Sunday, August 26, 2007

Something Completely Different

The third and fourth day of our Florida Vacation were a distinct and welcome departure from the first Disney-saturated days.



Well, it actually started out with some quite literal Disney saturation. I set the alarm in the room and the older boy and I got up early and went to Typhoon Lagoon again, for the extra morning hour. Now, this was actually pretty nice!!! We got to go on several slides with relatively short lines.

The coolest, something I've not seen the likes of before, was a set of slides called "The Crushin' Gusher", which instead of being fully dependant on gravity and downward flowing water, has several places where it has high volume water jets that propel you upwards for a portion of the slide. We went on it three times. Many of the other slides were practically walk ons. Cool.

They also have a shark encounter attraction there that we went on. We had gone through the wrecked submarine that has port holes through which you can view the inside of this tank. One of the props in the line was an anti-shark cage, which prompted me to recite the dialogue from Jaws about the shark cage to the boy:

Quint: What you got here? A portable shower or a monkey cage?

Hooper: Anti-shark cage.

Quint: Anti-shark cage... You go inside the cage? [Hooper nods] Cage goes in the water? [Hooper nods] You go in the water? [Hooper nods] Shark's in the water? [Hooper nods] Our shark. [Hooper nods]

Quint: [he sarcastically sings] Farewell and adieu to you fair Spanish ladies. Farewell and adieu you ladies of Spain. For we've received orders for to sail back to Boston. And so nevermore shall we see you again....

We did that several times the rest of the trip (because, what else is there to do while you're standing in line, anyway???) and now he's pretty much got it memorized. He'll have to see that movie someday.

We had to leave fairly early from there, though, because Enterprise was coming to pick me up for a car rental!!! I had purchased tickets to see the launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour's STS-118 mission. This is one of those things that worked out very cool, I'd requested the time off at the end of last year, and it just so happened to be when there was going to be a launch, I found out many months later. The fact that we were planning to vacation in Hawaii kept me from even thinking of this, and even after we'd changed to Florida it was weeks before I even thought of the Kennedy Space Center being there. For the launch day the visitor center is closed, but the tickets include a day pass for another day within seven days, so we went to the visitor center this very day.

Having a rental, we were able to buy a few meals away from Disney parks or resorts, so the cost of the rental was near offset by the savings of being able to do that!!! However, there was another new experience awaiting. They have these things they call "toll roads" in Florida. They actually stop the cars and you have to pay to drive on their roads!!! Strange and stranger.

They had many cool displays and attractions. The boys got to have their picture taken with Artoo Detoo, and they had a stage presentation, "Mad Mission to Mars", which was nice, geared to kids, and the older got to play the part of the astronaut. There was an IMAX theatre there with a Tom Hanks movie about space (I think it was called "Space") playing. Very well done.

We left from there that evening and stopped at a Waffle House franchise we had seen on the way in. Good eating, and they had a juke box with more songs than I would have imagined about waffles and waffle houses on it. After that we stopped at a Wal Mart to pick up some sodas and snacks, as well as another bag to bring back all the extra swag we were acquiring on our trip. After that we did quite a bit of searching for a place to buy some rum to mix in with all the soda we'd bought.

It was well into night by the time we got back to our room, but the boys wanted to go swimming. OK, some drinks for mom and dad, and some swimming for the boys!!! A good time was had by all.

The next morning we went to the other Disney water park, Blizzard Beach, which does interesting things with the themeing. It is a winter wonderland water park, where you can hear the music of The Beach Boys and Jimmy Buffett segue into Frosty the Snowman.

We didn't stay there very late, either. The launch was on this day, and Marge from the Waffle House (I don't know if her name was Marge or not, but it would be a perfect fit if it were) had warned us that the traffic can get pretty bad on launch days. She was right. The drive out and back that day were hellish. There was quite a lot of waiting for something to launch while we were there, too. We had to be there by 3 at the latest, and the launch was at 6:25. Fortunately, there was an elaborate play apparatus and a run-through-me type water fountain there, as well as a big screen carrying the launch, as well as having Alfred M. Worden, who was one of the crew on the Apollo 15 talking about the differences in space travel in the 36 years (nearly to the day) between these flights.

