Mike & Dad vs. Wimps, n00bs, and Angry Guy

Few can forget the frantic fervor of my first father-son trip, chronicled in Tom & Dad Go Commando! or the manic mirth of my misadventures with my middle son, Jack & Dad Conquer the World! This year, it was ten year old son Mike’s turn to tirelessly tour WDW with Dad.

Due to budget cuts, Mike and I were forced to fly Airtran ("O'Hare? Doesn't ring a bell.") out of Midway. And for my Chicago friends out there, we live in McHenry County. We had an 8:00am flight, so we pretty much had to leave the night before.

To get the trip started out right, I gave Mike a Nintendo DS game “Pokemon Silver”, which included a Pokewalker (aka, a pedometer).

"I heard that if you put it on a washing machine, it goes CRAZY!"

 

[blackthidot]

PLease define n00b?

 

[maggiegrace1]

PLease define n00b?

..
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...b&sa=X&ei=xRMwTMPoOMX7lwebprXZCQ&ved=0CBIQkAE


http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=noob

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Noob (2nd Definition)

 

[blackthidot]

T'was what I thought it was...I should have googled it but I thought it was another WDWmagic made up thing!

 

[lisak09]

Great report so far, loving it

 

[GenerationX]

The late afternoon rains hit right after we finished golfing, which was just fine as we were headed to the Beach Club for dinner anyway. The parking lot guard waved us in without asking for an ID or why we were visiting. In retrospect, I’m sure he did that because we didn’t look like wimps, n00bs, or Angry Guys.

We were on-time for our ADRs at the Cape May Café, but had to wait a couple of minutes. There was nowhere to sit in the lobby other than at the abandoned DVC desk, so Mike sat behind the desk pretending to be Trump. He “fired” whoever was sitting next to me, which warmed my heart, because 1) he hadn’t fired me; and 2) it shows he’s paying attention while the family watches (all-important) reality TV.

We were seated, then went to the buffet. Mike, you’ll discover, is a huge crab legs fan:

30 minutes later …

My plate was a little more varied:

”Dad, why are you wasting stomach space on a lousy dinner roll?”
“Yeah, and why are you wasting cyber space on a lousy trip report? Ha ha ha.” [/statler and waldorf]

 

[GenerationX]

After a fantastic dinner, we walked to Epcot. Mike still had golf on his mind, and he wanted to ride in the “biggest golf ball in the world”. I warned him that the ride was slow, kinda dull, and not about golf at all, but Mike was positive he wanted to ride it. To my surprise, it was much improved. Mike even commented that the ascent, including the narration, was “very interesting”. On the descent, I heard the unmistakable sound of laughter. I know, I know, it sounds insane, but I swear it occurred. People were not napping, looking at their watches, or mocking the attraction, but rather were enjoying it. Even the post show seemed amusing.

We rode Soarin’ and Test Track, then waited for, as Mike calls it, “Eliminations” (reality TV strikes again!). Mike asked if I would get him the same flippin’ sticks his brother had purchased last year … and played with incessantly. We reached a compromise, meaning I agreed to buy him the fad item of the year:

"This is awesome! I will wear this everywhere!"
Mm-hmm.

 

[GenerationX]

We loved Illuminations, as always, then called it a night. Well, not quite. Mike hit the pool at the All Star Sports, while I applied moleskin to my poor, pathetic toes and feet. Rest assured, I do not have any pictures of my feet, so you are safe to look at any subsequent picture I post.

"Check it out, Dad, I’m swimming with the Black Box family!"

Our last day: We visit DHS on the same day Lee DeWyze visits, but we blow off waving to him so that we can get another ride on ToT. Stay tuned!

 

[GenerationX]

We got to DHS at EMH Park Open, naturally, and weaseled our way to the front of the crowd, naturally. As we walked past the sprinters on the front left, I explained to Mike that these were the loonies who at rope drop were going to run full speed to get to TSM from the back side. They just laughed at me and tightened their shoe laces. Angry Guy would’ve had an absolute fit with these people, I tipped my cap to them.

