It was cloudy, and I reached for the remote. Gaffer said, "What are you doing??" When I said that I wanted to check the news for the weather, he said, "Nope - we're not turning on the TV while we're here." I agreed to that, and it turned out to be a great decision. We knew nothing of Libya or Afghanistan or Lindsay Lohan during the entire trip. We also had no internet in the cabin, so we couldn't check Facebook or our Maine Seaduck website - we stepped away from the rest of the world for a while. I had my Blackberry, but made a point to stay off-line (other than a daily check at "accuweather.com"!) and only glanced at my Southworth emails, opening just a couple over the course of the week. I turned the ringer to "silent". We were off the grid! Except for texting with Brenda. This was very important and began every day at dawn.
So we drank coffee and watched the sky hopefully. The clouds darkened and brightened and darkened and brightened for an hour or two, and then it began to rain. We were happy that Ava was still sleeping - it was a perfect morning for her to sleep in. The Wymans/Faulkners were going to Magic Kingdom, and we planned to meet them in Fantasyland when we got there. Ava finally woke up, but it was apparent that she was still exhausted. She was moving in "granny-low" and very quiet. I thought a nice bath might get her sparkling again, so I filled the tub and she enjoyed playing with her animals in the warm water. She seemed pretty lively once she was dried off, dressed, and eating breakfast, and by 10:30 we were walking out of the cabin on our way to Magic Kingdom.
The rain had stopped and it was cloudy and warm. We walked to the bus stop and waited for the bus to the "Settlement" - the area of Ft. Wilderness where the marina is. The Settlement is also where the stables for all the Disney World horses are kept, and they have a big collection of ponies. Pony rides are available for $5, and it's worth every penny! Add pony rides to swimming pools and flowers, and you have Ava's perfect vacation. She made a bee-line from the bus stop to the pony stable! A "small world" moment = the lady working with the ponies was a retiree from Dayton, Maine. When she introduced the pony as "Cloud", Ava and I smiled at each other - she rode Cloud last year! He was a nice, peppy little white pony who stepped right along as I led him along the pony path.
I got in trouble, though. Cloud was stepping so briskly and seemed in high spirits, and Ava was loving the ride, and I stupidly said, "Ava, would you like to feel a trot?" Anyone who rides, knows. A trot is much different than a walk, and is the most difficult gait to sit. It's fun to learn to ride a trot, and I wanted Ava to get a feel for it. She was like, "YES!!" and I *cluck cluck*'d to Cloud, and he went into a crisp little trot. Ava was loving life! And then I heard the Dayton Retiree yelling at me from the barn - no trotting, no trotting!!! I shut him right down, and then I felt terrible. Of course these little ponies shouldn't trot - for many reasons!! What a dummy move on my part. So I apologized to Dayton when we came back to the dismount platform, and I explained to Ava that Gammer had made a mistake.
So then it was time to wait for the boat to Magic Kingdom. We stood on the dock and watched for the green flag boat. Ft. Wilderness is so sprawling (700 acres) that you learn to look for colors to be sure to take the quickest transport - purple, orange, yellow, blue, and green were all meaningful. As we waited for the boat to appear in the distance, we watched the birds - pelicans and cormorants and herons and vultures - and listened to the instrumental music playing quietly over the intercoms. (One of my best memories from Disney World is the music; whether on a bus or in a park, there is good music playing in the background - interesting and pleasing to hear.)
The Settlement is peaceful, with rows of lounge chairs on the long white beaches, and rental pontoon and bass boats serenely bobbing at their moorings. A tavern with a broad porch and rocking chairs sits adjacent to a playground for kids. After a short wait, we heard our boat whistle as it approached and pulled up to the dock. We waited for the in-bound passengers to disembark, then we loaded up for the 15-minute ride over to Magic Kingdom.
Bay Lake is a natural lake, about a mile long with two islands - Discovery and Shipwreck. Discovery Island was operated as a walk-through wildlife sanctuary from 1974 until 1999, when it was closed and Animal Kingdom was opened. Some of the docks and other construction can still be seen on the shoreline. The boat passes the Ft. Wilderness Lodge and the Contemporary Resort along the way, and then Cinderella's Castle appears in the distance as the boat rounds the corner into the Magic Kingdom harbor.
First stop to the stroller rental, and then we were off to Tomorrowland. We texted back and forth with Bren - she and her family were at the Carousel of Progress. We didn't see them when we got there, so we hopped into line to see the Carousel of Progress ourselves. Unfortunately, it wasn't the best way to start a day at Magic Kingdom. We had never been on this ride before and found it to be mildly entertaining at first, with the wonderful Disney animatronics and the rotating carousel seating, but after a while it just became too long and we felt trapped inside the theatre. A baby was screaming the whole time somewhere in the darkened audience until finally during the last scene its parent carried it out through an emergency exit. It was great to have the baby gone, but the unplanned exit caused the ride to stop and replay the final scene.
Finally, it was over and we could escape out into the muggy Florida air. We found Bren and John nearby, and then there were the rest of them - Lindsey and Nikki and Derek and the kids! Lots of hugging and smiling happened, and Lindsey and Alivia gave Ava presents - a Disney pin lanyard and a bracelet - then we went our separate ways again. By now it was after noon, and the Wymans were ready to go back to their room for a break. The Faulkners were going on Space Mountain. Gaffer and I wanted to escape from the "dark side" of Magic Kingdom and get over to the areas we loved.
