Our Bipolar Adventure About This Page:

[Ursunique2001]

you are effecient.... you know I still have not found the stamps i brought for our trip in May. Maybe I'll find them by next years trip.

anyway.......I am really enjoying your report. I partically loved ..........

"Now, this is really sad, I had to talk the DH via the radio right to the door. He just kept walking past it. The kids thought is was pretty funny because they could see dad but he couldn't see them. He was totally clueless."

I can just imagine your childrens reaction.

Looking forward to hearing more......

[Sneezy'sMom]

Thank you. I'm a bit embarassed to admit that I kept most of my notes on napkins and I have been having trouble piecing them together. It has been very busy this summer at our house and I keep meaning to finish up that report. I have day four somewhere and ready to go. I guess I better get off my rear and type it in. Oh, I've also been busy planning two trips to WDW this fall! Lucky me!

[bfth]

Please read your napkins fast! Cause I'd really like to hear more soon!

[Sneezy'sMom]

Wow, sorry about the delay but life just kind of sneaked up and overwhelmed me during the last 6 weeks. You know, all of the sudden I was told off by DD#1 for not getting her a yellow notebook for school, DH setting himself on fire, DS starting preschool, DH in the hospital, DD#2 hating 1st grade, DH at home and handicapped, terrorist ruining an international meeting that I was incharge of, etc. Oh, DH is just fine and dandy. He was being really stupid and set his legs on fire. It was quite a scare for the whole family and a lot of hard work taking care of him but he is all better and on the go again. In my spare time I did manage to find all those napkins and get them organized. I wrote about 10 pages last week and today I am trying to edit day 4. Hopefully, by the end of the day you will be able to enjoy DD#1(Sara's) birthday at Discovery Cove!

[Sneezy'sMom]

Cast:

Jeff(DH) - 36 yrs. and the provider of this wonderful vacation
Shawn (DW) - 35 yrs. author and planner of this vacation
Sara (DD#1) - turned 7 yrs. on this trip
Grace (DD#2) - 5 yrs.
Billy (DS) - 3.5 yrs. and 1st visit to WDW

Day 4: Wednesday May 9th
Part A: The big swim

The big day was finally here. Today is DD#1 (Sara's) birthday and we are going to Discovery Cove to swim with the dolphins. Everyone except, Mom, slept through Mickey's, "Up and at'em!" I managed to get swimsuits on everyone and loaded the car with a days worth of junk in record timing. There actually wasn't too much stuff since Discovery Cove provides basically everything that you will need for the day such as towels, sunscreen, food, masks,etc. The drive was quick and easy and check-in only took about 15 minutes. I guess I was expecting more confusion or less organization than there was. Maybe it was too early in the morning for most people. All the members of our party were given photo IDs and DH set up charging privileges on the adults' cards. This is really geat, no soggy $20 bill stuck in your swimsuit! [img]images/icons/blush.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img] An employee gave us a quick tour and we had our complimentary photo taken. Yep, I'm the one with my eyes closed! Of course everyone else in the family looks great! [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img] We were also shown to our cabana for the actual dolphin preshow. They also showed us to our lockers and the locker rooms. These are huge and have plenty of towels. This tour was extremely brief and did not take long. I had read other reports that indicated that this might be long and dull, but ours was not. DD#1 (Sara) and I had our dolphin swim at 10:50 am at the Starfish Cabana. The family decided to dump most of our stuff into a locker, pick-up some towels and stake out a spot on the beach. This didn't take too long except for locating the animal friendly suncreen lotion. DH finally located it and came back with gobs of it to share. After making sure the whole pale-skinned family from Wisconsin was covered from head to toe in suncreen the kids hit the beach. Finding a spot to set up camp for the day was easy due to the fact that Discovery Cove only lets in a limited number of guests. The kids wanted to check out the Tropical Reef and Ray Cove while we waited until our time for the dolphin swim. Okay, here's were the fun really begins. The kids totally flipped out at Ray Cove. Oh, a word of warning--stay away from the rocks--they are slippery and it will hurt like heck if you scratch yourself. I'm speaking from experience and I have a nice scar on my knee to prove it. In retrospect, I really do have a big lump of a scar there now and until I reread my notes I had forgotten how I got it! Back to the kids--they were afraid of the fish! [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] No matter what we told them they just couldn't get in the water with the fish. I quickly began to anticipate this being a big problem as the day would go on. I mean, that is why were here, to swim and see the fish. Thank goodness it was time for DD#1 and I to go and swim with the dolphins. Worrying about the kids and fish was put on the back burner.

