We are back in nice cold Duluth after the long trek home today... boys are in bed. Have my final thoughts about the trip...
Disney continues to be a great place kids. This will clearly be the trip of Peyton and Zach's life thus far. I can't debate that Disney provides for kids everything they could dream of... not much travel from park to park, keeping them busy in line with other distractions, lots of rides, etc. I think every kid should visit at least once by the time they are 11.
On the adult side, I see a lot of things that can be done better. Don't get me wrong, they do so much for kids and set everything up for parents to keep those kids as happy as possible, I can't argue too much. But I do have a few grumpies...
Recycling- for a mega-corporation, the lack of emphasis on recycling is pathetic. Garbage cans can be found everywhere in the parks, but you have to hunt to throw a plastic bottle away. Even our resort room proclaimed Disney is a "Green" attraction, but they didn't have a recycling bin in the room! We are well into the next century and concern about global warming is on everybody's mind... nobody gets upset anymore about having recycling "shoved in their face." On the other hand, recycling is not at the forefront of every person's mind, so fat lazy park patrons will gladly chuck their recyclables into a garbage can if not given a convenient opportunity.
Smoking- this may be the deep south, but it's a resort designed for CHILDREN. Ban smoking within the park and on park property. I didn't catch too much second-hand smoke during the week we were there, but when you do run into it, your first thought is, "Wait a minute, people are exhaling carcinogens into my lungs in Disney World?" Again, get with the times.
I don't know what bothered me more, the ridiculous price of everything or the fact that so many people seemed willing to pay it. I thought what we paid for 6 nights and 5 days, access to all 4 parks plus park-hopper passes, plus 2 decent meals a day was extremely fair. What amazed me was that some of these cafeteria-style meals would have cost us $60 if we were not on the meal plan. $60 for a cafeteria meal? Our sit-down buffet breakfast with the characters was $110 after tip (it wasn't on the meal plan). $110 for Easy Eggs and crusty tater tots? I guess you pay for the convenience of Mickey coming to your table, instead of having to wait in line for 45 minutes at a park to have your picture taken with him. But I'd say that's at least $50 beyond what the food was worth.
Speaking of pictures, we took all of our own and were quite happy. But they have park cast members walking around taking photos, allowing you to buy these professional photos... for $30 for a 5 x 7! Seriously, that's insane... and yet I saw people gladly shelling out the cash for these photos, even as they had people take their photos with their 12 MP digital camera that would be just as sharp.
I can't argue with gold old-fashioned capitalism... I mean, Disney makes a killing off its psychological subliminal brainwashing of people. I just find it so horribly disappointing that people are so easily taken.
The FASTPASS system is a life-saver, but mostly because so few people use it correctly.
At the risk of sounding politically incorrect, I've never seen so many disabled people in my life. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for disabled access, especially to the happiest place on earth. But at some point, mass numbers of disabled people using the parks cause others to, well, not enjoy it so much. You get tired of jumping out of the way as some lady on a scooter nearly breaks your knee cap, or getting to the front of a ride line only to wait an agonizing 5 minutes while some 400-lb guy on a scooter has to be hoisted into the ride because it's his turn. I think people who are disabled from service to their country, or due to a horrible accident or condition they can't control... by all means, I am patient and let them enjoy the same things I enjoy. But I see people who are 300 lb.s overweight riding scooters slurping on turkey drumsticks and (what a shock) not burning any calories, and I'm sorry, I can't help feel a little miffed that I have to accommodate that person's gluttony. These people need the scooters to get around because of their arthritic knees and hips but clearly are not making an effort to manage their bodies appropriately. And we then have to be patient with them? Is it any wonder why we can't pass a health care bill?
And lastly, as it pertains to me and me alone... Disney World is not my idea of a cool vacation for me and my wife. I don't want to go "Celebrate Life" by blowing wads of hard-earned cash that will somehow make me feel happy. I want to see things I've never seen before and will never see again. That does not include 300-lb. women in tank-tops and exposed navel rings (though I do not want to ever see that again either, if I can help it).
I also do not like large crowds, it's just not my style. I cannot stand the idiocy of the gate rush to grab the 45th place in line instead of the 55th place, or the FASTPASS ticket that will let you board at 10:05 instead of 10:15.
You see families work the system... one goes to FASTPASS, collects tickets for later in the day, while the other gets in line. By the time the FASTPASSer gets the tickets and then decides to join the queue, they need to cut in front of 60 other people to catch up. Jeana and I did this one... she and the boys stopped and let other people pass while I caught up, instead of me line jumping. I can see letting somebody jump 20 or 30 people because they can see their family member ahead in the maze, but waltzing through the line... I'm sorry, that doesn't seem right.
The last night, when we FASTPASSed Space Mountain, we get to the entry point and, I'm not kidding you, there's a woman begging to be let into the FASTPASS line with her family because the wait in the traditional queue is 80 minutes. She just didn't want to wait, and figured she should be let in. I simply cannot stand the entitlement, rudeness, and lack of respect for others that amusement parks bring out in people. It doesn't make me happy, it makes me disappointed in the human condition.
The last night we waited to watch the night parade with all of the lights. When the parade started, we were standing behind a couple and their child who were sitting down. When the parade started, for absolutely no reason, they stood up and blocked Peyton and Zach's view. They didn't need to stand, they just didn't give a shit who was behind them. They didn't offer to let Peyton and Zach stand in front of them, they just blocked their view.
We managed to wedge Peyton just to the side of the overweight woman, who constantly bumped him through the parade, causing him to look doubtfully if he should be standing there. Zach sat on my shoulders, but this a-hole from Australia, asked me to move back because I was blocking the view of his freakin' video camera (because you know I go home and watch those videos OVER and OVER again)... not to mention that if he would wait all of 3 seconds the float would actually come in front of him and Zach wouldn't be in his way anyway.
It just seems like in a place like Disney World, people should bend over backwards to make sure all of the kids have the best experience, damn all of us. I mean, that's the attitude I took all week. This was not my ideal vacation spot, but this was not my vacation... it was my kids' trip. I tried to help others with kids so that the kids were happy and satisfied.
Will we go back? Of course Peyton and Zach say they want to. I think if we could go back with friends so that Peyton and Zach could go with kids their ages, they would have a great time. Would I ever want to go back with just Jeana? Absolutely not. We have too many other places we want to go see in our lives. But you never know... P&Z might just argue us into another trip in 2-3 years...
