The Theme Park Kamikazes: Do It All or Die Trying **Now With Pictures!** About This Page:

[pflamingo]

Well, here goes the first installment of the voyage. Hope you like it! [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Cast: The Kamikazes
Pat (a.k.a., PFlamingo) – grew up at WDW and never quite got over moving away
Dennis – last trip 12 years ago w/ brother, nephew, and niece – bad idea

When: June 5 – 13, 2002

Where: Animal Kingdom Lodge;
Radisson Parkway (1 night);
Pat’s Parents’ House (1 night)

Reasons: Me – long, hard year teaching math to 10- to 13-year-olds
Dennis – because I made it sound like so much fun
Both – because life is short, we’re not getting any younger, and we’re not willing to grow up

June 5, 2002 – Day 1 – Chapter 1: When Dogs Try to Drive or Why Didn’t I Just Set the Parking Brake?

When it comes to planning, you have to expect the unexpected. Even then, things will go wrong.

7:30 a.m. I was feeling quite proud of myself for planning ahead, and for anticipating so many possible problems and taking steps to avoid them so that we could have a most magical adventure. I had the budget planned down to the last dollar (or pretty close), the resort ressies secured at an excellent rate, and PS’s made. I had my loose crown (on my tooth, not my head) fixed, and the funny noise in the car repaired. I splurged on a CD player for the car so we could listen to Disney tunes all the way to Orlando, and I even washed my poor old car to make it look a bit more respectable. Everything was packed and placed in the living room, ready to be loaded into the car as soon as I returned from taking the dogs to the vets. In just 90 minutes or so, we would be on our way. Or so I thought.

8:15 a.m. I pulled up in front of my vets office, ready for the usual routine of saying “goodbye” to Zoe and George, and leaving them in the capable hands of the vets’ staff. I hopped out of the car, opened the passenger door, and took my pooches out, when all of a sudden, out of nowhere, there appeared an enormous Rottweiler, just running around loose. Now, my dogs don’t play well with others, and Zoe thinks that no other dog needs to exist on the planet, so I wasn’t feeling really optimistic about this encounter. In fact, I was downright scared. So I pushed my dogs back into the car and shut the door, while yelling, “Go away!” at the Rottie.

I started to walk into the vets office to get some help, when I glanced back to see my dogs going crazy in the car, and the car rolling backwards through the parking lot. It took a moment to realize that the dogs had knocked the car out of gear, and I had forgotten to set the hand brake. I ran back to my car, and grabbed the driver’s side handle, only to find that it was locked. And my poor old car requires the old fashioned key in the old fashioned lock to unlock it. Now I’m pulling on the door handle and digging in with my heels, and shouting “Oh, please, car, stop!!!” Fortunately, it didn’t roll far before it stopped, and I was able to get the door open, but my dogs were still quite anxious to take on the Rottie, who had followed me on the great car chase. Well, I pushed George out of the way, jumped into the driver’s seat, and pulled on the brake – a bit like closing the barn door after... but it made me feel better. Oh, but as I got into the car, my hand got in the way of George’s mouth, and he bit me, at which point I said something brilliant like, “George, you jerk, you bit me!” I got out again and shut the door, to keep the dogs apart, and only then noticed that my hand was bleeding. A lot.

By this point, the two vets in the office had come out and were trying to get hold of the Rottie. I was now crying – and bleeding all over my car – and they sent me into the office to clean up my hand. I have to say, the staff was wonderful. They told me how this dog was just allowed to run loose, and they were always calling animal control to pick it up. The owners would then get the dog out of the “pound”, and proceed to let it run loose to wreak havoc again. But I digress. They cleaned up my hand and determined that I had a puncture in one finger, which finally quit bleeding, and I would probably live, since it was George who bit me, and I keep his vaccinations current. But I would still need a tetanus shot. So while a staff person and I got the dogs out of my car, the office manager started calling around to arrange a tetanus shot for me. The staff guy also cleaned the blood off the outside of my car (so glad I bothered to wash it!), while I cleaned up the inside (where I had somehow managed to fling blood on practically every surface).

