Our Disney Vacation - December 2007!: January 2008

I woke up before the alarm went off and took the dogs out by myself so the others could sleep in. I also took a quick walk up to the beach; this is one of my absolute favorite places. It's always peaceful with a beautiful view. You can see all over Bay Lake, and in the early morning like this, things are just starting to wake up. The launches are sailing towards the marina, but only a person or two is on the docks. Birds nestle along the lake, and most important, you can see the castle.

Except the new building at the Contemporary will most likely destroy that since it will block our view of the castle and the area of the lagoon. The cranes are already messing it up. Of course, that doesn't matter when we're talking DVC sales and when we're talking about Fort Wilderness, the low rung on the resort ladder, you're not going to see people getting concerned like they did in talking about building Fire Mountain and the view from the Polynesian. Or the view into the back of Epcot from the Boardwalk. (Is my bitterness clear?)

As I walked back, a woman pointed out an eagle's nest in a tree. She said that I had just missed the bald eagle flying in and talked about how large he was and how beautiful. I only caught a glimpse of him moving around in the nest, but I hoped I would got to see him.

I was a little embarrassed because, as a typical camper, I was out in my jammies, slippers, glasses, and a fantastic case of bedhead. The other woman was dressed for the day, but didn't bat an eye at what I was wearing. You can tell she's used to campers!

I got back and took my shower, then woke up John. He took his shower and we woke Cathi up last. We got up early because we needed to be in Animal Kingdom when it opened to got a FastPass to Everest and then over to the safari to ride with our group, hosted by Deb Wills of All Ears Net. In the parking lot, we saw a family wearing group T-shirts; most of them say Opa's and Nana's Fan Club! The other two were, of course, Opa and Nana themselves.

I volunteered to run and get the Fast Passes for the three of us while John and Cathi went to the safari. But we needed a little something for breakfast which meant using our ticket/dining cards. So I needed to wait for those.

Once we got our order, I snatched the cards. I basically had no time to do this, because we were supposed to meet Deb and everyone else at the safari in one minute. I told John that if it came down to it, go on the safari without me, we'd meet up afterwards for Everest, and I took off. Boy, I found out fast how much I've let myself go, because I was out of shape. I couldn't even get through DinoLand before slowing to a walk!

I decided to take the path around DinoLand, head for Theater in the Wilds, and to Everest that way instead of Asia; everybody pretty much uses Asia to get there and it would have slowed me down. But even a fast walk was taking a lot of time and I huffed and puffed like a crack addict.

When I got to Everest, didn't the machine not give me a FP, so I had to go to another one! THAT one thinks I had a FP already, so a nice cast member took care of it for me and then I ran some more, now to the safari. I say some more, but it was not a lot. However, when I got to the safari, other people were still coming in and I hadn't missed the safari ride at all. Our friend, John (from Trenton) was, of course, head and shoulders above most of the crowd and saw me; he pointed over to where Cathi and my John (that sounds really bad) were standing. They couldn't believe I found them in the crowd, and I pointed out where John from Trenton stood in easy view. He waved to us.

Equally important, my John (still sounds bad) had my coffee and bearclaw. I inhaled them like I was going to the electric chair and it was my last meal, because when you realize you're out of shape, you want to drink a lot of caffeine and eat a (fantastic) pastry.

We all moved in to ride the safari. Deb and her people had gotten Disney to organize us coming in as a group. We high fived the one woman as she did a head count; in the end, we were 247 people! Way to go, Deb!

John, Cathi, and I as well as Ray and some others were set off separately from the bulk of the group. We had people in EVCs and they decided we'll ride with them. Disney had bunches of safari trucks ready, and we were all happily shouting back and forth, mostly the Swahili cry of "Jumbo!" (Hello) The other park guests pretty much stared at all of us like some cult had descended on them -- which was pretty much true.

But most of the trucks had gone with our group, and we were still waiting. It wouldn't be fun to be separated from everyone, so I finally got up front and asked what was going on. Sadly, I admit, I was testy, so I made myself calm down. The cast member, Emily, said our truck was behind the others and it was coming now. She asked which site I was with and when I told her Tagrel.com, even though Deb of All Ears Net organized it, she got all excited. Her dad is James on Tagrel! And she would be our tour guide! I quickly passed that info through the group.

Emily did a fantastic job, and I don't just say that because she's the daughter of a fellow member. Everyone in the group said it's the best tour they've done of the safari, and I gave her one of our cast member Appreciation cards. When she told us the gnus are called that based on the sound they make, and she couldn't do it well, John teased her to try it anyway. A few times she teased back and called out, "Gnu!", paused, then said, "Nope, didn't work. None of them are coming over here."

As we got near the alligator bridge, John and I started making the prrbbtt! sound Cathi swore gators make; she glared at us and said, "You'll see. You won't laugh when they bite you leg off and I'm calling you Peg the rest of your life!"

We saw one of the baby elephants on the safari, I'm guessing Tufani or Kianga based on the size, and baby Tom the rhino! Plus a peek at a few cheetahs and a wonderful look at the lion snoozing!

