Lance Caros - April 2004 - Offsite

Time of Year: Spring
Travel Method: Plane, Rental Car
Resort: Offsite
Accommodations: 3 BR Condo
Ages Represented in Group: Elementary, Adult
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Veteran
Comments: On this trip Lance and his family spend two weeks at Disney World; even after all their trips, Lance still finds it difficult to sleep the night before. Bryce, their son, also gets to have his birthday at the what may be the world's largest party venue



Lance Caros -- April 2004 -- Walt Disney World (Offsite)

The Cast

Lance – That's me. I'm a lifelong Disney nut and think Walt Disney was the greatest person of the 20th century.
Jenny – My lovely wife of almost 14 years. I still routinely get asked "you're a nice guy and all but how did you marry such a babe?"
Megan – Our charming 10 (almost 11) year old daughter. Fearless thrill rider.
Bryce – Our charming 7 year old son. We celebrated his birthday during the trip.
Tony – My buddy who moved to Chicago last year and is meeting up with us for a few days.


April 10, 2004
Why is it you can never sleep before a Disneyworld trip? It made getting up at 2:45AM easier. I woke kids up at 3:30 then called Cypress Pointe to see if we could request a particular room. They were not too helpful and said that it was first come, first served. We have a three bedroom unit with 3 bathrooms and 1,600 square feet so we will be comfortable whatever unit we get but it would be nice to get a ground floor unit with a view of something other than the parking lot. I emailed my sister and let her know the phone number. I also checked the flight times and everything was still on schedule. We left the house at 4 and of course had smooth sailing on the trip down to the airport parking. A shuttle bus was there waiting for us but filled up with others also waiting before we could get on. Jenny had a blonde moment when she asked me to get the other backpack out of the car and after a few searches we realized she was already carrying it. OK, I'll give her a break, it was early. Another shuttle van came right away and we got on although it also filled up. Busy travel day I guess.

Jenny had eaten a part of a blueberry bagel on the car ride and drank a bottle of water they handed out on the shuttle. By the time we walked over to Delta check in she was really nauseous. Check in thankfully took less than 2 minutes although we got hit with a $25 charge for our 65 pound suitcase. We got through the very long security line in about 15 minutes. Jenny had just enough time to hurry to the nearest restroom before "losing her lunch" or breakfast in this case. Not a good start to the trip but she felt better after that. We had a 45 minute wait before boarding the flight which gave us time to peruse the in flight menu of items available for purchase. We boarded the plane and noticed there were only pillows in first class. Maybe we will have the option to purchase those also. The kids got settled with their books and CD players and me with my MP3 player and laptop while I took trip report notes. We got low carb turkey wrap for Jenny which seemed to help her stomach a bit and she said was very good. At $6 the price seemed a bit steep but when you are a captive audience you take what you can get. The kids shared a $5 fruit plate. The movie on the plane was Whale Rider which no one watched because the screens were small, faded and several rows in front of us.

It was a decent flight although the people behind us were really into kicking the seats and drumming on the tray tables. We shot them a few dirty looks and finally asked them to take it easy at one point. We landed a few minutes late in Dallas and all made a desperate run for the restroom. We hadn't planned well and we were denied use of the facilities for the last half hour of the flight as we were descending.

We found the nearest food court and got some cinnamon pretzel bites for Bryce. Meg had sweet & sour chicken, egg roll, fried rice and noodles. Jenny had a chicken soft taco and I had a gordita and taco from Taco Bell. We all sheepishly set down at the only available table which was next to the people who had set behind us on the flight. Lucky us, they were continuing on to Orlando and we all had the same seats. We ate and had about half an hour before we boarded again. I was really jealous of a guy a few rows in front of us who found the barbecue place and brought that back on the plane with him. If he wasn't such a giant (he was a good 6" taller than me so had to be at least 6'8") I would have wrestled some away from him. Boy, did that smell good. I'm going to have to find some good barbecue on this trip.

It was a nice short (comparatively) flight to Orlando. It seemed to go by quickly and uneventfully. We took the always exciting first monorail ride with the voice of Disney (Jack Wagner) telling us to hold tight. Jenny and Megan went to retrieve the luggage while Bryce and I went to get the minivan. Alamo had a huge line of at least 50 people and it wasn't moving. I smugly went to the Quicksilver line though which was empty. I had lots of people giving me some nasty stares. After a couple of minutes of waiting there one of the agents said I could just go directly out to the garage and get the paperwork from the small office there. There was only one guy in front of me but he took a while doing his transaction in Spanish. We finished up the paperwork just as the girls walked up with the luggage. We went through the minivan Emerald Aisle row and looked through the Chevy Ventures until we found one with a power sliding door. That will make life a little easier. We took the 528 toll road to I4 which wasn't too crowded until we got almost to our exit. It didn't slow us down too much though. We were excited to pass by Crossroads and see the Disney entrance. We pulled into Cypress Pointe right at 6PM. There were several check in folks there and we were helped in less than 5 minutes. We were a bit nervous about what we would get but I figured I would see what he had come up with first before asking about a different unit. The guy helping us had a name tag that read "Hugg". After seeing our unit location that's what I wanted to give him. It turned out to be perfect. It's in building #8 which is not one of the remodeled buildings but met our wishes of a 3 bedroom ground floor unit not facing a parking lot. Building 8 is a bit of a ways away from the main cluster of buildings and we look out into a small forested area. It's not the best view but it's perfectly secluded which means a lot to us. Many of the units are right along pathways and we would feel funny having our curtains open with everyone walking by all the time. We are on a back corner unit which will get no one walking by us at all. The unit was perfectly clean. It's a typical quality condo, it's certainly not along the lines of any of the Disney properties but with 1,600 square feet, 2 king beds, 2 twin beds, 3 bathrooms with 3 showers and two very large Jacuzzi tubs, full kitchen, washer & dryer, two screened in patios, 2 regular TV's, DVD, VCR, CD player and more for only $80 a night I'm sold. Jenny unpacked while I took the kids on a quick tour of the pools. Bryce got a look at the miniature golf course which is actually pretty decent. It's no Winter/Summerland but for a resort it's pretty nice. We went back to the condo to change into our swimsuits before going back to the volcano pool for a swim. The kids had a great time at the waterslides. My darling wife soon met up with us bearing an ice cold beer for me. We just relaxed and enjoyed watching the kids. The temperature was about 75 or so and about perfect for swimming. We walked over to one of the other pools so the kids could try the hot tub there. We stayed another 15 minutes before deciding that we better get some dinner. We went to Chevy's at Crossroad's since it's only a few blocks away. I love the location of Cypress Pointe. It's close to everything. We had about a 20 minute wait for our table which wasn't too bad for a Saturday night before Easter. Jenny and I shared our usual order of nachos grande while the kids both got kids meal. A balloon guy came around and made a blue baboon for Megan and a blue motorcycle for Bryce. Poor Bryce has a little bit of a cold and his ears bothered him a bit on the plane and then a bit more while swimming. He was tired at the restaurant and had water in his ear which was bothering him. He picked at his food but eventually fell asleep in his chair. Two ladies at the table next to us laughed when out of a sound sleep with his eyes still closed he reached out and took a bite of his dinner! It was pretty funny. He woke back up after a while and was in a better mood. Even with a couple of beers and soda for the kids the dinner total was only $30 including tax and a nice tip for our nice waiter. We had all planned on going to the Winn-Dixie to shop right after dinner but we had pretty much hit the wall after our day of travel so I took everyone back to the condo and then I went out and did the grocery shopping. I bought about $60 worth of staples including bread, milk, fruit, breakfast items, chips, beer and wine (a lovely 3 liter screw top jug of Chianti for $9). I have such high falutin' tastes.

It was great traveling the back road 2 blocks back to the condo. I unloaded the groceries and got everyone tucked in and sound asleep while I worked on the trip report notes on the laptop. I think I'm really going to like having it instead of writing everything out by hand and then later typing it up. Hopefully I can keep up with it most days and have it done pretty quickly after the trip ends. We will see. It's 11:30 and I'm shutting down for the night. The alarm is set for 7AM.

Sunday, April 11, 2004
Jenny and I were up at 6:30. It was a good night. We all slept well and the room was nice and quiet. We got ready for the day. The kids got up and had Krispy Kreme's, mini muffins, oatmeal and milk for breakfast while watching the Walton's on TV Land. I forgot how boring that show was although Jenny said she loved it. As we looked out the "back yard" we saw a cat walk by and a minute later we had a visit from an armadillo. The kids were excited to see it and named it Rex. We put sunscreen on every part of our pale white bodies as it is going to be 90 today and left the condo at 8:00 for Epcot. We got there within 10 minutes and got a parked in the front row but all the way at the end of the row behind the resort bus stop. That was OK though as we had to go to guest services anyhow. There was a waiting cast member for us and we got our premium annual passes just a couple of minutes (and couple of thousand dollars) later. The Easter crowd was building but the gates were opened by the time we got our passes so we went through and waited by Innoventions with the crowd that was lined up for Test Track and Mission: Space. We had brought along a stroller for Bryce just in case but he didn't want it so we parked it by guest relations. We had a 20 minute wait so I decided to run over to the Camera Center and buy a Pal Mickey for Bryce. We had saved up our loose change before the trip for Pal Mickey with the understanding that Bryce would take him along on all rides to hear all of the different things he said which was really just a ploy to get Bryce to try Rock N' Roller Coaster as well as a few others like Tower of Terror that he's wasn't too wild about. I also got a battery for my Mickey fossil watch which had quit last night. I was pleasantly surprised at the reasonable $1.25 cost of it and the tools to let me change the battery out. The clerk also helpfully pointed out that I had grabbed a Spanish speaking Pal Mickey which would be really cool but Bryce probably wouldn't enjoy as much. The total was about $60. I met back up with the rest of the family still waiting for Epcot to officially opened and although it was still foggy it was warming up and we realized I left the Misty Mate in the car. We decided to just get it later. At opening we went straight to Mission:Space where we had a 20 minute wait. Pal Mickey had lots of interesting things to tell us and the jokes were pretty funny. I think he may be the favorite purchase of the trip although it's still too early to tell if and when he will get on our nerves. We were all really excited for Mission:Space although secretly I was a little nervous about one or more of us getting motion sickness. We had a blast but Megan did have quite a bit of trouble with it. She didn't feel well after that a cold Diet Coke and some Tums seemed to set her straight after an hour or so. Jenny was a bit claustrophobic on the ride but did fine. Bryce and I loved it so it will most likely be a boys only thing from here on out. Anyhow, very good ride with some cool effects and lots of Gary Sinise which is always a good thing.

