DAY 7 - TUES 22nd SEPT
The girls and I get
up at 8:00. Tammy has been up since 6:30 and has
collected the coffee from the food court. Now you may
think she is being a saint, getting up early and
cosseting the family but I know her secret agenda. She
has been having a sneaky Cherry Danish! Didn't bring one
back for me, either. (mumble, grumble.)
The weather is foggy but not too bad, so off to the Magic
Kingdom.
We aim straight for Splash Mountain. Georgia says she
wants to do this even after seeing the drop. I realise we
have made a mistake after the second small drop when the
wants to get off. She survives, of course, but is
frightened. We had to buy the picture, the look on her
face is pure terror. India enjoys it, which is good as
this is the first time she has ridden too.
Tammy is pleased that
India likes Splash Mountain as this means she won't have
to ride it again this trip as India is shaping up into my
ride buddy.
On to Big Thunder Mountain which is India's second
favourite ride. After her fright Georgia does not want to
ride so we do the baby swap with India riding twice.
Pirates of the Caribbean is next, which we all come
through without any problem.
On to the Swiss Family Treehouse which is looking very
smart after the rehab. Georgia is having a little sulk
and is not keen on having to walk around the treehouse,
so a sit down in the Tiki Room seems like a good idea.
I have to say that I think the New Tiki Room is a big
improvement. It was in need of modernising. I have read
that some people think it will date very quickly but I
would think that once the audioanimatronic figures are in
place it would be fairly easy to re-programme a new
soundtrack in the future.
A rest break for coke and cappuccino floats later, we are
off to the Country Bear Jamboree. Georgia falls asleep
but I don't think that this is a critical appraisal of
the show on her behalf.
Now, I know you must all be a bit concerned that
everything must be drying out, after all we haven't seen
any rain for at least 5 hours. Fret no more, here it
comes again. We jump on the riverboat for once around the
river, which is pleasant but is always nicer in the
sunshine. (What isn't?)
After lunch at Pecos Bill's we go to the Haunted Mansion.
Georgia is fine with this but India is scared in the
graveyard by all the things that pop out from behind the
gravestones.
It's funny how you appreciate different things on
different trips. I really enjoyed the old Mansion this
time, not that I don't always but sometimes things can
lose their impact after many repeats. It was a pleasure
just standing and looking at the outside and noticing
things like the bat weather vane, which I have never
noticed before.
We find a place to stand and watch the Remember the Magic
parade, close to the stocks in Liberty Square. It is
raining hard so everyone has umbrellas up. The parade
starts late and India and I are stood on a small wall so
she can see. Just as it gets underway a rather rude lady
jumps up on the wall right in front of India and proceeds
to wave her brolly around in order to make it even harder
to see.
I have had enough, I jump down off the wall and lift down
the lady. I then tell her 'Madam, if cannot control your
umbrella, then you do not deserve to be in charge of it.'
Then I fold up her brolly and break it over my leg.
All right, all right, so I am exaggerating slightly. What
I actually do is go 'tut' quite quietly, but I think I
make my point.
With a bit of jigging around we manage to get a view for
India.
The pictures above were not taken on this rainy day, but you can't get too much of a Disney parade, can you?
Even in the rain, without the stops for children to play
games and with the lady characters holding umbrellas (by
the way chaps, look out for Pocahontas, a definite babe)
this parade is 100 times better than Mickey Mania, which
was the afternoon parade last time we were here.
All those large mouse parts walking around singing 'Rock
the house with the mouse.' Weird.
We return to the hotel where I take the girls for a swim
in the rain while Tammy has a rest. We decide to go to
Planet Hollywood and then on to Pleasure Island. As it
turns out it would have been better to go to Epcot for
Illuminations as this is only the second dry night we
have had since we have been here.
We arrive at Planet Hollywood around 6:30 and only wait
about 5 mins to get in. It is another 25 mins or so until
we are seated.
Tammy has a burger with bacon and cheese and I have
chicken breasts with mashed potato. We actually eat half
of each others, that way we can try two things. I know
that this place is loud and a little brash but we both
thought the food was excellent and not badly priced by
WDW standards.
The girls have burgers and fries but India is not very
well and doesn't eat anything.
A decision is made to go straight back to the room but
just as we reach the bus stop India decides that she
feels better and wants to go to the Adventurers Club.
After many 'Are you sure?'s, off we go to Pleasure
Island.
Of course, when we get there we find that the Adventurers
Club is closed until 9:15 for a private party, so we go
to the Rock n Roll Beach Club instead. A band are playing
and the girls are happy on the arcade games. It's great
for the pocket because, at their age, they don't even
want to put money in, they are content jumping on the
bikes and cars and pretending to drive.
A game of table football sees Tammy and Georgia beat me
and India. I still maintain someone must have slipped a
tranquilliser into my beer to affect my performance so
drastically.
India feels ill again. (I know how she feels, getting
beaten by Tammy at table football makes me feel ill too.)
The poor thing has been so good but all the excitement
and late nights have caught up with her, so it's straight
back to the hotel and in bed by 9:30.
