loadofcarp

Home again, yet not so willingly. This past week was incredible - simply amazing. As I’ve told a few of my close friends, family, and co-workers: everything that could have possibly gone wrong didn’t. So let’s get down to business - but beware, this is a LONG read. Best get a snack or something, and use the bathroom beforehand.

Thursday afternoon I got home from work after the Hunley trip in Charleston. I began all-out packing, knowing I only had the evening to get everything done. The plan was to leave around noon Friday, getting plenty of sleep to be prepared for a long Atlanta drive and then to the airport to pick up Tricia. Unfortunately, this meant I had to miss Nancy’s pool party Thursday night. So, I dialed Nancy up and let her know I couldn’t make it.

30 minutes later I was packed and on my way to Nancy’s house. Funny how that works, eh?

I spent the night at her place on a spare bed, and slept waaaay in, knowing there was no long drive ahead of me. I left Snellville around 4PM Friday afternoon to get to the fraternity at Tech. I was recieved with open arms, and I hoisted everything into the spare room at the top of the steps. It was kinda shabby (recently being paint-primed and all, paint cans and plastic still abundant), but it would do for two nights to sleep, and the room wasn’t where we’d be spending any time at all. I left the fraternity, parked the car at the Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center parking garage (I have no parking permit on campus yet, so it was best to pay a parking fee than get a ticket or a tire shoe), and headed to MARTA to pick Tricia up at the S7 stop - the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (for those that don’t know, it’s the busiest airport in the world). Her flight came right on time, thank goodness, and it was so good to see her again. ^_^ I wouldn’t have minded standing there with her for a few more moments just hugging… but I wanted to get back to the fraternity and get settled, as the vacation had only just begun.

After dropping off her belongings and letting her meet some friends around the fraternity (and Patches’ girlfriend’s huskie puppy - sooo cute, I wish I had a picture), we walked to Tech Square and ate at the Tin Drum, then promptly went to bed (both quite exhausted and full - good food :D). The next morning we overslept a bit, which was probably for the better as we were more rested (as well rested as we could’ve been, anyway - that twin mattress is tiiiiny). We ate at J. Christophers for a brunch-sort’ve meal, and headed to The High Museum of Art for the Louvre exhibits on Ancient Mesopotamian and Egyptian Art. Fascinating stuff - I’d have taken pictures but they don’t allow it. What’s a camera flash going to do to STONE - hurt it? *grumbles* Oh well.

From there we wandered until I hurt my foot and we found the Center of Puppetry Arts. I reckon the only way we could’ve found it was if I hurt my foot too, stopping us long enough to look around and see the sign at the awkward angle it was. Admission was only $7 per person, and we saw three exhibits. The first was flat out creepy. The first room looked like a storage warehouse for old puppets… but on occasion the total silence was broken because one would move, laugh, and giggle… Reminded me of Goosebumps or Are You Afraid Of The Dark?. Moving on in there it got a bit better, telling about the different styles, arts, and history of puppetry, ending on a lighter note with Pigs In Space (a “The Muppets Show” recurring skit) and Skeksis from Dark Crystal.

Along the way there was a fantastic puppet:

The next exhibit was of Sabrina the Teenage Witch, specifically for Salem, the cat, and the puppetry involved there, but my favorite was a small exhibit previewing a future wing to be added to the center: The Jim Henson Wing. This was Muppet heaven - they had Kermit, Rowlf, Ernie, Mr. Teeth, The Swedish Chef, Jim’s Country Trio lookalike, and more. :D Complete with information about the show(s) and trivia and video clips, I was certainly enjoying the exhibit, and I’ll definitely be going back when the entire wing is finished. :)

We then headed back to my car to retrieve it and drove to Atlantic Station to go see The Incredible Hulk together. I hope she enjoyed it as much as I did, but I know I was bothering her by whispering trivia to her. >.> Oops. Hulk is cool, though! I just want everyone to experience it as awesomely as I did. XD Publix was next as we broswed for items that would be handy (or tasty) to have while staying in hotels and resorts across the next week. I felt rather guilty asking Trish to pick up the tab for the food, so I paid her back in full once I got to an ATM, and then we ran off to Papa John’s Pizza for dinner and ordered waaay too much, so I shared it with some others around the fraternity. Again, to bed early, full of food and exhausted.

