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Tod J. Tussey -- May 2002 -- Walt Disney World (Offsite)

May 29th through June 6th

Cast: In order of appearance on Earth:

• Tod Tussey -Dad, 42, Disneyland veteran, WDW once in 1996
• Chris Tussey - Mom, 41, Disneyland veteran WDW once in 1996
• Ethan Tussey - eldest son, 19, College sophomore (in fall) Disneyland veteran, WDW also once 1996
• Elyse Tussey - daughter, 17, Senior in High School (in fall), Disneyland veteran, WDW once 1996
• Tyler Tussey - son, 12, eighth grader (in fall), Disneyland veteran, WDW once 1996.

Introduction:

Over the months leading up to our trip I read dozens of trip reports some brief and others lengthy. This report I fear will be of the lengthy variety. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed reading others and as much as I enjoyed writing this one.

We live in Peoria, Arizona a suburb northwest of Phoenix. Chris and I spent our honeymoon at Disneyland and we have visited there at least two dozen times since then. Twenty years have passed and we agreed that a blow out vacation to Disney World would be the best way to mark the occasion.

Trip planning began in January for the trip dates May 29th through June 6th. I booked everything via the Internet after obtaining several quotes from travel agencies and beating their prices by web surfing. I obtained an outstanding Internet fare through Southwest Airlines of $182 per person round trip.

Although I would have preferred to stay on property the cost of two rooms at a Disney resort was just too much. I am enrolled in Marriott Rewards so I turned to their web site and got an excellent rate of $69.00 per room per night for the first 6 nights and $99.00 for the last two nights. Marriott was also running a promotion of a free two-night weekend stay at participating hotels nationwide if you accumulated enough points by June 15th. Not only did I get a favorable rate I will also receive a two-night stay that I can use when we travel to Oceanside CA. in August. We chose the Courtyard by Marriott at Downtown Disney. This gave us the added benefit of being able to participate in E-ride nights.

I joined the Disney Club and that in turn gave me free membership in National Car Rental's Emerald Club as well as discounted rates. My eight day rental for a full size car was $254.62 total. Even though the Downtown Disney hotels offer free bus service to the parks I had read mixed reviews about their efficiency and we also planned to go to Islands of Adventure so a rental car was the best option.

About sixty days prior to the trip I made a couple of Priority Seatings and also booked the Dolphins in Depth tour for Chris and Elyse. Disney however subsequently cancelled the Dolphins in Depth tour due to the untimely and unfortunate death of one of the two Dolphins at the Living Seas in EPCOT.

Everything was set. We became aware that the unofficial "Gay Day" event would take place while we were there. It was estimated that there would be 125,000 participants in Orlando for the event. After learning of this I did some searching on the web and found that there was an itinerary posted on the Gay Day official web site. This proved to be a valuable tool because it basically let us tour opposite to their itinerary thus avoiding potential crowds. More on that in the day-to-day trip report.

We sat back, ripe with anticipation, read some outstanding Trip Reports on MousePlanet.com and basically got stoked for the trip. Chris and I also started a work out regimen consisting of 30 to 40 minutes of brisk walking. We did this five times a week for about ninety days prior to the trip.

I have also included a subtitle to each trip day, something that I found amusing or memorable of the trip experience. Hopefully it will encourage you to read on.

Day 1, Wed May 29th

"The Frog with Six Inch Fangs"

Our flight was scheduled for an 8:30 a.m. departure with a layover in Nashville of about 70 minutes. Chronic over-packers we had a total of fifteen bags for the five of us three of which we would carry on. My mother showed up bright and early at our house to drive us to the airport. She went with us on our trip six years earlier but due to a couple of knee surgeries she decided not to make the trip this time.

We fit six people and fifteen bags in an Isuzu Rodeo by putting Tyler in the back cargo area surrounded by bags so that you could just see his head poking up. We were behind schedule and did not hit the airport until almost 6:45. Security to get to the boarding gate was backed up and they randomly selected Elyse for a thorough search and pulled Ethan to the side to closely examine his notebook computer. By the time we got to the gate to obtain our boarding passes they were handing out passes 105 to 110. If you're unfamiliar with Southwest Airlines they have an open seating arrangement i.e. no assigned seating. I was stressing because I thought one or more of us would be forced sit apart from the family on the long flight to Nashville. I checked with the representative at the counter and the flight would be full and had actually been overbooked. When it was finally our time to board I aggressively pushed through the line and we secured seats in the final two rows of the plane. We landed in Nashville right on time and got to the gate for the connecting flight and received boarding passes in the eighties so I relaxed and went to the bar to get the first beer of the trip. We hadn't eaten all day and Southwest only gave us some cookies and cheese nips as an in-flight snack. Chris and the kids found a counter service restaurant and ordered some sub sandwiches and I ordered some Buffalo Wings in the bar. We sat in the bar and woofed down the food, Tyler's sandwich was 90% mustard and it was dripping all over the place. If you are ever in the Nashville airport I suggest you avoid ordering the Buffalo wings the one on the bottom was black and that's always a bad sign. The short flight from Nashville to Orlando landed right on time. I fly infrequently but in my experience Southwest has always been a very efficient airline. Chris and I headed for the rental car counter while the kids secured the bags without any problems. The Emerald Club at National was slick. The gal at the counter checked my Emerald Club Card but my information wasn't in her computer so she used my driver's license and manually input it. She told us that because I was an Emerald club member Chris would have driving privileges at no additional charge. After handing me my paperwork she instructed me to cross the street to the parking garage and pick out a car. The Emerald Club basically allows you to pick a model and color out of a row of cars in your chosen class. However when I arrived at the Intermediate row of cars there were only two cars to choose from. I asked a representative in the garage and she said they were washing the other cars. One of my two choices was a silver Toyota Camry four door that was still wet but looked good to me. I was itching to go so I got behind the wheel. As I was getting my bearings, about five more freshly washed cars came up the ramp and parked around me but I was happy with my choice and I drove on out. Chris had gone back to the baggage claim area to help the kids get the bags to the curb where I would meet them A quick check of my paperwork at the National gate and some directions to WDW and I was out of there. I found the family easily and we packed the car with our overabundance of bags several of which would not fit in the trunk and had to be placed on the floor or on laps. So far everything had progressed nicely and we were moving closer to the Mouse House. I had sent requests to the Courtyard by Marriott for connecting rooms and to be in the tower overlooking Downtown Disney as well as non-smoking rooms of course. To our pleasure we received all of our requests. When we got to the rooms the keys to the kids' room didn't work. Back to the front desk where I secured more keys and again the door did not open. This time I called from our room and the front desk assured me that they would send a technician up ASAP. Less than 10 minutes later the tech did show up and he let us into the kids' room. While we unpacked he worked on the lock which needed a battery change. It took about 20 minutes to finally get the lock working and the tech was very nice and apologetic about it. The Marriott staff was very nice during our stay but the hotel itself is what I would describe as comfortable and adequate but nothing extraordinary. It is a nice clean place to put your head and take a shower and the beds were really comfortable. We all loved the fact that the rooms had two sinks one inside the bathroom and one just outside the bathroom door. This really helped our preparation time in the mornings. Also the water pressure was outstanding. I have stayed at some pricey hotels with lousy water pressure. The showerhead was also high on the wall and that is good for me. I am 6'2" and have had to genuflect in order to wash my hair at other hotels. All in all we were happy with the accommodations and we got a good price. Settled in we headed for the Boardwalk for dinner at the ESPN Club. On the way I started filling the family in on what I thought the plan should be for the next day. They all started in on me about being like Clark Griswold from the National Lampoon Vacation movies. Always trying to stick to the plan. This was a constant theme throughout the trip, me making suggestions and them calling me Clark, which is kind of weird because my brothers' name is Clark. I think my kids were playing mind games with me. Anyway we were famished and got seated at the ESPN club in about ten minutes. Our table was located right in front of the huge TV screen and NHL playoffs were on. Avalanche vs. Red Wings and the place was buzzing with fans from both sides. We boys thought this was a very cool meal however the girls were less enthused. I had the BBQ pork sandwich and that really hit the spot. I also ordered a beer in the souvenir mug. I wanted to bring home a souvenir for my buddy Mike and the mug seemed like a good idea. Chris had a Portobello mushroom sandwich and she let me sample it and we both thought it was very tasty. Ethan also had the pork and Elyse and Tyler had cheeseburgers that they proclaimed were also very good. Between periods of the hockey game the DJ was asking baseball trivia questions for prizes. I kept feeding the boys answers and they would run to the DJ with them. Unfortunately all my answers turned out wrong and I received some well-intentioned ribbing for that. I wish my Dad were still alive he would have nailed all of them. Ethan came back from the restroom and declared that it was "dominant" which I am told is the new slang for something "cool" or excellent. They have several TV's tuned to sports in the men's room. I agree that is dominant. After a long day of travel and a good solid meal I was ready to hit the sack. However I have teenage kids and they were ready to keep going. We left the Boardwalk and drove west to Disney's Winter Summerland miniature golf course adjacent to Blizzard Beach. It turned out to be a really great idea. There are two courses one winter the other summer and they have a Christmas theme. We chose the winter side. We took pictures and were laughing and the evening weather was really nice. One memorable hole has a large snowman at the back. Once you take your ball from the hole the snowman squirts you with water from his nose, eyes and ears. Tyler found this particularly appealing so much so that when any of us was close to the snowman he would drop his ball in the hole and then quickly remove it and we would all scramble out of the way of the spray. As we finished the hole Elyse noticed a small frog had come onto the green. Since Tyler had showered all of us several times I can only assume that the frog came out of the bushes to take its' turn with the shower. Elyse bent down closer to try and pick it up and that thumbnail size frog did its' best Olympic leap. That startled both Elyse and Tyler and they simultaneously backpedaled, tripped and almost fell into the landscaping. I wish I had caught it on video it was hilarious. Ethan and I chided them that they were lucky to escape that frog because we were sure it had six-inch fangs that could tear their flesh to ribbons. We finished up and Ethan won followed closely by Elyse. It was a great first night activity.

We had one more thing to do before bedtime. I wanted to hit a supermarket to get some supplies for the week. Water, snacks, beer, you know - essentials. It was after 11:30 so we had to make our way down to the Super Wal-Mart in Kissimmee to pick up provisions. Elyse had asked guest services for directions before we left the hotel so she was the navigator. It seems as if we drove for hours but we finally found it and even as late as it was the place was packed. I'm not a big Wal-Mart fan. I think they are dirty and the aisles are crowded and the clientele looks as if they just dropped out of a Steinbeck novel. This Wal-Mart was by far the worst I had ever seen. You couldn't move the place was so packed and the aisles were extremely cluttered with merchandise. People were five or six deep at each checkout stand. We did find a good styrofoam cooler and we grabbed our goodies and at my urging we got out of there. In the parking lot I made the comment that now that we had left the Wal-Mart I think we should check each other for ticks. I thought it was funny but the rest of the group didn't seem to think the Wal-Mart was all that bad.