However, the launch itself more than made up for all the traffic and waiting!!!

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Sleep Deprivation, Part 2



The second day we were in Florida was the day that Disney's Animal Kingdom was having the "Extra Magic Hours" in the evening, so when we finally got up after our late night, that was where we headed.




The park is divided up into various Continent areas, with a dinosaur land added in for good measure.


The first ride that we headed for was the Expedition Everest roller coaster, which my older boy noticed was the number one thrill ride on the Disney channel at the resort. It looks pretty cool, but it had a huge line. I figured we'd go there first and get fast passes, then come back and ride later.



When we got to the ride, it was far enough along in the day that they were no longer issuing fast passes for the ride. Oh well, I figured we would come back in the evening when all but the resort guests were out of the park.



In the meantime, there was a river raft ride that the younger really wanted to go on. It also had a sizable line, but we waited anyway. It was also no longer doing fast passes. A pretty typical river raft ride, we all got nicely soaked.



We then went on one of one of the animal exhibit walking tours. That was where I got the shots of the tigers, and the huge fruit bats. That was quite cool.



Not long after that, we went on an animal safari ride. It was near to the end of the time that they did those because the sun was going down. Got to see several animals on that, elephants, rhinos, giraffes, lions, gazelles, and many others.



After that, we headed over to the dinosaur land. They had a spinning wild mouse type roller coaster called the Primeval Whirl. The line was pretty short, and it was a decent coaster, although it didn't spin until the end, and before that it was pretty jerky.



By then the resort guests were the only ones left, so we went back to the Expedition Everest ride. The line was still pretty long, but not as bad as it had been. My wife and the oldest got into the line, and the younger and I went to go do other stuff (back in Dino land, where there was an elaborate play area), but on the way we found out that they had shut down Expedition Everest due to weather reasons. Huh??? Humid and warm keeps them from running it??? We met back up, and just a bit after that a lightening storm started up. OK, that makes some sense, I guess.


OK, one other ride that looked pretty cool, called "Dinosaur!!! The Ride", a time travel and motion simulator. All enclosed, it should be fine to ride on. Nope, it was closed down, too. Not long after that, the rain started up pretty good. Working our way through the park, we came upon the "It's Tough to be a Bug" show that they also have at Disney's California Adventure. It was exactly the same, but it was about the only thing open, and it was also indoors, out of the rain.

After that, we left. Everyone else had the same idea, and the wait for the shuttle bus back to the resort was pretty hellish. I was hoping to make it back to the park on one of the days to hit the two thrill rides we'd missed out on, but that never ended up happening.

Friday, August 17, 2007

Could It Get Better???


The other day was my birthday. It worked out really nicely. This is the first job I've ever had where I've gotten a day off for my birthday (it doesn't need to be on the very day, but they ask that you make it somewhere near it) so I asked for today off to make it a three day weekend.

On my actual birthday, when I got to work I was scheduled on printer #5, with a half hour float to my normal printer #73. I'm used to #73, but if I had my choice of any printer, it would have to be #5. And how's this to top that off, two of my normal #73 crew members were also assigned to #5 with me!!! Nice. One of 'em wrote the birthday wishes on my water cup, as well as writing me up a pass to skip a cycle. I told her that was a very cool present, as it had no expiration date, nor restrictions on cash value or transferability.

I bought myself the pliers in the picture. I don't really need them, but I've had my eye on them for a while. They're slick, they have a button that must be pushed before they'll adjust, so they won't be trying to slip around without my consent. I also bought myself a pizza from Papa John's for dinner. With the exception of a Chicago style pizza I once had, Papa John's is the best pizza I've ever had. There is no Papa John's near my home, but there is one less than a mile from my work that I've been thinking of patronizing for a while.

