Saturday, January 31, 2009
Thinking...
I can't believe the movie Cocktail is more than 20 years old... or that I'm sitting here watching it at midnight on a Friday night!
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Random thoughts/observations from vacation
- It wasn't nearly as bad driving to Florida by myself as I thought it'd be. In fact, I liked it better than riding in the passenger seat the whole way back.
- We rarely waited in line at the parks for longer than 15 or 20 minutes. It appears January is a good time to go.
- The counter service food inside the parks was as good as any non-park fast food, and comparably priced.
- Eating breakfast at the condo and packing food to snack on during the day saved us from buying a lot of food in the parks. We at out only at dinner.
- There were a lot more characters around the parks -- especially Magic Kingdom and Epcot -- than I remember from previous visits.
- Fast food in the south really isn't.
- I have two of the least daring kids on the face of the Earth.
- Doesn't matter where you are, people will always try to push to the front and butt in line, and it's no less annoying just because you're at Disney World.
- The roads in and around the Disney property are among the best marked I've ever seen.
- I am still amazed that the kids didn't ask to go in any stores or to buy anything unti lthe very last day we were there -- especially since half the rides dump you out into a store or across from a store.
- It was fun looking for "hidden Mickeys" around the parks -- next time we'll plan to do that as an actual activity.
- I'm definitely glad we waited until J-Mav was "older" to go.
- Keeper Boy wouldn't put something back in its correct place, even if it had blinking neon arrows showing him where to put it... and he'll still get mad and blame everyone else when it's lost. (We already knew this, but it was reinforced several times over the course of the week.)
- J-Mav can talk to a brick. For hours. About nothing. (We also knew this already...)
- One shouldn't need to wear knit hats, gloves, and winter coats in Florida -- even in January!
- A minivan seems much smaller with four people in it than with two.
- I was surprised to see that gas is much cheaper here in northern Virginia than it was anywhere south of here (in some cases, by 20 cents).
- Not everyone who works for Disney is nice and/or helpful. In fact, we ran into a few who were downright rude.
- You're never too old for Disney World!
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Heard...
As J-Mav was munching on a blow-pop tonight...
"Oh, that wasn't the lollipop."
Then...
"Mama! My tooth came out!"
That's #2 on the bottom...
"Oh, that wasn't the lollipop."
Then...
"Mama! My tooth came out!"
That's #2 on the bottom...
Thinking...
It would be nice to live somewhere in which people could actually deal with snow without freaking out and shutting everything down. Then again, it'd be nice to live somewhere that never got any snow...
(Though I shouldn't be complaining... this is the first snow we've had all winter.)
(Though I shouldn't be complaining... this is the first snow we've had all winter.)
Monday, January 26, 2009
Disney Adventure - Day 10
End of the Road.
'Twas the last day of vacay, and all through the room
We were dreading the day, and a long drive did loom.
The bags were repacked, and breakfast was done.
The boys were both wired, which is always so fun!
We got on the road; due north we headed.
Another long day in the van we dreaded.
But it wasn't that bad with a few short pit stops.
We set the cruise control and avoided the cops.
We found ourselves home by the late afternoon
We unloaded the car and unpacked real soon.
K-Dog was so happy to see all of us
We obliged for awhile and made quite a fuss.
With laundry started, but no food to be had,
We left once again, making K-Dog quite sad.
To Logan's and back after a quick little bite
It was homework, more laundry, and also bath night.
Back to the grind, the vacation is done.
But oh what a time... we had so much fun!
We did four Disney parks in much less than a week
And at a few other things we also did peak.
Animal Kingdom was great; truly amazing
To see all the animals playing and grazing.
Of all the parks, J-Mav and I liked it the best.
But that's not to say we disliked all the rest.
Hubby's favorite park had the big silver ball.
As well as many countries, both big and small.
Epcot that is, for those not in the know
We liked it so much, right back we did go!