Finally we made it back to the hotel and up to the room. The room was like an icebox so I checked the thermostat and saw that it was set at 72 degrees so I turned it up. After a warm shower we finally made it into the really comfortable bed. I was tired but tuned on ESPN 2 and found that the Diamondbacks were on and Curt Shilling had a perfect game going through five innings. I yelled over to the boys in the other room to turn it on. I popped one of my newly bought Wal-Mart beers and watched the game. They were playing the Giants and we watched as Shilling lost the perfect game then the no-hitter and then the shut out. We are huge World Champion D-Backs fans and they did end up winning the game but we were beat so we turned in. A week of fun and folic was ahead of us, Cinderella was in her castle and the Tussey's were about to take on the house of the mouse. Life is good.

Day 2 Thursday May 30th

"Attack of The Killer Hot Dogs"

We were up and getting ready at 8:00 a.m. The hotel had Internet access and I plugged in Ethan's notebook to see if I could access the web. I found out that the charge was $9.95 per day so that idea was forgotten. I then updated my trip notes while everybody else got ready. Down to the hotel restaurant for the buffet breakfast. It was standard breakfast fare, eggs, bread, cereal, and coffee, juice and breakfast meats. While I was dishing up a plate an attractive lady came up next to me and commented that they were serving tater tots for breakfast. I pointed to the sign that read, "breakfast potatoes" and told her they weren't tater tots because the sign didn't say "tater tots". She said yeah but they're really tater tots. I told her this was Disney and we must use our imagination and pretend. She was right they were tater tots. It was close to 9:30 when we finished breakfast and we were ready to head to Disney MGM Studios. Tyler noticed that the Downtown Disney bus line had pulled up in front of the restaurant. The Downtown Disney Hotels have their own bus line that is separate from the Disney bus line and they run service to the theme and water parks as well as Pleasure Island. We got outside as the bus was pulling away and Tyler ran next to it waving and yelling to see if the driver would stop but he was ignored and the bus just kept on going. We never tried to use their bus system again. I suggested that we hop in the car and not wishing to pay a measly $6.00 for parking I suggested that we park at Downtown Disney and take the bus from there. We hopped into the car and found the bus stop at Pleasure Island however there was only one bus in sight and that was parked and no driver was to be found. We waited a few minutes until a bus driver showed up and told us that the busses didn't start running until 10:30 a.m. and to try the Marketplace bus stop. Back in the car and over to the Marketplace while the kids hit me with some more Clark Griswold barbs. Finally to the bus stop where we discovered that the buses don't travel to the parks from the Marketplace only to the Disney resorts. At this point I got a couple of "Way to go Clark" comments from the kids. Okay I had made some tactical errors and Tyler was just about to burst, I needed to get him on some rides the suspense was killing him. The bus to the Yacht and Beach Clubs was the next into the lot so we climbed aboard. I told the family that we could catch a boat from these resorts right to the Studios and they responded with "are you sure Clark?" comedians, my kids. The day has begun inauspiciously as the bus first stopped at the Swan and Dolphin resorts through a tangle of on strike Teamster pickets. I suggested that we not unload since I wanted to get a look at the Yacht club. I was bluffing at this point because even though my Internet research was informative I was not really sure what to do. I couldn't remember if you could take a boat to the Studios from the Swan and Dolphin (you can) and I wasn't too enthusiastic about waiting around with a bunch of pickets. The bus driver was in deep conversation with some other guests about the labor dispute at the Swan and Dolphin or I would have asked her about our best course of action. So I decided to wing it and get off at the Yacht club. Wow the Yacht club is beautiful and impressive. I asked the Valet how to get to the Studios and he directed us to the boat launch with the Lighthouse on the end. The sun was already high in the sky and it was getting hot as we waited for the boat. Tyler found a telescope and dropped in a quarter so that he could get a better look at the Boardwalk across the water. As he looked a woman with a three or four year old boy walked up behind him. The young boy tried to climb up the telescope to get a look and was basically trying to shove Tyler off the thing. Tyler naturally resisted being that he was there first and it was his quarter in the telescope. The boy persisted until finally his mother said to Tyler "Let him have it" in a stern tone. Tyler is shy to begin with so he immediately gave up the telescope and moved to the opposite end of the platform. I don't think the woman knew I was near because when I appeared around the corner of Lighthouse she looked startled. She looked and me and said 'was he done because we didn't mean to scare him off". I looked at her quizzically and said "He obviously is because he isn't here anymore" and frankly I said it in a snotty tone. She kind of gave me a humph sound and I said "Whatever" and went to the opposite end of the platform where the rest of the family was gathered. This is just my opinion but I think Disney trips are largely about attitude. It is going to be hot, there are going to be crowds and lines and not everything will go right. The key is to remain positive. There is always something fun and interesting around the next corner. Tyler wasn't about to let some pushy, poor excuse of a parent ruin his day by stealing a lousy telescope. We blew it off and hopped the boat and finally made it to the park. Through security and a quick bathroom break and right to Tower of Terror after getting a Fast Pass for Rock N Roller coaster. TOT's wait was advertised at 20 minutes but we were in the library in ten. What a great ride. It has even been improved since last we rode it in 1996. The drop sequences are much better and the themeing has always been excellent. We then made our way over the The Great Movie Ride. I was clowning around with a CM named Kelly who was working the line. I asked her if I could purchase the hat she was wearing in the gift shop. It was one of those little Chinese beanies. She said she would give it away if she could. We finally boarded the ride and it turned out that Kelly was our driver. She had made a quick costume change and assumed a new role. It was a fun and relaxing ride and Kelly was really cool. After that we went right back to RnRC for our Fast Pass. I was really looking forward to this ride as I had read a lot of positive things about it and I love coasters. It was fun but we all agreed that it seemed too short. The initial launch and inversions are outstanding but after that it kind of loses steam. Just our opinion. After that we headed to the center of the park for Sounds Dangerous. It was hot outside but very cool and pleasant in the building and the show was amusing. After exiting we played with the interactive displays in the lobby. In one of them you can put your own voice to a movie scene. Ethan and Elyse where voicing over a romantic scene with Clark Gable and Carole Lombard (I think) except Ethan did the voice as Arnold Schwarzenegger and he does a dead on impression. On the replay you see Clark Gable's trying to be romantic but the voice is Schwarzenegger saying "C'mon, move it, get to the chopper" which had nothing to do with the scene. It was really funny. After playing around some more we started moving toward Star Tours. The Green Army Men from the Toy Story movies were coming down the street advertising the parade that was scheduled later in the day. I wanted to go by 50's Prime Time Café to confirm our Priority Seating time of 2:55. By this time is was close to 2:00 and none of us was hungry so Chris changed the PS to 3:55 where we would still get lunch pricing and possibly larger portions due to the dinner transition. That taken care of we moved along to Star Tours. The Star Tours building is great. Both my boys are Star Wars fanatics so we spent some time taking pictures before we walked right on the ride. The crowd was not bad at all that day. The Gay Days participants were scheduled to do Animal Kingdom and we assumed that is why we were getting such a break on the ride lines. Into the shop after Star Tours and we had to pry the boys out of there. We took some photos and video of the speeder bike outside and then headed over to do the Back lot Tour. It was a very warm day and getting a little wet sounded okay to us. The Back lot Tour is no big deal you get to sit down which is nice but otherwise it is not a must see attraction. After exiting the Tour we had ten minutes to spare for our 3:55 Priority Seating for Prime Time Café. We waited about five minutes before being seated toward the back of the restaurant. Our server was Sister Sara and she was very nice she kept reminding the kids about their elbows on the table and she sat and talked to us for a while also. The food was good but pricey. The pot roast I had was excellent and Chris kept stealing bites and drinking half of my beer so of course I had to order a second. Tyler and Elyse had the kids' portion of chicken fingers and Chris and Ethan both got a turkey sandwich. For desert we got Dad's Super Sundae that was huge but we all shared it and it quickly disappeared. It was a good meal but as I said pricey. I recommend this restaurant as long as you are aware that you are paying for the ambiance more so than the food. We headed back over to TOT because that ride is just plain excellent. We grabbed another Fast Pass for RnRC and waited about fifteen minutes for TOT. It was even better this time. The kids wanted to see the parade so we went over by the huge Sorcerer's hat to watch. The parade route was really crowded and we got there late so we just caught glances of it coming down the street. Ethan shot video of the Star Wars float and I sat down and relaxed. I'm not much for parades but the kids thought this one was okay. Chris wanted to check out the Animation attraction so we went there to take the tour. The timing was right because it should end about ten minutes after our Fast Pass for RnRC was active. We had done this attraction on our previous trip when "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" was the big movie release that summer. This time it was "Lilo and Stitch" and the animator drew Stitch. It is nice and cool in the animation building and you get to sit down for a great deal of the time so we enjoyed the attraction. We exited Animation and went over to RnRC for our Fast Pass and in five minutes we were strapped in and ready to launch. Perhaps we were too critical of the ride the first go round because everybody seemed to like it more this ride. It was after 7:00 by this time and all the shows except Fantasmic had concluded for the day. The weather turned and dark clouds were gathering. The temperature dropped about fifteen degrees and the wind came up. Yellow ponchos were sprouting up like weeds and even though we were carrying a backpack none of us had thrown a sweater or poncho in it. Ethan suggested we check out the Walt Disney: One Man's Dream exhibit to get out of the weather so again we traversed the park. There are some really interesting things in this exhibit especially if you are into Disneyana. We really enjoyed the movie also. We spent some time shopping as the storm built outside. Elyse really wanted to see Fantasmic so we made the walk back to Fantasmic and found some seats toward the upper half of the stadium in the Jafar section. It was still 30 minutes until show time and the wind was up and Chris was getting cold, rain seemed imminent. Ten minutes before show time and an announcement came over the loud speaker that the show would be delayed. The family looked to me, Clark Griswold, to make the call: stay or go. I looked at the sky just in time to see a long horizontal streak of lightning and decided that the show would most likely be cancelled. I suggested we bolt and do TOT one more time before heading out. Tyler thought it a great plan since he loves TOT so up we jumped up and headed out of there. A curious thing happened as we were leaving. The stadium was at capacity but many guests were heading for the exits so the walkway at the top of the stadium was also crowded. Chris and I were walking behind Elyse and she looked over her shoulder to say something to us. As she was looking back a Cast Member who worked at one of the snack stands at the top of the amphitheatre decided to push a flat bed cart with several 25 lb bags of raw hot dogs on it directly into Elyse's path. Chris saw it and hollered a warning but it was to late. Elyse whacked her shine bone on the cart and tripped. She managed to keep her balance and kind of spun away. Why anyone would try to move a flatbed cart stacked with bulk bags of raw hot dogs through a crowded walkway in the early stages of a thunderstorm is beyond me. Elyse to her credit laughed it off and starting making every kind of Hot Dog joke you could imagine. She is a great kid and again these trips are largely about attitude. She was there to have fun and no flat bed of hot dogs was going to stop her. Exiting the stadium Tyler turned on the jets and made it to TOT only to find two CM's blocking the entrance. He looked at me disappointed. He assumed that the ride was closed for the night and again in these types of situations he is shy. I walked over and said, "Hey do we still have time to catch one last ride?" They answered yes and we jumped in line for a five-minute wait for our third ride of the day. Tyler was happy and of course Chris and I counseled him about not being afraid to ask and not being so shy and he did a lot of nodding and saying okay. At the same age Chris and I were both very shy and we must have passed along that gene. Tyler has so much fun at these parks he makes it fun for all of us around him. It was raining steadily when we exited The Hollywood Tower Hotel. Fantasmic had indeed been cancelled and the stadium crowd was flowing into the street. We followed the flood of people toward the exit, a great sea of yellow ponchos and the Tussey's from Arizona. Neophytes to Florida weather all wearing short sleeves or tank tops unwilling to spend the $35.00 to get rain gear that had the 100 Years of Magic logo on it. The kids were verbally propping me up for the call on exiting the show and catching one last ride on TOT. No more Clark Griswold comments for the time being. The rain was coming down harder as we made it to the boat launch that thankfully had a covered waiting area. A hoard of weary tourist huddled out of the rain until the boat arrived The boat was large enough to accommodate the crowd and as we pulled from the dock I was surprised to see the waiting area empty of people. The interior of the boat was muggy and the windows fogged until a few of us cracked some windows to let in some air. Some of the kids on the boat were drawing Mickey Mouse on the fogged windows. It was cute everybody seemed to be in a happy mood. We departed at the lighthouse and this time walked through the Beach Club. The rain was letting up as we settled in at the bus stop just our family of five. Several minutes passed with no sign of any bus. I found a house phone at the bus stop and dialed *88 to check to make sure the busses were still running. The CM on the other end assured me they were and as I hung up sure enough our bus pulled into the lot and we had a pleasant ride back to the Marketplace.

