Denise Duggan & Friend - February 2007

My girlfriend, Susie, and I decided to take a moms-only weekend to Disney World. No kids. No husbands. Just us. We were so excited!

We couldn’t leave town until after she’d dropped her kid off at home and had him load the car. Yes, he had to load the car for a trip he wasn’t going on. Why on earth else would you have kids except for to have them do chores you don’t want to? Anyway, we got out of town around 4:30 or 5 and it’s about 4 hours down to Orlando. We be-bopped along the highway listening to some Mo’Rockin’ I’d found on my music subscription service and her asking questions from the Disney trivia deck I’d taken out of my game. We thought about getting something to eat but really wanted to wait until we got there because tonight was Downtown Disney and I wanted to try out Raglan Road.

We got to our hotel around 8:30 or 9. We were staying over at the hotel where the NFFC meet was being held. Not on property. Bummer. But much less expensive. We stayed in the room long enough to let the hubbies know we’d arrived safely and to change clothes. Then it was off to Downtown Disney!

When we got in the parking lot we started hopping up and down in our seats (not easy to do when you’re driving) and shouting “We’re here! We’re here!!”. We got our tickets and because we’re Fla Resident Passholders we’re able to go back again an unlimited amount between now and June. I love the tagline Disney has for that campaign – “You can sleep in July!”. We went to Raglan Road and checked out the menu. Overpriced, as I knew it would be. We decided to just run over to McDonald’s and get something. Had to get something in our stomachs because we were planning on drinking. On the way out of Raglan Road we saw a guy drinking out of a sand bucket and asked him where to get one. He told us and it was off to McD’s to do the responsible thing.

Nothing special about McD’s. McD’s is McD’s all over the world and even in Downtown Disney it looks like industrialized food. But it’s food so we wolfed it down because we’re too old to be drinking on an empty stomach.

Back to Pleasure Island it was. We found the outside stand where you can buy the sand buckets. The bartender told us it held about 2.5 drinks. For a price of $10, that makes the price almost regular. Susie got hers and I got something blue. Off to check out the clubs. We started to go into the 70s club but the line was sooooooooo long. We walked around a bit and decided to check out the Adventurer’s Club. Neither of us ever having been there before we didn’t know what to expect.

As we walked in the CM at the door said Susie was finishing her drink before me and I’d better catch up. We looked around and went down the elevator into the main room. Samantha and the Colonel were having conversations with everyone. As soon as we walked in Samatha dubbed us the Bucket Babes because of our drinks. She said she’d heard the Bucket Babes were on tour and they were very honored for us to grace their establishment. She asked how many shows a night we did and I said 10 but held up my drink and said the more of these we get in us the more we do. We had a great time talking to Samatha and the Colonel. Then it was off to the mask room. There we were treated to some of the exploits of the self-centered aviator guy. It was fun but relatively tame.

Then it was off to the library for Samatha’s Caberet. Now that was a fun show!!! Samantha came out but then she saw us – the Bucket Babes – and shouted that she wanted to do her entrance again and she wanted us to start the wave (I guess because we were in the right seat). The guy at the end of the wave who she said should stand up and do a hot-cha-cha didn’t. Boy, she walked over to him and started razzing him. Some guy at the bar was really trying to hit on Samatha but she deftly parried and had no troubles at all with the man. She got some guy named Tony up on stage and asked him to help her finish one of her more innuendo laden songs. During the course of their conversation she asked if Tony, who was a lawyer with two kids and another on the way, could bump and grind. I shouted out that he’s got three kids – of course he could bump and grind. Samatha got on me playfully and we just had a blast. After the show in the hallway we got a picture with Samatha and made her an honorary Bucket Babe.

It was time to go because I was out of drink and wanted another. We got one and walked around again. We thought about going to the comedy club but the show didn’t start for a while. We decided to head on back to the hotel. Yes, I was okay to drive..... those drinks were not as strong as I’d make them :-) We got back to the hotel around 1am. And left a 7am wake up call.

