DAY 5 - SATURDAY 21ST OCTOBER
We must be
getting used to Florida time as we have to be woken up at 7.30am
to get ready for the Magic Kingdom.
Deb is now not the only one with insect bites. I am definitely
second in the sting table although everyone has a few. I think it
must be down to not enough alcohol in the bloodstream. Memo to
self – drink more beer.
We arrive at the Magic Kingdom and are entering the gates just after 9.00am. Straight to Splash Mountain where we walk on. We all get soaked, but Deb is not happy, as she doesn’t like getting wet. She now hates holidaying with the Stringers.
Big Thunder Mountain is next, which is fun as usual. We want to ride Pirates of the Caribbean next, but it’s ‘experiencing technical difficulties’. That’s Cast Member speak for ‘bleedin’ things broken again’.
We met these two evil characters just across from Pirates. Smee and Hook were with them too.
Over to the Haunted Mansion for a happy haunting. I’m with Georgia in a doombuggy and we get the old ghost to come home with us at the end of the ride. Matt comments afterwards that it looked like my twin brother had joined us. Oh, very humerous!
An early lunch at Columbia Harbour House is next as we will be eating at reunion this evening before the second rock night. Tam and I both have the half sandwich with soup, which is always quite good.
Pirates of the Caribbean is still down so we go to Tommorowland and do the TTA, Carousel of Progress and then Buzz, where I triumph as usual with 129,800. (Thanks to Deb’s excellent memory for remembering that).
Cakey things
are bought from the Main Street Bakery before Deb, Matt and Tam
decide to go back to the villa for a short rest. And I’M the
old one?
Me and the girls try and do Pirates, but it’s still down so
we do the Tiki Birds instead. As we come out we try Pirates one
more time. Would you believe it is now open, but the queue is way
out the door and the wait is over 50 minutes.
I know it looks nice, just let me on the ride!
We pass and go
on to Stitch’s Great Escape instead. The girls have never
done this so they enjoy it.
Once again we experience a dumb parent in the pre-show where a
child is having a veritable meltdown through fear of the
attraction. The parent still decides to drag the unfortunate
child into the show where it continues to scream it’s head
off. Nice.
We now leave
the park and are back at Reunion 45 minutes later. The girls are
straight in the pool and we discuss what we are doing tomorrow.
It will probably be MGM and Deb says she may not do any of the
rides, but just stroll around. Georgia asks if she is scared of
Ariel and Matt says ‘Only if she’s got an Uzi’.
The girls and Matt then have a bombing competition and I try to
tell them how to grab hold of their knees and curl up into a ball
to create a bigger splash. Georgia says that Matt doesn’t
grab his knees when he does it, so I have to point out that Matt
has a large belly to help him. The next bomb heads my way for
some reason.
The last rock
night at Reunion is featuring Kenny Loggins and The Doobie
Brothers. We have bought tickets for the buffet at $34 a head as
the menu looks nice and we will be able to relax with a meal and
a few drinks before the dancin’.
We ring for a shuttle at 5.30pm and are driven down to the venue.
We are given a wristband to enter the food area and we can then
go in and out at anytime until 8.00pm. The food is pretty good
with steak, pork, shrimp, chicken etc. as well as everything that
goes with it.
Deb is determined to sit in the very front row tonight so she and Matt go down to the stage to grab some seats while the rest of us finish our food. It’s very well organised and you get given a wristband for the front row so that no one can gatecrash. A few trips are made back and forward to the bar and we find one particularly generous female bartender. Matt is drinking Jack Daniels and she puts a few chunks of ice in the bottom of his ½ pint plastic tumbler and then fills it to the brim with alcohol! I have vodka and coke while the ladies Margaritas. All of these are made to the same strength as Matt’s. Thank you lovely bar type server person.
Kenny Loggins
is on first and we are all expecting some sort of cheesy rock
artist, but he is actually very good, playing mostly something I
can only describe as Californian Country and Western.
The Doobie Brothers take to the stage at 9.00pm and I really
can’t begin to tell you how good they are. India was
especially not looking forward to seeing them after listening to
their Greatest Hits CD, but live they are totally different.
Everyone is on their feet as the 4 guitars that front the band
produce a foot stomping blues wall of sound.
Lots of the show is being videoed and the guy with the camera
seems to spend a lot of time filming Deb and Tam. Whether this is
for a promotional video for Ginn resorts or for the TV show
‘When Dancers Go Bad’ I’m not sure.
At the end of the set the whole band take a bow at the front of
the stage and the drummer throws his sticks down to us where Tam
and Matt both catch one. I think this may be a reward for the
combined efforts of the Stringer & Churchill comedy dancing
team.
While most people are leaving we sit and relax for a few moments while Matt hangs around the stage wearing his best puppy dog look. It works as one of the roadies gives him a set listing and a handful of guitar picks.
A shuttle back to the villa where Tam goes straight out the back door, throws off her dress and jumps in the pool! For those of a sensitive disposition I should point out that she does have her underwear on. The girls at least retain enough decorum to change into their swimsuits before joining her.
Deb promptly falls asleep on the sofa (probably a wise thing to do when confronted by a semi-naked Tammy in your swimming pool) while Matt and I retire to the games room for a spot of poolage. The ladies eventually join us from their swim. Even Deb wakes up and comes to see what’s going on. I think the cumulative score is now something like 17 – 13 in my favour, although I must admit the 4 frame lead is a little unfair as I’m surprised Matt can stand let alone wield a pool cue after the volume of Jack Daniels he has consumed.
The music is
turned up loud and we all sing along to ‘If I Had A Million
Dollars’ by the Barenaked Ladies. Very appropriate given
Tam’s midnight swimming activities and the fact that a
million dollars is about the amount you would need to buy the
villa we are staying in!
It’s all a little hazy, but I think we went to bed around
1.00am.