I haven't been writing because I've just been lazy and busy, not to mention these things are a pain to write. But, I want to finish them, to have some document of my vacation so I can read it later. So, without further ado, I'm going to try and write about the third and fourth days of my vacation, the best two days. I had hoped to write them on Thursday when I had a day off, but I went to see the Red Sox play, which was kind of lame. I'm going to try either later today (I forgot that it's already Monday) or Tuesday to write about the fifth and sixth days of my vacation, and then a bit about what has gone on since then.
Just to let you guys know, I was on vacation from August 16th-August 21st, so I'm writing from memory, not as things are actually happening. I wanted to do the that, but Disney charges too much for internet access and we never actually left the park to go to a place that didn't charge for it. I don't know when I will put up the pictures from the trip, but I did compile all of them into two folders on my computer. There are 70 some odd pictures, so I don't know if there is even a site that would allow me to host them all without charging. I'll try and look into it before the summer ends, but this is the last week of my summer and work is trying to run me into the ground, as always.
On day 3, we decided to go to the Animal Kingdom, so we woke up early and got there around ten thirty. It was really hot out, and I had covered myself in sunscreen, so I felt all gross, not to mention I had on a hat to make sure my scalp didn't burn. I think I was the only one out of the three of us that didn't burn at all, because I was so terrified of being burned.
The first thing we did when we got through the gates was go to the Everest coaster, which was beckoning to me, since you can see it right when you walk in the park. It's in Asia, which is probably the best park of the Animal Kingdom. My Dad, R and I got FastPasses for. Not long after, we noticed that my Dad's wasn't valid, since I guess his card didn't work at the entrance. Seriously, to get into the Disney parks is a bitch. You have to put your card in and then put your finger (it can be your thumb, I think, but the finger works better) on a little finger print shaped thing, which lights when you have to put your finger on. But, the people who go to Disney are kind of stupid (at least most of them are), so the lines get long quickly and there's almost always someone who slows everything way down. If you had problems, the person at the gate would enter your card for you, or override it. I guess the guy overrode it for my Dad, which meant that he didn't actually enter the park that day, so he couldn't use FastPass (which was pretty much mandatory in every part of Disney).
We went on a trail walk that was near there, I can't remember the name of it, but it was fun. You could walk through the shady areas and see tigers, kimodo dragons and a few other animals. We took some pictures of them and it was a fun walk to kill time, since we had a two hour wait for Everest. After that, we walked around in some shops and went over to the Africa area to see where our lunch reservation was. It was at this place called the Tusker House and we were worried that the dining area was outside, but it wasn't.
I did get some things at the shop there, I got a thing called a thumb piano, which makes strange, tinny, piano type noises. My Dad got a flute, but it sounds horrible and only plays a few notes. We then took a train to Rafiki's Planet Watch, which would've been cooler if it hadn't started to thunder and lightning while we were there. There is a petting zoo there, which to me, is the main attraction, but it was closed because of the storm. There's also a bunch of things on conservation, including these little rooms where you could sit and listen to a kind of story on conservation told my Grandmother Willow from Pocahontas. If you're wondering, that's honestly the only Pocahontas reference I saw in the whole time I was there. I'm thinking they don't like that movie much.
We then went back on the train (which is the only way to get on and off the Planet Watch, which honestly felt like going to school) and made our way back to Asia. R and I went on the Everest ride, where I gave my glasses to my Dad (I'm paranoid about losing them). We went on the ride, and it was honestly a real letdown. R was very scared, having a bit of a panic attack. The ride starts out as going through the mountain, but then, you run into the end of the track, which causes you to go backwards. There, you meet the Yeti, who growls at you and then steps aside. Suddenly, you move forward into a short drop, they take your picture, and the ride is over. I have a picture from it that my Dad bought, which was kind of cool. I actually think I have two, one for R, but I don't know if she even wants one (more on that later).
Then, we went back to Africa to eat at the Tusker House. That was probably our worst meal at Disney, since it was a buffet, so I had to go with R and my Dad went first to get his food, since we couldn't all go together (someone had to watch our stuff). It took a while to get R and I food, and it wasn't even that good. The meat they had was very peppery and I hate pepper. Most of the other stuff they had was either very good, or not good at all, most of it being not that good. We went and got dessert, but that was really the worst part of the meal. I left feeling pretty unsatisfied with that meal. Also, the ceiling is super high in that place, which allows screaming children to hear the echoes of their screams. Feel free to imagine how loud our meal was, and how irritated we all were by the end of it.
After that, we went to get FastPasses to see what I guess is one of the other big attractions at Animal Kingdom, the Safari. We had an hour wait, so we walked through yet another trail with animals, though this one was probably better, since it had rained and we were soaked, but cool. It stayed cloudy for the rest of the day, so I wasn't worried about reapplying my sunscreen.