Susie and I are both early risers so we were up before the wake up call came in. Today was Epcot and we were both very much looking forward to it. We got dressed and went downstairs for the continental breakfast. It was actually very good… quite a variety. We were going to try parking at Downtown Disney so headed there. But then we decided we didn’t want to wait on a bus and just decided to pop the $11 for parking. Off to Epcot we went. Now you need to know that Epcot is a magic park for me. My hubby and I spent our honeymoon at Disney and it was the first time either of us had ever been to Epcot. Also, it’s my absolute favorite park of all. So whenever I see Spaceship Earth I’m home. And finally we were there.

We got the car parked and were close enough to walk in without catching the tram that had just left. Susie was wonderful all weekend putting up with my incessant pin trading which started at the shop just outside the main gate. We looked at the line for Spaceship Earth and decided not to do it. We decided to go see the Nemo ride. Susie wished Crush weren’t closed down because she’s never seen it. But she thoroughly enjoyed the Nemo ride. So did I. At least this time I didn’t stop halfway between two scenes and have to hear the same dialog over and over and over. And just the look on Susie’s face when she saw Nemo and the gang swimming with the real fish was great.

After that we decided to hit Soarin’. As we walked up it was a 20 minute standby time. However, a whole bunch of fastpasses must have come back at once because while we were standing in line an announcement came over that the 20 minutes was now 40. Either that or one side broke down or something. Anyway… it was about 40 minutes but it was definitely worth it. While we were waiting for the pre-flight instructions I got to talking to a guy from England that noticed my pins. He mentioned that he’d started collecting pins. I gave him one of mine – I think the extra Figment World Showcase pin that I had. He was very happy because now he had a story to go with his pin. Boy, I’m sure glad you guys turned me onto the idea of getting pins from eBay in lots. At $2 a pin I rarely think twice about spreading the magic. I remember one trip I gave a little girl one of the princess pins I had and she asked her mommy to hold onto it safely until her breakfast with the princess the next day. That is really a great feeling, spreading a bit of the pixie dust. So we did Soarin’ and had a blast. Susie and I were kidding that the guys on the river were our kids and kicking them in the head (hey, we’re just messing around and I always have to “dip” my toes in the river).

After Soarin’ we thought about Mission Space but we wanted to start World Showcase in Canada so we could eat lunch in France. So we decided to do Mission Space later. Off through Canada we went. That’s when we found out Off Kilter doesn’t play on the weekends. Bummer!!!!! So we went to England. It wasn’t quite 11:30 but it was close so we hung out a bit by the Rose & Crown. Or rather Susie went shopping while I hung out. Hey, a Bass in the UK is a tradition. After I got my beer, the World Showcase players were just starting so Susie and I sat down to listen. What a hilarious show!!!! After that we shopped in the sword and heraldry shop a bit and then it was across the channel to head to France.

J’adore va au France parce que je peut parler Francais. Oh wait….let me get my translator. I love going to France because I can speak French. Not well, mind you, but well enough to get our lunch and banter with the waiter a bit. Susie called her hubby to find out how he was doing and she told him she had no idea what I was saying but it must be good because the waiter kept bringing us stuff. I called my hubby to brag that I was in France and speaking with the waiter and having a blast. We had the Chef’s special – French Onion Soup, Croque Monsieur and Crème Brulee. I had a couple of glasses of wine with lunch. It was tres magnifique!!!

After lunch we decided to go to the American Adventure because I hadn’t seen the show in a while and I needed to review it for my website. This was a big mistake. Never ever ever go see this wonderful show after a few drinks and a wonderful meal. My biggest concern during the show was that I not fall asleep and start snoring.

Then we came back to watch Mo’Rockin’ I was a bit disappointed with the show. They did only about three songs (I didn’t realize it was so short) and the lead singer guy seemed to be in a bit of a bad mood. I dunno if he’s always like that or what, but he just was kind of put off that he had to do this show or something. He just acted like it was something he didn’t want to be doing. I know everyone has their bad days, but it was a bit of a let down since this is one of the things we were really looking forward to.