The alarm woke us abruptly at 6:30 AM. We had to be up - we had to get on the road and get on our way to Macon to meet up at Waffle House with Maria and Stambo. Drudging along, bags were packed and carted to the car (I moved it closer from the Hotel and Conference Center), and I left a note thanking Tony for helping us out and loaning us a comforter and a mattress for two nights. And off we were! Playlists a-playin’, and maps… a-mappin’? Something like that. We found our way to Macon quite simply, and after a short wait Maria and Stambo arrived, and we ate to our heart’s content. It was fun, seeing them again and sharing friendly conversation - and Stambo is a bad Jew, picking up the check from us. >.> I owe him, now. *grumble* :P

Hours later we were just plain tired of driving, and here I was… still driving. x_x We hit the hotel at about, oh, 3:30 - BOY has that place really been improved fancy-like. I mean, nice new spiffy restaurant, all the rooms are gorgeous with flat screen HDTVs… and nice big SOFT beds (no more twin mattresses on the floor!).

We checked in no problem, got our warm chocolate chip cookies (a Doubletree Hotel thing), parked the car and unloaded only what we needed for the night. It’s funny - it was from this hotel that I first worked up the nerve in 2005 to call Tricia and we spoke every night. I never would have guessed the next time I would be staying here it would be with her in a committed relationship. <3 We relaxed only for maybe about 20 minutes before changing into bathing suits and taking off for Cocoa Beach!

But, I grabbed the wrong suit and packed it. So... off to the original Ron Jon's Surf Shop in Cocoa Beach first!

Shortly later, we parked the car at the beach, paid a $1.00 in parking for an hour, and enjoyed the ocean. Tricia's ridiculous - she freaked out when I said animals like fish, crabs, sandollars, etc actually LIVE in the Atlantic - apparently it's too cold/violent/undertow-y/whatever for them to thrive in the Pacific right on the beach like they do in the Atlantic. I thought the water was cold, she thought it was warm - we both agreed there was a weak if any at all undertow... it was nice. We returned to Orlando (after allll the crazy tollbooths between Cocoa and Orlando x_x) with a new plan: Downtown Disney. We wandered around the World of Disney Store among others, looked at Pleasure Island (everything's 21+. Booo.) and spent some time in the Virgin Megastore and other small shops. But we had to get back to the hotel soon, as we had to wake up early and check out, then head to Disney for the REAL fun.

8:00AM we found ourselves packed and leaving for Disney’s Saratoga Springs and Spa Resort. Even as we stepped out of the car we heard regal, classical music and a scent of fresh peppermint permeated the air - Disney knows how to do it right. XD We meandered to the front desk at The Carriage House and checked in - we were assigned to The Springs section of the resort, which was nearby and the one I wanted, but I’ll get into the details on why later. The room wasn’t quite ready yet, so the helpful cast member gave us everything - even the room key, but not the room number. We got a biiig Disney Vacation Club packet (complete with coupons for DVC membership), and parked the car with the parking permit slip in The Springs parking lot, and brought a small bag with amenities and sunscreen lotion to the bus stop. The view from there was spectacular:

Next stop: Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

A short bus-ride later we were outside Animal Kingdom. We did everything we could think of doing: the walking tours, the Kilimajaro Safari, Expedition: Everest…

and FastPass sure helped for those last two. FastPass is a system where you go to the ride you want to ride and if the wait is long you can insert your park card into the kiosk, and it will return it with a ticket for when to return for the FastPass line (essentially it holds your place in line for later). When your time comes, say the Fastpass is from 3:15 to 4:15, you can return anytime within that hour and pretty much jump to the front of the line. LOVE. IT. We went and had our meal at the Rainforest Cafe during one FastPass wait, and by the time we were done - zoom, front of the line. :) BUT. FastPass distribution is limited, and sometimes can run out for the entire day by 2 or 3PM if it’s a popular ride (like Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, Test Track, or Soarin’). Around 3:30 or 4PM we returned back to Saratoga Springs to see if the room was ready and relax for a bit. Thankfully, it was - room #3223. Beautiful, fantastic room, and the location was superb. Next to the staircase, close as it can be to the parking lot, yet a gorgeous view of a garden out the back balcony. A short walk from there was the guest laundry room, the bus stop for park transportation, the pool, The Carriage House, The Artist’s Palette (gift shop and restaurant), the Arcade… everything within a short walk. Time for a few photos:

