disnut8
11-19-2007, 12:53 PM
Travel Dates - August 31 - September 3, 1007
Travel Method - personal car
Resort - Offsite - Travelodge Suites East Gate Orange
Accomodations - standard suite with half wall
Ages - adult
Experience - veterans
Comments - We resumed our annual Labor Day weekend trip after missing a year for our grandson's birth.
It’s Labor Day so Let’s Not Labor
We are Sheri (45) and Rich (47). We live outside Atlanta and last year were denied our traditional Labor Day weekend trip to Disney World because of a certain new Niklewski who made his world debut on September 8, 2006. Mitchell joined big sister Marlie and we were waiting around for the little guy to show up. So this year was a necessity.
Due to a broken neck and a couple of brain surgeries, I can’t do the thrill attractions at Disney World. I do what I can and we work around the rest. It sure doesn’t stop me from having fun and I’m not the type of person to just sit idly by when I’m perfectly capable in every other way. In fact, to look at me, you would never know my health situation. Even my hair has grown almost back to normal.
We also needed this trip because the two of us (well, maybe just me) were overdosed with our family in the past month. I didn’t make any Disney World plans until mid-August just to see how finances were because of two other family trips. So I basically was doing things a week or two week before this trip. BTW – one of our other two trips was to see our son and his family in Ohio because we couldn’t make it up there for our daughter-in-law’s college graduation. The other trip had been five years in the making. Along with our son and his family and my in-laws, we all went to Cooperstown, New York for the Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony of 2007. For us baseball fans, this was THE event of the century. Cal Ripken, Jr. and Tony Gwynn were both being inducted. Both classy guys – well, more than classy. We’ve been Cal fans ever since he made it up to the big leagues for his first cup of coffee and when he retired in 2002, we started making plans for the trip. Along with 72,000 other people. A once in a lifetime experience and one that left us drained.
So after all that, we (I) really wanted a vacation where it was just the two of us. No family, no compromising on restaurants, no trying to make five other people happy. Rich and I have traveled together so much that it’s very difficult for us (me) to make adjustments to please others. We (I) needed a mental adjustment.
Of course, this was to be a budget trip like all of ours are since I’ve been out of work. I belong to the Trip Rewards program through Days Inn and its sister hotels so for every $10 I spend at a qualifying hotel, I get 100 points. Once I hit 6,000 points, I can get a free night’s stay at any affiliated hotel. For that Cooperstown trip, I made all the reservations and gave my Trip Rewards number for all three rooms. Even though my father-in-law paid for the rooms, he left the rewards points on my card (he has his own but decided we could use the points more). We sure could.
We will leave Friday night after Rich is home from work and go halfway to Valdosta and stop for the night. I decided to use my free room for that night since we would only be sleeping there and then get another Days Inn affiliate in Kissimmee for us to pay for. I made the Valdosta reservation at the Days Inn at Exit 5 just off I75. We’ve used this hotel before and it’s one of the better Days Inns. But the price reflects that. It’s up to $60 when it used to cost under $45. But it was free so we’ll take advantage of that.
In Kissimmee, I think we’ve tried all the acceptable Days Inns and affiliates in the area. I don’t have many wants or needs but I like the hotel to be on the east side of I4 on Highway 192 but not down too far. We really like to be near Old Town and there is a Days Inn within walking distance of that nighttime diversion. But I am willing to try other things. This time, I tried the Travelodge Suites Main Gate Orange. The website had king bed “suites” available for $47. The “suite” was just a half wall in between the bed and the seating area and also had a microwave and refrigerator. So not a suite with separate bedroom or anything. But the price was great and we’re only two people. The hotel also has an outdoor pool, Jacuzzi and kiddie pool. Swimming pools are a thing of the past for me but I can do kiddie pools. And this place had a free breakfast in the morning whereas the Days Inn doesn’t (but has a $3.99 breakfast buffet on the premises). The site also said the Travelodge was within walking distance of Old Town and there was a flea market in the same parking lot. I booked the room and was happy with everything. Rich was happy with the price.
Once I had the hotel reservations in place, I thought about our plans. When we did the Cooperstown trip, our son brought along a present for his best friend John who lives in Melbourne, FL now. John and another friend had joined us for a Saturday night during Memorial Day weekend and we had a great time playing miniature golf and going out for dinner. I emailed John and asked if he would like to repeat that Saturday night this weekend. He was game but we decided not to play the Fantasia Fairways course again. That course was very frustrating for four adults last time so we chose the Gardens course this time with its dancing hippos. We also offered for John to bunk with us Saturday night instead of driving back to Melbourne. John said he was grateful for the offer and he’d see about that on Saturday.
Since our Saturday was filled, I thought about Sunday. That was a quick think. Off Kilter would be performing so we’d have to see them for as many shows as we could. Since Saturday and Sunday were basically booked up, there was no need for me to even think about getting any dining reservations for either day. This trip would be a total unplanned time (except for Saturday night and that wasn’t carved in stone at all either).
We did have a glimmer of hope that this vacation would be extended by one day. For the week before Labor Day, Rich’s other two co-workers were going to be on vacation. That’s not supposed to happen since there’s only three workers in the department but there were circumstances so the manager approved both people’s time. Rich was working three jobs and broadly hinted that he would like to be compensated for it. Managers only look out for the company, not the employee. So that didn’t work out although I think Rich is going to be calling in sick quite often in the future (he took only two days off during all of my surgeries and the accident and even on those days, he worked from home).
But we made do and looked out for us and not the company. Heck with them.
Day One - Friday, August 31, 2007 – “We are NEVER going to get there!”
Rich figured his work would give everyone an early release around 2 or 3 but I wasn’t counting on it. Even if the company issued the order, Rich’s manager is such a worrier that she would make Rich stay there until 5:00 just to make sure a last minute phone call didn’t come in or something. I spent the day getting everything packed in our two small suitcases (I tried to get everything into one but it was too much and our larger suitcases were too big). There really wasn’t much to take and even with the “limitations” I have, I was easily able to get the car packed up with no problems at all.
Rich and I emailed each other back and forth all day. I specifically asked him if he had his Annual Pass in his wallet. Which is the last place I had seen it (from the Memorial Day trip). His reply was “as far as I know, it’s in the same place it has been”. Remember that. At 2:15 Rich emailed me that he got the approval to leave as soon as he finished up the purchase order he was processing. I knew the traffic situation was getting worse in the Atlanta area since I was checking on it continuously on ajc.com. We both figured that for the Friday before a three day weekend. Rush hour here starts about 10:00 AM during those days. Rich’s normal commute home is an hour and fifteen minutes on a good day so I thought he’d be home around 3:30. It was a little after that but now the problem came into play. I had the other car all gassed up and packed and ready to go. But the traffic. We wouldn’t get on to the interstate until 4:00 and the situation was getting worse and worse. Rich’s only concern was whether to take I85 straight through downtown or take I285 around. The downtown way looked a lot heavier than going around so we decided to use I285. Never trust Atlanta traffic. Ever.
We said goodbye to the four cats who would be taken care of by our wonderful cat sitting service (she has yet to see any of the cats – they hide as they prefer our company over that of some stranger – imagine a cat being that picky) and headed out around 4:00. Rich said we needed to either stop at the local bank (which isn’t that local) or go to the Bank of America in Celebration once we got there. I always worry about having enough cash although Rich always informs me we now live in a cashless society. Right – do we have enough cash for those tolls tomorrow, my dear? And for our dinner tonight? Decision made to stop at our local bank.
On the way there, Rich is calmly driving and asks me if I got his Annual Pass out of the “secret” drawer. A shot of panic went through me and I said that I thought he had it in his wallet. A wild look of panic went into Rich’s eyes and he said “No, I told you it was in the same place it’s always been.” Which I thought was his wallet. And he thought was the “secret” drawer. Grimly, Rich turned the car around and we went back home. I apologized the entire way but I don’t think Rich really cared at that point. He had had a bad week at work, a not so nice commute home and now had to drive through Atlanta traffic on a Friday before a three day weekend. And had to turn around for something that he was certain I had taken care of.
At least the cats broke the tension. Rich said they were all out and looked very guilty in the short time we had been away. We both laughed and said we’re sure they have a party planned with all the neighborhood cats. You know, when the mice are away, the cats will play?
Moods brightened a bit, we headed for the bank again. UGH! This bank is located on what used to be a nice quiet two lane highway. The area has boomed in the past three or four years. We have lots of new businesses but still the same old two lane highway. In addition, there’s a brand new high school built just beyond where we get on the highway. It’s 4:00 on a Friday afternoon. Schools don’t let out early for the day before Labor Day weekend. So we have school buses (twelve of them rolled by us all in a row while we were waiting to make our right turn onto the highway) in addition to the kids who drive to school AND the moms and/or dads who have to pick up their kids from school instead of them riding the buses. Add in the normal rush hour (now at least five hours old) traffic of people trying to get home or out onto the interstate and you have a fubar situation.
So we joined the masses and slowly made our way to the bank. It doesn’t help that the traffic lights on this highway are the worst on the planet (OK, an exaggeration but it’s pretty darn close). With cold hard good old American cash in hand, we then joined the masses trying to get out on the interstate.
Side note here – we had to make a left hand turn to get out of the bank parking lot. Say what you will about Southerners but we were let out very quickly and we didn’t have a light at the turn. Part of Atlanta’s traffic problems is that people are too damn nice.
Finally at 4:14, we were on I85 and heading south. Our journey was just beginning. We should have realized that this was going to be THE worst drive to Disney World we have EVER done. The traffic going north on I85 was bad but that’s just usually bad up towards where we live and then it’s not that bad down towards the city. Not today. The entire way from the I85/I985 split all the way down to I285 was jammed going north. We were fine going south and Rich thought we could easily do I285 even though the traffic informational signs said the speed going both east and west was a maximum of 20 MPH. He even looked at the messy Spaghetti Junction and thought it wasn’t bad. Until we got on it.
There was a parking lot on I285. Maybe not a complete parking lot but one that was moving along at maybe 5 MPH if they were lucky. We never drive around this area without several area maps in the car so I grabbed one while we were sitting in the traffic (we weren’t even on I285 yet, just on the entrance ramp but fully stopped) and got an alternative route to get off I285 and back onto I85 and go through the city.
We did that and were able to cruise along for a while. Until the parking lot in downtown Atlanta. And we didn’t even make 5 MPH. It took us at least 45 minutes to go the ten miles to the intersection of I20 (I85 is joined by I75 north of downtown Atlanta which just shows that traffic engineers had to be drunk when they planned out the routes through downtown). Once I20 split off and then we got rid of the airport traffic and were just on I75, we made some time. For a short while.
