I think we’re ready, at least everything is checked off on my “to do” list.
Tentative plan is to make a big loop of Colorado, culminating in Motocross of Nations in Denver Sunday after next!
Two weeks worth of fun crammed into 9 days, sounds like a typical Falcioni vacation!
Day 1, Saturday January 30th:
Mike uses his time before our flight wisely, studying Spanish!
Up at o-dark-thirty for our 8am flight, everything is smooth sailing and we arrive at Magical Express around 8pm just as a bus is getting ready to leave, we load our luggage and hop on board. We’re at Pop Century by 8:45, I’d used online check-in and only had to wait for one person in front of me.
We got our favorite lakeside first-floor 60’s section, and 15 minutes later the gal from WeGoShop turned up with our food.
I can’t say enough about this service, it was so easy and worked flawlessly. We’d used Sunray in the past and done the grocery stop, but utilizing ME (Magical Express) and WeGoShop saved us nearly $70. I did miss that special feeling of being picked up at the airport by our own private driver, but the savings was enough to pay for dinner at Boma, so this time it was worth it.
After putting away our groceries, we donned bathing suits and headed to the pool. This is our third stay at Pop, and our FIRST time in the pool! Told you we’re weird. Washing away the tension and airplane smell was sure wonderful, although the walk back to the room was brisk!
Early to bed, ready for Animal Kingdom rope drop tomorrow (Rope Drop = Gate opening, or second “ceremonial” rope that Disney has in all parks every morning).
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Day 2, Sunday January 31st:
Darned alarm went off at 3am, well okay it SAYS 6am, but my brain is still on Pacific time. Old bones move slow, and it takes us awhile to get in the groove, I get snacks and sandwiches packed in our backpacks, a bagel for breakfast and we’re off to get some coffee-like-substance at the food court. Mike brings Folgers singles and adds them to the mix, I just make a conglomeration of Disney hot chocolate, creamer, and that coffee stuff.
Even with a slow start, we’re first in line at rope drop. They’ve changed the morning show, having the truck with Minnie and friends greet us at the park entrance instead of at second rope drop after the bridges onto the island. I miss the old ceremony, always thought it was cool.
Animal Kingdom Opening Ceremony
We grab FP (FP=Fast Pass) for Safari, then ride. Our safari driver is awesome, had so much information I’d never known before. One thing he asked, “does anyone know the name for a group of Cheetahs?”, one quick fellow answered “Poker Players!” Real answer? Coalition.
My favorite though is a Bloat of Hippos!
Hippo Yawn. Ducks Unimpressed
Tiger yawn on command!
I asked the Tapir to yawn and all she did was stick out her tongue at me.
Since Mike has motion sickness, I’ll do EE (Expedition Everest) using the single rider line later in the day. This trip I wasn’t as into the big rides as I normally am, but enjoyed doing things as a couple more. Don’t get me wrong, I still got in multiple runs on all the mountains, just not as much as years past.
Focus Dude! It's the Crush man.
Finding Nemo the Musical is our favorite show in Disney World. Don’t miss it – even if you think a musical with puppets about fish sounds completely stupid, it’s really quite neat. We caught the first show, then I made the Mike watch FOTLK (Festival of the Lion King) which for some reason he says just isn’t that cool to him – weird since he loves Cirque Du Soliel, and this show has that same feel to me.
Festival of the Lion King
I consider AK (Animal Kingdom) the prettiest of all parks in the daytime. Unfortunately the freeze earlier in the month had really taken a toll on the plants, there were no flowers and many dormant trees. But leave it to Disney to make everything still look beautiful, if we hadn’t been before, we’d never have noticed the difference. Besides the foliage, the buildings here are just so amazing, the detail that went into park design is astonishing, and I notice new things every time we go.
Animal Kingdom Art
Old or new? Imagineers are so darned good at this stuff
We stayed at AK until close at 5pm, then hopped to HS (Hollywood Studios) just to catch Fantasmic!. It’s been 3 years since we’ve seen this show, mainly because we just didn’t want to deal with the crowds. This time with cooler weather, plus 7 and 8:30pm shows we figured we’d do okay.
I’d planned on wandering around until we got in line for the 8:30 show, but we decided to check the lines for the 7pm show, and ended up walking right in and sitting down at the back in the center, perfect!
We both really enjoyed F!, Mike didn’t remember it at all, and was surprised at how much he enjoyed it. I love it because they haven’t taken the evil completely out. There’s something much more satisfying about goodness and light when it’s juxtaposed with dark evil dragons and lots of fire and brimstone!