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Some shots from the hotel this afternoon
We did some park hopping this morning, hitting Space Mountain again first, grabbing some FASTPASSes for the Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Space Spin, then seeing the Haunted Mansion before charging over to the Contemporary Resort for our character breakfast at Chef Mickey's. Not much to add to the pictures from there I already posted... though $90 for a buffet standard breakfast is a bit over-the-top, frankly, even if my kids do get to hug Mickey and his friends.
We then took a circuitous route to Animal Kingdom and did the Kali River Rapids (Zach got DRENCHED and loved it) and Expedition Everest one last time before coming back to the hotel for swimming:
Now we are headed out for dinner in the hotel before returning to the Magic Kingdom for one last ride on Space Mountain and the fireworks and night parade...
We then took a circuitous route to Animal Kingdom and did the Kali River Rapids (Zach got DRENCHED and loved it) and Expedition Everest one last time before coming back to the hotel for swimming:
Now we are headed out for dinner in the hotel before returning to the Magic Kingdom for one last ride on Space Mountain and the fireworks and night parade...
And another dumb thing...
Why does Disney call it a monorail when it clearly runs on 2 rails?
Just because the rails sit on either side of a single concrete pylon
does not make it a monorail.
Just because the rails sit on either side of a single concrete pylon
does not make it a monorail.
Videos from Hollywood Studios
Zach trains to become a Padawan, Part 1
Zach trains to become a Padawan, Part 2
Zach trains to become a Padawan, Part 3
Zach trains to become a Padawan, Part 4
Indiana Jones Stunt Show
Zach trains to become a Padawan, Part 2
Zach trains to become a Padawan, Part 3
Zach trains to become a Padawan, Part 4
Indiana Jones Stunt Show
Friday, February 19, 2010
Day 4, Hollywood Disney Studios
With my stomach back to normal and everybody recharged after early bed last night, we awoke ready to assault the fourth and final Disney park, Hollywood Studios. It was a really fun day... HS has some of the best rides and shows in all four of the parks. Unfortunately, it is also the smallest of the parks AND has the fewest rides, which means it is ridiculously crowded and difficult to do anything more than once. Which is a terrible shame, because it is so much fun.
Our first stop was Toy Story Mania, a "4D" ride. You ride in the rough equivalent of a tea cup armed with a cannon you fire by pulling a string. You wear 3D glasses, because the screens you stop in front of have TREs (as my dad would call them, Target Rich Environments) that you shoot full of balloons or starts to break plates, drop rings on, whatever. The entire thing is digital and possibly the greatest idea for an amusement park ride ever. It's fun and appropriate for all ages, and you are actually part of the ride. The seat you are in keeps score and reports your score against the best scores from the day and month. It's basically a video game made into a ride. One could only imagine how ridiculously cool and terrifying Doom 4D would be (though clearly for adults only).
And even though it was cool, it is popular. Like insanely popular. We got off at 8:30 and considered the possibility of grabbing FASTPASSes so we could ride again later... but they were being dispensed for 2:30 PM already. In 30 minutes, the FASTPASSes were already backed up to 5 hours later. That's crazy, but the sad thing was that we thought we might need FASTPASSes for something else so we chose not to use them. By the time Peyton and I worked our way back over there at 10:30, the FASTPASSes were now being spit out for 6:30 PM. Ugh. We went back around 2:30 PM to see if we could just stand in the regular line, but the wait time was an estimated 2 hours. Double ugh.
The reason for this happening is two-fold. TS 4D is clearly the absolute best ride in all 4 parks for kids of any age. A 3-year-old would love it, so there is going to be high demand. But complicating matters is that there are no other rides in the entire HS park for kids this age. The other two popular rides are Tower of Terror (yeah, that sounds like something I'd take my 3-year-old on) and the Aerosmith roller coaster, which has a minimum height requirement of 48 inches (so Zach couldn't ride it). So if you have a kid 4 years or younger along and you want to do a ride in this park... well, TS 4D is it. Disney, you need to fix this. It's extremely disappointing.
So after that ride, we went and did Tower of Terror, which is based on a Twilight Zone episode. They bring you up in an elevator shaft and drop you, then fling you up, then back down again, like 3 or 4 times. Yes, I did taste my breakfast again, though I did not entirely vomit. Peyton screamed like a girl (again) and clung to Jeana, Zach thought it was cool and looked nonplussed (again). Not a bad wait time for it, but just not terribly exciting either. And not worth tasting Easy Eggs for the third time that morning.
At this point, we split up. Peyton and I went to the Aerosmith coaster (as Zach couldn't ride and Jeana didn't want to get any sicker) and Jeana and Zach headed to Star Wars to get in line for Jedi training... if there was one thing that was going to come out of today, Zach was going to be a jedi (dammit).
Here was another annoyance for today. My iPhone app said the wait time for the coaster was 20 minutes (these things get updated lke every five minutes on this app, and I have totally loved the thing all trip). Upon arrival, the LED board said the wait was 60 minutes. Peyton and I almost turned around, but Jeana then informed me they had an hour wait for Jedi Training, so we didn't have anything better to do (though I'm still kicking myself for not going and getting FASTPASSes to TS 4D instead).
Well, then, it turned out it only took us 25 minutes to get on Aerosmith. So go figure, the app was right and Disney was wrong. Nonetheless, while this coaster is, in fact, the fastest at Disney (as opposed to Everest from yesterday), the whole ride is all of 80 seconds. If that. Granted, they shoot you from a standing start into a loop followed by several corkscrews, but even Peyton yelled, "That's it?!?" at the end. And seeing as this is the second coolest ride in the park, by midday the wait is usually 90 minutes. Again, Disney, get your bloody act together. Give people something to do here.
Peyton and I then joined Jeana at the Star Wars ride, where they were in line for Zach's Jedi training. They missed the 10:50 group by about 9 kids, but were slated for the 11:45 group. It was a long wait, but like I said, Zach had been talking about this the whole trip. They only take 15 minutes for each show, so you have to be willing to wait in line to score a spot for your kid. I felt terrible for one dad right in front of Jeana, whose 6-year-old got scared when he realized his dad couldn't go on stage with him, broke down, and started bawling as he was supposed to go get in his robe costume. I can only imagine that the one thing that kept that father from beating his child for making him stand in the sun for 90 minutes only to bail on the show was the fact that 200 people were watching this unfold. I felt so bad for the guy.
Zach, however, as you saw from the still shots we posted, was committed. I told him that he should take the opportunity to jump to the dark side when the chance arose (seriously, no kid ever wants to go to the dark side... I would have been proud of my child's choice to take the easy route to power), but he insisted he would not be tempted. Alas.