Then we got bogged down yet again with the merge of I675. Another 45 minutes in a parking lot. This is how bad it was. We saw the sign for an exit that was a mile ahead. Fifteen minutes later, we weren’t even at the exit yet.
We FINALLY got through all that and were south of the city and near the Atlanta Motor Speedway (a place we know very well). A check of the watch said it was after 7:00. Three hours to go from our house in northeast Georgia that is still considered the Atlanta metro area to south of the airport. Three hours. We were supposed to be way beyond Macon by that time and just an hour outside of Valdosta. The rest of the drive was uneventful. We made a potty stop at the rest area outside of Macon and it was sorely needed. We’re experienced Atlanta drivers. We know that you always make the bathroom your last stop before you get into the car and you have just enough beverages to last you until that first rest area which is two hours away. Two hours on a normal drive. Today, it would be four hours. Our back teeth were floating.
Now – this is not normal Atlanta traffic. Not even normal for a Friday before a three day weekend. There were no bad accidents, no road closures. Just traffic. The only possible glitch was there was a Braves home game that night but when we went by Turner Field, the traffic there wasn’t bad and we were doing almost 50 MPH at the time. Why today was so bad, we don’t know. It was bad going south and it was bad going north. After we came back, we found out it was just plain bad all over the city and for no reason than the volume. Don’t use this one trip as a basis for a typical drive through Atlanta. If this happened all the time, we’d be leaving for Disney World at 9:00 PM.
Our only problem after our much needed potty break (we couldn’t even finish the drinks we brought from home until after) was that we didn’t have any food. We had talked about getting some big Kroger subs to eat in the room but decided to do McDonald’s once we got there. Which now was going to be 10:30. We talked about stopping on the way but Rich (who drove the whole way, bless his heart) didn’t want to stop anymore – he wanted to get to the hotel. So our bladders were empty but so were our stomachs. We did dip into the supply of candy that we take on every trip.
We finally pulled into the Days Inn parking lot at 10:30, both of us very weary with the day. Rich was a much better driver than me because I can’t stand unexplainable delays like what we had. I was not a great passenger and even used some very strong curse words at our situation. To top it all off, it started to rain during the last half hour of the trip. Through construction.
Here’s one of the main reasons I like this Days Inn. The staff. This was a free room but we couldn’t have been treated better and the check in person could see we were exhausted. I think Rich just about collapsing on the front desk had something to do with that. Rich explained what we had gone through and the clerk said that concerned her because she was going to Atlanta the next morning for a Dragoncon (com?) convention. We assured her the traffic wouldn’t be a problem for her at all. She was relieved. We were checked in and Rich took a free USA Today. We had our daily copy of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution from home but Rich can never have too many newspapers.
We were in the back of the hotel on the second floor. The woman who had checked in right before me was directly below us on the first floor. My humor was still in tact as I suggested to Rich that we jump up and down upstairs around midnight. He chuckled but was more ticked off that the lady had taken the very last parking space close to the rooms so we had to park across the lot. Oh well, we are healthy (well, almost 100% for me) and able so we took our suitcases up and a few other items and then decided on dinner.
There weren’t that many choices. Burger King is in the Citgo gas station, Wendy’s and Taco Bell required us to get back into the hateful car (it wasn’t her fault). So we stuck to our original plan and went over to McDonald’s (right across the street) for a VERY late dinner. We were both starving by this time.
I just read an article about McDonald’s and how they have rebounded from all the negative publicity and how they listen to their customers. I am on record as saying that McDonald’s employees are not that great. I’m sure there are a few that are outstanding but not at this McDonald’s. And unfortunately, that has been my experience lately.
For this visit, the normal thing happened. The cashier did not know what the meal options were. Each meal has a number attached to it but heaven forbid you actually order by that number. The cashier will have to turn around and find out what that meal is so she can punch it into the register. Is McDonald’s menu that hard to figure out? And after Rich ordered by number he gave his special request of pickles and ketchup only. OK it’s not Burger King but that simple request isn’t that earth shattering. And then my big mistake. I ordered just a Big Mac. No meal. No fries. No drink. Rich was getting fries with his meal so we were sharing and I still have a bottle of water in the car. I was asked if I wanted a meal. I explained it was just the sandwich and I honestly don’t think this girl had any idea what to do. I wanted to lean over and press the “Big Mac” button on her register.
It got worse (believe it or not). The drive through was twelve cars deep (one of the employees told the manager that). We were the only ones inside the restaurant and, of course, the drive through got priority. And what was the manager doing this whole time? Talking on her cell phone (an obvious personal call) and carrying her toddler on her hip. This just wasn’t for a moment. This was from the minute we walked in until we finally got our food (which was sitting in the bag since Dumbo behind the register thought it was for the drive through). As far as I know, that manager still has her kid on her hip and is still talking on the cell phone.
We finally got back to our room and got our stomachs a bit full by 11:00. So much for a relaxing night. We watched some mindless sitcom reruns on the TV and read the papers to cool down before we went to bed. Which was after midnight. We did find out the one thing that we forgot. Rich’s laptop from work. It was still sitting in the back seat of his car in the garage. He claims that (1) he wasn’t used to bringing it home and (2) we “rushed” out of the house because I had had everything all ready to go. Needless to say, the little Annual Pass thing was very quickly forgotten. We’re not totally dependant on the PC but it would have been nice for the weekend since we had to do the fantasy NASCAR draft tomorrow with our son and daughter-in-law. Now we’d have to do it via phone.
Day Two – Saturday, September 1, 2007 – Rains, Trams and Poppa John
I had set my phone alarm for 7:00 and we awoke to rain. We’ve had a bad drought this summer so the rain was certainly welcome. And I had packed five ponchos in the suitcases so we were not worried at all. I got our bag “park ready” while Rich showered and got ready and then he loaded up the car while I got ready. In the bag, I took our two cheap “2 for $1” ponchos that I had bought several years ago and are still in good shape. In the back of the car, I made sure we had the two heavier Disney yellow ponchos. We both wore shorts and T-shirts since it was still raining when we left. I would have had on a halter top but the morning didn’t call for it.
I have to remark on our headgear. We are pretty careful about our ball caps that we wear to Disney World. Of course, 99% of ours are sports related. Since I only had a limited amount of time to enjoy wearing a NASCAR Budweiser hat with the #8 associated on it, I had a black one on for the day. Rich chose an Ohio State hat that he found somewhere in one of our moves (we think leftover from one of our son’s pals) and wore that in honor of the college football season starting that day. That would be important later on.
I checked us out of the room and we grabbed our normal mini cinnamon rolls and a couple of individual bowls of cereal from the continental breakfast and were going for gas shortly after 8:00. We pulled into the Shell station right there and Rich went in for his supply of Diet Coke for the morning. It didn’t matter that we had a twelve pack in the trunk and a perfectly fine cooler in the back seat. Rich will drink Diet Coke in the can when he’s driving only as a last resort. And besides, he rationalizes he gets Coke Rewards points on every cap of the 20 ouncers. I think he’s up to some sort of discount on a weekend trip to California somewhere or something. He’s saving up for NASCAR stuff – if the man can ever part with his Coke points. Ah, gotta love him.
Just like yesterday, Rich drove the whole way again today. I can certainly drive but he gets bored being a passenger. I don’t mind since it gives me time to read a book as long as I can shut out the noise he calls music coming from the radio. He’s into classic rock and alternative music these days. Give me easy listening any day. But, the music is always the choice of the driver.
After our bathroom stop in Ocala, we hit the turnpike, paid the total of $3.50 in tolls and were soon entering Disney property. BTW – as soon as we were out of North Florida, the rain went away and the day turned absolutely beautiful. Oh well, the cheapo ponchos didn’t weigh that much so we’d leave them in the bag. We weren’t going to check into the hotel until after 3:00 because that was the check in time and the offsite places are sometimes bad if you try and check in for the official time. You can check in but will have to come back to the front desk and get your room key. I really don’t like having to stand in yet another line just to get my room key. I wish they could do something where room key only people could go to the side and just get the room key instead of having to wait in line with everyone checking in. Would speed things up for us and for the other people as well. All it would take is one clerk to manage one line off to the side. When there’s no one to claim their room keys, that clerk would move over and help check in people. Simple but probably too simple for the offsite hotels.
We had talked briefly about which park to hit first. I knew what I wanted because it had more to offer me. But I wanted Rich to express his opinion. But I erred and told him I had a choice in mind. So he told me we’d do whatever I wanted. I hate that. We’d be in Epcot all day tomorrow and we very rarely go to the Magic Kingdom so it was between MGM and Animal Kingdom. There are just two attractions I can’t go on in MGM (Twilight Zone and Rock N Roller coaster) but five I can’t go on in Animal Kingdom. So you’d think I’d pick MGM, right? Wrong. I picked Animal Kingdom because we spend more time there than at MGM. There really is so much more to Animal Kingdom than just the attractions.
Rich decided to park in the Animal Kingdom parking lot and deny me my traditional visit to Animal Kingdom Lodge. He doesn’t “feel right” going to a resort just to look around. We were both in kind of not so great moods with the drive of yesterday and neither one of us could sleep that well during the night with the rains. Rich’s decision would prove to be not a popular one.
We were herded in with all the other cars and, of course, we had to park all the way at the end of the row but not at the end where the tram picks you up. That was fine, we’re healthy and we can walk. A full tram was pulling out as we were getting our stuff out of the car. No big deal – there will be another one coming shortly. We boarded that tram and moved all the way over to the other side to let others sit in the same row as us. The guy behind us didn’t bother and he was the only one in his row. So we sat and waited for people to join us. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. People did board the tram and we were eventually joined by others in our row. The guy who was a chicken nugget short of a Happy Meal finally moved over as the tram got fuller. And fuller. And fuller. And we sat. And sat. And sat. I think a turtle could have crawled up to the Animal Kingdom entrance by now. I’m not the most patient person in the world so this bugged the daylights out of me. Even Rich was muttering, “let’s go, let’s go, let’s go”. But then another family would come walking up to the tram and board. And then another one about 10 seconds later. And then another one. There was not one single seat left on that tram when it was finally announced that boarding was closed.
If I had to hear “please put the children in the middle and the adults on the outside” one more time, I probably would have thrown up.
It’s not that the Disney trams are bad. It’s just that I would have rather walked and have been doing something than sitting there waiting. I am like that in traffic too which is bad in Atlanta (as evidenced last night). I’ll get off an interstate and take back roads that won’t save me any time or distance but at least I’m doing something.