Hollywood Studios was quite action-packed
With stunt shows and rides and bugs that attacked.
Fantasmic!, the show, was quite a sight to see
It was cold, but there was nowhere else to be.
Keeper Boy became much more brave during day four--
Roller coasters and the haunted house were in store.
A full day, ending with a fireworks show
And yet we still had another day to go!
Back to Epcot, and then on to some shopping
Then back "home" for some late night belly flopping.
Our stay was almost complete, we were sad to say
For we had to head north early the next day.
So now we're home, our Disney vacation complete.
This awesome experience will be hard to beat.
The only complaint: the warm weather did lack.
But we loved it all and someday we'll go back!
'Twas the last day of vacay, and all through the room
We were dreading the day, and a long drive did loom.
The bags were repacked, and breakfast was done.
The boys were both wired, which is always so fun!
We got on the road; due north we headed.
Another long day in the van we dreaded.
But it wasn't that bad with a few short pit stops.
We set the cruise control and avoided the cops.
We found ourselves home by the late afternoon
We unloaded the car and unpacked real soon.
K-Dog was so happy to see all of us
We obliged for awhile and made quite a fuss.
With laundry started, but no food to be had,
We left once again, making K-Dog quite sad.
To Logan's and back after a quick little bite
It was homework, more laundry, and also bath night.
Back to the grind, the vacation is done.
But oh what a time... we had so much fun!
We did four Disney parks in much less than a week
And at a few other things we also did peak.
Animal Kingdom was great; truly amazing
To see all the animals playing and grazing.
Of all the parks, J-Mav and I liked it the best.
But that's not to say we disliked all the rest.
Hubby's favorite park had the big silver ball.
As well as many countries, both big and small.
Epcot that is, for those not in the know
We liked it so much, right back we did go!
Hollywood Studios was quite action-packed
With stunt shows and rides and bugs that attacked.
Fantasmic!, the show, was quite a sight to see
It was cold, but there was nowhere else to be.
Keeper Boy became much more brave during day four--
Roller coasters and the haunted house were in store.
A full day, ending with a fireworks show
And yet we still had another day to go!
Back to Epcot, and then on to some shopping
Then back "home" for some late night belly flopping.
Our stay was almost complete, we were sad to say
For we had to head north early the next day.
So now we're home, our Disney vacation complete.
This awesome experience will be hard to beat.
The only complaint: the warm weather did lack.
But we loved it all and someday we'll go back!
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Disney Adventure - Day 9
Travel day. Back toward the arctic chill (though, thankfully, not as cold as where my aunt lives, where it was -13 this morning).
We left warm Kissimmee at 10am and, sadly, headed north, away from the magic of Disney World. We got on I-95 and drove back through the northern part of Florida, through the eastern part of Georgia, the eastern part of South Carolina, and into North Carolina. Tonight we find ourselves in Rocky Mount, NC at a Holiday Inn -- not a Holiday Inn Express, so no expectations of extraordinary abilities in the morning this time. :-)
It was a boring, uneventful day. J-Mav talked to himself and narrated while he played games on his CyberSmile. Keeper Boy complained about doing homework, but did some this morning. I finished my Michael Phelps autobiography and, amazingly, didn't sleep at all. Hubby did all the driving, apparently playing the alphabet game in his own head. I found this out only when he got to "x" and couldn't find anything because we were apparently past all of the trucker porn stops by then. We did pass the Risque Cafe; however, there were no Xs to be found on the signage.
We stopped for lunch/potty/gas in Jacksonville, FL, then at a rest area later in the afternoon. We stopped in Fayetteville, NC for dinner. We ate at Ruby Tuesday's, but decided that we'd drive through McDonald's for dessert and get back on the road for another hour or so. We got gas and then got in the line for the drive-through at what we now know to be the world's slowest McDonald's. No joke! There were three cars in front of us. I know the one directly in front of us ordered only two sundaes. We ordered two McFlurries, a milkshake, and a plain sundae. It took us -- and I am not exagerating -- 35 minutes to get through the drive-through line! We could've stayed at Ruby Tuesday's and ordered dessert there and gotten back on the road faster!!
