Vacations – Page 5 – Write From Karen

So … About Our Chicago Trip … Part One

March 31, 2012 Karen

We didn’t really have a reason to go to Chicago – in fact, I hadn’t really aspired to go to Chicago in my lifetime. The biggest reason I chose Chicago was because it was simply a destination on the Amtrak route and I thought, “what the heck. Why not.” And since the whole purpose behind the trip was to experience the Amtrak train … we went to Chicago.

And I chose Amtrak mainly because when I started thinking about our last big family “hurrah”, (not implying that the boys will never go on vacation with us again, but let’s be real – they’re [nearly] 20 [!] and 17, and we’re reaching a point where they don’t really WANT to hang out with mom or dad anymore … which is normal. I get it), I wanted to do something that everyone would enjoy. And by everyone, I mean Dude.

Dude HATES to fly. He used to be deathly afraid of it. And though it still scares him a bit, we’ve been on so many flights now that he at least doesn’t feel like he wants to vomit whenever we fly anywhere anymore.

Both boys used to be crazy about trains. Especially Dude. When Dude was about three, he was absolutely OBSESSED with trains. Whenever he was around trains, he would actually tremble with excitement. And when we set up the train tracks, he would sit for hours and simply watch them go around and around.

It was almost spooky how obsessive he was. (I wish he would get obsessive about his future, but that’s another post).

Jazz was also crazy about trains. Though not AS crazy as Dude. He was really into the Thomas Trains and in fact, we have a huge plastic tub of Thomas trains/tracks that I have INSISTED on keeping so our grandkids could play with them someday. (Though from the sounds of it, I might only get grandkids from Jazz because Dude is pretty adamant about NOT wanting kids. This attitude sort of crushes me [did I sour my son on kids because of the mistakes I’ve made with him? I worry about this], but I’m hoping he outgrows it. Because after all, I felt the same way when I was his age. Kids were okay, as long as they were someone else’s).

I remember my mom telling me how much she and my dad enjoyed riding the train down around the Branson area and I thought, “Amtrak! That would be a different sort of experience.” And that’s when I started looking into Amtrak routes, etc.

Since there isn’t an Amtrak station in Springfield, I started looking at St. Louis and voila! Chicago was a nearby destination.

That was the thought process behind going to Chicago. No offense to Chicagoians, but I hadn’t really thought of making a trip up there until that moment.

Let me preface this trip account by saying, we enjoyed the train ride. Yes. It was LONG. (Five and a half hours to get from St. Louis to Chicago). But it wasn’t AS long on the way back and I think it was mainly because I kept myself busy. I had a little trouble reading on the train at first, it sways and is sort of bumpy, and I had a little trouble focusing on the words, but once I got the hang of it, it wasn’t that bad. Even though I get motion sickness being a passenger in a car going across town, I never once felt nauseous on the train. And I think it was mainly because we could get up and move around and the area was so big and comfy that I didn’t feel cramped or closed in.

Riding the train is cheap. I don’t mind telling you that it cost $200 dollars for all four of us round trip. That’s about a 1/8 of what it would cost to fly. So, if you can endure the time factor, and just prepare yourself to keep yourself busy the entire trip, it’s quite worth it and we will definitely ride Amtrak again in the future.

I was a little worried about the type of people who would ride the train; it is public transportation, after all. And I’m sorry if that makes me sound like a snob, but I’m just keeping it real here – you know there are always those “odd” people who seem to gravitate toward public transportation, but quite honestly, it was simply regular janes and joes and everyone was quite respectful of everyone else’s space. In fact, I was surprised by how quiet everyone was (though there were the two college-aged girls that sat directly behind me and Kevin and who would NOT SHUT UP the ENTIRE TRIP back to St. Louis. And I must have counted A MINIMUM of 500 “ums” and “likes” in their conversation. Really girls? How about helping to dispel the whole valley-girl college image by using adult language. Thanks).

We rode the Texas Eagle train up to Chicago. It was a double decker sort of thing and though it was cooler than the Lincoln Service train we rode back, it was more cramped. The Texas Eagle had a scenery car and a dining car and Kevin and I sat in the scenery car on the way up to Chicago, though there wasn’t that much to admire since the weather was overcast and rainy on the trip up there.

