Well we are back from our 9-day excursion and here is a little TR highlight... I'm sorry for the rambling, but over the 9 days we did a lot and these are just the main highlights!!
Party:
Mark, Me (27)
Molly, DW (29)
Eric, DS (3.8)
Haley, DD (16 months)
Bev, MIL (??)
Jerry, FIL (??)
Resort-OKW
Well I returned to the cut and grind today... Definetely no Disney magic there!!
Just my music, pod casts, and videos to get me from trip to trip... We had a blast though.
We got there on Saturday and checked in, but the room we wanted wasn't available yet so we decided to hold out for the 4 pm check in. So we checked our baggage with bell services and off to the Magic Kingdom we went... We did most of the attractions in tomorrowland, my 3.8 year old son is obsessed with Astro Orbiter... I probably rode those rockets 8-10 times in our 9 day trip... Our room was ready about 3:30 so we headed back to OKW and my wife and the kids took naps because we had 9:30 reservations at the Hoop-dee-doo review at Ft. Wilderness. What a great show! We all had a blast and the actors kept rubbing on my father-in-laws bald head... It was hillarious!! Sunday we hit Epcot and rode all the rides in future world, be sure to hit Soarin' and hit it early so you can get a reasonably timed fast pass... I'm not sure if the crowds will be as bad when you go, but the Soarin' wait times climb fast and this is definitely a must ride attractions. Including our last trip I have probably riden it 5 times this year. It is that good... The best seat in the house is Concourse B, row 1. This puts dead center of the screen and in the highest glider... well worth waiting a ride cycle to get this row if you want to ask for it, but really ever seat is good. In the afternoon we hit the Food & Wine festival and I hit about every other booth to sample... Hey you don't get to go to the Food and Wine festival everyday!!
Monday my wife felt real sick so my in-laws and I took the kids to Magic Kingdom to do the rides in Fantasyland and watch the 3 PM parade. Then we headed back to the hotel to check on Molly, and it was a good thing we did... My brother who came over to visit us from Tampa ended up chauferring us around to the Urgent Care and then onto the ER so my wife could get some bloodwork and a bag of IV before they would let her go... What a day!! Ended up she had a touch of the stomach flu, which my mother inlaw got (and lost her cookies once), and I even felt a little nausious on Wednesday, but we all carried on... Tuesday we hit MGM and we were sure to hit the new killer show there, Lights, Motors, ACTION!. It is a great stunt car show, and another must see. The kids loved the little mermaid and playhouse disney shows, and I made it up to number 3 on the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire list before a wrong question knocked me off... Always fun though.
Wednesday we spent the day at Animal Kingdom because my son Eric, was dying to see the animals. They loved the safari, but weren't too sure about the 3D movie who wants to be a bug. Worked our way over to Dinoland and Eric took a trip on it with us... To sum up his experience... "Eric, did you like Dinosaur?" Eric replies, "Yes". I asked, "Eric wanna do it again?", Eric's super quick, and super clear response, "No!"... It was too cute, he really was a trooperand did everything we put him on at least once, but it all revolved back to Astro Orbiter at MK!! We ended the day with the Lion King show and the 4 PM parade. Then we headed back to OKW for dinner at the restaurant there. Thursday we had a late, 10:50am, breakfast at Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary. Then from there I headed to the MK for the Vitual Magic Kingdom walking tour, and everyone else headed to downtown disney for shopping. Then Thursday night we capped it off with the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. That is a great event and if you ever have the chance to go down during this time it is a great event to see! We all had costumes and dressed up for the event which just adds to the excitement.
Friday, our trip is almost over!! We headed to Magic Kingdom since my wife hadn't been there yet and we headed into Adventure land for the Tiki Birds and the Aladdin Flying Carpets. Then Molly and her parents did the VMK tour and they also enjoyed that. I took the kids to the new Pooh's Playful Spot play area, then to Indy Cars and Buzz... Then we met up with everyone and headed to Pooh. Then it was time for the MK to close, it was a Halloween night and they close at 6. So we jumped on the monorail and headed to the Polynesian for our dinner reservation at O'Hanna's. This is one of my favorite meals, and is always a must hit for me... I love the shrimp!! Saturday was a sleep in, recoup, and pool day. However I not much of a pool guy so I did it for a few hours then headed off to Epcot to hit a few rides. I got to Epcot ~ 1 PM and fast passes for Soarin' were already going for 8:30-9PM so I decided to skip that, and actually rode Test Track 2 times going through the single rider line... And if you don't mind being split up, that is the way to do the ride! I rode Test Track twice, browsed at Mouse Gear, ate a frozen Coke, and played in the Mission Space exit area all in about 2.5 hours... I probably could've rode TT another 1-2 times if I got off and right back on... When I got back from Epcot Molly and her parents headed to Downtown Disney for some more shopping without the kids. And then we met up at the Rainforest Cafe for dinner. After dinner we headed back to MK because we hadn't seen SpectroMagic or the Wishes Fireworks this trip because of the staggered schedule MK had. Man Wishes is MY FAVORITE!!! Then Sunday our vacation came to an end... We packed up and bell services picked up our bags and we checked out. We headed to Epcot to hang out at Innoventions for 3 hours while we waited for our Magical Express Bus to pick us up... This is how we always end our trips because it is air conditioned and never very many lines for the attractions in there...
Well that is the highlights of our 9 day trip... I hope I didn't bore you, but we always have so much fun there. The temperature was up and it was 90-95 all week with humidity, there cold spell is schedule to hit this Friday... Lucky for us!!
And the MK crowds were a bit higher this year, than last, but we were 2 weeks earlier and I overheard someone saying that the 1st 2 weeks coincide with the first break of the year round schools... So mental note for future trips!! Anyway, that is it. I hope you enjoy my little TR, and I'm sorry if it seemed like rambling, I have never been very good at writing these... Only 10.5 months until our cruise!! Man that seems like so far away!!
Thanks again for reading,
Mark
Anyway, we can't wait it will be very exciting and fun-filled. We start the vacation off with dinner at the hoop-dee-doo review. I hope the call my wife out or do something to embarass her... sshhh... Did I say that out loud!! 
It will be me (27), DW(29), DS(3.5), DD(1.5), MiL (??), & FiL(??). My inlaws are very excited this is the first trip they have made to Disney in about 2.5 years! And their first stay outside of CB. We always stayed at CB before becoming DVC members so they are excited to see OKW! Can't wait!! The days can't move fast enough...
