Last Wednesday was the longest day at work that I can remember in a long time, simply because I was waiting to run out the door and start my vacation the following morning. Eventually, the workday ended and I went home and got all my things together for the trip to Orlando the next morning. I slept, but not as well as I usually do. I was obviously anxious to start the journey 5 and a half hours Southeast and start getting on some thrill rides.
Crystal woke up at around 6am to make a large breakfast before we hit the road. I didn't rise and get dressed until about 7:30am. When I did shuffle out into the kitchen there was french toast and cream of wheat already made and waiting to be eaten. I inhaled about 5 pieces of french toast and a bowl and a half of cream of wheat. Yep, it was good.
I packed the car with our two bags (a suitcase and a large duffle bag), our MP3 players, a cooler filled with PowerAde and water, and a box full of potato chips and other delectable snack foods. We were off and running. Things were going quite smoothly... too smoothly.
Crystal decided to take the driver's seat for the trip down to Orlando. Which is fine by me, because after breakfast I was quite ready to go back to sleep. I didn't go back to sleep though. I sat in the passenger seat and talked to Crystal most of the way. When we weren't talking I was playing with my MP3 player. I played a good amount of Styx, Weezer, and assorted 80s hits. Once I tired of that I went through the radio stations which weren't very fruitful. We were able to listen to Fort Minor's Where'd You Go about three times in a row by simply changing the station after it ended each time (that song is getting a lot of play).
And then about three quarters of the way to Orlando something happened. It seemed very much like an omen at the time, to turn around and head back. As were rounding a very long curve on I-75 in our small sized, lowriding Ford Escort SE, we both looked ahead in our lane and saw a shredded tire from an 18-wheeler. Not a large piece of a tire - the whole freakin' thing! As we flew toward it at a speed somewhere near 75mph, we both seemed to clench for the impact. Even though the radio was on, it seemed like 3 whole seconds of complete silence as the tire disappeared from view as we began to go over it. I could feel the scraping "clud" as the rubber hit the underside of the passenger side floorboards and the car gave a slight jolt up and forward. We both turned and looked back at the tire and let out our breath. We got lucky, nothing happened to the car.
When we got to Orlando we didn't go straight to the hotel room. We went to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. We went there for our honeymoon two years earlier and this year we decided to get annual passes since we plan to start going on a regular basis now that Crystal's working and we both love the parks and the rides.
First, we got our annual pass IDs made. Mine looks very much like my Drivers' License: like a serial killer's mugshot on the 11 o'clock news.
Then we hit the park. Our day was already half over so we decided to only hit the biggies. We went into Universal Studios first and got on the Mummy's Revenge. If you haven't ridden it, I highly recommend it. Then it was over to Islands of Adventure to get on The Hulk, and Spider-Man 3D. We were planning to ride Dueling Dragons as well, but it was closed for some reason. Shortly after eating at the NASCAR Cafe there on City Walk, we went to the hotel to check in.
Our room was very nice compared to what we usually get when we go to Orlando on a budget. Our room at the Best Western had two double beds, a large TV, and a Fridge. The drapes, sheets, and carpeting were all very clean and neat. We were both very tired and went to sleep after taking showers. It had been a long full day and we needed some rest for Disney World the next day.
Almost everytime I would begin to fall asleep Crystal would yell over to me that I was snoring and that she couldn't sleep because of it. Yes, I do snore. And when I'm extremely tired I really saw logs. She tossed and turned until I tried to stay awake so she could fall asleep. Eventually we both were dreaming. But when the alarm went off in the morning, I was dead tired.
We got dressed and headed out to the car to head to breakfast. "Aw, great!!", I said when I saw the rear drivers' side tire completely flat on the car. "We have a flat tire,"
"What?! Noooo!!!" Crystal knew exactly what pitch to hit to make it feel like an international crisis.
She went into the room to get a phonebook to look for service stations and Wal-Marts, and I got the jack and spare out of the trunk. About 15 minutes later we were driving to the Wal-Mart about 15 minutes away. I was completely covered in sweat and I still couldn't seem to wake up. Well, $64 later I was slightly awakened. Afterward, we drove to Disney's Animal Kingdom to meet Crystal's sister and her family.
They coordinated their vacation with ours and we both decided to go to the parks and do the rides together. Once we got there and met up with them the day really began and after that the trip never went South again. It was completely smooth sailing after the tire, but at the time I was beginning to think that this was going to turn into a National Lampoon's Vacation and when we got to the park it was going to be closed or some other crazy scenario. Thank goodness, I was wrong.
The very first thing we rode was Expedition Everest. The newest ride in all the parks. They try to hype it up in the commercials and brochures like it's one of the tallest coasters in the world, but once you get to the top it goes inside the mountain and you really can't tell how high you are because you're flying around like a maniac in the dark (like Space Mountain). After that it was over to Khali River Rapids and a healthy douche of theme park water from head to toe. We also went on the Kiliminjaro Safari ride which was cool and they had it set up like the African plains.
Well, now I'm just gonna hit the highlights since as we all know, a day at the theme park is long and not great stuff to really get into detail. Let me talk about the attractions. Soarin' was a lot of fun. It's like a glider simulator where you're flying over the Golden Gate Bridge, mountains, orange groves, and trees. You feel the breeze and even smell the oranges and trees. You sit in a seat raised off the floor and placed out over a large IMAX style screen.
I thought Rock'n Rollercoaster starring Aerosmith was a big disappointment. It goes fast, but that's about all there was to it. The same kind of goes for Test Track, but it was a little more fun.
Mission To Mars made me feel kind of light headed and really wasn't much fun.
The three rides that we got on more than anything were three classics. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain, and of course, Space Mountain.
Besides the coasters we went to a lot of the 3D shows and older rides, like It's A Small, Small World, Peter Pan's Flight, Snow White's Scary Adventure, The Haunted Mansion, Spaceship Earth, The Carousel of Progress, and many more.
It was a fantastic time. By the end of it though I had blisters on the bottoms of both of my feet. Next time, I need to bring a better pair of sneakers.
Tags: Blogging Vacation Disney World Family
No comments:
Post a Comment