My parents had taken the oldest for a little trip with his cousin. He called me with birthday greetings, and then we were able to get the younger to bed easily to clear the way for some good 'ol birthday nookie from the wifey.

Could things get any better??? Well, yeah, they actually did!!! Remember the court case I had pending??? It had made for a few stressful days leading up to and including the first couple of days of the vacation, but finally the postponement came through. The court clerk was a real hardass about it, but due to my high functioning dyslexic tendencies I was finally able to get the hearing moved from the Friday I would have been on vacation. Turns out I had a couple of the digits in the defendants' addresses transposed, so the court mailings were coming back undeliverable. Got that squared away and the case was moved. Moved to the very day that I had requested off for my birthday, weeks prior to having any idea!!!

Had to wake up early today to get to court, and things went well. There was a different commissioner from the one I'd presented my case to last time, but other than that it played out quite similarly to last time. The defendants didn't show, the judge asked a few questions, then awarded me every dime of the amount I had prayed for, as well as court costs. Happy birthday to me!!! Now, on to collecting...

I guess 17 is pretty lucky, too!!!

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

The Sleep Deprivation Experiment



The flight out to Florida left of Saturday night, arriving a bit after 6 AM on Sunday morning, with a couple of hours layover in Las Vegas. Of course, there was a some delay leaving, but still in time to make the connection. Just enough time in Vegas to get a couple mini pizzas and bread sticks, go to the bathroom, and eat before getting on the Orlando bound flight.


Of course, the theory on travelling at night was that we could get some sleep on the plane. The youngest complied with this on the second leg of the journey without any encouragement. They did push the drink and snack cart through, and they had Shrek the Third for an in-flight movie, which the older boy and I both watched. I did a little bit of snoozing, as did the older boy, but wifey got none. I think she was too excited.



We arrived at Disney's Pop Century resort right at daybreak. Moved our stuff into our room, and then the boys and I decided to go to the Typhoon Lagoon water park during the first part of the day, while mom got a nap in. That didn't last long, the younger scraped his knee in the wave pool right at the beginning, and didn't want to have much more to do with that. We rode tubes around the outer river for a bit, then he was ready to go back to our room and nap some himself.




He fell asleep on the bus heading back, but when we got back he was ready to go check out the bowling pin pool. A little bit of that, and then back to our room (on the opposite end of the resort) through the buildings to check out some of the theming. Everyone was ready to eat by the time we got back, so we did that, then proceeded to the Disney World's Magic Kingdom park.



It was the featured park for Disney's "Extra Magic Hours", a plan where resort guests can remain in the parks for an additional two or three hours in the evenings, or get in an hour earlier in the morning. The featured park changes daily.



One of the first stops was to buy the Pal Mickey of which we had heard. He is pretty cool, but his volume is so low that you need to hold him to your ear to be able to hear what he says. The youngest wore him on the neck of his shirt almost every day.



We rode the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, shorter than the California version, but other than that virtually identical. The youngest was up for riding Thunder Mountain Railroad again, even though he didn't care for it when he got off last time.

Disney World has an area that Disney Land doesn't have, a Liberty Square, and the cars run four across instead of two by two in California. Also, they still have the People Mover ride there, although they don't call it that. Neither of my boys had ever seen that, it was before their time.

We never got a chance to ride Splash Mountain. It differs from the California version in that, instead of riding front to back, it has side by side seating. Interestingly, the older and I rode Space Mountain, and it has front to back seating, whereas the California version has side by side seating. It seems to be a quicker, better coaster in Florida, too.

And, look at this!!! Disney World has a rollable sphere, too!!!

I think it was around 1:30 AM when we left. Too much fun to do any sleeping!!!

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Home, Home Again



Ah, it was a good vacation, but it is also good to finally be home!!!



Delays on both ends of first leg of the flights, but still made the connections.





I took 534 pictures



42 videos



and it took 28 minutes to copy them all onto my computer.



61 new messages in my E-mail



24 of them that I actually bothered to read.



There will be more to come, but for now, enjoy a few of the pictures I took!!!