Prior to our trip I had read estimates that the average person walks five to seven miles a day when visiting a Disney Theme Park. I wanted to test the accuracy of these claims so I purchased an inexpensive pedometer before we left Phoenix. As we walked to our car from the Downtown Disney Marketplace I looked at the pedometer and it showed 10.25 miles walked. I made the comment that we were commandos today and Ethan said, "None of you are wearing underwear because I missed that memo." In college freshman parlance commando means going without underwear because you haven't taken the time to do laundry. It was a funny moment. I had to explain the whole Disney theme park commando concept to him. Touring a Disney park commando style means that you don't take a break during the day to go back to the resort and relax, take a swim or a nap etc. A Disney Commando attempts to visit as many rides, shows and attractions as time will permit in a single day. Commando style is our style that's just the way we do it. We seldom leave until the park closes or the last person says uncle. It's just our attitude but if we wanted to relax we would go to the beach. We want to do it all, see it all and ride it all. It may not be the best way but it is our way and we like it. .

We finally arrived back at our hotel and Tyler convinced me to take him down to the Jacuzzi. Chris, Tyler and I donned our swimsuits and headed to the pool. Dead end. Pool and Jacuzzi closed at 11:00 and it was closer to midnight. We called it a day and hit the showers and went to bed but not before enjoying a frosty malted beverage and updating the trip notes.

Day 3, Friday May 31st

"We are the Parade"

Our objective was to get to Disney's Animal Kingdom at rope drop since it was only to be open until 6:00 that evening and we had never visited the park before. I decided to part with the $6.00 parking fee and avoid the delays of yesterday. Around the corner from our hotel there is a McDonald's at the Crossroads shopping area so we went through the drive thru to get some road breakfast. I followed the signs while scarfing an Egg Mcmuffin but it was close to 9:00 already so it was apparent we wouldn't make the rope drop. It was 9:45 by the time we parked and got through security. The kids wanted to head right to Dinoland so Tyler pulled out his trusty park map and led the way. Dinoland was basically empty and we walked right on Triceratop Spin. Tyler rode in front and I behind him but he didn't like the way I worked the up and down lever so he reached back and worked both levers as we flew. I was shooting video at the same time and the morning was cloudy and the wind created by the ride felt nice and cool. Primeval Whirl had a very short wait so we went on that next. Again I rode with Tyler and we were paired with two children who were visiting from the UK. The boys name was Seth and I asked him if he was scared to be on the ride. He said "We've been on it before you see and it is not too terribly scary." The English are very proper even when they're nine. I said okay let's have fun and I got him to bump fists with me. Over the duration of the vacation we noticed an abundance of guests from the UK. We noticed the UK visitors more so than the Gay Day participants. The UK visitors that we met were all very nice and very polite. Primeval Whirl is nothing special and I agree with almost all the assessments that I have read. This ride is not Disney quality and it is tacky and out of place in the park. Dinosaur was next and it only had a five-minute wait. In the pre-show area the movie broke right in the middle so we were confused about the storyline as we boarded the ride. Tyler, Elyse and I were in the front row and Ethan and Chris were in the second row. The ride is dark and at one point a large Dino lunges at you and when it did Ethan let out a blood-curdling scream. There was a seven or eight-year old boy sitting to his right and when he heard Ethan scream the kid went into hysterics. His dad sitting on the other side of him tried to calm the boy but if he hadn't of been belted in I think that kid would have abandoned the car and run out of there. The ride was fun and we ended up buying the picture. In the picture the poor frightened kid has his head buried in his Dad's lap We exited Dinosaur and had some time to kill before heading over to catch the day's first show of "Tarzan Rocks." So we took a trail that had some dinosaur statues on it but the trail just went in a circle. Weird. I climbed up on the neck of one of the Dino statues for a photo opportunity and whacked my knee pretty good. It was painful but how often to you get a photo of a forty-two year old man on a neck of a dinosaur? We made it to the "Tarzan Rocks" show in plenty of time and it has very hot and humid in the theatre. I bought one of those frozen lemon things that you eat with one of those flat wooden spoons and we passed it around to try to cool off. The show is high energy and the cast was dripping sweat by the end. Elyse really enjoyed the show she wants to be an actor and has appeared in several high school plays so these types of shows appeal to her. It was a very hot day so we headed to Asia to ride Kali River Rapids. On the way we ran into Davine on the trail. Wow what a cool costume, Tyler thought she was awesome and was very glad we got to see her because he had read about her on the web. We got to KRR just in time because when we got there the line was ten minutes long and when we got off it had tripled. I knew we would get wet so Chris, Tyler and I removed our shoes and put them in the middle of the raft under the plastic cover. Elyse and Ethan took their chances. Off we went and the first wave washed right over Ethan and I. We were the two heaviest people on the raft and we sat next to each other so it seemed every wave got us. Later in the ride Chris got drenched also but Elyse and Tyler just got damp. I thought at least I would have dry feet but as we pulled into the unload area I retrieved my shoes from under the plastic cover just in time for some older lady up on the bridge to nail me with the elephant spray. It was a perfect shot all over my previously dry shoes. I let out an exasperated yelp when it happened and the lady threw back her head and laughed. The ride was a lot of fun. Upon exiting Chris, who is in the medical profession, looked up and saw a doctor that she works with waiting in line to get on the ride. Twenty five hundred miles from home and she runs into someone she knows. Chris commented to me that "It's a small ...." but I cut her off and asked that she please not start singing that song. We wanted to try and dry off a little by enjoying the Maharajah Jungle Trek. It was an interesting hike through the bats, komodo dragons and of course the Tigers who were all just lying around. We then went to Africa for the Kilimanjaro Safari. Chris is an animal lover and she really enjoyed the ride. Ethan was convinced that some of the animals were animatronics but I straightened him out. We saved Little Red just like the safari behind us and the one behind them and the one behind them, etcetera etcetera. We then went to the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail and shot some up close video of the gorillas. It was closing in on 2:00 and we were getting hungry. I suggested Flame Tree Barbecue and Tyler remembered that he had seen it on the way into the park so he led us there. I got the combo plate, ribs and chicken, corn on the cob and cole slaw. Elyse, Ethan and Chris all got the chicken salad. Tyler wasn't enthusiastic about the menu so he insisted he wasn't hungry. I also ordered a cold beer and Elyse led us down to the tables at the rivers edge. It was a very nice setting to enjoy a good meal. Tyler took one bite of Chris's chicken salad and decided he was hungry after all so he went back up to order one of his own. I went with him and got a basket of onion rings that we could all share. We were hungry and the food disappeared quickly. After lunch we decided to get out of the heat for a while so we went to the Tree of Life to do "It's Tough to be a Bug". We had done this a couple of times at Disney's California Adventure in Anaheim so it was no surprise to us. Several smaller children did get scarred enough that their parents had to take them out early. The "Flights of Wonder" show was next. During the show the hawk flew so close between Tyler and I that I could feel his wind trail on my face. We then made the trek back to Africa for "Festival of the Lion King." Again Elyse really liked this show. We were in the warthog section and I still haven't figured out how to make a warthog sound. It was moving toward park closing time and we all wanted to do Dinosaur again so we decided to head for the other end of the park. It led to my personal favorite moment of the trip. The parade was about to begin and the parade route was lined with spectators on both sides. We turned down a street and were quick to realize that we were the only five people walking down the exact center of the parade route and everybody was starring at us. Thousands of people waiting for the parade and instead here came our family. I was in the lead with Chris at my shoulder the three kids close behind. With all eyes on us we spontaneously began to wave to the crowd. They started waving back and started giving us shouts of encouragement. We slowed our pace a little and Ethan started yelling "My action figure with Kung Fu grip is available in the Gift Shop." Elyse was waving and yelling "This is the parade folks have a great day at Disney's Animal Kingdom" things like that. Chris and I were waving and playing to the crowd even the shy Tyler was into it. A couple of guests along the route sprang up and snapped our picture and one Asian gentleman fired up his video camera. The crowd thought we were a laugh riot we had them in the palm of our hand we were getting cheers and waves. When we finally reached the turnoff for Dinoland and got off the route we got cheers from several guests and some calls of "Don't go" and "you guys are great." It was really unexpected and unique. It was an occurrence that I don't think would happen anywhere but in a Disney park. We were the parade. It was "dominant" as Ethan would say. We were working on a natural high by the time we got in the short line for Dinosaur. This time we got to see the whole pre-show so now we had a much better understanding of the rides' plot. Dinosaur is a fun and intense ride and one of those that shouldn't be missed. It was our favorite thing to do at DAK unless of course you can work it so you are the parade. We did some shopping and Chris said she wanted to take the train to Rafiki's Planet Watch. The park was getting close to closing time so we made the long walk over there. We all thought that this attraction was pretty lame. The petting zoo has sheep and goats and a llama and a couple of donkeys. If you are like four or five it might be amusing but it really put us to sleep. We didn't stay long and caught the train back to the main park and drove back to the hotel. Tyler and I still wanted to take a Jacuzzi even though it was a hot day my feet were pretty soar and I thought soaking them in hot water might help. When we got down to the Jacuzzi there were four women in it who had evidently been holding their own private party. They had drinks in their hands and were smoking and being loud. We decided to just take a swim in the main pool instead. It was very refreshing. Chris came down after a while and Ethan and Elyse seized the time to catch a quick nap. At 7:30 we hopped in the car and drove to the TTC to catch the monorail to the Magic Kingdom. The crowds at the Studios and DAK have been light the last two days but not at MK. The place was very crowded. We went to Tomorrowland and waited about 25 minutes for the Buzz Lightyear ride. Ethan won with 75,000 points. We would find out later that it was actually a relatively low score. Buzz Lightyear is an excellent and very fun ride. We did the Tomorrowland Transit Authority next and for some reason all five of us tried to fit in one car and the rest of the cars around us were totally empty. My kids are no longer small and we were packed in there like sardines. We looked like a pack of idiots riding together in a bunch with all these empty cars around us. We then waited about 25 minutes for Space Mountain, which is my favorite ride at Disneyland, but I don't like this version as much, more on that later. We were tired so we went and found some space on the ground next to the entrance to Tomorrowland so we could watch the fireworks. The show stated and Tinker Bell flew right over our heads. After the fireworks we headed to the exits. I have only seen a crowd like that flowing down Main Street one other time and that was after the Christmas fireworks show at Disneyland. Wow what a throng of people and of course the best thing to do is to create bottlenecks by setting up merchandise carts long-ways in the middle of Main Street. We finally left Main Street and took a place in the huge line for the Monorail. It was a hot and muggy night. Ethan fell into a conversation with a seven-year old girl in the line behind us. She was explaining the nuances of the Great Movie Ride to him in her own words. It was very cute and funny. We made it back to the hotel tired and hungry. We ate some of the snacks we had in the room and I had a beer or two as I watched Sportscenter. Tyler had the pedometer all day and he brought it in and showed me that it read 10.61 miles. Obviously we didn't navigate DAK very efficiently. I was going to update my notes but I decided to crash instead. Finding out that I had walked 10.61 miles that day made me want to go to sleep.

