Sheri Niklewski - September 2005 - Caribbean Beach Resort

Time of Year: Fall
Travel Method: Personal car
Resort: CBR
Accommodations: Standard
Ages Represented in Group: Adult
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Veteran
Comments: Sheri keeps up her string of visiting WDW on holiday weekends with a trip for Labor Day.

Sheri Niklewski -- September 2005 -- Walt Disney World (CBR)

The Labor Day Trip Report

I wanted to do something different for this report. Since it’s Labor Day weekend, I thought I’d center around my profession. Which is accounting. So I’ll throw out some accounting terms just to spice things up a bit.

Owner’s Equity – That means who gets the profits out of anything. Which is us. We’re located northeast of downtown Atlanta so it’s about a 7-1/2 hour total drive which we break up with an overnight stop in Valdosta. We’re both Disney veterans with over 40 trips. I lost count a while ago.

Me – Sheri (43) – an accountant now working for a tile wholesaler with two stores conveniently located in Florida (Tampa and Ft. Myers). Disney freak and trip “planner”. Actually, we’ve been so often that we don’t really plan all that much.

Husband – Rich (45) – contractor and frequent traveler these days. Part of the reason for this trip is so he gets a break from all the hassle.

Travel Expenses – We’ll drive our Toyota Camry from our place to Disney World. With the price of gas, this is our best option. I name my cars and this one is Elliott. He’s green so I bestowed the name of Pete’s Dragon on him. He gets over 30 MPG and that’s essential these days. He only fault is that he’s very hot inside and the summer has been a killer. But he’s dependable (has over 250,000 miles) and runs very well.

Lodging Expenses – With our work situations for the past couple of years (we’ve had such bad luck) our Disney trips have been frugal to say the least. If we’re onsite, it’s been value. We’ve run the gambit of the value resorts and haven’t had any issues with staying at any of them. Once our “fortunes” turned around, we moved up to a moderate for our Fourth of July trip. We stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter and after all our cost cutting measures, it was a real treat.

So for this trip, I used the Annual Passholder rate and booked the Caribbean Beach. We’ve stayed here twice before. The first time was an OK experience but the second time was great. After staying at French Quarter, I did think about moving our reservation back over there but then decide to just leave things alone and make this trip the tie breaker for whether I’m a fan of the resort or not.

We’ll do our typical and leave Friday night and drive to Valdosta where we stay at a Days Inn close to the Florida border. I had to book a single rate because it was $10 more for a double. I still have to question that logic. For an extra towel to pick up? Oh well, Rich will stay in the car while I check in.

Food and Entertainment – We’re not doing any advanced dining reservations at all. Mainly because we have no idea where we’re going to be on any given day. I really like having a nice sit down lunch but I don’t know which park we’ll be at. If we do want something nice, I can try for a same day seating or we’ll just be content with counter service or places we can get into without a seating.

The Intangibles –

Meaning my family. Most of our family trips have involved Rich’s parents and brother and our son and his young family. This time it’s a little different. My sister, Sandy, and her husband, Rich B. and their kids Kelsey and Wesley lived in the Florida Keys for a while. So did my dad (Spike) and my stepmother (Betty). Sandy and crew had followed my dad and Betty to the Keys. The myriad of hurricanes last year had both of the families realizing that enough was enough. They decided to relocate to northern Florida. They each sold everything and started to look for safer housing. My Dad and Betty took a four month sabbatical and went to Alaska. I was so jealous getting their weekly emails. How I wanted to be there with them! Sandy and Rich B. found a house in Gainesville, Florida and moved in early August. Once my dad and Betty got back from their adventure, they quickly found a house in Fort White, Florida, about 40 minutes from Sandy. Both are extremely close to I75 so we could easily combine a side trip to see the family anytime Rich and I went to Disney World.

I coordinated the details with Sandy. Rich and I would leave Disney World on Monday around 10:00. That would put us in Gainesville shortly after noon. Dad and Betty would plan to be at Sandy’s by that time. We’d have a small family reunion (and that really is the extent of our family except for Chris, Chandra and Marlie up in Ohio) and then Rich and I would start for home around 5:00. We have five cats awaiting our return. The catsitter would be in during the day so our children would be fine but still ticked off we left them yet again. This would be our first visit to Sandy’s new digs. Hopefully, not the last since they have a nice size swimming pool in their backyard.

The Week Before –

I cannot even begin to put into words what the week before this trip did to my emotional state. Hurricane Katrina ripped through New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast. I was safe and sound in Atlanta, Rich was fine on a business trip in California, my son and his family were fine in Ohio. But Katrina just tore my heart out. The three of us had lived in Biloxi, MS for three years. All that we know is gone. In a flash. Rich traveled so much during that time and he usually left and arrived at the New Orleans airport. Chris and I would pick him up but his flights were always so late. To use up the time, my little guy and I would cruise the city. We knew the French Quarter, Jackson Square, and the zoo like the back of our hands. We knew the sights, the sounds, the smells of New Orleans. All gone now. It got to the point after Katrina that I couldn’t bring myself to look at any of the coverage anymore. It was too depressing to think about what the entire area was going through.

Here in Georgia, we had our share of Katrina happenings. Tornados were spawned by the fringes as she passed through. It wasn’t that bad considering what had just happened on the coast. Our gas supplies were cut and that was the major problem. A BIG problem. With the help of the printed and vocal media, rumors were flying on Wednesday that Georgia would run out of gas. It was a frenzy at the gas stations in the afternoon. Prices were super inflated by the time I left work at 4:00 (my boss had to leave early and we had to close up – we’re a small company). I choked to see over $3/gallon. But that wasn’t the worst. The worst were the gas lines! Some places were 30-40 cars deep. Fortunately, I had to fill up Elliott the day before and he was a full fellow.

It was a mess and I was thankful I didn’t have to worry about it but began to think about the trip. By Wednesday evening, Governor Sonny Perdue had declared Georgia in a state of emergency since the gas stations were freely gouging the panicked people and raising prices to $6 in some places. Gov. Perdue held a hastily called news conference and assured everyone that there was gas to be had. There was enough in the storage tanks to last ten days and even though the gas lines weren’t pumping at 100% YET, they were at 35% so we were going to be fine. And he imposed fines of $5000 for each instance of price gouging. That’s not a one time fine to one gas station. That’s for every single vehicle that station over inflated prices to. For all those gas lines, some stations just might find themselves “fined” out of business.

By Thursday morning, our gas situation had made the national news but things were under control. Prices were around $3.19 for the most part and there were no lines whatsoever. Sheer chaos for one day. Rich was due home that evening and he had my car, Jasmine. Who was in sore need of some food. I had worried about that yesterday but we both figured the girl would get Rich at least back to the house. Elliott could get us to the Florida border with what he had in his tank. We were set and both quite ready for the weekend. I had an additional stress of dealing with a very uncaring owner in our fantasy football league. He changed his team name to something associated with the hurricane and I objected and was called a fool. It was a cruel and heartless gesture on the owner’s part and he and the rest of the league (except for Rich) laughed it off. I’ve been in the league for eight years and seriously considered quitting over this. Instead, I’m not going to field a team any week I play against that owner.

