Home again, home again! Leo’s sitting in front of the monitor and I’m listening to my music. Things are good.

Elsa and I got back to Ohio last night around 11:20pm and then were home by 12:30am. My folks were good enough to pick us up, despite dad having to preach this morning. (He spoke on mentors – good sermon, IMO. However, I was a little disappointed because I’d originally thought he was preaching on Mentos.)

I got to open Elsa’s birthday present to me last night. It was a big sampling of different kinds of popcorn, plus popcorn forks (whatever the hell they are) and a huge bowl to serve the popcorn in. Cool! I told mom about it and she’s also excited. We’ll have to have popcorn while watching The Vicar of Dibley or something like that. 🙂

This morning, Elsa headed off to the wilds of the North while I headed off (with the parentals) to the Unitarian Universalist church where dad was preaching. On the way home from church, we stopped at The Little Inn at Fort Jefferson for lunch. I had fried chicken, mashed taters and chicken gravy, bean greens, and a salad. The three of us at for under $18, including tip. Quite a culture shock from the prices I’ve been paying for the past week. 🙂

Now, besides my online journal, I have a hand-written trip journal. The one for this trip was really the bookend for what I’ve written in the LiveJournal. And for those of you who are interested, I’m going rewrite the entries here under some LJ cuts. I think you’ll see the style isn’t much different. (The one thing I like about the LJ is that I can go back and insert a bit that I’d forgotten. In the hand written journals, I have to just write about it out of sequence. The Miracle of the Hats is the closest that I came to that with my LJ.)

December 29, 2003

7:15am On an AirtTran Boeing 717-200 waiting to depart to Orlando! Elsa is seated next to me, and we hope our luggage will join us there!

Boy, I’ve never seen Dayton International as busy as this morning. Mom & Dad picked us up at 5:30am and mom drove us to the airport. As soon as we entered the 1st doorway, we saw the AirTran line was out to the doorway. So we got in line. The security folks who need to check the checked luggage had a HUGE backload of bags to search. Which is why we hope our bags made the cut.

By 6:25, we were done w/ the AirTran line and had our boarding passes. We dropped off our luggage (I waved bye-bye to mine) and headed for the security line.

Wow! Now, you know Dayton International… the security line went all the way down to the far end of the baggage claim & wrapped around almost half that length. It was impressive!

Believe it or not, but we were actually through security by 7:05am. Of course, our gate was the last one on the concourse. But there was practically no waiting to get on board. Folks have finally gotten on board now & we should be taking off shortly. It’s almost 7:30am. Next stop, Orlando!

9:20am Probably over Florida by now. Ah – 160 miles from the airport. Should be at the gate by 9:50 (only 25 minutes late).

I just finished reading You Bet Your Life, a Murder, She Wrote book. And boy am I hungry! Our delay, BTW, was caused by our luggage being loaded still long after everyone got aboard! Hopefully ours was among the loaded luggage!

We’re hoping Judi got on her flight OK. If so, we won’t have as long to wait for her as originally thought (unless she’s delayed too).

So, what to get for breakfast. I’m thinking Egg McMuffin, myself!

10:30am Sitting down at Baggage Claim A waiting on Judi. Elsa is down aways & I’m perched by the escalators. Thankfully both our bags turned up. Mine was rather early, Elsa’s was in the second dump. And, thanks to Trina getting an Egg McMuffin, we didn’t have to wait long for our luggage.

Looks like the best way to get to our hotel is via Taxi at ~ $50 for the trip. Split 3 ways, it’s not too unreasonable. Judi’s flight isn’t due to arrive until 10:42, so we’ve a bit of a wait, yet. The flight after Judi’s has already been delayed. Let’s hope Judi’s on her flight & so’s her luggage!

January 3, 2004

9:00pm [There is an arrow drawn pointing to the date.] My first time at writing 2004 in the year! Happy New Year!

Well, I didn’t keep up this paper journal during the trip. What I did instead was write it all up in my Live Journal. In the LJ, however, I didn’t always go into money & food details as I tend to do in my paper journals.

So, where are we now? On our plane to Dayton. Alas, it’s not in the air (though it should’ve taken off 1 1/2 hours ago!) but is still boarding. Judi’s flight was delayed even more than ours. She was supposed to depart at 6:30, but when we parted company at 7pm, her flight (and ours) was delayed to 8:45pm. It’ll be interesting to see who gets home 1st.