Every year, we've given Tomorrowland and Fantasyland a lot of our time, but we've never really liked it. Ava loves the Teacups and Dumbo and the carousel, and so do we to a point, but that side of the park is concrete and steel and crowded and hot, and we can happily ignore it in favor of Liberty Square, Adventureland, and Frontierland - and that's what we did. We didn't mention anything to Ava about Dumbo and Teacups, but just hustled back over the bridge from Tomorrowland and through the park to Adventureland. Right away, Ava spotted the Aladdin's Carpet ride and Gaffer said he'd ride it with her. I was grateful for that.
There was a long line and they dived right in, while I went over to the Jungle Cruise attraction, and got a Fast Pass for the ride - basically, come back in an hour and go to the head of the line. Fast Passes help a lot where they're available - you can go do other things for a while, then come back and not have to wait in a long line.
After the Aladdin ride, we decided to mosey over to Frontierland. Ava had told us over the past few weeks that she wanted to ride Splash Mountain, and we had measured her to be sure she was over the 40" height requirement (she was 42"), so we decided to check it out while we waited for the Jungle Cruise. Gaffer ran to see what the line looked like while Ava and I found a comfortable spot off the main thoroughfare to watch the hollowed-out logs full of screaming passengers go straight down over the 5-story waterfall. I thought for sure she'd change her mind, but she was determined to do it.
Gaffer came back to say there was only a 10 minute line at Splash Mountain, so we parked the stroller and went running over. In no time at all, we were in our log flume - Gammer left, Ava middle, Gaffer right. We bobbed along gentle, twisting waterways for a long time, through the animatronic story of Brer Fox and Brer Rabbit and their friends, everyone cheerfully singing "Zippity Do Dah". The problem with Ava was that she couldn't enjoy the ride or the story to its fullest because she was waiting for the 5-story dropoff at every moment! She asked me constantly when it would happen. There were three small dips during the ride that added to the excitement, and by the time we were getting close to the real drop-off, Ava was so nervous she began to cry. "I don't want to do this", she sobbed. I tried to calm her, to say it would be okay, it would be fun, but she became so scared.
Finally, I said the one thing I knew would get through to her: "Ava, they take your picture going over the waterfall - you don't want to be crying in your picture, do you?" If you know Ava, you know this appeal to her sense of propriety is effective. She's embarrassed by public displays of emotion, and will always put on a calm, brave face to the public, no matter how she's feeling inside. (Hence the secret trip for band-aids at the Manchester Airport.) She pulled herself together in time for the waterfall, and even raised her arms up in the air as we went over! SPLASH!!! It was a fast fall, and we were wet and laughing as the log flume bobbed along toward the exit. Ava was proud of herself that she had done it, but has no plans to ever do it again.
A photo of your boat is snapped as you go over the falls, and we planned to buy it - what a treasure, Ava arms up on her first "coaster" - but we were in the store for an hour trying to find our digital image - never found it and walked away empty handed, dang it. Leaving Splash Mountain, we bought a Mickey Mouse ice cream (which turned into a tradition while we were there - I think Ava had a Mickey Mouse ice cream each day - she began to look forward to it), and walked over toward the Jungle Cruise. Our Fast Pass got us to the front of the line, and soon we were listening to the corny jokes and looking at the realistic jungle animals on either side of the Nile. From there, the other two must-dos for us - Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion (which was under re-furbishment so some of our favorite parts were missing...) - and then it was time to leave. We had dinner reservations in Mexico at Epcot, so we wanted to get back to the cabin and relax for a while before heading out again.
Ava was able to take a quick swim - she reluctantly got out of the pool after only 20 minutes and we had to get ourselves together and out the door. Ava and I were sitting in the back of the bus on the way to Epcot, and spotted a wild alligator lurking in the river near the shore, only a stone's throw from the road! His eyes, nostrils and part of his back and tail were clearly visible in the shallow water. Very exciting!
Ava really liked sitting in the back of the bus - her favorite seat was the last one, beside the window. I didn't mind going to the back because that's where the heater was and the seats were always warm. But Gaffer, our sherpa, didn't like having to walk all the way back through the bus, lugging all our crap, and then up the stairs to the raised platform where the seats were, so he often would settle in toward the front and we'd meet him when we disembarked. He always asked, "Come on, Ava... don't go back there..." but she always ignored him and cheerfully trotted back to her favorite seat.
We had dinner at La Hacienda de San Angel. The food was great - authentic Southern Mexican and a sampling of tequilas - and the dinner was one of the highlights of the week. We wrapped up the evening with a ride on "Spaceship Earth" in the Epcot ball. This turned out to be Ava's favorite ride at Disney - we went on it four or five more times during the week. She enjoyed the ride itself, the time travel through communications history, but she especially liked the interactive computer screen. At the end of the ride, it asks some questions about your lifestyle preferences (she always chose "health" over "work", "home", or "play"), and then a "future you" romps around in a cartoon, doing the activities you enjoy - very cute.
Ava and I both stayed awake all the way back to the cabin, and then "Owl at Home" put the three of us to sleep until the next morning when we awoke to a lovely Florida morning.
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