I did have some stress earlier in the week as well. I was driving Elliott to work and had to go through a very exclusive neighborhood. The kind with speed humps every ten feet. And one pothole. That Elliott seemed to like. It didn’t like him. All of a sudden, it sounded like Elliott had turned into an airplane. I was exactly halfway between work and home and had to decide what to do. Rich was still in Atlanta at the airport so I called him. Fortunately, we have a line of credit with a repair place near our house so that made the decision for me. I turned around, called my boss and said I couldn’t come in. I felt bad because I had only been there two weeks but in Atlanta, a car is your second home so you need to take care of it. I babied Elliott to the shop, taking twice as long since he had a hard time getting up to speed. I didn’t dare take the interstate because if you aren’t flying along at least ten miles over the speed limit, well, it’s just not a pretty sight. Verdict – a part was broken off the exhaust system. They could fix it but it would take all day. Great, spend all day at a garage. But there was a solution – I rented a car for the day. It was only $30 and it got me back to the house. I felt pretty good about dealing with the situation but the bad part was what was causing me the stress all week long.

My best friend, Rich, wasn’t home for me to vent to. I couldn’t get my feelings out to anyone. And I have to let things out. Chris and Chandra helped via AIM but they have their own lives. My mother-in-law was great on the phone but it wasn’t enough. By Thursday night, I was so ready for one more day of work and then Disney World. My dad called that night and wanted to know if we were still coming down because of the high gas prices. I said “HELL, YES!” He said he was concerned because they were paying $2.89. I just cracked up hysterically. I said, “We’re coming to Florida because you guys have cheap gas.” He couldn’t believe it.

Rich made it back from California and really grumbled with the prices and having to fill up Jasmine. At least we got to go out for a nice dinner since the company was paying for half of it because he traveled that day. Yes, we were both ready for Disney World and some pixie dust.

Day One – Friday, September 2, 2005 – “The Pixie Dust Takes a Powder”

Rich decided that driving over an hour to work just to file a couple of invoices for his travel expenses and then driving back was not a feasible option. Gov. Perdue was asking people to telecommute if they could. Rich could and did. I left Elliott at home so Rich could get him ready for the trip. It was nice to be back in Jasmine again but she doesn’t get as good gas mileage. I wanted to take her on the trip and Rich was surprised when I suggested Elliott instead. Doing our part to help out during the crisis.

I went out at lunch to deposit my first paycheck and to take a break. The break had to be postponed for a while. I had locked my keys in the car! This is the second time I’ve done this and I feel like an idiot every time. I always, always, take the keys out of the ignition and immediately put them in my bag ever since that first time. I hadn’t this morning because I had to call inside to get the door to the office open. Rich was not a happy camper that he had to rescue me again since he still had all his errands to run. But he needed a post office and a Wal Mart and those were available near my work. So he ended up being happy at finding a different Wal Mart for the future. He’s Wal Mart addicted I believe.

My boss decided to close the shop early today. There were only three people in the office anyway and one left at her normal 4:00. I was heading home by 4:45 which was nice. Once home, Rich had everything ready to go. We wait until the Atlanta traffic has died down which is around 6:30 or so. Rich had also made sure Elliott was completely full of food and we knew that would get us well into Florida. I had to drive home northbound I85 (which was packed) and noticed the southbound lanes were pretty clear. Rich cruised us all the way through Atlanta actually doing the speed limit the entire time. Maybe people were heeding the governor’s call to stay at home this weekend. Gov. Perdue said to “spend the weekend with your family”. Well, we had to drive to do that, sorry.

We decided on fast food for dinner. Rich saw an exit with a McDonald’s and a Wendy’s but the McDonald’s was an easier place to stop so that was fine. Rich had my order of a cheeseburger happy meal (hey, it’s so I can send the toy to Marlie) and I used the facilities. And then waited and waited and waited and waited. No one moved in the line inside. Rich refuses to use the drive up window (classic line from “Lethal Weapon” uttered by Joe Pesci that won’t make it in a family trip report). Those people were being helped before anyone inside. Most people inside walked out. Including us. On to Wendy’s. Rich went inside with my order of a single with everything except lettuce. There were only two people in front of him in the line. While I sat outside and watched car after car after car go through the drive through. What is up with that? I finally went inside and wanted to know just what was taking so darn long. Rich later said the employees inside never said a word to anyone. Not “how can I help you?” or to even tell him how much the meal was. I think I’ll live healthier and give up on “fast” food.

The whole miserable experience chopped off about a half hour. We had been making great time up to that point. But the human stomachs were now full. Rich was content to drive the rest of the way to Valdosta. I had been reading my book (“Red Rabbit” which is probably now my second favorite Tom Clancy novel) but it was dark and the week’s emotions took over and I snoozed for quite a while. Wish I could have stayed asleep. When I woke up, I felt horrible. I’m not sure if it was just my stress level or the burger or what but an emergency stop for a bathroom was needed ASAP. That took another fifteen minutes to make sure I’d be OK for the rest of the trip to Valdosta (about an hour away). I still felt horrible and all I wanted was a bed and some rest.

We didn’t get to the Days Inn until close to 11:00. I checked in and was given room 102. We drove back there and unloaded. Rich went to get ice and I crashed on the bed and kicked off the shoes. Rich came back and immediately turned on the TV for ESPN. But that wasn’t to be either. Where is the pixie dust? The reception was all snowy, black and white, and no sound. I didn’t care but Rich sure as heck did. He needed to unwind and TV is how he does it. I can handle a book and absolute silence. Rich can’t. I made him call to the front desk and they sent someone with keys to a different room. Which took forever. The guy did apologize and said we’d be on the second floor and he was also sorry for that. I could care less, just give me the keys to room 226 and I’m out of there. Rich had already loaded up the car again in anticipation so we unloaded once more. Finally, at 11:30, we’re set. And noticed the TV. It was no where near the old crappy set we had in the other room. This was a nice big thing. Rich made the observation that maybe the real TV in the other room had been stolen and replaced with the crappy one. I had to agree because I knew this hotel had just gone through renovations.

With all this, I was awake so we watched mindless Nick at Nite sitcom reruns and relaxed until 1:00. I set the alarm for 7:00 and was looking forward to six hours of uninterrupted sleep. Maybe that pixie dust was scheduled to arrive tomorrow. We could hope.

