Finally, I am getting over here to comment! I'd been reading along and was all caught up, but sometimes there is just no time to jump in and say something!
First of all, I have to say that I am one who hates heights - so therefore, planes are not my thing. Even if I am standing on the ground, feet firmly planted, and I look up at a tall building...I get that same feeling in my stomach and legs as if I am on top of the building looking down. So the pictures you took from the plane gave me that uneasy feeling in my stomach!!
I had to quickly scroll past them.
But I admire you so much for conquering your fear, getting on that plane and then taking a trip away from the family - which I know was very, very hard on you.
I can totally empathize with what you were saying about hotels/motels blocking (holding) certain amounts on your card, although I'm very glad it worked out for you and didn't turn into a nightmare. I don't know if you read my big Christmas TR from my trip this past December, but that was what led to me getting the great deal I now have for the PPH ($99 per night). They were compensating me for screwing up. They held a big chunk of money on my card (after everything was already paid in full) when I checked in, and didn't tell me they were doing it. They also didn't ask which card they could use and just selected one. That's not how they are supposed to do things. Anyway, since I didn't know that they had put this big block on funds (seeing as I paid them in full), I went merrily along, spending on the card they put the hold on...not realizing that I was becoming overdrawn. So it caused a big snowball - all because the PPH people didn't enter in a code to release the hold when I checked in and paid.
Anyway, I digress...Back to your TR - I love love love your Wheel of Death photos. I love some of the angles you got in the daytime shots. In all of the photos I got in December, DCA went largely ignored. I wanted to get some good stuff in the Paradise Pier area and just didn't have enough time in the trip to do it. Your photos are just wonderful!
Laurie, have you ever been on It's a Small World Holiday? I find that if I go on the regular, non-holiday IASW, I am not inclined to ride it repeatedly. It gets old for me. However, the holiday version is so stunning and there is so much to see inside the ride, that I find I can ride it repeatedly and not get that same IASW burn out that I would get otherwise!
I don't know if you know, but there was a very recent thread about the Surf's Up meal (which has now probably sunk to Page 1000 of the DL forum
), so I went through your previous TR to copy links to each individual post recapping your Surf's Up experience - all the way from when you arrived at the restaurant to your cost breakdown, to the 'extra' Surf's Up photos you added in at the end. I know it covered about 3 pages or so, but I posted links to each separate post, so I think there were maybe 10 - 12 links or something in all! I wonder if the OP ended up deciding to go with Surfs Up? I figure if anyone's photos are going to encourage a Surf's Up meal, it's yours, because they are so in-depth!