We went over and got Test Track Fastpasses which had an 11:30-12:30 return time already. Jenny took the kids to ride Journey into Your Imagination (which had no wait as usual) while I went back to the car to put back the stroller and retrieve the Misty Mate. It wasn't too bad of a walk but I took it fairly easy as I didn't want to get too overheated this early. I bought an Epcot water bottle strap for Pal Mickey which I had read as a tip on the D.I.S. and it really worked well. Bryce wore him and cool pull him right up whenever he would shake and have an announcement for us which seemed to be very often. Pal Mickey is full of information. I met up with everyone at Honey I Shrunk the Audience which we had gotten a bonus Fastpass for when we got ours for Test Track. Unfortunately, the theater filled up right as we walked up to it so we decided to skip the show and go over to the Living Seas instead after a stop for a Minnie strawberry bar for Megan and an Itzakadoozie for Bryce. We saw an area by the Living Seas where they had an Easter Egg hunt set up. There was some kind of unusual character out that looked like a coral reef. We went to get a picture with it but it was just leaving for a break. Instead we went in and took our hydrolator down to the Living Seas. The new Finding Nemo area is really cute. They have all of the fish types from the movie. Megan really liked the manatees. Bryce had fun playing with one of the dive suits and we all enjoyed the dolphins. There was a trainer who talked about them and had them do some tricks.

We went over to Spaceship Earth but it had a very long line so we blew it off and went to Ice Station Cool instead. I half expected Pal Mickey to try and trick us into drinking Beverly. This guy is an insider! We all of course tried the Beverly trick but didn't seem to get many other people suckered into it. We all enjoyed vast quantities of Vegi-Beta though. We had a bit of time to kill before our Test Track time so we went back to Mission:Space and played around in the exhibits at the exit. The video game where you rescue astronauts was pretty fun. We didn't try the group game but it looked fun but we didn't have time for it.

We had what seems to be our normal Fastpass wait of 10 minutes or so for Test Track. It was a great way to get us all energized again. What a blast. Bryce had made sure he carefully put the seatbelt around Pal Mickey in the car. Bryce also found a small remote control Test Track car in the gift shop (for $16) and I made a mental note (well I guess it's now a written note as I'm typing this) to come back and get it another day as another birthday present. After our ride we quickly went over to Mexico where we arrived right at Noon for our priority seating. I asked for a table by the water and the hostess warned me it would be a thirty minute wait but I said that was fine. She gave us a pager and we took some pictures of everyone in sombreros. The girls went to the restroom and the pager went off. It was less than a 10 minute wait. We flagged the girls down when we saw them looking for us. Our server brought out chips & salsa and ice water in those great glasses they have. San Angel is always the perfect place for a break for us. It was pretty warm out and we didn't want to have to big of a lunch so we just split an order of chicken nachos and a chicken strips kid meal. With a couple of baskets of chips it was plenty for all of us. Total with tax and tip was a $22. There was a nice host who came over and spent a few minutes talking to us and teasing Bryce that he thought his name was Rice. We had to take a ride on El Rio del Tiempo so Megan could hear the song in the village area and see if it's the same one she has been playing on her flute which it does sound like. Jenny was quickly hitting the wall and we had all agreed at lunch that we would go by the rule of we would leave the parks whenever the first person wanted to without pushing anyone to go on further. Jenny was OK with waiting a few more countries though so we went to Norway and took the traditional troll picture. After a stop at the Norway restroom and a quick romp on the Viking boat we continued on to China and all decided it was getting to be a good time to leave. We were quite warm but a stop in the store in China was a welcome break. We didn't find anything we couldn't live without but it was fun looking. We stopped for a couple of egg rolls for Megan and a bubble tea for me. I got a small bite of an egg roll and they were fantastic as always. The bubble tea was also great although it didn't have one of those big fat straws to suck up the tapioca balls. Instead they served it along with a spoon so you could fish them out. Bryce enjoyed the tea as well.

It was almost 2 and seemed like a good time to leave. I was really pleased that despite it being 90 today and a bit humid that I'm really doing well in the heat. It makes a bit difference to me not pushing the stroller. Despite carrying probably 10 pounds of stuff around my middle with the fanny pack and Misty Mate it was much easier than pushing that stroller. I don't miss it a bit other than as a place to store things but the kids are old enough now to share some of the work on carry things themselves. It was a long walk back to the car. On the way there Bryce said that time at Disneyworld seems a lot longer than regular time. I told him that was a good thing!

We got back to the condo where Jenny took a nap and I took the kids swimming at the volcano pool and worked on trip report notes on the laptop. After an hour they decided to move to one of the other pools in phase II so we walked over there and I finished typing this before jumping in and joining them. This is the life. Having the laptop along is awesome.

Jenny had an hour power nap and came down and met us at the pool. After 2 hours of pool time the kids finally had enough and we went back to the room for showers. I relaxed with a glass of wine (that lovely screw cap Chianti) worked on the trip report and checked email while the kids watched Nickelodeon. Jenny ran to the Winn-Dixie to pick up a few more supplies. She came back and we planned out our night. We were still a bit tired so decided to pass on Illuminations and instead just go to dinner. We chose Macaroni Grill. I couldn't remember exactly where it was but I drove out the condo and turn onto 535 and there it was. We should have walked; it was just a few blocks. There were a lot of people out front so we thought it might be a long wait but we got a pager and the hostess said it would be less than 20 minutes. It turned out to be about 2 minutes. We dug right into that great rosemary bread and olive oil. Bryce wasn't very hungry and just ate the bread. Jenny, Megan and I each ordered the "create your own pasta". Jenny had fettuccini Alfredo with shrimp, artichoke hearts, sun dried tomatoes and pine nuts along with a beer. Megan had bowtie pasta with garlic cream sauce, mushrooms, red & green onions. I had penne with a spicy tomato sauce, red onions, olives, mushrooms and sausage along with a 3 red wine sampler. Everything was great. The total bill with tax and tip was $46. We took Jenny back to the condo then went to Downtown Disney just as it started to rain. We quickly made it to the Lego store before we got soaked. Everyone else had the same idea and it was so it was packed in there. Same story at World of Disney and Once Upon a Toy but we had a good time looking. It really started to rain hard so we decided to go back home but not before getting caramel apples and a Mickey brownie from Goofy's candy store.

We went back to the condo and watched TV with lights out by 9:30 for our early day at the Magic Kingdom in the morning.

Monday, April 12, 2004
It rained all night. We woke up at 6:30 and watched the weather forecasts which did not look promising. Heavy rain and severe thunderstorms were predicted for most of the day and into tomorrow. The weather guy said it was a pretty rare occurrence in April to have such an extended period of rain. Jenny and I decided it looked pretty miserable out despite what would likely be light crowds. Instead we decided to bag it and go back to sleep for another hour which is unlike us. We all got up again about 8 and tried to figure out what to do. I ran to the Winn-Dixie and picked up two compact umbrellas for $17 and then to McDonalds for breakfast. I had a difficult time finding parking at the condo when I came back. Nobody was leaving for the parks like usual and every space in the entire complex was full. I eventually found somebody leaving in front of our building.

We ate our breakfast and decided we would give it a try at Disney Studios. We left a little after 9:00 and didn't get too bad of a parking spot but since we are now stroller free we rode the tram to the entrance which was nice. The rain had let up as we pulled into the parking lot and now completely stopped for the rest of our day, so much for that forecast. I realize rain in Florida comes and goes quickly but the weather people were emphasizing that today was going to be different and it would be rain all day. We were pleasantly surprised. The temperature was perfect, high 70's or low 80's and not too humid. We went first and got Tower of Terror Fastpasses for about an hour later before joining the standby line for Rock N' Roller Coaster. The standby line was 20 minutes and actually turned out to be all of that as the ride had a short malfunction. This was Bryce's first time to ride it and he loved it which was a relief. He's not nearly the daredevil that Megan is but he does a little more every year. He like the corkscrews the best and the part where his "head was glued to the seat" (the initial launch). It was great to all being going together on the ride for the first time. We took our usual pictures in the gift shop with the long hair rocker wigs.

Bryce wasn't too thrilled about going to the Tower but we all got in line. He probably wouldn't have complained had we brought along Pal Mickey but we thought it wasn't a good idea with the predicted rain. I noticed that the Fastpass line and the standby line were the same length and neither was moving. Jenny said she saw that they closed the gates to the attraction right behind us. This wasn't looking good. A cast member came around and said that only one of the four elevators was operating and the standby wait would be 30 minutes and the Fastpass wait would be 15 minutes. I thought that sounded overly optimistic since we were out in the fountain courtyard area and nothing was moving. I was guessing the boiler room was also full. After about 10 minutes of no line movement we blew out of there and went over to the Great Movie ride which had about a 15 minute wait. We all enjoyed it and sat in one of the first few rows and got the cowboy side. The effect of the Indiana Jones jewel theft sequence wasn't too great though as the smoke didn't cover our tour guide as he changed back into his regular clothes.

We walked back and saw the Tower appeared to be back running at full capacity but Bryce really didn't want to ride this time. I ran ahead and got more Fastpasses for Rock N' Roller Coaster. It was a 5 minute wait just to get the Fastpasses but the standby line was 75 minutes (the Fastpass return time was 60 minutes away, go figure) so I wasn't complaining. The girls rode first while Bryce and I got a couple of turkey legs and drinks. The seating area was packed and we walked around for about 10 minutes with our tray looking for a table to open up. People were like vultures! We finally found one and sat down just as Jenny and Meg showed back up. They had got right on with hardly a wait. We worked over the turkey legs pretty well and took a picture of Bryce with his cheek packed full of turkey meat. He looked like a carnivorous chipmunk. Megan and then went for our ride on the Tower and had a little bit more of a wait but less than 10 minutes before we were on the elevator. I pulled my seatbelt on the English fellow next to me thought it was his and the momentary look of panic on his face was pretty funny. His wife poked him in the ribs on the other side with his seatbelt and he had a good laugh saying "I thought I was going to have to go beltless!" I love having the random drop sequences; there was one final drop that I didn't see coming that was a blast.

We all did another ride on Rock N' Roller Coaster. We waited a couple of minutes for our Fastpass time to open up and ran into a snotty cast member at the entrance. I had all four Fastpasses fanned out to show her and she said hold on I have to see how many you have. Then she saw that two of them had a time 5 minutes later (one of those quirks where the time changes as you're getting several of them) and said "huh, huh, huh" with such disdain that it very clearly meant "you've got some nerve buddy". I almost stopped and discussed the Fastpass operating procedure with her but figured it wasn't worth it, she wasn't even the person who collected them. I don't know what I did to tick her off.

We all met back up and had ice cream, butter pecan for me, cookies and cream for Bryce and strawberry for Megan. Bryce wanted to do Star Tours but the girls weren't interested and instead went to Sounds Dangerous. The Star Tours standby line was 30 minutes so we skipped it and went to the gift shop instead. Bryce loves everything in the store of course but didn't beg too much for anything. We saw the photo place though where they dress you up like various Star Wars characters and he said "I want to do that!" It looked really cool so we got in line but as he thought about it he got a little shy and decided not to do it. At $35 for an 8x10 picture it was a little pricey so I didn't argue.

Bryce asked to go to the Honey I Shrunk the Kids play area so I found a place to sit and chill there why he ran around and had a great time. The girls called on the radio and I told them where we were so we met up and went over to Pizza Planet for a couple of games. We didn't feel like doing too much more since it was pretty crowded and we would be back with my friend Tony next week and possibly another time. It didn't seem like we had done a lot but we had a good time and it was 2:30 so we figured it was time to go back for the kids' daily swim. We slowly walked out but stopped for a spicy cheese filled pretzel and a frozen lemonade.

