From Terror Threats to Hurricanes...Day 4 update w more pics

[andy_fish]

OK...here are the pictures full size

 

[horsegirl]

MUCH BETTER! What cuties. And I loved the bats too. Very cool.

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoying reading your reports ~ Thanx for sharing.

 

[jns]

enjoying your report and thanks for sharing your photos

 

[andy_fish]

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I read these boards religiously for the months leading up to our trip and really enjoyed other people's trip reports.

Day 3:

Once again we wake up late and arrived at the park 30 minutes after it opened. I really liked having a full kitchen but it also seemed to slow us down in the morning. The kids were fighting all morning…my poor 8 year old was getting the worst of it from her 6 year old sister and my 9 year old was tormenting them both. Once we got on the bus to epcot they seemed to calm down.
We were greeted by a massive bag check line that seemed to have no order except at the point bags are actually checked. We battled our way through and I with a few other dads had a fast-walking race to Soarin’ to get a fast pass. A few other dads actually threw any humility to the wind actually ran at nearly a full sprint. We got a return time of 2 PM which actually would work pretty well since of Character Meal at the Garden Grill was at 2:45 (or so we thought). We watching Circle of Life and then walked over to Mission Space and got in the standby line for the green side.
From what I read and heard about Mission Space there is no way that my kids would make it through the orange side. We had to split up since it was a 4 person ride so I took the girls and my wife took my son (who was looking for an emergency exit at that point). I am assuming that the reason they emphasize the warnings to much is because of the deaths on this ride, but by the time my son took his seat he was in a full panic. When Gary Sinise gave the option of leaving the ride during the final instructions DS9 took him up on the offer much to my wife’s chagrin. Meanwhile, the girls and I had a nice ride…I barely felt like I was moving. We explained the ride to DS9 but he was upset and embarrassed and we figured the best thing was to move on. We went over to ride Spaceship Earth but the ride was being repaired with no estimate as to when it would be opened. Bummer…I thought the kids would have really liked it…we would check back later. We decided to keep walking and found ourselves at Honey I Shrunk the Audience. Did I mention that DS9 doesn’t like anything scary? Well this isn’t the first time on this ride…several years ago we were in Orange County for a Wedding and saw it at Disneyland. We literally had to drag him into the theater where he watched with his feet on the chair and his hand in front of his face (I assume he remembered the rats and the sneeze). After it was over my wife was unhappy with him , he was unhappy with everyone including Rick Moranis, and the girls were going at it again. My wife, nearing her caffeine-less wits end, sat down on a nearby bench trying to regain her composure and my kids, apparently having burned through whatever nutrients their cereal provided were starting to spin out of control. I figured this was a perfect opportunity for a DDP snack…I left the wife sitting under a tree and headed off to find something to keep us going…4 Smoothies and a Triple Mocha later we were good to go.
I don’t know why but we kept criss-crossing future world all morning…we check Spaceship earth which was still down and headed over to The Living Seas. The kids love aquariums and ran around find the dolphins and sharks (oh…one thing I forgot to mention at AK was we saw a bird start gulping down fish in the Hippo tank/aquarium on the Pangani trail…the kids thought that was the greatest! ). We then got in line for Turtle Talk with Crush. The line seemed really long but I had hoped it would move quickly…boy was I wrong. That Crush must have something pretty important to say if people are willing to wait 90 minutes to hear it…unfortunately for Crush we weren’t and left after moving 20 feet in 30 minutes.
