The one with the DGF...**Part 9 added on PG 3***

[WDW LOVR]

I’m not going to attempt to write a trip report for all of our recent 9 night stay. Writing trip reports for more than a couple days with such artistic flair can get difficult and I don’t want to give up writing after 3 days when some of the more fun stuff happened later in the trip. Plus, since it’s a family vacation I’m sure most of you don’t want to hear how cute DS and DS’GF were cuddling in the rear seat of the Breathless, so I thought instead I’d just write a overall trip report with the more interesting highlights, possibly in 2 or 3 installments.

First, the Cast: DH (me) = Scott, Disney freak of the family, 40 something. DW = Laurie, Disney freakette of the family, 40 something + 3 months (never let her forget that). DS #1= Michael, Disney freak of the future (in training), 17. He might claim to be a certified Disney freak, but until he’s payin for himself he doesn’t get the title with all it’s benefits. DS #2 = T.C., Disney freak of the future (also in training), 14. He doesn’t care about titles. He wants to live at home forever so he never has to pay for his Disney fix. DGF = Denise, Michael’s love of 1 year, 1st attempt to turn her into a Disney freakette of the future, 18. Don’t know if they’ll last but how she performs on this trip goes along way to determining spousal potential.

Next, the Setting: 9 nights, the first 5 at OKW and the last 4 at BWV. 2 BR villas at both. First time in a 2 BR. Hey, we need the extra room. Not that we don’t trust the teens in love, but we’re not givin the fox the key to the hen house, if you know what I mean.

Ok, now that we know the starting lineup and the pitch, (I did that for our World Cup football fans. See, us Americans ain’t totally clueless when it comes to the most boring game in the history of mankind . For you fans of the only real football, the kind where whimpy head butt’s are part of the celebration, the pitch is the field of play in Soccer. Now, now, don’t any of you World Cup fans get mad or throw stuff or make comments about my lack of sophistication, I’m just messing with ya) on with the show!

The making of this trip began over a year ago. We’d been to WDW for Spring Break, 2005 and were tossing around ideas about the following year’s trip (2006, we typically go on one family trip per year). We discussed when, where we’d like to stay etc. Well, some time shortly after that discussion DS#1 claims he came home on a Saturday night and asked if one of his friends (who is a girl) could come along with us on our trip to WDW next year, and he claims I said “sure, the more the merrier” . Now it was either a very martini night (which I don’t believe) or he woke me up in my comfy chair when he got home in the wee hours and hit me while I was mostly out of it (that’s my story and I’m stickin to it!). Either way, fast forward a couple months and the romance of the century is in full gear (different girl) . DS#1 comes home and says “you remember how you told me Shelly could come with us to WDW next year?”……uh…..no…..don’t remember that, “well you did”…..I did?.....(from the peanut gallery, aka DW)…yes you did!.....crap….ok, what else don’t I remember? “Well, I was wondering if DGF (they’ve been steady for a couple months by then) could go instead? Guess it stinks to be Shelly. Well, I guess so. We’d have to talk to DGF’s parents etc, but if they’re ok, I guess we’re calling DVC to upgrade to a 2 BR, never in a million years thinking that this H.S. romance would last a whole year. I just figured we’d be taking friends or other family members along in her place.

Well, son of a gun, here it is a year later and the romance is as strong as ever. We’ve come to know DGF over the past months and think DS#1 is a lucky guy. Not sure if it’ll last (with them heading to separate colleges soon), but DGF is a joy to be around. And she’s way good for DS#1.