There weren’t that many little kids on the train, but the few that were on there really seemed to love it. I think the parents loved it, too, because the kids could run around and they didn’t have to stress about losing them – where were they going to go? It was a relatively safe place for them to stretch their legs.

We didn’t take advantage of the dining car. The meals were extra and though we still had to pay extra for the snacks on the snack car, the prices weren’t that bad, really. They also gave away small bottles of water so overall, I was pretty happy with the food choices.

You had to go downstairs to use the restroom (on the Texas Eagle – the Lincoln Service was just a one-level train), and the restrooms are like airplane restrooms. Unfortunately, I was in the restroom quite a bit on the way up there as Mother Nature seemed determined to mess with me at that specific point in time, but that’s TMI and moving on …

No Wi-Fi on the train. That sort of sucked. In fact, it would have been pretty AWESOME to have Wi-Fi but oh well. You can’t have everything. The boys spent most of their time fooling with their 3DS’s, listening to music or sleeping.

In fact, it was sort of hard NOT to sleep on the train. With the constant rocking back and forth, it was hypnotic and whenever you walked through the cars to get to the scenery/snack cars, there were a lot of people stretched out and fast asleep. (The train had quite a few people, but there was still enough seats where you could claim two seats to yourself and since there were no armrests between the seats, you could actually lay down and go to sleep).

I had meant to take some pictures on the train, but I just never got around to doing it. (I was pretty distracted fighting off Mother Nature on the way up there and on the way back … well … I don’t really know why I didn’t on the way back – lazy I guess). I felt a little weird taking pictures, I guess, because there were so many people and the few pictures that Kevin took with his phone sort of made the people around us uncomfortable and in fact, one guy moved away from us.

So boo – I dropped the photographer ball on that one.

So that’s my overall impression/thoughts on the train ride. I would recommend it to anyone who is willing to spend the time to get somewhere. It’s like driving somewhere, but WAY more relaxing and comfortable. The prices are reasonable and as long as you take plenty to occupy yourself, it’s not that bad at all.

Next, I’ll tell you about the crazy man in the St. Louis train station who would not stop doing chair exercises and about the guy who asked Jazz if he had any weed on him.

And the weather? Was not that nice to us.

More later …

Chicago, Work Stuff

Back From Chicago … and Planning Another Trip

March 25, 2012March 25, 2012 Karen

We got back home about an hour ago.

Actually, we got back into town about 7:00 p.m. But we stopped to eat at Taco Bell, went over to my in-laws to eat cookie cake and sing happy birthday to Jazz, THEN we came home.

And this was AFTER riding the Amtrak train from Chicago to St. Louis for five hours and driving another 3 1/2 hours from St. Louis to Springfield.

So yeah, I’M BRAIN DEAD.

I simply can’t write anymore tonight. But I’ll write about our adventures and share some pictures very soon.

Now? I’m collapsing into my own bed and (hopefully) getting a full, uninterrupted, seven hours of sleep.

And then it’s back to work tomorrow … unless they suspend me. My boss left me a voice mail Thursday, but honest to God, I forgot to call her back so, who knows if I HAVE a job to go back to. Her message didn’t say NOT to, but it was rather a question as to whether I had gotten the shot (no), or if I planned to (no). So. I figured if I was suspended, surely she would have called back and told me not to come in on Monday, right?

RIGHT?!?

At any rate, I’m going to work tomorrow and we’ll see what happens. If I get suspended, then I’ll come home and blog about Chicago.

I know you’re rooting for me to get suspended so you can hear more about Chicago – don’t lie! (*grin*)

And don’t jinx me. Cause I really do love my job and I really don’t want to get suspended.

UGH. I can’t do this “am I going to be suspended this year or not” every single year thing. It’s exhausting. (To live and to write about).

P.S. Kevin and I are thinking about going back to Chicago in June – just me and him. OH YES WE ARE!

Chicago

Chicago Plans

March 4, 2012March 4, 2012 Karen

I’ve spent most of my Sunday fighting yawns, drinking coffee and researching our Chicago trip …

… that’s coming up in about three weeks.

Whoa.