Fantasmic
Fantasmic
You’ll probably notice I’m not mentioning where we ate or what we had – mainly because I figured you’re not that interested in my reviews of Nutra Grain bars, PB&J sandwiches, almonds and dried fruit. We bring our own food into the parks – not to say we don’t “supplement our diet” with Disney treats though!
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Day 3, Monday February 1st:
EPCOT rope drop! Routine is getting easier, and we made it to the park gates waaaaay too early, oh well. Better early than late.
Norm!
Met the neatest CM at second rope; Norm was funny and had some cute tricks up his sleeve, keeping the kids and adults entertained while we waited. Soarin’ stampede, Mike goes to grab some FP’s and I get in standby line. After he’s done his FP duties, my motion-sickness-prone hubby heads to a soft bench and takes a little nap while I ride.
At around 10am, the skies open up and it POURS rain. We’re ready and our Columbia raincoats do their job. I LOVE these coats. They’ve been everywhere with us, Alaska, Newfoundland, Florida, they pack small and never leak. Super comfy and well-vented enough that I don’t feel like I’m stewing in my own juices after wearing them awhile.
This is the very first time we’ve experienced rain at a Disney park (crazy, huh?), and what the experts say is right, the place clears out! The rest of the day is so quiet it’s a little spooky.
After watching Miyuki make a beautiful candy dragon, we head to Morocco and the Tangierine Cafe for dinner.
Miyuki creates fantasy candy and lots of laughs
Mmmmgood!
We get our spot in front of Germany for Illuminations about 15 minutes before showtime and not a single soul is standing around us. Nada.
It's quiet, too quiet!
I can see maybe 200 people standing by Norway, and that’s it. It’s like this until maybe 5 minutes to showtime. It was cool not being smushed in by crowds while watching fireworks, definitely a rare treat!
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Day 4, Tuesday February 2nd:
Magic Kingdom Rope Drop. Weather report says clouds AM with showers likely, so we pack the raincoats again. As the train pulls into the station during the opening show, the clouds rip open and drop buckets of rain on us; it has gone from light clouds to POURING rain in two seconds! Abdool, the CM who’s guarding the rope moves under the arch and yells at us to follow him, we cram probably 200 people in and watch the rain pound deserted Main Street beyond. Countdown done, we duck and head into the deluge.
Quiet streets, except for the sound of pouring rain!
After grabbing Fast Passes for BTMRR (Big Thunder Mountain Railroad) and NOT riding it (to heck with touring plans, it’s pouring rain!), we go looking for indoor entertainment. At 10am the rain has lifted and we take the first raft over to Tom’s Island to see if there are any paintbrushes laying around. Sure enough, those lazy fence painters have dropped ‘em all over, so not wanting to leave any litter behind, we pick one up and hand it to a cast member. He’s so darned proud he gives us a certificate good for two Mickey Bars ;)
The park stays way below normal crowd levels until late in the afternoon, so we hang out and enjoy BTMRR and everything else with no waits at all. Our competitive streak comes out and we end up riding Buzz Lightyear a bunch of times, trying to beat each others score.
Two crazed middle-aged kids!
Afternoon brings blue sky and warm weather, an amazing change from this morning’s monsoon.
Cinderella's castle and blue sky, perfect!
By 2:30 we decide to hop the boat to Grand Floridian (really nice boat captain, we had fun joking about his “Mickey Mouse” captain’s credentials) and then on to Downtown Disney. We grab some gifts for friends at the $10 and under store, then let our inner child out at Disney Quest until around 10pm, then back to the room for some well-deserved sleep.
Downtown Disney sunset
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Day 5, Wednesday February 3rd:
Halfway through our vacation already, Noooooooooooo!!!
After getting over my crying jag and depression that we’ll be leaving the Mouse behind in a few days, we headed to the food court for breakfast. At 8am one of the CM’s came around with those ubiquitous “Do The Twist” signs to drum up a likely cast of characters. This is so much fun to watch, especially when the kids con their parents into joining in.
C'mon Baby, do the twist!
On an “adult” level, I try to analyze why so many people enjoy returning to Disney World time and again, and why so many different types of people are happy here. I think the main reason is Disney knows not all things suit all people, and they offer a massive variety of entertainment to suit these multitudes of tastes and age levels. If the Twist isn’t your thing, then maybe tea at Grand Floridian will strike your fancy.
