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| Christa Grant's
Trip Report August / September 05 |
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Day 10 – Part 2 The Luau and the Dangerous Bus
It
took a while for the Polynesian bus to arrive at MGM. We were
really wondering if we’d make it to the Spirit of Aloha
on time. I was pretty sure we wouldn’t be under this time
restraint had we just skipped the Stunt Car show…but I
decided to keep this thought to myself.
We managed to arrive at the Polynesian with a few minutes of
show time. It was about 7:50pm and the dinner was scheduled to
begin at 8pm. We were expecting people to be getting seated at
that time, but we were surprised to find a very looong line waiting
to enter the theatre/restaurant. The line wasn’t
even moving. All the children around us were quite hungry too and were quite
willing to share that fact with the rest of us. Truth be told, I didn’t
blame ‘em. I was hungry too and was anxious to get leid.
The nearest Cast Member must have read my mind because before I knew it, Goofy
Guy and I had both been leid. It was a little anti-climactic somehow.
The line did start to move, but very, very slowly. Goofy Guy took it upon himself
to go figure out what the problem was. Just like the Hoop Dee Doo, they take
your picture while you wait in line. You know, in case you haven’t spent
enough money on your trip yet. We wanted none of that (I hadn’t had the
chance to examine my face in at least 4hrs so I thought I’d save the
photographer from that horror) so we bypassed this line and located the other
line to be seated in the restaurant. We were seated within minutes.
The pineapple bread and salad were waiting for us at the table. I’m quite
certain the Chef heard our stomachs growling and quickly brought us our food
in order to prevent a scene. Yum! I really enjoyed both the bread and the salad.
For those of you who have never been to the Luau, they seat you at long rectangular
tables. If you’re looking for a romantic interlude with your significant
other; this is not the place for you. The chairs next to us filled up with
other families within a few minutes. Not one of these family members said a
word to us. I understand the whole shyness thing (I’m one of the shyest
people I know), but I was quite surprised.
Goofy Guy said the people around us probably knew I was writing a trip report
and didn’t want to give me any added material.
We enjoyed both the show and the dinner. Unlike the Tarzan show, BOTH Goofy
Guy and I got to enjoy the physical prowess of many of the dancers.
I’m starting my diet tomorrow.
It was a cute show, which was cleverly interwoven between our dinner courses.
I wasn’t a big fan of the main course of chicken and rice. The spices
didn’t seem to work for me, but I did see other people enjoy it so I’m
not above admitting that I might in fact be the strange one. The volcano dessert
was fabulous by the way. I believe the chocolate dessert included a fruit filling
so I may need to rethink my “fruit doesn’t belong in dessert” rule.
My life has lost all meaning.
Just before dessert was served however, a manager came out to speak with the
woman who was sitting beside me. The manager profusely apologized to the woman
for being ill and offered to bring someone from first aid over. The manager
was bending over backwards to appease this family. I didn’t hear the
woman’s response because my head was whirling.
I had just eaten EVERYTHING that this woman had just eaten and now this woman
is sick? A flashback to the movie ‘When Harry Met Sally’ entered
my mind. Remember the infamous café scene where Meg Ryan provides a,
ahem, demonstration to Billy Crystal and the woman at the next table said, “I’ll
have what she’s having”? I just experienced this, but in reverse.
I wished I could take back whatever she had!! Somehow I got the raw end of
this deal and I didn’t like it one bit.
No one from first aid ever did come, but the woman and her family did leave
well before the show was over. For the rest of that night, anytime I sneezed
or felt anything peculiar, I was convinced I had to call 911. Goofy Guy tried
to distract me by saying we now had better seats to see the show, but I wasn’t
easily distracted.
Hypochondriacs and Drama Queens are deadly combinations.
I just hope that woman was okay. I had a couple glasses of white wine, which
helped distract me from the situation. The phenomenal fire dancer was a great
help too. How do they do it and make it look so effortless? I make tying my
shoe look like brain surgery.
The show came to an end at about 10:15pm. By the way, there’s relevance
in why I’m telling you specific times. I’m really not THAT much
of a details person! It ran a little long since we didn’t get
seated on time either. We followed everyone else back to the Polynesian lobby
and went to catch the monorail to the Magic Kingdom. From there, we would take
the bus back to the All Star Movies Resort. Just as we walked onto the monorail
platform, a cast member asked us which resort we were going to. We told him
the All Star when he proceeded to inform us that the Magic Kingdom had closed
at 9pm tonight and was no longer sending buses back to all the resorts. In
order to get back to our hotel, we had to take the bus to Downtown Disney,
and then switch onto the All Star Movies bus.
All right, this was going to be somewhat of a pain, but it was manageable.
We muttered something about wishing we still had a car, but otherwise, we were
fine. We were both feeling healthy and were still celebrating that fact. We walked to the bus stop with about 100
other people. We assumed that a bus would come quickly so we didn’t worry
too much about the high volume of people. Everyone was still pretty cheerful,
talking about the fun evening they had just experienced. Life was good.