We’re driving to St. Louis, are staying at our favorite Drury Inn (seriously ya’ll, the “complementary” breakfast is pretty darn awesome. Course, it’s not totally complementary, it’s included in the price of the room, BUT STILL! It beats going out the next morning and looking for some place to eat), then boarding the Amtrak train the next morning to Chicago!

ALL ABOARD FOR SOME FUN!

(Yeah. That was pretty corny).

Kevin found a hotel. He’s pretty awesome when it comes to researching hotels in new places. (Fine. He’s awesome pretty much all of the time). It’s called Chicago’s River Hotel and it’s a two-room suite with a Queen-sized bed and a sofa bed for the boys. It also includes a kitchenette which will hopefully save us money on food. (At the very least, we can eat breakfast and keep some snack foods on hand).

Here’s a picture of our room:

I’m a little worried the sofa bed will be too small for two tall young men, but we’ll likely take the cushions off the sofa/chair and make a bed on the floor for one of the them so they won’t be in each other’s faces all night long.

The hotel is right across the street from the Chicago river and in an area close to pretty much everything. I think we’re going to try and NOT rent a car and use the public transit systems instead. I’ve been looking into Shedd’s Aquarium and the Museum of Science & Industry and we’ll likely spend most of our time at these places. We would also like to go to Navy Pier and Magnificent Mile. We’re only going to be there for three days (2 1/2 when you take into consideration that the train doesn’t actually reach Chicago until about 2ish), and that should be enough time for us to see some fun stuff before boarding the train back to St. Louis.

We’ll be traveling back home on Jazz’s birthday, so we’ll likely treat him to some place nice for dinner that evening.

I’m really looking forward to this trip. It’s going to be a lot different than anything else we’ve ever done and the boys act like they’re really looking forward to riding the train up there and back, too. I think Dude is more relieved than anything else – no flying.

I asked off for some time in June. I’d like to take a long weekend with Kevin someplace. We haven’t really figured out where we want to go yet, but we have A TON of frequent flyer miles burning a hole in our online account. 🙂

Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Vacations, Walt Disney World

Disney PhotoPass Ordering Tip: Buy the Largest Digital Size

August 12, 2011August 12, 2011 Karen

I broke down and bought the insanely expensive family photos that a PhotoPass photographer took of us at both Epcot and Hollywood Studios:

What can I say? It’s a once-in-a-lifetime sort of thing because it is HIGHLY IMPROBABLE that any of us will ever go back to Disney World (at least until grandkids come along. *ahem*)

If you order photos from Disney’s PhotoPass option, let me give you a tip:

Order the largest digital copy you can.

For example:

Here are the options that Disney gives you for purchasing the PhotoPass photos.

Hard Copies
Two 4×6’s for $14.95.
Or, one 5×7 for $14.95.

Digital Copies
4×6, a 5×7, or an 8×10 digital copy for $14.95 each.

Here’s my tip: Buy the biggest digital copy you can. If you’re going to pay the same amount anyway, pick the biggest digital copy. Download it, upload it to someplace like Flickr, or simply go to Snapfish (if you have an account with Flickr, it automatically defaults to Snapfish whenever you want to order copies), and order any size copies you want from that 8×10 for WAY less than you would pay for actual copies through Disney.

When you pay the $14.95, you’re also paying for a royalty-free license – which means you have permission to make copies of the picture, you just can’t make copies and then sell it to someone else.

At Snapfish, you can get 4×6 copies for $.09 A PIECE!
5×7’s are $.79 cents a piece and 8×10’s are $2.99 a piece.

So, if you’re going to pay the same price for all sizes anyway, you might as well buy the biggest size available so you can order more prints at a fraction of the cost someplace else.

Cruise 11, Vacations

Cruising on the Carnival Sensation

August 11, 2011August 11, 2011 Karen

So we spent two days at Disney World a few weeks back, (Epcot and Hollywood Studios) and when it was time to leave, we were all pretty much wiped out.

Well. Kevin and I were tired, but the boys were zombies.

I mean, walking around Disney World for two days was more exercise than either of them had had in the previous six months!

And that’s not being snarky, that’s being honest.

After our two days at Disney World were over, we got up Sunday morning, July 24th, packed up our stuff and went out to wait for the Disney Express shuttle bus so we could hitch a ride back to the Orlando airport.