Another thing Disney does better than anyone else is to somehow keep relatively low-paid employees feeling like what they do here makes a difference. We’ve met so many caring and dynamic Disney team members over the years it’s amazing, and really does add something very special to our memories of this place.
This morning we’re off to Hollywood Studios and our very first attempt at Toy Story Midway Mania (TSMM). I’d avoided this new ride last year because I was afraid it would be too much for Mike’s motion sickness, however, after reassurance from all my awesome Tour Guide Mike buddies, we decided to give it a try. We fared pretty well in the stampede, got Fast Passes, and then got in line.
Mr. Potato Head
Get ready for a really BIG trip down memory lane.
I LOVED the ride, and it didn’t bother Mike’s motion sickness at all. Mike was less thrilled about it, still lovin’ Buzz Lightyear more. I’m like “What! Really? No Way!” After 3 more rides, he likes it better, but still not as much as Buzz, says he feels that TSMM doesn’t require as much skill.
I’ve never taken Mike through the Standby lines at Tower of Terror or Rockin’ Rollercoaster, so this time he goes with me to see the theming. He’s very impressed with Tower, especially since he loved Twilight Zone growing up. Of course, before we actually load in the ride car, Mike tells a Cast Member he decided not to ride and gets to see the “Chicken” exit. After the ride, I find him talking to an older CM at the photo booth, which I’d never really looked at before, but is full of radio and transmitter equipment from the 1930’s. Amazing stuff, and this sweet CM even shows us a hidden Mickey. So neat!
Can you find the Hidden Mickey?
Of course, the only thing Mike is interested in with Rockin’ Rollercoaster is the vintage Triumph motorcycle in the load area. I give him the camera and he gets some nice shots of it before exiting. Shallow person I am, I’m just in it for the music and the loops.
Mike's trying to figure out a way to get that headlight.
Most people look for Hidden Mickeys at Disney World, my husband looks for Hidden Motorcycles.
Today is beautiful, sunny and warm. Hollywood Studios has beautifully detailed theming, but it’s easy to miss. Subdued and carefully crafted to reflect the nostalgic era of the golden age of movies, little touches are everywhere if you have the time to stop and look around.
Reflections on a sunny day
The weather is warming up, and we’re ready for some waterpark action. Although the cast member from Jamaica thinks we’re crazy, we don our suits and head for one of the world’s largest wave pools. Although many people think Blizzard Beach is better, we love Typhoon Lagoon, mainly for this great wave pool.
The wave pool is one place where Mike works harder at having fun than I do. When he stops paddling, he sinks like a lead weight. I, on the other hand, have my own er…. “floatation devices” and bob like a cork without expending any effort. I could float here for hours, so relaxing….until that horn sounds and you hear an ominous rumble and suddenly a 7’ wave is rushing towards you. Wheeeeeeee!!! Gurgle, gurgle, cough, cough…again!!!!
Happy in the sunshine at Typhoon Lagoon
Another super-fun thing at Typhoon Lagoon is Crush N’ Gusher, the water coaster. Unless you like the feeling of your rear getting beat by rolling pins, lift your bottom up while you’re going through the uphill parts. Other than that, this is quite a kick, with some neat unexpected air time and twisty hairpin turns.
There’s so few people here today it’s a little eerie, one of the tube slides is so dry I had to push myself forward a bit until I got a wave going ahead of the tube, which splashed just enough water on the side walls to keep me going.
Weather is maybe 75 degrees with a very slight breeze, and we’re both comfortable and not chilly. We hang out until 4:30, hit the showers and then it’s off to Magic Kingdom for some fireworks.
We haven’t seen Wishes in a few years, again mainly because of the crowds. Fireworks start at 8pm, so we play until nearly 7:30 then head to the flagpole. This is our compromise between a good viewing spot and Mike not having to wade through crowds after the show. We end up front and center, and have a great view. Both of us really enjoy Wishes, more than I remember. There is something very special about the nostalgic soundtrack playing, paired with awe-inspiring fireworks exploding over that beautiful castle lit with an ever-changing rainbow of colors.
Main Street after dark
Fireworks over the castle
A perfect ending to a great day. And no rain!
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Day 6, Thursday February 4th:
Our second Animal Kingdom morning. Today there’s some special guests to carry the rope, some Cast Members from Tokyo Disney! Makes me wonder what they think of all the property Disney World takes up, seems like it would be even more overwhelming to them than it is to us.