Day Two – Saturday, September 3, 2005 – Irlene, Eddy and the Big Cookie

Pixie dust just wasn’t on our schedule this trip. We were both sound asleep at 5:00 AM. When there was extremely loud pounding on our door. “BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM”. We both jumped out of bed and tried to get our brains in gear. We looked at each other with a “whaa” expression. Pounding again. I yelled, “it’s 5:00 AM”. It wasn’t management – they would have identified themselves. More pounding. Rich yelled “wrong room!” More pounding. Rich got up to answer the door. More pounding. It wasn’t a knock, it was about ten pounds each time. Rich unlocked the door and said “may I help you sir?” The man is nothing but polite. Then he said “I think you have the wrong room”. Naturally, you would think the guy would realize he had the wrong room. Maybe he had visited too many bars that night or something but he said “Is Irlene in there?” I was inside thinking “Irlene, what the heck?” Rich said “there’s no Irlene here”. The guy muttered something about being sorry and then walked off. So much for uninterrupted sleep. I thought about changing the alarm time to 8:00 but then decided not to. I just wanted to get the hell to Disney World.

At 7:00, after we both calmed down our heavy beating hearts from two hours previous, the alarm went off and we both got ready for the day. I was still a bit under the weather but thought it was manageable. We walked to the front office for check out (Rich will never just leave the keys in the room unless instructed to) and the continental breakfast. It’s not much but enough. Rich had an English muffin and took some mini cinnamon rolls with him. I decided to play it safe and not eat anything just then and see what the day held for my sensitive stomach. I took some cinnamon rolls with me as well. Since Elliott was still doing fine with gas and we were still in Georgia, Rich made a quick visit to the gas station for some cold Diet Cokes. Then he drove us south and into the land of “decent” gas prices. I never thought I’d be writing in a trip report to wait until you get out of Georgia and into Florida before getting gas. I’ve been writing for years to do the opposite.

Rich continued to drive and I settled in with my book. It had me hooked so much. With Rich traveling, I had given him another Tom Clancy book to read. He feels the thicker the book the better and Clancy is a good one for that. He actually had gotten caught up with the Stephen King books. I knew “Red Rabbit” would be a winner with Rich so I was hurrying to finish it up so he could take it with him on his next trip. Yeah, it’s an excuse. I just wanted to see how everything turned out for Jack Ryan.

Betty had heard that some stations near Disney World were selling gas for $6 gallon so we were a little concerned about that. Elliott could easily make it all the way on one tank. Gotta love the boy for that. We were seeing prices around $2.89 and $2.99 so we decided to make a stop in between Ocala and the turnpike. We did that and knew we would be fine until Monday and Gainesville. Rich continued to drive. I think he just likes to have something to do besides sit in the passenger seat. Onto the turnpike, pay the $1.25 in toll, get off on Route 27, have Rich hit every single red light on the road (he’s notorious for that), and we’re on Highway 192. Which was almost traffic free. Where are all the people? I asked Rich if he knew where he was going. He said Disney property and then somewhere. I asked him if he had any idea where we were staying. He said “No clue, you never tell me these things”. I had told him several times and reminded him of that. Then he remembered Caribbean Beach. This is the man who, when I ask him what time his flight lands, says “around 4-something”. I would have the plane flight number, the exact arrival time, the seating configuration, the pilot’s name, and the baggage handler’s badge number. But we work well together.

There was some sort of problem with the Caribbean Beach gate or something because it took forever to get to the security shack. Even the buses in the right lane which should have been just waved through were stopped. Rich joked “maybe we’re in a lock down”. One year ago we were at Pop Century and got locked down for Hurricane Francis. Another reason not to make a hurricane a laughing matter to the idiot from our fantasy football league. The problem was finally fixed and we were parking around 11:30. The check in line was very long but not that bad. After a few minutes, I went to use the facilities and Rich took the time to observe the way the line was moving (or not moving). When I got back, he wanted to know why some people were taking so long and others were quick and easy. I had to remind him that not everyone was a Disney veteran and they are sometimes completely overwhelmed with how Disney does things. We just take it all for granted.

I was finally helped and almost had to tell this young boy at the next window to please get out of my way. His parents were checking in and instead of standing behind them, he stood to the side and in my way. Completely oblivious to anything. Yes, sometimes Disney does overwhelm. I really wanted the room to be ready since I had seen several people calling their husbands over when their rooms were ready. A side note – why does it seem the wives are the ones checking in the families? Not in all cases but in the majority of the ones today. But the pixie dust still wasn’t in the picture and we would have to call back later. Not a problem. We were back in the parking lot in about fifteen minutes. I told Rich the wait in line had only been ten minutes. He said “it seemed a lot longer with all those kids screaming”. I had to agree. Caribbean Beach is the only resort where the check in building is separate from the food court and gift shop area. Which makes it smaller and noisier. The kids really don’t have anything to do except watch cartoons and get fussy. Caribbean Beach loses some points for that.

We had decided to go to Animal Kingdom and I prepared our denim bag for the trip. Not much in there but I did bring our ponchos because (1) it’s Florida, (2) it’s summer, and (3) add (1) and (2) together. Rich took an extra shirt since it was humid. I had my small camera bag and we were set. We go very low maintenance. We had a bit of a problem getting out of Caribbean Beach and ended up taking a nice cruise through Barbados. I had this feeling we’d be seeing it again. Was I right?

Rich drove us over to the Animal Kingdom Lodge since I wanted to visit their gift shop after the park. When this lodge first opened, they were very strict about who could park here. You had to have a seating or be a guest at the lodge. But that backfired since the lodge is so beautiful and the restrictions have gone away and the gate guards here are some of the friendliest. Rich said told the guy we just wanted to look around and the reply was “sure, have fun and make sure you take your camera”.

On the walk to the entrance from the parking lot, we got behind a family of three. Little girl about four in the middle holding hands with her dad on the right and her mom on the left. They were spread out completely across the walkway and going very slowly. They were totally unaware that we were right behind them and going at a much faster pace. They just continued their shuffling towards the lobby area. I don’t think they were overwhelmed, just in their own little world.

I was proud of Rich because he remembered where the bus stop was. We had to wait the full ten minutes for an Animal Kingdom bus which wasn’t that bad at all. It’s only a five minute ride so there’s never a long wait. There wasn’t much I really wanted to do here but we hadn’t been here for a while and it was a good choice for the shortened day since the park closed at 5:00. The entrance plaza is usually packed but it was easy going today. At the turn styles, though, there was a little problem. A large group did not understand anything about their admission media. Had no clue so the Cast Member was trying to explain things to them. One guy was standing right in front of an open turn style (look down to see which ones have the green arrows). No one was using it because they couldn’t see it was open. We went around the guy who continued to stand there, oblivious to everything. Is there a zombie convention in town or what?

I needed to use the bathroom (a common refrain of the day) so I headed over there and Rich partook in the Spoonbill viewing area. A Cast Member was attempting to feed the Disney animals but was hampered by the non Disney Ibises that had decided to try for a free treat. Rich said it was very interesting watching the Cast Member trying to make sure only the Disney birds were getting the food. The Ibises were “wild” and we’re not supposed to feed them. I think Rich was in Bird Heaven when I found him after my little detour.

