"Carnotaurus and Chicken Girl: a BAD combination"
Friday, 17 November 2000
Animal Kingdom day! We arrived at the park at 7:40, and the gates opened just before 8:00. As usual, we joined the stampede and headed for the Safaris. We really enjoyed the safari because SO MANY animals were out and about--lots of activity.
We wandered around for a bit, then headed to Camp Minnie-Mickey for the flag-raising ceremony. (Minnie, Mickey, and Pluto did the honors. Cute!) We saw the Pocahontas show, and I tried to ignore the liberal feminist voice in my head. (I actually use Disney's Pocahontas as an example of a terrible interpretation of history in my American lit class. I confess!) However, my daughter was not concerned with the issue of misrepresentation of ethnicity; she just liked the animals!
After the show, we headed to DinoLand, to Donald's Breakfastosaurus for our morning meal. The service was good, and the food wasn't bad, but I wasn't wildly enthusiastic about this character meal. (I am not a big breakfast person.) After eating, we went to the BoneYard (one of my daughter's favorite places at WDW).
Chicken Girl LOVES dinosaurs. She likes to hear stories about them, watch movies about them, talk about them incessantly, etc. She had been begging me FOREVER to let her ride Dinosaur at Animal Kingdom. However, I know that she is CHICKEN GIRL, and I was not thrilled about that plan. I told her that she wouldn't like it. She told me that she would.
So, I rode it to get an impression. (And I got fast passes for the family.) My husband asked, "Do you think she can handle it?" I replied, "I don't know. It's bumpy, and I think the carnotaurus might scare her, but--BY GOD--she's going to ride it because I'M SICK OF HEARING HER WHINE ABOUT IT!!!"
We buckled up and went in search of the iguanadon. I noticed that Chicken Girl was being remarkably calm. (She knew better than to complain; she was the one who BEGGED to ride.) After the ride ended, we strolled out of the building. Chicken Girl seemed a bit shaken, but none the worse for wear.
I smiled at my husband. Success! He smiled back and asked, "How much longer did you plan to stay at Animal Kingdom today?" I replied, "Oh, I don't know. Another couple of hours, maybe." He said, "Sorry, but that's not going to happen. When the carnotaurus lunged at our car, our darling daughter wet her pants!" AAAAACCCCCKKKK!!! It was true.
We caught the first bus back to the WL post haste and spent the afternoon there. Chicken Girl went swimming under her dad's supervision, and I read a book in the Iron Spike Room at the Villas.
When I returned to our room, I was delighted to see what had taken the housekeeper so long. My daughter's stuffed animals were all sitting on the couch. The monkey was riding the dinosaur; Thumper had the remote control, and they were all watching television!
As I was snapping photos, the housekeeper came into the room. She apologized for bursting in and said, "I didn't know you were here! A light is not working properly, so I brought someone from maintenance to check it." I bragged on her creativity and thanked her for noticing the lighting problem. She seemed genuinely pleased that I was so excited about the stuffed animals; I told her that my daughter was going to be thrilled (and she was).
We had plans to eat dinner at Whispering Canyon Cafe with some DISers: "dt" and her husband and "marty" and her husband. As we strolled through the lobby on the way to the restaurant, a a woman called out my daughter's name (which took us all by surprise!). "Marty?" I asked. "Yes," she said, and we began the talk-a-thon that would continue for the remainder of the evening. "dt" and her hubby arrived soon thereafter, and we went into the restaurant.
Our server, Jeff (a. k. a. Jeffro Bodeen) was very good. He participated in the antics, but he also allowed us to talk without too much interruption. I became a member of his fan club when he brought my daughter's dinner out early, with the drinks. As soon as she finished eating, I whisked her over to the Cub's Den for the evening, and the adults enjoyed each other's company. I had the pork chops, and my meal was great. Others ordered the BBQ skillet, a pasta dish, and a fish dish. We had no room for dessert!
After dinner my husband and I gave our friends a tour of the Villas. The Iron Spike room is really wonderful--great leather rockers, fireplace, window seat, model trains. Then, we went to our villa and gave a tour of it. We enjoyed a nice long visit before I went to collect Chicken Girl.
"marty" and her husband departed for their resort. "dt" and her husband planned to go to E-ticket night at MK, but got stuck at the WL (that BAD boat transportation again).
After I tucked Chicken Girl into bed, I changed clothes and grabbed my videocamera and some reading material. I had read that the WL was going to be decorated for Christmas during the night of the 17th, so I wanted to see the elves in action.
I left my husband and daughter sleeping soundly, and went to the WL lobby around 10:00. The elves were in action! They had moved the furniture and were beginning to work on the electrical carts hidden by the base of the tree. Meanwhile, CM's were unloading garlands, wreaths, pre-decorated small trees, etc. The whole process was fascinating to watch! It literally took hours to assemble the "trunk" of the main tree in the lobby. I was astonished to learn that the tree is assembled branch by color-coded branch. I enjoyed watching the people huddle in groups for decorating strategy sessions.
I met a new friend, who settled into the chair beside me to watch the proceedings. We went to Roaring Forks to replenish our refillable mugs and got busted by some CM who told us that the restaurant was closed. We just smiled like idiots, filled up our mugs, and left. We stayed up until 2:30, but I called it a night at that point!
I just thought that decorating my house for Christmas was a job! What I could do with about 100 elves!!!