Now that you know how we got to where we’re at, we’ll begin the actual trip. On June 1 we’re watching the nightly news and they of course have to stick in a pitch (different kind of pitch than Soccer) for June 1 being the beginning of Hurricane season and how this season is going to be the worst on record and everyone in the whole eastern U.S. should begin hoarding water, bread and batteries and to run out to the nearest Home Depot and buy a generator or all your meat in the freezer is going to spoil when the inevitable hurricane strikes your neighborhood. DS#2 asks if we have to worry about a hurricane when we’re at WDW. I tell him, no, we’re going early enough in the season that we don’t have to worry about it. Now, the adults only trip in Oct for the food and wine festival (just when are they coming out with the details of that anyway?) might have to worry, but not now. Ok he says, satisfied that the old man knows what he’s talking about. So, of course, around a week prior to our trip beginning (June 13 was our flight to Orlando) we turn to the weather channel and what do we see, a flippin tropical disturbance in the Caribbean Sea. But not to worry, weather forecaster Bob with the perfect hair says, the upper level winds are tearing it apart and it’s not going to develop into anything. Wrong again old elephant breath. Next thing we know we’re wondering if our flights are going to be delayed or even cancelled as Alberto makes his move. Two days before our trip, things aren’t looking good. Forecasts call for the storm to be hitting sunny FLA the day of our arrival. We start investigating Airline rules, DVC rules, limo rules all for cancellation policies. We’re sure we’ll get there, just might be a day late or so. I’m not going to take this lying down. My oldest brother used to always say that he prayed to the rain god each morning we planned on golfing and we never got rained on, so I thought, what the heck, can’t hurt. I changed every password I had to include Alberto in it in an effort to honor him (don’t bother all you hackers, I’ve changed them since then) and staged several prayer chant sessions while burning incense during the Tropical Update on the Weather Channel. BAM, one of my sacrifices worked (could have been the neighbors cat we sacrificed also….ok all you cat lovers, you know I’m just kidding), with the next NOAA update the storm turned to the north some and increased it’s forward motion and it looks like the “storm” portion will be by Orlando when we arrive, although we’ll still get some rain. No problem, rain I can deal with, landing in a hurricane, not sure I want to try.

We’re out of bed early Tuesday morning for our drive to the airport and hopefully our on time flight. I flip on the weather while DW is in the shower and their report makes me think we should be good. Might be some 20 mph winds, but for us in the Mid-west, 20 mph winds are a fact of life. Our flight leaves on time and with some well timed turns by our pilot we avoid most of the storm on our way to Orlando. This is a good thing. DS#1 hates flying even on good days, and I’m not sure I’m ready to see him pull a Mission: Space on the airplane. We land right on time and spot our driver already waiting for us at the luggage carousal. We get our luggage in short order and the driver heads off to get the transportation. I know some people are probably thinking that we’re wasting money by not taking Magical Express, but when you want to stop at a grocery and also don’t want to take a chance of being the buses last stop on property so you’ve just wasted 1/90th of your Disney time waiting on a bus before you even get to your resort, you’ll pay the money. Anyway, there being 5 of us, the standard Lincoln Towncar won’t do. We’ll have to upgrade to a van. But for only $20 more than a van we can have a Limo. What the heck DW and I decide, lets do it and surprise the kids. So as we’re waiting outside for the car we keep making comments about the pickup that is pulling up being our ride and they’ll have to hang on in back etc, just to mess with their minds. Imagine their surprise when the limo pulls up and they comment how cool it would be to get to ride in one of those and the guy that helped us with our luggage gets out of the drivers seat and they realize it’s for us! We load up, stop at the grocery and we’re off to OKW. It’s raining most of the way to WDW, but by the time we get there the rain has stopped. Alberto heard my prayers! Fast forward to the end of the trip when we asked the kids what was their favorite part of the trip and DS#2 says the Limo ride and everyone staring at us when we got out at OKW. I guess our surprise worked!

We made it to the World despite a tropical storm and are ready to start the fun.

The next installment will be more fun as we’re done with the preliminary gobbly gook and gonna start the real report. See ya soon. Maybe even later tonight as DW isn’t feeling well, DS#1 is on a mission trip with DGF (uh oh) and DS#2 started summer gym class today so I know he’s whipped which means it’ll be me and the dog keeping each other company tonight!

 

[tubachick]

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoying reading ~ Looking forward to the next installment.