Walking next to us is a kid who’s over 7’ tall, it’s a little wild to see the juxtaposition between him and the young Asian kids, think of the engineering that has to go into building ride vehicles to fit both sizes! Amazing.
The long and short of it!
Sunny day with a few clouds in the sky, the light is great for quick photos on the Safari.
Articulated Giraffe
Articulated Giraffe and Scimitar Horned Oryx
Mike's getting up-close and personal with the fauna.
Afterward we walk both trails and get to see some amazing Hippo play-fighting. It’s truly wondrous how graceful and quick these behemoths are under water.
Hippo Love
And I learned that they do most of their eating at night on land. Could you imagine coming up to a heard of hippos grazing on the plains in the middle of the night? I’d definitely wonder if I’d eaten the wrong pill and gone down the rabbit hole with Alice.
We want to catch Nemo one more time, and are hurrying to the theater when we see DeVine! Awesome! We’ve never caught her before, and she is just as cool and unusual as I’d hoped. There is an ethereal calm about her that seems to wash over the surrounding area, like the quiet center of a storm.
DeVine
Devine
After Nemo, it’s 1pm and warm enough for another dip in that big Lagoon, so we head over to the water park. There’s a few more people here today, still not crowded, but not the ghost town it was yesterday. There’s a bit of a breeze, so we’ve got to stay in the water to keep warm. We float on the lazy river, and spend the rest of the afternoon catching waves.
Back to the room for a shower and we’re ready for our one “real” dinner, Boma! Mike is a vegetarian, and Boma has a massive selection of wonderful foods for him to choose from, makes him feel like he’s getting his money’s worth.
Our reservation is for 6:30, and as we’re walking towards the busses I realize Animal Kingdom is going to be closing in 5 minutes, there’s no way a bus will be going from the resorts to the park. So, how to get to Animal Kingdom Lodge? Hmmmm. Downtown Disney is always the go-to, but in the wrong direction, next would be Hollywood Studios. As I’m thinking out loud, a bus pulls up to the Animal Kingdom stop to let people off, we decide to ask the driver, just in case he’s headed back that way. He says he’s not, but then asks where we’re going and we tell him the Lodge. He says “Hop on, I’ll take you there”. Okay! So, we have our own personal massive taxi take us right to Animal Kingdom Lodge. This is the kind of wonderful magic Disney Cast Members make happen all the time. I LOVE this place!
Animal Kingdom Lodge
We get to our table, and who helps us but Joanne, our very favorite Cast Member of all! This sweet lady lost her husband to cancer a few years ago, we grieved with her last year, and were so happy to see her smiling face here again. She’s looking great, and uses her spare time to rehabilitate abandoned miniature dogs.
Joanne
We have a wonderful meal, and eat way too much. I think I’m still full! The desserts are my favorite part; tiny selections let you taste everything without being too piggy. My favorites are the carmel apple thingy, and the Zebra Domes, but they were all exceptional.
Can’t go back and try to sleep on our overly-full stomachs, so it’s off to Downtown Disney and Disney Quest. Pinball is exercise, right?
Another full day done, we ride home tired and happy, reflecting on happy times and trying to forget this journey’s closer to its end than its beginning.
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Day 7, Friday February 5th:
We started again at Magic Kingdom this morning. Because of Mike’s motion sickness, many other parks are somewhat limited for him in terms of “fun” rides, not so here! From Big Thunder to Splash (when it’s working!), all the beautiful original castle rides, silly Pooh and bouncing with Tigger, a little healthy competition with Buzz Lightyear, to a nice nap in Carousel of Progress or Hall of Presidents. Basically the only thing he can’t do here is Space Mountain.
Hey, where'd that stowaway come from?
The only bummer is the crowds, which can get big even during the slow season in the afternoons and early evening. Oh, and the seagulls. I freakin’ hate those birds! Darned aggressive scavengers hang out mainly in Frontierland just waiting for someone holding a hot dog or popcorn so they can swoop in and nab a bite. Yuck. I’m not a fussy person, but I just think this is gross, and I wish Disney could do something about it.
Now if they could replace all the gulls with rabbits, I’d totally be for it. I love our Pop Century bunnies, so cool to see them hopping around the pathways, using the grassy areas like their personal smorgasbord. In my perfect world, all seagulls would be replaced with rabbits. Hmmm, this might cause some overpopulation issues, how about all girl bunnies?
On our bus ride to Magic Kingdom as we’re going past Contemporary Resort, our bike radar goes off and our heads whip around just in time to see something that looks old and shiny parked out front. Mike makes me promise we’ll walk over and take a look when we’re ready to hop.
