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We have made a lot of friends on the internet, on a number of boards. Unfortunately not all our good friends are welcome everywhere. That raises a dilemma: where to post trip reports where all our friends can enjoy them?

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LY/MI, Chapter 9
Don’t mess with the Commando’s little sister



The phone rang and Mickey was making fun of us because it was our last full day in Disney.

Okay, maybe not, but it sure felt that way.

I rolled out of bed just as the phone rang a second time. It was Nikki letting me know that, guess what, they were starving to death. They wanted breakfast and were so close to actually dropping from hunger that they couldn't wait long enough to go any further than the food court.

“Fine,” I said “I’ll be right out.”

I had a couple text messages to send first.





(Psss, Debbie, I drew that.  )

Del and I got dressed and met the kids outside before walking to the food court. This was the first breakfast I had gone in the food court for and what I saw when I walked in, stopped me in my tracks.

Mickey waffles, they sell FREAKING Mickey waffles in the food court! I spent all that money going to different breakfasts looking for Mickey waffles and all the time they were right there in the food court.

After a silent prayer of thanks, I got in line for my religious breakfast.

They sell them as a kid’s breakfast, 2 Mickey waffles with you choice of bacon or sausage. *Blushing* I had two orders.

And they were heavenly.

After breakfast, we decided to go for a swim then, rather than go to a park just to turn around and come back to the pool. It was ungodly hot outside again; we knew we wouldn’t last long in the parks anyway.

I talked Del into wearing a shirt in the pool because I didn't think he could handle burning his skin anymore. He had already been walking around, scratching his chest like a cave-man. He really didn't want too, but I gave him a boo-boo face and he did as I asked.

I had bought two water-proof cameras to use at the water parks and they still had pictures left on them so I dropped them in the pool with the kids to use up.

Some people give their kids balls or floaty things to play with, mine play with cameras.





Their picture of me:



My picture of them:



Ground was a bit hot.



We enjoyed the pool for a little while before the sky opened up and dumped on us.

Dang-nab-it!!





We went back to the rooms, showered and dressed and went to the van to go to the Magic Kingdom for the day.

We parked the van in the parking lot (of course we did, where else would we park it?) very close to the front, but not close enough to be considered prime real estate parking and walked slowly to the entrance because Em was dragging her feet when we got out of the van.

She was car shopping. I was telling Del how much I liked the van we had rented, good gas mileage, handled well, not invisible, ect. And Em thought that was the topic for the day. “Dad! Look at that one, boy that is nice.”

The rain had stopped, but people were still leaving the park in droves.

Buh-bye.



We got on the monorail and Del kept trying to give Em and I his seat, but we really wanted to stand. The man behind us tried to give us his seat too, but we thanked him and told him we wanted to stand. He agreed that the monorail on the way INTO the park is best enjoyed when standing and gave up his seat to Nikki and Curt and stood with us.

“Gee, when you think about it, this is the only ride in Disney you CAN stand on and not get into trouble.” He said.

Yup, that’s true.

The monorail sailed through the contemporary (toaster) hotel and came to a complete and total stop.

For a very long time.





Em and I sat on the floor after about 20 minutes. Del kept insisting that we take his seat, but we told him we were fine. He started to get pissed off because we were ‘making him look like an ass because he was sitting on the bench and we were on the floor.’

I think he would’ve looked like an ass if one of us was pregnant or 90 yrs. old. We were about to have an argument over this. Just like when I sat on the ground at Logan Airport and he had a fit because people spit on the ground, he was having the same fit now.

So what? It’s not like anyone was planning on eating off my butt or anything. I’m pretty sure I sat in something much worse on the bedspread back at the hotel, okay?

“Pretend you don’t know us.” I said in front of everyone in our car.

“I KNOW THEM!” Del yelled and pointed at Em and I.

Ass.

The man behind us joined us on the floor. “Well, it WAS fun while it lasted, huh. I guess if we had sat in the seat, we would be there by now.” He said.

With my luck, he was probably right.

Eventually, whatever the problem was was cleared up and we were moving. We exited the monorail and said good-bye to our floor buddy.

We were at the turnstiles waiting for Del to finish squeezing the hell out of it when it started lightly sprinkling again.