 

[WDW LOVR]

We left off with us arriving at OKW in our stretch limo. I have to admit it was pretty cool having all the people stare when we got out of the thing. DS#2, who is quite the performer , was wanting to use my cell phone so he could act like he was talking to Donald Trump when he got out. He was going on and on about meeting “the Donald” for lunch and how he’d bring the helicopter so they wouldn’t be held up by traffic etc. I’m sure no one else knew what he was talking about, but we sure were cracking up.

I head inside to check in while the rest of the crew messes with the bags and groceries. “ Home” says the CM. The two best words ever. We are given our choice of multiple rooms, most of which are ready for us. We choose one on the third floor near the Turtle Pond pool. If you’ve never stayed at OKW and have a chance, the Turtle Pond area is our favorite. I’ve read that others like different areas of the resort, and I’m sure they’re nice also, but we really like Turtle Pond area. Out the door we go, another great check in experience at OKW behind us. Not that other resort’s check in experiences are bad, just OKW has always been great for us. We get our clothes and groceries put away and off to the bus stop we go, headed to the MK. I look at my watch. It’s just after 2:00. Amazing. At 10:30 this morning we’re sitting in the airport in Columbus, Ohio and at 2:00 we’re getting on a bus for the Magic Kingdom. IT’S GOOD TO BE IN THE LAND OF THE MOUSE!

By now the rain from that sob Alberto has stopped (I can say that now that he’s passed, no more worshiping a stupid storm). We get to the MK and through security in no time. And the park is fairly empty. I think we found the one time a year when the MK isn’t busy. It’s the afternoon of a morning that a tropical storm blew through the area. I take back that sob comment. Alberto is my HERO! If there’s one thing to keep the crowds from riding Dumbo, it’s a good storm. I can only remember one other time where the crowds were this low when we’ve been at MK, and that was on a Sunday morning just as a pretty good thunderstorm was finishing. I’ll have to remember that.

BEEP….BEEP…..BEEP….From the National Weather Service….a severe thunderstorm warning has been issued until 5 PM for the following counties in central FLA…..Orange… Lake… Osceola…Seminole…Volusia…Large hail, strong winds, dangerous lightning along with 1-3 inches of rain are expected with this storm as it moves across the FLA peninsula……”

WooHoo honey….load up the kids….We’re going to the Magic Kingdom!!!!!! Can you tell we watch just a little too much Weather Channel? Anyway, we head straight back to ride Splash Mtn thinking the line would be short. Well, it was really short. They hadn’t even opened it up after the storm yet. Not to worry, we go over and ride BTM with virtually no wait. We ride all the biggies, Haunted Mansion, Buzz,

(The Family at Buzz)

SM, Mickey’s Philharmagic, IASM. Go back to check on Splash but it’s now 60 minutes so we decide to skip it. We get some dinner and DW and I decide we’re tired from the long day and want to head back to OKW. The kids stay at the park and ride BTM 3 more times with no wait before joining us in the room. All in all a great first day considering what we thought it would be just a couple days before. Tomorrow Epcot!

Wed morning we’re up and out fairly early (for us) . We won’t make park opening, but we’ll be there soon after. DGF has never been to Epcot (or AK for that matter). She’s been to WDW a few times on band trips and once with her family, but she’s only been to MK and MGM. This puts smiles on our faces. We really enjoy experiencing Epcot with newbies. Epcot is our favorite park. When the kids were little they didn’t care for it much, but we continued to make them go anyway and as they grew so did their love for Epcot. It’s now the favorite of all of us.

Our first quest of the day is to ride Soarin. DW, DS#2 and I have done it before and DGF rode the original at DL on a band trip to California, but DS#1 has never rode before so we want to make sure we either ride early or get a FP. The kids also want to ride TT and MS. I’m not so thrilled with riding MS even though the DR. says my recently diagnosed, but controlled high BP is not a concern, I give in to the hype of all the recent reports of MS troubles and decide to skip it so….I go get the FP’s for Soarin while the kids ride MS. TT has a long line, even for single riders so we do the Universe of Energy and Imagination before Soarin. We eat lunch at the Land food court and head back to WS.

We plan on spending the rest of the day in the WS, watching Off Kilter, (Laurie loves bass man's legs, I just don't get it).