I asked Rich what he wanted to do. He asked if I thought we could FastPass Kali River Rapids. It has been quite a while since we’ve been on that because we always get soaked and the weather or the circumstances have prevented us from wanting to enjoy that experience. I replied that I didn’t know but what else were we going to do but check it out. We headed back to Asia with Rich spying out usual beer and pretzel cart and doing his best Homer Simpson impression, muttering “ummm, beeerrrrr”. I suggested we get FastPasses for Kali and then get the suds. Of course, on the way, Rich asks what time the next Flights of Wonder show was. I had seen the times on the wait board and knew it was 1:00 and then 2:00. I practically begged him not to do the show. I swear I have the script memorized. Rich is the nature freak and bird watcher (his AIM screen name is gabirdnut which fits him very well). Nothing in the sky with feathers goes unnoticed by him. He pouted a little but said we could skip it this trip.

We got back to the Kali FastPass distribution around 12:30 and the return time was 1:35-2:35 with a stand by of 50 minutes. Absolutely no hesitation on the FastPasses. The distribution area here is horrible and today was no exception. I gave Rich my pass for him to only be one person to add to the congestion. I waited over by the side and watched the simians play around. And watched the humans too. I think humans are more interesting. One lady in charge of her party came up, saw the stand by time and the FastPass return time. She had no clue how to do this efficiently. She turned to her party and said “it’s going to be an hour either way so we might as well stand in line”. What? Actually, they would have had two hours with the FastPass to return in their window and those two hours could have been used to do any number of things. Heck, they could have had lunch at Rainforest in that time.

In the meantime, Rich had a problem at the FastPass line. His pass wouldn’t work. We were afraid this would happen. We went to a concert in August (Grass Roots) and it poured while we were waiting. I was not giving up my prime spot for anything in the world so I waited it out and tried to keep everything dry. I thought I did a good job but completely forgot our Annual Passes were in the pocket of my camera case. They weren’t destroyed but Rich’s was a little worse for the wear. I suggested he get a new one but it had worked at the turn style so we were hopeful it was fine. After fighting through the congestion, Rich wasn’t about to leave without the FastPasses and then he remembered a “trick” he found out from a Cast Member. Rub the pass on your clothing. Sometimes there’s dirt or static or something. Rich did that and it worked like a charm. Even though his return time was for five minutes after mine.

FastPasses in hand, we went back for a couple of beers and a sit in the Flame Tree BBQ area. Ah, sitting by the water, enjoying life. Pixie dust moment for sure. A true “I’m here” feeling. Rich had expressed an interest in actually eating at Flame Tree but I wasn’t that hungry and still feeling the effects of last night. I suggested he get something but he declined and said we’d do something later. Fine with me. We finished the beers and still had some time. I sneakily informed Rich that we could have easily done the first Flights of Wonder show. He said he realized that but was deferring to my wishes we pass it this trip. Love the man! We were joined during our sit by a Snow Crane. Very pretty and obviously looking for a handout.

We usually pass up the shops at Animal Kingdom but decided to go into Beastly Bazaar right next to the seating area. I was looking for an antenna topper for our trivia partner, Dawn. Every time we pull in the restaurants where we do trivia, we look for her nondescript car which we have dubbed The Dawnmobile. I can never find it. A Disney antenna topper will fix that problem. We hit the mother lode here as they had ones we hadn’t seen before (or hadn’t noticed). A Piglet one for me! I have a regular black Mickey one on Jasmine so I’ll use that as a pencil topper and Piglet gets to ride with my girl. A Stitch one for Chris as a stocking stuffer. He thinks Stitch rules. And I decided on a Winnie the Pooh one for Dawn. The Nemo one was cute too but Pooh is more identifiable. And it’s almost all orange and will stand out. Rich also saw these huge packaged cookies. Selma’s. We had never seen them in the parks before but they looked interesting. We didn’t buy anything right now.

Since we had those five pesky extra minutes for Rich’s window to open, we went over to check out the construction of Expedition:Everest. And heard an interesting conversation of a family going by us.

14 year old son – “Dad, what’s that?”

Dad – “that’s the new one. Expedition:Everest”

Teenage daughter – “what’s it called?”

Dad - “Expedition:Everest. It’s going to be a roller coaster.”

Mom – “what’s it called?”

Dad - “Expedition:Everest. It’ll open next year and it’s supposed to be great.”

8 year old son – “what’s it called?”

Dad – “Expedition:Everest. The storyline is that you are chasing a Yeti”.

8 year old son – “What’s an Eddy?”

At that point, the guffaws we were swallowing just had to come out. The family was well past us by this point. Between Irlene and Eddy, our day was getting interesting. I’m still not determined Expedition:Everest (what’s it called?) is going to be on my want list for Christmas. Rich didn’t help when he said that it didn’t look like much of the attraction was going to be outside. I pointed out that the initial up, up, up slowly, slowly, slowly was outside. He just chuckled evilly and said “that’s the best part”. To which I thought “yeah, and when I need a change of underwear”.

Back to an attraction I can handle – Kali River Rapids. An almost immediate boarding with the FastPasses. I am so glad keeping your shoes on is a requirement now. Not only for safety reasons (getting in and out of the rafts with bare feet is not a good idea) but now you can fit all the bags into the almost waterproof middle compartment. Rich, the ever practical one, made sure everyone’s things fit in there and the cover was down enough to ensure a safe voyage. He’s worse than a little old lady sometimes.

We had a guy across the raft from me with his wife and daughter. This guy just wanted to get wet. He knew all the tricks of the attraction but this was his first ride. My history with Kali is that I always get soaked. We made it to the part where, if you know the tricks, you know what will happen right before the plunge down. Rich had muttered, “just once I wish I’d be the one to see people get drenched”. We thought we were safe and the guy who wanted to get wet would get his wish. We relaxed. And then one more bump and we knew we were screwed. Oh well, that’s why we go on the attraction. We got absolutely drenched. We slogged off the ride once again. It was five minutes to two and Rich said a little gleefully, “you know what this means – a beer and the next Flights of Wonder show to drip dry”. We didn’t have enough time for the beer (which *I* needed now) but made it into the show just after the introduction. Yes, Rich said we didn’t have to do this but what the heck. We were wet and we were right at the show.

Which again did not disappoint. And I was pleased to see new birds. Not that the show was different but they had different birds. Like the “talking” parrot. They did a little something different from previous shows. Once again Hope, the American bald eagle, got an ovation and rightly so. And there were so many oohs and aahs. OK, we can see this show every time we are here. I give up. We left some puddles from our many drips. Rich did say next time we go on Kali, he’s sitting across the raft from me. Then maybe he’d stay dry.

