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| Christa Grant's
Trip Report August / September 05 |
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Day 7 - Part 3 and Day 8 - Part
1 Anything But the Dreaded Good-bye!!!
After
our religious experience known as Soarin’, Fanlover was
ready to call it a day. She went back to the hotel on the bus
though I’m quite certain she’d rather have soared
over the Napa Valley. The rest of us wanted to wait around another
hour until Illuminations began. I was surprised Fanlover didn’t
want to stay for the last hour to enjoy Epcot and of course Illuminations,
but I wasn’t about to cause a stir. I must have been pretty
happy because keeping my mouth quiet is quite a rarity!
We wandered around World Showcase and made it to the tail end
of British Invasion. Dapper Dad didn’t realize this back theatre even existed. Oh how I love
showing new things to my family! I’m not just another pretty face.
…I heard that.
Everyone enjoyed the songs and the ambience. Strangely enough, I didn’t
recognize the song that was playing when we first arrived. I was pretty sure
that I knew virtually ever Beatles song ever written so I was more then surprised.
No doubt I’d know the next song.
I didn’t.
I guess I’m not much of a Beatles fan after all.
However ToT sis seemed a little distracted. Was she sad that our trip was drawing
to a close too? No, she was distracted because she knew that the France pavilion
was nearby. Inside the French pavilion, lay the infamous French pastries.
Her nose always knows.
Now it was her turn to be a woman on a mission. She and Cocoa bil went inside
to drool while the rest of us enjoyed the sights and smells outside the pavilion.
The boys were now wearing the glow-in-the-dark necklaces from the night before.
I couldn’t believe our dollar store gift had been such a success! Maybe
I should do all my Christmas shopping at the dollar store too. No glow-in-the-dark necklace or toy car was too
good for my family.
Just then, ToT sis came over to us with quite a story to tell. Apparently when
it was her turn to order her dessert, her beloved napoleon, she noticed that
the napoleons were ALL GONE! The horror! Didn’t they know that ToT sis
was leaving tomorrow?
It was going to get ugly.
But wait. It turned out that they DID know she was leaving tomorrow! They brought
out a fresh tray of napoleon. ToT sis was smiling ear to ear. No children were
hurt during our visit to the French pavilion. Cocoa bil bought a pastry for
him too. I’m sure he bought his treat if for no other reason, to prevent
ToT sis from having to eat alone.
Plus, I hear French pastries go well with hot chocolate.
The question was whether they could wait until tomorrow morning to eat their
treats. I never did find out when they ate their pastries. My money is on that
night at the hotel after the kids went to sleep. I’m sure they waited once the kids went to
sleep so as to prevent from having to share.
Dapper Dad reminisced by telling us that the last time he had been in Epcot
with his two daughters; it was him who paid for all of our many treats. I think
he was happy to pass this particular torch onto Cocoa bil and Goofy Guy!
We continued our walk around World Showcase all the while discussing the events
of our family trip and the possibility of future trips. I’m ashamed to
admit that Goofy Guy and I have never been to Europe. The real Europe that
is! ToT sis and Cocoa bil have been many times and
absolutely loved it. They were inspired by World Showcase and started encouraging
us to take the plunge and go to Europe whenever our wallets allow. I would
absolutely love to go.
I hope Goofy Guy was taking notes!
I’m all for broadening my horizons (each year, we try to do a Disney
trip and a trip somewhere new – last year we had a disastrous trip to
Puerto Plata…but I digress!), but by going to Europe, we would have
to forgo a trip to Disney or two in the next couple years. A tough decision
to be sure – but I think it’s a worthwhile sacrifice. I think…
Maybe I should ask for donations to that trip instead of another Disney trip.
We continued walking until we arrived in Mexico. We quickly ducked inside but
didn’t have time to go on the ride without missing the beginning of Illuminations.
What a tease! It was still fun to check out the pavilion and of course the
pyramid. Goofy Guy and I briefly reminisced about our trip to the Mayan Riviera.
Cocoa bil and ToT sis are the world traveller’s of the family, but at
least Goofy Guy and I can say we’ve been to Mexico. Cocoa bil and ToT
sis can only say they’ve been to England, and France, and Italy and Spain
and…
I’m so depressed.
We found a good viewing spot just outside of Mexico for Illuminations. I just
love the music. It always brings a tear to my eye…yadda yadda…I
know; I’ve become a broken record! We all enjoyed the show, but the boys
were understandably tired. It was time to go.
We slowly made our way out of Epcot, soaking it all in. We showed the boys
the sparkling lights in the pavement, but the cool effect was lost on them.
We had two very tired boys on our hands. I saw many kids their age in strollers
during the trip yet our boys walked the entire time without complaint. That’s
pretty darn amazing if you ask me.
Had
there been a stroller large enough for me, I may have rented
one.
Fanlover greeted us when we returned to the hotel. The boys were
basically sleepwalking as they walked into their room. They deserved
a good night sleep. Fanlover offered to baby-sit the boys while
the rest of us took one last dip in the pool together. Fanlover
had already gone swimming while we were at Epcot, so we didn’t
feel too guilty.
This time.
We quickly changed into our bathing suits and started walking down the hall
towards the pool. ToT sis and I were commenting to each other how happy we
were and how our trip was practically perfect.
I wish we had bitten our tongues.
Just then, a woman with her 10yr old boy came walking down the hall towards
us. When they arrived at their room, she shoved the boy VERY hard into the
room and slammed the door. For a brief second, I actually thought it was a
joke. Here we were in the happiest place on earth; surely no one would act
that way towards her child.
I was wrong.