A view from the balcony:

And us on said balcony:

After lounging in the room for a short bit and unpacking/getting settled, we returned to the bus stop for a bit of quick fun at Epcot.

Man, did we do this one right - it was empty. o.o NO wait at Spaceship Earth (the giant Epcot golf ball, for those unfamiliar with Disneyworld), which is typically an hour wait at best. It’s a history of communication of mankind, with a questionairre at the end and a short film based on what you answered - very interactive. At the base of the ride is a small exhibit of interactivity with games and the like. I did a racing one before we headed to Mission: SPACE.

Another “we should’ve had to wait hours but we walked right in” ride. This ride is intense on the body - spinning the chamber to simulate G-forces as you leave Earth’s atmosphere for Mars. Fun trip. Speaking of trips, we headed to the Mexico Pavilion of Epcot’s World Showcase Lagoon after that. This ride has changed since I’ve last seen it - it used to be a rather boring boat ride with history intermitten with a random animatronic acid trip of little hispanics singing, then more history. Now all the history was replaced with flat screen LCDs with The Three Caballeros as they chased Donald Duck around while he chased Mexican women, intermitten with an animatronic acid trip of little hispanics singing. What the fuck man. XD

Then off to Norway for the Maelstrom ride! Shorter than I remember it, but enjoyable nonetheless. I think we went back and ate at the Artist’s Palette that night before finally retiring to bed.

Epcot at night is gorgeous:

Tuesday morning: The Magic Kingdom.

As Disney as you can possibly get. The bus here was right away, and I took no bag with me to the parks - a camera was enough we found. We got inside the park and immediately headed for a Fastpass at Space Mountain inside of Tomorrowland… but again, no wait! What luck! Space Mountain is an indoor, dark roller coaster with three to a shuttle. In the dark there’s no way to really see the track so every turn is a surprise. Much needed thrills. :D Outside of Space Mountain, Tricia found Stitch and got his autograph, then we headed into a classic Disney attraction: The Carosel of Progress. Designed by Walt himself for the 1964 World’s Fair in New York, this attraction showcases the technical innovations of the 1900’s, 1920’s, 1940’s and speculates the beyond, narrated by an animatronic family as if they were living through each era together without aging. Funny how the future they speculated was very ’80s. But the song, “There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow!” was very catchy; Tricia and I sung it many times throughout the trip. XD

Moving along we hit Fantasyland and with it, Mickey’s Philharmagic. Another ride we planned to hit with a FastPass that had virtually no wait. This is a 3D show featuring a medley of classic Disney tunes as Donald trapezes through them in search of the Sorceror’s hat Mickey told him not to touch… and yet he did. Ah, mistakes. Donald is full of them. An altogether entertaining show. :) Then we were off to “it’s a small world”. Oh boy. The ride got STUCK right next to the very LAST room! I could go without hearing that song ever again. Ever. XD We laughed, though - very silly. Then the Mad Tea Party. I think the picture says it all:

Next up was Liberty Square - we passed through this for the time being to get an important FastPass: Splash Mountain. Good thing, too - it was about noon and our FastPass was already as late as 4:20 to 5:20PM. Moving along we hit up the Pirates of the Caribbean ride - our first long wait yet at about 40 minutes, I think. This one’s also been updated with some details from the Pirates movies - complete with music in line from the films and added animatronics of Barbosa and several of Jack Sparrow. A nifty addition was the head of Davy Jones projected on a stream of smoke which the boat passes through! We toured the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse and then headed off to The Hall of Presidents to cool off and I think we both dozed off at one point. XD We were caught by the parade, trapped from the area with Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad… but becuase of the parade occupying the park, we were lucky enough to zoom through the line for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and get on in a few short minutes! After that, we waited for a short while before our FastPasses became valid for Splash Mountain, and we bested the Three Mountains of the Magic Kingdom. :D

