Life is a Highway

Favorite Moments in the Land of the Mouse

Marie and I have been reflecting on our Disney World vacation with the grandkids (and trying to catch up on our sleep!). We both agree that this was one of our best vacations ever. And not because of Disney World, though that certainly contributed. No, it was the kids. The joy of being with them day and night for a week, seeing things through their eyes, watching them react to each new experience, reveling in their joy, awe, curiosity and energy. And loving some of the things that came out of their minds and mouths.

- Early in the trip, Marie took Meghan to the ladies room. When she came out, Meghan excitedly told me they had snacks in there. Marie pulled me aside and told me that Meghan was referring to the tampon machine.

- Connor exited the men's room at Hollywood Studios and said that he'd gotten the "luxury" stall. Said it had a sink and everything (he was very proud). We're assuming he got the handicapped stall.

- As we were waiting in line at Epcot to catch the boat back to our hotel, Meghan looked up at me and said, "Hey, this is just like carpool at school." She was referring to the way the kids line up for their parents to pick them up after school.

- When Connor came out of the restroom at our hotel, he told me I had to come inside to see the neat urinals. (Is there a theme to these anecdotes?) Sure enough, they were unusual - very modern and sleek. Then he asked if I had my camera. So he could take a picture. Which he did.

As an old time television host (I won't show my age by naming him) used to say, "Kids say the darndest things."  Yep.

Home again, Home again!

Well, we got up this morning (or more accurately, yesterday morning), ate breakfast and threw the last few things into suitcases and backpacks in preparation for our flight home. Connor and Meghan were up and running pretty quickly - I think they're ready to get home.

After checking out of the hotel, we waited for the return limo to the airport. Right on time, a black Town Car pulled up to whisk us away.

Once we arrived at the airport, everyone pitched in (after all, we had 4 backpacks and 3 suitcases).

Just to keep the spirit of our vacation going for as long as possible, Meghan found another photo op with a princess

and Connor directed us to the front car for the monorail ride to our gate. Nice view!

Soon we were in the air, and these kids, who had never been on an airplane until a week ago, once again handled the flight with absolute nonchalance. Erin, our daughter and their Mom, surprised the kids by meeting us at BWI. What a nice touch.

So, end of trip but not of memories. Marie and I are still taking it all in and marveling at how well we all did for the first big trip with the grandkids. I'll be following up with some thoughts and suggestions for anyone contemplating a trip to Disney World in the near future.

Zippity Doo Dah!

Finally, a lazy day!

Given the popularity of Disney World - recession? What recession? - you pretty much have to get to the parks when they open at 9:00 in order to get on the most popular rides. As a result, the four of us have been burning the candle at both ends so far on the trip. Of course, we're not alone - it's not unusual to see a family walking through the lobby at 11:00 pm carrying dinner to their room.

So, it was with great joy and fanfare that we slept in yesterday (drum roll, please). We moseyed over to our sister hotel, the Dolphin, for a buffet breakfast, which featured a grill to order section. Connor and Meghan were happy campers, getting to order whatever they wanted for breakfast. After downing scrambled eggs, french toast and fruit, Meghan excitedly returned to the table to inform me that they had a handle that you pulled and Fruit Loops came out. What would they think of next? Connor, on the other hand, started off the day a bit slowly.

On the way back Connor woke up enough to lovingly pose with his sister on the bank of the lake between the Swan and Dolphin

and he really woke up when we said we'd spend the day at the pool. (Of course, since the temperature was rocketing toward 100 degrees, we spent the next hour sheep dipping the kids in suntan lotion.) The pool at the Dolphin (shared by the Swan) is beautiful, featuring a grotto and a waterfall.

The pool also features poolside food and drinks. Now this was something that Connor could sink his teeth into - barbecued ribs at poolside.

In the meantime, Meghan was off making new friends, something she's very good at. Pretty soon, she'd been invited to eat pizza with another family - at least we're pretty sure they did the inviting.

Despite plenty of fun and refreshment,

the heat eventually wore us down and we went back to the room to shower and rest for our final foray to the Magic Kingdom. Marie and I wanted the kids to see the SpectroMagic Parade, which features floats with thousands of lights depicting Disney characters and stories. We remembered the Electric Light Parade from the 80's, and hoped this would measure up.

We arrived at the park around 8:00 pm, and dropped into the Main Street Bakery for cookies and cinnamon buns (for the next day's breakfast) as big as economy cars. We arrived at our viewing point on Main Street around 8:30, thirty minutes before the parade began. One highlight of the buildup to the parade is the changing color of Cinderella's Castle. Meghan really enjoyed this touch.

And then the parade began, and it didn't disappoint! Our kids - and every other child and adult in the park - were mesmerized by the flow of amazing floats and characters.

Disney doesn't do anything halfway, so we shouldn't be surprised by anything they do. And yet we constantly are, not to mention the fact that they do this 365 days a year. After the parade was over, we grabbed a bus back to the Swan, grabbed a few late-night snacks from the 24/7 buffeteria, and headed back to the hotel to pack up for our flight home the next day.

Did I mention it's hot down here?

Yesterday our port of call was Epcot, my least favorite Disney theme park. Our daughter put it best over 20 years ago when she turned to us a couple of hours into our visit and said, "I didn't come on vacation to be educated!" While I enjoy certain rides in the Future World portion of Epcot, the World Showcase always struck me as a distinctly American conceit. "Hey, I can tour the world without ever leaving home!" It's very disorienting to be in Mexico and hear someone say, "Let's go next door to Norway and get some smoked fish." Or if you're in Japan, it's just a quick hop to Morocco. Very strange.

