Carpe Diem Feb 09 - Friday the 13th - Downtown Disney

[Skywatcher]

Well we drifted out of unconciousness at about 7.30 and it took us about 12 seconds to decide that today would be an 'off park' day. We had been hitting the parks solidly since we arrived, the boys had matched us pace for pace and miracle of miracles so far we hadn't had the 'Grumpy day' which we had always had by at least day 3 on any previous trips must be the Carpe Diem element - stops us from saying 'no' too much.



Well we had a slow start to the day as we had no park opening to rush for so we put another wash on ( and yet again I put the money in the wrong drier - you life in their hands - be scared people), whilst the kids got dressed in geological time whilst watching the endless teen 'comedies' on the Disney channel that all seem to blend into one nauseating display of attractive young people with very white teeth . Zac and Cody became the wizards of waverly place and then Hannah Montana and I hadn't got a clue it was any different - I feel very old sometimes

Well courtesy of the bank holiday weekend the hotel was beginning to busy up and by the time we arrived at Roaring Forks it was absolutely heaving ( the room has a capacity of 74 for a hotel that can sleep 3000 which seems more than a little daft) So we decide to have a look see at the whispering canyon to see if they have any places and walk right on in - after a quick play with the Lincoln logs of course


We are served by a lady from Nottingham which was nice as we lived there for 6 years and we chatted with her whilst I ate the biggest breakfast of my life. She was dead chuffed we brought Marmite in . The boys love this place and it is a little more sedate at breakfast - provided you don't order soda - A nice family at the next table to us came up and asked if we wanted their complimentary arcade cards as they were going home and they had kids too young to use them.

After breakfast I go and put money in the right drier in the hope of making our clothes at least warm and damp and we head over to the Arcade to use the cards.

Boys have fun playing pinball and bowling games. Matthew likes the Star wars starfighter game and spends the whole time trying to shoot down Amidalas ship , which is the one he is supposed to be 'protecting'

I find a cool Spitfire game which tells me the 'Jerries are coming over Winchelsea Sir' which is cool as thats where i used to live dakka dakka neeeeeow.

Just about ready to be heading out now so we pop down to the room to get everything together and we find our maid outside our room , have a nice chat with her and luckily Matthew at no point refers to her as 'Our Servant' which is a blessing.



Straight out of the hotel and onto one of the buses for DTD wich we share with the Floridean.

Well its a lovely hot sunny day with a high of 83 today and the boys are on a promise of more swimming later. To prepare themselves they have to spend at least 15 minutes running through the fountain in DTD - I'm sure to them this is as much fun as any attraction in the whole of WDW



From here we go into the new make a t-shirt place and play on the screens - both the boys are aching to make their own shirt so we let them and they bothe want to put 2009 logos on which is cool - I still kick myself that I didn't do a Mickey one like Di did They tell us it will take 2 hours to process so that will be how long we spen in DTD today then . Wander through to the Art shop that somehow just feels so less 'special' than it did 10 years ago there used to be some truely 'awsome' stuff in here but it has just gone.

Into the Goofy sweet shop from here and the boys vaselate endlessly about what they want - I remember only to well the nausea that followed my last cookie from this place so I go in hunt of the tins of mints that we buy by the case to have in the car ( reminds me of Disney when I'm drivin' around ) but they seem to be harder to get this year

Thomas nearly feints when he finds his most beloved of numbers and insitis upon a photo.


And I am surprised by the cost of the candy



well I spend ages playing with the wobbly mirror anyway.

Thomas finally plumps for a nemo cookie, Lisa and oatmeal and Raisen Cookie and Matthew some PEZ - how you actually slickly load a PEZ is a skill I never learned as a child and as a result of this Matthew learned some 'new words'. Mooch around the 'rip off' $10 bit which used to be ok but now sell merchandise that is always sold for below $10 anyway like pencils shame as we got a cool oven dish from there once - I miss the 'home' store in DTD they used to have cool stuff like coathooks and doorknobs

Have a play in the toy shopmaking Mr Potato heads and remid Matthew a bazillion times that he has one at home he never plays with - Miss out the big Disney store as it all seemsa bit 'samey' now - maybe its not , maybe we wern't in the mood, but it just seemed it at the time. Its nearly 2 pm now and my Huuuuge breakfast has moved an inch or 2 so we decide to see if we can get in to the T-Rex for lunch (not expecting to as we had been told it was soo busy)

It looks very impressive from the outside



And it looks very impressive from the inside too






We were seated immediately in the Ice room as I requested which is cool as it keeps changing colour when the metor hits ( every 3.7 seconds by the sound of it)



It is essentially the Rainforest cafe for 7 year old boys , however in the Rainforest cafe you are treated to the liquid burblings of a rainforest , in here you eat your moderately overpriced average food whilst 30ft Dinosaurs scream and roar at you and meteors smash into the ground and explode, it does make it rather difficult to have a conversation , and I wouldn't plan on having a romantic meal there.

