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| Sheri Niklewski -- July 2005 -- Walt Disney World (POFQ)
Rich and I are very much Disney veterans. We’re close to forty trips with no immediate signs of slowing down. We live northeast of downtown Atlanta so the drive for us is relatively painless if not boring. When – Fourth of July weekend. We hadn’t done this holiday weekend until last year and I decided that if this was a true three day weekend, we’d include it in our yearly Disney pilgrimages. This year, the actual Fourth is on a Monday and I have that day off so we’re going. Rich controls his own work schedule and since the office is closed, he won’t be getting paid for the day anyway. Yes, we know it’ll be hot. But we live in Georgia and we’re, well, not used to it, but live with it. Background – We’re going for all the major three day holidays this year. Plus a couple of quick weekends. We did a fast time in April for the Flower Power concert of Davy Jones. Then we did Memorial Day weekend. Next up with be Labor Day and then another quick weekend for the Food & Wine Festival. I’m still mulling over Christmas versus New Year’s and am waiting to see what the in-laws in Maryland are doing. We’ll head there for one of the two holidays and go to Disney World for the other. The Basics – We’re Annual Passholders so the admission is taken care of. We’ll leave Friday, July 1 after work. We toil away our lives south of where we live but still north of Atlanta central. So we take off work at 5:00, have dinner nearby the office, and then head south after the evening rush hour has died down to a slow Atlanta roar. We’ll stay Friday night south of Valdosta (see how everything just creeps more and more south?). It’s a Days Inn off exit 5 of I75. This place is nice but I might have to check into less expensive alternatives for the future. The last two trips, we had free stays but this one we’ll have to pay for. Yikes! $60 for the room. And that’s with an AAA discount. Oh well, I booked it and will look at other options between now and then. (The other options never happened because everything was booked – I forgot the Pepsi 400 at Daytona was over this weekend – how a NASCAR fan can forget that is inexcusable). At Disney World, we’ve been hitting all the value resorts lately. Rich hadn’t scored his contractor job until recently so the belt was tightened quite a bit. Since we’re doing OK right now, I decided to take advantage of the Annual Passholder discounts while I could and moved us up to a moderate for the trip. But which moderate? When I first called after the discounts were announced, I wanted Port Orleans French Quarter. Because we’ve never stayed there. I’ve had many reservations there but plans were always changing and this was a missed opportunity. But things were booked for the weekend so I got Port Orleans Riverside instead. I waited until the flurry of Annual Passholder discounts died down and then called back. Some how, Port Orleans French Quarter now had openings so I booked that instead and cancelled Riverside. I love Riverside but I wanted French Quarter for a different feel. The only special thing I asked for is non smoking since Rich really has a problem breathing in that environment for a long period of time. A short visit to a bar or restaurant is fine but living with it is just too much. I’m very happy with finally staying at this resort. We have one sit down meal planned and that’s lunch at Le Cellier on Sunday. We’re planning on that whole day being nothing but Epcot and lots of Off Kilter sessions. We haven’t seen our favorite band since December (no time in April and they were off on another gig over Memorial Day). We’re overdue and will easily do a marathon day with the boys. Le Cellier is in Canada and the seating is for 12:40 so we can enjoy a nice full lunch (in air conditioning) and then an afternoon of Off Kilter. Night time will be Illuminations, I’m sure. We will arrive sometime late Saturday morning so what we do for the rest of the day is up in the air. We haven’t been to Downtown Disney in ages and I’d really like to go there. We might do that Saturday evening and do Animal Kingdom in the afternoon. I don’t anticipate our room being ready when we get there before noon. Dedication I haven’t done a dedication for a while since I’ve run through everyone. But there’s one special person who has entered my life recently and it’s with much love that I dedicate this report to my daughter-in-law, Chandra. Even though she physically wasn’t with us, she’s featured in the report. That’s how important she is to me. If someone asked me to list the traits of a perfect daughter-in-law, I wouldn’t have to do it. I’d just point to Chandra. I think mothers cringe with the thought of their child finding someone to spend the rest of their life with. I know I did. But Chandra has made everything so easy. I’ve shared Disney World twice in person with Chandra. But she’s there in spirit every single time. With much, much love, this is for Chandra. The Week Before – “Where did June Go?” This week was a very eventful one. No boring details (well, maybe a few) but we had Rich’s parents visit for the weekend for a Braves/Orioles game (Orioles lost, drat it). And for a 69 year old woman and a 75 year old man, we found it hard to keep up with them. Our work was undergoing a payroll conversion so I had “homework” that was supposed to take a few hours. Even with Rich’s help, it took over 12 hours. We were up until 2:00 AM Monday. Work itself was hectic – it was month end close for me and Rich was starting new responsibilities in his job. We remembered to make the cat sitting arrangements but very late in the week. Fortunately, we have a great relationship with the service so our children – Todd, Gus, Belle, Nemo and Meeko (sense a pattern with the names?) – will be taken care of. And to add to the fun, our human children – son, Chris; daughter-in-law, Chandra; and granddaughter, Marlie – decided to drive from Ohio to Maryland for the holiday weekend to see Rich’s parents. This would be their first solo family trip in their young marriage. My apron strings are unraveling but Rich and I both were thinking about The Kids the entire weekend. Day One – Friday, July 1, 2005 – “Why Don’t You People Just Stay Home?” Rich and I had been driving separately to work all week. That’s been a hassle since the commute is about an hour on a good, non school day. But our schedules didn’t mesh. Today, we had to take one car since we were leaving for Disney World right after our day ended. On the way in, we gassed up my car, Jasmine. We’d be set for the drive to Florida. At work, rumors were flying that my department would let us go at noon (to thank us for our “homework” assignment). I mentioned it to Rich but warned him not to count on it. Thank goodness I did that. The payroll conversion blew up so everyone was scrambling. At lunch, I ran out to the bank to deposit my paycheck after finding out Rich wouldn’t get his check until Monday (hopefully). I’m on the payroll and he’s a contractor so he gets a separate check and that writer was broken. Our direct deposit didn’t work this week because of the conversion. I got everything done that I needed to by close to 5:00. I gathered up Rich and we finally headed out. Both of us really needed some Pixie Dust. We were exhausted and quite frankly, I was sick and tired of other people and all the whining at work. For the Memorial Day weekend trip, we had dinner near the office and then drove to Lake Park. We had no traffic problems even with leaving at 5:30. Rich figured this time everyone was already gone from the Atlanta area so we would get dinner once we got to the hotel. He always drives us through Atlanta