Monday, December 31, 2007

Where's our boat?


In our excitement about the fireworks cruise, we arrive at the marina ten minutes early, at 7:20. There’s another family there already, and a boat-driving cast member is there also. Two of the pontoon boats are tied up at the dock, so we can see what we’re in for.

We tell the CM why we're there, and she says she’s not our driver – apparently they know when they arrive at the marina which family they are picking up. This is one of many starting points for the Magic Kingdom fireworks cruises. You can also leave from the Grand Floridian, Contemporary, Wilderness Lodge, or Fort Wilderness.

The cast member tells us to stand by a hut a short distance away, a hut which, though currently closed, turns out to be the place where you can rent boats and recreation gear during the day. She says our driver will come get us there when he arrives.

We go and stand by the hut. There aren’t any benches close by, unfortunately. We joke lightly about still having to stand around for fireworks!

Another group arrives – turns out they are with the CM we talked to. A second driver arrives soon thereafter and speaks to the family that was here when we arrived. No one has claimed us yet. Um, we were here on time -- where's our driver?

We watch with growing concern as those two boats load up and pull out by 7:40. We haven’t heard anything from our driver, and the marina is now empty. And we don’t like standing.

The boys can still make me crack up, though, by launching into “There’s a restroom in our volcano, Cinderella’s in our pool!”

By 7:45 we’re trying to figure out what to do. A cast member in shorts walks by. We flag him down and let him know we haven’t heard from a driver. He promises he’ll check on it and disappears. Oookay.

Almost ten minutes goes by. I’m starting to pull out my cell phone to call for help when the cast member, Chris, returns. I can tell by his expression that the news he has isn’t good.

Chris tells us that according to the reservations system, our fireworks cruise is scheduled for the late fireworks, the ones that finish at midnight!!

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