After Mo’Rockin’ we made our way through the rest of Epcot. Yes, of course, I stopped in Germany to get some beer. We also spent some time shopping in Germany. We enjoyed window shopping in the crystal shop, even though neither one of us could ever afford anything in there – especially the $37 THOUSAND (nope, that’s not a typo) castle. I heard a kid telling his father that he could get a car for that price. Shoot, the kid’s got expensive tastes – I could probably get three for that price.

We checked the time and realized it was time to start heading for the front so we could get to the NFFC meeting. We left Epcot and headed back to the hotel. We stopped on the way and got some Arby’s and then went to the meeting. I had a great time there. I got to meet Jud and have a great conversation with him. We also listened to the gentleman (Ridgeway?) who wrote the “Spinning Disney” book. Very interesting speaker but again I was fighting exhaustion and alcohol and spent most of my time fighting falling asleep – especially since I was in the front row. When there was a break in the meeting Susie and I decided to leave because we wanted to go back to Pleasure Island. We got out into the parking lot and headed for the van. Then we looked at each other and decided as much as we wanted to go back to PI, we were exhausted and wanted to just go back to the room more. I was in bed by 8:30. I’m getting to be such an old woman :-)

The next morning it was up bright and early for Animal Kingdom. Susie had never seen the opening bit that they do when Minnie and Goofy and Pluto roll up in their safari vehicle. That was fun and I got the video on my little camera. Then it was off to Expedition Everest. We got a fast pass with a return time of about an hour. The line was already back way past the little food stand they have and was simply crazy.

We went over and took a ride on the safari. That was a lot of fun. Got some good pictures of the animals. Of course, got some strange pictures too. With the digital camera I take tons of pictures and some of them turn out pretty good. Of course some of them don’t and then I have to answer questions from my friends like “why did you take a picture of an elephant’s butt?”

We decided to go up to Rafiki’s because I had some research to do up there. While I was there I saw some dream squad members. I got a picture of them. I told them I wanted the picture because I’d never seen them and wasn’t quite sure they actually existed. One of them decided that made them sound like the M&M/Santa Claus commercial. Anyway, I putzed around a bit, not wanting to go far from where the magical Dream Squad were hanging out. I saw them awarding a dream fast pass to a little boy and decided that it would be a very good time to go outside and buy a coke. I think this may have been the only time I’ve bought a $2 bottle of coke at Disney but it was worth it. When I came back in I was awarded a dream fast pass. I called Susie, who was in Rafiki’s exploring, and told her to get out here right away. She got there and the dream squad told her to go outside and turn around and come back in a specific door. I thought everyone in our party got one if I did, but I guess not. So she came back in the door and they told her what a magical day it was for her. So I finally won one of the million dreams!!! ;-)

We explored Rafiki’s a bit. We got to sit down and hear the Grandmother Willow audio presentation which is sooooooo relaxing. We watched a dental procedure they were performing on one of the animals. And I got lots of great answers and ideas for my ScoutingWithTheMouse website. Then we decided it was time to head back to Everest. I was a bit concerned about the train because the CM on the way out had mentioned that yesterday they’d had some trouble with one of the trains and a set of guests had gotten stuck in Asia (i.e., about halfway between the two train stations) for 45 minutes. Sure didn’t want that to happen. But we got back safe and sound and headed off to Everest.

We got in the fast pass line with our regular fast passes figuring we’d use the Dream FPs for another ride. As always, when we got up to where the track is torn up, I turned around to watch the track flip over. This time, however, my restraint bar was a bit looser than usual and I was able to really turn around and get a good look. It wasn’t until Susie tapped me on the leg that I realized the “please stay seated during the whole ride” message we were getting from the loudspeaker was directed at me. After the ride, however, Susie’s arm (she has a problem with her shoulder) was hurting so bad that we decided not to ride again.

After that we decided to do Tough to be a Bug. The group in front of us was fun because they’d never been in there. Before the show they were checking out the seats and noticing that there were holes in there. During the show they freaked out quite satisfyingly. It was lots of fun.

But as always, all good things must come to an end and such was the case with our wonderful, girls only Disney trip. It was time to head back home so we could get up and go to work the next day. The good thing is we never had to use any of our Dream Fast Passes. So I have a DFP souvenir that hasn’t been used at all. That’s kind of cool!