Inspired by Actual Events (and TV, Music, and Movies) - 12/29/18 to 1/4/19

[3dadknight]

(The producers wish to apologize for the unscheduled hiatus. The chief writer was called away for a more pressing project that actually paid money, then fell into a deep depression that turned to anger and is now just simmering bitterness following the royal hosing his team experienced in the NFC Championship Game. We now return you to our regularly scheduled programming.)


I grew up in the ‘70’s and ‘80’s, the golden age of TV Sit-Coms when every problem (even on the “very special episodes”) could be fixed in 30 minutes. And so it was this day. A half hour after leaving the airport, we were pulling in to Old Key West. The four older kids had already arrived and had called and received our owners locker. They had also gone to the store in the main building to get a few items to stock the fridge. It was 7:30 pm, and our first FastPass window had just opened. Our timing for the bus to Magic Kingdom was perfect with the assistance of the app. The bus was surprisingly not crowded. Except for a minor issue with daughter’s friend at the tapstyle, everything went smoothly. We were on Main Street at 8:30 and made our way through the crowds to Mine Train. We got to the entrance with 5 minutes to spare in the grace period.


After the ride, we were all hungry. It had been a very long day by this point. It seems that we have established an unplanned tradition of eating a late dinner at Columbia Harbor House on arrival day every trip. This trip would be no exception. A few went upstairs to secure a table while three of us waited for our food. Mobile ordering for 8 people seemed too confusing after such a long day and the lines to order were very short. Within 5 minutes, My wife and son were carrying trays of food up the stairs followed by me with the tray of drinks ... without lids. I was thinking of the poor parents with young children who inevitably wind up with a lap full of Sprite, and the CM’s who are constantly sopping up soda after spills. I was thankful that I had an older group and we wouldn’t have to worry about that. We distributed the food and drinks among the two tables in close proximity. I sat down to my comforting familiar plate of fried shrimp and fries, pulling the tray with my dinner closer to my position at the table. SPLASH! My Diet Coke toppled over and spilled across the table. No one who knows me would call me an environmentalist, but they wouldn’t call me whatever the opposite of an environmentalist is either. For a brief moment, however, I became an advocate for every river-polluting, landfill-filling, whale-killing, global-warming, plastic-producing, rain forest-clearing industrialist that ever lived. Why couldn’t I have a lid on my drink?!? Two deep breaths (and two trees’ worth of napkins) later I acknowledged that I could have been more careful, and silently apologized for wanting to take up landfill space.


By 10:00 pm, we had made our way to Frontierland and redeemed our 2 other FastPasses that I had scrambled for earlier in the day- Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain. Splash ended up being our go-to additional FP on later days on the trip. It was always easy to secure. Thunder was the group favorite, and much tougher to get as an additional FastPass.


As we walked through Magic Kingdom throughout the evening, I kept commenting how light the crowds seemed. My wife and sons agreed. I don’t mean to say that it was like a day in September, but is certainly wasn’t a “ Oh-Hell-No!” day that some crowd calendar might predict for the Saturday night at Magic Kingdom between Christmas and New Year’s. I didn’t dwell on it, but just enjoyed it. The night was a very pleasant one, just warm enough to make the jeans I was wearing feel like a bad choice. Otherwise, we had space to move freely and never had to worry about getting separated (The incident with the fake monorail at MCO was still very fresh in our minds.)


Everyone was getting tired, but we decided to ride Pirates then Jingle Cruise with a 4th FastPass before heading out. I’m not a fan of the holiday overlay, but all were amused by our Skipper. It was almost 11:00 pm when we disembarked. It was time to go. We had an early morning rope-drop to make at Hollywood Studios. We waited a very short time for our OKW bus and were back at our room by midnight. Our luggage was waiting just inside the door. I quickly changed from jeans to shorts and didn’t see my jeans again until the night before we went home when I packed them back in the suitcase.


As everyone settled in, I informed them of the ungodly hour they would have to wake. I assured them they would all have time to rest, nap or relax later, but we had to get up early for the plan to work. Though I never heard it, I’m pretty certain there were whisperings of “Your Dad is crazy.” I did not give it a second thought. I knew they’d be convinced by the end of the next day

[deedee73]

So glad your hiatus is over and you are back to amusing all of us with your trip memories.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[Mrs Darling]

I'm now planning to pack extra clothes after that preview into the lid-less drink situation. I'm what my kids call "spilly" and Are there no lids now at any of the QS locations at WDW?
I may be sticking to my water bottle for the duration. Not sure what I'll do with my little mini-me who is just as bad.