To catch a non-existent flight.

Confused? Yeah, so were the good folks at Disney. In fact, we spent 30 minutes trying to explain to them that we didn’t have a departing flight number to give them because we weren’t catching a flight, we just wanted a ride back to the airport. No strings attached, nothing more complicated than that. But you would have thought we were asking them to calculate a direct route to the moon.

After we explained to them that we just wanted a ride to the airport, that we intended to catch a shuttle bus at the airport to take us to Port Canaveral so that we could get on our cruise boat (and when the guy found out it wasn’t a Disney cruise, his enthusiastic voice wasn’t quite so enthusiastic after that – it was pretty funny how much his attitude changed after that, though he was still nice), they set it up.

We could have just called a taxi, but the Express was free (well, not FREE, the price of that “free” ride was included in the exorbitant price tag that comes with going to Disney World) and if we could get out of paying $70 bucks for a taxi ride to the airport, we were going to do it.

(I’m telling you guys, if we ever win the lottery, I’m totally becoming a travel writer because I would ROCK on the “travel for dirt cheap” tips).

So, we get on the Disney Express and it takes us 45 minutes to get to the airport. The bus made two stops – Terminal A and B. We had no idea which terminal we needed to go to in order to catch the cruise shuttle bus but we took our chances and got off at Terminal A. Luckily, we saw a big Carnival Sensation sign and we checked in with very little fanfare.

(See a pattern here? Yep. We have a lot of pictures of Dude sleeping).

We waited around the airport about another 30 minutes before our bus driver arrived and we loaded up. It took us about another 45 minutes to drive from the airport to the pier. Even though the shuttle busses are expensive, they were totally worth the cost because it was a seamless, stress-free way to get to the pier. We didn’t have to worry about taxi drivers, or how much it would cost us, or if he/she would stiff us and ask for more than it really cost to drive us there, or putting up with a bad driver who would make us car sick and it was MUCH more comfortable riding in a spacious, air conditioned bus than having to cram all four of us into a hot, sticky, dirty taxi.

We will definitely pay the transportation cost next time, too.

We’ve never taken a cruise out of Port Canaveral before and there were two other boats waiting to depart, too.

I believe one of them was a Royal Carribean and the other was Disney.

*Side Note: We’ve never sailed on any other cruise line than Carnival – this will be our fourth cruise with them. Though we’ve been very happy with Carnival, I think next year Kevin and I are going to pick a different cruise line simply for variety, if for no other reason. We would also like to sail on a cruise line that is catered a bit more to adults as well. Not that we have a problem with sailing with children, we don’t, but since it’s going to just be me and Kevin next time, we’d like something a little more … sophisticated, if that’s the right word.

Port Canaveral is not the prettiest port we’ve ever sailed out of. It’s strictly functional, there’s not a lot to see. So we didn’t take as many Bon Voyage pictures like we usually do this go-around.

However, it WAS cool to be able to see Kennedy Space Center in the distance and it only reaffirmed our desire to visit it someday. (That had actually been our original plan – to visit Kennedy Space Center, spend the night and catch the boat the next day. But somewhere along the planning stage, I mentioned Disney World and it sort of took off from there).

We actually boarded the boat several hours before we sailed, so by the time we went back on deck to leave port, we had a pretty good idea where everything was.

The only problem was, remembering where everything was. The Sensation is smaller than the boat we sailed last year (Valor) but for some reason, we seemed to be more lost on this boat than we were last year. We kept getting turned around and it wasn’t until the LAST day of the cruise did we really start feeling comfortable getting around. HA!

The boys were relieved to be on the boat and away from Disney World.

It’s not that they didn’t have a good time, it was just SO HOT and they thought it was pretty kiddie-ish.

(“I TOLD you, mom.” Yeah. Jazz told me that about 5,000 times in those two days).

We were finally able to check out our room. (They block off the cabins while they finish cleaning them so you have to walk around the boat with any luggage that you carry on yourself. The bigger pieces of luggage are checked in when you first arrive and the stewards place them outside your cabin door several hours after departure).

We had portholes!

We’ve never had portholes before. We were pretty excited about that.

