Disney World Vacation - Back to real life

4.15.18

Tired and sad to go home

We were up at 4:00 (3:00 Central) to gather our belongings and walk out of our Old Key West room to catch the airport Disney shuttle at 5:00. Our flight was still listed as 'on time.' A tired, old bus driver named Popeye picked us up and brought us to MCO airport.

Before take off we were asked to put our phones into airplane mode. When we took them out to do that, Megan had a text from my cousin asking our garage code so her husband Billy could snow blow for us. I texted the code back and went into airplane mode. Once we were 'wheels-down" at MSP I learned that Billy was nice enough to clear our driveway while we were in the air.
This was such a nice gesture it still makes me a little emotional when I think about it.

A bus-full of us were brought to our cars that we left at the park-and-ride. Snow was still falling, and we all knew about the snow storm, but when the bus got to the first car in the lot there was a collective groan at the sight of the high snow, and drifts that we'd all have to deal with just to make our cars drivable. I didn't have a winter coat. I was wearing a hoodie, and scraped and brushed away what I could before heading home.

Ozzie fell asleep in the car. We didn't have any (fresh) groceries, so I picked up a pizza that we ate, and then promptly crashed too.

We don't go on a lot of vacations, but when we do, we go all the way. Last time it was a week-long cruise, and that was over three years ago. This was a trip of a lifetime that Ozzie should remember. We were very lucky to be able to go on this Disney vacation and do all that we did. Writing about it, and posting the pictures was a way for me to re-live it all again, and keep the fun going.

Thanks for reading. 

Disney World Vacation (Day Seven) A day of rest (kind of)

4.14.18

We went to all four Disney parks over five consecutive days. It was fun, and exhausting. Mama was a champion; walking countless miles, and pushing Ozzie in the stroller for most of it. It was nice not to have to wake up to an alarm today. I still woke up at 7:00 (6:00 Central). I guess it was nice knowing that I didn't HAVE to wake up to an alarm today.

I had a Disney Dining Plan quick meal left, and I walked to the resort snack shack and got a breakfast bowl with a biscuit and gravy over potatoes and eggs. I walked back to the room and braved the possible alligators and snakes and ate breakfast on the patio. It was good, and being able to just take my time, and enjoy the morning in the Florida sunshine made it the best meal I ate all week.

High temp was 90 today. We were getting texts and seeing Facebook posts about the weather at home as we dressed for the pool. 18+ inches was falling in MN while this was us:

Ab-so-LUT-ly

We had dinner reservations at a dinosaur-themed restaurant called T. Rex in Disney Springs (Downtown Disney). There was a ferry boat that ran from our resort to Disney Springs. We took the ferry, and the driver of the boat couldn't have been more of a prick. I didn't see his name tag, but I'm sure his name was Dick. 

Disney Springs is a large shopping complex/island with a bunch of restaurants too. T. Rex was obnoxiously loud with its ambient restaurant chatter mixed with constant piped-in dinosaur roars. It was also so dark inside that I used the light on my phone to read the menu. After eating such large portions all week, we each only ordered French onion soup for dinner. It was very good. We were all out of gas at the end of this long week. 

There was a Lego store right next to T. Rex that we took Ozzie through. At 4-years-old he puts together Lego sets for 7+. 

Ozzie and I left the girls to shop, and caught the ferry back to the room. Dick picked us up and took us back, honking the boat's horn every few seconds. We passed other boats that were transporting people that weren't honking their horns. 

Ozzie fell asleep in my bed, and I packed my bags while checking our Sun Country morning flight to see if it was delayed or cancelled as snow still fell at home. I could feel sun burn setting in where the sunscreen washed off in the pool. 

When they got back (they got a different boat driver who was nice as pie) I told them that our flight was still listed as 'on time.' We had to catch our shuttle at 5:00. Megan said "if they cancel the flight, we can sleep in." We didn't learn about the Sun Country-Mexico cancellations until we were home. 

I found this photo on my phone that Megan took

Disney World Vacation (Day Six) Magic Kingdom AGAIN!

4.13.18

Today was our last day in a park. When we were here on Monday we only saw about half of the Magic Kingdom. We planned everything last night before bed, and it was great to know what was where and approximately how long it takes to get places. We planned our work, and worked our plan. It was our busiest, and most efficient park day. This was easily my favorite of all of the parks. 