We walked into the entrance and got on the railroad (Howdy, partner!) to Frontier land. The line wasn’t too bad for Big Thunder Railroad, but before we got on it, we stopped and grabbed fast passes for Splash Mountain.

We walked down the ramp of Big Thunder after a bit of a wait and stood in the gate to wait for the train. On the walk down, Nikki and I had been chatting and all of us had behaved ourselves.

So, what happened next kind of surprised me.

We sat in the train, Del with Em, Nikki with Curt and me all alone behind them. The train started to pull out of the station and we had our hands up and screaming when a boy about 11 years old pointed at Nikki and SCREAMED “THERE SHE IS, DAD! OMG! IT REALLY IS HER! NIKKI!” Nikki smiled and waved to the boy and his dad. I looked back and saw the boy and his dad waving back at her.

Being a mother most of my entire life, my very first thought was ‘What did she do?’

We rode our ride with Del screaming like a girl. When we exited, I took Nikki by the arm and asked her what she had done to that boy.

“I have no idea. Nothing that I know of, I thought he was happy to see me. Was he upset?” She asked looking back thought the crowd to see if she could find him to apologize for whatever she may have done.

Del had to point out to us that he was excited to see her, because she was a trip-report celebrity and he had probably seen her picture. “How many have you sent to Lou with just your phone? How many friends do you have on-line? Didn't you get it when he knew her name?”

“Oh, Nikki, can I have your autograph?” Em said with her hands on her hips, teasing Nikki.

I could only imagine what was going through Curt’s mind. I don’t think he realized until that moment that lots of people were going to see him wearing that beaded hat in Morocco. The look on his face wasn’t good.

We tried to tell him before we left. I even told him when I took the picture. He didn't think I was serious.

Love ya, mean it Curt. At least you have a better character than Brother’s confused wife.

We stopped at the smoking area at the exit of Big Thunder to see if we could say ‘Hi’ to the boy and to wait and get another fast pass for Big Thunder. We never did see him again, which was too bad because we would have been happy to go on a ride with him.

So we say it now. “Hi!”

Em wanted a drink so Del took her to get some water, while Curt and Nikki went to get another fast pass. I was sitting alone uploading more pictures to Lou when a small boy with a mister fan walked over to me. “Don’t spray anyone, honey. Be very careful.” His mom said.

It was 147 degrees outside, I kid you not. When the little boy turned his back on me, I begged him mom to let him spray me. I put my hands together in prayer style and everything.

“If you don’t mind, he would love to spray you.” She said, smiling.

He did love it too. With each squirt I would turn my head and thank him profusely.

I was soaked and we were laughing when a family of four sat near us.

The parents lit a cigarette while the two kids dropped themselves on another bench and proceeded to look completely bored.

They scared off my little friend with the mister fan. I might have to destroy them.

The mother asked me if I knew where Big Thunder Railroad was and I turned and pointed behind me. How could you be that close to it and miss it? I mean, you can hear girl screams from there, did they think people were being murdered behind me?

I did make friends with this family, who was from the south and had a wicked twang-ie accent, and found out they didn't have the tiniest clue about Disney World at all. They had saved for two years to make this trip and only had four days of vacation. When she told me how much it cost her, and that they were staying off site for that price, I nearly had a heart-attack.

Out of their four days, they were planning on going to a water park and missing MGM all together. The more I talked to them, the worse I felt for them.

They thought the Tower of Terror was at the Animal Kingdom.

They had already spent the entire day in the Magic Kingdom and had only gone on four rides. They thought they had to pay for fast passes.

I gave them as much advice as I could before the crew came back to collect me. My last bit of advice may have been out-of-line but I stand behind it.

Get out of the smoking area and head for the fast pass machines. While you wait for your fast pass time, let those kids see some characters. Go to the Country Bear Jamboree or over to Goofy’s dancing jamboree to see Woody and his woman. You can smoke when the park closes.

“Y’all have a great vacation!” I said.

Y’all? Did that seriously just come out of my mouth? I’m from the north, we say ‘wicked’, ‘Ayah’ and ‘pahk ah cah’s’, we DON”T say ‘y’all’.

I have come to the conclusion that a southern twang is like a bad cold. It’s highly contagious.