Saturday June 1st, Day 4

"Fun, Sun and Injury"

We slept in until 9:00 a.m. We had skipped dinner yesterday and we were all pretty hungry. I asked the family if they trusted me to make the call on where to have breakfast and they said yes. I told them I didn't want to be Clark Griswold and they basically told me they liked me being Clark Griswold and they were having a great time. So I said okay we're going to the Polynesian, The Kona Café, for Tonga Toast. "What's Tonga Toast," they asked. I said I didn't know that I read about it on the web and I was curious. Into the car and over to Polynesian where security gave us a three hour parking pass. Chris instantly fell in love with the resort and snapped several pictures. Let's just say it would be a significant upgrade from the Courtyard by Marriott. I hadn't made a PS for the restaurant but they got us seated in about 15 minutes and that gave us time to browse the resort. We'll have to stay here on a future trip Chris was gushing over the place. Breakfast was excellent Elyse, Ethan and myself got the Tonga Toast, Tyler an omelette and Chris who is not a big eater got some French toast and fruit. Our server was great and she told us that the rule is that the first couple of bites of Tonga Toast should always be without syrup. If you're not familiar with the dish it is a healthy portion of cinnamon French toast with a banana filling and it is served very hot and I don't know what else but it is really good. It didn't take long for Chris and Tyler to start bogarting from our plates and we were glad because even though we were hungry we couldn't finish our plates alone. We left the Polynesian full of Tonga Toast and that great Kona Coffee and we made our way toward Blizzard Beach. Chris and I had a navigation disagreement and she was right and I was wrong so we had to backtrack a little bit to get there. She did a great job navigating this trip I have to give her props. The day was hot and it was close to noon when we arrived. The crowd at BB was fairly moderate. Elyse and I are extremely light complected whereas Chris and Tyler are very dark. Ethan falls in the middle somewhere. Chris is 100% Italian and has beautiful olive skin that she passed along to Tyler, poor Elyse had to get my genetics. Elyse and I literally bathed in sun block with an SPF of 45, Ethan did too but of course the dark side of the family just wanted to get darker. Elyse wanted to do the Summit Plummet right away but the line was long and moving slow so we all did the Slush Gusher instead. We all got some outstanding airtime on that slide. It was hot and we wanted to cool down so we went to the lazy river. The river is nicely themed with a neat cave and there also is a shack on an island that makes the river fork and it houses an alligator with a cold. Of course as we floated Tyler started to roughhouse Ethan and as they wrestled I snuck up on them and joined the fray. I came at them from underwater and proclaimed that I was the "frogman from planet X". The battle continued most of the way around the river and the lifeguards that were stationed throughout the course didn't seem to mind. It wasn't a knock down drag out or anything we were just having fun dunking each other and piling on each other's tubes. The lifeguards were really friendly and would say high and squirt us with their cold water bottles. Ethan commented that the lifeguards he has encountered at the water parks back in Phoenix all seem to be on power trips but not so here. Disney World - what a great place. The roughhousing continued until Ethan spiked Tyler so that he hit the rough surface of the bottom and Tyler hit pretty hard and took about a three-inch long scrape out of his shoulder. It looked like one of my golf divots and it was bleeding so we exited and cleaned him up. Next we climbed the hill to do the Toboggan Racers for a good 'ol family race. We lined up with our mats and the CM said, "ready, set," and Tyler took off. We yelled "cheater" and we all took off after him. Tyler had a good head start but once I got my hydrodynamic 195 lbs pointed down that hill I closed on him fast. When we hit the finish line he was well back in my rear-view mirror. Dad the champion, as it should be. The family went over to the wave pool and I went and grabbed Chris and I a cocktail, strawberry daiquiri for her and a Miller Lite for me. I found a chair close to the beach and sat down and waved to them. After a while they came to the beach and we sat and enjoyed our drinks, Ethan kept stealing sips of my beer and Chris's daiquiri, college kid, go figure. We climbed the mountain again and did the family raft ride which was a blast. At the bottom a CM with a camera was standing waist deep in water and we posed for a picture on our raft. It turned out great and we purchased it later in the day as we left. I wanted to ride the chair lift to the top so we went and got in line. With all the climbing of the mountain and roughhousing with the boys my surgically repaired knee was starting to throb and swell. Elyse and I rode the chair up with a very nice teenage gal and then when did the Snow Stormers which would have been more fun if my knee wasn't hurting. I had a big bottle of sun block in the Velcro pocket of my swimsuit and I lost it during the ride so it was floating around the lagoon at the bottom. A lifeguard CM pointed it out and I swam over and retrieved it. I had it on hand so Elyse and I could constantly re-apply. It was sunny and hot that day so we were being extra careful. We trudged back up the mountain to the family raft ride again and then caught the lazy river back to the front of the park. We were having a blast but it was time to go. We had a PS for Alfredo's over in the Italy pavilion at EPCOT for 4:00 p.m. and we wanted to go back to the hotel and change. By the time we made it back to the hotel and showered and changed it was 3:35 p.m. We quickly drove to the Boardwalk and parked and rapidly walked toward the International Gateway. If you live in Phoenix like we do you know what hot is and let me tell you it was hot. I wasn't worried about being able to get a table at Alfredo's I was worried about getting to eat off the lunch menu at lower prices and when making the PS I had been told that 4:00 was the last lunch seating. We made it through security at three minutes to 4:00 and Chris broke into a half walk half run for Italy. She made it right at 4:00 and the rest of us showed up three minutes later and we were all dripping with sweat. We were seated right away. Our server's name was Giovanni and he explained to us that there is no lunch menu and that the prices remain constant throughout the day. So much for rushing over there. Tyler and Elyse had the fettuccini alfredo, Ethan and I had rigatoni and Chris the lasagna. We also got the meat and cheese appetizer and of course I had a couple of Perone beers. Like I wrote earlier Chris is of Italian decent and she thought the lasagna was excellent. She proclaimed it was almost as good as the lasagna her mother makes and that is high praise. The rigatoni was good not great so I had to help Tyler with his fettuccini alfredo and it was very good. They also served bread and as Elyse was taking a bite her temporary bridgework came loose and fell out. Not good. It was still early in the vacation so she would have to go without until we made it back home. Well I can be stupid and insensitive so I started making bad jokes until Ethan noticed that Elyse was pretty upset and so he kicked me under the table. I tried to apologize and we all assured her it wasn't noticeable, and really it wasn't and we were at Disney World let's have fun, yada yada yada. She shook it off and we enjoyed the rest of the meal. With desert the check came to just over $170.00, ouch. We'll we hadn't eaten at all the night before so this was like spreading the cost over two meals right? We left Italy and headed over to Test Track. All the fast passes were gone for the day and the estimated wait was 60 minutes. We decided to wait in line because all the estimated wait signs we had seen so far this trip had been grossly overestimating. We were on in 45 minutes but only after the ride broke down and it took 15 minutes to get it back online. I liked this ride a lot but the kids said it was just okay. Tyler wanted to check out Ice Station Cool and get some samples of soft drinks from around the world. So over there we went. Wow some of those drinks are just plain nasty. The one from Italy was just plain terrible. Tyler loved this attraction, free pop is very appealing to a twelve-year old. We went back to the World Showcase after that just in time to catch the British Invasion in the UK pavilion. If you are unfamiliar with them they do a tribute to the Beatles, costumes haircuts and all. They started off with "All you need is love", followed by "Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band" and "A Little Help from My Friends". Then "Here Comes the Sun" and the finale was "Hey Jude." The family sat on the street and listened while I browsed through the shops with the music in the background. Very cool. Next was France where the Statue act was scheduled but never appeared so we moved on to Morocco where Elyse got her picture taken with Aladdin. She flirted with him of course and he flirted back and this made her very happy. We sauntered over to Japan and the family shopped while I found a seat and watched the performers pound on the big drums. My knee was swelling like a melon and I needed to get off it. We stopped at the American pavilion where I stopped and bought a cold Miller Lite, strictly medicinal, and we sat on the street and waited for the parade to begin. I shot some video of the parade and we basically relaxed. When the parade had ended Elyse and Ethan began substituting lyrics to the parade song. As we walked along they sang 'Lame-a, that parade was lame-a, very lame-a, that parade was lame." If you're familiar with the parade those lyrics fit fairly well with the music. I take it they didn't like it and frankly I agree but as I have said before I'm not a parade guy. We were suddenly back in Italy where we stopped and listened to Bocelli and their Masquerade show. This is the Italian idea of entertainment people in funny clothes walking around in masks. Weird. It was getting late by now and the sun was sinking. I could sense Tyler getting restless so I suggested we head to Norway to ride the Maelstrom before watching "Illuminations Reflections on Earth". We boarded Maelstrom at 8:55 after a five-minute wait and made it out just in time for the show to start. You can't miss this show if you travel to WDW. It is outstanding. I taped it and was glad I did. It more than made up for the lame parade. A long day was coming to an end at least for the parks so we walked out the International Gateway and down the Boardwalk pausing for a moment to watch Carlo the street performer and his fire-eating act. If you've never been to Disney World or it has been a few years since you have been you need to try to get there. I can't begin to tell you how excellent and entertaining it is. You never know what will greet you around the next corner. We were still raring to go after that so we went to Downtown Disney for some shopping. In the huge Disney store I picked up a cool beach shirt for my buddy Tom back in Phoenix and then went and sat down in front of Ghirardelli's and waited for the family as they continued to shop. My knee was really bothering me. Then I walked over to the Gourmet Pantry bought a Coors Light and sipped it while I waited. Finally the family appeared and we headed for the hotel but not before I jumped into the Team Mickey store and bought a Disney golf hat. Back at the hotel my lovely wife got me some ice and I clicked on Letterman and sat on the bed icing my knee. It was a good day. Tyler again had the pedometer and it read 5.42 miles and we had not taken it to Blizzard Beach. Ethan came into our room and showed us that he had sunburn on his chest and back. My knee was on ice, Elyse had lost her bridgework and Tyler had a nasty scrape on this shoulder. Hey we're Disney Commando's sometimes it's necessary to play through the pain.

