DAY 11 - SAT 26th SEPT
We have a lie in
today and as the sleep slowly drains away from me, my
brain finally registers the full horror of the day ahead.
Shopping!
The very mention of the word is enough to strike fear
into the heart of any real man.
Tammy's eyes are misting over and she is staring off into
the distance in a sort of trance murmuring 'shopping,
shopping, shopping'.
Oh well, lets get it over with.
We arrive at the Belz Factory Outlet around 11:00. The
Character Warehouse takes a hammering with a Tigger
sweatshirt for me and a Pooh for Tam. The girls get books
and hats and various presents are bought.
This place is great for authentic Disney merchandise at
reduced rates. We find an Alice in Wonderland poster for
$3.99, the same posters in the Animation Gallery are $25.
Tam and I both buy Caterpillar boots and shoes, Tammy
also buys a pair of Levis.
Two and a half hours have now elapsed and I am beginning
to show minor signs of irritation, you know, snarling,
snapping, kicking small children. A word of advice, if
you must vent your anger on children, pick the small
ones, the bigger ones tend to fight back.
We leave and stop off at a supermarket to buy lots of
sweets for family members, work colleagues etc.
I think we have spent too long away from WDW, Tammy
thinks we have not spent long enough shopping. On the
next trip we will compromise, I will drop Tammy off
shopping for the day while I go somewhere else. The girls
can choose where they go.
Back at the All Star Music we have a quick swim and a
shower before we are off to DisneyQuest to use our flex
feature. We get there around 6:00 and queue for a short
while before we get in with 80 credits each.
The lift is fun with the Genie welcoming you and putting
on a short show until you arrive at the 3rd floor.
Tammy and I go on the Mighty Ducks Pinball Slam which is
good fun, the winner from each game gets to stay on for
nothing. Tammy says her legs feel like jelly afterwards
whereas I, being the perfect physical specimen, am fine.
Years of playing soccer have moulded me into top
condition. (cough, cough, cough.)
The girls then get to do all sorts of fun things like
making stickers and morphing their faces into all sorts
of funny shapes. I get up upset when someone thinks that
I look better after the silly features have been added.
Tam and I have a go at the Aladdin flying carpet ride
which is very clever.
We all have a go on the Virtual Raft Ride, which is fun
and not too rough.
Dinner is at the Cheesecake Factory. I had read that the
food here was good and they were not wrong. Tammy and I
have Teriyaki Chicken Wrap while the girls have their
usual fries. They have lived on french fries for 2 weeks
but we consider this is OK as they are on holiday. Back
to the usual gruel and water when they get home.
Tammy finds what she has been looking for all holiday -
hot fudge brownie sundae. Her expert opinion, very good
but not up to the same high standard as the sundae in
Port Orleans. We all have to attack this thing but it
still doesn't get finished. How can one person eat this?
Looking around at some of the people answers that
question.
On to the Alien Encounter thing, which I do with two
young lads. It helps to do this with someone who knows
how to fly this thing. We rescue 23 colonists from the
aliens, due mostly to my expert skills as a tail gunner.
Tammy then starts to queue up for Ride the Comix. Here is
where things start to go amiss. Of the 12 stations, 8 are
down and only 4 in use. While Tammy queues me and the
girls play the silly little games where you get tickets.
Tam has to queue for over half an hour, which is
ridiculous when you consider that there were very few
people ahead of her and that we have had virtual walk ons
for nearly everything in the parks.
Mind you, it is quite funny watching people waving these
imaginary swords around in front of them, locked in their
own little world.
By this time we have about 400 tickets and go to redeem
them. The queue is big and hardly moves in 15 mins. We
are supposed to be going to Pleasure Island and you can
tell I'm slightly miffed by the wisps of steam coming
from my ears.
We give up on this, much to the horror of the girls who
have set their hearts on some horrendous piece of
brightly coloured plastic, and tears ensue.
To sum up DisneyQuest: Good fun but don't go on a
Saturday night. Allow at least 3 - 4 hours. I don't think
I would pay a lot of money for this but as a flex feature
it's great.
What is this American fascination with amusement machines
that give tickets for prizes that you could buy at a
tenth of the cost? Strange. Before you all shout at me, I
also know the answer, Kids love 'em.
It is now 10:00 and we are going to the Adventurers Club
come what may. I know that I have said in the past that
children are out of place later in the evening at
Pleasure Island but this will be our last chance to visit
on this holiday so we open the nearest window and hurl
our principles as far as we can.
India is tired and playing up a bit. She is doing the
monkey walk that all children do when tired. Head down,
shoulders slumped, knuckles scraping on the ground. I
know she will love the Adventurers Club so in we go.
Georgia falls asleep but India loves it.
The library is out of action for some reason so all the
entertainment takes place in the main lounge, mask room
and treasure room. India is in her element, watching
everything, laughing, trying to sing along. Anyone that
says children shouldn't go to the Adventurers Club should
have been there to watch her.
Tammy has a Kungaloosh for the first time, which is
excellent.
I wish we could stay longer but decide we should leave as
it is now approaching 11:30. We walk back through the
West Side. It is the first time that I have really
stopped to look at it.
I suppose the whole area has grown so much that I miss
the more intimate feel that it used to have but the
restaurants look lovely at night, except the House of
Blues which looks suitably grotty. My only real moan is
that I will never have enough time or money to try them
all, at least not on one trip.
We stop off at DisneyQuest to try and redeem the tickets
again but the queue is still huge at 11:45. Something
must be seriously wrong here as I can see a couple of
skeletons towards the front.
Just as the bus pulls in at 12:00 we see the New Years
Eve fireworks going off from Pleasure Island. Just
another small joy that adds up to the overall miracle
that is a Disney holiday.