Probably because the weather is better (no torrential downpours), Magic Kingdom is much busier today than day’s previous. Not a big deal, just that by noon we’re ready to move on. Well, I’m ready to move on, Mike is officially kicking my rear at Buzz Lightyear – like nearly double my score a couple of times. I’m starting to make up excuses like“my trigger’s sticky”, “you’re not moving the car so I can hit the good targets”, “waaaah!”, they’re not working and I leave the park down probably 4 games to 1.
Warning! Hidden Mickey in Sector 1
We walk over to Contemporary, where we find the bike. It’s a 1973 Honda CB750 that someone has spent an inordinate amount of time and money making into something extremely cool. This is one awesome bike! We left a business card hoping they’d get in touch with us, always neat to hook up with fellow moto-heads, especially talented ones.
We grab the Hollywood Studios bus from the Contemporary and make it there in time to catch both Lights Motors Action (guess what, we really like this one!) and Indiana Jones.
Look, more bikes!
Only impressive when you realize these guys are going probably 40mph, and the guy in front is driving backwards.
Hey, good news! You've got a job at Disney World. Bad news, it requires being set on fire twice a day.
We haven’t done the Backlot Tour since refurb last year, so we hop in line. Just as we’re getting to the first demo area, it starts pouring rain, by the time we get on the tour cars it’s really coming down. Unbeknownst to me, rain cuts this tour down to just a quick drive through the old props, and completely cuts out Catastrophe Canyon. Pretty lame!
We use our fastpasses for Toy Story, and Mike is enjoying it more with every ride, so now instead of complaining about it being childish, he’s complaining that he can’t ride it more because the line is long! Next year I’ll have to figure out a better way to maximize each set of fastpasses so he has less to complain about.
We wander towards the exit at dusk, just as the rain is letting up a beautiful rainbow appears over the Crossroads statue at the park entrance. Beautiful!
Mickey directs a rainbow for our viewing pleasure
We call it an early night, taking a few minutes to walk over to the 90’s section of Pop Century and go up to the top story to see what kind of view we might get of the space shuttle launch Sunday morning. We pick our spots and head back to the room, but not before taking a few minutes to mess with Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head.
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Day 8, Saturday February 6th:
Last full day in the parks, so we leave the room and find the dreaded ENVELOPE OF PAIN AND SEPARATION handing from our door. “Waaaaaaaaahhhhh, I don’t wannna go!” Okay, I pull it together because even the bunnies are staring at the middle-aged lady throwing a tantrum, and we head to our regularly scheduled appointment with Disney Coffee-like substance, Shaun the Sheep, and bagels.
I have an ugly little secret to divulge. I have developed an affinity for Shaun the Sheep. I totally look forward to this cartoon every morning while we’re drinking coffee in the Food Court. I really like the cartoonist’s sense of humor, and since there’s no talking, it’s easy to understand when you’re watching TV with no sound. One of my favorite times at Disney is that quiet few minutes eating breakfast, listening to Hall and Oats and watching Shaun’s shenanigans.
After my Shaun fix, we’re off to EPCOT. Weather is sunny but TV said we should have some “lake effect wind” whatever that is. The park is crowded with tour groups, some Brazilians and some dance teams. This really messes with ride wait times because all it takes is two groups in line and what should be a 10 minute wait is suddenly 60 minutes.
I’m able to ride Soarin’, then we both head to Living with the Land. We enjoy this laid-back look at gardening and hydroponics, although Mike is sorely tempted to step off that boat and start grazing, I’m able to hold him back by pointing out the security cameras located throughout the dome.
Mikey likes him some habaneros
We’ve got a date with a turtle, and have fun laughing in amazement at Turtle Talk with Crush. The technology is so cool I think most people don’t even think about how hi-tech this show is.
Turtle Talk
Afterwards we find Mike a warm bench in the sun and I head to Mission Space, my all-time favorite ride at DW, mainly because it doesn’t feel like a ride, it feels to me like we’re really blasting off, encountering weightlessness, and the whole thing. Tons of amusement parks have centrifuge-based rides, leave it to Disney to elevate it to something more than a ride and create an experience.
Next I do Test Track using single-rider line, here again the tour groups have made the Fast Pass return line a nearly 50-minute wait. Crazy! So happy Disney offers Single Rider for this one, and I’m through and out in about 15 minutes. I like Test Track, but not enough to wait at all for it.