It is awesome

There is a cool squid over the bar



and Thomas liked this bit of him ( at least I think it was a him )



And what might you ask did Matthew think was 'his best' in this place filled with wonder? The huge T-Rex? the Mammoth family? Drinking something blue from a hige plastic bone? - nope - his 'best' was the automatic paper dispenser in the toilets

The boys seem very very keen to 'build a dino' - now we have never ever been to a 'build a bear' shop and the whole thing with the hearts is just adorable and the lady asks them duly to rub them on their eyes, brains legs and muscles before they are duly sown into the dinos



oh and noses apparently

Dinos are named and birth certificates collected and dinos are crated before we leave ( it was NOT girly ) Thomas had a Spinosaurus alled Spiny and Matthew had an Argentinasaurus called 'Matasaurus')

Don't seem to have any photos sorry

Wander back in the sun to the t shirt shop to pick up the boys t's then to the bus stop to watch Thomas give us a lesson in 'how to rub a melted Wonka bar into every crevice and orifice' which passed the time and half a packet of wipes while we waited for the bus back to the hotel.

Boys want to go staright to the pool so off we go. Thomas resumes his ritual of running around and around the waterslide whilst Matthew finds a friend and swims about with him.

I am left to contemplate how it can be everyone is talking nonstop on cell phones the whole time honestly they seem to be dictating their lives to eachother ' yes I'm walking now, now I'm stopping - seriously some of the conversations are as banal as that' Just put down the cell and BE on vacation!!

Also there are thousandsof pouns worth of photographic equipment just bumping off peoples chests over here - mine is locked in a foam case where it is stroked and only picked up with cotton gloves, overe here noone thinks twice about leaving the lens cap off , or worse cleaning it with a finger - its best if I don't think about it

After 1/2 an hour he swims off mid pool and then decides to take his jacket off, what Lisa is particularly cross with him about though is when she tries to tell him off he turns his back and swims off the other way - we rely on an understanding parent in the pool to pick him up and bring him over to the side ( we have gone for the non flesh exposure option by the pool again)

we are not happy with our little man and he is banned from fizzy for the rest of the day and playing in the pool and he has to watch Thomas swim for an hour.

This is a shame as we usually like to sit by the pool and watch other peoples kids have tantrums maybe we'll be in someone elses trip report

When Thomas can be extracted from the pool he is dragged out dried off and we go to Roaring Forks for more chicken nuggets - mmmmm soo bad and soooo delicious - I have easily eaten my own body weight today

Matthew learns one of lifes valuable lessons, when Lisas back is turned he has a sneaky pull on her mug only to find it filled with coffee

A nice lady comes up to us at the end of the meal and gives us all the balloons from her kids party its very nice but people keep giving us things - maybe we look so out of place in a Deluxe they assume we must be here courtesy of some charitable organisation

So Lisa leaves the place looking like the trailer for 'UP' the next Pixar movie

And we have a quick bath and try to get to bed early as we have a big day ahead tomorrow

[Keith]

We were seated immediately in the Ice room as I requested which is cool as it keeps changing colour when the metor hits ( every 3.7 seconds by the sound of it)

Cant believe you got the ice room, I got some boring room. I'm going to demand the ice room next time

Also there are thousandsof pouns worth of photographic equipment just bumping off peoples chests over here - mine is locked in a foam case where it is stroked and only picked up with cotton gloves, overe here noone thinks twice about leaving the lens cap off , or worse cleaning it with a finger - its best if I don't think about it

That just makes me shiver I wish you hadn't gone so far as to say cleaning with a finger, I probably won't be able to sleep for thinking about that

A nice lady comes up to us at the end of the meal and gives us all the balloons from her kids party its very nice but people keep giving us things - maybe we look so out of place in a Deluxe they assume we must be here courtesy of some charitable organisation

We've had the same everytime at the Wilderness lodge though not elsewhere. My pet theory is that someone started the generosity and people are paying it forward! Would be nice if true wouldn't it?

Last time we were there people were giving us unused days of dining plans and all sorts (perhaps not strictly per the rules, but hey, they've been paid for so no reason in my book why they shouldnt be used by someone)

I miss WL

[foreverducky]

Oh my gosh...where to start...first off So the boys were entertained by the simple fountain and you were entertained by the wobbly mirror. The simple pleasures in life!

Gotta love Goofy's candy shop, the most unexpensive candy/cookies sold at the most astronomical prices.

And gosh, I love the photos of T-rex place! I so want visit there and looks like loads of fun! I want to make sure I'm clear on this, did you think it's "awesome," because it really was awesome or because you couldn't have a romantic dinner there?

Last time I was there DTD had the home store near the christmas shop. Besides the candy store it's my favorite. They sell loads of kitchen stuff there. I hope it hasn't disappeared.

And I'll have you know, I always replace the lens cap on my camera.

[Isafari]

Loved reading about your day and the photos are terrific
I like RC better that T-Rex for both the food and atmosphere.
The kitchen shop is still there Billie Mickey's Pantry

[Britchick]

i think it's because you look like a nice family

dino thingie looks way cool and i'm going ot have to take my nephew there.

I actually prefer the art shop in Epcot

[Skywatcher]

The Home store used to be where the candy shop is now and used to sell all sorts of stuff he kitchen place is just where you left it

[foreverducky]

Oh good! I was worried there for a while.

[Hex]

Thanks Chris... and with that you are now allowed to have some food

it was discussed yesterday that to "encouage" Skywatcher to publish the trip report in a timely manner, he would need to add a new section each day before he is allowed dinner...

[Disneybumble]

I love DTD. once lost my husband in lego for an hour. One of my best always to remember memorys is of Lily aged 3 running to a standstill with arms splayed in front of a huge row of princess dresses.
What happens tomorrow.

[Tinkfan]

great trip report, you truly make it come alive! Your boys are too funny! remindsmeof our youngest son!