When Del looked at me, he looked confused. “What happened to you?” He asked.

What are you talking about? Do I have a black eye or something that I am unaware of? Did he hear me say ‘y’all’?

“You’re soaked! Did you fall in the river?” He asked.

Oh, a boy and his mister fan, a beautiful thing. I missed him already.

Curt and Nikki had secured more fast passes and time was ticking for our PS’s at the Liberty Tree Tavern. We did have some time to go over to the Pirates before dinner, so we did that.

When we got off the Pirates, it was down-pouring. There were two huge umbrellas next to Aladdin’s carpet ride and everyone but Em and I made a run for it.

They looked left and right for any CM’s before doing that. It was all clear.

There was no line at all for Aladdin and Em wanted to go on it in the worst way. She gave Nikki her patented boo-boo face and got her to go on it with her.

I would’ve liked some pictures of them riding the carpet in the pelting rain, but once Em got it in the air, she kept it up there. They were both soaked when the ride was over.

So was my backpack. I was standing under the umbrella with Del and Curt and didn't realize that it was directly under a river that was flowing off the umbrella.

My ass sticks out further than it ever did; I still haven’t adjusted my life to that.

Time was up and we had to get over to the Liberty Tree Tavern. The rain had slowed to a drizzle. We stopped to see if we could figure out what Briar Rabbit was looking at and found a couple kids. (Briar Rabbit is sitting on top of the pole.)



Del had taken Em to the restroom while Nikki, Curt and I walked over to the Liberty Tree Tavern to check us in. After, I was standing in the doorway waiting when Del and Em came walking up. Em came into the Liberty Tree Tavern to see Nikki and Curt while Del stopped outside the door and asked me for a cigarette. “The smoking area is right behind the restaurant.” I said as I handed him a cigarette when a woman inside screamed.

“What the hell was that? Did someone sit on a tack?” Del asked, but I couldn't see anything over the people coming in.

The woman screamed again “Stop staring, you f*@#ing little brat!”

Del and I looked at each other. Wow, that was nice. She was screaming so loud, Del could hear her. Del, who is hard of hearing, was standing outside the door. This lady was making a serious ass out of herself.

I turned to go back inside the restaurant and to have a seat alone on the end of a bench. Em, who had come inside to stand with Nikki and Curt came over and tried to squish herself on the bench next to me. “Kid, there is room to sit on the other side of me, what are you doing?”

“Wobin, I want to sit here. Please?” Em said in a whisper and when I looked at her, she had tears rolling down her cheeks.

I scooted over and let her sit down. She buried her face into my side.

Anyone who knows Em can tell you, 1) Em rarely, if ever, cries. 2) Em rarely, if ever, whispers. 3) Em rarely, if ever, buries her face into me. She doesn’t like to miss out on anything.

I was a little shocked by her actions because this was totally out of character for her and looked at Nikki to find out what was wrong with Em. Nikki’s face was fire-engine red and her hands were balled into fists. “What did I miss?” I asked Nikki, who didn't answer me; she just kept staring over at the other side of the room.

On the other side of the room were two women, one of them staring back at Nikki, sitting on a bench with a little girl that was crying. Next to them was a chair with a little boy that might have been 3-4 years old, sitting in a balled up position, hugging his knees to his chest, facing the wall, crying.

Why are all the little kids in this place crying?

What had happened was, the little boy hopped up on the bench to sit down and when he did, he pinched this ladies thigh. She screamed. (Del thought she sat on a tack, we heard the scream) The lady grabbed the little boy by the arm and swung him into a chair HARD and pushed the chair up against the wall.

Em had walked in right as all this was happening.

Em has never seen an adult treat a child like that. She was horrified to see that little boy being slammed into a chair and stood there staring at the woman in shock.

This woman turned her rage onto Em, leaned forward into her face and screamed ‘Stop staring, you little F$#@ing brat’ at her.

This woman has absolutely no IDEA how lucky she was that Del and I didn't know that it was our kid she screamed at, at the time.

However, Nikki did know it because she saw the whole thing and it was killing her. “Fu#@ this, we are about to get thrown out.” Nikki said and marched over to the woman sitting on the bench.