British Invasion, MoRockin, eating when the fancy strikes us and generally wandering wherever we feel like. We start our WS lap the way of Mexico, and as Jimmy Buffet says, “it’s 5 o’clock somewhere”! so to the margarita stand we go. Probably should state it here for the readers of our March adults only trip reports, this trip is going to be decidedly different from those kind of trips where we try our best to pickle our livers. Not that we won’t enjoy an adult beverage or 7, it’s just not a very responsible adult thing to do to take the drink around the world challenge when your impressionable kids are along. Man, I just re-read that and can’t believe I’m hearing myself say that. I sound so….old. Anyway, DW and I each snag a lime margarita and our lap is begun. We spend the day enjoying the bands, checking out the Maelstrom, doing some shopping, doing some responsible drinking and just enjoying the day. Dinner is your choice. Everyone is in the mood for different things so we eat as we go. DW and I decide we want something from the Tangerine Café. Tangerine Café has become one of our favorite CS restaurants in WDW…..until this trip…..well, I still love it. Ok, let me explain. DW loves the rotisserie chicken. I go in to order and oh my, they either no longer have it period or are out for today ( I didn’t catch what the CM said). If you want it, you have to go to the restaurant Marrakesh. This ain’t good. Even though we’ve been responsible adults, we’ve enjoyed ourselves. And when the little misses is hungry and has her mind set on something, lets just say things ain’t lookin good for the home team. I try my best by ordering lots of different items hoping one will trip DW’s trigger, but to no avail. That did it. Misery alert, misery alert. You know that saying “when mommy’s happy, everyone’s happy”? Well I can attest to that. And she isn’t. “Pookie?” I get the stare. “Is there anything else at Epcot you’d like to eat?” More staring. “Anywhere, I’ll run get it”. No. Ok, this isn’t good. Anywhere in WDW? I’ll take the bus to the Earl of Sandwich if that’s what you desire”. NO! Unless we can come up with something to satisfy the hunger of the savage beast, the rest of the night isn’t going to be very magical. DS#2 tries his best to cheer up his mom, which he can always do. She throws water on him. “What did you do that for?” he says, even though it’s hot and it feels good, splash, another bath. Now I’m getting ticked. This is Disney ya know. That bottle of water costs $2.50. If you want to get him wet splash him from the fountain next to the table. “Let’s just go” she says. Uh, in a minute, I’m still tying to finish these 3 full meals I’ve bought hoping one would do the trick. Just then, DS#1 and DGF appear from one of their exploration trips…For the love of God, just keep walking. We’ll meet you somewhere later. I’ll call your cell phone when it’s safe to return. Ok, I shove the last couple marinated olives in my cheeks for later because if I eat another bite it’ll be coming out my nose and on our way we go.

“Here’s Japan honey, would you like something from here?” She doesn’t even turn around to acknowledge us. “I can run in Liberty Inn. They have salads, chicken, burgers…anything?” No. Well at least I get a response. But we keep walking. No real choices as we pass Italy. “Would you like a Bellini” I ask, hoping maybe a cocktail will snap her out of it. If I can’t eat, might as well drink I hear. Well ok, it’s a start, although I’m not sure we need to add fuel to the fire, but I’m not going to be the one to say anything. Learned that long ago. I didn’t really think she’d want one, but I thought it might at least break the ice. I look ahead. Ah…Germany. If there’s a chance to snap her out of it, German food has the best chance. Laurie’s German through and through. A bratwurst and kraut is our last and best hope. Do they have it to go DW asks? Yes they do, let me RUN in and get one for you. Ok. Pfhew. The night still has hopes. This is pretty good she says and all is good in the world again. EDITED FOR ADDITIONAL COMENTARY: Please don’t take this wrong. I’ve embellished this a great deal. The facts are all there, but I’ve just had a little fun with them. Laurie has laughed quite a bit while I bounce this off her. Ok, back to the story. The rest of the evening is pretty uneventful and we decide to leave before Illuminations. DGF has never seen the show before, but the next day we have scheduled at Epcot we have the Breathless reserved for an Illuminations Fireworks Cruise. Let’s go check out the Boardwalk for a while. We mess around for a bit and then have a couple of appetizers at the ESPN Club and catch a cab back to OKW. All in all a good day. Tomorrow MGM.