I head back to Mission Space, where standby Orange is now 50 minutes. I sit next to my sleeping hubby on the bench and eat some lunch while I watch the exit. Soon I see a huge batch of dance team members exit, and I go back and check the ride line – it’s now inside the main building so I know I’ve only got a 10-minute wait from that point. Even though the sign still shows 50 minutes, I’m loading in about 9 minutes.
I wave a sad goodbye to Mission Space, and we head towards World Showcase. That “lake effect” wind they talked about has really kicked up, blowing cooler air off the lagoon and whipping around us.
Torii Gate
For some reason, this makes our usually lazy and enjoyable stroll through the Showcase not fun at all. We’re both irritable and out-of-sorts. Mike asks if we can hop to Animal Kingdom and I say Sure! It was the best idea, the big trees and tight trails of Animal Kingdom took away all the wind and we had a wonderful afternoon.
Focusing on things we hadn’t done yet, we took the Discovery Trail around the back side of the Tree of Life and had so much fun watching the Kangaroos and other animals here. The path was darned near deserted, the weather was warm, and the sun was shining, just a beautiful and relaxing time.
NeNe Goose
Perfect lighting makes it easy to appreciate the gorgeous artwork on the Tree of Life, and we have such fun pointing out different animals to each other, trying to find the more esoteric and well-hidden beasts.
We hadn’t seen Flights of Wonder in a few years, so we went to catch their last show of the day. Lucky enough to get some seats right up front, we had a perfect view and thoroughly enjoyed it. For some reason, Flights of Wonder didn’t strike a cord with us the first time we saw it, but this time it just suited our mood so well, it was perfect.
Eurasian Eagle Owl
Gray-Crowned Crane in flight
It’s funny how every trip we have a different favorite. One year we’ll ride Thunder Mtn Railroad 20 times, another trip we can’t get enough of the waterparks, this trip it was Buzz Lightyear and our quiet unplanned afternoon here at Animal Kingdom.
After a final viewing of It’s Tough to Be a Bug,
Hopper from It's Tough to Be a Bug
we slowly made our way out of the park and back “home”. I needed to get everything packed and we’d be getting up at 4am for the Shuttle launch, so an early night was definitely called for.
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Day 9, Sunday February 7th:
Leaving the mouse behind today and traveling back to the “real world”. Sigh.
Last night I was able to get one suitcase totally packed and the other nearly done. The alarm goes off at 4am, and we throw on some warm clothes, grab the camera and head to our pre-selected spot to watch the Space Shuttle launch. We wait, and continue waiting. Nothing. We see other people waiting too. Still nothing. Bummer. We head back to the room 15 minutes after the scheduled launch time, only to find out later that morning the launch was delayed 24 hours. Well thanks a whole-freakin’-lot CNN for not mentioning that at 4am!
We crawl in bed for an hour’s nap, then get back up at 6am and complete our packing.
Now it’s our turn for the “walk of shame”, hanging our heads as we mope towards baggage check holding our Magical Express paperwork. Everyone knows you’re leaving, no one wants to make eye contact, so sad. Well, at least we’ll have our final morning at Magic Kingdom to soften the blow.
We drop the luggage at resort-to-airport check-in and head out for our final dose of Mickey magic.
We spent the morning doing our favorites, finishing up with 3 rides on Buzz Lightyear (Mike clobbered me), then it’s our last time through the turnstiles, and our final Mikey-hand wave goodbye and we’re officially on our way back to the “real world”.
TTFN!
Magical Express (ME) picks us up and drops us at MCO, we’re through security, our plane’s on time, and by 8pm we’re back in Portland. Only our luggage had such a wonderful time it’s decided to stay in Florida! Well, rats.
Southwest says they’ll get it in the next morning and FedEx it to us (what, no UPS? Mike is truly offended!). In the end, it doesn’t show up until Wednesday, but we survived. Next time though we’ll load the luggage on ME ourselves, as that transfer from the resort to the airport was the hitch.
Our awesome Sister-in-Law Sue picks us up at the airport and we’re in our car by 9:30 and home in Central Oregon at midnight. We say a quick hello to the cats, feed them some treats and fall into bed nearly 24 hours after waking up the previous morning! Next day it’s off to work, and we both agree we’ll get a Saturday flight next year, we’re getting too old for these all-nighters!