Then it poured rain. XD So, yet from the ride and the rain, we returned to the room to dry off a bit and have dinner at the House of Blues in Downtown Disney and to do some shopping. :D I picked up the new Sigur Ros album and a discounted The Muppets Show Season One. Yay for DVC discounts! XD

And back to bed. Wednesday? Disney’s Hollywood Studios beckoned us forth.

This bus took forever to get here - I think I overheard a transportation cast member say that we were accidently skipped. No matter, we eventually got there by about 11AM and made a beeline for The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, grabbed Fastpasses (a lucky hour wait) and spent that time in line for The Rock N Roller Coaster featuring Aerosmith.

What. A. Ride. 0 to 60mph in 2.8 seconds, straight into a loop-de-loop. All indoors, too. The premise was that we, the audience, got backstage passes to a show from Steven Tyler, but we had to make the show that was starting momentarily and the highway was crowded… so time for a detour. :P The roller coaster pulls up, designed to look like a stretch classic topless limo, in the backalley behind the recording studio. It was a fast-paced thrill ride, very awesome. As was The Tower of Terror, directly following.

Complete with a Rod Serling classic intro, we were dropped and raised repeatedly. On a side note, I feel some kind of sick satisfation when cocky loud children get on rides like that, annoying everyone, and then they disembark the ride crying and shaking. XD

Finished with that side of the park, we ran to the other side, where virtually everything else was. First up we picked The Great Movie Ride, which was slow-moving but nevertheless entertaining, as our tour guide went up in flames as part of the act, and our vehicle was hijacked by a cowboy who drove us into the set from Alien. Yes, it was that random. XD From here we found ourselves at perfect timing for the Jim Henson’s Muppet Vision 3D show, one of my favorite attractions at Disneyworld. :)

All the classic Muppet fun, and even Statler and Waldorf sit up in the balcony and heckle the show! I left satisfied. Next up was Star Tours - a Star Wars based ride, whereupon we are treated as if in an intergalactic airport taking a trip to Endor. It’s a motion chamber ride with a screen, and very fun - it caters to the Star Wars fan.

As we exited the ride, it again was pouring down rain. We waited to see if it would let up, but no luck - it only rained harder. So we ran to find refuge in Sounds Dangerous! starring Drew Carey. What a mistake - the worst ride at Disney I’m sure. Why this is still here is beyond me. XD We laughed at how… crappy it was - most of the ride is headphone-based and in the complete darkness. What a joke! XD

We decided to invest in ponchos after this and brave the weather. After trying for FastPasses again for The Rock N Roller Coaster but ultimately deciding against them, we found ourselves at the perfect timing for our 4PM dinner reservations at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater restaurant. This is a unique dining experience - the inside is modeled after a 1950’s drive-in, where the tables are topless cars and they all are oriented to a giant projection screen which features trailers for hilariously bad B-movies of the past (”Plan 9 From Outer Space”, “Cat Women from Mars”, etc). We got appetizers and shared a steak, but we each got an Oreo Cookie Milkshake ….mmmmm. Delicious.

After this tastyness, POWER RANGERS appeared out of nowhere!

Then we did the Studio Backlot Tour. This attraction showcases the work Disney Studios has worked on in the past, and hosts some props from famous films of the past. It was getting to about 7 or 8 by now, so we decided to head back (considering the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular had already done all its showings for the day… oh well) and take care of a small issue: laundry. Best of all: the Laundromat was FREE. We met some nice people whilst doing laundry and spent some time meandering around in The Artist’s Palette’s gift shop. Also, we made a short pit-stop in The Carriage House and picked up a “1st Timer” pin for Tricia. :P It was a nice relaxing evening after a long day.

