Sometime during our first days in Orlando, I got a nasty bite on my leg. It didn't bother me much for two days and then my leg began to swell, the hair follicles around the bite were red, and I itched like the dickens. Misha too had some bites, and this morning, I asked Chris to stop at CVS to pick up some Bendadryl spray. It was somewhat effective for a short time and had to be reapplied often. Crazy insects. A week and a half later, I still have redness on my leg. Another remnant of Disney World is a feeling of vertigo as I sit and type--it seems as though I am still riding rides, though I no longer wake up with that "in motion" sensation.
Riding on the trams from the parking lot to the entrance of each park can be fairly boring because the tram "cast member" was either hard to understand or not funny or the experience can be quite entertaining. Always the drill is to wait until the tram comes to a complete stop before exiting. We often heard, "Wait for it...wait for it...wait for it...NOW!" And then everyone would disembark with a "NOW" attitude--get outta my way! Kristen picked up on that and began her own mantra as we entered Disney World and neared the entrance sign, "Wait for it...wait for it...wait for it...Now!" Sometimes we heard "wait for it" twenty times before we finally reached the sign.
We began our day at Hollywood Studios. It was the beginning of their Star Wars Weekends. Later in the day, we got pictures and autographs with some pretty fun characters. Chris headed down Sunset Boulevard to get a FASTPASS to "Tower of Terror" while the girls and I, including Grandma, watched the High School Musical 3 concert celebration in front of Mickey's Magic Hat on Hollywood Boulevard. Amy loved it and hoped to be picked to be a part of the show. No luck this time. From there we watched "Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular!"
There were a few rides, such as Toy Story Midway Mania! and Rock and Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, that were so busy that we had no hope of seeing them, but there were plenty of other fun shows and rides to see. We made it back to Tower of Terror at our designated time amid nervous protestations from our girls. They wanted to go on it, but they felt A LOT of trepidation. I took this picture of Misha as we were waiting in line. Her expression on the ride was pretty similar. She kept telling us, "I'm not a screamer, I'm a clutcher." That's me, pretty much, too. Kristen liked to tell us that even though a ride was scary, "I didn't say a word." That was not always true. You might remember me saying something about her "screaming her ever-loving little head off" on "Expedition Everest". It was her way of staying brave. The Tower of Terror definitely required a little bravery; it was stomach-dropping, plunging fun.
I took a picture of the photo they snapped of us mid-ride.
Lunchtime. Not so many nicely-shaded spots today, but we found an out-of-the-way place without too much traffic. Our lunches were pretty routine and maybe boring, but the girls were excited and anxious to move on to their next adventure and didn't want to spend a lot of time eating.
Grandma (aka Linda) grew up in California close to the beach and was pretty amazed that the building fronts and streets reminded her so much of what she remembered from her teen years.
The girls were thrilled to see C3PO on "Star Tours" but even more excited as we exited the ride.
Amy wasn't about to pass Darth Vader by without an autograph and picture. We waited with her and then jumped in for a photo or two.
As we neared the end of our day at Hollywood Studios, Kristen and the girls were also excited to see this popular character. We were one of the last few allowed in line before they closed the door.
But that doesn't mean that the day was over for Grandma. After dinner at Logans with more horrible service, she enjoyed the funky hair stylings of Misha and Kristen. We figured we were enduring all of this bad service because all of the quality, happy workers were hired by Disney!