so he motored us south on GA400. No traffic. Onto I285. No traffic. Up to Spaghetti Junction. The overhead signs weren’t too positive. Memorial Drive was 7 miles ahead with a travel time of 18+ minutes. Yeck. So this is where everyone was. I think our average speed was 30 MPH for the next hour. And there was no reason for it. Just Atlanta traffic. We finally broke free of the clog and then had smooth sailing. We made one quick stop since I had pulled Rich out of work so quickly (“come on, Mickey’s calling!”) that he wasn’t able to get his driving supply of Diet Coke. Plus, he hadn’t eaten anything all day and needed something in his stomach. A quick trip to a gas station solved both problems. A couple of Diet Cokes, a box of Cheese-Its, and a couple of Tootsie Pops for when I drive later and we were set. Rich continued to drive and drive and drive and drive. We finally stopped at a rest area around 8:30. We were about an hour to the hotel and I offered to drive but Rich said “what’s the point?” and slid behind the wheel again. I actually was grateful. We arrived at the Days Inn right around 9:30. The traffic in Atlanta had added more than a half hour to the drive. Our tiredness level increased. The Days Inn was totally sold out. The check in clerk’s first words to me were “do you have a reservation?” Thankfully, I did. He already had the “haven’t shown up yet” people on his screen so the process went very quickly. We were in room 108 which was first floor in the back of the building. I like this location. We unpacked the little that we needed and I prepared to chill. I persuaded Rich that there was no reason for both of us to make a food run. I gave him my burger order for Wendy’s since he had his heart set on a single and a small chili. I just had McDonald’s for lunch but I wasn’t going to make a big deal out of it. At least I could kick off the shoes, have a glass of wine and rest for the remainder of the night. The food run didn’t take very long and our stomachs were satisfied. We watched the NASCAR Busch series race at Daytona and wondered what The Kids and the grandparents were doing. We had to call Chris and Chandra anyway to do our fantasy NASCAR league (it’s just the four of us and nothing is on the line except pride). We figured The Kids were watching the race too and we’d call after. There was a huge wreck in the race and right after that, my cell phone went off. I knew it was Chris (love those programmable tones). They hadn’t been watching the race (blasphemy!) and had no idea what was going on. Rich filled him on the details and then Chris gave us the qualifying order for the Nextel Cup race tomorrow. We completed our draft with all of us really going in blind without having internet access. We also used the opportunity to find out how The Kids were operating as the responsible grandchildren. I guess the visit was going well since all we could hear in the background was Chandra and my mother-in-law chattering away. After our competitive needs were taken care of, we watched the end of the race (delayed about a half hour by The Big One) and then the mindless sitcom reruns on Nick at Nite. We took a long time to unwind so I suggested to Rich to change the alarm time from our normal 7:00 to 8:00. He thought aliens invaded my body. But I was that tired and so was he and we needed the sleep. A couple of things to note about the room. We had a king size bed which was very nice. And this Days Inn has thankfully changed their shower curtains. They used to have these flimsy ones that would fly all over while you were attempting to get clean. I finally solved that problem by weighting it down with a couple of large binder clips. But now they have nice plastic curtains and a bowed rod. Made Rich extremely happy.
Day Two – Saturday, July 2, 2005 – “I Thought We Were Supposed to Relax” I almost didn’t even wake up with the alarm. I thought it was part of a dream I was having. The only reason I even moved was because Rich finally sat up to turn the thing off. And the clock was on his side of the bed. Yes, we were extremely tired. The whole week had been a killer. We needed Disney World very badly. Rich showered and I worked on a note to my Disney World pal, Adrienne. She’s going to see Mickey and friends in just a week. After Rich was finally done in the shower (a half hour? He’s worse than a teenage girl), I did my thing and we quickly packed the little we had. We loaded the car and then walked to the office for check out and some breakfast items to go. I hated having to actually pay for this stay but at least I’ll get points and a future stay will be free. The breakfast area was crowded which was unusual for us. Neither Rich nor I are breakfast people and the choices here are very simple. Mini muffins and usually mini cinnamon rolls but the large crowd had depleted those. Rich picked up a couple of single serving Frosted Flakes for later and I carefully chose some mini muffins, also for later. I also had lots of orange juice since my supply of cold beverages that morning was nil. Once we were back in the car, the muffins went into a Ziploc bag. Gas prices here were much cheaper than back in Atlanta so we checked both the Citgo and the Shell. The Shell station was a penny more but the Citgo didn’t have any pumps available. Shell it is. I did the honors of pumping the gas while Rich went inside for his real breakfast. Two ice cold Diet Cokes. Both of these had the game tops so I knew I’d be in for “Drink Coke, Play Again” all day (his of last night was a loser too). We finally were headed south again at 9:15 which is probably the latest we’ve ever done that. But we needed to relax and get over the horrible week at work and the in-laws/parents stay. De-stress a bit. I vainly tried to stay awake for the drive. Rich was doing the driving on the way down. He said if we break up the drive, he can do the whole thing. Just not the entire seven hours back. I wasn’t complaining at all. But my eyelids didn’t cooperate and I finally took a twenty minute power nap that helped me immensely. When I woke up, Rich said I missed the rain. The day was overcast for the most part. Just a typical Florida summer day. Always expect rain but it doesn’t last very long. I had packed our ponchos in preparation. We stopped at the rest area in Ocala and I again offered to take over the driving. Rich said he could handle it. I said fine but he couldn’t complain about driving the whole trip down. The rest of the drive went fairly quickly. Mostly because I worked on my trip report notes. We did have a little disagreement over stopping at the Super WalMart on Route 27. All because of toothpaste. Rich thought he had another little travel size thing of Crest in his bag. He didn’t so that became the mission of the morning. He HAD to get toothpaste. And not on Disney property. I just wanted to get to the resort. He insisted on WalMart, thinking I was going to suggest we’d visit the French Quarter gift shop. I was thinking more of a Publix or Walgreen’s stop. The Super WalMart on Route 27 is usually crowded and it’s hard to get into going to Disney World. It’s fine on the way out but for today, we’d have to make a left turn on a crowded highway with a long light to get in and the same thing on the way out. And Rich is notorious for getting lights changing from a nice green to the dreaded amber just before he approaches it. I knew what would happen. And it did. We get to the Super WalMart. We approach the left hand turn lane and the light, surprise, changes to yellow. We have to stop. For what seemed to be hours. We finally get into WalMart and have to actually cruise to find a parking space. The lot here is kind of strange. Some of the aisles are two way, some are one