Sitting was unbelieveably LOVELY after shopping nonstop for so many hours. Lunch had been a nice break. The facilities were calling, however, so we got up and went around the way to use them.
What should we do now?
It was not unexpected that going to Disney Quest was requested. It was in fact, the only reason that we got the Water Parks & More option on our tickets.
We started walking in that direction. We paused for pics along the way. I really love the brooms from Fantasia. DS was lovin' his new saber.
As we neared the end of the walkway and approached the lake, I was reminded of the boat that runs between the Marketplace and the West Side. YAY!! The LAST thing I felt like doing was walking ALL the way from one end of DTD to the other. Disney Quest was on the exact opposite side of DTD from where we were. I was HAPPY to see the boat!
It just so happened that one was docked and ready to board! Woo hoo! We quickly boarded and found a seat where we could face eachother. How happy are YOU to be sitting again?
Looks pretty happy. DS was bugging me to do my fish face. I had a friend in college that had big, beautiful eyes. They were that kind that already projected a bit from your face? She would open her eyes WIDE, and turn her mouth upside down, and flap her hands at her face in an EXCELLENT imitation of a large mouth bass. I showed this to DS once, and ever since, every once in a while, he will beg me to do my fish face. Here he his trying to goad me into doing it:
Not gonna happen my friend. Sit back and enjoy the ride! Even if you just take a round trip on the boat, you really should just to see DTD from the water. A shady spot to sit with a view. Here are the sites:
I highly recommend the boat transportation.
The big white tent thing is where the Circe du Soliel performs. The big blue box is Disney Quest. I know. Not the most inspiring looking building!
It may not be much on the outside, but as you can tell, from DS's excitement...
Inside it's a LOT of fun. IF you are in to gaming that is.
The entrance is at the ropes. You enter into a very small lobby type area with typical park entrance turn styles. At this time of day, it was virtually empty here. It's before 2:00 PM. Enter the elevator. Watch the screen on the left side of the elevator. The Genie from Aladdin will escort you to your destination. I enjoy this little show, no matter how many times I see it. Probably because we live around Houston, I really like to hear, "Houston, We have a problem." The elevator will lift you to the third floor. The center floor of this five story gaming haven.
Where to?
We let DS lead the way here. It really doesn't matter when you do what here. Not at this time of day anyway. DS wanted to head to the top floor to ride the alien game.
Do not mistakenly think that Disney Quest is JUST about video games. Far from it. Although they have those. There's a reason it's called Disney Quest Indoor Interactive Theme Park. There are several virtual reality experience/games among other things. Invasion! An ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter is one of these. Up to four people can play. You enter into a small room with four positions/rolls.
One chair is the designated captain's chair, the driver. The other three are gunners. You sit two backed up to two. The room itself is a 360 virtual screen experience. Your "room" is actually a space vehicle. While waiting in line to blast off on your mission, this lady will tell you what is up.
Aliens have attacked our outpost on Mars. Your mission is to go to Mars, collect as many survivors as you can and get back to Earth. The setting looks very similar to this screen.
We have never succeeded in the mission. It was MY turn to try driving. OH! SO close. We'll get 'em next time.
Onward.
On the same floor is Ride the Comix. Battle supervillains as you fly through a virtual reality comic book world. DS hadn't wanted to do this last time around, but he was game this time! This is a helmet based virtual reality. First, you affix the thing that will hold the helmet to your head. Like so.
Then, you enter into the area with 6 other players. You buckle into the standing chair so that you don't fall over as you battle the bad guys. Now take the hanging virtual reality helmet and snap it onto the thing on your head. Hold your sword, which is like the handle of a lightsaber. You have to hold it with two hands, pushing two buttons on the handle to activate it. Now, battle the bad guys in the comics!
You fight as a team. Sort of. You are all on the same mission. You are all on the same flying ship thing. At times, you can see each other. In the end, you will fight a "Boss." Each person on the team will battle ONE of the six different figures portrayed in the posters in the waiting area at the end. DH and I were VERY grateful that I ended up fighting what we thought was the worst looking bad guy. At the end, you see if your team succeeded or failed. You also see your ranking on the team. DH and I tied for first place!
Warning. This one will get your blood pumping. If you fight, you will probably sweat. It's like THAT. I FOUGHT those vicious dogs that were attacking me. I FOUGHT all the bad guys. And I really FOUGHT that boss. Know your kid and yourself. This one is for older kids. DH and I weren't thrilled that DS had been exposed to these images. We were glad that it was early in the day and we prayed that they wouldn't effect his sleep. Just saying.
The helmets are really uncomfortable. They are a one size fits all. If you have a smaller than average head, like DS, and ME, then there is a foam piece that you add to help the helmet fit better. Still. The weight bears down on your forehead. It kind of cut into my nose. All things combined to make this a one time works for me kind of a deal.