A bunch of us moved to Everest with our Fast Passes. Gary and Carol were in the train ahead of us. We joked that whoever survived had to take care of each other's dogs! Then it was our turn to get on board. As we started the ride, John got the other MouseFesters to cheer our train on, and off we went!

We had kept teasing Cathi that Everest was like the Barnstormer in the Magic Kingdom, just a little bit longer. John and Cathy from Trenton heard that and said Suuuure, it is! Now we were on board and going up the big hill, I told her the height is just forced perspective and don't look out to the sides. When we shot backwards into the dark and stopped in the cavern, she very calmly said, "I think I hurt something." And when we got off, she and John joked that they can throw up now. But we seriously love Everest!

I checked out the gift shop for the roly poly Christmas Yeti (they were sold out), when I heard John calling for me outside. We were getting a photo of everyone who rode; I leapt just in time into the front with a big Ta Da!

We met more of our Tagrel group and chit chat for awhile, then some people headed out. We moved more into the Asia section and stopped to have PhotoPass take a picture of us with Everest in the background. I grabbed a chai latte slushi at the tea place, and we checked out the one Gibson monkey family near Asia's main entrance. The baby is practically all grown up now! I thought about checking out the family who had the baby born last year when Cathi saw the raft ride. She suggested we ride that which sounded like a great idea, so off we go. We practically walked on the ride. We were in a raft with two other families, and the guy sitting on my right joked that we were going to got doused!

At first, he was right. At the first decent sized dip, the raft spun and he & I took a wave! Whoa! My pants were soaked! But, as we were going down the big hill, the raft spun some more and it looked like John was going to got it just as the raft turned again and this woman and her young daughter got soaked!

Nobody came out really dry and everyone was laughing. John joked that Cathi wasn't allowed to pick anymore rides. Time to walk around with a wet crotch for awhile!

John suggested we go through the shops before heading out to walk the dogs and hang out before out big night at Disney-MGM. I swear he only mentioned the shopping to got me to go along with the plan! ;)

I checked again for the roly poly Yeti, but all the shops were sold out. I saw a small Christmas tree decorated nicely with animal masks and other ornaments, and when John and Cathi came up to me again, I picked up the whole tree and told Cathi to see how much it was (joking about what happened in Fort Wilderness with the ornament). She told me to stop trying to get her arrested.

I had worn my cast member AK opening day party shirt; it's design is so fantastic! I had a secret fantasy that some cast member, maybe even in Imagineering, would notice it and say something. Um.... no. ;)

I stopped at Guest Services to fill out a cast member card for Emily. These go into the employee's file and shows up in their reviews, bonuses, and other benefits. The desk say they don't have any cards right now and have me put it all on a piece of paper. They promise to fill out a proper card with the information. The cast member there said that if I sent an email to the Guest Services address commending a cast member that the president of the park reviewed them; I had never heard that before and was skeptical about it. I also like the immediacy of filling out a card for a cast member because they can get it within the same day.

We decided to have lunch at the Pepper Market in Coronado Springs. Their lobby was beautiful with decorations and its tree. John went to use the restroom and said he'd meet us at the Market. But who's going to turn down a chance like that to go into the gift shop? Not me! I picked up a Minnie and Figaro slider charm for my bracelet and Cathi got a new book to read. John rolled his eyes when he found us and said, "How did I know to look here?"

We told our hostess that Cathi was new at the Market, which was my way of not admitting that I forgot how the system worked, but getting the explaination anyhow. Cathi and I went to the Mexican stand (I got a burrito and she got fajitas) when she said something that would change the rest of the day.

"How about we get a strawberry margerita?"

We were orginally going to share one, but she decided we should have one each. These things were POTENT! I don't have any alcohol tolerance anyway, so by the time John got back with his meal, and I had drank about a quarter of the margerita, I was grinning. Cathi was doing better than me. When I had drank half of it, I told John that I loved him sooooooooooooo much! He greeted this romantic confession with "Here we go. You're drunk." Is that nice?

After my dissertation on how unfair it was that a churro did not count as a dessert on my dining plan, we paid our bill and left. They were planning to take a nap because we had a later night ahead of us and an early start, and I was planning to work on the trip report, maybe even head to Meadows for wireless Internet. But John got tired of my declarations of love for him and Fort Wilderness, and told me to go lay down. I was going to show him! I didn't need to sleep. I'd wait for him to go to sleep and then get up.

When he woke me an hour later, I told him I needed another half hour. He dealt with this in a friendly manner by saying I had better not ruin the night by still being tipsy. So I got up, dressed in fresh clothes, and we headed for something we were really looking forward to: meeting friends for dinner at Mom's Prime Time and then Osbourne Lights for a meet that John in Trenton called "Ho Ho Ho Lotta Lights"! I had even dug out my sweatshirt for it from years ago and the 3D glasses they used to hand out.

We hadn't eaten at Mom's in awhile; we love hanging out in Dad's Lounge because of the fantastic bartender there, so having dinner there again, especially with a group of people, was going to be good. Right away, the fun started when Michael, dressed in a cardigan, black thick glasses, and his hair slicked back with a camera around his neck, came up to Cathi and I and said we were blocking Mom's front door. Besides, "I told you kids to play in the livingroom until dinner was ready!"

