Note: Today's post includes what some might term spoilers for a particular Disney dining experience at the Whispering Canyon. Read at your own risk..."

Monday was Day 8 and by Schaad Standards it was a big day as it featured a major run-in with the Law.

Today we spent the first part of the day at Disney Studios. We're a pretty slow family and so only visited a few shows, but it was nice to take our time and wander about. We're Schaads, and so love shopping and DS has some of the best shops at Disney World. I went all out and bought a new keychain. Connor surprised me with a Mickey Mouse "Best Father" statuette in the style of an Oscar. I'm not sure who my competition was but I'm sure they were terribly crushed.

While at DS we visited the Chronicles of Narnia show. It was cute, and the cast member playing the White Witch really resembled Tilda Swinton. There was a brief mention of Prince Caspian coming out in May of 2008, and it sounds great. They showed some concept artwork that looked very promising.

We later took in the Lights, Motor, Action show which was exciting but seemed to end two-thirds of the way through. The ending was very abrupt, too, with the audience looking around as if to say, "Do we leave now?" My theory, which I didn't get an opportunity to ask a cast member about, was that there was some technical problem that caused the early ending. Normally the car makes a jump through flames at the end, but that was missing entirely.

After spending the day at DS we went to a restaurant called the "Whispering Canyon." We read really good reviews on the Internet (foreshadowing) and also learned on the Internet (foreshadowing) that when you asked the wait staff certain questions they would respond in comical ways. And so, armed with specific questions we found on the Internet (foreshadowing) we went to the restaurant, completely unprepared.

The meal was buffet style and the food was great. The theming was Old West and our server was Se˜nor Dusty Trails (I kid you not.) Cassie asked the first question: "Do you have any ketchup?" Of course, she didn't need ketchup but this was her question and she was going to ask it. Se˜nor Trails responded, "You askin' for ketchup?" She nodded, and Dusty proceeded to yell at the top of his lungs, "KETCHUP! SHE DON'T NEED NO KETCHUP BUT'S ASKIN' ANYWAY! KEEEEEEEETTTTTTTCHUUUUUUP!" With that, kids from around the restaurant started to bring ketchup to our table. In a matter of seconds we had 12 bottles.

We did our best to continue eating at our now crowded table, when Cassie asked another question: "Where's your six-shooter?" Dusty mumbled something about kids having their toys taken away. We weren't sure what that meant.

Finally we were getting close to finishing when Tammy asked Se˜nor Trails: "Where can I buy some chewing gum?" Of course, you can't get chewing gum at DIsney for obvious reasons. At first Dusty responded, "You got fifty bucks? I'll tell you." Then he paused and looked at Tammy and said "Someone's been readin' the Internet. Well I tell you what, I'm the LAW here and I'm gonna be right back." With that he walked across the dining area and disappeared in a back room. At this point Alert Internet Reader Tammy started to look a little worried. When Dusty re-emerged, he had a microphone and a stick pony. Tammy then turned snow white (sorry) and I just started laughing.

Se˜nor Trails then stopped at our table and announced to the whole dining area, "Listen Up! We got a lady here reads too much of the Internet. So she's gonna ride this pony around the dining room." Our table was laughing - all except for Alert Pony Rider Tammy, who knew she was done for. "What happens if I don't ride the stick pony?" she asked. "Then I make you ride the pony around the lobby first, and THEN the dining room." She took the pony. I snapped a photo which may or may not ever be seen on the blog. With everyone cheering she began her loop, with Dusty explaining that she had to ride the stick pony with these exaggerated, up-and-down leg movements. It was glorious. The kids, who initially were unsure of our dining choice, were completely sold. There's no doubt that this would be the most memorable moment/stick pony ride of the entire trip.