(Sorry about the video quality, or lack thereof – Blech. The settings on the camera screwed up).

Okay, KEVIN AND I were pretty excited about that.

We always book a separate cabin for the boys. It’s more expensive but SO WORTH THE MONEY. They can do their own thing, go to bed when they want, sleep in as late as they want and we can do our own thing. If you ever cruise with teenagers, seriously, book them their own cabin. You’ll thank me later.

One thing about cruise ships that always amuses me, is the tacky decor. Seriously. Look at the carpet compared to the furniture.

WTH? But tacky … somehow works on a cruise ship, I think.

One of THE best things about cruising? Is the non-stop food.

The main dining area is where everyone is instructed to wait when you first board a cruise ship – the Lido deck – where the FOOD is. Because by the time you board a ship, it’s lunch time and you’re hungry. Which works out great, because you can’t really DO anything else until your room is done and before the ship leaves dock. (The casino and shops don’t open until you leave port because if they open up before leaving port, they have to pay taxes on their profits).

One of the things I dislike about first boarding a boat is the sheer number of people in one place at one time.

Again, you sort of have to endure it because there’s really no where else to go while you wait for your room to be ready. But the crowds thin out considerably after the boat sets sail and getting around the ship is much more manageable.

This cruise was a little different. Usually, the first day we’re at sea while we travel to our first port. But since this was a four-day cruise, we didn’t have that luxury. We set sail Sunday and were at Freeport, Bahamas on Monday. Then we were in Nassau, Bahamas on Tuesday and we had a day at sea on Wednesday.

One of the traditions we’ve started, is playing cards.

We went onto the entertainment deck (that’s the deck that has all of the clubs, the casino, the shops and the hangouts for the kids) and we listened to a live band while playing cards. We heard a few people, as they passed us, say, “Now that’s a good idea.” So there’s no telling how many families will start up their own card-playing tradition.

What can I say? We’re trend setters! Ha!

Kevin and I LOVE the days at sea because it gives us a chance to find a deck chair in the shade and relax. We usually read or nap and it’s HEAVENLY because it’s just so relaxing breathing in all that fresh air and peaceful to look out at nothing but ocean.

What can I say? We’re DIE HARD cruisers. If Kevin and I can swing it, we’re going to try and take a cruise every year because it really is the BEST way to travel and see the world – in our humble opinion.

Next: Freeport, Grand Bahamas

Cruise 11, Vacations

Travel Notes

August 5, 2011August 6, 2011 Karen

Before I write about our cruise (and no, I haven’t even started writing about it yet because I’ve been freaking BUSY these past few days. But I’m not complaining, I’ve also been having FUN), there are a few things I’d like to document about our trip that really have nothing to do with our actual trip.

Confused? That makes two of us.

Kevin was surfing around on the ‘net yesterday and happened to spot an article on Yahoo about airline ticket tax refunds. He followed the article over to Kiplinger and here is the gist of it:

Want an Airline Tax Refund? Be Patient
The IRS still is developing guidelines for passengers who paid expired ticket taxes.

Airline passengers who bought tickets on or before July 22 for travel on or after July 23 are probably due a refund of the federal taxes they paid on their tickets. The problem will be actually getting the refund.

Congress adjourned July 22 without passing legislation authorizing the Federal Aviation Administration’s operating authority, leaving the administration without the ability to collect air transportation excise taxes. So ticket taxes don’t apply to air travel starting July 23.

Yeah. Guess what, that would include US. We bought our airline tickets way back in January and we arrived back home July 28th. We should get a tax refund on our return flight.

SWEET!

The problem is, as the article stated, actually getting it. Kevin figured it up and it should be around $75 bucks.

Hey man, $75 bucks is $75 bucks, am I right?

We flew through Air Trans (which we just found out was bought out by Southwest) and Kevin wasn’t able to get ahold of a live person. But, the article states that the IRS has yet to put guidelines into place on how to get that money back to people and Kevin is figuring it will likely be something to file on our tax returns. So, though we may have some money coming back to us, typical government fashion, it won’t happen for a while.

Still – $75 bucks man.