Mike and I took the conventional, dare I say “n00bish” route of walking behind the TSM CMs. Upon reaching TSM, we immediately grabbed TSM FPs, then jumped into the Standby line. For some reason, a CM asked for parties of two, and we got to skip the whole bridge part of the line and go straight to a car that was being put into service.

"Bonus FPs!"

 

[GenerationX]

We cruised to Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster to see if a hostile bubblegum artist takeover had occurred. We were relieved to see that the Aerosmith of twenty years ago was still rocking the house. We grabbed RnR FPs on our way out to ToT. On ToT, we sat next to some n00bs who were panicked because the elevator had only a small seatbelt. Heh, silly n00bs!

With Lee DeWyze arriving soon, we opted to ride more rides while the waits were still short. But eventually, the wimps who had slept in arrived en masse and started clogging queues (Boo!). We used the last of our FPs at TSM and RnR before grabbing Mickey Ice Cream Sandwiches on our way to Blizzard Beach.

"Why, yes, it IS just the two of us on this trip without my wife. How can you tell?"

 

[GenerationX]

We shared the Summit Plummet line with a couple of nice, but somewhat concerned teenage boys - Could you go over the side? Could your head fall forward past your feet? Was the creature from the black lagoon waiting at the bottom? I assured them they would be fine, though the higher we got, the more nervous they got. I tried to keep the conversation light by pointing out all the stuff we could see in the distance (which, by the way, is a lot of fun when you have the general map of WDW memorized). That just made them more frightened. Finally, we reached the top, and Mike and I went down the slide. We waited to make sure the teens enjoyed the slide, too. They did, and we moved on.

Our last stop before going home was DisneyQuest. I swear we were n00b magnets that day, because we ran into a bunch more at the Mighty Ducks Pinball game. This good fortune allowed us to win several of the pinball games we played (thanks, n00bs!). With our flight a little more than two hours away, we needed to eat dinner and, sadly, leave WDW.

"What’s next on the itinerary? Something?? Anything???"

We got to the airport in plenty of time and, ultimately, home safely. I’ll post an epilogue (my "final thoughts", if you will) to all three trips later.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

loved the trip report! how nice that each son got to go on his own disney trip with their dad! looks like you had a great time! thanks for sharing!

 

[GenerationX]

When the idea for three individual trips came up a few years ago, I knew the trips would be action-packed and a lot of fun. Due to the shortness of the trips (each was only 3 days/2 nights), I knew we’d miss a lot of great stuff. I was OK with that. I just wanted each kid to set the agenda to their individual desires. As it turned out, the only attractions common to all three trips were Toy Story Mania (DHS), Wishes (MK), Meltaway Bay (BB), Mighty Ducks Pinball (DQ), and Shuttle Connecting Terminal to Gates (MCO). Tom was the only one to meet characters, Jack was the only one to trade pins, and Mike was the only one to make obnoxious faces at the on-ride cameras (seriously, every time the little imp).

Before the first trip, a poster here suggested I get a picture of the boys in the same spot. I didn’t plan for it; I figured it would just happen naturally. Well, the only pictures I have common to all three trips are on the DHS parking lot tram (”Way to plan for your trip reports … n00b.”).

All kidding aside, the boys still talk (a lot) about their individual trips. There wasn’t any specific magic “bonding moment” like you would see in a movie in any of the trips. However, three full days of constant companionship that were chock full o’ rides, activities, Mickey Ice Cream Bars, music, laughs, and conversation where that son was the center of my attention did wonders for all of us. I am so thankful I got to take these trips. And … my saintly wife just agreed to let me start another cycle next year with Tom! Yes!! I’ll leave this set of three trip reports with one last picture that describes my approach to each trip:

It’s been fantastic fun writing these reports. Thanks for reading, everyone! :wave: