I'm convinced that something happens when I write about a Day divided by 3. I'm also convinced that on the days that I head into a blog thinking there is not as much material is a day that I find a bunch of memories and funny moments and I end up having to split the experience into two. I'm sure you are all sitting on pins and needles since Day 6 has been left unresolved for you over the last 2 days. I'll end your suffering. Let's get back into Day 6. Now, where did I leave things?
All I had to do was remember the heartburn and I'm back to sitting in front of those nachos. Which just gets me mad at myself, anyway. We've already covered that the toxic cheese slime wasn't Disney's best choice of ingredient, but I myself am questioning how I gave into peer pressure. And can you really call it peer pressure? When I was standing in line, the person in front of me was a stranger. What did he care what I ordered, and what did I care what he thought? Apparently, I cared. Either that, or I just wasn't getting excited about anything on the "Mexico" menu in World Showcase.
But ordering nachos went against one of my most sacred food rules - no beans. I detest them in a way that only Elisa would understand (when it comes to mushrooms). Beans have no earthly place on...Earth. Yeah, that's the ticket. And it really doesn't matter the type. Refried, pinto, black, green, string. Beans and I are disagreeable with each other. And yet, these nachos had beans. So I wasn't wild about the cheese. I was definitely not a fan of the beans. That left beef, tortilla chips, and jalepenos. And we all know that a little of that goes a very long way. By the time I was done, I had cleared every non-covered tortilla chip. Left was a mass of beans, cheese slime, and jalepeno. I'm sure glad I ate something authentic! Whew! Cross that one off my bucket list.
After lunch, I was hopeful that the very little and insignificant rides in World Showcase would keep Lukas entertained. I was still manning the dumb Phineas and Ferb cell phone game (Norway came after Mexico, so I was still stuck with it. We headed into the main building (fashioned after an Aztec temple) and went on a little boat ride starring Donald Duck. The start of it was almost scary in how it compares to the Disneyland Pirates...you float past a restaurant and have fleeting wonders about who is people watching whom? The riders or the eaters? The ride was pretty bland beyond that. After getting back to dry land, we shopped around some of the authentic Mexican shops. Elisa zeroed in on the pure vanilla. She had bought some in 2004 and loved it in her baking, so this was a sure purchase. My Mom was all about the vanilla too, so they both got into line and waited. As the person at the counter finished, another customer cute right in front of Elisa and my Mom and threw her stuff on the counter. Apparently she either didn't get the idea of lines (slightly impossible at anything Disney!) or she was just tired of lines altogether. No acknowledgement that she had line jumped. And even worse, she engaged the cast member in every sort of conversation possible. About something important? No, of course not. They talked about the size of the sombrero she was going to buy for her child. Poor kid...his parents go to Disney World and bring him back a sombrero the size of an UFO. That's just wrong.
10 minutes later, they were still talking. I had reverted to not so subtle comments under (or slightly over) my breath. Elisa moved to another place to check out. By the time we arrived there, two other people in front of Elisa got checked out, as did Elisa and my Mom. I looked back and the conversation of the sombrero was still taking place. Lady, it's a sombrero. If you're having that much buyer's remorse, it's probably time to move onto Norway and purchase a Viking helmet with blong pig tails. It's more of a sure thing. I promise. And much more diverse. And useful. And stylish.
We headed for Norway, with me finally finding a stroke of brilliance. Somehow, I convinced my father that doing the cell phone game for Lukas in Norway would be an extra piece of bonding time. He bought it. I'm salesman of the century. So I started trying to enjoy Norwegian culture. My Dad quickly solved the clue and he and Lukas went and saw a little mini-show in the window of one of the Norwegian shops. I could see in his face that he wasn't going to continue the adventure into China. No, he'd be looking for a cell phone kiosk with as much focus and energy as I had. Norway had the only other real ride to enjoy in World Showcase. It's called Maelstrom, and is another boat ride. As we sat in what was one of our longest lines on the trip (go figure), I stared at the mural on the wall. This ride was celebrating the history and culture of Norway. Now, I'm sure anyone outside the USA would look at a mural to describe us and think it weird, but this mural was a combination of vikings, a kayaker, a blond woman running a race (and winning), and oil rigs. Welcome to Norway! And I was totally right about the viking helmet with blond pigtails built in. The souvenir of oil rigs everywhere.
Lukas enjoyed the ride, as Disney did prove it had some pretty compelling technology in an old hidden ride - they found a way to turn the boat backwards and forwards just by redirecting the water. Pretty nifty. And yes, I'm that kind of theme park nerd. When I see something cool (which no one else noticed, and would think idiotic to notice), I talk about it once I get off of the ride. How did they do it? What's the secret? How could that technology still be unmatched after 40+ years? Elisa just starts walking a bit behind me. I think that way I'll get the comments out of my system but she doesn't have to hear it in detail. It works. I end up finishing my 12-point breakdown of the technology before I realize I'm making the comments to a 45-year old Disney fanatic with Mickey ears, an "I'm With Grumpy" t-shirt, and more trading pins than a normal Disney store actually holds. I suddenly get quiet about my fascination with Disney technology.