By this time, my stomach was awake and wanting some food. I suggested the original “plan” of Flame Tree BBQ. Rich just chuckled. I sent him for food and got us another table along the water. I gave him my order of a kids hot dog meal since I didn’t want too much food. He came back with his pork sandwich, corn on the cob, and baked beans. My kids meal had a normal size hot dog (the adult portions are true foot longs), corn on the cob, applesauce and apple juice. I am so glad Disney is going towards more healthy choices for kids. I told Rich anything but fries.

We were in a different seating section. Rich took notice of the décor. Most of it was fish but the carved corner pieces were of an alligator happily munching on a fish. The front half of the fish was sticking out of the alligator’s mouth. Kind of cruel but it is the circle of life. I had called the earlier area the Bird Area. This one I was going to call the Fish Area but changed it to the Death Square. This time we were joined by a duck attempting a handout.

I used the lunch break to try and call back to the Caribbean Beach and get our room number. When I called the provided phone number, the line rang once and then I got this loud buzzing. I tried again with the same results. I even had Rich listen. It was close to 3:00 and I wouldn’t really relax until I knew where our room was. Rich casually replied that we would just get back to the Animal Kingdom Lodge and use a house phone. I said I didn’t even know where a house phone was. Plus, we were wet and the breeze was picking up which means only one thing in central Florida in the summer. A storm was coming. We had our ponchos but the thought of a warm room and dry clothes was enough for us to start making out way out of Animal Kingdom. I did carefully clean out my kids meal plate to take along. It’s plastic and in the shape of a Mickey head. I don’t like throwing anything plastic out which is why I took it. Another excuse and it’s partly true.

We stopped in at the Beastly Bazaar again and made the antenna topper purchase. I got the three I wanted and Rich made his way over to the Selma’s cookie area. The older female Cast Member there informed Rich that these were the best cookies ever and there was no way anyone could eat the whole thing at once. Big cookies. There were four different choices and Rich finally settled on the raspberry white chocolate one and an oatmeal raisin one. I believe the other choices were chocolate chip and something else with chocolate in it. Big cookies. Heavy cookies. 4 ounces of cookie.

I joined Rich and the friendly CM checked us out. I know she was only trying to be nice but I’m not sure she was listening to us.

CM – “So, have you ever been to Disney World before?”

Rich – “Oh, many times. Too many, in fact.”

Me – chuckle

CM – “Have you ever been to Animal Kingdom?”

Me – thinking – “where the hell are we now, Oz?”

Rich – after a long pause – “you mean the Lodge or the park?”

CM – “The park”.

Rich – trying to be polite – “err, yes we have”.

Me – chuckle, chuckle, chuckle

On the walk out, we had a lizard encounter. There are these tiny lizards all over Animal Kingdom and the humans scurrying around just don’t see the little things. Some of them (the lizards, not the humans) will camouflage themselves and blend into the grayish walkways. Of course, Rich spied a cloaked one and had to “protect” him by standing there and making sure the lizard was safe crossing the path. Then he did it with another one nearby. Thank goodness for that because a family was walking right towards the little guy and their stroller was going to make some road kill. Unfortunately, I saw a lizard that crossed the Rainbow Bridge. Rich hadn’t been there to protect that one. Further on, near one of the animal areas, Rich spied a different species of lizards even tinier than the other ones. We watched them scurrying around for a while. Not all the Animal Kingdom creatures are the Disney animals. And it’s just not at Disney World that we do this kind of thing. It’s every day.

We exited the park, thankful hand stamps are no longer needed for anyone. As we were walking towards the buses, characters were out. A woman behind me was excited because she spied Mary Poppins and their group hadn’t ever seen her out before and wanted an autograph. I looked at the face character over to the right. I started to laugh (I know, cruel) and was just about to tell Rich the woman’s error. Then Rich said (without hearing the woman’s comment), “what does Mary Poppins have to do with Animal Kingdom?” Then I really started to laugh and said “because that’s not Mary Poppins, that’s Jane from Tarzan”. Rich said “oh”, pause, “then where is Tarzan?” I thought “boy, if that man was here, I’d be over there in a heartbeat”. Rich later said that he saw a parasol and a bag and just thought it was Mary Poppins. I had to explain that Jane was in yellow and Mary Poppins’ parasol had a talking parrot in the handle. Sigh. Have to get him to watch more Disney films.

We got to the bus line and I had an idea. What if the reason I couldn’t get a connection with the Caribbean Beach was because we were under a roof at the Flame Tree? Maybe the signal was blocked. I did something I really didn’t think I’d ever do. I used a cell phone at Disney World while standing in line. OK, it was a bus line, not an attraction line but I didn’t think the call would go through. But it did. Yes, the perky Cast Member informed me, our room 1146 was available and ready for us. I asked which island we were on. Barbados. Weren’t we just there three hours earlier trying to find our way out of the place?

The bus came fairly quickly. We did sit for just a bit and I used the time to peruse the Selma’s cookie contents. Rich has been watching his intake and trying to lose some pounds before our Disney cruise in just three months. With the traveling and having to eat whenever he can, it hasn’t been that successful away from the house. I was sure these cookies were going to add to the problem. I read the nutrition facts on the back. Sometimes these things are depressing. I just started to laugh. 240 calories in the “healthy” oatmeal raisin one. Rich groaned. That’s a big cookie. I looked at the fat content and that wasn’t all that great either. And then the clincher. When reading a nutrition fact label, always take note of how many servings all these facts are for. In this case, I just started laughing out loud. TWO servings in a package! The whole cookie was 480 calories. Rich REALLY groaned. Approach these suckers with caution.

We were whisked back to the Animal Kingdom Lodge. I needed the facilities again so we went downstairs to the Boma entrance and the bathrooms there. I did mention to Rich that on a future trip, I’d like to do Boma for dinner again. Great buffet and we haven’t been here for a while. I think in one year, we ate here five times so we needed other choices for a while. After my break, Rich gleefully pointed out the house phones located right outside the bathrooms. I told him to shut up. I know I worry way too much about stupid stuff.

We went out to check the animal situation and the rains that had been threatening were starting. Nothing major and I said aloud that I thought it wouldn’t last very long. There were some zebras, giraffes, Ankole cattle, and wildebeests out. The rain was a nuisance but I wasn’t worried. Then Rich pointed in the other direction and said “that way looks good, that way looks bad”. Wow, those clouds that way were almost black. Oh well, we’ll deal with it. Back inside for a look around the wonderful gift shop. So many nice things, so little money for us to spend. I can drool. I saw a nice print of the Animal Kingdom Lodge lobby that I would like to get for Chandra (we couldn’t drag that girl out of here in December) but it’ll wait. Don’t want to spoil the daughter-in-law too much.