After we FINALLY got our ice cream, we got back on the road (and ate it in less time than it took to GET it) and drove until we got to Rocky Mount. We had been following the NHL All-Star Game on my Blackberry, with live refresh every 30 seconds. We scanned the AM radio dial at the start of the game to see if we could find it somewhere, but we didn't. When we saw the game was going into overtime, we tried again. My reasoning was that we were close to Raleigh, which at least had a hockey team, so maybe it would be broadcast. Hubby scoffed, but we did find it! We were able to keep the station long enough to hear the call as "our own" Alex Ovetchkin made the game-winning goal for the East. And we had a little party in the van while we were driving up I-95. It probably looked pretty silly to anyone who happened to be passing by at the time... Return of the Jedi was playing on the entertainment system, J-Mav and Keeper Boy were staring at the screen but listening intently to the radio. Hubby and I were watching the road, but listening intently to the radio (because the station was starting to fade). When OV scored, we all threw our hands in the air and screamed "woo hoo!" Like I said, I'm sure it looked ridiculous. Anyway, shortly after that, we found this lovely, newly-built hotel to call home for tonight.
The boys were poking and annoying each other until we stuck them in separate beds to fall asleep (we'll move J-Mav in a minute when we go to bed), Hubby is checking his email, and I am updating the blog. Hmmm... it IS just like home.
We left warm Kissimmee at 10am and, sadly, headed north, away from the magic of Disney World. We got on I-95 and drove back through the northern part of Florida, through the eastern part of Georgia, the eastern part of South Carolina, and into North Carolina. Tonight we find ourselves in Rocky Mount, NC at a Holiday Inn -- not a Holiday Inn Express, so no expectations of extraordinary abilities in the morning this time. :-)
It was a boring, uneventful day. J-Mav talked to himself and narrated while he played games on his CyberSmile. Keeper Boy complained about doing homework, but did some this morning. I finished my Michael Phelps autobiography and, amazingly, didn't sleep at all. Hubby did all the driving, apparently playing the alphabet game in his own head. I found this out only when he got to "x" and couldn't find anything because we were apparently past all of the trucker porn stops by then. We did pass the Risque Cafe; however, there were no Xs to be found on the signage.
We stopped for lunch/potty/gas in Jacksonville, FL, then at a rest area later in the afternoon. We stopped in Fayetteville, NC for dinner. We ate at Ruby Tuesday's, but decided that we'd drive through McDonald's for dessert and get back on the road for another hour or so. We got gas and then got in the line for the drive-through at what we now know to be the world's slowest McDonald's. No joke! There were three cars in front of us. I know the one directly in front of us ordered only two sundaes. We ordered two McFlurries, a milkshake, and a plain sundae. It took us -- and I am not exagerating -- 35 minutes to get through the drive-through line! We could've stayed at Ruby Tuesday's and ordered dessert there and gotten back on the road faster!!
After we FINALLY got our ice cream, we got back on the road (and ate it in less time than it took to GET it) and drove until we got to Rocky Mount. We had been following the NHL All-Star Game on my Blackberry, with live refresh every 30 seconds. We scanned the AM radio dial at the start of the game to see if we could find it somewhere, but we didn't. When we saw the game was going into overtime, we tried again. My reasoning was that we were close to Raleigh, which at least had a hockey team, so maybe it would be broadcast. Hubby scoffed, but we did find it! We were able to keep the station long enough to hear the call as "our own" Alex Ovetchkin made the game-winning goal for the East. And we had a little party in the van while we were driving up I-95. It probably looked pretty silly to anyone who happened to be passing by at the time... Return of the Jedi was playing on the entertainment system, J-Mav and Keeper Boy were staring at the screen but listening intently to the radio. Hubby and I were watching the road, but listening intently to the radio (because the station was starting to fade). When OV scored, we all threw our hands in the air and screamed "woo hoo!" Like I said, I'm sure it looked ridiculous. Anyway, shortly after that, we found this lovely, newly-built hotel to call home for tonight.