So I have a series of YouTube videos on this... the whole thing is like 15 minutes long, and I figured nobody actually wanted to cache that much on their computer at once. I'll post these later... Windows Movie Maker keeps crashing on my laptop as I try to convert the files, and I want to make sure I still have Internet access to make this post. Patience, my young jedis...
The guy who hosted it really hams it up for the audience, I laughed a lot. Zach volunteered to fight Vader first but didn't go for his knees as hard as I hoped. Actually, the Jedi guy would step in and help block the rambunctious kids that we actually trying to hit Vader, it was rather amusing. And every once in a while you'd get the kid with stage fright that would just stand there.
Nonetheless, Zach came out of it as a full "padawan" and got a diploma for completing training. He was very disappointed that he didn't get to keep his robe or lightsaber, but we promised him we would buy him a full Obi-Wan costume at non-Disney markup prices when we get home.
From there we did the Star Tours ride (did it at Disneyland back at college, sadly has not changed), then had lunch at THE Pizza Planet. After lunch we watched a pair of shows, a sadly disappointing Muppet 3D where Waldorf and Statler's jokes were simply subpar (though the picture below of the Swedish Chef's crate made the short wait worthwhile).
Generally speaking, Downtown Disney is just another way for the resort to milk money from you. Lots of cheaply Chinese-made tourist crap and shirts, and pins, and whatever else you're supposed to collect and wear because you feel so happy that you forget you don't have all the money in the world. Zach got himself a plush Pluto with a gift card he had from Christmas, and Peyton continued his pin collection (because children are oh-so-easily brainwashed). Ad we all nearly stepped in vomit from some other kid inside the giant Disney mega-store.
They did have a huge Lego store, nothing new for kits, though both boys insisted I take their picture next to the giant Lego Indiana Jones figure:
We pretty much settled for ice cream and then came back to our hotel for the evening.
Tomorrow is our last day here... we have a breakfast with the main characters at 10:30, but plan on hitting a few big rides and/or swimming depending on the kids' preferences. I will post those videos as soon as I can get Movie Maker to not crash...
Our first stop was Toy Story Mania, a "4D" ride. You ride in the rough equivalent of a tea cup armed with a cannon you fire by pulling a string. You wear 3D glasses, because the screens you stop in front of have TREs (as my dad would call them, Target Rich Environments) that you shoot full of balloons or starts to break plates, drop rings on, whatever. The entire thing is digital and possibly the greatest idea for an amusement park ride ever. It's fun and appropriate for all ages, and you are actually part of the ride. The seat you are in keeps score and reports your score against the best scores from the day and month. It's basically a video game made into a ride. One could only imagine how ridiculously cool and terrifying Doom 4D would be (though clearly for adults only).
And even though it was cool, it is popular. Like insanely popular. We got off at 8:30 and considered the possibility of grabbing FASTPASSes so we could ride again later... but they were being dispensed for 2:30 PM already. In 30 minutes, the FASTPASSes were already backed up to 5 hours later. That's crazy, but the sad thing was that we thought we might need FASTPASSes for something else so we chose not to use them. By the time Peyton and I worked our way back over there at 10:30, the FASTPASSes were now being spit out for 6:30 PM. Ugh. We went back around 2:30 PM to see if we could just stand in the regular line, but the wait time was an estimated 2 hours. Double ugh.
The reason for this happening is two-fold. TS 4D is clearly the absolute best ride in all 4 parks for kids of any age. A 3-year-old would love it, so there is going to be high demand. But complicating matters is that there are no other rides in the entire HS park for kids this age. The other two popular rides are Tower of Terror (yeah, that sounds like something I'd take my 3-year-old on) and the Aerosmith roller coaster, which has a minimum height requirement of 48 inches (so Zach couldn't ride it). So if you have a kid 4 years or younger along and you want to do a ride in this park... well, TS 4D is it. Disney, you need to fix this. It's extremely disappointing.
So after that ride, we went and did Tower of Terror, which is based on a Twilight Zone episode. They bring you up in an elevator shaft and drop you, then fling you up, then back down again, like 3 or 4 times. Yes, I did taste my breakfast again, though I did not entirely vomit. Peyton screamed like a girl (again) and clung to Jeana, Zach thought it was cool and looked nonplussed (again). Not a bad wait time for it, but just not terribly exciting either. And not worth tasting Easy Eggs for the third time that morning.
At this point, we split up. Peyton and I went to the Aerosmith coaster (as Zach couldn't ride and Jeana didn't want to get any sicker) and Jeana and Zach headed to Star Wars to get in line for Jedi training... if there was one thing that was going to come out of today, Zach was going to be a jedi (dammit).
Here was another annoyance for today. My iPhone app said the wait time for the coaster was 20 minutes (these things get updated lke every five minutes on this app, and I have totally loved the thing all trip). Upon arrival, the LED board said the wait was 60 minutes. Peyton and I almost turned around, but Jeana then informed me they had an hour wait for Jedi Training, so we didn't have anything better to do (though I'm still kicking myself for not going and getting FASTPASSes to TS 4D instead).
Well, then, it turned out it only took us 25 minutes to get on Aerosmith. So go figure, the app was right and Disney was wrong. Nonetheless, while this coaster is, in fact, the fastest at Disney (as opposed to Everest from yesterday), the whole ride is all of 80 seconds. If that. Granted, they shoot you from a standing start into a loop followed by several corkscrews, but even Peyton yelled, "That's it?!?" at the end. And seeing as this is the second coolest ride in the park, by midday the wait is usually 90 minutes. Again, Disney, get your bloody act together. Give people something to do here.
Peyton and I then joined Jeana at the Star Wars ride, where they were in line for Zach's Jedi training. They missed the 10:50 group by about 9 kids, but were slated for the 11:45 group. It was a long wait, but like I said, Zach had been talking about this the whole trip. They only take 15 minutes for each show, so you have to be willing to wait in line to score a spot for your kid. I felt terrible for one dad right in front of Jeana, whose 6-year-old got scared when he realized his dad couldn't go on stage with him, broke down, and started bawling as he was supposed to go get in his robe costume. I can only imagine that the one thing that kept that father from beating his child for making him stand in the sun for 90 minutes only to bail on the show was the fact that 200 people were watching this unfold. I felt so bad for the guy.
Zach, however, as you saw from the still shots we posted, was committed. I told him that he should take the opportunity to jump to the dark side when the chance arose (seriously, no kid ever wants to go to the dark side... I would have been proud of my child's choice to take the easy route to power), but he insisted he would not be tempted. Alas.
