Sunday, December 30. Beeping, beeping… it’s an alarm clock, but an unfamiliar one. Oh, yeah, we’re in a hotel. In Orlando! We’re going to see Mickey today!!
Even though it’s only 6:00, Brandon, Benjamin & I are immediately awake and, frankly, kind of squirrelly. We can hardly sit still. Becky just rolls her eyes at us and goes to wash her hair.
We are actually at the breakfast buffet before 7:00. (Bob & Linda still beat us there, though.) They’re serving a good mix of breakfast basics. I snare some scrambled eggs, French toast and sausage, and help Benjamin cook a waffle on their automated waffle iron.
After breakfast, we head back to the room for a quick devotional time – it is Sunday, after all! – based on 1 Corinthians 10:31, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” I kind of thought we might be doing a lot of eating, drinking, and “whatever” this week!
While still in the room, my cell phone beeps with a new message. My parents have sent us text messages on vacation before, but this one’s not from them. It’s from Big Wallaby!
No, I don’t have six-foot-tall imaginary Australian creatures in my life. Big Wallaby is a guy I met through the wonderful website community of StupidGuestTricks.com. We hit it off immediately there, particularly since my online identity, BRWombat, is also a marsupial. In fact, Wallaby and I together comprise SGT’s semi-legendary Marsupial Welcoming Committee, taking upon ourselves the task and privilege of welcoming newcomers to the site.
He’s also a Walt Disney World cast member.
This is a new experience for me. On our last trip in 2005, I’d met a few CM’s online, but did not know any of them well enough to want to try to meet them – or well enough that they’d care about meeting me. This time there are a few possibilities, and Wallaby’s at the top of the list.
He is a driver for the Kilimanjaro Safari Ride at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, one of our favorite attractions, and his message is simple. He writes to give me his full name, so I can know which driver to ask for!
Note: It is a fact that the Disney company can, at times, be pretty strict with their employees and go to extremes to protect the company’s image. The website where I met Wallaby and other cast members, StupidGuestTricks, is a place where CM’s gather to blow off steam about the idiots they deal with.
While the cast members I mention are wonderful assets to the company, their association with a website like StupidGuestTricks may not be appreciated by their employer. Therefore, to avoid any possible repercussions against them, I will not post any images of them nor reveal their true names, and repeat only such identifying information as they themselves have already shared online.
I realize I could have said all of this with a simple, “Name changed to protect the innocent.” But hey, I’m a lawyer. Why use six words when a hundred will do?
So we know how to get in touch with Wallaby at Animal Kingdom. At the moment, though, we’re still in the Wingate Hotel. One thing at a time.
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