We had a lot of fun with Michael (after making sure the rest of our party knew where we were so we didn't miss dinner)! I begged him for a popsicle; he told me I'd ruin my dinner. Cathi complained that the ornaments on the tree didn't do anything (since the time is set for the 50s, they're not like modern moving or sound chip ornaments); he told her that "their ornaments! They hang on a tree, that's what they do!" He told us to read a book, but Cathi pointed out they were glued to the shelves; you couldn't take them down. Without batting an eye, he returned, "Oh, sure! 'I can't take a book down, I can't finish my homework! What other stories are you kids going to make up?" Disney has a treasure in that guy.

We sat down to dinner. Dave and his family was there, and I immediately began pushing and shoving his daughter, Maddy, who sat on my left. to make friends and create fun with our cousin, the waitress. Suzy was back with her husband and little Li Li, as well as her sister Jill and brother-in-law. Jill and Cathi bonded over griping about how bad it is to have little sisters. I got in a lot of trouble over starting the shoving match with Maddy, and when I got up to hand out pins to everyone at other tables from tagrel, I was put in the corner for not asking permission to get up from the table! It made Cathi's whole vacation! Until she got in trouble for not finishing her dinner and had to do the "open the hatch, here comes the airplane"!

We had to get over to meet everyone for the Osbourne Lights, so John started getting anxious at the table. I finally sent him ahead while Cathi and I waited for the dining cards, then we left too.

We met Moley (her tagrel name) and everyone already there. Moley gave everyone penguin lights (the mascat for tagrel), we had our pins, other people handed out candy canes... it was fantastic! Emily from the safari was there too! I told her about Guest Services, and if she doesn't see it in her folder in the regular time, let me know and I'll email Services with it. She said she mentioned me to her dad and he knew right away who I was. Hopefully, that's a good thing!

Emily's brother is also on tagrel, Zack, and he's working Osbourne Lights tonight! Plus her sister works as the MGM kennel!

Once everyone was there, off we went into the lights, just in time for one of the musical synchronized breaks! I so love the Osbourne lights! I have ever since they were there on a test period back in 1995 and we got to see them. I might even love them more now that they're on the streets, because it's just a full embrace of them. Besides, I see surburban house decorated all the time; whoever sees a whole CITY blocka decorated?

Our group got separated by the crowd, but we kept running into each other. I'd hear voices calling hello to each other, and when I flung my arms wide to the falling "snow", I heard Moley tease me. John, Cathi, and I got pictures taken by the PhotoPass people, then explored the lights even more. I don't know how long we stayed, almost an hour, before John wanted to get off his feet.

We were going to see Fantasmic, but John was wiped out. So we said we'd try for another night, and relaxed in the bookstore for awhile next to Sci Fi. Then we went into the Great Movie Ride. We literally walked right in.

Our new camcorder has a "night vision" setting, and I was all the way at the end in the back row, so I was ready for the Indiana Jones section. And I did it! I found the Hidden R2 and 3PO!

We left there and was near closing. I hated leaving; I felt like we got nothing done, but we'd be back. Besides, it was time to go to the Gift Exchange!

We headed for the Swan where we were meeting friends for a Yankee Swap style gift exchange. On the way over, we talked about we were going to karaoke the next night. John said he was doing a duet of "I'll Cover You" and Cathi asked what was that.

John: It's a love song between 2 gay men from "Rent", but I'm singing it with a woman.
Me (teasing): A woman that's not his wife.
John: Right, not with Erin. I've been rehearsing it, but I just suck at it.
Cathi: Well, that sounds like something to look forward to.

We got to the Veranda at the Swan, but no one was there, so we killed time at the gift shop. Cathi pointed out they sold little Disney buses in a set, "So you must not be the only one who's weird about those buses." I said, "Told you so."

People started coming in for the gift exchange, taking pictures, and greeting each other. Someone wanted a photo of John and me, and Cathy from Trenton shouted, "Give him a hug!" So I sat in his lap. Immediately after the picture, Cathy yelled, "OK, get off him. This is a family place!"

We hadn't done the gift exchange before, but we were so glad we did it this time! It was so much fun, and the gifts were incredible! Ornaments, decorations, plushes, a homemade afghan and even 4 days at a DVC! And lots and lots of laughs as Linda went on the rampage for anyone trying to steal her robe, and as the afghan and DVC points were stolen over and over.

We all posed for a picture (unfortunately, I don't have one), when I heard a bunch of the guys hysterical in the back. I later asked John what was so funny and he said he had mumbled about needing to hurry up so he could get back to the campground to walk the dogs. Our friend Brian teased him:

Brian: Walk the dogs? Is that some new euphemism you use for It?
John: And I have 3 dogs to walk!
Brian: You're a helluva man.

Cathy from Trenton was laughing so hard, she was bent over double. John told she wouldn't be seen in the photo at all if she didn't get up!

It was a fantastic day!