So I have a series of YouTube videos on this... the whole thing is like 15 minutes long, and I figured nobody actually wanted to cache that much on their computer at once. I'll post these later... Windows Movie Maker keeps crashing on my laptop as I try to convert the files, and I want to make sure I still have Internet access to make this post. Patience, my young jedis...
The guy who hosted it really hams it up for the audience, I laughed a lot. Zach volunteered to fight Vader first but didn't go for his knees as hard as I hoped. Actually, the Jedi guy would step in and help block the rambunctious kids that we actually trying to hit Vader, it was rather amusing. And every once in a while you'd get the kid with stage fright that would just stand there.
Nonetheless, Zach came out of it as a full "padawan" and got a diploma for completing training. He was very disappointed that he didn't get to keep his robe or lightsaber, but we promised him we would buy him a full Obi-Wan costume at non-Disney markup prices when we get home.
From there we did the Star Tours ride (did it at Disneyland back at college, sadly has not changed), then had lunch at THE Pizza Planet. After lunch we watched a pair of shows, a sadly disappointing Muppet 3D where Waldorf and Statler's jokes were simply subpar (though the picture below of the Swedish Chef's crate made the short wait worthwhile).
Because you can't read it at this size, you'll have to take my word that the side of the crate says "Der Non-Stickee Skillet" and "Der Hotsy-Totsy Sauce" and "... absoolootley No Trombones."
On the other hand, the Indiana Jones Stunt Show was not only highly entertaining, both Peyton and Zach were totally in to it as much as the first time I showed them the movies. I have a clip from them re-doing the fight scene with the German mechanic in front of the plane where everything blows up... it really is fun to watch live and in person. Very well done, and the kids thought it was simply awesome. The only thing that would have made it better for them would have been if they had picked me out of the audience to be an extra.
Our last stop before heading to Downtown Disney for supper was the aforementioned pic with Dug from Up. Below you can see Zach hitting his "funny spot." The boys insisted we have a picture of Dug with me, for, ell, obvious reasons. If you don't understand, just Google "Famous Dougs" and you will see why it is such a big deal.
Generally speaking, Downtown Disney is just another way for the resort to milk money from you. Lots of cheaply Chinese-made tourist crap and shirts, and pins, and whatever else you're supposed to collect and wear because you feel so happy that you forget you don't have all the money in the world. Zach got himself a plush Pluto with a gift card he had from Christmas, and Peyton continued his pin collection (because children are oh-so-easily brainwashed). Ad we all nearly stepped in vomit from some other kid inside the giant Disney mega-store.
They did have a huge Lego store, nothing new for kits, though both boys insisted I take their picture next to the giant Lego Indiana Jones figure:
Oh, and they also had a wall with every Lego Mini Figure ever made, which was pretty impressive:
Tomorrow is our last day here... we have a breakfast with the main characters at 10:30, but plan on hitting a few big rides and/or swimming depending on the kids' preferences. I will post those videos as soon as I can get Movie Maker to not crash...
Really?
Eating dinner at Wolfgang Puck Cafe, which proudly proclaims "We are
proud to bring you fresh, all-natural food; organic and locally grown
products." But with the kids' meals we are told we cannot get milk,
only pop. So we'll feed your kids healthy food but rot their teeth and
stomachs with acidic sugar. Nice.
proud to bring you fresh, all-natural food; organic and locally grown
products." But with the kids' meals we are told we cannot get milk,
only pop. So we'll feed your kids healthy food but rot their teeth and
stomachs with acidic sugar. Nice.
I am randomly annoyed
Why is it that one of the biggest marketing companies and mega-
corporations on the planet has only one recycling bin for every 5
garbage cans I find? Seriously, I just carried a plastic bottle with
me for 90 minutes waiting to find one. Criminy, Disney, take some
responsibility...
corporations on the planet has only one recycling bin for every 5
garbage cans I find? Seriously, I just carried a plastic bottle with
me for 90 minutes waiting to find one. Criminy, Disney, take some
responsibility...
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Day 2 & 3... Epcot and Animal Kingdom
Back in the swing of things again. We were at Animal Kingdom until around 2 PM today, but it's a smaller park with less to do, so we scattered out of there and came back to the hotel so the boys could swim a bit, then headed back to Epcot (or, as Zach has decided to call it, Apricot) for dinner.
As I alluded to earlier, Mickey's hospitality apparently included some stomach pathogens in one of my meal servings yesterday. I spent most of the night visiting the bathroom and saw most of yesterday's meals again in a variety of forms. I feel much better nowespecially after a 30-minute power nap while Jeana and the boys swam. However, this now makes it 3 of my last 5 visits to sunny Florida in which I have spent some of the time with GI disease; this confirms to me that Florida is a cesspool of gastroenteritis waiting to happen. Let's just say I'm not making a return trip a high priority.
Epcot was all day yesterday, and appears to be centered around rides in small, enclosed hydraulic chambers designed to exacerbate people with motion sickness. Like me. Frankly, I was amazed that it took until the evening for me to start throwing up, and then not until I got back to the hotel room.
We got there at park opening, and to control the crowd rush to the popular rides, the ride workers actually greet the customers behind a roped line and walk arm-in-arm to keep people from trampling one another. The characters came out and gave high fives, which excited the kids (who were headed to the Test Track):
So sad that people think they have to rush for these stupid rides. I was swept along in a wave of humanity to Soarin' where I needed to get FASTPASSes for later, with people pushing and scrambling to get past me so they could be the 6th person at that ticket dispenser to get tickets instead of the 10th, giving them FASTPASSes that would get them on the ride at 9:35 AM instead of 9:45 AM. Yes, amusement park patrons are morons. Which probably includes me, for even choosing to participate in this madness, though at least I believe I see the stupidity in it all.
We started with the Test Track, which is an unashamed PR sales pitch for GM. Maybe they wouldn't have gone bankrupt if they weren't spending so much money developing a monstrous building and ride for Epcot and promoting their 20 mpg cars. The ride was not that long, though getting catapulted around the outdoor track was pretty cool, even if it was for no more than 30 seconds. I guess it was probably my favorite ride of the day because it didn't make me sick, but I wouldn't call that an endearing endorsement.
We had some time to kill before Soarin' (which is the most popular ride in all 4 parks, more on that in a minute), so we next went to Mission Space. HUGE mistake. This is a space simulator in which they strap you into an enclosed hydraulic chamber and spin you through a room while you stare at a TV screen that appears to show you going to Mars and expose you to violent g-forces designed to turn your inside out and show you what rugal folds look like while you are still alive.