But here’s the thing – can you believe our stupid government? I mean, they make more work for themselves by dragging their heels on making any sort of decision on anything. If they had just done their freaking jobs to begin with, they wouldn’t have to deal with the headache of sorting out the qualified customers and giving their tax money back.

What idiots.

One day, when we were looking over the “Fun Times” newsletter on the boat (it’s a daily newsletter that Carnival puts out to let everyone know what’s going on throughout the day on the boat), he saw a meet-up time scheduled for the LGBT’s on board.

He didn’t know what LGBT stood for, so when I told him (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual and Transgender), he was not very happy.

For the record, we don’t agree with the gay lifestyle. We’re Christians. God does not condone gays. It’s pretty self-explanatory.

This is what we believe. Disagree if you must. But here’s the thing – I really don’t care if someone *chooses to live that sort of lifestyle.

No really.

I. Don’t. Care.

It’s really none of my business how a person lives his/her life. I figure the LGBT community will be judged at some point and that at some point they will have to look God in the eye and explain their behavior. I have enough to worry about without personally taking on one group of people’s problems.

I say, “good luck with that.” *SALUTE*

So when I see notices about LGBT meetings, I honestly don’t care. Whatever, man. Knock yourself out. But Kevin, he does care. And he was disappointed in Carnival for allowing meetings like that happening on a cruise line that caters to families.

In fact, he was so upset, he intended to complain to Carnival about it. And would have, if he had remembered when he filled out the survey they sent us. His biggest argument is though, reverse discrimination.

“Why does the LGBT community have to have a special meeting set aside just for them? Where are the ‘heterosexual’ meetings? Why aren’t they getting special treatment?”

I explained to him that though I agreed with him in principal, I could see WHY they would need a special meeting because you can’t really tell, by looking at a person, whether that person is homosexual or not. Homosexuals don’t walk around with a big label tattooed to their foreheads anymore than heterosexuals. So they need meetings like these in order to single each other out, to find like-minded people.

I understand that, I get that. I don’t agree with that, but like I said, who cares if I agree or not.

But he’s right. If we’re going to be tolerant of one group and set up special meetings for select groups, then to be fair to everyone, we should set up meetings for ALL groups of people. He would have had less of a problem with the LGBT meeting if they had also had meetings set up for heterosexuals, car lovers, ice cream lovers, dog lovers, cat lovers, etc. Why should they stop at just one group? Why not set some time aside for all groups?

It’s reverse discrimination.

I’m bringing this all up because this is what we discussed after our cruise was over. And coincidentally, it was also mentioned in the news.

Heterosexual Pride Day Measure Passes in São Paulo

The city council of São Paulo, South America’s biggest city, has adopted legislation calling for a Heterosexual Pride Day to be celebrated on the third Sunday of each December.

São Paulo Mayor Gilberto Kassab must sign the legislation for it to become law and has said only that he is studying it. His office declined Wednesday to say whether he supports the proposal.

The legislation’s author, Carlos Apolinario, said the idea for a Heterosexual Pride Day is “not anti-gay but a protest against the privileges the gay community enjoys.”

As an example, he mentioned how São Paulo’s huge gay pride day parade is held every year on Paulista Avenue, one of the main thoroughfares in this city of 20 million people, while the March for Jesus organized by evangelical groups is not allowed on the same avenue.

That’s Kevin’s point. Instead of singling out ONE group of people, let’s be fair to ALL groups of people and allow those groups to have their own parades, or whatnots. After all, it’s all about equality FOR ALL, right?

*Yes. I believe homosexuality is inherently a choice – though I also believe it’s possible that people can be born with homosexual tendencies – tendencies he/she will have to fight off a little harder later in life than say someone who doesn’t have those tendencies.

Wow. If this wasn’t a potentially loaded post, I don’t what is. But these are my thoughts, and this is my journal, and contrary to what some people think (or wish), I don’t think about rainbows and unicorns ALL the time – just MOST of the time. *snort*

Hollywood Studios, Vacations, Walt Disney World

Visiting Hollywood Studios (at Disney World)

August 3, 2011August 4, 2011 Karen

Ready to visit Hollywood Studios?

The line for Hollywood Studios wasn’t too bad, and there wasn’t a Brazilian girl in sight. (They must have left because we didn’t see very many of them after that first day). Most everyone else was lining up to go to one of the two Disney World water parks.