way. Of course, we parked at the opposite end of the mega store from where we really wanted to be. We hiked over to the Health and Beauty section and finally got the damn toothpaste. I muttered something about the self check lanes better be empty. Rich chirped that no one was using the lanes when we walked by. I don’t know where all these people came from but the lines were now five deep. I scowled at Rich. What should have been a five minute thing turned out to be 45 minutes. Rich swiped the toothpaste and was cheerfully told by the inanimate object that we had an unauthorized item in the bag and to remove it. I about punched out the machine. Rich just shook the bag and the thing shut up and let us pay the $2.12. Sheri was not happy. Upon leaving the lot and having to make another left turn at the light, the nice green went to amber so we sat yet again. Sheri muttered some very unhappy words. We were finally on Disney property shortly before 1:00. At the French Quarter security outpost, Rich was prepared with his driver’s license and I had the reservation confirmation. Rich is always leery about security here. And it didn’t help when we checked into Pop Century in April and the gate guard was so anal about us being there. This guard didn’t help anything. It took him a while to find our reservation since everyone mistakes our last name. They think it’s McCloskey so they check under the “M”s and not the “N”s. I just always spell it. Since Rich has had the name much longer than me, he just says it. This older guy wasn’t getting it. Once he found it, he questioned the first name. I always make the reservation. Always. Everything Disney has is in my name. Rich is just a travel partner. Since Rich obviously isn’t female and doesn’t answer to Sheri, it was questioned about who I was. What am I? Invisible? I’m sitting in the passenger seat! I’m all for security but this questioning of someone saying, “I’m checking in” while having their driver’s license out and a valid reservation confirmation is just too much. We were cleared and went in for check in. We had discussed what we wanted to do earlier. We originally decided on Magic Kingdom. I warned Rich that a holiday Saturday at the original park would be crowded. Very crowded. Rich said that we hadn’t done Magic Kingdom or Animal Kingdom for a while. I agreed. Since the day was so hot and humid, I wasn’t really looking forward to the crowds and the heat combination. So on the drive down Route 27, I volunteered Animal Kingdom instead. I know, still hot but we could do Kali River Rapids and Flights of Wonder and the two nature trails. We could have a pretzel and sit along the water at the Flame Tree BBQ. Rich was fine with the plan. We figured the room would not be ready since we’ve had a pattern of that happening lately. We both were park ready. We were helped immediately for the check in. The whole process took a very long time and I was getting worried. It didn’t help when the Cast Member finally said “two adults and it’s Sheri and Chandra, correct?” Rich looked at me. I just about choked. Chandra is my daughter-in-law. I have no idea how her name was even remotely associated with this reservation. She’s in the system because we’ve taken her here twice. The whole Niklewski family is in the Disney system in one form or another. But all under my name since I make all the reservations. I’m wondering if everything is alphabetical. Chandra would be the first one. Rich still doesn’t have two X chromosomes so things were changed. Hey Chandra, you were here and didn’t even know it! But the important thing was our room was ready. Thank goodness. We needed to let all the stress go and have a good weekend. It was going to be hot. We were prepared. But not right now. We were in room 4335 which was in building 4, right next to the bus stop and the main building. I’m sure most people would kill for the room but I was so skeptical. Too close to everything for an adults only “I don’t want to think about the world” weekend. Oh well, we’ll deal with things. I admit, I was a little cranky. Jasmine took us over to the proper lot (OK, Rich gave her the directions). We took the smaller items for our initial look at the room. I wasn’t expecting much. Oh, to have low expectations. No, don’t tell me. Give me Pixie Dust! Oh my! We have a courtyard view. And what a view. Because we have a corner room. Which means two windows. Oh joy, joy, joy. The resort is supposed to resemble New Orleans and boy, does it ever. We’ve been here before but never to stay. I can’t describe it but somehow every single negative thing that happened during the last long week just disappeared. Vanished. Gone. As I type this on Monday morning, I’m looking out at trees, grass, water, a fountain, and everything is great. And I’m still in the room. French Quarter is a definite repeater for us. For everyone who is undecided about “upgrading” to a moderate for a longer trip. Do it. I’m fine with a value resort for our short trips but I honestly felt like royalty with this room. It’s not deluxe, it’s probably on a level of a good Radisson but for this weekend, it was so perfect to set my mood. We have two double beds so I staked my claim on mine. Rich and I are used to our king bed so being that close just isn’t going to happen. And I had forgotten until check in that we have a refrigerator. Blessed cold water in the morning! Whoo hoo! There’s two sinks in the bathroom area and a privacy curtain. And did I mention we had two windows? A corner room? Joy, joy, joy. Reality set in and we returned to Jasmine to empty her out. Rich had brought the luggage rack so he put everything except the rolling suitcase on that. We can easily handle all of our luggage this way. After establishing ourselves in the room, we relaxed and discussed the rest of the day. It was getting later than I wanted for a park visit. Food was going to be in order somewhere in the near future. Animal Kingdom was still a possibility and I turned the TV off Wimbledon (sorry, boring in my opinion) and onto a Disney channel. Animal Kingdom was open until 7:00. I offered that up. Rich said we should just do Epcot like usual. But we’d be doing that all day tomorrow. That’s when the man made my day. Pixie Dust to the max. He said “I thought we were here to relax and do what we want to”. OK, Epcot it is and to hell with the commando stuff. Since I was really into the whole French Quarter thing, I suggested that we do a brief walk around of the grounds. That’s what we did after about an hour in the room. Oh boy – the heat. If you come to Florida in July, be very prepared. Take lots of breaks and drink plenty of water. I just took a water bottle with us and we filled up at the water fountains. Our first stop was the hot tub area. Looking good. Then the pool which would come into play later in our stay. The gift shop was next and I was looking for Chandra’s birthday present. Wasn’t going to happen here. This gift shop is smaller than the other resorts. Mainly because French Quarter is probably the smallest resort on Disney property. I knew that but wanted to check it out anyway. Then we checked out the food court but had already decided that the Boardwalk pizza window was going to be lunch/dinner. Linner. We walked up to Riverside and I took about a roll of pictures. This property is just so darn pretty. We came back to the room and dried off with air conditioning. I decided that I would have wet hair for the rest of the trip. Never think you will have the perfect hair at Disney World in the summer. It’s just not going to happen. I’m the type of person that will wash the hair, let it naturally dry, maybe remember to comb it, and then just enjoy the day. I’m so low maintenance. I can’t imagine