Faster than Fast...Hitchhikers welcome...the Pretrippie with a complex (10/5-16!)

[Alysa]

Wednesday night/Thursday morning at 3am.
Putting the finishing touches on our costumes today. The kids are soooo excited! Packing tomorrow!

 

[jcc19480]

Started our first full day at Disney at the Animal Kingdom with the Character Breakfast at the Tusker House. Kids got to rub shoulders with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Donald Duck. Food could have been better but the kids had fun.

Did some shows - A Bug's Life, Finding Nemo and Lion King. Did the Safari, which was awesome. Had a giraffe eating from a tree right next to our bus...could have reached out and touched him! Saw lots of animals for our early morning trip.

All the kids got their faces painted but only two made it thru the whole day (it was quite hot and humid) with their painted faces intact. While it last it looked awesome. I'll try to post some pictures.

As the afternoon wore on, the skies began to look very threating. We ALWAYS get caught in a downpour when at Animal Kingdom. David and I brought the kids back to the Resort and Kathie & Aimee went to the Lion King Show. When we arrived back at the Resort with the kiddos...it was pouring and we got wet....but the kids didn't seem to mind it. Kathie and Aimee made it thru the show and to the bus without it raining...not sure they'll get to our room without getting wet.

After much discussion regarding dinner, we ended up taking the bus from Saratoga Springs to Downtown Disney and then picked up a bus to Animal Kingdom. Atmosphere was great but the food wasn't. On our way out, we saw another restaurant serving an awesome looking buffet with five soups, all kinds of salads, etc.

Heading to Chef Mickey's in the morning and then Magic Kingdom!

 

[jcc19480]

Today started off okay as we headed to Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary Resort for our Character Breakfast and the food was delicious. Apparently Aimee had been sick during the night and woke up not feeling well. After Breakfast, we came back to our Suite and Aimee laid down while David took the boys to the big Swimming Pool. Emma also went down for a nap. I was able to log into my business email and do a little business while on vacation.

David just got back from the Pool with Owen in hand but Cooper and Grady were no where to be found. Apparently they took off so they could be first to the elevator and hold it for their Dad but when they got there someone asked them which floor they needed and they got on the elevator. A little panic took place until everyone was reunited and a lesson on obedience and not entering an elevator with a stranger took place.

Oh...forgot to tell you, in the meantime a huge rain storm started and is still pouring down. Glad we didn't make it to Magic Kingdom as we had originally planned!

Went to Downtown Disney and used one of our Counter Service credits with the Disney Dining Plan. Ate at one of our favorite places, the Earl of Sandwich. Kathie and I had salads, which were delicious, David had a hot sandwich and the kiddos had pizzas. Aimee still wasn't feeling well and only nibbled a little bit.

If Aimee feels better tomorrow (Wednesday), we'll head to the Magic Kingdom for the day, which we had planned to do today.

 

[Alysa]

Hope Aimee feels better!
How long are these monsoons lasting, by the way?

 

[jcc19480]

Okay...it's late and this is my second attempt at writing about Day Four. I was almost completely done writing on my first attempt when I accidently closed the browser page and couldn't get it back!!! So here we go with an abbreviated version.

Got up this morning and was feeling much better but now the stomach ailment was passed on to a third person. First it was Aimee, then me and on Thursday it was Kathie's turn. She woke up not feeling well but went decided to go to EPCOT with us, trying to tough it out. Before leaving for EPCOT I did a little work from our room, applying for an FCC license for one of my new customers in Harrisburg.

We got to EPCOT around 11:00 a.m. and were headed to Japan to eat at Teppan Edo, which is my favorite restaurant at Disney. We made one stop at a Disney Pin cart...David, Aimee and boys are absolute Disney Pin fanatics! While they were busy bartering for pins, Kathie disappeared only to be found with a Security Guard slumped down behind a Disney vendor cart. Apparently she started to feel nauseous and lighted-headed and after borrowing a plastic Disney bag from the cast member at the cart, she emptied some of her stomach contents. The security guy was really nice and got her a cup with Sprite and cautioned us to stay hydrated.

From there we made our way over to Teppan Edo for our 12 p.m. reservation. The Japanese girls who waited on us were extremely nice and very polite. The chef who cooked at our table was the best! He was very entertaining and paid a lot of attention to the kiddos...which made their day. Oh...and the food was so delicious! Steak & Chicken with freshly cooked veggies. Instead of the typical onion ring "volcano" that they do at this type of oriental restaurant, he did an onion ring "choo-choo train", accompanied by the clanging bell as he kept hitting his spatula on the metal grill....wow, the kiddos sure loved that! Kathie was feeling so badly that she barely touched any of her food, so thankfully there were enough "vultures" at her table, that her plate was licked clean before we left. As for me, I finally humbled myself and asked for chopsticks with "training wheels"....you know, the kind they make by folding up paper, sticking it between the sticks and then wrapping a rubber band around it?

From there we made our way over to Test Track which is a thrill ride that zips through banked curves at 65 mph. I was sitting next to little three year-old Grady, who had his arms raised high throughout the whole ride while Pop-Pop was hanging on for dear life! Then we went to the Universe of Energy which is a very long program about evolution and energy which really dragged on but was saved by the good humor of Ellen Degeneres, who video hosted the ride.