Love how the timing worked out for you that evening!

[nolarookie]

Glad you’re continuing! I feel your pain on the royal hosing. Getting a black and gold king cake to drown my sorrows today.

[Anne]

I'm now planning to pack extra clothes after that preview into the lid-less drink situation. I'm what my kids call "spilly" and Are there no lids now at any of the QS locations at WDW?
I may be sticking to my water bottle for the duration. Not sure what I'll do with my little mini-me who is just as bad.

Love how the timing worked out for you that evening!

I have read online (so it must be true) that they have lids if you ask but do not offer them routinely. But I have no personal experience.

[Mrs Darling]

I have read online (so it must be true) that they have lids if you ask but do not offer them routinely. But I have no personal experience.

Thanks! We'll test that out in March
We've been significantly reducing our footprint at home, so I'm not going to feel guilty about a few lids.

[BSS]

Sounds like a wonderful arrival night! Thank you for coming back to this report. I so enjoy your writing style.

[3dadknight]

December 30, 2018
5:45 a.m.


My alarm barely made a sound before I jumped out of bed and headed to the kitchen to start the coffee. Everyone but my wife was still asleep. My plan was to have everyone out of bed by 6:20 and in the minivan before 7:00 to make 8:00 a.m. rope drop at Hollywood Studios. If it was just the five of us, I would have no problem waking everyone. I would just shout, “Get Up! We Gotta Go!!” I was hesitant. Two of our guests were old enough to vote. I knew our guests and had spent some time with them in the past, but I had no idea what these two “adults” were really thinking about this crazy man who would wake them up at dawn on vacation for no other reason than to get to a park to ride something he kept calling “Slinky Dog.” Daughter’s friend I could handle. She’s 11. I can handle an 11 year old. The others ... I didn’t want to disappoint, offend, or make them feel uncomfortable. So, I woke my oldest son who slept on the pullout in the living room and had him go wake everyone up.


I was pleasantly surprised to find that no one lagged behind that morning. Everyone was still rubbing sleep out of their eyes, but no one was complaining. mumbling or grumbling between bites of Entenmann’s donuts and sips of coffee or orange juice. I got the feeling that each of my kids had explained to their guest how serious Dad takes rope drop at Hollywood Studios, and the guests now wanted to make a good first impression. Like me, they were easing into the relationship.


Just before 7:00, we filled every seat in the 8 passenger minivan. Three wrong turns and an unscheduled tour of the Cast Member Only parking lot later, we had arrived. A walk to the gates, a glitch again at the tapstile for Daughter’s friend, and we were walking down Hollywood toward a mass of people being held at Sunset. From my reconnaissance trip at Labor Day, I knew we should be as far right as possible. I led our pack to dutifully fill in all available space, scooching, squeezing, and excusing our way through the mass of people until we were about 20 people deep from the front. My instructions were simple, “Follow me and keep up.” A few minutes later, we were moving. I held my ground as I walked and gave an occasional glance to my rear to make sure my group had not fallen too far behind. My older son is close to my height and an easy marker to find in a crowd. They were never too far behind.


When the Slinky Dog crowd first stopped, we were still under the umbrellas, but soon inched forward for a while, then stopped again. Cast Members began walking the line telling everyone that Slinky was down and they had no expected time that it would open. They encouraged us to experience other rides. Hundreds of shoulders slumped around me. The line started moving again as unwise group after unwise group moved on to do what the Cast Members suggested. Apparently none of them took the fact that Slinky after Slinky was zooming by on the tracks into account. The ride would soon open, I was sure. By the time we came to a dead stop, we were squarely in the middle of the queue.


During our 20 minute wait between mini-conversations among our group, I was scanning the crowd - just people watching. Over a dozen years ago, Hollywood Studios was where our family joke about me being “freakishly tall” began when we were packed into the Fantasmic! standing room only area. A man was packed in behind me and was not shy about using those words to describe me as he voiced his displeasure. To be fair, we were so packed in that I could not turn around to see him, and I was holding a five year old. But I digress.... As I scanned the queue that phrase came to mind as I spotted a very tall young blonde woman with a tall older lady and a young child on the far side of the queue behind us in line. The young blonde lady really stood out. “Now she’s freakishly tall,” I said to my son. He replied, “You know who that is? Elena Delle Donne, WNBA Star and Olympic Gold Medalist.” My son is a sports fanatic. Basketball is the major sport I follow the least. “Did you want to try to get an autograph or something?” I wasn’t really seriously asking. “No, I don’t think she likes you very much... she gave you a really nasty look when you boxed her out on the way over here.” I honestly didn’t know whether to be utterly embarrassed or tremendously proud that I beat an Olympic Gold Medalist in a game of Rope Drop.


