Not Necessarily Interesting News

Ok, thank God that’s the last time that alarm goes off so early. I’ve been dreading waking up wondering what piece of electronics I’m going to kill next. My iBook died on the morning of day 2. The battery of my camera also wouldn’t hold a charge, so no digital pics. Day three saw the dramatic death of my GPS. I give up. The only piece of working electronics I have left is my phone so I’m wondering when it’ll meet its maker.

We decided to hit MGM again today. Gotta ride the Tower of Terror a few more times and the Rockin’ Roller Coaster. Also wanted to hit Who Wants to be a Millionaire. I missed getting in the hot seat by a hair. Next we decided to drop by the back stage tour as we had a bit of time to burn. We just missed getting on the tour that was leaving so we were at the front of the line. A girl walked out from behind the corner and walked up to a guy next to us and ‘volunteered’ him to follow her. She left and came back around so I jokingly said ‘pick me! pick me!’ and she did. Crap. I was only joking. I followed her around the corner and saw a mock-up of a PT boat sitting in a pool. She led me to a small cabana with 3 other ‘victims’ and said remove you shoes and socks and anything you don’t want to get wet. Oh, shit. She then proceeds to hand out rainsuits and rubber boots. I got all dressed up and we followed her out onto the ‘stage’ where I saw my family sitting in the front row. I still had no idea what the heck I was in for. The girl said I was going to be the mechanic and that I had two instructions. ‘Don’t stand up and don’t look left.’ Um, okay. The person doing the show introduced us all and pointed to a small mockup of an engine room and told me to take a seat. I was told to answer the phone when it rang. I took my seat. The one with two conspicuos handles on it and waited. The MC said to the crowd that once I answered the phone they were gonna drop 1000 gallons of water on me. I looked to my left and sure enough about 15 feet above me and up a ramp was a couple of really big bathtubs dripping water.

The phone rang.

I answered and just kinda blabbed into it. I heard a noise to my left and then the sound of a shitload of rushing water. My wife said that just before the water hit me I mouthed into the phone ‘Oh, damn.’ I dropped the phone and grabbed those handles for all I was worth. Lemme tell you, getting side-slammed by 1000 gallons of water is, um, interesting. I now understood the don’t stand up, don’t look left rule. I couldn’t have stood up if I wanted. It was all over in a few seconds. They did some stuff with the other folks and then edited it into a small movie. My family said it was great. I’ll post pics once they’re developed.

After my soaking we headed out. Next stop was Downtown to hit DisneyQuest again and some last minute shopping. This time I made a 5 for 5 coaster on the build-your-own coaster ride. Much better. You spend nearly as much time upside-down as right-side up. I told Shannon she had to do it and with much trepidation she got in. Afterwards she said ‘Again! Again!’. We did that a few more times and headed out for that last bit of shopping before having to catch a plane at 8:30.

The flight home is uneventful. As I sit here on the plane the flight isn’t even 1/2 full. I’ve got my own row of 3 seats as does everyone on the plane that wants one. Most folks are catching naps by folding up armrests and making small beds.

We’ll be back in two years again. Next time we’ll try to add a couple more days. 4 days isn’t enough to do everything.