Day 8 - Part 2 Forget Alligators: Frogs Can be VERY Dangerous!!

I have a confession to make.

When we booked this trip, Goofy Guy and I purposely booked an additional 3 days in order to have some alone time together. The reason?

I assumed we’d need some down time from our family vacation. I know, I know – where was my optimism right?

When 8 strong-minded people (with 3 of them being Drama Queens no less…) all get together for 7 days, anything is possible right? I had visions of fistfights happening.

And that was just between the adults.

And what about the children? What about temper tantrums? With a 4, 6yr old and not to mention a 31yr old like me – anything was possible. Just ask Goofy Guy.

Quite honestly, I never expected the trip to go so well. I had high hopes for sure, but I was also realistic. I think we all had some reservations that all turned out to be unfounded. I certainly didn’t expect to feel so sad driving towards Cocoa Beach. I even expected to feel a little relief.

I didn’t.

But, I didn’t want to waste the rest of our trip longing for my family back. We were in the Sunshine State. True it was pouring rain, but it was still the Sunshine state nonetheless! If I continued my moping, I’m quite sure Goofy Guy would throw me out the window.

Or worse yet – turn me over to the tollbooth police.

We arrived at our friends’ house within a couple hours just as the rain was letting up. This friend was an old college roommate of mine who has since moved to Florida. The funny thing is that when we were in school, it was always me who dreamed of Florida in the middle of February. Yet SHE is the one who ended up moving there while I moved to a house in Ontario where lots of snow falls each winter.

I need a new real estate agent.

We enjoyed a tour of their new house followed by a nice lunch. Of course, no trip to Cocoa beach is complete without a walk on the beach. Halleluiah – the rain had stopped. As we walked along the beach, there in the distance, shining in all its glory was one of the Disney cruise ships. I vowed then and there to one day board that there ship.

True my husband would be hurling over the side of the ship, but damn it, it’s worth it for Mickey.

Before walking on the beach, I was told to be ware of tar blotches on the beach. Apparently pollution has become a real problem and tar is now polluting the beaches here. Once it gets on the bottom of your feet, it takes a special tar removal to get it off. I was so sad! This shouldn’t be happening. I tried not to think about it while we walked, soaking in the salt air. We always enjoy our time together, catching up with all the latest news. Of course, she finds it rather amusing how I continue to nurture my Disney obsession. Can you believe that she lives in Florida and she only goes to Disney to visit us when we’re there???

It’s a wonder we’re still friends!

While we walked, we all managed to avoid the tar. My friend did say that they’re trying to work on the tar problem. We all need to do our part.

We then visited with some more friends who were staying at a condo on the beach. We were thinking of leaving in order to get back to see Dapper Dad and Fanlover, but they said the magic words to us – HOT TUB.

As much as I love the All Star Movies Resort, there is no hot tub there. We needed to get our fill so we agreed to stay a little longer. I know – this was yet another big sacrifice for us to make. There’s nothing quite as relaxing as hot tubs.

Except maybe a hot tub IN Disney.

Before we knew it, it was really time to go. We bid farewell to our friends, but with no tears this time.

I’m pretty sure my tear ducts had completely dried up by now.

Before heading back to Disney, we made a quick stop at a nearby Publix. I was on another mission. In Canada, we don’t have Excedrin or cherry coke at home. I know – it’s a wonder I’ve survived all these years. I needed to stock up. The cashier thought I was a little crazy buying so much cherry coke and Excedrin. She probably thought I was a twisted drug addict or something.

Our plan was to grab a quick dinner before getting back to the hotel. The problem was, we had become spoiled brats on the free dining plan. I’m not ashamed to admit it. The thought of buying food and having to…gasp…fork out money was causing a dizzy feeling. I was feeling faint.

So I popped an Excedrin with cherry coke.

I was feeling a bit better now. But, we still didn’t want to have an expensive dinner, but wanted to eat at least one meal outside of Disney property. It’s all about broadening our horizons you understand… Our compromise was to go to McDonald’s.

I know – there’s a gazillion McDonald’s at home, but we wanted to experience an American version. Take it from me – they’re all alike. Employee accents are just a little different – eh!

We drove back to the hotel where we were to meet up with Dapper dad and Fanlover. Turns out they weren’t there. The nerve! We phoned their cell but there was no answer. Not only were they not at the hotel, they had also turned off their cell.

I think they were trying to tell us something.

I was about to ransack their hotel room, when Dapper Dad phoned us. Turns out we phoned them while they were in Spaceship Earth and they didn’t hear the phone ring. Likely story I thought, but I let it go. He told us that they were about to ride Soarin’ again and he wondered if we wanted to meet them at the Boardwalk in an hour. We had to return our rental car to the Dolphin hotel anyway, so we thought it was a good plan.

I think Goofy Guy was looking forward to returning the car. He had become quite used to letting Dapper Dad do all the driving. We filled up the car with gas at the onsite station. Hess is it? The price was actually cheaper IN Disney, than out. That’s another first for us. I suppose pigs fly now too? Returning the car was pretty slick. We just gave the keys to Valet and we were done. No fuss! We’ll definitely consider doing this again on future trips.

We wandered around the Boardwalk for a little while enjoying the atmosphere. I was still stunned by the fact that my feet didn’t have blisters all over them. I could practically do back flips. Well, I could have done back flips had I known how.

A magician was putting on a show so we decided to watch while we waited for my parents to arrive. The most adorable little girl with enormous pigtails was asked to be in the show. She was the most adorable little girl we had ever seen.

She reminded me of myself at that age.

After a few minutes, Dapper Dad and Fanlover arrived on the boat. They told us all about their great day. Apparently Soarin’ is just as good the second time round. We were definitely going to find out for ourselves tomorrow.

Dapper Dad also told us that they were able to use the last of Cocoa bil’s table credits. ToT sis and family left today before using up all their table credits so they gave one of their cards to Dapper Dad to use tonight for dinner. It worked great! The only problem they encountered was finding a last minute restaurant that had reservations available! They tried Mexico and the Garden Grill and both were booked for the night. They didn’t want to continue walking from restaurant to restaurant (they didn’t use body glide on their feet I guess), so they asked if they could exchange 2 table credits for 2 counter service credits at a restaurant in the Land pavilion. A manager had to come and put the order through, but it worked fine.

Day 9 - Part 1...

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