The kids immediately changed and went to the pool. They had a great time and played for a couple of hours. It was just warm enough for the kids to not be too cold and for me to not be too warm as I worked on trip report notes. Jenny brought me down a great big cup o' Chianti and I thoroughly enjoyed relaxing and listening to Jimmy Buffett on my mp3 player. I'm not a full fledged parrot head but I really like Jimmy.

We went back to the condo and got changed. I checked email quickly and then we went out to dinner at the Crab House which is very close to the condo. It wasn't very busy at the restaurant although it had filled up by the time we left. Megan had the seafood and salad buffet, Bryce had the mac & cheese kids meal, Jenny had a pound of snow crab legs and I had fish & chips. It was all very good. I spent a long while shelling crab for the girls which they enjoyed. Service was OK. The server had rung up Megan's buffet at the adult price so I had her correct it to the much cheaper kids price which was legitimate as it was for 10 and under and she still has a month to go on that account even though she is as tall as and eats as much as an adult. Total with tax and tip was $65.

We dropped Jenny off at the condo as she is still adjusting a bit to Florida time and I took the kids to DisneyQuest. It was packed. The line for Virtual Pirates was huge so we skipped that and did a few things in the Create Zone and then just played video games. We did the group racing game and both kids were frustrated it probably even more so since I came in first among the 8 racers. We only lasted about an hour before we went back to the room at 8:45 and I caught up on trip report notes and we made an early night of in anticipation of another attempt on the Magic Kingdom tomorrow.

Tuesday, April 13, 2004
I woke up at 4:30am and had trouble going back to sleep so I watched George Carlin for a while on HBO. He's still very funny and obscene. I think I finally nodded back off for an hour until I got up for good at 6:30 and had a healthy bowl of cocoa crispies. The kids had Krispy Kreme's and mini muffins. We were out the door about 7:15 and took a bit of the back way to the Magic Kingdom (going by Fort Wilderness) and parked at the Polynesian. We rode the monorail over and just as we arrived we saw the opening ceremony end and the crowds enter. It was about 7:50 when we entered Main Street and I figured they would have us lined up to open all of the lands but everything was already open so we walked right on to Buzz Lightyear. I rode with Bryce who got about 13,000 and I got 250,000. It was a fun way to start the day.

Space Mountain was not quite a walk on but pretty close. Jenny sat in the front seat for the first time and really liked how much better the ride is from there. We usually give that seat to Megan. It was a blast riding with Bryce and Pal Mickey kept him occupied where he didn't say a word about not wanting to ride.

We were going to go on Autopia but Bryce said it was boring and slow so we didn't complain as we all agree and just go on it for his sake. Instead we went on to Winnie the Pooh with less than a 2 minute wait. It was a lot of fun. The cast member at the loading area told us to have a delicious trip and thanked us for smiling. Jenny was pleased because she said she was going to make a point of smiling as often as possible during the trip. I told her people would think she was a crazy lady if she went around smiling all the time but she correctly pointed out a few times how nobody was smiling and we were at the happiest place on earth.

We were all really looking forward to our first show of Mickey's Philharmagic as Jenny's sister had raved about it. We had a 5 minute wait for the next showing. It was outstanding and it's probably our favorite 3D movie. The effects are great and Donald is hilarious. It was great how the incorporated him into new 3D versions of the classic Disney films.

I had planned on getting a Fastpass for it but Peter Pan had only a 5 minute wait so we lined up for that where Bryce surprised us by asking to ride alone. So, our little man went off in his pirate ship while Jenny, Megan and I got the one behind him. It was cute watching him holding up Pal Mickey so he could see everything.

Small World had no wait so we went on that with only 2 other people in the boat. I had to spend most of the ride naming the countries represented to the kids. When we came out we saw that it had rained fairly hard but it was just stopping and we had just a sprinkle or two as we went over to the Haunted Mansion. That turned out to be the only rain we got today. The weather forecast showed it completely clear at through next Monday although it's going to be cool with a high of only 70. Anyhow, the Mansion had a few minute wait which was just long enough to be annoyed by an abrasive and loud family next to us who shouted everything they had to say. Bryce surprised us again by saying that he wanted to ride alone. I think I was a teenager before this ride stopped scaring the bejeebers out of me and even then I was known to close an eye occasionally as those guys popped up from behind the tombstones.

We had already accomplished a lot but it was starting to get a little busier. I went ahead and got Big Thunder Fastpasses and then we met up at Pirates for a ride there with no wait. As we boarded a ride operator announced that a girl in the was turning 13 today and we all clapped. That might be something to remember for Bryce's upcoming birthday. There was a little girl behind us (about 3 or 4) who really did not like the ride and wailed loudly every so often throughout it. Other than that it was a fun ride. Pal Mickey's joke as we exited the ride was "How much did pirates pay to get their earrings? Oh, about a buck an ear" which is one of his better jokes if that gives you and idea of what you're facing if you buy him.

We saw the Tiki Room show after that and Bryce picked up a few of Iago's feathers at the end. Quite a few of the audience members seemed surprised at seeing the tiki gods start singing as well as the other effects so there must have been a lot of first timers.

We were all hungry so I sent the rest of the family ahead to Casey's while I got Splash Moutain Fastpasses. As I was walking through Adventureland I saw one of the character actors and he looked pretty funny. At Casey's we got 4 hotdogs and 3 orders of French fries and it was just as good as we remembered. I grossed out the kids by putting lots of sauerkraut on my hot dog. I also ate most of Bryce's as he was mostly in the mood for fries. The piano player came out and started playing and then one of the Main Street character actors came out and sang and danced with and embarrassed some guy just finishing his lunch.

After lunch headed straight to Big Thunder which had a very long standby line. It was nice to have Fastpasses and breeze through there. I kept my hands up through the whole ride despite the kids telling me I was going to get me hands chopped off.

We went into the Pooh store to kill a few minutes before our Splash Fastpass time came up. The standby line there was also very long but we breezed through. As we stopped at one point Jenny said "isn't that your friend Tim?" and I'll be darned if it wasn't. Tim was my childhood best friend. We met in Kindergarten and were as close as brothers all the way through high school. As we started our own families in our 20's we kind of fell out of touch but I think of him often and feel guilty that I don't contact him more. We gave each other a big hug. It's been probably 3 years since I've seen him and maybe 7 years since we last got together. Anyhow, he was there with his wife Beth and their three kids, Geoffrey, Aubrey and Nick. Nick is too young too ride and was waiting out with Beth's mom. Beth's sister was getting married Saturday and she and Aubrey are in the wedding so they had a full schedule but we made plans to call each and get together tomorrow night (Geoffrey's birthday) at our place for a pizza and swimming for the kids at the volcano pool. They were going to Blizzard Beach tomorrow and we toyed with the idea of spending the day with them but at only 70 degrees tomorrow we will probably pass and just go back to the Magic Kingdom. We of course had to get two copies of the group picture with all of us in the log and then said goodbye for the time being.

We headed over to Tomorrowland where people were swarming. Even the Tomorrowland Transit Authority had a small line which we waited in. The only other thing that wasn't too crazy was the Carousel of Progress so we saw it but headed out after that. It was only about 1:30 but we had accomplished a lot and decided to call it a day.

We went back to the condo and I took the kids for their normal two hour swim while Jenny had a short nap in the room and did laundry. I caught up on trip report notes. We went back to the room and I took the kids out to Fantasia Gardens for a round of golf but there was a half hour wait and we decided to go to Winter/Summerland instead. Just the kids played and I acted as scorekeeper/referee. They both did pretty well and each had a hole in one. They had a lot of fun. Play was a bit slow as there was a family of four in front of us taking their time which was fine. We were in no rush. Bryce was a little dejected as I tabulated the final score and Megan had him beat. He complained that he didn't win and the cast member taking back the clubs overheard him and said "but didn't you have any fun?" That put Bryce in a better mood and the cast member asked to see the scorecard. He circled hole 14 which is the one Bryce got his hole in one on and said "uh oh, you owe me $10" and Bryce looked startled for a moment before realizing he was kidding. Anyhow, hole 14 was the lucky hole for the day and Bryce got a free drink (pink lemonade) which made his day. The cast member was a sweet grandfatherly type and really made some magic.

We went back to the condo and picked up Jenny then parked at the Swan for a walk to Epcot. We were going to try to ride the boat but the wait was fairly long. It's a considerable walk but we were all motivated for dinner around the World Showcase. We went through the International Gateway the stopped for 3 orders of fish and chips, water for the kids and a pint of Bass. British Invasion was playing in the back area where we usually eat so instead we sat in the front garden area which had nobody else in it. It was a great spot because we could still hear the band, people watch and still have a little bit of privacy.

After we finished eating we saw Impressions de France which was beautiful as always. Bryce fell asleep briefly during the movie but we woke him up and he was raring to go again. He's like a little energizer bunny. He hasn't complained at all about walking everywhere, he's doing great. I love not having to push the stroller. As we exited the theater we saw mime Roland who I think is hilarious but I had promised Bryce rice candy and Megan Yakitori from Japan. We bought four boxes of rice candy so the kids were happy campers. On the way to Japan we commented how light the crowd seemed to be at Epcot tonight. Nobody was lining up for Illuminations. It was pretty cool out and quite windy, we all had on sweatshirts. Maybe the cold was keeping people away. The yakitori house still goes by the same name but they have changed the menu a bit and instead serve teriyaki which is essentially the same except that yakitori was grilled, skewered chicken and the teriyaki is just boneless (and fatty) chicken pieces. I was a bit disappointed in it but drowned my sorrows in a draft Kirin which was very good.

It was 8:45 and we walked down to our usual spot which is the wall along the lagoon in Morocco. There were only a couple of people there and it's usually packed well before the show. We waited 10 minutes in the cold but it was well worth it. It was as beautiful as always. We made the very long walk back to the car but no one complained too much. The kids made me tell stories about when my sister and I were young. Of course all of the stories I told were about my sister so I'm sure she will get even and fill them full of stories about me.

We got back to the condo a little after 10 and everyone else went right to bed. I worked on the trip report until about 11:30.

Wednesday, April 14, 2004
We were up at 6:30 and out the door again at 7:15. It was very cool this morning and windy all day. It was sunny but the high was only 69 (in the late afternoon, it was only in the upper 50's in the morning) so we all had long pants and sweatshirts on. We took the back way (535 to Vista Drive) to the Polynesian and rode the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom. We had a 10 minute wait for the gates to open up right 8. The crowd was pretty big but we went straight to Buzz Lightyear and walked right on then noticed Space Mountain had a long line outside. It turned out it wasn't operating yet but just as we were debating getting Fastpasses they started letting people in so we joined the line and had a wait of less than 10 minutes. Bryce got to sit in the front seat so he was pretty pleased. We had forgotten Pal Mickey today but we had him with us yesterday an heard most of what he had to say about the Magic Kingdom.

We took the pathway from Tomorrowland to Toontown only to realize that Toontown wasn't open yet so we had to walk back to Tomorrowland and then on to Fantasyland. We were all eager to try Mickey's PhilharMagic again and it was great. I especially love the scenes with Simba and flying with Peter Pan.