Before heading to the pool, we walked closer to this woman’s room and
heard her screaming obscenities at her son. We heard words that cannot be written
here.
In fact, they shouldn’t be uttered anywhere.
We were dumbfounded. That poor boy. We didn’t know what to do. But then
Cocoa bil sprang into action and fortunately found a security guard just around
the corner. The security guard stood with us outside the room for a couple
minutes and then phoned for back up. She was going to go into the room, but
felt that under the circumstances, she shouldn’t go alone. While she
waited for reinforcements, she asked us to leave and go about our day.
We stood around for a little longer until the others arrived, and then we decided
to leave for the pool. We were all pretty upset by what we had witnessed, but
realized we had done what we could. It was in security’s hands now. Fanlover
was sitting outside the boys’ room just a few doors down, so she was
still able to hear/see what was happening.
It was hard to see people behave that way, right after our family trip of a
lifetime. That old familiar feeling of guilt crept in. We discussed the situation
for a little while longer until we made the group decision to let it go. We
wanted to enjoy our last evening together.
The pool temperature was perfect again tonight. We sat there reminiscing about
the last few days. We were all looking forward to getting together at home
for a Disney recap dinner and slide show. I was willing to draw out the fun
for as loooong as possible. I don’t think any of us wanted the night
to end. We swam for about a half hour until we all had to face the facts that
we were exhausted. If we didn’t get to bed soon, drowning would become
a real possibility. Cocoa bil went for a final hot chocolate run while I realized
what his stocking stuffer was going to be this Christmas. By then he’d
likely be on a serious Disney hot chocolate withdrawal.
Back at our rooms, Fanlover filled us in on what had happened to the woman
and son. She told us that four people went inside
the hotel room with the woman and son. They were in there for a few minutes
and then came back out and continued talking for another few minutes. It had
gotten dark by then, so Fanlover couldn’t see who left or stayed. At
least there was no more yelling. We all prayed that the boy would be okay.
Sleep came quickly that night because before I knew it, it was the next day
and we were woken by a little knock at the door. Maybe it was Mickey Mouse
coming to tell us that our trip wasn’t really drawing to a close. Maybe
he was coming to tell us we were all paid up for another week. You know what
they say, “When you wish upon a star your dreams come true”….
I was testing that theory.
It turned out that it was Boomer and Splashboy. Wonderful! It wasn’t
Mickey, but still equally as good. The boys were giving us their leftover bread
since they were leaving today.
Bad – now I wanted Mickey back.
Still, I had to admit that it was nice of them to leave us the bread since
we were here for 3 more days. After getting ready to start the day, Dapper
Dad drove Goofy Guy to the Dolphin hotel to pick up our rental car. This was
the only day of the trip where we needed our own car since we were driving
out to Cocoa Beach to visit friends. I hoped everything would go smoothly picking
up the car. We have always rented our cars at MCO so this was yet another new
experience for us. However, while this was a new experience, I was still willing
to let Goofy Guy enjoy this one alone.
I went back to bed.
I woke up a few minutes later and phoned my friend in Cocoa Beach to make plans
for today. I was looking forward to seeing our friends, but dreading saying
good-bye to my sister and family. At least Dapper Dad and Fanlover were staying
for one more day. I was desperately trying to hold onto that thought in order
to prevent the tears from welling up in my eyes. But just in case, I stacked
my pockets with Kleenex. I wasn’t taking any chances.
Dapper Dad and Goofy Guy made it back to our hotel in good time. Goofy Guy
managed to get us a blue cavalier. It was no convertible, but it served our
purposes well. I could always stick my head out of the window in order to feel
the wind in my hair anyway. I was dragging my toes and I knew it. We should
have left a few minutes ago, but I was prolonging the inevitable. I think it
was better that Goofy Guy and I left first so that we didn’t have to
stand there watching ToT sis and family pull away in their van.
I’m pretty sure I would have chased after them screaming and crying like
a mad woman.
We knocked on ToT sis’ door and sadly announced that we had to leave
now. The boys ran out and gave us each great big hugs. I started to pull away
as I normally do when hugging someone, but Splashboy didn’t want to let
go just yet.
Kleenex…where’s my Kleenex…
I knew EXACTLY how Splashboy was feeling. God Bless him for not crying though.
If he had started, there would have been no hope for me. There wasn’t
any hope for me regardless. I gave Cocoa bil and ToT sis a big hug each all
the while commenting on how much it meant to me having us all together. We
all uttered a few more things to each other, but to be honest, I forget the
actual words. I do, however, remember the feeling.
We
all had the trip of a lifetime. No amount of little temper tantrums,
hot weather, wet carpet or other minor nuisances could diminish
all the amazing adventures we had. How many other families discover
in Disney that they have celebrities in their midst? How many
other people have discovered that their sister has the remarkable
ability of opening up her mouth wider than the size of her head?
That reminds me, I must call Guinness World of Records.
As we stood there hugging each other, we all realized just how lucky we were.
Goofy Guy dragged me out to the car and we honked to everyone as we drove by – Kleenex
in hand. Dapper Dad and Fanlover were planning on having a relaxing day before
meeting up with us again tonight. ToT sis and family were planning on having
lunch at the hotel, and then begin their long drive home. ToT sis was hoping
to find a Nike outlet mall on the way home in order to replace the sandals
that had been stolen, ahem, misplaced at Typhoon Lagoon. I hope she found some.
With conflicting emotions, we got onto the highway and headed out towards the
beach. What a trip we just had! Elton John may say that Sorry Seems to Be the
Hardest Word, but for me, the hardest word is saying good-bye.
Day 8 - Part 2...
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