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Day 5: Welcome Home to New Old Friends
September 27, 2008


Today began on a brighter note. Our rescheduled plans for the day called for a return trip to Boma’s for breakfast. We had discovered breakfast there last April after several years of dining and it’s consequential malaise.

Grandpa Mohawk and I have this little tradition when going to a breakfast at a resort. We plan the latest possible seating knowing the crowd would dissipate, the staff are more relaxed and we could have the resort to ourselves. So we picked 10:45am, 15 minutes before closing. Unfortunately I tried out an experimental route to Disney (south on I-Drive then west on 536) and we wound up being late. We fretted our way in the door and down the elevator to the check-in, worrying even more when we found the cast members putting the rope line up to close the restaurant. Oh dear, we’re going to miss our one chance at breakfast here, we thought.

But then the cast member turns back toward us and we find it is Linda, our once upon sort of neighbor who just moved to Florida last year and met us in April. She throws open her arms, screams with glee and gives Grandpa Mohawk the biggest welcome home hug he’d ever had. Turns out she had been talking about him just the other day when her college student son came home with a mohawk of his own.

We catch up on our family stories… where her kids are now in school, our plans for that grand gathering next summer, and how is life in Florida faring these days for the ex-Maryland Native. I meekly mention we are very late for our breakfast, but Linda ushers us inside anyway just like we were part of the family. And we see even more new friends just as happy to see us. There’s Dilly our waiter who calls GM “Dad” and makes sure he pours him an extra large glass of the house special juice (because he kept running out the last time). And there’s Pako, the Botswanian college student who had been in Disney months and still hadn’t seen any fireworks. When we last left, Linda was planning to take the girl with her daughters to see the fireworks. Turns out Pako excused her way out of it over the summer, so Linda and I do a little conspiring of our own. Stay tuned to see how that one turns out.

GM and I make a beeline for the kitchen before they start picking up the food. I pile my plate with eggs, pancakes, sausage, potatoes and my own cereal mix: African plantein, white cornmeal and dried plant root. Dad opts for french toast and the sausage & biscuit curry. He takes his cereal with a mix of oatmeal and African plantein.

Now for those of you who’ve never tried the plantein it looks a bit odd but tastes sweet. It’s a mixture of several plant roots in an oatmeal-like paste. Lots of curly-q’s and a bit crunchy. You can add the dried plant root for a sweeter taste or cinnamon for a little zest.

We round out our meal with fresh fruit and a large selection of pastries (hand selected and delivered to our table by Dilly). Since it’s officially closing time, the staff has a little lull time inbetween gearing up for the dinner hour. They all come over to chat and catch up. Even the managers come over to see who these odd characters are captivating the cast members so.

Before we leave, we stop to take a few pictures with our old friends.

Our next stop is a walk around the savannah overlook. GM doesn’t get any father than the firepit when he declares this is his favorite place ever.

He doesn’t say it, but I know he wishes I hadn’t nixed that AKV add-on last year. Call me crazy, but I just don’t love browns and blacks as much as he does. But in truth, I’m beginning to wonder if maybe my planned 50 point add-on should go to AKV instead. (In any case, all add-ons are suspended until things quiet down economy-wise.) I secretly vow that the next time we do a split stay we’ll come to AKV for a few days.

The weather is sunny, clear and just a little bit cooler. A high pressure moved in the night before and now there’s not a cloud in the sky. It’s perfect weather for just being outside. We stop to watch the ducks and swans sunbathe on the savannah.

But there are no other animals in sight. Instead the entire savannah is blocked off with construction walls and half a dozen large people lifters are hoisting workmen up alongside the building. It takes us a couple minutes before we realize they are painting the exterior pillars. Ah, so this is what Disney does during their slow season.

Unable to see more exotic animals, we decide to head back inside for a little time in the gift shop. Dad declares that it his favorite gift shop anywhere in Disney. Then we head back outside to one of those little overlooks on the lobby floor. Several rocking chairs await guests in these shaded alcoves overlooking the savannah. Dad declares these are the best verandas on property and he could just sit and watch the scenery all day. Hmm, getting a hint here? I think Grandpa Mohawk really wants to stay in AKV.