We headed on down to the sports/music area on the fourth floor. Here there were air hockey tables! DS enjoys this a LOT. He and DH played.
I went to the back of this same room and TRIED to play the dancing game. The kind where you have to hit the different squares with the arrows pointing in the different directions? Oh my! OK. If I had one of these at home, I just might be in better shape! It was much, much harder than the ones that I have tried before.
DH wanted to try his hand at Galaga. His long time favorite arcade game. The last time we were here, he got the high score. He wanted to try it again. We hunted down the Classic area, where all the old school games are. The one on the third floor was pretty busy, so we headed to the one on the fifth floor. That's where I found Centipede.
My Mom worked for Atari back in its hey day. Yes. I played Beta versions of Pac Mac on a 5-1/4" floppy disc. Atari had an arcade in every building for the use of the employees. I spent one summer going to work with my Mom and playing Centipede. Every day. Almost ALL day. For a SUMMER. I used to ROCK at Centipede. I had a lot of fun playing it here.
After a time with the older games, we headed back down to where the air hockey was. There was one table available, but the puck for it was no where to be found. We tried our hand at the Guitar Hero games that lined the other side of the room.
We've just gotten into these types of games. DS was exposed at a birthday party. They are a lot of fun. We aren't thrilled with the music that is played on all of them. We really wish that they would come out with an E rated version. We found Rock Band, the original for our PS2 on a major clearance and bought it. It's good for DS to have a clue on these things because they are extremely popular. We just have to police it.
DH and DS had a good time battling.
I really wanted to do the Pirates of the Caribbean ride here. Another virtual reality game. Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for Buccaneer Gold, become a Pirate and sail the high seas in search of gold. I had only read about it. It seemed like a lot of fun. DH and DS didn't know anything about it. I had to push to get the men to go do it. Come on.
Pirates is on the bottom floor. There's usually a wait for this ride because it is known as one of the BEST rides here. There is no time posted for the line though, so how long it takes is anyone's best guess. Sure enough. There was a line. But we hopped right into it.
For the ride itself, your party is lead down this hallway
into one of many rooms. Before you enter the room, you put on 3D, or 4D, glasses. Whatever. In the room, you enter onto a small setting that is like the bow of a ship. There's the deck rail with cannons mounted on the rails. Three on each side. One player can also steer the ship. The Captain will also control the throttle. The object is to sink any and all other pirate ships by blasting away at them with the cannons. If you sink a ship, the gold on that ship gets transfered to your ship. All of this is told to you by a skeleton pirate that flies around on the surrounding screens that will become the virtual world you will enter after he tells you what you are doing. A the very end, you have to battle him.
You will be rated on your performance at the end. I don't recall the maximum occupancy of the rooms; we were able to do the experience with just the three of us. We achieved the second to highest rating on our first try! King of the Caribbean! We were so excited. This game ROCKED! DS chose to be the captain. DH and I manned the cannons. Do NOT think that you can just stay on one cannon and get the job done. You have to run around those cannons and work your little tushy off to attack those ships! DH and I were SWEATING when we got out of there! What a rush though. It was TONS of fun!! We all LOVED it!
A word of warning to the sensitive. That skeleton man gets IN YOUR FACE during the ride. It totally made me laugh. What an experience!
I learned later in the week that the cannons on this ride are the same as the ones for the Toy Story Mania ride. Here's the big secret for working the cannons. You have to hold the ball on the string between your middle and ring fingers. This is the best grip for FAST action on the cannon!
We were on a high. It was a good note to end our Disney Quest adventure. We had an ADR at California Grill to get ready for. Time to head on out to the car and home to the lodge. We were rushing through what there is of Pleasure Island.
How sad it feels! So empty feeling. DH and I were reminiscing about our honeymoon. We spent one night partying there. This was back in the day where you paid one admission price to get into Pleasure Island. There was alcohol EVERYWHERE. We couldn't believe it! This was also back in the day for DH and I, when we were still partiers. Well. THAT kind of partier. Picture street venders with jello shots all lined up in the ice of their carts, shots in test tubes, rows of beer, wine coolers, etc. And every night at midnight it was New Year's Eve with a big fireworks display. What a change!
We were tired. It was quite a haul back to the car. We had parked on the opposite side of DTD. There wasn't time to do anything else, like the boat or the bus to save our legs or feet. It felt AWESOME to sit in the car! We headed back to WL for a quick change before dinner.
I can't imagine our family without them.
My little girl would be copping an attitude BIG time. You want me to touch my paw on what?!? I can only imagine! Oh my!
I'm not used to using it as much as I have been. So I'm trying to get some TR done.
Happy Father's Day! His gift was a folding picture frame. The kind that holds two 5 x 7 pictures with hinges between so it can stand up by itself. It was for DH's desk at work. This is our traditional Father's Day gift. 
Now the cow that was named Hangaburger on the dairy farm that DH briefly lived on while growing up...
