The Home In Time For-ty Tour 2010 Day Thirteen 1st Sept 2010

[mkingdon]

Previously on this tour...

The bit before we go Day One
Day Two
Day Three
Day Four
Day Five
Day Six
Day Seven
Day Eight
Day Nine
Day Ten
Day Eleven
Day Twelve

Day Thirteen – 1st September 2010

My forties begin like this. I awake slowly, and tell Megan Fox, Jessica Alba and The Saturdays that they will have to go now, as I am afraid I may blow their minds with my sexiness if they stay any longer.

By the time I am fully awake they seem to have got the message, as they are not in the room

My notes tell me it only takes us thirty minutes to be ready and out of the door, which frankly I don’t believe! Breakfast today is an “on the go” affair, and we stop at the Marketplace shop. Being “on the go” does not mean “on the cheap” by the way. We are on Disney property of course so a lukewarm croissant, two muffins and some juice costs the equivalent of a week’s wages. No matter, I have resolved in my forties not to moan as much. I am confident this resolution will be upheld for many minutes.

We also have to procure fistfuls of painkillers for Louise, at which the CM raises a curious eyebrow, but asks no questions.

We wander down to the boat which will take us to Hollywood Studios today.





As you can see, just as we arrive, the boat turns up too, and we are on our way without further need for moaning.

It took a surprising thirty minutes to complete the journey, made all the longer by the Hispanic (uh oh there goes the promise not to moan) conference delegates who only have one volume setting, which is about 300 decibels, even though they are talking to the person sat next to them.

Once in the park, it looks fairly quiet, which is always welcome.



This is another time to bring out the “man walk”. Upon entering DHS you know you have to get a Fastpass for Toy Story Mania immediately. So I send the ladies off towards Rock n Rollercoaster, and after a quick limber up, I am off, at top speed to fulfil my mission.
I pick up several admiring glances from the folk I fly by. They marvel at my land speed and overall natural athleticism. Even my sweat patches look impressive at this point.

I break out a couple of tuts where required if someone has been foolish enough to thwart my progress for a crucial few seconds.

They won’t do THAT again!

My theory is proven, as I arrive at the Fastpass machine just before 10am, and get a return of 3.10pm!

Victorious I charge back towards the women folk, passes held aloft like some well deserved prize, singing the Rocky theme tune very loudly.

Back at the Rock n Rollercoaster, I am welcomed like the returning hero I am, and take the girls on the ride. Louise simply can’t ride today as breathing in and out is causing serious discomfort at this point. I tell her Paul McKenna like, that she WILL NOT require a doctor, so that’s bound to work.

Whilst she waits she watches this chap for a while.



The ride itself is a walk on (because every bleeder is at Toy Story Mania in the seven hour standby queue), and we enjoy it, but after all the major coaster action this trip we all feel it was a little tame in comparison now.

The obligatory guitar shot follows.



Next is Tower of Terror, for myself and Rebecca anyway. Emily has a phobia about it again dating back to a bad experience at a young age where we were seated in the row without something to hold onto, and the kids had to rely on poor old Dad, and his amazing power of clench! Louise of course is again unable to risk it.



Another walk on, and a very enjoyable ride too.

We make our way over to –



For the first show of the day, and it wasn’t full. The CMs were desperate to get everyone to fill up the seats from the front. For once they really did enforce the “all the way to the end of the row” policy, and for that I applauded them, which drew a couple of odd looks!

The line up was pretty much like last time –

Thirty something female, who was sort of average karaoke standard
Forty something British bloke who rolled out his party piece (luckily the CMs dragged him off stage before the kids saw anything)
Young, good looking, stupid haircut wearing youth who could actually sing.

He won.

The judges looked like this



This was the Brit. An airline pilot if I remember rightly.



The “nasty” judge described his performance as “restless leg syndrome” based on his unique dancing style. Fair play to him for having the courage to do it I say.

Unless the whole thing is staged, and these folk are CMs….Hmmm, food for thought.

Just as a reminder we are here today.



That is for my benefit now that I am in my forties.

After picking up some drinks we risk a visit to Ariel. If the theatre is dark and I pull my cap down she may not recognise me, which will stop her making a show of herself!



We wait quite a while in the holding area, but again the show is not full.



The show starts, and is great. I know that dropping that tab of LSD was a mistake though, as it seemed to affect my vision.





I don’t know why, but Ariel looked very young in today’s show. This has nothing at all to do with the fact that I am getting older of course. I also noted that she looked like Kirsten Dunst.

Luckily she doesn’t spot me during the performance and we quickly leave the theatre to avoid any further court action.