We’re not big water park people, but it sure sounded good when we were down there. (Actually, it was hot in Florida, but it was even hotter back home in Missouri. In fact, it was about ten degrees hotter in Missouri than it was in Florida OR the Bahamas – but there was more humidity which somehow makes it worse, I think).

As usual, our bus was the last to arrive and we killed some time talking to the young kid who worked for Disney and was marking down the number of busses arriving. He was actually going to military school, but was working at Disney for the summer to get some kind of marketing credit and to of course, make a little spending money. It was really interesting to listen to him talk about his future plans and I was glad Dude was there to hear him. The kid wasn’t much older than Dude, yet he really seemed to have his life in order.

*hint-hint Dude*

The ride over to the park was quiet and uneventful – thank goodness. And the day looked bright and clear. Nonetheless, we went ahead and bought two umbrellas, just in case, because the boys got so wet walking around Epcot the previous day that we thought we’d plan ahead and be prepared this go around.

It didn’t rain a drop the whole time we were there, of course. (Though we left a little early and the clouds were rolling in, so … never mind, I can’t really justify why we bought the umbrellas other than to say HEY! Souvenirs! ha!)

So we get to the park and the first thing we see is the Tower of Terror. Well, not the FIRST thing, the FIRST thing we see is the giant Mickey magic hat in the center of the park, but we didn’t get a picture of that, so, Tower of Terror is where we’ll start. (Actually, we took advantage of Disney’s PhotoPass program and we have a picture of all four of us standing in front of Mickey’s magic hat, only I haven’t worked up the courage to actually buy it yet because as with all things Disney, it’s expensive. Like $15 bucks FOR ONE PICTURE expensive. Oh sure, we’ll end up buying it, but still, stalling a few weeks seems a little rebellious to me and I’m all about the rebellion, don’t ya know).

There was no way, on God’s green earth (actually, it’s not actually that green right now, but rather a lovely shade of dead) that I was going to ride the Tower of Terror.

Yes. Because I’m a big ‘fraidy cat. And I really had no desire to puke my guts up because I assure you, that’s what would have happened. Kevin actually visited Hollywood Studios with a bunch of his work buddies some years back and he rode the Tower of Terror. He said that he nearly lost it so I KNOW I would because Kevin has a stomach of steel.

Still. Kevin tried to talk me into it and I’m sorry to say, I flatly refused.

However, to try and make it up to him, we did end up walking to Aerosmith’s Rock ‘N’ Roller coaster and getting a FastPass right away. (Hey, we may be slow but we DO learn eventually). I’m not the biggest roller coaster fan, I can take them or leave them, but I knew Kevin wanted to ride it so … what’s a spouse to do? 🙂 Our scheduled time was between 1:00 and 2:00, so we had plenty of time to explore the park.

You know, looking at a map of Hollywood Studios I just now realized:

1. Our hotel was practically across the street from the park and

2. I think we missed a lot of stuff.

I think we were all tired from the previous day and we didn’t take the time to fully explore the park like we did Epcot. Plus, it all seemed so … childish, I think. We would pass something and I would ask if the guys wanted to go in and they were all like, “Meh.” So, we didn’t.

Like CRAP! We completely missed Fantasmic! I mean, we didn’t even walk down that way at all. Bummer! It looks pretty cool, too. Oh wait, it was only on select nights, so chances are we wouldn’t have seen the show anyway.

I wanted to see Beauty and the Beast, but the guys looked horrified when I even suggested it, so no, we didn’t see Beauty and the Beast. *sad face*

Looking at the map, I see we missed an entire other section, too. The part with Walt Disney: One Man’s Dream, and the Magic of Disney Animation.

Crap again!

Oh well. We did go see Muppet Vision 3D, which was cute, but got on our nerves about five minutes into it. I like the Muppets, but they’re a little like Jim Carey to me, they are just too much, all at once and they’re exhausting to watch for any length of time because it’s non-stop … something.

But the show was cute and it gave us a chance to cool off.

We went through The Great Movie Ride and that was … okay. It was really cheesy and super loud, but whatever.

We went through The Studio Back Lot tour and I think the boys really enjoyed that one.