 

[WDW LOVR]

Is anyone enjoying these reports? I won't be offended if you're not. I just will concede that I should give up my career ambition of writing a novel if no one thinks these are worth it.

Plus I won't waste my time writing when I could be reading the other great reports people write here.

 

[DonaldsNo1Fan]

I'm enjoying it keep writing!

 

[Fizban257]

Please keep writing! The other seven trip reports I'm reading are stalled out -- it'd be nice to read one with a conclusion. That, and my eldest son will be 18 for our next trip and I'm curious about the concept of a GF tagging along.

 

[Suflay1]

This is a GREAT report - lots of details and plenty of fun. I'm glad you explained your DW enjoyed your "embellishments" as I was beginning to wonder about her! And you, too!

Keep the trip report comin'!

 

[Janet-TX]

You have us hooked now. You must continue!!!!

 

[lynn71092]

I'm in too!
Keep em' comin'....

 

[Credit Man]

Another fan here! Please continue.

 

[kathymc]

please keep writing. lots of people are reading just not posting comments. all trip reports cant be on the top 10 list. thanks for sharing!

 

[nutz2notz]

Loving your report, too. Please keep writing.

 

[WDW LOVR]

If you had to describe our WDW style it's as far from Commando as you can get. DW and I have been to the World somewhere around 30 times and DS#1 and DS#2 probably 12 or 13 times each. We typically make 1-2 family trips per year and DW and I make 1 or 2 more adults only trips (F+W Festival almost every year and once during the spring). I know we are very fortunate to be able to go do something we love that costs as much as it does as many times as we do. DW and I both work very hard and have resisted the urge to move to successively larger houses which makes our house payment rather small and our opportunities to go to WDW rather large, when compared to most. The beauty of this, for us, is we never feel like we have to be in a hurry. We sleep a little later than most (except AK day) and have an opportunity to do a lot of the things that Disney has to offer that are off the beaten path.

That being said, I can make the next statement with hopefully some understanding from the up at dawn, assault the parks til they close and get up the next day and do it again people. The next day we're up kind of early (for us). We make it over to MGM at a reasonable hour (around 10:30 or so) and DW and I head back to get FP's for RnRC and to ride ToT. This would probably be a good time to explain. My kids are ride wienies. Don't know where we went wrong, but they are the biggest ride sissies in the history of mankind. I blame their mother. When they were young she never made them ride what they didn't want to. Me? I would have made them get on every ride there is. If they don't like it then, ok, but a little terror in a childs heart screaming up and down a dark elevator shaft is a good character builder. But no. Neither of them will ride the ToT and only DS#1 is a regular on RnRC, but only for a couple years now. We live 1 1/2 hours from Cedar Point, the roller coaster capital of the world, and we never go because it'd be a waste of money because they don't like to ride. That's why Disney works so well for us because it's not about the rides (although they do have some good ones). We were hoping that bringing DGF along would at least shame DS#1 into riding ToT. Thought for sure that he'd have to prove he was a man and ride it, but no, he's either very comfortable that she knows he's a man or doesn't care if she knows he isn't. Of course, he's a black belt in karate so I guess he doesn't need to prove anything to anyone. In years past we even tried to bribe them. I went as high as $50 each for the 3 big rides they wouldn't do, Splash, RnRC and ToT and I got nothin. A couple years ago we got them on Splash and RnRC but still no ToT so DW and I must ride ourselves. At least this year we had company from DGF.