Sunday June 2nd - Day 5

"It's just not Disneyland"

After keeping up a frenetic pace the wall had come up and met us. We didn't set an alarm and it was after 10:00 a.m. when one of us finally stirred. As the others got ready Tyler and I went down to the lobby so I could grab a cup of coffee. As we came down the glass elevator we noticed that the hotel had a Parrot character roaming the lobby. The Parrot character is not a Disney quality costume and Tyler and I were poking fun at it as we rode the elevator. As we got off Tyler proclaimed he was going to give the Parrot a hug and he did. I think he was trying to be funny but the kid in the Parrot costume was into the part and I think Tyler was just feeling good. I bumped fists with The Parrot when he finally let Tyler out of the hug, then got some coffee and headed back upstairs. When touring at Disney sometimes you do some ridiculous things for no particular reason. When we got back to the room everyone was ready so we hopped in the car and parked over at the Marketplace and grabbed the first bus to a Magic Kingdom resort. The bus to the Contemporary pulled in and we hopped aboard. Once we reached the Contemporary we found the Monorail entrance but first I showed the family Chef Mickey's where I hoped we would eat later in the trip. Once on the Monorail we had to take the long way around to Magic Kingdom, stopping at the Ticketing and Transportation Center (hereafter to be referred to as the TTC), Polynesian and Grand Floridian before finally getting to the MK entrance. We were arriving late so security was a breeze. Into the park and we were hungry so I suggested the Plaza Restaurant at the end of Main Street. It was lunchtime by now and I hadn't made Priority Seating but they seated us in about 10 minutes anyway. Again the weather was hot but it was nice and cool inside and our server was very nice and attentive. I had the cheese steak sandwich and an Ice Tea and it was very good. Tyler, Ethan and Elyse all had the Plaza Club sandwich. Chris had the grilled chicken. It was all very tasty, the portions aren't large but they were large enough to satisfy us. We were in and out in half an hour and now sufficiently fueled we were ready to take on the park. My knee was still bothering me it was swollen and sore as we made the walk over to Splash Mountain for fast pass and a return time of 3:15 to 4:15. We decided to do Pirates in the meantime and after a 20-minute wait and we were on. In the shop outside of Pirates I noticed that my knee suddenly felt much better. It didn't hurt as much and the swelling was all but gone. I commented to Chris that it must be good old Disney magic that my knee had suddenly improved. She said yes that could be it or it could be that she had reminded me to take my blood pressure medication that morning and that I had missed it for the two days prior and that probably contributed to my swollen knee in the first place. I told her maybe it was a little of both and she agreed. As stated earlier we are seasoned Disneyland veterans and we all agreed that the Disneyland version of the Pirates ride is far superior. POTC at MK only has one waterfall? No going up the waterfall at the end? Also the final scene is, I don't know, disappointing. I'm going to tangent here somewhat and talk about the inevitable Disneyland versus Magic Kingdom comparisons. To our family MK is a bittersweet proposition. It's like being at Disneyland but not really. It looks kind of like Disneyland and it smells kind of like Disneyland but it doesn't feel like Disneyland. . I don't know if this makes sense to anybody else but to me MK is disorienting. It looks kind of like DL but where's the Matterhorn? It's like coming home and some of your furniture that you are very fond of is missing and the remaining furniture has been rearranged. Where is Indiana Jones and New Orleans Square and why is Haunted Mansion in Liberty Square and what is Liberty Square and why? Hall of Presidents, a shooting gallery should be there. No Hungry Bear restaurant, no Bengal Barbecue, this is heresy. Don't get me wrong MK is beautiful and it is very fun but I get caught up in what it's not. And it's just not Disneyland and Disneyland is the best theme park, ever, anywhere. Okay enough said.

After Pirates when went to the Tiki room. Tyler insisted that he had never done this attraction on our many trips to Disneyland so he wanted to check it out. We explained to him that there was a reason for that because the Tiki Room is really lame. We actually liked the update of this attraction it wasn't as boring as we remembered it. We headed over to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and waited close to forty-five minutes before boarding. It was very hot in the line. Tyler had been timing the line waits with a little stopwatch that he kept in his pocket. This time the advertised wait time was actually pretty accurate. The sign said 45 minutes and that's about what we waited. Tyler and Elyse rode together and after we exited Tyler realized that he had left his watch on the seat of the train and at the same time Elyse realized she had left her hat in the same seat. They hustled back up through the exit and inquired. A CM had retrieved Tyler's watch but the hat was nowhere to be found. We checked a couple of additional times during the day but the hat was never turned in. It was getting close to parade time so we found a good viewing spot next to the steps of the Liberty Tree Tavern. I bought a bunch of bottled waters and some popcorn and we sat in the shade and tried to keep cool. It was an okay parade and we got some good video and snapshots of it. Our Fast Pass was ready so back to Splash Mountain we went. This version of Splash is every bit as good as the DL version and in some ways better. Chris wanted to do the Pooh ride in Fantasy Land so we headed there to pick up a Fast Pass. The return time wasn't until 6:00 so we headed down to Main Street for some shopping. I'm not a big shopper so I stopped in at Casey's Corner for a hot dog and an iced tea. The restaurant was fairly empty just myself and a few other guests. I walked up to the counter but the CM working the line just ignored me. He was trying to get the attention of a female CM who, judging by her costume, worked somewhere else in the park and had just stopped by. I waited patiently for him to serve me as he arranged a date with her for later that night. It was a short delay and finally he took my order. The total came to $5.38 and when I looked in my wallet I had five singles and a one hundred dollar bill. I didn't think I had any change on me so I took out the hundred and gave it to him. He was still talking to the female CM and didn't hear me when I said, "I hate to do that but that's all I have." Finally he went to get me my change when he realized I had given him the hundred. He then looked at another CM working the line next to him and said rather loudly "Will you look at this they always do this to me, a one hundred dollar bill for a $5.00 order." I felt kind of embarrassed so I muttered that maybe I could come up with the exact amount so I fished around in all my pockets and came up with the thirty-eight cents. I then asked him to give me the hundred back and I gave him the five ones and the thirty-eight cents. I was astonished when he took the money and looked at it and then at me and said "See you had it all the time you were lying to me man." I was speechless. A CM at the Magic Kingdom had just called me a liar. I shot him a quizzical look and took my food and left. I was literally flabbergasted to the point where I just wandered away. After recovering, my first reaction was to head to Guest Relations and lodge a complaint. My second was to confront the CM and ask for an apology. What I actually did was nothing. After relating the story to my family I just decided to blow it off. Maybe he was having a bad day and I had better things to do with my day so I just let it go. If you are a Cast Member reading this report here is a piece of advice. Never ever, ever, call or imply that a guest is a liar. We left Main Street behind and went to Tomorrowland for Alien Encounter. We were in the pre-show in fifteen minutes. We had done this ride in 1996 and it is still fun and intense. Afterward my seventeen-year old daughter admitted that she was truly frightened. She doesn't like Aliens. We did some more shopping and then went to Pooh for our Fast Pass. I was pleasantly surprised by the ride it was a better ride than I had anticipated. They are currently building a version of the Pooh ride at DL I understand. We decided to wrap it up at MK for the day and head to the Studios to catch Fantasmic as we had been rained out earlier in the trip. Out the front gate and to the ferry boat across the Seven Seas Lagoon to the TTC. The weather was actually nice, clouds had rolled in and there was a cool breeze. We sat together as a family and joked and laughed as I shot video from the boat. As the MK fell behind us and we had Fantasmic to look forward to we all agreed that life does not get much better. We were on a bus and to the Studios in no time and we were hungry so we went down Sunset Boulevard to Rosie's All American Café and Catalina Eddies. We split up and got cheeseburgers and pizza and some salads and drinks. The food hit the spot we were all hungry. After dinner we went to TOT and an advertised 13-minute wait. We love this ride it never disappoints. Ethan and Elyse wanted to get good seats so they went to the Fantasmic theatre and staked some out. Tyler, Chris and I wanted to get one last ride on RnRC so we went there and rode. Each time I ride this coaster I like it more. By the time we reached the Fantasmic theatre it was at capacity. I pulled out my cell phone and called Ethan and he directed me to the third row from the front in the Jafar section. Excellent seats for an excellent show. I attempted to tape the show but ran out of tape half way through and I had neglected to throw a back up tape in the backpack. Oh well I guess we'll have to go back again to get the rest of the show on tape. After the show we exited with the rest of the crowd and found the bus back to Downtown Disney. It had been a full day and we needed to be up early in the morning so we called it a night. Back at the hotel a large group of people were huddled around the big screen TV in the lounge watching the Lakers and Kings in the seventh and decisive game of the West Conference playoffs. We hustled up to the room to watch the hated Lakers win in overtime. We then caught the tale end of the Tony awards and I updated my notes and checked the pedometer that I had been wearing all day. 5.01 miles. We were slowing down or navigating better or some combination of both. I couldn't fall asleep right away my mind was busy mulling over a theory I have about touring at Disney parks. My theory is that because of some cosmic reason Disney days last only twelve and not twenty-four hours. The days were moving by so quickly and there was so much more to do. Tomorrow we would leave Disney and check out Islands of Adventure and we needed to be up early.

