Poetry, Anchovies, and Pirates

July 22, 2008 (Disney Trip Continued ...)

 

Each morning Jacob wrote a couple of poems for Whitney that he gave her with a small gift. He and Kolbein had made a plan to do something special for the girls each day. The trick was to sneak it past them. To avoid any problems, Whitney's mom went out and bought the treats for them. Jacob made a list of themes for each day which Melinda (Whitney's mom) followed when buying the treats. On Tuesday, the plan was to eat at the Crystal Palace (Magic Kingdom) where Pooh and his friends greet everyone. We decided against it after arriving, and so Jacob had to try and compensate for it when he wrote his poem for the day:

When you drop by the Thousand Acre Woods

Here is a treat to make a good

First impression with that silly old bear

Here’s a hint – It’s got honey, so you better

“bee” ware!

The first treat was a bag of "Bit-o-Honey". The second treat was to match our plans to eat at EPCOT. We'd made reservations for Le Chefs de France. Here's what he wrote:

If something’s amiss

I can help you with that

The food here, you see,

It’s made by a rat

But that’s okay, he’s a friend of mine

A cousin of sorts, so dig in and dine!

The treat was some candy rats. Jacob was pretty proud that Melinda was able to find something to go along with Ratatouille.

We got up early, like every other day, and jumped on the bus to Magic Kingdom. Ashley and Kolbein weren't ready so we made plans to catch up with them later. It was strange being at the park so early because they would let you in, but most of the park was still blocked off from access. We rode the Winnie the Pooh ride and then made our way over to the Haunted Mansion. Whitney loves this ride! Last year, she was so disappointed that it was closed. We'd learned that there were supposed to be some major renovations and we were excited to see them ourselves.

As we made our way through the house in our Doom Buggy Whitney commented that this was probably her thrill ride for the day. Not riding big rides was tough for her all week long. She was glad that she could at least ride the Haunted Mansion.

We still had some time so we trekked over to Pirates of the Caribbean. Several months before we'd bought Hidden Mickey's, a book that has scavenger hunts for hard to find Mickey shapes and other subtle character outlines in the parks. As we made our way through Pirates we tried to find these clues, but some were more difficult than we thought. Even when we rode it later, we had a hard time. It was fun though. It's a good book to check out!

After meeting up with Ashley and Kolbein we jumped on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority. The ride is simple; you sit down and it takes you on a tour through Tomorrowland. The best part though is that you hardly ever have to wait to get on, and it's something to do to rest your feet. Well, when we got a longer trip than normal because the ride broke down. We're not even sure how long, but it was a while. This picture above was during that wait. It was fun, but we were glad to get moving again. The breeze always feels so nice!

After a few more things we rushed over to EPCOT. Well, rushed might not be the right way to put it. We waited for a long time for the monorail to take us between parks. We were almost late for our lunch reservations. It was hot too. Whitney wasn't doing very well, and as we rushed to Le Chefs de France, we had to take a break or two, because she wasn't doing well. But she made it and after a short wait, we got into the restaurant. And not a moment too soon either! Shortly after being seated the clouds let loose and everyone outside got soaked. It rained most days. We were glad to miss this downpour.

I don't know why, but throughout this trip Jacob kept ordering fish. He likes to try things he hasn't had before and our trip to France at EPCOT was no different. Whitney got quiche and Jacob sot a salad, but Jacob couldn't just get a "salad." No, he had to get the Tuna Salad. Sounds pretty safe, right? Well, it was a wonderfully large salad with a huge block of tuna, two strips of anchovies placed on top, and something that looked like caviar spread on a small piece of bread. He just had to take a picture:

Whitney knew she had to be careful with fish, but this wasn't something that she would have ever ordered under any circumstances. But she likes tuna okay.

We spent the rest of the day at EPCOT. We spent a while at the French Pavilion where we watched a movie and shopped. Then, we mulled around before it got dark. We watched some of the firework show, and rode on Maelstrom, a simple water ride at the Norway Pavilion. It was a fun day, but a fishy day--A great day at Disney World!