The boys were poking and annoying each other until we stuck them in separate beds to fall asleep (we'll move J-Mav in a minute when we go to bed), Hubby is checking his email, and I am updating the blog. Hmmm... it IS just like home.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Disney Adventure - Day 8
Epcot / Downtown Disney Revisited. And look ma, no coats!!
We had a plan. We sort of stuck to it, but not the way we had intended. The plan was to head back to Epcot and visit the World Showcase so we could see some of the street performers at the different countries (and see the countries in the daylight), come home and relax for little while and let the boys swim, and then head over to Downtown Disney to do our shopping and have dinner. Didn't quite work that way, but we had a GREAT day!!
We arrived at Epcot about 10:30 this morning. It was WAY more crowded than it was on Wednesday. We ran into some characters (the rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, the Evil Queen, some cat from the Aristocats, and Rafiki) and took some pictures, and then stopped by the Test Track ride and grabbed Fast Passes... our first in our now five days at the parks! Our Fast Pass time slot was 12:15 - 1:15pm (which basically means we could come back and jump in the Fast Pass line any time after 12:15. With those secured (and J-Mav already whining about not wanting to go on it because it's fast and scary), we proceeded into the World Showcase, right as it was opening at 11. We went the opposite direction this time, starting at Mexico.
Other than stopping to take pictures, we actually walked past Mexico and Norway because we'd done the rides and checked out the stores in both of those countries on Wednesday night. We explored China a bit, and Keeper Boy took more pictures. His class is studying the dynasties right now, so he'll have some cool photos to take back to school with him.
At the Outpost, we stopped to let the boys play some African drums and watch a man who was carving an elephant out of wood. And then it was on to Germany. Hubby had his picture taken with Snow White, and we stopped to watch the garden railroad that is set up outside Germany. In Italy, I comtemplated purchasing a new nativity set, but decided to pass. After Italy came The American Adventure. We decided not to stop and tour since, well, we live here. :) We did watch the end of a fife and drum performance. The boys seemed to think that was cool.
Then it was on to Japan. We wandered through a Japanese tea garden and then through the stores there. Outside Morocco, we saw Aladdin and Princess Jasmine. The boys weren't interested in visiting with them, but I was going to. However, they went on a break right as we got there. So we explored Morocco and watched a belly dancer perform! Outside France we saw Beast and Belle; however, they were going on a break when we got there, too. We poked around France and then made our way to United Kingdom (where we saw Mary Poppins) as we wanted to see a comedy show that was going to happen. Little did we know, Hubby would end up being one of the stars of the show! He was picked out of the audience to play the role of Sir Galehad (sp?). Hilarity ensued. Keeper Boy was embarassed (and he's not even a teenager yet). I took lots of pictures!!
After that, we moved along to Canada. We wandered around, looked through the stores. It took Keeper Boy a minute (or two) to figure out why there were only t-shirts for Canadian hockey teams. We saw a 360-degree movie about Canada (hosted by Martin Short) and then went back outside and saw a Canadian band perform. They were all wearing kilts. I'm not sure what that was all about. The boys both decided they would never wear a kilt...
After we were tired of listening to the band, we headed back to France to catch one more street performance. It's hard to explain what it was.... a guy who didn't talk, just blew a whistle, and another guy who was, basically, an acrobat. He stacked chairs on whine bottles (which were on a table) and climbed up them and did a handstand. I think it was four chairs, the bottom sitting on four wine bottles, which were sitting on a table. I was nervous for him, but since he does it multiple times each day, I guess he's pretty good at it!