When we exited Animal Kingdom Lodge (with me touching the wall hanging for a safe journey), the storm was really about ready to break. And break it did while Rich was driving us back to Caribbean Beach. Visibility at some points was almost nothing. Once at Caribbean Beach, we found building 11 in Barbados very easily since it’s close to the entrance and the Customs House. Rich wanted to unload Elliott totally but it was raining pretty heavily and while I was still wet, I didn’t want to get even wetter. I opted to take a few things from the inside of the car while Rich took longer and grabbed some things, including his bag from the trunk. I quickly walked over to get under cover.

Here’s where Disney resorts always get us frustrated. I love the setup of the different buildings and all but the outside “hallways” are so confusing if you don’t know where you are going. Room 1146. Where was it? We wandered around on the first floor for a while and didn’t even see anything close to that room number. The signs pointing the way were fine but 1146 just wasn’t listed. I must have been cold and wet because I didn’t think for a few minutes. Then the light bulb went on. Duh – there’s a second floor, idiot! So we trooped up there and found our room. When I made the reservation, the CM had “suggested” several “upgrades” to ask for. Like a water view, a king bed, etc. I said the only thing I needed was non smoking and if she wanted to do anything else, fine. It didn’t work as we had a standard double bed room with a parking lot view. But at least we were here and we were going to be dry.

First glitch with Caribbean Beach. The slot where you put your room key is covered with a plastic flip thing. So you need two hands to open the door. The only reason I can think for this is to keep moisture out. Otherwise, it’s a royal PITA. Even with the small load I had, I couldn’t open the door without putting something on the ground. Points off for this. The room itself is fine and moderate standard. I was looking forward to having a refrigerator even though we had brought a cooler along with us. There is a privacy curtain across the sink area and that gave points back to the Caribbean Beach. The picture in the room is of the Disney Magic docked at St. Thomas. That I loved since we are cruising on that ship in December and we are going to St. Thomas.

I turned off the air conditioning and the ceiling fan. And turned on the refrigerator. Why that wasn’t turned on, I have no idea. Rich quickly got changed since he had his bag with him. I was very cold in my wet gear. I got some ice for beverages and then attempted to get warm. I got a brilliant idea. Rich had extra T shirts in his bag in case he needed to change from the heat during the day. Surely he would let me borrow one, right? I didn’t say anything but got one out and changed into it. It was so long that I could easily take off my shorts and have a sort of a nightshirt. It was now pouring so we were stuck in the room for a while. I read again and Rich called The Kids to find out what we needed to do for our fantasy NASCAR draft for the race tomorrow night. The qualifying laps were going on at the moment (on Speed which we don’t get at Disney World) so Rich chatted with Chandra and Chris. He had to go outside since the connection was dropped inside the room. We have that happen frequently at Disney World. It was decided that our fantasy draft would be tomorrow during the day. We’d call from Epcot.

Around 6:00 or so, the rains had tapered off enough for us to return to Elliott and bring the rest of the stuff up to the room. Ever put on cold wet shorts? Ugh! Rich was nice and warm and dry. It was only then that Rich noticed I was wearing one of his T shirts. The man is not that great on small details, is he? We got everything out of Elliott and I quickly changed into my own drier clothes and carefully returned Rich’s T shirt to his bag. We’ve been married almost 24 years but the thought of me wearing his T shirt for 45 minutes had him gagging. That Y chromosome sure is something else, isn’t it?

The rains had almost completely stopped and we were getting a little peckish so a walk over to the food court was in order. We were a ways from that area but we didn’t mind. We’d much rather have a quieter room than a “preferred” area. As I said before, Rich has this brain drain when it comes to remembering our Disney visits. He does not read the trip reports (he says “I’ve lived it”) but he should so he can remember some things. He totally forgot about our stay at Caribbean Beach a few years ago. He did remember the one from 1996, though. At that time, he was into jogging and realized that he ran along the path around the lake many, many times. We got to Old Port Royale and checked out the food court. There wasn’t that much that interested us and we had snacks and things back in the room.

Then we checked out the gift shop for something I was interested in for Chris. Over Fourth of July, we did the Great Bead Hunt for Chandra’s name necklace. Disney sells necklaces for $3 and then beads for 85 cents (various ones including alphabet ones) and charms for $4. I made a nice necklace for Chandra for her birthday. There’s also a keychain option and I attempted on a quick trip last month to get something for Chris. Couldn’t find what I was looking for at that time but Caribbean Beach got high marks since I was able to get exactly what I wanted here. I got the keychain for $3 and then the beads with the letters e-l-m-o-n-o which is Chris’ login. Very perfect. I went to check out and there was a huge long line. Only one Cast Member was working but that was quickly resolved with two more coming to help.

After making my purchase (and the keychain turned out so great!), we resumed our walk around the grounds. We decided not to take a complete walk around the lake since the weather was still iffy. Rich was interested in checking out the hot tub. He really wanted a long soak after all the traveling he had been doing. I have to admit that it sounded so good. But I knew better. This is where the Caribbean Beach really lost it all for us. Rich didn’t remember anything about the pool setup. It’s totally kid friendly. The hot tub is smack dab in the middle of the themed pool area. That means kids are very much inclined to use the hot tub as a warm pool. Rich took one look at the setup and said “YECK!” So much for the hot tub and adult relaxation, so much for Caribbean Beach for future visits. Just not for two adults on their own.

We made our way back to Barbados and the choice was made for the night. I had suggested Downtown Disney and the shops but since I had made the one “major” purchase for the trip (a whole whopping $9 for the keychain), I didn’t really care. I wasn’t that hungry for Earl of Sandwich (still high on my list of things to check out). Rich looked tired, I knew I was tired and so we decided that we were on vacation and we’d take care of ourselves before anything else. The NASCAR Busch race, it is. It was a perfect night for us in that we both needed to just chill after a long, hard week. Disney World will be there tomorrow. Then lights out for our typical Disney Sunday.

Day Three – Sunday, September 5, 2005 – The Pixie Dust Does Arrive

I was awake and tapping on the laptop with the report by 8:00. I tried to be as quiet as possible. Rich said he could hear everything I did but I don’t think so. There were distinct snoozing noises coming from his bed. We had two double beds and we take the opportunity to spread ourselves out. We can’t handle anything smaller than a king bed. So I happily typed away and closer to 10:00 Rich asked if I wanted him to get up. I replied that if he didn’t we’d probably miss the first Off Kilter set at 2:30. That’s when he claimed he had been awake since I got up. Yeah right. In your dreams which you had been having for the past two hours.

Last night, I had mentioned that I wouldn’t mind a sit down lunch today. We knew it would be hot and wanted to get a good lunch inside of us before our Canada marathon. In air conditioning. That way, we could just snack for the rest of the day if necessary. After we got ready for the day (extra T shirts for Rich, extra socks for me, washcloths to wet ourselves down with in the bathrooms), Rich suggested Big River Grille. I knew what he was thinking. The beer sampler for only $4.50. Six samples of the home brew. But the menu wasn’t exactly to my liking. Rich also suggested the ESPN Club but thought that would be crowded. I didn’t think so but held my tongue. I did express my disinterest in Big River Grille and Rich said he didn’t even remember the menu. It was only four weeks ago that we ate here and I had a hard time finding something I liked. Yes, the man is Disney brain short. But then Rich remembered I had suggested the Dolphin Fountain as an Epcot alternative (thanks Adrienne!). He brought up that idea. OK, let’s check that out.