At the same time, an adorable CM, Lymaris, called our name and Curt left to go get Del, who was still outside smoking a cigarette and clueless about the situation that was developing inside the Liberty Tree Tavern.

This all happened so fast that it took me a second to get really pissed off. When I stood up from the bench, I still had Em attached to my side. She was pulling on me trying to hide behind me and to keep me way from that beast of a woman. It was when I could feel Em trembling that I was finally in a rage.

The language I used about this woman to Lymaris is unsuitable for print.

“You made my little sister cry! What do you think a little kid is going to do when you are beating up your child in a public place?!” I could hear Nikki yelling as I was trying to talk to Lymaris.

I put my arm around Em and told Lymaris that I didn't think we would be eating here, because if we had to sit anywhere near this woman, someone was going to get arrested.

If I could’ve unattached Em from me, I was hoping it was me that was going to get arrested.

“I saw the entire thing” Lymaris said “There is nothing we can do about her because she is a guest, but I promise to seat you far way from her. Please don’t leave. Sweetie, are you okay?” She said and leaned over and put her hand on Em’s back. (That is bullshit. I think if a CM sees someone beating up there kid, they should be allowed to make a citizens arrest. It really is a shame that Disney allows people to behave this way; this is taking the ‘guest’ crap a little too far. Hey, Disney, give these CM’s a little power before someone gets hurt!)

“She hurt that little boy.” Em said to her between tears. “I’m scared.”

“It IS my business when you scream at MY little sister!” Nikki yelled some more.

Del and Curt came in the door and I called Nikki over. Nikki marched over to us and said “I’m not staying here if we are sitting anywhere near that bitch!”

“I promise you won’t. Come on honey. You are safe here.” Lymaris said and took Em by the hand and led us to our table.

Turns out that not only was that woman going to be sitting near us, she was going to be at the table next to us. I really hope the extra wait for a table gave her an opportunity to think about what an ass she was in front of all those other people.

Love ya, Mean it little boy. Sorry that person you were with ruined what could have been some very magical memories for you.

Now, thanks to her, he has ugly memories. Ugly memories sometimes last just as long, if not longer than magical ones.

And don’t EVER mess with Commando Nikki’s little sister.



We were seated at our table by Lymaris and immediately asked for an extra dish of butter so Em could butter her hand.

She washed them first, it was okay.





The Liberty Tree Tavern is also wicked air conditioned. Nikki was still wet from Aladdin and tried to use her napkin to keep warm.



The characters were plentiful and our waiter was excellent. So excellent as a matter of fact, that Em fell madly in love with him. Every time he got close to our table, which was often because he was very attentive, she mentioned how great of a waiter he was and she certainly hoped that I would tip him well.

Em’s got a boyfriend!

Lymaris came over to our table several times during our meal to check on Em. Em may love our waiter, but we all loved Lymaris. She took what could’ve been an ugly memory and turned it into a magical one.

She gets it. She is knows how to make it a ‘Disney day.’

Thank you Lymaris, Love ya, mean it.

Isn't she just a doll?





When we left the Liberty Tree Tavern, we walked to Tomorrow Land to see what was going on over there. On the walk over we stopped for a picture. This was also the last picture my camera took. I need to take it in for a professional shaking.



After I took my pictures, I noticed a trouble look on the crews faces. Behind me was a family with a child sitting on the ground screeching his head off. The mother lost it, grabbed the kid by the arm, shook him and then slammed him into the stroller.

For the love of Mickey, lady! You’re in front of the castle!

Maybe someone should be at the airport when people get off the plane with little kids. They could stop them and let them know that it is hot, there are miles of walking, it is really expensive and their kid is going to get tired out fast.

They could tell them to ‘pace yourself so your child can enjoy the trip because someday they will be grown and gone, maybe unable to get leave from the Air Force or will stay behind because of a loved ones funeral’.

When it happens, and it will, hopefully you won’t be standing in front of the castle watching a little one being thrown into a stroller.

Don’t love you lady, hope you file what you did to your kid in your memories, but I hope your kid is young enough to forget.

Del slapped Em in the arm and said “You’re it!” and started walking stiff-armed and stiff-legged towards the bridge into Tomorrow Land.

Em, totally appalled and unable to catch him because of his long strides, turned and smacked Nikki, declared her ‘it’ and followed her dad.