Now, knowing my increasing propensity for motion sickness, I should have known better and just insisted on the "green" option with no spinning, just shaking. But even those things can make me sick, so I figured this was the kids' trip and I would take one for the team, and we chose the spinning option. Even Zach and Jeana felt bad afterward. It took us a good 30 minutes to recover, and it ruined the Soarin' experience from Jeana because she still felt awful. Two of her cousins told her that Misson Space was their favorite ride... and I'm sure it can be a fun ride if you don't get motion sick. If you have even the slightest propensity, however, AVOID THIS RIDE AT ALL COSTS. Even if you think it's cool, spending the rest of the day feeling like you want to throw up is not worth it. Just trust me.
Like I said, our next stop was Soarin' which I got the FASTPASSes to in the mad rush at the start of the day. By noon this ride usually has a 2-hour wait without passes, and passes taken at noon are typically for 6:30 rides. It's insane.
What's more insane is how utterly unexciting the ride is. Essentially, you are in a giant chamber where they raise your seats on a hydraulic arm, then play an IMAX movie of California taken from helicopters and airplanes and swing you with the turns of the camera. It's beautiful scenery, of course... but it's a 5-minute IMAX movie. If I had stood in line for 2 hours for this, I would have killed myself afterward. Adding to the problem was our pre-existing leftover motion sickness from Mission Space... at a few points I had to focus on the edge of the screen to avoid further nausea, and Jeana just finally gave up and quit watching. Of course, the kids liked it, but it was not the highlight of this trip even then, not by a long shot.
The rest of our day at Epcot was doing a few shows and touring the different country displays. It's kind of like a World's Fair, with each country featuring shops and restaurants with items specific to their culture. Most kids probably find it boring, but Disney does spice it up a bit. Zach made a Mardi Gras mask and went to each country to get that country's stamp on it, and he was very intent on collecting all of the possible stamps. They also have these stations for the cartoon Kim Possible, in which you become an "agent" and hunt down a bad guy using a cell phone with clues. For Peyton's we had to go to France, and find a door, then a gargoyle, and so forth, pressing a button that would activate some sort of clue to follow until you finally "caught" the bad guy. The kids really thought it was cool.
Without a doubt, the highlight of the day came the short time we were in the Italy exhibit. There is a mime who uses a whistle to "talk" named Sergio, and he performs once an hour. Well, while Zach was getting his stamp, Peyton and I went over to watch. Sergio picks Peyton out of the crowd and uses him as his assistant for 5 minutes in a juggling act. It's rather amusing, and, of course, I got the whole thing on video:
We've found the parks tend to use the same formulas for similar rides and events. After two days, we've found a couple of pretty amusing and clever "rides."
The first is Turtle Talk/Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor. So at Magic Kingdom they have the Laugh Floor starring Mike Wazowski (that's with one "I"... get it? Oh never mind, I thought it was hilarious). Basically it's a kids comedy show with monsters from Monsters, Inc. What's cool about it is that it's animated, like on a movie screen, but the monster on the screen actually is talking with whatever actor is hidden somewhere hosting, and they razz the audience in realtime. There was some guy from New Orleans in one of those John 3:16 wigs and they kept going back to him and giving him a hard time. Very clever technology, I thought.
At Epcot they had Turtle Talk, with Crush from Finding Nemo. This one is a bit more kid-friendly. However, my favorite moment was when Crush asked for a question from one of the kids, and, being a 1st grader, the young boy picked out proceeded to tell everybody in the room how awesome Thunder Mountain was and how he himself was awesome. As somebody who has spent time in young kids' classrooms asking for questions and getting stories instead, I could relate. So Crush says, "OK, that's a good one. So, does anybody else have any questions... or any unrelated random stories?" I am so using that one in my referee classes this spring.
The other constant through all three parks we have now visited is a 3D interactive movie involving some theme from a Disney movie. At Magic Kingdom, we saw the Philharmagic starring Donald Duck. At Epcot they have Honey I Shrunk the Audience. And at Animal Kingdom, they had It's Tough to be a Bug (starring Flik and Hopper from A Bug's Life). These are 5 minute 3D movies that have other audience interactions which are designed to make you feel like you're in the movie. The best part of these was Zach trying to grab things thrown "off" the screen, or Peyton screaming like a girl at the moments designed to startle us. For example, in the Honey I Shrunk the Audience the kid creates a thousand copies of rats which then run towards the screen... then "scurry into the audience." There are jets under your legs that blow air up your pants and make it feel like a herd of rats running past your legs.
In the bug one, they got to the end and Flik tells everybody to please allow the beetles to leave first. Peyton jumps and pulls his legs off the ground, scared the beetles are going to crawl over his legs like the mice... instead, the seats starting vibrating so it feels like the beetles are crawling under your butt. Peyton about hit the ceiling.
By the way, Zach found it all mild amusing at best, and was not scared.
Overall, though, Epcot is not my favorite park. It's obviously technologically-inclined, so the rides use "simulations" to entertain. Frankly, toss me around in a coaster and I'm fine. Toss me around in a chamber, I get sick. Not my kind of place.
For this morning, I decided I was capable of surviving another day in the parks after the rough night, so we headed to Animal Kingdom. There is less to do there, so we actually made plans to ride the one coaster, Expedition Everest, twice, snagging FASTPASSes when we got there, then riding non-pass, then coming back later for seconds. The kids loved it... Everest is a much bigger coaster than anything else Disney has done. Bigger drops, tighter turns, though one section where you go backwards in the dark which neither Jeana nor I were fond of after yesterday. But Peyton begged us to go back on a third time... sadly, we didn't have 70 minutes to stand around, and both Jeana and I had enough of being tossed around for the day.
From there we did the safari ride, which is a bit hammy but it is nice to see African savanna animals not cooped up in a typical zoo pen. The white rhino was very cool... you don't get many opportunities to see them. We saw a few giraffes, gazelles, elephants, etc. Then off to the Dinosaur! ride where you go back in time to look at dinosaurs... you get tossed around a bit and large angry looking dinosaurs threaten to eat you. Nothing too horrible... the post ride picture was amusing however, with Peyton clinging to Jeana and Zach smirking in relative amusement at the dinosaurs threatening to eat us.
They had a nice play area for the kids to climb around in, with a large slide as well, and a midway-type area with small rides and games. However, we decided to come back to the hotel so the kids could swim for a while before dinner.