We adjourn for lunch at this point, and grab a burger on Sunset Boulevard.



They were without doubt the worst burgers of this, or any other trip. Lukewarm, soggy and tasteless.

We abandon those just in time to dash across the street to the Beauty and the Beast show just as it starts.



Someone seems to have accidentally kicked Beast somewhere in the region of Stephen and the Twins.

Gaston was especially good in this performance.





We have a lot in common obviously. Louise often mentions that I am roughly the size of a barge!

We walk up to the Great Movie Ride, and found that we did not have to endure even one loop of the old movies in the queue. The CMs were literally dragging people onto the ride.

Continued...

[mkingdon]

We’ve had better actors as guides on this one, I have to say. In fact maybe I should give it a go. We’ve been on enough times to know the lines by now.





Next…



Again we’ve done this too many times to remember, but it never fails to make us laugh. I have to stay I don’t like the “Spirit of 3D”. I forget its name, but it really grates on me.

As we leave we browse the shop and the Xmas one over the road.



Of course we don’t actually buy anything!

I was pleasantly surprised to find that Star Tours was still open. I thought it had already closed for good. With this imminent closure in mind we of course have to ride it, leaving Louise and her pain (I don’t mean me) outside once more.



The girls are, as ever, delighted to pose for a photo to mark the occasion of our last ever ride on this.



It is now time for our Toy Story Mania Fastpass, remember that?

The standby queue is sixty minutes, and even with a Fastpass we wait nearly half an hour. A really enjoyable ride though, particularly for those competitive Dads out there. Not me of course, I take very little pleasure in quickly asking everyone their score and then sitting with my arms aloft for five minutes making fanfare noises. I won!

We took a little breather at this point near the Studio Catering thing.



We people watched for a bit, and realised that we were all knackered. So we make our way to the exit, browsing the shops on the way. Again, fear not no purchases were made.



The boat dropped us off back at the Beach Club, and we head back to the room. Rebecca hadn’t seen the internet for several days at this point, and was starting to get the shakes, so I set her up in the lobby on the Wi-Fi, so she could get her fix. The rest of us relax around Stormalong Bay. We swim and read, although clearly not at the same time.





We make the most of this, and don’t go back to the room till after six. Again my notes claim we are out of the door, fully ready by 7pm. Ha!

Bahama Breeze was the venue for tonight’s eating feat. I was so hungry that any body part was at risk.

We are seated immediately.



Appetisers are required, and they are –

Chicken Quesadillas
Goats cheese stuffed pepper things (I suspect they are not officially called this)

Then we order –

Me – Ribs



Louise – Jerk Chicken Pasta



Rebecca – Chicken and Mash thing (again it may carry a different name on the menu)



Emily – Chicken Sandwich



They were all superb.

Rebecca and I have to share a Key Lime Pie, as is fast becoming a tradition, as the dish is called Rebecca’s Key Lime Pie. Frankly I need little encouragement.



It is excellent, and the “sharing” quickly turns into a fork battle and who can shovel it down the quickest.

So a lovely day, a lovely meal, and now we can home to bed…can’t we?

Louise announces that she needs to see the doctor, and can struggle on no more. Luckily our “usual” Centra Care at LBV was just up the road, so with great joy at the prospect of a three hour wait we all make our way to the car, and within minutes are welcomed back to one of our regular haunts.

My loyalty card means we get seen minutes faster, so whilst Louise waits for the doctor, I drop the girls off at the Beach Club so they can go to bed. I then drive back to LBV, where Louise is just finishing with the doctor. Injections and drugs are the order of the day and we pop next door to get the latter. His diagnosis is vague and says he just wants to manage the pain until we fly home, as further investigation would be lengthy and costly. After planting a huge kiss on him, we leave.

We are back home at midnight, the girls are asleep, and very shortly afterwards I am too.

Here's the index of all days

[sarahewoods]

Another lovely day, you do make me laugh with your antics...lol Sorry to hear about Louise, and hope she is feeling better soon xx

[MEZZA]

Another great day, hope Louise gets some relief from her back pain, not nice esp on holiday.

[lovedisney]

Love your trip reports, look forward to reading the rest

[FLAFantastic]

Nice report Craig - Poor Louise. Not nice being in pain, no matter where you are

AnnMarie

[tink3]

Fantastic! Really enjoying reading your trip report, and can't wait for the rest.

Shame to hear that Louise wasn't well.

[Col&Ali]

Nice one Craig. Hope Louise is feeling much better now

[Guest]

Another great report with lovely photos.

[chaffey]

Another great day. A trip wouldn't be complete without a trip to the Dr's. Hope Louise is soon better