Days of Future Perfect - Day Four

A quick reminder; Due to a "glitch" in the RSS feed, I have received blog posts from the ICON of the future - September, to be precise. This particular post is dated Sept. 11th, 2006. I hope you enjoy the fourth day of my WDW trip as much as I did.

HELP!

I used to love those wacky 60's movies where the music and the actors were way more important than the plot - our own version of Bollywood. Today, my trip to WDW took a decidedly Bollywood turn as we commemorated the 5th Anniversary of the attacks in New York and Washington D.C. and as Dave and I took off on our second TAC Day.

I started the morning with another short jog. I tried to find a shortcut through the woods, and maybe another jogging route. The one to Fort Wilderness campgrounds is nice, but I hate jogging on footpaths. Considering the morning and the lack of people's senses of humor on a "Day Like Today", it was probably not the smartest thing in the world to do. I got lost in the woods. I was looking for some sort of familiar landmark to guide myself back to the path when I heard a rustling in the bushes. I stood still and waited for what I was sure was going to be some critter intent on eating me to spring out of the bushes. Instead, it was Disney security, and they weren't too pleased with my short cut story.

The inside of the Disney Security Building is cool. I'd go into more detail, but honestly, I think these guys are doing a great job and I don't want to make their jobs any harder. In the light of a new scene, and after a little calling around, Disney Security eventually accepted my story and took me back to my hotel. I thanked them profusely and apologized for giving them such a scare. I have a feeling, though, that there's probably an unmanned flying Mickey plane following my every move now.

Everyone wondered what had happened to me and I made up some sort of story that didn't embarass me too much. Then I took a shower, changed clothes, and told Dave to meet me in the lobby. Everyone else was headed off to EPCOT for the morning, and Dave and I were going to meet them after our little TAC/Disney Day excursion.

Once again, I explained to Dave the concepts of the TAC/Disney Day and then I took him down in front of the geyser at Wilderness Lodge to interview him. Once we were done with that, we boarded a boat to the Contemporary Lodge (That's the one with the Monorail riding through its center). As soon as we got off the boat, Dave looked worried - and he had every right to be worried.

We walked over to the other side of the lagoon - the side that faces the Magic Kingdom and down to the boat docks there. We then checked in at the Flying Aces Paragliding Charters office. Dave gave me a, "Oh, Hell No!" look, but I convinced him to give it a try. Okay, so it probably wasn't such a good idea.

Dave hates to fly, and combining that with a bad back and swimming, just made Dave's morning. But the view from the top of the paragliding arc was pretty damn cool. It was just the getting there that Dave didn't really like. We raced across the lagoon with Dave acting as our own version of the Goodyear Blimp and then we pulled him back in to the boat. And then Dave, then and there, got an evil look in his eye and plopped down his credit card and made me go.

I'll admit to being freaked out. But, again, it was a great view. I can't wait to see the footage Dave shot of me.

After that, I treated Dave to something a little more his speed as we headed off to Downtown Disney and went to the Virtual Arcade. I let Dave make a virtual roller coaster for me and I rode it. I think the thing was like 99% upside down. We played the Virtual Pirates of the Carribean and then we grabbed a quick bite to eat and a slice of cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory outlet restaurant that was there before we quickly headed to EPCOT to meet up with the rest of the group.

Being a smaller group of just Heather, Mom, Carl and the two kids, the strollers were loaded down with Disney merchandise by the time Dave and I arrived and Carl was grumbling because they'd only been on one ride. We joined them for lunch at the Moroccan Restaurant, though Dave and I only had appetizers. After that, we all went over to the American Adventure pavillion again to honor America on 9/11. There was an extra sense of patriotism today, just like there had been four years before on the first anniversary.

After that, we wandered through the countries and then headed back to Future World to ride the rides we'd missed the first time and some that we simply had to ride again and again (Test Track, anyone). The Soarin that is here is the same as the one in California and while neat, is still not a great ride - especially with the line as long as it is.

This was our first full day in the park where we didn't stop for a nap. The kids were getting tired and cranky by the time Dinner rolled around. We checked in at Canada eagerly awaiting a meal that had been our favorite of 2002 and were not disappointed. Even though they didn't have a chef's special of Beef Stroganoff, I was definitely satisfied with my meal.

Everyone wanted to head home, but for once I decided to stay by myself and watcht the Illuminations show. It was loud, but it was fantastic. Afterwards, I did a little shopping as I meandered back to the front gate. I caught the last shuttle bus from the park and arrived back at the hotel pretty late - having had one of the most complete days I'd ever had at WDW.

I'm pretty exhausted now, though, and I'll probably sleep in tomorrow - which is Carl's Disney Day. At least I won't have to do a lot of walking tomorrow... hint, hint, hint...

Before I go, I just wanted to comment on the excellent blog post Ariel posted today on the early years of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkein. Fascinating stuff. I can see why Miramax is sniffing around for good movie material. And I'm also glad to hear that R. Sherman has been hired to defend Karl Rove before the new Congressional grand jury. I think he'll be fair and even-handed. Of course, he'll miss the inevitable Giants-Cardinals NL Championship Series, but then we all must make sacrifices for our country.

See you tomorrow.

Wow. Some interesting news there at the end. I wonder what's going to happen in the next four months to make that information come true. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Have a good weekend.