Well, the big trip has come and gone. Almost two years in the making to get 8 of us together for this vacation (me 40, wife, 39, son 9, brother 37 and his two sons 7 and 9, and my parents 64 and 59). We made our reservations back in July and I have put more time into planning this than I think I have for anything else I have done. I wanted it to be perfect for my parents and brother as they have never been to WDW. So off we go.
Day 1 Sunday January 22…Travel Day
Got up at 2:45 am to get to Denver International Airport for a 6:45 am flight. Landed in Dallas and made our transfer without much of a problem but sat in our plane for 45 minutes as there was lightning on the field at DFW. So we would be a little late, no big deal. We did want to get to our rooms and watch a little of the Broncos Steelers game before heading to MK, but the vacation is much more important…even to Bronco fans. (If we had only known, we wouldn’t have worried too much, huh)
Got into Orlando about 3:15 and headed right to DME…it was great not having to worry about our luggage. We found the DME desk with no problem, checked in and got right on the All Star bus. We waited about 10 minutes and off we went to our hotel. As we exit near the huge McDonald’s by the All Star’s, my son blurts out “Wow, I didn’t know McDonald’s had a hotel here”. The whole bus burst out laughing and I am thinking…what a great idea, think of the room service. We made stops at Sports and Music before getting to Movies. Get right off the bus and right to check in. No wait as most of the others on the bus brought their luggage and were still getting it while we were about done with checking in. We got rooms in the Love Bug section, building 6 3rd floor.
We all get to our room and turn the game on…halftime and 24 -3, Steelers. Turn the game off and head for the MK bus. My son had his Bronco jersey on and I asked if he wanted to change and he said no way. (More on this later)
We waited about 10 minutes for the MK bus and off we go again. We were all pretty hungry at this point and were looking forward to some Figaro Fries. Upon entering MK, I got my first look at the castle and her new makeover. Pretty cool…now some food. Oh, wait, need to get EMH wristbands. Perfect, they are handing out the wristbands right near the Haus and our Figaro fries. But alas, it is closed…so sad. Off to Cosmic Rays. Let me tell you, when your last meal was 9 hours earlier, that double bacon burger was the BEST thing I have ever eaten. I was a little disappointed in the fixin’ bar. I have never eaten there myself, and so many people rave about it…I found it average. I guess I was expecting something along the lines of Fuddruckers.
Okay, the first ride of the night…STITCH…right on. I was never a big fan of AE and was looking forward to this. We walked right in. As a fan of the little blue guy, I can honestly say I will probably not ride this again. It was okay, but I sure expected more. I enjoyed the pre show more than the actual attraction. It may be some time before I am able to eat a chili dog. That is all I will say.
Next stop, Space Mountain. No wait at all…nor was there any wait the next two times we rode it back to back.
Time for the fireworks. We head to the rose garden and have a great view. Awesome, just awesome. Now, back to the Bronco jersey my son had on. As the crowds are streaming out of the park…some clown (a grown man with two kids and his wife) decked out in Steelers gear stops and sees my son…he crosses through the crowd on the bridge and says to my son “Heh, your team sure s----…must s--- liking a c----- team” Okay, meltdown number 1 from our hero. I walk up to this guy and tell him it takes a lot of class to pick on a kid and he ought to take his tough guy act over to Toontown to rough some kids up. I am not a small guy…6’4” and about 240lbs. This guy can’t shut up fast enough…until he gets about 30 feet away then responds with “I didn’t want to pick on an old guy like you” Huh? Whatever…but then my brother steps in…same weight as me only 5’10”…kind of like a fire hydrant with legs. I have no idea what he said to the guy (he still wouldn’t tell me later…probably didn’t want me to know how close we came to spending a night in jail) but the clown gets a sick look on his face and disappears into the crowd. Lost my cool, I know, but it is my son we are talking about.
We ride Splash and Big Thunder twice, HM and Space one more time during EMH…all with no wait. We have some ice cream before we leave. We catch the Music bus because the Movie bus line is about a mile long. A short walk from Music to our Love Bug room and it finally hits me…I am pretty darn tired. Have to get an early start tomorrow so we head to bed. I promptly pass out when my head hits the pillow…oh yeah, our luggage was waiting in our room.