Past Norway, we hit China, and then Germany. Now this was a country I was excited about. I had fond memories of some wine tasting in 2004. I was eager to get back to business. We found the wine tasting arena, and my parents and I started picking out wines. The cast member was from Germany, blond hair, pig tails, and husky accent. We got little glasses of about 6 wines. As we walked over to a table to stand at and enjoy, I looked outside. Elisa was in the midst of dealing with two children in mini meltdowns. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. My Dad had just bought about $15 worth of wine for me. Elisa was putting Miles in time out. I made my decision. I went through a mini tasting of each wine and tried to say something intelligent. "Fruity!" "Nutty!" and "Sweet!" were all I could muster. Elisa was now trying to get Lukas to settle in the stroller from hell. My parents were barely touching their wines as my Dad was breaking down the good and bad of his first taste.
I started chugging. 6 mini glasses in about 2 minutes. I think my Mom started wondering if I had a "problem" that I hadn't owned up to. A couple lessons were learned here. First, I'm not a fan of Germany wine. Maybe it's too fruity, nutty, or sweet. Or maybe when you put all of that together in 2 minutes, no wine would be very good. Second lesson? Don't chug dessert wine. Good grief, it feels like you're giving yourself a cavity. Wow. I'm still shuddering. Honestly, I think my right cheek started puckering. It didn't help my cause with Elisa that she looked into the shop while I had a face that looked like a pure smile of delight or a drunkard rage...one or the other. I left my parents to their wine drinking while I helped Elisa with the kids. They were done. So was Elisa. It was nap time. We trudged through the rest of World Showcase, not stopping to look at anything. I let my parents stay in the park, and was very pleased with myself when I presented my Dad with a gift from the heart - a helpful pointing out of the cell phone kiosk. The Phineas and Ferb phone could finally be offloaded.
Naps were the order of the day for the kids, as we had a very tired kids and both Elisa and I were looking forward to downtime. Unfortunately, the Beach Club pool party was back for another day. Yea! Today, it was the most annoying game to listen to possible. Three families had been chosen. The host would read an item and see how many of the families had that item at the pool. It started simple enough...towels, goggles, suncreen. But then the items just became obscure. Refillable Disney mugs. Disney pin trading lanyards. And most rare of all...an actual non-Kindle book. Yeah, the one printed on real paper! By the end of the competition, one family killed the rest. Either they cheated, or they are the nerdiest pool visitors on Earth. I mean, who ACTUALLY brings their Disney stuffed animals to the pool? Weirdos. The short version of this (you're all wishing this whole vacation blog provided the short version option 8 blogs ago, I know)? I didn't nap. I relived the pool party.
The kids woke up and everyone got ready for the evening. We had experienced some fun ones so far, but this was the grand one. Tonight was "Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party". Lukas and Miles were so excited for it. A special parade, fireworks, and rides. And Lukas got to wear is "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" headgear. We left the hotel and headed over to The Contemporary Resort. This is the closest hotel to Magic Kingdom, and has a cool little feature of having a monorail stop in its lobby. We, however, headed up to the top floor for dinner at one of the best restaurants in Walt Disney World - California Grill. We sat down and I knew I would be in trouble. The tables had white table cloths.
You see, I tend to be a bit messy and clumsy while I eat. Usually, it isn't a big deal. The table cloths are dark colored or non-existent. But white table cloths just go out of their way to make sure that every single little crumb, spill, or mistake I make during a meal is on full display. Then I start playing "cover it up". A conveniently placed napkin, drink glass, small child. Whatever it takes. Tonight, we started our meal with some goat cheese ravioli. You know you're at a high end restaurant when they bring out the appetizer and there are literally 2 ravioli on the plate. This isn't Olive Garden with an overflowing of baked ravioli. This is the good stuff. I had two bites. By the time I was done, I had two red stains on the white table cloth. Maybe I should have pulled the plate right under my mouth. Good grief. As I sat and we waited, I had a great view of the kitchen. This restaurant has the kitchen open right in the middle of the restaurant. I could see the chef guy that prepares the plates before they head to the table. I'm not an expert. Chef guy that prepares the plates is the best you're going to get out of me. He was a maniac. Sprigs of something on this plate, green things on this one. He was even garnishing the kid's cheese pizzas.