At our cabana we were assigned the letter "C". I had no idea what this stood for and none was given to me. We watched a short video on dolphins and a trainer taught us about dolphin anatomy. Everyone in this park was extremely outgoing, personable and provided great customer service. Not that Disney isn't good but these people were great! The dolphin experience was totally awesome! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] We had to get into the water ASAP and it was chilly! The water starts at about a 1" deep and is waist high before you reach the drop off. Everyone in our little group (that would be group "C") had to stand in a row along the edge of the drop off for most of the time that we were interacting with the dolphin. (As I understand it, how they go about this has changed since they first opened. I guess they quickly realized that most people couldn't tread water for a full 30 minutes in freezing cold water and had to adjust the program.) DD#1 (Sara) was the only child in our group and was fearful for the first 5 to 10 minutes. She was holding on to my arm and treading water with her legs. Unknowingly, she was signaling Lester (our dolphin) to slap his tail on the water and get our group soaking wet! This taught Sara quickly to stop wiggling and stand still which was extremely hard for her due to the chilliness of the water and her excitement about being so close to Lester. Sara and I were the last of our group to go out into the deeper water and have our quality time with Lester. This is when you tread water for 5 minutes while playing with Lester and having your photos taken. Poor Lester kept sneaking up and behind me and I know I kicked him several times. He apparently didn't take it personally because he gave me a kiss and let me ride his tummy back to shore. The whole experience was just great and I don't think DD#1 will ever forget it. I would love to pop for the more expensive program next time. DH says that there won't be a next time. We'll see about that! The overall experience is tuned to each individual in the group. We did have one person in our group who was very scared and the trainers worked with him and didn't push him in any way. They actually borrowed another dolphin from a different group to interact with this fearful man. The new dolphin was gentler and moved better in the shallow water. I really can't say enough good things about the trainers. You can really tell that they love their jobs and want to share with you. Oh, about Lester--we were told that he was a show dolphin on semi-retirement. He was 37 to 38 years old and full of energy. Lester was extremely gentle and incredibly powerful. Later I found out that dolphins communicated with each other by touching each other. The trainer told me that this was why Lester kept bumping into me. She assured me that I was not necessarily kicking Lester and that it really didn't bother him at all. [img]images/icons/cool.gif[/img] Wow, this sure made me feel better.

Stay tuned for: "I'm fozen!", "That sure looks like a lot of food.", "Why are you crying, Mommy?" and "Oops, I'm sorry hunny."

[ 10-01-2001: Message edited by: Sneezy'sMom ]

[Sneezy'sMom]

Can you believe it? I just found day 4 notes on my computer. The safest place to keep anything is right under my nose!

Day 4 (Part 2): Wednesday, May 9th

After the dolphin swim you are taken behind the cabana to view and select you really expensive pictures. Yes, it is a scam but the shots are really priceless! I spent $84 on four pictures but I had this gut feeling that the DH didn't get any good shots. This instinct was confirmed later. As a matter of fact I don't know who the people are in the video. They weren't from our group! Oh, if anyone decides to do this, I suggest bringing a towel and leaving it on the beach. The water was so cold that my legs started to cramp up. Lucky me, the DH brought me a towel to dry off. Thanks honey! [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

It was almost noon and we were getting hungry and wanted to hit the restraurant before the lunch crowd hit. A meal is included with each admission to the park. I got in line while the DH found a place to eat. I could barely get three meals on two trays and carry them to the table. DH looked at me and said, "Are sure there is enough there?" It was plenty of food for all of us and we tried a little of everything. We came to the consensus that 3 meals was more than enough for all of us and that we would save the other 2 meals for later in the day. This was by and far the best food we had on the entire vacation and it really puts Disney food to shame. The steak and chicken fajhitas were excellent. Each meal consists of an entree, salad or fruit, dessert and a drink (at least 24 oz.). The desserts were a meal themselves. [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

Okay, I was still cold and wanted to warm-up in the sun and watch everyone else doing dolphin swims. DH and kids ran off and found a river of pool water and did some snokeling for treasure and fossils. They must have had fun because they were gone for over 2 hours! [img]images/icons/cool.gif[/img] By the time I found everyone we had just enough time to eat again before it would be time to cleanup and head back to the resort. I really had to drag the kids out of the water. They had made some new friends and really didn't want to leave them. They make friends so easily and remember them for so long. On the way out of the park, I stopped to pick up our pictures--they turned out great! Oh, the DH didn't get any pictures of Lester and us. Good thing I did buy these. [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img]

Tonight is DD#1 (Sara's) special birthday dinner. She had chosen the Yatchsman Steakhouse. Yes, I gave her a list to choose from and she is a big steak eatter! I took Jennifer's advice and let them know it was her birthday earlier in the morning. We drove to the YC and valet parked, as we were intending on walking over to Epcot for Illuminations. We had 7:15 p.m. PSs (that was as early as I could get) and dinner was quick in a great atmosphere with excellent service. Sorry, there was nothing spectacular about my fillet and DH's porterhouse tasted good but was overdone on one side. [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img] At the end of the dinner they brought out a tiny chocolate cake for our DD with a card signed by the characters. She thought it was very cute and funny. While we had been waiting for our food the kids were coloring those generic Disney postcard/menus. DD#1 handed me to one she had been working on and it said, "Mommy and Daddy it was fun. I like to swim with the dolphins with mommy and like the pichers (pictures) too. And they wer cool too." Then she gave me a hug and said, "Thank you." Oh, what is a mother to do? I got all mushy and started crying. DS asked, "Mommy, why are you crying?" DH just thought I was having a breakdown or something. Even the DDs didn't understand why mommy was crying. [img]images/icons/blush.gif[/img]

I pulled myself together and paid the bill so we could head off for Epcot. This took awhile to figure out how to get to the main walkway. I didn'trealize how short a walk it was to Epcot which was great. We stood on the International gateway bridge to watch Illuminations. We did have a small mishap on the bridge. DD#1 wanted a better view so DH lifted her up to see. I thought she was going to fall backward over the rail and instinctively reached up to prevent this and inadvertently lost the little pick rose out of her vase that they had given her at dinner. [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img] She cried as she watched it float away. I felt so terrible but what could I do? This was a pretty good spot to view the globe. That is if you sat on the ground and looked between peoples' legs. I enjoyed it but I know I'm in the minority for saying that I like the old show better. Sorry guys, I'll have to see it again and have a better view. That might make a difference. It had been a long day and everyone was really dragging on that walk back to the YC. It was after 11:30 p.m. by the time we got back to the Riverside and hit the beds. It truly was a magical day today. I hope my daughter remembers this for a long time. You only turn 7 once! [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]