I was feeling fat and lazy from all of the Disney Dining Plan (DDP) eating, and riding the electric scooter. So I rented my scooter right away, parked it, and walked until I needed to sit and ride. It felt really good to walk. 

We had breakfast in the Beast Castle. I had a $25 glorified donut. It was covered by the dining plan, and was a good start to the day. Out of breakfast Ozzie turned to us and said "I wish we could stay here forever." Hearing him say that made my trip. 

$25 knife-and-fork donut

Beast Castle

We rode Dumbo, The Tea Cups, and It's a Small World all before Mama could get her picture with Tinkerbell (and Ozzie) at 9:30. 

It's A Small World

Definition of Irony: As we were getting on the It's a Small World ride, Megan ran into an old friend from LaCrosse whom she hasn't seen for 22 years.

After Tinkerbell the girls went shopping on Main Street, and I took Ozzie on the Tomorrowland Speedway, and for an ice cream sundae. Going around Disney World with just Ozzie was my favorite time in all of the parks.

As I was looking for Mama we passed a Muppet show that was just going on in the middle of the park. As we watched, Mama met us and we went to lunch on Main Street. They had ridiculously large hot dogs. I just used a DDP snack for some Cuban loaded fries.

After lunch we spent a long time in Tomorrowland, an area we didn't see at all on Monday. We did the Carousel of Progress, Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, The Buzz Lightyear ride (which clearly inspired the Toy Story Mania ride in Hollywood Studios), the People Mover, and Astro Orbiter.

I wanted to get a silhouette portrait of Ozzie, and passed a stand that did them on the way to our last DDP sit down dinner. They don't use a pen or pencil for these. They are cut out free-hand with a scissors, and it only takes about a minute. 

After dinner we had about an hour to ride any last ride we missed, and we hopped around the park getting them in. We wanted a good spot for the fireworks that close the park at the end of the night. As we were looking for a spot, I was riding my scooter feeling emotional that the fun was ending soon. All five senses are tickled the entire time you're in Disney World. You can't help but smile and be happy, and the fireworks would mark the return to real life, and bills, and calories, etc. 

The fireworks were spectacular. A light show is displayed on Cinderella's Castle as the fireworks explode above it. There's music that goes through many different Disney films, along with the light show on the castle. It was a special finale to our happiest week. 

We put in about 13 hours today. We do still have a whole day tomorrow to relax, and swim, and a trip to Disney Springs (Downtown Disney) planed for dinner. We've been waking up at our normal work-time all week, and have been petal-to-the-metal all day, every day. We sure could use a day (or six) off. 

Tomorrow: Fun in the sun in Florida

Disney World Vacation (Day Five) Animal Kingdom

4.12.18

Buses are supposed to pick up every 20 minutes to go to the various parks. We waited for this bus for over 20 minutes, and I finally scheduled a Lyft that, of course, arrived AS the bus to Animal Kingdom arrived. It was okay though, because this was the nicest and friendliest Lyft driver I've ever had. 

This is the largest of the four Disney theme parks in Orlando. It's basically a large zoo with exotic animals, and a few rides. We started with a 22-minute Kilimanjaro Safari. A tour guide took a few dozen of us through the jungle on a truck. We saw giraffes, hippos, crocodiles, and other wildlife. 

There was a Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail that we wanted to do after, but we had a fast pass for arguably the most popular Disney ride: Avatar Flight of Passage, so we booked it to the ride and would come back for the gorillas. We skipped the 155-minute line for Avatar Flight of Passage, and got right in. It's a cool ride where you feel like you're riding on the back of a pterodactyl-like creature flying through the sky. 

We were half-way through the ride when it froze up and quit. It was odd, but they shuffled us out of the broken ride (so they could do whatever version of Control+Alt+Delete they do on a ride), and got us into another room to start over from the beginning. 

From there we went to the Lion King show. I didn't know anything about it going in. I pictured a stupid little 'grade school play,' and boy was I surprised, and delighted at the Vegas-like show. It featured acrobats, trampolines, dancing, music, and floats. It was a 30-minute spectacle to which we all gave a thumbs up. 

I think the icon for this park is an enormous tree in the middle of it. I can't remember what it's called. 

We went to It's Tough to be a Bug, which is in a movie theater with 3-D A Bug's Life characters talking about being a bug on the screen. The theater rained, and dispersed smells, and noises. It was probably cutting-edge technology when it first opened, but I wasn't into it. Ozzie was into everything, and I had the most fun experiencing it all with him. I'd just watch Ozzie loving something, and that made me like it. 

