DAY 8- FRIDAY 29TH MAY
We’re up breakfasted and out the rooms by 10.00am on our way to the Magic Kingdom. It’s not a bad morning, but there is quite a lot of cloud around as we walk up Main Street.
3 generations of Stringer's on Main Street
As we get towards the castle at 11.00am a parade starts. I think it’s called Mickey’s Jump Up and Down Shouting to Loud Music Parade as 4 floats with characters and large gift boxes on move down and take up position around the hub. Another character jumps out of each box as the MC type person orders us to ‘Make some noise’. For one thing, I don’t like being told what to do and for another I am not particularly in the mood to make some noise, loud or otherwise.
Turning our backs on the raucous goings-on, we enter Tommorowland in order to do a couple of attractions Grandma has not seen before. The first is the Monsters Inc Laughter Floor. It’s a nice little show, but Susan reminds me that it used to be Timekeeper and I liked that a lot more.
Next is Stitch’s Great Escape. I’m sat next to Georgia and Stitch must be leaking nasal effluent today as she ends up with a wet patch on the front of her dress from a constant drip above. At least I hope it was nasal effluent.
Mickey’s Philharmagic is next and we don’t have to wait too long before entering, although we are just 3 rows from the front and I think you get the effects much better from a few rows further back.
We decide on an
early lunch now and choose Pinocchio’s Village Haus. The
girls have chicken nuggets and Tam and I have Chicken Caesar
Salad. We also have some Figaro Fries. This is a carton of French
fries along with a pot of bacon bits and a pot of melted chesse.
Lord, there must be enough salt in this to give you your monthly
recommended intake in one go. When the roads are icy in the UK,
forget the gritting lorries, issue the council with a couple of
portions of Figaro Fries, that will keep the roads clear.
There is a little balcony outside that nobody is using for some
reason, so we sit there and it’s so much nicer than in the
packed restaurant. Luckily it’s covered as the rain starts
to come down again. It’s actually very pleasant sat under
cover in the warm Florida air watching the rain falling. By the
time we’re finished the rain has stopped again.
We stroll through Frontierland and head towards the train station. The crowds are large again today; in fact it’s been pretty packed everywhere all week. Susan tells us it’s not only due to Memorial Day, but also because many of the US schools have now finished for the summer.
We get the train to Main Street and exit the park to get the monorail to Epcot. On the journey over it starts to rain quite heavily. Once again we are in the dry as the rain falls and once again the rain stops as we reach our destination. In fact there is bright sunshine as we enter Epcot. I have no idea why we are so lucky, perhaps it’s the clean living and virtuous life I have led.
We chose to ride the monorail to Epcot and walk through to the Boardwalk for no other reason than that it’s fun to do. On the way we stop in Club Cool to try the free beverages. Of course, we have to trick Grandma into trying the Beverley. By pure coincidence I happen to be videoing her at the time. The look on her face is priceless, as Tam says, this could be a big hit on Youtube.
There's a bit at the end of this video with Grandma's reaction to Beverley
It’s a lovely walk through Epcot, out the International Gateway and round to the Boardwalk.
We’re all
showered and changed by 5.00pm and walk to the lobby where Vernon
(our DVC friend) picks me, Tam, India and Georgia up and drives
us across to the Treehouses at Saratoga where he is staying for
the evening with his family as a sort of DVC perk, but also so he
can familiarise himself with the layout and check everything is
working properly.
Vernon shows us around and we are all very impressed. There are 3
bedrooms, a master with en-suite, a double and a bedroom with
bunk beds. There is also a pull out sofa and chair in the living
room, so it can sleep up to 9 people.
Vernon tells us that it will cost the same number of points to
stay here as a 2 bedroom unit in Saratoga Springs, which is
amazing.
The retro taps are cool
I think there are 60 treehouses in total and they are spread out just enough so that each one feels fairly isolated and quiet. The units are on legs, similar to the old treehouses, but are all brand new. This particular unit overlooks the golf course and Saratoga Springs on one side, but is surrounded by pine trees otherwise. It’s very nicely decorated with a comfortable living area and full kitchen. I could imagine coming back to this haven of tranquillity after a day of hustle and bustle in the parks.
There is a raised external seating area with a table and 4 chairs and we sit and chat for a while until we have to get back to the Boardwalk as we are meeting friends tonight for an evening at Jellyrolls. Vernon drives us back and we say goodbye and thank him for showing us around the treehouse, it would have been nice to spend a while longer with him.
Back at the Boardwalk we head for the Belle Vue Lounge where margaritas are the order of the day. Martin and Mandy arrive around 6.15pm (they are staying up by Universal) and we chat away before leaving to eat at the Big River Grill and Brewing Works.