Poor dad preaches tomorrow & here I am having him come out late to pick us up. Mean Trina… But he knows of the delay & I figure he & mom will be waiting for us when we arrive. I have wonderful parents.

Once we’re airborne it should be 2 hours in the air. So hopefully we’ll arrive in DAY by 11:30pm. Home a bit after midnight. Knock wood!

To thank mom for babysitting Leo, I bought her a selection of Disney coffees & a cool Mickey Mouse (old fashioned) mug. I hope she likes it! I hope it survives the trip! [Yes to both of those, it turns out…]

So, the trip was a blast. After a rocky start, it turned into a trip to remember. & the most exciting NYE I’ve ever had. And if all goes well, I’ll have the Rose Bowl Parade to watch (while I grade papers). Never used my new VCR to record. Oh yeah, and there is a present still awaiting me. Cool!

I had just over $400 cash with me on the trip (including my b-day gift and $100 emergency bill) and at the end I have 11 cents. Pretty impressive.

So, we got up late (ish) this morning and scheduled a late check out. We played in the room (computers mostly) until 1:30 when we headed down to check out. They stowed our luggage until Gene arrived & we hung out by the pool for the rest of our stay. Lunch was from the restaurant – I had a Reuben & fries & a Coke. I was suffering from dizzy & needed the burpy pop. Alas, it tasted terrible to me, but Elsa said it was the normal taste. Fries seemed substandard too. So I think maybe my taste buds were screwy. Could be sinus drainage or the onset of a cold. Bleh! The Reuben, at least, tasted fine.

I listened to my MP3s while I sat w/ my bare feet up. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, as it had been our whole stay. And it was lovely just vegging. Judi fell asleep to the sounds of her Xmas carols on her Ipod.

After 4pm, we started to get our gear together. When Gene arrived, promptly at 4:30, we loaded up & he headed off. Nice guy though he was, I think he gouged us. He didn’t turn on the fare meter and charged us $55 as we paid the last time. And with the traffic rather mild, the trip (plus tip) would probably have been less than $50. Ah well, he got us where we wanted and at a reasonable time.

“We’re moving! We’re moving!” as dad likes to say. Actually, we’re taking off. So we should be in Dayton by 11:25pm.

Had to take off my hat to see out of the window. Cool – Orlando’s pretty at night. Actually, most cities are. 🙂

American and AirTran were on the same side of the terminal, so we met up after checking in. And I think they’ve rearranged the way security & the food court relate. I’m sure the shops & food court used to be behind security, but now they’re in front. So we sat at the food court & vegged some more. I listened to Scherzo, Judi to carols, & Elsa finished her Spike & Angel book.

At 6:30pm, I got us some supper from a noodle place. Judi & Elsa helped subsidize my supper. Elsa & I had pad Thai & Judi had Miso soup. The pad Thai was OK – either my taste buds are still screwy or it was a substandard pad Thai. Not as bad as the UK one I had this summer, however.

At 7pm, we parted company, Judi to her concourse, we to ours. We were the first gate at the concourse.

Then it was the waiting game. I listened to more Scherzo after showing Elsa the DW 40th anniversary stuff on my laptop. She then went to get a book from WH Smith’s. The plane were were to travel on arrived at 8:35 & they booked it to get us boarded & out there (however things were delayed when the flight crew went to get McDonald’s for take-away.) Now we’re in the air & awaiting beverages. Time to read more Blue Box.

So, y’all now know that for all the detail I gave in my LJ entries, I get even more nitpicky in my paper journals. I have such a sucky memory that I feel if I write everything down, I’ll remember it all better. And indeed, when I reread the journals, I do indeed remember it better. 🙂

We managed to get Late Checkout so that we don’t have to vacate the room until nearly 2pm. So now we’re all in the room vegging. Elsa’s deleting spam from her e-mail account, Judi’s napping, and I’m going to finish writing about yesterday. Before I did this, however, Judi and I watched episode 1 of The Vicar of Dibley on my computer. We shared the earbuds (from my MP3 player) and since both of us are deaf in one ear, that worked out just fine. Very funny stuff – I shall enjoy that birthday present. (Oooooh – and I just remembered that I have one more present coming – the one sitting at home that’s from Elsa. Sweet!)

All right… I was writing about our reservation for supper. We met up with Elsa and told her the plan. Since we’d inevitably miss the 10pm bus back to the hotel, Judi agreed to pay the cab fare. Works for us!