We meet up with the kids who had gone to ride Star Tours , but the line was pretty long, and since I had already used their tickets to get FP's for RnRC we had move on to something else. DW, DS#2 and I had seen Lights, Motors, Action when we went to the F+W last fall but with the next showing being only 15 minutes away we decided to go so DS#1 and DGF could see it for the first time. After the show we did Muppets and by this time Star Tours line had dropped to almost nothing, so the kids rode it a couple times. Our FP time was getting close so we went and rode RnRC

before heading to Sci-Fi for lunch. For once Sci-Fi was not terribly crowded and we were seated within 5 minutes of our ADR's. After lunch the kids decided to go back to OKW and swim some because it was hot, d*** hot. What did Tim Allen say in Jungle to Jungle? "What do you call this place? The surface of the sun?"

Hmmmmm.....what does any respectable LOTW do with some unexpected kid free time at said W? Why find the nearest libation station and belly up! We'd had drinks at the little bar between 50's and H&V before, but only while waiting for a table so this will be a first for us. Duration drinking in Mom's kitchen. Man, I'm getting some wierd flashbacks of walking into the house trying to hide the beer breath from Mom in the Ozzie and Harriett designed kitchen. Wow, snap out of it. I guess the heat was getting to me too. Being the man that I am, it's against my better judgement to get anything but a beer or a martini, but with as hot as it is, one of Dad's lemonades sounds very good. It's a good thing I'm secure in my manhood because when they bring that blue foo foo drink with the blinking ice cube in it I hear a few snickers from the peanut gallery. I swear I even hear someone say "doesn't the bartender have your beer and your DW's foo foo drink in front of the wrong people?" I try to formulate a quick response, including references to my pickup truck and occasional use of chewing tobacco, as I turn around to defend my honor and I spy the offending patron in his plaid shorts, black socks and lime green croc's. Ok, I added the black socks for effect, but with the lime green croc's I figured he must be a Dis'er and I didn't want to never be able to show my face on these boards again, so I let it go. By the time we're done and the kids are headed back for some more rides I've got a blinking cube for each of them (3) and a couple martini olive spears for good measure. Boy won't the ToT be fun now! We ride the 2 biggies a few more times, DGF joining us on ToT multiple times as the standby wait was a walk on. We try our best to shame the wienies to ride, but to no avail. As evening approaches we decide we've had enough as the heat has really sapped the energy. We'll do Fantasmic next week when we come back to MGM again. We go back to OKW and everyone goes for a swim except DW. Another very good day (sorry I didn't take any pictures this day).

Friday morning we're up early (for us). This time I'm not kidding. I think we got up at 7:00. No where do 7:00 (am) and us see each other on a Disney trip, except maybe to use the facilities before going back to bed and on AK day. But today we're up because the AK IS the surface of the sun and if you let 'er get warmed up there's not enough beer in Golden, Colorado to keep you cool. Plus we want to ride EE while waiting in the standby line so we can experience the themeing (I have no clue if that's spelled correctly, or if it's even a word) at least one time. As we're headed that way we figure out we weren't out of bed early enough to do the standby thing so DW and I head to get FP's for EE and the kids turn towards Primeval Whirrl and Dinosaur. FP's in hand DW and I head to PW and get on the practically walk on line where we pass the kids just getting off the ride. They head to do Dinosour where we meet them at the exit. This is a new park for DGF so it's neat to see it through her eyes. It was hot already, so we head to Kali RR for the kids to cool off.

That's DS#1 on the front left and DS#2 on the front right. DGF is to the left of DS#1, but you can't really see her.

We have an early lunch at Flame Tree and then ride EE.

That's DW and me in row 2 and DGF and DS#1 in row 3.


