Part 2 of the Last Post

JULY 20
Today was an up and down day. Lisa left for the airport with Dad at 7:00. Then Mom, Brooke, and I went back to sleep and slept until 11:30. As we were getting ready to go to the Magic Kingdom (dad had joined us by now), Dad remembered that we could charge stuff to our room if we had ID. So we looked for all of our ID’s. All were found…except mine. We looked everywhere. And of course Dad said that he had given it back when he asked for it the first time (a couple days ago). This is/was not true. I had not gotten it back. We went to the car and looked, but it was not there. So, we left for the Magic Kingdom about 1:00, with no driver’s license for Crystal. If we don’t find it, I guess I won’t be driving anywhere soon. Not only was I worried about my ID, but I had a horrible headache.

The bus took forever to come, but finally it did. We decided that since we got up late and the park was open until 2 AM, today was going to be our shopping/leisure day. So we took our time, went shopping, bought some stuff, looked at stuff we’ll buy later, watched a parade, ate slowly, talked with people, and really enjoyed our ability to relax. One ride we went on is called Mickey’s Philhar Magic. It’s really cool. It’s the best 3-D show I’ve seen yet. We went on this twice. After the second time, we asked an employee what time the park closed, so we knew when to get the stay late wrist bands. The lady informed us that the park closed at 11:00. Dad verified that this meant there was no late staying and she said that that’s what that meant. After this startling fact, we all started to get a little testy. I know I was bummed. Brooke was very sad because she doesn’t think we’ll get to all the rides. I know we will because we really don’t have much to do before we’ve ridden them all in the Magic Kingdom. But still, we were planning on getting most of the rides out of the way tonight and only have about 2 or 3 left by the last day so that we could really enjoy our last day. But oh well. We have about 8 rides until we’ve ridden them all, so I think we should be able to ride them in 8 hours. Ya think?

On our way home, there was this guy on the bus who was really annoying. He talked about how Pirates of the Caribbean is better in Disneyland Paris and it’s how the story should be told. He also constantly asked if they (the people he was talking to) knew what such and such a building was and responded knowingly what it was. Of course Brooke and I (who were eves-dropping a bit) knew what the buildings were (he pointed out Tower of Terror and other duh! buildings). Then he talked about how he was in Disneyland 6 weeks ago and was on a 6 week trip and drove from Montreal. Dads was very tempted to say that we had been to Disneyland 3 weeks ago and were also on a 6 week trip and we drove from Oregon (which of course is farther away). But Dad, being the polite person he is, decided not to say this. Once off the bus, we all agreed that this man was annoying. But we can’t figure out what makes this man annoying and Dad not. I mean, Dad tells everyone that we’re on a 6 week trip and does say that this building is Tower of Terror, etc. What makes him not annoying but this man very annoying? I said it was because Dad’s like Santa. But what do you think?

Well, we still haven’t found my ID. Dads convinced that it’s in the room. I hope so. And for my health…my throat still hurts, but I can talk fully now (it just hurts to swallow). But, as I said, I can talk with my normal voice, even sing properly (but why would I want to do that?). Good night.

Tomorrow means a day at Future World in Epcot. It’ll be great…I hope.

JULY 21
Congratulate me everyone. I have a boyfriend! His name’s Christopher, he has dark brown hair, he’s tall, and we met at a shop in Epcot. He was working the cash register I was at. Ok, I really don’t have a boyfriend, but I did meet this guy named Christopher and we talked for a bit. Pretty much he flirted and I attempted (Brooke was there too and she talked a bit). Yeah, it was kind of funny. He was pretty cute too. He saw I was from Oregon and said he was in Stayton a few weeks ago. Then he asked what I was doing down here and of course I rambled but the gist of my rambling went like this: My family and I haven’t been here in a while so we decided to drive down here for fun. Before we got to the family, he asked if Brooke and I were sisters or best friends and I replied with sisters, of course. He also asked if we were here as a graduation thing and I replied with my ramble. Anyway, this encounter with Christopher ended our evening at Epcot. And no, I didn’t get a picture with him…I should have but Mom and Dad had the camera and they were watching the fountain outside. Oh well. Maybe I’ll run into him again. I’ll be sure to get a picture then!

Anyway, our day started out in a somewhat normal way. We got up early and were at Epcot before it opened. Once it did open, I walked fast to get fast passes for Test Track, while Brooke and Mom went to the bathroom and we all were to meet at Mission: Space. Here’s the funny part: I walked so fast that I could have been the first one on Test Track…without a fast pass (before Epcot opened, we were very far away from the rope where everyone was roped off). But I resisted the urge to go on the ride and met my family, fast passes in hand, at Mission: Space. We had fun there and then went to Test Track. We stayed in Future World all day, except for lunch when we went to Canada. Believe it or not, we went on everything except Living with the Land and The Living Seas. We plan to do those things on our World Showcase day.