In the evening, we returned to Epcot for dinner at a Mexican restaurant in the Mexico exhibit. The kids thought it was cool... inside a large Mayan pyramid, the restaurant overlooks a fake volcano and a smaller pyramid over a stream that is part of a ride inside the building (obviously, a big building). I even braved some crab tostadas, which were pretty tasty.
Tomorrow we head to Hollywood Studios, which Zach has been looking forward to all week because they have Jedi Training which supposedly ends with a big lightsaber fight on stage with Darth Vader. We are conniving to get selected for the training, as you supposedly get to keep the robe and the lightsaber. Plus, we're sure the Indiana Jones ride should be big-time, plus Toy Story 4D.
After 3 days here, I've come to more conclusions about this place...
As I alluded to earlier, Mickey's hospitality apparently included some stomach pathogens in one of my meal servings yesterday. I spent most of the night visiting the bathroom and saw most of yesterday's meals again in a variety of forms. I feel much better nowespecially after a 30-minute power nap while Jeana and the boys swam. However, this now makes it 3 of my last 5 visits to sunny Florida in which I have spent some of the time with GI disease; this confirms to me that Florida is a cesspool of gastroenteritis waiting to happen. Let's just say I'm not making a return trip a high priority.
Epcot was all day yesterday, and appears to be centered around rides in small, enclosed hydraulic chambers designed to exacerbate people with motion sickness. Like me. Frankly, I was amazed that it took until the evening for me to start throwing up, and then not until I got back to the hotel room.
We got there at park opening, and to control the crowd rush to the popular rides, the ride workers actually greet the customers behind a roped line and walk arm-in-arm to keep people from trampling one another. The characters came out and gave high fives, which excited the kids (who were headed to the Test Track):
I got to shake Mickey's hand, which is probably where I got salmonella from. I don't think those white gloves are as clean as they make them to be.
So sad that people think they have to rush for these stupid rides. I was swept along in a wave of humanity to Soarin' where I needed to get FASTPASSes for later, with people pushing and scrambling to get past me so they could be the 6th person at that ticket dispenser to get tickets instead of the 10th, giving them FASTPASSes that would get them on the ride at 9:35 AM instead of 9:45 AM. Yes, amusement park patrons are morons. Which probably includes me, for even choosing to participate in this madness, though at least I believe I see the stupidity in it all.
We started with the Test Track, which is an unashamed PR sales pitch for GM. Maybe they wouldn't have gone bankrupt if they weren't spending so much money developing a monstrous building and ride for Epcot and promoting their 20 mpg cars. The ride was not that long, though getting catapulted around the outdoor track was pretty cool, even if it was for no more than 30 seconds. I guess it was probably my favorite ride of the day because it didn't make me sick, but I wouldn't call that an endearing endorsement.
We had some time to kill before Soarin' (which is the most popular ride in all 4 parks, more on that in a minute), so we next went to Mission Space. HUGE mistake. This is a space simulator in which they strap you into an enclosed hydraulic chamber and spin you through a room while you stare at a TV screen that appears to show you going to Mars and expose you to violent g-forces designed to turn your inside out and show you what rugal folds look like while you are still alive.
Now, knowing my increasing propensity for motion sickness, I should have known better and just insisted on the "green" option with no spinning, just shaking. But even those things can make me sick, so I figured this was the kids' trip and I would take one for the team, and we chose the spinning option. Even Zach and Jeana felt bad afterward. It took us a good 30 minutes to recover, and it ruined the Soarin' experience from Jeana because she still felt awful. Two of her cousins told her that Misson Space was their favorite ride... and I'm sure it can be a fun ride if you don't get motion sick. If you have even the slightest propensity, however, AVOID THIS RIDE AT ALL COSTS. Even if you think it's cool, spending the rest of the day feeling like you want to throw up is not worth it. Just trust me.
Like I said, our next stop was Soarin' which I got the FASTPASSes to in the mad rush at the start of the day. By noon this ride usually has a 2-hour wait without passes, and passes taken at noon are typically for 6:30 rides. It's insane.
What's more insane is how utterly unexciting the ride is. Essentially, you are in a giant chamber where they raise your seats on a hydraulic arm, then play an IMAX movie of California taken from helicopters and airplanes and swing you with the turns of the camera. It's beautiful scenery, of course... but it's a 5-minute IMAX movie. If I had stood in line for 2 hours for this, I would have killed myself afterward. Adding to the problem was our pre-existing leftover motion sickness from Mission Space... at a few points I had to focus on the edge of the screen to avoid further nausea, and Jeana just finally gave up and quit watching. Of course, the kids liked it, but it was not the highlight of this trip even then, not by a long shot.
The rest of our day at Epcot was doing a few shows and touring the different country displays. It's kind of like a World's Fair, with each country featuring shops and restaurants with items specific to their culture. Most kids probably find it boring, but Disney does spice it up a bit. Zach made a Mardi Gras mask and went to each country to get that country's stamp on it, and he was very intent on collecting all of the possible stamps. They also have these stations for the cartoon Kim Possible, in which you become an "agent" and hunt down a bad guy using a cell phone with clues. For Peyton's we had to go to France, and find a door, then a gargoyle, and so forth, pressing a button that would activate some sort of clue to follow until you finally "caught" the bad guy. The kids really thought it was cool.
Without a doubt, the highlight of the day came the short time we were in the Italy exhibit. There is a mime who uses a whistle to "talk" named Sergio, and he performs once an hour. Well, while Zach was getting his stamp, Peyton and I went over to watch. Sergio picks Peyton out of the crowd and uses him as his assistant for 5 minutes in a juggling act. It's rather amusing, and, of course, I got the whole thing on video:
We've found the parks tend to use the same formulas for similar rides and events. After two days, we've found a couple of pretty amusing and clever "rides."
The first is Turtle Talk/Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor. So at Magic Kingdom they have the Laugh Floor starring Mike Wazowski (that's with one "I"... get it? Oh never mind, I thought it was hilarious). Basically it's a kids comedy show with monsters from Monsters, Inc. What's cool about it is that it's animated, like on a movie screen, but the monster on the screen actually is talking with whatever actor is hidden somewhere hosting, and they razz the audience in realtime. There was some guy from New Orleans in one of those John 3:16 wigs and they kept going back to him and giving him a hard time. Very clever technology, I thought.
At Epcot they had Turtle Talk, with Crush from Finding Nemo. This one is a bit more kid-friendly. However, my favorite moment was when Crush asked for a question from one of the kids, and, being a 1st grader, the young boy picked out proceeded to tell everybody in the room how awesome Thunder Mountain was and how he himself was awesome. As somebody who has spent time in young kids' classrooms asking for questions and getting stories instead, I could relate. So Crush says, "OK, that's a good one. So, does anybody else have any questions... or any unrelated random stories?" I am so using that one in my referee classes this spring.
