Well fans, I write this post from the dreary, cloudy, rainy and cool state of Iowa.  The Disney trip ended.

First the highlights:

Thursday, Hollywood Studios part 2.  We hit the ground running in order to get to Hollywood studios early.  Even getting on the bus at 9, with a 5 minute ride, we should have been close to the front of the line.  Nope!  Even with me running full speed across the park, Toy Story Mania already had a wait time of 70 minutes and a fast pass line that was two buildings long.  We went and did the Magic of Disney animation, and Reagan and Mason took the drawing class as I headed across the park again for the espresso shop.  I did end up walking back against the High School Musical Stage show, and I still don’t know what all that is about.  We met back up for a round of shopping, the Great Movie Ride, and the Narnia trailer.  Say whatever, but the Journey into Narnia is nothing more then an trailer.  Not a great attraction, but it did make me want to see the movie.  Now that it is released, I’m betting this spot will be refurbished soon.

Lunch was at the 50′s Prime Time Cafe.  There was a wait on our reservation, but they had a full bar.  Thinking of playing the part, I ordered a Tom Collins and a martini.  We didn’t get any credit from the bartender, but we thought it was cool.  Call it nostalgia, or growing up on early Disney channel and Nick at Nite, but having a wife in pearls waiting to hand you a martini is a great way to come home from work, am I right?

Lunch itself was a blast.  I was scolded for using my walkie-talkie in the house (cellphone) and the waiter asked about his boss’s etch-a-sketch (reservation’s tablet PC).  We had Chicken Pot Pie, Fried Chicken, and I chased that martini with a good old vanilla malt, which was yummy.  We did not get busted for elbows on the table, although many around us did.  Reagan tried to hide the last bit of unfinished collard greens on my plate under chicken bones and sure enough, the waited flipped them over and exclaimed loudly that he found the rest of my vegetables and I had to finish them before desert.

Afternoon on day 7 found feet starting to detach from their legs.  Reagan called it quits early after our round of Toy Story Mania and headed back to the room for a quick break followed by shopping at Downtown Disney.  Mason and I found ourselves in row 3 for the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular, and front row for Voyage of the little Mermaid.  Of course, I had to rock out to Aerosmith on the Rock n Roll roller coaster.  That is a fun coaster, and I like the back half of the stretch limo better.

Mason and I found Reagan at Downtown Disney who had done a lot of shopping, and whose feet were still dying.  She finally gave up and headed back to the room while Mason and I went to Disney Quest.  The elevator in was lots of fun, as it was run by  the genie from Aladdin.  At first, I thought it was just a lot of theme sorted video games, but we started to find the neat things.  There were bumper cars that fired cannons, a virtual jungle cruise on inflatable rafts, an awesome Pirates of the Caribbean game, and a few other (mediocre) VR based games there.  Sorry, I ran a VR arcade in the 90′s, so it takes some effort and tech to still impress me.

The hit was Cyber Space Mountain.  You designed a roller coaster, then you moved to a simulator and had to ride it.  We got a 3/5 on the scare-o-meter and Mason wasn’t sure about the whole thing when he suddenly realized we had to ride it.  They claimed that the simulator at DisneyQuest was better then the new ones at Epcot, because they could freely spin in any direction.  The door clamped shut and we were in for 5 loops, 2 barrel rolls, an outside spiral, and 2 jumps, along with a bunch of other ‘tricks’ we had laid down in the track.  Mason LOVED it and wanted to build another one.  Too bad we heard they were about to close and had to scramble for any of the other E ticket rides they had left.  Wait a sec….everything here was free with admission or a ‘water parks and more’ option on your pass.

