Tragedy & Triumph: Beth’s Trip Report – Day10: Happy Anniversary? About This Page:

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Thursday, September 13th

5 years ago this was one of the best days of my life. This year our anniversary doesn’t feel so special. We’re still wondering what mode of transportation we’re going to use to get home, I’m worrying a little about finances (extra cost for the room, the train and Steve’s unemployed!). And, of course, it’s raining again.

It’s an early entry day to MK, so we decide to head over there. The boat docks at MK at exactly 7:30 and the rain has pretty much stopped. MK was already opened when we arrived, but there were no lines. We didn’t have to wait to get in (and the bag check went quickly).

We walk down Main Street. It’s not deserted, but there sure aren’t a lot of people there. We are able to walk slowly (not the usual quick walk). We head for Fantasyland, going in what I consider, “the back way” through the “tail” of Tomorrowland. (Past the garden where Belle does her storytelling).

We get right on Pooh and are bouncing away. I do think this is the best “dark” ride. Very simple, but also very clever.

After Pooh we head back to Tomorrowland for a spin on Buzz. I love this ride, but never do well. Steve and I take separate “cars” in an attempt to get better scores. Steve does pretty well, but I am awful. I know what the high scoring targets are, but I can never seem to get them! When we are finished we ask if we can ride again, but the CM makes us get off and go back around again (we’ve ridden this continuously before, so I don’t know what her problem was. There was no line and no one was waiting). So we go around the building and get back on again. I still do miserably and now my right thumb is killing me. Like I said, I love this ride, but I am very competitive, trying to get a decent score (which I never do). Some day, some day. Of course by the time I manage to get a really good score, my thumb will be in a cast!

Now we head over to Alien Encounter. (and notice that Timekeeper is closed again.) There is a family there who have never done this before and I tell them (and their two boys who seem to be half asleep) that this is a pretty intense show. We don’t have to wait long to get into the pre-show area with my pals Skippy (or is that Scruffy? [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img] ) and S.I.R. Once inside the “Chamber” I opt to sit in the back row. I do think the front is a little more intense (at least for my imagination). The family that I had spoken to asks if being closer is scarier and I tell them yes. That encourages them to sit right up front! I always have to do this at least once. I love the psychological elements. (and “that’s my mother-in-law&#8221 [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img].

We head back towards Fantasyland. Since I had done the Teacups last week without Steve, now he wants to do them with me. There is no line, so we go right up. But as we are standing there waiting for the ride to stop and for our turn to get on, I look over my shoulder and see Mickey and Minnie at the entrance to Toontown. They are just standing there with their Cast Member escorts. No one else is around. Well, it is my anniversary and I AM wearing my Minnie ears! So Steve and I get out of “line” (well we stop waiting for the teacups, since there was no line) and go over and have our photos taken with Mickey and Minnie. (After we went over others spotted the duo and came over as well). Then we went right back to The Mad Tea Party and did our first ride together ever. Steve liked to spin the cup a bit more than I would have liked it (actually when I did this solo the previous week, I found it hard to turn by myself).

Not thrilled with all the spinning, we decide to try “bouncing” again and do Pooh one more time. We move onto Snow White (that darn witch is pretty scary, even now!). After that I finally get my chance to ride Cinderella’s Golden Carousel. (Steve takes some photos – a few that actually come out. Most of the time he just gets the rear of the horse or my knee or something. I think he took 5 photos and 2 came out ok this time. Back in May NONE of them came out!)

Heading towards Liberty Square, we see the It’s A Small World is now open (it had been under rehab). Steve can’t pass this one by. SO we go for a “cruise” and I note that gates had been installed (I call them “stupid gates”, so you can’t be stupid and try to get on the boats until they want you to. Why people can’t just stay behind the yellow line is beyond me, but&#8230 [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img].