Monday June 3rd, Day 6

"Good Old Fashioned Competition"

I set the alarm and we got the family up early to make the trip to Universal Studios Islands of Adventure. As we left the lobby I stopped by the concierge desk at the Hotel and asked the representative how I might purchase passes for the E-ride night that was scheduled for the next night at MK. She said that I could buy them from the ticket booths as the TTC or Guest relations at any Disney Park. I told her that was contrary to what I had read. I told her that what I had read indicated that you could only purchase those passes at your resort. She said no that wasn't true and to just show your room key and tell the CM at the ticket booth that you were staying at the Courtyard at Downtown Disney and they would sell me the tickets. I asked her if I could purchase them from Guest Relations over at Downtown Disney Marketplace and she said yes. The kids were pretty pumped up about E-ride night so we decided to go over to the Marketplace and inquire and also pick up some McDonald's for breakfast. We arrived at the Guest Relations office at a little after 8:00 only to find that they didn't open until 8:30. Over to McDonald's we went and we took our time eating breakfast until 8:30 rolled around. We were behind schedule now but we really wanted to secure the E-ride night passes so right at 8:30 we entered the Guest Relations office. I explained that I was staying at a Downtown Disney hotel and that I wanted to buy E-ride night passes. The CM informed me that those passes were only available for sale on the day of the event and not before. We left assuming that we could return to the same office the next morning to purchase the elusive passes. More on that later. Into the trusty rental car we went and down I-4 for a relatively short trip to Islands of Adventure. Eight bucks to park, two dollars more than a Disney park and the daily price of admission is also more than Disney. We were parked and inside the park by 9:30 and our initially impression was very favorable. The buildings are first rate and we thought the themeing was very good. The park is clean and the employees that we encountered were very helpful. I was aching to ride the Spiderman ride as I was a huge fan of the comic as a child and my boys are also big fans. We only waited ten minutes to board and the ride didn't disappoint. It is a very innovative, entertaining and fun ride. It's outstanding and if you get to Islands of Adventure don't miss it. We decided to get Universal's version of a Fast Pass called Universal Express so that we could ride Spiderman again later in the day. The Universal Express kiosks didn't open until 10:00 a.m. however so I hung around the kiosk area while the rest of the family shopped. At 9:45 it was already hot and I was sweating through my shirt. The forecast was for 97 degrees with forty-three percent humidity and as I stood there I realized that for once the forecast was probably right. Finally the kiosks were open and I obtained the passes. We decided to tackle the Hulk roller coaster next. We put the backpack in a locker and rode Hulk twice back to back. This is an intense roller coaster and I actually blacked out a little after the first inversion and subsequent drop. Both Ethan and Elyse said they also had experienced a brief blackout at the same point of the ride. When we rode later in the day I didn't experience the same thing and I think it may have been attributed to the position of the sun. On the morning ride the inversion caused us to look almost directly into the sun before dropping back down to the ground. After Hulk we decided to head for Jurassic Park but on the way the Marvel Super Hero's came down the street on All Terrain Cycles so we paused to take pictures with Spidey, The Green Goblin (who was squirting people with a super soaker), Captain America, Rogue, Wolverine and Storm. One criticism of the park is that it doesn't have a lot of shade. They compensate for that somewhat by making it easy to cool off by getting wet. As we walked through the Toon Lagoon area on the way to Jurassic Park, we noticed some fountains that allow you to cool down a little by getting wet. It was hot enough that both Tyler and Chris ran over there and took advantage of the opportunity to run through the spray. When we made it to the Jurassic Park River Adventure there was virtually no wait and we boarded the boat right away. It was nice to sit on the boat but we never moved from the station. Then we saw a heavy-set ride operator break into a full sprint up over the bridge and into the control room. That is never a good sign. Sure enough the ride had broken down so they took us off the boat and put us in a holding area while they fixed it. I had a huge bag of Skittles in the backpack and some trail mix and other goodies so we munched out while the ride operators scrambled this way and that. Most of the guests in the queue gave up and left but we hung in there and 20 minutes later we re-boarded and launched. We've been on a similar version of this ride at Universal Studios Hollywood so there were no surprises. It was fun and it felt good to get a little damp. The kids wanted to go to the playground adjacent to the ride and I didn't feel like climbing around so I bought a beer and found some shade and sipped. Ethan showed up and beckoned me to come with him so I followed him through some caves and he showed me some of the areas themeing. We were impressed with the detail that they put into the park. After that we took the trail down to visit the animatronic Triceratops. The younger kids at this attraction were pretty wide eyed petting the robotic dino. We goofed around and took some pictures in the Jurassic Park Discovery Center, which was also well done and impressive. Our Universal Express pass was ready so back to Spiderman for a second ride. We noticed much more of the detail on the ride this time. Spiderman is a first rate theme park ride. After Spidey we retraced our steps back through Jurassic Park and into the Lost Continent. Dueling Dragons are a couple of exciting roller coasters with a well themed queue and a real picture spot of an entrance. We rode the Fire Dragon first and we were clowning around yelling at the people on the Ice Dragon. Ethan was yelling challenges to them in a Scottish brogue that he does really well. Both coasters run in parallel and the elusion is that you are battling each other and that you might collide at any moment. We rode both back to back with no wait either time. The consensus was that these coasters were more fun than the Hulk coaster. I liked the Fire Dragon better but the rest of the family liked the Ice Dragon. It was 1:00 by the time we finisher our rides so we decided to eat at The Enchanted Oak Tavern. This counter service restaurant is themed as if you are dining in a giant oak tree. It was fairly impressive. I ordered the BBQ rib platter and the portions were large. Included is a full ear of corn on the cob, Cole slaw and fries and the price was moderate. I got a beer also. It was nice and cool in the restaurant and we took our time eating. The kids got Bacon Cheeseburgers and Chris made a tactical error and ended up dumping one of the burgers all over the floor. They replaced it quickly and with no questions asked. I had so much food I couldn't finish it all so everyone else dug in and helped. Over lunch we discussed how impressed we were with the park. IOA provides good old-fashioned competition for Disney and that is a good thing. While I personally think the Disney parks are still superior Universal is doing a good enough job that Disney better stay sharp to keep their edge. Refueled we made our way outside back into the sweltering day. We hit a few shops and took some pictures in front of Dueling Dragons. I was wandering around and found an interactive fountain. It was the kind that, either through video camera or a person hidden in close proximity, can hold a conversation with you. The fountain had a face on the front and it was talking to some kids and occasionally firing water jets at them. I was hot and I wanted to get a little cooler by getting wet so I walked within range. I was wearing a kelly green shirt and the water fountain began saying, "Hi green" and singing "It isn't easy being green" and shooting water jets at me that I kept dodging. Wherever the guy was who was the voice of the fountain finally turned on the shower spray from the top of the fountain and me and several other guests got under the spray and cooled off. Next we went over to the Poseidon's Fury. The building is beautiful but I found this attraction silly. You have to stand during the whole show and the show isn't that good. The kids disagreed however they really liked the part where you have to walk through a kind of water tunnel. After leaving Poseidon we headed past Seuss Landing past the Port of Entry through Marvel Super Hero Island and back to Toon Lagoon to use our Universal Express pass for Dudley Do Right's Ripsaw falls. We had picked up the pass after our second ride on Spiderman. It is basically a flume type log ride. It was pretty fun but right before you come to the big drop you go through some mist that disguises the drop. You sit slalom style on the ride and Chris was sitting in from of me so I was sitting behind her with my legs straddling her. She didn't see the drop coming through the mist. Surprised to suddenly fall over the edge she snapped her head back and the crown of her head crashed into the point of my chin. I saw stars in the middle of the afternoon. It was like a Lenox Lewis uppercut and I guess I have a glass jaw because it rattled me pretty good. We exited the ride and I recovered and luckily I had been smart enough to put some Extra Strength Tylenol in the backpack so I immediately popped a couple. We went next to Popeye and Bluto's Bilge Rat Barges and spent 30 minutes in line before we boarded. This is a fun raft ride along the same lines as Kali River Rapids at Disney's Animal Kingdom. It is almost impossible not to get drenched on the ride. I actually got off easy but the rest of the family got wet from head to toe. The heat was wearing us down even though we were wet but we wanted to do Spiderman a third time so we headed over there and waited 25 minutes in line. Tyler wanted to do Dr. Doom's Fearfall next and it showed an advertised 30-minute wait be we were on in fifteen. This ride launches you about 150 feet into the air at a high rate of speed and it basically scares the bejesus out of me just to look up at it. I swallowed my fear and went on it anyway sitting next to Elyse. It was a rush and I screamed like a young girl until I noticed Sea World in the distance so I stopped in mid-scram and said "Hey Elyse look it's Sea World". She thought it was very funny that I was screaming one moment and pointing out landmarks the next. After tucking my heart from my throat back into my chest we left Dr. Doom and I wanted to do Hulk one more time so we did that again after a short wait. It was close to 6:00 by this time and the park closed at 7:00. We were played out so we headed to the parking lot and back to the Hotel. Ethan and Elyse grabbed a quick nap while Tyler, Chris and I headed to the pool. The Jacuzzi was empty so we jumped in there and soothed our muscles. Tyler and I jumped in the pool next and cooled off. I was finally feeling one hundred percent after taking Chris's noggin to my chin and I mentioned that a beer would be nice. Chris immediately jumped up and went to the lounge and returned with a crackling cold Coors Light. She is a keeper, my wife. We planned to spend the evening at Pleasure Island for some comedy so we left the pool area to get ready. Showered and changed we made the short drive to PI only to find it closed until 9:30 for a private function. Time to improvise so I suggested we get something to eat. We weren't really that hungry it was so hot that day it was suppressing our appetites. Someone suggested Pizzeria Uno over at the Crossroads so back into the car and we zipped over there. We had a light meal, we shared a pizza and some salads and some wings. The restaurant was fairly empty and our server was a really nice guy so I over-tipped him. It was just enough food and really tasty. Right at 9:30 we were back at PI and through the turnstiles and into the Adventurers Club. We really enjoyed it even though some well-lubricated guy from New Jersey was heckling the actors. They handled him very well and he calmed down after a while. If you get to PI check out the Adventurers Club it is very unique and fun. I didn't want to miss the next Comedy Show so we left and got in line after I retrieved some cocktails for Chris and I at the outside bar. We got great seats for a really funny show. They did a very funny sit, stand, kneel improvisation where there are three actors on stage and one must sit, one must stand and one must kneel at all times while acting out a scene. We decided not to stay for a second show it was close to midnight and we were exhausted and satisfied. The Comedy Warehouse will be a must-see on any future trips we really enjoyed it. Chris wore the pedometer that day and it read 8.43 miles. Maybe we had caught our second wind.

