the Contemporary for my birthday dinner at the California Grill. I was a bit concerned b/c DH can be very self conscious and they escort you up in an elevator! He kept muttering that he was under dressed, but once we were sitting in the lounge area and they raised the shades, he was breathtaken, so didn’t worry at all about his clothes anymore! The view was stunning and we were seated at the most perfect window seat overlooking the Magic Kingdom. It was a complete, unobstructed vista and we just stared at it all evening! Our waiter was wonderful, not at all snippy about the “no wine” thing. DH had the salad and I had the most delicious pumpkin soup I have ever tasted. I asked for the recipe and the waiter seemed thrilled that I thought it was so good. For entrees, DH had the steak and I had the pork tenderloin on the goat cheese risotto (which I am not a goat cheese fan, but this was ) The waiter had told us that he would send us outside to watch the fireworks and have our dessert (the molten chocolate cake) for us when we came back in. He brought me a refill of my tea, only there was no ice in it and it tasted odd. I took another sip to find that he had put coffee in my glass instead! I didn’t want to say anything and I like coffee, so I just sweetened it and went outside. As we were going through the door, I saw him swoop my glass off the table, so I thought he’d caught his mistake. DH and I stood outside and watched Wishes from the top of the World and it was gorgeous! I kind of like experiencing it from all the different angles. We went back in to find our table had been re-set for dessert with fresh napkins and silverware and there was ice in my glass. I took a sip and it was…iced coffee! I guess he didn’t catch it after all, but I wasn’t going to fault him b/c at least he’d caught the “ice” part! He brought our dessert, complete with birthday candle and a chocolate that read “Happy Birthday from the California Grill” It was very special. I blew out the candle and, just a memo to the chef…molten chocolate will melt wax! Part of the candle had melted into the center, but DH didn’t care, he ate it anyway! We rode the monorail back to the Poly and picked up 2 very happy girls (they loved it so much, we cancelled Simba’s for Friday and brought them back here). There was a dinner buffet and all you can make crafts (which they made a lot!) big screen TV in a theater type area where they were allowed to eat (!) They played dress up and a lifeguard came and played pirate with them. A great time was had by all! Picked up the car from valet and headed back “home”. DDs wanted to go to the Zawadi again, so we stopped in and DH called and said he’d made a “boo boo”. I had called for turndown service that AM and the mousekeeper had showed up to do it, but DH told her no Poor guy doesn’t quite get the whole “deluxe” thing, yet. I came up to the room to find a room service tray with a beautiful cake on it that said, “Love Michael” and party hats! I have a sneaking suspicion that a certain MAUREEN had a hand in it, too Sneaky people…I them! We had cake (only it was white, not chocolate, but the frosting was chocolate, so that made up for it!) and Dds sang happy birthday to me. I stepped out onto the balcony to see 4 zebras, 4 wildebeests, and 3 giraffes right below our balcony, so close you could hear the grass ripping and their chewing it! Then there was the whole Christmas decorations in the lobby thing and, yep, crying again! It was the most wonderful birthday EVER and Passporters helped make it that way!!! We finally fell over into bed and happily fell asleep knowing that tomorrow was going to be less hectic. Next: An Empty World of Disney Store, The Infamous Tara, a Wonderful Family from Across the Pond, and the Prettiest CM on the Property!