A Vacation From My Problems (A Sept. 2010 Trip Report) - COMPLETED 12/14

[FreezinRafiki]

Originally Posted by Captain_Oblivious

4:45 a.m. is just inhuman, don't you think? No one should ever have to see that time staring back at them from the clock. But there it was, right on the nightstand. There'd better be an incredible reason for getting up that early.

My alarm goes off at 4:30am every day. For work.

Originally Posted by Captain_Oblivious

I don't own a hovercraft (yet), so we have to go around either to the north or the south.

GIANT CATAPULT!!!!

Originally Posted by Captain_Oblivious

I'm just wearing a baseball cap all day anyway in 90-degree Florida heat)

Amazing how saying "just wearing a baseball cap" and saying "wearing just a baseball cap" can have such totally different meanings. {shudder}

Originally Posted by Captain_Oblivious

As I waited in the check-in line, I began to relax. I hadn't entered any part of the parks yet, but somehow it was as though the Disney magic was somehow subtly influencing my mood...

I've been playing the park background music at work lately. It really make work seem less...worky.

Originally Posted by Captain_Oblivious

I'm going to have to bust you on this out of order picture. You said later in the post that you were going to Downtown Disney - yet I see clear proof that this picture was taken after you returned from Downtown Disney. [insert Law & Order Doink Doink noise here]

Originally Posted by Emma's Dad

You mean like this.... LOL

Our first hijack! Nice job Don!

Originally Posted by rentayenta

I may have to up my Fonzie cool level to hang in this report.

Did you know Milwaukee put up a life size statue of Fonzie? It's known as the "Bronze Fonze". That really has nothing to do with this trip report, other than to illustrate how cool Milwaukee is.

[FreezinRafiki]

Originally Posted by Captain_Oblivious

Replace "Fonzie cool" with "geeky dork" and you'll fit right in with me.

[Rental01]

Originally Posted by Captain_Oblivious

The heat, or me in a baseball cap? I ain't too pretty without the cap either, you know.

You "JUST WEARING" a baseball cap at Disney.

It was funny when I wrote it... you know, in my head.

[Captain_Oblivious]

Originally Posted by FreezinRafiki

My alarm goes off at 4:30am every day. For work.

*shudder*

Originally Posted by FreezinRafiki

GIANT CATAPULT!!!!

I've tried suggesting that as a cost-saving measure vs. building bridges here at the highway department. Hasn't caught on yet.

Originally Posted by FreezinRafiki

I've been playing the park background music at work lately. It really make work seem less...worky.

Thanks for reminding me. I still have to download those files.

Originally Posted by FreezinRafiki

I'm going to have to bust you on this out of order picture. You said later in the post that you were going to Downtown Disney - yet I see clear proof that this picture was taken after you returned from Downtown Disney. [insert Law & Order Doink Doink noise here]

Busted!

But then again, you're only busting me because you cheated and saw these pictures on Facebook earlier. So there.

Originally Posted by FreezinRafiki

Our first hijack! Nice job Don!

That didn't take long...

Originally Posted by FreezinRafiki

Did you know Milwaukee put up a life size statue of Fonzie? It's known as the "Bronze Fonze". That really has nothing to do with this trip report, other than to illustrate how cool Milwaukee is.

Excellent follow-up hijack!

Originally Posted by FreezinRafiki

Amazing how saying "just wearing a baseball cap" and saying "wearing just a baseball cap" can have such totally different meanings. {shudder}

Originally Posted by Rental01

You "JUST WEARING" a baseball cap at Disney.

It was funny when I wrote it... you know, in my head.

No, it's still funny. I'm just incredibly ssssllllllooooowwww...

[FreezinRafiki]

Originally Posted by Captain_Oblivious

I've tried suggesting that as a cost-saving measure vs. building bridges here at the highway department. Hasn't caught on yet.

The catapult is not very viable for large volumes of traffic, only for personal use. It takes too long to reset. For highway department use, you need something more akin to one of these that cars can drive into at full highway speeds.

[middlepat]

Originally Posted by FreezinRafiki

Amazing how saying "just wearing a baseball cap" and saying "wearing just a baseball cap" can have such totally different meanings. {shudder}

Wow... wasn't expecting this TR to go there.

Originally Posted by FreezinRafiki

Our first hijack! Nice job Don!

Is it technically a hijack if he starts writing his own TR in the midst of this TR?

Originally Posted by FreezinRafiki

Did you know Milwaukee put up a life size statue of Fonzie? It's known as the "Bronze Fonze". That really has nothing to do with this trip report, other than to illustrate how cool Milwaukee is.

