Life Update
I am trying to order new contact juggling balls (Dad wants one and I want a black one and a larger clear). Apparently, the entire U.S. is out of them. And the websites don't let you place an order for anything that's out of stock, even if a shipment is expected in a week or two. This is making things difficult.
As you've probably already guessed, I am still alive. I've been meaning to post--I've actually been doing stuff!--but never got around to it.
I went to Disney World with my parents. It was fun. Mom's planning another trip in a few years, when the grandkids are older, but for this trip it was just me and my parents. We had very long, very tiring days, but we saw just about everything. If you stay in a Disney hotel/resort, you get to use FastPass, which is like call-ahead seating for rides. Scan your room keycard, get a ticket with a time on it. Come back at that time (there's an hour window), skip most of the line. You end up riding later than you would have if you had waited in line and you have to wait an hour in between getting passes, but it cuts down on a lot of standing in line.
To my surprise, there weren't many crying, screaming, unhappy children. There were some very tired kids, but not many fussy ones. I think most of them go from super-excited to asleep, with no time for tantrums in between.
Quick note to parents: if you are next in line and still haven't told your child what the ride is, for fear he will refuse to go on it, your child should not be on that ride. If your child is crying and begging you not to make her go, she should not be on that ride. If complete strangers are comforting your child, she should not be on that ride and you really should put a bit more effort into calming her.
I did not, technically, ride the Tower of Tower. I went on it, but there were mechanical difficulties and after a long wait, the elevator was lowered slowly and steadily. We were given the option of going to the front of the line for the other elevator, but Mom and I declined, since we didn't have time if we wanted to watch both "Beauty and the Beast" and the Indiana Jones stunt show (we had time for a 2-5 minute ride. We did not have time to sit in an elevator for 15 minutes with a crying child and no air flow), and I have this thing about going on rides that are having mechanical difficulties where I think it's a bad idea. I'm weird like that.
Soarin' is an awesome ride. Stitch's Escape or whatever it's called was better last time I was there (13 years ago or so), when it was more Alien-ish and scary instead of kind of cute but with the same effects that were originally intended to be scary. Pirates of the Caribbean is now Captain Sparrow and the Pirates of the Caribbean; they went a little overboard on that one. All the shows are fantastic. I liked Lion King the best. It was more like a circus with Lion King music than a play, and the guy who sang "Be Prepared" had a great voice for the song. I liked Magic Kingdom's firework show better than Epcot's. Epcot was trying for meaningful and symbolic. Magic Kingdom had the Good Fairies versus Captain Hook and the pirates. I've seen firework displays choreographed to music before, but this was the first time I saw a display with a plot. The local Fourth of July show was rather pathetic in comparison.
Disney needs to acknowledge more of it's movies. I get that princesses and pirates sell, but the other animated films deserve love too. I like "Robin Hood" and "King Arthur." I don't understand why there's a ride based on "Song of the South," which they want everyone to forget exists, and big hits like "Jungle Book" just get a song played over the speakers.
It was an expensive trip, and I wouldn't want to go every year, or even every other year, but it was nice to have a different kind of vacation.
We also went to New York (Buffalo-area) for a family reunion. The reunion was pretty dull; I don't know my mom's cousins and am not good at socializing. Mostly I talked with the same people I see every week. But we did go to Niagra Falls, and that was nice. We also stopped at the Corning Glass Museum, which was neat. I have a new respect for anyone who carves cameos. The detail on some of them is mind boggling.
Last week we had sexual harassment training at work. The name is misleading. They showed us the same video they showed us last time. It's poorly acted and somewhat ridiculous (Remember, kids, don't call a coworker "booty-licious" in her hearing! That's called harassment, and harassment is bad).
Today we went to RenFest with my little cousins. They enjoy dressing up (in hand-me-down Christmas dresses that aren't at all Renaissance-y, but whatever), dancing around the Maypole, and seeing the more child-friendly shows. I may go a second time this year and watch some grown-up shows. And wear more comfortable shoes. The boots look nice, but my feet hurt.