If you've never had the chance to ride it before, do it your first opportunity. EE jumped immediately into my top three favorite rides and is probably not a whole lot behind my favorite ToT. And get this.....are you sitting down? DS#1 actually rode. He wasn't going to but DGF gave him this little pouty face and it worked like a charm. Man you women are good. Still no ToT this trip, but at least we got him on EE. Guess next trip will have to find a little sweetie for DS#2 and maybe he'll ride too, cause he was having none of it this day. We get another FP when we get off and head over to FOTLK. This show is fantastic. It is one of our must do's every AK trip. The music, acrobats, dancers, singers, it's all so full of energy. We never tire of seeing it. After the show we grab a FP (whose return time is only 45 minutes from now) for the Safari and go do the Jungle trek to use the time till our FP. Jungle Trek and Safari done, it's time for our return EE FP. As we're approaching the ride it starts to rain. It looks like a short shower and this being the first day it's rained since arrival day we aren't too upset. It is June in Fla after all. Short shower is was so the 4 of us get on again. No DS#2 won't ride, even after we assure him it's not a big deal and he'd love it. Sorry. But that's good for DS#1 and DGF as the extra FP from this morning and the one from now allows DS#1 and DGF to ride again. It begins to rain again just as they leave the station and they end up being the last car before the ride is shut down due to lightning. Having done everything we wanted to do at AK and having ADR's at CG this evening, we decide to head back to OKW and relax for a bit before dinner.

We've made ADR's for CG at 9:20 with Wishes at 10:00. The rain had quit shortly after we got back to the resort, but man did it pour while it did rain. They kept saying on the TV they needed the but that was nuts. We take the bus to MK and get on the resort monorail for the short ride to CR. The kids love the monorail. Until we joined DVC a few years ago we always stayed at FT Wilderness and until very recently the way you got to Epcot from the campground was a bus to the Ticket and Transportation center and then monorail to Epcot. It's amazing how bummed the kids get when we don't ride the monorail during our trips as most DVC resorts don't use it. Anyway, the short ride is an added highlight of the dinner. We arrive around 8:50 and one drink from the bar later our table is ready. We have our appetizers, go out to the observation deck for Wishes and then finish our outstanding meal. Everyone enjoys their dinner, our server was great as usual and we head back to our room with full bellies and nice thoughts of the day we had. Tomorrow the Epcot Seas Aqua Tour and DTD.

 

[almousefan]

I am loving your report. I have DS#1 (18) and DS#2 (14) and am anxious to hear how the rest of your trip went with DSG along.

 

[Disney owl]

Great reviews thanks

 

[WDW LOVR]

Today we sleep in (there's a surprise huh?). It's been 4 days and all 4 parks and hotter than the front of the peloton on the climb to L'Alpe D'Huez (ok, sorry, watching the Tour De France while typing. Those guys are tough as nails) and today is a one of those days to do some of the other fun stuff WDW has to offer.

DS#1 and #2, DGF and I are going to do the Epcot Seas Aqua tour at the Living Seas. DW doesn't have any desire. She doesn't know what she's missing. I did this tour a year ago in May when DW and I were at the World celebrating our 20th anniversary. When we got back and I told the kids about it they thought it sounded like a blast and asked if we could do the tour the next time we all went. Of course I said, I'd do it again in a minute, it's that fun.

The tour begins next to guest relations at Epcot. Around 12:15 our 2 guides arrive and check us in. Besides us 4 there is a uncle/neice combo, a newlywed couple and a mother who was treating her young son for his birthday. We go through a CM only type door at the right of guest relations which puts us right on the back side of the Living Seas. A ticket to Epcot is not required to do this tour, and at the end you are escorted back out front so you don't have to use a park day on your tickets if you choose not too. This day we didn't as after the tour we went to DTD. As we're walking to our entrance our CM's tell us about the the filtration system and the quarantine ponds where all new fish are placed to ensure they are healthy before being introduced to the main aquarium. The filtration system is so powerful that the whole aquarium is completely filtered in just a little over 2 hours. That's 5.7 million gallons of water being turned over in 2 hours! We are also told that the aquarium is so large that Spaceship Earth would fit in the aquarium. It's not as tall as SE, but it is so big around that the whole SE would fit in the thing with room around the outside to spare. We enter the LS and tour the vet services area and the kitchen where the food is prepared. Our guide tells us that the fish get served the same food as is served at many of the restaurants in WDW. I'm not sure if that means the fish are being well fed or if we're getting scraps from the LS, but whichever it is I think the fish are getting the better of this deal. We then get a behind the scenes look at the manitee aquarium before heading to a conference room to view a video on ocean conservation and to sign our liability release papers. No the sharks won't eat you we're assured, but sign anyway. I'm sure Disney doesn't want me owning Epcot when one of my kids is shark bait.