Looking back, we had a great time. Every Disney vacation is different, and we’ve experienced quite a few variations in our four years, from stomach flu (two years ago), to showing my brother’s family the world (last year), to weather variations of heat, wind, rain and freezing temperatures. Even with all these, Disney is still our most relaxing and guaranteed-fun-time vacation. We love being able to hand over the driving to someone else, not worry about serious problems (say, like a motorcycle break-down on an island in another country), and simply focus on each other and our time together.
I’m so glad we have the ability and means to create many different types of adventures with our vacation time, and I hope that Disney will be included in these plans for years to come. There’s no way to know what the future holds, and as I get older, I realize how temporary and ephemeral this life (and lifestyle) really are. This makes me appreciate good times so much more, and Disney World is definitely a very good time!
We had such a great vacation last week. Nothing crazy, different, or earth shattering, just fun.
Falcioni 'Tour Route'
Before we left, we serched for options besides driving our 15-year-old 240k+ Stanza, but airline flights didn’t happen when we needed them, and rental car prices are through the roof (this makes no sense to me, everything else about travel is cheap now). After exhausting all the ‘easy’ possibilities, we resigned ourselves to driving. It’s not that we don’t love a good road trip, it’s just the drive back is such hell.
On the ‘schedule’ (I use that term loosely) was Zion with our friends Thomas and Susan, a night with them at their place in Ivins (near St. George Utah), then down to Laughlin for a few days of scoping out property prices in Bullhead and Fort Mojave. Our final three days would be in Las Vegas.
Hotel rooms are cheap. If you’ve ever had a jones to see Vegas, do it now! I’m in the process of creating a Vegas on the Cheap page like our Disneyworld page – hopefully I’ll get that done soon and post it here – but until then, go to Vegas before prices rise! How cheap is it? We stayed in a 3-star hotel 1/2 block off-strip for $35 a night – during a weekend. A few years ago, this same room would have cost us more than $170 a night on Friday and Saturday, and probably $90 or more during the week.
I’m getting ahead of myself though! Our first day was just driving the 800+ miles to Cedar City. Arriving there after dark, the Stratford Court Hotel Cedar City parking lot was deserted. Not very welcoming! Fortunately, the room was nice, and by morning other guests were in evidence. The free breakfast was worth the cost of admission – they had everything including fresh waffles.
We met up with Thomas and Susan outside Zion and got into the park around 8am. We needed an early start since temps would be rising into the 90′s later today. Our goal was Hidden Canyons Trail http://www.zionnational-park.com/zion-hidden-canyon-trail.htm although it did have some exposed faces, information we saw showed it as not nearly as crazy as Angels Landing (which we did a few years back). This turned out to be an excellent choice, and this quiet trail led not only to a great viewpoint over the canyon, but back into a slot canyon with sheer walls and hanging gardens.
Mike, Thomas & Susan
After that, and a short trip down Riverside Walk, we headed back to the car and towards Ivins and Thomas and Susan’s house.
The next morning we said goodby to T&S and cruised down to Laughlin and Harrahs. This was the one hotel I was a bit worried about – I’d pricelined it for $20 a night. Fortunately we were pleasantly astonished at this great place. Check in service was efficient and friendly, we did have to change rooms when our first room had an odd smell, and they took care of it instantly. The room was very nice, and the best part is the NON-SMOKING section of the casino! Fully half of this property is non-smoking. A very welcome and unexpected amenity! Buffet here was excellent also.
So, why were we in Laughlin? We’ve driven through this area a few times, and thought it would be a great place to own some bare property for future snowbirding after retirement. Now that prices have dropped, it seemed like a good time to get serious. We found out that although prices have dropped in Bullhead/Ft. Mojave area, bare property still commands amounts we’re not willing to spend. We looked a bit further afield, and also put in our name with some realtors. We’ll wait and see if something shows up.
After our “realty check” we decided to head over to Oatman and spend the day with a bunch of asses – er – burros.
This little old mining town on Route 66 has grown into a quirky artist community that caters to locals of the four-legged variety. The burros are descendents of miners helpers from years’ past, and now spend time wandering town and begging for carrots. It’s a fun spot and we really enjoyed ourselves. We took Route 66 on the way back and stopped at an old homesite along the way. This was a gorgeous and quiet drive through the late afternoon desert sun.
The next morning we got up and headed into Vegas, and again to a Priceline hotel deal. Royal Resorts is a timeshare property 1/2 block from the strip and next to the Wynn. This was a very well-appointed hotel and our room was excellent. The location was perfect, with easy entrance and exit on Convention Center Drive.
