Disney, Day 4

April 11, 2009

Sunday at Disney was what I thought of as the Martini Shot. Ie., the reason we were there. The wake-up call was 5:45--yikes!--because the kids needed to leave for Planet Hollywood at 6:45 for an early breakfast. I say kids because, well, I didn't go. 

Here's the deal. They needed to head to their clinic. At the clinic, which was run by Disney musicians, the only people allowed in were the kids and the band directors. Parents not invited. Parents could come to the breakfast if they wanted to, but then they had to figure out how to get back to wherever they were going and at that time there was no Disney transportation.

So I got up around 6:30 and helped herd the kids onto buses, then went back to bed and got up around 8:00 or so. We collected Daniel, wandered over to the All-Stars Music Melody Hall and had breakfast, then back to the hotel room, then got the kids into swim suits and back to the pool. Leanne and I sat in lounge chairs with caffeinated beverages and talked to each other and other chaperones who wandered by looking for caffeinated beverages. The kids swam.

Around 11:00 or so we got a call from Ian who said they were done and headed for the Magic Kingdom. Leanne and I and Sean and Daniel hooked up with Betty and took Disney transport to the Magic Kingdom, where we also hooked up with Ian.

At 1:00 the band met in front of the castle to have its picture taken. This is when we discovered one of the kids had taken a hard fall and may have had a concussion (he did). His Dad took him to the infirmary then the ER after the photos. He's fine. I just got an e-mail today confirming how well he's doing. Post-Natasha Richardson we were all freaking out about concussions, but he was okay.

Then we had the afternoon free until 7:00, when the band had to meet up toward the back of the park. They went backstage--I had hoped to go, but they only needed 2 parents--to get dressed and warmed up for the parade. I had hopes of seeing what it looked like behind the scenes and taking photos, but actually they were told that Disney security would delete any digital cameras--all photos--if they caught anybody shooting pictures backstage.

So, once the band was gone, we got some food, staked out a place to watch the parade, and I took the boys on The Haunted Mansion ride. Then the band and 2 other high school bands marched through the park ahead of the Spectral Magic Parade.

Leanne went to find Betty, who kept disappearing, and I took the boys on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Then we got stuck on opposite sides of Main Street during the Spectral Magic Parade. We finally met up again and headed back to the main gate--it was closing in on 11:00 by this time. Then everyone got lost but me (ahem). We went into a bathroom, then I came out and nobody was around, so I thought they went on ahead without me, so I headed for the front of the park. What actually happened was they went out the other direction to watch the fireworks.

Anyway, we met up again, collected our group at the front of the park, then rode the ferry to the transportation center, then rode the bus back to the hotel and got there around midnight. Where we all collapsed into bed and fell immediately asleep.

I would also point out that this day was the hottest one--91 degrees. A very long day, but pretty cool, despite B's concussion. He didn't march in the parade, but he did get pushed along in a wheelchair.

Cheers,

Mark