doing the whole mousse, curling iron, hair spray thing here. Not with air you can eat. Rich drove Jasmine over for our parking to go to Epcot. We both realized that the only park we’d be doing this trip was Epcot. And that was just fine with us. We made the trek past the Swan and through the Boardwalk. Rich had thought about getting a hot dog instead of pizza but decided once we were there to just get everything at once. A couple of slices later with a nicely shaded table and some adult beverages, we were set. One nice thing that the Boardwalk pizza window has changed is the way they let you know when your whole pies are done. They used to just yell your name out of the small window. I’ll never forget the foghorn that went off one time when we did this. RIIIICCCCCAAAAARRRRDDDDDD YOUR PIZZA IS READY! Now, they have the buzzers. The woman in front of us had no clue (I think she was really flustered with everything) and walked off without her buzzer. Rich was very honest and took it to her and explained how it worked. She was very grateful. We could have had a free pizza. We were not in a hurry at all. Rich just wanted a walk around World Showcase. I wanted to do Soarin’ again since I was so not relaxed on my only ride during the Annual Passholder preview in April. I also wanted to check Mouse Gear for Chandra’s gift. Rich mentioned doing all that (not that much) and then going back to the room to watch the NASCAR Pepsi 400 at Daytona. Sounded great to me. We entered Epcot via the International Gateway and made the trek over to The Land. Then we made the hike to Soarin’. Rich remarked that it sure would be nice to have the wait times for this attraction posted upstairs at the entrance instead of making everyone walk all the way through the pavilion. I had to agree especially since after our trek, we discovered the FastPass return time would be after 7:30. No thank you, we expected to be watching the race by then. Mouse Gear was up next. I figured this place would have what I was looking for and it did. Over Memorial Day, I made a necklace for myself. Disney sells the necklaces for $3 and then you pick your own beads (85 cents each) and/or charms ($4 each). I had spelled my name out in beads and then added a Piglet bead and a patriotic Mickey one. I thought this would be nice for Chandra. We find it so hard to get customized things with our names on them. I had asked Chandra who her favorite Disney characters were in hopes of getting something nice. My daughter-in-law. Gotta love her. Her most favorite Disney character? Kronk from “Emperor’s New Groove”. I’ve never even heard of a Kronk. Second favorite? Yzma from the same movie (but as a kitten). Err, don’t think those characters are going to be popping off the Disney shelves. Next favorite? Ron Stoppable from “Kim Possible”. Who the heck is that? Next? Kim Possible herself. I wouldn’t even know that one if I tripped over her. Fifth? Rufus, the naked mole rat from “Kim Possible”. Good god, girl, are you insane? Sixth? Finally!!!!! Stitch! Thank goodness. Then Jane from “Tarzan”. Not exactly a princess so chances are slim and none. Then the crazy hyena from “The Lion King”. I think she meant Ed. Don’t think so on that one. Ariel was next and then Eeyore. Thank goodness for those last two. I picked out the beads for her name and then a Stitch charm and an Eeyore charm as well. I also added a special charm for myself and a Figero bead and a Figment bead. My charm was a duel one that Rich actually saw. I had to get it. It’s Marlin and Dory from “Finding Nemo”. We had watched that right before our Memorial Day trip. When Marlin is close to Sydney and Dory is driving him crazy, he just goes crazy and basically goes all doom and gloom about everything. Dory is trying to get him to see the positives. He only sees the negatives. The old “is the glass half full or half empty”. Rich is so totally Marlin. I am so totally Dory. This one goes on my necklace. Rich sort of gagged at the total of the purchase and said “are you sure Chandra’s worth that much?” See what I mean about being Marlin? I consider Chandra not only my daughter-in-law but one of my best friends. I replied to Rich that not only was Chandra worth this necklace, she is worth 10 times her weight in gold. Yes, she’s very special to both of us. I was very happy and sure appreciated the Pixie Dust. I figured the day couldn’t get any better. Disney sure can prove you wrong, can’t it? We walked outside just as the start of a fountain show was going off. I love the shows. I only wish my mother-in-law, Bobbie, could have been here for this one. And thank goodness for sunglasses. My eyes sprang a leak. The show is fantastic (at least for me) but this one was special. The music was “Celebrate the Future Hand in Hand” from the Millennium celebration. I love that piece. I used to listen to it all the time after Rich moved to Georgia and I was back in Nebraska fulfilling some job obligations. What a wonderful way to enjoy a very warm summer day. Ah, this is Disney World!! Something as simple as a fountain show and some music. Did I have a bad week at work? Nah, surely not. Not the way I was feeling right now. Nothing can top this. We stopped in Norway for some adult beverages and then continued our walk around World Showcase. Rich was concerned that maybe the pizza slice wouldn’t be enough for me and I could get egg rolls. The day was too stinking hot for that but I did warn him that a pastry or two from the Boardwalk Bakery on the way out was a possibility. When we got to the Outpost area, there was a trio playing. Wassalou. It was so hot but you’d never know it by these performers. The female singer was just having a blast and waving to the people scurrying by. Rich and I grabbed a shaded table and watched for quite a while. Excellent way to spend some time. Again, nothing that we planned but it was taking the Pixie Dust and liberally sprinkling it onto our day. It’s Fourth of July weekend, I’m living in a damn great country and I’m at Disney World. Life is great. And then we got to America. Rich said “what’s going on at the American Gardens Theatre?” I had to admit I didn’t know. I usually would check Steve’s site the week before but work prevented me from thinking straight. I did have the entertainment schedule with me so I pulled that out. American Vybe. This is usually an acapella group that performs inside the American pavilion. They do truly American songs like swing and jazz and the patriotic standards. But this time, they had a band and were swinging away outside. We went into the open aired theatre for the remainder of the performance. I was blown away. So much that I had to tell Rich that if it fit into the “schedule” for tomorrow, we’d have to check out the entire performance. The day was getting better and better. Rich had seen Fiddler’s Joy on an earlier solo trip (no report for that one but it was a doozy of a trip). They are the band that plays in Canada whenever Off Kilter isn’t there. He liked them and thought we should stop in to see them. We did but maybe some of that Pixie Dust floated away because while they were good, they didn’t wow me and after all the wow-ing of the day, it just wasn’t enough. I wanted to stay so Rich could enjoy the performance but both of us were lagging so we headed out after just a couple of songs. After our very entertaining afternoon at Epcot, we finally headed out and back to Jasmine. We did make the stop at the Boardwalk Bakery and got our pastries. Well, these things could probably feed a family of four for a while. I got a cherry turnover and Rich got what was billed as a cinnamon roll. I think a cinnamon slab was more like it. Then we trudged our tired little behinds back to the car and cranked