There is a 15 minute wait, but that’s no problem as it’s a beautiful evening and we enjoy the sights and sounds of the Boardwalk, which is buzzing as it’s certainly the finest evening we’ve had since we arrived.
We may not be the height of sartorial elegance, but by golly we ought to get points for trying!
I find the food in Big River to be so-so. I have the burger, which looks very nice, but has a totally bland flavour. The portions are certainly huge as Tam has the meatloaf and there are 3 great slabs of it.
We leave around
9.15pm just in time to see the end of Reflections of Earth above
the ESPN Club. India and Georgia leave us at this point to go to
Extra Magic Hours at the Magic Kingdom as you have to be 21 to
get into Jellyrolls.
The rest of us enter and we find a table for the 6 of us 3 rows
from the front. The four piano players (they take it in turns to
play in pairs) are as skilful as ever and we recognise some of
them from the last time we were here.
I’m not
sure if I can find the correct words to put the next bit into a
Disney trip report, but I’ll give it a go!
About half way through the evening, two seats become free right
at the front of the stage and a couple make their way through to
sit down. He reminds me of Gaston as he is roughly the size of a
barge. You could lie me down sideways and I’d probably just
about fit across his shoulders and he must be at least 6 foot 2
inches tall. He plonks himself down, puts his feet up on the
stage and proceeds to eat popcorn and drink beer for the next 3
hours.
His partner is as close to a plastic Barbie doll as I’ve
ever seen. She’s teetering around on enormous high heels,
has bright platinum hair and is squeezed into a tiny orange
dress. When I say ‘squeezed’, I mean
‘squeezed’, her neckline doesn’t so much plunge as
plummet.
This is a lady who is clearly on first name terms with her
plastic surgeon. I wouldn’t say her bust has been enhanced,
more pumped up to full volume. Whatever undergarments she is
wearing to restrain these beauties must be creaking at the seams
as they manfully struggle to prevent full-blown fallout. Tam
thinks they are a fairly recent addition as Miss Barbie thrusts
them forward enthusiastically and stares down lovingly at them at
every opportunity. Stick with me folks, I promise we’ll
return to Miss Barbie shortly.
If you’ve
ever been to Jellyrolls you’ll know that they do a fair
amount of audience participation stuff, not something I
particularly enjoy, but each to their own. Somewhere in the room
there is a girl called April who is enjoying her first legal
drink on her 21st
birthday. The piano players call her up on stage and get her to
do the ‘Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes’ dance, which
involves singing along and touching these parts of your body in
time to the music.
Now April is not very good at this and, after several attempts,
the piano players decide to get someone else up on stage to help
her out and ask for a volunteer.
You may have
thought me a little cruel to Miss Barbie earlier, but believe me,
all the tables around where she has been sat have been staring
incredulously, the table in front of us have been cracking up on
a regular basis, so when the pianists ask for a volunteer
everyone points to Miss Barbie in unison.
To her credit she teeters up on stage, enjoying all the attention
she’s getting. The whole audience collectively holds
it’s breath, waiting for the knees and toes part to see if
there is a chest explosion of magnificent proportions.
‘Head’
…. Gasp!
‘Shoulders’ … here it comes!
‘Knees and toes’ …. Nothing.
We all stare
into the abyss that is her never ending cleavage, but the bosom
remains ensconced in fabric, although there’s probably a
couple of 4 x 2’s and a steel girder or two helping in the
restraint as well.
One of the guys at the table in front of us leans over to me and
says (with the unrestrained American humour I enjoy so much)
– ‘Dang! That’s like fittin’ 20 pounds of
potatoes into a 10 pound sack’.
The rest of the evening can hardly live up to that excitement, but we still have a good time. The place is packed, but it’s not really jumping like we’ve seen in the past. Margaritaville and If I Had a Million Dollars are played and Tam says ‘Oh, I miss our friends’, referring to Deb and Matt and I agree with a small tear in the corner of my eye.
And you should have seen us after we'd been drinking!
I had rather
thought that Susan and Grandma might get a little tired and go
back to the room some time after midnight, but not a bit of it,
they are still with us when the place shuts down at 1.45am.
We exit into the warm Florida night and stroll along the
Boardwalk, although ‘wobble’ might be a better
description for what Martin and I are doing as Mr Corona has paid
more than one visit to our table tonight.
A taxi is
hailed for Martin and Mandy and we say cheerio to them, wishing
them well for the rest of their holiday.
We walk back to our rooms and I can tell it’s been a good
night when Grandma attempts to open her door with a Tesco
Clubcard.
Good night.