Fender Bender

Mary Lou had a minor accident with our car today - I stuck this picture up here so Dave could see the damage. I'll delete it in a little while.

edit - I decided to leave the picture up - this whole episode was so irritating. Mary Lou was in a parking lot, when a Kindcare truck backed into her. She exchanged information with the drive, who neglected to inform her that he was actually an employee of the Firestone, where the truck was being serviced (at least that's what Kindercare thought). After a series of calls to Kindercare, then the Firestone we got that straightened out. Unfortunately, by that time the drive had conveniently changed his story to one where Mary Lou hit him. So now our car is banged up and we have no recourse, because it's our word against his. I've learned two things from this little incident:

1. Any accident I have, no matter how small will involve a visit from the police, so they can see the position of our cars and take statements right away, before people have time to concoct stories.

2. Firestone sucks. The manager of the Firestone was incredibly rude to me. They would not give me any information, and told me I'd have to call their Consumer Affairs department. He also refused to provide me with the phone number for this department, claiming it was in the phone book. He is a liar, as are his employees. No one ever provided a satisfactory explanation for why that Kindcare truck was cruising around a parking lot three miles away from the Firestone. I have a pretty good idea why though - the truck was parked in front of a Murphy's Deli when it backed into our car. Maybe other technicians had already grabbed whatever "cool" cars were in for service that day, so our poor drive was forced to use the Kindercare truck for his lunchtime errands. Why drive your own vehicle, when you can take someone else's for free?

Where's the Beef

We had a priority seating reservation at Hollywood & Vine for 3:30 on this day. That was pretty early for dinner, but way late for lunch. I had stuffed a big breakfast into everyone at the condo and made them wait all day, since this was an all you can eat buffet. Once we got in, it was fabulous. They had shrimp, roast beef, all sorts of entrees and side dishes. There was a smaller bar that catered to kids, with chicken nuggets & macaroni and cheese. I was even able to make Ellie her favorite - a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. There was a big dessert bar, with pie, cakes, cookies and an ice cream machine. By the time we left this place, we could hardly walk and were all ready for a nap. We also got tickets to a special seating section for the Fantasmic show that night, as part of the package I'd purchased in advance.

I don't think I've mentioned it before, but I'm a way obsessive planner. Before we left Texas, I had a spreadsheet with every meal we would eat on the trip. I used http://www.allearsnet.com to check out the restaurants at each park. Then I planned where we would eat and estimated the cost. I carried the printout around in my purse, and was something of a taskmaster about it. We had a budget and I wanted to squeeze in as many character meals and sit down restaurants as I could, which meant we couldn't just blow $40 at a hamburger stand for a quick snack. Food is pretty expensive inside Disney, but I think the pricier places are actually a better deal because you get to sit down and you get a lot of food.

Touched by a Girl

The boys got their picture too, under some duress for Ben. He's at the perfect age where girls are yucky and video games rule. I guess later girls will be not yucky, but video games will still rule.

Ellie with Snow White

Later in the day we ran into Snow White. We didn't take a lot of character pictures at Disney, because there were usually long lines and we'd rather be going on rides. But, we had to stop for Snow White. Ellie has a Snow White costume, and she looks perfect in it, with her short brown hair, red lips and blue eyes. I wish she'd worn it to the park on this day, because it would have been great to get a picture of her with the "real" Snow White.

Candy from Strangers

We met these girls in the line for The Little Mermaid show. They kept talking to Ellie and giggling. Then they told me they were school teachers from Japan on vacation. They asked to take a picture with our kids, then we took one with them. I have no idea why Ellie looks so sullen here - I hope she looks nicer in their snapshot. After the picture, they gave the kids some sort of Japanese candy. I didn't get to try it, but the kids all liked it.

Maddie the Conformist Misfit

This is Maddie in her Misfits t-shirt, flared jeans, black flounced mini-skirt and black Converse All Stars. She is quite the fashion plate and likes to stay on top of all the latest junior high trends. We were pretty slow on buying the Chucks, but according to Maddie, she's the fourth person to wear a skirt over her jeans, so she got in early on this trend and will have longer to enjoy it. That's a direct quote.

Army Man

I've always had a soft spot for guys in uniform. The first thing we saw at Disney MGM were the green guys from Toy Story. I nudged all my kids out of the way and jumped in for a picture. They've got a green tank you can see in the background that they tool around the park in. After I got my picture, I let my kids have one too.

Disney MGM Studios

Here are the kids at the start of Day 2 - Disney MGM Studios.

Lovey Dovey

Sam and Ellie after the fireworks, too tired to remember to jockey for postion in the stroller. Their robots from the beginning of the day are at their feet.

Day One, nearing completion

Dave, Maddie & Ben near the England pavilion. We tried to stack out a good spot to watch the fireworks and boat show, but we'd waiting too long. I also wasted way to much time trying to take good pictures of the scenery. It was really pretty with all the lights and music, but it doesn't translate to film very well.

Free drinks at Disneyworld?

This is Heather (and Maddie's back) at a little attraction at Epcot that offers samples of sodas from all over the world. We were all thirsty from traipsing around the different countries, and Maddie had told us about this place. You get a little cup, and there are soda machines that dispense about 8 different kinds of soda. I think one was vegetable flavored. I can't even find a link for it on the DW website, because I'm sure their bean counters are already agonizing over the idea that drinks are being given away without charge. The floor was very sticky in there, but most of the drinks were yummy.

Paying the Piper

This is a smile on Dave's face. Can't you tell?

Dancing Girl

Ellie always has so much energy - I wish I could feel like that for just one day.

Not Hungry

I know you paid $8 for this spaghetti - that's why I'm not hungry. Can I have some more chocolate milk?

Italian Lunch

This is Ben, with his fancy drink at L' Originale Alfredo di Roma Ristorante. I had called ahead for priority seating there, and then they were even nice enough to find us a seat outside. We got a fancy appetizer of Italian meats, cheese & olives. The two older kids got these blue drinks, the little ones got chocolate milk. The food was pretty good - not fantastic but tasty. All the waitstaff were from Italy, so Dave got to chat with our waitress for a few moments, since he served his mission there. There was a circular courtyard nearby with Italian music playing, and the little kids got up and danced at the end of the meal. The next few pictures are from our lunch there.