Thursday was Epcot day. We woke up and caught the first bus we saw to Epcot. The very first thing we did was grab a FastPass for Soarin’, and good thing - that ride started rather late and the standby line was astronomically long. We ran over to the Imagination Pavilion and waited for the “Honey, I Shrunk The Audience” 3D show to start after watching the longest infomercial for Kodak in history ever. XD the show itself was fun, complete with little touches like moving seats for when we were picked up as a whole audience and air blowing around our ankles as rats were scurrying. Directly afterwards we headed towards the Epcot Character Spot. This NEEDS a FastPass. But, alas, we waited in line for about a little over an hour so Tricia could get character photos and signatures with Mickey, Pluto, Minnie, Chip and Dale, and Goofy. On the way out, I noticed the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland lurking in the corner, and he bounced over to us and signed her book as well! What a surprise. :) We wandered over to the Mexico Pavilion again and caught Donald Duck to sign her book as well - so many characters today! We got some tacos for a small lunch, and ran back to Soarin’ to turn in our FastPasses.

This was a fun ride, though I was nervous at first. I don’t cope well with heights. Luckily, I felt very safe as the ride lifted us into the dome of aN IMAX screen and moved the seats in accordance with the motion of the camera, blowing wind and scents into our faces of the scenery. One of the better preshows, this ride was hosted by our “Chief Flight Attendant” named “Patrick” (played by none other than Patrick Warbuton, voice of Kronk from The Emperor’s New Groove, Joe from Family Guy, and Brock Samson from The Venture Brothers). Beautiful. XD

And it, again, was pouring when we exited. AND WE FORGOT THE PONCHOS. Damn. Well, screw it, we said. And we continued to the Canada Pavilion in the World Showcase Lagoon. The weather was fitting for this and for the next pavilion, the United Kingdom Pavilion, where we accidently ran into Tigger, Pooh, and Eeyore. Lucky us! Unfortunately, no Manchester United jerseys - all of Disney merchandised sportswear is Adidas, not Nike. Shucks. XD

The Morroco Pavilion was short-lived, but interesting. Majority of our time was spent inside the Japan Pavilion though. The Mitsukoshi store was vast and interesting - anything from Pokemon and Hello Kitty to Kimonos to wooden sandals to sake sets (of which I purchased) to bonsai to gummies and Ramune and Pocky. Tricia picked up some gifts for friends, and then we headed to our only other dinner reservation at Disney: Teppan Edo. This fancy restaurant is hibachi-styled, where we shared the table with two other groups and a chef cooked our meals on a hot plate before us. I ordered the Filet Mignon (which came with sticky rice, Odon noodles and veggies), and California rolls with Coke. Tricia got the Chicken (comes with the same sides as mine), with Miso soup and Green Tea. An expensive check but well worth it (about $75 with tip).

And as we exited, we got fantastic seats to Epcot’s fireworks and laser spectacular: “Illuminations: Reflections of Earth”. Occurring every night over the World Showcase Lagoon, this show costs something like $17,500 a night to pull off. It shows. :D From Wikipedia:

“The lights dim, and torches are lit around the lagoon. The beginning of the show is narrated by Jim Cummings, who says: “Good evening. On behalf of Walt Disney World, the place where dreams come true, we welcome all of you to Epcot and World Showcase. We’ve gathered here tonight, around the fire, as people of all lands have gathered for thousands and thousands of years before us; to share the light and to share a story. An amazing story, as old as time itself but still being written. And though each of us has our own individual stories to tell, a true adventure emerges when we bring them all together as one. We hope you enjoy our story tonight; Reflections of Earth.” IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth is split into three acts:

Act I: Chaos. Chaos represents the creation of the planet Earth from a cosmic event. (This part uses the Inferno Barge.)
Act II: Order. The Earth Globe appears. As the Earth cools, it changes from hot white to red to blue. Images appear on the Globe of countries, famous places, objects, and people. Chaos turns to Order.
Act III: Celebration. The Earth Globe opens revealing a torch and 1,000 white fireworks are ignited. The final loud fireworks explode with a white flash and end with a loud crackle.
The post-show announcement is, “All of us at Epcot have enjoyed hosting you at World Showcase Lagoon, and we hope you have enjoyed Reflections of Earth, presented by Sylvania, a Siemens Company. Thank you and may all your dreams come true.”"