up the air conditioning. Rich got us back to French Quarter and we piled on the ice and took off the shoes. NASCAR, here we come. And darn it, Daytona did it to us again. A freaking two and a half hour rain delay for the start of the race. I filled in some of the time by putting together Chandra’s necklace only to discover that the “N” I got wasn’t an “N”. It was a “Z”. Her name ain’t Chazdra. Shoot. Well, we’ll exchange it tomorrow. After that, the eyelids told the brain that sleep was in order so I crashed. I felt guilty because Rich was by himself to watch the race (whenever the stupid thing would start). I woke up much later and the race had just really gotten going. They did the first eleven laps under caution to completely dry out the track. Rich confessed that he himself had taken a nap too. So we were both keyed up. So keyed up we stayed awake and watched the entire race. Until 2:00 AM. Very glad we are relaxing this trip. In our little fantasy league, Chandra is in the lead and then Rich (who won it last year). Then Chris, then me. So I take perverse pleasure in seeing everyone else’s drivers have heartache. My main driver was supposed to be Dale Earnhardt, Jr. but he’s having a terrible year. Thankfully, my late night paid off. Even though Tony Stewart won, Jamie McMurray was second and Junior finally had a decent race and was third. It was a great race and something that Rich and I enjoy together. All because of Chandra and her love of NASCAR. We finally turned it and figured we’d be up early. We had that awesome corner room but thought we’d be bothered by kids running around in the morning or mousekeeping with their carts or something. Damn, Disney World can surprise you, right? Day Three - Sunday, July 3, 2005 – “It Can’t Get Any Better Than This, Can It? Of Course It Can” I woke up around 7:30 and was prepared for noise. I closed my eyes and hoped for the best. When I next opened them, it was 10:00! Rich was snoozing so soundly in his bed. I couldn’t believe this. We heard absolutely nothing! We had our advance reservation at LeCellier for 12:40 so I got up and put in the contacts. When Rich stirred I told him what time it was and he was astounded. Rich just does not sleep late. On weekends that we are home (rare these days it seems), he’s up and going to racquetball by 8:00. He wanted to know where all the noisy kids were. I dunno but let’s enjoy. He got ready and I worked on the trip report. Rich went for a newspaper and I got ready. We weren’t in any hurry so I grabbed the phone and called Chandra at the grandparents’ house. I was curious to find out how her first trip to DC went. She had so many expectations. Well, she and I will be returning on our own to DC for Thanksgiving weekend. I don’t care if the rest of the family wants to go along on the drive down there but once there, I’m taking her on a patented Sheri Niklewski DC Mall tour. Chandra wanted to see the memorials. All they did was the Smithsonian all day. They didn’t even venture towards a memorial until 5:00. Nothing wrong with the museum but that’s not what she wanted. Everyone else except Marlie has seen and done DC to death. I would have made sure Chandra’s wants were addressed first. I was disappointed for her but vowed we’d do this together. Chandra is experiencing the Bobbie and Ed Factor which I have successfully been able to counteract after being a Niklewski for 24 years. I just flat out say what I want to do and if that doesn’t fit into what Bobbie and Ed (or any other Niklewski family member) wants to do, I do it on my own. Chandra has only been a Niklewski for a little over a year. I see many, many Sheri lessons coming her way. After retying some apron strings (just not with Chris, this time with Chandra), Rich and I headed out for Epcot yet again. This day was also a killer. Very hot and very humid. Again, we prepared. The water bottle was essential (but never enough). Sun block would be applied for me. Hat for Rich (I find it way too hot for me during the summer). Two clean T shirts for changes for Rich. Also threw in a more delicate object of clothing (underwear). At the last minute, I put in a T shirt for myself. I was wearing a halter style shirt but thought maybe the air conditioning would make me uncomfortable. Our mission again today was Soarin’. And to change that nasty “Z” bead into an “N” bead. Oh yeah, and to see Off Kilter. I had no official word that they would be there today. Just based on experience but they surprised me by being off Memorial Day Sunday. Anything can happen. Jasmine tooled us over for parking. After our long and hot walk from the parking lot to the International Gateway, I thought we were insane for being here! Good grief, it was hot. At least the entertainment guide had Off Kilter listed for the normal times. 2:30, 3:30, 5:30, 6:30, 7:30. American Vybe was on again at 8:15 which was great for after the last Off Kilter show. Illuminations was at 9:00 and I expressed an interest in that. I love the show. And then we had to hike to The Land to check out FastPasses for Soarin’. Oh well, at least that was in air conditioning. Walk, walk, walk. Sweat, sweat, sweat. The Land, the cool, the beautiful. Walk, walk, walk some more. Ah – perfect! The return time was around 4:30 – 5:30. Or something like that. Excellent for the long break between the second and third sets of Off Kilter. Now we were set for really the only attraction that I really wanted to do. Next up was Mouse Gear again for the “N” bead. I just wanted to do a simple swap without involving any Cast Member. I mean, it’s an 85 cent bead. I wanted to drop the “Z” one into its little bin and replace it with the “N”. Rich had to go to the cashier and explain what I was doing. Well, I didn’t do it. There were no freaking “N”s in the whole display of beads. No “N”s? Nancy would be disappointed. So would Nina. N is like one of the most common letters. It’s one of the letters they give you for free in the final round of “Wheel of Fortune”. No “N”s? Shoot. I’d have to be creative. Our seating time for lunch was coming up and I checked us in at Le Cellier right at 12:32 (the host noted the time, I really wasn’t being anal). We sat for a few short minutes and then were led to our table in Saskatchewan. Richard was our server and he was great. Rich had a draft beer and I had a white Zinfandel. I’m not a fan of that but it was the cheapest thing on the wine list. I know, I wanted something else but I was trying not to put Rich into Disney price shock. He had been so great up to this point. Rich had his heart set on a burger which I had already figured. He added Canadian bacon to it and asked Richard what Gruyere cheese was. After the explanation (I had no idea myself), that’s what Rich got. I ordered the prime rib “French Dip” sandwich. Rich asked Richard why they didn’t call it a Quebec Dip. Richard said that was a good idea. Hum, maybe that’s a comment card? We sat back and watched the other lunch patrons. One of our favorite things to do. Rich did almost apologize for adding the Canadian bacon. He’s on our version of a diet. Meaning he’s watching what he eats and I watch him watching what he eats. He can’t have any of my Gibbles potato chips. They are made with lard and that’s bad for him. I’ve gotten him to switch to lite Ranch dressing on salads. It’s not hard core dieting but more of a “let’s think about what you are putting into your stomach” kind of thing. We’re going on a Disney cruise with his parents in December and the goal is 30 pounds lighter for Rich. He’s about one-third of the way there. Secretly, 20 pounds would be great but I’m not telling him that. Richard brought out the breadsticks and I was please to see Rich enjoying the multi-grain one. We