By this time we were able to get another fast-pass and walked over to Test Track and got a return of 4 PM and a bonus fast pass for Mission Space right now. After a lot of convincing my son agreed to give it a go. My wife and DD8 wanted to try the orange side so the plan was that I would take DS9 and DD6 but at the last minute DD8 chickened out and jumped over with me. This time he stayed for the ride which of course was mostly a non-event. My wife came out pretty flushed though and said that there is no way that DD8 would have enjoyed the orange side (she said I would have liked it though). Now it was getting close to 2:00 so we figured we would head to Soarin’ and then to the Garden Grill. One problem…Soarin’ was now closed and under repair with the same “no estimate for it to reopen”. Ever the optimist I figured there is no way they would not get this ride opened up again. We rode Living with the Land instead which was interesting. During the middle of our trip with their grandparents in the Outer Banks the kids talked quite a bit about the weird plants in the greenhouse. After the ride we went over to the Garden Grill which was running late. Next to it was a table with the little Epcot badges for the kids where they color cutout and attach it to the badge. What a great idea…when we went around the world we got another cutout to hang from the badge. They were excellent souvenirs for the kids. Table was ready and we ate. Great meal…food was good and the kids loved that the restaurant rotated “just like the space needle restaurant”. The big hit of course (other than table visits from Mickey, Goofy, Pluto, and Chip and Dale” were the build your own cupcakes for dessert. Build your own to my kids meant trying to figure out a way to get every topping on stay on top of the cupcake.
After lunch we checked soarin’…still down…no estimate…uh oh…this is bad. We walked through Innoventions and then headed to the World Showcase. On the way we checked Spaceship Earth which was now open but with a line that was miles long…well beyond the ropes. We started at Canada (which we visit a lot since we live in Washington and like to Ski) picked up the badge chahckis and moved on to the UK which was a similar quick stop. The wife and I tasted wine in France and DD8 bought a Parisian Minnie Mouse. DD9 felt ripped off when the French “Arcade” was not at all what he was expecting. We spent a lot of time in the shops in morocco and Japan. DD6 bought a Japanese version of Minnie Mouse (who she called Miniko). We skipped the American Adventure (expect for the Badges of course). Wife hit the shops in italy while I bought the kids itialian sodas and myself a beer. Bought myself another beer in Germany while the wife and kids were doing the badge stuff. China had some really good young acrobats out front which we watched for a while. With Norway came another beer (hey…it was hot) but we skipped the boat ride. We did ride the boat in Mexico which was fine…I liked the atmosphere of the Mexican Restaurant there. After some more shop and badge time we found ourselves walking over to test track.
My son didn’t want to ride it so my wife took DD8 while we waited at the exit and then I would take both DD8 and DD6 while she waited with my son. I don’t know about anyone else, but I found the machine press at the exit to be mesmerizing. I just couldn’t stop staring at it while I waited…Kathunk!.....Kathunk….Kathunk! Kathunk! After what seemed like a long time they finally emerged and I got in line with the girls. It was a fun ride…my son definitely could have handled it. It was now after 6 PM and the kids really wanted to swim so we figured one more check on Soarin’ and then we would go. It was open! And they accepted our long expired fast passes….good thing too because standby was an hour and a half. After we exited DD8 burst into tears because she left her Epcot badge necklace under her seat…I ran back and walked in the exit just as the doors were closing. After being tackled by a CM (ok…not really tackled) he let me walk over and ask the person now sitting in that seat to check…it was there…crisis averted.
The bus took forever…and was almost full when we got on…I almost sat in a seat between my two girls that was full of water. The girls of course didn’t say a word hoping that I would actually sit in the puddle. I called Magical Express to confirm my time for a ride to the Airport the next evening (I would then take the Thrifty shuttle from the airport and pick up the rental car). We made it back to the room and changed and rode the bus to our lobby stop to go to the pool. The pool bar was closed…oh well no $6 coronas…and they turned off the water slide pretty shortly after we got there. We needed to eat anyway since now it was pretty late so we walked up to the Artist’s Palette for a counter service dinner. The kids, wet from swimming, were freezing inside so they kept going outside to warm up. The food was pretty good…plenty of food for a dinner. We also picked up the Ride Photo from EE the previous day. The only downside now was the loooong walk back to the room since the busses don’t go in that direction. It was probably good for us though since we had eaten like piggys the entire trip. Tomorrow would be the Magic Kingdom and our final Disney day of the first half of our Disney stay.

