Kungaloosh 2020

Yesterday was my 3rd Adventureland Day experience and, by far, the best.

You might remember my first Adventureland Day which was so much fun and I was blessed to have my clan join in with me because I didn't want to go alone.

And then there was my 2nd visit - the Lost Safari which, although still enjoyable, was not as much fun. I had hoped to meet new friends but that didn't happen.

But this time, it was perfect.

We received directions from our fearless leader.

In between instructions there was a little comedy to keep everybody happy. This whole group is into role playing, they have created fictional characters - 1930s explorers who are really funny.

We were split into 3 groups because the event has grown so large that Disney World has requested we find a way to limit the impact to the tourists. I was there with my roommate and her youngest daughter for the decoding activity. 

We found all the appropriate people and were able to decode our message "no news from the Nile" quickly enough to win a prize.

 Then my roommate and her daughter left to go get lunch out of the park and I was left by myself which was perfectly ok this time because I really wanted a chance to meet some people.

And it actually started to happen - I was walking to the Jungle Cruise, our first group ride, and a woman stopped me to ask where we were meeting for that. We started talking and I found out she had traveled to the event from South Carolina. We got separated though when they asked for a single rider to fill up the first boat and I went ahead.

I'm glad I did go on the first boat because we had a phenomenal skipper. Jungle Cruise is one of those rides you either love or hate. I LOVE the corny jokes but often when you ride you find that you're laughing by yourself and most people are groaning. Not on a boat full of Adventurelanders, however. We cheered on Skipper Brody so that he felt confident to try out new, cornier jokes along the way. By the time we made it back to the docks we were chanting BRODY, BRODY, BRODY. It was awesome, a ride I'll never forget.

At the end of the ride we were met at the dock by other skippers who handed out these cards to us. I've ridden this ride many times and never been made a Guest Skipper before.

Then it was time for the group sing-along at the world famous Tiki Room! I got in line and decided it was a great time for a selfie. See that guy photobombing in the background? At the time I took the picture I had not spoken to him but that changed while we stood there and waited. We started talking and it turned out he was from South Carolina too...and not only that, he was the brother of the woman I'd met earlier. She wasn't anywhere around at this point, she was busy doing her own thing. As we conversed we learned that we shared a love of all things vintage, especially luggage labels, ocean liners, vintage aircraft and traveling to historic sites. We sat together in the sing-along and he sang along, with gusto. He didn't think he was too cool or sit there all grumpy the way I've seen some men do.

So when we left the Tiki Room he asked if I had Facebook because he wanted to send me pictures of his luggage label collection (the modern equivalent of asking a girl up to your room to see your etchings? Nah) but before we could exchange our information his sister came up to get him for their lunch reservations. I turned away for a second to look at something on my phone and when I turned back, they were both gone.

To say that I was bummed was an understatement; I felt like I'd just missed out on an opportunity.

I was staaaaaaarrrrrving by this time so I decided to go back to the Polynesian hotel and get some pork nachos. Unfortunately the boat system was seriously overwhelmed at that moment so I had to stand in line for over an hour but finally I was back at the Poly, nachos in hand. I enjoyed the quiet time and contemplated what I wanted to do next.

The final event of the day was a casual meetup at the tiki bar in the hotel - Trader Sam's Grog Grotto. This was a special place for Taz and I and I had hoped that one day we could have an anniversary party there so I wasn't sure I wanted to go there by myself but I was still hoping to make friends so I definitely wanted to stay for the event.

While I was waiting for the event to start I sat on a padded bench in the lobby, kind of an out of the way spot and very comfortable. I was staring at my phone, trying to pick pictures for my Facebook post when I heard someone stop right in front of me and say Kungaloosh (the traditional greeting of Adventurelanders) and OMG, it was the guy from the Tiki Room...and his sister. They both seemed happy to see me and immediately suggested that we hang out at Trader Sam's together.

So for the next 2 hours we sat around enjoying the atmosphere and a couple of drinks and found out a little more about each other. It was exactly how I'd hoped Adventureland Day would go. I wasn't alone, I was part of a little group. BB, the sister, was kind of acting as DD's wingman, taking some pictures of he and I together and asking questions that would highlight all that we had in common. It was cute. And it wasn't just that, Trader Sam's is a social kind of place. You can't help but start talking to the people at the tables around you. Even though Taz was a fairly anti-social person, he always entered into the spirit of the place and even encouraged people to share our table. DD was the same way, talking to the other Adventurelanders that were there, finding out about their experiences that day.

I don't know what will happen in the future. I feel like I've seen this movie before and unless there's some big plot twist it will go like this - boy meets girl, boy shows interest in girl, boy and girl (and boy's sister) have a fun time, boy and girl exchange contact info, boy says goodbye promising to be in touch soon, girl never hears from boy again. Sigh, I'm really tired of this movie.

So I'm not expecting anything, I'm happy that I had such a fun time at Adventureland Day and that, for a few hours, I didn't feel so alone. And at least I've walked away with this cool Tiki mug! It's the start of my new collection.