Now we're ready for our swim. The Seas Aqua Tour is one of three tours available at LS. One is a dolphin encounter type. The other is for certified divers who can dive in the aquarium. The Seas Aqua Tour is a cross between scuba and snorkling. You have all the gear a scuba diver would have, but your tank is held in a vest of sorts that is kind of also a life jacket so you can't go more than a foot or so below the surface. And if you go duck down at all you get sprung right back up to the top. I guess you'd call it scuba-lite. We head down to the locker rooms to change and then get paraded through the public areas of the LS. Part of it kind of cool having everyone look at you like you're special, as I'm sure most people have no clue that anyone can do this, as long as you're willing to pay for it, but part of it is kind of embarrassing having everyone stare at you as you make your way through the LS to your swim. I'll bet it's good advertising for Disney also as I'm sure people inquire as to what's going on etc. Anyway, we head out the aquarium observation deck, through a locked door at the semi-circle at the end, climb up some stairs to the top of the aquarium, gear up, get some last minute instructions, get our group photo taken and we're ready to begin our swim.

Here's the pre-swim photo. DFG, DS#2, DS#1 and DH (me)

Can you believe those two DS's came from the same loins? I still think DW must have had a boyfriend with that first one. Anyway, that's a topic for Dr. Phil and another forum. While we were going through our instructions on how to put on the gear our guide told us that some of the vests had what they liked to call a "happy strap" which was attached to the back of the vest and came up between your legs and attached in the front. Sometimes it could be a little tight, hence the name At the end of the swim when we got our picture, DS#2, being the brother that he is asks DS#1 what he was doing with his hand in the picture and DS#1, without missing a beat says "I was playing with my happy strap". Cracked us all up. That'll be a story to tell the grandkids when he has them.

Ok, back to the swim. You get 30 minutes in the aquarium and there are only 3 rules: First, don't go within 10 feet of the dolphin enclosure. It's separated by a top to bottom gate and a wall of bubbles, but 2 of the dolphins are males and kind of protective of their area so even though they couldn't get through the gate, they may injure themselves defending their territory. Second, DON'T TOUCH the SEA TURTLES! They are federally protected and if you harass them you're out of the pool, no refunds. And Third, everyone at the LS thinks you're a Disney CM so when they wave to you while you swim, wave back and you'll be a star! Well, that's all DS#2 need to hear. Like I mentioned in an earlier episode, he's a preformer, so straight to the observation deck he swam to begin the performance. DW had come to Epcot after relaxing at the resort for a bit and took these pictures during the swim.

This is DS#2 flirting with the (as he called them) the college chicks.

This is DS#1 and DGF. Ain't they cute, holding hands and all?

This is me.

The time for our swim takes place shortly after fish feeding time so all the small fish think you're going to feed them which means a lot of the time you have large schools of fish following you around. It is too cool. Each of us also got quite a few close up's of the Sea Turtles and some (too) close ups of the sharks. Even though the guides assure you they are fed well and will not come after you, it's a little freaky when a 5 ft shark goes swimming a few feet away. But we all survive without being eaten. 30 minutes goes by too fast and our swim is over. As we're taking off our gear the kids ask me if I saw the hidden Mickey at the bottom of the aquarium. No I didn't which makes them have a little fun at my expense since I'm always the one pointing out the hidden Mickey's to them. We shower, change, get our pictures, our Epcot Seas Aqua Tour shirts and our tour is over.

If you've never done one of the WDW tours I would highly recommend them. This one is a blast. We all agree we'd do it again in a minute. The CM's were friendly and very knowledgable. I give it Roger.

Part 2 of Saturday (at DTD) in our next episode.

 

[pumba]

that is so awesome.....I wonder if I would dare to do this one.......thanks for taking the time to post these great photos and report

 

[arizonacolbys]

Great review so far - thanks for sharing!

 

[almousefan]

If you don't mind my asking, how much does one of the tours like that cost? It sounds very neat!