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

[glennbo123]

215 pounds and knew how to handle himself = The Bourne Identity

 

[glennbo123]

What are you looking at? = Biff to Marty McFly in "Back to the Future"

 

[glennbo123]

Okay, I'll bite...

OPERATION "SHOWCASE SHOWDOWN" = The Price is Right

 

[glennbo123]

It's great to read that your kids (and you, I take it) loved the Kim Possible missions. I agree with you -- it was an ingenious idea to make the World Showcase a little more entertaining for the kiddos.

Although I believe they'll stamp just about anything for you, so cheapskates can have fun with it too.

I resemble that remark.

Some big-shot Norwegian perfume designer was there, showing off his latest fragrance, Flatulence ©.

I resemble that remark.

I think he was one of the evil operatives, the one they call the Sand Spider. Probably because it sounds scary.

Ooo, is this from True Lies?

We had a 1:35 p.m. ADR at Le Cellier in Canada. I know, I know, it's impossible to get a reservation at Le Cellier. Not for world-class operatives, it isn't. It's quite simple, actually. You just have to [REDACTED], then you [REDACTED], and then it's just a matter of [REDACTED]. I know, right? Who would ever think it was that easy?

Great update! Can't wait for the next!

 

[Tinkerbellarella]

In the meantime, I ran for president. I didn't win, though.

If your platform was based on Dole Whips and Cheddar Cheese soup, I'd have voted for you. Twice.

This took some extra time, as it went to the Red Roof Inn (i.e. Grand Floridian) first.

I will NEVER look at the Grand Flo the same way again.

Even though it was a short walk to the TTC, we decided to ride the monorail all around the loop just to give the kids extra time on Old Band-Aid.

We chose...poorly. (this has already been identified as Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, so no points....sorry)

The monorail slowed to a stop halfway between MK and the Contemporary, with just a brief announcement that we were holding for clearance from the station. After 10 minutes and 4 repeats of the announcement, our amazing mental deductive skills told us we might be holding for more than just routine clearance. Finally, we got moving again and limped into the TTC.

I have a monorail horror story from my trip as well. It involved a monorail, a 20 minute wait, a 15 minute sprint (ok, maybe more of a speedy trudge) from the TTC to the Grand Flo as said 'limpy' monorail that I got off of in the first place at the TTC sped by me. Oh and ire. There was lots of ire.

By the way, look at that picture of Spaceship Earth. I've always felt the triangle-canopy things are a little bit of an eyesore, and that the park would look better and cleaner without them. Is it just me?

I kind of think it looks like a post-modern bowl holding the golf ball.

But I do agree. I'd like the view sans post-modern bowl.

The kids punched in our super-secret spy code of 4-8-15-16-23-42.

I think I'm going to go play those numbers in Powerball. If I win, I'll buy you a Dole Whip machine for your kitchen.

That being said, the Kim Possible spy missions are Freakin' Awesome. That's right. Not just awesome. Freakin' Awesome.

You forgot the italics, which is totally necessary when identifying the levels of Freakin' Awesome.

Example:

A 5 minute stand-by line for Toy Story Midway Mania is Freakin' Awesome.
A 5 minute stand-by line for Toy Story Midway Mania after which you completely CRUSH your significant other's score is Freakin' Awesome.

No offense to the wife. I just know that if I ever beat BF on that kind of game/ride, I'd do the victory dance in the middle of Pixar Place while chanting, "I'm Freakin' Awesome. I'm Freakin' Awesome."

Thankfully, the phone did not self-destruct

Makes me think of (and miss) Inspector Gadget.

Although I believe they'll stamp just about anything for you, so cheapskates can have fun with it too.

I triple dog dare you to ask to have your forehead stamped on your next trip.

That's right, I created a slight breach of etiquette by skipping the triple dare and going right for the throat!

We walked from China to Norway (how many times do you get to write that sentence?)

About as often as I get to say, "Thanks for giving me control of the remote."

So, he called over and said, "Hey! Let's ride the Maelstrom!" (Again I ask, how many times in your life do you get to type these sentences?)

Really, not often enough. Seriously, what I wouldn't give today to say, "Um, I think I'm going to have lunch in Mexico and dinner in Morocco."

As any Disney veteran will tell you, you don't want to have the doors close, because then you have to wait out the film before they let you leave. At long last, the boats started moving again. We unloaded as fast as we could and made a desperate dash for the red doors...

Only to see them close in our face. At least the movie's only 5 minutes or so. We could wait five minutes. I won't consider myself in trouble until I start weeping blood.

I think I'm the only one I know who has actually taken the time to actually stop and watch the movie. I mean really, it's 5 minutes. And it is a beautiful country.

::steps down from soapbox::

I know, I know, it's impossible to get a reservation at Le Cellier.