It was shopping time. I still had one more souvenier that I wanted to buy myself. Since we now have to wear staff IDs at work, I wanted a Disney lanyard to wear some days. We stopped at the Emporium so that Judi could buy some Minnie Mouse ears (hers were old and becoming uncomfortable to wear thanks to the plastic clipping). Elsa was also looking for a lanyard to hang her camera. And you know about my search. I bought one that was blue with red (more like pink) writing that said “Walt Disney World.” I also bought a Mickey Mouse pin for it. And then I transferred all of my pins from my bush hat onto the lanyard. Finally, I hung my camera (or rather mom’s digital) on the lanyard. I was set for a day of photo taking!

While helping Judi with her purchases, I finally found out what all this Pin Trading was about. Apparently you can trade pins with Disney workers who have lanyards. Provided the pin you trade them is Disney and they don’t already have it on their lanyard, you can do it. Since I’d been eyeing one cast member’s Cheshire Cat, I asked if I could swap it for one of the Animal Kingdom pins. She agreed and now I have a Cheshire Cat to go with Mickey and the purple lion and the stylized rhino that came with my hat. (I also have one that says “Animal Kingdom.”) I seem to have lost one of those pins from the hat, however. Perhaps it fell on the ground when I removed them from my hat to put them in my purse. Alas…

Elsa had found a simple black lanyard for her camera and was waiting for us outside the shop. Having mentioned “ice cream” about 4 times already that morning, the girls agreed to join me at the ice cream parlor at the end of Main Street USA. Elsa wanted a fresh bottle of bottled water and Judi was going to do likewise. I bought a caramel sundae in cone cup and Elsa bought an ice cream sammich made with 2 chocolate chip cookies and chocolate chip ice cream. Judi, who’d only gotten the water, felt betrayed by Elsa for buying more than the water, so she had to go through the line again for an ice cream sammich too. (To think Judi had to be goaded into buying ice cream – that’s a rarity!)

We sat outside the parlor and ate our ice cream while enjoying the lovely day. I refilled my water bottle (from the day before). Then, as the sun was getting to be too much, we moved onward. Elsa took our photo in front of the castle, but then her camera attempted suicide by jumping off of her lanyard and onto the ground. We rounded up the batteries that had fallen out and put ’em back in, but the camera gave her a warning. Hmmm, perhaps the batteries were damaged – one certainly had a dent in it.

Elsa had a set of 4 replacement batteries in our canvas bag which was back at the locker. So I raced off to get them. They, being rechargable, were completely dead. So we returned to the Emporium and Elsa bought a 4 pack of AA’s. Judi was concerned her camera battery might go dead, so she bought one over at the photo store. Once Elsa replace the new batteries, she was still getting a warning. But this time it turned out to be the memory card. It had been jarred loose. Once returned to the slot, her camera worked just fine. Hooray!

We decided to check out the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. On our way there, we got fastpass tickets for the Jungle Cruise. Then we got in the Pirates line. Took about 20 minutes or so to get through but I’m not even sure it was worth that wait… It’s incredible that such a lame ass ride could inspire the wonderfully entertaining movie that it did.

We had lunch after the Pirates ride at El Pirata Y el Perico Restaurante. We all ordered the empanada special – one empanada with rice and black beans. And I got a Coke with mine. We found a place to sit where the birds were bold. Thankfully none of them tried to take our food while we were eating.

When dinner was done, it was time for the Jungle Cruise. The fastpass line here was the usual 10 minute wait or so (better than the 55 minute wait for “standby”). And we got in the front of our boat – hooray! Our guide was trying too hard to be funny – in fact, he seemed almost like a disgruntled Disney employee. The only one we encountered the entire trip. Just couldn’t handle being happy all the time, he turned to sarcasm instead. Lots of plastic animals to see and the ride was very pleasant and cooled us off.

When our cruise was done, it was nearing 4pm. So we found Elsa a nice place to sit and read while Judi and I headed across the park to Space Mountain. We were 10 minutes early for our fastpass time, so we went to the TimeKeeper 360 degrees movie. It was entertaining and Jules Verne had a blast in it.

When we got to Space Mountain, the fastpass line was the fastest we’d ever gotten so far in the parks. And then we got to race through space in one of my favorite roller coasters. As always, it was a blast.

We returned to Adventure Land where Elsa was awaiting us. Then I was offered a free pineapple spear if I stood in line to buy pineapple spears for the girls. Judi then changed her mind and had me order a pineapple float for her. Seeing the lovely soft serve ice cream that they had, when I finished my tasty pineapple spear, I went back in line for some soft serve vanilla ice cream.

