Self-Log: Safe-D Begins With...
Who: Ash, Pukamon; Ash's parents and little sisters
When: Thursday November 4th, 0047 (another backdate)
Where: Epcot, Lake Buena Vista, Florida
What: On his family's last night in Florida, Ash and Pukamon spot a digimon around more people than usual.
Epcot had officially closed half an hour ago, but the Ward family minus one had managed to loiter around the world so that they made it back into Future World at 0020 (to Ash's mind, permanently in 24 hour time thanks to Disney scheduling). Though he, his father, and Pukamon had managed to steer his mother and sisters past Mouse Gear, the women of the family had been unable to resist the siren call that was the last shops in the park still open.
"We are exactly the kind of guests we hate," Ash said with some amusement as he watched Dani trying on various ear hats. He caught the eye of a merchandise CP he often worked with at the View and shrugged helplessly. The store closed 0030 or last guest in Extra Magic Hours, and by now Ash's family had pushed them into last guest time.
"I know," said his dad, looking at the time. "I'm surprised they stay open for us. Most malls would be escorting us out by now."
"That's only if you do something dangerous," Ash said. "And sometimes not even then: My roommate got punched in the face by a guest once. They still let the Mickeyhole onto the ride."
"Guest's loss," said Pukamon. "Star Tours sucks; I'm glad it closed."
"I liked it," argued Ash.
"You also like DisneyQuest," Pukamon pointed out. "Your taste in attractions sucks more than Star Tours."
Ash's dad stifled a laugh. Looking to his wife, he feigned a huge yawn.
"Anna, I'm tired. The kids are tired."
"No, we're not!" Dani protested.
"Exhausted," said Ash, even though he regularly clocked out later than this.
"Dead on our feet," added Nic, whom Ash had found could be an unexpected ally in times like this. "Muuuum, can we go back to New Zealand? I can't sleep on planes."
Ash's mother sighed.
"I got us evening flights so we wouldn't have to get up early..."
"Lucky you," said Ash. "I have an opening shift tomorrow."
"Mum," repeated Nic.
"We're still going to Animal Kingdom one last time tomorrow," said Ash's dad.
"Alright," Ash's mother reluctantly consented. "Just let me buy these first; I didn't see this at Animal Kingdom."
Ash sighed and took half of the merchandise off her hands and to the cash wrap (prompting Pukamon to check if any cast members he hadn't been introduced to were looking and abandon Ash's shoulder for his dad's). He knew the kids closing tonight wouldn't make a fuss about him throwing down his Company ID to discount his mother's purchase, but anything to get her moving faster.
The twins were still fighting by the time Ash and his mother had rung up over two hundred dollars after Ash's discount in Christmas presents and left the store, rejoining the rest of the family.
"Thank Mickey," said Pukamon, drifting back to Ash's shoulder. This late at night, Ash didn't care about being seen with him as much.
"I'm never going to get used to you two saying that," said his dad. "Or the Disney Point."
"I've been Disney Pointing this whole time," objected Pukamon.
"Because you don't have fingers," said Ash. "Everyone remember where the buses are?"
At long last Ash managed to herd his family out of the park, apologizing despite himself to various cast members along the way. ("Chill, kid," one of the greeters told him. "We still clock out at the same time.") As they waited for the bus to the Polynesian, he noticed something moving in the bushes out of the corner of his eye. At the same time, Pukamon stiffened on his shoulder.
His family were still distracted by the amount of stuff they'd bought that day; the twins had even stopped fighting to play with the Chinese puppets they'd picked up at the front gate. Ash turned around slowly, looked for a second then engaged some random guy standing between them and the bush in conversation about his shoes (dude had extremely cool shoes). If this was a digimon, perhaps if Ash looked sufficienly distracted it wouldn't think he was looking and run away.
Pukamon had a look instead: Big eyes, Pukamon made out one tufted ear poking out through the bushes... A Tailmon, maybe. Definitely a digimon, at least.
As Ash wrapped up his conversation (sure, he was a cast member, but he could only sustain a conversation with a stranger for so long), Pukamon squeezed his shoulder.
"I think it's a Tailmon."
"What am I supposed to do?" Ash muttered back. "Look at this queue."
"I'll go," Pukamon stated the obvious.
"Tailmon's an adult level and you're just a baby," Ash argued. "I'm not letting you get hurt."
"So you'd let your family potentially get hurt but not me," Pukamon retorted.
Ash glared into the distance, then, thinking quickly, bit his lip hard and approached a security guard.
"Excuse me, would you mind calling animal control? I'm--" he sniffed, "--allergic to cats and I thought I saw one in that bush over there."
He faked a sneeze while Disney Pointing to the bush in question.
The security guard nodded, picking up her radio. Ash turned down an offer of allergy meds after she called it in, then returned to his family.
"What was that about?" asked his father.
"Thought I saw an animal," said Ash. "I was telling him to get animal control in. Probably just a squirrel."
"I didn't know squirrels come out at night," said Nic.
"Park animals," Ash excused himself. "Crazy."
"So you'll let a cast member potentially get hurt," muttered Pukamon, as the family's conversation turned to the wonders of squirrels ("We should take one home," Dani proposed, "and we can keep it in the dishwasher.").
"There's loads of people around," Ash retorted. "Most times I so much as look at one they run away."
Really, this was the most he could do without making his family worry. If he didn't hear anything the next morning about animal control being mauled by some feral thing, he wouldn't post about it. No one else was really posting about digimon either (although since many Chosen seemed to be too busy to post, maybe they were too busy to be night owls too).