We made our way back to the gorilla trail, but there weren't any gorillas out. We went past a new ride (for which I'd booked a DAS Fast Pass after Avatar): Na'vi River Journey. Again we skipped the 150-minute line and took a lazy river boat ride through the dark with black lights. As the brochure puts it: 'Journey deep into a bioluminescent rainforest in search of the Na'vi Shaman of Songs.' It was weird, and even weirder to me that anyone would wait in line for 2.5 hours to ride this. 

Photo: Attractions Magazine

We spent the least amount of time at this park. Only 10 hours. I'm glad we went, and know that I never have to go to Animal Kingdom again. On the bus ride home Grandma asked Ozzie what he liked about the park. He replied "I didn't like any of it."

Tomorrow: Another day at Magic Kingdom

Disney World Vacation (Day Four) Hollywood Studios

4.11.18

We got to Disney's Hollywood Studios as they opened. Hollywood Studios is a (Disney) movie-themed park. I got my scooter right away, and took in the Hollywood sights.

We did a Star Wars ride called Star Tours first. It featured C3PO taking a room of us through a spaceship battle. The whole room moved like the ship we were in. It was cool.

Having MS, I qualified for a special DAS (Disability Access Service) Fast Pass that I could use to avoid standing in line in the heat. The Fast Pass line for any ride would give me a time to come back, and that one Fast Pass was good for the night, until my whole party used it, and then I could book another one. Disney is very accommodating for disabilities, and I never felt singled-out or frowned-upon. There's even lots of room and access everywhere for the scooter I rode. Happiest place on Earth.  

Although here I was starting to feel like I wanted to walk more. Grandma rode the scooter for about half of the time this day, and I felt good moving around. I was also happy to have the scooter/seat when I needed it. 

As the rest of them wandered the Star Tours gift shop, I dashed to the most popular ride: Toy Story Mania and booked a DAS Fast Pass for it. They're opening a whole new section of park dedicated to Toy Story in June. Toy Story is my favorite Disney film. Hollywood Studios has a whole 'Pixar Place' section where this ride is housed. Here I saw three of the green Army men from Toy Story marching down the street. They were painted fully green, and it was my favorite thing I saw. 

We had lunch at a 50s diner where the staff gives you a hard time. Our server was really nice, and sprinkled in a few barbs at Grandma (You eat too much salt. Your doctor doesn't like that.), and Mama whom he made eat one more bite (and fed it to her) before clearing our plates. 

This diner had milkshakes! I had a chocolate shake with lunch, and then got their signature peanut butter and jelly shake for dessert. I didn't taste the jelly. It was basically a peanut butter milkshake that we all tried, but I didn't finish. I am glad I got it. 

Our server warned "No Tower for an hour" as he dropped off the bill. The Tower of Terror is a Twilight Zone haunted elevator that drops and speeds upwards, and likely makes you sick if you've just eaten. 

We went to our Toy Story Mania Fast Pass ride, and it was Ozzie and my favorite ride for the whole trip. It typically has a 100-150 minute wait in line. I liked the ride a lot, but I can't think of anything for which I'd stand in line for over an hour (or even 30 minutes).

Ozzie went through 'Jedi Training' and defeated Kylo Ren.

It was in Hollywood Studios that I bought my Mickey dad-hat to keep the sun out of my eyes. 

Grandma took Ozzie back so we could go on grown-up rides. We rode the 'Rock N Rollercoaster' which features Aerosmith (for some reason). It takes off at about 60 MPH and speeds through corkscrews and loop-the-loops in pitch-darkness as Dude Looks Like a Lady blares into your ears from your seat back. It was fun, but turned my stomach. 

I had a Fast Pass to do the Tower of Terror, but no one would go with me. I almost went alone, but I was ill from the Aerosmith coaster, so I skipped it. I don't regret missing it. 

This felt like the smallest of all of the parks. Still quite large, but we got thought the whole park with time to spare (before closing). I liked Hollywood Studios a lot. 

Ozzie got a "Wishing Star' at Cinderella's dinner on Monday. Today he asked when his wish was going to come true? 

Wanna know his wish? "That all of the bad guys in jail will die before the police can kill them." 

Tomorrow: Disney's Animal Kingdom