Now it was time for Spaceship Earth, which had no line and we went right on the ride. This ride was closed for refurb when we were there last year, so it was great to be on it again. While the kiddos played around on all of the electronic stuff at the end of the ride, I took Kathie over to the First Aid station so that she could lay down for a bit. While she was sleeping, the rest of us made our way to Inoventions where the kiddos could again play around with new and old technologies. From there we headed to Club Cool where you can taste Coke products from around the world....Japan, Morroco, Israel, Mexico, Germany, China, and Italy. Very unique tastes from the different countries and some of them were downright gross!

After sipping the flavors of the world, we went over to pick up the "sicky of the day" and made our way to Mexico and rode the boat ride before going to the Electric Umbrella for something to eat. After we finished eating, it started to rain and we decided to catch our bus and head back to the resort. Got here just in time to save the Phillies from defeat! When I turned on the TV, they were losing 2-0 but I must have brought them luck because Victorino, Utley and Burrell powered them to a 3-2 victory! Go Phils!!!!

Well, if the pattern continues, it should be David's turn to have the stomach ailment tomorrow....but I've got a feeling that Kathie's stomach ailment is going to last longer than a day. By the way....the rains have been coming on a regular basis about once a day but it hasn't drastically changed our schedules.

 

[jcc19480]

Well....miracle of miracles....finally had a normal, healthy day at Disney World. Stomach ailments are gone and the illness chain has been broken! Hopefully, we are all back to normal and can completely enjoy the rest of our time in Florida.

We slept in a little bit this morning and then headed over to Disney Hollywood Studios for the day. We were told by a friend that we needed to go directly to Toy Story and get Fast Passes...Ruth Peters, thanks for that excellent advice. When we got there around 11 a.m., the lines were huge at Toy Story and the Fast Passes were for 4:15-5:15...glad we didn't get there any later!

Since we were already in that area, we went to the 3D Muppet Adventure. Wow...the kiddos sure enjoyed that one...and so did the adults! After the Show, we made our way over to the Sci-Fi Dine-In, which is a simulated old-time Drive-In Movie Theater playing vintage Science Fiction trailers like "The Attack of the 50 Foot Woman", "Aliens From Outer Space", and so on....sure am glad that costuming and special effects have improved since those days. Anyway, back to the Restaurant....instead of sitting at tables or in booths, your dining areas were big old simulated cars with the old-fashioned Drive-In Theater speakers mounted next to your "car." Since this venue was considered a Table Service Meal on our Dining Plan, I expected better quality food but I guess you're really paying for the atmosphere more than the quality of food. My cheesburger was okay but surely didn't compare to the cheeseburger I had at the Turf Club at Saratoga Springs Resort.

After lunch with our Fast Passes in hand, we headed over to the Star Tours flight simulator ride. I only went so that I could video Grady's face when he went on the "big-boy" ride. We got into the right (front row) and got out my video camera just as the ride cast member looked right at me and said, "No video taping is allowed on this ride." Too bad, cause Grady was so stinking cute as we bumped our way thru the Universe!

Now it was time for the DHS new Block Party (Parade) and we got our spot picked out and waited for the Block Party to come to us. We could see it in the distance and hear it thru the speakers, which caused even more excitement as we anticipated the Block Party coming to us! So we patiently waited...but it wasn't long before the patient waiting began turning into impatient waiting. Listen....it's coming....it's getting closer....it's here....hey stop, don't just keep going past us....whoa....where are you going? It's our Block and we want a Block Party....just like the one you had over there! Come to find out, there was an equipment malfunction after the first Block Party and in reality, the parade was cancelled...but they forgot to tell us!

When the "Parade" was over, David & I took the big boys (Owen & Cooper), while Kathie and Aimee took Grady and Emma and we headed in different directions for the next couple of hours. The big boys headed over to the Indiana Jones Stunt Show....the boys absolutely loved all the action, explosions and gunfire! Playhouse Disney was the destination for the little ones and they had a blast dancing and singing with some of their favorite stars.

The second stop by the Big Boys was at Jedi Training...it was time to learn how to be a Jedi warrior and stand up against the powers of darkness! Even though Owen and Cooper weren't among the ten kids chosen to go up on stage (we got there a little late), they learned valuable lessons by watching the movements and regimen to fight. Wait...Oh no....can it be? Yes, it's Darth Vadar! And he's going to "fight" the ten student Jedi's one at a time! Man, Cooper and Owen loved it and continued to practice the Jedi moves that they learned by watching the other kids on stage.

After this, the family re-united and we headed over to present our Fast Passes at the Toy Story. Wow...what a ride! The big and little "kids" enjoyed this one which required you to wear 3D glasses. I was on the ride with Grady and although he didn't get many points, he really enjoyed pulling that cord and launching all kids of projectiles at the different arcade sites. This was well worth waiting for but you need to get your Fast Pass right away.

Our final park event of the day, after a quick stop at the Hollywood Studios Tour, was the special presentation called Fantasmic! Here we experienced the fun, fancy and fears of everybody's favorite heroic Mouse as he battles the forces that turn his vibrant dreams into a vivid nightmare. Mickey faced off against Disney villains in a lavish spectacular of dancing water, dramatic music, breathtaking animation, lasers, fireworks and surprises.

We caught a bus back to the Resort and stopped for dinner at the Artist's Pallett foodcourt....mmmm, good food. As I write the final words for today's post, Aimee & David are still at the Pool with Owen and Cooper...and it's 1:45 a.m. in the morning! Yo...it's vacation! Who needs watches?