It was nothing to worry about, Ash told himself.
When: Thursday November 4th, 0047 (another backdate)
Where: Epcot, Lake Buena Vista, Florida
What: On his family's last night in Florida, Ash and Pukamon spot a digimon around more people than usual.
Epcot had officially closed half an hour ago, but the Ward family minus one had managed to loiter around the world so that they made it back into Future World at 0020 (to Ash's mind, permanently in 24 hour time thanks to Disney scheduling). Though he, his father, and Pukamon had managed to steer his mother and sisters past Mouse Gear, the women of the family had been unable to resist the siren call that was the last shops in the park still open.
"We are exactly the kind of guests we hate," Ash said with some amusement as he watched Dani trying on various ear hats. He caught the eye of a merchandise CP he often worked with at the View and shrugged helplessly. The store closed 0030 or last guest in Extra Magic Hours, and by now Ash's family had pushed them into last guest time.
"I know," said his dad, looking at the time. "I'm surprised they stay open for us. Most malls would be escorting us out by now."
"That's only if you do something dangerous," Ash said. "And sometimes not even then: My roommate got punched in the face by a guest once. They still let the Mickeyhole onto the ride."
"Guest's loss," said Pukamon. "Star Tours sucks; I'm glad it closed."
"I liked it," argued Ash.
"You also like DisneyQuest," Pukamon pointed out. "Your taste in attractions sucks more than Star Tours."
Ash's dad stifled a laugh. Looking to his wife, he feigned a huge yawn.
"Anna, I'm tired. The kids are tired."
"No, we're not!" Dani protested.
"Exhausted," said Ash, even though he regularly clocked out later than this.
"Dead on our feet," added Nic, whom Ash had found could be an unexpected ally in times like this. "Muuuum, can we go back to New Zealand? I can't sleep on planes."
Ash's mother sighed.
"I got us evening flights so we wouldn't have to get up early..."
"Lucky you," said Ash. "I have an opening shift tomorrow."
"Mum," repeated Nic.
"We're still going to Animal Kingdom one last time tomorrow," said Ash's dad.
"Alright," Ash's mother reluctantly consented. "Just let me buy these first; I didn't see this at Animal Kingdom."
Ash sighed and took half of the merchandise off her hands and to the cash wrap (prompting Pukamon to check if any cast members he hadn't been introduced to were looking and abandon Ash's shoulder for his dad's). He knew the kids closing tonight wouldn't make a fuss about him throwing down his Company ID to discount his mother's purchase, but anything to get her moving faster.
The twins were still fighting by the time Ash and his mother had rung up over two hundred dollars after Ash's discount in Christmas presents and left the store, rejoining the rest of the family.
"Thank Mickey," said Pukamon, drifting back to Ash's shoulder. This late at night, Ash didn't care about being seen with him as much.
"I'm never going to get used to you two saying that," said his dad. "Or the Disney Point."
"I've been Disney Pointing this whole time," objected Pukamon.
"Because you don't have fingers," said Ash. "Everyone remember where the buses are?"
At long last Ash managed to herd his family out of the park, apologizing despite himself to various cast members along the way. ("Chill, kid," one of the greeters told him. "We still clock out at the same time.") As they waited for the bus to the Polynesian, he noticed something moving in the bushes out of the corner of his eye. At the same time, Pukamon stiffened on his shoulder.
His family were still distracted by the amount of stuff they'd bought that day; the twins had even stopped fighting to play with the Chinese puppets they'd picked up at the front gate. Ash turned around slowly, looked for a second then engaged some random guy standing between them and the bush in conversation about his shoes (dude had extremely cool shoes). If this was a digimon, perhaps if Ash looked sufficienly distracted it wouldn't think he was looking and run away.
Pukamon had a look instead: Big eyes, Pukamon made out one tufted ear poking out through the bushes... A Tailmon, maybe. Definitely a digimon, at least.
As Ash wrapped up his conversation (sure, he was a cast member, but he could only sustain a conversation with a stranger for so long), Pukamon squeezed his shoulder.
"I think it's a Tailmon."
"What am I supposed to do?" Ash muttered back. "Look at this queue."
"I'll go," Pukamon stated the obvious.
"Tailmon's an adult level and you're just a baby," Ash argued. "I'm not letting you get hurt."
"So you'd let your family potentially get hurt but not me," Pukamon retorted.
Ash glared into the distance, then, thinking quickly, bit his lip hard and approached a security guard.
"Excuse me, would you mind calling animal control? I'm--" he sniffed, "--allergic to cats and I thought I saw one in that bush over there."
He faked a sneeze while Disney Pointing to the bush in question.
The security guard nodded, picking up her radio. Ash turned down an offer of allergy meds after she called it in, then returned to his family.
"What was that about?" asked his father.
"Thought I saw an animal," said Ash. "I was telling him to get animal control in. Probably just a squirrel."
"I didn't know squirrels come out at night," said Nic.
"Park animals," Ash excused himself. "Crazy."
"So you'll let a cast member potentially get hurt," muttered Pukamon, as the family's conversation turned to the wonders of squirrels ("We should take one home," Dani proposed, "and we can keep it in the dishwasher.").
"There's loads of people around," Ash retorted. "Most times I so much as look at one they run away."
Really, this was the most he could do without making his family worry. If he didn't hear anything the next morning about animal control being mauled by some feral thing, he wouldn't post about it. No one else was really posting about digimon either (although since many Chosen seemed to be too busy to post, maybe they were too busy to be night owls too).
It was nothing to worry about, Ash told himself.