We wandered over to Adventureland and got Jungle Cruise Fastpasses before going on another ride on Pirates of the Caribbean which was almost a walk on. I visited the restroom while Jenny took the kids for a climb of the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse. We waited a few minutes for our Jungle Cruise Fastpass time and were very pleased to not be waiting in the very long and slow standby line. Our Jungle Cruise skipper, Bob, was the best ever. He was just hilarious. His facial expressions were so funny and he had a great delivery in a weird accent and voice. He only told a few of the standard jokes; the rest was him just being crazy. The guy should be on TV. I wish I could remember all of what he said now.

We were all hungry for an early lunch so I ran ahead and got Big Thunder Fastpasses then met up with the family at El Pirato y El Perico. Jenny had a taco salad. Meg and I had burgers from Pecos Bill's and Bryce just ate fries and pickles. I had the big double burger with bacon & cheese and added more melted cheese to it along with sautéed onions and mushrooms. Boy was that a good burger but we went to see the Country Bear Jamboree afterwards and I almost fell asleep. The bears were the same as always, I still prefer the Disneyland vacation hoedown version but you don't get Big Al in that version so I guess it's a tie. We teased Megan a bit about when she was 2 or 3 and called it the "Crunchy Bears" show.

Things were getting busy so we took the raft over to Tom Sawyer's Island. Our raft pilot was a 60something grandmotherly type who didn't seem to fit the usual raft captain role. In her words she did a "bad landing, bad landing" on both trips we took with her. Maybe she was still earning her ears. The kids went through the all the caves, both bridges, the tree house and the fort pretty quickly so we spent only about 45 minutes there before returning to the mainland.

We were again very thankful to have Fastpasses and were on our train (back seat, woo hoo!) in less than 5 minutes. Everyone kept their hands in the air the whole time and had a fun ride. Frontierland was very busy and even though it was only 1:30PM we decided to leave the park as we had done most everything we wanted to. I had promised the kids the freshly made ice cream cookie sandwiches at the bakery on Main Street. We got three of them and they are huge. About $3.50 each and not a bad deal for very big cookies of your choice (chocolate chip for all of us) and a very good quality vanilla bean ice cream scooped up right in front of you and smashed between the cookies. The cookies were good but pretty hard which I suppose was necessary to squish the ice cream. They were very good but Meg said she will probably stick with the regular pre-packaged Nestle Toll House ice cream sandwiches from here on out. They have softer cookies.

We went back to the room and almost immediately changed and all went down to the pool for a few hours. It was still cold so I was in my sweatshirt typing trip report notes while the kids swam and Jenny lounged in the sun pretending not to be cold. Bryce hounded me to go into the pool with him but it was just too darned cold. I wasn't going in so I got called a "mean dad".

Tim called on my cell phone about 4 and said they planned to leave Blizzard Beach in the next hour or two and would call when they were on the way to our place. We went back to the condo for a while after that and I got caught up on work email and trip report notes.

Tim and family showed up about 6. It was his oldest son Geoffrey's 9th birthday. We got caught up on old times and the kids got along like long lost friends as well. We ordered a couple of take out pizzas from Pizza Hut and had dinner in the condo so we could just enjoy our time together. I really did my soul good to reconnect with my friend. Beth is a sweetheart and their kids are fantastic. We had a birthday cake and a few presents for Geoffrey then we all went for a swim even though it was still very cold. The kids didn't mind of course and they are now fast friends. We made tentative plans to get together with Tim, Geoffrey and Nicholas on Saturday while Bryce does his birthday Pirate Cruise and the rest of us will rent Water Mice.

Lights out at 10:30 tonight.

Thursday, April 15, 2004
We all slept in until 8 and it felt wonderful. I suppose it was four theme park days in a row (rare for us) that wore us out a bit even though each day was fairly short. It couldn't have anything to do with the many glasses of wine I polished off the night before. It was still pretty cold out and is supposed to warm up more tomorrow and throughout the rest of our trip. Anyhow, we had no need to get there before park opening like we normally do. Still, we arrived at Typhoon Lagoon about 10 minutes after opening and found very few cars in the lot. Jenny had problems with her biometrics again, she hasn't yet had much luck with it but they usually just wave her in. Today they asked for her ID which unfortunately we did not have but thankfully they took mine.

There were very few people in the park and we had no problem finding a good spot to stake out. It was quite cold and the wave pool water was VERY cold so we waited on that. Instead we all went on the tube rides and had a blast. The water was pretty warm and at least there was no wind so it wasn't too bad. We had a great time on the slides. Jenny went back to our spot and I took the kids to on the Storm Slides. I rode two times with them and then just watched from the bleachers as they rode two more times. It's really nice that they are mature enough that they can have a little taste of freedom to do things like that without the parents with them every second.

I asked them if they wanted to go on Humunga Cowabunga and I was surprised that Bryce said yes so we all went which I thought was very brave of him. I would have never done that at his age. We all rode at the same time and compared wedgie notes at the end. It was fun but it does beat you up a little. Once was enough.

Then we rode around on Castaway Creek and had the place to ourselves. It was great; the water was nice and warm. We floated around back to our spot and met up with Jenny. Bryce was excited to tell her about his conquest of Humunga Cowabunga. Meg had been begging me to go out into the wave pool so I went despite my chattering teeth. We had lots of fun riding the big waves.

Jenny had brought along our soft sided cooler so we had our lunch of Pringles and bagels with chive cream cheese and slices of ham. Along with an ice cold diet Dr. Pepper it made a great lunch.

After lunch Jenny took the kids out on the Storm Slides. Bryce made friends with another little guy about his age next to us. They spent several hours making sandcastles and bit holes in the sand. Some British kids were running by and Jenny asked them to be careful of the sandcastle. One of them jumped right over it which was fine but his brother really took him to task and said "Rob, you selfish booger!" Bryce was pretty pleased later to find two quarters in the sand. Jenny and I took turns going out in the wave pool with Megan. Meg's enjoyment of the wave pool kind of solidified my decision to go to Hawaii next year.

The kids wanted Arctic Dots so we found the nearby stand with cookies and cream for Bryce and mint chocolate for Megan. Jenny found the beer stand for an ice cold Bud Light. We went on a few more slides and finally left about 2:30 because we were all starting to get a bit sunburned.

We went back to the condo and just had some quiet time for a few hours. The kids put on aloe vera to cool the sunburns. I did some work for about an hour (I'm trying to overcome my workaholic habits but have always made sure that family comes first). I'm traveling to New York the week after I get back from vacation so I wanted to try to resolve as many things as I could while I was on vacation.

I got in touch with my buddy Tony and we made plans for him to meet us at our condo on Monday. We headed out to dinner at 6:00. Jenny is very disciplined in her eating habits and enjoys a good steak but rarely indulges. Well, tonight she decided to indulge so we figured the closest place for a decent steak would be TGIFridays. There was a 10 minute wait which went by quickly. There were benches outside for us to wait on and it was a pleasant evening out.

Megan had a pineapple smoothie and the ribs from the kids menu. Jenny had a beer and a Jack Daniels prime rib with baked potato and salad and was quite pleased to get carded (and glad she had her ID this time). I had a full rack of Jack Daniels marinated baby back ribs with onion rings and a salad. Bryce wasn't too hungry (after snacking on Pringles and fruit earlier) so he just ate a little of our plates. We also had the potato skins appetizer which he helped us with and for dessert we let him have the kid's sundae with hot fudge and hot caramel. It was huge so I polished off what Bryce didn't. Megan and I loved the ribs and Jenny's prime rib was just as good. Service was OK. The total bill with tax and tip was $65.

We hurried home so we could watch Survivor and see Kathy get voted out. Jenny and the kids went to sleep at 9 and I stayed up until 9:30 working on the trip report on watching Dennis Miller.

Friday, April 16, 2004
Jenny and Megan were up at 7 but Bryce and I slept I until 8. We had breakfast of oatmeal, donut holes and bananas. I made sure to do a better job of applying sunscreen to everyone today. It's still going to be cold in the mornings but the high temperature is supposed to be 78 today which will be a bit more comfortable.

I took my cell phone along just in case Tim called and they decided to join us. We got in line at Blizzard Beach just as they opened and Jenny went ahead to secure a spot (after her annual pass didn't work again). We all immediately took the chair lift up and rode the family raft ride, Teamboat Springs. That is such a great ride, it has to be the best of its type. We laughed the whole way down.

We went around back to Runoff Rapids and all went down the enclosed slide then back again except the girls took a double tube on one of the sides. We decided we had enough of the 127 step climb to Runoff Rapids and went around to Downhill Double Dipper for a ride followed by the Toboggan Racers. Jenny won by a long ways.

Jenny went back to our spot and I took the kids to the Ski Patrol area where they went across those icebergs with the overhead cargo nets about half a dozen times. Megan kept getting asked how old she was by the life guards. The area is for 12 and under but she has a hard time passing for that even though she's only 10.

We met back up with Jenny then played in the wave pool for a long while. We liked that they had tubes in the pool now which made it easy to take Bryce out to the deep water with Megan and I.

We had left over pizza, chips and soda for lunch and then topped off that healthy fare with a funnel cake from the stand behind us. The kids polished that off in short order. After lunch we went back to Runoff Rapids and this time Megan and I did a double tube while Jenny and Bryce did the single tubes on the enclosed slide. Then we did the other curvy mat slides. I really sped along on these and even caught up to Bryce. We tumbled into the pool at the end together. We all then went back to the Ski Patrol area for a while before taking two laps around Cross Country Creek. We packed up and left at 2:30. We couldn't find my cheap sandals though. No big deal since they were only a couple of bucks. There were worse things I could have lost, I bet somebody just put them on by mistake.

We went back to the condo and Jenny and I worked on some email before I took the kids out for some miniature golf at Fantasia Gardens. They work things a little differently here and give you a tee time which was only five minutes away for us so they can space out the golfers somewhat. We still caught up to the group in front of us by hole 4 but that was OK. We were in no hurry. The course is cute and the other side looked fun since it "looked like real golf" according to the kids. We were all a bit sunburned from two days at the waterparks and were trying to limit our sun exposure. There was lots of landscaping providing shad which was nice. Both kids got several hole in ones and the difficulty seemed about the same as Winter/Summerland.

We went back and picked up Jenny at the condo. She said Tim had called and he would meet us at the Grand Floridian tomorrow with Geoffrey, Nicholas and Beth's twin brother while Beth and Aubrey stayed back since they would be in Beth's sister's wedding tomorrow night.

We went out to dinner at Jungle Jim's at the Crossroad's shopping area and got right in. I had a coupon for a free appetizer with the purchase of two entrees and having remembered the large portions we figured that would be enough to feed all of us so we got boneless chicken wings which were very good and split a Tarzan (bacon, mushrooms, sautéed onions) chicken breast sandwich and a Monte Cristo. Everything was great and even with a beer in there it was a very reasonable $25 with tax and tip.

After dinner we drove to the Pop Century resort for a look around. It's of course very similar to the All Stars but it was fun seeing a new place. We drove all around and then went to the main area where we played a game of air hockey in the arcade. Bryce was goofing off and tried to hit the puck with his head and ended up giving it a good whack on the table instead. That will leave a mark. We got some ice cream from the food court. As we were walking outside to find a table I forgot to hold the door open for Bryce and it hit his head in the same spot. He'll have a lump tomorrow. Bad dad. We took a walk around the 70's buildings which were cool because they had a Big Wheel and a huge foosball court.