By the time we were done watching that, it was well past our Fast Pass time for the Test Track (sponsored by GM, which you were not allowed to forget throughout or after the ride). J-Mav cried the entire way through the line (which was quite short thanks to jump-toward-the-front-of-the-line-free Fast Pass cards. While we were waiting to get in our car, we saw someone we knew from church/little league. It's a small world after all! We buckled into our car and off we went. The idea of the ride is that you're put through some of the tests that cars go through... rough roads, sudden breaking, hairpin turns, etc. At the end, you go out on the test loop... it goes around the outside of the building very fast on banked track like a race track. It was a very cool ride. We asked J-Mav at the end whether he liked it. His response: "that was NOT cool."
That completed our Disney World parks experience. We walked back out to the car. By this time, it was after 4. Our timeline had slipped significantly. But whatever. No worries. We went straight to Downtown Disney, somehow landed a great parking space in a lot that was supposed to be full, and walked straight to the T-Rex Cafe (the restaurant I wanted to eat at with J-Mav on Monday, but it was too scary). We told him he'd be fine and we were going there. He whined. But Keeper Boy did a good job of keeping him distracted and he was fine once we were inside. We were seated in the Ice Cave. Thankfully, it wasn't icy! The food was really good and we had a fun dinner.
After dinner, we walked around the stores... mostly in the big Disney store that has everything under the sun with Mickey ears on it. We visited a few other places, but the bulk of our time was spent in the one store. We all got a t-shirt, we got some gifts to bring home, we tried on silly hats, J-Mav bought a pirate toy, and I got a photo album for the gagillion pictures we took. I'm thinking I should've gotten two, but I didn't. So I'll either have to narrow our trip down to 200 pictures or less, or buy another (plain) album later.
We decided we are glad we don't have another full day in the parks tomorrow because we're tired. But man did we have a blast! We stopped at the crazy Disney McDonald's on the way home for ice cream, and got back to the condo around 9:30. Hubby took the kids down to the pool for a little while while I started packing up some stuff. Less to do tomorrow morning since checkout is 10am. We are sad to leave just as it's warming up here, and we're not looking forward to the long drive home. But cold and all, it really was a magical week! I love Disney World just as much now as did when I was a kid. And it was great to share it with the boys and see the magic through their eyes. I'm pretty sure we'll be back...
We had a plan. We sort of stuck to it, but not the way we had intended. The plan was to head back to Epcot and visit the World Showcase so we could see some of the street performers at the different countries (and see the countries in the daylight), come home and relax for little while and let the boys swim, and then head over to Downtown Disney to do our shopping and have dinner. Didn't quite work that way, but we had a GREAT day!!
We arrived at Epcot about 10:30 this morning. It was WAY more crowded than it was on Wednesday. We ran into some characters (the rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, the Evil Queen, some cat from the Aristocats, and Rafiki) and took some pictures, and then stopped by the Test Track ride and grabbed Fast Passes... our first in our now five days at the parks! Our Fast Pass time slot was 12:15 - 1:15pm (which basically means we could come back and jump in the Fast Pass line any time after 12:15. With those secured (and J-Mav already whining about not wanting to go on it because it's fast and scary), we proceeded into the World Showcase, right as it was opening at 11. We went the opposite direction this time, starting at Mexico.
Other than stopping to take pictures, we actually walked past Mexico and Norway because we'd done the rides and checked out the stores in both of those countries on Wednesday night. We explored China a bit, and Keeper Boy took more pictures. His class is studying the dynasties right now, so he'll have some cool photos to take back to school with him.
At the Outpost, we stopped to let the boys play some African drums and watch a man who was carving an elephant out of wood. And then it was on to Germany. Hubby had his picture taken with Snow White, and we stopped to watch the garden railroad that is set up outside Germany. In Italy, I comtemplated purchasing a new nativity set, but decided to pass. After Italy came The American Adventure. We decided not to stop and tour since, well, we live here. :) We did watch the end of a fife and drum performance. The boys seemed to think that was cool.