Slinky Dog was fun for all. I think it is a really good addition to Hollywood Studios. Our ride was over by 8:35 and we moved on to other areas of the park. We all rode Star Tours then got some coffee and breakfast sandwiches using the Starbucks gift cards my wife and I received as Christmas gifts at work. We had received enough to feed and caffeinate us on three different days. We split up for another ride on Star Tours for some and Tower of Terror for others with FastPass. After some shop browsing we met at Rockin’ Rollercoaster for our second FastPass. We convinced Daughter’s friend to give it a try with a promise that she never has to ride it again if she doesn’t want to. As expected, she loved it. We finished our morning at Toy Story Mania with our third FastPass. Through the morning, as we entered, exited or passed attractions, I was sure to point out the long wait times we avoided with our early arrival and FastPasses.


Around 12:30 we were heading back to Old Key West for lunch at Olivia’s. Although I encouraged everyone to order what they wanted as this would be the “Big Meal” of the day, everyone had just a burger of some variety. I told them not to be shy about dinner later when they would be on their own. I was still trying to make a good impression, and they were trying to be polite by not spending too much of my money. Throughout the meal, though, we all started to let our guards down. We learned of older son’s girlfriend’s “Ride List” and assured her that 90% of it was a sure thing. Daughter’s friend was already quite comfortable having been at our house for several sleepovers in the past. Younger Son’s friend loosened up and took some friendly ribbing about how overly agreeable he was to every suggestion but never voicing one of his own. “Oh, yes, sir” had been his response to everything, but not the way your kid’s troublemaking friend would say it to come across as an angel. It was more like the kid who is overly eager to please and willing to sacrifice his own wants and needs to do so. We all wanted him to have his own good time and made it known to him.


We had a great morning at Studios, our bellies were full, and everyone now had a few hours to rest, relax or nap as promised. Having trained my sons in the art of FastPass refreshing on our last trip, we had secured overlapping Space Mountain FastPasses for everyone by splitting up the search. We were all set for a fun start to a long evening at Magic Kingdom.


In half a day, I had guided an uncertain group into the unknown, outsmarted the masses, gone elbow to elbow with a world-class athlete, feasted to celebrate our success, and had the start of our next adventure in place. I had won them over. The were now all in.

[mgarbowski]

If it was just the five of us, I would have no problem waking everyone. I would just shout, “Get Up! We Gotta Go!!” I was hesitant. Two of our guests were old enough to vote. I knew our guests and had spent some time with them in the past, but I had no idea what these two “adults” were really thinking about this crazy man who would wake them up at dawn on vacation for no other reason than to get to a park to ride something he kept calling “Slinky Dog.” Daughter’s friend I could handle. She’s 11. I can handle an 11 year old. The others ... I didn’t want to disappoint, offend, or make them feel uncomfortable. So, I woke my oldest son who slept on the pullout in the living room and had him go wake everyone up.

A Profile in Courage



Actually, the real bravery was sticking to your judgment and conviction that Slinky Dog would open. Seeing empty vehicles on the tracks is a tempting but imperfect predictor of an imminent revival. Glad it worked out, and enjoying the TR as usual.

[Goofballs]

Great trip report! I am especially enjoying your descriptions of introducting your 3 guests to the special world of 3dad touring...

Speaking of freakishly tall, one of my favorite interactions ever was meeting Chewbacca with our “freakishly tall” friend (noticeably taller than Chewy).

[Anne]

Loving your report, as always! I applaud you for taking on the challenge of adding 3 people to your travel party! You are by far braver than I.

[smwisc]

I've been eagerly awaiting your return! I always enjoy your trip reports for all of the obvious reasons, of course. But I also enjoy "watching" your kids grow up and hearing your reflections on the changing dynamics of traveling with (and just existing with) older children. Mine are now 13, 11, and 6, so in some ways adulthood is right around the corner.

[3dadknight]

(The producers wish to apologize for a historical inaccuracy committed by the chief writer in the last episode. Only two of the party had Space Mountain as of lunch time. In his rush to complete the episode, the writer relied on his failing memory rather than researching photos and old texts.)