Next I started thinking about this tetanus shot thing, and I wasn’t too worried, because I had to get one in grad school and it wasn’t really a big deal. These days, though, there apparently is a shortage of tetanus vaccine, and you have to have a prescription written by a doctor in order to get the shot. At least, in Georgia. It looked like it was going to take some time to arrange this, so I called Dennis and told him what happened, and he wanted to know why the vet couldn’t give me the shot, and I explained that humans can’t get their shots at the veterinarians, otherwise, they wouldn’t be called veterinarians, and we were just going to have to find a people-doctor, and we would be leaving a little late.

9:45 a.m. The vets’ staff tried to find a physician for me, and sent me to the county health department, on the assumption that they would have a doctor there who could write the prescription. Apparently, it was the doctors’ day off, because the staff at the health department couldn’t find anyone to do it. I asked the nurse what was the worst that could happen if I didn’t get this shot, and she said, “Well, you could die,” and I decided death would screw up my vacation considerably more than a late start, and I’d better wait around and get the shot. Then they suggested I call my doctor for the script. But, I don’t have a regular physician (thanks to my lousy health care plan), and I couldn’t think of anyone to call, except my dentist, since I’d just had him fix my tooth. Unfortunately, dentists can’t write prescriptions for tetanus shots. So, I ended up calling my gynecologist and saying something like, “I know I only see you once a year, but I got bit by a dog this morning, and I need to get a tetanus shot, but I have to have a prescription for that, and I’m supposed to be leaving on my vacation this morning, and I don’t suppose you could help me out, could you?” And she said, “Oh, you poor thing! Do you want to pick up this prescription, or should I fax it to you?” So I thanked her profusely, and gave her the fax number, and they gave me the tetanus shot – which, by the way, really hurt – and I went on my merry way, three hours later than I had planned.

Of course, on the way home, I had time to think about what happened and realized two things. 1) None of this would have happened if I had just set the hand brake (something I normally do) and 2) the passenger side door was unlocked the whole time, which would have made it much easier to get in and stop the car – probably without getting bitten.

11:30 a.m. I got back to Dennis’ house, and showed him my hand and told him all the sordid details of the trip to the health department. Then we loaded up the car. Or rather, I loaded up the car. I still haven’t figured out what he was doing while I was trying to fit all of our junk into my little car. He says he was “helping”, but this is obviously some obscure definition of the word that didn’t include actually lifting any bags into the car.

12:30 p.m. We were finally ready to go! We got some drive-thru food and hit the road. It takes about 6 hours to drive to Orlando from Warner Robins, GA, so I figured we’d be there around 6. We had a PS for Boma at 8:15, which would not be a problem, but we would have to forget our original plan of going to the TTC and riding the monorail before dinner. This was a bit disappointing, because Dennis had never ridden the monorail, and I thought it would be a nice first day experience for him.

I drove to Valdosta, but started to feel a bit tired and achy from my adventure that morning. Trying to stop even a small car with your bare hands will leave you feeling a bit sore. So I let Dennis take over behind the wheel, which says something about my trust in him – or my level of fatigue, since I never let anyone drive my car. I slept and he drove til we got to Ocala, where I wanted to stop and pick up our AP’s.

I like the Ocala center. It’s a nice little “teaser” of things to come, and the restrooms are clean. I was a bit concerned about buying the AP’s because I wanted to use my DC discount on both, but we wanted to charge them on our individual credit cards. Since the Club card says it’s for use by the “(my last name) household”, I was afraid they wouldn’t give us both the discount, since we don’t live together, and have different addresses. But the CM was great, and didn’t bat an eye when Dennis gave a different address from mine. We saved about $30 on our passes, so we broke even on joining DC, since I had gotten the former MKC rate when I joined DC. We took a couple of pictures in the lobby, and headed off for the last leg of our journey.


Dennis tried to bum a ride with this guy. My driving's not that bad!


"Uh, Mick, George bit me. Does this look infected to you?"

I was feeling better, so I drove the rest of the way. When we got to Orlando, driving down I-4, and turning off at our resort exit, I finally got that rush of “OOOOOH, WE’RE HEEEERE!” feeling.

