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Day 5 – Part 1 Newsflash: Disney Waterslides Reveal Hidden
Talents
The original plan had been to go to Epcot today, but we figured
we needed a bit of a down day. Funny how down days tend to be the
busiest days of the trip.
One fun aspect of this trip was having periodic slide shows in
our room. Cocoa bil and Goofy Guy hooked their digital cameras
up to our TV and we all sat down to enjoy our trip thus far. Since
last night’s acting unveiling for Cocoa bil, we decided to
have a slide show this morning before setting off for the day.
We were expecting Cocoa bil’s temper tantrum to have gotten
the biggest laugh, but boy were we in for a surprise.
Apparently, Cocoa bil had been busy in Typhoon Lagoon yesterday
taking pictures of people just as they were coming down the waterslides,
but before they entered the water. He got some great shots of the
boys, Dapper Dad, Fanlover, Goofy Guy and myself – and then
we saw it. There it was, hanging out for the entire
world to see – ToT sis’ tongue.
ToT sis is a very determined woman and puts 100% effort into everything
she does. Try to picture
the scene. I guess waterslides require serious concentration
because like her open mouth on Tower of Terror, her tongue was
sticking out so far on the waterslide, we learned that she could
give Gene Simmons a run for his money! Maybe she was trying to
be like a snake and smell something. Or maybe it’s her regular
concentration pose. With that level of concentration, you’d
think she was trying to figure out how to disembark from the slide
without getting wet.
Remember kids – we should always try to remember to reach
out and lick, err, help someone.
Surely it must have been a fluke. She wouldn’t stick her
tongue out like that for a second time right? Next slide please.
Wrong! If it’s possible, I think her tongue
stuck out even further the second time. Resuming the supportive
husband role, Cocoa bil zoomed in on her tongue so that all we
could see was her head and gigantic tongue. Do I see a new career
path in ToT sis’ future? Eat your heart out Gene! ;)
There’s nothing quite like beginning your day with some
hysterical laughing. I highly recommend it.
We decided to check out Animal Kingdom Lodge this morning. Some
of our family had never seen this hotel before. Goofy Guy and I
stayed there a couple years ago and just fell in love with the
place. We all enjoyed
wandering around the hotel and looking for animals. We did see
some giraffes and bongos, but they were pretty far away. Didn’t
they know we were coming?
I had a lot of fun showing my family some fantastic Hidden Mickey’s
too. If you are interested in Hidden Mickey’s, I highly recommend
you visit Animal Kingdom Lodge. Ask for a clue sheet at the front
desk and you’re all set. During our last visit, I had a fun,
but difficult time locating a particular Hidden Mickey outside
the hotel. It was in the back, up in the vines. I remember standing
there, staring at the vines for 15 minutes. Finally, a nice CM
took pity on me and came over to help. Short
of climbing up the vines herself, she pointed out precisely where
the Hidden Mickey was situated.
I still didn’t find it for another 10 minutes.
I’m going back to school.
After my experience, I was really looking forward to having some
fun with my family and getting them to "enjoy" the agony I went
through trying to find that darn Hidden Mickey. I couldn’t
wait to impress Splashboy with my Hidden Mickey expertise. I took
them outside and pointed to the vines. I even showed them some
mercy and told them to look up.
They all found it in 10 seconds.
They all knew how difficult it had been for me to find that Hidden
Mickey on our last trip. How
did they find it in 10 seconds? I
was so embarrassed. I had to do something to redeem myself
somehow so I yelled, "ToT sis has a big tongue".
Everyone went inside.
When we got back into the lobby, we noticed that children were
stenciling some of the animals/patterns from the floor onto pieces
of paper. Perfect timing for our crew. The boys sprang into action and started some
stenciling of their own. The rest of us sat down in the lobby and
enjoyed the view. Did
I mention I love this hotel?
It was now lunchtime.
We decided to brave the rain that had just commenced and drove
to Downtown Disney. This was going to be a big afternoon for
the boys. They had heard about an amazing Lego store in Downtown
Disney. They also knew that Goofy Guy and I had $60 Disney dollars
for them to spend there. Excitement
doesn’t even begin to describe it.
We wanted to have lunch
before shopping, so we strategically parked our vans so that
we’d be nowhere near the Lego store. Excited boys would
not very easily sit down to eat a sandwich when Lego land was
within eyesight. We had heard good things about Earl of Sandwich
so we decided to give it a try. We were not disappointed.
I had a wonderful jerk
sandwich. Goofy guy thought it was a fitting choice for me – but
I don’t know what he’s talking about. ;) My only
complaint with this restaurant pertains to the dining plan. Depending
on which CM you talked to, different beverages and desserts were
or were not included on the dining plan. Make up your mind man!
See my dining review above for more details.
Goofy guy and I dashed
into the Christmas store to buy an ornament for our beloved travel
agent. Since she is the one who got us onto this free dining
plan, we bought her 4.
Next stop was Once Upon
a Toy. The boys did enjoy exploring the amazing
toys here, but you could tell they had one-track minds. No Mickey Mouse plush toy could distract
them from their mission of finding their precious Lego.
So we took them to the
World of Disney store.
I did feel a little bad
prolonging their agony, but a wonderful CM made it easier on
them. She told them that they had a special
phone call each from Goofy himself. Since
it was the boys’ first trip to Disney, Goofy wanted to
officially welcome them and say hello. In
honour of the occasion, both boys received certificates. ToT
sis’ upcoming scrapbook was going to be full indeed. I recommended that she put these certificates
right next to her tongue. We
each bought a few souvenirs for family and friends back home
and it was finally time for the big moment.
We couldn’t have
contained the boys any longer if we tried. The
boys ran to the Lego store and marveled at all the Lego “statues”. I noticed that they added some new ones
since our last visit. The
sleeping man on the bench was no longer there. I
was pleased to see that since he needed to get some much-needed
exercise anyway.
Splashboy is very methodical
in his thinking. He
didn’t want to pick out his Lego until he had a chance
to examine all that was available in the store – and I
do mean EVERYTHING in the store. Boomer
selected his Lego box quite quickly. We took him to the cash and got him to
give the CM his Disney dollars. He
was so excited!! I
must admit that I was pretty excited myself. Seeing
the pure joy on his face was all the thanks I needed. The
gigantic hug we got didn’t hurt either.
Meanwhile, Splashboy
continued his tour of the store. In
fact, I think he was doing laps. He
had selected a box, but just as we were about to pay for it,
he reconsidered and asked if he could keep looking. Since
this was the part of the trip he had been most looking forward
to (I know, I thought it was strange too), we said yes. I
admit I didn’t mind prolonging the moment of being the
best aunt in the world. ;)
He finally made his decision. He counted the correct amount of Disney
dollars and gave his money to the CM. He
felt so grown-up. Both
boys wanted to go back to the hotel to play with their Lego,
but instead, we bribed them with ice cream from Ghiradelli’s. Our
2 for 1 coupons were burning holes in our pockets. Before
I sign off for now, here’s a riddle for you: What do you get when you cross a 4yr
old boy and a hot fudge sundae? Stay
tuned….
Day 5 - Part 2...
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