So, since moving to Florida I have wanted my Mother and Stepdad to come see us, just to take them to WDW. Actually, when I made my first trip two years ago, I couldn't wait to go with them. So, they decided to spend Christmas with us and I talked them into 4 day passes because originally they were going to arrive Christmas Eve and then stay through New Years Day. I had even booked WCC for New Years Eve.
So, a little info on them. My Mom (Melinda) is 59 and loves amusement parks. I have fond memories of going to Dallas on week long shopping trips with no plans for Six Flags, but every time we would end up driving by Six Flags. She would look at me and ask if I wanted to go and we would be there the next day. She actually enjoyed riding the Giant just because it would pop her neck just right. She was always wondering if she could get insurance to pay for that adjustment.
She has been retired from the phone company for about 11 years after giving them 30 years of her life. Made her way from an operator to an engineer. She drew up plans to show where the phone lines should be layed. Obviously a smart woman, but she has her moments and of course I will have to mention them here.
Another new member of this TR is my stepdad, Dale. He also worked for the phone company, he layed all that phone line that my Mom drew up plans for. Even though I have always been in contact with my Dad, Dale is probably more my Dad, if you get my point. He has been in my life since I was about 9 years old. They didn't get married until I was a Freshman in High School. He also likes amusement parks.
He is currently retired, but may be looking for work with the economy as it is. He got home last Spring after spending almost 4 years working as a contractor in Iraq, but has decided he shouldn't go back there.
Oh, they had been to WDW when I was in college. Yup, they went without the kid. Only went to MK though.
So, these crazy people headed out the week before Christmas and went to New Orleans from Texas. They have a motor home and trailer to pull their little Geo Tracker and the Harley. Can't go anywhere without the Harley. They also had their two dogs. One is Chico, a rescue dog that only likes my Mother and then there is Ren (Named after Ren of Ren and Stimpy). Yes, he is that ugly. He is a Pug/Pekinese mix. So, they stayed a couple of days in New Orleans and then came this way arriving late on the 23rd. So, on the 24th I drove over to their campground and we all tried to figure out what to do.
My Mom can never make her mind up. At first she wanted to go shopping at the Mall.
It was Christmas Eve, I don't do malls on Christmas Eve. I told her I would go to the outlet mall. Dale didn't like that idea. I mentioned WDW and Mom finally said that sounded like an idea. So, back to my house to get our passes and the camera and we were off. I was so excited.
We decided on Epcot since it was already about Noon by the time we got there.
I just love Christmas decorations!
We stopped to use the restroom after the drive. Of course I come out with the camera ready to go, so here is Dale.
I wanted them to ride Test Track, so I ran for FP's while they stopped to grab food since none of us had eaten. Well, the FP time was almost 9:00pm and we didn't want to stay that late since we had dogs locked up in a motorhome. We actually put Ren in a cloth kennel because he normally tears up stuff when his Mommy leaves him. So I found them in the Electric Umbrella and explained the FP situation and told them we could keep an eye on the wait time.
Oh, while at the Electric Umbrella, I go for ketchup. The first cup I get I accidentally spill on my finger and lick it off. It's not ketchup, its BBQ sauce. So I try another, it is BBQ also. I told a CM and gave up.
Jacob's favorite ride at WDW is now Mission Space,
so my stepdad went on the green side with him. I was concerned about Dale's high-blood pressure. Plus, it was only a 15 min wait, where the orange side was 50 min. Me and Mom sat down in the play area where you the exit the ride just watched people. One of our favorite things to do.
Finally they come off the ride, and Dale swears to this day they didn't move at all. I know the green side spins a little.
From there I thought we would do Nemo and it was a walk on.
With it being so late I knew Soarin would be impossible without waiting two hours, so I didn't even bother to look. Then thought we would do Figment. Loved watching my Mom's reactions. It is so much fun watching people react to the little surprises. That is one reason why I love going with first-timers. Jacob didn't want to ride because he remembered it smelled bad, so I warned him to cover his nose at the appropriate time.
From there we went to Honey I Shrunk the Audience and it was also a walk on. Here is my Mom in her 3d glasses.
(Don't know why this pic is so large.)
It had been over two years since I saw this show and had forgotten how good it really is.