It was after 5pm and Judi was getting a little chilly. So it was time for jackets. Judi and I left Elsa again and headed back to the lockers. I switched to my shoes from my sandals and Judi got her coat and Elsa’s jacket. We returned to Elsa and made our way to the Haunted Mansion to get fastpass tickets.

Along the way there, we stopped to photograph one of the riverboats and my camera died. Geez, couldn’t it have done this before we went to the lockers? Well, we got our fastpass tickets and then I raced back to the locker to pick up my spare pair of batteries. I snapped some evening photos of the colorful lights and the Magic Castle. Then I joined the girls in front of the “It’s a Small World” ride.

We were in line for about 20 minutes or so until we got on our little boat. Then we all took loads of pictures. Probably enough to recreate the experience. I decided that the ride had better looking dolls than when I’d first ridden on it – some really cute little critters there. The song, however, still got on my nerves. And it doesn’t help that Judi keeps singing it!

It was nearly time for our Haunted Mansion visit. By now it was nicely dark – perfect for visiting a haunted house. I thought the best bit about this ride was the extending room effect at the start. I also liked the lighting effects that they used to make the ghosts, but it’s a trick that I’m aware of anyhoo. Still, it was far better than the Pirates ride.

It was quarter til 8 when we were done with the mansion, so we headed back to Main Street to find a place to watch the lighted parade. It was an incredible show. The Holidazzle Parade that Minnesota puts on has a few more years to go before they can even come close to this parade. And Elsa got quite a few nice photos taken of it.

We headed to the Crystal Palace to check in for supper and sat outside to wait. They got us in 20 minutes early, so we got inside and our waiter informed us that Pooh was on his way to our table, so we should wait a couple of minutes before going to get our food. Pooh arrived and Elsa took a photo of Judi and I with him. Then we headed off to the buffet. And my, do they know how to put on a spread at the Crystal Palace. Even the salads looked delictable – I had some artichoke heart salad and potato salad and leaf lettuce salad. There was roasted chicken and mashed taters and pasta and a kale & bacon dish that was yummy as well. I had fruit punch with my supper. And for seconds, I got more taters and pasta, plus a chocolate chip cookie.

The dessert bar was even more incredible. I mean, they not only had Elsa’s favorite (bread pudding) and Judi’s favorite (tiramisu), but they had mine as well (creme brulee). I had some creme brulee (no shit – literally) and vanilla flan plus a smidgen of bread pudding. But I got too much and wasn’t able to finish.

As for the character visits, Piglet came while I was getting food, but Elsa got her photo with him. And when Tigger arrived, we all got our photos with him. Elsa was fascinated with his tail, but there’s a bad (dirty) joke involved that I shan’t go into.

After supper, we decided it was time to go. It was after 10pm and we mosied to the front. First to get our locker stuff and then to get Judi’s package pick-up. We took the ferry back to the transportation center and then walked around looking for a cab. Coincidentally, there was a cab driver walking around looking for clueless people walking around looking for a cab. And she found us. She directed us back to her cab and agreed to take us to the hotel for $15. She was a nice lady from Philly who misses the snow but not the cold.

We were back by 11:30 and there were two messages waiting for us from Gene, our cabby who took us from the airport to here. He informed us that our hotel name had changed. Wow – we came here to the Rennaisance World Gate and will leave the Orlando World Gate Resort. So we stayed at 3 hotels (once you include the Mariott World Center in the count) for this trip.

We spent the evening transferring photos onto my laptop, watching the “dailies” (ie, slideshows of today’s photos), and burning CDs for each of us with all of the photos. I copied a game for Judi while I was at it. And eventually, we got to bed.

This morning we slept in – some… By 9:30, we were down for breakfast. It turns out the reason the buffet was gone yesterday was because the Orlando World Gate doesn’t have a breakfast buffet. So we ordered off the menu instead. I had blueberry buttermilk pancakes, sausage, and milk. The pancakes were grilled to perfection – lightly crispy on the surface and fluffy inside. Paid $11 for that (and Judi owes me $11 as well…)

Now we’re in the goofing off stage. Still over an hour and a half before we must vacate the room. So I’ll probably play with my laptop for awhile more. Then I’ll sit outside by the pool listening to Scherzo on my MP3 player after we’ve checked out. Gene won’t be here to pick us up until 4:30pm, so we have time to cool our heels, so to speak.

This has been a truly enjoyable vacation. I had a blast with my friends and we’ll all very happy that Steph could join us. And tonight I’ll get to see my kitty again and open my last present. YAY! Let’s hear it for Disney!

Yesterday, the girls and I spent our final hours at Disney by visiting The Magic Kingdom. But this time we were one girl short. Due to everyone wanting to leave Orlando to get back home for the upcoming work week, it looked like Steph wouldn’t be able to get any stand by flights out of Orlando either the 2nd or 3rd. Rather than stay around an airport all day hoping and praying for cancellations, or paying for the room an extra night, she searched online the night before (while I was typing up my two tomes) for a rental car. She decided to drive back home (she lives closer to Florida than the rest of us) in order to get back to see her boys and her hubby that night.

So we had breakfast in the hotel again – but no buffet today. We think the hotel is having staffing problems and I guess the extra chef didn’t show or something. So instead of ordering the buffet, I had the America’s Favorite breakfast. 2 eggs over easy, bacon, hashbrowns, and toast. And apple juice for beverage. I broke my emergency $100 bill in paying for breakfast and then we were off to wait for the bus. Steph waited with us and there was much hugging. When the 10:05 bus arrived (at 10:10), we parted company. We hope she had a safe trip hope!

The bus dropped us off at EPCOT as usual and we headed for the monorail. Judi hadn’t been on it in 31 years and was excited. We arrived at the Transportation area and as we were heading to the MK monorail, a Disney cast member directed us to the ferry which had a shorter wait time. Sure enough, the ferry was in port and it wasn’t long before we were on our way to MK.

After the usual locker rental, Judi and I rushed off to Space Mountain to get Fastpass tix for it. There wasn’t a wait for the fastpass machines and we were scheduled between 4:20-5:20. We then decided to book a restaurant, but Cinderella’s castle was already booked. Then we tried the Crystal Palace. Their earliest booking wast 9pm, so we figured, what the hell. We booked and returned to Elsa.

But now it’s breakfast time, so I’ll see about updating this later.

Hah – just finished writing the NYE entry (which got posted, thankfully, in time to say it was Jan 1). So I figured, Steph’s still up, Judi’s still up, and Elsa’s sawing logs – I might as well write up about “today.”

We slept in some this morning. Well, we would have slept in more, but Elsa thought we said 7:30 instead of 8:30. We had breakfast again in the hotel and I got the thick French toast and Canadian bacon with milk. Actually had to pay for breakfast today and thus $10 magically disappeared. I then cornered the morning manager and actually got my $16 back. YAY! Then it was time to head for EPCOT and then MGM.

We decided to take the scenic route to MGM via the Ferry. So it was into EPCOT, off to the UK, and then to the Ferry place. We were the first to get onto the ferry when it arrived and got to see several of the (rather ugly looking) resorts on the lagoon before we got into port. It was nearly 11am when we arrived.

I was last at MGM in 1996 and remembered NOTHING about the layout of the place. I didn’t recognize anything except the Star Wars ride and Muppet 3D areas. Our first order of business was the lockers (our daily tradition). Then we headed to the Tower of Terror to get Fastpass tix. Judi, Steph, and I could do Fastpass between 1:30 and 2:30pm. (Elsa opted out – her knee’s been getting better and she feared that jarring it in a ride could mess it back up again.)

We then looked for a visor for Judi. She found one entitled “Bad Attitude” with a picture of Grumpy on it. We all thought it ideal for her. Steph bought a pair of Mickey sunglasses – rhinestone Mickey and all. Then it was off to Star Wars!

I loved the Star Wars ride and the Muppets 4D ride when I was first at MGM and this trip was no exception. After Star Wars, we went to Muppets (which is no longer called 4D but 3D Vision or something – same movie, however). Then Steph and I shopped in the Muppet Shop. I spent more of my birthday money on a Bunsen & Beaker t-shirt and magnet and Steph bought the Swinetrek set. We had them put the bags together and sent them onto the Package Pickup.

We found the others and then headed off to get some ice cream before the Tower of Terror. I needed something in me food-ish and Steph needed some carbination to settle her stomach (it was the Star Wars ride, see… just enough virtual motion to get us a little motion sick). I got mint chocolate chip ice cream, and Judi & Elsa got cookies & cream. Both ice creams were very yummy and the chocolate pieces in my ice cream were quality chocolate.

While we sat and vegged after our snack, I decided to get Fastpass tix for Judi, Steph and I for the Rock and Rollercoaster. However, when I got there, the tickets were for 6:55-7:55. We were going to leave the park at 6pm, so no go there. Back with the girls, we found a nice bench to seat Elsa, left our water bottles with her, and headed off to The Tower of Terror.

I enjoyed that ride the first time I went to MGM, and this time was no exception. Judi loved the ride, but unfortunately, it was too intense for Steph and she died. So we left her corpse with Elsa and stood in line (90 minute wait, where we got to see some famous celebrity that we didn’t know – but the Brazillians in front of us went gaga over) for the Rock & Rollercoaster. Indeed, the wait was 90 minutes. But after the 90 minute wait was a 90 second ride that was incredibly intense. It was a coaster in the dark with a loop the loop and curlie cues and all that good stuff. Worth the wait (though Judi felt it too short…)

We joined up with Elsa to find that Steph was feeling much better now. In line with last night’s Miracle of the Hats (which I forgot to write about – Steph found yet another hat while out exploring and then we later discovered that it was really *two* hats – and then we found that Elsa & Judi’s hats were also *two* hats – so we gave the extras to the Brits next to us) we had a ressurection. We’re just a bunch of miracle gurls, I guess. We went to Starring Rolls for some pastries – I got a mini cheesecake (with a sliced strawberry, some blueberries, and a mandarin orange) and a croissant, Judi got cheese danish, Elsa a chocolate chocolate chip muffin, and Steph a cinnamon roll. Tasty, tasty, and enough to tide us over until supper at Medieval Times.

We left MGM around 6pm and took the bus back to EPCOT. Then we sat and waited for our 7pm bus back to the hotel. Once there, I saw about getting us a cab or some other transport to Medieval Times while the girls went up to the room. Unfortunately, Mario was too busy, so County Transportation took the job. I changed into jeans and got my jacket and the girls and I waited for the transport. He finally arrived and said the roundtrip price was $30 (which was less than we’d’ve gotten from Mario – yay!) We all paid Elsa $7.50 each and she gave the $30 to the driver. He gave us the ticket for our return and then we were at the dinner theatre.

Back when I was a junior in HS, our band went to Florida to march at Disney and go to Epcot and have dinner at Medieval Times. I loved the experience, and tonight (heh, last night?) was no exception. We got to root for the Green Knight, who was the rotter of the lot and fought dirty. And that was fun. We ate with our fingers and used our Medieval paper napkins to wipe our fingers off (not to mention the Medieval Pepsi that we drank). And the production was fun and loud and tasty and still no blood – what’s up with that? Alas, our knight didn’t win. But we still had a blast. YAY!

Then we called our transport and had 20 minutes to kill, so we took photos of the knights and the establishment. And then he arrived – a different driver, but same vehicle – and regaled us with stories about his high school practical jokes. He was quite a story teller. When we got back, we went to the bar – our favorite barmaid was there and Judi got her favorite mudslide. And I decided to try something radical – a strawberry daiquerie but with vodka instead of rum. And Judi paid – yay!

So we took our drinks to the room and Judi gave me her birthday present. (Elsa’s is sitting at my home, too big to pack – see, I’ve yet to talk about our gift exchange the first night of our vacation – perhaps in another post.) It was The Vicar of Dibley – The Divine Collection on DVD. YAY! Dawn French! I love her stuff. And then I sat down to write up my LJ and that’s where I’ve been ever since.

Thanks to my using Judi’s computer while writing this entry, there’s still 25 more minutes left of my birthday. (She lives in Central and so her clock is set that way – however, we’re here in Eastern, so officially, it’s the day *after* my birthday.)

Yes, I’m a New Years Baby. I was the first baby born in ’71 for 2 newspapers in my county and thus my parents (and me) got a lot of freebie gifts. But that was then and I wanna write about NOW.

So my poor little journal has been without updates for a couple of days. Which is just as well as I wrote one hell of a long entry the last time. So you’ve had time to recover, but now it’s time for you to read along long ass description – this time of TWO days…

Well, I’ll get as much written as I can, then when the girls tell me to turn off and go to bed I shall have to leave (and you can all breathe a sigh of relief).

I shall begin with New Year’s Eve. We got up damned early for vacationers (6:45am) and had breakfast at the hotel (buffet for me – more of that yummy cream of wheat). Then onto the shuttle to EPCOT, where we had intended to spend our entire day.

Once at EPCOT, we stowed our carrier bag o’ shoes & other essentials in a locker and then went to the Mission: Space Fastpass line. Steph and I were there for about 20 minutes while Judi & Elsa waited in line for Judi to get her photo taken with Mickey. Once we had the tix, we joined the girls in line for Spaceship Earth. (I tell ya, these new fangled cell phones are ideal for finding your friends in theme parks! Shame I don’t have one yet. But thankfully, the others all did.)

Spaceship Earth was a nice start to the day’s events. Judi and I then decided to find out where Mickey & Co were going to be during the day because the first line for Mickey pix ended with the person right in front of Judi! For 31 years she’s been wanting her photo taken with that mouse, and he snuffed her! The cad! (Well, actually it was the attendent with Mickey who did it.) So rather than have her mope all day about it, we decided to take action. As soon as we got to Guest Services, a lady there was handing out daily schedules, which had the times when Mickey & Co would stop and where. And the next time was 11:15 – less than half an hour to go.

We headed for the World Showcase plaza where the company would show and called the others to tell them where we were. They were waiting in line for Honey, I Shrunk the Audience, but since the line was going too quickly, they went to The Land and told us to meet them there when the deed was done. Judi & I shopped for a bit before the company arrived and she got a Mickey and I bought a New Years Figment with diaper and top hat – just $10. When Mickey & Co. arrived, we were in the Mickey line rather quickly and Judi was FINALLY able to have her photo taken with the Big Mouse himself. YAY! Even Trina got her picture taken with the mouse. YAY!

By the time it was done and we met the girls at The Land, we could get fastpass tix again, and this time opted on Honey, I Shrunk the Audience. We then walked up the Rose Path to the International Section and stopped in the UK to determine our plan of action. Steph headed off to France to get reservations for supper, while the girls and I waited in the Fish & Chips line for – get this – fish & chips. Steph returned just as our ordered were filled and we found a place to eat while Steph told us the bad news. Every country was booked for supper. Well, all the countries she tried. She tried sit-down restaurants in France, Morocco, and Japan but all were already booked. Ah well. The fish & chips were very good. And a local squirrel agreed with us.

Steph, Judi, and I decided to shop a bit while Elsa sat & read some on a nice bench near the ferry to MGM. We went to France and looked around the shops. We had a 1:30 deadline for our fastpass tickets to Honey Shrunk the Audience, so we didn’t have a lot of shopping time. We decided to get ice cream and lie to Elsa about it, but the line took too long and we had to bail before we could get any. So we walked back to pick up Elsa and then headed for the movie.

Being a major Eric Idle fan, I’d been wanting to see Honey, I Shrunk the Audience for some time. It was lovely to finally see it. And the 3D was very good. After we saw the flick, we got in line to see Figment – and he, too, had Eric with him. Fun stuff.

Our next Fastpass ticket excursion was for Test Track. But the girls were getting tired, so we decided to split up before getting the tix. Just as we were going to split up, however, Judi shouts “Cappy! JJ!” and there were her brother, sister-in-law, and their son, Angelo. Damn, *THAT* was spooky! Yeah, we knew they were in Florida during this time and figured we’d meet up at some point, but certainly not accidentally like that. After that freak meeting (her family’s not freaky, just the chance at meeting them that was freaky) we finished the split up. Judi, Steph & I checked out Mouse Gear and then I went onto the locker to change from sandals to shoes and to dump off the stuffed toys. On my way back to meet the girls, I saw the big electric display showing information about Future World or whatever. And alas, TestTrack had no more FastPass tickets available.

I informed the girls this, but we didn’t yet know what the waiting line was. When we discovered it was 2 and a half hours, we decided to get Fastpass tix for Maelstrom instead. So off to Norway (via Mexico, doncha know) to get the tix. While there, we had some pastries from a Norweigian bakery – Lefse, decadent chocolate (mousse) cake, giant sweet pretzels w/ almonds, cheese danish – all yummy. And as it was going to be my birthday, I treated the girls to the snacks.

It was nearing time for our Mission: Space adventure, so we headed back to wait in the Fastpass lane. And just as we were about to board our vessel, Elsa decided maybe the ride was going to be too intense for her. Hell, it was too intense for me, but I wasn’t smart enough to know it at the time. Actually, I was fine for the takeoff and the g-forces – but when we were dodging the asteroids, my tummy said “Hell no!” So once we were off the ride, I decided I needed to sit a spell. Judi & Elsa played the giant video game outside the Mission: Space area while I watched and rested. Steph made a video postcard to her hubby while she waited.

