Day One (belated)
Cast:
Me
DW
DS (age 2)
Mammy
Ran
Park: Animal Kingdom
So, we FINALLY made it to WDW after a 13-hour (14 if you count the time zone change) drive at 8 a.m. sharp (perfect guesstimation on my itinerary). DS and Mammy slept pretty much the whole way. Me and DW split the drive up. Ran (my brother) didn't drive, but didn't sleep much either.
We arrived at Fort Wilderness and expected to just be able to pre-register, get our park passes and head to AK. Instead, we were pleased to find out we had a cabin available. We drove to the cabin, unloaded, washed up (13 hours in a car is BRUTAL) and headed to the bus stop. OK, first day here and I'm already aggrevated with the bus system. Maybe it's because it was already 10 a.m. and I hadn't slept all night and I was HUNGRY, but the buses seemed to take FOREVER. Eventually, we caught thhe AK bus and got to AK at 10:30 a.m. After brief discussion, we decided to head to Restaurant-asaurus to get some McDonald's for brunch. Well, to our surprise, Breakfast-asaurus was still going on, so we got in on that. DS totally enjoyed the experience. The food? I don't think he touched so much as a grain of toast. But he hugged Mickey and hugged Pluto and hammed it up with Goofy.
We left Dinoland and headed immediately to Festival of the Lion King. I thought with Mammy and Ran's first trip to WDW, we should start off with what I feel is the best show in all of WDW. It was, as I expected, a big hit with everybody. Mammy was singing and dancing and totally lost herself in the show. Even big, bad Ran got into it during the hand jive dance.
The Lion King was just the beginning of a great day at AK. We rode Kali River Rapids twice (didn't even get off) and watched It's Tough to Be a Bug! to wrap up our day (did a lot of other stuff in between, but I'll spare those details).
But, some weirdness is already occurring on day one. My wife and I honeymooned here at WDW back in 2002. Our waitress at Breakfast-asaurus was the exact same one that served us back in 2002. And just like 2002, we ran INTO MICK FOLEY. Well, actuallly Ran noticed him first, blurted out his name. The Mickster turned around, gave a little wave and went back about his business.
We headed back to our cabin at around 3 p.m. (opting to skip the parade for a little much-needed rest). We slept until around 5 p.m., then woke up and headed down to the settlement for Hoop-Dee-Doo.
HDD was a complete blast, just like it was back in 2002 for our honeymoon. We were very fortunate to be seated at the very front of the room, right by the stage. Wait, did I say fortunate? Fortunate if you like getting picked on constantly by the performers. Let's see, during the course of the night, I was told to remain sober and I was pointed out by Miss Dolly for having a "big ole grin" on my face.
But it was nothing compared to my little brother. During the second intermission, my little brother was picked to perform in the final number. We had no idea what was in store for him (even though we've seen the show before). Well, after the first three did their parts, out came my little brother, in a pink tutu and halo on his head. He was Davey Crockett's angel.
He blew kisses to the crowd and then did a little heinie shake to top things off. His face turned four shades of red, but he enjoyed the experience.
And we enjoyed our first day at WDW.
Tomorrow: DS's first trip to MK.
Cast:
Me
DW
DS (age 2)
Mammy
Ran
Park: Animal Kingdom
So, we FINALLY made it to WDW after a 13-hour (14 if you count the time zone change) drive at 8 a.m. sharp (perfect guesstimation on my itinerary). DS and Mammy slept pretty much the whole way. Me and DW split the drive up. Ran (my brother) didn't drive, but didn't sleep much either.
We arrived at Fort Wilderness and expected to just be able to pre-register, get our park passes and head to AK. Instead, we were pleased to find out we had a cabin available. We drove to the cabin, unloaded, washed up (13 hours in a car is BRUTAL) and headed to the bus stop. OK, first day here and I'm already aggrevated with the bus system. Maybe it's because it was already 10 a.m. and I hadn't slept all night and I was HUNGRY, but the buses seemed to take FOREVER. Eventually, we caught thhe AK bus and got to AK at 10:30 a.m. After brief discussion, we decided to head to Restaurant-asaurus to get some McDonald's for brunch. Well, to our surprise, Breakfast-asaurus was still going on, so we got in on that. DS totally enjoyed the experience. The food? I don't think he touched so much as a grain of toast. But he hugged Mickey and hugged Pluto and hammed it up with Goofy.
We left Dinoland and headed immediately to Festival of the Lion King. I thought with Mammy and Ran's first trip to WDW, we should start off with what I feel is the best show in all of WDW. It was, as I expected, a big hit with everybody. Mammy was singing and dancing and totally lost herself in the show. Even big, bad Ran got into it during the hand jive dance.
The Lion King was just the beginning of a great day at AK. We rode Kali River Rapids twice (didn't even get off) and watched It's Tough to Be a Bug! to wrap up our day (did a lot of other stuff in between, but I'll spare those details).
But, some weirdness is already occurring on day one. My wife and I honeymooned here at WDW back in 2002. Our waitress at Breakfast-asaurus was the exact same one that served us back in 2002. And just like 2002, we ran INTO MICK FOLEY. Well, actuallly Ran noticed him first, blurted out his name. The Mickster turned around, gave a little wave and went back about his business.
We headed back to our cabin at around 3 p.m. (opting to skip the parade for a little much-needed rest). We slept until around 5 p.m., then woke up and headed down to the settlement for Hoop-Dee-Doo.
HDD was a complete blast, just like it was back in 2002 for our honeymoon. We were very fortunate to be seated at the very front of the room, right by the stage. Wait, did I say fortunate? Fortunate if you like getting picked on constantly by the performers. Let's see, during the course of the night, I was told to remain sober and I was pointed out by Miss Dolly for having a "big ole grin" on my face.
But it was nothing compared to my little brother. During the second intermission, my little brother was picked to perform in the final number. We had no idea what was in store for him (even though we've seen the show before). Well, after the first three did their parts, out came my little brother, in a pink tutu and halo on his head. He was Davey Crockett's angel.
He blew kisses to the crowd and then did a little heinie shake to top things off. His face turned four shades of red, but he enjoyed the experience.
And we enjoyed our first day at WDW.
Tomorrow: DS's first trip to MK.