What about SSR, our home resort, I remind him. “Oh that’s nice too, but I’ve always loved Animal Kingdom Lodge.” Before I’m tempted to call Member Services and change our room requests for the next two weeks, I hustle him out of there for a rematch at Toy Story Mania.

We arrive at the Studios near 3pm. As we enter the Crossroads through the gates, on comes the Drill Sargeant’s announcement that the Block Party Bash was starting up in a few minutes. Oh no! This is one parade we did not like in Disney. The only parade I have been hit three times in the head by bouncing paraphenalia. So we make a beeline through the crowd-lined streets, turning heads as we zoom past and joking that we are the pre-parade. Make a right at the Mickey hat, and zoom down Pixar Place for Toy Story Mania.

   

The wait is much shorter this time as it seems the crowd has gone to see the parade instead. I snap a few more pictures inside, getting a bigger kick out of the crayon drawings on the wall. They look like something my storytelling nephew draws all the time. You can tell the imagineers had a blast theming this ride. It seems every game from my childhood is represented from Candy Land to Twister.

The handicapped loading procedure is the same as the day before. It still seems just as cumbersome for cast members but they don’t seem to mind. I get the impression they’ve broken down the car many times before so now have a routine about it. And I do have a routine of my own to try and make the process as smooth as possible. Ramp comes down, seat rolls out, Grandpa Mohawk gets in, I drive in and park, I kick the wheel stopper up to my front wheels, lift my arms and await the seatbelt, the cast member pulls my gun down toward me and off we go.

Grandpa Mohawk declares he’s more prepared now and ready to beat me this time. The day before I trounced him by 50,000 points. So off we go for the first round of games. His accuracy is 10% higher than mine but I have 10,000 more points. And so goes the rest of the game. He does do better, improving his score to the 50,000 point range. But mine improves as well and I beat him by 45,000. It doesn’t discourage Grandpa Mohawk any though. He declares another rematch in our future.

After Toy Story Mania, GM suggests we take the Backlot Tour. We hadn’t seen that in a while and maybe we could learn why Lights, Motor Action wasn’t running again today. My favorite parts of this attraction are the Harbor Attack scene where a family gets recruited to be the very wet actors of the skit. Someday I want to see my family up there as the unwitting victims.

   

And I love touring all the backlots and prop shops. This is where movie magic is made from sewing to welding. At last we see the Lights, Motor, Action set and learn why it is shut down this week. Seems they burned so much rubber in the last two years they needed to repave the entire set. It’s due to open again next week.

   

Our tour ends in the hall of villains where we see Darth vader’s suit, the White Witch’s battle chariot and Davy Jones’ organ.

    

The weather is still warm when we exit, so we make our way down the Streets of America. GM says we can pretend we’re looking at Christmas lights, but turns out we don’t need to pretend. They are already stringing lights along the building facades for the Spectacle of Lights. We’ll be back here in a couple months to see it in all its glory.

   

We make our way past Tatooine and watch the Jedi Training Academy while downing a couple frozen mickey bars. I get a kick out of the skit’s comedic end when Vader leaves behind a couple hapless storm troopers.

It’s nearing 6pm and time for us to head home for a little R&R before our nighttime activity. We do stop first at the jewelry cart outside Indiana Jones. Grandpa Mohawk broke his little sunburst medallion and insists on getting a new one. Besides armbands and mohawks, the man has a fetish for chains and necklaces.

I discover one of those little special surprises Disney imagineers erect around the park. Here’s a hint. Pull the rope at this exhibit.

We head back to Grande Vista for dinner and a change of attire. But along the way, I catch Grandpa Mohawk in a rare moment. As I stop to snap a few pictures, here he is inventing his own game. Can you guess what it is?

Yes, Ring-Around-The-Rosy: the Scooter Version.

Time for our next destination: Adventurer’s Club.

Day 5: Continued... One Last Gungaloosh