In the end, Rich admitted that maybe we should avoid the trams in the future. We shook it off and went into Animal Kingdom to enjoy the day. It was still beautiful. Not that hot, the sun was out, no storm clouds in the sky.
Rich decided our course once we entered and it came as no surprise to me that he wanted the wait time board first. To check on the times for Flights of Wonder. This is a “must see” show for us anytime we’re at Animal Kingdom. Rich still kids me about me not wanting to see it for such a long time and then going into the show when I was on a solo trip. And then telling Rich that he HAD to see it, that it was great and I’ll never go to Animal Kingdom without seeing it. We have the script about memorized by now.
We saw we had just missed the 1:00 show and the next one was at 2:00 with a break until 4:00. I suggested Rich go on Expedition Everest first and use the single riders line. But when we went back there, the FastPass Return time would fit in well for after Flights of Wonder so he decided to do that so I wouldn’t have to wait so long for him. The single riders line at Expedition Everest saves a ton of time but it’s not the best managed thing in the world. It always seems like a lot of the trains are going off with empty seats when the single riders line has people waiting in it. I also got a FastPass so that Rich could ride twice if he wanted to. This is one attraction that I miss. I can live with just about all the others but this one was a heartbreaker. But I figure if sitting out a ride means I can see my grandkids grow up, I’m fine with it.
Rich suggested our favorite snack at Animal Kingdom – a beer and a pretzel from the kiosk across from the Flame Tree BBQ seating area. I was game. On the way back there, we stopped a bit to watch the monkeys playing around and started comparing them to our cats back home. While we were standing there, a man in a wheelchair made some sort of comment about Ohio State. Remember Rich’s ball cap he was wearing in honor of college football season starting today? The man had seen the hat and asked Rich if he was an Ohio State fan. Rich explained that he wasn’t and gave the reason why he was wearing the hat. I couldn’t believe he didn’t mention that Chandra is a fan! But the man said that he had just gotten a Mickey pin with Ohio State on it. He showed it to us and Rich was politely thanking him for the information. But I asked the man just where he got the pin. He said the shop over by the little kiddie games. I figured he meant Hester’s and Chester’s so I told him we’d definitely check it out. Rich looked at me kind of funny. I said “my husband might not be a fan but our daughter-in-law is”. Rich did a big V-8 slap on the forehead thing and said “oh yeah, that’s right”.
After a nice conversation and a very good suggestion for a Christmas stocking stuffer, we went for the beer and pretzel. This has become a nice tradition for us at Animal Kingdom. There’s a kiosk across from the Beastly Bizarre and we carry our food and drink over to the Flame Tree BBQ seating area. We don’t do this if the area is crowded with the restaurant patrons but so far, that was only once during Christmas/New Year’s week. We sat by the pond and watched the ducks do their duck thing. The only bad thing was a pre-teen girl (alone, no sign of the parents) who decided to chase some of the ducks. You can tell that doesn’t sit very well with us nature lovers.
After our break, it was time for Flights of Wonder and then Expedition Everest for Rich. On the way to the theatre, Rich made a comment on the clouds coming in pretty fast. We’ve been to Disney World many times during storms and we know that the rains can come fast. But not that fast, surely. We made it to the theatre and got some good aisle seats. Thankfully, this theatre is under cover. Because it started to rain right before the show. An announcement was made that the show would be delayed. But then I knew we were in trouble.
A Cast Member came from the back of the open air but covered theatre and went up on the stage. He said that the storm that was here now had been tracked to just pass through so they thought the show could go on. But this storm stalled and was expected to be joined by another storm so the rains would be here for a couple of hours at least. We knew this was not a typical “rain for a half hour and then quit” Florida storm. The Cast Member said everyone was welcome to stay for as long as they liked but the only thing they asked was that people did not bunch up at the entrance so that people who wanted to leave could. Rich and I decided to put on our cheap ponchos and go over to Dinoland and check out the Mickey Ohio State pin. We exited (of course, people did not pay attention to the Cast Member and we had to make our way through the bunches jamming up the entrance, grr) and then quickly walked over to Dinoland.
TIP: When we wear ponchos, we always keep our ball caps on and then put the poncho hood over that. The bill of the cap helps keep the rain out of our faces and the cap stays dry. Another hint that we didn’t use this time is to carry a medium binder clip with your poncho and use that to close off the hood below your chin. It really helps to keep the hood up and secure.
We felt like salmon swimming upstream since everyone was trying to get out of Animal Kingdom. We always figure that the rain isn’t going to hurt us since we take showers everyday so we just keep going. Or do we?
Over in Dinoland, we had another fight to get through the masses waiting at the exits of Hester’s and Chester’s. But we made it in. The shop itself wasn’t that crowded but it was a chore to get in. We walked around and there were some pins but not the one we were looking for. We figured the guy had gotten his pin at a kiosk which was now covered up because of the storm.
And now the “difference of opinion” started. We both wanted to leave Animal Kingdom. There wouldn’t be a first ride on Expedition Everest much less a second ride. I started to head out for the car. Rich wanted to stay put at the store. He was worried about the thunder and lightening. I didn’t care. To Rich’s defense, he has had a couple of “near misses” of lightening cracking extremely close to him (one hit the house where he was and fried a couple of TVs and one was on Main Street when a lightening rod was hit). In my defense, I’ve learned the hard way that I’m going to live my life to the fullest while I can (without doing anything stupid, of course). So we stood there huddled in the doorway with me wanting to go and Rich eying the sky nervously.
Rich finally decided it was safe to venture out into the real world. I think five hours had passed. But it was probably more like ten minutes but it just seemed so long. If anyone would pick my biggest fault, it’s impatience. But we headed out with the rain still coming but more manageable. Or at least Rich thought so. We left Animal Kingdom for this short trip a little disappointed in the rain but that’s just something we have to live with on any vacation. We were hoping that the rain made its way into Georgia and up to where we live. We are in the worst drought in 26 years and have had watering restrictions all summer long (added after the trip – we don’t have watering restrictions anymore – we just can’t water period). We had to take the dreaded tram back to the car but this time it was easier since the entire human population of Animal Kingdom all had the same idea to leave.
But back at the car with ponchos off and bunched in the back of the car, Rich and I had a major miscommunication about what we wanted to do. It was 2:00 and John was due around 5:00. Not enough time for a full blown tour of a park but too much time to go to the room. Plus, the offsite places sometimes aren’t that great with giving out rooms any time before the official check in time which for us was 3:00. I suggested going to Epcot for a quick walk around World Showcase. Rich wanted to go to the room. That was OK with me but I wanted him to call and make sure we could get into the room. Sometimes, even if you are there just five minutes before the official time, you will have to wait. Rich wanted me to call. I hate talking on the phone. Rich deals with it every day. I finally got out of Rich that he NEEDED to go to the room and get changed. So you can figure out what that meant. Off to the hotel we go.
I wasn’t quite sure where the Travelodge was but I knew it was near Old Town. Supposedly within walking distance. We’re well familiar with that area but never really pay attention to the hotels or restaurants. So Rich was driving and I was searching. The Travelodge is within walking distance of Old Town but not after a long day at the parks. But it was a new place so we’ll try it out. It’s right behind the Big Orange tacky tourist gift shop so it is easy to see along Highway 192. It’s also right next to a tacky tourist flea market which makes it even easier to see. I wasn’t that trilled with things but that just might have been my mood after the rain delay and now with crossing my fingers and hoping our room was ready or we’d be stuck with a drenched Rich and no place for him to change.
Fortunately for the rest of the day, our room was ready (although a lady came in after me and she had been sent away previously because her room wasn’t ready). We were all the way in the back of the place (two stories) and on the first floor. That was fine with us as we didn’t need to be close to the Highway or anything. Rich drove us back to our room and cursed a bit since there were no parking spaces on the hotel side of the lot. Just like last night, we’d have to park across the lot and take our stuff in that way. Again, no big deal, it’s just the two of us and we’re on the first floor.
The room was pretty nice – the standard suite with a half wall in between the bed and the living area. No kitchen but a microwave and a refrigerator. There was a pull out couch and a king size bed. Our room could sleep four but there were other rooms that had two double beds for a total of six to a room. Then Rich mentioned that all of the parking spaces right outside our room were handicapped spaces. And I remembered I reserved a king bed room. Which this was and it was handicapped accessible. Rant on:
Why can’t hotels (Disney included) have just plain king size bed rooms? Why do they almost all have to be handicapped accessible? Rich and I have a king size bed at home and anything smaller than that just isn’t comfortable for us. So, if we are in a two double bed room, each of us takes a bed. That’s fine but I sure do wish we would have a choice other than sleeping separately or taking a handicapped accessible room. Rant off.
We liked the room a lot and even if it wasn’t as close to Old Town as we wanted, we will be returning to here again (in fact, I already made the reservation for Thanksgiving). The price was fantastic and that’s a huge seller with us.
After we unpacked the car, I unpacked the suitcases. Rich grabbed what he could and made ample use of the bathroom to change. I took stock of what I could do. Rich was pretty well soaked. I don’t know why since we both had on the same type of ponchos and all that were really wet on me were my shoes and socks. But then again, Rich is a guy and guys don’t adjust their walk for getting poured on. Must be that Y chromosome. Rich had brought extras of things, not much but extras. He also had a pair of sandals that he could wear. On the other hand, I had just packed enough for the weekend. No extra socks and no extra pair of shoes. So the air conditioning vent was going to get a work out to dry my limited wardrobe. That’s not like me to not throw in an extra couple of pairs of socks. Lesson learned for next time – extra socks, extra socks.
We still had some time before John was due to arrive so after we got all dried (well, me as best as I could with my soaked sneakers), Rich said that now we could do Epcot. So we went back to Disney World with me squishing in my shoes (my dry socks became wet very fast) and him wearing his sandals. Personal note – I do not like sandals. I don’t particularly care for them on women and I really don’t care for them on men. A big concession in our marriage is that Rich does not wear the sandals when he’s with me. I had to look past that for the rest of the day.
We didn’t do much at Epcot. Just a walk around World Showcase. Even though the countries remain the same, the people don’t. We just like walking around and people watching while we are on the move. We both were brought up in homes where hikes and “just a walk” were common. We don’t get to do it too much in the city and really enjoy our time at Disney World and specifically at Epcot. I was wearing a relatively cheap pedometer just for kicks on this trip. Yes, you can easily do ten miles in one day and not realize it. That’s what we stopped at when we went to bed. It wasn’t a constant ten miles but that’s the total.
