Tom & Dad Go Commando!

1 trip, 2 men, 3 days, 4 packages of moleskin.

I'm a fanatical planner, but even I was unprepared for three days of commando touring led by my 13 year old son. The feet, they are still sore.

The wife and I thought (well, mostly me, really, but she agreed) that it would be a great idea for each of our three sons to have a weekend at WDW alone with Dad. This year was our oldest son Tom's year. Next year, I go with our middle son, then in 2010 with our youngest son. Which means one thing: I've got three years to talk her into Son #4. Now, that's going to take some serious lobbying. :lookaroun

Let us now begin a trip report with the occasional insight, but mostly just chock full o' poor quality photography ...
 
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GenerationX

GenerationX

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We start our trip at 7:00am aboard the O'Hare Airport Remote Parking transit.

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"Yes, Tom, I know we're parking a mile away from the airport, but we get to take a monorail to the terminal building! Uh, don't look at the track."
 
GenerationX

GenerationX

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
After landing and checking in to the All-Star Movies, we headed straight to the AK. Very short lines, especially during the parade. Only disadvantage: the parade makes navigating the park much more difficult.

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"Heh, is that guy wearing brown anklet socks with gym shoes?"
 
EPCOT.nut

EPCOT.nut

Well-Known Member
GenerationX said:
The wife and I thought (well, mostly me, really, but she agreed) that it would be a great idea for each of our three sons to have a weekend at WDW alone with Dad. This year was our oldest son Tom's year. Next year, I go with our middle son, then in 2010 with our youngest son...
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I remember when you said you had decided to do this and I thought it was a really neat idea. Keep going with the trip report! :sohappy:
 
GenerationX

GenerationX

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Thanks for the encouragement, all! While the thought of going commando in the other sense of the phrase at WDW probably has its appealing points (cooler, maybe?), I gotta figure this strategy would have a whole slew of undesirable consequences.

It was misting when we got to AK, and the line for Kilimanjaro Safaris was almost non-existant. It had been a while since we'd gone on the ride, and I noticed they cut the patter with Wilson down. Good move, Simba One.

We headed out to the Conservation Station so Tom could see snakes.

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"This one looks cool. Can we have him? I'm sure Harry (our Labrador Retriever) wouldn't mind."
 
smk

smk

Well-Known Member
I hope you brought a boat to row around in! Sorry if the weather gets in the way of your dad's weekend with your son, I'll keep my fingers crossed the weather changes and you all don't get washed away or washed out! :wave:
 
GenerationX

GenerationX

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
After AK, we headed out to Disney Quest. Have you heard? It's closing. My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with the girl who overheard a bus driver say it's closing.

There are no more individual Berzerk or Defender machines. What's up with that?[/seinfeld] I had to find them on these multiple game machines (first one in picture):

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"Intruder alert! Intruder alert! Destroy the intruder."
 
EPCOT.nut

EPCOT.nut

Well-Known Member
GenerationX said:
There are no more individual Berzerk or Defender machines. What's up with that?[/seinfeld] I had to find them on these multiple game machines
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Yeah, it is hard to find an arcade with the individual games. Makes my little retro-gamer-girl heart ache. :(

LOVE the sound of the Berzerk audio in the arcade. I have the Atari cart, of course, and the sound of the "bug zapper" electrocution is pretty good but a lot of audio is missing.
 
GenerationX

GenerationX

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I'm a huge retro game fan, too, EPCOT.nut. I remember when they first came out. :lookaroun

We finished up at DQ having defeated a bevy of video villains and headed back to swim at the Fantasia pool. After that, we finally called it a night. Here's Tom in our room at All-Star Movies:

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"Dad, would you stop checking for bedbugs, already? Yeesh."
 
Wilt Dasney

Wilt Dasney

Well-Known Member
GenerationX said:
Which means one thing: I've got three years to talk her into Son #4. Now, that's going to take some serious lobbying. :lookaroun
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It also means you're pretty brave to volunteer to take a toddler (or just plain baby, depending on how long the lobbying takes :lookaroun) to Orlando on your own. :lol:
 
GenerationX

GenerationX

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
After next to no sleep, we got up and ate a fine breakfast in the room: I had two breakfast bars and a Diet Coke, and Tom had a bowl of Cookie Crisp cereal.

Insane planner alert!

We were at the far end of Love Bug 7, a long distance from the main building. We weren't renting a fridge. So, the night before, after we had finished swimming, we picked up a carton of milk from the food court. I put it in the ice bucket and covered it in ice at the machine. This saved me a trip to the food court in the morning. I did this both nights. :lookaroun

Here's a shot of our building from our car:

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GenerationX

GenerationX

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Going on Tom's Commando schedule, we got to Blizzard Beach at park open.

When news of the indelicate Blizzard Beach signage leaked out (ew!) onto WDWMagic, I knew I had to investigate myself. Confirmed.

p1010053.jpg


Kudos to Disney for correctly spelling diarrhea!
 
GenerationX

GenerationX

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We hit Slush Gusher right away. One insight: if you like to wear t-shirts while swimming, tuck them in to your swimsuit before going down a waterslide. Untucked, the shirt starts to roll-up, you lose speed and the slide is bumpier. Tucked, it's a smooth, fast ride. Unfortunate side effect: You look like a complete dweeb.

Let's just say this was Tom on Slush Gusher.

p1010055.jpg


"Hey, whose that dude taking a picture of me? I'm not Tom. Nutjob."
 
unkadug

unkadug

Follower of "Saget"The Cult
GenerationX said:
Going on Tom's Commando schedule, we got to Blizzard Beach at park open.

When news of the indelicate Blizzard Beach signage leaked out (ew!) onto WDWMagic, I knew I had to investigate myself. Confirmed.

p1010053.jpg


Kudos to Disney for correctly spelling diarrhea!
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#4 :hurl:

Interesting that they have different rules for different parks.

So, I guess it's OK to drink the water at TL. :lookaroun
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