6:45 p.m. We had decided, for various reasons, to stay off-site that first night, and I had found a great rate at the Radisson Parkway ($59 plus tax). We checked in and took the minimum amount of stuff to the room. I have to say, if I were staying off-site, this would be an excellent choice for a hotel. It was about 1 mile from World Drive, and was absolutely beautiful. The room had a king-size bed, a table and chairs, an easy chair with an ottoman, and all the usual amenities, including an iron/ironing board and coffee maker. Our view was nothing to write home about, but we were only staying one night, so we really didn’t care. We had showers and changed clothes, then headed off to AKL for dinner.

Next Episode: The Food Magic Begins!

[ 07-16-2002, 08:44 PM: Message edited by: pflamingo ]

[SleepingB]

What a horrible way to start a vacation! I'm glad that you managed to get going and still make it in time for your First PS! Hope your hand is healing well.

Can't wait to read more!

SleepingB

[Mel & Richard]

WOW! [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img]
That has to be the wildest start to any WDW vacation that I have heard of... I am really glad you still managed to make it to Boma ok. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] And I hope your hand didn't bother you for the rest of your stay.

I am really looking forward to the rest of your report! Is this the first one you have written? If so kudos for the fabulous job! [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Mel

P.S. Don't forget we want to hear about the romantic dinners. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[ 06-15-2002, 06:28 AM: Message edited by: Mel & Richard ]

[Fortissimo]

I have a feeling the shot hurt worse than the bite! [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img]

I can hardly wait to hear more!

[Las17]

I love your report so far! I know how you feel about getting away later than you'd planned. We had to make a stop at the dr.'s office for our son and left about 4 hours late! I kept telling my husband, "It could be so much worse. It's only an ear infection. We'll still get there, just later than we thought."

Glad to hear you finally made it there!

Can't wait to hear more!

Laura

[MrsM]

Oh my goodness, I will never complain next time I'm late in leaving for vacation! It's always my own fault. I'm looking forward to seeing if the rest of your trip was better!

[pflamingo]

Thanks for the encouragement, everyone! I'm not sure if the rest of this will be quite as amusing, but I'll try!

Forti - You're right! My finger felt fine after a day or so, but the shot spot was bruised and sore for 3 or 4 days! [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img]

Laura - I read your report about the ear-ache. My brother had lots of ear problems as a kid, and we spent many hours at the Drs, so I was glad to see that you made it! [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

MrsM - We live on something a friend of mine dubbed "Pat Adjusted Time", meaning you always tell me to be someplace 30 minutes before you actually want me there. I'm always late -- I just had a good excuse this time! [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

[Tara O'Hara]

and he wanted to know why the vet couldn’t give me the shot, and I explained that humans can’t get their shots at the veterinarians, otherwise, they wouldn’t be called veterinarians, and we were just going to have to find a people-doctor, and we would be leaving a little late.

<font size="2" face="Comic Sans MS, Arial">I am really sorry for your injury but ROTFL at that exchange! I know your trip will get better because I see where you are staying! [img]graemlins/love.gif[/img]

Tara

[tikibird]

Pat,

Wow, what an eventful start to your trip! [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img]
You will, however, look back at it one day and laugh! [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Glad that you weren't seriously injured, and if it makes you feel any better - I ended up in the emergency room getting a tetanus shot the night before our last trip (see my trip report for more details), due to a nasty encounter with my razor! [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Glad you decided to share your vacation with us - looking forward to more! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[pflamingo]

I forgot to mention this in Part 1, but the vet's picked up the tab for the tetanus shot for me, because they felt so bad for me. When I went to pick up the dogs after we got back, the entire staff came out to ask how I was and how our trip went. And my favorite vet, who wasn't there that fateful day but had heard the story, came out to shake his head and laugh at me (in a nice way). He's known me for years, and has cared for all my dogs. He thinks I'm crazy anyway -- after all, he knows George! Everyone wonders why I drive 15 miles to take my dogs to them when there are vets much closer, and this is why. They also take excellent care of the pooches. Now, on with the story.