See you all for the Day 2 report.
Day 1 Sunday January 22…Travel Day
Got up at 2:45 am to get to Denver International Airport for a 6:45 am flight. Landed in Dallas and made our transfer without much of a problem but sat in our plane for 45 minutes as there was lightning on the field at DFW. So we would be a little late, no big deal. We did want to get to our rooms and watch a little of the Broncos Steelers game before heading to MK, but the vacation is much more important…even to Bronco fans. (If we had only known, we wouldn’t have worried too much, huh)
Got into Orlando about 3:15 and headed right to DME…it was great not having to worry about our luggage. We found the DME desk with no problem, checked in and got right on the All Star bus. We waited about 10 minutes and off we went to our hotel. As we exit near the huge McDonald’s by the All Star’s, my son blurts out “Wow, I didn’t know McDonald’s had a hotel here”. The whole bus burst out laughing and I am thinking…what a great idea, think of the room service. We made stops at Sports and Music before getting to Movies. Get right off the bus and right to check in. No wait as most of the others on the bus brought their luggage and were still getting it while we were about done with checking in. We got rooms in the Love Bug section, building 6 3rd floor.
We all get to our room and turn the game on…halftime and 24 -3, Steelers. Turn the game off and head for the MK bus. My son had his Bronco jersey on and I asked if he wanted to change and he said no way. (More on this later)
We waited about 10 minutes for the MK bus and off we go again. We were all pretty hungry at this point and were looking forward to some Figaro Fries. Upon entering MK, I got my first look at the castle and her new makeover. Pretty cool…now some food. Oh, wait, need to get EMH wristbands. Perfect, they are handing out the wristbands right near the Haus and our Figaro fries. But alas, it is closed…so sad. Off to Cosmic Rays. Let me tell you, when your last meal was 9 hours earlier, that double bacon burger was the BEST thing I have ever eaten. I was a little disappointed in the fixin’ bar. I have never eaten there myself, and so many people rave about it…I found it average. I guess I was expecting something along the lines of Fuddruckers.
Okay, the first ride of the night…STITCH…right on. I was never a big fan of AE and was looking forward to this. We walked right in. As a fan of the little blue guy, I can honestly say I will probably not ride this again. It was okay, but I sure expected more. I enjoyed the pre show more than the actual attraction. It may be some time before I am able to eat a chili dog. That is all I will say.
Next stop, Space Mountain. No wait at all…nor was there any wait the next two times we rode it back to back.
Time for the fireworks. We head to the rose garden and have a great view. Awesome, just awesome. Now, back to the Bronco jersey my son had on. As the crowds are streaming out of the park…some clown (a grown man with two kids and his wife) decked out in Steelers gear stops and sees my son…he crosses through the crowd on the bridge and says to my son “Heh, your team sure s----…must s--- liking a c----- team” Okay, meltdown number 1 from our hero. I walk up to this guy and tell him it takes a lot of class to pick on a kid and he ought to take his tough guy act over to Toontown to rough some kids up. I am not a small guy…6’4” and about 240lbs. This guy can’t shut up fast enough…until he gets about 30 feet away then responds with “I didn’t want to pick on an old guy like you” Huh? Whatever…but then my brother steps in…same weight as me only 5’10”…kind of like a fire hydrant with legs. I have no idea what he said to the guy (he still wouldn’t tell me later…probably didn’t want me to know how close we came to spending a night in jail) but the clown gets a sick look on his face and disappears into the crowd. Lost my cool, I know, but it is my son we are talking about.
We ride Splash and Big Thunder twice, HM and Space one more time during EMH…all with no wait. We have some ice cream before we leave. We catch the Music bus because the Movie bus line is about a mile long. A short walk from Music to our Love Bug room and it finally hits me…I am pretty darn tired. Have to get an early start tomorrow so we head to bed. I promptly pass out when my head hits the pillow…oh yeah, our luggage was waiting in our room.
See you all for the Day 2 report.