munched and talked and took in the air conditioning. A guy sat down with his wife at the table next to us. He had on a muscle type T shirt on. Just about every single cell of his exposed body was covered in tattoos. The hostess asked “what will you do when you run out of room?” I just about choked. The man was very proud of his body art. Not my kind of thing but it’s not my body and I don’t have to look at it on a daily basis. If Mrs. Tattoo Man was fine with it, then go for it. There were no Little Tattoo People in the group. After doing lots more people watching, our meals were brought out. Everything was just great although Rich had to ask for another ramekin of ketchup. Thank you to Jamie of Off Kilter for letting us know what those little containers were called. Rich and I always laugh because it was such a dumb comment in the middle of a set the guys were doing. Made no sense but it’s something that we always remember. We are trivia geeks, after all. Rich had ordered his burger medium well and not well done as it was listed on the menu. Looked good to me and I don’t really like burgers. My Quebec Dip was very good. We both got stymied three-quarters of the way through our carnivore attack. I managed a few more bites and I knew things were bad when Rich had to take a break. He did make a happy plate and my leavings weren’t big enough for a doggy bag. Thank goodness I didn’t go to the original plan and order an appetizer of the wonderful cheddar cheese soup. I’m going to save that for the Food and Wine Festival. We were set food wise for the rest of the day (and maybe for the rest of the week!). Out and over to the Off Kilter stage area to see if our friend, Janis, was there. I hadn’t had a chance to email her about her plans for this weekend. She doesn’t like the heat (but she lives in Florida). I wasn’t sure she’d be there. But she was along with Steve who maintains the Disney entertainment site. We chatted for a while and then Rich and I went back over to Norway to get something to tide us over for the first couple of sets. Janis also had a FastPass to Soarin’ for about the same time as us. I did check out one of the shops at the entrance to World Showcase for that dang “N” bead. No beads, only charms which is what French Quarter had. Rich figured maybe the Screen Door at the Boardwalk would be an option on the way out. That or this gift would be an IOU until the Labor Day trip back here. We got back to Canada and settled in for our day long outings with Off Kilter. Why do we do this? Because we really like the band. It’s something we enjoy together. We were here for a total of five sets, each one with about five songs. A total of twenty-five. And the only thing they repeated was their awesome “Summer of 69” and that was only because some one specially requested it. Everything else was different. And we know they have a ton more play options. The last time we heard the guys, it was a few days before New Year’s. But one of the band members saw Rich and waved to him. The group certainly has a great rapport with the audience. Before the first set, it had been raining and we were hovered under the umbrellas at the Off Kilter seating area. We were not sure the set would go off since the guys don’t perform when it’s thundering and lightening. They did come out but did an abbreviated set – they almost made it through the whole thing but cut it short when the booming began. Thankfully, the rest of the day was rain free (although we could have used something). Rich and I tried to stay hydrated during the whole day with frequent trips to the water fountain with our plastic bottle. The problem was the adult fountain next to the Off Kilter stage wasn’t working. The kids one was OK but it didn’t fill up the bottle enough. So we did what we could, drank it, went back, and then repeated the cycle all day long. I do have to say that even though people complain about the $2.50/bottle cost of water, that ain’t nothing compared to the Atlanta Braves. $4 for the same thing. Rich swore he’d never gripe about Disney prices after spending a couple of weekends at Atlanta Motor Speedway and the NASCAR prices. A $24 pizza from Domino’s. Heck, his huge burger at LeCellier was less than $10. OK, price rant off. In between the first and second sets, I took Rich’s pass and hiked back to Mission:Space for a FastPass. We could do that since it had been over two hours since we got the Soarin’ passes. Again, they had what I consider “the holiday FastPass stupid system” set up. This is where you enter to get your FastPass from behind the machines. It’s better crowd control but the only problem is that you can’t see the return time. So you have to walk past the machines and then find out if you really want one. In this case, I did since the return time was 3:40 to 4:40. We could finish up with the second Off Kilter set, do Mission:Space and then go over to Soarin’ and still be back for the third set at 5:30. I took my time getting back to Canada. The heat, the heat. After the second set of Off Kilter, Rich and I headed to see Gary Sinise. The day, although quite warm, was getting better. Two wonderful sets of my favorite band and now going to see one of my favorite actors. Oh yeah, and there’s some sort of attraction there too. I tend to forget that when looking at Mr. Sinise. We did go by Test Track to see about getting FastPasses for that. But the machines were covered. Oh well, we’ll catch that on another trip. At Mission:Space, we had a short wait to get to our capsule but I sure was glad I wasn’t in the stand by line. I think the wait there was 45 minutes. We were to be on our flight with a mother and daughter but the mother decided to bail out due to the numerous warnings about motion sickness, etc. The daughter was going to go with her mother but the mother insisted the girl stay and ride. I told her that we didn’t bite. The girl was in her teens so it wasn’t like the mom was leaving a youngster to fend for themselves. We had a successful mission and the girl enjoyed herself. I’m so glad Disney World gives people the opportunity to change their minds about riding certain things. We trekked over to The Land. By this time, my feet were beginning to really hate me. Since we moved to the south, I rarely wear shoes when I don’t have to. Basically just at work and out in public. So my feet are not used to being cramped up all day. Especially on a hot day like today. I think I’ve had one blister at Disney World and that was a small one. That would change today. Into The Land and blessed air conditioning. The stand by line for Soarin’ was a whopping 120 minutes. It’s a good attraction but not that good. Thank goodness for FastPasses. It still took a full thirty minutes to take our journey, though. Some of the queue is nicely done but the last part before you are assigned to your groups is just plain boring. This could be enhanced with some overhead TVs or something. We were assigned to the second row and I was kind of glad. I just don’t do well with anything where I know I’m suspended up in the air. I know Soarin’ isn’t that high but it still unnerves me. That’s why I couldn’t relax the only other time I rode this. This time was much different since I knew what to expect. I was still a little nervous and held tight during our flight. But a much more enjoyable experience this time around. In the future, if the trip to The Land is convenient, we’ll do Soarin’ again. But it’s not something like Mission:Space where I could ride it over and over again. It’s good but just not that good. Maybe they could put Gary Sinise in it. Then it would be perfect. We ran into Janis on the way out and she also commented on the fact that it took so long to load this attraction even