We parked and got the bags for the day. Again, we traveled as light as we could but included the ponchos again. It’s September, it’s Florida, the rain gear is necessary. We made our way over to the Dolphin and even though we had been here once, I didn’t realize that the restaurants were all on the first floor. The lobby is on the second floor so that kind of surprised me. We found the Dolphin Fountain which was almost deserted at 11:30. Rich looked at the menu (I had it memorized) and then we just looked at each other. Both of us, without really discussing it, decided against this option. I don’t know why. The food was fine, the locale was fine but it just wasn’t what either one of us wanted.

We passed and then I suggested the Big River Grille. I knew Rich wanted that beer sampler again and I sucked it up and said I could find something on the menu for me. Rich asked me several times if I was OK with the choice. Yeah, I was. My husband has not been home that much and I really miss him tremendously. The day was turning out to be not that hot (high 80s and a little cloudy). I could use a nice lunch with him. We were quickly seated inside Big River Grille. The place wasn’t busy at all but by the time we left, it was really picking up.

Rich did the sampler, I had some wine. Oh – and the food. Rich had a BBQ chicken sandwich with bacon. I found a turkey sandwich I could live with. I ended up with the typical Disney stuffed sandwich. Where you can’t really put the darn thing in your mouth without effort. I ended up having another four open faced sandwiches. Well, at least we were totally full for the rest of the day.

We were seated at a window table and enjoyed watching the people going back and forth on the Boardwalk. The winds were picking up and we were right across from one of the carnival booths. A stuffed dog had fallen off a shelf and was poking out from under the protective tarp. A little kid that looked like Dennis the Menace noticed it. We watched as the kid really contemplated picking the toy and taking it with him. The kid was with his parents but they had continued on. What the kid did next surprised both of us. He asked the Big River Grille people at the outside seating podium what he should do. They suggested he put the toy back under the tarp. Which the kid did. He wasn’t happy about it but he did it anyway. Kudos for the kid being honest. And I’m sure the stuffed dog was happy to be back with his family. OK – that was Rich talking.

After our lunch, we went over to Epcot for our Off Kilter fix. We were way early for the first set but we still had to do our fantasy NASCAR draft with Chris and Chandra. What better place to do it than at the Off Kilter seating area? Rich pulled out the phone and got the low down on the qualifying order. While he was doing that our friend Janis showed up. She and I talked while Rich was taking notes. Yes, we take our NASCAR stuff seriously. Well, not that seriously. Nothing is on line except pride amongst the four of us. We did complete the draft and the family business. Then we talked with Janis and were joined by another Off Kilter fan, Barb. We’d be in Canada for the rest of the day.

For today, Off Kilter had a substitute drummer so we knew we’d have limited choices of music. Oh well. We weren’t at home and we weren’t at work. Let’s enjoy the day and our friends. The first two sets were great (as usual) and then we had a long break before the third set. Rich and I finally made our walk around World Showcase. I wanted a delayed dessert so we stopped at the ice cream crepe place in France. Yum although it melted quite fast. Rich wanted a Kaki Gori so we continued onto Japan for that while I was happy with my choice. Rich was satisfied with his glorified snow cone (I still don’t see the appeal but Rich loves them) and we walked around to the American pavilion. Where I had my moment.

A performance of the American Adventure was going to start in less than ten minutes. Rich still had half of his Kaki Gori to finish. Neither he nor I wanted him to gulp the thing down but I wanted to see the show. I was determined. I needed a huge dose of patriotism after the long week with Hurricane Katrina and dealing with the idiot fantasy football owner and everything else. I was proud of the way all Americans stepped up with relief efforts. I’m a sorry sap when it comes to things like this.

I told Rich I was going into the show and he should continue on his walk around the World Showcase. I’d meet him back at Off Kilter. He didn’t want to do that but quite frankly, I didn’t want him near me during this show. I knew I’d get way over emotional. I told him to just do what he wanted for a while. I went in alone to the rotunda and walked around to soak in some American history. Voices of Liberty were performing and doing a very nice job. I read all the quotes on the walls and had a nice moment all to myself. I knew I’d have to distance myself from anyone else. I did notice a couple of quotes that fit the mood.

“What After All Has Maintained The Human Race on This Old Globe Despite All the Calamities of Nature and All The Tragic Failings of Mankind, If Not Faith in New Possibilities and Courage to Advocate Them” – Jane Addams

“Our Way of Living Together in America is a Strong but Delicate Fabric. It is Made Up of Many Threads. It has Been Woven over Many Centuries by the Patience and Sacrifice of Countless Liberties – Loving Men and Women” – Wendell Lewis Willkie

I didn’t have any paper to write down the quotes but was determined to come back after Off Kilter for this.

If I was emotional when I entered the rotunda, I was worse now. Once we were into the theatre, I made sure I sat all by myself. I needed to. All my thoughts and feelings for the past week just came out with the presentation. The montage at the end had me so glad I sat by myself. So glad Rich wasn’t with me. Once again, Disney and the American Adventure helped me heal (the other time was after 9/11). I did take notice that the guy behind me (a very big man) said “there must be something in the air that I’m allergic to”. Yeah, right. Just wipe those tears and go on. I put my sunglasses on before I exited the theatre. I practically skipped around back to Canada.

We did the last three shows of Off Kilter with the very last one being cut short because of the threat of a thunderstorm. That never materialized but the guys have to do what they have to do. I don’t want to see my favorite band being fried on stage. I think Rich wanted to go back to the room (for the NASCAR Nextel Cup race) but I wanted to get those quotes. We made our way back to America and Rich suggested taking digital photos of the pictures. Smart man. Our digital camera is a story and a half and I completely forgot I was carrying it along with the still camera. With that accomplished, Rich was very interested in leaving but it was too close to Illuminations for me to want to go back to Caribbean Beach. NASCAR or no NASCAR.

So we stayed and in retrospect, we should have left. The show was great, as usual. I didn’t tear up like I thought I would but Rich was tired and he showed it later. On the way out of Epcot, I wanted to stop at the Boardwalk Bakery and get some pastries for the stop at Sandy’s house on the way home tomorrow. The shop was more crowded than I anticipated and I really couldn’t see the choices since people were crammed up to the glass counters. Hint to Disney – have the ordering area separate from the viewing area, please. I had to make my decisions very quickly because I had a hoard of people behind me. For only $18, I got five great desserts – a fruit tart, a chocolate cake, a huge brownie, an éclair, and a peanut butter thing. Rich stayed behind me and just was not a happy camper. He refused to talk to me on the entire walk back to the car.