Thirty minutes go by, and not one single bus arrives. Peoples’ patience
were wearing thin. The cheerfulness of a few minutes ago had been replaced
by irritability and complaining. Wouldn’t this scenario happen often
after the Luau? Wouldn’t Disney know to send a few buses right away?
Life was still good, but was fading slightly.
Our wait continued. The usual calm Goofy Guy was about to lose his mind. It’s
rather humorous in retrospect, but at the time, I would have lost a toe if
I had laughed. We were debating whether we should get a cab, but we were convinced
that a cab would come just as the bus came too. Goofy Guy was about to go back
inside the hotel (it’s a fair distance from the bus stop) to speak to
a Cast Member, when we noticed a light off in the distance.
No, it wasn’t the Blue Fairy.
At long last, the bus arrived and all the tired, hot, frustrated people temporarily
forgot that they were civilized and pushed and shoved their way onto the bus.
No one knew when or even if another bus would arrive so this bus could very
well be our only hope. I’m still not sure how, but we managed to not
only get onto the bus, but we also managed to get a seat. I’d say that
75% of our bus riding history at Disney consists of us standing. Yet, on the
busiest, most disorderly bus ride ever, we managed to get a seat. I’d
like to give that mathematical problem to my grade 12-math teacher and tell
him to stuff it!
He’s the one who told me he was relieved that I was good in history and
english…
But I digress. It was here that I met the most fascinating Drama Queen in my
thirty-one years. She was probably in her late twenties and was upset that
she had gotten separated from her family. Her sister was way at the other end
of the bus and her brother didn’t make it on the bus at all and was standing
outside.
I was consumed with guilt.
This woman yelled in what you’d assume is her loudest voice to her sister
asking what they were going to do since their brother was outside. There was
no way anyone could get on or off the bus now. We were sardines already. The
brother was trying to mouth something to the two sisters, but it wasn’t
registering. It was then that I heard one of the funniest lines of the trip.
The woman yelled to her sister (who was further away from their brother) with
such authority, “READ HIS LIPS”.
The entire bus fell silent for a split second, and then dissolved with laughter.
The woman did NOT look pleased and I honestly had concerns of a fight brewing.
Why oh why hadn’t I taken up kickboxing?
Miraculously, the woman smiled slightly and resumed position trying to understand
what her brother was trying to tell her. They finally made an agreement to
meet up again at Downtown Disney. I thought the drama was over, but the woman
figured she’d continue entertaining the crowd. Another gentleman tried
making conversation with her in order to get her mind off being split up from
her brother. He asked her if she enjoyed her evening. He had no idea what kind
of can of worms he was opening.
In her loud, domineering voice, she explained how she had a horrible evening.
She’s vegetarian and the meal revolved primarily around chicken. He casually
mentioned that she could have made special dietary requests and he wondered
if she enjoyed all the other fixings like the salad, bread, veggies, rice & dessert.
She insisted that she ate nothing and was starving. Another brave woman asked
if she at least enjoyed the show and the woman went on another tirade saying
that the show was boring and she fell asleep 3 times.
I wonder what kept waking her up?
In the mood she was in, you could have asked her what colour the grass was,
and she would have said purple and nothing you could say could prove otherwise.
Although it was an amusing situation, I did feel bad for her. I’m sure
she was a nice enough woman but she was obviously quite upset. We were all
frustrated with the situation so I understood how she was feeling. She seemed
to calm down during the bus ride so as we disembarked, I grew some courage
and wished her well and hoped her family enjoyed the rest of their vacation.
She said they were leaving tomorrow.
Well, I tried. I figured that us Drama Queens need to stick together no matter
how obnoxious we may be. But then I had a horrific thought. Do I really act
that way too? I didn’t like the thought of Goofy Guy having to live with
that kind of behaviour for the next 60yrs. I made a vow then and there to try
to become more levelheaded. I was turning over a new leaf. I would have achieved
my goal too if someone hadn’t stepped on my foot on the way off the bus
at Downtown Disney. Isn’t it really the thought that counts anyway?
The All Star bus was actually waiting for us when we arrived at Downtown Disney.
It’s a good thing, because Goofy Guy was going to snap. I don’t
think he shared my amusement on the bus. In total, it took one hour, forty-five
minutes to get back to our hotel from the Polynesian. We rarely complain about
anything but we wanted to talk to Management back at the hotel. The kindly
Cast Member apologized for our inconvenience, but recommended we come back
to Guest Services tomorrow when a manager was on duty. I suggested that Goofy
Guy and I drive the buses after the Luau a few nights a week and in return,
Disney would only have to pay for our living expenses, buy us a house and fly
our family down each weekend. It sounded like a win/win situation to me.
The Cast Member must share the temporary deaf condition that my family experiences
when I talk too much. Coincidence?
We made it back to our room and decided to have a quick swim before calling
it a day. I didn’t want to end the day on such a sour note. A swim was
just what the doctor ordered! Tomorrow was our last full day in Disney. We
still had a lot of sights to cover not to mention some dining plan credits
to eat up, so to speak. Night all – hope you join us tomorrow as we bid
farewell to Disney.
Day 11 - Part 1...
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