Here is a picture of the Cup Cakes at the Garden Grill

 

[andy_fish]

Day 4

Today is morning Extra Magic Hour for the Magic Kingdom! We of course wake up late again. We made an effort...dumped a bunch of nutritionless cereal down the kids throats and let them skip baths/showers even though the girls had serious swimming pool hair from the night before. Alas, we still arrived about 3 minutes before the park opened to the general public. Oh well. We made it through and we were off. We walked as fast as DD6 could go to splash mountain to grab a fast pass and then headed to Pirates of the Caribbean. I still like the ride but why did they have to change it? I absolutely loved the old ride. It had charm and humor…and what happened to the drops (or is that just in Disneyland?). Oh well…kids thought it was great but what do they know. Outside of the ride a Captian Jack look-a-like was entertaining the crowd but we could really see anything. At this point it was about 20 mins to 10 so my wife got in line for the Jungle Cruise opening and I took the kids to the magic carpet ride across the way. We were about to get on when I hear “Andy!! Andy!!!! ANDY!!!!!!”…the Jungle Cruise was opening early. So we run back over…someone was nice enough to save my wife’s spot as the ran off the grab us. Now I am sure this is a really dumb newbie type question…but did Ferris Bueller work at Disney World at some point? The ride was fun…cheesy humor and animatronic animals never gets old. And it was on to Splash Mountain. DS9 was in panic mode again but he got over it quickly. What a great ride…probably my favorite Disney ride since they screwed up Pirates. DS9 loved it (although you might not know it from the ride picture that I will post later tonight). We didn’t get that wet though (we didn’t get that wet in the rapids at AK either…go figure).
After splash mountain we decided to catch the train to get closer to Space Mountain so we could grab a fast pass. We rode Star Tours and the Cars (why do I like riding in those little cars as much as I did when I was 7?). DD6 was throwing a temper tantrum in line…I can’t remember why…I think she was picking on DD8 again and DW was tired of it. She was in tears when we got in the car but was all smiles by the finish line. Man she is a terrible driver…I hope she improves during the next 10 years.
We had a DDP counter meal at Cosmic Rays. WOW! I had the Chicken and Ribs…what a meal for a counter service. At this point the DDP had been fantastic…every meal had been a pleasure beyond out expectations…at this point.
At this point we still had time to wait so we got in line for Stitches great escape. With decent food in their stomachs the kids were much better behaved although DS9 was taking the ride warning seriously again. It is a decent ride…reminded me of the Alien ride from MGM. I could have done without the bad breath effect though.
Finally it was time for Space Mountain. DS9 refused and we let him. DD8 got to go twice just like Test Track the day before. We spent some time (and money) in the gift shop and got in line for Buzz Lightyear. DS9 was worried that this was somehow a scary ride that he wouldn’t like…boy was he wrong. I of course had the highest score in the family but he was a close second.
The kids wanted to go to Toontown which we walked by from the train. This day I had a big fire at work and for the next two hours I was on my phone. Boy was the wife unhappy (this happens all the time but it is really hard for me to avoid…if you ever see someone skiing the moguls at Whistler while talking on a cell phone it is probably me). Anyway…we rode the goofy Roller Coaster…all the while with a dire warning on the loud speaker that they might close the ride any second because it is an outdoor attraction and the clouds above us looked scary. The kids rode it 2 or 3 more times (I think…I was on the phone) and they never did close the ride. The kids ran around Toontown for a while…I am sure I missed some classic moments.
We walked over to fantasy land and rode snow white. The Pooh ride was really crowded to we skipped it and went to it’s a small world. I was actually going to skip it and get a fast pass for the Haunted Mansion (and sneak in another phone call while the wife wasn’t looking) but the Mansion was closed. So I walked back just in time to be able to join the family in line as they snaked by on the outside. It was like I remembered…at this point I had moved from talking on the phone to doing email and managed to have a decent connection all the way through. The fire was out at that point and managed to stay away from work for the rest of the day (other than just glancing at the Subjects of incoming email messages…which the wife also noticed).