with a FastPass. And she’s ridden the thing 57 times or something like that. I guess this is her Mission:Space. Janis used the first set of clogged stairs for the exit. We went through the food court and used the ones further out that weren’t crowded at all. But Janis easily beat us back to the Off Kilter stage. I think the woman had wings on her shoes. My dogs were barking up a storm so we took our time. Since we were later for this set than normal, our bench seats were taken. That’s not a problem for me since I’ll just sit on the ground in the middle. Rich can’t do that however, so he went across to close to the lagoon. In the shade. He’s not stupid. Janis joined me on the ground. I gratefully took off my shoes and socks. Pure bliss. Rich went to the rest room and changed his shirt and the unmentionable underwear. He said it made a world of difference. After this set, Rich wanted a Koki Gori (shaved ice) from Japan. I wanted to find that damn “N” for Chandra. I took both our bags and set off towards the United Kingdom first. There, I took the cue from Rich and in the bathroom wiped myself down with a washcloth we had in the bag and in a Ziploc. Honestly, this is the best thing to do at Disney World (or anywhere else) on a hot summer day. Wet the thing under cold water and wash down any exposed parts of your body. Complete and total joy. I took notice that maybe a couple of birds would be dropping down from the sky because of my body smell so I changed my shirt as well. In the restroom stall, of course. Feeling much better (although my feet were loudly complaining about being back in sneakers), I went over to France. I was looking for ideas for a Christmas gift for Chandra but after seeing what I was thinking about, I decided against it. France has some nice things but Chandra is a very practical woman (like her mother-in-law) and the fru-fru stuff just didn’t seem to suit her. And no “N” anywhere. Rich easily beat me back to Canada. To be honest, I purposely dawdled. I love my husband but the 24/7 thing we have since we’re working at the same place, driving in together, and then being at home together is just way too much. It was nice to take a break from him. Although once he starts traveling with his job, I’ll probably miss him. It was just the two of us for the next set of Off Kilter. Janis left to pick up her son and Steve was gone to check out the other Epcot entertainment. Rich had our normal bench seats. My shoes and socks went off extremely fast. The dogs were now howling at the moon. And I noticed I had blisters. Ugh. I was so not prepared for this since I never get them. We enjoyed the boys again and then for the fourth set, there was a large group of older people that were part of some police convention or something. After the shows, we saw that the old Millennium pavilion was being utilized for something for them. Everyone involved had a lanyard nametag on. I wasn’t sure this smaller group sitting on the stone border right in front of the Off Kilter stage was going to be a good thing. Off Kilter is loud. Sure enough, that border was empty just a few songs into the set. We did enjoy a group of young girls dancing. Well, as much as seven year olds can dance. Which is to say they joined hands and ran around in a circle. Cute. Those girls had their shoes off too. I wanted to join them in their dancing but the feet said “no way”. With our visit to Off Kilter over for this trip, we had to leave one of our favorite spots in the world. Drat it. But we knew this was a short trip (like most of ours are) and we knew we’d be back for Labor Day. And American Vybe was on at 8:15 and I wanted to catch their entire show. We made a quick stop in Italy for a wine for me. Then we got some nice seats for the show and Rich left to get a beer at the American pavilion. I honestly think we drank enough water during the day to rival the capacity of World Showcase Lagoon. The sun was going down, adult beverages were needed and appreciated. This show started with the American Fife and Drum Corp. They marched through the American Gardens theatre and announced they would do the themes from each of the five American military branches. And would all veterans and active duty members stand during the playing of their theme, please? The show was sparsely attended but I started to lose it anyway. I’m such a sentimental sap. This had happened the last time we saw this show. Rich stood during the Air Force theme. I guess that started it for me. And then American Vybe came out and did the National Anthem. Oh boy. Maybe I should just not come here for anything close to Fourth of July again. Then the Fife and Drum Corps left and we had American Vybe for a fantastic performance. They did my all time favorite patriotic song – “God Bless America”. I guess I’m getting better because I only had to wipe the tears away a half dozen times. And yes, I get this way just about anywhere, not only at Disney World. After this wonderful presentation, we hustled over to Germany for Illuminations. It’s our favorite place to see the show. I was sure we wouldn’t get a good spot but I think we got the last two places at the overhang. Rich left to take care of some personal business (the bathrooms here are great right before Illuminations) and I protected our territory. It was just fifteen minutes before the show so we did well. We again heard over the musical speakers “Steam Train”. This is one that Off Kilter does and it’s special for me. Rich heard it on the way back and mentioned it. Yep, Disney at its finest. I knew the entire day was so special for me and I prepared myself for Illuminations which will get to me every single time. It did again but I controlled myself. I needed the hydration. We filled up the water bottle on the way out for the walk back to Jasmine. My feet protested this insane day but there was no recourse. They had to take me back to French Quarter so they could quit barking. Rich had suggested looking at the Screen Door on the Boardwalk for the damn “N” bead. It was late, we were tired, we were hot, we were exhausted. Somehow, my feet pushed me along and we entered the shop. At least it was air conditioned. I didn’t have much hopes after running around all of Epcot looking for the thing. Did the Screen Door even have beads, or just charms like French Quarter? We finally found the station for the beads and charms. And looked and looked and looked. At least this time Rich didn’t bother the cashier with what we were doing. Rich looked at me with this goofy grin on his face and held up A “N”! I put the silly “Z” into it’s proper slot and we left the store. At least I was walking a little better knowing I had a nice gift for a person that I care very much for. Once we got back to the room around 10:00, we knew we had really kicked some serious Disney butt. We weren’t done, though. We were extremely hot and needed to cool down. I ran for the half liter of cold clean water and chugged that immediately. Rich had some serious Diet Coke. Then we decided that the air conditioning just wasn’t enough. More water was needed. As for our entire bodies. We put the bathing suits on and went to the pool. Pure wonderment. Heaven. Bliss. Joy. Nirvana. Our bodies drank in all that wonderful water. All we needed was ten minutes and we were content. Then we went to the hot tub for more relaxation. Ah! More nice moments after a long, long Disney day. We were both sated so back to the room and into bed fairly quickly. We had to leave tomorrow but today was so great, I didn’t feel all that bad. Day Four – Monday, July 4, 2005 – “Goo Goo Gluster Mania” We didn’t set the alarm and just woke up whenever. Which for me was at 8:30. I worked on the report and Rich got up about an hour