We went back to the condo for an early night as everyone was a bit worn out. I worked on the trip report and watched "The World According to Garp" until 10PM.

Saturday, April 17, 2004
We all woke up a little before 8 and got ready for the day. Cereal and sunscreen were doled out. We left the condo at 8:55 and did valet parking at the Grand Floridian since it's a bit of a ways to walk from the self parking area there. We walked to the marina at 9:15 and most all of the kids were there and already checked in. We got a pager and saw Bryce off on his Pirate Cruise. It looked like a lot of fun. There was a boat with 10 girls on it and Bryce was on another boat that held 8 boys. They each teamed up with a buddy and set sail with their captains. Jenny, Megan and I relaxed on some benches and waited about 20 minutes for Tim, Geoffrey, Nicholas and John (Beth's brother).

We all rented Water Mice. We had planned on getting one for Megan but she was too young to ride alone so Jenny went with her while I got my own. Tim took Nicholas in another and Geoffrey rode with his uncle John in the final boat. We started out and had only gone about 2 minutes when I started goofing off and swerving in front of Tim and John so they could go over the wake I left. Little did I know that I had a Boston Whaler on my tail and all of the sudden I heard a siren so I stopped. The cast member asked how I was doing and said that there had been a serious accident last week and they were under a zero tolerance policy for reckless driving and I was driving recklessly and would not be allowed to drive for the rest of the day. Oops, my bad. He was right so I apologized and skulked back to the marina and returned my boat. The others followed me back and said that the cast member told them I could go out with them but I just couldn't drive (and that I was cool about being told I couldn't drive). All the boats had two people in them though and I was fine with just watching so I told them to keep going.

They stayed out 45 minutes and went through all the waterways. Tim got a lecture at one point when he stopped his boat to videotape. Jenny pulled up by Tim and asked how Nick liked the ride and Tim said he had been asleep the whole time. They all had a good time although they were a little more cautious driving after my brush with the law. I got a drink from Gasparilla Grill and watched the traffic from the boat launch. We all met back up and the CM nicely didn't charge me for my five minute lawless joyride.

We got some ice cream from Gasparilla Grill and then explored the grounds and the pools for about 20 minutes until it was time to meet Bryce as the end of his 2 hour Pirate Cruise. He had a great time and came back with a sack lunch and a bag full of pirate treasures. Just miscellaneous trinkets but it was pretty cute and he was pleased.

We took Geoffrey with us in our car as he and Bryce are now fast friends. Geoffrey reminds me exactly of his dad at that age except with more self assurance. He's a great kid and very funny. Tim, John and Nick followed in their minivan and we all stopped at McDonalds for lunch which we took back to the condo and quickly scarfed down before heading out to the volcano pool. Megan complained a bit (as she has for each of the past few days) that her face hurt which was probably part fair skin, sunburn and chlorine. She seemed to forget about it though once the boys were starting to have a lot of fun playing at the slides and she joined them. It's nice not to have to worry too much about my kids in the pool this year. They are very capable swimmers as is Geoffrey so the three of them had lots of fun together while the rest of us stayed in the shallow end with Nick. Tim and I got some time to talk and just relax. It was a good day. I would say that the only real regret I have had in my life was falling out of contact with Tim. This time together somehow seemed to set me more at peace with myself.

After a couple of hours of swimming they all had to get ready for the wedding. Unfortunately, that coincided with a brief resort wide water shutdown that was going on for about 2 hours so they will smell a bit like chlorine later but they were fine with it. We said goodbye as they were flying out the next morning. Tim and I vowed not to wait 5+ years before the next time we contact each other. We will definitely be in touch with them.

Jenny went back to the pool for about an hour while I worked on trip report notes, Megan did some homework and Bryce watched a movie. It was good to relax today and not go to a park. We will be getting plenty of that in the week ahead.

Dinner was at Chili's tonight about 6. I had the country fried steak with mashed potatoes and gravy which was great. Bryce had the corn on the cob and garlic bread from my dinner along with a kids chocolate shake. Megan had a fajita chicken quesadilla. Jenny had nachos and a beer. The waitress brought Jenny out two beers and when I pointed it out she said it was happy hour and they were two for one. So, I had the other beer. We all left stuffed. The total with tax and tip was $34.

We took Jenny back to the condo then Megan, Bryce and I went to DisneyQuest. We around in the Create Zone for a while then the kids designed a roller coaster on Cyber Space Mountain which Megan and I rode after we couldn't talk Bryce into it. It was a level 4 and pretty wild. Then we went back to the Create Zone where Bryce did a design on Sid's Build-a-toy and we bought it for $10. He was really excited and it was a fun experience for a relatively small price. We then played air hockey and some virtual soccer. Megan wanted to use the internet terminals on the 4th floor but they were all full and everyone was really camped out at them. They weren't in any hurry to leave so we decided to leave.

We walked out around the West Side and enjoyed people watching. We stopped at the Candy Cauldron but no one found anything to tempting. Instead I promised the kids we would get something at the grocery store on the way home. We also stopped in at the Virgin Megastore for a quick look but didn't buy anything.

We stopped at the Winn-Dixie on the way home and got a Radio Disney for Megan and a Wonderball for Bryce. We scoped out the rode behind the store and our condo which leads into Turkey Lake Road which I think we can take all the way to Universal Studios tomorrow. Lights out at 10PM.

Sunday, April 18, 2004
We were all up around 7 today and left the condo at 8:15. What an easy drive, Turkey Lake Road right to the Universal parking garage in about 20 minutes. We got the $99 annual two park power passes from one of the kiosks then entered the park but had to go to vacation services to turn them in for the official ones with our pictures on them. The park was already open at 8:45 so it was a little frustrating waiting to do this but we still entered before 9AM and the gal helping us was from Seattle.

We were a little disappointed to hear that they had stopped the previews of the new Return of the Mummy ride yesterday in anticipation of its official opening next month. Oh well, it will be there next time. We went straight to Shrek 4D after I got Jimmy Neutron express passes for 10:05 to 11:05. The pre-show for Shrek was very amusing and the move itself was hilarious. We all were undecided afterwards whether it or Mickey's PhilharMagic is the best new 3D movie. We all loved it but Jenny decided later it was her favorite thing at Universal.

We went straight to Men in Black and walked right on. It was awesome. There was an empty seat next to me so I grabbed the gun from it and shot with both hands. It definitely beats Buzz Lightyear hands down and turned out to be Bryce's favorite thing at Universal. Jenny ended up with the high score at 139,000. I had 129,000 on one gun and only 29,000 on the other, Megan had 39,000 and Bryce had 34,000.

Bryce saw some things he liked in the gift shop and we decided to return later to pick them up as a surprise for his birthday next Saturday. Back to the Future was the next closest ride and it had only a 5 minute wait so we did that next. The kids enjoyed it. I forgot how rough it is but it was fun.

E.T was nearby and the sign said a 5 minute wait but it turned out to be closer to 15 minutes. That was OK though as the line inside is pretty neat and we enjoyed waiting in the forest area. We decided to go back to the Men in Black gift shop so Jenny could buy those presents and have them shipped to the front gate while I distracted Bryce in another part of the store. We then went back to Jimmy Neutron to use our express passes. We had about a 10 minute wait until the time we got into the theater. It was a big improvement on the old Hanna Barbera ride. There were a ton of Nickelodeon characters from lots of shows and it was fun spotting random ones as they went by on the screen. It was one of my favorite rides of the day.

We walked over to Terminator 2: 3D and walked right into the pre-show area before they closed the doors behind us. Even though this is older than Shrek, PhilharMagic, and It's Tough to be a Bug I think it's the best 3D show. The combination of live action and 3D movie is fantastic. The live action Terminator could have been a little taller but a minor quibble for a great show that generated a lot of applause at the end.

We were getting hungry so we headed out to Quint's but I first stopped for Jaws express passes. Jenny's pass wouldn't work (neither Jenny's nor my pass worked on Jimmy Neutron) but the cast member said he would let us through with just the 3 tickets later. Lunch was fish & chips, fried scallops & prawns and a bowl of clam chowder. It was all fine for fast food. We enjoyed the waterside location although there was a guy smoking there (it wasn't a smoking area). After lunch I called my sister from a payphone to say hi but got her answering machine. My hidden agenda was actually to talk to her husband who is a doctor. Bryce has got an ear infection and it's been draining for the past 5 days. He hasn't complained at all about it and he said it doesn't hurt. We've been in a bit of a quandary trying to decide if we should take him into a clinic to get it checked out. We finally decided to see if it would clear up on its own with some help from an evening dose of Sudafed.

Earthquake was next on our plan. It said it was a 10 minute wait but it was probably more like 15 before we got into the pre-show area. I had forgotten about the special effects presentations before the short tram ride itself. It was OK but not something I need to go on again.

Jaws had a 50 minute standby wait so I was glad for the express passes. The kids stopped for Dippin Dots and ate those while we waited in the express line which took less then 10 minutes. Bryce really enjoyed it since he does a scarily accurate Captain Quint impersonation (based on Dana Carvey's Quint impersonation in Master of Disguise). The heat from the flames during the ride was really intense; it was an uncomfortable few seconds. Maybe it was worse because we were in the back of the boat?

We took our time getting over to the Animal Planet Live Theater which started at 2:15. The kids enjoyed the show because they love the Animal Planet channel and there were some cute animal performances. It's not something I would probably do on my own but it was OK.

After the show Bryce said he was tired and wanted to go back to the condo. We all agreed so we took the long walk back to the car. At least it was an easy drive back to the condo. Housekeeping had come for their only visit during our stay. Our $79 room rate did not include housekeeping which was fine with us since we had a washer and dryer, dishwasher and a vacuum. It was more convenient to just do those things ourselves than have to worry about being out of the housekeeper's way every day. Anyhow, for stays of longer than a week they apparently give you one free clean in the middle of your stay (probably just to check and make sure you haven't pulled some rock star antics and trashed the place). It was nice to have everything clean when we came back.

The kids watched Nickelodeon and relaxed for a couple of hours and I worked on the trip report and tried to ignore a pounding headache which is the newest addition to the cold I've been fighting the past few days. The headache joined the parade of coughing, runny nose and raspy voice (I sound a lot like Harvey Fierstein).

My sister called back and we all talked for a while especially about our chance meeting with Tim and the good times we had. Dr. Dom also said it would probably be fine to wait a couple of days to see if Bryce's ears clear up if he doesn't have any pain.

We left the condo again at 6 for dinner at Chevy's. Jenny and I each had a beer and shared an order of nachos. The kids shared a chicken quesadilla. The food was good but the wait for it was long and the service overall was poor which is the first time in our many visits to Chevy's that has happened. The total bill with tax (and slightly less than 15%) tip was $30.

We drove to the Beach Club and walked through the International Gateway and over to Japan where we set a meeting place. Jenny went over and watched the Davy Jones concert while I took the kids back to the International Gateway because Bryce wanted one of those jawbreakers on a stick like Megan has been working on for a few days. After that we went to France just as the mime, Roland, started his act. The first person he chose to come up with him was Bryce. That was really neat as I think Roland is hilarious. Bryce had his jawbreaker in his right hand and Roland tried to shake hands with him and they stuck out their right then left hands a couple of times before connecting. Roland made a balloon animal and some funny faces at Bryce and that was about it. It was a fun show.