No, no, it's improbably that you'll get a reservation at Le Cellier and IMPOSSIBLE to get a reservation at O'hana. Which means family.

the pretzel bread and cheddar cheese soup

And that's all I would need to eat for the rest of my days.

Um...Dad? What are you looking at?

Snortlaugh!

 

[afwdwfan]

Thankfully, the phone did not self-destruct:

Thankfully??? I personally think that spy gadgets that explode are the coolest thing ever.

The woman at China was wonderful, taking the time to greet each of our kids and writing their names in Chinese.

Or at least that's what they want you to believe it says.

She also told them what creatures represented their birth years, but I appear to have destroyed those records so they wouldn't fall into enemy hands. Perhaps Agent Knowitall will be able to chime in there.

Smooth move, can't wait to hear her input.

I remember thinking the World Showcase was boring when I was a kid. If they'd had these missions back then, I never would have left. Of all the new attractions/updates to the parks in the last few years, we think this is the best. It's certainly a remarkable tribute to the ingenuity of Disney Imagineers.

I have to agree. I've never done the missions, but they look like a lot of fun. I know I would have loved them. As a matter of fact, I'm sure I'd probably have a blast with it even as an adult.

showing off his latest fragrance, Flatulence ©.

We can always count on the Captain to slip a fart joke in on us.

 

[marvali]

Freakin Awesome - The Benchwarmers

 

[marvali]

They call the Sand Spider - True Lies

 

[dvczerfs]

nice update mark. glad you and the yutes had a good time playing!!! to much thinking for me while im on vacation. i like the pic in china, reminds me of one of them 60s posters.

 

[Flossbolna]

Shaken, not stirred = "Dr. No"

No, it's from "Goldfinger"

Wonderful update! Having fun together as a family sounds indeed like a fantastic day! And to top that with the best steak you ever had - wonderful!

And your update was a lot of fun to read as well! Loved it how you kept to the spy theme!

 

[glennbo123]

No, it's from "Goldfinger"

Oh Magdalene....

According to Wikipedia, which I trust implicitly (as Michael Scott on "The Office" put it: 'Wikipedia is the best thing ever. Anyone in the world, can write anything they want about any subject. So you know you are getting the best possible information'),....anyway, "Goldfinger" is the first movie where Bond actually says it, but it did appear earlier in "Dr No", spoken once by a waiter and once by Dr. No.

 

[afwdwfan]

No, it's from "Goldfinger"

Wonderful update! Having fun together as a family sounds indeed like a fantastic day! And to top that with the best steak you ever had - wonderful!

And your update was a lot of fun to read as well! Loved it how you kept to the spy theme!

Oh Magdalene....

According to Wikipedia, which I trust implicitly (as Michael Scott on "The Office" put it: 'Wikipedia is the best thing ever. Anyone in the world, can write anything they want about any subject. So you know you are getting the best possible information'),....anyway, "Goldfinger" is the first movie where Bond actually says it, but it did appear earlier in "Dr No", spoken once by a waiter and once by Dr. No.

The game isn't about where it was first said. The game is which movie Captain Oblivious was quoting. For all we know, you could both be wrong. He might be quoting Die Another Day for all we know.

I guess that means we're going to have to name all the movies in the Bond franchise for this one.

 

[Flossbolna]

Oh Magdalene....

According to Wikipedia, which I trust implicitly (as Michael Scott on "The Office" put it: 'Wikipedia is the best thing ever. Anyone in the world, can write anything they want about any subject. So you know you are getting the best possible information'),....anyway, "Goldfinger" is the first movie where Bond actually says it, but it did appear earlier in "Dr No", spoken once by a waiter and once by Dr. No.

You are right, I used the same source as you (mainly because I was just intrigued about the phrases history) but then did only read the first part of the following paragraph:

"The phrase first appears in the novel Diamonds Are Forever (1956), though Bond does not actually say the line until Dr. No (1958) but says it "shaken and not stirred" instead of "shaken, not stirred." It was first uttered in the films by Sean Connery in Goldfinger in 1964 (though the villain Dr. Julius No offers this drink and utters those words in the first film, Dr. No, in 1962). "

The excitement of a possible second point just caused me to go back to the thread to post!

But then after close inscpection of the Wikipedia article I found this fact:

"The American Film Institute honored Goldfinger and the phrase on 21 July 2005 by ranking it #90 on a list of best movie quotes in the past 100 years of film."

So perhaps mine is still the official quote source??

And in case anyone is interested the article which has all kind of interesting information about oily potatoe vodka and stuff like that can be found here.

 

[Mrs. Knowitall]

NERD ALERT! NERD ALERT!

And don't give me that "takes one to know one line..."

blah, blah, blah....you married me....now you're stuck with me!

Perhaps Agent Knowitall will be able to chime in there.