later. He was anxious to get home to the cats. Our express checkout was on the door and the only charge besides the room was the Boardwalk pizza window. After I reluctantly got ready (man, that view from the table with the two windows was awesome!), we packed everything up for our one trip down to Jasmine. That luggage rack on wheels is so handy. During the days, I had just moved my laptop to the chair so people from the outside couldn’t see it. I trust mousekeeping not to bother with taking anything. So this morning, I just plopped the computer on the table and started working, not noticing anything else. Rich saw the thing next to the laptop on the table when he got up. We had a washcloth butterfly! How cute! We’ve only gotten towel animals a few times and they have all been appreciated. The butterfly is now enjoying sitting on top of the DVD player with his cousin, the washcloth bird. Rich drove us towards off property and when we passed by the Disney World Hess station, we realized that the gas prices on property were better than the ones off property. So we stopped. We did our normal of me pumping and Rich visiting the store for his breakfast of Diet Coke. I also asked him to get me some cold bottled water since I chugged everything last night. I was dying for something cold and not out of a tap. Rich came back with his normal Diet Cokes (which got him “Drink Coke, Play Again” – he ended up 0-6 for the trip) and two huge liter bottles of water for me because they were on sale. I think Robinson Caruso could have survived on those two bottles of water. But it wouldn’t go to waste in the next week. Rich took the longer way off property and I had to laugh. He just has this one brain cell for driving around Disney. So he never thinks of alternatives. The location of French Quarter left tons of different and quicker ways but he didn’t consider them. I didn’t say anything and left him to his own devices. I did tell him later that he took a longer way. Divorce papers have not yet been served so I guess we’re fine. We took one bathroom break and Rich still drove until we needed gas. In Georgia. There was one place that I had been eyeing for all of our trips. Magnolia Plantation which has a zillion billboards all up and down I75. They promise T shirts and pecan logs and all kinds of interesting food items. It’s at exit 55 along I75 and it worked into when we needed gas. So we stopped. And we will be stopping again in the future. The Goo Goo Glusters got Rich. He loves these and they are hard to find. Not at Magnolia Plantation. He got two boxes plus some peanut brittle. There’s everything here. Lots of unusual things. Like garlic jelly. What the heck is that? All kinds of different syrups, jellies, butters, dressings, and candy. BBQ sauce that is hotter than heck or “for sissies” (probably still too hot for me). I picked up some Vidalia onion creamy Ranch dressing. We will be back on future trips just to check out everything. Prices aren’t that bad either. My dressing was $3.69. The only problem was you had to pay for the gas separately and outside of the store. That was easily settled since, surprise! Rich left me to pump while he went inside. I took over driving (finally) and then did the last three and a half hours straight through. Neither one of us needed a bathroom break and I just drove. I did mention that I was surprised Rich was letting me go through Atlanta. He said he was scared but OK. He did say that he considered having me stop but thought the traffic was fine for me to continue on. If things had gotten worse, he would have taken over. I don’t think I got below 60 MPH the entire time. Except for some RPS (Residual Pinhead Slowing) for a car in a ditch on the other side of I75. Not too bad considering it was a holiday weekend. Back home to the cats who were relatively good for the weekend. No surprises this time. I think it was too hot. Dinner was supposed to be Subway but we quickly found out that everything here closes for the Fourth. Rich went out for the sandwiches and then tried for the more “standard” fast food. We ended up with Arby’s. One of the very few places open for the holiday. We need to plan this better. Although future July Fourths will be at home. Next year, we only get Tuesday off and have to work Monday. No three day weekend there. Final Thoughts and Overall Impressions Weather – hot, hot, and hot. Always take a water bottle. Always refill from the many fountains. Always stay hydrated. I’m the type of person that has to have cold water. Taking the bottle in our one bag was a life saver for both of us. I took bottles along but I didn’t take enough for the morning. Next summer trip, I’ll take a case and utilize what I need. If I had remembered about the refrigerator in the moderate, I would have done this. The washcloth in the Ziploc was priceless. And taking a change of shirts and underwear for Rich (and the shirt for me) was great. Really made the difference in the day. We also put a bigger Ziploc into the bag for the stinky items. My only fallacy was not to put in a change of socks. That led to my blisters and I won’t be making that mistake in the future. Food – we didn’t do too much. The pizza at the Boardwalk window was great for our first day. It never disappoints. And the lunch at Le Cellier was excellent. Good service and good food. When a burger makes Rich take pause, well, it’s a winner. I only wish their wine selection was better priced. I love a good glass of wine with a meal but I’m not paying that much for it. Wine snob, I am not. Touring – we only did Epcot, yet again. But we had such a great time with the two attractions (Soarin’ and Mission:Space) that we did. The entertainment yet again was fantastic. That’s why we love the place. There’s always something to do there. I didn’t expect the American Vybe show but we both loved it. Probably me more than Rich. Disney nails the American patriotism every time and I’m so glad they do. I write this days after the London bombings and my thoughts are there. Just like a lot of Great Britain’s thoughts were with us after 9/11/01. I just feel so connected with the world while at Epcot. Yes, I am a sentimental fool. I won’t even get into Off Kilter. Another great visit with them. Resort – I can’t go on enough about French Quarter. The whole setup. It was just like being in New Orleans. It was quaint Disney. I’m so glad we finally got to stay here. It’ll be my number one moderate if we stay at one again. We’re in at the Caribbean Beach for Labor Day and I’m toying with changing that to French Quarter. I’m so tempted. The only downfall is the location. Since we drive every where, it’s a bit of a challenge with Rich “I’ll get every red light on property” to get anywhere on Buena Vista Drive. Family – they weren’t with us for this trip. But only in body. In spirit they were. I ended up winning our fantasy NASCAR weekend – the first time this year. Big Whoo Hoo! The Kids had a great time in Maryland with the grandparents and vice versa. I even made Chandra do a trip report for it. I felt so much closer to her since her observations were the same as mine. Great weekend for everything even though we were hundreds of miles apart. All in all, this was a great trip. Other than the toothpaste episode, Rich and I were in synch the whole time. We were stressed out when we left but so totally de-toxed when we got back. It wasn’t a long visit but a necessary one. I find that you can recapture a ton of Pixie Dust and Magic with just a short time at Disney World. Bottle that up and you’d make a fortune. Feel free to email with any thoughts or comments. Sheri Kiklewski disnut8@hotmail.com Mail a Comment to Sheri Niklewski |
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