FRIDAY:  Epcot part 2.  We got a late start.  And to think that exactly a week ago, I had figured that my cousin had already been here a week and showed up late morning due to the fact of being vacationed out.  Yes, we were doing the same thing…dragging that snooze button out an hour or two.  We got a few things done in Futureworld before an early lunch at the Coral Reef Restaurant at the Living Seas.  OK, sitting next to/under one of the largest aquariums ever is a neat thing.  Watching sea turtles swim is awesome!  I was expecting a bit more elaborate menu here.  They do have fresh fish here, and was surprised to see salmon and trout on the menu.  We all had the Mahi Mahi.  Out of the many salmons, two Ahi tunas, and even swordfish I had…the aquarium served the fish lowest on my personal scale….although it was dressed with a great sauce and best shrimp I have ever tasted.

After this we caught Imagination, took in the full Canada pavilion, explored France some more, then started picking up speed.  Reagan shopped some in Japan, then we skipped the US and Italy exhibits, and went quickly through Morocco.  I told Reagan she needed one of the belly dancing outfits they had here, but Jefferson, IA seems to be devoid of lessons.

We also by-passed Germany before shopping again in China.  Should we even mention that it seemed a lot cheaper here, even compared to similar items at Japan?  Hmmmm.   (was this a sign of the global economy at work?)  We ended up in Norway doing the ride and took in most of Mexico before coming full circle back to Future world.

Here in Futureworld we all did Test Track, then Mason and I split our ways on Mission Space.  He will only do green team, and I like the Orange team.  I could not bribe this kid to try the more advanced ‘setting’ of the ride.  The difference here is that on the orange team, the ride is the same but it adds G-force.  When the rocket takes off, when the boosters fire, the slingshot around the moon and when you deploy the wings for gliding, the pods you are in spin in the room they are in like a centrifuge, sinking you into your seat.  Wicked Awesome!  I did it 3 times this trip.  Sure, try the ride on green to see what it is like, if you don’t get sick….try the extra oomph.  The only thing I can say that throws you off is the blast off sequence.  I can just feel the start of a sideways motion physically when your eyes see you going forward.  It is really subtle, but it gives you this odd spiral sort of feel.  If you are prone to motion sickness, I bet this would get you.

We ate dinner at The Land and found great food here.  Since it was day 9 and it had been drizzling off and on all day, we did not want to risk a downpour or canceled fireworks due to rain.  The ground was wet and would have been hard to sit for an hour to claim prime watching positions.  Really, we were ALL too tired to care about waiting out the last set of fireworks.  We did Spaceship Earth a final time and went back to the hotel to pack.  I do want to say that Florida rain is warm and more like a nice shower.  It was fine to us to get wet and walk between rides and lands all day.  It was never a downpour, although there were a few that happened as we happened to be inside.  Weather here does move rather fast.  Our worst fear was that after every good sprinkle, the sun would shine and steam us back into humidity.

Next:  Things we missed, our favorites, and any bad things.

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Update #2.

Monday brought us to the Magic Kingdom. For the first time in 3 trips in 6 years, Space Mountain was finally open. We booked to this right away. We also got some high scores at Buzz Lightyears Space Spin. Then we doubled back and hit Adventureland. Mason and I explored the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse and then found no line at Pirates of the Caribbean. I texted this news to Reagan, who was on her way over and asked us to wait up for her. The boys did it a 2nd time with mom. We had lunch at Tony’s Town Square Tavern.

We tried to get some Frontierland rides done, but after standing in line for Big Thunder Mountain, it broke down. With the outpouring of the crowd here, and the let go of a parade, the line for the Haunted Mansion was very long. We kinda poked our way through Fantasyland and got some more shopping and a few more attractions done.

On Tuesday morning, Mason and I went to Typhoon Lagoon for some wave pool fun, a few water slides, and a water coaster. Water coasters are fun. You ride a tube down hills and around corners, but huge water jets actually push you back uphill. We also spent some time chasing each other down the lazy river.

After a couple of hours, we met back up with Reagan at the Magic Kingdom. Today it was empty. We walked straight onto most rides. We did Thunder Mountain twice in a row, all the rides in Fantasyland, Pirates again, and another full pass through Tomorrowland. I did score a Space Ace level score on Space Spin this time. We did find the memorial to Mr Toad at the Haunted Mansion, along with the picture of him turning over the deed in the Pooh ride. Space Mountain was awesome this time. I had to gasp for air, because I was laughing so hard at the sound of Reagan sitting in the front seat. Wow, can that girl scream.