Afterwards, Megan got a piece of baklava from the stand in Morocco and we went over to claim a spot along the railing in Japan. We had a 20 minute wait. Jenny joined us about 5 minutes before show time and said Davy Jones' show was very good. Illuminations was great as always.

We got back to the condo at 10 and had a message from Tony asking to confirm our meeting time in the morning so I gave him a quick call and we set everything up. I finished up the trip report notes and it was lights out at 10:45

Monday, April 19, 2004
We woke up a little after 7 this morning and were running a little slow. I made egg sandwiches for everyone for breakfast. By the time we finished the normal sunscreen routine we were out the door at 8:20 and ran into Tony just pulling in after driving over from his parents place near Tampa.

We all loaded into our minivan and went to Islands of Adventure. Tony bought a one day ticket and we were in a few minutes before 9. The park was open early. Tony and I went on Hulk while Jenny took the kids to Spiderman. I stashed my stuff in one of the lockers that give you an hour free. I met up with Tony in the line just as it broke off into a left side and a right side so I choose the left side as it was shorter. Big mistake, I forgot we were in the line for the front seats. The ride was fantastic in the front but not worth the wait. It took us a good 30 minutes to finally get on the ride. I was kicking myself since I didn't bring my radio with me and sure enough Jenny wasn't too pleased with me as they were all waiting for us and thought we had gone on the ride twice.

Tony and I had already picked up express passes for everyone and they were already valid so we sent Jenny and Megan onto Hulk with those while Bryce, Tony and I went on Spiderman. It was about a 20 minute wait. The ride was great fun as always. Definitely one of the best rides in Orlando.

The girls had gone on Hulk twice but they only took their express passes during one of the rides so Jenny gave us the remainders and Megan, Tony and I rode again sitting in the back row this time. You've got to love that initial launch. It's great. At the exit Megan and Tony decided they were hungry so they each got a turkey leg and munched on those as we walked over to Seuss Landing where Jenny had gone with Bryce. They called and said they were in the If I Ran the Zoo area but I somehow walked right past it and all the way to the end of the area before backtracking and finding them. I got myself out of the doghouse with Jenny by buying her some of those cinnamon and sugar coated almonds which were nice and hot. They were delicious and Tony is now hooked on them.

We went into the Cat in the Hat gift shop to get some pictures with everyone wearing silly hats. We did that yesterday also at Islands of Adventure and both times we started a line of people behind us doing the same thing. Those Thing 1 and Thing 2 wigs are hilarious.

I was mortified that Tony had thrown away his turkey leg with about half the carcass left. I asked him which garbage can and told him I was going dumpster diving. Meg let me have the remainder of hers and it was really good. Better than the most recent ones we had at Disney, not as greasy. Of course not as juicy either but I prefer them more dry. Bryce got a churro and happily munched away on that.

We continued on to the Lost Continent and everyone played with the talking fountain while I ran ahead and got express passes for Dueling Dragons which were valid right then! I took Bryce on the Flying Unicorn while the rest rode Fire. They heard some employees saying that 3 people didn't show up to work today so they were only able to run one train at a time on each Fire and Ice. That was lame. Tony went ahead and went as a single rider so he was able to go on both sides in the time that Jenny and Meg waited to ride just Fire. Bryce and I called Jenny to let her know we were in the baby swap area and after their ride ended a few minutes later she took Bryce out while Megan, Tony and I got right onto Ice. You've got to love the baby swap. There was a group taking the VIP tour and they also lined up with us in the same baby swap area. Megan and Tony both agreed that Fire is better but they like the part on Ice where it looks like you are going to hit the wall. I love where it seems like your dangling feet are going to touch those of the folks on the other coaster.

We still had more express passes so Jenny and Tony rode again while I went ahead with the kids. I couldn't talk Bryce in to Jurassic Park so we kept going and got express passes for Dudley Doo-Right's Ripsaw Falls. We sat at the Comic Strip Café restaurant next door and relaxed in the shade for a while. The radios had some interference trouble and we were unable to get in touch with Jenny to let her know where we were. After a while though both of us must have moved to better locations and we finally told them to come over and meet us. We had lunch there since there were four different counters with varying styles of food that suited everyone. The line had grown long but we were in no great hurry. It was a good break. I had a meatball sandwich, Bryce had side orders of Mexican rice and beans (which he didn't even really touch), Jenny and Tony had soft tacos and Megan had shrimp and scallop lo mein. Everything was pretty good. The cashier was nice and asked if we had annual passes so that saved us 15% on the meal.

I went ahead to get Spiderman express passes but they were out for the day and it was only 1:30. I tried Hulk but it was the same story there so as a last resort I went to Popeye's Bilge Rat Barges and got passes with an immediate turnaround time. We all went on Dudley Doo-Right first and got soaked! At least they only get the top half of you wet. When riding it last year I don't remember getting soaked by those people putting quarters in the machines and soaking you from the bridge. Those things are brutal. So of course we immediately went up to the bride and rounded up all of are quarters and started soaking others. Ah, sweet schaudenfreude.

Jenny was a good sport about being soaked but wasn't in the mood to get completely drenched with Popeye so she took a beer break and snapped pictures of the rest of us getting completely drenched. Megan, Bryce and I took off our shoes and socks and stored them in the middle because I hate walking around with wet feet. Tony left his on and that was one of the few places that he wasn't soaked. We all got it pretty good at one time or another. It was a very fun ride.

Megan, Tony and I all then went to Dr. Doom's Fearfall and took the single rider line. Tony went on twice and then we met up and Jenny surprised us by deciding to ride. She had been on it once before and I thought that one time was going to be it for her. She went through the singles line again with Megan and Tony and they all had fun although Jenny said she closed her eyes for it!

At about 2:30 we figured we had done most of what we wanted for the day and we didn't want to push it too much so we went back to the condo. Jenny covertly stopped at package pickup for a medieval shield and sword set for Bryce's birthday. He had remarked how cool it was when he saw it at the Dueling Dragons shop so we distracted him, bought it and had it shipped to the front of the park. Back at the condo we gave Tony a quick tour before he drove over to his nearby hotel to check in.

The rest of us all went down to the pool and I worked on the trip report for about 2 minutes before my laptop battery died. I think it's gone for good so I'll have to work from a nearby power source until I get home and get a replacement. It gave me time though to relax and listen to music on one of my MP3 players as I watched the kids.

The kids swimming only lasted about an hour and then they went back for showers, a bit of homework and a lot of Nickelodeon. I caught up on work email for about an hour and then worked on the trip report for another hour while enjoying a glass of Chianti from the nice bottle Tim had brought the other night. It was much nicer than my 3 liter screw cap jug which had recently been depleted.

Tony came back over at 7:15 and we made the quick drive over to the Rainforest Café for our 7:30 reservation (which I had made weeks ago using the Safari card). We had to park a ways from where I wanted but we eventually found a spot. There was a 90 minute walk up wait but with the reservation we were led right to the gorilla room and had a table in less than 5 minutes. Tony liked the atmosphere and was looking forward to the ribs. We saw that they had a special which was full pound of coconut shrimp, an 8 ounce sirloin steak and a half rack of ribs. Tony and I both got that. Jenny had the Blue Mountain chicken sandwich and the kids split the chicken nuggets kid's meal. I actually shared about half of my meal with Megan. There was plenty for both of us. The ribs were good but not as good as I remembered. The shrimp were OK, I love shrimp but coated in coconut has never done much for me. The sirloin steak was surprisingly very good. I'm normally not a big fan of sirloin but it was very lean, flavorful and cooked perfectly medium rare. Jenny's sandwich was very good and the kids' nuggets were...nuggets; pretty typical other than the very high price for them. The service was pretty good especially for the Rainforest Café where our past experiences haven't resulted in many good service results. The total bill with the 10% Safari card discount was about $80 with tax and tip.

We went to Goofy's candy store with the idea of getting more caramel apples for the kids but they saw the make your own pixie sticks area and so we did that instead. Jenny got a Mickey peanut butter cup. Total damage here was $14 but the kids were happy. Last year we went to Downtown Disney with Tony and got lost trying to find our car later. Well, we did the same thing again this year. We walked across one area that had some wires holding up a tree and Jenny didn't see them and walked right into them around her shins. Ouch. No cuts but she'll probably have a bruise. We had to look about 5 minutes but we finally found it.

We said goodnight to Tony and made plans to meet him at our place at 8:15 in the morning. Lights out at 10:30.

Tuesday, April 20, 2004
We woke up a little after 7, met Tony at 8:15 and walked into the Animal Kingdom a few minutes before opening. We saw Wes Palm out front but didn't stop to talk to him. We joined the crowd going to the safari and it was about a 10 minute walk to our vehicle. The savanna part of the journey had very few animals but we still saw lots overall. We were right next to the white rhinos so that was pretty cool. We sat in the front row and it was a good trip.

We then walked through the Pangani Forest trail and caught a good look and whiff of the gorillas before moving on fairly quickly. I love watching them but they were particularly aromatic today. The rest of the trail though was a nice walk.

We went over to Dinoland and walked right on to Primeval Whirl and had lots of fun. I rode with Bryce and Tony, Jenny and Megan were in the car behind us. At the end of the ride I noticed there was absolutely no one in line and the cast member asked if we wanted to stay on so we said sure and took another spin. We went over to Dinosaur but it wasn't operating. Jenny got Fastpasses though. We all went to the Boneyard and played around then let Bryce dig in the sand for about 15 minutes.

Bryce really wanted me to play the carnival games but I talked him out of it by bribing him with ice cream. He had a chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich, Megan had a frozen banana and Jenny and I shared a Mickey bar which was so good. We were all eager to take Tony to It's Tough to be a Bug so went over the Tree of Life and wound our way underneath. It was fun pointing out the "carvings" and the pretty areas to Tony.

The show was great and Tony laughed and was surprised in all the appropriate places as we watched him. We did notice that Hopper didn't do the bug spray which did cut down on the number of hysterically screaming children. There were still plenty of them of course but it wasn't as loud as usual. We were all getting hungry so we went to the Tusker House for lunch. Bryce has the PB&J kids meal, Megan had the fried chicken sandwich and Jenny and I had the salad with grilled chicken. Tony also has the fried chicken sandwich and a piece of carrot cake which he gave most of to the kids. Everything was good. The salad greens were very nice and the grilled chicken was excellent. I could have used a bit more dressing but I like a lot. We sat outside around the corner and it was nice and peaceful. We really liked the area. Not quite as scenic as the seating area by the water at the Flame Tree BBQ but still quite nice..

After lunch we went to the Festival of the Lion King at Camp Minnie-Mickey. We hadn't seen the show for a few years (it didn't have any walls before). We were directed down a different path around back and as we opened the door a cast member practically yelled at us to "wait right there" while she finished seating people. We were just standing there not even moving so I guess we must have surprised her because her reaction seemed strange then a minute later another cast member yelled at us a bit sternly to "wait right there" also. What's up with that? We just went to where we were directed and waited and they were kind of barking orders at us. We got seated after a minute or two and sat in the giraffe section. It was great although the mom in front of us had a piercing whistle that she did frequently to show her appreciation.

