Day 5 Animal Kingdom/ Gene and Judy arrive :)

After riding Kali River Rapids... blech! Of course we all looked like this after the big storms hit!


Matt clearing the table while the server takes a "break". :)


Gene and Judy about to toast to their surprising news!




Due to the lack of more than 5 hours of sleep since we left home... I am really dragging this morning! But... I know that we MUST get to the park by rope drop in order to get those fastpasses!! All the kids surprisingly get up this morning no problem. Breakfast this morning.... powdered doughnuts. ;) We make a quick stop past concierge to check on the status of the computers... hmm still not there?!

The plan for today is to load up on fastpasses so when Gene and Judy arrive we can go back to the park and not have to wait for anything. First snag in the plan... they're plane hasn't taken off from Dayton due to storms in Orlando. They should still arrive by noon so this shouldn't be a problem.

At this park I can ride.... NOTHING! Seriously.. there isn't 1 single ride in this park I can do. A couple of shows and that's about it. Well I could also do the walking trails seeking out all the birds and crap... but those of you that know me know that is sooo not something I'm going to do. ;) My job today will consists of getting the fastpasses while Matt rides various things with the kids....and of course sitting in the shade because this park is about as hot as the sun! Not sure if it's because of all the vegitation or if mounds of elephant poop makes the temps rise.. whatever it is... it's HOT here!!

The first ride they run off to is Dinosaur. Another first for Drew. There are many kids... and even some adults... who will not ride this because of the scare factor. It's loud, dark and things jump out at you. As they get to the entrance there is an 8 yr. old boy who is all out whailing because he is scared to death to get on this. Drew looks at this kid as if he's nuts and continues to walk on. At the exit there are several kids who are coming off of it crying. I'm a bit concerned that this is NOT a good idea for him to ride. But he's insistent! Imagine my surprise when he comes off LAUGHING!! He thought the big scary dinosaurs jumping out at him were funny. I think there is seriously something wrong with this child!

They then head to ride a few little carnie rides and then to the big water ride. I'm not a fan of getting soaking wet in smelly water and walking around in wet shorts as my fat thighs ryb together like 2 pieces of sandpaper. So even if I could ride this... I wouldn't! I get some fastpasses and then just sit and people watch while they ride. People watching is pure entertainment for me!! It always amazes me to see what people will wear out in public... do you not own a mirror? Or to sit close enough to a couple that's in the middle of a huge argument...those are my favorite! ;) Yes.. I realize I have a pathetic warped sense of humor.

After riding the water ride we get a phone call. Gene and Judy are still stuck in Dayton and will be coming in several hours later than planned due to the storms. Ths storms that look like they are quickly approaching! The sky is becoming quite dark. Thankfully I have ponchos for all of us that I bought 2/$1..such a bargain! We put them on and then head out of the park. By the time we get to the van we're all soaked! Apparently ponchos that cost 50 cents aren't the best quality... go figure!

We decide to go back to the beach club for a few hours and check on the computers and take a much needed nap... well much needed for me anyways!! And this is when Matt gets confirmation that the computers HAVE arrived..... on our doorstep... at home!! OH.MY.HELL!! The hotel shipped them back to our house instead of Disney! Turns out they've been sitting there since yesterday! And they shipped them in a beat up paper towel box with no packaging. And they charged us $138 to send them to the wrong place! Good god I can see the steam coming out of Matt's ears!! Thankfully we live in a good neighborhood so nobody has bothered them. Larry and Jess offer to go get them for us and then get them shipped back down here. Matt keeps mumbling a few expelitives under his breath. Can't quite catch what he's saying but pretty sure he's NOT complimenting me on what a wonderful wife I am. =P

We hear from Gene and Judy that they have finally landed! I believe from start to finish their whole trip ended up taking about 10 hours. See... you just don't always save uch time when you fly! They are staying at Boardwalk which is the resort right across from ours. The kids are beyond excited and are just bursting at the seams to tell them their surprise! They're not too happy with me that I'm making them wait til dinner. It's pouring down rain again so Judy and I head to the gift shop to buy some decent ponchos. Matt's insistent he's going to wear his little trash bag instead and doesn't want me to spend the money on one for him. Not sure why he's not too keen on spending money all of the sudden... wonder if it has anything to do with the $138 he just spent to send the computers to the wrong place??

Dinner is at Whispering Canyon tonight. This place is all about the atmosphere! Lots of jokes and pranks being pulled by the staff. When we check in I let the servers know that we are celebrating Gene and Judy's anniversary along with something else. They assure us that they will do something special. Once we're seated the antics begin. They throw silverware on the table, toss napkins and straws your way and tell you to set it yourself. This isn't much unlike my own kitchen by the way. ;) They serve the food family style... meaning they bring it out on big platters and refill as needed. The food is really good home style cooking. Hannah asked for ketchup and they came running with 15 different bottles. When another table asked for it... we had to take all the bottles to them. This chaos continus throughout the meal. They have songs playing where everyone has to stop what they're doing and get up and dance. The kids are cracking up watching Gene and Judy participate in all of this!! Then comes time to celebrate. Our server asks the whole dining room to be quiet.... oh dear god I didn't realize they were going to do this in front of 300+ people!! She announces that not only are Gene and Judy celebrating their wedding anniversary... they are also celebrating the arrival of their 10th grandchild! They both just stand there completely lost...not one.single.word. How can there be another grandkid when we're all done having kids? You know that eerie silence that seems like it lasts an eternity.. yea that's what we have going on here. lol I finally have to just come out and tell them.... in front of the 300+ people sitting there... that I'm pregnant! Ten you finally see the lightbulb click! Ahhh... they finally get it. lol Hannah is about ready to crawl under the table by this point. ;) Then the server decided she was going to take a break and made Matt clean up our whole table.... I would like to see that happen more often!!

Afterwards we head over to Magic Kingdom for a few hours. Animal Kingdom closes early so we can't make good use of all those fastpasses after all. It's been years since they've been to Disney and they're just amazed at how it's all changed. Drew insists on taking them on what he considers the best ride in all of Disney... Small World of course. Being the great grandparents they are... they take his hand and let him lead the way. He's so proud to show them his favorite ride! We hit a few other rides as well and then head in to see the Monster's Inc. show. This show is interactive with the audience and Gene is immediately labeled Sully.. the big scary monster. The kids are laughing so hard at this! Again and again the camera keeps going to him. This makes the show so much more entertaining!

They're pretty pooped after traveling all day so we head back to our resorts by 9pm. We plan to meet up for rope drop at Epcot in the morning. We've explained to them the importance of staying ahead of the crowds so we know that they'll be there on time. ;)