The other constant through all three parks we have now visited is a 3D interactive movie involving some theme from a Disney movie. At Magic Kingdom, we saw the Philharmagic starring Donald Duck. At Epcot they have Honey I Shrunk the Audience. And at Animal Kingdom, they had It's Tough to be a Bug (starring Flik and Hopper from A Bug's Life). These are 5 minute 3D movies that have other audience interactions which are designed to make you feel like you're in the movie. The best part of these was Zach trying to grab things thrown "off" the screen, or Peyton screaming like a girl at the moments designed to startle us. For example, in the Honey I Shrunk the Audience the kid creates a thousand copies of rats which then run towards the screen... then "scurry into the audience." There are jets under your legs that blow air up your pants and make it feel like a herd of rats running past your legs.
In the bug one, they got to the end and Flik tells everybody to please allow the beetles to leave first. Peyton jumps and pulls his legs off the ground, scared the beetles are going to crawl over his legs like the mice... instead, the seats starting vibrating so it feels like the beetles are crawling under your butt. Peyton about hit the ceiling.
By the way, Zach found it all mild amusing at best, and was not scared.
Overall, though, Epcot is not my favorite park. It's obviously technologically-inclined, so the rides use "simulations" to entertain. Frankly, toss me around in a coaster and I'm fine. Toss me around in a chamber, I get sick. Not my kind of place.
For this morning, I decided I was capable of surviving another day in the parks after the rough night, so we headed to Animal Kingdom. There is less to do there, so we actually made plans to ride the one coaster, Expedition Everest, twice, snagging FASTPASSes when we got there, then riding non-pass, then coming back later for seconds. The kids loved it... Everest is a much bigger coaster than anything else Disney has done. Bigger drops, tighter turns, though one section where you go backwards in the dark which neither Jeana nor I were fond of after yesterday. But Peyton begged us to go back on a third time... sadly, we didn't have 70 minutes to stand around, and both Jeana and I had enough of being tossed around for the day.
From there we did the safari ride, which is a bit hammy but it is nice to see African savanna animals not cooped up in a typical zoo pen. The white rhino was very cool... you don't get many opportunities to see them. We saw a few giraffes, gazelles, elephants, etc. Then off to the Dinosaur! ride where you go back in time to look at dinosaurs... you get tossed around a bit and large angry looking dinosaurs threaten to eat you. Nothing too horrible... the post ride picture was amusing however, with Peyton clinging to Jeana and Zach smirking in relative amusement at the dinosaurs threatening to eat us.
They had a nice play area for the kids to climb around in, with a large slide as well, and a midway-type area with small rides and games. However, we decided to come back to the hotel so the kids could swim for a while before dinner.
In the evening, we returned to Epcot for dinner at a Mexican restaurant in the Mexico exhibit. The kids thought it was cool... inside a large Mayan pyramid, the restaurant overlooks a fake volcano and a smaller pyramid over a stream that is part of a ride inside the building (obviously, a big building). I even braved some crab tostadas, which were pretty tasty.
Tomorrow we head to Hollywood Studios, which Zach has been looking forward to all week because they have Jedi Training which supposedly ends with a big lightsaber fight on stage with Darth Vader. We are conniving to get selected for the training, as you supposedly get to keep the robe and the lightsaber. Plus, we're sure the Indiana Jones ride should be big-time, plus Toy Story 4D.
After 3 days here, I've come to more conclusions about this place...
- This place causes some sort of weird marketing trance over people. I see people walking around with Mickey ears, Goofy hats, etc... I mean, do you ever see people wearing this crap at home? Why do you have to have a sweatshirt that says "Mickey" on it just to wear on your 1-week vacation at Disney World? Everything is overpriced... good lord, this place is making a bloody killing.
- If you're not wearing something that says Disney, then you apparently should wear a college sweatshirt or pro sports team piece of clothing telling everybody where you are from. I find it much more interesting to get into conversations with people in line and ask them where they are from (like the guy today from Milwaukee who told us he was born in Duluth but his parents moved to Milwaukee for the climate). When somebody is sitting in front of me with a BoSox hat and Varitek jersey, talking to his kids with a New England accent... I mean, I don't have to figure that one out.
- People have no realistic idea of how to dress. We see people who have clearly decided that just because they are in Florida, they will wear short sleeves and shorts, and you can see them walking around with their arms crossed and goosebumps in 55-degree weather we are having. On the flip side, some people are wearing scarves, gloves, and down parkas. And then you have Japanese tourists wearing heels. All of them... idiots.
More tonight
I promise to upload a full update tonight when we get back from Animal
Kingdom. Mickey's Revenge attacked me (and only me, thank goodness)
last night when we got back. Most of the night on or over the toilet.
Much better this morning. This confirms my suspiscion that all of
Florida is basically a cesspool... I have now gotten sick during 3 of
my last 5 trips here. And I almost never get sick. Happiest place on
Earth my a$$.
Kingdom. Mickey's Revenge attacked me (and only me, thank goodness)
last night when we got back. Most of the night on or over the toilet.
Much better this morning. This confirms my suspiscion that all of
Florida is basically a cesspool... I have now gotten sick during 3 of
my last 5 trips here. And I almost never get sick. Happiest place on
Earth my a$$.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Epcot = nausea
I'm many people find Mission Space and Soarin' to be fun examples of
what can be done with technology. I find them a great way to share
what you had for breakfast with others around you.
what can be done with technology. I find them a great way to share
what you had for breakfast with others around you.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Day 1 in the Magic Kingdom
Late here and the boys and Jeana are in bed. Long but fun day for the kids. Hope you all like the pictures I posted through the day.
We have quickly caught on to the nuances of Disney's "system." We raced to Space Mountain and rode that first this morning. It was the highlight of the day for both boys... Zach said it was "scary" but he was grinning as he said it. I think both kids are true adrenaline junkies.
We have quickly caught on to the nuances of Disney's "system." We raced to Space Mountain and rode that first this morning. It was the highlight of the day for both boys... Zach said it was "scary" but he was grinning as he said it. I think both kids are true adrenaline junkies.
I did take a video of the ride, but posting it would be a waste of time because the whole thing is in the dark. I quickly realized after Space Mountain that my own body, once upon a time having enjoyed roller coasters, no longer does so. It took me a good 5 minutes to recover.