When we went by the entrance to Future World, I really didn’t want to see Spaceship Earth with the wand and hand removed. We might be in the minority but all of our family loved the wand. And now it’s gone for good. It’s a naked ball. Sigh. Let’s get used to it.
Back in America, we stopped in America and my favorite shop. Love that red, white, and blue. I checked the display of parchment reproductions. These are a fairly good bargain at Disney World for some education. The last time here, I got a parchment that listed all of the US Presidents. This time, it was the Star Spangled Banner in Francis Scott Key’s handwriting. These obviously are not the real thing but reproductions and only $2. Eventually, I’ll want to get all the choices available.
At the pin cart outside, I wanted to check to see if they had the Ohio State pin. And they did. So we picked up that for Chandra. While I was paying for it, the Cast Member noticed the pedometer and saw the count. She practically screamed at how many strides we had taken and then converted them to miles. I think she thought we were commandoes or something for walking that much. Honestly, we never even knew nor cared about the mileage. I was wearing the thing just on a lark.
By the time we made it back around to the International Gateway, it was time to leave and go back to the hotel to meet up with John. I had my cell phone with me and thought maybe John would be there before us. He had said he’d leave Melbourne around “4ish”. But we got back to the room with no call from John. So we relaxed a bit and waited for the call so we could give John our room number.
He didn’t call until almost 6:00. I figured he left Melbourne later than he thought he would. But that wasn’t the case at all. He did leave around 4ish. But he encountered nothing but traffic on the drive west. John said it was horrible. He had driven the same way for Memorial Day weekend and didn’t have any problems. Just like us with leaving Atlanta. We’ve never seen the traffic that bad. I guess Americans really were enjoying getting a day off to pay for their hard labor all year long.
The last time John came over for miniature golf, we ate first and then played golf. John asked that we switch the order around this time. We took him and his friend Rolando to a buffet that we like and both of them, well, em, er, kind of overate. OK – they pigged out. I guess that’s what happens with two 25 year old bachelors. So we saddled up and went to Fantastia miniature golf. But this time to do the Gardens course since the Fairways course kicked our collective butts last time.
We had a short wait to tee off. Nothing like the 45 minutes the last time. I like the way they do this so not everyone is bunched up and you can enjoy your round without having to be rushed because there’s a group behind you. And you don’t have to wait for the group ahead of you to finish up. There is some overlap but nothing near the way it could be.
We rank the Fantasia Gardens course as challenging for adults. Rich and I grew up with miniature golf so we know our way around a course. This still didn’t bore us at all. John had a bit more difficulty but he’s never been on this course before. Rich and I were around par and John didn’t finish first or second. It took about an hour to play and was very enjoyable and relaxing. I only grumbled a bit when Rich beat me by a couple of strokes. I blamed my wet shoes and socks. And the fact that Rich was wearing sandals which totally messed up my concentration. Hey – it wasn’t the player!
Next up was dinner. Rich and I hadn’t really had that much to eat and we know that John can always eat a free meal (oh, to be 25 years old again). The two restaurants right across Highway 192 from the hotel were Macaroni Grill and Longhorn. I was feeling in the mood for cow so Longhorn it is. This is a chain place but we don’t get to it very often. Mainly because our Longhorn is down by the Mall of Georgia and the only times you can ever get in there without an hour wait is Monday-Thursday before 6:00. Forget the weekends. And we don’t even bother during the holiday shopping period. So it was a nice place for all of us. The guys did some meat stuff but I know I had the prime rib and finished that up quite nicely. No one had leftover on their plates.
After our meal and our sort drive back to the hotel (we did not dare to walk across the highway since there were no traffic lights in this area and we would like to live to see another day) we visited in the room for a while and again offered up the couch to John for the night. It would be close to 11:00 if he drove home now. But he declined. For a reason that I never thought I’d ever hear coming out of a 25 year old male’s mouth. He said that he wanted to go home and get a good night’s sleep because he likes to go grocery shopping at Kroger on Sunday mornings! He said (and he’s right) that no one is in the store so he can get all his weekly shopping done in a lot less time. So he thanked us for the offer but headed home to Melbourne around 10 or so. Rich and I kind of chuckled with John’s priorities but didn’t laugh that hard. It’s nice to know that there are nice and sensible young people out there. Kind of makes up for some of the idiots we all encounter on a daily basis. I don’t think Marlie and Mitchell can go wrong having Pappa John in there lives. Marlie dubbed John that when he first met her. And John is Mitchell’s godfather and takes that role seriously. Yes, we do know very nice people.
Rich and I spent the rest of the night unwinding and drying out our socks and shoes. And Rich’s T shirt. I figured I’d just walk around in wet sneakers and was more than willing to make room on the air conditioning vent for Rich’s shoes. I really did not want him to walk around in sandals all the next day. I had had to put up with it during the golf and the dinner and I really didn’t want to do it another 24 hours. Yes, I do not like sandals that much. We did lights out around midnight or so.
Day Two – Sunday, September 2, 2007 – A Day With Our Neighbors to the North
No alarm was needed for this morning and Rich was truly grateful. He wakes up to an alarm seven days a week and relishes any chance he gets to wake up naturally. Since we were in the back of the hotel and there were only two rooms on our little corner of the property, we heard absolutely nothing. So the clock read around 10:00 when I finally decided to look at it. I think this was the first Disney trip where we didn’t have any nighttime or morning interruptions. It was much appreciated.
The only thing on our plans for the day was Off Kilter. We knew they would be performing because the entertainment schedule was only for Saturday and Sunday due to the holiday weekend. Usually the schedules are Sunday-Saturday. The first show wasn’t until 2:30 so we didn’t have to rush. We took our time getting ready and then headed to Epcot. We got there early enough for a walk around World Showcase and some lunch in America. I guess my cow fixation of the night before had settled in so a burger sounded pretty good. Along our walk, I looked over at Spaceship Earth again and really wasn’t too displeased with the naked ball. I guess it takes some getting used to after having the hand and wand up there for so long. We’ve seen Spaceship Earth many times before the wand and we’ll get used to it back to the original form (as naked as it seems right now).
Once in America, we went into the Liberty Inn for some lunch. We didn’t need much since we thought we’d be snacking through the day. We settled on splitting a foot long hot dog (there’s gotta be cow in there somewhere) and then enjoying the fixings bar, especially the pickles. We don’t know what it is about the Disney World fixings bar pickles but we can devour them easily. Other people load up on the good stuff. We take tons of pickles. The day was a bit cloudy but not that bad so we ate outside in the sun.
After our light lunch, we walked around to Canada where we would spend the rest of the day with short breaks in between the Off Kilter sets. Much to our great delight, all original five guys were here today. It’s been almost a year since we haven’t had a substitute for someone. So we were really happy with the day so far! The guys seemed nice and relaxed and did some songs they haven’t done for a while and had some new stuff as well. Very entertaining afternoon and evening.
In between the sets, we either stayed at the stage area (if our butts were still awake from sitting on the hard wooden benches) or walked around a bit more (when our butts needed exercise). There’s usually only a half hour from the end of one set to the start of the next one so we can’t go too far.
We did have one longer break so we used the time to check out the new O Canada film. The old, original 360 film had finally been updated. The old one was fine but it was, well, a little old. The new one is hosted by Martin Short and provides a lot of laughs which the other one didn’t have. We will have to see this again and I’m sure we’ll have plenty of opportunities with our Off Kilter breaks.
It was tempting to stay for Illuminations but we were getting hungry so we (I – Rich likes the show but I love it) decided to wait until Thanksgiving when we could see the holiday version of it at the later 9:30 time. Another Disney World vacation was over. But there will be more.
Dinner was at a Bob Evans near the hotel. I actually thought about getting Arby’s and taking it back to the room but Rich seemed to think I wanted a sit down place. Ah well, Bob Evans was fine and it was nice getting breakfast for dinner.
Back to the room and some TV watching and “packing”. Which consisted of putting all the dirty clothes into the suitcases. It never fails. Dirty clothes seem to double in size. The suitcases were fully stuffed for the trip home. An uneventful evening and in bed around 11:00 or so. We weren’t going to set an alarm for the next morning but still wanted to get up fairly early to get home to the cats.
Day Three – Monday, September 3, 2007 – Home Again
Nothing much for today. Up and on the road by 9:00. We reversed our drive back to Georgia minus the traffic. Rich drove the whole way again (I still don’t know why) and lunch was gourmet McDonald’s. At a much better place where the employees actually seemed to have all their chicken nuggets firmly in the Happy Meal. Back to the cats and ordering a pizza for dinner.
Summary –
The traffic on the way down was absolutely horrible. As I mentioned, when we got back and Rich talked to people at work, he found out that no one had a great time driving around Atlanta on Friday night. It didn’t make sense – no major accidents, road construction is suspended for the holiday weekend, school had been in session for weeks. Just too many cars on the road. This was not typical for any Friday night in Atlanta.
It was great to see John again. The friendship between him and Chris has sustained for a very long time. They met when they were in the fourth grade. They went to different junior highs but managed to stay close during those three years until the met up again in high school. Chris stayed in Nebraska after graduation and John moved to South Carolina with his family and went to Clemson (very proud graduate there). And even with their lives moving in different directions and the physical distance between them, they are probably closer now than ever before. Thanks to the internet. We are so pleased that our grandchildren will always have Pappa John in their lives.
The Travelodge Suites was a new place for us and one that we will be returning to. The price for what we got was fantastic. Under $50/night for the king bed and pull out couch. The location was just a bit further down Highway 192 than I liked but it still wasn’t that bad. We could have walked to Old Town if we had had the time. This would be an excellent place to stay for an extended period of time. We didn’t use the pool facilities but they were there if we wanted them. Too little time.
Off Kilter was great and it was so wonderful to see the five guys back together again. We can live through a Disney trip without seeing them (and we have) but they are the icing on the cake if they are playing.
The new O Canada film was a great improvement over the original. I’m glad to see some comedy in there. It’s kind of difficult to do a travel film about your country and poke a little fun at yourself. Martin Short was perfect for the host. Glad to see his presence again since The Making of Me has closed and the sound show over at MGM was changed in the Drew Carey thing.
We didn’t do very many attractions, by choice and by rain. But it still was a great Disney trip (they all are). We had no table service meals and that was by choice as well. We usually do one sit down place in the parks but decided to meet up with John outside Disney World instead. I am working on him getting a Disney annual pass but he doesn’t think he’ll use it that much.