I make it through IASW relatively unscathed, [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img] and enter Frontierland. I tried to call my boss again (I had just left a message the evening before, as I knew he would have already have left for the day) just to make sure that he got the message for the day before and knew that I wasn’t certain of when or how I was getting home. Once again I miss him, but my co-worker, Lynne, wanted to know how things were going. I gave her a brief synopsis, and promised no matter when or how I got home, I was bringing back candy for the Customer Service Dept! I gave her the hotel # to give to my boss again, just in case.

As I’m walking away from the payphone, I see that the Liberty Belle was at the dock and ready to go, so I thought this would be a good chance to take another cruise. (It also gave me a chance to eat a poptart for breakfast which I had in my bag). I really like this nice leisurely ride. It also gives you a great view and you can take some really great photos from the top deck. I got a really nice photo of the Haunted Mansion and a very cool photo of Big Thunder Mountain as well. An excellent place to get “scenic” photos of your trip.

We decide to head over to Big Thunder, but Steve decided we should do Splash Mountain first. There was absolutely NO waiting. I mean I have seen more people in the Splash area on an e-ride night. We get right on and are right in the front. I KNEW this was a mistake, but I went along with it! Not a good move. We got SOAKED! And when I say soaked, I mean TOTALLY SOAKED! As in, to the bone. As in, my hair looked like I had just stepped out of the shower and I had yet to even towel dry it!

Steve decided he didn’t want to do Big Thunder, so we (and our wet underwear) decide to do something we have NEVER done before in MK. We go over to Tom Sawyer Island. (Yes, over 7 visits in the past 5 years and we’ve never been there). Obviously, the island is designed for kids, but it was kind of fun exploring – going any way you wanted with no obvious destination. And once again, I found a checkerboard table and Steve and I sat down to play a game. (As you can see this was definitely a “slow” vacation. We never take time to do silly stuff like this. But I’m glad we did this time around).

Back from Tom Sawyer Island, we go over to the Haunted Mansion. You can never do this too many times!

After that we decided we would head back to the hotel as my foot and ankle we hurting me (for no reason. I’m an avid walker and don’t know why I was suddenly having problems). But on our way through Liberty Square, I spotted Robin Hood. So we got a photo with him. Then I wandered through the Christmas store to see if there was anything I thought I should get and bring back with me. This took a while and then we started to head out again. But we stopped on the bridge and I saw that Rafiki was standing all alone by himself, kind of behind the Christmas Store. Steve said he’d been there while we’d been in the store. So that means he’s been there a good 10 minutes or so with no one paying him any attention. I can’t allow that. So I walk back and have Steve take my photo. Poor Rafiki doesn’t even have a CM escort. He’s just there by himself. I do feel sorry for him!

We try to head out again. I insist that Steve stop for a hotdog at Casey’s Corner. He hasn’t eaten all day and it’s after noon. Plus this will give me a chance to rest my foot. I find a free table right on Main Street and sit back and watch people. There are people walking up and down Main Street, but no where near the number that there usually are (even during this “low” time).

After Steve’s little “snack” we continue to head out of Main Street, only to get side tracked once again by Kodak’s Exposition Hall (no characters there that I haven’t already gotten photos of) and the Main Street Gallery.

Finally manage to get on the boat back to the Wilderness Lodge. We had decided to leave the park nearly 2 hours ago. We just always seem to get caught up with things. Not that it’s bad! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Back at the hotel, it starts to pour again. There are a couple of messages on our phone. One is from my boss who basically says he doesn’t care when I get back just as long as I get back safely (now you know why I LOVE my job) and a general message from the front desk warning us about a tropical storm on the way. If we have any medical conditions, we should let them know. Then we check on the news. It looks like the airports MIGHT open tomorrow. Do we risk it? Locally, Tropical Storm Gabrielle is on the way. That seems to be 2 strikes against flying. So we decide that we’re not even going to try the airport and will go with the long train ride home.