Friday, 17 November 2000
Animal Kingdom day! We arrived at the park at 7:40, and the gates opened just before 8:00. As usual, we joined the stampede and headed for the Safaris. We really enjoyed the safari because SO MANY animals were out and about--lots of activity.
We wandered around for a bit, then headed to Camp Minnie-Mickey for the flag-raising ceremony. (Minnie, Mickey, and Pluto did the honors. Cute!) We saw the Pocahontas show, and I tried to ignore the liberal feminist voice in my head. (I actually use Disney's Pocahontas as an example of a terrible interpretation of history in my American lit class. I confess!) However, my daughter was not concerned with the issue of misrepresentation of ethnicity; she just liked the animals!
After the show, we headed to DinoLand, to Donald's Breakfastosaurus for our morning meal. The service was good, and the food wasn't bad, but I wasn't wildly enthusiastic about this character meal. (I am not a big breakfast person.) After eating, we went to the BoneYard (one of my daughter's favorite places at WDW).
Chicken Girl LOVES dinosaurs. She likes to hear stories about them, watch movies about them, talk about them incessantly, etc. She had been begging me FOREVER to let her ride Dinosaur at Animal Kingdom. However, I know that she is CHICKEN GIRL, and I was not thrilled about that plan. I told her that she wouldn't like it. She told me that she would.
So, I rode it to get an impression. (And I got fast passes for the family.) My husband asked, "Do you think she can handle it?" I replied, "I don't know. It's bumpy, and I think the carnotaurus might scare her, but--BY GOD--she's going to ride it because I'M SICK OF HEARING HER WHINE ABOUT IT!!!"
We buckled up and went in search of the iguanadon. I noticed that Chicken Girl was being remarkably calm. (She knew better than to complain; she was the one who BEGGED to ride.) After the ride ended, we strolled out of the building. Chicken Girl seemed a bit shaken, but none the worse for wear.
I smiled at my husband. Success! He smiled back and asked, "How much longer did you plan to stay at Animal Kingdom today?" I replied, "Oh, I don't know. Another couple of hours, maybe." He said, "Sorry, but that's not going to happen. When the carnotaurus lunged at our car, our darling daughter wet her pants!" AAAAACCCCCKKKK!!! It was true.
We caught the first bus back to the WL post haste and spent the afternoon there. Chicken Girl went swimming under her dad's supervision, and I read a book in the Iron Spike Room at the Villas.
When I returned to our room, I was delighted to see what had taken the housekeeper so long. My daughter's stuffed animals were all sitting on the couch. The monkey was riding the dinosaur; Thumper had the remote control, and they were all watching television!
As I was snapping photos, the housekeeper came into the room. She apologized for bursting in and said, "I didn't know you were here! A light is not working properly, so I brought someone from maintenance to check it." I bragged on her creativity and thanked her for noticing the lighting problem. She seemed genuinely pleased that I was so excited about the stuffed animals; I told her that my daughter was going to be thrilled (and she was).
We had plans to eat dinner at Whispering Canyon Cafe with some DISers: "dt" and her husband and "marty" and her husband. As we strolled through the lobby on the way to the restaurant, a a woman called out my daughter's name (which took us all by surprise!). "Marty?" I asked. "Yes," she said, and we began the talk-a-thon that would continue for the remainder of the evening. "dt" and her hubby arrived soon thereafter, and we went into the restaurant.
Our server, Jeff (a. k. a. Jeffro Bodeen) was very good. He participated in the antics, but he also allowed us to talk without too much interruption. I became a member of his fan club when he brought my daughter's dinner out early, with the drinks. As soon as she finished eating, I whisked her over to the Cub's Den for the evening, and the adults enjoyed each other's company. I had the pork chops, and my meal was great. Others ordered the BBQ skillet, a pasta dish, and a fish dish. We had no room for dessert!
After dinner my husband and I gave our friends a tour of the Villas. The Iron Spike room is really wonderful--great leather rockers, fireplace, window seat, model trains. Then, we went to our villa and gave a tour of it. We enjoyed a nice long visit before I went to collect Chicken Girl.
"marty" and her husband departed for their resort. "dt" and her husband planned to go to E-ticket night at MK, but got stuck at the WL (that BAD boat transportation again).
After I tucked Chicken Girl into bed, I changed clothes and grabbed my videocamera and some reading material. I had read that the WL was going to be decorated for Christmas during the night of the 17th, so I wanted to see the elves in action.
I left my husband and daughter sleeping soundly, and went to the WL lobby around 10:00. The elves were in action! They had moved the furniture and were beginning to work on the electrical carts hidden by the base of the tree. Meanwhile, CM's were unloading garlands, wreaths, pre-decorated small trees, etc. The whole process was fascinating to watch! It literally took hours to assemble the "trunk" of the main tree in the lobby. I was astonished to learn that the tree is assembled branch by color-coded branch. I enjoyed watching the people huddle in groups for decorating strategy sessions.
I met a new friend, who settled into the chair beside me to watch the proceedings. We went to Roaring Forks to replenish our refillable mugs and got busted by some CM who told us that the restaurant was closed. We just smiled like idiots, filled up our mugs, and left. We stayed up until 2:30, but I called it a night at that point!
I just thought that decorating my house for Christmas was a job! What I could do with about 100 elves!!!
) We too did the gonna ride that ride and shut her up thing and she was sick to her stomach for about an hour after. And she had wanted to ride this ride after being completed terrorized on the Jurassic Park ride at Universal...she begged to go on that one too because she wanted to see the giant T-rex...his head was as big as a car and he was alittle to close for comfort! 
