8caliace
United States Air Force
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2000
- Messages
- 324
This was our 4th trip to WDW and by far the most stressful in planning, but the most rewarding and relaxing trip yet.
The Crew:
Ace(me): 30, Active duty Air Force currently stationed in TX
Nancy: DW, 29. Civil service job on the base
Nick: 6, DS. First grader on fall break
Cameron: 8 months, DD. Spoiled lil girl.
JoAnn: 57, my mom. Lives in Vegas, always ready to spoil the grandchildren
Rob: 23, my brother. Works for an airline, and training as EMT/firefighter in Las Vegas
Ali: 27, brother's girlfriend. Also works for airline.
Tom: 27, Active duty Air Force stationed in California
Great first night at CSR and we wake up to our Mickey call at 7:30. Today would be our first Disney day of the trip. One of our only really planned days was this one, as we needed to get to the Studios sowe could get some ride time on Tower of Terror, as it would be closing for a week. Nancy and Mom made their morning trek for coffee. The rest of us loaded into the van and picked them up and headed off. We knew that since this was Sunday, and the day before Columbus Day that we would probably being seeing some crowds. We get into the park and Tom and I grab everyone's tickets and head to get FPs for Tower. Return time in about an hour or so and off we go to ABC Commissary for breakfast. Not a bad breakfast there. Quick and not very expensive. Back to Tower for ride time, with a stop at RnR for FP's. Nick is getting nervous at his first trip into the Tower. Last trip he was sorry that he didn't ride, so he kept emphatically saying how this time he was going on. Now he is starting to have second thoughts as we approach. Nancy stays off with Cameron as she does not like Tower. FP's get us right into the pre-show and we exit into the boiler room. Nick is visibly nervous and we all take turns trying to calm him. He cowboys up and we get into our car, with him sitting in between me and Rob, hanging onto both of our arms. I try to talk him through each part of the ride. We get to the drop sequence and his facial expressions are priceless. First drop caught him off-guard, but soon he is laughing and screaming with us all. Already getting hot, so a stop for frozen lemonades and a giant pretzel for Cameron to gum and slobber all over. FP time at RnR. Mom takes kids to Great Movie Ride as we head on. Meet up afterwards and find Indy show starting soon. We have never made this show in any previous trips, so we head in. Great show that everyone enjoys. Head out with the masses and make our way to see the Muppets. Waited about 5 minutes in the pre-show, but it was nice and cool. Cameron really laughed and giggled at the Muppets on the TV's. Took a stroll to the Honey playground. Pretty packed, but the boys of course have to play on the nets. So a game of follow the leader with Nick leaving us big guys in the dust. We exit out of there all nice and sweaty.
About this time, Rob, Ali and Tom were favoring going back for a swim and nap. Nobody else was up for that, so they headed out for the bus. We stayed around and took some casual strolls through the shops and such. We did jump on the Backlot Tour and Movie ride but mostly just wandered and snapped pictures. We had mistakenly booked a PS for 50's Primetime on the wrong day, so we checked in at the PS hut to see if anything was available for tonight. There was an opening at 5pm but we could not get a hold of the others. We booked it and continued calling. We eventually woke them and told them about the PS. They said they were tired, but would try to make it. About 15 before PS time, Rob and Ali stroll up. Tom decided to stay and sleep and watch some baseball. We check in and we are quickly seated. Great meal all around once again. Our server was our "sister" Amy and she was perfect. Us boys have the tendency to try to get the others in trouble and she was not having any of it. Rob and I tried to gang up on Nick, but we ended up getting busted ourselves. Food was great and we shared some S'mores and Oreo cheesecake for dessert. No one really was in the mood to deal with the crowds and Fantasmic, but we were not ready to just go back to the hotel yet. Great thing about having the rental van is ability to go wherever, whenever. We knew MK was open late with Wishes being on tonight. We thought about going to Contemporary and hopping on the monorail to head in, but again thought of the potential crowds involved. But we head to Contemporary anyway with the thought of going up to the Observation deck. I had read somewhere that it is not open for everyone anymore, but we tried anyway. Off the elevator and we went straight to the deck without any question. Gorgeous night and great view. As it got closer to showtime, more people came out, but not a whole bunch. Speakers pump in the narration and music, and it is a great show to see. I really enjoyed it from this perspective though. Once it was over, I got some pats on the back for bringing us up there to see it, which made me feel good. A definite highlight of the trip there. Back to CSR, another quick swim in the quiet pool and then off to bed. Tomorrow is Columbus Day and we know it will be a zoo so we will need our rest.