Nikki turned and kissed Curt, I guess making him ‘it’ and ‘it’ ended there.



Waving our hands in the air, cheering and excited about it we walked onto Buz because there was no line and Curt had a wobble. “Opps, moving sidewalk, honey.” Nikki said too late as he grabbed onto her to keep from falling.

Baw-ha-ha-ha!

When we came out of Buz, we couldn't believe the line. There were people weaved back and forth all around poles with ropes, almost over to the People Mover.

Wow, where did they come from?

We walked over to Space Mountain to get a fast pass and they were closed. The entire ride was closed and nobody informed me why. The crew couldn't get over it.

“Why is it closed?” I was asked.

“I don’t know.” I answered.

“Did something happen?” I was asked.

“I don’t know.” I answered.

“Will it be open again tonight?” I was asked.

“I don’t know.” I answered.

Why is it closed?” I was asked again.

“I still don’t know. Look, I’ve been with you guys the entire day, I know as much as you do!” I answered.

I think that they think Disney makes sure I am informed about all their business.

I’m not, by the way.

Unable to get a fast pass for a ride that was down, we went on the people mover.

Wobble.

When we got into the cars I asked Curt two questions. “Do you love my daughter? Do plan on marrying her?”

I’m telling you, he looked me straight in the eye and said “Yes, I do to both” so seriously, I cried.

Happy tears, of course.

I talked to Nikki about it later and they do plan on getting married after they finish school. So we have a couple years before we are talking about weddings yet.

When we rode through Space Mountain it was all lit up. Seeing the track was interesting. I was surprised how close the track really is.

Keep your hands inside unless you want to lose them.

Paging Mr. Morrow, Mr. Tom Morrow. Your party from Saturn has just arrived, please give them a ring.

We rode through Buz and Nikki tried to point out higher point ‘Z’s to help improve his score. She needed to point out the moving sidewalk before the poor guy hurt himself seriously.

When we got off the People Mover, Space Mountain was opened again. Waving, cheering and excited, we got in a very short line.

Please don’t let the lights be on, please don’t let the lights be on.

I think that Space might be scarier if you could see how close your skull actually is to the tracks. I wasn’t in the mood for a heart-attack.

The lights were off and Del yelled ‘damn it’ at the end again because he forgot about the last bump again, followed by another wobble from Curt who forgot about the moving sidewalk again.

These guys were becoming too predictable.

It was too hot to live.





The crowds were growing so we decided to head back over to the Mountains, Big Thunder and Splash, to use our fast passes. We walked through Toon Town to catch the train.

When you go through Toon Town, you must stop at Minnie’s and Mickey’s house. It is a requirement.





Minnie’s house is interactive. You can play in her kitchen and touch things in her craft room. For some reason that I wasn’t told about, Mickey’s house is a restricted area. His kitchen is being redecorated by Goofy and Donald (I think) and it is a mess.

Well, the ½ door to his kitchen was slightly ajar. Em and I were standing on one side of it, looking into the kitchen when a little kid pushed the door open and walked in.

*BEEEEEEEP!!!*

They have these ungodly alarms keeping kids out of the restricted areas. It was so loud; I know it took 19 months off my life.

That little kid also crapped her pants, I’m sure of it.

It was awful. When I looked down to say something to Em about it, she was gone. The alarm scared Em straight out Mickey’s back door. I caught back up with her outside in Mickey’s garden.

“I didn't do it!” She said the minute I walked out.

Feeling a little guilty about something, kid? I was standing right next to you.

After we all checked to see if our ears were bleeding from the ‘stay the hell out of Mickey’s kitchen’ alarm, we got on the railroad to ride over to Frontier land.

One job I couldn't do in Disney is the conductor that rides on the back of the train. That poor guy had to tell people to keep their arms and legs in the train 17 times before we left the station. How he fought the urge to slap people into the train is beyond me.

I like Lou’s version better than what she was actually doing. She was just wining because I kept taking her picture.

Startled (They remade Herbie?)



Upset (With Lindsay Lohan no less???)



Happy



Sassy



We got off in Frontier land and got in the fast pass line for Splash Mountain. I have never seen the line so long for both stand-by and fast pass. We waited about ½ hour to get on the ride.