I never expected, nor did I desire, to spend every waking moment together with our entire travel party. The plan from the outset of planning would be to spend time together at the first park of the day using the FastPasses I had booked, then leaving everyone to fend for themselves where ever they wanted in the evenings with the exception of two dinners later in the trip. Before, during and after lunch, the older kids were getting more adept at searching for additional FastPasses. By the end of lunch, everyone had secured a decent FastPass at Magic Kingdom for early evening. Everyone, that is, but my wife and I. We had Buzz. The girls had Space Mountain. The Older Kids had Thunder Mountain that started about an hour later than the Girls’ FP at Space. So, my wife and I took the girls ahead to Magic Kingdom about an hour before the rest of the group needed to leave. Despite my efforts, I could not change Buzz to Space to match the Girls. That was fine. My wife and I were perfectly content to let them ride while we just soaked up the atmosphere and people watched.


The instructions we gave were to text us when they tapped and then again when they got off the ride. Daughter got an iPhone for a Christmas/Birthday present and was happy to oblige. As soon as I got the text, I started searching for Buzz for the girls. In less than 5 minutes I had gotten a perfect match. We still would have about 40 minutes to kill once they got off Space. People Mover was a good option despite the extremely extended snaking, winding queue. It was constantly moving and we were in our vehicle in about 10 minutes. The girls were excitedly telling us about how all the lights in Space came on as they were just ending their ride. They were still on when we passed through on People Mover. A couple of minutes into our ride, we realized that we goofed. The early version of the NYE fireworks started going off. We craned our necks for a glimpse with every turn until we came to a dead stop in a tunnel area. Yes People mover wasn’t moving.


We played “Follow the CM” in a single file line around the track to an unmarked door. It opened into a magical stairwell formed from tree limbs and foliage as if each tree was taking a deep bow and laying out a hand as a step. The canopy was lit by fireflies and happiness. A faint trickle of water like a distant brook could be heard through the melodious chirp of the crickets. With each step, a comforting warmth engulfed us, until .. (SMACK!) “Dad, move your feet! The ride stopped. We have to walk off.” The grey concrete stairwell we entered was as cold as my awakening from my nap. We came out just in time to be stuck under an overhang as the final fireworks went off. We planned to see the Midnight version, so we weren’t too disappointed.


By now, the older kids had arrived and were using their various Mountain FastPasses. Afterwards the texting frenzy began. It seems all the Older Kids has all mastered the App. The search was on for the next ride. Selections were posted to our group text. In 2’s and 4’s, the rest would try to match the best FP anyone had. If there was a match, the sub-group would all ride together. Otherwise, the 2 would ride alone. Dance Parties, anytime rides and food filled the gaps. Throughout the night some combination of our party rode Splash, Thunder, Buzz, Carpets, Laugh Floor, Philharmagic, Barnstormer, Speedway, Tea Cups, and finally Space with all 8 before the fireworks. At any given time, up to six different phones were logged on to my MDE account searching and refreshing and texting results.


We gathered in Tomorrowland and found a spot to rest our feet while waiting for the show. The view was good, the fireworks were great. The younger girls and Mom were tired. They headed for the exit at the end of the show, and got back to the room by 1:00. The rest of us stayed and eventually decided to get in the standby line for Mine Train with a 25 minute wait. After 12 and a half minutes of waiting, a wave of shear exhaustion hit all five of us. We spent the next 10 minutes debating whether this last ride was a good idea. Five minutes later we were boarding and happy we stuck it out.


Shortly after 2:00 a.m., we were back at Old Key West. Mom and the girls were asleep. I promised the others they could sleep in. They only needed to be up in time to make our 12:30 Everest FastPass. We all slept soundly for a long time.

[jillyb]

Way to work those FPs!!!

[BSS]

I honestly didn’t know whether to be utterly embarrassed or tremendously proud that I beat an Olympic Gold Medalist in a game of Rope Drop.

I think you have to go with pride here. You've got to take the wins you can get.

[Mrs Darling]

This is so much fun!
It's got sports, entertainment, humor...Netflix, eat your heart out
I can't wait for the next episode

[Anne]

You make refreshing for FP sound almost fun!
Love the title.

[3dadknight]

After two very long days, everyone took advantage of the opportunity to sleep late. It was just after 9:00 a.m. on New Year’s Eve, and I was the first and only person awake in the villa. There was no rush to get anywhere. I would let everyone “waste” the morning. By 10:00, only my wife and I were up. There was no scrambling to get to a park, no shuffling of FastPasses, no frantic search for a dining reservation, and no work emails to check. It was just a lazy morning that was long overdue. At about 11:00, the rest of the group started waking up one by one. It was noon before everyone was dressed and ready for the day. That was perfectly fine.