Then it was on to Japan. We wandered through a Japanese tea garden and then through the stores there. Outside Morocco, we saw Aladdin and Princess Jasmine. The boys weren't interested in visiting with them, but I was going to. However, they went on a break right as we got there. So we explored Morocco and watched a belly dancer perform! Outside France we saw Beast and Belle; however, they were going on a break when we got there, too. We poked around France and then made our way to United Kingdom (where we saw Mary Poppins) as we wanted to see a comedy show that was going to happen. Little did we know, Hubby would end up being one of the stars of the show! He was picked out of the audience to play the role of Sir Galehad (sp?). Hilarity ensued. Keeper Boy was embarassed (and he's not even a teenager yet). I took lots of pictures!!
After that, we moved along to Canada. We wandered around, looked through the stores. It took Keeper Boy a minute (or two) to figure out why there were only t-shirts for Canadian hockey teams. We saw a 360-degree movie about Canada (hosted by Martin Short) and then went back outside and saw a Canadian band perform. They were all wearing kilts. I'm not sure what that was all about. The boys both decided they would never wear a kilt...
After we were tired of listening to the band, we headed back to France to catch one more street performance. It's hard to explain what it was.... a guy who didn't talk, just blew a whistle, and another guy who was, basically, an acrobat. He stacked chairs on whine bottles (which were on a table) and climbed up them and did a handstand. I think it was four chairs, the bottom sitting on four wine bottles, which were sitting on a table. I was nervous for him, but since he does it multiple times each day, I guess he's pretty good at it!
By the time we were done watching that, it was well past our Fast Pass time for the Test Track (sponsored by GM, which you were not allowed to forget throughout or after the ride). J-Mav cried the entire way through the line (which was quite short thanks to jump-toward-the-front-of-the-line-free Fast Pass cards. While we were waiting to get in our car, we saw someone we knew from church/little league. It's a small world after all! We buckled into our car and off we went. The idea of the ride is that you're put through some of the tests that cars go through... rough roads, sudden breaking, hairpin turns, etc. At the end, you go out on the test loop... it goes around the outside of the building very fast on banked track like a race track. It was a very cool ride. We asked J-Mav at the end whether he liked it. His response: "that was NOT cool."
That completed our Disney World parks experience. We walked back out to the car. By this time, it was after 4. Our timeline had slipped significantly. But whatever. No worries. We went straight to Downtown Disney, somehow landed a great parking space in a lot that was supposed to be full, and walked straight to the T-Rex Cafe (the restaurant I wanted to eat at with J-Mav on Monday, but it was too scary). We told him he'd be fine and we were going there. He whined. But Keeper Boy did a good job of keeping him distracted and he was fine once we were inside. We were seated in the Ice Cave. Thankfully, it wasn't icy! The food was really good and we had a fun dinner.
After dinner, we walked around the stores... mostly in the big Disney store that has everything under the sun with Mickey ears on it. We visited a few other places, but the bulk of our time was spent in the one store. We all got a t-shirt, we got some gifts to bring home, we tried on silly hats, J-Mav bought a pirate toy, and I got a photo album for the gagillion pictures we took. I'm thinking I should've gotten two, but I didn't. So I'll either have to narrow our trip down to 200 pictures or less, or buy another (plain) album later.
We decided we are glad we don't have another full day in the parks tomorrow because we're tired. But man did we have a blast! We stopped at the crazy Disney McDonald's on the way home for ice cream, and got back to the condo around 9:30. Hubby took the kids down to the pool for a little while while I started packing up some stuff. Less to do tomorrow morning since checkout is 10am. We are sad to leave just as it's warming up here, and we're not looking forward to the long drive home. But cold and all, it really was a magical week! I love Disney World just as much now as did when I was a kid. And it was great to share it with the boys and see the magic through their eyes. I'm pretty sure we'll be back...
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