What about the "Bronze Squiggy"? Where do they have that one?

[Captain_Oblivious]

Originally Posted by FreezinRafiki

The catapult is not very viable for large volumes of traffic, only for personal use. It takes too long to reset. For highway department use, you need something more akin to one of these that cars can drive into at full highway speeds.

I like it! I want one! (if not for my car, then at least for my back yard)

Originally Posted by middlepat

Wow... wasn't expecting this TR to go there.

Neither was I, and it's my TR.

Originally Posted by middlepat

Is it technically a hijack if he starts writing his own TR in the midst of this TR?

I'd say that's the very definition of a hijack. Nothing technical about it.

Originally Posted by middlepat

What about the "Bronze Squiggy"? Where do they have that one?

[FreezinRafiki]

Originally Posted by Captain_Oblivious

Next stop: Downtown Disney! One of the best perks of POR is the boat ride to DTD that it offers. We got in line (again, more people than I expected) and waited in the heat. After 10 minutes or so, a boat pulled up to the dock. He then informed us he could only take 25 people--and we just missed the cutoff. Next boat: 20 minutes.

"You're gonna need a bigger boat."

Sorry it's late, it just came to me last night...

Originally Posted by middlepat

What about the "Bronze Squiggy"? Where do they have that one?

No Bronze Sqiggy yet (or probably ever), but I did take a Brewery Tour this spring where the tour guide made us sing the theme song to Lavern and Shirley as he put a glove on a bottle and sent it down the line.

[Captain_Oblivious]

Originally Posted by FreezinRafiki

"You're gonna need a bigger boat."

Sorry it's late, it just came to me last night...

Jaws! Do I get a point now?

Actually, since the rules are completely dependent on my whims, I will award you an extra bonus point for coming up with a terrific quote that fits perfectly in context, and that I should have used in the original report. Nice work.

+1

[rentayenta]

Originally Posted by FreezinRafiki

Did you know Milwaukee put up a life size statue of Fonzie? It's known as the "Bronze Fonze". That really has nothing to do with this trip report, other than to illustrate how cool Milwaukee is.

I do love the Fonz. I had the hugest crush on him in the 4th grade, I know I am totally dating myself. I had a poster in my room and I would put on my mother's lipstick and kiss all over it. Yup, I did. I own it.

[FreezinRafiki]

Originally Posted by rentayenta

I do love the Fonz. I had the hugest crush on him in the 4th grade, I know I am totally dating myself. I had a poster in my room and I would put on my mother's lipstick and kiss all over it. Yup, I did. I own it.

Henry Winkler even came to the dedication. So if I'm strolling along the riverwalk one afternoon and see lipstick all over the statue, can I assume it was you?

[Emma's Dad]

Is it me or am I the only one enjoying the commentary more than the actual TR JK, Mark!

Made me laugh when rentayenta said she was dating herself!

[Captain_Oblivious]

Originally Posted by Emma's Dad

Is it me or am I the only one enjoying the commentary more than the actual TR JK, Mark!

Made me laugh when rentayenta said she was dating herself!

Low blow! Hang on a second while I get this knife outta my back...

I have to admit, it is hard to compete with the Bronze Fonz. I'll just have to get to work on the next update, which will either be bigger and better than ever, or more of the same crap. I'll let you guess which one.

[Emma's Dad]

Originally Posted by Captain_Oblivious

Low blow! Hang on a second while I get this knife outta my back...

I have to admit, it is hard to compete with the Bronze Fonz. I'll just have to get to work on the next update, which will either be bigger and better than ever, or more of the same crap. I'll let you guess which one.

Either way, you are still ahead of me in the TR arena! Keep up the good work

[Captain_Oblivious]

After finding a bigger boat (thanks, Barry), we were on our way to Downtown Disney. I love the ride, even though the boats travel slower than your average giant tortoise. It's a very relaxing ride with nice views of Port Orleans French Quarter, the Treehouse Villas, Lake Buena Vista golf course, and Saratoga Springs. Plus lots of trees with Spanish moss hanging from the limbs. We even saw a couple of herons and egrets hanging out by the water's edge. The skipper avoided any accidents or crazy Ivans, and we pulled into the dock.



One of the things we really wanted to do was go up high in the Characters in Flight Balloon here. We'd borrowed a zoom lens for the camera from a friends and thought we could get some great shots.

Not all of us were on board with this idea. I had shown Dave some pictures of the balloon up in the air and asked if he wanted to go up. He said he'd "think about it", which is Dave's polite way of saying, "ARE YOU FREAKIN' KIDDING ME?! I wouldn't go up there if the earth was on fire!"