Cast: The Kamikazes
Pat (a.k.a., PFlamingo) – grew up at WDW and never quite got over moving away
Dennis – last trip 12 years ago w/ brother, nephew, and niece – bad idea

When: June 5 – 13, 2002

Where: Animal Kingdom Lodge
Radisson Parkway (1 night)
Pat’s Parents’ House (1 night)

Reason: Me – long, hard year teaching math to 10- to 13-year-olds
Dennis – because I made it sound like so much fun
Both – because life is short, we’re not getting any younger, and we’re not willing to grow up

June 5, 2002 – Day 1 – Chapter 2: The Food Magic Begins

7:45 p.m. I swear I got chills as we drove in and got our first glimpse of the Lodge! And Dennis said, in his best awe-struck, wide-eyed, still-a-9-year-old-kid-at-heart-voice, "This is where we're staying?" As soon as we walked into the lobby, we both said we couldn’t wait to check in the next morning. Between the breath-takingly beautiful decor and the aromas from the restaurants, we were practically floating as we made our way through the lobby. We did the oh-so-tourist-like-stand-and-stare-up-at-the-ceiling thing. We had made fun of tourists in NYC doing this on street corners during our Christmas trip, but I said that it’s pretty well typical behavior at Disney. We ventured out to the Arusha Rock viewing area to look at the animals and talk to the guides a bit before heading back inside for dinner.


Future career as an AKL host, perhaps?

We arrived at the podium around 8:00 for our 8:15 ressie, so we had to wait for a few minutes. That gave us a chance to look around the waiting area, peruse the Jiko menu, and use the bathroom. Every inch of this resort is gorgeous! Even the bathrooms were themed, with lights in the stalls that matched those in the hallway. Talk about attention to detail! After just a brief wait we were shown to our table. Although this is generally a noisy restaurant, we had such a nice table, in the glassed-in alcove area, that we hardly noticed. Outside was the walkway to the pool, but between the window and the walkway was a lovely little “spring” bubbling over rocks. This area was also lit somewhat more softly than the rest of the restaurant, which made this seem a bit more “romantic” than you might expect.

The food at Boma is, in a word, amazing! The “pod” arrangement is described nicely in other places, so I won’t cover it here. I will say that it was in no way your typical “buffet” fare. It was all fresh and flavorful, the hot food was hot, and the cold food was cold. So whatever they’re doing to keep the correct temperatures, they’re doing it right. Some of it was quite spicy, which was fine with us, but there were also quite a few mild dishes. The real stand-outs for us were the Coconut Curry Chicken Soup, Seafood Stew, Tamarind Barbeque, Nut-Crusted Salmon, and Fu-Fu (a sweet potato-based dish).

The South African wine list was completely unfamiliar to us, so we had to rely on the recommendations of our server, Doug, who didn’t fail us. We had a red wine with the unlikely name of “Goats Do Roam Rhone Blend, Paarl”. I rather liked the play on “Cote du Rhone”, for all you wine connoisseurs! This was a nice full-bodied wine, similar to a merlot, and it really enhanced the flavors in all the foods. For dessert, the Zebra Domes were delicious, but our favorite was the Chocolate Mousse Crunch. These were like little chocolate clouds with a chocolate cookie-crumb crust. We ordered the Kenya AA French-pressed coffee, which put all the other coffee we’ve had before or since to shame! A rich intense coffee that blended with the taste of the chocolate that made us want to slide under the table in gastronomic ecstasy. A French-press pot is now on our “must-have” list of kitchen gadgets.

But Doug, our server, gave us our first bit of CM magic. When he asked us how everything was, and we sighed and said “wonderful”, I asked him the name of the sweet-potato dish (since I couldn’t quite tell from the sign on the “pod”), and said (in jest, really) “I want the recipe.” He said, “No problem.” He then took down my e-mail address and said that the chefs would be happy to send me the recipe. So I asked for the salmon recipe, too! (By the way, when I arrived home and checked the e-mail, there were the recipes, sent the very next day! I’ll share them with anyone who wants them.)

Everything about that meal was terrific – food, wine, and especially the service. Doug was right there when we needed anything, without hovering, and answered all of our questions without making us feel like yokels. Boma and Doug receive two big thumbs up from us! For anyone interested in the expenses, it went like this: dinner $22 (each), wine $7.75/glass (about average on this list), and coffee $6/pot (about 3-4 cups – plenty for after dinner). Worth every penny!


We came, we saw, we pigged-out!