I head down to the lobby to use the payphones. Call my brother who has been so good as to call our friend who was supposed to pick us up tomorrow. I tell him to call him again and confirm that we will be taking the train in on Monday afternoon (give him the train number and estimated time of arrival). My brother is also good enough to call Steve’s mom to let her know that we are ok and not to worry about us.

Then I call my office one last time. My boss is actually in and I tell him that we are definitely taking the train, so that I won’t be in on Monday. He volunteers to pick us up at Penn Station in Newark (what a guy!), but I assure him that we already have a ride.

It continues to pour for the rest of the afternoon. So Steve & I basically just stay in the room, rest and watch the news. I had brought three books with me to read. I allowed myself to finish one, but wouldn’t open the other two (Diane Mott Davidson’s latest paperback and Dorthea Benton Frank’s Plantation – both were EXCELLENT). I wanted to make sure that I had PLENTY to read on the train ride home!

Since neither of us had really eaten during the day, by 4:30 I was starving. We had PS for the Whispering Canyon Café for 6 pm. I wasn’t going to be able to wait. We went downstairs a little before 5 and were seated immediately. I spoke with the chef right away and he said he would grill a steak for me on a special grill in the back room so that there would be no chance of contamination. Steve ordered one of the bar-be-que entrees.

While we were waiting for dinner, Chef Stefan (from Tuesday’s breakfast) came out and sat down! He talked to us for a good 20-30 minutes. He told us he’d been looking out for us the other morning (when we skipped our PS, boy did that make us feel guilty!). He must have realized how bad we felt because he said people’s plans change all the time and especially now with the uncertainty of people not knowing when or how they would get home. Supposedly that day 68 parties were supposed to check into the Wilderness Lodge. Only 16 arrived! We also talked about some of the wacky requests the Whispering Canyon gets. Once a couple was coming for dinner and the woman was diabetic, so they made sure that they made a cheesecake that special for her. The couple never showed up for the meal! And the woman whose father LOVED their skillet meal so much that she ordered one and had it SHIPPED to her so she could serve it to him for his birthday! The shipping alone nearly cost $100 (Fed Ex, Dry Ice, etc.). We, of course, wanted to know if the man enjoyed the meal (after all the preparation), but Stefan said they’d never heard anything (which is why I did end up writing a letter to the manager of the hotel, pointing out all the wonderful staff members, including Stefan at the Whispering Canyon Café).

Our meal came out and it was delicious. The corn was particularly good (we NEVER have corn on the cob at home. I don’t know why. Maybe because it’s just the two of us. But after that meal, I fully intend to have some next summer!). Steve enjoyed his meal too (although it kind of came back to “haunt” him later).

We didn’t say anything to the staff about it being our anniversary. Usually I would have made a big deal out of it (hey, it’s the reason why we go to WDW in September), but it didn’t feel right this time around. We just went back to our room after dinner and pretty much stayed there.

There was a message on our phone from the front desk again. WDW had arranged a special “memorial service” tomorrow morning at 10 AM and 11 AM in the Cirque De Soleil building at Disney’s West Side. I considered going and Steve said he’d think about it. He really didn’t think he’d be up to something like that, but he agreed to at least sleep on it.

And that was pretty much our day. Not much for an anniversary, but unfortunately there wasn’t much else we wanted to do. We had intended to hit Pleasure Island during this trip and had thought about doing the Adventurer’s Club tonight, but it was still raining and who was in the mood to celebrate?

So we just turn in for the night. If nothing else, we’ll head back to Epcot tomorrow (you can NEVER have too much Epcot!).

[Janet 46]

Beth, good report. A little different with no crowds anywhere. Which Diane Mott Davidson book did you bring? I LOVE her books - I own all of them! I want to hear how you actually got home.

[Fortissimo]

Beth, your reports are wonderful. They bring smiles and tears to my eyes. I'm so sorry your anniversary wasn't what you had planned.

Thanks for intorducing me to the Diane Mott Davidson books as well. I had never heard of her until you brought her name up in another post. I'm now on my way to Amazon to order the next few. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]