Tuesday June 4th, Day 7

"Last car standing .... almost"

We were up by 9:00 and I hustled and got ready before the rest of the group. I'm a morning person and the rest of the family, well their not. My objective this morning was to secure the ever -elusive E-ride night passes. It was June now but our trip had begun in May and a few weeks before we were to leave it was announced that all E-ride nights for the month of May were cancelled. That left us only one chance to enjoy the best Magic Kingdom rides without the long wait times and large crowds and that day was today. I took the elevator down to the lobby zoomed past the ubiquitous Parrot character and drove to the Marketplace. Quickly into the Guest Services office where the Cast Member told me that E-ride tickets can only be purchased at the resort where you are staying. I related the story of my quest for the E-ride passes to the CM and she was very sympathetic and listened very attentively and then she told me again that I had to get them from my resort. Frustrated, I traveled back to The Courtyard by Marriott and landed abruptly at the concierge desk. There was a gentlemen working today and I told him the story. "Those passes are available in the Gift Shop" was the response. Over to the Gift Shop I went and I asked for the passes. And then something wonderful and unexpected happened. They sold them to me. I felt like I had just uncovered the Holy Grail. Daintily I tucked them into my pocket and crept back up to our room. I was sure that at any moment bandits would appear to take back my prize. I flung the hotel room door open and stood just inside I reached in my pocket and produced the passes and held them over my head and proclaimed, "I have in my hand the elusive E-ride passes." Much rejoicing ensued. We were hooked up with a night of fun now and decided to spend the afternoon at EPCOT. But first we drove to Animal Kingdom Lodge for breakfast. Once there we obtained a three-hour parking pass from security. The Lodge is very nice and we checked out the menu at Boma and I decided it was muy expensioso so we went to Mara instead. I wasn't too impressed but the kids and Chris liked the food and hey they were playing Toy Story 2 on the TV in the restaurant so that was enjoyable. After eating we walked by the pool and over to the Animal viewing area were we saw several Human Beings walking around in waders. Very exciting. I think we may have seen a flamingo and a sparrow too. We left AKL and drove to the TTC. I had a master plan to leave the car at the TTC since we would end up at MK that night and we could monorail between the two parks. We arrived late and parked well back from monorail station in the Goofy section. We hopped a Tram and were at the Monorail entrance in no time. We were the first in line for the ride to EPCOT so I asked the CM if we could ride up front with the monorail driver. He said we could but that there was a maximum of four guests allowed up front. I volunteered to ride alone since I wanted to jot down some trip notes. It is a leisurely ride from the TTC to EPCOT and I took the opportunity to enjoy a solitary moment. We demonorailed (I made that word up) at EPCOT and I asked the rest of the family how they liked riding up front with the driver. They said it was no big deal and it was kind of hot and bumpy. We breezed through security and into the park. We got a break in the weather that day it was cloudy and there was a cool breeze out of the west. The boys went right to Innoventions to check out some games. I went over to Test Track to get Fast Passes. When I arrived a CM was in front of the ride informing guests that the ride was down and there was no ETA for when it might be back up and operating. I got Fast Passes anyway and I must not have been the only one because the return time was 7:50 to 8:50 that night and it wasn't even noon yet. I hooked back up with the family and Ethan wanted to do the Home Theatre demonstration in Innoventions so we took about twenty minutes and did that. I was informative and impressive. Chris wanted to do the Living Seas next so we went over there. She wanted to catch a glimpse of the Dolphin that she would have met up close and personal that day if the Dolphins in Depth Tour had not been cancelled. We took the Hydrolator to Sea Base Alpha, which turned out to be a gift shop and an Aquarium. Not my cup of tea but Chris liked it and we did catch a glimpse of the one remaining Dolphin, his name is Bob I think. We left and went to Universe of Energy. We agreed that this ride was much improved compared to the attraction we had seen six years earlier. Figment is back over at Journey into Your Imagination so we did that next with absolutely no wait. We agreed the ride was cute but nothing special. We stopped in at the Land pavilion after that and the boat ride had an hour wait which was too long for us so we found a seat and relaxed while Elyse got some ice cream. The kids wanted to check out the other Innoventions so we finished the ice cream and went there next. On the way I stopped off to get a cold brewski and I asked the CM at the beer stand about the location of the talking drinking fountain. I had read about it on the world wide web and I wanted to show Tyler, I thought he might get a kick out of it and honestly I thought I might get a kick out of it too. The CM had absolutely no idea what I was talking about. So I explained to her what I had read and as I was explaining another CM arrived to replenish her ice supply and we asked him. He gave me the exact location and was very nice and informed. I met the family back at Innoventions where Chris and Ethan did there vulture routine on my beer leaving me with only a few paltry ounces. Elyse and Chris wanted to browse some shops while Tyler diverted to Ice Station Cool for more free pop. It wasn't long before Tyler rejoined us and we decided to take a ride on Spaceship Earth. It was an enjoyable and relaxing ride. We goofed around with some of the interactive games in the exit area and then decided to head for the World Showcase. We passed by the new Mission Space ride that is under construction and it looks like it could be outstanding. If the speculation I have read is true that it will employ the same innovations as Spiderman at Islands of Adventure it could be a first class E-ticket type ride. Next door to Mission Space we noticed that Test Track was back up and running. We reached the World Showcase and turned left into Mexico. We shopped and rode Rio de Tiempo I had forgotten that we had done this in 1996. It is a pleasant relaxing ride. We migrated to Norway more shopping and browsing and taking our time. Germany was next and I stood and watched a gentleman making crystal sculptures. This made me thirsty of course so I grabbed a Becks Lite. I was really enjoying it until Chris and Ethan showed up pilfered the majority. I few clouds in the sky and a nice breeze and those two had suddenly become beer bandits. China was next door and I was getting hungry so I announced that I needed some food from the Lotus Blossom Café. Ethan and I got the twice-cooked beef and Elyse and Chris the sweet and sour chicken. Tyler is picky and decided he wasn't hungry. I topped it off with a Tsing Tao beer that I managed to keep mostly to myself. After lunch we shopped in China and moseyed over and watched as a bunch of guests beat the drums in the Africa area. We proceeded clockwise to Italy where masquerade was going on again and then we stopped at the American Adventure. Tyler was hungry so I took him in to the Liberty Inn and bought him a huge hot dog and a salad. The rest of the family shopped while Tyler ate and I helped with his salad while sipping a Miller Lite. As you can tell I like to sample the wide varieties of beer at the World Showcase. When we finished the parade was beginning and the kids started singing "Lame-a this parade is lame-a", they really didn't like that parade at all. We got out of there and headed to France. There was a street performer working the crowd he was a mime without the white face and he had a boom box going with some silly music. He was sneaking up on strolling guests and unbeknownst to them he would imitate their posture and walking style. Finally the guest would get a feeling something was up and would notice the guy and their reactions were cracking us up so we paused to watch his whole act. He settled down and did his show that consisted of making balloon animals for kids in the crowd and doing some pantomime. He wrapped the show up and got a good round of applause and was just about to leave when a small boy walked from the crowd and stood directly in front of him. The boy was bound and determined to get his own balloon animal and had decided that now was his turn. The mime did a great deadpan look and tried to move but the kid stepped right in front of him and blocked him from going. It was extremely cute and funny and the crowd started making that motherly "ah" sound at the Mime. Needless to say he ended up making the boy a balloon animal. It was one of those memorable moments. After that I checked the entertainment schedule and saw that Off Kilter was about to play their last set so we zoomed through the UK and into Canada. We took a seat on the ground and waited for the show to begin. As we waited Elyse looked up and recognized a friend of hers walking along. For the second time in the trip we greeted someone from home. Weird. I decided that it was beer-thirty so I found a beer stand so I could enjoy a Moosehead. The CM working the stand, I think her name was Angela, explained that they had just changed the keg and all they were getting was foam and I might be better off getting a bottled beer. I thanked her and told her that would be fine so I got a Labatts and she started telling me about Off Kilter and we had a nice conversation and I realized she was flirting with me and I of course being a man I flirted back. I sat back down next to Ethan and let him have a sip of my beer and I said "Hey Ethan see that young attractive girl at the beer stand she was just flirting with me". He said 'Yeah okay Dad, whatever'. She did flirt with me. At least I think she did. Off Kilter was great if you have never seen them they are a rock band that incorporates bagpipes into their music. It is rather unique and they have a lot of energy and they play to the crowd by posing for pictures at the same time they are performing. They all wear kilts on stage and they change some song lyrics. For example instead of "Sweet home Alabama", they sing, "Sweet home Alberta" and instead of 'I'm too sexy for my shirt" they change it to "I'm too sexy for my kilt" anyway we enjoyed their set to its conclusion. If you're in EPCOT and they're performing I recommend you check them out. We had completed the World Showcase circle and on the way out of Canada the kids bought some kind of Canadian confection called beaver tails that they proclaimed were delicious. We walked back into Future World where Chris really wanted to tour the Land but when we got there the wait was still an hour and all the Fast Passes were gone. We decided to skip it and then I found the talking drinking fountain and Tyler and I shot some video of it. It was getting late but I wanted to hang around and do our Fast Pass for Test Track. We had about thirty minutes to kill so we did some shopping over at the Mouse Gear shop. We were at Test Track right at the beginning of our return time and it wasn't long before we were on our car for a trip through the proving ground. I'm glad we took the opportunity to ride this a second time we had a lot of fun. We hustled out of the park and caught the Monorail to the TTC and then to MK. We passed through security into the park and then to the left side of Main Street for our E-ride night wristbands. It was 8:45 and the park was packed even though it closed in fifteen minutes. E-ride night was about to start but first off to the Jungle Cruise. We caught the second to last boat of the night and our skipper was very enthusiastic and was clowning around with Tyler. It was great I'm glad we snuck it in. E-ride night was upon us and we went to Haunted Mansion first. To our surprise we waited almost fifteen minutes to get inside. We saw the new Madame Leota headstone outside, very creepy. Inside there must have been a bunch of regulars attending because in the room that stretches all of us recited the script in unison i.e. "To find a way out" laugh "Of course there is always my way" and then all of us in the room let out our best scream. It was cool riding HM with a bunch of enthusiasts like us. As you might of guessed we still prefer the Disneyland version of this ride. Next we went to Splash Mountain and another fifteen-minute wait. E-ride night was turning out to be more crowded than we had hoped. Splash is outstanding at night even better than in the daytime it's one of our favorites. Next door we did Big Thunder Mountain Railroad after a ten-minute wait. We decided to head for Tomorrowland but first into Pecos Bills for some refreshments. We were hustling from ride to ride we were definitely in commando mode and we were parched. Several waters, ice teas and root beer floats later and we were on our way to Tomorrowland and Buzz Lightyear. I wish they would bring this ride to DL because it is just plain fun and I would like to pass the 100,000 -point plateau. Tyler had the hang of it and was close to 200,000 and Ethan was pounding me too. We did Space Mountain next after about a fifteen-minute wait. The kids wanted to do the Astro Orbiter but Chris and I decided to do the Tomorrowland Transit Authority and relax a little. We boarded and sat on opposite sides and put our feet up and we both closed our eyes for a catnap. We may have just kept on sleeping if the guy with the deep voice hadn't kept talking over the intercom. The kids were still in line for Astro Orbiter when we got off so Chris and I did Buzz Lightyear again after a five-minute wait. We couldn't find the kids when we got off so I called Ethan's cell phone a couple of times but he didn't answer. Finally they showed up. They had just exited Astro Orbiter it had taken them almost thirty minutes to complete the ride. Tyler wasn't happy it had taken so long for Astro Orbiter and E-ride night was rapidly coming to an end. We regrouped and did Buzz again Tyler and I in fierce competition in the same car. He crushed me. It was just before midnight as we exited and we rushed over to Space Mountain for one last ride to cap off the night. We boarded one of the last trains of the night and really enjoyed it. E-ride night was over it had lasted three hours but seemed more like three minutes. Even though the wait times were longer than we had anticipated I would still recommend E-ride night. Our weary family made toward the exit down Main Street that was empty of people except us. That's right it was all ours. It was a nice moment having Main Street to ourselves with the turn of the century music playing and the soft lighting and the castle changing colors in the background. We took our time and just strolled. We silently said good-bye to MK as we would not return this trip and we boarded the Monorail for the short ride to the TTC. I wasn't sure if the parking lot trams were running but after a short wait one rounded the corner and picked us up as well as a handful of other guests. We got off at the Goofy section and the tram pulled away and out of sight. Our car wasn't hard to find because it was the only car left in the lot. You could turn 360 degrees and no other car was in sight. Ours was the last car in the lot of the second highest attended theme park on the planet. (Tokyo Disneyland is first if our local Phoenix paper can be believed). The Tussey Commandos in full glory, we were pretty proud of ourselves. Laughing and congratulating each other we pulled out of the lot toward the exit and around some trees and all the sudden there was a flash of light. We looked to our right and there was a couple standing in the parking lot empty of cars except theirs. The flash had come from their camera. Their car was actually the last car standing having beaten us by just moments so I guess they believed a picture was in order. Why hadn't we thought of that? Anyway we drove back to the hotel, tired, happy and satisfied for now. I had the pedometer that day and it read 8.1 miles.