Well, after such a fabulous meal and long, eventful day, all we wanted to do was find a hot-tub (a.k.a., spa) and soak our sore, overstuffed bodies. But first, we needed to pick up some breakfast staples at the grocery store. We reluctantly left the restaurant, after securing a copy of the wine list, and headed off to Publix. There is an excellent Publix on Hwy 192, a couple of miles from World Drive. We bought milk, some individual cartons of juice, cereal, and fruit. We were so tired, it’s probably the fastest trip either of us has ever made to a grocery store. The whole thing took about 30 minutes, start to finish.

Back at the Radisson we tossed the food in the cooler, changed into our swimsuits and hit the “spa”. I had agonized over buying a suit, having put on more than a few pounds in the last couple of years, and feeling very self-conscious about the weight. But, I had used the virtual model on the Land’s End website, which let me “try on” swimsuits without actually having to get naked in a department store dressing room. I mean, you scream in there, and they call security on you. I did manage to find a suit that I figured wouldn’t frighten small children (or anyone else) too badly. It was expensive, but it actually looked pretty good, and no one mistook me for a manatee, so I figured it was worth it. The spa was pretty, but it was set ‘waaaaaay too hot. We lasted about 5 minutes there, then switched to the pool. The pool at the Radisson was great – free form, with a water fall that stretched across one end of the pool, and a water slide. A few laps to stretch out the aching muscles and we were ready to call it a night.

The last task of the night was to top off the ice in the cooler. This brings up my only real complaint about the Radisson. We were on the 2nd floor, and there didn’t seem to be an ice machine there – at least, not on any of the 4 major hallways I tried, though I did find soda and laundry machines. The only one I could find was on the 1st floor, down the hall from the elevator. So I tromped on down there, still in my swimsuit and sarong, and starting to feel a bit chilly. Good A/C there.

I got back to the room, showered off the chlorine, and used my new foo stuff – Night Blooming Jasmine from B&B, woo-woo. I put in a 6:30 wake up call, jotted down my notes for the day, got my stuff organized for the morning, put on the new “jammies” that I got on sale at “Vicky’s,” and hit the sack. Dennis, who always goes to bed before me, was already “sawing wood”. So while our dinner was romantic enough, and our swim was fun, the closest we got to any “action” was unison snoring. But that’s okay. We were just happy to finally be in Orlando, safe and sound, and together.

Next episode: The Kamikazes’ Check In at AKL and Take On Epcot or Around the World (Showcase & Future) in 12 Hours

[ 07-16-2002, 11:40 AM: Message edited by: pflamingo ]

[tracyloveswdw]

Dinner sounded wonderful! I was ROTFL when I was reading your car and dogs story-I'm glad you weren't seriously hurt. I could just picture you chasing the car and yelling (at least I would have been). Can't wait to hear about your check-in and stay at the AKL.

Tracy

anyone who teaches middle schoolers can take on the world!!!

[ 06-16-2002, 08:30 AM: Message edited by: tracyloveswdw ]

[tikibird]

Pat, for a math teacher, you are one heck of a writer! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Really enjoying your style! ROTFL again about the bathing suits, as I just went to Old Navy yesterday to get some men's board shorts to put over mine (why can't they come up with a women's suit that covers the thighs?!!)!

Boma sounds incredible - can't wait to try it out.

Bring on the next installment!

[wheatenwalker]

Pat, I am loving your report! And was interested in your Lands End bathing suit, I have been checking them out, on my virtual model, too! So, you were happy with your purchase? And how did you pick a size? I find most of the clothes from there are pretty generpusly sized and usuaaly get a size smaller in pants than normal- what did you think about the suits?

[coffeechef]

I love your trip report. Wow what a way to start a trip. I can so picture you trying to stop your car from rolling. What a site tht must have been. And the can't the vets office give you a tetanus shot. Tooo Funny. ever see the Seinfeld episode where Kramer takes a Dog with the same cough to the Vets , so he can share his Medicine?
Can't wait to hear more. I am thinking about Akl for a trip.

[MrsM]

I'm really enjoying your trip report, and I would love the sweet potato recipe. My email address is goobers@enter.net if you could send it. I was just agonizing yesterday over the fact that I'm going to have to buy a maternity swimsuit that I will only use for the week we're in WDW. I'll be 7 months pregnant, though, so I just don't think there's any way I'll be able to squeeze into my regular suit!