The Crew:
Ace(me): 30, Active duty Air Force currently stationed in TX
Nancy: DW, 29. Civil service job on the base
Nick: 6, DS. First grader on fall break
Cameron: 8 months, DD. Spoiled lil girl.
JoAnn: 57, my mom. Lives in Vegas, always ready to spoil the grandchildren
Rob: 23, my brother. Works for an airline, and training as EMT/firefighter in Las Vegas
Ali: 27, brother's girlfriend. Also works for airline.
Tom: 27, Active duty Air Force stationed in California
Great first night at CSR and we wake up to our Mickey call at 7:30. Today would be our first Disney day of the trip. One of our only really planned days was this one, as we needed to get to the Studios sowe could get some ride time on Tower of Terror, as it would be closing for a week. Nancy and Mom made their morning trek for coffee. The rest of us loaded into the van and picked them up and headed off. We knew that since this was Sunday, and the day before Columbus Day that we would probably being seeing some crowds. We get into the park and Tom and I grab everyone's tickets and head to get FPs for Tower. Return time in about an hour or so and off we go to ABC Commissary for breakfast. Not a bad breakfast there. Quick and not very expensive. Back to Tower for ride time, with a stop at RnR for FP's. Nick is getting nervous at his first trip into the Tower. Last trip he was sorry that he didn't ride, so he kept emphatically saying how this time he was going on. Now he is starting to have second thoughts as we approach. Nancy stays off with Cameron as she does not like Tower. FP's get us right into the pre-show and we exit into the boiler room. Nick is visibly nervous and we all take turns trying to calm him. He cowboys up and we get into our car, with him sitting in between me and Rob, hanging onto both of our arms. I try to talk him through each part of the ride. We get to the drop sequence and his facial expressions are priceless. First drop caught him off-guard, but soon he is laughing and screaming with us all. Already getting hot, so a stop for frozen lemonades and a giant pretzel for Cameron to gum and slobber all over. FP time at RnR. Mom takes kids to Great Movie Ride as we head on. Meet up afterwards and find Indy show starting soon. We have never made this show in any previous trips, so we head in. Great show that everyone enjoys. Head out with the masses and make our way to see the Muppets. Waited about 5 minutes in the pre-show, but it was nice and cool. Cameron really laughed and giggled at the Muppets on the TV's. Took a stroll to the Honey playground. Pretty packed, but the boys of course have to play on the nets. So a game of follow the leader with Nick leaving us big guys in the dust. We exit out of there all nice and sweaty.
About this time, Rob, Ali and Tom were favoring going back for a swim and nap. Nobody else was up for that, so they headed out for the bus. We stayed around and took some casual strolls through the shops and such. We did jump on the Backlot Tour and Movie ride but mostly just wandered and snapped pictures. We had mistakenly booked a PS for 50's Primetime on the wrong day, so we checked in at the PS hut to see if anything was available for tonight. There was an opening at 5pm but we could not get a hold of the others. We booked it and continued calling. We eventually woke them and told them about the PS. They said they were tired, but would try to make it. About 15 before PS time, Rob and Ali stroll up. Tom decided to stay and sleep and watch some baseball. We check in and we are quickly seated. Great meal all around once again. Our server was our "sister" Amy and she was perfect. Us boys have the tendency to try to get the others in trouble and she was not having any of it. Rob and I tried to gang up on Nick, but we ended up getting busted ourselves. Food was great and we shared some S'mores and Oreo cheesecake for dessert. No one really was in the mood to deal with the crowds and Fantasmic, but we were not ready to just go back to the hotel yet. Great thing about having the rental van is ability to go wherever, whenever. We knew MK was open late with Wishes being on tonight. We thought about going to Contemporary and hopping on the monorail to head in, but again thought of the potential crowds involved. But we head to Contemporary anyway with the thought of going up to the Observation deck. I had read somewhere that it is not open for everyone anymore, but we tried anyway. Off the elevator and we went straight to the deck without any question. Gorgeous night and great view. As it got closer to showtime, more people came out, but not a whole bunch. Speakers pump in the narration and music, and it is a great show to see. I really enjoyed it from this perspective though. Once it was over, I got some pats on the back for bringing us up there to see it, which made me feel good. A definite highlight of the trip there. Back to CSR, another quick swim in the quiet pool and then off to bed. Tomorrow is Columbus Day and we know it will be a zoo so we will need our rest.