Anyway, we have conquered Disney's FASTPASS system. Basically, you can go to certain popular rides and "reserve" tickets to line-jump... the drawback is that it may be 3-4 hours away, and you cannot FASTPASS more than one ride at a time. What we found was that if we FASTPASSed moderately popular rides, we would be able to exhaust 1-2 hours in between going to less popular rides, then (because the FASTPASSed ride was less popular) we could basically go straight to the front of the line when we showed up. This doesn't work for rides like Space Mountain because even with a FASTPASS you'll wait for 20-30 minutes (granted, instead of 60, but still), and your reserved ride may be for 6 hours later. Which means you can't FASTPASS anything else until your Space Mountain ride comes up.
Using our strategy, our longest wait of the day was 30 minutes for Thunder Mountain, and most of the FASTPASSes we walked straight on to the ride. The only place we missed all day was the Haunted Mansion... we were going to hit it after Thunder Mountain, but the long wait at TM led to the HM line being 50 minutes long by the time we got out. As possible vindication, TM then broke around 2 PM, so we managed to ride it before it died. Yea for us.
After Space Mountain, we peeled off Toy Story and Stitch's escape in about an hour. Toy Story is kind of cool... you get a laser to shoot Zurg targets as you ride through, which the kids thought was "awesome". I managed to hit some target worth 100,000 points in the first room, catapulting me to the top of the family in scoring. As you can see from the video, I kind of outscored Zach. But he still thinks he beat me, so don't tell him.
Stitch's Escape... kind of a waste of time. You get sprayed by a small amount of water, which is supposed to be Stitch spitting a loogi on you. Not impressed.
Thunder Mountain was a long wait, but as you can see from the video, worth it. All of Disney's coasters are pretty tame (though I hear Aerosmith and the Everest one are a bit more exciting) compared to Cedar Point and King's Island, but that's OK. The kids were convinced they were awesome. Too bad it meant they weren't as impressed with the classics like Peter Pan and Pirates of the Caribbean. Then again, I don't totally blame them... how many times do you have to watch plastic animatronics and no longer be impressed?
The other element of Disney we have conquered is the meal plan. Without pre-paying for a meal plan, we knew the park would destroy us on food, so we forked out the extra $550 for 6 days of meals for 4. I know that sounds ridiculous, but that comes to about $20 a meal. If we were paying these at each meal, we'd be paying $15 a person!
The problem we were running into is the stupid kids plan. Kids 9 and under are supposed to eat off the kids menu... which is pretty much limited to Mac n' Cheese or Chicken Nuggets at every freakin' restaurant. Sorry, but even my kids get sick of that. Besides, tonight Zach wanted a hot dog, and what kind of place doesn't offer a stinkin' hot dog on the kids' menu?
Well, we figured this sucker out tonight. As long as you don't have the kid standing there next to you, you can just go to the window four times, order four adult meals, and they are none the wiser. So tonight Peyton his his hunk of turkey leg and Zach got his hot dog. And I don't feel guilty, because Disney shouldn't limit kids to eating chicken nuggets and grapes for every meal for a week.
We stayed in the park late to watch the fireworks show over Cinderella's Castle, which both kids thought was great. I also got my favorite photo of the day (and probably the trip)... Peyton and Zach silhouetted against the castle with fireworks going off.
Of course, that wasn't my only shot of the fireworks of the castle. We got the standard family photo in front of the castle by night as well...
So after one day, I have come to several conclusions about Disney World and have some suggestions on how to make it better:
- You know those signs that say, "You have to be this tall to ride this ride"? Well, they should also have signs that say, "You child must not be taller than this to ride in an f%@#ing stroller. Seriously, I saw more 6 and 7-year olds riding in strollers today. Is there any wonder why our country is so fat?
- Corollary to (1): if you drag your stroller into a shop, the child (a) must be riding in it and (b) must either be asleep or incapable of walking on his or her own. It's a bloody GIFT SHOP. I think your kid can actually set her feet on the ground for five minutes. Kids are not Chihuahuas (Chihuahuhas shouldn't be carried everywhere either, but that's an unrelated rant). Anybody who breaks the rule, there should be a smiling Disney employee with a baseball bat that simply beats the hell out of the stroller in front of everyone, with one of those classic s&%t-eating Disney smiles on their face the whole time.
- Most amusing spoiled brat moment of the day... guy is wheeling his mother in a wheelchair and wants to tuck in a corner out of the way while he goes to the restroom. His 13-year old daughter is sitting on a wall with her legs in the way so Grandma can't get out of the way. Dad asks daughter to move, daughter whines, "But I was here first!" Seriously, you are not going to move so your handicapped grandmother can be trampled? And Dad, you're letting this snot get away with this? Our society should just be burned to the ground right now.
- It was only 55 degrees today as a high, and there were a lot of people who apparently thought, "Screw it, I'm in Florida, I'm wearing Daisy Duke shorts and a halter top." And they were in pain. And I enjoyed their pain.
- Lastly, unbeknownst to us, today was Mardi Gras. Not a huge deal, really, except we learned that everybody in Louisiana gets Mardi Gras week off. OK. But apparently, instead of staying in New Orleans to celebrate Mardi Gras, apparently every person in Louisiana comes to Disney World. I have never seen so many Saints Drew Brees jerseys (OK, they did win the Super Bowl, but still) and LSU clothes. To be fair, they seem like very nice people, not at all obnoxious like Ohioans. And besides, I saw several people with shirts commemorating LSU's National Championship win over Ohio St. Bully for them. Still, it makes the park that much more crowded, which is annoying. But all in all, I have nothing really bad to say about Louisianans.
Ugh
Space Mountain has made it official... I am too old for roller
coasters. Mmm, Lucky Charms for the second
coasters. Mmm, Lucky Charms for the second
Monday, February 15, 2010
Now for a family adventure...
We just landed in Orlando about 20 minutes ago. This airport makes MSP look like a morgue.
So a month after the craziness of our European jaunt, all 4 of us are en route to Disney World. More pics this time, probably less text. Thus far, I am thoroughly annoyed by other parents on the bus who are clearly oblivious to their kids acting out uncontrolled. I can't WAIT to see if a Disney employee cracks this week... I am positive I will see multiple tests of their patience, if this bus is any indication.
So a month after the craziness of our European jaunt, all 4 of us are en route to Disney World. More pics this time, probably less text. Thus far, I am thoroughly annoyed by other parents on the bus who are clearly oblivious to their kids acting out uncontrolled. I can't WAIT to see if a Disney employee cracks this week... I am positive I will see multiple tests of their patience, if this bus is any indication.
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