Then we walked over to the WS.
The tree at the front:
(I don't know why this came out sideways, it shows correctly on photobucket.)
Headed over to Mexico:
We rode the boat ride there in Mexico. Now, there was a little line here, but not too long. The problem was this man and his two kids jumped in front of my folks. So, I let them by and me and Dale discussed it. Told him I was doing my good deed for the day. But, we got the front of the boat and the man and his two kids got the back of the boat. I looked at Dale and said, "Charma!" Dale enjoyed the little ride since he is having a lot of problems with foot pain.
So, then we headed over to Norway for Maelstrom. But first, I pointed out to Dale that he could buy a beer, so he did:
Now, would you believe this turned into the longest wait of the day. At least Dale had his beer. So, in this line there was a party of about 8 high school age kids, but obviously from another country. Well, this one girl jumped ahead of us. So at first me and Dale weren't going to let them in front of us. Well, we finally gave up and decided to let them go on ahead of us. But then we can't find my Mom. Well, all of a sudden she has decided they shouldn't jump ahead of us and she is now in line with them. Dale and I were
. We finally called Mom back and told her what was going on. Finally rode the ride and Dale said, "We waited in line for that?" I had hoped they would enjoy it, because I like that one.
On the way out, I got to see the Norwiegen (spelling?) Santa:
He is in the back with the white beard.
Sorry, the lense on my camera doesn't have that good of a zoom.
We decided to see how long of a line TT had. Well it showed 50 minutes, we decided to go ahead since there really wasn't anything else anyone wanted to do and I think it is worth it. Here is Mom and Dale waiting in line:
Within 15 minutes we were at the briefing area. We really lucked out. As I guessed, they loved TT.
Here is a pic of the new Camaro on display at the ride exit:
We walked over to MS because Jacob was wanting a shuttle set that he bought two years ago, but lost or broke most of the pieces and we threw the rest away. So, the Grandparents wanted to buy it for him. (JS got mad when we got home with it because he thought JS didn't deserve it.)
We decided to leave, but noticed Spaceship Earth was a walk on and decided to do it. I couldn't get the parents pic, but here is Jacob and I:
I always laugh at these pics of Jacob because he is about that thin, and the rest of us wish we were. (Oh, the last two times I have emailed the pics home from SE, I haven't received them and I didn't get these either.)
Now, here is one of the funny stories on my Mother. We figured we could really mess with her head and tell her to look for the live people in the displays on the ride. Well, to this day she stills says some of the people were real.
She keeps saying, "How do they keep an eye on the people on the ride to make sure they don't get out or something?" Dale and I still laughing about it.
We headed home. Remember I mentioned the dog that tears things up when his Mommie leave him. Well, all day we kept discussing whether Ren had ripped open that kennel. So when we pull up in front of the Motorhome, we don't see him right away, but then we look again and there he is standing in the windshield looking at us. Fortunately, the kennel is all he tore up.
We got some photopass pics, but I want to make another trip to WDW to get some more to make the CD worth it. Only have 19 now, but once I have them I will post them.
My folks still had 3 more days of park tickets to go, would they use them all up?
:
But luckily it ran to the floor instead of inside the bed. So, eventually JS catches it in the net, but when he tries to pick it up by the tail, guess what happens. The tail comes off!
. They did request I pick up 4 day passes to WDW for them, so I'll get to go 4 times with them. 
They were worried I would get tired of driving there. Silly people. They will be here until Jan 1st and then JS's parents including Mother, Father, and Stepmother will be here for his promotion to Lt. Col.
We are going to Epcot on Jan 4th and will be eating at Biergarten. When I made the ADR, the CM asked if we were celebrating anything and I mentioned JS's promotion and they put it down, so we will see what they do. Plus, JS's stepmom is from Germany, so we are interested in her thoughts on Biergarten.
Now, the problem with the SLR is I have always used the Kodak software with my previous camera, so I finally started using Photoshop which I bought well over a year ago and never tried to figure out. The problem I was having was getting the pics small enought that it wouldn't widen the page on the Dis. Well, I finally figured out all I had to do was resize them on Photobucket. I can be so dense at times. So, got the first bunch resized and I am ready to go. Hope you all enjoy!