Next trip is over Thanksgiving. We’re staying at the same place for the same great rate.
Travel Method - personal car
Resort - Offsite - Travelodge Suites East Gate Orange
Accomodations - standard suite with half wall
Ages - adult
Experience - veterans
Comments - We resumed our annual Labor Day weekend trip after missing a year for our grandson's birth.
It’s Labor Day so Let’s Not Labor
We are Sheri (45) and Rich (47). We live outside Atlanta and last year were denied our traditional Labor Day weekend trip to Disney World because of a certain new Niklewski who made his world debut on September 8, 2006. Mitchell joined big sister Marlie and we were waiting around for the little guy to show up. So this year was a necessity.
Due to a broken neck and a couple of brain surgeries, I can’t do the thrill attractions at Disney World. I do what I can and we work around the rest. It sure doesn’t stop me from having fun and I’m not the type of person to just sit idly by when I’m perfectly capable in every other way. In fact, to look at me, you would never know my health situation. Even my hair has grown almost back to normal.
We also needed this trip because the two of us (well, maybe just me) were overdosed with our family in the past month. I didn’t make any Disney World plans until mid-August just to see how finances were because of two other family trips. So I basically was doing things a week or two week before this trip. BTW – one of our other two trips was to see our son and his family in Ohio because we couldn’t make it up there for our daughter-in-law’s college graduation. The other trip had been five years in the making. Along with our son and his family and my in-laws, we all went to Cooperstown, New York for the Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony of 2007. For us baseball fans, this was THE event of the century. Cal Ripken, Jr. and Tony Gwynn were both being inducted. Both classy guys – well, more than classy. We’ve been Cal fans ever since he made it up to the big leagues for his first cup of coffee and when he retired in 2002, we started making plans for the trip. Along with 72,000 other people. A once in a lifetime experience and one that left us drained.
So after all that, we (I) really wanted a vacation where it was just the two of us. No family, no compromising on restaurants, no trying to make five other people happy. Rich and I have traveled together so much that it’s very difficult for us (me) to make adjustments to please others. We (I) needed a mental adjustment.
Of course, this was to be a budget trip like all of ours are since I’ve been out of work. I belong to the Trip Rewards program through Days Inn and its sister hotels so for every $10 I spend at a qualifying hotel, I get 100 points. Once I hit 6,000 points, I can get a free night’s stay at any affiliated hotel. For that Cooperstown trip, I made all the reservations and gave my Trip Rewards number for all three rooms. Even though my father-in-law paid for the rooms, he left the rewards points on my card (he has his own but decided we could use the points more). We sure could.
We will leave Friday night after Rich is home from work and go halfway to Valdosta and stop for the night. I decided to use my free room for that night since we would only be sleeping there and then get another Days Inn affiliate in Kissimmee for us to pay for. I made the Valdosta reservation at the Days Inn at Exit 5 just off I75. We’ve used this hotel before and it’s one of the better Days Inns. But the price reflects that. It’s up to $60 when it used to cost under $45. But it was free so we’ll take advantage of that.
In Kissimmee, I think we’ve tried all the acceptable Days Inns and affiliates in the area. I don’t have many wants or needs but I like the hotel to be on the east side of I4 on Highway 192 but not down too far. We really like to be near Old Town and there is a Days Inn within walking distance of that nighttime diversion. But I am willing to try other things. This time, I tried the Travelodge Suites Main Gate Orange. The website had king bed “suites” available for $47. The “suite” was just a half wall in between the bed and the seating area and also had a microwave and refrigerator. So not a suite with separate bedroom or anything. But the price was great and we’re only two people. The hotel also has an outdoor pool, Jacuzzi and kiddie pool. Swimming pools are a thing of the past for me but I can do kiddie pools. And this place had a free breakfast in the morning whereas the Days Inn doesn’t (but has a $3.99 breakfast buffet on the premises). The site also said the Travelodge was within walking distance of Old Town and there was a flea market in the same parking lot. I booked the room and was happy with everything. Rich was happy with the price.
Once I had the hotel reservations in place, I thought about our plans. When we did the Cooperstown trip, our son brought along a present for his best friend John who lives in Melbourne, FL now. John and another friend had joined us for a Saturday night during Memorial Day weekend and we had a great time playing miniature golf and going out for dinner. I emailed John and asked if he would like to repeat that Saturday night this weekend. He was game but we decided not to play the Fantasia Fairways course again. That course was very frustrating for four adults last time so we chose the Gardens course this time with its dancing hippos. We also offered for John to bunk with us Saturday night instead of driving back to Melbourne. John said he was grateful for the offer and he’d see about that on Saturday.
Since our Saturday was filled, I thought about Sunday. That was a quick think. Off Kilter would be performing so we’d have to see them for as many shows as we could. Since Saturday and Sunday were basically booked up, there was no need for me to even think about getting any dining reservations for either day. This trip would be a total unplanned time (except for Saturday night and that wasn’t carved in stone at all either).
We did have a glimmer of hope that this vacation would be extended by one day. For the week before Labor Day, Rich’s other two co-workers were going to be on vacation. That’s not supposed to happen since there’s only three workers in the department but there were circumstances so the manager approved both people’s time. Rich was working three jobs and broadly hinted that he would like to be compensated for it. Managers only look out for the company, not the employee. So that didn’t work out although I think Rich is going to be calling in sick quite often in the future (he took only two days off during all of my surgeries and the accident and even on those days, he worked from home).
But we made do and looked out for us and not the company. Heck with them.
Day One - Friday, August 31, 2007 – “We are NEVER going to get there!”
Rich figured his work would give everyone an early release around 2 or 3 but I wasn’t counting on it. Even if the company issued the order, Rich’s manager is such a worrier that she would make Rich stay there until 5:00 just to make sure a last minute phone call didn’t come in or something. I spent the day getting everything packed in our two small suitcases (I tried to get everything into one but it was too much and our larger suitcases were too big). There really wasn’t much to take and even with the “limitations” I have, I was easily able to get the car packed up with no problems at all.
Rich and I emailed each other back and forth all day. I specifically asked him if he had his Annual Pass in his wallet. Which is the last place I had seen it (from the Memorial Day trip). His reply was “as far as I know, it’s in the same place it has been”. Remember that. At 2:15 Rich emailed me that he got the approval to leave as soon as he finished up the purchase order he was processing. I knew the traffic situation was getting worse in the Atlanta area since I was checking on it continuously on ajc.com. We both figured that for the Friday before a three day weekend. Rush hour here starts about 10:00 AM during those days. Rich’s normal commute home is an hour and fifteen minutes on a good day so I thought he’d be home around 3:30. It was a little after that but now the problem came into play. I had the other car all gassed up and packed and ready to go. But the traffic. We wouldn’t get on to the interstate until 4:00 and the situation was getting worse and worse. Rich’s only concern was whether to take I85 straight through downtown or take I285 around. The downtown way looked a lot heavier than going around so we decided to use I285. Never trust Atlanta traffic. Ever.
We said goodbye to the four cats who would be taken care of by our wonderful cat sitting service (she has yet to see any of the cats – they hide as they prefer our company over that of some stranger – imagine a cat being that picky) and headed out around 4:00. Rich said we needed to either stop at the local bank (which isn’t that local) or go to the Bank of America in Celebration once we got there. I always worry about having enough cash although Rich always informs me we now live in a cashless society. Right – do we have enough cash for those tolls tomorrow, my dear? And for our dinner tonight? Decision made to stop at our local bank.
On the way there, Rich is calmly driving and asks me if I got his Annual Pass out of the “secret” drawer. A shot of panic went through me and I said that I thought he had it in his wallet. A wild look of panic went into Rich’s eyes and he said “No, I told you it was in the same place it’s always been.” Which I thought was his wallet. And he thought was the “secret” drawer. Grimly, Rich turned the car around and we went back home. I apologized the entire way but I don’t think Rich really cared at that point. He had had a bad week at work, a not so nice commute home and now had to drive through Atlanta traffic on a Friday before a three day weekend. And had to turn around for something that he was certain I had taken care of.
At least the cats broke the tension. Rich said they were all out and looked very guilty in the short time we had been away. We both laughed and said we’re sure they have a party planned with all the neighborhood cats. You know, when the mice are away, the cats will play?
Moods brightened a bit, we headed for the bank again. UGH! This bank is located on what used to be a nice quiet two lane highway. The area has boomed in the past three or four years. We have lots of new businesses but still the same old two lane highway. In addition, there’s a brand new high school built just beyond where we get on the highway. It’s 4:00 on a Friday afternoon. Schools don’t let out early for the day before Labor Day weekend. So we have school buses (twelve of them rolled by us all in a row while we were waiting to make our right turn onto the highway) in addition to the kids who drive to school AND the moms and/or dads who have to pick up their kids from school instead of them riding the buses. Add in the normal rush hour (now at least five hours old) traffic of people trying to get home or out onto the interstate and you have a fubar situation.
So we joined the masses and slowly made our way to the bank. It doesn’t help that the traffic lights on this highway are the worst on the planet (OK, an exaggeration but it’s pretty darn close). With cold hard good old American cash in hand, we then joined the masses trying to get out on the interstate.
Side note here – we had to make a left hand turn to get out of the bank parking lot. Say what you will about Southerners but we were let out very quickly and we didn’t have a light at the turn. Part of Atlanta’s traffic problems is that people are too damn nice.
Finally at 4:14, we were on I85 and heading south. Our journey was just beginning. We should have realized that this was going to be THE worst drive to Disney World we have EVER done. The traffic going north on I85 was bad but that’s just usually bad up towards where we live and then it’s not that bad down towards the city. Not today. The entire way from the I85/I985 split all the way down to I285 was jammed going north. We were fine going south and Rich thought we could easily do I285 even though the traffic informational signs said the speed going both east and west was a maximum of 20 MPH. He even looked at the messy Spaghetti Junction and thought it wasn’t bad. Until we got on it.
There was a parking lot on I285. Maybe not a complete parking lot but one that was moving along at maybe 5 MPH if they were lucky. We never drive around this area without several area maps in the car so I grabbed one while we were sitting in the traffic (we weren’t even on I285 yet, just on the entrance ramp but fully stopped) and got an alternative route to get off I285 and back onto I85 and go through the city.
We did that and were able to cruise along for a while. Until the parking lot in downtown Atlanta. And we didn’t even make 5 MPH. It took us at least 45 minutes to go the ten miles to the intersection of I20 (I85 is joined by I75 north of downtown Atlanta which just shows that traffic engineers had to be drunk when they planned out the routes through downtown). Once I20 split off and then we got rid of the airport traffic and were just on I75, we made some time. For a short while.