Diana is back! Yay!
I think that's the highlights of the last few months.
As you've probably already guessed, I am still alive. I've been meaning to post--I've actually been doing stuff!--but never got around to it.
I went to Disney World with my parents. It was fun. Mom's planning another trip in a few years, when the grandkids are older, but for this trip it was just me and my parents. We had very long, very tiring days, but we saw just about everything. If you stay in a Disney hotel/resort, you get to use FastPass, which is like call-ahead seating for rides. Scan your room keycard, get a ticket with a time on it. Come back at that time (there's an hour window), skip most of the line. You end up riding later than you would have if you had waited in line and you have to wait an hour in between getting passes, but it cuts down on a lot of standing in line.
To my surprise, there weren't many crying, screaming, unhappy children. There were some very tired kids, but not many fussy ones. I think most of them go from super-excited to asleep, with no time for tantrums in between.
Quick note to parents: if you are next in line and still haven't told your child what the ride is, for fear he will refuse to go on it, your child should not be on that ride. If your child is crying and begging you not to make her go, she should not be on that ride. If complete strangers are comforting your child, she should not be on that ride and you really should put a bit more effort into calming her.
I did not, technically, ride the Tower of Tower. I went on it, but there were mechanical difficulties and after a long wait, the elevator was lowered slowly and steadily. We were given the option of going to the front of the line for the other elevator, but Mom and I declined, since we didn't have time if we wanted to watch both "Beauty and the Beast" and the Indiana Jones stunt show (we had time for a 2-5 minute ride. We did not have time to sit in an elevator for 15 minutes with a crying child and no air flow), and I have this thing about going on rides that are having mechanical difficulties where I think it's a bad idea. I'm weird like that.
Soarin' is an awesome ride. Stitch's Escape or whatever it's called was better last time I was there (13 years ago or so), when it was more Alien-ish and scary instead of kind of cute but with the same effects that were originally intended to be scary. Pirates of the Caribbean is now Captain Sparrow and the Pirates of the Caribbean; they went a little overboard on that one. All the shows are fantastic. I liked Lion King the best. It was more like a circus with Lion King music than a play, and the guy who sang "Be Prepared" had a great voice for the song. I liked Magic Kingdom's firework show better than Epcot's. Epcot was trying for meaningful and symbolic. Magic Kingdom had the Good Fairies versus Captain Hook and the pirates. I've seen firework displays choreographed to music before, but this was the first time I saw a display with a plot. The local Fourth of July show was rather pathetic in comparison.
Disney needs to acknowledge more of it's movies. I get that princesses and pirates sell, but the other animated films deserve love too. I like "Robin Hood" and "King Arthur." I don't understand why there's a ride based on "Song of the South," which they want everyone to forget exists, and big hits like "Jungle Book" just get a song played over the speakers.
It was an expensive trip, and I wouldn't want to go every year, or even every other year, but it was nice to have a different kind of vacation.
We also went to New York (Buffalo-area) for a family reunion. The reunion was pretty dull; I don't know my mom's cousins and am not good at socializing. Mostly I talked with the same people I see every week. But we did go to Niagra Falls, and that was nice. We also stopped at the Corning Glass Museum, which was neat. I have a new respect for anyone who carves cameos. The detail on some of them is mind boggling.
Last week we had sexual harassment training at work. The name is misleading. They showed us the same video they showed us last time. It's poorly acted and somewhat ridiculous (Remember, kids, don't call a coworker "booty-licious" in her hearing! That's called harassment, and harassment is bad).
Today we went to RenFest with my little cousins. They enjoy dressing up (in hand-me-down Christmas dresses that aren't at all Renaissance-y, but whatever), dancing around the Maypole, and seeing the more child-friendly shows. I may go a second time this year and watch some grown-up shows. And wear more comfortable shoes. The boots look nice, but my feet hurt.
Diana is back! Yay!
I think that's the highlights of the last few months.