Wednesday June 5th - Day 8

"The Hot Seat"

We slept in and didn't get up and moving until around 10:00 a.m. It was our last full day and we were determined to make the most of it so we quickly got ready and got out of there. Elyse suggested we go the Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary Resort so into the car we went. I hadn't taken the time to make a Priority Seating request so when we arrived at the Contemporary the security guard kind of questioned us a little before he gave us a three-hour parking pass. It was late morning and Chef Mickey's was emptying out so we were seated in about five minutes. It was great the food was great and the characters were really fun. Goofy quickly realized that he had an enthusiastic audience of two, Ethan and Elyse, and he went through all of his gags for them. Minnie came over after a while and hugged Ethan around the neck and we shot a bunch of pictures. After another prolonged hug Minnie left Ethan only to return shortly with the restaurant Hostess. She pointed out Ethan to the Hostess and kind of fanned her face with her hand as if to indicate that Ethan was a real hunk. The hostess agreed with Minnie and it put Ethan into full blush. I wish I had caught it on video but I had forgotten to charge the battery the night before and was out of juice. Oh well it will live on in our memories. Chef Mickey's was great a real highlight meal of the trip. We said good-bye to Goofy told him we would catch him later in the summer at Disneyland and left for the short drive to Disney-MGM Studios. Of the four parks our family likes Disney-MGM Studios the best. I can't really put my finger on why but Tower of Terror has to figure into it because it's such an outstanding ride. We parked and caught the tram to the entrance and our first order of business was to get a Fast Pass for Who Wants to be a Millionaire - Play It. So we headed toward the back of the park and picked that up. We had some time so next we went over to see Muppets 3D which we had done on our previous trip and also at Disney's California Adventure. It never disappoints. We left there and Tyler wanted to check out the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground so Chris and I took him over there. The older two wanted to go over and investigate the American Film Institute exhibit so we split up and agreed to meet over at Millionaire for our Fast Pass. At the playground I showed Tyler the dog's nose that breathes on you. He was climbing around and I leaned up against something while I waited for him when I felt a jet of air hitting my neck followed by the smell of Play Doh. I backed up and looked and I had been leaning against a big mock up of a Play Doh container and hadn't even known it. I called Chris and Tyler over and showed them. It's always neat to discover one of those nice Disney touches. As we left Tyler told us he remembered the playground as being more fun on our last trip and we reminded him that he was growing up. We found the other kids at Millionaire and got seated in the theatre quickly. A nice lady got into the hot seat first and lost at the 16,000-point mark. They show the top ten players on the big board and none of us were ever listed although up to that point I hadn't missed any questions. The question that she missed was "How many players are on the court in a standard volleyball game." I answered six, as did the gal in the Hot Seat and most of the rest of the crowd I assume. The answer is twelve i.e. two teams of six. I looked over at Ethan and told him I missed it and he said he had answered it correctly. I was thinking to myself that he might be only one of a handful that got that right and that might even put him in the Hot Seat. Sure enough when the winner was announced it was Ethan. Wow, it was exhilarating for all of us. Ethan was very nervous and Chris and I were both probably just as nervous. The people in the row behind us were patting us on the back trying to calm us as Ethan answered the questions. He handled himself so very well that I was beaming with pride. At one point in the little Q&A part I looked at Chris and commented that he looked like a young man. He is a young man but I never noticed it until that moment. He was confident and composed and for lack of a better description - likeable. He was nervous though and used up two of his lifelines early and was left with only the phone a friend option. At one point he answered, "what is B, final answer" as on Jeopardy he put it in the form of a question and that cracked up some of the crowd. He got to the 4000- point level and the question was, and I'm paraphrasing. "This is a term commonly used to refer to an outdoor party". Two of the answers were obviously wrong and the other two were Fete and Hootenanny. I wished I could have yelled the answer to him and had to hold back from doing so. He neglected his last lifeline and chose hootenanny but he was incorrect the answer was fete. It was all very exciting and he did really well being as nervous as he was. I don't think he'll ever forget the definition of fete. His prizes consisted of a Who Wants to be a Millionaire hat and pins. We met him at the exit and congratulated him we were still all very pumped up. As we walked down the street Ethan asked us for his sunglasses and we said what sunglasses. He said that they had been hanging on his shirt collar when he had been called to the Hot Seat and he didn't want to take them on stage so he threw them in one of our laps before he walked down the steps to take his place. None of us ever remembered him doing that we were all so shell shocked. That made Chris swing into action so she trotted down the street back to Millionaire and returned a short time later with his sunglasses on her face. Sure enough they were on the floor of the theatre right under the seats we had occupied. We checked the show time sheet and saw that the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular was about to begin so we hustled over and found seats in the packed stadium. The boys wanted to go next door to Star Tours after that and do more shopping at what they called the Tatooine shop. Elyse wanted to check out the Beauty and the Beast show so we extracted the boys from the shop and crossed the park to Sunset Boulevard. We had some time so Tower of Terror it was. The wait was advertised as 30 minutes but according to Tyler's stopwatch we were in the library in twelve. There was a bunch of first time riders on this car so we enjoyed scarring them by screaming at the right times to startle them. We shopped a little in the TOT shop and then went next door and took our seats for the Beauty and the Beast show. The a cappella group that was the pre-show were very good. I didn't get their name but we enjoyed them. The show itself was not very good however. We all gave it a bad review. Since we were close it was back to TOT for one last ride on our favorite. It was excellent. Chris wanted to head over toward Animation to shop. Earlier in the trip she had seen a Winnie the Pooh wall print in one of the shops near Animation and she wanted to pick it up. It is now framed and hanging in our house. We left there and the kids stopped in the corner candy store and purchased some marsh mellow chocolate concoction that they serve on a stick. One of the street performers was messing with them as they waited for their order. We shopped some more and time seemed to fly by. The street construction crew was doing their act on Hollywood Boulevard so we stopped and watched them for a while. We headed for the exit after that and we were all felling gloomy. On the way back to the hotel we stopped off at Exxon and bought some snacks for the flight home and I was surprised the prices really weren't that bad. We were back at the hotel where we showered and dressed for a fun night of comedy over at Pleasure Island. Throughout our trip every time we used our Park Hopper Plus passes to get through the turnstiles we would all give the passes back to Chris and she kept them in a safe place. Tonight as we scanned them through the turnstile at PI the kids turned to give Chris their passes just as they had all week. I told them they could keep the passes for souvenirs because now they were all used up. Well that comment brought the whole family down into the end of the vacation pit of depression. Fortunately there was a solution. First rate comedy. It was a good way to end the trip. We hit the Comedy Warehouse first and they did a great routine called cliché. The premise of this game is one cast member leaves the building and someone in the crowd gives the remaining cast a cliché. Once they have the cliché they call the cast member back and thy must act out the cliché until the unaware cast member guesses it. On that night the cliché was "I'd rather be a private with a chicken on his knee than a Colonel with a bird on his shoulder." It took some time but the cast member finally recited the phrase correctly and the process was hilarious. That show ended and we immediately got in line for the next show that was also very good. We left the Comedy Warehouse and crossed the street and spent some time at the Adventurer's Club and that was fun and amusing also. It was after midnight by the time we left and we hadn't eaten since Chef Mickey's that morning. We drove over to the Crossroads strip mall and found an open Taco Bell. We loaded up on cheap Mexican food and went back to the hotel and consumed it. To bed we went exhausted and a little depressed that it had to end. Tyler showed me the pedometer that he had been wearing all day and it read 7.63 miles. That brought the total for the trip to fifty-five and a half miles walked.

Thursday June 6th, Day 9

"All good things must end"

Our flight left at 11:00 a.m. so we got up just after 7:30 and packed. We checked out and than did some last minute shopping in the small hotel gift shop. On the way to the airport I made a wrong turn that was quickly corrected and we arrived a couple of hours before flight time. Turning in the rental car with the National Emerald Club service went like a breeze. I wasn't paying attention and walked by the security guy that was checking to make sure that only ticketed passengers would be allowed to go through security so they singled me out and made me go through a more through search. We received boarding passes in the sixties so there was no problem sitting together and the flight home was uneventful. My mother met us at the airport and after a brief baggage mishap in Phoenix we made it home safely. Elyse immediately called the dentist and he told her to come right over and her bridgework was back in place only a few hours after we had landed.

Back in 1996 at the end of our WDW trip I had promised the family that we would be back and I had now kept that promise. I didn't feel like I could make the same promise this time because the family has grown and soon the older kids will be out making there way in the world. I would love to go back and I believe I will. Maybe you'll be there at the same time. Who knows maybe we will ride in the same car on Dinosaur at Disney's Animal Kingdom. Maybe you will help me defeat Evil Emperor Zurg at Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin at the Magic Kingdom or together we will plummet in the dark at The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at the Disney MGM Studios. Or perhaps we will be seated next to each other on the new Mission Space ride in FutureWorld at EPCOT. How dominant might that be? You never know. It could happen. Just use your imagination.

Thanks for reading.

Tod J. Tussey

uacats@extremezone.com

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