We did the long walk back to Dinoland and rode Dinosaur. Tony liked it a lot and looked scared in the picture so we gave him a hard time. We stopped at Chester & Hester's store and the kids both got the make your own boxes of Mr. Potatohead. I told them the trick was stuffing as many parts as possible inside of his body before putting him in the box. At $16 each they both decided it was a good use of their souvenir money.

We took the new path from Dinoland to Asia and got a good view of Expedition Everest. There is some track in place and there were a bunch of guys up on the high beams and a crane was laying steel in there. I could have stayed and just watched that but we continued on. Our plans of Kali River Rapids were dashed though as the wait was 45 minutes and the Fastpasses were gone for the day. So, we decided to pass on that and instead walked through the Maharajah Trail. Tony really enjoyed the architectural details here and in all of Asia. We got a great view of the bats, some of which were stretching out their wings. The tigers were all sleeping but near the glass so we got a good view of them.

We took a quick tour of the Tree of Life gardens area which is Jenny's favorite area because it's so beautiful and provides a great view of the Tree. Tony liked it also and took some pictures. It was a little after 3 and we had seen most of what we had set out to see so we made our way out of the park. We took the tram although it didn't save us a lot of walking as our spot was pretty close.

Back at the condo we said goodbye to Tony for a while and made plans to meet up with him at 6:30. Jenny went down to the pool for an hour or two while the kids had a great time with their Potatohead's and I worked on the trip report.

At 6:30 we met Tony and went to Jungle Jim's for dinner. We had another free appetizer coupon so had nachos with that. I had a Rueben, Megan had a teriyaki & pineapple chicken sandwich, Tony had a quad (for slices of bacon) burger and Jenny had a chicken taco salad. Bryce shared a little of everyone's. It was all good. Service was very good; the kids must have had 3 or 4 refills of lemonade. The only clinker was dessert. Tony ordered something with Oreo cookies and ice cream. It was pretty plain and small and seemed way overpriced at $6.49. The total dinner tab with tax and tip was about $60.

After dinner we decided to just go back to the condo and rent a movie. We found the DVD for Cheaper by the Dozen so Tony and I watched that with the kids while Jenny watched Gilmore Girls in the bedroom. Tony got a call in the middle of the movie about closing on a condo he is buying. The cheap DVD player does not have any rewind or fast forward buttons and the remote must be lost so we had to start the movie over but we finally finished it up about 10:45 then said goodnight to Tony and went right to bed.

Wednesday, April 21, 2004
We all had a good nights sleep and got up around 8. Tony called about 8:30 because he forgot which park we were doing today and said it looked warmer tomorrow so maybe that would be a better water park day. It was only going to be a couple of degrees warmer tomorrow and today will be 85 with 95% humidity so we'll be warm enough.

He came over at 9:20 and we got to Blizzard Beach about 9:45 so it gave us time to purchase his ticket (he saved $4 with my annual pass). The girls went ahead as they were letting people in the park but it was roped off further ahead for the 10AM opening. They didn't look through any of our bags as we went through the gates. We got a large locker (why do I always forget and get a large when all I put in it is my wallet and keys? I guess it's that American supersized mentality at work.

We met up with the girls and secured our usual spot in the corner by Melt-Away Bay. We all took the chair lift to the top of the mountain and went on Teamboat Springs. It was just a little chilly but totally worth it.

We then went on Runoff Rapids twice before moving on to Downhill Double Dipper and both mat slides. Bryce as usual was in a bit of a snit because he came in last on the racing slides but he got over it after we went on the others.

We went back to our spot and Tony and Jenny warmed up in the sun. I took the kids to the Ski Patrol area for a while and they did the usual iceberg thing. We eventually went over to the wave pool and swam for a long time. It was lunch time so we had our tuna sandwiches and Pringles. Tony got a chicken sandwich and fries (which he gave to Bryce because he was trying to save up his appetite for dinner tonight).

Jenny and I took the kids for a float around Cross Country Creek while Tony stayed back and digested his sandwich. The kids went without tubes and just swam around. We went for a full circle then Jenny got out to switch with Tony. We waited for a few minutes and then finally spotted him. He looked right at us but must have missed us as he kept going. So, we went down a couple of landings later and met up with him back at our spot before all going back into the wave pool. After about 30 minutes of searching we finally secured a tube for Bryce to float around in. He's a pretty good swimmer but the waves test his skills and I was more comfortable with him in the tubes in deep water. We played around for about 30 minutes before going back to our spot and getting a funnel cake. Tony had never had one before and really liked it (who couldn't liked deep fried dough and sugar?).

We decided to climb up the mountain and go on the family raft ride again. It was a blast. With the combined weight of Tony and I alone around 500 pounds we really flew. The kids wanted to go again but this time we waited in the line for the chair lift. The line moves pretty quickly so our wait wasn't too long. Jenny had climbed the mountain instead and met us at the top for our second ride. We had just as much fun the second time.

Jenny took the kids back to play in the wave pool while Tony and I lined up for the Slush Gusher. We had about a 20 minute wait. This was Tony's first time on it and my first time riding it in over 5 years. It was a blast. I forgot how much fun it is especially when you "catch air" for a second.

At about 3:30 we left the park for the day, went back to the condo and cleaned up. Jenny went to the pool for the while and I did some work.

Tony came back over a little before 6 and did some laundry before we headed out to the Polynesian. The security guard jokingly gave me a hard time about the Universal parking passes on my dash. We arrived early for our priority seating and had about a 20 minute wait at ‘Ohana. The place was packed. We got a great table overlooking the marina. Bryce went out immediately and joined the coconut race. We were glad to see that Megan still gets the child's price of $9.99. She will definitely get her money's worth. Bryce at least enjoyed the bread and the green beans. Megan and I loved the won tons dipped in the peanut sauce. Tony and Megan both loved the chicken wings and Jenny ate salad and green beans. Megan wasn't too crazy about the meats. We got more won tons and chicken wings for her. Tony and Jenny each had a couple dozen shrimp while I concentrated on the steak and turkey. My least favorite was the pork. The shrimp are very good but a very messy to peel. It was a great meal and we absolutely stuffed ourselves. The total bill with tax and tip was $115. After dinner we walked out to the pool and then the beach. Jenny got one hammock and the kids got another one next to it and I swung them both. It was a very pleasant evening out but we were all a little tired and didn't feel like spending another hour waiting for the Magic Kingdom fireworks (Wishes).

We came back to the condo and watched King of Queens and Yes, Dear while Tony dried his clothes. We said goodnight to him and the kids went to sleep. I watched Curb Your Enthusiasm (Larry David is great) and updated trip report notes until 11.

Thursday, April 22, 2004
I was up at 6:30 and watched the news. The weather looks great for the rest of our stay; Highs in the mid 80's with high humidity and no chance of rain. I got everyone else up at 7:15 and Tony arrived at 8:15.

We parked all the way at the end of an aisle in the Disney Studios lot which was a drag. It wasn't too long of a walk to the entrance though. We arrived about 10 minutes early which gave us time to have our picture taken on Mickey Avenue. When the park officially opened we joined the crowds going down Sunset Boulevard. I got Fastpasses for Rock N' Roller Coaster then immediately got in line. Tony was under whelmed. He thought it was way too slow. He liked the idea of it being indoors but the thrill just wasn't there for him and he thought the Aerosmith tie in was cheesy.

I had higher hopes that Tony would like the Tower of Terror and did he ever. He loved the grounds and theme of everything and how it was so authentic for the period. We showed him the "evil tower u r doomed" letters in the sign. He knew the ride involved multiple drops but he didn't know it was random and he didn't know the elevator moves horizontally before the drops. Tony immediately wanted to go again but we got Fastpasses then went on Rock N' Roller Coaster instead. The second ride was the same as the first as we sat in the same rows. It sure does seem slow when you get to the part where the "civic center" sign is. Jenny made Tony and I pose for pictures where hats with dreadlocks.

Our Tower Fastpass window was open so we got more Fastpasses and then rode again. Tony liked it even better the second time when he realized you never get the same ride twice.

We went to the Little Mermaid which had a 10 minute wait before we got in but it was worth it despite a toddler behind us crying the whole time. I couldn't believe neither parent picked him up. He was just wailing and raising his arms up to be held. Both parents just stood there, I felt like picking the poor little guy up just to quiet him down. Anyhow, the Mermaid is such a cute show. Jenny politely asked the guy in front of her to remove his hat which he did very begrudgingly. He made it seem liked it was a big inconvenience.

After the show Tony and Megan got frozen bananas and Bryce got a strawberry bar. We went to get in line for the Great Movie Ride but we couldn't take food in line and then a very big group went in so we just continued on to the Muppets. It's one of my favorites even though the 3D isn't that great. It's just funny.

We spent a few minutes playing in the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playset before our next Fastpass window opened up and I grabbed some more for the Tower. I then met everyone at the Sci-Fi Drive In for our 12:30 priority seating. We had about a 10 minute wait. Tony really enjoyed the atmosphere, although he wasn't too impressed with the food. He had the onion rings which he shared. I thought they were good but he wasn't too impressed. He also had the ham sandwich and said the bread was sweet and the ham flavorless. Bryce had the hot dog kid's meal (Jenny had a bite of it after he was done and said it wasn't very good) and lemonade. Megan had a cheeseburger with sautéed onions and mushrooms which she loved. Jenny and I both had the house salad which had changed from the one in the past. It was still good and fairly large but I didn't like it as much as the old one that had blue cheese and walnuts. We also shared a cheeseburger. They actually had it cut in half and put portioned out everything on separate plates for us. That was nice. The cheeseburgers were very good and I'm glad we choose to split it so we weren't too stuffed.

The kids found an Imagineering roller coaster design CD ROM for $10 so they bought that in the Buy the Book store. Then they wanted to go on the Backstage Tour so we lined up. We almost left after we had to wait almost half an hour to get started but we were glad we didn't as Tony and I were selected to be in the Pearl Harbor scene. Tony was the captain and I was the engineer so I got the 1,000 gallon tank of water dumped on me. It was a lot of fun although I wish we could have seen the video of us that they put together at the end. Jenny and the kids said it was funny though and they got a bunch of pictures of us hamming it up. Tony thought the tram portion of the tour was lame (it is with much of the area closed off).

It was a little after 3 and quite warm so we decided to go back for a rest. I first went ahead and got Rock N' Roller Coaster Fastpasses and then met everyone at the photo place where we bought our picture from the morning. We were all pretty tired of walking so we rode the tram out to the parking lot (and then made the long walk to the very end of the aisle).

We stopped for Slurpee's at the 7-11 near our condo and then Tony went back to his place for a couple of hours, I worked on the trip report, Jenny ran to the grocery store, Megan worked on homework and Bryce watched Nickelodeon and we all just generally relaxed and cooled down.

Tony came back to our place at 6 and we went back to Disney Studios. We had to park far away but it was on the end of the aisle close to the tram so it was an easy ride in. There were lots of people leaving but it was still pretty crowded and warm. We walked straight to Rock N' Roller Coaster (after noticing people already lined up for Fantasmic!) and got in the Fastpass line. We had about a 5 minute wait. Tony and Megan sat in the front row. The ride didn't seem any faster this time but we still enjoyed it.