My favorite part of the day would have to be watching The Kristos. They are a group of acrobats consisting of a mother, her two sons, and a newly added Olympic gymnast. When we saw them 10 years ago, it was only the mother and her sons. Yes that’s right, they’ve been here for 10 years. It was just as spectacular as it was 10 years ago. And guess what…the mother remembered my mom from 10 years ago. Weird huh? Well, we talked to them and got their autographs. Interestingly enough, the mother is 56 years old and in great condition. Don’t believe me? I will be happy to show you the tape. I’m kind of scared to show Heather, however, because I’m afraid that she’ll try some of the moves that the Kristos did on dance team or dance class. They were cool moves, but very gymnast-y. I’ll probably show the tape to her anyway. If they are still there if any of you decide to come, I strongly recommend seeing them. They are truly amazing.

As for our quest to find all 50 license plates…I’m afraid Michelle may be correct in saying that New Hampshire is a non-existent state. We can’t find ANY cars from there. This is the only plate we need and it is eluding us.

By the way, we found my ID. Guess where it was…in the yellow thing Dad has (where he put it when I gave it back to him). Dad says it magically appeared; I say it got stuck with another card and he didn’t look hard enough. Oh well. I have it back.

Tomorrow means a day of fun in the sun at Blizzard Beach. I hope I don’t get burned!

JULY 22
Well, good news folks! The elusive New Hampshire has been found! That’s right…whilst at Blizzard Beach, we happened upon a blue van with a New Hampshire license plate. Then, once back at our hotel, we stumbled upon yet another New Hampshire plate. Go figure.

Today was fun. We spent most of the day at Blizzard Beach. We did a lot of stuff. I did the tallest slide there. It’s one of those straight down slides where you cross your legs and arms and go…straight down. It was awesome…until I came parallel to the ground, then it hurt. But now I can say I’ve done it. There was a thunderstorm approaching, so we left the park at about 4:30 instead of 5:00, but that gave us more time to get ready for our dinner.

Dinner at the Hoop Dee Doo Musical Review is a must if you come to Disney World. It’s an awesome dinner show. The food is ribs, chicken, beans, and corn for the main course, salad and bread for the appetizer, and strawberry short cake for dessert. It was delicious! And the show was hilarious. There are 6 people (3 couples) who sing, dance, and make you laugh. Of course, Mom taped it, so if you’d like to get a taste of this wonderful show (food not included at this showing, unless you’re super cool), let me know and I’ll be happy to show you. This would be a great show to do. I’d love to be in it. Be watching for my name as one of the cast J. We saw the show I think twice before this and one time Dad was apart of the show. They pick people to be in it and Dad got to be Davy Crockett’s angel. Unfortunately, we don’t have this on tape but we do have a picture. Anyway, I strongly recommend this dinner show to anyone who comes to Disney World. You’re guaranteed a good time.

Overall, today was fun. I didn’t get burned either! You should see how tan I am. It’s kind of strange. Ok, I’m no where near as tan as Brooke, but I’m tanner than I’ve been in a LONG time (possibly ever been). Don’t worry it’ll be gone by the time I get back.

Tomorrow is the World Showcase at Epcot, along with whatever we didn’t finish the last time we were there. It’ll be fun.

JULY 23
Today was a tour of the world. We went to every country and did every activity each country had to offer and tasted something from every country. It was fun, though I did get a little sick from eating a lot of chocolate. Out of all the chocolate we tried, the consensus is that Norway has the best chocolate.

While on our journey across the world, we stopped by Italy and met Alex. He was very cute. We did get a picture of him, but it’s not a very good one. There was also a very cute guy in France too. What is it with foreign guys being so cute?

Brooke was very happy tonight. We turned on the TV and what should pop up…Stargate SG-1. Lucky for me it was at the end of the show, so we didn’t watch much.

It was our last time seeing the Kristos. They were amazing, as usual. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the picture I wanted but hopefully we got it on tape. It’s amazing what the lady and one of her sons does. I’d try to explain, but it would just get confusing. You’ll have to see the tape.

As for my tan…I’m starting to peel. It’s only a little on my left shoulder, but I think I’ll start peel faster because Mom doesn’t rub the lotion on like I do. The places I’ve put the lotion on aren’t peeling, but the places Mom put the lotion on have started to peel. I hope it’ll stop because I want to show everyone how tan I got.