Dinner slowly wrapped up right around the time that Mickey's party was about to get underway. We paid and headed back downstairs to walk over to Magic Kingdom. I noticed that this hotel had a full espresso bar right at the entrance. Suddenly, I knew where we would stay on our next visit to Disney World. This would make the kids happy to be so close to the monorail and Magic Kingdom. Elisa would get her espresso bar. It was like the hotel was built for our family! We headed out of the hotel and took the 10 minute walk over to Magic Kingdom. On the way, I started noticing. I already knew this Halloween party was designed for the kids. They were encouraged to show up in costumes. But the number of people heading to the party that were adults and fully costumed was slightly concerning. Two Tinker Bells passed us. A couple others in gowns were a ways up (I judged them and thought to myself that it must be Cinderella's step sisters...I'm not very nice). We saw Tigger, Jack Sparrow, Jack Skellington, Mickey, Dumbo, Goofy, and the Mad Hatter. And none of them were under the age of 25. Apparently the levels of "Disney fan" are quite diverse. I'm near the bottom compared to these fans. They get into it! I just wonder how they get so into it.
The lines were pretty long for the event, so it took awhile to get through. When finally we reconvened on Main Street, it was about 50 minutes until the "Boo To You" parade. We decided that the kids would want good seats, so we plopped down. It was now time to provide Disney with our well earned money. A cart nearby sold all matter of light-up "things". The kids were ready, so we went and got them their gear. Lukas went with a green sword and Miles wanted a spinning strobe light. I even tried to get some bonus point and bought Elisa a Mickey pumpkin light up for Elisa. We sat back down and realized that we still had about 40 minutes to go...that didn't take nearly as long as I had hoped.
I left the family waiting on Main Street and headed into a candy store. There, I entertained myself by finding a Rice Krispie treat the size of Mickey mouse, as well as some Mickey suckers that I just had to buy the kids. By the time I got back, we still had 30 minutes to go. I regretted getting seats so quickly. We could have gone and had a few rides and probably still found good seats. Now we were stuck because everything probably filled up by now and had nothing to do. Miles drilled his chin into my head for awhile, but even I had been there and done that by now. That could only be worthwhile for 2 minutes. And then the Disney Halloween rap crew came around. This is what we needed. And Lukas caught the fever again.
As quickly as a Disney cast member had waved the kids on, Lukas was on Main Street dancing his butt off. He was very into it, and was doing Frankenstein impressions all over the place. I love a lot of things about this kid, but I'm insanely jealous of his lack of fear at such a young age. He will be a trouble maker when he grows up. His outgoing personality will cause us pain and him a lot of fun. He danced along better than most other kids on Main Street. While they were happy to be dancing at Magic Kingdom, Lukas was focused on doing the moves the right way at the right time. 10 minutes later, Lukas was exhausted and the parade was underway. It was a great show - both Lukas and Miles enjoyed it immensely. Sadly, Miles wanted to be held so I focused more on not dropping him after 25 minutes of carrying him. I made the early mistake of bouncing to the music. Miles spent the rest of the parade saying "do that again!" By the time the parade was over, my arms were jelly.
We headed over to Splash Mountain and took a late night ride on what is one of my favorites. As we got off the ride, I looked at my watch. Fireworks would be starting in about 2 minutes. I sent Elisa and Lukas off to find my Mom and Miles while I got the Splash Mountain ride photo for our collection. I heard the booms. I felt the booms. And when I walked over to get a view, I saw my Mom and Miles (but no Elisa and no Lukas). Miles was freaking out. Apparently, things went from bad to worse for my Mom, who had stayed off the ride to let us go. They had been standing in front of Splash Mountain when a wave of water had covered them. That made Miles upset. My Mom worked to calm him down and just as she had, the booms of the fireworks frightened him. I took him in my arms and threatened to put him in time out.
Okay, how many of you ACTUALLY really thought that last line was true? Tut tut. I've made an impression, to be sure. No, I calmed him down with loving and nurturing words, of course. Father of the year! We met back up with Elisa, and Miles wanted her to hold him while they watched the show. The fireworks were pretty good. When they ended, however, Miles the critic turned up. He wasn't upset about the noise. No, he was pissed that he didn't see any blue fireworks. Really? Now we want to start making requests for firework colors? More impressively, though, he was right. I didn't remember seeing a blue firework either. From that point on, we'd be looking for blue fireworks. Because Miles said, no less than 10 times as we walked back to the car, that there weren't blue fireworks. That, my friends, is not a souvenir that you can buy for $6.95.
We made it back to the hotel after a very long day. In the one stupid part of my trip planning, I had scheduled an early character breakfast for the next day and we were up very late. That would make the next day quite interesting. And I kind of felt like I was putting the kids through a military training camp. We crawled into bed with my final hope being that we'd have some down time somewhere so I could start earning bonus points again, as opposed to getting dagger looks. Oh, how right and wrong I was.
Day 7 hits tomorrow...where Mickey cooks and Miles revolts - literally, Lukas stands in line, we have a forced three course meal, feel the power of the Force, I feel vindicated by my reservation insistence, I experience the new and horrific Disney version of a surf and turf, we run across the park, sing in large groups, watch Mickey fight his imagination, and might just see one or two blue fireworks...free of charge. Until next time!
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