Let's see...she asked each kid how old they were and then told them was "year" they were born in. She got a kick out of the fact that we had "three different animals in your house"! Oddly enough, each kid's year was a spot on match! Sarah went first - she was born in the year of the horse. Scotty went next - he was born in the year of the dog - which thrilled him to no end. And Dave went last - he was born in the year of the monkey. Oh my. They have our kids nailed!

And it WAS an awesome day! Not sure who had more fun with the missions - the kids or me and Mark!

 

[MissLiz]

Another great update!

We tried Le Cellier in May and I think it would have been better if we wouldn't have had to share our server. (hahaha) My husband's steak came out well-done and he ordered medium rare and after about 5 minutes of not seeing our server anywhere, a manager actually came over and asked if anything was wrong.

Then, we realized that our server had been sat a huge group that seemed to want him to go over every word of the menu as if a hidden message was concealed somewhere inside, so we gave him some slack, but I would have liked a little more attention.

Kim Possible missions are great!!! Of course, I think I had more fun running around than my DD did, but whatever.....I own my crazy.

 

[glennbo123]

The game isn't about where it was first said. The game is which movie Captain Oblivious was quoting. For all we know, you could both be wrong. He might be quoting Die Another Day for all we know.

I guess that means we're going to have to name all the movies in the Bond franchise for this one.

You are so right...and who knows what Captain Oblivious was thinking?

You are right, I used the same source as you (mainly because I was just intrigued about the phrases history) but then did only read the first past of the following paragraph:

"The phrase first appears in the novel Diamonds Are Forever (1956), though Bond does not actually say the line until Dr. No (1958) but says it "shaken and not stirred" instead of "shaken, not stirred." It was first uttered in the films by Sean Connery in Goldfinger in 1964 (though the villain Dr. Julius No offers this drink and utters those words in the first film, Dr. No, in 1962). "

The excitement of a possible second point just caused me to go back to the thread to post!

But then after close inscpection of the Wikipedia article I found this fact:

"The American Film Institute honored Goldfinger and the phrase on 21 July 2005 by ranking it #90 on a list of best movie quotes in the past 100 years of film."

So perhaps mine is still the official quote source??

And in case anyone is interested the article which has all kind of interesting information about oily potatoe vodka and stuff like that can be found here.

Yep, that's what I found too. I almost didn't read far enough and was about to type "Diamonds are Forever", but then saw the word 'novel'.

 

[Mrs. Knowitall]

You are so right...and who knows what Captain Oblivious was thinking?

I could comment here.....but I won't.....there are so many things I could say!

 

[glennbo123]

I could comment here.....but I won't.....there are so many things I could say!

I was thiiiis close to writing, "probably not even Mrs. Knowitall".

 

[marvali]

I was thiiiis close to writing, "probably not even Mrs. Knowitall".

But wouldn't that make her Mrs. Knowitmost???

 

[FreezinRafiki]

Interestingly enough I found this tidbit the other day while preparing for the geography class that I teach:

Many Delaware rivers include kill in their names, as that was the old Dutch word for river. The Dutch named Murderkill River as "Mother River", but since it was spelled "Murther," the English mistook it for "Murder."

You can thank me now....I know this will come up in your conversation tomorrow.

+5 to me for a nerdy fact!

That is actually very interesting. To be surrounded by so many European names seems odd to me, since many of the place names in Wisconsin are Native American (Oconomowoc, Onieda, Sheboygan, Winneconne, etc). "Milwaukee" is even an Indian name. In fact , it's pronounced "mill-e-wah-que" which is Algonquin for "the good land." (Hey, Alice Cooper has never lied to me before)

Each mission generally had 4 tasks, and a tone would sound at the end of each one. According to HQ, this was the "sharing signal", so the kids would know that they had to pass it off to the next one so each kid would get a chance to push the buttons and do the tasks in turn. It worked like a charm. Our kids were able to share the phone all day, getting along beautifully and never once complaining that one of them was getting short shrift. It was the Holy Grail of parenting. Somewhere, I heard the Hallelujah Chorus playing in the distance.

Wow, someone was doing some thinkin' with that one!

Here we are receiving our instructions. Thankfully, the phone did not self-destruct:

It's too bad you couldn't use your shoe phone. I'll be Scotty's Crocs get awesome reception.

The woman at China was wonderful, taking the time to greet each of our kids and writing their names in Chinese.

Umm, why do you have the Chinese word for "soup" on your passport?

The Maelstrom was... air-conditioned.

I have a lot of things on my Disney "must do" list. This ride is on my Disney "Well, if I have to" list.

Sarah surprised us by asking for some soup as well. Parenting Rule No. 67: always encourage your child's love of cheddar cheese.

That's a rule? I'm pretty sure it's written into the DNA of kids in my neck of the woods.

If your platform was based on Dole Whips and Cheddar Cheese soup, I'd have voted for you. Twice.

Voting twice? You must be from Chicago.

I triple dog dare you to ask to have your forehead stamped on your next trip.

A Christmas Story