Anyway, we took the launch (I love the sound of that) from our hotel to the back door of Epcot, smack dab in the middle of France. We scurried through the UK into Canada, then popped out the other side into Future World. Sweating profusely, we were told it was going to be the hottest day of our stay, going up to 96 degrees with a heat index of 105. (Of course, as I write this, that seems like a cool breeze - today it's 100 degrees with a predicted heat index of 110-115 degrees. When folks in Florida say it's the hottest it's been in two years, you know you're in trouble.) I ran ahead of Marie and the kids to get Fast Passes (good trip decision #4) for Soarin', THE ride in WDW this year. I had no trouble finding it, just followed the herd streaming toward the building. I honestly don't think anyone in the park was heading anywhere else.

When Marie and the kids caught up to me, Connor wasn't feeling well so we decided to lay low for awhile, grabbing something to drink and enjoying the air conditioning. Next we headed off to The Seas with Nemo & Friends where we boarded clamobiles two by two on a quest to find Nemo. Connor found it lame, Meghan gave it rave reviews and she and I immediately rode it again. We hung around the Seas Pavilion as the kids enjoyed the rays, sharks, manatees, dolphins, mackerel, sea horses, clownfish (Nemo), sea turtles, eels and other inhabitants of this huge aquarium.

Just before lunch we went to Turtle Talk with Crush, a hilarious interactive show between a talking sea turtle and the kids in the audience. Although Crush is animated, he speaks directly to specific kids and answers their questions. Adults and kids alike were in stitches throughout the performance.

Next it was time for lunch at the Coral Reef restaurant, where you dine facing the glass walls of the aquarium. The kids had a great time, and the food was wonderful. The highlight of the meal was, of course, dessert, where the kids got do-it-yourself sundae kits and Marie and I split one of the best desserts we've ever had.

 

Since Connor was feeling better, we decided to give Soarin' a try. This ride takes you on a simulation of hang gliding over parts of California. It's an amazing visual and physical experience, and you go from feeling like you're dangling high in the air to pulling your feet up so they don't get wet as you skim over the ocean. Looking left and right, the smiles on Connor and Meghan's faces told me all I needed to know. By now the park was just baking, so we decided to go back to the hotel for a break. On our way out, we snuck up on one of many large stroller herds, a common sight throughout WDW. Truly awe-inspiring to see them all at rest like this.

After a brief rest at the hotel, with Meghan chatting on her (toy) cellphone

and Connor reading one of his "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" books

we hit the pool with a vengeance. Connor showed his best moves

while Marie ganged up on the grandkids (or was it the other way around?).

Later we headed back to Epcot for one more ride on Soarin', came back to the hotel for a late ice cream sundae dinner (Hey, it's hot!), then bedded down after a long day.

Typhoon Lagoon

Yesterday we had our first non-theme park day. Instead, we went to Typhoon Lagoon, one of two WDW water parks. This one is premised upon a fishing village ravaged by a typhoon, complete with a huge wave pool with tsunamis (well, the waves are big) every 90 seconds. In addition, there are numerous individual and family water slides and a great area for little kids called Ketchikiddee Creek. Oh yeah, and you can swim with sharks.

Again, we arrived at the park before the 9:00 opening so I could join the half-marathon sprint to secure a covered area for our chairs. (Did I mention it was hot down here?) After we arranged our prized turf, Meghan jumped right into the slides and flumes in Ketchikiddee.

While I thoroughly enjoyed playing with Meghan, Connor was insistently dragging me toward the wave pool. Upon arrival in the pool, his plan became clear - I was to stand in the 6 foot section of the pool (did I mention I'm 6 ft. tall?) and support him (did I mention that he's NOT 6 ft. tall?) until the wave came. This entailed me bobbing up and down and balancing on one toe while attempting to take the occasional breath. When we had mastered this, Connor decided we needed to go out to the 6 ft. 4 in. section of the pool (did I ...?). Anyway, we had a great time though I could only stay in the pool for around 30 minutes at a time with him.

After bouncing back and forth between the wave pool and Ketchikiddee, we all hopped into a family-sized innertube for a flume ride. Then Connor announced that he'd wanted to swim with sharks "all his life". So, off we traipsed, rinsed off our suntan lotion (bad trip decision #2) and donned snorkels for the swim across Shark Reef. We saw brightly colored fish, leopard sharks and manta rays. Afterward Connor confided that he'd been a little scared but was glad he'd done it. (If you look closely in the picture below, you can see a ray and my blooming sunburn.)

For the rest of the afternoon, we wandered the park, going on the Crushin' Gusher slide (that propels you up, not just down) and playing in various pools. Connor even enticed Marie into joining him on Crushin' Gusher after he and I tried it first. Finally, we made one last visit to the wave pool. One thing we didn't do was reapply sunscreen (bad trip decision #3). More about that later.

On our way out of the park,we changed into shorts and tees for a visit to Downtown Disney, a central shopping, entertainment and dining area. We decided to eat at the Rainforest Cafe, which features animatronic jungle animals, aquariums throughout and a thunderstorm (minus the rain) every 30 minutes. The kids had a great time and we all enjoyed the meal.

Finally, as if the day hadn't been long enough, we decided to go to Epcot for the Illuminations fireworks and laser show. Even though the kids enjoyed the fireworks and the multimedia presentation projected upon a globe in the middle of the lake, Marie and I fondly remembered the show in the 80's that predominately featured lasers. now that was amazing!

Tomorrow, Epcot!