Our next stop in town was at Tix4Tonight – they sell discount tickets for that evening’s shows. We decided to skip the show this evening, but try again tomorrow morning. Next we headed to Stratosphere for our all-time favorite lunch. Salads and dessert at 900′! After lunch we went out to the observation deck, and watched the crazy people ride Insanity – a rotating swing ride which would be pretty tame on the ground, but its location 900′ above the strip does add a bit to the intensity. Mike challenged me to ride it, and for some stupid reason I called his bluff. Before I could chicken out, we’d bought tickets and next thing I know I’m seated in this ride, held in by a lap bar and being swung out over the abyss. I kept my eyes open for the start of the ride, but I’ll admit I had them tight closed when the ride chairs tipped us facing downwards. Definitely the scaryiest thing I’ve done in forever!
We spent the evening downtown, watching some great shows on the Freemont Street Experience (Don McLean’s American Pie is awesome) and drinking $1 margaritas (stay away from Brain Freeze, it’s made from Everclear)!
The next day after some hemming and hawing, we decided to get 1/2 price tickets for Peepshow with Mel B and and Kelly Monaco. Mike and I agreed the show was okay – there were some good bits, but overall nothing really impressed us as different or interesting. It would have been a good show at $30, but some folks were paying over $100 a ticket for this one. We stopped by Arlen Ness Motorcycles, and had a great time touring their property and oogling the bike art. Even if custom isn’t your thing, this is a great place to waste an hour.
For our last day in town, we again stopped by Tix4Tonight and picked up cheap seats for Nathan Burton, a magician and comedian. We enjoyed the heck out of this show, which was worth way more than the price of admission. Fun, interesting and unusual – Mike and I both highly recommend this one!
The next morning we got an early start and were driving past the last few houses on the outskirts of Vegas by 6am. This drive is Mike’s absolute least favorite. For some reason, it always seems like the never-ending trip down long straight nothing. By early evening, we were happy to get home with the cats and have a day to relax before getting back in the work swing.
Had a great time playing by ourselves for the first few days, then an excellent time showing ‘our’ parks to my Brother and his family. The nephews really seemed to have a good time, and Mike didn’t break any of them even once!
Although we’d heard doom and gloom about low attendance numbers, you couldn’t prove it by us. Mike and I both felt there were about the same amount of people in the parks and at the resorts as we’d seen in previous years.
We also spent a day at Kennedy Space Center, which was amazing. Mike said it wasn’t really his ‘thing’, but he enjoyed it. I loved it! The movies and displays really showed how incredibly lucky we were to make it to the moon. Our technology was so basic, I think it was a case of ‘beginners luck’ the first time!
Our timing was perfect for the weather. Mike and I got there as a cold front was leaving, our first day in the park was chilly, we wore windbreakers and gloves most of the day. The next day was warm enough to forgo the gloves, then day after Mike was wearing shorts, and by Saturday is was hot! We had beautiful sunny weather until about an hour before our departure from Disneyworld on Thursday afternoon, when it clouded up and started raining. It rained most of the way to Cocoa Beach, but then the sun broke through the clouds and we had a warm fun evening playing on the beach.
Friday morning we woke to rain, but grabbed our raincoats and happily headed to Kennedy Space Center, where most of the exhibits are indoors. By 4pm the rain had stopped and the sun was out again.
Saturday morning our plane took off at 7:55am in sunny skies. We landed in Portland 8 hours later, barely making it between fog banks – two hours after our arrival the fog was too thick to allow any more landings! Talk about good timing.
I’ll be posting picks to flickr later today.
Here at PDX waiting for our plane to take us away to warm and sunny skies!
Time again for our annual pilgrimage to visit the house of mouse. This is the one ‘normal’ vacation we do every year, and we both really look forward to it. Mainly because once we get on the plane in Portland, all the hard stuff is done by other people!
Pilots fly us to Florida, Roger from Sunray Transportation picks us up at Orlando International and whisks us to Disney’s Pop Century Resort (after a short stop at Publix Grocery store for Diet Mountain Dew – no Pepsi products at Disney!), then Disney bus drivers take us anywhere in the ‘World’ we want to go.
It’s the perfect remedy for a UPS driver after the Christmas rush.
This year we’ll be enjoying it with my brother’s family; Dave, Sue, Kevin, Jake and Sam will be coming along for the ride, and we’re really looking forward to being tour guides and showing them this happy place!
We leave on the 21st, and I’m counting the days!
Watch out – Crazy Driver at 3 mph!