We had two more sets of Fastpasses for the Tower so we went twice in a row and just had a blast. Both rides were great. By the time we were done it was about 7:45 so we made our way into the Fantasmic! theater to find it almost full. We shuffled along to the last available seating at the far left and got the last group of five seats together. That was a close call. Jenny and I went back up and got a couple of hot dogs and drinks. We had a 20 minute wait from that point. The show was good but I still like the one at Disneyland much better. I like the water screens but think they over use them. So, it was good to see it again but I won't be in any great rush to see it again for a few years. It's just not worth the hassle and time investment. I'd rather be riding the Tower.

We made our way out pretty easily and got right on a tram and made the drive back to the condo. We said goodbye to Tony for this trip. It's been fun having him with us again. I worked on the trip report and watched a Chris Rock special and turned out the lights about 10:30.

Friday, April 23, 2004
I slept in until 8:30 which was very nice. We got ready and left the condo at 9:20 for Blizzard Beach. As we pulled into the parking lot we saw a bunch of busses dropping off teens. They must be part of the big grad night parties going on this weekend.

We were let in the park but had a 10 minute wait before the opening time. Once it opened we just dropped off what little we brought with us on some chairs then got right on the ski lift for our first ride down Teamboat Springs. It was so much fun we went again but this time we climbed the mountain to get there. Then we all went together on the Snow Stormer slides. After that I took Megan for her first ride on Slush Gusher which she loved. Jenny took Bryce on Runoff Rapids about three time then we met them there for another ride.

After that we took a couple of laps around Cross Country Creek and then did a final visit to the Ski Patrol area for the icebergs. We left the park about 12:30 and stopped by the Taco Bell drive through for lunch. Back at the condo Jenny said it was one of the few times she had been truly hungry this trip (since she and I hadn't eaten since the Sci-Fi lunch yesterday). She really enjoyed our cheap lunch.

Jenny went down to the pool while I did some work and then got current on the trip report. Megan worked on her homework and Bryce watched Nickelodeon of course.

At 3 I took the kids to the West Side while Jenny started some packing and lots of laundry. We started at the Virgin Megastore where Megan bought a couple of tween magazines. Then both kids wanted to go to their favorite store, Magnetron. Bryce bought a little fluffy magic snake that was supposed to have an invisible string but when we got back to the condo there was no string. He was OK with it though. We also went into Starbilias and looked at all of the overpriced merchandise. Meg did find a miniature Florida license plate with Bryce's name (which is hard to find) so we bought that for $5.

We debated on DisneyQuest. None of us had anything that we really wanted to do there but we went anyhow and the crowds were low so it was a good decision. The kids played in the Create Zone for a long time before heading up to the Wonderland Café to play on the internet and then some of the video games on the same floor. They both loved the skating games. I stuck to the virtual boxing game, that thing really gives you a workout. I had never played before but was pretty proud of thoroughly thrashing 3 opponents before I had worked up such a sweat that I decided to quit.

We came back to the condo at 5:30, picked up Jenny and then headed back out to Fort Wilderness. I had to stop for gas along the way. This was the first fill up of the trip. Normally when we stay at Oak Plantation in Kissimmee I would be on the second if not third tank by this point in the trip. I noticed the prices at the Hess station closest to Downtown Disney seemed to be about the cheapest in the area.

We got to Fort Wilderness then took the bus to Pioneer Hall and checked in for our 7:15 Hoop De Doo priority seating about 45 minutes early. Bryce and I went to the playground by the beach and then he showed me the spot where they landed on the pirate cruise and found the treasure. Jenny went to the trading post and found some taffy for her coworkers. We went and looked at the teenagers dancing at the Backyard BBQ area as part of Grad Nights. It looked like fun. We continued on to the petting zoo and Bryce got to pet the donkeys, goats and sheep. Megan and Jenny went to the stables and looked at the big horses.

About 7:10 we got in line for Hoop De Doo and got a great table on the left side of the stage about 3 back on the main stage. It was perfect for us. A very good salad and two loaves of bread with honey butter were waiting for us as we sat down. We dug right in and then we placed our drink orders; pink lemonade for the kids, merlot for me and Bud Light for Jenny. The waitress even brought out a small pitcher of beer. The show started and it was very funny. Six Bits is hilarious. Later the metal buckets of fried chicken and pork ribs were plopped down on our table. They were both delicious. I ate three chicken breasts and about half a bucket of ribs. We even got a second bucket of ribs. Megan and Jenny loved them. Bryce stuck mostly to the bread and a couple of drumsticks. The show continued and was great. It's similar to the old Diamond Horseshoe show in the Magic Kingdom but much better and longer of course. Dessert was very good strawberry shortcake.

The show ended at 9 and we caught a crowded bus back to the parking lot for the easy drive home. I caught up on the trip report and turned in about 10:30.

Saturday, April 24, 2004
Today is Bryce's seventh birthday. We got up at 6:30 and found the pin that said "Birthday Boy" for Bryce to wear. We left the condo at 7:15 and parked in Spiderman which was a little closer than King Kong which we normally get. We lined up at the gates to Islands of Adventure and had a 10 minute wait for the opening time. Jenny and Megan went to Hulk while Bryce and I went to Spiderman. We all walked right on and since Jenny and Megan got off first they took a quick ride on Dr. Doom's Fearfall. After that Jenny took the kids on Spiderman while I rode the Hulk twice in a row with no wait.

I met everyone at Seuss Landing where Bryce and I went on the Cat in the Hat and then played for a long time in the If I Ran the Zoo playground. Jenny and Megan rode twice on Dueling Dragons; once on each side and declared Ice the winner. They both like the part where it looks like you are going to hit a wall. After they met up with us Jenny took Bryce to the Flying Unicorn Coaster and the Pteranadon Flyers while Megan and I rode both sides of Dueling Dragons. I agree that Ice is better and Tony should no longer be our friend since he prefers Fire.

Megan and I were starving so we split a hot dog (at 9:30 in the morning, I love being on vacation) and were still hungry so we got a turkey leg and a churro (for Bryce). The turkey leg wasn't very good this time; it was pretty fatty with not a lot of meat. We didn't eat much of it. Turkey legs really seem to be hit or miss on when you get a good one.

We had been saving up our quarters all week for our return to the bridge over Dudley Do Right's Ripsaw Falls. Armed with a stack of quarters and a twisted sense of fun we each manned a water cannon and soaked the unsuspecting folks below. I love nailing people that have no idea it is coming. I could do that all day long but eventually we ran out of quarters. We did save a few though for a couple of sprays on the similar water cannons over at Popeye's Bilge Rat Barges.

It was almost 10 and we had done most of what we wanted but Bryce wanted a few more minutes at the If I Ran the Zoo playground so we went over there. While he was playing I got a green egg and ham sandwich which wasn't too bad. We split it four ways just to try it. The green eggs looked a lot like lettuce but they were fairly tasty.

After that we beat at hasty retreat over to Universal Studios. It was very warm at about 85 degrees and almost 100% humidity so we walked slow (for us) and hit as many misting stations as we could along the way. Universal was very busy when we got there around 10:30. I went to the express pass line for Jimmy Neutron which is combined with Shrek. Most folks were there for Shrek and the line was huge. I waited about 15 minutes in line just to get the passes. What a pain. I guess everyone upon entering the park probably goes right to these machines. The funny part was the Jimmy Neutron time was only about 10 minutes away.

Jenny had taken the kids ahead to the standby line for Twister. I was able to enter the express pass line and cut over to the regular line and meet up with them. We had about a 10 minute wait from there. The show was great. It had been a few years since I had seen it and this was Bryce's first time. I think the videos in the pre-show area made him a little nervous because he had a pretty firm grip on my arms throughout the show. He loved the flying cow.

Our Jimmy Neutron time had arrived so we went over there and got on within 5 minutes. OK, the 15 wait for express passes was worth it now in hindsight. This is such a fun show. I love how the ride vehicles do the chicken dance and my very favorite line is when Sponge Bob is floating through Bikini Bottom and says "Hello Mr. Krab, Hello Pearl, Hello secondary characters". That still cracks me up.

Jenny then went to the Terminator 2: 3D while I took the kids to Nickelodeon Studios. Both kids were a little bit too shy to be REALLY enthusiastic about volunteering which seems to be the requirement of getting picked. They had fun though rooting on the red team which won the first two competitions but lost the last one and the overall. The tour was much shorter than I remembered. We didn't go to the upstairs area and basically just did the abbreviated version of slime time live but the kids liked it just the same.

We went to meet up with Jenny but she was still in the show when we called on the radios so we went in search of ice cream. We didn't find any vendors so we continued on the Schwab's Pharmacy and Megan got the Dryer's Sponge Bob ice cream which was vanilla with caramel, chocolate chunks and cookie dough. Bryce got cookies and cream. I got a two scoop hot fudge sundae with vanilla and butter pecan. Just as we sat down and dug in Jenny showed up and ordered a scoop of Snickers ice cream. We cooled off and enjoyed some relaxing time in the pharmacy.

We then went to Men In Black and I tried to get express passes but they were several hours away so we got in the single rider line. It merged with the express pass line and we were gummed up for a few minutes before an employee came around asking if anyone was in the single rider line and he escorted us right down to the front. Since Bryce is 7 now he can officially ride by himself but we had given him instructions to wait for us. As it turned out he was in the same vehicle as Jenny. It was a great ride. The two guys next to me talked a lot of smack but they really sucked at the game getting less than 100,000 points total and dragging down our average score causing our vehicle to lose. I got just under 300,000. I'll have to figure out how to do better in the future.

We decided it was just too warm to do much more at that point in the day so we headed back to the condo. We got changed into our swimsuits but first opened Bryce's few birthday presents that we had acquired throughout our stay. He was pretty pleased with some of the Men In Black toys. After that we spent a couple of hours at the pool. They've got a great soundtrack around the complex that is 80's driven music. I even turned off my MP3 player most of the time since what they were playing was basically the same as what I had on my play list.

Jenny did laundry and packed up a few more things back at the condo while I tried to keep the kids out of her hair. We left at 6 for dinner at Bryce's choice of Chili's. Jenny had chicken soft tacos, Bryce had a hamburger kid's meal and Megan and I both had the country fried steak. We started with an Awesome Blossom (battered and deep fried sliced whole onion). Bryce wasn't very hungry and didn't eat much of anything. Megan made a good effort on the very large meal and I polished mine off. The server was very nice and brought out several Dr. Pepper refills (the only thing to drink with country fried steak). She had also noticed Bryce's birthday button and at the end of the meal she brought him a huge molten chocolate cake with ice cream. It was great and plenty for the four of us. We were absolutely stuffed after the meal. The total with tax and tip was just over $51. We had planned on seeing Illuminations one final time but we were all just worn out. We went back to the condo. I had forgotten my room key so I went to the front desk and they quickly gave me a new one. I also checked out ($1.00 for two local calls). We had already paid for out full stay. Back at the room we relaxed and watched Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets on HBO. We turned the lights out at 9:30 for our early wake up.

Sunday, April 25th, 2004
We went home, enough said.

Lance Caros