Then we got bogged down yet again with the merge of I675. Another 45 minutes in a parking lot. This is how bad it was. We saw the sign for an exit that was a mile ahead. Fifteen minutes later, we weren’t even at the exit yet.
We FINALLY got through all that and were south of the city and near the Atlanta Motor Speedway (a place we know very well). A check of the watch said it was after 7:00. Three hours to go from our house in northeast Georgia that is still considered the Atlanta metro area to south of the airport. Three hours. We were supposed to be way beyond Macon by that time and just an hour outside of Valdosta. The rest of the drive was uneventful. We made a potty stop at the rest area outside of Macon and it was sorely needed. We’re experienced Atlanta drivers. We know that you always make the bathroom your last stop before you get into the car and you have just enough beverages to last you until that first rest area which is two hours away. Two hours on a normal drive. Today, it would be four hours. Our back teeth were floating.
Now – this is not normal Atlanta traffic. Not even normal for a Friday before a three day weekend. There were no bad accidents, no road closures. Just traffic. The only possible glitch was there was a Braves home game that night but when we went by Turner Field, the traffic there wasn’t bad and we were doing almost 50 MPH at the time. Why today was so bad, we don’t know. It was bad going south and it was bad going north. After we came back, we found out it was just plain bad all over the city and for no reason than the volume. Don’t use this one trip as a basis for a typical drive through Atlanta. If this happened all the time, we’d be leaving for Disney World at 9:00 PM.
Our only problem after our much needed potty break (we couldn’t even finish the drinks we brought from home until after) was that we didn’t have any food. We had talked about getting some big Kroger subs to eat in the room but decided to do McDonald’s once we got there. Which now was going to be 10:30. We talked about stopping on the way but Rich (who drove the whole way, bless his heart) didn’t want to stop anymore – he wanted to get to the hotel. So our bladders were empty but so were our stomachs. We did dip into the supply of candy that we take on every trip.
We finally pulled into the Days Inn parking lot at 10:30, both of us very weary with the day. Rich was a much better driver than me because I can’t stand unexplainable delays like what we had. I was not a great passenger and even used some very strong curse words at our situation. To top it all off, it started to rain during the last half hour of the trip. Through construction.
Here’s one of the main reasons I like this Days Inn. The staff. This was a free room but we couldn’t have been treated better and the check in person could see we were exhausted. I think Rich just about collapsing on the front desk had something to do with that. Rich explained what we had gone through and the clerk said that concerned her because she was going to Atlanta the next morning for a Dragoncon (com?) convention. We assured her the traffic wouldn’t be a problem for her at all. She was relieved. We were checked in and Rich took a free USA Today. We had our daily copy of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution from home but Rich can never have too many newspapers.
We were in the back of the hotel on the second floor. The woman who had checked in right before me was directly below us on the first floor. My humor was still in tact as I suggested to Rich that we jump up and down upstairs around midnight. He chuckled but was more ticked off that the lady had taken the very last parking space close to the rooms so we had to park across the lot. Oh well, we are healthy (well, almost 100% for me) and able so we took our suitcases up and a few other items and then decided on dinner.
There weren’t that many choices. Burger King is in the Citgo gas station, Wendy’s and Taco Bell required us to get back into the hateful car (it wasn’t her fault). So we stuck to our original plan and went over to McDonald’s (right across the street) for a VERY late dinner. We were both starving by this time.
I just read an article about McDonald’s and how they have rebounded from all the negative publicity and how they listen to their customers. I am on record as saying that McDonald’s employees are not that great. I’m sure there are a few that are outstanding but not at this McDonald’s. And unfortunately, that has been my experience lately.
For this visit, the normal thing happened. The cashier did not know what the meal options were. Each meal has a number attached to it but heaven forbid you actually order by that number. The cashier will have to turn around and find out what that meal is so she can punch it into the register. Is McDonald’s menu that hard to figure out? And after Rich ordered by number he gave his special request of pickles and ketchup only. OK it’s not Burger King but that simple request isn’t that earth shattering. And then my big mistake. I ordered just a Big Mac. No meal. No fries. No drink. Rich was getting fries with his meal so we were sharing and I still have a bottle of water in the car. I was asked if I wanted a meal. I explained it was just the sandwich and I honestly don’t think this girl had any idea what to do. I wanted to lean over and press the “Big Mac” button on her register.
It got worse (believe it or not). The drive through was twelve cars deep (one of the employees told the manager that). We were the only ones inside the restaurant and, of course, the drive through got priority. And what was the manager doing this whole time? Talking on her cell phone (an obvious personal call) and carrying her toddler on her hip. This just wasn’t for a moment. This was from the minute we walked in until we finally got our food (which was sitting in the bag since Dumbo behind the register thought it was for the drive through). As far as I know, that manager still has her kid on her hip and is still talking on the cell phone.
We finally got back to our room and got our stomachs a bit full by 11:00. So much for a relaxing night. We watched some mindless sitcom reruns on the TV and read the papers to cool down before we went to bed. Which was after midnight. We did find out the one thing that we forgot. Rich’s laptop from work. It was still sitting in the back seat of his car in the garage. He claims that (1) he wasn’t used to bringing it home and (2) we “rushed” out of the house because I had had everything all ready to go. Needless to say, the little Annual Pass thing was very quickly forgotten. We’re not totally dependant on the PC but it would have been nice for the weekend since we had to do the fantasy NASCAR draft tomorrow with our son and daughter-in-law. Now we’d have to do it via phone.
Day Two – Saturday, September 1, 2007 – Rains, Trams and Poppa John
I had set my phone alarm for 7:00 and we awoke to rain. We’ve had a bad drought this summer so the rain was certainly welcome. And I had packed five ponchos in the suitcases so we were not worried at all. I got our bag “park ready” while Rich showered and got ready and then he loaded up the car while I got ready. In the bag, I took our two cheap “2 for $1” ponchos that I had bought several years ago and are still in good shape. In the back of the car, I made sure we had the two heavier Disney yellow ponchos. We both wore shorts and T-shirts since it was still raining when we left. I would have had on a halter top but the morning didn’t call for it.
I have to remark on our headgear. We are pretty careful about our ball caps that we wear to Disney World. Of course, 99% of ours are sports related. Since I only had a limited amount of time to enjoy wearing a NASCAR Budweiser hat with the #8 associated on it, I had a black one on for the day. Rich chose an Ohio State hat that he found somewhere in one of our moves (we think leftover from one of our son’s pals) and wore that in honor of the college football season starting that day. That would be important later on.
I checked us out of the room and we grabbed our normal mini cinnamon rolls and a couple of individual bowls of cereal from the continental breakfast and were going for gas shortly after 8:00. We pulled into the Shell station right there and Rich went in for his supply of Diet Coke for the morning. It didn’t matter that we had a twelve pack in the trunk and a perfectly fine cooler in the back seat. Rich will drink Diet Coke in the can when he’s driving only as a last resort. And besides, he rationalizes he gets Coke Rewards points on every cap of the 20 ouncers. I think he’s up to some sort of discount on a weekend trip to California somewhere or something. He’s saving up for NASCAR stuff – if the man can ever part with his Coke points. Ah, gotta love him.
Just like yesterday, Rich drove the whole way again today. I can certainly drive but he gets bored being a passenger. I don’t mind since it gives me time to read a book as long as I can shut out the noise he calls music coming from the radio. He’s into classic rock and alternative music these days. Give me easy listening any day. But, the music is always the choice of the driver.
After our bathroom stop in Ocala, we hit the turnpike, paid the total of $3.50 in tolls and were soon entering Disney property. BTW – as soon as we were out of North Florida, the rain went away and the day turned absolutely beautiful. Oh well, the cheapo ponchos didn’t weigh that much so we’d leave them in the bag. We weren’t going to check into the hotel until after 3:00 because that was the check in time and the offsite places are sometimes bad if you try and check in for the official time. You can check in but will have to come back to the front desk and get your room key. I really don’t like having to stand in yet another line just to get my room key. I wish they could do something where room key only people could go to the side and just get the room key instead of having to wait in line with everyone checking in. Would speed things up for us and for the other people as well. All it would take is one clerk to manage one line off to the side. When there’s no one to claim their room keys, that clerk would move over and help check in people. Simple but probably too simple for the offsite hotels.
We had talked briefly about which park to hit first. I knew what I wanted because it had more to offer me. But I wanted Rich to express his opinion. But I erred and told him I had a choice in mind. So he told me we’d do whatever I wanted. I hate that. We’d be in Epcot all day tomorrow and we very rarely go to the Magic Kingdom so it was between MGM and Animal Kingdom. There are just two attractions I can’t go on in MGM (Twilight Zone and Rock N Roller coaster) but five I can’t go on in Animal Kingdom. So you’d think I’d pick MGM, right? Wrong. I picked Animal Kingdom because we spend more time there than at MGM. There really is so much more to Animal Kingdom than just the attractions.
Rich decided to park in the Animal Kingdom parking lot and deny me my traditional visit to Animal Kingdom Lodge. He doesn’t “feel right” going to a resort just to look around. We were both in kind of not so great moods with the drive of yesterday and neither one of us could sleep that well during the night with the rains. Rich’s decision would prove to be not a popular one.
We were herded in with all the other cars and, of course, we had to park all the way at the end of the row but not at the end where the tram picks you up. That was fine, we’re healthy and we can walk. A full tram was pulling out as we were getting our stuff out of the car. No big deal – there will be another one coming shortly. We boarded that tram and moved all the way over to the other side to let others sit in the same row as us. The guy behind us didn’t bother and he was the only one in his row. So we sat and waited for people to join us. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. People did board the tram and we were eventually joined by others in our row. The guy who was a chicken nugget short of a Happy Meal finally moved over as the tram got fuller. And fuller. And fuller. And we sat. And sat. And sat. I think a turtle could have crawled up to the Animal Kingdom entrance by now. I’m not the most patient person in the world so this bugged the daylights out of me. Even Rich was muttering, “let’s go, let’s go, let’s go”. But then another family would come walking up to the tram and board. And then another one about 10 seconds later. And then another one. There was not one single seat left on that tram when it was finally announced that boarding was closed.
If I had to hear “please put the children in the middle and the adults on the outside” one more time, I probably would have thrown up.
It’s not that the Disney trams are bad. It’s just that I would have rather walked and have been doing something than sitting there waiting. I am like that in traffic too which is bad in Atlanta (as evidenced last night). I’ll get off an interstate and take back roads that won’t save me any time or distance but at least I’m doing something.