Things started out pretty well. But once our log got out in the insufferable heat, it came to a stop.

We waited, and waited and waited….

There were two logs in front of ours and from where we were sitting we could see the drop over to the right. About ½ hour passed when the front log went up the belt and left.

We waited, and waited and waited….

Another 15 more minutes went by and the log in front of us went up the belt and left.

This is the actual waiting of the crew and some guy we don’t know:



We waited, and waited and waited….

I kept thinking that any second we would see the first log go down the drop. Where else could they have gone? Was there a detour? Why were there no boats coming up from behind us?

I started digging around in my backpack. “What are you looking for?” Del asked.

“Flares, I’m sending up an S.O.S. I think we are now part of a hostage situation.” I said.

Damn, fresh out of flares.

“What are we going to do if one of their demands is for you to go on the Tower of Terror?” He asked.

“Then we are screwed.” I said. “Learn to speak duck, as in Donald.”

3 seconds before we passed out from the heat, the boat started moving up the belt.

We found this to be another reason to raise hands, cheer and be excited about it.

We got into the briar patch just before the big belt for the drop were briar rabbit cries “Please don’t throw me in the briar patch” and found the rest of the boats.

At least we weren’t sitting in the sun anymore. About 10 minutes of that rabbit yelling though, I was ready to throw him in the briar patch.

I’m not usually a violent person either.

Eventually we did the drop and got off the ride.

There was a sea of people waiting to get on the ride while we exited. Not one of them was cheering or excited about it.

We took a break and replenished our fluids that we had lost while sitting in the sun.

Armpit stains are a fashion statement in Florida, right?

“Ready to try another mountain?” Del asked.

Sounded like a good idea. If Big Thunder stops, it’s only because the ride is over.

We were standing on the ramp just before you go into the stalls to load the train. The ramp leans down. The man in front of me was having a serious problem in his pants and attempted several times to straighten it out.

Once Nikki and I were standing in our stalls, we discussed this problem men seem to always have in their pants.

Del heard us talking and asked, “What’s the topic? Ball sweat?”

“Oh my GOD, I HOPE not! ‘Ball sweat?’ That’s the problem?” Nikki cried.

“Oh, holy grossness! What if I had fallen forward and that man put his hands up to stop me?” I said to Nikki.

Just the thought of it caused her to make this face:



We got in our train and started screaming. People in the stall laughed.

Guess it never gets old.

I had my cell phone in my hand because I was trying to take video of Del screaming when it rang.

According to my caller ID, it was Brother.

I answered it on the first drop, screaming my fool head off. “BBBRRROOOTTTHHHEERRRRRRRRR!”

“On a ride sis? Let me guess, the railroad one.” He said.

“YYYEEESSSSS!!!” I screamed.

Screaming and laughing on the phone with brother, I couldn't really hear anything he was saying.

It wasn’t until we pulled into the station that I realized there was a problem. “Sister, I need to talk to you, it’s pretty serious. Can you call me right back?”

Every drop of blood in my body turned cold in an instant. Brother is never serious unless it’s bad.

“No! Wait, two seconds the lap bar is going to release me, give me two seconds.” I said.

The lap bar released me and I jumped out of the car as fast as I could. I started to hurry for the exit when I heard Del say “Hey! Where are you heading in such a hurry?”

I stopped for a second; my heart was pounding in my chest. I wasn’t going to make it outside without knowing what happened and I didn't want to lose the crew. I was terrified that someone in my family had died. No, I couldn't wait, I needed to know. “Brother, what happened?” I asked him and pushed my back against the wall, letting everyone get past me.

“My house burned to the ground.” He said.

I was looking at Del and repeated what Brother had said. “Your house burned to the ground? Is everyone okay?” I was crying before I could stop myself. Del took me by one shoulder and led me outside to the dock to Toms Sawyers Island.

I’m not sure why I started crying so quickly, a mix of sorrow and relief, I guess.

Del kept the kids occupied while I got the details of what happened to my brother. He had gone on a road trip with some friends. While he was gone, an extension cord shorted and burnt the house to ashes. Almost everything was gone.

“Money, I can send you some money!” I said while looking around desperately trying to locate a CM to find the closest Western Union. Del heard what I said and was nodding in agreement, but had no idea what I was looking for. He started looking around too.