Tomorrow is our last day at MGM. We might get Animal Kingdom in there at some point. We should because Brooke wants to go again. I’d rather not, but oh well. We’ll see what happens.

JULY 24
Congratulate Brooke, she has a boyfriend and believe it or not, it is NOT Daniel Jackson (from Stargate). Shock…I know. Her new boyfriend is none other than Chris the Skater Boy from the Sci-Fi Dine-In. Our first glimpse of her beau was when he skated out calling the name of a family in a very loud voice (we were outside in a crowd so no one could hear anything). Since we were the nice family we are, we of course clapped and congratulated him on his loud voice. About 5 minutes later, Chris skated out again; this time calling our name…he is one of our good friends because he pronounced our name correctly. He escorted us to our car and faked falling, which scared Brooke a little. After we sat down, Brooke couldn’t keep her eyes off him. It was pretty disgusting. She drooled every time he skated by. Ok, I’m exaggerating, but it was pretty funny. Many a time I could hardly control myself from laughing. Early on, Brooke had the courage to ask for his picture, which he willingly let us take. It’s not a bad photo, but it’s not the best one either. Then, after much debate, Brooke agreed to ask for his autograph. She had wanted it since she got his photo, but forgot to ask and now was too shy to ask herself. But, like I said, she finally agreed to ask. Once our meal was finished (about an hour and thirty minutes later), Brooke finally got his attention and we got his signature. You may ask why I didn’t get his attention…well, I decided that since Brooke was in love with him, she should be the one to ask for his autograph. After he signed our books, he showed off a bit. He skated on one foot (forwards and backwards), he crouched on one foot, and he did a trick only he could do…he did a scorpion (you know, the cheerleader move) while skating. It was pretty cool. We learned that he had only been skating for 6 months. He lived in New Mexico on a dirt road so he never learned to skate until he came here. So why is he the only one who is able to do the scorpion? He is very flexible (this is according to him, we didn’t see his full flexibility, but we’ll take his word for it). By the end of the day, Brooke said that she went back to loving Daniel Jackson instead (she will be forever loyal to him). So that means Chris can be mine…as well as Alex and Christopher. So now I’ve decided that we need to go to Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom and find a cute guy and get his picture and signature. Then we’ll have one cute guy from each park!

Now on to our day. We started at the Animal Kingdom bright and early at the opening. We headed straight for Dinoland USA. Here, it was pretty dead because everyone was headed for the safari ride at the other end of the park. So we had the whole land to ourselves for about 40 minutes. Since there were only 2 rides there, we rode the twirly one 5 times (Mom and Dad 4) and the Dumbo-like one once. Then we went on Dinosaur once and decided to go to MGM (where we had originally planned to go today anyway).

The first thing we did at MGM was eat pizza. Then we went on the only ride we hadn’t gone on yet (the Back Lot Tour). Then we went to Millionaire, where Dad and I were on the top 10 list in between players and Mom was the 6th at the end of the game. We also saw Beauty and the Beast. This show was interesting. I think it was Belle’s first time on stage (as Belle). She seemed a little nervous (I noticed that she played with her dress ever so slightly). And the Gaston was better voice wise, but his singing and acting weren’t as good. He decided that he needed to be a hair late every time he sang. It drove me crazy! If you’d like to see the tape, we have it. Mom and I saw a later show with the cast we saw the first time and agreed that we liked them a lot better. During Mom’s and my second B and B showing, Dad and Brooke went to Millionaire again (dad was 2nd on the top 10 twice). We ended the day with The Little Mermaid. I didn’t like Ariel too much, but that’s ok. I enjoyed the show anyway.

We’re packing now because tomorrow we’re switching hotels and it’s also our last day in Disney World. Lucky for us, the Magic Kingdom is open until 2 AM (we’ll probably try and stay that long). Unfortunately, as of right now, it’s 1:52 AM and we’re getting up early to go to the hotel, check-in, and get to the Magic Kingdom by 9:00 so we can get on all the rides we haven’t been on yet. It’ll be interesting to see if we really do get there by 9:00. If we don’t, I guess that’ll just mean standing in line for all eternity (there are no fast passes for the rides we need to go on). I know we’ll have a magical day no matter what we do.

I’m really excited for tomorrow because we’re eating dinner in Cinderella’s castle (where we’ll most likely see Cinderella herself!). Have a magical night (or morning in my case!).