We then went on the Safari, which was nice. My Dad tried to videotape it, but he failed because he couldn't get the animals on camera, so it's just a video of the people in front of us and the driver talking. I got a few pictures, but only of the animals near my side, since I was sitting on the left end, R was in the middle and my Dad was on the right side. I did get some awesome pictures of the giraffes though, and since they're my favorite animal, it made me happy. It was really cool how some of the animals would come right near the car. The whole plotline of it, with there being poachers on the reserve, felt kind of lame though. It probably is really fun for little kids, but anyone over the age of 10 (and maybe even a few kids who are younger), would find it to be very forced.
After that, it was getting to be time of the park to close, since it closes around five. We walked around for a bit to see what else there was, and we went on this thing called the Primeval Whirl, which was awesome. It's one of those mouse coasters that kind of stops and spins and then suddenly drops. I find those things to be so fun. I guess it's not a high rated ride because people think it looks cheap compared to the other rides, but it felt like a bit of home, since that's how rides at Six Flags are.
Since it was only about five thirty by the time we got out of the park, we decided to go to the Hollywood Studios to see if we could get an idea of what we wanted to see. We decided to go back to the Animal Kingdom the next morning, since R wanted to go on the Khali River Rapids ride and I wanted to as well.
We got to Hollywood around six thirty, and the first thing we wanted to do was look for the Tower of Terror, since R wanted to get a souvenir for her friend from the gift shop there, and I wanted to go on the ride. We couldn't find it at first, so we walked around a bit, until we got a map. Then, we high tailed it over there, but there were no FastPasses left (I didn't learn until the next day that those things run out, especially on popular rides). So, we waited in line for about an hour and a half.
I have to say, that ride really isn't that scary. Especially if you've seen Futurama at all, that episode where Fry watches "The Scary Door" (which is of course a parody of the Twilight Zone). Well, the impersonation of Rod Sterling is so spot on in Futurama, that all I could thing of was the Scary Door while hearing him talk. It made it very hard for me to be frightened. In fact, I had to try and stifle my laughter so as not to bother everyone else.
I thought it would be one of those straight drop rides, but it wasn't. It goes up, then down, then up again, then down, then up again and finally down. I really thought it was 13 stories at once, but it's more like 13 stories over 4 times of dropping. I have a photo from that ride as well. R looks like she is being tortured, my Dad looks like he is watching a movie (that's his default expression for rides, even roller coasters) and I am grabbing onto my hat (I thought it was going to fall off, my Dad reminded me later that that wouldn't have happened).
When we got done with that, it was already about eight thirty and we were very tired. I looked longingly at the Rock and Roller Coaster, which I guess is supposed to be the big coaster at Disney World. It was playing "I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing" which has got to be, hands down, the worst Aerosmith song, ever. Not to mention the one that everyone and their brother knows. It made me dread waiting in line the next day, even though I knew I would go on the ride anyway.
We got back to the hotel and had a snack, then went to bed. I think I slept well that night, which was nice. The Animal Kingdom was quite cool, and I was a bit excited to go back there. Not to mention my Dad's snoring had calmed down a bit.
Anyway, I'm going to take a break and then write the next one. Actually, there is one thing I wanted to add. Here, for the first and only time, is what I wrote in Word the day we came to Disney. Feel free to highlight the story to have your computer read it to you. But, be forewarned-if you haven't watched Princess Tutu (there's your homework, kids)-it's not as funny. Or maybe it just doesn't make sense at all. Enjoy!
*Disney World Diary*
Day 1-8/16/09
Ugh. I have to say, this day hasn't gone how I wanted it to. It kind of reminds me of how much of a loser I am sometimes, going with my Dad and Rensemee, which is going to slow us down. My Dad threw out my meal/trip/room key card and I don't know if he has it or not. He does. I don't know, I just hate traveling and stuff. I'm not sure what I like, I know my Grandma said that I don't like too many things, which is probably true. They actually charge for the internet here, so I won't be able to post this (duh). Here is a story I wrote to amuse Jody:
Once upon a time, there was a gay boy named Fakir. He liked to eat ducks, in fact, they were his favorite food in the whole world. He met a girl named Duck, but when it turned out that she was actually a real live duck, Fakir cooked her and served her to his friends. Duck tasted delicious and everyone was happy. The end.
I think that we are going to stay in for the night, which is good, because I am tired. Then again, since our luggage hasn't yet arrived, we can't really get ready for bed. Which leaves us with a bunch of time to do nothing, and my bathing suit is in my luggage, so I can't go swimming. I have no idea what we are going to do, probably play the Sims 2 to try and get Diana pregnant. (Our Diana Sim, I mean, our real Diana is too busying drinking wine and eating chicken hearts).
Bye!(For now)*Racecar*
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