The Inferno Barge is a platform in the center of the Lagoon that explodes HUGE explosions of fire and gas, and the Earth Globe is a one-of-a-kind spherical video display system hosted by some 15,600 pixels, each consisting of 12 LEDs. Magnificent. If you’ve never seen it before, PLEASE watch the embedded video. It’s unlike any show you’ve ever seen before:

Breathtaking. Since Epcot this evening had Extra Magic Hours for guests staying in resort hotels, we got our wristbands that permitted us to stay until midnight as opposed to 9PM like everyone else, and we finished the rest of the countries in the World Showcase, including a taste of Lefse at the Norway Pavilion. Mmm. :D

We went to bed that night after packing up some belongings, as we had to check out early in the morning. =/ Our vacation was coming to a close, it felt like. We awoke and got off to a slow start, fearing we’d miss one of the things we’d been looking forward to the most: the Star Wars Weekend Parade in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. We checked out just in time at 11AM, and the parade was scheduled for 11:15AM. 11:35 we were entering the park, knowing we missed it. :( But wait - there’s still a crowd…? I walked to the road and asked a man standing nearby, who said the parade was just about to start! 11:45, not 11:15! Lucky us, and front row seats! I went photo-happy:

Now, as we were at the gate where the parade started, when it ended the rest of the park was still watching. So we ran to the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular and voila! Center row seats for the 12:30PM showing! This show has three acts to it: the giant rolling rock bit, the marketplace fight, and the German mechanic fistfight, all from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Intermitten in between are some presentations and funny skits from volunteers and the director. Altogether a fun, exciting show. We then walked around to see celebrity character signings, and managed to (after a lengthy wait) get Darth Vader’s!

Then, off to The Magic Kingdom, which involved a monorail ride - something we hadn’t gotten to do yet. :D Tricia got the full Disney Experience, I’d say. We only went back for The Haunted Mansion ride, altogether a good pick. Entertaining and cooling, even more so since the ride halted for a moment because someone invariably did something stupid. XD We checked back into the Doubletree Hotel and were rewarded with warm cookies yet again, and soon found ourselves in Downtown Disney. This time parking took forever, like everyone in the world wanted to be a part of Pleasure Island. People were following each other mindlessly looking to snipe a parking spot, but I was lucky enough to snag one after we drove around for a bit. We then began gathering souvenirs and gifts for our friends and family after a quick bite to eat at Downtown Disney’s McDonald’s (most expensive ever - $6.50+ for a Big Mac Meal, and no Dollar Menu). For dessert we headed to the Ghiradelli soda fountain for their World Famous Hot Fudge Sundae. Mmmmmmm. :D

Saturday morning we checked out and began the long drive back to Atlanta. Sad, I know. The weather got nasty, demonstrated by a branch with Spanish moss flying off a tree and next to the car… and on the road, the wind and rain was so severe we were slowed to about 40mph in a 70mph zone, complete with hazard lights we didn’t know how to turn off once they were on. XD We passed through Macon again and ran into Maria and Stambo at their home this time, and met Jack, their Jack Russell Terrier. I was covered in hair (the car still is!) XD. From there we drove to a little local pizza shop and had a great time talking, laughing, and eating. I hope we can spend more time together soon.

We hit Atlanta around 9PM, and made our way back to the fraternity. I left my car in the alley next to the house, and I was luckily not ticketed. XD Eowyn put us up for the night in her room, considering she was going to be out and her roommate was out of town. Tricia and I slept pretty soundlessly until the wee hours of the morning, when we had to get up and double check all of her belongings before I dropped her off at the airport via MARTA. :( Sad times, man.

Afterwards I went back to the fraternity and slept some more before picking Eowyn up from work, sharing a lunch with her, and them coming home, tired and not really looking foward to work the next day. Such is life, eh?

Well, that’s my (incredibly long) Disney Vacation report for you! Hope you enjoyed it, and leave me a comment!