I finally got his reaction much, much later. He was tired. He was frustrated. He thought I was supplying all the food and drink for this entire “reunion”. I had mentioned that maybe we would have to contribute beer and wine to the festivities. Not supply but contribute. I don’t know where his head was but it escalated to a nasty situation. I knew the situation was hopeless so we ended up back at the room and watching the NASCAR race in total silence. I read and napped but woke up in enough time to see Shrub, I mean, Kyle Busch, get his first NASCAR win.

I hit the bed right after the race. I don’t know what Rich did and at the moment, didn’t care. Grr moment for sure.

Day Four – Monday, September 5, 2005 – Family Fun Day

I had set up a wake up call for 8:35 to make sure we were on the road by 10:00. Rich had expressed a BIG disinterest in stopping at Sandy’s. I was very upset by the announcement last night. We’re always available for his family but for the first time in our marriage, this would be my side of the family we were going to go out of the way for. And not really out of the way. Just a quick jog off I75 and a couple of hours. Once the call came and Mickey and Stitch and I do believe a couple of the Tiki Room birds were on the speaker, we slowly got up. Each one of us trying to figure out the others’ mood. I was fine but was willing to kidnap Elliott and just leave myself in Gainesville while Rich sorted out his problems. But he immediately apologized for the night before and while we didn’t go back to being friends right away, we were OK for the time being. The traveling schedule he had been on was brutal. He was only in town Friday through Sunday and our weekends were packed. And he was going to California so he was spending more time in airports and hotels than anything. Fortunately, the week ahead would be a home week for him. Then one more week of traveling (back to California) and the stupid contract would be over. We might lead normal lives again.

I got our Express Checkout from the door handle and everything was in order. Just Chris’ keychain and the pastry purchase (which will go down in Niklewski history as The Purchase That Started a War) from last night were added to the room charge. We got ready and decided that two trips to Elliott were needed. After loading up, we said goodbye to Disney World and I held back my question of if we were coming back here next month for the Food and Wine Festival. Last night, Rich indicated that he never wanted to return to the Land of the Mouse. He was that frustrated.

We stopped along Highway 192 at a 7-11 for Diet Cokes for Rich and a cold bottle of water for me. I had stupidly forgot to bring any with me other than the initial one on the way down. With our beverages in hand, Rich drove us up to Gainesville. He had said we would do the original plan and go to Sandy’s. I guess all he needed was a good night’s sleep and to know that sometime today he’d be home for another week with no traveling other than back and forth to work (which is an hour commute one way but that’s normal Atlanta stuff).

Once we got off the turnpike and onto I75, I called Sandy’s house and got Wesley who turned me over to Rich B. He gave me directions to the house and we’d be there in a little under an hour. Rich and I had stopped in to “see” the house on an earlier trip. Sandy wasn’t moved in yet but we knew where it was and could easily find it off the interstate. Again, we didn’t have a problem with getting there and we were prepared for the mini-reunion.

We were greeted very warmly and it was like we had just seen Sandy and Rich B. and Kelsey and Wesley yesterday instead of four years ago. My sister and I fought like cats and dogs when we were growing up but became very close after she enlisted in the Air Force and went away from home. I served as her maid of honor for her first wedding and she reciprocated for my marriage to Rich and for the 20th anniversary vow renewal (which was the last time I had seen her). I was with her at least emotionally for her divorce and then her marriage to Rich B. My dad and Betty arrived shortly after we did so it was a busy first half hour or so. The pastries (those damn pastries) were drooled over but had to wait.

We passed the next four hours very easily. Rich B. fried up some awesome chicken wings and Sandy provided some lunch meats and cheese for a great lunch. I was extremely impressed with my niece and nephew. I don’t know how Sandy managed it but she raised four wonderful kids (Ashley is in college at Perdue and Caroline lives with her father in California). All are very polite and well behaved. Kelsey and Wesley helped Sandy and Rich B. get the food on the table and then waited until the adults helped themselves to get their fill. My dad asked what they were waiting for and they said “guests always go first”. And then, much to my amazement, they cleaned up after lunch without even being asked!

By 4:00, I could see Rich was getting antsy. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to be with my family but he wanted to be with his family. The five cats and our home which he hadn’t seen a lot of lately. We made our excuses and my dad and Betty left at the same time. Actually, they didn’t have much choice since they had parked behind us and had to move their truck anyway. I finally slid behind the wheel for the trip and drove us back to I75 and the route north. Rich snoozed a bit and I stopped for gas just before the Georgia border because I didn’t know what we’d find after Florida. Prices were $2.99 and we were happy. Until I crossed us over into Georgia. The panic of Wednesday was totally gone. Prices back down to $2.79. Oh well, we only needed to fill Elliott up twice and it wasn’t that bad. I can’t imagine traveling with a Hummer or something that gets 7 MPH. Another very nice thing about Elliott and Jasmine – both kids deal with regular unleaded gas. Rich’s Princess has to have the premium stuff which is why she’s sitting in the garage most of the time these days.

We switched drivers at a rest area break. Rich wanted to get us through Atlanta. We had to make another emergency stop for me. This time because my contact moved on me and it was either be totally dangerous and take the rear view mirror away from Rich and try and find the contact in my eye in total darkness or pull off at an exit. Rich chose wisely and found a McDonald’s. It was also convenient for us to get a large fry to share. We motored home and arrive just a little after 9:30. Another Disney World trip over. For better or for worse.

Final Thoughts

I think I’m forever more going to compare this weekend to a trip up a mountain. Very slow going at first but then you hit the pinnacle and it’s all downhill from there. I was ready to give everything up Friday night. And the whole disagreement with Rich about going to Sandy’s was really stupid. But there was more than enough pixie dust for the trip. It came late but it did come.

We’re going to cross off the Caribbean Beach as a moderate resort choice. The whole pool/hot tub area just doomed it for Rich and I just wasn’t impressed by anything. It’s an “OK” place. Nothing magical there for us. If we do a moderate again, I’ll try Coronado Springs since we haven’t been there for a while.

We didn’t do much for food but it does seem like Big River Grille is turning out to be a place for at least Rich. The beer sampler is a great bargain at $4.50. In future visits, though, I will suggest that we just do this for drinks. Rich feels uncomfortable with doing something like that but he’s going to have to get over it. He’s just a very traditional guy. He thinks it’s weird to go to a restaurant just for drinks.

The tension of the gas crisis and Hurricane Katrina has calmed down. Georgia gas prices are back to almost reasonable for the current situation. I’m glad neither one of us panicked with everything. We’re hoping the entire Gulf Coast can rebound everything. The pride I felt at the American Adventure has me thinking that we will be back and better than ever. This was an emotional trip and the message I got was that family is the most powerful glue in the world. It might be thin at times but it’s always there.

Sheri Niklewski