Well, the problem with us being in there instead of being outside is that they were distributing the hats & horns for NYE at that time. By the time we left, (a) it was dark, and (b) they had given them all out! Alas, no hats or horns for us. 🙁

Well, as it was getting dark, it was getting chilly so it was back to the lockers for more changes of shoes & gatherings of jackets/sweatshirts. We were at the zonked out stage by now. We’d been at the park since 9am and it was now nearly 7pm. Steph & I, however, decided to make another attempt at getting hats & horns by going down the Rose Path. No success there, but on our way back, I decided I just *had* to have a photo of the main International bridge & Xmas tree now that they were all lit. I made some adjustments to the camera and as soon as I pointed it at my subject, I noticed the tree had gone out. So had the bridge. Steph and I just laughed. But that meant that it was nearly time for the fireworks.

We walked back toward UK and found a spot on the bridge to sit and watch the fireworks. Alas, most of the action took place at waterlevel, so we missed a bit. And I made up a story to go with the music that is unprintable, but kept us entertained. And while we were sitting there, I got what I thought was an inspired idea. Why not look for a place to camp out at for the rest of the night and stay there – always having 2 of us there to save spots for the others. We wanted a place that we could sit in reasonable comfort, preferably with a back support, and could see the fireworks. My first thought was the place behind the Fish & Chips shop where we’d gotten lunch. But when we got there, it was set aside for a private party. So we walked against the sea of people and found The Perfect Spot. There’s a bit on the bridge between the UK and France (heh) that juts out over the water – and practically no one was there. There was a cement ledge to sit upon and nice bushes for leaning against (the non-prickly kind). And room for 4. And it overlooked the lagoon in the direction of the fireworks. And later we discovered that the family sitting next to us were all from around London. So that gave us fun neighbors to talk to.

Having found the ideal spot, Steph called the girls and told them the plan. Describing where it was took some doing, but we did a well enough job for Judi to find us. They, too, were against the sea of traffic and couldn’t get to us quickly. So Elsa was in line for more fish & chips (the only food place they could reach) and Judi headed back to show her where to go. When they arrived, Steph and I were able to go off to France to find some supper.

There was a patisserrie we’d seen earlier in the day and we thought the line looked reasonable. Steph checked to make sure they had real food as well as sweets, and they did. And while we were in line, I saw a stack of 3 NYE hats sitting on a trash can. I checked ’em over and they were in fine shape. YAY! We had hats! Well, three of ’em at least. We got food – I opted for ham & cheese croissant and a plain croissant, followed by fruit tart. Steph got ham & cheese baguette and two decadent chocolate conconctions. And we also got a peach tart for Judi and chocolate croissant for Elsa. (Poor things had to have fish & chips TWICE in one day!)

Well, we’d found the place at 8pm and, with few times that we vacated the area (in ones or twos only), were there until it was time for the fireworks. We sat or stood and talked with our neighbors and each other. We watched as our little point got more and more crowded. We heard the same International Tunes over and over again. Every hour on the half hour, we heard the Chinese ring in the Chinese New Year with firecrackers. And at 11:40pm, the fireworks began. Steph, Judi, and I jumped (hah) up onto the ledge to watch, along with the Londoners beside us.

Damn, did we pick the BEST place in all of EPCOT to watch the fireworks! The show was phenomenal. And minutes before midnight, each of the countries in the World Showcase shot off fireworks and stuff. And when the UK celebrated, no one was lounder than our crew of Merkans and UK residents. And then it was time for the countdown. And then the biggest fireworks finale that I ever hope to see. Just simply amazing. I got choked up. And Judi got some lovely photos of the lightshow.

Then I changed my little display toy (that I bought the night before for $20 – spin it and it displays messages like “Happy New Year” in red lights) from “Happy New Year” to “Happy Birthday.” And the girls sang Happy Birthday to me. And Steph gave me a present – a Wonka bar! I haven’t opened it yet to see if I won the golden ticket – but I’ll do that later.

We made our way back to the front to pick up our locker stuff, our packages, and our bus. Now I got something other than the stuffed toy, but I can’t write about that cuz mom might be reading this… But I’d sent it up front with the package pickup. Elsa had something there as well.

At 1:30am, the bus arrived and took us back to our hotel. Then we all collapsed. It was a damn fine day – probably the best NYE ever! Let’s hear it for the great start to 2004 and to my 33rd year – yay!