In the end, Rich admitted that maybe we should avoid the trams in the future. We shook it off and went into Animal Kingdom to enjoy the day. It was still beautiful. Not that hot, the sun was out, no storm clouds in the sky.
Rich decided our course once we entered and it came as no surprise to me that he wanted the wait time board first. To check on the times for Flights of Wonder. This is a “must see” show for us anytime we’re at Animal Kingdom. Rich still kids me about me not wanting to see it for such a long time and then going into the show when I was on a solo trip. And then telling Rich that he HAD to see it, that it was great and I’ll never go to Animal Kingdom without seeing it. We have the script about memorized by now.
We saw we had just missed the 1:00 show and the next one was at 2:00 with a break until 4:00. I suggested Rich go on Expedition Everest first and use the single riders line. But when we went back there, the FastPass Return time would fit in well for after Flights of Wonder so he decided to do that so I wouldn’t have to wait so long for him. The single riders line at Expedition Everest saves a ton of time but it’s not the best managed thing in the world. It always seems like a lot of the trains are going off with empty seats when the single riders line has people waiting in it. I also got a FastPass so that Rich could ride twice if he wanted to. This is one attraction that I miss. I can live with just about all the others but this one was a heartbreaker. But I figure if sitting out a ride means I can see my grandkids grow up, I’m fine with it.
Rich suggested our favorite snack at Animal Kingdom – a beer and a pretzel from the kiosk across from the Flame Tree BBQ seating area. I was game. On the way back there, we stopped a bit to watch the monkeys playing around and started comparing them to our cats back home. While we were standing there, a man in a wheelchair made some sort of comment about Ohio State. Remember Rich’s ball cap he was wearing in honor of college football season starting today? The man had seen the hat and asked Rich if he was an Ohio State fan. Rich explained that he wasn’t and gave the reason why he was wearing the hat. I couldn’t believe he didn’t mention that Chandra is a fan! But the man said that he had just gotten a Mickey pin with Ohio State on it. He showed it to us and Rich was politely thanking him for the information. But I asked the man just where he got the pin. He said the shop over by the little kiddie games. I figured he meant Hester’s and Chester’s so I told him we’d definitely check it out. Rich looked at me kind of funny. I said “my husband might not be a fan but our daughter-in-law is”. Rich did a big V-8 slap on the forehead thing and said “oh yeah, that’s right”.
After a nice conversation and a very good suggestion for a Christmas stocking stuffer, we went for the beer and pretzel. This has become a nice tradition for us at Animal Kingdom. There’s a kiosk across from the Beastly Bizarre and we carry our food and drink over to the Flame Tree BBQ seating area. We don’t do this if the area is crowded with the restaurant patrons but so far, that was only once during Christmas/New Year’s week. We sat by the pond and watched the ducks do their duck thing. The only bad thing was a pre-teen girl (alone, no sign of the parents) who decided to chase some of the ducks. You can tell that doesn’t sit very well with us nature lovers.
After our break, it was time for Flights of Wonder and then Expedition Everest for Rich. On the way to the theatre, Rich made a comment on the clouds coming in pretty fast. We’ve been to Disney World many times during storms and we know that the rains can come fast. But not that fast, surely. We made it to the theatre and got some good aisle seats. Thankfully, this theatre is under cover. Because it started to rain right before the show. An announcement was made that the show would be delayed. But then I knew we were in trouble.
A Cast Member came from the back of the open air but covered theatre and went up on the stage. He said that the storm that was here now had been tracked to just pass through so they thought the show could go on. But this storm stalled and was expected to be joined by another storm so the rains would be here for a couple of hours at least. We knew this was not a typical “rain for a half hour and then quit” Florida storm. The Cast Member said everyone was welcome to stay for as long as they liked but the only thing they asked was that people did not bunch up at the entrance so that people who wanted to leave could. Rich and I decided to put on our cheap ponchos and go over to Dinoland and check out the Mickey Ohio State pin. We exited (of course, people did not pay attention to the Cast Member and we had to make our way through the bunches jamming up the entrance, grr) and then quickly walked over to Dinoland.
TIP: When we wear ponchos, we always keep our ball caps on and then put the poncho hood over that. The bill of the cap helps keep the rain out of our faces and the cap stays dry. Another hint that we didn’t use this time is to carry a medium binder clip with your poncho and use that to close off the hood below your chin. It really helps to keep the hood up and secure.
We felt like salmon swimming upstream since everyone was trying to get out of Animal Kingdom. We always figure that the rain isn’t going to hurt us since we take showers everyday so we just keep going. Or do we?
Over in Dinoland, we had another fight to get through the masses waiting at the exits of Hester’s and Chester’s. But we made it in. The shop itself wasn’t that crowded but it was a chore to get in. We walked around and there were some pins but not the one we were looking for. We figured the guy had gotten his pin at a kiosk which was now covered up because of the storm.
And now the “difference of opinion” started. We both wanted to leave Animal Kingdom. There wouldn’t be a first ride on Expedition Everest much less a second ride. I started to head out for the car. Rich wanted to stay put at the store. He was worried about the thunder and lightening. I didn’t care. To Rich’s defense, he has had a couple of “near misses” of lightening cracking extremely close to him (one hit the house where he was and fried a couple of TVs and one was on Main Street when a lightening rod was hit). In my defense, I’ve learned the hard way that I’m going to live my life to the fullest while I can (without doing anything stupid, of course). So we stood there huddled in the doorway with me wanting to go and Rich eying the sky nervously.
Rich finally decided it was safe to venture out into the real world. I think five hours had passed. But it was probably more like ten minutes but it just seemed so long. If anyone would pick my biggest fault, it’s impatience. But we headed out with the rain still coming but more manageable. Or at least Rich thought so. We left Animal Kingdom for this short trip a little disappointed in the rain but that’s just something we have to live with on any vacation. We were hoping that the rain made its way into Georgia and up to where we live. We are in the worst drought in 26 years and have had watering restrictions all summer long (added after the trip – we don’t have watering restrictions anymore – we just can’t water period). We had to take the dreaded tram back to the car but this time it was easier since the entire human population of Animal Kingdom all had the same idea to leave.
But back at the car with ponchos off and bunched in the back of the car, Rich and I had a major miscommunication about what we wanted to do. It was 2:00 and John was due around 5:00. Not enough time for a full blown tour of a park but too much time to go to the room. Plus, the offsite places sometimes aren’t that great with giving out rooms any time before the official check in time which for us was 3:00. I suggested going to Epcot for a quick walk around World Showcase. Rich wanted to go to the room. That was OK with me but I wanted him to call and make sure we could get into the room. Sometimes, even if you are there just five minutes before the official time, you will have to wait. Rich wanted me to call. I hate talking on the phone. Rich deals with it every day. I finally got out of Rich that he NEEDED to go to the room and get changed. So you can figure out what that meant. Off to the hotel we go.
I wasn’t quite sure where the Travelodge was but I knew it was near Old Town. Supposedly within walking distance. We’re well familiar with that area but never really pay attention to the hotels or restaurants. So Rich was driving and I was searching. The Travelodge is within walking distance of Old Town but not after a long day at the parks. But it was a new place so we’ll try it out. It’s right behind the Big Orange tacky tourist gift shop so it is easy to see along Highway 192. It’s also right next to a tacky tourist flea market which makes it even easier to see. I wasn’t that trilled with things but that just might have been my mood after the rain delay and now with crossing my fingers and hoping our room was ready or we’d be stuck with a drenched Rich and no place for him to change.
Fortunately for the rest of the day, our room was ready (although a lady came in after me and she had been sent away previously because her room wasn’t ready). We were all the way in the back of the place (two stories) and on the first floor. That was fine with us as we didn’t need to be close to the Highway or anything. Rich drove us back to our room and cursed a bit since there were no parking spaces on the hotel side of the lot. Just like last night, we’d have to park across the lot and take our stuff in that way. Again, no big deal, it’s just the two of us and we’re on the first floor.
The room was pretty nice – the standard suite with a half wall in between the bed and the living area. No kitchen but a microwave and a refrigerator. There was a pull out couch and a king size bed. Our room could sleep four but there were other rooms that had two double beds for a total of six to a room. Then Rich mentioned that all of the parking spaces right outside our room were handicapped spaces. And I remembered I reserved a king bed room. Which this was and it was handicapped accessible. Rant on:
Why can’t hotels (Disney included) have just plain king size bed rooms? Why do they almost all have to be handicapped accessible? Rich and I have a king size bed at home and anything smaller than that just isn’t comfortable for us. So, if we are in a two double bed room, each of us takes a bed. That’s fine but I sure do wish we would have a choice other than sleeping separately or taking a handicapped accessible room. Rant off.
We liked the room a lot and even if it wasn’t as close to Old Town as we wanted, we will be returning to here again (in fact, I already made the reservation for Thanksgiving). The price was fantastic and that’s a huge seller with us.
After we unpacked the car, I unpacked the suitcases. Rich grabbed what he could and made ample use of the bathroom to change. I took stock of what I could do. Rich was pretty well soaked. I don’t know why since we both had on the same type of ponchos and all that were really wet on me were my shoes and socks. But then again, Rich is a guy and guys don’t adjust their walk for getting poured on. Must be that Y chromosome. Rich had brought extras of things, not much but extras. He also had a pair of sandals that he could wear. On the other hand, I had just packed enough for the weekend. No extra socks and no extra pair of shoes. So the air conditioning vent was going to get a work out to dry my limited wardrobe. That’s not like me to not throw in an extra couple of pairs of socks. Lesson learned for next time – extra socks, extra socks.
We still had some time before John was due to arrive so after we got all dried (well, me as best as I could with my soaked sneakers), Rich said that now we could do Epcot. So we went back to Disney World with me squishing in my shoes (my dry socks became wet very fast) and him wearing his sandals. Personal note – I do not like sandals. I don’t particularly care for them on women and I really don’t care for them on men. A big concession in our marriage is that Rich does not wear the sandals when he’s with me. I had to look past that for the rest of the day.
We didn’t do much at Epcot. Just a walk around World Showcase. Even though the countries remain the same, the people don’t. We just like walking around and people watching while we are on the move. We both were brought up in homes where hikes and “just a walk” were common. We don’t get to do it too much in the city and really enjoy our time at Disney World and specifically at Epcot. I was wearing a relatively cheap pedometer just for kicks on this trip. Yes, you can easily do ten miles in one day and not realize it. That’s what we stopped at when we went to bed. It wasn’t a constant ten miles but that’s the total.