In the end, it didn't matter. When we walked by the balloon, the message board said it was grounded due to high winds. The breeze didn't feel bad to me on the ground, but we missed out. Maybe it's just as well. It would have cost my family $72 to go up.

From there, it was on to the West Side and



Does the name "Ridemakerz" bother anybody else? Companies that intentionally mis-spell words are a pet peeve of mine. There's one company in our area called Copi Kwik that I refuse to support on principle alone.

Any-hoo, the boys were really excited to build cars of their own. As a Dad, I of course did not share in any excitement whatsoever. The concept is like the Build-A-Bear stores--you pick out the body of your car, customize it with tires and rims, pick a chassis (remote-control or non-remote) and then accessorize with stickers, pimped-up snap-on motors and spoilers, etc.

The only downside is the hit this takes on your budget. The body alone starts anywhere between $15-$30, and it's another $25 if you want remote control (which we did--I mean, what's the point of building this thing otherwise?). The $15 bodies were...um...how do I say this? Ugly. My 2000 Grand Am looks better, and I had to duct tape my window on that car. Mrs. Oblivious and I didn't like the idea of spending more money, but we wanted the kids to have a nice-looking car for their trouble. Finally, Scotty and Dave decided on a Mustang body. Scotty's was electric blue, while Dave went for the chick-magnet red with flames.





The boys were happier than a tornado in a trailer park, running from one station to the next. And the process was fun. They had one building station where you could use a power screwdriver on one of those cords that hung down from the workstation, and the kids felt just like a NASCAR crew doing a pit stop. It took longer than we expected, due to the fact that they had approximately 3 employees staffing the entire store.



Julie and I did the best we could to keep costs down: we found a $10-off coupon on the Ridemakerz Facebook page, brought our own batteries (4 AA's and one 9V, for future reference), and limited the add-ons (so we got the basic sound, stock rims and tires, one page of racing-number of stickers to divide among the two). They still came out to around $50 apiece. We were most definitely officially at Disney World. Their grandparents had given them some money to spend, so we applied that cash as well. Here are the finished products: Shake 'n Bake!





Not to be outdone, Sarah had some building of her own to do. She loves dinosaurs and stuffed animals, so the Build-A-Dino shop at T-Rex was basically designed with her in mind.



At first, she had thought she might want to build a pterodactyl, but then she spotted another creature and opted for it. According to my extensive notes, this dinosaur is called a (mumble-mumble)-osaurus. By its nature, the stuffed animal was less expensive than the cars, so we let her splurge on the outfit to keep things fair. Behold the Super-Dino, or as we named it, Clark Rex:



My job here was to keep the boys calm. Last time we were inside T-Rex, we had to cancel our lunch because Dave was scared of the dinos and went into Global Thermonuclear Meltdown when the "meteor shower" show started. Now, a year later, we stood in the shop and...you guessed it! Meteor shower time! I couldn't tell if he enjoyed it or not, but he simply stood there and watched the ceiling, which is much easier to deal with as a parent than Global Thermonuclear Meltdown. Good job Dave!

We took the Slow Boat to Riverside and spent some late afternoon time in the big pool at Ol' Man Island. It's a great setting--secluded in trees, away from the buildings, with a nice waterslide and lots of spurting fountains. Unfortunately, I haven't uploaded any pictures of it yet, so you'll just have to trust me.

Around 6:15, we gathered our things and caught the bus to the Magic Kingdom. Again, transportation was more crowded than we had anticipated. From here, we walked to the monorail station for a quick ride to the Contemporary...or so we thought.

It was a Halloween Party night, so groups were arriving en masse and in costume (I dressed as a tourist Dad, in case you were wondering). The monorail station was packed with people leaving the parks, presumably those who didn't have Party tickets. We barely had room to stand on the platform. When the monorail arrived, many in the car didn't get off at the stop. We were going to try to squeeze on, but a 280-lb. (or so) man shoved his way in front and cut off Dave in line, so we had to stop and wait for the next train. If I remember correctly, I said something to the effect of, "Have a magical day, sir!"

We caught the next monorail, somehow squeezed on, and barely made it in time for our 7:40 p.m. reservation at Chef Mickey's.



Apparently, we were lucky enough to be there during the test week when Mickey was posing with guests outside the restaurant instead of visiting tables. Nobody liked this, so they've now gone back to the old way.

I need to upload some more pictures, so I'll stop here for now and come back with a mini-update about dinner (with pictures!) later on.

Coming Up Next: Our stay in the Cinderella Castle Suite!

No, not really. It'll be Chef Mickey's, like I just said. Geez, pay attention.