Dinosaurs, assaults and cute cousins...

On Saturday I had planned to be picked up fairly early in the morning by my parents, drive to Sizzler to have breakfast then head to la Kingdom le Magic in the afternoon. I met them outside Chatham and to say I was pleased to see them didn't quite cover it. We had a lovely reunion and soon headed for some food. We pulled into the parking lot and suddenly another car appeared. Unbeknown to my my grandparents had decided to surprise me! I honestly had no idea, it was a great surprise :D

We had breakfast (pancakes!) and went back to Chatham to show them round. After a quick look at the untidy mess we went to view the parental's villa. After a swim and a game of pool later it was time to head to Magic Kingdom sans Gran and Grandpa. We went on Big thunder mountain, the haunted mansion, pirates and philharmagic. I had booked us a surprise meal at Tonies on Main Street USA citing a family reunion as our cause to celebrate. The lady and the tramp theme was wonderful and the meal was great. A fabulous choice even if I do say so myself hehe ;) We wore our 'family reunion' pins with great joy. We had then planned to meet up with Nick after he finished work and after the 'meeting the parents' introductions we headed to tomorrowland to go on Buzz (I beat my Dad!) and monster's inc laughter floor where Nick was picked on to 'get up and dance' which was a real treat :P By this time it was getting late and so we headed back to our respectful homes as SOME people had to work in the morning.

I worked 10am - 9.45pm and had a pretty good day albeit long. The last couple of weeks broke up the tradition of me getting stuck with stand by and pit crew on rotation. I finally was able to get positions such as grouper (my favourite) and photocell. Although the majority of guests were pleasant during this period I had two situations which made me think that unfortunately Disney joy doesn't quite reach all those who visit the magic. The first was a man who approached me on pit crew. As I had to load the cars I politely asked him to move off the platform so I could do my job. He began ranting and raving at me about his lost son. I asked him if he was a single rider and said that if so they all exit at the same place. Again I asked him to step down and he shouted straight at me, making a fist as if to hit me. Luckily a couple of other track technicians saw what was happening and intervened. The man swiftly exited and I was left rather shaken. It wasn't nice but I was happy to of had the support of my team. The second incident was when I was at grouper. Suddenly a man made to jump on the track swearing abuse but was restrained by his family. Aparently there was a man on the ride who had been inappropriate with the first man's daughter. Luckily a fellow CM intervened. Again it shook me up but these type of incidents are rare and the majority of guests I witnessed were just excited about being on holiday.

Well, back to Sunday - after work I was picked up by my parents and after an unsuccessful visit to Publix (it had closed!) it was time to say goodbye and head back to sleep. Monday I had off and after a neccessary long lie- in I got some bits and bobs done before meeting with my man for some fun at Disney Quest. We really enjoyed the vintage arcade games as well as some modern ones (guitar hero anyone?). We did the mighty ducks pinball, aladdin's magic carpet ride and cyberspace mountain (thrill factor 4), had a little parfait and a peanut butter and chocolate muffin and after a break returned later to do pirates and virtual jungle cruise. Ok so I fell upon seeing a dinosaur on jungle cruise and dropped my oar, no need to laugh though! No help or nothing, just laughter grr :p hehe. We played skiball and I am proud to say I managed to get in the 10 000 target! Anyhoo, we then went to Olive Garden for some lovely food *ranch salad* and went home to watch a couple of movies. Overall a fabulous day with excellent company :D

On Tuesday we had planned to meet the parents early in the morning to make the most of our day at Hollywood Studios. We started with the Tower of Terror and went on to do Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Muppets 3D, One Man's Dream (during the storm) and of course Toy Story Mania. I was so happy as Me, Nick and Mum all beat my Dad for once! Mwhahaha. We had a nice meal at ABC cafe and had a wander round the Christmas shop, getting a few pressies for back home. Soon it was time to go to Downtown Disney as we had arranged to meet up with some relatives who we hadn't seen in years. We all had a great time at the Rainforest Cafe and it was lovely to see Heather (my Mum's cousin), her husband Ken and their children Olivia and Nolan. Nick had great fun playing with the kids and it was a treat to be in the Rainforest as I hadn't been in absolute years. After the most delicious chocolate cake known to man was eaten we had a look around World of Disney and then parted to go our own separate ways. Another wonderful day in the place of magic.