JULY 25
Our morning started off with us not knowing whether we would go with Dad and check-in at the Animal Kingdom Lodge or we would meet him at the Magic Kingdom. We decided to stick together so, we got up at 7:30 and we were at the Magic kingdom by 9:30 (checked-in and every thing). We decided to go straight to Tomorrowland to ride Autopia (or Indy Speedway as it’s called here). Then we went to Toontown and rode the Barnstormer. After that, we got Mickey Mouse’s autograph. Soon after, we met Princess Aurora, Cinderella, Snow White, Tigger, Pooh, Eeyore, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto. All of these lines were fairly short because everyone was either still at Fantasyland or getting all the “big rides” done with. We finished all of the rides we had to do in order to have ridden everything (besides the railroad which we will do when we get back).

We decided to go to the hotel to rest up and move our bags into the room. Our room is awesome. Our balcony extends over the giraffe area and giraffes were out very close to us. It is so cool. I suggest this place if you can. There are other animals too, but our balcony focuses on giraffes.

Well, we’re about ready to head back, so the next time I type, I’ll have spent over 15 hours in the Magic Kingdom.

After spending about 2 hours at the hotel, we finally made our way back to the Magic Kingdom. We had just enough time to get a fast pass and then go to dinner. Dinner was delicious. We ate at Cinderella’s Castle. And yes, we saw Cinderella. Then we went on a few more rides. And yes ladies and gentlemen we now have ridden every ride in Disney World (minus the water park slides and tubes we didn’t do because the water parks don’t count). We plan on making a guide to Disney by the Carlisle Family, be watching for it in stores J. This guide will help fellow travelers on secrets we’ve learned on this trip and what we feel is appropriate for little kids, old kids, and adults. This scoring guide will include places to eat as well as rides and attractions.

Anyway, we didn’t close the park as anticipated but we came close. We didn’t have any more steam left by 1:00, so we left. It is a very un-Carlisle like thing to do, but we’re older now and need more rest than we’ve gotten in the past 10 nights. I have come to the conclusion that for us Carlisle’s 11 days is too much. We used to be able to open and close a park consecutively. But this trip has proven us wrong. We opened a park but didn’t close one…ever. We always went home early. On previous trips, we had only about 5 days to get everything in. Knowing this fact, we went from ride to ride, getting in as many as possible. With 11 days, we were able to go about and do nothing, if we so pleased. So I have decided that next time we go to Disney World, we should really only need 5 or 6 days because it’ll fit our nature better.

Overall, this trip to Disney World has been a blast. I can’t believe it’s over. This fact really hasn’t registered yet, but it will tomorrow.

While on Thunder Mountain, we met yet another family from Texas (this makes at least the 100th family we’ve met from Texas). They had only been here one day so far and it was their first time on Thunder Mountain. While the parents sat a few seats a head, their kids sat in our car in the very back. We got all our info from the kids. And wouldn’t you know it…the son was pretty cute. What is it with Disney World and cute guys? Also, while at Autopia this morning, one of the workers was very cute too. Go figure. This gives me more incentive to work here J. And as opposed to the other guys we’ve met, these 2 boys we figured were either my age or very close to it. Anyway, the kids had a great time on Thunder Mountain.

Well, it is time for me to get some sleep. Tomorrow means getting up at 9:00 to have breakfast at a restaurant near the animals. We’re also driving to Key West just because. And we’re finally getting Harry Potter, which I will read aloud. So, I need sleep to be able to read tomorrow, or should I say today? Anyhow, goodnight!

JULY 26
I woke up today at 9:30. Let me tell you, I was extremely tired. Then Brooke made me go swimming. Yes that’s right, she made me. Dad packed the car while we women swam. Then we walked around the hotel for 40 minutes to examine what it had to offer. It was pretty cool seeing the animals (or what I saw of them, since I was so tired and pretty out of it). Finally we hit the road to get our pictures and Harry Potter.

After much traveling trying to find the Walgreen’s we had used countless times before, we finally made it. And then we stopped at Downtown Disney to look for a pin for Brooke’s friend Gabby. We finally left Orlando at 12:00. Then we stopped at a book store for Harry Potter and also picked up Wicked.

I proceeded to read Harry Potter aloud, but stopped when Dad fell asleep (not at the wheel of course). I was able to obtain Brooke’s permission to read silently, so I read Harry Potter to myself. Off and on I read Harry Potter aloud. Finally we got to our hotel, which does have internet access. Yay! As of right now, in Harry Potter I’m on chapter 7. I like the book so far. It intrigues me. I can’t wait to read it some more.

Now that I have internet access, I’m planning on checking up on everyone. Then, Harry Potter here I come!