We had a reservation at Olivia’s at Key West at 6:40 and the girls really wanted to see Cinderella’s coronation (which I think was at 5:35?). Anyway, we spent some more time in the gift shops…girls got ears...DS9 got something…I forgot what he specifically got here. And we camped out in front of the castle for the show. I went looking for a bathroom (which I didn’t find until well into Liberty Square) and some drinks. I can’t believe that people way up in front needed the loudspeaker to tell them to sit down. Anyway we were pretty close (and already sitting down) and the girls loved the show (I think DS9 liked it a lot too but he would never ever admit it)…and we off to catch the Bus to Key West for dinner.
They were backed up a little so we spent some time (and money) in their gift shop. Wife was still in the gift shop with DD8 and DS9 when DD6 (who was holding the buzzer) and I were seated. This would be our only disappointing meal of the trip. The server comes over and immediately asks me if we are on the DDP (which is fine…nobody else had asked that until the end of the meal but no matter) and then asks what we would like to drink. I order a Corona to which she replies with just a hint of a condescending tone “you know that’s not including in the dining plan”. To which I replied “Well gee wiz…thank god I have been saving all those pennies so that I can afford a beer with my meal”…not really…I said I knew that and would pay for it separately. But that is what I was thinking. DW and the other kids join us and we order appetizers. The kids order off of the main appetizer menu and two of my kids ordered crab cakes…I could tell she thought we were just picking the most expensive items…but the kids just love crab. DW orders a Margarita with no salt. Server returns with a Margarita with tons of salt which my wife refused…the server blamed the bartender and went back to get a new drink. She drops off a new Margarita with no salt on the glass…DW takes a sip and gags. “Oh my god…this is full of salt”. I took a sip and she was right…it tasted like salt water. DW was not happy at this point. “She poured the old drink into the new glass. She must think I’m stupid”. DW is fuming…server is nowhere to be found. After a while DW takes the drink back to the bar and asks the bartender about it who swears he made one with no salt. DW stood and watched as he made her a new drink. She returned and we still hadn’t ever seen our server (afterwards I realized that what must have happened is that the server had more than one margarita and gave someone else the glass with no salt and then obviously dumped DW’s salty drink into a new glass”. Some other people served all of our food which tasted fine (hard to enjoy a meal that started off so badly). Server finally returns…DW won’t make eye contact…I order another beer…Server returns with the wrong kind. I drank it anyway…DW didn’t notice. I was afraid that if I said anything it would put her over the edge. When our meal is about finished the server proceeds to dump an entire tray of ice water on an elder lady behind us. I know the gratuity was included in the meal but I left no additional tip for the drinks.
DW, DD8, and DD6 went to catch a bus back to MK while DS9 and I went to the hotel to catch Magical Express to the airport to pick up the rental car. We got to the room a little early so I of course fired up the laptop and found that I had been scheduled for a conference call with my VP and EVP at 10 PM…Magical express was to arrive at 10:30 to pick us up. DS9 and get there at 10…I dial into the call while DS9 plays his gameboy. Calls over…its 10:35…where is the bus? I ask the guy “earning his ears” at the bell desk and after several phone calls Magical Express has no record of my reservation. Wonderful! Mr. Ears (not his real name…I don’t remember his name) was very very helpful. He spent 20 minutes calling different people, apologizing, calling more people, until he finally arranged for a Town Car to come pick us up. 10 minutes later and we were on our way. The driver drops us off right next to a Thrifty Shuttle I tip him 10 bucks (am I supposed to tip him? Was that a decent amount). I signed up for BlueChip so I got to go in the short line and got assigned my two week minivan rental (which was a grand total including taxes and fees of $330 ). DS9 get in the van…and it smells like throw up. Not gonna spend two weeks in this…back to the counter. New van in much nicer…a town and country vs a caravan…and a lot newer. Meanwhile DW, DD8, and DD6 have a fabulous time at MK watching the fireworks and riding Thunder Mountain Railroad several times.
We got back to Saratoga Springs around 11:30 PM…Girls were asleep and wife was packing so that we could get an early start on our 11 hour drive to Nags Head in the morning (early start ended up being 11:00 AM).
Part 5 will be when we got back to Orlando…don’t want to bore anyone with details of 10 days in the outer banks.