I had planned late mornings on other trips, but rarely stuck to those plans. Someone ... OK .... I would eventually feel like we had to get our money’s worth, and that meant Park Time. Even if others wanted to sleep in, I’d go rope drop a park with at least one of the kids before meeting everyone else at the “planned park.” Not today, though. The “plan” did not start until 12:30 at Expedition Everest, and we left Old Key West just after noon.


On the ride over to Animal Kingdom, I reminded everyone that the plan for the evening was that we had No Plan. In fact, other than our three FastPasses (Everest, Primeval Whirl and Flight of Passage) we had no other plans for the entire day. We’ve never been big on New Year’s Eve plans. Before kids, we’d go out to dinner and join friends at our favorite watering hole. With kids, we’d occasionally go to a kid-friendly party hosted by family members or parents of one of the boy’s classmates. In recent years, it’s been a special dinner at home, Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, waiting an hour since we live in the Central Time Zone, then standing in the back yard to watch other people’s fireworks through a tree obscured view. With the latter, there was never a let down because there were no high expectations. I wanted to keep it that way this year. There are already so many unreasonable expectations built in to this clock watching, calendar flipping “holiday” that I did not want to add to it with expectations of the perfect dinner and fireworks viewing in the perfect location. If anyone wanted to wait for the midnight mythical magical shower that comes to wash away last year’s ills and bring never before possessed resolve to accomplish great things, they could pick their perfect place for the transformation.


On the walk back to Everest, we again had to convince Daughter’s friend to ride much like we did the day before at Rockin’ Rollercoaster. It was a little easier this second time. She was not as thrilled after this ride, but still enjoyed it. The other two guests had never been to Animal Kingdom. Son’s friend didn’t know much at all about it, and was still happy to go along with whatever we were doing. The Girlfriend, however, had done her research and was excited ride and experience the things at this park that she had only read about online. When we got to Dinoland, I gave them the backstory. They seemed to “get it.” It was fun to fill two vehicles on Primeval Whirl. It is a family must-do. Our guests happily joined us in our moans and groans as we limped through the ride exit.


We decided on Satuli for lunch on this first of two Animal Kingdom day’s. We had plenty of time before our Flight of Passage FastPass, so we gave mobile ordering a try. The time we would have spent in line to order was replaced with a less hectic, more spacious discussion and explanation of the food. I tapped “I’m here,” and some started looking for a place to sit. There were no vacant tables for 8 to be found... except in the roped off seating area just to your left as you enter the front of the restaurant. It was one of the busiest times of year, and they had a section of the place roped off. I asked a CM about it, and the response was that they had no one to “work” that area. I politely explained our 8 person dilemma just as the others were hauling over trays of food. We promised to bus our own table and make eye contact with no one. She removed the rope, let us in and put the rope back in place. We had our own private dining area for lunch. Our way to thank the CMs was to leave no trace. When we were done, the table was as clean as when we arrived. This had been the “Big Meal” of the day, and everyone was satisfied.


There was no need to point out the ridiculous wait time we were avoiding at Flight of Passage with our FastPass. The line extended half way down the boardwalk to Africa. We were wide-eyed as we passed the miserable masses on the way to lunch. The ride, of course, did not disappoint. With a party of eight, we took up half a room and had made it easy for the CM to place us- kind of like the given number in a Sudoku puzzle. Everyone loved the experience and couldn’t wait to come back in a couple of days to ride again.


At this point, FastPass Frenzy began again. The Older Kids managed to get overlapping Everest, while the rest of us got overlapping Safaris. After those rides, we briefly met to get an idea of what everyone wanted to do. Any thoughts of a park that evening were dismissed as there was absolutely no FastPass availability at Studios or Epcot. The girls and Mom decided to head back to Old Key West for a swim and rest. I stayed at AK with the others so the could use the Kali FastPasses they secured during the conversation. By the time they were done I had grabbed overlapping Dinosaur! FP’s for the five of us. We learned from the girls that there would be a New Year’s Eve party at OKW complete with a DJ and character appearances. Despite the late morning, no one had really recovered from the two previous marathon days. We still had three full park days ahead of us. We decided a night at the resort would be fine.


Dinner from Good’s Food To Go, shuffleboard, basketball, pool, crafts, corn hole, and a watch purchase against a backdrop of oldies music filled the evening. By 11:30 we found ourselves back in the room. We were all showered and pretty much ready for bed. At 11:55, we all gathered on the balcony. We watched the fireworks from Hollywood Studios and Epcot through the trees obscuring our view. We wished each other a Happy New Year and went to bed. It had been a great day that exceeded all my expectations.

[jillyb]

A perfect way to end the year and start a new one!