They did a special effects demonstration when we first arrived and we all really enjoyed watching them blow stuff up.

The canyon disaster was really fun, too.

There really wasn’t much else to the tour, I’m not sure what we were expecting, but it was more than what we got. However, it was fun and interesting and that’s all we could ask for, I suppose.

We ate lunch at the ABC Commissary – again, we ended up buying two plates and all of us shared it. (I mentioned the food was insanely expensive, right? Just checking).

By this time, Kevin was feeling the effects of not eating very much and he was starting to get snappy. (He will deny it, but I’ve known the man for 24 years and trust me when I say, he was snappy and on edge). This is the biggest reason vacations stress me out – the food situation. We should have just broke down and bought another $9.00 plate of something, but Kevin wouldn’t hear of it. Needless to say, by the time lunch was over, I was about over Disney World entirely. I know it’s kind of stupid to base so much of my opinion on their food prices, but good grief, people, I just really felt like we were being ripped off, big time.

After lunch, we checked out the Extreme Stunt Show. I knew Kevin really wanted to watch it, but they only ran two shows and we had missed the first one. The second one was at 4:30 and we all agreed that we would leave the park after the show was over.

We were tired, the park was smaller than Epcot, therefore more condensed and claustrophobic feeling and we were all just exhausted, quite frankly. We had had enough of all things Disney, I’m afraid.

We cashed in our FastPasses (well, we cashed in one, the other one we had had been stamped “invalid” for some reason, but the guy was kind enough to let us both go in anyway), and rode the Rock ‘N’ Roller coaster.

I had no idea it was an inside roller coaster and completely in the dark. One of the reasons I can even ride a roller coaster in the first place is because I can see where I’m going so I can anticipate which direction we’re going to turn or go upside down. Since it was pitch black, I had no idea what was happening. Taking off was pretty spectacular – going from zero to 60 in a few seconds was pretty thrilling. Kevin said he knew, though, the moment I started feeling sick because I suddenly stopped screaming.

I was afraid if I opened my mouth something other than a scream would come out. HA!

It was fun though and I’m glad we got to ride it. The boys didn’t ride, of course, (wimps), and waited for us outside. Kevin wanted to ride it again, but I just didn’t think I could stomach another round. I wish I didn’t get so sick like that, but … I do so … there you go.

After getting off that ride, we headed to the Indiana Jones show.

We REALLY enjoyed that show. It started out with the ball rolling after Indiana Jones scene before the “director” yelled CUT. The entire stage then parted to make way for another scene from the movie, the city scene where the bad guys do all sorts of kung-fu moves and Harrison Ford pulls out his gun and simply shoots the guy.

HAHA! I love that scene.

After the “director” yells CUT for that scene, that too rolls away to reveal a desert scene complete with an airplane.

This would be the scene where Indiana Jones fights that big huge dude and knocks him into the airplane propeller before everything explodes.

The heat off the fires were so intense we could feel them in the stands – it was that hot.

That show was a lot fun. By the time we got out of that show, it was time to go watch the Extreme Stunt Show.

The car stunts were truly impressive. After they ran a few chase scenes, the “director” would then explain a few tricks of the trade.

For example, there was one scene where our hero, being chased by several black, bad-guy, cars, drove backward the entire time. We were very impressed, until we saw that the stunt driver was in a car MADE to look like it was driving backwards – the windshield was actually the back window. Still though, it was impressive to watch them narrowly miss each other.

They did a few scenes with motorcycles, too. And jet skies. It was a great show.

After that was over, they then did a cute little skit with Lightening McQueen from the movie “Cars”.

He too had to chase the bad guy, identified by the big bomb strapped to its roof. HA!

It was a great show and we were really glad we stuck around to watch it.

But after it was over, we were done. All we wanted to do was head back to the hotel, have A LITTLE *ahem* bite to eat and turn in early.

I’m embarrassed to say, we never took advantage of the pools. We had gone back to the hotel with the intention of going swimming, but by the time we finished eating, none of us had the energy to attempt it. (In fact, we all took swim suits but none of us ever put them on. I know, we’re so boring).

But we needed our energy, because the FIRST part of our vacation was over – we still had the SECOND part to look forward to: the cruise.