I wonder how he would have known when he spotted what I was looking for.

“The bank didn’t burn down, my house did. I can get money.” He said. “I just needed to hear your voice.”

Thank God my brother was okay. Seriously, thank you God.

See, when something bad happens to someone in my family, that person has to call me. If it had been one of my other brothers or mother who had called with that news, I would have needed a paramedic. I personally have been known to go from ‘just fine and dandy’ to ‘complete and total hysteria’ in less than 1/8 of a second.

I was the only girl; it was my job to be like that.

I talked to Brother until I couldn't hear him anymore because Wishes had started.

And to let you know, he is doing well right now. They have rented an apartment until they find a new house. They have been house shopping for a couple weeks now and think they may have found one they like.

And we all know how much she likes to shop for new things.

Now, other than the brief breeze we had on Big Thunder, we had been roasting in the heat. True, the sun was down and you’d think being the largest source of heat, things would’ve gotten better.

Well, they didn't. We were going to have to cool ourselves from the inside-out. We were going to have to have an ice cream. We had no other choice.

We made it to Main St. just before the parade was to start. A CM on the other side raised the rope and waved us over.

We ‘squat-walked’ across the street just for the hell of it.

If you have never been in the ice cream shop on Main St, it works like this. You get into a weave-line until you get to the cashier. Once you are at the cashier you place your order. After you place your order, you step up to the counter and get your treat.

Pretty simple right?

Del really needed an ice cream:



The kids were pretty thrilled about it too.



Anyway, the time from placing your order with the cashier to stepping up to the counter to get your treat is literally seconds. Each of the crew stepped up, placed their order then went to the counter. I went last because I had to pay.

Well, from the time I placed my order to the seconds it took to get to the counter, I forgot what I ordered. Seriously, I had a complete brain fart.

Del couldn't believe I could forget something that quick. It was a record, even for me. “You don’t know what you ordered?”



I just took the ice cream that was left over. Apparently I had a hankering for a dish of chocolate.

Look, the heat got to me and I had a shock from my brother. I’m allowed a stupid attack.

We went outside to eat our ice cream and watch the parade. It was nice.

Once we finished, we went back to Tomorrow land to see what was going on over there.

A gazillion people had decided to gather together and group sweat. THAT’S what was going on over there.

The only thing we could get near was the people mover. The second Em hit the seat, she fell asleep.

I’ll admit it; I was fighting sleep in a big way. Riding the people mover, having a light, cool breeze blowing on me, it was tough to keep my eyes open.

But I don’t want to leave. I want to stay and play. This is our last night.

It was late and we were all wiped out. We had to leave before we collapsed.

Slowly, sadly we walked to the exit of the Magic Kingdom trying to memorize as much of the sights, sounds and smells of it as we could. These were my childhood senses and now they are my children’s childhood senses. Life just couldn't be better that that, could it?

I didn't think so.

I drove the van to the parking lot of Pop Century for the last time.

And for the last time of our vacation, I said good-night to my family.

I am the luckiest person in the world.

Tomorrow, I would be exposed.

 

© Robin Costello 2005, All Rights Reserved

Wobins Trip Reports
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Love Ya / Mean It and BadShoe.com Pins

Tony, Delaney, Connor - Love Ya / Mean It

Robin & Del, Kimball & Bennet (aka Delswife & Scuba Steve, Zurgswife & Zurg) are proud to announce two unique limited edition trading pins to benefit research to help find cures for Juvenile Diabetes and Muscular Dystrophy.

We love going to Disney World and writing funny trip reports, after all it is how we became friends.  We care just as much or more about helping these two great causes. All the profits from pin sales will go to JDRF and MDA because, well, Robin thought it would be a fun idea.

So if you enjoy the trip reports please chip in and buy a pin or two. Pins are $10.00 each including shipping and handling (North America.) Send an email to pins@badshoe.com with how many pins you would like and we will get the pins rolling. The BadShoe.com pins have sold out. Existing orders are being filled but we can't take anymore BadShoe.com pin orders, sorry. There still Love Ya /  Mean it Pins (there were more to start.) 

If you feel inspired click either MDA or JDRF's logo or both and make additional contributions.