Wednesday brought us to Animal Kingdom. We started by high tailing it to Expedition Everest to avoid any long lines. There was a little wait, so we got Fast Passes and went to the Asia to the Jungle Trek. We saw bats and Tigers then returned to a great coaster. We worked over to Africa to explore, took the Train to the conservation station, and ate at the Tusker House. We finished up the day with some privileged seats to Finding Nemo: The Musical. It was the first time we took in a show at Animal Kingdom, and this was a great one. This version was entertaining and featured some great talent.

The day ended early after that. It was just after 5 and we were beat from a week of Disney. Whew. We took a lazy afternoon at the hotel with a little rest, a swim, and dinner. I also did a load of laundry while Mason played with Legos and Reagan pampered herself. 3 days left to go, hopefully this recharge will get us through.

Tomorrow: Hollywood Studios, then Epcot on Friday.

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The Osbornes have not been seen around town lately. Why? Disney World.

Yes we went last year, but everyone was extra sad to go home, and begged to go back again. Reagan was leading the pack too. So, we watched and watched for the free Disney Dining plan, and booked the first day it was available.

We learned one lesson last year, during Dining plan days…reservations are hard to come by. The day after we booked our trip, we started by checking for all the park’s ‘Extra Magic hours’ Each day, one of the parks will be open early, or stay open late. This was the basis for our schedule. From there, we picked a couple of restaurants from those locations and started making reservations. Even back in May, there were a few issues to overcome. One wasn’t available, or we had to try the 2nd choice on the list. Still, we had one dinner at 4:30pm and another scheduled for 8:50pm. All the rest fell right at meal time.
So far we ate at Wolfgang Pucks at Downtown Disney on arriving night again. Mason ate a bunch of sushi, I had the salmon – cooked, but I did eat one piece of sushi. Dinner the next day was at Teppan Edo, The Japanese Steak house at Epcot. This was one of those crazy grills where the chefs cook at your table, juggling everything, making jokes, and have knife skills of a ninja. Mason LOVED this meal.

Hollywood Studios. We got some new things done. Lights Motor Action Extreme Stunt show was amazing. There were cars drifting corners, taking jumps, and chasing each other in tight quarters. It was really cool, except maybe for the smell of burning tires. We also got into the Toy Story Midway Mania ride. The lines were so huge last year, we passed it. Still, the shortest we found it this year was 40min. It was a really awesome ride/game. Between this ride, and the Toy Story meet and greet across the street, this was the most crowded spot we saw. This I don’t get, I’d think you would need to be at least 4 to handle the game and get something out of it, but this was the ride all parents had to take infants and toddlers on.

Today is a trip to Typhoon Lagoon. Mason and Reagan spent 3 turns in a row in the snorkeling the coral reef/shark tank, and Mason has fallen in love with the wave pool and has taken to body surfing the big 5′ waves they let out every once in a while.

So the best part of the trip so far, was that just 7 days ago, I learned of one of my cousins was off to Disney. They were here Sun-Sat, and we got here on Thursday. How we ended up taking the same vacation, in the same week, as someone you hadn’t talked to in nearly 5 years is simply amazing. Luckily we were able to meet up and spend much of the day with my cousin Laura, her husband Mike, and the two most adorable kids in the world who we finally got to meet for the first time. We got to rock out together in the re-release of Michael Jackson’s Captain EO show, then took in a lot of time roaming around. Mike ended up on Test Track with Mason, and you gotta love a guy that will chase Mason down yelling ‘Death by Stroller!’ We split up for dinner, but they joined us again that evening for the fireworks show and more shopping and rides. This time, Mike and I did the Orange team version of Mission: Space, while Mason took the Green team. Finally, we had to say goodbye to Mason’s little cousins….and the big ones too.
We have 2 days at the Magic Kingdom up next. Updates to follow.

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