When we went by the entrance to Future World, I really didn’t want to see Spaceship Earth with the wand and hand removed. We might be in the minority but all of our family loved the wand. And now it’s gone for good. It’s a naked ball. Sigh. Let’s get used to it.
Back in America, we stopped in America and my favorite shop. Love that red, white, and blue. I checked the display of parchment reproductions. These are a fairly good bargain at Disney World for some education. The last time here, I got a parchment that listed all of the US Presidents. This time, it was the Star Spangled Banner in Francis Scott Key’s handwriting. These obviously are not the real thing but reproductions and only $2. Eventually, I’ll want to get all the choices available.
At the pin cart outside, I wanted to check to see if they had the Ohio State pin. And they did. So we picked up that for Chandra. While I was paying for it, the Cast Member noticed the pedometer and saw the count. She practically screamed at how many strides we had taken and then converted them to miles. I think she thought we were commandoes or something for walking that much. Honestly, we never even knew nor cared about the mileage. I was wearing the thing just on a lark.
By the time we made it back around to the International Gateway, it was time to leave and go back to the hotel to meet up with John. I had my cell phone with me and thought maybe John would be there before us. He had said he’d leave Melbourne around “4ish”. But we got back to the room with no call from John. So we relaxed a bit and waited for the call so we could give John our room number.
He didn’t call until almost 6:00. I figured he left Melbourne later than he thought he would. But that wasn’t the case at all. He did leave around 4ish. But he encountered nothing but traffic on the drive west. John said it was horrible. He had driven the same way for Memorial Day weekend and didn’t have any problems. Just like us with leaving Atlanta. We’ve never seen the traffic that bad. I guess Americans really were enjoying getting a day off to pay for their hard labor all year long.
The last time John came over for miniature golf, we ate first and then played golf. John asked that we switch the order around this time. We took him and his friend Rolando to a buffet that we like and both of them, well, em, er, kind of overate. OK – they pigged out. I guess that’s what happens with two 25 year old bachelors. So we saddled up and went to Fantastia miniature golf. But this time to do the Gardens course since the Fairways course kicked our collective butts last time.
We had a short wait to tee off. Nothing like the 45 minutes the last time. I like the way they do this so not everyone is bunched up and you can enjoy your round without having to be rushed because there’s a group behind you. And you don’t have to wait for the group ahead of you to finish up. There is some overlap but nothing near the way it could be.
We rank the Fantasia Gardens course as challenging for adults. Rich and I grew up with miniature golf so we know our way around a course. This still didn’t bore us at all. John had a bit more difficulty but he’s never been on this course before. Rich and I were around par and John didn’t finish first or second. It took about an hour to play and was very enjoyable and relaxing. I only grumbled a bit when Rich beat me by a couple of strokes. I blamed my wet shoes and socks. And the fact that Rich was wearing sandals which totally messed up my concentration. Hey – it wasn’t the player!
Next up was dinner. Rich and I hadn’t really had that much to eat and we know that John can always eat a free meal (oh, to be 25 years old again). The two restaurants right across Highway 192 from the hotel were Macaroni Grill and Longhorn. I was feeling in the mood for cow so Longhorn it is. This is a chain place but we don’t get to it very often. Mainly because our Longhorn is down by the Mall of Georgia and the only times you can ever get in there without an hour wait is Monday-Thursday before 6:00. Forget the weekends. And we don’t even bother during the holiday shopping period. So it was a nice place for all of us. The guys did some meat stuff but I know I had the prime rib and finished that up quite nicely. No one had leftover on their plates.
After our meal and our sort drive back to the hotel (we did not dare to walk across the highway since there were no traffic lights in this area and we would like to live to see another day) we visited in the room for a while and again offered up the couch to John for the night. It would be close to 11:00 if he drove home now. But he declined. For a reason that I never thought I’d ever hear coming out of a 25 year old male’s mouth. He said that he wanted to go home and get a good night’s sleep because he likes to go grocery shopping at Kroger on Sunday mornings! He said (and he’s right) that no one is in the store so he can get all his weekly shopping done in a lot less time. So he thanked us for the offer but headed home to Melbourne around 10 or so. Rich and I kind of chuckled with John’s priorities but didn’t laugh that hard. It’s nice to know that there are nice and sensible young people out there. Kind of makes up for some of the idiots we all encounter on a daily basis. I don’t think Marlie and Mitchell can go wrong having Pappa John in there lives. Marlie dubbed John that when he first met her. And John is Mitchell’s godfather and takes that role seriously. Yes, we do know very nice people.
Rich and I spent the rest of the night unwinding and drying out our socks and shoes. And Rich’s T shirt. I figured I’d just walk around in wet sneakers and was more than willing to make room on the air conditioning vent for Rich’s shoes. I really did not want him to walk around in sandals all the next day. I had had to put up with it during the golf and the dinner and I really didn’t want to do it another 24 hours. Yes, I do not like sandals that much. We did lights out around midnight or so.
Day Two – Sunday, September 2, 2007 – A Day With Our Neighbors to the North
No alarm was needed for this morning and Rich was truly grateful. He wakes up to an alarm seven days a week and relishes any chance he gets to wake up naturally. Since we were in the back of the hotel and there were only two rooms on our little corner of the property, we heard absolutely nothing. So the clock read around 10:00 when I finally decided to look at it. I think this was the first Disney trip where we didn’t have any nighttime or morning interruptions. It was much appreciated.
The only thing on our plans for the day was Off Kilter. We knew they would be performing because the entertainment schedule was only for Saturday and Sunday due to the holiday weekend. Usually the schedules are Sunday-Saturday. The first show wasn’t until 2:30 so we didn’t have to rush. We took our time getting ready and then headed to Epcot. We got there early enough for a walk around World Showcase and some lunch in America. I guess my cow fixation of the night before had settled in so a burger sounded pretty good. Along our walk, I looked over at Spaceship Earth again and really wasn’t too displeased with the naked ball. I guess it takes some getting used to after having the hand and wand up there for so long. We’ve seen Spaceship Earth many times before the wand and we’ll get used to it back to the original form (as naked as it seems right now).
Once in America, we went into the Liberty Inn for some lunch. We didn’t need much since we thought we’d be snacking through the day. We settled on splitting a foot long hot dog (there’s gotta be cow in there somewhere) and then enjoying the fixings bar, especially the pickles. We don’t know what it is about the Disney World fixings bar pickles but we can devour them easily. Other people load up on the good stuff. We take tons of pickles. The day was a bit cloudy but not that bad so we ate outside in the sun.
After our light lunch, we walked around to Canada where we would spend the rest of the day with short breaks in between the Off Kilter sets. Much to our great delight, all original five guys were here today. It’s been almost a year since we haven’t had a substitute for someone. So we were really happy with the day so far! The guys seemed nice and relaxed and did some songs they haven’t done for a while and had some new stuff as well. Very entertaining afternoon and evening.
In between the sets, we either stayed at the stage area (if our butts were still awake from sitting on the hard wooden benches) or walked around a bit more (when our butts needed exercise). There’s usually only a half hour from the end of one set to the start of the next one so we can’t go too far.
We did have one longer break so we used the time to check out the new O Canada film. The old, original 360 film had finally been updated. The old one was fine but it was, well, a little old. The new one is hosted by Martin Short and provides a lot of laughs which the other one didn’t have. We will have to see this again and I’m sure we’ll have plenty of opportunities with our Off Kilter breaks.
It was tempting to stay for Illuminations but we were getting hungry so we (I – Rich likes the show but I love it) decided to wait until Thanksgiving when we could see the holiday version of it at the later 9:30 time. Another Disney World vacation was over. But there will be more.
Dinner was at a Bob Evans near the hotel. I actually thought about getting Arby’s and taking it back to the room but Rich seemed to think I wanted a sit down place. Ah well, Bob Evans was fine and it was nice getting breakfast for dinner.
Back to the room and some TV watching and “packing”. Which consisted of putting all the dirty clothes into the suitcases. It never fails. Dirty clothes seem to double in size. The suitcases were fully stuffed for the trip home. An uneventful evening and in bed around 11:00 or so. We weren’t going to set an alarm for the next morning but still wanted to get up fairly early to get home to the cats.
Day Three – Monday, September 3, 2007 – Home Again
Nothing much for today. Up and on the road by 9:00. We reversed our drive back to Georgia minus the traffic. Rich drove the whole way again (I still don’t know why) and lunch was gourmet McDonald’s. At a much better place where the employees actually seemed to have all their chicken nuggets firmly in the Happy Meal. Back to the cats and ordering a pizza for dinner.
Summary –
The traffic on the way down was absolutely horrible. As I mentioned, when we got back and Rich talked to people at work, he found out that no one had a great time driving around Atlanta on Friday night. It didn’t make sense – no major accidents, road construction is suspended for the holiday weekend, school had been in session for weeks. Just too many cars on the road. This was not typical for any Friday night in Atlanta.
It was great to see John again. The friendship between him and Chris has sustained for a very long time. They met when they were in the fourth grade. They went to different junior highs but managed to stay close during those three years until the met up again in high school. Chris stayed in Nebraska after graduation and John moved to South Carolina with his family and went to Clemson (very proud graduate there). And even with their lives moving in different directions and the physical distance between them, they are probably closer now than ever before. Thanks to the internet. We are so pleased that our grandchildren will always have Pappa John in their lives.
The Travelodge Suites was a new place for us and one that we will be returning to. The price for what we got was fantastic. Under $50/night for the king bed and pull out couch. The location was just a bit further down Highway 192 than I liked but it still wasn’t that bad. We could have walked to Old Town if we had had the time. This would be an excellent place to stay for an extended period of time. We didn’t use the pool facilities but they were there if we wanted them. Too little time.
Off Kilter was great and it was so wonderful to see the five guys back together again. We can live through a Disney trip without seeing them (and we have) but they are the icing on the cake if they are playing.
The new O Canada film was a great improvement over the original. I’m glad to see some comedy in there. It’s kind of difficult to do a travel film about your country and poke a little fun at yourself. Martin Short was perfect for the host. Glad to see his presence again since The Making of Me has closed and the sound show over at MGM was changed in the Drew Carey thing.
We didn’t do very many attractions, by choice and by rain. But it still was a great Disney trip (they all are). We had no table service meals and that was by choice as well. We usually do one sit down place in the parks but decided to meet up with John outside Disney World instead. I am working on him getting a Disney annual pass but he doesn’t think he’ll use it that much.
Next trip is over Thanksgiving. We’re staying at the same place for the same great rate.